Inchies, pink and green

It's that time of the month when the deadline for the inchies approaches.  I have two inchie mingles this month - St. Patricks Day and Pink Ribbons.


Before I show you my inchies, I want to remind everyone that I make inchies that I would like to receive.  Since I like to use my inchies as card candy, I tend to make simpler designs than some people, but when I make them, I can can very readily see them as part of a larger project.  I also make the design elements readily visible to the naked eye - I have received inchies that needed a magnifying glass to make out what was on them.

Before I made these, I tried some other things.  I tried weaving pink ribbon.  I tried using pink ribbon on plastic canvas as a needlepoint medium.  I tried the traditional loop on various colored backgrounds, and finally, this is what I liked well enough to swap.  There is an iridescent seed bead in the middle of each of those blue flower sequins holding the paper flower and pink ribbon to the black background.  I think these would look great on a card, next to a sentiment stamped in black.

Diane sent me some interesting paper finishes a while back.  This finish gives a very stone-like feel and texture, which made me think of the Blarney Stone.  I freehand cut little shamrock leaves out of some silk flower leaves I had in my stash.  They are a little irregular, but these inchies have a very interesting feel to them.  

Challenges:
Fairy Knoll - green
Mami Doodles - monochromatic green/irish
Pattie's Creations - make an embellishment
Res-Q Challenge - square
Stamp Something - flowers
Stampin for the weekend - monochrome
The Cheerful Stamp Pad - anything but a card

A Little Birdy revisited

About a year ago I made a card using a Michelle Zindorf tutorial.  I liked the result for the most part, but it seemed a little crowded, probably because I was making a standard quarterfold size card, and the tutorial is for a a larger 5 x 6.5 card.  Today I needed a big card, big enough for 38 people to sign it - a get well card for a 70yo woman with terminal cancer.  You can't just say "Get Well" to someone who isn't going to.  I didn't some searching and decided that this quote said what I wanted to say:

"Some days there won't be a song in your heart.  Sing anyway." ~ Emory Austin

 Of course, with these words on the inside, I was certain that I needed a bird on the outside.  I revisited the tut and put together something close, although not as close as the first attempt:

It's a lot softer and less busy, which under the circumstances is a good thing, I think.  The purple makes more sense when you can see the true colors, too.

Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments - spring
Digi Doodle - Spots/dots
Hanna and Friends - purple and one other color
Shelly's Images - ribbon
Stampin B's - flower
Gingersnap Creations - jewel colors plus gold
Freshly Brewed - ribbons and bows

Delicate Florals

My friend Chris is a TAC demo, and the other day, instead of the usual hostess club project, she set out a stamp set (Delicate Florals - It's on sale this month!) and some TAC papers and markers and let us do whatever we wanted.  She should know better than to do that with me - I always send her down into her stash to get me something else that isn't already on the table.

Anyway:

Hmmm, looks completely different scanned!  This was watercolored with Tombows.  All stamps and papers are TAC.  I used the torn frames technique from Technique Junkies.

Challenges:
TAC Savvy Projects - You make February Fabulous
Color Dare - plum, artichoke, neutral
Creative Cottage - florals
Forgotten Scraps - flowers
Inspirational Card Sketches - sketch
Oldie but Goodie - Spring is in the air

RAK bear

Diane in Idaho has been exceedingly generous to me time and again.  On one occasion, she sent me a stack of kraft card bases; another, this unique bear image, and most recently, a huge box of embossing powders.  I used all three to make this card:

The coredinations cardstock might not be the right color of green, but the texture it gives is awesome!  It frays nicely, too.

Challenges:
Anything goes - distressing
Craft your Passion - male card
Karen's doodles - masculine
TSG Clear Stamps - uncolored line art
Gingerloft - furry friends
Paper Sundaes - masculine colors
Stampin Sisters in X - green
Frosted Designs Fab Friday - no patterned paper
Prairie Fairy - fine print

Thanks, Diane!

Rabbit bookmark

When I saw Vicki Romaine's bookmark, I thought that the rabbit on it was just too cute, and hunted it down for my own use.  However, the terms of use are that whoever takes it needs to make a bookmark with it (it's a Bella Creations ning challenge).  Since Vicki is also hosting a red and white challenge on her blog, I just went ahead and combined the two.

While making this bookmark, I also played with some things that friends of mine gave me.  Some of the background stamping (hard to see) uses clear stamps that Shelly gave me, and chameleon embossing powder that Diane gave me, and a punch that Chris gave me, and some ribbons that Karen gave me.  Every time I use this bookmark I will be reminded of what great friends I have!

Other challenges (because two is not enough!):
Delicious Doodles - glitz, glam, shimmer, bling
Wags and whiskers - punch
C.R.A.F.T. - not a card
Crafty Purple Frog - magic
Delightful Challenges - animal

Thank you, my terrific friends!

mcschmidty

There aren't a lot of people who would appreciate a card like this, even if I left the name off.  However, I have special friends.  I had fun putting it together - that's the important part.

Those are green staples at the corners, and the writing and embellishment is green stardust pen.  Coloring is digital, and the image is from Dude Time Doodles.

Challenges:
Claudia and Co - for a boy 
Dude Time Doodles - colors (scan is off, sorry)
Ooh la la Creations - for someone special
C I Paint - Keep it sweet and simple
Sketchy Colors - colors
Stampin with the Dragon - anything goes

gift box for Valentines

I talked about a CTMH workshop I attended yesterday, and today I wanted to show you the gift box we made:

The cover is a clear slider, made from an 8.5 inch square of acetate.  The box was made from a couple of pieces black cardstock.  There are 4 mini cards with envelopes in here, along with the three pieces of candy.  It's lovely, but I have no idea who to give it to!  the "kiss me" cards are a little too provocative for children's valentines - I thought about giving the whole set to my high school aged son.  He could have used the mini cards for girls, and eaten the candy himself, but I didn't think he would appreciate the "kiss me" cards, either.

That's the problem with this project - it's precious, but useless.  That could just be me - would you give something like this to someone?  If you were making it from scratch with a different theme, what theme would you use?

Challenges:
A spoon full of sugar - anything but a card
Oldie but a Goodie - add a heart
Crafty Cardmakers - plastic (I would have entered their hearts one too, but that wouldn't be right!)
Cupcake Craft - hearts
Kaboodle Doodles - hearts and flowers
Creative cowgirls - hearts

Lots of heart challenges!