OWH Midweek Throw-down- Punches July 31

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Today's card is for Operation Write Home's Midweek Throw-down Challenge to use punches.  You can find more details about the challenge here: Midweek Throw-down

I have been coloring up these Gingerbread cookie stamps the last few days and thought the Martha Steward "Arch Lattice" border punch would work well with the Gingerbread to make a nice Christmas card (um, was that a run-on sentence or what?)  

I used card stock from Recollections (hunter green, red, and a bright lime green) for the backgrounds and decided a little candy cane stamped on the red would add a little more fun to the card.  After stamping with Tim Holtz "Fired Brick" ink, I used clear embossing powder and heat embossed the candy canes.  

I added a little Offray Microspool ribbon (red and lime green stripped) and it is self-adhesive.  The bright green in the ribbon is what prompted me to use the bright lime green card stock.  

The Gingerbread is colored with Spectrum Noir (TN3, TN2, JG1, CR4, & CR7) and then I added Glossy Accents to the bow, cheeks, and green details.  I was hoping to make it look like a real frosted Gingerbread cookie.  

The Gingerbread, Candy Cane, and sentiment stamps are all from JRL Designs, but they are rather old (I acquired them from someone else's stash years ago and I can not even remember how many years ago......)

Thank you for stopping by!

Papertrey Ink Make It Monday Challenge # 127

Happy Monday everyone! If it is Monday, then it must mean there is another challenge over on the Papertrey Ink blog.  Here is a link to the challenge:

Papertrey Ink

Today's challenge is to use a double stamped background using a Papertrey Ink product. 

I made this card using one of the little stamp sets from Papertrey Ink called "Boy Basics Rock On Stamp Set".   Using the music notes and the music lines from this set, I created a background.  I don't think I would have ever tried this if this challenge had not come along. I think I was afraid it would be too hard to match things up to make some sort of pattern, but it was really easy.  

Once the background was done and I knew I would use red as an accent, I then stamped and heat embossed a guitar. I inked up the stamp with Tim Holtz "Fired Brick" ink and a little black Memento on just the edges.  I used Recollections Clear Embossing Powder when I heat embossed. It ended up giving the guitar a shiny look, almost metallic.  

I added a little more background paper and one of the sentiments from the "Boy Basics Rock On Stamp Set" ( it comes with four sentiments--awesome!) I also added a little satin ribbon which started out white until I colored it with Spectrum Noir.  I think I will be purchasing most of my ribbons in white and then coloring them whatever color I need rather than trying to have every color on hand (which had become a storage nightmare when I had too many different spools.)

Thank you for stopping by!

:)

July 2013 OWH Sketch # 183 Challenge

Hello everyone! It is Operation Write Home's Sketch Challenge day! I made this card for challenge #183.  You can find more details about the challenge here:

Operation Write Home Sketch #183

Here is today's sketch:

I have been trying to use up some pretty papers from an 8"x 8" paper pack from DCMV called "Citrus Stack". Many of the papers in this stack have embedded glitter in them that does not rub off, so they are great for Operation Write Home (since we can not use any glitter that will rub off.....you can click here if you want more details about that: No glitter

After cutting all the patterned papers and their layers, I decided I wanted more detail, so I pulled out my Fiskars "Lace" paper punch and punched a couple of the corners. Then I added some May Arts ribbons (Mesh & Crochet trim in white) along with a bit of Satin ribbon. 

The sketch called for details in the upper right corner, however I was afraid my pearls would get bumped off too easily during this card's travels.  An episode of Operation Write Home TV discussed dimension and how to best use it so things will stay put, so I put the pearls next to some layers.  Here is a link to that episode if you are interested:

Operation Write Home Episode # 52

The sentiment is a wood-mounted one from Impression Obsession.

And finally, I added a little hand-stitching around the background paper using white Omega thread and an outline stitch. 

Thank you for stopping by!

:)

Saturated Canary Challenge #48 "Glamour & Glitz"

Hello everyone!  I made this card for Saturated Canary's Challenge #48 calling for "Glamour & Glitz".  You can find more information about the challenge here:

Saturated Canary Challenge #48

I decided to use this image called "Belle" from Saturated Canary. You can purchase her here:

Belle

I colored her with Spectrum Noir markers and did some detail cutting around her.  I then wanted to see if I could dress up her jeans just a little. But I went overboard with the shiny stuff by adding Stickles Frosted Lace not only to her jeans, but also on the fringe of her purse and of course she has to have a sparkly phone (in purple.)  And just for fun, I added a little more sparkle to her hair by using some Viva Pearl Pen in Gold. 

I added some Glossy Accents to her purse and her eyes. And yes, I added a touch of the Stickles Frosted Lace as her eye shadow, I just had to try it. 

The white background papers were stamped with an embossing pad and heat embossed with  Recollections Detail Embossing Powder in "Snow" to give them a textured, shiny look. 

The decorative rectangles were cut using Cricut's Elegant Edges Cartridge and the sentiment is from a Hero Arts' Operation Write Home Fundraising set you can find here:

Hero Arts

Thank you for stopping by!

:)

July 2013 Sketch Challenge #182 Operation Write Home

Happy Sunday everyone!

This card is for Operation Write Home's Sketch Challenge #182. You can find more details about the challenge here:

OWH Sketch Challenge #182

Here is the sketch:

I had to make some little adjustments here and there to make it work, but that is the beauty of sketches, right? Sketches provide a nice base that we can play with depending on the papers & embellishments we are using.   

I wanted to mat everything in black so I adjusted the size of the of the 3.25 x 5" piece down to  3 1/8 x 4 3/8".   I  wanted to use the sentiment from SRM Stickers (that has been in my stash too long)  and thought it would work with these bright yellow papers.  It was too small to work  across those little bars of yellow so I placed it above them.   I decided to add some flowers (cut with Cricut's "Accent Essentials" cartridge)  across the yellow bars and then added some May Arts ribbon below.  The papers are all from Michael's Recollections. 

Thank you for stopping by! 

:)

July 2013 Spectrum Noir Challenge "Friendship"

Hello there! This card is for the July 2013 Spectrum Noir Challenge calling for a "friendship" theme. You can find the details for this challenge here:

Spectrum Noir Challenge

 This originally wood-mounted rubber stamp came from my sister years ago and so sorry, has no company name with it. 

 I colored these two girlies with Spectrum Noir and layered them on scalloped circles cut with my Cricut "Elegant Edges" cartridge. The papers are from Recollections, except the background party- streamer paper which was from a Disney scrapbook pack. 

The sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs "Sentiments Collection 2" and you can find it here: Our Daily Bread Designs

Colors for the "apple overalls" little girl:

Hair- GB2, TN2, TN5

Skin- FS3, FS8

Overalls- CR3, PP5, PP6, CR6 (apple)  

Blouse & Cuffs- HB2, HB1, LV2 PL2 (gloves)

Colors for the "heart overalls" little girl:

Hair- BGR2, BGR4, BGR5

Skin- FS1, FS6

Overalls- HB2, HB1, LV2, 

Blouse & Cuffs- CR3, PP5, PP6, CR6 (heart), LV1 (glove)

Shoes for both- IG2, IG6

I distressed the edges with Color Box "Pink" ink, used a Fiskars "Lace" paper punch for the corners (you can find it here: Fiskars Lace Punch), and several ribbons. The white mesh "net" ribbon and the "crochet trim" ribbon are from May Arts.  I also added a little satin ribbon (Offray) for the bow. 

And last, I added a little Viva Pearl Pen in "Ice White" around the circle and in the corners.  This card is going to be packed up tightly for Operation Write Home and I do not want those little pearl pen dots to be sticking to anything, so I will be dusting them with a tiny bit of baby powder to remove any tackiness. 

Thank you for stopping by!

:)

July 2013 OWH Sketch Challenge # 181

Today's card is for Operation Write Home's Sketch Challenge #181. Here is the sketch:

 More details can be found here:

OWH #181

I started off looking for an image that would fit in the 2.25 inch square on the left and that set the tone for the whole card. This pumpkin is a wood mounted rubber stamp possibly from Rubber Stampede. I found it on Ebay as part of a large lot of stamps, so I am thinking it is a bit older. I colored it with Spectrum Noir in OR1, GB5, TN5, CT4 & LY1 for the pumpkin and DG2, DG3, & CG2 for the leaves. 

The sentiment is from Our Daily Bread Designs "Sentiments Collection 2". 

The little buttons were made using my EK Success Button Punch and white card stock. I then used my Spectrum Noir to color them to match the pumpkin's green stem (DG2, DG3, CG2).  I popped them with a little dimensional adhesive and stitched them on with some dark orange DMC thread. 

The orange paper is basic orange card stock and I stamped it with Fun Stampers Journey "Basket Weave" to get that little diamond pattern. You can find it here:

Basket Weave

 I also used the ink color "Orange Slice" from Fun Stampers Journey.  The bottom of the card looked a little plain (even with the basket weave stamped on it) so I cut my 1 1/2 inch mesh ribbon in half (to make it now only .75 inch wide)  to make it fit the lower portion and then used the extra cut piece for a knot. I added a metal brad to keep the knot in place since gluing this mesh is difficult. 

The hardest space to fill was the tiny little .25 x 2.25 inch space between the pumpkin and the sentiment. I found this diagonal orange/white stripe in my scrap box and decided to make the white stripes green (DG2) using Spectrum Noir. 

It really was a fun card to make and I am thinking it has something to do with all the Fall colors I was working with. Fall is my favorite time of year because it means a break from the super hot weather of Southern California. 

Thank you for stopping by! 

Saturated Canary July 2013 "Celebration" Challenge

Hello everyone!  I made this card for the Saturated Canary's July 2013 Challenge for "Celebration" themed projects. You can find details for the challenge here:
                                                     Saturated Canary Challenge


I colored this Saturated Canary image called "Canary Love" with Spectrum Noir and a couple of Copic markers. You can find this image to purchase here:
                                                               Canary Love


Here are the colors I used:
Hair: Spectrum Noir TN3, TN5, EB3
Skin: Spectrum Noir FS1, FS8, FS9
Dress: Spectrum Noir IB3, BT3, BT1, TN2
           Copic: E44, E42
Shoes: Copic: E44, E42

The papers are from My Minds Eye's "Breeze" and "Sunshine" 6x6 paper pads.  I used the Cricut "Elegant Edges" cartridge to cut the decorative ovals and the "Accent Essentials" cartridge for the scrolls.  I added some pearls and gems around the scrolls and some Glossy Accents on her shoes.  I also added a little brown grosgrain ribbon and a little lace.

This challenge came just in time because Operation Write Home is calling for more "Celebration" cards, rather than "Happy Birthday" specific cards.....A "Celebration" sentiment on a card can be used to celebrate anything and has more versatility than a card that has "Happy Birthday" on it.

Thank you for stopping by!  :)

July 2013 Our Daily Bread Designs/OWH Challenge

Each month Our Daily Bread Designs offers a challenge to Operation Write Home card makers. If 50 card makers participate ODBD will cover the cost of shipping two boxes of OWH greeting cards.  This month's challenge is to use "stitching" on a card. You can find details about the challenge here:

July 2013 ODBD Challenge

I love stitching on cards, especially when I am creating patchwork quilt cards. For this card I reached into my scraps for all yellows and reds. The papers are a mix of Bazzill, Claudine Hellmoth's Home Sweet Home, and Recollections. The sentiment is one of the $1 rubber stamps from Michael's (made by Craft Smart), and the buttons were made with a EK Sucess button punch. 

For the stitching I used a red variegated DMC thread. 

Thank you for stopping by! 

:)