Birthday Birds

This morning I have a card that I will link up to 2 challenges. I used the inspiration photo
at Just Us Girls and since it's a birthday card it will work for the Seize the Birthday
challenge as well, which has a toppings option but I chose not to go with it.

When I saw those cute little birds on the spools I knew I had to pull out my Taylored

Expressions Bless Your Nest stamp set with and coordinating dies. I also used the colors in 

the photo. The oval dies were cut with a set of Sizzix framelits and I used a Cuttlebug 

embossing folder. The banners were free handed.  I think I've become banner obsessed 

here lately! I'm pleased with the way it all turned out and I don't say that often. Thanks for 

taking a look!

DD Triple Threat

I love color challenges and Dynamic Duos has some dynamic colors to be used

this week.  I have to admit these are 3 colors I would not ordinarily put together

on my own, but really like them!

I used an Inkadinkado butterfly stamp, a Fiskars border punch and a Cuttlebug border 

embossing folder.  The sentiment was done with a Stampendous stamp and the bling is from Recollections. Thanks for taking a look!

Christmas Joy

In my continuing quest to get at least one Christmas card a week done I finally managed to 

get one done! It's just been one of those days where I move things around on a card base

over and over and over until I come up with something I'm happy with. Go ahead, admit

it. I 'm not the only one that does this am I? I know I'm not! Anyway, the challenge at

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown this week is to use metallic papers.  And here's what I 

ended up with.

 I knew I wanted to use blue and silver papers. And when I think of those 2 colors and
Christmas  I think snowflakes.  So I dug out these metallic blue snowflake Dazzles from
 Hot Off the Press which I've had for quite a while and thought I'd put them to good use.
 Now I'm sitting here looking at the finished product and thinking "why didn't I fussy cut
that large snowflake like I did the small one?" I simply adhered it to the white card stock
and die cut the circles. I cut some banners, added the corner and greeting Dazzles and
finished off with some gems. Thanks for taking a look!

Just for You

I am so glad it's my Friday off from work! This last two weeks have been a little hectic

so what better way to leave all of that behind than spend a little extra time in the craft

room.  So, I decided to make a card for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  

I used Birds & Blossoms 3-D Papier Tole foiled die cuts from Hot off the Press as the

focal.  The papers are from DCWV Metallic Stack and the Violet Leaf Stack. I

stamped the sentiment using the Stampendous Orchid Greetings set and added some

pearls. Thanks for taking a look!

HOC February Challenge

We're having a Photo/Color Challenge over at House of Cards for the month of February.

You can use the photo as inspiration or the colors as inspiration or both! If you use the

colors only you are to use at least 3 and incorporate either the CAS or Classic & Elegant

styles. Hope you'll get a chance to join us!

My card incorporates the Classic & Elegant style. I used an Inkadinkado floral flourish
stamp, solid card stocks from DCWV and the floral card stock is from MME In Bloom
paper pad. I stamped the sentiment and die cut the banner.  The butterflies were punched
and pearls were added.

Thanks for taking a look!

Delivering Smiles

I have some cute Dazzles stickers I wanted to put to use on a card, so when I saw this

week's color combo at Dynamic Duos I thought they would work great!  And there's a

dessert Option of a Shaped/Fun Fold card. 

I decided to do an easel card. This only the second time I've attempted one of those.

And using a square shape is a little out of my comfort zone too.  So I punched a

5x5 piece of black card stock with a Martha Stewart punch around the page set as

the background for my polka dot paper and the bicycle sticker. The present and flower

stickers were backed with yellow card stock and cut out around the edge of the

stickers. I added the sentiment stickers to the base and added a border to hold the card

in place and finished up with some pearls on the bicycle, flowers and border. I think

it turned out rather cute, if I may say so! Thanks for taking a look!

Colorful Birthday

What a fun challenge Just Us Girls has this week! It's a color challenge and the colors

are bright! They have me longing for springtime, but I know we have a ways to go

here in Colorado before it arrives.  The challenge is to use at least 3 of the colors and
any neutrals.  I'm also linking up to Seize the Birthday, where anything goes. They do
have a "toppings" option of hearts but I chose to go without.

I chose to use 4 colors, orange, blue, pink and green, with ivory as my neutral.  The DP
is from a paper set from Hot Off the Press called Serendipity. The coordinating label
is a free download on their website. The ivory panel was embossed with a Cuttlebug
embossing folder.  I punched the flower twice and layered with foam dots, then added a
button that I threaded with some ribbon. The swirls are die cut from an old sizzlits die and
the sentiment was stamped and die cut with the Sizzix Banners 2 stamp and die set.
Thanks for taking a look!

Christmas Landscape

This morning I found myself inspired by the challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.
They're having a theme challenge which is Christmas Landscape. Well I happen to have an Inkadinkado stamp I purchased just before this last Christmas that I've been itching to try
and stamp and emboss in silver on black and thought this challenge gave me the perfect
opportunity to do so. I found Seize the Sketch had a sketch that I thought would work well.
The papers are from DCWV and here's the finished product. Probably not my best effort
but it's different than the other Christmas cards I've made. 

Thanks for taking a look!

Bee Mine!

One last post for the weekend.  This time I managed to get a card done for the

Just Us Girls challenge using the color combo from Color Throwdown.  I have

to admit the challenge at Just Us Girls was really that, a challenge, for me. You

are to use a technique where die cuts are inked. And let me tell you, this is a

neat one, meaning good, not neat, as it's quite messy!  It took me at least 5 tries

before I was happy with what I ended up with.  Don't know if I'll use it again, but

it was fun trying.

Thanks for taking a look!

Just for You Valentine

It's been a few weeks since I played along over at Freshly Made Sketches so I

thought I'd  take a look and see what this weeks sketch is like.  I'm seeking all

the inspiration I can since I need to make a few more Valentine's cards.  There's

nothing like waiting until the last moment right? Here's what I found and then

decided to do.

I have so much stuff sitting around that I need to use up and the papier tole image from

Hot Off the Press that I used on this card is some of that.  I once again had trouble trying

to get a decent photo.  The card really looks much better in person.  Oh well, anyway

it came together really quickly. It just took a few minutes to layer all the pieces and do

the embossing, which is done with a Sizzix embossing folder.  Thanks for taking a look!

Christmas Cardinal

Continuing my quest to get about 70 Christmas cards done this year I have one inspired

by the color challenge over at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown. 

So I chose to go with red, blue and black along with the gold.  I had the cardinal left from

last year's Christmas stash. It is a gold dazzles sticker that I backed with red card stock and

a tiny piece of blue behind the snowflake. I used my Stampabilities "Composer's Dream"

stamp for the plain circle die cut, inked the edges with red  ink and added it to the black

scalloped die cut. This was placed on the white embossed panel, added the cardinal  and

punched some blue snowflakes to which I added some blue gems. So, I think this is the

sixth Christmas card I've completed?  Only about 64 more to go! Thanks for taking a look!

Valentine in Soft Pink & Light Green

I'm beginning to realize I started too late to get as many Valentine cards made as I really

wanted to.  This is only the 5th one done so far.  I used the color combination over at

Dynamic Duos as inspiration, yet once again. 

I ran in to Michaels yesterday and found the heart stamp I used for 75 cents plus I got
20% off that, so for 60 cents I think it worked out pretty well on this card! I die cut
the frame with a spellbinders die and inked it to match the stamping. Used one of my
favorite Martha Stewart border punches and added some Recollections" bling on a
roll".  Thanks for taking a look!

Garden of Posies

I managed to get one more card done yesterday.  This time I  used the sketch for the

challenge over at Just Us Girls.  

I've not made any cards recently with 3-D papier tole and I really wanted to put this one to

use.  These are foil die cuts called Garden of Posies from Hot Off the Press. The DP's are
from DCWV's Cafe Mediterranean stack. The green ribbon is actually some Christmas
ribbon I've had for a while and I used Dazzle stickers for the greeting.
Thanks for taking a look!

Red & Teal Valentine

The challenge at Dynamic Duos this week is to use red and teal.  I love red and teal together

so I thought I'd use those colors to get another Valentine's card made.

I pulled out the Cricut to cut out the hearts and the way they ended up was not what I
originally envisioned. What is actually a double heart became a triple heart and I have to
say I liked the way it turned out! Funny how that works!  Anyway, I also used a couple of
embossing folders, printed the greeting on the computer and added that dazzle sticker in
the center of the red heart as an afterthought. Thanks for taking a look!

Frosty the Snowman

There's a sketch challenge over at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown this week.

Since we've had so much snow around here in Colorado yesterday and this morning
I was inspired to do my card using this sketch with a cute little snowman.

The "Frosty the Snowman" stamp is from Deep Red.  I colored him with spectrum
noir pens, cut him out and foam taped to the tag which is from a free download at
Paper Wishes.  I used a Darice embossing folder for the white panel and added some
jewel snowflakes. Thanks for taking a look!