Thanks

Different things inspire my muse. Today I used one of my favorite inspirations...new stamps. I received some new stamps from Quietfire Stamps. The "Thanks" stamp was one of them. I love the open T. On this card I used paper piecing to decorate it. My layout is based on this weeks Mojo Monday sketch challenge. My flower and leaves are SweetStamps stamps. The design paper (background and T) is from Heartfelt Creations. Although the photo doesn't show it very well, the flower is highlighted with Stickles.
I am entering my card into these challenges: SweetStamps -- anything goes; Stampin' for the weekend -- anything goes; and Mojo Monday -- sketch.

Call Him Father

My card is a CAS card honoring all fathers. I started with a teal base card. The sentiment strip across the middle is a piece of design paper from my stash. The sentiment is a stamp from Club Scrap. My focal image is from SweetStamps and is colored using distress markers.
I am entering this card in these challenges: SweetStamps -- for Dad ; Tuesday Throwdown -- special man; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Marks Finest Papers Simple Salutations --Father's Day; Stampin' for the Weekend -- anything goes.

Life Pieces

I'm very excited to announce that I have been invited to be the guest designer for the SweetStamps Challenge Blog. Today is my first post for their dies challenge. I have been using SweetStamps stamps for years and just love them.

To create my card I started with a white base card. For the top panel I used Cheery Lynn Designs fancy corner cuts 3 to cut the corners and an oval stacker to cut out the center. (Using the negative of the die cut for a frame).  I stamped the SweetStamps lilac bunch stamp as my focal image inside the oval frame. The color was added with distress markers. I stippled a little China blue ink around the lilacs. The three dragon flies were die cut (Cheery Lynn tiny things) and added over the frame and image.
I am adding my card to these challenges: Cheery Lynn Designs -- back to nature; Mark's Finest Papers Speedy Fox and Friends -- negative die cut; CAS-ual Fridays -- good egg/ovals; and Stampin' for the Weekend -- spring colors.

Nothing but Happiness

Here's another St. Patrick's Day greeting, this time in a tag format. I layered a green panel over a kraft tag. I kept the tag CAS because I wanted the sentiment to be the focus. The sentiment stamps and the image are all from Club Scrap. I added a little bling to represent celebration.
My tag is being entered into these challenges: The Kraft Journal -- tag; Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge -- lucky; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Stampin' for the Weekend -- anything goes; Take a Word -- green.

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.

Love Gives us a Fairy Tale

Today's Valentine is a large tag with a little Steampunk influence. Are you starting to see a pattern? To create my background, I started with several drops of distress paint. I pounced the brayer in the paint and then on to the tag. I stamped (all stamps from Tim Holtz) the Valentine words and then letterpressed them using the matching texture fade. The hearts were stamped next. Before stamping the sentiment, I used a bit of picket fence distress stain so the sentiment would stand out better against the darker background. Jacob, the focal image is from Simply Betty. I added the metallic paper die cut wings and an arrow spinner. The tag string was dyed using a distress marker.
I am entering my tag in these challenges: Simply Steampunk -- wings/grunge; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- twine or string; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge -- purple; Fashionable Stamping -- tag along; Artistic Stamper -- use distress; and Stampin' for the Weekend -- anything but a card.

Love Blooms

For my challenges card today, I decided to make a long, skinny card -- one that fits in a #10 envelope. I started with a kraft base card. The white background panel was first stamped with the vines (SweetStamps).  Then I dry embossed the panel with a wicker basket design (Cuttlebug). Since the card was longer than my folder, I had to hold my breath and force myself to cut a slit in the folder. Tim Holtz does this all the time, so I guess it's okay. lol The doilies were cut from my large and tiny felicity dies (Cheery Lynn). The butterflies and ovals are also cut from Cheery Lynn dies. My focal image (SweetStamps) was stamped using the marker watercolor technique. The sentiment is from Club Scrap.

I am entering this card into several challenges. The colors on my card were influenced by the color challenge at Kraft Journal. Cheery Lynn challenged us to use doilies. Both SweetStamps and Word Art Wednesday have an anything goes challenge. Stampin' for the Weekend is challenging wants to see butterflies.