Up North

My grandparents had a cottage "up north" when I was growing up. During the summer, we would drive through The Tunnel of Trees and take walks through the woods, finding fields of wildflowers and clovers. Our destination more often than not was The Big Rock in which the cousins would have contests to see who could climb it the fastest. I went back to the cottage after I was married to help my grandparents to pack up their belongings after selling the place: the Tunnel of Trees was still magnificent, the wildflowers and clovers still plentiful, but boy oh boy, how small that Big Rock looked!
Almost every one of the cards I make have some story behind them, it keeps me coming back to this time-consuming, money-hungry but absolutely self-satisfying, relaxing hobby of mine. This card uses colors from The Play Date Cafe, the sketch layout from Card Patterns and the theme of flowers from Pals Paper Arts.

Supplies Used: SU Perfect Plum and Very Vanilla Cardstock, CTMH Treasure Life Clear Stamp Set, For the Love of Dots Clear Stamp Set from Practicing Creativity Designs, SU Small Script Stamp Set, SU Pale Plum and Perfect Plum Pigment Ink, Colorbox Chalk Ink in Creamy Brown, Spellbinder Die Labels 8, Making Memories Vintage Findings Book Plate, Queen & Co. Pearls in Lavendar, SU Linen Thread, SU Corner Round Punch

Can it be Spring?

What a lovely weekend it was here in central Wisconsin. Pretty soon the boys will have the canoe out in our front yard again from all the snow that has melted (yep, serious, I'll have to post some pictures when the time comes!)

The of this card was inspired by Pals Paper Arts Spring Challenge and the colors were pulled from the Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World-loved the blues, melons, pinks and oranges. [Here's a shocker] I'm extremely proud to say that I did not follow any sketch layout-perhaps there is hope for me!

Supplies Used: Orange and Blue Cardstock from Recollections, You're Dandy Stamp Set from Practicing Creativity Designs, SU White Craft Ink, SU Chit Chat Rub-ons, Fiskars Scallop Border Punch, CM Circle Punch, Buttons

The Story of the Black Ribbon

As mentioned in a previous post, last weekend my dear uncle had his fiftieth birthday party. His sister, and my favorite aunt, wrapped his gift from my mother and her in newsprint and tied it with a lovely, wide satin black bow. He struggled to open the gift and GASP-he pulled out his pocket knife and cut this lovely ribbon! To all the crafty ladies' horror! My cousin and I quickly grabbed up the shreds from the paper pile and stashed it away. I knew that this coveted ribbon would be a perfect addition to a card for the Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge of Light and Dark Pink (with Black). The look I intended for this card was Classical Chic, with a flair of vintage. To counter balance the big, classy and bold ribbon, I took the background stamp, spritzed it with water, added watercolor crayons, spritzed again and stamped on Naturals White Paper. I finished with distressed edges and stitching-guess I just couldn't put the Sew Mini away.

Supplies Used: SU Naturals White, Black and Pretty in Pink Cardstock, SU Watercolor Crayons in Rose Red and Pretty in Pink, SU Medallion and Sweet Little Sentiments Stamp Set, Stazon Black Ink, SU Black Brad, Ranger's Mini Mister, SU Edge Distresser, CM Black Pen, Thread, and the Lovely Wide Wire Laced Black Ribbon from the Birthday Party

A Box of Chocolates + GIVEAWAY!!

Pals Paper Arts had a really super inspiration challenge this week! I took the general idea of the chocolate candy as well as the colors for the inspiration of this card. I created the sentiment digitally since I didn't have any stamped images in the theme or size I needed. What other saying is more famous for chocolates than the words of Forrest Gump himself?! And, I couldn't forget the second half of the saying and wanted to try my very first Outside/Inside card (for Moxie Fab's Start to Finish Challenge). My thoughts are that this card could be a "Thinking of You" in that it could be given to someone going through a rough time in their life trying to understand what to do next, or on the other end of the spectrum, a "Good Luck" kind of card for someone starting a new adventure.

Is anyone interested in the digital file of the sentiment?
Please email me your request and I kindly ask in return for you to credit my image if you use it on your cards and posting. The file will come in a pdf format available six up on an 8.5 x 11 sheet in two shades of brown (one equivalent to Stampin Up's Chocolate Chip), black, and red (equivalent to SU's Real Red) ready to be printed on your home printer.

Supplies Used: SU Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip Cardstock, SU DSP, SU Corduroy Brad, Fiskars Scallop Border Punch and Corner Rounder, White Ribbon, Dimensionals

Godspeed

When I saw the color challenge of Crushed Curry, Soft Suede and Old Olive at Pals Paper Arts I immediately thought of the military and yellow ribbon pin that my coworker wears every day in honor of her son who is based in Iraq for his second tour of duty. When my sons are old enough to make their own decisions on what to do with their life, I can't say that I will not be a nervous mother if they decide to join the military but I can say that I will be a very proud one. I respect all the soldiers who are fighting for me and my family's right to be free and I wish them godspeed this holiday season. I wanted to keep the design clean and simple (and with minimal layers) so that this can be mailed to to her son overseas with a care package full of cookies and books.

Here's the Goods: I didn't get any of the SU InColors this year, so my Crushed Curry color has been substituted with a mix of YoYo Yellow and More Mustard SU ink, and I used a rough Kraft paper and Distress Ink in Walnut Stain for the Soft Suede color. Old Olive SU Ink and VersaMark Ink, Blender Pen

Shimmery Snowmen in a Row

I don't often make handmade Christmas Cards but the few I do, I like to give to recipients that appreciate the work that go into them. Pals Paper Arts latest challenge gave me the inspiration to create something with a vintage, country feel and I'm hoping to send this out to a lover of all things country and primitive! I decided to pull out my first first stamp set and create a scene that gave me the opportunity to use the new Shimmer Paint from Stampin Up. I first stamped the snowmen, colored them in white with pencil, and painted the shimmer over. The bottom uses the snowflakes in both chalk ink and the shimmer paint. I finished with a bow and some greenery that was also painted with shimmer. It's unfortunate that the shimmer paint product doesn't photograph well, if someone has an idea on how to get it to shine, please do share!
Here's the Goods: Kraft cardstock, Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan, Primsa Colored Pencils, Ribbon, Build-a-Brad, Greenery, SU Shimmer Paint in Champagne, SU Happy Winter Stamp Set

Wish Big

Here's a clean and simple card that can be easily mailed. This was my first try at the Etsy Inspired Challenge and my inspiration was found here-There is something about the graphic quality and colors of these flowers. This card came together really quick that I thought it would also make a great set in different colors for a gift. I also wanted a lot of white space and minimal layers, as Pals Paper Arts is having a KISS challenge (Keep it Simple, Sweetie) which is a lot of fun to see if I could incorporate both into a card.
Here's the Goods: Spring Solitude, Small Script and Sweet Little Sentiments SU stamps, Tempting Turquoise, YoYo Yellow, More Mustard, Pixie Pink SU ink, cardstock and gems (unknown source)

Happy Joyful Birthday

Masculine cards are quite difficult for me. Perhaps it is because I have more stamps that lend themselves to girly, sweet thoughts, and hardly any that can be called manly. Perhaps it is because most masculine cards utilize colors that are out of my comfort zone. Or perhaps it seems that most guys just don't appreciate a handmade card? I'm not sure of the exact reason, but this card was certainly an internal challenge. I received guidance and a starting point from the Our Creative Corner Color Challenge and the Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge. I thought that by adding the rough texture from the hemp twine wrapped around an acetate bracket that it would further reference some of what men are all about...rough, tough and tumble. How do you go about creating masculine cards, I'd like to hear some thought processes because I need to come up with a few more!
Here's the goods: Archer Paper Cardstock, SU Pumpkin Pie Cardstock, The Paper Loft PP, Chipboard Letters from Target, Making Memories Clear Tag Shapes, Small Sayings SU stamps, Chocolate Chip SU ink

Take Care of Yourself

Here's my entry for the Pals Paper Arts Challenge, to create a card with Pink. If you have time, check this challenge out-they always have great ideas! I am fortunate to say that I have only one acquaintance that is a breast cancer survivor. This card was created for a friend whose husband is going through a rough time and it will be meant to cheer her up and let her know that people do care for her as well. The background and trees are from Craft Affair. The trees were stamped on a pink paint chip, cut and raised with dimensionals. To add a bit more to this clean and simple card without trying to take away from the sincere message, I used linen tread in kraft and brown and some pink fibers I have had for a while.

Baby Duck Thank You

It takes time to feel confident to get a blog up and going so I'm posting quite a bit tonight. I wish that I had the time to stamp this many cards in one night! This card was based on the Pals Paper Arts Challenge sketch this week found here: http://www.palspaperarts.com/ I started with around five versions of this card before I decided on this. The background panels are hand stamped with a pencil eraser and the Thank You Banner was actually cut from the middle of the two panels and repositioned. The duck is probably one of my oldest scrapbooking emellishments that I have, around seven or eight years old.