More from the stash

Decided to make a tall, skinny card for a change.  Somehow, I got in the habit of making the front of cards this size a little narrow and including an element that extends over the visible inside of the card. In this instance, I used a piece of acetate that has a rather bold black flower on it. I came across this in my stash and thought it would be fun to play with. The circular areas on the flower are transparent, and since the center is rather large, I added a button and bow there. I used the MFT button die to make buttons from matching paper.

(Photographing acetate is a challenge because it reflects light so much.)

This card is for the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday: Transparent Layers
Butterfly Challenge #4: Springtime at last (yellow and a butterfly)
Crafty Ribbons #82: Ribbon and Buttons
Sister Act #50: Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #125: Anything Goes

The card that wouldn't end

Ever have a card you just couldn't get right? This one felt like that. I just kept adding things -- the buttons, the scallops, the piercing, and I kept thinking "it needs something more."  I finally decided I had to be satisfied with it.

The image is a freebie from Bird, paper-pieced and colored with pencils. I used the tiniest buttons ever to highlight the bows on the balloon. (This is the girliest balloon ever, even in blue, don't you think?) There is piercing a round the edge of the image panel, and I used baker's twine and a die-cut button as the main embellishment.

This is for these challenges:

Sketch Saturday, sketch 302
Just Us Girls, #233, photo inspiration (hot air balloon)
Loves Rubberstamps #96, ugly paper (I liked the paper when I started this, but I was not enthralled with it by the end)
Creative Inspiration, girly card
Simon Says Wednesday, Buttons
Word Art Wednesday 125, Anything Goes.

Fairytales

This is a fun project I found on Splitcoast called a slider card. Basically, it's a pocket card with a twist. The ribbon goes all the way to the bottom of the pocket and when you pull on it, the card slides out.

Both the fairy and the sentiment are from Fairy Song. I colored the fairy with pencils, then covered her wings
in very pale yellow superfine glitter. I don't think the photo captures how pretty it is. I also used Stickles on her lantern and on all the stars in the sentiment.I decorated the bottom of the sentiment card with punched border strips that match the colors on the pocket.

I'm entering this card in this challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, Glitter
Totally Papercraft #211, Beautiful Borders
Crafty Ribbons #81, Anything Goes with Ribbon,
Papertake Weekly, Challenge, For a girlie
Created with Love #78, Girly
Word Art Wednesday #124, Anything Goes

Awaiting Spring

Tomorrow is officially the first day of spring. It's unusual to be this far into March without spring showing up here in the South, but it's definitely a late spring. We do have daffodils, and the cherry and pear trees are starting to bloom, but we haven't had a good stretch of warm weather to really wake things up.

I did make a rather springy card, however. This was fun to put together, thanks to the help of several challenges. City Crafters asked for Spring in the Garden, and  the seed packet image was perfect for a technique from the latest Technique Junkie Newsletter called diagonal images (I think).  Loves Rubberstamps challenge wanted  corrugated cardboard, which I have never used on a card before.  I have to say, I think it works perfectly with the seed packet and twine on this card. Finally, Clear it Out wanted a food image and punches -- the artichoke is food, of course, and punching the corners added just the touch to finish the card.

This card is for these challenges
Loves Rubberstamps #95, Corrugated cardboard
City Crafters #203, Spring in the Garden
Clear It Out, Food and Punches
Word Art Wednesday #124, Anything Goes
Just for Fun, Anything Goes

A bushel of flowers

Here is the latest card I've made. I like the combination of the very feminine elements -- flowers, glitter, bows -- with the sort of masculine background paper. All in all, it's very much a girly card, I'd say.

The card is inspired by the current inspiration challenge at The Alley Way Stamps, a green bike with a basket of flowers.


The bushel basket is from The Alley Way Stamps (It's Fall About You set).  I stamped it on the white paper, then paper-pieced it in green. I punched a bunch of flowers in lavender and purple and filled the basket with them, then added tiny glittery centers to each one.

The button die is from MFT, there are four buttons in the set, so I always end up with more than one button.  I used an additional one on the inside of the card along with more of the white twine.

This card is for these challenges:

The Alley Way Stamps, Be Inspired #50
Created with Love #78, Girly
Sketch Saturday, Sketch #301
Craftyhands Challenge #10, button and bow
Simon Says Wednesday, for a special girl
Sister Act Challenge #48, anything goes
Word Art Wednesday 123, Anything goes

Distressed

I don't usually care for distressing, but I do like on this technique from Technique Junkies which is supposed to look like a vintage book page.  Along with creating the old, vintage, distressed paper look, the edges of the main image panel are distressed.
Supplies include Vintage Linen Distress ink; Botanicals set from Stampin Up, and some raffia I uncovered in my stash.  (I have been digging up all sorts of out-of-fashion embellies lately and finding a way to use them. It's been quite fun.)
I'm entering this card in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday, D is for Distress
Loves Rubberstamps #94, shades of green
Word Art Wednesday #123, Anything Goes.

Rainbow Anniversary

Guess who has an anniversary coming up?
This is a quickie card I came up with, using Sketch Saturday's Sketch #300.
The little heart stamp is one I've had forever. I inked it in various primary from a Colorbox PetalPoint inkpad. I ran out of room before I could get all the colors in, so the blue and purple elements complete the rainbow.
I overstamped the hearts with a sentiment (from Purple Onion Designs).
I'm submitting this card for these challenges:

Sketch Saturday, Sketch #300
City Crafters Challenge #202: Use a Rainbow
Word Art Wednesday, #122
Sister Act #47, Anything Goes
Victorine Originals #79: Anniversary

Now for something totally different

I made this card for a Technique Junkies swap, using a technique with reinkers to get a watercolor background. I started with a long thin piece of watercolor paper, putting blue ink at one end and yellow at the other. What do you know, I got green in between. In the end I decided to make a smaller tag than originally planned, so most of the yellow got put aside.

I pulled all sorts of old supplies out of the drawer for this one. Beads, which I haven't used in ages, and those letter stickers with little acrylic domes over them.  The seam binding has been around a while, too, but this is the first time I've tried crinkling it. For some reason, the crinkles give it a really feminine quality.

Not my usual card by a long shot, but it's good to try new things, right?

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday, Tick Tock
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, Tag it
Word Art Wednesday #122, Anything Goes
Loves Rubberstamps #93, Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge #47, Anything Goes.

Guess I shopped the stash

I don't really have a good system for storing digis, so I sometimes am surprised to find an image I've never used before. I came across this cutie from Paper Cupcakes recently and thought it would make a fun card. The sketch is from Sketch Saturday #229.

The girl is colored with pencils and matted on black The red print is from Pebbles. (I like how it has a similar flower to the one on the girl's hat.)  For the sentiment, I black-embossed on vellum and used black half-pearls to hide the adhesive.

The card is for the following challenges

Sketch Saturday, sketch 229
Simon Says Wednesday, Use Pearls
Papertake Weekly, Anything goes
Challenges 4 Everybody #31, Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #121, Anything goes