A sketch here, a challenge there

Yes, just give me a challenge of some kind and I am there!!!

So, first off I just had to play with the Card Patterns Sketch for this week. I don't always find the minutes for an extra sketch challenge and I just had to since I love to create and play.  There are so many interesting details on this card so I am going to point them out.

The vintage circle image is a Free download from The Graphics Fairy. 

The houndstooth pattern paper for the background is from the Back to School kit by Jen Martakis at Two Peas in a Bucket

(both of these were printed on White Core Essentials Core'dinations cardstock, the texture of that paper is amazing)

The half circle is from a piece of Core Amour from the Sable collection. It had those stitched lines in it, I just sanded it a bit.

The side turquoise strip is a piece of Core Impressions by Core'dinations, it has that embossed design in it.

The flower is four layers of flowers cut from an old dictionary. I crumbled them and added a big button with a brand new jewel from Recollections are Michaels

On to the next challenge...

The Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger...

As I studied the Trigger image, I thought right away of the jar of daffodils I had in my kitchen window.  I knew a photo of that should be my starting place.  Next I knew I had this great set of medallion stamp images from Wplus9 Designs. 

So, I stamped one of the medallions using orange ink.  I also liked that the scarf was a bit wrinkled so I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to add some "wrinkles" to my paper and I slightly brushed that with a gray stamp pad to help with a bit of an aged look.  The card base is gray to match the window in the photo and then I used accents of this great blue patterned paper by Echo Park to finish off the card.  I love these Sculpture Flower by Prima so one of those just seemed perfect. 

Gotta share a photo too...

I was trimming bushes in our backyard yesterday and came across these cuties. I appears that there are two birdies totally squished in this tiny nest not even 2" across. I just hope the Mom still wants to come around as we made a mess of their cozy home.  I'll keep checking.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

LOTS OF HUGS card

Materials list:
Cardstock – Core Essentials, Core Amour and Core Impressions/Core’dinations
Patterned paper – Back to School Digital kit from Two Peas in a Bucket
Vintage image – Free from The Graphics Fairy http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/2011/03/old-photo-beautiful-woman.html
Vintage dictionary pages for the flowers
Button
Rhinestones - Recollections
Circle cutter - Kreaxions
Sentiment stamp – Hero Arts
Black Versafine stamp pad
Sand It Gadget - Core'dinations


THANK YOU - DAFFODILS card
Materials list:
Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations
My own photo
Patterned paper – Echo Park
Doily stamp – Mehndi Medallions/Wplus9 Designs
Stamp pads - Memento
Sculpture flower - Prima
Embossing folder - Cuttlebug
Sentiment sticker - SRM
Sand It Gadget - Core'dinations

Joy and Smiles

First off, I can't wait to share my Unscripted sketch card with you this week. 

Be sure to check out what the other team members did with the sketch and to take a few minutes to play along. I love working with sketches.

I found a new Digital Stamp company, Wax Fruit Company and so I gave three of her stamp sets a try for this card.  The Mason jar, the little bunch of Tulips and the sentiment. All of these sets come with more images in them.  Notice I made the jar look like it had water in it by coloring it a soft blue and adding Aleene's Paper Glaze over it. It has a fun look in real life. 

The tulips were just printed on X-press It Copic paper and then colored with Copic markers. Not sure at all what I did before Copics came into my life!!! Actually, I had just given up trying to color images if at all possible!

Next, my CPS card for this week. 

I have also been so excited to get to share this card with you.  When I was in school, we really did read the Dick and Jane books and I loved them. While combing an antique store some time ago, I came across a copy and just had to buy it for old times sake. Well, I tried scanning a page the other day and printing it on Core Essentials cardstock.  The little words here were also part of the page.

The Core cardstock has a great texture to it and I just loved the result. I just cut out the printed image with a Spellbinder Nestabilities die and that was it. The edges were colored slightly with a Distress stamp pad to help with the antique or aged look.  Notice the green card base. That is a piece of Glitter Core'dinations cardstock. It has just the right amount of glitter to make for a fun card.
And, I just have to share a few photos from yesterday...

Saturday night we had what was supposed to be our last rain storm for awhile. We have had so much rain!  BUT...before we headed off to church, we just had to play in one last puddle.  And, since these dinosaurs are almost a contant companion anymore, a couple of them had to come too.

This was a lake for this guy!

He really could have stayed here all morning so it was hard to break up this party!

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

SKETCH 99 – JOY EVERYWHERE card

Materials list:
Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations
Patterned paper – BasicGrey
Digital images – Mason Jar and Tulips, Encouraging Words/Wax Fruit
Copic markers – B32, B41, G40, YG93, RV02, RV11, RV32, RV25, R22, 0
Loopy border punch – Martha Stewart
Chipboard flower – Maya Road
Self adhesive rhinestones – Queen & Co.
Clear Paper Glaze – Aleene’s®
Sand It Gadget – Core’dinations

SKETCH 211 – JUMP PUFF card

Materials:
Cardstock – Core Glitter Silk and Core Essentials/Core’dinations
Patterned paper- All a Flutter/TogethernessCosmo Cricket
Vintage image – scanned from a book I own
Spellbinder Nestabilities die
Distress stamp pad
Ranger Blending tool
Sand It Gadget – Core’dinations

It's the little things

It doesn't take a whole lot to make me happy. There are lots of little things that just brighten my day.

One example is that I was able to get away this last weekend to a rubber stamp convention in Carson, CA.  This stamp convention has been around for many years and, while I can't go everytime, I sure do try to make it as often as possible because it just plain makes me happy!!! Just walking in the door and taking a deep breath is wonderful. 

The card I wanted to share today is an example of "simple things".  I like to create cards with photos that I have taken.  I thought this field of red poppies was so stunning that it could just stand on it's own.  I wanted to add one, very simple accent and so I played with one of my Kreaxions 4-in-1 border punches to see what I could come up with. 

 Here is a close-up of my little row of punched designs. 

I used the Fountain punch - #922.  After I punched a long border strip, I took my paper cutter and cut right down the middle of the design.  This left an interesting little piece that I thought was just what I needed. 

Gotta share a couple photos too...

I have been planting a whole lot more flowers and plants in our yard lately and so I wanted to capture some of the blooms with drops from a recent rain on them. 

More little things that just plain make me happy!!!
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

The Easter bunny is on his way

We think of so many different images when we think of Easter and the Easter Bunny is one of those. 

I want to share my Card Positioning Systems card and the sponsor for this week is Banu with a cute set of Ippity/Unity Stamps.  I paired the stamps with some Nikki Sivils, Scrapboooker papers from the Max and Mollie collection. 

 Since I am a big fan of chocolate, a brown bunny just seemed right.  Notice my cute grass that I cut with my new Martha Stewart Fringe scissors.  The little pieces on the side of the card with the words on them were created with one of the stamps the set.  I sprayed that with a Chalkboard Glimmer Mist spray.  The pink parts of the ears were coated with Aleene's Paper Glaze giving them a nice, shiny, 3-D look. 

I created a second card with that same bunny from the same stamp set.  This time I left her white and used these great papers from 3 Bugs in a Rug. 

 Notice my cute little grass!

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

SKETCH 210 – SPRING card

Materials:
Sweet Thought of Spring stamp set – Courtesy of Unity
Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations
Patterned paper- Max & Mollie Mini’s/Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker
Black Versafine stamp pad
Clear embossing powder – Stampendous
Copic Markers
Corner rounder punch – PaperShapers
Self adhesive pearls – Queen & Co.
Fringe scissors – Martha Stewart
Clear Paper Glaze – Aleene’s®
Foam tape – 3M
Sand It Gadget – Core’dinations



HAPPY SPRING

Materials:
Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations
White cardstock – Copic X-Press
Patterned paper – Chloe borders/Chloe collection/3 Bugs in a Rug
Bunny and sentiment stamps - Ippity/Unity
Self adhesive pearl – Queen & Co.
Copic markers – RV02, B000, R11, 0
Black Versafine stamp pad
Detail clear embossing powder – Stampendous
Corner rounder punch – Fiskars
Flower – Prima

Lots of Flowers

I hope have checked in this past week while the Core'dinations blog has been showing off projects using Core'dinations and Maya Road. 

I put together this card for the challenge.  Gotta love those kraft and black doilies.  Notice that great Graphic 45 Core'dinations cardstock. 

 The Maya Road Black Gingham flowers finished off my card wonderfully.

And, it is Saturday meaning it is time for another Unscripted sketch. Be sure to play along and to also watch for the Anniversary coming up on April 2nd.  The sketch this week has a piggyback challenge to it, to use a color scheme.  I thought this paper collection by Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker loosely fit the color choices. 

I used a cloud and rainbow from one of the pieces of patterned pape similar to the card I posted for St. Pat's Day.  Again, I outlined the clouds with the Glitter 3-D Fashion Paint by Tulip because I just think that clouds should be sparkly.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

BLACK DOILIES card

Materials list:
Cardstock – Core Essentials and Graphic 45 Core Impressions/Core’dinations
Kraft Doilies – Maya Road
Plaid flowers – Maya Road
Self adhesive pearls – Queen & Co.
Sandpaper

SKETCH 98 – I LOVE SUMMER card

Materials list:
Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations
Patterned paper – Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker
Brads
Glitter 3-D Fashion Paint - Tulip
Foam tape – 3M
Sand It Gadget – Core’dinations

Wearin' o' the Green

I am not Irish but it seems like just about everyone gets in on wearing green on March 17th.  I get to play along with a blog hop sponsored by PSA Essentials.  And, there is a prize involved! 

First off, though, let me share a photo of one of our cupcakes stores contribution to the month of GREEN! YUM!

For my card: it is common to see rainbows used along with shamrocks for St. Pat's day so I took advantage of that design element and used this collection of papers by Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker.  It is a summer themed collection but the rainbow is one of the die cuts to cut out as is that sun.  The scallop edges are from a piece of shaped patterned paper. 

Notice that little splash of glitter around the outline of the cloud? It just seems like a cloud should be glittery and I used Glitter 3-D Fashion Paint by Tulip for mine. I love this stuff and how it has just the right amount of glitter in it plus you can usually pick it up at Michael's and WalMart stores. The sun rays are accented with Aleene's Paper Glaze, it adds just a bit of dimension and interest.

From here, hop on over to Lisa's blog

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

ST. PATRICK’S DAY card

Materials list:
Core'dinations Cardstock
Patterned paper – Summer/Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker
Stamp sentiment – Studio G
Black Versafine stamp pad
Glitter 3-D Fashion Paint – Tulip
Clear Paper Glaze – Aleene’s®
Rhinestones – Me & My Big Ideas
3D Foam squares – Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L
Sand It Gadget - Core'dinations

To play along and enter to win "The Luck of the Irish", hop to each of the blogs and leave a comment telling each designer what you like about her work. Leave a comment on the PSA Essentials blog and also become a follower there (if you aren’t already!) They will choose one lucky person at random to win a custom stamp, 3 Peel & Stick packs, 2 inks & 1 alignment tool. That’s a retail value of $150 – good luck!

Easter and Flower Soft just go together

Today marks another blog hop with the Flower Soft team and our fun focus is the Easter toppers.  Cute stuff.  Be sure to visit all of the team members blogs.  One lucky blog hopper who comments on all the blogs will win a $50 Flower Soft gift certificate so comment on every post along the way!

The blog hop will remain open until Tuesday March 22nd. The winner will be announced on the Flower Soft blog on March 23rd.
You can start at the Flower Soft blog.

I created this card around the Card Positioning Systems blog sketch for this week.  Flower Soft is the sponsor.  The cute little bunnies are from a Easter Fun 3-D Cut Out set by Flower Soft. 

These toppers come all colored so using them is so fast and easy. They also come with extra parts so that you can layer different parts of the topper.  I used a second layer of the basket, this is the 3-D part of my card.  Do you see how cute the Flower Soft is that I added to the bunnies ears and to the bow? Remember that the Aleene's Tacky Glue is the best and fastest way to add the Flower soft to a project.  The corners are punched with a Kreaxions 4-in-1- 922 Fountain punch. 

I want to share a second card using a topper from the same Easter Fun 3-D Cut Out set.  This one uses the Unscripted sketch for this week plus some really neat NEW Core Impressions Core'dinations cardstock. Do you love that embossed pattern?

Again, these 3-D Cut Out sets come with additional images to cut out so you can make your images dimensional.  I cut out the extra little bunny with the yellow suit and I curved it with my fingers.  I then added two layers of foam tape to the middle of this piece. Now it stands up wonderfully and comes alive with the 3-D look.  See the cute little bits of Flower Soft added to it too?

From here, hop on over to Deb Felt's blog for more goodness.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

SKETCH 209 – EASTER BUNNIES card

Materials:

Raspberry Fizz and Delphinium Blue – Flower Soft

Easter Fun 3-D cut outs – Flower Soft

Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations

Patterned paper- Chloe borders/Chloe/3 Bugs in a Rug

Cuttlebug embossing folder

Self adhesive pearl – Recollections

Foam tape – 3M

Corner punch – 4-in-1 Kreaxions Fountain punch

Sand It Gadget – Core’dinations

SKETCH 97 – HAPPY EASTER card

Materials list:
Cardstock – Core Impressions/Core’dinations
3-D Cut Out – Flower Soft
Delphinium Blue Flower Soft and Citrus Crush Ultra Fine Flower Soft
Tacky Glue – Aleene’s®
Scallop edge – Martha Stewart
Self adhesive pearls – Recollections
Corner rounder punch - Fiskars
Foam tape – 3M
Sand It Gadget – Core’dinations

Yes, he is CUTE!!!

Everything he does is cute in fact!

That is our youngest grandson. And that is not to say that our other grandkids aren't completely adorable either, I just captured these cute photos and had to share them on a layout. 

Do you LOVE that red, background cardstock? It is Core Impressions by Core'dinations from one of the Jenni Bowlin packages. The dots come on the paper and all you need to do is a little sanding to make the dots stand out and to expose the core of the paper.

He was eating spaghetti and insisted on using a spoon, which if you have ever watched a child try to eat spaghetti, you now how futile the effort was with more spilling then getting in his mouth!!! It was very cute though and entertained all of the family.  The sequence of photos was so fun.

Just a close-up of my title!
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Stamps, embossing and punches

Gotta love tools! Can us crafters ever have too many?

I say NOT! My first card shows off some pretty cute stamps by My Favorite Things and an embossed background thanks to a PaperTrey, Inc. texture plate. 

The circle background piece was created with a circle design background stamp stamped with green embossing powder and then sprayed with color sprays.  The little raindrops are created with Glitter 3-D Fashion paint by Tulip, just the right amount of glitter to make them fun.

My second card shows off my very first blog post at Just Imagine Crafts as part of the Kreaxions punches design team. Go on over there for the close-ups and the how-tos. I show some photos of punching the borders. 

One thing I do want to point out though is a new product find for me. We all struggle with attaching rather bulky elements to our cards and I grabbed a little bottle of Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue. I was at my Joann craft store and I found this glue in a little trial size. I think this might be one of my new most favorite products since it does grab fast. 

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

IT’LL BE OKAY card

Materials list:

Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations

Versafine Black stamp pad

Clear embossing powder – Stampendous

Glimmer Mist – Tattered Angels

Stamps – My Favorite Things and She Created Art/Studio 490/Stampers Anonymous

Texture plate – PaperTrey, Inc.

Copic markers

Glitter 3-D Fashion Paint – Tulip

Self Adhesive rhinestones – Mark Richards, Inc.

Scallop scissors

Foam tape – 3M

Sandpaper

THANKS A BUNCH card

Materials list:
Black Magic Core'dinations Cardstock
Kreaxions circle cutter
Kreaxions 4-in-1 922 Fountain punch
Sentiment clear stickers – SRM
Resin flower – Pink Paislee
Tulle
Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue
Sanding block - Core'dinations

Green and more Green

GREEN is the color we associate with March and the two cards I want to share with you in this post have alot of green on them - green shamrocks and green trees. 

You might have noticed, but Kim Hughes has started her own stamp company, Paper Smooches,  with her adorable way of creating stamp designs.  She is also offering a few  free digital images and so I wanted to play with these really cute shamrock and sentiment images, very fitting for March.  I printed out several of the little shamrock images and then created a little banner with them.   

Can you see my little "plaid" design in each shamrock?  Each image was colored with Copic markers.  I colored each one with a solid color and used a little darker shade of each color in the little loopy part of the shamrocks.  Next I drew lines in each colored shamrock in a plaid style with the Copic blender pen.  This was a little tricky because the blender pen worked almost instantly in some of the colors and some took a little more work with repeated lines drawn. 

The little sentiment is one of the free digital designs she is offering, I just punched mine in a circle shape.  That was finished with some rhinestones in rainbow colors.  Notice the embossed, white cardstock too.  I always think that this particular embossing folder has a look that goes with the celtic look. 

Now for the trees part of the post, The Stamps of Life stamp company is the sponsor at Card Positioning Systems sketch blog for this week.  I love this little "Trees2Build" set. 

The tree trunk and branches are one stamp and then the set comes with a couple designs of leaves, so I added some dotted leaves to my tree. 

And for a couple more photos...

Part of visiting the Santa Barbara Zoo is taking the time to play in the kid's play area.  They have formed a hill with artificial turf on it and let me tell you, it is a POPULAR place at the zoo. The kids love it. 

This little guy is still figuring out how it all works but the use of the "tongue" in the whole process cracks me up!

Once he figured out going down on his tummy, it was pretty hard to say we needed to go!  Is that JOY on his face or what?

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

LUCKY TO HAVE YOU card

Materials list:
Core'dinations Cardstock
Patterned paper – BoBunny
Digital stamps – Paper Smooches
String – Karen Foster
Copic markers
Cuttlebug embossing folder
Rhinestones – Me & My Big Ideas
Corner rounder punch – Fiskars
3D Foam squares – Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L
Sanding block - Core'dinations


SKETCH 208 – IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY card

Materials:
Stamp set courtesy of The Stamps of Life – Trees2Build
Cardstock – Vintage/Core’dinations
Copic x-press
Patterned paper- Fine and Dandy/My Mind’s Eye
Black Versafine stamp pad
Clear Detail embossing powder – Stampendous
Broken China – Distress Ink/Ranger
Cottage Ivy Memento - Tsukneko
Copic markers – YG93, G40, 0
Flower – Prima
Self adhesive pearl – Queen & Co.
Foam tape – 3M
Corner rounder punch – Fiskars
Sanding block – Core’dinations

The sentiments takes center stage

The sentiment on a card is what sets the theme usually.  You can tell a friend HI or "I care".  Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas.  The list is a mile long. 

This is my Unscripted sketch card for this week.  I used a Bible verse stamp by Our Daily Bread for my sentiment. I can't think of a better way to send a card to a friend then with a verse on it.  Something that says "Just Thinking of You", "I Care".  This one is just plain encouraging.

I used an Artisan Elements piece from Pink Paislee for my corner accent. The help it blend into the style of my card better, I lightly rubbed some Distress Ink over it. 

The sentiment was stamped on plain white cardstock and I gave it an "aged"  or "vintage" look by rubbing it with a Distress Ink stamp pad as well as on the edges of the patterned papers I used. 

For this card I used a Cornish Heritage Farms stamp.  Another great way to tell a friend "HI"!  I used some of my most favorite papers by Crate Paper. 

The chipboard butterfly is by Maya Road.  I painted it with Crackle paint.  The sheer flower is also by Maya Road and I colored it with alcohol inks. I just dropped some inks right onto the flower. 

And for a few photos...

We visited the Santa Barbara zoo on Saturday.  The weather was outstanding, making for a great little trip.  Does this guy just crack you up???? He was just sitting there looking at the people like he owned the world.  LOVE that stylin' mustache. 

My favorite is always the giraffes. It was fun to watch this one get in position to take a drink out of the pond.  Gotta love what it took for him to get down there.

And, can you touch your nose with your tongue???

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

SKETCH 96 – GOD WORKS… card

Materials list:
Cardstock – Core Impressions/Core’dinations
Copic X-press cardstock
Patterned Papers and die cuts – Love Blooms/Sweetness/Pink Paislee
Artisan Elements – Pink Paislee
Black Versafine stamp pad
Detail Clear embossing powder – Stampendous
Distress Ink stamp pad - Ranger
Sentiment stamp – Our Daily Bread stamps
Self adhesive pearls - Recollections
Sanding block – Core’dinations

WRITE IT ON YOUR HEART…EVERY DAY… card

Materials list:
Patterned paper – Crate Paper
Cuttlebug embossing plate – Provo Craft
Label shape – Nestabilities/Spellbinder
Corner rounder punch
Music background stamp and sentiment stamp – Cornish Heritage Farms
Brown Distress Ink – Ranger
Alcohol Inks
Crackle paint - Ranger
Black Versafine stamp pad
Corner rounder punch – Papershapers
Powder Puff chalk stamp pad – Quick Quotes
Gingham flowers, sheer flower and chipboard butterfly – Maya Road