Buzz cut

Good morning! I finally got some time to play in my craft cave yesterday. I've been working on a layout that I started almost a week ago and only just finished it last night. It happens!

Here's the second love of my life (following my husband, of course!). Colby is our fur baby. He's a Golden Retriever/Chow mix. We adopted him from a rescue organization called G.R.R.E.A.T. (Golden Retriever Rescue, Education And Training) a couple years ago and our lives have forever been changed for the better. I seriously don't know how we managed without this lovable little boy! If you or someone you know are looking to adopt a pet, please consider a Golden! They are such a joy and sooooo lovable! Be sure to check out G.R.R.E.A.T's web site also!

Well, I'm not sure if I'll be blogging any more this week since I'm trying to get the house cleaned, things organized and packed, before we leave on vacation. Beach house here we come! Woo Hoo! If not, I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend! Stay safe and have fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris ☺

Love you more...

Hello there and Happy Friday! Today I'm sharing with you another card I made for the My Favorite Things September Guest Designer Challenge. This was such a fun card to make:

And the inside! LOL!

Here is the sketch. As you can see, I rotated it on it's side.

Totally love this sentiment! It's actually one stamp, but I cut it in half so the punch line would be on the inside of the card. Gasp! Did you say you CUT your stamp?! Yes! Absolutely you can do that. It won't hurt the stamp at all, you just need to be careful when you cut it.

I used a sentiment from MFT's Twisted Threesome set and also the Mini Monarch border Die-Namics. The file folder was cut using my Slice die cut machine. (Yes, I know, I'm probably the only one on the planet that still uses a Slice. But I don't care - I love it!) All the patterned paper and elements are from Cosmo Cricket's Social Club collection. The bakers twine is from MME.

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave a comment. I read them all and really appreciate them! And why not try your hand at this challenge? You never know. MFT could pick YOU as their next guest designer!

Chris ☺

Supplies:
stamps: My Favorite Things Twisted Threesome
dies: Mini Monarch border Die-Namic
ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Clear Snap - Charcoal
card stock: Bazzill
DP, chipboard button and element card - Cosmo Cricket - Social Club
Slice die cut machine
baker's twine: MME
adhesive: E-Z Runner and foam squares by Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L; Glue Dots; American Crafts double sided tape

The Best Things....

Good Morning and Happy Friday! Today I want to share a card I made for the My Favorite Things September Guest Designer Challenge.

the inside:

Here is the sketch they provided:

I only have a few MFT stamps, so to win the September DT challenge would be a dream come true! I've used the Vertical Greetings II stamp and Die-Namics set for this card. This set has such beautiful sentiments! I was going for a shabby-chic look to my card so I distressed both paper panels and inked all edges with Clear Snap creamy brown and chestnut roan. The leaves I hand cut and distressed also. I used the Rolled Rose Die-Namics for the flower and added a brad for the center. For that side tab, I just traced part of the Vertical Greetings die and cut it out! Easy peasy! Drew some stitching and added a little lace and some pearls to finish it off!

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

Chris ☺

Supplies:
Stamps: My Favorite Things Vertical Greetings II; Inkadinkado (best wishes)
Die-Namics: Vertical Greetings II; Rolled Rose
Card stock: Bazzill; The Paper Co.
DP and brad: MME - Stella & Rose: Mabel
Ink: Memento in Rich Cocoa; Clear Snap - Creamy Brown and Chestnut Roan
Pearls: Recollections
Lace: Simplicity
Marker: Marvy Uchida
Adhesives: Glue Dots; American Crafts double sided tape; Foam Squares and E-Z Runner by Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

CFC66 Splish Splash

Hello again. This is my second post this morning. You can find the first one here.

The card below was made for the CAS-ual Friday CFC66 challenge.

the inside:

 

The challenge is to feature something you see in or on the ocean. I hadn't inked these stamps yet so they were calling to me to be used. ☺ They are from the All Aboard set from Technique Tuesday. My kraft card base is from Recollections and all the other paper is from my slowly dwindling scrap pile. I used a nestibility die from Spellbinders after stamping the ship, then inked around it with creamy brown by Clear Snap. The metal photo corners are from American Crafts and the twine from MME. I think it has a very nautical vibe with those knots! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Chris ☺

Celebrate with butterflies

Hey all! Happy Monday morning. (?) I'm trying to get a couple cards entered for challenges...at the last minute....again. ;)  This card is for CTD205.

inside:

and the inspiration:

It's hard to see, but the butterflies in the inspiration photo are all sitting on white icing flowers, so that's what I went with. When I stamped the flowers, I got a little smudge of black on the card. DOH! So, since there are no accidents in our crafty world, I hid it with that little tag and threw in some ribbon and twine also! It wasn't planned that way, but I really like how it came out! I used a butterfly punch from Martha Stewart and punched them from scrap paper. They are adhered using Helmar 450 glue. (Love this stuff! It's like using hot glue without the fear of burning your fingers! And it's fast drying!)

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

Chris ☺

Supplies:
card stock: Recollections
paper scraps
stamps: Inkadinkado - Doodle Flowers; Unity Stamps - sentiment from July 2012 KOTM
ink: Tsukineko Tuxedo Black
ribbon: LYB; twine - Doodlebug
tag: JoAnn Scrap Essentials
punches: Martha Stewart - butterflies; Fiskars - corner rounder
adhesive: Helmar 450; foam squares by SA by 3L

In crafty withdrawal

Hey all. I just noticed that I haven't posted anything in over a week! My house seems to have picked this year to start falling apart, so I've been dealing with water leakage in the basement, gutters that aren't working up to par all of a sudden, and getting price quotes for a new sump pump. Aargh!!! It's enough to make me want to pull out my hair! Oh the joys of home ownership. :)

Anyway, here is a card I made for the current Sparks challenge from Paper Smooches:

Here is the sketch provided:

I thought that it looked like part of a crescent moon. The pre made card is from DCWV all other paper is scrap. (My scrap pile is SLOWLY shrinking!) I embossed both the ghost and the sentiment. The stamp sets are Paper Smooches Spookalicious (ghost) and Qwick Qwips (eek). For the stars I used a Craft Twinkles Writer from DecoArt. I used Clear Snap inks and inked the edges of the card and the moon, and used foam squares by Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L to pop the ghost up. This sketch was so easy to work with. I think I made this card in under 30 minutes - quite the record for me! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Chris ☺

Dream...

Hi again. I just cranked out this card up in my craft cave. It's for Mojo Monday #253 and, for the first time, the Simon Says Stamp Bingo challenge.

Here is a side view, so you can see the dimension in the flower. (sorry that it came out blurry!)

and the inside:

Here are the two challenges:

I used the Ribbon/Die Cut/ Buttons combo for the Simon Say Stamp challenge. The patterned paper is the new Bird Song collection by Graphic 45, which I was lucky enough to be one of the winners of! Their paper is so gorgeous that it's REALLY hard for me to cut into it! I die cut three flowers using my Slice machine; curled them by rubbing the end of a paintbrush on the back side and after inking the edges with chestnut roan by Clear Snap, glued them together with Helmar 450. The ribbon is from May Arts, the buttons from my stash. I embossed the red panel with the Leafy Branch EF by Cuttlebug. Floss is from DMC. On the inside, the stamp is from Unity Stamp's April KOTM.

I hope that you enjoyed my card. Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have a crafty rest of the day!

Chris ☺

Go See Do!

Happy Saturday! Here is a card I made for CAS-ual Fridays #65, create a square card, and for Paper Smooches Sparks challenge:

and the inside:

The challenges:

Square card: Easy peasy. A travel themed card? For me, not so much, but I figured it out. I used stamps from Smarty Pants (bus), Metropolis (car, balloon), and Get Outta Town (plane, stripe, circle, inside sentiment), and Graffiti (go see do). On the front panel, I stamped the stripe and circle with Versamark then stamped Go See Do in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I cut it out using decorative scissors from Provo Craft to look like a stamp. My thinking is that it would give the impression of a postcard. I used my Slice die cut machine to cut four small stamps from scrap paper, stamped them and adhered to the panel using 3D foam squares from SA by 3L. Oh, the exclamation mark was masked from the question mark in the Graffiti set. It came together pretty quickly once I figured out what I was going to do.

Well, the DH and I are gonna go out bumming around and get something to eat for lunch. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

Chris ☺ 

Mmmmm Chocolate!

Hi all! We are having another gorgeous day today. Been outside with my fur baby, Colby for a while, but just came in to post this card that I'm entering for the Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge #164.

Here's the inside: I'm so in love with this sentiment! LOL!

Seriously, they had me in mind when they created this stamp! Ha! Here is the sketch:

So, did anyone catch that sale from My Craft Channel for the MME Follow Your Heart collection? I did, and that's what I'm using for this card. I've been feeling homesick and depressed the last few weeks so I sorta, kinda did some retail therapy with paper collections and stamps. The stamp set is also a new addition to my arsenal of stamps. (Hello, my name is Chris Dring and I am a stamp and paper hoarder. There. I said it. It's out in the open now. Whew, I feel much better now! LOL!) Some people buy clothes. I go for paper crafting supplies. Just sayin'.

The stamps and die are from My Favorite Things: Dip Me In Chocolate set; Twisted Threesome; and the die-namics from the Vertical Greetings set. (Karen Giron, I was trying to make you proud!) The brad and rhinestones are also from MME. I stitched around one of the panels with my Sew Easy from WRMK. I colored her using my Marvy Uchida markers. Oh, question for any/everybody: When you emboss your card, how do you take the picture without it coming out looking white? I embossed her in black but even without a flash, she still came out white. Grrrrr!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I think it's time for a glass of wine now! Enjoy!

Chris ☺

You're how old?!

Good morning all! Here is a card I made for my nephew, who will be turning 21 in another week. Gasp! Where did the time go? I swear he was just three years old the other day! I had every intention of entering this for the Color Throwdown #203 but never got it done in time. DOH! Always the procrastinator! I still have time to enter it for the My Favorite Things WSC83. Barely!

So, usually I have a picture of the inside of my card. Welllllll, my battery has been low for some time now, and this was the last picture I took before it died. :( Oh well. Inside I used tiny alphas from Cosmo Cricket to say "When did that happen?" and a stamp from Unity Stamps that says Happy Birthday. On the front I used Kraft paper (Recollections), Black (Bazzill), and green (DCWV). I used the MFT mini monarch die-namics border. Oh, and those strips of orange, blue and yellow? I covered white card stock scraps with Washi tape and glued them onto the borders! How cool is THAT! I'm not sure where the {21} is from (sorry!) The 'seriously?' is from MFT's Twisted Threesome stamp set. The circles and ovals were cut from nestabibilities by Spellbinders. Oh! I almost forgot the puzzle stamp is from Hero Arts.

Here is the sketch:

Thanks for stopping by! One of these days I'll get myself more organized and get my cards entered sooner rather than at the last minute! (it can happen! LOL!)

Have a great day today!

Chris ☺