Card Challenges

I have followed a number of card design challenges for years, but I've never entered. Three of my favorite ones came together for me this week and inspired me to create. I've had an idea of what I wanted to do all day. I came home, and within an hour, I had pulled it all together and made 8 cards. I hope you like my design.

All products are Stampin' Up. Colors are Basic Gray, Blue Bayou, Lost Lagoon, and Cherry Cobbler. 

Stamps are Watercolor Garden II and Warmest Regards.

The Challenges in which I am entering these are:ColourQ, Cas(e) This Sketch, and The Male Room.

Dozens of Cards

For Christmas, I made dozens of cards and gave them to my mom and MIL as gifts. I started with a Stampin' Up! Project Kit, altered some of the suggested designs, and added some more cards.

 

 

 

 

 

Versatile Tree

Here's my latest swap card. I wouldn't have guessed that Branch Out would be my "go to" stamp set. It is, however, quite versatile. I love this tree. Now I just need to make a summer one to go with the set. All products are Stampin' Up.

 

In Color Fall tree: Blackberry, Moss, Lagoon, Honey, Tangerine, and Rose Red

 

Spring Tree: Rose Red, Close to Cocoa, and Wild Wasabi

 

Winter Tree: Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, White

Seeing Stars

Here's my latest card for the swap. The theme was "holidays", and my card is suitable for either New Year's or Independence Day.

All products Stampin' Up. Seeing Stars stamps and punch. More Mustard, Night of Navy, and Real Red ink and paper. Gold embossing powder. The "celebrate" comes from a retired birthday word set.

I've been remiss in posting my squares from the summer Fair and Square patriotic swap. Here are the squares I received from Linda.

And here is the Quaker heart I sent Linda.

I hope your September is off to a good start.

Summer Swap Cards

Wow! Has it really been since April since I've posted? Yikes. Easter to Labor Day always feels like a marathon, with August being an uphill run all the way. There was lots of fun, but not a whole lot of sit down at the computer time.

Here are a couple of cards I've made. All products and images are Stampin' Up. Everything except the Moroccan tiles stamps is discontinued.

I've also been stitching. I finished a piece, but it's for a swap. I'll post when I can. I did, at least, remember to take photos before I mailed it.

I have a bunch of photos to share with you of our tour of western NY last month. It was a great vacation. They'll have to wait for another post though.

Staycation

I am having a bit of a staycation. DH and the girls went to see my MIL for spring break, and I am home alone this week. I love my family. I'll be excited to see them on Saturday. I'm enjoying my free time this week. Even though I'm only taking one day off from work, I have been using my extra time in the evenings on projects that are too difficult to tackle during the usual bustle of school, work, dinner, and laundry. I'm cleaning out closets and cupboards. I'm reorganizing shelves. I've left a mess on my dining room table all week as I sort things out. And I've been crafting.

Last night, I finished my witch. This was a fun project. It's DMC (108 + 310) on Aida, and the original pattern is here.

I don't think I've shown you this project before. It's Cathy Jean's Buttercups. I've been working on it since 2008. It's one of those projects that goes pretty quick when I'm working on it, but then I set it down and forget about it for a while. This is going to be a birth sampler for one of my girls. It's a companion to this piece. I'm using the same fabric and the indicated threads. I stitched the left side lavender on Sunday at my craft group, the one I rarely get to attend any more. It was fun to sit and stitch with my friends again.

This is my April swap card. The theme was black, white, and one bold color. I used Rose Red. The stamps are SU! Botanical Blooms.

Wishing you all a Happy Spring!

Swap Cards

This month's theme was "special occasions". I usually do sympathy cards because, sadly, I often need them. Someone chose that theme before me, so I went with "religious special events". The inside of these says, "on your special day". Whisper White paper, Gold Ink, SU! Special Blessings stamp set. The panel is popped up on foam dots. These would be 5 minute cards, except one has to wait for the gold ink to dry before moving on to the next step. The ink smudged so much, I threw half of the first set I made out. Even a few days later, the large images would still smear if touched.

Winter Thanks

Happy New Year! The holidays were quiet for us. We stayed in town, and only took a few days off. The girls went to day camps most of the time, but we had a few days of Mommy Camp, too, which they loved.

One day, we went to the Smithsonian American History Museum. I asked the girls which museum they wanted to see, and they decided they wanted to see the "presidents' dresses". So, off we went to the First Ladies gallery. They really enjoyed viewing all the dresses and wanted to know which First Ladies were still living.

We also visited a "pirate ship", saw Kermit the Frog, and viewed a phonograph. Of the three, the last was the most perplexing to them. I had planned to go see Julia Child's kitchen, but the girls energy was running out by then, and we were distracted by the doll house. I think we spent 20 minutes checking it out. It is really, really cool. A book about the doll house came home with us. We ended our visit with ice cream and took the Metro home. I think riding the Metro excited them almost as much as visiting the Museum.

On another day, we went to see Frozen. The girls loved it. I thought it was cute, but I'm not as enamored with it as many parents seem to be.

While I've been stitching, I don't have enough to show you a progress picture. Sadly. I also ran out of thank you cards, so I made a set of these quickly one afternoon while I was home with the girls. The design was inspired by a foggy day here in DC.

All products Stampin' Up [mostly retired]: Bordering Blue paper; 

White, Basic Brown, Close to Cocoa, and Baroque Burgundy inks; 

Branch Out, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, and Artfully Asian stamps.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a happy thanksgiving. May you be spending time with those who are most important to you. I have a houseful, with my in-laws and my sister and her kids. Here are some of the Thanksgiving cards I've made in years past. Everything is Stampin' Up, except the ribbon on the Happy Harvest card and the "Happy Thanksgiving" on the last 2 cards.

Let me know which one(s) you like the best.

Given Away

Back in March, I offered a giveaway on my 250th post. I selected a name, and started working on what I wanted to do. There were little delays here and there, and I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to complete this.

Last Friday, I finally managed to give Christine the prize. I stamped some cards for her. Stamps are Flower Factory and one of the greeting sets. All products are Stampin' Up.

I also turned a piece from the Bride's Tree stitchalong into an ornament. This is the "house" and the image is Liberty's of London. Christine and I both lived in London, so I thought this would be perfect for her. The fabric in the background is what I used to back the ornament. While it's not a Liberty's of London fabric, it reminds me of something they would have. The brown ribbon is from Stampin' Up.

Tri-fold Cards

This month, the swap theme for my stamping group is "designer series paper". I have a lot of DSP and thought this was a perfect challenge to use some of it. I was also inspired by Anna's post on tri-fold cards. Anna was also kind enough to send me some tips on making the cards.

The tutorial for making this card at here, including dimensions. Note that the vertical end panels should be 1-3/4" x 5-1/4" (not 5-1/2" as listed on the site).

Also, you score the base card at 2", 4", 8", and 10" (or if you are using your cutter as your scorer and not one of those fancy scoring bases, 2" and 4", flip the card, and score again at 2" and 4"). The cuts are made between the 2" score and the 10" score at a depth of 1.5" on either side. One thing I discovered is that it is much easier to tape on the smaller pieces before you start folding the card.

Here's a wonky scan of an unfolded card.
I used Chocolate Chip base and the Love Me DSP from a few years ago. 

 

Here's a card folded up.

This one uses Purely Pomegranate as the base. 

To make 12 cards, I used 4 sheets of Purely Pomegranate, 2 sheets of Chocolate Chip, and 5 sheets of the DSP. All sheets were 12"x12", and all I have left are scraps. Oh, I also used a bit of textured Close to Cocoa paper for the larger punched circle on the pomegranate cards. This is a really great project for using up scraps or DSP paper sets that you haven't figured out how to use on other projects.

On the cards going to the swap, on the white panel on the inside, I stamped "Mon Amie" from the Carte Postale set in Close to Cocoa ink. All products are Stampin' Up.

Spring Cards

My computer is sort of mended. I still find missing bits each time I use it, but it's getting better. Here are the spring cards that I had hoped to show you in May. Since all 3 of my sisters-in-law have birthdays in May, these function as both Mother's Day cards and birthday cards.

All paper and stamps are Stampin' Up. The 3rd one is in the Top 3 of my all time favorite cards that I've created.

Happy St Pat's Day

I don't think there's a lick of Irish in my heritage, but we always celebrated growing up. Mom always made corned beef and cabbage.

My card was inspired by this color challenge:

 

My Fiskers heart punch has been getting quite a work out. Words: My Sentiments Exactly! Stem, paper, and ink: Stampin' Up!

March Swap Card & 250

For the monthly card swap hosted by my SU! demonstrator. Theme was "manly" cards. Pinwheel is 2.5" square, cut on the diagonals, and folded in.

This is my 250th post. Since I first started blogging Christmas 2007, I've mostly posted about cross-stitch, stamping, and books. I've also had my hands full raising twins who are now 4.5 years old!

In honor of my 250th, I'm offering a small give away. Comment on this post by March 16, 2013, and I'll pick one person from those who comment to receive a surprise package, which will include some cards and possibly other items hand-made by me.

Happy Heart Day

Stampin Up! paper, ink, ribbon, sentiment

Passion Pink, Real Red, Creamy Caramel

Friskers heart punch

Retired Stamps Swap Cards

For February's card swap, the theme was retired stamps. I outdid myself. Instead on one retired stamp, I managed to use four. My design was based on this card. Sorry the card is so blurry; it didn't scan well.

All products: Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Friendship's Journey, Noteworthy, Canvas, and Bella Toile

Paper: White, Creamy Caramel

Ink: Creamy Caramel
Embellishment: Hodgepodge Hardware (antique brass)

Thank you cards from years past

Happy New Year!

I feel like I'm still catching up from the Christmas holidays. We travelled this year, going first to visit my BIL in Atlanta and then to see my sister in NC. A lot of time on the road, but it was worth it. The girls really liked seeing their relatives.

I'm slowly writing all the Thank You notes that need to be sent. I purchased the ones I'm sending this year, but here are a few I've made in years past, using all stamping up products.

I'm working on an exchange piece for stitching. It's been fun working on something small. I like the colors I'm using, but the number of thread changes is slowing me down. The back is a mess, sadly. Pictures once my partner receives the piece.

In other news, it snowed here yesterday enough for the girls to go out and make snow angels before school. They were delighted. We didn't get enough dry snow last year to do anything with it, so they're doubly excited.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving! We're going out for lunch in Annapolis with a friend and having guests over for dessert and drinks in the evening. It should be fun.

Hero Arts sentiment, all other images and supplies are Stampin' Up!. 

Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel. The DSP is from 2006.

My inspiration for the design came from Nadine's card. My inspiration for the colors came from ColourQ #59.

Fall Cards

Look! I've been making some cards.The first was inspired by some colors I saw on Coni's blog, Spinster Stitching. These are meant to be birthday cards for my nieces, the oldest of whom turns 13 this November!

Papers and punches are Stampin' Up. Ribbon and eyes found at A.C.Moore.

The second was inspired by a layout on Clean and Simple. I love these fall, manly colors. Once I pulled the papers, this really was a simple card to make.

 Papers, stamps, and punches are Stampin' Up, except the star paper in the lower left.

I'm having trouble making a Halloween card I like this year. I want to use the owl punch again, but the colors and design are just not working for me somehow. Since my craft time is so very limited right now, I may throw in the towel and move on to Thanksgiving.

Graduation Card

Our favorite babysitter just graduated from nursing school. This is the card I'm sending her to celebrate the event. I received the card in a swap and didn't like the original details. It had vellum over the verse and a turquoise ribbon. There was no lighter card stock inside. I took apart the card and put it back together with Groovy Guava instead, adding the inside panel to write on. Apricot is the color used in academic regalia for nursing, and this was the closest to apricot ribbon that I had on hand.

Speaking of academic regalia, one of those crazy, almost useless skills I have is knowing how to flip and affix the hoods worn with academic gowns so that they sit flat and don't choke the wearer. I learned how to do it working graduation as an undergraduate.