Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #3

All right...I managed to get one more entry ready for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge DT call!  Phew!  For this, my third entry, I decided to turn the sketch on its side and change up the size as well.  This card measures 5 x 5 inches. 

I haven't used any of my Bella stamps in quite some time, so I dusted them off and chose this one to make a card for a dear friend.  She needs a little pick me up right now, so I wanted to send her a card to let her know that even though she is far away, she is always in my thoughts!  I love this stamp, because my friend has crazy curly hair, and my hair is straight.  Rather appropriate, don't you think?  :)

I resorted to my stand-by SU! designer papers and coordinating cardstock.  That way not too much thought is required!  Everything matches up, easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!  I decided to do some machine stitching on this entry too, since it is something that I didn't do on either of my other two cards.

Here is a close up of me and my friend *wink* who were colored with Copics.  I always find the mouths and the arms a bit of a challenge when coloring Bella stamps.  What color should their mouths be?  And they don't really have any arms....  In the end, I am happy with how 'we' look, so I guess that is what is important!



I did take a couple of minutes to finish off the inside of this card.  I am caving in to the pressure that all of you out there are putting on me because you finish off the insides of your cards so beautifully!

Well, there you have it!  My third (and final) entry for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #2

When I 'heard' about the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, I decided that I would like to give it a shot.  The rules say that you can enter more than one time, so I can only improve my odds if I do, right?

On that note, here is my second submission for the challenge!  I am traveling back to Canada next week, to attend my new niece's baptism.  Of course, I need to bring a very cute gift, and a hand made card.  For an event like this, a store bought card just wouldn't do!

Since this is my second submission for the challenge, I also thought that I should show some different techniques than the ones I used on my first card.  This time I decided to step away from the images that need to be colored, and do some embossing instead.  I haven't embossed in AGES!  I have to say, going back to some older and lesser used tools has been a fun excercise for me.

The papers that I have used here are all from Stampin' Up, as is the cross image.  I stamped the image in Brilliance ink and then used ultra fine gold embossing powder on top.  I gave it a shot with my heat gun, and I was good to go.

The ivory background was dry embossed with a swiss dot embossing folder and my Cuttlebug and the flowers were made using Die-namics from over at MFT.

I finished off the inside of the card very simply with another gold embossed cross and the sentiment 'on your Baptism day'. 

I have to admit, I changed this card around a few times.  I had the vision of pink and black for this card, because I really wanted the contrast that those colors would provide.  I initially stamped the cross in black, but it felt too morbid.  I preferred the gold in the end, and so did my two little critics.  They think they are experts at the ripe old ages of 10 and 7!  :)

Sweet Sunday Sketch Casting Call

I 'heard' that there was a casting call for the Sweet Sunday Sketch team while I was cruising around the blogosphere, and I decided to get my butt in gear and come up with an entry.  It looks like there are A LOT of entries already, but you can't achieve something that you don't take a shot at, right?

I have really been enjoying playing with my 'a la modes' stamps from over at MFT, so I decided to use one of them for my entry.

I was fortunate enough to get to take a trip to Aruba recently, as the guest of a friend who has a time share there.  It was a fabulous vacation, and I now have some 'thank you' cards to send out.  This little lady was perfect for the task.

I used both cork and a piece of a cut up brown paper lunch bag on this card, because for me, they both evoked visions of coffee.  Fresh coffee beans in a brown paper bag....I can smell them as I sit here typing.....sigh.

The papers are all from Stampin' Up, and my stamped image was colored with Copics.  I am having more fun playing with my Copics since I took a couple of classes at CKC Cincinnati in the fall.  They now don't seem quite as intimidating! 

Here is a detail shot of my little barista.  You will also notice that my sentiment is from a different MFT set...one of the Who's That Girl sets called Hot Stuff.  It is another favorite of mine!



Wish me luck on the casting call!

Happy Father's Day!

I got the ideas for both of these cards online.  There are dies out there that will allow you to make ribbons, banners and t-shirts.  Honestly, I don't have any of those dies, so I just winged it!  These cards were made for the two grandpas....my dad and my husband's dad for Father's Day. 

The papers are all Stampin' Up!  I like this colour palette because it is inherently masculine, without having to work hard at it.  I also liked the t-shirt idea, but I didn't think I would get enough use out of a stamp and die cut set to make it worth the outlay of cash.  I drew this shirt by hand and then cut it out and coloured it with Copic markers.  I used an old tag I had kicking around as a stencil for this tag.  The corduroy button and brad I had sitting from a LONG time ago, and are both from SU! as well.

For this second card, I used the same SU! papers.  The fish tail ribbons were cut by hand and the circles were cut out using my Nestabilities dies and my Cuttlebug.  The rest is pretty self explanatory!

Enjoy your Father's Day!

Prince Charming

My husband and I are gearing up to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary this summer.  I cannot believe that it has been 15 years!  We met young, we married young, we had our kids young, and we are still crazy about each other.  I know, it's kind of sappy, isn't it? 

For Father's Day this year, I wanted to make my hubby a special card that was just from me.  The kids each made him one too, and they really did a terrific job, each taking a turn in my craft room using my supplies.  I will have to post pics of their cards too.

Anyways, this is the card that I made.  It isn't a typical 'Happy Father's Day' kind of card, but instead it was to let him know that I still think he is wonderful, even after all these years.  :)

This card was created from a sketch (MFTWSC75), although I didn't actually post the card to the MFT blog.  I will often cruise around online to find sketches, even if they are old ones, and use them to create my projects. 



These papers are all from Stampin' Up.  I have been using a lot of SU! papers lately.  I have such a stockpile of them at hand, and they are all so easily coordinated when you hoard the cardstock too, as I do!  The image is from MFT and I colored it with my Copic markers.  My little knight was colored and then cut out and popped up with some dimensionals.

I finished off the inside of the card (very simply), as is becoming the trend.  I spend so much time on the fronts of my cards, I am not always keen to finish off the inside of them too.  You crafters out there are always raising the bar though, and I figured that this card (and it's recipient) was worth the extra effort! *wink*

A Big Thank You!

This card is going to my in-laws, who came and helped my husband with the kiddies so that I could take a girls' trip to Aruba.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I went on a girls' trip to Aruba, while my husband and kids stayed at home and went to work and school.  I am a lucky girl!

I have a friend who was celebrating her 40th birthday this year, and in celebration of the big day, she was going to Aruba.  The only way we could make it work, in terms of me being able to go with her, was if Kevin were to have some help here at home.  That is where my in-laws stepped in to help out.  They came and stayed at our house for the week so that they were here to get the kids off the bus and supervise homework, snack and afterschool activities, until Kevin got home from work.

I picked up a little gifty-gift (of course!) but I needed a card to go with it.  This is what I came up with!

I used Stampin' Up! patterned papers and cardstock.  The sentiment and stamp are both from over at MFT.  The sentiment was cut out with a Spellbinders Label Nestabilitie Die and my Cuttlebug.  The image was coloured with Copic markers.  A couple of flowers, brads and a button, and I was done!

I had a terrific time in Aruba, and I am already planning my next getaway.  My husband and I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary with a trip to Santorini, Greece in October!  I am guessing I will be making a lot of thank you notes after that kid-free-nine-day-getaway!

Happy Birthday, Dude!

Well, my son has hit the double digits! I cannot believe that he is getting so grown up. We just celebrated his 10th birthday on Sunday, and this is the card that I created for him.

It may seem like a bit of an odd sentiment for your own son, but it is a bit of an inside joke. Several months ago, I noticed that whenever my son is with his friends, he refers to them all as 'dude'. I don't know why or where that tendency came from...we don't even use the word 'dude' in our house. I must admit, I found it kind of funny. So, when I saw this sentiment amongst my stamps, somehow, it just worked.




The patterned papers are from Sandy Lion. They are called Camping Trip and Solitude. The cardstock is old olive and peach parfait from SU! The sentiment is from My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Skater Boy stamp set and the dirt bike is from SU! Loads of Fun. I used Copics to colour the dirt bike and to make the dirt on which it sits. I did a bit of machine stitching and then layered it all up with pop dots.

My son really liked his card because he is really into a mini dirt bike that he got a few months ago for Christmas. Although his dirt bike isn't yellow, I chose the colour because that is a reference to joke within our family. That is the beauty of making your own cards. You can customize them just perfectly for the recipient. It just seems to make them that much more meaningful!