LIM turns 2

It seems like forever since I've made a card, but it's only been a few weeks! :)

I couldn't miss this week's LIM challenge to use kraft and cream, as they are celebrating their second anniversary as a challenge blog.  I'm just squeaking in at the last hour. :)  Less is More was one of the first challenges (along with One-Layer Wednesdays) that I participated in, and it continues to be my favorite.

I've made three cards this week using Hero Arts dogwood.  This is a very large stamp so it was tricky to create cards with white space, but I had it in my mind that I wanted to use this stamp with a kraft-colored ink on cream cardstock, and I wasn't going to do anything else!

I've used my last sheets of PTI vintage cream cardstock on these cards, and am now left with just bits and pieces in my scrap box.  Ink is VersaMagic Sahara Sand and Wheat.

Thanks for looking.  Happy Birthday, LIM, and here's to many more! 

Ann

10-Minute Craft Dash

The other night I played along with the 10-minute craft dash at Pretty Pink Posh.  I've seen this challenge on other blogs and often thought I should try it.  Most of the time I'm a terribly slow crafter, so this was a real challenge for me.

I pulled out the inks, stamps, and paper I wanted to use and set the stopwatch.  I used craft punches for the flowers rather than my Cuttlebug to save time.  I was almost finished when I decided it needed to be cut and mounted on a blank card base and that it needed pearls.  I trimmed the panel, rounded the corners, dug out  my pearls, stuck them on, and mounted the panel on the card base.  Time: 8 minutes 32 seconds.

After making it I thought perhaps it would have looked better rotated the other direction.  So I set the stop watch again and made a second card.  This one went faster as I knew what I was doing.  Time: 7 minutes 6 seconds.

This was fun.  I didn't race around like a madwoman, either, which surprised me because I usually do race around like a madwoman.  I forced myself to take my time and just see what happened.  I'll definitely try this again. :)

Thanks for your visit.

Ann

Casology 27: Blue

I made these cards a few days ago for the blue challenge at CASology, but am just now managing to get them posted.  I used the same floral image from Inkadinkado meadow flowers on both cards, but changed the shades of blue for a different look and feel.  On the first I used deeper blues and sponging for a sympathy card.  This was my second go round. If I did it over I would stamp the flowers slightly lower. 

 

On the second card I switched to Memento Bahama blue ink and did some quick stamping for a super fast, CAS thank you card.

Thanks for your visit today.

Ann

Dynamic Duos and Anniversary Wishes

The color scheme at Dynamic Duos is so fresh and pretty this week.  This card has me thinking about spring, even though the temperatures have been freezing recently.  Sadly, I didn't plant any tulips this year.  I'll be regretting that come springtime.  I used the pretty tulips in PTI floral fusion #11 for this card, along with Memento bamboo leaves and cantaloupe.  I really like these colors together.

I'm also popping in today to say happy anniversary to Darnell and Mister, who are celebrating 42 years today.  Darnell's posts are such a joy to read.  They are full of humor, zest, and kindness.  What a fabulous lady!  I don't care much for my card , but I'm out of time today and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to send anniversary wishes to Darnell and her Mister.

Ardyth and Darnell have asked us to share our own wedding pictures, so I snapped a quick picture of one of our photos.  In July we will celebrate 16 years of marriage.  Last week I was driving home with my 7-year old when she asked me, "How did you know Daddy was the person you should marry?"  We talked about that for a while and at the end of our conversation she said, "I think you picked the right daddy for me." Phew! I'm glad she approves.

Dynamic Duos #35

Less is More 102

It's a tricky one at Less is More this week.  The challenge is a one-layer card with a sports or exercise theme.  I couldn't think of a single sports or exercise image in my collection besides a bicycle.  However, I do have a little set from Amuse called sports words.  It has a single star image and a variety of sports-related sentiments such as go team, way to go, and super star.

I made two small notecards.  For the first card I repeated one sentiment (Way to go!) several times creating three lines of text across the card.   On the second card I lined up three different sentiments to create my lines of text.  Using a gridded block made pretty quick work of this.  I stamped the star image in Memento cantaloupe, which I love.

It just so happens that my soon to be 11-year old daughter is playing basketball this winter for the first time ever, so one of these cards will be for her.  I think it can be scary to try something new, especially as one gets older.  We're proud of her for stretching herself quite a bit with this.  Most of the girls on her team were new, too, so she didn't feel way behind.  Unfortunately, though, they're playing some very experienced teams.  They had their first game last Saturday and they lost big time, as in 64-4! They sure learned a lot, though. :)

Thanks for your visit!

Ann

CAS(E) this Sketch 10

I've been busy this week making owl invitations for my daughter's 11th birthday "night owl" slumber party. It was a perfect excuse to pull out PTI wise owl, a set I picked up on eBay along with another set, but hadn't used. I've been ambivalent about wise owl, but once I started stamping and cutting owls using bits of patterned paper from my scrap bin, I was hooked.  I think they're cute!  I finished the invitations and made a bunch more owls just for fun before cleaning up the scraps and putting the set away.

When I saw sketch 10 from CAS(E) this Sketch, I knew it would be perfect for some of my owls.  I made one very simple, almost one-layer card.  The owls are perched on the branch from PTI out on a limb.  The other card has a couple of layers on it and the owls are perched on a Memory Box branch die.  The brown and purple owls were my daughter's favorites, so this will be her birthday card.  I'm partial toward the simpler card with the green and blue owls.

 I'll share my cards and invitations over at Pixie's Crafty Snippets this week, as well, since I certainly made use of a multitude of bits and pieces from my scrap box.  Each invitation uses different patterned papers (the four below are my favorites from the bunch).  All of my owls, and there were nearly thirty of them, were cut from scraps, and I still have a dozen left for future projects! :)

 Thanks for your visit today!

Ann

Less is More 101

Just popping in with a couple of cards for Less is More 101.  I missed a lot of the challenges in December, and am determined to do better in January!  The theme is black and white with a touch of another color.

For my first card I stamped a flower from Hero Arts lotus leaves in Memento tuxedo black ink.  I matted the panel with a scrap of black paper and added a satiny ribbon in a beautiful maroon for my splash of color.  I finished it off with a sentiment from PTI communique curves.

I'm not as happy with my second card.  It was getting late and I rushed to finish.  I'll probably go back and rework this at some point.  Flowers from PTI floral frenzy are stamped on a die from Sizzlits decorative label set #4.  I added yellow flower centers and yellow brads for my touch of color.

Thanks for your visit today.

Ann

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Friends!

It's been nearly a month since I've posted or made a card.  I've been enjoying my family and the Christmas holidays and taking a bit of a break from blogland.  The other night, however, I pulled out my supplies and started creating again.

I made two cards for the CASology challenge 'New.' 

The first is a new baby card. I stamped the PTI banner in blue, green, and purple to make a baby bunting.  I also used my new twine from Lily Belle's Paperie on Etsy.  I had a stamp with the word baby in it that fit the circle tag, but it didn't fit, if you know what I mean.  Instead I used this tiny Joy sentiment from PTI Mega Mixed Messages.  It looked better in the circle , and I decided that 'joy' is the perfect word for new babies.  Sleepless nights, dirty diapers, colic . . . and joy.

For the second card I participated in a new to me challenge, Freshly Made Sketches.  As this is the 67th challenge, it's obviously not new to the world, but it's the first time I've ever participated in it so it's new to me. :)  I used Wplus9 Mother's Day Bouquet for the flowers and added a sentiment from PTI Mega Mixed Messages.  Again I used my new twine.  I love that sampler pack with so many beautiful colors. 

We were going to drive up into the mountains today to go snowshoeing, but when I checked the weather conditions it said it was 28 degrees and gusting up to 38 miles per hour.  I don't think our girls would enjoy snowshoeing into a freezing wind!  So instead, we'll be "taking down Christmas"  and then I'll enjoy catching up on all of your lovely blogs.

Thanks for your visit!

Ann

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