Masculine Birthday cards

Well, it's still snowing here. Got about 12" over the last 24 hours. At least the winds have died down a bit. I can only just see out the bottom  my kitchen window because of the drift down from the roof of the house:) There was no school today again. Last week they had a couple days off because of the bitter cold temps and high wind windchill factors. At least today the kids at home can go out to play a bit - lots of nice fresh new snow  on the hills to go sliding. So glad I don't have to go out in it. 

I have 2 cards to share today, for a couple of different challenges, so be sure to scroll down for the second card. February is a big birthday month for my family-My birthday is Sunday, then both Sons-in-law, one grandson, brother-in-law, 2 nieces and 2 friends-Holy Cow-I better get going, because, of course, they all have to have special cards, don't they?  :D

So, this first card is for the Paper Players sketch challenge #130 

The card base is SU Naturals Ivory. I distressed the edges a piece of DP from Paper Pizzaz Masculine paper pack. I distressed the edges of a scrap cardboard and taped it over the DP. The image, Mark's Finest Papers 'Hello Trucks', is stamped on  a scrap of ivory cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black. I colored it with Copic markers, then tore the edges and  sponged the edges with Memento Rich Cocoa. I adhered the image over the cardboard by using tape on the left side and foam dimensional under the right side. The sentiment is from Sweet N Sassy's 'Happy Birthdays' set, stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with Stampendous Chocolate EP. I added a knotted piece of brown macrame cord to finish it all off. 

Card #2 is for the Dynamic Duos challenge #37. to use Crumb Cake and Soft Suede; and also for the Card Makin' Mamas, a Clean & Simple card.

This is a simple one layer card. I stamped the Impression Obsession 'Lighthouse & Boat' on SU Naturals Ivory cardstock with Crumb Cake craft ink. I then stamped the Happy Birthday from The Crafts Meow 'Retro Foundations' with Soft Suede craft ink. I lightly colored the H B-day in with a Prismacolor Pencil that matched the Crumb Cake. To finish it off, I stamped some birds from Sweet N Sassy's 'Serene Silhouettes' stamp set with Soft Suede craft ink. CAS-but it still took me foreveh to make the darn thing. I keep wanting to add more, like maybe a piece of that brown macrame cord, or another bird in the open space-arggggh, clean and simple just goes against the grain for some reason. But I will just leave it like it is and deal with it. I just might have to try this again-but with color, and layers and and and ....... you get the idea! 

Oh, and yes, the winds have picked up again and it is snowing 'sideways'. At least at the moment it is now snowing very hard. Yeah, winter, ya just gotta love it to live in this neck of the woods!

Enjoy

More Spring Beauties

Ah, good afternoon blog friends!  As I sit here watching the snow, being content that I don't have to go out in it,  and thinking we are more than 1/2 way through winter (I hope), I can look forward to a beautiful show of purple in just a couple of months. I put in a whole bunch more crocus, tulip and daffodil bulbs last fall, so there should be a pretty good show when the snow leaves. For now, I have to create my gardens on paper:)

This card uses the challenges over at Tuesday Throwdown 132 to Bling it Up.And also the Dutch Dare Challenge #201-'Winged Things'. The image is stamped on Bazzil Simply Smooth CS with Memento Tuxedo Black. It is colored with Copic markers, and as it is another I colored last spring, I do not know which colors I used. (I belong to a craft group that meets every Thursday night, and rather than haul a lot of stuff with me I will often just stamp up some images and bring my markers and stamped images to work on. I will have to start marking which ones I use on the backs with pencil, I guess!) 

I cut the image out with SB Labels 9, then sponged SU Lavender Lace (R) around the edges while still in the die, and around the outside of the cut, too. I traced around the die onto a scrap of shimmery turquoise CS, and fussy cut it out. The image is mounted with foam dimentsionals.  The leaf flourish is Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish, and I cut it into sections and adhered it with rolled glue dots-love how easy this makes adding these skinny cuts. The little sentiment is from Stampendous, stamped in Lavender Lace, and cut out with Verve Charming Oval, which I sponged Lavender Lace around the edges.

The little flowers are punched (MS Hydrangea punch) from scraps of purple cardstock (see-there IS a use for all those little scraps!), and used a stylus and foam pad to give them shape and adhered them with Glossy Accents. Added some little clear rhinestones to their center. The bottom of the card base was embossed with Cuttle Bug Border EF-Frills, and I used the ink pad to bring out the embossing. Also added clear rhinestones to the center of the flowers on the border. The little butterfly is cut with SU Butterflies Embosslit from more of those scraps, and a small square purple rhinestone in the center (Basic Grey).

Framed up

Still snowing and blowing here, but my heart and thoughts go out to all those who have been affected by all the tornadoes in the southern USA. So much devastation-it's hard to imagine.
This card is still working with the purple and green scraps on my work table. I love this color combination so much, and this time of year, when my gardens are covered in a blanket of white I like to have flowers in my creations. This crocus image is one I actually colored last spring when my crocus were in bloom. I have one garden in my front yard that is a mass of purple, lavender and gold in early spring with the crocus. It's so neat to see them blooming through the snow, too.
Anyway, here is my card, which I will enter in the challenge at Tuesday Throwdown #132, to 'Bling it Up'! So, rhinestones, stickles, and a gold butterfly-jah, it's blinged up!

 

The crocus image is from Flourishes 'A year in flowers #1', and colored with Copic markers, and as I colored this so long ago I couldn't say which markers exactly, but I do know it is stamped with Momento Tuxedo Black ink on Bazzil Simply Smooth CS, and has purple Stickles on it. I cut it out with SB Labels 5, and sponged Momento Grape Jelly Ink around it while still in the die. I mounted it on a scrap of purple cut with SB Deckled Rectangles. I cut the frame from Bazzil white cardstock with SB Classic Frame and sponged the Grape Jelly ink while still in the die. I also inked the edges of the frame, inside and out, with ?Grape Jelly Ink and mounted it over the image with foam dimensionals. I cut the frame a second time from green CS and used the inside cut to mount the image inside the frame. I added some Recollections purple rhinestones around the frame and a little butterfly cut from SB foils with the SU butterflies embosslit die. This will be another one for Operation Write Home. I am determined to get a package out to them soon. 

Enjoy!

Still working with scraps

Well, I guess winter is back! Yesterday it was 40* and raining. Today it's mid 20s and snowing. Started out with those huge wet flakes drifting down, but now it's  a finer flake and snowing pretty heavily. Not enough that you can't see across the yard, but hard enough for me to know I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere!:)

I am still plugging away at that pile of scraps and die cuts I sorted out that are laying on my work table. Seems to be a LOT of purple stuff there! Bright cheery color for a cold winter day.

My first card today I will enter in the following challenges: Flutterby Wednesday #225, anythings goes but must have a butterfly or fairy; and Pals Paper Arts #151 a sketch challenge. I'm not really sure if  FW considers a dragonfly in the butterfly category, but it does have wings! So I'll give it a try.

The image is I think from an old card-I'm really not sure as it was in that pile of scraps and die cuts-all ready to go!
I'm trying to do some simpler cards without any glitter (gasp-no glitz!) to send to Operation Write Home-hard to keep my hands away from those Stickles!
Papers: Paper Pizzaz, Recollections purple cardstock, SU Old Olive cardstock, a scrap of purple vellum (dragonfly wings)
Ink: Memomento Bamboo Leaves, Grape Jelly
Accessories: Spellbinders Classic Ovals, Big Scallop ovals, Scalloped hearts; Fiskars paper crimper, Quick Cuts dragonfly,  Recollection rhinestones.
Stamp- HOTP 'Tiny Words & Images'

Anemone flower

Wow, long day today. Made a trip to Hancock, MI (160 miles from home) for the Finnish winter fest called Heikinpaiva.  Took our daughter and 2 grandsons-4 & 7-in our extended cab pickup! Was quite crowded with all of our winter outdoor clothes. They had some outdoor activities on the Findlandia University campus for the kids, including sledding, a bonfire, kick sleds, and this really neat wooden sled, attached to a long pole, then attached to a post set in the middle of a circle. The kids could sit in the sled and then you pushed the pole around  the circle (sort of like pony rides). It was surprisingly easy to push. The boys were worn out by the time we left-loooooong ride home. But a totally beautiful ride-snow overnight and the trees all wore blankets of white fluff, and we saw 3 deer on the way there-the boys always enjoy that.
The really cool thing about the whole day was the Saunas. My husbands mother was born and raised in the copper country, and up until about 18 years ago we still owned the original homestead. This summer Finnfest USA 2013 will be held in Hancock, and one of the features will be a couple of original log saunas that have been dismantled and have been re-assembled on Finlandia Campus. The sauna from our homestead is one of them, the lady who bought the homestead donated the building. She hated to see it deteriorating as much as we did. Now it will be given new life on the campus with a new roof, changing room, ceder lining and my husband will be making a new stove for it.

Anyway, on to my card. This card I will enter in the challenge over at Freshly Made sketches #70. Really love this sketch.

And here is my card.

I ran the plain white cardbase through the Cuttlebug Honeycomb embossing folder. I then ran strips of EchoPark 'For the Record' DP through the folder and fussy-cut out the insides of the combs and adhered them over the base with rolled gluedots.

 I added a torn strip of the Dp. I cut out some of the yellow dp with the Spellbinders Anemone Flower dies, and then sponged some Memento Dandelion ink over them while in the dies. I added a center cut from brown cardstock with EK success flower punch. I shaped the flowers with a stylus and foam pad, and put them together with a flocked green brad.

 I stamped the sentiment from HOPT 'Tiny word and Images' set with Memento Cottage Ivy and fussy-cut it into a fishtail shape. I added some square green rhinestones to balance the card. 

Think I will turn in now-eyelids are heavy, and beddy-by is calling! Ciao!

belated B-day & Kraft!

Just discovered this new challenge this week. It's called 613 Avenue Create! and their challenge this week (#3) was to use Kraft Paper.

 Now, it just so happened that in that pile of 'scraps' that I've been working on there was this card base of Kraft cardstock that was embossed with the Sizzix 'Diamonds' embossing folder. Also in that pile was this K&Co. Hydrangea image.......... They went together so well, just meant to be. So, then I used Spellbinders Decorative Labels One to cut out a backer for the flower panel-but of course label one is square and the image is just slightly NOT square. So I cut the die-cut in half and spread it apart to accomadet the image panel and then covered the gap with a bit of blue.. Also in this pile of scraps was this little bit of a piece of blue with a border already punched out, so I used that, too. The challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers was a belated Birthday card, so I stamped the Belated Birthday sentiment from Verve's "Big Wish' set with Memento Grape Jelly ink onto the little bit of blue. Added a few rain dots from Cloud 9 to finish it off. Enjoy

Shades of white

Well, although the sun was shinning all day, it was bitterly cold here today (-9F this morning) and very windy (wind chill probably around -25). Schools all over the Upper Penninsula of Michigan were closed because of the wind chill danger. It was hard to keep the house warm with just the wood stove, so had to turn on the furnace :( But it was much warmer in the basement (where said wood stove is) and I have a small electric heater where I craft, so I spent the afternoon playing with paper!! What better way to  spend a cold winter day.......
So, the challenge at Flutterby Wednesday #223 was to make an all white creation, your image only could have color, and of course it must have a fairy or butterfly.
 Now, I know there are many shades of every color, but white was especially challenging. Such subtle shade changes truly challenge me. I decided to go not only with shade variations, but different textures as well.

So here is what I came up with. I am still working with items I have sorted out to organize, and this little fairy image is from a sheet of stickers from PSX called Garden Fairies. They are so adorable! I picked up this sheet of stickers a couple years ago, and had not used any of them. In the process of sorting things out I had stuck this little image on a scrap of white to see how they actually looked on paper. She just looks so happy-like she is thinking such happy thoughts! So of course the sentiment had to be Thinking of You!

I cut the image piece out with Spellbinders Labels 3. I mounted that on an element cut with SB Fancy TAgs 2. Then I cut the frame from Bazzil Wedding Whites with Spellbinders Classic Frame. I cut the frame a second time with Bazzil plain White Lace and used the middle piece to mount the image and tag inside the frame. I ran the back mat through the Cuttlebug with the Stampin' Up 'Petals Aplenty' embossing folder. The Flowers were cut from Stampin' Up Shimmery White cardstock with Memory Box Fancy Blossom dies. I then used a stylus and foam mat to give the flowers some dimension. I added 'greenery' cut from a scrap of shimmery white paper and some white rhinestones to the frame and the center of the flowers. The sentiment is from Verve's 'Joyful Blooms' stamp set. I stamped it with Memento Grape Jelly and  cut it out with SB Deckled Rectangles. I popped the frame and image up with foam dots and tape. I adhered the flowers with Glossy Accents. And that's my journey for today! Hope you like!

What If Wednesday challenge

WooHoo! Finally some more snow. Nearly all of our snow melted, and it was getting really cold out, like into the single digits, and I am sure I will have lost some of my perennials come spring. Hopefully the couple inches we got will protect them somewhat.
I have another challenge post today. It felt so good to get back in the swing of things and make something for a challenge. I have to admit, I went down to work on a project yesterday and just couldn't stand the mess any longer. I had to organize! And the biggest monster down there was my scraps of papers. I ACTUALLY THREW OUT PAPER SCRAPS!  I can hardly believe it. And I made sure they didn't make their way back into the mess (some I actually used!). I'd picked up some accordion files, and sorted the scraps, especially cardstock scraps, into 2 of those-one for small pieces and one for larger ones. I got some magnetic die storage containers for Christmas and liked them so much I ordered 2 more and the magnetic sheets to fill them. I have 3 full ones now, and much as I hate to admit it, I need at least one more. It seems those things are like rabbits, they just keep multiplying :)

         

Anyway, here is the card I did manage to finish. I used the sketch from Repeat Impressions What if Wednesday sketch challenge  #J913. I don't know what the Design Paper is, as it was one of those 'scraps' that I sorted out. Both of the greens are also scraps, but I'm pretty sure they are Bazzill CS. The image is from 'Cloud 9' Flowers #1 set. I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored it with Copics (R000, R20, R21, R30, YG61, & G20). I wanted to keep it soft and spring-like, so did not add a lot of color. It's hard to see from the pic, but I did add just the faintest hint of the colors to the text background of the image. I added some gold gel pen to the borders of the image. I cut the darker green using Spellbinders Decorative Labels 8, and cut the image out by tracing around the inside of SB labels 8 and hand cutting it out (just using the die itself left it too wide-it covered too much of the pretty details of the frame ). I popped the focal up using foam dots.  I added the little strip of border (K&Co.) and some green rhinestones.
I will also  enter this in the following challenges:
Operation Write Home (I really need  to get some cards sent out the this very worthy cause!) Spring Flowers
Tuesday Throwdown 130, to Frame IT.
Just Add Ink , to use diecuts.
That's it for today! Hope you have a good day. I'm going to go 'organize' some more!

Scraps off the cutting table!

Now, I was cleaning out some of my scrap boxes last week, and came across this little fairy that I had stamped and colored eons ago. I just had to use her, so I propped her up and searched for something to go with her. Then I came across the piece of embossed green CS (SU Elegant Lines), and also this little bit of DP, already mounted on the piece of pink-and they all just went together! Love it when I find these little bits in my stashes.
So I thought I'd look for a challenge to match, and of course, thought of 'Flutterby Wednesday'. Excellent-theme this time is anything goes as long as it has a butterfly or fairy. So this if for Flutterby Wednesday #222.

So, I know the image was stamped with Stazon black ink, and colored with Prisma Colored pencils. It already had the Stickles glitter on it, too. I cut it out with Spellbinders and sponged some Memento Summer Sky around the edges while it was in the die (the Stickles made that a bit of a challenge-usually you would sponge it before adding the glitter-it's much easier). I sponged a bit of Dessert sand memento ink to the design on the embossed CS to make the design 'pop' a bit. Image panel is mounted with SU foam dimensionals. I added some green rhinestones to the panel to balance it out. I added some Stickles to the berries and centers of the flowers on the DP. Pretty!

One Layer Wednesday card

Today I have a card to share that I made for the challenge over at 'One Layer Wednesday' The challenge was to use a heart or hearts. Now I usually really struggle with simple one layer cards. But I think I really like  how this one came together.

The challenge at 'One Layer Wednesday' is just that, to make a card out of a single piece of cardstock-no additional layers of paper, and keep the embellishments to a minimum, which is way out of my usual style.

I inked the heart stamp (Inkadinkadoo) up with Rocket Red Brilliance ink. I then stamped it again on a piece of cardstock and cut it out to create a mask (note to self-make masks of copy paper-not cardstock-so the next stamp covers around the edges better!). I inked up the quatrafoil border from SU Summer Silhouettes stamp set with Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink, and stamped it twice to fit across the front. I added some gold detail to the heart with Sakura Gold gel pen. The sentiment if from HOTP Heartfelt Greetings stamp set, inked with the Rocket Red. Some white rhinestones for the flowers within the heart and on the top corner opposite the sentiment to balance the image, and Voila! I actually made a one layer card that I like. Hope you like it, too!

AWOL-I'm back

Wow! I have been AWOL since mid October. It all started in September with a trip out of town for a wedding, then home a few days but not much time to craft because I was trying to get my gardens ready for winter. Then company for a few days, then a death in the family (15 year old niece hit by car at school bus stop) that knocked us for a loop. Then at the end of October my oldest sister passed away, which meant company for a few days again. She had been in ill health for many years, so that was really not as much of a shock, but leaves a gap, none the less. Then it was out of town for 4 days for a crafting retreat (which I desperately needed by that point). Two days after I got home from that company arrived and they were here for 12 days, including through Thanksgiving. Then it was getting ready for our church Christmas Bazaar (baking, baking, baking!). And then we were into the Christmas season, a wedding mid December, holiday shopping, more baking, decorating, and all that good stuff for the holidays. Life was just busier than usual. Or maybe it's just that I am getting older and it takes more time to do everything! My mind was in such a jumble, I have just not taken time to post or enter any challenges. But hopefully there will be no more weddings, funerals, trips out of town or company  for longgggggggggg stays (I mean I love my sister, but 11 days without being able to 'play' with my papers, makes for one grumpy grandma :), at least for a while.
So, now I am back in my normal routine again and here goes!


Today I have a card I will enter in a couple challenges (I had more in mind, but missed their deadlines).

For this card I used a snowman image I had stamped last fall when working on Christmas cards (I did manage to make enough Christmas cards to send out, but for the most part they were quite basic and not my best work). The stamp is a wood mount stamp from "Great Impressions". I believe it is stamped in Momento Paris Dusk.  I colored it with Copic markers, added some white flocking to the tassel and brim on the hat-which turned slightly blue! I added some white rhinestones to the snowflakes & scarf tassels. I added some blue circle Dazzles (Paper Wishes) for the buttons, and some Stardust Stickles to the snow under the snowman and the snowflakes in the air. I cut him out with Spellbinders Deckled Ovals, and the mat is cut from blue metallic CS with Spellbinders Beaded Ovals. The snowflake DP is from K&Co. "Let it Snow". I ran a piece of Radiance Pearl White paper through my Marvy Wavy Crimper, then cut out to look like snowbanks, and sponged some Memento Paris Dusk on the edges. The sentiment is mounted on ovals cut with SU Oval & scalloped oval punches. I mounted the ovals on the card with SU foam dimensionals.
I will enter this in the following challenges: http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.com/ theme is 'winter', and http://www.thehousethatstampsbuilt.com/designers-choice-challenge/dcc12-make-it-snow/.