Seize the Birthday #179: A Bit of Red

Hi Friends! It's my last challenge as the Surprise Party Guest over at Seize the Birthday.  I have so enjoyed partying with the Design Team. They are a talented and kind group of card makers and they host one of the best challenges around. Thank you, ladies, for letting me hang out with you! I had a blast!

Seize the Birthday takes the month of December off so folks can spend time with their families during the holidays. The last challenge for 2019 is birthday-themed, as usual, with an added Topping of 'A Bit of Red,' if you'd like.

By now you know I love adding Toppings, so here's a birthday card I made for my wonderful son to celebrate, let's say, a "milestone" birthday, using some of my Christmas supplies.

My 'Little Bit of Red' is a red cardstock layer and a red enamel heart on the buck silhouette die cut (Savvy Stamps Deer Head). I stamped the backgrounds on both layers (MFT and Catherine Pooler) in Twilight ink by Catherine Pooler.  The sentiment from Altenew is heat embossed and the flourishes were die cut (MFT) out of silver vellum.  I did not forget to pop up the top layer this time! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind comments.  They are so appreciated!

Hugs,

Annie 

Seize the Birthday #178: Off the Edge

Hi Friends!  Happy November and welcome to another fun challenge from Seize the Birthday!  I'm so happy to be staying at the party this month as the Surprise Party Guest.  

Anytime is 'Anything Goes' as long as it's a birthday theme. But, if you're a toppings kind of person (like me) you can add a little extra.  This time around the topping is 'Off the Edge.'

My mind kept going with stamping and die cutting off the edge, so this is what I came up with:

I white heat embossed the sentiment (MFT Spotlight Sentiments) and the stars (MFT Stars Above) on a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 piece of Classic Crest Sand cardstock.  Then I partial die cut the top star with the coordinating die so it was 'off the edge.'  After some random coloring with a Gold Metallic Prismacolor pencil, I layered the piece onto a Neenah Solar White card base.  Now I'm wishing I would have popped it up for some dimension, but oh well...it's a bit easier to mail!

We hope you'll play along and can't wait to see what you come up with.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs,

Annie

PP451: CAS Challenge from Ann

Hello! Back again with a card for the latest Paper Players Challenge #451:

I went with a simple Kraft card base and coffee stamp from Riley & Co. I clear heat embossed the image and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  Finished it off with coffee "drips" in VersaFine Clair Pinecone ink. 

CAS was just what I needed and a masculine card for my stash is a bonus! Thanks for stopping by ~ hope you're having a great week!

Hugs,
Annie

Cards in Envy: Let's Hear It For The Boys!

Welcome back, CIE friends!  It's another fun theme over at Cards in Envy for our new challenge: Let's Hear It For The Boys!  Yep, cards for guys.  It could be a Father's Day card, birthday, congratulations...you decide.  Just make sure it's flat enough to fit in an envy.

This card is for my DGS's 2nd grade graduation.  We call him "little dude."  I can't remember having "graduations" until high school but I think it's fun and great for the kids to celebrate!  I used Concord & 9th's Confetti Card Die on Neenah Solar White cardstock to layer over a card base made from Gina K.'s Red Velvet cardstock.  The Hooray sentiment was stamped with Catherine Pooler's inks and Concord & 9th's Triple Step Hooray stamp.  I found the "dude" on a Paper Smooches stamp set.  I finished the card off with sequin stars, Nuvo drops, and a few small enamel dots.  

We hope you'll play along and create a card for those guys in your life!  This challenge will close on Sunday, June 17th.  Thanks for stopping by and sharing your wonderful cards over at Cards in Envy!

The Paper Players #391: A Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge from Joanne

Woohoo!  It's the fifth Sunday of the month over at The Paper Players Challenge and that means it's Tic-Tac-Toe time!

Since I struggle a bit with grown-up "guy" cards, I went with the middle row across for my DT card:  Birthday, Ribbon, Masculine.  This birthday card will be going to my brother, a true car buff.

  

First, sorry...foil is a bit difficult for me to photograph.  I was doing some spring cleaning in The Dog House and found some Dazzles that I bought ages ago at a local craft show.  I placed the car Dazzle on watercolor paper, fussy cut, and watercolored the image.  The Dazzle sentiment was placed on a watercolor paper scrap and mounted on a gold foil die cut oval over a rust colored ribbon scrap.  The DSP is from a 6x6 paper pack by Prima.  Notice the gears in the lower left corner?  

Have fun picking a row (or all of them) and check out the other DT members' blogs for inspiring ideas!

The Paper Players Design Team

• Claire
• Joanne 
• Jaydee
• Laurie
• LeAnne
• Nance
• Sandy
• Elizabeth 
• Jan

And just a few rules:

1. Create a new paper project.
2. Upload your project to your blog with a link back to The Paper Players.
3. Provide a direct link to your blog post for your challenge entry.
4. Please link your card to no more than FOUR challenges (including ours).

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your week!

Oh Happy Day!

Well, this doesn't happen very often!  I made a masculine birthday card for a dear friend and noticed that it fit perfectly for the newest Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge!

I used the Top Row, Across: Twine, Bold Sentiment, and Red

The background was stamped with Memento London Fog ink, using MFT's Watercolor Stripe background stamp.  I splattered some red watercolor and added the Oh Happy Day sentiment die cut from Die-Versions.  I changed out the dot on the exclamation point for a red heart with Glossy Accents and tied the red/white twine at the top.  An easy one-layer card!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the first "Spring" weekend!

Love and Joy

Hi there!  Our football team is off today so I went to play in the Dog House aka My Happy Place.  I came upon a challenge I had never played before from the Paper Craft Crew and thought I'd give it a whirl!  

I needed a masculine Christmas card for a very dear friend.  He's definitely a minimalist so I thought the first row down would work well - Holiday Celebrations, Natural Elements, and Favorite Stamp Set:

On a Kraft card base, I layered a brick embossed (Tim Holtz) stitched rectangle that I had swiped with Simon Say's Barely Beige and MFT's Kraft ink pads.  The tree die cut (Concord & 9th) was from a piece of handmade paper from Mexico that is made with natural wood fibers.  I've hoarded it forever...but it didn't hurt too much when I cut it!  I die cut a burlap star to top the tree.  Lastly, I stamped the sentiment in Catherine Pooler's brown ink called Icing on the Cake.  The handwritten Christmas sentiment stamp set is one of my all time faves this season.

I hope this fits the bill for the challenge :)  Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you have a fantastic week!

You Got This!

Happy Sunday!  A quick post today of an encouragement card for a big game coming up that is going to be played on a baseball DIAMOND...just in time for CASology's latest challenge!

Thanks for stopping by ~ hope you're having a great weekend!

Dads Rule!

Hi there!  A quick post for the latest Shopping Our Stash Challenge:  Dude,  I haven't decided if it's going to be a Father's Day card or Birthday card but I'd better decide soon!

Here's the stuff I used:

Cardstock - MFT Kraft

Stamps - Hero Arts Color Layering Lion and Mud Cloth Background Stamp

Ink - Versfine Vintage Sepia and Delicata Golden Glitz

Dies - Hero Arts Rectangle Infinity Dies and Sizzix Starburst & Circles

Other - Scrap Vellum, Gold Dots, Clear Embossing Powder

Thanks for stopping by!  

Cards in Envy: You're the Man!

Hi CIE friends!  It's the first Monday of the month and time for another Cards in Envy Challenge! This time we're looking for cards for the guys in our lives.  They can be for friendship, birthday, Father's Day, or any other occasion you can think of.  Just make sure they are flat enough to fit in an envy and, of course, manly :)

Often I get inspired by everyday things for cardmaking.  This is one of those times.  The "designer paper" on this card is actually part of a box of lens wipes I picked up at Costco.  I loved the glasses pattern and they perfectly matched the glasses of a dear friend of mine.  I heat embossed the MFT Eye Chart sentiment and added a few red cardstock scraps.  And...I recycled!  Bonus points for me :)

Surprise!  Today it's a two-fer!  Here's a Father's Day card I made for my son because he IS a fantastic Dad to my DGS:

I'm totally lovin' the Dotty Turnabout Stamp Set from Concord & 9th...it is brilliant!  I used Simon Says and Catherine Pooler inks, striped DSP from MFT, and the Die-Versions Sweet Spot die which I inlaid to keep the card super flat.

We hope you'll play along with us and fill the gallery with those guy cards!  Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a great week.

YOU can do it.

Hi there!  I had some time this week to play along with a couple of challenges.  This card is for CASology's latest challenge inspired by the cue "LOUD."

So, I must confess...I love cars and racing.  If you've ever been to a race, it is LOUD!  That's what came to mind when I saw the cue.  I put together my masculine card with winning checkered flags and a little encouragement!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you're having a good week and an even better Memorial Weekend!

Friday Fun

Happy Friday!  A quick post for three different challenges.  The first card is for the latest challenge over at CASology:

I love this sentiment from The Stamps of Life.  A little Copics, Wink of Stella, and white gel pen on the Elizabeth Craft heart flower and it was ready to go!

The second card is for Words 2 Craft By's N-U-M-B-E-R-M-O-U-S-E Challenge.  I made this Distress Ink, Perfect Pearls, and dry embossed background ages ago and found it the other day.  I think it made a nice masculine birthday card with its shiny metallic look!

 
The third and final card I was able to squeeze out this week is for Freshly Made Sketches:

Using a handmade cloud stencil and Distress Ink, the stamps and dies from The Stamps of Life, and a banner die from MFT, my little hot air balloons will float through the mail to my DGS 💗

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

My Anchor

Hi there!  Busy week but I was able to make a card this morning (yay!) and wanted to play along with a couple of challenges:

CASology - Cue Card: Strong

Shopping Our Stash (SOS298) - Use Punches and/or Dies

This is my Father's Day card for my Dad.  He's a WWII Navy Veteran, loves the sea, and has always been my "anchor" no matter how difficult things have been.

A single layer card for me that I didn't have to redo a gazillion times :)  Happy Dancin'!  On the Neenah Solar White 110# card base, I masked off the bottom right hand corner about a quarter of an inch from the edge.  I sponged on Distress Oxide inks in Faded Jeans and Broken China, then splashed a little water.  The anchor is a Spellbinders die cut.  The sentiment is from Gina K.

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday Little Brother!

In our family, any birthday that ends with an "oh" is a landmark event.  My little brother will soon be celebrating a landmark of a birthday, so...perfect time to play along with CASology's latest challenge:

I thought he would appreciate a card that went right to the point :)  The background stamp (Altenew) was inked up with Memento Desert Sand ink.  I die cut the numbers out of chipboard and inked up with Espresso Distress Ink.  Finally, I added the sentiment (MFT) in VersaFine Vintage Sepia and heat embossed with clear EP.  That's it...no glitter or shimmer...just a CAS guy card!

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a great week!

Home Run!

Good morning!  A pretty quick pre-dawn card for me this morning.  I started with inspiration from one of my fave challenges, CASology:

I needed a masculine congrats card, spring training has started up, and what's a better "score" than a home run?  

On a Neenah Solar White card base, I stamped a red striped border (think stitching on a baseball :), the vintage home run hitter (Graphic 45) in Lawn Fawn's Hippo ink, and then the sentiment (Catherine Pooler).  After stamping the sentiment first in VersaFine Onyx Black, I shifted the card base in my Misti 💗 a smidge left and down and stamped the sentiment again in SSS Fog ink for a shadow.

If possible, I'd also like to link up to a new challenge (to me) over at Addicted to CAS because I know he's holding a wood bat!  

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a great week!

Card Concept #60

Hi All!  I didn't have much time to be crafty this week but I'm happy I was able to play along with the latest Card Concept challenge:

I loved this pic of the chevron pumpkin.  It had a modern feel so I was inspired to use the pumpkin, chevrons, and colors for my card.  I was going for a clean & graphic look for my nephew's Thanksgiving card.  He's into photography and graphic design ~ I hope he likes it!

I used Distress Inks (candied apple, carved pumpkin, squeezed lemonade) and "smooshed" them with acetate over the stamped pumpkin trio image.  The Hero Arts sentiment was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black as was the chevron background stamp from Impress. 

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ have a wonderful weekend!

Masculine Thanksgiving

Hi there!  I made a card this morning following the latest sketch challenge from The Paper Players:

I was trying for a masculine Thanksgiving card with different coloring than I usually use.  I'm not sure it screams "guy card" but I liked the color combo.  Plus I actually used up some more washi tape...yay for me!

Here's the stuff I used ~
     Cardstock:  Strathmore Bristol
     DSP:  Lawn Fawn's Perfectly Plaid (Fall)
     Stamp(s):  Concord & 9th's Lace Leaf stamp set
     Inks:  Evergreen Bough (Distress) and Warm Cocoa (Gina K.)
     Other:  The Paper Studio Copper Foil Washi Tape and Sheer Shimmer Mist (MFT)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Very Special Red Balloon

Overcast sky this morning so I went to my Happy Place and made a couple of cards.  This was after I chased my favorite deer off of the front porch as she happily munched on a "deer resistant" plant <sigh>.

Anyhoo, this card was put together for The Paper Players Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge #306:

(3rd column down - masculine, red, die-cut)

And, I used the Freshly Made Sketches #248 for the layout:

Here's the stuff I used:
     Cardstock - Memory Box Graphite
     DSP - DCWV Neutrals
     Die Cuts - My Favorite Things Big Balloons
     Stamps - Stamps of Life (sentiment), My Favorite Things (HB Background)
     Ink:  VersaMark, Lawn Fawn Hippo, and Memento Lady Bug
     Other:  White & Clear Detail embossing powder

I'll also be linking this card up to the Live Love Card community challenge for August (Birthday cards).  Thanks much for stopping by!

Hooray!

Gray skies today so I finished two cards in my happy place!  The second card is for the latest challenge over at the Die Cuttin' Divas with a Birthday theme (#272):

I used three different dies on this card:  Hooray banner (Die-Versions), stitched rectangle (MFT), and stars (Mama Elephant).  Memento inks were used for the background and I added the fun sentiment from MFT under the banner.  A little Glossy Accents on the die cut stars and this is ready to go!

Thanks for visiting today ~ Have a wonderful (and hopefully warm) 4th of July!

Die Cuttin' Divas - Father's Day Challenge

Hi all!  This week's challenge over at Die Cuttin' Divas is for Father's Day:

This is a pretty new challenge for me.  I discovered it last week and think it will quickly become a habit!  I love die cuts and tend to always have at least one on almost every project. 

Going with the challenge theme, this is the Father's Day card I created for my brother:

He has a pond in his background with lots of goldfish and a few precious koi.  I say precious because they have survived the heron and raccoons...so far at least!  I die cut the koi three times in orange, white, and black shimmery cardstock so I could inlay a koi-like pattern.  Here's the other stuff I used:

Cardstock:  Blue Ombre by DCWV
Stamps:  Clearly Besotted (sentiments), Impress (sea grasses), and Winnie & Walter (bubbles)
Die:  Koi by Spellbinders
Inks:  Memento
Other:  Glossy Accents on the bubbles

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ Have a great Father's Day weekend with your loved ones!