Category Archives: General Cards

January 6, 2012

OWH – Wonderful Tulips

By Yvonne

  • Stamps – Hero Arts “Newspaper Tulips” and Layers of Color Artstamps “Flutterescent” set (Wonderful)
  • Die cut – Spellbinder’s Shapeabilities “Ribbon Banners”
  • Patterned paper – American Crafts “a la Carte: Balsamic”
  • Cardstock – Bazzill and BoBunny “Passion Fruit Flourish”

This is a card I made with a new Hero Arts stamp that I got recently. Our challenge at Stars and Stamps was to make an “any occasion” card with something new. This is a simple card that shows off the image of the stamp. Thanks for the visit!

 

5 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Challenges, General Cards, OWH

January 1, 2012

OWH – Sketch #102

By Yvonne

  • Patterned paper – Background: Basic Grey “Scarlett’s Letter” (from a 6″ X 6″ pad); strips are from BoBunny papers that I had left over from other cards and didn’t even need to re-cut!
  • Flowers – Prima “Artful Collage Flowers”
  • Button – My Mind’s Eye

This is my first card of 2012. I used the current sketch from OWH Stars and Stamps: Sketch #102. It is nice to start off the year with a fun sketch to play with. Wishing you a very happy 2012!

 

12 Comments   |  tags: | posted in General Cards, OWH

December 30, 2011

My Top 10 Cards of 2011

By Yvonne

I went through my posts from 2011 and chose my favorite ten cards from this year. This was not an easy feat–and I’d probably pick more favorites if I had half a chance! Most of these cards were shipped to Operation Write Home and they show a number of different techniques and designs. So here goes!

#10 – Space Monkey

Just a fun kid’s card. Having a space monkey is pretty perfect–this is something I would have made for my son when he was younger. It was fun to use predominately the BoBunny patterned papers to put this together with the help of a card sketch.

#9 – Simple Blue Butterfly

Another very simple card. I used an eye-catching die cut butterfly from Paper House Productions to steal the show on this one. I love the striking velvet ric-rac that runs across it. This was inspired by OWH Sketch #61.

#8 – Chipmunk Alert

Furry rodents are tops in my book! So this was a no brainer! I actually won a blue ribbon for this card at the Oregon State Fair, so it can’t be all bad! It features the Magenta stamp “Chipmunk Collage,” which is incredibly cute. The card sketch (#109) this was based on came from Card Patterns.

#7 – Hot Air Balloon

This has been a very popular card at OWH. I used a great stamp set from Verve Stamps. This card was created using OWH Sketch #76. It could be used for any kind of occasion with this sentiment. I colored the balloon with Copic markers to match the papers. Just a fun card.

#6 – Dancing Mouse

This was an unusual sketch for me because of all the round elements (it is Clean and Simple Sketch #148), so it was kind of a stretch for me. I love the mouse stamp from Kodomo. This card could be used for any occasion.

#5 – Valentine’s Day

This was the first Valentine that I made for Operation Write Home this year. I used the OWH Sketch #93 and was able to put together different scraps of paper for the final design. That is always a good thing!

#4 – Folded Christmas Tree

This was a great Origami exercise for me. I claim to be folding-impaired, but luckily my son helps me out when I need it! Jan at Operation Write Home offered a superior tutorial on how to create the tree, which helped me big time!

#3 – One of Many Penguin Christmas Cards

This penguin Christmas card was one I made for an OWH Christmas card challenge. I got to use one of my Cat’s Pajamas clear stamp sets, which is always a pleasure!

#2 – Magic Rabbit

This card features another Cat’s Pajamas stamp set. I made four of these for my son’s mentors at his magic group. I used Clean and Simple sketch #167.

#1 – Eiffel Tower

I made this card using the 99th sketch at Operation Write Home. It had several dimensions with different elements popped-up with double-sided tape for some visual interest. I also layered stamping instead of using patterned paper and used Ranger Distress inks at the edges of the layers.

Thanks for visiting and reviewing my year with me. It has been a good year for cards! I think I sent over 100 to Operation Write Home this year, which was my very small contribution to the over 1 million cards shipped to the troops via OWH. We’ll see what this year brings!

29 Comments | posted in General Cards, OWH, Uncategorized

December 12, 2011

OWH Sketch #99

By Yvonne

  • Stamps – Stampendous “Eiffel Tower” set
  • Die cut – Spellbinders Nestabilities “Labels Seventeen”
  • Patterned paper – Basic Grey “Picadilly”
  • Cardstock – Bazzill
  • Punch – Marvy Uchida postage stamp

I used the current OWH Sketch #99 as my point of departure for this card design. I used three stamps from the Stampendous “Eiffel Tower” clear stamp set, using three different colors of Ranger Distress Ink. I popped up the stamp layers to add a bit of dimension and interest. Thanks for stopping by!

4 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Challenges, General Cards, OWH

November 30, 2011

Alcohol ink background: color bleeding

By Yvonne

  • Stamp – Fred B. Mullett – “Fleur 2”
  • Die cut – Spellbinders Nestabilities “Fleur de Lis Rectangles”
  • Cardstock – Bazzill
  • Ribbon – manufacturer unknown

I learned this background technique on Operation Write Home “Stars & Stamps” this week, put together by Cindy O. I used Copic markers and Ranger Alcohol Blending Solution to create the background for this flower stamp. This stamp was created by Pacific Northwesterner Fred Mullett who has wonderful nature-inspired images. Thanks for stopping by.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , | posted in General Cards, OWH

November 28, 2011

What’s Crackin’? – Clean & Simple #168

By Yvonne

  • Crab image – Tiffany Doodles digital art – c/o Crafter’s Digital Art Center (CDAC) progressive challenge (colored with Copic markers)
  • Die cuts – Spellbinder’s Nestabilities “Standard Circles Large” and “Lacey Circles”
  • Cardstock – BoBunny “Bashful Dot” and Bazzill Basics and Bazzill Bling
  • Letter stickers – Making Memories “Metro Alpha Black”
  • Ribbon – Michael’s

I used the Clean and Simple sketch #168 as inspiration for this card. The design has a nice way to frame the crab! This digital artwork is featured in the current progressive challenge at CDAC. Thanks for stopping by.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Challenges, Clean & Simple, General Cards

November 23, 2011

Magic Rabbit – Clean & Simple

By Yvonne

  • Stamp set – The Cat’s Pajamas “Presto” (both rabbit/hat and sentiment) – image colored with Copic markers
  • Die cuts – Spellbinder’s Nestabilities “Labels Twenty” and “Ribbon Banners”
  • Patterned paper – American Crafts “a la Carte: Balsamic”
  • Cardstock – solids – Bazzill; Dots – BoBunny “Wine Dot”

This stamp set couldn’t have been more perfect for my needs this week. I just happened to spot it on the Cat’s Pajamas’ site last week and quickly ordered it, knowing that I planned to make cards to present to Trenton’s magic mentors at their magic show tonight. Not a lot of time, but I got the set very quickly (Thank you!) and went about making four of these cards for the mentors. I was inspired by the current Clean & Simple sketch #167 for the card design. I colored and cut out the bunny image and popped it up, along with the sentiment banner, for some dimension. It was fun to layer this card with the different patterns and textures. Thanks for stopping by.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Clean & Simple, General Cards, TCP

November 16, 2011

OWH – Any Occasion Challenge

By Yvonne

  • Stamp – Magenta Cat of the Month Collection, “Victor”
  • Patterned paper – K & Company “Wild Raspberry Green Leaves”
  • Cardstock – Bazzill Basics and Bazzill Bling
  • Border punch – Martha Stewart “Garden Rail” edger punch

This week’s challenge at Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps is to make a card for any occasion without a sentiment on the front. I found that I’m unusual in that I like to design card without sentiments! They can be used for many reasons and they just make me feel more freedom when designing. So this was a pretty easy challenge for me, I guess! Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you soon.

5 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in General Cards, OWH

November 9, 2011

Cutest Cat Stamp EVER!

By Yvonne

  • Stamp – Stampendous – “Cattus Librum” cling stamp
  • Patterned paper – BoBunny “Enchanted Dots”
  • Border die – Memory Box “Meridian Border”
  • Cardstock – Bazzill
  • Ribbon – May Arts

I made this card for Stampin’ Cat Studio to showcase this extremely CUTE cat stamp and the cool BoBunny paper. If you look closely you can see the black glitter on the paper. Very pretty. Lisa is still laughing at me and my reaction to the kitty! Thank you for your visit.

2 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Design Team, General Cards

November 4, 2011

OWH – T-shirt inspiration challenge

By Yvonne

  • Flourish stamp – Hero Arts “Fabulous Flourish”
  • Sentiment stamp – Printworks “Wonderful”
  • Hummingbirds – Hero Arts “Antique Engravings” set
  • Rhinestones – Mark Richards (light pink) and Kaisercraft (light green)
  • Cardstock – BoBunny “Strawberry Double Dot”

The challenge for this card is at Operation Write Home right now–it is to create a card using a flourished t-shirt as inspiration. I used stamps to create the entire image, and stippled ink in the background to add some more color. This was quite a challenge for me, but it was fun! Thanks for stopping by!

4 Comments | posted in General Cards, OWH