Three Cards

Hi,
Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Today I have 3 cards to share.
The first is a sketch from Operation Write Home   http://operationwritehome.org/sketch-challenge-248/. 
Even though Sandy made a card and talked about element sneeze and then made a second video showing the steps of creating the original card that inspired the sketch...I struggled with this one! I thought I had a good idea for the smaller circles... I planned to use the little birds to spell out a greeting- but it really was too hard to read- so I used just 2 of the birds. Now what to do with the other circles? I ended up using enamel dots.. overall- not my favorite card. I love the colors and the birds.... but that is it!

                                    

The challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday is another sketch but I had a much easier time with this one!        
                    http://trystampinontuesday.blogspot.com/

                                 

              

Admit it- this one is way better! LOL!  I love this adventurous boy hanging from the tree branch! I put a foam dot behind his head to give him more dimension- and I placed it so his head was outside of the circle-- no daring boy would stay within the boundaries!!

And my last card is another attempt with those chirpy little birds! They are so stinkin cute-- just little balls of fluff!

Thanks for visiting- have a wonderful week!
Diane

Mo Manning Image for Try Stampin' on Tuesday

Hi again!
When I purchased the lazy mutt, I also got this great image! I am not a coffee drinker but I really love her face and hair! And I really wanted to try coloring her right away. I want to try lots of hair and skin Copic combinations-so you may be seeing more of her!
 I added some clear glaze to the cup and her lips and nails--a little gloss and shine for this friendly gal!

This week's challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday is a sketch:
                          

If you want to join in the fun of challenges please check out  http://trystampinontuesday.blogspot.com/.
Thanks for stopping by,
Diane

Really Mother Nature?

Well, I guess I moved to Siberia but forgot to tell everyone except for Mother Nature! The snow continues here in Massachusetts and the East Coast! Luckily the snow has not been wet and heavy but the big issue with this storm is the crazy wind and where to put all the snow! The snowdrifts are pretty incredible! 

The February ODBD challenge at Operation Write Home is to create a card with animals.
http://operationwritehome.org/february-odbd-challenge-2/ 
I really like Mama Elephant stamps so I used the very adorable pandas.

And puppy love is the theme for the Cardz 4 Guys challenge this time.  I downloaded some of Mo Manning's great images and used the lovable dog- it comes in a set of 3-titled 'lazy mutt'! 
My dog could be dreaming of his owner and the owner is also thinking of the dog--- or they could both be just resting and enjoying some time to relax, also know as just being lazy!   
http://mosdigitalpencil.com/

Please go and check out the sample cards and the challenge entries for more of man's best friend at:
http://cardz4guyz.blogspot.co.uk/

I am debating if I should clear the snow off my car again or wait until the snow slows down.....or maybe just make some more cards???  Oh the hard decisions- LOL!
Have a wonderful week,
Diane

Snowstorms+Housebound=Card Making

OK- so I am not truly housebound but the snow continues and we are getting more-lots more- right through Tuesday! I do not have to go into work tomorrow so I think more card making is in my near future!

OWH challenged us to make a card with our team colors. This card was made with the Superbowl Champion NE Patriots colors- as well as the colors of our nation! Since I had out a pad of great red-white and blue papers- I decided to make another card.
Check out what the other ladies at OWH created at http://operationwritehome.org/team-challenge/

Those crazy gals at Words to Scrap By want us to try something different. 
http://words2scrapby.blogspot.com/2015/02/w2sb-challenge-14-do-something-different.html

Huh?? Like- I should make a card with lots of dimension and bumpy or something that is truly vintage and distressed? What- get out of my comfort zone?   I thought about this- and realized I usually color an image on the majority of my cards. Can I make a card without copics or images that beg to be colored? And something different for me- try to use a whole pad of 6x6 paper? OK-- I failed on using the whole pad-- but I did use several papers- like 5 or 6-all at the same sitting- from the same pad! And I stamped my sentiment in something other than black!!!  Do I love the cards? I like them- a lot...do I feel like they are missing something...not really- but I feel like I missed something....have no fear my lovely copics... I promise to be back soon! And since I used lots of snippets to create 5- yup 5- cards from the same pad, on the same day.... I am going to link up my card at Di's- Pixie's Playground.

 http://pixiescraftyworkshop.blogspot.com/2015/02/pixies-snippets-playground-week-163.html

The Male Room challenge #3 for 2015 is to create a Valentine.
http://themaleroomchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/challenge-03-valentine.html
 Most of you know that I make 99.99997322567% of my cards for Operation Write Home and the deadline for Valentine cards has long passed so I made a love card- one that could be a Valentine or an any-time card. The gold paper is by DCWV--I love that is it so elegant. I kept the card super simple so the paper and the sentiment are the focal points.  You can see the shine of the foil better in the bottom picture. And look- another card without coloring!! I love the gold ink...Delicata- yummy!

 I have been having an exceptionally good week-- aside from snow-snow-snow.... the Patriots won the Superbowl, Tessa got accepted to a private high school, Paige celebrated her birthday in a big way, I am in vacation planning mode for possibly 3 trips...and I won a super generous gift card to Sweet Pea Designs! You really need to check out the awesome stamps and dies! I love the quality of the products, the fast shipping, the inspiration from the blog-- just a wonderful company and Wendy is talented, generous and down right fun!  I love to support newer, smaller companies ( I love the big ones too) and I hope you will go see what Wendy (creative director and owner!)  is up to-- I think you will be happy!
http://sugarpeadesigns.com/blog/

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!
Diane

Cards in Envy... Going Gray

Hello! It has been a wicked week with our New England weather..snow, snow, snow, wind and cold!
The weather is gray and so is the challenge at
 http://www.cardsinenvy.blogspot.com/.  We are inspired to use mostly gray on our cards.  I really like this hippo by Avery Elle....he has some fun accessories- like his glasses. I coated the glasses with Sakura black Glaze pen. I used a stencil and Hero Arts shadow ink to create the background with the squares. I paper pieced his blue face then toned down the blue with more of the ink.

Thanks for stopping by!  I am very excited about the SuperBowl tomorrow night--go Patriots!!!
Diane

It's A Sugar Pea Designs Day! SPDSS19

After all the snowfall and shoveling here in New England, it just felt like we could use some sweetness so I opened up my new stamps from Sugar Pea Designs and got busy.SPD is celebrating their first birthday-go check out the great inspirations!
http://sugarpeadesigns.com/blog/

There is a great sketch for challenge #19. I rotated the sketch and used the wonderful postman penguin stamp!

                           

The OWH sketch this week seemed perfect for this next stamp....love it! Perfect for Catniss fans but also great for love cards- there are some fabulous sentiments in this stamp set.
                

 For my final card of the trio- I decided to make a shaker card, Shaker cards are so fun for kids so this also goes into my OWH box....like all my cards! I do not have the best photography skills but boy what a challenge to not get any glare on the acetate of the shaker or shadows of the sequins on the  adorable image!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!
Thanks for stopping by!
Diane

Tuesday Morning Sketches, OWH and Male Room Challenges

Hello, 
Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog.  I have 3 cards to share today.   Here is a great sketch featured this week at
http://tuesdaymorningsketches.blogspot.com/
                  

The gal, the flower and the bench are colored with copics and her shirt is paper pieced. Hmmm, her hair looks like it has white streaks or maybe some dandruff.....I find it so funny how a card looks good to me until I see it in a photo!

Our mid- month challenge at Operation Write Home was to create a thank you card.
http://operationwritehome.org/january-mid-month-throwdown-thank-you/ 
I have a few dies that I had fun playing with- simple but I really like the red, black and yellow color combination.

And my last card is for The Male Room- for the shades of blue challenge.  
http://themaleroomchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/challenge-0215-shades-of-blue.html

I used some yellow paper to break up all the blues. And I coated a MFT die cut of the world with glossy accents...it seemed really flat without the gloss and I like it in real life! I cut the die in white and the greenish blue of the land. I  colored the water sections of the white die with copic markers and layered this over the green die...way easier than trying to piece all the sections of land into the die!
Have a great week and go make some cards!
Diane

Try Stampin on Tuesday Challenge and OWH

hello!
I had a great week last week- I was in the top 3 for 2 challenges! Wahoo! You can see my side bar for the badges.

I have 2 cards to share today and I am in an extra joyful mood today- the Patriots won the game last nite- on to the Superbowl to play the Seahawks-should be a wonderful game...and today is my birthday! I have had a wonderful long weekend- thanks to all the people I love. I try to remember daily how grateful I am for the most amazing people in my life!!

OWH posted a great sketch for my first card. The stamps are by Inky Antics- sweet!

And here is a fun sketch from Try Stampin on Tuesday:
      
                  


I missed the cut off time for Cardz 4 Guys and their theme this challenge was  birthday so I used the TSOT sketch with that theme- but will only post to TSOT.  http://cardz4guyz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/happy-birthday.html

The stamps are from CC Designs and the papers are from The Paper Loft...I have a few of their 6x6 pads since they are great papers for guy cards!

Well- I am off to get ready for a birthday dinner- thanks for stopping by!
Diane

Happy Sunday!

Hello!

Thanks for stopping by. I have a few cards to share this evening.

I am still excited from the New England Patriots football game last evening- very exciting and of course- the outcome I was hoping for! 

My first card is for Operation Write Home and Our Daily Bread Designs monthly challenge and for January we are starting the year off right with a card for a hero!  http://operationwritehome.org/january-odbd-challenge/

Next is my card for the VINTAGE challenge at Cardz 4 Guys. I do not have a lot of vintage stamps but I was able to find this old time train.                 http://cardz4guyz.blogspot.co.uk/

And then a card for my OWH box. I adore these stick figures- I have no clue who makes them and I have had them for years. I pull them out every once in a while and smile! I used some scraps that were on my table...time to clean up my work space! LOL

Thanks for visiting! Have a wonderful week!

Diane

Try Stampin' on Tuesday Challenge #199

Hello! I made this card the other day- then I caught the nasty cold going around! I am feeling better so I figured I needed to post this card soon! 
Here is the sketch for challenge #199- Friends. Since I make pretty much all of my cards for Operation Write Home, I wanted to make this more of a masculine card- but neutral enough that it could be sent to or from a guy or a gal!  I like that this sketch can be kept clean and simple- right up my alley! And maybe I am not better- my picture of the card is super crooked! LOL 

http://trystampinontuesday.blogspot.com/
                                 

Thanks for stopping by!
Diane

My Top 14 of 14!

      

Hello and Happy New Year!  Welcome to my favorite creations of 2014-in no particular order and most-for no particular reason! I am not going to chat a lot...I know there are lots of blogs to visit today to see what the card-makers chose for their top cards! 
http://wp.me/p2kUr6-4YZ

What I learned by looking back at my cards for 2014...I still like clean, uncluttered cards! And I still love to color with copics! And patterned papers make me happy!

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And while not for OWH- this card was made for Doug- who really did a wonderful thing for my family. He told me that he was having a rough day at work and when he opened the card (I sent it to his restaurant) he was so happy and felt appreciated....exactly what I intended! Isn't it great how a card can turn your day around!

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to more card making in 2015!

Diane