Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Thinking of you masculine card

Hi!  I'm popping in briefly to add my card to the midweek throwdown challenge at OWH, which is masculine Thinking of You cards (here).  I used Distress Markers and a stencil to create the background for this card and after all that hard work, I wanted to keep the sentiment simple:
I'm still learning how to use the Distress Markers and still collecting them.  I hope that next week's watercoloring class will teach me some new tricks with them!

After watching Sandy Allnock's video about needing more Miss You and Thank You cards, I'm working on those types for my next box.  I only had 8 Miss You cards in my last box!  I'm using the Doodlepantry Digital Missing You sentiment and a Silhouette cheeseburger file to make some Miss You cards like this one:
Paper is the Doodlebug Take Note 6x6 pad.  I'm entering this card into today's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, which is Anything Goes.  

That's it for me today.  Hope you're all doing well and thanks for stopping by!

Monday, April 28, 2014

Watercolor class

I've signed up for the watercolor class at Online card classes  and made time this weekend to get to know my watercolors. I bought a set of of  12 Winsor & Newton watercolors at Hobby Lobby (40% off!) and made a chart like so:
 This was very helpful because it was hard to tell how the colors would translate onto the page.  I also did a bit of experimenting mixing colors as well.  I completed the homework assignment and made two plaid backgrounds:
I'm trying to figure out how to use them on a card, but it was fun to play around and I washed more color over an embossed image here:
I'm glad I bought the watercolor set because the colors are so vibrant.  I can't wait for class to begin!

My next challenge was this Sunday's sketch at OWH - #222 provided by Donna .  I loved this sketch because it was fast to put together and made for interesting cards.  Here's my take, which I discovered later didn't follow her card exactly:
    Sentiment is by Papertrey Ink Celebrations.  The gold embossing didn't photograph well, but it's readable in real life.  

Well, on to another work week.  I hope I can fit in time to create and hope you can too.  Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Hero Mail

Hello!  I'm getting another box of cards ready to send to Operation Write Home and needed some Any Hero cards.  Over at  Birds Cards blog, she's made some great card covers and one of them is this Star design that worked great for several Any Hero cards for me:
  
The paper is BoByunny Anthem Capital & Anthem Patriot.  Stamp is Papertrey Ink Military Hero.

And since I had lots of leftover stars, I made another card using an Unscripted Sketches sketch -  #254  :
The background is embossed with the Cuttlebug Stars folder and I glued together three stars to make it pop on the card.  Stamp is again from Papertrey Ink Military Hero. Our service members may think they've been forgotten, so I thought this sentiment would be a great reminder to them that we are grateful for what they do.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

OWH challenges

Hey there!  Happy Hump Day!  I'm joining in today's Brown color challenge at Operation Write Home with this card:
   This stamp set is from Hero Arts and I embossed the clock and sentiment in gold, with gold paper behind them.  The design paper is from my stash.
 
I made a set of cards using OWH's sketch #221.  This sketch was tough for me, for some reason, and here are my cards, using stuff from the April SSS kit:


Hmmm...hope they're not too busy - the last one may hurt your eyes (maybe I shoulda warned ya!)
 
Well, that's it for me today.  Thanks for stopping by!


Thursday, April 17, 2014

Disney cards

I was excited to see that the Midweek Throwdown at OWH is Disney cards!  I have Disney paper leftover from a Disney-themed baby shower and needed a challenge to push me to use them, so I made several cards using Mickey and Cars paper:

 
I used scrap paper to make these and the "Hi!" is from the Silhouette store. 

Thanks for stopping by!



Monday, April 14, 2014

Happy thoughts

The good thing about organizing my stamps is seeing ones that I haven't used in a while.  One of those is the Claudine Hellmuth Neighborhood set - I love the Victorian style houses.
 
I tried a new-to-me technique of stamping, coloring with Copics, and then embossing, which I did on each house.  I created the background sky and lawn with Distress Inks:
 
My card fits into a lovely challenge blog called Craft a Scene .  Their monthly challenges require a scene with a different theme - what a great way to stretch my skills! 
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
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Sunday, April 13, 2014

Bugs & Kisses

Happy Sunday!  The latest challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut is - Spring Cleaning  - create a project with a Cricut cartridge I never used before.  There's only one cartridge in my stash that this applies to - Living Simply.  The images on this cartridge are quirky and I chose the lady bug for my card, using today's OWH sketch - #220
 
This card will also work for this month's ODBD challenge, which is Insects.  I added a bit of Wink of Stella to the hearts and the sentiment is from My Pink Stamper (out of business).
 
My second card uses the same OWH sketch but this is a masculine version.  Today's sketch certainly was a challenge for me without measurements, but I like it and plan to make more cards using it. 
Sentiment is by Fiskars Holiday hoopla and papers are from my stash.
 
Well that's it for me today - hope you enjoy the rest of your day!
 
 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Masculine card + stamp storage

OWH is challenging us to make masculine cards for the Midweek throwdown this week.  I bought the Tim Holtz Hot Air balloon stamp at a stamp show and decided to use it for my card:
 
I colored the balloon with Crushed Olive distress ink and edged it with Vintage Photo.
 
I've been busy organizing my stamps into Avery Elle storage pockets - just like Jennifer McGuire did here.  It's been good to get them labeled and see stamps that I haven't used in a while.  I put them in a box I bought at Michael's:
Because the storage pockets are thin, I can fit a lot of stamps into one box.  I am enjoying the Brother label maker that I bought too - I find that I'm labeling everything all over my house!  (How did I live without one of these?)
 
Happy Thursday to you and thanks for stopping by!


Sunday, April 6, 2014

Doodlepantry redux

Yesterday, I put away my masculine papers and brought them out again after seeing that today's OWH sketch (#219) is sponsored by Doodlepantry. It's a coinkydink that I also used Doodlepantry files for yesterday's cards.   I chose their mallards image for a set of Father's Day cards like this one:
I used the Silhouette Print and Cut feature to cut perfect circles around the mallard.  I added Antique Linen distress ink to the image so it blended in with my papers, which are from my stash.
 
I've print & cut 7 more images and will use them to make more cards.  I'm learning how to put my cards together a bit quicker - but still have that quality that we want for OWH cards.
 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
 
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Saturday, April 5, 2014

Father's Day cards

Saturdays go by way too fast, don't ya think?  Today I got a lot of things done around the house and fit in some time to make some Father's Day cards.
 
My first one uses an SVG file that I got years ago from the blog Just Yolie .  I paired it behind some diamond pattern paper and used a diamond border cut file to add some gold to the card:
I made 6 cards from this one design!  Yeah!  I'm entering this card into this month's diamond challenge at Words 2 Scrap by.
 
My next card uses SVG files from Doodlepantry.   In addition to making wonderful digital images, they also make cut files.  I bought this set of files:
I used the fish and bear for two cards:
I've got many more masculine images that I can use on Father's Day cards and I can't wait to print and cut them out.  I'm entering my bear card in this month's Doodlepantry challenge.
 
Hope you're enjoying your weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!
 


Thursday, April 3, 2014

Creating backgrounds

Hello!  The next deadline for Operation Write Home is Father's Day and to get us going, OWH's midweek throwdown challenge is Father's Day cards.  I cut a clock on my Silhouette from Lettering Delights and then realized I had no background paper, so I made my own.
 
I used the clock pieces from the Hero Arts All the time stamp set to make clear embossed images on my background paper.  Next, I used Distress Inks to make it all vintage-y (is that a word?):
 
It amazed me how great a job my Silhouette did cutting the intricate clock face.  Since my father was a clock maker, it's the first thing I think of when making Father's Day cards. 
 
I'm entering this card into A Blog Named Hero's latest challenge - Build a background.
 
My second card is a shameless CASE from Jennifer McGuire's watercolor tutorial -  here.  Sometimes I try a technique because she makes it look so easy and then I totally flop at it, but this one was easy!  Here's the card:
I used Distress Ink watercolor paper and the Sky Blue Brilliance ink for the sentiment.  I love how this came out and I'm going to try another masculine version of this technique.  Fun!
 
I'm entering this card into the Anything Goes challenge at Loves Rubberstamps.
 
Thanks for stopping by!  Only one more day until the weekend!