Happy Hayride Season

 Challenge #2 is up on the Once Upon a Time Challenge blog.  This time the challenge is inspired by the book Charlotte's Web.

It's been a long time since I read this book, so I took inspiration from the characters in the cover photo.

The fence, cloud and grass stamps are from Ink Blot Shop.  I just love their scene backgrounds!  The tractor, animals and sentiment are from Your Next Stamp.  They also have a Halloween set that goes with this tractor - so cute!  Its been a few years since we were able to take the grandkids to a local farm that has hayrides out to their pumpkin field.  Hopefully, we can get that done this year!

Another Fall card

 Here's a card I made for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge #178.

This card actually fit into a couple of tic tac toe rows, but I'm going with the far right vertical row:  sentiment, Fall colors, and black.

I was inspired to try this mix of ink blending, stenciling and stamping by a Caitlin Anthony class that was part of the Card Maker's Success Summit a few months ago.  I used stamp sets from My Favorite Thing and Ink Blot Shop and stitched rectangle dies from My Favorite Things. I didn't have a sunray stencil so I used cardstock strips to make the rays.  (and now a sunray stencil is on my shopping list!)

Hello, Fall!

 It may not officially be Fall yet, but it's close enough to get out the decorations and make some cards with the warm Fall colors.  Here's a card to welcome the season.

The plaid background was made with a Tim Holtz stamp, using Catherine Pooler's Macchiato ink on gold cardstock.   The sentiment is from Your Next Stamp and the scarecrow and pumpkin are from an old Stampin' Up set.  I'm entering this card into two challenges:

TicTacToe Challenge

I used the diagonal row from top right to bottom left:  pumpkin, leaves/trees, and yellow.

FarmQuest Challenge Blog 

Challenge 11 - anything goes farm/country/rural 

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Challenge #61

 Time for a new challenge at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog!  As always, this is an "anything goes" challenge with an optional twist.  This time around, the twist is to use ink smooshing on your project.  This is a great technique that can be used with so many different mediums.  This month I played with two different mediums for my cards.

I used Ranger watercolor cardstock for the base on both panels.  For the card on the left, I used Distress Oxide inks in Frayed Burlap, Fossilized Amber and Fired Brick.  I smooshed the ink pads on my glass mat, spritzed with water and then dragged the watercolor cardstock through the inks a few times.  Once the panel was dry, I die cut the wreath and leaves. 

The card on the right was done with Distress Mica Stain sprays in Jack O Lantern, Antiqued Bronze and Flickering Candle.  I also added a bit of regular Distress Spray in Wild Honey and some drops of Lawn Fawn's Liquid Stardust.  These were all sprayed on a glass mat, spritzed with water and then applied to the cardstock just like the first panel.  You can see that the Distress Oxide inks give a softer look, while the Mica sprays are more vibrant and have a nice shimmer to them.

I hope you get a chance to play along with the Mix It Up Challenge this month.  We'd love to see what you "smoosh up" this month!   Thanks for stopping by!

Once Upon a Time Challenge Blog - Challenge #1

 It's always fun to find a new challenge blog.  Once Upon a Time Challenges has their first challenge this month.   It's based on the children's book "Dear Zoo".  

The book is about a child who writes to the zoo for a pet, and ends up getting (and returning) lots of different animals before finding the perfect one.  I used three of the animals from the book on my card.

The Once Upon a Time challenge is open all month, so hopefully you'll get a chance to check it out!

FarmQuest Challenge #9

 The current FarmQuest Challenge is challenge #9 - include a weathervane or windmill and a barn.  I used some Echo Park stickers for my card.

The little truck was fussy cut from an Echo Park patterned paper.   This has been a busy summer and I haven't gotten to play along with too many challenges, so it was fun to join in on this one!

Mix It Up Challenge #60

 This is my first post as a design team member for the Mix It Up Challenge Blog!   This blog has a new challenge every six weeks and it's always anything goes with an optional theme.  Projects can be cards, tags, scrapbook pages, any type of paper project.

The optional theme for Challenge #60 is "clean and simple".  My project is a scrapbook page that uses very minimal products:  6x6 papers, washi tape and Thickers/alphabet stickers.

I started with a white 12x12 cardstock base, then chose four coordinating 6x6 papers and trimmed them down to 5x5.  Those papers were adhered to the center of the white cardstock, leaving a tiny bit of space between each block.  I printed three 3x4" photos and matted them on black cardstock cut to 3.25" x 4.25".  Those were adhered to the center corners of the paper pieces, using foam adhesive so there is a little dimension.  On the top right block, I used a 3x4 journaling card, also matted on black cardstock. That card holes the title and some journaling.  As a final touch, I used small pieces of washi tape on one edge of each paper block, starting at top left and going clockwise.

This is a simple design that adds some movement to the layout but still leaves the photos center stage.  It's a good way to use those 6x6 papers, or paper or cardstock scraps, too.

I hope you get a chance to join in the Mix It Up Challenge over the next few weeks.  We'd love to see your projects!