Sending Smiles

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  As it is the 5th Wednesday of the month, we have a fabulous sketch for your inspiration:

And here is my card for your inspiration:

I pulled out some scraps from my favorite masculine paper pack for this one.  I recently realized that I don't have any "Just Because" masculine cards in my stash.  So, I set out to remedy it right away!  I love these balloon images and the sentiment is perfect for right now when we are supposed to be "social distancing".  So, even friends that live nearby feel like they are miles away.  I stenciled the circle with a cloud stencil and then added the sentiment.  Then, I stamped the balloons, colored them, and fussy cut them before adding them to the card.  I used foam tape on the largest balloon, a small piece of cardboard on the second balloon and adhered the smallest balloon directly to the card.  This way they appear farther away the smaller the balloon.  I finished everything off  with some colorful enamel dots.

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you hop over to the House blog for all the details and to see what the rest of the team created.  And if you need any of the stamps I used, make sure you check out the 10% off your entire order coupon over in my left sidebar.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Sending Smiles" and "Hot Air Balloon Cluster"
Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Challenges:
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
STAMPlorations Theme and Prompt--Stamps and flight

Cardz TV #113--anything goes
Creative Fingers Challenge#184--anything goes
Your Next Stamp #137--stripes
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #130--anything goes
Incy Wincy--decoration/image starting with your first initial (my name starts with "H" so I used "hot air balloons")
Word Art Wednesday #437--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Crafty Catz #503--anything goes with the optional twist: add a sentiment
Alphabet Challenge--B is for boy's card
A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Make a wish!

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

The challenge this time is: Dies/Punches
And here is my card for your inspiration:

I made this for a young boy at our church.  This is definitely one of my favorite images to use for masculine birthdays, specially younger boys.  It's so cute and playful.  I colored it up with my Specturm Noirs and added the fur detailing with a colored pencil.  It really makes all the difference!  Then I fussy cut the image which includes the bear with his presents, the little presents to the left of him and a cute little dump truck present that makes an appearance in a surprising place.

  I used the Slider Surprise die set to create a fun interactive element.  This die is so easy to use and it creates such a fun card!

And look!!  There is the little dump truck down by the sentiment!

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: 

Stamps: Di's Digi Stamps "Party Boy Bear" digi; YNS "Silly Monsters" happy birthday sentient; MFT hidden sentiment

Dies: MFT "Slider Surprise" die set; Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Challenges:
Unicorn Challenge #53--furry friends
Cutie Pie Challenge #146--bunnies, bears & other "b"s (I used bear and birthday)
Pattie's Creations #169--birthdays
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Die Cut Divas--animals
CRAFT Rockets #69--furry friends
Tuesday Throwdown #455--include a moving part
Handstamped Sentiments #337--balloons (my little bear has a balloon)

Penny's Challenge #469--anything goes
MFT Birthday Challenge--circles
Aud Sentiments #249--birthday sentiment
Creative Fingers #184--anything goes
Your Next Stamp #137--stripes
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #376--anything goes with snippets (my patterned papers are all scraps and the circle was in my bits and pieces stash
Atlantic Hearts Challenge #365--sketch

Crafty Sentiments--happy birthday
Krafty Chicks #504--all occasions

Let your light shine

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:

I've been sending out cards to the people at my church and I realized I don't have any masculine "thinking of you" cards.  So, this Anything Goes challenge was the perfect opportunity to make a card for one of the single men at church.  My card was inspired by this card I found on Pinterest:

I wish I had some of that yummy striped ribbon!!

I created the background starting with the metro map stamp and then stamped the compass rose over top of that with the same caramel ink.  I then swiped the same ink around the edges of the panel.  It creates a really nice, subtle background.  I then used a new (to me) corrugated embossing folder for the second layer and swiped the caramel ink over the ridges.  My image and sentiment were stamped with a chocolate brown; I added the little birds from the sandcastle image.

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 "Metro Map", "Compass", "Let Your Light . . .", "Sandcastle" and "Cape Hatteras Light"
SU! "Corrugated" embossing folder

Challenges:

Through The Purple Haze #166--anything goes
Love to Craft Challenge Blog #45--anything goes
Cheerful Sketches--sketch

Alphabet Challenge--A is for anything goes
Cardz TV #42--anything goes
Crafty Friends #133--anything goes
Creative Fingers #184--anything goes
Penny's Challenge #469--anything goes
Southern Girls--anything goes
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #130--anything goes

Birthday Gift

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've said it before, and I'll be saying it for a long time: these are so hard for me!!  As you can see, I decided to go with the color scheme and kind of used the color swatch as the background for my card.  I picked coordinating colors of card stock and used some distress inks to darken the ones that didn't quite match.  Then, I thought the colors were a little too prominent, so I added a sheet of vellum.  It worked perfectly to soften the colors, but I adhered it with spray adhesive thinking I would avoid obvious adhesive showing through.  I was wrong as the spray adhesive left little dots of glue that definitely showed through!  So I had the brilliant idea to emboss the background, but since it was already adhered to the card base, the only embossing folder I had that was large enough was this damask folder.  It is one of my favorites, but it kind of gives a feminine feel to this otherwise masculine looking card!  What do you think?  Does the damask make it look too feminine, or do you think it still looks masculine enough?

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 "Birthday", "Gift Box Top" and "Gift Box"
Damask embossing folder

Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments--anything goes
Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #364--sketch

Simon Says Stamp Monday--E is for? (Embossing)
A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes
Crafty Friends #133--anything goes
Cardz TV #112--anything goes
Alphabet Challenge--A is for anything goes
Creative Fingers #183--anything goes
Crafty Creations #408--anything goes
Penny Black--anything goes
Stinkin' Inkers--Crafter's Choice
Pattie's Creations #169--birthdays

A Great Big Hello

Happy Easter!!  And a great big "hello"!!  It's my turn to share my pick of the week for The House That Stamps Built.  I'm continuing on in my "Inspired By Pinterest"  series.  My card today was inspired by this card:

I just loved how the white embossing popped with the ink blended leaves.  Of course, I had to use some of my favorite Flower Power Separates images!  I stamped the flowers (Mum Outline) and leaves (Leaf Outline, small) with versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Then I use some ink blending brushes to blend on some yellow and pink for the flowers and green for the leaves.  I added two sentiments from the "Hello Cling Set" and finished everything off with some white pearls.

I LOVE coloring, and I love coloring all of the flower images in the Flower Power Separates, but sometimes it takes a long time.  This is a nice, quick, easy way to add color to your card without having to actually color.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Flower Power Separates: Mum Outline and Leaf Outline, Small" and "Hello Cling Set"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle
Inks: PTI "Berry Sorbet", "Lemon Tart" and "New Leaf"; MFT "Gravel Gray"; SU! "Basic Black"

Challenges:
Through The Purple Haze #166--anything goes
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #45--anything goes
Stinkin' Inkers--Crafter's Choice
Creative Inspirations--April Showers and Flowers
Penny Black--anything goes
Dare 2B Artzy--pastel colors
Creative Fingers #183--anything goes
Your Next Stamp #136--pastels
STAMPlorations CAS Challenge--anything goes with the optional twist: lemon yellow

The Paper Girls #197--florals
Word Art Wednesday #434--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Alphabet Challenge--A is for anything goes
Sweet Stampers #43--CAS

My Garden

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

The challenge this time is: Pretty In Pastel
And here is my card for your inspiration:

I pulled out some oldies but goodies for this one.  I'm not really a fan of pastels so I don't have many papers in pale colors.  But, I bought this paper pack from SU! about 14 years ago when I thought I might scrapbook for my baby girl.  That never happened, so I've not used these papers very much.  But they were perfect for this challenge and definitely create a sweet look.  Now, since they've been around for so long, some of the edges are bent and the sheets are crumples.  So, what's a girl to do??  Well, I decided to distress all the edges and then they all fit in.  The sentiment is one I have had printed up on my desk for a looooong time.  I'm not even sure where it came from.  If was fun to finally be able to use it--only two more to go (it came printed in a group of 4 different sentiments).  And the bits of lace were in my bits and pieces stash.  Finished it off with some giant, pink pearls.

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 "Daffodil Bear"; unknown sentiment

Dies: Verve "Mini Curvy Label"

Challenges:
Pennys Challenge--anything goes
Mod Squad--spring has sprung
Unicorn Challenge #53--furry animals
Crafts Galore #74--anything goes
Die Cut Divas--animals
Power Poppy Creative Confetti--let's go digital
Creative Inspirations--April Showers & flowers
Creative Craft Cottage #128--CAS or fully loaded (I went with fully loaded)
2 Crafty Critter Crazies #37--anything goes
CRAFT Rockets #69--furry friends
Dare 2B Artzy--pastel colors
Kat Scrappiness--spring flowers
Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 #180--sketch

Your Next Stamp #136--pastels
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--add some texture
Double Trouble #54--It's hip to be Square (Thing #1: squares; Thing #2: enter with any partner (Crafter's Cafe--anything goes))
Crafty Sentiments--anything goes
The Paper Shelter--digital image
Word Art Wednesday #434--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Little Red Wagon #544--mix 'em up (I used image from Di's Digi Stamps; unknown sentiment; SU! paper; Verve dies; Papertrey Ink; recycled lace)
Time Out Challenge #159--If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

Hello, Gorgeous

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 left column: Piercing, Off the Edge, Dew Drops

You can't see it in this photo, my oval die cut is pierced around the edge.  You can see it better in the photo below and definitely in the last one in the post.

I don't know why this keeps happening to my on tic tac toe challenges, but once again, I got creating and having a blast and all of a sudden, I realized I hadn't checked the board to make sure I was using the proper elements.  Ugh!  Luckily, I already had the piercing.  My butterfly is off the edge of the panels and the "gorgeous" die cut is off the edges of the oval die cut, and also the edge of the card.  Then I just had to add the dew drops.  I don't have any of those so I used some clear droplets from Kat Scrappiness.  I heat embossed the "Hello" with white embossing powder and die cut "gorgeous" from white card stock I colored in an ombre of pinks to match the butterfly.  To finish everything off, I added black nuvo shimmer pen and clear wink of stella to the butterfly for some fabulous sparkle.  You can see it in the photo below (along with the piercing on the oval): 

The idea for this card started with a sketch and the oval die cut which was in my bits and pieces stash.  The butterfly was stamped and fussy cut from a piece of scrap card stock and all the black elements was cut from the leftovers from cutting the card base.

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 "Butterfly (lg)" and "A Happy Hello"

Dies: Spellbinders "Radiant Rectangles" oval and "A2 Matting Basics A"; PTI border die; STAMPlorations "gorgeous" die

Challenges:
Crafter's Cafe #239--anything goes
Penny's Challenge--anything goes
Crafts Galore #74--anything goes
Through The Purple Haze #166--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Crafty Calendar--add a butterfly
Sheepski Designs #37--show us your wings
Penny Black--anything goes
Artsy Stamper #13--things with wings
Crafty Catz #500--one for the girls
Sweet Stampin'--things with wings
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #375--anything goes with snippets
Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #363--sketch

Double Trouble #54--It's Hip to Be Square (Thing #1: squares--my card base; Thing #3: older stamps--both the butterfly and sentiment are almost 4 years old {in June}; Thing #2: any past partner--Crafter's Cafe: anything goes and Atlantic Hearts sketch)

They saw the star

I have had this sentiment prints out for years (literally) and it's been sitting on my desk for quite a while.  In my quest to clean up and organize my craft area, I finally got around to making it into a card.

I die cut the sentiment with an oval die and stamped the star in a medium gray.  I layered it with a red oval and then with a fancy die cut oval.  The papers I have also had printed for years; I picked out these three colors as they seemed the most "Christmasy".  Finished everything off with some red and white twine and a tiny star charm.

Supplies:
Stamps: Word Art By Karen sentiment; Verve "Star of Wonder" star
Dies: Spellbinders "Fancy Floral Oval" and "Filigree Fancy" smaller oval

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday--add some texture (die cut, twine and charm)
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #129--anything goes
Creative Fingers #183--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #248--anything goes with a sentiment
Cute Card Thursday #628--anything goes
C.R.A.F.T. #551--add a charm
Crafty Creations #408--anything goes
Merry Little Christmas Challenge #21--anything goes
Stinkin' Inkers--crafter's choice
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--snowbuddies or anything goes (Christmas)
Craft Dee Bow-Z--anything goes with a handmade bow (with my twine)
Crafter's Cafe #239--anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown #454--anything goes
Mojo Monday #533--sketch

World's Greatest

My dad's birthday is next week and this is the card I made for him.  I just got this stamp set a couple months ago and had to pull it out and ink it up.  My dad used to be the principal of a private, Christian school, so he wore a tie to work everyday.  Since he's been finished with the school, I'm not sure I've seen him wear a tie more than a handful of times.  But, I still couldn't resist using this set.

I used four of the tie images (I believe there are 6 patterns and one plain in the set) to create a fun background using navy blue and red inks.  After I got it all finished, I couldn't bear to cover up the background, so I created a narrow frame to house a vellum panel.  I stamped the sentiment on the vellum and finished with a die cut tie and the rest of the sentiment.  To keep the sentiment from being lost in the background, I popped the whole frame element up with some foam tape.

Supplies:
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink "World's Greatest"
Dies: PaperTrey Ink coordinating tie; MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle; Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A"

Challenges:
Make My Monday #119--make your own background paper
Crafter's Cafe #239--anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--happy birthday
MFT Stamps #483--sketch

Craft's Galore #74--anything goes
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #45--anything goes
Crafty Creations #408--anything goes
Creative Crafting Uncles #3--birthdays
Cute Card Thursday #628--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #248--anything goes
Krafty Chicks #501--stamp act

Little Fish, Big Wish

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps.  This week is a Designer's Choice Challenge and it's MY turn!!  I've chosen: April Showers--use something water related (technique, image, etc.)

And here is the card I created:

As you can see, I went with the water image theme.  I started by stamping the fishbowl, then the fish and then the little water plant.  I then heat embossed the sentiment in white on a strip of black card stock.  To finish things off, I used some clear Nuvo drops to create bubbles (It looks soooo awesome!), and I added clear wink of Stella to the fish's body and fins.  You can see a little of the sparkle in the photo below.   

Even though I used some sparkle, this will still be a fabulous masculine card to add to my stash.

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 "Fish Bowl", "Plant", "Beta Fish" and "Big Wish"

Challenges:

30 Day coloring Challenge--just color
Dare 2B Artzy--anything goes
Crafting Uncles #3--masculine birthday
Creative Fingers #182--anything goes
Creative Knockouts--anything goes
Krafty Chicks #500--all occasions
Word Art Wednesday--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Birthday Flyby

A new month has arrived and that means a new challenge from the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog.  This month's challenge is "For The Girls" (make a feminine project).

And here is the card I created:

 Now, this card may not look very feminine, but it IS for my oldest daughter who just turned 14 (how did that happen!!??).  She is not very girly, so she wouldn't appreciate a girly card.  But I think she will LOVE this card because it is sooooo fun.

I mean, look at it!!  It's so cute!  I just love these dragons and this castle die set (which I am using for the very first time) is going to get a LOT of use, I think.  So, it looks like a normal card on he outside, but when you pull the pull tab at the top, the fun happens: 

I used a magic slider die to create this fun interactive card.  When you pull the tab, the opens up to reveal a hidden little scene.  So fun!  I adhered the castle making sure it was only adhered to the part of the card that pops up.  And I attached the dragon with a small strip of acetate so it appears to actually be flying over the castle.  I added some sparkle with nuvo glitter pens to the wings and underbelly of the dragon, the princess' crown and the sword and shield of the knight.  Then I finished it off with some sequins to make it a little more girly. : ) 

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: MFT "Magical Dragons" and "ALS Genie" (sentiment on the inside)

Dies: MFT "Slider Surprise" and the castle set which seems to be retired, maybe?
Stencils: MFT brick wall; Taylored Expressions cloud scene builder

Challenges:

Cutie Pie #145--gorgeous greens (my dragon and the little princess's dress are green; I hope it's enough)
Southern Girls--anything goes
Your Next Stamp #135--cute critters
Krafty Chicks #500--all occasions
Creative Moments #187--anything goes
Pink Gem--anything goes