Winter Wonderland

This is me supposedly cleaning my stamp area (er, dining room table). DS had been playing in my stash earlier and had found the snowflake. The base was a bit of scrap lying on the table. Put the two together, add my favourite Christmas sentiment from SU with some white embossing powder and it could all go on my to be photographed and filed pile rather than put back in drawers. That's cleaning isn't it?

Less is More - Off Centre

Creative Card Crew - Recycle Something (The snowflake came off a card given by another cardmaking friend)

Moving Along with the Times - Recycle Something (The snowflake came off a card given by another cardmaking friend)

Simon Says Stamp - Embossing

Flowery Thanks

This week's one layer challenge on Susan's Simplicity blog is to use an old stamp to make a thank you card. I pulled out my 2007 sale-abration set, Delight in Life and retired Wonderful Words. I did have fun trying Wild Wasabi and Rich Razzelberry for the first time. Love them! I may not have exactly followed the instructions to the letter. Embellishments were to be kept to a minimium but the purple bling really wanted to play today and Susan swears that bling is always a good thing.

If I was to do this over, I would move the flower over a little so that it was a little off the edge of the card, it may ground it a bit better. I would also have included a bit more of the scroll from the top of of the t in thank you - it seems a bit chopped, which it is but still.

Additional Challenges this Card Fits:
Challenge up your life - Masking (and lots of it! The flower was masked twice and all the leaves are in fact individually stamped around the flower.)
Daring Cardmakers - Speaking Professionally - As my Secretary's Day card for Wednesday

Fussy and Fancy - Springtime
Less is More - Off Centre

Hoppy Easter

This week our sponsor at For Fun Challenges is Di's Digital Downloads. I just loved this bunny couple the second I saw it. They are just so adorable. The card will definitely be going to DH this Easter. I coloured the image with my prisma pencils since I wanted a soft effect. It's been way to long - I have to work on my shading. The sentiment is on the left to cover a booboo where I had not cleared all the colour from my blending stick and it left a brown smudge in my sky. Thank goodness for layering. The sentiment is computer generated.

Challenges this Card Meets:

Joan's Gardens - 1) nature (I used bunnies), 2) circle dies, 3) the colours red, orange and green, 4) patterned paper with lines (my orange piece has what looks like scratch marks on it.)

Creative Inspirations - Easter

Creative Inspirations - Easter (Yes, it's a different challenge blog)

Critter Challenge - Punches or Dies

Delightful Sketches - Easter

Crafty Catz - Furry Friends

Sentimental Sunday - Easter with a Sentiment

Sunday Sketch and Stamp

Pear Tree Design - Easter

Happy Easter

I wanted to make some Easter cards this week which gave me the perfect excuse to borrow this Heartfelt Creations stamp from a friend. The scrolled image is so beautiful that I wanted to keep the card very simple to not detract from it. The cross was stamped in Versamark and then embossed in gold. I coloured the inside with Almost Amethyst. The flower at the centre is also a Hearfelt Creation's stamp called Posy Patch with a matching Spellbinder's Die set that I borrowed at the same time. The ovals was cut with my Creative Memories oval cutter and matted on Pale Plum. I am so going to miss both these colours when I run out. The background was made using my SU French Script backgound stamp to reinforce the writing on the cross. I then used half pearls just to add some bling to flowers and the cross.

I was going to stamp Happy Easter on the inside but I think I will leave it blank for now. Looking at it, I realized it would also make a wonderful sympathy card for someone who was religious.

Challenges this Card Meets:

Creative Inspirations - Easter

Creative Inspirations - Easter (Yes, it's a different challenge blog)

Critter Challenge - Punches or Dies

Delightful Sketches - Easter

Papertake Weekly - Truly Dimensional (My Flower)

Pear Tree Design - Easter

The Best Things in Life are Chocolate

When I saw this image by Whimsy Doodles, I just knew that it was the perfect chocolate bunny. Personally I normally eat the ears off first but I wanted to be sure everyone knew it was a chocolate easter bunny so I used my scalloped circle Nesties to make the teeth marks. The sentiment was printed from my computer. Inside the card says Happy Easter. I thought it would be a good pick-me-up for a friend. I am the world's worst chocoholic. It's a good thing there is no 12 step program for chocolate addicts.

Challenges this Card Meets:

Cards for Men - Easter

Creative Inspirations - Easter

Delightful Sketches - Easter

Do You Stack Up - Scallops

Phindy's - Easter

Jingle Bells

The challenge this week at For Fun Challenges is a colour challenge - use any of the following three colours on your card: pink, purple, green, yellow or blue. I've managed to use all 5 colours on this non-traditional Christmas card.

Meljen's Designs is our sponsor this week and I have had this jingle bell from them for a little while now. I have always loved this image and wanted to play with it so I started to look for how I could make a non-traditional Christmas card and found this paper in my stash. It's not clear in this photo but there are very tiny snowflakes in the smaller dots that match the big one below.

The sketch comes from Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge and between the image, colours and layout, it was a very fun card to create this week. Hope you enjoy it!

Challenges this Card Meets:
Christmas Card Challenge - Bows
Crafty Hazelnut Challenges - Circles
Fab N Funky - Spotty and Dotty
Meljen's Designs - 3 colours, 2 patterned patters, 1 bow
My Time to Craft - On the Spot
Paper Sundaes - A Childhood Memory (Listening for Santa's Sleigh Bells every Christmas Eve)

Sentimental Sundays - Treasured Memories (Listening for Santa's Sleigh Bells every Christmas Eve)

Spotty Dotty Watering Can

My favourite card layout, can you tell? I wanted to participate in this month's Delightful Inspirations challenge. I love images with bugs, any sort of bug and was disappointed that I didn't get the bug in the jar image. I may have to buy that one.

Anyways, I'm not quite sure what happened with the colours. The DP and the watering can do match in real life. The ribbon and the spots are actually the same pink. I will have to try to shoot this card again on the weekend.

DS was helping Mommy with card. He was the one that peeled all the adhesive backings and ran the die cuts through the machine. He even picked the gems, although Mommy had to help with the placement. I always try to keep the layers simple when he wants to play. He loves making cards, stamping and colouring but becomes frustrated with layers.

Challenges this Card Meets:
Delightful Inspirations - use the watering can image

7 Kids College Fund - Seeing Spots

Do You Stack Up - Yellow

Flutterby Wednesday

One Stop Craft - Spots and Dots

Paperplaytime - Use a Digi

Paper Sundaes - Spring Blossoms

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown - Spring