Hambo Hoedown 130 - Anything Goes

I'm back, I thought I'd take a small break from stamping for a month or so and before you know it 6 months have gone by. Even the summer flew by. I've been following alot of the blogs and seen all the great cards and projects people have been making and really missed the 3 C's - Coloring, Cutting and Creating. Kind of like the 3 R's but alot more fun. So I thought I'd start back by entering this week's Hambo Hoedown. It was the perfect challenge to get started since it is called "Anything Goes". This is an older digital from Hambo Stamps, that is one of my favorites called "Silly Birds with Hats". These birds make a fun festive Birthday card.

I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day.

Hambo Hoedown

I love this digi and sentiments  I got this week to play at the Hambo Hoedown.  “Frog Boy” – a digital image by Hambo stamps.  The challenge this week was to add bumps or warts.  I used shiny purple gemstones to represent the warts on Frog Boy.  I paper pieced the lily pad  to give it a little pizazz instead of just coloring and I really like the way it turned out.  Not sure I've ever seen a plaid lily pad, but that's okay, I don't think there's many frogs with purple warts either.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.

A cake for your Birthday

Tomorrow is my brother's birthday and I had this idea to make him a cake.  Not a normal (lots of sugar and calories) cake, but a paper cake.  So I pulled out my quilling paper and tried to make a cake, candles and all.  Well, it was just a cake, not very festive.  So I added some presents but it still needed more festivity for a birthday.   Balloons, they are festive, so I quilled some balloons (first time making balloons).  I consider these a prototype and will make some changes to any future balloons.  Now I needed to pull all these items together so I made a small tablecloth and glued everything to it. 

I am really happy with the outcome that just started out with an idea that I wanted to make him a cake.  Even the candles and flames are paper (I used tissue paper for the flames).  So I packed this up in a small box with Styrofoam peanuts and sent it across the US from Ohio to California.  Hopefully the USPS was gentle and it made it to CA without needing any repair.

Happy Birthday James!

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Clean & Simple Challenge

CAS - Clean and Simple, that is this week's challenge over at the Hambo Hoedown.  For playing along in last week's challenge, I received this week's digi  "Microphone - digital image by Hambo Stamps" with some sentiments to use.  It's funny because when I make cards, I usually don't embellish them with a lot of doodads or ribbons and flowers.  For this challenge because is was clean and simple, I could find all kinds of things to embellish this with. Go figure.

I used the Spellbinders Wonky Triangle dies and then embossed them with the Sizzix "Dots" embossing folder.  I used pop dots to adhere the white panel with the microphone to the card thinking it would add dimension but in the picture it makes it look like the panel isn't glued down very well.  Thanks for checking out my blog.  I'm finishing up a quilling project that I will be posting next, so please stop back!!

Bailey Rocks

This is a quick post, Sunday night and don't want to miss the Grammy's.  I'm entering this week's challenge at the Hambo Hoedown with the digi called "Bailey Rocks".  The  challenge is to add metal. There's so many great digis at Hambo Stamps, if you haven't seen them then you've got to check them out. 

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Valentine's Day

My favorite cards to make are Christmas cards and my second favorite are cards celebrating Love for Anniversaries, Valentines Day or Sweetest Day.  This is my Valentine's card that I made this year to send to my family and friends.  I'm entering it in the GoFish I Love you Challenge.

Thanks for checking out my blog.



Love is in the air...

My Valentine's cards are done and in the mail so it's time for a little quilling.  My niece is getting married in April and I promised her I'd make a bride and groom for her wedding. Knowing how anxious brides get as the wedding date approaches,  I figured I'd better get them done.  I finished them, packed them up and they are off in the mail to her (in plenty of time).  I thought I'd share them with you at Sassy Cheryl's SHOW ME Blog Challenge.You can't tell from the picture but they are approximately 2" tall and did you notice the groom is sporting a teal cumber bun.

Here's a picture from the back showing the bride's veil and her updo.  She spent many hours at the hairdresser to get that style.

Thanks for checking out my blog!



Card within a Card

I received a handmade card from my girlfriend the other day and I had not seen this layout before, it's like a card within a card.  I really liked it so I thought I'd make one.  After checking out the card, the dimensions are really simple and easy to do.  The fun part is coordinating the colors and embellishing.  I made a few birthday cards for some friends that have February birthdays and thought  I would share some pictures of the cards I made.  There are 3 pictures per card so you can see the card closed, and the internal card open.

The card base is cut to measure 8.25 X 4" and is scored at 3"

The smaller internal card is cut to measure 8 x 3.5" and is folded in half at 4"..  The internal card is attached to the inside of the base card.  Important ->The internal card opens to the right instead of the normal opening to the left.

As you can see in this picture the base card opens to the left and the internal card opens to the right.  That's all there is to it, now you embellish it to your liking.  For this card I added a flower and rhinestone and cut a piece of designer paper for the front fold.  I used an embossing folder to emboss just the back of the base card.  The embossing made the base card kind of flimsy so I added a backing to the base card that measures 4.25 x 5.5 which allows the card to still fit in the standard A2 envelope.

The next card is also a birthday card for my dear freind who turns 91 in February.  I added a few butterflies, one to overlap the opening.  I added designer paper to the front and did not add a backing sheet.  This card is very simple and clean, not alot of embellishment.

One last example, this birthday card was made for a male.  Like the butterfly, I added the work TIME to overlap the opening and added a gear on the inside card for embellishment.  Designer paper for the fold and a backing sheet.

Once you make this, you'll see how easy it is and fun to coordinate with designer paper and cardstock and fun to embellish.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out my project.

Wee Henry

I love the Wee Henry & Wee Henrietta digitals from Hambo Stamps.  This guy is called Wee Henry Cupid and and he's just perfect for Valentine's Day.  I thought I'd also use him to enter this week's Hambo Hoedown challenge.  The challenge was to follow a layout sketch.

If you think this guy's cute, you should check out the other digitals of  Wee Henry & Wee Henrietta at http://hambostamps.com/digishop/wee-henry-wee-henrietta/ .  There's a SuperBowl Sales going on so I'm heading over there now to check it out.  Thanks for stopping by.

A Little Zentangle..

There's some days when I just want to doodle, not have anything special in mind, not worry about coloring inside the lines, or cutting images out.  After a few hours of doodling with no purpose, I just had to do something meaningful.  So I decided to Zentangle (to me this is doodling with structure).  I made this card for my best friend's daughter who is of college age and I knew would like the look.  I was going to stay with just black and white, but decided to add a little red to give it a little more pizzazz.  A little red led to alot more red and then red in the background.  I used the "Funky Double Birthday Cake" digi from http://www.sassycherylsdigis.com/.  This is a great digi for a birthday card.

It came out better than I thought it would when I started.  I think she'll like it.  You have to have patience to Zentangle, a small thing I'm usually short on.  I like the end result but it takes the fun out of doodling because  you're trying to make everything perfect.   Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog.



It's a Christmas Yard Sign

Well this week I've been working on a Christmas yard sign.  Many years ago my brother made this awesome Christmas yard sign for my Mom & stepdad's yard.  My brother is a talented illustrator and can draw anything with a computer or freehand.  I however, stamp because I can't draw.  Due to the many years in the Ohio winters, the sign was rotting and falling apart.  On Thanksgiving when my parents came for dinner they brought with them a newly painted white 4 ft by 5 ft board for me to make a new sign since my brother is the smart one and spends his life on the sunny west coast.

What a dilema, I can't draw and now I can't depend on stamping because the image has to be large enough for people driving by to actually read the sign.  After fretting about it all through Thanksgiving, I figured what's the worst that can happen, if it turned out terrible then my Mom won't ask me to do this again.  I'd be off the hook. So with that attitude I began laying out an idea I had.  With the help of the cricut I cut out their name and the christmas bulbs and the rest of the greetings I did freehand.  Freehand me, without the help of a rubber stamp!!

It turned our waayyy better than I ever expected.  I'm really happy with it and think my Mom will be too.  Actually, I even think my brother might be surprised, as he knows my lack of drawing talent.  Check it out.

Debbie

Let's Quill

It's time I get back to posting on my blog.  I love to stamp and paper craft but I've been very lax in sharing what I've been doing. My husband bought me a quilling kit out of a bargain basement bin at an outlet mall.  He figured since it involved paper, I would like it.  He was sooo right, he usually is. I'd heard of quilling but didn't know much about it.  

   Quilling  is an art form that involves the use of paper strips that are rolled, shaped and glued together to create a decorative design.  The paper is wound around a quill to create the basic paper shape, hence the name quilling.  

Needless to say, I fell in love with it.  I started with 1 dimensional flowers and bugs, but soon found a 3 dimensional bride and groom kit which I made for my niece who recently got married.  From there I made acorns and pumpkins and mice and anything I could think of.  I tried to make a reindeer for Christmas but its head reminded me more of a turkey which gave me the idea to make a turkey.  The turkey was lonely so I made a pair of Pilgrims.  I just kept rolling and shaping until I came up with a design I liked. 

The coke can gives it  a size perspective

 I haven't given up on the reindeer, I'm still trying to figure something out.  I'm also working on a soccer player for my granddaughter.  If it turns out then I will post and share that.  I would also like to take the time to wish you all a Happy & Healthy Thanksgiving.

Debbie

Kraftin Kimmie Challenge

Wow, what happened to the last few months?? Back in March I was traveling out of town so I thought I'd take a few weeks break from entering challenges.  It's now July, my few weeks turned into a few months.   I was on the Kraftin' Kimmie site taking advantage of the Summer Sale going on now (check it out) and I saw the challenge so I thought I'd give it a try.  This week's challenge #135  is White on White.  I don't think I would have made a card white on white by myself, but I really like the clean look. 

There are so many great Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps that it's hard to choose. I decided on Lillith and paired her with the "Sorry I Froggot" sentiment from Kraftin' Kimmie's Fun Sentiments set.  This will make a cute Belated Birthday card.  Thanks for checking out my blog.

Hambo Hoedown - Stripes

Where does time go?  I can't believe I missed last week's Hambo Hoedown challenge which means I also missed this week's digi.  That's okay because I have alot of Hambo Stamps and digis to choose from.  I fell in love with their desgins years ago when I accidentally purchased a stamp off eBay.  When I received it I saw the Hambo insignia on it and checked out their website and I was hooked.  If you haven't seen the site, check it out here http://www.hambostamps.com/.  This week's challenge was to include stripes on our project and I chose to use their cute "possum" stamp. 

I was traveling this week and brought along a few stamps and papers so I could still enter the challenge, but what I can't believe that I did not bring with me was an Alphabet stamp set.  How can anyone be away from home and expect to stamp without an alphabet set?? (rhetorical questiont)  I had to do the "HANG" the old-fashioned way, no die cuts or stamp alphabets, I had to hand draw and cut with scissors!!  Yikes!!  It's amazing how quickly we get spoiled with all the great tools that are on the market.  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.



Hambo Hoedown - Sketch Challenge

It's Hoedown time again and this week I received the digi "Monster weights" and some great sentiments from Hambo Stamps for playing in last week's challenge.  The challenge this week was to follow a sketch.

I turned the card horizontally; colored the "monster weights" digi with my copics markers and used one of the great sentiments that came with the digi.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my bog.

Hambo Hoedown - Anything goes

This week's Hambo Hoedown challenge is "anything goes".  It means just what is says, anything goes.  I received the "fortune cookie" digi from Hambo Stamps and some great sentiments to use for the fortune just for playing in last week's challenge. I thought I'd try something different since anything goes.  I've recently been messing around with Zentangle, I'm not very good with it yet but I do enjoy just letting my mind wander and just doodling.  I decided to use my recent Zentangle as my background. 

I colored and cut out the fortune cookie digi and used one of the great sentiments for the message.  I applied everything to a red background to give it a little color.  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.

Hambo Hoedown - Dragon

Hoedown Time...This week I received the "Dragon" digi and some great sentiments just for playing along last week.  If you haven't played in the Hoedown, you gotta give it a try.  Each week, just for playing you get a free digi for the next week's challenge.  I've received some great digis over the past year.  The challenge this week was to use gold and silver.  I've never really liked to use chalks on my projects because I can't stay within the lines when I'm coloring with them (and that's a big deal to me). The other day I was at the store and I found chalk pencils.  They're great, they are chalk but they're a pencil so when I color with them I have more control and can stay within the lines.  I used dark blue cardstock so I thought I'd give them a try.

I used the "Tree" stamp from Hambo stamps.  I stamped the trees and campfire using a Silver stamp pad.  I masked and stamped the tree to create a grove of trees.  I then used my new chalk pencils to add color or highlight the stamps. The green in the trees isn't very visible in the picture, but it looks really nice on the card. I colored the dragon digi with my copics markers, his belly and wings are colored with gold, but the picture makes it look more like yellow.  I speckled the blue background with a white gel pen to make it look more like night and added a shooting star in the right top corner.  I added the "You light my fire" sentiment! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is just a few days away and I received this great Candy Heart digi to use for this week's Hambo Hoedown. The challenge for this week's project is to add a Brad, Button or Bow.  I printed the Candy Heart digi and sentiment then grabbed my copics markers and started coloring.   I'm not a big bow person and very seldom use them on my cards, so I went with brads and buttons.

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Sassy Cheryl's - 100th Challenge

I actually got some stamping done today as I kind of watched the Super Bowl.  I stamped during the game and took breaks to check out the commercials. Sassy Cheryl has a challenge this week to celebrate her 100th challenge.  As part of the challenge you have to use a punch and something shimmery.   I decided to use Sassy Sally and her Oversized Birthday cake digi.

 I cut out the background circles with the Spellbinders Inverted scallop circle dies and added some pink dimensional diamond glitter for something shimmery.  The H B (short for Happy Birthday) is from the Katie alphabet by Quickutz.  I colored Sally with my Copics markers.   Thanks for stopping by.

Hambo Hoedown - Bailey Cupcake

Time for the Hambo Hoedown. This week the digi is Bailey cupcake.  I supersized the cupcake to make it bigger than Bailey and decided to make the card in the shape of a bone.

I stamped the background with a diamond stamp from Hero Arts and  used my Copics markers to color Bailey and the Cupcake.  I used the"Bone Appetit" sentiment on the outside and the "Hope your Birthday is tail wagging good" on the inside that was part of the digi.  The Hambo digi's are great, if you don't have any then you have to join their weekly Hoedown.  Each week you play in the hoedown you get a free digi to use in the next week's challenge.  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.