Friends With Flair Blog Hop -- Hurray!

For those of you following my story, I'm going to start with a picture.  Last week, I didn't have a chance to comment on many of your great works of art because I traveled 4 hours with some friends to participate in a walk to raise $ for a Golden Retriever Rescue organization.  I brought Sophie, the dog my husband and I recently integrated into our family.  She goes to work with me at the nursing home everyday.  Here's my friends and our dogs. Sophie and I are in the middle, Janelle and Annie Girl are on the left, Sheri and Too on the right.

 

Aren't those dogs beautiful?  I love this picture.

 

I've been trying to catch up on some of the World Cardmaking Day challenges on the Unity site since I missed out last weekend.  However, my work hours have been long this week, so I haven't gotten very far.  I have three made, but only had enough daylight to get good pictures of 2 of them.  They are both quite similar.

 

Here goes:

 

The first card is for the color challenge.  We are to use the colors pumpkin, brown, cream, and olive.  Here's the card I made:

 

 

I used the Unity Jillibean Soup Country Pumpkin Chowder stamp set, Spellbinders dies, American Crafts Autumn cardstock, a Tim Holtz die strip for the foliage.  I colored the leaves and acorns with Tim Holtz distress inks and Liquid Pearls.

 

The second card is for the Fall challenge.  Here it is:

 

 

I used the same papers, leaves, Spellbinders, and technique.  The stamp set is a Stamp of the Week -- Happy Fall.

 

Enjoy your weekend!  I'm hoping to getting crafty, at least part of the time.







Winners! Winners!

The winners have been notified, but I haven't had time to post a blog entry, so here goes...
As my portion of the cropchocolate.com OWH blog hop, I stated I would give away to prizes -- 1 for a comment, 1 for those who entered cards using my sketch.  I was so pleased with the amount of cards made for OWH using my sketch that I chose two winners for that prize, so I'm awarding 3 prizes altogether.

Here's the winners:

Comments winner -- Ma54k  (Mary Anne Kelemen)
Cards winners -- Ruth (Carnes) and Karey2005 (Karen Nofziger)

Congrats, gals!  Prizes heading your way soon!

Unity texture,blog hop and RRR pink challenges

Yesterday was World Card Making Day.  I was at a dog walk and traveling so I missed my chance to scrap, but had a great time with friends -- both 2-legged and 4-legged.  I did make a couple cards before I left on Friday that I'm entering into a couple challenges.  The cards are very similar, but with some subtle differences.

 I used Echo Park papers for the base of the card (it was a grab bag from CropChocolate.com so I don't know which line) and EP For the Record 2 for the squares.  The pink ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon's monthly club.  The sentiment is a Unity stamp. I also used a 2 inch scallop paper punch. I ran ivory colored cardstock through my Big Shot using a script embossing folder, then inked it afterwards with Tim Holtz distress ink.

 Every card maker needs an inspector.  I set both cards on the floor while I got organized to take pictures.  Sammy very carefully arranged himself so he didn't disturb this card.  He gave it a good sniff test, declared it "good enough", then watched for squirrels out the window.

 Further inspection -- another view of Sammy at work.

And here's the second card.  As I said, they look very similar.  The sentiment is different, the squares are reversed, and on this card, I inked the embossing folder before I ran it through the Big Shot, then also inked the script after.

I am entering one of these cards in 3 different cropchocolate.com blog hop challenges -- Amber's sketch challenge, Brenna's tactile challenge, and Jenni's punch and stamp challenge.  I'm also entering it in Thienly's challenge for Unity's WCMD events, and Really Reasonable Ribbon's pink challenge.

More Phyllis Harris

I have 2 Phyllis Harris cards I'm sharing this week.  I'm linking them up with Unity's Friends With Flair blog Hop, Really Reasonable Ribbon's pink challenge, and Ippity's Fall challenge.  If you are looking for the cropchocolate.com blog hop for OWH, it is still going on.  Scroll down a couple posts, please.

I'll show you my Fall card first.  Yesterday, we had 78 degrees here in NW Wisconsin.  Today, we have 48 degrees and 30 mile an hour winds.  The leaves are falling, so my card fits right in!

I used Fancy Pants Summer's End 6x6 paper on this card, two different Spellbinder's dies, Copic markers, Reasonable ribbon, and a Unity Stamp of the Week designed by Phyllis Harris. My first pet ever was a big, white rabbit, so this takes me back to childhood.  That's Sniffer and I, alright, playing in the Autumn leaves! 

The second card, also features a Unity Phyllis Harris stamp.  I had some help while photographing the card.  Since there's a Golden Retriever on the card, I thought I'd show you my helper.

 

Molly thinks I need to make the Golden Retriever's fur a little redder to match hers better.  I'm working on it, girl.  I'm just not that good at coloring with these new Copics yet!

And, here's a close up of the card Molly is critiquing: 

I used Echo Park For the Record II 6x6 papers and Reasonable ribbon on this card, along with a Spellbinders die and Copic markers.  The corners were rounded with a corner chomper.

And, wouldn't you know, there's a new release of Phyllis Harris stamps at Unity starting today.  If there are any with Golden Retrievers, they'll soon be heading to my mailbox, I'm afraid!  Hope you find some time to make cards on National Card Making Day.  I'm driving 4 hours to take my Goldens on a walk to raise $ and awareness for the Golden Retriever Rescue Group of Wisconsin.  No card making for me, but lots of Golden memories -- and pictures.

Cards for OWH challenges

I hope you are finding lots of inspiration from the cropchocolate.com design team.  Scroll down to see my challenge and cards made for the hop.

I found a little time this afternoon, and whipped out 8 cards using as many of the design team challenges as I could.

For Amber's challenge, I made 2 cards:

 

I made my own text paper using 2 different techniques with an Sizzix script embossing folder.  I dyed celery ribbon to fit the colors in my project, and used Authentique Loyal 6x6 papers.

I am also entering these in Kathy's "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" challenge.  The "Hi" Sizzix die is both old and new.  I've had it forever, but today was the first time I've used it.  Inking an embossing folder was a new technique for me, so 2 new things on this card.  Something borrowed -- the sketch idea from Amber's blog -- and blue paper.

 

For Michele's challenge, I made 2 cards using OWH sketch #59.  They look like this:

 

 

I'm also entering these in Brenna's tactile challenge.  I added some bling, fussy cut the birds, and elevated them with foam tape, all to make them interesting for someone with vision problems.  Inside, I stamped the sentiment, "today is your birthday".

 

For Jenni's challenge, I got out my 2 inch scalloped punch again and a stamp from Close To My Heart that fits perfectly inside a punched circle.  Here's 2 cards for her challenge:

 

 

I used some scraps from Fancy Pants Summer's End and a scrap of the script paper for the card on the left.  The card on the right uses the same Authentique Loyal pad. I used the sketch from Amber's challenge again for these cards.

 

And, the last two cards are for Christina's challenge.  She asks for an unusual fold somewhere on a card.  I made 2 gatefold cards.

 

 

Once again, I'm using the same 6x6 Authentique Loyal pad, the scallop punch I used earlier, and the same stampset from Close To My Heart.

 

As you may have figured out, I am also trying to use up papers from one collection -- Authentique 6x6 Loyal.  This is for Brit K and Nina's challenges of using scraps from one collection.  I might find time to make a couple more cards this week, but it's back to work tomorrow, so this might be it.  Now, to link them up to all the blogs.  Off I go!





Crop Chocolate Design Team Blog Hop for OWH

Welcome, welcome!  I am so glad to have you visiting my blog!  I have lots to share, so I'll get right to it.  You should have arrived here from Brenna's blog, if you are hopping with cropchocolate.com.  If you are here with Friends With Flair, please enjoy the Unity stamps I used on many of the cards I'm featuring today.  This hop is to motivate you to make cards for an organization I have supported for several years now, and it's a great one.  If you don't know much about Operation Write Home, explore their website here: http://operationwritehome.org/.  If you are looking for specific guidelines on what they need for cards, when they need them by, etc, try this link: http://operationwritehome.org/guidelines/. 

You may have noticed, we, the CC design team, are each issuing you a challenge.  From now until October 8, we want you to make cards for OWH, and we're here to motivate you.  My challenge is quite simple.  I took a very basic sketch (or recipe) that looks like this:

 It's a standard A2 card base (8 1/2 x 5 1/2, folded in 1/2), then 3 pieces of paper.  One is 5 1/2 x 2, another is 3/4 x 4 1/4 and the square is 2 1/2 x 2 1/2.  Easy.  And very adaptable, as you will see.  This is your basic recipe.  From here, the challenge to you is to use those components, but "tweak" them.  Just like any good cook, or in this case, cardmaker, take the recipe and make it your own.

You can rotate it 180 degrees.  Or 90 degrees and have the fold on the side.

I'll show you some cards I made using this sketch, or recipe.

As you can see, the components are there, but I sometimes tweaked them.  I might have substituted ribbon for the 3/4 inch strip of paper, or left out the 2 inch strip.  All the papers for the above cards are Echo Park Everyday Eclectic 6x6 papers, and the stamps are all Unity.  I also did this same thing with some Christmas cards.  Here's what they look like:

Get the idea?  Of course you do!  Easy peasy.  The papers I used on these cards are all from Cropchocolate grab bags.  There were a variety of stamps used.  Some were Close To My Heart, some Unity.  Embellishments are CTMH and MME.

Here's what I want you to do, and there's blog candy involved.  Become a follower of my blog if you're not already and make a comment about the cards you see today and you'll be eligible to win.  Enter a card using the recipe above, and you'll be eligible to win another blog candy.  For each card linked with the linky below, you'll be eligible for that candy.  Make sense?  Make a comment, maybe win.  Enter lots of cards, better your chance of winning.  Two people will win.

And, for some more inspiration, here's some Christmas cards I made for a swap on cropchocolate.  (These are not using the recipe above)

Papers are MME and CC grab bags.  The last two are made with Washi tape.  Did you participate in the washi tape swap?  I thought you might like some inspiration on how to use it when it arrives.  Ticket stamps and penguin are Unity.  The snowman stamp is Hot Off The Press.  Now, off for more inspiration. Hop on, my friends to Brit's blog.

Link your card's using the recipe above here.

Ippity Chick and Unity challenges

I have two cards to share to enter in three Unity (Ippity) challenges.  The Unity challenge this month is banners and pennants.  Here's what I made:

Here's another view of it with the easel I made to match the papers.  It's a Silhouette file.

Isn't that cute? I used Authentique Bliss 6x6 paper, and Unity Togetherness Icons (banners) and Unity Autumn Pals (squirrel).  There's also some baker's twine and sticker letters from my stash.

This next card is for the newest Ippity Chick Challenge and Ippity challenge. The chick challenge uses a sketch.  I'll show you the card first, then the sketch I used as a guide.

The papers for this card are all Close To My heart.  The stamp set used is the latest Unity Stamp Of the Week.  I made the leaves and branches using a Tim Holtz die, Liquid Pearls, and Tim Holtz inks.  The chipboard diecut is CTMH, and the cut behind it is from the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.

Here's the sketch I used.

Thanks for looking at my newest creations!