Spring Cheer

Hello!

I grabbed a few moments to put together a card this weekend. We've been busy working on many other "creations" around the house lately (like kids' school projects, garage organization, etc.), so card-making took a back seat for a while.

Front (closed) view of my swing card

The digi stamp was colored with both
Copics and prisma Pencils.  

*Note to self: Turn on some lights before you start trying to color...Then you'll get these lovely results on the first try instead of the 2nd...LOL.  :)

   It's time to post my card for the  March Stamp of the Month challenge at From the Heart Stamps.

Faith has a progressive "Stamp of the Month" challenge each month on the From the Heart blog (participation earns you a free stamp for the next month's challenge).
The darling "Hamlet PigWit Think Spring" stamp is was March's freebie for those who participated in the past month's challenge. It is also available in the shop. This digi stamp set comes with 2 versions of Hamlet plus a few sentiments.


 


Besides the stamps, I got inspiration from this last week's FTHS' I {heart} Sketches- sketch059 challenge.


 I used both the sketch and the "twist", which was "Interactive Cards".

inside view of swing card

 I cut this swing card with my Cameo.
Super easy and such a fun card design.
Unfortunately, I was a little bit slow this week, so it wasn't finished in time for the sketch challenge.
That doesn't matter...It was the perfect inspiration anyways.  :)


The wonderful sentiment was in my files from Paulette at Create with TLC.  Nine times out of ten, my sentiments come from the amazing Paulette. I love her talent of combining just the right phrases into an interesting graphic.

This sentiment and card is perfect for a loved one of mine that could use a "we're thinking of you" and "take care" kind of lift/reminder right now.  :)


The papers were from my latest trip to Hobby Lobby. Since I was there anyways (buying supplies for ds' science fair project), I stopped by the 50% paper sale and picked up the cute "Eat Cake" and "Birthday Extravaganza" paper packs by the Paper Studio. I'm loving the little 4.5x 6.5 inch packs...Just the right size to add variety to my cards without having  HUGE paper stash guilt.  LOL.


This card is now ready for the mail...on it's way to spread some Spring Cheer and brighten a worrisome day.  :)


Entry for the following Challenges:
From the Heart blog- Stamp of the Month March 2014  *Just in the nick of time.


Sassy Cheryl's "Show Me" Thursday Challenge  **Because this is the only project I actually have photos of.  :)

Happy Bird-day

It's time to post my card for the February Stamp of the Month challenge at From the Heart Stamps.

    Faith has a progressive "Stamp of the Month" challenge each month on the From the Heart blog (participation earns you a free stamp for the next month's challenge).
The funny "Birthday Candle Birdbrain" stamp is this month's freebie for those who participated in last month's challenge. It is also available in the shop.


Besides the stamps and sentiment (included with the digi stamp), I got inspiration this week from the FTHS' I {heart} Sketches- sketch055 challenge.



I think it was serendipitous that the BoBunny Back-to-Basic papers ("Pincushion" collection) I had just purchased also contained a scallop element. I just needed to do some fussy cutting.
 I had bought the papers after a brief "inspiration" trip to my local, small craft store.  I was trying to make something for a green/grey challenge, but nothing worked out in time...
So they stayed in my stash waiting to make this card.
*note: The Grey/white polka dot paper is by My Mind's Eye... "Chalk Talk" paper.

It's so fun when things pull together.
I had originally tried coloring the bird in varying shades of green (all w-r-o-n-g), but love the finished birdy now...all sweet and persimmon-y. :)
It was colored with both Copics and prisma Pencils.

This card is now ready for the mail...and it's even on time.

Entry for the following Challenges:
From the Heart blog- Stamp of the Month February 2014
FTHS' I {heart} Sketches- sketch055 challenge.

SMT #139- Nifty 50 birthday

Here is my SMT post...Just for you, Cheryl.
Thanks again for helping me out with your FABULOUS talents!!! 

 "...And Now...The Rest of the Story"  (Do you know that reference??)
________________________________________________
I have two very cool big brothers.  My oldest brother celebrated a milestone birthday a few weeks ago... 50 years of his awesome-ness on the earth.  :)

I started the process of making this card a month before the actual date. However, life interrupted and now this card is a month belated.  YIKES!!

Here are the details for it's l-o-n-g creation process. (Please ignore the poor grammar, sentence fragments, etc. This is more of a "list" than a well-crafted piece of writing).

1.  The genesis of this creation: My brother owns a comic book store.  This just about solidifies his status as "coolest uncle ever" in the eyes of his nephews...and also his nieces.  :)

*I wanted to create a personalized card for this momentous birthday that reflected him.




2. Emailed dear friend and awesome artist (Sassy Cheryl) pleading/asking/begging her to create a custom digital stamp for me.  WooHOO...she created this FABULOUS image that totally reminded me of DB as a kid...He always had a ton of hair.  :)
Note: I did not give her any other details other than "a kid reading a bunch of comic books".
**You can purchase a similar digital stamp from Cheryl's store here (boy version) or here (girl version).

*** I've realized that I did not set a realistic deadline for this card...I take a long time to match the actual "creation" with the "vision/plan" in my head.   So I didn't give myself enough time to work her awesome stamp into a cohesive card design before his birthday. 



3. Found a Sketch I liked (Mojo Monday sketch #330).

Hem and haw over the paper choices....Finally settled on a bunch of  jillibean Soup  papers that have been in my stash for over a year now (Minestrone:Thin Zucchini, Homemade 6 bean:Red Beans, and Winter Tortellini:Fresh Basil collections).

I missed the challenge deadline for this sketch. Oh well.


4. While looking for the perfect word-art...I discovered one in my files from Paulette at Create With TLC that sparked a few new ideas.  I got distracted with ideas for another birthday project. (see below). 

I think this word-art is both clever and hilarious since our family is very competitive with board games!!






Waited 2-3 weeks before actually creating the printed transfer and adding it to a shirt.




 5.  Finally decided to create my own word-art that reflects both the event and the digital image. (Another 3-5 days of "brainstorming"). I designed the word-art in my Silhouette Design Studio software. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

---PAUSE a week because I volunteered for a  few school projects.   AND...I had library books from the "hold shelf" that were begging to be read. :) They all turned out fantastically.

6. Printed several copies of the digital stamp to try and color.   
*Good way to pass time in a doctor's office waiting room (nope, I was not the patient, just the patient's driver). I ended up with about 5 "rejected" versions...LOL.  Loving the final results.
(I colored the stamp with Copic markers as base colors and added pencils for detailed/shading parts) 

---PAUSE a few more days while I was sick with the nastiest virus I can remember in many years...Quality time with ginger ale and soda crackers...FUN- FUN- FUN

7. Put the card together...noticed it is crooked...Gently tore it apart, reglued, and repositioned.

8. Took a bazillion photos...lighting is yucky because it's winter in the Pacific NW...even with ott-lites, etc.  Used the photo anyways because it really needs to get in the mail.

****Now seriously, wasn't that the most ridiculously long, tangented route to a finished birthday card.

I hope my Bro likes the card and shirt. He's a wonderful person and I'm so glad to have him in our family!!! Love Ya T_______!

Every day Valentine

Hi!

So I didn't get this done in time for "Valentine's Day", but I figure that my DH is my "valentine" every day of the year...so It's All Good, right?!

It is finished (barely) in time for Sassy Cheryl's Challenge #202- "All about HEARTS".  :)


I used this cute digi stamp from Sassy Cheryl's shop titled "A Little Heart Balloon".  I quickly combined it in my Silhouette Design studio software with this clever wordart (valentine love eye chart) and  Lori Whitlock card base. Then it's ready for my Cameo to print & cut out...quick  and easy.

I colored it mostly with pencils, but used my copics for the skin tone areas.

I was inspired to use a mostly Black and White design scheme by the Outlawz CAS challenge (CAS021614 Black & White ONLY)...but technically, those touches of blue don't work for their challenge this week.  :)

Well, I'm off to clean up my messy desk...I am still several projects behind...and I hope to finish them/post later this afternoon.

Have a wonderful day!!

LR's Sassy Card- Sassy Cheryl's Challenge #201

HI there!

Occasionally, my youngest daughter, aged 8,  gets the bug to create cards for challenges. (which she always calls contests...LOL).

This is her creation for the current Sassy Cheryl's Challenge #201 "Anything but a Square"

The image is Sassy Cheryl's "A Good Read- Maddie".

She grabbed the elements from her stash of crafting supplies and got to work creating. She hand cut the card base into an oval based on the lacey oval frame. Of course, she added some bling.

*I asked if she wanted to type her description or name her creation...but she declined. LOL.   Obviously "blog posting" is not the fun part of card-making for challenges. :)

Strange friends...laugh often

I have a friend who could definitely use a few laughs right now.  
Sometimes life just doesn't provide enough humor on its own to balance the frowny, hard times.

I'm hoping this card will brighten her day...a little.  

My friend and I are a little like this cat and dog... At first glance, we seem very different, but we always enjoy each other's company.*   

*Which is why I picked this particular (fun, quirky) sentiment from Paulette at CreateWithTLC.
I've had this wordart for quite a while...It just needed the right situation/card to go with it.  :) 

The two absolutely adorable images are both From the Heart digital stamps by Faith Skrdla.  Faith has a progressive "Stamp of the Month" challenge each month on the From the Heart blog (participation earns you a free stamp for the next month's challenge).
The cute "Kitten and Heart" is this month's freebie. It is also a part of the set, "Caught Your Heart".
The scruffy pup is from the new set, "Ali's Paper Hearts".
I love them both and they will probably make frequent appearances on my cards/projects!

Besides the stamps and sentiment, I got inspiration this week from a Sketch challenge and a Color challenge.  I know some people just love the challenge/thrill of stacking challenges...I just need the valuable nudge of inspiration that each challenge contributes.  :)

The beautiful CAS (clean and simple) sketch is from clean&simple stamping.

I love this blog because I am thoroughly a CAS gal (plus it's an inspiration-only blog)!!
For the third piece/element of the sketch, I added a house from a Silhouette cutting file (using the "print & cut" feature of my Cameo). I needed just the right bridge for these 2 friends and the house was perfect!

The color inspiration came from this week's Color Challenge (CC0128) over at The Outlawz challenges blogs.

I chose Rooster, Aqua and Slate as my Colors (the challenge was to pick & use 3 out of the 5 colors). The metal flower is my "twist" element (piece of metal) on the card.
I couldn't see what I wanted in my stash or at the craft store...but I found the perfect embellishment in the costume jewelry section of a dept. store.  I bought a pair of dangling earrings (on clearance, YAY) and cut them apart with pliers once I got home. Tada! New card embellishments.  :) 



Entry for the following Challenges:
From the Heart blog- Stamp of the Month January 2014
Clean&Simple Stamping- Sketch Challenge #277
The Outlawz- Color Challenge (CC0128)

Bright Birthday Fun

I decided that I need to be proactive about making Birthday cards. Usually, I like to make them with the recipient in mind, but I often wait until the last minute. Then it quickly becomes a "Belated birthday wishes" card.  It is time to change that behavior!

I began by posting upcoming birthdays on my whiteboard by my desk as a constant visual reminder.
It was a bright, sunny day today, so I decided to create a card that matched the day and my mood.

This one is for a very special person...who may or may not read my blog...so I'm not saying anything more.  ;)

The layout was inspired by this fun sketch from MOJO Monday Challenge blog (sketch #329).
I LOVE IT!!

When I saw this sketch, I knew it would fit perfectly with my Sassy Cheryl's "Pearls, Pearls, Pearls" challenge entry.
It takes a little imagination to see it...
I hope it does both challenges justice.

The Star of the show, of course, is Sassy Cheryl's adorable Maddie...seen here in the digistamp "Maddie's Birthday Surprise".  I can't tell if she's carefully bringing it to share...or patiently waiting to eat that yummy cupcake herself!



I often need help with color combos, so I went over to The Outlawz site...and Voila!
Their Color Challenge (CC0121) was just what I needed in color and "theme" (twist) inspiration.



Last, but not least, the clever WordArt is by Paulette at CreateWithTLC.  She's my "go to" site for card sentiments (from sweet to sassy...and everything in between).



Do you need to make any birthday cards this week??
Get going...There's an abundant amount of inspiration...if you look for it.

:)   Happy Creating!!



Challenge entries for:
Sassy Cheryl's Challenge #200- "Pearls, Pearls, Pearls"
http://sassycherylschallenge.blogspot.com/2014/01/challenge-200-pearls-pearls-pearlswa.html

MoJo Monday Sketch Challenge #329
http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2014/01/mojo-monday-329.html

The OutLawz Color Challenge (CC0121) "Jeweled January w/ twist: Make it a Birthday"
http://outlawzchallenges.ning.com/group/colorchallenge/forum/topics/color-challenge-january-21-2014