Christmas in June

The current challenge at Daring Cardmakers is Christmas in June. Not really a tough one for me, because I could make Christmas cards all year long and never get sick of them. I'm still trying to stick with quick, simple cards, and this one was very fast and easy. This time, I thought I'd depart from traditional holiday colors, so I used only black, blue, and white, plus a touch of gold in the ribbon. The background is embossed with the Cuttlebug, and the ornament is stamped with a 2-step stamp. Stamps, cardstock, and ink from Stampin' Up!.

Quick Cards - Daring Cardmakers

The challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week is Quick Cards - cards with a theme of our own choosing, but that take 30 minutes or less to make. Most of my cards are made quickly, so for me this was mainly a matter of deciding which one to show you today. For the card pictured here, I used a 3-stamp set for the basket, and since it's a fairly loosely designed image, there was no need to spend time lining everything up perfectly. For the background I repeatedly stamped a vine across the cardstock - simple! The ribbon is threaded through two 1/4" holes. This card came together in only 5-10 minutes. All stamps, ink, and cardstock are from Stampin' Up!.

Daring Cardmakers - Quoted by......

At Daring Cardmakers this week, Jane has dared us to use a quote on our cards. The quote that I've included here is from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year."

Good advice, I think! All stamps, ink, and cardstock from Stampin' Up!.

Hot and Spicy - Daring Cardmakers

Friday's challenge at Daring Cardmakers is hot & spicy. I chose to interpret the prompt with spicy colors. Above, stamps are from a very old Stampin' Up! set. Background paper is from K & Company.

Butterflies - Daring Cardmakers

The current challenge at Daring Cardmakers is butterflies. Here, I've used a 2-step stamp for the butterfly. A stamp positioner, like the stamp-a-ma-jig, makes using a 2-step stamp so easy and accurate. I recently rediscovered my stamp-a-ma-jig after finding the transparent sheet that comes with it, which had become lost in my last move. I had forgotten how a 2-step stamp adds just the right amount of complexity and additional color to an otherwise simple design.

Daring Cardmakers - Shrink to Fit

It's been a while since I participated in a creative challenge, but I managed to get a few cards made last night. Here's my card for Daring Cardmakers, where this week's challenge, set by Kathy, is as follows:

"You are allowed to cover no more than a 5x5cms area of your card with paper or embellishment - the rest of the card must be left plain. How you use those valuable cms is up to you. So you may choose to split up those cms to use around your card, or use them in a block or a line. It might help to cut a few 5x5cm squares then cut those up to work out good ways of using your allotment. Making your whole card a miniscule 5x5cms is NOT an option!! Lets have no cheating (I know what you lot are like.....),but because I'm feeling generous, I'm going to let you add a SIMPLE greeting as extra to your 5x5 allowance! :-)"

This was a tough challenge for me, as I'm still itching to do something to that yellow background, but sometimes simplicity is a good thing.

DCM - I Am Woman

The current challenge at Daring Cardmakers is to make a card that includes a feminine image, without using Tildas, Sugar Nellies, or Bellas. Not a problem here, because I don't own any of these stamps (not because I don't want them, I just don't have them!). For this card, I've used a retired Stampin' Up! stamp, SU! ink and cardstock, and a bit of silver metallic paper, which unfortunately doesn't look silver here.

Now, let me see where I might be able to get a couple of Bellas......

Daring Cardmakers - Mum's Recipe

This week's little extra at Daring Cardmakers challenges us to follow a recipe for our cards -- 2 buttons, 1 ribbon, and a 'spoonful' of flowers. Here, I've kept it simple, with stamps and supplies from Stampin' Up! and buttons from my button bag. I do appreciate challenges that allow me to make spring-themed cards -- it's snowing here again and I really need to see some flowers popping out of the ground!

DCM - Oh So Juicy!

The mid-week dare over at Daring Cardmakers is to create a card in citrus colors. Because I like the combination of orange and pink, I've added berry colors to the mix as well. That yellow ribbon is actually lime-green in real life. Here, I've used the Traffic Jam embossing folder (Cuttlebug), paper from The Paper Studio, cardstock and stamps from SU!, and a flower bead from my stash.

DCM - Love & Friendship

The current challenge at Daring Cardmakers is to create a Love/Friendship card, preferably using Stampin' Up! products. Here, I've embossed a retired SU! stamp in White Stampin' Emboss Powder with Versamark ink. I've also used Tempting Turquoise cardstock from SU!, Positively Pink cardstock (which I believe is discontinued), and patterned paper from My Mind's Eye.

Daring Cardmakers - Love

The mid-week dare at Daring Cardmakers is to use both black and red ribbon on a romantic card. For my card, I used the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls folder for the background, and although you can't really see it in this photo, the small heart (Stampin' Up!) is embossed in silver.

Daring Cardmakers - Paper Pesto Template

The current challenge at Daring Cardmakers is to create a card using a template provided by Paper Pesto, a scrapbooking and specialty paper company in New Zealand. Their products are beautiful, but I'm afraid to know what it costs to ship them to the United States.

For my card, I've used papers by K & Company and cardstock from Stampin' Up!.

Daring Cardmakers - Red & White

This week's dare over at Daring Cardmakers is Red & White. After a 4-month absence, I was happy to jump back in with something that was fairly easy for me to pull off!

Coincidentally, yesterday was Wear Red Day, part of the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women movement. February is also American Heart Month here in the US. You can get more information about Go Red for Women here.

Daring Cardmakers - Who's Pushing Your Buttons?

The challenge this week at Daring Cardmakers is from Keryn:

"I know you've all got buttons stashed away somewhere, whether they've been purchased at a cardmaking store or you thriftily snipped them off DH's old shirt. I'd like you to find those buttons and use them somewhere on a card. They can be real buttons, craft shop buttons, die cut buttons, faux buttons or another type of button, surprise us all."

It usually takes me hours, or even days, to come up with an idea for a DCM challenge, so I haven't participated in a couple of weeks, but this time I knew exactly what I wanted to do. This card includes a stamped background (retired SU! Filigree stamp), a scrap of mulberry paper, Girlfriends Damask paper from DaisyD, and a flower button.

Daring Cardmakers - All Checked Out

The challenge this week over at Daring Cardmakers is as follows:

"Its my turn (Jane) to dare this week. Okay -are you ready? For my dare you can choose any theme for the card BUT it must incorporate 'Checks', whether it be gingham paper or ribbon or squares, any thing really as long as it incorporates some kind of shape with 4 equal sides....... so go on- I dare you to think outside the square/step out of the box ..............easy as, eh ?!!"

I've had this tiny checked frame rubber stamp forever, and had never used it, so this dare motivated me to take it out of the box. Since I still haven't managed to get a Cuttlebug, I embossed the butterflies by hand, snipped some petals off a bunch of flowers I had in the closet (I knew they'd come in handy eventually!), and added my usual eyelet. Simple and sweet!

Daring Cardmakers - Pockets of Fun

The new dare over at Daring Cardmakers is as follows:

"I’d like to see lots and lots of pockets. Pockets full of posies, Brass in Pocket (love the Pretenders).Pockets on clothes, Pockets from clothes, Library Pocket, Pockets of this and Pockets of that."

I love to make pocket cards (maybe it has something to do with the requirement that every outfit I wear has at least one pocket), so I've done two cards for this dare.

I was feeling the urge to use the hammer again, so the first card is held together with eyelets and has a "Happy Birthday" greeting tucked inside.

On the second card I used some tiny punch-out tags (just love little stuff like that!), and made a pocket for a thankful heart.

Daring Cardmakers - Faking It!

The mid-week dare at Daring Cardmakers is as follows:

"For our Little Extra challenge this week, we'd like you to 'Go Faux it'. Yes, all we want you to do this week is to use something fake on your cards. For instance you could make fake ribbon, fake brads or fake chipboard - we think you talented folk can come up with lots more 'let's pretend' ideas so we can't wait to see your ideas."

I had made the faux stone background ages ago, before alcohol inks became widely available, and never came up with a use for it, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity. My other faux elements are the fake embossed metal and the fake copper patina charm, which is made of shrink plastic colored with Pearl Ex powders and metallic ink.

Daring Cardmakers - The Haberdashery Department

The dare this week at Daring Cardmakers:

"Your card can be any theme you like, just as long as it's got something you'd find in a Haberdashery Department on it."

Well, here in the southern U.S., "haberdashery" isn't something you hear very often, so I had to think about it for a moment. Back in the day, we bought supplies like this at the "dry goods store" in our small town, and now we just refer to such departments as the fabric or notions department.

I'm still in the middle of my Harry Potter re-readathon, which I must complete in the next few days, so I felt compelled to make this card as quickly as possible (my excuse for submitting such a basic card!). I'm also trying to use up some of my small paper and cardstock scraps, so that's what I did here. My haberdashery items are the snaps and the ribbon. I love using my snapsetter (although I rarely set them in clothing) -- it's an excuse to bring out the hammer and pound away!

Daring Cardmakers - Text Message

Today's dare over at Daring Cardmakers is to incorporate a portion of text into our cards. So, I dug out this piece of newsprint from the food section of the newspaper, that I had started painting for a collage months ago. I was going for a "kitchen towel" look with the background paper, and since I made Orange Blossom Muffins last night, I still had citrus on my mind. Ha, I also made lasagna last night, so you're lucky I didn't go that direction for my card!

Daring Cardmakers - Cartoon Crazy

Here's my shamefully simple offering for the mid-week dare at Daring Cardmakers - Cartoon Crazy. Inspired by The Flintstones, "yabba dabba doo" background printed on my laser printer (gotta love Photoshop!), and a Stampin' Up! background stamp.

And now I'm off to re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!