Dare to Get Dirty Challenge - Post 9

Hello Friends & Followers!  So nice to have you back again to see more of my cards created for the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges on SCS.  Since the deadline is this evening, they will all be finished before midnight.  My first card allowed me to use my new-ish 'Glimpse Inside' set from Taylored Expressions along with all the CUTE coordinating dies like the arched window and the window accessories (and I got to COLOR - WOO HOO!)

(Please click on the photo for clearer resolution).  I wish I could remember who made that cute red woodgrain paper (Studio Calico perhaps?), I know the paper pieced wallpaper is from that Season's Greetings stack by Echo Park that I have been using so much lately.  I added some Queen & Co. brick red pearls as the tree's glass ornaments and add some sprigs using Martha Stewart's punch to the little window box.  I do like how this one came out.  I am also entering this card in the following additional challenges:

• Just Inspirational Challenge - which is based on one of two photos (I picked this one:),

• Moxie Fab World's Holiday Card Challenge (they allow cards made within 4 weeks of posting), 
• MilkCoffee Challenge - Show us those coloring skills (the Christmas tree is colored with Copic markers),
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes, 
• Die Cuttin Divas Challenge - anything goes with die cuts, and 
• Jingle Belles Challenge - Home for the holidays.

When I saw the patterned paper I used in the second card I have for you in this post I knew it would make a pretty card with Asela Hopkins' 'Pretty as a Peacock' set.

and I love the colors in it (it is really so vibrant IRL - I paired it with Eggplant Envy, Lucky Limeade, and Bermuda Bay) and I know I will be using this color combo again!  The sentiment and peacock were heat embossed with black EP and I sort of spotlighted the square with Bermuda bay.  I am also entering this card in Crafts and Me's Anything Goes challenge (I think it is just too pretty not to show off).
     Alright friends & followers - I have one more DTGD challenge cards post later this evening for you, so I hope you will revisit tonight or tomorrow to see them!
~ Crafty Math Chick  

Dare to Get Dirty Challenges - Post 7

Hello Again Friends & Followers!  The first card I have for your viewing pleasure this evening was created for one of the DTGD Challenges on SCS (yes, just ONE!).  I used the adorable little sheep from Taylored Expressions' 'Hello Spring' set, some sun rays cut from TE's ray of sunshine cutting plate, and some clouds (I DO own some cloud dies!!) from Papertrey Ink (heart-2-heart #6 dies to be exact) to make this card:

See?  I told you the sheep were wicked cute (Please click on the photo for clearer resolution).  I also used a Martha Stewart border punch for the grass and I felt the bottom was incomplete so I added a little green & white twine down there.  The sentiment inside says 'I hope brighter skies come your way soon.'  I thought that was nice.  I am also entering this card in the following challenges:

• Simon Says Stamps' Monday Challenge: Ode to Sunshine, and 
• Charisma Cardz Challenge - Up in the Clouds.  

     The second card I have for you in the post should be nice when a more formal thank you is needed:

I really love block greetings like this (even if I don't get the opportunity to color on them)  ;)
     Thanks so much for stopping by - I have a few more to upload this evening and then a post or two tomorrow since the DTGD challenges wrap up around midnight.
~ Crafty Math Chick

Hoppy Easter

Hello friends & followers!  I have been really bad about making Easter cards this year, so when I saw My Time Made Easy;s Pretty Patterns Sketch 53 I had the inspiration I needed to make this card using Taylored Expressions' 'Hello Spring" set:

I have a cute little 'Hoppy Easter!' sentiment on the inside.  I like this pretty lime sheer ribbon with a satin edge that I scored at the Offray-Berwick ribbon outlet in Hagerstown, MD - seriously, if you live remotely near this place, and you like ribbon, it is worth the trip.  I added some orange flowers (something I rarely use) to give it an additional springy feel and added pearl centers.  After a tutorial using Bic Mark-It alcohol markers on Stamp TV I figured I would give them a try and see how they measured up to Copics.. not bad, but I don't think they blend quite as easily.  Might not be a bad option for folks on a serious budget.  This card also fulfills the requirements of the following additional challenges:

• Paper and Such Online Challenge - a Spring or Easter card,
• Inky Impressions Challenge 52 - Flower Power,
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 162 - Easter,
• Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge - Celebrating Easter,
• Paper Sundaes Challenge 113 - Spring Blossoms,
• Stamp Scrap & Doodle Challenge - Bunnies,
• Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge 44 - Spring w/ribbon, and
• Our Craft Lounge Challenge 110 - Spring Things. 

Thank you for stopping by to view my creations!  Have a great night!
~Crafty Math Chick

Taylored Expressions Blast From the Past Blog Hop

Hello Friends, Followers and Blog Hoppers!  Welcome!  If you arrived here from Kary Lim's blog you are on the right track.  This month's theme was 'Thankful'.  While I do have an Autumn/Thanksgiving set from Taylored Expressions I could not use it for today's hop as we are only supposed to be showcasing the 'Blast from the Past'.  So, I got a little creative and used the It's A Banner Day 1 set and die along with the cute cows from TE's Green Acres set to create this thank you card 'from the whole herd' using this week's TESC150 sketch:

I used some denim and handkerchief patterned paper for a farmy feel abd a Martha Stewart punch to create the grass.  In addition to the TESC150 sketch Challenge, this card fulfills the requirements of the following additional challenges:

• Fussy N Fancy  - Be Thankful,
• Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays - Thank you,
• Stamptacular Sunday Challenge 138 - Punch It (I used a circle punch, and two different edger punches for the grass and scalloped lace and a It's a Banner Day 1 die as well),
• Creative Card Crew - Thankful,
• Shopping Our Stash - Never Been Inked Challenge (This is the first time I used both Green Acres and It's a Banner Day 1 sets),
• Party Time Tuesdays Challenge 42 - Thank you,
• The Paper Variety - Thanks,
• Inky Impressions Challenge 33 (IIC33) - Give Thanks,
• Stamps R Us Challenge - Crafty Sentiments Bling It On,
• Forever Friends Month's Challenge for November - Something Old, Something New (the patterned papers & rhinestones are old and the stamp sets and die are new), and
• The ABC Challenge - D is for Dazzle (I added several rhinestones to bling up the card).

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you like my card.  Jen Shults' blog is next, I am sure she will have something spectacular for you!  Just click on her name below.





~Crafty Math Chick

Still More HYCCT Cards

Hello friends & followers!  I have been busy in my craft room all day stamping away trying to complete the remaining Hope You Can Cling To (HYCCT) challenges over at Splitcoaststampers (SCS).  I have five more for your viewing pleasure today.  
     The first card is for Judy's HYCCT challenge to create a card with yummy edibles and a splash of pink.  I decided to use Peachy Keen Stamps Sketch 64 and Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' So Sweet Cocoa set paired up with some patterned paper from DCWV's Sweet mat stack to create this card:

This card also fulfills the requirements of the following additional challenges:

• Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Inspiration Challenge 12 - the sprinkles on the cupcake in the picture made me instantly think of this image of Cocoa mouse peeking out the middle of the donut,
• Paper Cupcake's magical Monday Challenge - Trick-or-Treat or Something Sweet (I obviously went with 'something sweet'),
• Forever Friends Bling Bling Challenge - to use rhinestones with a cute & cuddley animal,
• The Ribbon Carousel Challenge 27 - Anything Goes with Ribbon or Twine, and 
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes plus a Bit of Bling.

     My next card was for Jami's HYCCT challenge to make a holiday card where pink is the predominant color.  I used Sketch TESC149 by Taylored Expressions and their adorable new Woodland Winter set which was a birthday present from my 'deer' friend Barbie (THANKS BARBIE!!) and came up with this card:

The sweet little woodland critters are colored with Copic markers and I tied a bit of green & pink twine at the top in a bow for a little fun.  This card also fulfills the requirements of the following additional challenges:

• Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - to choose a favorite sketch and make a holiday card using it,
• Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge 35 - make a Christmas card and use ribbon, and
• The Ribbon Carousel Challenge 27 - Anything Goes with Ribbon or Twine.  

     My third card was made for Beate's challenge to make a circle card.  I used a cute digi image called 'Cocoa with a Cause' from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, some nestabilities die cuts and some punched hearts from my heart trio punch from Stampin' Up! to create this card:

I decided to leave Cocoa white here.  This card also fulfills the requirements of the following additional challenges:

• Allsorts Challenge Week 128 - to make a card that is 'anything but a square', 
• Digital Tuesday Challenge 135 - Cute & Cuddly with a digi image,
• Charisma Cardz Week 44 Challenge - Cutesy, and
• Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Release Party Challenge #3 - to make a card using at least 2 die cuts or punches.

     My fourth card was made for Cathleen's 'Thank a Caregiving' HYCCT challenge using the clean and simple version of The Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge 128 (MMSC128), Doctor Hanna by Hanna Stamps and some yum-MAY S.E.I. paper from their Charlamagne collection with glossy raised embossing on it:

This card also fulfills the requirements of two additional challenges:

• Do You Stack Up Challenge 44 (DYSU44) - To Use Teal in your card, and 
• One Stop Craft Challenge - To Use 3 of something in honor of their 3rd Birthday.

     My last card was made for Lisa Lara's HYCCT challenge to make a CAS card with a splash of pink.  I figured Skipping Stones Design's Birthday Purses would fit the bill perfectly:

Just five more challenges to complete and I will have finished all 33 HYCCT challenges!  Wish me luck!  Have a great weekend!  And thanks for stopping by!!  :)
~Crafty Math Chick

Taylored Expressions Blog Hop

Hello friends, followers and hoppers!  Welcome to your next stop on Taylored Expressions' October Blog Hop!  If you arrived here from Rebecca's blog you are in the correct spot, if not, please visit Taylor's Blog, the first stop on the hop (she has the complete list).  Our theme today: Trick or Sweet!  I decided to make some cute little Pixie Stix holders to go in some Boo! boxes for our neighbors (I was inspired when Jami Sibley did this a few years ago in this post.) using Taylored Expressions' Frightful Night set and some papers from a past TE Key Ingredients kit:

I just love the silhouette of that black cat!  These are really easy and so much fun to make - don't they make those sugary Pixie Stix look extra festive?


In addition to the theme of the TE Blog Hop, these goodies also fulfill the requirements of the following additional challenges as well:

• Simon Says Stamp and Show - Some Stripes,
• The Poodles Parlour - Happy Halloween,
• Repeat Impressions' Designer's Choice Challenge 1012  - Fall or Halloween,
• ABC Card Challenge - B is for Boo!,
• The Pixie Cottage Challenge 92 - Sweet as Candy (you can't get much sweeter than the pure sugar of Pixie Stix right?)
• Inky Impressions Challenge 29 - Trick or Treat, Halloween, Spooky,
• Creative Card Crew - Spooky Fun,
• Color Throwdown 164 - Purple, orange, green & black, 
• One Stop Craft Challenge Week 153 - Halloween,
• Paper Sundaes Challenge 91 - Halloween or Fall, and
• Paper Creations Ink - Halloween Theme.

The next stop on the hop is Chris' Blog, I am sure she has something lovely for you to see.  Thanks for hopping by!
~Crafty Math Chick

Rainy Wednesday

Hello friends and followers!  I hope you are all well.  It is raining raining raining here today which is perfect weather for crafting right?  Today I have two cards for your viewing pleasure, the first was created for Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge 76 - no patterned papers:

I used the sentiment 'You Did It!' sentiment from Mark's Finest Papers' 'Here Comes the Grad' set to create a sort of 'Congratulations for beating cancer!" kind of card for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenges over at Splitcoaststampers, more specifically, Lori Craig's HYCCT1101B - to add bling to your card, kinda resourceful huh?  ;)  In addition to these two challenges, this card also fulfills the requirements of the following additional challenges:

• Ribbon Carousel Challenge 24 - A card with bling and ribbon or twine,
• Creative Inspirations Challenge 133 - A Single Layer Card, 
• One Stop Craft Challenge - Anything Goes, and
• One Stitch at a Time Challenge 83 - Anything Goes

My second card I created using Sketch TESC147 sponsored by Taylored Expressions using TE's cute new Autumn Wreath set and season wreath die and the new Fall Harvest mat stack from DCWV.  Here it is:

I just adore that sweet little squirrel and had so much fun coloring him with Copic markers.  (For the record, I know oak leaves turn brown, not all these different colors, but I was going for colorful whimsy here, not accuracy).  In addition to the sketch challenge, this card also fulfills the following additional challenges as well:

• The Pink Elephant Challenge 120 (TPE120) - Inspiration challenge (there is a wreath of leaves at the bottom leaning against the barrel),
• Repeat Impressions Designer's Choice Challenge 1012 - Halloween/Fall (I chose fall),
• Sundays with Crissy Challenge 22 - Thanks/Thankful, 
• Cute Card Thursday Challenge 186 - Tree-mendous (create a card with images of trees or leaves - I have leaves in the wreath and with the acorns in the corner),
• Pals Paper Arts 115 - Fall or Thanksgiving (there is a lovely leaf garland similar to my wreath in their inspiration picture),
• Stamps R Us Challenge - Autumn or fall,
• Fab N Funky Challenge 94 - Autumn Colors,
• Fussy and Fancy Challenge - Fall or Halloween (I obviously chose 'fall'),
• Stampin' for the Weekend Challenge 18 - The Colors of Fall,
• Delightful Challenges - The Colors of Fall,
• Totally Stampalicious - Happy Thanksgiving, and
• ABC Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Well, that is all I have for you now, but please check back later, I have lots of the Hope You Can Cling To Challenges to catch up on and plan on stamping my little heart out today, so there should be more for you to see later!  Have a great day!
~Crafty Math Chick

Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Hello friends & followers!  Today I am participating in Taylored Expressions' Blast from the Past Blop where we give a little love to some of Taylor's previously released sets - the theme: Birthday!  (or if you preferred "birth day" - Taylor recently had a beautiful bouncing baby girl and we are helping her celebrate!  Congrats Taylor!)  I decided to use TE's 'It's in the Bag' set and coordinating shopping bag die (isn't it the sweetest?) along with Sketch 112 from Tuesday Morning Sketches along with some patterned paper by S.E.I.'s Charlemagne collection (I love its varnished papers and shiny copper accents - was I the only kid who thought copper was WAAAAY prettier than silver or gold?  But I digress... here is my card:)

(Please click on the photo for clearer resolution).  Isn't that die just the sweetest?  And it cuts out that cute little label shape that the sentiments from the set fit on too!  Perfect size for tucking in a little candy, chocolate or even a rolled up dollar bill as a my friend Karen suggested the other day!  The possibilities are endless!





This card also fulfills the requirements of the following two additional challenges as well:

• Stamp Scrap & Doodle Challenge - Birthdays, and
• The Stamping Boutique September Challenge - Birthdays

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today.  I hope you like my card and have a wonderful Wednesday!
~Crafty Math Chick

Dogs & Cats

Hello friends and followers!  Today I have two cards for your viewing pleasure, the first is based on Sketch Challenge 88 from Skipping Stones Design (they are having free shipping this week BTW):

Kinda tricky right?  I turned those slivers of circles into puppy paws to create the following card using SSD's 'Dogs Vol. 1' set that I LOOOOVE:

(Man I can't wait until I have enough space cleared to set my photo cube up!)  The 'paws' were created from sections of oval punches with tiny 1/4" punches circles for the toes; the paper is from DCVW's 'Pet Stack' mat stack.  Since I used a dog in this card it also fulfills the requirements of Shopping Our Stash's Weekly Challenge 13 - to use a dog or a digi or denim, I of course went with dog.  


My second card was based on Sketch TESC143 by Taylored Expressions:

I used "Frightful Night' stamp set from Taylored Expressions and the ingredients from a past card kit to create this card based on the sketch:

All the supplies, including the brads, patterned paper and ribbon, were included with the kit - pretty convenient huh?  ;)  This there are polke dots on the patterned paper and on the ribbon as well this card satisfies the Stampin' for the Weekend Challenge 14.  


Thank you for stopping by and viewing my creations, I hope you like them and I hope you have a fabulous day!
~Crafty Math Chick

TESC140

Hello friends and followers!  Today I have the honor of being a guest designer for this week's Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 140 over at Splitcoaststampers.com (Thanks Taylor!).  Here is the sketch we were provided this week:

And here is the card I created based on it using Taylored Expressions' adorable "Pets Place" set and some DP from DCWV's Pet Stack:

(Please click on the photo for clearer resolution).  As you can see, the set has a ton of really cute pets in it, I figured showcasing all these pets like this was perfect for a 'from all of us' birthday card.  Make sure you play along!  You have two weeks to make a card based on this sketch and add it using the tag "TESC140" on Splitcoast - you could win a gift certificate to Taylor's store, and she increases the value if you use her stamps on your cards too!  Here is a list of the other designers in the TE Sketch Crew so you can check what they created with the sketch as well:

• Dawn Easton
• Jami Sibley
• Lisa Hjulberg
• Melissa Sauls
• Monika Davis
• Rachel Sztonyk
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tracy Clemente

In addition to TE's sketch challenge, this card fulfills the requirements of the following additional challenges as well:

• Stamps R Us - Pets R Us (make a card with a pet image or theme),
• Cupcake Craft Challenge 145 - Things with Tails (all 5 of the animals in my card have tails),
• Tuesday Throwdown 52 (where my friend Emily is guest designing this month - GO EMILY!) - cards with animals or an animal theme,
• Birthday Sundaes Challenge 12 - Anything Goes Birthday Card, and 
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes.

As a side note, our little dog is having some health issues.  Any of you who know me well knows he means the world to me, any happy thoughts or prayers you can offer on his behalf for a full recovery are most appreciated.  Thank you all so much for taking the time to stop by my blog and see my creations.  

~Crafty Math Chick

WD & TE

Hello friends & followers.  I hope you are well.  Today I have two cards for your viewing pleasure.  The first was created for Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge 53 using the colors sand, light blue and light green inspired by this picture:

Here is my card:

This card is special to me because I won the stamp set I used to create it, Nautic-COOL by Wilson Designs by competing in last week's Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge and I really, really like it!  So I hope this encourages you to enter some of the OTWC challenges yourself so that you can win some cool prizes too, I think Kim even gives you a second entry if you use Wilson Designs stamps (SWEET!).  The sails and boat were paper pieced from a retired Stampin' Up! hostess patterns pack.  The entire panel is raised on Pop Its and then the little life-preserver (isn't it darling?) further raised up - I used a 1/4" circle punch to carve out the center and weave this cool, thick jute cord through to secure it for a further Nauticool effect.  ;)  This card also fulfills the requirements of the following challenges:

Wee Memories Challenge 57 - Stamp It! (images were stamped),

Paper Sundaes Challenge 70 - Pop It Up! (I used two layers of dimensionals here), and

Charisma Cardz Challenge 21 - Boy oh Boy! (make a card for a man or a boy).

My second card was created for Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 138 over at Splitcoaststampers.  Here is the sketch:

And here is my card based on it using TE's 'For the Love of Cupcakes' set:

That adorable patterned paper is by Doodlebug (I am pretty sure I got it from one of TE's cool kits that they sell with coordinating papers, ribbons, glitter and other embellishments years ago).  I added yellow and cotton candy Stickles to two of the cupcakes and attached petite rhinestones using a craft knife to the last one.  I thought a little celery button tied with some pink twine would be a nice accent for balance at the bottom corner with the sentiment.  This card also fulfills the requirements of the following challenges as well:

Karen's Doodles Challenge 64 - Make it Sparkle!,

inky Impressions Challenge 16 - Shine On! (use sparkly or shiny elements), and

Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge 155 - to make a birthday card.

Thank you for stopping by to view my creations and read my ramblings.  I hope you have a wonderful evening!

~Crafty Math Chick

Taylored Expressions May Blog Hop

Welcome to your next stop on Taylored Expressions' May Hop.  You should have arrived here from Amber's Blog, if you didn't, you will want to return to the beginning at Taylor's blog so you don't miss any TE 'Masculine' goodness (that was this month's theme). 

Masculine cards are actually one of my favorite kinds to make, not quite as much as dogs of course, but I do enjoy them.  And the set I am showcasing today, Taylored Expressions' 'Boys Will be Boys' is one of my top Go-To masculine sets for manly card.  Here are two new creations for your viewing pleasure today:

For this card I embossed a sheet of thin aluminum to resemble that texture you see in the construction environment and used some nailhead brads to complete the look.  This card also fulfills the requirements of Pixie Dust Studio's Challenge 74 - to make it shiny and incorporate metal into your project. 

For my second card, I went clean and simple:

I found this cool paper by Making Memories that reminded me of the texture and pattern of a male's shirt so I used that and added some buttons to continue the appearance.  Since I don't need that many Father's Day cards, these babies are both going to Operation Write Home so that some of our active duty service members can send them home to their families.

Since I like this set SO much, I wanted to post some cards I made about a year ago using this same set - I thought of simply recreating them, but figured my followers might like to see something new, but for those of  you who might have missed them, here are some more great things you can do with 'Boys Will Be Boys'.

First, you can distress some newspaper and ink up some crimped kraft cardstock for a cool newsie effect:

And you can flock the 'green' on the gold course for a nice bit of added texture as well, and punch a circle, emboss it with a dots EF and sponge it a bit for a 'par-fect' golf scene, complete with golf ball:

Thanks for hopping by!  Make sure to make your way to Wendy's Blog, she next on the hop.  I am sure she has a treat for you.  Enjoy!
~Crafty Math Chick

Happy Endings - Take Two

Okay, I have NO IDEA where the original post for this card went!  I KNOW I had it up Wednesday evening!  :(  So, I thank you if you commented before and apologize if your comment is now gone.  Kind of beyond my control..

Here is the card I made for Sketch 137 from Taylored Expressions on SCS using TE's 'Cuppie Love Scenes' images and some cool popcorn DP by the Paper Studio:

And here is a view of the inside of the card:

I used Stampin' Up!'s Heart-to-Heart punch to get all of those hearts embellishing the inside of the card.  Let's see if I can remember all the challenges I entered this card in, as the links that were previously entered are now invalid...

• The Paper Variety - Lights, Camera, Action! - create a card with a movie theme,
• Papertake Weekly Challenge - Fancy a Punch?  (I used the Heart-to-Heart punch for the hearts on the inside of the card and a Marvy Uchida Mega oval punch for the image on the front),
• Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge 133 - Dust Off Your Stash - These adorable cuppies images had not seen love in many, many months I am sorry to say, and I was hoarding the popcorn DP (I love popcorn!), and lastly
• Creative Inspirations 111 - decorate the inside of your card.

Okay, think that was everyone.  I hope I don't get in trouble with any of the challenge sites for double posting when in reality I am just trying to fix blogger's erasure of my post.  LOL, I am new to blogger - does this happen often?  I KNOW - we can chalk it up to Friday the 13th right?!!  Hope your weekend is luckier than your Friday.  ;)
~Crafty Math Chick

Happy Endings

Hello friends and followers!  If you are here looking for my Mark's Finest Papers Day Two Blog Hop card, please scroll down to the previous post.  I have another treat for you today.  I created the following card using Sketch 137 from Taylored Expressions' Sketch Challenge at Splitcoaststampers.com:

I rotated this sketch 90 degrees to the right and this is what I came up with:

.. and here is the inside...

When I saw this image from Taylored Expressions' 'Cuppie Love Scenes' I knew I had to have it because my hubby and I enjoy watching movies together so much with POPCORN of course - thus the perfect DP.  I thought this would make a good anniversary card (if he doesn't sneak onto my blog and peek at it ahead of time).  Since my husband likes chocolate cake best, I made sure he was the chocolate cupcake in the image of the two cupcakes enjoying a movie and some popcorn.  The layers of red scalloped punched paper at the top is supposed to symbolize the curtain that opens when the movie begins.  In addition to the sketch challenge, this card fulfilles the requirements of the following challenges:

• The Paper Variety - Lights, Camera, Action! - to make a card with a movie theme,
• Creative Inspirations 111 - decorate the inside of your card,
• Papertake Weekly - Fancy a Punch? (I used a scalloped edger punch and the Mega Oval punch by Marvy-Uchida and all the hearts on the inside of the card were punched using Stampin' Up!'s heart-to-heart punch), and
• The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge 133 - Dust off your stash (I had not used this stamp set or this popcorn DP in ages).

That about sums it up for this evening.  Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog and view my creations.  I hope you have a good night!

~Crafty Math Chick

Taylored Expressions April Blog Hop

Welcome friends & followers to your 18th stop on Taylored Expressions' Blast from the Past Blog Hop!  :)  You should have arrived here from Michelle Single's blog, if not, you may wish to begin at the beginning at Taylor's Blog.The theme of this month's hop is "CAS" - clean and simple for you newbies.  I decided to use  Taylored Expressions' Sketch 136 for my card today:

Of course, I rotated it 90 degrees to the right, as I have been a lot lately, and came up with the following card using Taylored Expressions' "In the Park" set:

You all see the puppy sitting on the bench right?  Anyone who knows me knows I have a soft spot for dogs and have trouble resisting any set with a canine component, so when I saw this little guy this set had to be mine.  I masked him (you know how tricky it was cutting around those ears?  LOL!) and stamped the park bench over him, stamped the tree and the cute little birdie, colored everything in with Copic markers, added little tiny silver domes for the bench rivets and added the sentiment up top.  I found my Martha Stewart grass punch (so whichever of you commented I would find it after I finished my previous card you were so correct!) and sponged it to give it a little dimension and added it at the bottom of the card. 

So, that is my card for this hop.  I hope you liked my card and will continue on your journey. Cassie Trask is next on the hop and I am sure she has something special for you to see. 


I primarily created this card for Taylor's Blog Hop, but it also happens to fulfill the requirements of the following challenges as well:

• Crafty Catz Challenge 78 - Furry Friends (because of the puppy and the birdie), and
• Lawnscaping Challenge 8 - Calling all critters

Thanks for stopping by and I may just have a little something additional posted for you later in the day as well.
Cheers!

~Crafty Math Chick

'LEGO' my Controller!

Hello friends and followers.  Please tell me I am not the only one who instantly envisioned a LEGO piece when first seeing Taylor's Sketch 135 this week:

Well, I did.  I saw a big 'ole Lego piece staring back at me and the weird thing about that is - I didn't play with Legos that much as a child, and I don't have any children around the house playing with them either that they would be in the forefront of my mind!  I did watch the White Stripes' 'I Fell in Love with a Girl' "LEGO" video from several years ago on YouTube recently, can I blame that?  I tried to fight the urge to construct a card around the idea, and was successful with the rose & teal 'doggie in the window' card I created last week, but today I thought "why not?"  So, here is my LEGO card:

I had just about every shade of green Stampin' Up! cardstock out on the cart in the dining room (where I am currently stamping standing up while my back heals and my sitting time is limited) and finally decided Glorious Green just looked 'more 'LEGO' than the other shades.  I punched two 7/8" circles and sponged some ink of the same color around the edges of the 4 circles and square to give the illusion of dimension and then popped them up with 1/8" thick pop dots.  Garden Green was used as the backdrop and the patterned papers are from that 'Generation Tech' stack from DCWV that I love so much (I liked how the pale dots kind of played off the Lego piece).  I found a free Lego type font on the web and was going to type up 'LEGO my controller!" like I have in the title as the sentiment but I decided since it was Taylor's sketch I should honor her by using one of her sentiments from 'Boys will be Boys' - fitting for a gamer of all ages, no?  I stamped the sentiment on the dotted DP and turned it into a flag held in place by one of the controllers from the DP which I cut out by hand and stuck in place with another Pop dot.
My next card was created for Stamp TV's Sketch Spotlight Challenge 20:

I saw the scalloped border at the bottom and envisioned using the crocheted looking border from Gina K. Designs' Vintage Backgrounds set by Nina Brackett, which happened to match the sentiments in her 'Nana's Needlework Sentiments' set as well. 

The card is constructed in RidingHood Red and Very Vanilla with a deep red velvet ribbon from Hobby Lobby (note - HL's velvet ribbons are actually referred to as 'trim' - it goes on sale for half off relatively regularly if you watch their sales flyers, but make sure you are looking for the 'trim' to go on sale, not just 'ribbon by the roll' or they will enter the full price at the register, ask me how I know this?  LOL!).  Since this is a Mother's Day card it fulfills the requirements of this week's PaperPlay Challenge - For Mom/Mum. I think I would like to try this again in another color palette; I feel like I missed the mark of what I hoped to create with this one.  Does that happen to you all often too?

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to look at my cards.  Have a happy Tuuuuuesday (from 'The Laws of Attraction").
~Crafty Math Chick