Making a Fun Background

Hello everyone! I found this adorable free Valentine Mouse image from Spyder's Corner and had to make a Valentine's day card with it. I used a technique called the "herringbone" for my background, and the tutorial is right here. The challenge over on the Stars & Stamps blog today is to create your own background, so I'm entering my card in that challenge. I used all papers from the BoBunny Crush paper pad and I have to say making this background was very relaxing for me. It's time consuming, but I love the results. I colored the image with Copics, sponged with antique linen ink, and layered on Spellbinders labels 10 dies. The sentiment is by SU and was done using the word window and fancy label punches.

It's a rainy day here in PA so I hope to get a little more stamping time in today. I've been making cards but I'm waiting for a sunny day to photograph them all! Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a fabulous middle of the week!

Carol

Sketch Challenges

Here's my card for the Stars & Stamps #93 sketch challenge found here. I'm in Valentine mode now since I've sent all my Christmas cards to OWH already. For this one, I used all BoBunny dp, adding a punched heart for interest and a tiny pink heart brad on the sentiment panel. The pink panel was embossed with little hearts, and the sentiment is from the SNSS Christmas tag clear stamp set. For this one, I let the DP have the whole show!
This is last week's sketch #92 that I never got around to finishing. The dp is also by BoBunny, and for this one I embossed the heart with a square lattice ef, and then added a tiny punched heart & key, done with a MS punch. I used a stamp-a-ma-jig for the sentiment and STILL got it crooked. DUH! Maybe the recipient won't even notice that after there are some lovey dovey words written inside :)

That's it for me today - take good care and have a great weekend! My DH is outside clearing/shoveling the snow we got yesterday. I can't wait to see what old man winter brings us next!!

Edit - the embossing folder I used on the first card is from a Sizzix Textured impressions set called the curlique and hearts set. here is what it looks like.

Carol

Saying Thank You!

The mid-week throwdown over at the S&S blog is to create a thank-you card. I pulled out a pack of retired Parisian Breeze paper and made 3 cards for the challenge. They're simple to make, go together quickly, and I think they look pretty nice. These were already sent in my last box of OWH cards, along with the Christmas cards - since the deadline for the shippers to receive them is October 31st.
This card was made with another adorable K'nK designs digi image I received recently, so I made a card for my next OWH box. For this one I used a circle punched with a Fiskars punch, along with the SU! tag punches. The sentiment is by K'nK. The OWH benefit fundraiser being sponsored by K'nK designs continues through the weekend with a lot of cute digi images being offered as a bundle, or separately. The money that you spend for these digis is going to be donated to OWH to help cover the cost of shipping Christmas cards to our troops serving overseas. The estimated cost will be $13,000, so every little bit helps. If you aren't a card maker and want to donate to help this great organization, you can donate through PayPal right here at the OWH website.

That's it for me today, so thanks for stopping by and have a great Wednesday!

Carol

More!

I found a little time to work on cards today, so I finished the Stars & Stamps sketch challenge #91 found here. I decided to let go of some of my all-time favorite dp, and this is Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding. I just looooove these little tree images! I had one 6x6 piece left, so now that I've cut into it, Figgy will soon be a thing of the past........sigh :) I tweaked the sentiment a wee bit from the original sketch, but this looks a bit more balanced. The sentiment panel was done with 2 punches from an EK punch. I punched a SU! large oval out of the center on the top piece, and adhered it with pop dots after stamping the sentiment on the bottom portion. The sentiment is by SNSS and was done in Ranger peeled paint ink.
Here's a close up so you can see how it was done. I added a couple punched ferns done with a MS punch, and then dotted here and there with liquid pearls. This is another design I'm going to use again, because it's flat enough to mail using just one stamp!

That's going to do it for me today. I've got to get some treat containers packed up and ready to mail off to the grands in IN for Halloween, so thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Carol

Sketch Challenge #90

Here's my card for the sketch#90 challenge found here at the Stars and Stamps blog. It's a very simple sketch, but as usual, I added layers instead of making a simple card. I guess I just can't help myself :)

I used some Soft Sky dp along with some Jingle dp from LilyBee, and used a little cherry cobbler card stock too. The embossed panel was done with a sizzix snow cap ef, and the stamps are from SNSS Christmas tags, done in cherry cobbler ink. I used a long-hoarded precious piece of soft sky ribbon with the Spellbinders fancy label die cut and that was really hard for me to use! LOL I LOVE soft sky, and have trouble letting go of all the soft sky product I have left since it was retired. What can I say - I get so attached to my favorite things :)

I hope this can be used by our military with the sentiment I added to the bottom. Some companies may want to send a group card here and there, so I thought I'd try one or two and see if there's a need for them.

It's gorgeous here in PA today with some unseasonable mild temps and I love it! The windows are open and there's a fresh breeze blowing that just makes me feel good! Here's wishing all of you a great Sunday as well!

Carol

2 Challenge Cards

I've completed a couple more challenge cards I wanted to share with you today. First up is this origami folded Christmas tree card I made for the Stars & Stamps mid-week throwdown found here. The challenge is to create a Christmas card and mail it to OWH before the deadline of Oct. 31st. I followed Jan's great tutorial for making this tree, and went a little crazy with a gold paint pen! I find that tracing around the inside edges of a die cut (with the image inside) using a marker of some sort not only defines the image, but at the same time it eliminates the need for a mat which means lower mailing costs. I used a labels eighteen for the tree background, and used some BoBunny scraps of paper to create the tree. I doodled just about everything with the gold paint pen, but I was happy with the way it turned out.
I made this card for the WT343 challenge to use some sort of a hot beverage or container for a hot beverage on our cards. For the background, I used random strips of retired SU! dp, adhered them to a scrap of card stock, and cut it using the top note die. After cutting, I embossed the image with a SU! square lattice ef. The image was cut with a labels eighteen die, and I drew around the edges with a black marker to define it, because adding a larger mat would have covered up most of the background. The image is SNSS Rhubarb's cuppa joe, and the sentiment is from Cup of Cocoa. The rest is pretty much blah blah, so if you need any details, shoot me an email and I'll fill you in!

Have a fantastic Thursday and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Christmas is in the Air

EEEK! The sun is shining here in PA, but don't say it too loud or it will disappear again I'm sure! LOL We've had practically a solid month of rain!

This card is for the Stars & Stamps sketch challenge #89 found here. I embossed the deer image with gold on a piece of BoBunny dp and added some pearl pen accents to the antlers. With the photo, I either got a clear embossed image without the pearls showing, or I got the pearls showing and the embossed image nearly invisible! Ah well, I decided this would be the photo I'd use. You'll have to take my word for it that it looks better IRL. I used an embossing folder I won from Circle B Enterprises by playing along with one of the S&S challenges recently. (thanks Veronica) The pearl pen accents also came from a prize package I won from Julie by playing another S&S challenge during the birthday bash. {thanks Julie} If you've never tried a pearl pen, you don't know what you're missing! This thing works so well and really dresses up your cards!

All the dp is by BoBunny and the sentiment was done with cherry cobbler and my Quickutz.

I'm entering this card into Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge #85 to use polka dots. I used some dp from the Jingle pad by Lily Bee and paired it with some Baja Breeze card stock. I embossed the polka dot panel with a CB snowflakes ef. The image & sentiment are by SNSS and were done on a labels 18 die. While it was still in the die, I went around the edge with a silver glitter pen. I lightly colored the image with pastel colors, and then popped up the darker colored inchie for interest. I added a piece of polka dot ribbon from my stash and this was done. I thought this was the perfect image to send to OWH, so that's where this card is going.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're enjoying your week so far.

Carol

Autumn Love

There's a great challenge going on over at Tonic in support of OWH's birthday bash celebration, so I wanted to join in for this one. The challenge is to use your favorite Tonic punch and create an autumn-themed card. I really had to put my brain into overdrive to come up with this card, because the only Tonic punch I have is the double hearts you see on this card! Hearts and autumn...........hmmmm...........it took me a while to come up with an idea for a card. I used 2 stamp sets to coordinate the hearts punch and autumn theme and I thought "sending love when autumn leaves are falling" would work. The "sending love" is from a new SNSS stamp set called "Christmas Tags" and the bottom sentiment was done using a Paper Co Studio stamp set, and was done using True Thyme ink, stamped off once for a more subtle look. After cutting out the leaves, I sponged them with color and embossed them using clear detail ep.

Huge thanks to Tonic for having this great challenge in support of OWH, and be sure to click the link to get the rules for playing along!

That's it for me.............but I'll be back soon with more :)

Carol

stamps - SNSS Christmas Tags, The Paper Co Studio Autumn

paper - K&Co Tim Coffey Fall, white, orange, black, rose red, so saffron

ink - Versafine onyx black, Versamark, Ranger distress fired brick, vintage photo, antique linen, peeled paint, tattered rose, Memento tangelo, dandelion, SU! true thyme (retired)

accessories- Tonic hearts punch, Spellbinders leaf dies, brown & green Tombow markers (veins on leaves) clear detail ep, foam tape

Happy Sunday!

This is for the Sweet Stop sketch #127 found here. I found these adorable country pumpkin images in the SNSS store recently, and couldn't wait to make a card with them. I printed them out and colored them with Copics and fussy cut them out. The larger one is popped up with dimensionals. I used some retired SU! Halloween papers, and punched out some leaves with a MS punch and an EK punch. The larger ones were sponged with fired brick, vintage photo, peeled paint, and tattered rose inks and I used a stenciling tool to create the veins. After they were inked, I covered them with clear detail ep and embossed them for a little shine. I added some veins to the smaller leaves, but didn't ink or emboss them. The tag was created with my Cricut, and I used another EK punch for the zig-zag, weaving bakers twine around it. The pumpkin border was done with an EK punch, and the white panel was done with a SU! square lattice ef.
This is for today's OWH sketch challenge #88 found here. I had the sentiment panel made for a while, so I just embossed some panels and added it to the front, along with a shiny heart brad. Quick and easy, and don't you love those hearts on the white background? That's an embossing folder from Sizzix that I won from CircleB Enterprises just by playing along with one of the Stars & Stamps birthday bash challenges! Woot! I love it!

That will do it for me today, but the sun is shining here in PA so I was finally able to get a few good photographs for a change! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can enjoy the sun for at least a day or two!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great Sunday!

Carol

I'm still at it!

This card is for the SC351 sketch challenge found here. That's green galore card stock I used with the black, and a CB embossing folder.I used a sentiment from MFP and layered it with SU word window and fancy label punches.
This is for another Stars & Stamps challenge sponsored by Michelle's Scrap where "anything goes." I used one of Sandy's free state digis that's available from OWH. This one is Kansas and I used a new Sizzix diamond ef that I won from CircleB Enterprises for playing a previous challenge at Stars & Stamps. (thanks Veronica!) I colored it with Copics and added a chipboard button with bakers twine to the center.
This is for the Sweet Treats challenge over at the Stars & Stamps blog. This challenge is sponsored by Michelle Perkett Studio. I created the sweet treats by using MS cupcake punch, and used some scraps of PTI dp and pink cardstock. I also used an EK chain punch and SU! fancy scalloped border punch. Sentiment by Hero Arts. Quick and easy for this one!
And here is another card done for the Missouri state digi contest. Sandy drew this gorgeous digi of the Missouri state flower and it's free! I used royal purple and shimmer grey cardstock for this, embossing with the Swiss Dots ef, and adding some gray ribbon. The image was colored with Copics.

I think I've turned into a card-making maniac with OWH's birthday celebration! LOL

I'll have a new Crazy4Cocoa challenge for you tomorrow, so stay tuned, and thanks for stopping by!

Carol

2 Challenges and a Birthday

Today a special friend of mind is celebrating his birthday. He's a retired firefighter so I thought this pre-colored digi image by K&K would be cute for his card :) Happy Birthday Danny, I hope you have many more happy birthdays for celebrating!
This card is for the OWH Stars & Stamps challenge being sponsored by Robin's Fetish to "try something round" on our cards. The round item on my card is this cute Cocoa mouse image by SNSS. I stamped it on watercolor paper, embossed it with clear detail ep, and colored it with Tombow markers. The candy cane on the sentiment panel is a Jolee sticker, and I embossed the chevron DP with a similar embossing folder to give it a little dimension. Sentiment is by Inkadinkado and I used Spellbinders circles and ribbon tags die cuts. Ribbon is from my stash.
I made a red & gold version of this card last week, so I wanted to try it with silver and blue for this challenge. May Arts ribbon is sponsoring a challenge over on the Stars & Stamps blog to create a Christmas card for our troops (and/or heroes) and wrap it up using ribbon. I wove the ribbon through the Spellbinders fancy tag diecut and I love using ribbon in this way because it goes through the mail without extra postage. I used 2 lengths of ribbon, and fastened it down with Scor-tape. The mat behind the sentiment panel is metallic silver which explains this wonky photograph. The reflection just doesn't make for good photos, but the colors are real pretty IRL. I used a SU fancy scalloped border punch, SU! snow swirled stamp set, clear ep, versamark ink, square and round silver brads and a snowflake embossing folder for the background. The ribbon came from Michaels.

That's it for me today but I wish you all a wonderful Tuesday!

Carol

Lattice Dimensional

Julie created a tutorial for making a lattice dimensional card over on the Stars & Stamps blog for another birthday bash challenge today. I gave it a shot and ended up with 2 Christmas cards. I used some ruby red metallic papers to create the frame, sentiment panel and mat. I added some silver metallic punched snowflakes inside of the "window" along with some Geo Sparklers snowflake stickers. The white panel was embossed with a sizzix ef, and the sentiment was computer generated. Sorry about the glare, I couldn't seem to eliminate it.
This card was my first attempt at the challenge! LOL The lattice work was too close together and almost completely covered the image, so I snipped them off and just left the framework around the embossed image to stand alone. I thought this would make a nice Christmas card just the way it is, so I added some liquid applique to the embossed image for a little interest and contrast. I used a Spellbinders labels eighteen to create the frames for both cards and a CB ef for the image on this one.

It's still raining here in PA, so it was another afternoon of stamping fun :) Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all enjoy your Tuesday!

Carol

Playing Catch-up Again

I have a few challenges to get caught up on, so here's 3 for starters. First up is the sketch challenge #85 from Stars and Stamps. This is the weekly sketch they post on Sundays, but OWH is also celebrating their 2nd birthday this month with a challenge for each day of September. This card used a free digi image that I d/l and have no idea who to credit for it because there's no name attached to the file. I used the swiss dots and square lattice efs and added some geo sparklers stickers at the bottom just for interest. The sentiment panel was done with petite ovals by Spellbinders.
This card is for challenge#2 of the OWH birthday bash, and this is a case of Ardeth T who has some sample cards right here. I cased one of her cards from the link and used another free digi image I d/l, and again I can't locate the designer. The only name on the file is hobby-palies, so if anyone knows who might have designed this, please leave a comment and I'll give proper credit. I used BoBunny liberty papers, along with navy cardstock. I colored the stars on the sentiment with markers, and added some mini star brads to the corners along with some embossed stars done with a CB ef.
I combined 2 challenges for this card. First is the Sweet Stop Sketch SSS124 as well as another Stars and Stamps birthday bash#3 challenge to use eyelets. I used this cute SNSS digi Berry Sweet Cocoa image and colored him with Copics. I used the square lattice ef again, along with some DCWV glittered green cardstock and edged the white circle with a gold paint pen. The strip across the bottom is just a narrow strip of cardstock that matches the other vertical panel. The dp was a scrap from my stash. I added 3 eyelets to the bottom instead of brads or gemstones.

I hope to get more challenges finished up tomorrow, as it's supposed to rain most of the day and I'll be indoors chilling :)
I hope you're all having a great holiday weekend, and thanks for taking the time to drop by :)

Carol

We made it!

We made it through hurricane Irene and although Saturday night was very stressful, we're fine. The tornado warnings went on long into the night, so I never went to bed or tried to sleep. We have minimal damage and no flooding, so we consider ourselves extremely fortunate! I'm hoping for a better week ahead. An earthquake, a hurricane, and tornadoes touching down in one week is extremely difficult to imagine, but it happened, and I'm glad it's behind us now! I think mother nature might be a little ticked!

On to my cards. First up is my entry for the Sweet Stop SSS123 sketch challenge found here. I used this cute Cocoa mouse image and colored it with Copics, and fussy cut it out. Oops! I accidentally snipped off the curly end of his tiny tail..........ouch!! I used some BG dp from the Jovial pack, and some red and green scraps from my stash. The sentiment is a sticker, and I added some yellow stickles to the star, and some liquid applique to the fur on his stocking.
This is my take on the OWH Stars and Stamps sketch challenge #83 found here. I used this adorable Sarah Kay image, and colored her with Copics in shades of purple and green. I added some PTI green leaf and plum pudding card stock for the mats, and some matching green leaf polka dot ribbon. The embossed panel was done with the SU! square lattice ef. I left the sentiment off because this can be used for many different occasions.

I haven't spent a lot of time on the computer lately so I have a lot of catching up to do. I hope your Monday is a great one for you, and thanks so much for stopping by :)

Carol

OWH Sketch Challenge #83

I made this super quick card for the Stars and Stamps blog sketch#83 found here. You'll have to excuse the quality of my photos as I'm now using PSE and it's like a foreign language to me after using such a user-friendly and easy-to-use program for years. I don't think I got the color quite right on this one, but it will have to do for now until I'm able to figure things out.

I used all papers from a K&Co autumn stack, and the sentiment panel was done with an EK punch and a SU! large oval punch. The sentiment is from SNSS done in Really Rust, and the tiny leaves and acorns were from an EK border punch. I'm definitely using this sketch often because it's not only quick and easy, but it's a great way to use those tiny scraps you have been accumulating.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a pleasant Sunday!

Carol

Stars & Stamps Sketch 82

My card is for the S&S sketch challenge #82 found here. I used a new SNSS digi image called Rhubarb's Scarecrow and colored it with Copics. The DP is Bo Bunny Jazmyne and this couldn't have been an easier sketch to make a card with. I added a clip with a hank of twill colored with Copics to match and this was done! There's no sun here in PA today so the colors on the picture are not that great, but it's the best I can do under the circumstances. I can't complain because we've needed rain for quite a while and it's finally here.
Thanks for stopping by today and I wish you all a great week ahead!

Carol

OWH MidWeek Throwdown

The mid-week throwdown over at the Stars and Stamps blog has a "thinking of you" challenge today. This card went together very quickly using scraps of DP and the SNSS Your Friendship stamp set for the floral image. I stamped the flower and leaves using Versafine Onyx Black ink on some PTI bitty box basics dp, then embossed it with clear detail ep and fussy cut them out. I added a big brad to the center. The sentiment is from MFP's Thankful Mums and Pumpkins stamp set. Embossing was done with the SU! square lattice ef.
This is the sentiment I use more than anything on my OWH cards, because I'm sure our service personnel is constantly thinking of their loved ones back home.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Carol

Dual Sketches

I had time to play along with 2 challenges while the race was on this afternoon, and here's what I came up with. First up is my card for the Sweet Stop Sketch SSS120. I flipped the sketch to make my card, using the Rhubarb's Sunflower digi image from SNSS. The DP is from BG origins and I matted with SU! chocolate chip on all the panels. The sentiment is from the SNSS Your Friendship. I added Glossy Accents to the flower just for a little interest.
This is for the sketch #81 over at the Stars and Stamps blog. I've had this top note die cut in a box for a long time, so today I pulled it out and embossed it for the sketch challenge. I used a flower from the SNSS Your Friendship stamp set, embossing with Versamark and black ep on a piece of retired DP from SU! I added some black accents with the leaves and sentiment panel and this was done super quick and easy.
I hope you're all enjoying a relaxing weekend!

Carol

Catching Up!

I'm really running behind on my challenge cards, and hope I can find time to play with all of my favorite challenges before they expire! This one is for the mid-week throwdown over at the Stars and Stamps blog. This week we're honoring our OWH mascot and beloved pooch Ciara, who recently became an honorary soldier!! You can read the details here....too adorable!! Since she's now known as private Ciara, we're making K-9 themed cards in her honor! Go Ciara!
I used a free digi found on the OWH blog and colored it with Copics. The DP came from a dollar store pack that I've had forever and I added some side tabs and brads done with a fancy label punch from SU!
This card was made for the Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge #66 which is to use anything but ribbon. I love this MFP Southwest Cowboy stamp set, so I got to work and made a masculine card using BG granola paper and some brads and hemp. I stamped the images off once, then stamped onto the background using Memento London Fog ink. The paper was distressed to begin with, so half the job was done for me. I added 2 thin strips of coordinating solid color DP to the striped panel for a little interest. The image was embossed first with clear ep, then colored with Copics and matted with coordinating dp.
Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope to get back in the full swing of things again soon!

Carol

Stars and Stamps Sketch #80

I know I've been MIA for a few days, but my creative spark has fizzled. I just felt burned out, so I've been working on a scrapbook project in the meantime. I made time to do the OWH stars and stamps sketch challenge#80, and this is what I came up with although it doesn't completely fit the sketch. Ah well, they say a sketch is just a starting point, so that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! LOL
I pulled out some scraps for this one, and used an inchie stamp from SU, coloring it with markers before stamping. The white panel underneath the ribbon strips was scored on the Scor-pal for a little added interest. I originally used a large metal flower brad to gather the ribbons, but after it was all glued down it was much too small, so I got out the metal glue and adhered a flower with a matching brad right over the top. It worked and it's fastened permanently now, so I can't change my mind again :)
I'm going in search of my mojo now, so if anyone sees it, please send it back home! Thanks! Have a fantastic day!

Carol