A bit of this and a bit of that

This post covers quite a bit of ground so I didn't even know what to call it!

First off, the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger.  I love the shape of this adorable little creation so I could have gone with a shaped card but I wanted to go with the country look of the materials and that it is a craft project.

I picked out some patterned papers that went along with the colors in the little creation and I punched them in small punched squares to create a quilt like look.  Plus, I thought this piece of Core'dinations embossed cardstock also had a craft look to it and I added some machine sewing.

The add the "house" or "cottage" part to my card, I used a chipboard house from Maya Road. I painted it with a very simple cream color paint and then sponged the outside edge with brown Distress Ink.  Next I stamped it with a woodgrain stamp by Hero Arts.  And, of course, the twine from The Twinery also added a homemade look to the card. 

For this card, I used a flower digital stamp by Hero Arts plus I just found out some really great news, it was a winner in the February contest at Hero Arts for a digital card!!!  The background paper is a digital paper available at 2 Peas in a Bucket, the stamp is available there too. I opened a Microsoft Word document and inserted the piece of paper and sized it to the size I wanted. I then opened the little grouping of flowers. I copied that and pasted another set of the flowers and placed them close together to look like one big bunch of flowers.  I printed this out all at once.

I added little black rhinestones to the middles of some of the flowers and I added white Liquid Pearls to some of the other flowers. The sentiment is a stamp by Hero Arts.

Last up, my Card Positioning Systems card for this week. Lil' Inker is the sponsor so that is where I got this most adorable mouse. 

The patterned papers are by Echo Park from a mini pad.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Yes, more challenges

I have to share first off that I was able to go to a Scrapbook Expo this weekend.  As I walked in the door, I stopped and took a deep breath of PAPER!!! It was just good to be around all of that scrapbook goodness. I can say that I was a bit disappointed in the show, I would have liked to have seen more new stuff and it just wasn't showing up a whole lot. I did get into a couple scrapbook stores afterwards and they satisfied that need though!

It is hard for me to ignore a good challenge plus can you tell what set of stamps I just received in the mail!?

At Moxie Fab, Cath showed off some amazing examples of cards using Navy Blue as the focal point and then she issued a challenge and I just had to play along.  I took a plain navy blue piece of cardstock and embossed it with my Cuttlebug.  Because I used a piece of Core'dinations cardstock, I could slightly sand the piece after it is embossed and it shows off a few shades of blue.

And, the new stamp set is from PaperTrey, Inc. I saw these flowers used on a project and I knew I had to have them. I stamped the flower with a white stamp pad on the same blue cardstock, you can see the texture in the solid white portion of the flower. I embossed this with white embossing powder and then cut it out. The leaves come from the same set and I used the tag die cut set for the little circle tag and one of the sentiments in that set.

The next challenge I played along with is the Unscripted sketch.   Plus it goes along with the Play Date Cafe color challenge. 

I used some of my new My Mind's Eye patterned paper, I pretty much want to use it on everything. 

 And, here is that flower again. This was not on purpose that I used it on both cards that I am sharing today, it just happens to be what I picked up for both.  This time I just inked the flower with this great rust color and then I added some additional color with my Copic Markers.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge

It is time again for another Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge, February 23 - March 7.

 Isn't this fun! Kim does such a great job of finding inspiration pieces. 

I knew that I just had to use a piece of the wood grain patterned paper by My Mind's Eye from the Dilly Dally Miss Caroline collection.  I also wanted to use a circle or circles since the clock is round. 

And, while it is pretty predictable, I still wanted to use this little clock and sentiment stamp by Paper Smooches.  I thought my card had a slight masculine feel to it so to make it also fit for the ladies, I added a tiny little rhinestone to the middle of the clock!

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Some Wire and some Twine

There is a challenge at the Flower Soft blog and that is to use wire.

Flower Soft sells white covered wires to use with Flower Soft and there are so many different things to do with them. The team was challenged to see what they could do.  I simply twisted a piece of the wire into a flower shape and then applied a generous layer of the white glue to that.  Once it was all covered on the top side, I sprinkled on the Flower Soft and left it to dry. 

I thought it turned out pretty fun for an embellishment for my card.

Next up, The Twinery is the sponsor at Card Positioning Systems blog this week.  I LOVED the package I received with some pretty  neat colors and I just knew I needed to use an assortment of them for my card.

I simply cut my circle (it is really a half circle since it wasn't going to all show), I covered that with a double stick tape and then started laying down my pieces.  I started in the middle because I knew my biggest challenge was going to be to keep my lines straight!!! I cut them as I went along. The edges have a slight frayed look to them and I like that too. The butterfly is a stamp from My Cute Stamps and the sentiment is from Paper Smooches. 

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Moxie Fab and Unscripted sketches

I have a couple cards to share with you today.

First off, this amazing Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab. 

This is a bit on the artsy side and I love working with that style although I don't very often.  It just seemed this Trigger piece required it. 

When I cut out the flourish image, I made sure to leave white cardstock showing to go along with the black and white in the one element in the Trigger.  Of course, the turquoise in the doily that is a die from My Favorite Things matches part of the headboard.  The great pink patterned paper by Recollections goes along with the pillows.

Notice my background design? I used an orange cardstock for my card and I knew I needed some kind of a design on the card but it could not be overpowering. I used a stencil and sponged it with a Chalk stamp pad by Clearsnap.

Now to share my Unscripted sketch card for this week. There is a piggyback challenge this week to add sewing to the card.

I used a Hero Arts cloud background stamp and then this super cute bunny in an airplane stamp by The Cat's Pajamas for the main elements on my card.

The cloud die is also by The Cat's Pajamas and I did a line of machine sewing through it.

I also have a photo to share...

My first daffodil bloomed in my yard this week!

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

A Sketch and some Stamps

I found another sketch that I just had to take the time to play with.

Not to mention that is it on the My Mind's Eye blog. 

What this challenge so special is that I just visited my favorite LSS and just had to pick up three new mini pads by My Mind's Eye, two from the Miss Caroline collection and one from Follow Your Heart. I am sooo in love with the prints in these collections and the mini pads are the perfect size for using on cards. 

The way these prints go together is amazing and I even used some buttons from one of the collections.

And for the stamps, this card was created from my most recent stamp set purchase.  I am in love with this adorable set from Unity for Simple Stories.  I call this my one, two, three card.  One of the fastest I have ever created, love when that happens.

I stamped the doily with white ink and embossed it with white embossing powder.  The label, the cute bike and the sentiment were all stamped and then cut out and all of the pieces were assembled.  I stamped the heart on the label again with red ink and layered that with foam tape.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Flower Soft "Anniversary" Challenge

It is time for another challenge at the Flower Soft blog.  It is an Anniversary challenge, A Happy Heart (FSC-45) and the team was to use this adorable Mabel Lucie Attwell Card Making Kit. 

These two cuties are pretty cute for the theme of "anniversary" I would say.  All of the shapes for the card base and accents are cut with the Cricut Expression.

I cut this little couple out of one of the sheets of prints in the kit.  I also added some Flower Soft to her apron and to the ribbons in her hair.

Be sure to check out what the other team members have created.

And for a few photos...

We went down to our pier today for a Valentines Day lunch.  There is a great restaurant on the pier and we had never taken the time to eat there. It really was great with every seat in the place having a wonderful view of the ocean and the pier. 

This view is from the end of the pier looking back at our city.

I love to watch the waves from the pier.  It is also so much fun to watch the birds play in the surf and to watch the people on the beach.  I used my trusty Hipstamatic app on my phone.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Color yumminess and no color!

Another blog I love to play along with is Play Date Cafe

This color combo just got me and I had to play this week.

I pulled out ONE stamp from a set by Unity and Simple Stories. I love doily shapes so of course, I had to have this set of stamps.  I used some great Clearsnap stamp pads.

The little puffy flower is by Pebbles and I cut the sentiment with my Cricut. 

 And for another card, this one with a big lack of color but a wonderful white, silver and black color combo.

The leaf piece is cut with the Cricut, the silver glitter cardstock is by Core'dinations, the flower is felt and it is a My Favorite Things die and the banner is a Spellbinders nestabilities die.  I stamped the sentiment on it and that is by Pink Persimmon.

And for a few photos...

I was in my backyard this weekend and I found these cuties, first an adorable little flower. 

 Our older dog, Sadie.

And our younger doggie, K.C.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Colour and Unscripted

I got to play along with Colour Q this week.

I usually love every single combo they come up with and this weeks was no exception. 

Now this is interesting because I think the paper and the card match the colors in the combo really well, but for some reason the photograph is a little off.  Oh well, I love the card anyway. I just picked up a paper pack by Recollections at Michaels and this particular print was the main reason I wanted it. It is an entire page of a chevron design but I just cut a portion for my card.

The two layer butterfly was cut with a Cricut cartridge.

 Now for this weeks Unscripted sketch. 

I combined some papers and stickers by Simple Stories for my card. I love collections that coordinate so well.

 Notice my two little Liquid Pearl dots, LOVE that stuff.

And, while I had out my Simple Stories papers I put together another card. I want tons of that great, brown gingham!

 It just seemed that these papers needed a distress look so I machine sewed around the one square and used my paper distresser on the edges.

I cut the flowers out of one of the prints and distressed the edges of that too.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)