More HYCCT Challenge Cards

This is going to be short and sweet... I just wanted to update my blog with what I have been doing lately... I have been playing along with the Hope You Can Cling To challenges at splitcoast.  We are halfway through the month and the challenges are great...  Here are the rest of the cards I have done so far.  Can you believe I am actually caught up and done all of the challenges?  Me either but I plan to do them all this year...  :-)  So here they are:

This is the step card that I was teaching at the Santa Clara scrapbook expo.  I thought it was perfect to put together for this "step" challenge..

This is for the Bind It All challenge.  To make our card look bound like a book or binder or such.  I used the top note die and some ribbon for my binding...

This card had to be friend associated.  An image, sentiment, etc.  I chose one of my favorite friend sentiments from Stampin Up's All Holiday set...

Something's Missing... Yup, my heart in the card front.  I punched my main heart and tied the twine through it.  All the other hearts were punched out and placed.  I also place DSP inside my card as well

Use music on your card... Sure no problem when you have this gorgeous music sheet background stamp.  I chose to emboss the background for a more dimensional look...

Quilts are nice and warm and cozy right?  Because that is what I was thinking when I was doing this card...  And these are some of my favorite colors...  :-)

Warm fuzzies.. What isn't warm about sharing a cup of coffee with a friend?  And a coffee that has a coffee cozy on it?  

No stamps? No problem..  I am in love with the inlaid die cute technique... So much fun and such an amazing look when its used...  This card makes me want to make a dozen more....

So that's it for today... Hope you enjoyed my cards.  Stay tuned for more the rest of the month...

Inky Hugs!!!

Next 5 HYCCT Challenge Cards

So I know this is odd for me to upload 10 cards in 2 days, but I was trying to play catch up...  So I am caught up now and you will only get a card or 2 a day now.  (I hope!)  So here we go again...

I love this card and the colors...  The teddy bear was made completely from circle punches and then I added the eyes and drew the nose, mouth, ear lines and paw lines.  I used my 1 3/8" punch and 3/4" punches.  The hearts were punched from my mini heart punch and I adhered a pearl to the centers.  I tied a cute ribbon and sentiment and my card was done..  I just love pink and brown together...







This is my next card for today.  The challenge was to use something on your card that has a handle.  This proved more difficult that I initially thought.  I realized I don't have any stamps that have handles really. I originally thought about making a purse, but I think the challenge has to be a card... So I stamped my mug and all other images and cut them out.  I added my cute heart to the mug and then added some liquid applique to the marshmallows and whipped cream and heat set to make puffy.  I tied a matching twine, added a sentiment and some sequins and I am happy with my card..

This card was an unbelievable happening..  This card had to use scraps that we had laying around.  I have a quite large bin that has items in it that at one time were going to be used for something and then I went another way leaving these beauties behind.  This is the case for the vertical strip of red with DSP.  The butterflies are all cut with the beautiful wings embosslits and all the ones you see were die cut and left behind.  Even the ribbon was sitting in my scrap bin all tied and ready to go...  The only part of this card that isn't a scrap is the base itself.  I love it when I am given a reason to use those scraps.  It's such a shame to let them go to waste or to put them aside and completely forget about them in the future...  Glad I was able to go through my bin and see what I had..  I plan to use more here soon...

This card hits pretty close to my heart.  This challenge was to make a card inspired by my "hero."  Could be a favorite sentiment, a person, a quote, anything.  Well my mom is my hero.  I literally talk to her daily and sometimes 3-4 times a day.  Without my mom I would be lost.  My junior year of high school my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  I can't explain why I stayed home from school this day, but I saved my mom's life that day.  God knew why I was home.  In 2006 my mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and then in 2012 colon cancer.  My husband was prior military and I was not close to home these last 2 bouts.  That didn't stop me.  I towed my 5 children along with me in 2006 (6 month twins included) to take care of my mom, her home and my dad.  I am blessed to have been able to be there yet again.  Finally in 2012 my family had just relocated to Washington state 3000 miles from home. (Ohio)  Again this didn't stop me.  My husband watched over our 5 kids so that I could fly home to be by my mom's side.  I watched her emotions at their highest and their lowest, but one thing that never failed was her desire and drive to fight and survive.  A support system is critical during these times.  My mom is my hero now and forever...  I love you mom!!!

This is my final card to catch me up on the 10 challenges posted thus far.  This challenge was exactly that... A CHALLENGE!!!  We couldn't use any adhesives.  No pop dots, glue dots, mono adhesive, ATG, wet glue, etc.  Well count me out... This is impossible... Or is it?  So I have at least 4 layers to this card and not a single bit of adhesive to be found.  I adhered my red strip and 3 hearts with staples covered with these adorable heart brads.  I then attached my smaller hearts with adorable tiny heart brads.  I then dusted off some eyelets and attached the bottom of my cardstock with eyelets and twine.  So you see this wasn't impossible.... As a matter of fact this was quite the opposite.  Think outside the box and you will be impressed with what you can come up with if you just try..  So these are my 5 cards today.  I hope you have enjoyed my cards so far.  Keep following along with me the rest of the month as I desperately try to complete all of the challenges up through October 31st.  Wish me luck... And until next time..  Happy Stamping all..

Inky Hugs!!!

HYCCT- First 5 cards

For those of you that don't know what HYCCT is, it's Hope You Can Cling To.  They are a month long daily challenge for the month of October for Breast Cancer Awareness.  I try to play along as much as possible because my mom is a breast cancer survivor and I know how hard a road it is and just how much a person's spirits can be lifted with a simple card.  I am not going to go into great details about these cards but I will post them for you to see....

This challenge is Paper Tole (3-d).  I stamped and punched my flowers and then used my paper tool kit to give them dimension.  I rounded the larger flower petals and bent them so they would look as much like a real flower as possible. I then layered a smaller flower on top and also added dimension by lifting the petals.  I added an enamel dot (that I made at home) to each flower center for even more dimension.  Below you can see the actual flowers and how I have layered them and given them the dimension that you see.






As you can see from the photo I have done several layers for my flowers.  I added some twine and a cut out sentiment to finish my card off.  This is a super simple card with very little but so much
dimension just makes it pop...





My next card is for the Shine On challenge.  We had to
have a light source somewhere on our card.  I chose to
stamp this adorable light from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  I added
a pearl to the center of my lamp for the bulb.  My main
image and sentiment are both embossed and the border
is drawn with a Soft Sky Stampin' Write marker.  I added
a few pearls to the corners and some twine and a button across the lower portion of my card to finish this one off..





                                                                               

Next up is my card for the Hope Floats challenge.  We had to have something that floated.  Well balloons float right?  So I decided to stamp my awareness ribbons in 3 shades of pink and fussy cut them out.  I tied a matching color of twine around each one of them to create balloons.  I ran my background through my clouds embossing folder to make the balloons look like they are in the sky ( yes a pink sky)  I tied all of my twine strings together and added a cute sentiment across the bottom and over the strings.  So here we have it "Hope Floats"...




So we are getting there... Slowly but surely..  And these are only the first 5.  These challenges go all month long.  So this next card is for the Two by Two, Side by Side challenge.  We had to use pink and purple on our card and somethng had to be in two's.  Of course you can see I have 2 butterflies here...  I love the gorgeous grunge stamp set and it made this card so easy to create.  I did a little sponging around my white edge and also around the word hope.  I am super pleased with how this card ended up...  So let me show you my last one for the day....  I saved the best for last....  (I think!)





Okay... So I really think this card is just too adorable...  I love everything about this card and how it all came together.  The stamp set is from Stampin Up and it's called Create-A-Cupcake... And you do just that... The best part is there is a matching punch to punch out all of the elements...  So cute!!!...  I made the hearts into enamel dots, (Super simple) and added them to my border.  I then used the ruched ribbon technique to create this gorgeous border and added my bow...   The final touch was a small amount of Bronze Splendor glitter added to the cupcake frosting to look like sprinkles...  Really happy with this one...


Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and see what I have created.  Stay tuned for more as this month of challenges continues.  Please join us over at splitcoast and see what great ideas you can come up with...  Until next time...

Inky Hugs!!!!

Buzzin' By

So this card started out so differently at 8:00 this morning and then by noon it had a new look that I still wasn't happy with.  I walked away for a little bit to do some dishes, came back and took it in a completely different direction again...  I love how when you really take the time to work something out, it ends up better than you wanted it to..

I never thought I would put yellow, brown and blue together, but they really work nicely.  Maybe a suggestion for a color challenge...  Anyway, I am really happy with how this card turned out today and even more so knowing it took all day to master it...  This was super simple to put together.  The most time consuming part was making the flowers exactly how I wanted them. It's hard to see from this photo but the flower centers are embossed with a gorgeous embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle that has glitter in it...  Just gorgeous!!!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today.  I would love to know what you think.  Please leave me a comment on here..

Inky Hugs!!!

Beautiful Butterflies

        I am in love with this card...  I am just so happy with how it turned out...

I die cut my butterfly from Certainly Celery DSP.  (I really miss this color)  My main card color is a new Stampin' Up! In Color called Pistachio Pudding.  I absolutely love this color so maybe I will be okay with Certainly Celery being gone as long as I have Pistachio Pudding...

      I used my envelope punch board to make my envelope and then used my labels 1 die to cut the top flap.  I added a few strips of tear-ific tape in 1/4" and 1/8" across the bottom, head embossed my button, which is so cool... added some sequins and twine and then embossed my sentiment in the same color as my button.  The button is from Mon Ami and the glitters, tapes and embossing powder are all from Sparkle N Sprinkle.

        I had so much fun making this card today for no reason at all other than to sit on my shelf behind my head while I am filming...  :-)  Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by.  I hope you enjoy what I have done here today.  Please let me know what you think.

Inky Hugs!!

Tulips

I have been playing around lately and wanted to make a few SNS cards to display in my background for the videos...  So the first one I came up with is a cute and simple card, but to me is so elegant...

I colored my image with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol.   Still one of my favorite coloring techniques.  I absolutely love the look.  I added just a small amount of glitter to the tulips for some added sparkle but without going overboard.  I love the look of glitter, but I like it when it's classy and clean and not just thrown on a card or page so you know it's there... It has to have a reason.. :-)

Crumpled Fall Flowers

So this is my card for today's CAS challenge at Splitcoast.  The challenge is to use crumpled paper... Well I like the look of torn, distressed crumpled so this was a great challenge for me...

I started with a Pumpkin Pie base and layered some Pumpkin Pie DSP that I wet and crumpled. I stamped my image with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with various copic markers.  I added a small amount of glitter to the tops of the acorns, and I love how it looks too.  I added some ribbon, a sentiment and some sequins mostly because I love them...

     Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by.  I would love to know what you think..  "-)

Never Forget!!!

For those of you that REALLY know me, you know how hard today is on my husband and me.  While we didn't lose a loved one on this tragic day 13 years ago, my husband and I were both actively serving in the military,  He was in the Air Force Honor Guard and I was in the Navy Ceremonial Guard.  We were both stationed in Washington, D.C. when the attack happened on the Twin Towers in New York, and even closer to home for us when the Pentagon was hit.  The post were were stationed on, Bolling Air Force Base/ Annacostia Annex, was just on the other side of the Potomac river and subsequently a stones throw from the Pentagon.  The smoke was so intense that day, the base was locked down and I was heading home on a plane to get my kids.  I will never forget the feeling of not being with the man I loved and not being able to call him because the cell towers were so bogged down you couldn't get a call to connect.  I can't imagine what those people were thinking not being able to get a hold of their loved ones and not knowing what was going on in the towers and the Pentagon. Furthermore, I can't image being on an airplane that I knew was going down and making that final call home to say you love someone and in the same breath saying good bye.  My heart breaks today for the families affected by this tragedy.. I WILL NEVER FORGET!!!!!

Now for my card...

 I chose to use the Sanded Pencil Technique and it was so much fun.  I stamped my firefighter on very vanilla and left him colorless...  I used red, white and blue for my background in honor of the USA.  I tore the background symbolizes our nation being torn up and I layered the image on top of two equal strips of red cardstock symbolizing the Twin Towers...  This was an emotional card to put together today but I am happy with how it turned out...  Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by.  I would love to know what you think so please leave me a comment...

Inky Hugs!!!

Live Simply

So real quick post today before I head off to work...  This is my card for today's sketch challenge... What a cool sketch today...  I decided immediately that I wanted to use either flowers or butterflies and well since I can't put down my new sets Flower Shop and Petite Petals, I decided to pull out my butterflies...

There really isn't much to this card today.  I threaded some lt pink organdy ribbon through the top of my lace and tied a bow, cut out my oval with nestabilities, stamped my butterflies and punched them and then added some beautiful red pearls.  So very super simple today...  I hope you like what I have done with this challenge..  Please let me know what you think.  I love to hear your comments...  Until next time...

Inky Hugs!!!

Apple Of My Eye

So a day late I know, but I got too busy yesterday to finish my card...  Luckily this morning went very smooth for me and I was able to get 2 projects done today...  Here is my take on the Free 4 All challenge this week: Apple Of My Eye

I really love this stamp set and I have had it forever but think I may have only used it once... But I really like how this card turned out and I really like the colors.. It's hard to see but my "apple meat" is multiple shades of the yellows and IRL they look delicious...  Thank you for stopping by.  Please let me know what you think.

Inky Hugs!!!

Paper Straw Pinwheels

          Boy did I have fun with today's Inspiration Challenge...  I absolutely love paper straws and now I feel I must purchase a bunch of them from Sprinkled Joy....  I am just in love... When I saw her store and all of the paper straws, it immediately made me think of the straws I had in my craft room and how I bought them to make pinwheels and never did...                                                                   So here we go....

YAY!!!!  Pinwheels...  I absolutely think these are just the cutest things and I really don't know why I haven't made them before....  I cute my DSP 1/4" smaller than my solid and matted before I cut my slits.  I wish I had rounded my corners before but I didn't so my Lt. blue pinwheel isn't exactly how I wanted it, but still cute none the less...  I stamped my flowers with matching ink and stamped off the centers first.  I heat embossed my brads so the colors would match perfectly and then I was also able to use the larger circle brads...  I added a few sequins just for some fun sparkle.  So there you have it... Pinwheels!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I would really love to know what you think so please leave me a comment while browsing through..

Inky hugs!

Count My Blessings

It's been quite some time since I sat down and thought about the colors of fall and I have to say... I'm NOT ready...  I want the summer to last so much longer... For us in Washington State, the fall means 8 months of rain and quite honestly I can do without...  Nonetheless, here is my card for today's Autumn Leaves challenge....

The scallop rows are made with Sparkle N Sprinkle glitters and Super Adhesive Sheets.  I picked 3 fall colors and ran with it...  The leaf colored were inspired by the glitter colors...  Both stamp sets used are also from Sparkle N Sprinkle and I just love these leaves...  I hope you enjoy my card today and I would love to know what you think..

Happy Stamping!!!

Thank you Sketch

          I was a little intimidated when I saw today's sketch over at splitcoast.   I had a hard time wrapping my head around it, so I walked away, got some coffee, make school lunches, walked my kiddos to the bus stop and then eventually came back.  After having time to process the sketch more ideas started to pop into my head and I ended up making a card that I really like...

So this is the card that I came up with for this sketch.  Even though it stumped me at first, I think it ended up turning out pretty darn cute if I may say...


I bought this cute tag/banner die set at 50% off but I haven't used it yet.  Mostly because I tried cutting out the polka dots one time and they wouldn't punch out... I did finally decide to play with it a little bit and to my surprise they cut perfectly...  And they are so dang cute...  The background for all banners is white with a lighter and darker purple layer on top..  The sentiment is stamped on Neenah Solar White cardstock and matted onto a scalloped circle.  I finished my card off with my new favorite and extremely inexpensive HOMEMADE enamel dots...  I love getting things cheap or making them myself.. Makes me feel like I got a great bargain..  Thank you so much for stopping by.  I would love to know what you think...

Happy Stamping!!!

Watercolor Flowers

I had fun putting this card together today...

 I wanted to play around with some watercoloring since I really like it but never think to do it...  So much fun and so easy using this technique.  I embossed my image with black ep and then spritzed the entire sheet gerenously with water.  Then use a paint brush and your re-inker to apply a small amount of color the the image and watch it just spread through the water...  You won't get too much bleeding outside your embossed image as long as you don't overdue the amount of water spritzed.  You can always add more if needed but can't really take the water away...  I chose to fussy cut my image when I was done and did some cute offset mounting to give my card a little more dimension.  All of my cards as of late have been super simple and I really want to get back to my stamping style.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  Please take the time to let me know what you think...

Happy Stamping!!!

Button Love

I am so excited that I was able to stamp 2 cards for today's
 splitcoast challenge.. We had to use a button on our card...

 I love embellishments so I have a ton of buttons in my craft room...  The hard part is picking the size and color.. LOL...  Thank you so much for taking the time to look.  I would love to know what you think...

Happy Inking

1 Button Hello

It sure has been a while since I posted on here...  Life has been crazy and wonderful...  But I am so happy to be back to doing what I love.  So without further adieu....

     This is my card for today's Free 4 All challenge over at splitcoast.  The challenge for today was to use 1 button on our cards...  This card started off completely different and as I was starting to put together the layers, I decided to change it around and add the mixed media stamp in the background and clean my card up a little bit...  So here is the final product...

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today..  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think...  :-)