There is Still Time to Play at Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #590

Hey Friends!!!

There is still time to play at the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #590. It is a theme challenge this round-TROPICAL.

For my card, I used some dies from Paper Trey Ink-the Go-to-Gift Card Holder: Beach Bag. I had fun digging through my stash of scrap pieces to die cut of each of my elements on this card. 

Below is the challenge badge for the CIC590. 

I layered all these die cuts over a piece of paper that I used Vintage Photo Distress Ink and various colors of Distress Stain on top of to look like dark sand. 

The sentiment is from a Paper Trey Ink sentiment set-Keep It Simple: Retirement. 

The leaves are Wild Greenery from My Favorite Things Stamps.

Want to join us this round for the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #590? Hop on over to the BLOG to see the details. 

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

Nora

Just Popping In!!

***Some Affiliate Links are used in this post at no extra cost to you!!

 Hey friends!! 

Just popping in with some cards that I have that I am going to enter into some challenges. 

My first card I am entering into a couple challenges.

I created this card with a TON of Spellbinders dies. I mixed the Welcome Fall Die Set with the Rustic Garden Dies and mixed in some die cuts from Garden Images and Seasonal Decor Dies. The sunflower was a leftover on my desk from The Greetery. This card was so much fun to create!! 

I am entering this card into the following challenges-The All Sorts Challenge #750-Texture, Just Us Girls Challenge #701-Pumpkin, Inspire. Create Challenge #153-Autumn/Halloween and The Card Concept #200-Autumn Chill.

 

I had fun using the Classic Hessian embossing folder from Crafter's Companion for the background. I used Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Ink over the top and distressed the edges with a Distress Tool. 

I am also going to upload a couple of cards I have not posted that I created for a private FB Challenge board and for The Retro Rubber Challenge #217-Anything Goes. I created them using stamps that I have had in my stash for a while but have never used!!

Both cards are retirement cards. 

I had a lot of fun creating the ocean in the background of this card. The images used are from the Lets Get Away Stamps/Dies from Simon Says Stamp. The sentiment is from Paper Trey Ink.

I used Copic Markers to create the sand and to color in the Adirondack chair.

For my second retirement card, I used the Simon Says Stamp Seas and Greeting stamps/dies. 

Again, I created the ocean using a combination of ripped pattern paper and some white paint. The "beach" is a scrap of pattern paper.

Behind the panel, I used a stencils that looked like netting and my favorite part of this card is the torn clouds.

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

Nora

A Card for a Challenge

Hello everyone!! Just popping in with a card that I created for the Inspire.Create.Challenge blog. I only have a REALLY short time to get it in so here I am!

I bought some fun things from Pretty Pink Posh this month and I NEEDED to use the Vacation Scene Die for my card. 

I colored this in with Copic Markers to make it pop off my card base. I flipped the sketch too. Instead of horizontal, I made it a portrait card. Below is the Inspire.Create.Challenge #95 sketch that inspired me.

I put aside the Vacation Die Cut while I prepared the background.

I added a piece of white cardstock that I had dry embossed and layered it over a white, A2, Top folding, card base. (have no idea who made the folder, sorry!) I added my last piece of Basic Grey at the top.

I layered the colored die cut over my card front and used foam adhesive to pop up my Waffle Flower "Sisterhood" sentiment. 

I added some Nuvo Crystal Drops on top of the green part of the umbrella and I was finished. I am actually going to make this a Retirement Card by stamping Happy Retirement inside. This looks like a Retirement Card, right? This is how I want to retire...even though I don't LOVE the beach!!!

Well, that is all form me today. Again, just wanted to pop in with my card for this challenge.

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

Happy Sunday!

 Hello everyone! 

Just popping in with two cards I created this weekend for some challenges. It sure was a good weekend to make cards as the weather was not very nice. We have had a week of rain and another week has been predicted. I am not complaining as I would rather have rain than a drought.

My first card, I created for two challenges. 

I pulled out my Altenew *Leaf Canopy Stamp and Dies to create this card. I have been trying to use my new with my old so I also used my new *Garden Trellis Die. 

The two challenges that inspired this card were this weeks Color Throwdown #650 and TGIF Challenge #324, which was a sketch.

I think I have said it before but I am not great with color challenges so I was SO HAPPY when I saw this badge. The photo actually inspired me to use the Leaf Canopy set. The layout was inspired by the sketch.

I used Altnew *Chamomile Ink to stamp the yellow leaves and Altenew *Gray Denim for the gray. It was the first time I had used that gray and I think it is my new favorite

I also knew I wanted to use my Garden Trellis on this so I cut it down into a triangle to use in the bottom right corner. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things *Deepest Sympathy stamp set. I tend to use this set a lot as it it has some really great sympathy sentiments.

For my second card, I used three challenges as inspiration. I used As You See It Challenge #254-Focal Point. I also am entering this into Inspiration Station Challenge #9-Sun, Sea and Sand and I am playing along with The Card Concept #158-Long Summer Days. This is actually a record for me-three challenges at once!!

This card was SO FUN to create!! I had used *Hero Arts Seashells Fancy Dies to die cut some shells out for a different card last week. I never got around to making it so I decided to use it for these challenges.

I layered these over piece of *Neenah cardstock that I had colored in using Copic Markers to create "sand." I was trying to make the dots teeny like the Inspiration Station photo but it just wasn't working. 

I decided to get out a distress tool to distress the edges of all the papers that the shells were layered on. I also took some *Vintage Photo Distress Ink and did a really light blend on the outside of each, so that the torn parts looked "dirty."

The last thing I adhered to the card was the sentiment. I wasn't sure if I wanted a black sentiment or white sentiment on my card. I even thought about a dark brown. However, my daughter said the black looked best because it popped. 

The sentiment I decided to use is from My Favorite Things *Bitty Birthday Wishes that I heat embossed in white. 

I love when I have mojo to create!!! It is almost like a high when I am successful at making more than one card at a time. I am easily distracted!!

Well that is all from me today. Check back tomorrow as the latest Cupcake Inspiration Challenge card will be up on the blog. Have a FABULOUS night!!

***All starred links are affiliated links to use at no extra cost to you. I am very new at this and am trying to support my habit!! Clicking on the links gives me a tiny percentage that I can use to purchase new supplies.

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!!

Some Cards for Challenges

 Hi everyone!! I hope you are all doing well. 

I am FINALLY on summer vacation!! I have been super busy-visiting a park to see the rose garden in bloom, going out to eat with friends, walking with other friends and hanging out with family. It is such a relief after this difficult school year!!

I have also been able to get to my craft room. I am still working on moving my craft room from one floor to the next. It has been a long process. I have been doing a little more now that I have time. It is a HUGE deal and my desk is a mess because in between, I have been making cards.

Today I am posting some cards for some challenges. My first card was inspired by this weeks AAA Card Challenge #192. It was to create a card using one corner, with the optional twist of using the inspiration of a childhood memory. Here is what I created.

I created a retirement card for this challenge. I used a SB.com Domed Blending Tool with Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass to shade in my sky, and a combination of Mermaid Lagoon and Salty Ocean for the ocean.

I combined two die sets for the light house scene. I used Cottage Cutz Lighthouse and Lighthouse with Clouds. I used to paper-piece long ago and these dies reminded me how much I enjoyed doing that!!

I shaded the light house slightly with gray Copic markers and the "sand" was done by shading Distress Ink in Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs. The sentiment was done with the Keep it Simple: Retirement Stamp Set from PaperTrey Ink.

I chose the light house theme for two reasons. First, it reminded me of going to Cape Cod when I was little. I always went with a friend's family. My parents could not afford to go on vacation so going here was a treat. Second, it reminds me of summer. 

I am also entering this card into this weeks Watercooler Wednesday Challenge WWC318 by Kath. The theme is All About Occasions. My occasion is retirement!! (do I need to even write this???)

For my second card, I created two cards for this month's Rainbow Card Challenge.

I chose to use some products that were on my desk. Do you over stamp things and then have extra?

I had stamped these envelopes from the Simon Says Stamp Sending Happy Thoughts stamp set on pieces of scrap paper YEARS ago. I had cut each of them out and they have been sitting in a container on my desk. I figured it would be fun to use them on some cards and the Rainbow Challenge was perfect!!!

The sentiment on the "slimline" envelopes card is from My Favorite Things (cannot find it right now or I would post the name of the set. I think it is retired) that I had heat embossed with white embossing powder.

I thought it was perfect for this card!! The sentiment on my second card is from Reverse Confetti's So Many Sentiments stamp set.

I know the rainbow is a stretch on my second card but I liked how it came out so I am posting it as well. 

Since I had a TON of envelopes left over, I made a bonus card. 

I tried to use a ton of pink and red envelopes on this one. The die cut hello sentiment is from the Say Hello die set from Concord and 9th. I believe it is retired.

I had die cut it out of white cardstock three times, adhered the layers together and colored it with a black marker. Sometimes I just layer sentiments like this together when I have a creativity block so I have them to use for a later date.

I believe the embossed sentiment is from My Favorite Things? I cannot find the set I used. 

Well, that is all from me today. I rarely post this many cards but I have been busy!! I actually am going to post some more tomorrow that I have created!!!

I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by. I hope you all have a fabulous night!!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post (not all) are affiliate links. If you use them I get a percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.