Birthday Girl

Yes, I'm actually posting a card I made - felt so good to be working with this familiar canvas again :) This little cutie was created with the sketch over at CPS in mind, although I admit I took a few liberties with it. I stamped the little girl and added a touch of color with prismacolor pencils, rounded the corners and inked the edges, then added the sentiment and mounted it over the three background strips. I love the happy colors, and it's even nice & flat for mailing. Beauteous!

Girl image: Cornish Heritage Farms, sentiment PaperTrey, and paper BasicGrey Junebug

Trusting...

Another month, another project. Wow, this is getting to be a bad habit. Still here, still wanting to play with paper, but many different demands on my time...

I wanted to make something, and started looking around at sketches - is it just me, or are many of them ridiculously detailed?! Anyway, I stumbled onto one over at Get Sketchy and thought that the little strip would be a great excuse to play with my washi tape. I used the Devoted set (Ippity by Unity), which has a rather country-cutesy feel to it, but I do love the verse, and obviously the heart fit with the sketch! The peachish paper and the heart (yes, it's faintly patterned) are from the BasicGrey Capella pad, and I punched the corners of the panel, then inked it all up with pearlescent beige. The swirly background was created with a little template from my stash and bronze glimmer mist. I finished it off with this tape, and there are a couple small pearls right above it.

Ah, it feels good to get creative again...

Double Mojo

I really liked this week's Mojo sketch, and thought it would be great for a Valentine's card. I decided to go with a 5x5 card base, and pulled out the Daisy D's Maybe Baby Valentine pad, which has a very cute, retro vibe. I trimmed out the little kissing booth heart from one of the pages, and then chose some of the lighter colored patterns to finish it off, including some pink to make a paper ruffle. I edged the heart with rock candy distress stickles for a bit of shine, and then stamped the little sentiment (from BasicGrey). Super cute if I do say so myself!

Since I already had everything out, I decided to make a second card for a friend who has a birthday coming up. The same basic routine for this card - this time the stamp is from Inkadinkado, and I used buttons to accentuate the curve. A little hint: if you want to use buttons, get them all laid out to make sure they fit before you start gluing them down :)

Hope you're all staying warm! It's even below freezing down here in semi-tropical South Texas, and my kiddos are home from school today, so I'm off to play games with them. Sounds perfect to me!!

Excited for you

Yes, it's a second post! This card is for this week's 2S4Y sketch (with a fabulous prize up for grabs from Starving Artistamps, I must add!)

We've just learned that some good friends of ours are expecting another little blessing, so I wanted to make a card to celebrate the occasion. I used BasicGrey LilyKate papers - great baby colors and I tried to keep it mostly gender neutral. I stamped the sentiment (Verve) onto a Heidi Swapp resist piece, and then spritzed the whole thing with a couple colors of glimmer mist. I let it dry, and then traced around the resist area with a silver spica pen just to help it pop a bit more. I picked my patterns, cut a few strips, and layered everything up. Nothing phenomenal, but perfect for our friends!

Chocolate Sings

I couldn't let another week go by without doing at least one challenge, so managed to get this card done for CPS Sketch #158. No patterned paper at all here. Remember those wheels that were so popular a few years ago? Well, these truffles were too cute to resist... but then I never actually used them. I dug out the handle and ink cartridge, rolled away, and then added some color with prismacolor pencils. The sentiment is from Hampton Art, and I accented it with some hardware. Yep, more hoarded goods being used :) Now I just have to pass it along to a friend (along with some chocolate, of course!!)

Wish!

A triple-challenge card to share today! I started with the Inspirational Card Sketch, used maroon, pink & lemon yellow for the BasicGrey challenge, and used letter stickers for the Caardvarks "Stuck on You" challenge. Lots of fun, although very unusual for me since it has no stamping at all on it...

The papers are all from the BasicGrey Lemonade 6x6 pad. When I cut the rounded edge, I accented it with Versamagic Thatched Straw ink just to bring in a bit more yellow. The letters are from a Chatterbox kit that I keep shoving around on my shelf, and I accented the "i" with a pink gem. I'm actually sending this out as a belated birthday card, so will write something like, "I wish I'd been on the ball and gotten this sent earlier" inside :)

On a side note, did you see the awesome things that Jessica Witty did with letter stickers over on the PaperCrafts blog? Genius. Maybe I will actually use some more of these in the future!

Valentine Kitty

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and I used the CardPatterns sketch to make this cute little card. I stamped the kitty (from Barrow Buds) and then paper pieced it with BasicGrey Sugared papers. I punched a strip with a Martha Stewart scallop border punch along the top and bottom, and then used my Coluzzle to cut both the main panel and the layers. I pulled out the Combo Sentiments set to add "for you" down in the corner - perfect!

Bookworm Cutie

I was able to go away this past weekend for a scrapbooking retreat - except I was the rebel of the bunch who didn't make a single layout, but instead cranked out cards :) I had purchased this adorable image, along with the coordinating sentiment, from Stamping Bella last year. I've been itching to play along with the BasicGrey challenges, so worked with the sketch. I used Euphoria papers so that I could play along with the Daring Cardmakers Amethyst challenge - they're offering up a fabulous prize from Craft Obsessions this time around!

I colored the main image with prismacolor pencils, and then played around with the different patterned papers and embellishments - ended up going with a grungeboard flourish, a few flowers, and a couple gems (which are rich & sparkly IRL)... I love to give books as gifts, so I'm all set for the next occasion!

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)

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!

Fun Christmas Cards

I needed a couple simple cards for some neighbors, and I used the fun sketch over at Card Positioning Systems this week as my starting point. For the first one, I made the snowflake from some leftover faux mother-of-pearl paper (that I'd done with a grayish blue ink), and then after I'd cut it out I coated it with my son's favorite Crayola glitter glue. You can never have too much sparkle! I layered it with some paper (impulse buy from the Target dollar spot last week), and tied on a "hope" charm. The finished card is 5 1/2" square.

The second card is smaller - only 4 1/4" - and the colors were chosen by my daughter :) I liberated the hot pink foam circle from her art box, and then embellished it with an edge strip (doodlebug designs), tiny gems, and an actual ornament hanger. This was really fun to do, and I'm thinking that the kids and I will make some more of these for the teachers, friends, etc. I used a Martha Stewart edge punch for the ornament topper (just clipped out a tiny piece) and the turquoise layer. I couldn't make 2 cards in a row without any stamping whatsoever, so I stamped JOY with the Alpha-02 set.

Don't know if I'm going to find any more "creative time" in the weeks ahead - we're hitting the road for Christmas this year, and there's still a lot I need to get done. If I don't make it back to the blog, I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday!!

Getting Lovey-Dovey

I know that Christmas is looming large on the horizon, but Valentine's isn't all that far off, right? Anyway, that's the excuse I'm offering for this card :)

I used this week's layout from Card Patterns - fun layout to combine patterned papers. The images are from smARTworks' Happy Silhouettes and the paper is from Memory Box. Everything is pretty straightforward - I made the card base from dark purple cardstock, which you see right below the ribbon. I really love the sentiment: Forever. For always. No matter what. Definitely going to use that for my hubby's card this year (he won't be receiving this particular one!)

Hope you're having a great week!

Merry Snowman

I haven't had much time to stamp this week, but I did manage to make this for the Card Patterns sketch challenge. And yes, I did take some liberties with the layout again, but the little snowguy looked awfully bored when he was all symmetrical :)

The stamps are from Unity (October store kit), and I used Brilliance inks. The snowflake die-cuts & brads are from Making Memories. Sorry about the lousy shot - it's late and this is the best it's going to get for now...

Card Patterns, Round 2

I was really unsatisfied with my other version of the Card Patterns sketch, so I decided to take another crack at it. I even managed to use fall colors - tough when it's still in the mid 80s every day and I'm surrounded by lush plants...

Anyway, I used the great papers from Making Memories, and "blocked" them on an ivory card. The lovely sentiment is by Wordsworth, and I thought it went well with the pear paper. I used rick rack and a couple buttons from my stash to finish it. And while I still tweaked the sketch a bit, at least it's recognizable this time :)

Small Pleasures

It's been a few days since I posted - we (meaning me and my not-quite-so-enthusiastic-but-loves-me-very-much hubby) decided to tackle the laundry hallway. Let's just say things didn't go quite as we'd anticipated... but then do home improvement projects ever work out that way?! :)

I managed to get this little card done earlier this week, and am finally getting it posted. I wanted to make something for the Moxie Fab Plum challenge using the sketch from Card Patterns - and, well, it didn't turn out quite as I planned, but I still like the result! I stamped the sweet image (from Happy Silhouettes) with versamark eggplant ink, and also used that for the sentiment (partially inked image from the same set). I paired it with the cute Crate Papers, but ended up leaving the top right panel from the sketch off completely, as it just looked too choppy... and well, when I dove into my ribbon box, the dark purple grosgrain that I'm absolutely certain I own was nowhere to be found, so I resorted to the sheer white stuff. I did add the 3 brads - but again, not according to the sketch. Do you see a trend here?

Hoo boy -- off to see what else I can "improvise" on today!

Quilted Die Cuts

One more card for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge, based on this week's sketch at CPS. The verse is from the Christian Sympathy set (Clear Dollar Stamps) and I paired it with this "quilted" piece I had made a couple weekends ago at a library class, but it had yet to find a home. I know the CPS sketch features circles, but I really like the interest that the shape provides here.

Below you'll find the 2 cards that I made using the same quilted technique - punch squares from patterned paper and adhere to standard copy paper, then die cut. These panels were also dry embossed (with the CB paisley folder), and I accented it with some ink on the left card. Fun and easy! The sentiments are from Unity (praying for you) and a*muse (relax...)

The strength of my heart...

I always find the posts over at Stampin Sisters in Christ so encouraging, and this week's challenge was no exception: a reminder that God is always with us, even when it may not feel like it... it's so easy to rely on our own strength, and treat God as a last resort. But whatever our shortcomings may be, He is faithful - the one and only thing in life that is truly dependable. What a blessing!

Anyway, as I was reading through the post, my thoughts went to this verse (Psalm 73:26) - we fail even ourselves, but God is the "strength of my heart." Isn't that a wonderful phrase? I ended up using the layout from the Card Patterns sketch, but did adjust the circle just a bit to fit the verse. I used a variety of bits and pieces for embellishments, but it still has a clean, simple feel to it. I think I may end up playing around with this layout a bit more to create a few masculine cards - just need to lose the flower and lace :) Hope you all have a fabulous day - and remember, God *IS* with you!!

Bless You

Just a quick card to share today, made for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch. The oval die with the sweet birds was from a Making Memories pack, and the only stamping on the entire card is the small sentiment (Wordsworth). Everything else, from the card base (4" square) to the embellishments, was just piled on my desk. I think that's a sign it's time to do some cleaning up!

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!