Hey L'il Monster

Hey, everyone.

For today's OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge to make cards 4 kids, I went bright, bold, and busy -- inside and out. Hope some little guy or gal will smile when they get this one.  :)

BTW  The tiny orange circles in the corners were inspired by a torn edge. The trimmer took a little bite out of the top right corner. So, I added a few circles to cover it up.

dp: Recollections Monsters; Creative Memories
cardstock: green and orange: AC; purple: Distress Ink core
Stampin' Up! Make a Monster image, heat embossed in Distress Ink black soot
conputer-generated sentiment
Creative Memories cutting system; Marvy, Paper Shaper and EK punches
Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbon-a-month club ribbon; Tombow foam adhesives
Dixie's awesome ribbon-tying technique

Thanks for stopping 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'!

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'!

Hey L'il Monster

Hi everyone,

Hope the weekend's going well.

I have three cards to share with you today. :)

Card #1: Hey L'il Monster!

This first card was inspired by 3 things:

• This week's OWH Tuesday Tutorial on Fussy Cutting,
• Adorable monster paper on clearance at Michael's, and
• the sentiment "Hey L'il Monster" from Lesiure Arts' card- making sketch book.

Paper: Recollections Monster and All Over Monster, AC Cardstock
Sentiment: computer-generated in Andy style
Techniques: heat embossing with clear powder, punching

Tools: Creative Memories cutting system, circle punches, border punch

Seriously, what was I thinking?

This card initially had a gem in place of the eyeball. It was late last night -- okay late's a relative thing since it was 10:30 on a Friday night (lol) --  and I felt like it needed something over on that side. Why not a cute little lime gem? And, then sanity returned this morning when I asked myself what I was thinking putting a swallow-able object on a child's card! Then the idea of an eyeball popped into my brain -- and I'm so glad it did. I really like the way this l'il guy turned out. :)

One thing I really like about this card is its strong focal point. What I know about graphic design could probably fit in a thimble. But, I think the fact that the eyeball connects to the sentiment and the sentiment connects to the monster is making for a great focal point.

I LOVE how the heat embossing turned out on the monster. On thinner paper, the result is usually bumpy, which is perfect for this little guy. He is shiny and bumpy -- and popping off the page. :)

The eyeball has about 4 layers of circles underneath to give it a little pop off the page. And, there are strips of cardstock under the arms and leg to reinforce them just a bit. Finally, there's a tiny little monster looking out from inside the card. :)

The best news is I have 2 more monsters I can fussy cut for 2 more cards!

Card #2: A World of Thanks

This card was inspired by this week's Midweek Throwdown Challenge to make a thank you card.

Paper: DCWV Travel Stack, miscellaneous cardstock;
Sentiments: ? stamped in Distress Ink Black Soot, computer-generated in Abadi MT Condensed Extra Bold
Techniques: heat embossing, border punching, inking

 This card was a bit of a challenge.

• I wanted to make something that could go masculine. [Check]
• I wanted to use the DCWV Travel Stack to use the international stamp
  and computer sentiment [Check] but....
• I'd already used all of my favorite papers from the stack. Hmmm....

All in all, this is a good little card. It definitely has a nice physical weight to it. It's just not as shiny and attention-grabbing as the L'il Monster -- but then what could be? :)

Card 3: Snowflakes of Sympathy

This last card is for a girl at work whose mom died quite suddenly about a week ago.  It'll be 25 years next month that I lost my mom. I still remember a card received from friends the following Christmas. Actually, I have no idea what the front of the card looked like -- nor do I remember the manufacturer's stamped sentiment. But the handwritten note... well, that's another matter.

May your most treasured gift this holiday season be
your memories of Christmases past.

This is a sentiment that I have written on more cards than I care to remember throughout the years -- and the sentiment that will be shared with my colleague. I hope the design of the card below conveys the peace and comfort that Kevin and Denise's message brought to me all those years ago. Think I'll post this for CAS-ual Fridays' Winter Blues challenge.

Paper: Recollections embossed with Hero Arts snowflake stamp, AC cardstock, stash cardstock
Embellishments: white sheer ribbon, gem
Tools: Creative Memories square punches, snowflake punch

Parting Thoughts

Not quite sure I'll get to the Sunday sketch tomorrow since Craft Fair prep time is waning.

Picked up some wonderful pads of paper for next year's OWH Christmas cards. I especially love We R Memory Keepers' Winter's Frost Collection. Those papers are sure to make some beautiful cards. 

If I don't post anything else this week, have a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving celebration with family, friends, and loved ones.