You’re on my mind

 I have a friend who has been going through some hard times recently, and I’m hoping this card will cheer her up. I used the Concord & 9th On My Mind stencils, stamps, and dies, as well as their Briar Rose, Juniper, and Lemongrass inks and their Briar Rose cardstock.

Challenge #197-Colors

 My entry into the Inky Paws Challenge #197-use olive green, royal blue, sunshine yellow, and white to create a card. I layered pieces cut with the Newton's Nook Circle Frames set and cut from papers I had in my stash, except for the yellow dot-that comes from the Newton's Nook Springtime paper pad. I colored Newton and his fishbowl with Copic markers and backed him with vellum to mute the green and make him stand out a little more. The green circle is mounted on foam tape, as is the banner below. The image of Newton comes from Newton's Summer Vacation, and the sentiment is from Newton's Antics. If I was that fish, I would be very concerned!

Birthday Balloon!

 This happy birthday balloon is an entry in the current Inky Paws Challenge: Birthdays. I used paper from the Newton's Nook Birthday Party pad for the balloon and the background. I used the Frames and Flags die set from Newton's Nook to cut the background, and the balloon shaker is one of their dies as well. The shaker is filled with silver sequins and clear seed beads. I like to use seed beads in my shaker fill-I think it helps the pieces move around. the string of the balloon is cut from matte silver cardstock and the sentiment was silver heat embossed, then stacked up on several layers of cardstock. I backed the panel with Altenew foam tape and mounted it on some yellow paper from my stash, cut to A2 size.

Hooray! This card won an Inky Paws Birthday Challenge Designer's Favorite award!

More organizing

 

I've been busy organizing my craft storage. The shelves to the left are new. I had outgrown my old shelves, below, and needed more space to stay organized, which is important because these shelves are actually in a corner of my living room, because my craft table is in a corner of my dining room and the living room and dining room flow into each other in such a way that there are no other corners in the dining room. I wanted to sort through everything and see what I still needed and what I was hanging onto out of guilt or misplaced feelings. The things I don't need are going to an organization that helps teachers, either by sharing the things I'm donating, or selling the things they can't use. The area that still needs help is the top of the original shelves. That's mostly stuff I use very occasionally, but has survived the purge because I just can't bear to get rid of it yet. Maybe someday. Everything on the shelves themselves is stuff I use on a regular basis and is 

labeled so I not only know where to look for things, I know where to put them back. I also have a database I use for my stamps and dies. All of my dies are in (170 sets so far) and most of my stamps (only my largest sets and backgrounds to go). I also intend to inventory my punches and stencils. I might do my embossing folders as well. I thought about putting my inks into the database, but I have them swatched on a ring above my desk and decided that was good enough. Now I just need to create something!

Have a Happy Day!

 This little bear is properly dressed for sliding down rainbows! This card was created for a Lawn Fawn color challenge using the four colors you see in the rainbow plus the yellow of the sun. I ink blended the background in Distress Ink Tumbled Glass, and then used Distress Oxides in Broken China, Prize Ribbon, Wilted Violet, and Picked Raspberry for the rainbow and Squeezed Lemonade for the sun. The little bear is from Lawn Fawn's Beary Rainy Day stamp set and was colored with Copic markers and cut out with the coordinating die. The sentiment is from the same set. I finished off the card with some sequins from Trinity Stamps.

Another Purrfect Entry!

 This is my entry into the current sketch challenge in the Inky Paws Challenge group. The patterned papers are from the Newton's Nook Birthday Party paper pad, and the image of Newton and his gifts, as well as the sentiment, come from Newton's Birthday Bash. The image was stamped and then colored with Copic markers. Happy birthday!

Shake things up!

 I love to make shaker cards and I've had the idea for this one for a long time. The Lawn Fawn bunnies and eggs on the front were stamped and embossed in Ranger Fine Detail white embossing powder and then I ink blended over them. The large egg cut out is from Lawn Fawn's Outside In Easter Egg Stackables. On the inside, I stamped and white embossed again this time using the Simon Says Stamp Doodle Egg Background stamp. Then I used Altenew foam tape to put it all together and decorated the front with some Gina K. sequins. The shaker fill is Brutus Monroe's Spring sequin mix. I was inspired by Jennifer McGuire to mix it up and use products from different companies together. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Happy Easter to all who celebrate and for those that don't I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Happy St. Patrick's Day a little early!

 

May the luck of the Irish be with you! This card uses some shamrock patterned paper I had in my stash, textured green cardstock, and bright white cardstock. The die is by CZ Designs for Simon Says Stamp and the sentiment is from a Newton's Nook set. The green sequins are from Trinity Stamps Plastic Pine Tree set. I used Wink of Stella clear to paint all the white shamrock outlines, though you can't tell in the picture. The sentiment was stamped with Distress Ink in Pine Needles.

Congratulations Grandmother!

 A dear friend of mine welcomed a new granddaughter a few days ago and I made her this card to celebrate. The baby girl paper is from my stash, the letters were cut using Lawn Fawn's Henry's ABCs, the vellum heart was cut with Newton's Nook Heart Frames, and the bunnies are from Simon Says Stamp Hoppy Days Ahead collection. They were colored with Copic markers. I hope she likes it!

Thanks, Mom!

 

An entry for the Stay Crafty With Hero Challenge, although I suspect I'll see it again as a Mother's Day card (my youngest loves handmade cards, she just doesn't like to make them herself.) I used Hero Arts cardstock in Mist and Paradise and cut them in strips of varying widths. Then I adhered them diagonally, along with strips of silver matte cardstock, to the front of a top fold A2 card. I cut the Hero Arts thanks die out of the same silver cardstock and glued it on top. I stamped the cats and small sentiment from the Hero Arts Mother and Father Animals set and colored the cats with Copic markers C1, C3, and R21. I die cut the cates and trimmed the sentiment. I glued the sentiment on and popped the cats up on some foam tape. I then added some silver sequins. Unfortunately, I posted the non-sequined version to Instagram. I think I like this one better.

Friendship wreath!

 

This card was made for the February 2023 Wreath Challenge in the Gina K. Designs and StampTV Friends Facebook group. I used the Gina K. Wreath Builder, Prickly Pear, Blue Lagoon, and Wild Lilac inks, and the Holiday Wreath Builder and Mini Wreath Builder stamp sets for the wreath and the Autumn Wreath Builder stamps for the sentiment. I used Master Layouts 3 to cut everything out. I enjoyed creating an anytime card using holiday themed sets.

Yeti, set, shake!

 This adorable yeti from Yeti, Set, Go by Lawn Fawn just wants to know if he can hug you! I stenciled the backgrounds with Broken China Distress Oxide and the Lawn Fawn Snow Flurries stencil, then went over the whole paper with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and added some silver splatters. I use the largest Large Stitched Rectangle to cut out the top and bottom of the shaker, and also cut a scrap of Pixie Dust cardstock with the rectangle and then with the Slimline Stitched Hillside border die. The trees are also from Yeti, Set, Go, and they and the yeti were colored with Copic markers after stamping with Lawn Fawn's Jet Black ink. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the yeti shimmers with a coat of Wink of Stella clear. The shaker bits are from Trinity Stamps and the sentiment from Yeti, Set, Go was stamped on an Everyday Sentiment Banner made from a scrap from cutting out the card itself.

Hoping that if you don't have a yeti, you have someone to hug you and keep you warm during this cold weather.

3-dimensional card!

 Here's a card I made for the Inky Paws Color Challenge. The colors were cherry red, daffodil yellow, pewter gray, and white. The card is kind of a shadow box with Newton floating on a piece of acetate. I made the plaid and the paw print papers using Newton's Nook stencils. Little red and yellow twine bows finish off the card. I wanted to repurpose a Valentine's stamp set, so this one uses the sentiment from another Newton set to wish you a happy PURR-thday!

This card was selected by Amy as an Inky Paws Favorite! Thank you Amy!

Inky Paws Challenge #188- Color Challenge

 

The challenge for this card was to use the colors teal, kraft, silver, and white. I used the Newton's Nook Light Strings stencil with silver and white inks, then went back over the white lights with a glittery paste. The Snowflake Oval was stamped in teal ink and heat embossed with clear powder, then I stamped the sentiment in clear embossing ink and embossed it with silver embossing powder. Since I probably won't post again before the holidays, I wish everyone a very merry season!

Kitten's Christmas

I've had this card in mind since I saw the Platform Pop-Up and Christmas Dreams. It also includes the kitties from Purrfectly Wicked, although they aren't wicked here, they're getting ready for Christmas! All images are colored with Copic markers and the platform is made from the Let it Shine paper pack. The sentiment is from the Winter Scripty Sentiments. 

Thankful, grateful, blessed

 

I am thankful, grateful, and blessed this year. I had almost stopped crafting due to the shaking in my hands, but I decided this time last year to give it another chance. I really missed being creative. I was able to find tools to minimize my physical limits, and now I'm enjoying myself again. This card was done with the Gina K. Wreath Builder System, Autumn Wreath Builder stamp set, and her Autumn ink selection as well as Master Layouts 2. I did use cream and dark brown instead of white and black as she often does.

Harvest blessings

 Another Newton card! I can't help it-he's a favorite. Colored with Copics, the papers are from Hobby Lobby, and the embellishments are from Trinity Stamps. The oval was cut with Newton's Nook oval set. I promise to provide some non-cat cards and projects soon! No posts until Monday, due to family obligations.

New Inky Paws Challenge!

 This challenge uses the colors coral, wine red, denim blue, and caramel brown. Using the Newton's Nook Oval Frames set, I cut the concentric ovals and then added the kitty from Newton's Birthday Bash. It's hard to see in the picture but the ribbon on the present is shimmery from the Wink of Stella I used. I fussy cut the sentiment (I know-more fussy cutting) and popped it and the picture up on thin foam squares.

Be Thankful

 This card was made for an Inky Paws color challenge a while back. I believe the colors were black, cream, orange, and green. Not sure if the bundle in the center is supposed to be corn or wheat, but it looks sufficiently fallish either way. I got the kitties a lot darker than I intended, but live and learn. I colored the scene with Copic markers and then used the Newton's Nook Frames and Flags die set to cut out the pieces of the card. The gingham paper is from the Newton's Nook Autumn paper pad, and the solids I had in my stash.

A Sweet Fall Card

 There seem to be only two opinions on candy corn-you either love it or you hate it-there is no in between. I happen to love it and to love this Lawn Fawn stamp set that coordinates with their How You Bean jar. The background is ink blended with Distress Oxides in  Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade and then I made a shaker using fill from Trinity Stamps. I colored the inside of the jar with Copic markers and finished it off with a twine bow. As candy corn season draws to an end I wanted to share this card with you.