Back on track

A bit ago I said I was going to focus on thank you cards and then, of course, I got distracted. I am happy to report I am back on track to getting a few thank you cards at the ready. This will be short lived as it is about time to focus on birthday stuff for the little guy which will take all my time 'cause I'm just that kind of mommy. Until then we're doing thank yous.

Here's a sweet little card made with a Bella image I received in a swap somewhere along the way.



The musical border (from OnyxXpressions) is beautiful and now that I remember I have hopefully I get it inked up a bit more. The sentiment (from Papertrey) is classic. A nice combination.



Challenges
Raise the Bar - Sweet Music
Truly Scrumptious - Sketch

Thanks for looking!

Just because...

Don't you just love it when something comes together beautifully all by chance? I saw the sketch on the Papertake Weekly Challenge blog and it spoke to me so off to the art room I went. I had wanted to see if these sheer materials I have (and have used on cards) would work as a border or accent instead of a whole background and these sketch sent me straight to them. As I was looking at my choices I decided I liked this one best for today.



I started wondering if I had a coordinating stamp - some kind of flower that would at least "go" with the ones on the material. And what do you know? Yes, I do. They look almost like they were made to go together. Happiness. And in my favorite colors too!

The stamp was bought awhile ago unmounted, I don't know from where. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Damask Designs. The background is embossed with an old Fiskars embossing plate. As a side note, hubby bought these for me and I refuse to discourage him so I keep them and use them despite other, more current options. It was then brushed with white ink.

Thanks for looking.

Just in case

This card is one of those that's nice to have around because if you need it you likely won't feel like making it. I hate making sympathy cards. I like happy cards and cheering people up. Sometimes though you need something else. Coming across the Corrosive Challenge blog I took a look through my die cuts and found this rocking chair which led me down the path to make this card that will hopefully sit in my room on the shelf for a long, long time.



The sentiment reads, "Sending thoughts of love and praying for the Lord to sustain you with bright and restful days." It's from Stampin Up. The background was made using PTI's Guidelines.

Challenges:
Truly Scrumptious - Sketch
Charisma Cardz Challenges - Flowers
Tuesday Taggers - All that Blooms
Colour Create Challenge Blog - Baby pink and pastel blue
The Corrosive Challenge Blog - die cuts

Thanks for looking.

Father's Day

I'm back from my travels - for now. Paris was wonderful, of course! I'm finally getting back into the art room and back to my creative work. One look at the calendar and I realized the Father's Day projects that had to be mailed had to be the first priority. While it seems so far away the mailing deadline is practically here. Now first up is my dad. Let me just say, he is the hardest person I make cards for. He loves his work and isn't really into the typical guy stuff but he certainly isn't into anything remotely girly. Tough I tell ya.

I got a little nudge from a few challenges and here's what I came up with. This is not my usual style, but I'm happy with it and I think it fits the bill.



The border around the image is embossed with distressed embossing powder and the blue around that is painted with distressed paint. The staples are from the fastenater (is that how you spell it??). They were brown, but have been sanded to go along with the whole distressed look. The image is an old PSX one and the sentiment is from a set that was given to me.

Thanks for looking.

Challenges:
Just Us Girls #46 - Sketch
Tuesday Taggers - Touchy Feely Texture
For Fun Challenges - Card for a man
Delightful Sketches - Texture
Cute Card Thursday - Black, blue, and orange
Cards for Men - Father's Day