Outlawz Twisted Thursday - "Back to School"

This week's theme over at the Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge the theme is "Back to School", and for the month of September we're being sponsored  by Nicecrane Designs.
For my card I used a vintage style digi from Sugar Kissed Cottage, and  I colored it using Promakers. The paper behind the image came free with a magazine and the background paper with flowers is from Prima. For the die cut elements I used kraft paper, dies from Marianne and Memory Box. I used Walnut Distress Ink on the fence and tree, and for the clouds I used a white gel pen for outlining. The sentiment is a chipboard sticker, and I machine stitched around the edges.

This card is also for these challenges:
1) Card Crafter's Circle - #90 For the Boys
2) Digi Haven – Vintage or "Old"
3) The Cupboard Trilogy - #15 Male
4) Through the Purple Haze - Dies
5) Craft Room Challenge - Trees and/or Leaves
6) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Boy on Bicycle

For this card I've used a LOTV stamp with a boy riding his bicycle. I know that sportsmen don't usually ride with their dog on the back of their bicycle, but I didn't have any other image fit for the sports theme... I started coloring the image using Promarkers in different shades of blue and grey, but I thought it needed just a little a splash of color, so I gave the boy red shoes. The image is mounted onto a panel of kraft, then onto a plain blue-grayish paper attached to the kraft card base . I wanted to keep the design clean, so the only embellishment is a die cut cloud, with a fine line of white gel pen around its edges.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Outlawz Sunday CAS - Sports Theme
2) Make it Monday with Kraft Outlet - Clean and Simple
3) My Time to Craft - #232 Sports
4) Dream Valley Challenges - #64 For a Child
5) A Little Bit Crafty - Clean & Simple
6) ABC Challenges - Coloring with Markers
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Anything but a Card over at Lexi's Creations

This is my entry as a Guest Designer over at Lexi's Creations, where the challenge this fortnight is to make "Anything but a Card".
I got to choose an image from Fairy Dust Crafts , and I chose the "Bauble Spiral Christmas Tree". I really like the whimsical design of this image.
I've always struggled making tags, and last year I didn't have time to make more than one or two, so I've decided to start earlier this year...
I've made the tags using Sizzix rounded tags dies. I wanted to paper piece the image, so I printed the image onto a white paper with structure and onto a kraft base. The one to the left has baubles made of red Stickles and silver Liquid pearls, and it's been decorated with red star sequins and twine. The one to the right has diamond Stickles, gold Liquid pearls and star sequins, as well as seam binding ribbon.

These tags are also for these challenges:
1) ABC Christmas Challenge - Quick
2) Crafting for all Seasons - #59 Tag
3) The Glory of Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes
4) Make it Monday - Anything Goes
5) CHNC challenge extra for September - Anything Christmas Goes

Christmas Card with Fluffy Little Animals

I wanted to use my new stamps from LOTV, and this week's Inkspirational sketch seemed to be a great choice as it allowed me to use all three of the images at the same time! I die cut the images using circle dies and attached them to panels of kraft. I used Promarkers for coloring, and I also decorated the images using red Stickles glitter glue, gold liquid pearls and Diamond Dust for sparkle (which  unfortunately doesn't show that well in the photo). The two DPs are from Landstoken Paperdesign. I used a Martha Stewart punch to make the border, dies from Marianne to make the poinsettia, some red berries, a LOTV sentiment tag stamp, red thread for stitching and two red pearls.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #35 Sketch
2) A Gem of a Challenge - #95 Use 2 Backing Papers
3) Southern Girls - Warm Fuzzies
4) Inky Impressions - #123 Animals
5) Christmas Card Challenges - #40 Something New (stamps)

Coloring on Kraft with Distress Inks

This is the first time I use my Distress Ink pads to color an image. The image is stamped on kraft and I've used these inks to color with: Old Paper, Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Walnut Stain, Faded Jeans and Black Soot.

This Venetian stamp is from Penny Black - I think it makes a great holiday image- I love to travel to cities for short holiday breaks. I've never been to Venice, but I've been in Rome and Milan.

The sentiment is a sticker and the post card stamp came free with a magazine. I've used Spellbinders dies to make the kraft card base. I sprayed with some peach glimmer mist for a bit of sparkle.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Come and Get It Challenges - Let's Go on a Holiday
2) LEJ Designs - #68 Holiday & Travel
3) Make it Monday - Anything Goes 

Vintage Card with Flowers, Ribbon and a Brad

This week we want to see flowers, ribbon and brads over at the Outlawz Twisted Thursday. You can make whatever you want, in any style you like, as long as you include these 3 elements in your project. You might be the lucky winner of 5 images from MY BESTIES, our sponsor for the month of August.
For my card I've used a vintage image of two adorable girls having a tea party. The papers I've used are a mix of leftovers, all in beige color tones. I used a set of Marianne Craftables dies to make the tea cup and saucer. The set also includes a spoon, but I went with a metal one instead and attached it to my bow made of seam binding ribbon. I've also used a Memory Box dies for the corner swirl, and I've used flowers, a pearl brad and pearls. For the card base I've used dies from Go Kreate.

This card is also for these challenges:
1) Totally Gorjuss - #198 Bows
2) Digi Sketch Challenge - Sketch and/or Vintage
3) Pile It On - #34 Designer Paper (4 different DPs+the image)
4) Creative Craft Challenges - #17 Not A Square
5) Whimsical Designs - Something old (flowers), something new (Go Kreate dies)
6) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Vintage Christmas Card with Santa

I made this card using papers from Maja Designs and a Christmas sentiment tag stamp from LOTV. The layout is inspired by this month's sketch over at House of Cards, and they want to see vintage or shabby chic cards  this week. I went with a Christmas theme as I really need to get the pile of Christmas cards to grow! I mounted the Santa, circle cut from a DP, to a die cut of kraft, decorated with white gesso and pearls. I added a strip of burlap for texture - I gave it the gesso treatment as well - and some seam binding ribbon. I machine stitched around the edges with a glitter thread - I think this card needed just a little bit of sparkle.

This card is for these challenges:
1) House of Cards - August Sketch + Shabby & Vintage
2) Crafty Boots - Christmas
3) Paper Playtime - Use Pearls
4) Crafty Catz - #195 Real or Faux Stitching with option of Material
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes 

Shaker Card with a Background made of Ink and Mist

I've been playing with ink and mist for this card. I've made my own background paper using a stamp with scripture from Kort&Godt. I inked it up with Wild Honey Distress Ink, then I sprayed the paper with Peach Delight Glimmer Mist. The frame came from a paper set from IKEA, the sentiment is a Prima cling stamp. I added acetate so that I could make a shaker card with gold star sequins. The inside is also sprayed with glimmer mist. I added a glittery butterfly with pearls from Panduro and some golden star gems. The edges have been machine stitched with golden thread.
The layout is inspired by Marina's card for the CASE challenge over at Inkspirational. I replaced the doily shape with the frame, added a winged creature and used golden gems.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #34 CASE
2) 2 Sisters - #158 Square Cards
3) A Gem of a Challenge -#94 Anything with a B (Butterfly)
4) Allsorts - #221 Use Acetate
5) Top Tip Tuesday - #108 Initials (Peach color and Pearls for my first name, Shaker card and Stitching for my family name)
6) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

My Favorite Things

I'm so excited about sharing my first card as a DT member of the Outlawz "Twisted Thursday" team! For those of you who're not familiar with this challenge  there's an "Anything Goes with a Twist" challenge each week. Basically, make whatever you want, just follow the theme, or "twist". This week's twist is to "use your favorite things". It can't get easier than that, can it!

For my card I've used a digi from our August sponsor - MY BESTIES. You could win 5 images from Sherri’s fantastic collection. Christmas is my favorite time of year, so I decided to go with one of the Christmas images. I loved coloring this image! Normally I need to color up a new image several times before I'm satisfied, but this is actually my first attempt. I like how it turned out, using Promarkers in different shades of red, green and grey.
My favorite elements that I've used for this card are Maja Designs papers, my embossing folder with spots and my sewing machine for stitching. I've also used a dies from Marianne for the tree, postmark stamps from Kort&Godt and Frosted Lace Stickles for the ground.

I hope you'll take the time to join us in the fun!



This card is also for these challenges:
1) Crafty Boots - Christmas
2) That Craft Place - Stitch Real or Faux
3) Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - #29 Christmas Stitches
4) 613 Avenue Create - #33: Anything Goes incl. twist: Use Stitching
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Gold, sparkle and shine

Another card using my new LOTV sentiment stamp set! I'm so glad I got these stamps, I think they're great for sentiment only cards, which I'm quite hooked on at the moment. The embossing is not uneven - the stamps actually have that distressed look.
I wanted to make a card that really sparkles, so I chose to heat emboss with gold glitter embossing powder. I've used a Spellbinder M-bossabilities folder for the gold paper I've used as background. The paper has a nice shimmer. The gold metallic stars were cut using Sizzix dies, and I also added some gold gems.

This card is for these challenges: 
1) House of Cards - August Sketch + Classic & Elegant
2) Dream Valley Challenges - #63 Monochrome
3) Pile It On - #33 No Designer Paper.
4) Craft Room Challenge - Something New
5) Lexi's Creations - Sparkle & Shine
6) Stamp and Create - Glitter
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Sentiment and Silhouette

I just came home from a trip to the west coast of Norway and I was so happy to see that my package from LOTV had arrived. I just couldn't wait to try one of my new stamps, so I stamped the sentiment with black ink on kraft and added clear embossing powder. I just love the vintage look of this sentiment. I also love silhouette images, and this one is from a stamp set from Kort&Godt. I gave the image the same treatment as the sentiment.
My choice of background DP, a leftover with letters and numbers, was actually my starting point for this card design - I immediately thought of using it when I spotted the Inkspirational photo. I mounted the DP on a panel of beige paper and distressed the edges. I used letter stickers to complete the sentiment. The letters stickers and image have been mounted on foam. And voilà - a rather quick and easy male card!

This card is for these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #33 Photo
2) Aud Sentiments Challenge - #8 Anything but a birthday card with a sentiment
3) Paper Crafting Journey -Distressed/Vintage
4) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

CAS Chihuahua

This little chihuahua called Spike lives over at Mo's Digital Pencil. My sister's got a chihuahua, and that  was my primary motivation for getting this digi. But her dog's name is Emma, so I needed to make Spike look a bit more feminine, hence the pink background and the bling on the collar. I colored the image with Promarkers and fussy cut it.
If you're not familiar with chihuahuas just take a look at the program "Dog Whisperer". As Cesar Millan says: "And we're changing the world, one chihuahua at the time". Emma is totally adorable but sometimes quite a little monster too, and that's why I chose this sentiment, from a set of Whimsy stamps. I stamped with black ink on kraft paper, which I tore.
I used  a black pen to make the doodle lines - it's a technique I haven't used much myself, but I like the effect of it on others cards, so wanted to give it a go. I also used kraft paper for the card base and the panel for the circle - I think kraft and pink is a lovely color combination, but I rarely use pink, so I had to seize this opportunity! The pink paper for the circle is heat embossed with white embossing powder, using a brick wall stamp from Magnolia. It doesn't serve any other purpose than for me trying to reduce my scrap pile a bit, I made it for another card but ended up not using it then...


This card is for these challenges:
1) House of Cards - August Sketch, CAS
2) Sweet Stampin - Going Krafty
3) SweetStamps - #130 Bling
4) LEJ Designs - #66 Furry Friends
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Wedding card with lots of white and a little touch of pink and green

Sometimes things take a totally different direction. For this card I had planned to make it girly card, using paper with green spots and lots of die cut dresses. But I got distracted....
I started out making the card base using Spellbinder dies. Seeing my new stamp with text laying on the table, I wondered how it would look embossed with white embossing powder on white background. So I just wanted to check it out there and then. I liked how it turned out, so I cut it to size. Seeing all my white pearls I thought they would make a nice edge around the embossed paper. Pearls in place, but then I didn't feel my original plan would work with this new design  So I used one of the die cut dresses I had prepared (MB dies). Next I needed something masculine. Found a tutorial in a magazine on how to fold a shirt. Folded it and sprayed it with pearl Glimmer Mist. Needed something to place the dress and shirt onto, so I used my MB heart dies. It also got a round of glimmer mist. For the sentiment I used a banner stamp from Kaisercraft, also heat embossed with white, and I added a rub on sentiment to it. I admit there's not much pink and green on this card, but the dress has both colors. I also added pink metallic rub-on to the edges of the card base, but I was gentle with the amount, so it doesn't show in the picture, but I think it looks nice in real life.


This card is for these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #32 Colors
2) Tuesday Throwdown - #159 Don't be square
3) Crafty Boots - Die Cuts
4) Make it Monday - Anything Goes
 

Mermaid Thank You Card

This mermaid is from ADFD - isn't she gorgeous! She's currently available as a freebie here. I colored the image with Promakers and added some light blue pearls and baby blue Stickles around the edges. Afterwards I realized I had made a mistake. What I though was her fin is actually her hair. I don't think it matters and hope you'll agree with me... I attached the image to a background of blue Coredination paper. I used a Darice chevron embossing folder. I used sandpaper to make the pattern show better. I added a piece of cheesecloth for texture - it's been sprayed it with turquoise Perfect Pearls mist. The seashell is made with a Marianne die, I sprayed the kraft paper with pearl Glimmer Mist, the sparkle doesn't show in the photo, but it's really nice in real life. The sentiment ("thank you" in Norwegian) is made with letter stickers from Storyteller.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Great Impressions - Square card
2) Pattie's Creations - #73 Embossing
3) MilkCoffee Challenge - Show us your coloring skills
4) Crafty Creations - #234 Texture
5) Creative Moments - #23 Sea/shore
6) Penny's Paper-Crafty - #139 Dry embossing
7) Top Tip Tuesday - #107 Embossing
8) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

School Boy

One of my newphews is starting school on August, 19 and this card is for him. I can't believe he's already a school boy - how time flies! In Norway children start school the year they turn 6. His younger brother will start school next year, but he's so proud about being in the "purple class" of kindergarten - now he's among the eldest, and that's apparently a huge thing for him. I will make him a card too later on.

I used a digi from Teddy Bo for this card, it's called Bo's first day at school. I've colored the image with Promarkers in different shades of grey. The chalkboard paper is a digital one from Grepic. The sentiment translates "school boy" and is computer generated - I used Jokerman font.

The layout is inspired by the sketch over at "House of Cards". I cut out a circle and made this a shaker card - my very first! I added grey beads to make the pebbly ground, but they kind of went all over the place... I used a Marianne die to make the fence- cut it in the middle and used one section on each side of the circle.




This card is for these challenges:
1) House of Cards - August Sketch, Cute & Fun
2) Bearly Mine Challenges - #98 Tic Tac Toe (digi paper+circle+sentiment)
3) Addicted to Stamps and More - #57 Coloring (Promarkers)
4) ABC Challenges - Monochromatic (shades of grey)
5) Pile It On - #31 School Time
6) One Stop Craft - #237 Keep it Simple
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Birthday Cake

For this card I've used a digi from Mo's Digital Pencil called "Tall Cake". I've colored it with Promarkers in pastel colors.
The sentiment is from a Forever Friends stamp set, and I've heat embossed with pink embossing powder on kraft.
I've used kraft paper for the  card base and for the panels as well. The patterned papers are from Graphic45 "Little darlings".
The 3 buttons are from my stash.
The layout is inspired by the sketch over at "Sketch Saturday".

I enter this card into these challenges:
1) Sketch Saturday - #270 Sketch
2) Crafty Cardmakers - 1 image, 2 patterned papers, 3 embellishments
3) Artistic Inspirations - Bingo (Buttons+Digi+Layers)
4) Make it Monday with Kraft Outlet - Layers
5) Digi Galore - Birthday Blog Hop
6) Crafty Catz - #194 Pastel Colors
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes 

CAS Feathers

There's not much to say about this card as it's a really simple design. Apart from the card base, this card has been entirely made of different paper scraps, all in different shades of grey. Even the embroidery thread is a leftover, from a cross-stitching set.
I chose to tear two of the paper panels - I like the simple effect of torn paper - and the feathers have been made with a set of dies from Magnolia. I also added 3 pearls.
I haven't added a sentiment though, and I'm not sure that I will. At least for now I'd like to keep my options open, as I think it can be used as a birthday card for a man or a woman, a thank you card, a thinking of you card, or even perhaps a with sympathy card...

This card is for these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #31 Anything Goes
2) That Craft Place - Monochrome
3) LEJ Designs - #64 Distressing Or Paper Tearing
4) ABC Challenges - Use Scraps
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

CAS Just Keep Flying

Over at Clearly iStamp the challenge is to lift a card of the person who left a comment before you on their blog. I've never lifted before, so I thought this would be a great new challenge for me. I was to lift one of Suze's cards, and I could really chose from a large variety of designs! I decided to lift her "Just Keep Swimming" card - you can see her card at the bottom of this post. I chose it because I found it a really fun card  and it has such a great clean design.
I haven't had Word installed in my laptop until yesterday, and changing to Word gives so many more opportunities with digis! So I decided to give it a go with my silhouette butterflies from Digital Delights - I tried to vary their sizes and placing the sentiment like Suze did. I added shadows, colors and flipped them - so fun and so many possibilities I haven't had until now! I added 3 pearls and a white flower that I spritzed with peach glimmer mist. The colors are inspired by the photo challenge over at House of Cards.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Clearly iStamp - Lift The Person Before You
2) House of Cards - Photo Inspiration + Any Style (2nd entry: CAS)
3) One Stop Craft Challenge - #237 Keep it Simple
4) Addicted to CAS - #19 Summer
5) Seemacrafts - Butterfly

And this is the card I lifted, Suze's card - "Just Keep Swimming":

Bird on Windowsill

House of Cards - Photo Inspiration + Any Style
I chose to go with the "Classic & Elegant" style for this card.
In the past I've struggled making cards for photo inspiration challenges. But I do love a challenge, and why should it be any different than getting inspiration from sketches and CASEs, right? I think my main trouble is to make up my mind and decide what to pull inspiration from! But with this week's photo over at House of Cards, I didn't have any trouble at all - I loved the colors, the design of the wallpaper, the flowers and the curtains. I also got a lot of help from other inspirational sources:
Kaboodle Doodles - Ink or Paint
For the background I covered a piece of kraft paper with white gesso. Once dry I used a brick wall embossing folder and slightly inked the bricks with Tea Dye DI.
Craft Room Challenge - Heat Embossing, Songbird - #25 Favorite Things and Sentimental Sundays - #165 Anything with Wings
I love heat embossing! I wanted to take up the metallic details of the wallpaper on the photo and chose to use my Platinum UTEE. I like how it can cover large spaces and give the elements a metallic feel. I also have grown quite fond of my Sizzix rounded tag dies, and this time I've used them to make a window.
I wanted to add a bird to the windowsill. I chose to stamp it with black ink on a piece of scrap and added clear embossing powder to it. I like the glossy finish it gives, so I used a pine colored ink to stamp the leaves  and gave it the same treatment with clear embossing powder. I hadn't planned to add a sentiment on the front, but I do like these ticket sentiments of kraft.
Totally Papercrafts - #177 Use Lace
I wasn't quite sure what to do with the empty space behind the window, so I picked up inspiration from the photo as well as the Totally Papercrafts challenge theme  and decided to add curtains of lace.
And finally I'd like to enter this card into Make it Monday - Anything Goes.
I love this blog as it is where I got my first followers and so many encouraging comments when I first started card making and blogging. The ladies over at MIM encourage people to leave some love visiting others blogs, and they even pick the winner of the prize amongst those who've left comments. I really like the ideology of their blog.
I also added three flowers. The two orange ones were white, but they 've been sprayed with Tattered Angels Peach Glimmer Mist.
And that makes 7 challenge blogs in total, and 6 inspirational sources for my card.

Glitter and Gold

So this is my take on the Inkspirational sketch. I really need to get some more Christmas cards made. December always goes by too quickly, so I want to try and have most of my cards and gift tags ready by November.
This image is a digi from Eureka stamps. I colored it with Promarkers in bold Christmas colors, using reds, greens, blues, gold and metallic gold.
I decorated the image with gold liquid pearls, using a Pearl Maker from Waco, and Xmas red Stickles.
For the background I've used gold mirri card. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder and cut out a piece with a dies from the Sizzix rounded tags set. I used a freebie paper from Forever Friends to make the starry night sky.
For the panel with my sentiment I used a scrap of red paper with pearlescent shimmer, and I heat embossed the sentiment with glittery gold embossing powder. The stamp was part of a set that came free with a magazine.


This card is for these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #30 Sketch
2) Eureka Stamps - Anything Goes
3) Stamp and Create - Christmas in July
4) Pattie's Creations - #72 Recipe (Pearls+Glitter+Sentiment)
5) Crafting for all Seasons - #57 Christmas in July
6) Tammy's Scrappin Corner - Use a Digi
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

A glass too much....

This image and sentiment live over at From The Heart Digital Stamps. There are lots of fun challenges going on now that I find fitting for this image, and when I saw the sketch over at Here Come the Boys I decided on the design.
I used orange and yellow papers from my stash. They came free with some magazines quite some time ago. I love free papers as they contribute to me having quite a pile of different papers, with patterns and colors that I wouldn't necessarily shop for myself, and they really come in handy! I used a honeycomb stamp that I thought would work as chicken wire as well. I stamped it with Black Soot DI and embossed it with clear embossing powder, so it feels as chicken wire as well:) I had this one olive colored button and added it to my card to match the olives of the drinks. The chicken is colored using Promarkers. My brother-in-law has a great sense of humor, and I think this will be his birthday card this year...

This card is for these challenges:
1) Here Come the Boys - #57 Sketch
2) Come and Get It Challenges - Humorous Birthdays
3) Red Carpet Studio - #47 The Hangover
4) Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - #44 Animals
5) Digi Haven - Any Animal
6) MilkCoffee Challenge - Emboss it
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Little Darlings

This vintage baby card does not have any stamped or digi image. I wanted to use the paper from Graphic45's Little Darlings collection as the focal point. I slightly distressed the edges to enhance the vintage look of it.
I embossed the background paper with an embossing folder with spots.
I used a scrap from the same Graphic45 paper collection and placed it behind the white heat embossed sentiment.
For the sentiment I used a stamp from KaiserKraft, but I altered it as I needed the words to be beside each other.
The bow is made of  seam binding ribbon, and the doily has been given a layer of blue metallic rub on.
I stamped some words with red ink on kraft, using stamps from a set from Prima.

This card is for these challenges:
1) House of Cards - July Color Palette + Shabby & Vintage
2) Rhedd & Rosie's Challenge Blog - #11 Anything goes
3) Deep Ocean Challenge - #57 Blue
4) LEJ Designs - #63 Cute Cute Cute
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Christmas Frog

I bumped into this cute little Christmas frog over at From The Heart Digital Stamps and just couldn't resist it. I printed him straight away and colored him with Promarkers in several shades of green and yellow, and red for his hat. I added glitter to the fur trim and glossy accent to its eyes and heart. To be quite frank I've always found this Christmas DP - both front and back - rather ugly, but I think it works for this design. As for embellishments I was a bit stuck at first - I didn't think the traditional choices of poinsettias, snowflakes or Christmas trees would be right, and I wanted to make this card for a man, so I chose to add panels of gold Mirri card, stamped clouds (Craft Lounge) and die cut grass (Whiff of Joy). The sentiment (unknown) is stamped with black ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Cards For Men - Christmas in July
2) I love Promarkers - #178 Christmas in July
3) Crafty Boots - Animals
4) Southern Girls - Animal Antics
5) Digi Galore - One for the Boys
6) Sweet Stamps - #127 Christmas Greenery
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

My First Attempt of Collage Stamping

Collage stamping - what a fun technique! This is my first attempt and I'm already hooked! I like how several different stamps can be combined, coloring can be avoided, it's a great way to make your own background and keep to either a colorful or monochromatic look!
For this card I started with the postcard stamp from TPC Studio. I stamped the postcard with Walnut Distress Ink, after having removed some of the color by stamping onto a scrap paper. In retrospect I think I should have removed some more... Then I added the stamp with cogs and swirls from Vilda Stamps.  I used the same Walnut DI, but stamped directly onto my card. Then I masked the postcard and used a stamp with scripture from Panduro with Old Paper DI. The dressmaker is a stamp from Prima. I used Black Soot DI, added clear embossing powder and heat embossed it. I also used a 3 more TPC Studio stamps - a postmark in the top right corner, part of a stamp for the word "greeting" and the sentiment. For the sentiment I used Coffee Archival Ink.  So that makes 7 stamps all in all, from 4 different suppliers.
As for embellishments there aren't many - a little piece of Washi tape with script and a bow made with seam binding ribbon colored with Walnut DI. I distressed the edges of my stamped card and attached it to a panel of DP from Prima "Life Time Collection".

This card is for these challenges;
1) Come and Get It Challenges - Collage Challenge
2) One Stop Craft - #235 Make your own Background
3) Pattie's Creations - #71 Monochromatic
4) The Stamping Chef - Monochromatic or no coloring
5) Pile It On - #29 Thinking of You/Just Because
6) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Ruby Red and Earthly Colors

Inspired by summer and vacation time I chose to make this card with the Penny Black Venice stamp and lots of flowers. I colored the whole image with Promarkers. I used different shades of browns, burnt sienna and greys for the background, as well as blue colors for the windows and the water. I gave the woman a ruby red dress with yellow accessories.
I also used a postcard stamp from Prima to give the card a feel of travel and holiday, and I thought the "sending you birthday wishes" stamp from the Whimsy Stamps "Film Strip Sentiments" set would fit the theme as well.
I've got plenty of flowers, pearls and gems in my stash, so I picked some that I felt would coordinate nicely with the colors of the scene and the DP.  I've machine stitched around the edges of the card with white thread.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Crafting When We Can - #49 Floral
2) That Craft Place - It's a Girl Thing
3) Pollycraft Challenges - #3 Ruby Red
4) ABC Challenge - R for Roses are Red
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Flowers and Pearls

This is the first time I use acetate on a card, and I'm sure going to use it again - I like the possibilities it gives to combine the front and the inside of the card.

I cut out an oval with an X-cut die and used a sentiment from a Dylusions stamp set - I chose to stamp it on the Prima DP with honeycomb pattern that I attached to the inside of the card.

The front is decorated with lots of pearls and various die cuts using scraps. The butterfly die came free with a magazine, the flowers are made using a Memory Box die, and for the leaves and card base I've used Spellbinder dies.
I added a bit of Diamond Stickles to the center of the butterfly and the flowers.

This card is for these challenges:
1) House of Cards - July Color Palette + Classic & Elegant
2) Card Mania - Pearls and/or Gems
3) Lexi's Creations - For a Friend
4) Polkadoodles - #29 Let It Fly
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

CASE and Pastel Colors

This card I made with a some different challenges in mind.
One of the inspirational sources is the CASE card over at Inksrpirational: I used a large flower, a butterfly, pearls, a banner for the sentiment, a doily for the round shape and layered panels.
I also used some yellowish accents, with the flower, skeleton leaf and striped paper.
The DPs are from Prima. I layered them onto pink cardstock. I stitched around the edges with golden thread. The doily has a coat of pink metallic rub on. The frame is a chipboard sticker from BasicGrey. The hand cut banner has a heat embossed birthday greeting.

This card is for these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #29 CASE
2)  Crafty Sentiments - Female Birthdays
3) Artistic Inspirations - Pastel Colors
4) BasicGrey - Flowers
5) Incy Wincy Designs - Things with Wings
6) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

No Ladybugs...

OK - the ladybug thing didn't quite work for me... Those ladybugs have been haunting me for half a week, and I know I didn't have to use ladybugs for the Inkspirational challenge, but I just couldn't get them out of my head...  I got completely stuck, I've made several cards since Wednesday, but I wasn't happy with how they turned out, so I made this card today, with a little help from Eclectic Ellapau's flower theme.
And yes, the background DP has a pink tint to it  - I'd like to call it "raspberry red". It has got spots, like the ladybugs. I made the sentiment the focal point of this card - it translates "wishing you a day filled with smiles and laughter". I  heat embossed the sentiment in white on black background and added a cardboard frame. The paper flowers came free with a magazine - I attached them to flowers of red organza and used brads from my stash. I've used a Basic Grey Chipboard leaf sticker, a Spellbinder die cut leaf, and a butterfly of wood - I HAD to add a bug of some sort after all! The card base is cut with Spellbinders dies Label 28.


I enter this card into these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - # Photo
2) Eclectic Ellapu - Flowers
3) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

CAS Card with Fussy Cut Umbrella

I won some digis from Bugaboo about a month ago, and the umbrella was one of my choices. This is the first time I use it, and I know I'm going to use it again - it was such a delight to color and I like the feminine look of it. I colored it using Promarkers in different shades of blue and red, and I added liquid pearls to the center of the flowers.
The birthday greeting I cut out from a DP that came with a magazine some year ago.
I fussy cut the image and mounted it and each panel on foam for dimension.
To keep a clean design I only added some light blue pearls for embellishment.

This card is for these challenges:
1) House of Cards - CAS
2) Catch The Bug - Anything Goes
3) Southern Girls - No Spoolin
4) Papertake Weekly - Old (birthday greeting and pearls) New (Image) Borrowed Or Blue (coloring and paper)
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

The Cutest Mouse in France...

I'm in the  mood for making shaped cards, and I've used my new Spellbinders die set - Labels 28 - for this card.

I love the WOJ images, and I just couldn't resist getting this french mouse... I colored the image with Promakers and placed it on top of a stamped postcard of kraft and a Spellbinders die cut Eiffel Tower, which I gave a metallic look by covering it with platinum embossing powder. I used Memory Box dies to make the clouds. I attached an Eiffel Tower metal charm to the twine.
I used bits and pieces of papers laying around for this card - it feels so great to get to use  some of those scraps!

This card is for these challenges:
1) Digi Galore - Holidays
2) Cards For Men - Bingo (die cut+digi image+twine)
3) Kaboodle Doodles - #179 Anything French
4) Creative Card Crew - #40 The Great Outdoors
5) Tammy's Scrappin Corner - Animals
6) Joanna Sheen Challenge - Don`t Be Square
7) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Girl with Paper Pieced Summer Dress

I often make cards with a specific occasion or person in mind, but not so with this one - I just made it because it was fun and because I wanted to make a card that works with my 22x11 cms envelopes!
The doll is made with a stamp from Prima. I gave her a paper pieced dress, jacket and shoes using a DP from Maja Design and red paper.
The sentiment is from a TPC Studio stamp set. I heat embossed the sentiment with brown embossing powder on kraft.
The background is stitched with red thread, and I added seam binding ribbon spayed with a turquoise mist- it turned out a really nice light blue color with shimmer. I've used a strawberry charm from Kort&Godt and some pearls.

This card is for these challenges:
1) House of Cards - Cute and Fun
2) That Craft Place Challenge Blog - Ribbons and/or lace
3) Fab 'n' Funky - #178 Anything but square
4) Creative Craft Challenges - #13 A Stitch In Time
5) Crafty Bloggers Network - Metal
6) Card and Scrap - Bruk blonder eller bånd
7) Desert Island Crafters - Itinerary 6,7,8,10
8) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Holiday in the City

I had so much fun making this card! The image I picked as one of my birthday presents - it's a cling stamp from Penny Black. The set of Spellbinder dies - Labels 28- was another one of my choices.

I stamped the image using Dusty Concord Distress Ink, it has a deep rich purple color. I stamped the image twice, cut out the woman an mounted her on foam for dimension. I used a lavender colored floral paper to make her dress and hat. I decorated her hat with Lavender Lace  Liquid Pearls and a white flower that I inked with the Dusty Concord Distress Ink. I gave her a crocodile leather purse.

For the sentiment I hand cut a banner using the same DP as for the background. It doesn't come out well in the picture, but it's a very light purple DP with a checkered pattern. The sentiment (which translates to congratulations or happy birthday in Norwegian) is heat embossed with purple embossing powder.



This card is for these challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #27 Color Inkspiration
2) Crafty Cardmakers - Holiday (City Break)
3) Crafting for all Seasons - #55 Girly
4) Paper Crafting Journey - Anything but a Square
5) ABC Challenges - Anything Goes
6) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Lace and Flowers for a Baby Boy

I've used the Cardabilities sketch as inspiration for the layout.
The image I cut out from a Graphic45 DP. I layered it onto a die cut frame and added 3 flowers and  die cut leaves (Spellbinder), then I attached this onto a Marianne die cut clock. I added lace and two hand cut banners and placed a heat embossed sentiment on one of them. The blue and white DP is from Marianne design. I distressed the edges with Old Paper Distress Ink and I machine stitched around the edges. I did the same thing with the swirl embossed grey background paper. I finished off my card by adding a card candy in each corner.

Today I will spend my day indoors, crafting and visiting your blogs as it seems like we're going to have nothing but a grey sky and some rain. This week I've visited my family, and I got my birthday presents - gift certificates and money for crafting goodies! So yesterday I spent half a day in a big crafting shop just outside Oslo, and I look forward to sitting down with all my new stuff!

I enter this card in these challenges:
1) Cardabilities - Sketch #78
2) Ooh La La Creations - Welcome Little One
3) Eclectic Ellapu - Time
4) Crafty Creations Challenges - #229 Babies
5) Crafting with Dragonflies - Vintage Card with Layers and Lace
6) Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Pink Sentiment Only Card

This is my take on this week's Inkpirational sketch. I tried out layouts with images and different color schemes before I finally decided on a sentiment only card. I've added several layers of papers in different shades of pink mounted on kraft panels.
I've used a Spellbinder die to make the frame for the sentiment, and I added liquid pearls to it. I machine stitched around the edges of the bottom layer.
The sentiment is from Raindrop Echo Designs and the chipboard flower stickers are from Basic Grey

I enter this card in the following challenges:
1) Inkspirational - #26 Sketch
2) Lady Anne's Challenge - Monochrome
3) ABC Challenge - Quite a few
4) BasicGrey - #97 No Stamped image
5) Make it Monday - Anything Goes