Sympathy

This is one of the cards I made last week when I got a chance to just "play" with some new stamps.  This is a gorgeous layering set from Altnew so actually I really was playing to see how all the layers worked.  And the sentiment is from a set I received at Christmas and had yet to ink that up.

Supplies:
Stamps: Altnew "Garden Treasure"; Stampendous "Sincere Sentiments"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:
Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #160--anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #324--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Crafty Creations #361--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #198--anything goes
4 Crafty Chicks #392--just add a sentiment
Crafts Galore--anything goes
Sheep Ski Designs #12--flowers
Alphabet Challenge--Y is for your choice
Cardz TV #37--anything goes
heARTful Stamping--anything goes

Under the weather

This is the second card I made using this fun twist on a joy fold.  If you want to see my other card click here.  As I was looking through one of my packs of patterned paper, I came across this umbrella paper and it was a perfect match for the sentiment.

 The print paper is from the same pack and it says "rain, rain, go away . . ."  Such a cute paper pack!
Here is the card partially open:

 And all the way open:

I added the cute little umbrella on the inside to go with the papers and the sentiment on the outside.

Supplies:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted "Under the Weather"
Dies: Spellbinders "Labels 27" and "Labels 4"; PTI  "Button Stack #2"

Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments--anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday--whatever the weather
Pile It On--circles
2 Crafty Critter Crazies #12--anything goes
Die Cut Divas--monochrome
Crafty Hazelnuts' Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Craft Galore--anything goes

Sending TLC

I finally got a chance to "just play" with some stamps I've had for a over a year and haven't had a chance to ink up yet.  Actually, my mother-in-law and I got together and had a stamping day.  It was a lot of fun and it was great to be able to stamp without having to make something specific.  We started off by learning a new (to us) card fold.  It's similar to a joy fold.  This is the first card I created:

 Like I said, I've had this Clearly Besotted stamp set for almost a year and a half and haven't use it yet.  But I will probably be using it more often now; it's so adorable and so sweet for get well cards.  This little bear is so cute and the blanket was just begging to be paper pieced.  Here it is partially open:

 And all the way open:

I stamped the sentiment inside and added a few of the accessory images to dress it up.  I had so much fun with this fold and the stamp set that I made a second card I will be posting as soon as I add the finishing details.

Supplies:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted "Under the Weather"
Dies: Spellbinders "Labels 4", "Labels 27", "Classic Circles, large" and "Scalloped Circles, large"; MFT "Blueprints 12" flowers

Challenges:
Fussy and Fancy Challenge #206--favorite colors (my absolute favorite combination for cards is pink and green)
Penny's Challenge #369--anything goes
Crafty Gals #160--anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #324--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Crafty Creations #361--anything goes
As You Like It--single or multiple layers (I definitely love layers, it adds texture and interest and allows you to use mixes of patterns and colors)
Cute Card Thursday #519--anything goes
Aud Sentiments Challenge #198--anything goes
4 Crafty Chicks #392--just add a sentiment
Crafting with an Attitude #37--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Dies R' Us #92--use pastel colors
Penny Black--feature a creature
Creatilicious #134--anything goes with the optional twist: girly
2 Crafty Critter Crazies #12--anything goes
Pile It On--Cirlces
Try Stampin--or Not--On Tuesday #2--tic tac toe (I used the center column: coloring, flowers, scallops)

Start Again

It's March and that means it's time for a new challenge from the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog.  This month the challenge is Anything Goes and our sponsor is Blank Page Muse (formerly Sin City Stamps).

And here is my card for your inspiration:

Mixed Media projects are totally out of my comfort zone, but the stamps sent to me by Blank Page Muse were just begging to be used on such a project.  So, I gave it my best shot and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  I started out with watercolor paper and gelatos: a light blue, brown, coral (which I love because it has a nice shimmer to it) and a tiny bit of gold all of which I mixed with water and painted onto the paper.  After drying it with my heat gun (because I am way too impatient to let it dry on its own), I stamped the bird cage image randomly over the sheet with a dark gray.  Then I randomly stamped the clock face with versmark and heat embossed them with gold embossing powder.  I then used a heart stencil and Black Soot Distress Oxide ink to stencil the lower left hand corner. I heat embossed the bird image with gold embossing powder on a bit of paper I water colored with the coral gelato and fussy cut it out.  I stamped part of the sentiment on a piece of water colored paper painted with the light blue gelato and inked the edges with the black soot distress ink.  I stamped the rest of the sentiment directly on the image panel.  I die cut some clock hands from black and swiped some gold gelato over top to highlight them.  I finished everything off with some clear texture dots and heat embossed the edges of the panel with vintage blue frantage powder.  I love the sparkle in it, you can see the glitter in the photo below.

After I finished my card, I realized that their was a feather in my bits and pieces stash that I had meant to pair with these stamps, so . . . I had to make another card.  Another mixed media type card; I think I'm actually starting to enjoy it. : )  Here is card #2:

I am so excited to finally get to use this feather.  It has been in the stash for a really, really, really long time and I had pretty much despaired of every using it.  But it worked perfectly with these stamps and this style of card.  I used the same coral/peach and light blue gelatos as the first card.  This time I mixed them with a little bit of water and painted stripes on a dry piece of water color paper.  It gives a bolder look.  Then I used some very watered down silver/gray gelato to paint on through a stencil to add a little bit more interest to the background.  Originally I had stamped the sentiment directly onto the background, but it didn't stamp well, so I stamped it onto a scrap piece of water color paper that I had been experimenting on.  The yellow makes me think of a sunrise so it works perfectly with the sentiment.  I die cut a clock face out of vellum and the clock hands out of a light gray, then I smeared some of the coral, blue and yellow gelatos on with my finger to give them a bit of antiquing.  The little heart was in my bits and pieces stash; I colored it with the blue gelato to match.  And the bird was left over from the first card after I decided I wanted to use the gold embossed one.  So, this card uses up a bunch of those little "bits".  

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

Supplies:
Card #1:
Stamps: Blank Page Muse "Bird Small Butterflies Flourishes Art Rubber Stamp", "Every Day Is a New Beginning", "Free As a Bird Word Art Stamp", "Steampunk Watch Face" and "Small Vintage Bird Cage"
Dies: PTI "Hands of Time"
Stencil: MFT "Tiled Hearts"

Card #2:
Stamps: Blank Page Muse "Bird Small Butterflies Flourishes Art Rubber Stamp", and "Every Day Is a New Beginning"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 25" stitched rectangle; PTI "Hands of Time"; Sweet n' Sassy Stamps heart die
Stencil: Stamplorations "Flourishes"

Challenges:
Card #1
Blank Page Muse--blue, hearts and time
Sweet Stampers #11--things with wings
Southern Girls--nature
Creative Fingers #143--anything goes
heARTful Stamping--anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday--in my garden
Shopping Our Stash #343--stashed stencils
Addicted to Stamps #281--anything goes


Card #2
Inspiration Destination #145--anything goes
Crafty Creations #361--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #324--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes
Crafty Gals Corner #160--anything goes
Penny's Challenge #369--anything goes

Unto you

Happy Wednesday!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a fan favorite: Anything Goes

It doesn't get any easier than that!  And here is my card for your inspiration:

 The inspiration for this card started a month or so ago when I discovered the lamppost image stamped on a random piece of paper.  I wanted to pair it with this sentiment and was planning on creating a window in the front of my card for it.  Then I discovered this pre-cut card base that has been in my stash for a looooooong time.  I stenciled the bricks on the front to look like a wall, stamped the sentiment on the inside of the card and adhered the lamppost to the side.  It was a little too plain so I went looking through my stamps to find something to accent the other side.  I found this pine branch/pine cone image and two of them were perfect to create the "outdoor" look to my scene.  I stamped and colored them and then fussy cut both out images and adhered them to the front of the card and then trimmed off all the parts that were over hanging the edge.  The next photo shows how it looks standing up:

I think it turned out really fun.  And my kids thought it was really cool.  I hope you will play along with us this week; I can't wait to see what you create.  And if you need any of these stamps I used; check out my 10% off your entire order coupon over in my left sidebar.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Holiday Lamp Post", "For Unto Us" and "Pine Branch"
MFT "Brick Wall" stencil

Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments--anything goes
Shopping Our Stash #343--stashed stencils
Hiding In My Craft Room #341--any holiday
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #374--anything goes with the optional twist: use some gold
Southern Girls--nature
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #23--anything goes
ABC Christmas--C is for clean, D is for distress (I went with C is for Clean)
Christmas at Sweet Stampin--anything goes
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #19--anything goes

Purrfect Birthday

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

The challenge this time is: Die Cuts
And here is my card for your inspiration:

All of Di's images are super cute but I really love her kitties!!  Maybe it's because I love kitties in general. : )  Up until about 10 months ago, I had 3 of my very own.  Sadly, my "old man" passed away only a couple months before his 18th birthday so now, I'm down to two.  My "old man" was gray, so he is depicted by the kitty sitting on the present and my "big boy" is a stripey orange, so he's the other in the image.  I managed to pull a few pieces out of my bits and pieces stash for this one: one of the balloons, one layer of on of the teal roses and the sentiment banner, and the star for the "leaves" under the yellow flower.  It looks almost black, but the card base is a navy base I've had in my stash for probably 14 years.  Someone gave me a bunch of card bases and pieces and I am slowly using them up.  I colored both the image and my balloons with my spectrum noirs.  The smaller, teal roses were made with a punch and the yellow was made with a die.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this challenge.

Supplies:

Stamps: Di's Digi Stamps "A Purrfect Day" digi; MFT "Essential Elements"

Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"; MFT "Bold Stripes Cover Up Die" sentiment strip and "Blueprints 12" yellow flower and "Blueprints 13" star for smaller rose 'leaves'; PTI "Heart 2 Heart #2" balloons and "Fancy Flakes" 'leaves' for yellow rose

Fiskars small flower punch

Challenges:

Cardz TV #36--anything goes

Cut It Up #142--anything goes

Creative Fingers #143--anything goes

Crafty Catz #405--anything goes with optional twist: birthdays

Cute Card Thursday #518--cute critters

Little Miss Muffet #183--anything goes

Mod Squad--animal fun

Penny's Challenge #368--anything goes

Tuesday Morning Sketches #441--sketch

A Gem of a Challenge #213--spring flowers

As You Like It--favorite way to add a sentiment (I really like using these really narrow banners; they fit just about anywhere and add a bit of texture/interest)

MFT Birthday Challenge--bouquet of balloons

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #11--anything goes

Christmastime

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack.  As always, we are now an Anything Goes challenge and our sponsors for this week are Little Blue Button Stamps. 

And here is my card for your inspiration:

I'm a firm believer in creating Christmas cards all year long so I'm not scrambling come December.  Well, I usually have a few left to make, but at least the large bulk of my cards are already finished by then.  This year, I'm already behind and since I had this image already printed and sitting on my desk I decided to go with Christmas.  Sorry!  I know we are all ready for warmer weather and thoughts of spring.

What do you need to do to enter?

Challenge Rules

1. Please post a direct link to your blog post that includes your challenge entry project, using the linky tool on Jo's blog. 

2. Be sure to include a link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering your project into

3. THREE entries per person are allowed for each challenge and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4. For all entries -NO BACK LINKS ACCEPTED- 

The date on your blog post should be dated between the start date and the end date for the challenge you are entering, in order to be eligible for the challenge & prizes

5. You may link up to other challenges but be sure to link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering 

 * All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements

WILL NOT be eligible for the top 3, any sponsor wins or any random wins by Jo

All random wins will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.

You have until March 2nd by 6:00PM (eastern, USA) time to link up.

All winners will be announced during the week of March 5th.

Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create.

Supplies:

Stamps: Little Blue Button Stamps "Christmas Elements" digi; Verve "Merry and Bright" sentiment

Fiskars Apron Border punch

Challenges:

The Merry Christmas Challenge #18--anything goes
Penny's Challenge #368--anything goes
Fab n Funky #382--Christmas
Merry Monday #278--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the greenery and the red)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #373--anything goes with optional twist: use some green (on my holly leaves)
YNS #85--sketch

Winter Wonderland--anything goes
Crimbo Crackers #152--anything goes
Crafty Creations #360--anything goes
The Holly and Ivy #23--anything goes
Stamplorations---Paint it red

ABC Christmas--C is for Clean
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes
Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--mainly red