Waffle Flower Challenge

I've been playing with my Waffle Flower Crafts stamps. I know that you've seen me use this set many times. It's a favorite of mine. 

Waffle Flower Crafts is currently hosting a photo challenge here and I wanted to play along. This is the inspiration photo. Isn't that room gorgeous? I am in love with those walls.

I had originally intended on making three flowers and using all of the colors, but it became too busy, so I edited it to two flowers of the same color. A bit of gold glitter embossing gave it some shine.

As always, I appreciate you visiting my blog. Have a great day!

Happy-Little-Bird

I adore the birdcage from the Artistic Outpost Birds of a Feather plate.  I've used it many, many times and it's one of my favorite go-to stamps.  So when I saw the Mission Impossible challenge at 365 cards, I just grabbed my stamp and I had it done in less than 10 minutes.  Easy? oh yeah.

 

The background paper with the bird is one of those "freebies" that comes as a magazine insert.  It's been hiding out in my scrap box for a long, long time. 

I am linking this to the monthly Artistic Outpost referral program. (I won one of these once and received the most AMAZING prize from them! They are very, very kind and generous!)  And I am also linking to the Simon Says Stamp "Happy Mail" challenge.



1, 2, 3...Fly

I love the challenges at 365 Cards. Today's challenge is to create a card using 1 technique,

2 stickers and 3 embellishments.  I may have stretched things a bit because I used the two postage stamps as my stickers.  (For the record, they did still have sticky on the back!) I used the decorative brads and twine as my embellishments. The bird stamp is an oldie but a goodie from Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers.  The paper is from Crate Paper.

 

 

I was also inspired by the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: Fly.  I am a bit obsessed by the whole postal theme, which is a big influence for me right now.  And as usual, I love vintage! :)

 



 

color my life

I did it!  I completed a week's worth of challenges this week!  Today's challenge at 365 Cards was to create a card with splatters.  Getting inky is always fun, so I used the Paper Smooches I Heart Art stamp set with some re-inkers and ink spray on Maggie Holmes Paper.  This was a huge stretch for me.  So "THANK YOU!" for the inspiration.

 

I am also linking this to the current Simon Says Stamp Challenge. Now you'll have to excuse me while I clean up a week's worth of mess. ;)

 



Country Outpost

For day four in my week's worth of challenges, I took the challenge "Word Wednesday" at 365 Cards.  The word was "Country". 

 

This card was created using The Outpost stamp set from Artistic Outpost and Ranger Distress Inks.  I am also linking this to the Artistic Outpost March Referral Program.

color challenge

This week Paper Smooches is holding a Cool Shades challenge, where inspiration is drawn from colors. I used a couple of their new sets for this card.  I used Leafy Greens and Tri-balation. 

 

 

The color story is inspired by "Carnival".  The colors are Chocolate, Cream, Aqua, Cherry Red. And of course I had to put my own spin on it, so it's a loose interpretation. :) 

 

In case you were wondering, I cut out pieces of the stamped leaf image with my trusty old exacto knife.  I also added some details with a black pen.  The background was made from a Tim Holtz embossing folder and the lacey cut-out was cut with my cricut. 

Yeah...I had fun! :)

 

 

 

  

 

Šablóna Challenge

As I mentioned earlier, last week was Winterfest at Two Peas in a Bucket.  One of the challenges was a stencil challenge.  (Šablóna is the slovak word for stencil.) The challenge was hosted by Anne Gaal.  Anne created a lovely video on using distress stains and stencils to create a  patterned background.  You can view that video here.

For this card, I used the inks, rather than the stains. First I inked up some paper with "squeezed lemonade" (yellow) distress ink. Then I used a dylusions 5x8 "Number Jumble" stencil from ranger and inked it with "wild honey" ink. Then I shifted the stencil slightly up and to the left and inked it again with "vintage photo" (brown). This gave the off-set look. Then the background looked blah so I lightly inked the triangular design on the edge of the stencil over the top. But in hindsight, I wish that I had done that step first. The quote came from a Tim Hotz Stampers Anonymous "Life's Possibilites" clear set. And I used a Martha Stewart corner punch to get that "arch" on the sentiment mat. I like mixing Tim Holtz and Martha Stewart products because they seem such complete opposites. I would love to see them actually work together. I imagine Martha saying, "Tim, don't you think that you've used enough of that grunge stuff? Eww"!

Sweet Silhouettes

The Shabby Tea Room is hosting a "Sweet Silhouette" challenge to use a silhouette as the focal point.  I love silhouettes!  I always have.  In fact, when my children were babies, I was lucky enough to have Tim Arnold, who is considered America's premier silhouette artist, craft silhouettes of my sons.  He is amazing!  He will sit and look at his subject, and then start cutting free-hand.  It is incredible! 

This card was created with a stamped image from Hero Arts. I fussy cut around it, adhered it to a antique book page and added a vintage flower. I used gold, dreden foil accents on the card. I love the pretty foil pieces, but they photograph horribly. I also used some Martha Stewart glitter paint to dress up the chipboard frame.  I do love glitter!

 

I challenge you!

I am hosting a stamping challenge during Winterfest 13 at Two Peas in a bucket.  Winterfest is a week-long online festival of games and challenges. Curious? You can find out more about my Little-Known Consequences Challenge here.

 For my challenge sample, I used the Artistic Outpost Ephemera Background plate as well as the Outpost plate.  Artistic Outpost has a monthly referal program where you can link up your Artistic Outpost projects in hopes of winning awesome stampy prizes!

Orange Hello!

Today's card was inspired from the Paper Smooches Sparks Picture Perfect Challenge photo you see below.  Photo challenges are so much fun, and I am humbled by the talented contributors who entered this weeks challenge. So many amazing entries!  It really is worth looking at. This isn't one of my "best" cards, but it was one that I had a ton of fun with.  Sometimes I forget how fun embossing is!

I embossed orange ink on vellum using the Potpourri stamp set, which was perfect for the photo.  And I used the same stamp set with Versamark ink on the tan "hello" banner.  The patterned paper is an old Halloween line from Websters Pages.  I love that print!

 

Oh!  And remember this?

Yes, that's what I used to punch the "hello" letters from the woodgrain paper.  Old-school, isn't it?  LOL! I told you that I had fun!  :)

 



 

 



I took a class called Journey Into Card Making Mini Workshop with Julie Campbell at Two Peas in a Bucket and I loved it!  One of the design principles was symmetry.  I explored symmetry just recently in this post here and really enjoyed it.  Julie inspired me to try it again.  And with Valentines Day fast approaching, I incorporated the City Crafter Challenge Blog's challenge (Week 143 ~ Forever Mine) to incorporate hearts into the design.

 

 

I love the little meter and wanted to make that the focus even though it's tiny.  I actually purchased Echo Park's entire package of brads just for that little meter! :)  The rest of the items are a mish-mash of product.  I painted and glittered a small chipboard frame.  There's a vintage scrap of foreign text from a book and some Jolees heart embellishment hearts, as well as a Basic Grey sticker.



More Smooches

I had to participate in this week's Paper Smooches Sparks challenge.  They used an awesome vintage graphic, which I adore for inspiration.  The problem?  I don't really own that many Paper Smooches sets yet. (notice the word yet)  So I had to make do with what I had on hand at the moment.  And then I remembered a technique used by stamping guru, Kristina Werner, using the Potpourri Stamp set and voila!  Here's my submission for the challenge:

The background is a Jenni Bowlin paper.  I love using it as an element, but for this, I didn't want it to be the prominent feature of the card.  I like the little finger holes made with a hand punch. :)  It reminded me of the rotary dial holes in the old phones.  And the sentiment?  It is a portion of a sentiment in the Cyber Cafe set

Isn't this graphic awesome?

Boy, I just love a challenge! :)

I really, really do LOVE a challenge! 
My "baby" is 21 years old today.  (Happy Birthday Anna!)  And 2013 is off to a great start.  This year will be a year that I challenge myself to be even more creative.

I am not really a "cutesy" paper-crafter.  Now, whimsical, that's another story.  And I love these paper Smooches stamps.  My "Grey City" was done with the Metropolis stamp set for the "Anything Goes" Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge.

And in the future, you will be seeing even more very soon.  My wonderful son gave my two new Paper Smooches stamp sets for Christmas that I haven't even opened yet.  Isn't he a sweetie?

Time Flies

I love the latest sketch at Let's Get Sketchy.  I've been wanting to use it ever since they posted it, but the holidays and lack of power prevented me from to getting to it earlier.
This layout incorporates a mish-mash of products.  I had an old Heidi Swapp clock face that I've been meaning to use.  There's some "On Trend" Crate Paper, some Echo Park "For the Record", and some Prima and Pink Paislee too.  And I had to include some stamping as well. :)

And to compensate for my inadequate photography skills, here's some close-ups.

 

Beauty in Symmetry

Christmas is less than a week away!  And what am I doing?  Playing with paper! lol  Oh well...

I love a challenge and at Use Your Stuff they have a great Symmetry challenge.  So I pulled out my Cricut with the intentions of creating a snowflake, but it morphed into this instead.  Which I am okay with.  It will make a great Thank-You note after the holidays.

Thanks for looking!

 

Sisters can be challenging :)

I've been working on this project where I'm scrapping old photos in an 8x8 layout.  The photos have been challenging to work with because they aren't photos that I would normally choose.  But they are photos that I have an emotional attachment too.  I've been using blog sites and sketches for most of these layouts since I find them "difficult" to work with.  I keep reminding myself that sometimes "done is better than perfect".  The layout below was inspired by a couple blogs. At Use Your Stuff Challenge #63 is to create a project using older pictures, using some of the amazing retro themed product lines out there, or just by using old-school stuff in your stash.  Perfect for my ongoing project with older photos!  And the October Afternoon "Make it Merry" line helped provide some retro vibe.  The great ladies at The Paper Mixing Bowl have provided a delicious"recipe" this month for a holiday themed layout.  It's called "Christmas Pudding".  How cute is that? 

Winter Wonderland

At the Two peas in a Bucket stamping forum, there was an unusual swap that I participated in.  Each participant was asked to make a project to send to their swap partner and along with the project, they were to send a "kit" made up with the items used so said partner could make the exact project or add their own spin to it.  It reminded of the "telephone game" that we played as kids.  Below is my project that was submitted to my swap partner.

 

I used stuff from my stash for this project.  The deer was a chipboard piece covered in glitter and coated with diamond glaze.  The child stamp is one of my all-time favorites from PaperArtsy that I've had for years.  I also wanted to submit this to the Shopping our Stash Challenge 80, which is to create something related to a winter holiday- Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, etc. or simply do something with snow/winter themed components.

 



Rose, Eucalyptus, and Slate

I love a challenge! At The Play Date Cafe there is a color challenge using these colors:

I think I was drawn to it because I needed a break from the oranges and browns of fall (even though they are my absolute favorite) and the greens and reds of Christmas that came early this year.  I tried to use Rose, Eucalyptus, and Slate.  The colors are little "bluer" because I take rotten photos. :)

 

 

 

Stamp Blast from the Past...Thinking of you Sketch

At Pamela's World of Scraps there was a fun sketch challenge for both cards and scrapbook layouts.  I used the BasicGrey Serenade papers and an old stamp I purchased years ago for the card sketch.  The stamp is from a "Paper Ornaments" sheet of rubber designed by Nina Bagley.  The stamp originally said, "a new-found friend", but I covered that part up with a Jillibean Soup wooden flag embellishment.  I love those little flags, even though the printing on them is a little "off".

National Cardmaking Day!

In honor of National Cardmaking Day, which was yesterday, I created a new card.

The card was made from a sketch I used from the weekly challenge at Two Peas in a Bucket.   I LOVE this sketch! The card was easy and a lot of fun with my new stamps from Paper Smooches.

In case you're wondering why its been a LONG time since I posted. Over a year ago, I was happy posting about my awesome deals and freebies, but I had some dental work done and when I came home from the dentist and was prompted to create a more secure email password, so I did....even though I was taking the pain killers. And to make a long story short, I hadn't been able to access that email account or the blog.  But after a LOT of searching, I figured it out!  YAY!  So now I can share again!  And this time I'd like to include my creative endeavors.  So please feel free to post a message.