It's all about you

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

The challenge this time is: Show Some Green
And here is my card for your inspiration:

This patterned paper reminds me of confetti, so I thought it was perfect to pair with this adorable birthday present image.  It was the basis for my color combo (although the green was a given for this challenge).   I really wanted to used some more balloons, so I decided to have some fun and decorate the inside as well.

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 "It's a Purrfect Day" digi; Papertrey Ink "Through the Trees" birthday; CAS-ual Fridays "Shenanigans" inside sentiments

Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A"; MFT "Happy Trio" and "Bundle of Balloons"

Challenges:
Penny's Challenge #465--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #243--anything goes with a sentiment
Creative Fingers #180--anything goes
Your Next Stamp #133--inside & out
Cuttlebug Mania--tic-tac-toe (I used the middle column: colored ink {markers and green ink on the inside sentiment}, die cut, ribbon)
Crafty Sentiments--anything goes
The Paper Shelter #416--colour it
Simon Says Wednesday--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #428--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Little Red Wagon #538--balloon time
My Favorite Things #478--sketch

C.R.A.F.T. #546--inspired by a song (the song Happy Birthday)
Krafty Chicks #496--all occasions (birthday)
Cutie Pie Challenge #144--cute and cuddly animals

Water colored scene

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:

Last September at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo, my mother-in-law and I took a water

coloring workshop with ART Impressions.  It is really awesome because you use stamps to "water color" on water color paper.  They have designed lots of special stamps perfect for creating beautiful water colored scenes.  But, the beauty of the technique is that you can do it with any rubber stamps (I have done it a little with clear stamps as well, but I guess they don't hold the color as well).  So, in need of a masculine birthday card this week, I pulled out one of my favorite Repeat Impressions stamps and gave it a go.  After I was almost completely finished and I was trying to pull some color out for the background, I pulled out too much from the trees and made a big mess!!  I fixed it by adding some dot "leaves" to create more of a forest look.  Live and learn!  Then I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die and added a little banner sentiment.

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 "Bass Harbor Light (lg)", "Random Dots", and "Happy Hello"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:

Alphabet Challenge--W is for Anything you wish
Cardz TV #108--anything goes
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #126--anything goes
Incy Wincy Designs--anything goes
Shopping Our Stash #414--the great outdoors
Penny's Challenge #465--anything goes
Double D--saying "hello"

Southern Girls--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #245--anything goes with a sentiment
Retro Rubber #129--anything goes (I have had this image [and the sentiment] for 4 1/2 years and the dots for 2 years)

Love letters

It's my turn to share my Pick of the Week for The House That Stamps Built.  I was inspired by another card I found on Pinterest:

I just loved those little patterned envelopes and how they were used as a border for the card!  Repeat Impressions has the most adorable little envelope: "Love Letter".  I definitely had it in mind when I saw my inspiration card.  And here is my card:

I stamped the envelopes on little scraps of my favorite paper pack and cut them out with scissors.  TIP: if you want  your fussy cut images to look fabulous, take a black marker (NOT an alcohol marker, those can bleed!) and just run it around the edges of your image.  It covers up any spot where you might not have cut perfectly along the lines.  I stacked them up and used nuvo drops in dark pink and light pink to add dimensional hearts on the envelopes.  I used the 'love' from "Love Stencil" and a die cut 'you' to create the sentiment.  The dotted heart was in my bits and pieces stash and I finished everything off some more Nuvo drops.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Love Letter" and "Love Stencil"
Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"; Simon Says Stamp "You"; Sweet n' Sassy Stamps small heart

Challenges:
Through the Purple Haze #164--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Love To Craft Challenge #43--anything goes
Cheerful Sketches--sketch

Crafty Calendar--use dies and punches
Sheepski Designs #32--hearts and/or flowers
Power Poppy Creative Confetti--inspired by a song (I was inspired by the song "Please, Mr. Postman" by the Marvelettes)

Paper Funday #14--anything goes with the optional twist: Valentine's Day
Sweet Stampers #41--hearts and/or flowers
Crafty Gals #204--add a heart
Cupcake Inspirations #487--love/Valentine's Day

Simon Says Wednesday--add a sentiment
Little Red Wagon #537--Have a heart

Doctor's orders

I'm (very) slowly cleaning up my crafting area and finally getting around to putting stuff away that has been sitting on a particular work surface for a very, very long time.  Well, some of it is new stuff that I have gotten and just haven't had time to take care of and some of it is older, and older, and  . . .  well, you get the idea.  AND, while I'm putting stuff away, I'm actually trying to use it (I know, gasp!) first--which is part of why it is going to slowly.  So, the set I focused on the other day was "Mixed Messages" by Cardz TV and it has all these fabulous sentiments for all sorts of occasions.  One that caught my eye was the one I used on this card: "Doctor's orders . . . feel better soon!"  We have a man at our church that has been having a lot of health issues for quite some time and ended up in the hospital with surgery and all that goes along with it this past week.  I thought the sentiment would be perfect for making a card for him, and I remembered this adorable image that I have not used in a really long time.  It always makes me think that the bear and his little friends are sad, or perhaps not feeling well.  I've used it for get well cards before and thought it would work again this time.

I used some fun patterned papers to give it a "cheer you up" feel and finished it all off with some nuvo drops in autumn red and midnight blue.

Supplies:
Stamps: Cardz TV "Mixed Messages"; Pixie's Cottage bear image
Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle

Challenges:
Tuesday Morning Sketches #542--sketch

The Cutie Pie #144--cute and cuddly animals
Dies R Us #139--wild things
Word Art Wednesday #427--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Cardz TV #108--anything goes
Make My Monday #116--critters
The Paper Shelter #415--for the boys
Addicted To Stamps #377--make your mark (spectrum noir markers)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--add a sentiment
Aud Sentiments #245--anything goes with a sentiment

Tall and Skinny

Sometimes there are challenges that just catch my eye and I know I really want to play along just because it seems so fun.  When I saw Double Trouble's "It's a Tall Order" challenge, I knew I was going to make time to play along.

I've had several of these tall and skinny card bases for quite a while.  Someone gave them to me years ago when they were cleaning out their stash.  I've only used a couple because I never really know what to do with them.   I also had been having fun with scraps a week or so ago and made these paper pieced mugs AND I already had them stacked together like this, which is also perfect for the challenge.  I had the doily die cut in my bits and pieces stash (it was a gift from a friend) and when I went to look for some patterned paper, I found the background piece already cut to the exact size I needed!  I so love using up scraps!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Lawn Fawn "Thanks a Latte"
Punches: Fiskar "Upper Crest" border punch

Challenges:
Double Trouble #50--It's a Tall Order (Thing #1: tall and skinny; Thing #3: stack it up; Thing #2: play along with Try Stampin' On Tuesday)
Creative with Stamps #47--red

Merry Little Christmas #17--anything goes
Winter Wonderland--anything goes
Holly and Ivy #65--anything goes
Crafter's Cafe #236--use pink and/or red
Try Stampin' on Tuesday #443--sketch

C.R.A.F.T.  #545--Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #477--anything goes Christmas with the optional twist: use some green
Use Your Stuff #392--circles
Alphabet Challenge--W is for Anything you Wish

Happy Moments

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 was inspired by the pinks and purples in the color swatches.  Mine don't match up exactly, but it was the starting point.  It's been a while since I've used my favorite blooms from the "Flower Power Separates" collection so I was happy to pull them out and play.  The purple ribbon was in my bits and pieces stash and the little strip of pink patterned paper was a scrap that was already the perfect width, I just trimmed a little bit of the length. I wanted to add some leaves, but didn't want to take away from the color scheme, so I die cut them out of vellum and colored the back side with a green marker.  It adds a very subtle touch of green.

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 "Happy Moments", Flower Power Separates "Daisy Outline Large" and "Daisy Outline Small"
Dies: Verve "Vintage Oval" and "Sprightly Sprigs"

Challenges:
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #43--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #427--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Alphabet Challenge--W is for anything you Wish
Cardz TV #108--anything goes
Crafty Friends #129--gemstones/pearls
Pink Gem Challenge--anything goes
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #126--anything goes
Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #356--sketch

Masculine love

One of my last Valentine's Day cards.  This one is for my brother-in-law.  I had the embossed piece in my stash since September.  I got it at the Stamplistic booth at the Scrapbook Expo last September.  They have the most fun products, specially the gilding polishes.  The demonstrator made this to show how you can combine the pastes to create a weathered, patina look.  It started with an embossed background and when she was finished she gave it to me to take home.  It's been sitting there waiting to be used, but I wasn't sure what to do with it as I definitely didn't want to cover it up.  I decided it would be perfect for a masculine card.  I die cut the letters for "love" out of black card stock and added some copper shine and mint metallic gilding pastes to mimic the patina on the embossed piece.  I added some black grossgrain ribbon and some antiqued copper eyelets to finish everything off.

 Ooo . . . I just love the shine on this!  The depth of the embossing and the layers of color is just fabulous!

Supplies:
Dies: PaperTrey Ink lowercase alphabet; MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:
Cards Galore #72--anything goes
Through The Purple Haze #164--anything goes
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #43--anything goes
Crafty Calendar--use dies and punches
Power Poppy Creative Confetti--love, anything but a heart

Creative Inspiration--anything goes
Crafty Creations #406--anything goes
Moving Along with the Times #113--no image
Creative Fingers #179--anything goes
Cardz 4 Guyz #238--use brads or eyelets
Fab n' Funky #408--love, love, love
Creative Moments #184--anything goes with the optional twist: love
Cute Card Thursday #621--CAS
Incy Wincy--anything goes