Wishing you comfort...

Hello! Well, my kiddos went back to school this morning. We had such a fun fall break, but I am happy to get back to making cards by myself. I think every card I made last week took about two hours. It was so nice making a card this morning from start to finish without stopping and it only took about 20 minutes.

Anyway, today's card was made for the Clean & Simple challenge at SCS. The theme is sympathy cards. I think everyone should have a stash of sympathy cards ready to go because it can be really difficult to make one in the moment. I really like the sentiment "Wishing you comfort" for a sympathy card. I guess you could also use this for a get well type of card. My father-in-law just had knee replacement surgery and I know he is wishing for some comfort.
I hope your week is off to a great start! Thanks for stopping by!

{Wishing You Comfort}

Stamps: Wonderful Wishes (Verve Stamps)
Card Stock: Kraft
Patterned Paper: Early Bird Mini Deck (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Accessories: Creme 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch (EK Success), Clear Jewel Rhinestones (Bazzill)

Read more...

OCC Challenge - Color Combo

Hello friends! It's Saturday, so that means there's a new challenge at Our Creative Corner. This week is a color challenge and I will admit that I am not familiar with any of these colors. They are Handsome Hunter, Sage Shadow, Soft Suede, and Blush Blossom. You do not need to use these exact colors, anything close will work. I'm so glad Lori picked these colors. They were definitely challenging, but I love trying new things and am happy with how my card turned out.

I tore the edges of my paper and then ran my fingernail along the jagged edge to give it some dimension. The pearl that dots my "i" is actually Sage Shadow in color. It looks white in the picture.
Now, head on over to Our Creative Corner and check out what the other girls have done with this color challenge and then play along yourself! Have a great weekend!

{Grateful for You Friend}

Stamps: Friends till the end (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Handsome Hunter, Sage Shadow, Blush Blossom (SU), Kraft
Ink: Sage Shadow (SU)
Accessories: Buttons, Ice Green Pearl (Kaiser Craft), Corner Rounder Punch (EK Success), Hemp Twine (SU)

Read more...

Button Tutorial....and a card...

Hello! I did not set out to make a tutorial this morning, but I had a happy accident and thought I would share it with you. I wanted to make a card today for yesterday's sketch challenge at SCS and wanted to use Everyday Button Bits. My first thought was to use the apple stem and leaf images and have three "button apples" as my focal point. I searched for some red buttons to use as the apples and couldn't find any that were the right color or the right size. I happened to have a bottle of burgundy nail polish in my craft area. So........I painted my buttons with nail polish!!!!

Here's a brief tutorial:

I found the perfect size buttons to fit my card. They all happened to be white. I made a handle to my fingers wouldn't smudge the polish.Here's what it looked like before:
And here is after. I used Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri in Cinna-snap. It only took one coat and not very long to dry.
Here's the three buttons drying. I like the swirly one the best.
And here is the finished card.
I love these buttons!!!
I hope you enjoyed today's card and mini tutorial. I have so many colors of nail polish. I can't wait to try this 'technique' again!

{You're so sweet}

Stamps: Everyday Button Bits (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Kraft
Patterned Paper: Polar Expression (imaginisce), Domestic Goddess (Graphic 45)
Ink: Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery (SU)
Accessories: Scallop Square Punch (SU), Buttons, Nail Polish, Glue Dots, Parakeet Brads (Bazzill), Foam Dimensionals, Circle Punch (SU), Hemp Twine (SU)

Read more...

Paper Maniac Wednesday - Thank You Cards!

Hello! It's Paper Maniac Wednesday today!!! This week we are making Thank You cards using Unity stamps and copics. I don't have any copics, so I'll just be sticking to plain old ink. This card uses some more Indian Summer paper from Basic Grey. Still loving this paper! I also used some coordinating Indian Summer embellies. The stamp is from Unity's August Kit of the Month.
There's some exciting things going on in the Paper Maniac Store this week:

• All Halloween items are 30% off
• FREE shipping to all APO & FPO addresses through October- $40 minimum purchase, use code SUPPORT
• 20% off Smooch, use code SMOOCHES

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today! Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!

{Thank You}

Stamps: August KOTM (Unity)
Card Stock: Kraft , Cream
Patterned Paper: Indian Summer 6x6 Paper Pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Old Olive (SU)
Accessories: Indian Summer Brads (Basic Grey), Indian Summer Rub-ons (Basic Grey), Sheer Ribbon (Offray), Oval & Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Edge Distresser (Heidi Swapp), Foam Dimensionals

Read more...

One-of-a-kind Friend...

Hello! I thought I would participate in today's color challenge at SCS. The colors were teal, apricot, and chocolate. I have never used Apricot Appeal, so I thought I would give this challenge a try. I embossed the teal strip with a swiss dots embossing folder and then used a brown marker on the raised dots. Then I sanded the dots to give it an aged look.

Well, thanks for stopping by today! Hope you are having a great day!!!

{One-Of-A-Kind Friend}

Stamps: Friends 'til the end (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, Apricot Appeal (SU)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise (SU)
Accessories: Brown Marker, Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Sanding Block (Making Memories), Flowers (Prima), Jumbo Pebble Brad (Making Memories), Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Lattice Edge Punch (Martha Stewart), Rhinestones (Bazzill)

Read more...

Kind Thanks...

Hello! I am totally enjoying fall break with the kiddos. Halle and I made cards together this morning. It was a lot of fun, but I really struggled to make anything I really liked. I knew I wanted to participate in the clean and simple challenge for today at SCS, which is to use the stamp thumping technique. I tried this technique on a few images and then settled on this one. The rest of the card is definitely clean and simple!!!
Hope your week is starting off on the right track!!! Thanks for stopping by today!!!

{Kind Thanks}

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Thank You Kindly (SU)
Card Stock: Kraft (SU), SS White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Old Olive, Eggplant Envy Marker (SU), Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), New Leaf Topnotch Twill (Papertrey Ink), Button, Hemp Twine (SU), Corner Rounder Punch (EK Success)

Read more...

OCC Challenge - Sketch Challenge

Hello! It's Saturday and time for another challenge from Our Creative Corner. This week was a sketch challenge. My husband's birthday was on Thursday, so I used the sketch for his card.

I used Everyday Button Bits for the trees, but instead of buttons, I used circles of patterned paper. All the tree tops are popped up with foam dimensionals, but I used double on the center tree top. I sponged some blue ink behind the trees for the sky. The sentiment is printed off the computer and says "Happy Birthday, Scott".

Now, head on over to Our Creative Corner and see what the others ladies did with this sketch. Don't forget to play along with us!!! Have a great weekend!!!

{Happy Birthday, Scott!}

Stamps: Everyday Button Bits (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Ripe Avocado, Ocean Tides, SS White (Papertrey Ink), Night of Navy (SU)
Patterned Paper: Early Bird Mini Deck (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa (SU)
Accessories: Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Circle Punch (SU), White Gel Pen (Sakura), Foam Dimensionals, Stampin' Sponge (SU), Computer & Printer

Read more...

Thanks card...

TGIF! Today is the first day of Fall Break for my little ones. They have today off and all of next week. It was so nice to sleep in this morning, if only for a little bit.

The card I made uses the guidelines for today's limited supply challenge at SCS. You were allowed to use paper, ink, and stamps--that's it! Oh, and the theme was FALL. This is a true CAS card. I used a VersaMarker and t-square ruler to make the frame (and then gold embossing powder).

Hope you enjoyed today's card! Have a great weekend!

{Thanks}

Stamps: Thank You Kindly (SU)
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip (SU), Kraft
Patterned Paper: Indian Summer 6x6 Paper Pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: VersaMarker , VersaMark
Accessories: Gold Embossing Powder (SU), Ruler, Foam Dimensionals

Read more...

Merry & Bright Card...

Hi! I made this card today for the sketch challenge at SCS. Such a simple layout, my favorite kind. I thought I would break out some holiday stamps and tools. I really like this color combo (which I pulled from the ribbon) for holiday and winter cards.
And here's a close-up of those punched snowflakes.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

{Merry & Bright}

Stamps: Merry & Bright (imaginisce)
Card Stock: SS White, Spring Rain (Papertrey Ink), Night of Navy (SU)
Ink: Night of Navy (SU)
Accessories: Snowflake Ribbon, Clear Jewels, Snowflake Punch (Martha Stewart), Stampin' Sponge (SU), Snowflake Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Corner Rounder Punch (EK Success)

Read more...

Paper Maniac Wednesday - No Image Stamps

Hello! It's Paper Maniac Wednesday! This week's theme is to make a card without using an image stamp. I do that quite a bit, so this was not that challenging. However, it was the perfect opportunity to once again use some Raindrop Echo Designs digital stamps.

Did you notice that paper on my card? It's Indian Summer from Basic Grey. I am infatuated with this paper. I did not want to cut this paper. I was very careful to cut it right the first time so I would not waste any. I even adhered a bit to the envelope to make it all coordinate.

I don't know about you, but I have a heck of a time finding Basic Grey 6 x 6 pads. The scale of the 12 x 12 pads are not very good for card making. I was so excited when Patti at Paper Maniac told me they were going to be carrying them. So far they have Indian Summer, Eskimo Kisses, Eerie and all the coordinating embellishments as well.

Now, head on over to the Paper Maniac Blog and see what the other DT ladies made without image stamps. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

{Autumn}

Digital Stamps: Autumn Sentiments (Raindrop Echo Designs)
Card Stock: Sweet Blush, True Black (Papertey Ink), Kraft
Patterned Paper: Indian Summer 6x6 Paper Pad (Basic Grey)
Accessories: Indian Summer Brads (Basic Grey), Oval Nestibilities (Spellbinders), Brown Grosgrain Ribbon (Offray), Geneva Brads (Bazzill), Kraft Envelope

Read more...

Celebrate Today Card... (again)

Hello again! This is my second post for today, so scroll down if you missed the first one (or click here).

I'm back again with another card for Papertrey Ink's WCMD Challenge but this time it's for challenge #2, which is to make a card inspired by Mexico. In their inspiration picture, I saw some striped ponchos and wanted to use that as my inspiration. This paper was the closest I could find. This card is small, 4" x 4". I've been making a lot of cards with this format lately. Click here, here, and here for some more examples of this type of card. I just noticed that I used the same sentiment stamp for both my cards today! Whoops! I do need to stock up on birthday cards!!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

{Celebrate Today}

Stamps: Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)
Card Stock: Garden Green (SU)
Patterned Paper: Sultry 6x6 Paper Pack (Basic Grey)
Ink: Pink Passion (SU)
Accessories: Rhinestones (Micheals), Circle Punch (SU), Scallop Square Punch (SU), Foam Dimensionals

Read more...

Celebrate Today Card...

Hello! Today I made a card for the WCMD Challenge #1 for Papertrey Ink. The challenge was to make a card inspired by Japan. I think like a lot of people, I was inspired by all the cherry blossoms.

I picked some paper that I thought had a bit of a Japanese feel to it. The paper is very busy, so I toned it down with the kraft circles. The circles are popped up on foam dimensionals.
Here's a close-up so you can see all the dimension.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great week!

{Celebrate Today}

Stamps: Mixed Messages (Everyday Button Bits)
Card Stock: Kraft (SU) Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Sultry 6x6 Paper Pack (Basic Grey)
Ink: Close to Cocoa (SU)
Accessories: Rhinestone (Michaels), Flower Punch (EK Success), Foam Dimensionals, White Gel Pen (Sakura), Circle Punch (SU)

Read more...