H2H Alphabet Soup Challenge

The final October challenge at Heart 2 Heart was the Alphabet Soup challenge.  Having never completed a full month of challenges . . . well I just had to get this one in under the wire. 

So I used the newest letter stamp . . . Framework (which is awesome) . . . and combined it with letters from one of the 3 x 3 background stamps (which I stamped in Colonial White onto a purple background) . . . and then used one of the stamps from last years September Stamp of the Month for a third set of letters to get the second part of my sentiment. 

I added some glitter to give some pizazz (on the web . . . in the boo . . . on the fence) . . .

All product is CTMH.

Action Wobble Birthday

This week's Action Wobble challenge was a birthday challenge.  Lately I've been working with some paper from Close To My Heart.  It was part of a kit that included a stamp, but I had something different in mind.  One of the papers had a honeycomb design that was perfect for a beehive.  

So I decided to use some stamps and dies from The Stamps of Life, one in particular with a bee.  A bee on a wobble?  Perfect. 

I used Stickles to outline the left side of the hive, my bee's buzzy trail, and the wings.  And my bee wobbles.  Check out that blur!

And a sweet sentiment . . . 

Supply List

Card base, ink and pattern paper from Close To My Heart

Stamps and Dies from Stamps of Life

Stickles

And the always fun Action Wobble!

Favorite Things . . .

So last weeks Heart 2 Heart Challenge was a tribute to Sound of Music (one of my favorites) and was "brown paper packages tied up with string."  If you didn't see my creation, you can find it here.

They are continuing that theme, as this week's challenge is "a few of my favorite things."

O.K. . . . here's a few of my favorite things . . .

creating boxes from scratch

paper, glue, ink, stamps,

cookies (the homemade kind . . . not the store bought ones)

So . . . I bought these fall decorated cookies for an event, and they came in a nice big box all packaged in pairs.  They are homemade . . . but they weren't made in my home.  I needed to create either a box or a slide sleeve for some of them to give to friends.  Now I love figuring things out . . . but I hate wasting paper as part of the process. So I tried to keep this one pretty simple. 

I wanted one of the cookies to be peaking out, as the sprinkles were so colorful.  I decided to go with a box, and not a sleeve, as I wanted it to stand.   I guessed on measurements, as it depends on the size of your contents.  Once I had the size, it was all about decorating.  I stamped away to create the design where my sentiment is on the front of the box. 

 All of the product is from the Buzz & Bumble kit that CTMH had in their previous catalog.  I love playing around with coordinating product.  The back of the box needed a little something, so I used the reverse side of the bar code strip on one of the papers. 

I think my friend will love it.  I'm off to create a few more.  

Beboppin' SPARKS Challenge

It's a Cool Shades challenge this week at Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge. 

For this one I went to my Bo Bunny dot paper (love my dot paper) and found some awesome shades.  And they shades themselves, they just screamed "Bebobbin!"  So I paper pieced a cassette tape and a little keyboard to make this cute little card.  My intention, before sending, is to write something on that cassette tape that will mean something to the recipient, so I will personalize their mix tape.  

Supplies Used:  Bazzill Cardstock, Bo Bunny Pattern Paper, Memento and Stampin' Up Ink, Paper Smooches Stamps, Denami Ribbon.

Cheers! for Mojo Monday

I used this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge to make a birthday card.  I wanted to use what was on hand on my table, as I have a habit of bringing out about 37 items to make one card, using 3 of the 37, and then bringing out about 12 more items and using just 2 of those.  So in essence, if you do the math, I bring out about 50 items to create one card and am lucky to use 5 of the items.  So I decided to attempt to use some of those other 45 items that weren't used.  (I have to tell you though, that I think I brought out about a dozen more items . . . tell me I'm not the only one that lives in this chaos!)

But I digress . . . the sketch this week . . .

I decided to use those new Stampin' Up In Colors (which were on the table).  I pulled in some yellow to go along with it and it was all about fruity slices.  I created my own background. 

My orange slice was created using a half of a circle and a pennant die.  I rounded the ends of the pennant with the circle punch so it would all match up, and some Stickles on the rim of the glass, the lime slice and on my orange made it all come together.   Not sure I love the browns that I tied in, but I felt it needed a little "pop" of a darker color, and since the In Color included that brown sugar hue, I brought it in as well. 

Supplies Used: 
Cardstock, Stamps, Ink and Ribbon from Stampin' Up
Punches from Stampin' Up and Fiskars
Stickles

BROWN PAPER PACKAGES TIED UP WITH STRING

I can never resist a challenge that starts by quoting something musical, and the "Sound of Music" is one of my favorites since I was a kid.  So when I saw the Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week was "brown paper packages tied up with string" I just had to play along.

Brown paper packages . . . tied up with string.  I knew I had one of the kits with some brown paper, so I went thru my stash until I found it.  I had also remembered taking screenshot from Pinterest on my phone of a cute box that someone made from an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of cardstock . . . and that it supposedly had no cutting.  Hmmm . . . a bag with a self-contained box and no cutting.  And yet I didn't have measurements?  This was going to get interesting.

I played with a piece of white printer paper first, and it took a while, but I finally figured it out.

So here is my take on "brown paper packages tied up with string."  The front . . .

The back . . . 

The inside . . . 

And it really does make a cute, sturdy little box . . . no cutting.  Just scoring.

All product is CTMH (except the candy).  And for those needing those score measurements, after some "failed" attempts . . . and some "this might work attempts" . . . the final version here was scored 2 inches vertically from each side, and then 3/4" and 4 1/2" from each side for the horizontal. 

Ah, Autumn for Heart 2 Heart Challenge

Inking it up - indeed!  A Heart 2 Heart challenge from Close To My Heart to use fall colors.  Specifically, Sunset, Barn Red, Cashmere and Gypsy. 

I could only think about those soon to be fall sunsets that we have here in New England, and here is what I came up with . . .

I was amazed that the Cashmere ink took on a bit of a green tone.  I used the Gypsy for the sky, and the Sunset for . . . well, the sunset of course.  The Barn Red was used on all the trees, including the background trees which were second generation stamping.  I was skeptical these colors would work, but I was impressed with the end result. 

All supplies used are Close To My Heart. 

Trick or Treat Mousetrap

I'm giddy with excitement.  This was in my head for years. 

The intended use of a mousetrap scares the bejeezers out of me.  I just can't think about it, and I'd rather pay $30 for a trap that will save the mouse (and likely bring him back into my house two days later) than 4 for $2.00 at the local discount store for a trap that would harm a cute little mouse. 

I do reserve the right to scream if I see the mouse . . . not from fear but from surprise.  But I just can't bear to kill the little guys. 

But come on . . . 4 for $2.00 . . . metal and wood.  You know those have to be awesome for crafting. 

And they are . . .mouse trap meets Action Wobble challenge.  Challenge was Halloween, and nothing says TRICK or Treat like hanging candy from a mouse trap so the recipient has to wonder if their hand will be slapped from taking the candy.  But . . . it's safe!  Traps was never engaged.  So I took the trap, and I used pliers to make a hook at the top.

I decorated using pattern paper, cardstock, ink, stamps and washi tape.   What's awesome . . . the medallion with the washi tape is a wobble (which is why it is slightly blurry.  It was awesome to use the wobble because there is a sturdy wire underneath that I would have had to lift if I was putting this medallion flat on the trap.  And because this was hanging . . . there was lots of wobble action. 

 And it really does hold candy (best I could do was a Nestle Skinny Cow).  It is hanging, and it is holding!  Quite a grip. 

So . . . the task at hand . . . I need to find the mouse traps that I bought.  I literally pulled one out months ago and left the other dozen or so in a bag.  Somewhere . . . but where. 

Supplies Used
Cheap mouse trap from discount store
Bazzill Cardstock
Doodlebug Pattern Paper and Washi Tape
Close To My Heart Stamp
Action Wobble
Memento Black Ink
Sizzix Die

Getting Krafty for CAS-ual Fridays

Several months back I found a set of pencils I had bought at some point in time.  I set them aside, because I knew I had wanted to try a watercolor technique, and the CAS-ual Friday challenge looked brought the perfect opportunity.

The challenge was to combine Kraft and text.  So I started with Kraft cardstock and embossed my text in white.  I had to create the stamped image twice . . . once for the card base, and then for the image with the circle cut out above.  I colored using the pencils . . . and I have to tell you I LOVE those darn pencils.  They delivered a rich, creamy color.  The embossed image helped me to stay in the lines too. 

Here is a closer image of the coloring.  I had to be careful not to get that bottom image, where the apple is, too wet, as that's the base of the card.  I would have liked to go back in with a little more water to smooth out a few streaks.  But I decided that too much water would not bode well for my card.

I love the result! 

I see more coloring in my future.

Supplies Used
Cardstock from Bazzill
Stamp from Close To my Heart
Versamark and Stampendous White Emboss Powder
Inktense Pencils from Derwent
Ribbon from Stampin' Up

Love those Woofers!

Earlier today I was working, and I took a break and I was playing with my Woofers and Tweeters stamp set from Paper Smooches.  I made a card for a challenge, and realized it was an old challenge.  But it was too much fun to create those little dogs from the set, so after I finished my work I went back to creating for this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge.  

Here was this week's photo inspiration . . . 

Frames . . . lots and lots of frames.

So I made some frames . . . lots of frames.  I made more than I used . . . 

 

Could those little dogs be any cuter?  I truly love this set.  And I used a glaze pen on those wet noses and eyes!  

Supplies Used

Cardstock from Bazzill

Pattern Paper from DCWV

Stamps and Dies from Paper Smooches

Ink from Close To My Heart

Dies from Quickutz

Sakura Glaze Pen

"Working Like a Dog"

I've been "working like a dog" the last few months, and especially the last three or four weeks.  I just had to flip my calendar because September 1st is here.  It has been nearly a month since I posted last, and I really want to get back in touch with my creative side. 

Hmmm . . . "working like a dog?"  Anyone who has been to my house and has seen my dogs would not relate to the term.  My companion dogs do not break a sweat.  They spend their days being lazy and cute, and they do a great job with both of those things.

So I decided to take a break from work today, I created a little something for the Paper Smooches Spark Challenge.  During my creative process, I realized I was looking at an old challenge.  But I was having too much fun, so I kept at it.  It was a color challenge . . .

And here is my design, using some awesome paper from Authentique coupled with my Paper Smooches stamps and dies.  

I actually cut her mouth so she could hold the flower.   Yes!  She is a she!  She reminds me of my sweet little girl, Samantha. 

I can't enter the challenge, because I missed the deadline.  But the inspiration was AWESOME, and it was a nice break from "working like a dog."

Supplies Used
Cardstock from Bazzill
Pattern Paper from Authentique
Stamps and dies from Paper Smooches
Ink from Close To My Heart
Ribbon from my stash
Stickles