Not my usual colors

 I don't generally use a lot of orange, or pair it with red, but I went in that direction based on the inspiration photo for Beautiful Blossoms, showing a large bunch of orange/red marigolds. I pulled out a stamp I've had for ages but might never have used before - one of a set of wood-cut style images. It's stamped in orange (although a much less vibrant orange than the inspiration photo), matted on red and black, tied with gold cording, and popped up on foam tape on a gold-splattered white card.

 This card is entered in these challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms -- florals

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

 Word Art Wednesday #777 -- -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2543 -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

Crafter's cafe #335 -- anything goes

Creative Inspiration -- anything goes

Triple B -- blooms 

Pink Christmas

 

The hosts at the Jingle Belles Challenge host a "pink" challenge every year, and they make a donation to breast cancer research for each entry of a pink  holiday card, so I always try to make at least one. For this card, I turned to an old pack of Christmas papers with a pink/red/silver color scheme. I think this foiled ornament paper is so pretty -- you know, the old "too pretty to cut and use" syndrome. Today was the day to finally cut it. I stamped, silver-embossed and fussy cut an ornament and hung it from a pink ribbon (wow, the symbolism just hit me). The sentiment came with the papers.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Jungle Belles -- Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Think Pink

ABC Christmas-- U is for Unused stash (all the patterned papers)

Pammies Inky Pinkies #2641 -- anything goes 

Word Art Wednesday #774 -- anything goes 

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

CRAFT #791 -- anything goes  

Polkadoodles Challenge -- anything goes 

 

 

Rocking Christmas trailer

 I think rocker cards are so easy to make, and I'm sure this rocker will stand out among the crop of rectangular cards the recipient will receive this Christmas. As long as you have a circle die or can trace around a plate and cut it out, you can make one easily.

For this card, I die-cut the base in white, scored and folded it.I then die-cut the tree-patterned paper, cut in in half and adhered to the base. Cut a smaller circle, and sponged on brown and blue inks for the ground and sky. Stamped a few pine trees. The focal image is a darling camper-shaped piece of ephemera from Stamplorations. So quick and easy, you could turn out a batch of these in no time at all.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Die-cut Divas -- shaped cards

Stamplorations Never-ending challenge -- Stamplorations ephemera

Word Art Wednesday #772   -- anything goes 

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2641 -- anything goes 

Paper Funday #92 -- anything goes 

Creative Inspiration -- anything goes 

Crafts Galore Encore -- anything goes 

Polkadoodles challenge -- anything goes 

Digi Choosday Challenge -- anything goes 

Just Us Girls #844 -- move
 

Halloween tag

 Now that there are no kids in my house, I don't really "do" Halloween. However, I  have a random assortment of Halloween-themed crafting supplies, mostly leftovers and a few things people sent me as a little insert in a swap card. So I decided to make a Halloween tag.

I began with a white tag, sponging it with Hickory Smoke Distress ink. Next, I chose a patterned paper I got as one of those swap gifties. It shows skulls, bats, gravestones, bones and other "Spooky" stuff, so it set the mood. Added a die-cut spider web in an upper corner, then rub-on spider and bat. Used a sticker across the bottom -- these stickers are pretty realistic-looking in real life, they truly look like a ribbon stamped with letters and held by brads. The same set of rub-ons that included the spider and bat had the word "scary" in orange.  These are really old rub-ons, and the word didn't come across as bold as it should have, so we have a ghostly "scary." And while rubbing that on, some stray orange dots ended up on the tag. So I decided to embrace the happenstance by adding a few more orange rub-ons from the set. Finished the tag with black-and-white bakers twine and a fuzzy orange fiber.

This tag is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- tag it

Creative Inspiration -- anything goes

DigiChooseday  -- anything goes

Polkadoodles Challenge: -- anything goes

Gem of a Challenge -- anything goes 

We Love to Create Challenge  -- anything goes

 

Pumpkin spice pie

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 On Thanksgiving, I usually declare that "I'm here for the sides," namely dressing and pumpkin pie. So why not make pumpkin pie the star of a card?

The pie is from Stamplorations. It's black embossed and colored with water colors, with superfine clear glitter making that whipped cream look magical. I used the Try a Sketch on Tuesday sketch and added a black-embossed seasonal greeting.

This card is for these challenges 

 

 

Double Trouble #226 -- 3 colors, 2-word sentiment, fall image; plus TSOT sketch (and pumpkins were involved with that pie -- so I think it should count as a "gourd" image)

TSOT #705 -- sketch

Stamplorations never-ending challenge -- Featuring Stamploration pie stamp and die

Word Art Wednesday #772 -- anything goes 

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2640 -- anything goes

A Cut Above -- die cuts

Polkadoodles challenge -- anything goes

 

 

Sparkly dancer

 I paired some very old patterned paper with this sweet dancer image from All Dressed up, along with a sparkly sentiment and sequins, of course. The image is colored with pencils.

This card is entered in these challenges: 

All Dressed UP Challenge #177 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #770 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2638  -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations  #246  -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

Polkadoodles challenges-- anything goes 

A big hello

 It finally feels like fall here, so I made a fall-ish card, inspired by the inspiration photo at Inspiration Station. The die-cut leaves are sponged with colors from the photo -- they haven't shown up where I live yet, but they will in another three weeks or so.  The die-cut sentiment is placed on a vellum "shadow" and then on a strip of cardstock stamped with a gingham pattern. I found a piece of what we used to call "fun fiber" and tied a little bow under the sentiment.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Inspiration Station #89 -- inspiration photo

The Pick 3 Challenge #9 -- brown, checks, leaves

Time Out Challenge #322-- seasonal colors where you live

Word Art Wednesday #770  -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2638 -- anything goes 

Trucking towards Christmas

It's that a cute image?  It's actually a piece of repurposed, and very shiny, Christmas wrapping paper. I glued it to a piece of card stock and let the glue dry. Then I did a little out-of-the box die-cutting (to get the front end of the truck in), and mounted it on a second die-cut from green card stock.  The sentiment is a sticker, which I placed on a piece of beige card-stock (I thought white would be too stark against the gold background on the truck) and trimmed to size.

This card is entered in these challenges

CRAFT #789 -- Christmas

ABC Christmas -- T is for transport

Die-cut Divas -- recycle/repurpose (used a snippet of wrapping paper for main image)

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- transport it

Word Art Wednesday #770 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2637  -- anything goes

Chicken soup for the humor

 A get-well card for someone who could use a smile (or maybe a humorous groan?) It's a digi from the much-missed Bugaboo store, colored in pencils, die-cut and sponged. All of the 1-inch (ish) strips are from the snippet pile, pretty much used as is (or was). The checked snippet was cut into equal thirds to help fill the space. I cut about 1/4 inch off the short side of the mustard colored snippet before embossing it to add some texture.

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- add texture.

Word Art Wednesday #768  -- anything goes

Can you Handle the Pressure -- embossing

A Cut Above -- use a die-cut

Pammie's Inkie Pinkies #2637 -- anything goes

Snippets Playground #541 -- use snippets 

Sending smiles

 Everyone loves happy mail, even for no special occasion. Here's a happy mail card. The image is a digi from Polkadoodles, which I colored in pencils and fussy cut. The colors were selected to coordinate with the three patterned papers -- the stripe, the floral used for the  scalloped circle, and the small piece of patterned paper that's peeking out behind the sentiment strip.

This card is for these challenges:

Double Trouble # 224 -- three patterned papers, two colors, one image. (The option is stitching -- does the stitching in the striped pattern count?)

Word Art Wednesday #768 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2636 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #246 -- use an image

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

Polkadoodle Challenge-- anything goes

Gem of a Challenge -- anything goes 

Poppy triptych

 This card was inspired by this inspiration photo from the Beautiful Blossoms Challenge you can see below. The image is a large "Stickeroo" from Penny Black, which I made into a triptych by dividing it in thirds horizontally instead of vertically. It's matted on black and on an olive-ish colored panel that is similar to the greenery in the photo.

 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms #44 -- mood board

Pammie's Inky Pinkie's #2636 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday # 768 -- anything goes

Digi chooseday -- anything goes

Triple B -- blossoms

Crafter's Cafe -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore -- anything goes

Polkadoodles Challenge -- anything goes

Gem of A Challenge-- anything goes 

 

Musical birds

 Sometimes you find the perfect patterned paper for an image. I think that happened with this card. I wanted to use this IO image of birds on a musical staff. While looking though my patterned paper, I found this vintage looking design with flowers and alight pattern of sheet music. The birds are black-embossed, and Distress Antique Linen ink was sponged around the edges of the panel. The sentiment strip is a Stamplorations sticker adhered to a little strip of coordinating paper. Gold watercolor was splattered over the entire card to add a bit of sparkle.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes 

The Paper Funday #90 -- anything goes 

Pammie's Inky Pinkie's #2634 -- anything goes 

Crafter's Cafe #333 -- anything goes  

Word Art Wednesday #766 -- anything goes  

Crafts Galore Encore #150 -- anything goes  

Corn harvest

 I made a fall-inspired card, using a little corn image that I may have never used before. It was stamped in three different colors of chalk ink on a cream layer. The bottom of the cream layer features two layers of torn-edge paper. The main panel is mounted on an oranne layer (with a thin reveal) then on a brown layer, The embellishment is an acorn-shaped button and two die-cut leaves.

This card is for the following challenges:

Pick Three -- orange, stamping, polka dots

Double Trouble #233 -- three colors, two stamps (corn and autumn), 1 button embellishment

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- lots of layers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2634 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday # 766 -- anything goes

Holly-days

 Here's a simple Christmas card using some scraps of patterned papers. This card was inspired by a few challenges, including the Jingle Belles' masculine challenge and the Try a Sketch on Tuesday sketch. Masculine cards often have images of nature, such as a plant, without too much fru-fru or embellishments, so this fits that bill, I think. All the patterned paper panels are edged in red ink to give them some definition. The sentiment circle is popped up on foam tape.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Jingle Belles -- masculine merriment

Double Trouble #223-- 3 patterned papers, two sizes of holly die-cuts, 1 sentiment + TSOT sketch + popped up item  (sentiment circle) 

TSOT -- sketch #702

Simon Says Stamps Wednesday -- going around in circles

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2633-- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #766 -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

Polkadoodles challenge -- anything goes

Gem of a Challenge -- anything goes

 

Sledding toward Christmas

 Still summer, still hot. Let's think cool thoughts. How about a little sledding? I got this sweet penguin image in Alice Keegan's (Kit & Clowder/The Coloring Channel) Advent giveaway. Colored him with pencils and added some clear Stickles to the flying snow around the sled. Three patterned papers with snowflake designs are featured -- the black one, the gray one, and the red around the main image. 

Added some acrylic circles that feature snowflake patterns as a quick embellishment.

This card is entered in these challenges:

ABC Christmas -- P is for penguin

Double Trouble  #233 -- 3 patterned papers, two colors (red and green), one embossed sentiment

Word Art Wednesday #764 -- anything goes 

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2633 -- anything goes 

Pattie's Creations #245-- use an image

Gem challenge -- anything goes  

Beach vibes

 This die-cut sand dollar and shell patterned paper have been sitting on my craft table for a while now.  I was finally inspired to use them after seeing a video of this fun fold. I didn't catch the name of the fold, if it has one. Cut paper at 5.5 x11, score at 4.25 and 8.5. Cut circle in front flap of card, and attach the circle to the inside flap.

I have a variety of seashell stamps, so I used them to decorate the inner flap and inside of the card. The sentiment sticker is from Stamplorations. 

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- monochrmatic

The Paper Funday #90-- fun fold

CRAFT #786 -- summer/vacation

Word Art Wednesday #764-- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2632   -- anything goes

Digi Choosday  -- anything goes

Pollkadoodles challenge  -- anything goes 

Inkspirational #373 -- beach vibe 

Sunshine and sunflowers

 The inspiration photo for Inspiration Station challenge #88 shows a beautiful field of sunflowers. To me, sunflowers and sunshine go hand-in-hand, and this lovely image and sentiment from Stamplorations conveyed that idea perfectly. The image is popped up on a stitiched oval, and backed by a sunshine-colored pattern paper.

 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Inspiration Station #88 -- inspired by sunflowers.

A Cut Above -- fall flowers

Stamplorations Never-ending Challenge -- feature Stamploration products

Word Art Wednesday #764 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2631-- anything goes

Polkadoodles challenge -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

CRAFT 786 -- summer 

 

Spotlight on morning glory

 The last spotlight card I posted, maybe a year and a half ago, is by far the most popular blog post I've ever made. It's been viewed like double the next most popular post, and more than 10x the average post. I remember  being super intimidated by the technique when I first came across it, but it's so easy. 

For this card, I used a morning glory image. I picked out the area I wanted to color, cut it out with a circle die, and referred to an online photo of morning glories when choosing the purple, pink and green colors. Die-cut a slightly larger circle in purple, placed it over the spot the image was diecut from, then placed the colored circle on top, making sure the image lined up. Easy peasy.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms # 43 -- florals

Double Trouble # 222-- 3 layers, 2 colors, 1 sentiment plus optional twist of "more" (4 layers and three colors)

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- birthday

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2631 -- anything goes

A Cut Above -- include diecut

Triple B -- include blossom, bird, or butterfly

Paper Funday #90 -- anything goes

 

Ice cream time

 It's still very much summer, so how about some ice cream? 

This fun cone and sentiment are from Stamplorations. The cone is heat-embossed in black, watercolored with dye ink, and die-cut with the matching die. For the background, the same inks were swiped across an ice-cream-themed EF, creating a fun and colorful debossed side.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Can you Handle the Pressure -- use embossing folder

The Paper Funday #88  -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2630 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #762 -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

Polkadoodles challenge -- anything goes 

 Stamplorations Never-Ending Challenge -- showcase Stamploration products 

Pressed flowers

 I tried a new-to-me technique that mimics the look of pressed flowers. I started by creating a possibly vintage-looking background by stamping script on tan cardstock, figuring out where to place the paper flowers, and lightly stamping in some leaf shapes around them. The flowers were then adhered to the panel and run through a flatish-pattern embossing folder. (The folder, from Marianne Designs, is a Never-been-used- supply (NBUS) that I have had for at probably 10 years. I can date it because I purchased it at the Atlanta Stamping Show, and it's been a decade since I've been able to attend.) The panel was then mounted on a slightly larger mat, placed on the top-fold card, and accented with dimensional paper flower held on with a brad.

This card is for these challenges:

NBUS #88 -- never before used item is the embossing folder

Beautiful Blossoms #43-- anything floral

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- make your own background 

Word Art Wednesday #762 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2629 -- anything goes