Monday Hugs

Bringing some happy to your Monday with another card based on the current sketch challenge at My Favorite Things.

Today & tomorrow I will be filming some videos for my blog, World Card Making Day, upcoming classes, and some special events.  Would you like a video on how I made this watercolored look in the background, or is it easy to figure out?

Clicky

There are still a few hours left to participate in this sketch challenge, and there is a $20 PRIZE up for grabs for one lucky stamper.  As you can see I turned this card into a rectangle.  If you would like to see my square card made using this sketch CLICKY.  If you are a member of StampNation you have until September 23rd to post your creation HERE for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to MFT. Woot-Woot!

I've decided to take a deep breath and enter the My Favorite Things Superstar card design challenge.  Wish me luck and enter your cards too!  Clicky for all the deets.


Stamps: Garden Flourish, True Friends (My Favorite Things)
Ink: Black Onyx (Versafine); Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers-
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White Thick (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Black Twine (Doodlebug); Stitched Square Frames Dies( MFT)

My Favorite Things Cling Stamps, Flourish Background

My Favorite Things Clear Stamps, True Friends

My Favorite Things Die-namics, Stitched Square Frames

Doodle Twine Spool, Beetle Black

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 025, Pink

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 082, Purple

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 081, Light Violet

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 080, Violet

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 042, Turquoise Green

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

My Favorite Things ~ Blessings

This week StampNation is playing along with the My Favorite Things sketch challenge.  You know how much I LOVE sketches!  I loved this one so much I made 2!  One for my blog and one exclusively for StampNation.

The background is stamped with white pigment ink onto craft cardstock.  I made a mask using outer frame from the die cut so that only the center of my card would be stamped.

Check out this sketch!  Doesn't it get your creative juices flowing?!!!  The best part is you can participate in this challenge at both the MFT site CLICKY and StampNation CLICKY.  I created a mask with my new Stitched Square Frames die and then inked my Crumb Cake cardstock with white pigment ink.  Next I added my frame using dimensionals so it would pop up from the card a bit.  For the fall berries I first inked it with a Kaleidacolor pad, then added just a touch of Golden Glitz Delicata ink to the edges.  The combination of white, craft and purple colors with a touch of gold reminds me of crisp Fall days filled with sunshine and fresh air.

The second card I made exclusively for StampNation was almost a one layer card, but the sentiment got lost on the background.  To solve this I stamped it again on white cardstock, punched that out and popped it up with dimensionals.  The I added seam binding and sequins.  Below is a sneak peek.  You can see the full card and DT samples in the challenge forum at StampNation.  

Some of my fellow Design Team members are featuring a second card today on their blogs too.  Check them out and give them some love!

Allison Cope: Clicky
Catherine Pooler: Clicky
Isha Gupta: Clicky

I've decided to take a deep breath and enter the My Favorite Things Superstar card design challenge.  Wish me luck and enter your cards too!  Clicky for all the deets.

Supplies:
Stamps: Garden Flourish; LJD Fall Foliage (My Favorite Things)
Ink: Paper White (Fresh Ink); Golden Glitz Delicata, Vineyard Kaleidacolor (Tsukineko)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Stitched Square Frames (MFT); Gold Thread, Oval Punch (Stampin' Up!)

My Favorite Things Cling Stamps, Flourish Background

My Favorite Things Clear Stamps, Fall Foliage by Lisa Johnson Designs

My Favorite Things Die-namics, Stitched Square Frames

Delicata Ink Pad, Golden Glitz

Two Card Tuesday ~ Part 2 NBUS

Did you see part 1?  If you did then you know I am participating in the NBUS Challenge #5 and I finally got my Cheerful Blessings stamp set inky.  If not, you can CLICKY to see my 1st card or click on the graphic below to find out more about the challenge.

Here is card #2.   When I got my Zig Clean Color markers a couple of weeks ago I started playing and experimenting with them to see how the markers worked and reacted with each other & water.  The strips you see at the bottom of my card are a result of that practice.  I took a yellow marker and scribbled on one side of my paper, then took a red marker to the other side. I sprayed the strip with water and moved watched the colors blend and spread.  It was so cool!  I didn't want to throw it out. 

It was sitting on my (very messy) stamp table when the "sunshine" sentiment caught my eye from the NBUS stamp I had just used.  I stamped it, cut off 2 smaller strips then adhered it with glue to my sponged card base.  I love that I saved this piece from the trash and gave some inky love to a poor neglected stamp set at the same time.

Be sure to check out the NBUS challenge and participate.  There are some awesome prizes to be won!  Thanks Darnell and helpers for bringing us this challenge.

I've decided to take a deep breath and enter the My Favorite Things Superstar card design challenge.  Wish me luck and enter your cards too!  Clicky for all the deets.

Stamps: Cheerful Blessings (My Favorite Things)
Ink: Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade, Tumbled Glass (Distress); Black Onyx (Versafine); Zig Clean Color Markers 50, 20
Paper: Whisper White (Stampin' UP!); Bristol (Strathmore)
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder (Stampin' Up!); Ink Blending Tool (Distress)

My Favorite Things Clear Stamps, Cheerful Blessings by Lisa Johnson Designs

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Essentials by Ellen, Julie's Smooth Bristol, 20pc-5.5" x 5.5"

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 022, Carmine Red

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 050, Yellow

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Squeezed Lemonade

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Tumbled Glass

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Cracked Pistachio

Ranger Ink Blending Tool, 1 Inch Round

Quilled Creations Precision Tip Glue Applicator Bottle 0.5 oz.

Two Card Tuesday ~ Part 1 NBUS

I'll try to keep this short and sweet because I have 2 cards to share with you and a challenge I hope you will go visit.  My cards today are a part of the NBUS challenge #5.  You can read all about it HERE.  Basically NBUS stands for Never Before Used Schtuff.  If you have been stamping for any amount of time you probably have new schtuff that hasn't seen any love yet.   I know I do.  I made 3 cards today alone!  I'll be sharing the 3rd card with you on Thursday.  You can see the second card  HERE.  

My first card uses the background piece I made in the video I posted last week.  You can CLICKY if you want to see how I made this yummy rainbow.  The sentiment comes from a stamp set I bought a couple of months ago and never got inky.  :(  Poor wonderful stamp set.  It stamped like a dream for me.  :)

Did I mention there are prizes for participating in the challenge?  Oh my goodness, there are a TON of fabulous prizes.  The best prize though just might be playing with your new but unused toys.  ;)

I've decided to take a deep breath and enter the My Favorite Things Superstar card design challenge.  Wish me luck and enter your cards too!  Clicky for all the deets.

Supplies:

Stamps: Cheerful Blessings (My Favorite Things)
Ink: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (003, 22, 25, 26, 80, 82, 30, 32,31, 33, 40, 41, 42, 50, 70)

Paper: Basic Black (Stampin' UP!); Bristol (Strathmore)
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder (Stampin' UP!); Stitched Rectangle Dies (Lil' Inker Designs)

My Favorite Things Clear Stamps, Cheerful Blessings by Lisa Johnson Designs

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Essentials by Ellen, Julie's Smooth Bristol, 20pc-5.5" x 5.5"

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker, Set of 12

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 032, Persian Blue

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 003, Fluorescent Pink

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 081, Light Violet

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 026, Light Pink

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 042, Turquoise Green

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 082, Purple

Stampin' Celebration 112

Happy Labor Day my American friends!  Hope you are enjoying the unofficial last weekend of summer.   It's supposed to be raining here, but we might still BBQ on the covered patio.  ;)

SC112

There is a new challenge today at Stampin' Celebration.  The colors in this remind of baby boys and teddy bears.  I struggled with what stamp set to use for this though.  I try to use Stampin' UP! only for these challenges, so that is what made it a little more challenging than it needed to be.  Plus I am in full on World Cardmaking Day and Christmas card prep for some upcoming projects and my brain didn't want to focus on this fantastic collage.  

Finally I decided to just start pulling out some SU stamps.  The first one that caught my eye was the burlap background from You've Got This.  I knew I wanted a Crumb Cake and Marina Mist combo, so I pulled it out and saw the flower image.  For some reason it remind me of the circles and medallions in the inspiration photo and the card began to take shape in my mind.

I wanted to do watercoloring on this card, but I've been doing a lot of that lately and didn't want to bore you with the same ol' thing, so instead I pulled out my trusty blender pen.  Unfortunately it was pretty dry, but I managed to make this card work.

https://youtu.be/MdC9KliqJvc

Stamps: You've Got This
Ink: Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Black (Staz-On)
Paper: Whisper White
Accesories: Blender Pen, Washi Tape, Paper Snips

Sew Saturday ~ Going Teal for Ovarian Cancer Awareness ~ ALYOF Goal

Last month I missed posting for ALYOF.  My parents were up visiting and I was away from my computer and sewing room the first week of the month.  That is ok, because sometimes we all need a break from deadlines, even the ones that are really good motivators.  I've been debating for the past week on what to do for my September goal.   As I was looking at the link-up a teal fabric collection caught my eye, so I headed to ClotheslineCottons and met Heather.  She is going teal for ovarian cancer awareness.

After reading her blog post I decided to quilt my Riley Blake quilt.  As I work on it I will be thinking of all those fighting ovarian cancer and praying for a cure.  Please visit http://www.ovariancancer.org/about/symptoms-of-ovarian-cancer-detection/ to learn more.

Here is where I am at right now.  I decided to add a wonky frame (aka border) to my quilt.  Once I finish that I can get it ready to quilt.  Hopefully we will have lots of rainy days so I can sew without guilt.  :)  I'm linking up with Melissa and Shanna at A Lovely Year of Finishes.

September Goals