Friday, September 13, 2013

Sending A Smile

I decided to try the 10 Minute Craft Dash today.
CD_25


Since it is allowed and I love sketches, I am adding Clean & Simple Sketch #256
 
I thought I was doing good on time, but when I was done the time was over 17 minutes :(  Ten minutes goes faster than I would have imagined.  At least I like my card.

 
It will be used as an Any Hero card for Operation Write Home.
 
 
 
Supplies:  Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye, Sentiment - PaperTrey Ink, Buttons - PaperTrey Ink, Cardstock & eyelets are from my stash


Hexagon Mom

I tried my hand at Seize the Sketch #3 which features hexagons

Originally I also wanted to use the Tuesday Trigger inspiration photo too, but life intervened and I did not get the cards finished in time.

 
I want ahead and used the ombre colors in purple anyway.
 
My first attempt is actually my favorite.
 

For card #2, I rotated the hexagons.  For some reason these hexagons were harder to place.
 

Card #3 has the hexagons tilted, as in the sketch.  I like them better straight but still like; the card.  I also tried a different background paper.
 
You may notice that they all say MOM.  I have a mother, a step-mother, and a mother-in-law.  Now I am already for Mother's Day 2014.
 
 
 
Supplies:  Patterned paper - 12 different purple prints, Cardstock - Bazzill Dotted Swiss Salt, Making Memories Pearl Swirl I Do & purple scraps,  Cutting - Silhouette for hexagons and letters, Fibers - assorted from my stash

 

Friday, September 6, 2013

Office Supply Father's Day

The challenge on the Shopping Our Stash blog was to use office supplies.  I thought using colored file folder labels would be fun and I found some paperclips I didn't even know I had.
 
 
I like everything but the ledger paper border.  The idea is good, but it needs something more.  Maybe if I mounted it on cardstock or put the file folder labels on the diagonal, hmmm. . .
 
I used sketch #255 from Clean&Simple stamping.
 
 
Products:  file folder labels, columnar pad paper, staples, paperclip, post-it note, stamp from Embossing Arts (1993)
 


 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Chalkboard Get Well

I think I was influenced by all the school things around lately to make a card that looks like an old fashioned child's chalkboard.


 
 Chicken soup for a sick friend.  I used watercolor pencils, which work just like colored pencils when no water is added, to give the bowl a bit of color and shade the title.


This card will be linked up with
  • Use It Tuesday - Trends
  • Paper Crafts Gallery Challenge - Chalkboard


Products:  Stamps - Stampin'Up & My Sentiments Exactly, Wood paper - Paper Pizazz, Cardstock - scraps of black, Ink - Fabrico white, Color - assorted watercolor pencils
 

Monday, September 2, 2013

VCM - Final Challenge

labor day vcmp
 
 
The final challenge was to use the negative of a punch or die.  They saved a hard one for the end when are brains are all mushy.
 
I made a card similar to this before with the packaging from some chili mix.
 
 
 
 
This card uses the Silhouette to cut the shapes out.  Bonus, I have the positive shapes for another card.  Gotta love two for one.  The sentiment was cut apart from three different sentiments. Silly me, I thought that would be easier than stamping all the letters.
 
 
 
Products:  Cardstock - Bazzil, Sentiment - PTI, Handmade paper - from my very old stash, Dies - Silhouette

VCMP #8 - Un-BEE-lievable Challenge

 
 
Can you bee-lieve this challenge?  We have to make a bee themed card with a bee themed sentiment.  I actually made this card previously for OWH, but never posted it.  It fit so perfectly with the category and I am bee-hind on the challenges.







Products:  Almost everything is from Stampin' Up, but is quite old.

VCMP #7 - Fall Any Sketch


labor day vcmp



Challenge #7 is to make a Fall card using any sketch.  I chose OWH sketch #4.








Products:  Patterned paper - PTI, BoBunny & unknown stack; Letter stickers - BasicGrey; Ribbon - unknown

VCMP #6 - Tic-Tac-Toe for Kids


labor day vcmp



Challenge #6 is to make a kids card using the tic-tac-toe board below.


 
When I first saw this I decided that the two I did not want to do were Punny Sentiments, since I have very few, and Kid-Friendly Embellishments.  I didn't know what this meant - embellishments that were safe for kids or embellishments that kids would like?   I chose a stamp set with robots - so things with wheels was my starting point.  After that I was all over the board.  I ended up with going straight down the middle with an addition for wheels on the right.  I suppose brads could be considered kid-friendly so I ended up doing the two I didn't want - oh well :)
 
  

 
 
 
Products:  Stamps - The Craft Lounge, Patterned paper - Creative Imaginations, Foil - a yogurt container, Colors - Sakura Gelly Roll & misc. other pens, Brads - unknown
 


VCMP - Sketch 188


 

labor day vcmp
 
 

188 sketch (Sept 1)






The sketch challenge is to make a card using this brand new sketch, number 188.  New OWH sketches come out every Sunday, so this was incorporated into the challenge.








I wanted a really neat embellishment so I chose that first, then the stripes, then the papers.


This is one of my favorite cards so far.  Old fashioned patriotic.



Products:  Cardstock - Stampin' Up, Patterned paper - unknown, Ribbon - from my stash, Embellishment - K & Company
 

VCMP #5 - Masking Tape Block Stamping




I had never heard of this technique before and was leery of trying it.  I finally decided to use a golden yellow background so it would look like farm fields in the fall with a chicken coop and chickens stamped on top.

First problem - I put the tape on the wrong way so it was vertically oriented instead of horizontal.  Second problem - the color came out too orange/bronze, shimmery, and drippy to look much like a field.  Third problem - the stamps covered up too much of the background.

I decided to go for a Fall card with a simple design.



Once it was done, I tried the technique again using four colors of mists and got two impressions out of it.  This is actually quite fun.

 
This one I embossed using copper powder.
 




Products:  Background colors - Tattered Angels mists, Ink - Kaliedacolor & Colorbox, Embossing - clear & copper powders, Stamps - PTI sentiment, Colorbok branch

VCMP #4 - Sketch 29 & Love


This is OWH,s sketch #29 that we were challenged to use in making a love card.




I turned the sketch sideways and used my Pick-up set, which I really like.




The hubcaps & bumper are colored with a silver glitter pen.  I used Diamond Glaze on the hearts and the windows. The shading came out better than I expected.  I guess I am learning something from Sandy after all.

Now that I look at it again, I should have layered the image onto red cardstock.  Oh well, you create and learn.


Products:  Stamp - Stampin' Up, Embellishment - JoAnn's, Patterned paper - BoBunny double dots, unknown red stripes, Color - assorted Tombow, Copic & other markers

VCMP #3 - Triple Die Cutting


Like most of us, I have seen the triple stamping technique before but never tried it.  As Seongsook says, it uses a lot of cardstock and comes out very thick.  Her technique is to use dies to cut the layers so you only use one piece of cardstock.

Since I didn't have the dies, I decided to be clever and cut them on my Silhouette.  Setting up the files was easy.  Figuring out the dimensions was harder.  Actually cutting them took some work since I am a newbie and still figuring out all the different settings for each type of paper/cardstock. 




Hopefully you can't tell that my patterned paper has two cuts in it.  By the time I was done, I had a too small set and a correct size but with cuts set.  I made cards with both since I didn't want to waste.  If anyone wants the dimensions I used and/or my method, just leave a comment below.


Products - all from my stash and I have no idea who made any of them

VCMP #2 - O + W + H



labor day vcmp



Challenge #2 is to use elements beginning with O, W & H on our card.  This is harder than I would have thought since not a lot starts with these letters.



O - oval pieces of cardstock
W - whipped cream, white dots
H - hot coffee, holly

As a special bonus, I used coffee scented embossing powder on the inside of the cup so it actually smells like coffee.

Products:  Stamp - an old (1998) stamp from Embossing Arts, Oval & scalloped oval were cut using my Silhouette, Patterned paper - old (2001) Bo Bunny, Ribbon & cardstock - scraps









VCMP #1 - Inchies




I am playing along with OWH's Virtual Card Making Party this weekend (in between getting useful stuff done like laundry and vacuuming). 








The first challenge was to use this sketch.  I have never worked with inchies before.  I discovered they are hard to cut using a paper trimmer due to the small size - lots of fuzzy edges.









My card has a winter/snowflake theme.  While tying the ribbon, I noticed flakes of silver coming off it.  This card now goes into the Danger! Danger! category for glitter so it won't be going to OWH.


 

I made another one that is OWH safe and tried the technique of using a brad to secure the ribbon.  It worked very well.

 
 
 
Products:  all from my stash and I don't know where most came from