Birthday Card for a Guy

My brother-in-law is about to have a birthday. He loves the outdoors, so thought I'd use this beautiful stamp by ODBD for his card this year. Found the perfect gift for him when we were at the coast--a really neat fish windsock! The current ODBD challenge is sponging or stencils. As you can see, I went back to one of my favorite techniques--emboss resist.  The image was black embossed & then I sponged on Distress Ink salty ocean, mowed lawn & pumice stone, using the new mini tool that I bought with a coupon weeks ago.  I hand cut the image a bit smaller than the blue mat which was cut with Spellbinders Curved Rectangle. The edges of the sponged image & sentiment (also ODBD) panels are black embossed. Now I'm wishing the water splotches were smaller--next time--LOL! Finally opened my bottle of Goosebumps texture spray & used it on the scene--really a nice effect in person.  The card front has stitching from Lil' Inkers & is embossed with a Tim Holtz folder.  SSS Wed is Anything Goes, so I'll enter there.  Since only the card itself was cut from a whole piece of cardstock, I'll take this over to Pixies Snippets Playground.  SSS Work it Wed theme is to use blue, so I'll add my card there. Hard to believe it's already August, although our weather has felt like August for weeks--LOL! Thanks for your visit which I always appreciate.

Birthday Card

I haven't kept up with the MFT weekly sketch challenges, but there's still time for me to reach my goal of entering more than I did last year.  I love this week's sketch & managed to get a card done while hubby went grocery shopping (his job since he retired) & Puppy Fritz was napping. 
I used the current MFT color palette & made it a birthday card which qualifies this week for Merry Monday because they're celebrating LeAnne's birthday. Finally had a chance to try out my friend Rosemary's partial embossing technique on the card front--love it! I like the look of the MFT Dizzy Doily die cut with the little pieces left in place--hadn't done that before. The floss threaded through the button was colored with the same Adirondak ink I used for the sentiment which is from MFT Peaceful Wildflowers. I made the wavy square using MFT Wavy Edge die, the flowers are Layered Rose & the leaves are Royal Leaves.  

Took me awhile to figure out what elements to use for each of the colors, but in the end I went with my first thought which was to make a flower with MFT Blu Raspberry & Sno Cone felt. Finished off with Doodlebug white dots. I'm also entering at Pixies Snippets Playground since I used scraps for everything but the card itself. The partial embossing lets me also enter at SSS Wed. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by--I know there are so many blogs & only so much time! 
    

Cool Winter Wishes

Quick post as I'm late to bed, but didn't want to miss the Merry Monday & Freshly Made Sketches challenges. Finally cut into this beautiful pink snowflake paper I've had for years & used my MFT snowflake dies & Nightshift Blue felt for the first time, as well as the Inkadinkado flourish stamp. I added Stickles to the larger snowflake & the dots on the printed paper.  
The stitching is provided by Lil' Inkers dies & the sentiment is by Rubber Soul.  The 2 strips are stamped in Distress Ink chipped sapphire, as is the sentiment. The dot stamp is by Hero Arts.  I don't use a lot of buttons, but I do like this pearly one in the center of the snowflakes. Fortunately, Merry Monday allows twine or ribbon to be used. The dark blue is really pretty in person, even though it looks black in the picture.  
Christmas are my favorite cards to make & I had fun putting this one together.  I'll also enter at the City Crafter Blog where the theme is Christmas in July. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Just Dandy

We live in a great location where we can get to the beach or the mountains in an hour or 2.  We hadn't camped at the beach for several years & we were ready for some cooler temperatures.  The weather was great--mostly sun & clouds without too much wind & it only rained one night & morning.  Hubby wanted Fritz to experience the ocean & sand so we went to an area where there's a bay resulting in smaller waves.  As you can see, Fritz had a ball trying to figure out the waves!  

PTI Photo Inspiration

After Fritz went to bed last night, I made this simple little card for the PTI Blog Hop.  My sweet friend Robin gave me this beautiful die cut & the little wooden bird. They worked perfectly for my take on the inspiration photo. The flowers from Tag-Its #3 were white embossed, colored with a Copic marker & embellished with tiny pearls. I used my trusty white gel pen to add the dots. The die cut is popped up on the dry embossed card front.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.  
Lots of laundry, so I better get to it since I work the weekend.  Enjoy the hop & thanks for taking time to visit my blog.

Love

I posted my patriotic ODBD project for the last challenge, so when sat down to make something for the current red, white & blue challenge my mind was a blank.  I saw my PTI medallion cards on the table--such a fun technique--may as well do another one! I used 2 of my newest ODBD stamp sets: Three Butterflies & Let Us Begin.  I inked the small end of the image in Memento Love Letter & Teal Zeal. Stickles was added to the butterflies, the corners of the panel were trimmed & the edges were inked.  I cut 4 corners using Spellbinders Parisian Motifs & inked them with Teal Zeal.  The panel was popped up on a slightly smaller square card.  The quote is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, matted & popped up.  Different looking card, but I think it will work to go to a blogging friend with one of my RAK packages.  May be a stretch, but there are dots in the flourishes & quote, so I'm entering at SSS Wednesday. Thanks so much for taking time to leave me a comment.

Rainbow Medallions #2

I came up with another card for the PTI MIM challenge.  This time I used an image from Quilled Elegance & 4 PTI inks: Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise & Limeade Ice.  I sponged on a bit of the ink & added a tiny pearl to each image.  The center is die cut & the panel is popped up over a circle card with the sentiment from Lovely Layers stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black.
This year our Gravenstein apple tree is loaded!  I've already given a sack full to my neighbor.  It's a lot of work to core, peel & slice them, but I did manage to get an apple crisp made--one of hubby's favorite desserts.  I love using the antique bowls that were my grandmother's.  Thanks for stopping by my blog--I always appreciate your visit.

Rainbow Medallion

We have air conditioning, but none of us had much energy today, including Puppy Fritz. Since he was napping, I sat down & played with stamps & inks to make a card for PTI MIM. If you haven't seen the video, check it out.  I ended up with a rather graphic medallion using an image from PTI Tiny Tags. The inks are PTI--Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores, Limeade Ice, Harvest Gold, Recollections-- Seafoam & Memento--Lulu Lavender, Summer Sky, Angel Pink.  The sentiment is from the same set & is stamped in Versafine Smokey Gray.  I added Stickles to the images & around the sentiment oval.  All my papers had been cut into, so I'll add this card to Pixies Snippets Playground. Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Pop-Up Die-Cutting

I checked the PTI MIM video a few days ago & finally finished up my card today.  I have a limited selection of PTI dies.  Marybeth's card using Lovely Layers is a knockout (as are ALL her cards!), so decided to see if I could come up with something else.  I've hardly used the Floral Foliage stamps & die & I need a friendship card. 

The colors for ColourQ stumped me all week, but thought they'd work using the tree.  I don't have SU inks, so used Memento Peanut Brittle & Potter's Clay.  Yes, I'm into splatters right now, so just had to add some with my water brush.  I used my paper trimmer to cut around the stamped sentiment & popped it up. Stickles add some sparkle to 3 large flowers & a bit of paper twine finish off my simple card. 

I'm anxious to use this technique with other dies. Perfect way to add some dimension to a card that has to be mailed. All the papers I used had been cut into, so will add this to Pixies Snippets Playground.  Also a final entry for SSS Monday. I've only entered once at Virginia's View, but this one works for her current challenge, so now I've entered twice.

Thanks so much for taking time to see what I made & leave a comment--always brightens my day!

Quick Card

I'm generally a pretty slow card maker--always the last to finish in a class.  But for some reason, I love doing the Hero Arts 90 minute scrambles & often come up with a card I really like!  I think it must be good for me not to have time to think too much & be so critical. Anyway, puppy Fritz is not a morning dog (which goes perfectly with his not a morning person momma--LOL) & was taking a nap yesterday when it was time for the scramble.  I actually finished & had my card posted in about 60 minutes & that's with my first idea for the stripes not working.  I used 2 HA stamps that hadn't seen ink in ages, so that felt really good.  So glad I had the right color of paper to do a monochromatic look with HA Tide Pool ink.  The stripes are white embossed & finally got to add ribbon with a bow to a card, which I love to do & hadn't in awhile.  The

white dots are done with my trusty white gel pen--uni-ball Signo broad.  The colored paper had already been cut into, so I'll add this to Pixies Snippets Playground.  Also entering at SSS Monday.  
We cooled off a bit today with clouds & thunderstorms so can give the air conditioner a break for a few hours. Fritz did great with our "homework" for tomorrow's class before it rained, so better go give him some playtime.  Thanks so much for stopping by my blog.

Coworker card

Boy are we having a heat wave! My friend, Martha, laughs at my definition of hot, but I'm sure I'll see Mona coming around the corner any minute--LOL! OK, it's not as hot as Phoenix, but when we're predicted to stay above 90 degrees for at least 7 days, that's hot around here! 
My favorite coworker is changing jobs & today was her last day at our office. Last night after Fritz went into his crate for bed, I set about making her a card.  I had checked the challenges at Freshly Made Sketches & Colour Me, so had an idea of what I wanted to do.  I found 2 pieces of printed paper in the right colors & used Lil' Inkers & MFT dies to cut them. MFT felt & rolled rose die made the embellishment. The sentiment is from MFT Peaceful Wildflowers & is stamped in Distress Ink dusty concord which I also splattered on the card front using my water brush. Super simple, but just couldn't get twine or ribbon to look right. Fortunately I had a purple gem that matched. I'm also entering at SSS Monday. Thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog.  I love reading your comments.

DeNami Christmas Card

I'm trying something new with Puppy Fritz, so I can have a bit of my life back while he's learning how to be a member of the family.  Instead of leaving him loose in the house all the time (except when we eat) with me following him around, I put him in his crate for 30-60 minutes & then open the door & repeat the process.  This way I will have some time to do what I need to or want to before 9pm when he goes to bed.  He does take naps off & on, but even then I have to be where I can see if he wakes up.  This should also help him learn that he won't be left for hours at a time in his crate, which we're sure he was up until we took him home. Anyway, I used the "me" time today to finally make a card so I could enter the current challenge at Merry Monday. Housework just has to wait--LOL!  All my stamps are DeNami & the inks are PTI New Leaf & Classic Kraft.  I stamped the window on vellum & again on white cardstock & fussy cut the flower box.  After stamping the leafy pick using second & third generation stamping, the cardstock flower box was glued in place. The valences are made with the smallest Spellbinder scalloped oval & are glued in place on the white cardstock panel before the vellum panel is attached over it.  I used a white gel pen & then Frosted Lace Stickles to add the look of frost or snow.  I purposely didn't use a traditional Christmas green, but now that I'm done, I'm afraid it isn't very Christmasy.  
Guess this will have to go to a blogging friend in the Southern Hemisphere.  All the papers were scraps, so I'll add this over at Pixies Snippets Playground.  I'm thinking this might qualify for SSS Monday since I started with just pieces of plain paper.
I appreciate everyone sticking with me as I try to catch up on leaving comments.  I just felt like I had to make something today or I'd go crazy!  Be assured, I've not forgotten you.
Fritz does make us laugh & I managed to capture one of the funny moments.  He took his big bone into one of the crates, burrowed under the blanket & proceeded to chew his bone.  
Finally a bit more of his head showed & I snapped this picture. We've started a class & he was very well-behaved the first night. Makes us hopeful that life will eventually get back to normal, more or less--LOL!

Happy Fourth of July!

Wishing all of you in the US a very happy 4th of July!  I made this wall-hanging several months ago but didn't post it, so thought I'd share it today.  The stamps are ODBD.  I cut apart a kraft bag & backed it with cardboard for stability.  The background is done with gesso, Heidi Swapp Color Shine Bronzer & a stencil with little stars.  I used white gesso & white embossing so will enter the challenge at SSS Monday.  Edited to add: Entering the birthday challenge at ODBD since this is celebrating our country's birthday.  

I'm glad not everyone wants to live in Oregon, but if they did I wouldn't be surprised! We just got back from a camping trip in the Columbia River Gorge.  We hadn't been there in years & it was wonderful to see that beautiful area again. I never tire of seeing the Cascade Mountains--this time it was Mt Hood & Mt. Adams.  The Gorge is known for the wind & people come from all over for sports like windsurfing & kitesurfing.  We saw license plates from as far away as Vermont & Wyoming at our campground.  2 days were actually very calm & we enjoyed taking day trips.  Here are a few pictures I thought you might enjoy.