Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

On the Line, December Sketch



These cards are based on Kathy's current "On the Line" sketch  at The Sketch File. Since I got so busy last week with other life events, I didn't get around to posting so I'm posting both of my cards this week. I hope you'll be inspired to join us. I always enjoy seeing how other's interpret Kathy's sketches.

I hesitated about using the black background on a birthday card, but in the end I liked the results. You'll have to look closely at the background to see the embossed detail. I always find it challenging to take a photo of  embossing. I hand cut the series of banners and used a punch to create black circles of various sizes. For the second card, I used a new bell and sentiment die from Lil'Inker Designs. I absolutely love these dies! I learned that the metallic paper is easier to work with if I adhere it to cardstock before running it through the die cut machine.

Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Cardstock: Recollection: Scraps of patterned paper, DMC Embroidery Thread,  Happy Birthday Sentiment Stampin' Up, Gold Thread, Lil'Inker Designs Dies, Highgloss Metallic Paper, Scotch ATG, Darice Embossing Folder


Monday, December 2, 2013

Patterned Paper Snowflakes

Are you getting tired of seeing my Christmas Thank You cards?  I hope not. As you can see the thank you challenge at  Jingle Belles has me on a card making roll.  I woke up this morning with many ideas rolling around in my head and got right to work putting the cards together. This card was made using a few snowflake punches and patterned paper. I used dimensional adhesive between each of the layered snowflakes, adhered them to a red mat and added the stitch line with a gel pen. I printed the sentiment on cardstock and positioned it diagonally on the mat.  I have a few more thank you card ideas that I'm still considering, but I've got to take a break and get some errands out of the way first!
I haven't even showered yet and it's almost 10:00 am!

Thanks for stopping by! 
Happy Monday!


TREEmendous Thank You

I love that I am going to have a bunch of Christmas thank yous all ready for my son to use after the holidays. I owe a big thank you to Steph and Lauren at Jingle Belles because they have inspired me with the current Thank You theme.  For this card, I typed the words thank you into a shape of a tree using MS WORD and inserted a star at the top of the tree. I printed it, wrapped twine around the top and bottom and matted it on green cardstock and then adhered this to the cardbase. 

Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Cardstock: Bazzill, MS WORD, Twine: The Twinery, Scotch ATG Adhesive


Many Thanks


Lauren & Steph at Jingle Belles really inspired me with the current Thank You challenge. This thank you card is another quick and easy idea. I used a die cut machine to cut the snowflake, added a punched tag with a stamped sentiment and adhered it to the cardbase.

Cardbase: DCWV, Cardstock: Recollections, Stamp: Stampin' Up, Gold thread, Scotch ATG Adhesive, Studio G Ink

Another EASY PEASY Thank You


For those of you who follow the Jingle Belles blog, you know that the current theme is Christmas Thank Yous.  As I mentioned in my last post, using photos is one way I create simply thank yous. This card is another example. This time I used a photo of a handmade ornament.  I simply crop the photo, add a sentiment with Photoshop Elements, print it and adhere it to a card base. So simple!

Christmas Thank Yous

The current THANK YOU theme at  Jingle Belles has me thinking about one of the fastest ways I know to create a thank you card. I suggest beginning with an old Christmas photo and adding a bit of detail. For example, I took a photo of my family standing in front of our Christmas tree and played around a bit with the color using Photo Shop Elements.  I simply matted the photos and added a thank you sentiment directly onto the first photo (yellowish one) and added a printed banner to the second one.  Easy peasy!

Lots of Balloons


This is another card based on the November sketch at The Sketch File. It's a very loose interpretation of the sketch but I tend to do that with Kathy's Sketches. Since it's December, there will be a new sketch up in a few days. I hope you will hop over and see what you think of it and create a project to link up with us.

Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Cardstock: Bazzill, Balloon Stamp: Stampin' Up, Balloon Border Stamp: Provo Craft, Sentiment: Stampin' Up, DMC Embroidery thread, Studio G Ink, Scotch ATG Adhesive, EK Success Markers

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Inspired by a Sketch




After an emergency trip across the country last week,
Sketch_231I returned home to find the bits and pieces of this card still sitting on my craft table. I had started to put the card together but was called away because of medical issues with one of my brothers. The card is based on sketch #231 at Unscripted Sketches.



Stressful Week


This past week was very stressful. I ended up flying across the country to spend some time with my brother who was in ICU for a few days. He's home now, but has some critical care issues that need to be addressed 24 hours a day (indefinitely). It was a stressful trip and I worry that he won't get the care he so needs. When I returned home, I had to get my mind off him so I played with paper and created a few cards. This card came together very quickly.  I used ink to create the sky background, using a punched circle to mask the area where the moon sits in the sky. Then I added the stamped trees in the foreground. The tree stamp is from Inkadinkado. It's one of my favorite stamps. I printed the sentiment directly onto the cardbase using my computer, matted the scene on black cardstock and adhered it to the cardbase.  I love the calm, peaceful feeling created by the snowy scene but more importantly, I appreciate the distraction a bit of card making provides during this stressful time.

Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Ink: Studio G, Stamp: Inkadinkado, Cardstock: Recollections, Adhesive: Scotch ATG

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

"Bits & Pieces" November Sketch

It always surprises me at how many different ways a sketch can be interpreted and I often wonder if you can still see the sketch in my creations. This birthday card is a typical example. I  used Kathy's "Bits and Pieces" November sketch from the The Sketch File. Lately Kathy has been challenging our design team with multi-layered sketches, which I often find challenging. How about you? Do you love the multi-layered sketches or are you like me and have to work at being creative with them? Either way,  I hope you will be inspired and will link up a card or two with us over at the The Sketch File.



Sunday, November 10, 2013

Full of Joy

This is my second card for the current sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. I used a chevron embossed background and added tiny holes with a needle. Next I punched snowflakes and die cut the word joy three times from patterned paper and red cardstock. I layered the snowflakes on a wavy strip of red and white cardstock. 


Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Cardstock: Bazzill, (red/green), white (scrap), Joy die cut: Lil' Inker Designs, Snowflake punch: Emagination, Darice Chevron Embossing Folder, Needle, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive, Scotch ATG

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Love these DIES!


I finally found time to put together another card. This one is for the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. I haven't played along with a challenge there for a while, but I just couldn't resist creating with the incredible sketch. I knew that the layout would work perfectly with my new Lil' Inker Designs jingle bell dies. They are fabulous!!!! I simply adhered metallic paper to a piece of cardstock than ran the paper and die through my Fiskar's Fuse. The jingle bells came out perfect every time!  I adhered them to an embossed mat  with dimensional adhesive, then added the horizontal strip of ribbon and cardstock that I wrapped with metallic threads.

Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Cardstock: Bazzil, Dies: Lil' Inker Designs, Adhesive: Scotch ATG, Metallic threads, Ribbon: Offray, Embossing Folder: Spellbinders, Die cut machine: Fiskars Fuse, Dimensional Adhesive: EK Success

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

November Sketch File Challenge

In the little corner of the USA where I live, it is suppose to be AUTUMN. You'd never know that from the weather we've had since the beginning of October. We've had one snow storm after another and we are currently buried under several inches of snow. In a typical fall, it would melt off before another snow storm hit, but this snow doesn't look like it is going anywhere. With all these snow storms surrounding me, I decided to make a card that looked a bit more like summer. I used our current sketch from The Sketch File and lots of lady bug images. If you hop on over to The Sketch File, you'll see that Kathy has also posted her card. I hope you'll be inspired enough to play along with us at the The Sketch File.




Saturday, November 2, 2013

Paper Bead Necklaces


I recently tried my hand at making paper beads. I found it to be a slow process, but also very relaxing.

The first photo shows my first attempt at making a necklace from the hand made beads. I chose decorative papers that have fall colors. In the end, I really liked the mix of colors and have worn the necklace to work. One of my colleagues really liked it so I decided to create a second one with coral colored papers for her. This time I added small silver spacers between each of the handmade paper beads. I think the spacers add a bit of elegance that my first attempt lacked.


The last necklace  is a combination of left over beads and a few newer ones.
I included the spacers on this one as well, but I am not as happy with the mix of colors.

I am so glad I finally got around to trying these paper beads. It's one of those crafts that has been around for a very long time. I think I might even experiment a bit more to see what other bead shapes I can create.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

October Sketch File


It's the final week for the October sketch inspiration at The Sketch File. I hope you have been stopping by to take a peek and have been inspired to create a card or two with Kathy's sketch. We would love to see what you've created so be sure to link up with us at The Sketch File. Here's another look at the sketch. As you can see, I decided to turn it to create my Halloween card.  I hand made bats (added a layer of paint to them)and cut ghosts to represent the circles then used strips of decorative paper and decorative tape for the other elements.

Supplies: Cardbase: DCWV, Cardstock: scraps from my stash, Darice Decorative tape, Duncan acrylic paint, Scotch ATG







Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Meeting in the Meadow

Here's another card for the Creature challenge at Jingle Belles. This time I used a Tim Holtz die to create two doe, then added detail with colored pencils and markers. Next I  stamped and painted a sunrise scene, created two wreaths from punched holly leaves and glitter and hung them around each neck.To finish, I punched holes around three of the outer edges using a needle.

Supplies: Recollections Cardbase, Core'dinations Cardstock, Tim Holtz Die, Ek Success Holly Punch, Studio G Glitter Glue, Crayola Colored Pencils, Studio G Ink, Paint Masters Acrylic paint, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive, Needle, MS Word, Inkadinkado tree stamp, Memento Ink

Santa Owls

I put this card together for the Creature challenge over at Jingle Belles. I cut the owls with a die and then handcut some Santa hats and a matching vest. The tree is torn paper with puff paint snow with a bit of sheer shimmer spritz over the top.

Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Cardstock: Bazzill (green), Core'dinations (brown), Puff Paint: Duncan,Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive, Scotch ATG

Monday, October 28, 2013

Santa's Suit

If you follow my blog, you probably noticed that I participating in fewer challenges and am posting less often lately. My NEW job is the culprit. It is so totally different than any job I've ever done and there is a huge learning curve for me. I think it will be a fun job once I learn all the intricacies and have an opportunity to practice what I'm learning, but the truth is, I come home exhausted and just don't have the energy to craft. I am currently traveling a few hours a day for training and it takes its tole. So, I am hoping that I can get into my studio on the weekends and play catch up. After spending 5 days a week in an office setting, I am also eager to be on the move.  There is a lot of sitting behind a desk in the new job, which I am not used to. So in addition to crafting, I am also eager to be on the move on the weekends and really need to take advantage of the pleasant fall weather while I can. We've already had four snow storms since the beginning of October and I am eager to be on the move and spend time outside hiking, biking etc. So before the sun had a chance to rise this morning, I spent a few moments putting together another Christmas card. I've already made enough Christmas cards to send out this year, so I guess this one will be for NEXT YEAR!
I used a recycled Santa image from an old Christmas card to represent the buckle on the belt. I cut the image into an oval shape, stitched around it with embroidery thread then matted it on black than silver cardstock. 


Supplies:
Cardstock: Recollections, Brads, Recycled Santa image, Polyfil, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive and Scotch ATG, DMC Embroidery thread



Tuesday, October 22, 2013

October Inspiration

It's Tuesday and that means that Kathy, over at The Sketch File has posted more inspiration from our design team. I hope you'll hop on over and take a peek. If you feel inspired by the current sketch, we'd love for you to link up your creation. As you can see from my card, there is plenty of room for interpretation.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Another one for Pink...for the Cure

This is my second card for the Pink holiday card challenge at Jingle Belles. Why are Lauren and Steph prompting us to use Pink?  It's their way of honoring all the brave men and women who have battled breast cancer. This is the third anniversary of their PINK challenge and there it's a create way help a good cause. For each card that we create, Steph and Lauren will each donate $2 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation which means the foundation will receive $4 for each card we link up. 

For this card, I used a piece of white cardstock and stamped a snowflake background with pink ink. Next I ran it through the crimper, then made the center medallion with layers of pink patterned paper and a spell binders die.  I also wrapped green embroidery thread around the medallion and layered snowflakes over the top of this. I finished by spritzing the snowflakes with Tsukineko Shrimmer Spritz.


Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Cardstock: Recollections, Snowflake Stamp: Stacey's Stamp: Triangle of Snowflakes, Studio G Ink, Marvy Uchida Crimper, Emagination & EK Success Snowflake punches, EMC Embroidery thread, Spellbinders Die, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive, Scotch ATG. Pink Cardstock: DCWV, Patterned Paper: Echo Park: Happy Days

Pink ....for the Cure

The ladies at Jingle Belles are thinking PINK this month. It's their way of honoring all the brave men and women who have battled breast cancer. This is the third anniversary of their PINK challenge and there is an added incentive for all of us to create "PINK" holiday cards. For each card that we create, Steph and Lauren will each donate $2 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. WOW! This means that the foundation will receive $4 for each card we link up AND we can link up as often as we wish. So, this is my first card. It has a pink checkered patterned paper for the background and it is matted on a darker pink cardstock. To break up the pink, I added a white wreath with green gems. The sentiment is matted with a foil paper (hard to see that in my photo).  I'm off to create another card!

                         

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

October at The Sketch File



I hope you'll join us over at The Sketch File.  Kathy's current sketch is fabulous and we'd love to see what you create with it. We will use the same sketch all month long so you have plenty of time to play along.  As you can see, I've created a Christmas themed card. To create the pine cones, I used a pine cone punch then layered lots and lots of tiny circles onto each pine cone.  I added a bit of ink on each pine cone. I cut a strip of pattern and a strip of embossed paper into banners and used the words NOEL to represent the circles in Kathy's sketch.
            

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

One More!

This is my second card for the sketch challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. I inked four white squares with blue ink, creating a sky then added stamped trees. I mounted each square on black cardstock and adhered them to a cardbase. For the center piece, I decided to keep the "tree" theme going and created a wreath with punched boughs. I layered the wreath onto a white circle and mounted the white circle and wreath onto a blue circle, then a larger black circle. On the inside edge of the blue circle, I punched small squares and then threaded a piece of embroidery thread though the squares. I added gems and a bow to the wreath and printed the sentiment onto an inked banner.

Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Stamp: Inkadinkado, Gems: Queen & Co., DMC Embroidery Thread, Studio G Ink, Recollections Cardstock, Memento Ink, Scotch ATG, EK Success Punch

Santa

A few scraps, a great sketch and a wee bit of time was all that I needed to pull this Christmas card together. The sketch is from 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  I began by punching a green circle and then used a holly punch to punch around the inside edge. I adhered this to a white circle.  I printed and colored in a Santa image and layered it over the green and white circles. I adhered Santa over green scrap pieces of patterned paper that I cut into squares and added a quick stitch line with a marker.

Supplies: Cardbase: Recollections, Patterned Paper Scraps: ? from my stash, , Crayola Colored Pencils, Santa Image: Stamp-n-doodle.comAdhesive: Scotch ATG, Punches: Ek Success

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Two for the October Sketch



Please join us over at The Sketch File, Kathy has the new sketch up and ready and we'd love to see how you are inspired by it. There's also ongoing inspiration throughout the month. Each week we'll share new creations based on the sketch. For now, I am sharing these two cards...look for others as the month progresses.

Thanks for stopping by!



Monday, October 7, 2013

Stitching Away

When I created this cover for a mini baby album, I found myself
stitching away at my sewing machine. I love to play around with all the various stitches on my machine. I used the September sketch from the The Sketch File for inspiration and handcut all the tiny embellishments from bits of scrap paper and cardstocks.
Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill, Recollections, Scraps from my stash,  Janome Sewing Machine, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive