End of the Month Thank You

For the month of April, Hero Arts has been the sponsor for the Die Cut Divas Challenge.  The Divas appreciate the wonderful sponsors each month.  Here is a thank you card using some of the beautiful flower stamps by H.A.

The large bloom is Hand Drawn Flower F5493 and the smaller flowers are from Hello Flowers CL774.  The sentiment is by Unity.
The embossed panel is ProvoCraft.  I cut the circles with Die-namic Circle Stax.
All coloring is with alcohol markers. 

Tomorrow we start a new challenge at the Die Cut Divas challenge blog.  I am so excited - Doodle Pantry (my absolute FAVORITE digital company) is our wonderful sponsor for the month of May.

Challenges:
Simon Monday - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Cuttlebug Mania - use a stamp
Simon Wednesday - anything 

Just Hello

Yesterday evening, I pulled out about 20 images from my bin of left overs, colored, need to be colored, etc.  I was determined to use up some of them today.  When I saw the new sketch at MFT, this little image that I had already colored seemed just right for the sketch.

She is colored with copics and SU alcohol markers.  The papers and ribbon are pieces in my stash.
Here is the sketch I used 

Challenges:
Simon Monday - anything
MFT - sketch
Simon Wednesday - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything

Dogwood Blossoms - For Real

Okay, this time I have my head on straight and actually used Dogwood blossoms, not Magnolia, for my card.  (If you are curious about this, you can read this post)

This is a pre-colored image by Doodle Pantry.  So pretty.   The sketch is MFT.

Card base is brown Kraft from the Kraft Journal.  Embossing folder is ProvoCraft.

Challenges:
MFT - sketch
Little Claires Digi challenge - flowers
Simon Wednesday - CAS
Simon Monday - anything 

Bold, Bright, and Beautiful

This lovely flower is a digital image by Hero Arts. Poetic Petals PrintablesPT004.  Until recently, I didn't know H.A. carried printables.  I love it.   So here is my CAS card with the beauty in the center.

Spellbinders circle and scalloped circle to make the frame.
Stampin Up alcohol markers.

Challenges:
Simon Monday - anything
Simon Wednesday -CAS
A Blog Named Hero - one layer
Craft Dee Bowz - ribbon and bow

Hello Honey

  

When I started putting this card together, I had no idea it would turn out so yummy.  I love the yellows and the Kraft together.  I made it for the Kraft Journal Challenge which starts today and ends Sunday 6 PM Central.  The challenge? CAS and use twine or ribbon.
The base is Brown Kraft.  The main panel is Buff Ivory which I backed with a piece of black c/s.  The image is encircled with black cut with a MFT Die-namic and then the matching Brown Kraft, cut with a Spellbinders Scallop Circle.  The yellow twine is one of the many colors of Baker's Twine at the Kraft Outlet.
The digital image by digistamps4joy is colored with Prisma Pencils.
The sentiment is cut out with a Spellbinder die.
Are you into making CAS cards?  The Kraft Journal would like to see what you create.  Be sure to include Kraft or some product from the Kraft Outlet Store.

Challenges:
Simon Monday - anything
Simon Wednesday - CAS

Cherry Blossom TIme

This year was the first year that I became aware of the huge amount of cherry trees growing wildly in so many wooded area.  After pointing it out to my husband, we were amazed at how many trees were blooming.  Most of them are white blossoms because they are wild and do produce a tiny cherry.  The domestic Flowering Cherry trees that have pink flowers never have fruit, but they sure are pretty.  I love seeing lanes or driveways lined with them. 

The flowers on this card remind me of cherry blossoms ( five petals and lots of stamens).  Because the stamp (Hero Arts) has a black center, I used a black pearl instead of making the centers pink or yellow.  The "hello" is cut out with a MFT Die-namic die.  The oval frame is made with two oval Spellbinder dies.  The designer paper and the lace are from my stash.
Each flower was colored with Copics and fussy cut.  The leaves are stamped onto Kraft then fussy cut. 

Challenges:


Scrapyland - pearls or lace
Scrapping4fun - lace
PartyTime Tuesday - anything
Little Claire's  - use Kraft
Classy Cards and Such - cherry blossoms
Sweet Stamps - pearls

Dogwoods in Bloom

I was looking through my box of extra printed digital images and spotted this beautiful bloom.  I was thinking it was a dogwood, one of the many things in bloom right now.  But when I posted this, I realized - this isn't a dogwood, it is magnolia.  Oh, well.  I love both.

The EF is by Cuttlebug.  The pink scalloped borders were cut with  MFT dies. The circle and scalloped circle are Spellbinder.

Challenges:

Die Cuttin Divas - Garden
Scrapping4fun - anything with ribbon
Little Claire's Digital challenge - flowers

Picking Flowers

My desire to do any gardening is decreasing each year, but I so enjoy the results of our labor.  It is wonderful to have enough flowers in our flower beds so we can pick them to enjoy in the house and yet still have enough to enjoy outside.  We also enjoy sharing.  Yesterday I filled two vases with Lilacs; one for me and one for someone else who was getting heady with the scent when she came for a visit. Last week it was tulips.  Next week it will by Rhodies.  I can hardly wait for the Peonies.

For this card, I started with the sketch at Sketch Saturday, using one of my new die cuts from MFT.  The image is Bugaboo which I colored with Copics.  The cluster of flowers in the left, lower corner were cut out with a Cuttlebug die.  I used Liquid Pearls in the center of each of the flowers in the cluster and on the image too.
Even with the Washi tapes, something seemed missing - the cardbase was too boring so I stamped tiny flowers with a stamp by SU using Versamark .

Challenges:
Craft Your Passion - anything
Paper Takes - Cute as a button
Die Cuttin Divas - garden
Pink Gem - Spring
Scrapyland - pearls ( I used Liquid Pearls)
Dies R Us - hamemade flowers
Little Claire's Digi challenge - flowers

A Background of Color

So many lovely flowers in bloom right now.  It just makes me want to use flowers on my cards.  So many to choose from and so many colors.  This beautiful background stamp by Hero Arts has endless color possibilities.  So fun to color.   It is so beautiful by itself, I didn't want to cover up much of the flowers or colors.  But I did add a tiny little tag to say Hello.

The little tag is cut out with a Spellbinder die from the Shapeabilities Labels and Tags set.  And the beautiful ribbon is seam binding that I wet and crinkled.
Hero Arts is giving one lucky person two stamp sets if their card is randomly chosen at the Die Cut Divas Challenge.   This month the theme is In The Garden.  There are still two weeks to play.


Challenges:
Craft Dee Bowz - anything
Craft Your Passion - anything
Scrapping4fun - anything plus ribbon
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Die Cuttin Divas - garden 

Friends and Flowers

What would we do without friends?  I have many acquaintances but only a few close friends.  Unfortunately, my closest friend lives over 2000 miles away now.  I hope to see her this summer and made this card with her in mind.

I used a lot of products from the Kraft Outlet on this card.  The card base is Light Kraft.  The light panel is Buff Ivory on which I sponged some distress ink.  The crumpled flowers are made out of BrownKraft Text.  I cut them out with Spellbinder large scallop dies then sponged them with two different colors of distress ink.  "Friends" is stamped on a Small Grungy Prim Tag.  I love how the center of the tag is not stained and seems to highlight the word.
I wish you could see the embossing on the paper lace.  It is cut with a die and has the pretties pattern.  The other die I used is the Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish for the green flourishes and leaves.   The Black Eyed Susan stamp is Mark's Finest.
The challenge at the Kraft Journal is to make a card with the theme of Anything Girlfriends.  We would love to see your entries.

Challenges:
Dies R Us - flowers
Scrapping4fun - lace or ribbon (paper lace)
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Stamploration - use a stamp and a # of things (3 flowers)
Little Claire's - use Kraft
Scrapyland - pearls or lace (paper lace)

Double Inspiration

So much beautiful eye candy this week on the blogs I follow.  I wanted to CASE a card I saw on one site, Stamplorations,  but before I got going on it, I saw a sketch I wanted to use.  So I combined the two.
First my card:

I love all the daisies on Shery Russ' card, the one I wanted to CASE.

When I was going through my stamps for a daisy image, I decided to use one by ODBD.  That caused me to go to the ODBD blog to check out the challenge. That is when I decided to use the sketch and use the stamp as a BG stamp.  (This sound like the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..." !)
Here is the ODBD sketch:

Here is the stamp I used

I stamped the lower right corner of my white cardstock then turned the stamped and stamped the lower left corner using Always Artichoke ink.  After stamping again on a separate piece, I cut out the butterfly with the matching die.  Coloring was done with Copics.
The moss colored piece is embossed with a SU embossing folder and the yellow piece with a Cuttlebug folder.
The verse in the center is cut with a Spellbinder Curved Rectangle.  It is one of the verses from the Word Art Wednesday blog.  They have a verse each week you can download for free.

So that is the evolution of my card. 
Hope you like it.

Challenges:
Stamplorations - CASE
Simon Monday - in the middle
Dies R Us - flowers
Simon Wednesday - make your own BG
Party Time Tuesday - anything
Simon Work It Wednesday - use a stamp
Our Daily Bread - sketch

Just Monkeying Around

Okay, I finally did it.  I have been telling myself to make a shaker card for days,weeks, months.  I finally did.  I have only ever made one other one so it was almost like doing it for the first time.  Now I need to get some more sequins. These were a okay in a pinch.

The image, paper, and sentiment are by Doodle Pantry.  Usually I use the pre-colored images but I am slowly adding colors to my collection of Copics and really love coloring now.
I made the frame with Spellbinders Labels One. 
Sketch is Sketch Saturday:

Challenges:


Pile It On - fancy frames
Simon Monday - in the middle


Die Cut Divas - zoo
Crafty Sentiments - anything
Tuesday Throwdown - use something clear
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Di's Digis - include an animal




 

Thinking Outside the Box

My husband asked me to make a thank you card.  He caught me in a creative mood.  Here is what I came up with and we both liked it. (that is always a plus!)

On the front of the folded pink cardstock, I cut out an oval with a Spellbinders Oval die.  On the inside I glued an oval so that the opening was "framed".  You can see it in the next photo.  The "thanks" is a die cut. (memory box I think) which is just glue on the top under the "t" and the "s"  and the ornate corners are made with a Cuttlebug die.  Boy, I haven't used those corners for years!
Here is what the inside looks like:

The gorgeous, large flower is Hero Arts which I colored with Copics.
I really do love the way this turned out.  The only problem is there is no room to write a note unless he writes on the back of the card.  (I still love it- haha)
The idea for this card came from the sketch at Stamplorations:

Pile It On - fancy frames or borders
Simon Monday - in the middle
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Simon Wednesday - flowers
Party Time Tuesday - anything
V's Sweet Ideas - anything
Sweet Stamps - pink
Paper Creators - flowers 

Time To Pick Three

It's Monday.  That means a new challenge at the Kraft Journal.  This time around is Pick 3 (at least 3).
So the choices are: blue, bow, lace, Baker's Twine, funny, coral, emboss, chipboard.
My choices: funny, Baker's Twine, blue, and bow for a count of four.

I get a kick out of some of Ginger's House sentiments.  I've had this one saved for awhile and decided it was time to use it along with a rooster from the Doodle Pantry and chicken wire from Diane's Daydream Designs.  (Sadly, Diane's digital store has closed but she still sponsors some challenges so keep your eye open for those.)  The chicken wire is printed on Light Kraft Text paper.  Because I think of burlap and farm together, I put a piece of Burlap Ribbon behind the image panel.  The Baker's Twine is Red and Black from the Kraft Outlet.
What three will you choose?  We would love to see your entry at the Kraft Journal Challenge.

Challenges:
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Inspiration Destination - anything
Crafty Cardmaker - wings
Little Claire's - use Kraft
Stamplorations - use a number of things  (5 stands of twine, two colors)

It's Tough Growing Old

Here is a birthday card I made for my SIL.

Inside reads - Growing up is optional.
The image is colored with Copics.  I put dew drops on the glasses to make them thick and yellowish.
The image and sentiment is Bugaboo.  The sentiment is cut with a Spellbinder tag.
Here is the sketch I used:

Challenges:
Page Maps - sketch
Scrapyland - anything
Dies R Us - one for the boys
Stamplorations - use numbers (7) or number of things (2 tickets)
Simon Wednesday - birthday
Word Art Wednesday - anything 
Simon Monday - A is for aging

Isaiah 40:8

The new challenge, which begins today at the Kraft Journal, is Nature and Recycling.
I combined this verse from Isaiah 40:8 (which I downloaded from Word Art Wednesday) and this beautiful precolored tulip from Doodle Pantry to depict nature.

 The yellow ribbon is from my S.S.S. (Saved Stash of Stuff).  I can't even remember where it came from but it might have been on a floral arrangement.
In order to highlight the two colors of yellow and green, I used some Baker's twine on top the yellow ribbon.  The main panel is layered with Wild Dandelion by GKD and then behind that I put a piece of Buff Ivory for a soft yellow. The card base is my absolute favorite green card stock, Garden Green by Stampin Up.
We at the Kraft Journal would love to see your interpretation of Nature and Recycling.  The challenge end Sunday 6 pm Central.

Challenges:
Penny's Paper Crafting - anything
Paper Creators - flowers
V's Sweet Ideas - anything
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Simon Monday - A is for amber, april tulips, always
Sweet Stamps - flowers
Craft Dee BowZ - anything 

So Loved

Single layer cards are not my usual fare but I cased a card at Stamplorations and wanted to keep it very close to the original.   Here is my card:

And this is the card I cased:

For my card I used Hero Arts Flower Medley Background stamp and used Copics to color in the flowers.  I love how many different combinations of colors you can do with just one multi-floral print.
The sentiment is made up of two words in the Our Daily Bread Designs set, Large Scrapbook Words.

Challenges:
Di's Digis - Spring is here
Paper Creators - flowers
Little Claires - springtime
Simon Says Work it Wednesday - use a stamp
Stamplorations - CASE
Our Daily Bread - anything
Time Out - case
Word Art Wednesday - anything 

Game Two

Well, I liked the card in my previous post well enough to make another one with different colors for OWH.

 This time I cut out the image (Jelly Park) with a MFT die from the Rectangle Stax as well as cut out the brown piece to the side with the same die.
For the words (MFT Graphic T set), I stamped twice with a distress ink and then cut the pieces out in order to put them side by side.  The game boy controls in upper right corner is from the MFT Graphic T set.
Here is the PaperTakes sketch:

Challenges:
Die Cuttin Divas - anything and die
Dies R Us - one for the boys
Scrapyland - anything
Craftin Desert Divas - anything
Paper Takes - sketch
Penny's Paper Crafting - anything

Game On - Teen Years

My oldest grandson is turning 13.  This is the card I made for him.  Digital image is by Jelly Park.  Sentiment is a stamp in the MFT Graphic T set.  Designer papers are scraps. One of the rectangles from the  MFT Rectangle Stax are perfect size for the piece on the left. I should have used it on the boy image too.  Duh. But I had it cut and layered before I decided on a layout.  And those orange dots are my new favorite embellishment - melted Pearler beads.
Sketch is a PaperTakes sketch #31.

Challenges:
Word Art Wednesday - anything
Simon Wednesday - birthday
PaperTakes - sketch
Simon Work It Wednesday - use a stamp
Penny's Paper Crafting - anything

Hero Arts and Die Cut Divas

We made it to April.  So with a new month comes a new challenge with the Die Cut Divas.  Hero Arts is our sponsor.  The challenge - Garden theme.

This beautiful flower is in the Hero Arts set Bold Blooms CG362.  I just love it.  Just added some Copics to the blossom and the stem.  It is cut out with Spellbinders Labels 4.  The vine embossing folder is SU and the die cut vine leaf is Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish. The butterflies are punched with a Martha Stewart hand punch.
Black cardstock base, Burgandy (SU) layer and matching ribbon.


Challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door - anything
Die Cuttin Divas - anything
Time Out - black and white with splash of color
Simon Says Monthly Challenge - use a stamp
Cheery Lynn - add butterfly
Scrapyland - anything
Craftin Desert Divas - anything
Pennys Paper Crafting - anything