Crafting Just for Fun

Hello and happy Monday.  I am posting a few cards I made just for fun.  I recently got a new cover plate--In the Woods, and paired it with the Tinsel & Tags House Additions mini set.  I cut In the Woods out of vellum, and colored the back with a Copic marker.

I saw this next design a few times during the PTI release.  I did not buy the PTI set with the beach chairs because I already had these chair dies from Impression Obsession.  I am trying just a teeny bit harder to see what I can do with what I already have, instead of buying so much new stuff.  We'll see how it goes, but so far, so good.

I cased this card by Laura Bassen during the last PTI release.  She used Block Party, but I thought I could do something similar with Sketched Shapes.  I used a rainbow color scheme of Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Harvest Gold, Limeade Ice and Spring Rain.

I made another version with the focal point in the lower corner.

I was inspired by this fun photo and all the cards in the Inkspirational Challenge #72 gallery to make my last card.  I used fireworks from Waltzingmouse USA 1776, the skyline from Altenew Sketchy Cities, and some Distress Inks to make my card.

That's it for me.  Please come back tomorrow to see my December 12 Kits of Occasion Post.

Thanks for Visiting

A Whole Bunch of Cards

What a crazy week it's been in San Diego--a state of emergency and fires all over the place.  Fortunately, the fire closest to our home was controlled before it got too close.  Schools were closed, the air quality was terrible, and each morning I awoke to a fresh layer of ash on everything outside.  My car was packed with important papers and photos, but luckily we were not called upon to evacuate. Today is the first day that the temperature is a bit cooler and the air smells clean.  Most of the fires are either out or are under control.  My heart goes out to all those who lost their homes this week.

I've been crafting off and on all week, and have a whole bunch of cards to post.  First up are two more cards for this week's Make it Monday #164:  Cluster Stamped Sentiments.   I began with a sentiment from Mama Elephant Make a wish and embossed it in white.  Then, I just stamped circles from Sketched Shapes all around in Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise, Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores and Tropical Teal.  I stamped each of the circles twice, inking and rotating the stamp before the second stamp.  That is how I got the cross hatched pattern, and it also helped the embossed sentiment to stand out better.

I am also entering this card at this week's Simon Says Monday:  M challenge.  My 'M' is Make a Wish.


This next card uses another sentiment from that same ME set, and I stamped over it using Watercolor Wonder in a rainbow of colors.  I am entering this card at Make it Monday #164:  Cluster Stamped Sentiments as well as  Simon Says Monday:  M challenge.  My 'M' is Mama Elephant.

I was able to play with my Make it Market Shakers & Sprinkles kit.  Wow, is this kit fun.  The first card I made is a shaker card that is very close to one of the cards Betsy made when she introduced the kit.  It really was quick and easy.  I used a quarter sheet of the paper pad included with the kit, so all the background stamping was done for me, and I could not bear to break into my test tubes of sprinkles yet, so I used confetti made with one of the confetti dies.

I read a tip somewhere by Jacquie about using a Q Tip to put talcum powder on the edges of the foam tape to keep the shaker elements from sticking to the side of the foam.  I did not have talcum powder, so I used corn starch, and it did seem to help.

For my next card, I combined the Shakers & Sprinkles kit with my Shape Up Cupcake die to make a cupcake shaped card.  I have to say that I really love how it turned out, and I will be making more of these.  I coated the die cut 'sprinkles' with a ton of Wink of Stella, and coated the stamped confetti with Glossy Accents.

I recently got the Butterfly Drift die from SSS, and just started playing around with it.  I was inspired by many of the cards on Lisa's blog, I'm in Haven.  I am going to enter 5 of these next cards at Simon Says Wednesday Die Crazy.

I think that these first two are my favorite of the bunch.  For the first card, I die cut in black and also various rainbow colors.  I did not cut the entire die for each color--just put a scrap under the particular butterfly I wanted to cut.  I used the outline in black, and then filled in each butterfly with a different color.  I found that running the die cut through my Xyron machine was the easiest way to get the border to stick.

On this card, I cut the entire die out of the card stock panel, adhered that panel to my card base with foam tape, and then filled in the butterflies with colored card stock, leaving a gap where the border would be.

Just for fun, I am entering these cards at this week's Seize the Birthday (without toppings).

For my next card, I used a Kaleidacolor rainbow ink pad (Caribbean Sea), which I stamped on wet card stock.  Once it dried, I ran it through my Xyron machine and used the butterflies to fill in another black border die cut.

I used the border cut from that same piece of card stock on my next card.  I filled in the butterflies with black card stock butterflies, and used a sentiment from Avery Elle Brushed embossed in white.

Last up are the first cards I made with this die.  I used the same type Kaleidacolor rainbow ink pad, this one called Spectrum, stamped on to wet paper.  These are my least favorite because I think the colors are too bright and garish all together, but I am showing them anyway.  Maybe some one else might like them.

Well, that's it for me today.  Thanks for sticking with me for all these cards and pictures, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Thanks for Visiting

Make it Monday, ColourQ and Colour Me

I have a quick post today with a couple of cards.  First is my entry into this week's Make it Monday #162 which is all about using up your paper scraps.  I had lots of hexagon shaped paper scraps leftover from the kit that Jeanne sent me--you can see more about that here.  I got the idea to use the die from Floral Foliage from Michelle's card here, and I used a sketch from this month's PTI Inspiration Archive.

The patterned papers are all from Basic Grey Fresh Cut Selection and the trunk of the tree is Spring Moss Felt.  I cut the little flower on the tree out of Hibiscus Burst felt using a die from Flippin' Out.

I have three cards using the circles from Sketched Shapes and a sentiment from Avery Elle Modern Leaves.  These cards complete the set I started here.  The first uses colors from this week's ColourQ cQc #239.

I am entering the next two cards into this week's Colour Me Creative CMCC #18.  The colors on the first card are Spring Rain, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest and Aqua Mist.  I picked them because I thought they looked good together.

I just got a package from SU with 4 new colors, and they looked good sitting together in the box, so I used them for my last card.  They are Tangerine Tango, Elegant Eggplant, Daffodil Delight, and Always Artichoke.  I added a little Sahara Sand into the mix as well.

The challenge at Simon Says Wednesday this week is Anything Goes, so I will be entering all 4 cards in that challenge as well.

Thanks for Visiting

Color Challenges and Some Gift Bags

This is my last post before departing tomorrow with my oldest daughter on a week long college tour.  She has always wanted to go to school on the east coast, so we will spend the week visiting colleges she thinks she might want to apply to.  I've got a few posts scheduled to go live while I am gone, but don't be suprised if you don't hear from me in a while.  I am not bringing a computer, and am really going to try to be as disconnected from the internet as possible.

My first card is for this week's Color Throwdown ctd287.  I wanted to try out some of my new Distress Inks and use them with water.  I picked three colors that looked closest to the CTD colors--Stormy Sky, Squeezed Lemonade and Bundled Sage.  I inked up an old wooden stamp I found in my closet that was sort of a block shape, stamped on watercolor paper, misted the entire thing and then dried with my heat gun.  After the colors were dry, I stamped the sentiment in Versifine.

I like the blurry sort of look that the water added.  The colors are also much more vibrant--I don't know if that is because of the water, or because the Distress Ink covers are so muted.  Anyway, I thought it made a nice simple card that would work well as a masculine card.

Next up is my second card this week using ColourQ #236.  I decided to make a little thank you set using the circles from Sketched Shapes and whatever color challenges come along that appeal to me.  My sentiment is from Avery Elle Modern Leaves.  

My finished card size is 3.5 x 5.  While trying to fix a stamping mistake, I made the happy discovery that if I double stamp the circles from Sketch Shapes and rotate the stamp 90 degrees for the second stamp, I get a cool sort of plaid pattern on the stamp.

This card uses the Colour Me Striking... combination from this week's Colour Me CMCC #14.  I used Bermuda Breeze, Crushed Curry (substitute for Daffodil Delight) and Smokey Slate as an added neutral.

I'm entering this one at Dynamic Duos DD#96, and I used PTI Winter Wisteria, Harvest Gold and added Memento London Fog as a neutral.

Here is my set so far.  I'll see what color challenges are posted when I get back from my trip and finish off the set.

I got a new toy this week, and spent way too much time trying to figure out how to use it.  The Gift Bag Punch Board was super easy to use, once I figured out the confusing directions.  I looked at a lot of tutorials, but found this one to be the most helpful.  Here are some little bags I made with some of the 12X12 scrapbook papers I had in my stash.

I made one modification and that was to adhere a strip of coordinating paper to the very top of the paper that I was using as my bag.  I also made a matching tag by gluing a small piece of patterned paper to a piece of white card stock and then cutting a tag using the smallest Reverse Confetti Tag Me die.  I stamped 'to' and 'from' on the tag using To You From Me.

That's it for me for a while.  I hope you all have a good Easter week.

Thanks for Visiting

PTI August 2013 Blog Hop

Good morning.  Are you as exhausted as I am?  As I type this up on Saturday night, I am thinking about the fabulous day I had with Kim, Cathy, and Marybeth who all came over to play with me during Stamp A Faire.  I will make a separate post about that later, along with pictures and details of our day.  

For now, just a quick post of some cards I made earlier in the week for the Papertrey Blog Hop. 

I flipped the sketch and changed it just a bit for this card using Sketched Shapes.

Those cake layers made me think of the Rainbow Stripes dies.

That's it for me for now.  Enjoy the hop, and come back later when I have my Stamp a Faire stuff posted.

Thanks for Visiting