Two Cards - One Stamp Challenges

Hello!  How are you all doing?  It is very cold again in my neck of the woods.  I have sent quite a few cards recently, but I still have a list of ones that I need very soon.  I hope I can keep up.

I was excited to see some new challenges designed to help you stretch your stamps so here are my cards to play along!  

(You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)

I decided to make one card a Valentine and the other a Friendship card.

Supplies:  Gina K Designs Better with You stamp set, Inspiration Mosaic stamp set (love sentiment), Memento and Versafine Black inks, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, Spellbinders Oval, Scalloped Oval, and Labels 18 dies, Crate Paper DIY shopp and Pebbles Yours Truly 6x6 Patterned paper pads.

I would love to play with these challenges:

Twofer Card Challenge - Feather

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge Blog - Patterned Paper

Gina K Designs Jan 2018 Release Challenge

WordArtWednesday #316-317

Thanks for stopping by!  

Dinosaur Birthday Card

I have so many cards that I need to make this January, including two for little boys.  I chose this 1985 Hero Arts Dinosaur image for this card.  I do think that this is mature enough for a man who likes dinosaurs, as well (and I do know men that really like them)!

I used a sketch for this card, and just changed up the two supporting elements for the banner and star. I also used a sentiment on the inside which is from the same set as the star.  

I would love the play along with:

Tuesday Morning Sketches - #435

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Patterned Paper

Tuesday Throwdown - Layer it Up!
DiesRUs Challenge - Anything Goes with Dies

Supplies:  Hero Arts Dinosaur Stamp, Memento Black ink, Gina K Designs Birthday Go Round stamp set, Versfine Olympia Green, Spanish Moss ink cubes, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, EK Success little Banner punch and 1 inch circle punch, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers

I decided to make a second card with different papers for the second birthday boy, so I am tagging that on to the end of this post.  It is amazing how much less time a duplicate card takes!

Thanks for stopping by!  

2018 Christmas Cards (and a sale announcement)

These are my first Christmas cards of 2018.  I am striving to get about 5 done a month, on average, to have them ready to send by Thanksgiving.  I have found this really works for me!  I also used some challenges to complete these cards, but a few of the deadlines passed before I was able to upload this!  That always happens to me, does it happen to you?  One week is often too short a time period for me!

This stocking stamp is new to me, but I didn’t have a chance to use it last year.  It was fun to color in two tones of red.  I used a sketch for this first card.  The plaid paper is a scrap of a larger piece.  I used a trusty edge PUNCH and I always love to use the leftover little snowflakes as embellishments.

This darker stocking is the one I colored first, but it didn’t match the plaid paper well enough, so I made a new card around it.  I had the die cut tree paper and die cut circle in my scraps box.  The ribbon is recycled from a gift I got.  Both of these were fun to make!

Supplies:  Kaisercraft Stocking stamp, Memento black ink, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, Heidi Swapp Marquee Love paper pad, American Crafts Wish List paper pad, Spellbinders Labels 18 dies, Spellbinders Scalloped Circles dies, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, EK Success Snowflake edge punch, Hero Arts Layering Tree CL887 (sentiment), Versafine Onyx Black ink

I would love to enter these challenges:

CASE This Sketch #253

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge- Use Patterned Paper

Pixie’s Snippets Playground

Thanks for stopping by!  I also wanted to call your attention to a great sale at Just for Fun Rubber Stamps.  Everything is 40% off through January 15th.  No code needed, the sale price shows up in your cart automatically.

New Cat Card

This is the first card I have made in the New Year!  I know someone who got a new cat recently so their other cat will have a companion.  I thought I would send a welcoming card.  My stamping friend, Cat, sent me some images and I used one here for that purpose.  Check out here blog here.

I colored the image with alcohol markers. I regret using pink for the book. I originally was going to add a pink banner with a sentiment, but changed my mind and added some text with a pencil directly to the book. So the colors aren’t as balanced as I would like.

I am not sure if that text will be appreciated or not!  I do think the cats look similar to the ones in real life, though!  

Supplies:  Newton’s Nook A Cozy Day In stamp, Memento Black ink, Spectrum Noir and Copic Markers, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, Crate Paper DIY Shoppe 6x6 paper pad, vellum scrap from my stash

I would love to play in these challenges:

Pixie’s Snippets Playground Challenge - vellum is a snippet

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

Thanks for your visit today!

Anyone else having trouble with blogger?

If you use blogger, are you having issues?  I cannot add any pictures to my post today.  They are in my albums, but if I try to choose one to add to my post, it just says it cannot copy it to the blog post.

I see some people posting, but not as many as usual.  So I wonder if other people are having problems, too, or if it is just the business of the new year?

UPDATE at 5 pm EST:  I kept trying every few hours, and it works now!  Hopefully it will keep working!  

Thanks!

Galaxy Cityscape Greeting Card

I am a little late on the Galaxy bandwagon, but it is really a fun one!  Have you tried it?

I used regular distress inks on watercolor paper and dropped water onto it.  Then, when it dried, I used a white gel pen to add some stars.

Of course, over top, I heat embossed the Cityscape in gold.  

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Skyline Silhouette, Colorful and Happy sentiment, Distress Inks Dusty Concord, Mustard, Black Soot, Peacock Feathers, Broken China, Picked Raspberry, Watercolor paper, Versafine Black ink, Versamark embossing ink, Recollections Detail Gold Embossing Powder.

Thanks for stopping in today!  I appreciate your visit!

Color Challenge at Just for Fun’s January Card Challenge!

I want to wish you a very Happy New Year!  December just flew by.  I hope you had a lovely holiday season.  This is one of the many times of year that I need Thank You cards.  Just for Fun’s January challenge is a fun color challenge!

As most of you know, I am a happy member of Just for Fun Rubber Stamp’s design team.  I do like their original-styled stamps (and that they come in unmounted, mounted and wood-mount - my favorite type of stamp is rubber on cling foam), but want you to know that you do not have to use their stamps in order to participate in the challenges.  So if you are looking for some fun ways to help you get more cards made this coming year, I hope you will do our challenges! The prize winner is random, which I think is a great way to encourage crafters to join in!

For my card, I first scribbled blue and purple water-based markers onto watercolor paper.  I sprayed it heavily with water to soften the color.  After that dried, I then colored onto my snowflake stamp with the same blue and purple markers, sprayed that with water and stamped it.  The differences between the purple and blue are a bit more obvious in real life.  

Supplies:  Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Framed Snowflake, Tombow Water-Based markers, watercolor paper, Cheery Lynn Designs Thank You die, Darice Snowflake Folder, White Pigment ink (which I pounced on top of the purple paper to bring out the embossing)

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!