That Stinks

I am a stamp horder. 
I have stamps sets everywhere. Some organized by theme and some organized by brand. CardzTV and The Alley Way Stamps have their own drawer. Why? Because at the time that I write this, I have about 40 sets of stamps from The Alley Way Stamps. 

It's a good thing that The Alley Way Stamps have a monthly challenge, so that I have a reason to use all of my sets. 

For this project, I wanted to make a get well card that was really different, so the image of the skunk and the sentiment really grabbed me. These are from the set called Stumped. To make it more of a scene, I added the tree stump (same stamp set) and the bird from the set Give Thanks. 

I colored everything with my Copics.

Challenges Entered:
The Alley Ways Stamps: AG
Sisters of Craft: AG
Aud Sentiments: AG + Sentiment
CCEE Stamps: Humor
Crafty Gals Corner: Humor
Little Red Wagon: Call the Vet

Moosing You

Follow my blog much? Then you know the story: four nephews and a niece. Seems like I'm always making a card for one of them. But in March, I make three birthday cards. One for three of the boys. One of nephews is very involved in boys scouts and camping. And boom, the The Alley Way Stamps had two very perfect stamp sets: Moosing You and Branching Out (plus a Happy Birthday stamp from CardzTV, Happy Days set). I added the sun and bird die cuts to finish the card, and I'm excited to send it to him. 

Challenges Entered

Challenge Up Your Life: Masculine

Just the Girls: Masculine

Chocolate, Coffee, and Challenges: For a Child

CCEE: Wild Animal

Seize the Birthday: Masculine

Stamping Sensations: One for the Boys

Toad-ally Awesome

I have 5 nephews and 1 niece. 
That's a lot of birthday, holiday, and just because cards. 

With my nephew Spencer's birthday coming up, it was time to make another "boyish" birthday card. 

The frog (or toad...) is from The Alley Way Stamps, Enchanted set. The "toad" sentiment is from CardzTV, Critter Captions set, and the birthday sentiment is a random stamp in my collection. I just loved the camouflage as the background. It really made everything pop. 

Challenges Entered
DL.ART Challenges: For a Boy
Red Rubber Inspirationals: For a Boy
Seize the Birthday: Masculine
Fresh Brewed Challenges: Green, White + Brown
Creative Card Crew: Green

Biggest Fan

Card making in my craft room (and in my SVG folder) is like a scavenger hunt, a fun scavenger hunt. Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time, and embellishments suddenly appear that can finish a project. This card magically appeared. The "biggest fan" sentiment has been on my mind. It is from a great collection from The Alley Way Stamps called Bacon Bits. Then, by random happenstance, I found this fan SVG from Digi Playground, and a card was born. The butterflies came from a stack of punch out die cuts I didn't know I even had, and they were in the perfect color. 

Challenges Entered

The Crazy Challenge: Birthday

Connie Can Craft: Birthday Wishes

Creative Cottage: Use a Sentiment

Sparkles Forum Challenge: For the Boys

Party with the Monsters

My friend, Sam, is such a fun (and funny) guy. His birthday is coming up, and I wanted to him a card that he could appreciate. In a word: Monsters! Sam and I love science fiction, especially monsters and aliens. Luckily, I had two stamp sets to make this card work. 

In the circle on this card, I stamped the monster, sentiment, balloons and stars from Create a Smile stamps, the Monster Party set. I colored the images with my Copics:

Blue: BG11, BG13, BG15

Purple: V01, V04, V06

(The image was cut with a circle die cut and then layered on a die cut scalloped circle.)

The banner at the top of the card was cut with a die cut and stamped using The Alley Way Stamps, Oogles. 

Challenges Entered: 

Creative Card Crew: Birthday with Sentiment

Eureka Stamps: Birthday Cards

Your Scrapbook Place: AG

Hot Flashes

This winter is killing me! 

My mom and I complain on a daily basis about how cold we are - even in the house with the heat on. I made this CAS, one layer card for my mom about our shared resentment of this messy, cold, snowy winter. 

Both the woman and the sentiment come from Sweet & Sassy's Winter with Winnie stamp set. Such a cute set with tons of funny sentiments. I colored the woman with my Copics:

Hair: E21, E25, E29. 

Jeans: B12, B24, B28

Scarf & Boots: C3, C5, C7, C8

Skin: E00, E11, E04

I added a few dots of color in blue and silver. 

Finally, I stamped the snowflakes in silver. 

Challenges Entered

Crafty Sentiments: CAS

Crafty Boots Challenges: Use a Sentiment

Cards & Scrap: AG

Crafts Galore: Use a Stamp

Crafting Musketeers: Cute
Inky Impressions: One Layer

Bacon

My husband is notorious for his addiction to bacon. He even drinks bacon and maple milkshakes! He loves chocolate with bacon in it! Let's just say he loves bacon, so when I found this stamp set, Bacon Bits, from The Alley Way Stamps, I had to have it. The sentiment is absolutely perfect for me to give to my husband. 

This card is a great example of what you can do with SCRAPS. I simply pulled together scraps of paper and a piece of ribbon, and the card actually made itself. 

To color the pig, I used Copic markers R81, R83, and R85. 

Challenges Entered:
4 Crafty Chicks: Things with Wings
C.R.A.F.T Challenge: Clean and Simple
In the Pink: Cute and Pink
Fresh Brewed Challenges: Animals

Faraway Friends

I am so excited to share this project with you. Have you met crafting friends through your blogs and challenges and online communities? I have, and many of my new friends live all over the world. I made this card with specific new friends in mind. Obviously, they live in Australia. I met many of these talented ladies while taking classes through Kit and Clowder. 

To create this card, I started with the map of Australia. It is cut from the Australia bundle in my Cricut Design Space. I inked the edges with a distressed blue so that the white wasn't too sharp. The camera is a stamp from the set Framed by The Alley Way Stamps. I used my Copics to color the camera and picked up the blue from the map. It is also inked around the edge. The sentiment is from the Capture the Good Times stamp set from Craftin' Desert Divas. 

Challenges Entered:
Left of Center: Use your Dies
Sister Act Challenge: AG
Crafting for all Seasons: Dies
Paper Minutes: Journey

Rock Star

I'm still working my way through my New Year's Crafting resolution: all about coloring! 

I want to be able to apply for certification in coloring through Spectrum Noir and Copics by next year. 

Today I am showcasing a Kraftin' Kimmie image, Rocker Chick. I love Kraftin' Kimmie stamps because they ink really well for a crisp image. 

My inspiration came from a challenge at Kit and Clowder, an online community of crafters that take classes from Kit and Clowder. My inspiration for this challenge was based on the encouragement we get from the Kit and Clowder community. This card is for a special young girl who has a celebration coming up. 

To create this card, I started with coloring using my Copics:

Skin: E000, E11, E21, E00, R20

Hair: V000, V01, V04, V06

Guitar: C0, C3, C5, C7

Dress: BG11, BG13, BG15

I stamped the stars around her from a stamp in the set Enchanted by The Alley Way Stamps, and colored them with glitter pens. 

The glittery music notes are from Jolee's Boutique. 

Challenge Entered: 

Crafty Catz: For a Special Lady

Simply Create Too: AG

Red Rubber Inspirational: Let's Hear it for the Girl

Addicted to Stamps: Make Your Mark

It's Magical

Onward and Upward in my New Year's Crafting resolution: all about coloring! 

I want to be able to apply for certification in coloring through Spectrum Noir and Copics by next year. 

Smooth blending is something I have been working on, and even though this cute unicorn is small, I wanted to show smooth blending in the body and the wings, blending a darker color into a lighter color without a hard line. 

I just happen to love this entire stamp set called Enchanted by The Alley Way Stamps. I added a little fun lace to the bottom and used a pretty pink patterned paper for the background. The unicorn is covered with glitter from Wink of Stella, although it is hard to see. 

Challenges Entered:

DoubleClick Skittles: Animal Challenge

Fab n' Funky: Ribbon/Lace

Fresh Brewed: Animals

Inky Impressions: Cute and Cuddly

Love You

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and this year, I want to make several cards to put in my husband's briefcase throughout February.

For this card, I wanted to work with my stash of The Alley Way Stamps. I used three stamp sets here, Cake Day, Oogles, and Bubbly.

Instead of a full size card, I went with a smaller note card.
I stamped everything in black and then colored with my Spectrum Noir markers: PP1, PP4, CR6, and DR 6.

Shake Your Tail Feathers

Today is the day! Another great challenge at DoubleClick Skittles. The inspiration for this week is to use a bird! I immediately thought of the Birds of a Feather stamp set by The Alley Way Stamps. 

I love this stamp set. Especially this particular bird. This combination was calling me. Once I had the images down, I decided to try some new things with coloring. 

For coloring the single feather and the feathers on the bird's head, I used my NEW Chameleon Pens, color B4 aqua marine. Have you seen these pens yet? One pen does all of the color shading. If you look at the bottom of the feather and look up you can see the natural progression of light to dark blue - just one pen. (It is subtle changes, but I have some close up photos.)

Now look at the feather's on the bird's head. I used the same marker and started with a light blue and then dark blue at the top. Definitely check out these versatile pens. 

To color the bird, I used my Spectrum Noir markers. But instead of coloring from light to dark, I switched up the colors and colored dark to light. I'm loving the final look. Orange is a hard color for me because I have to mix the right amount of brown into the blend. 

I used the following colors in this order: TN6, TN4, OR2 (repeat).

The Pumpkin Skittles were perfect for adding some shine and dimension. 

Baaa Humbug!

My first card of the new year, and, yes, I am still making holiday themed cards. This card was inspired by the photo inspiration challenge from The Alley Way Stamps. I was inspired by the white and pink, the tree and snow. I used TAWS set With Wondering Awe and Making Holidays Bright. 

To color the lamb, I used my Chameleon CG8 (Cool Gray) marker. 

Challenges Entered

TAWS - Be Inspired: Photo Inspiration

Pirate Parrot

Are you using SVG files with your die cutting machines, well, don't miss out on Designs on Cloud 9. They have a terrific range of files - some complete files, some singular, and of course, a weekly FREE file. I am honored to be part of their Design Team.

For my project this week, I used the Pirate Parrot file to create this birthday card for a young boy. I love how easy this cutting file was to put together. My inspiration for this card came from this cute pirate patterned paper and sentiment from The Alley Way Stamps (Birds of a Feather set). Luckily, Designs on Cloud 9 have so many cutting files, I can always find the right file for a project. Searching under pirate brought up enough files that I could even create all the decorations for a pirate party if I wanted to. 

Christmas Eve

It's challenge time at The Alley Way Stamps: Be Inspired. This month's inspiration is  series of photos that all remind me of elements of Christmas. So I immediately took out my stamp set With Wondering Awe and got started. I have wanted to create a Christmas Eve themed card this season, and this stamp set was perfect to create a scene. *I also added a bird from the set Birds of a Feather as well. 

I used my Spectrum Noir markers for coloring:

Mouse - TN2, 3

Bird - DR 3, 5

Green - LG 2, 3, 4

Pink - PP5 (for mouse)

Snow Globe

It is December 24th, and, yes, I am still making Christmas cards. This card is one of my favorites and was inspired by this fabulous snow globe svg file from Pretty Papers, Pretty Ribbons and the challenge (photo inspiration) from The Alley Way Stamps. 

For the challenge, I wanted to create a winter scene in the snow globe. I embossed the snow hill with a snowflake embossing folder, and used a very soft blue at the base. I used three stamps sets from TAWS: "Celebrate" comes from the More Than Words set, the snowflakes comes from the Winter Butterflies set, and the winter bird and sentiment "peace on earth" comes from the All Wrapped Up set. 

I added white liquid pearls to help create the feeling of snow falling inside the snow globe. 

Challenges Entered

TAWS - Be Inspired: Photo Inspiration
PPPR: Christmas

Wish Big

December is a wild month for birthdays. My birthday was December 11th, and, believe it or not, my husband's birthday is on the 12th, AND my brother's birthday is on the 12th. Two friends have birthdays on the 16th, and another friend has a birthday on the 20th. I could go on and on. 

I was inspired by two stamp set from from The Alley Way Stamps: Making Holidays Bright and More Thank Words. I specifically wanted to use a sentiment that went beyond just, Happy Birthday. I was also inspired by the color challenge at Sunday Stamps.

Challenges Entered

Crazy for Challenges: Birthday
Penny Black and More: Special Occasions
Sunday Stamps: Colors
Stamplorations: Stamps & Designers Choice
Moving Along with the Times: Birthday
Seize the Birthday: AG

Christmas Thank You

While we are all making Christmas cards, I try to remember that I need Christmas thank you cards. For this card, I used traditional Christmas colors of red, green, and white, with die cut, stamped flowers. I used my Spectrum Noir markers (DR5, DR3, DR1, PP3) to color the flowers, and while they look like shades of pink in the photo, I actually used red markers. 

The die cut, stamped flowers come from a company I have not used before: Marianne Designs. The thank you stamp is from The Alley Was Stamps, More Than Words set. 

Challenges Entered

Brown Sugar Challenges: Red, Green, and White. 

Inspired by Stamping: Colors

Crafty Creations: Die Cuts

Divas By Design: Seeing Red

At least you're Not Extinct: Happy Birthday

I'm starting to love challenges that provide a photos for inspiration. Today, I am working on the photo inspiration from Muse (A Card Making Club). Take a look at this example by Therese Calvird. Can you imagine my surprise when I recognized this stamp set - I have the same set in my stash!  

I decided to take elements from the inspiration photo and turn this into a masculine birthday card. I wanted bright and bold colors against the soft gray of the rocks. All coloring was done with Spectrum Noir markers. 

Challenges Entered

MUSE: Photo Inspiration 

Creative Card Crew: Birthday with Sentiment

Moving Along with the Times: December Birthday

From Our Nest to Yours

ScrapbookerPhD

Challenge #18: Christmas Critters

It's time for another challenge at ScrapbookerPhD, and I'm very excited to share my project with you. The theme is Christmas Critters. The inspiration for my project came from the Cardz TV stamp set of the same name, Christmas Critters. I paired the sentiment with the bird from The Alley Was Stamps, All Wrapped Up set. U used my Spectrum Noir markers to color the bird. 

For a little more dimension, I embossed the blue background with a snowflake folder and smeared white ink on top. I sewed two red leaf buttons onto the bottom corner. 

Challenges Entered

A Random Fan: Christmas

Cardz 4 Guys: Winter Critters

Loves Rubber Stamping: Winter or Christmas

Bunny Zoe's Crafts: Buttons

Live Laugh Stamp: Winter or Christmas

Perfectly Rustics: Sentiment, not birthday