Beautiful day

I have always been in awe (and a bit in love) with Altenew's gorgeous flower sets.  I finally got one of my favorites a month or so ago and pulled it out to create this birthday card for my aunt.  Her birthday is Christmas Eve, so I wanted to stay away from anything Christmasy.  I went with some soft colors and lots of texture to create this elegant card for her.

Both the die cut circle and the bit of green sheer ribbon were in my bits and pieces stash.  And all the images were stamped on scraps of white, colored and fussy cut.

Supplies:

Stamps: Altenew "Beautiful Days"

Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

damask embossing folder

Challenges:

Altenew Inspiration Challenge--A Year in Review (I chose the challenge in the middle on the top row: gray, green and pink, though my colors are more muted that those in the photo)

Crafty Calendar--anything BUT a Christmas card + add ribbon (I used a little piece of ribbon that was in my bits and pieces stash)
Penny Black--flowers all over
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #125--anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown #447--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #419--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Atlantic Hearts Sketch #348--sketch

Make My Monday #112--female birthday
Tuesday Morning Sketches #535--anything goes
Cute Card Thursday #614--anything goes

40th Birthday

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built and this week it is a fan favorite: Anything Goes!! And here is the card I created for your inspiration:

 Here is the inside:

My cousin is turning 40 at the end of the month, so I created this for him.  I can send this kind of card because I turned 40 3 months ago.  It's a little cheeky without being too over the top.  The papers were all scraps (trimmed a little bit) and I added enamel dots in bright colors to coordinate.  I used a sunburst stencil on the inside to create a "glow" on the horizon.  And I die cut the "40" out of scraps as well.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the House blog to see the rest of the DT's creations and then get inky and play along with us.  And if you need any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your ENTIRE order coupon code over in my left sidebar.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Birthday" and "Distant Glow"
Dies: PaperTrey Ink numbers border die

Challenges:
CAS(E) This Sketch #352--sketch

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
STAMPlorations Stencil Challenge--anything goes with a stencil

Incy Wincy--happiness
Cuttlebug Mania--light
Time Out Challenge #451--"You are never too old to set another goal, or dream a new dream"
MFT Birthday challenge--CAS
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #368--anything goes with snippets
Simon Says Stamp Monday--party time

In the Wild

I created this tag for the Christmas gift for a young man in our family.  We recently discovered that he LOVES wolves, so when I saw this image on a commercial card, I KNEW I had to recycle it and use it for something for him.  He just got his driver's license and doesn't really have any car "necessities".  So, for Christmas, I made a car gift basket for him.  This tag will go on the package and it's doubly perfect as I put a wolf blanket in it for him.

The snowflake is actually the backing piece from a snowflake I die cut from adhesive vellum for a previous project.  I love the shine on it and it was just sitting in my bits and pieces stash waiting to be used.

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Ornamental Christmas" sentiment
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" fishtail tag; Memory Box "Lindeman Snowflake"; Lawn Fawn "Double Surprise Slider Die" fishtail banner

Challenges:
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--critters
Pattie's Creations #165--animals or bears
2 Crafty Critter Crazies--anything goes
Winter Wonderland--anything goes
Crafty Creations #404--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #242--Christmas/winter
Crafty Friends #125--winter colors (I used icy blue, silver and white)
Use Your Stuff #388--it's Christmas time!
{Pin}spirational #254--inspiration photo (the wolf turned to the side with his mouth open reminded me of the photo)

C.R.A.F.T. #539--Christmas: the last stretch (it's only a few days until Christmas, and I'm still working on Christmas projects)
Moving Along with the Times #113--anything but a card

Last Minute Christmas card

Yep, I am still working on my Christmas cards.  Probably will be for a bit still.  I saw this fun sketch from My Favorite Things and had to play along.

The plaid paper strip scrap was in my bits and pieces stash (I just had to trim a little off the end) as was the burlap/twine bow.

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Merry and Bright" snowflakes and "Ornamental Christmas" sentiment
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:
Through The Purple Haze #162--Let it Snow
Power Poppy Stamps Creative Confetti--Mad for Plaid
Creative Inspiration--festive fun
Alphabet Challenge--S is for Snow
STAMPlorations Theme and Prompt--Stamps + Holiday

Pink Gem Challenge--anything goes
Make My Monday--anything Christmas goes
Crafty Gals Corner #202--'Tis the Season
Creative Moments #182--anything goes with the optional twist: Christmas
If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #132--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the colors and the snowflakes)

Aud Sentiments #242--Christmas/winter
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #468--anything goes with the optional twist: use the word Merry
Sweet Stampers #39--anything goes
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #120--anything goes
Use Your Stuff #388--it's Christmas time!
Cupcake Inspiration #485--holidays

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes
Crafter's Cafe #233--holidays and/or I spy something beginning with the letter "C"
Penny's Challenge #461--anything goes
Mod Squad--Christmas/winter
Little Red Wagon #528--any winter holiday
My Favorite Things #468--sketch

Joy to the World

Wire Wrapture · Post RI--inspiration photo template Posting as Heather Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps.  This week we have a beautiful inspiration photo for you:

And here is the card I created:

I went with both the colors and the elements in the image.  I stamped the Joy sentiment and then water colored the globe for a soft look.  For a fun touch, I used a pen to draw on a string to make the globe look like an ornament.  Then I stamped the pine branch image repeatedly around the outside of the panel.  I sponged on some antique linen Distress ink around the edges as well.  I stamped, colored and fussy cut the pine cones and added a little burlap twine bow.

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has done with this photo.  And if you "need" any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your entire order coupon code over in my lift sidebar.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Joy", "Pine Branch", "Pine Cone"

Challenges:

Die Cut Divas--winter/Christmas
Merry Little Christmas Challenge #17--anything goes
Winter Wonderland--anything goes
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #62--anything goes
Paper Funday--anything goes with the optional twist: Christmas holiday
Crafting By Designs--anything goes
Kat Scrappiness--happy holidays
Word Art Wednesday #417--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Crafty Creations #404--anything goes
Cute Card Thursday #612--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #242--Christmas/winter
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #468--anything goes with the optional twist: use the word Merry
Sketch Saturday #594--sketch

Sweet Stampers #39--anything goes

Holy Child

It's Saturday!!  That means it's time for another challenge from Di's Digi Designs.

The challenge this time is Winter Holidays
And here is my card for your inspiration:

I started with the image, but the whole inspiration for this card came from the horizontal lacy panel that has been in my bits and pieces stash forever!  For some reason, the color just caught my eye this time.  The lacy die cut was a gift from a friend (thanks Esther!) and helped create the elegant, feminine look I was going for.  I embossed the two white panels and then sponged on some silver metallic Glimmer Paste to give some whine and help the embossing stand out.  The die cut snowflake was also in my bits and pieces stash and it is actually the backing from an adhesive backed vellum snowflake I had used on a previous project.  I just loved the shine on it and couldn't throw it away.  It worked perfectly with the layout.

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us; I can't wait to see what you create.  And make sure you hop over to the Di's Digital Designs blog to see what the rest of the team has made for this challenge.

Supplies: 

Stams: Di's Digi Stamps "Izzy's Nativity"

Dies: Spellbinders "Labels One"; Memory Box "Lindeman Snowflake"

Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder; Paper Lane Script embossing folder.

Challenges:
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--critters
Cutie Pie Challenge #142--Christmas cuties
Pattie's Creations #165--animals or bears
Die Cut Divas--winter/Christmas
2 Crafty Critter Crazies--anything goes
Paper Funday--anything goes with the optional twist: Christmas holiday
Art Impressions #271--animal cards
Alphabet Challenge--"S" is for snow
Cardz TV #104--anything goes
Sweet Stampin'--Christmas
Pink Gem Challenge--anything goes
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #367--anything goes with snippets (other than the stuff from my bits and pieces stash, the white panels were cut from scraps and the blue mat for the snowflake panel is pieced together (under the horizontal layer) from scraps)
Make My Monday--anything Christmas goes
Crafty Gals #202--Tis the Season
Crafty Creations #404--anything goes
Creative Moments #182--anything goes with the optional twist: Christmas
Cute Card Thursday #612--anything goes
Crafty Catz #487--blue Christmas
Cut It Up #189--anything Christmas goes

Friendly Christmas

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a fun Tic Tac Toe board for you:

  

Here is what I created for your inspiration:

 I used the top row: Teddy Bears, stitching, gems/pearls AND the first column: Teddy Bears, Dimension, glitter.  I had a lot of fun using different elements on this one, specially the glitter and glitter paper!  I'm definitely a glitter girl.  I cut the "it's almost Christmas" stamp apart so I could stamp just the "Christmas!" on my card base.  Then I masked the "Merry" from the Christmas stamp so I could stamp and heat emboss that on a piece of black card stock to finish the sentiment.  I colored up the sweet little kitty to match my new kitten, who is pure black with just a little white patch under his chin.  The photo below show the poinsettia and the chunky glitter I used to make it sparkly!

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has done with this photo.  And if you "need" any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your entire order coupon code over in my lift sidebar.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Feline Friendly", "it's almost Christmas!" from the Holy Crap Set and "Christmas"

Dies: Spellbinders "Layered Poinsettias"; MFT free with $60 purchase stitched die

Punches: Fiskars "Apron Border"

Challenges:
Cut It Up #188--Tic Tac Toe--I used the bottom row: sketch, brads & bling, patterned paper
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #119--anything goes
Crafts Galore #70--anything goes
The Cutie Pie #142--Christmas cuties
Pattie's Creations#165--animals or bears
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Die Cut Divas--winter/Christmas
Sheepski Designs #33--Your favorite things (kitties, glitter, patterned paper, dies and glitter!!)
Creatalicious #176--anything goes with the optional twist: winter
Creative Inspiration--festive fun
2 Crafty Critter Crazies--anything goes
Merry Little Christmas Challenge #17--anything goes
Winter Wonderland--anything Christmas goes
Paper Funday--anything goes with the optional twist: Christmas holiday
Crafting By Designs--anything goes
Kat Scrappiness--happy holidays
Incy Wincy--Christmas with NO red or green
Double Trouble #44--Wrap it up Thing #1: use at least one holiday patterned paper (mine is from a holiday pack), Thing #3, ribbon and or bows (it may be a stretch, but my bear has a bow around his neck), Thing #2: play along with Artsy Stamper's winter holiday challenge
Artsy Stamper--winter holidays
Shopping Our Stash #410--happy holidays
Cuttlebug Mania--Christmas
Art Impressions Stamps #271--animal cards
Time Out Challenge #150--Merry and Cheerful
Crafty Catz #486--anything goes: last minute Christmas cards
STAMPlorations Theme and prompt--stamps + holiday

Sweet Stampin'--Christmas
Atlantic Hearts Sketch #346--sketch

Make My Monday--anything Christmas goes

Vintage Birthday

Back in September, my mother-in-law and I went to the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo and took an Art Impressions watercolor class.  It was soooo much fun and probably one of the best classes we have taken there.  This is one of the images we worked with and I finally turned it into a card for a man at our church.  The bit of twine is actually a piece pulled out of a strip of burlap; it was just sitting on my desk and it added a fun touch to this masculine card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Art Impressions stamps were all supplied for the class; PTI "Through the Trees" sentiment
Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle

Challenges:
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #119--anything goes
Crafting with An Attitude #58--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #41--anything goes
Brown Sugar #296--anything goes
Crafting By Designs--anything goes
The Paper Shelter--birthday
Penny's Challenge #459--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #416--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Cute Card Thursday #611--anything goes
Cardz TV #104--anything goes
Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

HB2U

I've had this idea in my head for a while and finally got around to doing it.  I've had this set for a couple years and this is the first time I've used it!  It was quite easy and pretty fun, so hopefully I will pull the set out again before too long.  I had to stamp each image several time, but using my MISTI made that nice and easy.  Adding enamel dots in matching colors adds a fun pop!

Supplies:

Stamps:

MFT speech bubble set; can't find it in the store and I don't have the name handy right now

Challenges:

Crafts Galore #70--anything goes

Crafting with an Attitude #58--anything goes

Love To Craft Challenge Blog #41--anything goes

Brown Sugar #296--anything goes

Crafting By Design--anything goes

Crafter's Cafe #232--one layer card

The Paper Shelter--birthday

Penny's Challenge #459--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #416--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Cute Card Thursday #611--anything goes

Cardz TV #104--anything goes

STAMPlorations CAS--anything goes with the optional twist: Christmas colors

Pink Gem Challenge--anything goes

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

Christmas Joy

I love starting my cards with sketches and I often find sketches that really catch my eye and I NEED to make a card using them.  This was the case this week with Sketch Saturday's sketch challenge.  It is a pick your favorite sketch from their archives and I knew I had to play along when I saw this sketch:

I knew I HAD to use it because I had the perfect strip of scrap papers sitting right on my desk in my bits and pieces pile (I've started keeping it front in center so I can see all the good stuff in there).  And here is my card:

The glittery gold strip was also in the bits and pieces pile and one of the little pearls as well (the pearl had lost its adhesive backing so it didn't stick on a different card--just need to add some glue).  So, not only did I play with a fun sketch, make a Christmas card (and I still need quite a few), I used up some scraps!!  Yeay!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Beyond Measure" sentiment

Challenges:
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #119--anything goes
Crafts Galore #70--anything goes
Crafting with An Attitude #58--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #41--anything goes
Brown Sugar #296--anything goes
Merry Little Christmas Challenge #17--anything goes
Shopping Our Stash #410--happy holidays
Sketch Saturday #596--sketch
Penny's Challenge #459--anything goes
Cute Card Thursday #611--anything goes

Christmas wreath

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps.  This week is a Designer's Choice Challenge and Patti has chosen: Stamp on Your Envelope

And here is the card I created:

Actually, I created three little cards that will be perfect for adding to some teacher gifts.  I had these little 4x4 square cards and a paper pack designed to go with them.  They have been sitting on my work area for a long time, as I've been trying to think of a way to use them.  For some reason, this challenge seemed the right time.  I kept everything really simple.  I stamped, colored, fussy cut and popped up the wreath and added it to the cards that I had covered with one of the papers (didn't even have to cut them as they were designed to go with the cards).  I stamped the sentiment, cut it out and adhered it directly to the base.  Then all I had to do was add some wink of stella to the bow, and add some red nuvo drops and they were finished.  I tried two different designs on the envelopes (which I made to fit with my Envelope Punch Board).  I think I prefer the first, but they both work nicely. 

For the first design I stamped the wreath in the center with a very light gray ink, then stamped the sentiment over top in a darker gray ink.

 For the second design, I stamped the wreath in the corner with the darker gray ink, stamping off once first and then stamped the sentiment with the same gray ink.
Below is a close up of the bow, you can see a little bit of the sparkle from the wink of stella.

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has done with this photo.  And if you "need" any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your entire order coupon code over in my lift sidebar.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Wreath" and "Christmas"

Challenges:
Creative Moments #131--anything goes with the optional twist: ribbons or bows (bow in my image)
Ink To Paper, The Joy of Card Making week--card set
Creative Knockouts #326--Winter/holiday
Southern Girls--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #241--Christmas or winter
Crafty Catz #485--anything goes with the optional twist: CAS
Alphabet Challenge--R is for Ribbon (in my image)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #466--anything goes with the optional twist: things with wings (I did not use the twist)

Season's Greetings

A new month has arrived and that means a new challenge from the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog.  This month's challenge is a Bingo Board:

  Our fabulous sponsor is The Paper Shelter.

And here is the card I created:

I used the "N" column: die cut, ribbon, blue, snowflake, silver.  At first, it might be hard to see my snowflakes, but look closely behind the ribbon, specially up near the top of "season's".  I used an adhesive vellum and a snowflake die to cut three snowflakes and when I adhered them down, it gives an embossed look.  It looks fabulous in real life; I wish I could have captured it in the photo.  I used a beautiful sheer ribbon with a bit of shimmer in it and added some silver sequins for more sparkle.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Head on over to the LTSCB blog to see what the rest of the team has created and to get the full details of the challenge.  Then get inky and play along with us; I can't wait to see what you create.

Supplies:

Stamps: The Paper Shelter "Fantasy on Ice" digi

Dies: Simon Says Stamp "Season's Greetings"; Memory Box "Lindeman Snowflake"

Challenges:
Creative Inspirations--winter blues
Creative Moments #181--anything goes with the optional twist: ribbon or bows
Make My Monday #110--use vellum
Tuesday Morning Sketches #531--sketch (unfortunately, I missed the deadline)

Fab n' Funky Challenge #459--Christmas
The Paper Shelter #408--a blast from the past (I have had this image for 7 years)
Penny's Challenge #458--anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes
Crafty Creations #403--anything goes