There’s No Tie…

I thought I’d get a jump on a Father’s Day card for my kids to give their wonderful dad. I took the layout from Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge. I wanted this to be a fun card. I couldn’t put too many embellishments on it because my hubby doesn’t like cards that even remotely look like a “girly card”. So, I used a White CS base (5.25 x 5.25) and added a layer of Certainly Celery. I took some scraps of patterned paper that were in my “scrap bin” and laid them out according to the sketch. I paper-pieced the ties. . Just the other day, I was saying to my DH, “why can’t I stamp straight”? After a little debate, I figured my problem was that I didn’t mount the rubber straight on the wood blocks. Unfortunately, I can’t use that excuse today. My sentiment is straight, but it is too far to the left! I wasn’t going to re-do the card, but I KNOW my DH will comment on it. You see, he works in the field of architecture, and he has this THING about everything needing to be cemetrical! I’ll just tell him the kids made the card!! I hope you like it! Thanks for having a look!

Togetherness…

I am a week behind in the Viva la Verve Challenge for March, so I made last week’s card and this week’s card. For the challenge, we are given a sketch and a few inspiration photos to choose from. Here is the sketch and here is the inspiration photo I used: I chose the strawberry image within the photo. I wish I had the Flourishes Strawberry set because it would have looked a lot closer to the inspiration. I don’t, so I this is what I ended up with: I used the strawberry image from Taylored Expressions’ Berries & Cherries set. The sentiment is from Verve’s Forever in our Hearts. I love how the sentiment works so well with this set! The card measures 5.25 x 5.25 and the base is Basic Black. I layered some red gingham patterned paper on top. I wanted to incorporate a bit of the blue color, so used the bottom square panels for that purpose in Baroque Blue, layered with Basic Black. I colored the berries and basket with copics and stamped the sentiment in Momento Tuxedo Black ink. I used my Nesties Labels One to cut it out and layered that with Basic Black. I used a hand-held punch and fed some Riding Hood Red ribbon through it and ited it with a blue button and a bit of hemp. I think it is missing something on the bottom. Maybe I’ll add a few rhinestones (my favorite embellishment!) to the bottom.

For the current week’s challenge, the sketch was this lovely image. I couldn’t decide on what inspiration photo to use, so I incorporated two of them using the lime green backsplash and the retro kitchen with the teal color and the hint of red .
For this card, my base is Papertrey Ink. white CS and I layered it with Baja Breeze. I layered that with some polka dot lime green paper. My other layers were some Basic Gray striped patterned paper layered with Real Red. I also used a lime green panel that I ran through the Cuttlebug with the Swirly embossing folder and layered with Baja Breeze. I tied a red ribbon around the smaller panels and tied a white button from my Baba with some white embroidery floss. The butterfly and sentiment are from SU’s Flight of the Butterfly set. I stamped the background in Green Galore ink as well as Aloe Vera Versa Magic Chalk ink. I stamped over that with the polka dot image using my stamp-a-ma-jig in Baja Breeze. I punched it out with the SU butterfly punch. I popped it up with half of a dimensional and popped up that panel with dimensionals too. I am going to add some teal colored rhinestones to the right side of the main image as well. Thanks for having a look at my cards today. My DH and his nephew are busy cooking up a storm – they are preparing some lamb dish and a salad of some sort to take to our neighbours for a Saturday night get-together.

Sitting back and relaxing…

This has been a pretty quiet weekend. My youngest son came down with the flu Friday night, so we couldn’t go to my husband’s family’s birthday get-together (a bunch of them have birthdays within a few weeks of each other) for fear of infecting the senior and baby population among them (moreso than the adults). So, I spent the day yesterday stamping – getting my sister’s Christmas cards done and doing a few challenges (I’ll post those cards separately). I’m just goofing around today too. I really should do something more productive than card-making since my back is starting to ache. This is my submission for last Friday’s Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #92
Here is the sketch:

Here’s my submission:
My hubby was complaining that I don’t have any “guy” cards. I had only recently purchased this set (Boys will be Boys) from Taylored Expressions because I really didn’t have many male-specific stamp sets. I’m glad now to have made one – I’ll probably make a bunch more so when he needs them, my DH can pick what he wants.

The card base is 110 lb. white. I layered some textured black over that. I am using up my scraps of Riding Hood Red (I LOVE that colour and should have stocked up on it last year). I stamped the BBQ and steak with Moment Black Tuxedo ink and coloured them with my copics. I’m just starting out with these wonderful markers, so I think it will take me time to figure out how to shade with them properly. The side panels are grey patterned paper that I’ve had laying in my stash for years. I added a few brads on the corners and punched out the sentiment and layered it. That’s it!

Another card for Dad

I made this card for my sister to give to Dad for his 75th birthday next week:

I used the Taylor Expressions Cupcake Challenge (TECC74) as my inspiration, although my image is a little bigger than the sketch shows.
The card base is Baja Breeze and I layered with textured DSP from S-U (retired). I added a vertical layer of Close to Cocoa. The old geezer is from Golden Oldies (Stampin’ Up) & he was stamped in Jet Black Staz On onto watercolour paper. I sold my Baja Breeze ink pad so I improvised and used Sage Shadow and Bashful Blue to colour in his shirt using an aquapainter. His pants were watercoloured with Close to Cocoa. I used Blush Blossom for his skin and used Chocolate Chip for his sandles. I added a layer of Close to Cocoa and Baha Breeze behind the main image. I stamped the sentiment from the same set onto whisper white and used the large oval punch along with the label punch to finish it off. I’m sure Dad will get a kick out of his cards. Now I’ll have to make him another one to give him from his grandkids!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #63

Cathy is right – I have been blurfing a lot lately! I really love doing the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge and this is my second attempt at this one. I didn’t like my first try at all, so am not going to post it. I think I did a better job with this one:

I haven’t used this beautiful pear from Stampers’ Anonymous for a long time. I decided to pull out my pastels too, which have also been collecting dust. I stamped the pear in Versamark and rubbed various colours of pastels over it. I sponged So Saffron around the edges. I added a the “hello” sentiment. I layered it with Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip panels. My card base is also Chocolate Chip and I used a Kiwi patterned paper over that. I wrapped some chocolate satin ribbon over a Saffron panel. I added a flower from the Flower Fusion kit and used a polka dot brad from the Dollar store.

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #63

Cathy is right – I have been blurfing a lot lately! I really love doing the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge and this is my second attempt at this one. I didn’t like my first try at all, so am not going to post it. I think I did a better job with this one:

I haven’t used this beautiful pear from Stampers’ Anonymous for a long time. I decided to pull out my pastels too, which have also been collecting dust. I stamped the pear in Versamark and rubbed various colours of pastels over it. I sponged So Saffron around the edges. I added a the “hello” sentiment. I layered it with Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip panels. My card base is also Chocolate Chip and I used a Kiwi patterned paper over that. I wrapped some chocolate satin ribbon over a Saffron panel. I added a flower from the Flower Fusion kit and used a polka dot brad from the Dollar store.

Just in Time for Easter!

Hi everyone! I am still experiencing problems with my computer, so at the moment I can only post if I visit Donna and use hers! So until I find another solution, my posts might be a little sporadic! Today’s card is in response to Taylor’s Cupcake Challenge. The sketch looks like this:

But I had to flip it and fiddle it a bit in order use these images for a fun Easter card!

I used a branch from a Pink Paislee Clear Stamp Set “Autumn” and the eggs and bunny are from the SU set, “An egg-cellent Easter.” I initially stamped the branch with dye inks but it didn’t look so hot and I ended up filling it in and adding some shading with my Copic markers. I masked the branch and stamped the egg three times, also colouring these with Copics. The lines are drawn with a gold gel pen and then I added some dimension with brads and ribbon. I felt like the white background was a bit flat so I stippled it with some pale blue dye ink.

The rest of the card us just some layering with cardstock and some fun flocked sky paper from Heidi Grace. I didn’t have room for the embellishment as placed in the sample, so I trimmed out the bunny, coloured with Copics and slipped it behind the main panel up top I thought it turned out pretty cute!

Just in Time for Easter!

Hi everyone! I am still experiencing problems with my computer, so at the moment I can only post if I visit Donna and use hers! So until I find another solution, my posts might be a little sporadic! Today’s card is in response to Taylor’s Cupcake Challenge. The sketch looks like this:

But I had to flip it and fiddle it a bit in order use these images for a fun Easter card!

I used a branch from a Pink Paislee Clear Stamp Set “Autumn” and the eggs and bunny are from the SU set, “An egg-cellent Easter.” I initially stamped the branch with dye inks but it didn’t look so hot and I ended up filling it in and adding some shading with my Copic markers. I masked the branch and stamped the egg three times, also colouring these with Copics. The lines are drawn with a gold gel pen and then I added some dimension with brads and ribbon. I felt like the white background was a bit flat so I stippled it with some pale blue dye ink.

The rest of the card us just some layering with cardstock and some fun flocked sky paper from Heidi Grace. I didn’t have room for the embellishment as placed in the sample, so I trimmed out the bunny, coloured with Copics and slipped it behind the main panel up top I thought it turned out pretty cute!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #61

I thought this sketch was so cute, I decided to make two cards for this challenge. What can I say, I’m on a MAJOR card-making roll today. The card below was made with a Very Vanilla base. I layered on some patterned paper from Junkits’ Grandparents Collectionz called “grandma’s flowers”. Most of it is hidden, but trust me, it’s gorgeous paper! I layered two 1-1/2″ slightly different coloured brown panels on the top and side. I absolutely love the Thoughts and Prayers tree/flower and thought the tree would go well with the paper. I added the sentiment from the new Great Friend set from S-U. I layered that with the same brown as on the side panel (non S-U; GASP!). I added some ink to the sides of the tree image to mirror the texture in the patterned paper. I layered a bunch of different flowers that I’ve had in my stash for ages & added a brad to secure them.

For my next card, I used Regal Rose as my card base. I added some S-U DSP on top of that. I added a Regal Rose panel and Certainly Celery panel (both 1-1/2″ inches wide). I ran them both through the Texturz plate and adhered them. I stamped a sentiment from the retired Friendship Flowers set and layered it on Celery and Regal Rose. I used the ticket corner punch on the sentiment and Celery layers and added Celery brads on the Rose layer. I sponged around the sentiment as well to add a little depth. I layered a bunch of paper flowers together and secured them with a green rhinestone brad.

I’m heading to bed. I’m sure I won’t post as many tomorrow. Night, night.

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #61

I thought this sketch was so cute, I decided to make two cards for this challenge. What can I say, I’m on a MAJOR card-making roll today. The card below was made with a Very Vanilla base. I layered on some patterned paper from Junkits’ Grandparents Collectionz called “grandma’s flowers”. Most of it is hidden, but trust me, it’s gorgeous paper! I layered two 1-1/2″ slightly different coloured brown panels on the top and side. I absolutely love the Thoughts and Prayers tree/flower and thought the tree would go well with the paper. I added the sentiment from the new Great Friend set from S-U. I layered that with the same brown as on the side panel (non S-U; GASP!). I added some ink to the sides of the tree image to mirror the texture in the patterned paper. I layered a bunch of different flowers that I’ve had in my stash for ages & added a brad to secure them.

For my next card, I used Regal Rose as my card base. I added some S-U DSP on top of that. I added a Regal Rose panel and Certainly Celery panel (both 1-1/2″ inches wide). I ran them both through the Texturz plate and adhered them. I stamped a sentiment from the retired Friendship Flowers set and layered it on Celery and Regal Rose. I used the ticket corner punch on the sentiment and Celery layers and added Celery brads on the Rose layer. I sponged around the sentiment as well to add a little depth. I layered a bunch of paper flowers together and secured them with a green rhinestone brad.

I’m heading to bed. I’m sure I won’t post as many tomorrow. Night, night.