My Hard Drive Crashed!!!

Yes, that is right my hard drive has crashed ... again!!!  My wonderful husband is trying to recover as much as he can and see if he can either get it up and running or get it fixed.  Not sure how long that will take.  Of course, that means it will be a bit before I can post a card!  Sheesh!!  

Thanks for your patience!!
Donelda

Deb Corder's Birthday Card!

You might have been over at Deb Corder's blog before, especially if you love vintage and collage.  She rocks at it!  And she is a super sweet person!!  So today is her birthday and a few of her friends decided to get together and surprise her with a birthday hop!!   So if you have arrived here from KELLY's blog you are on the right track.  If you have arrived her accendently, you will want to go to the start at JOANNA's blog.  For Deb's card, I wanted to create something she will appreciate. So, since her favorite color is green I decided to go with that combined with brown.  I found this "moo" (which is 1.5" x 3") that I had made a long time ago.  I thought it would be perfect for Deb's card as it was a bit on the collage side!  I added it to the alcohol inked background, did some sponging and added this rustic ribbon.  Some supplies: Stamps - Text Boxed (Papertrey Ink); Paper - glossy cardstock, Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up!); Other - vintage girl (freebie from somewhere a long time ago!), leaf cut from fabric in my scraps, buttons (Hero Arts I think), brown ribbon (Stampin' Up!), alcohol inks (Ranger), dimensionals. 

Your next stop in the Blog Hop is JANET's blog. 

Deb, I hope you've had a great birthday and a wonderful suprise!!! 

Donelda

Clean and Simple for Caardvarks

Over at Caardvarks the latest challenge is to create Clean and Simple (CAS) cards.  I love making CAS cards as many of you know. 

This first card has been in the making for a few years.  See this alien guy ... I stole him was given to me by my son.  It was in a package of sticky backed foam images that he had received for a birthday gift.  I just knew this alien would be a perfect focal image for a teen boy's birthday card.  Last night I sat down and pulled the card together!  I love how he is making the peace sign!!!   The sentiment is a combo of the birthday greeting (Birthday Basics, Papertrey Ink) and letters (Fresh Alphabet - Papertrey Ink).  It is heat embossed onot the black cardstock in white so it stands out!!

This second card is created using Hero Arts stamps (since they are sponsering this challenge!).  I used the small flower in the Asian Frames set for the main image along the bottom.  Such a fun color combo - tempting turquoise (Stampin' Up!), Scarlet Jewel, Spring Rain (Papertrey Ink) and white. 

The sentiment (Hero Arts) is heat embossed in white.  A simple and fun card to send to a friend. 

I noticed that all of the design team member's made CAS Christmas cards.  I read and re-read the challenge and no where did I see that the CAS card had to be a Christmas variety so I hope these cards are okay! 

Hope you had a very good day today!  My day was busy and I have a pretty big meeting going on tomorrow.  I'm almost asleep here on the couch!  I should head to bed early tonigh!! 

Donelda

Inspired by a Button??!!

I don't know about you but I am inspired by the most interesting things.  I love browsing around on stamping and scraping blogs ... but I sometimes am inspired by an element that I see and not necessarily the whole card or page.  For instance ... see the brown button on this scrapbook page ... I think I found it on Christine Middlecamp's blog ... maybe ... if not, I'm sorry but I can't remember whose blog it was on ... it was the pic of the button I was after. 

Anyway, I LOVE that button!!  So I decided to do something on a card to replicate those delicious colors and circles ...

Here is the results:

I took this old piece of Au Chocolat paper (Stampin' Up! - retired) and colored in the vanilla dots with markers to replicate the button colors.  Sadly, my photo taking and editing skills are still poor so you don't get a real feel for the colors here as they area  bit washed out ... but they definately look like that button in real life!! 

This might be a great boy card??  Maybe??  The star is hand drawn.  Man, I really need to get a star punch!!

Have a great day!

Donelda

Artisan Tape, Washi Tape, or Japanese Tape??

I love the look of the latest Washi Tape or Japanese tapes that are being used on cards these days.  I bought a roll of 'Artisan Tape' by Pink Paislee.  I'm not 100% sure if this is the same as Washi Tape or not but it is fun to work with.  One think I really like is that it can be taken back up once it is down on the paper.  That is really good for me because I make mistakes all the time!! 

I don't 'do' this flowery collage-y style very often.  I find it rather hard to do and this card took me FOREVER to finish!!  I'm not sure if I like the end results or not!  Feel free to give me some feedback and kind criticism so I can continue to grow creatively. 

Thanks!
Donelda

One Layer Wednesday (OLW) Trio - catching up on past challenges

Okay, so I seem to have been missing my mojo these last few weeks.  I've gone for that long without setting foot into my craft room.  Part of me thinks it might have been because it was a bit on the messy side.  Something about that makes me "freeze" and I just can't seem to (a) clean it up or (b) stamp while it is messy.  You see, I am one of those card makers who need to clean up after each creation.  If I don't it totally inhibits my creativity!!  Weird, I know!! 

Anyway, I have missed out on some great One Layer Wednesday challenges by Susan R. over at Simplicity.  So tonight I decided to catch up!! 

OLW #18 - Trees
I love love love this tree image from Papertrey Ink!!  I know it will be a timeless stamp and can be used for many purposes!  I drew the brown line around the card.  I love this effect, makes the card feel finished for me!!

Supplies: Through the Trees (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)

OLW #19 - Black and White and a splash of Color

This is a brand new stamp set for me!  I've wanted it forever but stamps are so expensive and I really do have .. enough stamps (yes, I do think one can have enough stamps ... but it doens't necessarily stop me from buying more).  I found this set for 25% off at my LSS so grabbed it and ran to the till before I could change my mind!!  Ha!!!

Supplies: Stamps - Bitty Grunge (Stampers Anonymous - t!m holtz), Vintage Picnic - sentiment (Papertrey Ink), Ink - Black (duh!) and Ruby Red (Stampin' Up!)







OLW #20 - 3 images and 1 sentiment

This is another new stamp set for me that I picked up on sale at my LSS.  I don't own anything else from American Crafts but when $10.00 I had to have it.  Arn't these little critters adorable??!!  I can't wait to use some of the other lovely images in the set.  Also this card is actually a pale pink with Chocolate Chip stamping .. don't adjust your monitors!!

Supplies: Stamps - Laughter (American Crafts), Around and About sentiment (Papertrey Ink).


There, now I'm all caught up on the One Layer Challenges.  Ready for this coming week.  Let's hope I keep my mojo!!

Thanks for dropping in!  Have a great day!
Donelda

Trees or Flowers?

More cool trees ... or are they flowers???  I'm not sure but on this card I decided to make them trees.  I was totally inspired by Nichole Heady in making this card.  I loved how she had the trees on her card off to the side with the 'fillable frame' in the middle so I copied the idea!!  My card is much smaller, 3.5" x 5 a size I love to work with!! 

Supplies: Stamps- A Little Buggy (Unity Stamps), Borders and Corners {rectangles}; Paper - Bitty Dots in Spring Moss and Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink) the red is scrap; Ink - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado (Papertrey Ink); Other - baker's twine (Martha Stewart), Metallic Decors (Hero Arts), marker (Copic #R08), corner chomper (We R Memory Keepers). 

Well I hope you all have a great day!  Thanks for dropping in!

Donelda

Stripe of Dots

I saw this great card set on the blog justgivemestamps.   She did a great job on the card set but that is not what caught my eye.  It was the way she packaged up the card set ... I loved the strip of dots.  I'm not sure if hers was designer paper or not but I decided to use it as inspriation for a card!!

I used the relatively large circle in the Green Thumb set (Papertrey Ink) and Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and Tempting Turquoise inks (Stampin' Up!).  Then I added a few strips of TT cardstock and a sentiment (Birthday Basics, PTI) in Chocolate Chip ink. 

My Secret Sister Banu sent me some Papertrey Ink twine when we were in a swap.  It is like gold to me (what she sent me is all I have) so I am surprised that I used so much on this one card!!  and the button is a PTI Dark Chocolate button from Banu too!  Isn't she so sweet to send me the best items!!!

A pretty CAS card but I love the final results!!  Thanks Laurie for the inspriation!!

Donelda

Happy Birthday Circle Tree

Here is a card I made with this GREAT tree image form Unity Stamps.  I got it from my Secret Sister (Hi Banu!!) in a swap we were in.  Isn't it the best tree image!! 

I stared out by stamping the plaid using Background Basics: Retro (Papertrey Ink).  Then, I inked up the tree using my SU! markers.  When I stamped them on you could still see the white lines.  The look is so cool!!  I added the sentiment the same set (A Little Buggy, Unity Stamps)), very funky and goes perfectly with that tree.  I did add the word 'birthday' from a Papertrey Ink set (Birthday Basics). 

One little note....see the base of the tree...there is a bit of a shadow.  It grounds the tree.  When I pushed the stamps out of the full sheet they came on, there was lots of "left over" waste rubber that was attached to the foam mounting.  I couldn't just throw it out so I made a "shadow" stamp with it!! 

Thanks for dropping into my little piece of the blogging world!! 
Donelda

Enjoy Citrus

I saw a piece of patterned paper at my local scrapbook store and I came home to re-create it.  My version is made up of basic citrus colors (the paper I saw had reds and pinks in it too).  I originally bought this great Papertrey Ink set (called Fruitful) to do exactly this!!!  and finally (after owning this set for many, many months and not) I got it done!!

Pretty straight forward.  For the dots in between I used 2 circles from Beautiful Blooms and one dot from Polka Dot Basics (both Papertrey Ink sets).  The sentiment is from Spiral Bouquet (Papertrey Ink) again, using those lovely large sentiments!

The colors are Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, and Green Galore (all Stampin' Up!).  Sadly, Green Galore is retired ... too bad, I like that color!!!

Hope you have a stampin good day!!
Donelda

Details on Wedding Items

Hi everyone.  I have recieved some questions about the wedding items I made so I thought I'd answer a few questions. 

Someone wanted to know what stamps I used.  I am guessing the question is around the bottle labels.  I actually printed out the different labels. 

Other itmes I used include a wide vanilla satin ribbon.  Behind each is a Very Vanilla (SU!) piece of cardstock cut with a Labels 1 die.  The white silk flowers were purchased in the bridal section at Michaels.  I sponged them lightly with Tea Dye ink (Ranger Distress) as they were white and I needed vanilla.  On 3 of the lables I punched a few leaves out of Mellow Moss (SU!) cardstock that had been embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.   A bit of green ribbon (found at Michaels') and various appropriate items (wedding rings, lock and key, journey tag, B tag) were added.  Pulled it all together with glue dots! 

The poems that I used can be found HERE.  There were actually 6 but I only chose to use 4.   I wish I could remember whose blog I saw this on.  I used her photo as a general guide to creating these tags.   I'll keep looking and add the link when I find it.  I found it!!!  The blog I saw this idea on was Starlit Studio and HERE is a direct link!  As you will see, I really did use Cindy's tags as inspiration!!

I hope this answers everyone's quesitons.  Feel free to ask if you have more quesitons!!
Donelda

Wedding Joy

We just returned from Toronto where we attended my nephew's wedding.  It was so beautiful and he and his new wife clearly love each other very much!  I wish them all the love and joy that marriage brings.  As well, we got to visit with family, nice since we live on opposite sides of the country and don't get to see each other very often. 

I was honored to be asked to make the wedding invitations, which I did and gave them as a wedding gift. I also created thank you cards that went with the theme of the wedding. 

For a small gift to give at the wedding, I made these wine bottle lables that also come with a poem about each special event.  I got the idea from someone else on the www here but I can't find the name of the blog and I'm so tired -- so speak up if it is you so I can give credit where credit is due!!!   Edited - I found the site -- It is from Starlit Studio - Cindy Lyles (she's brilliant!!).  HERE is the direct link to her blog and you will see that I really did get my inspiration from her. 

I hope you enjoy checking out these wedding items.  Remember, if you want to see any of them a bit larger you just need to click on the picture (and if that doesn't work try right clicking on the image and then selecting 'open' from the menu).

Thanks for dropping in. 

Donelda

Faux Washi Tape (Japanese Tape)

So I am sure that you have all seen the amazing cards that all the "in" girls are making with Washi Tape or Japanese Tape. Well, I don't own any ..  yet!   I am hoping my local scrapbook store or Michael's get some in ...soon!!  I try really hard to not order anything on line ... too tempting to just push a button, doesn't feel like you are really spending any money and I can just imagine how much I will start to spend. 

Anyway ... the other day I found a few sites that were offering "digital" Japanese tape (puglypixel.com).  Now you are supposed to use it in Photoshop and the like .. but I am still working on figuring out all that kind of thing so I didn't use it quite the way you were supposed to.  Instead, I decided to print the "tapes" out onto vellum and then I cut/tore them out and adhered them onto my card.  Unfortunately, becuase it was vellum I got the wrong side down and it made the printer ink run a bit.  Sheesh!!  I'll have to be more careful next time. 

I also used this digital polka dot paper from Krystal Hartley's "Sky Falling" digital collection.  Look at me go!!  And I actually used the Tea for Two set (Papertrey Ink) which is only the 2nd time using it!!  Again, trying to use the products and stamps I have on hand!!

I think I will send this card off to my mom as she is a big "tea tottler"!!!  It would be a nice think of you card so she knows that is what I do!!

Well, have a great day!
Donelda

Giraffe Wishes

Banu was my Secret Sister for a swap we were in.  She sent me the most wonderful things, including this adorable giraffe stamp by Imaginisce.  How did she know that I LOVE giraffes??!!  and isn't he an adorable one!  I think he would make great baby cards but I am trying to increase my birthday stash these days. 

I kept the overall card pretty clean and simple.  The yellow background paper is BasicGrey (also from Banu!) and the polka dot is another piece of Au Chocolat (Stampin' Up! retired).  I continue to try to use up some of the huge amounts of scraps I have laying around.  Some days I'm tempted to just throw them away and start from scratch!!  But I just can't!!

Have a great day!!
Donelda

Loonie Stamper's Challenge - #107 - Rainbow

{Edited - not sure why this didn't post yesterday}

This week's Loonie challenge is by Dee and she challenged everyone to use rainbows!!  Here is my take on the challenge ... a card for my wonderful hubby!!

Stamp set used is Around & About Sentiments (Papertrey Ink).

Pretty clean and simple!!  Let's go see what the Loonie girls did:

Dee, Char, Wendy, Regan, Maria, Jewels

Thanks for dropping in!
Donelda