Inspired By Challenge Entry IB187

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Happy Sunday everyone!! 

I am popping quickly today with a card that I created for this weeks Inspired By Challenge #IB187. I am hoping they are going to accept it as I DID NOT make a fall card.

Instead, I used the black window, the wood sentiment board and the yellow flowers and blueish eucalyptus branch as my color inspiration.

I started off by swishing Hero Arts *Unicorn Pigment Ink across the front of a Kraft A2 sized card base. I then die cut a frame using the Spellbinders *Candlewick Etched Dies from Hero Arts Pitch Black Cardstock. (and a shout out here-*Spellbinders is having a warehouse sale. I spent a lot of money there myself this week-don't tell my husband!!)

I used Simple Stories Vintage Lemon Twist *die cuts and stickers on this card for my embellishments. The gingham paper is from the Simple Stories Vintage Lemon Twist 6" by 8" paper pad. 

I popped some of my embellishments up with foam adhesive and added some clear sparkle pen in some areas. Other areas I used *Glossy Accents to enhance a portion of my die cut. 

I bought some Nuvo Vintage Peppermint Candy colored drops and used them to create the "enamel" dots to finish my card off.

I know I didn't use "traditional" stamps on my card but I really like how this came out. I have a couple more that I created but will post them at a later date. 

That is all from me today. I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a FABULOUS Sunday!!

There is a NEW CHALLENGE up at Cupcake Inspirations Blog

Hello all my friends!! Today there is a NEW CHALLENGE up at Cupcake Inspirations Blog. It is a color challenge for the next two weeks. Use the colors Aqua, Blue and Brown on your card. I kind of mixed up my colors and used some blue too.

The inspiration for my card came directly from the photo for Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #525. 

I did not want to color my frosting aqua so I made it vanilla with aqua tones. The cupcake paper I chose to color in a deeper shade of the aqua.

I chose to make the cupcake "chocolate" so that is where my color brown came in. Yes, it is just a touch but this challenge is how YOU interpret it, right?

The cupcake image is from My Favorite Things *Mice Day to Celebrate stamp set. I used Copic markers to color it in an Stickles in *Christmas Red and *Ice Blue for sprinkles on top of the cup cake.

The sentiment is from a retired Sweet and Sassy Stamp set. The background stripe is my FAVORITE element on this card. This is a retired My Favorite Things Diagonal Stripe Cling. I forgot I even had this stamp and need to spend a day making some backgrounds!!

I die cut the stripe and white panels with the Lawn Fawn *Stitched Rectangle Dies. 

I had a lot of fun creating this card and I hope you will join us at the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge to create a project of your own! Be sure to hop on over and see what the other Design Team Members Created. 

I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by. I hope you have a FABULOUS day!!

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Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #523-A Color Challenge

Hello everyone!! Just popping in with a card for this weeks Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #523.  

This week the design team is playing with Di's Digital Stamps on their cards. HOWEVER, I don't have any of these so I chose to do a more graphic card, using die cuts as my design element. 

The challenge this time around is a color challenge. Can you guess which colors we had to use?

In the badge, the yellow and blue are really bright. I toned mine down a bit by using a slightly different shade of both colors. 

I used Simon Says Stamps Geometric Square Builders to die cut pattern paper from My Minds Eye's Tutti Frutti paper collection, Bo Bunny's Lemonade Stand collection and a gingham scrap from Lawn Fawn. I wanted the design to be simple as I wasn't sure how these squares would look together when done.

The sentiment is stamped using The Ton's Easy Expression sentiment stamp and matching die. I added some sequins around the sentiment to give it more emphasis.

I was not sure how I was going to do this challenge but I LOVE how my card came out. I know that this color mix is not the usual to use for a more graphic card but I think it all pulls together nicely.

Please hop on over to the Cupcake Inspirations Blog to join us in the latest challenge and to see the other beautiful projects the Design Team created. I cannot wait to see what you create!!

I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by today. Have a FABULOUS day!!

Wishing I was at the Beach and a Critter Card

 Hello friends!!!

It is a very rainy day in Connecticut. I brought my daughter down to the beach yesterday to stay with my sister at her cottage and it was so sunny. I wish I had been able to stay but had appointments and couldn't fit it in. Chris and I were going to go down and spend half the today but the weather is just not cooperating. I am not complaining because I would rather have rain than a drought.

Today I am popping in with two cards I created for some challenges. The first is a challenge I have just heard of and decided to play along. It is the Inspiration Station Challenge.

The challenge was to use the photo below as my inspiration for the Inspiration Station Challenge #9-Sun, Sea, and Sand. I also was inspired by the Card Concept Challenge #158-Long Summer Days.

When I think of the beach, I think of lighthouses. I was lucky enough to vacation in Cape Cod when I was little with friends. The two things I remember are the lighthouses and the sand dunes. Cape Cod is the home of 22 lighthouses. This includes the lighthouses on the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. I decided to create a lighthouse card in honor of those vacations.

I used CottageCutz Lighthouse die to create this. I die cut my lighthouse out of red and white paper. I then used gray Copic marker to make some shadows.

The background was created by blending Salty Ocean Distress Ink on the bottom and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to shade the sky. I added some clouds and seagulls that I had die cut using CottageCuz Lighthouse w/ Clouds die. 

The sentiment is from PaperTrey Ink. I had a retirement card to make for a friend so this was the perfect die to use!!

I LOVE how this card came out and I hope my friend likes it too. Oh how I WISH I was retiring right now.

For my next card, I am playing with two new TO ME challenges.  Crafty Animals Challenge #52-Anything Goes and 2 Crafty Critter Crazies #52-Anything Goes. 

Both challenges you could make a card for any occasion but it had to have a critter on it. I chose to break out my never before used My Favorite Things Birdie Brown Mice Day to Celebrate stamps and matching dies to create a birthday card. 

The background is a piece of pattern paper that was left over from another project, as well as the green triangle underneath the mouse.

The mouse itself was colored in with Copic Markers. I did a dot technique all over the critter. You might wonder why I decided to color him/her in gray. The mice that we catch in our house all happen to be this color. (They tend to find their way in to our upstairs in the winter. We have not figured out how, though.)

The sentiment is from the same Mice Day stamp set and I added some sequins around the little birthday mouse to make it a bit more festive. I love the way this came out and cannot wait to create another card with this set!!!

I have just recently become an Affiliate of My Favorite Things and if you use my links, I will earn money at no extra cost to you!! (I am playing around with it as I am really not 100% knowledgeable on how it works.) July 6-July 9 they are having a 15% off sale site wide (in-stock products only), no code, so there is till time to shop!!! 

That is all from me today. I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by. I hope you have a FABULOUS day!!

Popping in With Some Cards

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Happy Sunday!! Just popping in with some cards I created this weekend with some cards I created using some challenges. 

My first card I created for Freshly Made Sketches #491.  

I have been trying to have my own internal challenge to use some of the supplies I have. I have SO MUCH pattern paper that I decided the sketch was perfect to use some up. Below is the sketch that inspired my card.

I also have some stickers that I needed to use. Do you ever used stickers on your cards? I decided when I created some of my cards that I would add them to some of my cards.

I used paper from a 12" by 12" paper pad I bought from Michael's. The little frame was even fussy cut from a piece.

The watering can is a Carta Bella element sticker sheet from the Flower Market collection. The yellow flower is from Carta Bell's Spring Market element stickers. 

The watering can had light polka dots that I decided to emphasize by adding some White Nuvo Crystal Drops. The sentiment was from my stash that is stamped and die cut. I am not sure who created it.

For my second card, I created a card for a CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge #425.

I had so much fun making this card!! Again, I used a combination of stickers from the same sticker sheets. The pattern paper used is from 49 and Market Vintage Artistry Vintage Sage paper collection.

The sentiment is from My Favorite Things Bitty Birthday Wishes sentiment set. The greenery was die cut using Altenew Branches and Berries dies that were die cut from Neenah Solar White cardstock and shaded with two shades of Distress Ink-Mowed Lawn and Rustic Wilderness.

I die cut the circles using a retired Shaker Die from My Favorite Things and a Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Rectangle die for the background paper. 

I am so in love with how this card came out!! I am not sure it is up to a CAS design because I used pattern paper but it is a card that I have in my stash. I am notorious for not getting birthday cards out in time. My daughter makes fun of me for this. A card maker who forgets to send out cards.

On another note, I have been having a FABULOUS summer. I am trying to go on a few "adventures" a couple times a week. This past week I went walking with a friend, out to lunch and then to a fun antique store. I love old things and the younger generation does not appreciate them as much as my generation does.

Well that is all from me tonight. I thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a FABULOUS night!

 

A New Post for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

 Happy Wednesday!! I have been MIA as of late due to exhaustion from my job. I have 19 more days of school until we break for summer but who is counting!!! This has been a long year and I will be happy to see it end. I have been in school since August and I do not have much patience left in me to prod the students to complete their assignments. They are over this year too. 

Today I am over at the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog with a simple birthday card. Use the link to see how I created my card. Below is a sneak peek:

I received a new free stamp set from Altenew today. I was so excited as my day was a little rough.

It is always fun to get a little envelope filled with something in the mail!!! I am hoping that I can use this set tonight to create a card.

On another note, I was able to go to the nursery this past weekend and got a bunch of different annuls and a couple perennials to plant in my gardens. 

I spent Mother's Day afternoon planting them in various places. I have to admit that I do not have a green thumb but I try!! I did not take any after photos as I didn't use gloves and my hands were a MESS. Am I the only one who likes the feel of getting dirt on their hands from gardening?

I still have to plant my veggies but need to figure out a plan because my dogs LOVE to dig in my veggie garden. 

Well, that is all from me today. Perhaps I will post again later this week as I have been making cards but just not posting on my blog. Do not forget to hop on over to my post on the CAS-ual Fridays Blog. I thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a FABULOUS day!!

Happy Birthday using Die Cuts

 Happy Thursday!! Just came home from the dentist. I have a Bite Splint that I have to wear at night for my teeth clenching and I broke the plastic on it biting down on it too hard. What are the chances of that? To make it worse, insurance won't cover it because it is the second one in two years I have had to get.  Ugg! All from STRESS!! Anyway, enough about my teeth!

Today I am popping in with a card I created using mostly pre-made die cuts. I am going to admit something. I have an addiction to buying ephemera...and then rarely using it. When I saw this weeks Global Design Project's Challenge #GDP284, I knew exactly what I was going to use. 

The actual challenge was to CASE the Designer, Krista Fratt's card below:

The first thing that I was inspired by was the blue background color. I pulled out some Carta Bella Paper-Garden Melody-with a blue stripe and die cut it with a double stitched rectangle from Gina Marie Designs. I added the paper to a white, Neenah, top folding card base. 

I then added a rick rack border die cut using an MFT die. I added a paper strip of plaid paper underneath the rick rack.

I then basically started playing with my collection Pinkfresh Studio ephemera from the Joyful Day and Indigo Hills collections. The placement of the two circles together over a label were inspired by Krista's card. The label had some writing on it so I added a flower under my birthday strip.

I then needed to balance the layout of the card so I used foam adhesive under the heart and added a flower with a "leaf," which is really a banner. My last step was to add some  red berry Nuvo Crystal Drops to accent the flowers. 

I totally LOVE how this came out and it was so fun to make!! I think I am going to use a different sketch and use more ephemera for a card this weekend.

I am also going to enter this card into this weeks Watercooler Wednesday Challenge. This week it is Helen's All About Occasions Challenge.

Well, that is all from me today. I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a FABULOUS day!