Autumn Newton Thankful Card

Hello and happy Wednesday! Last month Newton's Nook released a new stamp set called Autumn Newton and I decided it was purrfect for my Thanksgiving cards for family this year. The Newton's Nook design team did an amazing job with their inspirational designs, click HERE. I was inspired by all the inky backgrounds and really loved Maria Russell's design that you can check out HERE. Then Jennifer Jackson created two awesome cards for the Simon Says Stamp Blog that you can check out HERE.

With all this wonderful inspiration I was excited to make my own inky background with distress oxide inks. Colors include: Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Fossilized Amber and Vintage Photo. The colors were sponged onto mixed media paper, blended well and then sprayed with water. The heat gun was used to dry the water and set the ink. I let the panel dry overnight before cutting it to the right size. A Birch Tree die cut by Taylored Expressions was added and trimmed and then the panel was matted to Rich Razzleberry cardstock by Stampin' Up!. Next, the Newton image was colored with Copic markers and die cut with the coordinating die. Everything was adhered flat to the card for easy mailing. A few sequins were added for sparkle and that's it!

This Autumn Newton Thankful Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp: Stamp It!
• Little Red Wagon: Give Us Your Background
• Tuesday Throwdown: Punches and/or Dies
• Crafty Gals Corner: Favorite Colors (used favorite Fall colors)

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

Raccoon Rascals Kindness Card

Sometimes a project keeps getting pushed because of other priorities and this Raccoon Rascals Kindness Card is one of them. There is wildlife rescue and rehabilitation here in Oklahoma called Wild Heart Ranch and I follow them on Facebook. They do a wonderful job sharing their animal experiences and videos with their followers. Their work is inspiring and at times heart breaking! They recently rescued a raccoon from the side of the road and it had a broken jaw. The pictures were painful to look at and my heart hurt for the little raccoon. That's when I knew I needed to send them a card using the Raccoon Rascals stamp set from Newton's Nook.

To create this card I started with a piece of watercolor paper and sprayed some Mister Huey's color mists along with Tattered Angels glimmer mist. The sky was darkened with Broken China distress ink. Once dry the tree from the Stampin' Up! Lovely as a Tree stamp set was stamped using Memento black ink. Then the sentiment from the Thoughtful Branches stamp set by Stampin' Up! was heat embossed with white embossing powder. The image was colored with copic markers, fussy cut and adhered with dimensionals. A scalloped frame by Taylored Expressions was added along with a few punched stars. That's it!

This Raccoon Rascals Kindness Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Color Inspiration: Hand Colored Image
• Cards in Envy: Thank You
• Sunny Day Crafting: Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes

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

Embossed Tree Christmas Card

Hello and Happy Tuesday! It's time for another challenge at Tuesday Throwdown and this week... It's All About the Words. Our sponsor is Craft Classes Online, they offer an array of different crafty classes. I can't wait to see how you interpret this theme. You have until mid-day on Monday, November 14th to link your creation. Click here for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. I sure hope you will play along!

This tree stamp by Inkadinkado was the first thing that came to mind when I read the challenge theme. Then I found the Merry Christmas word paper by Pebbles and thought it would work too, so I used both. The tree was heat embossed with Emerald PEARLustre and silver glitter powder on the star both by Stampendous. A simple layout and three silver sequins finished the card. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Embossed Tree Christmas Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Craftyhazelnut's Christmas: Anything Goes
• Fashionable Stamping: Trees
• Cupcake Inspirations: Trees

Penguin Christmas Cards

There are still several Christmas in July challenges going on right now, so I've made another Christmas card. This time I've used one of my favorite penguin images by Bugaboo called Little Penguin Winter - Decorate Tree. The image was colored with Copic markers and then die cut using a stitched rectangle die by Lil' Inkers. To play along with day 4 of Bugaboo's Christmas in July Bingo Challenge I selected the middle row across, which includes: Sparkly, Bugaboo image and Lime Green. The layout for this Penguin Christmas Card is from this weeks sketch #360 at Tuesday Morning Sketches designed by Jessi Fogan. I love using tilted panels and this one worked perfectly with the image. For the patterned papers I used a stripe by Doodlebug Designs and Shiny Trees by Recollections from their Jingle Bells paper pad. Instead of using buttons as the sketch suggested I made three circle embellishments with little round die cuts and lime green sparkly stickers by Jolee's. The last addition was the Merry Christmas sentiment from the retired Good Greetings stamp set by Stampin' Up!. That's it!

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

This card is entered into the following challenges:

• Catch The Bug: Bingo
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch #360
• Cardz 4 Guyz: Christmas in July

Strong Tree Sympathy Card

This Strong Tree Sympathy Card is being sent to a relative who is a teenage boy. His mother, my aunt, passed away this week and I wanted to make both of her children their own cards. I have to admit this card was a challenge for me because I have no idea what teenage boys like, so to play it safe I went with the Strong Tree image from the Lovely as a Tree stamp set and the sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set both by Stampin' Up!. The layout is from a sketch by Freshly Made Sketches (FMS108) that I saved from 2013. All patterned papers are by The Paper Loft. It's simple, it's masculine and it came from the heart.  

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!!!

Merry Little Wish Card

Christmas??? Well, there are several Christmas challenges right now and I do tend to procrastinate, so I made a Christmas card in May. Why not! This Merry Little Wish Card was made using this weeks sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches. I love the simplicity!  I'm also entering this card in the following challenges: ABC Christmas (K is for Keep it Simple) and Crafting By Designs (Get Ready for Christmas).

Most of the supplies for this card are by Stampin' Up! Here is the list:

• Paper: Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe and Cherry Cobbler cardstock. Patterned paper from the retired Trim The Tree paper stack. 
• Stamps: Festival of Trees stamp set.
• Inks: Classic Stampin' pads in Garden Green and Crisp Cantaloupe. Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write marker.
• Other Stuff: Spellbinders scalloped oval die, Tree punch, small rhinestones, Crisp Cantaloupe thick twine, Blushing Bride rosette from Artisan embellishment kit and dimensionals.

Blue Christmas Card

What's your favorite Christmas color scheme? Do you like the traditional red and green or do you prefer something non-traditional? This week the challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz is to create a masculine Christmas card using your favorite Christmas colors.

When I started thinking about my favorite Christmas colors, well I found it hard to pick. Through the years it's changed many times. To decorate our Christmas tree I've used: Gold/Silver/White, Purple/Silver/White and our tree now has ornaments of all colors. Since the card is for a guy, I decided to ask the hubby for his input and Blue/Silver/White was the winner.

The layout for this card is simple and one I use a lot. To fit the tree image by Inkadinkado, I made a larger card. The finished size is 6" x 4.5". The blue snowflake patterned paper is by The Paper Studio and the glitter polka dot paper is by Best Creation Inc. The tree image was heat embossed using VersaMark and silver embossing powder. I used an EK Success snowflake edge punch and used some blue rhinestones for detail. It didn't turn out ruggedly manly but the hubby said it would work for a guy, so I believe him.

We would love for you to join us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz! Click here to check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

My Blue Christmas Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Robyn's Fetish: Anything Goes
• Paper Creator's Crafts: All About Christmas
• My Perfect Life: Any Christmas Card

Holiday Home Card for The Paper Players

Happy Sunday! I'm getting close to the end of my guest designer spot at The Paper Players. It's been an honor to be featured alongside these super talented ladies! There is a definite feeling of sadness that it's coming to an end. So, I hope you will celebrate the last couple of weeks with me and share one of your creations at The Paper Players. This week the wonderful Jaydee has a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge for us. I always enjoy a good Tic-Tac-Toe challenge and I'm sure you will too. To play along choose any three items across, down or diagonally.

Here are your choices:

My design started with the idea of a starry night Christmas card. When I read the choices the star was the first thing I gravitated to, but I ended up choosing the Tree going diagonally with Embossing and Glitter. I could have also used the bottom across with Star, Die Cut and Glitter but I just fussy-cut the house instead of using the coordinating framelits. To create the stars I used the decorative mask and applied VersaMark ink and then heat embossed using clear embossing powder. Then I sponged on Soft Sky, Lost Lagoon and Night of Navy inks. To add the glitter I used a VersaMark pen and went over the stars, applied the glitter and then heat set. I did the same with the trees, first I stamped them then used the VersaMark pen and dipped them in the glitter and then heat set. The card really has a lot of shimmer that the picture doesn't show. The Peace & Joy sentiment from the Good Greeting set was stamped in black Memento ink. From the Holiday Home stamp set Santa and his reindeer and the house were stamped with black Memento ink. Then I colored the house with my Copic markers, fussy-cut and adhered with dimensionals. That pretty much sums it up!

Now, you should definitely check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team at The Paper Players. Then, play along! You have until NOON (PST) on Friday, December 5th to link your creation in the gallery. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!                 

Masculine Give Thanks Card

Fall colors are wonderful to create masculine cards. So, take advantage of the season and join us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz for our theme Thanksgiving/Thankful. For my card I chose to use the Lovely as a Tree stamp set by Stampin' Up! It truly is a classic and perfect for masculine cards. I used the rock-n-roll technique for the leaves of the tree using More Mustard and Cajun Craze inks. The patterned papers are from the Sweater Weather collection by DCWV. I dug through my punches and found the leaf punch from Creative Memories. I added a touch of Frayed Burlap distress ink onto the leaves to darken the edges. The final details were adding the three Candy Dots and the Give Thanks sentiment from the Stampin' Up! hostess/freebie set called Good Greetings. The sentiment was punched using the word window punch and layered onto the modern label punch both by Stampin' Up! I kept the layout simple and let the paper and colors do all the work.

To check out the inspiration from my fellow designers at Cardz 4 Guyz, just CLICK HERE. I hope to see your card in the gallery. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

I'm entering my card in the fall photo challenge at {PIN}spirational. 

Merry Little Christmas Card for The Paper Players

Hello friends! It's beginning to sink in that Christmas will be here shortly. There is only six weekends left to get all the shopping done. In the past I would be done with my shopping before Thanksgiving, however in recent years I've waited to the last weekend and knocked it out in a day. This year I started early but I definitely won't be done by Thanksgiving. I would love to hear your approach to Christmas gift shopping!

When it comes to card giving at Christmas I only make handmade Christmas cards for immediate family. I give the card to them with their gifts. I love seeing their faces when they open their cards. For the rest of my family and friends I'm still mailing my stash of store bought cards. For years before I started making handmade cards I loved to buy boxes of cards at after Christmas sales. Needless to say, I still have years worth of cards.

Okay, enough of my rambling! Today is the start of a cozy color challenge hosted by Sandy at The Paper Players. The colors are perfect for a Christmas card. I used the new Festival of Trees stamp set and Tree Punch by Stampin' Up! The Cherry Cobbler colored background dsp is from the Festival of Prints paper stack from 2012 and the Mossy Meadow  paper is from the current All Abloom paper stack. I added silver heat embossing to trim the tree along with three clear rhinestone basic gems and a clear star. Then I adhered the focal panel to a scalloped circle created using a die by Spellbinders. Lastly, I punched and adhered the sentiment. That's it! We sure hope you will join us this week. For more inspiration from The Paper Players make sure to visit their blogs. To enter your card in the challenge you have until Friday, November 14th at NOON (PST). Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Fall Tree Sympathy Card

Good afternoon! I hope your week is going well. Mine has been pretty calm and quiet. Earlier today I decided to play around with the Mojo Monday sketch and this Fall Tree Sympathy Card is what I created. I'm hoping I won't need it anytime soon but it can be hard to make a sympathy card when the time comes.

All supplies except the gold brads are by Stampin' Up! Here is the list:

• Paper: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler cardstock. Patterned paper from the Motley Monsters dsp (woodgrain) and retired Sweet Sorbet dsp.
• Stamps: Lovely as a Tree and  retired Simply Sketched (sentiment).
• Inks: Classic Stampin' Pad in Summer Starfruit and Sahara Sand and Stampin' Write Markers in Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso.
• Other Stuff: Oval punch, scallop oval punch, paper snips, gold brads and stampin' dimensionals.

This card is entered into the following challenges:

• Mojo Monday: Sketch
• Paperminutes: Colors of Autumn
• Oldie But A Goodie: Autumn (sentiment stamp and gold brads)

Hello Fall Card for The Paper Players

Howdy! It's Sunday again and time for another wonderful challenge from The Paper Players. This week Ann is hostess and has selected fall as the theme! Happy Fall Y'all! is the title and I am certainly ready for fall to arrive. My card has a little bit of everything in it. I've used brand new, current and retired Stampin' Up! products to create this Hello Fall Card. The last couple of weeks I've loved the negative space designs from the design team and participants, so I decided to create my own. I searched for colorful sunsets and found a lovely photo (see below) that inspired the focal image. To create the focal design I used watercolor paper and the current Lovely As a Tree stamp set. Using StazOn ink in Timber Brown I stamped the trees and then used my Aqua Painters and classic stampin' pads to add color. I decided to use the retired Natural Composition woodgrain paper to frame the image. To create the whitewash look, I used Craft Stampin' ink and sponged it all over the paper. Then using a cloth to wipe the ink from the glossy areas. The leaves were stamped using the retired Gently Falling stamp set, this set is one of my all time favorites. I used the rock-n-roll technique to give the leaves a shaded look. To finish the card I added the sentiment from the new For All Things stamp set, an antique brad and some natural jute twine. I really enjoyed making this card and I hope it helps inspire you to play along at The Paper Players fall theme challenge. I'm submitting my card at this weeks Leaves challenge at Just Us Girls.

The design team really went all out this week and have created some marvelous inspiration. Click here to check out their designs. You have until NOON (PST) on Friday, Sept. 12th to participate in the challenge. I hope to see your card in the gallery! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Photo by: Marcia Breznay

Spooky Sky Halloween Card

The creepy tree in this card was just begging for a spooky sky. I couldn't resist trying to make a few ominous looking clouds and moon by doing some sponging. I started with a white piece of cardstock and stamped the tree with StazOn Jet Black, then I sponged on Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie, and Summer Starfruit to create the scene. I used punched pieces as masks to create the sky (punches used were various size circle scallops and the pansy punch). The layout for this Spooky Sky Halloween Card is from Freshly Made Sketches. I love the clean lines of this sketch created by Narelle Farrugia. The designer paper is from the Witches' Brew collection by Stampin' Up! and I used the Chevron embossing folder and then sanded the Black Magic cardstock by Core'dinations. I used deckle scissors by Fiskars for the decorative edge on the black patterned paper. It adds a little interest but still allows for a clean look paired with the white paper. Thanks for stopping by and have a great night and pleasant tomorrow!

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

• Freshly Made Sketches: Sketch
• By LORi Designs: Color (Black, Orange + Your Choice)
• Papercraft Star: Photo Inspiration

Oh Happy Day Card!

Happy Earth Day! My plan for this afternoon is to plant a few flowers in my front yard to make things a little prettier. I can't go too crazy planting just yet, we have a cold snap in the forecast for later this week. The card I'm sharing with you today was made from a recycled/re-purposed coffee sack from The Fresh Market. Not only did the sack make a pretty card but it smells yummy. This Oh Happy Day Card is nature inspired and features one of my favorite animals, the rabbit. We have cottontails in our area, so I added a little cotton to the punched little rabbits tails. The tree image by Hampton Art was heat embossed with Gumball Green and Early Espresso embossing powders by Stampin' Up! and I did a little sponging with light blue to create the sky. For the finishing touches I added a yellow embosslit butterfly and some natural twine. Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

 

My Oh Happy Day Card is entered into the following challenges:

• 4 Crafty Chicks: Trees
• Three Scrappy Gals: Earth/Nature/Recycling
• 'ABC' Challenges: Recycle
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes

The Fresh Market Coffee Sack

 

Silver Christmas Tree Card

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, how pretty you look in silver! This Silver Christmas Tree Card was made using a sketch from The Paper Players weekly challenge. I was inspired by Ann Schach's beautiful Christmas Tree card. I love the colours she used and all the pretty pearls. My card looks completely different. I went with a non-traditional Christmas black and white colour scheme with silver accents. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Silver Christmas Tree Card Supplies:

• Paper: Black folded card and white card stock by Recollections, patterned paper by DCWV (The Glitter Stack, PS-005-00138), and silver Pearlescent card stock by Wausau Paper.
• Stamps: Christmas Tree by Inkadinkado (60-00342) and Happy Holidays sentiment by Stampabilities.
• Inks & Colouring: VersaMark stamp pad and Zing! silver embossing powder.
• Other Stuff: Edgelits and jewel rhinestones both by Stampin' Up!

This card is linked to the following challenges:

1. The Paper Players: Sketch challenge
2. Robyn's Fetish: Black, White, and one other colour
3. Dream Valley Challenges: Non-Traditional Christmas

Christmas Tree Card

Happy Wednesday! The card I have for you today is what I would consider a quick and easy Christmas card. Some patterned paper, a little heat embossing, a few die cuts, a couple of punches, add a little bling, and a simple Christmas Tree Card is done. I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

1.  Use Your Stuff: Stripes challenge

2.  Christmas Card Challenges: Include a star challenge

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I hope you will come back tomorrow to celebrate my six month blogiversary! I will have blog candy to give away and a Halloween linky party. Have a great day!

Autumn Greetings Card

There are twenty days until the first day of Autumn, hooray! When I read this weeks theme challenge at The Paper Players: Leaves are Falling, I couldn't wait to play along!!! The tree stamp by Inkadinkado was calling to be used so, I took out my embossing powders and created this Autumn Greetings Card. There are five different colours of embossing powder used and a little distressing ink along the edges of the vanilla paper to blend with the background papers. Oh, how I love fall! Thanks for visiting my blog and have a great day.

Autumn Greetings Card Supplies: Green folded card by Recollections, Harvest patterned paper by Reminisce, Decaf Vintage DOUBLEDOT paper by Bo Bunny (I sponged on walnut stain distress ink by Ranger to make the paper darker), Very Vanilla card stock by Stampin' Up! (edges sponged with antique linen distress ink by Ranger), Dark Brown card stock, Fall Fields clear stamp set (60-30183) and Autumn Foliage clear stamp set (98549) both by Inkadinkado, VersaMark watermark stamp pad, Emerald green Pearl, Jade Pearl and Detail Gold Opaque embossing powders by Stampendous!, Chestnut Opaque embossing powder by Zing!, Copper Detail embossing powder by Recollections, EK Success Fall Leaf layer punch (54-90003), small leaf punch by Creative Memories, brown rhinestones by Recollections, and stampin' dimensionals.

 

This card is also linked to:

• Make It Monday: Anything goes