Just thinking...

I'm realizing I have yet to post several of the last batch of cards for the smARTworks DT... This darling image is from the Happy Silhouettes sheet, and I wanted to keep the card pretty simple. After I stamped the initial image onto some speckled white paper, I colored in the water and then trimmed it out - definitely easy! I wanted to layer in some dark blue paper somehow, but couldn't find anything appropriate in my stash (shocking!)... stamps to the rescue! This is actually the same paper as the rest of the card, just repeatedly inked, stamped, and smudged. I used the swirly image from the set, which provides some nice texture. I used a variety of Brilliance inks, so it shimmers nicely, too. A bit of glue and a sentiment, and it was all done - simple can be very good!

Butterfly Moments

Yet another card created with "buried treasure." I've had this butterfly set from Artistic Outpost for longer than I want to admit, and it finally met up with some ink... The card layout is from 2 Sketches 4 You.

I stamped the sentiment onto white cardstock, then did a simple wash over it with twinkling H2Os - love the effect! I framed it out with black (Martha Stewart border punch along the bottom), and accented it with a popped butterfly. I repeatedly stamped a strip of white with the same butterfly, and then layered it all with this orangey pink cardstock. Beauteous!

Deep Roots

Another double challenge card to share today: Mojo Monday sketch and Stampin' Sisters in Christ theme. The challenge at SSIC was based on I Peter 1:23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. Based on that, we were to incorporate a bit of green into the card. I took the idea of a growing seed pretty literally, and paired it up with the stamp from MorningStar.

I dug into my stash of paper and pulled out the Blue Hill collection from Crate Paper. It had a variety of die-cuts included, and I thought the flowers worked well here. I accented the centers with a bit of mint ice stickles.

I pray that your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love! (Ephesians 3:17)

Spreading some ATC love...

One of my friends is quite the artist, and has just recently been introduced to the world of Artist Trading Cards. It was her birthday last week, and I wanted to make her a couple friendship themed ATCs, and then I decided to kick it up a notch and make a little holder for them as well. I googled for a template, and ended up making my own (simple measurements and lots of scoring :) based on this design. I used heavyweight paper, and it's actually quite sturdy. I was originally going to just tuck the flap into the box, but I didn't like how it looked, so I started playing around with closures. I know I have some good BasicGrey magnets floating around here somewhere, but I couldn't find them, so I ended up pulling out a couple small ones that had come with a kids art set - they don't hold all that well, but it was sufficent.

For the ATCs, I used a variety of bits and papers I had floating around in my "pieces" box. Stamps: bra & coordinating saying from Crafty Secrets; coffee cup & 2 other sentiments from Cornish Heritage Farms; dragonfly from smARTworks. Paper & all embellishment for ATC box from K&Co Brenda Walton scrap pad.

Beautiful Things

I'm so excited to get back into my crafting groove and start participating in challenges again. The layout is from Card Patterns, and the blue/kraft/white combo is from the Colour Create Challenge.

I must admit that I interpreted the "layers" on the sketch pretty liberally. I created a mask with a border punch and some lightweight paper and then misted my card base with glimmer mist as a start. The stamps are from the Ornamental Beauty set (CHF) - I had purchased it quite awhile ago, but it was packed up and I just recently rediscovered it. I unearthed the fibery ribbon, too, and the giant button finished it off.

Here's to finding buried treasure :)

BYO Sunshine

Just a fun little card to share... I love these stamps from Unity (Oct 09 Kit of the Month) but they had yet to be put to paper... and finally took a few minutes to rectify the situation :) I stamped the sun image first with pale yellow, then the sentiment with navy. I accented the sun with a prismacolor pencil and a glitter pen, then added a couple eyelets just for fun. I accented it with a scrap of paper (from BasicGrey 12x12 Lily Kate collection) and we're good to go.

And I just want to add that bringing sunshine is always good advice!

Sweet!

We had a birthday party to attend yesterday, and I wanted to create something fun for the birthday girl. I pulled out the Mix Up of Cuteness set and some Basic Grey (Oh Baby - Girl) papers for this card. I colored the cupcake with prismacolor pencils, and the frosting is accented with Rock Candy stickles - I assure you it's very cute in person! The sentiment is from the same set, and it was perfect for the occasion... I'm already dreaming up some layouts with the other images from that set, so stay tuned :)

Ice in Texas?!

As I'd mentioned a few weeks ago, the smART-word for January is ice. Now this is my first January in South Texas (after 14 years in Pennsylvania!) -- and I must admit that icy inspiration is lacking. Rather than bundling up in a warm sweater and sipping cocoa, I'm playing outside with my kids... but only after taking allergy pills and applying mosquito repellant. Crazy! Anyway, after many false starts, this is what I came up with.

I repeatedly stamped the branch image (everything is from the Botanicals plate) with blue & silver Brilliance inks for a frosty feel. Everything is pretty straightforward - the final touch was a couple "icy" rhinestones.

I do want to share one other card I made a couple years ago, using the Winter Days set. I love the icy look that the Dazzle Dust gives here. And hey, you can win this set for yourself by playing along with the challenge - you have until Tuesday night to post a link.

So in the meantime, stay warm and keep stamping :)

Tag! You're My Friend :)

Can't believe it, but I'm back with a second post today!

I really liked the sketch over at Card Patterns this week, and when I saw that it featured a tag, I immediately started thinking about the 12x12 BasicGrey I have in my stash. I used the Phresh & Phunky pack for this card - no stamps whatsoever, and a minor dip into my embellishments for the twine & buttons. I chose the tag first, and lightened it up a bit with some white ink. I picked which papers I wanted to use for each element, and then started cutting. (I love that the paper is sturdy enough to be used as a card base, and I still have a white "innard") I used the coordinating letter stickers to spell out friend, and trimmed a piece of dotted paper to accent the bottom of the tag. Quick, and ready to pass along to a dear friend for Valentine's Day!

Sing!

I had such grand plans for the past 2 weeks... but nothing went the way I had envisioned. Anyway, I am now stealing a few moments to share a card I made back in December with the Happy Silhouettes set. I wanted to do something fun with the bird, and decided to pull out a pad of softly colored vintage paper (K&Co) and play around. I stamped the bird onto one that had script all over it, then embossed and went over it with black ink. I layered it with some other papers, added a few punched flowers, and created a small tag for the sentiment (Alpha-02). Nothing fancy-schmancy, but I like the overall effect.

Here's hoping I can find some additional "fun crafty time" soon! :)

Catching Up

Holy schnikees, it's 2010! We had a wonderful Christmas and are now trying to return to "normal." There are several matters that require my attention, but I promise to get back to crafting soon. I was able to visit Mystic Paper when we were out in AZ - creative bliss!! Amazing displays, plus drooling over product lines that I'd never seen in person. I could have spent an entire day wandering the shop (not to mention an awful lot of hubby's paycheck), but exercised a bit of self-restraint and walked out with only 1 small paper bag. Which still cost plenty, but I digress ;) Anyway, I do have a bunch of ideas swirling around in my head, plus some completed projects that I haven't managed to post. Here's hoping our computer cooperates with that plan we'll be ordering a new one this week - we've been having some very strange issues with this one, including turning itself on randomnly, and have come to the conclusion that our motherboard is deteriorating rapidly...

Anyway, I did want to say that the January Challenge is up - bring on the ice! Lots of room for interpretation on that one, and hopefully you can play along.

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce