Now and Forever

Here is the second card I have made for a card element swap.  If you missed the first card, you can see it here.  The element I received was a lovely large watercolor heart.  Because the heart measures about 4.5" long, I decided a  5" square card would be perfect.  But what to do then.... 

After thirty minutes of sorting through paper and card stock, I finally settled on these colors and the simple layout.  I didn't want too much background or design and thought the pink and blue papers and matching twine brought out the colors of the heart.   Don't you think the casual and clever 'now and forever' sentiment from Paper Smooches go with the quirky heart?

Today is Monday and the sun is shining!  yay!  Have a great week,

Kathy

Deepest Sympathy and Card Swap

This week I have been working on card swap elements.  Each participant sends a few elements of a card to other participants and then we are to create a card using those bits and pieces. 

Here is one of my finished cards.  I saw a similar card on Pinterest and loved the simplicity of the layout. 

 

And here is a picture of the pieces I received.  Using a couple different inks,  I sponged the autumn colors on the leaves.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

I'm entering this card in the Paper Smooches November Challenge

The challenge is to use gold on the card.  The little gold sequins add just a touch of gold and finish the card nicely.

Almost the weekend.  We are to get a lot of rain so I'll probably have time to work on the last swap card.

Take care,

Kathy

Warmest Wishes & Christmas Cheer

Isn't this a nice sentiment?  warmest wishes & Christmas cheer - love it.  And such perfect thoughts to put on a tag for a holiday wine gift!

The red plaid card stock is from my box of scraps.  This tag measures about 2 1/2" x 7" so not much paper or card stock was needed.   After cutting the tag, I ran the card stock through my Big Shot using a scalloped circle to make the hole for the wine bottle.  Then I added a pretty green ribbon and bow to the sentiment tag.  We always spend Christmas at a family member's house so this tag will go on a lovely bottle of wine for the hostess.

The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions "Big Bold Christmas" stamp set.

This cheery tag will be posted to Taylored Expressions Share Joy Challenge and Christmas Card Challenges Anything Goes 

      

The last week of the month is usually kind of slow for me and I have no appointments or meetings this week -- plenty of time to spend in my cave.  Have a great week! 

Kathy

First Christmas Card

Oh my - my first Christmas card of 2015.  Last year I participated in a weekly Christmas challenge, but I knew I would not have time this year and I have missed it.  So I thought I had better get started.

I wanted to enter the Can You Case It Challenge and Christmas Card Challenges -- two challenges with one card.  Fun!!

               



Here are three pictures of my card.  Love the Santa and folded card.  I will be making more of these to send to family and friends.  Wish I had saved the website with the card tutorial, but there are several available on the Internet or on Pinterest. 

Sorry about the blurry picture. 

Have a great weekend!
Kathy

Paper Smooches Anything Goes

While going through Pinterest the other day,  I came upon this cute gift card holder.  I just purchased an envelope punch board and thought this card would be a perfect first project -- and I love the punch board!  Really easy to use with great directions, too.

So, I'll be posting the gift card holder to the Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge this week.

 

The little birdie, notes and 'how tweet of you' are from Paper Smooches My Peeps stamp set.  I added a little bling to the notes.  I just happen to have an i-tunes card to match the notes, too!

     

Thanks So Much

Love patriotic cards and colors.  Here is my creation for the Paper Smooches SPARKS August 2015 Designer Draft Challenge. 

Paper Smooches Stamps




Have a great weekend!
Kathy

CYCI 82

Can You Case It Challenge -- I came across this challenge site a couple weeks ago and thought I would give it a try.   I like following a sketch as it gives my brain a kick-start!

The challenge sketch is:    
 


and here is my card:

 I purchased this stamp set (Read Between the Lines from Sugar Pea Designs) a while back and have been meaning to use, but just have not.   But now that I have started, my creative thoughts are starting to flow!


Well, today is Thursday and preseason football tonight!!  Love football.  Must be my fond memories of watching the Green Bay Packers with my Dad.

Have a great end of the week and weekend!

Kathy

Late, again

With all my good intentions, I still have managed to miss a few birthdays.  So I'm catching up on one today!

You'll notice I changed the sentiment  "Sorry   I   we missed your birthday."  I may have a stamp with 'we' on it, but I wanted to use a sort of big stamp to fit into this punched over-sized balloon (the stamp has a smaller balloon, but I wanted a larger balloon to fill the top white space).  These little creatures crack me up and I love stamping with them.

I added a little bling to the white background.  I think the little 4 year old girl will like it.   ;')


The stamps are all Paper Smooches and I'll be posting this card to the Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge. 













Paper Smooches Stamps


Have a great week!
Kathy

Thanks so much

Guess I still have the 4th of July spirit!  Recently I went to a craft show and picked up small paper packs.  One was full of patriotic, red, white and blue papers and I selected one from the pack for this card.

After stamping the sentiment (from PS Salutations) in red on a white piece of card stock, I dry embossed the piece.  Then I placed the top and bottom together and added a blue ribbon and three foil stars.

The little bird is from PS My Peeps stamp set.  The little guy is stamped in black, colored with red and blue and a pale skin and yellow and then I 'fuzzy' cut the bird and tacked to the top of the card. 



Simple and cute.  Hope you like it.

Stamps are from Paper Smooches store.
I'll be posting this card to Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge 
and Time Out Challenges.

 

It's Thursday.  Almost Friday -- have a great weekend!

Deepest Sympathy

Sadly, we seem to need sympathy cards more this year than ever.  So, with some of my favorite colors -- so soothing  -- I created this sympathy card using pretty paper in my stash and Paper Smooches stamps.  I punched out the butterflies and added a few pearls. 

I'll post this card to the Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge


Take care,
Kathy

Happy Birthday to the Golf Nut

A quick post today to show you the birthday card I made for the golf nut in our family.  This card is based on another card I saw on Pinterest with just a few changes.

The basic card is dark green with a light blue piece for the sky with rolling greens in bright green, of course, and a embossed golf ball with dimples.  The left corner has a bright light green button and twine.

A simple and easy card to make - perfect for the golfer!


Have a great day,
Kathy

Congratulations

Graduation time is almost over, but I needed one last card.  Everyone loves the smiley face so I thought I would make a look-alike of a card I saw at the post office.  Sometimes they have some really great ideas!

I punched a yellow cirlce and drew the smile with a Copic pen (actually traced around the bottom half of a smaller circle).  They eyes are a cute little stamp from Technique Tuesday's Simple Sentiments.  The congratulations sentiment is from Paper Smooches Word Up set -- these are my two favorite stamp sets. 

Then I cut out a cap and twirled a length of twine for the tassel.

My first card was just the smiley face, cap and tassel on a white card.  It is okay, but needed something.  Hence the background paper of teeny tiny colored dots.  I think the patterned  paper adds a little depth and the smiley face pops.

The second card will be posted to Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenges Blog -
Anything Goes

Paper Smooches SPARKS

Catching Up

Time surely flies.  I've been rather busy, but I have been making cards - just not for challenges or posting the cards here.  So, I'll play catch up now.  Below are a few cards I've made in the last several weeks.

A bright colorful gift card holder for Mother's Day:

Hope your Birthday is a Hoot!

White embossing with sponged inks - love these colors!

Happy birthday Father

Hope all is well with you,
Kathy

And more flower pot cards

Can't stop making these flower pot cards.  Everyone in my family may get one for their birthday!

This card has some Fallish colors and I have just the right person to send it to!  Might even be a good one to send at Thanksgiving.  Yay!


Take care,
Kathy

Flower Pot Card

Hi everyone - 

Here's another flower pot card.  I'm on a roll.  Love this color combination.

My last posting was also a flower pot card.  Such perfect cards for Mother's Day, birthday, or get well. 


Take care,
Kathy

Spring?

Gosh, I hope Spring is here!  I am ready for green grass, warmer weather and no snow and flowers!

In anticipation of flowers, I made this flower pot card.  So cute.  Love making these cards. Did you notice the little lady bug?

Perfect card for Mother's Day or to cheer up someone when they are down.  Nice and bright and cheery.


Have a great week,
Kathy

A Little Bit of Sunshine

We haven't had much sun lately so when I received this stamp from Technique Tuesday - Greenhouse Society I thought of spring and sun!  I love daffodils.  We have a lot of daffodils planted in our backyard - probably fifty or so different varieties.  Spring is such a pleasure to walk around the backyard and look at all the beauty in the different daffodils.

This stamp is perfect for a watercolor flower.  Besides being delicate and pretty, the flower itself lends itself for watercolor.

Very plain and simple.  I think I will try it on a green card stock that matches the leaves in color.

 

Entering this card in the Cas-ual Fridays Challenge

Have a great week!
Kathy

Card Swap #4

Round 4 of the card swap has started.  We are to send three people elements of a card (2-4 pieces).  Deciding what to send is probably more challenging than making a card with the elements I receive from three people.  So I went to Pinterest for inspiration.

Just last week I purchased a tag die set from Paper Smooches so I knew I wanted to use a tag as one of the elements.  So I selected a piece of card stock (small chevrons) to go with the graph paper tag.  Then I punched out five small pieces (dots and flowers) in similar colors.  I forgot to take a picture before I put my card together and before I mailed my card elements to the other players.

Here's my finished card.  I added some burlap looking ribbon and a sentiment (also from PS).  The layout is based on a card I saw on Pinterest which was done in red, white and blue paper, white and blue stars and red ribbon.

Thanks so much card will be posted to the Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge.

http://www.papersmoochesstamps.com/

Happy Sunday,
Kathy

Many Miles Away

While looking for my beach stamps, I came across this coffee cup stamp.  I lost this stamp a while ago, panicked when I couldn't find it and quickly contacted My Creative Time to see if they still sold the stamp.  The stamp is part of a set and not sold separately.  I must have sounded pitiful cause Emma at My Creative Time was willing to part with her own stamp to help me out.  Thankfully, I found the coffee cup stamp clinging to the back of another set.

I found two other stamps I have not used yet.  The 'hello' is from Altenew's Just Wanted To Say Hello set.  I picked this up just a few weeks ago at the local stamp shop.  The other stamp is the verse inside the card.  This stamp is from Clearly Wordsworth.  Are they still in business?  The stamp set is all yellowed and kind of sticky, but the stamp worked okay.

My sister is miles away so I think I will make a similar card for her -- change the hello to something with sister but keep the sentiment.  I chose this sentiment cause it is different and sweet.

 

Entering this card in the My Creative Time Designer Challenge

 

Ok, that's it for now.  Tomorrow I start my flower pot cards.  Love 'em.

take care,

Kathy

Ahoy

February is almost here and then March and then April....  YAY!  I'm already tired of the cold and snow.  So, I'm thinking of warmer weather,  the beach and flowers.  So for the next week I will be making beachy cards and flower pot cards.  Can't wait.

Here is the first beachy card.  A world map in the background, compass and little flag with waves and AHOY!  You can't really see it, but the compass is stamped beneath the raised cutout compass.

Entering this card in the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

Take care,

Kathy