Count Your Blessings

Another sketchy card to share today, this one based on the challenge over at Card Patterns. I decided I wanted to challenge myself even more and use only stuff that was piled up in the "this is too good to toss" box. I ended up using some scraps of BasicGrey paper and accented it with a flower and button. I wanted to make another card for the challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ and encourage thankfulness, so used this sentiment from printworks.

I can't say it's my best work ever, but I have a weird sense of satisfaction from actually using some of my junk pile, plus I know that my Grandma will love it regardless :)

White Thanks

Well, here's the result of 3 of the challenges I wanted to participate in this week: Mercy's Tuesday Sketch, Stampin' Sisters in Christ: Thankfulness, and Color Create Challenge: White.

The main sentiment is from Impression Obsession, and it's stamped with versamagic sage - I needed 1 color with the white, and I thought this was worked pretty well. The panel underneath was embossed with a Sizzix folder, and then I made the "ruffle" with some Making Memories paper (which admittedly does have a soft print on it). I pulled out some velvet rickrack that I honestly don't even remember purchasing, but it really fit the design nicely.

I know it has a wedding vibe to it with the color scheme and all, but I can think of plenty other "thankful" times that it would work well, too!

Custom "White" Board

A couple weekends ago, I was able to attend another crafty class at our local library, and this time around we created personalized white boards using a standard 8x10 frame. Now I've used the acrylic frames for dry-erase projects, but never thought of glass... but how cool is this?!

My frame definitely has a shabby chic vibe to it, mostly due to the K&Co papers I used. There's also a diecut initial (covered with rock candy stickles!), flower cut from an old book, lace, and ribbon. For the main "white" panel the paper I wanted to use was a bit too dark, so I brushed on some Making Memories white pearl scrapbook glaze to mellow it out a bit. Perfect!

Best of all - now I have a place to jot down all of those challenges I want to participate in. Check back later this week to see whether I pulled it off :)

Happy Birthday, Susan!!

Today just happens to be the birthday of a very special lady - Susan, the owner of smARTworks! In honor of this event, each of us from the design team will be sharing the birthday card we made for her. Fun!!

I used these great printed papers from Making Memories, and "jazzed up" the striped design with a swirl (Stella) and butterfly (Botanicals "Cookie" Plate). The happy is from Combo Sentiments, and I went over it with Rock Candy distress stickles so it's rich and sparkley. A bit of twine and a few buttons provide some more texture.

Click over to see creations from Giovana, Dina, Donelda & Donna - and please take a moment to wish Susan a very happy birthday, too!

My card layout is from a sketch I'd made while blog-surfing, but I neglected to note where it was from. If you recognize it, let me know!

Fall Creations

As I'd previously mentioned, I'm really missing the fall colors down here in TX, so I ended up whipping up a whole batch of fall cards to console myself :) The first card was this "Thinking of You" number - the leaves are from Revel, and the sentiment is from Thinking Trio. On this one, I used a kraft rame that I'd die cut but never used, layered it up with a few more colors of cardstock, and accented the corners with some gems.

For the remaining cards, I took a "One Sheet Wonder" approach. It's been a long time since I've done that, and I'd forgotten how much fun it could be. I limited myself to a couple colors of cardstock and a box of metal embellishments from We R Memory Keepers just to keep things simple.

I used a variety of sentiments - the "Happy Fall" is from Little Say, the memories quote is from Faux Van Gogh #1, and "Blessings to You" is from Opportunity Trio.

So there you have it - my little ode to autum despite the 90 degree temperatures! :) And finally, one last reminder that you still have until tomorrow night to post a fall card of your own for the smART-word challenge.

Gettin' Sketchy

As much as I love stamping, sometimes it's just fun to sit down and play with paper. I really liked the simple layout over at Card Positioning Systems this week, and I needed to make a card for my SIL's upcoming milestone b-day, so I pulled out a K&Co pad that with a vintage feel that I knew she'd love. Everything is pretty simple here - a few rounded corners, edges hit with some ink to make them pop, and a couple pearls. The sentiment is from Cloud 9 Design.

While I had everything out, I did end up making just one more card :) I just got a package from Unity Stamps yesterday, and I couldn't resist inking up this tree. There are some cute little flowers already on it, but I covered them all with these little primas, and then accented them with some glitz stickles. The sentiment is from Verve.

Back tomorrow with a few more fall cards!

Joys Abound

I stamped while watching TV last night (anyone else a fan of NCIS?)... I had several challenges I wanted to incorporate in this card, and I must admit that I'm thrilled with the end result!

First, the challenges: Caardvarks Tall Order, Card Patterns Sketch, and Joanne B's Buttony Bow. Check, check, and check! I started by creating the patterned paper that I used along the side - I love that flourished botanical image from Happy Silhouettes, and I stamped it with 2 Brilliance inks so it's very rich looking. I didn't want to use a plain old circle, so I traced the scalloped shape from a large die cut I had in my stash, and then inked up the edges. I stamped the sentiment (from the same set) onto a scrap of cardstock, and then went to work on the bow. A word of advice - don't try this with single sided ribbon! I made it work, but it involved a lot of fiddling. I do love how it turned out with the button and twine, though.

And look, no pink or lavender in sight :)

Think Pink?

Well, I did put that other paper pad away, but I still ended up making a few more cards with pink... I was trying to make a card for someone in particular and was having *NO* success whatsoever, so I ended up just playing around and this is what I came up with. All the paper is from Making Memories (Sabrina collection), with a few accents from the GCD Paris Nights pad.

On the first card, I stamped the crown (Kings) with Brilliance Lightning Black and then added the sentiment (Happy Silhouettes). I added a couple rhinestones to the crown, but everything else is pretty straightforward. This would be a great card for a guy if it weren't for the color! The second card was created with the Iris Bloom set, and the tab with the word is actually the piece that was left after I trimmed the sentiment panel - just couldn't bear to throw it away! The strip right above that is paper folded to create a ruffly effect, but unfortunately that detail didn't photograph well.

Off an running again - will be back at some point this week to share more. I've had a sick daughter and life in general is still pretty crazy, so I'm not promising anything :)

Card for Bekah - Spina Bifida Awareness Month

The past few years, I've been amazed at how many pink products companies roll out in October as part of Breast Cancer Awareness month - but did you know that October is also Spina Bifida Awareness month? One of my bloggy friends, Giovana, is marking the occasion with a card drive for a sweet little girl. You can read all about it here.

I really wanted to make her a card, and I still had all the stuff from the past couple projects sitting on my workspace, so... I started out with the Mojo Monday sketch (and ended up taking some liberties with it! :) I wanted to use another adorable layered flower with a button (Making Memories), but couldn't help thinking that it was sort of a shame to just "waste" it as a card embellishment - but wait, I know I have some barrettes in my stash! I added a bit of tulle behind the flower to give it just a bit more substance, then stitched it all onto the base. Cute, cute, cute if I do say so myself! I attached it to the card with a couple glue dots so it can easily be removed. The sentiment is from Daisy Bucket Designs (#5151) and the printed papers are all Memory Box Sprout. And on that note, I really think it's time to put those papers away and move onto some other colors!!

Joy Enough...

No specific challenge with today's card - just some plain ol' stampy fun! :) The images are from the Happy Silhouettes sheet, and I used Brilliance Lightning Black ink for it all so there's some rich shimmer. For the base of the card, I adhered strips of paper (Memory Box Sprout) that I had left from my last project - great way to break up the plain cardstock base. I rounded the corners and "grubbed" up the edges a bit with two different brown inks, and then pulled out an old Making Memories embellishment jar to create the layered flower with the button.

On a side note, these stamps are not available for purchase, but can only be "earned" with smART bucks... and you can earn 1 by playing along with us over at the smART Word blog. There's still plenty of time to make a fall card!!

Growing...

I always love the challenges over at Salt, and seeing the artistic interpretations that each team member creates. This time around, the theme was growth, and I just knew I had to make something! Since we've moved, I've found myself stretched in many ways - relocating 2,000 miles definitely took me out of my comfort zone and forced me to take a hard look at myself. Was I truly relying on God to meet my needs, or was I more often turning to friends, and then putting the matter to prayer as the next step? Also, was I stepping out in faith, sharing the Lord, or being content in my happy little box?

Anyway, I made this piece as something of a souvenir of this transitional time - as well as a reminder to not grow so content as to stagnate. I also wanted to make another example of the "earth rejoicing" for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge - and I'd say those trees look pretty joyful! The verse is from smARTworks' Walk Trio "That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Colossions 1:10) The papers are all from Memory Box (Sprout), and I mounted it onto some plain cardstock so the finished size is 5x7. The tree image is from Unity, and I paper pieced it, as well as doing a bit of coloring with pc pencils. Oh, and can I add that I love that the trees have hearts on them - because that's exactly the fruit I want to bear: a heart for HIM. I had picked up the clip frame from the Target Dollar Spot eons ago, and was so glad to actually use it :) After I put it all together, it needed something else, and after digging through my stash I came up with these fabulous corners (glimmer chips from Tattered Angels).

And now that it's all done, it will be residing on the bathroom counter, where it will serve as a good daily reminder. Plus it looks way nicer than all my other junk :)

Beautiful Sunset

This week's challenge over at Stampin' Sisters in Christ was to somehow show the earth rejoicing - and since moving to South TX, every time I see a palm tree outlined against a sunset sky, I can't help but think of Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Anyway, I tried to capture some of that glory in this card!

The layout is adapted from Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge. I stamped the palm silhouette (TAC) then created the "sunset" with prismacolor pencils - trust me when I say that God does a much better job! :) I masked off the circle on the card base, and stamped with a swirl (smARTworks) then went over it with a couple different Brilliance inks. I stamped the verse(Unity) and added some gems for sparkle.

Pretty simple card, and I might just have to mail it to my folks in Montana (where they had snow this weekend!) - just to give them a hint of what they'll discover when they come down to visit over Thanksgiving...

Merci

The Daring Cardmakers challenge this week was folding, and when I saw the sketch over at Card Patterns, I immediately was envisioning this combination... finally had some time to actually create it!

The papers are all Making Memories Chloe's Closet, and I simply cut the little flower strip from one of the papers. I love the look of the folded paper - gotta remember to do that again! The layer with the rounded corners is stamped with CHF's ledger block (faint, but I promise it's there!), and the sentiment is Printworks.

New Challenge - Fall

You may have noticed that the smARTworks Design Team hasn't had a "Tea Party" in awhile... well, we've changed things up and have launched a new challenge! You can find all the details over at the smART word blog - but the basic gist is to create a card inspired by the word fall. Pretty easy, right?!
Now that we're in South TX, I'm missing the beautiful fall colors, so decided to recreate them here. I randomly inked up the leaf image from Revel with a variety of Brilliance inks (love those little Dew Drop pads!) to create the background, and the sentiment is from Wave Good-Bye. The spine of the card was scored, glued, punched, and laced up, so the part that opens is 4 1/4" square. And you see that lovely leaf embellishment? Well, that was liberated from my kids' craft stash (leaf craft kits from Oriental Trading). The hazards of having a craft crazed mother - nothing is safe! :)