Clean and Simple Winter Notes

As part of my long Thanksgiving weekend I wanted to write a variety of "Any Hero" notes, but first I needed some.

It took me about 2 hours to come up with a design that I liked - my dining room table is still covered with papers, scraps and tools (thank goodness my sister-in-law LOVES to host Thanksgiving dinner)!

Finally I found a design that can also help use up a stack of blue cardstock that doesn't seem to match much of my design paper...  I may color in the images as I write the notes but they also look pretty good in black and white.  I also made use of my new Fiskars three design corner punch.  Here are some close-ups of the different images.  

Thanks for visiting!

~Kathy

Dude Time Safari Sketch - Triple Challenge cards

Working on challenges seems to be sparking my creativity.  With some crafting time this weekend I picked three challenges and attempted to pull them all together into one card.  Not only did I meet my goal, but I actually created two different cards for the same set of challenges.

I LOVE the colors in the Dude Time Doodles inspiration challenge, and I seem to be different than most of the card makers whose blogs I visit, since masculine cards don't overwhelm me.  (maybe it's because I'm not a frilly, flower person myself...)

The Truly Scrumptious Challenge 45 sketch looked interesting, and I tend to struggle with multiple layers so I figured this would stretch my thinking a bit.

And last, but not least, going on a safari is on my dream list; so how could I pass up the Pixie Dust Studio challenge of a safari theme?  I have a few stamps that fit the bill (of course) - is it possible that someone dreaming of an African safari would not have such stamps??

I wanted to try another in the vertical format, so I used the scraps from the first card on a second one:

My camera seems to be acting up - couldn't get it to stop cutting the edge off of the second card... 
Thanks for visiting~
~Kathy

Supplies:
Paper:  Recollections Cardstock;  DCWV neutrals mat stack;  Bazzill basics earthtone mat stack
Stamps & Ink:  Archival Jet Black Ink;  Magnolia Savanna;  Inque Boutique safari (elephant);  Stampendous everything happy sentiments
Other:  ek Success wavy border punch;  circle punch

Lili of the Valley - anxiously awaiting new stamps!

I recently stumbled across Lili of the Valley stamps- such adorable images!  I immediately put in an order.  As I anxiously await their arrival from "across the pond" I have been skimming their blogs adoring their creations with a touch of jealousy.  {smile}

Lo and behold...  at their inspiration blog a bit of candy awaits...  I couldn't turn down a chance to win more of their darling stamps, so you'll find a link in my sidebar!

~Kathy

Monochromatic Wonder

It's amazing what a few tools can do to bring a simple card to life!

With a little more crafting time this week, I ventured over to the Feline Playful blog to look through the challenges for some inspiration.  Gradually I fell upon one that spoke to me (and didn't require elements that don't exist in my stash).  The Everybody Art Challenge #117 - Monochromatic Brown.

I didn't think this looked too hard - that is until I started sifting through my supplies and noticed that I don't have a lot of browns in my paper supplies.  I was able to find a couple of pieces of brown cardstock, and a piece of Kraft paper that I saved from a recent package I received. 

Next up - find an image to use.  Another Mo's digital image to the rescue - Jack and the beanstalk looked like it would work pretty well in shades of brown.  I used my trusty Tombows and water brush to add the shading.  And used a portion of a hand-me-down rubber stamp from my mom for the sentiment.  I did mask off several other words on the stamp to keep just the one word for my design.

Growing tired of plain rectangles, I love my new ek Success border and corner punches and used them both (along with what I think is called the out of the box technique) to spruce up my card design.  It's still pretty simple, but that wavy border adds just a bit of character.  Oh - and that thin brown stripe along the right edge - it's the left-over scrap piece from the wave punch. 

Since the card base is dark, I also added the wavy border to the inside white...

Thanks for visiting!
~Kathy

Supplies:
Paper:  Recollections cardstock, kraft paper up-cycled from package filler received in the mail
Stamps & Ink:  Mo's Digital Pencil - They Grow So Fast digital image;  Archival Jet Black Ink;  hand-me-down sentiment stamp
Other:  Tombow markers;  water brush;  ek Success wavy border punch;  ek Success corner rounder

Love Notes and Bling

Operation Write Home had a Valentine Blog Hop over the weekend.  They were celebrating Veterans Day and getting a jump start on the Valentines Day cards needed in before their January 7th deadline. 

I was inspired to create this card - trying to keep the reds, pinks and hearts to a minimum since Dixie (our east coast shipper) gets overwhelmed by such things.  {grin}

What do you think of my purple and green Valentines day card?  I just love this Mo Manning digital image of Bella playing the saxophone!  And she's always adding more great images to her collection.  To see her latest additions check out her blog!  The image was colored using my Tombow markers and water brush.

I have a couple of firsts in this card to boot:  1) first time using my new EK success corner rounder punch and 2) first time using BLING!  I added a tiny red heart to Bronte's collar and a trio of circles under the sentiment - I may need to pick up a pair of tweezers for my tool kit as these were hard to work with using only my fingers!

I created the little heart notes coming out of the saxophone using two small punches - music notes and hearts.  I glued the hearts onto the round part of the notes and voila - Love Notes!  I looked through all of my sentiments, and apparently when I send cards I'm not too sentimental - very few love messages.  So I pulled out some individual letter stamps (which conveniently came with a heart) and put together the sentiment.  I'm not great at lining everything up, so I used my wavy edge punch and now my crooked words a little less obvious.  {smile}

I've also entered the card into the Cute Card Thursday Challenge #138 where Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting!
~Kathy

Supplies:
Paper:  Recollections cardstock;  DCWV Latte Matstack
Stamps & Ink:  Mo's Digital Pencil So Jazzed digital image;  Archival Jet Blank Ink;  alpha-numeric individual rubber stamps for the sentiment
Other:  Tombow markers;  ek Success corner rounder punch;  ek Success border punch;  heart and music note punches;  Hero Arts pale green gems;  Me & My Big Ideas heart Rhinestone

Fun with a cardboard box.

Had more time today to play, so I skimmed through the Feline Playful list of challenges for the week and found an interesting sketch at the Dude Time Doodles challenge blog.  My take on the sketch, which required the card be masculine:

I had this image of Eli from Mo's Digital Pencil already colored leaving me lots of time to pull out parts and play with the elements.  Here's the actual sketch:



I flipped it and found a piece of the Safari Chic Die Cuts with a View that reminded me of tire tracks.  A few scraps of punched cardstock and some alpha-numeric stamps for the top prize ribbon and voila - a great card to send in to Operation Write Home!  (Do kids play with cardboard boxes any more?)

And while I'm on OWH - they made it to the finals for the JoAnn's Craft for a Cause challenge.  Stop on over and vote!

Thanks for visiting!

~Kathy

Supplies:

Paper:  DCWV Safari Chic Premium Mat Stack;   Recollections cardstock

Ink & Stamps:  Mo's Digital Pencil Eli digital image;  Archival Jet Black Ink;  Alpha-Numeric individual rubber stamps

Other:  ek Success punch;  foam tape, Tombow markers;  Zig Memory System pens

Blowing Snowflakes

After a busy day of running errands, I sat down to play with paper and markers this evening.

This card actually came together in about 10 minutes with the help of a pre-made card base and the perfect piece of patterned paper.  One of the first set of stamps that I picked up included this snowman, I did trim away a small snow-butterfly which was replaced by the swirling snowflakes in the designer paper. 

The biggest decision I had was the colors to make the coat, hat and scarf.  In the end I went monochromatic (well except for that carrot nose) coloring him with my Tombows and making it feel like winter.  I popped up the snowman on foam tape for a little depth.  The card was missing a little something, new Gelly Roll white gel pen to the rescue for some hand stitching around the border.

Since the card base is larger than the A2 standard for Operation Write Home I'll be using this one for a note to a service member stationed overseas during the November and December holiday seasons.

Thanks for visiting...
~Kathy

Supplies:
Paper:  DCWV The Winter Combo matstack, watercolor paper, Strathmore photo mount card base
Stamps & Ink:  Archival Jet Black Ink, Darcies Unmounted Rubber Stamps JCS0064 set
Other:  Gelly Roll medium white gel pen;  foam tape

Following a recipe...

I had a little crafting time over the weekend and pulled together the pieces for the PaperCraft Star's Challenge #20.  I've tried to keep my stash of supplies small.  This forced me to get a creative.

The recipe:

     Simon Says Make a Card

     Base 4.5 x 5.5

     Double Mat #1: cut at 3 3/8 x 4 5/8 with another color cut at 3 1/4 x 4 1/4

     Double Mat #2: cut at 2 3/4 x 4 with another color cut at 2 3/4 x 2 1/2

     Add Ribbon

     Add Button(s)

     Add Punch or Die Cut

     (Add anything else you would like to add)

I dug out some dark blue cardstock scraps and a DCWV winter design paper from a mat stack pack to match the reverse side of a piece of ribbon.  I'm hoping that the chipboard button that I covered with red paper counts as a button (I haven't added buttons to my collection yet), and the little snowflakes are punches.  The Studio 112 cardinal stamp was a Joann's dollar special, and I colored it with my Tombows.

I had fun working with the different elements, but I think I may have mis-measured one of the mats.  Either way I had fun putting this together.

Supplies:
Paper:  DCWV The Winter Combo matstack, Paperbilities card stock scraps
Ink & Stamps:  Archival Jet Black Ink, Studio 112 cardinal stamp
Other:  ribbon scrap, chipboard button, snowflake punch, Tombow markers