Lucky!

Lucky - one of my favorite words. It always means good things. Today I am using that word as I participate in the Wednesday sketch challenge from  My Favorite Things. Here is the sketch to be used:

I used MFT Lucky stamps and dies for my interpretation, as well as MFT Tag Builders Blueprint 4. There is an additional sentiment on the banner from MFT Friend Request.

For the card base and the background paper I used smooth white, and the horseshoe is pineapple cardstock. The patterned paper is DoodlebugI. I stamped the sentiment in MFT Blueberry ink. The ribbon is from my stash, and the shamrock sticker is from Little B.

To make the background I sprayed the smooth white panel with Tim Holtz Lucky Clover stain and Wendy Vecchi Buttercup metallic spray. It left the most beautiful shimmer that is really hard to capture in a photo, not that I didn't try.



Lastly I need to apologize for the photo editing. I asked my tech geek husband to update my computer and you know the old saying, be careful what you wish for. It is updated and has great graphics, but it is also now operating with Linux. Photoshop does not make a Linux system, so I have to learn a new software and there is a bit of a learning curve.

Anyway, this was a fun sketch and great to experiment with some new products. Have a great weekend and come back soon.

Pro Scrappers League, Week 2

This week's challenge over on the Club Scrap forum is to use ribbons, fibers, twine, etc. on your project. No problem there! I love using fibers to embellish. This will also be a great incentive for me to catch up on my Greetings to Go kits!

No kit today - just leftovers from my stash, which is even better. Here are the first two cards I made for the challenge this afternoon.

The first is an A2-sized card that uses a great set of sentiments. The stamp is from 50s Kitchen unmounted stamp set.


I made the background by smooshing watercolor paper onto Tim Holtz distress inks that had been spritzed with water. I'm sorry I don't remember the exact colors, but I believe it may have been Mermaid Lagoon, Sea Glass, Mustard Seed and a green. After the paper was completely dried, I stamped the sentiments onto the watercolored background and matted it onto I'll Be Gnome for Christmas green and the aqua from 50s Kitchen, also the source for the tan card base.



The beautiful shimmery ribbon, the required element for this challenge, comes from The Lakes. The finishing touch was a few sequins from my stash.

My second card is based on the beautiful papers from Love Knot Remixed. This card is 5" x 7" so I could give the pretty pattern enough room to shine. The card base is the subtle gray pattern and the main panel is a paper patterned with knots.  I colored in the knots with Copic marker (FYG2) and because of the shading on the original paper, I didn't need to come in with a second color for shading.



The center flowers were colored with YR18, as was the white ribbon which came from the Big Top collection. And speaking of recoloring, so you recognize the silver sparkle glitter paper mat? That was recolored with a G05 Copic marker. Super easy and still sparkly, plus my fingers are not green!



I took the ribbon and twisted and turned it along the flourish that is part of the paper print. The staples were a big help with that chore!

The brads and beads in the center of the flowers came from an older Bistro Beaders whose name has been lost over the years, but I think it was from around 2007. See, you never know when something is going to come in handy, right? Please tell my husband that!

The die cut is from Papertrey ink, Birthday Cheer is cut from a scrap of Love Knot remixed and colored.

So there you have it - my first two entries for this week's fiber challenge.

Enjoy your weekend, and go Trish's Roses!!!!

Three Ornaments

Happy Valentine's Day to you!  I am participating in Club Scrap's Pro Scrapbookers League. Each week there is a new challenge, and this week's challenge is to make a creation using Three of a Kind. You can make multiple projects and submit them for points on your team. It's all great fun.

My first project is a Christmas card. Yeah, I'm either too late or too early, right? But I am still a little slim on the Club Scrap supplies, so since one of the purposes of these challenges is to use up the stash you have, Christmas card it is!



This card is made using the Club Scrap I'll Be Gnome for Christmas collection and stamps. To satisfy the challenge requirements, I used the ornament stamp three times and hung them from the patterned cardstock piece with three ribbons from the collection. The sentiment is from the Gnome for the Holidays unmounted stamp set.



The ornaments themselves were stamped onto watercolor paper using versamark ink and embossed with silver embossing powder. It looks white in the photo, but it is a gorgeous silver in real life. I then watercolored the ornaments with Kuretake pan watercolors and when dry, I stamped the details onto the center section of each ornament. This one is silver Delicata ink.

The ornaments were then cut out and mounted onto the patterned cardstock with foam tape and the ribbons attached. The panels were then adhered to each other to complete this A2 sized card.

Hope you like it!

Papers: Club Scrap I'll be Gnome for Christmas collection solid green cardbase, solid red mat, green patterned cardstock, watercolor paper
Stamps: Club Scrap I'll be Gnome for Christmas unmounted, Gnome for the Holidays unmounted
Other: Ribbons - Club Scrap. embossing powder, VersaMark Ink, Kuretake watercolors, Delicata and Memento Inks

Striped Floral Hello

Finally - the weekend is here! More crafting time for me. How about you?

As I have mentioned before, watercoloring has been a real challenge for me, probably because I don't practice as much as I should. I am trying to change that. Here is my latest effort. Instead of an A2 card, this one is 5" x 7". I think I am making progress, but still have a long way to go.



I do love the soft blue color of the card. The flowers are from Altenew's Striped Floral stamp set and the sentiment is Hand-Lettered Hello from W Plus 9. I like the way the sentiment works with the image. I stamped the flowers and leaves in VersaMark and heat embossed with Ranger white detail embossing powder on Stratmore cold press watercolor paper. I used Kuretake pan watercolors for this card.

To finish up, I trimmed and mounted the image on a piece of Papertrey Ink Spring Rain, which just may be my favorite color (at least today).

Off I go for more watercoloring practice! Stop in  next week to see how I did.

Fishing Cards

This post is a little late, but that's me - a day late and a dollar short!

These cards are from the Club Scrap January sketch challenge, and I had some papers and embellishments left from the Lakes collection and it looked just right to use up my remainders, play in the challenge AND add some masculine cards to my stash. Win, win, win!

Here is a look at the four cards I made:



And here are photos of each of the individual cards:

    

 

In addition to the Club Scrap Lakes papers, the fish charms and ribbons are from that collection too. I also used a couple of the unmounted stamp sets to stamp the background on the Gone Fishin' card and the "Canoe believe it?"

Do you find it as difficult as I do to create masculine cards?

Hug in a Mug

Good Morning!

Today I am playing along with the My Favorite Things sketch Challenge MFTWSC266, a first for me. Since I spent the morning shoveling snow yesterday, the Hug in a Mug set really called to me. Here's what I came up with:



For the die cuts, I used craft foam for a little dimension with MFT's Hot Cocoa Mug dies. The sentiment is from the coordinating Hug in a Mug.  The papers are Papertrey Inks Stamper's Select white for the card base and the patterned papers are Stampin' Up! Trim the Tree. I used VersaMark ink with white Ranger detail embossing powder.

Here's wishing you a warm and cozy day with time to craft something of your own.

Tale of Two Sketches

So far, my New Year's resolution of posting  more is doing OK. I feel like I am getting my mojo back and it's fun to participate in different challenges. This afternoon I am posting two interpretations of Splitcoast sketches. I actually got last week's done last week, but just didn't get it uploaded until today. Oops!

First up is last week's sketch - SC577 and also #thedailymarker30day



I just love this cute pun for Valentine's Day.

Stamp: Lawn Fawn You Turn Me On
Papers: Simon Says Stamp cardstock, Crate Paper patterned papers (from the January card kit)
Dies: Stampin' Up! Starburst and Hello You
Inks: Memento, Distress, Copics
Other: Stampin' Up! burlap ribbon

The second card is for today's challenge, SC578. It is another square card. I don't do many square cards, but I kind of like the extra real estate you get with the larger format.



I just realized as I was posting this card that I smeared the ink at the top. Actually my sweating soda can is the culprit. Yup, life's tough!

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp Stepping Stones, Simon Says Stamp Hand Lettered Encouragement
Papers: Stampin' Up! Heavy Whisper White, Papertrey Ink New Leaf, Kaisercraft Cherry Blossoms
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Other: SU arrow punch

Let me leave you with a view out my front door today. We got 13.5 inches of snow yesterday  FINALLY!!



I'll be back soon. I have more to share. What are YOU working on?

Skol Vikings!

Today I am playing along with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, adding hearts to our creations. What could be more perfect for Valentine's Day than a gift tag that also shows how proud we Minnesotans are of our Divisional NFL Champs than this great image by Avery Elle? I used it to make a quick tag.



This is also my first post for #thedailymarker30day.

Stamp: Avery Elle Viking
Inks: memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, Delicata Gold
Paper: Xpress cardstock
Die: PTI Tag Sale: Quilted
Ribbons from my stash

See you again soon!