Birthday Card for Archer

 Hello!

I just came across this card in my Google Photos...had kind of forgotten about it.  I made it for the little guy I nanny for; his birthday was last week.

I'm still digging into the stash post-100 Day Project.  These dies have been around for a WHILE.

Cheers!

Prickly Hello Card - Emboss Resist - Camp Create, Day 3

 Sometimes I forget about my embossing powders for a while.  Today's challenge at Camp Create uses the emboss resist technique.  Love it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Just BEEcause Card - Camp Create Day 2

 When my mom was alive I would send her the Sunday crossword puzzle from the newspaper every week.  Not wanting to just send the puzzle, I would always include a handmade card as well.  My mom has been gone for almost six years now and my card-making has essentially come to a standstill.  I love challenges like Camp Create to get the creative juices flowing again.

Today we're creating cards with a watercolor effect.  I don't have a big stash of watercolors so I used Distress Inks to paint on the beehive.

Thanks for stopping by!

Making Cards Again...

 I don't remember the last time I made a greeting card.  I discovered that MFT Stamps is having a Camp Create event again this summer so it seemed like a good time to dust off those supplies and get to work.

Today's project is 'Spectacular Shakers'.  I think shaker cards are really fun but too much work.  The card I made today though wasn't much work at all.  I think it will make my MIL grin when she gets it too.

Check out the Camp Create inspiration HERE.

Until next time...

Hello From Arizona!

Well...not really.  Cacti just remind me of Arizona.  😃

I made this card for my sister and also for the MFT Color Challenge #136.

I hope she likes it! 

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 12

Whoa!  I did it...I actually made 12 tags.  I am SO excited about this last tag.  The stamp set I used is a new one from My Favorite Things.  The second I saw it I knew I was a goner.  Two of my kids are avid snowboarders (the other is a skier).

It's so funny how my projects tend to morph into something completely unplanned.  I was really taken with the colors on Lisa's tag and was planning on creating a shaker box like she did.  I got so busy stamping and coloring and diecutting that the shaker box never materialized.  Clear droplets from MFT saved the day (at least as far as the challenge is concerned - haha).  My snowy scene is also helped by clear Wink of Stella on the goggles, snow spray, rooftop and trees.  I wish I could capture the subtle shimmer in a photo.

I know exactly which gift this tag is going to adorn.  Hope my daughter likes it.  :D

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Thanks for coming along with me on the 12 Tags of 2018 journey.

Baby Boy Congrats Card

Awwww...there have been a lot of new babies and expectant moms at my work.  (I guess that's to be expected when you're a preschool teacher!)  I made this card to have on hand for the next one.  :)

I'm entering this in the MFT Stamps sketch challenge #404.  I used some MFT oldies, but goodies for this.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFT Summer Camp 2018

Summer camp over at the My Favorite Things blog is always fun and a great excuse to stroll through my stamp sets and revisit some time-tested design concepts.  The designers almost always share some hot tip that I've either forgotten about or am hearing about for the first time.  Visit the MFT blog HERE to see what I mean.

I made a batch of these cards to have on hand as thank-yous to my little kids (aka preschool students).

The first day of summer camp explored the use of White Space.  There is a lot of white space (for me anyway) on this card.

The second day we talked about primary colors - yay, little primary-colored monsters!

On the last day of summer camp symmetry and asymmetry were discussed.  This card design is asymmetrical, but you can see how I balanced the monsters with the sentiment.

Here's another card I made that uses white space and asymmetry.  It also uses repetition - the day 3 of summer camp topic.  The cool shades were made with a die that I just cut in rainbow colors.

Love me some summer camp!

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?

My Kind of Quirky Card

This stamp set cracks me up and the sentiment is just right for me - I love quirky!  I made this card for the MFT Stamps Sketch and Color challenges.

I turned the sketch on its side for my card.  It was tricky to photograph, but the lenses on the glasses are silver foil tape.  My hot tip for the day: I discovered that the star die from the All Star High Top set matches perfectly with the star stamp from Geek is Chic.  Sweet!

Thanks for stopping by to peek today.  Cheers!

Mugs & Kisses Card

I'm feeling a little Christmas, or a least winter, in July.  Over at the MFT Stamps challenge blogs they have a sketch and a color challenge.  I've combined the two to make this card.

I decided to move outside the ol' comfort zone and make a shaped card this time.  The trick for me will be to remember I have this card in my stash come hot chocolate season...

Happy July!

Geeky Chic

I think the Laina Lamb Designs over at My Favorite Things are so fun.  I'm always up for a good pun and a lot of this collection has sets featuring puns.  I finally caved and bought another set last week and sat down to ink them up last night.

My mother-in-law could use a litle happy mail.  I think I'll pop this in the mail to her today.  :)

I hope you're having a great week.  Thanks for stopping by!

MFT Camp Create: Background Bonanza

I'm getting in a little 2 for 1 today - I used the technique of creating a background with small stamps on my ICAD.  Love it when I can pull double duty on a project.  :)

I don't know if it's required to use MFT stamps for these challenges but I decided to play it safe.  This is an OLD stamp set...but a goodie.  I colored the coffee cups with watercolor pencils after gesso'ing the index card first.  It really helped the pencil colors become more vivid.  I'll have to remember that trick.  

The quote is from my Coffee Pinterest board.  :)

Have a great day!

Stamps + Watercolor

MFT stamps is having a week of creative summer camp this week showcasing a variety of techniques.  In the spirit of ICADness (i.e. stretching those creative muscles) today I tried my hand at combining stamping and watercoloring.

I've had this stamp set for years and still really like it but I hardly ever pull it out.  Not being a watercolorist (is that a word?  ha ha!) the bigger spaces were pretty tricky for me, but it's all about learning and experimentation anyway.

I stamped the main image using Distress ink (Tumbled Glass) and then used Distress inks and a waterbrush to do all the watercoloring.  I found myself holding my breath a lot.  :)

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this panel now. I might put it on a card or maybe just stick it on my wall someplace.  Who knows?

If you want to check out the MFT's summer camp, click HERE for the first day's post.

Ciao for now...

Giddyup, Mermaid

Yeah...those two don't necessarily go together do they?  I whipped up a couple of goodies for some challenges this morning.  The first card is for the CASual Fridays Splish Splash challenge - something oceany - and the MFT Sketch Challenge.

 The stamps I used are from My Favorite Things Who's That Mermaid and Studio G (the little bubbly border).  I added little bits of glitter to the bubbles to make them...bubblier.

 The mermaid's tail is covered with Diamond Glaze to make her shiny, too.

The next little gem is for Waltzingmouse's Birthday challenge.  I love their stamps - great quality.  I'm going to tuck this away for emergency gift packaging.  ;)

 Can you see in the pictures that the horseshoes were stamped with silver ink?  The barbed wire is made using a mini embossing folder and going over it with some distress ink. I also tried to make the Yee Haw look like a piece of wood by cutting it kind of jaggedy and distressing it a bit.

That's it for today.  Happy trails.

Play Date Cafe - Splash of Yellow

It's been a while since I've played along with any card challenges.  I just couldn't resist when I saw this one from Play Date Cafe though.  Lovin' the grey and black with a splash of yellow  of the inspiration photo. 

It also helped that the umbrella stamp and die set just showed up in my mailbox a couple of days ago.  :)

Here's my card:

I made it for my sister and brother-in-law who have been so supportive of my family the past few years as we've dealt with life's ups and downs.  They are awesome and we're so fortunate to have them in our lives.

Here's the scoop on the card...
I die-cut the umbrella base from an old page protector.  I had those old transparent umbrellas in mind.  The clouds were stamped with background stamps and then I cut around the cloud image.  The raindrops have little bits of sparkly clear Stickles on them to be shimmery and shiny like rain.

Thanks for peekin'.  :) Julie