Home with Banners

If you look closely at the little houses on this paper, you will see they have tiny heart shaped windows. So cute, and perfect for the sentiment (from My Favorite Things). 


Operation Write Home has been closed for a couple years, but I still have a binder filled with all the OWH sketches and use them all the time. 

OWH Sketch #188

Paper:  Amy Tangerine "Ready Set Go."

Stamp from: My Favorite Things "Homespun Birdhouse"

Heart:  Heart punch from Stampin' Up

I'm posting this card over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the challenge this week is "Home Sweet Home" 

Sunshine!

This card uses sketch 329 from My Favorite Things. The swirly background paper is from Basic Grey and the solid papers are from Bazzil. In other words, I dipped into my precious stash! 

The sentiment is from My Favorite Things. 

MFT 329

I used colors from the latest Your Next Stamp challenge. 

Heart and Home

How about a love card that is not in the traditional shades of red and pink? 

If you look closely you will see that the houses have tiny little hearts on them. Also, the polka dot heart was made with a die that cuts and embosses. Hard to see these details online. 

This one is going in the Mod Squad "Show your love" challenge as well as the Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" Wednesday Challenge. 

OWH Sketch #86

Paper:  Amy Tangerine "Ready Set Go."

Stamp from: My Favorite Things "Homespun Birdhouse"

Heart:  Spellbinders die  

With You By My Side

It's love season. The challenge this week at Mod Squad is to "show your love." This card uses one of my favorite sentiments from My Favorite Things: "with you by my side anything is possible." Isn't that sweet?

The Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "Anything Goes," so this card is going over there as well.

Paper: Basic Grey "Hello Luscious"
Stamp: My Favorite Things
Ink: Hero Arts
Punches: Stampin' Up

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

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. 

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.

Sunshine Day

I have a really bright, fun card to share today. It is based on My Favorite Things Sketch 219. This sketch looks really versatile. I could see it being used for lots of different occasions.

MFT Sketch #219

In addition to the MFT Sketch Challange this card will be entered in the current Work it Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp. They are looking for a spring theme. 
Kraftin Kimmie made it very easy this week with an Anything Goes Challenge, so I'm submitting this card there as well.

Sketch: My Favorite Things 219
Paper: Heidi Grace Sunshowers
Stamp: My Favorite Things, Blue Skies Ahead
Ink: Stampin' Up Melon Mambo
Bling: Stampin' Up candy dots

A Spring Thank You

It finally feels like spring here in Chicago. The temperature has been around 50 degrees the past few days. When I look at the upcoming week, it looks like we won't go below freezing anytime in the next 7 days! 

So I took a break from Mother's Day cards to make a spring thank you card. 

ODBDSLC230

The "thank you" sentiment comes from a set of stamps from My Favorite Things called "Vintage Cameo." I haven't been using the cameo stamps from this set, but the sentiment stamps have been in heavy rotation lately. I'm really impressed with how beautifully they stamp!

The sketch is from the latest Our Daily Bread Challenge. I used an ODBD stamp as the focal image. 

I'm entering this card in the current Work it Wednesday at Simon Says Stamp. They are looking for a spring theme. 

I'm also entering this card in the Little Tangles Challenge. 

Paper: My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 2 Breeze
Image Stamp: Our Daily Bread Designs Fishing Boy
Sentiment Stamp: My Favorite Things Vintage Cameo
Ink: Stampin' Up pear pizzazz

Delicate Flowers for Mother

The deadline to get Mother's Day cards to Operation Write Home is March 31. I figure I had better get them in the mail by about the 25th of March so that they will arrive on time. That leaves about 2 weeks of card making. Time to start churning out those Mom cards. 

The design of this card is based on the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge #218. I used just the word "Mother" so that this card could potentially be used after Mother's Day. 

MFTWSC218

I used the colors from the Your Next Stamp Color Challenge #9 which includes two different pinks, two browns and apple green.

The Monday Challenge Simon Says Stamp is "B is for..." and I'm going for "banner." But I could say "brown," or even "Basic Grey." Kraftin Kimmie is being very generous right now and making her challenge "anything goes." So I'm entering this card in her challenge as well.   

Paper: Basic Grey Kissing Booth
Stamp: My Favorite Things Vintage Cameo
Heart Punch: Stampin Up
Ink for Sentiment: Hero Arts Mindtone Red Royal
Ink for edges of heart: Colorbox chalk ink Toffee
Bling: Cloud 9 Raindrops

Cherished Card

I love the look of multi-media cards, distress inks, art journal pages, ATC and other artsy projects. But my own stuff usually ends up pretty structured and stiff. So the most recent challenge at Waffle Flower was a tough one for me. It was a photo inspiration challenge and the photo was a white pillow with some overlapping transparent circles in different colors. 

So I found a stamp from Club Scrap that I had never used before with some overlapping circles on it. I stamped it with clear embossing ink and then embossed with a two-tone light pink embossing power from Lindy's Stamp Gang. 

Then I blended two colors of distress ink over that and cut around the stamped image in a shape that somewhat resembles the pillow. This piece is popped up with foam tape to give it some dimension.

The background paper needed to be subtle so it wouldn't compete with the stamped image. I found this light pink paper from Studio G in my stash. I needed to break up the solid background so a stamped the loopy shape along the left. 

Finally, since the inspiration photo included some smaller circles, I got out the raindrops from Cloud 9 and placed them in sort of a spiral along the card.

This card needed a sentiment, but because the design was so unusual, the usual sentiments didn't seem to fit. It needed a word that expressed a concept or emotion rather than the usual "thank you," or "I love you." I found the word "Cherished" in one of my MFT stamp sets and that worked. 

For all that effort I'm glad this one qualifies for more than one challenge. The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge is "Think Pink." The embossed image may look almost white, but it is a two-tone embossing power and is actually pink, especially if you hold it at the right angle. The background paper is pink, and the word "Cherished" is stamped in pink.

This one will go in the Simon Says Stamp Monday -- "No Rules," and their Wednesday challenge -- "Anything Goes." 


Stamps: Club Scrap, My Favorite Things, Stampology
Inks: Studio G and Tsukineko Brilliance
Distress Inks: Broken China, Iced Spruce
Embossing Powder: Lindy's Stamp Gang

Sweet Flowers for Mother

So when you make cards for Operation Write Home, you're always thinking a couple of holidays ahead. That's because OWH needs to get them to overseas military early enough so that they can write in them and send them back to the U.S. 

That's probably why when I saw the most recent My Favorite Things Color Challenge my thoughts turned to Mother's Day. I played it safe by just stamping the word "Mother" on this card. This way it could also be used for a mother's birthday, or even just to let her know you're thinking of her. 

The colors over at MFT Color Challenge #16 happened to match some paper from my stash. This piece of paper sat around for nearly a year and I had no idea what to do with it. Thanks MFT for motivating me to finally use it! The solid purple is on the one side and the flowers are on the other. I should have enough left to make at least a few more cards. 

Early Mother's Day Card

The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is "No Rules," and their Wednesday challenge is "Anything Goes." Aren't those the same thing? In any case. I'm entering this card in both.

Paper: My Minds Eye Penny Lane
Stamp: My Favorite Things Vintage Cameo
Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Suede
Ribbon: American Crafts
Bling: Cloud 9 Raindrops

Cherry Blossoms Card

It's nearly spring. It doesn't look like it here in Chicago, but we can at least look forward to warmer weather.

What could represent spring better than cherry blossoms? I got out a few sheets of the Konnichiwa paper from Basic Grey and one of the February sketches from Viva la Verve and started to play. I have a pack of embellishments to go with the Konnichiwa paper too. The one I used was about the right size to fit with the sketch. 

Because the paper was in the shape of a lantern, I decided to let it hang from embroidery floss rather than have string go over it or under it.

Basic Grey Konnichiwa

Most of the challenges out there right now are really open-ended. So this card qualifies for several. The Mixed Media Monthly challenge is "Think Pink," and this card has pink embroidery floss and pink flowers on it. The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is "No Rules," and their Wednesday challenge is "Anything Goes." Aren't those the same thing? Whimsy Stamps challenge is "Use a Sentiment." Easy enough. 

Paper: Basic Grey Konnichiwa
Stamp: My Favorite Things
Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Suede
Embroidery Floss: From stash

Home is Where My Heart is

The latest challenge from the Mod Squad challenge was really interesting. We were asked to stamp the same image three times, cut them out and then layer them. My first attempt was an epic fail involving watercolor and a flower stamp. It will not be pictured here. 

Sometimes we just need to work with our limitations. I took an easier route and chose a stamp with straight lines. Instead of coloring each layer, I stamped on different colored papers. For color inspiration I used the colors from the latest Your Next Stamp challenge. 

I embossed the bottom layer of paper with a bricks design that would go along with the idea of a house. For the sentiment I used "Home is Where My Heart is." A perfect sentiment for a card going to Operation Write Home. 

Operation Write Home #47

I am also entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which for this week is "Add a Little Texture. "

Sketch: Operation Write Home #47
Image Stamp: Club Scrap
Sentiment Stamp: My Favorite Things Homespun Birdhouse
Ink: Hero Arts Black
Embossing Folder: Darice Bricks

Cherry Hello

The current Color Challenge from My Favorite Things is to use a bright red, ice blue, dark blue and kraft. These colors match very well with the PB&J collection from Basic Grey.

For the layout of this card I used the inspiration photo from the Waffle Flower blog. It includes three plants along the bottom and bricks in the background. I used a bricks embossing folder on navy paper behind the three cherries to match the ideas in the photo.

I am also entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which for this week is "Add a Little Texture. "

Paper: Basic Grey PB&J
Stickers: Basic Grey PB&J
Embossing Folder: Darice Bricks
Stamp: My Favorite Things Ring Me
Ink: Hero Arts Midtone Red Royal

Missing Your Voice

For this card I started out trying to stick to a pink and red color scheme. But this card just really needed some orange. I used Bazzill Tangelo as a matting layer and Liquid Pearls in the upper right corner. 

For the layout I used My Favorite Things Sketch 215. This is a really versatile sketch and I can see getting a lot of mileage out of it. 

This card will be great for sending to Operation Write Home. Some military parent can send it home to their child. The card base is pretty dark, so I lined it with white paper. OWH guidelines request that we use paper light enough to write on with a pencil.

MFT Sketch 215

Stamp: My Favorite Things Ring Me
Ink: Stampin' Up Calypso Coral
Paper: My Mind's Eye Alphabet Soup Girl
Edge Punch: EK Success
Pearls: Ranger Liquid Pearls
Mat Paper: Bazzill Tangelo

Blue Skies Ahead!

This is something new for me. I tried the Color Challenge at the My Favorite Things blog. I used the "Scrappy Background" technique from Operation Write Home and then dry embossed the result. This is a color combination I would never have come up with on my own, but I like the result and it was good to try something new. 

Stamp: My Favorite Things, Blue Skies Ahead
Ink: Stampin' Up Wisteria Wonder
Embossing Folder: Elizabeth Craft Designs, Petal Power
Tag: Lovely Tag Shapes (digital file)

The Sky is the Limit

My Favorite Things Stamps has a challenge this week to use MTF Sketch 213. This is my first time using a MFT Sketch.

The Monday Challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Blog is to make something using the theme "Up in the Clouds." So, this card qualifies for both challenges.

I'm not happy with the sentiment being on white paper. Next time, I think I should use a light, colored cardstock instead. Oh well, there is a lot of trial and error in creative work, isn't there?

MFT Sketch 213

Supplies:

Paper: My Mind's Eye Lime Twist
Ink: Stampin' Up Baja Breeze
Stamp: My Favorite Things, Blue Skies Ahead
Button Punch: Martha Stewart