Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Play Date Cafe challenge

Hi everyone!

It was another quiet day at my house. Kids are missing their dad but enjoying the break they're getting from homeschooling. I've enjoyed having the big chunks of time to scrapbook and I even had time to make a card tonight, too!

Play Date Cafe
had a 2 week challenge this month. Here was the color combo they wanted us to use on our card:

I took on the challenge because, to be honest, if there's 2 colors that I really don't like it's yellow and green. And this challenge had 2 shades of green. I know it's very Christmas-like colors but I really don't like green. I was actually surprised to find that I even had green cardstock on hand b/c I'm not a fan of the color--at all! But, that's part of the fun of the challenge--using colors you wouldn't normally use and trying to make a nice card.

Here's my take:

I started out w/the lighter shade of green as the base and then the darker shade of green on top. I embossed it with the flourish embossing folder using my cuttlebug. Then, I used my flower inchies stamp set from inkadinkado and stamped the red flower on cream cardstock. I punched them out using an old square creative memories punch. I added some red ribbon and some bling and stamped the sentiment and the card was done. Not sure I love it but it could just be the color thing getting to me... :)

I think you all have a few more days to play along in the challenge if you have time. Hope you're having a great week!

Pat

MOJO Monday time!

Hi everyone!

Well, my crafting time continues! I hope all of you are getting a chance to play, too, although I know that this time of year is busy for most...

This was the sketch for this week's Mojo Monday.












And here's my take:
I started out with brown cardstock that I embossed using my cuttlebug and the flourish embossing folder. I added the ribbon and then a line of pearls along the top of the ribbon. I stamped the sentiment and flowers (Hero Arts) and inked the edges of the white cardstock with vintage photo distress ink. Done! :)

Off to catch up on some scrapbooking...that'll be my project for the next few days.

Have a happy and healthy 2012!
Pat

Another sympathy card

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas time with family. I am currently at home with my 2 sons while my DH is visiting his grandmother in Mexico. Since I HATE going into our bedroom when he's not home, I put on a movie, lit a scented wax candle, and made some cards!

Although it's a sympathy card, which I do not enjoy making, I figured maybe it wouldn't be so dreary if I combined it with a few challenges. First up was the Lawnscaping Challenge. It's all about texture for this challenge and I knew I'd be embossing one way or another! :)

The second challenge comes via Young Crafters Unite. Their challenge was to use dies on a card. I love dies!

Here's my card:

I started out by using my cuttlebug embossing folder (flourish, I believe) and embossed white cardstock. I cut it in 3 strips and adhered that to the black cardstock. I then stamped the sentiment from Hero Arts and matted it on black cardstock. I believe the flower is from Inkadinkado and I wanted a pop of color so I used a cranberry pigment ink from the $1 bins. I cut it out using a spellbinders label. For a little bling, I added a gem in the center of the flower and the card is done! I love how it turned out, too. It's simple yet elegant.

Will be back tomorrow with a Mojo Monday card. Hope everyone is having a good start to the week...Wow--last week of 2011!

Thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

MOJO Monday time!

Hi everyone!

I think I'm truly giddy right now--I've had so much fun crafting cards this afternoon! I haven't been able to play along w/a Mojo Monday in a while so today was a treat!

Here's the latest sketch from Mojo Monday:



















And here's my card:
Again, all papers are from Echo Park's Season Greetings 6x6 pack. I stamped the Christmas tree (Hero Arts) in silver and then heat embossed it w/silver powder. I added the Christmas ribbon, which was given to me years ago by a friend, and then stamped the ornament (Hero Arts) and colored it in using glaze pens and stickles. The stamp comes with the sentiment around the ornament so I just added a few red gems to it. The Christmas tree also has some stickles on it--it's just hard to see in the picture. Pretty easy card to make and lots of fun!

Have a great night!
Pat

Finally making my own Christmas cards!

Hi all!

I hope everyone is having a good week--I'm sure many must be stressed out right now w/the holidays. Our Christmas will be quiet this year so it's allowed me some time to FINALLY make our own family's Christmas cards! I know--I'm really late...

I used a few challenges to help inspire me a bit...First up, the sweetest thing site. I used their sketch for my inspiration.

The sketch worked great with another challenge that I was dying to play with! The Cute Card Thursday site had a challenge involving stripes. And I knew exactly what I wanted to do w/that!

I also saw that the Wee Memories site had an "anything goes" challenge going on and figured I'd enter this card for that challenge, too. And since it's a 2 week challenge, I may enter again! :)

If you have time, check out these sites--it's always a great way to get your creativity jump started!

Here's the sketch:

I love this sketch! And I can see it being used in tons of different ways and for so many different occasions!













Here's my card:
All the papers are from the 6x6 paper pad from Echo Park called Seasons Greetings. I cut out the striped paper and inked the edges with vintage photo distress ink and then mounted that on the red cardstock. I stamped a $1 stamp of the Christmas tree in some mossy green pigment ink and then heat embossed it w/clear powder. The strip of green paper is from the reverse side of the striped paper and I hand wrote the greeting using a white pen and then added a snowflake to the strip. I added some rhinestones to the tree and the card was done...and I love it!

Now to pick who this card will go to... :)

Hoping to share more cards later on today. Thanks for stopping by and for all the sweet comments--they sure do brighten up my day!

Pat

Monday, December 12, 2011

A misted, wintery b-day card

Hi all!

Before I go and start my homeschooling week, I figured I'd share a card I made for 3 different challenges going on right now. Here are the challenges:

Stampin' Sisters in Christ asked that we make a b-day card in honor of Christ's b-day.

PaperPlay Challenges asked that we use a snowman on our cards.

And, lastly, CAS-ual Fridays asked that we make a card using a mist technique. Here's the image for their challenge.



















Here's my take on all 3 challenges:
I started out by inking up the snowflakes. I used one from Hero Arts and another from a dollar stamp set. I used broken china distress ink on them and then embossed them with clear embossing powder. Then, I inked up the background with the same distress ink. I then used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Dazzling Diamonds and spritzed it all over the background. You can't tell in the picture but the background just glitters! Love it! Then, I stamped the snowman (from stampin' up) in black ink and then stamped another snowman on some scrap paper. I cut out the snowman from the scrap paper and colored him in using glaze pens. I added some detail to the snowman by using the black glaze pen on his arms, eyes, and mouth. Then, I stamped an oval in distress ink and stamped the happy b-day sentiment (also from a dollar stamp set). I added 2 small gems on the sentiment and then pearls on the snowflakes. I mounted it on cardstock that I had inked with distress ink and done!

This was a really fun card to do...and I LOVED using the mist! It's a subtle glimmer but so lovely!

Hope you all can join in the fun!

Have a great week!
Pat

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Wee Memories challenge

Yes, two posts in one day! :) Like I said, it's the perfect day to be in pjs and crafting cards!

This time, I'm playing along with the Wee Memories site. Their challenge was an anything goes holiday card. Perfect! I've been making a lot of Christmas cards so this challenge was right up my alley!

Here's my card:
I used pattern paper from the 6x6 paper pad called Season's Greetings from Echo Park. I punched out a circle and used the back of the paper for the plaid pattern insert. I then mounted the front of the card using tons of foam adhesive and adhered the paper on the circle insert. I stamped a dollar stamp ornament and embossed it and then used glaze pens to add the color. I added some Christmas red stickles to the dots on the ornament, too. Using some red and white twine, I hung the ornament in front of the punched circle and then wrapped the twine behind the front panel. I cut out a sizzix label and then stamped the sentiment and added some more stickles. A fun card to make and easy to coordinate the papers since it's from the same paper pack.

Thanks for stopping by...
Pat

Cute card Thursday

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. We have a cloudy, misty kind of day going on here so it's the perfect day for crafting and sharing. And nothing beats crafting in a cozy room w/pjs on! :)

I stumbled upon a new site called Cute Card Thursday this past week and LOVED it! They have different challenges and those are always so fun for me to play along with. This week their challenge was easy--it's "anything goes"! So, I figured I'd take out an old stamp and make a new card with it.

Here's my card.
I started out by stamping the Friend Definition from Hero Arts using Versarmark ink on the red cardstock. (Sorry, I know you can't really see that detail on the picture). Then, I punched several strips of daisies b/c I knew I'd be using them as kind of a ribbon on the card. Then I embossed the brown cardstock with the flourish embossing folder from cuttlebug. I adhered the red and brown cardstock to the base of the card and then stamped the very old, yet cute, Stampin' up Bear Hugs stamp with brown ink. I added the Thinking of You sentiment from Hero Arts and then mounted that on red again. I put the strips of flowers on and then used foam adhesive to mount the bear and the card was done!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great week!
Pat

Monday, December 5, 2011

Card Patterns #144

Hi all,

I hope everyone had a great weekend...Mine was bittersweet since I had a funeral to attend. But the service was beautiful and it was nice remembering a very special lady.

Since the card I dread making the most is a sympathy card--and this one was for a very dear friend--I knew I needed some inspiration. I saw this sketch from the Card Patterns site yesterday and thought it would be perfect for the card I was about to give my friend. Here's the sketch:



















Here's my take on the sketch:
I didn't stray from the sketch very much at all...I loved the sketch as it was. I used 2 papers from the Luxury Stack and mounted the square piece on some maroon cardstock. I then cut out an oval using my old Creative Memories oval cutters. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and the borders on the oval are from a small dollar stamp set I got at Michaels. I inked the edges of the oval with a burgundy ink just to finish it a bit. I tied the burgundy ribbon and adhered a flower that was a bit too pink (I ended up inking it with my burgundy pigment ink) and then used a pearl for an added accent.

The papers were so glossy and luxurious feeling that I didn't want to mess with the card too much...I wanted a simple and elegant card and these papers gave me that feel.

Hope everyone has a good week and thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

CAS-ual Friday challenge and Wee Memories

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I was introduced to letterboxing today. It's kind of like geocache but without the GPS. We got to hike around a park and use clues to find boxes hidden around the park...It was fun--cold, but fun!

After a fun afternoon, nothing beats relaxing and crafting! I thought I'd combine two current challenges. One is from the CAS-ual Fridays site and the other is from the Wee Memories site. The Wee Memories site was gracious enough to let us have a "free for all" challenge and those are always fun b/c you can simply get creative without any restrictions. The CAS-ual Fridays site, however, had quite the creative way of displaying their challenge. Here it is:

I was intrigued the moment I saw the tic-tac-toe board! I started writing down all the possible combinations (as my husband sat there watching me and wondering what I was doing!) and then sat in my craft room wondering what would work best for me. Here's what I came up with...

I decided I'd go straight down the middle for my card combo. I wanted polka dots, kraft, and orange. I knew I had some polka dotted orange pattern paper and it was a matter of finding it! I found the Bright and Basic Recollections paper pack. I used a sketch for the design and simply laid out the papers and then added the strip of kraft-colored paper down the center. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. I added the butterfly with a Fiskars punch (I think) and added some faux polka dots to it with a white pen. I added the faux stitches and then some buttons with pearls. Easy card--and easy to replicate. But I really enjoyed the way the challenge was laid out so I may try another combo before the challenge is over. :)

Have a great Sunday and thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Thursday, December 1, 2011

MOJO 217

Yes, I am posting twice in a matter of minutes! :)

It's been weeks since I've had a chance to play along with the Mojo Monday site. I saw this sketch earlier in the week, though, and really wanted to try it out. Here it is:














I decided to rotate the sketch and use the square version. Here's my card:
I started out by embossing the blue cardstock with a snowflake embossing folder with the cuttlebug. I knew I wanted to add some dimension, though, to the embossing so I used a faux letterpress technique and inked one side of the folder with white ink. That gave the background more of a snowy, midnight feel. I stamped the bears in a brown pigment ink and they're from a stampin' up set from years ago. I heat embossed the image and then colored it in using some glaze pens. I LOVE the wet, glossy feel of the image. I then cut it out using a spellbinders label and lightly inked a bit of broken china distress ink around the edges. I then used 2 strips of turquoise paper and freehanded the sentiment in white ink. I added a snowflake and then added some faux stitching around the strips. I added some stickles on some of the snowflakes and on one of the bear's earmuffs. Done! :)

There's still some time to join the mojo site this week... :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Skipping Stones design

Hi everyone!

I know--I've been MIA for awhile. Thanksgiving came and went and we had family in town. But, we also had a friend's mom turn very ill over the holiday. And she passed away yesterday so I have been really busy with other issues. In fact, I really had to muster up some creativity to decide to make a couple of cards tonight. It was therapy for me, though...

I wanted to use the latest sketch from Skipping Stones...it looked so fun--and it was! Here's the sketch:

















Here's my take on it:

I used kraft-colored cardstock as the base and embossed it using my cuttlebug. Then, to make the embossed area pop a bit more, I added some vintage photo distress ink. I used an old Creative Memories circle cutter to cut a circle out of the main panel and then cut out a smaller circle using my fiskars circle punch. I stamped the flower image and added a rhinestone and then adhered that to the card base. The embossed panel is mounted with dimensional foam all around the card. I stamped the sentiment and cut it into 2 strips and the card was done! I LOVE this sketch b/c I can see myself using it A LOT for different occasions.

Hope you can play along!