Celebrate With Style

Well, it worked out this week that I was able to make one card that satisfies the requirements for 2 challenges...yeah!

First up is the One Layer Wednesday (OLW) challenge #96, Birthday Bling from last Wednesday over at the Simplicity Blog.  The rules are one layer, birthday theme with lots of bling.

Second is the Less Is More (LIM) challenge #76, One Layer Challenge with 3 of anything from this past Saturday over at the Less Is More Blog.  The rules are one layer, and three of anything; three colours, three images, three stamps, three words, the number three...anything as long as it relates to the number three.

And, here's my card:

All stamps are by Hero Arts.  I used the polka dot flag from Friendly Flags to make the base of the party hats.  And a tiny flower from the Clear design Thinking of You set to make the fluff at the top of the hats. The sentiment is from Birthday Messages.  I stamped all three "hats"  & the sentiment using Brilliance Pearlescent Ink for a little shimmer and used some bling from my stash.

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 95: Stars and Stripes

Yeah!  Was able to fit in another of Susan's One Layer Wednesday challenges!  Loved this one and loved how my card turned out if I say so myself!  I needed some thank you notes and this one was really easy to replicate.  The challenge, as always, is to make a one layer card, this time using a star and a stripe, any theme.  Well, I couldn't pass up the fact that Independence Day was this week....the star and stripe fed into my feelings of patriotism!

Used the retired solid stripes stamp (say that fast 3 times!) from SU!, the frilly star is a $1 clear stamp from Studio G, and the sentiment is from Savvy Stamps.  Used the new Nautical Blue ink from Memento (isn't it yummy???) and SU! Real Red.

This is my second post of the day....please scroll down and wish Colleen a happy birthday!

Thanks for peeking!

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!

OLW 76: Color in Winter

This Wednesday's challenge over at Simplicity's blog was to create a single layer, grey and white card with a pop of color.  Some weeks when I read the new challenge I know exactly what I want to do (now whether it actually happens is another thing!), and some weeks I am lost in the weeds.  This was one of those weeks.  But, yesterday as I was rummaging around my flower drawers (stamp drawers!) I saw this awesome Penny Black image and immediately thought of masking out a portion of it to nestle in a sentiment.  Sentiment by Saavy.  Made the oval mask with a SU oval punch.  Had the card done in 15 minutes.  Taking a picture has taken much longer.  It is cloudy and dreary here today and 4 Ott lights just aren't doin' it for me!  Sorry for the poor quality image.

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 74: Red & Pink

I am soooo happy the OLW challenges are back!  Yippee!
These one layer challenges always pull me outside my comfort zone and when I am pleased with my results I get so hand clappingly (yes, it's a new word...my word) giddy that I dig through my stamp drawers looking for more stamps to use.  And, I usually end up using stamps that haven't seen the likes of ink since I bought them.  So, it's all good.
The challenge over at Simplicity's blog this past Wednesday was to use the colors red and pink only on a one layer card, keeping embellishments to a bare minimum.

The first card has a background by Hero Arts, image by Inkadinkadoo and sentiment by Hampton Art.

The second card incorporates a second Hero Arts background, and both image and sentiment are from Impress Rubber Stamps.

On the third card I used the Hero Arts Background I used in the first card, Lockhart image and Technique Tuesday sentiment.

Thanks, Susan....I had fun with this challenge!

And, thanks for peeking!

OLW 66: Get Inspired by Janelle

This week's One Layer Wednesday Challenge over at Simplicity's blog is all about getting inspiration from a sweet, talented blogger named Janelle, who is going through a rough patch in her life right now.   Funny how, a few days before Susan issued the challenge, I happened to think about Janelle and was trying to remember her blog.   I always visited her blog from the OLW challenge thumbnails and since OLW was on hiatus during the summer, I had lost track of her blog.  I am so sorry to hear of Janelle's sudden medical condition but glad to see she is posting almost daily to her blog and appears to be in good spirits.  I also have added her blog to my blog list so that I can keep up with what is going on with her.   I think about you daily, Janelle, praying you pull through this.

On to the card:

Janelle has this thing for cupcakes (and, so do I!).   And, so, cupcakes were my inspiration.  Two cute stamps by Karen Lockhart, a little copic coloring, and voila!  a stack of little yellow cakes with pink buttercream icing!  YUM!

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 64: Color It & Penny Black Saturday Challenge 169

I am just so, so happy the OLW challenges are back!  They make me step out of my comfort zone, they make me practice, and they give me cards I needed to make anyways.

So, this week's challenge was:
COLOR IT! Stamp an outline image and color it using any coloring medium you want: colored pencils, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, paint, Copics, Bics, Sharpies, markers of any kind, or your kid's box of Crayola crayons. Doesn't matter...just COLOR IT! Remember keep it to one layer.


I am also submitting this for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge Week 169.


And, here's my result:

I used a lovely Penny Black image and a Memory Box sentiment.  Colored it with my Copics.  
Here's the same image/sentiment matted and a little vintage-y ribbon.

In my first attempt on the challenge, the sentiment was angled, but, with some careful trimming, I was able to salvage the card front (it was Gina K cardstock, after all...not worthy of the trashcan) and the card back will be used on something else.  I added a small border strip (hidden by the ribbon) and voila!  Another birthday card!  Cardstock by PTI, border punch by SU, ribbon is Hug Snug seam binding dyed and crinkled by me.


Thanks for peeking!

OLW 63: We're Back Baby!

I was SOOOOOO excited to see the OLW back in action this week.  I've really missed it.   In case you need a refresher, head on over to Jennifer's blog and check out the OLW 63 this week which is all about making a one layer card and making it baby themed.

And, yes, mine is another MALE card!  I'm on a roll!

Without further ado,

Isn't it sweet?  I love it!  And, I was so happy the theme this week was for baby.  Because it just so happens that our longtime sailing partners are expecting a grandson next month.  This will be perfect for them.

Water image is from Meers stamps, sailboat is a snag 'em from Imaginisce, and the sentiment is from A Muse.  Inks on the sailboat are versamagic and the water is memento.

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 60: Quick Layers of Ink

Yeah!  I made the Simplicity challenge this past Wednesday!  And, it was a fun one!

This week's OLW challenge is to make quick and easy cards with nothing but layers of ink by overlapping the stamped images and/or sentiment. The idea here is to practice whipping up a quick card or even an easy card set at the last minute with just ink and cardstock!

I really needed a few quick thank you cards and this challenge fit the bill.  I dug through my stamp drawers and pulled out a mess of stamps and memento ink colors and went to town. 

First up:

Love, love, love this polka dotted scallop stamp from Memory Box.  This is the first time it's seen ink...so glad to finally use it!  Flowers and sentiment are from Savvy Stamps.

Second:

Another GREAT round script stamp from Memory Box.  Flower stamp by Just For Fun and sentiment by Printworks.

Next:

 Same Memory Box script, Hero Arts leaves and AMuse sentiment.

Fourth:

 Memory Box script again, Judikins cattails, Hero Arts sentiment.

Fifth:

 Hero  Arts script and blocks, Lockhart sentiment.

And, last but not least:

Bline Designs polka dot stamp (use this one ALL the time!), Just For Fun flowers and AMuse sentiment.

Thanks, Susan, for pushing me to get these done!  It feels good!

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 41: It's Christmas...

Yes, folks!  Christmas in February!
That's this weeks' challenge over at the Simplicity blog for One Layer Wednesday.  And, here's what we have to do this week if we want to play along:

OLW41 Rules
1. A one-layer card is defined as a single layer of cardstock folded in half. No other layers allowed.
2. Make a Christmas (or Season's Greetings, if you prefer) card, but you must use green and red on white or cream. Feel free to be creative with the shades of green and red...you don't have to stay traditional. You can also use natural-style cardstock, watercolor paper, or textured paper as long as it's white or cream. Keep embellishments to a minimum. Extra points if you do like I did and use an image that isn't specifically holiday!

Well, I didn't have much to work with, since I don't have access to all my stamps...all I could come up with stamp-wise with a Christmas theme were my G Studio $1 stamps.  Let's just say that not all $1 stamps are created equal, are certainly not in any way, shape or form as good as clear photopolymers made here in the good ol' USA, and truly do affect the end result.   Truly an exercise in frustration, and after an entire afternoon of attempts and a full garbage can, came up with this:

Sorry, folks.  This is my best effort for this week's challenge.  It was either this or nothing.  It was time to move on to something more rewarding.

Thanks, as always, for peeking!

OLW 40: Two for the Show

Another One Layer Wednesday Challenge!  Hosted this week and every other week by the talented Jennifer Styles at her blog, Styles Ink.   Hard to believe this is the 40th week of this challenge.  It is my favorite challenge and one I play along with the most. 

This week's challenge involved making a one layer card using ONLY 2 images.  Embellishments kept to a minimum.   I dusted off my SU! Bloomin' Beautiful and colored the images with copics.

I think I am getting a bit better with my coloring and blending of colors, but the light source shading could definitely use some work.  I can't wait for the new copic book to come out next month that addresses this subject.  I need all the help I can get!

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 39: An Image, A Border, Some Bling

It's time for another Simplicity challenge! 

This week's challenge is all about using a single image, a border and a little bling on a single layer card.  Tougher than it sounds.   Since I need a few more Valentine cards, I decided to follow this theme.  The end result is a kraft card base with my image and border stamped in Memento Lady Bug Red.  The heart border is from Impress Rubber Stamps and the birdcage is by Craft Smart....$1.00 stamps from Mike's. 

I added a little bit of red Spica glitter pen to some of the red hearts and my clear Sakura glitter pen to the open heart of the birdcage and bird wings.

I really think this needs a sentiment.  I think I am going to go back and add one.  Something like Happy Valentine's Day.  Perhaps above the heart border on the right side.  What do you think??

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 37 Sentiments

Yeah!  I've made Simplicity's latest challenge with a day to spare!  The challenge is to create a one layer card using at least 2 and only sentiments.  No stamped images allowed this week!  Embellishments are to be kept to a minimum.

I thought I came up with an original idea, but just now scanning through the thumbnails on Susan's blog I find that several had this same original idea!  Oh well.  Great minds think alike.   I make it a point to not look at the thumbnails on any challenge I participate in so that I am not influenced in any way while coming up with my idea.   After my card(s) is finished, I then like to go back and look at everyone else's "point of view".  I love seeing everyone's interpretation of the challenge. 

I actually came up with two cards, both very similar in design and both for Valentine's Day.  The first uses a Stampin' Up (be mine) paired with a portion of an old Studio G sentiment.

The second card uses a PTI sentiment paired with the same Studio G partial sentiment.  I made a mask out of a sheet of computer paper and a nestibility heart die, and then repeatedly stamped the PTI sentiment over the cut-out heart.

A BIG thank you to Susan and Jennifer for coming up with these wonderful weekly challenges!

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 33 Home Decor

I should be working, working, working.  Instead, I am playing, playing, playing.  Hmmmmmmmmm.....

A quick one here:   New challenge today over at Simplicity's blog.  One layer card using home decor as our inspiration.   Have had these Unity stamps for a while now and figured today is as good a day as any to put them to use.   Colored with Copics....nothing fancy...just quickly colored and added a simple black line to ground the floating lamps.

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 32: Ages and Ages

Two weeks in a row.  I'm back at it.  I think.  Maybe.  We'll see.

During my hiatus of doing the one-layer Wednesday challenges change occurred.  Life became a bit hectic for Susan over at her Simplicity blog to continue posting the challenges on a weekly basis.  Then Jennifer Styles of Styles Ink came along to save the day.....she and Susan now alternate Wednesdays in hosting the OLW challenges.  

It's Jennifer's Wednesday this week and she came up with the theme of Ages and Ages.  We need to make a one layer "age" card.   Perfect!  I was lacking an idea for my last birthday card of the month which was for my brother in law.  After rumaging around, I came up with this:

I really liked the dry embossing around last weeks image in the OLW 31 challenge, so I decided to do it again!  I like how this turned out.   Image is from Inkadinkadoo and the sentiment is from Impress Rubber Stamps.  Love that sentiment....I usually use it on the insides of birthday cards, but it worked really well for this particular challenge.

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 21: Inspired by Nature

YES!
I did the challenge and got it posted only ONE day after Susan posted her Simplicity challenge  for this week!  Yeah!

So what's the challenge you ask?   It's a one layer card with extremely minimal embellishment, reflecting something from nature that is inspiring.   Well, given that I have 3 Iris cart drawers of stamps that are leaves, trees and grasses, surely I could find something!

And I did! 

It is this GREAT new stamp I bought from Impression Obsession at Stampaway last month.  It truly spoke to me.  I loooooovvve candy corn...wait all year for fall to arrive so that I can buy some (it and carmel apples are about the ONLY reasons I tolerate fall), and I really wouldn't mind if I could find a tree in real life on which candy corn grew.  I'd be sure to have it in my yard.  But, sigh, since it doesn't, this stamp is the next best thing.

The sentiment is also by Impression Obsession.  This card is going to be a Halloween card for someone (can't say!) along with a pair of black socks with a candy corn motif.

Thanks for peeking!

OLW 20 Three Plus One

Another Wednesday, another Simplicity challenge.
This past Wednesday, the challenge was all about making a one layer card with no embellishments, if possible, using three images (different or the same) and one sentiment.  Since I was out of town at the time the challenge was posted, my friend Colleen described it over the phone.  This dog stamp by Magenta was the first thing that popped into my mind and it never left.  So, I had to go with it.  Sentiment is by Penny Black.

Thanks for peeking!