HYDRANGEAS MADE WITH HEART

Gingersnap Creations has so many wonderful challenges, and I wish there was time to do all of them, but am not staying focused very well lately, have a ton of projects started and keep finding more to start, thus there are alot to complete. Made a list yesterday and hopefully this will help.

GC#70 challenge is to use punches, this is my finished card. The hydrangeas where made by using a piece of white cardstock 1" wide, then folded in half, you then punch out a heart to make the flowers. I then used a sponge and yellow ink to do the center of the flower, and pink ink to sponge the outside of the flower. It takes 2 hearts for each flower, the leaves are also a heart punch, a halft pearl was added to the center to complete the flower. The base of the card is pink card stock, then an embossing folder was used for the white mat. The oval and rectangle are from Spellbinders. The watercan is a stamp from a set that I purchased at Michaels.

This was such a simple technique that I was able to teach my niece how to do it, and also owed my Aunt. My Aunt is just getting into papercrafting and this was something that she would see the result immediately. She does wonderful dried flowers and gave me some that I will be using on my cards.

Am trying to get a few things together for a Boutique with my Aunt around the first of November, really have my work cut out, but am looking forward to giving it a try, will be able to spend some quality time with her, so it will be worth the time.

Thanks for stopping by, would love to hear your comments. Have a wonderful day.

RED AND BLACK

Was so excited to learn that a was a Gingersnap Gem, for the 3D challenge, it is such an honor, there are so many beautiful pieces to choose from, know the DT really has their work cut out for them to make the decisions on the gems for each challenge.

I've done it again, waited to the last moment to add my card to the Gingersnap Creations challenge to use red and black. Have had the card completed for a couple of days, but time flies when you're having fun.

Kaylene and I went to the scrapbooking show on the 10th of September, and there were alot of great items to choose from, but Heartfelt Creations had some new stamps and die cuts. If you are not familiar with her product you should really check them out.

Had to use the new stamps and die cuts for this challenge. Embossed the base of the card using a textured folder by Provo Craft. The sentiment was from the same set. Added bugle beads to the center of the flower to give more depth.

We have been making a few more cards with the same die cuts, and will post those in the near future.

Working on our patio for the fall season, it is my favorite, because of all the bright colors. Thanks for stopping by, if you have a moment, please leave a comment, it really brightens my day.

Golden Butterflies

Haven't been around for awhile, have been working on an altered book, and also a baby shower. Will post the invitation, diaper cake and favors that I made for the shower tomorrow, but wanted to post this card for a couple of challenges. You know me I really enjoy doing challenges, but just haven't found the time.

It was my goal yesterday to make a new card, here it is. The sketch is from Our Creative Corner, thought this was a great sketch and they do give me a direction for the card. The picture isn't great, but the tiny butterfly on the left hand corner is dimensional. The paper is from the Mariposa Mat Stack by DCWV which was purchased at Joanns.

Gingersnap Creations just issued a new color challenge, to use burgundy, ivory and black. The center oval was created with my classic scallop die cut from Spellbinders, and then the inside oval, with my cutting system from Creative Memories. The gold butterfly is embossed to tie into the wonderful background paper. I also used VersaMark to stamp small butterflies on the background, unfortunately they don't show in the photo.

Crafty Creations challenge this week is to use your favorite stamp, well that is next to impossible, so a used one of my favorite stamp sets from K & Company. It is a set of clear stamps and has a great assortment of stamps, I should just leave it out all the time, it is used for a wide variety of cards.

Getting ready for work, will share some baby shower stuff tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day and weekend.

HUG A TREE

The last three days have been really great. Spent Monday with my best friend Sandy, she is here for a visit with her daughter. Sandy lives in Ohio and I haven't seem her in over 15 years. We really had a great time, doing what girls do the best "shop." Sandy is into quilting and it just so happens that I was working on a quilt. We went to a couple of quilt stores and found some great fabric, that I want to use on an altered book. The book is a work in progress, have lots of things in mind and will be working on that in the next few months.



Tuesday I finished the quilt top, and worked on a couple of cards. Gingersnap Creations has a new challenge for botanical. I used the stamp set from Stampin Up, Thoughts and Prayers. The base of the card is green cardstock and the mat is in cream color, stamped the cardstock using the branch stamp, and then embossed it using a new embossing folder from Provo Craft and my Big Shot.





The tree was stamped on a cream cardstock and then added a green mat. Used a $1 stamp that I found in Reno for the sentiment. Tried to keep the card pretty simple, but added the green rhinestones to each corner. Didn't show a picture of the inside, put stamped a small tree on cream cardstock and added that to the inside.

One of my favorite places to go for other challenges is Crafty Creations, the challenge this week is to make your own background. There are so many ways to do this, mine is probably is the simplest, but does qualify. If you would like to see some other ideas, check out their blog.


Hopefully Sandy and I will be able to spend some more time together next week. It's my Monday, so time for me to go to work. Thanks for stopping by today, and have a great day.

P. S. Almost forgot Week 16 challenge of trees or leaves is at Lots to Do blog.

SIMPLER TIMES

Got really busy on my days off and completed a few cards. Need to get this one posted right away, as there are a couple of deadlines to meet. Our Creative Corner has a sketch this week, Lots to Do suggested that you use vintage, and The Shabby Tea Room wanted us to use some of our scraps, that we know we all have tons of little pieces sitting around.
I love to work with scraps of paper, and have them some what organized, I save every little piece, tell myself that there will be a time in the future that I will find a use for them. Ali gave use some ideas a while back on how to organize the scraps by color, I did this, but didn't get the prints separated by color. This is something that I really need to do, as it won't take as long to find those little treasurers.

Vintage is one of my favorite themes, so this was a piece of cake. This stamp set has come in very handy, use it for masculine cards all the time. The paper on the background looks handwritten, that is definitely vintage, we use the computer and typing for everything now days. Once the image was stamped on the polka dot background, it did emboss it with my Big Shot, and Cuttlebug folder, which has script writing. The sentiment is computer generated (Oh No!!) and a button tied with blue DMC floss to complete the picture.

Time for me to head off to work, thanks for stopping by today, and hope that you have a wonderful day.

Romance is in the Air

Once the Valentine cards were completed for my daughter's class, it was time to move on to a card for my Sweetheart. I had some ideas in the back of my mine, just finished the card a few minutes ago. Billy won't get it until tomorrow, as both of us work tonight, we will have our little romantic evening tomorrow with a candlelight dinner.

Last year I gave Billy a card and homemade brownies for Valentine's day, he was more impressed with the Valentine card, hope that he likes this one as much.

It just so happens that this card will be representing a few challenges also. Gingersnap Creations wanted a card to be romantic, that brings to mind, music, roses, hearts and of course hugs and kisses. The background paper was from Graphics Fairy, the roses were embossed, or should I say de-embossed using my Big Shot and the Textured Impressions Manhatton Flower. A brayer was used to color the flowers with Classic Red Ink from Stampin Up.

The love sentiment is from a wedding set, that was purchased at Joann's on clearance, got to love that. The ovals are from the scalloped oval die cuts from Spellbinders. The heart punch from Creative Memories was used to make the three matted hearts. Heart studs were added to the center of each of those hearts. This made for a "Mushy Gushy Valentine" which is the challenge for Pink Elephant, and "Have A Heart or Hearts" is the challenge at Daring Cardmakers.

Time for me to head off to work, hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day and you get hugs and kisses from your loved ones.

ALI'S CARD IS CASED

Nothing like waiting to the last minute to meet this challenge at GC the dealine is today. "Once in a Blue Moon" challenge is "Case A Cas by Ali." This was really fun to do and found myself spending more time trying to find something to add the the clean and simple card. Checked the jewelry box, buttons, charms, anywhere I could think of, after hours and days of hunting this was the result.

This is just the beginning of the 27 cards for Valentine's Day I promised by daughter, Jamie, that I would make for the children in her class. This one will be for one of the 10 girls and then the real challenge will be to do something for the boys.

I used red for the base and then embossed the white card stock using an embossing pad from Provo Craft, the hearts were perfect. The stamped heart is a stamp that I found at Michael's for just $1, it has lots of detail, which is unusual for one of their inexpensive stamps. The heart is matted with two shades of red, then add dimensionals and placed on the black mat.

Found the metal heart and used red metallic twine to tie the bow, this was glued onto the center of the heart. A special thanks to the DT for your challenges, they always inspire me to make cards and try new techniques.

Have a wonderful day, please leave a comment, it is so fun to hear from everyone out there.

Cozy Home

I am back, it has been almost a month since my last post. Things have been a little crazy around the house, guess that is just an excuse for not creating any cards. It is that time of year that I try to come up with new ideas for Christmas. Last year I gave cards to my daughters, so that was kind of out, since I've been making new ones all year and they have gotten them when we have been together.

Have been doing a little sewing though, making PJs and rag quilts. One rag quilt down and one to go. The second one is for Billy and it is hard to work on it when we work the same hours. Have it cut, but now it is time to put it together.

At work I am working on a weekly newsletter, so writing on my blog seems to be chore now. I am going to have to change my thinking on that one. Took the time to check out a few challenges the other day, they did help to get me motivated on a couple of paper crafts.

This card is serving double duty, the GC of Cozy Home and Crafty Calendar which is weather. I have had this stamp for years and years, it was untouched and when GC had the challenge for Cozy Home, this was a natural.


Know this is a hard one to see all the detail in the stamp, but I think you get the picture. Colored pencils were used to color the stamp. You can't see it but I used the glue pen and embossing powder technique from GC on the snow. On the left corner there was a mistake, so extra embellishments were the answer, tried ribbon and buttons, but they just didn't seem to tie into the card. Cut out the trees from the stamp and added them to corner with dimensionals.

The challenge at Crafty Calendars was weather, the snow reminds me of Utah, where the weather changes on a dime. When we were there in September, one day it was in the 70's the next day there was snow. Miss the four seasons that Utah has to offer.

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a crafty day.

Embossed Snowflakes

Believe it or not I have been working on some cards, have completed them, taken pictures, but just haven't posted them. My mojo is basically gone at this moment, well all of that is going to stop today, will be showing you some of the cards that I've been working on. The first one today is for the CCC #32 challenge to using embossing. The card is embossing by using my Sizzix and Big Shot with snowflakes, then stamped embossing for another snowflake and the sentiment.

Hope you can see the detail, but don't know, sorry for the lousy photo, that will have be my next learning experience, how to take better photos.

Think I am going to have to try and master the basics in cards, once again. When I first started scrapbooking everything was about making a beautiful page and I would spend hours making it perfect and forget that the focus should be on the pictures and memories, not all the extras, will be re-evaluating my thinking on cards.

Have a special card that will be posted tomorrow, it is for one of the ladies at work. Will also show you the beaded watch my daughter made as a gift.

Have a great crafty day.

Mason's Mammoth Birthday Card

Kevin (my grandson) was able to come and spend some time with me again on Wednesday, and was able to talk with his cousin Mason on Webcam. They talked for awhile and then Kevin informed Mason it was time for him to go to "work," Kevin is only 14 and doesn't have a job. Mason was very puzzled with that comment, but accepted it and their conversation ended.

What Kevin meant was that he had to start working on Mason's Birthday Card, it is mammoth, lol. Mason is an artist and I had some of his drawings on a cd, so Kevin's idea was to print his artwork and put it on a card. He wanted to use all 12 pictures, so my only suggestion was an accordion card. We almost ran out of background cardstock, but we cheated a little on the last page, I messed up with the measurements so it had to be pieced, but don't think Mason will mind. Kevin matted each drawing with a different shade of blue and then added a brad in two of the corners to add interest. Once the card was completed he added a sentiment on the front that said "Live Life" (this was embossed with silver, he really likes to emboss). On the last page he sign the card with "Your #1 Fan."

We know that Mason will be totally surprised with this card.

Kevin's next project is a gift for his Mom, he will be working on that this week, it shoud be fun!

Pink Ribbon Dress

While browsing SCS yesterday, I happen to find a beautiful card by "Jakester" it was so pretty that it motivated me to try one for myself, this is what came out of her idea. The card is 5" x 7", the dress measures 5 1/2" tall by 3 1/4" wide at the widest point. You could make this any size you would like. I used #3 sheer ribbon for the dress, you will use 3 yards to complete the dress. The mat behind the dress was embossed with white pearl embossing powder, the stamp used was from Inkadinkado. the ink was a VersaMark.

Flower rhinestones from Michaels were used for the finishing touches, you can embellish the dress with flowers or other accessories whatever you prefer. My granddaughter, Katie, will be going to Prom soon and she loves the color purple, obviously that will be my next project.

When attaching the ribbon to the cardstock pattern I used a taperunner, but when I got up this morning all the ribbon had come off the form, I then used a spot of Tacky glue to re-attach the ribbon, this works much better.

Would love to see everyones take on this dress. Tomorrow have a card to go with this one, check back to see what I'm working on. Have a great day of crafting.