Thankful for You

Arrggghhhh...blogger was being a bugger uploading pictures so I'm late posting this for some of the challenges. That's okay, the post is really all about YOU, the person reading this.

As Thanksgiving is quickly approaching here in the US, I wanted to take a moment to thank YOU for taking time out of your day to visit my blog. Whether you view me through Google Reader, email updates, or just come to take a peek, I want you to know I GREATLY appreciate it. We all have so many things warranting our time, to know you used some of yours to visit me is so heart warming. This card is for you!

Sketch Inspiration ~ Midnight Madness Week Sketch #20
This is an old sketch from the madness queen, before she started giving us CAS versions of the sketch. Since I'm working from behind, I took the leeway of making my own CAS of the sketch. :)


Inspiration

Simon Says Challenge ~ Sparkle

Thankful Challenges: Paper Pretties Challenge #128; Sentimental Sundays #30; Paper Playtime Challenge #26; Stamp Something Challenge

My Creation

Image Detail

It's really hard to see, but all those random 'dots' floating around, are sparkles. I used my Diamond Stickles to try and create a sparkly glow around the image. It looks really cool in person, just not so great in the photo.

Inside

Ins and Outs ~ Thankful for You
Stamps: SU (Just Believe, Eastern Blooms, Tags Til Christmas)
Paper: SU (Whisper White, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso)
Ink: SU (Cajun Craze, Early Espresso)
Accessories: Diamond Stickles, SU Punches (Large Oval, Ornament, Decorative Label), SU Ribbon

Contemporary Christmas

Tis the season for Christmas cards.  I've got plans for quite a few and will try to share them in bits on my blog. Here's one with a new Stampin Up set that I made with a card kit.

Sketch Inspiration ~ Stamping Vacation Challenge ~ Sketch Therapy

Photo Inspiration ~ TCP Tuesday #135

Inspiration
YNS Challenge #29 ~ Yellow Nesties Stickles
Used nesties for inside piece, yellow stickles for star on tree
Sir Stampalot Challenge ~ Christmas Traditions
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #93 ~ Christmas
Crazy4Challenges #64 ~ Circles

My Creation

Image Detail

Inside

Ins and Outs ~ Contemporary Christmas
Stamps: SU Contempo Christmas, PTI Holiday Tags
Paper: SU (Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Jolly Holiday DSP)
Ink: SU (Very Vanilla Craft, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler)
Accessories: SU (Scallop Trim Border Punch, Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Button), Yellow Stickles

Snow People for the OSC

WAHOO!!! It's time for a new challenge at One Stop Crafts. This week Lisa is challenging us to use the theme SNOW PEOPLE. The lovely crew at Robyn's Fetish provided super cute digis for us to play with. If you join in the flurry of fun, you could win some from our awesome sponsor. I'm posting a few hours earlier than my friends across the pond as Saturday mornings usually find me far from the computer. I like being ahead of the clock instead of a day behind. I learned a new to me technique at a card class recently and really love the effect. My snowflake background was made by running a piece of cardstock through an embossing folder. I flipped the piece over and inked up a brayer to coat the back of the panel with ink. The 'embossed' part stayed white. Um, I think this is debossing, right? Like I said, it was new to me. I love how it really makes the pattern pop and showcase the intricate details of the snowflakes. I can't wait to try it with my other embossing folders.

Sketch Inspiration ~ Midnight Madness Sketch #80

Color Inspiration ~ Colour Create #58

Inspiration
One Stop Craft Challenge #107 ~ Snow People
Belli Challenge #104 ~ Old New Borrowed Blue

old pearls, new wheel, borrowed snowflake embossing folder, blue ink
PaperPlay Challenge #1046 ~ Let it Snow
Totally PaperCrafts #43 ~ Snow and Snowflakes
Stampin’ for the Weekend #51 ~ Winter
Daring Card Makers Challenge ~ We Three….
I have 3 snowflakes on my card
Stamping Vacation: Get the Music In You ~ Winter Wonderland
Delightful Sketches ~ Oh Baby It’s Cold Outside

My Creation

Image Detail

Here's a close up of the debossed snowflakes. I added pearl centers and a smidge of stickles for extra sparkle.

 My little snowman is as cozy as can be.

Inside

Ins and Outs ~ Embossed SnowFlakes
Stamps: Robyn's Fetish Snowman, SU Jolly Jingles Wheel (inside verse)
Paper: SU (Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake), DCWV Winter Stack
Ink: SU (Early Espresso, Baja Breeze) and SU Markers
Accessories: SU Chantilly Crochet Trim, Pearls, Embossing Folders (Northern Flurry, Perfect Polka Dots), SU Punches (Word Window, Modern Label); Pop Up Dots, Brayer, Stickles
Techniques: Embossing

All You Need Is Love

Wahoo! A quick switch from seasonal cards! I like to make a wedding card every now and then to keep my supply stocked. I always have good intentions of making a personalized card for weddings, but sometimes it doesn't happen. Thank goodness for planning ahead!

Sketch Inspiration ~ Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge #23

Inspiration

Scrap it with a Song ~ ABC

When I read the lyrics, it dawned on me that the song is actually about LOVE and not the alphabet. So I went with the theme as inspiration.

Come on, let me love you just a little bit

I'm a going to teach how to sing it out
Come on, come one, come on
Let me show you what it's all about!
Stamping Vacation Monochromatic Creations ~ Red
365 Cards Day 254 ~ Wishes inspired by one of your greatest wishes
Doesn't every girl dream of living happily ever after? I'm one of the fortunate to be abundantly blessed with a life of love.

My Creation

Image Detail

Inside

Ins and Outs ~ All You Need Is Love
Stamps: SU (Soft Swirls, Sketch an Event)
Paper: SU Whisper White, Real Red
Ink: Versamark, SU Real Red
Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Embroidery Floss, Silver Cord, Sticker
Techniques: Embossing

CAS Santa Post

I rarely can pick a Christmas card design I like well enough to mass produce for the season. Instead, I tend to make lots of 'one of a kind' cards and everyone gets something different. I do a lot of detailed cards and enjoy the respite of the occasional clean and simple style. I'm still in love with the Top Note die (I don't know if I'll ever tire of it) and find myself reaching for it frequently. This card has an extra benefit as it will be simple to send through the mail. No extra postage or padding necessary!

Sketch Inspiration ~ Clean & Simple Sketch #116

Inspiration

Stamping Vacation Color Combo Challenge ~ Hunter Green and Rust

Creative Inspirations Challenge #47 ~ Christmas or Winter
Crazy 4 Challenges #63 ~ Christmas
Rainbow Lady’s Challenge #127 ~ Edge It
Little Paper Shop #94 ~ Die Cuts

My Creation

Image Detail

The Santa postage stamps make an interesting border.

Ins and Outs ~ Clean and Simple Santa Post
Stamps: SU Christmas Punch
Paper: SU, Bazzil
Ink: SU
Accessories: Top Note Die

Mint Chocolate Chip Christmas

I’m a bad blogger, I was crafting with a friend and used some of her sets….I forgot to keep track of my supplies!!! If anyone knows the stamp set I used, I’d love to update the Ins and Outs with more info. I guess I was so into my crafting groove I forgot what I was doing. LOL.

Sketch Inspiration ~ 365 Cards Day 224 ~ Super Sketchy Sunday

Color Inspiration ~ 365 Cards Day 248 ~ Ad Inspired

Inspiration
Stamping Vacation: What a Guy Challenge ~ Masculine Card with a Pocket
Speedy the Cat Friends Challenge #29 ~ Snowflakes

Crafty Catz Challenge #58 ~ Paper Tearing
2 Sisters Challenge #13 ~ Christmas
365 Cards Day 246 ~ Mad About Mint

My Creation

I’m always trying to create more masculine cards as I tend to lean towards sparkles and girly stuff. I really like the green and brown with the hidden pop of red from the tag. You could also tuck cash or a gift card in the front pocket.

Ins and Outs ~ Mint Chocolate Chip Christmas
Stamps: SU Patterned Pines
Paper: SU, Bazzil
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip
Accessories: SU Punches, Gold Cording, Ribbon
Techniques: Paper Tearing

Halloween Birthday

Okay, I promise, this is the last Halloween card for the year. I had such a blast making them, I need to start posting them earlier! Then again, the left over candy is still lingering in my house, so the season hasn't totally left us. The card is one I decided to redo since I wasn't really thrilled with the original (it was from my earlier stamping days).

This card was made for a Halloween Birthday, or so I thought. For some reason, my brain was positive this person's birthday was on Halloween. I don't remember how or why I thought this, and since I didn't usually send them a card, had not been corrected. Until now. This has been a difficult year for her and I wanted to let her know I was thinking of her, on what I thought was a special day. Thankfully she's got a great sense of humor and considered the card either really late or early (actual birthday is in March). LOL - we both had a good chuckle. This is an example of where the thought is what counts and she was touched that she'd been on my heart lately.

Sketch Inspiration ~ Midnight Madness Week Sketch #19

Inspiration

PaperTake Weekly Challenge ~ Autumn Skies (Autumn Colors)
365 Cards Day 172 ~ Do Over –Redo a card you aren’t happy with
365 Cards Day 240 ~ I’ve Got it Covered DP covering inside and out
Die Cut Dreams Challenge #74 ~ Staples

My Creation

Here's what the card looked like before:

Not totally horrible, but I jazzed it up to look like this:

Image Detail

Tricky to see in the photo, but I colored over the stamped candy corn with glitter markers and then added a layer of Diamond Glaze to the piece to resemble glass.

Inside

A layer of matching DP and the original outer verse, becomes the inside sentiment. A row of candy corn stickers keeps the sweet theme.

Ins and Outs ~ Halloween Birthday
Stamps: SU (Halloween Backgrounds, Treat Yourself)
Paper: SU and DCWV Amber Autumn
Ink: SU
Accessories: SU Ribbon; staple, misc gems and brads, Diamond Glaze, Martha Stewart Glitter Markers, Jo-ann’s Metal Word Birthday

Happy Jacks

I'm cleaning off my desk and found another Halloween card to share. This was super quick, easy, and could be replicated for mass production. I have several SU wheels and they seldom get played with. I'd forgotten how easy they are to create backgrounds, not to mention just plain fun to use! Do you have wheels tucked in the back of a drawer? Get 'em out and roll into the fun!

Sketch Inspiration ~ 365 Cards Day 233 ~ White Space

Inspiration

365 Cards Day 236 ~ Friday 5 Excluding cardstock, only 5 things on card

My five are 2 eyelets, twine, glitter pen, stamps
365 Cards Day 202 ~ Fall Fest 2 fall images and 3 fall colors
Stamping Vacation ~ Embellishment Challenge: Use a Corner Adornment

My Creation

Image Detail

Another neglected supply is my set of Martha Stewart glitter pens (I'm usually reaching for my Spicas). They offer a lot of sparkle in a larger brush stroke than the Spicas. Perfect for coloring in my jack-o-lantern.

Ins and Outs ~ Happy Jacks
Stamps: SU (Happy Jacks Wheel, Trick or Treat)
Paper: SU
Ink: SU
Accessories: Twine, Eyelets, Martha Stewart Glitter Pens

Elegant Medallion Wedding

Whew, it's been a busy wrap up day, and I still have more cards to share. This is the last post for today and I'll try to show you more of what I've been working on later this week. I hope you've enjoyed today's creations!

Sketch Inspiration ~ 365 Cards Day #150 ~ Wednesday’s Sketch

Color Inspiration ~ SCS Teapot Tuesday Challenge #120
I'm pretty new to the Teapot Group, but fell in love with the colors on this week's pot. Isn't it just gorgeous? I don't have an Iris stamp, so I tried to capture the organic 'feel' and the colors.

Inspiration
365 Cards Day 243 ~ Scraplift Yourself

You are to pick 2 cards you made and choose an element from each to inspire a new card. I used the layout (and stamp) of my medallion Halloween card and color palette of my Shiny ornaments card.
CCEE Challenge #1045 ~ Store Bought Flowers
Paper Play Challenge #1045 ~ Ribbon Lace Flowers
This is a stretch, but I always think the medallion stamp looks like a lace doily.
Simon Says Stamp and Show ~ Whatever Makes You Happy
The color choices and medallion stamp make me smile from ear to ear.

My Creation

Inside

Did you think this was another Christmas card? The colors work great for holiday cards, but I thought they also make an elegant wedding card. I used an SRM sticker for the verse and a scrap of DCWV paper as the mat.

Ins and Outs ~ Elegant Medallion Wedding
Stamps: SU Medallion and others
Paper: SU (Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry)
Ink: SU (Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry)
Accessories: SU (felt flower, pearl, brads, ribbon, hardware), SRM sticker, SU Circle Punch

Shiny Ornaments

I just LOVE this color combination. I'm a purple fan in general, and rich razzleberry is such a unique shade. It pairs so nicely with old olive. This card was a fun mix of old and new stamps. I was able to break out my Lovely as a Tree to create the branches for my ornaments to hang.

Sketch Inspiration ~ 365 Cards Day 7 ~ Super Sketchy Sunday
This is a really old sketch I hadn't played with yet at 365 cards. I left the stitching option out, and used the layout to guide me.


Inspiration

Secret Crafter Challenge #109 ~ Sparkle and Shine

The Crafty Pad #97 ~ Christmas Sparkle
Creative Inspirations #87 ~ Winter Woodland

My Creation

I apologize for the off color, I couldn't get it to adjust without completely washing out all the colors.

Image Detail

Inside

Ins and Outs ~ Shiny Ornaments
Stamps:  SU (Tags Til Christmas, Four the Holidays, Lovely as a Tree)
Paper: SU (Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive)
Ink: SU (Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive), Versamark
Accessories: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Ornament Punch, Silver Embossing Powder, Silver Tinsel Tin, Pop Up Dots
Techniques: Embossing

Buttoned Up Thanksgiving

This is another card from a class kit. I added the buttons for a crazy circular touch. I love it! The card is a bit heavy, so it may not get mailed, but sent via hand delivery. The pumpkin is SO easy! Punch out 4 ovals (any size would really work or use your nesties) and layer them to create the shape. It's hard to see in the photo, but a small brown scrap becomes the stem (above the leaf); and another brown scrap gets curled around your paper piercer for a vine. The leaf is a smaller oval that was folded and run through the crimper. Layer everything up and you have a super quick and easy fall card! The only stamping was the sentiment, which could easily be left off or changed for your purpose.

Sketch Inspiration ~ Midnight Madness Sketch #38

Color Inspiration ~ Curtain Call ~ Act 56


Inspiration

Stamping Vacation: Clear as Mud Challenge ~ Turkey (as inspiration no turkey images)
365 Cards Day 250 ~ Challenge Combo: Aug, Sept, Oct

I was thinking about pumpkin pie when I made this, hence the sugar and sweet smelling inspirations.
Aug 178 (Sugar); Sept 205 (Sweet Smelling); Oct 228 (Sand and Sponge)
365 Cards Day 232 ~ A Bounty of Buttons 15 buttons on card
Crafty Creations Challenge #93 ~ Buttons
Simon Says Stamp Challenge on PCP #10 ~ Buttons

My Creation

Inside

Ins and Outs ~ Buttoned Up Thanksgiving
Stamps: SU Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: SU (Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie)
Ink: SU (Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip)
Accessories: Crimper, SU Punches (Large and Small Oval), Paper Piercer, Big Shot Circle Dies
Techniques: Sponging, Sanding

Kenny K's Birthday Rockers

This card was so much fun to make. I've been in awe of Kenny K's awesome images for awhile and even treated myself to a few. Then I gave into the intimidation of bringing them to life, and they sat on the corner of my desk. My lovely niece recently celebrated her 18th birthday and I knew she'd be the perfect person to receive my first Kenny K card. She is such a joy in my life and I'm so excited to see her life unfold into adulthood.

Sketch Inspiration ~ Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #79

Color Inspiration ~ C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #76

Inspiration

Cute Card Thursday #138 ~ Anything Goes
Kenny K ‘s Challenge #19 ~ Sparkle and Dots
My dots and sparkle can be found in my pink designer paper. I also used Spicas to give my girls a bit of sparkle.
Paper Playtime #25 ~ PS I Love You
The challenge is to be inspired by love - something I love (crafting), a technique I love (coloring with Copics), for a person I love (my beautiful niece on her 18th birthday)
Incy Wincy Designs Challenge #68 ~ Rock On
Stamp Something Challenge ~ Digi Somethings

My Creation

Image Detail

Inside

To try and limit my ever growing scrap pile, I often try to use any tidbits from the front of the card on the inside for a bit of decoration.

Ins and Outs ~ Kenny K's Birthday Rockers
Stamps: Kenny K (Glam Gang – Rock Chick, Rock Squad – Tori Famous); Computer Generated Sentiment
Paper: SU Whisper White, DCWV Black Currant Stack
Ink: Laser Printer; Copics (B000, 21, 24, 29; 100; C2, 3, 5, 7; E13, 17, 21, 27, 50; R00, 20, 39, 46; RV09, 11, 14, 32, 34); Spicas (Sand, Sky Blue, Black, Garnet, Pink, Silver); Gelly Roll Clear Star Pen