Make it Monday #276

Hi everyone! Just a quick post for a challenge...

Happy Monday... if that's possible! :) One of things that I do look forward to at the start of each week is PTI's Make it Monday. This week's was fun and introduced me to a technique that I never would have dreamed up: colored pencils on kraft paper. At first when I watched the MIM #276 video from Melissa, I thought, "Aren't the pencils going to fade out on the paper?" But they don't - yay! It's actually a really nice way to make the colors pop against the brown tones of the paper.

So here's my take on this week's challenge:

I really LOVE the "What the Doodle" series from PTI and thought the feather would be a good way to incorporate a Papertrey product into the card. The details on this feather image are so beautifully designed, and it's great for coloring! Hope you like the final design, and have a great week!

Freshly Made Sketches #223

Jumping right in today for a quick post... I'm taking some inspiration from Jennifer McGuire for Freshly Made Sketches #223. I loved her recent post about distress ink lifting!

Here was the FMS sketch:

And here's what I came up with:

The world could use a little more kindness lately... let's remember, no matter our disagreements, to keep being kind to those we know and those unknown who will be affected by our actions.

Enjoy the rest of your Valentines weekend!

 

Materials

Paper - white envelope and cardstock (Hobby Lobby), purple patterned paper

Stamps - Acts of Kindness (Hero Arts), Rustic Wreath (Papertrey Ink), flower woodmount stamp (Hobby Lobby)

Inks - Versafine Onyx Black, Tim Holtz Distress Inks (crushed olive, tumbled glass, dusty concord)

Other - Light blue ribbon (WalMart), white embossing power (gift)

Lasting Hearts Card Drive

Have you heard about the Lasting Hearts Card Drive? Many cardmaking bloggers have highlighted it on their blogs and social media sites. Read more here at Jennifer McGuire's blog.

The loss of a child must bring so much devastation and shock. The future that you envisioned will never been as you once imagined it to be, and a little source of tremendous joy is gone. These families surely could use some love, kindness, support, and hugs.

So I'm joining in this challenge with some cards. It's a small effort, and I'll never know the families who receive them. But I hope that these notes give those suffering a little comfort, and also reassure them that they are not alone. There are people praying and thinking of them, and their lives will once again know joy.

Here are just a few of the cards I'm sending off this week...

If you'd like to participate, donate, purchase a special "prayers" stamp set (with a portion of the profits being donated), or learn more about this card drive, check out this post over at Jennifer McGuire's lovely blog.

Simon Says: Something New #ssswchallenge

Hi everyone! I'm playing along again today with the weekly Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. This week's theme is "Something New" to go along with the New Year. I received some new craft goodies over the holiday season, but I decided to take a different spin on things and use a new sentiment...

I am LOVING the Hero Arts Acts of Kindness stamp set. So many card markers were using this set during the fall, thanks in part to Jennifer McGuire's "Share Handmade Kindness" campaign. I bought the set, and it's quickly become one of my favorites. So many uplifting, positive sentiments are included in this set, and I just think it's a great go-to set for one of those "just because" notes. Here's a picture of the set so you can see the different sentiments included:

Over the holidays, I made some card sets as gifts using this set, but I hadn't yet used that "a bit of kindness to brighten your day" statement. So, it was new to me! The design of that sentiment is so great to fit in so many different spots on a card, and I love that script font - it's my favorite among all the text styles in the set. This card was pretty simple to make...

First, I used a green card base with a small white rectangle cut out of card stock. I started out by pulling out the very ornate star stamp and stamping it different colors along the left side. No rhyme or reason here; I just randomly stamped along the edge. To finish the stamping, I placed the kindness sentiment in the lower right-hand corner.

Now comes the fun part - embellishments. :) I actually went back to the stamp set one last time to use the hearts. I used a larger and smaller heart to highlight around the sentiment. One of the best ways to enforce the kindness theme was with the hearts, so they were a perfect choice. I also pulled out some light pink sequins. I really love the preppy pink/green color combination, so I thought adding a bit more pink here would be a complement to the green card base. Lastly, I added some more pink with the baker's twine along the side of the card. One of the first basic design tips I learned about card design was to repeat a color combination three times, so this twine also made a third time that pink was used on the card.

To finish things off, I adhered the white base to the card. I left the inside blank for someone to use the card as they need it. I've also included a green envelope with the card (not shown in photo). I think one of my signature styles is going to be colored envelopes. They just catch your eye when you get the mail and have a way of standing out! :)

This is one of my new personal favorite cards, and I think I'll be mass-producing it for some future notes! 

Materials 

Stamps: Ornate star on wood stamp (Hobby Lobby), Hero Arts Acts of Kindness stamp set
Clear blocks (Michael's craft stores)
Paper: green cards and envelopes, white card stock (Hobby Lobby)
Baker's twine (Michael's craft stores)
Pink sequins (Studio Calico monthly card subscription - no longer offered)
Ink: Ranger Die Inks (blue tie, lemon twist, blue ribbon, caribbean coast, grape soda, lily pad, pink gumball, wild orchid)