Happy Birthday with Colour Q and Just Add Ink

I was scrolling through Facebook yesterday and saw this fabulous card made by Tracey McNeely for the Colour Q challenge.  I absolutely love what she did with her background and the colors she chose, so I had to play with the color combo myself.  It's a very soothing combination that works well for masculine cards.

I didn't have a couple of these colors, so I used the next closest ones.  I already had a stamp set and sketch in mind because I wanted to play along with the JUST add INK's 300th sketch challenge!!!

My card doesn't come close to some of the amazing design team samples, but I sure had fun!  It was completely accidental that I used so many Sale-A-Bration items on this card.  I just kept pulling things out that I thought would work for these 2 challenges.  :)  Now you know how much I spent with my last SU order.  lol.

  I'm already thinking ahead and planning to make something similar to this card for Father's Day.

Stamps: Perfect Pairings (SAB), Sky is the Limit (SAB), Timeless Textures (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Smoky Slate (SU)
Paper: Island Indigo, Perfect Pairings DSP (SAB), Smoky Slate, Whisper White (SU)
Accessories: Grey and White Twine

Hope You Can Cling To

October is breast cancer awareness month, a subject that is near and dear to my heart, as it is to so many of you.  Every woman on my dad's side of the family, over the age of 50 has had breast cancer.  Most of them have fought the battle and survived, which gives me hope.  My aunt fought cancer and went into remission.  She started feeling sick about 10 years later and ignored it.  By the time she went to the doctor her cancer had come back and quickly spread through her body.  She passed soon after.  

My hope is that a cure for cancer will be found soon!  In the meantime, be sure to get your yearly exams and have every lump checked.  Early detection is key and it might just put your mind at ease to find out your cyst is benign.  If not, then girlfriend, we are in this fight together.  Just today I said a prayer for you for strength to make it through the day and healing for your tomorrows.

Chiatali created a wonderful stamp set for Breast Cancer Awareness in honor of her mother who was recently diagnosed. I will be ordering this stamp set soon.  In the meantime, you can check it out, read her story and hop along with her blog hop here.

My card colors came from last week's Colour Q challenge.

The current inspiration at The Cutting Edge Challenge is a card with an adorable airplane in the sky.  My card design is similar, with the wreath of hope at the top of the card, gaps in the die cut to see the background paper behind it and lots of "white space".  (or pink space, in my case)

Last, but not least, is the hope you can cling to month long challenges at Splitcoast Stampers.  This card fits at least 3 categories.  Missing element (the hole in the wreath), Holding It Together (I used a safety pin to stick my ribbon onto the wreath), and Chicks Stick Together (I used silver ink to ink up the word friend on the background stamp).

Supplies:

Stamps: Defining Words (Wplus9), Fight Like A Girl (A*Muse Studio), Woodland Wreaths (Wplus9)

Ink: Pink Pirouette (SU), Black Onyx (Versamark), Silver Shimmer Delicata (Tsukineko)

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, Whisper White (SU)

Accessories: Woodland Wreath Die (Wplus9), Pink Pirouette Taffeta Ribbon (SU), Basic Rhinestones (SU)

Musical Cardz 4 Guyz

I just had to jump at the current challenge on Cardz 4 Guyz.  It's a musical challenge and just perfect for my guitar playing brother's birthday coming up in March.

The first card I tried to made used the Love Notes stamp set from CASual Fridays, but it was just too busy a background.  I pulled out the newest color challenge at ColourQ and my problem was solved by just layering my center panel on a crisp blue background.

Challenge Link-up

Cardz 4 Guyz: Music

CAS*ual Fridays: Shades of Gray

ColourQ: 230

Supplies:

Stamps: Woot-Woot (CASual Fridays), Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' UP!)

Misc: Heart Note Die (CASual Fridays)
Paper & Ink: Stampin' UP!

Bee-yond Fabulous

Sometimes "Thank You" just isn't enough.  That is why I used the sentiment from the Thanks Bee to Thee stamp set from The Crafts Meow.  

I created two cards, playing with the different colors and contrast.   All the colors come from the current Colour Q Challenge.  I substituted Real Red for Ruby Red and Coastal Cabana for Cool Caribbean because I don't have those colors that are listed in the challenge.

CQC#228

The first card is bold with black lines and a red mat.

The second card has a softer outline with blue ink instead of black for the hexagon outlines.  It's matted in a soft blue so that the mat fades away.

Both cards were inspired by last week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.   As you can see I offset the hexagons instead of lining them up like the circles in the sketch.

FMS

They also fit nicely with the Hexagons: Happy for Hexagons in the Moxie Fab World Challenge.

MFW Hexies

The little bee needed a touch of glimmer, so I used a gel glitter pen to add some sparkle to his wings.  It doesn't show up in the picture very well, but looks nice in person.

Which card is your favorite?  The bold red or soft blue?  

Creative Blessings,

Heather North

Stamps: Thanks Bee to Thee (The Craft's Meow)
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine (SU), Glitter Pen (Sakura)

Glittery Hearts

In need of some quick valentines or gift cards?   Here's and easy couple of cards with matching envelopes.

In the video below I show you how you can make your own glittery heart stickers.

***Note- If you are reading this post in an email or blog reader you may need to visit my blog to view the video.  Click on the post title "Glittery Hearts" to go there now.

To make the card even simpler you can stamp and stick on just the 3x6" card base and skip the layers.  To step it up you score or emboss the top layer.

The envelopes are even easier to make than the cards with the help of the envelope punch board.

I'm linking up to two challenges that inspired me.

Fusion#3

cQc#227

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Stamps: Hugs+Kisses (Hero Arts), Sweet Sentiments (the Craft's Meow)
Paper: Smitten 6x6" pad (Authentique), SU Cardstock
Accessories: Xyron Sticker Maker, Envelope Punch Board, Dazzling Diamonds, Heart Punch

Brewing Together ~ CQC#212

My friend, Sherry Piro, has been the biggest cheerleader I know for Operation Write Home.  (OWH)    Recently she sent me a picture of some Valentine's/Love cards she has been working on to send to OWH.  I LOVE them and asked if I could CASE them.  She said, yes, and I plan to CASE them all.

Aren't they adorable?!!!  The one that really got my eye and got my creative juices flowing was the coffee cup.  I had just been thinking that I need to pull that stamp set out and give it some love.  Sherry used heart paper for her cup and I thought it would be cute to use paper for all the holidays to make cards.   Since Halloween is coming up I decided to give it a go with the Witches Brew DSP.  Here is what I came up with.

When I was talking to her about the card she told me she plans on making one for Christmas too.  I told her I wished I had a Halloween "brew" stamp.  She said I should just print one out on the computer.  Brilliant!  Don't you just love creating with friends?  They always have the best ideas.   It would be so easy to print out a few cute sayings onto cardstock and then punch them out like I did with the stamped image here.

To make the cup I stamped it on both sides of my Double Sided Paper, once onto white cardstock for the lid, and one more time onto my Very Vanilla cardstock.  I cut out the DSP, adhered it to the Very Vanilla piece, then popped up the lid on dimensionals before placing it on top of my cup.  That sounds like a lot of stamping and cutting, but it's EASY because you don't have to be precise.

The colors in my card aren't exact, but close to the ones at ColourQ this week.  I will have another card similar to this one later in the week on my blog.  This time I flip the DSP around so more of the spiderwebs show than the skulls.


cQc #212



Thank you Sherry for inspiring me not only with your sweet Valentines, but with your dedication to Operation Write Home. 

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

P.S.  If you are looking for the winners of my weekend giveaway scroll up or click HERE.

P.P.S.  If you are looking for the StampNation Design Team call CLICKY

P.P.P.S.  Today is the last day of Stampin' UP!'s 25 stamp sets for 25% off sale.  Will you be getting the same sets I purchased this morning?  Clicky




Witches Brew DSP



Perfect Blend Stamp Set



Chevron Embossing Folder



Inspired Morning

Do you ever wake up inspired to go create something?  I've pulled out the Six-Sided sampler stamp set 3 times wanting to use it, but just couldn't come up with a card idea nor decide on the colors to use.  This morning I was just going to go tackle it and decided to look online for any color challenges posted recently. 

First stop was a happy accident.  I almost squealed.  It's like the people at HSS knew what I needed.  They had a hexagon sketch.  Woo-Hoo and thank you Hand Stamped Sentiments.



Hand Stamped Sentiments

What I meant to click on in my favorites bar was the ColourQ challenge, because I knew it was time for a new one.  They didn't disappoint either.  It was a match made in paper-crafting heaven.



ColourQ

The only problem was that I didn't have any Bermuda Bay ink or Paper, but I did find some Bermuda Bay ribbon and was able to match it pretty closely to some paper I had in my "blue scraps bin".  Just when I am ready to throw all those scraps away I find a use for them.   Does that happen to you too? 

First I stamped the hexagons, then fussy cut them out leaving just a tiny bit of white around the edges.  Next I punched out the hexagon with the same color cardstock as the ink I used, then I layered them together using Tombow Mono Multi glue.  I wanted some time and wiggle room to get them in the right spot.  I used the same glue to adhere them to my white panel.

The sentiment is embossed with White embossing powder and punched out using the Modern Label punch.  I put it on dimensionals to pop it off the ribbon.  I had planned to pop up some of my hexagons too, but forgot alike nd glued them all down before I remembered.  That's ok.  This card is probably going into my OWH box and they don't like a lot of extra dimension.

Since I am early for these challenges, there is still plenty of time for you to try out one or both of them.  I would love to see what you come up with.  

P.S.   Where do you go when you are ready to create, but need a little extra inspiration to get you started?

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Stampin' UP! Supplies used unless noted

Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo
Cardstock: Whisper White, same as above ink colors, Aqua blue from my stash (possibly CM shades of Aqua???)
Misc.: Hexagon Punch, 1/8" Bermuda Bay Taffeta Ribbon, Modern Label Punch




Six Sided Sampler



Hexagon Punch




Bermuda Bay Taffeta Ribbon



Miracles Happen

Yesterday I took a break from "chores" and had some fun in my craft room.  :)  I  needed a masculine card and wanted to participate in a challenge or two.  Here's what I came up with.

The sketch from Mojo Monday  was my jumping off point.  I thought it would look great with the bicycle from Feeling Sentimental (SAB). 

Next was the color choice.  Color challenges are often difficult for me to do.  When I saw this week's colors at the ColourQ I was pretty sure they would work for my masculine card, so I decided to give them a try.  They fit well together, and as I was working on it, I almost made a Christmas card too.  Perhaps I will try that another day.  This would make such a nice vintage feeling Christmas card.

Since the card is going to my uncle I wanted to use the sentiment "Miracles Happen" from the Bloomin' Marvelous (SAB) stamp set.  I stamped it before embossing with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  If I had to do it over again I would stamp in Black Staz-On or perhaps Early Espresso Embossing powder instead of Always Artichoke.  The sentiment gets a little bit lost. 

The "ribbon" I used is so fun to play with on masculine cards.  I've even used it in my scrapbooks.  It was pretty easy to fray the edges.  It's adhered to my cardstock with Sticky Strip.

My main image is matted with Always Artichoke cardstock that I cut out using a die I got for Christmas (non-SU) and then popped up using dimensionals.  I like the way the bicycle piece isn't embossed, while the other 2 circles are.  The cherry cobbler strip under the Natural ribbon is distressed using the new distressing tool.  Everything got a little sponging with Crumb Cake and/or Always Artichocke.

It sure was fun getting to spend a little time in my craft room.  Hopefully I will get some more time in there this weekend.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

P.S.  Sale-A-Bration (SAB) is going on right now!  For  every $50 you spend in my Stampin' UP! store you can choose 1 FREE SAB item!!!!  It's the best time of year to go shopping with SU.  Plus you can still get hostess benefits if your order reaches $150 or more. 





Feeling Sentimental



Miracles Happen




Natural Trim Ribbon



Square Lattice Embossing Folder



2 1/2" Circle Punch



Friendship Blessings

Today I was blessed to go to lunch with a dear friend that I haven't seen in a loooooooong time.  It's been so long, that I cannot even remember the last time I saw her.  I knew we would have loads to chat about and would probably stay longer than most of the other lunch crew.  It only seems right that we leave our waiter/waitress a thank you note for putting up with all the giggles, tears, and drink refills.  :)  An extra tip never hurts either.  ;)

Hopefully Chandra was blessed.  I know Tammie and I were blessed just thinking of thanking someone who might not get thanked for often for her hard work. 

When I started making this card I knew I wanted it to be pink because that is Tammie's favorite color.  Lucky for me the designers at the Colour Q were in a pink mood too, because they picked Fabulous colors for me to work with.  I hope to make another card this week using these colors.  You have plenty of time to play along too!

In hindsight, I probably should have brought along a masculine card.  Soon after we sat down a male waiter came to take our drink orders and I thought, "I hope he likes pink".  LOL 

I wish I had taken a picture of what Tammie wrote inside.  It was so sweet, just like her.  Hopefully we made this young woman feel appreciated and cared for.

Here's my challenge for you!  If you are a cardmaker, make a card to thank a stranger who provides a service for you.  Could be the guy who changes your oil or the lady who helps you load groceries in your car.  If you are NOT a cardmaker, then use a store bought card, stationery, post it notes or index cards.  Just let the person know that what they are doing has made a difference in your day.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Stamps: Kindness Matters, Affection Collection
Ink: Basic Gray, Black Staz-On, Illuminate, Pink Pirrouette
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, (retired) Melon Mambo DSP
Misc.: Labels Framelits, Black Satin Ribbon, Pink Pirroutte Ribbon, Punches

Affection Collection



Kindness Matters

Labels Framelits



Illuminate Glimmer Watermark Inkpad