Masculine 40th Birthday Card

Hello! Today I'm sharing a card I made to help me through a difficult day. This past Saturday would have been my brother's 40th birthday, but he passed away over 3 years ago. Our birthdays were really close together and growing up we usually had a combined birthday party, so my birthday isn't the same without him. I felt like I needed to do something to recognize his special day, so I made this card. 

Almost all the supplies used on this Masculine 40th Birthday Card are from Stampin' Up!. However, most of them are also very retired. The stamp set is called Number of Years and the patterned paper is from the Cupcakes & Carousels paper stack. The Stitched with Whimsy Die is current and used around the edge of the paper. A few silver glitter punched stars for sparkle and everything was adhered flat. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.✨

Challenges entered:

• Craft Rocket: For the Boys
• Fab 'n' Funky: Special Birthdays
• Make My Monday: Masculine
• Sweet Stampin': Masculine

Drummer Bear Card

Good day! A couple of months back my niece and her high school band competed in the state marching band competition and they won 1st in their division. My niece plays the drums, so I made her this Drummer Bear Card to congratulate her on their accomplishment. Hopefully, she will overlook the fact that it took me this long to get it made.😊 

The image is from the Party On stamp set by Winnie & Walter and I bought it during their going out of business sale a few years back. To color the image I used Copic markers and then used a stitched circle die to cut it out. The patterned paper has been in my stash for quite some time and it's called Playlist by Hampton Arts (2013). Three die cut silver stars were added for some sparkle and that's it. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Crafts Galore: Anything Goes
• Critter Crazy: Anything with Critters
• The Crafter's Cafe: Anything Goes
• Watercooler Wednesday: All About Occasions 

Darkness Card - TMS #634

Well... it's time to say goodbye to November and it was a really rough month for me. Taking care of my hubby after his ankle reconstruction was a lot of hard work and sleepless nights. We go back to the doctor today and hopefully he will be able to put weight on his foot and walk again. I'm certainly ready to get back to a normal routine. 

I'm pretty sure I made this Darkness Card for myself using this weeks sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches. The sketch is designed by Melissa Craig and I used it for a mini slimline card which is 3.5" x 6". The sentiment is from Unity Stamps and it's called A Certain Darkness. Some stars were stamped and heat embossed with Wow! Glow-in-the-Dark embossing powder along with punched stars for the sketch detail. The star paper is from a Halloween paper pad and everything was adhered flat. Well, we would love for you to join us this week. For the sketch, design team inspiration and all the challenge detail click HERE. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Celebrate Card - TMS #611

Good day! It's almost the 4th of July and although I don't send many cards for this holiday I do make a few. This Celebrate Card was made using this weeks sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches designed by Patti Rowe. The sketch is super simple and perfect for those quick last minute cards. My card features patterned paper from the Celebrating Freedom paper pad by Bo Bunny. I added a strip of silver glitter paper down the middle of the stars for some sparkle. The celebrate was die cut using a Momenta die and that's it. As always, we would love for you to join us this week! For all the challenge details and design team inspiration click HERE. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day.

Mini Slimline Card - TMS #601

Hello! It's been a little crazy this past week at my house. My hubby had a total knee replacement last Monday and I've been taking care of him. Right now I'm feeling very sleep deprived and ready for things to get back to normal. 🥱

This weeks sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches is a break from the normal A2 card. It's a Mini Slimline Card sketch designed by me. The dimensions are 3.5" x 6". I do hope you will give it a try and join us this week. I'm giving away a prize of 6 colored mini slimline envelopes by Taylored Expressions to a random player. So, don't forget to link your creation by 8 pm EST on Sunday HERE. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day! 

Sketch #601:

OMG Card - TMS #599

Hello! Can you believe it's the last Tuesday of the month? March just flew by! I hope you will have time to play along with us this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches. This weeks sketch was designed by me and I would love to see how you use it! My card was made for my niece who is a junior in high school. She recently received a couple of leadership honors and a card was definitely needed. I used the fun OMG stamp set by Reverse Confetti along with the coordinating die. Her school colors are red, black and white, so I tried to stick as close to those colors as possible. I went through every paper pad I had until I found the star paper from an American Crafts paper pad called Little by Little (2016). It has extra colors, but I thought it worked well. 😊 The design team did a fantastic job and you can click HERE to see their work and all the challenge details. I hope you're inspired to join us this week and don't forget to link your card by 8 pm EST on Sunday. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Sketch #599:

Happy New Year Card

It's here, a brand New Year and a new decade! This year one of my resolutions is to get my crafty stash organized. I have a bad habit of starting a new project without cleaning my desk, which just piles on the mess. I'm also going to try to use what I have and buy less. I did way too much emotional shopping last year after my brother passed away. This Happy New Year Card was made with supplies that have been in my stash for many years. The patterned paper is from the Sweet Sorbet dsp by Stampin' Up! from 2014. My very neglected Cricut machine was used to cut the star and I've had the Happy New Year stamp since 2015. I don't usually send many New Year cards, but this year I plan to send a few. This card is linked to the Celebration challenge at Dragonfly Journeys and the Anything Goes challenge at Cute Card Thursday. Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a healthy and happy 2021!

Firecracker Card - TMS #561

Welcome back to the start of another new sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches. This weeks sketch was designed by me and I would love for you to play along. Feel free to swap out the stars for any shape that works with your design. I was thinking about Independence Day when I designed the sketch but stars are fun for birthdays too. The design team did a fantastic job with their inspiration! Click HERE for all the challenge details and don't forget to link your creation by 8 pm EST on Sunday. I hope to see your card in the linky gallery!

Do you send cards for Independence Day? I don't send many, maybe two or three to my family. To make this card I used a digital image I found on Etsy by Drawn by Krista. The image was colored with Copic markers and the sentiment was made using the computer. Five punched blue glitter stars on top of red striped paper and that's it. An easy simple card! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Always Fun: Patriotic
• Crafting Happiness: Anything Goes 

Sketch #561:

Kitty Witch Halloween Card

Happy Friday! This month is quickly getting away from me and I still have several Halloween cards to make. If you've followed my blog for awhile then you know I love cats, rabbits and pretty much any cute critter. Earlier this year I found a new to me stamp company called Hello Bluebird and they have some super cute critters. This Kitty Witch Halloween Card features images from their Halloween Party stamp set which were colored with Copic markers and die cut with the coordinating dies. A piece of star paper from the Bootiful Night paper pad by American Crafts (2016) was selected and the focal area was made with Distress Oxide inks in: Carved Pumpkin, Shaded Lilac, Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves with a touch of Black Soot. The final touch was adding the Happy Halloween die cut from Impression Obsession. Like most of my cards everything was adhered flat for easy shipping. I'm glad you stopped by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Crafty Gals Corner: Halloween Colors 
• Cute Card Thursday: Halloween
• Fab 'n' Funky: Halloween
• Krafty Chicks: Be-Witched

It happens all the time! I get up from my craft chair and return to find one of my cats taking advantage of the warm seat. This is one of the reasons I don't get more accomplished. I let him keep the chair and I wait until the little chair thief moves on. 😊

Congrats Card with Star

Hello! Hope all is well in your world. Last week was crazy for me, so I didn't do any card making. This past weekend a young boy we know along with his team won the Lacrosse finals in their age group. They worked hard all season and did a great job. My hubby and I decided to send him a card to acknowledge his accomplishment and this Congrats Card with Star is what I made for him. The colors were selected to match the team colors. The star was cut with a Cricut machine and the Congrats sentiment is from The Paper Studio. All papers are from my scrap bin and everything was adhered flat for easy shipping. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Crafty Friends: Anything Goes
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: Anything Goes
• The Creative Crafters: Anything Goes

Girly Dino Birthday Card

Hooray for the weekend! It's going to be a cold one, but I'm okay with that. Cold weather makes wonderful crafting days. I have a quick post to share this Girly Dino Birthday Card I made to play along with Day 4 of the Monster Birthday Bash at Catch The Bug. It's a bingo challenge and I used Die Cuts (stars), player's choice (sentiment) and Stripes. I've used this Dino Birthday image before but I always made cards for boys. This time it's girly and I think it turned out pretty cute. The papers are from the It's a Celebration paper pad by Echo Park (2014) and the pink stripes are by Stampin' Up!. Copic markers were used to color the image and the sentiment stamp is by Hero Arts. To finish it off three die cut stars were added and that's it. So glad you stopped by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Challenges entered:

• Catch The Bug: Bingo
• Crafting With Friends: Anything Goes
• Fab 'n' Funky: For a Child

Star Celebrate Card

Happy 4th of July! This holiday is always low key for us. We usually stay home and make sure the cats don't get too scared from all the neighborhood fireworks. Our oldest cat is thirteen and she gets calming treats, the loud noises really bother her. The youngsters are a little more resilient, but they all hide until the quiet night returns. So, if you're out having some fun... have a little extra fun for me!

This Star Celebrate Card is pretty simple. The layout is cased from one of my cards from February 2014. It's easy to duplicate and I really like the star focal point. The star was cut with my Cricut machine using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge. All patterned paper is from the Patriotic Parade paper pad by Doodlebug Design Inc. A strip of silver glimmer paper was used for some sparkle and the celebrate sentiment is retired by Stampin' Up!. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

Challenges entered:

• Cards in Envy: Twinkle Little Stars
• Crafty Gals Corner: Red, White and Blue 
• Craftaholics R Us: Any Holiday Cards
• Simon Says Stamp: Red, White and Blue

Newton Halloween Card

Happy Tuesday! I mail around a dozen cards for Halloween to family and friends. Since it will be here next month I decided to get a start on my cards. To create this Newton Halloween Card I used the sketch from Newton's Inky Paws Challenge. When I first saw the sketch I thought it would make a cool moon card. The flying broom and kitty image from the Newton's Boo-tiful Night stamp set was the best choice to use in front of the moon.

To start I made the moon using watercolor paper and distress oxide inks in Antique Linen and Fossilized Amber. A small amount of Frayed Burlap was added to the edges of the moon, then it was spritzed with water and a heat gun used to speed the drying process. Then I made the sky background with distress oxide inks in Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves and Black Soot on mixed media paper. The same process was used, spritz with water and heat set. Once this panel was dried I heat embossed several stars with Wow! Glow-in-the-Dark embossing powder and the sentiment with white embossing powder. The white strip of paper was stamped with the little bat. Newton was colored with Copic markers and then fussy-cut. Next everything was assembled and adhered flat for easy mailing. I decided it needed a little more sparkle, so I added three star sequins and that's it. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Newton Halloween Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Newton's Inky Paws: Sketch
• Simon Says Stamp: It's Written in the Stars
• Glitter 'N' Sparkle: Anything Goes
• Show Us Your Pussies: Furrything Goes

Sketch:

Reach for the Stars Card

Hello and happy Tuesday! We have an Out of this World challenge for you this week at Tuesday Throwdown and the design team did an amazing job with their inspiration. Click HERE for all the challenge details and design team inspiration. Our sponsor this week is MyGrafico and they provided the Space Art Digital Stamps for the design team to create our examples. I seem to be the oddball this week, but that's really "normal" for me. I used the alien, moon and shooting star to create this Reach for the Stars Card. We would love to see your Out of this World creations! You have until mid-day on Monday August 7th to add your link.

This was my first attempt at a space background! I started with a piece of mixed media paper and sponged on distress oxide inks in Broken China and Salty Ocean. Then I mixed in some Lucky Clover but I wanted the background darker and those are my only oxide inks. So... I used distress inks in Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord and Seedless Preserves. Then I used a water bottle and sprayed the paper. To speed the drying process I used a heat gun and repeated until I was happy with the results. The stars and sentiment are from the new Cosmic Newton stamp set by Newton's Nook and they were heat embossed with white embossing powder. The background was then matted to a piece of Navy cardstock. The images were colored with Copic markers. For the moon I printed it on Sahara Sand cardstock by Stampin' Up! and then used a splatter stamp from the retired Gorgeous Grunge stamp set by Stampin' Up! using Sahara Sand ink. All the images are fussy cut, so don't look too close this is not my best skill. Some glossy accents were added to the alien's eyes and that's it! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will play along in our Out of this World challenge.

Anything Goes at Catch The Bug

Hello crafty friends! I'm excited to be a Guest Designer at the Catch The Bug Challenge for the next two months. Bugaboo Digi Stamps was my very first purchase of digital images and they remain one of my favorites to use. If you haven't heard of Bugaboo... then you must check them out HERE.

Today is the start of an Anything Goes Challenge at Catch The Bug and that means all you have to do is link your new creation to the challenge. Using a Bugaboo image is not required, but if you have them you know you want to use them. Click here for all the wonderful design team inspiration and challenge details. Three winners will be randomly drawn for three digi prize packs.

To make this card I used the Raggedy Angel - Stars image and colored it with Copic markers. I made the image fairly large and framed it with Basic Gray cardstock die cut with a Scalloped Frame by Taylored Expressions. The starry paper is from Recollections and the plaid is by Lawn Fawn. To finish off the card a Thinking of You sentiment by Stampin' Up! was adhered with dimensionals and three sequins added for sparkle. That's it! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

This Angel Thinking of You Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Little Red Wagon: March Birthstone
• Crafty Creations: Anything Goes
• Simply Papercraft: Anything Goes

Military Brentwood Owl Cards

Happy Saturday! Today is the launch of a new stamp set at Jessica Lynn Originals called Military Brentwood Owl. The full set will be launched live tonight at 8 p.m. (central time) on the Jessica Lynn Original Facebook page. You will definitely want to join in the fun!!! There will be a giveaway, coupon codes for free digital images and shipping along with a scavenger hunt. During the live event we will be making a card with the new Military Brentwood Owl stamp set. This is going to be a fun event and I hope you will join us.

To create my cards I decided I wanted to use papers that would be widely available to everyone, so I went to my local Hobby Lobby store and found papers in the open stock section. Once the images were stamped I colored them with Copic markers and then die cut them with stitched dies. The embellishments were kept to a minimum just the way I like it and these cards were done.

The second card is entered into the following challenges:

• Brown Sugar: Anything Goes
• Pattie's Creations: Anything Goes
• Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Simple #1 Dad Card

Happy Friday! Father's Day will be here in a couple of weeks on June 19, 2016. I've made a Simple #1 Dad Card using this weeks sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. This card uses minimal supplies and would be easy to duplicate. All you need is: Very Vanilla cardstock for card base, coordinating solid cardstock to mat layers, patterned paper (Adventure by My Mind's Eye), #1 Dad ribbon (free digital image, click here), red marker, scissors, silver glimmer paper, a star punch and adhesive.

The ribbon was printed onto patterned paper and onto Very Vanilla cardstock, then fussy-cut with scissors. If you're not into printing the image onto patterned paper, just simply use cardstock and color the ribbon to match your color choices. Don't have a star punch, use sequins or enamel dots instead. Click here for the sketch used and have fun making your dad a handmade card. He will love it!

This Simple #1 Dad Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Freshly Made Sketches: Sketch #239
• Cute Card Thursday: Father's Day
• Creative Corner: Just for Men
• Pattie's Creations: Father's Day or Graduation

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Star Frame Good Job Card

Good day crafty friends! I hope you will play along with our challenge this week at Tuesday Throwdown. The theme is called Frame It! Our sponsor is MyGrafico and they provided the design team with some digital frames for our creations. I used this fun star frame to make a Good Job Card. We would love to see what you come up with for the Frame It! Challenge. You have until mid-day on Monday March 7th to link your creation. Click here for all the challenge details and to view the design team inspiration.

To make this Star Frame Good Job Card, the star had to be larger to fit the Good Job sentiment by Stampology. So, I made a 5.25" square card. All papers are from my scrap bin and I added some pink twine from The Twinery. Three sequins and three candy dots were added for detail and this card was done. Thanks for stopping by!

This card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafting From The Heart: Anything Goes 
• Ooh La La Creations: Use a Sentiment
• Allsorts: Sentiment in Focus

Sweet Baby Girl Card

This week I was sorting through some patterned papers and found this adorable elephant and star patterned papers by Studio Calico from the Story Time Collection. I really like the muted colors and subtle text in the elephant bodies. So, I made this Sweet Baby Girl Card. The cardstock colors used are Very Vanilla and Sahara Sand by Stampin' Up! After stamping Emery the elephant by Verve Stamps (it's one of my favorite stamps) onto polka dot paper I fussy-cut the image and adhered it to the stitched die cut circle. The circle was then layered onto a die cut scalloped circle then adhered to the card with dimensionals. Using the retired Itty Bitty Banners stamp set by Stampin' Up! I stamped Sweet Baby with Tip Top Taupe ink and then die cut the sentiment with the coordinating Bitty Banner framelit dies. To add some detail three sequin stars were added along with twine. That's it!

This Sweet Baby Girl Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Crafty Girls Creations: Anything Goes
• In The Pink: Favorite Stamps or Image 
• Crafty Gals Corner: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Celebrate Fourth of July Card

When it comes to making cards to celebrate Independence Day, I only make a few. I send them to close family only. My stamp collection for this holiday is pretty much nonexistent. I do however have a good selection of patterned papers. To create this Celebrate Fourth of July Card I used the sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches designed by my crafty friend Jessi Fogan. I did a quick search and noticed several cards made using the retired Celebrate Today stamp from the Perfectly Penned stamp set by Stampin' Up!, so that's what I used. It's been in my collection for at least three years and doesn't get used that often. This seemed like the perfect card to dust it off. I stamped the ready made tag with the sentiment and two stars from a very old sale-a-bration stamp set. I adhered everything together, added the gingham ribbon and three silver sequins for a little sparkle. That's it!

This Celebrate Fourth of July Card is entered into the following challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: Sketch
• Cards in Envy: Red, White and Blue
• Retro Rubber: Tie It On/Ribbon or Twine 
• Crafty Gals Corner: Red, White and Blue