Going Batty

Seems like I have done a lot of Christmas cards lately, so for something completely different.... how about Halloween?

I got inspired to dig out some never used Halloween supplies in the spirit of Darnell's NBUS#5 challenge (Never Before Used Stuff).  The image is a digi from QKR Stampede which I have never used before, and the bats are rub-ons from a set I've never used. (The set of rub-ons was actually part of a grab bag of what was mostly Christmas crafting items I got at a consignment sale, so these are doubly NBUS, if such a thing is possible!)
I used the current Mojo sketch as my inspiration.

The card is for these challenges:

Mojo #414
NBUS5 -- NBUS= image and bat rub-ons
PaperTake Weekly Challenge -- things with wings
Word Art Wednesday #200 -- anything goes

Doily Dress

A couple of weeks ago, Di (who blogs at Pixie's Crafty Workshop) posted a card using this technique and a link to the tutorial. I made one almost immediately, then set it aside until I figured out how to use it. Here it is.
I especially like how much dimension there is in the skirt. (I just cut the bodice by hand since I don't have the suggested punch).
I followed the layout from the Catch the Bug sketch challenge and used a bunch of snippets (including three coordinating lilacs from a mat stack) to create the card. That dress is so cute I didn't feel like it needed a lot of embellishments, but a little ribbon and pearls never hurt anything.

This card is for these challenges:
The Ribbon Girl -- colour challenge; lilac
Catch the Bug -- sketch 310
Catch the Bug -- BINGO (lace, ribbon, pearls)
CRAFT -- wedding
Papertake Weekly -- Oh so pretty
Pixie's Snippet Playground #181/182 -- use snippets

Word Art Wednesday #188 -- anything goes

Vintage girl

I won some images from Sweet Pea stamps, and I fell in love with this image from Conie Fong.  The girl seemed perfect for a vintage style card. 
The girl is colored with pencils, with Distress ink around the edges of the circle.  The doily under that isn't distressed; it's really old. I found it when cleaning out my parents' condo.  They had loads of stuff from who knows when, including a couple old paper doilies that had turned yellow with age.
The layout is the current Sweet Sketch Wednesday.  For the background panel, I stamped script in Antique Linen ink.
The little "bow" is a snip of crocheted lace tied with ribbon.

I'm entering these challenges:
Addicted to Stamps #147 -- Make your mark
Creative Inspirations #316-- for a friend
Sweet Sketch Wednesday -- sketch #56
Catch the Bug Challenge -- recipe B (image/ribbon/flowers) (flowers in image on on dp)
Word Art Wednesday #186 -- anything goes
Clear it Out -- anything goes
Loves Rubberstamps -- anything goes
Papertake Weekly -- anything goes
Sister Act #109 -- anything goes

Coral butterfly

I had to do a wax resist card for a swap. Instead of just crumbling the wax paper, I ran it thru an embossing folder to transfer the design in wax, then sponged on Cameo Coral ink to reveal the resist design.  In my opinion, a bit of it goes a long way, so I used just a strip on this card. It's accented with two different designs of adhesive paper lace. The butterfly is black embossed and watercolored with Cameo Coral ink, with Bliss Blue around the edges.

I'm entering these challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #29 -- butterfly and lace
Catch the Bug Sketch 309 -- sketch
Whoopsi Daisy -- Things with Wings
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- coral
Papertake Weekly -- anything goes with option of no patterned paper
Loves Rubberstamps #150 -- anything goes
Clear it Out -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #181 -- anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- Anything Goes

A is for apple...

all rosy and red .... or green, as the case may be.
This is my take on the Mojo Monday sketch for this week.  The image is from Beccy's digital stamps, colored in pencils. The apples have Diamond Glaze on them, so they are shiny as well as rosy. The red and white checked ribbon is something I picked up at a yard sale from a very old lady (so old she was pricing stuff for a dime) and I suspect it is quite vintage. 
All the colored card stock is snippets and that gave me an excuse to use two different shades of red. A little piercing ties it all together.

I'm entering these challenges:
Mojo Monday #392
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- A is for...
Papertake Weekly -- Anything goes
Clear it Out -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #178, Anything Goes
Loves Rubberstamps #146 -- anything goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground #171 -- use snippets

Onions three ways

The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge was to use one stamp in multiple way. I've used this one three ways -- to make my own background paper, as the central image, and paper pieced. For the background, I stamped multiple images on the diagonal in a Colorbox Chalk ink called Amber Clay. I then stamped the image in Memento black on white card stock  and on orange vellum.  I fussy cut the onions from the vellum (which reminded me of the color of onion skin) and paperpieced the main image.
Yay me, I also found a way to use vellum and mulberry paper on the same card. (Let's bring back vellum and mulberry paper everyone!)
The image of Vidalia onion seeds is from a set by TPC Studio.


I'm entering these challenges
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- one image, many ways
Papertake Weekly-- A cut above (border punch and fussy cutting)
Loves Rubberstamps #144 -- make your own background paper
Catch the Bug Bingo challenge (border, free space, no DP, which I take to mean pre-printed DP)
Word Art Wednesday #176  anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- Anything Goes.

Wisteria time

The first house we had had a backyard full of wisteria, which is amazing every spring when it blooms. You might know there are two forms of wisteria -- one is a well-behaved tree form, the other is an aggressive vine form. Guess which one we had?  As beautiful as it was in bloom, the vines were strangling everything else in the yard.  I spend many an hour out there chopping vines and unwrapping them from tree trunks, trying to get the wisteria under control.

I still enjoy seeing wisteria in bloom however (some of the aggressive vines grow along various highways and it's always a pleasure to see it.) To me, it's a sure sign spring is here (and no, it's not in bloom yet).

The stamps are from Victorine Originals.  I stamped both first and second generations of SU Lavender Lace to form the wisteria bloom, and second generation Distress Mowed grass on the leaves.

The mulberry paper is a snippet I came across when looking for colors to match the ink (actually everything on this card is a snippet).  I love the softness the mulberry paper adds to a card -- it's another thing I'd like to see come back in style, along with vellum.

The card is for these challenges:
Inky Imperssions #201: pastel colors
the Paper Shelter #195: Spring delights
Crafting for All Seasons #98: Pastel hues
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- spring photo inspirations (colors from Easter basket)
CRAFT challenge #303: Mother's day
PapertakeWeekly: Happy anything
Word Art Wednesday #175: Anything Goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground #168: use snippets

Keep thinking spring

Yesterday we got a serious hint of spring. Today it's dreary winter again. But I'm going to keep crafting like it's spring.
This card is all about spring -- you can tell, because I broke out the Flower Soft. As I've mentioned before, the only jar of the stuff I have is this white/pink/green mix that looks like cherry trees in bloom, so every spring I use it to make a few blooming tree cards. (At my current rate of usage, this jar will last into the next century).
I used the current Mojo Monday sketch for this. The trees are stamped in Sepia. Before adding the Flower Soft, I die-cut the circle, sponged in sky and colored in grass. The color of the die-cut sentiment picks up the blue from paper, which is from an old Cosmos Cricket pack.
I found a blue button in a similar color, and added embroidery floss to that before adhering.

I'm entering these challenges:
Mojo Monday #387 -- sketch
Divas that Die Cut -- spring
Crafty Sentiments -- Spring colors
Creative Inspiration #303-- use something old (Flower Soft has been sitting around for 6 or 7 years, I'd say)
Papertake Weekly -- anything goes
Loves Rubberstamps #141-- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #173 -- anything goews
CHCN patterned paper challenge -- Cover your card with patterned paper

Christmas cardinal

It's snowing up a storm, so let's make a Christmas card.
The image is from Stamping Boutique, colored with pencils, with Antique Linen Distress ink sponged around the edges. I used the sketch from Papertake Weekly Challenge. There's crocheted lace along the bottom, and I wove red baker's twine through the center of it. The sentiment is a cardstock sticker, and the embellishmennt is a flower and brad.

This fits a lot of challenges, so here goes:
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas challenge 217: Feature a Creature
Papertake Weekly : Take  your pick (I chose their sketch 98)
Rudolph Days Challenge, Feb -- Christmas card
Catch the Bug -- bingo: lace, sentiment, 3-D element (flower/brad)
Loves Rubberstamps #140-- lace or ribbon
Creative inspirations -- Luscious lace
Clear it Out -- Animal and striped paper
Addicted to Stamps -- holiday
Christmas Card Challenge #12 -- anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

It's cold enough for penguins

(The title of the post is all I'm going to say about the weather here....)
Crafty Ribbons Challenge asks us to make a card that was at least 90 black and white.  What's more black and white than penguins?  I just added the tiniest bit of orange to brighten it up.
The sketch is STAMPlorations #28, with a strip of dotted ribbon running down the edge of the plaid panel.  I added a button and some orange embroidery floss.

I'm entering these challenges.
STAMPlorations #28 -- sketch
Crafty Ribbons #113 -- black and white
Inky Impressions #197 -- cute and cuddly
Creative Inspirations #301 -- buttons
The Paper Shelter #191 -- animal
Papertake Weekly -- Bingo (ribbon/die/button)
CHCN Patterned paper Challenge -- use patterned paper

Snowy Scene

I do a swap with Technique Junkies every month because it's a chance to try a new technique.  In TJland, this technique is called monochromatic silhouettes, although I think I'd go with ombre silhouettes.

I started with a bunch of snippets in various shades of blue, cutting them a uniform size, assembling them temporarily, and stamping the image. I made it especially difficult on myself by embossing the image rather than just stamping it, so the snippets blew around a little during the heat gun part of the event. After embossing, I reassembled the pieces on their permanent mat, adding a little space between each element.

A snowy ribbon seemed like the perfect embellishment.

I'm playing in these challenges
Papertake Weekly -- Take your Pick (I did the color challenges, blues/greens or in this case, just blues)
Catch the Bug -- Leftover paper
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Holiday cards
Pixie's Snippet Playground #153 -- snippets

Going all out for Halloween

 

I kind of miss the old days when my son would spend 3 months changing his mind about what he wanted for a Halloween costume. About now is when I'd tell him to make up his mind for sure so I'd have time to actually make the costume...

I kind of got into that spirit with this card.  The sketch is from Sketch Saturday  (#330). The haunted house is from QKR Stampede, and it's layered on purple. Behind that, I used a big spiderweb image, with just enough showing to suggest what it is. There are bats on the band running behind that.

I got the idea for the tombstone somewhere online, but mine might be a slightly scaled down version of the original. I took a chipboard tag and covered it with gray acrylic paint. My paint is old and rather thick, which worked out well for the effect.  After it dried, I sponged on black ink and black-embossed RIP.


This card is for the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday #330
Whoopsi Daisy, Things with Wing (bats all over the place)
Loves Rubberstamps #121, anything goes
Papertake Weekly, anything goes.

Shine on

I've been wanting to use this fancy corner piece since a friend sent it to me months ago, but I didn't have a layout in mind. This week's Papertake Weekly Challenge had a layout that really lent itself to the corner treatment, so I made this card.
The chandelier image is from Michael's dollar bin, I think -- I've had it for ages and never used it before.  It is white embossed, and accented with tiny pearls.

The card is for these challenges:

Papertake Weekly, sketch 94
The Paper Shelter #176, Pearls
Word Art Wednesday #152, Anything Goes
Crafty Girls Challenge #28, Anything Goes
Little Tangles #46, Anything Goes.

Summer on the water

What better place to spend a hot day than on the water?  That's what this card is all about.  As you can see, I had a hard time photographing the embossing on this -- of about 20 attempts, this had the least irritating shine on it.
This card features a watercolor wash in sort of ombre -- dark at the bottom, getting gradually lighter toward the top -- and a bunch of splatters.  I used reinker in a Ranger color called stream.  The sentiment says Daydreams.  I'm so proud of myself for having thought of that.  The stamp comes from a bunch of one-worders like that (Believe, Inspire, etc -- I think they are from Another Stamp Company, which may not be around anymore), and I don't believe I have ever used Daydreams before, but wouldn't you like to be out on a lake daydreaming the day away? The man in canoe image is from Victorine Originals.
This card fits the bill for a number of challenges, so here goes:

Clear it Out -- Embossing
Simon Says Wednesday -- Summer
Pixie's Snippet Playground #137 -- watercolor paper and the matting are both snippets
PaperTake Weekly Challenge -- spots and dots (spots on the watercolor wash, dots on the ribbon)
Word Art Wednesday #145 -- anything goes
Sister Act #69 -- Anything Goes.

Christmas Ribbons

I’m back with another Christmas card. There’s actually a story behind this one.  One of the COTMs I do has a theme of “ribbon” for August.  I actually made the last card I posted – the little girl on the swing – intending to send it out; after all, it had a ribbon and a bow. But I decided that just tying a bow doesn’t really fit the “spirit” of a ribbon challenge, and I wanted to try something different.

 

I knew I wanted to do a die-cut with an array of ribbon showing through, and when I stumbled upon this little circle tag die, I knew I had a winner. ( I do mean “stumbled.” I bought a set of little Sizzix dies at a consignment sale and had totally forgotten about them. They were sitting in a baggie at the bottom of the box that holds all my dies.)

The rest of the card is pretty self explanatory. I die cut the ornament, stamped the pine bough (from Impression-Obsession) in Garden Green and added the sentiment.  I taped snippets of ribbon on the back side of the card stock, and the ribbons I had selected ended up being the perfect size the fill the die-cut hole.

 

The sketch is the current one from Sketch Saturday.  Going with a Christmas theme allowed me to use up some Christmas paper snippets, including that plaid that has been hanging around for years. I’m pretty sure that’s the last snippet of it – I had to trim one edge to get rid of a torn bit and used  the rest of it here.

I am entering this card in these challenges:

Sketch Saturday #321

Loves Rubberstamps #115– use stripes

Pixie’s Snippet Playground #136 – use snippets

Just us Girls #252 – use ribbon

Word Art Wednesday #144 – anything goes

Papertake Weekly – Anything goes.

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

Ornamental

I worked at a booth at a stamping/scrapbooking show two weekends ago. I had planned to take an hour off to shop the show, but it was pretty busy and the only place I got to shop with the booth I was working at. One of my purchases was a set of Christmas stamps from Kaisercraft, and I put it to use making a couple of quick cards.
The cards are based on this week's challenge at The Paper Players, and it was a great excuse to utilize a bunch of snippets I had stuffed into a stack of Christmas paper from Echo Park. I really shouldn't save 1-inch strips, but with 6x6 paper, I end up with a lot of them.
The ornament is silver-embossed on red paper and popped up on foam adhesive. I used a little silver cording for something for the ornament to dangle from, and added a bow of sparkly fiber on each. (Those are snippets, too, the last I have of both the silver and gold versions of that  fiber).
I made the one with the black background first, then tried putting the banners at a slight angle -- I think the angles look a little jauntier, and I think I prefer that one.

I'm entering these cards in these challenges:
Rudolph Day July -- 2 cards
Papertake Weekly -- It's a jolly holiday
Holly Jolly Christmas -- Deck the Halls
Clear It Out -- Christmas with something sparkly
Pixie's Snippet Playground #135 -- lots of snippets here

Not too much like a flag

I challenged myself to do a red, white and blue card with stars and stripes and keep it from looking like a flag. I think I succeeded.

The layout  for this is the current sketch at Sketch Saturday.

The image is from Impression-Obsession, colored in pencils, with the sentiment from Mark's Finest Paper.  I used a variety of stars and stripes DP snippets to provide the various layers, and added a scalloped edge to what is a rather thin strip on the sketch.

I wasn't really sure what to use for the embellies near the bottom of the sketch until I stumbled upon these snaps that were a perfect color match.  I have a hoard of snaps and of eyelets that I hardly ever use because, let's be honest, they are a pain. But I took my time, measured out exactly where each one should go, and they actually came out straight and even.

I'm entering this card in these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #317
The Paper Shelter #166, birthday card with sentiment
Creative Inspirations #273, your favorite occasion
Papertake Weekly Challenge, Stars and Stripes
Loves Rubberstamps #111, Red, white and blue
Pixie's Snippet Playground #132

Glittery Christmas

Isn't it funny how there are techniques you know how to do, but you just never bother to try them? It wasn't anything amazing, but I've never before just put down a strip of double-sided tape and sprinkled it with glitter to create a ribbon of glitter. It's kind of a nice effect.
I also used a glittery embossing power on the tree because Holly Jolly Christmas wants to see lots of glitter in the current challenge. I was going to try to enter this in Sarn's Rudolph Challenge, but I don't think I have two Christmas cards in me right now
Details:  The Christmas tree stamp is from Victorine Originals, the sentiment for Another Stamp Company.  The paper are all from a Echo Park stack, where I am using up snippets.  The white EP is called Winter Wonderland, from Stampendous, purchased either at Hobby Lobby or Mikes. 
The sketch is from Papertake Weekly Challenge. I went back into their sketch vaults and used Sketch 79.

I am entering the card in these challenges:
Holly Jolly Christmas: Lots of Sparkle
Papertake Weekly Challenge: Sketch Free-for-All
Simon Says Wednesday: Anything Goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground #131 -- snippets
Word Art Wednesday #138: Anything Goes.

The Fault in our Stars

It's Virtual Stamp Night weekend at SCS, and one of the challenges was to do a card inspired by a book. Since I just finished a re-read of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, which I wanted to do before going to see the movie, that book was fresh in my mind and a perfect choice for this challenge.
 Briefly, the book is about two teens who meet in a cancer support group. They are both fans of a reclusive author who lives in Amsterdam, and one of the teens uses his "Make-a-Wish" to get them a trip to Holland so they can beet the author. At that point, he gives the girl a bouquet of orange tulips as a hint.  So I made this card with a bouquet of orange tulips.
While the book may sound depressing, it's not -- it does have sad moments, but it has hilarious moments as well. So, the sentiment "Live as if everything is a miracle" seemed appropriate.
For this card, I used Feeling Sketchy Sketch 91, but I angled the strips to leave lots of room to draw attention to my lovely sentiment.
Any paper with color is a snippet; I chose two oranges plus an orange print; the orange plaid turned out to be a brilliant idea when I realized I could use a little contrasting blue to make the whole thing a little less "aggressively orange" (which is how I think Hazel, the heroine, describes that bought of tulips).

I have not seen the movie yet -- if you have, what did you think of it?

I would like to enter the card in these challenges:

Pixie's Snippet Playground #128 -- use snippets
Feeling Sketchy #91 -- sketch
Word Art Wednesday #135  -- anything goes
Papertake Weekly -- anything goes
Loves Rubberstamps Challenge 106 -- anything goes
Sister Act  #60 -- anything goes