Man Stripes

Good Morning Peeps!

As you may have noticed, moustaches are the rage right now. I've had this moustache dies/stamp set by HeroArts for a while and just got around to using it. [It's not as easy using a 'stache as you might think.] I seem to neglect masculine cards and decided it was time to solve that problem.

The DUDE and sentiment stamps are from Simon Says Stamp card kits. I fussy cut around the DUDE stamp to leave a small white edge to mimic the 'stache. I turned the sentiment into a banner, added 3 black liquid pearl dots for buttons, and called it done.

Not only did I get 4 cards from a leftover pieces of striped paper, but I finally found a way to use my moustache die/stamp set, and have masculine cards to send in to Operation Write Home! Now I call that a successful craft session.

My back porch swing is calling me so I'll say bye for now. Thank you for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

Monkey Time

Howdy Peeps! I tell you, sometimes my craft space becomes a bottomless pit... or land of the lost. Yup, that's what it is.

I had made a card similar to this a while back for a fun fold challenge. The fun fold wasn't anything to write home about [my humble opinion] because it used more card stock for the fold, and you could get the same effect without the extra step. I couldn't find the video for the fun fold, but no biggie as I wasn't going to use it anyway. But... I had extra paper because I liked it so much... but then lost it. [mumble, mumble] Fast forward to now, two months later... I found the paper and made more of these cards before I lost the paper again.

The monkey/blue & white dotted paper is a double sided piece. The front paper is cut 1" narrower [that would be 3 1/4"]. The left side of the front is a 1 1/4" strip of solid blue hand cut into fringe. I used a 3" scallop circle punch for the half circle on the right so part of the monkey would be showing. I also sponged brown along the edges.

The monkey on the inside is a builder punch by McGill, and the balloons are made with a Marvy paper punch. A couple of pieces of baker's twine, and a stamped sentiment later, I have a CASE card like the original - minus the fun fold. [The builder punch for the monkey has several small pieces/parts to make the monkey, and takes a little time... but the end result was worth it. Plus... I got the punch at 75% off so it's all good!]

Well, I going to get going. Maybe I'll find some more lost treasures in my craft space. Thank you for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

Flowers in Silhouette

GoodW Morning Peeps!

It looks like another rainy day here as storm clouds are moving in. We've had a lot of rain, but nothing compared to the flooding the folks in the Plains have had. It's been a good day to work on this week's OWH Sketch Challenge #231. The link is Here.

I really couldn't decide what to put in the one panel until I looked at my stamps. This flower silhouette stamp just said "pick me!", so I did. I used a glitter pen on the flower, BUT, this is not acceptable for the troops. This one I made for a friend, but I'll make others without the glitter for the troops.

Paper: Authentique 6x6 pad

Flower stamp: Hero Arts

Sentiment: Simon Says Stamps

Well, the storm clouds are really meaning business so I'll get off here. Thanks for stopping by... Hope you enjoyed your visit!

Card in a Box

Good Morning Peeps! I have a fun project to show you, and in spite of how hard it looks, it's really very easy and goes together quickly. The "box that is"... but you can spend a good bit of time picking all the cute goodies to put in your box. [giggle] It's called a card in a box, and actually folds flat to fit inside a standard A2 envelope.

I found a great You Tube tutorial from the blog Mommy-Stamper by Brianna Thompson. The link to her post and tutorial is Here. Take a few minutes while you're there to check out the rest of Brianna's blog... such a talented and creative lady.

Well Peeps, that's it for me today. Time to take some hard earned money and go grocery shopping. Hmmm... did you ever think about that one? Take food off shelf and put in basket, take food out of basket and put on checkout counter, put bags of food in car, take bags out of car into house, take food out of bags and put on shelves. One gigantic multi-step circle from shelf to shelf. [giggle]

OWH Sketch Challenge #230.

Hello Peeps!

Did you ever have a day when things didn’t go as planned or as expected? Of course you have, we all have. Today is another one of those days for me. It’s actually been more than just today… try all week! [Momma said there would be days like this. But so many in a row??]

I have literally been working on Sunday’s OWH sketch all week. Crooked paper, crooked or half inked stamping, along with other mishaps has turned a simple task like making a two cards seem endless. Yes, I was about to pitch it all until my daddy’s stubborn streak kicked in and I was determined to finish, as the old saying goes, come hell or high water!

This photo looks yellow, but the cardstock and DSP are really a pretty shade of peach. The sentiment is stamped.

Now this one really is yellow in color. The sentiment is a die cut, but I'm not that fond of how it looks. Maybe it's just me.

Thanks so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. As always, your comments are greatly appreciated. I always read them and I thank you.

Playing Catch Up.... Again!

Good Morning Peeps! How is everyone out there in blog land? Two weeks ago my garage was hit by lightning, so it’s been crazy around here. I’m just thankful it wasn’t my house! Things are slowing down a bit, but now I find I’m getting a little nervous when I hear thunder. I have never been afraid of thunderstorms, and I’m still not, just find myself a tad nervous. I know lightning can hit twice… I just hope it does not happen here!

Today I’m catching up on Operation Write Home Sketch Challenges. This is Sketch 229 from this past Sunday. Be sure to check out the links for the sketches... they have measurements! The link is Here. 

I used a 'manuscript' embossing folder for the background of the first card. My white inner circles on both cards called for 1 1/4" circles, so I had to adapt it because I don't have that size. I've used 1 1/8" circles.

Can you believe the monkeys are stickers?  They're so stinkin cute, but in hindsight I think the stickers and background paper are too busy together.

This one is Sketch 228 from a week ago Sunday. The link is Here. I got the papers on both of these cards from paper pads that I found at a clearance sale. 

Well, that's it for me today peeps! 

Well, that's it for me today peeps! I'm planning on a nice, relaxing drive in the country today. I hope you have something nice and relaxing planned as well.

Thanks for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit! 

Watercolor Cards

Good Morning Peeps!

I have some fun watercolor cards that were made without water. What??? Yep, you heard me, without water. It's a fun stamp set from Stampin Up called Happy Watercolor. Each month my SU demonstrator, Ashley McAllise has a class and these were made during class. What I love about this set is the "splotch" stamp that's in the first card looks so much like a splotch of watercolor.

Playful splashes of color from stamp and ink.

Sponge on a couple colors of ink and stamp the flowers.

Watercolor splotches again.

I love how the flower peeks out from the negative space left by using a circle punch.

This one is just so whimsical. It's rather narrow so we made our own envelopes with the Envelope Punch Board.

Well, that's about it for me today. Thank You for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Spring Has Sprung With Tulips!

Good Morning Peeps!

There was a challenge on ScrpaZee to make a tag. I've made tulips before with the SU bird punch. On Pinterest I saw some punch art where the SU owl punch was for a vase. So I decided to combine both ideas for my tag.

The tulip uses 3 wings from the bird punch. I daubed some ink on the edges before I glued the tulips together. I had a lot of fun making this and it lifted my spirits too. It was raining and gloomy that day so it was fun making something happy and cheerful.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

Wild Wacky Weekend Cards 2014

Good Morning Peeps! Today I’m showing you some of the cards I made at the Wild Wacky Weekend. As most of you know I make cards for Operation Write Home, so  these cards will be added to my box. Cards are blank on the inside so the troops can write their own messages inside.

This design is made using Authentique double sided paper. The button design is on one side and the Country Kids are on the other side. I thought it went well with my button embossing folder. Very little designer paper is used so it’s perfect for scraps.

I really had fun with these cards. The card stock, designer paper, and stamps are all from a Monthly Card Kit by Simon Says Stamps. I fussy cut the sun, mounted it on black, and fussy cut again. I love the irregular sun rays.

I love the look of sunburst cards so I had to make some. I used odds and ends papers from various 6x6 paper pads, and inked the edges for some interest. These cards will be Any Hero cards, and since they are for the troops themselves I don’t have to worry about embellishments that are too thick.

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

Wild Wacky Weekend 2014

Oh my goodness! Wild Wacky Weekend 2014, sponsored by Winnie Thacker, owner of The Scrapbook General Store was held this year it was held February 27th & 28th and March 1^st & 2^nd as usual, at Carter Caves State Park in Olive Hill, Kentucky.

The first photo is of the Easter Bunnies Wanda and Jean. I’m dedicating this post to the memory of Jean who passed away 2 weeks after this weekend. 

The second photo is the crazy talented, and fun, Winnie Thacker. I’m sad to say, as of this post, Winnie is closing her shop after 16 ½ yrs of being in business. I am so going to miss Winnie and all the gals I’ve made friends with for the last 5 years.

The next 2 photos are just general photos of gals working.

Mini Spool Card w/Envelope Punch Board

Hello again. I know... I've been missing in action again since the beginning of March. That darned Vertigo struck again which is so annoying. During that time my computer work takes a back seat. I have been making cards and other projects, so now I can post them.

This is one of the cards I found on Pinterest. The 3"x3" spool shape comes from using the Envelope Punch Board. These go together lickety split and use scraps. How cool is that? I made a set of 6 in about a half an hour, except for the needle. lol! I decided the spool needed a "a little something" and commenced drawing a needle shape. Now, I don't have any art experience but the needle shape wasn't that hard. The hard part was making it a size big enough to look right. The next set I will leave a tail of twine loose to thread through the needle.

The pin on Pinterest was to papercrafter45. The pin credited Karen Titus for the idea and video. Karen's blog is Stampin on the Back Porch and the link to her card and video is Here.

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

Die-Version Sunshine

Good Morning Peeps! Welcome to my stop on the Die-Version Blog Hop at Operation Write Home, and sponsored by Die-Version. You can visit their shop HERE. If you came here from Lisa’s blog you’re in the right place. If not, you’ll want to start back at the beginning by going to Operation Write Home’s blog, “Stars and Stamps”, which is HERE..

I absolutely love this die and I knew I wanted to do something a little different. I kept it rather plain, only adding an orange ribbon. No bow, knot, or anything else. I backed the die with orange card stock and cut the rays out of yellow and orange. The background paper has bits of yellow and orange that coordinate with the sun. I hope you like it.

You’re next stop is the ever talented, and creative, Mary. Here blog, Come Craft w/Me” can be found at the link HERE..

Enjoy you Hop, there are lots of terrific cards and inspiration. Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

A Background and a Sketch

Oh my goodness peeps, I've been busy, busy, busy. Part of my busy has been spent thinking of what I want to make at my 4 Day crop the end of  February. I've narrowed down the kinds of cards I want to make. Now I'll be busy making kits. Before I've always planned on the spot and I don't get very much accomplished. This time I'm going to measure, cut, and punch my pieces parts ahead of time. I'll let you know how it goes.

This week Operation Write Home has Sketch Challenge 209, and ScrapZee has a background challenge going on.

The ScrapZee challenge is to use a corner of a 12x12 design paper as the background of your card. I normally buy design paper with an overall design so I don't have to worry about the pretty corners. So I went with 6x6 paper pads where there are corner designs.

I've had this paper pad a long time so I don't remember who made it. All I did to the paper was add some Glossy Accents by Ranger on the word Love. Since there were already hearts along the bottom edge I punched out some hearts with the Heart punch by Martha Stewart. It also punches hole to thread ribbon, so that's exactly what I did to make the banner. A couple of silver Pearl Pen dots to anchor the ends, and I called it done. Clean, simple, and easy. Using a corner design suddenly became a lot easier.

The Operation Write Home weekly sketch goes together very quickly. I also used a 6x6 paper pad by Teresa Collins, and used a corner for the background. Here's the sketch:

Here's my card.

I love the colors and designs of the paper pad! The long strip on the left side, and the two banners are from the pad. I used a button die from Sizzix and some twine. For the rectangle I used design paper and matted it on card stock. The only thing I didn't do is the three dots and the bottom. I got so wrapped up in this card I didn't even give that element a thought. The center of the rectangle is a very soft gray and white. I left it blank so I could add a sentiment as needed.

I'll leave you with a parting thought: I'll be looking at Designer Series Paper [DSP] with brand new eyes!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you  enjoyed your visit!

I read and appreciate your comments.

Monster Love

How are you doin peeps? I’m still a semi shut-in because of this crazy dizziness. On the bright side, it’s too cold out for me so I don’t mind being inside. On the down side, I have to have someone drive me wherever I go. Back on the bright side, I have lots of time to make cards. So… it all works out!

The card I’m showing you today is for the Monday challenge over at ScrapZee. We’re to make a Valentine’s card using red, white, and one other color. Soooo… here’s what I came up with.

Outside:

Inside:

I just love this monster and these sentiments that’s in the January 2014 Monthly Card Kit from “Simon Says Stamps!”. This one is for my GD, age 12, who loves lime green. I’ve also got the pieces/parts made up for another GD, age 9, and two GS’s, age 4 and 2.

Time for me to go and work on my 2014 Calendar. Yeah, you might say I’m a tad late… but I just have to finish the last half of the year.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

I appreciate and real all comments.

Serene Trees- CAS

Hi Peeps! When I started making cards I was in to the Vintage or Shabby Chic look. Every so often my style changes, and right now I favor the Clean and Simple or CAS look. If you throw in Quick and Easy you can get a lot done.

I used the Leafy Tree embossing folder by Darice, and two sets of dies. The birds are from Memory Box. The hearts, I believe, are also from Memory Box. Sorry, I lost the packaging and don't remember for sure where I got the die. The sentiment is from Stampin Up! set called Well Scripted.

I love the simplicity of these cards and how quickly they went together. It’s also a great design when you need multiples of the same card.

So peeps, there you have it for today. I hope you have a great day… whatever you are doing!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

I appreciate and real all comments.

Circle Mania

Good Morning Peeps! Well, it’s the start of another loooovely week of temps in the teens and twenties. No, I don’t love these temps but as they say “It could be worse”. The cold temps, for me, is an opportunity to stay indoors and make cards. I so need to replenish some of the cards I keep on hand.

I’m starting out the week by trying Sketch #208 from Operation Write Home’s [OWH] blog, Stars & Stamps. I hardly ever use my circle punches for design elements, so this sketch lets me play around with circles… lots of circles.

Here’s the sketch I used. For lots of good ideas go to OWH’s blog, here, to see what the other participants made.

I love the look of red, white, and black together. The always make a crisp looking card and can be used for both guys and girls. The paper is a 6x6 pad by Teresa Collins called “Stationary Noted”. The stamps are from a clear stamp set by Simon Says Stamps! called “You”. I also used the 1 ½” and 2” scalloped circle punches by Fiskars.

Well, now I’ve got a craft table mess to clean up, so I have to go. I know… clean one mess up and then make another. Ha! Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

I read and appreciate every comment. Thank You!

Chalkboards and Banners

Howdy peeps! If you're wondering what chalkboards and banners have to do with each other, I'll tell you. Absolutely nothing... unless you are combining two challenges. And  I’m getting a last minute dive for the deadline for both. Nice Marlene, great way to start a new year. L

Last Wednesday the challenge on Operation Write Home's Midweek Throwdown was to make a card using the chalkboard technique. Now, I love how it looks, but have never been brave enough to try it. I Googled "Chalkboard Cards" and found lots of good samples, tutorials, videos, and Pinterest Boards. This technique was lots of fun and now I’m wondering why I was so scared!

Also on last Wednesday was a Banner Challenge on the ScrapZee online group. We were, of course, supposed to use a Banner on a card. So…. by combining both challenges I came up with this card. The background is a pretty “Valentine” red, but the photo has a nasty orange hue.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

I appreciate and real all comments.

Supplies:

Technique Tuesday stamp set, Bright Idea

Hero Arts Stamp&Cut set, Fun Flags [one banner die and 3 banner clear stamps]

Authentique double sided paper, Smitten collection, Fusion & Written

VersaMark Watermark ink pad

Ranger  Sea Foam White embossing powder.

Quick and Easy cards

Hello peeps! I hope you’re all feeling better than I am. I’m having one of my wonky days where my hands are real shaky and I just feel blah! It’s definitely not a good day for making cards, but I made a couple anyway.

I followed the Sketch Challenge 207 over on OWH’s blog Stars& Stamps. I like the simplicity of this sketch and I need to use up some odds and ends of 6x6 papers pads. This seems like a good chance to do both!

I made both a masculine and feminine version. These went together real fast [a good thing], added a few pearl pen accents, then called these done.

Now I’m going to give my shaky hands a rest. Mainly because I'm tired of typing the wrong letters. Lol! Take care of yourselves peeps!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

I read and appreciate all comments.

Combinding Challenges

Good morning peeps! So far this year has been busier than bees! There are two challenges going on over at Operation Write Home [OWH]. There’s this week’s sketch challenge #206, and also the monthly Our Daily Bread Designs [OBDB] monthly challenge

I love the layers on the Sketch Challenge so I had to give it a try. The OBDB Challenge is to use stripes. For some reason I shy away from stripes so I really wanted to try this… combining both challenges into one card really challenged me. However, I had fun and I’m glad I challenged myself to leave my comfort zone.

Links to both challenges:

Sketch #206 - The link is here.

OBDB -  The link is here.

I made three cards. For the first two I played with fall colors and embossing folders, On one my stiped paper is on an angle, while the other has the stripes vertical. It always amazes me how one paper can look so different.

My third card has papers that, believe it or not, have a summer theme. I had to play around with the center circle shape and create a banner.

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

I read all comments and appreciate all of them.

Supplies:

First two cards -  Authentique 6x6 paper pad, Collection: Fresh
Third card – Echo Park 6x6 paper pad, Reflections-Fall
Hexagon dies. Scalloped circle punches, baker’s twine.

Welcome 2014

Happy New Year peeps! Wow… where did this last year go?  I like to take New Year’s to reflect back on the last year to review my life in general and my card making. This past year I had some health issues that affected my balance, and that in turn sent my card making mojo into a nose dive.

Before getting into my Top 13 I want to say a huge “Thank You” to all of you who visit my blog and/or are followers. I want you to know how much I appreciate you and all the wonderful comments you have left me.

Operation Write Home [ OWH ] is having a Blog H0hop today to review our top 13 cards of 2013. I’m one of the participants, among many, and there will be a wealth of inspiration for everyone! Be sure to visit OWH’s blog, Stars & Stamps to hop around. The link is here.

I’m sharing my Top 13 cards as examples of what I did to overcome things like shaky hands, vision trouble, and no mojo. I’ve also included some ways I was able to learn and grow as a card maker during the times I wasn’t sick. You’re never too old to learn!

Jan 5^th here. Learning a new Fun Fold card.

 Mar 5^th here. Pushing myself to use papers I don’t think will play together nicely.

Apr 16^th here. I use sketches a lot!

Apr 16^th here. It is hard for me to match greens, so it challenges me.

Apr 21^st here. Pre-colored digital images help save the day from shaky hands.

May 12^th here. Revisit a technique I haven’t used in a while.

May 15^th here. Paula’s monthly Boot Camp series at OWH helped me grow.

May 31^st here. Die cut silhouettes help when my hands are too shaky for coloring.

July 4^th here. I get great ideas from Pinterest.

Sep 11^th here. Paper piecing can save the day. [I don’t color critters very well]

Sep 17^th  here. Take a coloring class.

Oct 5^th here. More paper piecing.

Dec 23^rd here. Another Pinterest idea.

Thank You peeps for stopping by… hope you enjoyed your visit! And…

Happy New Year!