Let's Walk

Last month the Words to Scrap By challenge was in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.  We loved seeing all the wonderful entries.  This month we're celebrating Movember--a global charity committed to men living happier, healthier, longer lives.  I was recently inspired by Judy's card, so pulled out the darling Penny Black stamp--sunshine in the rain.  

The paper piecing & frame are done with some MME papers I thought worked for my masculine bear.  I did a bit of coloring with markers, too.  Tiny flower punches worked to cover up an oops, thank goodness--haha!  I die cut the frame using Lil' Inker stitched rectangles, mounted it with foam tape & added Stickles to the raindrops.  My favorite little Teresa Collins stickers make the sentiment. Walking is good exercise, so grab your galoches & Lets' Walk!  Hope you'll play along in our challenge this month: Changing the Face of Men's Health.

Thankful

Getting in under the wire for some challenges & both cards have a thankful theme so I'm putting them in one post.
First up is my card for the Ellen Hutson Pin-Sights challenge.  The Classroom has tons of tutorials & the latest one showing a background done with Alcohol Inks mesmerized me! I have at least 9 bottles of the inks so picked out Lettuce, Butterscotch & Cranberry to use for Fall colors inspired by the photo.  Once again, no luck getting a usable background, but knew it'd work to die cut the EH Bold Blossoms--the only EH product I own right now.  

I used my Versamark pen & clear embossing powder for the uneven lines on the card front which I thought would work with the design of the flowers.  The bottom of the panel was cut at an angle & splattered with Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate resulting in dots with shimmer.  Not sure if other company stamps are allowed, so I used Cosmo Cricket stickers for the sentiment. The panel is mounted with foam tape & tiny brown pearls are the embellishment. I'm also entering SSS Monday Throwback (Nov. 11, 2013 Got Ink?), SSS Wednesday Anything Goes & The Kraft Journal CAS Thanksgiving (this card is going to a blogging friend at Thanksgiving with the inside message being that I'm thankful for their friendship). Long post--thanks for sticking with me.  

My other card is for several challenges: Twofers--Blue, Green & Yellow, Muse--inspired by the layout & CAS-ual Fridays--Tic Tac Toe bottom horizontal row--too late to link up, unfortunately & SSS Work It Wednesday--use a stamp. I'm seriously in love with using Perfect Pearls on a blended ink panel so that's what I did again. The gorgeous wheat image is CAS-ual Fridays & I heat embossed it with Zing! Mustard powder. Distress Inks weathered wood, broken china, bundled sage & peeled paint were used for the blended panel. Sparkle is subtle as I used Distress Stickles Scattered Straw on the wheat & a single gem. The sentiment from PTI Take Three Fall is stamped in broken china.  
I have to work this weekend, so hopefully the wind & rain calms down while I'm driving.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Christmas Magic

I was playing around watercoloring with Distress Inks chipped sapphire, faded jeans & weathered wood on a card front I'd dry embossed. Figured it'd go in the trash, but left it on the table. A few days later I decided to see if I could make use of it for another entry into the Impression Obsession Challenge--Feeling Blue?  I die cut 3 of the largest tree from Fir Trees, DIE084-V, sponged them with the same Distress Inks & brushed on Shimmer Spritz Sparkle.  That lightened the trees a little too much, so I watercolored over the shimmer with chipped sapphire which didn't diminish the sparkle at all. The IO sentiment, B3585, was stamped in chipped sapphire & trimmed into a flag which I mounted with foam tape.  This may end up being hubby's Christmas card.  I'm also entering Pixies Snippets Playground Week 200 & SSS Wednesday. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Give Thanks

I'm glad we have the Thanksgiving holiday. Sometimes things aren't what we'd like them to be, but then I'm reminded how lucky I am.  Right now I know of several friends & family members with big hurdles & suffering in their lives.  My card uses the PTI MIM technique of Pearlized Blending shown in Lizzie's video.  I brown embossed the trees from PTI Through the Trees & then masked off a strip.  The ink blending was done with PTI Terracotta Tile, Summer Sunrise & Harvest Gold and I brushed on some old powder called Powdered Pearls, silver--basically the same as Perfect Pearls.  The sentiment is 2 of the stamps in PTI Take Three Fall.  I have to force myself not to use splatters on every card, haha--but this one just had to have them!  I grounded the trees with a strip of Terracotta Tile cardstock & the panel is mounted to a kraft card with foam tape.  I'm also entering challenges at The Kraft Journal & SSS Wednesday.  I only mailed a few Halloween cards, but it cost me an arm & a leg, so I'm working hard to make cards that don't require extra postage. Glad to have one more done...and I like it! 

Foiled Pumpkins Again

One more Halloween card inspired by the MFT sketch challenge & Cuttlebug Mania: Black & Orange (I use a Big Shot). Love that pumpkin foil used on MFT Primitive Pumpkins dies cut from self-adhesive fun foam. This time I also brushed them with MFT Glitter Glaze. I used a scrap of textured black cardstock for the MFT Dizzy Doily & a scrap of white for the MFT Fishtail Flag sentiment strip.  The random dots embossing folder is one of my most recent finds. I stamped the sentiment from the Primitive Pumpkins stamp set using Distress Ink dusty concord & embellished the pumpkins with little purple pearls. Finished off with some tiny black gems.  I'm also entering at Pixies Snippets Playground Week 200. 

Elegant Halloween

I do love elegant cards, even for Halloween, so this was really fun to put together.  I started by using my newest stencil, the concentric circles by MFT. Finally remembered to use the technique of inking a stencil (Memento gray & black), spritzing & then laying it on the cardstock.  For this card I randomly wiped off some of the ink before laying it on the cardstock.  The stitching is done with Lil' Inker stitched rectangles.  I black embossed the Memory Box sentiment at the bottom of the panel. The MFT Primitive Pumpkins were die cut from self-adhesive fun foam & then covered with Elizabeth Craft Cool Highlight glitter.  It's the glitter that becomes super smooth & shiny when burnished--really beautiful! Behind the pumpkins is the MFT Elegant Scrollwork die cut.  I attached the panel to the card with foam tape. Here are the challenges I'm entering: Memory Box #5 (black & white), Freshly Made Sketches, Verve October Challenge (black, white & glam) & CAS-ual Chic #4 (stenciling, die cutting, embossing). Thanks so much for stopping by.

Papertrey October Blog Hop Challenge

Hurrah--it's PTI Blog Hop day!  I intended to get my card made ahead of time, but didn't work out that way.  Decided to make my cards for PTI Blog Hop & PTI Make It Monday to go in the same post.  Rainy, windy day, so perfect for cardmaking.

I'll start with my card for the hop which was inspired by the traditional colors of red, green & white and especially the beautiful ornament in the inspiration photo.  I love PTI Snowflake Flurries--beautiful, festive images that look great in any color & don't necessarily have to be snowflakes.  

Simple stamping in Brilliance red & green inks resulted in a one layer CAS card. I did add Frosted Lace Stickles to the red centers & the beautiful textured ribbon does keep it from being flat, but I think it's worth it.  
I'll add my card to the gallery at the One Layer Christmas Card Challenge, Rudolph Days & Happy Little Stampers sketch.
Next is my card for MIM.  I really struggled to come up with something for a stamped focal point like Lexi showed in her great video.  I need a thank you card & I've been having such fun making Fall cards, so went that direction.  Again I picked a favorite PTI stamp set, Harvest Berries & used a sentiment from Friendly Flowers for the first time. Actually, I may not have used the small leaves image before either.  I've been having fun trying out the PTI cardstock colors with the sampler pack. This is my first time to use Fine Linen--a great color for Fall cards.  

I began with the sentiment & fit the leaves & berries around the letters. "Thanks" is stamped in Canyon Clay & again without re-inking for a subtle shadow affect. The leaves are stamped with Simply Chartreuse & Ripe Avocado using the rock and roll technique & the berries are stamped with Summer Sunrise. PTI Linen/Canvas Impression Plate adds texture to another one layer card.  

Lots of inspiration in the galleries--thanks for taking time to see my cards.  I'll also enter my second card at SSS Work It Wednesday.

Boo!

I don't make a lot of Halloween cards, but so many fun photos for inspiration in Blogland right now.  Great chance to use the wonderful MFT stamp set & dies called Primitive Pumpkins. The other MFT products are Diamond & Dots Border, Fishtail Flags & Fancy Flourish. The flourish die cut is covered with Rock Candy glitter & the gems were in the 1/2 off bin last year at Halloween.  I used VersaMagic Persimmon for the orange. Here's the list of challenges I'm entering:  MFT Sketch 251, The Challenge 47, Curtain Call & Time Out 42. Thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog.
Edited to add: Also entering SSS Work It Wednesday since I used 2 sentiment stamps.

Warm Wishes for Fall

I love Fall with the cooler temps & changing leaves.  The evergreens in Oregon combined with the leaves makes for gorgeous scenery! That was my inspiration for this card which I'm entering in the SSS Flickr Challenge #30 Fallin' For Fall & Inkspirational Word Prompt-Glow.  The colors of changing leaves were sponged onto a small panel using Distress Inks ripe persimmon, spiced marmalade, dried marigold & frayed burlap.  

Then I sprayed it with Tattered Angels Irridescent Gold & glued on the little SSS die cut trees.  Three strands of twine were braided & attached across the bottom of the panel before mounting it to the card front with foam tape.  The sentiment from SSS Warm Wishes was stamped in Distress Ink vintage photo.  I finished off with little bronze square stickers across the top.  Think this will go to a friend for Thanksgiving.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blue Christmas

I like all kinds of color combos for Christmas cards & I love poinsettias, including this beautiful image (H8301) by Impression Obsession.  Decided to use it for the new challenge, Feeling Blue?

I began by heat embossing the full poinsettia & just the center on watercolor paper.  Then I colored the piece using the smooshing technique with Distress Inks chipped sapphire, faded jeans & weathered wood and fussy cut the images. I spritzed them with Glitter Dust, added silver beads to the center & mounted it to the full flower with foam tape.  

The card front was stamped in the same 3 inks using IO CAC spatter.  I turned the stamp each time before going to the next color & this is the result. Looks neat, I think. The IO sentiment (B8767) was stamped in chipped sapphire on a white strip attached to the front.  I lightly bent up the petals before attaching the poinsettia with foam tape. Finished off with some PPP Sparkling Clear sequins. I'd love to make these in several colors, except for the fussy cutting--haha!  I'm also entering for fun at Pixies Snippets Playground. We're having lovely Fall weather--great for walking Fritz.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Edited to add: Just realized my card works for the Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers, so this will be my first time entering one of their challenges.