Lily Pad and CPS challenge combo

Hi everyone! It was a big party at my house tonight with my hubby inviting friends over for the Superbowl. I'm originally from NY so I decided to watch the game and was SO happy to see the GIANTS win! Before the game, though, I was able to sit and create a bit. The current challenge over at the Lily Pad site caught my eye b/c, well, as I've stated before, I'm just not a fan of the color pink. Now they paired it with green--another color that's not in my "fave" list. And the CPS site has amazing sketches going on for the next couple of weeks in honor of their 5th anniversary. So, I figured I'd try my hand at the color challenge and use the sketch to give me some guidance. Here's the color combo and the sketch.

Here's my card. I didn't have the right color green in my cardstock stash so I went ahead and used shabby shutters distress ink to get the shade I wanted. Then, I embossed it (swiss dots) using the cuttlebug. I stamped in green ink the happy b-day definition stamp from Hero Arts on the small white portion and then stamped a Hero Arts cupcake on the pink portion and heat embossed it in white. I then colored it in using a red glaze pen. I added a red ribbon and the voila! The card is done. Even though I'm not a big fan of the colors, I will say that I ended up liking the card--yet another reason I participate in these challenges. I may not always start out liking the challenge but it's fun to see the finished product come together! Have a wonderful week and thanks for stopping by! Pat

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

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

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

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!

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.

CPS 232 and CFC 16

Hi all!

Well, I posted late last night but was lucky enough to complete 3 cards last night! So, this is the 2nd of the 3. I was so excited to play in my room that I was surprised at how quickly the ideas came last night! :)

For this card, I joined in the fun w/the sketch challenge over on the Card Positioning Systems site. You can find them and play along here. I LOVE sketches and this one was a GREAT one! I'm sure I'll use it plenty of times and different variations! Here's the sketch we had to work off of:

Also, the CAS-ual Fridays site had a challenge that had us work on embossing skills. Out of all the techniques, embossing is one of my absolute favorites! So, I combined that challenge on this card, too. If you want to play along w/them, you can find them here.



So, here's my card.

To start, I grabbed a scrap of red pattern paper from the Recollections Bright and Basic Paper Stack. I love using scraps like this! Then, I took some white cardstock and using black pigment ink, I stamped the snowman. He's from Stampin' Up. Then, I used my glaze pens to add some coloring to his scarf and hat and face. Then, I cut 3 strips of white cardstock. I grabbed some snowflake dollar stamps and stamped them randomly using white pigment ink. Then, I embossed the snowflakes w/clear embossing powder. I then took broken china and chipped sapphire distress inks and distressed the snowflake panels. LOVE distress inks! Once I adhered the panels, I mounted the snowman w/dimensional adhesive. I then added some faux white stitching along the border of the card. For the sentiment, I couldn't find a "Merry Christmas" stamp that I liked so I free-handed the sentiment w/my black glaze pen. My final step was adding a sticker of a blinged-out snowflake. Not sure where I got that but I liked the final touch. This was a FUN sketch! LOVED it!!!

Thanks for stopping by...and for the sweet comments, too...

Lawnscaping Challenge #16

Hi all!

Well, I got to enjoy a bit of down time since we're down to one car for a few days. Not sure if I'm hoping my hubby's car will get fixed soon or not! :)

The latest challenge over on the lawnscaping website is to create a one-layer card. When I started stamping, the very generous Jennifer McGuire found out I was new to the hobby and was kind enough to send me some stamps. I hadn't used this one yet and figured it was time! :)

First, I used some Broken China Distress ink to ink the sky. Then, I took Pine Needles distress ink and used that for the grass. I took the Hero Arts Butterfly Garden stamp and stamped it along the bottom of the card twice in black ink. I colored in the flowers and butterflies using Glaze Pens. Then I added the sentiment on some cardstock that I notched to look like a banner and then used my Tim Holtz piercing ruler to add the faux stitching along the edges of the card. Only details that isn't "one layer" are the clouds. They just didn't show up well when I stamped them on the cardstock so I did stamp those on a separate paper and cut them out and adhered them. Final step was just to adhere the card to the craft-colored base and the card was finished! Definitely a simple card--thought maybe more for young girls since it's kindda cutesy but I enjoyed the challenged! :)

If you want to play along, you can participate here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lily Pad's sketch challenge

I'm a big fan of sketches. And when I saw the latest sketch for the Lily Pad contest, I immediately knew what I was going to do w/it.

My local craft store has many bins w/$1 stamps. I had just stocked up on some bird house stamps from that bin and chose to use them for this sketch. First, I grabbed some craft-colored cardstock and free handed a branch design. Then I used my cuttlebug to put a wood grain on the branch. I wanted to add some depth to it so I used some vintage photo distress ink to add some shading and then punched some leaves to put on the branch. I then stamped the bird houses and used glaze pens to color them in. I figured a little bird should be flying around there, too, so I stamped him in and colored him in w/my glaze pen. Stamped a sentiment also from a $1 stamp. Finally, I added some glossy accents on the entrance to the bird houses and I was done!

If you haven't played around w/a sketch, it's a lot of fun! Thanks for stopping by.