Chickadee Card - TMS #618

Hello! This week the sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches is super simple and perfect for a quick card. When I started making this Chickadee Card I knew I wanted to use the stitched peek-a-boo window die by My Favorite Things. The Chickadee image had already been colored and I liked the way it looked over the window (from the Spring Birds stamp set by Simon Says Stamp). After going through several sentiments I decided to use the One Day at a Time by Verve Stamps and that's it. We would love for you to join us this week. For all the challenge details and design team inspiration click HERE. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

One Day at a Time Card - TMS #564

Hello again! We've made it to another Tuesday and that means another new sketch challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches starts today. We would love for you to join us this week! Our sketch this week was designed by Melissa Craig and it's pretty open for your interpretation. I used a retired flower from the Birthday Blooms stamp set by Stampin' Up! It was colored with Copic markers and then fussy-cut. Two additional leaves were added which I colored a little darker and then three sequins were added around the flower. The One Day at a Time sentiment is one of my favorites and it came from Verve Stamps. It was stamped directly onto the Spiffy Speckles paper by Lawn Fawn and everything was adhered flat for easy shipping. For all the challenge details and design team inspiration click HERE. Don't forget to link your creation by 8 pm EST on Sunday. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered: A Place to Start- Flowers

Sketch #564:

Cardinal One Day at a Time Card

Hello! If you've ever lost a loved one then you know it's a One Day at a Time situation. Right after a loss the sympathy cards pour in, but what about the weeks or months after? I like to send a card several weeks later and the One Day at a Time sentiment is one of my favorites to use. For this card I really wanted to use fall colors and a cardinal, so that's what I did. The cardinal is from the Winter Birds stamp set by Newton's Nook which were colored with Copic markers and then die cut with the coordinating dies. The floral and plaid papers are from the Mad 4 Plaid Fall paper pad by Photo Play and the whitewash woodgrain is by Stampin' Up!. Everything was adhered flat for easy shipping and that's it. I'm glad you stopped by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Challenges entered:

• Cute Card Thursday: Anything Goes
• {PIN}spirational: Photo Inspiration (colors)
• Watercooler Wednesday: Feminine Anything Goes

Green Monochrome Sympathy Card

Hello! Last week the husband of one of my cousins unexpectedly passed away. They are young and had only been married a couple of years. I know her heart is broken and her world has turned upside down. This Green Monochrome Sympathy Card is one I made to send to my Aunt and Uncle who live next door to my cousin. They are all very close and it's been such a shock to all of them. There isn't a lot I can do, but I can make them cards to show my support.

This card was made using various colors of green inks. I started with a piece of white cardstock and used a brayer to add a light green ink all over then added a slightly darker green to the edges. Then the Blossom layering stencil by Tim Holtz was used with Peeled Paint distress ink. The flowers are from the Bloom Brighter stamp set by Verve Stamps and were stamped with Mossy Meadow ink by Stampin' Up!. Three leaf sprigs were stamped from the Lawn Fawn Fab Flowers stamp set using Garden Green ink by Stampin' Up! and the stenciled panel was adhered to a piece of Garden Green cardstock. A butterfly was added for more detail next to the sympathy sentiment from the Forever in Our Hearts stamp set by Verve Stamps. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Crafty Catz: Anything Goes/optional Sympathy twist
• Craft Rocket: Monochrome
• Simon Says: Monochrome

Mouse Big Flower Card

When life gets tough as it sometimes does, it's best to take it one day at a time. I love using this sentiment by Verve Stamps. It makes a wonderful card to send a few weeks after a sympathy card. When I was looking through my stash this past weekend I realized I had no cards ready with this sentiment. So, I used one of my favorite Bugaboo images called Mouse Big Flower to create this card.

This card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Animals: Anything with Animal
• Crafty Sentiments: Anything Goes
• Tuesday Throwdown: Anything Goes
• Catch The Bug: Bingo (Sentiment, Player's Choice and Stitching)

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

Elephant Baby Card

Happy Monday! I have a quick post to share this Elephant Baby Card. I'm sending it in an order from my Etsy shop for elephant baby burp cloths. The customer purchased the burp cloths for a baby shower gift and so I wanted to include a coordinating card. The elephant image is called Emery by Verve Stamps and it was fussy cut and adhered flat to the die cut circle. The plaid patterned paper is by Recollections with a strip of retired Basic Gray stripe by Stampin' Up!. Some twine and three silver sequins were used to embellish the card and that's it. Pretty easy and simple. I'm entering this card in the following challenges: Come and Get It (2 or More Different Embellishments) and Glitter 'N' Sparkle (Anything Goes). Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!!!


Below photo are the burp cloths sold from my Etsy shop.

Give You Strength Card

It's been awhile since I've made a sympathy card but this week a church friend, from my high school days, lost her husband. Although I haven't seen her in a very long time I want to send her a card. This Give You Strength Card was inspired by and example on Verve Stamps website for their Forever in Our Hearts stamp set, click here. The butterflies are from my favorite stamp set by Stampin' Up! called Watercolor Wings and they were stamped using Peekaboo Peach and Cajun Craze classic stampin' pads. The patterned paper is by Quick Quotes and the Fancy Fan embossing folder is retired by Stampin' Up! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Inky Chicks: Sentiment Instead of Image
• Shopping Our Stash: Butterflies, Bees & Bugs
• Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes

Sweet Baby Girl Card

This week I was sorting through some patterned papers and found this adorable elephant and star patterned papers by Studio Calico from the Story Time Collection. I really like the muted colors and subtle text in the elephant bodies. So, I made this Sweet Baby Girl Card. The cardstock colors used are Very Vanilla and Sahara Sand by Stampin' Up! After stamping Emery the elephant by Verve Stamps (it's one of my favorite stamps) onto polka dot paper I fussy-cut the image and adhered it to the stitched die cut circle. The circle was then layered onto a die cut scalloped circle then adhered to the card with dimensionals. Using the retired Itty Bitty Banners stamp set by Stampin' Up! I stamped Sweet Baby with Tip Top Taupe ink and then die cut the sentiment with the coordinating Bitty Banner framelit dies. To add some detail three sequin stars were added along with twine. That's it!

This Sweet Baby Girl Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Girls Creations: Anything Goes
• In The Pink: Favorite Stamps or Image 
• Crafty Gals Corner: Anything Goes

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

Color Throwdown #368 Guest Star Stamper

A happy hello to you! I'm glad you've stopped by my blog today where I'm sharing a card as a Guest Star Stamper for Color Throwdown Challenge #368. You may already know that color challenges are one of my favorite types of challenges. They push me to be more adventurous with color. Besides color challenges I also enjoy sketch challenges, so I used the Sweet Sunday sketch to create this card.

At first glance of the challenge colors one might think Christmas, but I decided to go with a Thank You card. I was inspired by the circles on the tablecloth and searched through my patterned paper for the Basic Gray background paper from the retired Twitterpated dsp by Stampin' Up!. For the stamping on the focal circle I used the Thankful Accents stamp set by Verve Stamps along with Old Olive and Basic Gray stampin' pads. The white panel was embossed with the decorative dots embossing folder and matted to Old Olive cardstock. The red and pink patterned papers were both in my scrap bin and for detail I added some charcoal twine from The Twinery. That's it! The finished size of this card is 5.25" square.

Challenge Color Palette: 

For all the challenge details click over to Color Throwdown. If you upload to a public gallery, please use the keyword CTD368, and please use #ctd368 and #colorthrowdown on social media sites! (Submissions close Monday at 6:00 p.m. EST).

Visit the Design Team:
Barbara Anders    
Broni Holcombe 
Joan Ervin 
Jodi Collins 
Lori Tecler 
Tammy Hershberger 
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen 
Karolyn Loncon – November Guest Designer

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Card for The Hop to Stop

You may have seen lots of cards featuring the color purple over the last couple of days and if you want to read more about it click here to visit Becca's blog, The Damsel of Distressed. She organized a hop to bring attention to National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Although I don't have first hand experience with domestic violence, I have a friend who lived through and eventually left a horrible situation. Hearing her experience and seeing the scares on her body really opened my eyes to the violence that lives behind closed doors. I hope you will join along and support Becca at The Hop To Stop!!!

Here is my card:

This card was made using the Tall Flower Bear image by Bugaboo Digi Stamps which was colored with Copic markers. I added a little clear Wink of Stella to the flower and then used a stitched rectangle die by Lil' Inkers. The image panel was matted to Rich Razzleberry cardstock and then adhered with dimensionals to the decorated card. The patterned paper is from the retired Painted Blooms dsp from Stampin' Up!. Using an encouragement sentiment by Verve Stamps, one day at a time, was stamped using Memento black ink directly onto the paper. A little Crushed Curry twine and that's it! 

Challenges entered:

• Catch The Bug: Anything Goes
• Chocolate, Coffee & Cards: Animals
• QKR Stampede: Anything Goes

Fall Butterfly Card

"Nature gives to every season a beauty all it's own." ~Dickens

I'm ready for the colors of fall to arrive and it's evident in my recent card creations. On my last trip to the local scrapbook store they had the new collection called Enchanted Harvest by BoBunny and I couldn't resist picking up a few sheets. This Fall Butterfly Card has three patterned papers from the Enchanted Harvest collection. Several challenges listed below influenced the direction of this card.

The layout is from this weeks sketch at Mojo Monday and it was perfect for a sentiment focused design. The sentiment stamp is called Every Season by Verve Stamps and I used the Papillon Potpourri set and Bitty Butterfly punch by Stampin' Up! A little clear Wink of Stella was added to the butterflies for some sparkle but the patterned paper did most the work on this card. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Fall Butterfly Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Mojo Monday: Sketch #414
• Papertake Weekly: Things with Wings
• Simon Says Stamp: Use a Stamp
• The Sisterhood of Crafters: Photo Inspiration
• Everybody-Art: Earth Tones
• Word Art Wednesday: Anything Goes (200th Challenge)

Bear Hugs and Smiles Card

Every once in awhile I get in the mood to make something cute and sweet. I was prompted by four challenges to create this Bear Hugs and Smiles Card. The challenge at Crafty Sentiments Designs to make something Sweet along with the  Sweet Stampin' challenge to use a bear. This Barry Best Buddies image came to mind and it's definitely sweet. For the layout I used this weeks sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches and I used Gingham paper to play along at Shopping our Stash. After gathering all the materials for my card I colored the image with my Copic markers. The patterned papers are by Pebbles from the Garden Party collection and the sentiment is from Verve Stamps Kind Words stamp set. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

BABY Card

Recently I found out someone I know is expecting her first baby. They are waiting awhile to tell everyone but I figured it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and make a BABY Card. I'll probably hold out until after the first doctor appointment to mail the card but it's ready to go.

Since it's way to early to know what gender the baby is, I used many pastel baby colors. The plaid paper by Paper Pizzazz has a very small yellow line running through it. You can see it down the middle of the elephant. The pink and blue polka dots are retired dsp by Stampin' Up! I embossed the yellow cardstock with an argyle embossing folder and used a scalloped edgelit die for detail. The scalloped circle was cut with my Cricut machine and I fussy-cut Emery elephant by Verve Stamps for the focal image. To add the sentiment I used a stamp set by Fiskars called New Baby and the last detail was three candy dots.

My BABY Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Cards und More: Baby
• Fan-Tastic Tuesday: Pastel Colours
• Clear it Out: Anything Goes

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

Hand Stamped Flowerpot Card

Hello and happy Tuesday! Today, I have my inspiration card for the challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz. The theme this week is Gardening and the design team did a wonderful job turning this theme masculine. My Hand Stamped Flowerpot Card is a rarity for me, it's all hand stamped with NO patterned paper. I was afraid at first to use flowers on a masculine card but guys plant flowers, so I figured it should work. The idea was based off Flowerpot or Container Gardening. It's sad to admit that the Create a Garden stamp set by Rubbernecker has been in my stash for at least three years and this was the first time I inked it up. The sentiment stamp is called Every Season by Verve Stamps and was stamped using Memento black ink. The other ink colors are all by Stampin' Up! and include: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Tangelo Twist, Garden Green, Pistachio Pudding, Crushed Curry and Island Indigo. That's it!

We hope you are inspired to join us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz. Click here to go directly to the challenge. Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

My Hand Stamped Flowerpot Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Cards in Envy: When Nature Calls
• Addicted to Stamps: Flowers
• Life in Details: Flowers
• Suzy Bee's Bloomin': Anything Goes w/ Twist No Patterned Paper

Masculine Faux Patina Card

Greetings! I'm back today with another masculine card for Cardz 4 Guyz. This week the challenge is Something Faux/Let's Pretend. I used one of my favorite techniques called Faux Patina. Click here for a tutorial. I used the Argyle embossing folder by Stampin' Up! to create the background. The ink colors used are: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Pacific Point and Night of Navy. For the embossed patina, I used Champagne embossing powder by Stampendous!. Once the faux patina panel was complete, I matted it with white and then wrapped the turquoise twine. The panel was then adhered to a larger piece of Night of Navy and then adhered to a 4.25" x 5.5" Old Olive card. The sentiment is by Verve Stamps from the Kind Words stamp set. I used Night of Navy ink and then used a 2" circle punch. I matted the circle to a slightly larger Mossy Meadow scallop circle and adhered with dimensionals. That's it! If you've never tried this technique, I encourage you to give it a try. You will be glad you did!

Now, you should definitely check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team at Cardz 4 Guyz. We hope you will join us this week. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Masculine Faux Patina Card is entered into The Crazy Challenge for Embossing.

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

Handmade Anniversary Card

One of my coworkers asked me to make her a Handmade Anniversary Card to give her husband. I found this request to be quite challenging. The only detail she gave me was the color maroon, it was their wedding color. I started by searching for the right image and was delighted to find this Milk Shake image by Kenny K. I colored the image with Copic markers and a classic stampin' pad in Baja Breeze applied with a blender pen. The patterned papers are from my retired stash of Stampin' Up!. For the sentiment I used a stamp by Verve Stamps and used the scissors to cut the banner. The scalloped border is a die cut from the Adorning Accents Edgelits set by Stampin' Up! The layout isn't fancy but I really like the Baja Breeze and Bravo Burgundy colors together. I guess that about sums it up. Thanks for stopping by!

My Handmade Anniversary Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Party Time Tuesdays: Anything Goes
• Everybody-Art Challenge: Heart
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes
• My Craft Spot: Polka Dots

Monkey Business Challenge + DT Call*

Hello fellow card making enthusiasts! Today is the start of a theme challenge titled Monkey Business.  You may have guessed it, that means you need to use a monkey on your card. We have an amazing sponsor this week Bugaboo Digi Stamps and they are providing the winner with a very generous $21.00 gift certificate to their store.

 

If you're needing a monkey image to play along check out Bugaboo's wonderful monkey images. They have three pages to choose from.

 

My card features the Monkey Love - Big Heart image. When choosing this image I knew the challenge date would start on my sixteenth wedding anniversary, which is today. So, I made my hubby a card for our anniversary. I colored the image with my Copic markers and added a little Cherry Cobbler dazzling details by Stampin' Up! to the heart. The sentiment stamp is from Verve Stamps and the patterned papers are from The Paper Studio. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will play along with my Monkey Business Challenge!

 

 



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!!!

Entries not meeting the challenge theme and guidelines will be removed. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.

 

The challenge will run for 12 days, 9/27/2013 - 10/8/2013.

 

* DT Call- I'm looking for two card making enthusiasts to create inspirational cards for each challenge and to comment on challenge entries. If you're interested please put DT after your name when you link up your challenge entry. example- Andrea W- DT. Thanks!

Emerging Color Nature Card

Good evening! This afternoon I tried another new to me technique. It's a fun spin on the emboss resist technique called Emerging Color. One of the blogs I follow featured a card back in August (see it here) using this technique and I knew eventually I would have to try it. To simplify the explanation, here is a link to a tutorial by Splitcoaststampers. Emboss resist is one of my favorite techniques and the emerging color twist is really a lot of fun. The colors are from this weeks Hiding in My Craft Room challenge to use Always Artichoke, More Mustard/Crushed Curry and Cajun Craze. I hope you like my Emerging Color Nature Card and decided to give the technique a try. Let me know if you do, I would love to see what you create. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful night and pleasant tomorrow!

My Emerging Color Nature Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Sunday Sketch & Stamp: Sketch
• Hiding in My Craft Room: Colors 
• Shopping Our Stash: Favorite Stampy Technique
• LEJ Designs: Autumnal Colours
• Craft-room Challenge: Trees and/or Leaves

Emerging Color Nature Card Supplies*:

• Paper: Natural, Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze and Whisper White (stamped and inked panel) card stock and retired patterned paper from Orchard Harvest dsp.
• Stamps: Gently Falling stamp set by Stampin' Up! and sentiment stamp by Verve Stamps.
• Inks & Coloring: VersaMark stamp pad, clear emboss powder, classic stampin' pads in Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Early Espresso and More Mustard.
• Other Stuff: Heat Tool, retired brushed bronze button and recycled jute twine.

*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Kind Words Card

Good afternoon! I hope you are having a wonderful day. I spent some time in my craft room and made this Kind Words Card. The layout comes from this weeks sketch at Freshly Made Sketches by Lesley Croghan. I love the angled panel and had a lot of fun putting this card together. This card contains a couple of new supplies to my stash. The Venetian Romance patterned paper by Stampin' Up! and the sentiment stamp by Verve Stamps are part of my newest purchases. The colors in this Kind Words Card are:

• Island Indigo
• Crisp Cantaloupe
• Very Vanilla
• Soft Suede
• Pistachio Pudding

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

My Kind Words Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Freshly Made Sketches: Sketch
• Craft-Room Challenge: Something New
• Through the Craft Room Door: Anything Goes
• Our Creative Corner: Words, Words, Words

Kind Word Card Supplies*:

• Paper: Island Indigo, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla and Soft Suede card stock and Venetian Romance Designer Series Paper.
• Stamps: Kind Words stamp set by Verve Stamps and Flower Shop stamp set by Stampin' Up!.
• Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Soft Suede and Pistachio Pudding.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Pansy punch, champagne brad and stampin' dimensionals.

*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.