Springtime Basket

| Judy Inukai

It’s 7 degrees this morning, so I’m really longing for Spring. Maybe posting a Springtime card will help. Inspired by Stamping Buddy Bonnie, I checked out the challenge at Just Add Ink and thought their sketch looked like it would be fun to do but wasn’t sure how I wanted to interpret it. While rearranging some things on my work table, I came across this focal piece that I did quite some time ago. The basket and flowers are from Springtime Baskets by Gina K Designs. The dies were Oval Stackers by Cheery Lynn.

The mat was colored with a Copic. The focal piece needed something behind it so I decided on Pattern Paper from Hello Sunshine by Gina K Designs. Then I thought if I could somehow use 2 different patterns, it would qualify for the Simon Says Wednesday challenge. I cut a scrap of green with the largest Fancy Wavy Banner from Lawn Fawn, then stamped the sentiment from Wavy sayings by Lawn Fawn

I stamped and fussy cut one of the daffodils from the same stamp used in the basket for the element on the sentiment banner.

Just Add Ink

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

Striped Birthday Wishes

| Gayle Chrvala
Just Us Girls Challenge Trend Week #522 Stripes

My card for the Just Us Girls Challenge of Stripes features Denami Designs triple stripe stamp which was stamped in versamark and then heat embossed using white embossing powder. I decided to use some extra frames cuts that were on my desk and GKD’s Sunshine & Love StampTV Kit for the flowers and sentiment. A little perfect pearls was added to the larger flowers for some shine. A fun challenge from Just Us Girls….made me think!!

Love is in the Air

| Judy Inukai

I made a batch these cards to send to our Rainbow Girls who are in college – a little love note from home. The heart branch was stamped in Red Velvet. It is from the Birthday Blessings set that was part of the Birthday Essentials kit released by Gina K Designs in January 2015. The sentiment is from Geo Thanks, also by Gina K, released in January 2018. I used an old pack of Valentine patterned card stock by Martha Stewart to punch out the vase, which is an old Marvy punch that I’ve had forever. I had the vases almost all cut when I realized the hearts were upside down. Luckily it’s double sided, and the reverse isn’t specifically Valentine related, so it can be used for another project. I’m having fun with a lot of new stuff, but it’s fun to pull out some of my older stuff to play in the  Retro Rubber Challenge. Their current theme is “Love is the in Air” using Red, White and Pink.

Back On Your Feet

| Gayle Chrvala
Gate Fold Closed–Artful Inkables “Monster Medical” stamp set.
Gate Fold Open -Art Impressions “Catastrophy” by Bonnie Krebs.

A girlfriend has had foot surgery and is non-weight bearing for 6 weeks. This is my card to cheer her up. She and her husband are cat people over dogs so I thought she may get a chuckle out of this card. The outside gatefold only took three attempts to create. I used a Paper Smooches die to create the curve of the sides, then after my original choice of GKD patterned paper had butterflies flying upside down so this was my second choice and the birds look OK! Stamped and fussy cut the band-aids from Monster Medical and attached to the front panels alternating the sides. Created the inside cat on crutches using Spectrum Noir Aqua pens, the hearts were an after thought to cover a smudge.

Does the outside look like band-aids? My hubby didn’t think so but of course he probably never used a band-aid for a booboo! LOL..what can I say except thanks for looking and this one is going in the mail tomorrow.

Hugs!!

Nautical Stripes

| Judy Inukai

I started with a strip of Ivory card stock and stamped the anchor and sentiment from the set “My Anchor” by Gina K Designs in Blue Denim ink. Taking another piece of ivory card stock I used the stripe stencil also by Gina K Designs and sponged with In the Navy ink. The stripes are not as dark as I’d originally planned, but I like the contrast with the lighter stripes. I matted both panels with Blue Denim card stock on a heavy weight Ivory card base. This is for the Trend Week “Stripes” challenge a Just Us Girls. Here’s the link: Just Us Girls

Anchors Away

| Judy Inukai

I knew just how I wanted to make this card for the As You See It Espresso Pronto Challenge – I just wasn’t sure I could get it done in 10 minutes. When I reread the instructions and realized I could gather my materials before I started the timer, I thought, well maybe. I already had some Sandy Beach card bases cut and scored, so that helped. I also had a scrap of Sandy Beach that was almost perfect for the focal image – okay now GO! The anchor and sentiment are from My Anchor by Gina K Designs, stamped in Warm Cocoa. I trimmed the scrap down just a bit. The brown gingham is from the Casual Friday PP, also by Gina K Designs, embossed with a nautical EF by Darice. I swiped Warm Cocoa across the gingham to make the embossing stand out a little more, then I trimmed it a little smaller than I intended – I had to go with it. I trimmed Warm Cocoa mats for the focal image and the pp. I was pressing the last layer to the card base when the timer on my phone went off – 10 minutes exactly. I would have liked more of the embossed PP to show since I’m also entering this in the Just Add Texture challenge at Gina K Designs, but the embossing is there and I’m gonna go with it. Always good to have another card in my stash of masculine cards.

Hearts and Flowers

| Judy Inukai

I made several of these for the girls in our Rainbow Assembly to deliver to patients in a small memory care facility. The girls were supposed to assemble the pieces I had cut for them, but unfortunately the meeting was cancelled because of the weather. Since we would not have a meeting before they were to be delivered, I assembled them. The die cut hearts are by Spellbinders. I used the Petite Flourish background stamp by Gina K Designs stamped in Red Velvet ink on the scalloped heart. The sentiment is from Geo Thanks by Claire Brennan for Gina K. Designs. The roses are die cut from the Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit for January. They were cut from red cardstock and highlighted with white pigment ink and white pencil. Then I used green cardstock to cut the rosebud and the stem. I trimmed just the rosebud from the red cardstock and glued it over the rosebud cut with green cardstock. The rosebud coloring and assembly was inspired by Jennifer McGuire’s blog post and video here.  I am terrible at tying bows, even with a bow maker, so I used a mini bow die from Divinity Designs. I cut it with red cardstock and glued it together and it was the perfect size. Taking a large, thick needle, I punched a small hole at the top of the heart and used gold cord, also from Gina K Designs for a hanger. I had a lot of fun doing these and was really pleased with how they turned out. Hearts are really the thing right now and this works for these challenges:

Mod Squad – You’re All Heart

Cuttlebug Mania – With All My Heart

Dies R Us – Hearts, Love, Valentines

Double D – Hearts

JUGS – Put a Bow On It

Simon Says With Love

Die Cut Divas

Checked Heart

| Gayle Chrvala
DoubleD Challenges Hearts
Gina K Designs February Monthly Mix Challenge

One checkered heart, two challenges! Double D Challenges has a really lovely mood board and the challenge is to feature “hearts”. My heart was created by cutting a Spellbinders Classic Hearts 6 die on a stamping mask paper, then using Pretty Pink Posh’s wide stripes stencil and GKD’s cherry red and bubblegum pink Glitz Glitter Gel. After removing the mask very very carefully the card was missing something so I decided to add an embossed bottom layer which is a little difficult to see. The embossing folder is XOXO’s by Reconciliations (Michael’s). The stamped images are GKD’s Better With You stamp set. The plant needed a little shine so went over the leaves with Nuvo glitter gloss pen. The GKD Monthly Mix Challenge is to “Just Add Texture” . My texture elements are the glitz glitter gel and the embossing folder.

Thanks once again for stopping by.

Hearts Galore

| Gayle Chrvala
ModSquad Challenge You’re All Heart Challenge

The current ModSquad Challenge is to create a project with a “Heart” as your focal point. My background hearts were created using the Pretty Pink Posh layering heart stencils in different colors. The stamped image is Gina K Designs Better With You stamp set and then decided to add more hearts using the Penny Black Sweet Heart dies instead of a sentiment on the front of my card.

Have a great day!