A little note

This is a card I made using the current Sketch Saturday sketch. I got the image as an RAK.   I've seen it around and admired it, but I don't know who makes it.  the background is a page from a very old thesaurus. After I finished the card I realized the black background was rather harsh, but since I can't restamp the main image, I have to live with it.

I'm entering these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #382 -- sketch
Word Art Wednesday #204 -- anything goes.

Feeling like fall

Actually, it's a little early for fall colors here, but they are all over the blogosphere.  Here is a fall-inspired card using the current Sketch Saturday Sketch.

The image is from Lacy Sunshine and is called Gusty Oak.  I colored it with pencils, and used a piece of hemp ribbon to add the diagonal element.

I'm entering these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #380
Crafty Sentiments -- autumn leaves
Catch the Bug - Autumn colors
Papertake Weekly -- autumn colors
Crafting for all seasons #111-- autumn colors
Time Out --  'Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile'
Word Art Wednesday #203-- anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's patterned paper challenge -- for October.

e-reader girl

I think the title of this image from The Paper Shelter is actually "coffee break,"  but she looks like a college girl about to sit down and do some reading to me.  I used the current Sketch Saturday sketch for this, taking a little liberty with the side elements on the sketch.  The image is colored in pencils and places a little to one side to accommodate the appropriate, but rather large, sentiment (possibly from Impression-Obsession).  I pierced around the main panel, and partially because I misplaced some piercings, and partly to fill space, I added a second row in some areas.
The pink ribbon coordinates with the rest of the colors much better in real life than in the photo.  The bow is attached to a white paper clip.

I'm entering these challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- back to school
The Paper Shelter #215 -- back to school
Clear it Out -- Back to school + use office supplies (paper clip)
The Ribbon Girl -- pink
Sketch Saturday -- sketch #374
Word Art Wednesday #197 -- anything goes
Crafty Sentiments  -- anything goes

Brought to you by the letter S

Hazel asked for things that begin with S for this week's Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge. Let's see how many we can use.

My card features Snowmen Stamped on a Snippet of white card Stock and covered with Sparkling Wink of Stella glitter. The edges are Sponged with Colorbox Ice Blue chalk ink. That Snippet is mounted on an angle on a Snippet of Silver Shimmer paper. I used the current Sketch at Sketch Saturday for this card, and it gave me an opportunity to use a Snippet of my favorite Snowflake paper (this is a great way to get some impact from that paper without using up a lot of it).  I also used a Strip of Snowflake ribbon and and another Silver Shimmer paper Snippet.  I accented the lower corner with Snowflake dome Stickers. The card base is Stampin Up Night of Navy card Stock.

In addition to qualifying as an S card, this card is for these challenges:

Sketch Saturday #373
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #241 -- begins with S
 Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra -- anything Christmas
The Ribbon Girl -- any image with ribbon
The Paper Shelter -- use ribbon or lace
Word Art Wednesday # 196 -- anything goews
Pixie's Snippet Playground #189-- use snippets

Merry and Bright

Crafty Hazelnut's challenge to us this week was "Merry and bright." I knew right away I wanted to use this tiny strand of faux lights that I have had for eons.  It also fit into the Sketch Saturday layout I was using, subbing in for that half-oval.
The image is a Pure Innocence digi colored with pencils.  The ornaments are decorated with gold Stickles and a Spica pen, and in real life they have a nice glitter to them.  The sentiment (Stampin Up) is embossed with a white glittery EP (the color is Winter Wonderland).

I'm entering these challenges
June Days Rudolph Challenge -- Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas challenge -- Merry and Bright
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra challenge-- anything Christmas
Sketch Saturday #366 -- sketch
Creative Inspiration Challenge -- use your favorite crafting item (after all these years, I still love heat embossing)
Word Art Wednesday #189 -- anything goes

Little Deuce Coupe, Done in paste

I'm way behind the trends, as usual. This is my first attempt to use paste. I used a checker board stencil and black modeling paste to create the design on the mustard-colored layer. It does add an interesting texture and seems like a good element on a masculine card.

The image is a digi from Pattie's Creations, colored in pencils. It's popped up on a slightly larger piece of white card stock. There are ribbon tabs on each side and the puzzle-piece embellie says Blast (as in Have a blast, or blast off; either seem appropriate for this).

The sketch is the current sketch at Sketch Saturday, only I stretched it out to make it horizontal instead of vertical.

This card is for these challenges:
Catch the Bug -- Travel
Crafting for all Seasons #104 -- it's a boy thing
The Ribbon Girl -- Masculine
Creative Inspirations #318 -- Masculine
The Paper Shelter #208 -- Make it Digital
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- Paste it
Moving Along with the Times -- inspired by a song (Little Deuce Coupe by the Beach Boys)
CHCN patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper
Word Art Wednesday #188 -- anything goes
Sketch Saturday #365 
Pattie's Creations #111-- Father's Day

Black and silver

I've never actually seen a mostly black Christmas card before, but I think this one is kind of elegant, at least in person.
The ornament is from Kaiser Craft, silver embossed on black snippets. It's hard to tell from the photo, but there is a gem in the center of each ornament.  They are mounted on silver, and the sentiment (from Stampin Up) is silver-embossed on part of a die-cut piece.
The sketch is the current one for Sketch Saturday.
What do you think -- is there too much black or does it work?

This card is for these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #362
Rudolph Days May -- Christmas card
CHNC Christmas #230-- die-cut or punched element
CHNC Christmas Extra -- anything Cristmas
CRAFT Challenge -- Christmas without red or green

Krafty Christmas

Here's another for the Christmas card pile, using the coffee and cream color combo from 53 Christmas Card Throwdown.  The tree (which I think is CTMH) is white embossed and mounted o a frayed burlap layer for texture. Sketch is the current Sketch Saturday layout.

I played in several challenges to create this card:

Sketch Saturday #356
Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge #224 -- add texture
Crafty Hazelnut Christmas Extra -- anything Christmas
52 Christmas Card Throwdown -- coffee and cream colors
Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge -- trees
Inky Inspirations #205 -- Kraft it
Creative Inspirations #309 -- seeing stars
The Ribbon Girl -- any image plus ribbon
CRAFT Challenge #307 -- Christma

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)

B is for Beetle

The hardest thing about making this card was convincing myself it was OK to cut up the old map book (that no one has used since they invented MapQuest.)
The sentiment is white embossed and is from The Alley Way Stamps. It's supposed to suggest a line down the highway.
The Beetle is from Pattie's Creations, fussy cut and popped up.

This card is for these challenges:

Sketch Saturday -- sketch # 351
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- B is for
Word Art Wednesday #174-- anything goes.
Catch the Bug -- Anything Goes
Just us Girls #283 -- masculine 

Rock on

I had fun combining this cute image with a bunch of different challenges, including the Sketch Saturday Sketch, the Time Out theme -- rock around the clock, and Loves Rubberstamp's theme to "Make it sparkle."  They all made sense together.

The image is from Bugaboo, colored with pencils and sparkled up with loads of silver Stickles. The metal-rimmed, star-shaped tag (de-tagged by removing the string), made the perfect embellishment.  I just ran the sentiment off on my computer. (That's the understatement of the week. I spent 45 minutes fixing a paper jam, then trying to persuade the printer that it was not, in fact, still jammed. ERRGH)

I'm entering these challenges:
Sketch Saturday --sketch 349
Loves Rubberstamps #139 -- let it sparkle
Time Out challenge #25 -- Rock Around the Closck
City Crafter #249 -- Love metal
Word Art Wednesday #171 -- anything goes
Sister Act #94 -- anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- anything goes

So, more faux sewing

A couple of years ago, I bought a used sewing machine at a neighbor's moving sale specifically to use on cards. I hardly ever remember to use it, and when I do, I end up getting frustrated because there's either something wrong with the machine or with me. I can spend an hour fixing and inserting bobbin and making sure it's threaded right, and the tension still gets messed up. It happened again when Ii tried to sew on this card.  I finally gave up and just did faux stitching. (I really don't think my neighbor intentionally sold a nonworking machine, adding to the frustration.)

The butterflies are made with snippets of ribbon tied with thread or wire (I made one of each). A little whimsical, sure, but kind of fun.  I do love this sentiment from Rubbernecker -- it's framed with Spellbinder's Lattice Rectangles die and sponged with distress ink.

The cream and ivory pieces are all snippets.

I'm entering these challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #24 -- butterfly with ribbons
Crafting for all Seasons #96 -- dies or punches
Sketch Saturday -- sketch #348
the Ribbon Girl -- Ivory and cream
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- add a little texture (embossing)
Pixie's Snippet Playground #164 -- use snippets
Word Art Wednesday #171 -- anything goes

Snowflakes are pretty; winter is not

I got some really pretty snowflake die-cuts as an RAK, so I wanted to showcase them.  Here is my first card doing that.
The layout is the current Sketch Saturday sketch #343.
I've been using snippets of that blue snowflake paper and that snowflake ribbon for a month, so probably everyone recognizes them. I can't help it, they just go together so well.
The card is pretty self-explanatory. The button is shaped like a snowflake and that's a couple strands of embroidery thread in it.

I'm playing in these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #343
Paper Shelter #185 -- winter blues (blue card/winter theme)
Catch the Bug -- Bingo ( Button/snowflake/ribbon)
Word Art Wednesday #165 -- Anything Goes

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

Flat snowflakes

Time to get serious about Christmas cards.  I love the challenge this week at Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge -- Keep it Flat. Having just packed up and mailed some very bulky cards for the SCS card drive for the MD Anderson Cancer Center, I was ready to think flat.

This cute little marshmallow snowman is from Bugaboo. The layout is the current Sketch Saturday sketch, #335.  The snowman is colored in pencils, and layered on a green snippet, then a candy-cane striped one, and finally on a snowflake printed layer.  The diagonal element is green grosgrain ribbon. The embellishment is a snowflake die cut from a snippet of vellum, topped by one made of shiny silvery paper. To me, the die cuts add a nice illusion of dimension without really adding any bulk. I added a line of Stickles on the ground for snow and a few dots in the sky to finish it off.

This card is for these challenges:
Catch the Bug -- food
CHNC Christmas #202 -- Keep it Flat
Sketch Saturday #335
C.R.A.F.T # 284-- Christmas with ribbon
Pixie's Snippet Playground #150 -- (Lots of snippets here)
CHNC Xmas Extra -- Anything Christmas
CHNC Patterned Paper -- Anything Goes
World Art Wednesday #157 Anything Goes

More pumpkins

I liked the die-cut pumpkin I made last week so much that I made an even smaller version, using the very smallest of the Nestability ovals.  I used it as the embellishment for the current Sketch Saturday challenge.  In fact, I went kind of wild on the pumpkin theme here.

The image is from Paper Cupcakes, colored with pencils.  There's brown flocking in the center of the sunflower. That's pumpkin washi tape across the middle.

I'd like to enter these challenges:
C.R.A.F.T. #282 -- Autumn
Sketch Saturday #333
Die Cut Divas (Oct)-- Change of Seasons
Word Art Wednesday #155-- Anything Goes
Sister Act #80 -- Anything Goes

Going all out for Halloween

 

I kind of miss the old days when my son would spend 3 months changing his mind about what he wanted for a Halloween costume. About now is when I'd tell him to make up his mind for sure so I'd have time to actually make the costume...

I kind of got into that spirit with this card.  The sketch is from Sketch Saturday  (#330). The haunted house is from QKR Stampede, and it's layered on purple. Behind that, I used a big spiderweb image, with just enough showing to suggest what it is. There are bats on the band running behind that.

I got the idea for the tombstone somewhere online, but mine might be a slightly scaled down version of the original. I took a chipboard tag and covered it with gray acrylic paint. My paint is old and rather thick, which worked out well for the effect.  After it dried, I sponged on black ink and black-embossed RIP.


This card is for the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday #330
Whoopsi Daisy, Things with Wing (bats all over the place)
Loves Rubberstamps #121, anything goes
Papertake Weekly, anything goes.

Boldly to go

       Miss Carter, who taught 11th grade honors English when I was in high school, was a stickler for grammar. The Star Trek motto, she said, should not be "to boldly go where no human has gone" but "boldly to go ...." so as to avoid the split infinitive. I distinctly remember making a sarcastic comment that "boldly to go" sounded like a deli order.
       So, today I went boldly, encouraged by the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge to "be bold".  For me, combining a ton of orange and yellow is pretty bold.
       The sketch is Sketch Saturday sketch 232, which I pulled out for their current challenge to pick a previous sketch. (I substituted an oval for the circle but otherwise followed pretty closely.)
       The butterfly (Stamps on Fire), is black embossed, and I used an out-of-the-box cut on the wings before cutting the oval. The ovals are up on pop dots.
        The sentiment is from CTMH and stamped with Memento black ink.
        The yellow card stock is embossed with a Sizzix folder run thru the trusty Cuttlebug, and the swirly pattern sort of has a similar feel to the print on the orange paper.  A few gel dots finish the card.
I'd like to enter these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #325
Butterfly Chalenge #13, butterfly and sentiment
Cuttlebug Mania, Anything embossed
Simon Says Stamp Monday, Be Bold
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, Use a Stamp
Word Art Wednesday #148, Anything Goes
Loves Rubberstamps #119, Anything Goes

Watercolor poppies

One of my fave techniques is faux watercoloring -- color with water-based makers directly on the rubber, spritz with water, stamp, and you look like you know what you are doing.  Rubbernecker Stamps has a whole line of stamps designed for just this technique, including these lovely two-step poppies here.  The sentiment is from an old SU set. The markers were Distress markers, but any water-based maker will do, including the cheap ones your kids use.
I went technique heavy on this one, as I also dry embossed the green base layer and sanded the embossed layer. It's Coredinations paper, so I got a nice, slightly lighter shade of green that highlights the embossing.
The layout is Sketch Saturday's current sketch, #324, and I liked that I could use a doily for the circular element on it.
I'm entering this card in these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #324, sketch
Sister Act #71, Anything Goes
Crafty Girls #25, Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #146, Anything Goes
Inky Impressions #172, Anything Goes

Christmas Ribbons

I’m back with another Christmas card. There’s actually a story behind this one.  One of the COTMs I do has a theme of “ribbon” for August.  I actually made the last card I posted – the little girl on the swing – intending to send it out; after all, it had a ribbon and a bow. But I decided that just tying a bow doesn’t really fit the “spirit” of a ribbon challenge, and I wanted to try something different.

 

I knew I wanted to do a die-cut with an array of ribbon showing through, and when I stumbled upon this little circle tag die, I knew I had a winner. ( I do mean “stumbled.” I bought a set of little Sizzix dies at a consignment sale and had totally forgotten about them. They were sitting in a baggie at the bottom of the box that holds all my dies.)

The rest of the card is pretty self explanatory. I die cut the ornament, stamped the pine bough (from Impression-Obsession) in Garden Green and added the sentiment.  I taped snippets of ribbon on the back side of the card stock, and the ribbons I had selected ended up being the perfect size the fill the die-cut hole.

 

The sketch is the current one from Sketch Saturday.  Going with a Christmas theme allowed me to use up some Christmas paper snippets, including that plaid that has been hanging around for years. I’m pretty sure that’s the last snippet of it – I had to trim one edge to get rid of a torn bit and used  the rest of it here.

I am entering this card in these challenges:

Sketch Saturday #321

Loves Rubberstamps #115– use stripes

Pixie’s Snippet Playground #136 – use snippets

Just us Girls #252 – use ribbon

Word Art Wednesday #144 – anything goes

Papertake Weekly – Anything goes.