FNW5: Home Sweet Home

Hi, everyone! Happy Friday! Time for another edition of Friday Night Writes. 

#homesweethome

We arrived back home Tuesday night. Seemed like we had been gone forever. The trees that were bare when we left are now in full bloom and the once snow-covered ground is now a lush green.  :)

It's such a relief to find all is good in the house. We had  neighbors looking out for us... and no news is good news. Nonetheless, it's always nice to see that everything is fine with your own eyes.

There's certainly been a lot to catch up on. A lot near us has been cleared of trees in preparation for building a new home -- after 30 years of being untouched, the remodeled McDonald's is up and running -- and looks so different, and the lilies of the valley are coming out -- just in time to make a few teensy bouquets!

Today's Card: An OWH Any Hero Card

The following Any Hero card was inspired by the current OWH Our Daily Bread
 Design Challenge (to use embossing) and OWH Sketch #254.



OWH Sketch #244
Bazzill admiral and watermelon; Distress Ink antique linen; Bo Bunny anthem
Unity (ragged ol' flag) sentiment in DI vintage photo on Crate Paper rose garden
Darice and Cuttlebug embossing folders; Mark Richards crystals
Creative Memories circle cutting system; Scrapbook Adhesive foam squares
 

ho-hum pre-crystal card

I felt pretty good about the basic elements of my card. However, I felt it just seemed flat... a little ho hum. So, I decided to play around with additional embellishments.

My first attempt was using tiny punched out stars. The card had a little more life, but was still not quite right. Then, the thought of adding a few crystals came to mind. I like the subtle difference. The whiteness of the crystals now pop on the blue background and help to brighten the overall look, as well as being a nice complement to the sentiment paper.

Since the sentiment is such a prominent feature, think I'm going to link this up to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog's sentiment-inspired challenge.

Parting Thoughts

May Challenge: Say Cheese
May 1 - May 28

Our May Words 2 Scrap By challenge is Say Cheese in honor of National Photography Month. This month, our challenge is going to run for four weeks -- through May 28. Hope you will join our I-Team as we commemorate those photo-worthy events in our lives.  :)

Have a great weekend! As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

HAPPY birthday to you

Happy weekend! Hope it's off to a great start.

Today's card is for the March Our Daily Bread Design challenge at Operation Write Home to make a card featuring a sentiment. Perfect timing for this birthday card.  :)

Tim Holtz idealogy collage; Stampin' Up! neutral (black) cardstock
Winnie & Walter big, bold, happy in Distress Ink walnut stain
SU owl-builder punch (for circles)

I'm literally here on an island -- a very nice island, but an island nonetheless -- with limited supplies. There is no Big Shot in my tool box here. Nor are there embossing folders, powders, or pastes. There are carefully selected neutral cardstocks, stamp sets, inks, paper pads, a trimmer, tape, punches, and a few embellishments.

So, I asked myself how can I pop a sentiment without my go-to heat-embossing trick. And, then I thought of Sandy's recent tip to use contrast. Eureka! I decided to use a much lighter strip of paper behind this really bold sentiment. By George, I think this works!

In addition to linking this up to the ODBD challenge, I'm also going to link it up at Seize the Birthday. This is a new challenge blog to me, and there is currently a masculine theme going on at STB. Sounds like a great fit for this little card.

Parting Thoughts

In case you haven't heard, there is a Unity/OWH blog hop going on to celebrate a new set of Unity patriotic stamps. Please click here to go to the start of the hop. And, our thanks to Unity for their generous support of OWH! I know I can't wait to ink up these new stamps.  :)

There's also still time to link up a card for OWH Sketch #249. Last week's sketch comes with a great opportunity to win Doodle Pantry goodies.  :)

Mar. 1 - Mar. 21

And, we have an in-like-a-lion-out-like-a-lamb weather-related Words 2 Scrap By challenge. Annie is hosting this month and if offering a $15 gift certificate to Stamps of Life for our winning entry. Hope you will join us.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Hello Honey

Hi, everyone!

What a fun and rewarding weekend around here -- the perfect combination of family time, community time, crafting time, and sports-watching time!  The weekend included Santa Saturday at the public library, a Buckeye win, and lunch with hubby and father-in-law.  While I am thrilled for this Buckeye team, I feel for those TCU and Baylor fans, not to mention the Wisconsin coach. 

Enough about that. Time for today's card, which I am linking up to the current OWH Our Daily Bread Design challenge to use primary colors and the Paper Smooches January Guest Designer search. (Just can't get enough of these PS bee dies!)

Distress Ink core scattered straw; Recollections black; Stampin' Up! cherry cobbler
Paper Smooches Bee Mine stamps StazOn jet black ink on watercolor paper) and coordinating die
bee colored with DI scattered straw ink brushed on with Ranger water brush
SU word bubbles die; background: SU/Sizzix embossing folder
hearts: SU small heart and owl builder punches; SU cherry cobbler twine
adhesives: Glossy Accents and Recollections foam squares

I used the "Bee Mine" sentiment on my last card, but went with "Hello Honey" for a little longer OWH shelf life. This one reads more like a punny love card than Valentine's Day card.

Parting Thoughts

December Challenge
Dec. 1 - Dec. 21

The December Words 2 Scrap By challenge went live last Monday. This month's words are Eat, Drink, and Be Merry! December is such a crazy month, but we hope you will find a little time to join us for this month's challenge.

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Nuts about You

Hi, everyone.

Today's card was inspired by this month's OWH Our Daily Bread Design challenge to make a card with at least one heart. Seemed like a perfect opportunity to ink up my new Stampin' Up! Nuts to You stamp set.

PAPER: blue: Target ???? clearance; orange: American Crafts; white and black: Recollections
SU Nuts about You stamps in StazOn jet black; SU brads; SU banner dies
Glossy Accents embellishment for squirrels and heart on card front
 

The blue paper is actually from a brightly-colored pack of cardstock and envelopes that was given to me by a friend at work. Thanks, Ginny! You can see that I'm beginning to put your gift to good use.  :)

This card is actually attempt #2. I wanted to use this stamp set to make a love/Valentine card that could be sent to anyone, including a child. Although the heart on the front is not prominent, it's still a heart. So, it's good to go for the ODBD challenge as far as I'm concerned.

I'm just a little concerned that it's too simple for OWH. I tend to struggle with "one-layer" cards. Although I really like the scene on the front, I still felt like it needed a little more oomph. So, I added Glossy Accents to the two squirrels and heart, which seems to help. But, on the inside, I wish I had used a heart around the sentiment instead of the banner. For better or worse, those papers are glued down pretty well. Don't think they are coming off any time soon.

What do you think? Too simple?

Distress Ink core paper

The card at the right is Card #1. Although I'm still planning on sending it to OWH, I'm concerned about it's simplicity -- as well as it being a little smaller than an A2 card.

Since the second squirrel and heart can't be seen until the card is open, I decided to make and post a different card for the ODBD challenge.

 

 

Parting Thoughts

November Challenge
Nov. 1- Nov 21

The November Words 2 Scrap By challenge went live yesterday. We are pleased to welcome I-Teamer Annie as the hostess for this month's "Gratitude and Kindness" challenge. Hope you all will join us.

This afternoon, I'm hoping to work on an idea I have for our December W2SB challenge. Think this one might take more than one or two tries to get right. Then it's back to craft show cards.   :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Thanks Fit for a Lady or a Gent

Hi, everyone!

Hope you all are staying nice and warm. Boy is it cold here... and only forecast to get colder.

Two Quick Notes

Before I get to today's card, I wanted to take a moment for two other things.

• First of all, a huge thanks to OWHers for your words of encouragement, blog posts, and linked cards for Words 2 Scrap By. Bobbi and I truly appreciate the support of our OWH family. For those who have linked cards, we are asking that challenge winners be followers. The main reason for this is that challenge winners are going to be invited to be Guest I-Teamers. Again, we are really grateful for so many kind words and messages of support.
• The second happening worth noting is a conversation I had today with hubby. We came back from morning errands and hubby went down to get the mail. When he came in, I asked, "Is that all we got?" -- hoping to receive packages from Paper Smooches and Really Reasonable Ribbon. His response was that I sounded just like a little kid. And, I had to admit he was absolutely right! It was a real-life LOL moment. Nobody can cut to the chase faster than hubby... and I somehow still love him... or maybe I love him for that very reason.  :) 

January's ODBD Card

Carta Bella dp; Paper Smooches tag die and twine
TPC Studio sentiment; Hampton Art stamp
Marvy punch; SU brads

This month's ODBD challenge is to make a card involving stripes. I made the card at the right as a thank you for a friend earlier this week. And, I so loved the design, I decided to choose papers for a masculine (and/or gender-neutral) version of the card.

So, for the second card, I went with some dp from a Momenta travel pack that had rich, jewel-toned stripes on a tan background and used complimentary cardstock to pop the tag. And, speaking of hubby, he really liked this second version. (Since he was gone to a basketball game the other night, he was spared having to look at the original version. LOL!)

Momenta DP; Bazzill or AC cardstock
TPC sentiment, heat embossed in Distress Ink walnut stain
Paper Smooches tag die
Really Reasonable Ribbon; EK hole punch
Recollections foam adhesive squares

 Parting Thoughts

Looking forward to tomorrow's Sunday sketch.

Thanks for stopping by at this new blog and happy scrappin'! Glad I have a place to squirrel away and be creative when the weather is this extreme.  :)