Cupcakes!

Here are two identical cards featuring different sentiments. So many cards can be used for different occasions just by that simple change. The cupcake is a punch from SU, the border is by EK Success and the label shapes are Taylored Expressions. As usual, the bling is Triveni.

Love Balloon

This card is simple yet elegant. It uses an old SU sentiment heat embossed in black and a dry embossed heart. I started with this idea and made it a bit more detailed.

Shaker Thanks

It's been quite awhile since I made a shaker card, but they seem to be all the rage now. This one uses a Spellbinders star die and sequins instead of beads. The polka dot paper is from Bella Blvd and the sentiment is TAWS. I believe the embossing folder is a Cuttlebug one.

Smiles, hugs and kisses

This card uses OWH sketch 244. It features some Best Creation paper that I can't seem to use up and some pretty bright colors. The face is from TAWS and the sentiments are Hero Arts. Triveni Craft made the bling.

 

Keep Calm

My godmother's granddaughter loves cupcakes, so I told her I'd make a few cards for her. This one was CASE'd from here over on Pinterest. The background is embossed with a Darice folder and the red patterned paper is a scrap. The cupcake is from a SU punch. The stamps are also from SU. I used Fresh Ink Chocolate and SU Real Red and added three rhinestones to balance everything.

 

Lawn Fawn Love

One of my favorite love sets is this one from Lawn Fawn. It's cute and punny and fun to use. I kept these simple and stamped and layered the images on some Taylored Expressions hexagons. They were still a bit plain, even for a masculine card, so of course I had to add some sparkle.

 

Smile

I just love this set from The Alley Way Stamps. The faces are great to use on the front, inside or back of cards and don't take up a lot of space. They also work well as a little smile on an envelope. I wanted to keep it simple and let the smile shine, so there's just a bit of Copic marker in the eyes to add some depth and some bling to add sparkle. The inside is stamped with "so very thankful" from this TAWS set.

Mickey Miss You

I used Techno Stamper sketch 348 for this cute card. I knew I wanted to use up this Sandy Lion paper I've had forever and by adding the Mickey head (made with Spellbinders), it really highlights those balloons. The sentiment is a new one, at least for me, from Technique Tuesday. The first version had rhinestones, but my group for the day decided the sequins looked better. I agree!

Work of Art Thanks

It's time for another card with my SU Work of Art set. This time I only used one of the stamps in two different colors...SU Pacific Point and Pumpkin Pie. There's also one line of each color inside and one of Pacific Point on the envelope. I liked the simplicity of the design here and went with a more gender neutral color scheme for my own version. The Paper Smooches sentiment is stamped in VersaFine Black Onyx and I added some American Crafts brads for dimension.

A special thanks to my friend, Kristie, for this fabulous picture!

Totally Nuts

Oh my gosh, when I saw this card I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I got out my Taylored Expressions hexagon dies and Spellbinders circles and made the "nuts." Using Memento London Fog and Fresh Ink Chocolate along with a dauber, I added an aged look to them. The background was done with a dauber, a nut and London Fog. I cut apart a Hero Arts sentiment so it would fit better then stamped it in SU Real Red. The squirrel is from the same stamp set and is stamped inside for a double pun. I love how this one turned out.

 

You & Me

I did this card awhile ago and didn't write down the sketch info, but I do remember using a sketch! I even remember who I was with and where I was when making it. Anyway...the striped paper is a 6x6 that lost it's cover long ago, so I have no idea who makes it. I do know that the sentiment is three different stamps from a Hero Arts set and the smile inside is from The Alley Way Stamps. That bling is Triveni and everything was stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black.

 

Some birdie

I just love how this card turned out. It'll make a great card for someone to send home to a child. I used the idea I saw here and gave it my own little twist. Those head feathers are actually the end of a Memory Box snowflake die and the bodies were done with a Sizzix egg die. They just screamed...or tweeted?...for googlie eyes. I made the beaks with a rectangle folded in half and cut to the corners. You can't really tell in this picture, but they do open. 

For the sentiment, I layered a Spellbinders oval onto a Taylored Expressions label die. The sentiment itself is from Hero Arts and is stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black. The inside stamp is also Hero Arts.

2014 Favorite Cards for OWH

It's that time of year again...time to pick my top favorite cards I sent to Operation Write Home. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Swish Swish...original post here

2. Swirly Birthday...original post here

3. Missing U...original post here

4. Eye Heart You...original post here

5. Lucky stars...and polka dots...original post here

6. Bright Miss You...original post here

7. Merry Merry Monday 101...original post here

8. Hello Handsome...original post here

9. Round the Clock...original post here

10. Can't wait to hug you...original post here

11. Blue Hugs and Kisses...original post here

12. Pink and grey miss you...original post here

13. OWH VCMP Challenge Cards, Day 3...original post here

14. Nature for Dad...original post here

Swish Swish

That's what this SU Work of Art stamp set reminds me of...swishes of a paintbrush. I used SU Night of Navy, Memento Cottage Ivy and London Fog, as well as Fresh Ink Chocolate. The embellishments are years old from Recollections. 

Missing U

This was a fun card to make! It's so hard to find stamps that have a missing you sentiment on it and this is a fun alternative. It took a little longer than I planned. The Studio 112 alphabet I chose to use just didn't look right with the letters next to each other on the block, so I had to stamp each letter individually. When I was done stamping, it looked too plain and boring and begged for some texture. I used a Darice folder for that. The three missing "u" are stamped on the front corner of the envelope. Here is the card I CASE'd.

Leafy Love

I've used these SU and Memento colors together before and really like how well they go together, so I used them again on this card. The SU Work of Art set works well for this layout and covered just enough for those Spellbinders circles. I added a Hero Arts leaf and words from SU and Paper Smooches. The Triveni bling give just the right amount of extra detail.

Sweet and simple

I saw a card similar to this on Pinterest and loved the simplicity. I stamped the Hero Arts grid stamp in Hampton Art Aqua then added the sentiment from a different Hero Arts set. I wanted a bit of bling so I added three rhinestones.

Petite Petals Miss You

This card is a pretty close CASE of this card. It features the Stampin' Up Petite Petals stamp set and matching punch. The embossing was done with a Sizzix folder and a Cuttlebug. I used some SU, Distress Ink and ColorBox inks. The sentiment is from Hero Arets and the bling is Triveni.

Love you

I've had this metallic accented paper for years and finally pulled some of it out to make a few cards using Mojo Monday 366. I believe the paper is DCWV but couldn't swear it. The sentiment is Impression Obsession stamped in Fresh Ink Chocolate.

Happy Monsters

I love this stamp set from Recollections. For this card, I did some masking so they're standing on each other's heads. They're colored with Copics and accented with some googlie eyes. I used several layers to help draw out the colors and mounted it on some Bella Blvd star paper. There's a Stampendous happy birthday stamped on the inside.