Playing the Odds 365 Cards Challenge

Hi Everyone!

I am submitting today's card to the "Playing the Odds" challenge from 365 Cards.  The purpose of this challenge is to "create a card that has an odd number of each type of element.  You can use as little or as much as you want of anything, as long as it adds up to an odd number".

I found a piece of patterned paper in my stash that reminds me of ocean waves.  I used some paper punches to punch sea creatures in that patterned paper and then I adhered the paper to a blank card.  I used scraps from my stash to punch each of the sea creatures again.  I adhered them to my card with foam tape and tried to create a shadowed effect. 

You can see that I have
1 sea star
1 crab
3 fish
7 sea horses

There are 3 heart shaped fins on the 3 fish and they each have one wiggly eye for a total of 3.  They are each blowing 3 blue rhinestone air bubbles for a total of 9.  The 7 sea horses each have a tiny blue rhinestone eye and the 1 crab has 2 tiny blue rhinestone eyes which makes a total of 9 tiny blue rhinestones. 

And that's my card for this challenge!

Have a nice night.
Carol

CAS-ual Fridays Back in Black Challenge

Hi Everyone!


This week's CAS-ual Friday challenge is to create a Clean and Simple card using a black card base.  I need a birthday card and decided to create one that I can submit to the challenge.  I used a scalloped oval Nestability die to cut some "frosting".  I adhered the frosting to my black card base. 

I cut some candles from scraps and spread Glossy Accents all over them to make them look like waxy candles.  I am disappointed that you cannot see how shiny they look.  When the Glossy Accents dried I used foam tape to attach the candles to the card.  I added rhinestone "flames" and rhinestone dots.  Then I wrapped some twine around the edge of the card and tied it in a bow.  The sentiment was created with a Stampabilities wooden rubber stamp.


That's all for today!
Carol

Flying by to say hi Part 2

Hi Everyone!

I'm back today to share some of the other cards that I created for my own personal "Flying by to say hi" challenge. 

I  almost didn't purchase the Lockhart "3 balloons" wooden rubber stamp that I used on today's first card.  I have several other balloon stamps, a couple of balloon dies, and a balloons paper punch.  But something drew me to the Lockhart stamp and it has quickly become one of my go to stamps.

The papers I used on the card are shades of blue, not gray as they appear in the photograph.  I pulled out scraps and just kept layering them on my card.  I am happy with the results.  Janet, thanks again for those cloud dies.  As you can see I've been putting them to good use.

I used a "Butterfly Delights" die from Memory Box and a Martha Stewart "Classic Butterfly" paper punch to help me create the next card. 

I stacked 3 of the paper punched butterflies on top of each other to add dimension to the card.  There's a tiny piece of foam tape between each wing. 

I'll be able to use buildings from the Hero Arts "Newspaper Skyline" wooden rubber stamp for along time.  The stamp is a large one that has 6 buildings on it.  I stamped them over and over again in different colors and then fussy cut some of them for my card.

The airplane is from The Alley Way Stamps "Priceless Joy" clear stamp set.  Not sure that you can tell by the photograph, but the 4 buildings that are in the foreground are adhered to the card with foam tape.

That's it for today.  I need to finish up the literacy kits I have been creating and plan and prepare for a 5 hour Math training for preschool and kindergarten teachers.

Have a great day and a nice weekend!
Carol

Flying by to say hi

Hi Everyone!

I've been playing around with a little challenge that I gave to myself.  My "flying by to say hi" stamp from Lawn Fawn's "Flying By" clear stamp set has been sitting on my desk and I decided to use it to create a variety of cards.  I looked through my stamp collection and pulled out the ones that had an image of something that can fly.

A while ago Teri Anderson shared a card on her blog that used Lawn Fawn's paper airplane from her "Flying By" clear stamp set.  She used handwriting paper as the layering paper for her card and I thought that was brilliant...and told her so.  While I was looking through some of My Mind's Eye 6" x 6" paper pads, I discovered some card size handwriting paper in one of them.  I stamped my paper airplanes onto it and fussy cut them.  Here's the card.

I decided to create a card with birds flying on it and Lawn Fawn had exactly what I wanted in her "Gnome Sweet Gnome" clear stamp set.  The grass, bird bath, and birds on my card are from that set.

PaperTrey Ink has the image for a hot air balloon in their "Everyday Button Bits" clear stamp set.  I used that image on my next card.

My sweet friend Janet gave me a set of Memory Box cloud dies.  I used them on some of my "Flying by" cards including this next one.  I don't have a kite stamp in my stash, but I found a paper piecing pattern for one on the Scrapbooks, ETC. site. 

I learned how to stiffen my baker's twine while I was watching a video from an online class.   I dipped the twine in Glossy Accents. 

That's all I am going to share today, but I do have other "flying by" cards to share with you tomorrow. 

It's finally going to be a good sleeping night...NO HUMIDITY!

Talk to you tomorrow!
Carol

Die Cuts on Cards

Hi Everyone!

I recently realized that online card classes are the perfect fit for me.  Once I sign up for a class I can take it anytime, any place I want.  I can stop in the middle of a video to swap off loads of laundry or check on the dinner I am cooking.  Once I sign up for a class I have access to it for the rest of my life!  I have already revisited some of the videos several times. 

Last night I watched a couple of the videos from Part One of the online class, "A Cut Above".  The class is about using die cuts on your cards.  What I especially like about the videos is over and over again the instructors encourage you to use the supplies that you already own.  While I was watching Jennifer McGuire use a lattice die for one of her cards I realized that I had a similar die that I had never used tucked in a drawer.  I pulled it out and used it to cut 4 lattice strips.  Then I stamped and cut a flower from the Hero Arts/Sizzix Garden Flowers stamp and die set and a sentiment from the Hero Arts/Sizzix Floral stamp and die set.  I used my copic markers to add color to the flower.  Here's the card.

I used a set of 2 Cloud dies from PaperTrey Ink and a sentiment from Lawn Fawn's
Partly Cloudy clear stamp set to create my second card.

Neither card was difficult to make and I learned the techniques on both of them from the Cut Above Part One class.  Check out the classes at this link. 

Have a nice day!

Carol

Triangles

Hi Everyone!

As you have probably noticed lately I have been using challenges as the inspiration for my cards.  I was drawn to this image for the current Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger.

If you study the image as I did you will see that each vertical row is created with pieces of triangles.  I used a triangle theme as the inspiration for my card.

There are lots of triangles and pieces of triangles on my card.  My waves were created with a Martha Stewart border punch that has parts of a triangle on it.  I used a triangle paper punch to create the bottoms and the sails on my boats.  The patterned papers on my sails have triangles on them.  The sun's rays are triangles too. 

Look at the star bling on the sailboats.  Stars have triangles too.

This card is also being used for the "Roll the Dice" challenge at 365 cards.  I grabbed a pair of dice from the Head Start kits I am working on, tossed them, and got a 7.  5 on one die and 2 on the other.  Look closely and you will find 7 rhinestones, one on each of the sailboats and 5 on the sun. 

Hanging out with my friend Diane today and then we're celebrating Jeanne's birthday at dinnertime.

That's all for now. 
Carol

365 Days Color Scheme Challenge

Hi Everyone!

It's another hot and humid day here in Massachusetts.  Tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be even worse.  Yikes!

Friday's challenge at 365 Days was to create a card using this color scheme.

So I dug through my paper stash and found the closest colors I could find and created this card.

I used a Sizzix folder for the embossing.  Balloons were created with a Lockhart stamp and the sentiment is from an Inky Antics stamp. 

Have a great day!

Carol

Misty Challenge from 365 Cards

Hi Everyone!


The humidity continues to slow me down, but I did manage to create a few more cards today.  One of the recent challenges on the 365 Cards blog is called "Misty".  My favorite way to use my mists is to add color to paper flowers so I pulled out my bottles of mist and a package of Hero Arts White & Cream Print Flowers.  I laid the paper flowers out on some newspaper and sprayed them with Lemon Metallic, Hydrangea Blue, Tangerine Metallic, Raspberry Pink, and Cherry Metallic Mists.

I cut a flower pot and a "pull out" piece from some patterned paper and used glue dots to adhere the flowers to the "pull out" piece.  A message or a gift card can be added to the "pull out" piece.    I added a to/from tag to the front of the flower pot.  The "to/from" sentiment was stamped with a Memory Box wooden rubber stamp.

May be back later tonight with another card.

Have a great night.

Carol

Fun with Food

Hi Everyone!

The challenge for Day 134 at the 365 Cards blog is to have "Fun with Food."  I looked through my stamps and chose the apples and the word "fresh" from the Hero Arts "Simply the Best" clear stamp set as the focal point of my card. 

The moustache on the "boy" apple was created with a bracket.  "Hello foxy" is from Lawn Fawn's Critters in the Forest" clear stamp set.  The text bubble for "Fresh" is from "Talk to Me" from The Alley Way Stamps. 

Hope you are staying cool. 
Carol

Keep It Simple; 3-2-1

Hi Everyone!

The Day 131 Challenge at 365 Cards is "Keep it simple.  Use 3 embellishments, 2 patterned papers and 1 stamp."

Here's my card.

My 3 embellishments are a Stop sign brad from Eyelet Outlet, a blue car button from Favorite Findings, and some ribbon from JoAnn Fabrics. 

The clouds patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye.  The flowery patterned paper is from Jillibean Soup.

The sentiment was stamped with a stamp from Lockhart stamps. 

That's all for now!
Carol

3 Fonts

Hi Everyone!

Thursday's Challenge from 365 Cards was to create a card using 3 fonts.  I pulled out my "Just My Type" and "Many Thanks" clear stamp sets from Lawn Fawn to create my card.  My background paper is from Lawn Fawn's "Bright Side" small paper pad. 

First I stamped the typewriter directly onto the background paper.  I stamped it again onto white tag and pale pink tag.  I fussy cut the pink typewriter and the white "copy paper" that is coming out of the typewriter and adhered the images to my card.  I used a gold Uniball gel pen to color the typewriter keys and some other parts of the typewriter and a white Uniball gel pen to color a few other parts of the typewriter. 

I know that the "Many Thanks" and large "thanks" are from Lawn Fawn's "Many Thanks" clear stamp set.  I think that the other "thanks" is a clear stamp that Lawn Fawn enclosed with one of my orders. 

Have a great day!
Carol

I'm Here for You

Hi Everyone!

As of right now today's humidity is much lower than yesterday's and I am comfortable and busy creating cards.   This week the challenge at CAS-ual Fridays is to "use strips of color or pattern in your clean and simple creation". 

Yesterday I sat and talked with a preschooler who proudly showed me the colorful bandaids on her legs (none of them were covering any really boo-boos).  When I saw the phrase "strips of color" I immediately thought of those bandaids and had the idea for my card. 

I used stamps from Lawn Fawn's "On the Mend" clear stamp set to create my bandaids and text.  I stamped the bandaids onto a variety of patterned papers from "My Mind's Eye", fussy cut them and paper pieced them together.  Wanted to dress up the card a little, but still keep it CAS so I added a couple of strips of baby ric rac to the side of it. 

Will be back later today with some other cards.

The temperature has risen 2 degrees since I started writing this post. 

Stay cool. 
Carol

A Striped Card

Hi Everyone!

I need to move to a place where there is no snow, no ice, and no HUMIDITY!  Even though I am sitting in "My own little corner" with 3 fans blowing on me, this humidity is zapping every ounce of energy out of me.  I have had a very unproductive day and I hate it when I am not productive. 

This week's challenge on the 4 Crafty Chicks blog is to create a card with stripes on it.  I used washi tape to create the stripes on my background paper.  Love that tape!  I can pick it up and move it if I don't place it exactly where I want it to be. 

I found an Outlines wooden rubber stamp of a striped vase in my stash and stamped it onto a scrap of white tag.  Used markers to color it.  The flowers and text were stamped with clear stamps from The Stamps of Life's Flowers2share set.  Fussy cut the flowers and added some pearls to their centers.

Stay cool!
Carol

365 Cards Day 130 Challenge

Hi Everyone!

My friend Kathy's granddaughter, Emma, is about to celebrate her 10th birhday.  Kathy asked me to create a card with cupcakes on it for Emma.  When I saw the Day 130 Challenge for 365 Cards I had an idea.  Here's the sketch for the Day 130 Challenge.

I used some patterned papers from the Creative Imaginations "Birthday Bliss" paper pad to create my card.  When I saw the sketch I thought of a birthday ribbon that Emma could wear at her family party. 

Here's my card.

The birthday ribbon can be removed.

There's a pin with a backing on it that is attached to the card.  The back piece can be pulled off and then is snapped back on when Emma wears it.

That's all for today!

Have a wonderful night!
Carol

Card Positioning Systems Challenge 273

Hi Everyone!

I've been busying working on some card sets that I plan to give as gifts.  I decided to play along in some challenges as I create.  I am submitting today's card to the CPS Challenge 273.  The sketch for the challenge looks like this.

I flipped the sketch onto its side and then followed it exactly other than I moved the message from the side of the card to the bottom of it.

I used the Hero Arts/Sizzix "Garden Flowers" cling stamp and die set to create my flowers.  I stamped the flowers onto some white, green, pink, and turquoise patterned papers.  Then I fussy cut them and paper pieced them together.  The center flower is adhered to the card with foam tape.  The text was created with a Northwoods wooden rubber stamp. 

Have a great night!
Carol

Denami Design's Summer Blog Hop

Hi Everyone!


Welcome to Denami Design's Summer Blog Hop.  Here are the details for this hop.

When: The blog hop starts on July 8th at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until July 9, 2012, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).

Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!

Prizes: We are giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to our website! We'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and then we'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!

If you started at the beginning of the hop you have arrived here from Emily Keaton's fantastic blog at http://mylittlesliceofbliss.blogspot.com/   I've never met Emily, but I am almost positive that she only lives about 15 minutes away from me.  I secretly hope to one day bump into her in Stop & Shop or some other store that we both frequent.  It would be like meeting a movie star!

When I saw the theme for this blog hop I glanced up at the stamps I have displayed on my wall and instantly knew which stamps I would use.  Lately I have been creating boxed sets of mini cards so I decided to use my stamps to create summer themed mini cards. 

Here's the 3.5" square box I created for my cards.

I designed the box so it has a hinged cover.  Tiny magnetic strips keep the box closed.

Inside the box are 6 mini cards and envelopes.

Meet the Fairy Princess Chickie and her sand castle.

The Surfer Chickie has just walked the beach and is getting ready to plunge into the water.

This sweet Chickie doesn't want to get a sunburn so she's hanging out under her big colorful beach umbrella.

The BBQ Chickie is waiting for his friend the Sailboat Chickie to get out of water so they can eat!

Surf's up!  These chickies are having a wonderful time riding the waves. 

Hope you had a whale of a time looking at my cards.

Please leave a comment and possibly become a follower of my blog before you head over to Tina Milbourn's oh so inspirational blog at http://www.alwaysatimelesstreasure.blogspot.com/

Stay cool!

Carol