Too late for Talk Like a Day

I needed a birthday card for my brother-in-law, so I decided to try injecting a little humor into the card. I used the Land HO set from The Alley Way Stamps, and the color scheme was inspired by The Alley Way Stamps Be Inspired Challenge #37.

To me, "arrgggh!" is a fun sentiment. And on the inside, a pirate completes the idea, shaking his fist and saying "another birthday," (which I computer-generated.)

The layout on both the inside and outside is CAS(e) this Sketch #46.

The images are colored with pencils and fussy cut.  The green paper has a nice shimmer to it.

This is also for Tammy's Scrapping Corner challenge #81, "Happy birthday."

Chocolate lover

This card is for a chocolate lover.  I have a great set of chocolate-themed stamps from Club Stamp, and I used several of them.  On the inside, the sentiment is "I could give up chocolate, but I am not a quitter." The  nutrition label is quite funny, too: "serving size, 4 lbs".

I used Freshly Made sketch #104 for this card,  converting the fishtail banner into the label, which is mounted on a scalloped-edge matting with ribbon woven through it.

Ink is good old Chestnut Roan chalk ink from Colorbox.  The embellishments are very narrow brown ribbon and a large brad in colors that look like dark and white chocolate.

Thinking towards Thanksgiving

Well, give me a taste of fall and my imagination runs wild. This week it ran all the way to Thanksgiving, so I made a Thanksgiving card.

The main image is on a piece of kraft cardstock. I was going to try a sepia technique (from the Technique Junkies Newsletter.  I saw a Christmas card using the technique at the Holly Jolly Christmas blog and I loved it), but I just couldn't make it look right. It's supposed to be mainly white highlighting, and I just wanted to add more color, so I went my own way and added color.  The center of the sunflower is covered with brown flocking, and I just love running my finger over it.  I'll probably wear the flocking off before sending the card out.

Details:
Stamps:  Mark's Finest Paper
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Creamy Caramel (sponged on edge of main image)
Paper:  all from a very old stack, either ProvoCraft or DCWV
Accessories:  Flocking, colored pencils, OMS; ribbon

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Tammy's Scrapping Corner #80, Anything Goes
Challenges 4 Everybody #29, Anything Goes
365 Cards, Day 263, Garden Scene  (it's a fall garden scene)
Word Art Wednesday #98, Anything Goes

Embossed daisy

Do you remember the first time you saw someone heat embossing? Wasn't it like magic?  It still feels that way to me.

I stamped the silhouette stamp from SU's Upsy Daisy set in Versamark and embossed with black detail embossing powder on glossy paper. I then sponged on red and pink ink for an ombre effect. I repeated the ombre on the sentiment panel.

I put a pink gem in the corner and added a little piercing.

I'm entering this card in these challenges:

CAS-ology #61: Silhouettes
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Embossed
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Emboss It
365 Cards: Day 245, Word Wednesday "Pretty"

Happy Crocs

This is a quicky card, inspired by the current challenge from {The Lollipop Ladies}.  Their challenge #75 has as its inspiration piece some crocodile shaped candy. In addition, the card had to have washi tape on it.

I combined that challenge with a VSN "Opposites Attract" challenge to use rough and smooth textures on a card.  I found I had some crocodiles ready to go  -- they are from a mat stack by DCWV called "Safari Kids," and they are glittery and fun.  The glittery images have a rough texture, like sandpaper  almost, so the rough part was taken care of.  The washi tape was an easy way to incorporate the smooth element.

All the papers on the card are from the same Safari kids pack.  Sentiment is by CTMH, done in red Colorbox chalk ink.

"His and Her" Christmas tags

This is VSN weekend at Splitcoast, and the theme is "Opposites Attract."  One of the challenges called for us to make mini tags showing both a masculine and feminine side.  Since I wanted to make Christmas tags anyway, I made little gift tags.

My "masculine" tags are done on manila shipping tags. I sponged the edges with brown ink to give them more of a vintage look, and used simple, nature-inspired images on them. (I couldn't decide for sure it that Stampin' Up image was holly or mistletoe, so one tag has red berries and the other white).  I used the white string that came with the shipping tags.

The "feminine" tags are bright white with images of the more "commercial" side of Christmas -- candy canes and stockings. These images are both parts of larger stamps, so I ended up coloring the stamps with markers so that only the part I wanted to use would be inked up, and I didn't have to worry about stray partial images. I used coordinating ribbon and fibers on these tags.

I made all eight tags in the 45-minute time limit imposed by VSN, so I feel like I did well. Personally, I prefer the so-called masculine tags.

I am  entering these tags in the Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge "Anything But a Card."  The are also for the CRAFT challenge #223 "Christmas."

All-star ink

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is to feature your "stamping all-star," the item you couldn't stamp without.  For me, it's the Colorbox fluid chalk ink in the color Chestnut Roan, which is a dark brown. This has been my go-to brown for years, both because it's a great color and because the chalk ink seems to work better than die ink on a lot of surfaces. 

I'm anxiously awaiting fall, and the cooler temperatures it brings, so I made a fall-themed card.  The brown panel is actually part of a paint sample card (this one is a Martha Stewart, I noticed). I'd have to say that paint chips are another favorite supply of mine -- maybe not quite "all-star" status, but super fun to play with. The leaves are gold-embossed.  The larger leaf is Stampin Up; the smaller is All-Night Media. The sentiment (stamped in that all-star ink!)  is from Purple Onion Designs.