Be Thankful

I had a wonderful and busy day in the studio today. I used the Mojo Monday sketch challenge as my layout inspiration. However, I made a few artistic prerogative changes. First I turned the sketch 90 degrees to the right. Then, instead of a card, I made a tag.
I started with a black tag cut using a Tim Holtz die. The layering panel was dry embossed and then highlighted with distress ink. My stamped top panel was made using the acorn blueprint framelits set from Tim Holtz ( a prize from Mario and Tim for the 12 Tags challenge)  That is really a fun set to use. The layered acorn represents the circle on the sketch. I added the sentiment on the ribbon hanging from the top.
My tag is being entered in these additional challenges: Ink on my Fingers Sunday challenge -- black; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Mixed Media -- stamps.

Golden Autumn Days

My card today is based on the Mojo Monday challenge sketch layout.  My image and sentiment are brand new stamps (to me) from Serendipity stamps. I was really happy to be able to use them. I stamped my image on watercolor paper. I used the distress marker watercolor technique to watercolor the pheasants. The top layering panel was perfect for the sentiment. My background was made by layering leaves which were die cut  (Tim Holtz/Sizix) from an old book page onto a cardstock panel. The leaves were edged with distress ink. I think that the leaves, colors, and image make a wonderful autumn card.
I am also entering my card into these challenges: Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge -- add leaves; City Crafter -- leaves; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -- use watercoloring; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Fashionable Stamping -- anything goes; Frilly and Funkie --autumn colors; Great Impressions -- autumnal elegance; Serendipity Stamps -- fall.

Paper Roses

I was in the mood today to make a tag. I die cut a tag from kraft cardstock. Then for a change of pace, I pulled out my gelatos. I scribbled on the tag and then smoothed the color out by rubbing with a damp cloth. I then used a stencil and some Dylusions ink sprays. I die cut the lattice framework (Tim Holtz-Sizzix) twice--once from grunge paper and once from a sheet of cardstock that I had stamped with the Rogue Redhead music background. I colored the lattice with a silver gelato and used the diamond shapes with the stamped music for the inserts. The sentiment is a quote from the Word Art Wednesday challenge which I framed with a Sizzix frame colored with a gold gelato. The roses were made using the Cheery Lynn miniature rose die and a piece of cardstock from a Tim Holtz paper stash.
I am entering my tag in these challenges: Cheery Lynn Designs -- die cut flowers; Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge -- paper roses; 3 Muses -- roses; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -- Tag It; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes.

Autumn Bloom

Today is Labor Day her in the U.S. It was a beautiful day here in my part of Chicago. My lovely daughter grilled, so I could enjoy some time in the studio followed by a great meal. It was the perfect set up for a brightly colored card.
My card layout is based on the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. The Mixed Media Monthly challenge wanted us to be inspired by the colors in their photo (above) When I looked at the inspiration photo my reaction was bright, bold, and floral. I started with a neutral, white cardbase. The background panel is burnt orange. The left panel is a piece of white cardstock which I colored metallic gold using the metallic pan pastels. I then took my marbled stencil (Prima)  and used embossing paste for the marbling. Over that I stenciled a border of leaves (Dylusions) with distress paint. The panel on the right is blue cardstock layered with mesh dry wall tape. The flower (Heartfelt Creations) which was stamped on watercolor paper and then was colored using the watercolor marker technique (Marvy markers). I added the ribbon and a pressed flower sticker (SEI Inc.) which I layered on a white background and then a burnt orange framing panel. I stamped the word "autumn" right on the sticker.
I am also entering my card in these challenges: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- bold colors; Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge -- bright colors; Artistic Stamper -- fall colors.

Cold Days and Warm Memories

My card today shows that you can follow Tim Holtz techniques and use Tim Holtz products, stamps, and dies without going the grunge route. Now don't get me wrong; I am a big, big fan of grunge. This card just went along a slightly different direction.
This week the Compendium of Curiosities 3 challenge is stamps and framelits from page 63 of Tim's book Compendium of Curiosities 3. To get all of Tim's ideas you need to check out his wonderful book. This week the challenge is sponsored by the generous Inspiration Emporium.
In the background are three trees from the tree blueprint framelit set. The first and third trees are dimensional. The center is a simple stamp and die cut. Mr. Snowman is from the Snowman Blueprint framelit set and uses all of the individual pieces. Added to this adorable fella are three black buttons to add to his outfit. The ground snow is torn white paper. The sentiment is from Great Impressions. The falling snow and the snow on the trees is Stickles.
Today's Bloggers Challenge worked perfectly with this card. The theme is buttons. No snowman is complete without his buttons. The Sunday challenge at Ink on my Fingers is depth and 3D. Both the trees and the snowman are dimensional thanks to layers and pop dots.
I am also entering my card into the anything goes challenges at  the Tuesday Throwdown challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Grandmothers

What do jam, jelly, jars and junk mail have in common? ... the letter J, of course. this card is my answer to the challenge theme at Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge -- J is for... At first I thought that the challenge would be a little difficult. Then I couldn't stop thinking of J words. My background is made from die cut junk mail envelopes which I colored using pan pastels. The jars were die cut from  a piece of plastic packaging. The jars, labels and contents are stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs. The sentiment is from Club Scrap.
Hels at Ink on my Fingers challenged us with the theme bits and pieces. Once I started working on this card, I understood the challenge. All of the contents of the card were cut from bit and pieces of paper in my scrap box. I am also entering my card in the Marks Finest Papers Colors challenge -- blue, lime, red.

Holiday Greenery

Here I have another Christmas card to share. This one uses the current Mojo Monday challenge sketch for the layout. My background panel is dry embossed with lots of holly which I highlighted with iced spruce distress ink. The ribbon is gingham from my stash. For the circle panel I used one of my favorite Christmas dies, the wreath from Tim Holtz. The image (a partial) and sentiment are SweetStamps stamps. The bird and branch are colored using distress markers. Below the image panel is an icicle die cut from Cheery Lynn. This card called for lots of bling. The bling used here is Want2Scrap which you can get from Classy Cards 'n Such, as well as the distress ink and markers.
I am entering my card into these challenges: Mojo Monday -- sketch; SweetStamps-- Christmas greenery; Classy Cards 'n Such -- gingham; Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge -- Christmas/winter.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

This dreamy card was a lot of fun to make. I started with a piece of printed cardstock and a piece of pink vellum paper (both from club Scrap) to use a s my background. I stamped the fairies (Stampland) directly on the vellum and colored them with distress markers. I love how the background images show through the vellum. The sentiment (Stampsmith) was stamped on a scrap of white cardstock and adhered to a backing panel. Everything was adhered to a white card base. The sparkly buttons were added to give a dreamlike appearance.
My card is being entered into these challenges: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- a mid-summer's challenge and Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge -- in dreams.

Friendship

This week the Bloggers Challenge is friendship. I used the Mojo Monday challenge sketch as the layout for my card. The background design papers are from Graphic 45. Aren't those two girls adorable? The doily and butterfly are Cheery Lynn die cuts. The sentiment is a Quietfire stamp.
I am also entering this card into these challenges: Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge -- green; Simon Says Wednesday Challenge -- anything goes; and Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes.

Friendship Bouquet

Today I have a card for a friend. I started with a light gray polka dot background. I decided that a Cheery Lynn doily would make the perfect frame for my bouquet. I stamped the SweetStamps bouquet on a piece of white cardstock.Then I cut it out in a circle using the out of the box technique. Distress markers were used to add color. The side ribbon holder was cut using a punch. To finish off the card I added a few bright pink buttons and a tiny tag with the sentiment "Friend".
My card is being entered into these challenges: SweetStamps -- ribbons, buttons, and bows; Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge -- friendship; and Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes.

Little Voice in your Head

It's a gloomy, rainy day, so I decided to play in my art journal. That always cheers me up. I have had this stencil for ages from The Crafter's Workshop. I fell in love with it, but never found a reason to use it...until now. There are several  challenges which screamed at me to use this stencil. Mixed Media Monthly published its first challenge which is spray inks. Tuesday Throwdown challenged us to show wildly colored hair. Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge had girls as the theme. So out came the stencil and my Dylusions spray inks to start my page. The background color came from wiping my clean up towel on the paper. The stamps are from Sweetstamps and Club Scrap.
I am also entering my page in these challenges. SweetStamps -- no design paper; Marks Finest Papers Speedy Fox and Friends -- vintage.

A Gift for You

I needed a gift box, so what did I do...I made one. I used a couple of book pages glued to a piece of cardstock and cut out the shape using the pillow box die from Tim Holtz/Sizzix. I then put a light coat of gesso over the top. I wanted the strength, but still wanted to see some of the writing. If you look really close, you might still see some of the words.  I used the distress paint marbling technique to color the box and then stamped it with a Stamp Zia stamp. I used the lattice die (TH) over the top. Then I made the faux tea roses from Tim Holtz's book Compendium of Curiosities p. 65 with leaves from Garden green die.
I am entering this gift box into these challenges: Compendium of Curiosities III -- Faux tea roses p. 65; Dies R Us -- May Flowers; Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge -- change something (book pages to gift box); Take a Word -- books; Marks Finest Papers Friends of Speedy -- use flowers; Fashionable Stamping -- 3D object.
A special thanks to Inspiration Emporium for sponsoring the CCC3 challenge.

Good Times

A box of Tim Holtz goodies arrived at my house, and I couldn't wait to play. The result is a card in the Tim Holtz CAS style. It's not a usual combination of styles, but I like the result. I started with a piece of brown cardstock from Club Scrap. I just love the texture in this piece. Then I die cut the birds from my new birds in flight die. I layered them over a panel of glitter paper. The sentiment is from my new framed alphaparts. There is stamping on the card, but it's on the inside. There is a birthday greeting.
I am entering my card into these challenges: Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge -- brown and blue; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- die crazy; and A Vintage Journey -- all about him.

Friends in Fashion

I thought I would try the Technique Junkies Punched Border Stand-up card technique. It was last weeks TJ try that technique challenge. I didn't get a chance last week to try it...better late than never!
My focal image and sentiment are from the Rogue Redhead Designs Milliner Misses plate. (By the way this plate is on sale this month!) The side cut outs border was done using the Spellbinders borders. I have a bunch of them, but hardly ever remember to use them. They worked perfectly for this card.
I am entering my card into these challenges: Ink on My Fingers Sunday challenge -- pink; Three Muses -- positive affirmation.

Dreaming

When I saw this weeks inspiration photo for the Speedy Fox & Friends challenge, I immediately thought of shimmer sheets. These are plastic like sheets which look holographic and are gorgeously colored. The background of my card is a piece of shimmer sheetz which I dry embossed. (IRL the background shimmers and shines and  has beautiful purple and blue colors.) Frilly and Funkie challenged us to use neglected dies. The oval dies I used were some of the first dies(Spellbinders) I ever bought. Since they were purchased, I have acquired so many different dies and kind of forgot about these. I brought them out and dusted them off and here they are. This card is also being entered in Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge where Hels has the theme dream. All of the stamps used are from Rogue Redhead Designs.

Luck

Happy St. Patrick's Day and the luck of the Irish to you. 

My card's background panel was a very simple combination of a Dylusions stencil and Pan Pastels. Notice how the colors go -- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet -- the colors of the rainbow. The center sentiment (Tim Holtz) panel is covered with lucky shamrocks (Kitchen Sink Stamps).  A rainbow and a little good luck will always bring a smile to my face.
My card is being entered into these challenges: Ink on My Fingers Sunday challenge -- happy; City Crafters -- rainbow; SweetStamps -- lucky; and Addicted to CAS --luck.

Change

My card today follows the Mojo Monday challenge sketch. The background is a page from an old book which I added picket fence distress stain and then stamped over the page with butterfly stamps (Club Scrap). The side panel is a piece of Graphics 45 design paper. The center frame was cut from a scrap of design paper. The sentiment is from Club Scrap. The die cut butterflies are from Cheery Lynn.
I am also entering my card into the Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge which is bright colors.

Time Travel

It's a beautiful day. The sun is bright and the temp is about 48 degrees (balmy weather!).  I love to create Steampunk art when I'm in a fun mood. Here's the result. I started with a kraft base card. I die cut the background from copper metallic cardstock using the concentric circles mesh die from Cheery Lynn Designs. The die cut Steampunk owls with gears are also from Cheery Lynn. The old-fashioned bicycle and the owl's goggles are Dazzles from Hot Off the Press. The sentiment letters are stickers I found in my stash. Can you believe that they are the right size and that all the letters I needed were still there!
My card is being entered into these challenges: SanDee and Amelie's Steampunk challenge -- Time Machine and Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge -- birds.

The Best Part of Myself

This Valentine is somewhat non-traditional -- no hearts, no pink or red, no lace. Yet, I think it is my favorite Valentine I made so far this year, and I have the perfect person to give it to.
I found this piece of designer paper in my stash and I have been waiting to use it. This wonderful sentiment stamp comes from Quietfire Designs Rubber Stamps as does the hugs and kisses. The kraft base and center panel is unusual for Valentine's Day, but works perfectly with the card. I like how the center diamond panel extends just a bit above and below the card. (Yes, it fits into a 5 1/2" square envelope.)
My card is being entered into these challenges: Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge -- Shine on You Crazy Diamond; Kraft Journal -- love; Frilly and Funkie -- Valentine's Day with a twist, no hearts.

Be a Good One

"Whatever you are, be a good one" is one of my favorite sayings.It's also a stamp from Artistic Outpost. Today is Friday which means it's time for the Bloggers Challenge. This week the challenge is black/white with a splash of color. Today the black and white pulled me in two directions (fortunately compatible). I immediately thought of the chalkboard technique and of newspapers or book pages. I used both on my card. The splash of color (gold) was inspired by the Ink on my Fingers Sunday challenge which is black and gold. 

To make my card I started with a page from an old book. I then added the gold by painting a stencil with gold distress paint and then laying it on the panel. This gave a reverse of the stencil and you can still see the words on the book page. I then stamped the sentiment on black cardstock with embossing ink and heat embossed with frosted crystal embossing powder. The chalk was rubbed over the embossing. Thanks Tim Holtz for that technique! The card was embellished with a white ribbon and three flower diecuts (Cheery Lynn) with gold brad centers.

I am also entering my card into these challenges: City Crafter -- splash of color; Word Art Wednesday challenge -- anything goes; Inspiration Journal challenge -- show with words; and Artistic Outpost monthly referral challenge -- anything goes with Artistic Outpost stamps.