Season of Thanks

Here it is sweltering hot in Indiana and my thoughts are in fall.  The new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyzis using stripes or plaids spurred the fall thoughts. I found a plaid in my scrap box that reminded me of fall colors.

I made leaves with a patterned orange paper that I blended yellow and red onto. The leaves die cuts are SU. The sentiment and label die are also SU. 

I used the sketch from Try a Sketch on Tuesday

Sunny Sunflower

 I love sunflowers, they are so bright and cheery. I was excited to find a pack of several sizes sunflowers from Recollections. Here is one of the cards I made with one of them.

I used a Kraft card base. The tan paper was embossed with a swirly E/F by Cuttlebug. I swiped a Tim Holtz Tea Dye ink pad over the raised portions. The vertical strlp of cork looking paper is a retired SU Paper. I found the plaid in the scrap box. I added a butterfly sticker to the sunflower. He sentiment is also SU.

The design is a sketch at Sketch Saturday

Also entering at Can You Handle the Pressure with the addition twist of butterfly.

Shades of Fall

It is actually a hot humid day here. Typical summer weather. And woudn't you know it I have one of those awful summer colds.  This card has taken me all day to make what with 2 naps and 3 different stabs at creating a card. 

This  paper had floated to the top of the scrap box and it made me think of fall leaves. So I blended some yellow and red over it and die cut some leaves. Then shaded the edges with some brown. I attached the 2 outer leaves with a glue dot and then the center one is popped up on a dimensional. 

Here is the original paper.

I think I will go back and die cut another leaf to accent the inside.

The background paper is new to Stampin" Up! The overall design is trees. But sigh, it is too much effort to get up and go look up what it is called.😑  The sentiment is also SU., fussy cut, and popped up on dimensionals.

I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

I think I will go hit the recliner again. 

Graphics

There is a new DSP from Stampin' Up! called Boho Vibes. They are all different graphic and rainbow designs in bright bod colors.

I made this one for Let's Kraft and Create  that has a twist this month of adding  buttons. 

I used two patterns of the DSP and covered the seam with a scalloped strip. I dug out the box of buttons that hasn't seen the light of day in forever. I found some blue buttons in 2 sizes and lined them up on the left side. The hello is as old SU stamp. To mimic the curve of the stripes, I cropped the corner of the card base. 

Since I have used neglected buttons I will link up with The Neglected Stuff

Buttons on a card, requires extra postage but I am adding this to my collection for Send A Smile 4 Kids. They hand them out to hospitalized kids and don't send them in the mail.

Time Out Challenges with this prompt. I chose the word Bold.

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Flower Garden

 The new paper from Stampin' Up! called Florals in Bloom are perfect for the challenge at Card 4 Galz which is Floral Frenzy

This is the card laying flat.

This is the opened view.

And a 3-D view of how it stands up

The inside sentiment is from SU's Charming Sentiments. The Happy Birthday is an old stamp in my stash. The deckle edge circles are a SU die cut. It is popped up with dimensionals. 

I have CASEd Brian King's fun fold card. Check out his blog here to see the dimensions and tips about using the DSP. Thanks Brian for the inspiration.

Upcycled Note Card

 The Paper Players challenge this week is recycling. I call it upcycling. I do a lot of upcycled cards. A good source is the free cards and calendars from charities. This one is a note card I received from a friend.

The card was just a plain floral flowers. I addd a white border and put it on a Bubble Bath card base. The many thanks is a SU die, doubled up for more dimension. I enhanced the flowers by tracing the borders with star gel pens and Nuvo black dots in the centers. A flower garden needs a butterfly. This one is an unlabled sticker. 

Turtle-y Cute

I am having fun playing with the images in Stampin" Up!'s new DSP Turtle-y Cute. 

 Here is this cool turtle watering her plants. I fussy cut the turtle from one of the pattern papers. The stripes are the backside of the same paper. The flower vellum is a scrap from a retired SU paper. The sentiment is an old stamp fom Creative Memories. I added 3 pearls to the right side and 3 more to look like water drops coming from the watering can. 

The sketch is from Sketch Saturday with the twist of birthday card.

Also submitting to a new challenge for me As You See It where their challenge theme is water but also speed--make a card in less than 10 minutes. I did it with a few seconds to spare.

But my desk is sure a mess. It is a small work space and I usually clean as I go.

And just for fun, while I was playing with the turtles, I made another with this same sketch.

I'll be adding both of these cards to my stash for Send A Smile 4 Kids

Guilty Monkey

 I have a fun card to share today for Can You Handle the Pressure with a twist of zoo or jungle animals.

I show you a zoo escapee

I used a vertical stripe E/F and ran a black ink pad over it. Hoping it plants the idea of zoo bars. Since the monkey is in front of the bars, we can assume he has escaped.  Look at that guilty face grin. The monkey is a sticker from a sheet called Silly Monkey by Paper Studio. The hello is an old stamp from SU.

I am putting this in my stash for Send A Smile 4 Kids. I know the kids will love it.

I used the sketch from Sunday Stamps

Pair of Birds

Recollections Field Journal paper pad has a sheet that has 2 large circles with birds perched on the edge.  I fussy cut one of the pairs of birds to make this card. 

The card base is Kraft. I like the look and texture of Kraft for nature based cards. The wood pattern paper is also in the Recollections pad.The Mossy Meadow green and Pool Party blue are from my stash I used a cloud E.F on the blue. The sentiment is SU die cut and popped up on dimensionals.

I am entering at Cardz 4 Galz and The Paper Players. They both have "wings" as their challenges.

Nature Inspired

 This is today's sketch inspiration from Sketch Saturd

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I switched the orientation for my card.

The papers are from a Recollections paper pad called Field Journal.  There was 1 page that had 2 large circles with the birds in them. I trimmed it down to fit the 2 birds in an oval. The other papers are from the same pad. I added 2 black faceted gems. The sentiment is an old stamp. I die cut it an oval to coordinate with the large oval.  I set out to make a sympathy card but I think I will keep this one for Christmas. I like a few nature inspired scenes for Christmas or winter cards.  Should I go back and add snow to the branches?

On another note, does anyone have a solution to blogger not showing comments? I have gone to the comment tab and made sure they are not in a spam folder. They all look like they were published but do not show in the comments of each post.  Thanks for any help you can give,

Catching the Last Rays

Yesterday when it was 50 degrees and raining, I decided I needed some sun and a dose of beach.

 The challenge at Let's Craft and Create is no patterned paper. I used a line stencil to create the background. Using green, tan, blues, oranges, and yellows I made a beach scene. The palm tree, sunbather, and umbrella are stickers. I popped up the umbrella top and glued  down the handle. The setting sun is from the retired SU set called Swirly Bird I also popped up the sun.

I left off a sentiment and just put a blank liner inside so it can have multiple uses. I've put this one in my stash to send to Send A Smile 4 Kids

Fun Puns

 I do love puns. These 2 cards fit the challenge at Send A Smile 4 Kids

I found this ruler paper at a local craft store and I have used it all already and cannot tell you who makes it. I wish I had bought more than one sheet as it is perfect for guy cards. The sentiment is my own done on the computer and cut out with a deckle rectangle die. I inked the edges to make it blend better with the background. 

This one is an inspiration from by blogger friend Cheryl. You can see her gears here. The gear stamp is an old unlabeled wood block stamp. The plaid was from the stash. The DAD stamp is a very old one from SU. The sentiment copied from Cheryl was done on the computer and die cut with a deckle edge circle.

Per SAS4K request, these are both blank inside so a personal message can be added.

If you have extra cards and would like to donate them, check out  Send A Smile 4 Kids to see what they need and where you can send your cards.

Fishing Father's Day

I bought a paper share from a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. When I say the papers called Otterly Adorable I thought what am I going to do with this. I didn't care for the otter side but the reverse had some nice patterns for masculine cards. I pulled out the swimming schools of fish for some Father's Day cards for Send A Smile 4 Kids

I used a Pool Party base. On the side of the fish DSP I used a couple of colors of the water. The lighter blue has an edge made with Fiskar seagull scissors.  Another color of water is die cut to back the sentiment circle. I punched out 3 small anchors from some copper metallic paper for embellishments.

THe design is from the sketch by Freshly Made Sketches

Here are 2 more with the same DSP

Leftovers

I have a few leftover pieces from current papers from SU.. I found some that meet the challenge at Gardz 4 Guyz challenge of Bodies of Water. 

The images are from SU's retired Swirly Bird set. I think it is my all time favorite. I still use it a lot.

Art Deco

This week challenge at Cardz4Galz is Art Deco.  This was a challenge for me. First I searched Google for some art deco images. There was a print that reminded me of a page from a Recollections paper pad.  I do know there is a lot of gold in art deco. 

The card base is from SU. I have had them for several years so I am sure they are retired. It is preprinted with the gold edge. The designer paper is from Recollections. The sentiment is an old SU one embossed with gold and die cute in a hexagon shape. The decor is a premade gold frame and leaves. They were in a bag in my stash and unlabeled so I cant credit them. Amazing what you can find when you go searching through that mountain of stuff.

Also adding to The Negleced Stuff Challenge.  The card base and gold frames both qualify for neglected.

Graduation

 Can you believe it is near the end of another school year and almost time for graduations. When making graduation cards I like to use the school colors. Our local high school colors are red, white, and blue.

The mortarboard embossing folder is unlabeled. I used layers of red white and blue. The congrats is an old wood block stamp. I added some red and blue punched stars for accents. The black mortarboard is a sticker.

I'm playing along with  Darnell with her I.D.E.A.S plan,  this week being embossing.

And Can You Handle The Pressure I've used the anything goes but did not add the twist of rainbows or rainbow colors

Matchbook Fold

 The new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz is fancy folds

I've used  matchbook fold.

I used all retired DSP from SU.  I fussy cut the tools from one of the papers.

Here is the opened inside view.

One hint. So the twine would not slip off, I cut a small notch on each edge. If you use a ribbon, you can put a small glue dot or double stick tape in the back to seure the ribbon.

Neglected Stuff Challenge is a new challenge for me. The premise is to use stuff laying around in your craft space that need some love again. 

There comes a time when you have to stop creating and spend some time cleaning. That is what I have been doing. I found some cards from a Memories and More card pack from SU. The label is long gone so I don't know the name of the set.

I love blues and this image just spoke Mother's Day to me. The background DSP is also SU. I made a banner of the sentiment by adding a foam square in the center and glue dots on the ends 

Mother's Day

I am furiously making Mother's Day cards for Send A Smile 4 Kids . This month their challenge is to use a sketch. So I pulled up this from Sketch Saturday        

My card is made with bits from my stash.

The sentiment is popped up with foam squares. The butterfly is on one of those jiggly things--I forgot what they are called. I think the kids will have fun with it.

Let's Craft and Create challenge is add flowers.

Paper Funday Challenges. anything with the letter B

Mother's Day

 In order for special cards to get to the kids on time, we have to be thinking ahead to the next occasion at Send A Smile 4 Kids So, I am working on some Mother's Day cards that the kids will select for their Mothers.

This one, I am linking up to Cardz 4 Galz  where the challenge is stripes.

The pattern in the Perennial Lavender  paper from SU represents the stripes. The circle bouquet is from a pad by Recolletions. The sentiment is  also SU.  I added a bow to the top and then 3 purple gems for accernts.

Toys for Guyz

 My husband aways call tools his toys. I'm sure you've heard the expression "the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys."  He certainly has fun playing with his toys.

 So I think my card will be good for the challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz Fun and Games.

I used a Kraft base, die cut a 2 1/2" square and then embossed it with a wood E/F. The papers are all scraps of a retired DSP collection. The tools (toys) are all stickers I found in my stash.

Here is how the card opens.

I don't know if this fold has a certain designation or not. I was inspired by Brian King. at stampwithbrian.com You can see his gorgeous floral card here. He gives the measurement and instructions for the card. Maybe we can call it the king fold. 

Flowers and Butterflies

I am so ready for flowers and butterflies. Mother Nature just doesn't want to let go of the cold, drizzly weather . At least I think we are past snow.

I pulled out some patterns from a Recollections paper pad. In spite of Mother Nature, we will have butterflies.

The card base is Mossy Meadow by SU. The background paper is covered with leaves.. The center banner is cropped form a butterfly page. Behind the banner is a strip of vanilla. Then a circle of a green printed vellum. On top is a butterfly from Simple Stories ephemera pack. The butterfly is secured with glue dots in the center and small bit of foam tape to elevate the wings. I finished off with 3 irridescent gems around the butterfly.

The design is by Freshly Make Sketches

Also entering at Hand Stamped Sentiments with this mood board, although I used more greens, I did use the butterfly.