I Have a CANDY Winner!!

Good Morning Friends!

This was supposed to get posted yesterday but I had computer issues. I think the information highway got flooded, or maybe blown around a little. Normally, living in NE Ohio I'm pretty safe from the effects of a Hurricane. Not so with Sandy... she's being a real witch! It's been raining for two days, and yesterday we had high winds. It's supposed to be the same for today. I'm not complaining... no! Compared to the east coast I've got it lucky.

So let's get to Candy business right now. A week ago Monday I posted my card for last week's Operation Write Home sketch challenge. Here is the post. Since it was also my birthday I offered my 1st ever blog candy, with the winner being chosen from the list of comments. Thank you all for leaving such wonderful comments. I really appreciate getting them.

Random.Org picked #5, Debbie, from the list of comments. Congratulations Debbie! If you will send me an email with your mailing info I'll get your prize to you. Send it to:

marlened00@gmail.com               [that's marlened zero zero not oo]

I might add that I'm a winner as well. Tonis Studios, who sponsored last week's challenge, offered a prize of some of their punches. I just learned that I'm the winner! I'm really excited because I don't have any of their punches. I'll post a picture when I get them. :)

I've gotten a little behind in my work so no projects... at least not right now. :(  I'm working on some things so maybe I'll have something finished later today. Thank you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Fancy Fold Twisted Greeting Card

Hello my crafty friends!

On Monday, over at CardSwaps, Margaret posted a new challenge on the Member Challenge board. The link is here. Margaret's sample card turned out beautifully, and she included a link to a video tutorial, by Kelly Gettlefinger, that you can find here. This fold looked pretty easy so I gave it a try. It's an odd shape, but fits into an A2 envelope. This fold creates a pocket on the front as well as the inside of the card. The pocket here on the front would be the Turquoise & White dotted paper. I taped it shut.

This is the inside. I think my cardstock for the base is too heavy for this fold. The card wants to stay half open. You can see the pocket here with a gift card in it. This gives you a better look at how oddly the card is shaped.

Well, that's it for now. Thanky you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

OWH Tutorial, Reverse Iris Folding

Hello Peeps! Although today is almost over, it was Tutorial Tuesday over on Operation Write Home's blog, Stars & Stamps. You can check out the great tutorial, with instructions & template, here. Several years ago I tried Iris Folding but it was time consuming and I never quite mastered it. You had to cut individual strips of paper, fold them in half, then tape them to a specific layout to create a design or shape. Yeah... mine never really resembled anything, except a hot mess.

I decided to be brave and give this version a try... and I really like it!

I hate photographing red, but other than it's not quite the same red as in real life I'm very pleased with it. I'll definitely be doing this Reverse Iris Folding again.

Well time for bed. Thank you for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

"Thank You" Mom, & A Sketch Challenge

Hello friends, wow it's been a week since I've posted. I spent all last week trying to kink a cold that knocked me on my patootie and sent me to bed for the better part of 3 days! I'm starting to feel human again instead of a zombie.

First I want to say "Thank You" to my mom for giving birth to me 65 years ago today. I can honestly say she's my best friend! Dad passed 25 yrs ago, but I'm thankful to God that I still have my mom.

Second in line is the Sketch Challenge over at Operation Write Home's blog, Stars & Stamps. We're up to #143 already! I have candy so read the entire post. Tonic Studios is sponsoring this week's sketch. On the sample cards Tonic Studios punches were used to create the stripes. I'm sad to say I don't own any of their product so I improvised. Here is the sketch we are to follow:

I flipped it on it's side and added some washi tape I got as a prize. I ran the white cardstock, with tape, through my Cuttlebug using their Snow Flakes embossing folder. Then I got stuck on how to finish it. :(  Don't ask how, but I decided to punch a 1 1/2" circle in the top layers and make an ornament.

For the inside I punched a 1 3/4" circle of of the red and embossed the sentiment in white embossing powder. It looked kind of blah... so I put a strip of tape across the bottom and added an extra little sentiment. I used some baker's twine to make the hanger and bow.

If it looks like the twine goes through the crease in the card... it's because it does! I used my piercing tool to poke a hole in the crease and ran my twine through it. On the inside I taped the end behind the sentiment circle. On the front I covered the end with the bow. Just a little finishing touch so there are no stubbly ends. :)

Earlier in my post I mentioned candy. I feel very blessed, and since it's my birthday I'm offering some goodies to one lucky person who leaves a comment on this post. You'll have 1 week, until midnight EST Monday, October 29, 2012. I'll draw a random lucky winner on Tuesday, the 30th. Please make sure you leave me a way of getting in touch with you, or check back here next Tuesday for the winner.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by; hope you enjoyed your visit!

Thinking of You makes me smile!

Hello friends! As the old saying goes, "I'm too pooped to pop"! Yesterday I had a small family party for my mom who turned 90 yrs young on October 9th. It's means a lot of shlepping food and party fixins to the nursing home... but well worth it. Mom loved it! And yeah, I'm tired today. But, today is Sunday and that means a new sketch challenge over at Operation Write Home's blog, Stars & Stamps.

I made two versions, one masculine  [Authentique Papers 6x6 pad "Original" colletion]

... and the other feminine.   [Carta Bella Paper Co. 6x6 pad "Paris Girl" collection]

This is the sketch from this week's challenge:

I was able to cut pieces and parts out for 4 more cards. But, I'm just not going to get around to putting them together today.

Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Midweek Throwdown Challenge

Hello my bloggin friends, what a beautiful autumn day here in N.E. Ohio! The sky is crystal clear blue, the sun is shining, leaves are their beautiful colors, and the air has a crisp nip.

Yesterday was the Midweek Throwdown Challenge over at Operation Write Home. Our task was to make an Anniversary or Love card.

I chose to make an Anniversary card, not only for our Heroes to send their love home, but I need some for my own personal use as well. All the designer papers are from my stash, and were on clearance when one of my local scrapbook stores went out of business. No, I don't know who made them. The colors are an off white and a creamy beige. I kept the layout simple and the embellishments minimal. I used 1/8" ribbon and a paper flower for accents. The sentiment is silver stickers. I'm a firm believer that sometimes less is more. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Fall Is In The AIr

Hi my friends!

Earlier today I promised you another card. My cupcakes are done, and frosted, so on to my card. I made this Autumn card using this week's Bonus sketch at Operation Write Home. All of the sketch cards can be found here.

This is the Bonus sketch:

This is what I came up with:

I don't like what my camera did with the designer paper. It's way too bright and in your face, when in reality the colors are very muted. I'm not sure who makes the paper, or where I got it. I found three 5 1/2 x 4 1/4" pieces in my stash. I trimmed it down and matted it on dark brown cardstock. The sentiment is I added 4 burlap strips, a little Tea Dye Distress Ink by Ranger around the edges, a few leaves punched out using Creative Memories leaf punch, and it's time to call it done!

Let me tell ya about those burlap strips! Now I can really drool when I see what other card makers do with burlap. I figured... how hard can that be? Yeah right! Really?? The dang gum piece I bought has a mind of it's own and wanted to go every which way but straight.

Time Out For a Short Post

Hello my blogger friends!

This week's sketch over at OWH had a bonus.... the regular sketch #141 plus a bonus sketch. Yeah, I'm still up to my eyeballs in birthday preparations. But I was just crazy enough to put that aside this morning and do the sketches... both of them!?!?! Sooooo..... here they are:

 

      

             

The sketch calls for a 5 1/4" circle, cut in half.  I made the top one first. Not wanting to waste the other half of the large circle, and since everything was out, I made the one on the bottom. Both cards are from one 12x12 designer paper called "Believe" by Bazzill Basics Paper. I love double sided paper and couldn't resist the wood grain/holly combination. The sentiments are in the "Snow's Woodland Pets" clear stamp set by Inky Antics, artist Tammy DeYoung.

Well, it's time for the cupcakes to come out of the oven. I'll leave you now and come back later and post the Bonus sketch for this week.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Busy week ahead: A Sketch Challenge & Candy!

Good morning friends!

This week will be a super busy one for me. It's week 1 of The Birthdays! [da da da dunnn] October is Birthday Central for so many of us in the family. This week [yesterday] two granddaughters celebrated their big day; Kaitlyn turned 11, and Kiara turned 8. Today my lovely mom is 90 years young. I'm having a small party for her this Saturday so it's busy, busy, busy!

This week is my turn to host the Member Challenge over at CardSwaps. It started Monday [yesterday] and runs through Sunday, Oct 14th, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Note: you'll want to read my entire post... there's Candy involved! Here's the sketch I came up with, and 2 samples:

My first sample is Christmas themed. The papers are from the "Peaceful" collection by Authentique Paper. The sentiment is a sticker from the "Details" sticker sheet of the same collection. The gray is shimmer cardstock and I used VersaMark ink by Tsuneko to stamp small snowflakes for an all over design.

My second sample is also Christmas themed. The red and green designer papers are by The Paper Studio. I matted both papers on green dotted swiss cardstock by Bazzill Basics Paper.

Now for the Candy!
Each week at CardSwaps Member Challenge one lucky name is randomly drawn, by the host, from entrants who post a photo of a card made using this sketch. The winner receives Candy from me. Pop on over, enter a card, and you'll be entered in the drawing for Candy. Here's the link again.

Leave a comment on this post by 11:59 p.m. EST Sunday, October 14th, 2012. Next Monday, Oct 15th, I will randomly draw a name from the commenters to win more Candy from me.! I'll post the winners here next Monday. Please... in your comment leave a way for me to contact you.

Thank you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

World Cardmaking Day, delayed

Blessed Sunday my friends!

Saturday, October 6th, was World Cardmaking Day. Over on Operation Write Home's Stars & Stamps blog they had a huge Blog Hop. There were 97, yes 97, blogs to visit with tons of inspiration. I'm putting the link here directly to the Blog Hop post. I urge you to hop over there, after you're done here, and take advantage of all the creative inspiration. OWH has fixed each link so you'll go directly to the host's post. No Hunting!!

I spent Saturday being creative too! I got a total of 22 cards make, all of which will be mailed to OWH so they can be sent to our troops to write home to their families and friends. This is such a worthwhile cause that allows us, on the home front, to do our part.

It's wonderful to help the living for a change. Let me explain... 5 1/2 years ago I joined the Patriot Guard Riders, or in short, PGR. I heard about the PGR through my son who is a member, and in fact I'm still a member. This is a national volunteer organization, recognized by the Us. S. Government and U.S. Armed Forces. We have ONE purpose for existing, and that is to honor our fallen heroes killed in the line of duty. Many, many of our members are Veterans themselves.

Our members, at the request of the family, form an honor guard of American Flags outside the Funeral Home during visitation, and then later at the cemetery for burial. We also help shield the family, upon their request, to form a non-violent barrier between them and the press or radial groups who want to get in their face.  Yes friends, any time we honor a fallen hero is a sad time. And, I'm sad to say. I've participated in way too many of these missions here in my local area. There have been way too many of our young men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice. These brave heroes have laid down their life to protect and defend The United States of America.

So you see my friends, when I learned of OWH two years ago I jumped at the chance to join the group. I'm doing something I love, which is card making, and I'm helping our heroes keep in touch with home. I can't begin to tell you how rewarding this is for me. I know receiving a box of OWH cards brings smiles and joy to the faces of our troops. I've seen the photos, and read the letters, they've sent to OWH. I know it brings smiles and joy to the families and friends who receive an OWH card from their loved one. I've read the the letters they've sent to OWH.

I fully intended to show you my cards in this post. As you can, or can't, see... this isn't happening. For some reason I'm having trouble uploading the photos to my computer.

For more information on OWH please click here.
For more information about PGR please click here.

Thank you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

A Tropical Thank You

Hello my friends!

My little card today combines the CardSwaps and OWH Midweek Throwdown challenges together. On Tuesday CardSwaps posted their CardMaker Corner Challenge to use a sketch from CardMaker Magazine. I'm using sketch #20 from the November 2010 issue as I already had this set out to use for Christmas Cards.

On Wednesday OWH Stars & Stamps posted their Midweek Throwdown challenge to create a 'Thinking of You' card. So I thought... why not combine the two. I'm slowly learning to combine different challenges into one card.

I had some Graphic45 paper left over from a summer project. The background paper has fish on it but you can't tell it here, it's one side of paper called "Oceania". The tropical bird is from one side of paper called "Botanica". This particular piece of paper has several birds and other tropical images, 9 altogether, and I love that. They come in handy when Mr. Artha Ritis won't let my hands do fine, detail coloring. The image already had the distressing around the edges. I distressed my cream card stock so it would somewhat match. I used dark blue card stock for matting and some dots of Liquid Pearls for bling.

Papers: Graphic45, Tropical Travelogue Collection
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Admiral; Cream from my stash
Ink: Ranger Tea Dye Distress Ink
Embellishments:
Ribbon - My Stash... and I wish I could find more. :(
Liquid Pearls Ocean Blue by Ranger

If you've ever been intimidated about combining challenges I say 'go for it'! It's like anything else, once you do it a couple of times it's not so intimidating. I'm sure glad I tried it. It gets easier every time I combine challenges.

Thank You so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Authentique Paper, Part 2.

One last post for today. Boy... it sure has been a busy one for me. I made another project for Authentique Paper's September challenge. This Haunted House was both fun and time consuming to make. The template for the house came from Winnie Thacker, owner of The Scrapbook General Store in Flatwoods, Kentucky. Winnie is the sweetest lady EVER! Whenever I visit my son, who lives 30 minutes away, her shop is my LSS away from home. Without further ado, here's my Haunted House project.

It's on the small side, measuring 2 1/2" x 4 1/2", but cool things come in small packages.

Untie the ribbon, open it up, and Voila... oodles of pockets for tags and mini photos. How cute is that?? The individual bats were cute apart from the Bat Ribbon I used on the previous card.

Here's a close-up of one of the tags. I had so much fun decorating all the tags and pockets. I kept everything pretty simple, and flat, 'cause it goes to a cute little girl.

Paper: Authentique Paper's "Enchanted" paper & "Details" & "Elements" sticker sheets.
Ribbon: May Art's (yay, I remembered where it's from)
Miscellaneous: black card stock and chipboard from my stash.

Well friends, I'm ready to call it a day. Thank You so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Authentique challenge for September

Did you ever make a project for a challenge, set it aside for something to dry, and then forget it? Yep, that is what happened to me. [said with a sheepish grin and very red face]

Every month Authentique has a challenge, starting the 1st Saturday of every month, and it's open for that entire month. Towards the middle of September I bought some of their new Halloween collection, paper & stickers, called "Enchanted". I got busy making Halloween cards for the grandkids and I made one for this challenge. After making my card I added some Stickles to the cobweb paper for sparkle, then set it atop my cabinet to dry. Yep... I forgot about it, how embarrassing. Luckily the challenge ends tonight at Midnight PST, so I'm still able to enter my card. Here's the card I made:

Here's the card sketch we were to follow:

Papers: Authentique "Enchanted" papers and their matching "Details" sticker sheet & "Glowing" elements 2.
Stickles, Frosted Lace, by Ranger
Bakers Twine and Bat ribbon from my stash.

Thank You so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit.

Revisiting a forgotten technique.

Gooood morning friends, and 'Happy Hump Day'! I think my Mojo is workin in overdrive this week. I'm not complaining because it's been kinda slow lately. A new Member Challenge was posted Monday over at CardSwaps. Elaine has a water color technique for us, and I had so much fun with this forgotten technique that I couldn't stop creating. It makes for a quick, easy, and stunning CAS card.

The first method [cards on the right] is by coloring directly on a stamp using either water based markers or watercolor crayons, mist the stamp with water and stamp on paper. I don't have the crayons and my water based markers have long since gone to the craft pile in the sky, so I improvised. Ahhhh, good 'ole Improv! I used Ranger Distress Ink in three shades on my stamp, and misted it with water.

The second method [cards on the left] is to use reinkers and drop a couple drops of color directly on a stamp block, then use a brush dipped in water to spread the color on the block and stamp the color on paper. Then, stamp an image over the color after it dries. Time for Improv again. :)  Using Distress Ink pad I pounced the pad on a stamping block and misted it with water, then used a water pen to swirl the ink.

I know you're supposed to use watercolor paper but I couldn't find mine, so I used white cardstock. When the color dried I found a very nice, almost velvety texture, where I had stamped. [Happy surprise.]

Ink: Ranger Distress in Dried Marigold, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, and Bundled Sage. Memento Tuxedo Black.

Stamps: Exotic Bloom by Hero Arts, Sentiment by WordStamp.

I won't rattle on and take up more of your time. It's fun revisiting techniques you haven't done lately. Try it!

Thank you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!