Just Us Girls #321 - Photo Week

It's Photo Week at Just Us Girls, and Vicki chose this amazing photo!

 

I started my card by sponging some distress inks on water color paper, then added some water droplets to mimic the bokeh look in the photo.  Then I die cut the wreath from silver sticky back paper and adhered it to the panel.  I did the same with the bow.  The word was die cut four times and stacked for dimension.  I added some silver sequins to finish it off.

 

This also fits in with the Colour Me! challenge.

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our guest, Louise Hodge, on the JUGs blog.  A big thank you to Louise for being such a great guest for the month of November!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Paper:  Recollections white, Tim Holtz watercolor paper, Silver Deco Sheets

Ink:  Picked raspberry, seedless preserves

Accessories:  Ring Wreath die (SSS), Christmas Greetings die (MFT), Deck the Halls die (PTI), sequins

 



Happy Thanksgiving and Time Out Challenge #45

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!  I hope you have a great time with family and friends!  I'm hosting dinner at my home today for 10 of my family members!  Wish me luck!

 

We have a new challenge over at the Time Out blog.  This week is our Inspired by Words challenge where we give you a saying from which you can be inspired.  This is the saying:

Snowflakes are winter's butterflies

 

I love snowflakes and have many snowflake stamps and dies.  I had this snowflake already die cut, so all I did was cover it with Glue 'n Seal and rock candy distress glitter.  It sparkles so nicely!  And the paper is one of my all-time favorites.  I still have a good amount of it left. The colors are just so pretty...love the red and brown!  I finished it off with a banner sentiment and sequins.

 

I used this sketch from Sunday Stamps.

 

You can see more inspiration from the Time Out design team and our guest for this challenge, Ashwini on the Time Out blog!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Winter Cheer (Hero Arts)

Paper:  Recollections white, riding hood red, Christmas Coca (SU)

Ink:  Riding hood red

Accessories:  Pierced snowflake die (MFT), quilted embossing folder (WRMK), sequins, glue 'n seal, rock candy distress glitter, dimensional tape

 



Deck the Halls

Hi everyone!  I made this card last week and wasn't going to post it, but when I looked at it again I thought I'd go ahead and post it. I had a hard time with those red stickles...I think mine are old and I need a new bottle.  This wreath has some holly leaves and pine needles in it that I die cut out of green paper.  The base was cut from brown.  I added this bow that I just am smitten with!  I die cut it from red and also stamped it in red.  I added the sentiment on a folded banner die.  The main panel was impressed with a woodgrain impression plate and inked up with some brown ink.  Another card for the Christmas card pile!  Lots more to do!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps: Winter Cheer (Hero Arts), Deck the Halls (PTI)

Paper:  Vintage cream, chocolate chip, garden green, real red

Ink:  Read red, frayed burlap distress ink

Accessories:  Wreath die (Impression Obsession), Deck the Halls die (PTI), folded banner die (SSS), woodgrain impression plate (PTI), red stickles, dimensional tape

 





Happy 50th

I went to a 50th birthday party for a male friend yesterday and had to make a card.  I don't know about you, but I have such a hard time with masculine cards.  However, this one came together rather quickly.  I used a layout from another card I made a while ago (are there not as many sketch challenges out there than there used to be?).  I usually need a sketch to get me going and I'm not good with them, so I sort of CASED myself.  I thought these colors were good for a masculine card.  The "happy" was originally inlaid, however I die cut it in the rust paper and it didn't show up very well.  I tried to pull it out, but only got part of it out!  So the black one just went over the other one.  I do like it better!  The black base was impressed with the linen impression plate too.  It's hard to see.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Paper:  Black, real rust, Zoology (Bo Bunny)

Accessories:  By the numbers and by the numbers mats dies (PTI), suffix style die (PTI), tipped tops dies (PTI), linen impression plate (PTI), enamel dots





Just Us Girls #320 - Color Week

Hi friends!  Just Us Girls has a color challenge going on this week, and Sharyn chose red, green, and gold for us.  Great for making those holiday cards!

 

I cut this die out of white cardstock and colored it with copic markers.  The star on top was embossed with gold embossing powder then adhered it to the cream cardstock.  I added some gold glitter paper and wooden stars also embossed with gold embossing powder to match the star on the die.  The main panel is popped up on fun foam for some dimension.  Strips of gold glitter paper was added as well.

 

I used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for my layout.

 

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our guest, Louise, on the JUGs blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Paper:  Vintage cream, Jolly Holiday (SU), gold Deco sheets (Tim Holtz)

Ink:  Copic markers, Versamark

Accessories:  Tree of Joy die (Penny Black), gold embossing powder, wooden stars, fun foam

 





Just Us Girls #319 - Trend Week

Hi friends!  It's trend week over at Just Us Girls, and Maria chose watercoloring.  It's so popular in blogland and a perfect challenge for us this week.

 

This is the second week in a row that I made a sympathy card.  The mother of our very good friend passed away this week, and today is actually the funeral.  So here I was making another sympathy card for this challenge.

 

The salon where I get my nails done has this painting hanging on the wall that I always admire.  I've thought several times that I should watercolor a panel like it.  Here's a picture of that painting.

And here's my interpretation of it.  I found what I thought was the perfect image.  I didn't have a good brown ink that I could use to stamp and emboss, so using my Misti, I stamped the image in chocolate chip then overstamped it in Versamark.  Then I was able to emboss it with clear powder and begin watercoloring.  I started with the blues and then the yellows.  I am over the moon about how this came out!  I watch so many videos on creating backgrounds like this, but always seem to fail at it!  The last thing I did was use a white gel pen to color in the berries and add the sentiment (which is a little crooked!)

 

You can see more inspiration from the JUGs design team and our guest, Louise Hodge, on the JUGs blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Berry Bevy (Penny Black), Hero Arts (sympathy)

Paper: Tim Holtz watercolor, recollections white

Ink:  Weathered wood, tumbled glass, stormy sky, scattered straw, rusty hinge distress inks; chocolate chip, Versamark

Accessories:  Clear embossing powder, uniball white gel pen



Time Out Challenge #44 - CASE

It's time for another challenge on the Time Out blog.

 

This week we are CASE-ing this cool card by Karen.

 

I liked her little offset panel, so I took that idea to my card.  I used a snowflake stencil and some embossing paste colored with some blue ink and applied it to my card base.  I applied the paste to the card using only a portion of the stencil to sort of mimic Karen's panel.  I then added the folded banner and some sequins for some sparkle.

 

 I had some colored paste left over, so I created another card.  However this time I covered the card base with embossing using the whole stencil.  I finished it off in the same manner.

 

You can see more from the Time Out design team and out new guest designer, Jen.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  In the Meadow (PTI)

Paper:  Recollections white, sky blue

Ink:  Versamark, tumbled glass distress ink

Accessories:  Let It Snow stencil (Dylusions), Dreamweaver embossing paste, folded banner die (SSS), sequins, dimensional tape

 





Happy 21st Birthday!

My niece Maria is turning 21 today!  She is the sweetest girl and so hardworking.  She is studying to be a physician's assistant, and all she does is study or work during her off times.  I wanted to make a special card to celebrate the occasion.

 

I recently purchased this margarita die and it was sitting on my desk waiting to be used.  I thought it would be a cute card for her.  I die cut the glass from pear paper (Maria loves green) and found the perfect pattern paper to go with it.  I die cut some numbers from different fonts and adhered one of them behind the shaker so it would be stationary.  Then I added some sequins and the other numbers I die cut.  The ribbon is actually from a Christmas set, but I thought it looked festive on the glass.  I added some star dust stickles on the rim of the glass (to resemble sugar) and the piece of fruit.  The inside of the fruit has some glossy accents on it to make it look juicy.  The sentiment finishes it off.

 

I loosely followed the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch.  You can sort of see where I was going with it, right?

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Deck the Halls and Mega Mixed Messages (PTI)

Paper:  Recollections white, pear pizzazz, marigold morning, Kioshi (Basic Grey)

Ink:  Marigold morning, Versafine onyx black

Accessories:  Margarita shaker die (Avery Elle), Deck the Halls die (PTI), Number Time Trio die (PTI), Banner Trio (WP9), sequins, star dust stickles, glossy accents, acetate, Wink of Stella, dimensional tape, corner rounder





25 Days of Christmas Tags

Hello crafty friends!  I was having a crafty day yesterday afternoon just playing around and also getting some DT work done.  But it was cut short because I received a call from my mom's assisted living place that she had fallen and hit her head.  There was apparently lots of blood and they couldn't stop the bleeding, so they took her in an ambulance to the emergency room.  We were there for four hours while they checked her out.  They right away knew that it was just a contusion (a break in the skin) and that she didn't require stitches or anything.  So she had a good night's sleep and she was fine today, thank goodness!

 

Anyway, I did manage to make two tags for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags challenge.  I love tags!  I don't know what it is about them, but I just adore making them.  On Day 1 of the challenge, Tracey made a tag with a wreath stamped on it, and it reminded me of some PTI stamps and dies I had that I could use to create one too.

I think I've purchased all the Enclosed series stamps and dies, and guess what?  They've never been used (of course!).  So I had to use them for this challenge.  The one on the left was die cut in white then stamped in green ink and red for the berries.  Then I stamped the sentiment in the center with red in as well.  Red stickles were added to the berries and a die cut bow at the top.  On the right one, I did the same, but added the Peace overlay and omitted the bow. 

 

If you haven't checked out the 25 Days of Christmas Tags, check them out!  Tracey has guest artists and prizes too!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Enclosed Wreath (PTI)

Paper:  PTI white, real red

Ink:  Real red, garden green

Accessories:  Enclosed: Basic folded tag die (PTI), Enclosed: Wreath die (PTI), Basic bow embossing (TE), red stickles

 





Just Us Girls #318 - Word Week

Boy am I glad the weekend is here.  It wasn't a bad week, it's just that I love my weekends!  I hate waking up to an alarm!  Anyway, there's a new challenge over at Just Us Girls.  This week is our word week, and Sue chose the word "stripes". 

 

Unfortunately, I needed a sympathy card.  Fortunately, I had this great Prayers die and stamp set.  First, I had to create some stripes for the challenge.  I don't know if you can see them, but I used a stripes stencil and some white texture paste to create them on the main panel.  While that was drying, I created some gold paper by covering some white paper with Versamark and gold embossing powder.  The prayers word was die cut from that as well as the little heart.  I die cut and stamped the flower and leaves.  I added the pattern paper circle and banner.  That main panel was backed with a piece of coral paper.

 

I'm playing in a couple of other challenges.  I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

And I used the color palette from Color Throwdown.

 

And then I thought I'd enter this into Jennifer McGuire's Share Handmade Kindness Challenge.  This card is going to my cousin who lost her husband recently.

 

You can see more from our design team and our new guest for November, Louise Hodge, on the JUGs blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Prayers (SSS), Ruby Rose (PTI)

Paper:  Recollections white, cameo coral, old olive, Jolly Holiday dp (SU)

Ink:  Versamark, old olive, cameo coral

Accessories:  Prayers die (SSS), Ruby Rose dies (PTI), Banner Trio (WP9), circle die (Spellbinders), Hearts and Stars die (Memory Box), gold ep, stripes stencil (Wendy Vecchi), texture paste, corner rounder, dimensionals

 



Holiday Cheer

Happy fall back day!  And because of falling back, I had some extra time this morning to create a card!  I found some challenges to play with and came up with this card.  It includes some new products too.  The quilted piece is from one of those new We R Memory Keepers embossing folders.  I loved that bow when I saw it on Catherine Pooler's blog.  It took quite a few tries before getting the just the right colors to stamp it with.  The holiday die cut was cut three times and stacked for more dimension.  I didn't have the right sequins for this and I was in a hurry to complete it, so I just added some dots of star dust stickles.  Another holiday card completed!

 

 I used this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge for my layout.  Loved this one!

 

 Then I saw the Curtain Call Challenge to use plaid...couldn't pass this one up either!  I was hoping to get some felt into my card for the plush part, but it wasn't working.

 

That's it!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe



Stamps:  Holiday Bows (The Ton), City Scene Christmas Sentiments (PTI)
Paper:  Vintage cream, old olive, riding hood red, Handmade Holidays (Simple Stories)
Ink:  Riding hood red, old olive
Accessories:  Holiday Bows dies (The Ton), Christmas Cheer dies (PTI), Banner Trio (WP9), Quilted embossing folder (WRMK), star dust stickles, dimensionals, corner rounder