Merry Monday Challenge #68

Good morning friends and happy Friday!  It feels so good to have my windows open and the air conditioner off!  I know it's summer, but hey......I wait all 9 months of winter to be able to open the windows and then we head right into hot and muggy!  I know, I know, complain, complain, never happy, but I really do like having my windows open and listening to the birds sing! :0)  But anyways, on to my card for today.  I hope you're not sick of Christmas cards yet, because I've been having a great time playing two of the Christmas challenge blogs out there - Festive Fridays and Merry Mondays.  There's even more than these two out there folks, but two is enough for me right now. :0)  Today my card is for the Merry Monday challenge and here is the design template they've given us to work with:

 

And here is my take on it:

 

 

This one was a hard one to photograph so bear with me here.  In fact, click on the picture to enlarge it and you'll be able to see the snowflake a bit better.  For photographing purposes, maybe the Cappucino colored Coredinations paper with the gold embossed snowflake (Northwoods Stamp Co.) wasn't the best idea, but in real life it was a great idea...it is so cool and vintage looking!  I layered it with a piece of the POW gold glitter paper and it just really stands out.  I used SU!'s "Script" stamp for my background (with SU!'s Crumb Cake ink) and then used scraps from my stockpile for the 3 flag banners.  To finish I added a snowflake cut with a Spellbinders die from more POW gold glitter paper, a red button and some bakers twine (The Twinery).   Another quick and easy card, and I have to admit that I really like the sketches Merry Monday's gives us to start with....sure makes the mojo juices start flowing a lot more smoothly!! :0)

Make sure you check out some of the other great entries over on the Merry Monday site (http://alwaysplayingwithpaper.blogspot.com/) and also check out the 4 FANTASTIC cards Lesley posted...she made it into the top 5 of Gallery Idol!  Her red, white and black Christmas cards are just simply stunning!!

Have a great weekend everyone and I'll be back next week with a card for my newest son in law whose birthday is tomorrow and definitely check back in on Monday as I have a special surprise to share!  Thanks for stopping by and sharing a part of your day with me...I LOVE it when you do! :0)

Festive Friday #11 - Element Challenge

Good morning friends.  The latest challenge at Festive Friday's is an element challenge - to use a tree in your card.  My card is a little different for me as there is NO stamping anywhere on the front of it, but I have to admit I really like how this card turned out.  Other than the photographing of the card that is!  My colors are a "Pool Party" color that is more green than blue, but my camera makes it look more blue than green no matter where I take the picture....grrrrr! 

I love the contrast of the red glittery "merry" (PTI die) and the greenish blue of the background paper (Echo Park) and tree's (PTI die).  The tree in front is cut from a scrap of really shimmery paper that really stands out IRL.  I also embossed my snow hill with a Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder.  A very simple design but a card that I think really "pops"!

Make sure you check out the rest of the cards over at Festive Friday's....some awesome entries! (http://www.festivefriday.blogspot.com/)  Thanks for stopping by today and have an awesome Wednesday! :0)

Papertrey Ink June Blog Hop Challenge

Hello friends.  Posting a little later than usual as we had college orientation today for my youngest...gosh I feel old!  And probably a good thing I'm better at stamping than school...chemistry, biology, medical terminology, psychology - yea, I definitely think I'll stick with stamping! :0) 

The challenge this month at Papertrey Ink was to use a touch of gold in your card.  I kept mine very simple but am very pleased with the way it came out!  Take a look:

I started with a white card base, then added another white layer that I embossed with a SU! ef and then sponged very lightly with SU!'s Going Grey ink.  I loved Papertrey's challenge last week so much with the colored vellum flowers, that I used that idea again and embossed my flower image (Gina K - Year of Flowers) first with white embossing powder, and then again using the rock n roll technique with gold embossing powder just on the edges of the flowers.  I used SU!'s Regal Rose & Primrose Petals inks on the backside of the flowers with a q-tip to add some color.  I finished off the card using PTI's "Boutique Borders: Thanks" stamp set (Dawn McVey) for my sentiment and embossed on either side of the sentiment with the little flourish in gold also.  It came together very quickly once I had the idea, and I love how elegant it looks!

Make sure you check out all the other entries for this challenge...some absolutely beautiful cards! (http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/) Thanks for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0) 

MIM#121 - Colored Vellum Flowers

Hello friends.  Found some time last night to play with the Make it Monday challenge, and while I'm not crazy about my card, it's one of those that kind of grows on you over time.  My mom brought me over a whole flat of strawberries earlier this week (I think she was hoping for some homemade jam!), and so I wanted to use PTI's "Strawberry Patch" stamp set to make a thank you card for her.  I know technically the strawberries aren't a flower, but hey, they started out as a flower, right?! :0)  Take a look:

I love the general idea of my card and the colors (even though the polka dot background is looking more blue than the actual turquoise blue it really is!), but there are little things that bug me about it.  The strawberries in the picture don't look too bad, but in real life the white embossing powder turned a real light pink from the red ink I used to color them and not the crisp white I was hoping for.  The other element I wanted to incorporate into this card was the chalkboard technique, and because of the textured cardstock I chose, when I went to draw my lines around the edges of the sentiment, they didn't come out too smooth.  I know I'm probably being way too picky, but when you get this idea in your head of how it should look and it doesn't come out that way...well any of you that stamp know what I'm talking about, right?  RIGHT?  Thank you! :0)

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and I'll be back next week with some more inspiration.  Thanks for stopping by. :0)

Watercolor Thanks

Good morning friends and happy Friday!  Don't you just love the sense of anticipation that comes with Friday's and the weekend?  We don't even have anything special going on this weekend (for once!!) and I still love knowing it will be a more laid back pace for the next 2 days! :0)  Maybe even some more stamping time?!  Although to be perfectly honest, I've been on a really big reading kick lately and just can't seem to put them down, so we'll see about the stamping.  But anyways, I told you beginning of the week I had been doing some water coloring and here is the 2nd card I made using that same technique:

  My inspiration and starting point for this card was a photograph of a sunset.  My colors used were SU!'s Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Pretty in Pink, & So Saffron.  The tree image is also SU! from the "Serene Silhouettes" stamp set, and the sentiment is from a retired SU! set.  The twine is from The Twinery and the silver nailhead is from Gina K.  These water colors are so easy to do and I think quite lovely in their simplicity!  So if you need a quick and easy card, keep this technique in mind! :0)

Really want to play in PTI's Make it Monday challenge this week, but I'm struggling to come up with a card after seeing all the beautiful cards that have already been submitted.  We'll see if the mojo and extra time this weekend come up with anything!  Thanks for stopping by today and have a fabulous weekend! :0)

A Little Purple Bow

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post as I have a busy day today, but wanted to show you a card that started from just a tiny purple bow...

My friend Nelda from bible study had found a small bag with 2 of these bows and wondered if I could use them on a card, and of course I said "of course"! So the little purple bow was my starting point, and after I matched it up with SU!'s Elegant Eggplant ink and cardstock, this is what I came up with. I used the French Script background stamp (SU!) and the flourish from the "Priceless" (SU!) stamp set for my background, the flower is from "Field Flowers" (SU!), and the sentiment is from "Watercolor Trio" (SU!).  I also used SU!'s oval and scalloped oval punches for the sentiment and a Martha Steward punch for the butterfly.  Amazing what can evolve from such a tiny element! :0)

Have a great Thursday friends and thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do!
 

Merry Monday #67

Good morning friends.  Playing with the Christmas challenges again, and today's card is for the Merry Monday challenge. 

This was a fun layout to play with, and I decided to use a stamp that hasn't seen any ink in years and years! The set is called "We Three Kings" from Our Daily Bread Designs, and I not only love the detail of the image, but also really like the sentiment that goes with the image.  This is one of those cards that I wish you could see IRL, as I spritzed the image with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in iridescent gold, and it really sparkles along with the gold star, but I could not get that sparkle to photograph no matter how hard I tried...grrrrrrr!!  But anyway, I really liked how this card turned out and think I will be making a few more to add to my stash! :0)

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful Wednesday friends!

Life

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend and fun celebrating all the dad's in your lives.  We celebrated with 2 of the girls here last night and had a good time laughing and catching up.  I have to admit I got a little sad last night when I went on FB and saw all the posts with everyone and their dad's, which  really made me miss my dad.  He's been gone for 12 years now, but he is still missed!  I was one of the really lucky ones and had a GREAT dad...in fact what artistic talent I do have I inherited from him! :0)  I think he would have loved seeing my blog and creations, and been cheering me on!  Yep, he was that kind of dad!!  One of my dad's favorite mediums was water coloring, and so in honor of him, I'm sharing a card today that I water colored.  Take a look:

Now I have to admit, the idea for this card was not mine, but from the very talented Sue from "Sue's Card Craft".  I changed my colors up a bit and made it brighter, but otherwise I kept it the same as Sue's card...I mean why mess with perfection?!!!  I started with watercolor paper and my Aqua Painter, and then just basically added color with SU!'s Bashful Blue, Old Olive, and Crumb Cake.  When that dried, I added images from PTI's stamp set "Life" along with the sentiment in SU!'s Soft Seude.  A really quick and easy card, but love the way it turned out!  In fact, I enjoyed doing this one so much I had to make another one that I'll share with you later this week after I've had time to photograph it.

That's all for today friends.  Have a wonderful Monday and thanks for stopping by...love it when you do! :0)

Make it Monday #120 - Overlapping Ombre

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post today.  Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenge was a perfect one this week for me to try out last months release of Polka Dot Parade #3.  Nicole challenged us to use a overlapping ombre pattern on our card, and the "RELAX" sentiment from the stamp set seemed a perfect place to start.  Take a look:

I started with SU!'s Soft Sky ink, followed by Marina Mist, and then Night of Navy.  I added the rest of the sentiment in Night of Navy also, and then stamped the recliner and footrest in Night of Navy too.  I fussy cut those 2 pieces and then used pop dots to make them stand out a little.  I finished with a strip of navy cs that I ran through the Chevron embossing folder first, and then tied a piece of bakers twine (The Twinery) and button around that.  Very quick and easy and all in my hubby's favorite color! :0)  Had to take a picture of the inside too...if any of you have dogs you'll appreciate this:

As soon as Chris goes to sit down, there's always a dog or two that beats him to the seat! :0)  The dog stamp came from a SU! set - "Loads of Love - Accessories".

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by...I love it when you do!

Merry Monday #66

Good morning friends.  Last week I discovered a new Christmas challenge blog and I'm excited to play along again this week!  I am definitely going to have no worries come December as far as not having my Christmas cards done and I'm loving this idea!  I really like that this challenge also gives a layout to follow each week too.  Here's the layout for this week:

 

 

My design paper is what inspired my card this week, so take a look:

I realize my banners pretty much hide my design paper (Eskimo Kisses by BasicGrey), but the design paper is what prompted my color choices and the stamp set that I used.  I used PTI's "Winter Hills" (LOVE this set!!) and stamped the little scene for my center flag, and then randomly stamped the pine trees from the set on the 2 outer flags.  I used my Copics to color the scene and tree's, and then sponged a bit with SU!'s Cool Caribbean (retired) ink.  My sentiment is also from the "Winter Hills" set, and I added a sheer pink ribbon, iridescent snowflake, and a pink pearl to finish off the banner.  I love how this card turned out and hope you like it too! :0)

Hope you will take the time to check out all the great entries over on Lesley's blog (http://alwaysplayingwithpaper.blogspot.com/).  There is a lot of great inspiration there between the design team and all the other bloggers playing along, so if you want a head start on your Christmas cards, make sure you check it out! 

Actually made a Father's Day card using PTI's Make it Monday challenge for this week that I'll be showing you tomorrow, so have a wonderful Thursday and Lord willing, I'll be back in the morning! :0) 

FFC#10 - Theme Challenge

Good morning friends.  Back today with a theme challenge from Festive Friday's.

  Meredith has challenged us to create a "vintage" themed Christmas card this time, and while I absolutely LOVE vintage, it never quite comes together like I see in my head.  But anyways, I have a lovely vintage stamp for Christmas, and this is what I came up with:

Isn't she a cutie?!  This stamp is "Telling Santa" by Paper Inspirations and it definitely says "vintage" to me.  It was a pretty cloudy day yesterday when I took the photo, but if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you should be able to see a lot more of the detail.  I used SU!'s Crumb Cake ink to stamp her and Santa, and also used the ink to sponge and distress quite a bit of the rest of the card.  The holly embossing folder is from Darice and the design papers are from The Paper Studio.  The little tag is PTI, and after seeing so many cards lately with bells, I decided to add one to the bow, and I really like that look.  I also added a felt heart to the center of the snowflake (POW gold glitter paper and Spellbinder die) and a button tied with jute.  Not a Melissa Phillips card, but I think it still says "vintage"! :0)

Thanks for stopping by and have a terrific Tuesday! :0)

Lovely Little Fuschia

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I had a very relaxed weekend....first one in months and months and months!!  It was kind of nice not to have to be planning for a wedding and open house and just do things at a slower speed.

My card today is a very CAS one and started with a Memory Box die of a Fuschia flower.  Take a look:

I used a couple re-inkers (SU!'s Melon Mambo & Gumball Green) and glossy cardstock, and then the Memory Box die to cut out the flower.  The flower is very small (kinda wish it were bigger!), and it was a bit of a struggle to figure out a way to showcase the flower without it seeming lost in the rest of the card.  For that reason I kept the card very simple, and used PTI's Herringbone Impression Plate for the background.  The sentiment is from PTI's "Blooming Button Bits" and I used SU!'s Melon Mambo cardstock to layer.  I finished with some ribbon (SU!'s Melon Mambo) and a few irredescent sequins.  I love the delicacy of fuschia flowers, and will definitely be using this die again! :0)

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday and thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0) 

Make it Monday #119 - Flagged Borders

Hi friends.  Just a quick post with the card(s) I made for my 2 honorary nieces Sarah & Laura (they're twins) for their birthday tomorrow.  Take a look:

The challenge this week at Papertrey Ink was to make a card using flags, and Dawn McVey had a great video showing what a fun AND simple technique this was.  I used some Graphic 45 design paper for the card and then also stamped on the one dp (Delicate Details) using PTI's "Simple Sunflower" stamp set.  After stamping the sunflowers, I cut out my own flags as I don't have any of the dies to do it.  I used PTI's "Baroque Borders - Birthday" to stamp the sentiment, added some faux stitching with my white gel pen, a flower from SU!, a few silver nailheads, and PTI's Heart Border to make the scallop behind the banner.  (click on the picture to enlarge it to see more detail)  Had extra flags left over so I used those on the envelopes:

Had a great time making these and I hope the girls like them!  Happy Birthday Sarah & Laura!! :0)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll be back next week with more inspiration.  Thanks for stopping by! :0)

2013 Grad

Good morning friends.  Back with another graduation card today for my nephew Joe.  An Joe, I doubt you read my blog, but on the off chance that you do, I'm going to apologize right upfront, that your card isn't more "manly"!  But come on, your school colors are gold and purple...how "manly" can that be?!!  But anyway, I tried and this is what I came up with:

A very quick and easy card, and even though it isn't very "manly", I really do like how it turned out!  I started with a 5 x 5 white card base, and then layered with a dark purple, and then a purple and gold dotted design paper (Stamping Station).  Next I used a piece of 4 x 4 purple and cut into quarters (2 x 2), and then embossed each square with the large dotted embossing folder by Cuttlebug/ProvoCraft.  I used my Cricut to cut out the numbers (Don Juan cartridge cut at 1 1/2") in gold glitter paper and then finished by embossing my sentiment (Verve Visual) in gold on vullum and attaching with 2 small gold nailheads (Gina K).  Oh, and I also added a die cut grad cap in the upper corner (PTI). 

That's all for today friends, but I'll be back sometime this weekend with a birthday card(s) I made for this weeks Make it Monday challenge.  Have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend...the sun is shinning, the birds are singing, and I have JOY in my heart...life is good...thank you Lord!

A Triple Challenge

Good morning friends.  I'm trying something a little different today.  Most of you know I LOVE making Christmas cards (probably even more than flowery cards - gasp!!), and while checking out some of the entries at the Festive Friday blog, I ended up at the Merry Monday Challenge blog (http://alwaysplayingwithpaper.blogspot.com/).  This challenge is similar to Festive Friday (or should I say Festive Friday is similar to Merry Monday since I think Merry Monday started first?) in that they are challenging you to get your Christmas cards made now rather than rushing in December (like I always do!!).  Anyways, after looking at a bunch of the cards on this site, I decided I really liked the layout and would have a go at it.  Here's the layout:

And here's my card:

Don't "ewe" (sorry, I couldn't resist!) love the little lamb holding the mistletoe?!!  This is a Penny Black stamp that I've had forever and has seen very little ink, so decided it was time for her to get inked up again.  I used my Copics to color her and a couple Spellbinder dies to cut her out.  Originally I was going to stamp my sentiment (PTI's "Think Big Favorites #20) in black, but then thought that if I embossed it in gold, I could use it for another entry at the Festive Friday challenge (color challenge to use red, green, & gold).

At this point, I'm also thinking that even though this is a Christmas card, I could also enter it into PTI's Make it Monday #119 Flag Borders challenge, as it does have a green flag on the card.  Not sure that was the idea Dawn McVey was going for at PTI, but I'm going to enter it anyway.  I also used Dawn's idea for using just the top of the Heart Border die (PTI) to make a scalloped edge above my sentiment with red glitter paper...adds a nice little sparkle to the top part of the card!  Don't know how well you can see it, but I also added glitter to the lambs hat and beneath her feet for snow to add some more sparkle.  The background of my card base is embossed with the large dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug/ProvoCraft), which gives a little bit of definition to the card also.  I finished with a clear button and some red embroidery floss and attached it to the green flag.  A fairly quick and fun card...don't "ewe" agree?  (sorry again...think I need to look for a stamp that actually has "ewe" on it as it would fit perfectly with this stamp! :0)

Thanks for stopping by today (and listen to me ramble) and have a wonderful Wednesday.

Graduation

Good morning friends.  Sorry about the lack of posts the past few days, but between the busy weekend and being just plain tuckered, just didn't get around to it!  Our youngest graduated from high school this past week and we had her open house on Sunday, which went really well.  Calla works at a movie theater, and they rent out one of their conference rooms to employees for parties, so it worked out great!  The kids that work there even help you set everything up and clean at the end...what better deal is there?!! :0)  But anyway, we had a great time celebrating this milestone with Calla and family and friends, and now it will be on to getting her ready for college in the fall...boy does time go fast!

I know I had promised a graduation card last week, so a little late, but here it is:

Since I had to make quite a few cards this year, I needed one that was fairly simple, but still fun.  You totally can't see it in this picture, but once I embossed the white layer with the "Congratulations" ef by Cuttlebug/ProvoCraft, I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist, so in real life it really sparkles!  The "Congratulations" is from SU!'s "Well Scripted" stamp set, and the little orange stars and black graduation cap are PTI dies.  And the orange ribbon is from Michael's.  I think the hardest part of this card was gluing on all the little tiny stars, but they did add a nice festive touch to the card.  On each table I had the orange buckets, and filled them with sour cream containers I made with different design papers in orange and black (school colors).  I printed off small drawings of the bulldog (school mascot) and added those to each of the containers, and before sealing them shut, added Starbursts (one of Calla's favorite candies).  They made the tables look very festive and I know the kids all liked them! :0)

Have another graduation card to share with you later this week, but have to get it photographed first. Also have lots of ideas floating around in my head for other cards, so hopefully now that the wedding and open house are out of the way, I'll have some time to get these ideas actually made into cards! :0)  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Tuesday!