CASual Fridays #76

Last post of the day! (unless I get wild and crazy this afternoon -- there's still time for that to happen)

CASual Friday this week is to create a clean and simple project using Kraft paper. (one of my go-to supplies) I knocked out another November (Family) Birthday Marathon card.





I used PaperTrey ink Kraft, Botanical Silhouettes stamp set, and Think Big Favorites # 16 stamp set.

I embossed the flowers using Stampendous Lupis colored powders. The stems are stamped in CTMH Olive ink and embellished with the same color twine. The Lilac Mist cardstock panel is also CTMH.

Thank you for visiting! Hope you enjoy visiting other blogs from CASual Friday's challenge blog. Pin It

CASE Study #114

Three down - one more to go!

....on my way to finishing the challenge marathon. :) Sometimes, it's better to just sit down and knock it all out at once. The kids are playing quietly behind me, so I'm tackling it now while I can. (I'm sure no one else has to worry about such timing magic!)

My first CASE Study challenge in a while. This one was great fun for me because it actually inspired me to pull out my felt. I'm surprised I even remembered where it was. Once I got it out, it was like Christmas -- "I didn't know all of this was in here!" Yikes. Both exciting and sad. But, positive that I'm continuing on my personal journey to "use my stash and get results"! (And, yes, I've been totally cheating and eBaying some stuff - too impatient and wanting to buy new goodies!)

If you're noticing a pattern and getting the vibe that I get as excited about hoarding the goodies as I am about using the goodies, you would be 100% correct. I am a self-diagnosed "papercrafting goodie hoarder". Those closest to me have learned to laugh about it and shake their head. I have more stuff than I can use, yet I'll still have trouble cutting into a new pack of CTMH paper ("But it's too pretty to cut!") or attaching an adorable new embellishment ("but what if I need that later, for a REALLY special project?") .. but alas, I am working on it!

And case in point, as seen below, you get results when you actually use what your hard earned money has purchased! This card is one of my favorites and I've decided it will be perfect for my great aunt. It's time to send her more pictures of my kiddos. She keeps up with all of them and knows what's going on -- on top of having scads of her own grandchildren. Since she's 3 hours away, I don't get to visit as often as I like so she gets homemade cards with pictures.

Here is the inspiration piece from the CASE study challenge:



And here is my card using that "newly discovered" felt:

 

 

All products are CTMH with the exception of the Kraft Cardstock (PaperTrey Ink) and the stamped sentiment (Skipping Stones Design).

 

Thanks for visiting -- don't forget to say "hello" over at the CASE Study Challenge blog.

Pin It

Play Date #155 and Mojo #264 - Combination

 Almost done! Just a few more posts -- I promise!

For those of you just joining me, I'm on a challenge blog marathon. :)   I've been confined to the house this week with a yucky cold and crafting to cheer myself up and keep my mind off of it!

I loved the Play Date colors this week -- an unusual combination for me. So I definitely wanted to try it.

And, I haven't played along with Mojo Monday in forever, even though the sketches are always appealing to me. So I was determined to work them in this weekend.


 

I loved the combination of these two inspiration pieces --  I put them together for a Christmas card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used CTMH colors of Juniper and Desert Sand. I included Gold Bitty Brads and gold ribbon from the Christmas aisle at Michaels. That patterned paper is RETRO CTMH -- anyone remember the Perfect Day paper packet?

 

The darling pinecone stamp set is new from PaperTrey Ink, Peaceful Pinecones. I was web surfing a few weeks ago and checking out the new Think Big Favorites sets and saw these pinecones! I was reminiscent of the cartoon characters that go bezerk when they see a pretty cartoon girl -- my eyes bugged right out of my head and I may have heard "Aaaaa-oooo-gaaa!" in the background. DONE! Impulse online purchase! And, it was quite satisfactory, I might add. I love this set! I added a little Crystal Snow (Stampendous) to parts of the trimmed image, by dotting it with my CTMH glue pen. (great for little spots)

 

The sentiment is also PTI, Over Under Easy Holiday Additions.

 

Hope you like -- thank you for visiting my blog!

 

Please check out these two challenge blogs for tons of great ideas and beautiful artwork. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pin It

Color Throwdown #215

Hello again -

I'm still posting!

Color Throwdown colors this week were quite similar to Colour Qs, but I wanted to give them a whirl with something Non-Halloween, (always a struggle for me!)  We have several family birthdays coming up in November, so I decided I'd better get moving on a few birthday cards.





Since I don't own many purpley colors in my stash, I used CTMH's Gypsy. I use it alot, but still don't really buy much purple! I'm not sure why - I probably should rectify that sometime soon.

 

 

 

I filled my CTMH Spray Pen with water and several drops of black reinker. After attaching stars I had stamped and cut out of cardstock, I sprayed a few mists over the white card base and over the masked stars. The stars are from the Lucky workshop kit from a few years back. (I don't want to know how many!)

 

I then stamped the stars again in the desired colors and attached them over the white masked areas with 3-D Foam Tape. (after removing the masks) 

 

I stamped my sentiment from Skipping Stones Design's Grunge set and affixed the black gems randomly.

 

Thanks for visiting! Don't forget to visit Color Throwdown's blog for plenty of inspiring artwork and ideas! 

 

Pin It

Colour Q Challenge #160

Hello there!


I'm back after a short hiatus and it will be a challenge parade this afternoon. I've been under the weather with an aggarvating cold, so my version of "taking it easy" is hanging out in my crafty spot making cards and layouts! No reason I can't rest and be productive at the same time. Plus, it really cheers me up and gets my mind off of feeling nasty.

I had to start with my faitful, old friend - Colour Q.



I decided to use one of my favorite stamps from last year that I don't use as much as I'd like - Captured Momentsby CTMH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My purple dotted paper is leftover from CTMH Hooligans kit. I backed my stamped image with black cardstock and included two black bitty brads. The tree image is embossed in Black powder. The sentiment is stamped in Sunset ink (same color as button) and it is from the Spellbound set. I used black waxy flax for my button. All products are CTMH with the exception of the white PaperTrey Ink cardstock and the green ribbon, from Michaels.

 

Thanks for visiting! Don't forget to check out the Colour Q challenge blog for tons of inspiring artwork. 

Pin It

PPA 145 -- Great Sketch

Hello again --

I've been a stranger to blog land for the past several days as I've been completing other projects and not had as much time to "play". Shame, shame.

I love the sketch from Pals Paper Arts this week --



And what a surprise - I have a Christmas card for this one. I think Christmas may be my new Halloween!  :) I keep shopping Christmas goodies and making Christmas cards. I can't seem to resist these days.

 

Supplies Used:

All supplies are CTMH with the exception of the brown and green

cardstock which is DCWV, and the woodgrain stamp set from PaperTrey Ink.

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting!

Pin It

CQC #158 --- Halloween ... or is it?

Good afternoon!

The Colour Q colors are so cute this week - I couldn't resist. And, since I have SUCH a problem with resisting Halloween cuties, I decided to try self-restraint and use these colors to make something other than Halloween!



I had fun trying to make them into something else - it was a fun little challenge to myself.

 

I used Sunflower and Autumn Terracota CTMH inks to stamp leaves from my trusty, ole November Word Puzzle stamp set. I  rounded the corners and then adhered it to a piece of dark plum textured cardstock. (I really think it is CTMH Smokey Plum). I stamped my sentiment (Words of Comfort CTMH) in black VersaFine ink. Tied my CTMH Autumn Terracota twine before adhering my panel to the cardbase -- and done! I really, really like how it turned out. And, I do need it for a sympathy card (which I should have mailed last week -- YIKES).

 

Now -- not really surprising, a day or so after I made this card, I couldn't resist making a Halloween card with these colors. It popped in my head one night trying to fall asleep and then it drove me crazy! I almost had to get out of bed at 11:30 and go upstairs to make it - just to get some peace (but, I didn't).

 

This is one of my favorite stamps sets, Remarkable Wreath. It is very versatile...

 

 

 

I stamped my wreath twigs in Black VersaFine ink and the berries in Autumn Terracota and Goldrush ink. The black bats are from my Spellbound stamp and the sentiment from Captured Moments set. I die cut a black scalloped circle using my AP cartridge. The Gypsy (purple) and Black patterned paper are from my Hooligans paper packet and the Sunset patterened paper is from last year's Mischief kit. All products are CTMH with the exception of the twine, from My Craft Spot.

 

This one is my Favorite-Favorite! :)

 

Thanks for stopping by to look. Have a great week!

 

Pin It

Dynamic Duos #23

I'm squeezing another in! I should be closing up shop for the night, but I want to keep my posts caught up so I can make more cards! :) I get behind and then have so many to post that I get overwhelmed. (I know -- this does not sound like something I would do, but it has happened a few times).

The Dynamic Duos colors this week screamed Halloween to me (remember - I have a Halloween problem) but I refrained and made myself go another direction. Don't be impressed yet - I went fall-ish, not way off the beaten path. But I did use a different style card; one that I've not tried yet.



I made a card using my Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. First time to try this function - and now I'm wondering what took me so long! There are so many different options, I could have stayed up much, much later playing with them all.

 



I backed the negative of the acorn image with Sunset paper from CTMH. I also used Sunset ink for my sentiment found in the November Word Puzzle. The green ribbon (I've used it alot) is a basic ribbon from Michael's. -- I'm a ribbon JUNKIE. It's rare that I make a card without some sort of bow on it! I probably should lay off, but it's my favorite accent. So I doubt the bows are going to disappear anytime soon. :)

Thank you for visiting -- be sure to check out the Dynamic Duos blog for oodles of inspiring artwork! Pin It

PDCC #152 -- Black & White with a Splash

I love the PDCC challenge this week. I don't use purples much in my papercrafting and really don't even own much in the way of purple supplies. It's hard to believe a supply exists of which I don't possess an embarassing overabundance, but I believe we have stumpled across one. For instance, I only have one purple ink pad!  That's practically crazy talk. But, I have been attempting to rectify that situation and purchased a beautiful "Plum Pudding" ribbon from PaperTrey Ink recently.




Now that I have broken the seal on my relatively new Card Puzzle stamp set from CTMH, I've been dreaming up all sorts of schemes to use it. I really like how it stamped up in black VersaFine ink on white PTI cardstock.

 

 

My birthday sentiment is stamped in the same black VersaFine ink using the PaperTrey Ink Think Big Favorites #16 stamp set. (Those are the best little sets to get a sampling of different phrases for a good price.)

 

Thank you for visiting -- hope that you are having a great week. 

Pin It

CFC -- Take 2

I made a second card for the CASual Friday "For the Girls" challenge. I couldn't help myself. While perusing some of my archived paper kits, looking for scrap pink cardstock, I ran across this white/blush pink dotted paper. I've always loved how soft it is.

CFC73: For The Girls- Create a Clean And Simple card that celebrates
the women in your life.

mom~grandma~sister~daughter~aunt~cousin~friend~
co-worker~teacher~neighbor~etc.

 

 

 

I added the ribbon from Amuse Studio. Stamped the butterfly (Blush ink) and sentiment (Cotton Candy ink) from the same SSD set and the bling from Recollections (Michael's). Another really simple card. But sometimes I have more fun making those. :)

Hope you are having a great week. Thanks for visiting!

 

Pin It

CFC #73 -- For the Girls

This weeks CASual Friday challenge is

CFC73: For The Girls- Create a Clean And Simple card that celebrates
the women in your life.

mom~grandma~sister~daughter~aunt~cousin~friend~
co-worker~teacher~neighbor~etc.

 

I wanted to make another encouragement card for my friend about to begin her radiation treatments.

 

 

This one is made from PaperTrey Ink white cardstock, CTMH Cotton Candy cardstock, CTMH Blush ink and Cotton Candy ink. I used the Card Word Puzzle stamp set from CTMH and the sentiment from SSD Cancer Schmancer set. Jewels are Kaiser. Voila. All done!

Thanks for visiting. Don't forget to check out the inspiration over at the CASual Friday Challenge blog!

 

Pin It

Freshly Made Sketch #55

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....."

Not really -- but I've decided that making Christmas cards has become a guilty pleasure of mine! I don't know why or what's different, but I love making them. I've started seeing them when I go to sleep. : )   (As if I couldn't get ANY nerdier. I swear to my day!)

So, I'm loving putting the Freshly Made Sketches with Christmas themes. Since, I'm making enough to fill a dump truck, I'm going to use them for gifts. Points for ingenuity, but I have to deduct points because then the plan to use them as gifts only seems to feed my fervor for making them. So, it's one giant circle up there in the Fortress of Solitude. (I guess there are far worse things to circle about.)

This card turned out to be one of my favorites I made this weekend. It's going in a gift stash.

This CTMH paper kit is from a couple of years back (an old favorite) Mistletoe. I will be sad when I've used all that up! The ribbon, ink, and rhinestones are all CTMH Cranberry. I used my Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to cut the labels in Colonial White and Olive cardstock. Very simple - but I love how it turned out.

Please be sure to visit Freshly Made Sketches for lots of inspiring artwork! Pin It

CQC #157

As you probably know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and I'm happy to participate in the Colour Q challenge with related colors.

This card is some version of an idea I've been bouncing around for a couple of weeks. It didn't turn out quite as I expected, but it's ok.

I've been putting my Skipping Stones Design Cancer Schmancer stamp set to good use for one of my best friends recently diagnosed and recently undergone a bilateral mastectomy. She's doing great and an inspiration to all around here with her resilience and attitude.

So, I may have gone "overboard" on the related challenges that I worked with this weekend. :) I couldn't stop myself!



I used CTMH colors of Cotton Candy and Blush. My black is VersaFine ink from Tsukineko and I used a gray card base from Recollections (Michael's).

I stamped the pink ribbon with my above mentioned stamp set and covered it in rolled pink rhinestones from Recollections. It was perfect for this image. The sentiment is also SSD.

My pink scallop stamped on the top of the card is from the CTMH Florentine WOTG stamp set released this past summer.

Thank you for visiting! Be sure to check out Colour Q for tons of inspiring artwork.
Pin It

Challenge Trio - October Bliss

It's October! Yay!

It's hard not to love October - pumpkins, fall leaves, beautiful colors, crisp air, and Halloween! It will be here before we know it.

And this week I am on vacation in beautiful Destin - as if October could get any better - it "just went and done it" as we say in the South. (ok some of us do, when we get tired and don't pay attention to proper grammar...  it happens).

This card is the child of three different challenges. Sometimes I do it for the fun of it, sometimes it takes that much inspiration to get me going. This time - honestly, it was just plain fun.

Inspired By challenge had this really neat, natural looking photo:


Skipping Stones Design had this great sketch:  (I LOVE sketches of any kind these days)


And Color Throwdown had these fun colors:


Here is my card, a medley of all 3:


Supplies used:
(Cardbase) Recollections, Michaels; (brown cardstock) DCWV; (Desert Sand cardstock) CTMH;
 (patterned paper) My Mind's Eye; (background stamp Grunge set, sentiment Heartsong 2) Skipping Stones Design;
(Chocolate Twine, Corduroy Button, Harvest Charm, Chocolate Ink) CTMH.

 



Thanks for visiting today - hope you are having a great week.
Pin It