TCC131 Woodland Creatures

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  It's time for a new Card Concept challenge, and Julie has a sweet inspiration for us this week:

Aren't those little critters cute?  I knew just what set I wanted to use, so I pulled out some paper, ink and stamps and went to work creating my Clean and Layered card:

I cut a "tree" from some woodgrain paper and diecut three stitched circles in it; behind each one I placed my little animals; each one was stamped in Memento ink, colored with Blends and fussy cut:

For my little bird, I used the SU Well Wishes die, outlined him with a Basic Black SU marker, then colored him in as well; it's hard to see but I used Pool Party and Balmy Blue:

I created a little sign with this serendipitous find from Rustic Retreat; it was stamped in Early Espresso and colored with a Copic to match the tree; I also added some diecut grass!

Finally, on the inside, I stamped a birthday greeting from the same set and added a little deer I had also colored and fussy-cut:

I am also entering this into the Cardz 4 Guyz challenge, which is to use something starting with "F"....forest and fawn!

The DT has come up with some wonderful samples to give you some inspiration, so be sure to stop by the Card Concept and check them out!  Then you can share yours with us as well! 

Cassidy brought home a dot-to-dot from school....it has 951 dots!  Can you believe it?

An astronaut?  A deep-sea diver?  She didn't finish it yet, hopefully she's going to keep at it...she has two weeks away from school, we'll see how she does!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!  

"There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.The one who fears is not made perfect in love/"  1 John 4:18

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Rustic Retreat, Woodland Greetings (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Nestled DSP (Authentique)
Ink	Memento Black, Early Espresso
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Circle Dies (Lil'Inker), Blends, White Gel Pen, Grass Die (Impression Obsession)

The Card Concept Challenge #130 Irish Coffee

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  It's time for a new Card Concept challenge and Julie has chosen a fun "Irish Coffee" theme for us! I have to admit that as much as I love coffee, I've never had Irish coffee!  Hmmm...maybe I should remedy that, LOL!

I don't usually send out St Patrick's Day cards, but I do have a couple of friends whose birthdays are on the 17th, so I had them in mind when making this card:

First, I was inspired by all the colors of green in the photo; I used some miscellaneous DSP that was gifted to me for the background, and the horizontal panel is some retired Call Me Clover DSP from last year.  I stamped the plaid circle from Kind and Cozy also in Call Me Clover, and the coffee cup in Pear Pizzazz, the hearts in Call Me Clover and Mint Macaron.  

I fussy-cut a saying from Banner Blessings to layer it on top, and added a pearl, a Call Me Clover bow and a little Pear Pizzazz ribbon banner.  All the layers and embellishments add up to a "Clean and Layered" card for the Card Concept challenge this week!  I hope you'll play along with our challenge too!  I will say that these challenges have made me realize I make the same style of card every time----I really need to try to change it up, LOL!  And since I seem to use the same style most of the time, I thought I would enter this in a new challenge called The Spot!  The first week is Designer's Choice!

SO.....I hope you will check out what the design team has created at The Card Concept blog!  You'll be inspired!  Thanks for popping in today!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Kind and Cozy, Banner Blessings (both retired)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Call Me Clover DSP (ret), Misc DSP from my stash
Ink	Memento Black, Pear Pizzazz, Mint Macaron, Call Me Clover
Accessories	Call Me Clover Narrow Ribbon, Pear Pizzazz Ribbon (both ret), Dimensionals, Pearls
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Stitched Circle Dies (Lil'Inker)

The Card Concept 129 Warm Winter Wishes

Hi everyone!  Today we have a new Card Concept challenge...check out this warm wintery vignette:

Cute!  Unfortunately, there has been NO SNOW in my neck of the woods at ALL this winter--one of the warmest on record!  So I have had to get all my inspiration from these fun papers that I've been hoarding!  Check out my little Shabby and Vintage snowman card:

This little guy was on a sheet of 12x12" scrapbook paper from an older DCWV pad called The Crafty Christmas!  I trimmed it down to fit a Merry Merlot card base, then went to work to add some vintage layers!

I diecut some snowflakes from some white glimmer paper and sponged a little bit of Crumb Cake ink  on them to give them a more rustic look:

I stamped a sentiment in Soft Suede from a retired set, Winter Wishes, on a scrap of the same paper, then cut it out freehand and sponged on some White craft ink around the edges along with a swoosh of Wink of Stella!  The "winter" is from a Susan Branch alphabet set that I also cut out freehand; I love the eclectic look it creates!  

My final touch was some thick baker's twine, and a sentiment on the inside:

I hope you enjoyed my Shabby and Vintage card, and hope you'll play along with us this week at The Card Concept!  Just remember to tell us your style! See you there!

The family went to a sushi restaurant recently and Cassidy ate her dinner with chopsticks....they're "fake" but she used them all throughout the meal!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Winter Wishes, Greatest Part of Christmas (both ret), Letters and Numbers (Susan Branch)
Card stock & Papers	Merry Merlot, Crumb Cake, Sparkle Glimmer Paper, The Crafty Christmas DSP (Die Cuts With a View)
Ink	Soft Suede, Craft White, Crumb Cake
Accessories	Metallic Pearls, Cherry Cobbler Thick Baker's Twine (ret), Mini Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Snowflake Die (Verve), Sponge Daubers, Wink of Stella Pen

TCC128 Be My Valentine

Happy Wednesday, peeps!  Time for another Card Concept challenge!  Here's our prompt for this week:

I chose to go "Clean and Layered" for today's Valentine card; I used the colors in the pillows to create a little panel full of hearts....check it out:

I used an older Papertrey die to diecut each circle and corresponding heart to fill it, then mounted them on a Whisper White panel that was cut with the new Stitched So Sweetly die:

At the bottom of the panel, I stamped a sentiment from PTI's Tiny Treats Valentine set, then mounted it all on a card base that was embossed with the Large Polka Dot EF!  Easy peasy!  Again, the style of my card is Clean and Layered!  And because it's CAS, I am also entering this in CASology's challenge this week as well:

Be sure to check out what the DT created at The Card Concept blog--it's always fun to see how the photo is translated into different styles!  Thanks for popping in today! Enjoy your day and be blessed!  And here are a couple of my "sweethearts"!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Tiny Treats Valentine (Papertrey Ink)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Basic Black, Basic Gray, Real Red, Misc Plaid (from my stash)
Ink	Real Red
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched So Sweetly Die, Heart/Circle Die (Papertrey, can't find name of it), Large Polka Dot EF (ret)

TCC127 Warm Grays

Hi everyone!  It's Wednesday, and time for a new Card Concept challenge!  Isn't this a beauty?  What a cozy winter scene!

I needed a pick-me-up card for a friend who recently had foot surgery.  Although the grays and neutrals in this photo aren't what I would normally call "cheerful", I think the end result is one that will cheer her up anyway:

I began by embossing a card front of Basic Gray cardstock with the Cable Knit embossing folder.  I stamped the focal sentiment in Basic Gray as well on Whisper White cardstock and colored in the letters with a Smoky Slate marker.  I mounted it against a Smoky Slate frame I diecut with a Stitched Shape die, then added a few embellishments:  a couple of sparkly hearts, a snowflake, some silver sequins and silver baker's twine:

But my favorite part was the little cup!  I stamped it in Basic Gray and Smoky Slate, shaded it a wee bit with a Blend, then heat-embossed the steam with some white embossing powder on a little piece of vellum and fussy-cut it out!  Sweet!

And on the inside, a couple of encouraging sentiments!

I would say that my card style this week is Clean and Layered!  I hope you will play along with us and share your creation at The Card Concept!  Can't wait to see you there!  And be sure to stop by to see what the other designers created as well!  Thanks for popping in today!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Just Treats, Get Well Soon, God is Good (all Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Sparkle Glimmer, Vellum
Ink	Basic Gray, Smoky Slate
Accessories	White Embossing Powder, Silver Baker's Twine, Candy Dots (both ret), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Cable Knit EF (ret), Stitched Shapes Dies, Triple Heart Punch (ret), Smoky Slate Blend, Heat Tool, Snowflake Dies (Taylored Expressions), Silver Sequins (ret)

Card Concept 126

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  I am excited to announce that I've been asked to be on the Card Concept DT!  I want to thank Julie for giving me the chance to participate! I have admired their challenges, not just because Julie chooses amazing inspiration photos, but also because they highlight different "styles" of design!  When you play along, you're asked to identify which style you've used for that particular week!  They have a page that describes all the different styles, so I am looking forward to stretching my creativity and hopefully I can nail all of them at some point!  Today, we have a lovely photo prompt to kick off the new year:

Today is my sister Joyce's birthday, and she is a beekeeper!  Actually, she has embraced many different interests in her life...she loves horses, she's raised chickens, she's bred rabbits, she is a bird nerd like me, encouraged martins but putting up a big martin house, but her latest venture is beekeeping!  So the Honey Bee stamp set was the first thing that popped into my shopping cart when it became available!  For my card today, I chose the gold and vanilla elements to create a Clean and Layered card for my sis:

I began with a Crumb Cake card base and added a Very Vanilla layer which was embossed with the Pine Planks EF with a few little diecut honeycombs on top.  My hive was stamped with Crumb Cake as well, and the flowers were heat-embossed with gold embossing powder, diecut and adhered next to the hive:

There are several bee dies in the Detailed Bee set; this big one was diecut from Gold Foil--isn't it impressive? 

I adhered it near a gold-embossed birthday sentiment (Rustic Retreat), which had been diecut from the new Stitched So Sweetly dies (and also has some gold thread behind it!):

Finally, one last embossing:  a birthday sentiment from Perennial Birthday on the inside, along with a couple more little bees!  I hope she likes it!

I hope that you'll play along with our challenge at The Card Concept, and be sure to stop by to see how all the DT members have interpreted this pretty photo!  Can't wait to see what you create!

Cassidy had off school the day before Christmas eve, so I asked Lee and Jackie to come over to make some cookies.  I had the dough already made and rolled out, so all they had to do was cut and sprinkle!

Jackie was very neat and precise in her sprinkling!

Whereas Lee was a more "one and done" kinda guy---he used a whole jar of gold sprinkles on his, LOL!

But they had fun and each went home with a wee little plate of yummies!

Thanks for popping in today--enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Honey Bee, Rustic Retreat
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Gold Foil
Ink	Crumb Cake, Gold Encore (ret)
Accessories	Gold Thread, Dimensionals, Gold Embossing Powder
Tools	Big Shot, Pine Planks EF, Detailed Bees Dies, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Heat Tool