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! 

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.

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!

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.

Ringing out the old!

Good morning peeps! Wow... three, count 'em, three days till a brand New Year 2014.  When I was a kid growing up in the 1950's the thought of  living past the year 2000 was... well... science fiction. Ha! I bet I'm not alone here, right?

Today there's a new sketch and challenge over on OWH's blog Stars & Stamps. To see the sketch, with measurements, click here. I tried Sketch 205 to make His & Her missing you cards. Missing You cards are always in need for the troops. I loved this sentiment stamp "I've missed You!" when I bought it. Hmmm... does "I've missed you" mean the same thing as "Missing you"? Let me know what YOU think.

I had to geehaw my card in the embossing folder so the embossing is going at an angle instead of being vertical. Now that it's done I really like the embossing this way... adds more interest.

Thank You so much for taking the time to stop by... hope you enjoyed yourself! I enjoy, and read, all comments and they are greatly appreciated.

Scrappy Trouble

Goooood morning peeps... or should I say afternoon! My oh my, can I find scrappy trouble or what? I made two  cards and the first one turned out like I planned. It's made for Wednesday's MWT over at OWH's blog, Stars & Stamps, here. The theme was transportation. I used OWH Sketch 174 found here.

I'm very happy with how it turned out! [Love it when a plan comes together... lol] The papers I used on both cards, 6x6 double sided papers, are from Simon Says Stamps May 2013 Card Kit of the Month.

The second... oh my! Now, I'm the first to admit I have trouble taking scraps and turning them into a great card. So I challenged myself to make a second card using only the scraps from the five 6x6 papers from card 1. 

I ended up with some pretty odd sizes of paper left over from card 1. Soooo.... I went "sketch hunting" through OWH sketches. I figured Sketch 147, here, would work... almost. But.... ta daaaa... I made a pretty good card! [Oh phooey, she says throwing modesty to the wind] I think it turned out great!!


Papers & card stock - SSS May 2013 Card Kit of the Month
Card 1 - Bicycle die cut from Paper Crazy. flower trinket from Serenade Trinkets by Bo Bunny
Card 2 - Dies Cuttlebug 2x2 sliders die by Provo Carft, ribbon, my stash

Well peeps, as my Great Uncle used to say... "stick a fork in me and call me done". Thank you so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

It's all about the Owl

Happy Sunday my friends. After all my whining last week about my problems I can honestly say the week has been great... YAY!!

Have you ever stressed out about something and then halfway through you ask yourself... "what's your problem lady?". I did that with this weeks Sketch Challenge over at OWH's blog Stars & Stamps. The challenge, by the way, is sponsored by Doodle Pantry which has some awesome digital stamps. I used Doodle Pantry's pre colored Owl and one of the sentiments from the digital set, Quirky Owl, to make this card.

Here's the sketch:

My interpretation of the sketch doesn't have the small circles [which can be anything]. I tried lots of things like various shapes, bling, buttons, you name it, and nothing looked right to me. It seemed off balance with the owl. So I finally said "what's your problem lady?", and left those elements off. Yep, I talk to myself when I'm crafting. Ha!

You can find the Quirky Owl set here. The set come with 2 owls, one black & white and one in color, two digital sentiments, and 2 digital papers.

Well, that's it for me today. Enjoy you day and thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed your visit with me!

Skip Winner and OWH Sketch 159

Sunday Blessings my friends. I want to apologize for being almost a week late posting the winner of last Saturday's OWH Blog Skip. So without further to do.... random.org picked... drum roll please..............

Winner of the Tonic Border Punch

Donna Nuce  

Congratulations Donna!

Donna, please email me your address so I can get you punch to you. It's: marlened00 at gmail dot com   [yes, those are 2 zeros following my name]

This past week has been crazy, but I'm thankful the Good Lord has allowed me to keep my sanity. Those of you that follow my blog know my mom, who is 90, is in bad shape in the Nursing Home. Mom's been having chest pains so they're looking to see if she's developed heart problems or if it's something else. There is no definite conclusion yet, but it's been a whirlwind of visits, phone consultations. and keeping the family updated.

I did manage to get some craft time in this weekend. Here's my take on Clean and Simple, and this week's OWH Sketch Challenge.

I've had the Hero Arts stamp set, All The Time, since it came out and have wanted a clock embossing folder to go along with it. I finally found this one by Darice at my local craft store. The clock and sentiment are stamped using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink by Ranger. I matted the embossed piece and sentiment on kraft cardstock.

I've never had an embossing folder as temperamental as this one. Now, I use really sturdy cardstock when I emboss... but this folder embossed so deeply that it actually tore the cardstock at the circles. OMG... are you kidding me?? NEVER had this happen before!! On the bright side, I now have embossed clock die cuts to use on something else.

I used my Cuttlebug and had to do away with the normal "B sandwich". I solved the problem by placing several pieces of cardstock on  the A spacer, my EF on top of that, then a B plate on top of that. It was crazy but I was determined a piece of cardstock and a hand cranked machine were NOT going to get the best of me. [giggle]

Now it's time to get a 'cuppa joe', put my feet up, and relax a little. Thanks so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

Happy New Year 2013!!

Good morning friends! My wish for all of you, as we start this new year, is to have peace, love, health, and happiness in your life. We don't know what this year has in store for us. The best we can do is cherish each day that's given to us, and make each day count.

Sunday was the new Sketch Challenge 153 over at Operation Write Home. Be sure to pop over to OWH's blog, Stars & Stamps, and have a look see.

I chose to flip the sketch this week, and make a New Year's card for all of you.

Well, I have egg on my face already peeps. I've only had the clock DSP for a couple of weeks, but I can't for the life of me remember who makes it. The New Year's subway art is a free digi from Paulette over at Create with TLC. Make sure you look around over at Paulette's. The link is for the post with this freebie... but she always has fantastic ones to offer. The sheer, blue ribbon, is from May Arts.

Here's the sketch if you'd like to give it a try.

This is the last week, after 2 yrs, that Julie will be presenting the weekly sketches. Julie, like everyone, would like to persue some other interests but she will still be participating in OWH. This also means that next Sunday I will move into her spot as the weekly Sketch Wrangler. Julie, you've left some big shoes for me to fill. Thank You from the bottom of my heart for doing such a fantastic job with the sketches.

It won't be long before I put my sauerkraut and pork on the cook for dinner. That's our family tradition... to have this meal on New Year's Day instead of New Year's Eve. So I'll say goodbye for now. Thank You so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

OWH sketch 151, just for fun!

Good afternoon peeps! Are you ready for Christmas? I'm about half way there, but that's normal for me. I thought I'd play around today... like I don't have a gazillion things still to do. But hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do... right? Right, exactly!

At first I wasn't going to do this week's sketch on Operation Write Home's blog Stars and Stamps.

But then I looked down at my mess... errrr work space, and saw some left over reindeer heads made from SU's owl punch. So I whipped up this card from leftover scraps.

Yep, that's right. It's all made from leftovers. The reindeer antlers are from pieces parts of the Pine punch by McGill. The scraps of DSP are from the Christmas Cottage 6x6 paper pad by Teresa Collins. Oh, almost forgot the holly ribbon by May Arts. It's kind of hidden behind the reindeer heads, but it's there. :)

Well peeps, there's more candy to be made so I'm gonna run. Thank You so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

CardSwaps Challenge, OWH Sketch, and Pinterest Make For Strange Bedfellows!

Blessed Sunday my friends! I know this is a long post title, but it fits this card to a T! The challenge at CardSwaps last Monday was to have a wreath on your card. I so wanted to make a punch art wreath with branches, or snowflakes, or leaves... all attempts were fails. I should clarify and say 3 days of fails! :(   Then I saw a card on Pinterest with the cutest, and simplest, wreath. I eagerly abandoned my punch art fails and made the Pinterest wreath. Seriously, this wreath took all of about 10 minutes start to finish. Operation Write Home's weekly sketch 145 came out this morning on their blog Stars & Stamps. An A-HAH moment and it all fell into place.

I really, really like how it turned out. I was able to take a concept from Pinterest, modify it slightly, and make a card that fills the CardSwaps challenge and the OWH sketch challenge. It was quite easy to put together and would make a great kit card. Oh... and there isn't any stamping involved. Last year I found Rub-On sets by The Paper Company. It's an outside - inside set meaning the Merry Christmas is the front, or outside sentiment. The inside sentiment reads Wishing you peace, joy and happiness. Actually, I assigned Merry Christmas to the front because it fit with the sketch. Whichever way you use the sentiments it reads very well, so I don't think it matters.

For the wreath I punched the center circle first then centered the larger punch over it and punched. For the banner I used the 3/4" square punch, at an angle, to make the fishtail ends.

Ooops! I had to come back and add something. Don't ya hate when that happens? Here is the sketch we are to follow at OWH:

Supplies:
Card Stock: Bazzill red, white, green
Embossing folder - SU Petals A Plenty
Punches: 2 1/2" scallop circle(Marvy Uchida)
               1 1/8" plain circle (not sure)
               3/4" square punch (Creative Memories or CM)
               Small heart border punch, EKSuccess... I think.
Sentiment: The Paper Co (TPC) rub-on set Merry Christmas Multiples
Ink: Ranger Distress Ink in Festive Berries
Poinsettia & Leaf: Hero Arts felt embellishments
Liquid Pearls: White Opal

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!

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!

OWH Sketch #134

Happy Monday peeps! Yesterday a new Operation Write Home was posted on their blog Stars and Stamps. It's a great sketch and I knew right away what I wanted to make. Unfortunately, in my eyes, it's a card fail. You know what I mean... it looks so fabulous in your head but the finished product, yeah not so much!

Don't get me wrong, I really like the way it turned out. And I know
someone will love it... I just don't love it. The brightness of the yellow just isn't workin for me. I'm not a Bold color person. I'm more of the Softer Vintage color type. Sooooo, this card really pushes me out of my comfort zone. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and go for it.

I got the focal stamp, and other kitchen related stamps, back in the spring. The background stamp on the yellow has a repeat pattern of rolling pins, measuring spoons, and measuring cups. I used a slightly darker shade of yellow ink and it helped tone down  the plain yellow cardstock. It's not very noticeable but it works for me. Of course I had to get the utensil brads because, well... I loved them!

Supply list:
Stamps - by Great Impressions #s G356 and H 193
Cardstock - by Bazzill in red, blue, yellow
Ribbon - my stash
Brads - Eyelet Outlet

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