Change of plans

I spent days trying to do a brooding, photo inspired winter scene card that featured embossed bare trees, masking,  a  fawn and other arty stuff. I could not get the deer stamp to work no matter what -- different inks, different papers, no masking, I even used a fine-grit sandpaper on it.  I gave up and made this instead.

The sweet kitties are from From the Heart Digis and the card also uses the current sketch from the From the Heart blog, I {heart} Sketches.  The kitties are colored in pencils with the sentiment done in Lipstick Red.

I am entering these Challenges:

I {heart} sketches #136 -- sketch
Craftyhazlenut's Christmas Challenge #265 -- use a sentiment
Craftyhazlenut's Christmas Challenge Extra -- anything Christmas
Rudolph Days -- Christmas
Addicted to Stamps and More #178 -- holiday
Craftyhazlenut's Patterened Paper Challenge  -- use designer paper
Crafty Sentiments -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #218 -- Anything goes

A very sad card

My niece, who is far too young to be a widow, lost her husband suddenly the day after Christmas. I saw here briefly at the funeral, but I wanted to send her a note, and this is the sympathy card I made to go with it.
To create the central panel, I used a smoosh technique.  I put ink from 3 SU inkpads (Mint, Bordering Blue and Bliss Blue) on an acrylic block, spritzed with water and smooshed a snippet of watercolor paper on it a few times.  After letting the paper dry, I added the sentiment (All Night Media).  I cut the flowers (from a  new Darice die I recently got) out of a snippet of black, and matted the panel on black, then on a cream colored card.

The card is for these challenges:

Taylored Expressions Share the Joy #16 -- CAS
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- something new (die)
Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge -- smoosh
Die Cut Divas -- something new
Artistic Impressions -- ATG with twist of winter blues
Word Art Wednesday #216 -- anything goes
Crafty Sentiments -- Anything goes
CRAFT #344 -- Anything goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground

Thanksgiving wreath

The Technique Challenge at Splitcoast this week was to make a wreath from die-cut shapes.  I grabbed by Poppy maple leaf die and a bunch of snippets and this is what I came up with.
I added a raffia bow and a sentiment, and I have a Thanksgiving card to send my in-laws.

I am entering this card in these challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- thanks/Thanksgiving
Catch the Bug -- Give Thanks
Cuttlebug Mania -- Thanks
Pixie's Snippet Playground #203 -- use snippets
Word Art Wednesday #210 -- anything goes
Crafty Sentiments -- anything goes

Eek, a vampire!

 

There are lots of Halloween themed challenges going on right now, and this is my entry for them.  

The vampire is from Stamping boutique.  He's colored with pencils, and embellished with rub-ons (bat and sentiment) from a set I picked up at a consignment sale -- the package says they are from Little Yellow Bicycle. 

The card is an entry for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Halloween mood board/color challenge

Time Out -- Halloween 

Crafty Sentiments -- Halloween

Moving Along with the Times -- Halloween

Cookie Challenge #29 --- Halloween

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned paper Challenge -- patterned paper

Simple Sympathy

I sent out a sympathy card and made a note to myself to make another to have on hand. Sadly, before I got that done, I found a need for one.
This is what I came up with: It follows the Stamplorations sketch for October, and the butterfly is a Stamplorations stamp. The butterflies are white-embossed on three different shades of blue from a paint swatch card.
The sentiment is from All Night Media, with a little piercing detail added.

 I'm entering these challenges:


Butterfly Challenge #40 -- embossing
STAMPlorations -- October sketch
Just Us Girls #313-- sympathy
Word Art Wednesday #204 -- anything goes
Crafty Sentiments -- anything goes
Papertake Weekly -- anything goes.

Tomato time

You know when you're a kid and adults say the best thing about summer is tomatoes, and you think they are crazy? Nope, they are completely right. Last year deer ate all my tomato plants -- I got about 3 ripe tomatoes before they realized I was growing them, and that was my entire harvest.  This year we put up temporary fencing, and then I bought some unusual heirloom tomato seedlings from the Master Gardeners sale. So far, I have tomatoes on the vine waiting to ripen and no deer attacks.

I guess that's a really long explanation of why I put tomatoes on a summer-themed card, isn't it?

The image is from Impression-Obsession, colored with pencils.  The sentiment is from Purple Onion.  Under the main panel, I white-embossed  a couple of antique seed packet images, just to put a little interest back there.

I'm entering these challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Summer
Crafty Sentiments -- Summer
CRAFT #318 -- embossing
Word Art Wednesday #190 -- anything goes

Burger Boy

Here's another masculine card, inspired (thematically) by the cookie/photo challenge at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie. I was thinking of an Independence Day cookout.
I made the background by white-embossing a large background stamp, then masking off diagonal  stripes of different sizes and sponging them in red or blue.
The image is from Bugaboo, colored with pencils.
That ribbon is just about perfect for a masculine cards --narrow and all business; no frills about it at all, A snip of it is wrapped around a star-shaped brad.

This card is for these challenges:
Cookie Challenge #20 (picnic cookies)
Crafty Sentiments -- For a man/boy
Crafting for all Seasons #104-- it's a boy thing
Addicted to Stamps -- holiday
Word At Wednesday #187 -- Anything Gpes
Catch the Bug -- Anything Goes

March Rudolph Days

Check the calendar. It's already March 25; another month almost gone and another Rudolph Days challenge here.

I got this cute little stamp called Little Carolers by The Artful Stamper at the company's booth at the Stamp show at the end of January.  This is the first time I've used it, so this qualifies for Darnell's "never-before-used schtuff" challenge, also referred to as NBUS. The sketch is the current one at Sketch Saturday.

The image is colored with pencils, and the edges of the top panel are specked with distress ink. The brown strip is embossed with the Cuttlebug folder that shows a musical score, then sanded down to reveal the white core. I got the cute little musical notes die at the same stamp show I got the carolers.

I'm entering these challenges:
Sketch Saturday: Sketch 353
Rudolph Days March -- Christmas card
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #221--Christmas  singing
NBUS#4 -- Stamp never used before
Crafty Sentiments -- Inspired by a song (Deck the Halls)

CAS birthday

Happy Pi Day everyone. (OOps, Judy is right, Pi Day is March 14. Bad info from the DH.)
This card was inspired by the inspiration photo for the Time Out challenge.  The lineup of frames led me to the lineup of vases in this card.
This is as straightforward as a card can be.  Image is from Paper Cupcakes, colored in pencils. Matted and wrapped with ribbon.  The sentiment is from SmARTworks. 
I'm entering these challenge:


Time Out #26-- Inspiration photo
Really Reasonable Ribbons #113 -- flowers
Crafty Sentiments -- Birthday
Ribbon Girl -- Birthday
Word Art Wednesday #174-- Anything goes.

A case of red

Today I learned it's really hard to photograph scoring on white card stock.  I tried four times, under different lighting conditions, in multiple angles, and finally got a decent image. That was important, as the scoring is one of the things that really attracted me to the card I CASEd.
This is the card that the Time Out Challenge asked us to CASE. I loved the scoring, the delicate colors and the white-on-white.  In my version, the top half of the card is scored with diagonal lines, with three horizontal lines separating the diamonds from the plain bottom part of the card. For the tag, I used some chipboard stickers of red roses (My Mind's Eye) along with a die-cut branch (from a Tim Holtz die).  The red striped ribbon (Christmas clearance at Michaels a few years ago) is a little bolder than on the original and the sentiment (Stampin' Up) a little less bold.

I am entering these challenges:
Time Out Challenges #24: CASE this card
Clear It Out:  Use your red stash
Crafty Sentiments: Use some Red
Creative Inspirations #300: anything goes
Loves Rubberstamps #138: Show me some red
Word Art Wednesday #170: Anything Goes

Bunches of...

Hearts, hearts, everywhere in blogland this week. I've seen several people use heart-shaped balloons, and I borrowed the idea for this CAS card.
As cards go, how I put this one together is self-explanatory, so I won't bore you with an explanation.
The sentiment is from The Alley Way Stamps. (Not even from a Valentine's set; it's from a fall-themed set.)

Since hearts are everywhere, including a bazillion challenges, I'm entering this card in a bazillion challenges.
The Ribbon Girl -- romance in the air
Cuttlebug Mania -- I (heart) you
Crafty Sentiments -- include a heart
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- H is for
Creative Inspirations #299 -- Love is in the air
The  Paper Shelter #189 -- Be My Valentine
The Alley Way Stamps -- monthly use TAWS stamps challenge
Pixie's Snippet Playground #162  -- use snippets (pinks)
Word Art Wednesday #169 --anything Goes
Clear it Out Challenge -- Anything goes

Vintage Valentine

My normal style is not vintage, although I greatly admire all those talented stampers who do fabulous vintage. In fact, I admire them so much I gave it a try with this Valentine themed card.

The cupid stamp (I think it's probably a very old Impression-Obsession image, simply because my first purchase of unmounted stamps was a grab bag from I-O, and this dates to about that time) looks like an old-fashioned Valentine to me, so that encouraged the effort to make it look vintage. The image is stamped in Sepia on a cream -colored snippet, and I sponged Distress Tea Dye ink around the edges.  I colored certain areas of the image with colored pencil  to give it the look of an old hand-colored post-card. In person, you can see a little better that  her skin a has pinkish glow and her wings are white. There is obviously pink on the heart, which is also embellished with some pearls.

The image is mounted on a pink snippet, which is layered over half a doily (also sponged with Tea Dye ink) and a snippet of patterned paper -- it's practically covered up, but it has script on it.

Along the edge, I put in a strip of beautiful May Art crocheted lace, and over that a sweet plaid ribbon and bow.

I would like to enter these challenges:

Crafty Sentiments -- Girly
Loves Rubberstamps #134-- No black ink
Pixie's Snippet Playground #159  -- snippets
Crafting for All Seasons #93-- ribbon, lace, and pearls
Sister Act #88  -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #165  Anything Goes

Winter fun

When I was in college, people used to take trays out of the cafeteria to use as sleds. I'm pretty sure there was a sign posted somewhere saying students were not allowed to remove trays from the cafeteria, and that rule was widely ignored.

I guess a patched up inner tube would work just as well, as this little guy sure seems to be enjoying it.  The image is from Bugaboo, and it's colored with pencils. The sentiment is from Impression-Obsession.

To create the snowy hill, I tore several layers of white paper and layered them on top of each other.  The sky is simply sponged-on Blue Bliss ink. For a little bling, I added some snowflake-shaped sequins.

I am entering this card in the following challenges.

Catch the Bug -- Bingo (Bugaboo image, snowflake, bling)
Inky Impressions 190 -- Winter Wonderland
Crafty Sentiments -- Winter
Word Art Wednesday #163 -- Anything Goes

Glittery snow scene

A glitzy Christmas to you. I got this set with four seasonal images by Crafty Secrets ages ago, and this was the first time it got inked.  It just seemed like a good image to go with bling.

The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with pencils.  The trees are covered with snowy glitter, and I used a couple red jewels to highlight the sentiment.  I added snowflake patterned paper from Echo Park and a red and white sentiment paper for a splash of color in the background.

Is anyone else having problems with getting InLinkz linkups to load when you wan to link a card? It seems to happen on every blog, I visit. Is there a way to fix it? Thanks


I'm playing in these challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- bling it on
Catch the Bug -- Christmas Chaos #1, glitter, sparkle, gems
Crafty Sentiments -- Christmas
Loves Rubberstamps -- winter/Christmas
Word Art Wednesday #162 -- Anything Goes
CHNC Christmas Extras -- anything Christmas
CHNC Patterned Paper Challenge -- December

Scrappy snowman

I used up several snippets of holiday dp to make the background for this card. They all had burgundy and ivory on them, so I think they work together.

The cute snowman is from Crafty Sentiments. He's colored with pencils and the edges are sponged with Distress Antique Linen.  There's a dollop of Stickles on each snowflake around him and they glitter like diamonds in real life. With all the busyness behind him, I didn't want to add a lot of embellishments, so I angled the mat and used a ribbon tab that picks up the same colors as found in the background.

This card is for these challenges:

Crafty Sentiments: anything goes
Sketch Saturday 338: use a previous sketch -- this is sketch 337
Simon Says Stamp Monday--Holiday Cards
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday-- Christmas holidays
Word Art Wednesday#161--  Anything Goes
CHNC December patterned paper Challenge  -- use patterned paper
CHNC December Christmas Extra Challenge -- anything Christmasy