Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Gettin' green!

Happy Half-way day!  The midweek throwdown at OWH is a color challenge - green.  Not exactly my favorite color, which is evident because I have SO much leftover green paper. 
 
So let's see what I came up with.  All of my cards use items from January's Simon Says Stamp card kit.
 

The zigzag stamp is part of the kit and the digi sentiment is a freebie from BrossArt here: Groovy Sentiment
This card uses paper and the sentiment from the kit, which I stamped with Hero Arts Soft Leaf Shadow ink.  It's hard to see in the picture, but the sentiment says "Thinking of you makes me smile". 

This is a card using scraps and a Martha Stewart border punch.  The sentiment is stamped with Versamark and embossed in white.
 
Have a green day!  Can't wait to see what my fellow OWH bloggers came up with!


Monday, January 14, 2013

A fun weekend & a few challenges...

I had a great scrap weekend at Scrapbook Creations in Spartanburg SC with a few girlfriends.  The best thing (in addition to seeing my friends) was that everything in the store was 40% off!  Wowee!  I spent too much money on new stamps and I can't wait to try them all out.
 
Since I had very little time to work on a card, I put these together quickly, loosely based on OWH's Sketch #155.  I liked the sketch a lot and want to give it another try doing it exactly as shown, but I changed them up a bit based on the visual element I used.
 
I had the Nifty Fifties cartridge in my Cricut because I've been working on a heritage album and cut out the car on page 46.  The plaid paper is something I've had forever and I was glad to finally use it!  I printed the sentiment on my computer and cut it to fit.  I made two cards - the first with the car cut at 2 inches; the second card with the car at 3 inches:

I'm submitting the above two cards for FCCB's latest challenge - It's a Man's World!
 
This Easter card is also inspired by the OWH sketch.  The paper is glitter, but it DOES NOT come off!  I listen closely to Sandy Allnock's glitter rule - does it rub off with a fabric?  No!  I bought the paper at Hobby Lobby last year in a small paper pack.  The easter egg is from Heather M: Flourish Eggs:
 
My last card is from a card class I took this weekend.  I love the happy little bears, which I colored with Copic markers.  This card is a 5x7 card, so it won't go to OWH, but it was fun to make something a little different.  I think I'll send it on to my mother-in-law:

 
I'm racing to fill my OWH box before the Jan 27 deadline!  I can see so many of my fellow blog friends are busy too! Good work, ladies!
 
 
 

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

OWH MWT & FCCB challenges

This week's Midweek throwdown at OWH is to make a No-Sentiment card.  I often end up with cards like this when I finish a card and there's no rule that says you HAVE to have a sentiment for every card.
 
I'm packing up for a scrap retreat this weekend and my Distress Inks weren't packed up yet, so that's what I used.  I started out with a Hero Arts diamond background stamp, which I stamped with Versamark ink and then embossed in white.  Next, I sprayed the image with Perfect Pearls mist and dried it with my heat gun.
 
Taking it another step, I used Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink to bring out the diamonds.  I cut a tag from the Cricut Celebrations cartridge and stamped Inkadinkado Fleur-de-Lis stamps, embossing them with Antique Gold embossing powder.  I used Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain distress inks on my tag.
 
Whew!  What a lot of inking!  I finished my tag off with an antique brad and button paper that I distressed.  I think the card is a bit bulky now, so it will be an Any Hero card instead of one that can be mailed home.
 
Voila!  Here it is:
My fingers are all inky now!  I really enjoyed making this card and I appreciate your kind comments. 
 
This will be in the following challenges:
Fantabulous Cricut  Challenge 143
Stars and Stamps Midweek Throwdown


Sunday, January 6, 2013

One sketch - three ways

Hi everyone!  This is my second post of the day, using OWH's latest sketch Sketch 154.  Thanks to Marlene for taking over the sketch duties from Julie!  I challenged myself to make three cards using the sketch (which I love) with different techniques.
Card #1 - a masculine card
Supplies: OWH Hero Arts Right At Home sentiment, Ali Edwards clock stamp, Graphic 45 paper:
Card #2: Rotate the sketch!
I used papers from the November Simon Says Stamp card kit with an Ali Edwards stamp sentiment.  I embossed the sentiment in white, then used Rusty Hinge distress ink over it:

Card #3: Stickers!
 I've still got Mrs Grossman stickers from about ten years ago that I recently found.  I used them to make a border of Easter eggs.  The digistamp sentiment is a freebie from Netty's Cards: Easter Hugs.  The paper is from Basic Grey's 6x6 pad - Indie Bloom.


I cranked out these cards in just a few hours.  Using a card kit or paper stack makes it quick because I don't spend a lot of time searching for matching papers.

Cat in a box anyone?
 
 And to think I bought her a fluffy cat pillow to sleep in!  Stupid human!

Take care and Happy Sunday to all you crafty gals....


January ODBD challenge

It's time for another ODBD challenge at OWH.  This month, Our Daily Bread Designs challenge is dry embossing.  I recently bought the stars embossing folder and used it to make a kid's card.  The image I cut is from the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge - Super Boy!  I used stamps from the September card kit from Simon Says Stamp.
 
My cat, Suzume, is back from her visit to the vet.  She had her back paw lanced and is feeling better now.  I'll never know what bit her.  She's ready to get back outside, but I'm waiting until her paw is fully healed.  She's half asleep here....what a great life she leads!

I'll be posting again today for our weekly OWH sketch challenge!


Friday, January 4, 2013

OWH MWT - Flowers

Hi bloggers!  There's two card challenges this week that I wanted to join in on - the Spring Flowers challenge for OWH's Midweek Throwdown and the New to You challenge at A Blog named Hero.
 
I've had the OWH pinwheel tutorial on my "Gotta try it" list for a while and I made two cards with it from my scraps.  It was simple, yet it really perked up a potentially bland card.  The tutorial is posted at OWH here: Pinwheel 2.  I used paper that I had in my stash for each card.  The sentiments are from Inkadinkado:


 Hope you're having a great week!

 

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy Creative New Year!

I've caught the card addiction this year and have enjoyed making cards for OWH.  Looking back at my cards for 2012, I see that I've learned so much from fellow OWHers and our president, Sandy Allnock.  The BEST thing about blogging for OWH is the support and inspiration I get from fellow bloggers. The weekly sketches, tutorials and challenges have helped me grow as a cardmaker.
 
THANKS so much!
#10 - Sandy's challenge to make children's cards after the Sandy Hook incident
 
#9 - Another children's card
#8 - An AnyHero card
#7 - A card using the Interactive Card Project as inspiration!
 
#6 - A holiday card using OWH sketch #142
 
#5 - A Midweek Throwdown Color challenge - Teal & Silver
#4 - A winter card made for the Virtual Card Making Party 
 
#3 - White embossing with Perfect Pearls resist
#2 - Flower colored with Inktense pencils
#1 - A simple Thinking of You card - the colors appeal to me!
 
I can't wait to see what everyone else lists for their top 10 of the year and I look forward to more card-making fun in 2013!
 
Happy New Year!