Clean and Simple

 Yesterday I was avoiding cleaning.  

But making 

Clean and Simple cards is entirely another task, and much more enjoyable.

 Meet Ice Cream Dog, a digi stamp from Bugaboo Stamps.  He was going to have brown spots until I grabbed the wrong marker and started coloring them purple.  Oops!  I tried brown overtop, but they just looked black.  Now he is a black spotted dog.  That ice cream cone has my 2 favorite flavors, raspberry with chocolate chunks and peach melba with raspberry swirled through it and tiny chocolate pieces.  If I were to accidently drop that cone, I'd pick it right back up before that pooch could even sniff it!  10 second rule!!!

 

Challenges:

Catch the Bug August Recipe Challenge - Clean and Simple; My Time to Craft Challenge #438 - Clean and Simple; Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - AG; Little Red Wagon Challenge #564 - Digi Do!; Creative Knockouts Challenge #365 - AG; Art Impressions Challenge - Quick and Simple

 

 

Work before play? That's no fun!

The Old English and my dust cloth are still on the piano. 

However, I did make this card is for the My Favorite Things Color Challenge #148.

When I first saw the colors for the challenge, 

 

I wasn't too sure, but the blue and orange look nice together.

 This is a closeup of the glittery flower.  

 

The sentiment and the flower stamp are from My Favorite Things.  When I bought the flower stamp, I decided I could easily fussy cut around the flower.  But, the next time I was in the MFT store, I picked up the matching die.

Now that I have satisfied my creative side, I really do need to dust.

Thanks for the visit!

Challenges:

My Favorite Things Color Challenge #148 - (see above); Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - AG; Kat Scrappiness August Challenge - Birthday; Daring Cardmakers Challenge - In the Garden; Double Trouble Challenge #65 - Something, Anything & Everything; Entered additional challenge; But sorry, Twisted Sister, no phone on this card.

Forgot to mail this one! My Bad!

This card is only two weeks late.  I really should tidy up more often.  It was all ready to mail, in the envelope, with a stamp.  But it was turned upside down, and just looked like any other envelope. Yeah.  It wasn't.

Luckily, it is going to a very dear and understanding friend.

Graphic 45 paper; CTMH stamp and holographic paper; Spellbinders die

 

 

Challenges I am entering today include: 

Die Cut Divas August Challenge - Flowers; Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Beautiful Botanicals; Through the Craft Room Door Challenge Aug 25th - AAG; The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - It's the Thought that Counts; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - AG; The House That Stamps Built A2620 Challenge - AG; Krafty Chicks Challenge #522 - Occasions; Aud Sentiments Challenge #258 - AG + a sentiment; As You Like It Challenge - Favorite Way to Add Ribbon (I like to use clear adhesive dots to add my ribbons.  They seem to stick to the ribbon material the best and you can mold them to the size of the ribbon, too.)

 
 

Pretty Plaid Birthday

When I am craft shopping, I can resist buying a lot of things with one exception - plaid paper.  I love plaid paper.  I don't know why.  It just catches my eye and jumps into my cart.  This pretty plaid is from My Favorite Things. 

The card layout is this week's MFT Sketch.

 The sentiment and background flower stamp are also from MFT.  The edges of the white banner and plaid paper are sponged. To add a bit of texture, I dry embossed the three strips, added baker's twine to the banner, and put very tiny shiny stickers in the centers of the stamped flowers.  Lastly, I popped the birthday banner.

 

 

Challenges:

My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge #504 - see sketch above; Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes; The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - It's the Thought that Counts; Through the Craft Room Door Week of August 25th - Anything Goes; The Paper Girls Challenge #206 - Emboss like a Boss; Lawn Fawnatics Challenge #83 - Make the Sentiment the Star

Tuesday Morning Sketches Challenge #569

 

Welcome to my blog, where I have
a new card to share with you each week for

Tuesday Morning Sketches 

 

 

 
 Here's the sketch for this week and my card.

 

 

Here's a second card I made using the same sketch, a few stickers, a punch, some dies, a ribbon, and a piece of patterned paper of unknown origin.

 

 

 

 

The Design Team would love it if you'd visit our blogs.

Andrea

Debbie 

Margreet

Melissa

 Patti

Tammy

You can be sure that one of us will be visiting yours!

Have a great and crafty day!

 

 

 

 

Challenges I am entering:

Seize the Birthday Challenge #197 - Rainbow Colors; Craft Rocket Challenge #73 - Birthday; A Perfect Time to Craft August Challenge - AG; A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge #122 - AG; Love to Scrap Challenge #136 - For the Kids

Virtual Apples for Teacher

 With so many of the schools opening virtually this year, the teachers won't be collecting many apples.

Using one of my favorite digi images from Pattie's Creations, I made this back to school card.

Challenges:

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #567 - Back to School ;

 

Angie's Digital Stamps Challenge #45 - AG with optional fall colors ; Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Oh So Cute 

Speaking of cute.. My granddaughter and family stopped by to pick up the desk my father had made for me when I started school.  I am passing it on to my great granddaughter, Laila, who starts 1st grade this year.  I hadn't seen them since Christmas.  What a welcome visit!

I managed to get Laila to stand still for this picture:

 

But, Lahna, who is just a year and a half, was way too interested in the puzzle I had given her for her birthday to even look up.

Decoupaged cards

If I were more organized, perhaps I wouldn't find some of the little surprises in my stash that I do.  The latest was a little baggie filled with decoupage pieces, some fussy cut, some not.  Knowing the image would make a perfect card for a friend, I reached for my scissors.  Two cards later, here are the results:

 I have absolutely no idea where the little baggie of goodies came from, but I know just where these two cards are going (besides the challenges listed below).

Challenges:

Crafter's Castle August Challenge #32 - AG ; 

DLArt Thankful Thursday Challenge #265 - Birthday; 

Shopping Our Stash Challenge #427 - Pile It On ; 

 

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #261 - Lots of Layers

 

Triple Thanks Cards

 Whether it's for a child or parent to give to a nurse, doctor, volunteer, or other staff, there is always a need for Thank You Cards at Send A Smile 4 Kids.  

Here are three cards I've made using the same Thanks die.

 

(Car and sentiment stamps, and car die are from Sweet n Sassy)

(Ladybug is a colored digi from DeeDee's Digis.)

 

(Snail is also a colored digi from DeeDee's Digis.  Isn't that patterned paper pretty? And I just had to give the little guy some googly eyes when I accidently cut off his eyes when fussy cutting.)

 

I'll be entering the last card in the following Challenges: 

Crafty Hazelnut's August Patterned Paper Challenge - AG with patterned paper ; Aud Sentiments Challenge #258 - AG + a Sentiment ; Creative Knockouts Challenge #364 - Something to Say ; Digi Choosday Challenge Week #33 - AG ; Through the Craft Room Door Challenge Week of August 18th - AG ; Jan's Digi Stamps August Challenge - AG

Birthday Birds

 These three birthday cards are made from a partial sheet of paper I came across yesterday, some die cuts, some fussy cutting, a bit of stamping, and washi tape.

Challenges:

613 Avenue Create August Challenge - AG, option: washi tape;  Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday August Challenge - AG; Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Oh So Cute; Crafting Happiness Challenge #62 - AG; The Crafter's Cafe Challenge # 249 - Dots/Stripes; Love to Scrap Challenge #136 - For the Kids; AAA Birthday Card Challenge Game #16 - Tic Tac Toe (diagonally bright, washi, patterned paper)

Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #568

 

Welcome to my blog, where I have
a new card to share with you each week for

Tuesday Morning Sketches 

Here's the sketch for this week and my card.

Birthday Fishes for my Brother-in-law

 I hope you'll play along at

Tuesday Morning Sketches 

this week. 

The Design Team would love it if you'd visit our blogs.

Andrea

Debbie 

Margreet

Melissa

 Patti

Tammy

You can be sure that one of us will be visiting yours!

Have a great and crafty day!

 

Challenges I am entering:

Cardz 4 Guyz Challenge #251 - Gone Fishing

Crafting Happiness Challenge #62 - AG

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - Mermaids and/or sea colors

Pattie's Creations Design Challenge #173 - Beach/Under the Sea

DLArt Thankful Thursday Challenge #265 - Birthday

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Midsummer Blues

The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - Masculine

AAA Birthday Challenge Game #16 - Tic Tac Toe (top row: Bright, Embossing, Masculine)

Double Trouble Challenge #64 - using the negative

This is my second card for the Double Trouble Challenge, using the negative from the first card.

The theme for the next two weeks at Double Trouble Challenge is Let's Brighten the Day.  Trouble Maker is requesting cards that might brighten someone's day even if the skies are gray.  Twisted Sister has asked for cards using gray and only 2 other colors.  And Double Dare has paired up the challenge with Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge.  (I copied and pasted that from the previous post.)

For this Thank You card I've used yellow and green as my 2 colors to go with the gray.

 This was actually harder than card #1 because of placing the tiny pieces, like the triangle above the T.

Challenges:

Double Trouble Challenge #64 - Brighten the Day; Gray + 2 colors: enter Color My Heart Color Dare

Color My Heart Color Dare #407 - Gray + 2 colors  

Double Trouble Challenge #64

The theme for the next two weeks at Double Trouble Challenge is Let's Brighten the Day.  Trouble Maker is requesting cards that might brighten someone's day even if the skies are gray.  Twisted Sister has asked for cards using gray and only 2 other colors.  And Double Dare has paired up the challenge with Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge.  Keeping these in mind, I've made this Thank You card. 

 I've always liked to combine pink, navy and gray.

Stamps are from CTMH.  The die was an inexpensive die from AliExpress.

 

Challenges:

Double Trouble Challenge #64 - Brighten the Day; Gray + 2 colors: enter Color My Heart Color Dare

Color My Heart Color Dare #407 - Gray + 2 colors  

Sympathy Card

 My mother called earlier and said she needed a sympathy card.

Gee.  Make a card or do housework?

Easy decision!

Actually, I cased one of the cards from the Stampin Up catalog, with a few additions and modifications. Two flowers are totally die cuts.  The middle flower is stamped, then die cut, then sponged around the edge. 

And here is the inside:

 

Challenges I am entering today:

As You Like It Challenge - Favorite color to pair with pink (I love dark green with pink, it really makes the pink pop!); Aud Sentiments Challenge #257 - AG with a sentiment; Creative Knockouts Challenge - Finish the Inside; Through the Craft Room Door Week of Aug 11th - AG; Die Cut Divas August Challenge - AG; Just Add Ink Challenge #518 - Just add "T" (I added twine and lots of texture.)

I think I'll save that housework for another day and make chocolate chip cookies instead.

Thanks for visiting.

Have a good one!

Minecraft Creeper Birthday Card

Last week, when we had no electricity, the little boy next door had these little figurines all lined up around their picnic table.  His parents were busy cleaning up debris from the storm.  Not knowing what he was playing with, nosy neighbor (that would be me) decided to investigate.  The little figurines were all characters from Minecraft, a computer game the kids enjoy playing.  Brantley explained, in detail, who each character was and what they did.  I still don't quite understand where the 3 black spiders figure into the game or if they were additions Bradley had made.

Why am I telling you all this?  Because Brantley is celebrating his 6th birthday on Saturday and I've made him this card using the Minecraft character Creeper.

This is actually the inside.  The sentiment is a sticker.  I used the edge of the sticker sheet to cut the black squares for Creeper's features.

I saw a similar card on Pinterest but could not find any instructions.  It took several mistakes, a few pieces of paper, and quite a bit of engineering before I came up with a plan.  It's basically a step card with a few modifications.  Here is the rudimentary diagram I made and followed.

 

This is the front of the card, also using the Minecraft Creeper theme:

 I cut the center out of the white piece with a blade and scissors before I dry embossed it.  The stamps are from MFT and the "6" was cut on the cricut with the CTMH Artbooking cartridge.

 

Challenges:

Scor-Pal More Than One Score August Challenge #73 - Birthday; Mix It Up Challenge #40 - AG and embossing; Love to Scrap Challenge #136 - For the Kids; Allsorts Challenge Week 583/54 - Masculine; Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Green Thumb (using the color green and a CTMH cricut cartridge); Crafting Happiness Challenge #61 - AG; Through the Craft Room Door Challenge Week of August 11th - AG; Ike's World Challenge #135 - 3 of a Kind (3 square embellishments); The Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - Masculine;  AAA Birthday Challenge Game #16 - Tic Tac Toe (using the top line, bright, embossing, and masculine).

 

 

Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #567

Welcome to my blog, where I have
a new card to share with you each week for

Tuesday Morning Sketches 

Here's the sketch for this week and my card.

The stamp is from Stampin' Up and the stripes are washi tape.

My older brother will be 70 in September.  I'm thinking I might cut out a seven and a zero, add them to this card, and send it off to him. Works for me!

 I hope you'll play along at

Tuesday Morning Sketches 

this week. 

The Design Team would love it if you'd visit our blogs.

Andrea

Debbie 

Margreet

Melissa

 Patti

Tammy

You can be sure that one of us will be visiting yours!

Have a great and crafty day!

Dog Days of Summer: Double Trouble Challenge #63

 We've certainly had a few of those hot and humid days, also known as the Dog Days of Summer, lately!  That's the theme for the current Double Trouble Challenge.   For Thing #1 there is some dry embossing; For Thing #3 I've included a dog; and I've accepted the Double Dare of Thing #2 by also entering the challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies. 

 

 

I've used the sketch from Sketch Saturday Challenge week #622 

 

and a digi image, Summer Dog Pool, from Bugaboo Stamps, colored with markers and pencils and fussycut.  Besides the embossed clouds, I added a bit of blue watercolor to the sky.  The sentiment is a CTMH stamp.

 

Thanks for visiting.  Stay well.  Stay cool.  

 

Challenges I am entering:

Sketch Saturday Challenge week #622  - see sketch above;  Double Trouble Challenge #63 - Dog Days of Summer;  2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #41 - AG with a Critter;  Catch the Bug Challenge - End of Summer;  As You Like It Challenge - Favorite Cats or Dogs (Dogs are more loyal, cats do whatever they want.);  Bastel-traum Challenge #91 - AG;  Let's Craft and Create Challenge #162 - Lots of Layers;  Di's Digi Challenge - Cute and Cuddly Animals; Allsorts Challenge week 58354 - Masculine

 

Did I buy this stamp?

Did you ever go through your stash and discover a stamp set of unknown origin? As usual, I had a few die cut leftovers from my previous card.  Actually, they were rejects.  I cut them and then decided not to use them.  Instead, I found a home for them on this card but I needed the right stamp.   And this flower, from a Bo Bunny stamp set that I don't even remember having, turned out to be perfect.

I stamped the flowers on gold card stock and then tipped the edges with gold Wink of Stella before fussy cutting two of them, one for the bottom and one to pop on top.    I added the tiny twine bow, which I never would have been able to tie without my Craft-Dee Bowz maker.  Since I had embossed the background already I didn't know what to do about adding a sentiment.  I pulled out my little Taylored Expressions sentiment stamps and carefully added the Happy Birthday.  I can't believe I got it straight.

Challenges:

A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge #120 - AG

A Perfect Time to Craft Challenge - AG

Craft-Dee Bowz Challenge - AG

 

Die Cut Divas Challenge - Flowers (The frame die came from ebay, the ribbon die is a mystery)

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #162 - AG + Lots of Layers

Aud Sentiments Challenge #257 - AG + a sentiment

Craft Rocket Challenge #73 - Birthday 

 

That's it for this beautiful, sunny, Sunday!

Thanks for stopping by!  

Crafting without electricity

Good afternoon my crafty visitors.  

My apologies for being MIA the last few days.  

On Tuesday morning I stepped off the bottom step into our family room and got a very wet foot.  Here, in southeast Pennsylvania, we caught the back end of Tropical Storm Isaias.  First came the rain, lots of rain!  I spent the next hour or so in the crawl space vacuuming up as much water as possible before any more could seep into the family room carpet.  Finally the rain stopped, then the winds came and the power went.  We were lucky not to lose any trees, but many of our neighbors did.  I've never seen so many huge trees uprooted, and leaning on house roofs, stripping wires as they fell.  Our electricity was restored Thursday night after 52 hours without.  Again, we were lucky because many in the area still are powerless.

What crafty mischief did I get into while we had no power?  I went through my Christmas stash, set aside lots of paper, stamps and accessories to donate to the Lancaster Creative Reuse Store, created a stack of card fronts that I'll finish for Send a Smile 4 Kids and started making my Christmas cards.  

Yesterday was spent trying to return my house to normal.  Collecting refrigerated and frozen items from my mother's house, shopping for things I had to toss out, doing laundry, running the dishwasher, etc.  At one point I just needed to take a breather and relax.  What better way to do that than by stamping an image, getting out the colored pencils, and coloring.  I needed a birthday card anyway!

 

(Stamps were from a Crafters Companion set that came free in one of my magazines.)

Before we head out to my grandson's baseball game, I'd like to enter a few of my favorite challenges:

 Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday August Challenge - Something beginning with "b" (birds, blue, birthday)

Seize the Birthday August Challenge - Tic, Tac, Toe (top row, middle column)

 Craft Rocket Challenge #73 - Birthday

Aud Sentiments Challenge #257 - AG + a sentiment

Digi Doodle Studio Challenge #30 - Things with Wings