The Sky's the Limit

The current sketch at Skipping Stones Design is fabulous.  I really, really liked the floral image that was on the sketch, but since I make a lot of floral cards, I created a kite instead.  My card began with the kite and some scrap pieces of patterned paper. I cut a diamond shape from cardstock and adhered the patterned papers to it. The cross pieces were cut from the same green cardstock that I  used to mat the kite.  I added green embroidery thread for a tail and mounted the kite with dimensional adhesive onto a cloud background that I created with chalk. Using my sewing machine, I stitched around the outer edge of the cloud circle then pulled the stitching away leaving the pointed edge.  I matted the cloud paper and the kite onto a piece of green embossed paper and printed the sentiment onto white cardstock  then cut around the words creating a cloud shape.

Supplies:
Background paper: K&Company Embossed Specialty Paper
Striped patterned paper: Oriental Trading Christmas Stack
Light green marbleized patterned paper, designed by my son
White cardsock
White card base
Blue Chalk and Sponge
Eraser

Pin so I can WIN!

I created this paper bag mini album for a contest at Crafts Unleashed.  The challenge was to use a lunch bag, pencil box or both to create a Back to School craft.  I started by creating a paper bag album and decorated it with cardstock from DCWV Grade School Collection as well as many hand made embellishments.  Below are the inside pages.  Please visit Pinterest. If I get a lot of pins I could win!

Relax....Put your feet up!

Relaxation....that's what this card is all about and that's exactly what the challenge at  CASology is all about this week.  When I think of relaxing, I think of finding a quiet outside spot, grabbing a great book, a cold iced tea and spending the greater part of the day reading.  I just let that great book take me away.  To create my card I created all handmade elements. I used blue chalk and and an eraser to create a cloudy sky on white cardstock. I cut out the shape of a book, printed some text on my computer paper, adhered it to the book cover with dimensional adhesive and added the tiny bookmark.  I also drew the glass, colored it with colored pencils, created ice cubes and a straw from vellum and added a lemon slice.  My disappointment is my photography skills. No matter what I did to try and get a decent photo, it just wouldn't happen. This is one of the better photos, but  I am not really happy with it because my "yellow lemon and yellow bookmark" look way too orange.  So, you'll have to take my word for it...they are yellow.

A Peeking Snowman

Here's my take on the sketch challenge at The Paper Players. I had lots of fun with this one! I started by punching the snowflake from  dark green cardstock and then cut around it to form a hexagon. I drew snowflakes with a white gel pen all around this and then misted it with frost shimmer spritz followed by a light inking with a green ink. I then punched the snowman , added the facial features and buttons with a marker. The scarf and hat were punched from designer paper and black cardstock.  I cut the red patterned paper into rectangles and adhered it to the yellow patterned paper.  As I was placing all the bits and pieces on the yellow patterned paper, I realized that the yellow needed just a bit more so I wrote the  words Merry Christmas repeatedly across the surface.  I adhered the hexagon to the center with dimensional adhesive and added the green snowflakes to the red panels after lightly inking them with green ink.

Supplies:
Snowman punch: Martha Stewart
Snowflake punch: EK Success
Green Pigment Ink:  Studio G
Frost Shimmer Spritz: Tsukineko
3D Dots: EK Tools
Adhesive: Scotch ATG
Green Cardstock:  Sorry, I don't know the source
Designer Papers: Oriental Trading
Gelly Roll Pen: Sakura

Thanks for taking a peek today!

Busy Background

This card began with a very bright and busy background paper from DCWV (The Grade School Collection).  To tone the background paper down, I used Inspired by Nature stamp by Stampin' Up and embossed the text with Ranger Seafoam White embossing powder.  I had seen a similar technique demonstrated byTracy Wegener at Paper Crafter's Library when she created her thank you card.  In the center of my card I created a black circle with a punched border using a Blue Hills Studio Honor punch. I printed the sentiment and embossed it as I did on the background paper.  I also added some small gems around the circle. The card base is blue cardstock. I used the same  blue cardstock to cut two strips that I added to a strip of black cardstock. I adhered it across the center of the card behind the circular embellishment. I think the bright busy background on my card was toned down by using this stamping technique.  It would have been better with a background stamp that has more text, but I don't have that sort of stamp yet.

Thanks a Bunch

Over at Clean and Simple Stamping there is a very interesting sketch. It was my starting point for this card.  To create the flowers, I stamped the smaller flowers onto vellum with Stampabilities clear embossing ink. I used a Zig Emboss Writer to draw some of the flowers and leaves.  I then embossed the flowers with  Ranger Seafoam White Embossing Powder.  I had never tried embossing on vellum and in the end I really liked the effect. I also dry embossed the green Best Occasions cardstock with a stylus and a Fiskars Feather Texture Plate.  I originally wrote my sentiment directly on my card, but it just didn't work for me so I wrote it on a piece of the embossed green cardstock and tore the upper edge.

A Lemony Thank You

After my very bright coral card (previous post) was finished, I couldn't resist creating another card for the sketch challenge at Retro Sketches.  I started with the image of the lemon in the tree (from the Wax Fruit Company) and used markers and colored pencils to color it.  I matted the image on black cardstock and adhered it to the green cardstock with dimensional adhesive. Instead of adding a bow to the right as the sketch suggests, I decided that I'd add more lemons.  For these lemon slices, I hand drew them and again colored them with colored pencils and markers.  I wrote the sentiment with a white gelly roll pen on black cardstock, matted it on white cardstock and cut it into a banner shape.  I also added a  narrow strip of white cardstock to the top and bottom of the card.  Inside the card is a recipe for lemon poppy seed scones.  I plan on baking up a batch to give to someone as a special thank you.

So, So Bright

This very bright, coral card is for the challenge at Retro Sketches.  I had a couple of ideas in mind when I saw the sketch and began by stamping and then embossing the flowers on this coral cardstock.  I then added the black dotted trail and  the black bow.  I also embossed the sentiment.  I really wanted this card to have limited layers and I think I achieved this with the stamping and embossing.  However, it ended up being a little bright for my tastes.



Supplies:  Coral cardstock, floral stamps, Ranger Seafoam White Embossing Powder, Black ribbon, Black Bic Marker, Zig Embossing Writer,Corner Rounder

Thanks so much for stopping by!

3 Trees Tag

Here's my card for the Holiday BINGO Challenge at Jingle Belles. Here's the bingo challenge card and the supplies and techniques I used:

I used dry embossing, tree(s) and ribbon.
Supplies:
Red cardstock
White Cardstock
Scraps of patterned paper
Fiskars Snowflake Texture Plate
Stylus
Ribbon
Ek Success Punch
Scotch 3M Advanced Tape Glider

Teacher Card

This card is based on the sketch challenge at  I Spy Sketches. I used scrap pieces of cardstock and patterned paper to create it.

Supplies:

DCWV Grade School cardstock (numbered)

Core'dinations Core Impressions (green)

My Mine's Eye Antique Dots

Scotch 3M Advanced Tape Glider

Mini white brads

White card base

Tri-fold Flower Card

I made this card just for fun.  I started by folding a piece of lavender cardstock into thirds.  I then added the dotted patterned paper.  I hand cut the flower petals and added detail with ink and chalk.  For the centers and stems I used a piece of green cardstock. I adhered the flowers with Elmer's Glue Spots and finished the card with the ribbon and bow.

Going Green with Sunflowers

Green is the challenge over at CASology. For this card, I started with water color paper and some green and yellow ink.  I inked the background blending the two colors as I went along.  I then added a strip of yellow cardstock with punched sunflowers (EK Success punch).  I added brown cardstock for the center of each flower, adding just a little white chalk to give each dimension.  I also added the green ribbon and bows.  I matted the water color paper on brown cardstock and used a cream colored cardbase.

Butterflies all in a Row

This butterfly card is for the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches .  The butterflies are embossed and fussy cut, then adhered to white cardstock.  I used a marker to create lines above and below the butterflies.  Each butterfly is adhered with an Elmer's Glue Spot.  (The embossing powders are Pearl Lustre from Stampendous and Ranger Seafoam White.)

Ferns

This card is for the challenge at Skipping Stone Design.  I used DP from DCWV The Green Stack and green cardstock from Best Occasions. The ferns are stamped with Studio G ink and I fussy cut around the largest one. The smaller ferns were punched with an Punch Bunch.

Visit Pinterest and Vote

I created this paper bag mini album for a contest at Crafts Unleashed.  The challenge was to use a lunch bag, pencil box or both to create a Back to School craft.  I started by creating a paper bag album and decorated it with cardstock from DCWV Grade School Collection as well as many hand made embellishments.  Below are the inside pages.  Please visit Pinterest. If I get a lot of pins I could win!