This week I’ve been working on finishing up a box of cards to send to Operation Write Home for their Muscle Card Challenge.  Here are a few of the cards I’ve created for dads.  I know I’m pushing the deadline for getting Father’s Day cards to my shipper, so instead of using “Happy Father’s Day” sentiments, I went with some less time-sensitive phrases.

OWH’s Scrap Wrangler is challenging us this week to use up those scrap pieces of cardstock and designer paper that crafters tend to have lying around.  So first off is what I created for that challenge.  The Scrap Wrangler was kind enough to include some sketches that incorporated small strips of papers, so I used one of the sketches to create this card. One nice thing about the Stampin’ Up designer paper packages is that the papers in each are all made to coordinate with each other.  I added a few brads to go along with the rustic feel.

 

For the next card, I decided to recreate a card I’d made several years ago.  I changed the sentiment and I changed the colors a little bit.  Instead of tearing the edges of the cardstock mat, I used a border die. The leaf stamps are from a long-retired Stampin’ Up set called Autumn, and the sentiment is from Gina K. Designs.

 

Finally, I made a couple one-layer cards that are very similar.  For a bit of variation I swapped the tree and the sentiment from left to right on them.  I’ll only show you one card because I’m not a fan of redundancy.  I used large post-it notes to mask off the area I wanted to sponge.  I thought the image of the tall tree worked well with this Lizzie Anne Designs sentiment.

 

If you have any questions about any of the supplies or techniques used on these cards, please feel welcome to ask!  Since this post is photo-heavy I didn’t want to bog it down with a lot of text.  Thanks for stopping by today!  🙂

 

I incorporated a lot of challenges into today’s card!   First of all, this week’s Sweet Stop Sketch challenge was to follow a previous Sweet Stop sketch for your project’s layout.  It took me a while to decide because there are so many awesome choices there, but I finally picked sketch #118 and stretched it out for an A2 portrait-oriented card.  The current Sweet ‘n Sassy Digi Challenge is to create a project with a vintage or antique look; I think I accomplished that with the sponging I added to the different panels on the card.  The OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge is to use the colors brown and turquoise; those are the dominant colors here even though I’ve added some splashes of yellow.  I’ve also fit in this week’s Splitcoaststampers Free For All challenge to mix and match two or more designer papers (I’ve used three – the turquoise background, the turquoise and brown stripe, and the yellow scalloped border is also a designer paper scrap).

Enough talk… here’s the card:

Supplies:
Digital Image: Butterfly & Flower (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Sentiment Stamp: Everyday Sayings (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Blush and Two Scoops 6″ x 6″ paper pads (Basic Grey)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, Soft Sky (SU); printer ink
Other: Chocolate Chip twill ribbon (SU); Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Houston Arts); small scalloped border die (Papertrey Ink); sponge

Feb 272012

Right now in Operation Write Home Land, it’s time to get ready for Mother’s Day.  They are even sponsoring a challenge – send a package of your handmade cards, half with Mother’s Day/Mom themes, half with general themes such as “thinking of you” and “miss you”, to OWH so that they receive it by March 20, 2012, and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a sweet-sounding prize package of a medium flat-rate Priority Mail box filled with cardmaking goodies!  You can click on the notice in my right sidebar for more details.

Today I’m sharing a “Mom” card that I’ll be sending to OWH in March.  I combined two Splitcoaststampers.com challenges for it.  The layout is the current sketch challenge, and the color scheme is the current color challenge.  I used some retired Stampin’ Up designer paper for my pinks and added sponging to the petals of the punched flower.

 

Supplies:
Stamps: It’s Good to be Queen (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); Basic Gray, Berry Bliss designer papers (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink (SU)
Other: 5-Petal Flower punch, Spring Flower Bouquet punch (SU); Layered Arches punch (Martha Stewart Crafts); plain oval and petite scalloped oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); half pearl (KaiserCraft); sponge

Feb 172012

I goofed.  I got my dates mixed up.  I meant to get this card made for the SNS Digi Challenge presented last week, to create a card with a hat image.  Unfortunately, I’m a day late on that challenge.

On the bright side, though, I’m getting this post done just in the nick of time before the Sweet Stop Sketch challenge #145 ends.  This card ties in with four of the current Desert Islands Craft Challenge itinerary items – two or more patterned papers, kraft, the color green, and polka dots.  It also fits this week’s OWH Stars and Stamps Midweek Throwdown challenge to create a card using the colors blue, green and either kraft or tan, and the February OWH ODBD challenge to use ribbon.

Plus, now I have another card to donate to Operation Write Home – and that’s always a good thing! 🙂

Supplies:
Digital Image: Party Hat Cocoa (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Sentiment Stamp: Everyday Sayings (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Kraft, Buckaroo Blue, Certainly Celery Prints designer series paper (Stampin’ Up); Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: printer ink; Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Crumb Cake seam binding (SU); markers (Copic)

Good evening!  Today I’ve been working on a few cards using OWH Stars and Stamps sketches.

First I’ll show the card I made for last week’s sketch.  I liked the clean lines of this sketch and I think I may use it again in the future.  I did take the liberty of slightly widening the three designer paper strips, staggering their lengths, and using a corner rounder on them.  I also decided to use a shape different from the circle in the sketch.  I colored the windows to make it look like the lights were on.

The second card I have uses the sketch challenge that was presented today.  Once again, I chose to do something different than the circle presented in the sketch, and I also centered the main image panel on the downward strip.  The sentiment compelled me to use some bright colors.  This card is dedicated to girls who don’t like pink frilly stuff, LOL.  Even though it didn’t quite turn out the way I’d hoped, I’m satisfied with it.

 

So, there are two more cards for the shipment I’m planning to send in February!

Supplies for the home card:
Stamps: Right At Home (Hero Arts)
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Sahara Sand, Delicate Dots designer papers (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); corner rounder (EK Success)

Supplies for the girl card:
Stamps: Life is Good (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Pacific Point (SU); Paper Basics White (Papertrey Ink); designer paper from Hello Luscious 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Basic Gray (SU)
Other: watercolor pencils, blender pens (SU)

You might be looking at that title and thinking “WHAT?!? It isn’t even Christmas yet!”  But if you’re interested in creating valentines for Operation Write Home, your shipper will need to receive them by December 31, 2011.  That will allow time for the shippers to send them to our military men and women stationed overseas so that they can use them to write back to their family and friends at home.  Of course, cards simply saying “I love you” or “sending you love” or similar messages are welcome any time of the year!

Here’s one of the valentines I’ve made for OWH.  It was really quick and simple to create.  I printed off the heart, cut it out, added the flowers, stamped the sentiment on the card base, and attached the heart.  Easy peasy!

Feel welcome to share your valentines at the OWH Stars and Stamps blog!

Supplies:
Digital Image: Heart 3 (InStyle Stamps)
Sentiment: So Much Love (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Poppy Parade (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); printer ink
Other: flowers (Prima Marketing); brads (Making Memories)

marshmallow world

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Nov 212011

Hello again!  This week’s Clean and Simple challenge at Splitcoaststampers is to create a Christmas or winter themed card.  Since the deadline for sending Christmas cards to Operation Write Home is long past, I decided to make a winter card that can be included in my next shipment.

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do.  I eventually decided on a cute card that one of our heroes overseas can send to his or her child.  I’ve always thought this marshmallow image was darling, and it was nice to finally figure out a card to use it on.  I sponged the edges of the blue-grey panel with white ink, which reminded me of the powdered sugar dusting you sometimes get from a bag of fresh marshmallows.  I fussy cut the marshmallow and attached it over the twine with dimensional adhesive.

Supplies:
Stamps: Warmest Wishes (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); Real Red, Bordering Blue (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Whisper White craft (SU)
Other: markers (Copic); twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon); dimensionals (SU); sponge

birthday challenge goodness

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Nov 082011

Several of the cards I made for the Hope You Can Cling To challenges ended up being birthday cards.  I’ve already shared my floral birthday card.  Today I have one that uses the same sketch, and one that’s completely different.

I have to say that I really, really liked last week’s OWH Stars & Stamps blog sketch.  I kept it pretty clean and simple for the Hope You Can Cling To challenge to create a card using pink and an image of some yummy treat.  I think that birthday cake is always a good treat!

The challenge for the next card had me stumped for a few days before I finally figured out what I wanted to do for it.  The challenge was to make a window card.  Mine is sort of a modified version of that.  I used circle dies to cut through the main panel and its mat to create a window to the front of the card base.  I wanted to keep the color scheme pretty neutral so the card could be given to either a man or a woman.  I smeared my ink pad across the embossed surfaces to highlight them.

Supplies for the birthday cake card:
Digital Image: Birthday Cake Cocoa (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Sentiment Stamp: On Your Birthday (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Barely Banana textured, Going Gray, Pink Pirouette, Tea Party designer paper (Stampin’ Up); Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: printer ink; Basic Gray
Other: markers (Copic)

Supplies for the birthday gift card:
Stamps: Party Animals (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Basics White (Papertrey Ink); Groovy Guava, Fall Flowers designer paper (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Really Rust (SU)
Other: Happy Birthday embossing folder (ProvoCraft); standard circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); markers (Copic)

Because the Hope You Can Cling To challenges at Splitcoaststampers are benefiting breast cancer patients at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, many of the challenge themes are related to things associated with breasts and cancer.  One challenge presented earlier this week was titled “Save the Boo-Bees” .  Using a pun on that nickname for breasts, we were challenged to make a card with bees on it.  I took it as the perfect opportunity to finally use this cute tree image I’ve had for a while.  After I stamped the tree, I masked it and sponged the sky and grass around it, and then colored the image with Copics.  I used the mirror image of the October Sketch For You to Try layout for my card and kept it simple and straightforward with no poofy, lumpy embellishments.

Here’s the original sketch:

Supplies:
Stamps: Lucky You (Lizzie Anne Designs); Sanded (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, So Saffron (SU); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery (SU); Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: markers (Copic); twill ribbon (SU); sponges

Cupcakes!  Just about everybody likes them.  I definitely do.  😳  Cupcakes are this week’s Clean and Simple Challenge theme at Splitcoaststampers.

I’ve been trying to complete some of the Hope You Can Cling To challenges, too.  My friend Lee is hosting an inspiration challenge with a photo of some, shall we say, very embellished cupcakes.  Remember how last week I said that photo inspiration challenges tend to stump me?  I’d been having a really hard time figuring out what to do for Lee’s challenge when I finally decided to use the colors from the photo for my cupcake-themed CAS card.  And then it all came together pretty easily – except for one glitch.  I pulled out my Shimmerz paints to color the icing on the cupcakes, and when I opened the jar, I found a shimmery substance about the consistency of toothpaste.  UH OH.  But thanks to my friend Sheila and a quick search at SCS, I learned I could add a little water to the paint to thin it.  That worked!

If you haven’t yet joined in on the CAS or the HYCCT challenges, I hope you’ll jump in and share your creations!

Supplies for today’s card:
Stamps: Bitty Basics (Stampin’ Up); Everyday Sayings (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Poppy Parade, Cameo Coral, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Opal paint (Shimmerz); ribbon (Michael’s); markers (Copic)

Paper Therapy challenge - song inspiration

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Oct 112011

Hi there!  The Paper Therapy Design Team challenges have been changed up again.  We’re going to be running them for an entire month now, with a new challenge presented on the 10th of each month.  That gives everyone a lot of time to think about the challenge and create a project for it – or maybe even two or three projects?  🙂

This month the challenge is to use song lyrics on your project. We’re hoping everyone will think more out of the box than “happy birthday”, but we won’t stop you from using that!  These stamps from Lizzie Anne Designs were perfect for this challenge.  I decided to highlight the last line of the sentiment by placing it on the green grassy area of the card.  I chose to make a circular card so it would fit one of Splitcoaststampers.com’s Hope You Can Cling To challenges.  This card also fits four of the required elements for the current Desert Islands Craft Challenge itinerary: no white, dry embossing, circles, and a sentiment with the word “happy” in it.

So there it is – a cute and cheery little card to brighten someone’s day.  I hope you’ll join us at Paper Therapy and show us what song lyrics inspire you!

Supplies:
Stamps: Singing in the Rain (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug by ProvoCraft); standard and petite scalloped circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), Cutterbee scissors (EK Success)

This week’s Splitcoaststampers CAS challenge is to use the photo at the following link as inspiration: cinnamon buns with apple and coffee

I have to confess that I have a very, very difficult time with photo inspiration challenges.  As a result, I usually don’t like the cards I make for them.  Today’s is no exception.

I used the color scheme in the photo for my card and decided to go with the apple idea. I distressed the edges of the apple panel to try to resemble the randomness of the drippy icing on the cinnamon buns. It’s hard to tell in my photo, but I used the Sanded background stamp on the card base to try to pick up some of the visual texture that’s on the table in the inspiration piece. The top of the mat is rolled in a not-so-great attempt to replicate the cinnamon stick idea.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sanded (Stampin’ Up); Simply Sweet (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Creamy Caramel (SU); Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Early Espresso (SU)
Other: markers (Copic)

a CAS sketch

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Oct 032011

Hi everyone!  Monday means it’s time for a new Clean and Simple challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  This week we have a sketch/layout to follow.  I liked the clean look of it and made two cards.

First I’ll share the birthday card I made.  It’s pretty simple and straightforward.  I did a really quick coloring job on the cake using the Magic Colored Pencil technique.  The cake is adhered with dimensional adhesive.

The next card combines the CAS challenge with one of this year’s Splitcoaststampers Hope to Cling To challenges, to add bling to your card.  I don’t use bling often but I did pull out some self-adhesive rhinestones for this one.  I also worked this card into two of the World Cardmaking Day challenges at Paper Therapy – to not use designer paper, and to make a holiday card using colors that aren’t normally associated with that holiday.

I hope you’ll join in the fun of these challenges – whether you decide to do the Splitcoaststampers or Paper Therapy challenges!

Supplies for the birthday card:
Stamps: Vintage Birthday (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Confetti White, So Saffron (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: Corner rounder punch, dimensionals, button (SU); twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon); Labels Four Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); Premier colored pencils (Prismascolor); odorless mineral spirits (Houston Arts)

Supplies for the Christmas card:
Stamps: Build-a-Bauble (Lizzie Anne Designs); Seasonal Sayings (Gina K Designs)
Cardstock: Luxury White (GKD); Rich Razzleberry (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Pretty in Pink (SU); silver (Colorbox)
Other: rhinestone jewels (SU); Labels Four Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); corner rounder punch (EK Success)

Hello!  I’m excited to be participating in the Operation Write Home World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop!  I’ve enjoyed creating handmade cards over the last nine years.  Donating them to Operation Write Home gives purpose to my creativity because it allows me to help provide our military men and women stationed overseas with a means to write home to their loved ones.  It’s an easy way for me to show support for our heroes who sacrifice their time away from their homes.

OWH will be accepting cards for the winter holidays now through October 31, 2011, so this is a Christmas-themed blog hop.  I used the September Sketch For You To Try layout for my card but shifted the sentiment panel to the right so it wouldn’t hide as much of the cute snowman paper.  The house image with Santa’s boots sticking out from the chimney always makes me smile.

I hope you enjoy the hop and come back to visit my blog again!  Click on the OWH badge at the top of this post to find out where you should hop next.

Supplies for today’s card:
Stamps: Holiday Lane (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Winter Wonderland paper pack (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU); Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: markers (Copic); white gel pen (Uniball); sponge

welcome, little girl

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Sep 302011

Today was a happy card making day because I needed to make a card for a happy occasion.  One of my friends recently gave birth to a little girl.  I know how excited her family is to have this new addition to their family, and how much that baby girl is truly loved by her parents and siblings.

I decided to use papers from Basic Grey’s Two Scoops 6″ x 6″ paper pad and the layout for the September Sketch For You To Try.  I paper pieced the birds, the star and the moon from Two Scoops scraps.  I think it turned out pretty cute, if I say so myself.  😉

I stayed pretty true to the sketch for this one – no major manipulations, mirror imaging, etc.  I did round the corners of the card itself. Here’s what the sketch looks like:

Thanks for visiting today!  Be sure to come back tomorrow for the Operation Write Home Holiday Blog Hop!

Supplies:
Stamps: Dream Big (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up); various papers from Two Scoops 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: corner rounder, Cutterbee scissors (EK Success)

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