CAS Congratulations Card

This week I've made a CAS (clean and simple) card using CAS(e) This Sketch 157, colors from Color Throwdown #377 - yellow, kraft and grey and the Simon Says Congratulations set that I've been wanting to ink up for some time for Simon Says Anything Goes Challenge. To make the card a little more fancy I used fine silver embossing powder instead of grey ink in the color scheme. 

Thanks for looking.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Simon Says Congratulations
• Accessories: Silver embossing powder, silver cord from SU

~Olga

Mojo Bella Oodles of Love

I loved the MojoBella sketch challenge this week! I used the Uptown Girl Lucille Sends Her Love stamp. The color combo is from Color Throwdown challenge. It ended Monday, but I liked the combo and used it again for this card.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Stamping Bella Uptown Girl Lucille Sends Her Love
• Tools: Mama Elephant Femme Frames, MFT Stitched Fishtail Flag, pink Gelly Roll pen, Copics

~Olga

MFT Color Challenge 37- Start Every Day with Whee

I made another quick card this weekend. The color combo is from the MFT Color Challenge 37. I struggled a bit with this one, but the Pure Innocence Start Every Day with Whee stamp always lightens up a card.

It's a quick card colored with Copics and background is embossed in chunky clear powder.

Supplies:

• Stamps: MFT Start Every Day with Whee
• Tools: MFT Stencil Stripes, Dienamics inside & out diagonal stitched rectangle STAX

~Olga

Cute Critter Cards

I was able to make a couple of cards for challenges this weekend. The first card combines MFT Sketch 264, adorable color combo from Color Throwdown 376 and the dog from one of my favorite MFT stamps, You Make My Tail Wag, for the Simon Says Create with Critters Challenge. The inside of the card is stamped with sentiment "In dog years you're still a pup!" from Inky Antics.

Since I love animal stamps, I couldn't resist making another critter card for the Simon Says Create with Critters Challenge. This one is a simple hamster shaker card using the Lawn Fawn Wheelie Like You set.

Supplies:

• Stamps: MFT You Make My Tail Wag , Lawn Fawn Wheelie Like You, PTI Wreath for All Seasons (birthday sentiment)
• Tools: MFT Fishtail Banner and Happy DieNamics

~Olga

Using Mini Prills on Cards

I recently bough a jar of Mini Prills because they reminded me of cupcake pearls, but haven't used them on a project until now. I've made cards with micorbeads before and prills are sort of similar. They're a little bigger and I think made of styrofoam.

The first card was for Simon Says Stamp Best Friends Challenge using Mojo430 sketch. I made a card with the cute Boston Terrier - Stylish Simon stamp and added a heart embellishment covered in Mini Prills. To do this, I liberally covered a die cut in Aleene's Tacky Glue, covered in prills, hand pressed and then let it dry under the weight of acrylic block to keep the cardstock from warping under the wet glue. It turned out pretty well without empty spots on the paper. 

For the second card I put drops of Crystal Effects on a cupcake and used prills as sprinkles. Because they're so small, they clumped up a bit instead of looking like individual sprinkles. They seem to be holding pretty well when I'm just holding the card, but I think these are more likely to fall off in the mail.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Simon Says Stylish Simon, PTI Cupcake Collection
• Paper: BasicGrey Blush
• Accessories: Mini Prills
• Tools: MFT and Stitched Fishtail Stax

~Olga

Flora and Her Bicycle Bella Card

I'm playing along in the Bellarific Friday this week. It's a photo inspiration and I used the colors in my card. The sketch is Viva la Verve January Sketch 2.

I've used this stamp a lot since I cycle and have a lot of friends who do too. Our bikes are sans the flower basket, but close enough. The sentiment is a quote by Albert Einstein: "Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving."

Supplies :

• Stamps: Stamping Bella Uptown Girl Flora and Her Bicycle
• Paper: Basic Grey Blush

~Olga

Warm Winter Wishes

This card is for the MFTWSC263, My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Stencil It.

I used the MFT Snowfall Stencil and sponging technique to create subtle background on the card and just love these cute little mitten die cuts. I added twine and foam to add some extra dimension.

Supplies:

• Stamps: MFT Let's Get Cozy
• Tools: MFT Warm & Fuzzy Die, MFT Stitched Fishtail Flag, MFT Let It Snowflake, Mama Elephant Femme Frames, MFT Snowfall Stencil

~Olga

Sunshine and a Little Pink

I used my MFT Tickled Pink die for the first time today for the Simon Says Ombre Challenge. The quote "Anything is possible with Sunshine and a Little Pink" brings a smile to my face every time I read it.

Supplies :

• Stamps: MFT Tickled Pink
• Tools: MFT Sunny Skies Die, Darice Chevron Embossing Folder

~Olga

2015 Recap

I've been terrible at blogging this past year. It's not that I haven't been making cards, it's just that I haven't taken the extra time to post anything. In fact I've started out the year with some Pocket Letter exchanges, made lots of cards, sewed and knit a bit and in the summer finished another Half Ironman race in California. It's been fun and busy. Looking back at the year what I think kept me from blogging is the extra time it takes and I chose to spend that time to make more projects.

Looking ahead to 2016 I'd like to try doing things a little differently. I want to have a place to post
my projects and be able to participate in some of the design teams that require a blog. However, I will cut down on the writing and in some posts just focus on the cards. I'm hoping this will be a good compromise between my paper craft hobby, work, family, training and other hobbies. Before I turn the page on 2015 though, here are some of my favorites. Actually my phone caught on fire mid year and I lost a lot of pictures of cards I already gifted, but these are some of the recent ones. Happy New Year!

~Olga