Barrelful of love

 Today is Sunday so Pam at 365 cards has another sketch to follow. With February starting tomorrow I thought it would be a good time to start making a few Valentine’s cards.

The patterned paper is from Little Yellow Bicycle and I have used both sides. Center image is from Great Impressions colored with my copics. The eyelet border was made with my SU punch and I again used the patterned paper for that. (I just couldn’t get the right match in my cardstock). The sentiment is a rub-on I have had for ages. Rain dot hearts and Kaiser pearls were added in the corners (grouped in 3’s Ms. Stamp Temptress) wink ;).

Make the most of your Sunday. It is a cold, windy grey day here in Florida, so I am staying inside and will cook up a couple of Shepherd pies for dinner tonight.

Cultivate Love with 3D’s

 I was able to work on one more card tonight before I do some cross-stitching. Have I mentioned that I am working on two projects? I am. One is for a co-worker’s birthday (due the end of February) and the other is a baby blanket for a different co-worker (due in June). I make myself work on one of the projects each night for one hour.

Day 335 at 365 Cards invited us to use 3D’s: dark brown, a diamond and distressing. I began with Dark Chocolate cs by PTI, used a piece of fabulous paper by DCWV Mariposa that my best stamping buddy Char gave me, and finished it with a small square embossed with the CB Diamonds in the rough folder. The paper was so pretty and glittery I didn’t want to cover anymore up than I needed to. After checking at Flutterby Wednesday to see what type of challenge Danni had going I was happy to see it was an open one. This card will work!

I am off to my next craft, but first I need some kleenex – I am watching Sleepless in Seattle…

Spring Hedgie meets 3R’s

 After getting my chores done for the day, I was finally able to sit down and work on a card. After looking over the different challenges offered today, this first card meets three of them. First up is 365 cards and the 3S’s. The requirements were to use stripes, make it a square and have spring represented. Got it.

The second challenge was Week 12 at Basic Grey that stated your card needed to have an animal on it and of course use a Basic Grey product. The third challenge was Week 86 at Penny Black Saturday Challenge that required a Penny Black image for someone special. So the details are: image by Penny Black that is cut out and layered on oval nesties. The background paper is BG Lemonade, flower by Prima, leaves from a Martha Stewart punch, SU Regal Rose and Kiwi Kiss cardstock.

For my second card, I followed the directions for Day 332 at 365 cards which were the 3R’s. The requirements were to use red, rick rack and a rhinestone.  Here is what I came up with:

 The card details are super easy: Paper by Bo Bunny, sentiment from Just Rite, rick rack from All My Memories and Rhinestones from Marcella. I used my circle and scalloped circle nestie for the sentiment.

Did ya notice I now have a watermark for my cards? Thanks to my son, he showed me how to use Picassa to add text to my photos. They are almost looking professional:)

Violets in Pink

 

I liked my card so much from yesterday, that I made another one in pink today. The cardstock colors are PTI Sweet Blush, SU Regal Rose and Barely Banana. The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Sweet Pea collection. Everything else about the card is the same. I am not sure which one is my favorite. Which one is yours?

Buttons, Brads and Monograms..Oh My!

 Today’s cards are not for any challenge but instead for the local monthly swap and the make and take at Stamp and Deliver. I knew I wanted to use the easel layout for my card design and what better way to show off my new Justrite garden stamps! The new arrivals had just come into the store last week when I stopped in to get my materials for my demo card. The theme of the swap is to use buttons and/or brads. 

I began with a lovely shade of purple bazzill paper for the base. The patterned paper is from Basic Grey Two Scoops (pistachio almond). I stamped the flower on a scrap of white, colored it with my copics and cut it out. Here is a close up of the center.

If you click on the picture, it will enlarge to see the detail. I did use some spica pens on the flowers, but sadly that didn’t show up in the picture angle. I sponged Lavender Brilliance ink on the smaller background circle. It didn’t look that attractive when it was white. A deeper shade of Bazzill Bling or shimmer was used for the scalloped circle. I tried to pick up the darkest shade used on the flower. After taking a look at the purple brads I have it seemed that I would not have enough to complete the four cards I need for the swap with the square brads. What to do? Stick a butterfly on one corner! You know I love butterflies :) For the inside of the card, I chose the lighter shade of green from the paper and luckily I had 4 pieces in my green scrap ziplock baggie. YES, something was going right. The two buttons were added in the middle to help hold the easel upright when it is opened. 

This is going to be the card that I will demo at the Make and Takes. The theme is black and white next month. I think that makes an elegant monogram card. I am actually using creme and black which is totally elegant. The stamped bottom border is by Great Impressions. The center is from Justrite designer frames. The alphabet inside is Special Occasions font. I cut out a Labels 5 out of black for the bottom layer. This is popped up on foam squares. The ribbon is a double satin for the length and sheer black for the bow. I used my Bow Easy so it would look fabulous. I suck at tying bows without that thing now.

Here is my alternate card that I will display. The monogram was made with the Monogram stamper. I used a Cuttlebug border from the Organic Flourish set for the top. I added black rhinestones to highlight the swirls. For the bottom piece, I cut a piece of black cardstock with my SU eyelet border punch. Really a simple quick card to put together.

I hope you have a fabulous week coming up! Stop by again and hopefully I will have another card to show you.

Layers of Chocolate

Hello! Betcha didn’t think you would read another post for awhile:)  After working on transcribing some minutes for work, I thought I would reward myself and take the time to make a card. I must say my attention was divided between the card and watching American Idol and White Collar on tv.  

Tonight’s card from two challenges I saw today. The first is over at 365 Cards which was to use chocolate as your inspiration. The second is at A spoonful of sugar and you had to use lots of layers. I began with Chocolate Flopsey from MFT for my image. I then pulled out my pack of Chocolate Kiss paper (also from MFT). I totally struggled piecing the chair. That pattern was way too dark for me to stamp on, so I attempted to cut it out on my own. I colored him with my copics and colorless blender. I used my labels One and Three nesties (look closely in the corners of the middle pink layer…it really isn’t just a circle). For the bottom brown strip I tried my Fleur de lis die…still not sure I like that but it is glued on so it’s staying.

I like the card, but I think it is missing something and I can’t figure out what. I tried ribbon from the MFT Chocolate Kiss set and that didn’t work. My buttons didn’t fare any better. If anyone has a thought, please share in the comments. I don’t want the card to be partially naked :)

To Tame a Wild Chick

Here is my second post today. If this is the first one you are reading, there is another one below this. Last week I picked up this set from The Cat’s Pajamas at my LSS. Even though it is a bit early for Easter cards, I still went ahead and used it. 

I choose the layout from Mojo Monday week 122 as my starting point. The image was stamped in black ink and colored with my copic markers. In looking through my papers, I came across the MFT Spring pack and I had the matching ribbon pack also. I layered the papers with SU Rose Red paper (I have used that color alot lately). The bow was made using my Bow Easy so it would look attractive.

Here is a close up of the image. If you click on the picture, it will enlarge. Then you will see that I did not use the proper paper for copics and it bled a bit:( I layered a few primas to create the flower and punched a few MS fern branches to go behind it. Instead of just adding white dots on the scalloped oval, I saw Suzanne Dean’s blog earlier today and she made the dashes and I liked them. So I used her idea! 

If I don’t get to chat with ya anymore this week, I hope you have a great one!

Stockin’ up on cards

Every now and then I need to make some cards to have on hand. Birthday cards are always on that list, but sadly lately I also have needed many sympathy cards. The card below is the last one of my stash and I really liked how it turned out. In order to make more, I took a picture of it.

I can tell it has been in my card pile for awhile, as I didn’t use any nesties to cut out my layers. That will change with the next round of cards made. I do like the colors though, PTI Summer Sunrise cardstock and ribbon. The other layers were just Basic Grey papers. The stamp and sentiment is from GinaK Comfort and Peace set. Putting it together is easy enough…just a lot of layers.

The next card I am showing you today is one I started before the holidays and just wasn’t happy with. I wanted to try making a ribbon blossom. I studied the tutorial over at SCS and watched the short YouTube video but I just wasn’t happy with my blossom. Until today…

After many tries of tying the ribbon I think I have been successful in making a blossom. I began with SU cardstock in Kiwi Kiss and Rose Red. The patterned paper is also SU Raspberry Tart. For the embossed panel I used SU Pretty in Pink and the CB Happy Birthday folder. The image is by IO, called birthday martini and I used my copics to color it in. For the blossom I used 4 different ribbons, 6 pieces of each. I will have to admit, if I go to mail this card, it is going to be bulky so extra padding and postage will be required.

I have a few more ideas I would like to complete today, so I am off for now. Hopefully there will be another post later today.

You are my sunshine

 Well we haven’t been seeing or feeling the sunshine here in FL too much lately. Winter has set in and is in no hurry to leave. Our temperature has been a high of 43 if we are lucky. Our heater is working overtime to keep the house comfortable. Notice I didn’t say warm!

Today’s card is for week 83 sketch challenge over at Penny Black Challenge Blog. My son’s girlfriend loves hedgehogs (she got a live one for Christmas) so I enjoy making her cards when  I can. The image

is from the Wonderful clear set as is the sentiment on the inside. The sentiment on the outside is from Justrite. This is my first attempt at an easel card and it was really very easy. The patterned paper is from DCWV Sweet mat pack. The circles were cut using my nesties and Cuttlebug. The inside white strip that holds my card upright was cut from a border punch by SU. I spread my love of stamping around to many companies:)

I hope this is the start of a great week for you. It is a short work week for me as I have a conference to attend Wed. thru Friday. Unfortunately, the hotel is inside the Orlando Airport. What fun is that…

Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year friends! We rang in the new year quietly at home last night after having dinner with our middle son. Our poor little dog Zoey unfortunately didn’t appreciate the fireworks going off. She went crazy in the house shredding anything she could find :(

Since I am home today for the holiday I was able to check out the first challenge for 2010 on 365 cards.

The challenge was a 5 for Friday. What ever element you used on your card had to be in groups of 5. I opted for the clean and simple approach. (If you click on the picture, it will enlarge for you). I used my set from PaperTrey Ink called Remember. After stamping the blossoms in Versamagic Purple Hydrangea and the stems and leaves in Memento Cottage Ivy. I attached a small green pearl to the stem. The sentiment is from the same set and was just stamped in black ink. I tried piercing 5 holes around the sentiment, under the sentiment but was not happy on my sample so that element didn’t make the final card.

I am going to eat a bit of lunch and then start on a project I have been wanting to tackle since getting my new Expedit cube system. Taking more of my wooden stamps of their blocks. Wooden blocks add a lot of weight, and some of my fabric cubes are HEAVY. I have my cd cases ready, paper is cut into squares to make an index in each case, I just need my ambition to kick in. Here’s hoping the tuna sandwich provides it.

Enjoy the rest of your day:)