His & Hers class - Day 1

I've taken almost all of the card classes at Online Card classes and this week I'm participating in the His & Hers class.  I used to be extremely slow in my card making but with the help of these classes and lots of great tutorials over at OWH, I can put together a card much faster.

 

I decided to use the masking technique to make a feminine and masculine version of a card.  Here's the feminine version:

Stamps: Hero Arts Tall Flowers cling stamp

Simon Says Stamp

I colored the flowers with Copics and put Rock Candy Distress stickles on the flowers for some extra interest.

 

My masculine version:

I used Tim Holtz stamps and the sentiment is embossed in white from Hero Arts Big Hug set.  I dry embossed the bottom half of the card and then sanded it slightly to revewal the white core. 

 

I enjoyed both cards, but the masculine card was the most fun to make.

 

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings in class!  Thanks for stopping by.

 

 



Sunday OWH sketch

I spent this weekend finishing my son's Boy Scout scrapbook album and prepping for next weekend's National Scrapbook day crop.  I always always prepare my photos & papers with a layout idea so I can scrapbook fast without frustration. It just kept me from making cards.....

 

As I was looking through my mountain of paper, I kept finding papers that would also work on cards!  But I waited until today to make a card - I tried to stay on track getting ready for the crop.

 

Soooo...today's OWH sketch is this one:

and I used a scrap bundle (that's where I make a pile of papers that match) to make this card:

The sentiment is from Hero Arts, inked with Hero Arts Soft Cantaloupe.  The half inch strip behind the card is also a piece of paper inked to match the sentiment.  You can't tell in the picture, but I  embossed the tan background and mounted it all on a peachy cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

 

I just got another Paper Smooches stamp set called Wake Up and altered the sketch for this card:

I love those little happy faces in the set!  They make me laugh.  I'm entering this card in the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge this week - Anything Goes.

 

My last bit of blog notes is that tomorrow I'm taking the His & Hers class over at Online Card Classes.  I'm sure some of you ladies will be over there with me - it should be another fun week of inspiration. 

 

I mailed a box of OWH cards yesterday - 113 cards!  Now that we're over the spring holidays, I may slow down, but when you've got stamps like these to play with, I can't stop making cards!  Ha ha.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

Playing with gelatos ink

I really need to put myself on a craft budget.  After viewing this post at Ellen Hutson's classroom blog, I just had to get some gelatos and try them out.  At least I've learned not to buy the entire line when I'm trying something new - I just bought the orange/yellow set:

 

 

They are very easy to use and different from Distress Inks.  I embossed a white paper with a herringbone stamp, brushed the gelatos over it, then used a water brush to spread the colors together.  I was pleased with it and used it as a background for my simple flower card:

 

Those are silk flowers that sit near my craft table.  I'm glad OWH's tutorial was to use flowers because I never think to pull out those flowers and put them on a card.  And I've got a huge jar of them - I could make 200 cards of flowers and still not use all of those flowers!

 

My next card is for the OWH Mid-week "It's About Time" challenge.  I don't have the OWH Hero Arts Time stamp set, but I did have 12x12 clock paper that I used, based on last week's sketch:

 

I made the sentiments in MS Word. The sketch fit perfectly with the round clocks. 

 

On anothernote, one of my cards was selected as the Design Top 5 over at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog.  Yippee!  That makes me do a little happy dance!  Thanks FCCB.

 

Take care and thanks for looking!

 



OWH Sketch #169

Hey there!  In the South, we usually say "Hey" instead of "Hi" and that's the inspiration for today's OWH sketch challenge.   Doodle Pantry is the sponsor of today's challenge and I got some freebie and purchased digis from them for today's cards.  Thanks Doodle Pantry!

 

I just had to get their Hay digi stamp and sentiments, which I used to make my first card:

I used the colored version, which makes it quick to put a card together.  Paper is from Basic Grey "Fact" (which I got for 99 cents!) and from Echo Park's This & That.  I added a bit of twine, because it seemed appropriate for a bale of hay.

 

My second card is more feminine, using papers from Basic Grey's Out of Print.  This is one 6x6 pad that I can't seem to use up, as much as I try to.

The digi sentiment is free from Doodle Pantry with a purchase - it's called Rounded Wishes - and I think I'll be using them quite a bit on my cards.

 

Stay crafty!

 

 

 



Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge

Happy Saturday!  I decided to enter the Paper Smooches Cool Shades challenge today using these colors:

I was just using these same colors the other day on a card and I already had them out. 

 

I love Paper Smooches stamps, and I'm slowly building my collection of them.  The card I made today uses the Potpourri stamp, which I embossed on the three colors of teal, periwinkle and kiwi.  I printed the free PS Thankful digi stamp and mounted my squares on top:

 

I added bling to the geometric stamps and used Papertrey Ink kraft cardstock.  I just bought the Wake Up  stamp set from PS and can't wait to try it out. 

 

Thanks for looking and see ya'll tomorrow!

http://www.papersmoochesstamps.com/default.asp
 

 

 

 



Inspiration from an ad

In this Sunday's paper, we got a Publix ad and I loved the color combination and thought it would be great on a card:

I thought the brown was a great neutral with the teal and bright green and those flowers look so happy.  The weekly challenge at Fantabulous Cricut Challenge is to use an umbrella and I pulled out my April Showers cartridge.  All of the cut elements on my card are from that cartridge - the butterflies, cloud, flowers and umbrella:

 

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.  I embossed the umbrella with the Swirls cuttlebug folder and inked around the cloud with a gold pen.  The bottom brown edge is from an EK Success punch.

 

Cutting and putting the flowers together was a bit time-consuming, but I wanted the umbrella full of flowers.  I'm also submitting this card for this week's OWH Mid-week throwdown Bugs Life.

 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

 

 



OWH April Bootcamp

This month's OWH Bootcamp is on The Rule of Odds.  Since I became addicted to card making, I noticed that there's a preference to use odd numbers, but I never knew it was a design principle.  Paula's got a great blogpost about it and encouraged us to make card.

 

I made this AnyHero card, which started out as sketch 162, but then I switched it up a bit:

 

The red paper is from my stash and the stamp is by Paper Inspirations. I embossed the stamp in Antique Gold, then used Walnut Stain distress ink to age it a bit.

 

I also made another card, in the middle of the night when I couldn't get to sleep.  I'm lucky everything came out alright!  I used a scrap bundle to make this card:

 

A scrap bundle is something I learned from the Online Card classes - I put together scraps that could be used to make a card with a paper clip.  I've got several of these bundles, waiting to become a card one day.  It's a pretty simple card, but the Tim Holtz stamp is inspirational to me.

 

Happy Monday everyone!

 



Not so easy....

I look forward to Sunday's sketch from OWH and when I saw today's, I thought it would be sooo easy....I was wrong!  Waaah (that's my whine!)

 

 I tried using the sketch on three different cards (which I'm not showing) and none of them worked for me.  I was using browns/blacks and decided to switch to red/blue - nope - didn't work either.

 

Meanwhile, I check the blog during the day and see that lots of crafty ladies are turning out great cards with the sketch.  So, I switched to green.  I realized my issue was that the middle layer needed something - embossing - to give that bit of interest I was missing.

 

Here's the card:

I added a bit of twine - totally copied this from Kristie's card - as well as the sentiment under my image.  The stamp is from Hero Arts "Going" set.  I really like this sketch and it just took me a while to find my happiness with it. 

 

I've also made another set of four cards like this:

The airplane is from Stampers Anonymous and I embossed it and the Hero Arts greeting.

 

During my shopping this week, I found a 6x6 Basic Grey pad in Joann's for 97 cents.  Score!  Now I've got to use it all up! 

 

I hopy ya'll had a nice weekend - I finally got some things done that I've been procrastinating about and that always feels good.  Take care - tomorrow is Design Boot Camp - see ya'll there!

 

 



Mojo Monday and Our Daily Bread Challenges

Hey there!  I worked on cards tonight for some challenges: one at Mojo Monday and two at OWH: Our Daily Bread Design challenge and this week's MWT color challenge.  OK - here goes:

 

This is the Mojo Monday sketch:

Here's my card, which I'm also using for the MWT challenge:

I used a tutorial by Laura B on plaid stamping here to make the Happy Birthday square.  This was my second attempt, but I enjoyed it and will have to try it again someday.  This card uses my favorite color combo - the rainbow!  It's fun to use all of those colors together and I think it makes for a happy card.  I always am happy to see a rainbow in the sky. 

 

My next cards use images from Lettering Delights, who had a $1 sale on all their SVG files.  I bought the Doug's Outer Space collection and cut out this rocket and planet for the ODBD challenge:

 

I printed the sentiment because I tried in vain to find a digital stamp with this sentiment.  This card comes pretty close to using the rainbow colors too - just no red.

 

I made another version of this card too:

I made the dark blue background by cutting small stars on the background.

 

Well, that will do it for me tonight.  Thanks for looking!

 



How I made 18 cards in 2 days

This is not something I normally do - become my own card-making factory.  But...I had these great vintage car images from Graphic 45 just begging to be used on a Father's Day card, so.....

 

I picked sketch #157, which had a rectangluar element:

I measured each element and wrote them down.  My measurements were:

Base: 4 x 5.25

Layer 1, Side rectangles: 1.5 x 3.75

Layer 2, Middle rectangle: 1.75 x 3.75

Layer 3 rectangle: 2.5 x 3.75

 

Then I pulled out all of my Graphic 45 paper and went to town cutting the elements.  Here's one of my cards:

And all the rest:

No two cards are alike.  It was great to make some of the Graphic 45 paper disappear, because I've been holding on to it for years!  (Because I love it too much).

 

OK - what's next in line?  I've got to catch up with this week's other OWH challenges.....

 

Catch ya'll later.

 

 



All done!

I used up most of the April SSS card kit and made about 15 cards from it.  I could have made more, if I wanted to struggle with the scraps, but I've got to move on to working on a scrapbook album for my father in law, so I chucked the scraps!

 

Today's OWH sketch would be great for using large pattern papers:

However, I was at the point where all I had left was scraps, so I pieced two papers together to make the large background piece.

Sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp, all papers from the April card kit.  The digistamp is from Birdie Brown (check out yesterday's post here) which I colored with Copics.  I just love that little TV and she makes some darn cute digistamps.

 

I did fit in one last card, using the ruler paper from the kit:

 

Sorry for the crooked picture.  I kept it simple cause my mojo's running low.

 

So no more blog posts from me yammering on about the April card it.  Ummm...confession here....I still haven't used the March card kit!  Ouch.  No one tell my hubby.  Since that kit is flowery, I won't be using it soon because there's Father's Day cards I need to work on.

 

Don't forget!  Tomorrow is the April Our Daily Bread challenge.  Can't wait to check that out.

 

Spring is here and the azaleas are in bloom in South Carolina.  Finally! 

Take care and have a lovely Sunday night.

 



More cards from the SSS April Card Kit

Hiya!  I enjoyed today's OWH masculine bloghop - so much inspiration out there!  I'm focusing on making cards using the April card kit from Simon Says Stamp and I've made several cards that I'll enter into some challenges before they get shipped to our heroes!

 

First up is a card for the Through the Craftroom Door challenge.  I used a freebie TV Digi stamp from Birdie Brown and colored it up with Copics:

 

I just love that happy TV!

 

Next is a card I made for the Cardz TV challenge #27.  Mary challenged us to use 3 pattern papers and here's my card:

 



The bird and birdhouse are from Create-a-Critter cartridge and the sentiment is from My Pink Stamper.  I embossed the front of the card with the Swiss Dots folder.

 

I've made more cards using the kit papers as well:

 

Hero Arts Sentiment.  I made the background paper using the circle stamp included in the kit.  I discovered that the Hero Arts Soft Olive, Wet Cement and Pool inks match the card colors.

I used the circle stamp again and embossed with clear embossing powder.

 

This card uses the cardstock from the kit and the envelope.  I cut the envelope open and punched out the circles. 

 

And, believe it or not, I've still got plenty of supplies left to finish at least 5-6 more cards.  I'm going to stick with the kit and use it all up before I move on to something else.  Have a great weekend!

 

 

Happy Birthday card

Hello!  This week, Simon Says Stamp turns 4 years old and they're having a birthday challenge over on their Challenge Blog.  I tore into the April SSS card kit and used the stamp and papers to make this card:

 

The inspiration to use tags and twine is from this week's Mid-week Throwdown at OWH - Tags N Twine.  I love the way the word AMAZING stands out on the stamp - even if you're not having an amazing birthday, you feel good just reading that!

 

Here's the latest kit - they really are something fun to buy and I love all the little accessories in the kit (no - SSS doesn't pay me to say that). 

 

I hope you're doing well and looking forward to the weekend - should be sunny here in South Carolina!

 



Paper Playtime and Tuesday tutorial

Paper Playtime's latest challenge is to Use a Pun on a card and since I'm dedicating this week to making cards for kids, my latest card fits the bill!  I switched to making the cat from Create a Critter and used the "You're Purrfect" stamp by We R Memory Keepers:

 

I embossed the stamp in black and papers are from my stash.

 

OWH is encouraging us to use Sandy's Interactive Cardmaking Project as inspiration today.  I've watched almost every video, but I stopped after watching the Lighthouse card (CABAB) because Sandy offered a great tip on embossing with dies.  I don't want to give it away - go watch the video! 

 

I made this card using sketch C:

The stamp is from Inkadinkado and I white embossed it, then masked each section with a Post-It note and colored each section with Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry, Squeezed Lemonade, Salty Ocean and Mowed Lawn.  The dots are Liquid Pearls.

 

Check out the ICP for lots of inspiration! 

 



Mojo Monday

I'm concentrating on cards for kids for this week and decided to use the mouse from the Create a Critter cartridge first, along with this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

 

Here's my card:

 

The pink striped paper is from Creative Memories - I'm sure they don't make it any longer.  I used pink, gray and white paper from my stash.  I embossed the white strip with the Swiss Dots folder.  The stamp is from My Pink Stamper and she no longer sells her stamps.  She has a great line of punny sentiments that I love to use on kid's cards.

 

Hope you have a "mice" day too!