I'm Here for You Card

This morning my youngest kitty woke me up bright and early at 5:30 AM. Once I was awake there was no going back to sleep. After a couple cups of coffee I made my way into my craft room and made this I'm Here for You Card.  I was inspired by a couple of challenges and the kitty image just seemed fitting given the start of my day. The digital image is from Bugaboo Digi Stamps and it's called Garden Cat - Plant Pot and I colored it with my Copic markers. To play along with the Catch The Bug Recipe Challenge I needed to use bling, the color teal and die cuts or punches. So, I dug through my paper stash and found a 6 x 6 paper pad called Collectable "Remarkable" from My Mind's Eye. I really like the colors in this collections. They are a nice transition from summer into fall. Well, tomorrow is Labor Day here in The States and I'm hoping kitty will let me sleep late. I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

• Catch The Bug: Recipe
• Robyn's Fetish: Use a Digi 
• Suzy Bee's: Anything Goes
• Sister Act: Anything Goes
• Crafting At The Weekend: Anything Goes

Purple Birthday Card for The Paper Players

Hello and Happy Sunday! It's time for another fun challenge at The Paper Players. This week we have the always popular Tic Tac Toe Challenge hosted by the lovely Nance. I selected, Birthday, Embossing and Purple going diagonally to create my Purple Birthday Card. Since Purple is my favorite color, I couldn't pass up playing with Blackberry Bliss accented with Crumb Cake. The patterned paper is from the Color Me Autumn dsp and I used stamps from the Bloom with Hope Hostess stamp set. For the embossed panel I used the Woodgrain embossing folder with discontinued Perfect Plum Core'dinations cardstock (you can still find it in the Clearance Rack). Although I don't use glimmer paper often, this card really needed a little sparkle so I added a strip of Champagne glimmer paper. The final touch was adding the Itty Bitty Butterfly with a few pearls and Candy Dots.

Now, we would love for you to join us at The Paper Players (click here)! All brands of paper crafting products are welcome. The challenge is open until NOON (PST) on Friday, Sept. 5th. I hope you will stop by and see what the rest of the Design Team is sharing this week. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Feathered Friends Challenge

Hello and Happy Friday! Today is the start of another challenge here at Savvy Handmade Cards. The theme is Feathered Friends. There are so many wonderful bird images and stamps available, I can't wait to see what you create. This challenge will be shorter than normal and will end at 11:59 PM on Thursday, Sept. 4th. I look forward to seeing your card in the gallery!

Helping out as a Guest Designer for this Feathered Friends Challenge is my crafty blogging buddy, Jessi Fogan from OneCraftyMama. Check out her post for all the card details. I really appreciate her providing her beautiful inspiration.

Inspirational Designs:

Jessi's Card

Andrea's Card

Challenge Guidelines:

1. Create a New card using the challenge theme, no linking to old posts. 
2. Only one entry per blog address.
3. This is a card only challenge.
4. You must use a stamp, either rubber or digital.
5. You can combine this challenge with other challenges.
6. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to this challenge. Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
7. All brands of stamping products are welcome.
8. HAVE FUN!!!

Spooky House Halloween Card

It's that time of year when I start making my Halloween cards. I have to start early to make sure I get them all done in time. This Spooky House Halloween Card was inspired by a card in the new Stampin' Success mailer. The card I cased is on page 25. All supplies for this card are from my stash. Nothing new on this card. The Spooky House stamp is from the Best of Halloween stamp set and I used last years Halloween dsp. I don't have a large Happy Halloween sentiment by Stampin' Up! so I used one from Inkadinkado. Well, that's one card down and eleven more to go. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Spooky House Halloween Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Come and Get It: Anything Goes w/ Sentiment
• Tuesday Throwdown: Anything Goes
• Try it on Tuesday: Use Your Stash

Give Thanks For All Things Card

Hello! I hope you're having a wonderful Monday. It's really hot today in Oklahoma, which is the perfect excuse to stay indoors an do some crafting. For this Give Thanks For All Things Card, I used the sketch CCMC317 at Create with Connie & Mary. Since I had the For All Things stamp set out on my desk, I decided to make another Fall card. The patterned paper is from the new Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper which contains most of my favorite fall colors. I attempted the trendy twine loopy look but I definitely need to practice. It ended up kinda looking like a flower.?. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for stopping by!

Fall Emerging Color Card for The Paper Players

Thanks for stopping by to check out my card for this weeks challenge at The Paper Players. This week we have a sketch challenge hosted by the talented Jaydee. I always enjoy sketch challenges! My inspiration for this challenge comes from my anticipation of Fall arriving. Here in the States we have four more weeks until the official start of Fall and I'm ready!

To create the background for my card I used the Emerging Color Technique and the For All Things stamp set. At the bottom of my post I have provided step-by-step directions and photos on the creation process. It's a lot of fun but it's also a little messy.

The Paper Players design team have created a variety of inspiration for you to choose from this week! You should definitely stop by their blogs and check out their creations! Then we hope you will use the sketch and enter the challenge. All paper crafting brands are welcome. The challenge is open until NOON (PST) on Friday, August 29th. Click here to go to The Paper Players!

Here is the sketch:

Emerging Color Technique Directions:

Step 1: Cut a white piece of cardstock to the desired finished size.

Step 2: Select the ink colors to create your background.

Step 3: Randomly ink cardstock with selected colors.

Step 4: After ink is dry, use embossing buddy and stamp with VersaMark ink.

Step 5: Apply clear embossing powder to the stamped areas, shake off excess and then heat emboss.

Step 6: Using the darkest ink color, apply ink to the entire panel. Use paper towel to remove excess ink off of embossed areas. Repeat process if needed. 

That's it! I matted my image to a slightly larger piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock and adhered it to a base card of Very Vanilla cardstock. Then I added my sentiment and details. 

There is also a tutorial at Splitcoaststampers and her process varies slightly from mine. Click here to check it out. If you decide to give this technique a try I would love to see what you create, leave me a link in the comments section and I'll drop by to visit your creation. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Good Thoughts Emerging Color Card

Do you ever have one of those days where you just stare at your project and don't know where to start? That was me today! I selected three challenges to create this Good Thoughts Emerging Color Card. A sketch from the Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge, colours from ColourQ and a Flower challenge from Stampotique Designers. I think my biggest problem was I didn't have any patterned paper that pulled the colors together. So, after a lot of staring at my project I finally decided to play around with the Emerging Color Technique, click link to view tutorial from Splitcoaststampers.

I'm sure there are many different variations on the Emerging Color Technique. Here are directions for my card: Cut white piece of cardstock to desired size, sponge on the colors you want to use. I used Soft Sky and Wisteria Wonder. Make sure ink is dry and dust over the cardstock with your embossing buddy. Using VersaMark ink and your selected stamp (Petite Petals), randomly stamp onto the cardstock. Apply your clear embossing powder, shake off excess and heat emboss. With you darkest color ink sponge all over your cardstock piece. Rub embossed areas with paper towel to remove surface ink. Repeat process if needed to darken your inked area.  

The Wisteria Wonder doesn't really pop with the Rich Razzleberry using this technique but I still think it looks nice. This process is a little messy but it's a lot of fun. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Coffee Cup Thanks Card

To get better at creating casual cards I decided to do a little practice. The final sketch challenge at Seize the Sketch provided a wonderful casual layout and I combined it with the JAVA challenge at CASology. Being a lover of JAVA myself, I couldn't pass up this challenge. I have my two cups daily!!!

Supplies for this Coffee Cup Thanks Card include: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Island Indigo and Whisper White cardstock. Coffee Cup stamp by Hampton Arts, Flax twine from The Twinery, Classic stampin' pads in Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Island Indigo. Sentiment stamp from the Another Thank You set by Stampin' Up! and dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon!

Panda Thinking of You Card

Hello! I hope you're having a terrific day. Last Friday I wanted to get out of the house, so I went to the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention in Tulsa, OK. There was nothing I had to have when I went but I sure did find things I wanted. This Panda stamp by Crafter's Companion was one of my purchases. Isn't she cute? I had so much fun coloring her with my Copic markers! The colors chosen came from the challenge at The Doodle Garden. Using the color challenge helped me decide on the patterned papers and I ended up using random pieces from my scrap stash. The sentiment is from the Kind Words set by Verve Stamps. To finish it off I added a butterfly that I made months ago but never used. Well, I hope this Panda Thinking of You Card made you smile and I appreciate you stopping by! Enjoy the rest of your day!

My Panda Thinking of You Card is entered into the following challenges:

• The Doodle Garden: Color
• Crafty Little Fairies: Cute & Cuddly
• Suzy Bee's: Anything Goes
• The Crazy Challenge: Cute Little Animals
• Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes

Kind Koala for The Paper Players

Happy Sunday! I'm glad you stopped by to check out my latest card for The Paper Players challenge. This week is a Clean-and-Simple Child's Birthday theme challenge from LeAnne. I was a little scared when I first read this challenge for a couple of reasons. First, my supplies of children related stamps is almost nonexistent and second, clean-and-simple is always a challenge. My only good option was to alter the Kind Koala stamp and combine it with a balloon stamp to give it a different purpose. Thinking I had stumbled onto an original idea I did a quick Google search and found the talented Brian King had beat me to it. That's okay, my card looks completely different. The patterned paper is from the discontinued Sunshine & Sprinkles dsp and I colored the Koala with Cool Gray Copic markers. Do you consider paper pieced balloons simple? I wasn't sure, so I did it anyway. To get the stamps to line up I stamped a masked portion of the balloon image onto the white cardstock. Then I stamped a masked portion of the Koala stamp onto a different piece of cardstock which was then fussy-cut and aligned under the balloons. The string was drawn on and then I stamped the birthday wishes at the bottom. It wasn't hard but it was time consuming and I really like how it turned out. Isn't the Koala cute with balloons? Since I spent so much time on this card I'm also entering it into the Seize the Birthday Anything Goes Birthday Challenge.

Need some more inspiration? Check out the marvelous clean-and-simple cards The Paper Players design team created! We can't wait to see your card in the gallery! The challenge is open until Noon (PST)  on Friday, August 22nd. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Koala and sentiment by Stampin' Up! and Balloons by Stampabilities.

Blended Bloom Sympathy Card

Hooray for Friday! I have several errands on the agenda this afternoon but this morning I was able to sneak in some crafting time. Using the Deconstructed Sketch No. 164, I created this Blended Bloom Sympathy Card. All supplies for this card are by Stampin' Up! After coloring the Blended Bloom with Rich Razzleberry and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities markers, I fussy-cut it out. I had already selected the patterned paper from the Park Lane collection. The darker shade in the flower pulls the Blackberry Bliss tone while the lighter looks more Rich Razzleberry so I decided to use both colors to pull the card together. I really LOVE these colors! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Blended Bloom Sympathy Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Deconstructed Sketch: Sketch No. 164, DS164
• CCEE Stampers: Saying Goodbye
• Sister Act: Anything Goes
• Brown Sugar: Anything Goes

I Like Big Books Card

Hello! My project today was to make my youngest niece a card for Back to School. She loves books and I found the perfect digital stamp and sentiment by Bugaboo, it's called Big Books Girl. The image was colored with my Copic markers and I used patterned paper by DCWV the Spring Mix stack. For the layout I used a sketch from the Sketch N Stash blog.  To add detail I used yellow doodle twine and six green iridescent gemstones by Recollections. I'm pretty sure she is going to love this card and that makes me happy. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My I Like Big Books Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Craft Your Passion: Add Yellow
• PDE Linky Party: Kids Theme
• Sketch N Stash: Sketch
• Come and Get It: Back to School

WOOHOO! Card

This card is different for me but it makes sense if you know who and what it's for. It's for my oldest niece who is starting her senior year in a few days and her school mascot is a dragon. I wanted to make her something special in case she decides to make a scrapbook. The WOOHOO! sentiment is very fitting for the start of her senior year don't ya think? I really hope she likes it! The layout came from this weeks sketch at Mojo Monday and it worked perfectly for what I already had in mind.  The patterned papers are from my Stampin' Up! stash and the WOOHOO! sentiment is from The Paper Studio. I heat embossed the sentiment using white embossing powder and added some fun circles with a silver brad anchoring the center. Now, this is one card that I wish I could see her face when she gets it in the mail. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day/night!

My WOOHOO! Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Mojo Monday: Sketch
• Come and Get It: Back to School
• Crafting From The Heart: Anything Goes

Vivid Vases for The Paper Players

Howdy and Happy Sunday! Are you ready for another challenge at The Paper Players? I hope you will join us this week for a Color Challenge hosted by Nance. One of the reasons I love color challenges is it pushes me to use colors that I normally wouldn't put together. I'll admit I was a little apprehensive about these colors when I first saw them. I really love the photo inspiration and the colors look great together but I wasn't sure where to start.  The first thing I decided on was the layout. Then the question was what to use for my focal image? I'm pretty sure I looked at every stamp set I have and finally decided the Vivid Vases stamp would look best. I used StazOn Jet Black to stamp the image onto Very Vanilla cardstock and used Copic markers in Cool Gray and Blendabilities markers in Calypso Coral to color the vases. The flowers were colored with a blender pen and classic ink pads.  For the patterned paper I dug through my stash to find this Chevron design by lilybeedesign. The Chevron pattern is vanilla instead of white and  that's exactly what I wanted. Then I decided to add the butterfly. Using the lightest color of Calypso Coral Blendabilities marker I colored an area on Very Vanilla cardstock. Then using the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and Calypso Coral classic ink pad I stamped the butterfly which was then punched using the Elegant Butterfly punch. To jazz up the butterfly I add three small basic pearls. Looking at the card I decided it needed three more gemstones up top and so I added larger ones by The Paper Studio. In the end I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Now, you should definitely check out the wonderful creations from The Paper Players design team! I'm always amazed at the creative things everyone else comes up with and I can't wait to see what you will do with the colors. The challenge is open until Noon (PST) on Friday, August 15th. Thanks for stopping by and have a marvelous day!

Bloom for You Get Well Card

Hooray for Friday! This morning I have a quick post to share before I leave to visit my nieces. It seems early but they start school next week.

I made this Bloom for You Get Well Card using the color challenge at Pals Paper Arts. The layout is simple but the border punches adds some interest. Using the Island Indigo patterned paper for the background made a nice contrast to the Crisp Cantaloupe flower. The sentiment was stamped using the retired Perfectly Penned stamp set and I added the leaves that were made using the retired Little Leaves Sizzlits die. All supplies are by Stampin' Up!. I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

My Bloom for You Get Well Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Pals Paper Arts: Color
• Sister Act: Anything Goes
• 4 Krafty Girlz: Anything Goes

Little Bird Thinking of You Card

Happy Thursday! My afternoon is full of errands to do but first, I wanted to share my latest card. This Little Bird Thinking of You Card was inspired by the colour challenge at ColourQ. The card is more casual than I normally do but I love the embossing and didn't want to cover up the pretty details. All of the supplies are from Stampin' Up! except the embossing folder called Birds and Swirls by Cuttlebug. Here is the list of Stampin' Up! supplies: Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White cardstock. For the Birds and Bordering Blooms Stamp sets. Classic stampin' pads in Early Espresso, Island Indigo and Tempting Turquoise. Punches: 2" circle, 2 3/8" scallop circle and a discontinued border punch. I used a blender pen to colour in the nest and little bird. The final touch is the Early Espresso twine and I used dimensionals to adhere the focal image.

I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

My Little Bird Thinking of You Card is entered into the following challenges:

• ColourQ: Colour
• Rudy's Rainbow: For the Birds
• Little Red Wagon: Embossing

A Unique Blog Hop

Hello! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and found time to do some crafting! My post today is a little different. I was asked by Erin Stephenson from Erin's Owl Nest to participate in a Unique Blog Hop. This hop is about how each crafter got started and a little Q & A. Here is the post where I was tagged.

First, let me share with you how I met Erin. It was almost a year ago I decided to host a bi-weekly challenge on my blog. I announced for a DT call and Erin graciously agreed to help. Since then we have communicated and shared ideas. It's been my pleasure to view Erin's creations and work with her over the last year. Her work has really evolved and she is a busy lady on several design teams. I look forward to seeing her postings and getting to know her better.

Where did it all start?

My card making journey started in the fall of 2010. I had an occasion that I need a card for and didn't want to go to the store to buy one. That's when I realized all the scrapbooking supplies I had invested in could be used to make a handmade card, so that's what I did. The first cards I made for my family were for Valentine's Day in 2011. Shortly after that on March 8th, 2011 my sister suddenly passed away. At this point my card making became therapy. For one year I blogged about the loss of my sister at Grieving Erica. Sharing my loss and emotions with my family and others were a source of healing. It was during this year that I realized my card making therapy had evolved into a hobby.

In March of 2012 I started my blog Savvy Handmade Cards. This is when all the fun started! I found online challenges and digital stamps. Then I came across lovely creations with products from Stampin' Up!. I found a local demonstrator Amy Watson and joined her Big Shot club. It didn't take long to decide to become a demonstrator and to share my love of stamping and card making with others.

What am I working on?

Typically I make three or four cards a week. My latest card was made yesterday for The Challenge at Always Playing with Paper. The challenge is a sketch or color challenge or you can combine both. This is a new challenge to me that I found from a post by my crafty friend Jessi Fogan. If you have followed my blog for awhile you know that I love sketch and color challenges! I find it's a great place to start. For this challenge I combined the sketch and the colors to create my card. (click here for the sketch & colors).

In the future I would like to start incorporating mixed media into my designs. I've watched numerous videos and I love the techniques. However, I have one problem, I don't have the right supplies. So maybe, just maybe I can put some things on my Christmas list and Santa will be nice to me!

What do I create?

When it comes to paper crafting, I mainly create cards but I have created a few door hangings for my nieces. The one below was made for my oldest niece for her birthday. Every now and then I will make book marks or tags. My other creative hobbies include: beading, scrapbooking, sewing and on occasion painting.

How does my creative process work and how do I get and stay inspired?

My creative process is really project specific. I'm usually making something for somebody or for a challenge. If I'm making something for a family member or friend, I try to use things they love and incorporate that into my designs. When I'm creating for a challenge I use the guidelines and themes given to spark me creativity. If I'm having a hard time coming up with something I will search online or go through my magazines until I come up with an idea.

Staying inspired can be a challenge! I go through times when I don't want to make anything but it's usually because I'm tired. When I have the energy, usually the creativity will follow.

My style? How does it differ?

Most of my creations are clean and simple but that doesn't mean they are casual. I love layers and patterned paper, so the less is more approach is a challenge for me. I don't think my style differs a lot. I'll never have a super frilly card full of embellishments. I admire the work of others with this style but it's not me. I love to use bling but in moderation and I LOVE embossing. In summary I would say my style is versatile and constantly evolving.

I have tagged 2 creative friends who will be sharing their creative journey with you next Monday, 11 August 2014. They are:

Jessi Fogan from OneCraftyMama

Jessi is a wonderful crafter! Her creativity and originality never ceases to amaze me. We crossed paths over a year ago and Jessi has been a huge support to me. I enjoy her funny writing style and humor on her blog. We visit each others blog often and it's nice to say I have a friend in Canada!

Debra Miller from Cream City Angels

Debra and I met a few months back when she played along in one of my challenges. Her style is clean and classic. The layers and details on her cards always appear so crisp and beautiful. I look forward to seeing more of her work. 

Next Step-

Next Monday the 11th go check out my friend's post and see who they tag and the next Monday the hop continues. To click back through the history chain visit Erin's blog, she tagged me and see who tagged her. Who knows where this hop will take you?

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Sending Good Thoughts Card

Hello and Happy Sunday! It's time for another challenge at The Paper Players. This week we have a theme challenge hosted by Sandy. The theme is to use buttons on your creation. Now, I must tell you that my button stash is pretty limited. So, I decided to combine some older products with a few new ones to create this Sending Good Thoughts Card. For the older supplies I used patterned paper and buttons from the Sycamore Street collection along with the Madison Avenue stamp set from sale-a-bration a couple of years ago. The current products used were The Perfect Pennants stamp set, Banner Framelits along with stampin' pads in Pool Party and Rich Razzleberry.  For the center of the buttons I used Pool Party twine which is discontinued. Well now that you've seen my card, I can't wait to see what you create. I sure hope you will find a few buttons and play along at The Paper Players (click here). The challenge is open until Noon (PST) on Friday, August 8th. Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!

Strawberries Photo Challenge

Hello and welcome to the August Challenge at Savvy Handmade Cards. This month we have a sweet photo for your creative inspiration. Hopefully these yummy strawberries will spark your desire to play along. We certainly would love to see what you create. Our Strawberries Photo Challenge is open until Tuesday, August 26th, 2014 at 11:59 pm.

                                 

                                             © 2008 Martin Fisch, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio

Inspirational Designs:

Erin's Card using Simply Betty Image

Andrea's Card using McMahon Five Designs Image

Challenge Guidelines:

1. Create a New card using the challenge theme, no linking to old posts. 
2. Only one entry per blog address.
3. This is a card only challenge.
4. You must use a stamp, either rubber or digital.
5. You can combine this challenge with other challenges.
6. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to this challenge. Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
7. All brands of stamping products are welcome.
8. HAVE FUN!!!