Inky Indigo

I'm on a bit of mission to use more of the embellishments & scraps in my stash, so I collected together a folded zig-zag border I made some time ago, a wood veneer butterfly, and a chipboard bird to make this card featuring purple, my favorite color:

I started by embossing white cardstock in my BigShot. I inked a square acrylic stamping block with an ombre ink pad (Recollections) and stamped it onto the embossed piece; I spritzed it with a bit of water to increase the effect. The zig-zag piece was made with a scrap of Graphic45 paper & distressed with violet ink. The wood veneer butterfly was inked white & stamped with a lace stamp (Clear Art Stamps) that I inked with more of the ombre ink. The chipboard bird is simply heat-embossed with Orchid Mist powder (Creative Zoo). The sentiment (Recollections) was stamped in purple chalk ink (Quick Quotes) on a scrap of purple ombre paper (My Mind's Eye). This was a fun card to make!

Inspiration/Challenges:
Cards in Envy: Just Purple
Cuttlebug Mania: Monochrome (+ dry embossing)
YNS Challenges: Sketch

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!

Bet your bottom dollar

The last few months have been a mix of good luck & tragedy. At least it's a mix‽ Focusing on the good news, I just received yummy package from The Paper Girls for winning their Sunshine Challenge. One of the goodies was a paper pack by My Mind's Eye, which included this sentiment piece with a quote from that most hopeful of songs.

The paper pack also included the matching yellow-green ombre paper & "Tomorrow" lyrics-patterned paper. The umbrella-patterned paper is by Graphic45. Inked the umbrella & text papers with a yellow ink. I used a TH stencil to create the splashes, which I embossed with lemon-scented embossing powder; it doesn't smell much after embossing, but it has a great citrusy color. I used clear embossing powder to add star & heart glitter and gold microbeads (leftovers from my Lucky Shaker card). The umbrella paper is backed with a white cardstock that I colored with a gray Copic marker; I used the Blender pen to add some fade & water-marks. The sentiment banner and middle strip are cut from a wood sheet from EK Tools; I colored the banner with a fluorescent yellow Copic. I found some comfort while making this, and hope it some day is given to someone & brings them a bit of comfort too.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Sketch Saturday #404: Sketch
Stampin' Royalty Challenge #321: Photo Inspiration
Use Your Stuff #215: Inspired by a Quote + Stash (G45 paper & embossing powder)

Update: This was chosen as a Stampin' Royalty Goddess Pick for Challenge #321, as well as a Highlight for Use Your Stuff #215!


Thank you for visiting & enjoy this day,

Pilin' On the Stitches

The theme this fortnight at Pile It On is Stitching (any style). We're sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps. I decided to use fabric on my card, as I have a bunch of it that I never use! The focus of this card are the adorable chick stack & spring sentiment stamps from Penny Black.

The flowers & green backgrounds are starched fabric pieces that I die-cut in my BigShot. The background fabric & trim are from JoAnn's. I used a template that I made some time ago to puncture holes in a square piece of copy paper. The Sew Easy Piercing Mat is great for this. I used a ZIG glue pen to adhere fabric to the paper, pierced the frame again and hand-stitched it with a Sew Easy twine. I used the same twine to sew on the flowers with buttons. The Penny Black stamps were stamped in brown Memento ink, and the image was colored with Copic markers.

Cheerful Sketches

Inspiration/Challenges:
CCEE Stampers: Poultry Day
Cheerful Sketches Challenge: Sketch
Creative Card Crew #108: Chicks
Creative Moments #89: Spring Has Sprung
Critters and Creatures: Critter/Creature
Penny Black and More: Feature a Creature
Penny Black Saturday Challenge: Easter
Pink and Main Challenge: Spring

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

Easter Cards with Crafting with Dragonflies

This fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies our theme is Easter Cards. Hope you'll join us!

I made a tunnel card using Karen Burniston’s Pop it Ups Accordion dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs, inspired by the tutorial by Shelly Hickox. I embossed the card base with my Swiss Dots folder & lightly inked it with pale green chalk ink. The sentiments & background are papers from Aunthetique; ooh I love this collection! The paper bunny peeps are cut with a file from Miss Kate's Cuttables' "Easter Candy" set.

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at Crafting with Dragonflies,

If you're lucky & you know it, shake this card

This is my first time making a shaker card using my new We R Memory Keepers FUSE Tool & plastic sleeves. Wow, it's really quite easy to use and I don't have to mess around with foam tape!

Sorry that the photo isn't great; I took it early St Paddy's Day morning, before tucking it into my husband's work bag. I wanted to make him something special with the shaped glitter I bought as retail therapy during what has been a stressful week. Plus, I always enjoy an excuse to use my "Lucky" stamp set by SP & Company!

I stamped directly onto white cardstock, colored the images with Copics, and cut out the pot with a finger knife. I used Glossy Accents to add glitter & microbeads to the front of the card; I used the same mix for the inside of the shaker. It's backed onto a silvery paper; I inked the edges with a light green ink. I finished the card with some silver elastic string that came with a box of chocolates!

Inspiration/Challenges:
CAS on Sunday #78: Sketch
Cupcake Inspirations #351: Rainbows
Just Us Girls: Shaker Card
Make My Monday: Lucky

Update: This was a Top Pick for MMM's Lucky Challenge!

Thank you for visiting & may your year be filled with good luck!

Easter at the Crafter's Cafe

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge theme is Easter. We're sponsored by Crafty Sentiments, Dr Digi, Creative Bug, and PolkaDoodles. I used "Cuddly Critters Rabbit" by Dr Digi. The paper bunny peeps are cut with a file from Miss Kate's Cuttables' "Easter Candy" set.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Animal Friends Challenge #36: Easter + animal
Creative Corner: Hoppy Easter
Digitally Sweet #148: Spring is in the Air
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge: Anything goes with a twist: Easter

Thank you for visiting & hope you'll join us at The Crafter's Cafe,

Masked & Splashed

I've been working on my inking skills, and nothing tests them like a one-layer card! I was inspired some great challenges (see below).

The stamps are from CAS-ual Fridays. I used strips of paper as masks to create the stripes; I also used masking for the circle stamps. I punch a circle to create a mask for the filled-in circles. The sentiment is embossed with a ZING! powder. The blue ink is from Hampton Art; the coral chalk ink is from Quick Quotes. The darkish yellow is Mustard Seed distress ink from Ranger. I'm really pleased how this came out, and am especially pleased that I didn't get ink on the rest of the card!

Inspiration/Challenges:
colourQ: Color Combo #332
Jo's Scrap Shack #129: Sketch
Less is More: One Layer + Sentiment as focal point
Paru's Card Making Challenge: Colors + Masking Technique

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!

A Splash of Balls

I just can't get enough of my Amazeballs stamp set from CAS-ual Fridays. I used two purple embossing powders for the sentiment.

The circles are cut from a textured white paper with the "Fun Filled Rings" die from Spellbinders Celebra’tions collection. I matched them up with the background, marked the edges, and colored them with a black or clear Wink of Stella pen. The zig-zag piece is inspired by SEI's Patchwork Chevron Technique and I added 3 dots each of violet Liquid Pearls & Grape Stickles.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Lawnscaping: Black & White + Color Splash
Moving Along With The Times: Purple

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!

Pssst

I so enjoyed the color combo at House That Stamps Built that I just had to use it again! Unfortunately, I missed the challenge deadline, but I'm still pleased with the cards it inspired. 

The image is a rubber stamp from Rogue Redheadhead Designs, and the sentiments are from CAS-ual Fridays. The image and "Amazeballs" are stamped in Vintage Photo distress ink; the smaller sentiments are stamped it Milk Chocolate chalk ink. The papers are punched with a MS punch. I used the scoring blade on my papercutter to frame the image. I finished the card with a bit of raffia.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Addicted to Stamps and More: Clean and Simple
Sisterhood of Crafters: Punches

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!

Amazingly Juicy

Once I started using my new CAS-ual Fridays Amazeballs stamp set, I couldn't stop! This time, I was inspired by the Citrus colour challenge at Less Is More.

The orange circles were cut with my Silhouette Cameo from an SU! double-sided paper. I used Desire's tutorial for the folded circle embellishments. The sentiments are heat-embossed in neon green, and the splashes are heat-embossed in lemon-scented powder. I used my Tim Holtz stain stencil for the splashes. I inked a backing paper with Pink Grapefruit ink.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Crafty Creations #310: Sentiment As A Focal Point
Less is More: Citrus Color Scheme + CAS

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!

Ballsy

I so enjoyed the color combo at House That Stamps Built that I just had to use it, although I thought about for so long that I missed the challenge deadline! But I just can't pass up an opportunity to use my Tim Holtz stain stencil (inked in Antique Linen) along with the Amazeballs stamp set from CAS-ual Fridays.

Inspiration/Challenges:
House That Stamps Built: Pink + Teal + Brown
Always Playing with Paper: Sketch

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!

Absolutely Positively Birthday

I really enjoy participating in all the great crafting challenges out there, but I must admit that winning prizes is awfully fun too! Recently, I was the lucky winner of a Simon Says Stamp gift certificate, and it helped me finally get my hands on this CAS-ual Fridays stamp set that I've had my eye on for some time.  

I stamped the sentiments with watermark ink & heat-embossed with a neon green powder from Recollections. Man, it came out so great! The black piece was embossed with a dotted chevron folder.  

The chevrons are made with an SU! double-sided paper using SEI's Patchwork Chevron Technique. The arrow-patterned paper is by Pebbles, Inc. and has been in my stash forever; I edged it with a fluorescent blue Copic. The card base is a bright turquoise.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Inkspirational #103: Geometric
Ooh La La Creations: Add a Sentiment

Thanks for stopping by,

Unlock Your Potential - March Challenge at UnstampaBelles

The UnstampaBelles March challenge is Unlock Your Potential with the twist of Use a Key.
I made a card for my brother-in-law's family, who just moved for his super new job.

The house, including the pieces, are from Karen Burniston's "Holiday House" die set from Elizabeth Craft Designs. The inside pop-up design is from Cricut's Simple Pop-Ups cartridge.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Crafty Catz #314: Use 3 Different Papers
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper: Anything goes with Patterned Paper
QKR Stampede #181: Recycling (blue mesh is from packaging)

Update: This was the winner Crafty Catz #314!

Be sure to check out the fabulous projects by my teamies and hope you'll join us this month at UnstampaBelles!


Thank you for visiting,

Rude Rabbits

This isn't an original idea; I know I've seen it before, but I just couldn't help myself!

The grass was stamped in an olive green distress ink & a light green chalk ink, using a rubber stamp from my stash.  The chocolate bunny & Peeps, from a Miss Kate's Cuttables' "Easter Candy" set, were cut from shiny papers on my Silhouette Cameo. I used clear alphabet stamps to stamp the sentiment onto wood veneer speech bubbles. Super-simple and fun!

Inspiration/Challenges:

MFP Stamps Challenge #10: CAS card + Bunnies + stamping
My Time to Craft: one layer card

Silhouette Challenges #35: Anything Goes with the Silhouette