OWH #01

Keeping up with card making lately has been a challenge.  I got a job, so I won't have as much time to "play around" during the day!!  But I will still try to make at least a couple cards a week and try to enter some challenges.  I really want to win some free stuff!!

Here is what I was able to create.  I stayed true to my goal of going through the OWH sketches.  They are easy to use to get a good stash going.  As I am trying to keep on top of mailing out ACTUAL Birthday cards to people and not just a generic wish on their Facebook page!!

Very basic design and I was able to use the "You're My Type" stamp set from Stampin' Up.  I really love this vintage typewriter. I like that this color scheme is masculine as well.  I need more manly cards in my stash.  They have birthdays too!

Here is the sketch #01

Challenges Entered:

Little Tangles - Use Kraft

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring Hello

Image is an old card front.
Sentiment stamp is from the "Goody-Goody Gumdrops" set from Stampin' Up.
Design is from The Sweet Stop sketch 152.

Challenges Entered:

Sweet Stop Sketch challenge - sketch 152

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - Spring

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Spring or Easter

Come and Get it Challenge - Spring

My Time Made Easy - Pretty Pallette #54 (Pink, celery, blue)

Stamptacular Sunday - Pastel colors

Tuesday Throwdown - Pastel colors

Stamping with the Dragon - Spring
The Crafter's Cafe Challenge - Spring w/pastel colors

Bottom Thank You

I have been dying to use this stamp set!  I bought this set about a month or so ago and it's been calling my name!  There's several others in this set that are just waiting to be inked!
    I thought this would be a great image to try out the "spotlight" technique.  Not sure if I did completely right, but I like it anyway!!

I forgot to take a picture of the inside.  The inside greeting says, " . . . It's A Lot Bigger Than My Heart!"

This stamp set is from Stampin' Up and it's called, "Not So Seriously".
The design came from Freshly Made Sketches, sketch 28.  As you can see, I just rotated the sketch.

Challenges Entered:

Freshly Made Sketches - sketch 28

Sweet Stamps blog - Spotlight technique

My Time Made Easy - Pretty Pallette #51 (green, orange, white)

Catered Crop - Brads

Thank You Berry Much

I was finally able to use my "challenge" stamp set enough to qualify it to be useful and will put back into the collection.  I told myself I needed to make at least 3 cards with the set, using 3 different stamps from the set.  I have succeeded and look forward to challenging myself with the next set.  I have so many stamps and want to make sure I actually USE them.  So this has been a fun challenge for myself.  Which set will I pick next?!

This card was fun to make as I was trying to use this old paper with fruit on it.  I figured since I was using this fruit stamp set that I would be able to use this paper some how.  Well no such luck really.  It was complicated to use, and to be honest, is really ugly.  So when one of the challenges this week was to use "hideous" paper, I thought I will have to use it no matter what!  Turned out pretty good actually, although I don't think I will be keeping the leftovers, they are going to the recycle bin!

Design was based on the sketch from The Sweet Stop, sketch 151.  The stamp set is Stampin' Up!  Sentiment is from "Fruity Phrases" and the strawberry is from "Fruit Medley" (2-step stampin'). Oval was cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge (oval 3, 2" & 2 1/4").

Challenges Entered:

Sweet Stop Sketch challenge - Sketch 151

Hiding in my Craft Room - Hideous paper

Celebrate the Occasion - Thank You

Tuesday Throwdown - Image outside of frame

Simon Says Stamp - Anything goes

Flowers Galore

Well I am proud to announce that I have actually won a couple challenges this week and was featured in another!!  Yahoo!  I was wondering when all of my work would "pay off"!  Here are the links to my "wins"

52 Christmas card Throwdown  for Kitty Christmas
Catch the Bug Challenge Blog and Birthday Sundaes for Doggy Birthday

I will bask in the glow of my win for a day or so.  I never win anything, so this is a real treat for me.  Hoping that this is just the beginning and will see some more in the future!

On to my latest card.  This was a struggle for me as I was challenged to do a "circle" card.  I have been shying away from these for some reason.  But once I got going, I found out it wasn't so bad.  I was so pleased at how it turned out and so grateful for my Cricut!!

I based the design from a sketch I found on Mojo Monday's blog Sketch 221.  I was following along with the color challenge at Catch the Bug Challenge blog, which worked out great because Blue is my favorite color.  Stamp is SU! and from the "Goody Goody Gumdrops" set.  I colored the flowers with colored pencil and glittered the leaves (hard to tell from pic though).

All cuts were made using my Cricut and the Art Philosophy cartridge, (the best cartridge to date).  Card was cut using "Circle 2" at 4 1/2".  Circle layers were cut with "Circle 1" at 4 1/4" and 3 1/2".  Flowers were cut using "Flower 6" and cut at 1 1/2", 1 1/4", and 1".  Leaves are "Leaf 1" and were cut at 1 1/4" & 1 1/2".

Challenges Entered:

Simon Says Stamp - BINGO (flowers, glitter, brads)

Pixie Dust Studio - Favorite things (Blue, brads)

Raise the Bar - In the garden

2 Sisters Challenge blog - Spring

Catch the Bug Challenge blog - Color challenge

CropStop Challenge blog - Shaped card

Whimsical Designs - Spring

Stampin' for the Weekend - Anything goes

Lily Pad cards - Flowers

Sweet Stampin' - Anything goes

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Handmade flowers

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge blog - 3 Flowers

You're One in a Melon

Good Friday morning!  I just have one little card to post today.  Not sure if I will get to any more today as I have a lot of laundry to catch up on!

This card was made with the stamp set that I have been challenging myself to use this week.  I love the cherries in the set, but wanted to use the other fruit as well.  So I stamped up the watermelon and went on my merry way.

The design is a sketch from Tuesday Morning sketches and I got the color combo idea from My Time Made Easy.  Stamp sets are from SU!  The watermelon is in the "Fruit Medley" set (2-step stampin') and the sentiment is in the "Fruity Phrases" set.  I ended up stamping a Thank You on the inside as well.

Challenges entered:

Tuesday Morning Sketches - Sketch

My Time Made Easy - color challenge (rose, cherry, gray, black)

Lia Stampz - Anything goes w/sentiment

The Crafter's Cafe - Ribbon and/or Lace

Hotshot Craft blog - Red

Shopping our Stash - Buttons and/or Bows

Digi Designs Challenge blog - Emboss

CAS Circles

Well I channeled my friend Sara again when doing this card.  This is her signature style, clean and simple, stamped background.  I need to work on this and get better at the "randomness" of the stamp placement, but I'm working on it!

All stamps are Stampin' Up!  The lined circle stamp is "Polka Dots & Petals" set, the flower is "Big Flowers" set, and the sentiment is "Create a Cupcake" set.  The ink pads were also from SU!  I used Rich Razzleberry, Marina Mist, and More Mustard.

Challenges Entered:

The Play Date Cafe - color challenge (Raspberry, Harbor, Honey Mustard) 

Hiding in my Craft Room - Keep it simple

The Stamping Boutique - CAS

Little Red Wagon - CAS

Crafty Purple Frog - Anything goes

Sweet! Cherries

This card was made using one of the stamp sets that I have "challenged" myself to use this week.  The set is from Stampin' Up! and is called "Fruit Medley" (Two Step Stampin).  The main reason I purchased was because of the cherries in the set.  I live in "Cherry Country" so it is only appropriate that I have some cute cherry stamps!

After much fussing with what colors and cardstock I was going to use, I finally got a result that I am very happy with.

The design was based on the sketch from The Sweet Stop sketch challenge.  The sentiment came from a Fiskars stamp set called Fresh Fruit.  I stamped the inside with a cute birthday greeting from CTMH (Card chatter - Birthday).

Sketch:

Challenges entered:

Sweet Stop sketch challenge - sketch w/green

Stamp, Scrap, & Doodle - green & white

Simply Sunday Challenge - Green, white & another color

By the Cute & Girly - "In the Kitchen"

Vintage Typewriter

Here is one more card for the day.  Wanted to enter a couple more before time ran out today!  So I threw this one together.  This was the first time using my new Stampin Up! stamp set "You're My Type".  I definitely need to play with it some more because the typewriter didn't stamp as well as I would have liked, but didn't have the time to really fuss with it.

I based the design on the sketch from MoJo Monday 232 and the color scheme was from Color Throwdown (certainly celery, baja breeze, really rust, kraft).

Challenges entered:

Mojo Monday - Sketch 232

Color Throwdown - Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Really Rust, Kraft

Peachy Keen Stamps - orange, brown, green

Creative Card Crew - vintage

I Heart Sketches Jan 2012

This card was created using the sketch challenge provided by I Heart to Stamp.  Sketch was pretty easy to follow and came up with something pretty cute!

I was able to use a stamp set that I haven't used yet called Older & Wiser from Stampin' Up.  It is such a cute set with some fun sayings.  This one is my favorite as the front says "Your Childhood Dream has come true" and the inside reads, "you're finally older!  Happy Birthday".

I keep the insides of my cards pretty simple.  I just carried over some extra pieces of the patterned cardstock (which is Memory Boutique).  This design was pretty simple and may do a little "assembly line" and make a few more for my stash!

Good For You!

This creation was based on the sketch challenge over at My Favorite Things.  Again I used some scraps and just tried to make things work!  I did okay, I'm not too happy with it, as I couldn't really agree on what I wanted the main image to be.

Here is a close up of the main image.  Stickles caused the ink to bleed a bit, but Oh Well, I am not a perfect stamper!!













Here is the info on products used:

• Large scallop circle - Art Philosophy cricut cartridge
• Main image - SU Figures of Speech
• small sentiment - CTMH Express Postage (had to manipulate it, as the stamp was actually curved and I forced it to go straight which explains why it looks a little "wonky".)
• paper - scraps (I never know what the brands are!!)
• yellow colored pencil
• star dust stickles