OWH Challenge 3

Operation Write Home Labor Day Weekend Virtual Card Making Party Challenge No. 3 calls for a 3-layered card with patterned paper. I made my own paper, so I did not follow the directions exactly, but the result is the same. The images are from Stampin Up! and the sentiment is from Gina K Designs.

Thanks for stopping by again. Hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed making it. Take it easy! Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know you were here! Thank you!

OWH Challenge 2

As previously stated, I am participating in Operation Write Home's Labor Day Weekend Virtual Cardmaking Party, and this is the second Challenge I've participated in. Requirements included creating a card using something that would stand for the three letters in Operation (O) Write (W) Home (H). I've created a card using Orange paper on a White cardbase with the sentiment, With Love, and the card has Holes behind the silver gems. That H was a hard one! Anyway, this is my card for the challenge, and I hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by. Please take a moment to leave a comment so I'll know you were here! Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

OWH Challenge 1

I am participating in Operation Write Home's Labor Day Weekend's Virtual Cardmaking Party, and this is the first challenge, requiring us to use squares (or other such shape, such as hexagons, etc.) with paper appropriate for a Christmas card. My squares are cut from some very old Christmas paper I've had on hand for years. The sentiment is from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life.

Hope this isn't too early to post a Christmas card. It seems a little weird taking a picture of a Christmas card in 90-degree heat, but that's the way it is during Fall in the South!

Thanks for looking. Take a moment, if you will, to leave a comment and let me know what you think. I can take it! Have a good weekend! There should be more posts following this for future OWH challenges. I LOVE making cards for soldiers who are serving our Country!

Clean and Simple

Clean and Simple. That's it. Made this card for the Clean and Simple card challenge at Outlawz, with the requirement it is to brighten somebody's day...well, this should do it! Hope so, at least! I also entered this into the Gina K Design's Gold Challenge. I'm finally getting the hang of using one card for multiple challenges, but I think I need to spread my wings a bit and enter more challenges.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Take it easy--but don't leave before leaving a comment for me. I need that just to keep me going through the next phase of this creative journey. Thank you!

Color Challenge

These are three colors (lime green, coral and grey) that I probably would not have combined, but I did this time for a Color Challenge at Outlawz. Overall, I think the card turned out O.K. but I'd rather not use the grey next time.

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by. Please don't forget to leave a comment! That really helps to motivate me for the next step on this creative journey. Appreciate your visit!

Pumpkins!

This picture is a bit far away, but you get the idea of the card! Yes, this is another card where I gold embossed the images, both the apples at the top and the pumpkins at the bottom. I decided I would go all out and create as many cards with gold embossing as possible for this week's challenge at Gina K Designs. I want to win a free Gift Bag from her!

My style is obviously leaning toward clean & simple, as I don't usually add a lot of frill to my cards. That's just like me, actually...not a lot of frill! Ha! Seriously, I thank you for stopping by and hope you like today's card. Take it easy! Don't forget to leave a comment so I'll have the mojo to keep up with this creative journey...could be a long road, but oh, what fun!

Gold Embossing

 I might as well admit it, Fall is just around the corner! The weather has been about ten degrees cooler these past few days, although temps are expected to rise again by tomorrow.  This time of year can be so beautiful...what we used to call "Football Weather" back in college days. I love it!

These two cards were created for a challenge at Gina K Designs where we are supposed to use gold anywhere on the card. My mind immediately went to embossing with gold powder, so that's what you see on these two cards, along with a gold ribbon on one.

Thanks for looking! Appreciate your comments -- they definitely keep me motivated to continue on this creative journey, day by day.

Blues

This card was created for the Color Challenge where we were to use Brilliant Blue, Feather Creme, and Peacock Blue. Problem is, my camera did not cooperate and I didn't get it posted in time on their site. I thought I'd still post it here because I like the card very much. Very pretty colors! The images are from Stampin Up, two-step stamping where you use two stamps for the same image, on the smaller flowers.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you like this card as much as I do. Please leave a comment before you go. Take it easy!

A Round & Round

One of the cards I enjoyed creating the most in Summer Card Camp 2 with Online Card Classes was the round, circle card. Don't know why...it wasn't hard or time-consuming, but it was different from the rest. I also enjoyed embossing stamped images and then inking around them for a colorful effect. So, that's what I did, again, last night. Taking the picture was tricky...the wind kept blowing the card sideways!

Hope you like it as much as I do. Please don't forget to leave a comment. I enjoy reading them, and they keep me motivated to continue on this creative journey. Take it easy!

Watercolor

These cards were created using new Watercolor Designer Papers from Gina K Designs. I also used sentiments from Gina K Design's All Occasion Tags Stamp Set by Tami Mayberry.

Hope you like these, because you'll be seeing more with that paper, I assure you! Can't stop working with it!

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments, too. Read them every night, and they motivate me to get up and continue the next day on this creative journey. Have a good one!

Heat Embossing

This was created for a challenge at Gina K Designs where we were to heat emboss an image for our card. I first inked the floral stamp in VersaMark, then stamped the image across the paper before heat embossing with clear embossing powder. Using Tim Holtz Distress Inks, I sponged Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey and Fired Brick colors over the embossed images.  The sentiment is heat embossed in black. Pure Luxury Paper with embossed images is from Gina K Designs and Designer Paper is from Stampin Up!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you like today's card. Please leave a comment before you go--sure makes my day!

Painted Domino

Here's an entry into a Challenge with a Twist at Outlawz- Mixed Media. For this, I painted a Domino, then stamped the sentiment and small, tiny images with ink before adding a few pieces of shiny bling in the center of the flowers. This was a fun project, and I hope to do more of it in the future.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful, positive day! Keep up the good work and come back soon! Please don't forget to leave a comment -- I enjoy reading them and they give such a positive boost as I continue on this creative journey. Thank you!

Happy Birthday Sweet Cake!

This card was created for Outlawz Challenge Paper a la Mode where we were to make a Birthday card. I love this new Stampin Up! set, Sweet Cake. I added Stickles for the cupcake and the heart. The Black & White polka dot paper is a freebie from Gina K Designs.

Hope you like today's post. Thanks for stopping by! Please leave a comment and say Hi, because that's what keeps me going through this creative journey. See you again soon!

Bubblegum!

I enjoyed creating this card for the Outlawz Color Challenge. We were to use green, yellow and red, and include polka dots for the twist. I think I got it all in there, using stamps from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life. I added a bit of Stickles Glitter on top of the bubblegum pieces to add some bling.

Thanks for looking! Please feel free to leave a comment. Sure makes my day!

Hot Summer Relief

Monday's Greeting Challenge at Outlawz is to show how we find relief during these hot, summer nights. I had a hard time choosing just one, so I included two: cool water in the ocean and ice cream at bedtime! Can't beat either one! My two adult sons were just visiting and this is exactly what we did. Cool ocean water by day, either at the ocean or the Aquarium, and frozen ice cream and/or custard by night...every night! What a treat, no matter how old you get!

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment before you go--keeps me motivated to continue on this creative journey! Appreciate it!

Red, Blue and Yellow

This card was created for the Outlawz CAS (clean & simple) challenge where we were to use these three primary colors: red, blue and yellow. I immediately remembered this crayon set from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life and went to work. The three crayons are die cut.

Hope you enjoy this card. Please take a moment to leave a comment so I'll be motivated to continue on this creative journey again tomorrow! Thank you for stopping by!

Friendship

This card was created to fit the Outlawz Paper a la Mode challenge to include an image of friendship. I love this stamp set from Stampin Up! I think it fits this challenge perfectly.

This is a very clean & simple card, just inked in black, with a touch of  Flamingo Liquid Pearls in the flower and across one of the dresses. I also added just a bit of Scattered Straw Stickles where the sand would be.

Hope you enjoy this card. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think -- I enjoy reading them very much. They keep me moving forward on this creative journey!

Shore Am Grateful

Created this for another entry in Gina K Design's Stamp TV Challenge where we are supposed to use a set that was one of our first purchases from her. I colored the image with Copic markers.

Thanks for looking! Appreciate your visit and any comments you'd like to make. They sure do keep me going!

You Know You're Old When...

getting lucky means you found your car in the parking lot!

Created this card using a stamp set that was one of my first purchases from Gina K Designs two years ago. The polka dot paper is one of her online "freebies" I printed with my computer. I made this card for a challenge with Gina K Design's Stamp TV where we are to use one of our first purchases.

Purple!

This was for a color challenge at Outlawz where we were supposed to include a Tag using burnt orange, purple and white. (The inside is white.) Adding a tag to a card was a little challenging for me, but I figured it out before long. Thought this would be good to give someone who is ill in the hospital and is reading a lot. That way they can remove the tag, propped up on Pop Dots, and use it to keep their place in their book.

Thanks for stopping by! Love reading your comments. They mean a lot to me! See you again soon!

Sweet Summer Strawberries

Here is another card for the Sweet & Simple Summer Challenge at Gina K Design's Stamp TV. I added some Stickles glitter along with a few sequins but mainly kept it a CAS (clean & simple) card to stick to the rules for the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by! I might have one or two more cards by the end of tomorrow, but after that I will be busy with my visitors for a few days -- my two sons are coming to visit! Now in their late 20s, no matter how old they get or how far away they live, they remain close to my heart, always.

Please leave a comment or two if you have a few moments, just to say Hi if you'd like. I love hearing from you! Thanks!

Sweet Simple Summer

This card was created for a challenge at Gina K Design's Stamp TV that was to include something related to summer that's sweet and the card was to remain SIMPLE. Well, can't get much more simple than this! The stamp and the sentiment are from Gina K Designs. Bottom polka dots are from Washi Tape.

Polished Stone 2

Another example of a card I created using the Polished Stone technique. This will go to a dear friend of mine who's wife recently passed away.

Stamps are from Gina K Designs. Thanks for looking! Please take a moment to leave a comment--that's what motivates me to continue moving forward on this creative journey. Thank you!

Polished Stone

 Today 's post is a card created using the "Polished Stone" technique where you dab alcohol inks onto glossy cardstock, then top off with Adirondack's Gold Metallic Alcohol Ink Mixative. The effect looks like polished stone.

 I have included some close-ups so you can see how it looks. I used Stampin Up alcohol inks in Island Indigo first, and Pool Party second. Finally, I topped it off with the Gold Mixative.

In Gina K's video on Gina K Design's Stamp TV, her example showed the colors breaking up into streaks with the use of regular, household alcohol in addition to what's already in the alcohol inks. Mine didn't do that, however, and I used plenty of the alcohol. Not sure why mine turned out differently, but I still like it.

So, what do you think? Do you like the Polished Stone look? If so, give it a try! You just need some felt to go on the Tim Holtz dabber (not it's official name, but that's all I can think of at this moment), some household alcohol, and some shades of alcohol ink. Give it a try with two or three colors, then top off with Adirondack's Gold Alcohol Ink Mixative, but give it a good shake first so it is mixed well--that stuff separates easily. This needs to go on Glossy Cardstock, btw.

I love your comments. They truly keep me going, so please leave a sentence or two and say Hi! Thank you!

Hoppy Birthday!

Hoppy Birthday was created for an Outlawz challenge where we were supposed to put together a card that included hopping, skipping or jumping. While this frog isn't actually in the act of jumping, he sure is thinking about it, especially with that fly bothering him!

Stamps came from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life, where, as a club member, I receive a monthly stamp set, made in the USA. Love them! (stephaniebarnardstamps.com/)

Thanks for looking. You know how much your comments inspire me to keep moving forward on this creative journey, so write a note, won't you please? Thank you!