Bloomin' Center Stair Card

My mom's birthday is next week (she will be 92) and I wanted to make her a special card.  I really love how it turned out.  I hope she will like it too.

I started with GKD white cardstock - nice and heavy and cut the step card using a template as a guide.  The designer paper is a piece that has been in my stash for years.  All the flowers are cut out with my Silhouette.  The paper lace border is a die cut that also embosses. (I don't know the company but I think they are no longer in business.)  The white circle is a Spellbinder die as are the pink Scalloped circle and the circle with the sentiment.  My Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish die was perfect to work around the flowers and to go with the flourishes in the designer paper.
The centers of the coral and maroon flowers were part of the cutting file.  For the yellow flowers I added a green pearl.
This is only the second step card I have made but I really enjoyed making it so it won't be my last.

Challenges:
Simon Monday - anything
Simon Wednesday - anything
Stamping Boutique - more than one layer
Cheery Lynn -anything goes
Di's Digi Design - birthday

Doodle Pantry and OWH

There are always challenges at Operation Write Home and this new sketch challenge is sponsored by Doodle Pantry.  Most of the challenges at OWH do not have sponsors so if you have thought about entering, now would be a good time - you might win some digital images of your choice.
Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

I used a set that was a new release this month:

I love the papers, especially the gorilla faces.
The banana border is made by repeating the banana in a row in the publisher program before printing.
You really should head over to Doodle Pantry and check out the store.  It is amazing. 
And don't forget to read the guidelines for cards made for OWH.  Things like no bulk, no glitter are really important.

Challenges:
Love to Scrap - anything
Simon Monday - anything
Papertakes - cool colors
Simon Wednesday - anything
Stamping Boutique - more than one layer
Little Claires - love digi
Stamp and Create - love

Today You Are You

How much better off we would be if we would just be ourselves and stop trying to be someone else or some thing we are not.  I have used this Bugaboo image before and made a few more cards with it this week because I love the sentiment in the frame.  If you are a Dr. Seuss fan, you will recognize it.

The challenge at Die Cuttin Divas is to make a card with Dr. Seuss inspired card.  I used Copics for coloring.  The image and layer are cut out with MFT rectangles.  It doesn't show in the photo but there is a little embossed layer on the image panel and the Kraft panel by running them through the Cuttlebug a second time with an embossing pad.  The bow die is from My Craft Spot.

Challenges:
Simon Monday - anything
Papertakes - Take Your Pick -  Kraft
Die Cuttin Divas - Dr. Seuss
Word Art Wedenesday - anything
Simon Wednesday - anything 

Doodle Pantry and Clear It Out

There is a new challenge at Clear It Out - Animals and Stripes.  Doodle Pantry is the Sponsor.  There are so many Doodle Pantry animals to choose from.  I chose from one of the newer releases.

The striped paper is from a different set, Bright Smiles

I kept this card flat and mailable because it will be going to OWH.  Just a few pieces of interest like the grass which is cut with a MFT icicle die, the button with twine, and under that a piece of Washi tape.

Stop by Clear It Out and enter your animal card.  You may win some great Doodle Pantry sets.

Challenges:
Papertakes - Take your pick  (colors, technique)
Through the Craft Room Door - anything
Pennys Paper Crafting - spots and stripes
Simon Monday - anything
OWH ODBD challenge - animals

Now That's Challenging

Some of my favorite cards are CAS.  I like simple.  I do well with simple.  But one layer cards?  Now that is definitely a challenge for me.  And that is the challenge at the Kraft Journal this week.
That should be challenge enough but, oh no, not me, I had to add to the challenge by doing something I have never done before - stamp, emboss, and color on Kraft.  I used Light Kraft Cardstock from the Kraft Outlet.

The surprising aspect of this is it was fun; I love the results; I will do it again.
The stamp is by Unity.  I used Copics  to fill in a little color.  I added some beautiful hand stained Vintage White Bias Ribbon.  That doesn't count as a layer, does it?
So do you want to take on the challenge to make a one layer card.  We at the Kraft Journal would love to see what you come up with.

Challenges:
Papertakes - Bingo (ribbon, free, blooms)
Simon Wednesday - add texture
Simon Monday - anything
Cute Card Thursday - floral delight

Sending Smiles

Everything about this card (except the card base) is made from leftovers and scraps.

The digital image is an older Designed2Delight which I have had printed and colored for ages.  The papers and the "smiles" that I cut out of designer paper are all pieces .  Even the ribbon is a left over piece. 
I used the sketch at Sketch Saturday and kept the card very simple and mailable.

Challenges:
Sketch Saturday 
Papertake Bingo - ribbon, free space, blooms
Through the Craft Room Door - anything
Your Next Stamp - colors (three shades of green, gray, pale yellow)

National Gumdrop Day

Did you know that it was National Gumdrop Day on Feb. 15.  I knew that and then forgot to post the card I made with it as my inspiration.  Who comes up with these National days anyway?  Maybe today should be National Better Late Than Never Day. haha

These gumdrops and sentiment are from the Doodle Pantry set Sweet Stuff which is a Free with Purchase set.  Using several pre-colored drops, I formed a heart and put the sentiment in the middle before printing.

One of the reasons I made this card was for the Ants In My Pantry Digital Challenge at the Doodle Pantry Digital Blog.  The challenge is to use candy or some kind of sweets on your card or project (because of the National Gumdrop Day).  We would love to see your entry.  The challenge closes on Feb. 23.

Challenges:
Stamping Boutique - hearts
Little Claires - love digi
Crafty Cardmaker - love
Stamp and Create - love
Without Words - love
Words to Scrap By - do something different

The Evolution of a Card

Pure enjoyment.  That is what I felt as I put this card together.  It was just plain fun!  And turned out way better than I anticipated - a bonus!

I started off with this cute dog by Meljen Designs:

but I wanted him looking over a fence.  I cut out two different fences and didn't like either one so I used a piece of photo designer paper of rocks.  After coloring him, I fussy cut him out but even with the Doodle Pantry sky paper, it was too plain so I stamped some trees using a Stampin Up rubber stamp and colored in some grass with a Copic.  I couldn't figure out how to use the sentiment on the digital image so I cut out a "hello" with the Silhouette.
I ended up using so many techniques and mediums:
Silhouette cutting out hello
Cuttlebug cutting out the front grass - YNS die
Digital paper
Digital image
Designer paper
SU stamp and brown ink
Copics
Prisma pencils
And see that TINY little heart by the "hello".  Can you believe I fussy cut that? I am so happy that I still have that much flexibility in my fingers.
So that is how my card evolved.  Here is the sketch I used:

I don't think I will be making any more cards exactly like this.  However, now that I have all the bugs worked out, maybe I will!

Challenges:
Your Next Stamp - sketch
Love to Scrap - anything
Simon Wednesday - all creatures great and small
Meljen - loving you
Sister Act - anything
Words to Scrap By  - so something different
Stamping Boutique - hearts
Paper Creators - love is in the air

Cleaning. Really!

Today I was cleaning off my desk and looking for a stack of invoices.  Because I couldn't find them (and it is driving me crazy) I cleaned off my craft desk too.  I just had to stop and play with this cute Bugaboo image.  It has been on my desk for a very long time so what better way to clean off the desk than use up a printed image lying around.  LOL

I love this DP that I have been hoarding.  And I didn't even notice the heart in the center of the flower until I was measuring out a piece to cut.
The sentiment is Meljen Design which I cut out with a banner die cut by MFT.  The circles are cut with Spellbinders.
Here is the sketch I used:

Challenges:
MFT - sketch
Love to Scrap - anything
Papertake - hearts and flowers
Meljen - loving you
Die Cuttin Divas - photo inspiration
Little Claire's - love digi
Stamping Boutique - hearts

February Celebration

The challenge at the Kraft Journal, which starts today is Any February Celebration.  I chose Presidents' Day.  No, I don't send out Presidents' Day cards, but I do make cards for OWH and many of those are patriotic in nature.  So I took Presidents' Day as my jumping off point.

I started with a Light Kraft Cardstock base. From some of my stash, I tore a piece of ephemera paper by TJ Designs which has the red, white, blue postal stripes.  The letters, "USA" are Tim Holz idea-ology stickers.  This collection is no longer available at the Kraft Outlet, but there are many other Tim Holz collections to choose from.  The letters were put onto small Scalloped Grungy Prim Tags.  I replaced the strings with Red Baker's Twine and hung those from a string of blue Dark Jewel Hemp Cord.  I added a few stars - some are paper, some are brads.  See those TINY little stars?  They are brads!    Then to just give a finishing touch, I added a piece of Air Mail Washi Tape.  It took me a long time to get into washi tape - now I love it.
How will you interpret February Celebrations?  We, at the Kraft Journal, hope you will accept our challenge and come over and play.

Challenges:

Craft Your Passion - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Sister Act - anything
Di's Digis - lots of embellishments

Valentine's Day

Whew!  I did it; I got all the Valentines finished and mailed in time.  Maybe I need to re-think this idea of making so many each year.  I make more Valentines than Christmas cards.  Now that is crazy.
Well, here is one of them.  I again used the Heart Spray cutting file by Quietfire and then embossed the sentiment with red EP.  The sentiment is by GKD.

As in a previous post, I must apologize for the poor photo quality.  I just could not get a good photo of this pink.
On the inside of the pink card base, I attached a piece of Real Red cardstock.  I really love this cutting file.  Quietfire is the sponsor for the Die Cut Divas challenge this month.  They have beautiful stamps,  paper, embellishment, and more besides the cutting files.
Have you entered the challenge yet?  You have two more weeks.  Come play; we would love to see your entries.

Challenges:
Papertakes - hearts or flowers
Stamp and Create - love
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Stamplorations - stamps and hearts
Sister Act - anything
Crafty Creations - owl, or hearts, or love
Without Words - I love you
Wags and Whiskers - for someone you love
Cute Card Thursday - perfectly pink

Precious Cargo

You've seen the sign in car windows, "Precious Cargo On Board,"  well how about some precious cargo pants?

Aren't those the sweetest?  And look at some of the other pants and papers is this Doodle Pantry set:

For my card I used the pre-colored pink pants, but with a line version, you could color these any color you want.  I wanted to keep the card girly so I cut out a doily with the Silhouette (I usually don't use doilies) and put it behind the tag that I made.
This set is just one of the new sets being released today and for today only the new sets are 25%.

Have you played our Ants In My Pantry Digital Challenge yet this month?  The challenge is Candy.  We would love to see your card.

Challenges:
Sweet Stamps - pink, white, one other color (brown)
Sister Act - anything
Pink Gem - lots of layers
V's Sweet Ideas - red, pink, or white
Wags and Whiskers - for someone you love
Words to Scrap By - do something different

Beautiful Cutting Files

Only a few more Valentines to make and I am really loving some of the new Silhouette cutting files by QuietFire.  For this card I used three files:  Heart Spray, Flourished Heart, and Heart You.

The spray of hearts are cut out of the red and that panel is glued onto a white card base.  The large white heart with ribbon is glued onto the red panel.  I love it when things fall into place - like the button being the right size and the right shape for the center of the heart.
Quietfire is the sponsor this month at Die Cut Divas.  The challenge runs the rest of the month.  With the theme of Word, Quotes, Sentiments, you are asking where are the words on my card?  It was just too beautiful to put words on the outside so I cheated and put them on the inside.  Here is where I used the third cutting file.

Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments - include a heart
Simon Wednesday - Bright and beautiful
Sister Act - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Craft 4 Eternity - with love
All Sorts Challenge - love
Without Words - I love you
Crafty Creations - owls, hearts, love
2 Cute - valentines 

The Kraft Journal Challenge

It is time for a new challenge at TKJ and this time it is Pick Three.

The layers of my card are Stampin Up Real Red, Lunch Bag Kraft text weight, and Buff Ivory cardstock.  I used the same layering order for the hearts, which I cut out with the Silhouette, but substituted Vintage Sheet Music for the center heart.  The musical score on the bottom of the card is Musical Notes Washi tape. 
The other notes and the sentiment are stamped with GKD stamps.  The single black note is a Cuttlebug die.
So here is the list:  doily, tag, glitter, twine, red, hearts, top fold, ribbon.  What three (or more) will you choose?  We would love to see your entry at the Kraft Journal.

Challenges:
Pink Gem - lots of layers (6)
Di's Digi Design - use hearts
Dies R Us - hearts
Party Time Tuesday - anything
Stamp and Create - love
Great Impressions - love
Paper Creators - love
Stamplorations - stamps and hearts
Crafty Creations - owls, hearts, love 

Olives - Not Just For Martinis

Doodle Pantry is the sponsor for this week's challenge at Inspiration Destination, the challenge being Anything Goes.
The theme of love is first and foremost right now with Valentine's Day fast approaching, but OWH can use love cards all year so that is where is card is going.

This digital set, Olive You, is such a fun set to add a little humor to your cards.  The patterned papers are perfect with the images.  Here is a peak at the set:

From here, head over to Inspiration Destination to check out their challenge blog and then to the Doodle Pantry Store to see some more wonderful digital sets.

Challenges:
Paper Takes - anything
Through the Craft Room Door - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Sister Act - anything
Sweet Stamps - love is in the air
Stamp and Create - all you need is love

A Big XOXO

At Die Cut Divas, the team members are having fun with stamps and SVG files by Quietfire Designs.  Here is a card using two of their SVG files, Heart Spray and XOXO.

I apologize for the poor quality of this photo.  I must have taken at least 20 pics with different settings and different lighting but never could get rid of the blue or green tint.  Maybe if we could have a sunny day, it would help!
The file cut out the spray of hearts (from the pink cardstock) so the only thing left to do is put a liner on the inside and I chose red.  The beauty of a SVG file vs die cut is the ability to change the size of your cut.  So I cut the XOXO small enough to fit on the front of the card.  Don't get me wrong, I love my dies but sometimes the flexibility that the Silhouette gives is pretty nice.
Our challenge this month is "Words" at Die Cut Divas.  We hope you will play along.

Challenge:
Paper Takes - anything
Through the Craft Room Door - anything
Crafty Sentiments - include a heart
Di's Digis - hearts
PartyTime Tuesday - anything
Great Impressions - love
Paper Creators - love
V's Sweet Ideas - pink or red

Love Makes The World Go Round

It's Monday Morning and that means a new challenge at the Kraft Journal, Love Makes the World Go Round.

 

When I saw the title to the challenge, I knew immediately that I wanted to use the chalkboard digi by Diane's Daydream Designs.  

With those fun Kraft colored squiggly scrolls in the corners and some Kraft in the wording, the Light Kraft cardstock base was perfect. Matching up the colors of the words, I used some green Baker's twine to wrap around the card.  Yes, green, but it is so close to turquoise, it goes really well with the colors in the sentiment panel.  It is a top fold card so the twine does wrap around the inside.  The bright pink cardstock seemed a good choice for layering the sentiment panel and for cutting out a heart border with the Silhouette.  The heart charm looks dark here but is really quite close in color IRL. 

This card was so easy and I liked it so much, I made two!

We, at the Kraft Journal, hope you will stop by and enter a card or two in our challenge.  We always love to see what you come up with. 

Challenges: 

Crafty Sentiments - love

Word Art Wednesday - anything 

Sister Act - anything 

Frosted Designs - what direction (around)

I Need More Paper

It is Super Bowl Sunday and I am keyed up and ready to watch.  But it is also the first day of February which means there is a new challenge starting today to Die Cut Divas.  This month our sponsor is Quietfire Designs.  Besides beautiful stamps, Quietfire also has their own SVG files.

I never thought I would say that I need more paper but I really do - double sided paper.  I was alarmed to find that I am out, all except this paper I used for this card.   After making so many Valentines with red and pink, this was a nice change.  The SVG file is called Heart You with Heart Closure.  After cutting out the card from the patterned paper, I then cut out the other elements from Brown Kraft.  Considering the beautiful font and the patterned paper, it didn't need much else - just a few pearls and a heart brad.   

For the inside, I cut out another rectangle of Kraft and a heart out of that so that I would have something for a stamped or handwritten sentiment.
Oh, the possibilities but first more paper! LOL
The Die Cut Divas would love to see what you come up with for the February challenge: Words, Quotes, or Sentiments. 

Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments - valentines
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Simon Wednesday - anything
Sister Act - anything
Wags and Whiskers - hearts