a bit of winter

I managed to play in my craft room for a bit more...I received the email with the new Clean and Simple Layout #113 and was inspired to create, with a few changes...

There is also a challenge this week over at the Cardmaker's message board to use inchies on your card...and I thought this layout was just perfect for it.

Here is the sketch



And here is my card, outside



and inside



The images on the front were stamped quite a while ago...I stamped some before I gave away the stamps...just in case I wanted to use them...so they dictated the blue color scheme. The pink was added because I wanted some lightness, without adding something like silver... The inside stamp is from Unity, I'm finding more and more ways to use these stamps, they are so versatile!

I had fun with this one...and will probably be in the mood to make more winter/Christmas cards soon!

Enjoy,

Meredith

Arghh!

So, because I participated in last weeks challenge, I got the image for Stretch n Bubbles Creative Chick Challenge emailed to me for free...but after looking at it, seriously, you need to click on over to their store to purchase it!!! It is the cutest little pirate girl!



I know that the picture isn't exactly sharp...but I was trying to capture the sparkles with the camera...that's actually difficult! I'll take a picture outside in the light tomorrow, maybe that will be better...

I guess I was feeling the sparkle today...because this card is covered in it!!! I used the darling image and colored it in with pencils...then I added some stickles in silver to the sword, and black on her pants. Next, I added some clear glitter glue for the lace and ribbons on the hat and her coat. The sentiment was printed on the computer as well, in ms word using the Blackadder ITC font. The little treasure chest was cut using a cuttlekids die...I bought the pirate set almost two years ago...and have finally used it, yeah! More sparkle with the glittery patterned paper, that was a recent purchase in the dollar section of Target. The striped ribbon and silver skull and crossbones are both from the dollar section of Michael's.

I've got a very special recipient in mind for this card...but its a surprise...shh!

Enjoy,

Meredith

World Cardmaking Day - Rehash

Well, that was a fun, fun weekend...Nathan (my 11 year old son) and I had a blast completing the challenges that we did...and we both grew our stash of cards!

I'll admit...it was just as much fun for me to keep checking on my blog and reading the fun and funny comments that were left, and seeing how many views my blog was getting...what an adventure!

I appreciate every comment that was left, and the kind comments on my project, and I'm looking forward to doing it again!!! The cardmakers forum will be hosting a crop and blog hop Nov. 4-6th...hope to see you there!!!

Here are the challenges that we completed for World Cardmaking Day:

Color Challenge: use brown, purple and orange



I went to town with this one...stitching on the sewing machine and everything



Nathan actually received a prize for this challenge...lucky dog!

Special pre-crop challenge: make a Christmas card with something gold and no ribbon



I used a page kit from Hobby Lobby for this one, and the lace came from a lace swap I participated in a while ago...the opposite side is silver...too pretty.



Nathan always enjoys heat embossing...

Build a Background: Create your own background from patterned paper



I used a pack of 99 cent paper from Target and a dollar stamp from Michaels...awesome!

Just a Note: create a 3x3 mini notecard



I used a card kit from a swap to make mine...



Nathan was really digging the Halloween thing...

KISS and Monochrome: keep it simple and use monochrome colors



Well...I kept the colors monochrome...I sort of missed the 'simple' part...I used watermark ink on the background paper, and brown/tan everywhere else...



Nathan decided that he liked the look of brown...didn't he do an excellent job?

Recipe Card: use 4 brads, 3 flowers and 2 patterned papers and 1 image



This one was so much fun...more difficult than I thought it would be, though.



Nathan really enjoyed making his own patterned papers...apparently he liked the watermark ink...and he also enjoyed the mini cards....most of what he made were all mini...too cute!

Go Digi: use one of the free images provided by the generous digital designers along the hop to create your project



I'm not much of a colorer...but this image was so easy to print on kraft cardstock and detail with a white paint pen...right up my alley! The image is from Stretch n Bubbles.



I think that Nathan rocked this card, the shape, the coloring, his detailing on the lightbulb stamp...it all works so well together...

Inspiration Challenge: a picture was posted of four hankies, one of which was black and white with skulls



This one was just so much fun!!! The embossed skulls came from a cuttlebug folder, I just used a circle punch to cut him out, and the stamp is from The Stamps of Life.

And last but not least...there was the 10 minute card challenge: create a card in 10 minutes or less...which was my challenge for the blog hop...and the challenge that I received a little prize package for...I have an entire post about it here, but I'll repost one of the cards on this post too.



It sure was a fun challenge!

Enjoy,

Meredith

In the Halloween Zone

Woo Hoo! Thanks to the fabulous and fun Cardmaker's Cardswap forum mini crop for World Cardmaking Day...I'm in the zone!!!

Over at the Stretch n Bubbles blog they have a weekly challenge...they provide a digital stamp, and if you make and post a card with the stamp, and include a link to the store in your post, then next week the image is emailed to you! How cool is that...a free stamp every week!

On the first Wednesday of the month, the image is free to anyone...if you join in during the rest of the weeks then you need to purchase the image...this week, you can get the image from this post here...if it is later, stop by the Stretch n Bubbles store to pick it up!

This is the card I made with this weeks image...it came together so quickly!!!

I made the cauldron upside down...like there is some kooky magic going on...that's just how the drawing looked to me...(besides, I'm kind of a kooky person....)

I even colored...which is not usual for me...since I'm normally so critical....anyway, here it is!



What do you think?

Card recipe: cardstock (white,purple, green): from stash, color core cardstock: Co'ordinations, patterned paper: K&Company, digital stamp (image): Stretch n Bubbles, sentiment stamp (happy halloween): Unity Stamp Company, other: spiderweb border: cut on cricut with svg file, shape around sentiment: ek success punch

Enjoy,

Meredith

The perfect sketch

Have you ever wanted to make a card...but nothing works out? I sketched design after design, each one more complicated than the last, and nothing inspired me to actually pull out the cardstock...until I received the email from Clean and Simple #110 with this sketch...



Isn't it just fabulous? These sketches are always so inspiring to me!

So, after seeing this sketch, I ran right to my craft room and whipped out the perfect card for a thank you card swap that I am in....



The paper is from Basic Grey, the Lime Rickey collection...you know, if you haven't tried Basic Grey papers yet, what are you waiting for? They are a fabulous weight to work with, and the collections run the gammut from bright and cheery to subtle and sweet. Anyway, the button is from my stash, and the embossing folder is a cuttlebug one from Provo Craft. The stamp is one of many from the Thanks2you set from the Stamps of Life.

I whipped out 6 of these cards in under an hour...that's the beauty of working with a sketch and having everything fall into place...I love it!

Enjoy,

Meredith

It's a Cardmaker's World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop!

You are on the CardSwaps World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Irina's blog. If you got here differently, make sure you start at the beginning and work your way around. Comment on every blog by midnight CST, October 3, 2010, to be entered in to a drawing for prizes. The full list of prizes are on Lora's blog.

My Challenge was....make a 10 minute card....

Which is a funny challenge to me, because I am a fan of Stephanie Barnard of The Stamps of Life, and she actually posts a monthly video titled, "30 second card (in 5 minutes) on her blog, and I always get a kick out of watching them...sorry, no videos here! (lol)

Ok, really...this was a lot harder than I thought it would be....really!

I wanted to get a couple of things out before I started the timer...here is my workspace, ready to go...



I thought that it would be fun to make a halloween card...since I've got all that stuff gathered, waiting to make some with my son...

So, here is what I had after 10 minutes...



That's it!!! I had the card folded, I had two of my inside mats cut...and I had one image stamped....how pitiful is that!!!!!

I thought it was hilarious! I guess I've never paid any attention to how long I spend making a card....have you?

So, more than 40 minutes later....this is what I had....





Card Supplies: cardstock (green, black, yellow, white) from stash, patterned paper (purple moons, orange polka dots) K & Co, ink (black, watermark) Tsukineko (white) blanco, stamps (frankenstein) craft smart for Michael's (ghost, boo, spiderweb, spider, mini ghosts, happy halloween and trick or treat) The Stamps of Life spooky2scare and thanks2fall sets

An adorable halloween card, inside and out...but I'm still laughing about how long I take to create a card!!!!

Here are some close-ups of the details...

I made a gate-fold card...just cut your cardstock 11" wide by 4 1/4" high, and score it at 2 3/4" in from each short side...then they will meet in the middle!



I cut the purple rectangle mat at 3 1/4" wide by 3 3/4" tall, and the black mat a bit smaller, and only adhered it to half of the front...so that the card could open...



Isn't this stamp a crack-up? I got this one in the dollar bin!!!

I cut the mats for the sides (both front and back) at 2 1/2" wide by 4" tall.



Here you can see my watermarked spider border....



And the second side...aren't those wee ghosties adorable?

Lots of details...which makes for a much longer than 10 minute card!


Honestly, I thought I could do better, time wise...so I tried again....

Here is my work area ~ take two...



This time, I decided to pull out a coordinated paper/embellishment pack. Maybe it was cheating....but I call it smart planning!

10 minutes later, I was much happier with my results....



The front was done....and the inside just needed the sentiment....



Here it is completed inside....took me about 12 minutes total....much better!



Card supplies: cardstock (white) from stash, patterned cardstock and sticker embellishments lime rickey by Basic Grey, ink (black) Tsukineko, stamps (thanks, you rock) The Stamps of Life thanks2you set.

So, all in all, I learned that I'm not that creative when under the clock!!! How about you? Are you ready to give it a try? When you finish the blog hop, the last link will be to the mini-crop challenges on the Cardmaker message board....I'm going to have fun reading and seeing what others can do in their 10 minutes!!!

A bit about me ~ Like many, I started cardmaking as an offshoot of scrapbooking. I was attending regular crop nights at a local scrapbooking store and was exposed to lots of gorgeous rubber stamps and card samples ~ eventually, I decided to try my hand, and now, my pictures remain lonely and unprinted on my computer while I make cards every opportunity that I have! If you browse through my blog, you'll see that I try lots of different techniques and styles, but lean toward simple and slightly distressed with texture...


Now, on with the blog hop!

You have until midnight, CST, October 3rd 2010, to post your comment on each blog along the hop. Everyone that comments on each blog will be entered into the drawings for blog hop prizes. In addition, if you want to participate in the challenges for the mini crop at Card Swaps, go check it out after the blog hop and upload your completed project by midnight CST, October 3, 2010, in order to get in the drawings for more prizes!

Your next stop on the hop is Ana!

Here is the complete list of blogs participating...be sure to get them all!

Lora
Jeanette
Laura
Faith Skrdla (Designed 2 Delight)

Redonna
SusieQ

Jane
Lori (representing Stretch N Bubbles)

Irina

Meredith <--- You are here!

Ana

Dustin Pike
Diana
Angelina
Ashley

Have you heard?

My favorite place to play online is having a mini-crop and blog hop in celebration of World Cardmaking Day!

So click on over to the Cardmaker magazine message board and join in on the fun October 2nd and 3rd!

There will be challenges, there will be fun, there will be a blog hop, there will be prizes!

And guess what? Yours truly is one of the 'hosts' for the blog hop! I'm excited, since I've participated in blog hops before, but this will be the first time I've been one of the hosts.

Not familiar with blog hops?

A blog hop is where several blog writers agree to post about a specific subject (in this case, the Cardmaker's message board World Cardmaking Day Mini Crop) on a specific day, or for a specific time.

Participants follow the links from blog to blog, commenting on each blog as they go. Sometimes the hops include prizes to win, but they are always full of inspiration and fun!

I hope to 'see' you for our hop!

Enjoy,

Meredith