A 2 for 1 Day

Hi, everyone.

I so loved today's sketch that I made a general sentiment card in addition to my normal Sunday-sketch Any Hero card. Both cards share the same palette. In addition, I used the same paper for both backgrounds, but used two types of embossing for the top and bottom portions on both cards.

Paper Smooches (Group Hugs) sentiment on watercolor paper, heat embossed in Distress Ink
Distress Ink core paper; Bazzill black; Sizzix embossing folders
Really Reasonable Ribbon; Tombow foam adhesives
Spellbinders Nestabillities; Creative Memories circle cutting system

Deep Red cling stamps (designed by Sandy), heat embossed in SU white powder
Distress Ink core paper, Bazzill black; Paper Smooches ribbon
Cuttlebug and Sizzix embossing folders; Tombow foam adhesives

Thought the first card might be sent from a daddy to his little (tweener) girl back home. Or, maybe it might be sent from one of our female troops to a girlfriend needing a pick-me-up from a good friend.

I took a few liberties with the second card, but stayed with the spirit of the sketch. It is a little atypical for me to make an Any Hero card using nontraditional (non-patriotic) colors, but I like the result.

Parting Thoughts

Looking forward to the Top 13 of 2013 OWH Bloghop on Wednesday.

Also looking forward to a new challenge blog that Bobbi (of Bobbi's Treasure) and I are starting on Wednesday.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

3 Little Hearts, Lots of Love

Hi, everyone.

A quick post for a love card inspired by this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown to make a non-Valentine love card.

Distress Ink core paper; EK 3-heart punch
Celebrate It! ribbon; Glossy Accents; gems
Tombow adhesives

Kept this one simple... maybe too simple. After I had attached the ribbon and adhered the 3 hearts, I was really thinking the card needed more... and wishing I had done some embossing. So, I added a layer of glossy-accented hearts. Then I decided to add a little more bling.

I kept hearing Paula's bootcamp instructions on this one -- adding a third (10%) color of blue that was not in the original plans, giving great care when it came to the placement of the hearts, and really contemplating whether to add the gems. Thanks, Paula!

Hope it brings a big smile to a loved one's face. Think this one could even go to a tweener or teen.  :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Have a BEARy Merry Christmas

Hi, everyone.

I was a vendor at a local craft show today, with proceeds benefiting Operation Write Home. One of the cards for sale was the little polar cub shown below. It is a tweaking of a card I made earlier in the year. The inspirations for both cards were a tutorial for a punch polar bear and a photo of polar cubs playing in a snow/ice cave.

Distress Ink core paper, Bazzill white and black cardstock
punches: EK hole, Paper Shaper circle, Emagination tree
additonal punches: Recollections snowflake, SU word window
fussy cutting: candy cane, Santa Hat, snout
Creative Memories oval cutting system: ear
techniques: sanding, inking, paper tearing

Think I'm going to link this one for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge to make a project featuring a tree. Truth be told, the cub is the main attraction of this vignette, with the tree serving as a supporting cast member. But, I can't resist the temptation to share this little guy with fellow CAS lovers.  :)

Parting Thoughts

Now that the craft shows are over, I need to get back to those OWH cards. It's Valentine's time on the OWH calendar.

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

What did Poppa Bee Say to Baby Bee?

Answer: Bee Mine  :)

Hi, everyone.

The inspirations for today's card were an adorable Paper Smooches stamp set and the desire to make some kid-friendly Valentine's Day cards for Operation Write Home.

Paper Smooches images and sentiment stamped on watercolor paper in Distress Ink
Distress Ink core paper; SU Sizzix embossing folder
embossed paper sponged in Distress Inks with SU daubers
stash ribbon; garage sale brad; mini glue dots

I like the pairing of the poppa (or momma) bee and baby bee. But, when I went to put together the elements of this card, I realized just how big the parent bee really is for an A2 card. Should I decide to do a version 2.0 of this card, I might actually print out a slightly smaller version of the bees and sentiment.

I played around with several color combos for sentiment background paper. It felt like there needed to be a piece of white between the brown and red. In the end, the three background papers seem to help bring my eye to the sentiment since the bees and heart make such a strong image.

I tried to create a single focal point -- or at least a flow to the card, by having the bee image touch the sentiment, and the sentiment touch the ribbon.

Speaking of the ribbon... Isn't it amazing how things like this ribbon look so crooked when you see them in a pic?

Oh well, think there's a little one who will love receiving this from their mommy or daddy -- crooked ribbon and all. :)


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

The True Soldier

Hi, everyone.

Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration with family and loved ones.

Seems like forever since I've made a traditional Any Hero card. Missed quite a bit of October due to some traveling, and made Any Hero holiday cards in November.

The inspiration for today's card came from OWH Sketch #201 and Donna's wonderful sample card. Since this is an Any Hero card that doesn't require mailbox-to-mailbox delivery, I went with two thick ribbons and double thick foam adhesives.

Bo Bunny Anthem; Distress Ink core
sentiment (Stamper's Best??? Unity???), heat embossed in Distress Ink core
Paper Smooches ribbons; Paper Studio brads
Tombow adhesives

The only deviation from the sketch was the horizontal strip. Since I went with ribbon that was only 1.5 inches thick, I changed the layout slightly to accommodate the narrower ribbon.

I love the sentiment on the stamp, which I picked up during OWH's Birthday Bash month. But, for the life of me, I can't remember who made it.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get a start on some OWH Valentines.

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

Bee Mine -- Take 2

Hi, everyone.

This week's OWH Midweek Throwdown is to make a card using dry embossing. Just loved Carols' sample card.

As for my contribution... Sounded like another great opportunity to stamp some little bees.

Distress Ink core, embossed with Sizzix/SU embossing folder
Paper Smooches images stamped in Distress Ink

Inside of Card

waterfall card

These three panels on the front, and the inside sentiment, make up the four panels on this waterfall card from the other day.

And, I don't usually include onside sentiments for OWH cards. But, these little bees really needed a little extra pizzazz on the inside. :)

I'm really liking the concept of the card, but am not so happy with the dimensions of the panels on the front. Think I may give this another try using two circles and an oval...

Parting Thoughts

Another short and sweet post. Still trying to recover from last week's festivities. And, gotta make some card bases for next week's craft show and e-mail a friend about a possible December Girl Get-Together.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Love is in the Air

Hi, everyone.

I was so excited when Allison was announced as the new Midweek Throwdown Hostess. Unfortunately, I've not yet had a chance to make a card for her first couple of challenges. Finally, today, I was able to make a card for this week's pink and green color challenge. Pink and green... sounds like the perfect combo for a girlie, spring card. :)

Distress Ink core paper; Martha Stewart punches and gems
Cuttlebug and Sizzix embossing folders; Glossy Accents

I really like the glossy butterflies, and I'm okay with the design of the card. However, I'm still not sold on the gems -- especially seeing them on the screen. They look more purple and less pink here than they do on the card. But, I'm not even sure I like them as they appear on the card. Hmmm....

And, how I love my Staedtler bendable ruler. It was such a help in making the matching flight paths. :)

Parting Thoughts

Sorry for such a quick post. Maybe I'll be able to check back in the next day or two and share a card we made at Stamp Club last night.

Until then, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A Special Delivery

Hi, everyone.

Today's card was made for this month's OWH ODBD challenge to make a card with wheels.  So I asked myself what could I do to make a holiday card with my Stampin' Up! truck stamps...

snow, snowflakes, snowman, sentiment paper: watercolor paper
dp: Doodlebug; cardstock: Distress Ink core
punches: Recollections snowflake, Stampin' Up! snowman, ??? corner punch for stars
stamps: Stampin' Up! I Dig You, Hero Arts Season's Greetings for tree
images heat embossed with clear powder
original sentiment, computer-generated (Andy)

I used a similar design as with Happy Dirtday! When I started to put a little bear in the truck cab, I thought why not try a snowman? Why not, indeed?! And, while I was at it, why not use a couple of stars for hubcaps?

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again to everyone who made a Card 4 a Kiddie during last weekend's VCMP. The linked cards are just adorable... and are sure to bring lots and lots of smiles.

It was great to see so many new cardmakers -- not to mention an increase in the total number of cardmakers -- at this year's VCMP!

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

Have a BEARY Merry Christmas!

Hi, everyone.

The card below was inspired by Operation Write Home's Polar Bear Tutorial and photos of adorable baby polar bears in ice caves. I have to say I am THRILLED with the way this little guy turned out.   :)

Distress Ink core paper; cardstock: Bazzill black, AC white
Cuttlebug embossing folder
punches: EK hole, Paper Shaper circle, Recollection snowflake
Creative Memories oval cutting system
pens: Uniball white, Micron black; tool: Staedtler bendable ruler
techniques: paper piecing and fussy cutting

While this digital picture is one of my better efforts, there are a few details that don't show up. The red core paper around the borders was embossed, and lightly sanded, using a Swiss dot embossing folder. Also, the outlines of the bear cub and the Santa hat were lightly inked using blue and black shades of Distress Ink, respectively.

Speaking of the Santa hat, Microsoft clip art images were used to make the hat and candy cane. After images were printed, they were cut out to use as templates.

If you haven't seen a Staedtler bendable ruler, you might want to check them out. A good friend gave me one a while ago, and I it comes in handy at the most unexpected times. For this card, I used it to outline the "cave" opening so I didn't get too tear-crazy.

Parting Thoughts

I'm hoping that this little cub brings a big smile to the face of one of our troop's little ones.

And, I'm thinking this could be a popular card at this season's craft fairs. Just need to find a way to keep the cuteness -- and attention to detail, while streamlining the process. Trust me, this little guy was pretty labor intensive... but definitely worth the effort! I couldn't be happier with this little bear cub.   :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

Hi, everyone.

I was so excited when I saw this stamp and punch bundle in the Stampin' Up! catalog and am THRILLED with the way the card below turned out. Never mind that it only took four tries for me to achieve this look.

Previous attempts were too busy (patterns for top and bottom papers), too symmetrical of a layout, and too symmetrical of an arrangement of ornament and branches).  The second attempt was so bad I didn't even show it to hubby!  :)

dp: We R Memory Keepers Winter Frost; cardstock; Distress Ink core
Stampin' Up! ornament, heat embossed in Distress Ink, and punch
Martha Stewart branch punch; Cuttlebug embossing folder
Really Reasonable Ribbon lace; Queen & Co pearl
Creative Memories oval cutting system and pen

I really do LOVE this card. My only regret is that the scan doesn't begin to capture its beauty. And, I have no idea why the paper looks discolored around the ornament. It is a pretty white with soft, blue snowflakes.

Tips:  On the back of the card, I drew a vertical line down the center to help line up the oval template. Because of the size of the oval, I was able to trim a 6" by 6" paper to two pieces of 3" by 5.25" -- and get two cards from each of the patterned sheets.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Stars and Stripes in Red, Blue, and Kraft

Hi, everyone.

Hope everyone is enjoying a great weekend.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #185. I really am partial to CAS cards. So, today's sketch was right up my alley.  :)

Distress Ink core paper, embossed/crimped and lightly sanded
Darice and Sizzix embossing folders
Fiskars and Paper Studio star punches; garage sale brad
Creative Memories circle cutting system

I took liberties with the square element in the bottom right of the sketch. I immediately knew this was going to be a star, and probably a star in a circle. My first circle was smaller, with a diameter closer to the width of the square in the sketch. But, the larger star seemed to be crying out for a larger circle.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to work on a few Christmas cards this afternoon.

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

Red, White, Blue, and Striped

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #184. Immediately, I felt that the vertical 3" by 5.5" strip should be a deep blue, with a contrasting  3.75" by 2" horizontal jute/burlap strip and a star embellishment in the circle.

Bo Bunny Anthem, Recollections jute
Distress Ink core paper (chipped sapphire, fired brick, antique linen)
star punches: Fiskars and Paper Studio; Paper Studio brad
Creative Memories Cutting System
adhesives: Zots 3D glue dots, Glossy Accents

I tried several different combinations of solid and patterned papers for the 0.75" by 5.5" vertical strip, but none of them felt right. When I finally scored and sanded a strip of the chipped sapphire, I loved the simplicity of the look. Keeping it simple allowed the star to really pop. I'm also liking the diagonal stripes on the star.

Parting Thoughts

Wow... it's been a great day. But, I'm pretty beat. So, I think I'm going to call it a night.

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

Have a Super Day!

Hi, everyone.

This card has been rattling around in my brain ever since the adorable Paper Smooches Super! stamp set released. (This is actually a second version using the Paper Smooches Alphadots stamp set.) And, even though I just ordered a set of the newly released dies that go with the stamp set, I couldn't pass up the chance to (literally) piece this together while I had some serious time to work on it.

Paper Smooches Super! stamp set in StazOn jet black
Distress Ink core paper (red, yellow, blue)
Bazzill black cardstock
Tombow foam squares behind super hero and buildings on right
LOTS of fussy cutting

Paper Smooches Super! and Alphadots stamp sets in StazOn jet black
Distress Ink core paper (red, yellow, blue)
stash white and black cardstock
computer generated shapes, requiring even more fussy cutting
(For details on making this popped-up sentiment, please click here)

Since this is going to Operation Write Home, I added a white strip to the bottom of the inside of the card for mommy or daddy to write a note to their super hero back home in the States.

So, with the popped-up sentiment and all of the fussy cutting, this little card was pretty labor intensive. And yet I can't help but smile when I think about the little super hero who's going to love getting this card from his mom or dad.  :)

Think I'm posting the card for this month's Paper Smooches Guest Designer Challenge.

Parting Thoughts

It's sure to be a super weekend around here. Hubby and I are celebrating 29 years of marriage tomorrow and my dad is celebrating his 79th birthday!  :)

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

A Patriotic Thanks!

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired OWH Sketch #183. Still loving this yummy Bo Bunny Anthem paper. :)

Bo Bunny Anthem dp; Distress Ink core, lightly sanded
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink vintage photo
Fiskars star punch: Stampin' Up! brads; Zots 3D glue dots

Love today's sketch. There's just something about CAS sketches that makes me smile. They seem to make it just a little easier to mix paper patterns.

I took special care to punch out the star so that the blue field would be in the upper left portion of the star. Played with different embellishments before deciding on the 3 neutral brads.

For the Bo Bunny Liberty collection, I usually use Bazzill admiral and watermelon cardstock. But, I'm finding the Distress Ink palette works really well with the Anthem collection. Bo Bunny and Distress Ink: a combo made in paper heaven!

Parting Thoughts

Enjoy the rest of the weekend -- it's so pretty here -- and have a great work week!

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Another 2 for 1 Day!

Hi, everyone!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

It's a cloudy day here with some must-see television viewing for golf fans. Translation: This is some prime cardmaking time!

Today's Cards

This year, I've tried to make an Any Hero card for every OWH Sunday sketch. But, when I saw today's sketch, I immediately thought of a masculine birthday card with 5 candles. (Maybe the card I made for hubby yesterday was still mulling around in my brain...)

So, what's a girl to do? That's easily answered -- make two cards! :)

Distress Ink core paper; Cuttlebug embossing folder
hand-drawn flames; computer-generated sentiment (Mistral)

Distress Ink core paper; Darice embossing folder
computer-generated sentiment (Mistral)
Fiskars and Paper Studio star punches; garage sale brad

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to work on a card for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to make a card with numbers. Should be easy for someone who's spent a life in mathematics education, right?

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

Happy Birthday to Hubby

Hi, everyone.

Hubby's celebrating a birthday in a few days. So, I took advantage of a little alone time to make a card for him. Since he's a no-frills kind of guy, I made a no-frills card. I didn't even put one brad on the card, which was really hard for me not to do!

Distress Ink core paper, lightly sanded
EK leaf and hole punches
(And, that's all folks! As no frills as possible.)

To make the flames, I punched out a tiny leaf from an EK punch, scanned the punched-out leaf, pasted and enlarged the image into a Word doc, printed the enlarged image, and used the enlarged image to trace the leaf and cut out some flames on the card.

The orange candles are actually two-layered, with the flame placed between the layers. In addition, I trimmed the tops of the candles with a pair of Fiskars paper edges to give the look of melted wax.

Lastly, I added the three tiny circles at the bottom to reinforce the yellow of the flames. I stuck to my guns to make this a no-brad/gem/embellishment card for my no-frills guy. :) 

Parting Thoughts 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Sweet Land of Liberty

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #181. When I first saw the sketch, "USA" immediately popped in my head for the square element. The rest of the card flowed from there.

Bo Bunny Anthem; Distress Ink core (antique linen, fired brick, chipped sapphire)
computer-generated sentiment (Times New Roman; R: 184, G; 0, B; 0)
Distress Ink vintage photo for inking of paper and twine; garage sale brads; Zots 3D glue dots

This one got a big thumbs up from hubby!  :)

Even though this was a pretty busy sketch, the card feels calm to me. Interesting enough, I consider myself a CAS aficionado. Yet, I struggled more with last week's simpler sketch. Hmmm...

Parting Thoughts

Have a great week. I'm hoping to find time to play with the new Paper Smooches Super stamp set.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

This one got a big thumbs up from hubby.

Falling Leaves

Hi, everyone.

Hope everybody is okay after this afternoon's storms.

The card below was made for today's Midweek Throwdown challenge to make a masculine-themed card.

Craft Smart stamp, heat embossed and sponged in Distress Ink
Distress Ink core paper; Sizzix embossing folder
Stampin' Up! brads; Zots 3D glue dots

I'm very excited about the technique used for the leaves. After heat embossing the image in Distress Ink walnut stain, I used cotton swabs to sponge on various Distress Inks (wild honey, scattered straw, fired brick, dusty concord).

I also like the sketch. It came from that fabulous Leisure Arts book. I tried to create a strong focal, use odd numbers of elements (5 strips of paper, 3 brads), and pay attention to the rule of thirds. It seems I can't help but channel Paula these days. :)

Not so sure this is masculine-themed enough. Hubby loves fall. So, I went with a neutral/male fall palette. Also, not so sure about the embossing folder. Wanted to add some texture, and this was the closest to nature folder that I had. Maybe I should've bought a wood grain folder after all.  :)

Parting Thoughts

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

Say It with Legos

Hi, everyone,

Okay, making a legos card was not on my day's crafting to-do list when the day began. But, when I saw Julie's stinkin' cute card idea at this week's Tuesday Tutorial, well I just had to join in the fun. Thanks, Nancy and Julie, for such a fun idea for a cute kiddie card!

Distress Ink core paper and ink (chipped sapphire, barn door red, scattered straw)
Stampin Up! sponge daubers; white gel pen; Marvy circle punch; Tombow dimensional adhesives

Julie suggested stamping a sentiment on a separate sheet of paper and adhering it to the card. I decided to make the sentiment out of the legos.

My only regret is that I didn't have an embossing folder to create the lego base. So, I went with a larger piece of white cardstock.

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again to the OWH blog team for a great idea! (BTW: The math teacher/editor in me LOVED the fractions -- even though I just eyeballed my circles and rectangles!)

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

A Patriotic Thanks

Hi, everyone.

A REALLY quick post for today's Any Hero card, inspired by Operation Write Home Sketch #180.

Bo Bunny Anthem, Distress Ink core
brand-spankin'-new Darice embossing folder
sentiment heat embossed in Distress Ink chipped sapphire
star punches: Fiskars, the Paper Studio

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