Happy Spring

 

The inspiration photo from Catch the Bug inspired me to make a spring-colored card.  (Love that daffodil yellow.)
The sketch is the current Sketch Saturday sketch.  The image is by From the Heart, colored in pencils.

I'm entering these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #405
Bugaboo Catch the bug challenge -- photo inspiration
Word Art Wednesday #224 -- anything goes
Kraftin' Kimmie Wonderful Wednesday -- anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday  -- anything goes

Flurry

It looks like it's been snowing paper shreds in my home office, where I'm going through 20 years of files in preparation for a house move.
I stole a few minutes from moving work to make this card.  I find this image just adorable -- it's by From the Heart, and I think the set is called Flurry (or Flurries). I paperpieced the scarf with a tiny snippet of patterned paper, used about the last of that gray snowflake paper, and added spica pen glitter to the snowflakes (which I didn't even try to photograph).
There sentiment panel is edged in red ink.
This cute CAS sketch is the current sketch at From the Heart's I Heart Sketch challenge.

The card is for these challenges:
From the Heart #145
March Rudolph Days  -- Christmas
52 Christmas Card Challenge --paper piecing
Winter Wonderland -- for a child
Taylored Expressions Share the Joy #28-- CAS
Holly Jolly Challenge #68 -- use your stash (patterned paper)
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #274 -- use a sentiment
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra -- anything Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's patterened paper challenge -- use patterned paper

Cookie Challenge #40

It's time for a new challenge at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie, and it looks like the Easter Bunny has arrived. Just make a card inspired by these cookies, and you could win a prize from All Dressed Up digi stamps.

For my card, I tried the pleated skirt technique that was featured on Splitcoast a few weeks ago.  It's a fun technique and pretty easy as long as you measure correctly. The technique is designed for double-sided dp, and the only lightweight double-sided dp I had is ancient. However, the colors were perfect for a spring/Easter card.

The image (from the defunct Paper Cupcakes) is colored in pencils and mounted on a scallop die cut.

This card is  for these challenges:
Cuttlebug Mania -- Easter
Double D Challenge -- Easter
The Paper Shelter #241 -- Easter
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday --  Come Rain or Shine
Artistic Inspirations #152 -- Easter
Die-Cut Divas -- Spring
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- patterned paper.

Chocolate is the answer

This is just a fun card using an image and super fun sentiment from From the Heart. The image is colored by pencils with a little out-of-the-box cutting on the edges, then cut with a oval die-cut and a scalloped die-cut. the background is a piece of white-core brown paper embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile folder.  I added a little bling in the form of sequins.

The sketch for this From the Heart's sketch #144.

I'm entering these challenges:
From the heart #144
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- food and drink
Catch the Bug -- Bingo (bird, bling, sentiment)
Kraftin Kimmie -- Wonderful Wednesay
2 Crafty Girls #15-- die cut

Meowy Christmas

Aren't these cats cute? I used them for a quick Christmas card, with also incorporates the current sketch at Sketch Saturday.
The cats (a Bugaboo image) are colored in pencils.  The big button is chipboard I found when I was looking for a star-shaped metal tag (I have a bag of them, but I have no idea where they are hiding right now. I'll find them when I least expect to).
The card is for these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #404 -- sketch
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- cute and cuddly
CRAFT #355 -- Christmas
ABC Christmas -- frills or no frills (I tend toward the minimal frills side)
Holly Jolly Christmas #68 -- use your stash (chipboard button and metallic floss)
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #273 -- Cute
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra -- anything Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge 
Word Art Wednesday #222 -- anything goes

Dogs of spring

Wow, daffodils are in bloom here.  Luckily, I don't have a dog digging up my garden. 
This card features the Stamp of the Month from From the Heart Stamps. It also uses this week's I heart Sketches layout.  I had complicated plans involving a die-cut border of flowers on that angled element, but it just didn't work. The printed twill works much better.

The card is for these challenges:
From the Heart -- stamp of the month
From the Heart  -- Sketch #142
Word Art Wednesday #221 -- Anything goes
 Catch the Bug -- Anything goes

Cookie Challenge #39

It's time for another cookie-inspired challenge at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie, and it's a fun one.  Robots! This challenge is sponsored by A Day For Daisies, which has some cool robot images (including the one I used) along with many other lovely choices.

I made a shaker card, utilizing a variety of beads and sequins as the shaking element. The robot is colored in pencils, and the sentiment is computer generated.
Hope you can join the Cookie Challenge this time!

I'm entering these challenges:
Clear It Out -- Use old Patterned Paper (I used some from a stack about 5 years old).
Shopping Our Stash #242-- In a Galaxy Far, Far Away (a robot/droid like in Star Wars)
Word Art Wednesday #221  -- anything goes
Kraftin' Kimmie Wonderful Wednesday -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper

Ombre two ways

Life is crazy, but I managed to sneak in a quick crafting session to make this card.
I know when challenges use a "green" theme in March, someone was thinking St. Patrick's Day, but it made me think of Christmas, so that's what I made.
I started by stamping a very old Stampin' Up Christmas tree and black-embossing it on a snippet of watercolor paper.  I then used Mowed Lawn Distress Ink to water color it, adding more water as I colored further down the tree to achieve an ombre look.  Thanks to a big pile of green snippets (some I didn't even have to cut because they were already the right size), the tree is mounted on a light green shimmer paper, and the ombre theme is repeated in the three flags on the bottom of the mat.
The layout here is the Kraftin' Kimmie Sketch for this month, and I think it's a sketch with a lot of possibilities.
This card is for these challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie #321 -- March Sketch
Pattie's Creations -- Green
Double D Challenge -- Feeling Green
Little Tangles #66-- Ombre
Jade's sparkling  butterflies/2 Crafty Girls #14 -- Monochromatic
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge 271 -- Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra -- anything Christmas
Pixie's Snippet Playground #219 -- snippets
Word Art Wednesday #221 -- Anything goes

New use for office supplies

A monthly swap I do is requiring the "rubber band  technique" this month. This is a completely new one to me -- you wrap rubber bands around a block, ink them up and stamp them to create a background.  I used Lavender Lace and Mint Melody inks to create my background panel.

The layout for this card is Sketch Saturday #401.  The image is  my NBUS (Never Been Used Stuff) for Darnell's NBUS Challenge.  The goofy bird, from Bugaboo, is colored in pencils, and there's a lot of fussy-cutting for the out-of-the-box cut.


The card is for these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #401
Catch the Bug -- color Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Leap into the Unknown (new technique)
NBUS #6 -- image
Kraftin Kimmie Wonderful Wednesday -- anything goes