Have a drink

Today's card was inspired by two challenges. The first, Happy Hour over at Cupcake Craft Challenges led me to the second, Congratulations at One Stop Craft Challenges.

When I first saw Happy Hour I almost passed. I wasn't working on nor did I need to work on any kind of project even close to Happy Hour. Then I looked at my general To-do list. A friend of mine has a birthday later this month so her name was on my list to get the card mailed out. Her husband is currently out of the country for an entire year doing the military thing so I thought if anyone needed a drink it would be her. I didn't want to encourage her to drink alone just because he was gone, though I know there are days when doing just that might be the thing to do. That's where Congratulations came in. What about a card to congratulate her on making it this far into the year. Trust me, she's about a third of the way through so she deserves some congratulations.

Here's what will be popping in her mailbox.

It's a pretty simple card - just her style. The image is from Stamping Bella, the sentiment from PTI.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Fall is in the air

I know it's been awhile since I've posted. No big or exciting adventure this time, just a little reassessing. I have let my desire to participate in challenges trump my creativity and so I've stopped to take a look at my approach. I think I'm finding a better one. Plus, I've been going crazy with Halloween stuff. It seems the costume ideas this year were much easier on the drawing board than in real life. Luckily I still have a few weeks - I'm going to need them!

But none of this is why you are here. You are here because fall is in the air, at least in theory. We went from summer to winter, back to summer, and now the weather seems to be thinking about at least trying to be fall.

JUGS has a super simple, super sweet sketch going on this week. My take:


This little flower was one of the very first stamps I ever bought way back when. It's from Hero Stamps.

Paper Sundaes has a challenge this week to use something from your stash which made me think of this little charm which has been in my art room so long I can't remember buying it.

There you have it. My little bit of fall.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Try, try again

My Time Made Easy is (or rather was) having a call for some new designers. I love their products. Getting them and having to play with them sounds so wonderful! Hubby certainly can't argue with that. I just love seeing the 3-D boxes and bags come to life. For the call, I put together a little set to wrap up a scarf my son and I recently picked up on one of our travels for her. Nothing fancy just a little something. I used the tote it all template, which goes together even easier than I could have imagined.


The scarf is pink and so the color theme revolved around pink.

Here is the bag.

I wanted the bag to look a little purse like because this particular friend LOVES purses. I used paper from their fresh fabrics collection 2 (these are my favorite papers!). I also wanted a simple yet unique focal point so I made a medallian of sorts. I used the argyle set from MTME to stamp a pattern on shrinky dinks, cut out a circle, and shrunk it all down.

And now the back.

I wanted to use the same pattern on the pocket, but I wanted the colors to be a bit softer so I chose to go with a shimmery ink in the same colors. The pocket is empty at the moment because that is where the kids picture for her will go.

And here is the card.

I used the same contrasting paper from the bag to make the background on the card using the same curves from the top of the bag. I then repeated the pattern though put it on it's side. The sentiment is from a stamp that was given to me years ago. The white are will be filled in with hearts from the kids, but that takes more patience than I had this weekend.

Thanks for looking and wish me luck!

Testing

Once again I've been a bad blogger because we were off on an adventure. This time it was the Czech Republic. Fun, fun, fun!

Anyway, I'm back and we'll be home for a bit so I should be able to get the mojo going again. I really hope it comes back fast.

Anyway, today I have a little something to offer. It's a simple little card I made to submit to My Time Made Easy. It was a failed attempt, but here's the card none the less.



Though I've been meaning to try it, this is the first card I have ever sewed on. I did both machine and hand stitching. The patterned paper was inked and distressed around the edges prior to sewing. I like the simplicity of the card and plan on sending it to a friend for Thanksgiving.

Challenges:
Charisma Cardz Challenge - Something new
Stamptacular Sunday Challenges - Distress it
Paperplay Challenges - Autumn is a comin'
Raise the Bar - Orange, brown, green

Thanks for looking!

A ladybug thank you

I know I haven't been around for a bit. First there was the issue of the art room. Three times in one week I couldn't find what I was looking for even though I knew I had what I wanted. The only answer was, of course, a reorganization of the space which was almost like Christmas because while I found those things I was looking for I also found papers and cardstocks I forgot I had. Once that was done it was time to get ready for the next adventure. We went to Brussels to see the Flower carpet in the main square. Beautiful!! And crowded. Though it is Belgium so lots of chocolate!! The really good stuff! I only brought a few pounds back with me. And yes, I will be disappearing again as we head out on another adventure next week. But before then I hope to show you a few things I've been working on.

First up is another thank you card. It seems I lost a bit of my holiday mojo while working on the gift and I'm really hoping it returns before it's crunch time. This thank you came about mostly from the ladybug brads.



The image is from Stampendous and the sentiment is from PTI. The papers are from Stampin Up.

Thanks for looking.

I was wrong...

the birthday card was not the hardest one to make. Making an anniversary card for the doc was beyond difficult. Seriously. I went through at least five ideas that just did not work. I finally ended up with this one which I do like, but boy was it hard.



I don't know why I got fixated on black, but I did. At one point I switched to white only to come back to black. And while I wasn't going to do hearts look where I ended up.

The hearts and sentiment are from PTI.


Challenges:
Crafty Creations Challenge Blog - wedding/anniversary
Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenges - Pink and Black

Thanks for looking. And please, let me know what you think.

Thinking of you

I'm still working my way through the gift set. Thankfully I'm just about done. Today's card is my favorite in the bunch. It is not something I would normally do. I am not usually this simple. However, once the idea hit me I really wanted to see it through.



The hearts are from PTI, all stamped with Brilliance Pearlescent ink. The sentiment is from Stampendous from back in the day. It too is stamped in Pearlescent ink. Then all I did was add two strips of glitter and done.

Challenges:
Papertake Weekly Challenges - White and Bright
Cute Card Thursday - Whateva!

Thanks for looking!