Tuesday, 31 July 2012

You Matter Challenge Card

I'm supposed to be vacuuming. And ironing. Or doing any of the other things on my large to-do list.

I took Jasper to Doggie Daycare this morning, so I could get these badly needed chores done without a 'helpful' Sheltie.

I came home and went down to my studio.  :-) 

I haven't had time to play in far too long, so today I wanted to participate in the Dynamic Duos challenge.  The card I made is for Sue's August first, so SUE - DO NOT LOOK ANY FURTHER AT THIS POST. 


Sorry for the greenish tinge on the photos. I saw a card in the recent Stamp-It magazine, which totally inspired me to work with the Dynamic Duo colours.  I equate the Stampin' Up's Crumb Cake with Kraft card stock, and  you know how I love to use Kraft card stock!


I used the Stampin' Up's Pennant punch, along with Kraft, chocolate brown and cream (the neutral) card stocks. The brown and tan patterned paper is by Prima.


The flowers were cut from the same colours, then stitched together with cream satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink) and a brown button (also PTI).  The dotted line stamp is by Impress.


I added a brown ribbon to the tag, as well as the circle reinforcement from the Tim Holtz Tag die. This Kraft tag was hand cut though, and is not a die cut. The card is 5 x 7" and has a lovely deckle edged envelope to go with it.


Finally, a peek at the inside. I did add copper metallic bits to the (Tim Holtz) bookplate which doesn't qualify for the DD challenge ... but I figure it doesn't matter if there are additional colours inside the card.  The stamp is from the bargain bins at Michaels and I really like using it. This time, I inked the words separately and stamped them on different pieces to add interest.

Now, I guess I have put it off long enough. I should go vacuum. OR ... I could walk Cooper and Brandi in the sunshine. Hahaha - guess it's just not the vacuum's lucky day.

Thanks for stopping by.




Monday, 30 July 2012

Leafy Masculine Card

For Masculine Card Monday here on my blog, I have a card to share today that I made for my Dad's upcoming birthday.


Since I will be handing him the card with his gift, I was able to make it a full 6" square. The patterned paper (K&Co) with the blue leaves inspired the card. I used a Tim Holtz' tattered leaves die to cut the leaves, then embossed them with a Stampin' Up embossing folder.


A woodgrain embossing folder was the perfect touch on the kraft card stock strip. I guess I didn't take a photo of the inside, but there is a strip of the blue leaf patterned paper attached over the matted white panel, and another die cut, embossed leaf there as well.

The words on the front of the card are by Fiskars. With all the layers, this is one hefty card - I'm glad I don't have to pop it in the mail!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Saturday, 28 July 2012

Songbird Spinner Card Number 3

If you know me, you know I like to 'keep my head in the sand' and I don't worry about too much. My niece is the same, but she has a way more fun description: She lives in a snow globe.  So now, like her, I live in a happy little snow globe. Last night we took our guests out to our cabin and that is where I heard two sentences I never thought (or wanted!) to hear. Words that SHOOK MY SNOWGLOBE!!

As my husband took the dogs out back to pee (on leashes) - the next door neighbor was out on his deck calling for them to "Get back in the house, there is a grizzly bear in your back yard".

Yes, that was the first sentence.

The bear was moving fast though and there was no time for even a glimpse of him -- and as I called to report the sighting there were car horns blaring from the highway. He must have made it safely across  - whew!  (Haha - I like to think he went ACROSS rather than turned around to come back through!!)

WOW! As we turned to go back in we thanked our neighbor for the warning. He said - and here is the 2nd sentence ... "Yeah, there was a cougar in the back yard last week".

Sigh. It's going to take a long time for my snow globe to get back to normal.

Onto something far less dramatic - I have another Songbird Spinner Card to share today:


This is a 5 x 6.5" card made using the wavy spinner track by Papertrey Ink. It's just plain fun to watch the bird twirl back and forth.  :-)


The bird itself was hand trimmed from one of the papers in the Songbird paper stack, and the rest of the papers are from there as well.  To see the first two Songbird Spinner Cards, click HERE and HERE.


The birthday words are also by Papertrey Ink. Maybe it's a good thing that their shipping to Canada is SO expensive as I'm becoming more and more of a fan of their products.

Now - I'm going to sit on the deck and fight off nothing bigger than a mosquito while I wait for my snow globe to stop swirling around.  ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, 26 July 2012

Birthday Pop Up Card

I have a simple pop-up card to share today, as I have out-of-town guests and a busy week/weekend ahead. I don't know if I'll have a chance to play along with any sketch challenges this week (pouting).


The large stickers were on the envelope of one of my birthday cards, and they were just too cute (and big!) not to re-use. The loopy border is a Sizzix die cut and the patterned A2 card is by DCWV.



 I used a 2nd patterned card for the inside, which makes it nice and sturdy. I just trimmed a little off the bottom and one side while it was closed, opened it up and created the pop up base at the fold.  A Hero Arts word stamp was used on a white panel, which gives me room to write a message as well. This card is bright, cheery, and totally mail friendly! 

Thanks for stopping by today.


Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Dynamic Duos Challenge 12


I decided to go ahead with the 'Dessert Option' at the Dynamic Duos blog, only instead of punches I used the small Tim Holtz heart dies.  The sketch is 143 from the Clean and Simple Stamping blog.



It was a terrible idea to photograph a black card on a black background, but I didn't have the time or energy to reshoot. At least you can see (sorta) the definition where the card is different than the background!

The top, creamy white portion is a lovely pearlized card stock (Star Dream), and the black & off-white piece is glittered. I tied it with a Happily Ever After printed ribbon, with the words also sparkly embossed.


I embossed the creamy white panel with an embossing folder before attaching it, and for a little bit of interest the hearts were cut out of different red card stock scraps. So each one has a different texture as well.

This card is 5 x 6.5" with the inside left blank. It will work for an anniversary, shower or even a wedding card!

The fun thing about this card, is that the envelope is also black. :-)

Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Merry Monday Sketch #23

Today's share is another Christmas card, this one done using the sketch #23 at Always Playing With Paper.  

This is from their blog, as they are doing things a bit differently this month:


I chose sketch #23:



I used a fun paper stack by My Minds Eye to make this (and 4 other cards). The papers, words, borders, and tag are from the package. The mittens (SO cute) are by Stampin' Up and the sparkly brad is from K&Co. 


I love that there are little sparkly bits in the paper as well. The stripes, Merry Christmas, red berries and the red stars on top of the trees are all embossed and sparkly.


Since I had the paper stack and my (5 x 6.5") card bases out anyhow, I used some other bits from the stack to complete the other cards, which I will share another day. My Christmas Card stash is growing!

Thanks for stopping by today.


Monday, 23 July 2012

Masculine Birthday Card - FTL120

Considering they are on sketch #200 at the Clean And Simple Stamping Blog,  this is an old sketch of theirs.  (#120).


I used it and papers from my scrap bin to make a couple of masculine birthday cards. However, since I've have now made almost all the masculine cards I'll be needing this year, I'm spreading the photos out so I will have a few more Masculine Card Monday's for you!


SUCH a versatile sketch - I really enjoyed using it. Plus, what a great way to use up scraps!  All the cards I made were A2 sized, but it would be very adaptable to larger cards as well.


The sparkly leaf is by K&Co ... I have a hard time passing up leaf embellishments. Or birds. Or butterflies. Or ...     Well, pretty much anything by K&Co.  ;-)

Thanks for stopping by today!


Sunday, 22 July 2012

Clean and Simple Cards for Gift

I have another photo heavy post today ... a card set I made as a gift, identical layouts but different words stamped on them.


One day while poking around at the Staples discount table, I came across this box of wedding invitations on clearance. They were intended to be 8.5 x 5.5" post card type invitations, so I scored 4 of them down the center to form four A2 cards.  Then I cut the end panels off an additional 2 invitations, trimmed them down a bit and stamped a different word group (Verve) on each one.



I popped the word panels up with foam tape, and ... done!




A lovely set of CAS cards that will be appreciated by the the lady I made them for.  :-)

Our little Grandson loves to have his head rubbed ... here is a picture of him at 4 days old. 


Thanks for stopping by today!

Friday, 20 July 2012

Baby Cards

I cracked open another package of my puffy felt stickers, and made some baby cards for our family to celebrate the birth of (Grandson) little Ethan.



First up - this is the card I made for our daughter and newly enlarged family:



This card is 5.5" square. I used the same paper stack for each of the cards, as some of the sheets have glittery patterns and I love what that adds to a card.  The notched panels are actually the bottom portion of the Papertrey ink Wine Bottle Hanger die.

This next card is the one I made for my parents - the happy Great Grandparents.



In addition to the wine bottle tag, I used a circle and label die from 'My Favorite Things'. Both this card and the next one are 4.5 x 6".



The 'It's A Boy' (Crazy Stamps) was stamped with Watermark ink and clear embossed. That card is going to the other Great Grandmother.  :-)

Finally, I used the last two stickers in the package to make these 4.25" square cards. One was for the other Grandparents, and the other one went into my stash.





Totally sweet, Clean and Simple, and all made with love.

Thanks for stopping by today.





Thursday, 19 July 2012

Christmas Card using Merry Monday Sketch #5


 For this week's Merry Monday Challenge, I chose Sketch #5:


I flipped the sketch, and used a layered square & snowflake instead of the circle. Since there were words on the layered square, I didn't also add a sentiment.



My cards are CAS, and completely mail friendly.  The green hounds-tooth  and 'Winter Wonderland' square sticker are from a Christmas Card kit. I cut apart the green patterned card to give me two A2 panels, then trimmed and matted them before attaching to an A2 white card base. The music strip is Washi tape, but I don't know where the snowflakes came from. They may have been Cricut cut - but they were in my (huge) pile of Christmas embellishments so I used them.  :-)   The 2nd card has green grosgrain ribbon instead of the red music tape, but I like the pop of red better.

These cards look better in real person for sure!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

Bright Birthday Card

I found some stamps in the Michaels bargain bins and was so pleased with how fun they are to colour with Copic markers! This card uses one of them - well worth the $1.50.


This little strip of Baja Breeze (SU) cardstock was sitting on my stamping table, and the whole card came together because of it! 


Such a cheerful card to make ... and I got to use my Bakers Twine AND foam tape!  Yeah.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

White on White Christmas Card

I had a glance through my Christmas card embellishments this morning, and - it's appalling how many I have.  All bought on clearance at different times, but still. Especially with not participating in our Craft Sale this year, there seems to be an over-abundance of them for sure.  Well, at least they won't expire!

I had embossed and hand trimmed these little snowflake rectangles last year, possibly for tag decorating. However, they fit perfectly with this weeks sketch at the Clean And Simple Stamping Blog.  


In fact, I made 4 of these cards!  This first one looked better in my head ... I liked the idea of the white panel being partially embossed with snowflakes, in the direction the snowmen were looking. But once I was finished I wasn't all that happy with it.


 For this next one, I used a 5x7 embossing folder ...


It was better, but the deeply embossed background was kind of distracting. So I tried an A2 sized Sizzix embossing folder ...


This one I liked enough to make a 2nd one!  The little banners are in a package of multicoloured ones by Martha Stewart. I've had them for a long time, and I keep using them but the package never really gets any smaller. They must multiply at night when I'm not watching. The words are by Papertrey Ink.


I now have 4 more 5 x 6.5" cards to add to my stash!

This is the (digital) announcement I made for our new little Grandson:


Haha - can you tell I'm very proud and very excited about his arrival?

Thanks for stopping by today.