Oh Deer!

The Crazy 4 Challenges team is back again today, and the challenge this week is to create something with forest friends.  Any forest animal, or forest scenery you’ve got… create a card with it.  I LOVED this challenge because it gave me a chance to finally use my Clearly Besotted Deer to Me stamp set, and matching dies….

I kept this design pretty simple, stamping the images with Versafine Onyx Black ink on Distress Watercolor card stock, then embossing with clear embossing powder.  I then used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers and an aquabrush to watercolor all the images.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie

Thanks for stopping by today!

I Said a Prayer…

I made this card this weekend… while it looks like it was probably pretty quick to make, it actually took a whole afternoon because it didn’t turn out quite how I envisioned.  I actually was going to add the Pumpkin Patch Confetti Cuts to it in addition to the Wheat Confetti Cuts, but the pumpkin was just too much, and I decided simpler was better.  This is a card for my husband’s former boss, who is battling cancer and unfortunately not doing well.

In also used the Leafy Confetti Cuts to add a pop of another color, and the sentiment is from the My Heart Trusts stamp set.  Stamps and dies are all from Reverse Confetti.

I had a productive weekend when it comes to being outside, getting some exercise, and spending time with my hubby… but not so productive with stamping.  But that’s OK… was still a great weekend!  And I hope yours was, as well!  Thank you for stopping by today!

CrAzY for Birthdays

The Crazy 4 Challenges team is up again today with a new challenge… create a birthday card!  Since my daughter had a birthday this week, I made her this card!  And since she’s celebrating in Vegas right now, it’s OK that it’s late… she won’t know I didn’t have it made in time!  LOL

She’s always been partial for giraffes, so this recently retired stamp set from My Favorite Things was just what I needed for her card, along with the current Sketch #299 on the MFT Challenge & Inspiration blog.

I cannot for the life of me remember the name of this stamp set….. Wild About You, maybe?  But alas, it IS retired but I still love it!  The safari animals are so cute…Kaylie will love this little giraffe.  I paired him with some papers from the retired Wild Prints 6x6 Paper Pack, and the Dots & Stripes Neutral 6x6 Paper Pack.   I die-cut the circle using Blueprints 12 and the Stitched Circle STAX Die-Namics, and the sentiment flag is from Blueprints 13.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie

Thanks for stopping by today!

You’re Paw-some

My daughter needed a dog-themed thank you note this past weekend, so I used the current Freshly Made Sketches #254 to create this card…

I used the Birdie Brown You Make My Tail Wag stamp set and matching Die-Namics to create this card, and I combined two sentiments from the You Have My Heart stamp set to customize the sentiment.  Other Die-Namics used include the Blueprints 16, the Stitched Circle STAX, and the retired Woodgrain Fence and Flat-Bottom Clouds.  Behind the circle, I used some strips of paper from the Tiny Check Brights 6x6 Paper Pack, and the Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots 6x6 Paper Pack.

Now…. if only I had remembered to have my daughter sign the card while she was home this weekend.  *sigh*

Happy Monday!

A Whole Llama Love

Hi friends!  I am running late this week with my post for the Crazy 4 Challenges team!  Just seems like I ran out of hours in the day all this past week, and had to wait until this weekend to get some stamping done.  We’re on week 3, so that means it’s time for a sketch!

My sister and her husband celebrate their 19th anniversary this coming week, and they’re big animal lovers.  So I came up with this idea to use the oh-so-fantastic new Llama Love stamp set from My Favorite Things for their anniversary card.  Check it out…

How can you not LOVE those llamas???  I knew when I saw this stamp set debuted a couple of weeks ago that I was going to have to have it!  I die-cut the llamas and a cactus with the matching Die-Namics for this stamp set and colored them with Copic markers.  Then I used the retired Tribal Prints 6x6 paper pack to cut out a circle behind them, and used the Rolling Hills Die-Namics to make the blue sky and grassy field.  For the sentiment, I took the “I have a whole llama love for you” but only inked up what you see on the card, making it a perfect anniversary card!

My colors were inspired by the current Color Challenge #53 on the MFT Challenge & Inspiration blog.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie

Thanks for stopping by today!

Curtain Call - Fall Florals



The Curtain Call team is part of a special blog hop today.  Altenew invited the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge to be part of The Ultimate Challenge Blog Hop, along with many other fabulous challenge blogs!

 

 

Curtain Call has some extra inspiration to get your creative juices flowing!  One can't think of Altenew without thinking of their amazing floral designs, so we threw some fall floral inspiration into the mix!

 

 

 

So, here's my card for today...

 

 

I finally got some ink on my Peony Bouquet stamp set from Altenew, and am now wondering why it took me so long to use this beautiful stamp set???  My design was inspired by this card by Tasnim.  I thought some gold touches added some elegance, so I stamped a polka dot background and embossed with gold embossing powder.  (That was though, after I mistook gold GLITTER for embossing powder and made a MESS!  Ugh... does anyone else despise glitter as much as I do?)  I didn't really feel like I had a good spot for a sentiment, so I left this card blank inside and out, and can customize as needed.

 

Please be sure to stop over at the Curtain Call blog for all the challenge details, and join us!  You could be in the running to be chosen as the “Lead” and be our guest designer for the next challenge!  And be sure to visit the Crew for plenty of inspiration…

Betty Wright
Kim Singdahlsen
Leigh Penner
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mangan
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Melody Rupple
Monika Davis
Sheri Gilson
Silke Ledlow
Stacey Schafer
Tara Godfrey

 

Thanks for stopping by!









Sensational Stitched Birthday

I’ve got a dear friend with a birthday coming up this week, so I used my super-fun-to-use Sensational Stitched Flowers Die-Namics from My Favorite Things to make this card for her…

Using the colors from Color Throwdown #409, and the sketch #231 from Retro Sketches, I created this card using these fun dies.  I just love mixing these flowers up to make fun bouquets!  I hope Cindy will like this card!  The “happy” Die-Namics, and birthday sentiment are both from My Favorite Things, but retired.

I hope you had a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Wishing You Rainbows

The Crazy 4 Challenges team is up again today with a new challenge for you… use 10 of anything in your creation!  Does that sound easy to you, or impossible?  For me, it started out feeling impossible.  Anything I could think of to put on my card ten times just sounded excessive.  Until I came up with this idea…



By using a rainbow, I was able to put ten colors on my card!  There’s black and white, so there’s two.  Then the colors of the rainbow:  red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple that bring the total to eight.  Then I used pale yellow for the sun… the total is up to nine!  And I used a lighter blue for the watercolor sky, bringing my total to ten colors!  The End of the Rainbow Die-Namics from My Favorite Things was perfect for my card, along with the Rainbow of Happiness stamp set, and the Color the Rainbow Die-Namics combined for the sentiment.  Peeking out behind the clouds is the Radiant Sun Die-Namics die.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a GREAT weekend!

Curtain Call Reminder–Candy Apple

Hello friends!  Just a reminder, there’s still time to join us for the current Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  Here’s the photo to inspire you this time around…

Because I just can’t resist gingham, I went with another gingham-patterned apple for my card this week…

For this design, I used my well-loved Red Delicious Die-Namics (so sad that this is retired!) from My Favorite Things for that big, gorgeous apple, and put a piece of black and white polka dot paper behind it.  I added some extra dimension to the design by using the BG Diagonal Stripes background stamp from MFT on the left side of the back panel.  My layout is loosely based on the Retro Sketch #229 from last week.

Be sure to stop by the Curtain Call blog for more inspiration, and JOIN US!  You could be chosen as the Lead, and be our Guest Designer for the next challenge!

CrAzY for White - C4C352

Hey, happy Labor Day 3-day weekend!  It’s time for a new challenge with the CrAzIeS!  Since it’s Labor Day, our challenge today centers around the phrase “Don’t wear white after Labor Day”.  So we’re challenging you to create an all-white card.  It’s OK to use a little pop of color, as long as the white is the predominant color.  Stop by the Crazy 4 Challenges blog for all the details.

For my card, I. COULD. NOT. WAIT! to use my new Sensational Stitched Flowers Die-Namics from the new card kit at My Favorite Things!  Here’s what I came up with…

I die-cut a bunch of flowers from Ripe Raspberry card stock, as well as a few polka dot papers from the Dots & Stripes Sorbet 6x6 paper pack.  Now, yes I cheated a tiny bit and added some green leaves… you CAN’T have flowers without leaves, right?  I layered the flowers to the side of a panel cut with the Blueprints 22.  And in the background, I stamped the BG Distressed Stripes background in Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.  The birthday sentiment comes from a retired set.

Be sure to stop by the C4C blog for all the challenge details today, and be inspired by the rest of the CrAzY girls…

Anja de Regt
Barbara Anders
Caz Counsell
Frances Byrne
Jessie Rone
Joanne Grzelak
Karen Aicken
Maryann Einem
Raquel Mason
Rebecca Ednie

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a GREAT weekend!

Color Throwdown #408

Hello friends!  The current Color Throwdown challenge #408 is like my nemesis... I SO don't do well with primary colors!

But I decided to give it a go and am glad I did!  I'm offering up this hint, if it helps someone else out.  Sometimes when I need to use colors that are outside my comfort zone, I try to find an image to color that will allow me to use all the colors.  So, this handsome gnome holding a pot of flowers was PERFECT for this challenge!

See!?  The gnome and the mushroom were just perfect to incorporate all four colors!  The gnome is from the Birdie Brown You Gnome Me stamp set from My Favorite Things, and I colored him with Copic markers.  I also used the Grassy Fields Die-Namics, the Radiant Sun Die-Namics, the Rectangle Frames Die-Namics, and Blueprints 24 for my card.

Stop by the Color Throwdown blog and join my besties for this challenge!

Curtain Call - Candy Apple

Yay, it's September 1st and even though the calendar says Fall doesn't officially start for 3 more weeks, I'm ready to start celebrating now!  Our county fair is next week, there's pumpkin spice everything everywhere, and lots of wonderful Fall produce!  Including apples which can be made into candy apples... which coincidentally is our inspiration for the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge today!

Now me, I prefer a caramel apple but these still look pretty tasty!  I hope you'll join us for the challenge.  You could be chosen as the Lead, and join us for the next challenge!  Stop by the Curtain Call blog for all the details!

Here's what I created for today...

I used a retired Die-namics die from My Favorite Things to die-cut this little apple from some gingham paper, and put it over a black polka dot flag, and a green apple watercolor wash background.  The sentiment was created from two separate retired MFT stamp sets, and I embellished with some enamel dots.

Again, please be sure to stop over at the Curtain Call blog for all the challenge details, and join us!  You could be in the running to be chosen as the “Lead” and be our guest designer for the next challenge!  And be sure to visit the Crew for plenty of inspiration…

Betty Wright
Kim Singdahlsen
Leigh Penner
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Mangan
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Melody Rupple
Monika Davis
Sheri Gilson
Silke Ledlow
Stacey Schafer
Tara Godfrey
Kristie Hartfeil, Guest Designer

Thanks so much for visiting me today!  I appreciate your comments so much!