Coffee for a friend

I received some lovely decorative tapes recently, so I made this card as a thank-you:

I used a Tim Holtz stencil and Antique Linen distress ink for the coffee stains. The teacup is cut with Heartfelt Creation dies from the same watercolor paper that I used for the base, and colored it with a Stampin' Up watercolor crayon. I painted the teacup with crackle paint.

FMS #171

This card was inspired by the following Challenges:
CAS-ual Fridays: Watercolor
Country View Crafts' Challenge: Drips & Drops
Freshly Made Sketches #171: Sketch by Rita

I was also very much inspired by the design & techniques used on this card by Michelle Bala.

Thank you for visiting,

With Love from Baltimore - National Symbols at UnstampaBelles

The UnstampaBelles February challenge is National Symbols: Make a project using a symbol of your country with the optional twist of incorporating your country's flag colors.

You can link up your projects until the end of the month, but remember that you can't use ANY STAMPS (digi or otherwise)!

 
My inspiration for this card came from an article I recently read about a new city slogan for Baltimore, my home for the past 18 years. The new slogan is to be "Baltimore: Birthplace of The Star-Spangled Banner," and everyone's very excited that it's pretty pun-proof! 

Baltimore is indeed the birthplace of our national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". I must admit getting a tug at my heart the first time I crossed the Francis Scott Key Bridge and saw the lighted buoy out in the dark waters below, which represents the ship from where Key witnessed that "our flag was still there" on the Baltimore hillside after a night-long bombardment. And you gotta love that he put his patriotic poem to the tune of a drinking song.

I used the Silhouette cutting file Vintage park bench single fold square card by Jamie Koay, adding a layer with Silhouette's City Buildings cut file. I added the sentiment in a stencil font, and made some tiny daises with yellow paper & black Liquid Pearls (specifically, Black-eyed daisies, Maryland's state flower). Maryland's state colors are yellow, black, red, and white, and I added purple and orange to represent our football & baseball teams.

The American flag is a sticker. I added a border to the frame with gold Stickles.

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 Music

Our theme this week at the Pile It On Challenge is Music. We're sponsored by Dr. Digi's House of Samps and I used their Mood Music digi stamp.

Challenges/Inspiration:
Creative Knockouts #74: Animal Antics
Scrapbooker PhD: Masculine Birthday + Die Cut
Seize The Birthday: Anything Birthday Goes

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

Smarties Pants for a Smarty-pants

I wanted to make a fun just-because gift for my husband, so I made this Pants-shaped box to hold some Smarties candies... he is my favorite smarty-pants!

I adapted the Santa Pants Bag from SVG Cuts' Happy Holiday Kit.

The box is made with a paper from Sweetwater's Family Ties collection. The belt & buckle are cut from a brown paper that is shiny on one side. The suspenders were cut from a scrap of Graphic 45 paper and attached with tiny button brads. I heat-embossed a wood pocket-watch in silver and added a sentiment in the Saddlebag font.

This box is 2.5 inches high, almost 4.5 with the suspenders. I decided to make a smaller one, about an inch smaller, and it's even more adorable.

Which size do you prefer? I can't decide which is better, and I definitely want to make more!

Inspiration/Challenges:
All Crafts Challenge Dec/Jan Challenge: Anything but a Card (2nd entry)
Decorate to Celebrate Challenge #92: Anything Goes

Update: This won Decorate to Celebrate Challenge #92!

Thank you for visiting,

Purple Poe

You still have a week to join the Purple challenge at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT). 

I had so much fun making my purple book box last week that I decided to make another, smaller version to hold a copy of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.

This box is roughly 2.5 x 2.125 inches, and features "Poe Bust" by Ikesart. I printed Poe on shiny ivory cardstock, and printed the raven on a regular white paper. I colored the bird with black & glitter gen pens, fussy-cut it, and placed him atop the pallid bust.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Challenge Up Your Life: Box

Craft It Up & Link It Up Linky Party by Craftin Desert Divas: 3D Projects
DoubleClick Skittles #14: Use a bird

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at One Stitch at a Time,