Neutrals Cream & Black & A Bit of Bling

A couple of quick cards today for a couple of quick challenges.  I don't often combine challenges (I think that's kind of cheating), but this week two of my favorites are walking hand in hand down the same road.

OLW 81 over at Jennifer Styles blog asks for cream & black with bling.   LIM 57 over at the Less is More blog asks for Neutral color.  Both ask for a clean and simple design.  Well, I think these fit the bill.  All cardstock is cream, with images and sentiment in black ink.

Agapanthus Cluster image by Stampendous, sentiment by A Muse, black bling by Hero Arts.

Agapanthus Cluster image by Stampendous, sentiment by Hampton Art, bling by Hero Arts.

Flower cluster image by Just For Fun, sentiment by Morning Star, bling by Hero Arts.

Thanks for peeking!

Boston

This card is going to some friends of ours in Kentucky.  Their furry four legged baby recently crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.  Boston (or, Bossy, as many of the neighbors called him) was such a sweetheart who roamed the neighborhood and knew all the neighbors.  My favorite and most vivid memory of him was the day he and Chynna, another neighbor's dog sat for photos with my golden retriever/chow mix Sammy on her "sweet" sixteenth birthday.   My dear neighbor set her kitchen table with a pretty tablecloth, good china and silver for 3 place settings.  In the center of the table was a very large, many wicked, candle sitting on a cake plate resembling a birthday cake.  In 3 chairs placed around the table were Sammy, Boston and Chynna, all wearing party hats.  It was the funniest sight I and my neighbors have ever seen.  We laughed ourselves silly while all three dogs sat quite contentedly around the table.

On to the card:

Paper from my stash, sentiment from Club Scrap.

I'm also submitting this for the current Skipping Stones Designs challenge #108.

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 49: Green, Pink & Never Seen Ink

Down to the wire....OLW 50 will be posted in a very few short hours.  But, OLW 49 has been on my mind all week....had to do it.

Jennifer over at Styles Ink was the challenge host for OLW 49.  The rules wanted us to use a stamp from our stash that has yet to see ink,  make that ink pink and green, and put it on a single layer card, no less!  She's a taskmaster, I tell ya!

Here's the first:

The lily is from Stampendous, the sentiment is from A Muse (before they became A Muse Studio).  Colored with copics.

Here's the second:

Image is from Savvy Stamps and the sentiment is from Make An Impression.

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 48: A Sympathetic Challenge

Edited to add:   The second card in this post is very appropriate for the Week 10 Less is More Challenge:  Sentiment Focus.   A BIG THANKS to Bonnie for sending me over there!

Welcome!
It's been a loooooong time since my last post.  I've been busy.  Really busy.  Like a cross country move busy.   This morning I decided to take a break from unpacking the boxes that seem to multiply like rabbits every night.  I've gone to bed each night this week thinking, "job well done today, kiddo!", only to wake the next morning wondering if the never ending boxes will ever go away.  Well, they will.  One box, one day at a time.

So, what did I do on my break this morning??  The OLW challenge this week over at Simplicity's blog, of course!  The rules this week are:

This week's One-Layer Wednesday Challenge is to make a sympathy card that does NOT include flowers or trees.
1. A one-layer card is defined as a single layer of cardstock folded in half. No other layers allowed.

2. Make a sympathy card that uses an image other than trees or flowers. Remember to keep embellishments to a minimum.

I've made many olw sympathy cards in the past, but they all used flowers or trees.  The pet sympathy cards I've made in the past always seem  to have lots of layers, so I decided to see if I could come up with a pet sympathy card that was one layer.  Came up with 2.

The first card uses stamps from Viva Las Vegas, Printworks and Fiskars.

The stamps on the second card are by Cornish Heritage Farms and Wordsworth.

Which one is your favorite?   I started out excitedly with the paw prints/fluffy beds one, but ended up liking the deepest sympathy one best.

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 43: Shimmer, Not Glitter or Bling

Go me!
Another OLW challenge, and I've got the card(s) done and posted the same day!  Yeah!

Susan, on her Simplicity blog, is hosting the One Layer Wednesday challenge this week and the rules this time around are:

1. One layer is defined as a single piece of cardstock folded in half. No other layers of cardstock are permitted.

2. Use shimmer on your card in some way. Do not use glitter or rhinestones.

Susan also adds: 
There are lots of ways to add shimmer: Sakura Stardust pens, Twinkling H2Os, pigment powders, Brilliance iridescent inks, eye shadow, shimmery cardstock, shimmery ribbon, and others I can't think of.

Well, I used two types of shimmer, my cardstock, Poison Ivory Curious cardstock (yummm!) and Brilliance pigment inks in Pearlescent Thyme and Pearlescent Chocolate (double yum!).  I started out using the swirling vine and one of the corresponding sentiments from PTI's With Sympathy set.  I liked how it turned out so much that I made 6 cards, using the swirling vine and each of the 6 sentiments from the set.

I adjusted the swirly vine placement depending on the size of the sentiment.  I really like how these turned out.

And, if I may, I'd like to add one more for last week's OLW 42: I've Got the Music in Me.  Just didn't get a chance to get it posted to last week's Inlinks (?), but wanted to share it, because it ended up being my favorite of all the ones I did for last weeks' challenge.

A HUGE thanks to my dear friend, Colleen, who helped me salvage my 'floor' that the dog is sitting on.  She is truly a Copic master!   Without her help, the card would be sitting in the trash.  That wonderful stamp is from Magenta and the sentiment is from a Hero Arts cling set.

Thanks for peeking!



OLW-8 Masking a Background

Well, if I get 2 posts up in a month, I consider myself quite lucky.

So, is today the end of the world? After all, it is my 2nd post of THE DAY!!! Hmmm.... Will wonders never cease? Scroll down for the first post, OLW-7.

Today is One Layer Wednesday, Week 8, Masking a Background over at Simplicity's blog. I needed a sympathy card, so I worked with it. And here it is.

The flower image is from a Gina K set, Comfort & Peace, and the sentiment is from Amuse. My masked background is the result of using a Spellbinder's die, Labels 4. I used chalk again for the subtle background, because I couldn't find a complementary, pale ink in my stash that wouldn't overwhelm the delicate flower and sentiment.

Thanks for peeking!

A quick design

Came across this card on Paperlicious' blog several weeks ago, and besides prompting me to order the paper from SU! (yes, it really is gorgeous!), I really liked the simplicity of it. I had several cards I needed to make, so, using different patterned papers, cardstock and stamps (and, of course, ribbon), I came up with a few cards that I was really pleased with quite quickly. I am definitely adding this design to my stash!

Patterned paper is from Basic Grey and Amuse (can't remember who makes the red/black dp). Cardstock is SU! and Bazzill. Thank you stamps are from Hero Arts, sympathy stamp is from My Favorite Things. Cream and black ribbon is Basic Basic from Michael's; green silk ribbon is from May Arts and sheer green ribbon is from Midori. Used the SU! large oval and new scalloped oval punches. Also used 2 of the new EK Success border punches, which I love using, but find them to be a bit persnickity. They prefer paper the weight of SU cardstock or Basic Grey patterned paper. Anything lighter or heavier become problematic.

Thanks for peeking!

Tucker

These are the hardest cards for me to make. Sympathy. Especially sympathy for a pet. This card honors Tucker, a beloved dog of some friends of mine.