About Me

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These are a few of my favorite things (not in order of importance): Creating beautiful things from paper or fabric; Loving puppy dogs (and cats, and other furry critters); Being part of the Eagan Hills Alliance Church family; Enjoying my grandchildren; Relaxing with my husband - especially someplace with dramatic nature (like the North Shore of Lake Superior); Being appreciated by folks where I work.

Oct 29, 2012

Pink Gems Polka Dot Denny Dragon



The 365 Card Day 239 challenge is to use four folds on the card.  I usually don't do square cards, but this was the easiest and it worked with the image shape. 

The Pink Gem Designs challenge #58 is to use polka dots or spots.  I chose to use Pink Gem digital image called "Denny with a watering can" which came colored.  My scrap stash happened to have some striped designer paper in the right color scheme, as well as light purple and a medium green that all worked together.  
Denny has some spots; for others I used Copic Markers and added them by hand.  On the green card stock I used a VersaMark reinker to add dots.  Then I punched a few holes in purple card stock and used Tombow Mono Multi to glue them onto the striped paper.  

Oct 28, 2012

Autumn Card for JUGS, Joan's Garden, and OWH

The JUGS challenge #160 is to create a card getting inspiration from the photo they posted.  Lots of pretty autumn colors, leaves, etc.  Challenge #39 at Joan's Garden is to create a fall card, and use a border, leaves, and a window or door.  Seemed logical to combine these two.  

The latest Sketch, #144, from Operation Write Home (OWH)worked well for the various elements needed on this card. The image is by Stampin' Up!, cut short to fit the card sketch.  The greeting is an old one by Hero Arts.  Papers from my scrap stash, and the leaf border punch is from .

Belated Birthday Wishes

This card uses the sketch provided by StampTV's Free-for-all Friday challenge, with the theme of the 365 Cards Day 241 challenge, and the CAS-usal Friday challenge to use kraft paper.  I think this actually is a Clean And Simple (CAS) card for once!  
The hardest part was cutting the two wavy pieces.  The background and focal image have a daisy-like flower stamped in VersaMark.  The flower and the "birthday wishes" greeting came from the Garden Silhouettes set by Gina K Designs.  The focal image circle was cut using a Nestabilities circle die.  
Even though the image is floral, I think the card works well for a masculine card.

Rubberband Background Valentine

The StampTV Mix-it-up-Monday challenge was to do the rubber-band background technique. Here is the link to the Stamp TV video that teaches the technique. I almost didn't do this one, because I don't have an acrylic brayer.  However, I decided to use my regular (rubber) brayer, and I had a blast.  VERY fun technique.  
The inks I used are Kaleidacolor rainbow pads - Desert Heat and Berry Blaze, and the paper is a pale pink mottled "sky" paper.  The images and sentiment come from the Gina K Designs set "Framed Friends".  
I chose to make this a "valentine" card, to fit the 365 Cards Day 238 challenge, and used the sketch option for the Society of Stampaholics - November Card Chain Challenge. Colored the image and hearts with Copic Markers.

Spooky Chinese Dragon

This card combines Viva La Verve's fifth sketch for October, with a couple challenges to do "spooky" (Cute Card Thursday, and 365 Cards Day 237), and the Outlawz Tuesday color challenge to do a card in red, black, and white - with a spooky theme.  
I don't really do spooky stuff, but Chinese Dragons have always been scary to me. The image is a digital design, but I don't recall who posted it.  I colored the dragon digitally, printed it on typing paper, and then used spray adhesive to adhere it to card stock.  I put black paper thru the Big Shot in the paisley Cuttlebug embossing folder, and mounted it on a white card base.  Then I fussy-cut around the dragon, and mounted it on dimensional foam pieces.  
The sketch called for a sentiment, and I wanted it to be something our Heros could use to write home (Operation Write Home).   Stamped in red with a new Hero Arts stamp that says "Hi", and then punched out with a Stampin'Up! 1.25" circle punch.  Mounted that circle on a larger circle colored yellow to coordinate with the dragon's spine-spikes.

Masculine Thank You - MOJO264


The MOJO Monday sketch 264 is combined in this card with the 365 Cards Day 240 color scheme challenge.  The color scheme (gold, orange, tan, and navy) just seems masculine to me, so I chose papers (from my scrap stash) that have a more masculine trend (stripes, trees).  

The card used a Spellbinders Nestabilities Hearts Circle die, and a Stampin' Up! border punch, so I'll submit it to Oozak for the October challenge, too.  The stamp is an old one from Hero Arts, and I masked off the teddy bear and butterflies.

Oct 27, 2012

Close-Knit Friends - 4 challenges

This card works for four of the current challenges.  Operation Write Home's Midweek Throwdown is to make friendship cards.  At 365 Cards, the challenge for Day 235 is the sketch I used.  This month's Oozak challenge is to use die-cuts, and at StampTV the Free-for-all Friday challenge is to "show me some bling."  

The stamp set is a duo by Gina K Designs, and the pattern paper is by Stampin' Up!  The border die cut flourish-y hearts is part of a Spellbinders Borderability die.  There are five hearts on the die, but only three were needed to fit the sketch.  The ribbon is some iridescent blue sheer stuff I fell in love with about 8 years ago, and have never used much.  I tend to think it's "too pretty" to use!  This shiny/sparkly hearts are die cuts in an iridescent shiny silver paper.  I love the way the light brings out all those different colors. Some final bling is the heart-shaped diamond-like gems added to the border.

Oct 24, 2012

Triangles Over the Edge - CAS-ual Friday & 365 Cards Day 236

This week's CAS-ual Friday challenge is to make a tag or card with an element that goes over the edge.  The 365 Cards challenge for Day 236 is to use triangle(s) on the card.  These two just seemed to belong together, so I combined them for this card.  I just went crazy with triangles using a bunch of pink scraps, and extended a few over the edge.  Couldn't think of a sentiment to go with it, so decided this is just an "art" card.

Oct 23, 2012

STVFRICT24 - CASE Tina GIlliland's Master Butterfly

The current Friday challenge at Stamp TV is to Copy And Share Everything (CASE) one of the cards by design team member Tina Gilliland.  I chose her "Master Butterfly" card because I have that set.  We have to change at least two things, so I made it a side-fold card instead of top-fold, added a punched border to the edge, and used plain yellow instead of designer paper under the butterfly.  The first photo had motion lines behind the butterfly to cover up some black that got on the yellow background.  That didn't look good, and so I redid the yellow piece.  (The yellow paper came out much darker in the photo than it is in person.)

Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge

The 10/9/12 Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge was to do a card in red, yellow, and black, with a travel theme.  I made it a gate-fold card, with some travel stamps I had and never thought I'd have a use for them!  The black piece was embossed with the Cuttlebug paisley embossing folder, the yellow border was punched with a Stampin' Up! border punch, and the black velvet ribbon was a scrap I had.

Oct 22, 2012

Patriotic Birds for OWH 143

This week's Operation Write Home sketch is a nice, easy one.  I just heard about "One Stop Craft Challenge" today, when I was posting to a Doodle Pantry challenge.  Doodle Pantry is sponsoring the current challenge at One Stop, and they have a darling set of patriotic birds.  It just seemed natural to combine these challenges. I'll use this card to write an "Any Hero" letter.

Oct 21, 2012

Hero Arts, JUGS159 & Pink Gem Designs 57 "flowers"

Another sketch from the Hero Arts October Contest, and this one uses the color scheme from Just Us Girls (coral, blush, white, sahara sand, and grey), and the Pink Gems Designs challenge #57 to so something using the theme "flowers."  This Hero Arts sentiment seemed just right, and the little paper flower was the finishing touch.  I also used a print paper with flowers in it on the sahara sand banner.  For some reason the coral and blush papers look deeper in the photo than they do in person.  The sentiment is also on a paler version of blush.

Viva le Verve Sketch #4 for October

I combined the fourth Viva le Verve sketch for October with an Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge.  The Outlawz challenge was to do a card in yellow, red, and green (like a variety of bell peppers), and the card should have "Something to do with cooking."  Gina K. Designs has this image of a woman by the refrigerator, so that seemed to fit.  The sentiment came from the Gina K Designs set called "Not Forgotten."  I figured kids artwork is one of the wonderful memories a parent has.

Hero Arts Sketch - Thanks

The Hero Arts contest/challenge this month offered several choices, including three different sketches.  This card follows one of those sketches pretty closely, but I made it a gate-fold card just for fun.  The designer paper is from Stampin' Up!, the Thanks stamp is by Hero Arts, the green strip was made using a Stampin' Up! border punch. The right side of the card was just plain white (as it is in the sketch), but that didn't look right.  So I used another Hero Arts stamp and iridescent embossing powder to glitz up the right side.  Then I used that same stamp (a square with various sized circles in it) with Spun Sugar Distress Ink to give that side a little more texture. One other note - the base card was about 1/4" short of 8.5" for a full A2 card.  Solved this by adding the border at the edge of the card-front "gate" and letting the loops overlap the opposite side of the gate.  The irridescent embossing powder makes this card work for the Cute Card Thursday challenge, too. 

Hero Arts Photo Contest - Decorate It now at Target

Well, actually, it isn't.  We went to Target to see the new Hero Arts "Decorate It" line, but they didn't have it out yet.  Looked on the Target Web site, but couldn't find it there, either.  We had gone to Target just for the Hero Arts product, to take photos for their contest, but the only photo we got was of me in front of the store.

OWH Midweek Throwdown with Doodle Pantry DPDC28

DPDC28The Doodle Pantry's "Happy Bird" just had to be in red; is it cute?  I matted stuff and even added ribbons - Sandy should be proud.  Her influence and instruction have made a huge difference in my crafting.

Operation Write Home's Midweek Throwdown challenge is being sponsored by Doodle Pantry this week.  The challenge is to make cards using black & white with a pop of red or green. I'm thinking this card also works for the Doodle Pantry's October challenge on their site (to use a Doodle Pantry image).   There's a limit of just two cards for OWH's throwdown this week, so I did one in Green and one in Red.  See the last blog for the card with green "pop."   

OWH Midweek Throwdown with Doodle Pantry

Operation Write Home's Midweek Throwdown challenge is being sponsored by Doodle Pantry this week.  The challenge is to make cards using black & white with a pop of red or green.  Naturally then, we send the cards in for our heroes to send home to their family and friends!  There's a limit of just two cards this week, so I did one in Green and one in Red.

Of course, I used DoodlePantry images.  "Thinking of you" is always a good card for Heros to send home, so we have the "Thoughtful Ant" in green.  See the next blog for the second card.

Hero Happy Holidays and MOJO263 Sketch

The Mojo Monday sketch 263 has a lot of elements, so  I decided to stick to a pretty simple color scheme and image.  This card will be entered into the Hero Arts challenge to do a holiday card.  The Hero Arts stamp I used is the back-ground on the circle with the sentiment.  The sentiment is from the Light of the Seasons set by Gina K. Designs. The papers are all from my scrap stash!  I think the designer papers are from Stampin'Up!, and I used the Stampin'Up! Decorative Label punch to give shape to the top of the black piece.

Oct 20, 2012

Believe in Yourself for StampTV, Outlawz & SFYTT


http://www.iheart2stamp.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/oct2012sketch.jpg
I heart 2 stamp has a Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT) challenge. Just found out about it today, from Sandy Allnock's blog.  I used this sketch, with the Outlawz color opulence challenge hosted by Guylou Beland, and a Gina K Designs sentiment stamp for the StampTV October Release Party Challenge. Put the two background strips thru the Big Shot in the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.

Get Your Spook On - color challenge at StampTV

The StampTV Oldies but Goodies challenge for this week is to use at least two of these colors:  black, purple, orange, and green.  I already did one card, but this week's Operation Write Home sketch challenge #142 just called for another try with those colors.

The hearts are stamped in VersaMark, using a stamp from the Framed Friends set, which also provided the sentiment.  I used a Nestabilities lable die, and tied some purple raffia on it.  Then, when the card was almost done, I got a bit of black marker on the front. I was going around the edges of the black cardstock, since it has a white core.  I had just been thinking how it is so much safer to do this with the backside facing the hand holding the marker, but the next edge I held the face side toward the marker hand and it skipped on me.  Lesson learned!  So, to hide the bits of black marker on the front, I added a purple raffia heart, to go with the sentiment.

Too Late for Mojo, but Right on Time for StampTV

This card follows the sketch posted on Mojo Mondays, #262, but I didn't make it on time.  However, the challenge to make the focal point just a sentiment is from StampTV's October Release Party.  The color scheme and the pearls came from the October Opulence  challenge at Outlawz.  The Believe in Yourself stamp is from Gina K Designs - it is a Duo with a butterfly.





Oct 18, 2012

Circles for Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread does a monthly challenge for Operation Write Home - for every 25 cards submitted, they pay to ship one box of cards to our Heros overseas - up to two boxes.  The OWH Sketch #141 is just what was needed. Both of these cards use Hero Arts stamps, but they are really ancient.


The Nestabilities Heart Circles die, cut in half, made two cards.  I had a plain white card background, and it was way too plain.  So I pulled off the layers, and stamped in Spun Sugar Distressed Ink using an Irish Blessing script background stamp.

I posted these first without the purple mat under the floral print paper, but just had to repost them once I added the mat.  Much improved.

StampTV Oldies but Goodies Challenge #9

The StampTV Oldies but Goodies challenge is to use at least two of these colors:  black, orange, purple, green, so I used them all.  The owl and sentiment are from Gina K Designs "Framed Friends" set.  The owl is paper-pieced - originally intended for the Cute Card Thursday challenge, but I didn't get it finished and posted in time.

Another try at the StampTV Challenge

I used the Viva le Verve sketch #3 for October, and made another card for the StampTV Mix-it-Up Monday challenge:  Make a winter card with three layers or more and add some flourishes. I hope flourishes on the background paper count.  This one also works for the latest Cute Card TCute Card Thursday challenge - Got Glitter!  The swirl-y flourishes on the background were made with a Stampin'Up! Jumbo roller, are embossed with a clear/iridescent powder, and it sparkles really well.  

StampTV STV12MON41 & JUGS 158

Here's another shot at the JUGS challenge to do the emboss resist technique. I'm also entering it in the StampTV Mix-it-up-Monday challenge to make a winter-themed card having three or more layers, and with a flourish.  I don't have any flourish stamps, so I printed a digital one, mounted it on medium blue, and used the exact-o knife to 'open up' the flourish ends.   
The stamps used are the snowflake from Light of the Season, and the sentiment from Merry & Bright.  The embossing is in clear iridescent powder, and the ink used for the resist is from the Blue Breeze Kalidacolor rainbow pad.

Hero Arts Challenge

I've combined the third Vive la Verve sketch for October, with the Hero Arts' October contest , and the Just Us Girls 158 technique challenge (to do emboss resist) in this card.
The emboss resist was done with Barn Door Distress Ink on white embossing (on a cream card stock).   Then I used Peeled Paint Distress Ink (for a "red and green" look) to do the edges of the card and the blue mat. Not crazy about the way the distressing looks, but oh, well.

I really like the Hero Arts stamp, which comes with it's matching die for easy cut-out. Very fun image to color.

Oct 14, 2012

Christmas Distressed for Stamp TV

The Stamp TV Friday Free-for-All challenge this week is to do "Christmas Distressed."    
In order to be eligible for a prize in the StampTV challenges now, you need to use only Gina K Designs stamps. Fortunately I have a few Christmas-y ones from them.  The candle arrangement and sentiment are from the Light of the Season set. The hanging ornaments are from one of the new Duos Merry and Bright.  This is also a single layer card which can be more of a challenge.  I used Stampin' Up! markers to color the ornaments & candle arrangement, and did the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black.  Then the distressing was done with four colors of Ranger's Distress Inks - applied lightest to darkest - Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Bundled Sage, and Barn Door Red.


Too Late for JUGS Sketch 157

The linky for this card challenge on Just Us Girls has closed, but I like the card and am posting it anyway.

The background is actually packaging from some 7-gypsies stamps, and the picture is from a magazine.  The sentiment is by Stampin'Up!

Fastest Card Ever!

I fell behind with challenges this week, and was checking out the new ones today.  The Mix-it-Up Monday challenge at StampTV had a deadline of 8 PM CST, and I didn't even see the challenge until 7:30 PM CST.  Not only designing and making the card, but also taking the photo, uploading, cropping in PhotoShop Elements, and finally posting to their site.  Just barely got it posted in time!
  This card also fulfills the Operation Write Home Mid-week Throw-down (love/anniversary), and CAS-ual Friday's clean and simple with a heart.  The doves were a last-second addition.  They are from the confetti that my son and daughter-in-law had on the tables at their wedding.

Oct 7, 2012

Last of the WCD Challenges

I got a very late start on the World Card Making Day challenges, and had lots of interruptions.  I swear I made one more card, but I can't find it!  Went through the whole mess on my desk, and it's not there - but I can picture it in my mind.  Frustrating and NOT my best card making day.  

Anyway, there were a couple of challenges that were to use Pink, and Penny Black had some sketch challenges.  These are both with the first sketch. 365 Cards Day 219 was a color scheme challenge (green, blue, purple, and orange).  So, here are the cards.



One Layer Sketch Challenge (Flop!)



Paper Smoochies has a challenge for World Card Making Day - I just realized there were three options, not three requirements!  I tried twice to make a single layer card using the sketch they had, and included some pink on it.  HOW do you make a single layer card and still follow a sketch with multiple layers?  That was my problem, and I'm not happy with either of the efforts I made. 

First I tried using three different background stamps, and masking the areas that weren't to be done by the particular stamp.

  Then I tried using different stamps to create the 'layers', but . . .   I tried distressing both cards to make them "blend" more, but that didn't work.  It was more distressing for me than the cards!!  LOL!!

Oct 6, 2012

Card "kits" for OWH Birthday Party


To celebrate Operation Write Home's birthday last month, Sandy Allnock had asked card-makers all over the country to have OWH card-making parties. I designed a dozen or maybe different cards, and made kits for easy assembly. From 12 to 15 kits per design.  That's a lot of bits and pieces!  I planned to host a party for a couple of hours at work, using my vacation leave.  

However, working in government has it's drawbacks.  Management at my work site wasn't supportive.  The concept may have been too "political" for the setting.  Anyway, since co-workers couldn't be allowed a few minutes to make a card, or write an Any Hero letter, I was left with about 170 cards to assemble.  Here are a few of the ones that got completed this week.





Miss You (U) on a Spattered Background

This card combines requirements for Day 216 of 365 Cards - a spattered background - with the second Viva la Verve sketch of October.  I spent the day with my friend Kelly, in her WONDERFUL studio.  She's a fiber artist, but pitched in to make spattered backgrounds for "miss you" cards that I'll give to Operation Write Home.  She used some thin ink (can't remember what she called it) and some dye she had handy.  Kelly also provided the vertical strip of painted paper, and had the alphabet stamps to make the greeting.

Mojo Monday Sketch #261 & a Color Scheme Challlenge


This card combines requirements for the Society of Stampaholics October challenge - color scheme of camel, amethyst, and charcoal - with the Mojo Monday sketch for the week #261.  Not colors I'd have thought to put together, but not bad.  The photo washes out the color of the camel paper, but if you look in the lower left you get an idea of the actual color.  Not sure why only one corner of the paper didn't wash-out in the lighting!

The sketch called for a wider ribbon than I had, so I put two strips of ribbon side-by-side.  The charcoal mat on the sentiment and the vertical strip add some depth.  The "circles" are Nestabilities Blossom dies (largest and then two smaller ones).  The verticle strip is from Gina K Designs, the Parisian Garden patterned paper pack.  I added three small gems at the bottom corner to give a sense of "grounding", otherwise it felt like the whole focal area was about to float off the left side of the card.  The gems were clear, but I colored them with Copic markers.

Oct 3, 2012

Flowers & a Flourish

Tonight's card combines three challenges.  The sketch is #140 from Operation Write Home. The StampTV Free-for-all-Friday challenge is to use flowers.  And the challenge at Joan's Gardens is to use a piece of designer paper for the background, include a dimensional flower, a flourish, and a sentiment.

The paper is from my stash - something I bought at Jo-ann's Fabric & Crafts a few years ago.  The narrow striped paper is from a 6x6 pack by Stampin' Up!, and the flourish is from a Stampin' Up! jumbo wheel.  The flourish is embossed in a sparkly green powder I've had (and used a lot) for at least a decade.  The dimensional flower was hand-made from a satin ribbon and a heat gun. The sentiment I've also had for years, and don't know who made it.  The card just didn't look finished yet, so I tried the 'hand-drawn lines' like Darlene DeVries does, but I'm not very good at it.  I fixed a goof by covering the outer section of the lined area with a blue Permapaque marker by Sakura.

Oct 2, 2012

Just A Note for Autumn

Today's card is a combination of a few challenges.  The layout is the current Viva la Verve sketch.  The current challenge at Our Daily Bread is to include some musical element, and over at Cupcake Inspirations the picture has yummy autumn colored cupcakes with leaves decorating them.  

The Verve sketch had a large circle behind the vertical piece, but I didn't want to cover too much of the background.  Using Nestabilites leaf die cuts instead of the circle worked well, and fit for the Cupcake Inspirations challenge.  
For a musical element, the background was done with the "Allegro" Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I inked the folder with the "Cappuccino Delight" Kaleidacolor rainbow ink pad, before adding the paper and putting it thru the Big Shot to get an autumn look.  
The sentiment also has a musical theme, but to cover the flowers that are part of the stamped image, I added tiny leaves.  These leaves are the extra (cut out) bits from the Nestabilities "Leafy Squares" die cut (second to the largest).  The papers used were not particularly bright (one batch was white!), so I used a selection of Copic Markers to color each little leaf for bright autumn look
 One last bit of "leafy autumn" is the orange vertical mat.  I used "Tea Dye" Distress Ink and the Nestabilities oak leaf die to stencil a barely discernible background.