Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Thanks LiveLoveCards!

Every month sweet Darlene has a great challenge at her
wonderful subscription website, LiveLoveCards.
one of my favorite cards to make and write!

Here's my entry:


I gold embossed the leaf from Papertrey Ink's
Masculine Motifs set, painting the leaves in with 
Distress Inks and making a few splatters for fun.
The sentiment is a Wet Paint die from Papertrey, cut 3 times 
and layered for texture. The stamped panel is
popped up on the black card base with a
layer of thin black fun foam.

I hope your holidays have been filled
with love and warm memories, and I wish you the
very best in 2016!


Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Pink Christmas

There's a great challenge going on at the Jingle Belles blog--
to make Pink Christmas cards - cards with at least a little pink in them.


Here's one from me



For every card uploaded between
now and October 21st, they will donate two dollars to the
Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Way to go, gals!

Friday, October 9, 2015

My Oldest Stamp Set

This card uses a little SU! set, called "Teeny Tinies"
 which was a gift from a mom of a sweet boy 
in my after-kindergarten group, some 10 years ago.  It was
the beginning of what has become an ever-expanding stash, 
taking up shelves and shelves and baskets and bins 
of all kinds of stamping goodies in a room of their own.
I'm entering this card in a couple of challenges--
 the "White Space" challenge over at LiveLoveCards and
the challenge to use something from our oldest birthday supplies,

  
Using Neenah Solar White, I marked off a grid of 1" squares with my sewing machine, 
 then I stamped the images in SU! Tempting Turquoise, Delicata Gold,
and Memento Ladybug and Tuxedo Black.  I layered the main panel
with some lightweight turquoise and red cardstock from Joann's, mounting it
all on a card base of Papertrey Ink True Black cardstock.
Finally, I added some assorted gold sequins and 
glazed the hearts with Glossy Accents.

I hadn't used this set in quite a while, so it was sweet to be captured
once again by its charm, with warm recollections of Susie and Zach.

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Inspiration from Embroidery

There's yet another fun challenge over at Shopping Our Stash,
accompanied by a very clever Sandy Allnock video,
challenging us to show how we de-stress.

While working with paper, stamps, and ink is my current favorite
form of relaxation, I also really enjoy doing simple embroidery.  
My sister-in-law, who is an amazing seamstress and cloth artist,
asked me to make a square for a family quilt she's putting together
for my niece who's getting married with this summer in Wyoming.
With the Grand Tetons as a backdrop to the wedding. and
 thinking about that wild, beautiful country, here's my square for the quilt


and here's the card inspiration


Papertrey Ink and Avery Elle stamps,
with Hero Arts, Memento, and Papertrey inks,
in an outlined heart from an Ellen Hutson die.

I'm so happy you stopped by to look-- thanks!

Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge

This month's blog hop at Papertrey Ink
features this inspiration piece

Blog hop inspiration

This photo reminds me of the beautiful butterfly collection on display
at the Field Museum in Chicago, one of my favorite places 
to visit as a young child with my dad, who was a butterfly lover.

Here's my creation


Papertrey Ink products used-- circle from Modern Wood Mats,
sentiment from Fillable Frame Sentiments, Rustic White card stock.

Other products used-- flourish by Inkadinkado,
butterfly by Hero Arts, 
inks are Ranger Distress Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Festive Berries, & Rusty Hinge
and Versafine Onyx Black.

Many thanks for coming by!

Saturday, July 18, 2015

OWH Sketch #258

One more quick post for this fun sketch challenge at OWH

sketch 258

Here's my take


I used some Lawn Fawn stamps with Echo Park patterned paper.

Hope you enjoy your ride too!

A Love Card with No Hearts

Yes, a love card doesn't need hearts!

the challenge is to make a love card without hearts.

Really? You bet!

Here's my card


Thanks for visiting!

Thank You

I'm posting a thank you card

it's "Mission Accomplished" for OWH,
and we cardmakers definitely celebrate our troops returning to their families,
thus no longer needing our cards keeping them connected to 
their loved ones while they were far from home.

But we cardmakers have bonded too, and it is a
bittersweet time as we send off our last boxes to this 
great organization, which has fostered our skills and encouraged
and cheered us in so many ways,
with a wealth of videos, tutorials, 
tips, techniques, challenges, and
hundreds of sketch ideas-- to name just a few of
the jewels of generosity and inspiration available to us.

And then there were the heartfelt notes from families
and troops... 
I'm getting a bit verklempt just thinking about them...

Change is hard, but it's part of our journey and
the way so far has been a good one.
I'm so grateful to have a been part of OWH with all of you.

With many thanks


Monday, July 6, 2015

SOS #208

Hola!

Just a quick check-in to post for the latest
using at least one bauble or button or bow.

I rediscovered my October Afternoon 8x8 pad, Sasparilla,
and had fun with some of the different patterned papers:




 The sentiment is from Paper Smooches, and
the button dies are Papertrey Ink.



Ranger Enamel Accents are in the corners of the image.


Paper Smooches image and sentiment, with 
some Copic coloring.


The sentiment on this card is from Papertrey Ink,
white embossed and highlighted with an orange Copic.



All of these cards are going into my last box for Operation Write Home
by July 15th to make the very last deadline of August 1st...
Mission Accomplished, OWH!!!!
Let's get our troops back to their families!

Monday, June 29, 2015

For the Boys

It's been a while since I've played along at
Shopping Our Stash, 
where they always seem to have fun weekly challenges!

 so here's my entry, 
a birthday card for my nephew who is now 22,
a great athlete and outdoorsman,
and, yes, an all-around great guy--

Happy Birthday, Jay!


BaNNeRs!!


It's a fun Mid-Month Throwdown at OWH-
make a card with banners,
and here are a few--

Scraps are great for banners--



such as these colorful pennants and fishtails on the card above
made from leftovers of an October Afternoon 8x8 pad.


I also like my banner stamps.

Here's a card using banner images from 
Hero Arts, along with the same
Papertrey Ink sentiment


This stamped banner card uses 
lots of different stamps--
 the Happy Birthday to You banner from Stampin' Up!
 and
a My Mind's Eye mini banner that I curved on the block


 I love the Mexican folk art of papel picado--
cut paper banners--
which Avery Elle made into a fun stamps set
that I used on this card

Banners can hang from the top of the card
or rise from the bottom, such as the
washi tape banners on this card

One large banner can anchor a focal point,
as in this card

And I probably most often use a banneras a place for a sentiment,
as in this card

Banners are such a versatile element, 
and I find myself using them a lot.
How about you?

Thanks for looking in!
















Sunday, June 7, 2015

June ODBD Challenge

Hi there!
My usual posts to the challenges at Operation Write Home tend to be
very last minute, as I seem to have more focus under pressure.
When I realized that I'd forgotten to post the card* for the May OBDB
challenge on embossing, I was flabbergasted!!!
(Why did I wait?  I don't know... I guess thinking about posting is not the same as actually posting!  I''m just so glad that the goal was made.  Whew!!)

But I am not letting this month get away from me!  
I wish we could do more than one!


The background is the "Out to Sea" stamp from October Afternoon.
The sailboat, sentiment, inks and cardstock are from Papertrey Ink


* and here's the card that missed the May deadline


Thanks for visiting!





Sunday, April 26, 2015

ODBD Monthly Challenge

Hi!

So, this is a good month to make masculine cards for Operation Write Home, 
as Father's Day Cards need to be in by the end of April.  
There have been some very handsome cards posted already, and
here's my contribution...


I just love those bears from the Hero Arts/ OWH set," Lil Hoot".

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Saturday, April 25, 2015

OWH Mid-month Throwdown--Stitching!

Hi!

I had my sewing machine set up when this challenge came out,
so I thought I'd play along. Although my "easy idea" of stitching several hearts
in a continuous line was a bit more of a challenge 
than I thought it would be, I'm happy with my freely sewn hearts.


I used some Stampin' Up! designer paper and
a sentiment from Papertrey Ink's "Stitched With Love" set.

Thanks for looking in!

ROY G. BIV

Hi !

Having taught kindergarteners for many years,
I was so glad to know the mneumonic, Roy G. Biv,
 as a way of remembering the actual order of the colors of the rainbow-
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Indigo, Violet.
Getting the order "right" was very important to some of the children,
and a chance to celebrate these budding scientists as we experimented with prisms,
discovering the surprises of bending light. 
But the "free spirits" in the group, who mixed up the order or added unusual colors,
were celebrated as well, as we made connections to the freedom and choices of artists. 
Though I've been retired for several years now, 
I love remembering my years of teaching-- so many wonderful children, parents,
and colleagues, and so many happy memories, including
the correct order of the rainbow!

I am taking on this month's rainbow challenge over at LiveLoveCards
I just joined the group in April, and I've been enjoying Darlene's many videos.
 Thanks to her, I now use (and love!) a MISTI,
as I did on the sentiment of each of my cards-- individually inking
and repeatedly stamping this sentiment from the "Wait For It" set by Casual Fridays...

and here they are!






Thanks for taking a look!

Sunday, March 29, 2015

NEON!

Hi!

I've got a quick card featuring neon inks and paper


This one's for all the Aries out there,
including me!

xoxoxox

March ODBD Challenge

Hello!  Hello!  Hello!

Just a few days left to get in on the March challenge over at OWH
sponsored by Our Daily Bread Designs--
this month theme is sentiments.

I just sent off a box of cards, with lots of "Mom" cards,
and this is one of them


The figure and sentiment are from a Hero Arts set.  
I used some Basic Grey pattern papers, and 
used watercolor pencils for coloring.

Thanks so much for stopping in!

Sunday, March 22, 2015

I Made the Background

Hi!
When I can, it's fun to play along with the challenges at the
Shopping Our Stash blog-- I love their ideas!
This week's challenge is to make our own background,
but no just stamping a background stamp!

Among many other things I've been pinning at Pinterest,
I've got a board for Patterns.  This design has intrigued me
for a while, and it was the inspiration for my card.

Rusty by Skinny Ships, via Flickr



I used 2 stamps from an SU! set called What's My Type--
a solid half circle and a striped half circle--
with a lightly pencilled grid fit the the size of the stamps.

The inks and cardstock are from Papertrey Ink-- 
Tropical Teal, Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise, and Orange Zest.

The die cut sentiment is from Wplus9.

Thanks for looking in!

Red, White, & Blue... and Aqua, too!

Hello!  Hello!  Hello!

I'm posting a card for the Mid-month Throwdown challenge
 on the Stars & Stamps blog at Operation Write Home website.
It's a color challenge this month using red, white and blue-- a great combo!
Here's my card, using the challenge colors-- with a lot of aqua too :)


As you can see, my card relies heavily on this wonderful, whimsical pattern paper
 which comes from Stampin' Up!
Now I'm not a scrapbooker, but it's hard to resist these
colors and designs, even though it only comes in 12" x 12" sheets. 
One side has these sweet, smiling sea creatures,
and the flip side is the delicate white waves over the aqua
(aka Coastal Cabana) background.
I'm so tickled that I was able to figure out how to use these adorable, 
but large images, in an A2 card!
The sentiments come from Paper Smooches' Surf and Turf set.

Thanks for stopping in!

Saturday, March 14, 2015

It's that time again...

Hi!
I'm playing along with Shopping Our Stash--
this week the challenge is to use numbers in our project.
My card features a cat clock stamp, designed by
a young man named Alex B. for Beez Ink Studio in Warner, NH.
I've always loved cat clocks (even thought the moving eyes are a little creepy), 
and I especially love the expression in the lopsided eyes on this cat.
While I made this as a birthday card for a friend, 
my (computer generated) sentiment could translate to all kinds of creative occasions...
Happy Turn-the-Clocks-Ahead!
Happy Start Your Seedlings!
Happy Breaking Out the Summer Wardrobe!
etc.



Thanks for taking a look
&
Happy Pi Day!

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Inspired by the Big Screen

Hello!
There is a fun challenge over at the Shopping Our Stash Blog-- 
making a card inspired by a movie.
I think that's a super creative idea, and though my list of 
favorite movies is ... L...O....N....G ... 
(some members of my family even insist that there is no movie I dislike-- ha!)
coming up with of a movie-inspired card took some thinking.
But now I've got a few ideas bubbling...

Here's one, inspired by the oscar winning film, "Ghandi,"
starring Ben Kingsley and directed by Richard Attenborough


The background uses several stamps from TPC, Papertrey Ink and Stampin' Up!
The sentiment is from Wordsworth, and it means a lot to me.

Thanks so much for taking a look.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

In the Style of Maile Belles

Like many card makers, I have long been in awe of the
creativity, design sense, and stamping skill of Maile Belles, and today,
the lovely leader of her design team at Papertrey Ink, Nichole Heady,
as part of the 8th birthday celebration of Papertrey.
Well, part of what always blows me away in what I see in Maile's work
is her edginess-- both in a trend-setting way and in an actual way.
Lots of her cards that catch my eye use the edges of the actual card
or the card panels to amazing visual advantage,
and I love that!

The card I chose for my inspiration is linked here
and here's my take on her sweet design:


Happy Birthday, Papertrey!
And thank you, Maile, and all the designers for the 
generosity of your creativity.

All supplies used by Papertrey Ink





Monday, February 2, 2015

MFT #213 for the new guy...

yes, do they ever have such nice sketches to inspire!

Here's this week's goody


About the time this new challenge came up, we got word that 
"there is a new guy in town"-- a grand-nephew named Jack!
So, in honor of this new little one and his over-the-moon-in-love parents,
this card came to be.

Thanks for stopping by!


(I used an MFT stamp I got a part of a fundraiser for Operation Write Home--
thank you, My Favorite Things, for being
 a strong supporter of the great work of OWH.)



Monday, January 26, 2015

MFT Sketch Challenge #212

Howdy-do!


When I have the time, I like to play with a sketch and change things up-- maybe
 with the card orientation or the placement and size of the elements.
But since my time is limited this week, I took advantage of the
strong sketch and just popped in my images, patterned papers, 
and embellishments-- sweet!



I used MFT Vintage Cameo stamps with some 
Authentique "Delightful" patterned papers and
a PTI "Tiny Tag II" under the ribbon.

We're bracing for a big winter storm arriving tonight, and 
I think I see the first snowflakes starting to fall...

{not so} Fun Fact:
Did you know that in order for a winter storm to be called a blizzard, 
there must be snowfall and sustained 30mph winds for at least 3 hours?
Brrrrr! 

Thanks for stopping by-- 
I'd like to give you a warm chocolate chip cookie
for venturing out on this cold winter night!

Sunday, January 25, 2015

January ODBD Challenge

Hey there!  

I was invited by a small after school club to join them in making cards,
and I asked if they might want to make some cards for OWH--
and specifically cards with their messages for our heroes--
and, yes, they did, and, yes, they made some beauties.
I brought my stash of washi with some good card stock and pens,
After a little introduction and experimenting with the washi, 
they spent an hour making cards with a message included, too.

Here are some of their creations--







and mine too--


Thanks so much for taking a look at our cards!

Happy Hearts

A quick little post 
for this month's blog hop at Papertrey Ink
featuring hearts...



On my first card, I used the Hearts cover plate to cut the white cardstock,
layering it over some Authentique "Smitten" pattern paper, and using
a sentiment from Happy Hearts.


My second card uses one of the heart images from Happy Hearts,
stamped 3 times in Pure Poppy on Rustic Cream then brushed over
several times with water.  The sentiment is from Technique Tuesday.

Thanks for taking a look at my cards!