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!

Photo Challenge Winner

Good morning! Thanks to everyone who played along with my photo inspiration challenge. It was a pleasure to visit each blog and admire your beautiful creations. The Photo Challenge Winner is...

Jessi Fogan of OneCraftyMama

 

 

Jessi's card is truly stunning! I love how she incorporated the colors from the photo into the Faux Patina technique. Just gorgeous!

 

Come back tomorrow for a fun theme challenge with our amazing sponsor Bugaboo Digi Stamps  Yay, I can't wait!! Have a wonderful day. 

Spooky Tree Halloween Card

Halloween is a little over a month away! That means I better start making my Halloween Cards. I couldn't think of a better time to start than right now. I found a couple of challenges where I could play along. "ABC' Challenges is having a Tic Tac Toe challenge and I'm using the top row across for my selections. The challenge this week at Use it Tuesday is to use two hoarded supplies. This Spooky Tree Halloween Card was made using patterned papers from the Wicked Fun dsp by Stampin' Up! from a couple of years ago. I've been hoarding this paper because I really love the colors. The second hoarded supply is my black/white twine, I don't know why I hoard it when I can always buy more, but I do.

The main image in this Spooky Tree Halloween Card is from the Best of Halloween stamp set (134381) by Stampin' Up!. I added some black Stickles to the stripes of the patterned paper to add extra texture and sparkle to the card. After I first applied it, I was a little worried that I made the wrong choice. After it dried I was happy with the way it turned out. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

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

• 'ABC' Challenges: Tic Tac Toe
• Use it Tuesday: Use Two Hoarded Items
• Make My Monday: Flowers or Trees
• 613 Avenue Create: Anything Goes
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes

Gently Falling Grateful Card

I'm super happy that Autumn has arrived. It's been a little cooler the last couple of days but I'm still waiting for that "big" cool down to hit Oklahoma. Hopefully this year we will have some pretty Autumn color when the leaves turn. It's really hit or miss in our area but one thing is for sure, the leaves in my craftroom have already turned. This Gently Falling Grateful Card features a golden Maple leaf and a burnt orange Oak leaf. I used the rock-n-roll technique with the Gently Falling stamp set by Stampin' Up! to create the leaves and then I fussy-cut them. The layout for this card comes from this weeks sketch at The Paper Players created by Sandy Mathis. When choosing the colors for this card, I was inspired by the color inspiration photo challenge at the Love to Create challenge blog. The final challenge I considered when creating this Gently Falling Grateful Card was the Fashionable Stamping Challenge to use Autumn Colors. The twine and candy dots were the final touches to this card and now I have one more completed Thanksgiving card. Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!

Gently Falling Grateful Card Supplies*:

• Paper: Crushed Curry, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla cardstock, sandable cardstock by Core'dinations in Brownie, and Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper.
• Stamps: Gently Falling and Truly Grateful stamp sets.
• Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Crushed Curry, More Mustard, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Baked Brown Sugar, and Chocolate Chip.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, Pretty Print embossing folder, sanding block, Adorning Accents edgelit, yellow twine by Doodlebug Design, and chocolate chip candy dots.  

*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Holland Lop Thanks Card

Some of my favorite cards are made with a specific purpose/reason. This Holland Lop Thanks Card was made for a very cute reason. On Monday I came home a little earlier than usual and I checked my back porch as I always do. I feed my backyard cottontails, squirrels, and birds some seed on my back porch. I'm always looking back there to see what is eating and on Monday I saw a furry little body that wasn't a cottontail. I got closer and noticed it was a juvenile Holland Lop rabbit. Well as luck would have it I had some rabbit food that I recently bought so, I took some outside and watched this little rabbit eat like it was starving. I decided to call my dad because I wasn't sure if I should catch it or leave it. He told me to catch it and I did. The poor little thing was really skinny and pretty weak. I knew I couldn't keep it but I wanted it to have a good home so once again I call my parents. They live in the country and have a rabbit hutch and they agreed to keep it. I kept it overnight and then met my parents the next evening. Now the rabbit, which I named Snickers, has a good home and I can see it when I visit my parents. It's funny because I'm pretty sure my mom thought after I moved out of the house I would stop bringing home stray animals to their house, but so far that hasn't stopped me.


Snickers

To make this card I searched several different digital stamp websites until I found this Holland Lop wabbit image from Doodle Pantry.  It's so cute and fit the theme of my card perfectly. I added some dark area shading with my Copic markers to better resemble Snickers coloring. The Thanks So Much sentiment and scalloped circle was cut using my Cricut machine, the leaves are a die cut and the pansy flower is a punch both by Stampin' Up!. Well, thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!

My Holland Lop Thanks Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Doodle Pantry: Use a Doodle Pantry Image
• The Sisterhood of Crafters: Use a Digital Stamp
• Flutter By Wednesday: Open, use a butterfly or fairy
• Happy Campers: Show us Your Flowers
• 365 Cards: In the Garden

Apple Thinking of You Card

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away," or at least that's how the saying goes. Throughout the Spring and Summer I tried to eat an apple a day. At best I ate four a week. I'm still trying to eat them as often as possible and I've really enjoyed the Organic Pink Lady and Golden Delicious varieties. I love eating apples with a little peanut butter, yum!

While searching for challenges this afternoon, I came across several for Apples. Last year I bought the Perfectly Preserved stamp set, Cannery framelits, and Old Orchard dsp all by Stampin' Up!. The apple elements in those products are featured in this Apple Thinking of You Card. The layout comes from this weeks sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches. I really like the three panel background of this sketch and I know I'll be using it again. Thanks for stopping by and have a great night and fantastic Friday!

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

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch
• Paper Playtime: Apples
• 4 Krafty Girlz: Anything Goes
• Die Cuttin Divas: Use an Apple
• Crafty Boots: A is for Apple
• Inky Impressions: Food, Glorious Food

 

Faux Patina Card

Today I tried another new to me technique called Faux Patina. I was prompted by the challenge at The Technique Twist to give it a try. It was a lot of fun to mix and play around with inks. I embossed Whisper White cardstock with a Crumb Cake inked Modern Mosaic embossing folder and then applied Island Indigo, Old Olive, and Early Espresso inks. The final step was adding the gold embossing powder. For detailed directions, here is a link to a tutorial. The base of my card is Natural cardstock stamped with the En Francais stamp in Early Espresso. I inked the edges of all papers with Crumb Cake for an antiqued look. The final touches were the addition of the Soft Suede ribbon and the Just for You label from the Label Love stamp set. I've always struggled when it comes to tying ribbon. I found a really short demonstration that helped me. Maybe now I won't be scared to use ribbon. All supplies used on this Faux Patina Card are by Stampin' Up!. Thanks for stopping by!

My Faux Patina Card is entered into the following challenges:

• The Technique Twist: Faux Patina
• Divas by Design: Anything Goes
• Tammy's Scrapin Corner: Anything Goes
• Natalie and Amy: Embossing
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes

 

Houndstooth Give Thanks Card

Hello! I have a quick post this evening to share my Houndstooth Give Thanks Card. There are many Fall/Autumn challenges out right now and I thought it would be a good time to get a head start on my Thanksgiving cards. It seems I always procrastinate and end up making them all the week before I need them. This year I'm trying to be a little more proactive.

With the exception of the sentiment and embossing folder, all the products used on this card are by Stampin' Up!. Many of the products are retired but they had the look I wanted for this card. I used last years Festival of Prints paper stack, French Foliage stamp set, Cajun Craze dsp and More Mustard card stock. The current products are Natural cardstock, Old Olive cardstock, Early Espresso Core'dinations sandable cardstock, Antique Brads, and Old Olive Candy Dots. The sentiment stamp is part of a larger stamp that I masked and it's from last years dollar bin at Michaels. For the embossed borders I used an Organic Flourish folder by Cricut Cuttlebug. After all was put together I really wished I would have moved the sentiment, brad, and strip of Cajun dsp down a quarter of an inch. It would have centered the brad between the two bottom leaves. Hindsight is always 20/20. Thanks for stopping by and have a great night and pleasant tomorrow!

My Houndstooth Give Thanks Card is entered into the following challenges:

• 'ABC' Challenges: Fall
• {PIN}spirational: Photo Inspiration
• Craft Your Passion: Autumn/Fall Colours
• Craftin Desert Diva's: Autumn/Fall
• Just For Fun: Colours of Autumn
• 613 Avenue Create: Anything Goes, w/ optional Happy Fall Ya'll

Adorable Owl Baby Card

Good evening! I hope you had a lovely weekend. We are still waiting for cooler weather to arrive here in Oklahoma but each day it gets a little closer. I'm looking forward to the big "cold front" to move in. Until then... the heat is my excuse to play in my craft room. The card I'm sharing today is one that took me over two hours to make. I'm not a speedy crafter and I kept changing things which didn't help. This Adorable Owl Baby Card is my result after being inspired by a baby bath towel I found at a specialty gift shop. It had a blue swirled fabric edging and featured a cute brown, green and blue owl on one corner. I immediately thought it would make a cute card. I used my Cricut machine and punches for the various size circles. The owl was made using the owl builder and bird builder punches by Stampin' Up!. Punches and die cuts are a great way to use up scrap pieces of card stock. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

My Adorable Owl Baby Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Allsorts: Baby Baby
• Cut It Up: Labor Day, Pregnancy or New Baby
• Craftin' Boutique: Anything with an Owl
• Hiding in My Craft Room: Super Scraps Saturday
• A Creative Romance: Dies or Punches 

Photo Inspiration Challenge

Good morning! Today marks a year and a half since I started this blog. I've had so much fun creating and sharing my cards that I decided to start a biweekly challenge. The challenge will rotate between a photo inspiration color challenge and a theme challenge. One of the things I love is to see all the different interpretations from the same inspiration and I can't wait to see what you create. There will be a challenge winner selected and they will receive a prize that coordinates with the challenge. I sure hope you will play along! The first challenge photo is of a floral arrangement my hubby bought me. There are a lot of creative options in this color palette. You can hold on to summer or jump right into fall. Which will you choose?

 

 

For my card I stayed with a summery feel. The orange tone I chose is Tangerine Tango by Stampin' Up! and I paired it with Wisteria sandable card stock by Core'dinations. The patterned paper is from the Venetian Romance dsp and the stamp sets are Mixed Bunch and Sassy Salutations all by Stampin' Up! I pulled the deep purple from the back of the arrangement to be my focal color and accented it with Gumball Green.

 

 

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

• Paper Crafting Journey: Flowers
• Inky Chicks: Stitching, Real or Faux
• Tuesday Throwdown: Anything Goes

 

Challenge Guidelines:

1. Create a New card, 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!!!

Challenge Prize

The challenge will run for 12 days, 9/13/2013-9/24/2013.

 

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.

Trefoil Cross Sympathy Card

Hello! I'm back again with another card. The challenge this week at 'ABC' Challenges is to create a sympathy card to remember those lost on 9/11. In a couple of days it will be twelve years that many innocent people lost their lives. Many grieving hearts were created that day and my heart goes out to each of them this week.

This Trefoil Cross Sympathy Card was made using the Venetian Romance dsp, Trefoil Cross stamp, Love and Sympathy stamp set and Pretty Print embossing folder all by Stampin' Up! I used the Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel again on the cross. Here is the tutorial if you missed my last link. Thanks for stopping by!

My Trefoil Cross Sympathy Card is entered into the following challenges:

• "Just Us Girls": Sketch
• 'ABC' Challenges: Sympathy
• Simon Says Stamp: Embossed
• Love To Scrap!: Anything Goes

Dots Thank You Card

When I sat down to make this Dots Thank You Card the only thing I knew I wanted to do was repeat the sentiment three times. The colors were selected from this weeks challenge at The Paper Players to use Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party and Black. I made up my mind that I didn't want to use any flowers or butterflies, I wanted something a little different. I embossed the Sassy Salutations Thank You sentiment with Pool Party embossing powder and cut all my papers for layering but I still had a big blank spot that needed filled. After playing around with several ideas, I settled on the three rows of dots. The design ended up being pretty simple and casual. Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!

My Dots Thank You Card is entered into the following challenges:

• The Paper Players: Colors
• Sunday Stamps: Sketch
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes

Dots Thank You Card Supplies*:

• Paper: Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party and Whisper White card stock and patterned paper from the I Am Me dsp.
• Stamps: Sassy Salutations stamp set.
• Inks & Coloring: VersaMark stamp pad and Pool Party emboss powder.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, Finishing Touches Edgelit, Heat Tool, Itty Bitty Shapes circle punch and rhinestone basic jewels.

*All supplies by Stampin' Up!.

Enamel Butterfly Birthday Card

I'm really excited to share this Enamel Butterfly Birthday Card with you! It features a new to me technique called embossed enamel. I was admiring another crafters card last week and she used this technique and I immediately knew I had to try it. Here is the link to a tutorial from Splitcoaststampers. The technique combines water coloring, stamping and embossing. It was a lot of fun and I may have a new addiction. The enamel finish is super shiny and this technique could be used on multiple different project types. I did have to make a run to the craft store for the ultra thick embossing enamel and I found it Hobby Lobby. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!


My Enamel Butterfly Birthday Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Flutter by Wednesday: Anything Goes with Butterfly or Fairy
• Seize the Birthday: Birthday Anything Goes
• Sweet Stampin': Got the Blues
• Allsorts: Butterflies
• CCEE Stampers: Birthday Card

 

Enamel Butterfly Birthday Card Supplies*:

• Paper: Basic Black, Island Indigo and Very Vanilla card stock, Modern Medley dsp and Venetian Romance dsp.
• Stamps: Label Love stamp set and hostess Morning Meadow stamp set.
• Inks and Colouring: Classic stampin' pads in Island Indigo, Night of Navy and Soft Suede, VersaMark Jet Black ink and Black emboss powder.
• Other Stuff: EK Success butterfly punch, Heat Tool, Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel by Ranger, Artisan Label punch, Cricut machine (circles), black glitter tape by Recollections, sale-a-bration Island Indigo ribbon, black candy dots and stampin' dimensionals.

*All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Silver Glimmer Snowflake Card

It's been a crazy couple of days and I'm super happy it's Friday! I have the day off today, so I spent some time this morning playing in my craft room. It took me a little while to decide what I wanted to make. I started by searching current challenges and I finally came up with an idea. I made this Silver Glimmer Snowflake Card using the colours from the Just Add Ink challenge. The challenge colours are Silver, Bermuda Bay and Black. A Christmas challenge at Paperminutes prompted the snowflake idea. The final result is a non-traditional coloured Christmas card.

My Silver Glimmer Snowflake Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Just Add Ink: Colour
• Bloggers Challenge: To Die For
• Sister Act: Anything Goes
• Alphabet Challenge: One Word Sentiment
• Paperminutes: Christmas, Clean and Simple

The Northern Flurry embossing folder by Stampin' Up! and last years retired Snowflake Die made this card a snap to put together. I really hope we have some snow this year! A white Christmas would be nice. I'll just sit here and think of snow while it's 94 degrees outside, just a little wishful thinking. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Wonderfall Grateful Card

Here in the United States we have seventeen days until the first day of Autumn. I'm ready for the fall colors and cooler temperatures to arrive. The Paper Players have a fall themed challenge this week and time to play along is almost gone. So this evening I made this Wonderfall Grateful Card. I combined retired and new products by Stampin' Up! in my card. The colors are:

• Crushed Curry
• Early Espresso
• Old Olive
• Pumpkin Pie
• Whisper White

When I came up with the layout I knew I'd have to make this card a little larger. The finished size is 6.25" x 4.5" to accommodate the 4" woodgrain circle. I fussy-cut the leaves and adhered them along with the sentiment banner to the circle with dimensionals. I really like the Old Olive with the Crushed Curry and the woodgrain embossing folder is one of my seasonal favorites. Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic evening and pleasant tomorrow!

My Wonderfall Grateful Card is entered into the following challenges:

• The Paper Players: Falling for You
• Craft-room Challenge: Trees and/or Leaves
• Craftin' Boutique: Fall

Wonderfall Grateful Card Supplies:

• Paper: Early Espresso, Whisper White and More Mustard card stock (I thought I picked up Pumpkin Pie card stock and it wasn't until I had everything together that I realized I used More Mustard, geez!), Sandable Early Espresso card stock, Sweater Weather dsp, and retired Old Olive dsp.
• Stamps: Wonderfall stamp set and Truly Grateful stamp set.
• Inks: Classic stampin' pads in Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie.
• Other Stuff: Big Shot, woodgrain embossing folder, Adorning Accents Edgelit, Antique Brads and stampin' dimensionals.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!.

Cupcake Fluffles Birthday Card

Good morning! Last night I was playing in my craft room and I combined several challenges to come up with this Cupcake Fluffles Birthday Card. The challenges are:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch
• Get Inky!: Cakes, Cakes, and Cupcakes
• Oldie but A Goodie: Spots and Stripes (stamps & paper)
• Just Inspirational: Ribbons
• Everybody-Art: Happy Birthday

It's a little sad that I've had this Fluffles stamp by Stampendous! for over a year and I had never inked it up. So, I decided it was time to put it to use. The cupcake liner part of the image was paper pieced with a striped paper. I used white Tulip puffy paint and topped it with fine glitter by Martha Stewart Crafts and then used my heat gun to puff it up. Fluffles was colored with Copic markers and I added some Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details to the brim of his party hat. The patterned papers are from the Color Crush 6 x 6 paper pad by American Crafts. The card stock colors are Whisper White, Primrose Petals, Lucky Limeade, and Blushing Bride all by Stampin' Up!. I decided to use a gray ribbon to match Fluffles and the finishing touch was the Happy Birthday sentiment by Hero Arts. Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific day!

Crafting buddy update: My crafting buddy is continuing to get better and he should be able to come home from the vet today. I will definitely have to get a part-time job to pay for the bill but as long as he is healthy it's worth every dollar spent. Our furry felines are our children. My hubby and I weren't able to have children so our fur babies mean the world to us. It's wonderful the special place animals have in our lives. They just make us smile.

Cute Kitty Card

Hello! I hope you had a wonderful extended Labor Day weekend. Mine ended up being pretty stressful!!! My cute little crafting buddy (see photo below) stopped eating and we took him to an emergency veterinary hospital on Sunday morning. His kidney values were elevated and he is still there receiving IV fluids. We did get positive news today that he is responding well to the treatment and we are praying for positive news tomorrow.

When making this Cute Kitty Card this evening my crafting buddy was my inspiration. I know I'll send the veterinary hospital a card after we bring him home and I wanted it to look like him. The sitting kitty digital stamp is by Kenny K and I colored it with my Copic markers. I tried to make the fur look like a tabby. The layout comes from this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. I wrapped twine around a 3/4" circle punch to make the ball of twine. It seemed appropriate for the occasion. Well, thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your week.

My Cute Kitty Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Mojo Monday: Sketch
• 'ABC' Challenges: Coloring with Markers
• Make It Monday: Anything Goes
• Hiding in My Craft Room: Freestyle