Believe in Yourself

When I decided I wanted to use orange and the black/white DCWV paper for this card, I didn't think beyond that...like what other color I was going to use for the base. I was using my Spellbinders like crazy for the circles and ovals since this is a kit for a future card making party. I stamped my Paper Smooches sentiments and used my Taylored Expressions die. Then I came to a grinding halt as I started to put it together. What on earth was going to go with that orange? Thankfully, my mom was there (it was our weekly craft day at an LSS) and helped me choose a color. Whew! The American Crafts brads were added to give the card a finished look. You can see the card that inspired this one right here.

Sprinkled Love

I rarely use kraft paper, but this card made me want to use it. I happen to have the SU Sprinkled Expressions stamp set and did a very close CASE. The circle and lacy circle are Spellbinders dies. The red border punch is from Martha Stewart. I used some SU white ribbon and a Paper Studio heart punch. The hearts embossing folder is by Sizzix and the sentiment is Paper Smooches stamped in SU Real Red. I used red Bazzill so it has a bit of extra texture.

Polka Dot Thanks

I really like the layout I saw here, so I thought I'd give it a try. The design paper is by Simple Stories and the layers are Bazzill. I used a Paper Smooches sentiment and heat embossed it. The brads are American Crafts.

I love you more

Here is a simple card that says a lot. I used some Darice papers and a Darice embossing folder. The sentiment is by Impression Obsession and Spellbinders were used for the circles. I made several of these in different colors (greens and blues) for Operation Write Home and was assured by my hubby that they will work for masculine as well as feminine. What do you think? 

Thank U

This particular card started here and became this card. I have all kinds of ribbons that I rarely use and thought this would be a good card to use some of it. I used a Cuttlebug folder to emboss it and some Spellbinders dies for the shapes. The Inkadinkado sentiment is only attached to the ribbon so it has a little movement to it.

Round the Clock

It's time for a kraft card! This time I used this for inspiration. In person, the middle square looks kinda 3D...very cool. To make the square, I simply put a Post-It note in the middle and stamped the Hero Arts clocks. I used a ruler to make sure my white lines were straight. The sentiment is from the same Hero Arts set and the brads are Recollections.

OWH Sketch #218

Here's another OWH sketch for you. I love the ones that feature a banner. The patterned paper is Me & My Big Ideas and the background is embossed with a Sizzix folder. The darker pink paper is Bazzill. I used a Paper Smooches stamp set for the sentiment and hearts then added some Triveni bling.

Christmas JOY

Over at Merry Monday, they want us to use decorative Christmas words. And on the Christmas Stampin' blog, they want us to make a card using a specific Mojo Monday sketch. So...I started with some letters from a SU alphabet and Bo Bunny Mistletoe 6x6 pad. The letters were cut out and covered with glitter glue for some extra sparkle. The silver paper is from DeNami and the bling is Triveni. You'll notice I turned the sketch on its side.

Simply the Best

When I saw this card on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to do my own version of it. And how perfect that "brown" is the current OWH MWT! So I dragged out my brown inks (Fresh Ink, StazOn, Memento) and my SU Circle Circus stamp set. I had some sheer brown ribbon in my ribbon scraps and noticed the yellow ribbon, too. I decided to use some Color Box yellow ink to brighten up the card along with the yellow ribbon. I layered it on some brown Bazzill and used a sentiment from Mama Elephant.

OWH Sketch Challenge #220

This is a first for an OWH sketch...it has no measurements! Not only that, but it's got that tilted, off-center thing going on. It certainly took me a few minutes to figure it out. I started with some mustache paper from Me & My Big Ideas because I had the Momenta embellishment to go with it. The Triveni bling gives it that finishing touch, don't you think?

Disney Birthday

I'm sliding this in just under the deadline for the Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown to create a kid-friendly Disney birthday card. I knew I had a 6x6 Creative Imaginations Magic pad so I broke it open to make some cards. Using a few oval Spellbinders, I made some windows to showcase the Paper Smooches sentiment. The Mickey Mouse was created using two different sizes of circle punches. The red is a scrap from my pile. Keep scrolling...

This is the first card I made because I forgot it was supposed to be a birthday card. I made four of these then tore the last one apart to make the birthday version. This one uses a Cuttlebug embossing folder and a Hero Arts sentiment. 

An Insect For You

Over at the Operation Write Home blog, the April ODBD challenge is INSECTS. Bugs? Yuck! But then I remembered this cute pin I made and decided to join in. All of the design papers are from a SU 12x12 pad. I used a Fiskars sentiment stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black. Those brads are American Crafts and the googlie eyes are from my stash.

Weekly Christmas Card Challenge #20

I missed the deadline for this challenge to use red, kraft and white, but decided to go ahead and play along so I could add a few more cards to my Christmas stash.  Not only that, but I was eager to use my new Rubber Stampede Santa stamp! It's stamped in Fresh Ink Chocolate and mounted on some red Bazzill. The background patterned paper is by Authentique and the ribbon was a purchase from my LSS. I stamped the SU sentiment in Chocolate as well, then added some Triveni bling.

Easter Blessings

Here's a card using an Easter digi I've had for a couple of years. Since it's in black, I wanted to use some bright colors to offset it. The polka dot paper is Dena Designs and the orange was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The sheer yellow ribbon is from my stash. Happy Easter!

Merry Monday 104

This week is a color challenge at Merry Monday. We were to use slate and kraft on our card. This wasn't easy for me since I don't really think those colors belong together! But here is what I decided on. The slate is Bazzill and the kraft is...well it's kraft. I used my new Darice snowflake background embossing folder. The ovals are done with Spellbinders and the sentiment, stamped in SU Basic Gray, is from Penny Black. What do you think about the color combo?

Circle Circus for Mom

I think SU Circle Circus has become my new favorite set. It's so fun to use and makes wonderful backgrounds. I stamped the black circles first, then the bigger circles in SU Rich Razzleberry and the small circles in SU Old Olive. The colored papers are both Bazzill and I used Spellbinders to make the circles under the sentiment. The sentiment and sentiment punch are both SU. The ribbon is from my stash and the bling is Triveni. There are eight of these for my next Operation Write Home box. 

Each day...

I had fun with these cards, matching embossing folders with the Simple Stories paper designs. I added some ribbon to help pull the eye to the Impression Obsession sentiment. I ended up with six of each style to send to Operation Write Home.

Easter bunnies

This jelly bean paper by Paper Pizzaz always seems to find a place in my piles of paper. This time I used it with a Great Impressions stamp which got colored with some Copics. The Happy Easter is from SU and was punched and layered with two SU punches.

Hello Handsome!

I love how this turned out, especially when yellow isn't a traditional color for a male card which makes it great the the OWH MWT asking for masculine cards. The original was more monochromatic but I like my pop of black on this one. I used paper from a Simple Stories 6x6 pad and a scrap of white. The black is shiny Bazzill and the ribbon is SU. Spellbinders were used for the circle and heart. For the sentiment, I used a Hero Arts stamp. 

Happy Easter

This cute Easter bunny digi makes me anxious to bite the ears off of a chocolate bunny! Instead of heading to the store to buy that bunny, I used the time to make this card using OWH sketch 213. The pretty polka dot paper is Dena Designs which I layered on some black to help focus on the sentiment.

Savvy Easter

Doesn't Easter make you smile? It makes me think of spring flowers and warmer weather. And, of course, Easter bunnies! This bunny cupcake stamp is from Savvy and had to be colored with Copics then cut out with Spellbinders. The Easter paper is DCWV and the sentiment is SU punched out with some SU punches. That pretty blue ribbon is from my stash. This card is perfect for the current Easter challenge over at Cards in Envy.

Polka dots, chevrons and stripes

I only had six pieces of paper left in my Simple Stories 6x6 pad and was determined to use them today. So I went to Pinterest and found this card that would work perfectly with so many patterns. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up! and the grey paper is DeNami. 

For this version, I used some pearlized aqua Bazzill and an image and sentiment from Lawn Fawn.

Men and their tools

Don't you love these tool brads from Eyelet Outlet? They remind me of my dad's workshop/garage. I knew I wanted to use them on some Father's Day cards and I found this bold chevron Pebbles paper in my pile of large scraps that seemed perfect for a simple card. The Fiskars sentiment is done with VersaFine ink. This card fits perfectly with the current OWH MWT "Father's Day cards."

clean & simple 285

For clean & simple 285, I pulled out my SU owl punch and borrowed a Lawn Fawn branch stamp/die. Then I found my DeNami sentiment stamp I bought over a year ago to use with the owl punch! The branch and sentiment were stamped with Fresh Ink Chocolate. The owl was punched out with kraft and a piece of polka dot A Muse. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder for the background. The addition of googlie eyes and some Triveni bling finish everything off.

Freshly Made 129

The first thing I have to do with this card is give credit to my friend, Sheila, for coloring the Hero Arts bird. She was a great sport about it and you can find her blog at 2 Paw Prints. 

I used Freshly Made Sketch 129 today and a new Hero Arts set that supports Operation Write Home. The star paper is DCWV and has a nice texture to it. The star is done with Spellbinders and the bling is Triveni. I chose to make this a birthday card to go with the current Seize the Birthday challenge to use bling or buttons. 

It's Hello Kitty Time

I've never been a Hello Kitty fan, but I saw this card and knew I had to make my own version. It's perfect for a little girl who loves Hello Kitty. I used Spellbinder dies for all of the shapes except the whiskers and a Cuttlebug folder for the embossed bow. The eyes and nose are both textured to give it a bit more interest. I love how simple this is yet so adorable.

Spring is here!

Pink and brown is one of my favorite color combinations. This card showcases both colors. The bike stamp and sentiment are both from Hero Arts and stamped in Fresh Ink Chocolate. I used brown and pink Bazzill with some white card stock for the bikes. The hexagon embossing folder is Darice. I chose some ribbon from my stash that's sheer brown with a line of pink stiched down the center.

Mojo Monday 338

I thought this week's Mojo Monday sketch was perfect for a Mother's Day card. I used some pretty yellow DCWV paper for the background and some pink SU paper for the banners. The circles were cut out with Spellbinders using some pale yellow Bazzill and silver DeNami. I used some Ranger silver embossing powder with the Fiskars sentiment.

Merry Merry Monday 101

This week's Merry Monday challenge is to use red, gray and white. Since these are pretty basic Christmas colors, I didn't have to think too hard. I got out some silvery gray paper from DeNami and some Darice red pearl paper then got to work! The Mama Elephant penguin is embossed in Recollections white and cut out with Spellbinders. I then used a Mama Elephant sentiment and embossed it with some silver Ranger. The pearls are from my rather large stash of embellishments. This card also fits perfectly for the Anything Goes challenge at Sparkle Creations.

Epic Love

I love this Hero Arts sentiment with all of these hearts. I found the idea on Pinterest and knew between my mom and myself we had enough different heart dies to make this card. I used three different Spellbinders sets and another one that didn't have it's name on it. The white hearts are stamped with Lawn Fawn stamps in two separate Memento colors. Three different embossing folders add to the texture.

Spring-y Miss You

I love the soft, spring-like look of this October Afternoon Lemon Drop paper. I used the MFT Trio die to repeat the circle theme and layered it on brown Bazzill. The Hot Off the Press sentiment is stamped in Fresh Ink Chocolate on some ivory card stock. To continue the circles, I topped the card off with three American Crafts Chestnut brads.

Bright Miss You

It was fun using some lighter colors to make this card. I'm definitely ready to see some flowers blooming and blue skies a bit more often! This is my take on Mojo Monday 277. I used some Dena Designs paper for the bottom and then matching Bazzill colors for the squares and Spellbinders heart. The banners were also done with Spellbinders and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. The thin strip of black is SU ribbon and the bling is Triveni Crafts..

Lots of Eggs

These Inkadinkado stamps are perfect for an Easter card. I used some Memento and StazOn inks for the background then my watercolor pencils on the Oogaloo stamp and sentiment. The bling is from my stash as is the ribbon. I think the egg needs to be colored with Copics...it's too soft with that bold background. What do you think?

I'm entering this card in the current "Anything Goes" challenge at Cards in Envy.

clean & simple 283

I love the look of this card. The clean & simple sketch 283 was perfect for an easy Mother's Day card. I used a Spellbinders heart die on some Bazzill then my Scor-Buddy to make the lines. The dots are dabs of silver Pearl Pen. I did a simple banner for the SU sentiment and edged it in the same color of SU Rich Razzleberry.

Freshly Made Miss You

The current Freshly Made Sketch was perfect for these DCWV papers. I love how they look together...so pretty and bold. I used a Paper Smooches sentiment and a button punch from Martha Stewart. And you can't have a button without some twine, right?

OWH and Merry Monday

I used the OWH sketch 215 to make my Merry Monday card (use brown, green, gold and white or cream). I have a huge stash of cream paper I got when a local paper store closed, so I went with that instead of white. The green paper is Reminisce and the gold is DeNami. Both have a pretty sheen to them. I added some American Crafts brads and a Hero Arts sentiment stamped in Fresh Ink Chocolate. 

I'm enjoying slowly building my Christmas stash. It will be such a huge relief to not stress over them in December.

Flowering Thinking of You

This pretty flower card is something like a few I've seen on Pinterest. I used a SU tag punch on some Authentique paper, a Recollections flower punch and some American Crafts brads. The sentiment is Stampendous and the baker's twine is glued down so the bow doesn't unravel.

Friendly Kid Card

I've had this EK Success Sesame Street paper for a couple of years and it was time to use it! The front side had all kinds of character squares on it and the back is the striped background. The Stampendous sentiment is heat embossed to give it a shiny look. I managed to get eight of these made for Operation Write Home, all with different characters on them.

Mother's Day Circles

I made three of these for Operation Write Home. I love the Color Box Cat's Eye stack of inks I used. They're so bright and spring like, don't you think? And I really enjoy making my own background papers. I think the SU Circle Circus is a perfect set to use for them. The ribbon is from my rather large stash, the ovals are done with Spellbinders and the sentiment is Fiskars. For the corners, I used a Tonic punch I always seem to forget about. Oh, I used a pin from Pinterest for inspiration and I'm entering this in the Midweek Throwdown over at OWH.

Love Ya, Papa

For this card, I used Freshly Made Sketch 126 and mashed it with The Friday Mashup by making it a masculine card. I dug deep for some masculine papers and came up with a piece from Basic Grey and a piece of Lily Bee Design. The sentiment on the left is heat embossed and the one on the right is popped with some dimensional adhesive. Both of them are from Mama Elephant. 

Christmas CAS

I was going through some challenge blogs today and found three that work well together. The first one comes from Sparkle Creations to make a Christmas card and use heat embossing if you want. I didn't heat emboss because I couldn't find my silver embossing powder. The second challenge from CAS-ual Fridays is to use two shades of grey and the third challenge is sketch 282 over at clean & simple.

I used a piece of grey DeNami card stock for the background and two shades of grey ribbon. The turquoise paper is SU and so are the stamps. The grey ink is Memento and the turquoise is SU. The bling is JoAnn Craft Essentials. To make it a Christmas card instead of a possible birthday card, I put a Penny Black sentiment inside that reads: May your holiday be wonderful and wonder-full.

It's a die. It's a stencil. It's both!

A Blog Named Hero is having a stencil challenge and this Taylored Expressions die popped into my mind. Using the die, I created a stencil then pulled out my Color Box Cat's Eye stack of inks. I love how it turned out. It's so bright and cheerful. I even saved the stencil so I can use it again. The sentiment needed to be bold so I chose these two words from an A Muse set and stamped it with black VersaFine. 

Some Stars & Stripes

This card was fun to make. I found the video here with all of the measurements. I used mostly basic card stock and a piece of flag paper I've had forever. The border is a Martha Stewart punch and the star, stamped with SU Real Red, is Hero Arts. The shapes are Spellbinders and the ribbon is from my stash. I put a Post-It note on the white saying "Pull out here." Both the front and back are white for more writing space.

 

Polka Dot Birthday

I have a friend who loves green and when I saw this green Echo Park polka dot paper, I knew I had to use it for her birthday card. I paired it with some green paper embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and used some black and grey polka dot ribbon to cover that pesky paper seam. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches. I added some white American Crafts brads for extra dimension. This card is not only perfect for her birthday, it's perfect for the current Cards in Envy challenge to Think Green and the Anything Goes challenge at Seize the Birthday.

Circles of Thanks

Lots of circles for you today on a thank you card which fit perfectly with the March ODBD challenge over at OWH and The Paper Players challenge as well. I started with this idea. A Cuttlebug folder makes the background and Spellbinders dies with Simple Stories papers make the circles. Finishing it off, a Paper Smooches sentiment edged in black.

Ray of Sunshine

One of my friends has asked if our craft group could send some uplifting cards to her sister who has cancer. This is the one I made for her. This cute MFT Flopsey bunny always makes me smile. I did some paper piecing and colored the bunny with a Copic marker. The clouds have some pale blue Copic streaks in them. Both polka dot papers are Bella Press. The clouds are a Fiskars punch. I'm also entering the card for clean & simple 281.