Masculine Birthday Color Challenge

Good morning and Happy New Year! I hope you are all safe and well as the old year passes and the new year begins. Today's card is a nice masculine card, as I was in need of a masculine birthday card and it meets the color challenge over at The Shabby Tea Room. Kraft, black and cream or white is the color challenge and it was just perfect for this card!

The clock background paper is an oldie from Graphic 45. I used the Holiday Photo Finishers and Birthday Basics both from PTI. The stamp frame die cut is from MFT. I added the sequins for a finishing touch. Thanks so much for visiting! Blessings~ Birgit

A Spring Card for a Sketch Challenge

Hello~ just popping in to post one last card for the night. This one is for a sketch challenge over at Karen's blog.

This card uses Inspired by the Front Porch ~ Spring stamp set from MFT Stamps. I lightly colored the apple blossoms with my copics. The scalloped oval is from Spellbinders and the lace ribbon is from RRR. It was refreshing working with spring colors again! Thanks for visiting. Blessings~ Birgit

Playing with MFT Plaid Background Builder

Hello and happy last Monday of 2013! Now that Christmas is over and the house is cleaned and put back in order, I've been having fun in my craft room playing with some new stamp sets that I got. One of the sets is the Plaid Background Builder set from My Favorite Things. Quite often, I can't find just the right background paper to use that will coordinate with my inks that I'm stamping with so this is the perfect background set for that! Now, I will always have the right colors to match with my projects. I'm still working on technique here, as I have a hard time lining things up straight with my poor eyesight but here's a couple of cards that I made using this set.

On this card I used PTI flower images and sentiment. The wonderful plaid is made using of course, MFT Plaid Background Builder set. I recently saw on Nichole Heady's blog how Melissa Phillips did a two toned flower technique and thought I'd give it a try.

On this next card I used the MFT Plaid Background Builder to create yet, another lovely plaid background. The flowers are one of the Flower Fusion sets from PTI. The little booties are from Sweet N' Sassy Stamps and I popped them up using dimensional dots. I've really been enjoying this new set! Thanks so much for visiting! Blessings to you for a healthy and Happy New Year! ~ Birgit

Up-cycled Greetings ~ Challenge

Good Monday morning to all! Just thought I'd share a couple of up-cycled greetings that I'd like to enter into the challenge over at the Shabby Tea Room. I started making up-cycled greetings a few months ago when I won a box lot of paper ephemera at auction. There were lots of old paper documents and some lovely old greeting cards with great graphics and I wanted to re-use them to make new cards so people could enjoy them again. You can see some that I created previously on this post HERE.

On this particular card, I used an old map for the background and the Certificate of Registration was found in the box lot. The antique car image is a printable image that I found online. The banner is done using Papertrey Ink stamps. The next card uses a page of old book print and the image was cut from an old greeting card.

I added some old lace to the side and some punched flowers and leaves. The banner at the bottom is also done using PTI stamps. Thanks so much for visiting! Blessings to you~ Birgit

Christmas Card with Animals

Here's another card I made for the challenge over at Always Playing with Paper. This time I chose adorable little penguins.

The penguins are an old Quickutz die and the Merry Christmas die is from MFT. The stamped images are from PTI. Thanks for looking! Blessings ~ Birgit

Creating with Animals

Good morning fellow paper crafters. I'm joining in on the fun at Always Playing with Paper and have made a Christmas card with an animal on it. I love birds! Watching them, feeding them and enjoy seeing their tiny little footprints in the snow on my front porch in the winter. And since I live in Maine, a chickadee is the bird for me! Here's my card for the challenge.

As you can see I left space on the bottom for my sentiment. Since my Christmas cards are all sent out, I think this one will be a Christmas "Thank You" card. The chickadee image is from Sweet N' Sassy stamps That I colored with my copics. Thanks for visiting. Blessings to you and your family this Christmas season! ~ Birgit

Make it With Mittens

This weeks Merry Monday challenge over at Always Playing with Paper was to "Make it with mittens". I don't have any mitten stamps in my ever growing stash of Christmas stamps. (Guess I need to add some to my wish list for next year.) Thankfully, I remembered I had some old die's from Quickutz, in which there is a mitten!! Here's the card I made for this challenge.

This card uses lots of different stamp sets from My Favorite Things, Craft's Meow and Papertrey Ink. The leaf and pine punches are from Martha Stewart. Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Fusion Card Challenge

Hello fellow paper crafting friends. I just recently discovered the Fusion Card Challenge blog through Always Playing with Paper. The image they chose for this challenge really spoke to me.

I see the obvious white and red but also the natural tones in the chair and pile of wood. I love anything Kraft so here's a card that's perfect for this challenge.

I chose to let the Kraft be the dominant color using red as my main accent and white as a subtle accent. Hope you like it. Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

TAGS, tags and More TaGS

I've been working on making tags for our gifts this year. Each year I wrap and decorate our gifts using a theme. This years theme is using red or kraft colored wrapping paper and then embellishing them with red or aqua ribbon or jute string and tags done in kraft, aqua and red. I really enjoyed making these once my creative juices started flowing. I used lots of different die cuts to create this wonderful set of Christmas tags.

I wanted them simple to mass produce, as I made multiples of each style. Here's a close up of each tag.

This one with the gingerbread man in the cup is one of my favorites!

Each tag is stamped on the back with my "TO" "FROM" stamps so I can personalize them. I used stamps and dies from Papertrey Ink, My Favorite Things and Quickutz to create these tags. Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Really Reasonable Ribbon "BINGO" Challenge

Hello friends! Here's a card I made for the challenge over at Really Reasonable Ribbon. They have this cool BINGO challenge going on where you can choose three elements from their BINGO card to create a card.

Here's my card

It meets the challenge using a "Button, Image or Text and Polka Dots". Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Crafty Secrets and Really Reasonable Ribbon

Ok, so I forgot I had one more card to make for the entry over at Crafty Secrets. I'm also entering this card into the challenge over at Really Reasonable Ribbon as this meets their "BINGO" requirement for using "White, Bakers Twine and a button".

I thought the sentiment from Papertrey Ink was perfect for this darling image from Crafty Secrets. Afterall, it's got to take some "Holiday Magic" to allow dogs to sled and ski like they are. And, pay no attention to the horrible bow!! I can't make a decent bow to save my life. Anyway, it's the thought that counts, right? Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Crafty Secrets

Hello crafting friends! Here's my last card for the challenge over at Crafty Secrets.

Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Crafty Secrets Challenge

Hello again! Here's another entry for the challenge over at Crafty Secrets.

Isn't this snow couple adorable! I added some burlap underneath to add texture and some punched leaves and rolled flowers. Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Crafty Secrets

Hello paper crafters! Here's a card I made for the challenge at Crafty Secrets. I do love all their yummy, vintage images and just couldn't resist making a couple of cards for their challenge. Here's my first card

This image makes me think of when I was little and my sister and I would sit at the top of the stairs (when we were supposed to be in bed) on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa to arrive. We would fall asleep at the top of the stairs waiting and never did catch a glimpse of that jolly ole' elf. Ah well, some things are better believed and not seen. Thanks for visiting! Blessings~ Birgit

Chalkboard Technique

Hello crafting friends! Here's another card I made for the challenge over at Always Playing with Paper. Their challenge this week was to make a card using the chalkboard technique. Here's my card for this challenge.

I know it's a Valentine's card but I forgot to take a picture of the Christmas card I made and they're already in the mail so I thought I'd enter this one. It could still count as a Christmas entry couldn't it, since Christmas is all about God's love for us and giving us the most perfect gift ever!! Anyway, thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Papercraft Star: Challenge 169

Hello fellow paper crafters! I've been away for quite some time and am now able to participate in some recent challenges again. This card was for a challenge over at Papercraft Star. This is my first time entering one of their challenges as I just recently discovered their wonderful site. I love their challenges because the pictures they use for the challenges are so "me"!
I instantly fell in love with the image for this challenge. Here's the challenge image.

AWESOME, right?

Here's my card

I used SU! Lovely as a Tree. The sleigh is an oldie from Cornish Heritage Farms and the sentiment is from MFT. I used the masking technique for making the snow drifts using distress inks and added some stickles to the sleigh, which I fussy cut. The pine sprigs were punched using a Martha Stewart punch and the flowers are from Prima, I simply added some white pearl beads in the center. Thanks for looking! Have a great day! Blessings~ Birgit

Merry Monday Christmas Card Club

I'll be so ready to send my Christmas cards out early this year, thanks to the Merry Monday Christmas Card Club challenge over at Always Playing with Paper. This weeks challenge was to make a card with a snowman and I just love all the happy little snowman images that can be found. I used a really old snowman image from Primitive Blessings. I don't even know if they produce stamps anymore but their sets are some that I will hold on to for all my stamping years. They're that cute!! Anyway, here's my card for the challenge.

The background image was stamped using snowflakes from Papertrey Ink and the sentiment is from PTI as well. Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

My Favorite Things Weekly Sketch challenge #143

Today's card was made for the weekly sketch challenge over at the My Favorite Things blog.

I used my new Timeless stamp set and dies, which are quickly becoming my fast favorites. They can be used with almost any card style! The bird is from Easter Elements and I also used their lattice fence die cut. The banner is from Simon Says.
Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Always Playing with Paper Challenge

Here's the next challenge from Always Playing with Paper. I really liked this color combination a lot!!

Here's the card I made using these challenge colors:

Thanks for visiting! Blessings~ Birgit

Merry Monday #74 challenge

So this is my second week joining in on the Merry Monday challenge with the folks at Always Playing with Paper. If you haven't been to their blog yet, you really must go and see all the incredible talent they've got going on over there! In the meantime, while your here, take a look at the card I created for this challenge using only GREEN, WHITE and wood.

I knew I wanted my card to have a crisp, clean look with white as my focal color. I used the Spellbinders "Poinsettia" dies and embossed the background with a wood design by cuttlebug. I added just a hint of sparkle in the center of each poinsettia using stickles.

The sentiment is from PaperTrey Ink. I double stamped the sentiment first in a matching green and then again with black, stamped off once. I wanted it to have a shadowy look to it. Thanks for looking. Blessings to you~ Birgit

ADORE ~ Baby Girl

Here is my card entry for the Baby Girl challenge over at A.R.T. I enjoyed this challenge because, even though there are no baby girls to be expected in our circle of family or friends, it was fun playing with pink!

Thanks for visiting. Blessings~ Birgit

Crafty Secrets Linky Party

The crafty gals over at Crafty Secrets blog are having their monthly linky challenge, where you have to create something using one of their products. Here is a card I made using one of their freebies they offered during the summer.

I instantly fell in love with the cheerful image and because the image was large, I didn't have to add too much else to make a pretty little card with a lovely sentiment. Thanks Crafty Secrets for always offering such beautiful images! Thanks for visiting. Blessings~ Birgit

Always Playing With Paper Challenge

Just recently while surfing the net, I discovered the blog Always Playing with Paper home of the Merry Monday challenge. What a great way to get a head start on making my Christmas cards for this year! This weeks challenge was to use GREEN, RED and KRAFT and your choice of twine, ribbon or burlap. Here's the card I created for this challenge>

The Christmas ornaments are from My Favorite Things and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. It feels good to have begun my Merry Christmas Card making! Thanks for visiting. Blessings~ Birgit

RRR Back to School with Ribbon Challenge

This is another card I made for the Really Reasonable Ribbon challenge. I just had to make another card for my other nieces and nephew as they start school as well. Here's my card for the challenge.

As you can see on this one, I didn't forget to take the picture of the three bookmarks that slip out of the little pocket I created on the front using torn scrapbook paper. (See the post below for the referred to project). They'll all have a bookmark to keep their place in whatever book they're reading. I used various ribbons I had on hand to add to the bookmarks as well as the little sentiment tag. Thanks for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Really Reasonable Ribbon Back To School and Ribbon Challenge

So it's been a while since I've been able to participate in any challenges lately. Life has a way of taking over and has left me with little time to create. I was happy that I could join in on the challenge over at Really Reasonable Ribbon. Their challenge this month was aptly a "Back to School" challenge with of course the addition of ribbon, twine or lace of some sort. Here's my entry for the challenge.

For this card, I started with an old flashcard, library card and some other "school" things I could find. The ribbons and such are a ruler ribbon, black plaid ribbon and the green pom pom ribbon from RRR. I also added a twine bow to the underside of the button that was also from RRR. I forgot to take a picture of the library card that slides out of the pocket and says "YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!". I will be sending this card off to my niece and nephews as they start school for the year. Thanks for visiting! Blessings~ Birgit

Waiting to Grow

It's time for a new challenge over at the A.R.T. blog and the theme is "SCHOOL". Since my kids are all grown up and out of the house, and no grandchildren as yet, I wasn't sure I was going to join in on this challenge. HOWEVER.... while browsing the internet, I came across this adorable image of a little boy wanting to grow big muscles. Now, this may not be close enough to a school theme but my take is that he is learning about hopes and dreams and learning to be patient in the process.

This reminded me so much of my own son, who is in his last year of college with a major in exercise science. He too, has been learning about diet, nutrition and to count calories, while building the toned body that he would like to have (to be the image of someone who is successful in nutrition) so he can help others. He is in excellent health and very muscular, however he is not as BIG as he'd like to be. Sometimes I have to remind him that he looks great and is in very good physical health. He doesn't need to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. So, that being said, here's my card for the A.R.T. challenge.

You must click on the image to see it larger to appreciate the adorable little boy in the image! And here is the inside.

I mentioned that I found the image online and it was on Pinterest. I don't know where it was originally pinned from because I don't know how to find the source but it is in my "Printables" on Pinterest if you're interested. Thanks so much for visiting! Blessings~ Birgit

Roosters Gone Postal

This lovely farmyard style Rooster card meets two challenges today! Woohoo! The folks at Really Reasonable Ribbon are having a challenge to make a card using things with wings and ribbon. Also, A.R.T. is hosting their color challenge this week.
I found this great rooster image at Ephemera's Vintage Garden and loved how it had all the colors for the color challenge.
Here's the color challenge:

Here's my card:

For the colors, I used Dark Chocolate, Limeade Ice, Blueberry Sky, Pure Poppy and Spring Rain, from Papertrey Ink. The stamps I used were Postmarks from PTI and Vintage Postcard from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I also used the polka dot stencil from Heidi Swapp on the background.
Here's some close ups of the ribbons and fibers I used.

TWINE

A strip of old measuring tape

and some brown checked ribbon. Thanks for visiting! Blessings~ Birgit