God Bless You for Serving

Hi, everyone.

Happy Easter. Hope you have enjoyed a blessed Easter celebration with family and friends. Hubby and I went to church with hubby's dad. Then the three of us met up with my dad for an early dinner.

Today's card, which was inspired by today's OWH sketch, seemed a fitting tribute for one of our heroes on Easter Sunday.

Bo Bunny Liberty, Bazzill Admiral and Watermelon, stash brown cardstock
Stamper's Best sentiment stamped in Adirondack espresso
Fiskars and the Paper Studio star punches adhered with 3D glue dots, garage sale brads

Other than moving one of my "circles" to the bottom right corner, I stuck to the sketch. (Maybe there's hope for me yet!)  And, I'm still loving that new Stampin' Up! trimmer.  :)

Parting Thoughts

A huge thank you to everyone who left such kind comments about "The Sky's the Limit" bubble wrap card and "Feeling Blue?" ombre card. An extra special thanks to Nancy for featuring the bubble wrap technique in this week's Tuesday Tutorial.

It's really great to be back online. I was out of town -- and offline -- last week. But, I did have a few card-making supplies with me. Had a chance to make a few dad cards. Hope to share a couple of those in the next few days or weeks. :)

Thanks for stopping and have a great week! Happy scrappin'!

Feeling Blue?

Hi everyone,

A quick post for today's Ombre Midweek Throwdown. I also tried to keep in mind this month's Design Bootcamp focus on the rule of thirds.

acrylic-painted background: Desert Turquoise, Light Ivory, Midnight Blue
sentiment from Inkadinkado's Kid Quotes, heat embossed in Distress Ink black soot
paper: Distress Ink core paper, black Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co., white AC
Queen & Co. rhinestones

Before scrapbooking/card-making and after cross-stitching, I took classes on tole painting. (Does that make me a serial crafter, as Bobbi likes to say?) And, I've been looking for ways to incorporate painting in my card-making. Today's challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity to do just that!

The middle painted strip is Desert Turquoise. The strips on the left and right are blends of Desert Turquoise with Midnight Blue and Light Ivory, respectively. I must admit that I really like the way this technique turned out. :)

The sentiment background is also slightly ombre, with the bottom layer being a sanded version of the orange layer.

Parting Thoughts

When I asked hubby to take a look -- or in hubby speak, "if he was ready for an eye-rolling moment" -- I told him the challenge was an ombre one. His loving response was, "Is that hombre with an H?" He's a funny one, he is. :)

Okay, I really do think this is my last card post for a week or so. Think the schedule is going to require that I be semi-offline these next few days. But, this challenge was too much of a temptation to pass up. Jan, thanks so much for such a fun challenge!

So, have a great end-of-the-week and weekend. Thanks for stopping by and happy scrappin'

Q: When does 1/3 + 1/3 = 1?

A: When you place an element one-third from the left and a second element one third from the bottom to create one great card!

If you haven't yet checked out Paula's Rule of Thirds post for this month's OWH Design Bootcamp, be sure to take a look. Paula is sooooo rocking design bootcamp!

Paper: Bo Bunny Liberty, Core-dinations Vintage, Bazzill Admiral
sentiment from Paper Inspirations heat embossed in Distress Ink vintage photo
garage sale brads

I really LOVE this card -- so CAS and so elegant! I decided to go with a white background for the sentiment so it would really pop -- and I placed three little brads next to the sentiment to draw just a little more attention to the sentiment portion of the card.

Parting Thoughts

 Thanks again, Paula! Who knew bootcamp could be so much fun?

This is probably the last post for a week or two. May have a chance to make a few cards, but probably not to blog about them.

Have a good rest of the week. Thanks for visiting -- and happy scrappin'!

For Our Everyday Heroes

Hi everyone,

Surprise, surprise! I found a little time to make an Any Hero card after all. And, since Mother's Day cards need to be to Operation Write Home shippers by the end of March, I have a card fit for a super mom -- or 15 super moms, to be exact -- to share.

Card 1: A Star-Studded Tribute

OWH Sketch #164 is the inspiration for today's Any Hero card.

dp: We R Memory Keepers Red, White and Blue; Bazzill Admiral; rust cardstock: ???
Sentiment from Stamper's Best in Stampin' Up! Night of Navy; Recollections brads

The card came pretty easily -- and I am still LOVING this new Stampin' Up! trimmer!

Card 2: The Adventures of Supermom

Talking about everyday heroes, who doesn't owe a huge thank you to their mom? A while ago, the word "Supermom" popped in my head and I just couldn't shake it. After quite a bit of mulling, tinkering, and revising, the card below was born. About 15 of these were shipped to Kris a week or so ago.  :)

cardstock: AC; sentiment: computer-generated (Comic Sans); lots of fussy cutting
Inside sentiment: "Promoter of truth, justice, and the American way"

What I love the most about this card is that hubby was a huge collaborator on this one. His suggestions were key to the phrases that ended up the card. Since neither of us were sure that today's heroes would be familiar with the opening of the "old" television series, hubby suggested creating phrases that mimicked the original opening lines as closely as possible. Another big help was his assistance in picking out just the right cardstock colors.

My typical Mother's Day cards are usually pretty girly. I'm hoping a few heroes might appreciate this change of pace.

Another atypical aspect of these cards is that I included an inside sentiment. Almost all of my OWH cards are completely blank on the inside to allow for as much writing space as possible. The inside sentiment of "Promoter of truth, justice and the American way" also mimics an opening line from the television series.

Suffice it to say these cards were pretty labor intensive. And, I was struggling with a less than cooperative trimmer. But, I really felt that the cards were well worth the effort -- and hubby and I were both very pleased with the end results!

Parting Thoughts

Not sure there will be much card-making this week. But, the following week looks promising!

Thanks for visiting. Have a great week and happy scrappin'!

Got Chipboard?

Hi everyone,

Today's cards were made for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge to make a card using chipboard. I actually played with two different ideas. While I'm pleased with both results, I won't be sending either card to Operation Write Home -- the first one because of the glitter and the second because of its sentiment.

Card 1: 24-7

The inspirations for this card were the sentiment, which I had seen on another card somewhere before, and a set of silvery-glittered alphabet/number stickers.

Distress Ink core, heat embossed with Distress Ink and Stamp N Stuff silver powder; stash silvery cardstock
Tools: Sizzix ef, circle template, The Paper Studio circle punch, the new Stampin' Up! trimmer;
adhesives: 2-way glue,  mini glue dots, pop up glue dots

The heat embossing was done by first applying embossing ink to the inside of the embossing folder. The heart's scalloped edge was a final embellishment because the card felt like it needed a little something more. After playing with ribbons, gel pen accents, and metallic paper twist, I settled on this scalloped effect. The scalloped edge is actually a series of punched circles, punched from some yummy silvery cardstock. They added the extra oomph this little heart seemed to be missing.

I know that the elements are a little more fussy than what you typically see on CAS cards, but the layout is CAS-inspired. So, I'm calling it CAS and sticking to my story. LOL

A note to my fellow OWHers: I applied the stickers downstairs -- far away from the craft room -- and then put the card in a protective cellophane sleeve as soon as it was finished. :)

Card 2: One Day at a Time

This card was actually inspired by a card we made at Thursday night's Stampin' Up! class and by a previous CAS-ual Fridays challenge to create your own background. Wish the colors showed up a little better on this scanned image.

Cosmo Cricket Blackboard; sentiment by Jillian Vance, stamped in StazOn
Distress Ink tumbled glass, scattered straw, dusty concord applied using dryer sheets and a mini mister
black cardstock: Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co, blue cardstock: Distress Ink core

What really excited me about this card is that the background was created with used dryer sheets. I tried several different methods for applying the ink. The method that seemed to work best was rubbing the dryer sheets on the ink pads, misting them with water, and dabbing the ink on the cardstock. (Excess water can be blotted up using a paper towel before applying ink to the cardstock.)

The sentiment was stamped first using StazOn jet black ink. Chipboard images were placed to be pointing skyward, and the yellow ink was purposely placed directly above the higher dragonfly.

Again, I really wish the colors showed up better because I really like the end result of this dryer sheet technique.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get a chance to make an Any Hero card for tomorrow's OWH sketch, but there's a pretty long to-do list before I get to crafting.

Still LOVING the new Stampin'Up! trimmer. It is fabulous!!!

Thanks for stopping. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and happy scrappin'!

Is it really possible to love a trimmer?

Because I think I do!

Hi, everyone. Welcome back!

Last night I went to a card-making class hosted by a sweetheart of a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. The class was free if you purchased the new trimmer for $25. I thought how could you beat a deal like that? Surely, I'd be needing a new trimmer sometime in the future. 

We used our new trimmers in the class. And to paraphrase a movie line, "It had me with one cut!" Seriously, this is by the far the best trimmer I have EVER used! And, we made four adorable cards, to boot! Maybe I just need to get out more often, but I had such a fun time. LOL

new, FABULOUS Stampin' Up! trimmer
4 adorable cards made during the class

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to make a card or two for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge tonight, but I'm only cautiously optimistic about that happening.

Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'! And, have a great weekend.

The Road Less Traveled By

Hi everyone,

The card below was made for this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown to make a card featuring blues and greens.

patterned paper: Momenta 6 x 6; DCWV, brown/black paper: DCWV Travel Stack, green: Distress Ink Core
computer-generated sentiment, inked in Distress Ink antique linen
tools: crimper, EK Success border punch; embellishments: garage sale brads

This design is one I've used a number of times before. What's different this time is that I took a long and winding road to get here. :)

My original plan was to make a card using the ribbon brad trick featured in this week's OWH Tuesday Tutorial. I had the cutest little travel brad to use -- which is why I choose these papers. Unfortunately, the ribbon was too flimsy and the brad was too big. So, I decided to go with a crimped strip behind the sentiment, as well as adhering the sentiment off-centered to allow for the brads on the left. But, when I placed the elements together, the card still seemed a little too plain. That's when I cut a strip off the front of the card and added a little more pizzazz with the border punch.

All in all, I'm okay with the way this little card turned out -- and it certainly fits the Midweek Throwdown color challenge. I was just a little surprised by the journey it took to create it. :)

Parting Thoughts

Gotta go! But, I can't wait to tell you about tonight's card-making adventure. Hoping to get a chance to blog about it tomorrow. :)

Until then, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A Perfect Pair

What's a perfect pair, you ask? A great OWH Sketch and a couple of good college basketball games! Who could ask for more to craft away a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon? Throw in a long walk on a sunny day... Seriously, who could ask for more?  :)

And, it's always interesting to me how some sketches come so easily and others not so much. Luckily, this was an easy one for me. :)

Card 1: Pop, Poppa, Daddy, Dad

dp: Moxxie Father; cardstock: Distress Ink core, inked with Distress Ink Vintage Photo
PSX Creative Characters in Adirondack espresso
Celebrate It! jute twine; pop up dots
Creative Memories square punches

Looking at all of the green and brown paper left in my Distress Ink core pad, looks like I need to make a few more of these masculine cards. :)

Card 2 -- Today's Any Hero Card: Red, White, and Sparkly

dp & chipboard letters (with baked-in glitter) Bo Bunny Liberty
cardstock: Bazzill Admiral, Distress Ink core

These chipboard letters are really thick. So, they seemed like the perfect embellishment for an Any Hero card.

Card 3: Hello, Cupcake!

dp: Imaginisce Hello, Cupcake!; cardstock: Distress Ink core; ivory rickrack
Cuttlebug ef; cupcakes fussy cut from coordinating 12 by 12 paper

Since there are several April birthdays on our calendar, I made a second one of these for a friend.

Parting Thoughts

My last post featured a card with one of those adorable kid quotes. Sharon commented that she uses those sentiments on the inside of cards and had never thought of using it for color blocking on the front of a card. That's really interesting since I seldom stamp sentiments on the inside of cards. Most of my cards are sent to Operation Write Home. So, I leave the inside of them blank so troops can write notes to loved ones back home. What a great idea to use these stamps as inside sentiments for cards made for my family and friends. Thanks, Sharon!

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!  Have a great week!

Dad, Papa, Daddy, Hero

 

Hi everyone,

Tonight's card was inspired by this week's Midweek Tic Tac Toe challenge. I went with Stars, Tags, and Blue.

Since I mailed Mother's Day cards to Kris this weekend, thought it was time to start on some Father's Day cards.

dp: Moxxie VIP Father; cardstock: blue: Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co; green &  tan: Distress Ink core paper
sentiment: Stamper's Best in Stampin' Up! Night of Navy
star punches: Martha Stewart and The Paper Studio; hole punch: EK Success
Celebrate It! jute twine; pop up dots for tag and star

When I first read the challenge, I thought this was going to be an easy one. But, boy was I wrong. And, although it was more of a challenge that I expected, I'm really pleased with the way this Father's Day tribute turned out.

Parting Thoughts

If  you haven't had a chance to check out today's OWH's Blog Skip featuring three new stamp sets designed by OWH's own Sandy Allnock, it's definitely worth your while. So many cute cards and so much inspiration!

Hoping to get a little more card-making done tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Hi everyone,

I'm really excited that I had a chance to make a card for the weekly CAS-ual Fridays challenge on Friday! This week's challenge is to use blocks of color.

black cardstock: Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co,, cream cardstock: Bazzill or AC
sentiment: Inkadinkado Kids' Quotes heat embossed in Distress Ink black soot
Cuttlebug ef; color block inks: Distress Ink tumbled glass blending into Distress Ink scattered straw
blocks mounted using pop up dots

Love the way the colors transitioned. Of course, blue was a natural choice based on the sentiment. So, I decided to go to yellow to paint in a happier color. Then I decided to pop the colors even more by placing them on black cardstock.

I am typically frustrated when my edges aren't as precise as I would like. Let's just say that my trimmer is not behaving as well as I would like. But, in this case, the unevenness of the cuts really adds to the kid-like feel of the card. :)

Hope this one will bring a smile to one of our hero's loved ones.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get to this week's Midweek Tic Tac Toe challenge tomorrow.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Round and Round They Go

Hi everyone,

Today's post features two cards with circular objects.

ODBD Challenge

When it came to choosing a scallop for this month's OWH ODBD challenge, I had two chipboard elements from which to choose. When I remembered my pad of travel-themed paper, the Picture Perfect element won.

Momenta dp; K & Company Wild Saffron Adhesive Chipboard; ivory Ric-Rac
techniques: inking with Adirondack Espresso

To make this card, I flipped the sketch on page 136 of Card Sketches for Paper Crafters. Since this card ended up being only 3.5 inches wide, I'm going to use 12-by-12 inch cardstock instead of 8.5-by-11 inch paper if I make any more cards from this sketch for OWH.

Tuesday Tutorial

Today's second card also features circular objects. I actually made this a while ago at a day-long crop. At the crop, a Stampin' Up! consultant led some make-and-takes using the Spirelli technique featured in this week's Tuesday Tutorial. 

designer paper and oval punches: Stampin' Up!; cardstock: Bazzill; DMC floss; stash embellishments

I loved the way the technique turned out. However, I decided this little flower was too delicate  to make the trip overseas and back. So, instead of sending it to OWH, it is going to be hand delivered to a friend celebrating an early April birthday.

Parting Thoughts

Next two items on the crafting to do list:

• make a card for the  Midweek Throwdown Tic-Tac-Toe challenge and
• visit the Stars and Stamps blog to see the amazing cards made during the week by fellow OWHers.

Thanks for stopping. Happy weekend and happy scrappin'!

God Bless You for Serving

Hi everyone,

Two posts in one day!!!  It's so nice to be enjoying a respite from an intense work schedule. :)

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #162. I made the jute strip a little longer than shown on the sketch. Other than that, I think the card follows the sketch pretty closely.

Bazzill Admiral and Bo Bunny Liberty; jute
sentiment from Stamper's Best, heat embossed in Distress Ink barn door
star punch: The Paper Studio

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to make a card for this month's ODBD challenge later this week.

Thanks for visiting. Have a great week -- and happy scrappin'!

The Sky's The Limit

Hi everyone!

Today's card was partially inspired by this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge to stamp your own CAS background. It was also inspired by a card by fellow OWHer Diane that had an element created by embossing plastic packaging.  And, its sentiment came to me after watching a movie late last night.

When I first started mulling over this CAS-ual Fridays challenge, my thoughts immediately went to traditional stamps. However, when I went up the menopause (aka craft) room, there were a few pieces of bubble wrap on the table. Then came the light bulb-moment question, "What if I stamped using this bubble wrap?" The answer to that question came in the form of the card below. :)

base paper: Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co.
background pattern: bubble wrap inked in Distress Ink tumbled glass and scattered straw
letters: Provo Craft repositionable Alphabitties
kite and wave: Making Memories summer foam stamps, fussy cut and adhered with pop up dots
kite: heat embossed with clear powder on Distress Ink core paper; kite spars scored for added effect
wave: stamped on base paper in Distress Ink tumbled glass,  heat embossed with clear powder
kite string: drug-store string

I have to admit, I'm really happy with the way this little card turned out -- love the background effect, love the palette, and really like the design. Surprisingly enough, it even received hubby's seal of approval.

Not quite sure how the position of the sentiment on top of the scattered straw dots happened. Was it serendipity or subconsciousness -- or just plain luck? All I know is that I stepped away from the card for a Milano cookie break when I saw the placement of the letters on the straw dots from a distance -- and thought, "Cool!"  :)

Parting Thoughts

Hope to make an Any Hero card this afternoon for today's OWH Sketch and a card later in the week for this month's OWH ODBD challenge.

As always, thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!