Sunday’s cards to share with you

Happy Sunday to all of you. I worked a bit this afternoon and completed a total of 5 challenges with three cards. I finished 3 more challenges for SCS virtual stamp weekend. I also finished the two most recent challenges at 365 Cards. 

This first card was for Day 364 which was to copy DT Vicky’s style. She loves florals and soft colors. I began with stamping my Justrite Breath of Spring image and coloring it with my copics. I cut it out using my oval nesties. Next I stamped the oval with Versamark ink and covered it with Heat N Bond. Once it was all sticky, I covered the image with Ultrafine glitter. This made it eligible for the glitter challenge on SCS. To finish the card I cut strips from SU Tea Party paper pack and added a strip of So Saffron ribbon. The sentiment is from SU Warm Words. I used some foam tape to pop the oval up as Vicky also likes to do. Here is shot of the copics I used and a close-up of the image:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next card I have is for today’s challenge at 365 Cards and since it is Sunday, it is a sketch challenge by Pam.

I used the sketch layout, but also incorporated the triple inspiration challenge at SCS. We had to use three different ribbons on our card. I used ribbons to follow Pam’s sketch lines and instead of just having blunt ends, I cut each one in a different style. The flowers are very old Prima’s and the charm is also something I have been hanging onto for a while. The card base is from the Chocolate Coredinations pack. I needed a 12 by 12 sheet and didn’t have any plain brown paper that size. The front panel is from a new DCWV Linen Closet paper pack.

My third and final card this afternoon is for the first sketch challenge on Friday night which was to follow the shape of a Inuktuik. The Olympic symbol this year.

I began with a base of SU Taken with Teal cardstock. Next, I pulled out another new paper pack, DCWV Cafe Mediterranean. The colors are very vibrant and they went so well for the sketch. I used various papers from the pack to follow the sketch and finished it with turquoise rhinestones and new prima flowers. I have a fondness for Prima flowers and tend to purchase as many new types as they create. The corner sentiment is from Justrite Seeds of Kindness set. The bottom corner looked plain with something there.

I know this was a longer post for me, and I thank you now for reading to the bottom. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I am switching gears and pulling out my cross-stitch project. The latest one is a baby quilt for a co-worker. Once I get a bit more finished, I will show you a picture of it.

Couple of VSN Cards to share

 What could this Tilda be doing? You will have to read down a bit to find out. I must say, this close up shot shows that I don’t get very close to the image when I cut things out :(

I am playing along with a few challenges at Splitcoast stampers this weekend. They are having a virtual stamp night and the theme is the Winter Olympics. The first card I will show had the theme At the Waterfront. I choose to use this Tilda I received as an image swap. I colored her and then popped her up over the water ring. I used a bit of diamond glaze on the water ring so it could appear wet.

I used the curvy rectangle nestie to cut the image out first and layered it on a piece of CS cut with the Labels 7. I did this mostly because I was on a time limit (you only have 45 minutes to create your card) and I didn’t want to waste time resizing the next die in the curvy rectangle set. It was way huge for my card. The rest was easy….layer a few pieces of paper and cardstock, lay the netting across and glue a seahorse charm. I added the charm because I will give this card to my son’s girlfriend who adores seahorses. For those inquiring minds, here are the copics I used:

My next card was for the Snow Blind challenge. We were to make a white card with all white embellishments. I began with cutting out a Labels 6 die and using an oval to cut out the center. The sentiment inside is from Justrite Joyful Hearts set.

I embossed this piece with my swiss dot CB folder. I embossed the entire cardfront with the divine swirls folder. I added some narrow ribbons, bows and a few pearls. For the finishing touch that sadly doesn’t show up, I spritzed the whole card with Sheer Shimmer Spritz in Frost. The whole card really does sparkle.

I am planning to work on a few more challenges, so stop by again later.

Embrace Life

 Today’s designer challenge on 365 Cards followed Sophie’s clean and simple style. I don’t usually like my cards when they are clean looking, but I do like this one.

I also submitted this card into the Virtual Stamp Night on SCS. It it the Olympic weekend and the 7:00pm challenge was to match the colors of the Hudson Bay Sweater designed for the Olympic games. It worked perfectly with my card and Sophie’s layout. I kept the kraft cardbase and used my CB folder Floral Screen. The strip of maroon leaves are from May Arts. I only had to add a few cream buttons and dark navy flowers. The sentiment on the bottom is from SU.

I hope you take some time this weekend to Embrace Life!

Hooray for Mojo Monday!

 I had some new craft items that I have been wanting to play with and tonight I sat down while watching the American Idol results show. I went to 365 cards to see which designer was being showcased. Today is Amy and her style is fun, bright and whimsical. I next headed over to Mojo Monday to take a look at their current sketch. I really wanted to do the circle sketch, but the image was just a bit too large for my largest circle, so I went with the square.

I knew I wanted to use this image by Hero Arts so I pulled out my new Basic Grey paper pack Sugar Rush and looked through the pages. I choose two that were similar in brightness to Amy’s color choices. I used a scallop square nestie to layer the image in Almost Amethyst. The ribbon is from May Arts that has a nice shimmer to it IRL. I choose square brads for the corner since I made a square card and the color is almost spot on. To finish, I took my new pot of Citrus Crush Ultrafine Flower Soft and covered the flowers. The color blend fit the colors in my background paper perfectly. I couldn’t ask for a better match. And for those inquiring minds….

here is the handful of copics I used to color the little gal.

Be sure to enjoy your Friday and the last remaining days of February:)

Fly Away Home!

I was struggling with the theme for our card swap this month at Stamp & Deliver. All we had to do is to utilize a punch on our card. That isn’t hard at all really but I wanted to show a few different ways to use my punches. I started playing with a few looks, tossed most of them out, and put this together an hour ago.

Before I started with the final layout, I checked a few challenge blogs that I love and incorporated two of them. First was an easy one, Flutterby Wednesday was an open challenge, just make sure there is a fairy or butterfly on your card. The second challenge I will enter this for is A spoonful of sugar. This week’s challenge asked us to use distress ink, pearls and glitter on the card.

I began with my Tilda image. I stamped her in Memento ink and colored her with these:

After I was done coloring, I cut her out and layered her on an oval that was distressed with Antique Linen ink. The patterned paper is from the DCWV Garden Party pack. On the darker blue panel, I used my Martha Stewart Arch Lattice border punch. I stamped a flourish from Basic Grey in Vintage Sepia ink on the lighter blue panel. The butterflies are also a Martha punch. But you may be asking…who makes the ladybug punch? Cheri does! I used a one inch circle punch and punched a red one and a black one. I snipped the red circle in half and used my crop-a-dile to make the smaller holes. I layered the red halves to look like wings. A smaller circle was punched for her head and sadly the face is hand-drawn. For finishing touches, I used some Stickles glitter glue in Mermaid on her dress and boots, pearls were added on the butterflies and as a trail on the ladybug.

Now that American Idol is finished, I can quickly put together the other three cards for the swap! Enjoy your night:)

Can you say sketch challenge?

Let me start with a quick health update…our son is over the nasty stomach virus and feeling great. He unfortunately shared it with us first and we are still trying to get our strength back!  

I needed to finish the gift set for my co-worker. Her birthday is this week and I was hoping for at least 6 general occasion cards to give her along with the cross-stitch project that you can see in this post. I noticed that it was sketch week on 365 Cards this week so I choose three sketches to make a few more cards from. First up is Vicky's sketch. I kept the same papers and color scheme from my first three cards and worked them into the sketches. The fabulous lace was a find on Monday at JoAnn’s. Instead of adding two different papers like the sketch, I let the lace and sentiment take their place. The image is from Justrite and colored with copics.

My second card followed Amy's sketch. I decided to use a cut out scalloped oval to place my image inside. I did use some foam tape to raise the image oval up so it is noticed a bit better. Robin’s Nest dew drops are in the corners and I wound scrapper’s floss on the sides. (I have had that for years and finally found a time to use it.)

For the third card I followed Kristies's sketch and made this one:

  The buttons are from Jesse James Dress it Up Heirloom Collection. I have had these since last summer and their color was perfect for this. I debated about stamping the image in versamark on the purple strips, but didn’t like how it came out so in the end, I kept them blank.

I do want to show you a great find from Monday. We went into this vintage consignment shop called Top Drawer in College Park, FL. They had everything from designer clothes to fine china, furniture and these:

 

My husband took one look at them and said “Oh look, butterfly ashtrays.” I was like “They are not, they are glass dishes, there are no indentations where a cigarette would sit!”  I plan to use them to hold charms (see above) and buttons, brads or eyelets. At any rate, they will fill a special place on my work desk. I was excited when I saw them and promptly picked them up. All the above charms were bought on my shopping spree Monday also. They are all by Blue Moon Beads.

If you are still reading this, thanks for staying with me. My posts are not usually this long. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend:)

Just Words

Good Morning....Just a few words this morning. I was not able to make anything to show you last night as I was running on 3 hours of sleep. The "babe" came down with a nasty stomach virus in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. I left for work at 7, had back to back meetings all day and returned home at 7:15 pm. After a quick dinner I relaxed while watching American Idol and promptly fell asleep. I am leaving work today at noon to go home and feed the babe. Hopefully, I can work on a few more cards that are coming due rather quickly. I do have some wonderful new items to play with from my Fantastic Monday with friends! I am so glad my week started off on a good note! Keep some good thoughts for him..he looks an Ethiopian orphan!

Everyday cards and Valentine’s cupcakes

 I wanted to make a set of everyday cards as a birthday present for a co-worker. I made the cross-stitch teapot that I already showed you and these will go along with that. I used the image from Justrite Plant a Little Love set. I cut out the images with various nestabilities.

The cardstock is from Coredinations called Pesto. The green is the same shade as the mat on my project. While I was shopping for the green cs at Stamp and Deliver, Claire (store owner) showed me this fabulous piece of cream paper which I have tried to incorporate onto each card. I colored the image with my copics and added some pieces of ribbon from MFT spring ribbon bundle.

This card has a few score lines made with my Scor-Pal. I used my eyelet border punch on the cream paper and my bow easy to tie this snazzy double bow. A button flower and pearl were added to the bow. For the next card, I used a sketch from Mojo Monday.

I stamped the image on a Labels 8 die and layered that with a Labels 5. Some kaiser pearls are attached to the edge. Decorative scissors were used on the cream strip. I am still working on a few more layouts, but wanted to get this post done tonight before I get too tired. I also wanted to show you the cupcakes I made for my guys today.

They are Red Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. The boxes are from Wilton as are the candy hearts and if you look close in the window, there are toothpicks in the shape of an arrow. They were a big hit this morning! Tomorrow is a fun day with the girls. We are going to lunch at PF Changs. I have never been to one of these restaurants before and I hear the food is out of this world. I hope you have a fun week and can find time to spend with your friends:)

White space challenge

Today on 365 Cards we were shown a white space challenge. These can be fun as you are very limited to what you can add to your card. I wanted to use my new Justrite Joyful Hearts oval set so I picked out the sentiment, cut out the nestabilities and was  

ready to begin stamping. I tried to get the stamps to fit on my wooden oval stamper but it just didn’t want to stay. After many frustrating minutes, I looked at the size of the stamps and at the size of the stamper and discovered they didn’t match. Woe is me. I have two ovals, one larger and one smaller but I don’t own the 1 3/4 x  2 5/16 . I really wanted to finish the card so I just inked it up by hand and carefully laid it on the oval.

For the other card details: SU kraft cardstock, swiss dot CB folder, prima roses and Martha Stewart punch.

So for you American Idol lovers, what did you think of group night? I thought they let more through than in other years. Some of my favorites are still going strong. And wasn’t Big Mike’s little baby girl adorable?

Quick Valentine Challenge Cards

 Here are a couple more quick valentine cards I put together for a couple more challenges at 365 Cards.

This first one is for Day 343 which required using two separate images and put them together. I used the super cute raccoon from Stampendous and scrumptious cupcake from Hero Arts. I colored the image with copic markers and added stickles to the heart for sparkle. The sentiment is also from Stampendous and the scattered hearts are from Great Impressions. The white card opens out and is on a card base from Bo Bunny.

The next card is for Day 340 for Shape Up! The challenge was to use a heart as the dominant shape on our card. Here is what I made:

I had the red card base already made in my stash. I pulled out my score pal and made a quick border on the front. Next grabbed a scrap of gold paper and used my deckle scissors to cut the edges. The epoxy heart sticker is from Christine Adolph collection. The same scattered hearts were added to the corner so I could say there was some stamping on it :) Finally, the sentiment is a rub-on from Stampin Up.

I wanted to get these uploaded before the Super Bowl started. We are making a bunch of yummy appetizers for dinner. So who are you rooting for? Me…I would like to see the Saints win, but I think the Colts will prevail.

Love is in the Air

Can you believe it? Two posts in one day!! Today’s challenge at 365 Cards is to use the word Love somewhere on our card. I accomplished that

not once but twice! When I saw the name of the challenge I remembered I had this adorable Fluffles stamp. He doesn’t see ink as often as he should. The card layout came from today’s challenge at A Spoonful of Sugar. I flipped the sketch as I already had the white curvy rectangle cut out. The rose striped paper is from Colorbox which is two sided. I used the flip side of the paper to make a curvy frame and embossed heart. That heart was made from a Cuttlebug set called Textile Hearts. The sentiment in the circle is from Justrite Romantic Sentiments. Here is a close up of the image

so you can see I added some Stickles on the fish and diamond glaze on the hearts. A little bling looks good on just about any card don’t cha think?!

Tomorrow is Wednesday, otherwise known as hump day. I hope the rest of your week goes smoothly.

Cute Little Tilda

Isn’t she cute? Ok so you can’t see all of her just yet.

Yesterday’s challenge at 365 Cards was a color challenge. You had to use red, white, pinks and purple. Since I am still in Valentine making mode, I made another one for the challenge. I used the sketch from this week’s Mojo Monday. 

I began with a layer of purple cardstock and a piece of pink dotted paper. I was able to use some new goodies: the Tilda image and the white prima roses. I used my curvy rectangle nestie to stamp the image on. I colored her in using the following markers:

  I finally got to use my fancy tag nestie set that I have had since before Christmas but sadly never opened until today. I tucked it behind the image so just a portion showed. As finishing touches, I wrapped a piece of ribbon around the card and put the prima flowers on top. There is a hint of Fruit Punch Stickles on Tilda’s bow in her hair. Don’t go scouring the Internet looking for the stamp that says Sweetie, you won’t find it. That is my handwriting which I usually don’t like, but practice will get you everywhere!

The next item I want to share with you is one of the projects I mentioned over the weekend. I finished the co-worker’s birthday gift. Let me say, it was very difficult to get the correct lighting to use on it.

In real life, the checkerboard border is a lovely shade of soft greens. It is a Daydreams kit by Debbie Mumm. The finished size is 8 by 8. I plan to make her a few note cards with my new Justrite garden stamps to go along with it. People who drink coffee should still appreciate a stitched teapot right? Gosh I hope so:)

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.