Pilin' on the Season

The theme this week at Pile It On is Summer OR Winter. We're sponsored by Kitty Bee Designs, and I used their sweet Bumblebee digi stamp. We're enjoying the last of our summer days, and have plenty of bees of different varieties making the most out of the warm days.

click images to enlarge

Inspiration/Challenges:
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards #97: Frame It
CHPPC: Patterned Paper (2nd entry)
Craft Your Passion: Always Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon #301: Shake It Up
Mojo Monday: Sketch #409 (2nd entry)
Paper Creator's Crafts #41: Dies or Punches
Paper Shelter Challenge #213: Punches or Dies
WordArt Wednesdays: Anything Goes

Update: This was a Featured Project for Little Red Wagon #301!

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting! Hope you'll join us at Pile It On,

Photo Card

My Mom just visited, so I decided to make her a card which I slipped into her bag when she left.

The design was inspired by Mojo Monday Sketch #409.

Thank you for visiting & for inspiring my crafting,

Summer Coffee Mojo

I am a big coffee drinker; I like to brag that I drank coffee way before it was cool (the pre-Starbucks days) and my friends tease me about my preference for black iced coffee, no matter the weather! So when I saw the Coffee Loving Cardmakers' Summer Blog Hop, I just had to make a card and hop along.

I was also inspired by Mojo Monday Sketch #400 and Verve Stamps' Eat Me, Drink Me challenge. I used a sentiment & two sun stamps from Verve's wonderful Let It Shine set (you can see my many uses of this set here) to make a summery card.

The sun stamps are heat-embossed in yellow. I used an SU! coffee bean stamp to heat-emboss some white, whimsical clouds. The birds are from an ArtsyFartsy stamp set, simply stamped in black.

The cup is from a a Heartfelt Creations die set. I stamped the sentiment in bronze onto the off-white mulberry paper. The doily was cut from a coffee bean-patterned DP with a Sizzix/Eileen Hull die in my BigShot. I backed it with cardboard from actual coffee cup sleeves.

I notched the corners on the blue paper with my favorite Marvy corner punch, and added a slight frame of with copper paper.

Challenges/Inspiration:
Amusing Challenge: Anything Goes + no digis
Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog Hop: Summer-themed Coffee, Tea &/or Cocoa project

Mojo Monday: Sketch #400
Verve Stamps June Inspiration Challenge: Eat Me, Drink Me

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting, and be sure to check out the gorgeous projects at the Coffee Loving Cardmakers' Summer Blog Hop!

Luck o' the Irish

I wanted to make my folks a St. Patrick's Day card, since why not, so I pulled out the great Lucky Day stamp set by SP & Company. 

I made the shamrocks with a heart-shaped punch, and cut the cloud with an IO die. The cloud background is embossed with a Darice embossing folder, and I added machine stitching for the border. 

Inspiration/Challenges:
DRS Designs #62: Shamrocks/4 leaf Clovers
Inky Impressions #100: St. Patrick's Day or Green
Mojo Monday 283: Sketch Contest
SP Trends Challenge #5: Baker's Twine + SP & Company Stamps

Thank you for visiting,

April showers bring ... wet flowers

Thanks to the team at Free Digital Stamps (such a great daily resource for free digis; I also like how they're very respectful of artists' rights) I just discovered Sharon's beautiful work over at Steady On!, and as soon as I saw her groovy "brollies" I just had to work with them! Don't you just love how they fall‽

I won this Paper Makeup digi sentiment for participating in one of their Digi Makeover Challenges a few months back. Love Dolly Parton!

Inspiration/Challenges:

Mojo Monday #235: Sketch (left)

Paper Playtime Challenge #71: April Showers / Use an umbrella + any type of Die Cut (the circle and border are dies I used with my Big Shot)

Up on the Housetop

I actually find myself in the odd position of being kinda caught-up with my holiday cards...but I can always make more! I couldn't resist using a couple of the super holiday freebies from Tellen's Place Designs...and it was the perfect opportunity to finally use the reindeer-themed stamp set from Studio G (I think) that I've had in my Christmas stash for years. Gotta love those little hooves! For the layout, I turned to Mojo Monday Sketch #218. Thanks everyone!

This card is all about texture (you know how I love texture!): The base is a shiny, textured Core'dinations cardstock; the bright white piece is Hammermill cardstock heat-embossed with snowflakes in Kaleidoscope (glittery, clear embossing powder); the oval is plain Recollections paper with the sentiment stamped with chalk ink & heat-embossed in Kaleidoscope; the strip uses the same Recollections paper but the hooves are heat-embossed in copper. I colorized the image in brown & printed it on white linen cardstock. Santa's beard is covered in white flocking (as is Ally's outfit on the inside, see below), the white on his hat & coat are heat-embossed with clear powder, and the snow on the chimney is heat-embossed in Kaleidoscope (I love that stuff!). I "paper-pierced" the edges with my sewing machine.

Can't believe Christmas is right around the corner! I'm certainly feeling the spirit :)

Autumn Camus #2

This is my second card using this Albert Camus quote Wordart freebie from Paper Makeup (my first card is here). I wanted to revisit the idea of a vase with leaves in it (which I've actually done in real life, but our leaves are all wet and yucky right now). I also wanted to make a card for the current Digi Makeover Challenge.

The only vase stamp I have, from SP & Company's For Every Woman set, comes with a Gerbera Daisy, so I used masking to incorporate a leaf stamp. I paper-pieced the vase, and, as you can see, got lots of mileage out of my Martha Stewart flower border punch! I made Shrinky Dink buttons and sewed them onto the card with orange thread.

I followed the current Mojo Monday Sketch, where I got the tag idea. Mom recently sent me a baggy full of mini tags with color-matched eyelets, so I tied one onto the card with baker's twine. I colorized some of the Wordart text color, and hand-colored the tiny leaf.

Inspiration:

Paper Makeup / Digi Makeover Challenge 8: A Color Challenge

Mojo Monday #212: Sketch

Let It Snow...but not for a few more months

Oh my goodness, is it Monday already?! Dang. Although I finished this card yesterday, I didn't get around to photographing it until today ... so I missed the deadline for the Mojo Monday contest. Oh well, I had lots of fun with their great sketch. The theme is inspired by this week's Let It Snow challenge at Lili of the Valley (LOTV).

Both images are by LOTV, but I did not color the center image; it's a pre-colored die cut piece. The smaller image is an LOTV rubber stamp, which I stamped onto shrink plastic and colored with markers. I added FlowerSoft with Glossy Accents to both.

Inspiration:

Mojo Monday #109: Sketch

Lili of the Valley Challenge #115: Let It Snow

Stamps: Lili of the Valley, Studio G, Alys Paterson for Quick Cards Made Easy
Paper: LOTV, Shrinky Dink bright white plastic, Recollections, K&Company
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, stamp block, MS detailing scissors & punches, Marvy heat tool, Crop-O-Dile, toaster oven
Other: tulle from WalMart, ZipDry glue, Stampendous embossing powder, Versamark, Memento & StazOn inks, Marvy markers

That's all we really want

I bought this Anime DJ by KennyK a part of a Japan Disaster Relief fundraiser, but I'm just now coloring her. I thought she'd look good with this "splash" stamp. For the background, I used a Tim Holtz embossing plate to make a "splash".

The embellishment on the top is the same "splash" stamp, on Shrink plastic. The message section is actually a removable tag.

Inspiration:
Mojo Monday #206: Sketch (Square version)
Pile It On #35: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
The Crafty Calendar August Challenge: Hot Colours

Stamps: Anime DJ by KennyK, Make a Splash set from Raisin Boat, the Paper Studio, Guitar Hero set by Studio G
Paper: Recollections, Hammermill, Core'dinations
Tools: Fiskars papercutter & deckle scissors, Martha Stewart scissors, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, hole punch, Marvy heat tool, Shrink plastic, sand paper, Tim Holtz paper distresser & embossing folder, Crop-O-Dile, Sizzix Texture Boutique
Other: StazOn, Martha Stewart, Versamark & Memento inks, ZipDry & Tacky glues, stash eyelet, Datrice ribbon, Stampendous & Recollections embossing powders
Copic markers: C-1, C-5, B00, BG15, BG49, B18, B05, B23, E37, E11, RV23, RV02, RV11, E13, E17, FBG2, FRV1, FYG1, FY1, Y000

Puppy Kisses & Fancy Stitches

I spied Bronte Kisses by Mo's Digital Pencil, and I just had to have it! All proceeds from this $1 digi will go to Pet Orphans of Southern California. This special set includes 3 lovely quotes, and I used one as part of the main image for this card. As you can see by the photo on the right, the resulting card was a big hit. (What you can't see is Allen, the white one, licking and then sitting on the card. It's fine though!)

I wanted the challenge of a color combo, so I chose SPCC's: River Rock (I used Kraft), Bashful Blue, Whisper White. For a sketch, I chose Mojo Monday. I was blown away by Julia's paper-pierced card, so I decided to try my hand at the Sew challenge at Do You Stack Up? (DYSU). I found all sorts of inspiration & tricks at Mel Stampz. Seriously, Mel's tutorials are so good that you totally believe you can do it!
I created piercing templates by putting a dotted "stroke" on a square (with the digi) and a circle. I did this in InDesign, but you can do it in Word too. I drew the "thread" with a gel pen and then used my awl to create the holes.

For a little extra something, I glued white ribbon to cardstock, and ran it through my sewing machine with 2 colors of thread. Funky! I love how my thread collection is a story of items hemmed...Curtains, bedspreads, slacks. All hemmed by Mom, I'm sure. She visits once a year, and it's still faster than waiting for me to do it!

The dogprint paper is simply stamped with watermark ink. The white background was embossed in my Sizzix. It's a happy accident that my only light blue ribbon also has a stitching theme!

I distressed the edges of the inside pieces; I like how the brown piece kinda looks like leather. I've never understood making dog collars out of leather, though: if you have more than one dog, it's like putting a chew toy on them!

Inspiration:
Mojo Monday #200: Sketch
DYSU Challenge #28: Sew, Faux or Real
SPCC #109: River Rock, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Faux Stitching tutorial: Mel Stampz (with lots of great links)

Stamps: Bronte Kisses by Mo's Digital Pencil, StampCraft
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Tim Holtz scissors & paper distresser, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, awl, Sizzix Texture Boutique
Other: ZipDry glue, Elmer's gel pen, stash button, Celebrate It! & Offray ribbons, Versamark watermark ink
Copic markers: YR01, E13, FBG2, B0000, BG000, B05, RV02, E11, E31, E000
Update 6/25/11: This card won SPCC #109 as well as the random drawing at Mojo Monday. Thanks everyone! I love my Verve stamps from Mojo, and look for my SPCC Guest DT project in the coming months.

Retro Vintage Shabby-Chic

I've really been inspired to craft today, and made these two cards. I'm distressing machine now that I have my handy paper distresser. Oh Tim Holtz, you are so much wiser than your years!

This week's combos at the Color Throwdown and colourQ are really challenging & really wonderful, and I had lots of fun pulling out some long-hoarded papers from my stash and just letting the card come together (with a little help from the sketches at Top Tip Tuesday/Robin's Fetish and Mojo Monday!)

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I haven't had much luck taking photos today: everything either looks washed-out or technicolored. But I'm pleased with how the colors match the challenges' in real life. The card above uses mostly paper from the 5&Dime October Afternoon collection (wow, it really came through for me with this otherwise challenging combo).

When I saw the classic-black rotary phone image, I just had to make a "missing you" card. I covered the phone image with Glossy Accents to create a faux-epoxy embellishment. It looks & feels really cool, but it took hours to dry.

Totally off the crafting subject, I love that the classic-black rotary phone not only evokes a retro feeling to me, but also feels vintage. My mom (Ann, because she actually has a name other than Mom, much to my dismay!), was telling me about some children who were scoring low on standardized tests that used images of rotary phones. What 4-year-old now would recognize a rotary phone?! Which makes me feel...experienced.

Inspiration: Color Throwdown #150, Top Tip Tuesday/Robin's Fetish Sketch
Stamps: StudioG, Paper Studio, sentiment from Regal Greetings set by {ippity} Stamps
Paper: Recollections, Core'dinations, 5&Dime
Tools: Marvy heat tool, Fiskars papercutter, Tim Holtz scissors & paper distresser,
Other: ZipDry glue, Stampendous embossing powder, Gary M. Burlin & Co. brads, Making Memories buttons, Simplicity thread & needle, Versamark & Stampin' Up! inks, Glossy Accents

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This card is all about the paper: each piece has its own wonderful texture. The medallions are heat-embossed with silver and colored with Copics.
The sentiment is actually a (clear) horizontal stamp that I partially inked and stamped to fit into the circle frame. Um, yeah, that took a little doing! But I'm pleased with the result.

Inspiration: ColourQ #93, Mojo Monday Sketch #199
Stamps: Hero Arts, Paper Studio, K&Co., large medallion from stash (thank you Spotlight Challenge)
Paper: Recollections, Core'dinations, handmade from stash
Tools: Marvy heat tool, Fiskars papercutter, Tim Holtz scissors & paper distresser
Other: ZipDry glue, ZING embossing powder, Versamark ink, Copic pens, Offray ribbon, pop-dots

Looks a little fishy, but it's one halibut good idea.

Okay, I may not know what kind of fish this stamp is, but I know it's not a halibut...Ocean carp? I rented this fishing-themed stamp set from Raisin Boat, and I'm already loving it.
This card, inspired by this week's Mojo Monday sketch, is a mix of the old & new: all the paper is scrap (except for the card itself), and the seashell ribbon, two tones of blue embossing powders, "cracked glass" embossing plate (which I hope looks like water splashes), and the paper distresser for those perfectly rough edges are all newish.

Love you with Cherry Cake on the side

We picked up red and yellow cherries at the Waverly Farmers Market, and I used some to make one of my favorite cakes from Smitten Kitchen. You can use whatever fruit you want, as long as you drain any excess liquid. I'm pretty sure I spent more time pitting the cherries than making this card! For me, pitting cherries is a huge sign of devotion. So I figured I'd make a card for my husband (and for a few challenges, why not‽) to go along with the cake:

I used half wheat flour and half brown sugar, so it's not a particularly sweet cake, but we can always add something sweet, like ice cream! The heart-punch cherries are coated with Glossy Accents with little rope stems. I copper-embossed the heart brad.

Inspiration:
Mojo Monday #197: Square Sketch
Craft Your Passion #64: Seeing Red
Stampin' Dymonz Scrap Shack Off the Page Group: Polymer Clay
Divas by Design #5: Punches

Tutorials:
Polymer Clay Mosaic Tiles at Art Bliss

Stamps: Cling Cupcake XL by Stampendous, sentiment by Hampden Art
Paper: Recollections (metallic, plain, kraft), glittered Core'dinations
Tools: HP printer & ink, Marvy heat tool, Fiskars papercutter, Recollections heart & border punches
Other: ZipDry glue, ZING embossing powder (thank you Dymonz!), Versamark ink, Sakura GellyRoll pens, brad from stash, Glossy Accents, Sculpey polymer clay, stash craft rope
Copics: YG67, R37, R59

A very, very late Wedding card

I was having trouble deciding what to make for the Crazy Challenge Weddings theme, but then I received some gorgeous handmade paper from Mom and was inspired to make this card for my grandparents-in-law's 61st anniversary.

Inspiration:
CCH #72: Weddings
Mojo Monday Sketch #196

Stamps by Stampin' Up!: cake stamp from Together Forever, sentiment from For the Two of You, flower & branch from Sweet Summer set
Paper: Recollections, DCWV, handmade paper from Mom's stash
Tools: Marvy heat tool, plastic templates from stash, Fiskars papercutter, MS detail scissors & border/corner punch set (for inside card)
Other: ZipDry glue, ZING embossing powders, Versamark ink

Go Daisy Go!

I couldn't believe my luck when I found this freebie by Just Inklined. Isn't she just the cutest‽ Reminds me of so many wonderful bike rides when I was a kid, and that feeling of absolute freedom. In fact, it makes me so happy that I'm entering into this week's Make It Monday Link Party. Helloooooo everybody! (And Anne-Marie, I saw you won a prize. Congrats!)

The paper is a piece of the delicious new Dots & Stripes paper pack from Echo Park. I colored the button brads and the edges of the pop-foam with matching Copics. I left the message banner loose, so it swings on the brad. Couldn't pass up an opportunity for some interaction!

Inspiration:
Color Throwdown #146: daffodil, tangerine, kiwi
Mojo Monday Sketch #195

Stamps: Speed Demon AKA Daisy Bumblethorpe digi by Just Inklined, sentiment from Highway High set from Raisin Boat
Paper: Dots & Stripes from Echo Park, Hammermill, Recollections
Tools: HP printer & ink, Marvy heat tool
Other: ZipDry, Stampendous embossing powder, Versamark watermark ink, tulle, button brads from Oriental Trading Co., Recollections pop-foam
Copics: c-1, c-5, c-7, yg03, yg63, bg10, yr12, y17, y08, y04, y000, yr04, yr09, e17, e35, e33, e11, e02, e51, rv23

Remember what the doorknob said: Feed your head

I've been salivating over projects that use Glossy Accents for some time, and I finally got my hot little hands on some. This is how the phone conversation with my mom went yesterday:
cg: So have you heard of this 3D adhesive called Glossy Accents?
mom: No...
cg: Folks use it to create a wet effect...like, you can add some on an umbrella and it looks exactly like raindrops.
mom: Eeeeeeeee!!!
cg: My thoughts exactly. I saw one card where the crafter used it on rainboots and it looked so real I thought I was going to have a heartattack.
mom: Okay, I have a pencil to write this down. Did you get it on one of your fancy online stores?
cg: No! Apparently it's been in the Tim Holtz section of Michaels for ever. I even used a coupon.
mom: Oh! Well. Guess I'll be making a stop!
*
I haven't spoken to her today, but I'm quite sure that we're both going to be spending much of the evening with our Glossy Accents! That's how I spent much of yesterday, using my new favorite product for the goggles & plane blades for these cards I'm sending to Card Cupids:

This card design was inspired by several challenges: the square-and-triangle-themed Mojo Sketch; the bright combo at Color Throwdown; the "ribbon or fiber" challenge at Card Cupids; and the Texture theme at Delicious Doodles. I added as much texture as I could muster: heat-embossing, puff-paint (Marvy snow pen), flocking, Glossy Accents (of course), paper piecing, and texture embossing. Love love love my Sizzix.

I made six, and although each card varies slightly, to make life easiest for the various visiting DTs I'm entering this particular card (below) in all the challenges that inspired the set.

I couldn't not make the rabbits white. I won this little guy by entering the CDAC Special Occasion Challenge sponsored by Zlatoena Designs. I adore her work and her blog. Thank you Zlatina!

And although I said that I was sending all 6 to Card Cupids, I'm actually sending one to Mom. How can I not?!

Inspiration:
Sketch: Mojo Monday #193
Color: Color Throwdown #144: Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery
Theme: Delicious Doodles Challenge #28: Texture
Embellishment: Card Cupids New Challenge Sunday: Ribbon or Fiber

Stamps: Rabbit Traveler/Air plane by Zlatoena Designs, Howdy sentiment from My Favorite Things, Hello Friend sentiment from StudioG
Paper: Hammermill, Recollections, stash designer paper (Paper Studio?)
Tools: HP printer & ink, Marvy heat tool, Sizzix Texture Boutique & starbursts embossing folder, Fiskars paper cutter, decorative edge cutter, MS detailing scissors
Other: ZipDry glue, ZIG glue pen, Glossy Accents, Stampendous or ZING embossing powder, Versamark watermark ink, Marvy snow pen, Elmers or Sakura gel pen, bakers twine from Soiree collection by House of 3
Copics: RV29

Krafty Flowers

So I've been wanting to enter a challenge at the Kraft Outlet for a while now, and I finally managed it! I had so much fun making my pink-and-kraft CDAC card that I decided to build on some of those ideas for this card.

I also used this week's lovely Mojo Monday sketch, but made the card a tall 4x6 because that's what I imagined for this design.

I stamped the kraft border with watermark ink and dried it with my heat tool. I sewed some pink-embossed flowers onto it with various buttons. Yes, all the buttons are sewed on: it's a thing of mine. The sentiment is stamped in chalk ink.

I was able to get those nice bows with the fork trick; I used my big salad fork since the ribbon's so wide. Incidentally, later that evening my husband walked by my work table and said, "OH it's a crafting fork, isn't it‽"

Inspiration:
Make It Monday with Kraft Outlet: Buttons & Bows Challenge
Sketch: Mojo Monday 190

Supplies: rubber stamps from Stampin' Up!, Recollections cardstocks, CelebrateIt ribbon, Versamark watermark & chalk inks, ZipDry glue, Fiskars papercutter & corner embossing punch, MS detailing scissors, needle & thread, Making Memories buttons, Stampendous embossing powder & sentiment stamp