Nautical Birthday

I am in red, white and blue mode, as it is almost July, and that means almost July 4th - one of my favorite holidays.   I needed a birthday card for a summer birthday for a man who loves boating, so I thought this would work like a charm. It's perfect for the CASology cue this week: Nautical. It's hard to see that the anchor is brushed silver cardstock, but it really looks metallic in real life. I love it. Anchor and sentiment dies are Paper Smooches. Stitched die is Lil Inkers. "Simple but really good", says my teenage son.  Love that endorsement.

Also linking up with Shopping Our Stash where the theme this week is: For The Boys.

Thanks of coming by today.

Let Freedom Ring

This patriotic shaker card is created in honor of our coming Fourth Of July celebration here in the US. This is a holiday that I so love on so many levels.  The watercolor panel is smooshed with red, white and tea stain distress inks. I did a partial die cut on that panel with a star die, then inlaid the shaker star over a star embossed card base. I am loving those enamel stars from Doodlebug Design.  The star EF is from SU, and the sentiment is from a Verve set that I always bring out at this time of year: American Hero.  

I am linking this card to CTD348:

Cards In Envy (Making Cards That Fit In Envelopes):

Thanks so much for stopping in today.

Butterfly Effect

This is my Clean and Graphic and rather literal interpretation of this week's Card Concept #37  inspiration.

As defined on the Card Concept Blog, Clean and Graphic design is:

• clean lines
• simple treatment of text
• no frills
• bare boned
• message is communicated quickly

I think this card definitely fits the description. Like DT Member Shannon Jaramillo,  I was inspired by the blended colors and the white details in the inspiration photo. 

I love these butterfly images and matching dies from Stampendous.  I just got them, and this challenge was perfect for me to put them to good use. I embossed the butterfly images with white EP. Then using the stencil that comes with the stamps, I sponged them with Hero Arts neon ink, and diecut them. I masked the butterfly images, stamped the antennae for each butterfly on the card base, and embossed them with white EP before adhering the butterfly diecuts to the card.

I love the way this one turned out.  Thanks for the inspiration Card Concept DT, and thank YOU for stopping by today... and CM, this one's for you!

Right Here For You

It's time for another game over at the AAA Cards Challenge Blog! Game 42 is a technique challenge: Use stencil(s) and/or embossing paste. My wonderful sister treated me to a SSS gift certificate for my birthday, and I wanted to put some of my new goodies to use.  So I used my new Ledger Drops Stencil, Distress Inks, Geotag die and This Is The Life stamps and came up with this card:

My color palate was inspired by this week's Colour Me Card Challenge subtle colors of Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive and Coastal Caribbean. The olive looks yellow in the photo, but very olive-y in real life!

So go to your crafting space, pull out your stencils, embossing paste, find some good color inspiration, and create something fabulous. Then head on over to the AAA Card Challenge Blog and play!  Thanks for visiting. 

Curtain Call Guest Designer - Me!

photo source: scrap-pygovka.blogspot.com

When my card was selected as "The LEAD" for the Curtain Call Totally Tassel Challenge, I was over the moon! The LEAD wins a guest designer spot for a future Curtain Call challenge. When I saw the inspiration photo, I flipped!  (Pun intended). I currently work as a school librarian, and Thursday is the beginning of my summer hiatus. At 12:30 PM on Thursday, I will slip into my flip flops and spend every moment I can at the beach, or "down the shore" as we say in New Jersey. This challenge is absolutely perfect for me right now! Here is my take on the Curtain Call Flip Flops Challenge:

Make sure you visit each of the designers' blogs for more inspiration!

Flip Flops Designers

Stephanie Lanzalotto, Guest Designer
Amy Kolling
Amy Sheffer
Amy Tsuruta
Kim Singdahlsen
Laurie Willison
Lisa Henke
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Monika Davis
Sarah Gough
Sheri Gilson
Stacey Schafer
Tenia Nelson
Tracey McNeely

Follow us!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge Facebook Page

Curtain Call Pinterest Boards

Stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge:  Flip Flops for the challenge details and to play along with us!

Woodland Hello

Time for another challenge over at the AAA Cards Challenge Blog!

Game #41 Woodland Animals : Foxes, bears, bunnies, turtles, otters, squirrels, birds, worms, all forest fauna! 

Here's my take:

Please join us with your own Woodland Creature inspired creation.  Head on over to the AAA Cards Challenge Blog, link up your creation, and play along with us.

Images and Die Cuts are Paper Smooches. I am linking up to Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge this week:

Paper Smooches - Anything Goes

Thanks for coming by today.  Your comments always make my day!

So Excited

I am so tickled with this card. It was so much fun putting it together.  It was born of a combination of three challenges.

I started out with inspiration from Time Out Challenge #32 - CASE Deepti's card above with your own twist. I began to think about the elements in Deepti's lovely card and how to twist them into my own creation.  My new Paper Smooches Big Vase Dies came to mind, and then my idea began to take shape. I filled my die cut vases with flowers from Paper Smooches Twiggy Florets that I embossed in green on the black background and the inlaid white vases. My images and sentiment are all from Paper Smooches so it works for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge - May 31- June 6 Anything Goes (wk5).

I embossed the flowers in green again on vellum, colored them with Copics from behind, and adhered them with glue dots.  I so love the sentiment, so I embossed it to make it stand out on the black background . The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers' current challenge is "V is for Vellum". The vellum flowers and punny saying fit right in

Thank you for coming by today. Your comments are welcome and appreciated. Have a wonderful day!