Belated Birthday

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:

Sea urchins are my absolute favorite sea creature!  My grandparents lived in Puerto Rico for many years and we were able to go visit them several times.  We found many, many (dead) urchins on the beaches down there.  At one beach, there were hundreds (maybe even thousands) of the tiniest urchins I've ever seen.  I have a whole vase of them and they are just so beautiful.  The ones I have are all pure white, bleached by the sun.  But we did find a couple that were the most gorgeous shades of purple or green.  So, I went with the theme of the picture, but also pulled in some of those lovely pale colors from the color swatch.  I kept it nice and simple, so the elegance of the stamps could shine.  Embellishments are just a strip of silver glitter paper and a few gray and purple pearls.

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 "Sea Urchin (lg.)" and "Always Remember" I used only the "happy belated birthday" part
Dies: Repeat Impressions "Flip Fancy Die Set"

Challenges:

Love to Craft Challenge Blog #49--anything goes

Stick It Down--sketch

Power Poppy Creative Confetti--keep it simple

Sheepski Designs #41--anything goes

CRAFT Rocket Challenge #73--birthday

Kat Scrappiness--birthday

Creative Fingers Challenge Blog #191--anything goes

Your Next Stamp #145--celebrations

Crafty Friends #142--anything goes

Sugar Pea Meant to be Sent--birthday

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #140--anything goes

Make My Monday #129--on the beach

Cupcake Inspiration #500--birthday

Blue Skies are Coming

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

The challenge this time is: Lots of Squares
And here is my card for your inspiration:

The card base is a 5 1/2 in square and the image panel was cut with a square die.  The patterned paper in the background is full of squares (though you really can't see much of it) and the yellow paper has a plaid/square pattern on it.  For a fun touch, I paper pieced the umbrella with two coordinating patterned paper scraps.  And I actually printed the image out twice so I could cut out the animals and adhere them on top of the second image to give more dimension (and make it easier to piece).  To play up the sentiment, I added a die cut sun peeking out behind some gray clouds (which will soon be floating away).  I used some clear Nuvo drops to add rain droplets to the umbrella and the little flower.  And I finished it off with some clear droplets from Kat Scrappiness.

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 "Umbrella Pals" digi; Verve "Beautiful You" sentiment

Dies: MFT  sun burst die and "Blueprints 14" square die; Paper Smooches "Cute Clouds"

Challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #384--anything goes with snippets (anything goes with snippets--the papers for the umbrella were cut from scraps, and the background piece (though very large was cut from a scrap of 12 x 12 paper).  The sun and clouds were also cut from scraps.)

Cutie Pie Challenge #150--Hip to be square

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #41--anything goes

Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 #189--sketch

Mod Squad Challenge--patterned paper trio (use 3 or more patterned papers--I used 4 with the two on my umbrella)

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

Crafty Creations #412--anything goes

Aud Sentiments #257--anything goes

Penny's Challenge #477--anything goes

With Sympathy

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:

My main column is: dragonflies, fun fold, background wash.  But, I also added: shimmer or sparkle, dimension, frame, vellum and dew drops (everything except lighthouse).  I started with the background.  I used water color paper and two shades of blue and two shades of green to create my background wash.  Then I mixed some silver Perfect Pearls with some water and brushed it over the background.  The shimmer and shine is really fabulous in real life.  Then I stamped and heat embossed the dragonfly on water color paper with black embossing powder.  I used some water color markers to color the dragonfly and added some of the Perfect Pearls shimmer to it as well.  You can see the sparkle in the photo below.

For my fun fold, I created a gatefold card with the top layer of the "frame" opening on the left and the white circle with the first sentiment opening to the right.  It took me quite a long time to figure this out as I really wanted to back the frame element with vellum to help hide the sentiment from the outside.  It turned out to not be that difficult (if I had done it right the first time), but it definitely took me a lot of trial and error.  I stamped the sentiment on the white circle and then placed the dragonfly on the front in the best position to hide most of the words.  With the vellum, you can't even see if from the outside.

To add a bit of interest to the inside, I stamped the small dragonfly and some cattails in a pale gray ink.  Then I also stamped the same images onto the outside of the card.  I finished everything off with some clear droplets from Kat Scrappiness.

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 "Dragonfly (lg).", "Dragonfly Sil. (sm)", "Cattails", "Sympathy" and "Remembering"

Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Scalloped Circles, large" and "Standard Circles, large"; MFT "Blueprints 25" stitched rectangle

Challenges:

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #139--anything goes

Paper Girls #205--summer dreams

Scor-Pal #73--anything goes with the optional twist: birthday

Cards Galore #178--anything goes

Love To Craft Challenge Blog #49--anything goes

SheepSki Designs #41--anything goes

Dare 2B Artzy--anything goes

Crafty Creations #412--anything goes

Penny's Challenge #477--anything goes

Creative Fingers #191--anything goes

Crafty Friends #142--anything goes

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

Musical birthday

Last weekend, my husband and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary!  My husband's brother also celebrated his 39th birthday.  We got married on his 18th birthday to make sure he could be home on his birthday--he was traveling the U.S. on a music tour.  The music tour sets the stage for this birthday card for him.  I started out by stamping a sheet music background image with dark gray ink on white card stock.  Then I heat embossed the damask images over top with clear embossing powder and blended on a whole lot of blueprint sketch Distress Oxide ink.  The story behind that is this: last month my brother-in-law and his friend wallpapered his music room/studio in a dark blue damask  pattern; it was a tone-on-tone paper, but I was really hoping that you would be able to see the music music a little better through the clear images than you can.  But, anyway, it created a really beautiful background.  Of course, I had to include an image of a grand piano since he has one in the studio (he is an amazing pianist!)  I wanted to keep the card rather simple so the background could shine, so I die cut a vellum circle to help separate the piano from the background, but still let it show through.  I finished the card off with a gold heat embossed sentiment and a couple of gold sequins.

He has a youtube channel where he plays and sings; if you are interested in checking it out, you can find it here.

Supplies:

Stamps: PaperTrey Ink "Damask Designs" (my first set and I still love it so much!!) and "Rhythm and Soul"; Hero Arts Sheet Music background

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle and Spellbinders "Standard Circles, large"

Challenges:

Pink Gem Challenge--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #139--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday--Happy Birthday

Cards Galore #178--anything goes

Love To Craft Challenge Blog #49--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

Kat Scrappiness--birthday

Crafter's Cafe #248--anything goes

MFT Summer School Day 1--visual triangle (I used my sequins in a triangle formation)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--use your favorite tool (my die cutting machine--I can't make a card without it!)

Penny's Challenge #477--anything goes

Peace on Earth

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps.  This week is a Designer's Choice Challenge and Shirley has chosen: I'm in the Dark.

And here is the card I created:

I did a lot of ink blending on this one, and my fingers were blue to prove it!  I started off by heat embossing the 2" circle silhouette stamp on white card stock with clear embossing powder.  Because I only inked and embossed it one time, the impression wasn't completely solid, and it really gave the texture that you see when you look at the moon.  Then I used a LOT of blueprint sketch Distress Oxide ink to create the background.  I added in a little bit of dusty concord Distress Oxide and finished around the edges with some black soot Distress Oxide.  To create my forest, I started by stamping the trees with a medium gray ink, stamping a second time before reinking to achieve more depth.  Then I switched to using the black soot Distress Oxide and stamped off on a piece of scrap paper before stamping on the card panel, then use the black soot without stamping off first.  This allows the darker trees to really come to the front and the lighter ones to fade off making it look more like a forest.  I left a little space for a clearing where I would be able to stamp my deer.  He is really part of a three piece family, but I cut the stamp apart so I could use only the stag.  I spritzed on some shimmer spray and used a white gel pen to dot "snow" all over the panel.  I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle and adhered it to a dark blue card stock.  I finished it off by heat embossing the sentiment with silver embossing powder on a little dark blue banner.

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 "Deer Family Silhouette" I used only the stag, "2 in. Circle Silhouette", "Large Pine Tree" and "Peace"

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:

Crimbo Crackers #212--anything goes

Cardz TV #120--anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #501--anything goes with the optional twist: include a reindeer

Pink Gem Challenge--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #129--anything goes

Make My Monday #128--CAS

Cards Galore #178--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

Sheepski Designs #41--anything goes

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #25--anything goes

Dare 2B Artzy--anything goes

Shopping Our Stash #426--KISS (keep it simple sister)

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

Flying By

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

The challenge this time is: Cute and Cuddly Animals
And here is my card for your inspiration:

My husband and I celebrated our 21st anniversary yesterday!  This is the card I made for him.  This image is one I just got from Di's Digi Stamps and, like all of her images, it is so adorable!!  I did a little "out of the box" die cutting so parts of the image are hanging outside the edges of the die cut circle.  Using up scraps is one of my favorite things to do and I used quite a few on this card.  When I choose a sketch like this one that has a lot of nice layers, I know it is perfect for using up some scraps.  If you have several smaller pieces, you can hide the joins (or where they don't even join) underneath the upper layers like I did here on my card base:

I love this cloud paper and it was perfect for matching with my image, but I didn't have anything larger than these pieces.  I even used the portion that attaches the sheet of paper into the paper pad (see the hole for hanging it?)!  The empty spaces will be covered and no one will ever know.  I also did it on the second panel as you can see below:

I wanted the stripes to be vertical and I only had a small piece of it, but cut in half; it was perfect.  I even used a tiny, tiny scrap of red card stock.

It was perfect for die cutting some adorable, tiny hearts to add as embellishments.

Here is another free tip for you (one I just figured out myself today).  I love turning straight sentiments into curved sentiments to fit on circle die cuts.  In the past it has been a bit of trial and error trying to get the curve right and getting the sentiment to stick in that position to the block.  Today, I realized that I could place the block on top of the circle and then position the sentiment on top where it can be adjusted quite easily.

And here is the inside of the card:

I know this was a long post!  Thanks for sticking around!  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 "Pilot Ted" digi image; PaperTrey Ink "Inside, Out: Love" all sentiments

Dies:  Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large", "Classic Scalloped Circles, large"; MFT "Smartphone" little heart rectangle

Challenges:

Cardz TV #120--anything goes

Krafty Chicks #518--anything goes

Time Out Challenge #167--words of inspiration

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

Mojo Monday #542--sketch

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #383--anything goes with snippets (I used LOTS of snippets)

The Cutie Pie Challenge #148--delightful digis

Blessed to Have You

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 Kids.

And here are the cards I created:

I have 3 kiddos, so I had to make 3 cards, right?  I can't just make a card for one of them.  The first one is for my middle little.  She LOVES monkeys, so it was a no brainer to use this adorable set from Sugar Pea Designs.  I think the two little monkeys are supposed to be "in love", but can also work for a mama lovin' her kid.  I created the background by ink blending with Distress Oxides.  I stamped a small grass stamp across the "grass" area in the same ink for a very subtle  texture.

The second card is for my youngest little.  I think these little otters are the cutest and I think she'll like them, too.

I used  a really fun wave coverplate die from Hero Arts.  First I ink blended some Distress Oxides on a panel and then die cut it with the die.  I layered it over a light blue card stock to really highlight the waves.  The wave slits created the perfect resting place for the cut mama and her sweet baby!  I added some gold glitter pen to the little fishies to give them some sparkle.  You can see it really well in the photo below:

The last card is for my oldest little (who is definitely not little anymore!).  She love riding four-wheelers and is in charge of mowing our lawn and taking care of the garden.  So, I added a few "mud" splatters to the background.  She's not girly and is getting a little old for the "cutesie" so, I went with the smart phone (which looks pretty similar to hers) and added some fun star confetti for embellishment.

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:

Card #1:

Stamps: Sugar Pea Designs "Cheeky Monkeys"; PaperTray Ink "Way to Go, Kiddo" sentiments; Repeat Impressions "Grass"

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 25" stitched rectangle

Card #2:

Stamps: MFT "BB Otterly Love You"; PaperTrey Ink "Way to Go, Kiddo" sentiments

Dies: Hero Arts "Waves and Sea Confetti" die

Card #3:

Stamps: Your Next Stamp "Large Splatters"; PaperTrey Ink "Way to Go, Kiddo" sentiments

Dies: MFT smartphone dies

Kat Scrappiness star confetti

Challenges:

The Paper Shelter--anything goes

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #450--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Little Red Wagon #560--give us your background

Krafty Chicks #518--anything goes

Cardz TV #120--anything goes