I actually haven’t been feeling that well lately so I was pleased that I finally got around to the FTL100 Clean and Simple card challenge. It was based on this sketch:

… and here is my card for it:

Once I did the inking, I wish I hadn’t. But - that’s how it goes sometimes. It’s still a good masculine birthday card! The twill was on some throw pillow packaging. 

It’s a great sketch, and one I think I will use again.  Thanks for stopping by today!

I didn’t order this Stampin’ Up two step Bird Punch when it first came out. I waited and tried to convince myself that I really didn’t need it. I lasted about 3 months, then caved and ordered it. I played around a little and LOVED it — but I realize now that I never really made too much with it. So — time to change THAT!

This CAS card came together quickly, using a paper stack by K&Co. I loved the soft look to these designs, so - other than inking the edges, I didn’t add too much else.

The “just a note” stamp is by Stampendous, and I get a lot of use out of it because it came in a set that has a variety of words to go on the end of the included “to wish you” stamp. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Here are a couple more cards that went into my friends large card order. I really got good use out of these 3-d flower stickers which I found in the bargain bins at Michaels. I added a bit of Stickles glitter to dress them up a bit as the ribbon has some glitter embedded in it.

I couldn’t get a good shot of the ribbon glitter, but you can see it here on the flower sticker:

I used an embossing folder on the navy cardstock for this card - just to give it some texture:

I was on a real blue/green phase when I made this group of cards up — but at least most of the cards in her order coordinated. 

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

I was looking for something else in my little pile of scraps, and found several matching pieces which were enough to make this card!

That’s called “Serendipity”.  :-)  The stamp is by Hero Arts, and was coloured with Copic markers.

On a side note, my “Aqua and White Note Cards” are on the CAS Favourite list this week at Splitcoast! It’s so exciting when hundreds of other stampers like what you’ve created. The last time I checked, over 700 people viewed these cards in my Splitcoast gallery. Woo Hoo!

Have a wonderful start of the week - thanks for stopping by.

We were invited to a surprise 60th birthday party, where we were asked to ’stock their wine cellar’. I think that is a brilliant idea for a gift — and I’m not even a huge wine drinker! Of course I can’t just bring a ‘naked’ bottle of wine as a gift, and of course the card and wine hanger have to coordinate. 

I used a 4×12″ strip of glitter card stock (from my bargain Winners purchase … just LOOK at me using all those new papers!!) and punched a hole for the neck of the wine bottle. You can’t see it, but I also added a silver scalloped circle (punched with the same sized hole as the first one) so the hole has a scalloped border on it. If you don’t know, ENO is for settling your stomach … she will get a kick out of it as it’s sort of a family joke.

She loves to play dominoes, so I thought this Cuttlebug embossing folder was a perfect background for the card. Which is BIG — 8 1/2 x 7!  I Cricut cut the girl and numbers, and their shadows … but couldn’t get a good photo of the shimmer & sheen on the card.

The shadows were cut out of silver metallic card stock - YES, one of the paper stacks I found on clearance was metallic card stock!!!!!  - and the girl is cut out of white pearl. The numbers are a glittered card stock but it just doesn’t show up in the photo.

I did the inside on the computer, using a verse I remembered seeing somewhere. Probably a Hallmark card.

Thanks for stopping by today.

This cute little fellow is from the ‘Create A Critter’ cartridge. My friends were here &  busy cutting out some critters to use for cards. They gave me one of the ones they’d cut, so he had to go on a card and is off to my pen-pal in Wisconsin. She does a lot of card decorating by carefully cutting images out of wrapping paper and old greeting cards, so she will enjoy this cut-out image.

Since the paper was sparkly, I added Stickles to his shell and mounted him with foam tape. The yellow scalloped card base was a sample cut I did when I wanted an A2 scalloped card. It worked out OK for a card base for this, so I called it done.

Thanks for stopping by today!

There is a new sketch at the Clean and Simple blog, and I couldn’t wait to play with it …

 Here is my take on the sketch:

This was way fun — the card itself is made from an old old OLD hanging file folder. I found a stack of them somewhere and cut them down into A2 card bases. I love the mottled look to them. The red paper is from one of my new paper stacks and is probably my favourite out of the whole package. And here I am USING it. Just cutting right into it and USING it. 

The flowers are Photoshop brushes by Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals. They are having a Christmas in July sale, and these were on my Wish List. When I saw they were on sale, I snagged them. They were printed on a Staples brand satin photo paper and I’m not sure how I feel about it. At any rate, I like the card.  (Word-Art is my own).

I added each of the flowers to a separate layer in Photoshop, and added a gradient to them for some variation. I also added a small, shallow drop shadow to each of the brushes. The card has a white paper insert with rounded corners.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Since I have those new paper stacks sitting in my studio — and that great sketch (FTL98) from ‘Clean & Simple Stamping’, I made up a couple of cheery thank you cards. They are identical, so I’m just posting one of them:

I did add a scalloped red border to the bottom of this one, as the red mat seemed so strong that the card was top heavy. I love how you can play around with sketches. 

On a side note, we did a nice hike this past weekend - Heart Creek Trail. I did pretty good with my heel (I have a heel spur), though it was some kind of sore on the way back down. I was able to rest it well afterwards while everyone else made supper … and rested it all evening too. So I was just fine the next day — and I have all the wonderful memories and pictures of the hike to boot!

Thanks for stopping by today!

 Guess what? I stumbled onto a blog called ‘clean&simple‘. How cool is that? I added it to my blog roll on the right if you are here and wanting to check it out occasionally. I don’t know how often they post sketches or challenges, but FTL98 was up when I found the blog:

It immediately appealed to me, so I made a card using some of my K&Co Tim Coffey line scrap paper. That stuff is so gorgeous I keep all but the smallest of scraps and the card worked out perfectly!

A great sketch and I love how mail friendly it is. I actually made a couple of different ones up; two that I can’t post until early August as they are for special birthdays, and one I will post tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by today!

We needed a card to celebrate the birth of a little boy, so I turned to one of my new paper stacks. The parents are quite artsy and I knew they’d appreciate an nontraditional baby card. This one is actually a 6″ square card, created from one 12″ piece of patterned paper. Yes, I used an ENTIRE SHEET of my new paper, to make a single card. No more hoarding for this paper crafter!

The puffy baby stickers I had in my sticker stash and the colours were perfect for the plaid card base. 

Lots of layers were added for stability, and the stamp is by Crazy Stamps. It’s one I have had for many years and it still comes in handy!

The card was hand-delivered along with the gift, so I wasn’t worried about the bulk from the puffy stickers or card stock layers.

It was a fun card to make, and I hope they liked it. LOL - if nothing else, their daughter will have enjoyed the look and feel of the stickers.

The company BBQ is coming up so we are sure looking forward to meeting the new addition to their family!!

Thanks for stopping by today.