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Anniversary Take Three

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It’s not often that I can combine a group of challenges with cards I need to make. I had a few Flair for Buttons badges laying on my desk thinking I’d use them to make some anniversary cards that need to go into the mail in the next few weeks. Then late last week, up popped several challenges that all worked together. I started with a new sketch challenge: CAS(E) this sketch!

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I punched hearts and a circle which qualified the cards for the Simon Says Challenge: Use Dies or Punches. 

And finally the CAS-UAL Fridays challenge:  Put Your Heart Into It.

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Here are the three cards. I started with the Flair button and chose the patterned paper and cardstock based on the colors in the button.

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HappyAnniversary2

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All three cards also qualify for a challenge on Moxie Fab for “love” cards.

(Cardstock:  Neenah & Color Mates; patterned paper:  MME: Stella Rose & Happy Go Lucky, October Afternoon: Cherry Hill; buttons:  A Flair for Buttons; and sentiment stamp: Savvy; Punches: McGill)

 

 

 

 

Make A Wish: Two Challenges

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I'm getting this card into the Embellish Challenge just under the wire,but it's been on my to-do list since I first saw it.

Stars

Once I saw this week's Retro Sketch I thought they'd go together nicely.

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Here's my take on the challenges. I think this card would work for a guy, a gal, or a teen.

MakeAWish

Cardstock:  Select White & Enchanted Evening (PTI); patterned paper: Bitty Stars (PTI); foil paper & glitter twine: Paper Source; gem:  Mark Richards; star punch: McGill; stamp: Think Big Favorites #1 (PTI)

It's a beautiful fall day here, but very chilly. Tracy left to golf. I think his fingers may be frozen by the third hole! I'm happy to have nothing on my schedule but the gym.

ColourQ Challenge 156: Fall Birthdays

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I have six birthday cards to make for October and nearly as many in November. As soon as I saw the most recent ColourQ challenge I knew I wanted to get started with making the cards. These are such beautiful fall colors. It's been really difficult to find time to craft recently, and the last several cards I've made have taken much, much longer than usual. This first one was no exception. And despite color correction in PSE, I can't quite get the colors of my card to show accurately. The raspberry is a bit darker than the challenge color, but the lighter orange leaf is much more true to the challenge than it appears.

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I started by cutting the leaves with my Silhouette (all American Craft cardstock). Then I embossed a Rustic White card (PTI) with the Woodgrain Impression plate (PTI) and adhered them all on an orange textured card (American Craft). The border was also cut with the Silhouette and the sentiment and twine are both Papertrey Ink.

I had some leaves left on my desk and decided to make a second card. This one doesn't meet the challenge requirements because I added the black frame cut from one of the Fabulous Frame dies by Papertrey Ink.

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The leaves seemed a bit flat in this one so after I had arranged everything, I added some Tim Holtz Distress Stains. I'm not sure I like them, but it's a done deal. The banner was cut with the Double Ended Banner die from Papertrey Ink, and the sentiment came from "Birthday Basics." I used the Herringbone Impression plate on the Rustic White card and added a few AMuse Creative Candy pearls.

Thanks

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I needed a couple thank you notes. The first one was inspired by two posts. The first by Sian about Flair buttons. I use Flair buttons regularly on layouts, but never think of using them on cards. Not any more. The other post was Melissa's about Washi tape. I own a small assortment, and don't often remember to use it either.

WashiThanks

I'm pretty sure the Flair button is by Ormolu, but I'm not sure where the Washi came from. Most of my stash came in Studio Calico kits, but I also bought a few rolls in May from a great little store in Portland, OR called Collage. The card is one from Impress that I've had for years.

The next card uses a stamp I bought this summer at an Archiver's Store in Georgia. It's an exculsive stamp made for Archiver's by Hero Arts. I know I'll be able to use it again and again for quick and easy thank you notes.

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The fabric tape is 7Gypsies, and again, it's been in my stash forever. The card is one of my favorites from Memory Box. The colors are beautiful, and the insides are white. Perfect for writing a note to a friend.

Happy Cards

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It seems like I've had far too many occasions to make sympathy and get well cards this year. Today I have two cards to share that celebrate happy events. The first is for a friend who retired this year from a career as a school counselor. When we saw her over Labor Day, she was just beaming at the thought of a carefree fall.

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When we returned from our trip there was a Papertrey order waiting for me. One of the items was the stamp and die set called "Fabulous Frames" which I quickly put to use on this card. There was a thread recently about how often you combine different stamp sets. Frequently, in my case. I also used "Button Boutique," "It's Official," and "Daydreamer" on this card. The card itself is a Memory Box card—my favorite as they have a white interior.

While we were in Denver, Matt took the practical exam for a national landscape certification. The written part of the test was taken in early August. This is quite the exam, and costs $450! The practical exam started at 7:00 am and lasted about five hours. Each section is administered by a different instructor and covers all aspects of landscape work and design. It's a challenging exam, but this week he found out he had passed. I thought it warranted a card.

Hooray

Another Memory Box card that I cut down to be square. The sun rays are from "Super Star" (WPlus9), the sentiment and die cut from "Wonderful Words" (PTI). I added three little star gems from A Muse and die cut the corners of the sentiment panel with a very old corner punch.

Just Playing

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Our drive from Atlanta to Denver included stops in Birmingham, AL, and Little Rock and Bentonville, AK. I'll be back in a week or so with some vacation posts and some photos of what we did and saw along the way. For the last four days we've been in Colorado. Saturday afternoon to Monday night, Matt, Tracy, and I enjoyed Boulder, CO and the Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is simply spectacular, and we had perfect weather for hiking and driving the Trail Ridge Road. Today we're relaxing at our friends' house in Denver. Tonight we'll have our last meal here with Dan, Nikki, Matt, and Stevie and head out for New York tomorrow morning. Dan and Stevie's parents were also here for most of our stay so we've really had a great time.

We're anticipating a four-day drive home with stops in Amana, Iowa and Lancaster and Amanda, Ohio (where I grew up.) But we can decide along the way if there are other things we'd like to see or do, or if we'd just asoon drive a little further and get home earlier. So nice to have the time to decide. Here are two cards I made before I left. I have to say, I'm itching to get back to the craft table, and have a few new projects I want to tackle this fall.

Often I have a recipient in mind for a card, or I'm making a card for one of the challenge blogs. But before I left on our trip, I spent some time just playing with some products. I love this die from Memory Box, but have never used it. Once I finished the card, I remembered the sentiment from Papertrey's "Love Lives Here" set, and thought it would make a good anniversary card. 

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And here's yet another Lovely Layers card. I used the Gridlines paper from Papertrey to help organize the stamps to create the background. Until recently, it's not a technique I've used often. I think next time, I'd use the smaller image to create the background, but I'm happy with this as I have been with just about every card I've made with this set. I don't have anyone in mind for this one yet, but it's always good to have a few birthday cards stashed away.

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Although I've kept up with some of your blog posts, I haven't taken the time to comment as my internet time has been very limited. I'll be back soon to catch up, and I'm looking forward to getting reconnected.

Liberate Your Art

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Last year I read with interest about Kat Sloma's Liberate Your Art project, but didn't do anything about participating. This year I signed up early, but let the printing of the postcards sit on the back burner for too long. I finally ordered 4 different prints from Zazzle, and I have to say their customer service has been wonderful. Nonetheless, the order came in two parts, and I was nervous enough that I got the first set in the mail to Kat before the rest arrived. The very next day, of course, the remaining postcards arrived here. In the end, I'm happy with the photo that I sent along with a greeting from my garden. 

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Kat has over 150 participants in this year's swap. I can't imagine trying to organize all those packages, but I'll be excited to get my postcards from other participants when I get home from our road trip. I made a card for Kat, and wrote a note thanking her for doing this. Now I have three sets of postcards I can use for thank-you notes or encouragement notes. I would never have done this without the push a new project gave me.

LiberateYourArtCard

Almost all the products on this card are from Papertrey Ink. The exceptions are the patterned paper from Teresa Collins' World Traveler paper pack, and the camera stamp from Studio Calico.

We're having too good a time to spend much time trying to edit photos, but rest assured there are a lot of cute baby photos to come!

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

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Today is Sarah's birthday, and I would typically be feeling rather sorry for myself that I am so far away on her special day, but a week from today we'll be heading out to meet Sarah, Adam, and Caleb in Atlanta. Sarah and Adam are involved in a Fund for Theological Education conference there, and we are happily babysitting while they are busy at the conference. When they finish, we're all off to Hilton Head for five days, so I am sending birthday wishes across the country today, but don't have long before I can present them in person!

Her package was sent by UPS, and ended up taking much longer to deliver than I expected, so I made an extra card (forgot to photograph the one in the package) so she'd have something to open on her birthday.

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I've seen so many lovely cards made with the Daydreamer set by Papertrey that I ordered it last month. I combined the sentiment and flowers from that set with the jar from Friendship Jar: Summer to create this card. The patterned paper is also Papertrey, and the card is a Memory Box card I cut down a bit.

Happy Occasion Cards

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I never shared the wedding card I made for my niece. It's a close copy of one by Maille Bells that she created for the release of the Gracious Vases stamp set by Papertrey. I love the simplicity and elegance of it.

Wedding

Cardstock:  Select White ; Die: Mat Stack #5, Impression Plate: Diamonds; Stamps:  Gracious Vases and Delightful Dahias; Silk ribbon. (All by Papertrey Ink); Copic Glitter pens; Clear Dimensional Magic.

Last week we attended a baptism and luncheon for a friend of ours almost three year old son. I didn't want to do a religious card, but wanted something I thought he'd enjoy.

Shine

Cardstock: Select White and Summer Sunrise (Papertrey); patterned paper: Summer Sunrise pack (Papertrey); stamps: Clear & Simple & Lighten Up Sentiments (Papertrey)

Purging and Creating

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I've been on another purging expedition in my studio, and have made some remarkable progress in handing off some supplies that I've had for just too long to a friend who is delighted to get them. In the process, I've done some reorganization as well. As I was going through the embellishment drawer I came across a couple of tags I thought would make quick and easy cards.

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The tag is from American Crafts (Amy Tangerine). I die cut a circle from the Nestabilities Small Circles dies, tied a Pink Hibiscus ribbon (PTI), and attached it to a ready-made Paper Source card.

(This card is off to a friend who was diagnosed with a brain tumor last week. I saw her yesterday, and was amazed at her positive spirits. She's been feeling nauseous for over a year, and seeing specialist after specialist. Finally her new GI sent her for an MRI and this is what they found. The expectation is that surgery will occur early next week, but they won't know for sure until further tests are completed today. She's the second of my very good friends to have received this diagnosis in the last six months. I find that really hard to believe. My other friend is stable right now. Her tumor was inoperable, but they were able to shrink it with radiation.) 

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One of the things that got reorganized during the purge were the non-PTI acyrlic stamps and cling stamps that were housed in a notebook. I now have them in CD boxes on my shelf and can easily flip through them so I'm sure they'll see a lot more use. I stamped the background on this Hero Arts kraft card with the chevron background stamp (Hero Arts). The tag is another one by American Craft (Amy Tangerine). I cut another circle with the Nestabilities and a double ended banner from Papertrey. The sentiment is from Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts) and the ribbon is from my stash. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the little gems are heart-shaped (A Muse).

July Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

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I got involved in another purging episode in my studio last night, so luckily I was up earlier enough this morning to get a couple of (needed) cards made for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. In August, I'll be on the road when the Blog Hop comes, so I didn't want to miss this one.

Here's the beautiful inspiration piece. 

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It's just perfect for the new Sweet Life stamp set, but I don't have that, so I used Rosie Posie for the first card.

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For some reason the Berry Sorbet looks more like Pure Poppy in the photo, but not IRL. I used Dawn McVey's video from Stamp-a-Faire to tie the bow. 

The next card is my favorite of the two, and uses one of my all-time favorite stamp sets:  Lovely Layers.

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All the supplies except the ready-made tag are from Papertrey Ink. I really need to put in an order for new inks as the Sweet Blush ink is no longer stamping images well. I had a similar problem with other ink pads last week. 

Papertrey Ink’s Stamp-a-faire: Limited Supply Challenge

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Well, this was not easy as my supplies for this challenge were exceptionally limited. I don't own the right color buttons or the dotted ribbon, both of which I really needed. But I did what I could. I chose Four of a Kind for my floral stamp, and used the colors given: Hawaiian Shores, Select White, and Simply Chartreuse.

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After I took this photo, I decided this card really had to have some embellishment. Lacking buttons I had some rhinestones that were very close to Hawaiian Shores. I'm happier with this version.

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Papertrey Ink’s Stamp-a-faire: Make & Take

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I was hoping I'd had lots of crafting time today, but it hasn't turned out that way. Today is the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-faire with loads of inspiration and videos for projects. Fortunately we have until Monday to get projects completed and uploaded. Although we'll be at a baptism and luncheon tomorrow, I'm hoping to get some serious crafting time in the late afternoon and evening. But I did get the Make & Take project done this morning. The card Nichole posted used Raspberry Fizz ink and cardstock—one of my favorites, but my ink pad is no longer making good impressions, even with reinking, so I had to go to another pink. I don't have the new floral set (yet) so I went to one I haven't used in a long time: Beautiful Blooms II.

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Creating a background isn't something I do often either. It took me awhile to figure out placement, but I'm happy with it. The vellum strip is scored at the top and bottom, and the sentiment is from In Bloom. I'm off to see if I can get another project done before I need to finish up the dinner plans for company tonight.

Happy Hexagons

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Last week a group of us got together for lunch and a bit of crafting afterwards. I had just received my June order from Papertrey Ink so I die cut a couple sets of hexagons with the Happy Hexagon Cover Plate and went to town stamping them with different colors of ink. I had a lot of fun putting together the cards once I was done.

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The sentiment is from We Go Together and the twine is from Papertrey Ink as well. Once I saw this photograph I realized I needed to put some dimensional tape behind the hexagon that covers the twine. It looks better now!

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For this card, I added some Paper Source ribbon and stamped the outside and inside sentiments with Impress stamps I've had for years.

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On this card, I used the cover plate, a tag cut with one of the Half and Half dies, and embossed the birthday greeting (Inside and Out: Birthday). Then I stamped the focal point with the Lovely Layers dies and stamps. I think these set will get a lot of use!

Papertrey June Blog Hop Challenge

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It's already the 25th of June, and time for the Papertrey Ink blog hop. Here's the inspiration photo:

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My first thought when I saw this photo was to use Papertrey's "Stitches and Swirls" which hasn't seen enough use. I kept true to the colors, using aqua mist, new leaf, and lemon tart cardstocks. I added a ruffled gingham ribbon to mimic the ruffles on the pillows, and a sentiment from Everyday Classics. One of my best friends just retired, so this card is for her.

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And then, because my June order had just arrived I had to give "Lovely Layers" a try. This stamp set is going to get a workout, I'm quite sure. This time I stuck to the same color combinations, but stamped on Select White. The sentiment is from "We Go Together." I love cards like this that can be used for so many occasions.

SmilingPTIJune