Thursday, April 28, 2011

Thinking of You


Morning All,
It took me a while to get on line this morning, but my fabulous Hubby was here to come to my rescue (once again). Today's card is a little Thinking of You card for my next OWH box that did not end up the way I was thinking it would, but I guess that's life. What happened was, I was holding the flowers over the card just to see if I liked them and somehow I lowered them too much and they stuck so that is where they stayed. Not only did I do that once, but twice. DUH!! Sometimes I just don't learn from my mistakes. Anyway my image is from an old Stampin Up set that is long since retired. I colored it with Copic Markers and cut it out and matted it with Circle Nestabilities. As you can see, I sponged both circles while they were in the die. I adhered this to a cream colored almost wood grain paper that I got years ago at AC Moore. I love this paper. The card base is Bashful Blue from Stampin Up. I was going to leave it right there, but then I just tried the flowers and you know what happened. I don't think we have to worry about this card ending up in the OWH hospital because those flowers falling off, because they aren't going anywhere. LOL

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

S & S Mid Week Throw Down



Hi Everyone,
This week's challenge over at Stars & Stamps is to make an "Any Hero" Card. These are cards Operation Write Home sends to deployed military personnel that may not get as much mail as some people. We hope that receiving these cards from us, very appreciative people back here at home, will help to make their day. It just so happens that I made one late last night and another one this morning before I ever went on to the computer to know that this would be our challenge this week. Lucky for me, huh? So I will show you both.
The first card is made with the Star Nestabilities and a Star Embossing Folder. All of the card stock is from Stampin Up. The sentiment is from the A-Muse Hero Mail stamp set. I stamped it with Versa Mark and the embossed it with White embossing powder. Quite simple, but yet I like the way it came out. Hope you do to, and more importantly, I hope one of our heroes will like it.


The image on the second card was colored with Copics. Both the image and the sentiment are from that same A-Muse Stamp Set. I used both Circle and Banner Nestabilities on this card. The designer paper is from Basic Grey and all the card stock is from Stampin Up.

Monday, April 25, 2011

S&S Sketch Challenge #66






Hi All,
I'm back again with my entry into this weeks Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps Sketch Challenge. I started with SU's Wild Wasabi card stock and I ran it through the Big Shot with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder. I used scraps of Rich Razzleberry and Basic Black card stock to make my strips. I just got in a new Sizzix Ric Rac die set, so I decided to try that out using Eva Collection papers from Basic Grey. The sentiment is from Hero Arts, punched out and shadowed with the Curly Label punch from SU. A little flower was my finishing touch.

Outlawz CAS Challenge




Hello Everyone,



I hope your weekend was a great one for you. Mine was very nice. My card today was one I made for the Outlawz CAS challenge this weekend. It was actually a sketch challenge. I started with a Whisper White card base. The designer paper is from my stash and the image is from Inkadinkado that I stamped on SU's Crumb Cake card stock in Versa Mark ink and then embossed it with black embossing powder. I colored it with Copics and dotted the paper with my White Sharpie Pen to bring it all together. I matted that onto a piece of black card stock with pinked edges. The sentiment is from SU and was cut out with a SU Word Window punch and matted on a SU Modern label punch. Bright yellow is not usually one of my go to colors, but I kind of like the way this one turned out.


I hope to be back later with my OWH challenge card and I would also like to share with you a card that I received from my girlfriend this weekend that has a very, very special meaning to me.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

S & S Midweek Throw Down


The Midweek Throw Down over at OWH's Stars & Stamps is to make a monochromatic card. For some reason that seems to be easier for me if I am making a masculine card. All of my card stock today is from Stampin Up. My image stamp is from a retired Stampin Up set titled Noble Deer. I stamped that in Close to Cocoa on some Crumb Cake card stock. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. I used a 1/4 inch punch to make the brads and added Glossy Accents for some dimension. I used Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip SU markers to dash around different areas of the card. This was an easy one for me and I can only hope some one enjoys receiving it. Thank you for stopping by. See you soon.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

C4CC21 - Thinking Of You


Hello All,
Woo Hoo two posts in one day.
The Crazy for Cocoa Challenge today is to make a "thinking of you" card. A couple of weeks ago I purchased this Patriotic Cocoa image from Sweet N Sassy Stamps as I wanted to get started on making some July 4th "Any Hero" cards to go out in my next OWH box. This image seems very appropriate for today's challenge. If you have not heard of Operation Write Home yet, please take a minute to go here to check them out. They are a terrific organization that sends hand made cards to our deployed military personnel so that they, in turn, can send these cards back home to their family members. We also make "any hero" cards for the heroes themselves. We try to brighten the day of both the hero and the hero's family.
Well the card base that I started with is SU's Crumb Cake card stock. Then I ran a piece of SU's Brilliant Blue card stock through the Big Shot machine with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I spritzed the card stock with Sapphire Ritzy Ditzy Glitz to give it a little sheen. I colored the image with Copics and sponged it while it was still in the square Nestability die. I matted that with another Nestability. I also received the Star Nestabilities last week which seemed to be a perfect fit for this theme. The sentiment is from SU's Teen Tiny Wishes set and cut it out with the SU Word Window Punch. I added some white brads to the corners of the card and made some blue brads for the sentiment strip by coloring white card stock with a Copic Marker, then punching it out with a 1/8 inch punch I then added some Glossy Accents to them. I am hoping this card will put a smile on some Hero's face when he or she receives it.

Pastel Love


Good Morning Everyone,
Today's card is another "Love" card going in my Operation Write Home box. I just think these military families really like to get these cards letting them know how much they are loved, missed and appreciated. Anyway, I stamped an old Outlines Rubber Stamp I had several times, as you can see, and partially colored each one with my Copic Markers. Then I added some gold dots and little pink hearts to finish off my own "designer paper". I kind of like how it came out. The sentiment is a retired Stampin Up stamp and I cut is out and matted it with scallopped and plain oval Nestabilities. I added two strips of Stampin Up ribbon, matted all that on to Stampin Up Bashful Blue card stock and I was done. I hope the recipient likes it. Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today. See you soon.

Monday, April 18, 2011

An Oldie But Goodie

Hi Everyone, Well I dug out one of my retired Stampin Up Stamp sets. I just love this stamp and have probably over used it through out the years. The set is titled Heartfelt Thanks. It was my "go to" stamp set for several years. People that receive cards from me on a regular basis are probably so sick of seeing this stamp, but I never get sick of it. I hate to see it just sitting in the draw being ignored, so every now and then I pull it out. Today was the day for it to be used again. I colored the image using SU markers: Almost Amethyst, Orchid Opulence, Certainly Celery, So Saffron and YoYo Yellow. I huffed and stamped. I cut it out using a Scalloped Oval Nesti and backed it up with an Oval Nesti. The designer paper was from an old pack at papers that I got at JoAnn's years ago. The border punch is also from Stampin Up. I used a diamond embossing folder on the card base and added little gems in the cross sections of the diamonds and around the scallops for some added bling. Thank you for spending a few minutes of your time here today. I appreciate it.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Star & Stamps Sketch Challenge #65


Good Morning Everyone, ATTENTION - ATTENTION - LOST - DONNA'S MOJO. I'm putting out a plea to everyone, if you find my MoJo please, return it to me. It's a good thing they give us sketches and helpful hints over at OWH Stars and Stamps or I would be lost this week. I just can't seem to come up with anything on my own lately. I just keep pushing on though and maybe I'll find that MoJo again soon. This morning's card is for the Stars and Stamps sketch challenge. I started using some designer paper from (I think) Basic Grey. I also used SU's Brilliant Blue card stock. The sentiment is from Katie & Co and I like using this one for our deployed military because I know that the recipient receiving this sentiment will be very happy. I'm sure the family members know how important they are to the deployed personnel, but it is always nice to hear it, either, in person or on a card. I stamped the image on white card stock in VersaMark and then embossed it with Detail White embossing powder. I brayered on some SU's Rich Razzleberry. I used my Signo Gel pen to dash around all the edges. The ribbon and bow are also from SU. Thanks for stopping by today. See you tomorrow. I hope someone has returned my MoJo to me by then LOL.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Quick and Simple


Good Morning Everyone,
Just a quick, simple card today. The background stamp is from Inkadinkado stamped in SU's Certainly Celery. The Sentiment is from Hero Arts and the card stock is all from Stampin Up. I ran the Lavender Lace card stock through the Big Shot with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder. I have many folders, but I seem to keep going back to that one. It must be my favorite.
The gems were in my stash. Hope you have a good day today. I am hoping to spend some time outside in the yard if the weather holds up.
Catch up with you again tomorrow. Thank you for taking a peek here today.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Just Saying Hello


Hi All, I actually made this card yesterday while it was raining. I just needed to see something bright and cheery. I think I accomplished that with these colors. I started with a SU Whisper White card base and ran that through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder. Then I stamped a Stampin Up image from the Abundant Hope set, which is retired. I colored it with my copics and ran that through the SU Square Lattice embossing folder. I cut it out and mounted it on graduating Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities. My colors choices for this card were YoYo Yellow and Mellow Moss both from Stampin Up. The sentiment is from A-Muse. I punched flowers from the BoHo Blossom punch set from Stampin Up and added a few gems for some bling. Thank you for stopping and spending a minute here with me today. I really appreciate it.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Stars & Stamps MidWeek Throwdown


Hello, Hope everyone is doing fine on the dreary, rainy Wednesday. At least that is what it is like here in southeastern Massachusetts. The only good thing about this weather is that I get to stay inside and make cards. Today's MidWeek Throwdown over at Operation Write Home's Stars and Stamps is to create a card with layers. I had trouble with today's card because I had a sentiment that I wanted to use on this card, but then again I liked it this way without any sentiment. Decisions, Decisions!! As you can see I went with no sentiment. Hope you enjoy. See you all tomorrow.
Card Recipe:
CS - Stampin Up, Whisper White and Close to Cocoa
DP - Basic Grey's Indian Summer Collection
Ink - Stazon Black Ink
Bleach - (I bleached the flowers for a little contrast)
Embossing Folder - Sizzix (Tim Holtz Alterations)
Spelllbinders -Fancy labels
Gems - Recollections

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

C4CC20 Cocoa Challenge


Hi,

Nothing from me for 6 days and now 2 cards in one day. Crazy 4 Cocoa Challenge this week is to make a masculine card. Football Cocoa digital image from Sweet N Sassy Stamps was my choice for this challenge. I colored it with Copics and cut it out with Oval Nestabilities. I popped him up over the football field which I made with SU's green and white card stock. I had to resort to hand writing the yard lines in as I hunted my stash for small rub-ons or stencils, but I could not find anything to scale. The sentiment is from SU's Teeny Tiny Wishes. I stamped it in Versa Mark and embossed it with Detail White embossing powder then cut out with another Nestability Oval and popped that oval up also. The card base is SU's Crumb Cake. It's a very plain card, but I think a true football fan will get a kick out of it, at least I hope so. My son is an absolute football fan and he is also, I'm sure, the Steelers number one fan. I may give him this card and write "Steelers" in the end zones. That's all I can finish tonight, but I'll be back tomorrow with more.

House Mouse Challenge


Hello Everyone,

This weeks' challenge over at House Mouse and Friends is to make an Easter card. I decided to use the House Mouse stamp titled "Signing A Card". I just love this image and it lends itself to many occasions because you can add all types of sentiments to it. I stamped with Momento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copics. The sentiments are both from SU's Teeny Tiny Wishes set. I used Nestabilities circles and scalloped circles. The designer paper is from that famous stash of mine as was the flowers and ribbon. The card base is SU's Gable Green. I added gems to the scallops, flower centers and on the top right side as finishing touches. Hope you enjoy.

Monday, April 11, 2011

S & S Sketch Challenge #64



Hello Everyone,
Well I am ashamed to say that it has been 6 days since I made my last card. I have to play a lot of catch up this week. Last week was very, very busy around here and I was just too exhausted to create anything. Hopefully I will get back into my regular schedule now. However as of right now I seem to have lost my MoJo.
Anyway, today's card is for the Sketch Challenge over at OWH Stars and Stamps . Without any MoJo at all right now I had to go with CAS. My card base is SU's Crumb Cake. The L-shaped strips are from DCWV's Once Upon A Lifetime mat pack and I cut them with the SU Scallop Edge Border punch. The designer paper is from my stash. I finished it off with a Prima flower and some gems. Very plain and simple, but it is a card. To the wonderful people at Operation Write Home, I will get moving on my cards this week and get a box out to you shortly. Hope you all have a wonder week. We are suppose to get rain today, but I think the rest of the week should be nice. Let's hope.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

C4CC19 - Happy Birthday Korin

First off I'd like to wish Korin over at Sweet N Sassy Stamps a very Happy Brithday today. The theme for this week's challenge over at Crazy for Cocoa is "birthday". Sweet N Sassy was nice enough to offer a free digi stamp today that will go in their store tomorrow. It was the perfect image for this week's challenge so I took advantage of it. I colored the image using some of the newest Copic colors: Raspberry, Begonia and Pale Moss. I cut the image out using an Oval Nestability and sponged it while it was still in the die. I mounted that on to a Scalloped Oval Nestability. I had a nice suprpise today, I found another box of older papers that I forgot all about. The designer papers are from Lasting Impressions and I used a eyelet scallop border punch from SU along the top and bottom pieces. I split the sentiment between the top and bottom layers of dp. I added a couple of flower gems and mounted the card onto my Razzlleberry card stock from SU. As my last touch I added Korin's name to the gift box.

The Two Minute Card


Good Morning Everyone,

Today's card just fell in my lap, so to speak. I was going through some old scraps of paper and embellishments and these pieces kind of fell out of the scrap box. So this card came together in a matter of minutes. I can remember doing a card very similiar to this one when I first started making cards. There is not much to this one at all, but I still like the simplicity of it. I wish I could give you some details, but I can't remember too much of it. I don't know where I got the papers or the flowers. The only thing I can point out is the eyelet border punch from Stampin Up. Too bad they all don't go together the easy, huh? Well, have a wonderful day and thanks so much for taking the time to visit with me today.

Monday, April 4, 2011

S & S Sketch Challenge #63



Well this is the first card I've made in three days. Isn't that terrible? I think it is. We managed to get a few hours each on Saturday and Sunday of "fairly comfortable" weather so I headed outside to work in the yard. When I came back inside I was so tired and sore that I never even came into my craft room. So Today's card is for the OWH Stars and Stamps sketch challenge this week. I started with SU's Bashful Blue as my card base and ran it through a SU ef. The vertical piece is made up of some black card stock and I topped that with DCWV designer paper. I used the SU slit punch to make slits so that I could feed SU ribbon through them. I added the cut out slits (don't waste a thing) and some black gems to the ribbon. I also added a Prima Flower with a pearl in the center. My sentiment piece is stamped from a retired SU set titled Elegant Cheer and then I embossed it with black embossing powder. I trimmed the edge with a SU scalloped border punch, added some pearl and black gems to tie everything together. I wish you all a good night tonight and hope to see you tomorrow. Thank you for stopping by.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Stars & Stamps MWT K-9 Card


This week's Mid Week Throwdown Challenge at OWH's Stars and Stamps was to make a K-9 card. I used one of the free digi stamps available over at Operation Write Home that was designed by our fearless leader, Sandy. Besides being a wonderful organization Operation Write Home also offers all kinds of free things to assist any card maker to get cards made for our deployed military. They offer us free digi stamps, free OWH stamps for the backs of our cards, Tips and Techniques and Challenges to help us all make the best cards we can. You can't ask for more from and organization. I am very proud to be able to say that I am associated with them.
Back to the card, I colored it with Copic Markers and matted it onto a Scalloped Square Nestabilities that I cut out from SU's Elegant Eggplant card stock. The sentiment is also a Free stamp from OWH and I cut that out with SU's Scalloped oval punch. The designer paper is actually a page from last year's Scrapbooking Calendar that a dear friend of mine gave me. I dotted the scallops with a Signo White Gel Pen and I was done. My only hope is that when someone receives this "belated" card, they will smile and not remember that it is late.
Just thought I'd let everyone know that when I went to bed last night there was already 2 inches of snow on the ground. It is now raining and I hope the rain washes it all away. Hello Spring, where are you??? Have a great day and thank you for spending a minute here with me today.