Inspired By... Rain

I am playing along with the Inspired By Challenge this week!  I haven't done a challenge in a while, but was inspired by the photo.  I knew I had this image (Tiny Townie Rachel Loves the Rain) stamped out from many years ago, so pulled it out and coloured it up with my Copics.

For some reason I decided to colour in rainbow order!?  So starting with her umbrella, I worked my way down her outfit to her boots, using about 15 different markers.  

I pulled out the Colour My World paper pack from Crafter's Companion for the background paper, and matted my image on some dark brown cardstock.  

The sentiment is from Verve's Rain or Shine stamp set, and is popped up with foam adhesive.  The card itself is 6" x 4 3/4".

Inspired By

A challenge!  I haven't played along with a challenge in so long... but I had this cherry image stamped and ready to go, so when I saw the inspiration photo for the Inspired By challenge, I decided to colour it up:

This is from the Exclusive Cherry Set by Art Impressions, that is available only at Scrapbook.com (link below!).  I did a fairly quick colour of the image using my Copic markers, then cut it out with the Inside Out Stitched Rounded Rectangle die, and mounted it on some Echo Park Dots & Stripes paper.  Here was our inspiration:

Inspired By #60

I pulled out an old pack of Teresa Collins patterned paper (Summer Stories) to use for this week's Inspired By challenge, as it seemed to fit the theme:

I made a patterned frame and stitched it down with my sewing machine, then lined up the bits & pieces as though they were hanging on a string, and sewed them down as well.  I tied tiny bows with my thread and glued them to the edges.  I love the little bit of subtle shimmer that these matte silver sequins add:

 I used the sketch from the Inspired By facebook group:

Mojo Monday & Inspired By

Finally getting around to posting in 2019!  I am happy to play along with both the sketch from Mojo Monday #506... and the snowman inspiration on the Inspired By blog.  I have been using my Art Impressions Watercolour stamps a lot recently, and don't think that I've ever posted a card using this sweet snowman?  First Christmas card for 2019 is added to my stash:

Patterned papers are Merry & Bright by Carta Bella; Alpine Stitched Snowflakes by Poppy Stamps; Snowman is Art Impressions Watercolour stamp; Tombow & Marvy markers.

Tags for gifts

It seems like it's been a slow month here on my blog... but I've been creating up a storm.  For years I've wanted to give sets of gift tags as gifts to friends, and have finally managed to make it happen!  So what you see below, has been made x8, along with about 60 others that I've worked on this month.  I love the kraft paper and rustic colours:

For co-worker gifts... I've painted up 30 bookmarks this week, but have already shared the designs here a few weeks ago.  I look forward to getting back on track with crafting in the New Year and playing with a few of my favourite challenges.  The Christmas crafting crunch is almost over!
**Oh - and on a fun side-note... shortly after posting this, I should hit 1 million page views here on my blog.  Wow!  Thanks for looking at what I've been up to here for the past 8 1/2 years.

I am playing along with the current Inspired By Challenge:

O Canada Birthday card

I am playing along with the Inspired By challenge today... I couldn't resist the inspiration photo, especially when I saw Laurel's card that used the O Canada collection from Photoplay.  I love this paper pack, and haven't used it as much as I'd like.  Since I needed a birthday card for my brother-in-law, this is what I put together:

I of course, loved the buffalo plaid in the photo, along with all the little trees... and went with a moose instead of a bear or a fox.  The moose is from the stamp set that matches the papers, and he's actually holding a Canadian flag, so I put a little "Celebrate" banner to cover the flag, and make it a little more birthday-appropriate.

Sugar Pea Designs Mix It Up Challenge #47

I am a little obsessed with this plaid paper from Doodlebug Design's "On the Farm" pack... so you're about to see it a few times over the next while.  I wanted to play along with the September Mix It Up challenge on the Sugar Pea Designs blog, and was inspired by the cozy plaid blanket, the colours & the mugs in the current Inspired By photo.  I knew my new favourite plaid was going to work.  I am using the Mugs & Kisses stamp set for the first time, so I'm hoping that this works as a holiday/wintery card?  If not, it's bright & fun, which I love:

 I stamped the image in Rich Cocoa ink, and coloured it with Copic markers, then layered it over a tag that I had lightly blended some Wild Honey Distress Ink on to give it a warm glow.  I popped the sentiment up over the tag with some 3D adhesive.  *I am also entering this into the Sugar Pea Designs Stamptember contest on the Simon Says Stamp blog!

Here is the sketch I was working with:

And my plaid/colour/mug inspiration:

Inspired By - Christmas card

This week's Inspired By inspiration photo has a nautical theme... so turning it into a Christmas card may be a bit of a stretch!  But I'm hoping you can see that I was inspired by the colours, and the piece of driftwood when I went to make my card...

Quick & easy - works for me.  Here's the photo:

Patterned papers & sticker are I Love Winter by Echo Park; Sea Glass & White cardstock & tag die are Close to my Heart; Twine from The Twinery; Alpine Stitched Snowflake dies are Poppy Stamps.

Cool Treats & Inspired By

I've been having fun making cards for my daughter to give to her friends this summer.  I used this week's Inspired By photo to make up a couple more using a stamp set I won on an Inspired By challenge earlier this year - Cool Treats from Stampin' Up.  I went with the colours and the quatrefoil pattern in the little tables:

I used my sewing machine to stitch around the background paper, and added a few sequins for some sparkle.

Patterned paper, cardstock & inks are Close To My Heart; Stamp set is Cool Treats by Stampin' Up;

Sweet Pea Designs & Inspired By

I'm combining a couple of challenges today to make a birthday card for one of my daughter's friends who was recently in France.  I started with the inspiration photo from the Inspired By challenge... going with the plaid & floral from the linens (the flip side of the navy floral paper is large roses which I started out with... but the more subtle navy flowers were a little calmer).  I'm using the sketch from the July Sugar Pea Designs mix it up challenge:

Patterned papers are Beautiful Friendship by Close To My Heart; Stamp set is Parisian Holiday by Sugar Pea Designs; Copic Markers; Artiste Cricut cartridge.

Inspired By & Pattern Happy Sketch

I've had a few new crafty items come my way recently, and decided to pull one out and make a card for a couple of challenges today.  I've used the Inspired By photo as my colour inspiration, and used the May sketch on the Pattern Happy blog.  I don't own any Pattern Happy stamps, but this stamp set is very similar to one that they carry:

I just happened to win this "Cool Treats" Stampin' Up set on the Inspired By challenge a few weeks ago, and had fun stamping all of the ice cream treats.  Stay tuned for a few more in the near future.

Stamp sets are Cool Treats by Stampin' Up and Card Word Puzzle by CTMH; Cardstock is Lagoon & White Daisy, CTMH; Inks are Breeze, Lagoon, Champagne, Baby Pink & Pink Carnation by CTMH; and Onyx Black by Versafine.  Patterned papers are Lawn Fawn.

Sketchy Saturday & Inspired By

Like the rest of the continent, we're having a chilly, snowy spring.  So maybe that's why I took Laurel's Inspired By photo and turned it into a Christmas card?  Not what I set out to do... I had this wonderful Lawn Fawn "Knit Picky" paper that reminded me of the knitted throw in the photo, and then I went searching to see what papers I had in blue tones... and there was Echo Park's I Love Winter.  And of course, it turned into a coffee/hot chocolate type of card, too.  I used Laurel's Sketchy Saturday sketch as well:

 And when you make a Christmas card... you always make a second one :o)

I used a couple of Memory Box dies for the snowflakes & mug, and added a few tiny rhinestones for a little sparkle.

Inspired By & Sketchy Saturdays

Laurel Seabrook has two great challenges on the go right now... and I am playing along with both of them.  She has started Sketchy Saturdays on her blog, so I took the sketch and squished it down to make a horizontal card.  For her Inspired By challenge... I don't own any fox images, and my kitty ones weren't really the right fit, so I went with the graphic patterns and colours shown in the photo.

My brother-in-law likes to have a stash of cards on hand, so I'm sending him this one that'll work as a valentine or a general card that he can give to my sister!

Patterned papers are Photoplay & Papermania by Docrafts.  Dies are Verve (heart) and CTMH (love).  Coloured staples are CTMH.

A Sweet Christmas Card

Yay, my first two Christmas cards of 2018 are now sitting in my stash... I made two of these using some older stuff that I've had sitting around for a bit.  I'm using the sketch from The Paper Players this week, as well as the pretty inspiration photo from Laurel's Inspired By challenge for the colours/kitchen theme:

 I got these adorable kitchen dies from Your Next Stamp this fall, so I added a few along with some snowflakes.  I fussy cut out my penguin, and popped him up with some pop dots.

Patterned papers are Snowhaven, CTMH; Cardstock is Glacier, Whisper & White Daisy, CTMH; Copic Markers; Dies are Your Next Stamp, Die-namics & STAX, Stamp set is Baking Penguins by Inky Antics.

Fusion & Inspired By

I am using my new favourite Verve set to play along with a few challenges today.  I started off being inspired by the Fusion sketch & photo, as well as Laurel Seabrook's Inspired By photo with all the graphic shapes/muted colours... and this week's Cas-ual Fridays inspiration is "More Coffee Please!":

 I just tweaked the colours a little and made a second one:

I really adore this taupey/grey with the chocolate... I can see why it's such a popular home decor colour combo. *It's a little warmer in real life!

Stamp set is Happiness Is by Verve; Patterned paper is Knit Picky by Lawn Fawn; Ink is Chocolate by CTMH; Cardstock is Whisper, Cocoa, White Daisy & Glacier by CTMH.