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.

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

Just a few flake

Here's another Christmas card, using a blue color scheme.
The centerpiece is two snowflakes, one cut from snippets of vellum, the other white cardstock, layered on a dark blue square.  (The die is a little Sizzix one I picked up at the craft consignment sale, and truth is it's seen better days.) Behind that are four squares of my favorite snowflake paper (also snippets, I'm down to just a little of that pattern).

The sketch here is from Catch the Bug; I finished the card with some snowflake ribbon and a sentiment in Night of Navy.

I'm playing in these challenges:

Clear it Out -- blues and ribbon
Crafty Ribbon -- monochromatic Christmas
C.R.A.F.T #288 -- Christmas
Catch the Bug -- Holiday Chaos sketch
Die Cut Divas -- Snow/Christmas
Simon Says Wednesday -- Christmas
Pixie's Snippet Playground #154 -- use snippets

Scoring saves the day

It happens to me all the time -- I  finish the card, then think "this would look so much better if I had embossed that panel." Happened again when I made this card -- that green panel was so flat and BORING, but it was too late to emboss it without possibly tearing everything up. Then I had a great idea -- if I can't emboss it, I can at least score it.  Quick, simple and it made a difference. I really need to remember to emboss more, but now I know I can save some cards with a few score lines; my genius moment for the day.

The card features Prickly Pear stamps and matching die I picked up for a song at the craft consignment sale.  They are stamped in Burgundy and popped up over a panel that features a patterned paper of ornaments. The printed paper actually gives a sense of depth, and with the Pop Dots, this card has some
dimension in real life. The ornaments are "hanging" off burgundy colored cording. The ribbon running under the ornaments says "Merry Christmas" in silver -- it was hard to photograph well.

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge:  Ornaments
Die Cut Divas November Challenge -- Holiday spirit
Crafty Ribbons #106 -- Christmas with Ribbons
C.R.A.F.T. 285 -- Christmas
Really Reasonable Ribbons #106 -- Winter holiday with ribbons
Word Art Wednesday #158  -- 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

Loving those leaves

Autumn is my favorite time of the year. Of course, here in the Southeast we are a long way from autumn, but at least I know it will come, eventually.
I truly do love leaves as an art element, about as much as I like flowers. I have a good number of leaf images, and over the summer I bought the Spellbinder's Little Leaf set. (Got it from the vendor I worked for at a scrapbooking show -- it's been discontinued.) I also bought a fall-themed stack of 4x6 patterned paper  (K&Co. Tim Coffey Fall Mat pad), so I was ready to tackle a fall card.  Both these items count as Never Been Used Stuff, so I was excited to see Darnell announce her second NBUS challenge.
Since the leaf paper is so pretty, I didn't want to use an image to compete with it; I just used this sentiment from Rubbernecker.
I sat down with my basket of snippet papers and started die-cutting until I had a huge pile of little leaves in various fall colors. I picked out some that complement the pattern paper and used them to embellish the sentiment panel. (You'll probably see others throughout the fall.)  The copper ribbon hides the seam between the two pieces of card stock and gives the card a little shine.

I am entering the card in these challenges
NBUS #2 -- Leaf dies and paper stack are NBUS
Really Reasonable Ribbons #102 -- fall colors and ribbon
Die Cut Divas -- Something new (leaf die)
Whoopsi Daisy -- leaves
Pixie's Snippet Playground 140 -- snippets (all those leaves)

A little more summer

It's the first day of August. After all these years, I still can't get used to the idea that school starts next week. Call me old-fashioned, but Labor Day will always seem like the natural start of the school year.

Here's a sweet summery image for you.  I have no clue who makes this image -- I got it as an RAK. It was stamped on watercolor paper with Stazon, and I was happy to find my pencils and OMS worked on it; otherwise I was going to have to paint it with reinkers and I wasn't sure how that would go.

The sketch is from this week's Papertake Challenge, although I turned it upside down, because that darker strip just made the card look too top-heavy when it was on top. The image actually had little butterflies drawn in, but they got lost when I cut the image into an oval, so I added a few punched butterflies as the element along the edge. I edged the wings with a little ink so they'd show up against the yellow background. (The papers are all from a Stampin Up pack.)

There is a layer of yellow-edged lace under the ribbon, which makes this card quite girly and adds a little needed width to the ribbon.

I'm entering this card in these challenges:
Die Cut Divas August Challenge, Hot August Nights
Clear it Out, Yellow (yellow stash is paper and lace)
Butterfly Challenge #12, Summer
Papertake Weekly #92, Sketch 92
Word Art Wednesday #143, Anything Goes
Simon Says Wednesday, Anything Goes
Sister Act #68,  Anything Goes

Beach Break

We've had muggy, rainy weather all week, so it wouldn't have been a good beach week, but I can still dream, right?
This image is from Purple Onion Designs, and it always makes me think "Wish I were there." The image is colored with pencils, and I assure you there is blue sky (if somewhat pale) that simply didn't photograph. The lemonade has Glossy Accents on it.
I used snippets of a bunch of prints that look like beach blanket colors to me for accents, including the die-cut button (from MFT).  I cut three layers of card stock to give the button enough bulk to look realistic without it being too bulky for mailing.  The bow is made from two strands of baker's twine.

This card is being entered in these challenges:

Sketch Saturday, sketch 319
Die Cut Divas, Button and Bow
Loves Rubberstamps #113, Summer Fun
Creative Inspirations #275, Here Comes Summer
Simon Says Monday, Summer challenge
The Paper Shelter Summer Challenge, Anything Goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground #134, using snippets
Word Art Wednesday # 142, Anything Goes

On the waterfront

Summer is definitely here, and this little waterside scene looks pretty inviting to my eyes.
Here's my attempt at making a masculine card  that will suit for Father's Day or a birthday. The stamp is an old one, and I'm not positive, but I think it is from DRS. It is colored in pencils and cut out with a Spellbinders Label die.
The star is a random little tag I had around. The rim was silver metal, so I used some Ranger alcohol ink to color it brown. Stars seem vaguely nautical, right? After all, sailors used to navigate with the stars. (That's my story, and I'm sticking too it)

I am entering the card in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, Masculine
Die Cut Divas June, masculine with blue/green/brown/gray
Really Reasonable Ribbon #96, Masculine with trim (baker's twine)
Sketch Saturday #312, choose a sketch (this is Sketch Saturday sketch #304)
Clear it Out, masculine with stars.