Merry!

This card is for Seize the Sketch 14 and Rudolph Day over on Stamping for Pleasure. It's rare that I use typical red and green for my Christmas cards, but I'm trying to use the Recollections papers I used for some gifts last year. The background is embossed with a Darice folder and the ribbon is from my stash. The circle and ovals are done with Spellbinders. For the sentiment, I used a Mama Elephant stamp. The bling is by Triveni. 

Here's my picture for the Rudolph challenge showing two cards, although I made four of these.

It's a boy!

Today I made a baby shower card for a friend who's having a baby soon. I used Freshly Made Sketch 125 and even decorated the inside. For the front, I used some Echo Park design paper and some Spellbinders. The sentiment is Rubber Moon and one of my favorites for these kinds of cards. The inside has a strip of Echo Park and a giraffe from Impress. I'm not sure who the inside sentiment is from. 

Hexagons, triangles and stripes!

The current Friday Mashup is to use hexagons, triangles or both. I chose to use both! Using my Taylored Expressions hexagon dies, I cut out the hexagons from some SU paper and then cut them into triangles. Then I formed a new hexagon with the triangles. It was fun to do, but time consuming lol. The brad in the middle is American Crafts and the bling is Triveni. I used a Hero Arts sentiment and Deconstructed Sketch 137. This card also works perfectly with the MWT over at OWH to use turquoise or teal.

Merry Monday #97

Color challenges aren't my favorite, but when I saw the aqua, silver and white challenge over at Merry Monday, I knew the perfect paper to use. This shiny silver paper is some I've been hoarding because it's so expensive, but this is the perfect challenge for it. You can see how shiny it is because of my picture taking reflection on the card. The snowflake punch is EK Success and the sentiment punches and stamp are SU. I used some baker's twine for some extra aqua color.

A few scraps

For today, I have two cards made with some scraps of DCWV. I used some shiny pink Bazzill on the first one. Both sentiments are Hero Arts and stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black. The black bling is Triveni Craft.

Lucky stars...and polka dots

Isn't this a bright, cheery card? I never thought I'd use this super bright green card stock, but it works so well with the A Muse polka dots and Recollections button. The tag is done with a Paper Trey die and the stars with Spellbinders. I used a Paper Studio embossing folder for the background. The Hero Arts sentiment is stamped in Fresh Ink Chocolate. The basic idea for this card came from Pinterest.

Masculine Birthday

Although I call this masculine, it's really more generic. I chose DCWV colors for the banners that weren't too girly or boyish. The white is my actual card base. I heat embossed the black card stock with a Stampendous sentiment, making sure to use my Embossing Buddy before stamping and adding the powder. I used a Spellbinder die to make the banners and attached them with black American Crafts brads. The idea for this layout is here.

Loads of Love

I love how this card turned out and you can see the original one here. The heart stamp came with the SU Loads of Love Accessories set and the sentiment is part of the original SU Loads of Love set. I colored the hearts with some red and pink Copics and heat embossed the sentiment. The pearls are Recollections. A Spellbinders die was used to shape the sentiment and a Cuttlebug folder for the dry embossing. This card fits in perfectly with the Cards in Envy challenge to use red, pink and/or white.

A CASE of my own card

As I was looking through my cards from 2013, I found this one and decided it would be a perfect CASE kit for CHA (yes, from way back in January!). The design paper is Graphic 45 and lots of Bazzill. The ivory card stock circle has a Paper Smooches sentiment stamped in Fresh Ink Chocolate and a piece of Triveni bling. I rounded the corners to emphasize the circles and pierced around the brown and red for added detail.

Merry Monday #95

Here's my entry for the Merry Monday #95 challenge. This week we needed to use an animal on our card. I started with a SU reindeer stamp, then embossed it with Ranger Copper. The striped paper is Simple Stories. Since I didn't have any copper paper laying around, I also embossed the layering paper to match the reindeer. The Mama Elephant sentiment is embossed in Recollections White. All of the red paper is Bazzill. I edged the image in black to make it pop a bit more and added some American Crafts brads to pull out the black a bit.

Popcorn Love

I've had this striped paper for quite awhile and decided it was finally time to use it. The red/white striped paper is Recollections, as well as the heart brads. There's some red, white and black card stock for layering. I used a Spellbinders die for the center shape and fussy cut the black layer. The sentiment is Fiskars and stamped in SU Real Red. For a bit more detail, I added some baker's twine. 

When I showed this card to my hubby, he said it reminded him of an old popcorn box. I realized he was right!

Conversation Hearts

One of my local LSS had a crafty garage sale awhile ago and I picked up a set of "conversation heart" stamps. I knew they would be perfect for some love and Valentine cards and I was right! I just wish I knew who made them.

This card is made with some paper from my stash that didn't have a company name on it. I used the My Favorite Things Peek-a-boo Trio die for the circles. The layer of brown is Bazzill and the hearts are stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa. Those chestnut colored brads are from American Crafts.

For this one, I used some Authentique paper layered on blue card stock. The hearts are stamped in Memento Danube Blue and the blue bling is Queen & Co.

Are you ready for Valentine's Day?

Sparkle and Shine

I saw some color block cards while surfing the other day and it sparked the idea for this card. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted (even after several tries), but it's close enough. 

I started by inking up my block with SU Tempting Turquoise and giving it a light spritz of water before stamping it. The Memento Cottage Ivy was simply swirled on my block and stamped to show the design. A Hero Arts bicycle stamp and a Recollections sentiment heat embossed in black finishes off the scene. I mounted it on yellow card stock to represent the sun. 

Girly Cards

Here are a couple of cards using OWH sketch 99. They both use the same things: DCWV patterned papers, Bazzill, black and white card stock, a Stampendous sentiment and Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I love how this sketch showcases the top layer of patterned paper. 

 

Time for Stockings

The Merry Monday challenge this week is to use a stocking theme. I'm so glad my LSS has lots of different dies for us to use. Both the stocking and the "joy" are old Sizzix dies. I did some paper piecing with DCWV papers and they turned out great. The sentiment is a cream color from Darice that didn't quite show up in the picture. The design paper is Authentique. I also used some green and brown card stock.

Soccer, anyone?

I love soccer. I played for several years growing up and still enjoy the game. When I saw this card, I knew I'd have to do something similar, especially when the OWH MWT is hexagons. I started by using my Taylored Expressions hexagon dies and mounting them on a piece of green paper. Then I used a Spellbinder circle to cut out the ball. The embossing is a Cuttlebug folder and the sentiment is from Mama Elephant. The baker's twine sets off the sentiment tag. 

Love is in the Air

I enjoy using non-tradition colors and here is a love card in browns, green, white and black to prove it. I used a lighter brown card stock for the base and the white is all basic card stock. The hearts use dark brown Bazzill while the thin border layers are basic black card stock. The green is some pretty DCWV double-sided heavy paper I got for Christmas. I used Spellbinders for the hearts and a Hero Arts stamp for the love sentiment. The brads are black American Crafts. 

This card is for the "Love is in the Air" challenge over at Cards in Envy. The idea for the design can be found here.

Card Bowl 2014 Finale

Our last challenge for the OWH Card Bowl is to make a card using today's sketch. I used some bright blue card stock for the base, brown Bazzill for the layering and SU turquoise design paper. The brads are Recollections and the sentiment is Hero Arts.

Yesterday, Sandy challenged us to show a picture of our desk as it looked "right now." This is what mine looked like at the time. It was still a mess from unpacking my black rolling tote from spending the day at my LSS. 

This is what it normally looks like when I'm done with a card or two. I made a resolution to keep my craft area tidier this year. So far, so good. If you look closely, you'll see which team I cheer for lol.

Whole lot of hearts

Today is the second day of the OWH Card Bowl and the challenge is to make a mostly brown card. I got the layout idea from Pinterest. The base is basic red card stock and the heart paper is from Hambly Screenprints. The ribbon is a pretty sheer brown that goes well with the brown Bazzill and brown American Crafts brads. I used Spellbinders to cut out the hearts and a Sizzix embossing folder for the large one. I think I'll be giving one of these to my husband for Valentine's since it's more manly without a lot of pink and no sappy sentiment.