SPARKS Challenge

Today, I made a card for the SPARKS Design Team call. Using this picture as inspiration.....

 ...I made this card:

To create this card, I scored and folded my cardstock to a standard A2 size. Next, I took a piece of Tim Holtz Watercolor paper and eyeballed where I wanted to stamp the sentiment. Placing the die over this spot, I ran the paper through my die cutting machine so that the sentiment could be stamped in the negative space. I then stamped the trail of butterflies across the paper and colored them with Tim Holtz Distress markers. I used a damp paintbrush to to create the water color affect. Before adding foam adhesive on the water color paper, I placed it on top of my card so I could mark where to stamp the sentiment. After I stamped it, I adhered the stamped image to the card. Here's a closer look:

 I kept the inside pretty simple, stamping and coloring a coordinating butterfly next to the sentiment.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill; Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper;
Stamps: Paper Smooches (Flap Happy; Birthday Sampler);
Die: Paper Smooches (Butterflies 2);
Ink: StazOn (Black); Tim Holtz Distress Markers (Spun Sugar; Picked Raspberry);

Moxie Fab Trick or Treat!

When I saw this Moxie Fab image that Cath Edvalson posted, I knew what I had to do.

I pulled out this Prima doll stamp which I had bought only last month...

and made this card for my niece:

.
Thanks for the inspiration Cath! Happy Halloweeen!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Spectrum Noir (white); Papertery Ink (black);
Patterned Paper: October Afternoon (Witch Hazel);
Stamp: Prima (Julie Nutting); Making Memories (sentiment);
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black); Tim Holtz Distress (Weathered Wood); Spectrum Noir Markers (FS3; CT4; CR10; True Black); Wink of Stella (Clear);
Misc.: Recollections (cat embellishment).

Too Cute to Spook

Last year, I was lucky enough to win the All Hallow's Eve collection from Carta Bella. These papers were unlike any in my Halloween bin since there were no bright oranges, purples or greens. Just rich browns and spooky blacks.  To make my pictures fit the mood of the papers, I took to Photo Shop and played around with some actions from Pioneer Woman. I was lucky enough to be able to tone down my pictures without losing the color.  Here's my layout:  

With just a few exceptions, all of the products are Carta Bella. The journaling card, titled "This Year's Costumes," made me think of these pictures from a few years ago. The journaling reads: What a coincidence! You and Sara had picked out your costumes long before making plans to trick-or-treat together. Imagine, 2 cute vampirettes! 

In addition to the new Carta Bella papers and stickers, I dug out the bat felt fusion from Queen & Co. I think I bought it the first year I was scrapbooking. In the past, I always had difficulty adhering it. Now, I use washi tape to get it down straight. I adhere the felt fusion with the back still on right side down to a piece of washi tape. I take off the backing, put it into place and then peel back the washi tape. This trick works for intricate gem designs too!

Supplies:

Cardstock: American Crafts (black);

Patterned Paper/Stickers: Carta Bella All Hallow'd Eve Collection;

Punches: Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page (Spiderweb); EK Success (Extra Large Bat);

Misc.: Feckled Fawn washi (Telephone Wire); Queen & Co. Felt Fusion (bats); Making Memories brads; Glossy Accents

Paper Smooches and Simon Says Say It With Stamps Challenge

I have a quick card to share with you tonight for the Simon Says Stamp Say It With Stamps Challenge. This challenge focuses on the words. I wanted to use the Tim Holtz Distress Water Color Cardstock that I recently acquired. One of the last covers of Papercrafts Magazine (insert frowny face!) served as my inspiration. Here's my card:

To create this card, I lined my sentiments up on my work mat, using the lines to make sure that they were straight. (I got the idea for stamp placement from Jennifer McGuire but I can't for the life of me find her card to link to.) Anyway, I used a Fiskars stamp press to pick them up in the same position. I stamped using Versamark ink and then heat set with clear embossing powder. (Note, it is essential that your stamps are clean when using clear embossing powder. Don't ask me how I know!) Next, I scribbled distress markers onto my craft mat, spritzed some water and painted my sentiment block. I always love watching the magic of stamp resist.  I stamped the die-cut butterfly and used the same technique to color it and adhered it to my card with a foam dot.

Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill Cardshop Cardstock (Marshmallow); Tim Holtz Distress Water Color Carstock; Authentique Pattern Paper (Lively);
Stamps: Paper Smooches (Flap Happy; Birthday Sampler);
Die: Paper Smooches (Butterfly 3);
Inks: VersaMark; StazOn (Brown); Tim Holtz Distress Markers (Picked Raspberry, Shabby Shutters)
Misc.: Clear Embossing Powder

Welcome to Paris

So my sister, who loves all things having to do with France, celebrated another birthday.  Here is the card I made her:

I let the Prima paper take the center stage for this one and only added a stamped sentiment to the die cut tag. I also added a row of machine stitching above and below the Eiffel Towers.  To top off the tag, I added red seam binding, a Prima flower and a fabric brad. (Got to use up my stash!) Finally, I used my Wink of Stella pen to add a little bit of shimmer to the iconic image on the tag.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink;
Patterned Paper: Prima (Welcome to Paris);
Stamp: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black); Wink of Stella Pen
Tools: Papertrey Ink die (Tag Sale #1)
Embellishments: Ribbon (Technique Tuesday); Flower (Prima); Brad from my stash; machine stitching

Underwater Camera

So the other day, my daughter told me that I have become a card-maker who also scraps. GASP! However, judging by the looks of my blog, she may be right. While I definitely consider myself to be a scrapper at heart, I have been making 10+ cards each month in my effort keep up with all of the special occasions being celebrated by family and friends. Finding time to make these "must-have" cards seems to require lest justifying than scrapping. (Sadly I have only scrapped once or twice this summer.)

The other reason behind showcasing more cards than layouts on the blog is that, frankly, I find cards to be easier to photograph than layouts. And, because of that, I have a stack of layouts waiting to be photographed before I put them in an album. Here's one that I did manage to snap a few photos of before adding it to the album.

These pictures are from Roatan, Honduras. We cruised there two years ago and wound up getting stuck at sea for two extra days thank to Tropical Storm Lee. (But that's a story for an entirely different layout!) This was Mark and Melissa's first time snorkeling and I bought a disposable underwater camera for them to share. The pictures are far from perfect, but I love how they captured they day.

To create this layout, I used the ombre patterned paper as my background since it totally matched the hues from the water. On the left side, I fussy cut the scallops on the Studio Calico patterned paper and layered them with the Dear Lizzy stripe and a Crate Paper border sticker. The "R" came from Crate Paper chipboard and was perfect just for this layout about Roatan. And, seriously, since no one in my family has "R" for an initial, when else was I going to use it!

I created a visual triangle of wood-tone elements between the SC paper, the chipboard letters in the title and the banner in the upper right. Since that banner did not have a sentiment appropriate for this layout, I layered a sticker on top of it. (Yellow elements form another visual triangle.) I also added some stamping on vellum in the upper and lower right-hand corners. The button helps ground the sentiment and creates a third visual triangle of round elements.  Here's a closer look at the title. I added the letters on top of the picture to hide some of its imperfections.

Since I made this layout about six months ago, I am a little fuzzy on the product details.  Sorry :( I will do my best to capture them below.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Studio Calico, American Crafts (Dear Lizzy);
Embellishments:  Crate Paper border stickers and chipboard; October Afternoon label stickers, button and flair; Bella Blvd. letter stickers; Technique Tuesday stamps; Papertrey Ink ink; My Mind's Eye enamel dots and word stickers.

Finding Inspiration in Creative Chaos + Two Challenges

The inspiration for today's clean and simple card came from the the creative chaos on my craft mat. I was making this card for a design team assignment and had butterfly stamps and die cuts all over my work mat .....

 ....when all of a sudden, I stopped seeing the small stamp as a butterfly. Instead, I saw a flower and its trail was suddenly a stem! I knew I wanted to keep the card simple since I was making it for the 10 Minute Craft Dash.  Here's what I created in 8 minutes and 32 seconds:

I used this sketch from Paper Smooches Designer Drafts Challenge as the starting point for my design and made some minor adjustments. 

And here's a close-up of the butterfly turned flower. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but I used foam adhesive to make the top of the flower pop off the page. The bottom is mounted flush to the page with liquid adhesive.

Supplies: 

Paper: Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock (pink); Tim Holtz Distress Water Color Cardstock (white);

Stamp: Paper Smooches Flap Happy (butterfly); Birthday Sampler (sentiment)

Die: Paper Smooches Butterflies 3

Ink: StazOn (Brown); Tim Holtz Distress markers (Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry)

Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares; Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue