Little ice skater

Not to rub it in, but there is one nice thing about living in the South.... you can be making an ice skating card secure it the knowledge that right outside your window it's sunny and in the 60s.

I tried a new technique on this -- adding glitter to an embossed piece (just spread it on with a brayer). I must say, it really adds a snow-like sparkle, although I'm afraid it might not show up very well in the photo.

This card is going into several challenges:

There's Magic in the Air -- Sparkle and Glitter
Victorine Originals #48 -- Blue and White
365 Cards #272 -- Wintery with patterned ribbon.

The cute snowman is from Impression-Obsesson.  The snowy DP is from Hobby Lobby, I got it last year after using up the pieces I bought the year before. I hope they still have it as I love both the color and the print.

Fun in the snow

Nina, the owner/designer at Paper Cupcakes, has drawn some really cute snowmen. This one is a freebie she gave out, and the current challenge at the Paper Cupcakes blog There's Magic in the Air is to use this guy on a card, and include a snowflake.  Well, I included enough snowflakes for a blizzard here.

The image is colored with pencils, plus a silver gel pen on the buttons.  I added blue highlights to the embossed piece and sponged the edges of the main image and tag with Bliss Blue ink.  I didn't want this to be a monocrhomatic card, so I decided the mat the main image on a contrasting color.  It's a peachy shade of orange, to pick up the orange from the carrot nose.

This is one of those cards that could work as a Christmas card but doesn't have to be.  The "joy" sentiment seems appropriate in either case.

Little mermaid

When 365 Cards put up the theme "enchanted,"  (365 cards, #138) I knew it was time to pull out the mermaid stamps.  For various reasons, I have a bunch of them, and I decided to use this one Michelle Perkett did for Faerie Song. I also used the sketch from the current There's Magic in the Air Magical Monday Challenge.

Mermaid is colored with pencils.  I tried adding some paper glaze to the little bubbles, but I think my glaze is too old and has gone bad. I put on several layers, and you can't even tell unless you are practically holding the image up to your eye. If anyone knows how to revive it, please let me know.

I used a paper with a circle pattern and one embossed with swiss dots to emphasize the bubble idea.  And the rickrack is wavy, even if it running in the wrong direction to be waves.

Love that the mermaid is reading -- nothing like literary fantasy creatures.

Not too girly, I hope

When I first tried this card, I used the biggest circle nesties I have for the half circles, but they weren't nearly big enough. I ended up going old school -- tracing circular objects and cutting them by hand.  I figured the scallop scissors would disguise the less-than-perfect cuts.
The sketch here is Card Patterns Sketch #168.  The card is also for There's Magic In the Air's three in a row challenge -- the blog posted a 3-by-3 grid with each square containing a different element; we have to pick three in any tic-tac-toe-style line. My line is lace, flowers and brads.  ( I assume the flowers in the image count!)
The details:
Stamp:  Hero Arts
Ink:  Chestnut Roan chalk
Patterned Paper:  Stampin' Up.
Lace and brads, unknown.

CAS not so simple for me

Clean and simple doesn't normally come naturally to me, at least when it comes to card making. My husband always says I'm a "minimalist" but it doesn't seem to translate to cardmaking, where I agonize over everything.

Not this time, however.  The challenge for There's Magic in the Air was to make a "less is more" or CAS card.  I used the CAS sketch challenge from SCS, and this card came together in record time.

The branch (Autumn Leaves)is stamped in versamark and the sentiment (source unknown) in SU Mauve Mist.  Two of the butterflies were punched from a scrap of printed paper, and the green panel is mounted on the same print. I'm not sure the purple butterfly is the perfect color, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with this quick card.

Salute to Spring

     We got a blast of winter today, but no sleet, snow or slush, thank goodness. In hopes of enticing spring to come back, I have a very spring-like card today.
     Daffodils are already in bloom here, thanks to the mild winter, so tulips should be the next up.  This lovely tulip stamp is from SmArtWorks.  I like the more subtly shaded tulips, so mine here are white with pink at the base.
      I used the current Card Patterns sketch (#152) for this card.  The color scheme comes from There's Magic in the Air, which challenged us to use pink, white and another color -- green, in my case.
     The sentiment is from CTMH and is stamped in Baby Pink ink. The pink patterned paper is an old Stampin' Up set.
     Hope your day is wonderful, no matter the weather.

Inspired balloons



Paper Cupcakes inspiration photo

      This week's challenge at There's Magic in the Air asks us to be inspired by this bright and cheerful photo. I loved the greens and purples and wanted to be sure to incorporate them into this card.
     I even found a Paper Cupcakes image that works well with this inpiration. It's called (surpirsingly enough) Balloons with Envelopes.
     I used this week's sketch from SCS, and there's nothing that needs explanation on this card.
     The details:  Image by Paper Cupcakes; papers by Martha Stewart.  Image colored with pencils and OMS.  Accessories include Beads in a Bottle, decorative-edge scissors and skinny ribbon.
     I'm also entering this in the current Victorine Originals Challenge, which is "anything goes,"  so I'm pretty sure this qualifies.

Winter fun

     I got this cute penguin stamp during Impression-Obsession's annual Thanksgiving sale, and I'm so happy to have an excuse to use him. Cute images like this are "almost" enough to convince me that winter is fun (but I live in the South, where ice is serious and can shut the town down for days, so it's not "completely" enough to convince me).
     I also love this sketch from Card Patterns (sketch 145).  It went together so quickly I was amazed, and I really like that element I used blue vellum on -- it really gives the card an extra bit of pizzazz.  This card is also for the current challenge at There's Magic in the Air -- "winter fun with bling" (bling in this case being glitter).
     Image is stamped in Memento black and colored with pencils and OMS.  It's matted on a scalloped circle.  White layer has a punched edge and is also embossed with the Swiss Dot folder.  Blue vellum was punched with same edge punch.  Ribbon is actually sewn in place -- I sewed the button on the card with embroidery floss.
      What sort of winter fun do you enjoy?

Vintage Christmas

     I wish could get as enthused about other aspects of getting ready for Chistmas as I can get interested in making Christmas cards. Things would go a lot easier that way.

     Today's card is a vintage-style Christmas card. The vintage aspect was inspired by this week's Magical Monday Challenge from Paper Cupcakes/There's Magic in the Air.  It's also based on the current Card Positioning System Sketch (CPS246).  And it uses ribbon, qualifying it for the current Victorine Originals Challenge (VO22).

     The old-fashioned Santa is stamped on white paper, colored with pencils and OMS.  There's a little  glitter pen on the ribbon on the wreath and silver gel pen on the jingle bells up the cneter of his coat. Edges are sponged with SU Creamy Caramel ink.  Image is mounted on  maroon paper that has been run through the Cuttlebug (textile plate) and came from the scrap file.  I wapped gold cording  around that with a little Chirstmas stocking charm hanging from the cording.  I added gold ribbon tabs at the top of the matting, which is popped up on popdots. I also sponged around the edges of the cream-colored card  and did faux-stitching around the strip of old-fashioned holly DP in maroon marker.

What's shaping up?

      I've done enough challenges that it's pretty hard to surprise me with anything. This week's challenge at There's Magic in the Air included something I've never seen before in a challenge -- the requirement is to include a half-circle in your card, along with the colors of orange, blue and brown. Actually, that's sort of a surprising color combo, but it's the shape that's a new one on me.  Aside from requiring an actual circular card, I don't remember shapes coming up in any challenge.
     This cute image is from Paper Cupcakes, and it's the freebie this week, so head on over to There's Magic in the Air and download it.  There are also some Thanksgiving sentiments offerent for a free download.  I just forgot about them, or I would have used one on this card.
     Card is pretty self-explanatory. Image is colored in pencils and OMS. I sponged Bliss Blue ink around the image.  Sentiment is from two different sets and is inked in Tangerine and Chestnut Roan Chalk ink.  Sentiment is wrapped in baker's twine and up on popdots. I put a big half circle behind the main image and echoed it with a small one behind the sentiment.
      The little acorn is from a set of buttons I picked up at Hobby Lobby on Monday (66 percent off). I don't usually buy buttons with shanks, but I couldn't resist these cuties at the clearance price. Aside from investing in a shank removing tool, does anyone have a suggestion on how to remove shanks?

White-on-White

     White-on-white always makes an elegant looking card.  Adding some dry embossing just seems to up the elegance quotient, or at least I hope that's the case for this Christmas card.
      It was as simple as could be to make. The tree is gold-embossed and popped up on a white mat that is embossed with the textile folder. That is popped up on a panel embossed with the swiss dot folder. A white organza ribbon with gold edging is wrapped around the larger mat and finished off with a bow. And that's all there is to it.  This would be an easy one to set up assembly-line style if you make a lot of Christmas cards.
     This card is for a VSN challenge to make a white-on-white card, and also for what amounts to the same challenge at Paper Cupcake's blog There's Magic in the Air.
     The embossing powder is called Pirate's Gold from Powder Keg. I love the stamp, but unfortunately I don't know who made it (it's from a clear stamp set I got at a consignment sale and it doesn't have any identifying info on it).

Gingerbread Newsboys

     A few weeks ago, I saw several cards that used newsprint as one of the design elements. As a former journalist, this really appealed to me, but I kind of forgot about it until this week's Way to Use it Challenge at SCS called for us to use newsprint.  I ended up making a Christmas card that is for both for the current Really Reasonable Reason challenge (#35, Christmas) and the current challenge at Paper Cupcakes' There's Magic in the Air blog (Something sweet).
     Since I knew I was doing a Christmas card, I didn't want the news article to be about Greek debt or anything depressing, so I went through the newspaper looking for a block of newsprint that was both solid type and about a reasonably pleasant subject, just in case the recipient is like me and starts to read the background. (If it's in print, I will try to read it). I really hoped I could find something Christmasy, but settled for a food section article on growing water chestnuts.
        I DPT'd the newsprint with Creamy Caramel ink to make it look aged and so the gingerbread strip would pop.
       Gingerbread border stamp is from DRS. I stamped it in Colorbox Chalk lipstick red, and colored the gingerbread men with colored pencils, dotting in a little green marker on their bowties. Candy cane is from a bag of metal embellies from Michael's, purchased a few years ago.
       What do you think of the newspaper background? The solid block of type works well when you want the background just to be background, as I did here.  I would like to try different elements from the paper (ad pages, classifieds, etc) to see how they look on cards.  Yet another thing to remember when I'm making cards....

Wish I were here

     Victorine Originals new challenge (challenge 15) is to use the theme "summer."  Where I live, there's plenty of summer left. Unfortunately, there is no beach around, so I can only wish I was here.

     I used the current CPS sketch, (CPS323) for the card.

    The challenge this week at Magical Monday (There's Magic in the Air) is to use a scene, and this beach scene says "summer" all the way.  The image is a new one from Purple Onion Designs, colored in pencils and OMS.  
    Clean and simple seems appropriate for summer.

CAS and pink and brown

     I rarely do one layer cards -- years of stamping have ingrained a desire to do some matting on every card into my brain.  Today, however, I'm sharing a one-layer card. It's about as clean and simple as possible -- two stamps, one ink, a little Flower Soft and some ribbon.

     What has me keeping it so simple?  Really Reasonable Ribbon's current challenge (#30) is to keep it clean. The colors -- white, pink and brown -- are for the Magical Monday Challenge at There's Magic in the Air. Those colors made me think of spring, so even tho fall is (hopefully) coming our way, I went with a spring-like card.

     The tree stamp is from Posh Impressions. The images are stamped in Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink, Chestnut Roan is the color.  The Flower Soft Mix is called Sweet Pea, and I found a ribbon that picked up pinks and greens like in the Flower Soft.

     I usually agonize over cards and where to place things, and it was kind of freeing to keep it to one layer.

Birthday Collage

I don't do collage very often, as I'm just not comfortable doing it. But the Ways to Use it challenge at SCS this week was to do a collage using at least four stamps.  The sample cards inspired me, and this is what I came up with. (It is in part a CASE of the sample by Collette, challenge hostess).

It's also for this week's Magical Monday challenge to do a birthday card.  (And it's really different from anything I made during my month as guest designer for Paper Cupcakes).

The puffy flower (Purple Onion Designs) is clear-embossed on gray paper. I overstamped with a script background stamp using Ranger Slate ink, wiping the ink of the embossing.  Then I added the butterflies (Impression Obsession) in opposite corners using SU Eggplant Envy ink. 

The sentiment is also stamped in Eggplant Envy ink.  I used half-pearls to tie the sentiment in with the bottom of the card.  The border punch is by McGill.

A touch of '20s glamour



Glitter and gel pen details



The Magical Monday Challenge at There's Magic in the Air has a true challenge for us this week. The challenge is "Blast from the Past," doing a card that reflects the era from the 1920-30s.  Looking at photos from then (thanks to Yahoo's photo search), I found lots of women in suits and hats, wearing impeccable makeup. The Paper Cupcakes image called "dresser bureau"  seemed to reflect that era.  Doesn't the perfume atomizer and strand of pearls look like your grandmother's dresser?



Fun with feathers



In addition to coloring the image with pencils, I added a little spica glitter pen to the glass vase, silver gel pen on the silver on the jewelry box and atomizer hardware, and white gel pen for the pearls.

I also raided my husband's fly-tying goodies for a few feathers -- a "tip of the hat" to the hats of the 20s and 30s. (And I quite like the look of feathers on the card, and will have to do this again.)

This is my last card as June Guest Designer for Paper Cupcakes. Head on over to the blog to see how the design team handled this challenge, and take a shot at it yourself.  One lucky winner gets 2 free images of her choice from Paper Cupcakes.

Thanks, Nina, for letting me be a guest designer.

Inspired card

This week's challenge at There's Magic in the Air is an inspiration challenge. Make a card inspired by the image you see over to the right.

I used the Paper Cupcakes image called Tulips in Bottles -- pretty appropriate, huh?  I also got to use one of my favorite "supplies," a paint chip.  I thought this one in various shades of blue was perfect. It came with holes punched near the bottom, so I used that area for embellishments -- weaving a ribbon through it and adding extra ribbon on the side. (This particular kind of paint chip is from Lowe's, but I don't know if that's the style still available at the store or not.)

The image is colored in pencils and OMS, and I sponged some blue ink on the edges of the oval, which is popped up on the scalloped oval.

Winner of this week's challenge gets 2 free digi images of her choice, so be inspired and make a card.

Home Sweet Home.

Love this sweet little image, which is being introduced today by Paper Cupcakes. You can get it for free this week at the There's Magic in the Air blog. 

The Magical Monday Challenge at TMITA is to "pick two" from a list of embellies and use them on your card.  I chose ribbon and flowers.  It's an easy challenge, and the winner gets 2 Paper Cupcakes images of their choice.

This card is the first I've made using my new (for me) sewing machine, which I picked up at a neighbor's yard sale for $10.  I don't want to use my regular machine for paper, so this seemed like the perfect deal. I used it to zigzag stitch the patterned paper to the main card. The paper is from the Twitterpated Collection by Pepples, and I think it's the perfect match for this little house. Image is colored with pencils and OMS.

Masculine cards

Woot, woot. I'm the guest designer this month for Paper Cupcakes and the Magical Monday Challenge, found at There's Magic in the Air.  This week's challenge is to create a masculine card.
My card features the Paper Cupcakes image "On the Road Again." I did a little "out of the box treatment" with the front tire and exhaust coming out the back when I cut the image out with nesties.
The striped paper is from the Safari Kids collection

from Die Cuts with a View, and I used coordinating solids from my stash. The image is colored with pencils, and there's some Glossy Accents on the frog's eyes. My favorite detail on this card is the hubcabs -- I had these fun beads in my embellishment box, and they fit perfectly -- it seemed like a good "masculine embellishment."
The tickets are also from Paper Cupcakes -- the set is called Summer Tickets and there are tons of different designs on the file. They are great fun.
Head on over to There's Magic in the Air. The blog features a free digi image every week.  Additionally, all cards posted for the challenge are entered in a random draw for two free Paper Cupcake images of your choice.

Make your own flowers

The theme this week for the Magical Monday Challenge is "make your own flowers." I went with a simple flower punch for the flowers on the bottom of this card, adding the centers with a marker. (There's always a free digi at the challenge, and the winner gets to choose two Paper Cupcakes images.)

The card is a CASE for SCS's Queen for the Day challenge, which honored one of my favorite stampers -- sleepyinseattle.

The Details: Sentiment by TPC Studio, flourish by Autumn Leaves. Stamped in Chestnut Roan chalk ink. Ribbon by KI Memories. Paper tearing by me.