Thank You Ever So Much

Good morning friends.  Lately I've been seeing a lot of "10 minute or less" card challenges out there, and while I understand we all have time constraints, some of these cards really do look like they took 10 minutes or less to create!  I'm really not trying to be snobby here, but if you're going to take the time to make a card to send to someone, take the time to show that person you really do care about them!  That being said, the card I want to share with you today really could be made in about 10 minutes, but is so simply elegant, it looks like more instead of less!  I can't take credit for this card, as the idea came from Sylvia-Anne of Poppy's Papercraft Patch.  Here's my take on it:

This card started with a simple white card base, and then I stamped the largest flourish from SU!'s "Flowering Flourishes" in black ink on a smaller white layer of cardstock (5 x 3 1/2).  The sentiment is from PTI's "Boutique Borders: Thanks" stamp set.  I rounded 2 of the corners and then pop dotted this layer onto the card base.  I used some POW Silver Glitter Paper that I colored with a Copic marker (RV06) and punched out a butterfly (Martha Stewart) and 3 small circles to add tiny pops of color.  Very simple and pretty! :0)  You could easily change the color of the glitter paper and the sentiment to make all different cards using this design...quick but still looks like you took time! :0)

I have the words "This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it." on my kitchen bulkhead, and it's been there a number of years.  Unfortunately I tend to not look up too often anymore, and I miss the beauty and truth of those words that are meant to start each and every day out knowing the Lord has created this day specifically for us to enjoy!  Not worry, but JOY!  Keep looking up friends, and experience all the joy today holds!  Thanks for stopping by today and have a joy filled Tuesday! :0)   
  

PINK - Take #2 on FFC#13

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend!  Mine was very wet and quiet, so you know what that means...yep, I had time to play in my craft room again! :0)  And I hope you're not sick of "pink" Christmas cards yet, because I am loving them and getting all kinds of great ideas over at the Festive Friday blog! 

 
These colors together just scream elegance to me and I had so much fun putting another card together with the pink, white, & silver.  Take a look at card number 2:

I started with a 5 x 5 white card base and added a layer of pink and white dotted BoBunny cardstock.  The backside of the dotted cardstock was a plain pink, and I used a smaller piece to emboss with silver using SU!'s "Script" background stamp.  I matted this layer with a layer of white cardstock and added a sheer white ribbon before securing this layer down.  I used a PTI die for the Christmas tree and just used scraps from my stash, and then pop dotted it to the silver embossed layer.  I used a Cheery Lynne die for the snowflake, added glitter around the edges (enlarge picture and you'll be better able to see the glitter), and then positioned it on the card.  I added a vellum banner at the top and embossed in silver the "Merry Christmas" (PTI's "Christmas Blessings" stamp set).  If you look closely, you can see I did a little faux stitching on the left edge of the banner.  I also added silver stars (POW Glitter Paper) to the top of the Christmas tree and the bow.  I just love how this card turned out and may have to make a few more to send to those "someone special" friends on my list! :0)

Have a wonderful Monday friends and thanks for stopping by to share a part of your day with me...I love it when you do! :0)

Also going to enter this in Merry Monday's "Anything Goes" July contest!

Chalk Talk Fun

Good morning friends and happy Friday!  Just a quick post today to share a fun and easy card I made yesterday using SU!'s new "Chalk Talk" stamp set. (And to think when I first started noticing the chalk trend, I wasn't too impressed...what was I thinking?!!!)  Take a look:

This was such a quick card to put together!  The design paper is "The Paper Studio" from Hobby Lobby, and I layered those with SU!'s Pixie Pink (retired) card stock and a white card base.  I stamped the tag from Chalk Talk with Momento black ink on white cs and then fussy cut it out (wish I had been able to afford the framelits that match this set, but maybe down the road...).  I stamped the tag again onto Pixie Pink cs and then cut out the "SOMETHING" banner and pop dotted it to the tag.  I layered the tag onto more Pixie Pink cs, and then attached with more pop dots to my card.  If you enlarge the photo, you'll be better able to see the little diamond bling I added to the corners of the tag, where I also used my pink marker to color in the flower leaves.  I added a little bow (seam binding ribbon that I colored with the chisel tip of my Copic marker (RV06) - this works even quicker than the re-inker and plastic baggie tip I told you about the other day!) and a heart in the upper right hand corner to finish off the card.  Quick, fun, and very bright...I love it! :0)

I also have a WINNER for my Kraft or Old Olive contest, and the lucky lady is Benzi!  (Please contact me Benzi so I know where to mail your card to.)  Thanks so much for playing in my little contest, and Old Olive was definitely the winner!
 

 
Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0) 

Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge

Good morning friends.  Back with a card for this months blog hop challenge over at Papertrey Ink.  The challenge was to pick one of the pictures featuring the fruits of summer, and I chose #4:

I love watermelon, so that's the reasoning behind choosing this particular color combo.  Other than the "Strawberry Patch" stamp set though, I really don't have any fruity stamps, so I ended up using PTI's "Funky Florals" stamp set.  My card doesn't make me think watermelon with this color combo, but I do like how it turned out...nice and bright and summery!  Take a look:

I think if maybe I had used a little more green, it would have looked a little more like watermelon colors, but hey, artistic license and all that, right?! :0)  It was a simple card to put together, and I had fun adding all the little diamond bling to the centers of the little starbursts.  I love the sentiment that comes with this stamp set too, so I'm sure between that and the bright summery colors, this card will surely brighten up someone's day! :0)

Make sure you check out all the other great entries over at Nicole's blog (http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/)

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a terrific Thursday! :0)

FFC#13 - Color Challenge

Good morning friends.  I'm back with a Christmas card for the new Festive Friday challenge, which is a color challenge this time around:

Don't you just LOVE those colors together?!!  The wheels started turning immediately when I saw this challenge, and I think they did for everyone else too...some amazing entries already!  I am still kind of stuck on watercoloring, so that and the colors were my starting point for this card:

Have you noticed all the colors poinsettia's are available in lately?  When I was growing up, it was red or white and that was it!  Today there are so many pretty colors to choose from, and I love the pink ones!  So anyways, this challenge seemed the perfect place to showcase that!  I started with using a background stamp (SU!'s French Script) and Going Grey ink and then used PTI's die to make a negative cut towards the bottom with the "holiday" die.  I also used the die to cut out a pink "holiday" to use underneath the top layer, and if you click to enlarge the photo, you can see better the depth there.  Next I embossed my flower image (Gina K's "Year of Flowers") with silver embossing powder and then watercolored the image with my aquapen and Pretty in Pink re-inker.  I didn't have any ribbon to match, so I dyed some cream colored seam binding ribbon with my Pretty in Pink re-inker (very easy to do with just a few drops of ink and a plastic baggie).  I also added a little silver cord and silver ball to the center of my ribbon to dress it up a bit.  I used pop dots on the back of this layer before attaching it to my card base so you could see the negative die cut better.

I've still got another idea floating around in my head with this color scheme, but we'll see if time is there to get another one done. 

That's all for today and it's cool enough this morning that I think I'm going to turn the oven on and try out a new chocolate chip cookie recipe!  Don't forget to check out my post from Monday and leave me a comment if you'd like a chance to win one of the cards I posted.  Have a wonderful Wednesday and I'll be back again tomorrow with another card I made for the PTI's monthly blog hop.  Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)
    

Kraft or Old Olive???

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend!  Still a little too warm here for my liking, but better than snow anytime!!  Started to do some cleaning in my craft room, and got a little distracted with the window dies and brick embossing folder that were still laying out from last weeks "Calm Seas" card.  Needless to say that my desk is still a mess, but good things do come out of messes sometimes...like more Christmas cards! :0)  Figured this would be a good one to enter into Merry Monday's July "Anything Goes" challenge:

I actually came up with 2 cards that are exactly alike except for the color of the Cheery Lynne "Holly" die that I used, because I couldn't decide what color I liked best.  I'll let you guys decide at the end of this post with my very first giveaway, so make sure you read till the end! :0)  Take a look at the first one:

I sponged the brick part with SU!'s Cranberry Crisp ink first, and then added Cherry Cobbler ink on top of that.  The top part was embossed with SU!'s striped ef and sponged with Crumb Cake ink.  The pine trees (SU!'s "Lovely as a Tree") were embossed with white embossing powder, and then I sponged Old Olive ink around them.  I traced the window die around the tree image and then glued the two together.  The "winter wishes" is from PTI's Fillable Frames #9 and stamped on a Spellbinders frame die cut from kraft cs and again sponged with Crumb Cake ink.  I stamped a piece a scrap kraft cs with SU!'s "Weathered" background stamp (retired) and then used my Cheery Lynne "Holly" die to cut it out and place on the card.  Then came the part where I couldn't decide if it blended in too much with the card, so I added some very small red half backed pearls, but.....are you feeling my dilemma here yet?  Soooooooo, on to card #2:

The Old Olive green definitely pops a bit more doesn't it?  I definitely thought this was going to be the one, but I kept straying back to the kraft holly die one!  Which one do you like better?

I can't decide, so I thought I'd have a little contest here to see what my readers think.  Leave me a comment here on my blog (NOT a facebook comment please) about which one you like better, and Friday morning (26th) I'll pick a random winner to receive that card. (I know it's not much compared to some of the "blog candy" that some bloggers post, but hey, start small and work your way up, right?!!)

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you all have a wonderful Monday.  And if you're interested in getting a head start on your Christmas cards, don't forget to check out Merry Mondays July challenge site, as there's LOTS of inspiration there!  ( http://alwaysplayingwithpaper.blogspot.com/)
   

Make it Monday #125 - Defined Watercolors

Good morning friends.  I'm sure you can tell by my title today that I'm not continuing on with my "manly" series, although I have to say that I'm thrilled I came up with 3 totally different cards from just one stamp set!  I think that's the mark of a great stamp set, that it can be used so many ways!  "Calm Seas" may be a retired set, but I know I'll still get lots of mileage out of it! :0)

Make it Monday over at Papertrey Ink had a great video tutorial this week by Erin Lincoln on defining your stamps with watercolor, and since watercolor seems to be a medium that I'm really drawn to lately, I had to give it a try!  Take a look:

Nothing like a really BRIGHT card to wake you up in the morning right?!!  I used PTI's "Simple Sunflower" stamp set and blocked off the top and bottom 1 1/4" of my white card base, so my stamping would only be in the middle 3" of the card.  I watercolored my sunflowers and leaves first by using my Aquapen and ink that I had pressed into the inside cover of the stamp pad cover.  I used SU!'s Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, & Crumb Cake.  The next step to define the flowers and leaves was to roll the edges of the stamp directly onto the stamp pad and then stamp over the flowers and leaves...definitely defines them by sorta outlining them.  Fun technique and I love the outcome!  I finished the card by adding a strip of 1 1/4" Melon Mambo cs to the top (I also used the eraser end of a pencil and my ink pad to add some dots to this layer to give it a little definition too!), and then also added the chevron stripe (PTI die) in Melon Mambo to balance out the top half of the card.  I added a few iridescent sequins here and there, and the sentiment is also from the "Simple Sunflower" set.  (GREAT set for only $5 and also very versatile!!)

Lots of really pretty cards for this challenge over on Nichole's blog, so make sure you check it out! (http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/) 

Hope to have another Christmas card for you tomorrow, but we'll see if my mojo's working today!  It's one of those cards I was so excited about when I started, and now it still needs something, and I just can't figure out what it is!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by today and have a terrific Thursday. :0)