PDCC83 and CAS-ual Friday Challenge #4

Another week, another challenge with the Play Date Cafe!

This week's colors worked out perfectly for the cards that I need: graduation cards! Plus, as luck would have it, the CAS-ual Friday challenge this week was GRADUATION cards too! Yay! I love it when things come together like this.

So, on to clean and simple with black & white with a splash of green:



Here's my card:



Once again, I look at it and am not sure if it qualifies as "clean", but for me, this is definitely simple! I put it together in about 20 minutes. Love that! I guess I'll have to think even "clean-er" next week! ;)

Supply list:

Cardstock: White, Black (PTI); Green (HOTP)
Patterned Paper:
Stamp Set(s): For the Graduate, Fillable Frames #4, 2008 Holiday Tag Collection, Background Basics: Text Style (PTI)
Ink/Colorants: Black, Grey Flannel, Ponderosa Pine (CTMH)
Embellishments: White button; Black hemp (CTMH)
Tools: Simple Circles border die, Fillable Frames #4 die (PTI)

Masculine or gender neutral birthday card

I made this card for the My Mind's Eye monthly card challenge on their blog, but got so busy that I forgot to post it in time! Bummer! Oh well, I can still post it here, just for fun. I used their sketch:



I used all My Mind's Eye patterned papers from their Stella & Rose line. Very cute and nice for both masculine & feminine cards. I had bought Enjoy the Ride stamp set from Papertrey awhile back and hadn't had the chance to use it yet, so I pulled it out for this. I just love the little car! Some paper piecing on the car was about the most complicated thing about this card. The rest is pretty simple & straightforward.



Supply list:

Cardstock: Dark Chocolate (PTI);
Patterned Paper: all from Stella & Rose Gertie collection (My Mind's Eye)
Stamp Set(s): Enjoy the Ride (PTI)
Ink/Colorants: Dark Chocolate (PTI); Dark Brown (Colorbox Chalk); Copic Markers (C1, C3, 0)
Embellishments: Brown Baker's Twine (PTI); Epoxy clip (CTMH); Black buttons, coaster board
Tools: Big scalloped circles LG (Spellbinders); Enjoy the Ride car die (PTI)

Papertrey May Blog Hop

This month's blog hop challenge for Papertrey involves doing something special with flowers...I will admit that there's nothing exceptional about the flowers on my card...but I was incredibly limited on time...I had to whip up this card in about 20 minutes! (that's super fast for me...I'm usually a slow card maker)

Anyway, I was going for fast, clean & simple because I really wanted to participate in the blog hop this month and this was all I had time to come up with (going out to dinner tonight with my hubby for our 9th anniversary!! :)

I also did something that was a first for me...using Papertrey felt to make a flower, with my brand new Sizzix 3D flower die. Fun stuff. Well, I've got to run and get dressed up for an evening at a fancy restaurant overlooking Seattle and some great food!

Here's my simple, quickie card:



Supply list:

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Patterned Paper:
Stamp Set(s): Sending You (PTI)
Ink/Colorants: Real Red (SU); Sorbet, Garden Green, Black (CTMH)
Embellishments: Melon Berry felt (PTI); Brown pearls (Basic Grey)
Tools: 3D Flower die (Sizzix)

CFC #3

Well, before I go any further I must admit that Clean & Simple is not a style that I'm naturally good at, but I like it very much and want to get better at it; hence, my participation in the fun CAS-ual Friday challenges. I realized after I read this week's post that I clearly missed the boat on my last CF challenge...though I did add lots of text (per the directive), I forgot to keep it "clean & simple"! And I think that I have not exactly kept it clean for this week's challenge either...I used a Clean & Simple sketch, but I just love patterned paper, so I think that maybe these cards don't qualify either, but I'll post them anyway because I love them! And I'll keep on trying next week to keep it clean! ;)

Yesterday was my daughter's last day of preschool, so I wanted some teacher thank you cards for her 2 teachers. I have some really cute patterned papers from October Afternoon, the Schoolhouse collection. I found them to be perfect for my teacher thank yous! I added just a little bit of bling for this week's CAS-ual Friday challenge. I had such fun with these...and my other daughter has two teachers also so I get to make two more next week! :)









Supply list:

Cardstock: Beige (stash)
Patterned Paper: Flashcards from Schoolhouse collection (October Afternoon); Stella & Rose Gertie Delightful Sweet Stripe, Stella & Rose Gertie Little One Darling Dots (My Mind's Eye)
Stamp Set(s): Teacher's Apple (PTI); School Rock Star (Unity Stamp Co)
Ink/Colorants: Real Red, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive (SU); Dark Chocolate (PTI); Black (CTMH)
Embellishments: Bitty Sparkles, Circle frame sparkles (CTMH)
Tools: 1-3/4" scallop circle punch (EK Success); Limitless Layers 1-3/4" pinking circle die, Edgers #1 die (PTI)

PDCC82 & WMSC42

Wow, I can't believe a week has gone by since my last post...last week was crazy for me, for some reason...I even made a card for the My Mind's Eye blog challenge and got too busy to enter it into the contest! :( Oh well, life happens sometimes. Now I'm cranking out cards left & right for card orders - graduation, birthdays, and soon, Father's Day...but this one is a special, once-a-year one...for MY anniversary! On Thursday I will have been married to my lovely husband for 9 years. I hope it isn't sacreligious that I did this, but I'm killing three birds with one stone - The Play Date Cafe Challenge, the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge AND an anniversary card for my hubby! (We're going out to dinner tomorrow night to a fun & fancy place)

So here are the Play Date Cafe colors for this week: (nice for a masculine card, I thought)



And here is the Waltzingmouse sketch...(a bit challenging for me!)



And here is what I came up with:



I started with Papertrey's Guidelines Impression Plate and stamp set for the background, and made the circles from PTI's Sweet Love set. I did some sponging on the background to get a more "vintage carpet" feel...finished up with a sentiment from Simple Sentiments (also PTI) and a little grosgrain ribbon under a double banner die cut. Quite time consuming, this sketch, I must say, but fun nonetheless, like card making always is! :) I'll be back later this evening with some teacher thank you cards and the first of my graduation cards. Hopefully I'll get a lot more posts in this week than last week!

Supply list:

Cardstock: Aqua Mist (PTI); Brown Bag (CTMH); So Saffron, Close to Cocoa (SU); other textured turquoise (DCWV)
Patterned Paper:
Stamp Set(s): Guidelines, Sweet Love, Simple Sentiments (PTI);
Ink/Colorants: Brown Bag (CTMH); Chocolate Chip (SU); Yellow Cadmium, Creamy Brown, Chestnut Roan, Dark Brown (Colorbox Chalk Ink)
Embellishments: Desert Sand organdy ribbon (CTMH)
Tools: Guidelines impression plate, Double-Ended Banner die (PTI); 1" and 1-1/4" circle punches (EK Success)

PDCC81

It's another week for the Play Date Cafe Challenge! The color scheme was interesting; it wouldn't be my first choice but I like the results and it's great to take the opportunity to challenge oneself beyond one's normal realm of comfortable and possibly overused color schemes.

Here's this week's color inspiration photo:



I had a new set from Raisin Boat that I wanted to try out ~ All in Toile. It was one that I rented thinking that I would enjoy creating with but that I wouldn't feel compelled to keep...but I like how the stamped images turned out so well that I may have to rethink that! ;)

I chose Perfect Plum cardstock for the base and then went with Sunkiss Yellow cardstock to stamp the toile flower images onto, with a hint of gray as a mat. Then I die cut the doily from a slightly different hue of gray.

I've had Friendship Jar and Friendship Jar Spring Fillers for a little while now and just hadn't had the chance to ink them up yet, so I figured, today's the day! I knew I wanted to use the gorgeous tulips stamp, but it was with trepidation that I chose it because I'm pretty much a total novice when it comes to Copic coloring, and these were quite challenging! Honestly, I think I was in a bit over my head, but I'll take it as a learning experience. :) Now I just need to go to the Copic coloring goddess' website (Debbie Olson) and do some studying!

The jar and all the coordinating images were die cut & stamped on Grey Flannel cardstock.



Supply list:

Cardstock: Perfect Plum (SU); Grey Flannel, Sunkiss Yellow (CTMH)
Patterned Paper: none
Stamp Set(s): All in Toile (Raisin Boat); Friendship Jar & Friendship Jar Spring Fillers (PTI)
Ink/Colorants: Perfect Plum (SU); Grey Flannel, Grey Wool, Garden Green (CTMH); Copic markers - YG91, YG93, YG95, V91, V95, V99; Yellow Cadmium chalk ink (Colorbox)
Embellishments:
Tools: Friendship Jar dies, Parisian Lace Doily die (PTI)

CFC #1 & WMS Sketch Challenge #46

I'm participating in two more challenges with this post: the brand new CAS-ual Fridays challenge (which seems to be REALLY popular!!) and my weekly Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge. Here's the sketch for this week:



The CAS-ual Friday challenge was to use lots of text on the card, so here is what I came up with, combining both challenges:







I took some close-ups because it seems that, with all that juxtaposition of different text, you can't see completely clearly the wonderful die cut details. I don't know how well you can observe it, but I stamped the flower twice and the top one is slightly offset from the bottom one. I was going for a little bit more dimension by doing that. I had a lot of fun with this one! :)

Supply list:

Cardstock: Colonial White (CTMH)
Patterned Paper: BG & flower from First Edition DSP (SU); Lost & Found - Union Square - Home Sweet Home - Collage (My Mind's Eye)
Stamp Set(s): Roses in Bloom (WMS)
Ink/Colorants: Tuxedo Black Memento; Early Espresso (SU); Tea Dye, Tattered Rose, Antique Linen (Distress Inks); Copic Markers E00, E04, E13, E29, E33, RV10
Embellishments:
Tools: Fancy Tags Two , Contemporary Hearts Pendants (Spellbinders)

PDCC80 & May H2H Week 1

Well, it's my now-weekly rush to get my Playdate Cafe entry in in time!! :) I had this card done yesterday afternoon...so why am I rushing to get it posted just now, with 20 minutes to spare? A good question. The answer is probably quite viable, but I won't bore you with the details. I'll just post the lovely inspiration photo and my card and let you be on your way! :)

Just in case I run out of time, I'll post my supply list after I get the post up, to make sure it gets there before my time is up! (Supply list added!)

This weeks H2H challenge was to use buttons, so I made sure this card had lots of CTMH goodies & buttons on it so that I could post it for that challenge as well. For those who may not be familiar with Close To My Heart stamp sets, the background on the card is stamped with those buttons. It's from a set called Buttoned Together.







Supply list: (to follow)

Cardstock: White (PTI); Orange (SU)
Patterned Paper: all from Animal Cookies collection (CTMH)
Stamp Set(s): Candlelight; Buttoned Together (CTMH)
Ink/Colorants: Black, Orange, Tulip (CTMH)
Embellishments: Buttons (from stash); Orange-striped ribbon (SU)
Tools: Abstract Flower Deep Edger Punch (EK Success)

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #45

Today's post will have to be super quick...but that's okay because the sketch this week was super simple!

Here it is:



I wasn't sure how I wanted to interpret the bookmark looking thing, so I decided that my take would be two ribbons running down the side. Then I wanted a horizontal oriented card so I turned it 90 degrees right. A simple card, but it's a get well card for a man, so I didn't want it to be too frilly.





That's it for today! Gotta run, another super busy day ahead (and on 4.5 hours of sleep! ;)

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Kraft (PTI)
Patterned Paper: blue, green, brown marble (stash)
Stamp Set(s): Tiny Tags, Sending You (PTI)
Ink/Colorants: Ocean, Chocolate (CTMH)
Embellishments: Brown Button, Fine Linen felt (PTI); Chocolate grosgrain ribbon (CTMH); Green fancy ribbon (SU)
Tools: Sending You die, Limitless Layers 1.75" dies, Beautiful Blooms #2 die (PTI); Postage border punch (EK Success)

Mojo Monday 189

My baby girl is turning FOUR on Sunday! This is great, except what that means is that this week has been incredibly busy. It's almost 11:30 on Thursday night and I still have cleaning to do to prepare for the party and having company for the weekend...so I'd better keep this post short! I made this card for this month's Mojo Monday competition a few days ago and am just now getting around to posting it.

The sketch:


My card:


All papers are from the Making Memories Je T'Adore line...I stocked up on one of each from this collection over my Valentine's Day craze...and I'm still using them! There were a ton (and ALL double sided!) and all so pretty! Instead of the little pieces of twine tied to the sentiment oval, I decided to try my hand at some pleated ribbon. I like the effect, but am finding that my little mini glue dots I used to hold the whole thing in place are not holding too well! (They tend to let the fabric go) Any ideas for adhesive used to hold the pleated ribbon in place would be most welcome...

Supplies used:

Cardstock: White
Patterned Paper: Je T'Adore line (Making Memories)
Stamp Set(s): Fillable Frames #4 (PTI)
Ink/Colorants: Cherry Cobbler (SU)
Embellishments: Organdy ribbon, Pearls (CTMH); Paper flower (stash); Pearl flower center (Prima)
Tools: Scalloped oval punch, small oval punch (SU); Double ended Banner die (PTI); Deco Scallop border punch (EK Success)

PDCC79

Wow, I talked of getting it in at the last minute last week, but this week I'm cutting it even closer! Submissions close in 13 minutes...so I'm going to go ahead and load the photo and add the details after I submit...

Whew! Just made it...I'm cutting it so close because this week is an incredibly busy week for me...my daughter is turning 4 on Sunday, we're having her birthday party at our house (supposed to be the back yard, but the rain might prevent that), and prepping for company (parents coming into town for Mother's Day and granddaughter's birthday), PLUS my older daughter has a school project that has to be turned in on Friday (building a model of an old-time church for a history project...she's in 1st grade)..this one top of all my regular duties...so blah blah blah, all that to say that I BARELY got this card done in time! ;)

So enough about that...and on to the Play Date Cafe weekly challenge...here are the inspiration colors:



You can't see too much of the gray in my card, as I chose a lighter gray as a mat and it's just peeking out...but the flowers are stamped on gray cardstock, the same that is used for the mat. This card was not shaping up the way I wanted it to, and I therefore had the challenge of "salvaging" it...my time in my craft room is so precious that I can't bring myself to chuck any card, and I'm finding that I welcome the challenge to make a card turn out okay when it was headed for disaster! :) This one came out ok after all, but I had to do some creative salvaging. LOL. Can I just say that drawing a simple straight line frame around a card is NOT at all as easy as it sounds? K, enough said. ;)



Supplies used:

Cardstock: Real Red, Old Olive textured, Going Gray, Basic Gray (SU)
Patterned Paper:
Stamp Set(s): Garden of Life (PTI); Punch Potpourri (SU)
Ink/Colorants: Real Red (SU); Grey Wool (CTMH)
Embellishments: Pearls (OT)
Tools: Boho Blossoms punch (SU)