Holly, Holly, Holly

Hi, everyone.

The first batch of craft fair cards is finished. So, it's on to batch #2.

My strategy this year is to alternate between making general-themed cards and holiday cards. So, cards like the one shown below are next up in the rotation.

Hero Arts stamp and embossing folder
heat embossing in Inkadinkado glam gold
Bazzill jade cardstock; May Arts wrinkled ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon

I was going for an elegant CAS card. Hope I've achieved that. Still tinkering with ribbon treatments, but loving the overall look of the card -- and the yummy ribbon. :)

Speaking of the ribbon, this pretty ribbon came from Really Reasonable Ribbon. This was my first order from this company -- and I couldn't be happier. An e-mail inquiring about ribbon samples was answered immediately, ribbon samples came soon after I placed my request, and my order was filled and shipped so very quickly. Bonnie's customer service was AMAZING and the ribbon is so pretty. Thanks, Bonnie! (Loved the service and ribbon so much that I enrolled in the Really Reasonable Ribbon's monthly ribbon club.)

Parting Thoughts

Think it's about time to turn in for the night.

Have a wonderful holiday celebration. Be safely festive!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

from a grateful American

Hey everyone,

First of all, I hope this finds everyone on our east coast safe and sound. We have family in Norfolk and have been watching the weather maps regularly.

Today's Crafting News

I'm so excited! Not only did I make a significant dent in my craft show project --details in a blog-to-come, but I also had a chance to do an Any Hero card for this week's OWH sketch on the day it was posted! It seems like a long time since I've been able to say that.

Bo Bunny Liberty, jute, and a star punched from a kraft gift bag;
Sentiment: Stamper's Best stamped in Close to my Heart Night of Navy;
Gem: Hero Arts; Star Punches: Fiskars and the Paper Studio

I love the combo of navy and jute -- and it immediately came to my mind when I saw this week's sketch. I originally punched the larger star from a sheet of BasicGrey kraft paper. But, the color of the gift bag seemed a better match. And, I thought about trimming the left edge of the jute, but decided to go with this asymmetrical look. :)

Parting Thoughts

For those of you on the east coast, stay safe.

Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

OWH Sketch #141: Patriotic Gratitude

Hi everyone,

Actually had a chance to make a card after all! The following is an Any Hero card inspired by this Sunday's OWH sketch.

We R Memory Keepers Red, White & Blue (patterned) , Bo Bunny Liberty (solid navy), Bazzill watermelon; Hero Arts sentiment in Close to My Heart Night of Navy; Fiskars and the Paper Studio star punches; crimper

 Parting Thought

I recently received a comment asking about crimping. I'm actually using just a garage sale find paper crimper that doesn't even have a company name it. If  you're interested in learning more about using a crimper, click here to see a short video -- to which I have no affiliation whatsoever. :)

Gotta run. Have a great week!

And, thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

OWH Sketch #138

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone's had a nice weekend. The weather here has been amazing -- two Chamber of Commerce days as hubby likes to say. :)

I have two cards to share, both of which were inspired by this week's sketch.

Card 1: A Christmas Card

Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co. cardstock; stamps: Hero Arts snowflake and $ sentiment; sentiment in Stampin' Up! Night of Navy; clear embossing powder

The card is far more striking than what you see here. Clear snowflakes have also been heat-embossed on the white cardstock. I wish they would have shown up better.

Actually, I was so pleased by the elegant look of the blue-on-blue and white-on-white embossing, I decided against adding a snowman to the design as originally planned and went with just the sentiment.

And, this pack of cardstock is so pretty. The papers have really nice textures. It's not mu usual Bazzill. Instead, it's a pack I picked up at a great price at Tuesday Morning. I wasn't sure how nice it would be, but I wouldn't think twice about buying it again. If you see it, consider giving it a try. :)

Card 2: An Any Hero Card

We R Memory Keepers Red, White and Blue, black cardstock; Paper Inspirations sentiment in Distress Ink Black Soot; gems

In addition to being inspired by this week's OWH  sketch, this card drew inspiration from this week's Midweek Throwdown to make an Any Hero card and from this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge to make a card using black, white, and one other color.

Parting Thought: A Card-Making Party for OWH  :)

If you live within traveling distance to central Ohio -- and  you're free on September 29th -- there's a birthday bash card-making party going on at Scrapbook Art in Lewis Center. Click here for details.

If you can make it, I know they'd love to have you. The more the merrier! I definitely have it circled on my calendar.

Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

OWH VCMP: Day 1

Hi everyone,

Isn't OWH's card-making party great fun?!  Thanks to our hostesses for such creative challenges and such nice sample cards.

Here are cards for the first 3 challenges:

Challenge 1: A Card with a Scripture Verse or an Inspirational Message

Bo Bunny Snowfall; computer-generated font; border punch and circle templates; Stickles

This challenge was brought to us by the wonderful folks at ODBD.  :)

Challenge 2: A Recipe Card

In this case, the recipe was to make a card with 1 image, 2 papers, and 3 words. 

Jillibean Dutch Mustard Soup, Distress Ink Core Paper; sentiment from Whipper Snapper Designs, stamped and heat embossed with  Distress Ink Dusty Concord; border punch; s.e.i Happy Day die-cut adhered with pop dots

Hope I didn't cheat using the solid color cardstock. Oh, well, it's the thought that counts -- right?

The scan seems to have distorted the color of the cupcake. It actually goes really well with the paper -- much better than it appears here.

Challenge 3: Make a non-Christmas Snowflake Card

Moxxie Winterland, stash cardstock; snowflake punches, border punch; Stickles

I was so happy when I saw this challenge because I picked up luxurious paper at Scrapbook Art this week and have been really excited to use it. Went with another one of the little pocket cards I love so much. (They come together so quickly and look so darned cute!)

Wish the scan would've shown the stickling on the snowflakes. It really helps pop the flakes.

Think I'll use a little darker cardstock for the top for my next batch of Moxxie Winterland cards.

Challenge 4: Triple Stamping Techniques

stash cardstock; Hero Arts stamp in Stampin' Up Bordering Blue and Classic Navy; tulle; Midnight Blue Stickles

This technique was too pretty to not try. But, I changed it up just a bit. I decided to actually stamp three times -- applying the ghosting (first generation, second generation, third generation) technique in last week's Tuesday Tutorial.  The center of the snowflake in the bottom left corner was stamped in a darker blue, popped using several layers of cardstock, and stickled in the middle. I'm toying with adding some Icicle Stickles -- either to just the bottom left snowflake or to a few other snowflakes as well. 

What a cool effect. And, definitely something I would never have come up with on my own. Very cool, indeed!

 

Parting Thoughts

My how my stack for OWH has grown!  :)

Can't wait to see what Day 2 holds!

Until then, happy scrappin'!

Monday Musings

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I'm excited to have Package #3 ready to send to Kris. I'm mailing off 22 Dad cards, 22 general sentiment cards, and 7 Any Hero cards. :) 

For those of you making Dad cards for OWH, the deadline for Father's Day cards is fast approaching.

I have 3 cards to share today.

Card #1: Inspired by Ashley's Sketch of the Month

Last Saturday, I had a chance to catch up with Ashley and Tiffany from Pizazz It! When we were talking about their new sketch book, I mentioned that one of my favorite books is one that shows a 12 by 12 layout and a card inspired by the layout. 

Ashley is sponsoring a monthly sketch contest -- with the winner getting a copy of her new sketch book. The card below was inspired by this month's sketch!  

Jillibean Soup's Watermelon Gazpacho collection; Core Vintage (Flower Power) collection; unknown red cardstock

I'm especially excited about this card for two reasons. The first is that Ashley and I going to make this a regular thing. She's going to post her monthly sketch and I'm going to create a sketch-inpsired card!  Very cool!!! [And, seriously, if you haven't checked out her book, please do. It's sooooo well done. I'm pleased to say that I am a proud owner of an autographed copy!  :) ]

My second reason for being excited about the card is its the first Jillibean card that I've designed and liked. I love the bright colors and whimsical looks of her papers. But, for some reason, I seem to struggle putting the patterns together. (I think it might be in part that the pattern sizes are not as distinctively different as in a Bo Bunny collection.) This time, however, I think I got it just right. Using the red and Core card stock made such a difference. I actually really, really like this card. :)

Card #2

This is the last card that made it into this week's shipment. And, it was the last of my Saturday crop cards that needed to be finished. There are a few of those irritating scanning shadows... but this card's shadows aren't too bad.

Kaiser Lush collection; border punch; embellished with sheer white ribbon and pearls

I'm actually glad that I took the rest of the week to finish up these cards. I was starting to get in a design rut towards the end of the day. New days brought fresh perspectives for different finishing touches.  :) 

Card #3: OWH Sketch #118 

For whatever reason, this week's sketch came far more easily to me than last week's. The Any Hero card below is the first card for OWH Package #4!  :)  As usual, I rotated the sketch to make a horizontal card. Other than that, I think my only other changes were to slightly adjust the position of the square and place the side banners on top of  the square instead of next to its edges.

 

Bo Bunny Liberty collection; Bazzill admiral card stock; Hero Arts gemstones

I just love this Liberty collection -- and Bo Bunny paper in general. As I mentioned before, the different pattern sizes just make it so much easier for me to mix and match layers. 

And, many thanks to Donna and Carol for their reassuring words about not worrying when I use sketches as inspirations, rather than as blueprints. (Ashley says the same thing in her book, too.)

Parting Thoughts

The family who lives next to my father-in-law had to put their beloved dog down a few days ago. Since hubby and I are big dog lovers ourselves, making a card for the family is at the top of this week's card to-do list. After that, I hope to get started on some kid cards for OWH using some of the stickers and embellishments I picked up at last Saturday's garage sale. 

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

OWH Midweek Challenge

Hi, everyone,

This week's challenge is a perfect fit with the current chaos on my card-making table. We are asked to work on half Mother's Day/half general sentiment box of cards for the mid-March campaign to get cards to our shippers in advance of the Mother's Day deadline -- which is exactly what I've been doing since the VCMP!  :)

Both Mother's Day cards for the first half of the challenge were made from My Mind's Eye Stella Rose collection. I have to say this first card was inspired by a Christmas card hanging on a file cabinet in my craft room -- and I'm so happy with the way it turned out. :)

For the other half of the challenge, I have been adding to my VCMP cards. The Thinking of You card was made from Kaiser's Secret Bird Society and the more feminine entry was embellished with Michael $ stickers from Studio112 and Hero Arts gems.

Off to make more cards. Happy scrappin'!

OWH Midweek Color Challenge

This week OWH posed a color challenge to make a card using green, blue, kraft/tan.

So yesterday, when I was making tone-on-tone cards from pastel cardstock for Mother's Day, I decided to make the same card using a blue and green printed paper.

Paper: KaiserCraft's Konstrukt collection
Punch: Martha Stewart punch-around-the-page butterfly
Embossed Border: Hero Arts Large Fabric Design stamp
Embossed Sentiment: 2000 Stampin' Up!
Butterfly Accents: gold gel pen and gold stickles

Technically, this card is green, blue, and gold. I hope all will forgive me as this was the closest I could come in the Mother's Day assembly line going on in my craft room yesterday. :)

A couple of points worth noting:

• Tone-on tone and masking ideas came from the recent CAS Online Card Class
• I lightly pressed a rectangular strip of paper into the embossing pad -- embossing the paper before punching out the butterfly.
• And, interestingly enough, I purchased this paper to make OWH Father's Day cards.

I never would have thought to heat emboss on printed paper before this challenge. It's an interesting result. And, I must say, the embossing and stickling really lose something in the JPG.

Well, off to finish up Mother's Day cards from yesterday.
Happy scrappin' to all!

2 Birds with 1 Stone -- CAS and ribbon challenges

CAS cards -- what a wonderful idea for an OWH Blog Skip!  Thanks to our CAS blog hostesses for posting such lovely cards.

There are so many OWHers and cardmakers who make fabulous cards -- with great vignettes, amazing layers of textures, and wonderfully colored images. And, then there are my cards. Well, for those of us who have seen Steve Martin in "The Jerk", remember the scene in which his character discovers his kind of music? I must say that's what I felt like when I first came across the term CAS!  :)

I, too, enrolled in last month's Clean and Simple class. The class was full of creative and inspirational ideas! Fortunately, there is lifetime access to the lessons because our desktop computer experienced some technical difficulties -- and I have not yet viewed all the lessons.


In spite of this, I'd like to share three cards inspired from this class. The first card will be included in my next OWH shipment. The second card was featured on last Sunday's OWH Sketch Challenge #106 post, while the third card is going to be linked to this month's ODBD challenge, which is to do something creative with ribbon. The last two cards were sent out in this week's shipment.


Card 1: Masking Technique, Tone-on-Tone Palette

Techniques: Masking and Heat Embossing;
Supplies: Hero Arts Cling stamp, Stampin' Up sentiment,
Martha Stewart punch-around-the-page butterfly punch

Card 2: Layering Elements

Technique: Layering Elements
Supplies: BasicGrey kraft, Creative Memories dp

Card 3: Stamping on Watercolor Paper

Technique: Stamping on Watercolor Paper, Embossing and Distressing
Supplies: DMC floss, Hero Arts stamp, watercolor paper,
Sizzix folder, Ranger core paper,

Time to make a couple of CAS cards for friends before starting on more Mother's Day cards for OWH! 

Thanks for stopping by. Happy scrappin'!