October Challenge

Donna gave us what seemed to be a pretty straight forward challenge for October. Create a gift bag and make a tag or card to go with it. The bag could be made or purchased and it could be any size. The only stipulation was that your challenge project must contain at least 1 stamped image. Simple enough right? Apparently not, we all had difficulty with this one. Not that the completed challenges were gorgeous, we just didn't love our individual efforts for a variety of reasons.


First is Jacqui's project. Jacqui recently discovered House Mouse Designs and she used this adorable image for her tag which she has coloured with pencil crayons and blended with gamasol. She has found gamasol to be a better blending medium.

On a simple kraft bag she wrapped a large image (coloured in the same manner as the tag) but first she did some machine stitching to create a border. So cute!!!!






Next is Donna's contribution. She created a beautiful layered tag by first stamping and embossing on vellum. I am guessing she cut the vellum to match the tag underneath. I thought at first she had used a die to cut both elements but further inspection says no.

Next she clear embossed some small flower images and created a resist using distress inks on a simple kraft tag purchased from the dollar store.



On her pretty purple bag she used a stamp from Stampin' Up, which she stamped in purple and clear embossed. She inked the panel and distressed the edges of the stamped image. She used a corner rounder to chomp out the corners and added gems. The mat layers are cut using decorative scissors.

For my project I dug out an old PSX ornament stamp that I stamped all over the bag with Brilliance ink. I cut the tag and bag medallion from a Spellbinder die. The bag medallion I put through a CB folder. I stamped the reverse of the acrylic tag with the same PSX stamp in brown Staz On but I thought it looked boring, so through the xyron it went and a shot of glitter added some zip.



Tomorrow I will add the bags and card from the remaining ladies.

Yellow Roses

Donna was asked to make a set of cards for a lady that volunteers at the local community centre. She wanted thank you and birthday cards to give to her sorority sisters. If I understood correctly the sorority was represented by a yellow rose. Donna isn't a big fan of custom orders but created four cards that should fit the bill. The Rosewood Rose Spray was stamped and water coloured with markers. She added a bit of glitter and punched a decorative border on the bottom edge of the stamped image. The green layering mat was passed through the CB swirls folder and it was all layered onto a white base. I'm not sure who the "thank you" stamp is from but I think Donna did a great job.

Sept Challenge

Finally I am getting around to posting our last challenge cards. I am missing Barb's work however. Apparently she was scurrying around to get ready to go to play day and she forgot to pick up her cards. I will post it next week after play day on Sunday.



First is Darlene's card. She really captured the spirit of this challenge. I love the little dragonfly punch she used on the corners of her silver squares. In the next photo you can see that she dry embossed a beautiful flourish for added interest.




Jess reversed the design somewhat for this card. Somehow she managed to punch the nine patch and under the opening added some designer paper to create the base and then she used more paper from my stash to cut Tattered Florals from the Tim Holtz die. A gem in the centre of her layered flower finished her card.

Donna took a slightly different approach to this challenge and used really cute Nestibilities circles for her design. She used the clear Penny Black Beach Day set for all of her stamped images and an EK border punch to create the ocean bottom. Such a fun card!

Lauralee used Scattered Straw and Tumbled Glass Distress inks to create the background of her squares, alternating lines of colour to create a rainbow design. The stamp set is Set of Four from Stampin'Up that she stamped repeatedly altering the position of the stamps as she went across the inked page. The entire page was then embossed with clear. She punched out 1" squares and popped them across the top of the card. She stamped the dots and then punched from the inked background from above and popped a MS butterfly over the dots. Add a black gem and sentiment from Papertrey Ink. One beautiful card.

Creative Challenges

Making cards isn't always easy. Often I find that the great idea I have in my head just doesn't work out on paper. Donna was creating cards recently and made these 3 cards, that are the same but different.

Donna has embraced the Nestibilities and uses Label 8 to full advantage for these cards. I'm not sure if she cut then embossed with a CB folder or the other way around. She then dragged an ink pad across to the surface to define the embossing. I'm not positive but I think Label 4 was used to create the sentiment tag. I don't know where the sentiment is from but a bit of ribbon layered on a black base makes for a very striking card.

Here she used only Label 8 to create a series of mats. A dollar store flower and more ribbon. The same but different.

This one is almost identical to the first card shown. I am not usually enamoured of paisleys but I like this CB folder. Ribbon and bling are the finishing touches. The same but different.

I should have asked which was the first card she made. All based on the same basic design but the end results look rather different.

Testing Products

Donna loves new stuff. Rose-Marie recently brought in Tattered Angels stencils that caught Donna's eye.



She simply laid the stencils over the paper and applied ink with a sponge or a dauber.

The Fleur de Lis and the red frame above are set on a 5 1/2 x 8 piece of paper creating a very large image. We decided that maybe if they were cut into pieces they could be used to accent another stamped piece.

This crown didn't photograph well but this just says little girl card.

For the card below she got really creative. The gate looks particularly spooky on the black background, so she decided to "open" the gate to reveal a ghostly scene. Wouldn't this make a great invitation for a Halloween Party?

Donna created this card based on the cards I did here and on the August 30 post. (blogger is not co-operating will fix link later). She and I have been looking for this diecut for quite a while and finally took the plunge and each bought one. Yes we should share but we live about 1/2 hour apart and when the urge to create grabs us, we don't want to wait. She stamped the Penny Black image and added a bit of colour with Gellyroll Metallics. Donna had to create a shim of sorts to allow for the shape of the diecut but it turned out beautifully. I absolutely love this card layout.

June Challenge

I have my "stuff" together...finally and I pleased to share with you the June Challenge cards.

Just to refresh your memory, this was the sketch Cassie chose for our challenge card but she stipulated that the cards must have blue on it. Cassie loves blue!



Lauralee really had fun with this challenge and sent 3 cards for the challenge.







These 2 cards cards are quite simliar. The flourishes Lauralee used are so beautiful. The hearts are flaps that contain sentiments and are topped with Lauralee's favourite MS butterfly punch, which are stamped and embellished with pearls.

For her last card, she took a slightly different path but still has all the elements.



This card contains a sassy sentiment that is perfect for the cover of the card. And who doesn't love puppies?

Below is the card Donna created. She stamped a Rosewood stamp (K20 Hearts & Flowers) in blue, cut off the top flourish and coloured the flowers. She stamped a flourish on the background and ran it through CB Swiss dots. She popped the stamped image over the flourish and tucked a MS punched butterfly underneath. A beautiful piece of ribbon, completed the challenge.



Darlene's card (below)has a entirely unique take on the challenge. The sarcophagus is a Cricuit cartridge and the coins I suspect are left over from one of her belly dancing costumes. Darlene has stamped and embossed a gold flourish on the base card and layered the cricuit die on top. She also added the ribbon element from the original sketch.



Tomorrow (hopefully) I will get the rest of the cards from the June challenge posted. I will also check to see if I have better information about the what stamps the ladies used in their cards.

Flip Flop Sandal Card

Donna was directed to this free template here by Lauralee. Isn't this just a perfect summer card???

These cute cards can be made using designer paper or cardstock stamped to become beautiful. As you can see, Donna made the base card one colour and added DP cut slightly smaller to make the footbed. Embellish or not, that is up to you.

May Challenge Cards

Our May Challenge was given to us by Lauralee, seen here. The twist with this challenge was to create a tone on tone card.

Barb used her Cricuit to cut the flourishes. She used Cuttlebug Flourished Frame to make her central frame. Her sentiment is stamped and embossed on vellum then centered in the frame. A coordinating ribbon added the finishing touch.



I don't own a Cricuit but Barb, Jacqui & Darlene do. Barb used a Cricuit cartridge to create a spectacular envelope to match her card. Who wouldn't want to receive this set in the mail? Maybe I will have to ask for one for Christmas....hint, hint



Donna really outdid herself with Lauralee's May Challenge. She created this incredibly beautiful card using only black cardstock. She used a flourish folder to mimick the design challenge Lauralee gave us to work with. Layered Nestibility label to create a striking design element.



Darlene used gorgeous blues to create her card. All of the sparkle on Darlene's card comes from Cobalt Tapestry Embossing Powder. She used it on the Spiral Frame that is stamped top and bottom and she used it to edge the ovals. Sorry Darlene didn't identify the makers of the stamps she used.



Cassie made the reds sing in her cards. She used Inkadinkadoo Floral Flourishes embossed with Red Sparkle to create her flourish element. She punched layered ovals and added a Tim Holtz diecut bird from his new set Caged Bird. Not a complicated card but very effective


Tomorrow I will add the rest of the challenge cards, including this month swap mistress' work who is such an overachiever. Kidding Lauralee, just kidding.

Decisions

Our last challenge proved especially challenging for Donna. She chose a card design that was slightly different then the sketch but she couldn't decide which card she liked best. In the end this was the card she chose to submit for the challenge but these are the equally as beautiful cards that followed much the same design.






The same Cuttlebug die & embossed butterfly and sentiment with different bling. All were great cards but just slightly different with different appeal to each person she asked to choose a favourite.

April Challenge Cards

The April Challenge was selected by Darlene this month shown here.
These sketches are really challenging for us.

Barb asked if she could join our challenges and this is the card she created. Barb has a Cricuit and used it to cut the images as well as the word "love" which she cut and layered to give dimension. My photo really doesn't do Barb's card justice.



It was Jess' turn to participate in the challenge this month and she made this rather quick card. The bows are from dollar store hair ribbons as is the bling. The sentiment is Inkadinkadoo stamped on a Spellbinder tag which was popped onto the base card.



Laurilee's card was beautiful as always, although she said this challenge was really difficult for her. She cut the 3 scalloped circles with a punch and ran it through Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and layered onto some gorgeous Bo Bunny paper. Then she used the Martha Stewart butterfly (her favourite punch all time the note says) from the same paper and added glitter. Co-ordinating ribbon was attached under the punched strip. The tag is a Nestibility stamped with a sentiment from Papertrey Ink and edged with Martha Steward pink ink. Laurilee always send great instructions with her cards.





The front of my card was embossed with the Sizzix Floral Flourish folder. The images from Inkadinkadoo Round Frames set were stamped 6 times; one set was cut out and popped over the bottom 3 images. The edges dragged with Memories Midnight blue and layered onto blue cardstock.



Darlene's card this month is quite different from her previous cards. The images are cut from her Cricuit and embossed with gold. She also embossed the edges of the green paper she used underneath the images. The stamped sentiment is Rosewood stamps also embossed in gold. Darlene used the most interesting wood grained paper layered onto her white base card. I will have to ask her exactly how she did the embossing on this card when I see her next.



The card Donna finally settled on turned out beautifully. She cut the butterflies from a Spellbinder Shapeability. She layered them onto the brown ribbon and added dollar store bling. The sentiment is Hero Arts.



Cassie decided she wanted to make this challenge as well. Her card made use of a Martha Stewart edge punch and a Spellbinder Nestibility Scalloped Cicle. She alternated the circles over a piece of ribbon and added a sticker to the centre circle.



I guess I will have to show the results of next month challenge brought to us by Laurilee in 2 posts next month. If you would like to join our challenge, let me know and I will let you know where to send your images. I will post the May challenge tomorrow.

March Card Challenge

I chose this sketch for our March card challenge and as I said in my previous post, Donna & I found it more challenging than we thought it would be to follow a sketch.



Cassie joined our card challenge this month and her card used some beautiful paper that has a hand-made look. A Nestibility die was used for the layered medallion. She added a bit of bright ribbon, dollar store paper flowers and a gem to finish her card. Cassie did realize she had cut her smaller squares a bit too small and remade her card but gave it away before I could get a copy.



Donna's card features a cute stamped puppy from Inkadinkadoo. The puppy is layered onto Nestibility frames. She then added a beautiful ribbon and some doggie themed brads to complete the layout.




I tried hard to avoid the black & white featured in the sketch but in the end just couldn't resist. There is a sentiment stamped on the Nestibility frame but it is simply the wrong colour and I will restamp in a darker colour. I added some dollar store paper flowers with gem centres and a piece of ribbon.



Darlene used her Fiskars Shapeboss to add dimension to her card. The flowers and film strip are dry embossed and glittered. She used her Cricuit to cut the tag and stamped the lady on the tag. Darlene chose to round the corners of her upper squares and managed to create a perfect copy of the sketch in an A2 size. On the inside of the card she has stamped "Out of the way of a woman working." and unfortunately I don't know who makes that stamp.



And once again Lauri has created a stunning card. Lauri has used inks from Stampin' Up to create a perfectly coordinated card. The grass stamp is from Stampin' Up and she didn't mention where the sentiment stamp is from. The sentiment is layered onto blue cardstock, roughed up with a distressing tool and the edges softened with dark blue ink. Lauri created a large stamped image that she cut to replicated the sketch.





Darlene has chosen this month's challenge. Since she enjoyed the sketch challenge we will be making our cards based on this sketch for April.

Card Challenges

Donna & I have talked for awhile about getting together for what we call play days. During the winter months we decided to meet at the store with our friend Darlene to make cards and generally chat about where ever our conversations lead us. One thing for sure there is always lots of laughter. The idea of a card challenge was born one night while Donna was talking to her cousin, Lauri. Unfortunately Lauri lives much too far from us to join us on play day but she always sends a card to Donna for our challenges. Donna chose our first challenge of red and white cards in honour of Valentine's day.



My card relied heavily on some gorgeous paper that looks handmade. The sentiment is a Cuttlebug die. The scalloped layering elements are Nestibility dies. The all over background is Hero Arts, Four Leaf Grid.



Lauri's card blew us away. She stamped the flowers on vellum and added a bit of colour to the reverse for interest. The Nestibility tag is stamped, distressed and attached with a leather strapping. The beauiful silver charm was the perfect finishing touch. (Sorry Lauri I misplaced your notes on the stamps used for this card)



Donna is an animal lover and she has always been fond of these Rosewood Teddies. She added black gems for the eyes and nose. She then added red flock to the pads of their feets. The red layering piece has been run through the Cuttlebug folder, Heart Blocks. The sentiment is Rosewood.



Darlene is a glitter girl. The double heart is a Rosewood stamp. The "ink well"(upper left), "just a note"(lower right), "hi there" and the centre band are all Cuttlebug folders. The raised parts of the Cuttlebug embossed images are hit with glue and embellished with glitter. Darlene's card is a gate fold of sorts, "hi there" creates a tab to open the card.


It was a lot of fun to see how everyone interpreted the requirements of the challenge. For March Liz chose a card sketch, seen here. As soon as Donna gets Lauri's card, I will show you the cards we came up with.