Color Combination!

Greetings! This week OWH posted the MidWeek Throw Down challenge as usual on Wednesday. And this morning is the first chance I had to play along....actually I made a card very quickly on Wednesday nite but it was a card for a co-worker who is moving out of state....and I forgot to take a picture! LOL  So, this morning is my first chance at a second attempt! The challenge is pink and black or gray....great combination! I was inspired by Easter cards posted in Paper Creations, Spring 2014 magazine. The base was kraft and the bunnies and chicks were also kraft except for 1 pastel colored die...so stinkin cute! My card is different due to the colors I used but the idea is the same. I am still on my DCVW glitzy paper kick! I wish I could photograph it better! The sentiment is by MFT and the butterfly die is by Stamps of Life...I think! I sometimes take things out of the packaging and then forgot who makes them! The 
cardstock is by Simon Says Stamp- nice, thick, substantial paper!

I was recently promoted at work and we have 2 huge projects in the works, in addition to searching for my replacements- so work has been super busy with very long days!  But, I have had some pretty great weeks recently: 

• A fun day with niece Jackie and her awesome son Sam-a true joy!   
• Maggie is home from college so we got to hang out last weekend with Tessa and my sister. 
• I had some great texts from my nephew who plays MiLB in Jackson,Tn. 
• My boss sent me a gorgeous floral arrangement thanking me for my hard work- made by my uber talented floral designer sister Denise (and she did not even spill the beans that the arrangement was coming)! 
• Cori is home from grad school! YAHOO for her accomplishments!
•  I am having a spa day today with my BFF Nancy and William will be home for a bit in June! Tomorrow is a LSS yard sale then next week I get to hang with the fabulous Kelly and incredible Kathie at the stamp show in W. Springfield! Now- just get my Paigee home and life would be perfect! LOL 

I am truly blessed in my life and I try so hard not to forget that!

I hope you have a 'best week ever' this week! And yes, I am loving my new position at work...super long days but I am enjoying every minute...so it was a good change for me!

Thanks for stopping by,

Diane

Still Hopping!

Hello! I am still checking out all of the cards posted for the OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop- wow- lots of fabulous inspiration!
The sketch for this Sunday is another great layout:
                                            

This cutie is by My Favorite Things. I paper pieced his overalls, bandanna and hat. This card came together very quickly. I stamped his train on the inside of the card- a tiny little train in the corner. I do not usually stamp anything on the inside of my cards. I liked the train but it did not seem to fit anywhere on the card's design...so inside it went. And yup- I forgot to take a picture!

A few more quick cards!  I used the peel offs by Elizabeth Crafts.They look delicate but they are very sturdy and easy to remove from the backing sheet; they feel like vinyl. I have a few owl stamps and I tend to color them with realistic colors but I thought crazy colors go better with the shiny DCWV paper! A few quick swipes with Copic markers and a circle cut with a Spellbinder's circle die- and that was about it! The colors are much more vibrant in real life-I am having trouble lately with my pix-either too dark or too much light! I love the look of glitter but love even more that these are OWH safe cards!

Have a great week and thanks for visiting!
Diane

OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop 2014

Yahoo! It is time for one of my all time favorite blog hops!
Make sure you start at OWH so you don't miss any of the blogs!

http://wp.me/p2kUr6-4o6

Our mission today is to create cards using red, white and blue in one of the OWH categories- love, happy birthday, miss you, thinking of you and thank you.  I made a card for one of our military to send home and another card to use for a hero card!

The stamps I used today are by Sugar Pea Designs-really nice artwork, wonderful customer service!

So- is this guy not the cutest chef ever? His pants and shoes are paper pieced. I made the brick oven from a background stamp and cut it into the shape of the oven. I used Copics for all my coloring. 

My next card is my hero card. I used a Sizzix die set to create the easel card. I love this mild mannered gent turning into a super hero right before my eyes! Doodlebug and Pebbles papers combined for a patriotic card....and the stars are by Queen and Company- and they act as the stop for the easel!

The card folds flat to kit in an A2 envelope.

Why are you still here? Go- hop! Get inspired and make some cards!

Thanks for stopping by,

Diane

Happy Birthday!

Greetings! A really fun challenge was posted this week at OWH-create masculine and feminine birthday cards- using the same design! Interesting!
http://operationwritehome.org/midweek-throwdown-masculinefeminine-birthday/

I decided to use a Sizzix flip card- I am loving the dies! For my guy card- I decided to keep it super simple and let the patterned paper do all the work. Some of the design is shiny so there is a lot going on in the paper...the rest just needed to be clean!

Using the same flip die set, I used a happy pink and black for my feminine card. I was able to add a little bit of sparkle and shine for some interest since the paper is not overly busy.

I love how quickly these cards come together and even more- I love the movement of the card!

Work has been super busy- I have been working a lot of extra hours the past few weeks--but I am ready for the blog hop this weekend!
I am really looking forward to visiting my fellow OWH cardmakers!
Have a wonderful Friday and be sure to come back on Saturday!
Diane

A Sketch, the Throw Down and....Are You Ready for the Hop?

Welcome! For today's sketch, I used a sentiment stamp from an older Simon Says Stamp monthly kit. The sentiment fits in the space perfectly! Marie made this week's sketch inspiration card; you can see more of her creations at:
http://lifeslovenotes.weebly.com/2/post/2014/04/super-star.html

                                         

The midweek throw down challenged us to make miss you cards. 
Head over to OWH to see lots of wonderful cards!
http://operationwritehome.org/midweek-throwdown-miss-you-2/

And are you ready for the hop? Yes, next weekend is the Operation Write Home Memorial Day BlogHop! This hop is always one of my favorites- with many, many, many participants and oodles of inspiration!It usually takes me all week to visit every blog! My creative mojo is waking up- just from thinking about it! 
           

Have a wonderful week and rest up so you can have lots of fun next weekend at the bloghop!
Diane

Happy Mother's Day and Good Gracious- it's Glitter!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! We are having a warm, sunny day here in Massachusetts- sweet!!
So, if you are an OWHer- you know that glitter is like the enemy. But we all just love the sparkle and shine! I was at my LSS recently and saw card samples using Elizabeth Crafts peel offs and Silky Microfine Glitter. I kept touching and rubbing the glitter and it did not come off the card! Amazing! Absolutely Everything had a recent card class with these products but I could not attend.  I looked online for tutorials and liked what I saw so I purchased the glitter and the peel offs! Like all glitter- it makes an initial mess but when you burnish it into the paper and sticker- oh my- it does not come off! And you can color it with Copics! And it cleaned up easily with a baby wipe! I am in heaven! BUT.... I am fearful that the glitter just may come off between my shipping to Sandy, her packing and shipping to the troops and them flipping thru the cards-would the glitter hold up? Oh it is soooo pretty... I really want to be able to use it-- hmmm, what to do? I coated it with Glossy Accents and the glitter still shines thru! Yahoo! But- I am not always very patient and the GA takes a while to dry. Can I get the same look and still have it OWH safe?

Do you have the DCWV 6x6 paper pads? The Glitzy Glitter and the Twinkle Glints pads? I do- lots of them!! Oh my- put the peel off sticker onto the glitzy paper!  I colored with the copics easily on the silver and white papers! I used a light blue and I needed to use dark Copic colors- but it works! And I do not have to seal with the Glossy Accents! Way faster! Not as shiny and glittery- but a nice, fast and safe alternative!

Elizabeth Crafts Silky Microfine Glitter- coated with Glossy Accents; you can see a few bubbles and streaks-my first attempt at coating a large image!

In person- this is ultra shimmery!! Even thru the glossy accents! Colored with Copics. The black outline is the sticker- looks like it was embossed!

This was colored on the silver DCWV paper- not as shiny but still very pretty! My light is reflecting on the top flower- so there is a bit of a glare- but overall I am happy with an option! I used today's OWH sketch for the card: 




This picture shows my coloring in progress in the glittery paper: 

Here is a card for the current challenge at Words to Scrap By:

http://words2scrapby.blogspot.com/2014/05/w2sb-challenge-5-bloom-where-you-are.html

And a Midweek Throw Down card:

BTW, today's post is dedicated to my 'glitter safety' partner in crime, kelly!
Have a wonderful day and week!
Diane

A Suave Dude, A Super Hero and Another Pirate!

Greetings! I have a few cards to share today.
The Midweek Throwdown at OWH (Operation Write Home) this week is to make a masculine Thinking of You card. As Sandy explained, this category covers anything that is not missing you, love, birthday or thank you.
So, my very suave gent fits the category!

Today's OWH sketch is based on a card by the uber talented Carol:


I had to tweak the dimensions a little since the Penny Black stamp (artist- one of my favorites- Mo Manning) was larger than the sketch block. I also placed my embellishment on the bottom right as I felt the dad was a heavier image- so it needed some balance.

The ODBD challenge for May is to use embossing...I chose to use a star embossing folder. Is this MFT gal not the greatest? What a cool super hero! I also love the dies that coordinate with the stamp set.

And a new-to-me challenge site is
 http://themaleroomchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/
This is an awesome site- cards for guys- this is great inspiration as I try to make more masculine cards for OWH. The current challenge is to create a funny card.  I am loving this pirate set- the pirates are kind of goofy but cute! I added googly eyes to make him even more silly! I love the sentiment- I guess you can think of booty as a treasure or well... as a booty!

So that is it for the challenges for the week....I spent a good chunk of time this weekend making  cards for my nurses- did you know this is Nurses Week? I love that we get a whole week of recognition- when I first became a nurse- we had a day- maybe by the time I retire we will have a month- lol!
Have a wonderful week!
Thanks for visiting,
Diane