Ornament Tag

As the weather forecast threatens a cold, arctic blast in Chicago, thoughts go to the Christmas season. Today I am sharing a CAS Christmas tag. The tag was die cut from green cardstock. The ornaments (Our Daily Bread Designs) were stamped on white card stock and heat embossed. Then they were die cut using Spellbinders dies (available at Classy Cards n such). "Peace on Earth" was stamped on the tag and embossed in silver.
I am entering this tag in these challenges:Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- ornaments;
Classy Cards n Such -- ornaments; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Marks Finest Papers Friends of Speedy -- red, gold, green; Our Daily Bread Designs -- holiday; Addicted to CAS -- tag; Inspiration Journal -- happy holidays; Artistic Stamper -- Christmas is coming.

Give Thanks to Him

This week the Bloggers Challenge is give thanks. I started with a Cheery Lynn die (Madrid Flourishes Rectangle Boutique Stackers Frame). I used the large border and part of the middle border. The sentiment is Psalm 100:4, an ODBD stamp. The background uses the embossed stains technique from the current Technique Junkies newsletter. although it's hard to see on the scan, the gold ink over the embossed leaves really gives a beautiful metallic glow.
I am also entering this card in these challenges: Cheery Lynn Designs --borders and edgers; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Our Daily Bread Designs --Scripture inspiration; TJ Try That Technique -- embossed stains.

Colors of autumn

This is a card that I've been thinking about for some time. It worked quite well with the sketch challenge from Mark's Finest Papers Sketch With a Twist. The twist is to stamp  the background. I used the leaf background stamp from Heartfelt Creations. The leaves were stamped on a piece of white cardstock with Versamark ink and then Pan Pastels were applied in fall colors over the inked surface. The leaf was cut and embossed (Sizzix/Tim Holtz) using Core'dinations paper and then sanded.The sentiment (Our Daily Bread Designs) was the perfect finishing touch to add to my card. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is to use a stamp as the finishing touch.

Our Daily Bread Designs challenged us to create a fall inspired card based on their picture. I followed the traditional fall colors as seen in the top left panel.  A Vintage Journey also wanted to see the colors of autumn.

I Pledge Allegiance

Today's Blogger's Challenge pennants or fishtails. This theme worked perfectly with the Our Daily Bread Designs challenge theme which is red, white, and blue or patriotic. I started with a white base card and added a piece of red and white striped design paper which I had left over from another project. It was the perfect size for what I needed. Then I cut the pennant flags using a Tim Holtz die. I stamped stars (Artistic Outpost) on the pennant flags with white ink. I then stamped the Pledge of Allegiance (ODBD) and die cut it with a circle die. The layering panel and flourish were cut from gold metallic cardstock. I am also entering this card into the Word Art Wednesday challenge which is anything goes.

Celebrate With a Friend

The 4th of July is next week. It's time to celebrate the red, white, and blue. It's also time to bring out my flag background stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs. I thought I'd try something a slight bit different. I colored the sections with distress stains and then stamped on watercolor paper. I used the textured side of the paper to achieve a textured look. Since the 4th is the birthday of our country, I added a birthday sentiment. I wanted a star frame for my little friends (ODBD), but wouldn't you know, with the hundreds of dies I own, I didn't have a star that was the right size. So, I turned to something that I never thought I'd use again -- my Coluzzle. I'll bet many of the paper crafters out there never heard of the Coluzzle. Briefly it is a bunch of plastic templates with a special cutting pad and a swivel blade knife that you can use to cut out shapes. I had the perfect sized star with a background panel sized star. I cut out my friends on the smaller star using the outside the box technique and layered it on the larger star. I used red cardstock as my base card.
I am entering this card into these challenges: Our Daily Bread Designs -- birthday with ODBD stamps; City Crafter -- red, white, and blue; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- you gotta have friends; and Artistic Stamper -- color it red.

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Today's Bloggers Challenge is animals. What represents animals better than Noah's Ark? This adorable image and the accompanying sentiment are both stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs. The layout design is the sketch challenge from Mojo Monday. The image was colored using distress markers. Kraft cardstock was used for the base card.
 My card is also being entered into these challenges: Mojo Monday --  sketch; Kraft Journal -- color challenge; Our Daily Bread Designs -- all ODBD stamps; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; and V's Sweet Ideas -- kid's theme.

Silence of the Heart

One doesn't have to be totally shabby to be vintage Tim Holtz chic. Tim's techniques are universal. Today, I chose to make a tag. My background is done using distress paint marbling. One thing that always amazes me about Tim's techniques is that you really can't make bad color choices. I literally reached into my box of distress paints and pulled out several different, unrelated colors. I love the results. It reminds me of pictures I've seen of the Northern Lights. The challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs is  metal or sweets. (Happy Anniversary ODBD!) I chose to use metal. The die cut rose (Sizzix) and the sentiment frame (Spellbinders) are both cut from a sheet of copper. The rose is colored using distress glitter.
I am entering my tag into these other challenges: Simon Says Wednesday challenge -- tag it; Stampin' for the Weekend -- sparkle and shine (metal and glitter and bling); and A Vintage Journey Challenge -- anything Tim Holtz.

Happy Valentine's Day

First, I'd like to say Happy Valentine's Day to all of my friends. Hope it is a fun day!
Today I am sharing a fun and non traditional Valentine that I made for my grandson. He's seven and not the frilly, lacy Valentine type. He does like to see the peacocks at the zoo though.
I started with a piece of design paper from my stash. I loved the color as a background for my peacock. I then die cut a heart from a piece of Heartfelt Creations design paper and adhered it to the background. The peacock, an outline sticker, was then layered over the heart. I used distress markers to add a little color to the peacock. My sentiment and the stamped heart are both from Quietfire Designs Rubber Stamps.
I am entering my card into these challenges: Bloggers Challenge -- use two designer papers; Our Daily Bread Designs -- non-traditional Valentines Card; and Mark's Finest Papers Simple Salutations -- Valentine's card.
Note: prepared my blog post in time for Bloggers Challenge. However, I had to go and assist my father's leaving the hospital and adjusting to being home, so I didn't get to link to the challenges until today (Saturday)

Thank You

Bling it on is this weeks Bloggers Challenge. Creative Belli is looking to see ribbon and pearls. The layout of my card is based on the sketch challenge at Mojo Monday. My base card is kraft cardstock with a layering panel of deep brown. The sentiment on the center panel is from Our Daily Bread Designs. The stamped pumpkin is from Club Scrap. The pearls are from Zva.
Both Kraft Journal and  Fashionable Stamping are looking for Autumn or fall  colors. ODBD has an anything goes theme.

That's What Friends Are For

Today I had a free day, so with a little help from my muse, I spent a productive day in my studio. My first card is a CAS card in fall colors. (My base card came out a somewhat strange color when I scanned it. I couldn't fix the color without losing the color of the leaves. It is kraft cardstock, not the violet color it looks here.) The large leaf is a Stampland stamp which I stamped on design paper and then fussy cut out. The sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs. The small leaf is die cut from the same dp. The card design is done with the simple frames technique from Technique Junkies.

This card meets the challenges of several sites. The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is stamp on anything but plain paper. Kraft Journal has a song or book challenge. Try That Technique at Technique Junkies is the simple frame technique. The Our Daily Bread Designs challenge is fall colors. The Word Art Wednesday challenge is anything goes. Mark's Finest Papers Simple Salutations challenge is autumn. The Speedy Fox and Friends challenge is a recipe challenge [1 die cut (small leaf), 2 images (large leaf and sentiment), 3 colors (yellow, orange, and green)]. CAS-ual Fridays wants fall colors and at least 1 leaf.

Simple Things

This week the challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs is fluttering or flying. The challenge at Fashionable Stamping is script, books, pages, print.
To make my card I started with  a page from an old German dictionary. I used the peeled paint (with vaseline) technique for the background. I had a few questions on how to do this technique, so I'll give a quick explanation. I adhered the dictionary page to a piece of plain cardstock using gel medium. I added a layer of gel medium over the top to seal the paper. After the gel medium dried, I added swipes of vaseline with my finger. Immediately I painted over the whole sheet with acrylic paint to which I had added a spray of water. After the paint dried I used a paper towel to wipe off the paint from the vaseline areas and to wipe off the remaining vaseline. The result is a grungy, distressed background.
The image and sentiment stamps are from Our Daily Bread Designs. The image label matched and was die cut using a Spellbinders die. The humming bird with flourish was cut using a Cheery Lynn die.

Birthday Cupcake

My card was inspired by several interesting challenges this week. The layout is based on a rotated sketch from Mojo Monday. The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is celebrating its 3rd year, so the challenge is to create something birthday related. Two separate challenges. want to see something inspired by cake. Our Daily Bread Designs' challenge is inspired by cake and MFP Inspirations' challenge is luscious cakes. The inspiration images are below. MFP Simple Salutations wants to see cards for men.( Yes, my card has lots of pink, but I think the tone of the pink and the card treatment are quite appropriate for a man). The Kraft Journal challenge is tie it up.

My card features the pink, white, and animal print of these two cakes. The base card is kraft cardstock. The horizontal panel and cupcake wrapper are cut from animal print. The rest of the cupcake is colored with distress markers. Distress markers also highlight the sentiment. I added a little Viva Decor glitter line to the frosting for a little dimension. The stamp is from the Tim Holtz collection. The background is a piece of pink core'dinations paper which was double embossed (Cuttlebug folders) and sanded. Since this was a man's card, I added the string bow (dyed with spun sugar distress stain) instead of a flower.

Happy 4th of July

Happy Birthday America. It's a gorgeous day here in Chicago. Hope everyone is enjoying a lovely 4th of July.
My card today celebrates the holiday. I used the Designer Paper Starburst technique from the April/May 2013 Technique Junkies newsletter to make my background. It seemed like a perfect background for a 4th of July card. The stars are cut using a Sizzix die. All of the stamps used are from the Artistic Outpost stamp sheets, Heroes and She-roes.
This card is being entered into a number of challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown -- stars and stripes; Our Daily Bread Designs -- red, white, and blue; Creative Belli -- stars; Simon Says Stamp -- patriotic; Marks Finest Papers Inspiration Challenge -- red, white, and blue; Inspiration Journal -- Happy Birthday, America; and Artistic Outpost Monthly Referral -- anything goes.

Let Us Begin

My card today started out as a piece of designer paper that I had pulled out to use on another project, but then went a different way.  Since Simon Says Stamp and Show challenged us to use a little paper, this was a great beginning. The paper was from a 6x6 pad from My Mind's Eye. I then laid a stencil over the panel and covered the rest with embossing ink. I used clear embossing powder to heat emboss the piece. Using a script background stamp from Rogue Redhead Designs, I stamped over the panel. I then sprayed the piece with key lime glitter mist. The embossed area resisted the stamping ink and the spray. The piece now has a shine and glimmer while maintaining the integrity of the background image. The sentiment is from the Our Daily Bread Designs Mother Theresa quotes. The frame was cut from wood paper. I did stain it with walnut distress stain to make it darker. The roses were made from a Spellbinders spiral flower die. I finished off with a pearl flourish to add a touch of bling.
I am entering this card into several other challenges: Ink on My Fingers Sunday challenge--irresistable; Tuesday Throwdown--Smell the Roses; Our Daily Bread Designs--wood or stone; Three Muses--quote; Inspiration Journal--Don't Quote Me; and Artistic Stamper--words.

Sending Love at Easter

I had to post one more Easter card. I started my card by cutting the egg shape and stamping the Our Daily Bread Design cross. I then stamped a second cross on a separate piece of paper and die cut it out. I popped it on the egg over the first stamp. The background was made by stamping those wonderful flowers from SweetStamps over the entire panel. I used distress markers as my coloring/stamping medium. Okay, I admit it...I had some extra grass left over from my Tim Holtz tag, so I used it on the bottom of my card. The sentiment is also from ODBD.
This card was created for the Our Daily Bread Design challenge, "He is Risen" and the SweetStamp challenge of Easter.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend.

Wisdom

March is an exciting month for Our Daily Bread Designs as it celebrates it's fifth year anniversary!! Kelley so appreciates the customers of Our Daily Bread Designs and is excited for the opportunity to celebrate with them today with the ODBD Anniversary Linky Party celebration!!! Below are the links of several fans and customers that have created cards or projects using stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs.

1.	Brigita -- GDT	6.	Sarah Nelson GDT	11.	Lisa Somerville
2.	Mary Marsh - GDT	7.	Barbara Washington GDT	12.	Gerrie Johnnic GDT
3.	Karen Wallace GDT	8.	Chris Olsen	13.	Sandee
4.	Lee Ann Barrett- GDT	9.	Grace N	14.	Sabrina Jackson
5.	Connie Griffin GDT	10.	Angie Crockett	15.	Jennipher GDT

Congratulations to ODBD and Kelley on five great years of stamps. I love ODBD stamps so, of course, I had to participate.

The background panel of my card is watercolor paper. I splashed distress stains on my non-stick surface, spritzed with a little water, and laid the panel in the stains. The stains and watercolor paper make a wonderful background for these beautiful flower corners and sentiment (all ODBD stamps of course).
I am also sharing this card at a few other challenge spots. SweetStamps wants to see green. Simon Says Stamp wants a bit of green. Great Impressions is going green (either use green or recycle). Don't tell anyone, but my watercolor panel is recycled. I had made a mistake on the other side and couldn't use the image, so I turned the panel over and a new card front could be made.

Simple Things

This week's challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs is black and white. I love the look of a black and white card. For this card I chose the dahlia stamp from ODBD for the background. The sentiment, also ODBD, seemed perfect for the look of the card

Easter

I created this card for the challenges at Our Daily Bread Designs which is Easter and at SweetStamps which is sweet and simple.
Before I go into detail, I must give credit to Roni at Ink Stains for the scribbled gelato background technique. When I saw this on Roni's blog, I knew I wanted to try the technique. It seemed the perfect technique for this Easter card. The card is fairly simple. On top of the technique colors I stamped the beautiful bouquet from SweetStamps. The main sentiment is from ODBD. The Easter joy stamp is from Penny Black.

Birthday Cutie

front

open

Today I created a sweet birthday card for a child or someone young at heart. I cut the card base to make a swing center card using a Sizzix die. The base cardstock is from my stash. I decided to have a little fun and take my perfect pearls out of moth balls. It's been ages since I used them. Using my water brush, I dipped the tip into the pearls and painted the circles on the card. I love the shimmer. The images are from Rogue Redhead Designs, Getting Grizzly stamp sheet. I love these little furry friends. I also used my perfect pearls to paint the images. On the center reverse, I used a background stamp and sentiment from the same stamp set. The birthday greeting is an outline sticker as is the little birthday hat on the birthday bear.
I am entering my card into these Challenges--Tuesday Throwdown's furry friends challenge and Our Daily Bread Design's for a child challenge.

Love

It's Sunday afternoon and I had a little time to play. I created a card for several challenges. Simon Says Stamp and Show challenged us to show lace, love. Tuesday Throwdown wants us to frame it. Our Daily Bread Designs has a  similar border it theme. Creative Belli wants to see purple and blue.
For this card I got a chance to use a frame from Cheery Lynn Designs that I hadn't used before. The background stamp and sentiment are both from ODBD.  I love the love sentiment. The purple and blue color scheme just developed. The colors worked together.