Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Feel Better Bear Card


Hello! I hope you had a wonderful day. Mine was much better than yesterday. It was a calm day which I really needed. Earlier this week my brother-in-law had surgery. I just finished making him this Feel Better Bear Card. I used this weeks sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. The adorable bear, named Barry, is an image from Stamp Fairy. I colored him with my Copic markers and added a little heart punch to the bandage. The patterned papers are by 7 Gypsies from the Venice 6 x 6 paper pad. I bought this paper specifically to make masculine cards. The feel better stamp is from the Sassy Salutations stamp set by Stampin' Up! Well, that's it for me. Have a great night and a pleasant tomorrow!

My Feel Better Bear Card is entered into the following challenges:

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Gently Falling Thankful Card

Oh boy, today was crazy! The saying is true, "when it rains, it pours". My day didn't go as planned, but I did get to make a card this evening. This Gently Falling Thankful Card has me dreaming of the crisp autumn air. I love the colors autumn brings and this card features some of my favorites:
  • Cajun Craze
  • Crumb Cake
  • Early Espresso
  • Garden Green
  • Pear Pizzazz
  • More Mustard
  • Soft Suede
  • Very Vanilla
The layout for this card comes from the sketch at The Paper Players from LeAnne Pugliese. I found the narrow image panel challenging for the stamps I have, but I think the Gently Falling* leaves work well. I used the rock-n-roll technique for the bottom stamped image and then heat embossed the accent layer with Early Espresso embossing powder. I fussy cut the smaller leaf to add a little more interest. I used my favorite jute twine and heat embossed the Thankful sentiment from Bo Bunny. The leaf patterned paper is by The Paper Studio and all other papers are by Stampin' Up! The final touch was three antique brass brads and this card was done. Thanks for stopping by and have a great night!

My Gently Falling Thankful Card is entered into the following challenges:
*Gently Falling stamp set by Stampin' Up! is available in WOOD or CLEAR stamps.
 

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Koala You're So Sweet Card


Good evening! We had a wonderful weekend and I hope you did too. Yesterday I found a fun sketch from The Sweet Stop and I created this Koala You're So Sweet Card to play along. The image is a colored digi called Kiwi Koala's Watermelon by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I sponged on the clouds using two different sizes of scallop circle punches and bashful blue (retired) ink by Stampin' Up!. The patterned paper is from American Crafts and the ribbon is from Offray. I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder. The sentiment is from the Thankful Accents stamp set by Verve Stamps.  The final touch was three soft sky colored Candy Dots by Stampin' Up!. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

My Koala You're So Sweet Card is entered into the following challenges:

Friday, July 26, 2013

Blooming Birthday Card


Happy Friday night! I'm really glad the weekend is here. Starting my job this week gave me very little time to craft. I missed playing along with all my regular challenges. This evening I took some time to unwind and created this Blooming Birthday Card. I made this card for the following challenges:
The challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to use something that is your weakness, something you buy when you really don't need another one. Well, I have more than one weakness!!! The one I used is heat embossing powder. I have 38 different colors and I still want more. How many embossing powders do you have? Is my stash excessive or do you have more?

Until this card I had never embossed patterned paper. I've seen others do it, but I always seem to forget to give it a try. I used a polka dot embossing folder for the dry embossing and heat embossed the sentiment with Gumball Green embossing powder by Stampin' Up! The focal image is stamped using the retired Blooming with Kindness stamp set on watercolor paper and colored using a blender pen and stampin' pads. The embosslit butterfly with pearls was the finishing touch. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Fun Colors Thank You Card


Hello! I started a new job on Monday and I'm super tired, so this post will be really quick. Since I haven't worked full-time in over five years, I had forgotten what it's like to have very little time at home during the week. Tonight after dinner I went to my craft room and made this Fun Colors Thank You Card. The colors are from this weeks challenge at Color Throwdown. One thing I love about color challenges is they push me to use color combinations that otherwise I would never think of. The colors are:
  • Coastal Cabana*
  • Crisp Cantaloupe*
  • Strawberry Slush*
  • Rich Razzleberry
Three of these colors are part of the 2013-2015 In Colors* by Stampin' Up! The Coastal Cabana is one of my new favorites and I must say I love it paired with the Rich Razzleberry. The layout for my card comes from the sketch at this weeks Paper Players challenge. I had a hard time deciding what stamp set to use in the circle so I went with the Lacy & Lovely stamp set. I was just too tired to think of anything different. The Coastal Cabana background patterned paper is from the Eastern Elegance dsp and the Rich Razzleberry patterned paper is from the retired Summer Smooches dsp. Well, that's it for me! Have a terrific night or day and thanks for stopping by!

My Fun Colors Thank You Card is entered into the following challenges:
All supplies by Stampin' Up!.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

One Day at a Time Card

Good evening! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. Mine went by way too quickly! The weekend was spent running errands and doing laundry. We did rent a couple of movies and I spent a little time in my craft room while my hubby was out mowing the lawn. All in all it was a pretty uneventful weekend.

This One Day at a Time Card was made for a family friend who recently lost her husband. I bought the sentiment stamp from Verve Stamps and I had her in mind when I made my purchase. Sometimes when we are faced with a tragedy it's the small things people do for us that make a difference. I'm hoping this card will bring a small smile during a difficult time. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

You may notice the clouds on the image panel are a little sparse... well here in Oklahoma clouds are rare in summer so, I kept the sky mostly blue.

My One Day at a Time Card is entered into the following challenges:


One Day at a Time Card Supplies:
  • Paper: Pink folded card by The Paper Company, African Daisy card stock by Bazzill Basics, Lucky Limeade card stock by Stampin' Up!, yellow glitter card stock by DCWV and Hello Summer collection patterned paper by Echo Park.
  • Stamps: Tall Flower Bear image by Bugaboo and sentiment stamp by Verve Stamps.
  • Ink & Coloring: VersaMark stamp pad, white Zing! embossing powder, classic stampin' pads in Bashful Blue and Lucky Limeade (both retired), Copic markers (E15, E23, E31, E55, R22, R32, R35, YG06, YG17) and Orange Peel and Lemon Ice Stickles.
  • Other Stuff: Heat Tool, Bitty Butterfly punch, Daffodil Delight ribbon, and basic rhinestone jewels all by Stampin' Up!.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Halloween Happiness Sneak Peek


Hello! I hope you are enjoying your day. Yesterday afternoon UPS delivered a box of Stampin' Up! goodies and I couldn't wait to dig in. The first thing I wanted to ink up was the Halloween Happiness stamp and cut into the new Witches' Brew Designer Series Paper. Both will be available beginning August 1st in the new Holiday Happiness Catalog.

To create this Halloween Happiness Card I used the sketch from the A.R.T. Card Challenge . The colors in this card are Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Starfruit and Very Vanilla. To ink up the stamp I masked the leaves and sentiment while I used my classic stampin' pad in Pumpkin Pie. Then I removed the tape and used stampin' write markers in Basic Black and Summer Starfruit. The final touch was the addition of pumpkin pie candy dots. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

My Halloween Happiness Card is entered into the following challenges:
All supplies by Stampin' Up!.
 

Friday, July 19, 2013

Patchwork Hello Card


Hooray for Friday! If you've been following my blog for long, then you know I love color challenges. Last night I made this Patchwork Hello Card using the colors from this weeks ColourQ challenge. The colors are:
  • Island Indigo
  • Bermuda Bay
  • Raspberry Ripple
  • Lucky Limeade
  • White
This card started with the idea of different patterned embossed squares. I selected four of my favorite embossing folders and ran each square through the Big Shot. I taped the squares together and backed them with a piece of white card stock. Then I stitched everything together for a patchwork look. I used the Lacy & Lovely stamp set for the focal image and sentiment. The finished size is 5" x 5". Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

My Patchwork Hello Card is entered into the following challenges:
  1. ColourQ: Colour
  2. Milk Coffee: Emboss It
  3. Addicted to Stamps and More: CAS
  4. Sister Act: Anything Goes
  5. Crafting by Designs: Anything Goes
Patchwork Hello Card Supplies*:
  • Paper: Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade and Raspberry Ripple card stock.
  • Stamps: Lacy & Lovely stamp set
  • Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade and Raspberry Ripple.
  • Other Stuff: Big Shot, Argyle, Chevron, Polka Dots and Square Lattice embossing folders, circle punches, rhinestone brad (source unknown) and stampin' dimensionals.
*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Beautifully Baroque Card

Thank goodness for Thursday because I'm ready for the weekend! Of course I'm always ready for the weekend regardless of what day it is!

The card I created today features the colors from The Play Date Café to use:
Cream...Melon...Cantaloupe 
These colors are very pretty together and since one of the new in-colors at Stampin' Up! is Crisp Cantaloupe, I couldn't wait to play along. This Beautifully Baroque Card is made with the new stamp and coordinating embossing folder by Stampin' Up! To add a little dimension I stamped the image a second time on a small strip of paper, attached it to the label love sentiment and popped them up with dimensionals. For the design I used this weeks Monday Lunchtime sketch at Technostamper. To keep the design simple I ended up eliminating the banners at the bottom. I added a few pearls to the label to add a little elegance and that was it. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Beautifully Baroque Card is entered into the following challenges:
Beautifully Baroque Card Supplies:
  • Paper: Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz and Crisp Cantaloupe card stock and Pear Pizzazz patterned paper from the Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper collection.
  • Stamps: Beautifully Baroque* and Label Love*.
  • Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Pear Pizzazz and Crisp Cantaloupe.
  • Other Stuff: Big Shot, Baroque embossing folder*, Artisan Label punch*, pearl basic jewels and stampin' dimensionals.
*All supplies by Stampin' Up!, Bundle & Save with Beautifully Baroque Bundle and the Label Love Bundle in Wood or Clear.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Simply Sketched Sympathy Card

Hello and Happy Wednesday! I had no intentions of making a card today, but that changed when I saw this weeks sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. I love how Narelle arranged the layers and the design teams inspiration is outstanding. The colors for this Simply Sketched Sympathy Card are from this weeks challenge at Color Throwdown to use:
  • Tempting Turquoise
  • Kiwi Kiss
  • Pacific Point
  • Chocolate Chip
  • White
The focal image is from the Simply Sketched hostess stamp set by Stampin' Up!. I stamped the image with StazOn Jet Black ink and used a blender pen and classic stampin' pads to color the image. For the clouds I used a punched out pansy flower and scalloped circle and then sponged on bashful blue (retired) ink. I think the little birdie is beautiful in blues. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Simply Sketched Sympathy Card Supplies*:
  • Paper: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz, and Chocolate Chip card stock and Tempting Turquoise Designer Series Paper (retired) all by Stampin' Up! and Kiwi colored patterned paper by K & Company.
  • Stamps: Simply Sketched hostess stamp set and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
  • Inks: StazOn Jet Black and classic stampin' pads in Bashful Blue (retired), Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz, Tempting Turquoise, Pool Party and Chocolate Chip.
  • Other Stuff: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, large brad, and stampin' dimensionals.
*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

When I'm with You Card


Good morning! It was an early morning for me. My Crafting Buddy (aka My Cat) is not feeling well and he woke us up every hour from 3am-6am. So, I figured I might as well get up and call the vet to schedule an appointment. Then I made my hubby Applesauce Chobani Pancakes for breakfast and did a load of laundry. Now... I'm ready for a nap.

I made this When I'm with You Card using the sketch from Sunday Stamps. I have to be honest and tell you.... this was the first time I made a banner for one of my cards. To create the banner I used the Pretty Pennants Cartridge and my Cricut machine. The image panel features a stamp from the For the Birds stamp set by Stampin' Up!. I sponged on the clouds and grass and colored the rest with a blender pen and my stampin' ink pads. The final touch was a small amount of dazzling details added to the water drops. Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!

My When I'm with You Card is entered into the following challenges:


When I'm with You Card Supplies*:
  • Paper: Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight and Coastal Cabana card stock and Coastal Cabana patterned paper from the Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper collection.
  • Stamps: For the Birds
  • Inks: StazOn Jet Black and Classic stampin' pads in Bashful Blue (retired), Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate, Coastal Cabana, Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry, and Melon Mambo.
  • Other Stuff: Blender Pen, Large Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, white twine, dazzling details, Cricut machine, Pretty Pennants Cartridge and stampin' dimensionals.
*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.
 

Monday, July 15, 2013

New Colors Betsy's Blossoms Card


Happy Monday! The Paper Players have a fun color challenge this week featuring three new colors by Stampin' Up! The colors are:
  • Bermuda Bay
  • Baked Brown Sugar
  • Crushed Curry
 I really love these colors together! For my entry I created this New Colors Betsy's Blossoms Card using the sketch from The Sweet Stop challenge. My stash is very limited on new product by Stampin' Up! but I did order the Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper. The Crushed Curry patterned paper is from that collection. For the Bermuda Bay strips I used the emboss resist technique and the En Francais stamp. After embossing white card stock with clear embossing powder, I sponged on Bermuda Bay ink. At this point I wasn't sure what my focal point should be but I looked through my current stamp sets and decided Betsy's Blossoms would make the best choice. I fussy-cut the bird and stem and layered the center together on top of a flower shape I cut using my Cricut machine. The finishing touch was a little pearl for the birds eye. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

My New Colors Betsy's Blossoms Card is entered into the following challenges:
All paper, stamps and inks by Stampin' Up!.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Neon Good Job Card

Okay.... I really should be studying so this is going to be a really quick post! Here is my Neon Good Job Card that I made combining the following fabulous challenges:
To create this Neon Good Job Card I heat embossed the polka dots and sentiment with neon Zing! embossing powder. Black is a wonderful contrast to neon colors and I added black twine to add a little more interest. This card will end up going to one of my nieces. Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific Friday night!

 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Ladybug Birthday Card


This week has flown by! I've been busy studying for an online class I'm taking. The final test is 200 questions that has a three hour time limit. It's been years since I've taken a test and I'm crossing my fingers that my memory is up to the challenge. So, if you believe in the power of prayer... say a little prayer for me!

When I sat down to create this Ladybug Birthday Card I was in the mood for something bright and cheerful. I love ladybugs and this image by Bugaboo is one of my favorites. I colored it with Copic markers and added the clouds using a punched out Pansy flower and sponging with Bashful Blue ink. The design comes from one of the sketch choices at Tuesday Morning Sketches. The patterned papers are part of my hoarded stash and are both from American Crafts. The sentiment stamp is from the TPC Studios Greetings set and the final touch was some purple twine from Doodledug Design.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

My Ladybug Birthday Card is entered into the following challenges:

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Cute & Cuddly Baby Card

Hello! I've been busy making this Cute & Cuddly Baby Card. The little elephants were stamped on patterned paper and then fussy-cut. The colors are Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White. Since the Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery are retired colors, I gave a "dramatic pause" before I cut my hoarded card stock to create this card. The sentiment and elephant stamps are from the New Baby stamp set by Fiskars. I kept the design simple, a little embossing and an edge punch with the image repeated three times and this card was done. Oh... isn't it cute! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful night.




My Cute & Cuddly Baby Card is entered into the following challenges:

Merry Gold Christmas Card


Good afternoon! There are several Christmas in July challenges right now. When I sat down to create my card I wasn't in the mood for red and green. So, I went gold. I used to decorate my Christmas tree in gold, silver and white, that is until my hubby told me it was boring. Now we have a traditional Christmas tree with all colors and different ornaments. He helps me pick out the ornaments and we decorate the tree together, so the change was good.

Okay, onto my card. This Merry Gold Christmas Card is a 5" x 5" card. I used Very Vanilla and Antique Gold for the color scheme. The layout comes from the current sketch at Feeling Sketchy. I added a few pearl details and some glitter paper for sparkle. I heat embossed the image (Special Delivery by Stampendous!) and sentiment (Teeny Tiny Wishes by Stampin' Up!) in detail gold embossing powder by Stampendous!. Oh... if only making a Christmas card would bring cooler weather, I would be a very happy girl! Thanks for stopping by!

My Merry Gold Christmas Card is entered into the following challenges:

Monday, July 8, 2013

Handmade Card for a Friend


Hello! This morning I was really dragging and my creative juices were running on empty! I printed out the Mojo Monday sketch and it just sat on my desk. After several hours and a couple cups of coffee... I created this Handmade Card for a Friend. I used the Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper, Flower Shop stamp set and the Sale-A-Bration Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set all by Stampin' Up!. I LOVE the colors in this card and the Melon Mambo flower just makes me happy. Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic week!

My Handmade Card for a Friend is entered into the following challenges:
*All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Handmade Card for a Baby Boy

Good evening! I took a few days off to spend with my hubby. We did a whole lot of nothing and it was really nice. There wasn't a lot of crafting done over the weekend but I did take a little time to make this Handmade Card for a Baby Boy. I had a friend ask me to make a card for the arrival of her grandson. I've only made a couple of baby cards and I plan to make several for her to choose from. The balloon and elephant are a digital stamp by Bugaboo Digi Stamps. I colored the elephant portion with Copic markers and printed the balloon on Daffodil Delight card stock and fussy cut both to give them a 3-D look. The cloud patterned paper is from the retired Sunshine and Sprinkles dsp by Stampin' Up!. I used the Fiskars grass punch on Lucky Limeade card stock and added a few hearts for detail. The sentiment is from Stampabilities. Thanks for stopping by and have a great night!

My Handmade Card for a Baby Boy is entered into the following challenges:

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Indpendence Day Card


Good afternoon and Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! I have a quick post to share this Independence Day Card I made to celebrate the day. The main star image is a digital stamp from Doodle Pantry and it comes colored or black and white for you to color. I used the colored image to save a little time. The patterned papers are from Doodlebug Designs Inc. and have been in my stash for a couple of years. The colors worked well with the digital image. For the white star strip layered over red, I used the all over Star Punch by Martha Stewart. The layout for the card is based off this weeks sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches. I turned the sketch and added the banner for the sentiment. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

My Independence Day Card is entered into the following challenges:

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Pet Sympathy Card

Pets are family and when one of our family members passes away it can weigh heavy on our hearts. My friend's dog recently passed away and I made this Pet Sympathy Card for her. The design is simple and could be used for the loss of a cat or dog. The paw print stamp and the brown plaid paper are by Recollections. The paw prints were stamped with black ink and punched using a 1" circle punch and layered with a 1-1/4" scallop punch. I used a premade kraft card from The Paper Studio for the base and layered Early Espresso card stock by Stampin' Up! with the patterned and embossed white paper.  The sentiment is from the Hero Arts With Sympathy stamp set and I added a little twine for detail. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


My Pet Sympathy Card is entered into the following challenges:

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Morning Meadow Thank You Card

Hello! I hope everyone is enjoying their Tuesday. I've been playing in my craft room this morning and I made this Morning Meadow Thank You Card. To create this card I combined the Technostamper Monday Lunch Sketch with the Sunday Stamps Color Challenge and the Crazy Amigo Thanks Challenge. I'm really loving these colors together. I used Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White. The stamp set is the Morning Meadow Hostess by Stampin' Up!. I used Gumball Green and Daffodil Delight stampin' write markers for the image stamp and used one of the Itty Bitty Shapes punches for the Tangerine Tango flowers. In the center of the flowers I added the new Candy Dots in Daffodil Delight. I did a little embossing with the Argyle embossing folder and added a strip of Daffodil Delight ribbon. The final touch was stamping and layering the sentiment using the word window and modern label punches. Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Caring is Everything Card

The first Monday of July and a big milestone at the Mojo Monday challenge blog. They are celebrating their 300th challenge. That's awesome! To participate you have to make a card using their sketch, post it to the Internet and link it to their challenge. So come on...make a card a play along!

This Caring is Everything Card is full of bright colors that have a nice summery feel. The patterned paper from the Party Collection by Pebbles made it easy to select the right accent colors for this card.  When I started this card I was going to keep it simple and minimize the layering...but, as I was working with the paper and colors I decided it would look better with the real red card stock accenting the layers. It took a little bit longer to make but I really like the way it turned out. Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

My Caring is Everything Card is entered into the following challenges:

Caring is Everything Card Supplies:
  • Paper: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Real Red card stock by Stampin' Up! Aqua card stock from The Paper Studio and glitter green card stock is from DCWV.
  • Stamps: Flower Shop stamp set and Papillon Potpourri stamp set both by Stampin' Up! and sentiment stamp by Print Works.
  • Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Real Red, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie.
  • Other Stuff: Sewing machine, thread, Big Shot, Polka Dot embossing folder, Cricut machine, Storybook Cricut cartridge, George and Basic Shapes Cricut cartridge, Pansy Punch, Bitty Butterfly punch and Itty Bitty Shapes punch all by Stampin' Up!, rhinestone basic jewels, and stampin' dimensionals.