Friends with Flair

I'm really glad it's Friday. My husb and I have a fun weekend planned, and it's been a tough week. And of course, Friday means Unity's Friends with Flair. 

When I think of my Unity stamps, I first think of fun and cute images, yet they are often the ones I turn to when I need a more sombre card. This is sort of a pre-sympathy card, for a friend who's husband is very ill with cancer. It's a variation on a card design I've used before. I was going to put the sentiment higher, but it seemed to really work in this spot. With the white-embossed wildflowers and dry-embossed oval, I'm entering this in the current Do You Stack Up (DYSU#95) embossing challenge. 
Unity has a great sale going on this weekend! You should also check out all the inspiring cards linked to the Friends with Flair hop! I hope you have a terrific weekend. 

Supplies: white & pale green cardstock, My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose Hattie patterned paper, Unity & {ippity} stamps, Colorbox frost white & iced spruced distress inks, white embossing powder, Spellbinders scalloped oval die

Halloween Spooks!

A week till Halloween! It's only fitting, then, that this week at Crafty Creations Challenges our theme is Halloween spooks. Monsters, spiders, haunted houses... you get the idea, I'm sure. I think this is the last Halloween card I need to make this year, so I decided to go all out:

All the stamps I used are from the bins at Michaels! I like the not-too-scary look of these spooks. It's hard to tell from the photo, but they are stamped on a very pale green, with a strip of the same cardstock on the edge of the inside of the card. The bats and spiderwebs are stamped on the white card base, then sponged with two shades of purple. Everything's heat-embossed, of course. 
Also since I think this is my last Halloween card for the season, I'm linking this to a couple of Halloween challenges, at Tuesday Throwdown and My Grafico. 
Our generous sponsor this week is Whiff of Joy! And remember, we are happy to see any crafted creation, not just cards. So let's see your Halloween spooks! 

Supplies: white & pale green cardstock, Karen Foster goblin mist patterned paper, Craft Zone (Michaels) stamps, Brilliance graphite black & milled lavender, dusty concord & iced spruce distress inks, Spellbinders circle die, clear embossing powder

Bonus Challenges Post!

I think this may be the most cards I have ever made in a week. :D But yes, I'm back, with two more cards to complete ALL the current Unity World Card Making Day challenges. 

This is for Unity's current kit of the month sketch challenge. I had a brilliant design in mind, till I realized I was thinking of a Unity/Jillibean Soup set, not a kit of the month. (I think that card may still show up in a future Friends with Flair post!) So I thought some more, and decided to use the September 2011 kit. I thought the kraft cardstock had a nice envelope/packaging look to it, and randomly stamped the postmark and cancellation in red and green to match the three "stamps".

And finally, this card for Unity's monthly challenge. This month, it's all about pumpkins. And I just happened to have one on this Halloween stamp, from the same kit (what a surprise) as the Christmas stamp above. I added the postmark and cancellation from the same kit, then some images from Fright Night. Why yes, I do quite like that spooky tree! And no, of course that little BOO banner isn't covering a mistake, whatever made you think that? It's, um, balancing the twine in the opposite corner. Hard to believe from the photo, but the tree, BOO and mat are actually dark purple. The postmark is black. 
Since it's Friday, I'm linking up to Friends with Flair! And my Halloween card is going into the current Simon Says Stamp inspiration challenge. 
Phew! :D Have a great weekend. 

Suppies: (joy stamp) white & Stampin' Up kraft & real red cardstock, Unity September 2011 Kit of the Month (All Seasons) stamps, Colorbox evergreen & frost white & Stampin' Up real red & garden green inks, clear & Wow opaque white embossing powders, Twinery maraschino twine; (BOO) purple & Stampin' Up naturals ivory cardstock, Unity September 2011 Kit of the Month (All Seasons) and Fright Night stamps, Versamark & Memento tuxedo black, elderberry & tangelo inks, clear embossing powder, Twinery mandarin twine

Last Two Unity Challenges

Yes! I have all eight Unity World Card Making Day challenges completed! 

Challenge #1: Shaped Cards was a bit of a stretch for me, just because I don't generally make a lot of shaped cards. But eventually I came up with this casket-shaped Halloween card (that won out over a headstone shape). The base is grey cardstock with sponged edges, with several images from the Unity/Echo Park set Fright Night. While I could have stamped and cut out the bats, I went with a punch instead. :D The spooky silhouette tree is inspired both by the current Simon Says Stamp challenge (the bottom right picture) and my friend Jen's awesome Halloween card. 
I saved what is for me the easiest challenge for last:

Challenge #3: Embossing is a no-brainer for me. In fact, I think Unity had me in mind when they said challenges couldn't be combined, since just about every card I make has embossing! This one has clear and white embossing, as well as some colouring. Of course there's also stickles on his hat, liquid pearls on his nose and glossy accents on his patchwork heart. 
But wait, there's more! I'm going to try to meet the extra hurdle of completing Unity's two regular challenges. You'll just have to check back before Sunday to see if I manage this extra feat. :D 

 Supplies: (Halloween) grey, yellow, orange, purple & black cardstock, vellum, Unity/Echo Park fright night stamps, Versafine onyx black & Memento grey flannel inks, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders circle dies, pop-dot tape; (joy) white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, DCWV patterned paper, Unity November 2011 Kit of the Month (take your time) & oh! joy! stamps, Versafine onyx black, Colorbox frost white, Versamark & Stampin' Up real red inks, Prismacolour pencils, Spellbinders circle & scalloped circle dies, frosted lace Stickles, real red Liquid Pearls, glossy accents

Autumn Hello; Winter Joy

I'm back again (!) with two more cards for the Unity World Card Making Day challenges! The first one is for Challenge #5: Fall Theme. 

This card is the result of a happy accident! My original plan was to stamp these leaves in a variety of colours, cut them out, and gather them in a bunch with some twine as a focal point of a card. So I stamped them, looked at them, and realized it made a rather awesome background! Thus this card was born. I think I've even worked in some design elements, with the flow of the leaves across the card, and the placement of the little sentiment in the "sweet spot". :) 
My other card is for Challenge #2: Texture. 

Texture? Let me count the ways: 
1. Dry embossing (I sprayed the panel with smooch spritz first for some glitz, then debossed rather than embossed by accident totally on purpose.)
2. Heat embossing. 
3. Textured cardstock for the snowman's jacket and hat as well as the frame.
3. DIY flocking (styrofoam snowball) on his hat and jacket trim.
4. Red perfect pearls for his nose! 
5. Ribbon loops. 
If you big the picture, you'll see the shimmer on the embossed panel as well as the shine of the silver paper of the paper-pieced ornaments. 
I'm on the home stretch now! I may just get all eight challenges done. Although real-life obligations are starting to pile up. ☺

Supplies: (hello) red & Stampin' Up naturals ivory cardstock, Unity September 2011 Kit of the Month (All Seasons) & ? stamps, Memento dandelion, cantaloupe, tangelo, rhubarb stalk & Ranger vintage photo distress inks, Doodlebug twine, pop-dot tape; (winter joy) white & Recollections textured red & silver cardstock, DCWV patterned paper, Unity roly-poly winter joy stamps, Versamark & Versafine onyx black inks, clear & Ranger ruby red embossing powders, Spellbinders ribbon labels & circle dies, Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder, Colorbox vanilla smooch spritz, white gel pen, Prismacolor pencils, Offray ribbon, pop-dot tape

Two More Challenge Cards!

Working away at more Unity World Card Making Day Challenges! Once again, I made sure I did a hard (for me) challenge along with an easy one. The hard one first:

This is for Challenge #8: colour challenge. The colours are cream, brown, olive and pumpkin. SO not my colours; I'm more of a brights kinda girl. :) As I looked through my stamps, I came across this itty bitty I hadn't used yet, and the wheels started turning. Don't these socks just call out to be paper-pieced? So that's what I did with a couple of patterned paper scraps. The orange scrap was a rather pale pumpkin, so I added some spiced pumpkin paint to the polka dots. Now I have a fun masculine card to add to my stash! 

Challenge #6 asks you to make a border using a non-border stamp. I had lots of ideas for this one, but in my effort to build up the Christmas card collection as I do some challenges, I opted for this little holly stamp. Notice I went for the non-written rhyme: jolly, golly... holly!
This means I have half the challenges done! Four down, four to go... 

Supplies: (socks) Stampin' Up naturals ivory & old olive cardstock, patterned paper scraps, Unity matching socks stamps, Brilliance coffee bean ink, clear embossing powder, Twinkling H2Os, Spellbinders reverse wonky rectangles die, pop-dot tape; (be jolly) white & black cardstock, Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas patterned paper, Unity/Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder stamps, Memories black, Stampin' Up garden green & Versamark inks, clear embossing powder, Prismacolor pencils

World Card Making Day Challenges

So, World Card Making Day (WCMD) was October 6th, coincidentally the day of our big family Thanksgiving dinner... which I cook. Luckily for me, some WCMD challenges extend beyond the day itself, including those at the Unity Stamp blog. If you enter all EIGHT, there's a chance for a big prize! I don't know if I can manage to get them all done, but I've got two ready to go! 

This is for Challenge #7: Colouring. It was going to be for the embossing challenge, but I realized that masking the little penguins so they could all hold flippers AND embossing them was too much work for my frame of mind when I made it. ;) The colouring was accomplished with a few Sharpies, and the pom-poms and hat bands have some Stickles for fun. 

In attempting not to do ALL the easiest challenges first, this is for Challenge #4: Sketch. I was pretty much stumped by this sketch until I flipped it upside-down. Then I had a bunch of ideas, and settled on using this great {ippity} penguin, sitting on a giant snowdrift. He's coloured with Prismacolour pencils. 

I'm also going to sneak one of these cards into the Moxie Fab World Christmas card challenge. Unfortunately, those challenges end tonight, so I'll have to live with just two entries. More time for Unity challenges! :D 

             

Supplies: (warm wishes) white & Stampin' Up garden green cardstock, Unity/Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder stamps, Memories black & Stampin' Up real red inks, Sharpies, icicle Stickles, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Spellbinders labels 3 & ribbon tag dies, Celebrate It ribbon, pop-dot tape; (safe holiday) white & Stampin' Up real red cardstock, DCWV patterned paper, {ippity} by Unity Pain and Pride stamps, Versafine onyx black & cranberry inks, clear embossing powder,  Prismacolor pencils, frosted lace Stickles, pop-dot tape

Simon Says Dies or Punches

This week the Simon Says Stamp challenge is to use dies or punches. After thinking I didn't really even want one, I use my Cuttlebug a lot. So a card with a die cut seemed like a fine idea. :D

I really like the delicate look of this flower die. After I cut it, I watercoloured it lightly with green and yellow ink. This patterned paper matched the colours perfectly, and then I picked up on the blue to ink the sentiment. A little twine to finish everything off. Sweet, simple, and easy to mail. 
Since this is (obviously) a birthday card, I'm also going to link it to Moxie Fab World's birthday card World Card Making Day challenge. I totally missed out on WCMD since that was our family's main Thanksgiving get-together day.  Now I'm making up for lost time... next up, some Unity WCMD challenges! 

        

Supplies: white cardstock, watercolour paper, Memory Box brioche patterned paper, Memory Box happy birthday sentiment, Memento dandelion, new sprout, pear tart & teal zeal inks, Simon Says Stamp fresh daisies die, Twinery honeydew twine

Double Embossing

It's Friends with Flair Friday over at the Unity blog, and I decided it was time to show off my first-ever attempt at double-embossing. 

I started by embossing the music background on white cardstock with clear embossing powder. I then sponged yellow and orange inks to cover. Next came the butterfly from Key to Joy, embossed in white. Finally, I sponged green around the butterfly, letting the orange and yellow show through the central image. Trimmed, matted and layered on an old olive card base. The "happy" sentiment is from the {ippity} set A Little Buggy. I made this a while ago for my friend Emily's birthday, and for some reason it hadn't made it to my blog yet! So here it is. :P 
Hope your weekend is off to a great start! 

Supplies: white & Stampin' Up old olive cardstock, Unity Key to Joy butterfly, {ippity} A Little Buggy sentiment, Market Street Stamps vintage music background, Versamark, Colorbox frost white, Memento dandelion, cantaloupe & bamboo leaves inks, clear & white embossing powders

Be Inspired at Crafty Creations Challenges

Belated happy Canadian Thanksgiving! It is definitely autumn here now, and the leaves are falling like crazy. But why rake when you could stay inside and play with paper? :P This week Crafty Creations Challenges has an inspiration photograph to spark your creativity: 

So here is what I was not inspired by: the colours. (It's probably not proper etiquette to admit what you didn't like, but colours seem to be what I always consider first when looking at an inspiration pic. These are a little too neutral for me.) What I did like were the natural elements such as the wood and the feather, and the lovely shape of the bell jar. I looked through some images from our sponsor this week, Meljen's Designs, and picked one that worked for me.

I was eager to try my newest Twinkling H2Os (attention, Canadian shoppers: this store has great prices, sales and service! I now have a fine collection of Twinkling H2Os, whereas I used to have two little pots) so printed out this Victorian birdcage image on watercolour paper, then heat-set and painted it. (One of these days, I will teach myself some more digital-friendly techniques...) Instead of real feathers, I created the pattened paper frame... from a scan of a cloth napkin! :D Some liquid pearls on what I decided were berries completed the scene. I will confess... I'm not completely satisfied with how this has turned out, and may continue to play around with this a little more. 
What inspires you when you look at this week's photograph? Show us for a chance to win your choice of four images from Meljen's Designs! 

Supplies: white cardstock, 110 lb. watercolour paper, Meljen's Designs Victorian birdcage image, Twinkling H2Os, ruby red Liquid Pearls, pop-dot tape