Hi again...

(matching card and atc created by me for a "Favorite Quote" themed yahoo group mingle...Wausau 110# index stock base, Memorybox papers and paper I made and wrinkle-distressed...Doodlebug paper frill flower chain I chalk-ink-inked...white Basic Grey rub-on flower and sentiment...Karen Foster eyelets...ATC Collection image and quote...Ranger distress and Colorbox chalk inks.)

This is an ABC-fer creation:
A. used this week's Mojo Monday sketch
B. made for dear friend Jodi in my Altered Designs TGIF mingle
C. complies with this week's Pick 3 Challenge of dear Denise's, which was Spring-themed and I chose to pick the following 3 card rules:

1. Use any color that reminds you of Spring: I used green, blue, white, purple.
2.  Use a flower image: I used the paper chain and also the flower-y rub-on.
3. Make a card with no specific occasion: My card was made to house the atc. It was made for a function, not an occasion. (Hope that makes sense!?)

 I've been sick this past week and laying low in cyberland. I'm beginning to either feel better some or I'm coping better, because I have been wanting to create again. So, I'll try to post like every day this next week and slowly come back up to speed. Stay tuned and have a great week...

Still gettin' "Carded"

(card created by me, using Ancient Lil Davis Designs patterned paper (designed by Jenni Bowlin -- that's how old it is...plus, Lil Davis is no longer in biz); stamps by Stamp Camp, Tim Coffey for K&Co,  Technique Tuesday, Heidi Swapp and October Afternoon)

My Pick 3 Challenge card this week is also my very first COTM (Card of the Month) in my Stampers Corner group. It was really a match made in Heaven. First of all, the theme for our January COTM is "Fun & Games". Okay. Now, the Pick 3 is all about Themes and how to keep it going on your card. I was supposed to pick 3 of these:

-Image of theme
-Sentiment that uses the theme
-Charm that is part of your theme
-Ribbon that follow the theme
-Cardstock color that compliments your theme
-Border that has theme
-Punch that will fit your theme
-Patterned paper that goes along with your theme

1. My stamped and cut out images (Bingo card, Ouija board, dice) qualify.
2. My little spinner charm qualifies.
3. My patterned paper qualifies, too.

So, those are three I picked. :-)

When I posted my card to the COTM group folder, I told a little story about the childhood memories this card brought back to me. My folks were in a neighborhood bridge club and so when they met at our house, all of the card tables and folding chairs came out of nowhere. I was assigned to put an ashtray and cork drink coasters at every table. My parents set up card tables and chairs for all of us kids and we babysat ourselves and played our own table games. The various mothers would take turns delivering snacks to us. It was fun and we felt so grown-up.

I tried out double heat embossing on the pieces that look mottled. I embossed the edge in black, then stamped the entire surface with embossing pad, covered it in powder and melted it. I do not know why the mottling formed, but to me it looked like the cork in our coasters that had had many wet drink glasses sitting on them. So, I liked it. It adds to the aged and vintage look.

Pick 3 Challenge card

Pick 3 Challenge card

I used pink, turquoise and white card stocks, swiss dots and swirls cuttlebug folders, and black and silver ribbon. Arms and legs from a collage sheet by Altered Pages. I also used Sketch #011 from my Stampers Corner yahoo group sketch files.

Twas the Friday Before Christmas...

One week to go! I'm not ready, are you? ;-)))

First up, a birthday card I made for one of my numerous nephews (I have 6 of them).

This is the sketch I used:

I used Sketch #45 from the Card Patterns challenge blog, and picked patterend paper that had circles, stars, and stripes, which also qualifies it for this week's Pick 3 Challenge. Oh, hey! I made the Top 3 in that challenge last week with my 2-fer Flip card. I was excited and very honored :-)))

More Christmas cards to show...I told The Hubster that his family is too big and he said, not if you would buy cards instead of making them. Then, I said, well, do their presents just buy themselves...and wrap them? Case closed. winkwink

My personal favorite:

My second favorite one:

The film strip frame is a Sizzix diecut, as is the swirly frame on the Noel card.

Holiday Cards Galore...

I've been having a Christmas card making marathon at my house, so let me show you some of them. First up is a little something I thought up to solve a specific problem. One of my brother-in-laws is Catholic and his wife is Jewish, so I have always just kept their holiday card generic in the past. This time, though, I got a wild hair and thought up what I call a 2fer Flip card. It's 2 cards in one, each of them gets a side! Here's the wife's side:

I used Junkitz Teresa Collins Homespun Holiday papers, Doodlebug vellum, calendar diecuts in my stash, and the sentiment was made with Making Memories alpha stickers that I colored on and over with markers to get an arts n crafts look.

Now for the fun part. Once Hanukkah is over with and they are done displaying it, they can just flip the card over, and display this until Christmas:

I used papers from the same collection as above, and the sentiment is a Making Memories tag with Chatterbox covered eyelets. The shakerbox focal embellishment is by Christina Cole.

Pretty cool, huh? I used sketches for both card designs from my Stampers Corner yahoo group. And the snowman card is also my very first entry for the Pick 3 Challenge over at Stamping Vacation. The 3 rules I chose were:
1. Use a sentiment embellishment
2. Do not use any stamps
3. Use an embellishment as the main focus of your card

I have some gingerbread men diecuts, so I made a couple of cards with them:

The paper is Chatterbox Holiday Lodge collection, the sentiment and the velvet ric rac are Making Memories and the snowflake brads are Queen & Co. I heavily inked the paper edges with Colorbox Chestnut Roan chalk ink.

And this card:

Same papers as the first card. Used my Spellbinders Nestabilities to mat the gingerbread guy, and the Candyland vintage label is by Melissa Frances.

I went from gingerbread to bear diecuts next. This is my parents' card:

I was still using the Chatterbox papers, and another Melissa Frances vintage label. Added a little Making Memories ric rac and Queen & Co. snowflake felt. The sentiment is a stamp by Papertrey Ink, and the roof is a stamp by Inka's Stamps.