Monday, March 31, 2014

Saturday, March 29, 2014

In memory of an OWH card maker

It made me very sad to read Sandy's post today that Suzanne H., a member of the Operation Write Home family passed away recently. Sandy has asked us to use one of Suzanne's cards as inspiration to make a card in her honor. I went back to Suzanne's Featured Card Maker post and the image on this sweet card made by Suzanne touched me.
I don't have any Whipper stamps, but the image in Suzanne's card reminded me of a sweet Sliekje digi that I have in my collection. I colored the flower to reflect the colors in Suzanne's daisy. I send heartfelt sympathy to her family. OWH is truly a kind of family, and we all feel the loss of one of our dedicated card makers. We can only try our best to carry on the work that Suzanne did so well for our heroes and their loved ones.

 
I decided to add the pink heart because Suzanne surely put great love into the many cards she made for OWH.

Make Your Own Background: new SCH sponsored challenge!

Hi! The new two-week challenge beginning today at Sugar Creek Hollow is "Make Your Own Background" (using stencils, masks, gelli plates, sprays, etc.) and it is being sponsored by Molossi: Maximizing Original Ideas. At their online store you'll find a unique selection of card making and scrapbooking supplies that will surely inspire you!

Molossi provided the SCH Design Team with various items to use for this fun challenge. I really love the vintage car unmounted rubber stamp they sent me, as well as the cool chipboard pieces, so I decided to make a masculine card. My background is made up of stencils, Heidi Swapp Color Shine spray, Ranger Distress Inks, and paper scraps. I also embossed a purple background strip and sanded it. I used the Color Shine and distress inks to color the chipboard padlock, fleur de lys, circular gear and strip of barbed wire--FUN.  Here's my card:


I had a blast using these cool elements from Molossi; and I hope you have fun designing your own background card, too! Thanks for stopping by.
Sherry




Thursday, March 27, 2014

OWH Color Challenge & new MFT stamps

Hi. The Midweek Throwdown at OWH is a color challenge: purple and yellow. I used a couple of the stamps from Birdie Brown's brand new set for My Favorite Things; the set is called "Sunflower Sweetheart". There are some really cute stamps in it to make various scenes.


Isn't she a cutie? I can almost feel the warmth of the summer sun when I look at it...almost! Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

New stamps from Inspired Stamps

I love the new line of stamps at Inspired Stamps, which include "Hymn Girls". I ordered "May" to start with, because I thought it would be pretty for Mother's Day cards and May is my birthday month! I also ordered the "Bind & Stitch" set, which has some excellent faux stitching stamps!
Here is my first attempt at using these stamps:

 
I will stamp Happy Mother's Day on the inside. Thanks for stopping by!
 

OWH Midweek Throwdown: Circles

This week's Midweek Throwdown challenge is "Circles." I decided to pull out all of my circle punches and see what I could come up with; then I looked at the OWH sketch archive and decided to base my card on #141. I used four different circle punches and Lawn Fawn stamp set.

 
Thanks for stopping by and thanks, Allison, for another great challenge!

Monday, March 17, 2014

Mom's Day card with Lil Hoot set

Hello again! I made a card using this week's sketch at Operation Write Home:


I used one of the stamps in the Hero Arts Clear Stamps "Lil Hoot" OWH fund raiser set designed by Sandy Allnock. Hopefully, it's the kind of light-hearted Mother's Day card a soldier will pick for his or her Mom:

 
Thanks for stopping by!

Two cards for Mom using Paula's digi

Sandy put out the call for more cards for Mother's Day and Mom. I used Paula S.'s great digi; it's really fun to put whatever you like in the space where the "o" would be--such as a heart or flower. Here's the link to Paula's free digi: http://www.paulaposts.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-you-mom-free-digi.html

Here are the two cards I made; really quick and fun to do. I'm still using only the partial 6x6 pads that I stacked on my work table. I don't know if I'll ever use them all up but I'm trying!


 
Thanks for stopping by! Happy St. Patty's Day!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

SCH Challenge: Photo Inspiration!

Hello and welcome! The new challenge starting today at Sugar Creek Hollow is a photo inspiration challenge. You have two weeks to make a vintage or shabby chic creation that is inspired by the colors or theme of this photo:


I was inspired by the beautiful colors in this photo and made this card:

Image: Free Vintage Digital Stamps
 
Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to seeing what you posted over at Sugar Creek Hollow!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Two scrappy background cards for Mom

Welcome! My friend's three little girls were at my house for a time yesterday; they love to play with my paper scraps and punches so I thought it was a good opportunity for me to try the Midweek Throwdown challenge at OWH: Scrappy Background. Between the four of us, we made quite a dent in my scrap box, lol. Here are two cards for Mom that I made:



You'll see I used the same sentiment stamp for both, but used just the word Mother on the 2nd. Has anybody else had a hard time finding stamps for Mom? Thanks to our MWT coordinator, Allison, for another fun challenge!

Monday, March 10, 2014

A new vintage challenge blog: Yum-O!

I  was very happy to learn about a brand new challenge blog called "A Vintage Journey"! Their first challenge is "Anything Tim" in honor of Tim Holtz, the guru of all things vintage.  Here is what I came up with:

 
Stamps: Tim Holtz Visual Artistry Collection "French Market" clear stamps
Tim Holtz Alterations embossing folder
Ranger distress inks: Vintage Photo, Broken China, Wild Honey
DP and 2 tiny paper embellies:  Graphic 45 French Country 6x6 pad
Striped ribbon: Angela's Happy Stamper, Reston, VA
 
So excited about this new challenge blog and I wish them well on their vintage journey!
Sherry


Mother's Day Card with this week's OWH sketch

Hello and welcome! Here is this week's sketch at the OWH Stars & Stamps Blog:

 
Here's a Mother's Day card I made using DPs from the Prima "Divine" 6x6 pad:


My measurements are a bit off from the sketch, but I wanted to use that nice big Mother's day clear stamp. I've had it forever and it was a set from either Michael's or AC Moore. Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, March 7, 2014

A Mother's Day card

The Midweek Throwdown Challenge at OWH is Mother's Day cards; I combined it with the Cards In Envy current challenge which is to use green. I added the flower to distract from a bit of wacky placement on my part; I actually like it, probably because I don't use flowers as much as I used to, but I can't help but wonder if there's too much going on in this card!

 
DP: Jillibean Soup's "Country Pumpkin Chowder" 6x6
Stampin' Up bird stamp & punch
Sentiment: Inkadinkado
 
Hope you'll leave me a comment so I'll know you stopped by! Have a good weekend.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Coloring Sandy and Ciara!

Hi! I had so much fun coloring one of Sandy Allnock's new stamps from her Ciara's Friends stamp line! I colored with Copic markers and added Glossy Accents to her eyeglass lenses and the toes of her sneakers. Thanks for this and all the adorable stamps, Sandy!

 
Hope you have a really good day!

Monday, March 3, 2014

Two thank you cards for guys

Welcome! Trying to get back into the swing of crafting after being away. I made two thank you cards for guys. The first is a monochromatic card using an Our Daily Bread Designs rubber stamp (Tool Box) so I will post it at the OWH challenge:


The newsprint DP is Bazzill Basics Paper Antique Papers.
 
The other card I made uses this week's OWH sketch, turned on its side. I panic when little strips are required and this was almost a train wreck, but here's how this one turned out. I will probably write an Any Hero note inside:
 
 
I had a little paper-piecing fun and the background DP strips are cut from Simple Stories' "Awesome" 6x6 pad. So glad you stopped by!
 
 


Saturday, March 1, 2014

New SCH Challenge Theme: Sew Fashionable

Welcome! The new two-week challenge starts today at Sugar Creek Hollow and the theme is a fun one: "Sew Fashionable". Vintage or shabby chic sewing, fashion, or both--have fun with it! I used a sketch from the OWH archive and had fun with digital ephemera from The Shoppe at Somerset at Stampington & Company:

 
Scissors charm: AC Moore
 
We have a wonderful guest designer joining us for this challenge: Zoe Sanderson! Click on her name to visit her blog and see her beautiful and dynamic work!
 
Can't wait to see what you create for the "Sew Fashionable" challenge at SCH! Thanks for visiting and I enjoy reading your comments!
Sherry