Crafty Creations Challenges #289

A fun challenge and a great sponsor.  What could be better?  How about a short post . . . so you can get to crafting and link up with us over at Crafty Creations Challenges.

Theme: Color Challenge

Kraft, Pink, Brown, Green, White

Sponsor:  A Creative Need

Check out Deena's shop (click here) 

or her blog (click here)

I used one of Deena's beautiful digital stamps ~ Pear Tree Blossom

I added very subtle pink to the flowers, mainly because Pear Tree Blossoms are white.  I printed the digi onto watercolor paper using my Laser Printer (first time trying this and I loved the way it worked).

I watercolored the image using my new Derwent Inktense pencils.  And, because I forgot this was a Color Challenge, my first flower was yellow (I'll post that card later in the month LOL).

The sentiment is from TLC Creations (click here).

Be sure to stop by the Crafty Creations Challenges blog to see what the other DT members created and to leave us some Comment love.  We love to hear from you and hope we inspire you to Create !

Note: I'm sorry for the quality of the picture. My camera and computer have been on the fritz lately and this was the best shot I could get.

New Doodle Pantry Products Available

Today is the first Tuesday in February. Wow! Where are the days going?  It seems like 2015 is flying by too quickly.

Laurie, the creator behind Doodle Pantry, added several really cute products to the store this week.  Living in Florida, well . . . I had to use the set that included a Palm Tree.  The sentiment, image and patterned paper are all from the Lil Gorilla Jungle set.

The colors are actually very vibrant (at least on my computer they look a bit washed out). I know I'm not a great photographer, or perhaps I just need a better camera. Click on the link at the bottom and you'll see how beautiful this set actually is.

Stop by the Doodle Pantry store to see all the new sets this week (click here).  Then hop on over to the Doodle Pantry Blog after 12 noon (EST) to check out this months Ants In My Pantry Digital Challenge.

So Thankful

This has been a tough week. Hubby had outpatient surgery, but then wound up back in the hospital overnight due to some complications with the medication he was given.  All is better, or at least getting better. He has a lot of restrictions for at least 6 weeks; which means I get to do everything around the house. I'm not complaining, but it does cut into my "crafting" time a bit {smile}

I received a surprise in the mail a couple weeks ago from Alanna. Check out her blog here~she creates the most awesome cards and she also happens to be the DT Coordinator for Christmas Card Challenges.

I couldn't wait to use this die.  I knew it would be the focal point of the thank you cards I was making for those who helped organize our community's Annual Art & Craft Fair.

This die, called "You Mean the World to Me" (of course LOL), is from Die-namics. I have a lot of Die-namics Dies, but I luckily didn't have this one.  I punched a green circle to place behind the "world" which allowed the yellow to show behind the words.

The Committee Members really do mean the world to me because without their help and support, the Art & Craft Fair would not happen.

Thank you Alanna for a beautiful die. I love it and "You Mean the World to Me!!"

Thank You

I think I've finally recovered from our community's annual Art & Craft Fair. I'm just about done with all the Thank You notes that need to be sent out (something I like to do).  So, I thought I'd share one with you today (I did 3 different designs . . . one for the Exhibitors, one for the Workers and one for the Team Coordinators).  I'll share the other two in a couple days.

I used Doodle Pantry's Autumn Song Birdies pre-colored digi stamp.

I thought the digi went great with the sentiment.

The die cut "Thanks" and stamped sentiment are from Simon Says.

Stop by the Doodle Pantry store to see Autumn Song Birdies or any of the other terrific digital sets.

Thank You!

I thought I would try something new that I've never done before in cardmaking.  I've used digital papers and images for quite some time, but I've never done a one layer card out of digis.

Using Doodle Pantry digi papers and pre-colored image from the Forget Me Not Color Plus set and Microsoft Word, I created the following one layer card.

Now to be honest, I did print a second flower image and cut out three of the flowers to add a bit of  dimension to the card.  However, the patterned paper, the green matting and the first flower image were all printed in one pass . . . no cutting, no piecing ~ I inserted the paper png files, resized each one, added a green border, added a white frame in the center, placed the flower png file in the frame and wallah . . . my card was done.

The picture below shows the one layer better; except for the 3 flowers (and of course the Stampin' Up! sentiment) that I "puffed" up.

I added pink candy dots that I made~love making these~to the corners and an organza bow to finish off the card.  

I think I'll print a few more of these.  I need to send a Thank You card to my two cousins who worked many hours helping my parents clean up a flooded basement from the Michigan rains this past week. I love them like sisters and I know my parents are grateful beyond words.

There's still time to play along in the Monthly Doodle Pantry Digital Challenge. You can use any digital image, but if you use a Doodle Pantry image, you'll receive the Camo Digi Paper Pack for FREE.

Enter the DPDC49 using a Doodle Pantry image (not just a sentiment) and you'll not only be entered in the monthly prize drawing, but you'll receive the following for free. 

Thank You

There's another challenge this week at Crafty Creations. The theme is: Thank You and we're sponsored by Whiff of Joy. Check out the challenge details and inspiration cards from the other DT members here.

 

This is a card that I taught in a recent class. It's generic and works so well for any occasion.  I had several sentiments available for the attendees including Happy Birthday, Get Well, Thinking of You or Thank You.

Card Recipe: teal, white and black cardstock; dot embossing folder; sentiment~Stampin' Up!; image~Sizzix Hero Arts Stamp & Die-Cut set Floral; Memento Bahama Blue Ink; grosgrain ribbon from stash & various punches and dies. 

Thank You

I needed a Thank You card, so today was the purr-fect time to make a card . . . because Delightful Inspiration {from the heart} has a "Free Stamp of the Month Challenge." The digital stamp this month is "Cat's Out of the Bag." You can check out the challenge by clicking here.

 

 

I made these delightful daffodils for the front of the card.  I'm not sure if it makes the card look too busy, but it does brighten it up.

 

I've seen other cards with "clouds" on the colored images and I thought it added a "finished look" to the image.  So I checked out various YouTube videos and TA-DA ~ this is my very first attempt at CLOUDS. I'm rather proud of them, at least for a first timer {smile}.

 

 

I finished off the inside with matching paper, cardstock and added a sentiment (from MFTStamps).

 

 

Delightful Inspiration {from the heart} is also having a sketch challenge this week. So I based this card off their sketch so I could enter that challenge also:

 

 

I'm also entering the following challenges:

  > Clearly i Stamp Challenges #6: Thank You

  >  Inky Impressions Challenge: Animals

  >  Delicious Doodles #51: Anything Floral

 

Keep Crafting,

 

It's a Two Card Day

  It was a great day today. Last week I bought a new card-stack (cute, soft pastel-y colors). And I couldn't wait to make cards using these new papers. This week, there were two sketch challenges that I wanted to enter (along with a few others) and they worked perfect for my new card-stack papers.
  So, I have TWO cards to share with you today. . . {smile} I told you it was a great day.
  The first card is my attempt at "humor" for a thank you card. The image is Lil Kitty Tree from Bugaboo Digi Stamps.

 

  Now for the inside of the card. I added another kitty hanging over the sentiment, which is computer generated.

I'm entering the above card in the following challenges:
  > Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge with a Twist: Use an Animal Image

  > Craft Your Passion Challenges #171: Thank You
  > Created with Love Challenge: Anything Goes

   I still needed a "Welcome Baby" card for a girl (I haven't made one yet), and since this new card-stack had a few cute baby papers, I made card NUMBER TWO.

 

   The image is Baby Fairy and it was a freebie by Bugaboo Stamps. I didn't have any peachy colored ribbon, so I used a Copic Pen to color a piece of white grosgrain ribbon and added a pearl brad. I also added glitter to the "wings."

 

 

   The 'rattle-duck-pin-pacifier' DP was too short to fit the inside, so I got creative. I cut the image DP about a 1/4 of the way down. Then I cut a piece of the dotted DP. Matted the latter in brown and placed it where the gap in the image DP was.  You wouldn't know if I didn't admit my 'paper shortcomings.' {smile}  I added another piece of Copic-dyed ribbon. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up! and the safety pin is a free digistamp from Stamp Fairy. I thought it tied in well with the image DP.

 

 

I'm entering the above card in the following challenges:

  > Freshly Made Sketches #95

  > Tuesday Throwdown Challenges #156: Anything Goes

  > My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge 7: Just For The Girls

 

   Yes, it was a good day. Two cards made . . . now I just need one more baby card for a girl.

  

 

 

 Items used on the above two cards: Twine from The Twinery;Copics; Memento Inks-Toffee Crunch, Peanut Brittle and Canteloupe; white grosgrain ribbon from Dollar Tree; white, clear and silver Gelly Roll pens from Sakura; Glitter Glue from Studio G; Bubble Jewel Brads by the Paper Studio and DP-Sweet Pea by the Paper Studio.

 

Keep Crafting,

Handmade Flowers

I love new crafting ideas. So when I recently saw ric-rac flowers, I knew I had to make some of my own.

The group over at Creative Card Crew had a challenge to make a project using hand made flowers. And the team at Ribbon Carousel had a 'Showers and Flowers' challenge. What a perfect time to use the ric-rac flowers I wanted to make.

Wow...the flowers turned out to be the challenge.  I finally figured out how to make them, although I'm not sure it's the way they're 'supposed' to be made; but I love the way they look.  ;-)

I also love the way the card turned out. Thank goodness IT wasn't a challenge. Sometimes my cards just seem to 'happen' and this one did.

 

I wanted to carry the flower theme to the inside, so I stamped flowers using Stampology Pink Sapphire for the flower outline and Memento Dandelion for the inside color. I cut out one of the small flowers and used dimensionals to raise it off the page.

Here's a closeup of the ric-rac flowers. I used a Martha Stewart snowflake punch for the 'leaves.'  I think I'll make a few more ric-rac flowers...once my fingers recover. They tend to cramp up more than they did 20 years ago, and this was definitely a 'finger-cramping' task.

The colors I used were for another card challenge (hot pink, golden yellow and silver). Unfortunately, I got my days mixed up and it ended yesterday so I couldn't enter this card in that challenge. But I really like these colors together. Like I said...sometimes my cards 'happen.'