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!!!

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!!!!

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!

Fancy Folds Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,
If you arrived here by way of Donna's Blog , then you are at the right place, but if not and you want to be eligible for great prizes, then click here to start from the beginning.  WOW.... by now you should be getting inspired.  Are you having fun? Fabulous Folds!! What a great theme for our first blog hop for 2013.

Prizes will be awarded, so don't forget to leave comments on everyone's blog, 'cause that's how you become eligible for the prizes that are to be given away.  This is a 4 day blog hop so you'll have plenty of time to view all the projects and leave comments.The prizes are stamp sets, flocking, glitter embossing powders, etc.BTW, there are 3 designers who've been designated to have prizes "hidden" on their blogs, so comments are important and we LOVE getting comments.They really make our day. 

I have made a cute bookmark card for you today.  Not only is this a cute card to send, but the recipient can continue to use this bookmark long after the card has met the round recycle bin.  This is such a super simple card to make and so much fun to receive.  At first glance this looks like just your ordinary card....

But when you open it.....    You get a cute little flap...  Of course we had to decorate this flap...  But it's not just your ordinary every day flap...  Lo and behold the magic....

This adorable (detachable) gift can be saved and used even after the recipient no longer desires to keep the card.  Let's face it ladies... We want to keep all of them, but it just doesn't happen....  :(

I hope you like what I have done for you today...  I once again ran back to my favorite stamp set Rose Garden.  I knew it was going to be my set of choice when I chose to make this card.  I made my beads from designer paper and rolled them in glossy accents to make them look real and even added a small amount of waterscape glitter for that extra shine.  I added the yellow glitter to the flower centers as seen on the front of my card.  I chose to leave the inside of my card very simple and plain and let the bookmark and card front take the center stage here...

Once again I hope you enjoy what I have done for you today.

Thanks for joining us on our first blog hop for 2013. Before hopping back to the Sparkle N Sprinkle  blog, please leave a comment here on my blog to be eligible for a prize.... Now don't forget to return to Sparkle N Sprinkle so that you can purchase everything you saw while on our blog hop so you too can recreate all of these wonderful projects..

In case you get lost here is a list in order of all the team members on today's hop.

** Brigita Skopas  **  Karalee Ingram **  Shona Erlenborn **  Anne Temple **  

** Karin Martin ** April Williams  ** Julie Zippel  ** Dawn Bennett ** 

** Jackie Smith ** Marie Berquist ** Barbara Bruder ** Shanna Shands ** 

Cammy Vietzke ** Donna Ellis ** Keri Brown (this is me)

Easel Cocktails

I know I haven't posted in a couple weeks but my life has been turned upside down a couple times in the last month and I am desperately trying to get the pieces picked up.  I have made several cards and had time to play but I just don't have the time to sit and blog them...  I do want to share this on with you though because I absolutely love how it turned out...   This month the Sparkle N Sprinkle DT members are focusing on making cards with "fun folds."  I absolutely love fun folds but never stop to take the time to make any.  I usually stick with the typical A2 size and nothing more...  So this is a really cool card and I hope you will love it as much as I do...  This is an easel card and upon first glace it looks like your typical 4 X 4 card....

Well take another look at this beauty when it is popped open and displayed...

Now you can really see how cute and fun this card really is...  Let me show you a side view of this one as well so you get the full idea of this one...

I hope you can see here how the card pops up and then rests on the inside layers of cardstock to keep it open and displayed...  I tried very hard to capture all the details on these drinks but wasn't able to get the full shot.  I added glossy accents to all of my drinks to make the glasses look real and shiny and then I added some glitter to all of the rims to look like either salt or sugar rimmed glasses.  These look so cool in real life.. Here is a close up in hopes of showing a little more of the details...

The images, embossing powder and glitter used on this card can all be found at Sparkle N Sprinkle  Make sure to stop by their store and check out all of the wonderful new goodies they have to offer.  I promise you won't be disappointed...  Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you have enjoyed my card...

Last Chance....

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE FOR DETAILS This is my final submission for the DT I am trying to get on. I was picked as a semi-finalist and had to create one last project for the final decision. I am hoping this was enough to get me all the way... I think there are some pretty clever ideas put to use on this card.

The first thing I did was combine 2 background techniques together for a fun new look. I started with the shaving cream technique and on top of that I added the rolled marble technique but instead of using a colored ink I used the versamark re-inker so that I could emboss it and make it shiny. I took equal parts of silver embossing powder and silver glitter and mixed it to pour onto the wet versamark.

I also chose to add sparkle to my main image to look like a wrapped hershey kiss. I printed the digi image and cut it out. I pressed it onto my versamark pad and then sprinkled it with the same mixture as my background. I then used my tiny alphabet set to stamp the words hugs and kisses onto tissue paper and cut to look like the flags on a hershey kiss. I personally thought this was a pretty clever idea...

My sentiment was created using Photo Shop and then printed on Neenah Solar White cardstock and cut using spellbinders label 10 die. I really hope you can see all of the details and thought that went into this card. I had fun making it and I absolutely love this digital image. Digi image, glitter and embossing powder are all from Sparkle N Sprinkle. Visit their store for more awesome products and digital images here. Thank you for taking the time to stop by... Please let me know what you think. Happy Stamping!!!

"Sporty" CAS Challenge

The challenge is to pick your favorite team's colors and create a card using those colors. The card doesn't have to contain anything to do with sports except for the colors. I had a couple ideas so I made a couple cards for this challenge... The first one if a combination of my kid's school colors since they are in 3 different school...

I used the ribbon below the scallop to make it look like a winners ribbon... I did choose to go with the sport theme all around with this one and I like how it turned out given I am really not that good with CAS cards..

My next card is in honor of my home state and the good ole Ohio State Buckeyes... Scarlet and Gray... I wish my butterfly trails were a little bit skinnier but they didn't turn out that way. I could have used a marker and done them gray, but I wanted them a little shinier like their jerseys so I embossed them with silver and unfortunately the thickness of the lines is a result of the versamarker... The butterflies were made using the butterfly embosslit from Stampin Up!... My last card is probably the most important card with the most important colors out there...

There really isn't anything to explain about this card. It was very simple to put together and I only have three words to say about this card: DALLAS COWBOYS BABY!!!!!! Thanks for taking the time to look at my CAS cards today.. I hope you enjoy what I have done for you. Happy Stamping!!!

Featured Stamper

I'd like to tell you why this is late, but I will just leave it as life happens when we least expect it.... So I made this card Sunday for the featured stamper challenge. When I saw this card...I knew I wanted to CASE it. I love the flowers and I have been playing around with a lot of old sets and when I skimmed past Simple Sketches I knew it was perfect.

Here is another view so you can really see the embossing details on this card.. It is gorgeous IRL. I changed the colors, the image, the border, and the sentiment... I hope you enjoy this card even though it's a little late.... fashionably late right? Happy Stamping!!!

Blue Kisses

I just received this new Digi image Hugs and Kisses from Sparkle N Sprinkle and had to play with it... I chose the blue color to match the color of the blue on the Hershey kiss tabs... So this was a lengthy card to make but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. This card was made for 2 challenges today. The WT challenge on Splitcoast: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue and also for the Loves Rubber Stamps challenge: Bingo... I chose the far right column which is to use buttons or brads, embossing and die cuts or punches.... Check!!!! I am

posting a few photos on here so you can really see the details in this card. The first is the background. I used the rolled marble technique and in addition to using 2 colors of reinker, I also used the versamark re-inker. I did the color reinkers first and then the versamark and added a combination of silver embossing powder and silver glitter to create my background. I wasn't sure if this was going to work, but it did and it's awesome... Then I stamped my chocolate chip background randomly with the versamark and used the same silver mixture.

Then the tricky part was adding the glittered details to a digi image since it's printed from the computer and you really can't print with versamark... So I used my versamarker and colored the image and added the silver mixture to the image. I had to do this several times to get an even coating to the image. (Who says you can't emboss or glitter digi images?) Anyway, I really hope you enjoy my card today. I am pretty pleased with this myself... And I can't forget the best part of this card... In my opinion anyway... I stamped the words hugs and kisses with my alphabet set onto tissue paper to create my hershey kiss flags. I think they look just like the real thing... Stay tuned for my next project using this same Digi image... I love it!!!

For A Dear Friend

This is my card for today's sketch challenge... Such a wonderful sketch which allows for a larger die cut center... This card is very difficult to photograph because I used a bit of clear embossing powder but I have included a few extra photos on here

so that you can really see the embossing details on this card. I embossed all three flower images inside my circle, the word friend in the ovals and all 3 butterflies...

This was a pretty simple card to put together but it was pretty time consuming due to all of the embossing that I did... I also used my stampin write markers to make the 4 images on my candle. I stamped on tissue paper and adhered to candle.

I added some glitter detail to the tiny flowers on the candle and attached them with cute pink brads. (I toyed with glittering the brads too but I left them alone... THIS TIME!!!!) The finish touch to the candle is my double ribbon in pink and yellow that I also slightly melted to give it the curled look... (Be careful not to burn or melt your ribbon as organdy is very delicate and doesn't take long to heat) I hope you enjoyed what I have done here... Happy Stamping!!!

DTGD Challenges 9-12

I truly apologize for posting all of these cards in 1 blog post but it is really late at night and I am exhausted but I wanted to get these posted before I forgot... This card is extremely simple to create and uses the cracked glass technique. I then layered my image onto a cuttlebug background added the lace to look almose like a window and my sentiment... The inspiration piece this came from had a small pop of purple so that got added as well.

This next card couldn't possibly have any more bling on it if it tried... I used the glitter lace technique to create my background and then added some flowers in different shades of pink to match. I added some rhinestones and my silver embossed sentiment... This card is stunning and shiny IRL.

This next card is a simple one too... Boy has it been hot out and these are some "HOT" colors. I am not a fan or orange but these work together beautifully. I had this DSP sitting around in my craft room for some time and was finally give a reason to dust it off and cut it... Give it a go... You will like it too.

Now for my favorite card from today... This cute little cupcake is a card... It took some time to cut out, but the Hello Kitty cricut cartridge lets you cut all of the images out as cards... HOW AWESOME!!! It is pretty time consuming to cut out all of the coordinating parts but it was so worth it.. This is a little girls dream... Ok well for my 6 year old twins it was... Their birthday isn't until March and they have both requested a card like this for their birthday.... And they both told me it had to be just as shiny... How cute!!!

DTGD Challenge #7

This is my 7th DTGD challenge card... I was cleaning my stamp room yesterday and came across old polyshrink paper... I am so excited that I pulled it out for this challenge... I love making my own charms... I stamped my grapes with purple stazon and then masked it so I could stamp my leaves and then shrank my image. I then re-stamped the image first with the grapes and added a mixture of glitter and clear embossing powder. I then masked the image again and repeated with green glitter and embossing powder for the leaves. I layered this image added a ribbon and tied my charm on for a little more added detail. If you haven't pulled out your shrinky dink in a while give it a try... Made me feel like a kid again. It was fun!!! Thanks for stopping by... Happy Stamping!!!

DTGD Challenge #6

This is my 6th card for the DTGD challenges... This was truly a challenge for me but I managed and I am very happy with the turnout... I am also using this card for the Loves Rubber Stamps Challenge.. There really isn't much to tell you about this card.. I know it is very difficult to see from the photo, but I stamped my image and sentiment with Lucky Limeade ink and the used the stamp a ma jig to line up both images again and stamped them with versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. The card has so much more dimension by just adding that embossing powder... I love how this card turned out... Thank you so much for stopping by... Happy Stamping!!!

With Love

This is my card for today's color challenge... Raspberry Ripple Pink Pirouette Crumb Cake I don't have any crumb cake but a friend told me that kraft was the same color renamed... So the ribbon is kraft colored organdy ribbon and my leaves are stamped in brown but for some reason they look a little greenish in the photo... This is a truly awesome color combination and I loved working with it... I stamped my flowers and leaves with versamark ink and embossed with Whinter White embossing powder. I then inked the flowers and leaves with Raspberry Ripple, Pink Pirouette, and Brown and wiped the embossed part off to make the white clean and crisp. I used a ball stylus and mat to dimensionalize my flowers and leaves. I punched out the scallop and circle for my sentiment, added a few pearls and my card came together quite nicely.. I hope you enjoy what I have created here today... Please let me know what you think. Happy Stamping!!!