Inchie trio

It's time for VSN day five! This is my card for my friend Denise/Resqbarbie's VSN challenge. She asked us to use at least three inchies on our card. I had some darling Karen Lockhart images that my friend Karolyn/garkarlon stamped for me, so I put them to use on this card. I punched them out with a decorative square punch from Creative Memories. Some embossing, a touch of bling and a satin ribbon finished off this card.
Supplies:
Stamps: Karen Lockhart dragonfly; inkadinkado sentiment
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Paper: cameo coral, cool caribbean, orchid opulence, neenah classic crest white, basic black
Accesories: CM punches, satin ribbon, cuttlebug, kaisercraft rhinestones

Obsessed with red!

Woohoo, we're half way through my seven days of VSN challenges. Today's card was inspired by my obsession for red purses. Shastess asked us to make a card around an obsession. There's no question I have a red purse obsession. I can't remember the last time I bought a purse that wasn't red. I have at least three in my closet and I'm using one right now. And then there are several that I've flat worn out. I love red because it's classy, stands out in a crowd, and works for any season. I colored these purses with my Copic markers and added some black Kaisercraft rhinestones for some bling. The background paper is my one new purchase recenlty - it's also Kaisercraft and I picked it up at my local scrap store.
Supplies:
Stamps: Retro boutique by Rupa Shevde for Gina K Designs
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Paper: real red, basic black, neenah classic crest white, Kaisercraft dp
Accessories: ribbon, corner rounder, Kaisercraft rhinestones

Quite a lovely tree

Today is day three of my VSN challenges from last weekend! I think I have seven days' worth in all, so we're not quite half way there. Love was the theme for this round, and Christy S.'s challenge centered around her favorite move, "The Princess Bride." She asked us to take inspiration from a quote in the movie. Coincidentally, I had just watched this movie the weekend before. For my card, I was inspired by this line from Westley when he and Buttercup entered the fire swamp:"Well, I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely."
I used my Unity tree stamp to come up with a tree worthy of the fire swamp. The color combo was inspired by these buttons from my stash, which I threaded with hemp twine and then attached with glue dots.
Supplies:
Stamps: Unity, SU All Holidays
Ink: Always artichoke
Paper: always artichoke, basic gray, sage shadow, neenah classic crest white
Accessories: hodgepodge hardware, ribbon, twine, cuttlebug, ticket corner punch, buttons

Gently falling for VSN

Welcome to day two of my VSN challenge cards! This is my card for Kandi's VSN challenge, Bittersweet Love. The idea was to use stamps that you bought but ended up not liking, or images you struggle with, or otherwise found challenging. Gently Falling was one of those stamp sets for me. I loved the concept of the set when it first came out, and had to have it during that year's Saleabration event. But I struggled with making cards with it and have used it maybe 3-4 times in all. But I can't part with the set, either, because I still like the concept of the set! This card definitely shows my growth as a stamper. Now that I have a stampamajig, a brayer, better skills and better embellishments, the results are much better!
Supplies:
Stamps: Gently falling
Ink: purple spectrum pad (retired Serenade from Tsukineko), Memento tuxedo black
Paper: Orchid opulence, basic black, neenah classic crest white
Accessories: cuttlebug, dew drops, ribbon, stickles

Dark chocolate

I had a chance to play in some VSN challenges over the weekend - there were some really fun challenges around the theme "What's Love Got to Do With It?" This is my card for Snowchris' challenge; she asked to pick our favorite chocolate, then had a corresponding color combination for that kind of chocolate. I chose dark - mmm!!! - My color combination was chocolate chip, cameo coral and apricot appeal; it was definitely a challenging combo for me. I pulled out this image from Embrace Life; it is one of my favorites for simple but elegant cards. I stamped the image on shimmery cream cardstock and colored it with Copics.
Supplies:
Stamps: Embrace life, short and sweet
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Paper: apricot appeal, cameo coral, chocolate chip, shimmery vanilla
Accessories: ribbon, cuttlebug, nesties, velvet brads (makingmemories)

Shirley's 2 Girls Green Challenge

Nothing like waiting til the last minute! The deadline for the Shirley's 2 Girls green challenge - read the details HERE! - is in less than two hours, so I figured I better get my project made and uploaded. My friend Karolyn - read her blog HERE! - is on the S2G design team, and she pointed me in the direction of the challenge. She also helped me with the dimensions for this little box. The challenge was to make a box and use a green theme.
I needed a little "Good Luck" gift/card for someone I know who is embarking on a new adventure. I was also inspired by this fun St. Patty's Day paper I found in my LSS. I don't have any S2G stamps yet - one reason I wanted to try the challenge! - so I used an SU sentiment and a heart punch from Creative Memories for my main image. Inside is a Starbucks card - you can always need a boost when you're embarking on something new - and a bunch more punched hearts in two sizes. The metallic hearts are using the Mirri paper from Marco Paper. I won mine in a blog contest by Sharon Johnson/Notimetostamp.
Supplies:
Stamps: Sincere Salutations
Ink: glorious green marker and ink pad
Paper: glorious green, neenah classic crest white, Marco mirri green, DP is by Reminisce
Accessories: ribbon, slot punch, CM heart punch

February DD sketch

I loved the sketch used for this month's Dirty Dozen sketch challenge on SCS, so I had to play along. I am still on my Washington Apple DSP kick, so I used some of that for this card, pairing it with Upsy Daisy. I stamped the Upsy Daisy once, then shifted my stamp slightly and stamped again without reinking for a shadow effect. I finished the card with a Heidi Swapp ghost flower - I just love those! - and a small heart charm.
I feel like my mojo is finally starting to return; hopefully I can keep it going with some more stamping this weekend. It's VSN weekend at SCS, and I hope to play along on some of the challenges.
Supplies:
Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Ink: bashful blue, real red
Paper: real red, whisper white, Washington Apple
Accessories: Nestabilities, Creative memories circle cutter, ghost flower, charm, ribbon, scallop edge punch

Friday Fun on Tuesday

I know it's not Friday anymore, but I just had a chance to work on the Friday Fun challenge for last week. This week's challenge is brought to you by my friend Kim, aka nutsymuhl. She and several friends rotate each week to host the weekly challenge. Kim challenged us to make some 3x3 cards this week. You can see all the details HERE! I often find myself needing a little card to stick on a package, so I try to keep some of these in my stash. It was running low, though, so this was the perfect challenge to refill it! I had SU's A Flower for All Seasons out, so I paired that with some Nestabilities die cuts and some textured, prefolded DCWV 3x3 cards. These were fast and fun to make. Thanks for the challenge, Kim!
Supplies:
Stamps: A flower for all seasons
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Paper: marigold morning, cameo coral, pink passion, neenah classic crest white, DCWV
Accessories: Nestabilities labels one, ribbon

Beate's back

After a hiatus, Beate brought her weekend sketch challenge back this weekend. I had some time to stamp and this was the perfect inspiration to get me going. You can find the challenge on her blog HERE! I am also using this as double-duty for the Spellbinders contest on SCS.
I've been inspired by the thought of spring lately, and the Washington Apple DSP has been in easy reach, so those two things inspired this card! I don't know about the rest of you, but I tend to get in crafting grooves where I use the same things or ideas for several projects. I used my Nestabilities to cut the scallop circles and the layers for the image. The image is also colored in Copics. The kiwi flowers were die cut and gifted to me from my friend Patty. I added some lovely filigree brads I've been hoarding to the top of them. This was a fun sketch!
Supplies:
Stamps: Flower for all seasons
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Paper: barely banana, saffron, kiwi, neenah classic crest white, Washington Apple
Accessories: Nestabilities, filigree brads, ribbon

Fluffles in yellow

My poor blog has been neglected all week! Sorry about that. I have not had much time or energy for stamping the last couple of weeks, but I hope to improve that very quickly. I am working on a few new things as we speak, and next weekend is VSN on Splitcoast, which is always a good time for me to get back into the stamping groove. Unfortunately, I have to work Saturday, so I probably won't be able to play in all the challenges, but I will do at least a few!
Now, on to today's card. I made this for my sweet friend Karolyne for her birthday. She is a very talented stamper and you can check out her blog HERE. I have been ready and eager for spring lately - it is my favorite season, I think. So I used Fluffles and his bouquet and paired the image with some banana and saffron cardstock and lots of layers (Karolyn always uses lots of layers, so I had her in mind with that!) The card is a 5.5-inch square.
Supplies:
Stamps: Fluffles
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Paper: barely banana, so saffron, neenah classic crest white, Washington Apple DSP
Accessories: Nestabilities, cuttlebug swiss dots, ribbon, button

Valentine for a friend

I'm finding these Papertrey Second Anniversary celebration challenges a great kick-start for my mojo, which has been sorely lacking of late. I have quite a few cards to make in the next week or two, so I combined today's challenge with one of them. The challenge (check it out HERE) called for making a card for your best friend. I'm thankful to be able to call several girlfriends my best friends. They really are like part of my family. Anyway, my closest circle of family and friends get cards on most holidays, including Valentine's Day. This card will go to one of my close friends. Funny enough, she is one of my stamping friends, too, and I actually borrowed these stamps from her!
Supplies:
Stamps: Have a heart, Toucan of my love (SU)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copic markers
Paper: pink pirhouette, pink passion, basic gray, neenah classic crest white
Accessories: Cuttlebug friend folder, Prima, giant K and Co. brad, stickles

Connect the dots

I'm still trying to win some Papertrey goodies! Today's challenge from Nichole was to do a connect-the-dots puzzle to reveal a sketch. You can see all the details, and download the puzzle, HERE. Once my puzzle was done, I flipped the sketch on its side. I had this cute Pat the Dog image all colored from another project I ended up scrapping. So put him to use and knocked out another Valentine at the same time. I'm hoping I kept it masculine enough for my nephew who will get this one.
Supplies:
Stamps: Pat the dog (Our Craft Lounge), sentiment (SU-Have a heart)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Paper: kraft, basic blakc, real red, patterns dp, neenah classic crest white
Accessories: black brads, scallop edge punch

Color for cardstock

So I'm on day two of the Papertrey challenges - I really want to win some new goodies! Today's challenge by Nichole was a color combination: PTI's pure poppy, summer sunrise, ocean tides and ripe avocado. You can read all the details HERE. Since I don't actually own any PTI ink or paper, I substituted with SU colors: so saffron, real red, old olive and baja breeze. I paired them with fanciful dots from Unity and another scrap of this KI Memories lace overlay. I needed a quick card that could go right in the mail to a friend, so I kept the rest of the embellishment simple, just adding some We R eyelets to the centers of the dots. I finished the card off with a sentiment from Rosie's Roadshow. I thought about putting something under the sentiment, but couldn't come up with anything, so I stopped there.
Supplies:
Stamps: Fanciful dots - Unity; sentiment -Rosie
Ink: real red, so saffron, old olive
Paper: baja breeze, real red, so saffron, old olive, neenah classic crest white, KI lace overlay
Accessories: We R eyelets

In the bag!

Papertrey is having a huge second anniversary celebration with tons of giveaways right now. I don't have any PTI stuff in my stash - I've tried to cut back on my spending the last year or so and have mostly been buying consumables like paper and tools such as Nesties and Copics lately so that's left little money for new stamps. There are several PTI stamp sets, accessories, inks and papers I'd like to try, so I'm trying to win some! Today's giveaway is for a $100 PTI gift card and totebag. To enter the contest, Nichole Heady challenged everyone to make or alter a bag of some kind. You can find the details for this and the other contests on her blog HERE. I got crafty tonight after getting home from work using a small gift bag I've had sitting around waiting to get repurposed. The bag is actually a shopping bag from my local stamp store. The black piece of paper under the two nestie pieces is actually part of their label. I couldn't figure out how to cover it up without covering the whole bag, so I incorporated it into the design. The rest is pretty simple - just some nestie cut outs, some ribbon, a couple of buttons and some quick stamping!
Supplies:
Ink: pomegranate, memento tuxedo black
Paper: pomegranate, neenah classic crest white
Stamps: Hullaballo (Unity), sentiment (CTMH)
Accessories: black satin ribbon (offray), buttons, hemp twine, nestabilities

Hoppy V-day

I've been working some on my Valentines. I usually send them to the kids in my life, so I try to have fun with them and don't make them too mushy! I made a pair of these cute froggies in feminine (pink) and masculine (red), for the kids. They came together fast - I cut some nestie shapes, cuttlebugged one layer and colored the frogs with my Copic markers. I also added some Christmas red stickles to the hearts. The sentiment is from an image in the Toucan of My Love set; I colored it with a black marker because I thought it fit with the frog!
Supplies:
Stamps: Have a Heart, Toucan of My Love
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Paper: garden green, pink pirhouette, riding hood red, neenah classic crest white
Accessories: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, ribbon, stickles