SPARKS Challenge - Thanks Teacher

Hello, friends!  I was checking out the Paper Smooches blog yesterday and I saw the current SPARKS challenge.  I've never played along before since I just recently received my first Paper Smooches stamp set.  However, I do have a few free digital downloads such as the "Thanks Teacher" sentiment...so I  decided to give this challenge a whirl.

Here is the inspiration photo...

I went with the color scheme (fuchsia, white, baby blue, brown -- added a pop of red).  I used a kraft note card and printed the digital sentiment centered at the bottom.  Next I added four different squares of patterned paper (cut out with a Cuttlebug stamp die) highlighting the inspiration colors.  After adhering them to the card, I embossed the top half of the card with my swiss dots embossing folder.  Finally, I colored the apple with colored pencils (there's my pop of red!) and filled it in with Glossy Accents.  I tied the twine around the card and adhered the bow with a dot of Glossy Accents to keep it in place.

Here is a close-up of the apple with Glossy Accents:

I know it may seem silly to make a thank you card for a teacher during summer vacation, however I will hold onto this (and I made several while I was at it) and I'll plan to give them to my kids' teachers around Thanksgiving.  I like to let them know how much we appreciate them.

Thanks for stopping by...have a great day!
Judy

Sweet Tooth - PDCC#94

Hello, friends!  Just stopping by with a quick card that I made to say thank you to Nicole at the Sweet Stamp Shop for the awesome "Sweet Tooth" stamp set I won.  I received it the other day and I am having so much fun with it!  If you haven't been by the Sweet Stamp Shop Blog yet, you MUST go visit!  They have a super design team and tons of creative inspiration going on there. 

As a way to say thanks to Nicole and to play with my new stamps a bit, I made her card using the colors from the current Play Date Cafe Challenge #94 :

Fudge...Goldenrod...Teal

I have to give credit to Donna Mikasa for inspiring me...I totally cased THIS lovely card of hers (using a different Sweet Stamp Shop set).   By the way, Donna is one of the Sweet Tooth Girls and is doing a great job!  I love her style...always have...she is SO talented!  Here is my card inspired by Donna's:

I had fun stamping the sentiment onto a kraft note card, and then I used Hero Arts capital and lower case Pixie Letters  to add the "You fill my..."  (I'm trying to say thank you here...does that make any sense?)  I stamped the tooth image on white card stock and embossed in black, then cut out and filled the entire tooth with Glossy Accents.  (Get it?  I filled the tooth?  Oh yeah, I went there.)  When it was dry I mounted it up on pop dots.  Here is a close-up of the tooth:

I am really enjoying this set and I hope to purchase a few more soon...if not, they are definitely on my birthday/Christmas wish list!

Thanks for stopping by... have a great night!
Judy

More Red, White and Blue (LIM Week 27)

Hello, friends!

Well, I didn't think it possible to come up with a second idea for a card using the colors of my flag (in this case red, white and blue) but somehow I did.  The current challenge at Less Is More - Week 27 is to make a clean and simple card using the colors of your country's flag.  I made a card the other day, and I found it very challenging.  This, as I said, is not my go-to color combination for cards. 

However...I remembered this Hero Arts butterfly.  So I took it out, colored in the wings with red and blue Marvy markers, and stamped it onto a piece of scrap.  And I liked it!  One thing led to another, and here is what landed on my craft desk when it was all done...

Materials Used:  Hero Arts (C4783) Multi-Pattern Butterfly, (CL493) Live Life set; Marvy markers;

paper-piercer; Crafts-Too Daisy Flourish embossing folder.

I want to thank all the lovely ladies from the Less Is More blog community for all your lovely comments.  I really appreciate it!  I am going to put on my jammies early tonight and pull up a chair to my computer and start visiting each of your blogs...I wish I could do it more often, but I am finding it so hard when I am here with the four kids during the summer.  (We seem to be always on the go!)  Thanks for understanding...and thanks for visiting!

Have a great day,
Judy

Less Is More - Red, White & Blue

Hello, friends!  I'm here today with a challenge card.  This week's challenge at Less Is More (Week 27 - Colour) is to make a card using the colors of your nation's flag.  I live in the United States, and here are my flag's colors:

While I love the colors of the ol' red, white and blue, I dare say I don't usually go to this color combination for card purposes.  However, I tried my best to think outside the box and create a simple card using red and white with a touch of blue.

I embossed the Hero Arts Wild Flowers along with "A Real Wild Poppy" in white on red card stock, then rounded the bottom corners and added the Traditional Butterfly watercolored in blue.  It may be hard to tell, but that butterfly is popped up for some dimension.

Thanks for stopping by...have a great day!
Judy

Happy Day

Hello, friends!   It is a happy day...I was able to make a card for the current Hero Arts Monthly Challenge using some goodies that I won from Vera W. Yates (Ling)...thanks again, Vera! 

I love these floral eyelets, and I immediately thought they would look so cute on the old Hero Arts "Row of Perky Flowers" stamp.  I started out with my favorite Clouds stamp in soft pool shadow ink, stamped the flowers, punched holes and inserted the flower eyelets.  I layered papers for grass and the matting, and stamped Cling Dots in soft vanilla shadow ink on the card base.  I added black stitching and dots (around the popped up MS butterfly) for a final touch, and added the sentiment from the Thoughtful Messages set.  I'm thinking this card would be a cheerful way to wish a child a happy day.

I might as well share a little side project my daughter and I made the other day, too.  She likes to dance to music stored on our iPod, and she asked her dad to burn her a CD with some of our favorites on it.  After she came up with her catchy little title, I typed up the cover for her.  Of course, once I cut it out it looked blank...we can't have THAT, so I took out a few trusty Hero Arts stamps and decorated a bit...

Don't soft pool and poppy chalk ink look pretty together?  Makes me think summer.

Thanks for stopping by...have a happy day!
Judy

Creating a Scene and Saying Hello

Hello, friends!  Just stopping by with a card I made for the Hero Arts August Challenge this month:

I watched the technique video by Shari Carroll (see this link) and immediately thought of all of my Hero Arts stamps such as my pretty little house and the new bird I received in a recent blog candy prize from Vera Yates (Ling).  I stamped the Clouds with Soft Pool shadow ink, then stamped the Home With Flourish in Punch chalk ink.  The sentiment is from the Clear Design All Occasion Messages set.  On two different shades of green cardstock (one is Bazzill dotted swiss) I stamped the Designer Woodgrain in Grass chalk ink, then I used my Martha Stewart grass edge border punch.  I used the Martha Stewart fence edger punch on pale pink cardstock (looks white in the picture but looks pink in real life!) and adhered it across the grass.  Finally, I stamped the Sweet Bird image and did it again on yellow gingham paper, cut it out, and adhered it to the card.  Here is how my little scene using a creature (a bird is a creature, right?) turned out:      

 

I also want to share a few quick cards I made yesterday during a visit with my crafty sister-in-law. (Thanks, Jen...that was FUN!)  I had some pre-stamped and pre-cut designs (balloons, bird, cupcake) in my stash, and I made a few quick cards using the trusty Hero Arts Clouds stamp and a few others you may recognize.  I like to have a variety of birthday cards on hand for the multitude of birthday parties my kids go to!



(Sentiment is from the Big All Time Greetings clear set; balloon is a Studio G $1 stamp)

(Sentiment is from the Truly Appreciated clear set; branch is Long Stem Blossom; bird is Sandylion)

Here is a close-up of the bird's eyes...I used little black gems.

Notice the subtle Music Background in white on the kraft card and the Friend Definition stamped behind the cupcake. There are so many versatile Hero Arts background stamps!  I find that no matter what stamps I use on my cards, I always seem to use at least one Hero Arts stamp.  Love them!

Ok, enough ramblings for today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Judy

Feeling Fruity

Hello, friends!  I made a card today for the current Less Is More challenge...it is Week 26, the fifth week of the month (i.e., 'Lucky Dip' week), and the challenge is:

FEELING FRUITY

(They would like to see fruit or fruit colors on the card...easy peasy 'lemon' squeezy!)

 

My card is rather simple...not very fruity colors, per se, but it follows the color of the apple.  I cut several strips of patterned paper and ribbon, lined them up on an angle, and adhered them to the card before mounting the apple.  I stamped the Hero Arts apple from the Four Apples set with punch chalk ink.  The sentiment is also Hero Arts from the Big All Time Greetings set.  The black gem on the apple is actually very shiny, just hard to tell in this pic.  (Thunderstorms rolling by have darkened my natural light...what timing!)

 

 

As an aside, congratulations to Rosemary for being named the July challenge winner at Less Is More (see THIS post).  Chrissie and Mandi could not have made a better choice...way to go, Rosemary!

 

Have a great day!

Judy