In the Works...

Mother Lode of Stamping Goodies!

The smART News page tells you how to enter, and this is where you do it... Wonder who will win???

Month of May

News for the month, and information for the "Mother Lode" Giveaway is located on the smART News page. 

May's Easy-To-Do Card Project -- Tulip Hope using Tulips 'n Such, and Bookmarkables.

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Charmed, I'm Sure...

When Less Is More issued their How Charming challenge, I took pause, and asked myself why it is that I rarely add charms to my cards?  I didn't really come up with a definitive answer, but I think it may have something to do with my charm bin being kept with all my jewelry making supplies... and you know what they say, "Out of sight, out of mind."  

Anyhoo, yesterday I dug out the charm bin, blew the dust off its cover, and selected a small, silver heart to add to Bouquet Kitty from It's a Celebration. You can't really tell from the photo, but the heart actually dangles down from the bouquet, and moves whenever the card does. Quite charming, indeed!  The words were chosen from True Love.  

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Just Dandy

This past Sunday, I noticed the first dandelions of the season... bright, fuzzy-headed, and very yellow!  Technically, of course the dandelion is a weed, but I always see something different --  pudgy, little, dirt-stained fingers thrusting out a BIG, yellow, dandy bouquet, while the giver's proud, little, love-filled voice says, "Here, Mom, I picked these just for you!"  

Indeed, those were precious days, and the memory still brings a smile to my face.  It also supports a notion that weed nothing, the dandelion ought to be the official flower of Mother's Day!  Stamps used on the following tribute card are from Summer Bloomin', and Birdwatching.

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Shades Of Green and Sympathy

Since green is my favorite color, the Less Is More three shades of green challenge put a big smile on my face. Then unexpectedly I needed a sympathy card, and what was to be a joyous make turned a bit more somber... sympathy cards are always difficult for me.  I'd like to share, however, that the family receiving this card are sad, but "celebrating" because Grampa accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior just days before the Lord called him home. Such a blessing for him, for the family, and for all who had been praying for his salvation!  What only days before would have been a final good-bye, was changed to "We'll see you later..."

I would also like to mention that this card is not quite as CAS as I think it should be, but right before I went to stamp the words, an inky smudge of dark pesto made its way onto the white circle and I had to devise a fix...

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Picture Inspiration

It's a "lucky dip" week at Less Is More.  To tell the truth, I have no idea what that means, but the specific challenge was to use this picture and color palette as the inspiration for designing a card. 

I really had no idea what direction I wanted to take, but knew immediately that I wanted to incorporate the daisy stamp from Garden Silhouettes. I was also hoping to use only stamping, so further resolved not to add punches or dies cuts. Well, so much for hope and resolve!  

While I won't divulge why the butterfly ended up lighting on the scene, I will say that butterflies make great cover-ups... 

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April Arrives...

April's Easy-To-Do Card Project -- Pansy Pot using Tulips 'n Such, and Mumsy Daisy.

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Choices...

Awhile ago Less Is More issued a challenge to choose any three of their previous challenges, and incorporate them into a single card...Well, this week they decided to repeat that same challenge... Of course, this time the pool of choices is bigger. My card combines three challenges not previously entered:

Week 3 - Spring Theme - I figure my card qualifies for this in two ways... the pink and green color scheme, and the "bloomin'" flowers.

Week 56 - Don't Scrap It - The saying panel for this card was actually a piece salvaged from a OWC that I dropped on an ink pad. I separated the front from the back, and was about to discard the ruined side when I realized that I could actually trim away the saying, and save for use on another card... this one!

Week 57 - Punches or Die Cuts - Two flower punches were used to layer accents over the stamped leaves.

The stamps used are from the newer Garden Silhouettes, and the older Friendly Wishes.

Mask It

Back in April 2009, Craft Stamper magazine published a couple of single layer cards which showcased a circular, backgroud "panel" created via mortise masking. They immediately caught my eye, and left a lasting impression.  So much so, that I have been drawn to anything similar ever since.  Now wouldn't you think I'd give this a go myself???  Well, the answer is, "No," and the reason?  Because more often than not, I manage to get ink under the mask, and make a real mess...

Enter this week's Less Is More challenge for masking... a perfect opportunity for me to cross my fingers, hold my breath, and take another stab at this look I love.  Since I was also in need a birthday card, I proceeded to turn a 4.25" x 4.25" piece of copy paper into a mask using a circle die, grabbed the "Happy Birthday" sentiment from Birdwatching, and a flower image from Garden Silhouettes, and... tah dah!  I am pleased to announce that as difficult as it was to stamp with crossed fingers, and no oxygen, this time I did not mess up!  (Happy, happy!)

P.S. smARTworks has a couple of nice masking tutorials -- Masking 101 (by Yours Truly), and  Masking-Beyond the Basics (by Dina Kowal), so you might want to take a peek...

Bearing Fruit

I'm back!  In Maine, that is... but smARTworks is still closed for a few more days (reopening March 19).  Good thing because I'm finding "getting back to the grind" more difficult than expected, but then again, I hadn't anticipated that the switch to DST (daylight saving time) would coincide with my return, and that event by itself always throws me for a loop... 

Anyway, yes, I had a wonderful time, and I'm both happy and thankful that God allowed me to make the trip. It was all good. Also, for those of you who placed orders during my absence, they have already been filled, and shipped (all via Priority mail), so you should be receiving them within the next couple of days.

Now for a card, or two, or four, made for this week's Less Is More challenge for a CAS, OLC with script.  It was noted at LIM that the script could be any sort of writing, any style, but that it must be in addition to the main sentiment/saying.  I used stamps from Fruitful, and several colors of Memento ink to create the following:

The kraft colored, cherry card was my intended entry, but after it was finished, I started wondering whether the buttons would be considered embellishment, or a second layer??? Didn't want to cheat, so did a re-make -- this time on a white base sans the buttons. Of course, then I just had to see what using the pear would look like... followed by the apple, etc.  Guess you could say that my initial idea bore fruit!