Bright Thank You

This card features paper that I use again and again. The paper is from the Queen and Co "Magic" line.  These papers are great because they are bright and fun, but not feminine. That doesn't sound like such a tall order, but most "masculine" papers use dark or dull colors and seem somber to me. So, when I found this paper, I bought a bunch. 

OWH Sketch #91

This card is doing triple-duty today! I'm submitting it to the July OWH Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge. The challenge this month was to make a "Thank You" card. 

This card also uses colors from the latest Your Next Stamp Challenge. 

Finally, the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is "Anything Goes," so I'm entering this card over there as well. 

Look Beyond the Clouds

I used an old sketch from Viva La Verve to create this cute card. The washi tape I used was very wide, so I cut it in half. 

The sentiment is from Kraftin' Kimmie. I'm entering this card in the latest Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge which is to make a rainbow.

Viva La Verve June 2015  

Stamp: Kraftin' Kimmie
Ink: Momento Grey Flannel
Washi: Bella Blvd
Bling: Cloud 9 Raindrops
Paper: Little Yellow Bicycle "Escape"

Home Tryptic

Because the final day to get cards to Operation Write Home is August 1, 2015, I'm working hard to use up all the papers I bought specifically to make "Home Sweet Home" cards. I'm also working my way through all the past OWH sketches.

So here is one of these final OWH cards: 

OWH Sketch #171

The Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Anything Goes," so I'm entering this card over there. 

The paper is from Amy Tangerine "Ready Set Go."

I used a stamp from a MFT set called "Homespun Birdhouse"

Ink was Momento Nautical Blue

The heart was made with a heart punch from Stampin' Up

White Stamping on Kraft

The Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Anything Goes" this week. They encouraged everyone to try something new. So I'm entering this card which is a big departure from my usual techniques. 

First I masked off the edges with tape to make a boarder. Then I stamped the flower images in Unicorn White from Hero Arts. Them I masked off the flowers and stamped the leaf images in Unicorn White. Once the white ink dried I stamped over each flower with a blue dye ink (SU Pool Party) and stamped over each leaf with a green dye ink (SU Wild Wasabi). 

I removed the masking tape and voila! Pretty cool, right?

Amy Tangerine Home

Because the final day to get cards to Operation Write Home is August 1, 2015, I'm working hard to use up all the papers I bought specifically to make "Home Sweet Home" cards. I'm also working my way through all the past OWH sketches.

So here is one of these cards: 

OWH Sketch #185

The Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Anything Goes," so I'm entering this card over there. 

The paper is from Amy Tangerine "Ready Set Go."

I used a stamp from a MFT set called "Homespun Birdhouse"

The hearts were made with heart punches from Stampin' Up and the edges were inked with chalk ink. 

Advice from a dog

The theme this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is "Furry Friends," so I made this dog-themed card. The paper is from Bo Bunny Happy Tails and the funny sentiment is from Riley and Co. 

The challenge this week at the Mod Squad Challenge blog is to make a Fast and Easy card. This card was pretty easy. No die-cuts, embossing or coloring. Just two circle punches for the dog image. Otherwise this was all done with one color of ink and a paper trimmer. 

Giddy Up!

If you haven't already heard, Operation Write Home is closing its doors at the end of this year. All cards must arrive there by August 1 and then they will continue sending cards overseas through December. If you have extra cards that meet their guidelines, please go ahead and ship them now. Any size box or envelope will be accepted as long as it arrives by August 1. 

Well, in honor of this big occasion I'm going back to the beginning with a card based on OWH sketch #1. 

OWH Sketch #1

This sketch is a great opportunity to make a card that has a strong focal point -- as fits with the second lesson from Summer School at My Favorite Things. 

Also, the theme this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is to use your favorite technique. My favorite technique right now is die-cutting. I used a spellbinders deckle edged rectangle die for the little panel of paper that the hat is on and the dark brown paper that it is matted on. 

I hope some little cowboy enjoys this card and gets to see his loved one very soon. 

My Sunshine

My Favorite Things is posting a series of lessons about composition. The most recent was about using lines to direct attention and provide focus. For this card I used the lines going from upper right to lower left to direct attention to the sentiment. Because we read English from left to right and from top to bottom, our eyes are trained to begin viewing an object in the upper left corner. With this card, your eye will start at the upper left corner and then follow the lines to the lower right. 

I used the colors from the most recent MFT Color Challenge. The stamp is from a MFT set called "Textile Rectangles." I inked it up with Melon Mambo ink from Stampin' Up. I used the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder from Cuttlebug because the dots matched with the circles in the frame around the stamp. 

Amy Tangerine and Backward Spellbinders

This is the third card I'm posting using a 6 x 6 pad of paper called "Ready, Set, Go" by Amy Tangerine this one uses an OWH sketch. 

The theme this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is to use your favorite technique. I recently acquired my first die-cutting machine. So, right now die-cutting is my favorite thing to do. For this card, I wanted the navy rectangle to be plain on 3 sides and only have a scallop on one edge. So I used just the bottom edge of a scalloped rectangle die to add a little something to that one side of the rectangle. It was a fun way to use a die and worked surprisingly well. 

OWH Sketch #239

Stamp: Hero Arts Forest Friends
Ink: Momento Nautical Blue
Bling: Cloud 9 Raindrops
Scalloped Oval Punch: Stampin Up

Embossed and Die-Cut Love Card

This card is part of my ongoing project to make at least one card using each Operation Write Home sketch. 

I used a card base from DCWV that was already printed with pink stripes. It's difficult to see in this picture, but the panel of pink paper on the top is embossed with hearts. 

The theme this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is to use your favorite technique. I recently acquired my first die-cutting machine. So, right now die-cutting is my favorite thing to do. 

OWH Sketch #81

Heart punch: Stampin' Up 
Paper: My Mind's Eye
Label punch: Stampin' Up Word Window
Embossing folder: Darcie
Die: Spellbinders
Stamp: Hero Arts Everyday Sayings
Ink: Stampin' Up Melon Mambo
String: From stash (I have had this a really long time)

Summer Coffee Lover's Card

I made this card for the Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop.  If you haven't already seen it, check it out. Lots of fun cards to look at and good prizes as well. 

I used Operation Write Home Sketch #73. The paper is from the Basic Grey Two Scoops collection. The coffee cup stamp is from a set from Fiskars. I used Momento Ink in Grey Flannel to stamp the image. 

Operation Write Home Sketch #73

Chocolate Raspberry

For this card I used some pretty cool paper from Core'dinations. Its from their Chocolate collection and called "Raspberry Cordial". I embossed it with a heart embossing folder and then sanded away some of the "chocolate" layer to expose the raspberry underneath. 

I'm entering this in the Verve "Eat Me Drink Me" inspiration challenge. I used their new "Chocolate" set to stamp the sentiment in the corner. I also used the latest Mojo Monday sketch for the card design. 

Wish You Were Near

Today I have yet another card using the scrappy background technique. 

I used colors from the latest Waffle Flower Challenge. I also used some design elements from their inspiration photo. It might be difficult to see, but some of the designs in the embossing folder (Floral Fantasy by Cuttlebug) match the little rug in the photo. I also chose a Spellbinders die that mimicked the lacy edges of the little rug. 

The sentiment comes from a set from Whimsy Stamps that was designed by Sandy Allnock. 

Each month Our Daily Bread Designs sponsors the shipping on up to two boxes for cards for Operation Write Home based on how many people participate in their monthly challenge. This month the challenge is to make a "missing you" card. I'm entering this card in that challenge and I'll also be sending it to OWH. 

If you are interested in donating to OWH, please note that ALL cards must be received by OWH before August 1, 2015. They will not be accepting any shipments after that. 

Bubble Birthday

I made this birthday card to combine two of this week's challenges. The colors come from the latest Your Next Stamp challenge. The challenge this week at the Mod Squad Challenge blog is to make a birthday card.

I found scraps from my stash that matched the YNS challenge colors and used the "scrappy background" technique. Then I dry embossed the background with an embossing folder called "Tiny Bubbles."

The stamp is from My Favorite Things and I thought the little circles around the boarder matched the bubbles from the embossing folder. I used a corner rounder on the sentiment and on the card base.

wistful watercolor

Pretty Pink Posh is hosting a Watercolor Blog Hop and I'm joining in! 

The watercolors I used are called Twinkling H2O's. If you've never used them, let me explain. They are pots of solid watercolors with mica in them. You get them wet and let the water sit a while to soften the paint. Then, when you paint with them the colors all have a soft shimmer to them. Very beautiful, but hard to capture with my camera. 

For this card I used a stamp from Penny Black called "wistful." The stamp is pretty large, and really beautiful. So, it needs to take center stage when its used on a card. 

I painted washes of color using Twinkling H2O's on watercolor paper. When they dried, I stamped the image over the top using black Staz-on ink. That's all! The part that took the longest was waiting for the paint to dry. 

Car Card

The challenge this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is to make masculine cards. That is a good opportunity to this unique car stamp that I have from Club Scrap. It shows the right half of one car and the left half of the other and I'm never quite sure what to do with it. Sketch 231 from Operation Write Home seemed to be a good choice. 

Operation Write Home #231

Sketch: Operation Write Home #231
Paper: Colorbox
Sentiment Stamp: Hero Arts
Image Stamp: Club Scrap

Best Dad Ever Card

When I saw this paper it seemed like a great choice for making colorful, interesting cards that would be appropriate to send to men. 

Because I'm making cards for Operation Write Home, a sentiment like "best dad ever" is great. It could be used as a birthday card, a Father's Day card, or just to let dad know that he's in your thoughts. 

Paper: Basic Grey Hello Luscious
Stamp: Verve
Washi: My Mind's Eye

This week the Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Make it Masculine," so this card will be entered over there. 

Ready, Set, Go! Version 2

Last year I bought a 6" x 6" pad of paper called "Ready, Set, Go" by Amy Tangerine. The cute designs seemed ideal for making cards for Operation Write Home. 

When OWH announced that they will be shutting down at the end of this year I realized that now is the time to use up all those papers that I bought specifically with OWH cards in mind. 

I started by making a series of cards using the "Ready, Set, Go" paper and sketches from Viva La Verve. This is the second card I'm posting. 

Viva La Verve May 2015 Sketch 1

The stamp is from the Hero Arts Woodland Creatures set. 
The button punch is from Martha Stewart.
The chevron embossing folder is from Darice. 

Amy Tangerine Ready Set Go

Last year I bought a 6 x 6 pad of paper called "Ready, Set, Go" by Amy Tangerine. The cute designs seemed ideal for making cards for Operation Write Home. 

When OWH announced that they will be shutting down at the end of this year I realized that now is the time to use up all those papers that I bought specifically with OWH cards in mind. 

So here is the first card in my own version of the Finish Strong campaign. I already knew the sentiment I wanted to pair with the paper. Viva La Verve provided the sketch inspiration which made the job easier. 

Viva La Verve May 2015 Week 4

Stamp: Hero Arts, Forest Friends

Ink: Momento Nautical Blue

Edging Ink: Colorbox chalk ink

Bittersweet Chocolate

The names of the products I used to make this card are very evocative. The stamps and die-cut word are from the new chocolate collection from Verve Stamps. Since the theme was chocolate I choose paper from the Bittersweet collection from Basic Grey. The dotted paper in the background is Blissful from Bazzill. 

Its difficult to see in the photo, but the word and hearts were die cut from a paper that is a bit sparkly. The paper is adhesive backed which worked out great because the word die would be difficult for me to put glue on without getting it all over the place. 

Viva La Verve Week 1 May 2015

This card is based on the week 1 Viva La Verve sketch from May. 

Indie Bloom Thank You

This card uses just a couple bits from the Basic Grey Indie Bloom collection, but they defined what went on the rest of the card. The strip down the left is a sticker from Indie Bloom. The Orange mat under the sentiment layer is also from Indie Bloom. 

I chose an embossing folder that coordinated with the designs on the stickers (Foulard from Cuttlebug). The ink was just a cheap little Studio G pigment ink because that is what matched. 

The card was based on one of the May sketches from Viva La Verve. The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week is Thank You, so I'm entering this card in that challenge as well.  

Viva La Verve May 2015 Week 3

The orange layer was cut and embossed using a Spellbinders die. The sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts. 

Bold, Geometric, Dad Card

I'm always on the lookout for paper that is appropriate for guys but not too somber. This card uses a really fun, bold, geometric paper from the Amber Winward Collection. 

I used the Operation Write Home bonus sketch called "Smalls" also known as sketch B-7. 

Because I'm making cards for Operation Write Home, a card that just says "dad" is great. It could be used as a birthday card, a Father's Day card, or just to let dad know that he's in your thoughts. 

I inked the edges of the banner with Distress ink in Charcoal. The layer of paper with the circular design probably would have benefited from some inking on the edges as well. 

OWH Sketch B-7

Stamp: My Favorite Things Graphic Tee
Paper: Scraptique, Amber Winward Collection

Because the theme this week at the Mod Squad Challenge Blog is "Masculine" I'm entering this card over there. 

Sweet Floral Thinking of You

I have a bunch of paper from the Graphic 45 Baby to Bride collection. This is very feminine paper with lots of pretty, delicate designs. It was a perfect choice for the latest Waffle Flower Challenge which has these same colors in it. I used a Spellbinders die to cut the scalloped shape on the right which also matches the shape of the rug in the inspiration photo. 

The layout comes from Operation Write Home sketch #254. 

OWH Sketch #254

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Anything Goes, so this card will be entered there as well.

The sentiment is from Hero Arts Everyday Sayings and the ink is Wild Wasabi from Stampin' Up. 

Black and Orange Florals

This bright, bold card uses the week 2 sketch from Viva La Verve. The paper is from Basic Grey Indie Bloom. The little stickers are also from Basic Grey Indie Bloom. 

The leaf stamp is from My Favorite Things Own Your Story. I stamped them in Calypso Coral from Stampin' Up. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado. I stamped it in black pigment ink and then embossed with Clear Bark embossing powder from Stampendous. The clear brown over black give a really interesting look that was difficult to capture with my camera. 

Viva La Verve May 2015

I used an edge punch from EK Success to add a little interest to the boarder. 

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Anything Goes, so this card will be entered there as well.

Embossed Thank You Card

Each month Our Daily Bread Designs sponsors the shipping on up to two boxes for cards for Operation Write Home based on how many people participate in their monthly challenge. 

This month the challenge is to use embossing on a card. I made this simple but cute card using an embossing folder and paper with a white core. After embossing the paper I sanded it lightly to bring out the embossed words. Then I tied some ribbon from Stampin' Up around it. Very CAS. 

The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week is Thank You, so I'm entering this card in that challenge.  

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Anything Goes, so this card will be entered there as well.

Watercolor and Fairy

This card is a departure from my usual paper layering techniques. I used watercolor paper and then loosely painted washes of Twinkling H2O's in four colors. When they dried I stamped a fairy from Rubber Stampede using StazOn ink. The ink went on unevenly depending on how much paint was underneath. I had to do some touch ups with a Tsukineko Fantastix

If you know of any tips for stamping over Twinkling H2O's I'd love to hear them.  


This card uses colors from the current Your Next Stamp Challenge, so I'm entering it over there. 

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Anything Goes, so this card will be entered there as well.

By the way, I notice that Ranger sells packs of watercolor paper in ready to use card size. It looks like they sell for anywhere from $4 to $8 for 20 sheets of paper. This seems kind of crazy to be because pads of watercolor paper can easily be found for about $8 for 30 sheets of 9" x 12" paper. Since each sheet can be cut into 4 pieces, that means that it costs about $8 for 120 card-sized pieces of watercolor paper. If people feel that having the paper already cut to size is worth the extra money I guess that's fine. Personally, I'm just going to keep cutting my own paper to size. 

Pretty, pretty thank you

This card is part of my ongoing attempt to make at least one card with each Operation Write Home sketch. OWH recently announced that they will be shutting down at the end of 2015. Although I'm sad that I won't be able to share my cards with U.S. military abroad, I know that the reason for OWH closing is actually great news: the troops are coming home. 

The deadline for shipping all cards to OWH is going to be August 1. We'll see. Maybe I can complete my goal of using ALL the sketches by then. 

The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week is Thank You, so I'm entering this card. 
The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Anything Goes, so this card will be entered there as well.

Operation Write Home Sketch #209

Paper: Basic Grey, Lucille
Embellishements: Basic Grey, Lucille
Stamp: Hero Arts, My Favorite
Ink: Hero Arts, Charcoal

Happy Birthday Banners

I wanted to make a birthday card that was festive, but with stronger, more masculine design elements.

I used paper from the My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy collection. The stamp is from a Hero Arts stamp set called OWH Dude. I used a Scarlet pigment ink from Colorbox so that the color would remain bright and not soak into the paper. The stars are stickers that are also part of the Boy Crazy collection.

I'm entering this card in the Birthday Challenge this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Game On!

I made this card for the MFT Sketch Challenge 222. I combined it with the colors from the latest MFT Color Challenge. The colors in the Boy Crazy paper from My Mind's Eye match the color challenge really well. 

MFTWSC222

I used stamps from a My Favorite Things Set called "Masculine Graphic Tee." Although the stamps were designed to stamp on a die-cut image of a tee-shirt, they are versatile enough to use in other ways as well. The little game controller was stamped in black on rust colored paper and then I cut it out. The star stickers are from the Boy Crazy line. 

Fishing Boy

The challenge this week at Our Daily Bread Designs was Anything Goes. That was a little too wide open for me, so I decided to use an older sketch from Operation Write Home so that I could work toward my goal of making at least one card with each sketch. 

OWH Sketch #120

The paper is from the My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy line. The stripe down the middle is wash tape from Bella Blvd. 

The stamp is Our Daily Bread Designs Fishing Boy. I cut him out and then put some Stampin Dimensionals behind him for some dimension. 

Monster Truck Birthday

I'm trying to keep up-to-date with the Operation Write Home sketch challenges. This card is based on OWH sketch #251

OWH Sketch #251

The stamps are from Our Daily Bread Designs. The paper is from Little Yellow Bicycle Generation Z.

I'm entering this card in the ODBD Anything Goes Challenge and in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which for this week is to make a birthday card.

Birthday CASE

The STAMPlorations blog had a March challenge that was to CASE a card from their design team.

I gave it a try and this is the result:

I CASED this card from Deepti. Just like her I used striped paper for the the background and a tag as the focal element. I used a bird instead of a butterfly and used leaves like her too.

It was a fun challenge and a great way to use the Baby to Bride paper from Graphic 45. The tag I used came with the paper. I added walnut ink around the edges. It was harder to control then distress ink, I used a bird punched from the Stampin' Up Bird Builder and some leaves from my stash.

The birthday sentiment is from Inkadinkado, and qualified this card for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge this week which is Birthday Cards.

The pastel colors in this card qualify it for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Monster Truck and Flags

It can be difficult to find papers that work with this monster truck stamp. They need to be fun, but a little bit grungy. I was so happy to find that the Little Yellow Bicycle Generation Z papers are the right mix of lively, fun and grungy.

The Our Daily Bread Designs challenge this week is Anything Goes! That makes it easy for me!
ODBD is also sponsoring a challenge at Operation Write Home. The theme this month is masculine cards. 

Thoughts of you

This card uses the Scrappy Background technique. I'm having so much fun with this technique. Now I am keeping all my little scraps for later use in scrappy cards. 

I made this card based on the colors in the Your Next Stamp Color Challenge. The scrappy background was embossed with an Elizabeth Craft folder called "Petal Power." The stamp is from Inkadinkado. I used a clear Sakura glaze pen to highlight parts of the stamp, but the photograph doesn't really capture this very well. Maybe next time a colored glaze pen would work better. 

It's still a pretty happy card and I had enough scraps in these colors to make a total of 3 cards: one to keep and two to send to Operation Write Home. 

Spring is Here!

This week it finally started to feel like spring here in Chicago. I made this card to celebrate. I wanted to try something different with flocking powder. I used a bunny punch to punch out three bunnies from Elizabeth Craft Designs transparent double sided adhesive. I peeled off the backing layer from two of them and adhered them to little white yardstick squares. The third bunny did not cooperate. The top layer came off instead of the backing layer. I figured that this bunny just wanted to do his own thing, so he is facing the other way. After I peeled off the top layer of the paper I pressed some flocking powder into each bunny. It seemed to work pretty well.

The flocking powder looked much more purple in its packaging. I stamped my sentiment in Colorbox Wisteria thinking that it would match. Looking at the picture, it doesn't match so well. The card is still cute, and I need to pack now for a weekend trip, so I'm sharing a card that I am less than 100% happy with. 

This card was based on the Your Next Stamp Color Challenge #10. I am also entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. 

Paper: Gina K

Punch: Marvy

Flocking Powder: Inkadinkado

Stamp: Whimsy Stamps Finally Spring

Ink: Colorbox Wisteria

Beautiful Dancer

This was a really quick card using one of the Viva La Verve Challenge sketches for March. The dancer, sentiment and gingham embellishments all came from a sheet of stickers from the Authentique Delightful collection.

Paper: Authentique Delightful
Candy Buttons: Stampin' Up

Spring Vase Thank You

This card uses the Versatile Vases stamp set from Newton's Nook. I stamped it on watercolor paper using Ranger Archival Black. Then I colored in the flowers, leaf and water using Mondeluz Aquarelles and went over them with a waterbrush to spread the color. On the Newton's Nook website I saw that someone had used Glossy Accents to color in the jar and make it look like glass. I tried that idea with limited success. This might be a technique that takes a few tries to get it right. Next time I might try using a Sakura Glaze pen instead to see if the effect is better. 

Supplies: 
Paper: My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Girl
Stamps: Newton's Nook Versatile Vases
Ink: Ranger Archival Black
Sentiment Stamp: Stampin Up Banner Greetings
Ink: Hero Arts Soft Rose
Washi Tape: Stampin Up 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges: 
Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge - Use Watercolor
Viva La Verve Sketch 
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Pastels
30-Day Coloring Challenge over at the Daily Marker. #thedailymarker30day

Gold and Watercolor

For this card I used four techniques that are new to me. Wow! In the past couple months I started participating in some of the challenges and they are really motivating me to try new things.

The four techniques:

1. Heat embossing an image before coloring it in.
2. Watercolor using Gelatos
3. Rubbing the edges of the paper with an embossing dabber and then dipping them in embossing powder to create a gold frame
4. Custom bling made by heating metal embellishments and then dipping them in embossing powder

The result:

All this work qualifies this card for a few challenges:

Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge - Use Watercolor
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Pastels
Power & Spark Challenge -- Use Gold
30-Day Coloring Challenge over at the Daily Marker. #thedailymarker30day

Supplies: 
Stamps: Newton's Nook Versatile Vases
Embossing Powder: Judikins Gold Detail 
Emboss It Dabber from Ranger
Faber-Castell Gelatos - Tropical
Bling - from stash

Rain or Shine

This card uses the MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge 221.  Like most of the MFT sketches, this one looks really versatile. The square on the right could be layered on top of the paper like I have done here, or you could have a little "window" in the paper showing the design, stamp or image on the layer underneath.  Or, you could use a little die-cut shape in place of the square. So many options. 

MFTWSC221

I used a clouds/rain theme based on the latest Waffle Flower Challenge. 

Paper: Little Yellow Bicycle Escape
Stamp: My Favorite Things Blue Skies
Ink: Studio G
Bling: Candi Dots