What Vacation?

Ever feel like you need a vacation after a vacation? The house is in a disarray, the chores are waiting, all the work work is piled up... What happened to that peace and relaxation? Despite being exhausted this past week, I'm still glad I managed a short ski getaway this year. New Mexico got some great snow and it was a first time the dogs came with and they were having a blast. Here's a photo from the slopes. Isn't it pretty?

Well, with so much on my plate a quick CAS challenge was a perfect way to knock out a card or two. Both of these are for CFC90 challenge to make a black & white plus one color card. I loved it! My first card is a wedding one, although I could probably use it for a birthday too. I cut off scalloped border from a die cut paper and then cut it into different length strips to make layers on the cake. A few Primas and pearls add a bit of a pop. No stamps on this card... Gasp!

The second card came together in minutes. I used black and white embossed patterned paper as a focal background and added yellow ribbon and embossed sentiment. It looks a bit like a stationary note, but I like it.

Supplies Cake Card:

• Paper: Antique Cream Collection, SU Whisper white
• Accessories: Primas, pearls

Supplies Thank You Card:

• Stamps: SU Sincere Solutations
• Paper: SEI Bissette collection, SU Whisper White
• Ink: Versamark, black EP
• Accessories: SU Ribbon, MFT Die Namics Frame Greetings Die

~Olgy

Technical Difficulties

I actually had a post for you on Thursday, I was saving it as I typed (or so I thought) but couldn't preview it. Without thinking much of it, I decided to close and reopen the page.... As it turned out, it wasn't saving either so I lost the whole thing! I was too frustrated to try and retype it so just fast forwarded to today. 
I'm catching up on some cards after my vacation last week (more on that later) and one of them is a belated non-traditional Valentine card for Riley challenge. My shelves in the craft room are lined with pink right now post Valentines so this challenge was an interesting twist.

I used the Rockstar Riley stamp paired with MFT Lovey-Dovey Sentiments which were perfect together. Instead of the traditional pinks and reds, I used blues and browns. 
Supplies :

• Stamps: Rockstar Riley, Lovey-Dovey Sentiments 
• Paper: SU Whisper White, Basic Grey, Serendipity collection, scraps of brown 
• Ink: SU Buckaroo Blue, Memento Black Tuxedo, Copics: E74, E37, E47, E35, B93, B97
• Accessories: Brads, Basic Grey Urban Couture ribbon

~Olgy

Basic Grey Challenge Guest Designer

I'm super excited to be a designer for Basic Grey challenge blog this month! I love Basic Grey products, especially their paper and I've enjoyed playing along on a few challenges with talented ladies over at Basic Grey Challenges so being a guest designer is an honor. The challenge this week is titled "Your Favourite Challenge"  and the goal is to use favorite stamps, papers, embellishments etc. Here's my card

Fuggy Pudding was my favorite BG paper collection, with Blush being a very close second. All the paper except base cardstock is from Basic Grey including the distressed white piece I stamped the image on. Recently, I've been using a lot of images that I need to color as my focal point and I wanted to do something different here. Turned out to be a little shabby chic, but I like it. Hope you do too.

Supplies  :

• Stamps: Agapanthus cluster by Stampendous
• Paper: SU Baja Blue, Basic Grey Figgy Pudding DP
• Ink: SU Baja Blue, Chocolate chip
• Accessories: Lace, ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware, rhinestone brads

~Olga

Thoughts of Spring

The Bellariffic Tuesday challenge for this week was to create a card with the theme Thoughts of Spring. Well, it's definitely spring here in Austin. Its been getting into 70s during the day for the past few weeks. The trees are budding, my spring flowers are peeking from the ground and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed we won't get a typical February freeze. Spring for me also means the start of the tri season and I'm starting to put together my race schedule. Spring just motivates me to get more done and I'm glad it's early this year!

Here's my spring Bella card. Love the new Uptown Girl collection and that the stamps are cling mounted. I used paper piercing technique on her rain boots and umbrella and the rain boots are slightly stepping out of the main image.  Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies :

• Stamps: Stampingbella Uptown Girl Lolly and Her Brolly
• Paper: SU Certainly Celery, We R Memory Keepers Good Day Sunshine DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo black, Copics: E00, E01, E53, Y15, YR04, E33, E35, E47, G21, YG91, YG41, G02, 
• Accessories: Brads, Making Memories shaped clips, SU ribbons
• Tools: Nestabilites

~Olgy

Cup of Latte Card

It's a second day in a row where all I have for you is a card and not much to talk about. It's just a regular, uneventful Monday. A kind of day where I could use a few more cups of coffee, but I'll have to settle for a Latte card instead.

The card was made using the VLVFeb2013 sketch from SCS. I don't have Verve stamps yet, so I'm using one of my old time favorites from Stampin'Up! It's a little hard to tell from the photo, but I punched the window at the bottom of the card using border punch, but didn't punch it all the way to the edges of the card and added brown and pattern paper borders on the inside that show through. The foam on the latte is done with puffy paint and some brown glitter on the top for chocolate shavings. Thanks for taking a look.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps:Like It a Latte
• Paper:Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, SEI Dill Blossom
• Ink: Always Artichoke, Tulip puffy paint
• Accessories: Brads, SU Chocolate Chip ribbon, Recollecitons Glitter on a Roll
• Tools:MFT Die-namics flourish, circle Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Scallop with 2 Dots punch

~Olgy

Quick Post with Bella Sketch Card

Another weekend flew by, but I got a lot done - worked in the garden, ran, spent time with friends and even made a couple of cards. Here's one for Bellariffic Friday challenge. The sentiment makes me smile every time I see it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies :

• Stamps: Stamping Bella Big Girl Pants
• Paper: SU Basic Black, GinaK White luxury cardstock, Basic Grey Urban Prerie
• Ink:Memento Tuxedo black, Copics: E00, E02, E51, E53, E33, E57, Y21, Y15, YR24, R59, BG10, B000, C-1
• Accessories: Basic Grey ribbon, SEI button, SU jumbo eyelets

~Olgy

Clean and Simple Valentines

I enjoy making CAS cards, especially when I'm short on time. Today I spent most of day day working in the yard so a few quick Valentine cards was all I had time for. I don't know what's happening in Austin, but it's been getting into 70s during the day. It's great, but my garden is convinced it's spring and the plants are waking up from slumber. Unfortunately, the weeds are waking up too. Definitely doesn't feel like February right now. It actually feels like I'm late making these Valentine cards.

For this first card is for CAS-ual Fridays CFC88 challenge - Love Letters. I cut out a heart from felt and attached it to the card by stitching parallel lines on my sawing machine to kind of mimic lines on a notebook paper and added an embossed sentiment.

The second card is for Basic Grey 'Love is in the Air' challenge. I used Basic Grey paper from Blush collection (I stockpiled a few stacks of it a few years ago because I loved it so much). I used Nestabilities die to emboss the edges of the stamped image and I colored the center of the heart with Liquid Pearls.
Thanks for stopping by!

Love Letters Card Supplies :

• Stamps: MFT Valentine Stamp
• Paper:Kraft
• Int: Versamark, Zing! Aqua EP
• Accessories: Felt
• Tools: Sewing machine

Love is in the Air Card Supplies(All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Time Well Spent
• Paper: Whisper White, Basic Grey Blush Collection DP
• Ink: Real Red
• Accessories: Petal Pink Liquid Pearls, rhinestone
• Tools:Square Nestabilities, MFT Die-namics Dainty Dots Border

~Olgy

Riley Golf

The Riley challenge this week was to create a masculine card. I've made my first tri fold card and it came together very quickly except for the handwritten the sentiment. I found some funny golf sayings on the web and instead of printing them out I wanted to work on my handwriting skills. The truth is I really don't like my handwriting and since nowadays I primarily type it hasn't gotten better, but it's something I want to work on. I'm in awe when someone has such a pretty handwriting that they can sign their cards without relying on stamps.

The top is the open view of the card and the bottom is the closed version. I know, I still need a lot of practice, but hopefully the humor makes up for the crooked handwriting.

Supplies :

• Stamps: Riley Golf
• Paper: SU Certainly Celery, Whisper White, We R Memory Keepers Good Day Sunshine DP
• Ink: SU Chocolate Chip, Memento Tuxedo black, Copics: E33, E35, E47, E49, W2, C-3, G21, G40
• Accessories: Basic Grey buttons
• Tools: Scor Pal

~Olgy

MFT Sketches

I was traveling part of last week and couldn't play along with some of the challenges I've been wanting to do weekly. Stamping and sports are so great at relieving stress, but since I haven't been doing much of either lately I've been grumpy. Why is the work week 5 days and weekend only 2?! Don't you sometimes wish you had a choice to work shorter weeks and scale the pay? I'd do that in a heartbeat if I could. Sorry, I don't mean to bring everyone down, after all, I have some cards to share today so it can't be all bad. If you have tips for carving out time for hobbies in a busy schedule or while traveling, I've love to hear them so please leave a comment.

The first card is for My Favorite Things sketch for guest designer challenge. I love the sketch, but don't have a lot of stamps yet and had to use an embossed sentiment instead of an image as a focal point.

The second card if also for MFT, but for the weekly sketch challenge on SCS. The sketch was perfect for using up some pattern paper, which I've been challenging myself to do lately. The die cut flowers and border are from MFT and the sentiment is from Riley. 

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: MFT Valentines set from Dec Triple Scoop, Riley Funny Bones 
• Paper:Real Red, Very Vanilla, Kraft, Basig Grey Blush collection, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, More Mustard, Basic Grey Serendipity collection
• Ink: Versamark + red EP, Real Red, More Mustard
• Accessories: Metal heart from Craft Essentials Love & Wedding collection, Heidi Swapp heart shapes
• Tools: Nestabilities, MFT Die-namics Mini Royal Roses, Dainty Dots Border

~Olgy

Riley Make It Sparkle

I started on this card a while ago, but I kept playing around with different embelishments and nothing looked right. Sometimes when that happens it helps me to work on something different and come back to a project, but other times I just start from the beginning. I dind't have time to recolor the picture so I tried to salvage what I've had. Flourishes and Primas don't scream Las Vegas, but this is Vegas in Riley world after all...

I love adding bling to my cards so I have lots of sparkle for this challenge - Stickles on the sign, glitter paper and rhinestones on the flowers. I didn't stick with the actual Vegas sign colors, but you all know that in the stamping world its more important to coordinate with the papers :)

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Welcome to Las Vegas Riley
• Paper: SU True Thyme,  We R Memory Keepers Down the Boardwalk
• Ink: Memnto tuxedo black, Copics: E33, E35, E47, E49, RV21, BG93, Y21, BG15, C-1
• Accessories: MFT Die-namics Fancy Flourish, Prima flowers, rhinestone brads, Stickles, Nestabilities Labels One

~Olgy

CAS Christmas Candy

Popping in for another quick post. I had a chance to play along in the SCS Featured Stamper challenge today and case a cute CAS Christmas card from Allee's gallery. I know, its a little late... or early to be posting Christmas cards, but you could easily change it into a valentines day or birthday card.

The chanages I made from the original were to pop up the candies and wrap them up into clear packaging to look like real hard candies. I repurposed plastic cover from a paper stack, but you can also use the clear envelopes or other gift packaging. I also added silver chord and punched the bottom of the card.

Supplies :

• Stamps: Craftsmart candy stamp from Michaels, SU Best Yet
• Paper: GinaK white, chipboard
• Ink: SU Real Red, Versamark and silver EP
• Accessories: SU silver chord,  plastic packaging
• Tools: Martha Stewart scallop with 2 dots punch

~Olgy

Lulu Loves Poppies and Self Control

For those of you who are just interested in seeing the card for the "Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words" (no sentiments) Bellatastic Tuesday challenge, here is my Lulu Loves Poppies. The sketch is from the weekly MFT106 challenge, but I don't have enough MFT stamps yet that would work well with sketch so instead of fussing with something for a long time to try and make it work, I combined the two challenges. Leaving off sentiments usually isn't a problem for me, I often do that anyway and then I add on an appropriate one when  I'm ready to give the card. It's and old tip I got from someone and I love it because even when my card stash is low I can usually find a card that fits a particular occasion.

For those of you still reading, I have another side story to share about this card. You already know I'm a pattern paper addict, I've mentioned it before. Well right after I bought my Lulu Loves Poppies stamp, while it was still in the mail on its way to me, I was walking through Joann's on a mission to buy a new cutting blade and NOTHING else when I noticed a Heidi Grace Tweet Memories paper stack full of different poppies papers. Ok, I may have taken a slight detour down the stamp isle, but I justified it as being thorough in my search. I was standing there looking at this adorable paper stack, dual sided, with some glittery pages, great colors and a good mix of small and bold patterns and all I could think about is how perfectly it'll coordinate with my future stamp. Never mind that I told myself that I'm only buying one thing that day. Never mind that just that week I was going though my paper storage frustrated that I was out of room and telling myself that I absolutely have to use use some of my existing stash before I can buy any new prints. I decided I had to make an exception because the find was such an incredible coincidence and to top it off the paper was marked 40% off. I mean it just doesn't get better than that.  I grabbed the paper, happy and a little ashamed about my lack of self control at the same time and now, 2 months later it's finally made its way to a project. Please don't judge, at least I kept myself from buying multiples... How about you, what things do you find hard to resist be it paper crafting related or otherwise? I'd love to see your comments.

Supplies  :

• Stamps:Stamping Bella Lulu Loves Poppies
• Paper: SU basic black, Heidi Grace Tweet Memories collection
• Ink:Memento tuxedo black, SU Summer Sun, Copics: R27, R29, R59, RV21, E51, E53, G02, C-1
• Accessories: Making Memories ribbon tag, Glossy Accents
• Tools: Nestabilities oval die, Marta Stewart Arch Lattice punch

~Olgy