Those Crazy Birds!

Well, it happened. A while ago, I fell in love with the Bird Crazy stamps from Tim Holtz. I finally got to play with them recently. I did a little class at our local stamp store, and, as usual, I tried to put my own spin on the cards.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Casology - Clear

I wanted to be different here, and so I used the rain/water/puddles as something that's clear. Even though puddles can be murky, that's not from the water... that's the dirt on the ground. The water itself is clear!

CCEE - Hats

I just love this guy. His nose is perfect. I'm really loving the Crazy Things add on stamp set; they really give the birds extra personality. I also did a second hat card, but I'm having trouble uploading it, so I'll post it on its own, tomorrow.

Addicted To Stamps & More - Make Your Mark
Seize The Birthday - Clean and Simple
Stamp Ink Paper - Birthday

This one was so much fun to colour!

 All the colouring on these cards were done with my Tombos & a water brush.

A few challenges

Well, the rush of Christmas is over. It was a wonderful two weeks. I got to spend some time with family and friends. Got caught up on some email that had been sitting around... blogs  I follow, which have various things I like to pin (either a card idea or a recipe, usually). And I saw the latest Star Wars movie. It was fantastic. So much better than the last series.

I made 3 cards this week. I love going to my friend Angela's... she always gives us great ideas. And yet she puts out a nice range of stuff so that we can change whatever we want. My first card is a great example of that.

She made this card using the new balloon animal set from Stampin' Up. As much as her card was cute - and she had a lot of different samples of balloon animals to choose from (my friend did a fish, one person did a penguin, one did a giraffe, and so on) - I just wasn't feeling it. I have just never been all that enamored by balloon animals, and looking at the set, I just didn't trust that I'd have success with it. So I went in a completely different direction and played with the Sprinkles of Life set. 

I'm entering it in the following challenge:
Casology - Week 179 Simple

The next card I have is also for a challenge. 

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

I don't think I'm used to blending Stampin' Up inks anymore since I fell in love with Distress Inks. The top half of my rainbow isn't as well blended as I'd like. 

My last card is also for a challenge. This blog is a new one for me; I found it by accident through someone else I follow.

The Male Room - Anything Goes 

I love this stamp set. I don't think I'm ultimately going to buy it, though. Ang owns it, and there are too many sentiments I won't use. I've ordered the embossing folder. I have other masculine sets that will work really well with it.

Card Details - All products Stampin Up

Ice Cream Card

Cardstock: Mint Macaron, Whisper White

Ink: Mint Macaron, Crushed Curry. Sahara Sand

DSP: It's My Party
Other: Punches

Plane Card

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pacific Point

Stamps: Sky's The Limit

Ink: Crushed Curry, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Blackberry Bliss, Marina Mist, Memento Black

Globe Card

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Ink: Lost Lagoon, Crumb Cake

Stamps: Going Global

Other: World Traveler Embossing Folder, Circle Dies

Simon Says challenge.

Ah, Tuesday... the day I get to relax and do nothing. I normally have bible study in the morning, actually, but today I didn't end up going, as I needed a 'sick day'. It's also the day I get my home support, so by the time that's all done, I really don't like to go anywhere in the late afternoon or evening if I can help it.

I got a lot of cards photographed yesterday... ones I'll keep in my 'back pocket,' as it were, in case I'm not feeling creative and want to make sure I do a blog post. I'm hoping I'll be creating regularly though, as I've been working on organizing my Pinterest boards and I have a LOT on inspiration at my fingertips.

Today, a quick card for a few challenges:

I tweaked this card from one at the stamp store. I didn't want a sympathy card - we have a need for masculine birthday cards at church. I also changed the spacing of the image/sentiment, and did my shadowing differently. In keeping with the 'favourite style' challenge at Sweet Stampin, I choose to keep my card very clean and simple. It has all my favourite elements... a clean design, a bit of distressing, and a bit of texture to add visual interest.

I'm entering it in the following:

Simon Says Stamps: Simon Says... Emboss It! 
Sweet Stamping -  Your Favourite Style

I don't have the card details on me right now... the cardstock is all Bazzil; I don't remember what stamp companies the images are from, as I borrowed them.

December Daily - Day 3

Well, I have been working on a few challenge cards, but none of them are quite done yet. So today I'm posting a Christmas card I made a very long time ago that I never posted. I don't actually even have the card anymore, as I used it for my Mom's birthday card the year I made it. She loves poinsettias. 

 

This card was a make & take at the stamp store in town from at least two years ago - maybe more. It was actually the first year they did their Coffee & and a Card Mondays in the summer, so it likely was 2012.   They were showing us how easy the Stampscapes stamps are to use. That image is all one stamp.  The card is stamped with Staz On using glossy cardstock. Then we coloured it with Tombo marker. We spritzed a window sheet/piece of acetate & put it over top of the image. 

The flower was made with a Sizzix die. I put it together, but the pieces were cut before we arrived. The Cuttlebuging was done for us as well., just to save time.

I'll post another card tomorrow evening. In the morning I'll be having coffee with a friend;  then in the afternoon I am going to prep my cookie dough so I can get to work on my Christmas baking. I'm going to a cookie exchange on Saturday evening. 

Card Details
Cardstock: Bazzill
Stamps: Stampscapes
Other: Acetate, watercolours, brads, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

December Daily?

I have set out a little challenge for myself. I am going to post 31 cards in December. Now, not all of them will be ones I am making in December. I do have a stash of cards I've made that I never got around to blogging. But there will also be new cards as I try to do at least a challenge a week.

I didn't get a post up yesterday, December 1st, because I was exhausted. It was a long and wonderful day, as I kicked off Advent/the Christmas season by having a little tree trimming party with friends. The kids did the tree trimming. The adults supervised and chatted.

The finished product

I had a lovely, low key day today and put together two challenge cards. It was nice to relax after a busy weekend. I did go to my Youth For Christ Leader Training, where I gave my testimony, and I had to go out and deal with a problem regarding my driver's license. That was actually really funny. I went in at the end of October, a few days before my birthday. Well, I got a letter in the mail last week telling me that I had to come back in due to a problem with the way they inputted my personal information. No clue what was wrong. When I got there, we discovered they had entered my height as 3 centimeters. I know I'm short, but I'm not THAT short!

So that was my afternoon. But in the morning I got some cards made. The first one is for the challenge at Late Night Stampers - Non Traditional Christmas colours (no red or green). It turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be! so many of my kits had at least a little of those colours.

 The second card is for The Paper Players latest challenge:

 

This card looks time consuming, but it really wasn't. I created the mask for the top hill first, so I knew how much sky I wanted. In retrospect, I think I should've made it a little lower, but I still like it overall. After I did the sky I moved the paper I used for the hill shape around to create the different levels, then  added glitter. 

There is still time to participate in both of these challenges!

Card Details - All products Stampin Up!

Ornament Card
Cardstock: Very Vanilla
Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Soft Suede
Other: Twine, rhinestones, dimensionals, Ornament Keepsakes framelit dies, embossing folder

Winter Scene Card
Cardstock: Whisper White, Night of Navy (I know it looks black, but it isn't, I promise)
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree
Ink: Night of Navy, Wisteria Wonder, Marina Mist
Other: Dazzling Details

I'm sorry I don't have the info regarding which sets contain the sentiments for these cards. I believe they are both retired sets. The embossing folder in the first card is also an SU one that is retired. If I were to make the card again, I'd likely use Beautiful Baroque.

Let's try this again...

I wrote up this post and when I tried to link it to various challenges I got an error message, so I deleted it and I'm starting over. 

Life here is getting busy again. Tomorrow I'm helping out at the Toy Drive. Today I met with a friend of mine, who runs the local food bank, and got a tour. I wanted to talk to him about ways I can use my cards to help raise money for them. I'd much rather give them money so they can buy fresh food than give preservative-laden canned stuff. I was encouraged by how well things went at the craft sale I did recently, so in 2014 I will donate a portion of the money I make selling cards to the food bank. 

I sent out most of my Christmas cards early this year because I'm having a little early seasonal gathering this weekend. All my shopping is done, too. I'm about half way through the wrapping. On the weekend we'll finish up decorating the tree. Then soon it will be time for the Christmas Closet, an event at a local school where I help out. We get gifts for the kids to purchase for family members for a dollar. I love this time of year! 

I haven't done a great job of keeping up with challenges or photographing my cards of late, but I was able to get a set of cards done for the challenge at  Christmas Stampin All Year Round. These are pretty basic cards, but they'll be great for my friend at church to use for some of her volunteers.  

The nice thing about these cards is that I got to use up both old and new stash. The card bases are made from cardstock I've had for ages... I have really, really got to use up more of it. The Cuttlebug folders I used are older, as is the stamp set I used. The images are ones I found in my stash of stamped images that I didn't use in other projects. I don't remember if I stamped them for a scrapbook page and then didn't like the colour, or if they were always meant for cards. The sentiments are from sets I got recently The top & bottom ones I got at a garage sale.

I am also entering the cards in the following other challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes
Inkspirational: Anything Goes
Addicted To Stamps & More: Holidays
Shop Our Stash: Holiday/Winter
Use It Tuesday: Anything Goes
Cards for Men: Anything Goes

Card Details
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Island Indigo (SU)
DSP: Winter Frost (SU)
Stamps: Jolliest Time of the Year, Snowflake Soiree (Believe), Unknown (Other sentiments)