Wrapping it All Up!

Have you ever used Wrapping Paper on your card? I know, why would you with all that stash - but honestly - it can be done!! On Day 122 that was the challenge - to use wrapping paper. Well, my first thoughts were of some kind of stripe or printed images scattered all over the paper - but since I didn't want to venture down to the garage (it is a mess right now) and look through the bin that has the wrapping paper in it - I knew I had a roll in my room that hasn't been put away yet - I just didn't remember it being Teddy Bears! Now, don't get me wrong, I love teddy bears - they are so cute, and I actually have a small collection of Boyd's Bears figurines - I just wasn't expecting to find the paper with BEARS!! But, I thought, this has to work. So I quickly attached it and added a few embellishments - I am not quite sure I like it - oh, the bear - he is CUTE and that sad face says - 'I Miss You' (BIG time!) - I guess it is jut not quite my style.
This 'wraps' it up for June on the 365 card blog - tomorrow a new month starts and a new challenge - but I have accomplished my goal of doing ALL the challenges for June. Perhaps I will even go back and finish some of the past ones that I didn't do in March, April and May - but until then,
Thanks for visiting the Spa today - I know I have had a lot to share lately with my cards - but I now must turn my endeavors to scrapping again - so watch for some digital stuff coming up soon.
*~*Paula*~*

All Through the Year!

I hear that there are places in our vast country where there really ARE four seasons - I lived in Washington State for a number of years and they sort of have four seasons (and not all of them rainy!!) - they just aren't all three months in duration! I love the changing seasons - I think I probably like Fall the best as the leaves begin to turn and the trees are beautiful in all their colorful glory. The air begins to get crisper and the days a little shorter. For Day 121 we were to create a card displaying the four seasons. This took a bit of thought and planning and I finally came up with my card using a variety of stamped images. Since most of my cards are sent out to the troops through Cards For Heroes, I had to think what sentiment (if any) I would use on a card of this sort, and then I came up with this sentiment, which I printed off my computer. I think it turned out quite cute and colorful.
I hope you like it too. Thanks for taking a look.
*~*Paula*~*

Color Me Rainbow!

I love rainbows - I really do, but on Day 105 the challenge to make a card using the song 'Rainbow Connections' became more of a challenge than I anticipated. I have this one rainbow stamp and I am not all that fond of it, but it was all I had. I attempted to make a card using this image several times yesterday and finally gave up and started all over again this morning. I nearly decided not to use it at all since the sentiment had the word 'rainbow' in it, and I thought that would work for the challenge, but I gave it one more try and combined all the colors of the rainbow in the matting and ribbon. Since I was getting a bit frustrated with this challenge, I decided to use another sketch challenge to help me out. I am pleased with the final work, but wow - was this ever a challenge for me - I think the hardest one this month!
Thanks for looking.
*~*Paula*~*

Another Card Recipe!

I love card recipes - they are usually very simple to do - and they tell you exactly what you will need - I like that, as I think of myself as an organized person, and that makes my life simple. For Day 103 our recipe was: 4.25x5.5 card, solid bg, 2 patterened papers, stamped sentiment and 3 jewels. The other thing that makes the card recipes even easier is having a sketch already drawn up! I used sketch challenge 211 from the Splitcoast stampers site. I used the pink pirouette and chocolate chip cs from SU along with the Bella Rose designer Paper. It was a fun, and quick card to put together.
Thanks for taking a look.
*~*Paula*~*

Challenging Challenge!

The 365 Card Blog posted it's first challenge back in March. On Day 102 we were given a challenge to combine THREE challenges one from March, one from April and one from May on our card. Since there are still a few of those very first challenges that I have not completed, I decided to go back and look at those and combine some of those on my card. For March, I chose the challenge from Day 17 where we were to use three buttons and three bows on our card. Then for April I chose to use the challenge on Day 42 which was to create our own pattern on cardstock (instead of using patterned paper) and for May I chose to use the challenge from Day 84 which was a recipe: 3x3 card, 1 flower, 1 brad, 1 piece for ribbon and 1 sentiment - NO patterned paper. I mounted my 3x3 card onto the chocolate chip card, so on my card I have double the writing room! :) The inside of the 3x3 card is patterned - but it doesn't show on the outside!
Thanks for taking a peek at my latest creation.
*~*Paula*~*

Paper Piecing

The last card that I got a chance to make this morning was this one for Day 115. We were to make a card by paper pieceing. Well, awhile back I got this really cool paper that had the directions for how to layer the images. The images were already created and perforated, I just had to take the pains to layer them - and it was a bit of a pain as the foam pop-ups had to be cut down if they were to wide, etc. I think it is a cool technique and fit perfectly for this challenge. It is so three dimensional. I also had a bit of a retired color from SU (marvelous magenta) and even have the stamp pad for that one - so was able to layer the cardstock and then stamp the image in coordinating colors. I also used another sketch from Splitcoast - SC213.
That's it from this morning's card making blitz. I am ALMOST done with the cards for June - I just have four more to do, plus the one for tomorrow - so I am thinking that when I get back from work tonight, I should be able to get those done. Yeah, I wasn't supposed to work today, but my boss called and asked if I could come in - so I have to go in for a couple of hours.
Thanks for taking a look at my creations over the last couple of days. I hope you are enjoying your visit to the spa. Come back again soon.
*~*Paula*~*

Imagine this - Grass!!

This was a fun card to make. On Day 104 our challenge was to create a card using grass. I have lots of little stamps with grass. I had even thought about doing a Stampscape scene - which has lots of grass - however, when I was looking for stamps for another card, I came across this set and thought - hmm, there is grass on this one at the base of the flowers - that will work. This is a border stamp from SU and you add the flower images one at a time, so I got out my kaleidacolor 'berry blaze' stamp pad and stamped the little flowers, adding a bit of diamond stickles to the center of each flower. I added the butterflies, though I am not real crazy about the orange-ish color - and then I added my own 'flight path' which I think just gave it a finishing touch along with the sentiment. This is a FUN card for a child and not a lot of bling on it either.
Thanks for taking a peek.
*~*Paula*~*

Stamping with Food! Veggies That is!

Actually, I didn't stamp with food - although I know you can do this - I just think there is a better use for food than stamping with it! However, the challenge for Day 101 was to have fun using food as part of the card. I thought about the stamps in my stash and knew that this was probably the only set (Farm Fresh from SU) that had a vegetable on it. I used a little more of the new Crushed Curry from SU for the color in the bg of my image and then for the tag. I colored the 'white' buttons with my alcohol inks. A simple card - made even easier with the stamp set and the sketch challenges from Splitcoast. This one is SC223
Thanks for taking a look.
*~*Paula*~*

Fabric!!

On Day 96 the challenge was to use fabric on our card. Well, since I also sew, I have TONS of fabric (which is crying out to me to pay attention to it and MAKE something)!! I went through my BIG stash of quilting fabric - and found this cute snow-lady. I LOVE snowpeople (my sweet husband and I have a 'thing' for snowpeople) I also LOVE 'taking tea' - and have many images of teacups and sentiments that speak of tea - so when I saw this fabric, I just knew what I was going to do with it. I attached the snowlady to red cardstock and then looked through my stash for other papers that would fit in with a Christmas-y theme. Since the fabric I cut this from had snow dots all over, the cream colored dotted paper was perfect and then I stamped a snowflake background on the rest of my background. This one I may have to keep around for awhile.
Thanks for taking a peek.
*~*Paula*~*

Some Days are Diamonds

This song from John Denver has been playing in my head since yesterday when I created the Day 97 card challenge. The challenge was to use the shape of a diamond on your card. Well, during a recent trip to my LSS, I saw this very cute clear stamp set of diamond shaped images and just HAD to get it. There are many diamond shapes in this set, but I chose to use this one and stamped it three times on a piece of scrap cardstock that I had inked up with my jade brilliance pad. I pulled out a piece of the Basic Grey Marrakech paper that I had in my stash for the background and found this sheer two-toned ribbon also fit in nicely. It is a very simple card, but I think it has a bit of elegance to it. I hope you think so too.
Thanks for visiting the spa this morning - please come back later for a peek at what I can do with fabric, food, recipes and the seasons!! Wink Wink!!
*~*Paula*~*