Ginger Kitty Thanks Card - TMS #516

Welcome back! It's time for the start of another sketch this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches and this weeks sketch is designed by me. I would love for you to play along! As always, the design team has created some wonderful inspiration. To play along just make a card using the sketch and link back to the challenge by 8 pm EST on Sunday. All the challenge details can be found HERE. I hope to see your card in the gallery!

To make this Ginger Kitty Thanks Card I used a stamp set by Unity Stamps called Cat's Meow. Copic markers were used to color the image. I colored the kitty to look like one of the rescued cats at a local shelter called Animal Aid of Tulsa. They are dedicated to helping sick, injured and abused stray dogs and cats in the Tulsa area. Next time I take them a donation I'll include this card. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Dream Valley: Hand Coloured Image
• QKR Stampede: Anything Goes
• Show Us Your Pussies: Furrything Goes

Sketch #516:

Fall Thanks Card

There are numerous reasons to send thank you cards and with Fall quickly arriving I wanted to make a Fall Thanks Card. All supplies used on this card are by Stampin' Up!. The supplies used are a mix of current and retired. Retired supplies include: pumpkin stamp from the retired Fall Fest stamp set, thanks sentiment from Watercolor Wishes, Hello Honey ink pad, candy dots and sequins. Current supplies include: Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry and Early Espresso cardstock, Painted Autumn dsp, Falling Flowers stamp set, May Flowers framelits, Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze ink pads and Early Espresso marker. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.


This card is entered into the following challenges:

• SU! Only: Autumn Colors!
• Craftaholics R Us: Pumpkins
• Use Your Stuff: Fall is in the Air

Cute Bunny Thanks Card

Hello and happy Thursday! Today I'm sharing this Cute Bunny Thanks Card that I made for the post-op nurse who helped me after my surgery. The bunny image is by Unity Stamps from the Patience & Hugs stamp set and the sentiment is from the Newton's Sick Day stamp set by Newton's Nook. All patterned paper is from the Simple Stories Life In Color paper pad. A little twine was added for detail and that's it.

This card is entered into the following challenges: Cute Card Thursday (Too Cute), Crafty Creations (Anything Goes) and Crafty Gals Corner (Anything Goes).

Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for stopping by!

Masculine Thanks Card

Hello! Tomorrow I have my follow-up appointment with my surgeon, so I made him this Masculine Thanks Card. Blue is the hospital colors and a nice manly color which works well in a monochrome color scheme. I used Night of Navy cardstock by Stampin' Up! and a bright blue from Core'dinations. The background was watercolored using Higgins blue watercolor ink and watercolor paper.  The top is a die called Glass Effects by Spellbinders and the thanks die is by Stampin' Up! Three glimmer stickers by Sticko were added for some extra interest and that's it!

I really like the Glass Effects die for masculine cards. The abstract look is fun and this card was pretty easy to make. It's sad that I've had this die for two years and this is only the second time I've used it. Click HERE to see the first card. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Masculine Thanks Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Watercolor Wednesday: Masculine Anything Goes
• Love to Create: Anything Creative/Mixed Media
• Let's Craft and Create: Hey Dude
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes

Owl Thanks Card

Good day! I have a quick post to share this Owl Thanks Card I made for the current Inky Paws Challenge. It's a sketch challenge and the hours to play along are counting down. The stamp set used is called What a Hoot and it has coordinating dies which makes cutting the images super easy. This card was made for Wild Heart Ranch, a local animal rescue and rehabilitation group in Northeastern Oklahoma. They do an amazing job and right now they have a lot of baby owls in their care.

I wanted the card to have a natural look, so I dug through my paper scraps and found the perfect patterned papers. The owls were colored with Copic markers and then die cut with their coordinating dies. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'm also entering it into the Wings Challenge at Cut It Up. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Colorful Plaid Thanks Card

Happy Tuesday! It's time for a new challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week we want to see Something Clear on your creations. Our sponsor this week is Honey Bee Stamps! You can check out their wonderful stamps, dies and embellishments right HERE. The design team has created a variety of inspiration and you can see it along with all the challenge details HERE. I can't wait to see what you create.

Clear embossing powder was used on the row of hearts on this Colorful Plaid Thanks Card. Besides some clear epoxy stickers it's about all I had in my stash. The stamp set is called For Being You and it's a retired Sale-A-Bration set by Stampin' Up!. The plaid paper is by Lawn Fawn and it covers the entire front of the card. For detail some purple twine from The Twinery and three sequins finished the card. That's it! Wishing you a crafty day!

Nurse Bunny Thanks Card

Last October I started having trouble with my gallbladder. It seems I had developed gallstones and occasionally they would get lodged in the bile duct and it was really painful. After trying natural remedies with no success in eliminating the gallstones the choice was surgery. I'm not a fan of surgery but the pain was unbearable, so last week I had an outpatient surgery to remove my gallbladder. My follow-up appointment is today and I'm dropping this Nurse Bunny Thanks Card off at the nurse's desk at the hospital. They may not remember me but I figure the gesture will be appreciated.

To create this card I used the current sketch from Stella Says Sketch #410 at the Catch The Bug Challenge. The image is called Nurse Bunny by Bugaboo Digi Stamps and it was colored with Copic markers. Using a stitched circle die by My Favorite Things the image was die cut and then matted to  a scalloped  circle die cut by Spellbinders. All patterned paper is from the Cedar Lane collection by Pink Paislee. The Thanks sentiment, twine and sequins are all from Stampin' Up! and that sums it up. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Nurse Bunny Thanks Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Catch The Bug: Stella Says Sketch #410
• 4 Crafty Chicks: Anything Goes
• Crafty Gals: Anything Goes
• Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes
• Crafty Sentiments Designs: Anything Goes

Card for Feline Veterinarian

Last week we had to take our oldest kitty to the vet because she was limping. The vet did x-rays and thankfully nothing was broken, however she has arthritis in her front legs and one joint that has too much space. Unfortunately the joint issue my cause chronic pain. We have altered our house to minimize her jumping opportunities but there is no way to eliminate it completely. She is doing better this week and I bought her a new comfy bed for the floor. Although she has yet to lay on her new bed I'm sure eventually she'll give it a try.

To show our appreciation for our feline veterinarian I made this card using Newton's Sick Day stamp set. Newton's Inky Paws Challenge #32 is to use an arrow. As luck would have it I recently purchased some patterned paper by Pink Paislee that has arrows, yeah! Then I die cut two small arrows and positioned them on either side of the focal area. The layout is from Try Stampin' On Tuesday and it worked well with the image and sentiment. I'm also entering this card into the Show Us Your Pussies Challenge #7. Thank for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Scalloped Thanks Card

Hello! I hope you're having a lovely day and thanks for stopping by my blog. Today I'm sharing a quick post for a casual card I made using a die cut called Thanks Scallop Border from Simon Says Stamp. The colors selected came from this weeks challenge at Color Throwdown (CTD386) and I've inlaid the word thanks to play along at Addicted to CAS. Using a piece of scrap black patterned paper on the bottom of the card helps to pull your eye to the focal area. I would also like to enter this card into the anything goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp. Enjoy the rest of your day! 

Coffee Thanks Card

Let's talk coffee!!! It is my go to fix for caffeine and I like it dark and bold. I usually buy whole bean coffee because I love grinding coffee beans. The aroma of fresh ground beans is a wonderful part of the coffee experience. In my book coffee makes the perfect gift. It could be a bag of coffee, a gift card for coffee or anything coffee related (craft supplies included). Now I have a lovely Coffee Thanks Card just waiting for the next coffee gift received.

I made this coffee card to play along with the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. The layout is casual and I got a little grungy but I really like how it turned out. I hope you like it too. This card is also linked to the Simon Says Stamp Food and Drink challenge.

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

Coffee Thanks Card supplies:

• Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso and Delightful Dijon by Stampin' Up! Patterned paper from Sunshine paper pad by MME.
• Stamps: Coffee Cup by Studio G, Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and Thanks stamp both by Stampin' Up!
• Inks: Crumb Cake and Early Espresso.
• Other Stuff: Circle stitched die by My Favorite Things, linen thread and candy dots by Stampin' Up!

Die Cut Thanks Card

Last September I was a guest designer at Cardz 4 Guyz and then joined their team. I have really enjoyed my time as part of the team but today is my last post as a designer at Cardz 4 Guyz. I have the honor of being hostess for my last challenge and the theme is a color challenge to use Brown and Orange. I would love for you to join us to celebrate my last challenge!!!

To create this Die Cut Thanks Card I used a Spellbinders die called Glass Effects with Early Espresso cardstock. The fun background was made using watercolor paper and alcohol inks. First I cut the watercolor paper to the desired size. Then using a spray bottle I coated the paper liberally with water and then randomly dropped Sunset Orange Adirondack ink by Tim Holtz. The process was repeated as needed. I let the inked panel dry thoroughly before adhering the die cut panel. For the sentiment strip I matted a piece of Whisper White cardstock onto a slightly larger Tangelo Twist cardstock and adhered the die cut Thanks sentiment by Stampin' Up! to the center. To finish the card I added three dot pastel stickers by EK Success/Sticko. I think it turned out pretty cool and I hope you agree.

Don't forget to CLICK HERE to view the wonderful inspiration from the team. We would love to see your card in the gallery this week. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Red Flower Thanks Card

Okay, I'm running out of creative names for my blog post titles. So here it is a Red Flower Thanks Card. I made this card using the colors from The Paper Players challenge to use Real Red, Pool Party and Island Indigo. The layout is from the lunchtime sketch TSSC365 at Technostamper and I'm also entering this card into the Craft Your Passion anything goes challenge. Most of the supplies for this card are by Stampin' Up! except for the Dot Fade stencil by Tim Holtz. Here is the supply list: Base card in Pool Party, Whisper White, Island Indigo and Pool Party cardstock, stampin' pads in Pool Party, Island Indigo and Real Red. Petal Potpourri, Another Thank You and Bohemian Borders stamp sets. The Flower Medallion punch and a sponge dauber. That's it! I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!!!

Celebrating 700 Posts!

Hello! This post brings my published post total at Savvy Handmade Cards to 700!!! It's really exciting to see how quickly they add up. I started this blog on March 13, 2012 and HERE is my first post. At the time I had NO idea there were card challenges and I had never heard of Stampin' Up!, my how things have changed. I'm happy to be supported by 147 followers and over 217,000 page views. To share my creativity helps fill a big space in my life and I appreciate all the support. In celebration of 700 posts I am giving away some blog candy with a selection of Stampin' Up! supplies (see below photo). To win you need to comment on this post, the winner will be picked at random and announced at the end of June 2015.

The Thanks Card I'm sharing today was made using the sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches. All supplies for this card are by Stampin' Up! and here is the list:

• Paper: Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Soft Suede and Soft Sky cardstock. Patterned paper from the Cherry on Top paper stack and retired Subtles paper stack.
• Stamps: Sprinkles of Life, Petite Petals and Another Thank You.
• Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Soft Suede, Garden Green, Watermelon Wonder, Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi and Lost Lagoon.
• Other Stuff: Tree Builder punch, Bird Builder punch, Petite Petals punch, basic pearls and stampin' dimensionals. 

Here is the blog candy:

12 sheets cardstock (2 each color), Cherry on Top paper stack and Watermelon Wonder dotted lace trim.

I'm entering this Thanks Card into the following challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch
• Cute Card Thursday: Summer Colours!
• Aud Sentiments: Bingo + Sentiment (middle row across)
• Sister Act: Anything Goes

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

Thanks Card for PP240

Good evening! I have a quick late night post to share a card I made for The Paper Players Colour Challenge (PP240). The colours are: Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush and Pistachio Pudding. These colours are very pretty together but I wanted to tone down the overall brightness. To accomplish this I used Very Vanilla cardstock and paired it with patterned paper from the Afternoon Picnic dsp. The design was cased from a card I found in the Occassions Catalog on page 23. Using the Flower Medallion punch with Typeset dsp created the decorative center design. To make the punched pieces stand out more, I used a Basic Black Stampin' Write marker along the edges before adhering them to the card. The flower is from the Flower Shop stamp set and was stamped using Strawberry Slush ink onto Very Vanilla cardstock. Using the Bird Builder punch and Pistachio Pudding cardstock, I punched three small leaves (branches). The Thanks sentiment is from the Another Thank You set and the final touch was adding three Coastal Cabana sequins. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day. 

Birds on a Wire Card

Good afternoon! It's been crazy around my house lately and I haven't had time to spend in my craft room. However, I couldn't let the Feathered Friends CAS challenge at The Paper Players expire without playing along. I love birds! More specifically, I love yellow birds. Several years ago for Valentine's Day my hubby bought me a pole and several feeders to attract the American Goldfinch. Since then, my backyard birds have been spoiled. The birds also entertain the cats while we are at work. So, it's a winning situation.

When creating my card I used the Goldfinch as my inspiration. Using Crushed Curry cardstock and a new die cut from In'spire by Spellbinders called Birds on a Wire. The background paper is from the Best Year Ever dsp available in the Sale-A-Bration catalog by Stampin' Up!. I matted the patterned paper to Coastal Cabana cardstock and heat embossed the thanks sentiment from the Another Thank You stamp set in Silver. The final touch was adding three silver sequins. Does it look like the birds are watching the snow fall? It recently snowed here in Oklahoma and that's what I pictured when I selected the patterned paper. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Birds on a Wire Card is entered into the following challenges:

• The Paper Players: Casual Feathered Friends 
• 4 Crafty Chicks: Things with Wings
• C.R.A.F.T.: Clean and Simple

Bloom for You Thanks Card

My new favorite Stampin' Up! color is Blackberry Bliss and it looks beautiful paired with Old Olive or Mossy Meadow. This Bloom for You Thanks Card is a combination of two cards I recently made, you can see them here and here. It seems I have a habit of using what is on my craft desk. Right now I really love the subtle polka dot patterned paper from the retired Watercolor Wonder dsp. Another new favorite of mine is the Thanks sentiment from the Another Thank You stamp set. The leaves and butterfly were stamped using the Kinda Eclectic stamp set. Before I chose the accent color for the butterfly and embossed strip, I played around with three different colors, Coastal Cabana, Soft Sky and Pool Party. It was Pool Party that had the right color tone to go along with the other colors. This card was pretty easy to make and I can see it working with many different color combinations. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

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

• Suzy Bee's: Anything Goes w/ optional Spots or Dots
• Sister Act: Anything Goes
• Crafty Girls: Anything Goes
• Creative Corner: Favorite Color Combo 

Noble Deer Thanks Card

Oh boy! Cardz 4 Guyz has a NO Patterned Paper challenge this week and for me, it was a challenge. We all have our favorite things to use and mine is patterned paper. So, when I sat down to create a card without it, I decided to do a little water-coloring. Searching through my stash I noticed there were zero masculine thanks cards. So I decided that's what I would make. Using the retired Noble Deer for the focal image it was stamped using StazOn Timber Brown ink and then I used my Aqua Painters and classic stampin' pads to add color. Ink colors used include: Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake and Baked Brown Sugar all by Stampin' Up!. The card base is made from kraft cardstock. Then I trimmed a piece of Pear Pizzazz cardstock the same size as the front of the card. To make it smaller and to give it a decorative edge, I used a pair of Fiskars Deckle scissors. To darken the edges I used Walnut Stain Distress Ink by Tim Holtz. The next step was adhering the focal image and twine and adhering the panel to the card. Instead of stamping a sentiment I decided to use my Cricut machine to create the layered Thanks and that completed this Noble Deer Thanks Card.  We would love for you to play along at Cardz 4 Guyz! For more inspiration click here to see what the design team is sharing. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Noble Deer Thanks Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Just Us Girls: Water-Coloring
• Cards in Envy: EnTWINEd
• Animal Friends: Use an Animal

Blended Bloom Thanks Card

This evening the hubby is working late, so I decided to play in my craft room. While looking at cards this afternoon I found a new to me SU-Only Challenge. The current challenge is to use embellishments. Keeping this in mind I decided to make another Blended Bloom Card to use my recently purchased Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities markers. The image created by the Blended Bloom stamp is a lot of fun to color. Eventually, I will probably create a bloom in every marker color.  All the supplies for this card are by Stampin' Up! and all expect the patterned paper are current products. The stamps sets used are: Kinda Eclectic, Another Thank You, and the Blended Bloom. The leaves were stamped using the rock-n-roll technique using Old Olive and Mossy Meadow stampin' pads. I wanted a little pop of color so I added the Itty Bitty Butterfly in Pool Party with three Rhinestone Basic Jewels. Then I scattered three additional rhinestones around the image and sentiment. That's it! I hope you like it and thanks for stopping by!

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!

Tangerine Tango Floral Thanks Card

It's way past my bedtime but once I got started I had to finish my card. This Tangerine Tango Floral Thanks Card was made using the Summer Sketch from Create with Connie & Mary. The angles on the sketch were a lot of fun to work with! I didn't do any fancy embellishing, it's just simple and clean. All supplies are by Stampin' Up! Here is the supply list:

• Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White and Garden Green cardstock, Flowerpot dsp and a long retired Blushing Bride dsp.
• Stamps: Another Thank You stamp set and the discontinued Simple Stems stamp set.
• Inks: Night of Navy and Tangerine Tango.
• Other Stuff: Fancy Fan embossing folder, Crushed Curry twine, one lonely candy dot and dimensionals.

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