Hey Pumpkin

This stamp by Simon Says Stamp is still among my favorites, and Hubs loves it too.  So I had to use it for his Halloween card.  I added a SSS die-cut heart covered in stickles to the center of that adorable pumpkin, just to add that extra bit of schmooze! The banner is from Lawn Fawn's Stitched Party Banners, the stars are Hero Arts Tiny Stars background stamp. I cut out my copic colored image and popped it up on the sentiment embossed banner.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

October SOS Card Chain Challenge

Well it is a challenge in so far as we are provided guidelines on 3-4 choices for our cards, but the essence is that it is an exchange of hand made cards.  I have gotten many beautiful cards over the past year or so participating in this monthly challenge.  Give it a try, it is fun!

I chose to use both the color options and the sketch, though I did turn the sketch on its side.

 

My card is on its way to Kansas with a few goodies tucked inside.

 Thanks for stopping by. 

Holiday Glitter

Now you might have thought I would be transitioning to Christmas cards...but not quite yet.  I have still more Halloween cards to share.  These are all using Elizabeth Craft vinyl Stickers, some glitter ritz glitter, copic coloring, embossing with Hero Arts Gold powder, and the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks for stopping by!

Its all about the cats...

I am not a fan of spooky gory Halloween...I like the autumn or cute images.  I have a few more cards for Halloween to share.  They all have cats.  The images come from Lawn Fawn, Simon Says Stamp, and Technique Tuesday. I used a variety of methods to complete the cards - Watercoloring, Diecuts, and Copic coloring. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Some Adorable Lawn Fawn

While visiting my Dad, we took a road trip to Orange County and some of our favorite shopping places. We even dropped by Stamp Fever. A great stamp store; they often have the latest and greatest--nice so you can see them up close. We timed it right as there was a Lawn Fawn event that day, and I was able to briefly meet Kelly Marie-she is as lovely and nice and friendly as you can imagine. She had a fun little make and take for us.  Lawn Fawn stamps were also on sale 15% off!  I did manage to pick up a few.

I really fell in love with the Spooktacular Stamp set and picked up the matching dies as well.  The images are smaller, and I really had to think about how to best use them on standard sized cards.  I colored them with copic markers, and added the Hero Arts tiny stars  background stamp for texture.  All the sentiments were heat embossed, love that raised feel. Backgrounds were colored with Distress inks.  I also used two more Lawn Fawn Dies, the Say Cheese and the Party Banners to add panel and reduce the focal area to match the stamped images.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Scrambling to make a Triptych

I double booked my afternoon today...hosting a poker tournament from 4-5:45 and wanting to participate in a cardmaking scramble over at the Hero Arts Flickr group from 5 to 6:30.  I manged to do both, got my card in just in time and I learned something new.

Out scramble theme was to create a Triptych --which Kim explained is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections.  I love three paneled cards so I definitely wanted to participate.

I gold embossed Tall Flowers on watercolor paper then colored in the background and the flowers with Koi watercolors. For a bit of artsyness some gold Heidi Swapp color shine was flicked on and then the three panels were cut.

I added the sentiment from Petite Messages to the last panel on the right. Each panel was matted individually with black paper, then mounted with foam tape to a rust colored card base. (A note, next time I think I will used 1 large mat for all three panels instead of matting them individually.)

Thanks for stopping by!

It has been a while

In September quite a few things came together and robbed me of all my spare time.  Hubs had a work deadline, we began a bathroom remodeling, and I visited my Dad in California for a few days.  I did not get any crafting in for weeks!  I did spend time with my Dad, and we went out to lunch, saw a movie, did some shopping and generally were amused by the antics of Jack and Digger, his kittens---who are not so little anymore.

They romp and play as only kittens can, and just before I left Digger (left) discovered the roof was accessible by climbing a nearby tree. They are about 6 months old now. My Dad has trained them well, they respond to his whistle.  I recorded it on my phone so I could call them in from outside one afternoon.  It worked...so did the quick follow up of treats. Its all about positive reinforcement.

Upon my return to Maryland my prime objective was to get my Halloween cards going.  They are done and about to go into the mail, so I will be posting them through the end of the month.

My card base is Stampin Up Pumpkin Pie, the patterned paper is SU as well.  The sticker outlines are Elizabeth Craft which I placed onto watercolor paper and colored with Distress Markers.  The sentiment is from Craft Smart and I embossed it on vellum with Hero Arts Gold powder. I used the Lawn Fawn stitched party banners for my panel.

I am entering this in the SOS #174 Challenge - Halloween.

Thanks for stopping by and it's good to be home and back in my craft room!

Birthday Peonies

I couldn't wait to get my hands on this stamp set by WPLUS9, called Peonies.  I love flowers and this one has such possibilities for lush blooms.  I confess this card took me almost 3 hours to finish.  I really had a tough time stamping the peony images, until I went to You Tube and watch the WPLUS9 video showcasing this set.  They are not meant to line up perfectly...that was my sticking point.  Once I saw that, I was able to stamp my blooms.   I fussy cut them, and then decided where to place them on the panel. Next I stamped  the stems and leaves.  Then I cut a glittery panel to mat the focal point.  I next used the WPLUS9 lattice die for another panel layer.  I attached the blooms and added some wink of stella for some shine.  The card was finished with a gold embossed birthday sentiment from SSS on vellum.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday

A quick post for hub's birthday card.  We have been remodeling our bath, and my crafting time has been reduced.  I managed to put this together, using a stamp of sneakers from Simon Says Stamp, it came from one of the card kits this spring.  Hubs is a big Converse Chuck Taylor sneaker fan.  Definitely his favorite footwear.  Since I was taking the Copics for Cardmakers  class I used them to color the shoes.  The sentiment diecut, was a creation on my Silhoutte Portrait stacked 4 times.  Hubs enjoyed the card.

 Thanks for stopping by.