Color Throwown #174 & Freshly Made Sketches #17

Here's a birthday card that I made for my Grandma using this cute Hero Arts Cling that I picked up at the Black Friday sale at one of my local stamp stores (I'm just now getting round to using it!)

I used this sketch from this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge:

And these colors (the closest matches I could find) from Color Throwdown's weekly challenge:

It took me 3 different inks and 5 tries to get the image to come out looking like this (which is still not as solid as I'd like). I about gave up on it! It is definitely a sweet image, though. Notice the PTI pinking sheers die on the left side.

The sentiment is from PTI's Ribbon Tails set and the pearls are from Recollections.

The ribbon and all cardstock are from PTI. This was a nice easy sketch to use, and I think my Grandma will love the card :)

cQc #119 and Card Patterns #148

I had a very productive cardmaking day yesterday, and here's another of my creations for two challenges that I haven't played along with in awhile:

I used these colors from this week's ColorQ challenge:

And this sketch from this week's Card Patterns challenge:

Isn't this little girl sweet? It is a My Favorite Things stamp. I remember seeing someone using it at PTI's Stamp-a-Faire, and ever since then I wanted her. I just found her the other day at my local stamp store. The rolled rosette and the resin flower are both from Suzanne.

The pattern on the pink paper is from PTI's Background Basics: Retro. The floral paper is also from PTI. The grey paper is from an old SU DSP pack. The ribbon is also Melon Mambo Swiss Dot SU ribbon.

The scallop punch is also SU. Her shirt is stamped with PTI's Background Basics: Polka Dots. The sentiment came with the little girl stamp. I think that this card turned out sweet, but good grief it took me forever!

CPS #250

I haven't played in the CPS challenge in ages! Today I got crafty and decided to play along. Here is what I created:

Here's the sketch I used from CPS:

When I saw this Poppy Stamps girl pulling a dog on a sled, I knew I HAD to have it :) It is so adorable, is it not? It even has a matching die to go along with it.

The sentiment is from PTI's Signature Greetings and the snowflakes are cut with an SU punch. The Houndstooth is from PTI's Background Basics: Houndstooth.

The white polka dot ribbon is from Amuse and the twine from the Twinery. The button is from PTI.

I love how wintery this card turned out. It doesn't really seem like winter here, though, because we still don't have any snow that's stayed on the ground!

Hambo Hoedown #48

We haven't had a Hambo Hoedown challenge for a couple of weeks due to the holidays, but now we're back on track. This challenge was different...one I've never done before. We were given just a sentiment to use (you can find it here) and asked to use two different sizes of circles on our card. With the sentiment, I knew I'd make my circles balloons. So here's what I created:

The circles were cut with two different sized SU punches from SU cardstock. The two scallops are stickers that came with an SU paper pack. The striped paper also came in the pack.

The mini library clip is from SU, too.

You wouldn't think it would be hard to work with just a sentiment, but this card has NO stamping on it! Totally unusual for me. Why don't you give it a shot yourself? Head on over to the Hoedown, here, and you could be eligible for a free digi next week :)

Make It Monday #47 A La Carte

I haven't done a Make It Monday in forever! But when I saw the choice to try one that I missed out on, I jumped at the chance. I tried #28, Glitter Die Borders and created this card:

I decided that if I try this again, I will use a thicker glue around the border since mine came out so thin and hard to see. I just used a Quickie Glue Pen..maybe Tombo would work better next time. Anyway, you can just barely see it sparkling in this picture.

The flower and hexagon background come from the new Rosie Posey set that PTI came out with last month. I loved the Smokey Shadow/Canyon Clay color combo that Nichole used on one of the release cards, so I wanted to incorporate that here. The button in the middle is a Stampin' Up corduroy button in Chocolate Chip.

The hexagons were stamped with Encore silver ink to have an embossed look without the extra work ;)

The sentiment is from PTI's Signature Greetings, the ribbon in Canyon Clay ribbon. The die cut is Mega Mat Stack #3. The ink for the flower is SU Pumpkin Pie and Mellow Moss for the stem. The glitter is also SU Dazzling Diamonds. Hopefully with the new year I'll be able to get back on track with PTI's Make It Mondays, because I sure do enjoy them :)

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2012. Its going to be hard getting used to signing the back of my cards with 2012 instead of 2011. I have set some crafty goals for myself this year as well as other goals, so here's hoping for a great year! I wanted to make sure my loved ones got well wishes, too, so here are some cards I made to send out:

Is that sparkle paper awesome, or what?! I got it from a store called The Paper Source and it comes in a huge roll for $3.95. The only thing I could say I didn't like about it was that it was too big to fit my paper cutter, lol! I love how much it sparkles, though, so festive.

The numbers are PTI number dies. The New Year stamp is from SU. I used silver Encore ink and didn't have to emboss it...doesn't it show up nicely?

The library clips are from SU, and the ribbon is from the dollar bin. I ran out, so I had to use 3 different kinds of ribbon on the cards. I'm slowly going through my stash I've had for years and not letting myself buy anymore from the dollar bins, lol. Only PTI from here on out. I stamped this cute Amuse image on the inside and the envelopes of the cards:

And here's the group of them:

The cardstock is PTI and the pearls are Recollections. All other supplies are listed above. Here's wishing all of you a wonderful 2012!

A Year in Review

One of my fellow Hambo Design Team members, Karin, is hosting A Year in Review Blog Hop. I'll admit that for some months it was easy peasy to pick the card I liked best, but other months it was a really difficult task! But here are the ones I chose that highlight my stamping year:

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Some cards I chose more because of why I made them or who I made them for, but others I just love how they turned out. This was a great idea, Karin! As I was looking through my projects I forgot about making some of them, so it was fun to look back.