Anything Goes - ATS&M Challenge #71

Hello friends and followers - hope each and every one of you is doing well and feeling healthy!! I got a wee bit of time to play in my craft room over the weekend and got caught up on a couple of my DT posts. Feels good to be a bit ahead instead of a lot of bit behind :o)  

So enough about me, let's talk about the current challenge starting today at Addicted to Stamps and More!  ATS&M Challenge#71 is ANYTHING GOES.  We are very happy to have a new sponsor for this challenge - Sami Stamps - that is offering a wonderful prize for our challenge winner.   Our DT member Nonni uses a lot of these images and I've admired them for quite some time.  I've made a card using one of their great digital images called "Little Acorn Bird".

 

Couldn't resist this great fall image! I fussy-cut around the image, added some distressing with Soft Suede ink (Stampin Up), and a few candy dots for texture (SU as well).  Did I mention that this is one of Sami Stamps recent freebies! Who doesn't love FREE??   

 

I'm finding that I need more practice with the coloring of nature images. I'm not super happy with my color choice for the acorns - they turned out more grey than brown - but oh well, I'll live with it.  Browns are hard for me.  I'll just keep practicing until I feel comfortable with the color choices and blending to look "natural".  Get it... nature -  look "natural"? :o) LOL

 

The other lovely ladies of the ATS&M DT have  also made some great projects to share with you during the ATS&M Challenge #71 - "Anything Goes".  I hope that you'll go visit them too and then decide to play along with us.  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me today - sure glad that you did. 'Til next time... hugs and happy crafting! D

 

 

52CCT - Color Challenge #23 (Black, Grey and White) & CCAYR November Challenge - Winter Wonderland

Hello friends and followers - happy weekend!  This week at 52CCT our fabulous and fun hostess Louise has a color challenge for you to try.  As much as I love this color combo, I must admit that I was a tad intimidated by it.  I kept feeling like I needed to make an elegant, classy card but my MOJO just wasn't showing up for that. I had lots of ideas, fretted a bit, and suddenly inspiration struck and I decided to stick with my comfort zone of  CUTE.  Take a look:

 And the inside too (for you Ruth) ...

I stamped the grey base layer on the front with VersaMark ink to add a subtle background. I wondered if I would like it better if they were darker so on the inside I used tone on tone with the Smoky Slate ink.  Hmmm... still not sure which I like better.  The snowflakes and sentiment (front) are stamped with Smoky Slate ink.  Added some pearls & rhinestones - just because :o)  

I am happy with how it turned out, and of course now that I made this one I suddenly can think of all kinds of other ways to use this terrific color combo in an elegant fashion - funny how that works :o)  Sometimes our brains just need to give something a go to see all the other possibilities. As you can read here, the challenges don't always just challenge you - sometimes they help challenge us too ;o) 

I got a peek at the other lovely ladies amazing creations using this color combo and am delighted to see all the different styles and takes on the colors.  I hope you'll go visit them too and check it out. 

What will you make with the 52CCT Color Challenge #23?  I can't wait to come visit you and see.  

I am also entering this card in the Christmas Cards All Year 'Round - November Challenge -Winter Wonderland and Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - challenge extra for November (Thanks Hazel :o) ). 

Til next time friends...hugs and happy crafting! D



Christmas Peace for Nonni's Christmas Challenge #1 - Focus on Stamping

Hello friends - back again tonight with another post and card to share with you.  I've really wanted to support my ATS&M DT buddy Nonni in her new Christmas Card Challenges - but lately have hardly had time to keep up with my own DT responsibilities (and life in general).  But... when I was getting ready for the current Addicted to Stamps and More (ATS&M) Photo challenge (see below) I made two cards so that I would have one to enter in  the Let's Get Inky - Stamp A Happy Christmas.    For this first challenge the team wants us to focus on stamping - not embellishments.  Following that idea, I didn't use any designer paper and went to town stamping.  Here's my card:

I started with a piece of white cardstock and stamped each tree using VersaMark ink and heat embossed them using silver.  Then I dotted all over the cardstock with a Versamark pen and added a bit more silver embossing powder.  Using my brayer and an ink pad I went over the top of all my embossing until I had pretty smooth coverage and wiped the ink off of the embossing.  After letting it dry for awhile I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed it as well.  I matted this on top of some brushed silver cardstock.  A much messier process than I usually do when I make a card, but do like how it turned out. Really hard to get a good photo of though - sorry.

This is the photo I used for inspiration (the current challenge is still going on until the 11th):

it would be great if you had a chance to join both of these fun challenges.  Nonni's Stamplorations challenge will go until December 24th.  There's a prize sponsor at both challenge :o)  

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me - I'm sure glad that you did. Til next time...hugs and happy crafting! D

Bring on the Cake - Two Birthday Cards for Two Special Ladies

Hello dear friends - so happy you've stopped by to visit me! I have a couple cards to share with you that I made for a couple very special ladies in my life.  Here's the first one for my friend Karen:

Isn't she cute?! I added just a bit of sparkle on the top for the flames.  Not sure why I used pink on this card as it isn't her favorite color at all - lol - but I hope she liked it anyway.  I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Divas by Design - Use a Digi

Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge - Anything Goes

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes w/Texture (brads  & sparkle)

The Corrosive Challenge - #186 Tic Tac Toe (using middle row)

And here's another card that I made for my Mom:

This one is 5 1/2 inch square.  The design is based on a recent RetroSketches challenge that I didn't have time to play along with at the time.  The image is from Meljen's designs colored with my copic markers. My mom isn't a fan of mice but she said "Oh this is so cute!" when she opened her card :o) 

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Divas by Design - Use a Digi

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes w/Texture (embossing, flower, ribbon  & sparkle)

Meljen's Designs Challenge #185 - Friends Forever (since my Mom is also one of my best friends, I think this qualifies for the challenge theme).    

ATSM#70 - Photo Inspiration and CASual Fridays CFC119: Embossing

Hey friends - thanks so much for stopping by today! This week at Addicted to Stamps and More (ATSM) Challenge #70 is based on the photo above.  Doesn't this great photo just spark your creative juices?  It sure did mine - I had a hard time narrowing down the ideas as I absolutely LOVE these colors together.   Here's my DT card to share with you:

  

I was in Hallmark over the weekend and found myself browsing through the Christmas cards for ideas.  I came upon a card and thought "Hey, I can do that" - so I did :o)  I think I even like mine better because of the embossing and string of silver pearls.  It would be pretty quick to mass produce too.  The sentiment is stamped in silver Versamark ink and I used silver foil paper on the sides of the main panel - MAN was that hard to get a photo of, this was the best I could seem to do.  

What inspiration will you take from the photo - the colors, the stars, the ornaments, all of it??? I hope you'll join us at ATSM#70 as I can't wait to see what you make!! There's a terrific prize offered this time from DigiDarla Designs for our Top Honor slot.  The other talented ladies at ATSM have also made some fabulous creations for your inspiration - I hope you'll go visit them and see. 

I'm also entering my card at CAS-ual Fridays Challenge CFC119: Embossing as my card using both dry and heat embossing. 

Til next time...hugs and happy crafting!! D  

ABC Challenges #52 - Case a DT Member

Hello friends and Happy Monday!  This week at ABC Challenges we've decided to try something different.  We are nearing our 1 year anniversary and would like to celebrate by CASEing a DT member. 

Just a quick note before I go further to let you know that we will be taking a break at ABC Challenges until after the holidays so this will be our last challenge of 2013 - but we'll be back in January for another year of challenges.  Thanks so much for all your support this year- we've so enjoyed your beautiful cards!

Now... back to the ABC52.  You can pick any card of one of our fabulously talented ladies to CASE - please tell us which card you are CASEing. 

This was a bit difficult for me as I admire all the styles of our DT members.  Oh dear...how to choose???

Rosi has a great almost eclectic style that showcases different styles each week depending on her mood or the challenge.

AnnMarie loves pink and flowers and doesn't typically use very much DSP. She likes to make 3D projects as well.

Jackie likes to add a tab at the top of her card, butterflies, banners, layers, shapes and texture - and feminine (not masculine)  cards - however she is very good at masculine cards :o).

Ger loves square cards with darling images and an almost vintage style. Often there is a strip of ribbon too.

Lela likes ribbon, buttons and tags (and layers) and slight distressing. She tends to use softer colors.

Jeanette almost always uses designer series paper (inside and out) and has a very clean look with mostly rectangles for shapes. 

And...our fabulous Challenge Blog Owner Patty has a great classic style (I've CASEd her several times before :o) ).

So ultimately I decided to CASE Jeanette's style - take a look and see  how I did:

Here's the inside too (not sure what happened to the lighting in this one ):

Here's one of Jeanette's cards that I based my CASE on:

Gee I had a lot of fun browsing back through our past challenges at ABC Challenges and really looking our our DT members styles and cards. How did I do on my CASE of Jeanette? 

I hope that you will decide to join us this week at ABC51 - Case a DT Member.  Please go check out what the rest of the team as done as well.

Til next time...hugs and happy crafting! D 

52CCT - Sketch Challenge #23, Merry Monday #81 - {Santa}, Let's Get Inky - Stamp A Happy Christmas

Hello friends - here it is November already. Wow!  Our hostess for this whole month at 52CCT is Louise and she has started us off with a great sketch.

I LOVE the circle shapes and the diagonal lines of this sketch.  Here's what I made to share with and inspire you to play along with us this week at 52CCT:



I knew immediately which stamp set I wanted to use with this great sketch.  Who can resist a cute Santa? Not me! 

 

I know that the rest of the DT members over at 52CCT have also made some amazing cards using Louise's sketch to share with and inspire you to play along with us this week - please go visit them and say "hi".  I hope to be visiting you soon as well!

 

I'm also entering my card in my DT friend Nonni's new Challenge (which runs through December 24th) called Let's Get Inky where the theme for the first challenge is Stamp a Happy Christmas. That means to create a Christmas card where stamping plays a  main role. Since Santa is my main stamped image I thought this would fit for her challenge. 

I am also entering my card at Merry Monday #81 - Santa.

 

Thanks so much for visiting me today.  Til next time...hugs and happy crafting! D