So thankful....

Good morning and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! It's my favorite holiday of the year! YAY! So what am I sharing with you? A Thanksgiving card! LOL!! I made this for the Paper Smooches Sparks: Picture Perfect Challenge, and I'm also going to enter this for the Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes challenge:

Here is the finished inside:

...and the inspiration picture:

Isn't that picture gorgeous?! I just love all the different colored leaves. After stamping the tree, I used two different colors on the large leave stamps to mimic them turning (orange/red; yellow/orange, green/yellow,), and just one color on the smaller leaf stamps. This is a pretty large tree stamp, and after I had everything stamped and colored, I trimmed the panel down so that some of the leaves went off the sides. I rounded the top corners, added a strip of green DP to ground the tree and wrapped some twine around it before adhering it with foam squares on my card base. 

So, are you all ready for the trick or treaters today? I love to see what costumes the kiddies are wearing. My favorite ones are the home made costumes. There are some really clever and talented parents out there! 

Have a great day!

Chris

Supplies

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Fanciful Fall; Jive Turkey; Hero Arts - Celebrate Everyday

Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Rhubarb Stalk, Bamboo Leaves, Rich Cocoa, Tangelo, Cantaloupe

DP and card stock: Recollections - Simply Autumn

Accessories: Doodlebug Twine; Fiskars corner rounder; Spectrum Noir markers

Adhesives: SA by 3L - MyStik, 3D foam squares; Recollections red tape; Glossy Accents 

It's not a bad thing....

Good morning! I've been MIA for a bit. I've been slowly cleaning and rearranging my craft room the last few days. (Too much stuff; not enough space!) Almost done but for a couple things to find places for. I did get to make a card last night. I'm entering this for Shopping Our Stash #124 and Simon Says Stamp - Halloween challenge:

Here is the inside:

Yeah, I know, I thought I was done with the Halloween cards, but there are still some great challenges out there, plus I really wanted to use this stamp! After stamping and coloring with Spectrum Noir markers, I went around the edges with Spiced Marmalade DI. I just love that sentiment, and how the stamp is made to look all distressed like that! :)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

Chris
Supplies:
Stamps: Unity - You Witch!
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Ranger DI - Spiced Marmalade
DP: Authentique - Thrilling
Card stock: Core'dinations (orange); Recollections (black); Copic X-Press It; frosted white ??
Accessories: Spectrum Noir markers; Grand Calibur; Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls EF; Recollections rhinestones
Adhesives: SA by 3L - MyStik, 3D foam squares

Giving Thanks....

Hello and happy Tuesday! Well, at least I hope it's happy for you. We had a water main break in our neighborhood early this morning, and we are without water. There is a crew working on it as I type. They've been there since about 9:30 am. I just took my dog for a walk a bit ago, and they are still there. There was a worker standing chest deep in the hole they dug in the street! Yikes! It's not looking like they are gonna be done anytime soon. I haz a sad. Again.

Well, on to my thankful card! ☺ I made this using sketch #86 from Retro Sketches.

Here is the inside of my card:

...and the sketch:

Thankful for pumpkin pie? Why not? ☺ And would you look at that. I actually used not one, but two buttons on my card. Don't fall off your chair. I used coordinating stickers that came with the DP I used. Easy peasy. More of the same DP and another sticker on the inside, stamped with a sentiment, and I was done!

What am I thankful for? Washing four loads of laundry and also running the dish washer yesterday! I'd also be thankful if I'm able to take a shower today. Yeah. I'd really be thankful for that.

Have a great day!

Chris
Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts - Celebrate Everyday
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
DP & stickers: - Basic Grey - Persimmon
Card stock: DCWV
Accessories: Grand Calibur; Paper Smooches - Notebook Bracket Die; American Crafts - buttons; string from my stash; pinking shears
Adhesives: SA by 3L - EZ runner, 3D foam squares; Recollections - red tape

Wine improves with age....

Hello! I'd like to share a card I made for the current Catch the Bug Bingo Challenge. I went with the left column: 2 designer papers, bling, and a punch.

Here is the inside:

...and the bingo card challenge:

Ok, so I was on my second glass of wine while making this, I was jamming to an awesome music mix, and only then realized I used a die cut instead of a punch on the front of the card. No problem. I redeemed myself by using a punch on the inside (the center square was punched. Obviously. It looks like crap! LOL!) Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!

Chris
Supplies:
Stamps: Bugaboo - Stella Wine, Stella One More Candle
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Clear Snap - Charcoal
DP: Teresa Collins - Fabrications
Card stock: Recollections (kraft); Copic X-Press It; DCWV (shimmery red)
Accessories: Grand Calibur; Spellbinders - Edgebilities Mix & Match Classic Edges; Spectrum Noir markers; Recollections 0 Rhinestones; EK Success - Deco Scallop Edger; Sakura - White Gelly Roll pen
Adhesives: SA by 3L - EZ Runner, foam squares

Happy Thanksgiving...

Hello again! This is my second post today. I was busy, busy, busy up in my craft cave last night! Woo Hoo! Made a bunch of cards. Here's one I made using the current CAS(E) This Sketch challenge #50:

...and here is the inside:

...and the sketch:

I used a wood grain embossing folder for the main panel and went around the edges lightly with Walnut Stain DI. The leaves are die cut from paper I made using various Distress Inks. See?

How fun it was to do this! And since I made my own inky paper I'm linking this up to the Moxie Fab World Color Media challenge. The sentiment was stamped, cut out and the edges inked before being adhered with foam squares. Masked the inside sentiment from two different sets, added another die cut leaf and I was done.

So what are you waiting for? There's still time to play along in both challenges. (MFW's challenge ends tomorrow. Just sayin'.) Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Supplies:

Stamps: Hero Arts - Celebrate Everyday; Paper Smooches - Good Gab, Autumn Groves

Ink: Memento - Rich Cocoa; Ranger DI - walnut stain, wild honey, peeled paint, fired brick, spiced marmalade

Card stock: Recollections; The Paper Co.

Accessories: Grand Calibur; Paper Smooches - Hickory Leaf Die; Darice - woodgrain EF

Adhesives: SA by 3L - EZ Runner, foam squares

Autumn Blessings...

Good morning and Happy Sunday! I spent a delightful evening last night up in my craft cave making cards after misplacing my mojo for most of the week. Don't ya just hate it when that happens!? Here is one of the cards I made:

...and the inside of the card.

I'm playing along with the current Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge: Designer Draft. Here is the Sketch:

The frame was made by cutting a rectangle from kraft paper, measuring and cutting out the center square with an X-Acto knife, then I went around the edges with a brown marker. I covered the kraft card base with a panel of light blue DP that has a honeycomb design on it, leaving a 1/4" strip on the left uncovered. The original plan was to leave it like that, but then my eye caught this striped DP that had all the colors I was using on it. Score! I cut a strip to size and added it to the edge of the card. Love how that worked out! Ok, now for the fun part. All of the leaves were fussy cut/die cut from paper I made using Distress Inks! Yep, check it out:

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic. It doesn't remotely show the vibrancy of the colors. (You'll see what I did with all the other die cut leaves on another post. Stay tuned!) Since I got my ink on, I'm also going to enter this in the Moxie Fab World Color Media Challenge. The sentiment was masked from two different stamp sets. The inside was also masked (the word Happy), and I used the Alphadots set to stamp Thanksgiving.

That's it for this post. I have more to do! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

Chris
Supplies:
Stamps: Paper Smooches - Gently Seasoned, Autumn Groves, Good Gab, Alphadots, Digits
Ink: Memento - Rich Cocoa; Ranger DI - walnut stain, wild honey, peeled paint, fired brick, spiced marmalade
DP: MME - Chalk Studio (honeycomb); Recollections - Simply Autumn (striped)
Card stock: Recollections
Accessories: Grand Calibur; Paper Smooches - Hickory Leaf Die; X-Acto knife; Marvy Uchida marker - Sepia
Adhesives: SA by 3L - EZ Runner, foam squares; Glue Dots

Drunken Stampers # 146 Thing: Wood

Hello and welcome to another challenge at the Drunken Stampers Challenge blog! As you may know, this term is all about a Person, Place or Thing. This week is a thing: Wood. You can use any wood or woodgrain element on your project!

It's team Tropical Hooters turn this week, and here is what I came up with:

...and the inside:

Hahahaha! I lurvs me a great punch line on the inside of my cards! I colored some wood word bubbles with Glimmer Mists and used some woodgrain paper for my card. The stamp I used had four ladies on it, but I masked just this one because of how she was posed. And yes, I caved to a current trend and bought a small bag of sequins. The inside sentiment was printed out on my computer. (If you don't have a stamp that says what you want, then Microsoft Word to the rescue! LOL!)

I hope you get the chance to play along with the Drunken Stampers this week! Please be sure to stop by the other members of team Tropical Hooters to see what they came up with! Have a great day!

Chris
Supplies
Stamps: Hampton Arts/G45 - Fashionista Ladies
Ink: Memento - Gray Flannel
DP: MME - Dolled Up
Card stock: Recollections
Accessories: Recollections - wood word bubbles; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Aquamarine, Yellow Daisy, Terracotta  Candy Apple Red; Nicole - sequins; Fiskars - Romantique corner rounder; inside sentiment printed from Microsoft Word.

One more Halloween card....

...and then I'm done. For real! Made this one last night. Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. I love to decorate my house inside and out. Especially outside, which I was finally able to do yesterday! (Friggin' rained since Wednesday! Grrrrr!) I have, over the last few years, hoarded collected many Halloween stickers. The one I used for this card is from a pack of creepy frames:

The picture alone is creepy of itself. But, if you shift the angle of the card a bit.....

Creepy x 1000000!!!! Love it! LOL! Here's the finished inside:

Don't pay any attention to the badly punched web panel. I don't know if it's operator error when cutting the panel, or my trimmer is not labeled correctly. Probably a bit of both. I may have had two glasses of wine by that time also. I'm sure THAT had nothing to do with it! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by. To my Canadian friends, I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving weekend! Gobble til you wobble!

Chris
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT - Totally Witchin'
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Ranger DI - Walnut Stain
DP: Martha Stewart - Vampire collection
Card stock: Recollections
Accessories: Recollections - Lenticular Sticker; Martha Stewart - spider web border punch; Fiskars corner rounder; Adhesives: SA by 3L - EZ Runner & foam squares

Some cards to share...

Good afternoon and TGIF! Today I have a few cards to share: two of them I actually submitted for publication. Obviously they weren't picked. I haz a sad. (See Lindsey, I TOLD you I was gonna use that phrase at some point! LOL!) The last I made just for fun. Check it:

...and the inside:

I had this sentiment in my mind to pair with that image ever since I saw the movie Twilight. Finally did something about it! I printed the sentiment from the computer onto some DP, die cut the scalloped circle off the edge and adhered with foam squares. I then stamped, colored and fussy cut the image also adhering with foam squares. Added a few enamel dots. (Disclaimer: The enamel dots were in no way meant to be thought of as blood drops, just pretty embellies! LOL!)  I just now thought of that while typing this post! Duh! (facepalm) Anyway, here's the second card:

Yep, punch line on the inside of the card! HA!

I really suck at making my own card designs. That's why I use sketches. A lot. But I love my inside sentiment, again printed from my computer. (My brother-in-law should be receiving this card in the mail today! LOL!) I die cut the dino, stamped and colored him, added Glossy Accents to his eye and adhered with foam squared on top of two Bam Bubble dies.

Ok, last one:

...and the inside:

This card came together probably within 10 minutes. (I know. It freaked me out too. Usually, it's like 2 hours minimum for me to make a card.) What made it so quick was that I already had the card base and the wine glasses cut. They were just sitting on my desk waiting to be used. Found that scrap of teal card stock, trimmed and adhered, then the glasses were added with foam squares. Rounded one corner, stamped the sentiment, finished the inside and done!

Thanks for staying until the end of my long winded post! It's still raining here in my neck of the woods. Still.  I'm seriously thinking I may have to get crafty in another way and start building an ark if this rain doesn't move off the coast soon. ☺

Hope your weekend is a crafty one! Tootles!

Chris
Supplies:

Lion and lamb card:
Stamps: Paper Smooches - Eco Friendly; Hero Arts - Celebrate Everyday
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
DP: Echo Park - Happy Days
Card Stock: Paper Smooches - aqua from the Lily Collection; Strathmore water color paper
Accessories: Grand Calibur; Classic Scalloped Circles Nesties; MME - enamel dots; Marvy Uchida markers; Sentiment printed from Microsoft Word; Adhesives: SA by 3L EZ Runner & 3D foam squares

Dino card:
Stamps: Paper Smooches - Cutasaurau; Birthday Sampler
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
DP: Basic Grey - Persimmon
Card Stock: Recollections; Strathmore water color paper
Accessories: Grand Calibur; Paper Smooches Dino's 1 and Bam Bubbles Dies; Marvy Uchida markers; sentiment printed from Microsoft Word; Adhesives: SA by 3L - EZ Runner and 3D foam squares

Let's Celebrate card:
Stamps: Paper Smooches - Free Spirits, Digits
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Rhubarb Stalk, Teal Zeal
DP: Studio Calico - Snippets
Card stock: Recollections (white); Cor' Dinations (teal)
Accessories: Grand Calibur; Paper Smooches - Drink Glasses dies; Fiskars corner rounder; Adhesives: SA by 3L - EZ Runner and 3D foam squares

Paging Nurse Margaret....

Hello and happy Thursday! Ok, I'm trying to stay positive. It's cold and rainy and windy today. Supposed to be like that thru the weekend. So what did I do? I made cards! Muahahaha! This is based on Mojo Monday #314. Also, since I used die cuts, I'm entering this at Designed to Color #21: use die cuts:
ETA: I'm also entering this in the Catch the Bug - Anything Goes challenge!

Here is the inside. Lurves me a great punch line! HA!

Based on this sketch:

Yes, I am mailing this to someone! LOL! (Don't worry, they have a sense of humor. It's mandatory in my family, really. ☺)

Nurse Margaret was stamped, colored, and fussy cut then adhered with foam squares. I used die cuts for the circle panel and the sentiment panel. The ribbon is from my stash. I think it was tied around a birthday gift from a few years ago, and I saved the ribbon. It's sort of a nod to candy stripers.

Well, time to go take my fur baby for a short walk in the rain. Oh the smell of Ode d'Wet Dog...yuck! Have a great evening and thanks for stopping by!

Chris
Supplies:
Stamps: Bugaboo - Nurse Margaret Can't Cure Stupidity; Scarlette Hey Cupcake??
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Clear Snap - Charcoal
DP: MME - Lost & Found Union Square
Card stock: Recollections; Copic Xpress It
Accessories: Spectrum Noir markers; Grand Calibur; Sm & Lg Std Classic Circles and Lg Deckled Rectangles Nesties; Ribbon from stash; SA by 3L adhesives - EZ Runner and foam squares

Eat, Drink, and be Scary!

Happy Wednesday my friends! Do you have anything crafty going on? It's overcast and cool here in my neck of the woods. I did a bunch of housework yesterday so, other than switching out loads of laundry, I figured I'd get crafty and finish this card I started the other day. And perhaps make another card. Or two...

I'm going to enter this in the Moxie Fab World's Stickers and Tape Challenge:

Here is the inside of the card:

I cut 1" wide strips of white card stock and covered them in different Washi tape, using Halloween colors for my card. Then I rounded the corners of the strips. At this point, Andy came in the room, glanced at the strips and said, "Are you making band-aids?" LOL! Ok, yes they do look like band-aids. Ya got me there! (Note to self: purchase another corner rounder with a smaller curve.) Since I didn't have a stamp, I printed the sentiment from my computer, added some Washi tape on the ends, and stuck the ghost goblet sticker on it. All panels are adhered with foam squares. On the inside, I added three strips of Washi tape, stamped the sentiment, and I was done!

Thanks for hanging out with me for a bit. You still have plenty of time to enter this challenge, hope to see you there! Craft on my friends!

Chris
Supplies:
Washi tape: Recollections; Studio Calico (I think?? orange washi)
Card stock: Recollections
Accessories: Jolee's Boutique - dimensional sticker; Font: Showcard Gothic - Microsoft Word;  Fiskars corner rounder; Stamp: Hero Arts - Celebrate Everyday set; Ink: Ranger DI - Dusty Concord; Adhesive: SA by 3L - foam squares

Trick or Treat

I think I'm just about done making my Halloween cards! (I mail a great many of my cards out. The rest I need to either sell or donate!) Here's one more for your viewing pleasure! (*snort*!)

Here is the inside:

I'm entering this for Moxie Fab World's Ready Made Embellishments Challenge. Since I used some polka dot paper, I'm also entering this in Simon Says Stamp's- We're Going Dotty Challenge. And while I'm at it, also the Curtain Call - Spooky Scene challenge.

A couple years ago, I was lucky enough to win the entire Night Fall collection from American Crafts when they first showcased it at the CHA show. I've used it a handful of times but barely put a dent in using all the amazing goodies it came with! The Ready Made Embellishments challenge was a perfect way to get me to use some more items in the collection. Along with patterned paper, I've used a Flair button, ribbon, 1 layer and dimensional stickers, and a chalk label. The inside is finished with more paper and a couple more 1 layer stickers. Super easy!

That's all I have for now. Since it's raining today, (so happy about that - the ground is so dry here my backyard had cracks in it. For real!), I'll be making another card. Or two. ;) Have a great day!

Chris
Supplies:
DP, Flair, ribbon, chalk label and stickers: American Crafts - Night Fall collection
Card stock: Recollections
Adhesives: SA by 3L - EZ Runner; Recollections red tape

Let's be FRANK....

Hello my friends! I hope you had a chance yesterday to make a card or two to celebrate World Card Making Day! I made this card yesterday later in the day and so didn't have good natural light to take pictures. So today I share with you:

Here is the inside:

I based it off of DD Wanna Sketch #9 

I'm also adding this to the current Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge - Anything Goes

Yes, I've used this before, but I just love Lisa's sketches! Anyway, I used, you guessed it, more Paper Smooches stamps! (It's an obsession. Really.) I did some masking for my punny sentiment. The 'Let's' and 'be' are masked from two different sentiments from the Birthday Sampler set. I used Alphadots for 'Frank'. I stamped, colored and fussy cut "Frank" and adhered him with foam squares. I also added Glossy Accents to his eyes. Stamped the inside and was done!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

Chris

Supplies

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Halloweenies, Alphadots, Birthday Sampler, Crystal Clear

Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Clear Snap - Charcoal

DP: Martha Stewart - Vampires

CS: The Paper Co., Copic Xpress It 

Accessories: Spectrum Noir markers; Ranger Glossy Accents; Provo Craft decorative scissors; Fiskars corner rounder

Drunken Stampers #144: Person - Neil Armstrong

Good morning friends! It's time for another challenge at Drunken Stampers! Challenge 144: Person - Neil Armstrong.

As you may know, this term's challenges will be either a person, place, or thing. This week we pay homage to the first person to walk on the moon! (Side note: when we were coming up with the challenges, I asked my hubby to name a person off the top of his head. Yep, you guessed it: he picked Neil Armstrong! Not surprising as hubby has a PhD in astrophysics! I'm sure Spike decided to pick this person for our challenges because, well, this IS a challenge blog! We want to challenge you!) Anyhooo, it's team Tropical Hooters turn this week and here's what I came up with:

Here is another pic that shows the debossing on the "moon":

I stamped, colored and fussy cut the Earth and astronaut. My flag is made from red and white striped ribbon that I adhered around a tooth pick. I cut a teeny tiny piece of blue card stock and used a white marker to make the "stars" then adhered to the flag. I love the paper I used for the moon. It almost glows just like it! I die cut a piece of it from a grand circle nestie then used a bubble wrap embossing folder to deboss it, to emulate meteor hits. I wanted a goofy sentiment so I heat embossed the 'Hi ma'. ☺

Ok, so there you have it. I hope you find some time to play along with the Drunken Stampers this week! Don't forget to check out what the other members of Team Tropical Hooters came up with!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Card Making Day!!

Craft on my friends!
Chris
Supplies
Stamps: Paper Smooches - Space Cadet, Green Acres (sentiment)
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Versa Mark
DP: Graphic 45 - Happy Haunting (stars); Anna Griffin (moon)
Card stock: Recollections
Accessories: Grand Calibur & Grand Circle Nesties; Sizzix/TH Bubble Wrapping EF; Spectrum Noir markers; Stampendous detail white EP; Sakura - White Gelly Roll pen; Ribbon from stash; toothpick; heat gun; SA by 3L & Recollection red tape adhesives

That Sucks...

Hi all and good morning! I want to share a card with you that I made using the current sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch #194, and since I used Paper Smooches stamps, I'll add this one to the current Sparks - Anything Goes challenge:

Here is the inside:

Based my card from this sketch:

I have a bat theme going on all over this card. See the gray DP with the black bats? Those bats are flocked! Awesome! I keep petting this card! Hahahaha!! Found the perfect sentiment to go with that cute hanging bat image! LOL! I really wanted to stamp an arrow that had a 90 degree angle to it, but I couldn't find one, so I went with the straight arrow above the sentiment. The branch was masked (badly) from a tree image and didn't come out dark enough, so I went over it with a marker. Glossy Accents was added to the eyes.

This past weekend I stamped a bunch of images and colored them with my Spectrum Noir markers. I think I'm starting to get the hang of how alcohol markers work. (But I'm still a work in progress!) ;) You'll see more in future posts.

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for hanging out with me! Have a fabulous day!

Craft on my friends!
Chris
Supplies
Stamps: Paper Smooches - Falling for you, Halloweenies, Squeaky Clean, Fancifull Fall, Teen Routine
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Gray Flannel
DP and ribbon: Anna Griffin - Esmeralda
CS: Bazzill; Recollections; Xpress It
Accessories: Spectrum Noir markers; Ranger Glossy Accents; SA by 3L adhesive