simon wednesday challenge: showers and/or flowers

Hello hello!  I'm playing along with Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge, where the theme this week is Showers and/or Flowers.  I made my first ever pop-up box card for this challenge.  Such a labor of love!

First I stamped, colored, die-cut and fussy cut images.

Then I put together the pop-up box...

...and arranged everything inside.  So pleased with the results.

Thank you for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Blissful Botanicals and Love You Tons
Dies: Lawn Fawn Blissful Botanicals; Love You Tons; Scalloped Box Card Pop-Up
Paper: MFT Watercolor Wash paper pack
Inks: Copic markers, Memento (tuxedo black)
Other: glue and foam tape

essentials by ellen: mix it up with waffle flower crafts

Hello there!  I'm playing along with a couple of challenges today.  The first is the Essentials by Ellen Mix It Up Challenge, where we are combining Essentials by Ellen and Waffle Flower Crafts products.

The second challenge is CAS(E) this Sketch, where we are using the following layout.

Putting together the two challenges, I made this...

For my card, I used the Wild Garden dies for the flowers. The sentiment comes from Balloon Messages.

Thanks for taking a look!

essentials by ellen: march pin-sights challenge

Oh my goodness, I am so excited to be a guest designer for the Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights Challenge!!!  I have adored the line of Essentials by Ellen products since their first release, so this really is an honor.

The Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights challenge is a monthly challenge inspired by Pinterest photos.  Here is the Pinterest board to serve as our inspiration:

I was inspired by the lighter greens and golden accents in the Pinterest board, and put together this card:

To make this card, first I die-cut, stamped, and colored the bear (in that order).  Then I stamped, colored and die cut all the accessories (again, in that order).  I wanted the bear to have a picnic basket full of green apples, so I colored some ice cream cones green.  They will later be positioned to look like apples.

Next, I played around with the placement of each element.  In this arrangement, I thought about making the bear a little shy by having him hide behind the flowers...

I then decided on this placement below.  Note, the ice cream cones were glued behind the basket so that they look like apples.

To bring the light green and gold together, I masked off part of the card and then blended in green ink.  Then I removed the masking tape and put it over the green ink that I had just applied.  I then lightly blended some yellow/gold to look like a little sunshiny glow.  I stamped and colored in the sentiment and finally adhered the bear and accessories with a combo of glue and foam tape.

And there you have it.  A little bear with apples and honey, ready to go on a picnic!  

I hope you get inspired by the Pinterest board, too, and play along with us.  A random challenge participant will receive a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store (woo hoo!!!).  To be eligible, you MUST use Essentials by Ellen products and the Pinterest photo board as inspiration.   And you have to link up your creation using the inlinkz button on the challenge post.

Have fun!  And, thank you for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Essentials by Ellen All Inside and Bear Ware

Dies: Essentials by Ellen All Inside and Bear Ware

Inks: Copic markers in assorted colors; Mama Elephant Mojito and Buttercup; Memento Tuxedo Black

Other: Tombo glue; Scotch foam tape

CASology: landmark

Hey there!  I'm playing along with the CASology Week 239 challenge, where our cue card word is  "Landmark".

Here's my card...a little tribute to the big city I call home.

And, on the inside...

Thank you for taking a look!

Supplies:
Stamps: Mama Elephant Blogging Buddies, Central Park, Everyday Greetings
Dies: Mama Elephant Cityscape
Inks: Mama Elephant Apple, Moonlight; Smoke; Versafine Onyx Black

essentials by ellen: mix it up challenge with paper smooches

It's been a loooong time since I crafted and entered a challenge, but I'm really hoping to get my groove back.  Here's a card I put together for the Essentials by Ellen Mix It Up Challenge.  This challenge has us mixing Essentials by Ellen and Paper Smooches products.

Thank you for taking a look!

Supplies:

Dies: Essentials by Ellen Wild Garden; Paper Smooches Get Well Phrase

cas(e) this sketch #195 - guest designer

I’m so excited to join the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge as a guest designer this week!  Such an honor!  Here’s the sketch we worked with:

And, here’s my card:

I tried to achieve the splatter and blotchy look by using a heavy hand when I blended distress inks for the sky.  Then I splattered on some white color mist, waited for everything to dry, and stamped on the blue snowflakes.

I stamped, colored (with Copics), and die cut the buildings.  Then I die cut the snowy hill.  Next, I adhered everything onto the card base with a combo of glue and foam tape.  And last by not least, I brushed some Wink of Stella glitter on to the buildings.  It was absolutely necessary.

Thank you for taking a look, and big hugs and thanks to CAS(E)this Sketch for inviting me to the party!  I had a great time!

Supplies:

Stamps: Mama Elephant City Sidewalks

Dies: Mama Elephant City Sidewalks and Landscape Trio

Inks: Copic markers, Mama Elephant (stargaze), Mister Huey’s Color Mists (opaque white), Tim Holtz Distress (broken china, peacock feathers)    

Other: Wink of Stella glitter brush (clear)

lawnscaping challenge #136: punny time version 3

I can't stop making pun-based cards and I only wish I had more time to play in the current Lawnscaping Challenge, appropriately entitled "Punny Time".  Here's my final entry for this challenge:

The backstory: I made this card for my pun-loving friend, Cynthia, who is celebrating her birthday at a karaoke bar, followed by a Michael Jackson tribute party.  So, a karaokeing ewe singing one of Cynthia's favorite songs, Michael Jacksons "Rock With You", made perfect sense for a birthday card.

I used a bunch of Lawn Fawn stamp sets for this set: 

• The ewe is from Baaah Humbug
• The custom sentiment was made using Smitty's ABCs
• The stars in the spotlight are from Lucky Stars
• The musical notes are from Holiday Party Animal
• The base of the spotlight was made by using the backside of the cookie platter stamp from Milk and Cookies
• And the microphone was made from an ice cream cone from Party Animal that I doctored a bit

Ah yes, up until recently my proudest moment was beating my librarian/geography and world history-loving friend in a thrilling game of "Who can name the most countries that end in the letter A" (Note: there are lots of 'em).  But now, I have to say that my proudest moment is turning an ice cream cone into a microphone:)

Thanks for taking a look!