Challenge Fun!

Hey Everyone!

I have 3 cards for you today..two by me and one by my adorable 3yr old.  Creativity finally came to me after spending hours cleaning my scrap area.  I had several projects started and just couldn't get myself going.  Well it's all now organized and I'm able to get my creative mojo flowing!  I'm knocking things out left and right and cleared up enough room to move my laptop back in! YAY!

Here are the first two cards created for the OWH Midweek Throwdown and for Michelle Perkett Studios Tuesday challenge 41 Anything Goes!!

Michelle Perkett Studio Design Challenge

Pretty simple card and I also left off the sentiment.  I thought the picture was cute enough on it's own to complete a card front.  I used Glossy Accents to make the apple pop a little bit more and 4 white brads for a little more dimension.  I broke out my daughters colored pencils since this is the first digi stamp that I've done.

Here is my cuties submission! =)

Lainey for OWH

I let her have at my scrap paper and she is a pink FREAK!!   The yellow was a nice surprise.  She broke out the crayons on her card. =)  I know she's adorable and no you can't have her!!

My third card to show is for the Clean & Simple sketch challenge 104.

Love Always

The distressing on this card was a complete accident but it worked perfectly.  I was trying just chalk the edges but a bumped elbow turned into a smear.  I'm not sure what paper this is.  I'm trying very hard to clear out all my old paper so I have a reason to buy new!

I hope you've enjoyed the cards!

OWH Sketch Challenge

I've been really wanting to participate in more challenges but have been so drained at the end of the day to create anything.  Well I'm kicking myself into gear and making it a goal to do one challenge a week.  The card I created tonight for the OWH S&S Sketch Challenge was inspired by a box of Stampin' Up! goodies I received in the mail yesterday.

Dasher

Meet Dasher! I was inspired to make Christmas cards and this sketch was perfect! I didn't capture a picture of the inside but I created an empty white square with a red matt for the Hero to write their own sentiment..Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Warm Wishes, whatever!!  The cardstocks used were Whisper White and Real Red.  The ink is Real Red and the stamp is Dasher.  The ribbon is 5/8" Whisper White and the brads were from my stash.

I also found the time to break out some ribbon and make two birthday cards.

Happy Birthday!

I love to use ribbon and especially to ruffle it!  I believe the cupcake and the hat were lucky finds at Walmart and the ribbons came from Michael's.  The blue brads were bought at a craft store somewhere between Southern California and Olympia, Washington.  I used my Cuttle Bug and the Swiss Dots A2 folder to emboss the backgrounds.

Hope you've enjoyed!!

Spiders, Oh My!

I finally bought a set of Halloween stamps and quickly put them to use.  I've always just invested in stickers and brads but I am so stingy even with my own product.  It takes a lot for me to finally use something I fell in love with.  I have paper I hold on to because once I use it, it's gone.  But stamps are different, they're always there no matter how much you use them!  I made the following cards for the OWH Midweek Throwdown.  The objective was to make a Fall themed card with no sentiment.  Well when I think Fall, I think Halloween.  So here's my cards!

Spiders!

I'm a very Clean and Simple papercrafter if you haven't yet noticed.  I made this card with a cute spider out of a Friskars stamp set.  The rest was just orange and white cardstock and 4 black brads from my stash.  The ribbon I believe came from Michael's.  I'm not the best at tying bows and after 6 of these cards, I could quit for a good while!

Spiders and Witches Hats

Very easy card to make multiples of! If I hadn't run out of black brads, I might have done bats!  The hats were from the same stamp set. 

I'd also like to share a very special card I made for my mother.  My mother is a 6yr breast cancer survivor who recently underwent surgery to fix some problems from a previous reconstructive surgery.  Amazingly, she received this card in the mail the same day she had her surgery.

Hope for a Cure

This was my very first easel card and it's actually very easy!  I knew when making this card that it had to have a pink ribbon and the sentiment Hope.  The ribbon I used came from Michael's and also the rhinestones.  The flowers were a lucky find at Walmart years ago that I just never found a use for.  Here are some close-up shots of the little details.

Hope

Flowers

 I hope you enjoyed looking at my cards as much as I enjoy making them!

YouTube Inspirations

Who doesn't love YouTube!  If it wasn't for the site I don't think I would know how to do much of anything at all! Here are some of the cards I just had to make myself after playing online.

True Love Flower

Such an easy flower card.  All you need is paper, a corner punch and a center embellishment..love it.  I really loved doing the brad though.  It was orange with polka dots but I inked it then embossed it with some glittered embossing powder.  The designer paper and cardstock were from my scrap pile and the ribbon came out of a dollar bin at JoAnn's. ( This one is also for the OWH Stash Challenge )

Blessing Pinwheel

This one was super fun! Anything that involves breaking out my Cuddle Bug makes me smile!! (Thanks again for the best birthday present ever mom!)  The paper once again came out of my scraps and then there's a random brad from my stash.  Not quite sure which stamp set this stamp came from but if you are interested I'll dig through and let you know!

Power Behind Us

Here she is, the card that has been a headache for me for the past month! Looks simple enough right? Wrong!  This has to have been the most stubborn ribbon I've dealt with.  I went through three adhesives to get it to stick and it still wouldn't! So then came the brads.  Headache over!  This was also my first attempt with paper piercing.  I like it...you're going to see it a lot more now.

Annni-VERVE-sary

How exciting! A 3yr Anni-VERVE-sary for one of my new favorite brands of stamps.  I created this blog just for this moment!!  Welcome to all and I hope you enjoy the blog hop and experience some serious creativity!!

If you've been following the hop, you just arrived from Leslie's Blog!  If you are just starting along, please visit Julee's Blog for all the info on how to win prizes and to start the hop from the beginning! Click here for the Master Hop list to get the full list of links!

Here's my Card =)

How Loved You Are

I love this sentiment..especially since my brother is having a baby and I think it fits the moment perfect.  I broke out my Cuddle Bug and used the Swiss Dots and Stars A2 folders.  I then took some Charcoal Chalk and brushed it gently over the top to give it a distressed look. I also chalked all the edges.  The ribbon ended up a surprise for me.  I thought it was thin but it turned out not so! I'm absolutely happy with it though.

Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope you enjoyed my card and please visit again! Next on the hop is Michelle’s blog, ENJOY!!

Winter Wishes

So I'm taking my first shot at a blog challenge.  The card is for the OWH Midweek Throwdown Challenge -Christmas in July  Enjoy!

Winter Wishes

I tried to keep away from the patterned paper with this one and I have to admit I really like it.  I used my Cuddle Bug and the Swiss Dots A2 folder for the red cardstock and the rest was just stamps from several stamp sets that I used glossy accents on.  I am testing its abilities and though its clean and simple I really like embossing powder better as an outline. 

Thanks for stopping by =)

You Make Me Smile

So I finally purchased some REALLY awesome stamps from Verve and I love them. I'm a very patriotic person and their American Hero Collection is my favorite.  For this card though, I used the Blue Skies collection.

You Make Me Smile

I think the hardest part of this card was the butterflies! I stamped, then embossed, then colored, then cut!  I used craft wire to make the antennas and used glue dots to adhere them to the page.  The sentiment is also embossed (I just love how embossing looks).   I've really wanted to focus on anytime cards for the troops and I think this hit the spot!  Who doesn't enjoy a card or letter for no reason other than somebody cares about you!

This next card is a mixture of Blue Skies and Always on My Mind.

My Thoughts

Once again I stamped and cut the butterflies from the Blue Skies collection. I used Charcoal Chalk to soften the edges.  Chalking is another favorite technique of mine!

All of my cards created so far are for OWH.  A nice way to give to those who give all for you =)