Merry Monday Challenge #5

Hi!  Today I dusted off my City of David stamp set and got out the pewter embossing powder and ended up with this card.

  

I embossed the main image on some hunter green cardstock and matted it with some gold paper.  I embossed the sentiment in the corner with more pewter.  The base of the card is Sahara sand.  It looks so pretty in real life.  It's the last day of January, and I'm thrilled to have completed 4 out of 5 of the merry Monday sketch challenges, and even more, that I am finishing my Christmas cards with lots of time to spare.

Simplicity challenge

Susan's Simplicity challenge this week was to use grey and winter colors with a splash of color on a one layer card.  I wasn't sure what to do until my Like it a Latte set caught my attention.  I started stamping in 2005 and bought this one in 2006, and it quickly became a favorite. Today I used basic grey with some real red for the heart.  Simple, but I like it.  I need to use more of my old favorite stamp sets.

Freshly Made Sketches #19

Hi!  Happy Saturday!  I've been doing laundry all day long:  fun, fun!  In between loads, I've been working on a couple of challenges.  I finished the Freshly Made Sketch first.

I chose the Elizabeth stamp from Stampin Up for my focal point.  I think any sentiment would work here, but I decided to go with another thank you.  I used wisteria wonder, lucky limeade, and elegant eggplant for the colors.  I pulled out my oval punches and the scallop trim border.  I used the square lattice embossing folder for my line at the top.  I like doing these challenges:  it is challenging me to use some of my stamps that have been sitting on the shelf for a long time!

Mojo Monday 225

Hi!  Here's my Mojo Monday post for this week.  When I first looked at it, I had no idea what to do with it.  Once I started, Fox and Friends called to me, and I ended up with a birthday card.

I did two versions: one with ribbon behind the sentiment and this one with my trusty red glimmer paper.  This is the one I liked best.  I used Just Add Cake DSP with Fox and Friends and Bring on the Cake stamp sets.  For cardstock, I used whisper white and daffodil delight.  My inks were poppy parade, wild wasabi, early expresso, peach parfait, and real red.  My grandson will turn two in March, and I think this card will be for him.  Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Monday Challenge #4

Hello blogger friends!  I finished my card for the Merry Monday challenge several days ago, but I'm kind of slow about posting this week.  Anyway, here it is!

In my quest to use all my Christmas stash before I buy anything new, I took out this paper and stamp set I bought from Close to My Heart several years ago and haven't used much at all.  The stamp set is Holiday Jingle.  I used the matching DSP, some riding hood red cardstock with a touch of red glimmer paper.  I used CTMH tulip for the ink and added a little bling to the gift.    I'm so happy to see my Christmas card box filling up, with 11 more months to go.  Thanks for stopping by:  I appreciate your comments!

Freshly Made Sketches #18

 Good afternoon, blogger friends!  It's snowing here in Fort Wayne, so I've been a little distracted, but I managed to finished the Freshly Made sketch for this week.  When I looked at the sketch, I though of Valentine's Day and made this card using some more of the Stampin Up DSP I've been hoarding.  

I used real red, pirouette pink, and lucky limeade inks and cardstock.  I combined stamps from three sets:  Filled with Love, With all My Heart, and Bold Blossoms and punched out the hearts.  The paper has a little bit of sparkle to it already.  Easy and fun!

By the way, I love snow.  (and snow days!)

Merry Monday Challenge #3

Here is my third and final post for the night:  the Merry Monday Challenge #3.  I love the idea of making my Christmas cards throughout the year.  I'm usually such a procrastinator, and this makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something that I'll be able to use which will contribute to my stress free Christmas in 2012.  Such a great feeling!

Today I went for sparkle and shine!

For my paper, I used real red cardstock, Candy Cane Christmas DSP, red and silver glimmer paper, and whisper white.  I used the A Cute Christmas stamp set and Petite Pairs for the greeting.  I added a hint of dazzling details on the little trees, plus my clear star jelly roll pen.  In person it really sparkles!

I made several more cards of the same design with different colored cardstock backgrounds.  Fun!

And, I decided that this challenge is a wonderful way to put some unused Christmas stamps to the ink.  I'm going to try not to use the same stamp twice.  We'll see how that goes!  Thanks for stopping by!

Mojo Monday 224 and The Paper Players #78

 Two posts in one night:  wow!  I actually did three challenges today, so if I can get this one on, I may go for the third post.  I decided to combine these two sketches, and came up with this card.

I have to admit that I had trouble using blushing bride, pear pizzazz, and Calypso coral together.  At first I didn't know if I'd be able to use them at all since my stash of certain colors is getting low and pear pizzazz and Calypso coral are two of those colors.  Then I remembered my designer series stacks, and here is my card!  I used the Happiest Birthday Wishes for my sentiment, an embossing folder for the banner, and my two scallop punches and circle punches for the focal point.  I added a few basic pearls to give it even more of a feminine touch, and I'm ready for the next birthday that needs a card.  Thanks for stopping by!

One Layer Wednesday 75

Today I decided to try the one layer challenge over at Susan's Simplicity blog,  http://simplicitybylateblossom.blogspot.com/ .  I've admired her work ever since I discovered her blog a few months ago.  I like Susan's simple yet elegant style.  I do like to add layers to my cards, but most of the time, my goal in card making is to keep the card flat enough to fit in an A2 envelope and not have to pay extra postage.  There's a background story to go with this which I promise to share sometime when it isn't so late.  Anyway. . .

Today I decided to use an embossing folder by Cuttlebug, and that's about it.  I used soft suede cardstock and early expresso ink and was finished in less than 5 minutes.  When I showed the card to my husband, he thought it needed a little bit more.  I added a little bit of sponging and came up with card number 2.  Which one do you like better?

By the way, I was so happy to be the winner of the blog give away on Simplicity that I felt like I needed to show that I really do use my Cuttlebug folders.  Love them!

{Freshly Made} Sketches #17

Hello bloggers on this cold, snowy evening in Fort Wayne!  I finished my freshly made sketch just a little while ago and decided to post it while my bread finishes baking in the bread maker.  The house smells so good!

I like this weeks sketch a lot because I can see so many possibilities in it.  Since I need a birthday card, I decided to go with the flower in the Because I Care set.  I popped up the flower which I embossed and fancy cut with paper snips.  For my background, I cut out cherry cobbler strips, glued them on white cardstock, and used my stripes embossing folder.  I used the Happy Birthday sentiment in Something to Celebrate.  Finished!  (And I think my bread is about done, too!)

Mojo Monday 223

Happy Wednesday!  I'm posting my card for the Mojo Monday 223 challenge today, instead of waiting until the last minute.  I decided to try making a baby card using some of my nursery suite DSP.  I have a new great niece, Julie Jane, and I'm looking forward to a new grandchild in June so I am in need of baby cards.

I used the DSP for most of the paper on this card, adding blushing bride and marine mist for the backgrounds.  I also got out my scallop bunches and used Petite Pairs on the whisper white circles.  The only ink I used was perfect plum.  I like the way it turned out.  Now, I'm off to clean my desk before I take anymore pictures!

Merry Monday Challenge #2

Surprise!  It's Tuesday and here I am again.  I decided to play in the Merry Monday Challenge.  I love making and sending Christmas cards, so I like this idea of making one card a week.  Actually, I'm making multiple copies of each one because I send out a lot of cards, but 2-4 Christmas cards per week seems a lot less stressful than trying to do 50 in a week.

I have a lot of designer paper which I am trying to use up, so I'm not sure about the name of this paper, but I know I got it from Stampin Up.  I started with a white base, layered the red DSP on real red cardstock, and added the green DSP with a silver glimmer paper border.  My design is from the Pennant Parade stamp set with the sentiment from the Petite Pairs.  I added some silver embossing to the star and some dazzling diamonds to the tree.  (Please excuse my messy work area:  time to clean up or take the pictures somewhere else!)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone who reads this.   Hope everyone had a good first week of January.  I'm ready to play with sketch challenges today, and I finished two yesterday.  The first one I did was for the (Mojo) Monday 222 challenge.  I'm working on making thank you cards for gifts and decided to do a series of cards using Domestic Goddess paper from Stampin Up with the coordinating colors.

I used All Year Wishes 1 for the sentiment, with Calypso Coral, Daffodil delight, and pool party for the papers.


The second challenge is the {Freshly Made} Sketches challenge of the week.  I did another thank you card, this one more masculine.

This time I used Stampin Up's Well Worn paper for the background.  I also used river rock, soft suede, and whisper white.  I used the MDS Extreme element set to stamp the middle image and punched the other two out of the designer paper.  The embossed center panel was done using a Tim Holtz embossing folder.  The sentiment is from the Upsy Daisy set.