Life's a Bowl of Cherries

I'm so sorry for the cliche, but I'm sure you understand why I had to do it. It was the perfect sentiment for this card.

I am submitting this card for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge. This week was a color challenge - Chocolate, Lemon and Pink. I don't think I ever would have made a card wit those colors had I not been challenged to do so, but now that I have them together, I kind of like it.

I also used a sketch that I created for this week's challenge on the Creating Keepstakes PaperCrafts Message Board.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp: Penny Black (from the Micey Day clear set); sentiment is computer generated
Paper: Pink and brown cardstock (Bazzill); DP - Kaleidescope (My Mind's Eye)
Tools and embellishments: Birds and Swirls embossing folder (Cuttlebug); flower punch (EK Success); flower brads (Making Memories); ribbon
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Final card size: A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2")

Happy Little Piggy

Hello all! I created this card for two challenges this week - Penny Black Saturday Challenge and Scrap and Paper Corner's PaperCrafts forum challenge.

The theme for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge is stitching. I remember now why I never do stitching on my cards. UGH! Maybe I'm too much of a perfectionist, but I am not at all happy with that part. Now that being said, I do enjoy embroidery and cross stitch and I think I would enjoy trying hand-stitching on my cards one day. If I had planned ahead, I would have done that. But alas, I never plan ahead (drives my husband crazy :) I also think I might have liked it better if I had used a zig-zag stitch instead of a straight one. But just to show you how sewing machine challenged I am, I could not get my zig to zag. I turned every dial on that machine in every direction and it wouldn't work. :( And of course, I can't seem to find the instruction manual.

Kari/Heppster is hosting this week's challenge on the PaperCrafts forum at Scrap and Paper Corner. Her challenge was to use an image of a barnyard animal, at least one embellishment and a sentiment. For my image I chose Pinky Joy by Penny Black. I adore piggies and this is one of my favorite stamps. For embellishing I used a ribbon and photo corners, which I ran through my big Kick with my D'Vine Swirls embossing folder. One final note - I was able to make this card all from scraps.

Supplies
Stamps: Pinky Joy (Penny Black); sentiment (Hero Arts)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Rouge Chalk Ink (Colorbox)
Paper: light pink cardstock (unknown); dark pink cardstock (Club Scrap); DP - Bohemia (My Mind's Eye) and Blush (Basic Grey) - all scraps from my stash
Tools: 1 1/2" square punch and 1 1/2" circle punch (Creative Memories); classic square and scalloped square Nestabilities (Spellbinders); 1 7/8" scalloped circle punch (Paper Studio); photo corner die (Quikutz); D'Vine Swirls embossing folder (Cuttlebug) sewing machine
Embellishments: ribbon
Techniques: Prismacolor pencil blended with mineral spirits; sewing
Finished card size: A7 (5" x 7")

Bonjour

This is my entry for this week's Stampin' for the Weekend and Penny Black Saturday challenges.

The theme for Stampin' for the Weekend is Days Gone By. I used to do a lot of vintage style cards, but haven't done any for quite awhile, so I enjoyed this challenge. To get the vintage look, I used the faux linen technique on the script background. I stamped the background on glossy cardstock, then sanded in more or less straight lines both horizontally and vertically. To make the scratches pop so that it looks like linen, I used a sponge brayer to apply Antique Linen Distress Ink over the whole thing. I also inked the edges of my image and sentiment with the same Distress Ink. For the flowers, I inked the edges of the cream color flowers. For the center of the large flower, I used a jewelry spacer and pearl. The center of the smaller flower is a "stud" that is supposed to be used to make designs on clothing. There are little prongs on the back to go through the fabric and an indentation on the front for a rhinestone to be placed. I got several packages of these on clearance super cheap and I thought the design was pretty. I just flattened the little prongs and added a pearl on this one. Finally, I completed the vintage look with a sheer ribbon and little hat pin, which I made myself.

In addition to using at least one Penny Black stamp, the requirement for this week's Penny Black Saturday is a color challenge - blue, tan and cream. The Eiffel Tower image and the little flower with the sentiment are from the Penny Black "Thinking of You" clear set. I realized that I must really love the Eiffel Tower because I have four Eiffel Tower stamps. LOL! They are all different sizes and styles so that's okay. I stamped everything in blue pigment ink then embossed with clear EP. I popped the tower image and sentiment with foam squares.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I hope to see you again soon!

Supplies

Stamps: Eiffel Tower, small flower (Penny Black); Bonjour (Stamabilities)

Ink: Blue pigment ink (Colorbox); Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger)

Paper: Cream cardstock, glossy cardstock (unknown); Blue pattern cardstock (Club Scrap)

Tools: Square, scalloped square, oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders); clear embossing powder (Ranger)

Embellishments: flowers (Prima); jewelry spacers, pearls, handmade hat pin, ribbon

Techniques: Heat embossing, distressing, faux linen

Finished Card Size: 5" x 6 1/2"

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

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

Tulip Jungle Two-Fer Challenge

Here's my card for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge. I bought my first Penny black Hedgie stamps a few months ago and just fell in love with them and all the other cute little animals. This is one of my newest purchases - Tulip Jungle. Just love that little kitty peeking out of the tulips. Isn't he the cutest? I'm also submitting it for the Banana Split Sunday challenge on 2RedBananas, which is "Tied up with ribbon". The only requirement was to use ribbon on the card. That's not too hard for me. :)

The Penny Black challenge this week is a sketch, which I have posted below. I rotated it to better fit the image, but otherwise, I followed it pretty closely.

After I got my image all colored, I realized that it was too big for my largest oval Nestie. I really didn't want to cut into the image, so I cut it out and then popped it with foam squares on top of the oval piece. I ran the white oval through my Big Kick with my D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder for a little more interest.

The ribbon for the 2RB challenge comes in with the narrow strip on the sketch. For this piece I used some yellow "lattice" ribbon that I've had for a long, long time. I think it's really pretty, but it just never worked with anything. I think it turned out great with this sketch. I also used a sheer black/white polka dot ribbon down the center.

Supplies

Stamps: Tulip Jungle (Penny Black); sentiment (Hero Arts)

Paper: Yellow and white cardstock (DCWV); DP (Me and My big Ideas)

Embellishments: Classic and scalloped oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders); flowers (Prima and Making Memories); brads (unknown); ribbon (unknown); embossing folder - D'Vine Swirls (Cuttlebug); ribbon slide die (Cuttlebug); corner rounder punch

Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits

Finished card size: 6" x 6" square

Happy 55th Annivesary!

I'm back from vacation and back in my craft room! This card is for my in-laws anniversary, which is today. They've been married 55 years! Pretty good track record I'd say. :) As luck would have it, this card also fits this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Buttons Galore.


I received the cute little hedgie image in a swap. I tried to find the name, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. If you know, please let me know. The hearts on the right side are buttons. I put black floss through the holes. For some reason, it really bugs me to see buttons with nothing in the holes. I used a Mojo Monday sketch from several months ago for the layout. This is one of my favorite sketches and I've used it several times.

Thanks for stopping by. It's good to be back!

Supplies
Stamp: Penny Black (I don't know the name)
Paper: White cardstock (Georgia Pacific); black and red cardstock (scraps); DP (Me and My Big Ideas)
Embellishments: Circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug); flowers (Prima); heart buttons (unknown); heart brad (Making Memories); ribbon (unknown)
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished card size: A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2")

Happy Mother's Day - Spoil Yourself Silly!!

Today is Mother's Day here in the U.S., and I want to wish a happy one to all my blog buddies! I hope everyone has a fabulous day! I'm just enjoying my day by relaxing and doing a little crafting. My DH is making one of my favorites for dinner - BBQ! Yum - can't wait!

I thought this card was an appropriate wish for Mother's Day. I'm also taking care of three of my favorite weekly challenges with this one - Penny Black Saturday Challenge, Sketch Saturday Challenge, and Simon Says Stamp Challenge.

This week's Penny Black challenge was to use black, white and one other color. This is one of my favorite color combinations, and I love it with pink, red, yellow, green and on and on. For this one I chose blue. I thought it was going to be a pretty easy challenge until I tried to figure out what image I wanted to use. It was very difficult to use only shades of black or blue on any of the images I have. For almost all of them, I needed at least one other color besides the three I was supposed to use. I finally got as close as I could with this one by coloring the cat and mouse in shades of gray and using the blue for the tub and bowl. I still had to use a tiny bit of pink for the ears and noses, but not as much as I would have had to use of other colors on the other images I have. I do have some images that I could have left uncolored, but nothing was really coming together for me on those, so this one will have to do.

The image above is this week's Sketch Saturday sketch. I pretty much followed it to the letter this time. For the circular elements, I created flowers using my punches and the different papers from the card.

For the centers of the flowers I used buttons, which leads me to the third of my challenges - Simon Says Stamp. This challenge was a 3-2-1 recipe, which called for 3 buttons, 2 papers and 1 ribbon. I'm never quite sure if the 2 papers is supposed to include the cardstock or it means 2 different patterns of designer paper. I interpreted it as the latter and used the black and white leafy swirl paper and black with white polka dots. I also used white, blue and black cardstock, so if I was only supposed to use two total, I blew it. :) Hopefully they'll still like my card.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope all the moms out there have a wonderful and joy-filled day!!

Supplies

Stamps: Image (It's Your Day) and sentiment (Penny Black)

Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)

Paper: White cardstock (Georgia Pacific); black cardstock (scraps); blue cardstock (DCWV); DP (Me and My Big Ideas)

Embellishments: ribbon (Hobby Lobby); buttons (from my stash); flower punches (EK Success); square and long rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); scallop border punch (Fiskars)

Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits

Finished Card Size: 5 1/2" square

Pinky Joy - Penny Black Saturday Challenge

Here I am with my second card of the day. This one is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. I love Penny Black stamps. Their animal images are really cute, and they have some very pretty elegant style stamps as well. For this one I chose my new Pinky Joy stamp. This is the first piggy stamp I have ever purchased. That's actually unusual because I used to collect pig theme stuff. I still have my collection, but haven't added to it for quite awhile.

The theme for this week's challenge is shapes, and we were to use three different shapes on our cards, not including the card itself or shapes within the image. I actually have four shapes - rectangles, circles, flowers and hearts. The hearts are a little hard to see. They are the centers of the flower embellishments that I put together. I am really enjoying putting my own little flower embellishments together. These are made from a small flower punch, 1/4" heart punch and a tiny pink gem in the center.

If the layout of this card looks familiar, I used a Mojo Monday sketch from several weeks ago. I love Mojo Monday sketches. When I'm stuck for a layout idea, they always help me out.

Thanks for looking. I think I'm done making cards today. It's back to work tomorrow - I'm so excited - NOT! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Supplies
Stamp: Pinky Joy (Penny Black)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine); White Souffle pen (dots) (Sakura)
Paper: Light pink (Bazzill); brown (Hobby Lobby); dark pink (DCWV); DP - Garden Party (DCWV)
Embellishments: Circle and scallop circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); flower punch (EK Success); heart punch (Fiskars); scallop border punch (Fiskars); gems (Hobby Lobby); ribbon (Hobby Lobby)
Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits
Finished Card Size: A7 (5" x 7")

Penny Black Saturday Challenge 44 - 3x3 Notecard Box

The Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week is to create a gift - a box, bag, tin, candle, etc. I had pretty much decided not to do the challenge this week because I'm totally stuck when it comes to ideas for these things - and I didn't really have anyone in mind to make a gift for. But I was perusing the tutorials on Splitcoaststampers earlier today and came across one for a cute little box to hold 3x3 notecards. It looked easy enough so I decided to give it a shot. I think I will make some cards for a variety of occasions and give it to my mom for Mother's Day. She can use them to put in gifts that she gives or just to give someone for a pick-me-up.

The first photo shows the box with the lid slightly ajar - so you can see it really is a box. :) This box was really very easy to make. The tutorial I used can be found here. It's made from just a few pieces of cardstock and designer paper, then embellished. If you try the tutorial, pay close attention to the pictures because there were a couple of places in the text directions that didn't really make sense. If you go by the pictures though, you'll be fine.

The photo below is another view of the top of the box. I chose to use the Country Lady Hedgehog image to decorate the box. I thought she was appropriate since she has the little letter in her hand (paw?).

The final photo shows the side of the box so you can see how I trimmed it. I didn't like the DP by itself. It just didn't look finished. I added the daisy trim around it which helped finish it off a little better. I have had that trim for just about ever. It's one of those things I keep pulling out, then decide it doesn't look right so I put it back. Finally it looked right. :) My mom will love this too because she loves daisies. The tutorial instructs you to use a corner rounder punch to create the scallped border on the bottom of the box. I think surely this tutorial was written before all the great border punches came out. I can't imagine trying to create a scalloped edge with a corner rounder. I used by scalloped border punch and it was super easy.

I'm not sure I'm totally thrilled with how my little box turned out, but it's the first time I have made one. I always find one or two things the first time I try something that I will do different next time. It would be very easy to adjust the size of the box for different projects, and of course you don't have to use this one for the 3x3 cards. It can be used for candy or other gifts, as well. At least I did try something a little different and I'm happy I did.

Supplies

Stamp: Country Lady (Penny Black)

Paper: All cardstock and paper - Die Cuts with a View

Embellishments: Classic and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities; pink and white organza ribbon; daisy trim (Making Memories); flower (Prima); scalloped border punch (Fiskars)

Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with turpenoid

Cute Card Thursday, Penny Black and Sketch Saturday Challenges

My card fits all three of these challenges today. I tried for four, but the fourth was a color challenge, and the colors weren't coming together with what I wanted to do.

The theme for Cute Card Thursday this week is Family Affair, and the object was to make any card for any family member. I made this card for my aunt. She is going through a very hard time right now and needs to know that there a lot of people who care. We have always been very close - sometimes more like sisters than aunt and niece. She loves my cards, so I think this will help lift her spirits.

The theme for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge is Spring. I thought this cute little Hedgie with the flower and bees was a perfect spring image. I carried the flower theme through with the DP and the flowers along the bottom. I made those with a scalloped circle, plain circle and flower punch and then put a brad in the center. I'm really needing some spring today. We are having a "winter" storm. We have had sleet and ice all day and now it's snowing. Yuck!

Below is the Sketch Saturday Challenge sketch for this week. I love all the circles and it worked really well for the card themes and the image I was working on. I also tried another different color combination that what I usually use. I think I have made maybe a couple of cards with yellow and orange. I really like this paper and am very happy with how it turned out. I also used some white so the colors weren't too overwhelming.

If you visit my blog on a regular basis you might notice that I photographed my card this time. I still don't have my light box made yet, but decided to go ahead and photograph it anyway just to see how it turned out. I think better lighting will help, but it's not bad. I do like that the colors look more true and things don't look all out of whack from being squished by the scanner.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Come back and visit again soon!

Supplies

Stamps: Buzz in the Air! (Penny Black); sentiment (Hero Arts)

Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); orange and yellow Souffle Pens (Sakura)

Paper: white cardstock (Bazzill); orange cardstock (Club Scrap); yellow cardstock (scraps); DP - Nana's Kitchen (DCWV)

Embellishments: classic circle and scallop circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); circle punches (Creative Memories); scallop circle punches (Paper Studio); flower punch (EK Success); scallop border punch (Fiskars); lace scallop border punch (Martha Stewart); ribbon; brads

Technique: Prismacolor Pencils blended with turpenoid

Penny Black and Colour Create Challenges

Here is this week's card for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge using the colors from the current Colour Create Challenge. You may also recognize the layout. I used the Mojo Monday sketch from two weeks ago for that.

The Penny Black challenge this week was to use doodling on your card. It seems like there have been several doodling challenges recently, and I have been avoiding them like the plague. I finally decided it was time to get over my fear of doodling and give it a shot. I also wanted to use my new Sakura Souffle pens, and thought doodling was as good a reason as any. I know now why I don't doodle. :) I made parts of this card three times. I guess I tried to get too fancy with it and it wasn't working so I just settled for some dots and a few lines around the image. I just can't seem to do the fancy swirls and all that. I think it's safe to say that I probably will not be doing anymore doodling on my cards.

This week's Colour Create challenge was to use turquoise, navy and lime green. I used the turquoise and lime green on my House Mouse Challenge card earlier this week, so it was just sitting right there in my scrap basket. I just had to add the navy to it. I'm really liking this combo too. Colour Create always has an "optional" piece to their challenges in addtion to using the colors. This week it was to not use any pre-printed background paper, but to make your own. After the doodling, I just didn't really feel like doing that too. Since that's always optional, I just went with my MME papers that I love so much.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my card!

Supplies
Stamp: Spring Air (Penny Black)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Paper: green, turquoise, navy cardstock (Hobby Lobby and Archivers); DP (My Mind's Eye)
Embellishments: ribbon, buttons, twine, classic circle and scalloped circle Nestabilities, Souffle pens (Sakura)
Techniques: Prismacolor pencils blended with turpenoid; doodling

Penny Black and Colour Create Two-Fer

I enjoyed the Penny Black Saturday Challenge so much last week, I decided to do it again. This time, I combined with today's Colour Create challenge. The Penny Black challenge this week is a sketch. The Colour Create Challenge is to use red and green. I really need to get out of my comfort zone on color combinations so I hope some of the color challenges will help me do that. Red and green is even a bit more of a challenge for me because I have trouble seeing it for anything other than Christmas cards.

I will confess that I only own two Penny Black stamps and this is not one of them. I received this image in a swap. It's probably obvious that I haven't colored a lot of these little hedgies. I saw after I colored him that his tummy was supposed to be white. Oops. (blush) Even though my two stamps are hedgies, their tummies don't show so I hadn't colored them yet. Oh well - I still think he's cute and next time I will know. I hope the hedgie lovers will forgive my faux pas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies

Stamps: Garden Gossip (Penny Black); sentiment (Hero Arts)

Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)

Paper: Cardstock (Bazzill); DP - Wild Asparagus (My Mind's Eye)

Embellishments: Nestabilities; ribbon (unknown); silk daisies (unknown); brads (Making Memories)

Technique - Prismacolor pencils blended with turpenoid

Two Saturday Challenges - Penny Black and Sketch Saturday

There are certain challenges that I try to do every week - House Mouse, Mojo Monday, Cute Card Thursday. This week, I got all my regular challenges done a little earlier than usual and found myself with no cards to make. I'm one of those people that needs a reason to make a card - an occasion, a swap, a challenge - something. I can't seem to just sit down and make a card for the heck of it. So I decided to try the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, using this week's Sketch Saturday sketch to create my card. This is my first time to do these two challenges.

The challenge for Penny Black is called "3, 2, 1". These challenges require you to use three of one item, two of another, and one of a third on your card. In this case, it was three brads, two ribbons and one flower. One of the ribbons is tied around the rectangular piece on the left side of the card. The second one is tied through the button in the center of the flower. The three brads are pretty obvious. :)

The sketch challenge has the sentiment on the lower right side of the card, but I decided to place my flower there instead and stamped the sentiment on the image.

This card started out as yellow and green, but I wasn't feelin' it. I switched it to red and yellow - one of my favorites, which you can probably tell from some of my other cards. I did keep some green accents in there to pick up the green in the paper. The DP I used is from one of my very old DCWV paper stacks. I have so much paper! I'm trying to find uses for some of my older paper. Hopefully, my cards won't start looking "dated."

I enjoyed making this card. It's cute and spring-y. Thanks for stopping by to take a look at it.

Supplies

Stamps: Peek-a-Boo Hedgehogs (Penny Black); Friends (Studio G)

Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)

Paper: All cardstock and DP (DCWV)

Embellishments: Ribbon (scraps); brads (Making Memories); flower (Making Memories); button

Technique: Prismacolor pencils blended with turpenoid