Oink. Oink. Cluck. Birthday Card.

Hi, friends! Good to see you again. I’m back again to share another handmade card with you. Today’s card is a birthday card.

The good thing about online card challenges is even when they end, they are still out there to take inspiration from. I like to do that a lot… and not worry about the stress of linking up a project. So I was totally inspired by a closed challenge today to put this card together. The challenge? Last week’s “humor” / fun challenge from the Simon Says Stamp! Wednesday challenge.

The challenge totally inspired me to dig into my tub of my Simon stamps, which is actually a lot of older stamps. In it was this silly little Birthday Farm Animals set from Simon that I used for this card. I am almost certain, well, positive, it’s retired, but it’s still a darn cute stamp set that deserves to be inked up on occasion. 🙂

I have dies that go with the stamp. I noticed a couple of the dies totally had some matching up problems that I never realized before. (Trust me, I’ve had this set for a long time! I’m slapping my head over not realizing it before.) Still, I still used them to cut the goat and chicken but used my scissors to even things up. Hopefully, it’s not too obvious. It was a pretty easy fix and all…. and a whole lot easier than fussy cutting the whole image.

Going for the fun part of this challenge, I added wiggle eyes to a couple of the critters. I just wanted them to look super goofy! And I think I was successful there. Ha!

I also played with the sentiment stamps a little to add to the fun. I even used a sentiment inside the card that says, “Got Cupcake?” It made me chuckle at least.

Ok. That’s it for me. I hope you liked today’s card! I’ll be back later with another card. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Oh So Cute!

Hi, guys! Back with another card to share. I’m a little late in posting this to link it up to the challenge that inspired it, but I wanted to share it.

Ta-da! Meet today’s card.

I was inspired by last week’s Wednesday Challenge on the Simon Says Stamp! blog to make this little guy. The penguins, fish, hearts and words are from the new Penguin Pals set from Sunny Studio. It’s so cute and makes such sweet little scenes.

I added a few stamped and die-cut stars from another Sunny Studio set to round out the scene. I guess you could say my scene is Christmas-y, but I really think this card is pretty good to send anytime of the year to a lover of cute stuff, of course!

I created the background with an inking stencil I made for myself, simply by taking a piece of stencil and cutting five circles into it. You can find stencil material pretty easily online to make your own stencils. You can even find sheets at some craft stores. (Hint: If you have any dies you just love, this is a fun, fun way to use them. I did a tip a long time ago for Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking magazine, showing this. It works pretty good with stencils that are a little less intricate and a little more not-intricate, I’ve found… but it’s worth experimenting for the best results.)

Anyway, that’s kinda all I have for you when it comes to this card. I think it turned out fun and cute… and a little out of my crafty box.

Alrighty! I hope you like the card. I’ll be back again later, gators. Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back tomorrow with some fun stuff. Here’s a hint: LOTS of cards. 🙂 I can’t wait. See you again soon!

All the Bunnies Challenge: Day 4

Hi, gang!

One last day of bunny cards for Ashley and I! It’s sure been fun to push each other to make some cards with these fun stamps.

Meet my latest take on the challenge.

I created the little scene of sorts by stamping a bunny from the Baby Party Animals set from Simon Says Stamp! I stamped it a second time on a sticky note and cut it out to make a mask. I plopped the mask onto top of my stamped bunny and stamped it two more times. I removed the mask and added the stamped hearts (also from the stamp set).

I also added the burst thingys, which are actually spots of water from Lawn Fawn’s Some Bunny stamp set. The sentiment, as well, was stamped with that set.

Alright! That’s all I have. I’ll be back later, gators. Don’t forget to check out Ashley’s blog for her latest take on the challenge.

See you again soon, friends.

All the Bunnies Challenge: Day 2

Hi gang!

Just hoppy to be here again… for another take on the All the Bunnies Challenge with my pal, Ashley.

Meet today’s card.

I pulled out a bunny stamp (and flowers) from an older Simon Says Stamp! set called  Melody’s Easter for this card. It had not seen any ink in some time. I made it a personal goal awhile back to show more love to my “less loved” stamps. So, yeah, this challenge made it seem like a good time to use it. Cut the bunny and flowers with the coordinating dies too. 

I did some basic coloring with markers. A little blending but not too much. And to make the eyes stand out, I used some black Nuvo Crystal Drops. I “might” be addicted.

The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn’s Some Bunny stamp set. Lots of good words in that one for cards to make all year long.

By the way, the patterned papers are all from my scrap box, other than the white and gray one. That came from the top (errr… packaging?) of an old Studio Calico packet of papers. Always fun to do something a bit out of the box.

Alright! That’s all I have for you today. I’ll be back again on Thursday with another bunny card. Be sure to check out Ashley’s latest take on the challenge.

Today’s cards (9-5)

Hi guys!

It’s STAMPtember time over at Simon Says Stamp! Once again, they’ve turned September into a stamp-tastic celebration of all things stampy by releasing all kinds of stamps and partnering up with several manufacturers to release even more stamps.

I was tickled as could be to find an envelope in my mailbox a bit back from my pals at SSS with the new Artsy Shapes set, a stamp set they just released for STAMPtember.  (Thanks, Heidi!)

Couldn’t resist making a couple cards with the set.

Meet No. 1, and meet No. 2.

These were pretty simple to make! I cut panels of watercolor paper out to fit onto a standard size card and then stamped several of the shapes from the set with Staz-on (waterproof ink) onto watercolor cardstock. Then I just colored them in with watercolors.

I also stamped a phrase onto each panel with Simon’s recently released Encouraging Words stamp set. The typography goes nicely, I think, with the Artsy Shapes set.

Anyhoo, that’s all I’ve got in me today! Be back later, gators.

Clean + Simple Christmas Challenge

Hi guys!

I’m back with a quick card to share with you. I was inspired by the Clean + Simple Christmas Challenge this last week on the Simon Says Stamp! Challenge Blog to make this little card just for the fun of it.

I used mostly older products from Simon Says Stamp! (Christmas Trees and Holiday Frames dies & Handwritten Sentiments and Holiday Layered Trees stamp sets). Plus, I used some paper from the old DIY Christmas collection from Simple Stories + some pretty sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

It’s a pretty straight forward card. Die-cut a frame. Add a tree + cardstock. Pop on a star. Do a little stamping. Be liberal with sequins.  Add patterned paper. You get the idea. 😉 Just felt good to have a little fun.

Alright! Over and out. I’ll be back later, gators.

Today’s cards

Hi all!

Got a couple cards to share with you today. And I might as well just say it: Brace yourselves. MARKERS came out. Yes, my friends, Copic markers came out.

Yes, how many times have I told you I am not so savvy in the marker department? Yes. I know. Shocking. Yes. Indeed. Markers really did come out. So check this out… while you are still breathing. 😉

This is card #1.

And this is card #2.

Yes, I actually colored with markers. And…. I liked it. 🙂

So I actually was really inspired by the new Work Out stamp set (and coordinating Exercise Girls dies) from Simon Says Stamp! I saw this sweet girl and was like, “Yeah, I can only do this stamp right by trying to color her” so I did.

I think she turned out ok with purple and green hair do’s. 😉  I think I will be daring next time and try for a realistic hair color, but then again… I kinda like the non-traditional stuff.

By the way, I adhered the girls to panels I cut with Lawn Fawn’s Stitched Journaling Card dies. Let’s just put it out there: The dies haven’t been seeing much action in my scrapbooks lately, but they are still pretty darn awesome to use to make elements for cards with… in my professional opinion and all.

Alright, so that’s all for today. I’ll be back again later! Thanks for stopping by!

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop

Hi all! I’m taking part today in the annual Memorial Day Blog Hop with Operation Write Home.

Operation Write Home is a great organization that provides handmade cards for soldiers to send home to their loved ones. I love that! And I love that it gives all of us as cardmakers a chance to share our love of making cards!

I made a card inspired by one of Operation Write Home’s card sketches. I used sketch 118.

I took some creativity liberties, using washi tape rather than scalloped borders. I also drew a line around the inside elements.

The supplies I used were: papers from the Sea to Shining Sea collection from Simple Stories; hey stamp from the Favorite Flowers stamp set from Simon Says Stamp!; and washi tape from Doodlebug Design.

To find links to everyone taking part in the hop, go here.

Thanks for swinging by today!