Make It Monday #127: Double Backgrounds & ColourQ #200

I watched this week's Make It Monday  yesterday morning, and last night I got a chance to make a card using the double stamped background technique.  I pulled out all of my background stamps and thinking I had had a stroke of brilliance, I combined PTI's BB: Text Styles and the chicken wire from BB: Farm & Barn to create my background.  It was the very first combination I tried and I loved it, so I went with it and finished off my card.  A couple minutes ago I checked back on Nichole's blog to see the number of the challenge, so I could write my post.  While I was there I decided to check on the twitter updates...apparently my text + chicken wire combination wasn't quite as original as I thought.  This fabulous card by the oh-so-talented Maureen Plut was tweeted about last night for using a very similar background combination.  Shucks.  However I decided it was silly to be bummed that my background wasn't a clever, new idea and to focus on the positive instead.  A happier train of thought was to flatter myself and say that great mind's think alike. :) 

This card was really fun to put together.  I started by selecting my color scheme from this week's ColourQ Challenge.  

Then I stamped the text in PTI's lemon tart ink and the chicken wire in SU!'s So Saffron ink on a panel.  I've been loving the collages I've seen all over the place, so I decided to try my hand at a very simplified version. First, I watercolored and trimmed the flower and leaf images from PTI's Pretty Peonies.  Then I stamped one of the frame images from the same stamp set in SU!'s Blue Bayou Ink onto the background panel to anchor everything.  The rest of my little cluster includes two banners with words from PTI's Round & Round and Friendship Jar Fillers, a little wood clothespin, pearls, and some leaf ribbon that my sister gave me forever ago.  This last photo shows the text a bit better than my first. 

And that's it for me. :) Hope you are having a happy week! 

 

The Play Date Cafe: Splash of Neon, TAWS Be Inspired #33, & (CAS)E This Sketch #38

Just popping in to share a quick card I made for the following three challenges:

The Play Date Café          TAWS Be Inspired #33                CTS #38

I've been wanting to make a card with just stamping alone for a while now, and it felt good to finally make one.  After seeing the TAWS inspiration photo I knew I wanted to make a single-layer card using Good Point from TAWS...I figured it would be nice and graphic and perfect for all that black and white. Then, when I saw this week's sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch I knew it would be perfect for what I wanted to do.  I flipped the sketch, but even then the chevron image I used was a bit large for the sketch, but hopefully you can still see it. Oh, and I promise the yellow looks much more neon in person (which is important since The Play Date Café's color scheme is black, white, and a splash of neon), but I'm barely getting this in before the PDC deadline, so I don't have time to take another photo.  And honestly, this card was just a last minute card just for fun, so I'd rather use the time I have left tonight to make some more cards. :) Hopefully you'll just take my word for it.  Thanks for taking a look! :)
Supplies
Stamps: Alphabet Soup, Good Point (TAWS)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Yo-yo Yellow (SU!)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Other: colored pencil

Simon Says...Food & Retrosketches #73

As I was looking at some of my failed attempts for Papertrey's Blog Hop yesterday one thing caught me eye that I genuinely liked...a strawberry.  I had paper pieced it, and it was so bright and cheerful that I decided I wanted to try again but this time make a whole jar of them, which would conveniently also be perfect for the Simon Says...Food challenge.  

I liked the sketch at Retrosketches, so I decided I would use the jar for the focal point (the rounded square in the sketch) and have two banners go across it.  That was a great idea until I finished paper piecing all those strawberries and didn't want to cover a single one of them up. So I embossed the jar on some transparency paper that I found in my teaching stuff, used the label image to represent the button in the sketch and the two strings of twine to represent the banners instead.  And then I was stuck. I'd completed the elements in the sketch and had a cute clear jar of strawberries, but I didn't have a completed card.  I took a several hour break, and then I remembered this card from a couple months back, so I went to Jessica Witty's blog to see it more in detail.  Of course I couldn't just stop there, so I kept browsing through her blog and finally I had seen so much inspiration that after a lot of trial and error adding and taking things off my card, I ended up with this.  I realize it doesn't resemble the sketch as much as I had intended, but I can still see it in my focal point and I was happy with how it turned out, so I just let it go.  It feels good to finish a card with a smile.  P.S. Thanks for your kind and understanding comments yesterday....they definitely cheered me up!

Linking up at:

Simon Says...Food

Retrosketches #73

Supplies

Stamps: Friendship Jar, Friendship Jar Summer Fillers, Mat Stack 1 Collection (PTI)

Ink: Bubblegum (Recollections), New Leaf (PTI), VersaMark (SU!)

Paper: Hawaiian Shores, Hibiscus Burst, New Leaf, Raspberry Fizz (PTI), white, transparency sheet 

Other: Honeydew Twine (The Twinery), Linen & Canvas Impression Plate (PTI), White & Silver Embossing Powder (SU!)

PTI July Blog Hop, Moxie Fab Birthday Celebration, & Seize the Birthday

Hello!  I'm so glad to finally have a card to post for PTI's July Blog Hop.  I really struggled with this Blog Hop...not because the color combinations aren't fantastic...just because my crafting has been uh...blah.  I can't even tell you how many attempts I've thrown away this week.  I'm not sure why, but everything just seems to be off.  So after nothing worked out quite right, I was thinking about cards that I made over the last couple weeks that I really enjoyed and I remembered this one.  I decided to use another one of the templates Nichole had shared to make this lion card.  

I chose this color combo, using mostly the orange zest, summer sunrise, and melon berry colors...though I did manage to sneak the other two in on the nose and mouth.   The card is pretty simple really.  I printed the template, traced it on cardstock, pieced together the mane with a bunch of scraps, then stitched the mouth. I stamped the eyes and added a button nose and twine whiskers.  Oh, and I added a little crown because I'm giving this to one of my nephews for his first birthday, which means I'm also entering this in the Birthday Card Challenge at Moxie Fab World and the Anything Goes Challenge at Seize the Birthday.  One more thing: This shape card wouldn't stand on it's own at first, so I had to trim the mane on the back side of the card base making the bottom two scallops more flat than rounded.  Really there was no science to it.  I just kept trimming away until the card stood straight. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! I did manage to salvage a couple more cards, but this was the only photo that I could make work.  Hopefully I'll have a chance to try again, I'm just waiting for the sun to move, and then maybe I'll be back...depends on how long nap time lasts. :) 
Supplies
Stamps: Daydreamer, Fresh Alphabet (PTI)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU!), Summer Sunrise (PTI)
Paper: Rustic Cream (PTI), patterened paper scraps (Martha Stewart, MME, DCWV, The Paper Studio, etc.)
Other: this template, embroidery floss, square button (Making Memories ), Marigold Baker's Twine (The Twinery)

Curtain Call: Feeling Nautical & Simon Says...By the Sea

I'm thrilled to be able to make a card for another Simon Say's Stamp Challenge and for Curtain Call's first new challenge.  I've been super excited ever since Stacey announced Curtain Call's return and I saw who was going to be on the DT (it still makes me giddy that SO many of my favorites are on the same DT...seeing their cards is like Christmas).  When I saw the inspiration photo there was so much to draw from.   I've have been wanting to make a card all week, but every time I attempted making a card, I just didn't like how it was turning out.  Today I wised up.  I narrowed down my inspiration to the color scheme, the plank of wood, and the blue anchor shirt.  Then, I removed a bunch of stuff, slightly adjusted my layout, and magically the card came together.  My happiest moment was when I successfully drew a little anchor on the sail to mimic the shirt in the photo.  It's my favorite part of the card. :) And I'm so glad that I finally finished it.  I'm off to link up...Thanks for stopping by! Hope you all have a happy weekend.
Supplies
Stamps: Lawn Fawn (Bake Me a Cake), PTI (Bitty Baby Blessings)
Ink: CTMH (Outdoor Demin)
Paper: MME (Lost & Found Two), PTI (Enchanted Evening, Kraft, Rustic Cream)
Other: CTMH (hemp), PTI (Tag Sale #6 die), The Paper Studio (Woodgrain embossing folder, SU! (3/4" punch), colored pencil, hole punch, twine



photo credit:  Maria on Point



Linking Up:
Simon Say's...By the Sea
Curtain Call: Feeling Nautical 

MIM #125: Defined Watercolors & cQc #198

This card is about as CAS as it comes, but there is a reason for that.  I was intrigued by this week's Make It Monday to create defined watercolors.  I actually think Erin's tutorial to use an aqua painter to apply watercolor ink directly to the stamp is brilliant.  I love how the watercolors bled a bit when I stamped them, and then edging it again in ink defined everything.  I figured this flower would be my practice round, but it turned out so pretty that I decided to not only use it but make it the focal point of my card.  I finished it off with a sentiment that will allow me to use this card for any occasion...love those kinds of cards.  This beautiful color palette was inspired by this week's ColourQ Challenge.

Supplies

Stamps: PTI (Daydreamer, Round & Round)

Ink: PTI (Hawaiian Shores), SU! (Blue Bayou, Kiwi Kiss, Purely Pomegranate)

Paper: watercolor paper

Other: SU! (Aqua Painter)

CTD251, MIM125, MOJO302

I had so much fun doing this week's Make It Monday: Defined Watercolor's technique that I decided to make another card.  The sketch is based on Mojo Monday 302 and the color palette is from Color Throwdown.

Supplies

Stamps: PTI (Daydreamer, Movers & Shakers Sentiments), TAWS (Good Point)

Ink: SU! (Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Tempting Turquoise)

Paper: SU! (Pacific Point), watercolor paper

Other: CTMH (embossing powder), PTI (Fabulous Frames Die), SU! (Aqua Painter), embroidery floss

Muse #26, CTD250, Moxie Fab & Seize the Birthday

As soon as I saw this week's Muse Challenge (so cute!) I knew I wanted to give it a try.  Since the muse card's color scheme fit so perfectly with this week's Color Throwdown challenge which I LOVE, I decided to go with that.  I really am in love with this color combo...one of my favorites ever.  I really wanted to do a shape card like Marion as well.  I always love shape cards when I see them in Paper Crafts Magazine, and when I remembered this free download that Nichole Heady had on her blog a couple years ago, I knew it was meant to be.  I am in love with this card.  I made it for a super cute niece of mine who will be turning two in a couple months.  I cut the face and nose portions of the template, punched the ears, stamped the eyes, stitched just a half smile (that's what my niece usually does), and added the hair/birthday crown (it could go either way) and the bow.  Then I folded a card base, glued the face on top, and cut around it so the whole card ended up being the shape of the monkey.  I also stamped "Happy Birthday" on the inside, but I forgot to take a picture of that.  This is one of my favorite birthday cards ever, so I decided to enter it in at the Birthday Card Challenge at Moxie Fab World and the Anything Goes Challenge at Seize the Birthday.  Feels good to be getting ahead on birthday cards...I just wish I could be giving this particular one a little sooner. :)

Supplies

Stamps: PTI (Polka Dot Basics, Tag-It's #10)

Ink: PTI (kraft)

Paper: PTI (aqua mist, berry sorbet, kraft, rustic cream), The Paper Studio (zebra, yellow polka dot)

Dies: PTI (Buttoned Up #1, Headline Numbers)

Other: Making Memories (embroidery floss), SU (3/4" punch), button, this free download

Linking up at:

Moxie Fab World: Birthday Card Challenge

Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes

      Color Throwdown #250                            Marion Vagg's Muse Card for Muse Challenge #26

Mixy-Matchy Inspired Birthday

I recently ran across the Inspired By Challenge, and the inspiration photo had such happy colors this week, that I decided to use them to make a card.  I pulled from some of the patterns, too, and since I was mixing and matching my papers anyway, I decided to make this card for Moxie Fab World's Mixy-Matchy Style Challenge as well.  I continued with the birthday theme for Moxie's Birthday Card Challenge, but this time I decided to do a belated birthday card because unfortunately I need those more than I would like.  I'm really good at remembering people's birthdays a month or a week before they happen, but somehow the actual day often slips by me.  I'm seriously considering just sending out card's the month before when I actually remember just so I won't miss birthdays.  Either that or adopting my sister's philosophy that we all should enjoy a birthweek, not just a birthday. :)

Challenges:



Inspired By Challenge #83



Inspired By Challenge #83
Moxie Fab World's Birthday Card Challenge
Moxie Fab World's Mixy-Matchy Style Challenge

Challenges Galore Birthday Card

As soon as I saw the color swatch at Color Throwdown I knew I wanted to play along.  It's bright and happy and cheerful...Love. Love. Love.  And since it seems like there are birthday celebrations going on everywhere, I decided to join in the fun at Seize the Birthday and Moxie Fab World, too.  I was short on time, so I further quickened the card-making process by using a sketch from Mojo Monday.  Oh, and when it seemed my card was just missing something, I remembered the Simon Says Stamp Challenge, which  is "Pin it", so that's what I did.  I grabbed my sewing supplies and literally stuck two straight pins in behind the star and that was that.  Nothing like combining a bunch of challenges to take the guess work out of a card. :)

ETA: I had a quick second tonight, so I decided to watch PTI's Make It Monday video and make a coordinating envelope for this card.  Might as well add another challenge, right? I kept it CAS.  I adore how Melissa totally dressed up her envelope, but every time I tried adding more to mine it seemed like too much and didn't quite fit the feel of the card.  So I took most of it off and ended up with this.
Linking up here:
Moxie Fab World: Birthday Card Challenge
PTI Make It Monday #124
Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes
Simon Says...Pin It!
Color Throwdown #250               &        Mojo Monday #301    
 

Supplies
Stamps: PTI (Star Prints, Tag-It's #10)
Ink: PTI (kraft, hawaiian shores, lemon tart, melon berry)
Cardstock: PTI (hawaiian shores, kraft, melon berry, stamper's select white)
Dies: PTI (Seeing Stars, Super Star Borders)
Other: straight pins, washi tape

Runway Inspired Challenge #39

I've always been intrigued by the Runway Inspired Challenges.  The inspiration pieces are incredibly unique and the design teams' creations always leave me in awe.  Though I have followed the challenge for a long time, I've never actually made a card for it, so  this week I resolved that I would at least try.

RIC #39: Clover Canyon Resort 2014

There were so many great patterns on this week's inspiration piece, that I wasn't sure what to pull from that would be different than the DT's cards, and in the end I went with the layout of the dress....just tipped horizontally.  I kept most of the same colors and even mimicked the stripes on the belted area with the embroidery floss.  I tried to sneak in some of the turquoise, but it just didn't work, so in the end that got removed.  I like that this challenge inspired me to do something different, something I probably wouldn't normally do.  Eek!  I just looked at the time...better hurry and submit this before I miss the deadline. :)  Thanks for stopping by!
Supplies
Stamps: PTI (Movers & Shakers Sentiments), Studio Calico (Inked! Class Set)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black), CTMH (Terracotta)
Paper: Making Memories (Sunflower), PTI (Rustic Cream, Terracotta Tile), Recollections (Mosaic Memories)
Other: embroidery floss

CFC108: Material Girl (Star Tag)

I made this little star tag for CAS-ual Fridays Material Girl Challenge.  The little onesie is diecut from some old fabric I had and I made the little bowtie out of some grey striped American Crafts ribbon.  I actually made it as part of a BIRTHday ensemble.  If you're interested, you can read more details about this tag and the rest of the gift ensemble here.

CFC108, CD21, & Moxie Fab Birthday Challenges

A couple days ago I pulled my fabrics out to pick something for this week's Material Girl Challenge at CAS-ual Fridays, but I have so many fabrics that I love (and can't bear to cut into) that I didn't get a card made.  Well, today I was brainstorming color schemes/recipients for Moxie Fab's birthday challenges, and I couldn't get THE birthday (you know, BIRTH day) out of my head, so I decided to go with it.  I remembered some old fabrics that I had gotten with the intentions of making baby gifts and pulled them out. 

 

I started with the Moxie Fab World's Birthday Tags & Wraps Challenge and made this gift bag.  I die cut three onesies from different fabrics, and then I embellished them with pockets made out of some fabric scraps and a bowtie I made with some grey striped American crafts ribbon.  I originally intended to make this into a card for Moxie's birthday sketch challenge, but the onesies were too big.  But it intentionally fits the bill for CAS-ual Fridays Material Girl Challenge to use fabric on a project, so I'm entering it there, too. :)

Okay, so now I needed a card for Moxie Fab World's Birthday Sketch Challenge.  The challenge was to use the sketch and either use only stamps or no stamps at all.  I went with no stamps. 



Moxie Fab World Birthday Sketch

I remembered this week's 10 Minute Craft Dash challenge to use stars, and since stars remind me of babies, too, I decided to use them as my focal point.  I used coordinating papers and letter dies and re-emphasized "birth", so the card would match the gift bag.  Oh, and I was thrilled to use some rub-ons that I have had for years for the letters.  I was almost surprised they still worked. :)

 

(I know these pictures are essentially the same...but "birthday" shows better on the first, and the colors/texture/die cuts are better on the second.  And really, I'm just tired and don't want to have to choose, so I'm keeping both.)

 

The last item in the ensemble is the little star gift tag.  It's meant to tie around the blanket(oops...forgot to take pictures of that, but it has two more coordinating fleece fabrics from the same line).  This one is a two-fer: I made it for 10 Minute Craft Dash #21 featuring stars and CAS-ual Fridays Material Girl Challenge (it has a separate post here).  Ultimately it was a Craft Dash fail...it took 11 minutes 59 seconds, but still I love how it turned out.  I feel like it pulls everything together.  I actually think I would have been able make it in less than10 minutes, but the first time I diecut the fabric onesie the diamonds ended up horizontal in the chest area and it looked to much like a bra to me, so I had to start over.  I considered entering this one in for Moxie Fab's Birthday tag challenge as well, but out of context (i.e., without the other "BIRTHday" items) I wasn't sure it fit the requirements.  Phew...this was a super long post.  If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me!  Hope you have a happy Thursday. :)

 

Supplies

Stamps: PTI (Bitty Baby Blessings)

Ink: SU (Basic Gray)

Cardstock: American Crafts (Tropicals), Making Memories (Corduroy Sky), PTI (Stamper's Select White), Reflections (Grey)

Dies: PTI (Bitty Baby Blessings, Block Alphabet, Script Alphabet, Seeing Stars)

Other: American Crafts (ribbon), Making Memories (Heidi White Alphabet Rub-ons), embroidery floss,  fabric, gift bag

Muse #24, CASology #51, Color Throwdown #249, Simon Says: Patriotic & Stacey's Birthday Party

 

I really liked the layout of Laurie's card, so I decided that my second Muse Challenge attempt would be a more literal interpretation.  I used the same layout and embossed the background like Laurie did on her card.  I wanted to highlight the sentiment a bit more, so before I embossed the polka dots, I placed a little flag over the sentiment so that part would remain flat.  Then I placed a row of rhinestones underneath. 

My color scheme came from this week's Color Throwdown...I LOVE the addition of Bermuda Bay to the patriotic colors, which were also perfect for this week's Simon Says...Patriotic challenge.  Since this week's cue card at CASology is fireworks, I decided to make those the focal point on PTI's Simple Circle's Die.  The fireworks were created with PTI's Daydreamer set and Stampin' Up's Snow Burst set.  And finally, I embossed the sentiment "celebrate" (made with Alphabet Soup by TAWS) because I actually intend to use this as a birthday card, so I'm also linking this up for Stacey's Birthday Linky Party, too.  Phew!  That was a mouthful.  I'm exhausted now, so I think I'll call it a day.  Goodnight! :)

To recap, I'm linking up to these challenges:

  

 



Muse #24, Color Throwdown #249, Simon Says: Patriotic, & Stacey's Birthday Linky Party

I haven't played along with a Muse Challenge in a long time, so I decided to use that as my main inspiration today.  The things that stood out to me on Laurie's card were the embossed wood background, the row of buttons with the black X's in the middle, and the bold sentiment, so I incorporated those elements on my card.  I wanted a different color scheme and since we've been in the patriotic mode this week, I chose this week's Color Throwdown as my inspiration.  I love this color scheme, but the color is a bit off in the photo.  IRL the middle button is much more teal...resembling the Bermuda Bay color.  And although I was definitely going with a patriotic feel on this card for this week's Simon  Says...Patriotic challenge, I used a birthday sentiment because we have a few family birthdays around the 4th of July that I needed to make cards for.  Oh, and I'm linking this one up to Stacey's Birthday Linky Party...I'm super excited to see her newly re-created Curtain Call Challenge.



Muse #24