Happy Thanksgiviing

I made this background with autumn-themed dsp snippets I cut with a 1" punch. I glued them on a snippet of cardstock, then embossed the whole piece with a Darice autumn leaves ef, sponging with fired brick distress ink. I ran the panel and card base through the Big Shot with a Lil Inker stitched rectangle die. The pumpkins are from MFP, fussy cut and popped up on foam tape, while the tall grasses and green grass panels were cut with SNSS dies. The sentiment was heat-embossed with white powder on black and cut with a SNSS ticket die.

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:

Double D challenge - Harvest Blessings and/or give thanks

The Little Red Wagon Challenge #366 - Happy Fall Y'All

Perfectly Created Chaos PCC #5 - Heat Embossing

Thanks for joining me today for a little visit, and I hope you're having a splendid Autumn day!

Carol

Thank-You

Some of you may think you landed on the wrong blog, because I rarely make clean and simple cards, but SURPRISE! Today I made one!! LOL I used a MFP image that I colored with Copics and dotted the petal centers with a fluorescent yellow Copic marker. I added a stamped sentiment from MFP, a snippet of ribbon, used a Lil Inker stitched rectangle die to add the stitching and called this one done!

I'm sharing this with the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #309 - which is Clean and Simple.

I wish I could make more of these C&S cards, because they do go together quickly, but I have this need to keep adding layers all the time............maybe those extra layers enable me to use more of my stash??? :)

Have a wonderful kick-off to the last official weekend of summer, and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Garden Cards

I recently pulled out an older MFP stamp set called "Planted with Love"  which hasn't seen much love for a while. I stamped, clear-embossed, and colored the 2 seed packets with Copics, then fussy cut them, and tucked them into 2 separate vellum panels. I stamped the 2 different sized crows from the set and hand-drew in a few seeds for them to much on. The card base is a celery green color even though it appears grey on my monitor.

Here's the 2nd card made with the set and includes 2 Cheery Lynn flourishes cut from snippets of green saved from a store-bought card. I pulled all of these pre-cut/pre-punched flowers from my stash, and added them randomly with some gems and brads.

This card was made for a previous challenge, but I didn't finish it before the challenge closed. I started by randomly stamping the sunflower images and then found the center-point of the card and started drawing lines to form a grid of 1-inch squares. I colored in some squares with orange and green markers, and stamped the crows in others. The stamp set includes a tiny stamp of it's name, so I masked off the words "Planted with Love" and stamped that in 4 squares too.

I'm entering these over at the Shopping our Stash #258 challenge which is "How Does your Garden Grow"

Today we're expecting some much-needed rain to help keep those gardens growing! Thanks for the visit and have yourself a great day!

Carol

Summer Flowers

I have a summery card with flowers to share today. The image and sentiment are both from MFP and the flowers were colored with Copics. All of the panels were die-cut with my Big Shot and some Lil Inker stitched rectangles. The finishing touch was to add a little piece of pink satin ribbon.

I'm sharing this over at the Cuttlebug Mania Midsummer challenge - which is to use flowers and/or a wreath. The only requirement is to use a manual die cutting machine.

Summer is now into full swing where I live, so I hope to get outdoors to enjoy some warm sunshine today. Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a wonderful day too!

Carol

Bandana Technique

Today's card is for the MFP Stamps Challenge #11 which includes a tutorial for using the bandana technique. I started off with Peacock Feathers, adding Mermaid Lagoon and finally some Tumbled Glass distress inks, sponging in random fashion. After it dried, I stamped some images from a MFP stamp set called "Take the Time & Father's Day" with Versafine Onyx Black ink, and added some white doodling within and around the images. (click to enlarge for detail) I added a few black and white  negative die cut bits from previous projects to fill in all the open spaces. Father's day will be here before we know it, so I'm getting some cards done early.

Thanks for stopping by and here's wishing you a great day!

Carol

Gatefold Christmas Card

I have a gatefold card to share today, made with snippets of leftover dsp with gumball green & red cardstock. I used a SB lotus die cut with a pair of SB die cut circles to hold the SNSS gold-embossed sentiment. These gatefold cards are fun to make and make great use of those leftover strips of dsp you may have on hand. I found it impossible to photograph the inside because the card wouldn't stay open long enough to take a picture. I put a red candle image inside, but you'll have to take my word for it :)

The challenge at the MFP Stamp Shop challenge #3 is to make a gatefold card, and they have an easy-to-follow tutorial so you can play along.

I'm also sharing this over at the Snippets Playground #212 which is to always use snippets.

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

Carol

Tissue Box Recycle

This is a card I made from a recycled tissue box panel. I liked all the circles and thought it might make a fun card, so I cut the panel using a Top Note die, adding a strip of color coordinating cardstock to the center. The sentiment stamp was borrowed and cut with a SU! die. The red brads were from my stash, and the blue striped background dsp is from recollections. The card base is navy blue.

I'm sharing this over at MFP Speedy Fox & Friends challenge #294 which is to make a "mostly blue" card. In 2016 the challenge will have a new name and schedule. Check here for details.

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day!

Carol

Mostly Red

Here's another card added to my stash this year that makes use of a Memory Box pine needle border die. I embossed the PTI sentiment in white on a red background, die cutting with Lil Inker stitched rectangles. I added some punched ornaments and ribbon, put this on a green card base and called this one done!

I also have a little tag I made from scraps that's mostly red.

I'll enter these into MFP Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge #291 which is "Mostly Red."

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

Carol

I'm No Quitter!

In yesterday's post, I played along with MFP Speedy Fox & Friends challenge #287 which included a tutorial for water coloring with a stencil. My card turned out well enough, but the background strayed from the posted tutorial. I decided to give it another try, so this time I used a different stencil, and it turned out better......in spite of my covering it up with an image and sentiment! lol

I sponged the cardstock with Fired Brick, Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar distress inks, and spritzed water through a mini flames stencil by TCW. The stamped image and sentiment are both by MFP and those mini hexagon accents were negatives from a border die cut. The image was colored with Copics.

This will be heading over to the Speedy Fox & Friends challenge#287 for a 2nd entry. Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Carol

Masculine Card

I made this card for the MFP Speedy Fox & Friends challenge #287. They posted a link to a water-colored stencil tutorial to be used for the challenge. 

I started with some Distress inks - Mermaid Lagoon, Pumice Stone, and Twisted Citron, sponging them randomly on the cardstock. I placed a SU! star stencil on top and misted water through it, and let it dry. What resulted was no stars on the inked background - just big round spots (like the one on blue in the lower right hand corner.) I suppose maybe the stencil openings were just too large for the technique, so I replaced the stencil on top of the dried, sponged panel, and sponged some Brilliance Platinum Planet ink through the stars and now I can see them. I added some MFP stamps, along with some Tim Holtz stamps to make a masculine card for either a birthday or encouragement.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead!

Carol

You're a Hoot!

I made time to play along this week with the MFP Speedy Fox & Friends challenge #283 which is to "have 3 panels." I cut the 3 pattern paper panels from a LilyBeeDesigns Autumn Spice paper pad with a MFT horizontal die, then cut the circle with a MFT stitched circle die. The owl was paper-pieced with the dsp and colored with Copics too. For the final touch, I added 3 mini brads in matching colors. The owl image and sentiment are both from the MFP Owls 2014 stamp set.

I'm also sharing this over at Pixie's Snippets Playground #198 since I used random bits of paper to put this together.

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day!

Carol

Clean and Simple

Here's something you don't often see from me - a CAS card! I used one corner of the card to stamp the MFP owl image with Versafine, then heat-embossed it with clear ep. Next I colored the flower with a red Copic and added a small white mini brad to the center. I used a Cool Caribbean card base, and sponged around the image with matching Cool Caribbean ink. The sentiment is also from MFP and I did some piercing along the stamped corner and added some matching sequins for the final touch.

I'm sharing this over at the Tuesday Throwdown #264 which is "Clean and Simple."

Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you a bright and happy Monday!

Carol

A Pair of Nutcrackers

Today I have a card made for the MFP Speedy Fox & Friends challenge #279 which is to use both silver and gold on your card. I'm using a MFP stamp set called "Nutcracker" that I recently won by playing in a previous SF&F challenge and today is the first time I've had a chance to use it. Aren't these guys cute?!?! I embossed one with gold ep on black, and the other with silver on light grey card stock. I fussy cut each one and placed them on top of a red card base that was embossed with a Tim Holtz ef with assorted old-fashioned Christmas images. The sentiment was embossed with gold (I LOVE those fonts!) and layered on a silver embossed panel, adding 2 black mini brads. For the final touch, I switched the silver and gold "jewels" on their hats just to coordinate one with the other. The ends of the sentiment panel were done with a SU! mosaic punch to add another little "old world" touch.

I'm also sharing this over at Darnell's NBUS challenge #5 which is to use some "never before used schtuff" - the stamp set!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Carol

Sympathy in Vanilla

When I saw this week's MFP Speedy Fox & Friends challenge #277 was to make a sympathy card, I immediately went to work making one. My stash of sympathy cards is just about depleted.

I went for an elegant look with this one, using a HA sentiment embossed in gold and placed on a SB labels 25 die cut, edged with a gold paint pen. The MA ribbon was done up in a big bow with the Bow Easy, and I embossed the background with a TH/Sizzix damask ef. For the final touch, I added some gold mini hearts randomly to break up all the vanilla color.

 We'll be watching the national/international championship game of the Little League World Series finals today, and we're so proud of the RedLand team from PA for winning the national championship game last night! They'll face Japan today after they defeated a wonderful little team from TX yesterday. The coaching, talent and sportsmanship between PA and TX was phenomenal and so much fun to watch! The attendance for yesterday's game was over 46,000 - more than some major league ballparks! Awesome!!

Go RedLand!

Carol

Christmas Candle Two Ways

I stamped this SNSS candle image and colored it with Copics, then added some Glossy Accents for some shine. After matting it with dark green and red, I matted it with a piece of Authentique dsp, and added a KaiserCraft Merry Christmas diecut sentiment done with shimmery gold cardstock. I added 2 gold round brads for a little balance and interest at the top.

I made this one slightly different, adding striped dsp along with some gold ribbon on the sides that perfectly match the gold sentiment. The accents are square gold brads.

I'm entering these over at the MFP Speedy Fox & Friends #276 which is to use a candle, and I'm also entering them into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge which is anything goes.

Merry Christmas everyone :) It'll be here sooner than we think!

Carol

Cowboy Birthday

Today I have a masculine birthday card which I'm dropping into my last OWH box of cards before they close the doors on August 1st.

I used a MFP Southwest Cowboy stamp set for the images and barbed wire, and a SNSS sentiment. The images were stamped with Versafine Onyx black and embossed with clear detail embossing powder. I die cut each panel using a set of Lil Inker stitched rectangles, then sponged the smaller stamped pieces with scarlet, orange and yellow ColorBox pigment inks. I mounted the pieces on a piece of black, and tied some matching twine around the lower edge. The dsp is from K&Co Que Sera Sera, and I stamped 3 rows of the barbed wire with really rust ink.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

MFP Speedy Fox and Friends #264 - follow the sketch

                                               

Words2ScrapBy#18 - it's a man's world

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - make it masculine

Mod Squad Challenge - make a birthday card

Thanks for stopping by and happy trails to you!

Carol

Cocoa Mouse Likes Colors

Today I have a fun card using a SNSS Cocoa Mouse image and sentiment, along with a pre-printed digi remnant of notebook paper I found in my box of assorted doo-dads. I colored the image with Copics, and added a few bright colors of cardstock, along with stars, hexes, hearts and mini brads 

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

MFP Speedy Fox & Friends #263 - card must have 7 layers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - anything goes

Snippets Playground #178 & 179 - must use snippets

I hope you're having a great day and I'll be back again soon :)

Carol

Patchwork Birthday

I've been working on eliminating my stash before buying anything new, and today I'm using lots of snippets of some retired BG Wisteria dsp to make the background for this birthday card. I glued all the 1" squares on a scrap of cardstock, then die cut the whole piece with a Top Note die. After it was cut, I ran it through the Big Shot with a CB decorative tiles ef to give it a quilt look. The final touch was to punch some flowers using SU! punches along with some pale plum, and plum pudding cardstock and attach them all with a purple brad. The sentiment is from SU!

I'm entering this into the MFP Speedy Fox & Friends challenge #262 - make a background with inchies.

I'm also sharing this over at the Snippets Playground #177 - to use snippets.

Thanks for stopping by today and I wish you a happy Sunday!

Carol

Herringbone Background

Today I have a fun card with a cute little Penny Black image that I've had in my stamped images box for ages. I used some strips of Echo Park Country Drive dsp to make the herringbone background, and then embossed the entire thing with a CB decorative tiles ef.

I colored the image with Copics, adding some glossy accents to the pink boot the hedgie is sitting in. I added some Punch-a-Bunch butterflies along with some negative do-dads from a border die cut, and put them up in the sky for that wee hedgie to look at. I die cut the image panel with a Lil Inker stitched rectangles die.

I'm entering this into the Penny Black Saturday challenge for May which is "trees or nature." (tree images in the dsp, plus butterflies and a flower)

I'm also entering this into the MFP Speedy Fox & Friends challenge #261 - to use strips of paper at an angle.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

MFP SF&F #260

Here's a quick card I made for the MFP Speedy Fox & Friends #260 challenge. The challenge this week is to follow the tutorial posted at the link above which shows us how to make ric-rac/chevron panels. I used 3 strips of cardstock and dsp snippets to make my chevrons, and snipped them off on the ends to give a tapered look. The sentiment is from MFP and I layered it on a hand-cut mat, attaching it with some yellow & white twine. The card base is daffodil yellow and the embossing was done with a CB swiss dots ef. The only thing I'd do differently the next time would be to emboss the chevrons after cutting - just to hide all those score marks.

I'm sharing this one over at the Snippets Playground 175 & 176 too.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Carol