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DICC Guest Designer - no foolin'!

Apr 012012

I was honored and delighted recently to be asked to create a crafty itinerary for the Desert Islands Crafts Challenge blog! If you’re not familiar with DICC, they present a new challenge on the 1st and the 15th of every month. They provide a list of 10 items, and you must use a minimum of three of those items on your creation, which can be a card, layout, or other crafty project. My itinerary is up now through April 14, 2012. I’d love to see what you can create from it! Here’s the list:

1. humorous or punny sentiment

2. no glitter

3. suitable for a child under the age of 10

4. 2 or more patterned papers

5. sponging

6. masculine

7. clean and simple

8. pearls

9. punched or die cut embellishments

10. brown

I used items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 for my card. I was trying for #7, too, but I think it’s stretching the limits of “clean and simple” a bit. I used the mirror image of the March 2012 Sketch For You To Try for the layout. Item #2 is in honor of Operation Write Home. If you have handmade cards that need a home, I encourage you to consider donating them to OWH. Cute Rhubarb the bear makes this card work for the current OWH Stars & Stamps blog Midweek Throwdown Challenge, too.

Thanks again to Taylor and the rest of the Desert Islands Design Team for letting me be a part of them for this challenge!

Supplies for this card:
Stamps: Thoughtful Rhubarb (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa (Stampin’ Up); Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink); papers from Oxford 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Close to Cocoa (SU)
Other: standard circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); markers (Copic); sponge

deadlines! ack!

9 Responses »

Mar 232012

For me, sometimes the hardest part of making cards for various challenges is making sure I get the work done before the challenge deadline! I guess I tend to get distracted too easily sometimes and then whoops, the deadline has passed.

Today’s first card is squeaking in on the last day. This is for the Sweet Stop Sketch #150. I stretched the sketch layout to make it a vertical rectangle, and then I flipped it so it’s really a mirror image. To keep the card from becoming heavy with lots of layers, I sponged the edges of the panels instead of matting them. I used dimensional adhesive to adhere the focal, sentiment and yellow background panels over the bulk of the ribbon. I paper pieced the heart from a scrap of green. The sketch challenge spin is to use green and I paired a lot of yellow with it so the card would also meet this week’s OWH Stars and Stamps Midweek Throwdown challenge.

I have a second card for today, too. Sadly, I missed the deadline for getting this one uploaded for the Sweet ‘n Sassy Digi Challenge #45. The layout is Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge #376 turned on its side. I don’t normally use colors this bright, but when I saw that the digi challenge said to use green, this digital image immediately came to mind and the orange had to come along with it. I was so glad I had designer paper that had both green and orange in the patterns!

So now I have two more love-themed cards for the box I plan to send to Operation Write Home next week. Yay!

Supplies for the Rhubarb the bear card:
Digital Images: Rhubarb’s Heart, You & Me (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Delicate Dots designer paper, Certainly Celery Patterns designer paper (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: printer ink
Other: So Saffron grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals (SU); markers (Copic); standard circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); small scallop border die (Papertrey Ink); sponge

Supplies for the Peas & Carrots card:
Digital Images: You & Me (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah); designer papers from Green at Heart 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: printer ink
Other: markers (Copic); standard circle and petite oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

fraternal twins

2 Responses »

Mar 182012

That’s the best way I can describe the cards I have today. I used the same OWH Stars and Stamps sketch for them, as well as the same color scheme so that these would work for last week’s Splitcoastampers Clean and Simple challenge. However, the details such as the sentiments, embossing folders, and designer papers are different.

The first one uses all Stampin’ Up products except for the Nestabilities dies used to cut the ovals.

The second one is also mostly SU, but I used a Provo Craft embossing folder along with the Nesties. This one fits the OWH Midweek Throwdown Challenge to make a “miss you” themed card.

And now I have two more cards for the box I’ll be sending to OWH next week. Sadly, I didn’t get enough cards made to fill a box (and therefore make the most of postage being spent) in time for the Mother’s Day Half and Half Challenge. But I’ll still get my Mother’s Day cards to my shipper before the received-by deadline of March 31.

Supplies for today’s cards are from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise noted:

Stamps: Sincere Salutations, Three Little Words
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Whisper White, Soft Sky Prints designer papers
Ink: Soft Sky
Other: Elegant Bouquet embossing folder; petite oval and petite scalloped oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); Victoria embossing folder (Provo Craft); sponge

back to blogging

5 Responses »

Mar 142012

Hi there. I’m trying to get back into the swing of things again. I’m still not quite feeling the new blog theme. I guess I just haven’t gotten used to it yet. (edited 3/15/12 to add: I played with it this morning, changed some of my settings, and was able to get my old header to work again – so now I’m liking it better!)

Anyway, here’s a last minute card I made for the Lawnscaping challenge that ends tonight. It’s a sketch challenge this time, and I chose to stick with the sketch pretty closely instead of tweaking it. I used a lot of my newest Lawn Fawn products – the butterfly image, the “i love you”, the alphabet to spell “Mom”, and the designer papers! It’s a little hard to tell in the photo, but I popped up the butterfly’s wings with dimensional adhesive. Consider yourself warned – fussy cutting around the butterfly’s antennae is not for the faint of heart. LOL

This card also fits into last week’s OWH Stars & Stamps Midweek Throwdown theme of Mother’s Day cards. Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek!

Supplies:
Stamps: Flutter By, Love ‘n Breakfast, Jessie’s ABCs (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); Perfect Plum (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Bright Side petite paper pack (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: dimensionals (Stampin’ Up); markers (Copic)

{heart}

1 Response »

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

snow day = stamping time

8 Responses »

Feb 202012

We finally got some snow this winter! It started coming down Sunday afternoon and lasted well past dark. My son measured it before he went to bed and said there was between 6″ and 7″. We need it badly because it’s been so dry.

So, since we weren’t going out and about this afternoon and evening, I stayed in my craft room and made a few cards for some of the various online challenges in which I enjoy participating. First is a card I made combining this week’s Splitcoaststampers.com sketch challenge and color challenge. Even though the color challenge was just for the blues and kraft, I added a little bit of green leaves to the image so the flower wouldn’t look naked. Doing that made the card work for the current OWH Stars and Stamps blog Midweek Throwdown challenge.

All supplies for this card are from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Wild Rose, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Kraft, Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla
Ink: Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi, Night of Navy
Other: standard circle and petite scalloped circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

My second card is a true “Stampin’ Up Only” card. I used this week’s Stars and Stamps blog sketch challenge for the layout. Because I was able to find out this week’s Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenge early, I added the faux stitching so the card works for that challenge too. I even drew a faux stitch on the button.

Supplies:
Stamps: Artfully Asian, Messages for Mom
Cardstock: Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss
Ink: Rose Red, Mellow Moss
Other: Rose Red and Mellow Moss markers, blender pen, button, piercing tool kit

oops

5 Responses »

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)

Easter lambs

1 Response »

Feb 102012

Because I’ve been making Easter cards this week for Operation Write Home, I was trying to think of the different stamps and digital images I have that could be used for Easter. I recalled a digital image of a sheep that I had bought a few months ago and wondered if I could use it as an Easter lamb. The image came with the sentiment “ewe mean the world to me”, which is cute, but I didn’t want that for Easter. So I cropped it out with my photo editing program. Then I had a cute little lamb image to use for a couple of Easter cards.

For the first card, I used this week’s Splitcoaststampers.com sketch challenge layout. I generated the Happy Easter sentiment with Microsoft Word. I added a little shading to the lamb with Copics and drew in some grass so he wouldn’t be “floating”.

I used this week’s OWH Stars and Stamps sketch for a second lamb card. This time I added a few tiny yellow flowers to the meadow grass, and I rounded the top corners of the panels to sort of coordinate with the roundness of the lamb. I don’t often use religious sentiments, but I thought since this card is going to OWH, one of our heroes might like it. This sentiment was also created with Microsoft Word.

So there are two more Easter cards fulfilling this week’s OWH Midweek Throwdown for my Operation Write Home box. I just have a few more cards to make to have a shipment of 50 cards… so I’d better get back to creating so I can mail them off Saturday morning!

Supplies for the “Happy Easter” card:
Digital Image: Ewe Mean the World (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Tea Party designer papers (Stampin’ Up); Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: printer ink
Other: Pink Pirouette ribbon, corner rounder (SU); markers (Copic)

Supplies for the “Behold the Lamb” card:
Digital Image: Ewe Mean the World (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Tea Party designer paper (Stampin’ Up); Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: printer ink
Other: corner rounder (SU); markers (Copic); Apple, Cotton Candy, and Lemon twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon)

here comes... Cocoa Cottontail?

10 Responses »

Feb 082012

Well, no, not quite. I’ve been using the new Egg-cited Cocoa stamp set from Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps to create some Easter cards for Operation Write Home. The OWH shippers need to receive Easter cards by February 15, which is why I’ve been working on them now even though Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.

The first card here uses the current Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge sketch. I turned the sketch on its side and took the liberty of swapping the locations of the sentiment and the embellishment. I had to do a little fussy cutting to accommodate Cocoa’s tail. I had a hard time getting the true colors of the card to come through on the photo, and the colors really do coordinate in real life. The egg is colored primarily with different plum shades.

Today’s second card is a derivative of this week’s OWH Stars and Stamps blog sketch. I left off the ribbon embellishment because it didn’t really fit.

The Cocoa image is available both as part of a clear stamp set and as a digital image. I chose to use the digital version so I could resize it to fit the spaces available on the sketches. The ability to resize is one thing I really like about digital stamps!

Supplies for the plum card:
Digital Image: Egg-cited Cocoa (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Sentiment: Egg-Cited Cocoa (SNSS)
Cardstock: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum (Stampin’ Up); Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Kioshi 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); printer ink
Other: flowers (Prima); dew drop (Robin’s Nest); petite oval and petite scalloped oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); markers (Copic)

Supplies for the pink card:
Digital Image: Egg-cited Cocoa (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Sentiment: Egg-Cited Cocoa (SNSS)
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst, Tea Party designer paper (Stampin’ Up); Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); printer ink
Other: markers (Copic)

more love

1 Response »

Feb 072012

Today’s card was made primarily for the release party Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps held over the weekend to celebrate their new products for February. The challenge for this particular card was to make something that fit the theme “love”. However, it also fits into the Feb. 1 Midweek Throwdown at the OWH Stars and Stamps blog, as well as this week’s Clean and Simple challenge at Splitcoaststampers.com. I cut a bunch of hearts from scraps of Basic Grey designer paper, fit them together into a curved line, and added the sentiment for a pretty easy CAS layered card.

Supplies:
Stamps: You (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Cool Caribbean, Blushing Bride, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up); scraps from Blush 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Blushing Bride, Cool Caribbean (SU)
Other: Heart dies (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)

dragonfly smiles

6 Responses »

Jan 282012

Thanks to my husband’s parents, I used some Christmas money to treat myself to some new stamps. You saw images from one new set on Wednesday’s post. Today’s card uses another one.

For this card, I combined the January Sketch for You to Try layout with the current Desert Islands Craft Challenge to create another kid-friendly card for Operation Write Home. The DICC itinerary items I chose were a monochromatic card, embossing, no designer paper (a shocker for me, LOL!), and a sentiment on the front of the card. I stamped the “smile!” sentiment repeatedly on the white panel in the background, and then elaborated on that thought for the sentiment near the bottom of the card. There is a little bit of Shimmerz paint on the dragonfly’s wings; I wanted to add some glitz to the card but still keep it gender-neutral. I think that fits in with this week’s Stars and Stamps blog Midweek Throwdown challenge to use glitter-free bling.

Supplies:
Stamps: Somebuggy Loves You (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Gable Green, Green Galore, Glorious Green (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Glorious Green (SU); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Victoria embossing folder (ProvoCraft); standard circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); markers (Copic); Angel Wings paint (Shimmerz)

popping up

6 Responses »

Jan 072012

It took me a little while, but I think I’m finally feeling creative again after a holiday hiatus. A good sketch challenge always serves as a good springboard, and this week’s Stars and Stamps blog sketch was a nice and easy one. The Stars and Stamps Midweek Throwdown challenged us to stop fondling the crafty Christmas gifts we received and go ahead and use them. So I combined the two challenges for today’s card. The stamps I chose were a gift from my son. I decided to use the mirror image of the sketch so the toast and toaster wouldn’t be “looking off the edge” of the card. The toast and the toaster were fussy cut from scraps and attached with dimensional adhesive.

Supplies:
Stamps: Love ‘n Breakfast (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Naturals Ivory, Brushed Silver (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); ribbon (Offray)

simple thanks

11 Responses »

Dec 282011

I’m trying to find my creativity again now that Christmas is over. I think it decided to take a break for the holidays!

I did want to play along in a few challenges, so I threw together this simple card. The Lawnscaping challenge that ends today invites the participants to use texture on their creations, so I used an embossing folder to add some texture to the background panel of the card. This week’s Midweek Throwdown at the OWH Stars and Stamps blog is to make thank you cards for the troops overseas to send home to their family and friends. I used several of the elements for the current Desert Islands Crafts Challenge, too: brads (well, one brad, anyway), brown and pink color scheme, stripes, rounded corners, and a flower.

I blended some of my older and newer craft products on this card. The designer papers date back to 2007, and one of my sons just gave me the alphabet stamps as a Christmas gift.

I realize this isn’t one of my better cards, but I do suppose it’s better than no card at all. LOL Here’s hoping my mojo wasn’t thrown out with all the Christmas wrapping paper and I get back into the spirit again soon!

Supplies:
Stamps: Quinn’s ABCs (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Spring Flowers designer papers (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: corner rounder punch, Spring Bouquet Flower punch (SU); brad (Making Memories); Paisley embossing folder (ProvoCraft)

last call for valentines

8 Responses »

Dec 142011

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)

OWH CAS Blog Skip!

67 Responses »

Aug 202011

Hi everyone! Welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps Blog Clean and Simple Blog Skip! I was delighted to be asked to be a part of this pint-sized blog hop showcasing cards done in a clean and simple style.

I think one of the most difficult things about CAS is that there isn’t always a clear-cut definition of it. I tend to think of it as being “uncluttered” – lots of open space, generally just one main focal point and a sentiment, with understated embellishments. It’s definitely more about the finished design than about how much time it took to make the card.

So anyway… I have a few CAS cards to share with you today. First off is a card I created using the Stars and Stamps Blog sketch #81. I think it lends itself wonderfully to CAS cards. I slightly changed the shapes for the background and sentiment panel. The leaves are just three petals from the flower punch.

The next card uses emboss resist for the main focal point. I hadn’t done that technique for a while but I thought it was the best way to show off these delicate leaves. It was fun to pull out my embossing tool and powders and glossy paper again. I chose a fall color scheme. I’m sorry that resizing the photo for my blog squooshes the pixels so that you probably can’t see the texture in the golden yellow cardstock. I really like how textured cardstock adds visual interest to a card, yet it’s very subtle. It’s perfect for adding a bit of pizazz to CAS cards.

You’re welcome to browse through my blog for more CAS ideas! Most of my August 2011 posts show CAS creations.

If you’re following the blog skip, you should have arrived here from Dawn’s blog, The Chatty Stamper. The next blogger you should visit is Kate at Hello From Kate!. But here’s the whole lineup:

OWH ~ Stars and Stamps Blog
Barb ~ Paper Therapy Ponderings
Maureen ~ Hideaway
Brenda ~ Infinite Possibilities
Jan ~ She’s Gone Digital
Dawn ~ The Chatty Stamper
Patricia ~ Thinking of Inking ~ YOU ARE HERE
Kate ~ Hello From Kate
Lisa ~ Stamping With A Mission
Julie ~ Handmade By Julie
Courtney ~ Back To The Drawing Board

Thanks for skipping along with OWH and me today! I hope you’ll visit again!

All supplies for today’s cards are from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise noted:

Thinking of You:
Stamps: Trendy Trees
Cardstock: Kraft, Tea Party designer paper, Western Sky designer paper
Ink: Ruby Red
Other: 5-petal punch, Spring Flower Bouquet punch (SU); Labels Five Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); mini brad (Making Memories); sponge

Thanks:
Stamps: Autumn
Cardstock: Summer Sun textured, Real Red, Glossy White
Ink: Summer Sun, Ruby Red; VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Other: Clear detail embossing powder; sponge

Older Entries Newer Entries

DICC Guest Designer - no foolin'!

deadlines! ack!

fraternal twins

back to blogging

{heart}

snow day = stamping time

oops

Easter lambs

here comes... Cocoa Cottontail?

more love

dragonfly smiles

popping up

simple thanks

last call for valentines

OWH CAS Blog Skip!

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Design Team Experience

Really great links

Really great shopping

Some fun stuff

Thank you for visiting!

Follow me via email

Contact me

The Important Stuff

Translate this Page

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Archives

Meta

I heart