Foxy Lady

(Note : Tonight is Papertrey Inks' Blog Hop so drop in later for my Blog Hop card!!!) Hey everyone! You will remember THESE little cards (scroll down a little) I made a little while ago. Well, I loved the idea so much, I had to make another one because this little sentiment kept running around my head!!

Keep smilin'

Donelda

CAS29 - Anthropologie Inspiration

(Note - sorry for the horrible photo - yikes!) Jen gave a really hard challenge 29 over on the CAS challenge thread. She asked us to go to a store called Anthropologie and specifically into the Shoes and Bags section and use an image as inspiration. At first I thought there was no way I was going to be able to come up with something...but then I saw THIS PURSE and my creative brain kicked into gear and I created this!! Yes, that is real leather!! The black is from an old wallet my hubby was going to throw away (can you imagine!!) and the brown leather is from an old purse I used to tote around with me. Kept them both because I knew they would come in hand some day!! Supplies: Stamps - Fun with Shapes (again, I've been using this a lot lately, Stampin' Up! retired); Ink - Black; Paper - Really Rust (Stampin' Up!); Other - leather from old purses and wallets, corner rounder. Enjoy your day!! Donelda

BasicGrey Challenge - Week 2

So BasicGrey is back with their challenges and I am really glad. It makes me use some of their delicious papers instead of hoarding them, like I seem to do!!

This week, the challenge was a color challenge ... brown, pink, and yellow. That was easy enough and encouraged me to cut into my extra piece of Langley from the Porcelain collection (see I buy one to keep and one to cut...hehehe I can still hoard that way). I also knew this cute little kitty with the big bow from smARTworks would be a perfect image. I colored it in with a combination of Prismacolor pencil crayons and ink.

I added the yellow strip at the bottom that has some clear embossed polka dots.

Supplies: Stamps - Do You See What I See (smARTworks), sentiment is from Birds of a Feather, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Select White, Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink), Langly designer paper from Porcelain collection (BasicGrey); Ink - Black (Rnager); Other - clear embossing powder, pencil crayons (Prismacolor), odorless thinner, stubs, brown satin ribbon (Michaels), scallop scissors (Provo Craft), dimensionals.

Make sure you pop over to the BasicGrey Challenge site to see what everyone else created with this lovely color combo.

Donelda

3x3 With Gratitude

If you follow Kristina Werner's blog you might recognize this card. She did one HERE only hers was a smaller 3x3 card and done on kraft cardstock. I did mine on Sahara Sand cardstock but it seemed kinda "bland" so I took some Chocolate Chip reinker and a toothbrush and splashed on some dots of color. I liked the results so much better. I might go back and round the corners because I think they will look better. Repeated patterns in your stamping is fun and a great way to create interesting one layer cards.

Supplies: Stamps- Garden of Life, Spiral Bouquet (Papertrey Ink) Of a Feather (Memory Box) {I've been trying to find a way to use that little "sign holder" as I like to refer to it and thought it would work great here}; Ink - pink (Color Box), Chocolate Chip (SU!); Paper - Sahara Sand (SU!); Other - Chocolate chip reinker (SU!), and an old toothbrush!!! :D Have a great Sunday!! Donelda

Inspiration Day 3 - Boutonnier Inspiration

So I was blogging around the other day and I happened upon a site called Muscari that sells boutonniers and other wedding stuff. It is pretty high scale stuff and beautiful!!

In particular, I saw this boutonnier and loved it. I instantly thought it would make a great embellishment for a card (isn't that what all us card makers think when we see something beautiful!! ) So, I decided to use it as Inspiration!!

On that same day, I happened to be watching some of Gina K's Stamp TV videos and saw THIS ONE on Inking a Cuttlebug Folder. I had to try it out. In the end, I put the background and the boutonnier together!!

Supplies: Stamps - Wishing You (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Glorious Green, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Other - Cuttlebug Leaf Embossing Folder and machine, Oval Die Nestabilities, Primas, button, dark brown satin ribbon (Michaels), leaf, feather.

Have you had INSPIRATION today??? If so, I'd love to hear about it!! Are you inspired by this amazing boutonnier?? or maybe something else from the Muscari site!! If you create something from this inspiration I'd love to see it!! Make sure you leave a comment and a link to your creation!!

Have a great and INSPIRING day!!

Donelda

Tin Foil Luck

So it is Friday and that means the Loonie girls set another challenge! I like to play along because being Canadian, I consider myself a little Loonie too!! And they are really nice gals!!

So today they truely proved they were as loonie as get out!! It was Maria's turn to pick a challenge and she picked "aluminum foil". That's right... can you believe it!! Now what in the world am I going to do with tin foil?? As soon as I read it, I started to laugh because waaaaay back when I first started visiting Splitcoaststampers there was a thread that was to share your ugliest card. Well, there were a lot of ugly cards but the one that was ultimately the ugliest was this one made with tin foil!! It was UUUUUUGGGGGLLLLYYYYY (I'm not being mean, the creator herself openly admitted that it was an ugly card and we all had a good laugh over it!!).

Anyway, I pulled out my cuttlebug and a small folder and embossed the tinfoil (that was attached to some cardstock). Then I punched it out with a 1" circle punch. I like the look of it, kinda like a medallion. I decided to create this "scrapling" card (You might remember THIS, THIS, THIS, THIS, and THIS scrapling - yes, I enjoy making this size). I added this teeny tiny "luck" sentiment which is actually one word of a sentiment (good luck) in the Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink) set. I like it with the medallion and the colors...kinda oriental looking.

Now I can hardly wait to go see what all those Loonie girls did with this one!!

Maria, Dee, Char, Regan, Wendy, Jewels

Have a great evening!

Donelda

Obsessed with Clean and simple - Take 5

So here is another card for the Fall DT challenge cards over at SCS. This challenge is for the Autumn card challenge. It was a really really CAS card. Stamped the wheat image, drew the square with a brown marker, then added the sentiment. Easy peasy!! I love to doodle lines around my cards as they just feel 'finished' that way!! Supplies: Stamps - wheat (Cornish Heritage Farms), Rustic Branches - sentiment (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), designer paper scrap from my stash; Other - Chocolate Chip marker. Thanks for dropping in. Donelda

Obsessed with Clean and Simple - Take 4

Another Clean and Simple card I made for the Fall DT Challenges over on Splitcoaststampers. I made a bunch and I'm showcasing them this week here on my blog but you can see them all on my SCS gallery (see right). This card started out with that cup of hot chocolate. Last week a friend was over (hi Dawn) making Christmas cards. She left some designer paper that she was using that had these great cups of hot chocolate. I decided I wanted to punch out one of the cups and use it on a card. This is the result! I really like this sentiment with the cup. It is a long clear acrylic stamp by Papetrey Ink so I put it onto my acrylic block in the shape of a circle ... one of the benefits of working with acrylic stamps!! Supplies: Stamps - Made of Snow (Papertrey Ink), Text Boxed-the small snowflakes (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Other - Spring Rain grosgrain ribbon(Papertrey Ink), circle and scallop dies (Nestabillities), Cuttlebug, dimensionals. The desinger paper also had a green and a yellow mug...guess what you'll see in my pile of Christmas cards this season :D Enjoy. Donelda

Obsessed with Clean and Simple - Take 3

So here is a 3rd card that I made for the Fall DT call for the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenges. The challenges that Jen posted sounded like a ton of fun so I thought I'd play, regardless!!

This time, I decided to try out an Autumn card (some of my favorite to make!!).

I started out this card by stamping the square stamp using Close to Cocoa onto Very Vanilla cardstock. Then I added these leaves that I made. They were simple, 3 colors of Twinkling H2O's onto watercolor paper and then stamped with the leaf images. I finished it off with a solid sentiment stamped with black ink.

This square stamp has been hiding in my "extra stamps" box and now that I have found it I think it might be used much more often, especially for CAS cards!!

Don't forget, you can see all of my CAS cards on my SCS gallery (see the link to the right) if you are interested. I'll be back tomorrow with Take 4.

Donelda

Obsessed with Clean and Simple - Take 2

So here is another card for the fall Design Team call for the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenges. I have no doubt other wonderful stampers will be picked but I loved the challenges so decided to play!! This is a card based on THIS card layout (wowzers - that's a great card). I started out using these great pine trees by smARTworks! and then I added some swirls by Rhonna Ferrer and blinged it up a bit with some Stardust Stickles. A big organdy bow was all that was needed to finish it off! I will be posting all of my cards I did for the DT call over this week but if you want to check them out right away you can see them all on my SCS gallery (see link to the right). Thanks for dropping in again today. Donelda

Clean and Simple (CAS) Challenge 28 - Masculine CAS Cards

Some very CAS cards. I had planned to use the Wildlife Reserve (SU! retired) set but then couldn't decide what animal to use so I decided to pick the 4 most masculine animals and make a bunch!!

Images are colored with Prismacolor pencil crayons and blended with odorless paint thinner.

I used small sentiments from Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink) -- because you know guys...they don't want lots of mushy stuff on thier cards! :D

You can see each individual card on my Splitcoaststampers Gallery (see link to the right).

Thanks for dropping in!!

Donelda

Obsesssed with Clean and Simple - Take 1

Okay, so Jen over at the Splitcoaststampers is looking for a Design Team for the Clean and Simple challenges. - Fall session. Well, I totally doubt that I'll be picked but you all know how much I love that Clean and Simple style and the challenges set by Jen were so much fun!

So, I started...and like usual, I just couldn't stop!! I will be displaying all of my cards this week but if you can't wait, you can see them all on my Splitcoaststamper's gallery (see the link on the right).

So, here is my first entry based on the layout shown HERE by girlydecou. What a great layout!!

I really like how this card turned out. I don't usually use vellum because I hate trying to attach it! But I think it was a great alternative than ribbon for this card. I might even make a few others to send out for Christmas cards.

Supplies: Stamps-Snowflakes (Stampin' Up! - retired), Believe (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Versamark; Paper - Night Sky Shimmer cardstock (Papertrey); Other - white embossing powder, pearls (K&Co.)

Oh yeah, and I'm also making this my Loonie Stamper's card #53. The challenge this week was to make a man card using the newest blue from Papertrey Ink. Well, I don't have any so I am substituting this blue from PTI instead :D (smart hey!!) and it kinda looks like a man card...maybe??!! Check out the Loonie ladies cards: Dee, Jewels, Maria, Wendy, Char, Regan.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another card I made for the Design Team call.

Thanks for dropping in!

Donelda

Inspiration Day 2 - Snowflake Wreath

Welcome to another Inspiration Day!

Today I took my inspiration from this snowflake I bought at the end of last winter when all the Christmas merchandise was on sale. My actual plans for it is to adhere photos of my son and send it off to my parents for an early Christmas present. But in the meantime, it hangs in my craft space and is my inspiration for today's card.

So I started out my wreath card by stamping the snowflakes with Buckaroo Blue ink onto Buckaroo Blue cardstock (this is one of my favorite blues ... too bad I didn't buy extra paper and ink before it retired). Then, I added more snowflakes with white embossing powder. A hook and small sentiment were embossed with silver and then I used my new silver Sharpie pen to put some silver around to edge of the focal point. This designer paper I've had for a long time but the colors were perfect. I attached some white satin ribbon and overlaid it with a bit of silver cording.

So, does this neat snowflake wreath inspire you?? If so, I'd love to see what you do with it!! (I'm totally trying to get some Christmas cards done early this year!!). Leave me a comment and a link to your inspired creation. :D

Donelda

Supplies: Stamps: Snowflakes (Stampin' Up!), Take a Bough, Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Buckaroo Blue, Versamark (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Whisper White, Buckaroo Blue (Stampin' Up!), winter paper from my scrap bin; Other - white satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), silver cord (scrap bin), dimensionals, silver pen (Sharpie), corner rounder.

Susan's Challenge

Okay, so Susan, my bloggin buddy is the queen of Clean and Simple stamping. She issued a challenge on her blog yesterday for us to use what we had to create a CAS card based on her Christmas Text cards. I took up her challenge and arrived at this!

Supplies:Stamps - Take a Bough (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Antique Linen (Ranger); Other - pencil (stars were traced and cut by hand), sponge (Ranger) and stars and edge of card was lightly sponged.

Did you take the challenge??

Donelda

Enjoy the Moments

It is grey and cloudy here and it is sucking my creative mojo out of me!! So here is a pretty simple card - hey, it's all I can muster on a mojoless day!!

This is a background that I created a while ago based on THIS background technique I learned from Dina. I also had this stamped image for a long time and thought it would go well with the colors on the background. A tiny sentiment from Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink) is a perfect fit! A little colored hemp and some dimensionals was all that was needed to finish the card.

If you haven't tried this background yet, you must!! It is such a great way to use up scraps!! I could probably make about 500 of them and still have scraps left over!! And, you must go check out all of the examples that Dina has over on her blog. She is the queen of creating beautiful cards with these backgrounds!!!

Enjoy!!

Donelda

CAS26 - Shimmery Butterfly Birthday

So I did have a chance to create another challenge card. This time it is for the Clean and Simple (CAS) challenge #27 where Jen wanted us to use 'bling' on our cards. I had a ton of help with this card. First of all, many of you might recognize it. I totally CASED it from Lucy as you can see HERE. I few changes...but not many!! I loved her card and was wanting to try one of those die shaped cards. One difference was that I used watercolor paints to get the purple background. The beautiful butterfly is from the smARTworks set BF-04 Sm. Trio. After coloring the butterfly with pencil crayons, I smeared it with Star Dust Stickles!! This was a la Jennifer McGuire as you can see in her video HERE. If you haven't checked out all her videos, you must!! I really like the end results (but make sure you let it dry before trying to put the card together - don't ask my why I know this!!). Supplies: Stamps-BF-04 Sm. Trio (smARTworks), Birthday Basics (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Basic Black (Stampin' Up!), Versamark; Paper - Kraft, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper; Other - white embossing powder, Star Dust Stickles (Ranger), crochet yarn, Labels 1 dies (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), watercolor paints, paint brush. Well, that is one more challenge to add to my completed list. I also spent the evening sorting out my scrap bin and found a ton of great backgrounds and images I've colored in over the last few months. You'll likely be seeing them in the next few weeks as I hope to use some up! Thanks for dropping in! Donelda

Inspiration Challenge - Tall Celebrate

Since I am still on vacation, I have been able to play in a bunch of challenges that I don't usually get to do! Today I decided to try the SCS Inspiration Challenge #192 where we were given the Bellacor section on a home furnishing site and asked to use one fo the vases as inspriation. Well, this was totally easy for me once I saw this crazy vase!! I had bought this little stamp a few weeks ago and was anxious to use it!! Do you think it was a perfect match...or what!!?? The background is made using my very neglected Fun With Shapes set from Stampin' Up (retired). I also thought it would be cute to have the sentiment running up his body to emphasize the tallness of the image. Recently I have found Lucy's blog and noticed that she uses the greatest "string" but I couldn't figure out what kind it was. She was kind enough to leave me a message and tell me it is crochet yarn. I love it!! and tied some around the bottom of the focal image. Supplies: Stamps - Fun with Shapes, Everyday Flexible Phrases (Stampin' Up - both retired), Giraffe (Imaginisce); Ink - Walnut Ink (Ranger), More Mustard (SU!); Paper - Kraft, White (SU!); Other - blender pen, crochet yarn, corner rounder, dimensionals. Thanks for dropping in!! One more week of vacation --- how many more challenges do you think I can get in before heading back to work????? Donelda

Inspiration Day 1 - K&Co. Que Sera Sera brads

I love to find objects and images that inspire me and make cards based on that inspiration!! Just ask my co-workers, I'm always walking around saying things like "wow, that shirt would make a great card" or "Look, you have pumpkin pie and chocolate chip on today". Hehehehe!! So I've decided to do an Inspiration Day. It will be on Saturday of each week and I will show you what inspired my card and then the card I created. Today's inspiration comes from these fabric brads from K&Co. I found them in the $1.50 bin at Michaels and went crazy because I almost bought them when they were full price!!

I decided they would work perfectly with the Marrakech paper collection by BasicGrey (and any of you who follow my blog know that I am trying to use some of my lovely hoarded BasicGrey papers). This eastern flair of the brad and paper made me think of the eastern style background stamp from the Background Basics: Retro set so I decided to use that as well. I cut some fo the Madagascar Mint paper (because the color was a perfect match to the fabric on one of the small brads) and stamped the background on it with Chocolate Chip ink. Then, I added a small strip of the Chai paper along the bottom and a thick strip of Dark Chocolate cardstock with the sentiment and brad. There was something missing so I pulled out a small strip of Raspberry Fizz cardstock which went perfectly with the design on the brad and adhered it to the top of the brown cardstock. The sentiment and dots are done with white embossing powder to make sure it stands out. I love the eastern flair of this card. :D If you decide to be inspired by these fabric brads (whether you use them or just use them as inspiration) please leave me a link. I'd love to see your eastern inspired card!! I'd love to hear your thoughts about my idea for Inspiration Day!! Leave me a comment!! Thanks for dropping in. Donelda Supplies: Stamps-Background Basics:Retry, Wishing you {sentiment} (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink), Madagascar Mint and Chai from Marrakech collection (BasicGrey); Ink - Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!), Versamark; Other - Que Sera Sera Fabric Brads (K&Co.), white embossing power, corner rounder.

Loonie Stamper's Challenge #52 - Thinking Flowers

It's Friday and that means another Loonie Challenge. This time it is an inspiration picture (ooooh, you must check back here tomorrow to find out more about "inspirations"!! *wink*). Although there are colors along the side the instructions said to simple do whatever you want with this awesome inspiration piece. Well, at first I totally wanted to do something with the swirls in there but my eye kept going to that cluster of blue, yellow, and red lower in the top left corner of the pillow....so that is what I did!! Using the sentiment circle from the Borders & Corners {circles} set, I created my flowers. A stem, polka dots, ribbon and a card base....and a card was born!! I bet the Loonie girls did some great stuff with this inspiration piece...go check them out: Wendy, Maria, Dee, Char, Regan, Jewels Like I said above, you need to come back and see my blog tomorrow. I have a new feature on Saturdays that I think will be a lot of fun :D Thanks for dropping in!! Donelda Supplies: Stamps-Borders & Corners {circles}, Polka Dot Basics, Spiral Bouquet (all Papertrey Ink); Ink - Bravo Burgundy, Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Always Artichoke (all Stampin' Up!); Paper - Whisper White, Brocade Blue, So Saffron (Stampin' Up!); Other - white ribbon (colored Bravo Burgundy by using a sponge dauber), clear embossing powder (covering the polka dots), dimensionals, corner rounder.

Fall To Layout 53 - Forever and Always

I love the Clean and Simple Stamping blog by Natasha and the girls. They have great "fall to" layouts and colors and do a "10 minute monday" feature! Great stuff if you love Clean and Simple stamping!

I really liked the Fall To Layout 53 and decided to give it a whirl (hmmm, my new fav. word). Since I don't own that uber awesome medallian stamp from Stampin' Up (it is awesome!!) I had to get creative. I combined a number of clear stamps from Papertrey Ink to create this circular image in Vintage Cream ink. I simple drew a circle on the green designer paper for placement and erased it when I was done. An addition of a center piece and sentiment makes for an elegant yet simple card.

Supplies: Stamps: Demask Designs, Guide Lines 2, Corners and Borders {circles}, Wedding Day, First Fruits (all Papertrey Ink); Ink - Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink), Basic Black (SU!), Olive Pastel (ColorBox); Paper - Vintage Cream, True Black (Papertrey Ink), Back side of Limeade (WeRMemory Keepers); Other - 1 1/4" circle punch, pencil.

It was so much fun creating this circular image by combining all those stamps! I just might need to create a few of these in different colors!

Thanks for dropping in!

Donelda

Birthday Feathers

It has been a long time since I have played along with the sketch challenge at SCS so I decided to go with it tonight.

I really wanted to use these awesome feather stamps by smARTworks. Then, I decided to actually cut some of my BasicGrey paper collection ... I know, gasp right!! But everything but the main card base is BasicGrey ... even the piece I stamped on!!! Yeah for me :D

I am really loving that dark chocolate and chartruesse color together!!

Supplies: Stamps-Feathers (smARTworks); Ink - Walnut Stain (Ranger); Paper-Dark Brown (Bazzill), Chardonnay from the Periphery collection (BasicGrey); Other - 1/4" circle punch, dimensionals, sponge tool (Ranger).

Enjoy....maybe I'll cut even more of this delicious paper... mmmmmm

Donelda

Basic Grey Challenges are back!!!

After my computer crashed a number of months ago, I set to work trying to find and link up to all my favorite blogs and sites again. I looked and looked for the Basic Grey Challenge blog...but couldn't find it anywhere!! Strange!! Well, I decided to try looking for it again tonight since I bravely pulled out a pack of Basic Grey paper and actually cut into it tonight!! Wow, that's so impressive for me!! Turns out that the reason I couldn't find the site was because they were updating it!! It looks all bright and cheery now. And there is blog candy to be won too!! So you should pop on over and take a look!! BASICGREY CHALLENGES Enjoy!!

Clean and Simple (CAS) Challenge 26 - Stitching

Another Monday, another Clearn and Simple (CAS) challenge!! This time, Jen wanted us to use stitching on our cards. That is an easy one for me as I love the home-spun feel of stitching on a card. I pulled out one of my favorite stamp sets from Stampin' Up called All Through the Year (it might be retired, I'm not sure). I used my markers on the images and stamped them onto some white cardstock. Then, I used my sewing machine and some white thread and stitched all around the image. I loved how they turned out but then I was totally stumped on what to do with them. I ended up creating 3 different layouts. On this acorn image, I used the CAS25 challenge layout. I really like how the Basic Grey paper (which was in my scrap bin) went nicely with the image. For the cherries, I simply added the strip of K&Co. paper and popped the image up on dimensionals. Finally, the leaf image needed a bit more since it was more simplistic being only one color. I really had this pinking sheer idea in my head and thought about using it on all the images but I really liked it best with this leaf image. A few polkadots on an additional strip of green to complete the layout. Supplies: Stamps- All Through the Year (Stampin' Up!), Polka Dot Basics, Mixed Messages and Limiteless Lables (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Garden Green, Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Whisper White, Garden Green (Stampin' Up!), red stripe/polkadot (K&Co.), unknown brown scrap (Basic Grey - purchased long before I fell in love with these papers); Other - sewing machine, white thread, dimensionals, pinking sheers, Dark Chocolate twill (Papertrey Ink). So, what have you made lately that has some form of stitching?? and faux stitching always counts :D Thanks for dropping in! Donelda

New Journey in Life

We were so excited to hear that my nephew asked his girlfriend to marry him!! I can't believe he is actually old enough....I remember when he was born!! We were lucky enough to meet his fiancee when we were on vacation and she is a bright, beautiful, and lovely girl!! We are so excited to have her as part of our family!! Anyway, we brought this card for them to express our happiness. I know they will enjoy this new journey in their lives together!! Supplies: Stamps - Birds of a Feather (Papertrey Ink), Flourishes v.2 (Rhonna Farrer); Paper - Kraft, White (Stampin Up!), Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink); Ink-Aqua Misk (Papertrey Ink), Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!); Other - Aqua Mist satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), sewing machine and white thread.

Well, thanks for dropping in tonight!

Donelda