Stampin' Mim

A card of soft colors for Dynamic Duos this week.  An hour in the craft room was my reward for finishing grades on three out of five classes this evening.  The description was 'soft aqua and soft pink' - I got as close as I could with my card stock stash. The flower was stamped twice in Blush ink and hand cut. I used some foam tape to place the top one for dimension. Sketch based on #24 in Make It From Your Heart, vol. I.
 

A Day for Daisies theme is 'use yellow'.  I really love their paint brush and palette digital, and this quote is so wonderful!  Something to remember and live by.  I have paired this challenge with
Freshly Made Sketch #119.

 

This birthday card for the CAS.ology challenge this week...just under the wire!  Life can sure get in the way of crafting some weeks!  I am in my happy space today though, and enjoyed inking a set from CTMH for the first time: Holiday Tags in Gypsy ink.  The card base panel is Gypsy card stock, and sparkly trim from the stash.


Thanks for looking - and hope you all get to make something fun today!
 

Once Christmas holidays are past, the craft room gets reorganized.  It always seems a bit hasty to jump right into Valentines - abandoning winter and all those darling snowflakes and snowmen.  Here in the Pacific Northwest, the snowflakes are more nostalgic than real.  But it is still winter, and I was happy to use this CTMH snowman + sentiment stamp from an old wood set, combining snow and hearts!  I used a SU! embossing folder on the panel of CTMH Cotton Candy card stock, and paper pieced the sweater, hat, and bow tie using CTMH Sarita papers and added some Glitter Glue for buttons and pompom.

I used the Unscripted #240 sketch for the Cards In Envy theme challenge: "Snow Buddy Like You"

This finished project was 6 x 6" - assembled in two 3 x 6" pieces.

Cut pieces and adhere to graph paper.

Select an embossing folder and run each side through.

The mat was a bit smaller than 6 x 6" which wasn't ideal. Must learn to cut my own mats!

Close up shows the dry embossing

I wanted to try this pattern...I'm not sure now that my paper choice was correct. Patterns change when you cut them up into tiny pieces...Selecting pattern and color is a different skill for this technique - one I'm sure my real quilting friends already know! But it was fun to do, and as promised I took pictures of the process. 

Quilts are beautiful, and those who make them are so patient and precise.  I have several friends who design and sew the most stunning creations. After disastrous attempts at the simplest block design, my admiration is even greater.  My sewing machine has only been used on cards for years now!

But I delight in my paper quilts.  A few years back, I became obsessed with these and made many cards with tiny quilts.  Making them is addictive, and also encourages saving even minute scraps  while pretending to 'use up' your stash of hoarded paper. Really now? 49 one inch squares is not going to put a dent in my paper.  My latest  'quilts' are in  6x6 or 7x7" designs, and they show more of the real quilt patterns than the tiny 3x3 versions.  Framed, they are charming decorations or gifts.

To make them look as real as possible, I run the sections through an embossing folder, giving the appearance of quilt stitching.  Sorry this is not visible in these photos. My next 'quilt' has just begun, and I will take some process pictures to post later this week.

Sometimes fussy cutting is very therapeutic.  I actually love cutting things out, and paper piecing is one of my favorite techniques. So I was delighted to see it as the Just Us Girls Challenge this week.
My card uses a Close To My Heart paper - Surf's Up. The Thank You sentiment is a mini stamp from the current catalog. (M1029 only $2.95!)

  This little card also uses dry embossing (scored the bottom panel @ 1/4" ) and sanding.  CTMH card stock is white core producing a great result with sanding. 

I made this card using a CTMH die cut card and Frosted papers.  The flowers were handmade with a cut on my Cricut.  I brushed and rolled the edges with Champagne ink before forming them. I worked too quickly and adhered the sentiment before I saw that it is not quite straight. Sigh.  No time to make another now, so it will have to do.  It is disturbing to finish a card and then discover mistakes.  I have a tough time throwing all that work away. 
 

This card was inspired by a card made by Elspeth- fellow consultant in my Key Team.  I just adored her creation, and though I shifted sentiment and image panel around,and changed the papers, I used her sun in a jar idea.  Elspeth's was brighter because she had a card stock sun that filled her jar, but it is such a wonderful sentiment that I am happy with mine as well.

Jar: Paper Smooches die
Paper: CTMH Babycakes
Baker's Twine: CTMH
Stamps: CTMH You Are My Happy;
Ink: CTMH Buttercup, Sunset, Chocolate

This gorgeous CTMH paper (For Always) - available only through the end of January - looks great with any color pop. I've used Cranberry on this card, and a little sparkle on the banner ends. The banner is from Banner Wishes (B1438) and is a perfect size for many CTMH sentiment stamps.  The one used here is from For A Friend set (D1542). 
The design is from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1 #23.  I have sung praises for both volumes of this before, and it continues to be a go to for making great cards quickly - cutting measurements supplied!  It feels like cheating! 

Burst of card energy these past few days, and I will have some things to share this week.  The first used some washi tape from My Mind's Eye that I bought last summer...I haven't had the courage to try anything. But thanks to my stamping buddy Stephanie who jumped in and made darling cards, and  to Susan at Simplicity and her inspirational washi posts- I opened the package. So glad I did!
I love how easy it is to add that pattern and color.
The sentiment is an old favorite from PTI.  The textured paper was packaging material and it has been one of my favorite things to use to add kraft and texture. Jewelry hemp and a button from the stash finished it off.
This fits this week's challenge on a new blog -Color Me!     CMCC #1  I used CTMH Pacifica on the punched star - it was a perfect match to the washi blue.