Thank you...sketch 82

For this card, I used sketch 82. I believe the patterned paper is DCWV. The image is Studio 112 and the sentiment is Hero Arts. The brad is Hot Off the Press and I got it in a goodie bag at an OWH Birthday Bash. The image was cut out and mounted on some white to help tone down the paper.

I have to admit the only reason I chose the paper is because it was on top of the pile I had with me at my mom's lol. I've had it for ages and it was screaming at me to be used. I made four of these cards to use up the whole piece. Sigh...but I still have one piece left.

 

Hope you're having a great weekend!

 

Cherie

Thinking of you...sketch 81

This sketch (number 81) gave me some problems. It took me three tries to get anything I was remotely happy with sending to OWH. The patterned paper is Recollections and the sentiment is Hero Arts. I'm not sure where I got the flower but I like how it brightens up the card. The shapes are cut out with Nestabilities.

 

 

I hope you get some time to be crafty today.

 

Cherie

Together Forever and sketch 80

I'm moving right along on finishing the OWH sketches by the end of the year. This one is based on sketch 80. I started with some K & Company patterned paper and worked from there. The sentiment is Kaiser Crafts and the brad is Studio G (it says I love you). I wish I had layered both pieces in black, but I still think it looks ok.

 

Enjoy your day!

 

Cherie

 

 

True Friend...sketch 79

This is a card kit I did for a party. I debated on using it because it has so many layers. The patterned paper is Recollections and the sentiment is Fiskars. The teal matches so well because I had the patterned paper with me when I bought it lol. It was missing a little something so I added the hole punched circle to it. Both the teal and tan papers are Bazzill.

It's also sketch 79 on the Stars & Stripes blog.

 

Thanks for taking a look.

 

Cherie

Sketch 78...I love you

This card happens to have a lavender background because I cut too many bases for my last card and didn't want them sitting in a pile waiting to be used. Continuing on my quest for finishing all the sketches this year, this is sketch 78.

The embossing is a Sizzix folder and the hearts are a punch from The Paper Studio. For the sentiment, I used a stamp from the Hero Arts OWH set Year Round Sentiments. The circles are made with Nesties.

 

Off to work on more sketches!

 

Cherie

Let It Snow and sketch 77

This adorable card was inspired by several posts on Pinterest. It also happens to be based on sketch 77. It's pretty basic but has several steps. Cutting out the circles, stamping snowflakes on the background, trimming the snowflake punch for arms, punching eyes, making noses, cutting ribbon, stamping the sentiment, dotting the eyes, edging all the circles in silver. Whew! But it was fun and I made 11 kits from it.

The ribbon is one of those little spools you can buy for $1 at JoAnns. The eyes are a simple hole punch. I think the last time I used the orange for the nose is the last time I needed it for some free hand snowman noses lol. For the arms I used an EK punch and trimmed it. The body is all Nestabilities and sentiment is Fiskars. I'm not sure where the snowflake stamp is from, but I used VersaMark to make the watermark background paper.

 

This is my first winter card of the season. I haven't been making holiday cards like Halloween and Thanksgiving. I can't seem to make the OWH deadlines!

 

Cherie

Love Always

I got this inspiration from a picture I ripped out of a card magazine. I switched up the colors and made it flatter so it can easily be sent home by the troops.

The red DP is Recollections and the black/white is DCWV. The sentiment is Fiskars. For the brads, I didn't have any black ones so I had to make them. It was fun but messy. Next time I'm doing it over the garbage can.

To make the brads black, I took silver brads and heated them with my heat gun, dipped them in black embossing powder then heated them again. They take a few seconds to dry before you can put them down without fear of smearing.

 

Is there a technique you like to use that is so messy you only do it once in awhile?

 

Cherie

smile...now!

I love this sentiment from Fiskars. It's so big and bold that it almost seems to be telling you to smile now, not later, but right this second! I kept this card clean and simple with some DP from DCWV and just a touch of turquoise. Everything is popped for a some added fun. Yet another kit!

 

Enjoy your day!

 

Cherie

 

Thank You

I used my new Tonic ticket punch on this one. I've been wanting it forever and love how easy it is to punch even heavier paper. The stripes are from DCWV and the sentiment is Fiskars. This card is also a kit for an OWH birthday bash.

 

What's your go to company for sentiment stamps?

 

Cherie

 

 

Birthday Wish

Yet another card for a kit. I'm really liking my big pad of Recollections DP. The only thing I don't like about it is the weight. It's very thin so it has to always be layered. Which isn't really a big deal since I layer almost everything anyway. This uses a little Fiskars birthday sentiment to keep most of the attention on the bright papers.

 

Do you like to make card kits?

 

Cherie

You touched my heart

Today it's another kit card for an OWH birthday bash. I made this one when I met with my craft group at our LSS. It was very helpful to be there so I could buy some card stock to match my DP lol. I might have to visit more often and take my DP with me for those perfect colors.

The DP is Recollections and the sentiment is Fiskars. I think the bling is Recollections as well.

 

Do you have any plans to attend an OWH birthday bash this month?

 

Cherie

Thank you so much

This card is for a kit for one of the Operation Write Home birthday bashes. It follows one of the OWH sketches but I don't remember which one off the top of my head. The DP is Recollections and the bling is Pearl Pen. The sentiment is Fiskars. There was a bit too much white space around it so I did some piercing.

 

Happy day!

 

Cherie

Thanks a latte!

Here's a cute little shaped card for you. I found the instructions here. They were a lot easier to follow than others I've seen online. When I started it, it was for one of the VCMP challenges but I didn't get it finished on time. Oh, well lol.

This is for a friend at work who always made me smile. The flowers are Hero Arts and the sentiment is two stamps from a Fiskars set. I colored the flowers with Copics and put a nice note inside.

 

I hope you're enjoying the last little bit of official summer.

 

Cherie

 

VCMP Blog Candy Winners!

First, I want to say thank you for all of the comments and cards made on my two VCMP challenges. I appreciate it more than I can say. You all rock!

I did a quick Goggle search for a random number chooser and this is the one I used:
http://www.mathgoodies.com/calculators/random_no_custom.html. It was so easy.

On the "It's time to cook"/recipe challenge, the winner of the stamps and puffy paint is card 53 made by Lucy E. Her card is so pretty with the stamps and ribbon. The winner of the paper is comment 18 made by Marilyn Young.  

On the "Let's Play"/sports card challenge, the winner of the stamp set is card 15 made by Linda L. I love her card with the big soccer ball. The winner of the paper is comment Laughing Sunshine Creations. Please email me (cherie23694@gmail.com) or send me a Facebook message with your address info so I can get your candy in the mail.

Thanks again, everyone!

PS...you have two weeks to claim your prize.

Cherie

VCMP Challenge Nine: Who's Feeling Neglected?

Shannon has a fun challenge for us! She wants us to use a tool, any tool, that we haven't used in awhile. Now this wasn't as easy for me as it sounds. I tend to use most of my tools on a regular basis, but she said we could use stamps, too. Perfect!

So...I chose this stamp set I bought for my hubby. I'm not sure why I bought it for him. It's not like he stamps except to make me an occasional birthday or Valentine card. But he loves dragons and I knew he would appreciate the thought.

The set is Dragons by Kodomo Inc. The clouds were one stamp but I cut it apart to make two. Brilliance Rocket Red is used for the dragon and Encore Ultimate Metallic Silver makes the clouds shine. Nestabilites make the circles and the clouds are fussy cut. For a bit more texture I embossed the back with Divine Swirl from Cuttlebug. Lastly, the googlie eyes. I wasn't too sure about them at first, however now I love them.

 

I need to go back and do challenge seven, and challenge eight was mine lol so I only have challenge seven and challenge ten left to do. Yay!

 

Cherie

VCMP Challenge Six: Sketch 136

Our next challenge comes from Linda at Creepin' Along. She wants us to do a card using the new sketch that came out on Sunday. This works for me since I'm trying to work my way through all of the sketches. I'm only on 77 now, so by the time I get to 136 I'll probably forget I already did it lol.

I used some scraps I had laying around for this one. The flowers are from The Angel Company, which sadly is no longer in business. The base DP is some I've had around forever and am glad to see it almost gone. I used Stampin' Up! ink colors Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive. The brown is distressed with black Memento. The circles are done with Nestabilites and the sentiment is Hero Arts. For a bit of shine, I added Pearl Pen dots to both sides of the sentiment.

 

Whew! Only four challenges to go!

 

Cherie

VCMP Challege Five: Western Duds

This challege over on Sandy's Crafty Creations had me stumped for a bit. Then I remembered a cute western set I got at my LSS several months ago, or maybe it's been over a year lol. Then all I had to do was decide on colors.

The set is called Howdy by Hero Arts. It has the cowgirl, cactus and howdy stamps. I colored it with Copics and ended up coloring five of them.  The striped paper in the back is from Recollections and there are tiny dots of Pearl Pen in the center of all the flowers.

 

On to the next challenge. Since I didn't get them done this weekend, I hope to finish one a day this week.

 

Yay, it's a short week!

 

Cherie

Let's Play!

It's time for your next challenge! Are you ready to play along? Let's get started!

My favorite sport has to be soccer. I played it for years growing up and the sport is finally gaining some popularity in the US. It's amazing how supportive people are of our local professional soccer team. Go Sounders!

So it made sense to use Soccer Ian from The Greeting Farm for this VCMP challenge of making a sports themed card. You can use any sport, of course, and there are a lot to choose from! I didn't realize how many images I had featuring sports until I went looking for little Ian. 

Coloring him with Copics was fun since it's been ages since my pens have seen any action. The DP is from a Recollections pack I recently picked up. The paper is thin, so I only use it for layering on top of good cardstock.

 

I used Nestabilities for the circles. I think they reflect the shape of the ball nicely, too. And speaking of the ball, I used Tulip Puffy Paint to add a bit of dimension to the ball. The hardest part is waiting for it to dry before using my heat tool to make it puffy lol. The baker's twine gives it a bit more texture. The happy birthday stamp is from Morning Star Stamps and I've had it for ages. Oh, this also follows sketch 74 on the Stars & Stamps blog.

I hope you're having fun playing along with the VCMP! And I've got some blog candy for you and two ways to win. I will give one to a random commenter and one to a random challenge card. One is a cute soccer themed stamp set and the other is a new 6x6 pad of Mistletoe Collection from Bo Bunny. You have until Monday, September 3, at 9pm Pacific time.

Have fun playing along and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Update: the blog candy winners will be chosen on Sunday, September 9, at 9pm Pacific time.

Cherie

VCMP Challenge Four: Triple Stamping

Donna has a fun challenge over on her blog. I've seen this several times on Pinterest and this was the perfect time to try it. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I was even going to make it into kits until I figured it would be a bit difficult to match up everything when there were several to choose from lol. So I ended up making all five by myself but it was still fun!

 

This card uses the Stampin' Up! set Posy Punch along with Stampin' Up! ink colors Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie. I was a little skeptical about using those colors together, but really like how they ended up working together. The circles are done with the

1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Stampin' Up! punches. The black paper is pearlized for some shine.

 

That's it for me tonight. I'll tackle the rest tomorrow. Sweet dreams!

 

Cherie

VCMP Challenge Three: Snowflakes but not Christmas

For challenge three, Cindy wants us to create a card with snowflakes that isn't a Christmas card. This one was easy for me. I have a great snowflake embossing folder from Cuttlebug that I've been waiting to use.

 

I kept this one clean and simple. I embossed some white paper then dragged an Encore Ultimate Metallic Silver ink pad over the top. It gives it a bit of a sheen. The sentiment is from a Fiskars set and layered and popped. I think I'll make this one into a kit, too.

 

Hope you're enjoying the party.

 

Cherie

 

 

VCMP Challenge One: ODBD

Happy Labor Day weekend! Hopefully you've had a chance to play along with some of the challenges on Operation Write Home's Virtual Card Making Party. You can find the master list here.

The first challenge from Our Daily Bread Designs is to make a card using scripture or an uplifting sentiment. Check out my interpretation:

 

Since I don't have any scripture stamps, I used this sentiment from Hero Arts set Year Round Sentiment. The DP is from a Basic Grey 6x6 and the stars are colored in with a gold gel pen for a bit of pizazz. I also used OWH sketch 79. This was also made into a kit of four for an upcoming OWH birthday bash.

 

Have fun at the party!

 

Cherie

 

It's time to cook!

Well, not really, but it is time to do a recipe challenge for the VCMP! These particular challenges always make me think and that's a good thing lol. Today our recipe is this:

1 image

2 patterned papers

3 words

 

Here is what I came up with for you:

What do you think? The DP are from a 6x6 Basic Grey pad. I love using those since the papers all work so well together. I made sure to use two that had some yellow in them to match my cupcake wrapper. For the cupcake frosting, I used Tulip Puffy Paint and after it got puffed it up, it was covered in Recollections glitter glue. This is my favorite type of glitter to use on anything. I've never had any problems with it rubbing off on my fingers when I test it for OWH. We don't want it coming off and ending up on a uniform.

The rest of the cupcake was colored with Copics and is a stamp from Make An Impression. The sentiment is from a Fiskars cling set. I really like the Fiskars theme sets lately. And this card happens to use sketch 73 over on the Stars & Stripes blog.

Now it's your turn to try the recipe. I have faith that you can do it! Give it a try and you might be surprised with how easy and fun it can be! Plus there's some blog candy at stake. I have a cute cupcake stamp set with some Tulip Puffy Paint so you can try making some puffy frosting. I also have a pad of 6x6 All is Bright by My Mind's Eye. One will be given away to a randomly chosen comment and one to a randomly chosen card.

 

 

So...are you ready to try your hand at a new recipe? Good luck!

Update: The blog candy winners will be chosen at 9pm Pacific time on Sunday, September 9.

Cherie