Celebrating

I have a friend having her last chemo treatment for breast cancer next week.  She is doing so well.
I wanted to make something special to celebrate with her.

The image and sentiment is a From The Heart digi colored with the new SU blenders. I layered it with a pink polka dot and a vellum with pink sparkles. More sparkle is added with pink rhinestones.

I am entering this at Tuesday Morning Sketches anything goes challenge. And Tuesday Throwdown also with challenge of anything goes.

Repurposed Stamps

It has been a busy week here so I am taking today as me time and spending it in the craft room.
There is a challenge to use Christmas stamps for a non Christmas card at TIME OUT Challenges
I think the trees from retired SU set Wonderland are just the thing. The just say serenity to me.

I have used Pool Party card base. Color washed Pool Party ink with an Aqua Painter over watercolor paper and then stamped the trees with Mossy Meadow and the SU sentiment in black.. It doesn't show in the picture but there is a dark green strip on the left side.
While all the supplies are out, why not make a two-for?

This one has a little deeper color because I dropped a dot of Pool Party re-inker into the stamp pad lid and again used the Aqua Painter.
Side note--did you know that typing re-inker without the dash self corrects to reindeer! hahaha Spell checker can be so frustrating but funny sometimes.  And card stock if typed as one word corrects to yardstick!
Also submitting to Anything Goes at Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Amended:  this is the banner from Time Out Challenge and I just realized I didn't pay too close attention to the theme of New Beginnings. I had my mind on Anything Goes and ended up with Endings, not Beginnings. OOPS. I al least used a Christmas Stamp.

Thinking of You

At this house, Christmas is decorated, cards sent, gifts sent, and just waiting for the day.
So time to restock the stash that has been neglected over the last month or two.
I make a lot of Thinking of You cards as they are so versatile for multiple occasions.

I bought a box of Paper Studio card bases for half price. They sure make for quick cards especially when combined with a great sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

The roses are dies from Ellen Hutson. Sentiment is an old one from SU stamped with Regal Rose. 

Winter Fun 4 Kids

Send A Smile 4 Kids current challenge is Winter Fun. Frankly, I don't find much fun in winter. I would rather be in a sunny beach climate.
But here in Indiana, we still have a lot of winter in February so my share for winter fun is a valentine.

It is hard to come up with valentine's for older boys. I like to do little puns for them. I did the "hay" sentiment on computer and die cut with a word bubble die from SU. The bale of hay is a stamp by La-La Land Crafts, stamped, colored and fussy cut. The hay paper is a scrap. I also did the "be my Valentine" on the computer. So simple I did 4 of them. Hopefully the boys will love it.
Here is another using some scraps of wood paper.

Heart Pirate

It is so long since I have been on the blog. Thanksgiving week I had my kids and grandkids here (what fun!) and entertained my in-laws (24 of them) for Thanksgiving dinner. Just when I was getting the house back to normal I caught a cold. Then had issues with care for my elderly mother.
So thankful things have settled down and I am back to crafting.
Don't hate me--but I have all my Christmas cards done and mailed.  Result of stuck in the house for 3 days.
I am doing some Valentine's for Send A Smile 4 Kids. Always have to be early with them so they can be sent out in time to get to the respective hospitals.

The image and sentiment are From The Heart digi colored with SU Blender Pens. Boy do I love those things. Makes coloring and shading so easy.  The stripe paper is SU's Sending Love paper stack.
Submitting to Freshly Made Sketches challenge

Pumpkins

2-sided patterned paper can make creating cards so easy

I just received this Painted Autumn DSP from SU. The other side of the checks is pumpkins which I cut out to add to front The sentiment is a bargain from JoAnn's. I cut a single pumpkin from the design to add inside.

I am entering challenge at Freshly Made Sketches

And a second entry for Just Us Girls whose word this week is Thankful

Autumn

I thought I was done with Thanksgiving until a good customer asked me to make 20 Thanksgiving cards. Going to have to hustle to get that done in time for her to send them.
Taking a break though to share one for the Just Us Girls challenge

The paper is a Halloween scrapbook paper. This pattern was in the center so I just cut off the Halloween part. The image is a digital by From The Heart colored with Prismacolor pencils. The background oval is a burlap paper from SU. A little raffia behind gives a rustic feel. The sentiment is fairly new but I promptly lost the label. Honestly, I am going to have to do some major cleaning in my craft room soon or I won't be able to find anything. It looks like a craft factory exploded in here.
The inside has a computer generated sentiment. I think it might be from my home Hallmark program.

This sentiment could be for any season. I die cut and sponged a leaf to accent the corner.
Here is the Just Us Girls banner

Non Traditional ColorsTake 2

Another inspired by the front cover of the SU Holiday Catalog.  See the other one here Lemon Lime Twist snowflakes on Lemon Lime Twist card stock. Silver glitter on the left edge. Merry Wishes from SU's Oh What Fun set stamped on vellum which is wrapped around the center piece and notched on the ends. The tree is From Festival of Trees stamped in Pool Party and Lemon Lime Twist sponged around the edges. The white circles and lines are colored with  silver and gold glitter pens.  Silver star added to top and more silver stars as accents. I popped up the tree with foam strips.
Sketch by Freshly Made Sketches

Also submitting as second entry in The Paper Players tic tac toe challenge using the first vertical row: trees, Christmas, silver/gold

Non Traditional Colors

I went to the SU Holiday Catalog  for inspiration for some non traditional colors for Christmas cards. Right on the front was this color combo. This is similar to the the card stock they used but I don't remember what the card stock color was called. It is my last piece.  Next is a layer of vellum with some glitter flecks. The green is Lemon Lime Twist. The tree and sentiment are Festival of Trees.  I stamped it in Pool Party and sponged some Lemon Lime Twist around the edges. Then colored in the dots and lines with silver and gold glitter pens, and added a punched silver glitter star on top. 3 silver stars around the card add more glitter.
Inside, I added more silver glitter stars.

Sorry for the dark photos, it is a dreary cold rainy day here. I couldn't lighten them up any more without getting washed out.
I used the sketch inspiration from Tuesday Morning Sketches

Also playing along with The Paper Players tic-tac-toe inspiration. I used the first vertical row, tree, Christmas, silver/gold.

Gold Snowflakes

This is the card I made for Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Sorry it is not a really good photo but it is so difficult to photograph shiny gold. No amount of editing makes it looks as good as real life.
I love the look of Kraft, white, and gold.  I used a MS punch for the border of the gold strip. Used an old snowflake die for the circle. The circle was run through Falling Snow folder from SU. The sentiment is also SU done in gold embossing. Hero Arts snowflake background stamp and white ink was used on the Kraft base. I used the punched out small snowflakes as embellishments.  It is an optical illusion--looks like the sentiment strip is on top of the circle but it actually is under it.
Here is the sketch

Warm Woolen Mittens

Isn't warm woolen mittens part of "My Favorite Things" in Sound of Music?  Well, darn, now I have that song stuck in my head the rest of the day. This DP from Stampin' Up! reminds me of that song.

The sentiment is from Snowflake Sentiments. Your hands are surely wrapped in the warmth of Christmas in these woolen mittens.  I added some red/white twine under the sentiment like the string holding the mittens together.  Even twined together like that, my kids still seemed to lose mittens.
A sparkly red heart adds even more love.
I used the sketch from Global Design Project.

Christmas Forest

I have had a panel of forest trees sitting in my scrap bin for a bit and have been wanting to do something with it. Also was looking for inspiration to use the green houndstooth print. This The Paper Players challenge sketch this week inspired me to use both.

The papers and sentiment are all from SU. The trees are stamped with Lemon Lime Twist in the background and then Mossy Green in front. Hard to see but there is a thin gold layer behind the trees and the sentiment. Inside:

Here is the Paper Players sketch

"Owie"

A good friend fell and broke her elbow. It needed surgery with pins so she is in a cast. I made her a special card to go with the pot of vegetable soup I am taking to her.

The paper is from SU. The bear is an old unbranded stamp. After coloring it with pencils, I punched slits along the arm and tied some trimmed down gauze around the elbow. The sentiment is SU.
Here is the inside:

The band-aid is a Lawn Fawn stamp.
I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

Buddy the Elf

I have a fun card for the kids for Send A Smile 4 Kids Early Holiday Wishes for kids challenge.  It really is not too early to start on those holiday card as they need to be sent in time for the volunteers to send them to the hospitals.  Need to get them done too before the craziness of holiday prep starts. If you have extra cards, consider this project.  Check out their guidelines.

I did the sentiment on the computer and stamped the Stampendous elf next to it.  I colored the elf with colored pencils in the Buddy the Elf colors. Added some musical notes from a Lawn Fawn set. The DP is from a SU paper stack.
Inside I did a Christmas song in all caps and bold to indicate singing loud and accented with some sparkly musical note stickers.

Crafty Snowman

Have you seen those snowmen at craft shows made from barn wood? They are so cute. That is the inspiration of my card today.

The papers are from a Bo Bunny paper pack. The sentiment from SU. Martha Stewart punch for the snowflakes.
Sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch

Believe

I have been making Christmas cards like crazy getting ready for my church's bazaar in November.

I finished this one yesterday. Little bear looks so astounded that Santa left him some gifts. It just fits the challenge at Just Us Girls

The DP is from BoBunny. The polar bear from Memory Box. The Santa sleigh is an old SU stamp. 

Believe die from Little Yellow Bicycle. The little boxes from a Newton's Nook set. 

Inside I punched a snowflake from the DP and coated it with clear glitter glue. I did the sentiment on the computer. 

Naughty Newton

Dear Newton, you certainly do have some 'splainin' to do. This is a great card for the kitty loving friends. When I had cats, it was almost impossible to keep them out of the Christmas tree.

 The kitten image is from Newton's Nook. The sentiment from Print Works Collection was found at Hobby Lobby. The papers are scraps from SU. A little trick: If I had used the next size up oval for a background, it would have been too big. So I die cut 2 of the same size ovals and offset them a bit. Gives an anchor without taking up much space.
The layout is this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches

Boy Birthdays

My grandson will be 12 soon. He and his family have been displaced by Hurricane Harry.  Thankfully, they had only minimal flooding and have been able to find housing and starting the clean up in their home. So many will be forever recovering from this devastation.
He was born just prior to Hurricane Rita. Fortunately as a newborn, his house was not affected.
I am just feeling bad that I am so far away and cannot go help them out.
So a very special card for you Andrew

I think pre-teen boys are so difficult to design cards for. This stripe paper from My Favorite Things paper pack makes just the right background. The "phone" is from a new SU set called Text Ya Later. It has lots of sayings & emojis. So fun!  Inside I did my own message and added more emojis.

I used the sketch layout from Freshly Made Sketches

Another boy card with the same sketch.

These images and sentiments are from Newton's Nook.

Seagulls

The Stampin' Up! stamp set Wetlands is a great one for masculine cards.

The tags are 2 inch strips with SU's tag topper punch on the top. I sponged the front tag with Crumb Cake and Pool Party before stamping the seagulls. The sun is from Swirly Bird. I like the look of double tags so used a Pool Party back one. I stamped the sea oats on the edge of it to peek out behind the front one. The wood DP is from ms. sparkle & co. paper pack from Joann's. The wood cross piece is from scraps. Raffia and twine tie up the 2 tags. The sentiment is also from Wetlands.
The inside has a computer generated sentiment with a sun and sea oats stamps accents.

The layout is this weeks challenge sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches

Since I used a punch on the tag top, I am also linking up to Tuesday Throwdown challenge to use punches or dies.

Experimenting

I am experimenting with water colors for the challenge at CAS Mix Up

My choice here is die cutting. I used the trees from Impression Obsession.
I am still struggling to get good watercolor backgrounds.
The first one I think the colors are too intense, I didn't use enough water to dilute the colors. Ends up looking like a forest fire.

So then I tried the same 3 colors using watercolor pencils. More of a sunset but still not happy with it.

Back to the drawing board. This one I used only more diluted orange and colored the whole background. Then used a watered down red and dabbed it randomly on the background.

I think it looks like red leaves blowing around. Happier with this one.
So I am putting them up for a vote? Which is your favorite?