A Quick Thank You

Here is a quick thank you card I made using last week's Retro Sketch. My son needed some thank you cards and I quickly made 3 of these. I used the Taylored Expressions March Key Ingredients Kit in combination with the sketch for a quick card. I love using the kits with sketches for quick and coordinated cards. The two combined makes it very easy to make something I am happy with and enjoy giving to others.

Paper and Hash Tag - Taylored Expressions March Key Ingredients
Stamp - SU Just Sayin'

Masculine Valentine

It's been ages since I have post to my blog. Even though I am continuing to stamp, I haven't had the opportunity to take photos and share my projects. I am hoping that will change and that I can at least post once a week.

Here is a card I created for our stamp group. I wanted to make a card that I could give to my husband and one that didn't have the traditional valentine colors. I wanted a clean simple look but decided to give it some dimension by recessing the heart a few layers down.

Valentine's day is my son's birthday so I will be working on a card for him. I just ordered some stamps that are to arrive today and I can't wait to use them.

Paper - basic black, whisper white, daffodil delight, coastal cabana, island indigo and smoky slate
Stamps - TAWS Good Point, TAWS Iconic, Alphabet
Accessories - black brads, circle dies

Retro Sketch for Dallas

Last month, Megan and Jake were able to attend a Dallas Cowboys football game with my husband and some business associates. They needed a thank you card for the firm that arranged the trip so I had an excuse to stamp. I used this week's Retro Sketch and incorporated the Dallas colors and the star. I just love the simplicity of this sketch and will be using it for some other projects this week.

Stamps - Made for You
Ink - Night of Navy
Paper - Whisper white, night of navy, silver, bashful blue card stock
Accessories - Stars die, Star brad, Stripe embossing folder

Oh Boy! A Birthday - Mojo Monday

This week I needed to make another boy's birthday card. I looked to Mojo Monday for this layout and tried my new stash of paper Simple Stories "Take a Hike". I bought this paper specifically for masculine cards

I love this layout, it's quick but has great interest with all the different lengths of paper.

Stamp - Afterthoughts
Ink - Early Espresso, Soft Suede
Paper - Early Espresso, Other Yellow and Blue (not from SU, I forgot the names), Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
Accessories - Circle dies, burlap fiber, dimensionals

Masculine Birthday

This week I needed a masculine birthday card and looked to The Pals Paper Arts for a sketch from Margaret Moody. I love the simplicity of her sketches and thought it would be perfect for my masculine card.  I inked up my embossing folder to give the embossed paper more depth. Pop on over to the PPA  challenge and see all the brilliant creations from the design team as well as other stampers.



Paper - Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Always Artichoke, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Stamp - Gently Falling - Sentiment from My Digital Studio
Ink - More Mustard, Marina Mist, Soft Suede, Versamark
Accessories - Woodgrain embossing folder, gold embossing powder, raffia, brads, dimensionals

Fresh Sketches - Botday

Today Jake has a birthday party to go to and I decided to pull out one of my favorites for young boys - Best Bots Forever. I used the clean and simple sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for the card. I paired the new DSP Howlstooth and Scaringbone with More Mustard and Basic Black to keep the colors appropriate for a young boy.

It is so nice to stamp again after a busy spring and summer. I should be posting more cards over the next few months and look forward to it.

Stamp - Best Bots Forever
Paper - Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP, More Mustard, Basic Grey, Basic Black and Whisper White Cardstock
Ink - Basic Gray, Basic Black, More Mustard
Accessories - Square Lattice embossing folder, decorative brads

Masculine Birthday for an Easy Rider

Here is a card I created for my neighbor who is turning 70 although you would never guess his age. I find images hard to choose for masculine cards, but thought this was appropriate since my neighbor is a motorcycle rider. I used MDS to create the greeting and reduced the opacity of the "70" to make it appear as a background for the sentiment. I love MDS!

Paper - Scraps of Webster's DSP ( I can't remember the name), not quite navy, early espresso, cherry cobbler, whisper white, crumb cake
Ink - basic black, baja breeze, marina mist, going grey, soft suede, daffodil delight, sahara sand
Stamps - Motorcycle ( MDS)
Accessories - square lattice embossing folder, dimensionals, brads, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/2" circle punch

Congratulations for a Teen

This week our neighbor's heard if their soon-to-be-freshman made it into special magnet programs. Both Sydney and Brandon were accepted into the program of their choice. I made this card for Brandon in celebration of his acceptance. Masculine cards are a stretch for me, but teen cards even more so.

Stamps - Up, Up and Away, Hugs and Wishes
Ink - Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Soft Suede
Paper - Well Worn DSP, Travels Retired DSP, very vanilla,cajun craze and crumb cake card stock
Accessories - Framelits Label die, Edgelits Adorning Accent die, button, linen thread, brad, dimensionals

Masculine - Simple Card

I needed another masculine birthday card and was inspired to create this one from a card in Paper Crafts magazine. I used basically the same layout as my inspiration piece, but changed the image. I stamped the leaf using Gently Falling and dug out my glass glitter to do a little broken glass technique. Clean and Simple but with a little bling.

Paper - chocolate chip, pacific point, crumb cake whisper white card stock
Ink - chocolate chip, pacific point, more mustard
Stamps - Gently Falling, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Accessories - square lattice embossing folder, linen thread, button, glass glitter

A Silly Card for a Silly Guy

Megan had another birthday party to attend so I went out of the box and made this card for her friend. He is such a goofy, nice boy so I wanted the card to reflect that. I used Picnik to create the special colors and effects of the photos then imported them into my publishing program. If you want to edit photos quickly check out the Picnik site.

Stamps - Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper - basic gray, black, whisper white card stock
Ink - basic black
Accessories - black brads, dimensionals

Another Mojo Card

I loved the Mojo Monday sketch and used it once again for this Bar Mitzvah card. Just changing the color scheme to a more masculine one gives it a different feel. 

Stamp - Shalom Sayings

Ink - Early Espresso, Soft Suede

Paper - Basic Grey Max and Whiskers, Bazzil Basics Simon, Stampin' Up early espresso, cajun craze and very vanilla card stock

Accessories - 1" and 1 1/4" circle punch, early espresso satin ribbon

A Go To Sketch Site - Sweet Sketch Wednesday

Raised number "13", stamped image and circles

One of my go-to sites for sketches is Sweet Sketch Wednesday. I am amazed at the quality and challenge of the sketches the design team produces each week. Make sure you "bug on over" and check out their challenge  and the beautiful work of the design team each Wednesday. I have the site bookmarked and visit each week for great inspiration. What amazing talent! Anywhooo....

I was in need of a 13 year old birthday card for my dear friend's son ( who is like a son to me) and used their sketch for inspiration. Even though the DT has such cute, pretty cards, I used the sketch for a more masculine feel. My "son from another mother" loves orange so I had to incorporate lots of orange in the card. Yes, I am using all retired items, but they were the great ones that I held on to. 

All items Stampin' Up!

Stamps - Bring On the Cake ( Spring Mini 2011- retired)

Paper - Travel Journal DSp ( Summer Mini 2010 - retired), night of navy, wisper white, pumpkin pie card stock

Ink - basic black, night of navy, pumpkin pie 

Accessories - 1" 3/4" 1/2" circle punches, dimensionals, glitter brads.

Big Birthday Weekend - Sweet Stop and Color Throwdown Challenge

This weekend is a crazy one with volleyball, lacrosse and 4 birthday parties. This is one of the birthday cards I created for a pre-teen boy. I used inspiration from both the Sweet Stop layout blog ( additional challenge to make it masculine) and the color inspiration from Color Throwdown ( grey, black and lime green). Now ----on to the next event and card.

Stamp - Best Bots Forever, A Cute Christmas ( package)
Ink - basic black, going grey , old olive, marina mist, shimmer paint
Paper - basic black, kiwi kiss, whisper white, basic grey card stock
Accessories - Cogs extra large punch, Square Lattice embossing folder.

Paper Players and Mojo

I finally had just a moment to stamp and made a card for a neighbor of ours that has been on my to do list for way too long. I combined both the Paper Players challenge along with today's Mojo Monday challenge. The Paper Players color challenge is perfect for a masculine card (cherry cobbler, early espresso, not quite navy) and I am always inspired by the Mojo Monday sketches.

Hopefully, I get a few more chances to stamp. With 8th grade graduation, sports and other family commitments, my stamping closet has been neglected:(

Stamps - Happy Greetings

Ink - early espresso, cherry cobbler

Paper - early espresso, cherry cobbler, very vanilla, not quite navy card stock and Holly Jolly DSP

Accessories - dimensionals, early espresso satin ribbon, antique brads, not quite navy brad, cherry cobbler seam binding, square lattice embossing folder, texture plates #4

Oh Boy! Another Birthday

'Tis the season for pre-teen boys birthdays around here. I needed another birthday card for a boy and wanted to use something other than Extreme Elements which is normally a go-to for young boys. This time I combined the hand stamp from Bring On the Cake with some Basic Grey paper to add a more masculine feel. I liked my 1/2" circle strip I created on my last card so I included it on this card to make it a little more whimsical and not so serious. I am running out of ideas for boys cards so I hope there is a girls birthday on the horizon. Give me some flowers and ribbon to work with!

Stamps - Bring on the Cake, Vintage Labels ( discontinued)
Ink - basic black, riding hood red, creamy caramel, soft suede
Paper - Basic Grey Curion, early espresso riding hood red, very vanilla card stock
Accessories - labels dies, 1/2" , 1" 1 1/4" circle punches, circle dies, dimensionals

Mojo Monday - Boy's Birthday

Today's Mojo Monday Sketch came in handy for a boys birthday card. I took the star element literally and distressed most of the items to get a vintage almost circus feel for the card.

Stamps - Engraved Greetings
Ink - Early Espresso
Paper - BG Max and Wiskers, early espresso, poppy parade, marina mist and very vanilla card stock
Accessories - 1" , 1/2", 1 1/4", 1 3/8" circle punches, Big Shot Stars #2 die, dimensionals