Get Well and Merry Christmas

I have two cards today.  I have a list of 14 challenges, and more than half of them are weekly challenges.  Somehow it takes me until the week is more than half over before starting on the challenges.

First up is the card for Merry Monday #147- Stars, and SOS#190- Out of the Jar, and Simon Says Monday Challenge -No Rules.  This shaker card incorporates stars in both the embossed panel, the shaker elements, and the embossed and inked background.  The shaker bits and the embossing powder came from jars, small ones, but still jars.

I stamped, clear embossed and inked the background panel first, then die cut a window to create the frame out of one side of the inked panel. The clear pane was glued to the frame. A double layer of foam tape was laid on the base, the area filled with shaker bits-sequins, beads, gems. Two thirds of the card base was dry embossed, and the sentiment was heat embossed on Vellum. The completed shaker window was added to the card base last.
Supplies:
Stamp - Stampendous and Hero Arts, Embossing Powder - Recollections, Hero Arts;  Shaker Bits - Pretty Pink Posh, Martha Stewart; Cardstock and Vellum - Stampin Up; Inks- Versamark,  Distress Inks -Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Black Soot; Embossing Folder- Sizzix Stars and Swirls set; Micro Beads-Recollections

My second card is for the Card Concept #29 - Get well Soon, and the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes. This card is very simple, I started with a Navy card base, embossed the sentiment and then added a bow and ribbon strip towards the top.  I grabbed a new to me tag die and cut a tag. Using multiple pigment inks I stamped paint splotches on the tag.  After the ink dried the tag was hooked onto the bow.
Supplies:
Inks-Mama Elephant in Mojito, Coral Burst, Buttercup, Pacific Blue, Versamark; Embossing Powder-Hero Arts; Ribbon - Recollections; Sentiment-Lawn Fawn Get Well Soon, Hero Arts Brush Strokes; Cardstock - Simon Says Stamp.

You can get to any of the challenge pages by clicking the links above, or the icons below. Thanks so much for stopping by!


   

  

February CCC Card

My February Card Chain Challenge card goes to Betty.  The March sign up is going on until March 7th and you can sign up here.  I opted to go with the theme of St. Patrick's Day.

I inked up three Paper Smooches die cut shamrocks with Brilliance Galaxy Gold then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. The bit of notebook paper was cut using a PTI die.  My card base is Very Vanilla from Stampin Up embossed with St Pats Day background embossing folder by Darice.  I looped a long piece of gold thread (manufacturer unknown) and placed it under my shamrocks and my vellum greeting piece. The greeting is from Stampin Up Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Unexpected

I received a Valentine from my blogging friend Greta, and she so generously included a stamp set that was a duplicate of one she had.  Its a schmoozy set, and hubs will be the recipient of quite a few cards from this set on my next trip out to California - Thanks Greta for the new stamps.

I thanked Greta but also wanted to send a card...isn't that what we card-makers do?

I was trying to channel Shari Carroll and her wonderful collage style.

I love these browns, tans and coral pinks together.  My card base is from A Muse Studios and I cut three tags usind Pretty Pink Poshes stitched duo tag - onc from patterned paper I won from Michele, one from kraft, and one from vellum embossed with one of the Lifestyle crafts Wishing set.  The die cuts Sending and Thanks are from Simon Says Stamp and were cut from some orangy on orange polka dot scraps.  I used a mocha shade of embroidery thread to tie the tage together and added a thing bit of coral colored chevron ribbon I picked up in California last fall - I am not sure who the manufacturer is (boo).

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Another Birthday

I am trying to get my Guy Card mojo back.  I have been putting off making this birthday card, because I just couldn't picture the card I wanted to make.  Push came to shove and this needed to be mailed...so I had to hunker down and get it done.

I decided to go with my comfort zone...water colors and Stampin Up's The Wetlands stamp set.  Nature seems a good image type for a male card.

I started with Bristol Paper and an almost dry brush loaded with Distress inks in Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire; then added a bit of Scattered Straw and my background was done.

 I used Ranger Black Archival ink to stamp my images, some of the reeds were second generation stamping to give a feeling of distance.  I used a stamp a ma jig to place the sentiment since these were cling stamps and you cannot see through them.

I cut my panel using Simon's stitched Rectangle dies, matted it with a bit of black and mounted the whole thing on to a Stampin Up Baja Breeze card base.

I decided to off set the panel a bit and add some manly chevron natural twill ribbon to the left side to balance the sentiment on the right.

Thanks for stopping by!

Muse #105

Marion Vagg has given us another fab card as our Muse this week.

 

Her card is perfection, I pretty much cased her design.

I used the Simon Says Stamp Fresh Dasies Die and inlaid it in some Stampin Up Not Quite Navy cardstock. the card base is the same shade. The die cut and frame are from white Bristol paper.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts With Sympathy.

Thank you for stopping by.

ETA: This won an honorable mention at Muse 105.

Scrambling and a couple of challenges

Today's Hero Arts Scramble was hosted by Barb, and her theme was white on white. A neutral/mettalic was allowed for the sentiment.  I love the look of white on white...but wow was it difficult to get  a good photograph.

I used Hero Arts Stamps - Butterflies for the main image, Sat it all for the sentiment- and heat embossed them with white powder on vellum. I dry embossed the card base with a Cuttlebug embossing folder Victoria.  To the panel with the embossed vellum pieces I added some pearls, and ribbon and then took 8 photos before I was okay with the picture.  I am submitting this one to A2Z's February Challenge - Embossing.

Since I still had this stamp out, I wanted to try it for CAS-ology's cue card Monochrome. These clean and simple cards are so hard for me.

 I started with some Dove Grey cardstock by WPlus9, and inked up the dogwoods from the butterflies set with Versafine Smokey Grey, I also stamped and embossed the set's smallest butterfly in smokey grey on vellum, then heat embossed with clear powder.  I kinda like the very delicate look that gives the butterfly.  The same thanks from Say it all was added.  It is difficult to see but there are 5 embossed lines under the sentiment for a touch of texture along with an outline debossing around the main image.

 My last card is the third of three that I need for a swap in early March. I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for inspiration. 

My first task was to mask off that diagonal stripe area, I added Tiny Leaves with embossing paste colored with lime green glimmer mist over the Gormet Rubber Stamps stencil. I added some Distress Glitter in White Rock Candy over the stenciled leaves.

While that dried, I stamped and colored with Copic's my main image from Newton's Nook Basket of Wishes stamp set.  I put together several words from that set, and Newton's Nook set Simply Sentimental to get my sentiment. I die cut my main image circle using MFT's stitched circles. 

I wanted to tie in the yellow just a bit more so I added a bit of yellow ric rac over the embossing paste leaves,  The panel when complete was mounted on some Certainly Celery Stampin Up cardstock. I added just a bit of clear Wink of stella to the bow and the eggs, and then covered that with glossy accents.

Hello Spring

One more card tonight, this is my second post of the day.  This is the second of three cards I need for a swap.  I decided to combine challenges.  This is my second entry to Leslie's Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge #1,  The color scheme came from the Color Throwdown Challenge 330, and I am adding it to  Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge - Add a litttle texture.

              

I love embossing paste...I colored it up with a Maya road mist in lemon mettalic and spread it over  the Flower Frenzy stencil by The Crafters Workshop. Then I let it dry.  I went to work on my card base, using Stampin Up Certianly Celery again, and some designer paper of the same shade. I matted my embossed piece with white and added three enamel dots as flower centers on the daisies.  Hello Spring from the Simon Says Stamp set Flower Friend was embossed in green powder on vellum.

Thanks for stopping by!

ETA: This won a runners up at The Crooked Stamper's Sketch Challenge.

St Patrick's Day

I have such good intentions at the beginning of the week with challenges...and yet here it is Friday and I have a page full of challenge icons waiting to be used as card making inspiration.

I started with this sketch from Retro Sketches #153.  And I am adding it to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge to add a little texture.

I need a St. Patrick's Day card for an upcoming swap.  I started with a Stampin Up Certianly Celery card base, I dry embossed 2/3's of it with Darice's St. Pats Background folder.  I added some striped paper, some glitter paper, a touch of green ribbon just off the center.  For my elements of 3 I dic cut then gold embossed shamrocks on vellum.  I added a sentiment on vellum as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

A little bit of Christmas

I managed to knock out another Christmas card for the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge - Santa.

I do not have a Santa stamp.  So I improvised.  I found hat and boot images, colored them with red and black wink of stella.  Next I die cut my front panel with Simon Says Stamp's Tri Square Die,  then embossed it with Holly Leaves by Darice.  I placed the hat and boot images behind the openings.  For the center opening, I colored it red with a red wink of stella brush pen and added a gold heat embossed greeting using Lawn Fawn's Milo's ABC's to mimic Santa's torso and belt.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday

A blogging friend of mine had a birthday last week, and I couldn't let the occasion pass by without sending her a card. I though a bright lighthearted card might be fun. Balloons always bring a smile to my face.

I  cut several balloons from pink, purple and yellow card scrap using a Paper Smooches die (Balloons), then tied some white thread around each one.

My card base was covered with a sheet of Lawn Fawn paper.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp (Friendship Messages) and was white embossed on a die cut banner also from SSS (sketchy banners).

Hope your birthday was a blast dear Greta!

Big thanks

Today I have spent time packaging up stamps from my collection that I am selling. I haven't used them in quite a while and I am running out of storage space.  So hard as it is for me to let go, the time has come to thin out my collection.  I am also working on a project for hubs. When complete I will have use of all the space in my craft room/office/dressing room. Then I get to redecorate and make this room more functional for me.

So back to the sold stamps, I am including a little thank you note inside each package.  I am getting a lot of use out of the Casual Fridays stamp set Big Thanks that I bought used about a year ago. I also got out my We are Memory Keepers envelope punch board and made some cute little envelopes for my cards.

The size I wanted was not included on the punch board, but a bit of trial and error with printer paper was all it took to figure it out.  I will share those dimensions below.

Here are my cards to tuck in with the purchased stamps. I hope they bring a little smile to the recipients.

I have some medium weight small patterned papers that I got free with one of those British card making mags to make my little envelopes.  They end up measuring around 2.25 inches square. My little cards are 2 inches square.

I cut 2 inch strips from cardstock along the 8.5 inch side (5 strips make 10 cards), then trimmed the strips to 2 by 4 inches. I scored them to be top folding.  Next I stamped them with Versamark ink and added a coordinating embossing powder to match the envelope.  I made 8 of them with envelopes in about 20 minutes. In the photo each card is sitting on its respective envelope.

Envelope dimensions - cut a 4x4 inch square and score the first line at 2 inches.  If you want a slightly bigger envelope, a 4.5 by 4.5 inch square scored at 2-1/8th inches will give you an envelope to fit a 2.5 by 2.5 card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Last of the Valentines

These were the last of the Valentine's I mailed out. 

Wishing you all a day filled with love and happiness, thanks for stopping by.

Retro Sketches 152

Arrrrrgh...matey those masculine birthday cards are just sometimes so difficult. Or maybe it is just me that is difficult, that I have to tear up a card 4 times and finally it is deemed okay.  This card was a trial...with many errors...but I finally like the finished product. The layout is based on the latest Retro Sketches challenge. 

I used my favorite masculine stamp set from Stampin Up The Open Sea, some burlap ribbon, some hemp cord, a ships wheel die from MFT, and a notebook page die from PTI, and some heat embossing.

Do you sometimes struggle with a card and become determined to see it through?  I usually just toss them and go for something completely different. Not sure why I dug my heals in on this one.

Thanks for stopping by!

More cards for the Stash

Today, I am sharing two more Christmas cards for my growing stash. Yea! 

The first card is for One Layer Christmas Card Challenge, anything goes with an optional twist of Gold.  I pulled a few stamps to create this gold embossed greeting on a very vanilla card base. The merry comes from Stampin up, the Christmas was from a magazine freebie set, and the ribbon and bow is from a Simon Says Stamp set.  Edited to Add: Thrilled to be named a top pick!

This card is for the Merry Monday Challenge #145, the challenge is Candy Cane.  I have no candy cane stamps at all.  So I went shopping in the Silhoutte store and found this image.  I was shocked when I opened it up and there were a gazillion little bits and pieces.  So I pulled together a few of them and printed it off on card stock.  Then I added some red wink of stella to the red bits, white wink of stella to the white candy cane portions, and doodled in some black lines on the holly leaves. I added a couple of free hand berries as well with the red WOS. The printed and embellished portions were mounted on a green mat and tied up with a red ribbon. This then mounted on a piece of A Muse Studio's black mini polka dot cardstock.

              


Thanks for stopping by!

Catching up

Hi  I have been trying to get some card making done between household chores and a project hubs has me working on.  Today I wanted to get this card in for the Lawnscapping Challenge #99 - clean and simple.

Click on image to link to challenge page

I went with one of my favorite non-holiday sets Our Friendship Grows.  I love these sunflowers.  They were stamped and heat embossed in white on watercolor paper.  Coloring was done with Distress Markers in  Vintage Photo, Black Soot, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Crushed Olive and Forest Moss.

My sentiment came from an unknown set from A Muse Studios.  I liked the sway of the sentiment and how it anchored my off set stems.  I heat embossed it with Rangers Liquid Platimum. The flowers and leaves were bathed in wink of stella - my brush that ran out of liquid and I refilled with water for watercolor projects. To give the stems a bit of contrast a very faint wash of Distress Marker in Tumbled glass was added in a very loose pool around the images.  I couldn't help myself...I had to add a few clear sequins as well to finish the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another of my beloved Scrambles...

Today Betty hosted the 102nd Hero Arts Scramble in the Hero Arts Flickr group.  Betty gave us card examples based on a couple of inspiration photos. All the photo's and cards can be seen at this thread.  I chose to make my card based on this photo:

 

I started with a scrap of black paper and Hero Arts Tweed Pattern Stencil. I added white embossing paste and set it aside to dry. Next I stamped the heart from  Hero Arts Brush Strokes onto watercolor paper, and colored in the center portion with a bit of water, pulling the Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink in.  I also set that aside to dry.  Next I embossed the Valentine sentiment (also from a boxed Hero Arts set LP269) onto vellum.

After determining the heart was dry, I restamped it and heat embossed in gold. Next the tweed piece was cut to a 3.5 inch square. I mounted the square with foam, on top of the vellum piece which mostly sits across the bottom third. I trimmed it so that a portion sits under the tweed piece making it easier to glue in place.

The heart was fussy cut, and added to the card.  I tossed some sequins on as well...and then spent too much time moving them around to find the perfect placement...an activity that will make a person a little batty!

All in all, I am very happy with this scramble's Valentine.  Thanks for stopping by!  Try out a scramble for yourself.  Up coming scrambles are in this thread.

Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge #1

Leslie has started a new challenge, I have been a blog follower of hers for a few years now.  I had to play in her new challenge.  It is open for 21 days beginning the first of the month.  Here is the sketch for the first challenge.

Click on image to go to challenge

I turned the sketch to a landscape orientation. One more Valentine made, four to go!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: 

Papers - Stampin Up

Dies - MFT Pierced Rectangle Frame, Mama Elephant Heart Border Die

Stamp - Stampin Up Teeny Tiny Wishes

Embossing Folder - Provo Craft Swiss Dots 

Inks - Hero Arts Navy

Hugs and Kisses

I was looking at challenges, and the inspiration photo at the Curtian Call Inspiration challenge struck me. I loved all those bold chevron patterns.

 

 Not to long ago I won a bit of blog candy from Michele Ferguson.  The matted embossed panel of x's and o's is one of the several embossed sheets she included. I had a piece of chevron glitter paper and die cut a photo frame out of it. I also die cut the Sending two times and covered it with clear Wink of Stella. A sentiment was added from the Sending and Wishing stamp set.

Valentine Fusion

Count down, now I need 6 more valentines, there will be several posts today.  This one was inspired by the current Fusion Challenge Heartful. I loved both the sketch and all the hearts, some metallic and sparkly.

I had saved several of the interior hearts from a recent cutting of Simon Says Stamp's Heart Parade.  I picked out a few sizes, covered a couple in washi tape. I wanted a red card base, but I wanted that red in the center circle as well, so I made a vellum overlay for the card with a circular opening.  Inside that hearts were placed with foam tape, and some sequins were added as well.

The interior has the sentiment, Valentine's greetings.

Have you finished your Valentine Cards?  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies: Vellum- Stampin Up, Papers - DCVW, Unknown Washi Tapes, Simon Says Stamp Sequins.

Heart Shaker

I've finally finished my homework for the latest Online Card Class and now it's on to challenges.  I still have 7 Valentines to finish by my mail date of Friday.  Hubs and I are taking a road trip to mail Valentines from Loveville.  They add a sweet little graphic to the postal marking for Valentine's Day mail.

This card is for two challenges:  The Inky Paws Challenge #17 Use a Heart Shape , and Virginia's View Challenge #12 Shaker Cards.

I used A Muse Studio's cardstock in Pink Grapefruit with mini dots, and I inked up a piece of white paper with the same shade of ink by A Muse Studios to create my heart shaped shaker.  The kitty, Newton is from Newton's Nook - Newtons Antics.  I love this kitty, he just looks so ready to pounce...I can almost see hit back end wiggling.  For my shaker elements, I used a couple of sequins and the remainder are stamped yarn balls from the same stamp set.  I punched them out with a 3/8th inch circle punch. I glued a few down to the background so that some would stay suspended.  Newton is colored with pencils, and blended with gamsol.

The sentiment is another set from Newton's Nook Simply Sentimental, and was stamped with Onyx Black Versafine ink.

The colors of the shaker were inspired by Virginia's graphic, the pink shades and the heart sequins.

Thanks for stopping by!