MFT Sketch Challenge 365: You Warm My Heart

One of my fave MFT stamp sets is Hug in a Mug.  It must be the time of year (and my snowy view outside).  :)  The sketch for this challenge stumped me at first, but then the gears started turning until I ended up with this:

I colored some white cardstock with 3 colors of red Distress Inks and then die cut the hearts.  They seemed a little boring against the black background (diecut with the wonky stitch square die) so I used a seamstress wheel to perforate them down the middle and then only adhered them on the left side for dimension.  That's more like it!

Valentines Day will be here before we know it...I'll be ready!

Float My Boat Card

Well, it's Christmas Eve and I'm all ready for the big day.  That means my crafty creations are ready to move on to the next big holiday - Valentines Day.  :)  I made a little card for the Lawn Fawnattics challenge (fave LF stamp set).  This set always makes me grin; probably because I love the ocean. 

 

Happy 2018!

Christmas Thank You Cards

Hooray!  My thank you cards are all ready to go.  :)

Merry Christmas!

Cool Friend Pop-Up Card

I'm such a sucker for interactive cards.  I don't know if pop-up cards count as interactive, but they ARE fun.  This die keeps begging to be used so I've given in again.

Like many creative types, I wander around blogtopia to get inspiration from other people.  One of the cool things about this particular die is that it folds flat to fit in an A2 envelope.  It tried my soul to leave the outside blank so I *had* to decorate it so when the recipient pulls it out something besides blank white greets them.  It was hard to find some inspiration out there - most people just post pics like the one above.  This is what I did on the front:

And on the back there's a panel to write a message:

I made a few of them to have on hand.  My little peeps 2-4 year olds) often give me gifts before the Christmas break.  I hope a card like this will make them smile.

Merry Christmas!

Comfortable or Disturbed ATC

Ha ha!  I'm part of a swap with a person who has a thing for gas masks.  I think she'll like this ATC.  :)

I love this quote too - it's from Banksy.

Have a great day!

Thank You Cards

I'm a lucky teacher to have really sweet families in my world.  My birthday was at the beginning of December and I was overwhelmed with lots of love, handmade cards and gifts.  I made a few thank you cards for my little peeps.

 This wasn't part of my plan but I ended up using the negative from the die cut letters to create a new card.

I love this bee...it just makes me grin.

This is a very un-holiday-ish post, but what're you gonna do?! 

Happy Holidays!

Little Bee Wings Cards

A friend of mine owns a retail store called Hunni Co. in downtown Edmonds where she sells all things bee and honey.  (The main part of her business is selling Hunni Water.  It's delicious and great for you.  Look for it in your fave grocery store.)  She asked me last spring if I could make cards to sell in the store.  Of course, I can!  Here's the latest installment:

I couldn't decide if I liked them more with the sentiment or without so I made batches of each.

If you strain your eyeballs, you can see that I added a touch of glimmery shimmer to the little bees wings...

I posted HERE about some of the other cards I've taken to her shop.

If you happen to be hanging out around downtown Edmonds, check out Karin's store by the waterfront and take a peek at my cards while you're there.  :) 

Wishing you a happy day...cheers!

Holiday Cards 2017

I have still more holiday cards to share (it feels like I'm on a bit of a roll after a long hiatus).  Here we go...

I love the added snowflakes on the inside of the card (which you can only barely see).  This one can be found HERE in my Etsy shop.

Out come the toasty mugs again.  This time with a more Christmas-y flair - at least colorwise.  I've got these in the shop, too, right HERE.

 I'm having fun with these pop-up gift card holders this year.

One of my co-workers has a side job at a small cafe and she has graciously offered to peddle my wares at their holiday boutique in a couple of weeks.  (This nudged the elves to get busy for sure.)  If you live in the greater Seattle area and want to get some delicious grub and score some holiday goodies check out The Sydney Bakery Cafe & Wine Bar in Mukilteo.  The holiday boutique starts Dec. 9th.

While I was working on these today, I had the movie,White Christmas, playing on my laptop (thank you, Netflix).  I'm feeling festive.  How about you?

Greetings From Seattle Pop Up Card

Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving!  All of that feasting yesterday got my creative juices going.  I have another fun pop up card to share.

It seemed to me that the quote is perfect for a Seattle card.  :)  Love that this card fits in a standard A2 envelope too.

I hope you like my card.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Busy Little Elves...

This weekend the weather was yucky, my kiddos left to hit the slopes, and the hubs was at work.  All of these things merged delightfully to allow me some creative time in the zone.  And I DID have some fun!   Check these out.

 

I love how this turned out.  Card AND gift card holder all in one.  Fun.  It's HERE in my Etsy shop.

Here's another Hanukkah card I made for the shop:

I love the blues on this and the bits of sparkle.

And another card + gift card holder.  This one is more secular and can work for Christmas, Hanukkah, or just cuz.  I think I have a teal/aqua thing going on this year.  :) 

And, yep, you guessed it, ANOTHER card.  (This one isn't in the shop though.  The hubs fell in love and wants to send it to his mom.)  I was so pleased with the way this ended up.  I'll need to make some more.

I'm such a sucker for fun, interactive cards.  This scene kind of pops up at you when it's opened.  Love!

I'm so glad The Muse visited this weekend.  I hope she hangs out with me for a while.

Wishing you a wonderful Turkey Day with your family and thanks for stopping by.

Not My Circus!

Rubber Dance Art Stamps has a great, autumnal color challenge going on right now.  I had to reach for their Sarcastic Superhero stamp set (which I bought because of the quote below).  I can't even say how many times I've muttered this to myself - especially in the last year.  (That's as political as I'll get here {grin}.)

If you'd like to join their challenge click HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today.

One Dark & Stormy Night...

I had a little fun yesterday in the studio.  The Muse has been sidelined unfortunately; this whole working full-time thing has really put a damper on my arting time.  Yesterday I sat down to make some ATCs and the ol' mind was blank.  I started rifling through a technique book and found a section about using paper towels.  "Okay then!  Let's get busy,", I said to myself.  Lo, and behold some ATCs emerged from the rubble.  VLVS has a truly October-appropriate challenge going right now and I'm entering this in it.  The wide-eyed, terrified dude is one of their stamps as is the sentiment.  :)  Love these and I think this is the first time I've used the terrified guy.  Swoon...

To create the background, I simply sprayed several colors (Fossilized Amber, Carved Pumpkin, Hickory Smoke, Ground Espresso) of Distress Stain on a slightly dampened paper towel.  Once it dried I cut ATC-sized pieces and sewed them onto cardstock for stability.  I wasn't sure how the image was going to work being stamped on an absorbent surface, but Archival Ink was great.  I added a little white to the eyes with a gel pen.  The creepy monster was created by sponging Distress Ink through an improvised monster stencil created with a die.

Happy Halloween and remember...if you hear something outside on a dark and stormy night, it may be best to just hunker down under the covers until morning...

World Card-Making Day with MFT: By The Numbers

Alrighty then.  This challenge from MFT requires that numbers be used somewhere on the card.  My first two cards were birthday cards and I just couldn't bring myself to do that again.  Halloween is just around the corner so I decided to go for a little something that's not too spooky.

I recently acquired some Wink of Stella pens and broke them out for their maiden voyage on this card.  It's difficult to see in the pic, but the large star is outlined in gold and '31' is on top of a star that I covered with the gold wink of stella pen.  Really pretty live and in person.  :)

Happy Halloween month!

World Card-Making Day with MFT: Die Cuts Only

Wow!  This challenge was tricky.  No stamps allowed; die cuts only.  I whipped out the MFT birthday blueprint dies again to make this card.  I'm going to have a nice stash of birthday cards.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

World Card-Making Day with MFT: ROYGBIV

I'm a day late, but still wanted to participate in MFT's WCM Day challenges.  Get ready for a barrage of posts from me!  :)

Here's a card for the rainbow challenge:

I used one of MFT's blueprint die sets for this.

VLVS Sept Challenge: Cleaning up the Gene Pool

Ha ha!  When I first saw this sentiment stamp I knew I *had* to have it - it just makes me laugh.  For the VLVS September challenge I latched onto the stripes and antlers from the inspiration board to create this ATC.

As instructed, I used fall colors like greens, browns and blues.  I thought this antler dude was a great fit, too.

To create the stripes I masked off sections and used Distress inks.  If you look closely at the background you'll also see where I heat embossed a swirl stamp to mimic...chlorine fumes.  LOL.  (I swam on a swim team throughout my childhood and the smell of chlorine still brings a smile to my face.)

Below is the inspiration pic that started it all.

I hope this ATC makes you chuckle, or at least smirk.  To join the VLVS challenge check out the details HERE.

Have a great day and thanks for popping by.  :)

ITAC '17: Europe

When I thought of old Europe the first thing that came to mind was the explorers of the 17th and 18th centuries.  Some of the prompts for this theme were old papers, textures, blue and vintage.  I decided to create an ATC for my project.

I layered torn strips of a book page on the base and then gesso'ed randomly over the top of that.  Next came Distress inks in a couple of shades of blue.

I colored the compass with watercolor pencils and alcohol markers and then applied a crackle glaze to make it feel old and vintagey.

'Explore' was created with black embossing paste through a stencil.  I also added a torn bit of an old nautical chart.

I wish I'd had more time to participate in more of the ITAC challenges, but September is a busy time of year.  Check out what the guest artists created for this challenge HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

Art = Happiness ATC

The Rubber Dance color challenge for the beginning of September pulls colors from a beautiful image of autumn leaves.  My base actually started as something for a completely different project, but it morphed into this ATC.

My base started as Bristol paper covered with Distress ink.

To get the cream color for the challenge, I swiped on some white gesso (the gesso absorbed some of the brown underneath).  After that I scribbled into it while still wet with the pointy end of a paintbrush.  

The flowers (by Rubber Dance) were also colored with Distress inks and white gel pen.  The little grid in the upper right corner is a die cut that I covered with Distress Paint (brass and gold).  Last addition was a bit of green thread and sticker quote.

Thanks for swinging by today.  Check out the Rubber Dance monthly challenge HERE.

ITAC 17: Oceania: The River That Was Made of Tears

I stumbled upon ITAC '17 and was intrigued by the challenges there.  The part of the world we're visiting this week is Oceania.  The challenge is to be inspired by stories, symbology, nature and art of the region.

Years ago I went on a field trip with my son's class to Seattle Art Museum.  There was an amazing exhibit of Australian aboriginal art that we explored.  I was especially intrigued by the art of Gloria Petyarre and when I started this project I was planning on channeling her.  The Muse had other ideas though and I went a very different direction incorporating lots of circles, symbols and a dreamtime story I found which resonated with me.  Following is my art journal page sharing the story of how the Giddy River was formed.

At first I wasn't planning on writing out the dreamtime story on my page, but as I finished up, I liked the idea of having it on there.

I have a small art journal made from gelli-printed paper that I put together a while ago.  One of these pages started as the base of my project.

The symbols on the brogla's neck are 'man', 'boomerang' (my thought for the hunter), 'water' and 'star'.

The blue circles were made with the ends of various paintbrushes.

There are some amazing projects uploaded by the guest artists/judges.  To check the out, and to find out more info about ITAC '17, click HERE.

Have a great day!

Magical Paradise Cards

I'm all ready to send out a couple of ATCs for a swap and decided they needed to be sent snuggled into a card.  I whipped up these using simple Distress ink blending techniques and some of my fave Stampotique stamps.

These make me feel so calm and serene; I think it's the lovely, cool greens.  Must be time to go on an adventure deep in the woods...

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

MFT Summer Camp

Now, this is my kinda summer camp - no mosquitoes, no roommates who snore, no corny camp songs (although I have to admit, I kind of like corny camp songs), no nasty food.  Over at MFT this past week there was Camp Create.  I couldn't participate during the week, but I managed to bang out all of the challenges today.  And they were fun!  Here's what I came up with:
I was tempted by the recent MFT retirement sale and picked up the Love You More stamp set.  Kept this card CAS by creating the square with Distress inks and adding a woodgrain embossed heart.

Day 1: Inlaid Made Easy

I love these little band-aid dies - so cute.  I paired them with the ancient Umbrella set for this card.

Day 2: Magnificent Masking

I was tempted by the MFT retirement sale and picked up the Love You More stamp set.  I kept this card CAS by creating a square in the middle with Distress inks and adding a woodgrain embossed heart die cut.

Day 3: Background Bonanza

 I LOVE how this card turned out!  Gotta love the cool shades from the Geek is Chic set.

Day 4: Monochromatic Magic

The Peek-A-Boo dies are so fun and I don't bring them out often enough.  I kept this really monochromatic by using only the Distress ink and marker in Fossilized Amber.

Day 4 Round the Campfire: Awesome Ombre

The Onesie die has been in my stash collecting dust.  I love the little details on it (you can see them in the die below).  Distress inks are super easy to create ombre colors with.  I ended up doing the inlaid technique again with the heart, using an off cut from the onesie die.

Day 5: Delightful Die Cutting

It doesn't get much easier than this.  I added a smidge of dimension by putting some foam tape behind the sun.  Easy breezy!

I need to go to camps like this more often!

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Which of these cards is your fave?