Hats Off

Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge is: Create your own background.

Just a reminder that we are trying to get to 1,000 followers on our challenge blog!  We are so close, I believe we are only 3 followers away!  When we reach 1000 followers we'll have a random drawing from all of the entries in the challenge in which the magic number is reached and reward the lucky drawing winner with a box full of crafty goodness.  So, be sure you've checked the Followers box on our sidebar and pass the word to your crafty friends. We're still at 997 so let's make this challenge be the one!!!

Here is my card for your inspiration:

We had 5 young people from our church graduating this year and we had a little reception after the church service a couple weeks ago.  This is the card that I made for each of the three young men (the two young ladies are my daughters so I didn't make them a card, yet, they're still finishing up).  I started by stamping the caps in the background to make it look like they are falling after being thrown up in the air in celebration.  Then I die cut the sentiments from black and gold cardstock.  I was trying to decide whether I liked the black "congrats" better or the gold, when my youngest daughter suggested layering them together.  She's pretty smart, that one!  I stamped the sentiment in the corner and while everything looked good, it still needed something.  So, I die cut some tiny gold stars and sprinkled them around the caps and the sentiment  and I think they finished everything off perfectly!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the Cut It Up blog for the full details of the challenge and to see what the rest of the Design Team has created. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Taylored Expressions "The Inside Scoop Stamp Set--Grad"; Repeat Impressions graduation cap

Dies: Papertrey Ink "congrats" die; MFT graduation die set; Stamps of life flip card star die set

Challenges:

Crafty Catz #717--anything goes

Creative Fingers Challenge #326--anything goes

Cards Galore #149--anything goes

Unicorn Challenge #122--no patterned paper

Word Power--anything goes with the sentiment as the focus

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #281--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday--back to school (mine is more the ending of school, but it does have to do with school--if not fitting the theme, please remove.  Thanks!)

Word Art Wednesday #760--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Pink Christmas

 Good morning!  Today I am sharing my project as a Guest Designer for Double Trouble Challenge.  Here are the details:

WELCOME to Challenge #220 - Let the Troubles Begin!

Challenge runs from Monday, July 6th thru Sunday, July 19th 

Here is Thing 1's 3-2-1 Recipe - "Christmas in July"
Servings - Unlimited Portions of Fun
Specific information is available by clicking on each ingredient.
        3 Colors of your choice (Neutrals Do Not Count as one of the three                   choices, but neutrals can be used in addition to colors of choice)
        2 Layers (Card Base does not count)

        1 Holiday Image 

Directions: You MUST include at least the required minimum of each ingredient for successful results and a chance in our random drawing... but you may enhance your project by using more than the ingredients stipulated.

THING 1: Trouble Maker

says, "'Christmas in July' is a fun and quirky commemoration of the traditional winter holiday... so why wait until December to create a little holiday cheer? It's the perfect time to mix sunny skies with snowy vibes and celebrate the season in the most unexpected way. It's also a great way to get ahead of your holiday stash! 

Let's celebrate, stir up some trouble in Double Trouble's Kitchen, and create a project using all the ingredients from our 3-2-1 Recipe above.

You can stop here...
OR
play along with Thing 3's Optional Twist and/or Thing 2's Optional Dare and earn additional chances in our random drawing.

THING 3: Twisted Sister 

says, "Even though the July 4th weekend has passed, Trouble Maker wants to celebrate 'Christmas in July.' She will probably think this idea makes snow sense, but why not go with a 'patriotic-meets-festive' vibe? We can have snow much fun with a 'Star-Spangled Christmas.' My optional twist is to use stars and/or stripes in our 'Christmas in July' 3-2-1 recipe above."

 

Optional Twist: If you have included stars and/or stripes in your project, you will earn another chance in our Random Drawing. 

THING 2:  Double Dare

says, "Click the clipart to the left for a sneak peek of sketches #699 and #700 from our sister challenge, Try a Sketch On Tuesday.

"My optional dare is to combine your choice of either sketch with the Double Trouble 3-2-1 recipe for 'Christmas in July.' To prevent backlinking, please ensure your project is not posted, published, or entered anywhere before July 7th. Following this guideline will earn you TWO additional chances in our random drawing!"

Want to earn another chance in our random drawing? If your project includes stars and/or stripes, with or without TSOT sketch, you can also link it up at the Jingle Belles Challenge until July 19th.

And here is my card for your inspiration:

My three colors are red, pink, and a blue-ish gray.  I have at least 4 layers once you get to my image, and I have 1 snowwoman image.  For Thing #3's challenge, I added stars and I followed one of the sketches:

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us; I can't wait to see what you create for this challenge!

Supplies:

All papers and image ephemera are from Not 2 Shabby

Stamps: PaperTrey Ink sentiment

Dies: unbranded circle die from Amazon; Pink & Main "Roses" die set--banner; My Favorite Things "Blueprints 13" Stitched Rectangle

Challenges:

Creative Knockouts #574--Christmas in July

Crafty Catz #717--anything goes

Creative Fingers #326--anything goes

Jingles Belles--stars AND/OR stripes forever

Try a Sketch on Tuesday #699--sketch

Die Cut Divas--Christmas in July

Pearly Sparkles #121--Christmas in July

Cupcake Inspirations #638--anything goes

Winged Beauties

Happy July 1st!!  It's time for a new challenge on the Critter Crazy Challenge blog!  As always, it is a month long challenge: Anything Goes as long as you feature a creature.  Here is my card for your inspiration:

I wanted to try something a little different for me.  I don't do a lot of CAS cards, but I have been creating them more and more lately.  I chose three butterfly images and lined them up down the center of my panel using my mini misti.  I then chose three inks from the same family and stamped the butterflies in an ombre look beginning with the lightest at the top and moving down to the darkest ink on the sentiment (which looks black, but is really a very dark purple).  Then I die cut the panel with a wonky stitched die and adhered it to a plain white base.  I really like how simple it is and how pretty the butterflies turned out.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hop on over to the Critter Crazy blog and check out the details and the rest of the projects from the Design Team.

Supplies:

Stamps: Picket Fence Studios "Butterfly Beauties"; MFT "Something for Everyone" sentiment

Dies: wonky stitched die (I can't remember where I got this from, but it is an actual company!)

Ink: Altenew "Enchanted Garden" mini quartet

Challenges:

Cupcake Inspirations #638--anything goes

Crafty Catz #716--anything goes

Creative Fingers #325--anything goes

Sweet Stampin'--anything BUT birthday

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #280--anything goes

Fab n' Funky #640--something beginning with B (butterflies)

Word Art Wednesday #759--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Water color chair

Hello, everyone!  It's time for the mid-month reminder for the challenge from the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  The theme is: Pastel or Bright.  There is no sponsor this month, we are playing just for fun.

 Here is my card:

Several years ago, my mother-in-law and I went to a stamp convention and took a class with Art Impressions.  It was so fun and we came away with a number of beautiful water colored images.  I had forgotten all about them until I pulled one out for a different card.  I thought this one was so pretty and perfect for the quick birthday card I needed to make.  I pulled out some soft papers to match the image and added some purple mulberry paper to frame the image.  This isn't exactly pastel, but the colors are soft and definitely not bright.

You have all month to play along.  So, get inky and link up your creation; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:

Stamps: Art Impressions Stamps (various water color stamp images); Verve "Be Blessed" sentiment

Dies: wonky die (unknown)

Challenges: 

Cupcake Inspirations #638--anything goes

Crafty Catz #716--anything goes

Creative Fingers #325--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #280--anything goes

Fab 'n' Funky #650--something beginning with B (butterflies, blue)

Thinking of you

Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge is: Critters

Here is my card for your inspiration:

This card was made almost entirely out of scraps, most of which were already on my desk.  The three different patterned papers I used were scraps from the same paper pack--still sitting on my desk from a different card I had made recently.  The butterfly and the sentiment were actually stamped and die cut from the same scrap of blue patterned paper from the background panel of the card.  I had to go dig out some silver card stock for the frame and the blue mats were not from scraps, but everything else was.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the Cut It Up blog for the full details of the challenge and to see what the rest of the Design Team has created. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Picket Fence Studios "Butterfly Beauties"; MFT "Something for Everyone"

Dies: Pickled Fence Studios "Butterfly Beauties"; MFT "Blueprints 13" sentiment strip; Atlenew frame

Challenges:

Cards Galore #148--anything goes

Die Cut Divas--anything goes

Cupcake Inspirations #638--anything goes

Crafty Catz #716--anything goes

Creative Fingers #325--anything goes

Sweet Stampin'--anything BUT birthday

Inkspirational Challenge #370--leftovers

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #280--anything goes

Pixie's Snippets Playground #535--anything goes with snippets

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #687--sketch

Programmed to Party

 Hello, everyone!  It's time for a new challenge from the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  The theme is: Pastel or Bold.  We do not have a sponsor for this month, it's just for fun.

 Here is my card:

I went with bold for this challenge.  I created a fun little card for my "nephew" who just turned 3!  I had this fun border made with scraps of paper from an old paper pack; it was sitting on my desk just waiting for this card to be made (I've had it in mind for a while).  I cut a very thin strip of orange scrap card stock to bridge the border and the card base.  I stamped the images and colored up my little robot and it was good to go!

You have all month to play along.  So, get inky and link up your creation; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:

Stamps: Verve "Geared Up for Fun" all images and sentiment

Challenges:

Cards Galore #148--anything goes

Pattie's Creations #243--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--all about the Men/boys

Craft Rockets #137--birthday

Paper Funday #84--anything goes with the optional twist: polka dots AND/OR stripes (I created a stripe of stripes!)

Sweet Stampin'--something for the boys

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #279--anything goes

Pixie's Snippets Playground #534--anything goes with snippets (the border piece was created with snippets)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--add a sentiment

A boy and his truck

Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge is: One for the Boys (Man/Men)

Here is my card for your inspiration:

This is the birthday card for my soon to be son-in-law.  He just turned 20 and he is all about his TRUCK (and my daughter, of course!)  I have a really fun pickup truck die set that I used to make a truck as similar to his as I could.  Obviously, I was limited by the die set, but I customized it as much as I could. I even had to create my own mirrors, because he has these giant towing mirrors! I believe he was quite pleased with it.  I wanted to create a scene to go along with the truck, so I pulled out the "Landscape Silhouettes" stamp set from Sweet n' Sassy Stamps (which I believe has another name now, but I'm not sure what it is.)  I started by stamping the mountains (we live in Rhode Island, so we don't really have mountains, but both he and I come from New Hampshire where there are plenty of mountains).  All of the silhouette stamps were too narrow to fit the width of the card, so I had to do some selective masking to make them look continuous.  Also, the mountains were too short for what I was looking to do, so I used the direct ink to paper technique to give them a taller look.  It left some streaking, but that actually adds depth to the mountains by looking like I added highlights!  Then I stamped the trees.  I masked off the bank and ink blended in the river before stamping the grass in the foreground.  I finished off the bottom by inking in a road, and I added a bit of blue ink to the sky.  I stamped the sentiment (which was from a set I had won and had actually arrived that day, so perfect timing!)  I wanted to make it interactive so I created a slider element at the bottom for the truck to "drive" along.

As usual, I forgot to plan it out first, so had to do some adjustments on the fly, but no one except you knows that!  I used a slider die to cut the slot, but had to create my own pull tab to go along with it.  Overall, I was pleased with how it turned out and I think he thought it was quite fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the Cut It Up blog for the full details of the challenge and to see what the rest of the Design Team has created. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Sweet n' Sassy Stamp "Landscape Silhouettes"; MFT "Essential Sentiments" sentiment inside the slider; ? unknown name for the main sentiment set

Dies: unbranded truck die set from Amazon; MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle and "Launch Party" for the slider slot.

Challenges:

Cards Galore Challenge #148--anything goes

Die Cut Divas--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--All about the men/boys

We Love Stamping--sports/hobbies OR anything goes (his hobby is working on his truck; does that count?  Or I can go with anything goes)

Craft Rockets #137--birthday

613 Avenue Create--anything goes with the optional twist: crafty or hobby (working on his truck is his hobby)

Sweet Stampin'--something for the boys

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #279--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday--masculine

Double Trouble Challenge #218--My Guy (Things #1: 3 washi tape/paper scraps (all the truck parts were cut from scraps of card stock/specialty paper), 2 die cuts, 1 sentiment; #3: his favorite hobby/activity/sport--he enjoys working on his truck--though maybe not right now; it's broken!)

Word Art Wednesday #756--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--add a sentiment

Little Red Wagon #862--O is for outdoor

Crafty Catz #715--anything goes

Creative Fingers Challenge #324--anything goes