Category Archives: Challenges

- Dies – My Favorite Things Die-namics “Four Corners” and Spellbinders Nestabilities “Resplendent Rectangles”
- Stamp – My Favorite Things “Pretty Poppies” set
- Embossing powder – Stampendous – Lapis Pearl
- Pearls – KaiserCraft – Denim
- Cardstock – Bazzill and BoBunny
I created this card as part of My Favorite Things Summer School Lesson 11: Repetition. I used dies for the motif I repeated and heat embossed the sentiment with a pearly blue to pick up on the colors used for the dies and background. The dies create a nice rhythm down the card, drawing your eye to the sentiment. I decided to use complementary colors to make the elements pop. Thanks for stopping by.
Leave a comment | tags: cardmaking, die cuts, embossing, my favorite things, spellbinders | posted in Challenges, General Cards

- Stamp – from Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection “Watercolor” set
- Papers – Chickaniddy Crafts “Here’s the Story” (both sides) and “Oh Happy Day”
- Ranger Distress Markers – Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, Broken China, Spun Sugar
- Cardstock – Bazzill
I do enjoy a card sketch with a flag banner! So I found this sketch, Freshly Made Sketches #197, pretty inviting. I was asked to create a card with patterned papers from Chickaniddy Crafts at my local papercrafting store, Runaway Art & Craft Supply. I decided to use the watercolor butterfly as the focal point and selected Distress ink colors that matched the patterned papers. Thanks for visiting.
3 Comments | tags: cardmaking, distress techniques, Stamper's Anonymous, stamping, tim holtz, watercolor | posted in Challenges, Freshly Made, General Cards
Hero Arts Stamps:
CL738 – Messages with Flourish
CL834 – Stamp Your Own Plant
CG613 – Simple Leaf Background
Hero Arts Frame Cuts:
D1004 – Rectangle Frame
Twine – My Mind’s Eye “Chalk Studio”
Cardstock – Bazzill and Worldwin
Ranger Distress Inks
I created this card as part of a personal challenge on the Hero Arts Flickr group, where we challenged ourselves to create a card with at least one Hero Arts product within a 90 minute timeframe. I made it (barely!) within that amount of time. I’m very slow and methodical, so any timed challenge is really tough for me! The background was something I made after taking the first day of Online Card Classes “Background Check” class. I used Distress inks and water, plus a lovely Hero Arts background stamp to make the background. A very fun technique! Thanks for visiting today.
2 Comments | tags: cardmaking, die cuts, distress techniques, flora, Hero Arts, leaves, my mind's eye, stamping | posted in Challenges, Distress Techniques, Online Card Classes, Thank You, Uncategorized

- Stamp – Lawn Fawn “Chevron Backdrops”
- Die – Simon Says Stamp “Stamptember Thanks”
- Sequins – Doodlebug Designs
- Bling – Silver metal 3 mm dots
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- Ink – Hero Arts “Pool to Navy Ombre” ink pad
I created this clean and simple card using the Lawn Fawn chevron stamp that is great for backgrounds and used a die cut sentiment from Simon Says Stamp. I stamped the design with Hero Arts ombre ink. The Addicted to CAS Challenge #68 was to use chevron on a clean and simple card. The Operation Write Home (OWH) – Our Daily Bread Challenge for July is a Thank You card. And I added a little bit of sparkle and shine to this card for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog. It’s a three-fer! What fun! This might be my last OWH card. Maybe. Thanks for visiting today!
4 Comments | tags: cardmaking, clean and simple stamping, die cuts, Hero Arts, lawn fawn, Simon Says Stamp, stamping | posted in Addicted to CAS, Challenges, Clean & Simple, OWH, Simon Says Stamp, Thank You

- Dies – Simon Says Stamp – “Cheers” and “Frames”
- Patterned papers – Bella Blvd. “Color Chaos: Peep Strandz” and Pebbles “Happy Day: Puzzled”
- Cardstock – BoBunny and Bazzill
- Sequins – Doodlebug Designs
This is a simple card featuring die cuts and no stamping. I began by watercoloring a panel with blues and deep pinks, then die cutting a shape from it for a background to be used for the sentiment. I used two pieces from the frames die set to create the “label” on which I placed the Cheers! sentiment. I selected some papers that featured the same colors that I used in the watercolored piece and accented the card with sequins and banners. The Simon Says Stamp Flickr Group Challenge #23 is to create a project using dies. This card also fits the bill for The Paper Players Challenge #254, which is to create a clean and simple card featuring frames. Thanks for stopping by today!
2 Comments | tags: cardmaking, die cuts, Simon Says Stamp, watercolor | posted in Challenges, Simon Says Stamp, The Paper Players

- Stamps – The Cat’s Pajamas “Coffee, Tea or Meow” and “Simply Said”
- Patterned Papers – Pebbles – Happy Day collection “Let’s Chat” and “Sunday Paper”
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- Die – Spellbinders Nestabilities – “Standard Circles Large”
This simple card is a tri-fold window card. I used the The Cat’s Pajamas Tuesday Sketch #294 for design inspiration. I colored the kitty image from The Cat’s Pajamas with Copic markers and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. I used a color blocking technique with the papers for some visual interest. Thanks for visiting today.
3 Comments | tags: cardmaking, Cat's Pajamas, die cuts, fancy folds, stamping | posted in Challenges, TCP, Thank You

- Stamps – Hero Arts “Large Flower Background – CG403” Sentiment from LP277 OWH “You’re My World”
- Lace – Hero Arts – Cream Adhesive Lace
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- Pearls – Queen & Co.
- Inks – Ranger Distress Ink – Victorian Velvet, Old Paper, and Pumice Stone
This was a fun card to make. Over in the Hero Arts group on Flickr, I participated in my first “scramble” challenge. I had 90 minutes to create a card using something from Hero Arts that fit the theme. The theme today was “vintage.” It was sort of a comedy of errors on my part, but I squeaked in at the end of 90 minutes, completing this card. I used Distress Inks direct to the stamp and then spritzed the stamp with water and stamped the image onto watercolor paper. I then added some layers of cardstock and a sentiment from a Hero Arts Operation Write Home (OWH) set. I will add this to my OWH box that I’ll be sending off at the end of July. Thanks for stopping by.
1 Comment | tags: cardmaking, distress techniques, Hero Arts, watercolor | posted in Backgrounds, Challenges, Distress Techniques, Miss You, OWH

- Stamps – The Cat’s Pajamas “Drop In” and “Simply Said”
- Dies – The Cat’s Pajamas “Stitched Clouds”
- Embossing Folder – Cuttlebug “Honeycomb”
- Rhinestones – Me and My Big Ideas
- Cardstock – Bazzill
I created this card for the TCP Tuesday challenge #292, which is a color challenge to use the colors green, blue and yellow. Unfortunately when I went to post it on their site, my Internet access blipped and my post was one minute too late for the deadline! Ugh. At any rate, This card was a simple one, using Copics to color the image. This card is going into my Operation Write Home box. It also fulfills the Our Daily Bread monthly Challenge at OWH, since this month’s theme is “missing you.”
Thanks for visiting.
Leave a comment | tags: Cat's Pajamas, copics, die cuts, embossing | posted in Challenges, Miss You, TCP

- Stamp – Inkadinkado “Larger Glass”
- Patterned paper – KaiserCraft “Rustic Harmony” 6-1/2″ paper pad
- Fiber – Basic Grey
- Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist – Biscotti
- Ranger Distress Inks – Barn Door, Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen
- Cardstock – Paper Accents
The Shopping Our Stash Challenge #204 is Red, Red Wine. I decided to pull out a nice, wood-mounted stamp I’ve had for a long time for this occasion! I colored the image by applying Distress inks and blending them together, then spritzed it with the Perfect Pearls mist for a nice sheen and a couple of drops of water. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see the effect in the photo! Adding the mist and water gives it a little bit more of an aged look to the vintage image. The strip of trim is from an old Basic Grey pack I also had in my stash. Thanks for visiting today.
5 Comments | tags: basic grey, cardmaking, distress techniques, inkadinkado, stamping | posted in Challenges, Shopping Our Stash, Uncategorized

- Stamps – Hero Arts “OWH Missing You”
- Die – Spellbinders Nestabilities “Labels One”
- Border punch – Stampin’ Up “Scallop Edge”
- Patterned paper – Heidi Grace “Sunshowers”
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- White Signo Uni-Ball pen
This card just made me happyto make, with happy colors and a funny bird. Hopefully it will cheer the recipient up. It will go in my final Operation Write Home shipment and hopefully a service member will mail this home to a child who needs a smile. I also made this for Challenge #64 at Addicted to CAS, where the challenge is to make a clean and simple card with an animal. I used some patterned paper and colored the bird with Copic markers. I liked keeping the “white space” on the right hand side with the sentiment. I pulled the whole design together with the hand-drawn “stitching.” I’m coloring for at least 10 minutes everyday for The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge, which is a fun addition to any day! Thanks for visiting.
4 Comments | tags: cardmaking, clean and simple stamping, copics, die cuts, fauna, Hero Arts, spellbinders | posted in Addicted to CAS, Challenges, Children's Designs, Miss You, OWH