no tricks, just treats (Paper Smooches, SSS, Stampin Royalty)

Hope you have a fun Halloween.  Wonder how many kids will come to our door this evening? Halloween hit Germany a few years back (when Wal-mart hit Germany, actually -  before that I had started it in our neighborhood by sticking notes in mailboxes telling people how it all works ;) but it hasn't really taken off. We are more about Fastnacht here.  Oh, and Wal-mart left too.

Anyhoo, a card.

Love those eyes on the punkin from Paper Smooches Halloweenies stamp set.  Played with Distress Inks.  Again.  On the punkin.  Behind the sentiment.  And on my inked-after-embossed-and-mitred frame.  Gotta love that PP to back it all up.

TIP: Create the mitred look with masking.  I die cut the frame and used a Post-It note at an angle to mask the seams before stamping the woodgrain!  Tricky, eh?

Playing at these fun places today:
Paper Smooches Sparks - Picture Perfect (leaves = fall = Halloween; it's a stretch ;)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday - Anything Goes
Stampin Royalty - #200 Anything Goes

Happy Halloween!

Supplies happy halloween:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, PP American Crafts, recycled cereal box

Stamps: Paper Smooches, Clear and Simple Stamps woodgrain

Ink:  Versamark , Distress

Tools: square die Sizzix, sewing machine, scissors

Other:  embossing powder

festive wreath (Inkspirational, CASology)

How about a non-traditional card for the holidays?  Don't think I'd actually mass produce and send this one, but...

Found these little neon punched circles in my ironing board cleanup and decided to make them into a wreath. What goes with neon?  Not much.  Black. (Catch the hint of a front door?)  And gold, maybe.  Circles = polka dots, right?

Playing at:
Inkspirational - #42 Wreath
CASology - #68 Black (I'm stretching the definition of CAS with this one, I know)
Rudolph Day - October - Festive

I'm also sending this to Vera Y. for this year's Caring Hearts Card Drive.  Make cards and write notes in them.  They will be distributed to nursing home residents during the holiday season. Having had a grandma in a nursing home (back in the 70s), I feel the need to support this wonderful drive.  Check it out here.

Appreciate your visit.

Supplies happy holidays:

Paper: cardbase The Paper Studio, PP Fancy Pants

Stamps: WMS, sentiment Hero Arts

Ink:  Versamark 

Tools: circle punch, square die and embossing plate Sizzix

Other:  twine, gold embossing powder

dimensional leaves (PTI)

ETA:  I'm tickled pink.  Cath over at Moxie Fab included this card in a lineup of Christmas cards she's pinned.  And you need to check out the lineup.  Cardmaking goddesses.  And moi in their midst. With the sloping "Merry".  Someone pick me up off the floor!!

Here's an entry for Make it Monday #137.  At least this time it's a dimensional part-of-a-wreath.

Wanted to channel my inner Cristina K.

How'd I do?
Not likin' the pink hue to the glitter, and the "merry" is sliding down the slope but oh well.

Supplies merry christmas:

Paper: cardbase The Paper Studio

Stamps: PTI

Ink:  Hero Arts, Versafine 

Tools: leaf die PTI, square die Sizzix

Other:  sequins

pink leaves (Moxie Fab, ATCAS, PTI)

OK, how can you not be enthralled with this photo?  It's the current Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab.

Image Credit

Is that not a bowlful of Distress Ink messy fingers waiting to happen?  Maybe I should also interject this shot of the Sweet Gum Tree on our front lawn. From green to yellow, to pink, to red, to purple this guy's got it all.

See why I was inspired? So, the messiness happened.  Distress Inks.  Water flecks.  Some Tim Holtz stamped grunge speckles.  Gold splatters.  Then the Impression Obsession Leaves die came out to play.  And then this "sequin die waste" was laying there as I was choosing my leaves and it dawned on me.

I could include a negative die cut leaf on my line of strung leaves.  One partially dry-embossed card front later this is what was born.

Because I stamped a sneak peek of my inside sentiment through the hole, I'm linking up to Challenge #24 - Transparent at Addicted to CAS.

And although it's not a wreath, my card does include dimensional leaves, so I'm linking up at Papertrey's Make it Monday #137.  (Melissa's beauty isn't really a wreath either, is it? ;) I used the "fall" sentiment stamp from A Wreath for All Seasons stamp set for my sentiment.

Thanks for visiting, again, today.

Supplies happy fall birthday:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, Neenah

Stamps: sentiment Hero Arts and Papertrey

Ink:  distress inks, Versafine 

Tools: leaf die Impression Obsession, embossing folder Craft Concepts

Other:  crochet thread

BING - "O" (Simply Create Too challenge 49)

"O" my stars, lucky me! I've joined the lovely ladies (including Cornelia W. of Stempel Spass) over at Simply Create Too on their design team. So excited to be asked and I'm so looking forward to the upcoming bi-weekly (yippie) challenges, there's such great variety of themes.  And you can create any kind of project, not just cards!  And kids are welcome too! And the motto is "It's all about fun."  I like that!

My first challenge as a new DT member really made me put my thinking cap on.  "O" boy, ever done a BINGO challenge?  Kinda like tic-tac-toe but tougher.  Have a look:

"O" geez, did you notice the fine print "Craft your project with items under one of the letters in BINGO downwards."  Now that's a good challenge.

See the word "sewing" in the "O" column?  Jumped out at me (OK, to be honest "polka dots" jumped out at me first, but I got over it when I saw "lace" in the same column) probably cuz I'd seen this card and was thinking about trying out my NBUS Full Card Triangles die from Simon Says Stamp.  Grabbed some yellow PP scraps and, "O" hey, I made a card.

Hey "O". Yellow, sewing, button, twine and stripes.  It's all there folks.
So, if you're ready for some fun, pick a letter, hit your stash and Simply Create Too!

Supplies hey:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, various yellow scraps

Stamps: sentiment TAWS

Ink:  Glimmer Mist, StazOn 

Tools: mask Studio Calico, die SSS, sewing machine

Other:  button Sew Sweet, twine Doodlebug

pti october bloghop (PTI)

Welcome to my post for Papertrey's October blog hop. A day early cuz I've got something to share with ya'll tomorrow ;)  The deets?  It's all about tags.  At least five of 'em. Quite the practical challenge, IMHO.

Now you may have seen a shot of my extremely messy laundry/craft room in the video Nichole posted to wrap up the 2013 Stamp-a-Faire.  I never actually saw it because Germany has a hissy fit about some music in videos and copyright issues, so I couldn't view this particular video.  But my bud, Kelly G., told me she recognized my messy room  in the video.  How embarrassing!

This is a shot of it today.  May I add that it's orderly - bought myself a silverware organizer to hold my little bits.  Since it's easier to move to the side, maybe I'll iron more often. Not. Anyhoo, it's those bits that this challenge helped me to reduce.  Yippie!  Not the best work I've ever done, but I'm happy that some of these pieces have found a place in life and it's not on my ironing board.

If I had to pick a fave it'd be this one.  Considering it started as a zillion little leftovers from projects I kinda like how it turned out.

Looking forward to see what you've created, especially how you treat the ribbons/twine for the top. I started using Maile B.'s method awhile ago, but hope to discover something new.

TIP:  Those little Cutter Bee tweezers (next to the scissors in the photo) are great when you're tying tiny bows - like having a third hand.

Enjoy the hop.  Tomorrow.

Supplies tags:

Paper: kraft and scraps

Stamps:  sentiment PTI Wreath for all Seasons, mistletoe WMS

Ink: Versafine, gold Delicata

Tools: tag and merry dies PTI

Other: crochet thread, ribbon, sequins

L.A.M.B. - look at my blazer - (RIC)

The latest ensemble up at Runway Inspired Challenge... have you seen it?

 Well, OK, so she's got a red/orange/neony-mix-of-the-two/could-it-be-any-brighter cool jacket on (remember when we used to call 'em "blazers"?  I worked for EDS for many a year if that tells you anything...)  Can't miss that.  Wanna know what caught my eye next?  Her 'do.  Windblown-ish. And while my eye was up there I caught the sunglasses.  And then I noticed the cool pink wall behind her.  Done with lighting I suppose.  I done mine with watered down Distress inks on my craft mat.  And squishes.

Believe it or not, the first piece of scrap I pulled out of my pile to pink up, was this wonky shaped piece. And I thought of the hair.  Ping.  No trimming here. And I have this amazing corally red CS from Amuse that I was lucky to win over at CASual Fridays last year (it was part of a special pack in honor of  breast cancer month.)  It is dead on for that jacket.  Um, blazer.

A couple die cut branches and birdie from WPlus9 Folk Art Florals (still have to get myself the Fresh Cut Florals - anyone know where to get it in Europe?) with a couple branches stamped in gray too and voila. No wing on birdie as a nod to those sunglasses, BTW.  No sentiment cuz this is to be a thank you notecard for Oma who sent us home with all kinds of goodies when DD and I visited her last week.  Aren't Omas fabby?

Thanks for looking and hey, I made the deadline ;)))

Supplies :

Paper: cardbase The Paper Studio, black American Crafts

Stamps: WPlus9

Ink:  distress, Hero Arts

Tools: dies WPlus9

Other: foam adhesive

new trend? (Moxie Fab, ATCAS)

Sharing one of the species "reject" with ya here cuz I want to hook it up to the Stickers Challenge at Moxie Fab World.  2014 is going to bring a lot of milestone birthdays in my neck of the woods- the kind with a "5" in front - and I had this idea for a card for a girlfriend who starts things off.

Had a ping (as Bev would say) to use a hashtag.  Wanted to use the Pink Paislee Luxe glitter stickers. The sentiment was cake.  Got it down on a strip of vellum but then had to decide which PP to put it on.  I kid you not, I must have laid that strip down on 50 sheets of PP, taking a photo each time cuz my brain was getting too foggy to objectively decide on one.  The following morning I decided on this PP.  Thought the doodle-y, whimsical-ness was a quirky match for the sparkly, "50" mature nature of the card.  My friend is so not "50"... whatever that means...

So, this didn't make the cut in the last PC submission.  But I am seeing the hashtag all over the place lately.  For one brief moment I'm gonna think of myself as a trendsetter ;)

I'm also hooking up at Addicted to CAS #24 where the theme is Transparent.  As in vellum in my case.

Thanks for visiting.

Supplies #hello50:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, PP K&Co., vellum

Stamps:

Ink:  

Tools: 

Other stickers Pink Paislee, enamel dots MME

cheery smile (Moxie Fab, KIS)

Two reasons to be cheery.  First, the (NBUS) stickers I used for this were from an American Crafts collection packet I was lucky to win over at Paper Crafts Connection last spring.  Thanks PC! Second, using a package of stickers to create a card is something new and different for me and pretty darn easy!  Cool.

Now, the stickers are just dandy.  My brilliant idea to use the Studio Calico V-Pattern Mask and stamp through it... maybe not so dandy.  Oh well.  There is a certain touch of whimsy to it.

Stamped the BG.  Stamped the grass.  Adhered the stickers.  Added the chevron PP strip behind the panel and two tiny strips of color under the chalkboard sentiment sticker.  Happy summer.  In the middle of autumn ;)

Joining the fun at:
Moxie Fab World - Handmade Cards - Stickers and Tape
KIS - #25 Be Inspired (the sticker package with the colors and flowery theme "drove" my card)

Thanks for visiting.  Have a good week (it's back-to-school-after-a-great-fall-break time here).

Supplies smile:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, PP Simple Stories

Stamps:"grass" Neat and Tangled

Ink:  Versafine, Hero Arts

Tools: mask Studio Calico

Other stickers American Crafts, sentiment sticker Pebbles

let's go art deco (WMS)

Joining the Pajama Party - the Art Deco, B/W with a splash - at Waltzingmouse Stamps.  Love that product.  And I'm a sucker for Art Deco. Did you know it had a birth of sorts (furniture/glass) in the town of Nancy, France?  We've been to the museum there and the woodworking on display is phenomenal.  Even strolling the city streets is a feast for the eyes when you discover all the Art Deco elements in the architecture.  A few tidbits for you...

the museum grounds

Villa Majorelle

bet your bank doesn't look like this...

Daum crystal in art museum

And here's my card for the PJ party.  I think this Folk Art Medallion has touches of Art Deco.  Lots of Versamark stamping and white embossing.  Which ain't fun on black if ya know what I mean ;)

 Hope you enjoyed your visit here today.  Thanks for looking.

Supplies with love:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann

Stamps: (Folk Art Medallion) Waltzingmouse, (hearts from Flowers and Hearts) Martha Stewart, (X and O from Critter Taglines) Clear and Simple Stamps, (ring of flowers) Stampendous

Ink:  Versamark

Tools: corner rounder

Other bling, white embossing powder

ready, set, splatter (Craft Stamper, SSS)

Splatters.  I used to wonder how people made the cool ones.  My fave are still the ones some scrapbookers pull off with black spray paint spilled out of the paint can cap.  But I'm not doin' that in the house.

So, there are the sprayed kind.  The dripped from the tube of the spray bottle kind.  The dripped from a wet paint brush kind.  Or the kind that happen when you bang the wet paint brush against your other hand - but they usually end up somewhere you didn't want 'em.  The ones you make with a stamp that nearly all the stamp companies have come out with in the past six months - but that's cheating, right?  Or you just squish your Distress Inked BG into the remaining ink droplets on your craft sheet (that you misted with some water).  That's how I got these red blotches.  Callin' 'em splatters.

There is a challenge over at Craft Stamper mag for cards using splatters - a featured technique in this month's issue.  Check it out.

My stamping was done with Crafty Secrets Cherubs set so I'm hooking up at Simon Says Stamp's challenge to use clear or rubber stamps.  Some heat embossing and fussy cutting.  Some woodgrain paper.  Enamel dots (LOVE those things). Voila.

Appreciate your visit.

Supplies love:

Paper: PP Ursus, Simple Stories

Stamps: Crafty Secrets

Ink:  Distress Ink, pigment ink 

Tools: scissors

Other: clear embossing powder, enamel dots MME

fall birthday (Clearly Besotted, SSS)

Take a negative die cut piece of PP that falls onto another piece of PP laying on your messy workspace causing you to think "oh, that looks cool."  Move it to the side to work on later cuz you're in the middle of submission call stress, making sure not to lose that tiny little piece that separates the bird from the branch.  Move it around three more times in the chaos.  Notice that the colors of the new challenge at Clearly Besotted Stamps are like the colors in those PPs and decide to make a card.

That's how I roll, folks.

Used the sentiments from Happy Everything (I love the combo of fonts in this set).  And a NBUS die from Impression Obsession "Leaves" with some Coredinations whitewashed cardstock.  The die even impresses veins into the leaf which you can't really appreciate from my photo.  Now I understand where the company name had its birth ;)

It might have been small, but I used clear stamps for the sentiment so I'm joining the fun at Simon Says Stamp this week too.

Thanks for visiting.

Supplies happy birthday:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, PP Ursus

Stamps: sentiment Clearly Besotted

Ink:  Cat's eye, Distress 

Tools: bird die Sizzix, leaf die IO

Other:  

you can do it (SSS)

Well I intentionally included chevrons and sequins in this encouragement card for DS who is taking his road test for his permit (if he doesn't pass this time around, there'll have to be a sympathy card  I suppose!)

Cuz CASual Fridays challenge #116 was to use chevrons and sequins.

I missed the deadline. Nothing new there, eh?  But I stamped my butt off so I'm playing over at Simon Says Stamp "Use a Stamp" too.

I decided the design could work for our friend who is going through chemo treatments too. Changed the colors up to be a bit more masculine and put the scene on an incline to show the uphill struggle.

Enjoy your weekend.  We're loving fall break over here.  And maybe you wanna cross your fingers for DS.... and for me if I end up in a car with him driving soon  ;)

ETA:  He passed!  Fun times ahead...

Supplies du schaffst das:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann

Stamps: car TAWS, other Artemio, sentiment Klartext

Ink:  Hero Arts,, Versafine, 

Tools: scissors

Other:  sequins Buttinette

oopsy daisy (SSS, CBS)

Remember the line in Notting Hill (one of my faves) when Hugh G. is climbing over the garden fence and gets stuck.  What does he say?  Oopsy daisy.  Miss most-gorgeous-smile-ever Roberts cracks up.  I LOVE that scene.

Well, here's a card.  Do ya get it?

Saw the Clearly Besotted Challenge to create a BG.  (...yeah, it's closed now too).  Wanted to try coloring that lovely bloom with colored pencils.  How fun is that?  I couldn't stop going over the colors again and again.  Stamped the envelope BG (distressed-ish) and then again on scrap in green to use for my die cut letters.  A few enamel dots in a nod to the SSS Dotty challenge and this is off to my dear Pops who just had hernia surgery.  The big incision kind :(

Thanks for looking.

Supplies oopsy daisy:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, CS scraps

Stamps: Clearly Besotted, BG and sentiment Hero Arts

Ink:  Hero Arts,, Verxamark, 

Tools: die Memory Box

Other enamel dots, colored pencils

WCMD

OK, I must admit before drinking too much wine at the Zwitscherstub, I crafted a bit today after puppy play group in the pouring rain, followed by bathe puppy for  the first time and warm own feet back to normal after two hours in rubber boots.   But the crafting was for submissions.

What I do want to share with you is the birth of my card that I shared over at the Paper Crafts Connection blog for Cath's post on the international aspect of World Card Making Day.

Picture me sitting on the floor dogsitting DP, magazine in hand.  I stumble across this photo:

This is what I love about living in Europe.  I am pretty certain a photo with a color combo like this would not show up in an American mag.  But this spoke to me and became...

Take that purple and violet and mustard and chartreuse and do something with it.  OK, speech bubbles (thanks Avery Elle)  are good at the moment.  And some triangles from Mama Elephant Trifecta. And some heat embossing of a sentiment from Klartext.  And of course some gold CS to brighten things up.

Danke, for looking.

Supplies danke:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, CS Coredinations and DCWV, recycled gold CS

Stamps: Klartext

Ink:  Distress Ink,, Verxamark

Tools: die Avery Elle

Other bling

it's WCMD time! (PC)

It's WCMD time. Wanna see more?  Head over to  the Paper Craft Connection blog today.

hello gold (Moxie Fab)

OK, bear with me one more time.  Going for gold - over at Moxie Fab and the All that Glitters challenge. I've been playing with structure paste and oh what fun!  Just so happens I bought a four-pack a while back. Including gold. Nuff said.

Used a stencil intended for wall painting to add the structure paste.  Stamped some graphic PTI shapes in modern fall colors and Delicata gold.  Added a die cut in vellum.  Didn't like that alone so added a white one over it, slightly offset.  It's a keeper.

So's Ellie. She's still a coward when out for a walk, but she's sure cute :))) Most of us would kill for her eyelashes. Check 'em out.

Have a good one.

Supplies hello:

Paper: cardbase TPC, vellum

Stamps:  PTI

Ink:  chalk ink, gold Delicata

Tools: stencil, die PTI

Other: