Coffee Song

Wow, this is a busy card.  I didn't expect it to be quite so busy but it's fun.  I kind of like the crazy feel to it.  This has been what my week has been like.  I'll probably use this as a thank you to my coffee buddy at work who brought me lunch this week.

I want to enter this in the Spring Coffee Lovers challenge - so fun and I have a scary amount of coffee images to be honest.  The sketch is from Jo's Scrap Shack.

Challenges this Card Meets:

Spring Coffee Lovers challenge 

Jo's Scrap Shack.

Crafty Catz - Song to match your image.  I chose Coffee Song by Frank Sinatra.

Art Impressions - Tie It Up

Snow Glad You're My Friend

I had fun playing this week.  I admit I stretched the sketch in this fortnight's  Sketch with a Twist but sketches are really just for inspiration, right?  Right.  The twist this week is to make a "Thinking of You" card.  I thought this worked beautifully.  The image is from MFP's Brrr set.  I computer generated the sentiment.  Sorry - I can't stay away from the puns.

This is the first time I've tried using a purchased stencil.  This is Snowflake Flurry from Memory Box.  I love the soft effect it created with the background snowflakes.  I may have to get more of these.  Hmm, where else can I hide supplies in this house?

Hope you'll join us this week!

Good Friends are Like Stars

I'm trying as much as possible to play with Splitcoaststamper's Hope You Can Cling To challenges.  This one was to make/use pink camo.  I was more than a little stumped.  I went away to work on another card and found these star images from Paper Makeup that I had never even used.  I remembered having this matching sentiment and knew exactly what I wanted to do.  The inks used are Victorian Velvet, Picked Raspberry and Spun Sugar.  The paper is Bravo Burgondy left over from my wedding invitations, eight years ago.  The sentiment had some blue ink on it from another project so it has a beautiful purple tinge to it.

Challenges this Card Meets:
Inkspirational - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - 2 by 2 (I used two different sized star stamps, two colours on the sentiment and two colours of cardstock (white and bravo burgundy)
The Crafty Bloggers' Network - Anything Goes
Use It Tuesday - Scraps, Pieces and Odds and Ends (all the paper came from the scrap pile)

Frankenstein

This was such a fun challenge this week.  I played a bit fast and loose with the challenge, making Frankenstein instead of a traditional tag but I just couldn't help myself.  Our twist this week is Halloween.  I don't have any Mark's Finest Papers Halloween images so I decided to play with sentiments.  The "Friend" came from the Winter Crocuses set.  The "Good was a mash up of 3 words.  The "G" is from a birthday set.  The "oo"'s are from Country Charm and the "d" is from "Dogwood Blossoms."  Normally I wouldn't mash fonts like this but for Frankenstein, it just works.

Frankenstein is made with a Label Nestie and I then fussy cut the hair.  The nose is a leaf die that I then distressed the edges.  I hand drew the mouth and added googlie eyes.  The idea is not an original.  I've seen hand-created Frankenstein's on Splitcoaststampers in the past.

I just love that this is a fun card without any scare factor.  I am thinking of saving this for the neighbours who have small children.  Who can be scared of this face?

Crafty Catz - Man's or boy's card
Oldie but a Goodie - Dies and Punches
Send a Smile for Kids - Halloween
Use it Tuesday - Friendship

You Make My Heart Bloom

Just a simple card today.  I was making cards one night with a girlfriend.  It was very interesting to see the difference in styles.  After a couple of hours, she had assembly lined about 30 one-layer cards.  All of them stamped first and then coloured later.  I on the other hand had completed 4 case cards and a more elaborate design team card.  For me that had been a most productive night!  The awesome thing about it was that she pretty much opened every tin of stamps I owned.  I found this beautiful image that I had never inked before.  What was I thinking?!?  The card is stamped on cream rather than white and for that reason it does look so much better in real life, softer than a white card.

I really need to stamp with friends more often, it's so inspiring!

Challenges this Card Meets:

CAS-ual Fridays - Pastels and Black

Crafty Creations - Photo Inspiration (The pink flowers on the sandwich tray)

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

Less is More - Use 3 Previous Challenges: 1) Week 2, One-layer flower or tree; 2) Week 3, Spring theme; 3) Week 12, Off Centre

Mark's Finest Papers - Pink

One Stop Craft - Clean and Simple

Coffee with a Friend - For Fun DT Card

This week's challenge at For Fun Challenges is a sketch. I just picked up this set from Flourishes and thought that the teacup was perfect for this layout. It's coloured in Copics. I just love this set and can't wait to play with it some more. The colours are a little off in my picture. The background is supposed to be Certainly Celery and the matting behind the teacup is Not Quite Navy, not black. I didn't have a thick enough ribbon to balance the top so I used a strip of Brocade Blue under my white ribbon. The centre of the prisma flower is a clear bead that comes in a huge bag at Michael's. I then covered it in nail polish. I have never had much luck colouring with my copics but have found nail polish to be the bomb! I'm the only person I know that buys strange colours of polish when she never wears it herself.

I really do hope you'll join us this week at For Fun Challenges. I always love to see other people's ideas and creations.

Other Challenges this Card Meets:
Challenge Up Your Life - Monochromatic
Crazy 4 Challenges - Use dies on your card
Creative Card Crew - Friendship
Pear Tree Designs - One Colour (Blue)
Sentimental Sundays - Photo Inspiration (Inspired by the blue and white colours)

Call Me

This card is huge. It's 6 x 6 inches but somehow it just seems to work. I love the image but haven't played with it as much as I would like. Once I let myself let go of the standard, 4.25 x 5.5 inch card, a whole new range of possibilities opened up to me.

The card is for a girlfriend whom I rarely see. This is really sad since she lives only 3 blocks away. Our kids are at different ages and don't play well together though and she has a different work schedule. Occasionally we will make a "phone date" where we will plan the time, snacks, and call each other to catch up as if we would over a coffee. It's not quite as nice as getting together but we do okay. With the holidays and kids being sick, we haven't had time recently.

The colour scheme is a bit unusual for me. I don't usually do orange but I just loved the DP in the store. I used my new Creative Memories paper cutter to make the top and bottom borders. The image and sentiments are from My Favourite Thing's Call Me set and it's coloured with Copics. I think I need to darken the skin tones a bit.

The flowers were used with my TH tattered flowers die. I bought it thinking it would be so useful and I haven't liked my results. I see other peoples, and am totally amazed but have struggled with the results myself. I'll have to keep playing.

Challenges This Card Meets:
Cupcake Crafts - Something New
Cute Card Thursday - Out with the Old - The flower paper is 2 years old from a cousin's shower invite. The rhinestones and DP are both over a year old.
Fab 'N Funky - Anything Goes
Moving Along with the Times - Ring out the old, Ring in the New
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Dance Like No One's Watching

Sorry for being so quiet recently. Christmas has been crazy! I love the holiday but to be honest, I always look forward to Dec. 27th, the day I take down Christmas and start the relaxing part of my holiday. Now I can start crafting again!

I love this quote - it always makes me think of my sister who has it on her wall. I didn't have a stamp for it so I computer generated it in Word using Dakota font.

I didn't have prismas to match my DP so I Copic coloured some white ones. The DP is really some Christmas paper but I think the scrolls and colours can be used all year.

Challenges This Card Meets:
7 Kids College Fund - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - You Pick the Challenge (I chose Challenge #32 Petals and Pearls.)
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - Pearls
Moving Along with the Times - Anything Goes
Simon Says - Anything Goes

Retail Therapy

I don't know what it is about Bella's but they always make me think of my sister. I think they both have that "Here I am World, Love Me!" attitude. I wanted to play with this week's Bella sketch. I really should have used another more rectangular Bella, this gave me so many issues trying to get this card balanced but I bought this Bella as part of last year's Boxing Week sale and I'm embarrassed to say, this is the first time it's seen ink. I just had to use it. The dessert option was to use stitching on the card. Since I've promised DH not to use needles until baby doesn't eat everything in sight, I decided to go with "faux stitching" on my background paper and on my ribbon.

The part I love is the little glitter flower charm I found in my stash that perfectly matches Bella's top. This is a happy coincidence. I think it came as part of some stash I won this summer. The button on the bottom was cut off some jeans I was using for the fabric.

The card is HUGE, 6.25 x 6.25. I kept trying to get the background from getting lost in the large image and now I think I went too far the other way. Oh well. I still like how it turned out.

Challenges This Card Meets:
Stamping Bella - Bellarific Friday
Fab N Funky - Forget Me Not (uninked stamp bought 11 months ago!)
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Delightful Challenges - Glitter it Up
Oldie but a Goodie - Glitter
Simon Says - Sparkle
Stamp with Fun - Square
Tuesday Throwdown - Buttons and Bows

Fairy Wishes for a Friend

I've been playing with my Sweet Pea stamps again. Coloured several so I hope to have more cards soon. I should be playing with my new images but I just keep reaching for "Red Hearts." The funny part is, I love to colour her in blues, greens and purples. I haven't coloured her in red yet. Maybe that should be my next attempt. She's coloured with prismas. I love the softer effect of prismas on these cards. I also find the prismas easier to blend for greater depth than Copics but that just may be my bias.

The flowers were made with my Tim Holtz die and the fabric from one of DH's old shirts. He's lost a lot of weight this year and all his beautiful dress shirts don't fit anymore. I couldn't bear to throw them away so while looking the other way, I took my fabric scissors to them. Probably not the safest way to do it, but hey, I love the colours.


Challenges this card meets:
Craftalicious - Anything Goes
Flutterby Wednesday - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - Fairy Tales
Crazy for Challenges - Birthday Card
Cupcake Crafts - Scary Creatures (You do not want to deal with angry fairies!)
Delightful Challenges - Metal Mania (Brads)
Simon Says Stamp - 3 embellishments (homemade flowers, ribbon, glitter), 2 DP, 1 image
Sweet Pea Stampers - Brads or Bows (Brads)

Petals in Pink

Love this week's Delightful Inspirations freebie. Most of their images are perfect for making quick and easy notecards, of which I use a ton. I keep them in my desk at work.

The image is watercoloured. Not sure why the outline looks mottled. It looks even in real life although I've noticed I need to put a paper shim in my Big Shot. It's not embossing evenly.

The DP is from Coscto and since it's very soft in colour, I also used it to create the writing space on the inside. The sentiment is from SU's Life's Special Moments set. I bought it to do my wedding Thank Yous but I still use it alot because the sentients are so nice.

Challenges this Card Meets:
Craftalicious - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - Fairy Tales (Think of the field of flowers in the Wizard of Oz that puts Dorothy to sleep)
Crazy for Challenges - Birthday
Delightful Challenges - Metal Mania (brad)
Delightful Inspirations
Papertake Weekly - 3 of a kind (flowers and pearls)
Meljens - Tags

Let's Get Together

Wow, this card was difficult for me. I managed to use two different DP from two different lines and orange on the same card. Plus this is my first colouring of a blonde. I wanted blonde but when I went to look at all the tutorials, I realized I have none of the colours needed in copic so I used the tip-to-tip technique and experimented on lots of paper until I found something that didn't look scary.

Every once in a while I try to do a Friday Sketchers layout but I admit they are a real stretch for me. Just finding DP is a challenge. I have lots but am not confident about mixing patterns. Then there's the fact that I can't cut a straight line. My mother HATES my quilts. I think they're cute. Just don't use one as a bedspread since they are NOT straight. All these little pieces on the card was a real challenge but I got it pretty straight I think.

Since Paper Sundaes challenge is to use your stash, I think I should mention all Items on the card, including the image and sentiments were purchased last Boxing Week. For our American friends, that's traditionally December 26th-December 31 when Canadians get the best sales. We don't get Black Thursday.

The image is my Cosmobella which I seem to use a lot. It's a great general celebration image - birthday, new years, let's get together, etc. I paired it with My Favourite Things sentiments from Call Me. I love MFT sentiments. They stamp so clearly and are so versatile.

The prismas were coloured with my copics and I love how they shaded. They were much darker and lightened as the ink dried. The multishading gives it a great soft look I think.

Challenges this Card Meets:
Bellarific Friday - Autumn Colours
Charisma Cardz - Autumn Colours
Craftalicious Challenge - Autumn Colours
Creative Card Crew - Blooming Marvelous
Cupcake Craft - Happy Hour
Friday Sketchers
Paper Sundaes - Use Your Stash

Coffee with Friends

One of life's little luxuries, at least for me, is being able to sit down with a cup of coffee or tea and just catch up in person with friends without interruption. Everyone is so busy and babies need their mommies. Somehow, when asked to make a friendship card, I gravitate to images of coffee and tea.

I love this image by Elizabeth Bell. It was part of the Sugar Nellie, Sweet Ebony collection but I don't know if it's available now. I received some images as part of my Express Image Swap last year and I liked them so much, I never coloured them. Yes, that sounds silly to me too. But I was afraid to use them all up or worse, make a mistake. However, I started cleaning my craft area and have two kiddie shoeboxes of images. I don't think I'll run out any time soon!

The girl was coloured with copics weeks ago when I had lost my mojo. I then outlined the nestie with Frosted Lace Stickles. The paper is from my stash. I've had it for years and liked is so much that I never used it. Can you spot a theme here? The ribbon was recycled from gifts.

Blogging is awesome! After writing about how flowers don't fit the winter theme of this card, I remembered my snowflake punch and added the punches and bling in all the corners. Of course the pink snowflakes remind me of "The Cat and the Hat". Oh well.

Challenges this card meets:
Charisma Cards - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - Sketch
Delightful Challenges - Make it Sparkle
Oldie but Goodie - Pink and Girlie
One Stop Craft - Snowflakes in September
Paper Jewels - Friendship

Friends Forever

I really enjoyed colouring these images from my Grab Bag this month. Each month we get six copies of an image, some DP, ribbon, and embellishments. We then create four different cards and send them to our group members. This is my second card for the month.

I really enjoyed this week's sketch for Sweet Sketch Wednesday.
This also fits the Cute Card Thursday Challenge: Ribbon-tastic

Recipe:


Stamps: House Mouse


Cardstock: SU - So Saffron & DP


Accessories: So Saffron Ribbon from last year's Sale-abration

A Friend Indeed

I am really enjoying these square cards. I'm going to have to break down and buy more square envelopes. There's just something about the slightly larger canvas that I like. This card is for my March Grab Bag Swap. I haven't done my cards for February but I was stressed this week and really wanted to colour these images to relax. The designer paper also came in my package. I goofed and lost the sentiments that were stamped in the package. Luckily, I have Wonderful Words and was able to stamp them directly onto the card.

The flowers are my attempt at recycling. They were donated to my school by a store that had used them in a window display. However, they hadn't been used for art projects for a couple of years so I recycled them for my cards. The brads had been a gift.

Challenges Entered:
The Sketch comes from Friday Sketchers - Challenge #90.
The distressing around the edges of the image is for the Saturday Spotlight Challenge: Messing Around.
Cupcake Challenge: Friendship Card
Cute Daisy May: Flowers


Recipe:

Stamps: SU - Wonderful Words, House Mouse - Unknown

Cardstock: So Saffron, Whisper White, SU Designer Paper

Ink: Black Memento, Distressing done in Brocade Blue

Techniques: Distressed Edges, Prismacolouring

Accessories: Nesties Label 2, Silk Flowers, Brads