Paper Smooches Spark Challenge and Oldie Moldie Monday Collide

Monday - time to show some love to your old supplies.  I needed to make a get well card for my granddaughter.  She had to have her tonsils out on Sunday.  This is not something you want to do at any age - but at the age of 18 - it is not fun.

I decided to play the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge - Anything Goes.

I got out some American Crafts paper that has a date of 2012 on it.  Not as well aged as some of my supplies.  I love the bright cheerful colors in the 6 x 6 pad. Teal is one of Emily's favorite colors.  I paper pieced the balloons.  After cutting out a shape that you have stamped, always run a black marker around the edge.  It gives your cut a neater finish.  The get well sticker is from SRM Stickers. The white border was cut with my Silhouette.  The yellow ribbon is from May Arts and it was just laying there on the floor waiting to be used.

I don't know if I like the enamel dots on the card but there was so much white space.

If you wish to buy your own Paper Smooches stamps, just pop over to their online shop.

Remember to show some love to your old supplies.  They do still make beautiful creations.

Happy Monday - is it Friday yet?

Give Thanks

It is time to start thinking about making some Thanksgiving cards.  I have had a piece of fabric floating around my crafting area for years because I liked the images.  I decided to use some of it for a fall card.

I used the sketch from the SRM monthly challenge for the layout of my card.

Unfortunately I did not have an SRM Doily.  I do have some doilies in my supplies so I dug one out.  Of course it was white, so I took a wet tea bag and rubbed across the top of the doily to give it a creamier color and dried it with my heat gun.  When I use fabric on a card, I use a light iron on adhesive on the back of the fabric and then attach it to card stock.  I then cut out my image.  By doing it this way, it gives your fabric some stability.  After it is cut out, I take a marker and go along the edge and color it.  This fabric was then matted with some brown card stock.  I embossed the gold with a embossing folder.  The SRM Sticker was added to a piece of matching card stock and matted in the same brown card stock.  I did add a strip of orangish paper to the top of the sketch to pick up the orange in the one leaf.  The dry embossing was highlighted with brown chalk.  When you use chalk instead of ink to distress or highlight, it seems, to me, that I have more control and get the look I want to achieve.

I am also going to share my card on the Addicted to Stamps Challenge blog.  Their weekly challenge is Holiday.

Enjoy your Thursday.

Paper Smooches, Seize the Sketch and House of Cards Unite

I finally got a card made for the challenge on the Paper Smooches Spark Challenge Blog where anything goes.  This is a great challenge because then you can do anything you want, use any color and design.

Just like most cardmakers, we collect stuff.  I had this cute little monkey in my collection of Paper Smooches Stuff and I wanted to use it.  I have not made my Mom a card for ages so I thought this card would brighten her room at the nursing home.  I got to use some of my favorite colors.  Teal and orange - I was never much of an orange fan until I had a student worker who loved orange and she opened my eyes to it's creative possibilities.

I used the sketch from Seize the Sketch.  A great sketch you can do lots with.

I also am entering it in a new monthly challenge I found - House of Cards.  There challenge is to use a bow.  I don't use lots of bows on my cards because the majority of my cards are for Operation Write Home and I try to keep my bulk down on these cards since they travel so many miles.

The patterned paper is from Basic Grey.  I believe the ribbon is May Arts.  I added some extra hearts in the lower left hand corner of the image.  I fussy cut all the hearts.  The little teal hearts have Glossy Accents on them to make them a little dimensional.  The big heart and the image are pop dotted for more dimension.  Did you see our little monkey has her belly button pierced.  She is such a little rebel.

If you wish to buy your own supply of Paper Smooches stamps and dies, you can shop at their online store.

Sparkle With Joy - Or Something Like That

Simon Says "I Love Sparkle" - I do not use too much sparkle or glitter because the majority of my cards are for Operation Write Home and glitter is a big no no - if you want to know why - stop by the Operation Write Home blog to find out.

The challenge for the month at Oozak is also sparkle.

This is a card for my own holiday collection.  I used the sketch from Merry Merry - I somewhat stretched the image from the sketch.  My card is 5 x 3.25.

The image is a Penny Black Sticker - unfortunately with my lousy photo skills - I was unable to pick up the sparkle on the card.  I added Stickles to many dots on the tree.  The Joy was outline with my stardust pen.  The background is embossed with a snowflake embossing folder.  I did use some Bazzill Bling to add color to the card.  A May Arts bow completes the card.

Have a lovely evening and week end.

Operation Write Home Sketch Card

Good Sunday morning - trying to start my Sunday off with a little creativity - maybe I can jump start my creativity for later in the day - you know - after you get groceries and new wipers for your car - etc - maybe then while you are cleaning and doing laundry - you might find some time to create something.  We will see.

This card is based on the sketch on Operation Write Home's card blog - Stars and Stripes - a new sketch every Sunday morning to start your mo jo engine running.

The focal point is the beautiful Penny Black sticker.  The background papers are from We R Memory Keepers.  The matting around the bird and the little brown strip are Christmas papers.  The sentiment sticker is by SRM Stickers and I think the ribbon is May Arts.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Hero Arts and Echo Park Christmas Card

My card today is based on one of the sketches in the June Challenge on Hero Arts.  I had made a Christmas card earlier in the month and had all these strips of paper left so this card sketch seemed perfect for all those strips.  The paper is from the 6 x 6 pad - Season's Greetings - from Echo Park.  I love the vintage like colors in the pad.  I recently bought this sentiment off Amazon - it has three other sentiments with it for the holidays that are perfect for card fronts.  They will make great sentiments for cards for Operation Write Home.

Thanks for stopping by.

Another Monday Post - not Oldie Moldie

I need to post my card for the Our Daily Bread Designs challenge for Operation Write Home which is to use 5 elements on our card.
Here we go.

Designer Paper and lots of  layering (Authentique Paper_
Die Cut  (Spellbinders)
Twine  May Arts
Stamped Sentiments and Eagle (Paper Smooches)
Coloring with Copics

This post also works for the Play Date Cafe challenge of baby blue, denim and cherry.

Oldie Moldie Monday

Good morning - oldie moldie Monday - time to show some love to some old supplies.  I have used lots of this paper from this 6 x 6 Basic Grey pad so today the cards are using scraps in the pad.  I always keep my scraps inside the pad so when I pull it out to create - I have all that paper scraps to create with.

Two more cards for my Operation Write Home box.

Enjoy your Memorial Day - remember our military and their families.

NSD, Hero Arts, We R Memory Keepers

Good morning - National Scrapbooking Day today - and I must thank the scrapbooking industry because without you - cardmaking would be no fun.  You supply us with all that great paper - I must confess - I am a paperaholic.

Today my card is based on the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches - hopefully it is not overdone for their challenge - what can I say - I am a paperaholic - and I had this new pad from We R Memory Keepers and these new stamps from Hero Arts that I wanted to try out.  I clear embossed the flowers on top of the patterned paper.  I was going to ink the edges of the flowers so the embossing stood out a little but I am hurrying this morning - I have a baby staying with me and I know she will be waking shortly.

Here is the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. 

Everyone enjoy your day I hope to be creative later today - I want to make a mother's day card for the little one to send her mom - how does purple paint (her Mom's favorite color) sound and either a foot or hand print.  

Warm Winter Wishes - no - Warm Spring Wishes

Close up of snoflake embellishment



Good morning - my first personal Christmas card for 2012.  I made this card for the Merry Monday sketch challenge. 

I am taking an Online Class about using your diecuts and Silhouette Machine.  The classes have been fun - the first lesson -part of it - was making your own embellishments using diecuts.  I posted a closeup of the snowflake one I made.  This is from a Spellbinders die cutting set. 

The paper is from Collage Press.  The penguin is from Whipper Snapper Stamps - a Wisconsin stamp company.  The sentiment is from Fiskars - another Wisconsin company.  The ribbon is from May Art - I just added a touch of red to the pink/blue card.  I even used some Stickles on the snowflake - when you make cards for Operation Write Home - the glitter goes away.

Enjoy your day.  

Hump Day - Yeah

Good evening - boy it is hard to get back into the swing of making cards after being on vacation.  Trying to work the rust off the mo jo.  I had seen this sketch site (Freshly Made Sketches) in the last few weeks so today I saw their weekly sketch and decided I would try it out.  It is a very versatile sketch and then comes the hard part - what paper to use, what stamp to use - sometimes that is almost overwhelming.  I finally settled on paper from this 6 x 6 pad from Simple Stories - Happy Day.

The stamp is from my collection - I have used it in the past.  It is by Hero Arts.  I stamped the image in VersaMark and a distress ink and then clear embossed.  It did not all clear emboss.  After the card was assembled I added a little color to the image with Copics. 

I think this will be a great card for my next Operation Write Home box.  Everyone enjoy the remainder of your evening - I suppose I need to figure out what I will wear to work tomorrow and wind things down for the evening.

Authentique and Unity Stamps Unite

Good evening - long day of work - and it is suppose to snow tomorrow - YUCK - it could have waited for the week end and then you don't have to worry about going anywhere - but I need to go to work. 

This is a card I made over the week end for my brother whose birthday is coming up.  It is made with one the Itty Bitty stamps from Unity Stamps.  I love the mushroom.  I like how I added the polka dots to the cap by using the color removing pen from Copic.  I used a collection from Authentique Paper - there papers are so yummy.

The card is based on the sketch from I Heart to Stamp. 

Thanks for stopping by.

1st Oldie Moldie Monday 2012

I have this wonderful pad of Making Memories paper called English Garden - I don't think I have hardly used any of it so I got it out and started making cards - I believe with the blue rose paper I have made 5 cards - and then I had to try out my new Silhouette machine and I cut the butterfly with it.  It was one of the free shapes you get.  I embossed the butterflies and then layered them to add some dimension to the card.  I tied some bakers twine around the butterfly. 

The stamps used on the top two cards are Hero Arts stamps.  I have gotten so much use out of this set - they is one more stamp in the set - Just Saying Hello.  I used a SRM sticker to complete the butterfly card.

The midweek challenge on the Operation Write Home card blog Stars and Stamps was to make a thank you card in honor of Dixie - our east coast shipper - who has retired from shipping so hopefully she can make more beautiful cards. 

So in 2012 dig into your old supplies and show them some love.  It is amazing how beautiful those papers still are.

Thank You, Paint and Ink

I guess tonight was the night to get messy.  We lost power at work this afternoon so I came home early and I took a little nap - maybe I should do that every afternoon when I get home from work - hopefully it does not affect my falling asleep tonight.  It is amazing how much you can not do without power and I hate sitting around work and not being able to work - one of my busiest times - so I needed to get out of there. 

My card tonight is a thank you card but I wanted to try something different - I got out my acrylic paints and painted my cardstock - I then stamped on the painted cardstock with a chalk ink from Colorbox.  I kinda like how it turned out - especially the dots on the painted card front.  The midweek challenge on the Operation Write Home card blog Stars and Stamps is Thank You cards in honor of Dixie - one of our shippers who recently retired from her post - now she will have all this time to make cards.  

Simon Says challenge is "Anything Goes" and I will be entering my card in their challenge.

So get out and be messy and see what you can come up with - it is lots of fun.

Crate Paper and SRM Stickers Unite

The last Christmas card for the week - all paper stuff is being put away so we can eat dinner on those crafting tables.  So needless to say I am working away at cleaning - YUCK.

I participated in a cookie exchange tomorrow - I have two containers full - they make a great breakfast - I really need to put those cookies in the freezer - although that has never stopped me before from eating them - that is what microwaves are made for.

My card today is for my friend Mary - who started me down this road in cardmaking.  The image is a digi from I Brake for Digis but she is no longer offering digis - you may wish to check and see if she has the snowman in rubber.  He is such a happy little snowman.  I used papers from Crate Paper.  I added a SRM Sticker and May Art Ribbon to finish off the card.

No more cards until after Christmas - maybe I will post a recipe or two.

Hello



Just a quick post sharing a card I made for a friend - to just say HELLO - don't you love my $1 stamp from Michael's - it will be great for Operation Write Home cards - because how nice to say HELLO to someone special.

Not to rush the week - but I wish it was Saturday afternoon.

Cosmo Cricket and Cardabilities Unite

Second post of the day - you can see I am working on my holiday cards and I also wanted to do the sketch at Cardabilities.  I do believe the deadline is today or tomorrow so once again I am just getting my card submitted.

This is an older collection from Cosmo Cricket - 2008 actually - I love the vintage feel of the paper.  The stamp is new - I bought it the day before Thanksgiving.  It is by TPC studio.  One color stamping - my idea of fast and fun cards. 

The sketch from Cardabilities is a very simple sketch that you could do lots with.  I kept mine very simple.  Showing off the vintage snowflakes on the patterned paper.  I did two versions of hte card.  One I centered the sentiment and just added pearls in the corner.  On the other card I decided I wanted to add a bow of some sort.  You would have thought with the millions of yards of ribbon I own I would have had the perfect brown ribbon - but now - so back to my trusty brown twine from May Arts - I think I just bought an additional 40 yards of it.  The edges of the paper were all inked to add some depth to the paper and make it look "more vintage".

Well back to creating - two more cards done - I need to go finish the inside of thse cards - I hve a sentiment that has joy in it so I will use that on the inside ofthe card.

Happy creating.

Bo Bunny Sketch Challenge

Good morning - I was busy yesterday making my own holiday cards - I have a few done - come back all this week to see more - I have been working through sketches that are online this week and challenges also.  I even mass produced one - to me mass production is 4 cards.  I have been using some older supplies also. 

I have finally realized I have lost my mind - I was going through my 6 x 6 pads - and have found I have bought several of the same design - I think 3 or  actually - Hopefully I do like the paper in each of those pads to use lots of.  As I have said before - I love 6 x 6 pads. 

My card today is based on the Tuesday card sketch challenge on the Bo Bunny site.  I had a different stamp in mind but could not locate it - of course I wanted a deer - so remembered I had this one - unfortunately it is loose rubber so I do not know the company.  I have two pads of this Bo Bunny collection - did not realize that until yesterday - glad I love the colors in it.

Everyone have a good day.  I came down with a cold so I am trying to hopefully get through the worst of that today.  I did nap yesterday afternoon and may do the same today. 

It is official - Christmas is less than 30 days away.  YIKES.  Everyone enjoy your day.

Hero Arts, Crate Paper, SRM Stickers - Holiday Fun

The push to get my holiday cards has  started - I got two more done last night.  This card is based on the sketch at Lily Pads Blog.  The deadline is December 1 so I am just squeeking in here with my card.

I had bought this stamp set from Hero Arts and it comes with coordinating die cuts - I just die cut part of the snowman so he would fit on the circles I cut for the sketch.  (I know I should have colored his nose and scarf - but not going to do it now - I don't want to ruin the card).  I had this paper collection from Crate Paper - with coordinating die cuts and rub ons.  I used my distressing tool to rough up the edges of the paper also.  That always makes you feel "less stressed".  With the addition of one of those great SRM Stickers and a little May Arts Twine - my card is complete.  The card is 5 x 7 to accommodate the size of my images.

I know the family this will go to because they have three children - everyone enjoy your Saturday - so much to do - and I hope to make a dent in my holiday cards this week end plus make more LOVE cards for Operation Write Home.

Owl Always Love You

Time to make Valentine Cards - what - love cards already - well if you want to get the shipped over to our Heroes who are serving overseas - yes you must plan ahead.  Plus Archway Cookies has promised 5000 cookies for 5000 cards - I have said I would make 20 love/valentine cards toward this challenge - Of course - I need to be making my own holiday cards.

Operation Write Home's card blog - Stars and Stamps - midweek challenge is LOVE cards.  I dug in my pile of paper and found this Basic Grey 6 x 6 pad - great colors - this could actually be an oldie moldie Monday post - and maybe I will use this paper on Monday also - who knows - stay tuned.  The little stamp is a $1 stamp I got from Michael's.  I have definately gotten my $1  investment out of this stamp.  It is a great OWH stamp because you can always use LOVE cards.

Glad to be home after Thanksgiving travel - now to get some things done.  I bought some new paper and stamps - maybe my goals will be to use all of it this week end - no - not all of it - but at least use a stamp and some of each paper grouping.