what i ♥LOVE♥ most about challenges...

...is that they push me to make something i would never have come up with on my own! the card below is a really good example of that, which is why i mention it. but first, lemme tell you which challenges i'm talking about. in this case, it's this beautiful pencil lines sketch (#225, i believe):

in combination with the current design dollies colour palette of green, purple and ivory:


it was the "ivory" that really got me. because i sometimes use purple... (it's niece lindsay's favorite color!) ...and i might've made the leap to putting it with green (purple flowers & green leaves, mebbe?); but then, i'd've most likely gone with white or kraft for my neutral. which is a pity since ivory is just SO NICE with purple and green! see?

(patterned paper: pink paislee, glitz design, basic grey, prima, bo bunny, making memories + more tiny purple scraps than i can count! butterfly punches: martha stewart; edge punches: martha, fiskars, recollections; heart dies: cuttlebug; alpha stickers: k&co; alpha chipboards: michaels (from leslie-THANKS, missus!); tissue tape: tim holtz; bling flourish (w/considerable surgery to make it fit): oriental trading co; inks: colorbox; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i also wouldn't have thought to make an anniversary card in these colors, except i suddenly realized i needed a card for LHJ's parents, and i had already commenced to happily envisioning the combination of the aforementioned challenges. so i stayed with those, but switched quickly into "LOVE" mode. :)

please excuse the wonky lighting. i left it slightly too late to take photos, and then ran out of time completely; but i think you get the idea. mostly. by the way, the anniversary in question celebrates my lovely in-laws' *57th* year of wedded bliss. even now, they truly are one of the couples jeff and i look at and say, "now THAT'S the kind of marriage to have!" thanks, mom and dad, for showin' us how it's done!!! ♥♥♥

double-challenge holiday card!!!

can i just say how much those words fill me with joy? it's thrilling to do any challenge...more so to combine two of my faves; and i really realllllllllly need to get going on holiday (or should i say "h-word"? yeah...better...) cards! ♥WAHOO!♥

i started with kazan's lovely sketch #66 from 2S4Y this week...

i added in the design dollies' current fab color combo of baby pink, grass green and white... (ok, admittedly i have a couple shades of pink and not MUCH green, but still...)

i grabbed my favorite recent purchase, this awesome pink snowflake transparency...et voila:

(transparency: hambly; fabric poinsettia: imaginisce; snowflake dies: nestabilities; metal & bead snowflake: jolees; bling flourish: oriental trading co; chipboard letters: ki memories; ribbon: michaels; spray ink: glimmer mist; crepe paper: from the party store; adhesives: tombow monorunner, sewing machine, otc brad)

here's a gratuitous second shot that shows how the inside is completely transparent. i love that look! making clear cards never stops being sort of magical to me! :) (but yeah--i will stick a little panel of patterned paper in there...under the poinsettia/snowflake thingie...on which to write a festive greeting!)

now i just need to make like 49 more...easy peasy mac-n-cheesy* right??!?!?! :) :) :)

*my friend trish said this in an email recently and it made me spit out coffee and nearly choke to death laughing. dontcha just LOVE IT when that happens??! :) (btw, is anyone else craving macaroni & cheese now? yeah, me too!)

a (last-minute) *TRIPLE* play!!!

i like to think i am as good a multi-tasker as anyone else, but in fact when it comes to challenges, i seldom manage to do more than double up with... say... a sketch and a color combo. this time, however, i've even worked in a *THEME* which means i am good to go on three challenges with one card! a new personal best! :)

i've combined this week's sketchy thursday sketch (that closes in...about 15 minutes...) which is, naturally, FAB-U-LOUS:


i've followed (pretttttty closely) the current (GORGEOUS!) color scheme at design dollies of turquoise pink and white; and i've worked in some lovely winged creatures for the take flight theme at the city crafter challenge blog!

and here's my card:

(patterned paper: prima + rhonna farrer digis from house of three; glossy cardstock: ranger; stickers: ek success; butterfly punches: martha stewart; inks: colorbox; font: porcelain; gems: mambi; adhesives: tombow monorunner, gluedots)

and now i think my work here is done...and done...and DONE! goodnight, all! ♥♥♥

i am not sure this fits EITHER of the challenges i was going for!

but i really like it, anyway! first i will show you what i did, and then i will tell you what i was *TRYING* to do, ok?! here is my card:

(patterned paper: sei; cardstock: core'dinations; glossy clipart: anahatakatkin; lotus stamp: studio g; sticky-back canvas: claudine hellmuth; chipboard flourish: fancy pants; paisley embossing folder: cuttlebug; lattice border punch: martha stewart; bling: heidi swapp & recollections; ink: stewart superior, colorbox, ranger & glimmer mist; adhesives: tombow monorunner, uhu gluestick, 3m foam tape)

mari got me my very own studio g lotus stamp (!gracias, m'ija!) which i ♥LOVE♥LOVE♥LOVE♥ and could not wait to use! i stamped it on some sticky-back canvas and "watercolored" it with glimmer mist. i used orange because of this rather awesome color palette from leah over at design dollies:

for some reason, as soon as i see orange and blue, i think india (...not sure WHY...) and i had the cool lotus, which was nice. so let's review: bright orange--check! light blue--yepper! royal blue...ummmmmmm, yeah... that's gone a bit purpley, actually. a sort of blue-ish purple, mebbe??!?! (squint REAAAAAL hard!) (ok, now squint and twirl the color knob on your monitor--there ya go!) ok, yeah. it might be sort of a stretch, but i will leave it to the authorities to rule definitively!

i think you'll agree i did slightly better with kazan's sketch 59 from 2S4Y:

granted, it's a loose interpretation, but at least all the bits are *THERE*!

so let's recap, shall we? color challenge... 2 outta 3; sketch challenge... kinda/sorta; really BOLD indian themed card i would never have made otherwise... ♥priceless!!!♥ :)

sketchy thursday, on wednesday, like always

*SOMEDAY* i will turn one of these in with more than a 12-hour window left 'til the deadline... and that is how you'll know i've been replaced by a realistic (but crafty) android! please alert the authorities! :)

in the meantime, here is the sketch, which rocks, naturally:

oof and btw, i should mention that last week's awesome and minimalist sketch (which i so ruthlessly maximalized) was conceived by the brilliant miss heidi and not the lovely miss diana like i told you. i apologize for the error, but since both ladies are equally ♥FAB♥ and also co-founders of the very cool sketchy thursday challenge site, i hope they will not mind too much!

oh yeah and in addition to the ST sketch, i used this week's rather dishy color palette of bright yellow, kraft and white from design dollies...that miss leah can sure rock the neutrals, no?!

and now, finally, here is the card in question:

(patterned paper & chipboard corner: basic grey; black cardstock: core'dinations; glossy white cardstock: ranger; vintage: sheet music, butterfly illustration & lace; perfume label sticker: laughing elephant; eiffel tower rub-on: tulip; diamond border sticker: heidi swapp; flowers: prima; rhinestones: kaiser; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

♥

happy

wednesday,

darlings!

♥

etsy (& dollie!) inspired

i've been wanting to take part in an etsy inspired challenge for a while now, and since this week it's sponsored by gina's shop, tyggereye art, this seemed like *exactly* the right time to dip my toe in the EIC water! this week's featured shop is sand box studio, and i chose one of her adorable totebags as my inspiration piece:

i was intending to do this challenge all on its own, but then i saw this week's amazing color palette at design dollies, and i just could not resist combining the two.

so i took the sweet stitched bird, flowery branch and tan background from the inspiration piece...added in lots of lovely pink and green a la dollies...et voila:

(patterned paper: scenic route, basic grey; kraft cardstock: bazzill; cream cardstock: core'dinations; rub-ons: american crafts, basic grey, fancy pants; diecuts: k&co; bird traced from a frances meyer chipboard; flower: prima; brads: making memories, studio g, queen&co; inks: colorbox; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

the etsy challenge is open until noon on friday, and the dollies' color challenge ends sunday night, so you have time to make a card for each...or be a bit multi-tasky like i have, and see what happens when you blend them together! ♥

birds of a feather (blogged together!)

i was on a roll last night and made *THREE* more cards using gina's new feathered friends digi-kit! one of them was even inspired by two different challenges...but both are sort of loosey-goosey so i will not mind if the challenge-setters do not quite agree with me there! :) i combined this week's 365 cards sketch:

with the design dollies' color palette:

and came up with THIS:

(digital elements: feathered friends digikit, gina cunningham, tyggereye art; software: broderbund printshop; font: mom's typewriter; white cardstock: staples; kraft cardstock: bazzill; inkjet transparency: 3m; photo paper: kodak; inks: colorbox; pearls (re-colored w/copics): kaiser; ribbon: may arts; epoxy heart: sticko; rhinestone heart: recollections; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

for my next card, i combined the tree, branch and cherry blossom elements digitally in my favorite graphics & layout program, broderbund printshop...and then cut the overhanging bits out by hand to layer them over some leafy 7 gypies patterned paper. instead of using one of the cute birds from the kit, i stamped my favorite hand-carved robin on some vintage text paper, to show how well gina's real life supplies mix with her virtual ones!

(digital elements: feathered friends digikit gina cunningham, tyggereye art; software: broderbund printshop; cardstock: core'dinations; photo paper: kodak; inks: colorbox, ranger & stewart superior; ribbon: may arts; very VERY old twill letters (that i still totally ♥!) by making memories; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, uhu gluestick, sewing machine)

the last card is the smallest (not quite 4x4") ...and maybe my favorite, since it sort of accidentally MADE ITSELF! i layered the goldfinch transparency onto some text paper for yesterday's card, and then decided he wasn't quite right. so he was just sort of sitting around while i made the other cards last night and as i was sorting through a pile of stuff, he flew off the table and landed on this scrap of basic grey patterned paper...where he looked rather fabulous as you can see:

(digital elements: feathered friends digikit & dino love kit-- gina cunningham, tyggereye art; software: broderbund printshop; cardstock: core'dinations; photo paper: kodak; inks: colorbox, ranger & stewart superior; ribbon: may arts; very VERY old twill letters (that i still totally ♥!) by making memories; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, uhu gluestick, sewing machine)

never one to look a gift horse--or even a gift BIRD--in the mouth, i grabbed a leftover bit of leafy ribbon and a couple of rub-ons and called it a night! (dontcha just ♥LOVE IT♥ when that happens??!?!?) :)

toujour le tour (eiffel, that is!)

do you ever get stuck on one set of images or colors or techniques? i do. all the time. i'll make ten pink cards, followed by ten cards with birds, followed by ten cards glimmer-misted within an inch of their lives. at the moment i am quite keen on the eiffel tower. and a tealish turquoisey blue. and the amazing new "bloomers" trim from webster's pages. but then, if you've read my blog the last week or so, none of this is news to you, so let's get right to the card, ok?!

first let me show you the sketch i used, it's kazan's 52 from 2S4y...i ♥LOVE♥ it...it's already in my "print & save" notebook!

pursuant to my "turquoisey blue" obsession, i was excited to see this week's color challenge at design dollies:

ok, in all honesty, i was only 2/3 excited about this color challenge: i love the black and the turquoise...the yellow...hmmmmm...i wasn't as sure about that one. i tend to be a bit yellow & orange challenged, actually. but being the brave and intrepid card-maker i am, of course i did what brave and intrepid card-makers always do in these situations: i cheated! :) ok, sorta-- i used gold instead of a true yellow. i didn't really even use MUCH gold, for that matter, but i think it still counts. i hope it still counts. (hey leah! does it still count??!)

(digistuffs used in collage, all from designer digitals...tropic grunge paper, gretchen thomas; floral art #2 brushes, anna aspnes; collage printed on 3m inkjet transparency & layered over a vintage french dictionary page; patterned paper: paper co, basic grey, vintage sheet music; eiffel tower sticker: frances meyer; bloomers flower trim: webster's pages; bling flourish: prima; alphabet stickers: k&co; other: vintage lace dyed with various shades of glimmer mist & radiant rain; beads & gold thread from my stash; adhesives: gluedots, tombow monorunner, sewing machine)

i used an extra digital collage i had printed out on inkjet transparency when i made this butterfly card for the "font throwdown" a few months ago; here i layered it over a bit of vintage french dictionary. i used an eiffel tower sticker from my stash, some brand new dymo-inspired alphabet stickers, leftover glimmer-mist-dyed lace from my mom's mother's day present, some layers of wonky hand-cut scallops, the aforementioned bloomers, and a few other bits and bobs that were laying about. and that's about it really, but after a week of not very much crafting, to me this represents a REALLY GOOD friday night! :)

i had several challenges in mind...

...when i started this card.

for example, the current theme at jacksonbelle embellishments is to use kraft as the base of your card; design dollies' monday color challenge is to combine craft with bright colors of your choice; and both 365 cards and 2S4Y have particularly nice sketches this week. all of this was in my head, but somehow *NONE* of it came out in the card. go figure. about halfway through i realized what was coming out in the card: the gorgeous "crazy trousseau robe" stef and i saw at the folk art museum's women only exhibit last week:

i did actually start out with a kraft base...it just somehow got a bit consumed by the loads and loads of pink scraps that make up my "crazy card" base. i glued everything down, then machine-stiched a bit wonkily around the scraps and the entire perimeter. i hand-stitched some flourishes in pink...which actually didn't show up quite as well as i was hoping...so i enhanced them a bit further with a michaels' rhinestone flourish. the coat didn't have any flowers, but cards kind of need a focal point, so i stacked a few florals and it wound up looking a bit like this:

(kraft cardstock: bazzill; patterned paper: doodlebug, crafty secrets, prima, paper co, basic grey; florals: amanda blu, doodlebug, marah johnson; embroidery floss: dmc; rhinestone flourish: recollections; ink: colorbox; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape)

so now that this thing is out of my system, maybe i can work on some of those challenges, eh??! :)