One-Layer Simplicity Challenge

I just re-organized my card files over the weekend.  Hooray!   Now I can treat myself to entering challenges once again.

Today I whipped one up for the onelayersimplicitychallenge which for this month is "Restocking the Shelves."  I'm probably running low on every kind of card there is, but birthday cards are high on my list.  Seems like there's always another birthday right around the corner.  My mother particularly likes the cards I've done with kraft cardstock and envelopes, so I made this with her in mind.  She'll get plenty of chances to use it in the coming month!

Vase of Flowers

Supplies:
pre-folded kraft card
Stamps:  flower I've had for years (Rubber Stmapede), Petals From Scratch set (Fiskars); "Happy Birthday (unknown)
Chalk inks:  brown, sky blue, turquoise, mos green (Clearsnap)
pink and green chalk pencils

I made a mask for my vase and just stamped dots inside it, using a pencil eraser.

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Happy Birthday, Cousin Denny

My cousin Denny's birthday is coming up next week.  Odds are good that he won't see this, so I can share the cards I made for him.  Denny's a musician, as many of the boys in our family are, so that's often on my mind when making a card for him.  The first idea...

Night on the Town


Cardstock:  Kellerkurtz Company (The Paper Studio)
Printed Cardstock:  unknown (I bought this pad with the cover ripped off!)
Stamps:  Skyline Hero Arts and "A Perfect Day" set Hero Arts
Wicked Black Ink (Clearsnap)

That one is mine to send!  Mother chose this one...

Snowy Evening

Cardstock: light blue, white (The Paper Studio)
scrap paper (cut a 1 1/2 inch circle to sponge in the sun)
Stamps:  tree (Judi Kins)
Ink:  Pearlescent Ivy and Tangerine Clearsnap
white glitter (Martha Stewart)

Guitar Man
Cardstock:  white
Patterned Paper:  Glitz Pack Afternoon Muse, Leather, unknown music background (I cut it up before looking!)
Stamp:  A Perfect Day set heroarts.com
Brown ink
3-D guitar and pick stickers (Paper House)

I guess we'll save this last card until next year....or until my nephew's 13th birthday, but that's almost a year away, too (thank goodness)!

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Watercolor Wishes

For those of you who love working with watercolor as much as I do, here's another card to go with my article in the latest issue of  CardMaker Magazine

inside

MATERIALS  LIST:  

Watercolor Paper:  Mixed Media stack (GCD Studio)

Stamps:  Fantasy 3880 K (Penny Black)

                A Perfect Day set (Hero Arts)

                Fall Trees set (Inkadinkado)

Dye Ink:  bamboo shoots, cocoa (Tsukineko)

Watercolor Pencils:  umber, May green, mineral green, olive green (Derwent)

Watercolor crayons:  light green, yellow (Staedtler)

Pencil with new eraser

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Card Maker

There it was in the mailbox Saturday afternoon--a nice, fat, padded envelope with two magazines bearing my watercolor article.  And there's my design, right smack dab on the front.  (Okay, I'm sharing the honors, but that's mine on the right!)
 

http://www.cardmakermagazine.com/images/covers/large/current_issue.jpg

I'm ready to send out another query and get writing again!

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Three From One

Anyone who knows me knows I love fall and winter best of all the seasons.  So of course I love making cards with snowy scenes.  The other day, flipping through my Elizabeth Brownd pad from K&Company, I saw this sheet of snowflakes on a tan-gold background, with these birds all across the bottom.  What a beautiful scene--too pretty to let go to waste.  Immediately I pictured two cards created from the lower half.



I ended up making three cards from this one sheet of paper, using minimal extras, such as ready cut and scored cards (kraft and chestnut brown) , red or dark brown cardstock for trim, my Martha Stewart snowflake punch, red and brown dye ink and a few stamps. 

 This last one was my personal favorite.  I gave him a pop of color with chalk pencils--red, orange and of course white!

'Til next time, thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Thank You Cards

Somehow, what with finishing up gifts, baking cookies, watching Christmas movies and enjoying the lights on the Christmas tree, I never got the thank-you cards made and ready for my mother and for me to use.   A few days after Christmas, I got busy.  This way I was even able to put a couple of new gifts to use.    I ended up cranking out EIGHT cards in one day!  Not all are pictured here.  (I think I count seven.)

For this one below I finally sliced some paper called "Galaxy" that I'd been hording for probably 15 years.  It made a gorgeous snowy sky.

 

 

'Til next time,...thanks for stopping by!

Valentines

These were my Valentines for family and friends last year.  I made the pattern for the little bird myself, cut and sponged each piece.  The blue were my favorites!

 

I'm offering these for sale now on my shop at thirdsisterhandmade.etsy.com

 

Bye for now!