My Crafty Week

This was a bit of a crazy week, as I helped both of my kids get packed up and out to the airport to fly East to go back to college.  In between everything, I had snippets of crafty time, and today I am finally ready to put the finishing touches on everything and write up this blog post.

First up is a little set of flat thank you cards I sent my daughter back to school with..her birthday is coming up, and it's always good to be prepared to send thank you notes.  These flat note cards are her favorite type--just enough room for a proper thanks, but not the vast open expanse of a folding card.

My cute puppies are from Mama Elephant Puppy Play, and I am entering them at Inspired by #139.

My next few cards use a technique called SWINKING that I just learned from this video by Ardyth.  It is so fun, easy and absolutely addictive.  Basically, you just swipe your inkpad directly on your card.  For this card, I used inkpads in orange, pink, yellow and peach, and just started swinking.  The result could have been an absolute mess, but actually turned out so pretty.

I had to figure out what to do with this beautiful background I made, so I decided to put a black birthday die cut on it as well as wipe the edges in Wink of Stella.  I am entering this card at Color Throwdown #608.

Still in a SWINKING kind of mood, I wanted to play along with Seize the Birthday #198: Add Gold, and wondered what pink paper swinked with gold would look like.  It's very hard to see how shimmery this pink background is, but trust me it really shines in person.

Here is a closer look at the SWINKING.  I heat embossed the sentiment from Penned Elegance by PTI in gold on a Big City die by Ellen Hutson.

For my last SWINKED card, I used gold ink on white cardstock.  I stamped a trio of gold butterflies right on top as well as my sentiment in black.  I am also entering this card at Seize the Birthday #198: Add Gold and at Just Us Girls #551: Butterflies.  My butterflies are from PTI Butterfly Blooms and the sentiment is from PTI Ombre Sentiments Birthday.

My next card is inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches #450 and features these 2 adorable Nom Nom Kitties by Mama Elephant happily sharing their ramen.

This card ended up so very different than my initial idea....I stamped a bunch of Brownstone Houses from Altenew and intended them for this card.  But, I couldn't get them to work with the sketch, so I went another direction..using stencils from MFT for my clouds and sun rays and plant from Altenew Indoor Garden.

I am entering this card at the sketch challenge for August at Altenew as well as Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge: Beautiful Botanicals.

And...this is what I did with all those fun and colorful brownstones I stamped.  I am entering this card at Inkspirational #220: Rain or Rainbow.  I think of this as sort of a Painted Ladies of San Francisco meets the Brownstones of Brooklyn.

Getting tired?  Almost done.  My next two cards are made from the latest batch of stamps and dies from this month's MMH kit.  I am entering them at Stay Crafty with Hero #14: Critters (cat in 1st card, cat and bird in 2nd card), A Blog Named Hero: Cute, and Shopping Our Stash #427: Pile it On.

I am also entering this first card at Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge: Beautiful Botanicals.

Thanks for sticking with me all the way to the end.  Please stay safe and stay crafty.

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Happy Halloween

I am quickly popping in to post a Happy Halloween card I made for the challenge at Ink to Paper this week.  I used the sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches #385 and rotated it 90 degrees.  I am also entering this card at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes and WWC #286.  

I used a die cut Stitched Fishtail Flag to create my scene.  I sponged a sunset using Distress Oxide inks, and then created my fun scene using mostly dies from PTI Petite Places Spook Manor.  I will stamp a sentiment inside, because I could not find a good place to put one on this card.

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Sunday Roundup

Hello and happy Sunday.  I'm here to post a few cards I made this weekend.  Up first is my favorite of the bunch.  I used this adorable pup cooling off in his kiddie pool from Lounging Pups for my card.  I was inspired by the colors at CAS Colours & Sketches #394 and the Day #19 Creative bug Masking video at the Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge  #13.  I am also entering this card at A Blog Named Hero Cute challenge, Inspired by...#138: Punny Sentiments, and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Oh So Cute.

Up next is another card for the Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge  #13, this one inspired by the Creative Bug video from Day 8 Peek-A-Boo, and I am also entering this card at A Blog Named Hero Cute challenge and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Oh So Cute.

The video from Day 8, gives some very helpful tips on how to use the Hero Arts Peek-A-Boo dies.  They recommend cutting a template from cardstock and then cutting off all the little doors.  You can then lay the template on the card front and then you know exactly where to stamp all the little messages that are behind all of the doors.

This card is stamped with white ink on black card stock.  I was originally planning to color some of the images in, but then I decided I liked how it looked with no color.  In person, it looks very much like a doodled blackboard.


This is what my template looked like after stamping all the messages.

And this is what the card front looks like before I glued my card front down.

Up next is another card for the Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge  #13, this one inspired by the Creative Bug video from Day 17 Cling Stamps.  I used the Hero Arts Leafy Vine cling stamp on Ocean Tides paper, and stamped tone on tone.  I had a request from my sister to restock her sympathy cards, so this one is for her.  I am entering this card at WWC285: Anything Goes Masculine.

This card pairs a mini bird I just bought from Ink to Paper with a bird and some flowers from Spring Woods from PTI.  I love how well they all play together.  I am entering this card at Festive Friday #66 (bright colors, flowers, bird, uplifting sentiment, sparkle).  I meant to add sparkle only on the birds' wings, but ended up with (lovely?) sparkle all over the card (and don't squeeze your Wink of Stella and shake it with the cap off near a card you just completed, unless you want a card with sparkle all over... just sayin').

 

My next card is another sympathy card for my sister's use, and it is inspired by the colors at Just Add Ink #519.

The next 2 cards are not inspired by any current challenges...they are all going to my sister to restock her sympathy card stash.  I really hope that she does not go through this batch as quickly as the last one.

That's it for me today.  Stay safe and craft on.

Thanks for Visiting

A Quickie for Saturday

Happy Weekend.  I am popping in quickly to share a few cards I made before some challenges end.  First up is this sweet little love scene between a pup and his best friend kitty.  Sherlock saw this card and asked for his own porch swing and kitty, but it is not to be :(

After stamping, coloring and cutting out my main image, I used a piece of wood pattern paper to ground my image and created a cloudy sky for background.  I hand drew some chains for my swing to hang from, trying to create a peaceful scene.  

I am entering this card at Inky Paws Challenge #130: Create a Scene.  I used the colors at Color Throwdown #607 and am also entering at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Oh So Cute.

Next up are two cards I have been thinking about and planning to make ever since I saw the Books challenge at Use Your Stuff #403...when I realized that the challenge ends today, I stopped dawdling and got my cards made.

I am also entering both of these cards at Cupcake Inspiration #500: Birthday Celebration, Seize the Birthday #197: No Topping, and  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Oh So Cute.

Both of these cards pair a die cut book case with a cute image of a reading critter from Mama Elephant Book Worm.

That's it for me today.  Stay safe and crafty!!

Thanks for Visiting