Spring-y Birthday Card

Today I combined this week's OCC Challenge (use your favorite color combo) and the Viva La Verve sketch April Week 5. Now, if you were to ask Sue how I answer questions about my favorite color, she would ramble on about "indecisive" and "thesis-length answers". Much like food, colors have their place, and I can appreciate almost all colors much as I can appreciate most foods (except the color orange, I just don't seem to care much for orange. Although, I really like coral, which is a shade of orange...Sue, be quiet about the thesis...). Anyway, I really like the combo of Sweet Leaf and Twilight, so I used those two colors to create a birthday card with a twist of spring. After all, what is more spring-y than a butterfly enjoying a cocktail? The image (from Stamping Bella) is one I received in a swap. I colored using CTMH Sweet Leaf marker, and watercolored with Blush and Twilight, and used Prismacolor Cool Grey for shadowing. The circle and scalloped circle were cut and embossed with Nestabilities, the scalloped circle was sponged with Twilight ink while it was still in the die. The Sweet Leaf cardstock was embossed with my Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirl embossing folder. The sentiment (from CTMH Happy Birthday) was stamped on White Daisy cardstock and adorned with a butterfly brad (Creative Impressions). White Organza ribbon is from my stash, and the baubles are Squeeze of Lime from Stamping Bella.

Color Chef Mojo Birthday Card

I combined challenges again today, using this week's Mojo Monday sketch and Color Chef Challenge 2. The colors for the challenge are White Daisy, Sorbet and Tulip. This was actually a pretty tough color combination for me, I watched a 2+ hour movie while working on this, and the movie ended before the card was finished (it was P.S. I Love You, by the way). I decided to make a birthday card for a friend who has a birthday next month. I used all CTMH products on this card. Paper used was cardstock in White Daisy, Sorbet, and Tulip, and Background & Texture papers from Key To My Heart (sadly, no longer available) and Perfect Day. Stamp sets used were Bird Basics and For Every Occasion. Scalloped edge was cut with Threading Water punch. Sentiment was stamped in Tulip ink. The bird was stamped on the B&T paper in Versamark then heat embossed with clear embossing powder and cut out. The wing and tail were stamped in Tulip ink on Sorbet cardstock. The tail was mounted with 3D Foam Mounting Squares for added dimension, and the eye is a Bitty Brad in black.

Recycle (and break in some new stuff)

The challenge at Our Creative Corner this week is to create a card or project using recycled items. The timing couldn't be more perfect. I was cleaning out the pantry the other day and came across this tin. My husband's company had been giving them out at some convention-type thing, and it came filled with chocolate chip cookies. There were still 1 1/2 of the little cookies in the tin, and I know he's had it for ages. I tossed the cookies (haha, tossed my cookies ;) ) and decided to keep the tin to alter. I didn't think I'd get to it so soon, but this week's challenge was the perfect excuse.



I used CTMH Silhouette paper, as well as Bamboo and Tulip cardstock. Stamp set used was CTMH Friendship Small. Flowers are Prima, I sewed with my machine on the two strips of Bamboo cardstock (only one is visible in the picture). Ribbon is CTMH Colonial White Ricrac, and brads are CTMH Tulip. I got to break in my new Cuttlebug (I broke my old one last month by trying to go from memory instead of using the cheat sheet for the cut/emboss stacks), as well as my new Nestabilities Labels One (which arrived two days after I broke my Cuttlebug and has been teasing me for weeks now, begging to be used). After embossing the labels, I sponged them (while still in the die) with the matching ink. I'm glad I did that, because all of the pressure necessary to keep the label in place while the Mod Podge dried pretty much removed the embossing. I didn't really have an intended purpose for this, but I think I am going to use it as my secret candy stash in the scrap room. I need to go see if I have some sugar free Werther's Originals to fill it with...

Mojo Monday Christmas style

So I've been on a Christmas card roll. Which is a good thing, since I just couldn't motivate myself to make any Christmas cards for a little while. I think what motivated me was when I decorated my Memory Keeper box with Evensong papers to hold my Christmas cards. It turned out cute (don't worry, I will post it soon. It just needs some final touches.), and now I feel the need to fill it up!!

So, this is a Mojo Monday card (Mojo week 82) that I actually completed on Monday. I was able to break in my new Fiskar punch (Elegant Fountain) that I just bought last week. I tweaked the sketch ever so slightly (due to the font size, I had to put the sentiment below the ribbon instead of above). Papers used were Cranberry and Colonial White cardstock, and Evensong papers. Stamp sets used were Christmas Scripts and Holiday Joy. Santa was colored using the CTMH Watercolor Pencils (Secondary Colors) and one of my son's white colored pencils. Santa's skin was colored using my Copic E00. The green and red Background and Texture papers are both the reverse sides of the respective papers (the reverse sides of the B&T's have a muted and/or coordinated version of the print). The sentiment was stamped in Cranberry ink, and the white square was ink distressed with Bamboo ink and mounted with 3-D Foam Mounting Squares. The ribbon is Cranberry grosgrain and the button is from the Holiday Craft Buttons.

While I'm at it...

Well, I couldn't let more than half a sheet of sparkley cardstock go to waste, so I figured I'd use it up. I made two of this card, following the Sheetload of Cards April '09 sketch. In addition to my sparkle-y paper, I used CTMH Everlasting (the plaid), and Buttercup, Cranberry and Ponderosa Pine cardstock. Stamp sets used are Christmas Melodies and Magic. Ribbon is from the stash. The music notes are from the Christmas Melodies set, stamped in Black. Red circles are from the Magic set, double stamped in Versamark and then Cranberry, then embossed with clear embossing powder. Reindeer is from Christmas Melodies, stamped in Cranberry. That added two more to my Christmas card count for Sparkle's challenge.

Christmas cards

Yesterday I went to JoAnn's and bought one neat piece of sparkle cardstock with a Christmas pattern to make a few Christmas cards. After all, it has been several weeks (or longer) since I last made a Christmas card, so I really needed to make myself work on those (luckily, I don't need to make two cards a week, but I am trying to loosely stick with Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge). The paper I bought had some colors I wouldn't normally use for Christmas cards, and the pattern was a bit non-traditional for me. That was kinda the point, though. This morning I checked the OCC Challenge before I went to the gym, and realized that this week's sketch would be perfect to use with the funky Christmas paper.



The sparkle cardstock was "Sparkle Gifts Galore" by Cloud 9 Design. I used CTMH cardstocks in Ponderosa Pine, Buttercup, Cranberry, and Kiwi (retired). Stamp sets used were Shining Star, Spot On Backgrounds, and Christmas Scripts. Inks used were Cranberry, Ponderosa Pine, and Bamboo (to distress the sentiment mat). I made a second version of this card, with the only difference being the star was stamped in Kiwi ink on Kiwi cardstock. I learned a new technique yesterday that is a real time saver. To emboss in any color, first ink your stamp with Versamark, then ink it with the color of your choice and stamp the image. Use clear embossing powder and your heat gun to emboss. Voila, perfectly matched heat embossing. And to think, all this time I've been stamping in color, letting it dry, then stamping with Versamark over top of the original image. Just think of all the time I've wasted!!!!

Easter Thank You Card

Yesterday K was pleasantly surprised to receive an Easter card from his grandfather in the mail. He absolutely LOVES getting mail. It was even better when he opened it to find a gift card inside. So, we needed a thank you card. I combined three challenges for this card, Card Patterns CP Sketch #9 (which I had to modify slightly because of the size of the eggs), Our Creative Corner OCC Challenge (Use your favorite Easter stamp) and the inaugural Color Chef Challenge. I used all CTMH products for this card. Cardstock colors are Sweet Leaf, Breeze (unfortunately now retired) and White Daisy. Sweet Leaf ricrac ribbon is from the Designer Ricrac Collection, stamps sets used are For Every Occasion and Easter Eggs. Inks used are Sweet Leaf and Breeze. Tools used were Marvy Uchida punches (for the scalloped ovals) and CM corner rounder (probably one of the first two scrapbooking tools I ever owned, so it is pushing twelve years old). I sincerely hope that this doesn't just end up in a trash can. But, I'm sure K will write an adorable thank you that his grandfather will want to keep.

Amore that card sketch!

I used Mojo Monday sketch 81 to make a birthday card for a friend who is having a birthday next week. For this card I used That's Amore papers, Tulip, Chocolate, Colonial White and Garden Green cardstock. Stamps used were Butterly Wings (March 2009 Stamp of the Month) and Happy Birthday. Blush and Chocolate ribbon, as well as Chocolate brads were used as embellishments. Scalloped circle was cut out using 2 1/2" Marvy Uchida punch (my Cuttlebug is still out of commission, but the replacement should be here soon!). Small circle was cut with 2" punch. Techniques used were DTP ink distressing on circle, heat embossing for butterfly and sponging (Blush and Tulip inks) for the butterfly. Sentiment circle was mounted using 3-D Mounting squares for extra dimension.

Sneak Peek

...of the May 2009 Stamp of The Month, Be Yourself. As soon as I saw this set, it immediately made me think of one of my friends, so I made this card for her.

I followed SCS card sketch 222, papers used are CTMH Tickled Pink (only available April 15th through May 31st with a qualifying purchase), plus Sweet Leaf cardstock (Blush textured cardstock is included in the Tickled Pink kit). Rhinestone flowers were a CTMH Connections Club reward from last year or maybe even 2007. The running girl image was third, second and then first generation stamped in Crystal Blue ink, then stamped in Twilight ink. Sentiment was stamped with Hollyhock ink, and white panel was ink distressed with Sweet Leaf ink before mounting on Sweet Leaf cardstock. Be Yourself has a bunch of silhouetted ladies, but I think the running girl is the one I will use the most.

Happy Birthday, Liane!

Today is BB Liane's birthday, and I wanted to make her a card using her favorite color (red). The red in these papers isn't exactly a standard red, but I think the combo is interesting. I followed the week 79 sketch at Mojo Monday to make this card. Papers are DCWV All Dressed Up, CTMH cardstock in Black and Grey Wool. Stamps used were CTMH Ring in the New Year for the champagne bottle and CTMH Happy Birthday for the sentiment. I used the Fiskar's Threading Water punch for the black cardstock, the ribbon and large brads are from my stash. The picture is dark because it is REALLY difficult to get a picture of glittery paper without washing out the colors. Hope your birthday is fabulous, birkie!!