Rev up the Fun!

It's end of July already.  Time flies much faster than I thought!

It feels like I have always been busy this year as I do not have as much time to craft as I wish.  I am determined to play more often in the remaining days of 2013!

Let's start with a masculine card as it is always on the low.  Where did my manly cards go??

It is based on the sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

What a great sketch and I have a strong feeling that I will come back to this sketch again and again.  My card is also entering the challenge at Pink Elephant - Masculine theme.  Boy I can't even tell how many times I wanted to play along Pink Elephant but had to miss it sadly because I was too busy and missed the deadline.  Glad that I'm picking it up again!

Thanks for stopping by!

4 YOU

A quick post to share with you a simple card I made over the weekend.  I just used one stamp set, a couple of ink pads and cardstocks.  Nothing too fancy but the card turns out cute!  I was attempting the color challenge at Color My Heart Color Dare - Blush, Sorbet and Gypsy.  It is absolutely not a color combo I would normally use.  My simple card looks like this:

I first stamped the wreath in Chocolate, then use the tip of the flower stamp to ink up Blush and Sorbet repeatedly.  The stamp comes in a semi-circle, where normally you would stamp twice to cover the whole wreath, but I was just using the tip of it every time I inked up Blush and Sorbet and scattered the colors throughout the wreath.

In my trial version I tried to stamp all three colors on the wreath but the gypsy does not blend well so I opted to put a Gypsy bow in the wreath and used the Gypsy cardstock as the card base.

It is super fun to use a stamp in an unconventional way.  I love getting more mileage of my stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Snowflakes

I took a craft class this weekend but I was rather slow in the class so I got to spend some time at home finishing them up.  I have never used those metal stencils and was amazed by how much you could do with them.  We made three fun summer cards and we all enjoyed playing with the sand castle, palm trees and beach chair.

When I finally got time to play on my own, I thought I have had enough summer this weekend so I moved on to Christmas cards, one of my faves.  Woohoo~

I just love those beautiful colors - Frosted Grey and Frosted Turquoise in the new Frosted paper, so special and unique and great for Christmas cards. 

The sketch came from my all time favorite challenge - Sketchbook Saturday Challenge  hosted by Iwona. 

Her cards are always sources of inspiration and her challenges often help me expand my comfort zone.  I encourage you to get inspired there!

My card is also entering the challenge at Merry Monday Challenge - Anything Goes!  I'm having so much fun with creating Christmas cards this month!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Christmas in July

As July is approaching to its end, I feel stronger and stronger that I need to start my Christmas card stash.  I just got the beautiful Frosted paper and can't wait to play with it!

The card is based on the sketch from Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge:

This is a kind of sketch that I normally would not want to try - the three panels intimate me!  I somehow managed to conquer it, but I am not used to the lighting in my new craft corner, so the picture does not really do justice here.  Nevertheless it looks pretty neat - simple with the die cut sentiment Merry Christmas and the snowflakes were filled with silver glitz.

My card is also entering the challenge at Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge - Anything goes and Merry Monday challenge.

I always look forward to Christmas and making Christmas cards appears to help me get to Christmas sooner.  Do you think I'm too crazily in love with Christmas?

Thanks for stopping by!

Combo of products

Sometimes I like to challenge myself to mix and match products of various brands/age (yes, age - depending on the time it has been sitting in my stash, shhhh....) to finish project.  I like that manufacturers have made our lives easy by creating coordinating products but sometimes it is fun to see how a combo of different things will result. 

I've used the new Close to My Heart Laughing Lola paper for my card background.  It involves a special color that is exclusive to this paper pack and so I thought it is the perfect time to try various things on this background.  This is what I've created:

I've used ink pads from various manufacturers to achieve the harmonious color scheme, while paper comes from Close to My Heart, the stamps also come from different brands - truly a mixture of a variety of products.  I like it!

My card is based on the card sketch from Mojo Monday:

I've turned it 90 degrees clockwise in case you can't recognize the sketch on my card.

My card is also entering the challenge at Anything Goes Challenge Blog - Anything Goes and Bearly-Mine Challenges - Anything Goes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas

Many boxes of my craft supplies have found a home, but many others are still looking for the right place.  My stamps, inks and supplies are just everywhere and crafting in such a situation is no fun.  Yet I am determined to play in the tiny available area.

How about playing with some snowflakes?

This card is very easy to make, as long as I don't mess up with the white pigment ink (a reminder to myself that I must heat set it before setting it aside to avoid smearing). 

My card is entering the challenge at The Paper Players:

CAS on Sunday - Kraft & Twine and

Christmas card challenges - Snowflakes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday

When I saw the sketch at Mojo Monday earlier this week I meant to try it out.  I was worried that I would not have the time or supplies to play along because most of my stuff are packed in boxes for the rearrangement of my craft area.  I'm so glad that I can still function with my limited supplies!

The awesome sketch looks like this:

And I've decided to make a feminine birthday card with it:

I've used the retired Mayberry paper, one of my faves because of the great color combo.  I can't help using other patterned papers from the set as the background!

My card is also entering the challenge at The Pink Elephant - Feminine Birthday Theme.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Manly Birthday Card

Many of my craft supplies are "in transit" now.  The big rearrangement project is still going on so many of my supplies are packed in boxes waiting for the new storage structures.  At this point I have extremely limited supplies to work with and that makes me very uncomfortable!  Argh!  I hope this big rearrangement project will be done very soon.

That prompted me to work on a CAS manly card.  Nothing fancy, just plain old cardstocks:

I wanted to emboss the cardstocks, but came to realize that my embossing folders are all in "some boxes somewhere".  Frustrated, I decided to score some straight lines to give the cardstocks some texture.  The spacing of the lines are totally random, so it does have some sort of interest in it.

My card is entering the challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More - CAS and Color Throwdown:

Thanks for stopping by!

A Manly Birthday card

My masculine birthday cards are getting low and it's time to make some for the stash.  Usually I tend to keep things simple for manly cards as you know, men probably do not know how to appreciate crafts.

I've chosen the sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch for my card:

My card made use of a lot of blues:

It is also entering the challenge at Tuesday Throwdown - Anything Goes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Playing with colors

Sketchbook Saturday Challenge is celebrating its 100th challenge!  I've always loved Iwona's sketches and cards and since I started playing along I can't stop my obsession.  I have a strong feeling by playing along her challenges my skills are improving and my comfort zone is expanding.  I've tried many things that I would have never done but for her challenges.  What's better than that, get to play and improve at the same time?

Her 100th challenge sketch looks like this:

I've decided to make a birthday card and play with some colors.  I got a Lawn Fawn stamp set back in April but it has never seen any ink (Shhhhhh......don't tell anyone that I have a disease of hoarding craft supplies) so it is time to give it some love!  I'm using its flower and coloring it with regular color pencils.

To tell you the truth.  I did try coloring the flowers with other media before using color pencils.  Mastering coloring with markers is a goal of mine.  I keep trying but results are too inconsistent.  For this card, I've tried coloring with distress markers but the blending of the colors makes it look to soft and pale, which is quite different from the background so I avoided that.  I thought about watercolor pencils but I think applying water will dilute the intensity so that was out.  I settled with my childish but trusted friend, color pencils, who always give me some confidence in coloring.  :) 

My card is also entering the challenge at Seize the Birthday.  This month it is letting us link up any kind of birthday cards, fun!

Before I forget, today's color combo is something I'm challenging myself - dark blue, light/pale blue, gray, red and purple.  I am not keen on using so many colors, but we just have to give everything a try.  By trial and error we'll eventually learn something!

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas again

Just a quick post today as the bloating in my stomach persists and GasX does not appear to be working hard enough. 

I'm sharing another Christmas card today, based on the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches:

I've used the upcoming Stamp of the Month for my card.  Instead of having a diagonal stripe I've divided it into three:

My card is also entering the challenge at Paper Crafting Journey - Christmas in July and Merry Monday Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas

The rearrangement of my craft area is still going on thus it has been an absolute pain to craft.  My supplies are packed, boxes are here and there.  I'm afraid the unboxing will take just as long as the rearrangement takes.  I am hoping that everything goes smooth and I'll be able to craft at full speed again!

Based on the limited supplies that I have, making a Christmas cards appear to be a good idea because many of those unpacked items are Christmas-themed.  I've based on the sketch from Monday Lunchtime Sketch challenge for my card:

My Christmas card has replaced the three squares with three poinsettias:

I love this card! 

My card is also entering the challenge at Paper Crafting Journey - Christmas in July and Merry Monday Challenge - any new Christmas creation.

Thanks for stopping by!

MIA

I'm not MIA but I'm afraid posts will become rather sporadic in the next coming weeks.  There are some big changes in my craft area and I am already suffering from the inaccessibility of my supplies.  During this period I'll do my best to enjoy crafting and blogging.

I am in a Christmas in July mood, as suggested by various challenges so I've made this simple Christmas card:

The stamping took me almost forever!  No kidding.  The masking did take me a lot of time.  I took it a step further and tried the alternative colors for each row of words.  It was a bit frustrating at the beginning as I have messed up a lot but eventually I finally got one that can be used on a card.

My card is entering the challenges at Crazy 4 Challenges - Let's get Wordy, CAS on Sunday - Christmas in July and The Paper Players - Christmas in July.

Thanks for stopping by!

Winter Wishes

The Christmas in July challenges remind me that I should start making my Christmas cards early!  Last year I started in the summer and it absolutely helped during the crazily chaotic holiday season.  I like that I was able to grab a card from my stash whenever I needed one.  It was so convenient.  In addition, I love Christmas and starting making the cards early appears to be extending the celebration. 

I've made a simple one-layer Christmas card for today's post:

I like that this card gave me an opportunity to color!  How fun!  I went with the most "childish" way of coloring - using color pencils.  There is a long way before I can master coloring with markers or otherwise, but that does not deter me from coloring.  I've played safe with color pencils and I think it's not bad!

This card is entering the following challenges:

1.  Heart 2 Heart challenges - masking (I've used both the positive and the negative from the cut to create the border, fun technique and I'll be using it more often!

2.  OLW - Christmas sparkles

3.  Addicted to Stamps and More - Make your mark

4.  Merry Monday - Anything Goes



Hello Tweety

A friend of mine just shared some good news with me.  I thought about sending her a "Congrats" card but I am more inclined to send her a "Hello Friend" card because, other than sending her congrats, I want to write a lot of things to her. 

I based my card on the sketch at Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge:

Upon completion of my card I realized I've inadvertently modified the sketch a little bit:

I love love love the "hello tweety" sentiment.  So darling cute and I'm sure my friend will love it.

Have you recently send any cards to a friend?  I think a card sent without any specific purpose is one of the most beautiful kinds of cards.  It is just a card telling my friend that I love her and I miss her.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mojo 300

Wow!  Mojo Monday is celebrating its 300th challenge!  When I checked it out earlier today, there were already more than 500 entries.  Wow and Congrats to Mojo Monday!

I always love Mojo Monday's challenges and how can I not play along this one?  Its sketch looks like this:

 When I first saw it I wanted to make a Christmas card but I changed my mind.  I decided to make a masculine card:

The Christmas card idea is stuck in my head.  Perhaps I'll make a Christmas card as well.

Happy Sunday and happy crafting!

Birthday

I hope all the Americans had a wonderful July 4th celebration.  For me the barbeque fun is postponed to Saturday because many family and friends do have to go to work today.  It sounds like an extend celebration for me!

It sounds like I didn't have to prepare for the barbeque on July 4th so I should have plenty of time crafting.  Nope.  But I was able to whip up a quick card:

The card is based on the sketch at Sketchbook Saturday challenge:

Thanks for stopping by!