Giraffe Grad Card

Tonight I'm heading to a 6th grade graduation for the son of a friend, so I needed a little card for him. There were a bunch of challenges I used for inspiration, so be sure to check those out below. I posted two versions of the card. The first one has a plain white background, and I was going to go with that one, but the Amazon delivery truck pulled up to the house with a package of stencils I had ordered, and one of the stencils reminded me of the giraffe's spots, so I added that to two of the corners. Which version do you like best? On the inside of the card, I stamped the sentiment "You're moving up!" because I thought it worked well with the giraffe and the promotion to middle school!

Recipe:
Elemental stamp set
At the Zoo papers (Doodlebug Designs)
Clover Meadow, Toffee, Sunflower & Chocolate cardstock
Clover Meadow, Toffee, Brown Bag & Chocolate ink
Chocolate baker's twime
Animal Spots stencil (Boqon)
Cuttlebug Wicker Weave embossing folder
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: giraffe
Cricut Artiste cartridge: banner
Pattern: Hand Stamped Sentiments #464

Challenges: Can You Handle The Pressure? - Anything Goes with an embossing folder + twist of zoo/jungle animal; Stencil Fun -  Anything Goes with a stencil; Inkspirational #342

Tic Tac Toe Challenges #271 - I used the middle column with Die cuts + Ribbon or Twine + Embossing folder.

Softball Coach Card

My daughter's sports banquet is tonight, so I created a softball themed card for her to give to the coach. It didn't come out quite the way I had envisioned it, but the coach liked it, so it's all good. Thank you to all the crafty challenge blogs that inspired me to add items to my card! 

Recipe:
Thank You & My Game stamp sets
Soda Pop papers
Kraft, Saddle, Almond & White Daisy cardstock
Sapphire ink
Crimson fineliner pen (iBayam)
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
White gel pen (Sakura)
Sweet Leaf brads
Blue Adornaments fibers (Ek Success)
Supernova stencil (Visible Images)
Cricut Design Space: playing field, mitt, ball, bat
Pattern: Atlantic Hearts Sketch #629 - I replaced the shape with a playing field and moved the sentiment to the bottom because I needed more room for it.

Challenges: As You See It #348 Spot or Stripes? - I chose spots; Little Red Wagon #807 D is for Die cut - used lots of die cuts on my card; Tic Tac Toe Challenges #270 - I used the bottom row with Die cuts + Brads + Stenciling.

Smile Card

I needed to make a card for a graduate this week, so here's what I whipped up thanks to the help of several challenges! On the inside, I stamped "You are positively amazing" to represent the challenges this grad had to overcome to earn a Bachelor's Degree.

Recipe:

A Game stamp set

Field Trip Journaling Pad & Slice of Life papers (American Crafts)

Stargazer & May/June 2022 Mix-In papers

Black & White Daisy cardstock

Canary, Capri, Pacifica & Black ink

Emoji stickers (American Greetings)

Foam emoji (from my stash, source unknown)

Maize grosgrain ribbon (Offray)

3-D foam tape

Cricut You Are Here cartridge: graduation hat

Cricut Artbooking cartridge: smile

Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap card sketch #241

Challenges: Little Red Wagon #705 Play the Game (I chose tic-tac-toe); Festive Friday #134 (I used yellow, black, smile sentiment, emoji & circle)

Just Us Girls #680 Mood Board (inspired by the various shades of blue)

Tic Tac Toe Challenges #209 (used the diagonal of  any shape + free + blue)

Mother's Day Card 2023

I'm super late creating my card for my mom this year, but hopefully it will get there in time! I started with a blank card base and used this technique to create a floral background. I'm not much of a mixed media gal, so this is probably as close as you will see me get. Once I created the background, I added some die cuts and patterned paper, but they weren't working for me, so I went back to the drawing board and found a card sketch from Stick It Down that I thought I could adapt for the word MOM. Part of me thinks I should have added a penned square around the letters to tie it all together, but I was too chicken, so I left it as is. I know my mom will love it no matter what, so that's what's important. 

Recipe:
Background Elements & Intrinsic Backgrounds (2010) stamp sets
Gypsy, Lagoon, Sunset, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Gypsy & Lagoon ink
Black marker
Mocha Opaques pearls
Black button
Lagoon baker's twine
Heart stencil (Scrapbook.com)
Cricut Wall Decor & More cartridge: MOM
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: butterfly, daisies, hearts
Small flower punches (EK Success)
Pattern: Stick It Down May 2023 card sketch

A bunch of challenge blogs had a flower theme this month, so FYI: I was also inspired by the new purple and white daisies we planted last Saturday. They look fuchsia in the photo, but they're really more purple.

Challenges: Allsorts #727 April Showers bring May Flowers; Crafter's Cafe #296 Easter and/or Flowers (I went with flowers); Crafting Happiness #142 Flowers; Little Red Wagon #704 Spring Flower; Retro Rubber Challenge Blog #206 Tic-Tac-Toe  (use the middle column down with stencil + flowers + ribbon/twine)

From the Funny Farm Birthday Card

I have been scrapping a lot of Christmas layouts, but today I hit the pause button on that and switched to a springy color palate for my mom's birthday card. My mom is one of those unfortunate people whose birthday fall right before Christmas, so her celebration often gets lost in the midst of Christmas busyness. I kept her card pretty simple since I'm going to be mailing it, but I managed to add a little bit of dimension with some embossing on the banners and the enamel hearts. The sentiment inside says, "from my barn to yours," which pretty much sums up both of our households right now!

Recipe:
From the Funny Farm & Birthday Recipe stamp sets
My Happy Place papers (Doodlebug Designs)
Flamingo, Pear, Sky & White Daisy cardstock
Flamingo, Pear, Sky, Canary & Black ink
Black marker
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Gold Metallics marker
Heart to Heart Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Designs)
Circle Double Stitched steel die (Art Impressions)
Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder (Cricut)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: banners
Pattern: Try Stampin' On Tuesday #587

Challenges: Farm Quest Challenges #18 Anything Farm Country Goes (barnyard animals); Critter Crazy Challenges #69 Anything Goes with animals as the focus; AAA Birthday challenge #44 Embossing

Hedgehog Birthday Card

Upon recently realizing that my stash of birthday cards is seriously depleted, I set out to create at least one card using the wavy scrap pieces from this layout. I was inspired by several challenges (see below) but please, hedgehog owners, do not be inspired to try ballooning at home with your pet - LOL!

Recipe:
Happy Forever & Thoughtful seasons stamp sets
Splendor & These Are My People papers
Raspberry, Pixie, Harbour & White Daisy cardstock
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Heavenly Blue & Black markers
Pink ribbon (American Crafts)
White enamel dots
Cricut Artistry cartridge: flowers
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap#225 (My hedgie kinda changed up this card! I did a vertical card instead of horizontal to give him more room, plus I didn't include the tag because the hedgie was already kinda big, but hopefully you can still see the bones of the sketch in my final product)

Challenges: AAA Birthday Card Challenge #41 - mood board (the yarn colors matched some scraps I wanted to use, so I added extra colors from the mood board plus a hedgehog)

Bee Birthday Card

I needed to make my hubby a birthday card but didn’t have a clue where to start, so I pulled inspiration from a couple of challenges that helped me decide on the bee theme and the tic tac toe board. I was in the car a lot today, so I used the time to dream about how I wanted the card to look, then I got home and was able to assemble it in an hour! The sketch from Sketch-n-Scrap really helped pull together the elements I wanted to include, and my hubby loved the finished product.

Recipe:
A Game & Happy Birthday stamp sets
Buzz & Bumble papers
Kraft, Goldrush, Almond & Fern cardstock
Goldrush, Cocoa & Fern ink
Gold rush marker
Buzz & Bumble wooden bees
Natural hemp
Green epoxy bubbles
Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder
Cricut Artistry cartridge: banner, honey
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: flowers
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap card sketch #217

Challenges: Cut It Up #251 Any Animal or Insect (bees);  Festive Friday #109 (used flowers + bees + embossing + honey + twine)

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #161 (used the top row across with layers + game + embossing and the left column with layers + bow + floral)

Bella Peace and Comfort Card

One of my husband's coworkers lost her father this week, so he asked me to make a sympathy card for her. I haven't made a card for a long time, so it was enjoyable to dive back into that world! I pulled out a card base and some scraps of paper and got to work. I'm not sure I've ever made a sympathy card, so this was a new experience for me. I tried to strike a good balance, so hopefully the resulting card is neither too girly (since it's from my hubby) or overly happy looking (since it's a sad occasion).

Recipe:
Words of Comfort & Diverse Backgrounds stamp sets
Bella papers
Hollyhock, Smoky Plum, Canary, Colonial White & White Daisy cardstock
Hollyhock, Smoky Plum, Creme Brulee & Olive ink
Black marker
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Pattern: Try Stamping on Tuesday #502 (rotated left)

Challenges: Inspirational Challenges #236 Grow (lots of growing things on this card)

Thank Ewe Card

October is Pastor Appreciation Month, so I created this card to give to my pastor. Since pastors are sometimes referred to as shepherds, the image and sentiment seemed fitting! 

Recipe:
Yesterday & Today papers
Espresso, Toffee, Cranberry & White Daisy cardstock
Espresso, Toffee & Cranberry ink
Gold Metallix marker
Cricut Just Because cartridge: sheep, sentiment, contoured shape, heart
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap World Cardmaking Day sketch #3 (rotated right)

Dinosaur Fossil Birthday Card

My husband turned 50 today, and to celebrate him reaching this advanced age (I can say that since I am a year older - LOL!), I made a dinosaur fossil birthday card for him. I found the die-cut of a T-rex head in Cricut Design Space for free this week, and it paired perfectly with the American Crafts Field Trip dinosaur skeletons paper. The sentiment is an old CTMH stamp set, and it always cracked me up but I didn't dare to use it on a card until now. Some people might be offended by it, but I know he will just laugh!

 And here's the sentiment I stamped inside the card:

Recipe:
Just a Number stamp set
Field Trip Museum Monday paper (American Crafts)
Kraft, Whisper & White Daisy cardstock
Cranberry & Whisper ink
Cranberry grosgrain ribbon
Cricut Design Space: T-rex head from One-Cut Collection
Pattern: Try Stamping on Tuesday sketch #457

Challenges: 2 Crafty Critter Crazies #38 anything goes with a critter

Barn Animals Father's Day Card

I posted my dad's Father's Day card earlier this week, and here's the one I made for my hubby. Sometimes our house feels like a barnyard with all our kids running around, so I found this cute cascade card on Cricut Design Space and adapted it for my husband. It was perfect for our family since there were five animals and I needed one each to represent myself and the four kids.  I had so much fun coloring the animals, and then the kids all wrote a note on one of the pull out animals (no handwriting prizes here - LOL!), and I did the final one.

I couldn't find directions since I bought this on Design Space, but I finally figured out how the card fit together.

Here's with the note cards pulled out.

Recipe:
Barn Red, Black & White Daisy cardstock
ShinHan Touch Twin markers
Cricut Crazy Cool Cards cascade card
Challenges: Try Stamping on Tuesday #412 fancy fold cards (no stamping but certainly a fancy fold); 2 Crafty Critter Crazies #27 animals

Outta This World Father's Day Card

I needed to whip up a quick card for my dad for Father's Day, and the Stargazer papers paired with the cute rocket ship die-cut and stamp did the trick!

Recipe:
Outta This World stamp set
Stargazer papers
White Daisy cardstock
Sapphire, Ruby, Canary & Black ink
Cranberry marker
Silver metallic marker
Ruby Chevron ribbon
Black enamel dot
Enamel stars
Cricut Artiste cartridge: rocket and pennants
Challenges: Bitten By The Bug Father's Day

End of School Year Cards

My son is graduating from eighth grade tonight, so I whipped up a fun card for him. I thought the sunglasses were a perfect fit for his teenage attitude!

Recipe:
Elemental & Universal Backgrounds stamp sets
Stargazer papers
Canary & White Daisy cardstock
Poppy, Pacifica, Canary & Grey Wool ink
Cricut Artistry cartridge: balloon
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: graduation cap, sunglasses
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap card sketch 143
Challenges: BBTB graduation theme

And for another teacher thank you card, I made this ice cream card for his English teacher. I thought she would like the play on words!

Recipe:
Take Note stamp set
Free to Be Me papers
Mint, Kraft & White Daisy cardstock
Juniper, Goldrush, Desert Sand & Tulip ink
Cricut Artistry cartridge: ice cream & cone
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap card sketch 140

Teacher Appreciation 2019 Cards

Needed to whip up a few cards for teachers, so here are a couple that I came up with!

Recipe:
Beautiful Friendship papers
Kraft, Smoothie & White Daisy cardstock
Sapphire, Smoothie & Canary ink
Outdoor Denim marker
Shinhan Touch Twin markers
White enamel dots
Cricut Wall Decor & More cartridge: tea cup
Pattern: Try Stamping on Tuesdays #409
Challenges: Double Trouble #29 (Thing 1- kraft cardstock base, Thing 2 - played along with TSOT sketch); Paper Girls #176 (my favorite beverage is tea!)

Recipe:
I Heart Us papers
Raspberry cardstock
Juniper & Lagoon ink
Lagoon Shimmer trim
Childhood PML card
Heart punch (Ek Success)
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap card sketch #146
Challenges: Heart 2 Heart Minty Fresh (I don't have much yet in mint so was happy to use a background from the I Heart Us papers to get me started)

Mother's Day Card 2019

I was working on a layout when I suddenly realized Mother's Day is this Sunday and I hadn't made a card for my mom yet - bad me! I wanted to try something a little different, so I pulled out the Happy Place stamp set that I had purchased a while ago but never used. The little nesting dolls are so cute, and I thought they would be a fun image to use on my card. The rest of the pieces took a little longer to fall into place, but I ended up using a bunch of random stuff that managed to look good together. Just an FYI: the patterned paper is from a Christmas kit and has mittens on the back (which would take me forever to use here in Southern California), so I re-purposed it for a Mother's Day card. Sometimes out of the box thinking can really help use up some of your stash!

Recipe:
Happy Place & Background Builders stamp sets
Pear & Partridge PML card
Cotton Candy, Bamboo, Desert Sand, Black & White Daisy cardstock
Cotton Candy, Bamboo, Desert Sand, Black & Cranberry ink
White gel pen (Sakura)
Xmas Red Stickles (Ranger)
Heart punch (EK Success)
Cricut Artiste cartridge: sentiment
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap card sketch #77
Challenges: Bitten By the Bug Mother's Day

Anniversary Card

It's my 27th wedding anniversary tomorrow, and I wanted to make a card for my hubby that wasn't too frilly yet expressed my appreciation for him. Using a sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday, I created a bold black and white design with just a tiny pop of color. Here's hoping he likes it!

Recipe:
Feel So Blessed stamp set
For Always papers
Black & White Daisy cardstock
Black ink
ShinHan Touch Twin marker
Gold metallic marker
White Daisy organdy ribbon
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: couple
Challenges: The Paper Girls #167 - Black & White
Pattern: Try Stampin' on Tuesday #390

Gamer Graduation Card

My nephew just graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Visual and Game Programming, so I decided it would be fun to make a card that reflects his chosen career! I combined a sketch from Try Stamping on Tuesday (my first entry for this newly discovered blog) with the Proplayer papers and a Cricut cut from the You Are Here cartridge to create a gamer-friendly card. As soon as he opened it, my nephew started pretending to play with the game controller, so I think it's safe to say it was a hit!

Recipe:
Proplayer papers
White Daisy cardstock
Black & Ruby ink
Durable round studs - pewter
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: game controller

Star Wars Christmas Card

The youth pastor at our church is a little quirky, so I thought he and his wife would appreciate a card that's not my normal "sweetly pretty" style. I had purchased the "Force Is With You" digital cartridge from Cricut a few months ago, so I decided to use the Leia image and dress her in an ugly Christmas sweater. It was super simple to make (except for trimming the paper for the sweater), but hopefully they will get a giggle out of it!

And the sentiment inside . . .

Recipe:
Snowhaven papers
White Daisy, Black, & Cranberry cardstock
Font: Berlin Sans FB Demi
Challenges: Bitten By the Bug Christmas cards

Welcome Baby Card

I'm not a huge card maker these days because I have a large stash of cards already that I always forget to give away - LOL! However, I'm going to a baby shower tonight that required a special card. My hubby and I decided to purchase the crib for his cousin's baby since it would be something that could be used for years (it later converts into a regular bed). It's being shipped direct to the mom and dad, but I wanted to have something in hand for the shower, so I bought a copy of Goodnight, Moon, an all-time favorite in our house, to give at the shower. So of course, the card had to coordinate with the book, right? I copied the technique I used last week on my pirate layout to create the background, and I even lifted the color scheme since I liked it so much.

Recipe:
Welcome Baby, Lucky & Tiny Typewriter stamp sets
Cashmere, Chocolate & White Daisy cardstock
Sky, Crystal Blue, Sorbet, Cashmere, Chocolate & Whisper ink
Gold Metallic marker
Sorbet grosgrain ribbon
Liquid Glass
3-D foam tape
Cricut Artisty cartridge: moon & stars
Pattern: Sketch-n-Scrap card sketch #103 (love this sketch and will be saving it to re-use!)

Creative Belli Christmas in July

The wonderful ladies over at the Creative Belli Blog have invited me to be a guest designer this week for their Christmas in July challenge! I pulled out a few stamps from the Glory to God stamp set and got to work. It was fun figuring out the layering on this card; I was stuck on how to get the shepherd layer on top of the Bethlehem scene and the night sky without fussy-cutting him, but then I thought of stamping him on vellum. Love how it turned out and I hope you do, too. Annabelle Stamps is also doing a Christmas in July challenges, so I thought I'd submit my card there, too.

Recipe:
Glory to God & Everlasting Life stamp sets
Superhero Level 2 papers
Outdoor Denim, Kraft, Colonial White & Black cardstock
Vellum
Chocolate & Versamark ink
White & black embossing powder
Colonial White brads
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: frame, star