White + One PaperPlay challenge

Well, I contemplated going to bed early...but apparently making a card was way more fun! :) Who needs sleep?!

I was looking through a new challenge site--PaperPlay--and I thought their challenge was great! I stumbled on their site but I think I'll enjoy playing along here a lot! This week's challenge was to make a card with the color white plus one more color.

I don't know if this happens to everyone at one time or another but I knew EXACTLY what I would do for this challenge. I love it when that happens! I knew the colors, I knew the ink, I knew the ribbon, I was ready to go! Maybe that's why I postponed my bedtime--I knew exactly what I'd be doing and I knew it'd be quick! :)

Here's my card:

I used a Sizzix embossing folder but only embossed 2/3 of it and then mounted it on teal colored paper. I knew I had a satin ribbon that matched it and then realized that the broken china distress ink is also pretty close in color. I stamped the sentiment and added a few pearls and the card was done! Although the card is super easy, I LOVE these kinds of cards...they're quick and elegant-looking cards...

Thanks for stopping by...and now I really am off to bed! :)

SSSC136 and Lily Pad's Bling Challenge

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone's had a good week. I've been itching to get in my room and tonight I finally got a chance! :)

The sweetest thing has a great sketch challenge this week. Here it is:

Another favorite site of mine also has a challenge. Lily Pad cards. Their challenge was to make a card and put some bling on it. Figured I'd try to incorporate the sketch and see if I could add a bit of bling to it, too!







Here's my card:

I went with some pattern paper and then cut out a strip of orange and kraft cardstock. I used my EK Success punch on the orange strip and then used vintage photo distress ink on the kraft cardstock to help add some depth of color to it. Then I used a stamp from Hero Arts and stamped the sentiment in orange. I decided to add some rhinestones on the side of the strips--sensed it needed some bling!--and then added some stickles to the flowers on the stamped image.

Thanks for stopping by...and for the sweet comments--they put a smile on my face! :)
Pat

CFC 21 and Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #12

Hi everyone!

I was lucky enough to play in my room twice in one day! Yay!!!! :) I try to leave the challenge sites open on my computer so that I can easily see what challenges I can try and there were 2 that caught my eye this evening.

The first is from CAS-ual Fridays. You can find the website here. Their latest challenge was for us to use make a monochromatic card using at least 3 shades of a color plus brown. I immediately knew I'd be distressing either in red or blue! :) And whenever I get a chance to get my fingers inked up, that's a good day!

The 2nd challenge comes from the Jay Gee's Nook site and you can find them here. This one is a picture inspiration type of challenge. Here's the inspiration.

The 2nd picture down from the right is the one that caught my eye. I love the bold print on that set of gift boxes. So, that's what I based the card on.












Here's my take:

Masking the bottom third of the card, I used the Hero Arts Damask Cling stamp for the background and stamped it in Dazzle Versamark. Heat embossed it and then the fun began! :) I took the following distress inks: Worn Lipstick, Barn Door, and Fired Brick and started coloring the white cardstock with the lightest color to the darkest. Then, I added some red ribbon. I took a paper flower, stamped text on it, and then added a red button to the center of it w/twine. Stamped the sentiment and I was done! Placed it on a kraft card and the challenges were complete!

Thanks for stopping by and come play along! :)
Pat

MOJO 207, WMC 69, and Lawnscaping Challenge #18

Hi everyone!

We are having a quiet, rainy Sunday here at home...and we're loving it! The hubby is working on his photography blog and the kids are playing with Legos and I got to enjoy some playtime in my room!

Where to even begin with all the challenges?! Well, like I said, it had been a busy week so I knew the MOJO challenge, found here, would have to wait til Sunday. Then, I saw the Lawnscaping challenge, found here, and I knew I'd want to try to combine those. Their challenge was to use text on a card somehow. I LOVE using text--like those "happy" or "thank you" definition stamps from Hero Arts--LOVE THOSE! So, I thought I'd go that route somehow. This morning, though, I saw the Wee Memories challenge, found here, and wondered, "Is there any way to combine all three?". Their challenge was to use pattern paper. And I had just won tons of it from my local scrapbooking store. Is it possible to combine these 3 great challenges? Well, there is! Or, at least, I tried! :)

Here's the sketch I had to work off of for MOJO Monday:

And here's my card.

I started out by going through my 6x6 stack called "Once Upon a Time". Like I said, I won this stack so I thought it'd be neat to try to use some of these "new-to-me" papers. One great thing about paper stacks is that the papers coordinate. So, I picked these 4 papers and basically followed the sketch. My "text" for Lawnscaping was the text paper which looks like a fairy tale story about a princess. I inked up the edges with vintage photo distress ink to add a bit more dimension to it. Then, I punched out a butterfly with my Martha Stewart punch and added some purple gems to bring in the purple background again. I added a braided paper punch to the sentiment and I was done!

Honestly, I don't do many different pattern paper combo cards. I always found them a bit intimidating. I always thought, "there's no way I can combine so many different patterns on a card AND make them look decent". But, using the coordinating paper stack definitely made things easier and the card was fun to build!

Hope you can play along--these were great challenges!

SSSC135

Hi everyone!

If anyone can tell me how to squeeze more time into a day so I can play more, I'd love to hear from you! I had every intention of working on some cards these past few nights but just haven't had any luck actually getting into my room! But I did manage to do a quick mini-card (about 4x4) using the latest sketch from the sweetest thing website. You can find them, and the latest sketch challenge details here.

Here's the sketch.

And here is my take on it:

I knew I had very little time to get this card done. So, I looked through my pattern paper stash of leftovers and found the background paper. Then, I found the coordinating circle-punched paper--both are from The Stack 6. I mounted it on a 4x4 white cardstock base. Then, I took a strip of paper and stamped the sentiment, which is from Hero Arts. Using my EK Success border punch, I scalloped the edges of the sentiment strip. I love that punch! It's perfect for cards...some of my other punches are great for journalling on scrapbook pages but this punch works great on both scrapbook pages and cards...LOVE it!

Off to clean the house...wish I could just continue playing...But we're heading towards a rainy weekend that has no plans on Sunday so here's to hoping I get some play time!

Hope everyone has a great weekend--and that you get to play, too! :)

Pat

Lily Pad's Hero Arts Sketch challenge

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone had a good Monday. Mine was really busy! And tomorrow doesn't look any less busy as I'm taking the kids to a science and industry museum. But, I did get about an hour to play in my room and I was dying to try my hand at Lily Pad's latest challenge that's being sponsored by Hero Arts (LOVE THEM!) If you want the details, check it out here.

Here's the sketch:

I liked this sketch. For some reason, it looked easy yet tricky--one of those "it-can't-be-that-easy" kindda deals...and I was itching to try it! :)













Here's my take on it:

I started out with some pattern paper from The Stack 6. Then, I took some aqua-colored cardstock and using a Fiskars texture plate, I embossed it to look like waves. Then, I did some faux stitching in blue and some in white. I knew I wanted to add either flip-flops or a beach ball or sunglasses in the middle circle and I remembered buying some brads at a great scrapbooking store while on vacation in Chelan, WA. Sure enough--these surfer type shorts were perfect! I inked the punched circle with chipped sapphire distress ink and adhered it with dimensional adhesive. Then, I stamped the sentiment in chipped sapphire distress ink. After rounding the corners, the card was done! :)

This card will go to some dear friends that always open up their home/ranch to us during the summer. It's right along the Columbia River and my boys get to enjoy rides on a wave runner and they get to swim and play all summer long. They're a blessing to my family and I knew I needed to thank them for their hospitality.

Hope you guys can play along! Off to make sack lunches for our long day tomorrow!
Pat

CFC20 and WMC68

Hi everyone!

It's a late Saturday night for me...My 2 little guys, and my hubby, are already fast asleep. That, of course, means I get to play! :)

When I saw the CAS-ual Fridays latest challenge, I thought it would be cute to work on a mini card. (You can find the details for the challenge here.) I must've thought about what to do for hours while trying to fall asleep last night and then, all of a sudden, it came to me! And then, while I was checking my different blogs this evening, I realized that the Wee Memories challenge would work for the idea that I'd come up with last night, too! (You can find the details for that challenge here.) There were no words for how excited I was when I realized I'd get to play, in a quiet house, with a card already in mind, that would work for 2 challenges! And, indeed, the crafting tonight went quickly. Maybe 30 minutes--tops!

Here's my card:

I started out with kraft-colored cardstock and I sized it to 4x4. Then, I took white cardstock and stamped my music cover-a-card stamp by Impression Obsessions (which I got on clearance about 2 years ago) with vintage photo distress ink. Then, I distressed the image with tea dye, vintage photo, and barn door distress ink. I mounted that on the card. For the sentiment, I actually hand wrote it using a marker and added some vintage photo distress ink to the edges. I knew I had that heart button and I laced some jute through it and adhered it with glossy accents. Then, I cut a notch in it for the banner and adhered it with foam adhesive. Easy, cute card...and I got my fingers inky! That's a great night for me! :)

Hope everyone gets to play a bit on Sunday!
Pat

Wee memories giveaway!

Hi everyone!

Just a quick post to let you know of a great giveaway going on right now. The Wee Memories website is celebrating its followers/fans with an amazing giveaway. Please check it out here.

Good luck! :)

CFC 19 and {SFYTT}

Hi all!

Before I introduce my latest card, I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your very sweet comments! It's a bit surreal to me that people are looking at my cards and that they appreciate the time I've put into them. Your comments make me smile--so thank you! :)

I was able to finish off 2 cards last night--and combine 4 challenges into the 2 cards! Yay! :) The latest challenges are from CAS-ual Fridays, which you can find here, and the i{heart}2stamp site, which is found here. CAS-ual Fridays wanted us to create a Fall-themed card w/some paper piecing and the i{heart}2stamp wanted us to use a sketch. Here's the sketch I had to work off of:

And here's my card.

The first thing I did was turn the sketch counter-clockwise 90 degrees. I knew it needed to be fall-themed so I grabbed this cute stamp from Stampin' Up. I decided to use very fallish colors and used my cuttlebug to emboss some leaves on the burgundy panel. I chose to use the de-embossed side. Then, I stamped the teddy bear in vintage photo distress ink. I colored him in using a fantastix tool and using the distress inks as a watercolor. The leaves and sweater were glaze pens, though. Then, I stamped the sentiment on orange but the sentiment actually included the leaf. I cut out the leaf and distressed it with spiced marmalade, barn door, and mustard seed distress inks--and a bit of vintage photo, too. The sentiment had those circle details on it so I added some glossy accents to those to add some dimension.

It was different to turn the sketch. I usually stick a bit more to the original intent but this worked, too!

Hope everyone is having a good day so far...and we're half-way done w/the work week! I'm hoping to play in my room on Sunday! :)

Pat

SSSC134 and RCC 20

Hi everyone!

I've had such a busy week--and it's only Tuesday! Sigh...I've been busy homeschooling again and doing all the chores a household of 4 requires. If only I could get a maid! HA! (She'd probably quit...)

Anyway, there were 2 challenges that I was dying to play along with. I was finally able to get a bit of time this evening to work on them. One is the challenge with the great website, the sweetest thing, and you can find it here. The other is a website that requires the use of ribbon PLUS whatever challenge may be going on. LOVE that! Here's the latest challenge at the Ribbon Carousel. We had to get "punny" with our cards...

Without further ado, here's the sketch and here's my card.

For the card, I used some pattern paper from a 6x6 stack called Once Upon a Time (I think). I won the stack at a local scrapbook store so I think that's what the stack was called. I knew I wanted a bit of a vintage feel to the card. I stamped the Hero Arts image twice with Vintage Photo distress ink and then cut out only the paper portion of the 2nd stamped image so that I could stamp the sentiment and have it be more dimensional. Then, using a Fiskars punch, I matted the image on the burgundy cardstock that was cut to size and punched. I had 2 ribbons in my stash that I won from the LSS and used that to finish off the card. I had a couple of burgundy buttons that I adhered with some glue dots, too. As a final touch, I added some Glossy Accents to the knobs on the typewriter and all the keys.

Now to figure out who to send it to...thankfully, I'm blessed with amazing friends!

Have a great rest of the week!

Quick post

Hi all!

It's always a somber day for me on Sept. 11. I lost a friend that day and, regardless of how many years pass, I still cry when I think of what her final moments must've been like in the Twin Towers...

So, I turned to the web to see some gorgeous cards and hope that would help cheer me up a bit...and it did! :) In fact, if you go here, you'll see a giveaway from the very talented Vicky! I'm a big fan of her style...check out the site! :)

Remember to tell those you love how much you love them...
Pat

Wee Memories Challenge 67

Hi all!

It's been a super busy week for us so this is the first chance I've had to play! :( But, I was able to work on some cards for our church tonight and that's something I really enjoy doing. Our pastor sends every member a "Happy b-day" card that's handmade. (Actually, this time I had to make him several sympathy cards and I finished both batches tonight). We have a team that work on the cards and it was time for me to pitch in. Seeing that many, many cards have to be made, I knew I needed to keep it VERY simple. And that happens to coincide w/the challenge found here. Hope you can play along this week w/the Wee Memories Challenge!

So, what was the challenge? To create a "one layer" project. No dimensional adhesive--just a clean and simple card. Sounds easy--but it does have its challenges!

Here's one of the cards I made:

I decided to use my Quickutz embossing folder with my cuttlebug and that would give me a nice frame for my sentiment. I stamped the sentiment, which is from Hero Arts, with black soot distress ink. Then, I found some $1 stamps that had some flowers that curved a bit. Perfect! So, I inked those up with pine needles distress ink and then colored in one flower with my glaze pen. It was that simple. I did 5 of them within 30 minutes. For the birthday batch, I easily did another 25 cards and just swapped out the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by...and as we remember what happened 10 years ago, let's thank those that continue to protect and serve our country.

Lawnscaping Challenge #17 and Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 133

Hello again!

There's nothing more fun than a day of creating cards! Having the day off from laundry and cooking and cleaning...and knowing that I can still play a bit tomorrow, too! Yay! And tonight I lucked out w/a great sketch and my favorite technique in 2 challenges. The card was fun and simple to make! Quick and easy are definitely my style!

So, here are the details to the different challenges: SSSC had a sketch to work off of and you can click here to play and here's the sketch.

Over on the Lawnscaping website, the challenge was to do a card using the embossing technique--dry or heat. You can play along here and here's the details to that challenge.

So, without further ado, here's the card I created for both of these challenges.

I knew I wanted to use a snowman and I knew the cuttlebug embossing folder w/snowflakes would be a perfect combo for it. I quickly embossed the blue cardstock and then sponged some white pigment ink over the whole card. I wanted it to look like it was a bit snowy in the back so I wasn't too particular over how the sponging looked. Then, I stamped my Stampin' Up Snowman in black soot distress ink and punched him out. I then colored in the image w/my glaze pens--including the eyes and the arms. I had a friend lend me a small snowflake punch a few months ago and I punched some extras. Using those extras, I created the border for the card. The top 3 snowflakes also have some diamond stickles on them--just hard to see in the pic. Using the orange glaze pen, I added some dots along the border of the circle punch and then mounted the image w/dimensional adhesive. Using an EK Success border punch, I punched out a strip of cardstock for the handwritten sentiment and used the black glaze pen for "Merry Christmas" and the card was done! EASY!!!! :)

Come play along...Embossing is so much fun and the sketch is great, too!

Happy Labor Day!

CAS-ual Friday challenge time (CFC18)

Hi again!

I decided to play along w/the challenge over at the CAS-ual Fridays website today. When I first saw the challenge, I was completely stumped. The challenge was to base a card off of a book and the colors had to be black, white and red. The colors I love but I'd been going crazy trying to figure out what book I would base the card on. I finally decided to use my favorite book--the Bible.

Here's the challenge pic:

and you can play along here.
















Here's my card:

I started out w/just some black and white cardstock. Once I got the idea for the heart, I traced out a template on the white cardstock to make sure the size was right and that I'd have enough punched hearts. The hearts were extras I had stored and I had JUST ENOUGH to complete the card. I don't actually own that punch so I was praying there would be enough. The hearts were all white, though, so I used barn door distress ink and inked them up! Then, I simply started layering them onto the card. I used my stamps for the sentiment--I believe the capital letters are from a Technique Tuesday set from a long time ago--and I can't remember where the "is" letters are from.

Although the card took a bit to layer, I really love it. I hadn't really thought about the recipient of the card but now I'm realizing many people could use a card like this when they're going through tough times...such a simple reminder that God loves us because He is love.

There's still time to play along! Hope you can join in on the fun! :)

Have a great Monday!

MOJO 206

Hi all!

I finally had a chance to play in my room today...and I'm just barely making the deadline for the mojo monday sketch this week. Here it is:

Here's my card:

I decided to go w/a square card. I've been enjoying that size...I grabbed some pattern paper from the KI Memories Designer Paper Pad and chose some teal-colored cardstock to go along w/it. I knew it would be a "happy b-day" card since that's what I'm always needing! So, I embossed the teal colored panel w/my cuttlebug swiss dots folder and then took my sentiment and stamped that several times on the white cardstock panel in vintage photo distress ink. Then, after adhering the panels, I added some brown ribbon. I then stamped an image of 2 b-day gifts (also from the same set of $1 bin stamps that the sentiment came in) and stamped it in distress china distress ink. I cut that out, added a couple of small pearls, and then mounted it w/dimensional adhesive. Finally, I added some pearls at the top right corner of the white panel and the card was done. After it was all done, though, I realized I could've added some distress ink along the edges of the panels to make them stand out a bit more but such is life. I liked this sketch--it's versatile for a lot of things...I can see myself using it often! :)

Like I said, I got a chance to play today so I'll be back later to post another card for another challenge. Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend!

Pat