Autumn Around the Corner

Hello- thanks for stopping by! Over at OWH this week we are challenged by Jan to make cards inspired by fall! Yeah- my favorite time of year!
http://operationwritehome.org/midweek-throwdown-fall-theme/
I used a very cute MFT gal holding a big pumpkin- yes- the kids always want huge pumpkins! The paper behind the image is embossed with a wood grain folder. I made a small bow with stash ribbon,  used spellbinders dies  and copic makers, paper pieced dress-and my card is complete! 

 Sandy has told us that there is not a huge need for Halloween cards so I only made a few and I could not resist these adorable ghosts from CC Designs.

                    

My issues with posting continued- and the only way I could resolve it was to install google chrome and I can post without problems when I access it from GC. 

Please come back Saturday when I will post my first challenge creation as a Designated Designer for Drunken Stampers!
Have a wonderful week and craft on!
Diane

ODBD and the Sunday Sketch



I am having trouble with blogger and writing up my posts! Sorry this is so brief! The stamps are from CC Designs-very sweet ghost by Amy Young! There are 3 to the set-- love them all!



This week's sketch-- love it!

A simple but sweet card for the ODBD challenge for August to use brown, green and pink. The stamp is by ODBD and it give a chalkboard effect!

A New Term Begins!

Today starts the new season at Drunken Stampers!
There are 2 teams and this week the Yellow Canaries are showcasing their creations. For the rest of the year the challenges are based upon a person, place or thing.
Today's challenge: http://drunkenstampers.wordpress.com/2013/08/03/person-athlete-drunken-stampers-challenge-135/

I just had to play along! I have several stamps of baseball players but I really wanted a girly card...I ended up with 2!
The running girl is from CTMH, the balancing diva is Art Impressions. I used Studio Calico Atlantic paper pad for all papers but the bases- my beloved Bazzill marshmallow cardstock...and of course Copics to color. My other favorite tool- sakura glaze pens- add lots of shine!

 I hope you join in on the fun with the Drunken Stamper gals!
Anyone having issues with blogger lately? I cannot edit anything- once I type it in--I can only change things by backspacing thru everything...so I apologize for typos and stupid things I may have typed!
Have a fabulous weekend- and go be an athlete! Then get to your creative space and craft on!
Thanks for stopping by!
Diane

JOY

This week at OWH we are challenged to use punches or dies to create our cards http://operationwritehome.org/midweek-throwdown-punches/

I used punches by Martha Stewart and EK Success to create my wreath. Lots of punches, a simple bow and I positioned the wreath around the word JOY...some tiny holly berries for a bit of sparkle- and I was done! Sweet!

 

It is almost Friday- yahoo! Craft on peeps- craft on! Diane

HOOPDEEDO!

And yeehaw, yahoo and wahoooo! Have you heard the news? What- you have not listened to the radio, watched the TV? Checked every social media out there? Then you may not know....I am on the design team thru the rest of the year with those fun and crazy gals at Drunken Stampers ! I participated in a lot of the challenges earlier this year and I was the Designated Guest Designer in May and I am thrilled to be joining in the fun! A new challenge is posted every Saturday and looks like the rest of the year will be exciting and I am sure you will want to join in!
All this week they will be introducing the teams-so please go check it out!

I also have a card to share- OWH posted a tutorial last week showing how to create a pop up inside the card. Super easy and a nice surprise for the recipient of the card! http://operationwritehome.org/tutorial-pop-up-sentiment/

Have a great week and make sure to stop by Drunken Stampers this weekend to see the new challenge!
Craft on and thanks for visiting,
Diane

It is Sunday Sketch TIme!

Today is Sunday so that means it is sketch day at OWH. Today's sketch is from a card that Susan S. made- go check out her blog! http://scraptower.blogspot.com/2013/05/owh-mid-week-throwdown-5292013.html

                   

Here is my card....using stamps from Iconic from HSN. Enabler alert....HSN has a papercrafting day coming up; I think it is 8/5/13. I like to DVR the shows so I can check out the projects. I do not order a lot of times but sometimes they show an item seems perfect for card making and I have had good use from the stamp set. I am still trying to use my stash so it would have to be something really special for me to buy anything!

I used Versafine black ink for the rolls of film- it gives a crisp image. I stayed true to the sketch and liked the card until I loaded the image... I think I need to add a black mat to the strip at the bottom; not enough contrast between the papers.

I also made a card based on Paula's Bootcamp this month. http://operationwritehome.org/get-your-priorities-straight-choosing-a-major-minor-accent-color/

I had a harder time with this design concept that the others.... use a color scheme with the colors in ratios of 60-30-10. I use patterns papers and a lot of my papers have several colors- so it was hard to choose my papers! I figured the patterns on the yellow papers were small so they can also be viewed as the main color. I planned to have my white be the 10% but between the snowman, the sentiment and the white circle the snowman is on- the white took up more visual space than the black. And the black is spread out- but it looks like I have 60-20-20! It may not be balanced perfectly but I like the card!

I still want to try out this week's tutorial on a pop up card...we will see about time and energy! lol

Have a fantastic week~craft on!

Thanks for visiting,

Diane

Hero Cards!

Our challenge this week is to make Hero cards. Let's make sure each and every one of our servicemen and women know that we are thinking of them and appreciate everything they do for our country! I have several hero cards in my box for OWH...I need to stamp and tuck my cards and send them off to Kris. I think I will wait one more week and see if I can really fill my box this time! I am not the best at sending a lot of hero cards so I am really trying this time to improve my numbers.

I used MFT stamps for today's card. I really like the A La Modes line; they are so sweet and color up quickly. Paper piecing is easy on these gals. I used DCWV for her pants and the star- love that their shimmer paper is sealed- no stray glitter! The patterned papers are by Bazzill Freedom Sweetwater- I love how thick and substantial the paper is- really nice quality- or since I am a Bostonian- the paper is wicked awesome!The punch for the sentiment is from Stampin' Up. I punched it 3 times and cut  2 of them in half so I could have 3 layers; it needed to stand out against the patterned paper and one layer did not do it for me.

I did not have time to check out all the great cards at OWH for the Sunday sketch- I am hoping to grab some time tonight. I get so inspired by the talent of the OWH ladies!

Have a wonderful week and craft on!

Diane

OWH Sketch #182

Today I have a very quick and easy card to share.

I really like this OWH sketch- it helped to create a super simple card. I guess it could be considered masculine- no frills, no pinks, no bling! I used the Authentique Festive paper pad for the polka dot zig zags and also for the green background paper, which was embossed with a LifeStyle Crafts embossing folder. The yellow paper is from the MME Collectable "Remarkable" 6x6 pad. I used Copics Y13,15,17 and colored a Studio G sentiment stamp- and my card was done!

I hope you all have a fantastic week.

Craft on and thanks for stopping by!

Diane

Thoughts of Christmas to Cool us Down?

Hope if you are getting steamy weather that you are doing well....it is hot here but my office is so cold I have to wear sweaters at work!

This week Jan challenged us to make Christmas cards in July for our troops to send home later this year.
http://operationwritehome.org/midweek-throwdown-christmas-in-july/
The time will pass quickly until we get into full holiday mode so I am attempting to make some of my wintery cards earlier this year. I am also very close to convincing myself that it is brisk and chilly outside! Then reality hits!

The stamp is an older Stampin Up cutie- I love the little images! The sentiment is by Mama Elephant. I used paper from WRMK Winter Frost 6x6 pad-- great papers in this- lots of the papers are wintery but there are several that can be used for any occassion. And I used the following copic colors:
B00, B01; E43, E74, G21 and G82. I used the Sakura Stardust pen and sealed it in with the Sakura clear glaze to give some shimmer to the snow and on the trees. the little carrot noses are colored in using a glaze pen in orange.

Stay cool and hydrated!
While you are enjoying the summer try to find some time to craft on!
Thanks for stopping by,
Diane

Feeling Famous!

Happy Sunday! I have been extra busy so I am a little behind on posting!
I am feeling just a little tiny bit famous.... I am the sketch gal over at OWH today! Nice surprise- and extra nice because I really like the sketch! I like that i can use some pretty papers and have lots left over for other cards! Great way to use up scraps!



Just a helpful tip- the measurements for the top and bottom strips are .75x5 inches.

I altered my card a bit- I wanted to use this stamp and sentiment but they were too large so I combined the boxes on the right into 1 box.  The stamps are from the HSN iconic set, the papers are MME The Sweetest Thing-Tangerine and the viewmaster is colored over with black glaze by Sakura. I adore the glaze pens- they give a nice shine but dry quickly, come in lots of colots and they are in an easy to use pen! The white areas on the viewmaster are light reflections- it is so shiny!

http://operationwritehome.org/midweek-throwdown-masculine/   This week Jan challlenged us to make cards for the guys! I decided to make a swing card with my Cricut and CTMH Artiste cartridge...super easy to do!

MFT stamps, Bazzill card stock for the base of card, the strips are from my stash.

And my other famous moment, Sandy posted some cards from her students from the Stage It classes and I have several of my cards on her blog today! http://sandyallnock.com/one-more-sleep/

Very exciting for me!

Have a wonderful week and please continue to craft on!

(anyone else having troubles with blogger today? I cannot make any edits- so I apologize for typos! I could not edit a previous post -the one where my cards were originally posted on 5/9- I have several typos in that as well!

Thanks for stopping by,

Diane

ODBD July Challenge

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July celebration.
The past 3 days were fun, full of laughter and overall- wonderful!  My niece lives in NH and her neighborhood put on a fabulous fireworks display Saturday night. My camera has a fireworks setting-- not too bad of a picture.... too bad I only get to practice taking fireworks pictures once a year! LOL

Onto my cards!

ODBD sponsors shipping cost for up to 2 boxes monthly if 50 of us post cards at OWH for the month's challenge.  We need to use real or faux stiching on our cards for July.

http://operationwritehome.org/our-daily-bread-designs-july-challenge-2/

I colored white grosgrain ribbon with a copic marker and used a WRMK stitching tool- I am not sure what it is called- but it is like a hard plastic template and a punch tool .... I have used it on scrapbook pages when I want a nice ribbon border but I rarely use it on cards but I thought I would give it a try today. The stamps and die are from Taylored Expressions and the paper is from my stash.

My card for today's sketch was hard for me....I had a very hard time with the 'white space' in the bottom right of the sketch. I made some minor changes- and while it is a nice enough card- it will not make my top 10 or even 100 list - LOL!

Well, it just started raining- so maybe it will cool things down....I am not a huge fan of the heat of summertime- but I like the outdoor gatherings, ball games, and sunshine- so I guess I have to put up the with heat!

Have a wonderful week and craft on!

Thanks for stopping by,

Diane

Give me an H...H

This enthusiastic Amy Young image, Betsy,  a Sweet November gal from CC Designs  ccdesigns.typepad.com reminds me of my cheerleading days! OK- my legs were NEVER that thin...but our skirts were pretty short! LOL  Give me an H... H!  Give me an E...E... you are cheering along, aren't you?

This cutie had sparklers in her hands but I wanted her to be less seasonal (the sparklers were adorable but seemed to scream 4th of July to me)- so I fussy cut Besty and left off the sparklers. I think she will make a great hero card! Oh- and the card is for this week's throwdown at OWH- use red, white, blue and kraft! Color challenges sometimes stump me- but I love this combo! And how come when I colored her I thought all that fluff was hair- but now I see that part of each ponytail is a scrunchie??? I wonder if I can fix it with paper piecing?

OK- are you ready for some more bragging??? I know you are all just chomping at the bit to know....yes- Tessa and the Sun Devils won the championship game! Yahooooo! She pitched and struck out 11 batters! She caught 2 pop ups and fielded a grounder for an out to first base-- are you counting? She played a role in 14 out of 18 outs in the 6 inning game! It was a fun and exciting season. Her mom- my darling baby sister- and I are going to make an album of the season for her coach..some games were so exciting I forgot to take pictures but I think I have plenty to make a nice scrapbook of all the girls. Her coach is the type of guy who will really appreciate it and we want him to remember this team forever!
Have a wonderful and safe Independence Day!
Craft on,
Diane