Cuttlebug Challenge :: 12

This week's Cuttlebug Challenge is to use sanding on the embossing. Quite easy and a technique that looks very nice. I like the weathered look. I used Die Cuts With A View cardstock because it has a white core that would show once the sanding was complete.

I've combined this w/a sketch from the Hero Arts blog. I also like this card because it was rather easy and fun to put together. I managed to use some heat embossing, dry embossing, and sewing - and it was all pretty simple.

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday and even if you don't celebrate Christmas, have a Happy Thursday.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
cardstock: Bazzill and Die Cuts With A View (DCWV)
patterned paper: K&Co.
heart die cuts and dry embossing: Cuttlebug
stamp: Hero Arts
ink: Versamark
embossing powder: Ranger
other: sewing

Bless You :: 2 Sketches 4 You and Color Inspiration

It's has been a slow craft week for me.

But it was fun to coordinate this card. Actually, it should be much easier w/a sketch and the colors, but everything has to be just right.

I'm working w/the 2 Sketches 4 You card sketch and Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration.

I like the result. I used my newest craft purchase - or the most recent to arrive - the labels Nestabilities. Love those. For coordinating colors, I am having much success using my Die Cuts With A View (DCWV) Mat Stacks and Border Strips. They have lots of color variations so that helps out a lot. That's what I used w/the browns on this one.

I almost went overboard too by adding three felt flowers along the right side ... it was just too much and I again went w/the 'simple is best' approach. Oh, and I had wanted to do another 'Thank You' card, but I like this sentiment and I have not used it in a while.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
cardstock: Bazzill and Die Cuts With A View (DCWV)
patterned paper: Basic Grey
die cut labels: Nestabilities
stamp: Hero Arts
ink: VersaMark
embossing powder: Ranger
ribbon: American Crafts
dry embossing: Cuttlebug
other: sewing

Happy Birthday :: 2 Sketches 4 You & Hero Arts

It did not seem to take me long to make this card. I started on it last night. Not quite what I envisioned, but I do like it. Hard not like the K&Co papers. I like the pink because the card is not so matchy-matchy.

It's the stamping that I am a bit iffy about. I do love that Hero Arts 'happy' stamp. But I did not do well stamping on the edges/creases. I should know better. I intended to go off the edges, but, well ... I wanted grungy and I got what I got, right? Oh, well.

Oh, and of course I would have a sewing glitch. Yeah, it got a little nasty. I was trying to adjust the tension because I was using craft threat, but the paper still got a bit stuck in the machine. I tried to recover. I had sewn about an inch or more; I pulled out those stitches, re-threaded the machine using regular thread instead of the craft thread and sewed over the original area. Then I covered it up w/that cute little butterfly - embellishments doing what they do ... embellish! Love that.

Oh, for the 2 Sketches 4 You sketch, I turned this sketch counterclockwise - for no particular reason.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
cardstock: Bazzill
patterned paper: K&Co.
stamps: Hero Arts ('happy' and 'just...'); Making Memories ('birthday'); Inkadinkado (writing and post mark)
butterfly punch: Martha Stewart/EK Success
rick rack: Creative Impression
ink: VersaMark, VersaMagic and Tim Holtz/Ranger
embossing powder: Ranger
other: sewing

cps 83 :: Blog Hop Preview

Well, w/so much on my plate, I had to double dip at some point. I did have some fun w/this one. I had to go and pull out my trough of holiday patterned paper (made me decide right away that I can never purchase any more patterned paper - holiday or otherwise).

I do like this week's cps sketch so much. Thanks to Tami for hookin it up. Good stuff. Oh, and the Blog Hop Preview is that I used some of Papertrey Ink's most recent line of patterned paper - Holiday Vintage. Make sure you click the link to get the pdf and print it out for yourself.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
cardstock: craft supply
patterned paper: Papertrey Ink and Creative Imaginations
dry embossing: Cuttlebug
circle punch: EK Success
stamp: Michaels $1 stamps/Studio G
embossing powder: Ranger
other: sewing

cps 82 cards

This week's CPS (Card Positioning Systems) sketch is/was quite simple. I don't have a sketch preference meaning lots of details or very little. I just interpret the way that I want to.

So the interpretation this week could not be contained to just one card; not for me at least. I just got overly excited and the next thing I knew I'd made two different cards. Way too much fun. I did make a concerted effort to keep things simple.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
Thanks x 3 Card
cardstock: Bazzill
patterned paper: Basic Grey
dry embossing: Cuttlebug
ink: VersaMark and Tim Holtz/Ranger
circle punches: EK Success
other: sewing
Sending Love Card
cardstock: Bazzill
patterned paper: Basic Grey
heart die cuts: Quickutz
dry embossing: Cuttlebug
stamp: Oogaloo/$1 Michaels
ink: VersaMark
embossing powder: Ranger

Another Thanks :: 2 Sketches 4 You

I'm back in action on the crafting front. I was planning to travel again this weekend, but it takes such effort for me to pack and prepare for traveling that I am 80% certain that I will not go anywhere this weekend.. Thus giving me more time to craft.

Oh, if you get a chance, check out my recent article on Craft Critique about card sketch sites.

I was going to wait to work on the 2 Sketches 4 You (2S4Y) sketch, but I managed to get my ATCs done. I'm in three different ATC swaps on the SIS TV Swap Board. Fun stuff too. I have them all done and two sets will be postal sometime tomorrow. Point is, I got that done since the deadline is Monday and I was still feelin crafty, so wah-lah (sp).

Nice sketch Laura ... just simple enough yet leaving ample room to improvise. How about that bow? I am not good at tying bows. For this one, I tied the bow before I cut the ribbon from the spool. I tied the bow just like I tie my shoe laces. It worked to this, but sometimes not - get it, (k)not. ;-) Oh, and this card is a mini: 5x3.5.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
cardstock: Bazzill
patterned paper: K&Co.
ribbon: Martha Stewart
pearls: Mark Richards
stamp: Stampabilities
ink: VersaMark and VersaMagic
embossing powder: Ranger
other: sewing

It's a Wedding Weekend!

I have a friend who's getting married this weekend. Should be a wonderful weekend too.

So of course, I had to assemble a wedding card for the newlyweds. I'm also going to get them a set of Thank You cards that they can use at their leisure.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
cardstock: Bazzill
patterned paper: K&Co. and Papertrey Ink.
stamp: Stampin Up!
embossing powder: Ranger
ink: VersaMark
chipboard element: Bazzill
dry embossing: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots
ribbon: Offray
hat pin: Joann
die cut letters: Quickutz Zoe
other: sewing machine

Girlfriends :: 2 Sketches 4 You

It seems as if I was missing my mojo for a minute here. I've been putting off working on this week's 2 Sketches 4 You sketch because I could not figure out which direction to take this card. You would think that having a sketch would make things more simple. That's a good assessment however, this week the prize and sponsor is the Scor-it.

And I've discovered that I am not the only one who'd like to have this as one of their craft tools. Well since the ante is so high, so is the creativity. I scouted out some of my competition and decided that I would rather take this week off - especially after making the Fab 5 last week; then I thought better of it and here I am in the thick of the quest for a Scor-it. May this week's craftiest crafter win.

I like this card w/it's weathered look but w/a touch of 'pretty'.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:

cardstock: Bazzill and Die Cuts With A View (DCWV)

patterned paper: K&Co. and Basic Grey

stamps: Studio G/Michaels $1 (girlfriends) and Autumn Leaves/Rhonna Farrer (flourish)

charm: Making Memories

twine: Crafts Etc.

pearls: Mark Richards

embossing powder: Ranger and Joann

ink: VersaMark and Tim Holtz/Ranger

other: distresser and sewing machine

Caardvarks Sensational Sketch

I so love this lil sketch and just knew that I had to create a card using it. It's a part of a Caardvarks Challenge and the sketch is courtesy of Laura from 2 sketches 4 You. I have not posted on Caardvarks in some time. They have some cool challenges; I have just been all over the place, but I'm back Caardvarks.

So, now ... a little bit about this card. I was in a rush to complete it because I needed to hit the road for a weekend trip. The card is okay, but there will be a transformation; there has to be. Because just okay is not my thing.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
cardstock: craft supply and Bazzill
patterned paper: A Muse
stamps: $1 Michaels and Wordsworth
rick rack: Creative Impressions
dry embossing: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots
embossing powder: Ranger
other: sewing machine

Laura's Sketch 4

I've been making lots of cards, but I have not posted them anywhere. I usually post on the blog, on 2Peas as well as on Splitcoast Stampers. That's usually in addition to posting it for whatever challenge or sketch that I am using.

So, I'm trying to get caught up.

I am really gearing up for the Papertrey Ink July Blog Hop, which takes place next week (more on that for tomorrow's post).

I like way this card turned out, however, I contemplated it for quite some time (while on the phone too). I started to sew on the scalloped part, but I thought that would be too much and if I only sewed the scallop then that would not be enough. I like the added touch of the butterflies. I used the Papertrey Ink Chocolate Remixed sampler (click on the paper to downloard the pdf) and printed it out on vellum paper. Oh, and for this card I used 2 Sketches 4 You.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
cardstock and scalloped edge: Bazzill
patterned paper: K&Co., Papertrey Ink and Basic Grey
ink: Tim Holtz/Ranger
stamp: Hero Arts
butterfly punch: Martha Stewart/EK Success
embossing: Cuttlebug
oval dies: Nestabilities
other: sewing

Using Triple the Sketch

...another sketch site card. This time it's Triple the Sketch. I really like their sample work. So much variety. So I'm tossing in my two cents. As for the sewing, I intentionally double sewed on the right side, not the look I was going for, but I did it on purpose and I did not feel like starting that section over again. I also used scalloped scissors. They seem a bit dull, so that was not quite satisfying for me either. But I do like the results.

Here's what I used:
cardstock: craft supply
patterned paper: Basic Grey
ink: Tim Holtz/Ranger and VersaMagic
embossing: Cuttlebug
die cut ovals and scalloped ovals: Nestabilities
stamp: ?? (borrowed from my sister)
other: scalloped scissors, sewing and foam tape

Using 2 Sketch 4 You

Here's my next card using the sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. Another wonderful site w/incredible ideas and inspiration. Lots of smiles when I visit this site.

For this card, I already the panel - the paper w/the sewing. I had it from something I was working on a few weeks ago. It was in my pile of scraps. I knew that I wanted to make a birthday card. So I pulled out two things that I have not used in some time: The celebrate die from Quickutz as well as the Happy Birthday stamp from Hero Arts.

Thanks for looking ... here's what I used:
cardstock: craft supply and Basic Grey
patterned paper: Basic Grey
ink: VersaMagic
embossing powder: Ranger
stamp: Hero Arts
word die: Quickutz
heart die cuts: CuttleKids and Quickutz
other: sewing

More Vacation Cards

Here are the other two cards that I made that I mentioned in my previous post.

Here's what I used for the card above:
patterned paper: SEI jolie Chocolat
cardstock: Bazzill and Archiver's
stamp: Hero Arts
ink: Tim Holtz/Ranger
ribbon: Michaels
circle punches: EK Success

Here's what I used for the card above:
patterned paper: SEI Jolie Chocolat
cardstock: SEI and Archiver's
ribbon: Michaels
scalloped oval and oval: Nestabilities
ink: Tim Holtz/Ranger
stamp: Hero Arts

New Home Cards

Some of my friends are thrilled that it summer and I have been making cards non-stop. I have a friend who is relocating and she loves to send our note cards. So I volunteered to make some cards for her and her hubby.

I like these. They were easy enough and fun. What I like that you can't see is that I used the computer to print their new address on the inside (I just thought that maybe I should have included their cell phone numbers too - oh, well). I only made 12, but that's a start. I won't have the entire summer to make cards, ya know ...

Here's what I used:
cardstock: Bazzill and craft supply
patterned paper: Basic Grey
ribbon: various
stamp: Michaels $1
ink: VersaMark
embossing powder: Ranger
square punch: Marvy

More Bazzill Just the Edge Cardstock Strips

Here are two more cards that I made using the Bazzill Just the Edge Cardstock Strips. The card above was a part of an article that I wrote on Craft Critique.

I did not have room for the other card as a part of the article. I love the simplicity of this card and I do like the fat zig zag strip.

Here's what I used for the card at the top:
cardstock: Archiver's
cardstock strip: Bazzill
patterned paper: Basic Grey's Boxer
ribbon: unknown
buttons: American Crafts
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: Tim Holtz/Ranger
other: sewing

Here's what I used for the card below:
cardstock: Archiver's and Bazzill
cardstock strip: Bazzill
patterned paper: Basic Grey
stamp: Hero Arts
ink: Tim Holtz/Ranger and VersaMagic
circle punch: EK Success
butterfly punch: Martha Stewart/EK Success
bling: craft supply
other: sewing

Ut oh, late again!

My step-father's birthday was on Monday. Shame on me - a card maker who doesn't get the cards out on time. Yep, that's me. Lucky me I've got this cute little "Happy Belated Birthday" stamp to smooth things over (and it might help if I put a little something in the card, right?).

Oh, I used a sketch from Triple the Sketch's blog.

Here's what I used:
cardstock: Bazzill
patterned paper: Basic Grey
ribbon: Michaels
stamp: Kathy Davis/Inkadinkadoo
ink: VersaMark
embossing powder: Ranger
brackets: Bazzill Just The Edge Cardstock Strips
vellum: The Paper Studio