Happy Holidays for WCMD

I finished up another card for some of the WCMD challenges out there.  One of the challenges at Studio Calico was to make a Christmas card, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to ink up a couple of the Ellen Hutson stamps that I didn't showcase during the hop the other day.  Speaking of which, you still have time to hop and win, here's my EH post.

This card uses the Christmas Scribbles and Tis the Season stamp sets, and I used the WCMD sketch at Moxie Fab World for inspiration.

I colored the image with Copics, added a little washi for the road, and finished it off with some Lawn Trimmings.

Short and sweet today, there are more stamps calling my name!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Avery Elle - White an Cherry cardstock; PTI - Kraft cardstock
Stamps:  Ellen Hutson - Christmas Scribbles, Tis the Season
Ink:  MFT - Black Hybrid Ink
Other:  Queen & Co - Washi Tape; Copics; Lawn Fawn - Lawn Trimmings; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

The First Day of First Grade

Another of the layouts I created for National Scrapbooking Day.  Since there's only a couple months left in the school year, I figured maybe I should get this one done.

I ask Ellie a series of questions on the first day of school, I actually record it, but I also make a layout.

This year I used Echo Park's Playtime collection.  Pretty simple and easy, but I think these layouts are going to be a great way to mark each year of school.

It was fun to watch the video again when I was making this layout.  You could definitely see the nerves.  I remember her being much more excited last year, and this year it was a lot more nervousness/anxiety.  But nothing to worry about, she's doing really well at school and adores her teacher.

I'm going to link this one up over at Moxie Fab World's Scrapbooking is Fun challenge.

I'm a little behind on my watercolor homework...hoping to get caught up the next couple days!

A Sweet Moment

Happily I was able to get some scrapbooking done this weekend for National Scrapbooking Day.  This is my favorite of the layouts I was able to get done.

The truth is this layout has been half done for at least three months, I had a bit of scrapper's block when I started it and set it aside, but I just love that big photo of Carina and one of my goals for this weekend was to finish this one up.

This layout truly is a Scrap Your Stash challenge.  I am honestly not quite sure of all the papers/supplies so I won't list everything at the end, but I know the base is Glitz, and there are some Bella papers, doilies from my stash, Amy Tangerine Thickers, and that pretty flower piece was gifted to my from a blog friend Sandy Ang.

These photos are from my younger sister's wedding rehearsal.  It's so hard to get a good photo of Carina these days, she's either not interested in cooperating, too busy to stop, or making her cheese face.  I just love how real and true her expression is.

I'm linking this up over at Moxie Fab World for the Scrapbooking Rocks challenge.  

I'll have another layout to share with you tomorrow.   Have a great start to your week!

Addicted to Gold

I really am....and it's one of those things where when I pull out the gold, everything seems to get 'golded'.

I wanted to play along with the stencil challenge going on over at Moxie Fab World, and my sweet friend Nina (who incidentally is opening her new store, Waffleflower Crafts TODAY, please go check it out!) sent me a jar of gold Wendy Vecchi embossing paste.

I pulled out Dina Wakley's Halftone Borders stencil from The Crafter's Workshop.  I first used a sponge dauber and gold Delicata ink to add the pattern to the cardstock.  Then I turned the stencil 180 degrees, adjusting it vertically so I could get an interesting intersection of the opposing patterns, taped it down and added the gold embossing paste.  I LOVE this stuff!  It's gorgeous and shimmery and elegant.

I really wanted the stenciled piece to shine, so I just added this big Love die cut from, you guessed it, GOLD cardstock, and the secondary sentiment was embossed in gold.

I love how all the different shades of gold play here and there's a great mix of sparkle and shine as well.  Here's a photo with the light reflecting off of all the shiny parts.



I'm also going to link this up over at Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge since it's Anything Goes this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Avery Elle - Sapphire and Whipped Cream cardstock; Recollections - Gold Mirrorboard cardstock
Stamps:  Avery Elle - Simply Said: Love Clear Stamps
Ink:  Tsukineko - Delicata Golden Glitz, Versa mark
Other:  The Crafter's Workshop - Mini Halftone Borders 6x6 Stencil; Dreamweaver - Wendy Vecchi Metallic Gold Embossing Paste; Avery Elle - Simply Said: Love Elle-ments; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape and Gold Embossing Powder; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Thinking of You, Stepping Out with Hexagons

While waiting for work/school to get cancelled last night, I thought I would play along with the current Step it Up challenge at WPlus9 and combine that with Moxie Fab World's Happy for Hexagons challenge.

I used WPlus9's Quilt Cuts 1 dies as well as, you guessed it, Fresh Cut Florals and More Fresh Cuts.

I knew I wanted to have three layers to the card for the dimension challenge.  I cut one section of hexagons out of my front panel.  The outline of the hexagons was saved as I knew I wanted to use that on the card base.  

On a piece of scrap cardstock, I stamped the floral cluster.  This piece was trimmed down to fit beneath the front panel and the hexagon outline was adhered over top.  

I cut two more hexagon sets.  One was left plain, the second was stamped with another floral cluster (note I left the hexagons in the frame, and actually on my cutting plate, when stamping the flowers, so the framed got stamped too).  Also, I made sure that each hexagon had at least a little stamping on it.

I adhered a plain hexagon outline to the front of the panel. The stamped hexagons were aligned with this frame and popped out with foam tape.

The frame with stamping was then adhered to the panel at the top left.  I also added a few of the plain unstamped hexagons to the card, and then stamped the sentiment.

Finally, the entire front panel was adhered with dimensional foam tape.

I love how much depth there is in this one, but how CAS it is too.

Hope that you're having a great day, we'll be hanging out, watching the Olympics, and playing outside if it's not too windy.  

Supplies Used

Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - WHite Daisy; Avery Elle - Vino cardstock

Stamps:  WPlus9 - Fresh Cut Florals and More Fresh Cuts

Ink:  CTMH - Cocoa, Gypsy, and Topiary; HA - Raspberry Jam, Butterbar, and Fresh Peach

Other:  WPlus9 - Quilt Cuts 1 Dies; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape; Tombow - Mono and Multi Mono Adhesive

Moxie Fab Fun!

Hey everyone, I am thrilled to be the guest blogger over at Moxie Fab World today!

I'm sharing a little sneak peek of something I created for the occasion here, but swing over to MFW for the full post.

Moxie Fab Thanks! Blog Hop

Like many of you, I was so sad to hear that Cath was stepping down from Moxie Fab World.  When I started card making, MFW was one of the first sites I found.  There was always so much inspiration, and I was able to cut my teeth on the Tuesday Triggers and challenges Cath hosted.

I'm so happy to be able to participate in this ginormous blog hop for someone's whose heart for this industry and the individuals in it is just as ginormous.  (You should have arrived here from Lindsay Amrhein's blog, and the full hop list is up at Moxie Fab World.) 

So Cath, can't wait to see what's next.  You are made of awesome!

Now head over to Irit Shalom's blog to continue on the hop.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock - Bazzill Card Shoppe - Banana Split Cardstock
Other:  Freckled Fawn - Doily; BossyJoscie - Flair; Hydrangea Hippo - Seam binding; Studio Calico - Wood Veneer Feathers; Punky Sprouts - Buttons; May Arts - Burlap String; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape, Liquid Glass; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Hello for Uniko Studio and Moxie Fab World Challenges

Very easy CAS card today.

I stamped that Hello sentiment, just love the size and font of it, with Memento black ink.  Then section, by section, I put some of the Webster's Pages Composition and Color washi over it used a kraft knife to cut around it, and then removed the excess.  It takes a while, but it's a really neat effect.

The panel looked a little stark, so I added some washi to the right and left of the sentiment.

Then I just alternated with a roll of washi I have in my stash to create the bottom border, and added a little black cardstock above and below the white panel for contrast.

I'm entering this in Uniko Studio's challenge to use washi as well as Moxie Fab World's Stickers and Tape challenge.

Hope you are having a great week!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy and Black cardstock
Stamps:  Uniko Studio - All Occasion Sentiments #1
Ink:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Other:  Webster's Pages - Composition & Color Washi; Random washi from stash; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger and Happy Mail

Thought I would play along with the Tuesday Trigger this week.

It was a really interesting image, and when I saw it I thought of the striped border from my Neat and Tangled On the Strip 2 set.  I stamped the border on vellum with my neon inks, cut them out and adhered them to the card.

This card is 4x6, I think the skinnier/taller size really works with the design.

AND, I got some happy mail last week - my very first Ribbon Carousel!

Isn't it pretty?  I tend to move around the house a bit when I'm working - mostly going downstairs to work on projects while I watch TV with Andrew. I'm forever trucking back up and down the stairs to bring stuff down.  I loaded this up with my most often used trims as I figure it's going to make life easier - one trip and won't have to worry about putting them back since they are already where they're supposed to be.  It holds a lot too - I've got lost more space for more favorites.  ;)

Hope your weekend is going well.  I've been taking advantage of the fact that we have free premium channels on demand right now to watch some movies that I have neglected to watch:  Pitch Perfect (which incidentally is not a movie about baseball), The Odd Life of Timothy Green, and Argo.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White and Slate cardstock; Recollections - Vellum
Stamps:  Neat and Tangled - On the Strip 2; Paper Smooches; Slang Gang
Ink:  Hero Arts - Neon Yellow, Orange, Pink, Green, and Blue; Versamark
Other:  Stampendous - White Detail Embossing Powder; Tombow - Vellum Adhesive

Artful Delight Friday - Butterfly Kisses

Hey everyone!  Happy Friday!

This week's Artful Delight card was built around this gorgeous floral print.  I love the soft watercolor feel to the paper and really wanted to showcase it.

The sentiment is from the Jillibean Soup stamp set that comes with the kit.  It's stamped on a very subtle patterned paper from the kit with Hero Arts Wet Cement, which I thought matched that soft gray Bazzill cardstock really well.

That sweet yellow button with the scalloped imprints is from the kit and I added a couple of my Punky Sprouts buttons as complements with May Arts Burlap Twine as an accent.  A few enamel dots added an extra pop of color.

ETA (Edited to Add):  I'm going to link this up with the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World.  I think the soft colors and flowers are perfect for that challenge - here's the trigger graphic:

That's all for today!  Hope you are having a great week.  Looking forward to one last weekend of summer before Andrew goes back to work.  Ellie starts after Labor Day, but the teachers go back a week early.  Gotta make the weekend a good one!

Supplies Used:  Artful Delight August Card Kit; Punky Sprouts Buttons; May Arts Burlap Twine; Hero Arts Wet Cement Shadow Ink; MME - The Sweetest Thing Enamel Dots; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape and Liquid Glass; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Tuesday Trigger - For You

I'm sliding in my Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger card under the wire.  When I saw the inspiration photo I knew I wanted to play along because I have a thing for petits fours....I eat them, in large quantities, and I greatly enjoy doing so.

I actually started this card a couple weeks ago, but then realized that it was a three weeker....so here I am linking up on the last day.....I'm a bit of a procrastinator, no?

A pretty simple card.  I used Clear and Simple Stamps' Rounded Squares Quad to cut the windows in the woodgrain cardstock.  Then I laid that piece on top of the card base and traced around the openings with a pencil.  This gave me kind of a template to use in adding the pink ink to the card base.  I used hero Arts Bubble Gum ink with a blending tool.

The woodgrain paper was adhered with dimensional foam tape, and then sequins were added to emulate the flowers on the petits fours.

The sentiment is from Scrappy Moms, stamped in Slate ink on vellum and then adhered to the card.

Hope you guys are enjoying your Mother's Days.  We went to church this morning, to dim sum for lunch, and later, we're going to go get some free Mother's Day froyo.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy; LCI Paper - Limba Cardstock; Recollections - White Vellum
Stamps:  Scrappy Moms - Mini Messages
Ink:  Hero Arts - Bubble Gum; CTMH - Slate
Other:  CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape, Liquid Glass; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; Neat & Tangled - Clear and Silver Sequins

Last minute Moxie Fab World entry

I have a last minute entry for the Moxie Fab World challenges today.  I carved this stamp over a week ago, and have been meaning to use it for the create your own stamp challenge, but things have been kind of crazy, and I was only able to get around to using it tonight.

I went super simple and created some mini cards, they are 2 1/2" squares, so this works for the mini card challenge too.  I left them sentiment free so they can easily be tucked into a package/card for any occasion. 

The one on the left uses white embossing powder, the center one is done with white pigment ink, and the one on the right is clear embossed.  I finished the look off with Rubbernecker Stamp's Sketch Block stamp.

Here's a close up of the stamp.

What do you think?  Too simple?  Which effect do you like best?

That's all for me tonight.  Hope your week got off to a good start.  I'm headed to bed.  Carina keeps waking up at 5/5:30.....

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  PTI - Kraft
Stamps:  Rubbernecker stamps - Sketch Box; Handcarved stamp
Ink:  CTMH - White Daisy; Versamark
Other:  CTMH - White and Clear embossing powders, heat tool

 

 

Woolen Wishes

 

 

 

A fun card to share with you today.  I'm entering it into the Pinspired Challenge, as well as the Moxie Fab World window challenge and Simon Says Stamp's Anything Goes challenge....I love it when it all works out that way!

When I started out, I was just going to make a card for the Pinspired Challenge.  Here's the challenge photo: 



As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to pull out my Becky Oehlers' Warm Woolen Mittens stamp set.  I had the idea to use the mittens to create a heart, but when I was putting it together, the lightbulb came on and I thought, "Why don't I cut a little window and put the heart on the inside of the card?"  This might be the smallest window ever on a window card!



The little mitten strings are hand drawn, and I popped the mitten wrists up with foam tape.  I had a heck of a time photographing the card....I eventually just used washi tape to tape it shut so I could get the photo with the heart showing through. 

This what the inside looks like.



And that's all there is to it.  Hope your day is off to a great start!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy, Slate, and Ruby
Stamps:  Gina K. Designs - Warm Woolen Mittens; Neat and Tangled - Kindness Matters
Ink:  CTMH - Black and Ruby
Other:  CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape and Craft Knife; American Crafts Black Precision Pen 08 size; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; Kuretake Glue Pen

Three in one

 

Today's card (that just made me feel like Teri Anderson, ha ha) is for several challenges, a couple that are new to me, and one that I haven't participated in in a while.





First, my friend Debbie Marcinkiewicz recently opened her own stamp company, Paper Sweeties, and this month she started a new monthly sketch challenge.  There are all sorts of adorable sets in her store.  I used a sentiment from the Occasions set on this card. 



The second challenge I'm entering this in is also new to me:  Inspired by Stamping.  Here's the inspiration photo.  I was inspired by the colors and also the round ornament shapes and the hints of gold. 



Finally, I also drew some inspiration from Moxie Fab World's new Tuesday Trigger.  The doilies kind of remind me of the frames in the inspiration photo.


Have a wonderful evening!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  My Mind's Eye - The Sweetest Thing Lavender 6x6 pad; CTMH - Smoothie cardstock
Stamps:  Paper Sweeties - Occasions
Ink:  CMTH - Chocolate
Other:  Punky Sprouts - Lacy Blossoms; Maya Road - Twine Cording Shine Gold; CTMH - Antiqued Copper Designer Brads; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Very Merry Christmas

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Elle's Studio and their weekly sketch challenge.  This week they issued a bonus challenge - for a card. 

Oddly enough, I've never actually used Elle's items on a card before.

I stayed pretty true to the sketch, and had a lot of fun playing with circles.  There are a variety of Elle's products - the small tidbit circles, pennants (my favorite items), and a journaling card was even used as the base/center element.

Oh, and I got to break out some of my Bossy Joscie flair too, so that was an extra bonus.

AND since I did use a journaling card, I'm going to link this up with the Moxie Fab World Journaling Card Challenge.

Just one more day til the weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock - Recollections - Red Cardstock; CTMH - Colonial White card base and Topiary cardstock
Stamps:  CTMH - Say it in Style; The Alley Way Stamps - Christmas Magic
Ink:  CTMH - Black
Other:  Elle's Studio - The Sweet Life Tidbits, Collected Large Journaling Tags, Handmade Layers Pennants, Bright Pennants; BossyJoscie - Cherry Christmas Flair; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Joy

We all need a little right!

This card is for Crate Paper's Patterned Paper challenge. I used papers from two of their 6x6 paper pads: Little Bo Peep and Pretty Party.

It's a little time consuming to put together, but not rocket science. Ellie actually helped punch the little circles using a large (just a bit bigger than 3/8") hole punch.

I traced three circles on the woodgrain paper to use as guidelines and then tacked the pieces on with a teeny bit of adhesive. Then I used the sewing machine going around each ring of circles three times.



Lots of repetition in this one, so I'm going to link up with the Moxie Fab World Card Design Handbook Repetition Challenge too.

Hope that your week is off to a great start! I know lots of kids are back in school already. Carina moved up to her next class in preschool today - the Cardinals - the girl is growing up! And Ellie starts kindergarten next week!!! Crazy!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: Crate - Pretty Party and Little Bo Peep 6x6 pads; CTMH - Colonial White cardstock
Stamps: CTMH - Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge celebrations stamp set
Ink: CTMH - Cocoa
Other: Tombow - Mono Adhesive; CTMH - Edge distresser; Sewing Machine

Pure Happy

**For the Shaping Up Blog Hop and Giveaways please scroll down - today is the last day to leave comments!



A really CAS layout today. This is for the Moxie Fab World Hooked on Hexagons challenge as well as Pretty Little Studio's Sketch challenge.

I used my Creative Memories cutting system to cut a bunch of hexagons from GCD Studios Sweet Tooth papers. Then I created a partial grid on the page and stitched around the hexagons using my sewing machine.



There's really not too much else to say about the layout. It was simple to put together, although it takes a while to line everything up correctly and stitch around, but I like how crisp it is and how much white space there is. (It might not seem like a lot of white space to you, but it's a lot for me.)

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: GCD Studios - Sweet Tooth Collection; CTMH - White Daisy Cardstock
Other: American Crafts - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Glitter Foam Thickers - Scene - Taffy; Creative Memories - Custom Cutting System, Black Pen; Sewing Machine

Hello card for Moxie Fab World

I really love the stamp set that comes with the Pemberley workshop on the go. The images are vintage, yet modern/retro. I'm not exactly sure what this stamp is supposed to be, but that's part of the appeal. I've seen it used as a leaf, as the wing of a bird, and here I'm using it as a flower petal.

I stamped it 15 times and then cut out the petals to create three flowers. I think that black, white, and yellow is such a fun color combination and this Oh Happy Grey paper from Amy Tangerine was perfect. I orginally had the flowers directly on the background paper, but the flowers didn't seem anchored enough, so I added a few punched cardstock circles as a base and some bling in the center.

The trim is from Hydrangea Hippo. Again, I really wanted it to stand out, so I (very carefully) glued it to a thin strip of white cardstock, and then cut around the scallops and added a little more sparkle to it.

The 'hello' is from Hero Arts Hooray set.

What do you think? I'm also going to link this up to Virginia Lu's How to Stretch Your stamp series, which is well worth the read if you haven't gone through it yet.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you week is off to a good start!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: AC- Amy Tangerine Oh Happy Grey paper: CTMH - Black, White Daisy, and Honey cardstock
Stamps: CTMH - Pemberley workshop on the go set; HA - Hooray
Ink: CTMH - Black
Other: Little Yellow Bicycle - Hello Spring Jewel stickers; Hydrangea Hippo black crochet trim; Helmar - 450 Quick Dry Adhesive; Tombow adhesive

Card for Kim Kesti's Crafty Month Challenge and Moxie Fab World

Last month was 'Crafty Month' over at Kim Kesti's blog. She issued a challenge to her readers to create a project using something old (at least a year) and something new.

Since I've only been stamping/creating cards for about a year, I don't have a ton of 'old' in the stamping arena, but I have scrapbooked for a long time, so I have lots of old papers.

That great neutral print is from an old Creative Memories Storybox called Metro.

I've paired it with a brand spankin' new Hero Arts stamp that I just won as blog candy from Simon Says Stamp. The set it comes from is called I Love Books.

The stamp actually looks like this when stamped



I cut off the top, added the 'With Thanks' from CTMH's Card Word Puzzle stamp set, and then used my blending pen to define the clouds/sky a bit more.



I'm also going to link this up over at Moxie Fab World's Stamp It Thank You card challenge.

Hope your week is going well. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: Creative Memories Metro Storybox; CTMH - White Daisy and Cocoa cardstock
Stamps: Hero Arts - I Love Books; CTMH - Card Word Puzzle
Ink: Cocoa
Other: CTMH - Cocoa Grosgrain ribbon, Antique Copper brads, Dimensional Foam Tape, Blending Pen; Tombow adhesive

Chin Up Chickadee!

There was another perfect storm of challenges for me this week. I created this card for the Moxie Fab World Doilies and Lace Challenge, for Three Cool Chicks' Day #2 Doilies, RCC #54 Fancy Flowers, and I'm also going to enter into the Gallery Idol competition.

This is a fun mish mash of products. The paper is from a retired CTMH collection, called Wings. The little bird is a Fancy Pants rub-on from the It's the Little Things collection, the alpha stickers are Dear Lizzy (I added a little extra color with a sponge dauber to make them a little more blue), there's May Arts twine, and some great crochet lace that I got from Hydrangea Hippo.

The cluster of embellishments is also a mish mash. I'm using some of CTMH's retired crocheted flowers mixed with designer wood buttons, Twinery twine, May Arts twine and Dear Lizzy brads. I used one brad in the center of the large crocheted flower, and I actually popped the brad center off and put it into the small button (a little trick I learned from Jennifer McGuire).



If you want to know where to get that great doily, the answer is that I don't actually know. I'm a big fan of Stephanie Howell who uses a lot of doilies in her work. A while ago she mentioned that she takes home the doilies that restaurants use to decorate the plate under soup bowls, which I thought was a slightly hilarious and totally genius idea. Imagine my delight when I had to attend a conference last month and found this great doily on the bowl with the mints that were at my seat. I MIGHT have de-doilied the entire conference room following the conference.....

Anyway, I hope that you're having a great holiday weekend and staying cool. It's been pretty warm here this weekend, and the girls and I will be headed to the pool at my parents' tomorrow.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock/Paper: CTMH - Wings Collection; Cocoa and White Daisy cardstock
Ink: CTMH - Cocoa and Lagoon
Other: CTMH - Crocheted flowers; Designer Wood Buttons Dear Lizzy - brads and alphabet stickers; The Twinery cappucino twine; May Arts twine; Hydrangea Hippo natural crocheted lace; Random hotel doily