One Layer Wednesday (OLW) - Variations On a Sentiment

Leave it to Susan R. to create a real tricky One Layer Wednesday challenge #72.  She wants us to use a sentiment and nothing else on a non-standard sized card!  Wow, now that is a challenge!!  At first I pulled out the largest sentiments I have ... but then I got creative and created these:

They are mini scraplings ... 1" x 3" little mini cards.  I keep lots of these small little cards around the office to leave on the desks of my co-workers on their birthdays.  The ones I have at work right now are all girly cards so I was stuck last week when one of our tech guys had a birthday!  These will make great additions to the stash and will be perfect for the guys!!

Thanks Susan for a real challenge, like usual!! 

Donelda

Take 3 Challenge - Pointsettia Flower - Take 3

Before I get to my Take 3 card, I am excited to announce that I made it onto the Crafty Creations Challege blog Design Team!  So excited to be on another team.  Can't wait to get going with them.  Drop over to the blog and check out this week's inspiration photo, it's awesome!!

Finally, the last day of this Take 3 Challenge ... and here is my Take 3 on using this lovely flower stamp from Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Blooms set.  Notice it is not a Christmas card!

These flowers were inked up with distress inks and cut out.  Check out the centers ... they are lovely brads that I have received from one of my secret sisters (thanks so much)!!

This card is actually created based on the card created by Julia Stainton shown on page 48 of the Nov./Dec. issue of Paper Crafts magazine.  It was so lovely I was totally inspired by it!  Julia's card is a Christmas card with stars on it, but I wanted to change that into a birthday card so used flowers.

Thanks so much for dropping by for my Take 3 Challenge this week.

Donelda

Take 3 Challenge - Pointsettia Flower - Take 2

My Take 2 card for this week's Take 3 Challenge is also a Christmas card.

And another clean and simple card.  I used one of my home-made die cuts (based on Papertrey Ink's), added some thin black ribbon and a black button.  The designer paper is so beautiful - from My Minds Eye. 

Okay, that is 2 Christmas cards made using this lovely little flower image.  Will tomorrow's card be a Christmas card as well??  Guess you'll have to come back tomorrow and see.

Donelda

Take 3 Challenge - Pointsettia Flower - Take 1

Hello!  It is always nice to see you!  Today is the first day of my Take 3 Challenge.  Here is my Take 1 card. 

I don't own many Christmas stamps so I have to be creative at this time of year.  See this lovely pointsettia, it is actually the large flower from the Beautiful Blooms set (Papertrey Ink). 

Stamped it with Ruby Red ink and then added some gold micro beads to the center.

A true Clean and Simple card!!  Susan R. would be proud!! 

Drop back in tomorrow to see what I did with this flower on tomorrow's Take 2 card.

Donelda

Colour Q Challenge #112 - Quilt

This week's Colour Q challenge #112 is made up of such delicious colours!  Yum!!

I decided I wanted to make a home-made quilt look.  Took 1" squares, cut them down by hand so that they were not really straight, and did some faux stitching around each square.  Then, I poked holes and used thread to create real stitches to attach them to the card front. 

Close up of the real stitching.

Took this photo at night in my light box.  It still makes a ton of difference shooting in the day time vs. night!  I need to remember to take my photos before the light goes away!

Thanks for visiting!

Donelda

Take 3 Challenge - Large Butterfly BEauty - Take 3

Hello and welcome back to the last day and my Take 3 card for this week's Take 3 Challenge.  Today my butterfly was stamped onto some yummy purple designer paper.  The gold glitter was part of the paper and ended up adding so much to this image.  Then, I added some distress ink sponging to intensify the colour!

Kept the rest of the card clean and simple so the butterfly would be sure to take center stage!

That was a fun Take 3 challenge.  Thanks for enjoying it with me :-)

Donelda

Take 3 Challenge - Large Butterfly Beauty - Take 2

Welcome back to the second day of my Take 3 Challenge.  I introduce to you my Take 2 card:

This time, I decided to try a monochromatic card ... in purple of all colours.  If you drop by at all you will know that I rarely use purple!  What an impact, that bright white butterfly on all that purple!!

Well, one more card to go for this week's Take 3 challenge.  Like always, I've saved my favourite for last. 

See you all tomorrow!

Donelda

Take 3 Challenge - Large Butterfly Beauty - Take 1

Welcome to a new week of Take 3.  This week's image is a beautiful swirly butterfly from Studio g.  It was given to me by a friend and came out of a larget "stamping kit".  It is rather large ... so I decided to start out by just using bits of it on this tag.  Coloured the leaves with my Stampin' Up! pastel chalks. 

I never use my crimper enough .. thought it would add some great texture. 

I had planned to enter it into the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to use tags ... but I ended up scheduling this post for the wrong week and totally missed that challenge!  How did I do that??  Sheesh!! Oh well.

Drop back in tomorrow to see what I did for Take 2 using this same image.

Donelda

Crafty Creations Challenge #144 - Recycle

This week's challenge at Crafty Creations Challenge #144 is to recycle.  Well, if you have ever been around my blog you will know that I do that all the time!!  Today I recycled a music sheet that I got from an old old old organ music book.  Another recycled item is a small amount of black velvet trim that came off of an old pair of slippers. 

I don't make many wedding cards (not many folks in my world getting married these days) but thought the wedding bells would look great with the music background.

Off to post and see what everyone else recycled...

Thanks for dropping by,

Donelda

Play Date Cafe #108 - Rich and Warm Colours

The Play Date Cafe colours for challenge #108 were so delicions that I wanted to play along.  However, they were so much fun, I couldn't stop.  I ended up making 2 different cards and then using my scraps to create a third card!

This fist card was clean and simple.  I'm really digging the graphic look these days

I knew the 3 colours would make a great background for a silouette stamp so I used this old Stampin' Up! image on a sponged background.  I kep the rest of the card cas ... and couldn't bring myeself to stamp a sentiment on the front so it went inside.

And then, I just couldn't bring myself to throw out the beautiful scraps.  I saw them all sitting there on my craft table and figured I could add them together for a mosaic look .....

... and here is a close-up. 

You might recognize the sketch from CPS ... but too late to add it to the challenge.

That was fun!!

Thanks for dropping by.

Donelda

Inspiration from Paper Crafts Magazine - Day 2 - Christmas

Welcome back!

Today it is Lindsey's turn to pick a card for inspriation from the Sept/Oct issue of Paper Crafts magazine.  Her choice was the very versatile card by Ellie Augustin on page 46 called Brew Some Fun Card.  Wow, what a great layout to work with!! 

I was so inspired I made 2 cards - one that followed the sketch very closely and another that followed it very loosly.  For both, I focused on the general layout.

I adore this Anna Griffin designer paper. And this little sprig of holly is probaby my most used Christmas stamp (if you can believe that or not!!)

This card is a much looser take on the layout.  The designer paper and die cuts are from the Holly Jolly paper pack from My Minds Eye (out last year). 

Okay, now off to Lindsey's blog to see what her card turned out looking like.  Do you think she also made a christmas card????  Let's go see....

Thanks for dropping by!

Donelda

Inspiration from Paper Crafts Magazine - Day 1 - Stripes

Lindsey and I are at it again!  We both picked cards from the Sept/Oct issue of Paper Crafts Magazine and used them for inspiration.  This week, my pick was the awesome card by Cristina Kowalczyk on page 58 called Ahoy Birthday Card.  Her name might be hard to spell ... but man, can this girl make a card! 

For this card I focused on: the stripes and the general layout. 

I really like the double ended banner running vertical to the stripes.  I didn't want to use string or ribbon so it seemed like a good alternative.

Now, off to see what Lindsey created with Cristina's card as inspiration.  I can't wait to see, she is so creative!!  And remember to drop in tomorrow to see which card Lindsey picked for inspiration and what we did with it.

Thanks for dropping by,

Donelda

CAS-ual Fridays #28 & Barb's Challenge - Damask Tag

This week's CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #28 is to create a tag or a card with a tag on it.  I combined it with a challenge set by a blogging buddy Barb who posted this beautiful table setting as inspiration.

Together I arrived at this tag.  From the inspiration picture I focused on the black demask table runner, and the color combo of black, white, and apple green.

I really love that burst punch (Martha Stewart).  And see that yummy ruffly ribbon ... it is from a past Secret Sister (thanks Linda!) and I've been trying to find a good use for it for a while now.  This elegant birthday tag was the perfect home for a bit of it!

Off to see what others created....

Donelda

Mendi apples

So I would love to say that I came up with this awesome idea myself .. but it would not be true.  The genius behind this is Sharon Harnist!  You can see her pear HERE and another example HERE and one by Ellen Hutson HERE. 

These apples are the outlined ones from Teacher's Apple (Papertrey Ink).  I had so much fun creating this card.  Definately going to do this again!!  And I really worked hard to incorporate that desired 'visual triangle' ... can you see it??

Donelda

Play Date Cafe Challenge - Tiger Butterfly

This week's colors at the Play Date Cafe were too yummy to pass up!!  Challenge #107 looks like this:

And here is the card that was created by me:

I am totally "into" the color Spiced Marmalade (distress ink by Ranger) these days.  When I bought it I was a bit hesitant because I didn't know how often I'd use it ... turns out I don't seem to be able to put it down!!

In the end, a clean and simple card with the emphasis on this lovely "tiger butterfly" floating among the white flowers.  The butterfly was hand cut, sponged with ink, then stamped with flourishes, and black wire wrapped around the body to create antenna. 

Hope you enjoy! 

Donelda

Crafty Creations Challenges - Color Challenge

Over on Crafty Creations Challenges the latest color combo challenge were definately my colours so I decided to play along.  The colors were Kraft/Brown, White/Cream, and one other colour.  I chose to use Brown and Cream with Orange thrown in for the other colour.

The leaves and tag are Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink) cardstock that was spritzed with water, crumpled, and then ironed.  I punched the little maple leaves out with a small punch I picked up from Michael's $1.50 bin - what a bargin!  Before punching the leaves, I sponged on a bit of Spiced Marmalade distress ink (Ranger).  The effect is awesome in real life.  The tag was hand drawn and cut from the same cardstock, just no sponging on it.

Supplies: Stamps-Take a Bough, Round &Round, Fancy Flourishes (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Spiced Marmalade (Ranger); Paper - Summer Sunshine (Papertrey Ink), Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!), Au Chocolate patterned paper (Stampin' Up!),Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Dark Chocolate twill (Papertrey Ink); oval die (Spellbinders)

Since the CCC are looking for a Design Team and I did the challenge I figured I'd throw my name in to be considered.  Not holding my breath but it would be fun. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Donelda

Moxie Fab Challenge - Award Medallion

Cath always has some fun challenges going on over at Moxie Fab world.  Right now she is celebrating her 3rd year of posting!!  This card is created for the Award Medallions Challenge.

The black paper is glittery (but hard to see in the photo) and the black on the designer paper is nice and fuzzy creating all kinds of texture in real life!!   That is why I kept the card fairly clean and simple!

Thanks for looking
Donelda

Tuesday Morning Sketch #119 - Noah

Decided to play along with Tuesday Morning Sketches again!  A great sketch this week by none other than Kathy Curry!! 

I had fun using this image from smARTworks.  It was watercoloured using my Stampin' Up! watercolour pencil crayons.

Had to try one of those little bows like Jill Foster puts on all her cards.  It was a perfect addition for the sketch.

Thanks for dropping by.

Donelda

Inspiration from Paper Crafts Magazine - Day 2

Welcome back to our Inspiration Challenge.  My blogging buddy, Lindsey, and I decided to use the Paper Crafts magazine (Sept/Oct) as inspiration.  We both picked cards and used them as inspiration to create our own cards.  Yesterday we showcased the card Lindsay picked.  Today is my turn.  I picked this lovely card by Betsy Veldman called Doily Gratitude Card (on page 56). 

I focused on the masked and sprayed background, the cluster of embellishments, and the sentiment.

Here is my card:

Nothing makes me happier than using feathers on my cards!  And check out the sentiment piece - see the white rub ons (BasicGrey) to mimic the sentiment piece in Betsy's card.  And that lovely flower was compliments of one of my past Secret Sisters (thanks Linda!). 

Now you need to go check out Lindsey's card that she created using Betsy's card as inspiration!

Remember, if you are inspired by either of the Paper Crafts cards (or ours) leave a link in the comment section so we can go and see what you did too! 

And....this has been so much fun we are doing it again next Thurs and Friday!!  Can't wait!! Make sure you come back and visit!

Lest We Forget

"When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?" -George Canning

Thanks for visiting!

Donelda

A Birthday Hoot

I have been enjoying Vicky's blog and this week she is doing videos each day featuring Lawn Fawn stamps (I don't own any but I love them!).  And, she is offering a giveaway too!  On Nov. 8th she shared THIS card with such a unique layout!  I dreamed up this card in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep! 

And here is a close up of the glossy accents on the eyes and all the layers.  Clearly Vicky has inspired me :-)

Do you want to play too??  Drop over to Vicky's blog and give it a go....

Thanks for dropping in for a visit and for leaving words of encouragement - they are appreciated! 

Donelda

Casing Paper Crafts Cards

One of my blogging friends, Lindsey, mentioned that she had the same Paper Crafts Magazine (Sept/Oct) so I asked her if she wanted to have some fun.  We would each pick a card from the magazine, both use it as inspiration, and post our creations on our blogs!  This was a blast!!

Today we are showcasing Lindsey's choice.  She picked an increadible card by Katie Gehring called Autumn Button Tree Card (seen on page 52).  It is so rustic and full of yummy fall colours. 

I focused on the layout, the polka dot ribbon, and the tree as the focal image.  Here is my card:

Now you must go see what Lindsey did using this same card for inspiration!!  And if you feel l'ike being inspired by Katie Gehring (or mine/Lindsey's cards) feel free to give us a link in the comment section so we can come take a peek!!

And make sure you drop back tomorrow to see what card I picked from the same magazine and what we create with that inspiration!!

Donelda

Take 3 Challenge - Snowflake - Take 3

Hello and welcome back to my final card this week from my Take 3 Challenge. 

Here is my Take 3 card:

Here is a close up of that embellishment ... it is the snowflake stamp that I am using this week.  To make it, I stamped the flake with white craft ink onto a transparency, then heat embossed with a mix of white and kelidascope embossing powder.  It turned out great in the end. I think I will make a bunch of these to help with my Christmas card creating.

Well, I am sad to say that this week's Take 3 Challenge is done!  But not to worry, there will

always be another one around the corner!!

Donelda

Line of Trees

(Note - this is my 3rd post for the day becuase today was the deadline for this card.  Scroll down to see more Play Date Cafe cards and scroll further to see my Take 2 for this week's Take 3 Challenge)

Over at Crafty Creations Challenges this week's challenge was to use Green, Purple, Silver and snow.  What a hard challenge this was for me.  I wracked my brain for days and finally ended up with this as my final card.  I think it was the snow that was giving me the hardest time! 

Thanks for dropping by.

Donelda

Play Date Cafe - More Pink, Yellow, and Grey

( Note - this is my second post for today.  To see my Take 3 card, scroll down.)

I just can't seem to stop creating with this color combo!!  

Here are 2 more cards. 

This card started out with that awesome K&Co. fabric brad.  Love it!  Love this Clean and Simple effect.

This card was created based on the top right image of the inspiration picture.  When I saw that, I remembered that I had made this pink flower from ribbon a while ago and never used it.  The leaves are cut from yellow patterned paper ... the color is off in this picture.

Okay, I have had a huge run on challenges these days .... whew!!!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you enjoyed all my challenges.
Donelda

Take 3 Challenge - Snowflake - Take 2

Hello and welcome back to my latest Take 3 Challenge. 

This week it is actually a double challenge - I am using that snowflake image from an old Stampin' Up! set called All Through the Year and papers from Holly Jolly pack by My Minds Eye.  Here is my Take 2 card:

The snowflakes are embossed this time.  See that red polka dot border ... it is actually from the

die cut page from the My Minds Eye package ... and I've been dying to use it.  Not sure

why, but I am totally in LOVE with it!!! 

So there is my Take 2 card.  Just one more card to go ... which you can only see if

you come back tomorrow!!   Of course, you will be dying with anticipation

so you will need to come back!!

Donelda

Take 3 Challenge - Snowflake - Take 1

This week's Take 3 Challenge is a double Take 3 Challenge.  It centers around the snowflake from an old Stampin' Up! set called All Through the Year.  It was one of those sets I just HAD to have ... but have rarely used.  A Take 3 Challenge is a good way to get it out and use it!  Incidently, all 3 cards in this Take 3 Challenge also use paper from the Holly Jolly paper pack from My Minds Eye (last year's paper).  It is a stunning collection of papers!!

And here is Take 1.  A fairly Clean and Simple card, showing off those prancing reindeer.  I love when I see crafters doing this tied off the edge ribbon technique but I rarely think to do it myself. 

The frame is from Borders & Corners: Squares (Papertrey Ink) and the sentiment is from Take a Bough (also Papertrey Ink).

Another variation using this snowflake stamp tomorrow which means a few more Christmas cards have been made.

See you tomorrow.
Donelda

Trigger Tuesday - Bands of Colour with Gold

Check out this week's Trigger Tuesday from Moxie Fab:

How could I resist!!

 I decided to go with the pink, yellow, and turquoise colours in the piece .. and then add the gold!!  The sentiment is actually heat embossed with gold.  That gold medallion is a gift from a friend - it is actually paper so it is light and pops up nicely on the card!! 

Off to see what others took from this amazing visual!

Donelda