Two Challenges in One Card!

This card was made for two challenges. The Speedy the Cat's Friend's Challenge #27 is to create a holiday card, and this is also for the QFTD33 challenge over on SCS which honors Hilda/aka Broom. I chose this card from Hilda's gallery to case. I don't have that beautiful ornament punch, so I used a stamp from Michael's dollar bin and embossed it with purple ep and cut it out. I added some dazzling diamonds glitter on the white spots of the ornament, but the camera didn't pick up the shimmer. IRL it looks a lot better than the photo shows. I used 2 different cuttlebug ef's and prisma papers in Majestic purple dk & lt colors. I used Geo Sparklers for the ornament hanger, adding some punched ferns (MS) and a little bow made from SU! elegant eggplant grosgrain ribbon. Quick, easy, and another card added to my stash! I love that:)
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a fun trick-or-treating weekend!!

Carol

Halloween Coffin Treat Holder

I've been seeing these cute coffin boxes lately and decided to try and make one of my own. I found the template on marthastewart.com. I used some Halloween dp that was gifted to me by my friend Heidi, and added a panel to the top that matches the inside lining. I used the MS goo punch to add a border around the lid, and then covered it with glossy accents. I used some awesome Halloween spider web ribbon (also a gift from Heidi) and wrapped that around the box bottom using Scor-tape.
For the top I embossed the SU! raven image with black ep, and then sponged yellow, green and purple inks around a punched circle, then cut and distressed it to fit. For the final touch I added some spiders, punched with a MS punch and dotted the eyes with a Sharpie white marker. I have no idea what I'll do with this Halloween coffin, but I just wanted to make one, and now I've accomplished what I set out to do! I think it's cute in a spooky kind of way, and I thought the dp with skeletons was perfect for this project!
Have a great Friday everyone and Happy Halloween a little early!

Carol

C&S Christmas Card

I found a beautiful C&S Christmas card that Laurie made here and just had to CASE it. I changed the color to Navy and made a few 0ther changes, but it's basically the same kind of card. I used the Nestabilities smallest square scallop for the white squares, and added some tiny snowflake punches made of Navy. The larger snowflake was done with a MS punch, and I embossed some cardstock with silver ep and punched circles for the smaller snowflakes, and a small snowflake punch for the larger snowflake. (You might be able to see the silver if you click the picture to enlarge). The sentiment is from the SU! Sincere Salutations set, and was embossed with white ep. I will definitely be making more of these for Christmas, so thanks for the great inspiration Laurie!
Have a wonderful Wednesday and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Faux Postage for Christmas

It's cloudy in PA this morning, so I wasn't able to get a true-color photo of this card, but this was the best I could come up with. I used the faux postage technique and a very old retired SU! ornament image for this one. The DP is Jovial by Basic Grey, and can you imagine I bought this paper pack at the Valley Forge convention back in July and just opened it a week ago!! What was I thinking??
Anyhoo.......I colored the ornaments with gold & silver deco pens and some Tombows and embossed the Snow Swirled sentiment with gold ep. I added some gold ribbon and a tiny bow and I have one more Christmas card to add to my collection.
Thanks for stopping by today and make it a great Tuesday!

Carol

MFP Speedy the Cat's Friends #26

The challenge over at Speedy the Cat's Friends #26 this week is to use a die cut or a punch. I used both on this card. I stamped the owl from the MFP "Owl Be Here" set with Versamark and embossed it with brown ep, then colored it with Tombows, cut it out and popped it up with dimensionals. I used Nestabilities petite oval and scallop dies, SU!'s scalloped border and bird punch (for the branch), and a Marvy ticket punch for the sentiment. I also punched small holes in the scalloped border with a 1/16" hole punch. Ribbon is by Offray.
Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're having a great Sunday!

Carol

QFTD32 Hello MorningSun47

This week's QFTD32 over on SCS is Linda/aka morningsun47. She has a great gallery that was fun to browse, but once I found this card, I knew I had to make my own version. I changed the layout a little bit, as well as the sentiment. I used the SU! owl punch along with a Tim Holtz texture fades ef. The corners were done with a Quikutz die and the sentiment was done with a SU fancy labels punch. Cardstocks are tangerine tango, prisma birchtone dark and light, and scraps of yellow and black for the eyes. The wings were made with a scalloped oval punch and I used the SU! square lattice ef for the owl's vest and the corners. The ribbon is attached with a large fancy brad I've had forever.
Benzi (Brenda) of Benzi Stampz was kind enough to share this beautiful blogger award with me recently! Thanks {{Benzi}}! In receiving this award, you're to list 7 facts about yourself and then pass the award on to 7 more bloggers. Here are 7 useless facts about me for your amusement :)

1. I'll be celebrating my 42nd wedding anniversary in December.
2. I always wanted to be a proof reader.
3. I've had dreams that played out later IRL, exactly as I dreamed them.
4. I was born on the same day as Michael Douglas.
5. I love to bake cheesecakes.
6. I'm a die-hard NASCAR fan who loves Tony Stewart.
7. I love the color purple.

And now I'd like to share this award with 7 more great bloggers!

Heidi - Whirlygigs
Jill - Ribbon Challenged
Wendy - WeeBeeStampin4Fun
Mary Anne - Lakeside Stamping
Pat - the Rubber Maid
Sue - Sue's Stamping Stuff
Louise - Trinity Paper Arts

Thanks for stopping by today and make it a great weekend!!!

Carol

Snow Swirled Christmas Card

I thought I'd give a new challenge a try this week, so this card is for Joans Gardens weekly challenge #20. The challenge has four parts to the recipe:

1. A tree (any kind)
2. An embossed object (not a background)
3. Something cut out with a die
4. Brads

The tree I used came from the SU Snow Swirled set, and it was embossed with winter wonderland ep on real red card stock. The sentiment panel was stamped and embossed and cut and layered with a Nestability tag die. I layered some black ribbon on top of red grosgrain ribbon and wove it through the sentiment tag. The DP is Jovial by Basic Grey, and the mini brads came from Michaels. I added a small bow to the top of the tree for balance.
Finally, I'm in Christmas mode, and that's a good thing because I've barely begun to make my cards this year!
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Carol

A Realtor's Birthday Card

I know this card looks very similar to the previous post, and that's probably because I love using the combo of the Labels Four and Top Note die cuts together. It might also be because I had a big piece of that pretty turquoise card stock left over that was staring me in the face too! My friend asked me to make a 60th birthday card for her boss (who is a realtor) so what could be more appropriate than a house? This house was a free digi I d/l here. I colored it with Copics and added a little sign for the sentiment, much like a sign you'd see on a property that's for sale. I embossed it with a Tim Holtz Texture Fades ef and swiped the embossed parts with sandy beige ink. I used stickers for the tiny sign at the top showing his age. The card base is Blush Blossom, and it was stamped first with Blush Blossom ink using the weathered backgrounder.
Thanks for stopping by again, and I wish you all a great evening!

Carol

MFP Speedy the Cat's Friends #25

The challenge this week over at Speedy the Cat's Friends #25 is to add stitching or faux stitching to your card. I added a few whip stitches to two corners of this card, but there is also some saddle stitching on the ribbon, so I think I've got it covered :)
I used Blushing Bride CS and DP for this, along with a piece of turquoise CS. I used the labels four Nestabilities along with the Sizzix top note to die cut the panels. The card base was stamped with the weathered backgrounder using Blushing Bride ink. The image is a free digi I d/l from RustyPickleDigis and colored with copics. The ribbon is Berry Sorbet and the bow was done with the Bow-Easy. The sentiment is by MFP, done in Versafine Onyx Black ink. This one is going into my next OWH box of cards. I'm sure there are lots of dads serving overseas that used to take their daughters fishing and this would be a great way to let them know that they're thinking of them.
Enjoy what's left of this great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

QFTD31 My Favorite Music

This week's QFTD31 over on SCS is crystalkbk. She has a wonderful gallery full of whimsical and fun cards, but when I stumbled upon the card she made of Chris Daughtry, I knew I had to case it!! I like Daughtry a lot, but I chose to go with Rob Thomas and his song "Someday" since it's a big favorite of mine.
I used some Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby dp for the background, and some Rusty Pickle striped dp for the bottom panel. The lyrics were computer generated and the panel was sponged with Ranger Pumice Stone ink. The star image by SU was stamped with Ranger Fired Brick ink, and clear embossed, then popped up on dimensionals. I added a piece of gray twill and a scrap of gray to mat the photo.
Velta, if you're tuned in, I know you're enjoying this one too *wink*
Thanks for spending a little of your day in my world, and I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

ETA: Sue suggested I should leave a link to this song, so here it is :)

Carol

Indian Summer Autumn

Sorry I've been missing for so long! I didn't have internet or phone services for a couple days thanks to some wicked lightning early Tuesday morning. The lightning literally blew a clock off the wall and forced the plug to my microwave halfway out of the outlet!!! In the process it fried 2 tv sets and my cd player, but all in all, I'd say we're pretty lucky! When it hit, the unbelievable cracking sound jolted me about a foot off my bed!!!! Adding to all that, I've been fighting off a major cold all week, so I haven't felt like doing much of anything for a few days. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things soon enough, and if I haven't been around to comment, I will catch up, promise!!
I made this card recently but never got around to posting it. I used BG Indian Summer papers and a retired SU hostess stamp set for this one. The images were stamped with Versamark and embossed with gold ep. I sponged them with various autumn colors, punched them, and matted them with chocolate chip card stock. The sentiment is from an autumn stamp set that came from JoAnns and was also embossed with gold. The ferns behind the sentiment were also embossed with gold before punching. I'm entering this card into the StampinBee's challenge #80 to use fall colors.
Have yourself a grand old Friday and thanks for stopping by!

Katy's Surprise

Some of you might recall back in August when I posted this mini scrapbook I made for Katy. Katy had a phenomenal four-year career playing lacrosse with WCU and I wanted to make something special for her to commemorate those years and memories in her young life. Katy was the sweetest little girl and now she's grown into a very kind, thoughtful and beautiful young lady. Since graduating from WCU, she's furthering her studies in law! Go Katy!
Katy and her mom Debbie (my neighbor and sweet friend) stopped by today and I finally got to surprise her with this book since she'll be celebrating her birthday on Thursday! She wasn't expecting anything like this, so the look of joy on her face as she unwrapped it was one of the biggest rewards I could have asked for! I had to have a picture of her with this book and got one shot at it, as my camera batteries died after one picture! I gave her mom a boxed set of cards that I didn't get to photograph unfortunately, but she loved them as much as Katy liked her book. Debbie celebrates her birthday on Tuesday just 2 days before Katy, so happy birthday ladies! You're some of the best neighbors and friends a person could ever wish for!
Thanks for stopping by and spending part of your Sunday with me today. I wish you all a wonderful day!

Carol

MFP Speedy the Cat's Friends #24

The challenge over at MFP Speedy the Cat's Friend's challenge #24 this week is to use stripes on your card. This beautiful striped paper is from a paper stack I received as a gift several years ago from a store that's now out of business. I've hoarded it all this time because it's my favorite color, but it seemed like the perfect choice to go with this cute grape image from KSS! I made the tag with an old Coluzzle and used Memento Grape Jelly and Cottage Ivy inks. The button is from PTI's New Leaf collection and I tied some purple hemp into a little bow. The ribbon came from my stash....a 10-cents-a-yard bargain I found at the Flower & Craft warehouse over a year ago. I liked this image so much I stamped it on the envelope flap too just for interest.
I hope you're all having a great kick-off to the weekend, and for those fellow Pennsylvanians.........how 'bout those Phillies!!! Woot!!

Carol

An October Birthday

I made this card for a friend who is celebrating her birthday this weekend. I used the October flower image from Flourishes year of flowers. First I stamped the background with Flourishes basketweave in dandelion yellow Memento ink. Next I stamped the image with versafine onyx black ink, then embossed it with clear detail ep, colored it with Tombows, and finally covered the panel with versamark ink and clear embossed the entire piece. The sentiment is by Imaginisce, done with the fancy labels punch on top of a Nestability die cut. The dp is by PTI.
Have yourself a wonderful Friday and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

SC301 Cowboy Birthday

I made a card for the SCS301 sketch challenge and this is the result. I love this MFP Southwest Cowboy stamp set, and I added the KSS horseshoe stamp since they seem to work perfectly together. I started with a base of Soft Stone by PTI, and added black and SU! Ballet Blue. I embossed a piece of Soft Stone with the square lattice ef and then smeared some Adirondak Mushroom ink all over it for a rustic look. The image of the cowboy was stamped with Versafine onyx black ink, embossed with clear detail ep and colored with Copics. The horseshoe was stamped with Mushroom, Pumice Stone, and desert sand inks. I added some pewter brads for the final touch.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're all having a happy hump day!

Carol

Stars & Stamps Sketch Challenge #37

I made a couple cards today using the sketch found at S&S#37. I've had these free digi images colored for a while now, and this sketch seemed like the perfect one to finally put these images to use. You too can d/l these images if you click the link above and search "freebies." For this one I used scraps of red, royal blue and yellow, adding some punched starbursts on the side. For the tiny red centers, I used the SU! owl punch - the tiny punches are perfect for these tiny flowers! The sentiment was computer generated and the image was colored with Copics. And I almost forgot - there's that SU! square lattice embossing folder making an appearance again! *wink*
For this one I used scraps of dp I've had for ages and added some geo sparklers stars for accents. This was also colored with Copics and the sentiment was computer generated.
Now I have 2 more cards for my next OWH box! I hope you'll consider sending in some of your cards for this great organization too!
Have a wonderful evening and don't be a stranger!

Carol

Fright Night's Coming!

I was playing around with some new Halloween goodies and created this card. The spider's web was done with a SU! embossing folder and dabbed with white ink and black stickles. The image is by SU!, stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and embossed with clear ep, then sponged with elegant eggplant and Memento Dandelion inks and finally matted with some orange card stock. Those cool ribbons were RAKS from Heidi {{thanks again}} and the spider was created with a MS punch, colored with a white sharpie pen, and loaded with some green glitter to make it show up against the black background. The card base is green galore.
Is it just me, or has this year flown by? I can barely remember September and here we are just about to have some Halloween fun soon! Whew! I wish I could slow things down a little!
Enjoy your Tuesday and thanks so much for stopping by to visit :)

Carol

Happy Birthday Cowbow!

I made this card in honor of the QFTD29 who happens to be KopyKat/aka Holly. She CASED her hilarious Owl'Righty then card from this original card, so I CASED it too. I guess that makes me a double CopyCat too! LOL
Anyhoo.......her card and the original card were just too cute and I had to create my own version. I just love all the fun characters you can make with this SU! 2 step owl punch!
I used a lot of scraps to put this one together, so I won't list all the deets, but basically I used the SU owl and bird punches for the owl, and a Tim Holtz texture fades ef and top note die cut for the saloon doors. The woodgrain DP is from DCWV and the sentiments are from MFP's southwest cowboy stamp set. If you click on the original card link, you'll see how she created the hat.
I hope you're having a fabulous Monday! Thanks for dropping in. Y'all come back now, hea?

Carol

Two Challenges Finished

I couldn't sit and not create cards for World Card Making Day now could I? First up is a card I made for MFP Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #23, which is to use buttons and bows. Marks Finest Papers is celebrating their first anniversary and Faith has improved your chances of winning if you play along with them this week, so get your buttons and bows and play along!
I figured I'd get ahead of the game with my DGD's birthday card, so now I can stash this one away until she turns a year old in a few more months. It's done in SU!'s new IN color Blushing Bride. I created the envie and insert with an old Coluzzle template. Simple and easy, but I think it's perfect for a little girl celebrating her birthday.
Next up is Crazy4Challenges#57 and Silke challenges us this week to the above color combo.

I decided to use leaves in autumn colors for my card, so I punched them with a MS punch and drew veins with a stencil tool. The b/g DP is from a gorgeous paper pack by K&CO that Heidi sent me recently {{hugs my dear friend}} and it perfectly matches the kraft squares. Sentiment is by Marks Finest Papers.
That's probably it for me today, but I hope you're all having fun creating cards for WCD and stamping your hearts out! Have a fabulous weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Ghostly Greetings and Happy WCD!

Happy World Card Making Day everyone! There are lots of challenges and blog hops going on today in celebration of this great hobby of ours!
I made this for my granddaughter for Halloween. She's quite young, and I thought this was cute enough for her to enjoy. I used a SU! Halloween set for this, along with some green galore and pink card stock. The DP and ribbon were gifts from Heidi (thanks my sweet friend). The main image is on a labels 4 Nestability diecut and the sentiment was done with the word window and fancy label punch.
I hope to do a couple challenges later on today, so stay tuned:) Enjoy the weekend!

Carol

Cocoa Wishes

Splitcoast Stampers is celebrating their 300th sketch challenge this week with a big celebration and some fantastic prizes that will be randomly given away! Check here for the details and sketch so you can play along too!
I used this adorable Sweet n Sassy stamp set called Cup of Cocoa that I found at L&L Rubber Stamps (a local craft store in Ephrata, PA). I stamped it with versafine onyx black ink, then embossed it with clear detail EP, and colored it with Tombows. I used a Deco Art Glistening Snow writer to accent the snowflakes on the cup and marshmallows in the cup. I embossed the Cool Caribbean mat with the CB snowflakes ef, and layered the main image with CC and chocolate chip. The dp panels are retired SU holiday papers and they're layered with real red and chocolate chip. The little clip was from my stash and I tied a little piece of brown hemp around it for interest. The sentiment was stamped with chocolate chip ink.
It's really soaked here in PA with the monsoon we've had over the past 2 days, but we really needed the rain. Unfortunately, the suburbs are suffering with major flooding today, but thankfully we're ok here. Enjoy your Friday and make it a great day while you're at it! Thanks for stopping by.

Carol