Coffee and Friends - CPS 157

The Card Positioning System layout #157 was so interesting I couldn't resist!

Supplies: Fruitful, Warm Happiness (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Kraft, Whisper White (SU!), textured brown (Bazzill); Ohter - dimensional. Hope you have a great weekend!!

Clean and Simple (CAS) Challenge - 57 - Thanks a Hoot

The latest from the Clean and Simple Challenges is to layer two different shapes on your card while keeping it Clean and Simple.

Are you kidding me!!! How the blazes are we supposed to do that! I thought and I thought and then I thought of this.......

(my apologies for the poor photo!)

I didn't dare look at anyone elses' cards for fear I'd just simply copy someone else's idea!

Supplies: Stamps - Designer Woodgrain (Hero Arts), Wise Owl, Rustic Branches (Papertrey Ink); Paper - whisper White; Ink - Chocolate Chip; Other - Label Die 2, Oval (Spellbinders), pastel chalks (Stampin' Up!), Q-Tips, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), dimensionals.

Now I am dying to go and see what everyone else did with this challenge!! I might have to make more if I get lots of inspiraiton!!

Have a great day!!

Donelda

Cards Blog Challenge - Mini Cards

Well, if you come here often you will know that I love to make mini cards!! Everysize possible! and lately I found a great book on making envelopes with various templates in it! So now I have mini envelopes to go with my many mini cards!!

So, when I saw that the newest challenge on Cards Blog was to do a mini card, I was all in!!

ETA- and my little mini got featured on the bog HERE!! That is always fun!! There were a ton of other awesome minis featured too!!

I created this card first. It is 3" x 2". I used the inspiration photo on Melissa Phillips' Blog as well - love that pink, turquoise and white together - so fresh! I went through my scrap bin to find the bits and pieces and pulled it together. I love the simple white butterfly on top of the bright colored elements. Supplies: small polka dot center from Paper Tray, larger polka dot center from Beautiful Blooms, hi from Wise Owl, and outline circle from Polka Dot Basics (all Papertrey Ink), butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), black pen for the doodling around turquoise oval which was cut by hand.

Next, I created this mini card, also 3" x 2". I've seen THIS stamp used on many cards (like THIS one, and THIS one, and THIS one) - stamped off to the side and embossed. It looks awesome ... but I don't own it. But then I wondered if I could use one of the circle images in the Giga Guide Lines (Papertrey Ink) set and make the same style of card but in a mini version. The silver dots are actually from a package of decals that go on your fingernails. They work great for mini cards and inchies!! Supplies: Stamps - Giga Guide Lines, Mixed Messages (both Papertrey Ink), Paper - Whisper White; Ink - Jet Black (Ranger), Buckaroo Blue and Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)' Other - clear embossing powder, silver fingernail decals, white twill (Papertrey Ink).

And see that little black envelope beside the blue card!! Wonderful fun thing to make!! The paper is from a 6 1/2" x 4 1/2" paper pack called Power Pallette (Creative Memories) and full of tons of great black and white papers.

I know, I'm supposed to be making wedding invites. but I got bored of doing just that and needed to take a break and get creative!!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you have a great day!!

Donelda

Saturday Spotlight - Friendship

So this week over at Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential the challege is to "think of friendship" as a theme for a card. I instantly wanted to use one of these adorable Tilda images that a friend of mine sent me ... Hi Jessica!! I don't have a ton of Copics but pulled what I did have out to color her in.

I needed some inspiration for the layout and when I saw the great one at Friday Sketchers I decided to go with that! I don't usually go with this kind of "collage style" but the samples I've seen by some increadibly talented ladies lead me to go in that direction.

I even used some of those ribbon silk flowers that I bought at Michaels. I tend to not use them (even though I have picked up a whole bunch) because I don't know how to get them adhered to the card without their "lumpy bases" making them stick up too far or look ugly! If anyone out there has some tips for me I'd be ever so grateful!! For these ones I bent the green "lumpy bases" to fold under the popped up Tilda panel and covered it with some extra cut out leaves.

Supplies: Tilda (Magnolia), Simple Little Things, Turning a New Leaf (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Jet Black, Antique Linen, Walnut Stain (Ranger); Paper -Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), Mandrin Slice from Marrakech collection (BasicGrey), text paper (unknown from a friend - Hi Cameldiva!!); Other - markers (Copic), ribbon (Michaels), coluzzle, sewing maching and thread, flowers (Michaels, dimensionals.

Thanks for dropping in! and thanks for leaving me a comment if you feel like it! Your comments are like nice little hugs :-)

Donelda

Bunny Borders

I have been thinking about this little bunny stamp for the last few weeks. Every year around Easter I always want to make cards with him. When I saw the colors over on the Embellish Magazine challenge I knew that I could combine the image and these colors.

Part of the challenge was to use borders. I took the 4 colors and cut them using my old decorative scissors, the scallop ones. Then I lined them all up on a piece of white cardstock. I added a bit of dots and strips on the pink and some white twill.

The bunny was stamped and then matted. Then he was popped up with dimensionals as was this whole piece onto a white card base.

Supplies: Stamps - Delight in Nature (SU!, retired), Beyond Basic Borders, Faux Ribbon (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, scrap pink and yellow; Ink - Groovy Guava, White (SU!); other - white twill (Papertrey Ink), dimensionals, scallop scissors (Provo Craft), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers).

I think I'm going to check out and see what everyone else did with these colors.

Thanks for dropping in!

Donelda

Loonie Stamper's Challenge #82 - Evening Tea Time

So the Loonie Stamper's Challenge this week was to use background stamps and no patterned paper!! Easy smeasy....this is what I love to do most!!

I used Guide Lines Two (Papertrey Ink) to create this background. It is stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with white. The white on the Enchanted Evening cardstock (Papertrey Ink) is stunning. I added a tea pot (Tea for Two -Papertrey Ink) with a simple sentiment stamped and also heat embossed with white. This was placed onto a white oval punched shape (thanks for loaning your punch Robin!!). A bit of sponging and an Enchanted Evening ribbon finished off the card!

Off to see what the Loonie girls did:

Char, Dee, Regan, Maria, Jewels, Wendy

Thanks for dropping in. I'm still working on wedding invites. I will share when I get them finished as no one going to this wedding blogs around in blogland :-)

Donelda

If I'm not around these days....

.... it's because I am creating wedding invitations, reply cards, and thank you cards for my nephew and his fiance!!! It has been so much fun finding a design and picking colors and words and everything with the newest member of our family! But now comes the actual work part so I will be up to my elbows in Mellow Moss paper, branches and flowers, and white paint!! I'll try to get some posts in over the next few weeks but if I'm not around much you will know why!! When I get them done I'll share :-) Thanks for your understanding! Enjoy this beautiful day! Donelda

smART Word Challenge March - Monochromatic

For the month of March, it was Dina's turn to pick the Word for the smART Word Challenge and her choice was - MONOCHROMATIC. I love monochromatic cards but rarely think to make them.

I was playing around with this new to me Noah's Ark (smARTworks) set trying to find something to do with it that was different than just coloring it in with my pencil crayons or watercoloring. I decided to see what it would look like in various shades of brown. I liked what I saw and realized that it would fit Dina's word!!

I added a brown scallop edge using my new Fisker's Treading Water edge punch ** love it ** and a bit of brown on the other side with some piercing along it. I added a simple sentiment taken from one of the larger sentiments in the Fun Stuff set (smARTworks).

So, what color are you going to pick for your MONOCHROMATIC card?? Remember, you can use whatever supplies you have on hand but if you do use smARTworks stamps you will earn a smART Buck!! Bonus!!!

Thanks for dropping in. I look forward to seeing your creation over on Mr. Linky!!

Donelda

Sympathy with Scraps

I pulled this card together a while ago. It was created with some older pieces from my "to be used some day" bin and my "scrap bin". The flowers were stamped onto watercolor paper. I also had 'splattered' the watercolor paper with brown acrylic paint. A little tearing and some brown hemp pulled this clean and simple sympathy together easily.

Supplies: Watercolor Minis (Stampin' Up!), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink); Cardstock - Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!).

Enjoy your day!!

Donelda

Loonie Stamper's Challenge - #81 and a Layout challenge by my son

Look at me getting the latest Loonie Stamper's Challenge completed on a Friday night!!

I watched the Canadian Women's curling team take the silver medal at the Olympics and then got right to work.

Part of the reason I got going tonight is because my son was working on a Scratch project (Scratch is a computer program you can download for free from the internet and allows you to create little computer games - it is really amazing!) and I was really impressed with the layout he created. See how his little "globulus" is off to the side of the medalian at the back. I just kept looking at it and thinking that layout would be great for a card....so I went up to the craft room and created this!! I decided since the LSC81 colors were so great, I'd incorporate them at the same time.

And can you believe I've had this Papertrey Ink set for months and this is the first time I've actually put it to ink!!

Off to see what those Loonie Girls did with these colors:

Dee, Jewels, Char, Wendy, Maria, Regan

Supplies: Stamps - In Bloom, Wedding Day (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Spring Moss, sample designer paper Pretty Pastels (Papertrey Ink), Going Grey (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Basic Black (Ranger), Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink); Other - Coluzzle, Labels 1 Die (Spellbinders), dimensionals.

I am hoping to get some time to do some stamping this weekend ... so you might see more from me.

Donelda

Another Masculine Card

Another totally masculine birthday card (remember, one of my New Year's resolutions are to make more guy cards!!).

I kept this one really, really clean and simple!! A Kraft base, some awesome masculine papers from BasicGrey (the bottom is Gorp and the brown is Brown Sugar, both from the Granola collection), a bit of hemp, and a very clean font sentiment. This particular font comes from the Birthday Basics set from Papertrey Ink. I love it for masculine cards because the lines are bold and strong, sans serif is more masculine looking if you ask me!!!

How are you doing with your stash of masculine cards??? Hey, a quiz for you.... does anyone out there know what Gorp is??? Hint - my son and I made some yesterday!!

Donelda

Clean and Simple (CAS) Challenge - 52 Sketch

I created this card a while ago for the Clean and Simple challenge #52 on Splitcoaststampers. That challenge was posted over 2 weeks ago...but you know me, forever doing challenges but never getting around to posting them!! LOL!!!

I created this based on the sketch that was provided. I wanted the colors to remain mostly pink with a hint of black. I started out with that flower image by smARTworks. I inked it up with Hibuscus Burst ink and then added some Raspberry Fizz around the edges (rock n' roll technique). I liked it so much I deceded to create the strip (a la the sketch) of designer paper using the same technique, I just stamped the image close to each otehr then cut it out. Finally, I added the black gingham ribbon. There was just not enough black so I colored 3 half pearls with my black copic marker and added them to the centers of the flowers! Now I wish I'd stamped the sentiment in black as well....oh well!

Supplies: Stamps - Swirly-gigs (smARTworks), Around and About (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Hibuscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink); Paper - white; Other- black gingham ribbon (Stampin' Up!), 1 1/2" circle punch, half pearls (K&Co.), black marker (Copic).

It is almost the weekned....can you say Yeeeee haaaa!! Have a great day!

Donelda

Noah's Ark

This awesome stamp is from smARTworks and makes creating baby cards a snap!! Plus it is such a great image to color...if you like that sort of thing!!

Supplies: Stamps - Noah's Ark, Cookie Plate #1 (sentiment), Cookie Plate #2 (background image) (all from smARTworks); Ink - Black, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip (all Stampin' Up!); Paper - Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White (all Stampin' Up!); Ohter - water pencil crayons (Stampin' Up!), paint brush, 1 1/2" circle punch.

Enjoy!!

Donelda

Hero Arts Mushrooms

I picked up a little pack of Hero Arts stamps the other day, these cute little mushrooms!!

I stamped a few Mushrooms and the little ladybut onto a piece of what cardstock and colored them in with my Copics. Then I added the sentiment.

Next, I worked on the layout, choosing 4 coordinating colors of gingham paper (from my scrap pile). I cut out 4 strips, rounded the corners, and adhered them to the white card base. They didn't stand out very well, so I used my black marker and drew some lines around them. I added some doodled lines around the focal image as well and adhered it.

A cute little bright and cheery card!!

Thanks for dropping in!

Donelda

Pop Can Leaf - Made with Love

Well, I was browsing around looking at some different challenges and realized that I could combine Kelly's challenge over at KL Stampin' N Scrappin where she wanted us to "Go Green" - use something you might have thrown away. I had an instant idea which I knew would work perfectly for the Saturday Spotlight challenge which was to "Mess Around" by distressing. I started out by pulling out my Ranger Distress Inks. Oh how I love them so!! But I find that I really need time to use them as I get so carried away. Creating one background leads to another and so on until I've created a dozen or so. (you'll be seeing all the others in the weeks to come LOL!!). Once I got the main background completed, then it was off to get green. I grabbed a pop can that was destined to be .... recycled... we don't just throw out our pop cans but I figure it still counts, right??!! I cleaned it out and then cut it until I had a flat silver surfact. Then I ran it through an embossing folder and punched out this devine little leaf! Love it!! I cut my circles, distressed everything a bit, sewed around the largest circle, distressed the main card base and then pulled the whole thing together! I certainly could have used my alcohol inks on these babies too...but I wanted this one to remain silver for today! Here is a close-up of the leaf. You'd never know that was a popcan!! Look at all that yummy metal in our homes just waiting to be used!! And you know that I was able to emboss and punch out a bunch of different shapes so you will also see those in the future!! Supplies: Fruitful, Background Basics: Text Style, Fancy Flourishes (all Papertrey Ink), Ink - Walnut Stain, Antique Linen, Peeled Paint, Broken China (all Ranger), Black; Paper - Kraft, White, green scrap (unknown); Other - pop can, Coluzzle, Fancy Corners embossing folder (Provo Craft), Leaves die (Provocraft), Cuttlebug (Provocraft), sewing machine, white thread, dimensional, sponges. Now I must go and see what everyone else did for both challenges!! MMmmmmm, what other 'throw aways' will everyone use, and will anyone else combine these challenges.... Have a great evening!! Donelda

Cards Blog Challenge - Different Shaped Card

Well, I am continuing to try to keep to my New Year's resolutions! I had 3 related to crafting: 1) Participate in more challenges, 2) Use what I have, and 3) make more masculine cards.

Well, this card fits all 3! I made this card for the Cards blog challenge to make a card that is any size but a square or rectangle. I decided to go with a star shape!

First, I stamped this large and small polkadot star on acetate using white StazOn ink.

While my stars dried, I cut the card base out of Kraft cardstock and then cut the main star from a piece of scrap blue paper. I added some faux stitching with my white gel pen around the edge of the blue star. I also created some pattern to the blue paper by clear embossing small stars. I then added the appropriate sentiment using white embossing powder.

When my stars were dry, I cut them out and then added the buttons and hemp to the centers. This allowed me to use a dimensional to pop the stars up as you can see in one of the smaller photos (click on it to get a closer view). You might also be able to see that I sponged a bit of ink around the edge of the Kraft cardstock to give the whole project a bit of dimension.

Supplies: Stamps: Limitless Labels, Everyday Classics (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Kraft (Stampin' Up!), blue (from scrap bin); Ink - Versamark, Antique Linen (Ranger), White (StazOn); Other-white embossing powder, clear embossing powder; buttons (Making Memories), hemp, dimensionals, white gel pen (Signo).

I hope you are having a good and stampy day!! I have been creating all morning and having lots of fun!!

Donelda

Loonie Stamper's Challenge - #80 - Luck

Wow, it is hard to believe that there have been 80 Loonie Stamper's Challenges!! Cool! This week was Julie's week to pick the colors. I thought they were perfect to make my St. Patrick's Day cards for my boys!!

Supplies: Stamps - Limitless Lables (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), New Leaf (Papertrey Ink); Paper - the colors listed above (all Papertrey Ink); Other - 1/2" circle punch, Threading Waters punch (Fiskars), dimensionals.

Gotta check out what those Loonie Girls did with these colors: Jewels, Char, Wendy, Maria, Dee, Regan Enjoy your weekend. Donelda

Baby Cards

Here are a few cute little baby cards. I had actually made them for a BasicGrey challenge but never got around to posting them in time (same old story!!). But I had to post them anyway because they are So cute!!

I started out with those little stickers of the cow and lamb. I got them at the Dollar Store in town. In the package, they come on a gross piece of shiny blue paper but I gently pulled that off. The pink (Smart from Sultry collection) and the blue sky papers are both BasicGrey. The green is a piece from my huge scrap pile and I cut little bits of grass along the top edge.

Supplies: Stamps - Everyday Classics, Mixed Messages, Borders & Corners {square} (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Jet Black (Ranger); Other - animal stickers (Dollar Store).

Thanks for dropping in to my blog! I am so happy that today is Friday. I am hoping to get lots of crafting done this weekend.

Donelda

smARTworks Cookie Challenge #14 - Swimmin'

Over on Susan's blog she has posted the 14th smARTworks Design Team Challenge. We were sent HSD Swimmin' to create cards! It was so much fun!!! I made a few cards because the options were too great to just stick with one!! The sad news....I can't seem to find a photo of my Swimmin' cards. I seem to do that on occasion... I'll look for them and post them if I find them....where can they be???????

Edited to add: Okay, I've looked everywhere and can't find the photos anywhere but I did find a photo of these little 3x3 cards I made using the set. The fish were stamped onto shrink plastic, colored, and shrunk! My son loved these!!! Anyway, you can check it out on Susan's blog.

BasicGrey, Papertrey, and Hero Arts

I made these 3 cards because of 2 of my New Years resolutions...to use what I have and to create masculine cards. Using some of my new Hero Arts stamps and some little used Papertrey Ink stamps and one sheet of BasicGrey paper, I pulled together these 3 different looking cards!! Supplies: Stamps - Asian Frames (Hero Arts), Autumn Abundance, Beyond Basic Borders, Around and About (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White, Chocolate Chip. Mellow Moss (Stampin' Up!), Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink), birch from Mellow collection (BasicGrey); Other - labels 2 die (Cuttelbug), paint brush, brown rhinstones (Dollarama), 1/4" circle punch, 1/8" circle punch, corner rounder (We R Memory Keepers), dimensionals. It really is amazing that you can make so many cards from one sheet of paper ... and that they can all look so different! Thanks for dropping in today! Have a stampin' great day!!! Donelda

Embellish Magazine - Birthday Color Challenge

I have had my Polka Dot Basics II from Papertrey Ink for some time but I haven't inked them up nearly enough yet! So, I decided to use them for the lates Embellish Magazine challenge. The twist this time was to use the colors and also make a birthday card. Also, Lucy's most recent challenge was to use polka dots on a card...guess this card fits that challenge as well!! bonus!!

You might remember that flower embellishment from THIS challenge.

Supplies: Stamps-Polka Dot Basics II, Everyday Basics, Background Basics: Retro (all Papertrey Ink); Ink - Enchanted Evening, Hibuscus Burst, New Leaf (Papertrey Ink), Chocoloate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Kraft, Whisper White (Stampin' up!), Bitty Dots (Papertrey Ink); Other - brown button (Papertrey Ink), hemp, flower dies and tag die (Spellbinders), sponge, floss (DCM).

Don't forget to check out the other post I have put up ...

Donelda

Black and White Bunny

I am totally in love with this adorable bunny!! He comes from the smARTworks set called Bunny Joy! While I originally thought it would require lots of coloring, turns out there is actually little needed if you want to keep the bunny white!! Stamps - Bunny Joy (smARTworks); Paper - Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), black and white designer paper (Creative Memories - from a friend - Hi Dawn!); Ink - Jet Black (Ranger); Other - color pencils (Prismacolor), ribbon (Michaels), dimensionals. Thanks for dropping in again to my little corner of blog world!! Donelda

Baily's Challenge - Pastel Wishes

I had recieved my "new inks" from Papertrey Ink, the new formulation and was showing the difference between the new and the old to my hubby and son (like they really care). When I was finished, my son looked at me and said, I challenge you to use those colors on a card. LOL!!! The son of a crafter, I guess!!

The new inks I got were Sweet Blush, Spring Moss, Lemon Tart, and Spring Rain. These (and Aqua Mist) were the ones I was having the most trouble with. All the other colors work fine for me in the old ink. And my son was right, they would make a great color combo!

After I saw the photo I had wished I'd made it into a baby card, but I had not thought of it when I was actually creating!!

Supplies: Stamps-Beyond Basic Borders, Faux Ribbon (Papertrey Ink); Inks - already mentioned!!; Other - Corner rounder (We R Memory Keepers).... and other than that, just a flat one layer card with ink!!

Thanks for dropping in.

Donelda

Saturday Spotlight - Around the House

The recent Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential challenge was to use a household item on your creation that is not a craft item.

Well, I walked around my house and then it hit me.... this would be a great idea!

Hehehehehe!!!

Supplies: Stamps - Paper Tray, Basic Backgrounds:Retro (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White, Kraft (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Creamy Caramel (Stampin Up!), Jet Black (Ranger); Other - bandage, oval die (Spellbinders), dimensionals.

Hope you are feeling great!! This is a long weekend for us here in Alberta - tomorrow is Family Day so I am hoping to get some more crafting in this weekend!! Make sure you drop back in to check!!

Donelda