Dimensional Thanks

Do y'all have one of those mother-in-laws? I do. The best kind ever. She loves her son. She loves me. But most of all she loves her grandkids. Her favorite gifts to give are time and love. How lucky are we?! So to thank the grandparents for coming for TWO WEEKS so we could go on the trip of a lifetime, I knew I needed to make something special. Those of you who know me know I usually stop at about 2 layers, rarely use pink, and recoil from frilly florals. Here I did all of the above and maxed out at 7 layers! Like I said...special. ;-) All the same, it is still and CAS card, true to myself.

Some tools used:
       ODBD stitched rectangles
       ODBD sending set
       ODBD fancy squares
       Mft blueprints 13

Over and above the layering, I popped up the diamond orientation portion with foam tape and added more height & pop with Dew Drops (poinsettia set and watery set).

I'm competing in: ODBDSLC275 Pop It Up or Add Dimension.

Seeing in the Dark

It's been a LONG while, I know. I was kind of overtaken by life with 3 little ones, but I am back in the creative mood again after a fun night of designing with a good friend recently. Time for Mommy's is where you MAKE it!

For this CAS design, I reversed the white and dark spaces to go with the beautiful sentiment by ODBD. The background is a simple mix of sponged Tim Holtz distress inks, cut out with the stitched MFT Blueprints-13 rectangle. The owl is a cute little graduation set (re-purposed here) from Impression Obsession. Add a branch and you have a punny but meaningful card to encourage a friend.

Challenge I'm playing in: CASology #200: CAS + Blog Candy!

Thanks (But)Tons

I started with Your Next Stamp winter greetings set, for both the image and sentiment, stamped in Versafine Majestic blue. It seemed appropriate as we have 30" and counting of snow today, in a SOUTHERN state! I cut the image out with an Our Daily Bread Design double stitched rectangle, and made a larger frame from another. I cut the sentiment out with DieNamics Fishtail Flags. I edged all the die cuts with Jim Holtz faded jeans, and sponged the frame with a combo of Holtz distress inks (salty ocean, faded jeans, dusty Concord). The photo doesn't show it, but the banner is popped up over the frame on my grey panel. Finally, I added button "snowflakes" for bling.

Competing in the CCNS #120 -- Buttons this week.
Epilogue: I got a top 3 mention for this one!

Blessed Creation

I was having fun with my Ken Oliver Colorburst lemon yellow, Alizarin Crimson and orange, testing the puffing method. I started with watercolor paper, wet it, then puffed, I like how it made both swirls and spots - kind of like a blustery fall day. I respritzed a couple of places to get more blending, but it was a pretty quick card, other than drying time.

The tree itself is that fun "naked" stamp from Judith, that you can dress any way you like. Looking at it again today, I am feeling a Charlie Brown Christmas version in its future! I stamped it in Tim Holtz vintage ink, allowing a bit of brown into my fall mix.  The sentiment from Hero Arts Animal Blessings stamp set was put onto a piece of "kraft" paper from a recycled shopping bag
 -- enviro-crafty Mom at work! I love it when things can serve multiple purposes and not get wasted, and can keep the earth cleaner too.

I'm participating in the Classy Cards 'n Such Challenge #111 "Thankful"

Richly Blessed

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and while it's not my favorite holiday -- it allows for some of my favorite cards. I love the idea of being grateful. I personally keep a gratefulness journal to cheer me in sad times, and to even prevent them by forcing me to focus on the positive. Do you? Trust me, it's a great exercise.

At any rate, this card actually started at a MOPs crafting event where I found and cut to size this gorgeous orange paper. It isn't a color I use often - more a beach kind of girl - but I thought it was so pretty. Now I have found its use! I layered it behind a geometric die from Ellentina to create a simple yet elegant background. I stamped my Reverse Confetti Pumpkin Patch with Stampin' Up chocolate chip ink & used the matching dies to cut out the parts. I popped this up on a panel to bring in my last fall color, and tied it all together with green Queen& Co. dotties. 


This is part of the Classy Cards 'n Such Challenge #111 "Thankful"

A Swimmingly Good Birthday

I love oceans and the beach -- that's "my" place. And especially this time of year... so I'm bringing it back with a birthday card for a friend...

The card base was in a nice ocean color, which I embossed with Lifestyle Crafts swirly embossing folder to suggest waves. I then added a Memory Box Oceana corner die.  The turtle and sentiments were stamped in Versafine deep lagoon ink from a Sweet N' Sassy set "happy ocean friends" then colored with Sakura gelly roll pens. I cut them out using Die-namics fishtail flags. I used my pens to add details to the shells on my corner die, and used Stickles to add eyes with dimension. A few water drop embellishments and I was done...



This week I am playing in the SNSS 8th Birthday Party contest.

Turkey in the Straw

The inspiration for the whole card was actually the “straw” – a textured paper I picked up at a scrapbooking expo back in the summer with Thanksgiving in mind. I love the natural look it gives the card. It also is a bit shimmery, which shows not at all in a photo. The card was quite simple actually. I die cut the little IO pumpkins from paper I sponged with a mix of Tim Holtz distress inks. Some were popped up with Joy! Foam pads for depth, while others where glued tight to help hold on my straw. The sentiment was a die from Paper Smooches, and the turkey is just a kids’ sticker made of felt. Again, I liked how it added to the natural fiber texture of the card. The red panel is a much deeper more interesting hue than it looks with the flash photo, and the folder is a nice fallish chocolate.

I’m playing in the CCNS Challenge #109 Gobble Gobble this week.