Headed Out for Some R & R

We are headed out of town tomorrow for a long holiday weekend. I was hoping to get another card made and posted this evening, but it didn't happen. Maybe I'll be able to catch up when we get back home.

I made this card several months ago for a challenge on Splitcoaststampers. It's posted in the gallery there, but this is the first time I've posted it on my blog. I am very proud of this card. I think it's one of the best coloring jobs I've ever done. I just wish I could remember exactly what I did that made my coloring so much better than it usually is. It's the same technique I always use, but just seemed to turn out a little better than usual.

I hope everyone has a great July 4th holiday! I'll catch ya when we get home!!

Supplies
Stamps: Happy Hopper - Apple a Day (Stampabilities); Enjoy (Studio G)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); red pigment ink and warm red chalk ink (Colorbox)
Paper: Yellow cardstock (Archiver's); DP - Front Porch Collection (My Mind's Eye)
Embellishments: Circle and scalloped circle punches (Paper Studio); ribbon (unknown)
Technique: Prismacolor pencil blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: A7 (5" x 7")

Just Magnolia and Simon Says Challenge

It's been a few days since my last card. I have just been so busy this week at work, I'm totally exhausted in the evenings and haven't had much mojo. I finally found a little bit. I created this card for two challenges this week - Just Magnolia and Simon Says Challenge.


The Just Magnolia challenge this week is a sketch, which I have posted below. The Magnolia image I chose is Tilda in Jeans. I like to perch the sitting Tildas on the edges of circles, so the sketch worked well for that. I colored the image with Lyra colored pencils (except for the face, which is Prisma) and popped her for added dimension. For the flowers I used my retro flower punches and buttons. I also added a punched butterfly, some ribbon and a butterfly charm. I stamped the sentiment directly on the background. I sponged the inner circle where Tilda is sitting with sky blue pigment ink. I also chose a bit of a different color combo for me. I don't know if I have ever used green and orange together, except for Halloween cards.


The Simon Says Challenge this week is Happy Mail. They requested that you create a card for an ill child and send it through Post Pals (UK) or Make a Child Smile (US). Both of these organizations are awesome. It is so beneficial for children who are going through such a trying time to receive positive and happy thoughts from people and to know that they are cared for. Since I am in the US, i will send my card through Make a Child Smile. I hope that you will check out these organizations and consider using some of your own cards to make a sick child's day a little brighter.

Supplies
Stamps: Tilda in Jeans (Magnolia); Sentiment (Hero Arts)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); blue pigment ink (Colorbox)
Paper: Orange and green cardstock (Bazzill); DP (Kay and Co.)
Embellishments: Circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities (Spellbinder); border punches (Fiskars); retro flower punches (EK Success); Royal butterfly punch (Martha Stewart); buttons, ribbon, twine, gems, butterfly charm
Technique: Lyra colored pencil
Finished card size: 6" square

Laundry Day

Here is my card for this week's House Mouse and Friends Challenge. This week's challenge is a sketch, which is shown below. It's just a one challenge card this time. :)


The image I used is one of the new Gruffies stamps - Laundry Line. I don't own this stamp. My Friend Jenny RAK'd me some images recently. She also gave me the one with the Gruffie sleeping in the hammock between the sunflowers. The new Gruffies stamps are just so darn cute!

I colored the image with my Prismas and mineral spirits. I sponged in the sky with blue pigment ink. Since the image is very detailed, I left the background of the card fairly simple and used a soft blue/green color scheme. I think the DP in the circle looks like bubbles, which matches the theme of the image. Because of the size of the image, I didn't have room on the circle to put the three gems in a straight line, so I added them to three scallops on each side. I also added a ribbon. Once I decide what I'm going to use this card for, I will most likely add a tag or something with a sentiment. I have some mini clothespins that I thought would look cute with this image, but they didn't really fit anywhere. I may try those next time I use this image with a different layout.

Supplies
Stamp: Gruffies - Laundry Line (Stampabilities)
Ink: black (unknown); blue pigment ink (Colorbox)
Paper: Cardstock - Tropical Breeze and Apple Crush (Bazzill Basics); DP - green gingham (DCWV); green circles (unknown)
Embellishments: circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities (Spellbinder); gems (Paper Studio); ribbon (unknown)
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: A7 (5"x7")

House Mouse Christmas Card - CK Sketch Challenge

I'm on a roll with my Christmas cards the last few days! It has been so unbelieveably hot here lately, anything that helps me think about cool weather is helpful.

I made this card for a sketch challenge on the CK/PaperCrafts message board this week. My dear friend Susan created this sketch and I think it's so cute. I totally CASEd her sample card - except she did a birthday card. I did use her idea of the three different images to fit a theme. I had these three small House Mouse Christmas stamps that fit the sketch perfectly. I added Stickles to each of the images and embellished the card with ribbon and three red gems. Susan's original sketch has a sentiment in the lower right corner, but I couldn't find a stamp that was fitting the space right and didn't want to take the time to print on on the computer. I used the little bow instead.

This is such a great sketch - so cute and simple the work with. I'm definitely going to be using it for other cards later.

Supplies
Stamps: House Mouse - Muzzie's To/From (I just inked the image part), Having a Ball, Santa's Little Helper (Stampabilities)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Paper: Green cardstock (Paper Studio), red cardstock and DP (Paper Salon Swatches)
Embellishments: Circle Nesties (Stampabilties); gems (Paper Studio); ribbon (Target); Stickles
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: 5 1/2" square

A Few Swap Projects

When I first started stamping and paper crafting, I did a lot of swaps. Since I started participating in the challenge blogs, I don't do as many, but every once in awhile one comes along that I want to do. I set a limit for myself of no more than two swaps due in a month, but apparently, I wasn't paying attention this month and ended up with about six. I spent today catching up on the last of them, so now I can get back on track with my limit.


This first card is for an all-white card swap that I am participating in on the Splitcoaststampers site. I posted a similar card a few weeks ago for a challenge I did. I simplified it for the swap and added a butterfly die cut. The image/sentiment is two stamps from an Inkadinkado clear set. I stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white EP. The embossed background is made with the Birds and Swirls Cuttlebug folder and the vertical piece is the Script folder. The butterfly is a Cuttlebug combination die and embossing folder. The circles are cut with my Nesties and the scalloped border on the left with the Fiskars scallop border punch.

The ATC above is for a Penny Black swap my friend Chris is hosting. I wanted to do a little more with this one, but the image ended up being a little bigger than I thought so I didn't have much room. The image is called Ooh La La. I colored it with my Prismas and cut it with my Label 1 Nesties. I inked the edges in Warm Red Chalk Ink. The sentiment is from the SU Paris in Spring set. I punched it out with a circle punch and matted it with red cut with one of my scallop circle Nesties. I scalloped the bottom of the yellow and added a black and white ribbon. I mounted the whole thing on piece of black cardstock cut to ATC size.

This final project is a recipe page. My 2nd favorite hobby is cooking and I used to participate in and host a lot of recipe swaps. This is my first one in a long time and it's being hosted by my friend Barbara. It was to be for a favorite family recipe. This is one I make for my son and husband quite frequently. It's super easy and we all love it. You can also make with fat free/sugar free ingredients and it's just as good. I also sometimes use graham crackers instead of Oreos. When I do that, I use two packages of chocolate pudding and no vanilla.

I used pink and brown Bazzill cardstock. The DP is some that I have had forever and I think it's from Paper Wishes. I used to belong to their scrapbook kit of the month club. The pink behind the recipe and in the flower is from My Mind's Eye. I made the flower with my retro flower punches and small circle punch. I ran the flower parts through my Big Kick with my D'Vine Swirls embossing folder and the center through with the Swiss Dots folder then layered them. I finished it off with some pink and brown polka dot ribbon and pink pearls.

From the Heart - Father's Day Card/Penny Black Challenge

This card is for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge. I'm also giving to my husband for Father's Day. If you're wondering what a hedgehog playing guitar has to do with Father's Day - I chose the image because my husband plays the guitar - and I just thought it was cute!

The Penny Black Challenge this week was to use embossing. I love to use my Cuttlebug embossing folders so this challenge was right up my alley. I used the Script folder because it fits a masculine style better than some of the others I have and it also went well with the papers I chose. The gray cardstock is also embossed with a pin stripe pattern, but it came that way, so I'm not sure it counts for the challenge.

I find it a bit challenging to make the cute little hedgie images masculine, but I also enjoy a bit of a challenge. To accomplish that, I chose masculine papers and colors - cream, red, gray and black. I also used Old Paper Distress Ink over the image and sentiment to work with the distressed style of the paper. I kept the layout and embellishments simple as well.

I was afraid the contrast of styles between the papers and embellishments and the hedgie might not work, but I like the way it turned out. Hopefully, my husband will like it too.

Supplies
Stamps: Hmmm...(Penny Black); From the Heart (Hero Arts)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Old Paper Distress Ink (Ranger)
Paper: Gray pinstripe cardstock (Club Scrap); red cardstock (DCWV); DP (Autumn Leaves)
Embellishments: Label 1 Nestabilities, circle Nestabilities (Spellbinder); Script embossing folder (Cuttlebug); flowers (Prima); square gem brad, ribbon (unknown)
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: 5 1/2" square

Lazy Summer Day

I'm back with another challenge card. I created this one for three different challenges - Roses on Paper, Just Magnolia and Stampin' for the Weekend.

For the Roses on Paper challenge, you must follow the challenge theme AND use a Magnolia, Rachelle Anne Miller, Sarah Kay, The Greeting Farm or Alota image. The current theme is to use flowers and to combine the ROP challenge with any other challenge. I chose Relaxing Tilda for the image, and there are flowers in the image itself, my DP and as embellishments on the card. And obviously, I met the requirement to combine challenges with the other two that I am doing with this one.

The Just Magnolia challenge theme this week is Summer. I don't have any Magnolia images with an obvious Summer theme, but I have a couple on my wish list. I think maybe this image is supposed to really be Spring since Tilda is wearing her little jacket, but I decided that maybe where Tilda lives it isn't 95 degrees with a heat index of 105 like it is here. :) I thought the image was perfect for the summer quote that I found. I printed the quote on my computer and cut it out with my Nesties. The quote, by Sir John Lubbock, says "To lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."

The final challenge for this card is Stampin' for the Weekend. This is the third week for this new challenge blog and I've really been enjoying their challenges. So far they've been a little different than some of the other blogs. The challenge theme for this week is Rock n Roll 60's. When I first saw the title I kind of panicked because I wasn't quite sure what it was going to be, but it turned out fine. They provided three song titles from the 1960's and we were to use one of them as our inspiration. We were only to consider the title and not the lyrics. The three songs provided were:

"Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harem

"Time of the Season" by The Zombies

"Please Mr. Postman" by the Marvellettes

The song I chose for my inspiration is "Time of the Season" which by the way is one of my favorite songs of all time - even though I was only four when it was popular. I love 1960's songs. The tie-in - obviously - is the summer theme of my card. I did consider "Whiter Shade of Pale" (another of my favorite songs) because I'm working on some all white cards for a swap I'm in, but I wouldn't have been able to combine that with the Just Magnolia challenge and I posted an all white card not too long ago anyway which was similar to the one I'm working on.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll check out the other great creations on these awesome blogs. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Supplies
Stamp: Relaxing Tilda (Magnolia); quote is computer generated
Paper: Yellow and blue cardstock (DCWV); DP - Spring Stack (DCWV)
Embellishments: Circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities and rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinder); large flowers - Chloe's Closet (Making Memories); small flowers (Prima); flower brads (Making Memories); button, twine, ribbon
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: 6" square

You're Snow Special

Well, the first thing that comes to my mind when it's 95 degrees with 80 percent humidity outside, is snow! LOL! Actually, I rarely make "off season" cards. I make warm weather theme cards in the spring and summer and cold theme cards in the fall and winter. I decided to step out of my box a little and make a wintery card when it's really, really hot outside.

I made this card for this week's challenge on the CK/Papercrafts message board. Pene is hosting this week's challenge, which is a color challenge. She chose three random items on her craft table and asked us to take our colors from those objects. There was a bright blue bottle, a red rubber duck and a spool of lime green thread.

For several days this week, I didn't think I was going to be able to do this challenge because nothing was coming to mind that I could do with this combination of colors. When another person posted her card and mentioned that she had to change some things because it looked too much like a Christmas card. So I thought, "hmm - why not make a Christmas card." I found some paper in a DCWV Christmas Stack and there I was.

I received the snowman image and sentiment in an image swap, so I don't know who makes the stamps. I colored the image with my trusty Prismas/mineral spirits then cut out the image and sentiment with my circle Nesties. I inked the edges with French Blue Chalk Ink. I then matted with green and red also cut with the Nesties. I used a couple of border punches to scallop the bottom edge, added some ribbon, a big Prima and some buttons to finish it off.

Dance Like Nobody's Watching

I made this ATC for a swap that my friend Chris is hosting for House Mouse ATCs. I am also submitting it for this week's House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge. The challenge this week is a Neopolitan color challenge - chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. I already had the ATC figured out before the challenge was posted, so I just got lucky that it worked out this way. I can complete a swap and still participate in this week's House Mouse challenge. :)

I colored the Twinkle Toes image with Prismas blended with mineral spirits and then cut it out as close as I could without buzzing Amanda's fur. I then took my brown pencils and went over the edges a little to get rid of the white edge. I added some Stickles to her tutu and then pop-dotted her on the ATC. I printed the saying on my computer, then cut it out with my oval Nesties and matted with brown and pink scallop ovals also cut with Nesties. I used a slot punch on the edge and threaded the ribbon through, then tied a bow. I was going to add some flowers, but I thought it looked too crowded so I left it alone.

Supplies
Stamp: House Mouse Twinkle Toes (Stampabilities); saying is computer generated.
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Rouge Chalk Ink (ColorBox)
Paper: Brown cardstock (Archiver's); DP - Bohemia (My Mind's Eye)
Embellishments: Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinder); ribbon (unknown); ribbon slot punch (Making Memories); Stickles
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished size: ATC - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"

Mojo Monday Challenge 91 - Father's Day Card

I needed to get a card made for my step dad for Father's Day. My parents divorced when I was very young, and although I stayed close to my dad, my step dad, Paul, has always been an important part of my life. Even more so now since my father passed away last year.

I chose to use the Grape Dreams image because Paul grows his own grapes and makes several varieties of wine. He always likes cards with grapes or wine images on them. To help make the card more masculine, I chose darker colors, more masculine papers and distressing. I used my Script Cuttlebug folder to emboss the paper on the right side of the card.

For the layout, I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch, which is shown below. I rotated it to make it short and wide rather than tall and thin. I also used a flower instead of the oval where the sentiment is shown in the sketch. I'll put the sentiment on the inside of the card. I usually use poems or quotes about fatherhood for Father's Day cards and that would not have fit in the small space left.
Supplies
Stamp: House Mouse - Grape Dreams (Stampabilities)
Ink: Black (unknown); Vintage Photo and Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger)
Paper: Brown cardstock (Paper Studio); DP (Costco)
Embellishments: Jute rick-rack (unknown); flowers (Prima); square brad (Spare Parts - Paper Studio); script embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: 4" x 9"

Create Joy

I managed another two-challenge card today. Maybe in a day or two I'll be caught up on my favorite challenges. This week shouldn't be quite so busy with work and home life. This card is for this week's Simon Says and Whiff of Joy challenges.

The Simon Says Challenge this week is a pink and brown color challenge. That's another pretty easy one for me. I love pink and brown (and blue and brown and green and brown :) I used pink and brown cardstock and my DP is also mostly pink and brown, although there is some yellow and green in the striped paper. I also used mostly pinks and browns to color the image. I had to make her jeans blue though. Other colors just don't look right to me. I also added a pink flower that I found in my stash (no clue where it came from) and pink and brown ribbon. The little charm, which I made from some beads that I had, has pink beads on it. I stamped the sentiment with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and inked the edges of the image, sentiment and card base with Tattered Rose Distress Ink. I highlighted the raised parts of the embossed piece with Tattered Rose as well.

This is the first time I have submitted a card for the Whiff of Joy challenge, although I have been following them for quite some time. I just can't seem to get all my challenges in that I want to do. This week's challenge is a sketch which is shown above. In addition to meeting the challenge theme, submissions must use a Whiff of Joy image. The one I used, Willow with Cookies, is one of the few Whiff of Joy images that I own. I have several that I have received as RAKs and in image swaps. I love these images. They are just so sweet. There are definitely more of them on my wish list.

Supplies

Stamps: Willow with Cookies (Whiff of Joy); sentiment (Hero Arts)

Ink: Onyx Black (VersFine); Vintage Photo and Tattered Rose Distress Ink (Ranger)

Paper: Pink cardstock (unknown); brown cardstock (Bazzill Basics); DP (Costco)

Embellishments: Circle punch (Creative Memories); scalloped circle punch (Paper Studio); ribbon (Michael's); flower (unknown); charm (handmade - beads and findings from Hobby Lobby)

Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits

Finished card size: 6" square

Cool, Cool Kitty

I created this card for this week's Stampin' for the Weekend Challenge. For the layout I used the Friday Sketchers challenge sketch.

The challenge for Stampin' for the Weekend is to use a digital image. I haven't used many digi images, but I have seen some really cute ones. This Hambo Cool Cat image was a freebie that I found through Mel Stampz blog. This blog is an awesome resource for all kinds of cool stamping stuff. One of the cool things on there is an index for free digital images. You can find this image here. I colored it with Prismas blended with odorless mineral spirits

The sketch for Friday Sketchers is shown above . It's a nice, simple sketch which is my favorite kind because it leaves lots of room for embellishing. I scalloped the edge of the vertical piece. The flowers are made with some of my favorite punches and layered. The hot, hot, hot charm and flip-flops were goodies I found in my stash.

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Flutter Anya - A Four Challenge Card

What a week!! I have been beyond busy this week at work and at home. I'm having a hard time getting in my creative time. To top it off, I have to work tomorrow. Yuck! So it's been even more important to try to combine challenges whenever I can this week. I managed four again with this one - Roses on Paper, Mojo Monday, A Spoon Full of Sugar and Cute Card Thursday. Yea!!

Roses on Paper is not a challenge I do often. I think I've only done it twice before. The current challenge is a color challenge - pink, green and yellow. In addition to meeting the challenge theme, participants are required to stamps from specific lines - Magnolia, Sarah Kay, Rachelle Anne Miller, The Greeting Farm or Alota. For the image I chose one of my new stamps from The Greeting Farm - Flutter Anya. I chose the Basic Grey Two Scoops paper as my starting point for the colors. That particular paper does have all those colors. Unfortunately, in the piece I cut, the yellow got covered up by the image.

For my layout I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch, which is pictured below. I had to move my circle piece to the left so it wasn't on top of Anya's head. I probably should have made the card a 5x7 to give myself more vertical space, but I always figure these things out after I have everything cut and half of it glued down. However, in my defense, one of the DT members moved her circle to the left too, so I think I'm okay. :)

The theme for this week's A Spoon Full of Sugar challenge is butterflies. Of course the little cutie Anya is a butterfly (although I thought she was a fairy when I ordered her). I also added a butterfly embellishment, which I made with my Spellbinder butterfly die and some gems.

The fourth and final challenge for this card is Cute Card Thursday. The theme for that challenge is quotations. I chose one of my favorite butterfly quotes to go with the theme - "The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." It's kind of an elegant sounding quote for such a whimsical card, but I like it anyway. I printed the quote on the computer and cut it out with my circle Nesties.

Thanks for stopping by. I guess I better get some sleep so I'll be nice and refreshed for my Saturday at work. Yippee...Have a great weekend!

Supplies
Stamp: Flutter Anya (The Greeting Farm); quote is computer generated
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Rouge Chalk Ink (Colorbox)
Paper: Light pink cardstock (unknown); yellow cardstock (Archiver's); dark pink cardstock (Club Scrap); DP - Two Scoops (Basic Grey)
Embellishments: circle, scalloped circle, square and scalloped square Nestabilities (Spellbinder); butterfly die (Spellbinder); clear and pink gems (unknown); clear flower gems (Jesse James Dress it Up)
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: 6" square

Dream Big

My friend Jenny is hosting this week's challenge on the Creating Keepsakes Paper Crafts forum. This is the first online place I found to share my love of paper crafting. It has gone through some tough transitions in the last year, and a lot of people have left the forum, but there are a few of us that still hang out. I have fun with the challenges there because we all know each other and it's very personal.

I didn't post Jenny's sketch here but I really didn't deviate from it at all. I made my little corner thingie with my Nesties. I just cut two squares then put the two "frames" that were left together and cut across at an angle. It was easy - I'm going to have to do that more often. The round embellies are gems and the sentiment is computer generated and printed on DP. I used a monochromatic color scheme this time, which I don't do very often. The Dream Puff image is a RAK from my friend Susan.

This was a fun sketch, and I think I'll be using it again. Jenny, if you're reading this, thanks for a fun challenge and I hope you have an awesome birthday!!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

Supplies

Stamp: House Mouse Dream Puff (Stampabilities); sentiment is computer generated

Paper: light pink cardstock (Bazzill); coral pink cardstock (Club Scrap); DP - Spring Stack (DCWV)

Embellishments: Oval, scalloped oval and square Nestabilities (Spellbinder); gems (unknown)

Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits

Finished card size: A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2")

Beach Bears

This week's House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge is a color challenge - red, white and blue. For the layout I used this week's Card Positioning Systems sketch.


Since red, white and blue are the colors of the U.S. flag, I usually think of a patriotic theme for those colors. Since I don't have any House Mouse stamps or images in that theme, I had to come up with something else. I chose this cute Gruffies image, which I received in an image swap. The bear putting on the sun screen is supposed to be the Panda (sorry I don't know their names :), but I colored him like a regular bear. Instead of using designer paper, I embossed one end of the red cardstock with Cuttlebug Spots and Dots folder.

This week's CPS sketch is shown below. I rotated it to fit the image. For the circular elements I used punched circles and stamped some beach-y words on them. They looked a little plain so I made them into little tags. I also rotated the image slightly to give it a little more interest.

Supplies
Stamps: Gruffies Beach Time Fun (Stampabilities); word stamps (Club Scrap)
Ink: Warm Red and French Blue Chalk Inks (Colorbox)
Paper: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific); red and blue cardstock (DCWV)
Embellishments: circle punch (Creative Memories); corner rounder punch; Spots and Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); ribbon (unknown)
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: 4" x 9"

Woo Hoo! I Made the Top Five!

I am very honored that my Charming Blossom Fairy Charlotte card was chosen as one of the top five of last week's Cupcake Craft Challenge. It's even better because the top five are chosen by the DT member who sets the challenge, rather than by random draw. I will proudly display the special Top Five blinkie on the left of my blog! Thanks for the pat on the back!!

Penny Black / Banana Split Sunday Challenges

I've gone back to more of my earlier distressed style for this card. It's for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge and the 2 Red Bananas Banana Split Sunday Challenge.

The theme for this week's Penny Black challenge is "blooming gorgeous", which we were to interpret any way we chose. While I love the cute Penny Black critter stamps, I am also a fan of the more elegant stamps in that line. I chose to use images from the Thinking of You clear set - the main image, as well as the tulip and butterfly in the squares are from that set. Also in keeping with the theme, I chose a background paper with flower names on it (from a very old DCWV paper stack) and added some little punched flowers along the bottom.

The theme for this week's Banana Split Sunday challenge is "pattern frenzy". We were to use at least three different pattern papers. I love patterns, so that's not too hard for me. The patterns in two of my papers are very subtle, but they are there. You'll be able to see them better in the enlarged photo. In addition to the flower names paper, the purple and green papers also have a pattern.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Supplies
Stamps: Images - Thinking of You set (Penny Black); sentiment (Hero Arts)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger)
Embellishments: circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities (Spellbinder); scalloped border punch (Fiskars); square punch (Creative Memories); ribbon (Club Scrap); flower punch (EK Success); antique copper brads (Making Memories)
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: 5 1/2" square

Just Magnolia and Stampin' for the Weekend

Here is my card for this week's Just Magnolia challenge. I am also submitting it for a brand new challenge blog that just launched today called Stampin' for the Weekend.


The theme for this week's Stampin' for the Weekend challenge is a color challenge to use purple and yellow. I decided on my image and colored it before I even looked to see what yellow and purple papers I had - or if I had any at all. I almost thought I was going to have to make a run to the store tomorrow to get the right color paper, but then found this paper way at the bottom of my "purple" drawer. I have no clue who makes it - there's nothing on the back. But it's the right color and the style was right too, so there ya go. The cardstock and flowers are also purple, but for some reason look more blue in the picture.

The Just Magnolia challenge this week is a sketch, which is shown below. I cut out Tilda using my Nesties, then pierced the scallops. I also decided to doodle a little around the edges. I used two different scallop border punches on the edge of the vertical piece. I used my slot punch to thread the ribbon through the image. The flowers are individual flowers off one of those silk hydrangea bushes with gemstone brads in the centers. I was to lazy to punch flowers tonight. :)

Supplies
Stamps: Tilda with Flower Jump Rope (Magnolia); sentiment (Hero Arts)
Paper: Yellow cardstock (DCWV); purple cardstock (unknown); DP (unknown)
Embellishments: circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities (Spellbinder); border punches (Fiskars); flowers (unknown); gem brads (Making Memories); ribbon (unknown)
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits; paper piercing; doodling
Finished card size: 6" square

Charming Blossom Fairy Charlotte

I did it again - four challenges met with one card! This card is for this week's Cupcake Craft, Spoon Full of Sugar, Whiff of Joy and Cute Card Thursday challenges. I try to do the Cupcake Craft and Cute Card Thursday challenges most weeks. This is my first time to submit a card for the Spoon Full of Sugar and Whiff of Joy challenges.

The theme for this week's Cupcake Craft challenge is Fairies. I chose to use one of my favorite stamps from Whiff of Joy - Blossom Fairy Charlotte. She is colored with Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits. I added some stickles to her wings.

The Spoon Full of Sugar challenge this week is a sketch, which is shown below. I followed it pretty closely. I used my Nestabilities to cut the circle and also the image and mat. I ran the green circle through my Big Kick with my Floral Fantasy Cuttlebug folder, then inked the edges and raised areas with Lime Pastel Chalk Ink. I used flowers with gem centers for the embellishments where buttons are shown on the sketch. Since my DP is swirly, I didn't use the swirl stamp/embellishment shown. Instead of a stamped or printed sentiment, I chose chipboard word, which was coated with a shiny silver metal. I used my Alcohol Ink to color that because I didn't like the shine.

For the Whiff of Joy challenge you are required to use a Whiff of Joy image - which of course I did. :) This week's them is charms. I used a siver heart charm tied with a ribbon.

Finally, this week's Cute Card Thursday challenge is called "nip and a punch". The objective was to use punches and/or die cuts. I used lots - Nestabilities dies, a border punch and daisy punches in two different sizes. I rarely make a card anymore without using some sort of punch or die, so it was pretty easy to meet that challenge.

Supplies
Stamp: Blossom Fairy Charlotte (Whiff of Joy)
Inks: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Lime Pastel and Lavendar Chalk Inks (Colorbox); Adirondak Alcohol Inks - Lettuce, Wild Plum, Eggplant (Ranger)
Paper: Lavender cardstock (unknown); pink cardstock (unknown); green cardstock (Archiver's); DP (Paper Studio - Hobby Lobby)
Embellishments: Circle, Scalloped Circle, Square and Scalloped Square Nestabilities (Spellbinder); border punch (Fiskars); metal word (ColorBok); Floral Fantasy embossing folder (Cuttlebug); daisy punches (Marvy); heart charm (unknown); gems (unknown); ribbon (unknown); Stickles
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished Card Size: 6" square

Nature Does Not Hurry - An ATC

Here's is something a little different from me. Well, actually if you know me and my past work, you would not think this is so different. My style seems to have changed a bit lately, but there was a time when most of my work was distressed, shabby, grungy, collage-y, etc. That was before I discovered mice, hedgehogs and little kids with no faces. :) It was kind of fun to do something like this again.

This is also different for me because it's an ATC. I rarely do ATCs. I don't collect them or trade them really. I do like to do them to try techniques, etc. I also do swaps for them from time to time and sometimes use the ones I get as focal points for cards. This one I made for a bee theme swap that my friend Chris is hosting. The only thing I knew when I signed up for the swap was that I love that bee stamp I used and that I wanted to use it. I had no other ideas at all. I figured the rest of it out today when I saw this week's Simon Says Stamp Challenge.

The challenge this week is "Let's craft with Tim." The objective was to create something using Tim Holtz products or something inspired by his style. Well, I LOVE Tim Holtz so I came up with an idea pretty easily.

The background for the image was created with Adirondak Alcohol Inks on glossy cardstock. I also used two different colors of Distress Ink on the quote. It probably would have been a little more "Tim -like" if I had torn the quote and made it more distressed looking. I thought I was going to do something different and already had the quotes punched out, so I just left it that way. The image is a collage of three different stamps and is kind of "grungy" looking, which is very much inspired by Tim Holtz's style, even though they are not his stamp designs. I stamped the bees and flower first, then masked them before stamping the background. Finally I added the little antique copper photo turn as an embellishment. Since there was so much other stuff going on, I didn't really want to get crazy with the embellishments and I thought that kept with the overall distressed look of the design.

It was really fun doing this style again. As much fun as I'm having with the "cute" things I've been doing lately, I don't think I'll ever stop liking this look either. I guess I'm just "eclectic". :) Now I need to go make five more of these so I can get them in the mail. Be sure to check out the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog to see how others were inspired by Tim.

Supplies
Stamps: Bee (Magenta); Daisy (Club Scrap); Italian Poetry (Hero Arts); quote is computer generated
Ink: Timber Brown (StazOn); Adirondak Alcohol Inks - Butterscotch, Latte, Lettuce, Copper Metalic Mixative (Ranger); Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Antique Linen, Vintage Photo
Paper: green cardstock; white cardstock; white glossy cardstock
Embellishments: antique copper photo turn and brad (unknown)
Techniques: Alcohol Ink background; distressing; masking