Hunkering Down with Hurricane Ian

Today is the day that Hurricane Ian came knocking at our door.  He stayed away enough so that we didn't have any damage, but it sure is windy and rainy outside!

I spent a good part of the morning cleaning out my craft space and decided to make a card; after all, that neat tidy space needs some activity in it!  When I don't have a specific need for a specific card, I usually check with one or more challenge sites.  Today was no exception.

I really enjoy making my own dsp, so I used Night of Navy, Granny Apple Green, Highland Heather and Blackberry Bliss from Colour INKspiration Challenge #130 on Facebook.  I also used Sketch #489 from CAS Colours & Sketches.  Here is the sketch: 

Quick and Easy Card (three times!)

If you look closely, you will see that these three cards are all the same layout.  It's interesting how different they all can look just by changing the color scheme, the paper, or even by creating your own paper!

Colour INKspiration #118

I decided that I needed to participate in a challenge, so off I went to my bookmarked challenge sites.  I found this one, and it really was a great one! 
But first, here's the backstory for this card.  Last week, someone on a FB group posted a card that she had created using just stamps, ink and paper.  I loved the concept, so I had to jump in and try it for myself.  (Be sure to check back tomorrow to see the other cards I made in addition to this one.)
Colour INKspiration is a Facebook group that posts a photo as well as color combinations that need to be used for the challenge. Here's what this challenge looks like: 

Of course, I didn't have any DSP that contained all of these colors, so I improvised.  I've been on a kick of creating my own DSP, so I used stamps from the Hello Beautiful stamp set for the abstract paper as well as the inside greeting. I stamped off for some of the colors so that they weren't so intense.  I also splattered the ink onto the cardstock to give it more character and finished by running it through the Tasteful Textile embossing folder. The Happy Birthday is from the Special Moments set. I couldn't let the little strip of paper that was trimmed away, so I added it to the inside of the card!
You might want to give it a try to make your own DSP ... you know you are always confused about what to do with some of the additional stamps in your sets!

You make the world a better place

Craig was feeling a bit under the weather earlier this week.  When I pulled into the driveway, I spotted a bag on one of the chairs.  I thought to myself ... gee, I am pretty sure I just threw away everything that didn't belong out there. Upon investigation, I discovered that a friend of ours delivered a bag full of four different types of hot soup on our front porch. 

Since I had a few free minutes this afternoon, I figured it would be a good time to play with the Rainbow of Happiness stamp set and the coordinating Brilliant Rainbow dies.  Of course, I had to include the Sunshine & Rainbows dsp that I got for free during Sale-a-Bration.

I decided to CASE a card from the SAB catalog and copied it almost exact. I did run the greeting banner through the Subtle embossing folder, added some swirled gold thread under the banner and topped it off with some Genial Gems.

Aligning Templates

A few weeks ago, a Stampin' Up! demonstrator that I follow on YouTube posted a video about making more handmade cards.  You can see her video here.

I loved her suggestions, but being the perfectionist that I am, I had to go one step further.  (I also have a tremor that makes crafting difficult at times.)  So, I used my Cricut to create a template for the layout that Dena shared.  Then, I decided to make a few alterations to her design and cut even more templates.

Here are the templates; actually, there's a fourth one but I haven't cut it yet. If you have a Cricut, you can access the templates on Design Space here.  The numbers on each one are the dimensions of the pieces to be cut. I placed the template on top of my card front and adhered the dsp in the openings.

This card was made using her design. I made my own dsp by randomly stamping with my new Lucky You stamp set; the sentiment is from Hello Beautiful. (I see that the top strip is a little bit off from the others.  I always say that in card making there are no mistakes, only opportunities.)

This is one variation that I also created. I used an old pack of dsp and stamped the sentiment from Lucky You.