Happy Birthday

Hi friends,

In my last blog post I posted a masculine birthday card made for the male half of friends who are twins. Today, I have the card that I made for his sister.

The layout is based on Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch 242. I really had fun coloring this image from SugarPea Designs called Tin Can Chat. Kalie is constantly on her cell, so I thought this was appropriate, LOL.

Most of the image is colored with Copics. I did some paper piecing on their outfits.

Supplies
Stamps: Tin Can Chat set by SugarPea Designs
Paper: SU Purely Pomegranate and XPress-It Blending card stocks and Friendly Forrest by Doodlebug patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Rose Red, Soft Sky and Smoky Slate inks
Other: SU chat bubble, cloud stencil, sponge dauber, the Big Shot, white gel pen, Doodlebug heart brad, dimensionals

That's it from me tonight. Have a great Wednesday and thanks,
Colleen

It's Your Day

Hello,

Another Sunday evening. I hope you all had a fun and restful weekend. We did a few "weekend chores", a little partying last night, and visited with friends this morning, so all in all, a nice weekend for us. This afternoon, I had some crafty time and used it to make the first of two birthday cards that I need for two very special young people and twins, who turn 18 years old on Halloween.

This week, The Paper Players have a sketch challenge for us, and I used it for my card layout for this masculine birthday card. Along with The Paper Players challenge, I'm posting this to Linda's Catered Crop End Zone Recipe Swap.

Supplies
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Graphic Birthday Greetings
Paper: SU Crumb Cake, Basic black and Champagne Glimmer card stocks and Studio Calico Here and There patterned paper
Ink: VersaMark and SU white craft
Other: SU white embossing powder, Fiskars corner rounder punch, Spellbinders classic circle die, TE Tall & Skinny numbers dies, SU Stars EF, heat tool, the Big Shot, SU sponge dauber, and dimensionals

I hope your work week is a good one. For me, it is a short week as we travel to Chicago on Thursday for a mini vacation in that very fun city.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Tanks for everything

Hi and happy weekend,

Last night while watching the World Series game I made a card for this month's SugarPea Designs challenge. The challenge this month is to make a Thank You card. I pulled out this sweet set called "Don't Be Koi" to use. I've had it for awhile, but I've not had a chance to ink it up yet. I got stuck on how to color behind the fish bowl and decided that maybe colors should appear lighter. Not sure, but that's how I colored the images. I'm pretty happy with the end result anyway. The sketch is this week's Mojo Monday #368.

Supplies
Stamps: Don't Be Koi set from SugarPea Designs
Paper: SU Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red card stock, XPress-It Blending card stock and Echo Park "Sweet Day" patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, and SU Riding Hood Red
Other: Taylored Expressions small scalloped border die, Die-namics pierced circle die, Spellbinders scalloped circle die, Queen and Co. pearls, Wink of Stella clear glitter pen, the Big Shot, and dimensional

I also want to say thanks to Wendy and the gang at SugarPea Designs. I was chosen as the October Sweet Find for this card. HOW COOL IS THAT?!!!

Later this afternoon we are going to our friend Jenny's Blog Launch party. She is writing a lifestyle blog. You can check out Cha Cha Living here.

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

Joy

Hi,

I've got a few minutes before heading off to work this morning so I thought I'd post a couple of cards that I made for this week's The Paper Players #218 challenge. This week, Sandy's challenge is to make a clean and simple card using gold or silver. Here's what I came up with:

I used a stamp set from last year called Evergreen. This tree image is one of my favorite trees. I like the loopy branches. This card certainly fits the clean and simple category as it couldn't have been easier to make. I sponged white liquid ink using a sponge dauber directly onto the stamp, then stamped it on the brushed silver cs. I stamped the outside trees first then the center one, re-inking each time. The "Joy" greeting is cut from SU Shimmery white paper and glued on with glue dots. The star is punched from champagne glimmer paper.


I made a second card while I had the silver paper out. This one is not so clean and simple, however.

I stamped the wreath in VersaMark ink on whisper white card stock and embossed it with silver. The second set of leaves is embossed in gold. The wreath is cut out with the coordinating die and layered onto the card base of whisper white, brushed silver and All Is Calm DSP. The bow and greeting are cut from red glimmer paper. The berries are dotted on with red Stickles. I found the red rhinestones set in gold in my stash and thought they would coordinate with the gold on the wreath.

Supplies
First card
Stamps: Stampin' Up set Evergreen
Paper: SU whisper white, brushed silver, shimmery white and champagne glimmer card stocks
Ink: Tsukineko All Purpose ink - white (SU had this last holiday season in white, silver and gold)
Other: SU Wondrous Wreath dies and SU star punch, the Big Shot, SU glue dots, SU sponge dauber, corner rounder punch

Second card
Stamps: Stampin' Up set Wondrous Wreath
Paper: SU whisper white, brushed silver and red glimmer card stock and SU All Is Calm DSP
Ink: Versamark
Other: SU gold and silver EP, Wondrous Wreath dies, red rhinestones, red Stickles, the big shot, dimensionals

A Holiday High Five

Hello again,

Karen has another great sketch for us today. Here's my take on this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch number 241.

I received my new release order from My Favorite Things yesterday. Such cute Christmas stamps! I couldn't wait to ink them up. Besides the stamps, I ordered the pierced snow drift dies and pierced rectangles. Both are used on this card. 

Supplies

Stamps: Christmas Cuteness set by My Favorite Things

Paper: SU Lost Lagoon and XPress-It Blending card stocks and We R Memory Keepers Winter Frost patterned paper

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Lost Lagoon

Other: Die-namics pierced circle, pierced snow drift, pierced rectangles and pierced fishtail flags STAX dies, the Big Shot, dimensionals

I hope you have a great week and thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Hi, Friend and You are Pawesome

Hi all. Happy mid-week.

I have a double card post tonight. I decided to post both cards because they are made with the same Simon Says Stamp set called "You Are Pawesome." This is such a sweet stamp set!

My bestie adopted a new furry friend recently. He was found by another friend and they've tried to find the owners, but no luck. When they took him to the vet, the vet said that the area was know for abandoned animals. He's an English Cocker Spaniel and very cute. He will be a new brother to her two other spaniels, Bella and Rusty. I made this card to welcome the new guy, whose name is Nigel.

I've used this week's Retro Sketch #136. The patterned papers are from the Lawn Fawn Sweater Weather pad.

The second card uses The Deconstructed Sketch #172. This one is for my niece Rachel who lives in Gunnison, CO. It started snowing there this week, so I thought that the spring colors and butterflies would be cheery. 

Supplies

Card One

Stamps: You Are Pawesome set by Simon Says Stamp

Paper: SU Midnight Muse and Purely Pomegranate card stock, XPress-It Blending card stock, Lawn Fawn Sweater Weather patterned paper

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, and SU Midnight Muse 

Other: SU tag punch, Die-namics label dies, SU Midnight Muse ribbon and SU twine, TE heart button, red pearl, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Card Two

Stamps: You Are Pawesome set by Simon Says Stamp

Paper: SU Blushing Bride, Raspberry Ripple and whisper white card stock, XPress-It Blending card stock and Pebbles Garden Party Patterned papers

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Blushing Bride

Other: Classic and scalloped rectangle Nesties, SU punches, TE scalloped border die, pink pearls, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by,

Colleen

Birthday Wishes

Hello all,

How did it get to be Sunday evening already? Weekends just go by too fast, don't they? I spent most of my day doing some craft room organizing. I have a habit of piling up paper and supplies and just shifting them from one place to another until I guilt myself into putting everything away in it's proper place. Besides cleaning up the piles, I organized my punches and embellishments too.

After that chore was done I looked to see what this week's Paper Player's Challenge had in store. Ann has a fun, fall color combo for us. Here's what I came up with:

My layout comes from today's Sweet Sunday Sketch #240. Originally, I was going to do a vanilla confetti background with the horizontal elements in the three colors like I've used here, but then decided to get out some water color paper and make a custom background. I smeared a little Hello Honey onto my craft mat and spritzed it with water and dipped the paper in. Then I did the same with the Tangelo Twist, but used my Aqua-painter to add that color to the water color paper. In RL, it's pretty bright.

I stamped the wreath with Tangelo Twist and water colored the open leaves with Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow. I used a scrap of the water color paper to stamp the greeting, layered it across the wreath, and cut the whole thing out with a Die-namics pierced circle die. That is layered onto a larger Die-namics pierced circle die in Mossy Meadow. The horizontal pieces are cut with a Die-namics pierced Fishtail Flags die. Finally, I added some enamel dots in similar colors.

Supplies
Stamps: Warmest of Wishes and So Happy For You sets by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Mossy Meadow, Tangelo Twist and Hello Honey card stock and SU Water color paper
Ink: SU Mossy Meadow, Tangelo Twist and Hello Honey
Other: Die-namics Pierced Circle dies and Pierced Fishtail Flags STAX dies,  Studio Calico enamel dots, Aqua Painter, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in. Have a great week.
Colleen

Happy Fall

Happy Saturday evening all,

I trust that the weekend is going well for you. I spent most of the day with my craft group doing some stamping. I prepared a "make and take" for our group. A simple Christmas card. That's not what I'm posting here today, however.

I wanted to participate in this week's Mojo Monday challenge. I loved the layered sketch, plus it's the first week of the month, and so a contest challenge week. I used a newish Stampin' Up set from the Holiday Mini, called Wondrous Wreath, to make a "Happy Fall" card.

I inked up the wreath in various SU fall colored inks and stamped it on some SU vanilla confetti card stock. The "berries" accent stamp was inked with VersaMark ink and embossed with gold EP, then inked again in Early Expresso ink. The completed wreath was cut out with the coordinating dies. Instead of the bow stamp that comes with the set, I used the wooden leaves from SU and some old SU twine to embellish the wreath. It's layered with dimensionals onto the patterned paper panels. The belly band is made from SU burlap ribbon. It took awhile to put it all together, but worth it. I think I'll send it to my mom to let her know I'm thinking of her. She loves to get my handmade cards.

Supplies
Stamps: Wondrous Wreath set by Stampin' Up and Lawn Fawn Happy Fall stamp
Paper: SU Early Expresso, More Mustard and Vanilla Confetti card stocks and Authentic "Thankful" patterned papers
Ink: SU Old Olive, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler and Early Expresso classic ink pads, VersaMark craft ink
Other: SU Wondrous Wreath dies, SU burlap ribbon, SU wooden leaves, SU twine, SU small corner rounder punch, Fiskars large corner rounder punch, Basic Grey candy dots, the Big Shot, dimensionals

That's all from me tonight. Time to watch some post-season baseball. Have a fabulous Sunday and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Merry

Hello friends,

I've been planning my Christmas cards for 2014. I usually have a variety of cards available that I've make throughout the year so my friends and family receive different cards. However, it usually ends up that I need to make a few more than I've planned for. When that happens, I tend to do a mass production of 10 to 15 cards to accommodate what I need, just because time is running out. I've been trying to plan ahead for this "mass production" card, to come up with a card that doesn't take long to make, but looks like it. :) I think I may have found it, courtesy of Karen's SSSC # 239, and the new SU set Seasonally Scattered. Even with the layers, this card didn't take more than a few minutes and that was including my design time. Now, it will take even less time to put together.

Unfortunately, my photography and editing skills are a little lacking and the picture looks dark compared to the real thing. Here the brushed silver card stock and silver EP look blah, but in RL, it's very shinny and soft.

The Merry stamp was inked in VersaMark ink and stamped on SU vellum and heat embossed with silver EP. A piece of whisper white card stock cut the same size is placed behind it and layered onto the brushed silver CS and a piece of the All Is Calm DSP. I used 4 SU candy dots to hide the mini glue dots to hold the vellum to the white CS. The banner is a Die-namic die and the silver snowflake is from SU as well.

The inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Seasonally Scattered and More Merry Messages (inside sentiment) sets by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU whisper white and brushed silver card stocks, SU white vellum and SU All Is Calm DSP
Ink: VersaMark
Other: Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flags Stax die, SU Tree Punch (inside), SU silver EP, SU All Is Calm snowflake embellishment, SU mini glue dots, SU candy dots, the Big Shot,  dimensionals

I hope your week is moving along well. Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen