A Little Thanks Amidst the Crazy

I'm hoping everyone is staying safe and healthy amid all the craziness right now.  I'm on spring break but it looks like students will be off indefinitely.  I am told I will be working but I don't know what that will look like after spring break.

Needless to say, crafting is a relaxing way to spend a bit of the day.  I started pulling out items from the bottom drawer of my craft cupboard.  It has all my saved images from cards, images my kids have previously coloured and items that were pre-stamped.  I found a bunch of items that my kids coloured ages ago and probably wish I'd lost.

I like the cheery colours and a thank you card is a nice focus rather than the doom and gloom going on.  Hopefully my kids will decide to do some colouring with me over the next few days but at least 'til then they are doing some yard work.

Challenges:

Dream Valley Challenges - One for the Boys (Since one of my boys coloured it, they will get to use the card)

Make My Monday - Something Tropical

Crafty Animals

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - March 2020

Inkspirational - Animals

Perfectly Panda

I had fun with the Sketch Saturday Challenge this week and since it helped me to use 3 different patterned papers, my New Years' goal for the year, I decided to give it a second shot.  (If you didn't see my first card, you can see it here).  I used the same stamps and the same layout.  I love how changing the papers gave it a completely different feel.  This green and pink layout was my favourite one - it just seemed a bit cleaner.

The card is going to one of my students as a Valentine's Day thank you.  They really do enjoy getting happy mail and I really do believe that if I want them to learn about the importance of being gracious, it needs to be modelled.

Challenges:
Sketch Saturday
2 Crafty Critter Crazies
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - February
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
Cut it Up - Love is in the Air

Valentines' Thanks

I needed some thank you cards for my students who were so generous at Valentine's Day.  They get so excited when they get mail at home.

I am trying to use some of my stamps that haven't seen love recently.  I don't think I've ever used this panda.  I liked how this one reinforced the Valentine's theme and helped me to use some of the papers that have been in my stash since before my children were born.  Let's just say they aren't little anymore! I find using patterned patter challenging and it is my New Years' goal to bust some of that patterned paper stash.

Challenges:
Sketch Saturday
2 Crafty Critter Crazies
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - February
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
Cut it Up - Love is in the Air
Use Your Stuff - Circles

Mahalo

I had bought Tropical Chic from Stampin' Up! to make baby shower cards for my sister since she chose a Maui theme for the nursery.  However my good intentions never materialized and I did something much simpler.  This was the first time I broke out the set despite my nephew now being seven months old. This card is based on MFT's Sketch 439. Once I had stamped all the leaves I had a gap in the middle though so I pulled out the banner die from Concord & 9th.  I just happened to have the Mahalo stamp from Waltzing Mouse, which means "thank you" in Hawaiian.  I love the green, blue and white combo.  All the white paper was from my scrap stash.

Blue Thank Yous

I'm on Day 3 of recreating cards from the Stampin' Up catalogue.  Okay, I'll be honest, this was not my most successful recreation but I appreciate when people show their meh work as well as their best.  We can't be rock stars all the time!

This card is from the bottom of page five and is not my usual style at all.  It's way more fussy than I am comfortable with and I think it shows.  I didn't have any lovely Coastal Cabana so I substituted Tempting Turquoise, which I think is just too bright for this card.  I couldn't find my swish stamp from Sheltering Tree.  I know it's in there somewhere but lost polymer stamps are impossible to find! I substituted with raindrops figuring I would at least go with a nature theme.  The tag is from some cheap dollar store DP.  The stamped image is a very old one from Stamping Bella that I directly coloured.  I think my Tempting Turquoise marker's ink is going slightly off.  Has that happened to anyone?  The markers are very old.  The sentiment is an old Sale-abration set.  Once again, I had to go on an archeology hunt to find some ribbon for this card.

All in all, it was fun to try something different and I used two stamps that I hadn't touched in at least five years.  So despite the way it looks, maybe it was a marginal success.

Thanks Kindly

I'm still showing off samples from the last year.  I was always asked to make the plant picks to put in the flowers to give out to the school volunteers at the yearly Volunteer Tea.  I always try to make these out of scraps since it is a donation to the school.  I think this is my fifth year and every year I try to make it different.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up's One Big Meaning
Ink: Black Versafine
Paper: Unknown scraps, all from Stampin' Up

Victorian Garden

Today's challenge on MFP's Speedy Fox and Friends is to make a cut away embossed card.  You can find the tutorial here.

While I really like how my card turned out, I'm still a little miffed.  I had carefully planned out a Christmas card last night.  The paper, embossing folders, sentiments were all picked out.  I was just too tired to put it together.  Unfortunately, the kiddies got up before me and my supplies were not quite where I'd left them.  I cleaned my entire living room and dining room (think LARGE table full of stuff!)  DH is happy but I still haven't found the Christmas embossing folders.  Really, where could they be?  By that point, I was on a cleaning fix and went through the entire lower level of the house.  I mopped behind furniture for goodness sakes.  I vacuumed under the couch cushions.  NADA.

Okay, enough rant.  This card was an awesome use of stash.  The DP is unknown.  My aunt found it as a freebie at her craft guild meeting and brought it home for me.  The base and green layer were both scraps as well as the white borders.  The prisms I've had for years and the rhinestones were my attempt at using up all the miscellaneous stones that had been pulled off recycled cards and therefore had no matches.  YEAH!  The sentiment is from MFP's Roses set.

Challenges This Card Meets:
Alphabet Challenge - J is for Jewels
Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
Dragon's Lair Designs - Shabby Chic
Simply Papercrafts for All Occasions - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Card Mania - Anything Goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Anything Goes

Ish

I needed a quick thank you for the daycare worker so this is what I came up with.  Since I wasn't posting it, I went with lots of dimension.  The flower is actually got 4 layers with fun foam between each one to give it depth.

The challenge this week at MFP's Speedy Fox and Friends is to make a card with 7 layers.  At first I thought it would be hard because I tend to CAS-ish.  Have you ever read the book, "Ish" by Peter Reynolds?  That's my art.  CAS-ish.  I sometimes do one-layer.  I usually have only a few layers.  I usually don't do embellishments.  Ribbon is a bit scary, I don't know what to do with bulky embellishments but I break out of the modo often enough that CAS can't be described as totally my "thing."  The book basically about how art does not have to be exact replicas of real life, art is to be  enjoyed.  I love Peter Reynolds' books about creativity.

Anyways, back to the card,  I did the flower first and then realized I was going to have a hard time keeping it down to 7 layers when I had already used up four on the flower.  No layers for leaves now...  The pink around the die cut circle is sponged because I only had 3 layers left.  It was a bit funny at that point.  The sentiment stamp is actually straight but because it is an acrylic stamp, I was able to bend it on my block.  Love that we can do that!

Stamps:  MFP's Gardenia, sentiment is MFP's Roses
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, TH's Victorian Velvet
Paper:  Gina K.'s luxury white, DP from Creative Memories
Diecuts: Scalloped Circles
Accessories:  None

Challenges this Card Meets:
Creative Corner - Anything Goes
Fab 'N Funky - Flora and Fauna
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes

Like a Rose

This week's challenge on MFP's Speedy Fox and Friends is to use only the centre of your top layer for your image.  I cheated because I only used one layer.  It was just too elegant to add more, I thought it would detract from the final result.  Besides, I always need lots of flat thank you cards for the end of the year.  This one uses MFP's Roses Set, which I coloured in copics.  I fussy cut a scrap version so I could sponge the blue oval.  The sentiment is from Dogwood Blossoms.

Challenges This Card Meets:

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie
Photo Inspiration

Fussy and Fancy - Springtime Flowers
Sister Act - Anything Goes
Stempelsonne - Handcoloured stamped image
That's Crafty! - Let's Keep it Simple
Wags 'N Whiskers - Flowers
Art Impressions - April Showers Bring May Flowers
Cute Card Thursday - Clean and Simple
DRS Designs - Blooming Beautiful
If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - I chose the flower and the pink, white and blue colour combo
Ruby's Rainbow - CAS
Simon Says Stamp - Clean and Simple

Staring at the Sun

I had never heard of this technique before but I really like it.  It's called a panel card and it's the challenge for this week's Speedy Fox and Friends challenge.  I will so have to do it again.  I love the hint of dimension on such a clean layout.  I used up a strip of old yellow dp and the image is from "Sun and Moon" and my favourite sentiment is from "Hydrangeas".  You can't see it in this picture but I used my Wink Stella pen on the stars, ribbons and centres of the sun's rays just to give it that hint of sparkle.

Now hopefully, Mr. Sun will come out for everyone to have a wonderful Easter weekend.  It bucketed on us this afternoon while we were out but I'm looking forward to our egg hunts.  Fingers crossed!

On the Pitch

I'm so glad that soccer season is coming to a close.  Standing in the rain all winter is not my idea of a good time.  Unfortunately, it was not my son's either.  That said, his coaches were amazing and deserve lots of recognition.  They were super positive and supportive, even with him being the youngest on the team.  This card was inspired using a tutorial from Michelle Zindorf found here.

I'm using this card as my submission for this week's "What's That? - Wednesday".  The stamp is Goal, retired from Stamping Up, which I had bought second hand for when my eldest was playing 2 years ago.  The sentiment is from Freshly Squeezed Stamps, "Say Anything" set.  The star rhinestones are also 2 years old.  I'd bought them for DS's 100 Day at school and then his teacher wanted something else so they were absorbed into my stash.

Negative Lilies

Little inky heaven.  My one-layer card required the use of 4 different shades of purple.  I didn't even know I had that many!  I borrowed Susan's, a.k.a. LateBlossom's, favourite layout for this card.  I used my quilt ruler and gridded acrylic block to line up my image from MFP's Flower Blocks and then emboss them in clear powder.   If you look carefully, I still don't think it's perfectly lined up.  Grrrr. I then sponged in my inks.  I thought it would make a fabulous sympathy card but I've noticed a big hole in my stamp collection.  All my sympathy stamps are small.  I thought this sentiment from MFP's Hydrangea was a good alternative.  Please come join us for Speedy Fox and Friend's challenge to emboss in white and then sponge a background.

Challenges This Card Meets:
One-Layer Simplicity - Blends

For My Coach

It's that time of year again.  I've had to make 4 cards for coaches on my son's soccer team.  How can a team of eleven kids have four coaches?  Due to the proximity of Valentine's Day, I  reused two ideas from last year since we have different coaches but here's a new one.  I used SU's retired Goal for the soccer balls.  They are punched with a 1 1/2 inch punch.  The two at the front are popped up on some recycled foam.  The sentiment is one from Freshly Squeezed Stamps, now closed.  All this is mounted on Real Red, Basic Black and then Gina K.'s Luxury White.  The card was inspired by this one on Splitcoaststampers.

Challenges This Card Meets:
Addicted To Stamps - Anything Goes
The House that Stamps Built - Thank You
City Crafter - You Matter
Cutting and Stamping - Masculine
Loves Rubber Stamps - Show Me Some Red
Card Mania - Use Some Red
Incy Wincy - Use Punches or Diecuts

Up, Up and Away

This week's Inspiration Challenge was hot air balloons.  If you look at the images below, you'll see which one I chose.  I had seen the bargello technique on Splitcoaststampers and decided that this was the perfect excuse to give it a try.  You can find the technique tutorial here.  Originally I was just going to use plain coloured card stock but at the last second went looking through my scrap pile for rainbow colours.  I'm so glad I did.  This is such a cheery card in the middle of our grey, winter days.   It's also helping me use up some of my DP scraps which are threatening to take over the world, or at least my dining room!  The sentiment is a personal favourite from MFP's Hydrangea set.

Zentangle Snowflake

Zentangle seems to be all the new rage.  I just laugh when I consider how often I am trying to get my students to NOT doodle on their papers.  

This week on MFP's Inspiration Challenge, we were given three zentangle ideas to play with.  You don't have to do a zentangle on your card, you just need to use the designs as a starting point.  I was inspired by the colour, the white space surrounding the design and the patterns of the second.   I like the colours I used and the idea of creating movement with the design but I've never felt very artistic with my doodling.  I think this is a technique I would need a lot more practice before I would become confident with it.

Crazy Quilts or Just Plain Crazy

I am super excited.  I am now creating for MFP's Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge.  This week the topic is to make a patchwork background.  I personally love crazy quilts so I chose to make that as my background.  I'm currently in the process of making a denim one from my kids cast-off denim.  The possibilities for embellishment is endless and very fun.

This card uses up lots of scraps from one of my Mind's Eye 6 x 6 pads.  One of my new year's resolutions is to use up some of my designer paper and I'm almost done with this set.  I used MFP's Snowflakes for the image and the sentiment is from MFP's Fall Apples.  I don't think you can see it in the image but I embossed both with sparkly embossing powder and it looks so beautiful in real life.  Both are also popped up on a bit of recycled rubber just for some visual interest.

I'm tempted to play again - there are so many beautiful quilting patterns.  I love nine blocks and wonky log cabins.  I hope you'll join us!

Soccer Star

This week's Simple Salutations was another stretch for me.  Emily is helping me get out of my creative rut and think outside the box, which is part of the reason I love entering challenges.  This week we are to "Play Ball" and make cards featuring ball sports.  My DS plays soccer and I make all the coach, assistant coach and manager cards for the year.  This year I'm getting a head start.  Love how it turned out.  Time consuming but very easy, visually effective and it used lots of scraps.  My kind of card.  The soccer ball was made using my small hexagon punch and leaving small gaps to show my grey card base.  Once all the hexagons were taped down, I cut out my circles from my base.  I then scored a fold line on the back card base and taped that down to the front so there is no visible fold line or flat edge on the front of the card.  The sentiment is from the Tiger set.  I love the ability to position clear stamps.  It's a long straight sentiment but I was able to ink one word, clean my stamp and then stamp the second to make it up and down.  Can't wait to see everyone else's take on this card.

On another note, for those that read my blog, I am so very happy to announce that a tentative agreement between the teachers' union and the government has been reached.  The ratification vote is on Thursday and I'm very much hoping to be with my class on Monday.  YEAH!

Back to School... Please!

This week's Sketch with a Twist is to make a card for back to school.  I so wish we were going back to school here in B.C.  I miss my students.  We are currently on strike to have the government honour contract clauses that were stripped illegally from our contracts.  It went to court twice and the government lost both court cases!  If you are interested in learning more about the history of the teacher labour dispute here in B.C., I recommend you reading this article by The Tyee.

For my card, I chose a thank you card only because I often need cards at the beginning of the year for parents and former students that help me set up my room.  I don't know what I'd do without their help.

The apple shape is a Spellbinders Shapeability.  The sentiment is my favourite from MFP's Hydrangea set.  I know there looks like a there is a halo effect around the sentiment but it's not there in real life.  I'm not sure what happened.  The DP is a simple purple inter-lined pattern.  It looked very stark so I handwrote the class subjects in.

I hope everyone has a happy and smooth transition into the new school year.

Mathematical Magic

This week's challenge for MFP's Simple Salutations is to make a card featuring your favourite school subject.  I chose MATH!  I love teaching math and sharing how math isn't hard, it's about finding patterns and applying what you already know in new ways.

I'm really hoping that school starts on time here in British Columbia and that the negotiations between the teachers and the government move forward.  I always find September to be magical - more so than January.  Every year, we get a totally fresh start.  New supplies, new friends, teachers and the opportunity to do better.  I love September.

Prairie Coneflower

I'm back!  I had a wonderful time visiting relies in England.  Now it's back to the day-to-day.  This was way more fun than doing laundry.

This week's challenge on MFP's Sketch with a Twist is to use at least one button.  I played with MFP's Coneflower image.  I used the double flower image and then fussy cut it out to fit this layout.  The sentiment is from the Roses set.  The paper is from My Mind's Eye.  In order to have a matching embellishment, I ended up colouring the prism with my copics.  I love that technique.  Hope you'll play too!