Pinktober at Crafting with Dragonflies

Our theme this fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies is Pinktober; make a Breast Cancer Card.

I have made several Awareness cards, but this one is very special to me. I made it using some embellishments a friend, who we lost this week, gave me many years ago. I went for a cupcake theme, because I plan to give it to her best friend who is starting a cupcake business.

Sending love to all of you.



Thank you for visiting, 

Tea Loving Cardmakers

Happy Fall! A new season means a new Blog Hop with the Coffee Loving Cardmakers, and I always enjoy playing along.

We've been enjoying some lovely Autumn weather here in Baltimore. Soon we'll get some gorgeous hues of leaves, but right now we just have bright yellow leaves falling from the Black Walnut trees... the squirrels have been busy in our yard, hiding their walnuts for winter. I made this card for my neighbor, because we sometimes get together for tea.

I made this shaker card featuring teapot & cup dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs. The spaces are filled with green and orange leaf and flower sequins.

For the background, I inked an embossing folder with Vintage Photo distress ink before running it through my BigShot on an olive green, textured paper. I did this twice, to leave a gap. I temporarily ahdered it to some thick foam and die-cut the teapot & "tray" shape (SU!) from both pieces at once. I removed the top, and sandwiched it & the foam with scrap plastic. Before die-cutting the teapot & cups, I backed copper & yellow metallic papers (Recollections) with a double-sided adhesive sheet. I colored some of the yellow pieces with orange or red-orange Copic markers.

I edged the foam piece with orange ribbon, and backed it with more copper paper. I colored the sentiment sticker with orange markers. The card is finished with a topping of brown leaf ribbon.

Inspiration/Challenges:
CAS-ual Fridays #157: Shaker Cards
Coffee Loving Cardmakers: Fall-themed Coffee/Tea-inspired project
Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch #370

Thank you for visiting!

One touch of Geometry makes the whole world kin

I've been having a bit of a creative lull lately ... you know how it goes. That's one of the reasons I enjoy papercrafting challenges so much: it's nice to have some focus. I started at Less Is More, as I find the clean-and-simple style very challenging yet rewarding. This week's challenge is "Diamonds" which I found extra-challenging. The "Geometric" theme at Lawnscaping inspired me to use diamond shapes to create a pattern. I don't have a diamond stamp, so I used a hexagon punch to make 3 diamond shapes, cut 2 from foam, and adhered them with double-sided tape to a stamp block in a chevron pattern. There are so many possibilities with the foam stamping technique.

I used masking paper to mask my new Cardinal rubber stamp from Repeat Impressions before stamping the diamond/chevron shapes. The bird was stamped in Memento black ink & colored with Copic markers. The sentiment (a Shakespeare quote) is from Clear Art Stamps.

This was my first attempt. The shapes were stamped in Olive distress ink. I didn't like all the white space between the bird & the sentiment, so I added a branch from a Prickly Pear Designs stamp set. I'm entering this card into Less Is More #294: Diamonds.


Here's my second card. I used Pine Green pigment ink, inking the foam stamps just enough so that the ink pad lends texture to the final stamp. I'm entering this card into Lawnscaping #138: Geometric.

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day

Today (September 19) is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, so here's my traditional Pirate-themed project!

I've had this Little Pirate rubber stamp by Lili of the Valley for 5 years. Be sure to check out the special Talk Like a Pirate Day cards featured on LOTV's blog, Ideas to Inspire.

The image was colored with Copic markers; I used TH's "Old Paper" distress marker for the newspapers. The patterned paper is from Graphic 45. The sentiment stamp is from Recollections, and it's popped up with some actual fish net. 

Inspiration/Challenges:
Kreativeinkauf-challenge: Easel Card
Sisterhood of the Snarky Stampers: A is for Aaargh


Update: This was chosen as a runner-up at the Sisterhood of the Snarky Stampers!

Thank ye for visiting,

Quilt Shaker - Pilin' on Autumn

The theme this fortnight at Pile It On is Autumn Colors and/or Theme.

The frame is a rubber stamp from Repeat Impressions. I stamped it in Memento black on linen-textured paper; I traced all the lines with a Recollections pen and drew the stitches by hand. The image is colored with Copic markers. I cut out the middle of the piece to create a shaker card. I used scrap plastic for the window, and placed the sentiment sticker directly onto it. I filled the shaker with sequins from Paper Sweeties and metallic leaves. I used white foam to pop the shaker. The background is made with textured cardstocks; I added more dashes & some lovely ribbon.

Inspiration/Challenges:
City Crafter Challenge: Add leaves
Crafting By Designs: A Stitch in Time
Fairy Tale: Falling Leaves
Make My Monday: Autumn Colors
Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge: Dots or Dashes
Perfectly Created Chaos: Stamp It

Update: This won a prize at Crafting By Designs!

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

Fairies/Fantasy at Crafting with Dragonflies

Our theme this fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies, chosen by teammate Granmargaret, is Fairies/Fantasy. I bought this cute Motivet digi stamp years ago, and this sentiment to make a easel card.

For the patterned pieces, I inked the designs of an embossing folder with Persimmon distress ink before running it through my BigShot. I colored the image with Copic markers; I used heat-activated puff paint for the marshmallows. I finished the card with a touch of gold ric-rac.

Inspiration/Challenges:
AuroraWings Challenge: Fantasy + hand-colored stamp
CMD-Challenge: Dragon + Copics
Creative Knockouts: Winged Wonders
Cutie Pie Challenge: Cute + Birthday
Fantasy Crafters: Anything Fantasy Goes

Really Reasonable Ribbon: Things with Wings with Ribbon or Trim 

Thank you for visiting, 

UnstampaBelles Changing Seasons TWIST make it masculine

The UnstampaBelles September challenge is Changing Seasons with the twist of masculine. You can make whatever you like without using any stamps.

Based on a joke from the USA Midwest: There are 2 seasons, winter and road work!

I created the shaker windows with my "Build a Scene - Calendar" set by Taylored Expressions. The little truck die is from their "Transportation Little Bits" set, and the treeline is a Memory Box die.

The sentiment is a chipboard piece from my holiday stash.

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,

Pilin' On the Recycling

The theme this fortnight at Pile It On is Recycle. We're sponsored by Dr. Digi's House of Stamps. I used their hilarious Walkies digi stamp, along with a humorous sentiment stamp from Viva Las VegaStamps.

I started with a background of corrugated cardboard (the stuff you get at Panera Bread) and colored it with several inks. I added a layer of crackle paint to the "barn" portion. The grass is leftover from an order of sushi. The fence pieces are wood shapes that I painted with crackle paint.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Aud Sentiments Challenge: #163 Anything Goes + A Sentiment
Let's Color Saturday Linky Party: Anything Hand Colored
Pile It On: Recycle
Retro Rubber Challenge: Critter + old rubber stamp (I've had the VLVS sentiment stamp for over 3 years...first time inking it up!)
Sisterhood of the Snarky Stampers: H is for Hounds
Sweet Stampin: No Designer Paper

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

This card kills fascists - Music at Crafting with Dragonflies

Our theme this fortnight at Crafting with Dragonflies, chosen by teammate Jarka, is Music. I wanted to try something new-to-me, so I made a shaker card based on the tutorial(s) for a Guitar Card at SplitcoastStampers.

Although used the tips at SplitcoastStampers (especially for the bottom portion, using a label die was so perfect) I eyeballed the guitar curve & made my own template. To make space for the shaker portion, the middle guitar layer is made from cardboard I liberated from our recycling bin. The top is a CTMH cardstock, inked with Memento Sand chalk ink. I used a Sizzix embossing folder for the woodgrain patterns. The circle frame is cut from a hand-made type paper. The sentiment is from a Scrapper's Paradise set, and I filled the shaker with gold star confetti. I used metallic thread for the strings.

For the inside, I heat-embossed a Posh Impressions music-patterned rubber stamp & a StudioG "rock on" border in gold on a shiny black paper. The card base is a manila paper, and I hand-drew the border.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Cards und More: Shaker Cards + stamp (music-patterned rubber stamp & sentiment stamp)
C.R.A.F.T.: #379 Embossing
The Male Room #43: Music

Update: This was an Honorable Mention for the Music Challenge at The Male Room!

Thank you for visiting,