Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Keeping cool!

It's gonna' be a hot, sticky day here in Northeast PA.  But I'm not complaining!  Just a few short months ago I was looking at this:


Bring it summer.  I'm ready.

But, if you're hot, here's another image to keep you cool!


These penguins are just too cute for words!  Another image from the Newton's Nook Wild Child set.  To make the background, well technically the foreground, I embossed some snowflakes on watercolor paper then did a resist watercolor using Tim Holtz Broken China and Faded Jeans inks.  I punched a scallop circle in the corner then mounted it on some white card stock on which I had stamped and colored my image. I added some diamond Stickles on some of the snowflakes to add just a little bit of shimmer.  So cute!

Feeling cooler now?  Christmas is only 183 days away!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Going in Circles!

As soon as I saw Operation Write Home's sketch challenge for yesterday, my mind started to run in circles.


I almost immediately knew what I wanted to do!  I decided to make the circles into windows with the little insects from  Close to My Heart's Buggy Love stamp set peeking out.  I have the green card stock on dimensional adhesive to help make the circles feel more like windows.  These cute insects add a touch of whimsy to the card. Just too stinkin' cute.  I added some Wink of Stella to the each insect for a little shimmer.  I'll probably recreate this in layers for submission to OWH and also without the Wink of Stella, but I was happy how this one turned out!


Saturday, June 14, 2014

Happy Flag Day

I wrote a couple weeks back how I wanted to start making cards to send to Operation Write Home. Well, I am happy to report that I'm making steady progress in that endeavor and my goal is to have a box full of cards to send by the end of the summer.  (I'm hoping before, but I'm trying to be realistic with my time, or lack thereof!)

Anyway, one of OWH's needs is for Missing You cards, which was the inspiration for this card.  I thought the map paper from American Crafts DIY Shop 6 x 6 paper pad was the perfect backdrop for a "missing you" card for one of our heroes. The stamp is one one of those dollar Studio G stamps I picked up at Walmart.

I hope the card one day will find its way to someone and brighten their day!


Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Celebrate!

Time to celebrate! Why?  Well, it's my coworker's birthday for one, and as usual, I got pegged to make the card!  Keeping with the "why are men so difficult?" theme, I kept it somewhat clean and simple.


Happy Birthday Jeff, hope it's a great one!

I'm also celebrating because once again I was honored by Newton's Nook Designs when my Wild Thing card was picked as a "top pick" in Newton's Nook Inky Paws challenge #10.  Again, I am  humbled and honored, but I have to give all the credit to the stamps, they make it easy to be creative! 

Monday, June 9, 2014

Gloomy Monday

It's a gloomy Monday morning here is Northeast PA.   After a sun filled weekend it's hard to go back to work when it's dreary.  So I'll turn my thoughts to rainbows.

I decided to play along with CAS(E) this Sketch again.  Here is this week's sketch challenge.



I decided on a simple one layer card with lots of stamping and lots of colors using my Oodles of Doodles stamp set.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this set?  



Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Beautiful

I took a look at CASE This Sketch Challenge #78 a few days ago, shook my head and said "nope I could never come up with something for that sketch!"  I closed the page and went on my merry way.  BUT, the thought of the sketch kept popping up, taunting me, daring me to get out of my comfort zone and take the plunge.  It was like Darth Vader trying to lure Luke Skywalker to the dark side.  I tried to resist, but the force was just too strong and unlike Luke, I succumbed to its temptation.

So here is the sketch in question.



I decided to try some stenciling with this card, something I've only tried previously a few times with lackluster results (or at least lackluster to me).

I pulled out my Mariposa stencil from Crafter's Workshop and my Whimsy Exclusive Inks Mini Pigment Pads Set from Close to My Heart and some sponge daubers and inked away. I love the feeling of pulling up the stencil and seeing how it turned out on the card - exhilarating yet frightening at the same time.  Once I got all the butterflies stenciled on the side of the card, I wasn't too happy with all the white, so I got out my Tim Holtz Broken China ink, watered it down on my craft mat, loaded up my paintbrush and flicked away.  Then I finished it off with a greeting from Little Yellow Bicycle. I think if I made this card again I'd mask off the butterflies, but I was still happy with the results.






Monday, June 2, 2014

Sunday, Fun-day!

Yesterday afternoon I was able to escape reality for a bit and spent a couple hours with two fellow card makers.  It is always nice to create with others who "get it" and share your passion.  I was sad when our impromptu session ended, but I was able to get two cards complete!  Yeah me!

I made this card for two challenges - Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge  and Newton's Nook Inky Paws challenge .  You already know how I feel about Newton's Nook Designs, but how stinkin' cute is this image??  It's from the Wild Child stamp set.  You should really hop on over to Newton's Nook Designs and check out all their stamp sets! 

Anyway, the challenge was to use wood, cork or metal in a project.  I thought this wood grain paper worked perfectly as the background for this card.  I used my Prismacolor Pencils to color the image and sponged the "sky" in the background to give the image some texture.  The sketch was the perfect way to highlight this cute image.  



Now it's Monday morning and it's back to the harsh reality of life.  I'll post my other card tomorrow.  Still needs some details that I'm hoping to work on tonight!

Thanks for visiting!