Bister, Brusho, Color Burst Comparison

I love getting packages in the mail with new dies and stamps and this week I received this fun sentiment die from Cheery Lynn Designs and the shatter glass background stamp from Local King Rubber Stamps. I saw a card made with this stamp at this wonderful blog and knew immediately I must order the stamp. I have been wanting to do a BBCB comparison and decided to make backgrounds with the shatter glass stamp and each of the colored crystals. To start, I heat embossed the shatter background on three pieces of watercolor paper with white embossing powder. The first card above was made with my favorite colors of Brusho Colour Crytals which are turquoise and ostwald blue. I love the ostwald blue because it has purple and blue together. There are 24 colors of Brushos so the variety is awesome. I also like the ease and control of tapping the colors onto your paper or whatever you are working on though the hole you punch in the lid. Brushos are available in the U.S. at Dick Blick.

My second card features the same fun die and the shatter glass background heat embossed. I sprinkled black Bister powders and spritzed with water. I discovered Bisters first and am glad I did. There are eight colors of Bister powders and their black is the best of the three color crystal choices, so I decided to make this card black, white and red. There is a brown undertone to Bisters when spritzed and the result is unique every time you make a card with them. They are the least expensive of the three options and available for sale in the U.S. at I Brake for Stamps here. 

My last card was made with a double layer of the "live, laugh, love" die from Cheery Lynn, the white embossed background and a rainbow selection of Color Burst color crystals. There are 6 colors of Color Burst currently available, but we are hoping for more colors to be released soon. They are made by Ken Oliver in the United States and available at local stamp shops and various places on line. They are very bright and easy to use and like the other two, when spritzed with water burst with color (thus the name.) If you are local and coming to the Saynor stamp show this weekend, you might be able to get Color Burst at the Crackerbox Palace booth.

***Edited to add: Color Burst is now available on line at Crackerbox Palace.com and they are currently on sale! Check it out here: http://crackerboxrubberstamps.com/product-category/accessories

I like them all. I hope I gave enough information so you can check them out and decide for yourself which one (or ones) will be right for you. One thing I can tell you for sure- they are all fun and easy to work with to create great backgrounds and beautiful cards!

I am entering these cards in the Anything Goes challenges at Cheery Lynn Designs and Simon Says Stamp.

Anything Goes at Repeat Impressions!

My favorite kind of challenge is Anything Goes and when there is a 5th Wednesday of the month, the challenge at Repeat Impression's blog challenge is going to be Anything Goes! You can enter any kind of card and have a chance at winning some great RI rubber! I have been wanting to try another vellum layered card and this was the perfect opportunity to pull out some of my favorite Repeat Impressions stamps and go for it! There are three layers of vellum on the front of this card. The bottom layer has a brown cactus on it, the second layer a green fern and the top has cat tails, the dragonfly and the beautiful sentiment. I rounded off the bottom edges of all the layers and attached with adhesive roller covered by a washi tape.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Craft Your Passion and 2 Cute Ink.

TTCRD Butterflies and Roses

It’s Tuesday and time for another Through the Craft Room Door challenge. As always the theme is my favorite, Anything Goes! There is a new challenge every Tuesday at TTCRD. I am on Team A and this week is our turn to post our cards. The sponsor this week is Sandi’s Samples. Check out the TTCRD blog for all the details and great cards by the rest of the dt.

For this challenge, I printed and paper pieced Sandi’s Sample’s beautiful butterfly. I created a half a card front and card embossed with a roses embossing folder.

**Don’t Miss It! The new March/April 2015 issue of Through The Craft Room Door magazine is available for your viewing pleasure in the "Subscribers Only Area" of the TTCRD website.  It is loaded with over 100 pages of paper craft tutorials, tons of inspiration and projects you can create. Plus free digis, two articles by me (CHA review and Zentangle tutorial) and 3 of my cards among dozens of great cards. Come check it out! If you do not currently subscribe to the magazine you will need to go to the top of the page and click on the Subscription/Renewals tab. I highly recommend everyone get a subscription to this great on line magazine!**

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Scribble and Scrap and 613 Avenue Create, and the Design Team Showcase.

Enjoy Teacups Card

One of the new dies I got after CHA this year was this teacup set from Tim Holtz for Sizzix. I die cut the cups, plate and teabag in different kraft dp, sponged all the edges and created the teacup stack. The background is another Brusho/cling wrap combo, this time on watercolor paper, not glossy for a more subtle look. I added an "enjoy" cut with a Penny Black die cut and layered onto a brown card base.

I am entering this card in the Shabby Chic challenge at Open-Minded Crafting and the Anything Goes challenge at 613 Avenue Create.

"Perfectly Normal Family" Brusho Card

I keep finding cool new stamp companies and cannot resist buying more and more stamps (and dies and accessories- what a fun addiction this is!) This sentiment from Rubbernecker Stamps cracks me up and will be perfect for my sister's birthday card. It is a little small- if you can't read it, click on the card and it should get bigger. I was playing with my Brusho Crystal Colours and decided to try a cling wrap background on regular watercolor paper (rather than glossy paper.) This subtle blue and green background was the result. I sponged black ink through a brass stencil for the birds. I attached a glittery black tape to the left side of a white top folding A2 card, then attached the Brusho piece. The perfect sentiment was stamped on a diagonal green piece and I added some black dots to complete the card.

I am entering this card in the CAS challenge at Simon Says Stamp and the Anything Goes challenge at Simply Papercraft.

Brusho Sympathy Card

I needed a sympathy card recently and used a Brusho Colour Crystals watercolor panel I had made to complete this card. I cut a strip of the Brusho panel and attached it to a top folding white card base. Then I cut a smaller strip and attached it to a two inch white strip that I raised with pop dots. I die cut the "with Sympathy" (Simon Says Stamp) out of the same Brusho panel. The rose was cut with a die cut from Penny Black out of a thin glitter paper by Heidi Swapp.

I am entering this card in the Layers and Dimension challenge at Virginia's View and the CAS challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Happy Graduation Chalkboard Card

It's Crackerbox Palace Friday and today I am sharing a graduation card I made with Crackerbox Palace’s awesome stamps. I haven’t played with the chalkboard technique in quite a while, and decided it would be perfect for a graduation card. I started with a piece of black cardstock and heat embossed the diploma and Happy Graduation with white embossing powder. I stamped the rolled diploma, graduation cap and stars with white pigment ink and deliberately sponged and smeared the white pigment ink to make the chalkboard look. I drew some white lines with a white colored pencil to complete the card front, and attached the “chalkboard” to a white A2 card base.

**As a present to you from Crackerbox Palace, all the CBP stamps  on this card will be 20% OFF for one week! What a deal! **

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Wonderful Wednesdays and the Milestone Celebrations challenge at Crafting For All Seasons.

Best Wishes with Lots of Layers

The challenge this month at Virginia's View is to use lots of layers and dimension on our cards and I think this card qualifies as it has 7 layers. The white top folding card base is stamped in grey with a text background stamp from Hero Arts and layered onto a black piece. I cut 5 layers of buildings with a die from My Favorite Things in black, grey and white and attached them to a black strip. I added the Best Wishes sentiment cut in grey with a Penny Black die.

I am also entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at PINspirational Challenge. I was inspired by a card on Pinterest to make this card, but can't find it now to link to it.

What's Mew Pussycat? Wo-oh-oh...

Happy Wednesday everyone! It's time for another fun sketch challenge at The House that Stamps Built and we are challenging you to make a card using the sketch below and link it up for a chance at some great Repeat Impressions rubber! For all the details on what you can win and to see the other Rock Stars cards using this sketch, please visit our blog.

I stamped RI’s Triple Cats on some textured fabric look dp, rounded the corners and layered onto a black piece. I cut another piece of the fabric dp, distressed the edges and attached to a brown card base. I added some pretty brass gems and the perfect RI sentiment cut out with a word window punch.

What’s Mew pussycat? Wo-oh-oh… Dates me that I remember that- do you? 

Here is the sketch for you to follow when you create a card for our challenge. You do not need to use Repeat Impressions stamps to enter our challenges, but you get an extra chance to win if you do!

I am entering this card in the Design Team Showcase and the Anything Goes challenges at Crafting from the Heart and Craft Your Passion.

**Don’t Forget: for a 10% discount on any size order at Repeat Impressions, make a note of my discount code (rr10kh), click on the blog badge on the side of my blog and go to the website here to shop and save!**

Kitchen Tile Happy Card

I received a natural wool sea sponge as a gift recently and decided to play with it and my Bister powders and this card is the result. I am calling it my Kitchen Tile card because the look reminds me of a a kitchen counter top or floor. I created 3 puddles of water on my craft mat and mixed in brown, black and natural Bisters colored crystals, then dabbed the colors onto a glossy sheet with my sea sponge until I was happy with the look. I die cut the new Memory Box circles die and the Happy (My Creative Time) in black and attached. I stamped the rest of the sentiment (also from My Creative Time) and layered onto a black card base. The result was a CAS masculine happy card that I am going to share in classes soon.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at 613 Avenue Create and Scribble and Scrap.

Water Droplets and Another Brusho Technique

I am loving my new water droplets stamp from Designs by Ryn and trying new techniques using Brusho Crystal Colors (or Bisters or Color Burst.) I watched this video and decided to try blowing the colors across the page. I have heard you can get similar results blowing through a straw, but I used Tim Holtz's Distress Marker Spritzer as was shown in the video and was pleased with the fun background it creates. Basically to do this look, create a puddle of water and mix in the color crystals, then blow the liquid and the colored water creates the lines shown. Then I stamped with Ryn's beautiful leaves and water droplets and layered on to a navy blue card base.

I tried it again with different shades of blue Brushos, then stamped first and second generations of the water droplets. I stamped a fish from Repeat Impressions onto a glossy Brusho piece and cut it out. The sentiment stamp is also from Repeat Impressions.

I am entering these cards in the Make Your Own Background at Simon Says Stamp and the April challenge at Designs by Ryn.

My First Color Burst Card

If you follow my blog, you know I discovered Bister powders last year and then Brusho Crystal Colours and now I am the proud owner of every color available of Color Burst by Ken Oliver. There are just six colors right now, but he is hinting of new colors maybe this summer. I found them to be very similar to Brushos- bright and colorful and easy to use to make gorgeous backgrounds like this one on my first CB card. I simply sprinkled the blue, yellow and green Color Burst onto a piece of watercolor paper and spritzed with water. I let it dry for a short while, then while still damp, I embossed with a new Fabric Weave embossing folder from Spellbinders for some great texture. Then I lightly applied teal ink to the embossed lines direct to paper. I layered the completed piece on a teal card and attached the "cherish" die cut (Tim Holtz for Sizzix) and the leafy sprig from Memory Box.

I am entering this card in the "Make Your Own Background" at Simon Says Stamp and the Anything Goes challenge at Creative Fingers.

Birthday Cards 4 Kids Challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is Birthday Fun 4 Kids! Create and link any birthday card for a child and you could win one of our great prizes.

We have three very generous sponsors for this challenge: Bugaboo is giving their winner 7 digis of their choice!  Lacy Sunshine is giving their randomly picked winner 3 digis!  And Fred She Said’s winner gets a $10 gift certificate! TEAM S.A.S will also be choosing their favorite cards for our top three and the winners will receive a blog badge and an opportunity to be a guest design team member on a future challenge.

My first birthday card above features Pickles and the Love Cupcake from Lacy Sunshine. I paper pieced him and his yummy cupcake and popped him up over a background I created with a stitched wavy border die. I printed the sentiment, cut it out with deckle scissors and attached. 

I think lots of kids like word searches and puzzles and so they would love this card with "Word Search Birthday Boy" by Bugaboo. I highlighted "smiles", did a little coloring and paper pieced his outfit and balloons. The card is an easel card and stands up to reveal the Happy Birthday sentiment which is a popped up border punch by Martha Stewart.

I am entering these cards in the Birthday challenges at Aud Sentiments and Fresh Brewed and the Design Team Showcase.

Happy Dust Fun Fold Card on Crackerbox Palace Friday

It's Crackerbox Palace Friday and today I am sharing a new fun fold card featuring Crackerbox Palace’s funny funny stamps. I love trying new folds and using humor in my cards, so this card makes me happy. I learned how to do this fold from this video on line. I stamped the lol fairy godmother with versamark and heat embossed her with sparkly glitter embossing powder. Then I cut out her stitched square frame with a die from Lil’ Inker. The opening in the front of the card was cut with another stitched square die also from Lil’ Inker. I punched the top of the folded inside piece with a star border punch from Martha Stewart. Then I stamped the Happy Dust saying in purple on the yellow. I stamped the sentiment again and the magic wand with versamark and purple embossing powder, cut them out and attached. Here are a couple more pictures showing the card open, from the top and closed.

**As a present to you from Crackerbox Palace, all the CBP stamps  on this card will be 20% OFF for one week! What a deal! **

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Wonderful Wednesdays and the “one for the girls” challenge at Penny’s Paper Crafty.

New Discoveries to Share

Can I just say I LOVE this card?! I was inspired by this beautiful card  and some new stamps I had to have from a new stamp company I just discovered. The water drops on this card is a gorgeous stamp from a company in Canada called Designs by Ryn.  She has a whole sheet of different water drops in unmounted rubber and also individual stamps on cushion.In addition to the unique water drops stamps, there are many other artistic and beautiful stamps. Of course I wanted many many of her other stamps too, and will be ordering again soon.

I also discovered a new website called Live Love Cards where new tutorial videos and cards are posted often and there is a whole library of great ideas available for only $2.50 per month. I have not had time to totally explore all the videos, but for less than the cost of a cup of coffee per month, I have joined and recommend you check it out. The challenge this month at Live Love Cards is rainbows and when I saw that, I knew I had to make a card with rainbow colors in the water drops and the background. I stamped the raindrops on a white strip and colored them in the ROYGBIV colors using watercolor pencils. The background was created with the same colors in order using Brusho Crystal Colours sprinkled on watercolor paper and spritzed with water. I printed the sentiment on vellum and attached with glue dots covered up with yellow candy dots. I added some white enamel accents to the dots on the water drops which really makes them pop.

I am entering this card in the April challenge at Designs by Ryn, the April Rainbow challenge at Live Love Cards and the Make Your Own Background at Simon Says Stamp. 

Inspiration Photo Challenge at Repeat Impressions

On the third Wednesday of every month at Repeat Impression’s blog, The House that Stamps Built, the challenge is going to be an Inspiration Photo challenge. I find it fascinating to see each stamper’s take on a card based on the same inspiration photo. This is this month’s Inspiration Photo:

Will you be inspired by the colors or the objects or shapes in the photo? It is up to you to pick out what inspires you and make a card, then enter it for a chance to win some great Repeat Impressions rubber. Be sure to check out the RI blog for the inspiration based cards by the other Rock Stars. I have seen them and you do not want to miss them!

I was inspired by the colors and shapes of the photo. I chose two fireworks stamps from Repeat Impressions and heat embossed the images with bright sparkly embossing powder from Stampamania. Then I sprinkled on Brusho Crystal Colours to fill in the background and spritzed with water. I stamped the sentiment after the card front dried.

 I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Scribble and Scrap and 613 Avenue Create, and the Design Team Showcase.

"Love You This Much" at TTCRD

It’s Tuesday and time for another Through the Craft Room Door challenge. As always the theme is my favorite, Anything Goes! There is a new challenge every Tuesday at TTCRD. I am on Team A and this week is our turn to post our cards. The sponsor this week is Paola Jafre. Check out the TTCRD blog for all the details and great cards by the rest of the dt.

For this challenge, I printed and paper pieced Paola Jafre’s “Love You This Much” little boy,  and made a shaker card behind the open “you”. I think any child would love the movement of the sequins and beads, and the sentiment as well.

**Don’t Miss It! The new March/April 2015 issue of Through The Craft Room Door magazine is available for your viewing pleasure in the "Subscribers Only Area" of the TTCRD website.  It is loaded with over 100 pages of paper craft tutorials, tons of inspiration and projects you can create. Plus free digis, two articles by me (CHA review and Zentangle tutorial) and 3 of my cards among dozens of great cards. Come check it out! If you do not currently subscribe to the magazine you will need to go to the top of the page and click on the Subscription/Renewals tab. I highly recommend everyone get a subscription to this great on line magazine!**

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Scribble and Scrap and 613 Avenue Create, and the Design Team Showcase.

Thinking of You Hummingbird Card

Lately I have needed to make many Thinking of You cards for friends and relatives, and for this one I played with a new technique using my Brusho Crystal Colours. I picked out a beautiful hummingbird from Earth Art International and spritzed it with water. Then I sprinkled some blues and green Brushos directly on the stamp, spritzed again and placed a piece of watercolor paper directly onto the prepared stamp. The card above is the second one I made. Here is a picture of the first impression on the wet stamp:

Both are beautiful and colorful, but on the second generation, you can see the details of the stamp a bit better. I cut both pieces out with a stitched rectangle die from Lil' Inker, added the die cut sentiment (Penny Black) and some blue candy dots. One more cool way to use Brushos or Bisters!

I am entering these cards in the Anything Goes challenges at 613 Avenue Create and Scribble and Scrap.

Celebrate Spring Card

I think it is finally officially Spring in Central Wisconsin. We woke up to 5 inches of snow unexpectedly yesterday, but it is all gone already and the sun is shining. I am celebrating with a card I made with some neglected pieces that were laying on my bed in my craft room. I was playing with mixing my Brusho Crystal Colors with my Bisters and this piece was not my favorite. But I decided to tear the edges off, sponge with a teal ink and attach to a purple card for a colorful background. I had previously cut the flowers from Memory Box and the Celebrate from Cherry Lynn Designs so I attached them for a simple but pretty celebration card.

I am entering this card in the "Recycle Something" challenge at Open-Minded Crafting and the Spring Flowers challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Stamp Camp Sneak Peak Screen Divider Card

Today I am sharing one more sneak peak at the cards I designed for our stamp camp coming up on May 16th. If you are local and want more information, email me via the contact feature on the side of the blog. This card is a screen divider card that was cut to 12 x 8 1/2" and scored at 3,6, and 9 inch lines. Each panel was decorated with a special birthday girl in mind. First I punched the top border with an ek success punch and the bottom legs with a SU punch. The front is a Prima Doll stamp with a pretty paper pieced dress. The second panel has die cut balloons from Avery Elle and embossed birthday wishes from Embossalicious. The third panel features a beautiful die from Tonic Studios and the last one says Happy Birthday with a die from DieVersions.

This is how the card looks standing up from the top. I like that the receiver of this card can stand it up and display it if they wish.

I am entering this card in the Birthday challenges at Aud Sentiments and Creative Knockouts.

Divine Slinky Dress Card

It's Crackerbox Palace Friday and today I am sharing a divine card I made with a vertical stamp from Crackerbox Palace and a beautiful Black Slinky Dress stamp from So Suzy Stamps.  The owner of So Suzy Stamps is a friend of Vicky and John of CBP and her high quality rubber stamps are made by them. I decided to make this dress black and white and slinky. I cut out black and white card cover pieces and stamped the dress twice - white on black and black on white. Then I cut the pieces diagonally and matched up the stamped dresses. I stamped CBP’s vertical Divine in white and punched a border along the black edge with an ek success border punch. The two toned front piece as attached to a white cardbase.

**As a present to you from Crackerbox Palace, all the CBP stamps  on this card will be 20% OFF for one week! What a deal! **

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Papertake Weekly and Fan-Tastic Tuesday (using border punch.)

Wrapping Up a Wedding Card

I just discovered a new favorite technique and a new stamp company with some gorgeous stamps I just love. So Suzy Stamps has many beautiful stamps including the bride and groom and "Just Married" stamps on this card as well as many funny stamps. I made the background with a favorite new technique using cling wrap, Brusho Crystal Colours and glossy paper. I sprinkled blue Brushos on a piece of crinkled cling wrap, spritzed it with pearl glimmer mist and put a piece of glossy paper down into the cling wrap mess. I folded up the sides of the cling wrap and let the piece sit about 10 minutes.  When I removed the cling wrap, this marvelous background is formed. Here is a link to the video where I learned this technique. I dried the piece with a heat gun and stamped the bride, groom and just married stamps from So Suzy Stamps. I added some pearls for a necklace and to highlight the stamps.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Papertake Weekly and Loves Rubberstamps.

Heat Embossing Challenge at Repeat Impressions

It’s another Designer’s Choice Challenge at The House that Stamps Built, Repeat Impression’s blog. It is Kathy’s turn and she is challenging the team and you to create a card using heat embossing. Why don’t you join us in this challenge and enter your card for a chance to win some awesome Repeat Impressions rubber? Please visit the blog for all the details and to see the other Rock Star's projects for this DCC challenge. I have seen them and you do not want to miss them!

I created the background on this card with a stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils and two colors of blue ink. Then I stamped Repeat Impression’s Palm Pattern three times with Versamark and heat embossed with purple, blue and copper sparkly embossing powder from Stampamania. I also heat embossed the Live, Love, Laugh sentiment with gold embossing powder, cut it apart with deckle scissors, sponged and attached.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Craft Your Passion and 613 Avenue Create, and the Design Team Showcase.

And don’t forget: For a 10% discount on any size order at Repeat Impressions, just make a note of my discount code (rr10kh), click on the blog badge on the side of my blog and go to the website here to shop and save!

Cat's Pajamas Birthday Card

I have been known to use this old expression about the Cat's Pajamas and so when I found this stamp by Stampendous at a stamp show, I just had to buy it. I saw a card in Pinterestland that showed this idea of cutting away the top layer to reveal the same stamp below and decided to try it with this stamp and some stitched star dies from Lil' Inker. I stamped the Cat's PJ's stamp twice on two pieces of white cardstock. Then I cut two stars out of one of the pieces and paper pieced the cat's pajamas. I used a thin black marker to "stitch" around the edge of the top piece and attached it with pop dots over the second stamped white piece. I attached the completed card front to a teal card.

The set of stitched dies from Lil' Inker has a matching set of stamps, so I stamped the inside with a perfect sentiment and added one more stitched star to the inside of the card. I will be teaching this card in the classes I teach in my home.

I am entering this card in the birthday celebration at Simon Says Stamp, the humor challenge at Crafty Gals Corner and the Layers and Dimension challenge at Virginia's View.

Screen Divider Cards for my Project of the Week at Repeat Impressions

It is my turn today to share a Project of the Week at Repeat Impression's blog and mine and I am showing how to make a screen divider card. I am loving making these types of cards because it gives the card maker four canvases to tell a story or express wishes for the lucky recipient. I always start with a 12 inch wide piece of cardstock and score at 3,6, and 9 inches. The height can vary depending on what stamps, punches and embellishments you choose. This card started out 8 inches high and I punched the trellis border along the top with a border punch by Martha Stewart. Here is a picture showing the first two panels closer up:

Each of the inside panels were cut 2 1/2" by 6 1/2". For the first panel, I created a border with temporary tape and sponged with a light caramel ink. Then I stamped Repeat Impression's Divi Tree three times. I removed the border tape and stamped the Divi Tree and Joy & Good Wishes in black. On the second panel I die cut a window with a die from Tonic Studios and stamped RI's "Dream Calligraphy" in black. Here is a picture of the next two panels:

I simply stamped RI's beautiful fan in the corners and the Sanskrit "Look to this Day" advice on the third panel. I decided the advice and wishes would be perfect for a graduate, so I stamped the graduation congratulations in red and cut out with an oval stitched die cut from My Creative Time. I punched the bottom of the last panel to match the top and left plenty of room to write a personal note and sign the card. This is how the card looks from the top when it is standing up for display:

I am hoping you enjoyed this screen divider card tutorial. Thanks for visiting our blogs!

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Crafty Catz and Jo's Scrap Shack.

Have a Rockin' Birthday!

Birthdays is the theme of the challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp because they are celebrating 6 years of challenges, so Happy Birthday to them! I am sharing a card I made recently for a proposed article at Scrap and Stamp Arts on cling wrap backgrounds with Bisters or Brushos. This one was made with blue, yellow and green Bister powders on glossy paper, then spritzed with gold glimmer mist. While very wet, I scrunched up and applied a piece of cling wrap, then waited for it to dry. IRL you can see the glimmer of the gold spray. I die cut the head phones and stamped the "Rockin' Birthday" sentiment (both are from My Favorite Things.)

The die from My Favorite Things has a large and small head phones so I made a small one for the inside of the card. Wouldn't this card be perfect for a teenager? That is my hardest kind of card to design so I am so glad I bought this set of dies and stamps.

I am also entering this card in the "Use a Die" challenge at Polkadoodles Challenge.

For a Mom or Special Female at Send a Smile 4 Kids

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is For a Mom or Special Female (from the Kids). Create and link any feminine card for a Mom that a child could send and you could win one of our great prizes.

We have three very generous sponsors for this challenge: DeeDee’s Digis is giving their winner a $15 gift certificate!  A Day for Daisies is giving their randomly picked winner a $12 gift certificate!  And Stitchy Bear Digital Outlet’s winner gets a $6 gift certificate! TEAM S.A.S will also be choosing their favorite cards for our top three and the winners will receive a blog badge and an opportunity to be a guest design team member on a future challenge.

The sweet little girl in my first card above is from A Day for Daisies. I paper pieced her dress and hat and did a little coloring and sponging. I cut a curved stitched edge with a die. The top card base was embossed with an embossing folder from Stampin' Up and I attached "Mom" cut out with alphabet dies from Die-Versions before running through the Big Shot to emboss.

My second cute Mother's Day card features colored digis and a sentiment from DeeDee's Digis. I printed the fun sentiment on the cardbase and sponged it blue. I printed the Mom and baby calf and cut a zig-zag edge with a stitched border die. I cut the bottom with the same die, raised both with pop dots and added some blue gems to complete the card.

I am entering these cards in the Anything Goes challenges at Aud Sentiments  and Wonderful Wednesdays.

Wine Shaker Card on Crackerbox Palace Friday

It's Crackerbox Palace Friday and today I am sharing a fun card I made with a lol wine stamp from Crackerbox Palace. CBP has a whole line of wine and coffee stamps here on their website. I decided to make a wine shaker card with some new dies from My Creative Time. I started with a pretty purple background created with Brushos and glossy paper. Then I cut three wine glasses with the dies. I stamped the funny “This Wine” choice stamp with a black archival ink. I attached some acetate behind the wine glasses and created a border around them with two layers of thin mounting tape. Then I dumped in a bunch of sequins and beads before attaching that piece to a white card base.

Here is another look with a bigger shake of the card: 

**As a present to you from Crackerbox Palace, all the  stamps  on this card will be 20% OFF for one week! What a deal! **

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Penny’s Paper Crafty and the Humor challenge at Crafty Gals Corner.

Color Challenge at Repeat Impressions

The first Wednesday of each month at Repeat Impression’s blog, The House that Stamps Built, is going to be a color challenge. We give you the color inspiration, and you can make a card using those colors to possibly win a great prize of Repeat Impressions rubber! Here is the color palette chosen this month:

Kraft is one of my favorite colors to make cards with, and red cards make me happy, so this card was easy to design. I started with a kraft card base and layered a piece of red on top with a beautiful border cut with two curved border dies from Spellbinders. I heat embossed a large dragonfly from Repeat Impressions with a sparkly black embossing powder and cut it out. I stamped a smaller dragonfly and a perfect sentiment and the happy card was done.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Crafting from the Heart and the Design Team Showcase.