Friday, February 21, 2014

My lil' hoot

I love the new Lil Hoot stamp set by Hero Arts - not only does it support OWH, the images are so so cute!  I've already made cards with the bear and this time, I used the owls on an S-fold card:
 
 
The card opens like so...
I stuck a bit of paper on the inside to write a short note.  I usually don't decorate the inside of the card, but I love the look when the card is folded together.  The brown wood paper is from the SEI Silver Valley 6x6 paper pad.  I thought it was funny that this brown paper was mixed in with the silver paper, but I found a use for it. 
 
I'm entering this card into Penny's Paper Challenge #165 -  Lots of layers   because I used plenty of layering on this card. 
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
 


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Hello sunshine!

It's hard to believe that a week ago, South Carolina was shut down by a winter storm and today it was 77 degrees!  We walked around in shorts and enjoyed the warm weather.
 
It's fitting that the Midweek Throwdown is Let your light shine at OWH and here's my submission:
My card is entirely cut out from files by Designs on Cloud 9 - here .  It's bright and cheery!  I hope someone enjoys sending it to their loved ones.
 
Thanks for stopping by.


Sunday, February 16, 2014

One layer card challenge

One layer cards scare me.  So much white space and little room for mistakes....but it's good to challenge myself.  I found a challenge blog that will help me face my fears - One Layer Simplicity challenges .  I love looking at all of the cards submitted so far and here's my try:
 
This month's challenge is to use repetition, which I did by stamping the border by Mama Elephant three times in different colors.  I masked the square for the sentiment, by Technique Tuesday.  I made two cards like this...now that I've conquered my fear!  Har har!
 
Thanks for looking.
 


What's cookin?

If it's Sunday, it's time for another sketch challenge at OWH .  I'm still working on dressing Teddy Bears that I cut and today's Bear is a chef:
 
I rotated the sketch like so for my card:
The sentiment is computer generated and papers are from SEI Silver Valley 6x6 pad.  The Teddy Bear is from the Teddy Bear Parade cricut cartridge.
 
It's great to see so many cards linked up for the sketch already!  You ladies provide me with tons of inspiration.
 
Thanks for stopping by.
 


Wednesday, February 12, 2014

When life gives you snow, make cards!

Snow twice in one winter is highly unusual for us in the Deep South and Columbia, SC is shut down.  When we're told to stay home, that's what we do.  Trying to not get too stir crazy, I've spent time cleaning up my craft space, planning for an upcoming crop and making cards.
 
My first card used Tuesday Morning Sketch #236  as inspiration (it's actually TMS #185):
 
 
The background is clear embossed with the Mama Elephant basic borders stamp, then I dry embossed the small piece of pink with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.  Sentiment is by Hero Arts.
 
My second card today is a procrastination achievement!  I cut teddy bears from the Teddy Bear parade Cricut cartridge months ago and they've been shamelessly laying naked on my craft desk.  Today, I decided to put clothes on two of them and made this super hero card:
 
The embossing folder is the Cuttlebug Stars one, which I use a lot in making cards for OWH.  The sentiment is from the Silhouette online store and papers are from my stash.
 
 I'm entering this card into the Cuttlebug Mania  challenge, where the theme is red.  My little bear fits into that theme now.
 
It feels good to make those bears into something!  I think I'll get clothes on some more of them....
 
Stay warm, my friends!
 


Punny card for OWH

The Midweek Throwdown at OWH is  Punny cards -  one of my favorite themes!  I started with the sentiment first, which is by My Pink Stamper and then used a cut file by My Scrap Chick for this card:
The background is embossed on purple paper, which I was happy to use because I struggle with that color.  I gave this chick some makeup by chalking her cheeks a bit.  I think she'd look great with a hat too!
 
Thanks for 'chickin' my blog out today!  Har har


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Snow day cards

It's unbelievable to think that we're getting snow again in South Carolina, but it's here!  Two weeks ago, we were in awe of it, but now, we don't want anything to do with it.  While I'm stuck inside, I'm busy making cards for a few challenges.
 
First up is this week's Muse challenge - #54.   The inspiration card is here:
 
I was inspired by the watercolors over the flowers and used my Inktense pencils to watercolor the "Always" sentiment:
I added Wink of Stella to the sentiment and to my heart peeking over the edge.  It was a challenge for me to use my watercolors, but I always enjoy playing around with them.
 
My second card for today is for a new-to-me challenge blog - Cardz 4 Guyz. 
I'm always trying to make more masculine cards and this challenge blog will inspire me to do that.  This week's challenge is Truly, Madly, Deeply - make anything that represents love - for a guy. 
I used a Miss Kate's cut file for the "Love" embellishment and kept it masculine with the black, white and red colors.  I cut the heart in red, then used Wink of Stella on it and finally Glossy Accents which makes it very shiny.  I may actually give this card to my husband on Valentine's Day!  Ha ha.
 
I hope you're staying warm today too.  Thanks for stopping by.
 


Sunday, February 9, 2014

Today's cards

Hello!  In between the three concerts my son played in this weekend, I only had a few hours to create a few cards.  The first is for this week's OWH sketch #211 :
I used two oval dies to emboss the area around the lighthouse sticker.  The paper is from Club Scrap.
 
For my second card, I was inspired by the color challenge at the Daring Cardmakers which is based on this photo:
 
 I used the Tim Holtz Rays stencil and Distress Inks in yellows (Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade) for the rays.  Then I moved the stencil and inked the space between the rays with Salty Ocean to create the sky background:
 
 
The sentiment is by Technique Tuesday.  I added Wink of Stella to the yellow rays, but it's hard to see that in my photo.
 
Hope you're having a great Sunday!  Thanks for stopping by.


Friday, February 7, 2014

Olympic fever!

I love watching the Olympics - I'm glued to the TV and get excited to watch Team USA in action.  It always chokes me up to watch our athletes win gold and stand on the podium as they hear our national anthem.  This month's challenge at Words 2 Scrap by is also getting into the Olympics by challenging us to make a card that celebrated this event.
 
I used the Olympic ring colors for this card, along with Stamps of Life banners and a Paper Smooches sentiment:
The banners are cut from BoBunny Double Dots paper.  I think all the athletes are amazing - win or lose!
 
I'm off to watch the opening ceremonies.
Thanks for stopping by!
 

Thursday, February 6, 2014

You rock!

Last night, I made a card for a challenge that became an epic fail and I'm happy to bounce back tonight with another card that I liked.  The inspiration started with this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown: Hexagons and a card that I CASE'd from Cheiron Brandon (I couldn't find the exact post from her, but I wanted to give her the credit).
 
I cut the hexagons at 1.5 inches from my stash of neon papers and embossed the sentiment by Paper Smooches.
 
I'm also entering this card into the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge: Anything Goes!  I hope you can play along with us!
 

 


Tuesday, February 4, 2014

You're a Star!

This month's Doodle Pantry challenge is Anything Goes and I've become addicted to their digi stamps.  I used the Tree Glee stamp to print and cut the designs on my Silhouette for this card:
 
I kept the design simple to focus on the stamps and also because it was late and my mojo was slipping away.  The best thing is that I cut out two more designs and can quickly put a couple of cards together for OWH.
 
Thanks for stopping by.
 

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Dragon love

This week, the Retro Sketch challenge blog posted sketch #100 and I made a card to play along:
 
The image is from Doodle Dragon Studios which I print and cut with my Silhouette.  The sentiment is from the Stamps of Life.
 
Here's the sketch:
Thanks for stopping by!
 


Saturday, February 1, 2014

It's Card Bowl weekend!

OWH planned a fun weekend full of challenges in honor of the Super Bowl and calling it Card Bowl 2014 .  Although my team (Carolina Panthers) lost out weeks ago, I still enjoy watching the game and the commercials.
 
Our first challenge: make a masculine card using the colors of the Broncos or the Seahawks.  I made a football card and used the Blue/Orange Broncos for the sentiment:
 
Nothing like putting a Southern "Hey" on the card, right?
 
Our second challenge is the monthly ODBD challenge, which is to use brown.  I used the new Hero Arts Lil Hoot stamp set for this card:
 
I love that sentiment! 
 
Our third challenge is Sketch #210
 
 
and my card:
 
My card doesn't follow the sketch exactly because I had a hard time finding elements to fit the layout exactly.  I just made it work with what I had.  Nautical cards are always a good masculine fit.  The background paper is SEI Corrine.
 
I watched the Super Bowl - congrats to the Seahawks!  Now I'll have to wait six months for another football season.  Good thing the Olympics will keep me occupied for a while!