Two Cards

I have two catty cards to show you today.
The first uses this adorable kitten image from digi stamp company From the Heart, brought to my attention by Princess Judy. How could I resist?
The image is colored in pencils using the sketch from Taylored Expressions Share the Joy Challenge #18. The image is mounted on a snippet, with the sentiment and blue dotted layer also snippets.
The cat card is entering these challenges:
Bugaboo Birthday Bash Day 1 -- "Wild thing, you make my heart sing"
Taylored Expressions Share the Joy #18 -- sketch
The Paper Shelter #231-- shades of blue
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- best friends
From the Heart -- January image challenge
Pixie's Snippet Playground #212 -- use snippets

The other card is inspired by the tag at Tag You're It #38, using the layout from Bugaboo's 6th birthday party sketch challenge. The lion (from Autumn Leaves) is colored in pencils, fussy cut and popped up over a water-colored tag. I used three lines of rick-rack for the diagonal element on the sketch, and added baker's  twine to the tag as well.
Bugaboo Birthday Bash Day 2 -- sketch
Tag You're It #38 -- tag inspiraton
Ribbon Girl -- use any image
Craftyhazelnut's patterned paper challenge

Cookie Challenge #35

I have joined the Design Team for If You Give a Crafter a Cookie, which sponsors the Cookie Challenge every two weeks. [Folks who know me will believe this is most appropriate because: 1) Cookies are pretty much my favorite food group, and 2) Cookies are the food item I actually cook/bake the best of anything that comes out of my kitchen).]

The Cookie Challenge is easy-peasy.  Just be inspired by the current cookie photo to make a craft project -- it doesn't have to be a card.  Post a photo on your blog and link back to the challenge. 

Prizes available this go-round are digi images from Sherri Baldy and from Bugaboo. (The winner is chosen by random draw. There is also a top pick badge up for grabs.)

Hope you can join us! Visit If You Give a Crafter a Cookie blog to see other inspiration from the DT.

My card uses a digi from Bugaboo, and I also used the current sketch from Bugaboo's Catch the Bug challenge for my card.

I am entering these challenges:
Catch the Bug -- Stella Says Sketch
Krafting Kimmie's Stamps #313-- primary colors
Craftyhazelnut's patterned paper challenge -- use patterned papers
Word Art Wednesday #217 -- anything goes

Stencil CASE

Stencils are all the rage, so I tried my hand at it, inspired by Laura Bassen's card at STAMPlorations, which is using it for a CASE challenge.  Since I don't have any colored paste, I used good old inks (SU yellow, coral, mint and rose) to try to mimic her pastels, although mine ended up a little bolder. 

I added a sentiment in mint and some dots on the butterfly die-cut to tie in into everything else.

I'm entering these challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #45 -- Butterflies + X is for Xanthine (a fancy word for yellow)
Stamplorations -- January CASE challenge
Simon Says Monday Challenge -- stencil it
Word Art Wednesday #217-- Anything Goes

Really CAS

I admire people who can do one-layer CAS cards, but it hardly ever works for me.
Except this time. I really like how this came out. (In fact, I liked it so much and it was so easy I made a bunch.)
The bird is from Clear Art Stamps, colored in pencils. The falala (from the same set) and sentiment (Hero Arts, maybe?) are stamped in red.  The branch is a Tim Holtz die cut from a snippet of brown card stock.

This sweet little bird is entering these challenges:
STAMPlorations January CAS challenge -- CAS
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenges #263: Red
the Paper Shelter #230 --punch or die
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra -- anything Christmas
Kraftin' Kimmie's Wonderful Wednesday --  Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #217  --  Anything Goes

Back to Christmas

:

After a two-week break, I ended up making another Christmas card, starting to accumulate for this year.
I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch and those little carolers I used so many times last year.  To accent the music theme, I used a musical score patterned paper and a Joy to the World ribbon.

I'm entering these challenges:

Mojo Monday #429
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #262 -- vintage
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra challenge-- anything Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- patterned paper
Kraftin Kimmie's Wonderful Wednesday -- Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday # 217 -- anything Goes
Catch the Bug -- 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

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone.
I have a few vials of microbeads that I never use, but the Teapot Tuesday challenge at SCS was "bubbles," and it gave me an excuse to use the beads to be bubbles.  The images on this card are by Bird brand digis.  I printed out the sentiment, cut the paper to the size I wanted, and scored it to look like a vintage paneled wall. Then I cut out the tub, added some silver gel pen on the legs, and used glossy accents to adhere the beads.  Once that dried, I popped the tub up on Pop Dots.  The bath scene is mounted on a green snippet, and I used a snipped of dotted paper, which looks kind of bubbly, to cover my card base.  The ribbon picks up the silver on the tub legs and frame around the sentiment.
The card is for these challenges:
Word Art Wednesday #216 -- Anything goes
CRAFT #344 -- Anything goes
Creative Inspirations #341 -- Anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's patterned paper challenge -- use patterned paper
Pixie's Snippet Playground #208-209 -- use snippets