Tag Archives: gender-neutral

Moose Day

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I created this card for my husband’s birthday last month.

For some reason moose is his favorite word lately. So that is why I chose this image.

The balloon is created using the pumpkin from a recent Paper Smooches set (a trick I learned from the awesome DT).

Thanks for taking a peek!

It’s Your Day
Stamps: Chubby Chum Pals, Spookalicious, Party Posse – sentiment (Paper Smooches);
Colors: Kraft, Rustic Cream, White (PTI), Black (Memento); scrap blue;
Other: markers (Copic); Twine (PaperSmooches); Wood Grain Impression Plate, hill die (PTI); Minuet pattern paper (Memory Box);

Wet Leaves

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This is another card I created for mom’s August camp. This time my assignment was a masculine card using Gently Falling.

This time I started with a technique – wet paper watercoloring. I love this technique and use it a lot.

I also recently discovered a great color combo that uses the new StampinUp color – Summer Starfruit. When I first saw this color I was very intimidated, but now I am loving it!

I kept the sentiment/embellishments very simple because I wanted the focus on the technique background.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Birthday
All supplies StampinUp unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Gently Falling, Teeny Tiny Wishes;
Colors: Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Summer Starfruit, Crumb Cake;
Other: Watercolor paper, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Linen Thread;

Boldly Back 2 School

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I was away from my stamps for two weeks (eek!). Now that I’m back, I’m trying to get back into the groove of playing the challenges – and also trying to catch up with some that I missed.

This card is for this week’s Retro Sketch (rs21).

While I was searching through my index to pick a stamp set to use, I came up with the idea to do a back to school card using Smarty Pants (by Paper Smooches). I love this set – this little dude is so fun!

Since I was using some PS stamps – I checked on the challenges I missed while I was gone and found a Cool Shades color challenge which fit perfectly!

In the color challenge graphic – I wasn’t too sure if that was a yellow or a yellow/green swatch – so I picked Stampin’Up’s new Starfruit color because I have the same problem with that!

I was looking for some “school” pattern paper when I remembered I could use Papertrey’s Guidelines paper for my card base – love the subtle grid as a background for this card!

The sentiment is a combination of sentiment and alphabet sets.

The final touch was to add the string to the tag. I had nothing that was that yellow/green color. So I took white baker’s twine and colored it with the marker – very easy!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Go Boldly
Stamps: Smarty Pants, Space Cadet, He Said She Said, Alphadot (Paper Smooches);
Colors: White, Spring Rain (PTI); Starfruit (SU);
Other: Prestwick DSP for shirt paper piecing (retired SU); markers (Copic & SU); Tag die, Guidelines paper (PTI);

FYI – Pumpkin Patch

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It is time for another For Your Inspiration challenge. Check out the latest challenge -> FYI34.

This photo is so cool! It makes me think I found where the faeries live! I love how the back is lit up as well as the front (well enough in the front so there aren’t silhouettes).

The large orange bush/tree from the inspiration photo is where my card started. Large orange “circle” made me think pumpkin. The rest of the card just worked with additional colors from the inspiration photo.

I kept the card base light in color because the inspiration photo is full of light in the background.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Debbie
Debby
Michelle
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Steph
Sylvia
Vicki

I hope you join us at For Your Inspiration!

A Little About the Challenge: The For Your Inspiration challenge is posted the first and third Thursday of every month; each challenge is open for two weeks. To play, use the photo to inspire you and create a card – very simple! Make sure you tell us in your blog post how you were inspired!

Happy Halloween
All supplies StampinUp unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Jack of All Trades, Delightful Dozen;
Colors: So Saffron, Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Soft Suede;
Other: Garden button, Expresso Baker’s Twine, Woodgrain embossing folder;

To My Core

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I love playing the Paper Smooches Sparks challenges! This week’s trend watch challenge was “Food Fresh” (see it here).

I chose to use the apple image from Falling for You. My hubby will be on a business trip soon, so this will get tucked into his suitcase.

When creating this card, I loved the lines of the shopping cart (on the image that was used to introduce the challenge) – they reminded me of the little heart image in the same set. The lines also made me think to use the Picnic Plaid impression plate on the background.

I paper pieced the apple – and chose a cream colored natural-fiber paper for the core. I carried over that same paper for the sentiment die cut (because why can’t I use white and cream together??). I love that the naturals paper has fibers that remind me of a real apple (no apple core is a stark flat color).

I love this card so much, I’m going to enter it into the Paper Smooches guest designer search!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Love You to My Core
Stamps: Falling for You (Paper Smooches);
Colors: White, Rustic Cream, Poppy (PTI); Black (Memento);
Other: Chartreuse Pattern Paper (PTI); Polka Dot Greetings die (MFT); Picnic Plaid impression plate (PTI); brown marker (Copic);

Independence Day

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With all the recent fires here in Colorado, we did some donating to help support the fire companies involved. I, of course, couldn’t just send a check – I needed a card.

I came up with this quick and easy design. And liked it so much I made extras.

The extras will be used by my kids to send to our troops. Today we’ll be thinking of all those things we can do because of our freedoms.

FYI – these card will be getting to the troops via Operation Write Home.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Thank You for Your Service
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Military Stars, Military Hero;
Colors: Enchanted Evening, White, Pure Poppy;
Other: Limitless Layers Circle die, Star die;

So Sorry

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By a stroke of luck I was able to step in as a guest designer for the Clean And Simple (CAS) challenge on Splitcoast. This week’s challenge (cas177) is a color challenge: Navy, Olive, and White.

As I was perusing my stamp index, the new feather set by StampinUp caught my eye – and I thought worked well with the color challenge. My theme was chosen because I needed a card for a friend who recently lost an elderly dog.

I’m not sure peacock feather really says bereavement, but I do think the “feel” of this card works.

When inking the sentiment, I knew the “y” would hang down and you wouldn’t be able to read the rest (and I didn’t want to change the layout or color placement). So I stamped the second part of the sentiment first and masked it off. Then I stamped the So Sorry in full strength and removed the mask. Next, I reinked the So Sorry (actually just the “ry” at the end), but stamped off – and used a stamp positioner to stamp the sentiment again. Finally, I went back over the line between dark and light with a blender pen to help smooth it to a better gradient.

And one final note. The pattern paper I chose has a distinct pattern to it. I trimmed a bit to use on the card, but when I positioned it, the pattern felt to happy. I turned the paper in the opposite direction (hiding more of the “distinct pattern”) and it looked more random and didn’t detract from the card. I will definitely try turning patterns around if things don’t feel right again – just to see…you never know!

Thanks for stopping by!

So Sorry
All supplies StampinUp unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Fine Feathers, So Sorry;
Colors: Naturals White, Midnight Muse, Old Olive;
Other: Comfort Cafe DSP;

Like Totally Awesome

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My brother’s birthday is tomorrow. I’m hoping he sees the humor in receiving a neon 80s card – at least the sentiment is right up his alley.

I had fun creating this card. Well, if you don’t count having it 90% done and then dropping an inked stamp on it and having to start all over again *sigh*. I’ve always been partial to neon colors (maybe from too much Rainbow Brite as a kid, lol).

The card is one layer (yay!) and the sentiments are cut-out and popped-up (that doesn’t count as a layer to me). I honestly have no idea why I did my placement in the bottom corner, but I like it – centering would have ruined it….just wish I knew why!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Hope Your Day is Kick Ass
Stamps: So 80s (Wplus9);
Colors: White (PTI); Black (Memento); Only Orange, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise (SU);

Happy Father’s Day

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My hubby loves to play the lottery. When I asked him what he wanted on his father’s day card, he said the winning numbers. I went out to random.org and picked numbers to fill in the spinner openings. Now he can have fun while picking the 6 he needs 🙂

Thanks for taking a peek!

You’re a Winner
Stamps: Game Night (MFT);
Colors: Blueberry, Kraft, True Black, White, Enchanted Evening, New Leaf (PTI);
Other: Game Night spinner die, Banner Day die (MFT); toothpicks; Polka Dot impression plate (PTI); Dotti Biscotti pattern paper (PTI); black brad; lots of dimensionals;

Hats off to the Grad

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We had a nephew graduate high school this year. I used the school colors (green, white, and a bit of red) along with their mascot (an apple) to create this card.

The very first Papertrey Ink Make-it-Monday video (mim1) was about creating sentiment collages and it has been on my to-try list ever since. I even pinned a card by Betsy Veldman where she did a collage too. Now, I’m finally trying it myself!

It was fun picking the sentiments – and I could have made many more cards with all the options I came up with. The hardest bit was knowing when to stop with the sentiments – and what color to do them in. In the end, I kept it simple with the amount of sentiments, and kept the red to a minimum because it always gets focus.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Congrats
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: For the Graduate, Congrats All Ways, All Star Team, Teacher’s Apple, School Time Additions (the year), Ad Sense, Happy Trails (the red swirl under the hat);
Colors: White, Black, Poppy, Chartreuse;