Masculine Note

This was a quick and simple card to make with just an embossing folder, a stamp, and a die cut.  I started wit Kraft CS and embossed it with a Darcie embossing folder.  Love all the cat tails and grasses. I sponged it with tea die and walnut distress inks.  I stamped a sentiment from IO( CL43) and added some die cut birds (DIE078-F )also from IO.  I mounted it on some black CS and then adhered it to a Kraft card base. I will enter this in the IO Masculine challenge.
http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/06/new-impression-obsession-challenge-masculine.html

RWB

I will enter this card in two challenges hosed by Lee Murphy.  The challenge at Stamp TV is to use 7 or more layers and the challenge at Mod Squad is to use the colors red,white and blue. I used some paper that I downloaded from Gina K Designs' freebies page.  The light house is from Theresa Momber's By the Sea. I stamped it twice and colored it with Spectrum Noir markers. I cut out one of the lighthouses and used pop dots to give the lighthouse more dimension. You can see the other entries  for the Mod Squad challenge here. http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/

Born Free

When I see a a bird on a branch or soaring through the sky, I am reminded of the song "Born Free" and one of my favorite poems "Caged Bird" by Mya Angelou.  Of course, the bird in the poem is symbolic of the struggle of the blacks for freedom on one level, but it is also symbolic of any person who is enslaved by fear, pride, addictions or any other thing that takes over their lives.  I created this card with the poem and song in mind and I will enter it in the IO challenge "Inspired by a Song".  I used the IO die Bird on a Branch 161-N and the sentiment is from Any Time Sentiments CL 43. You can see the challenge here.
http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/05/new-io-challenge-inspired-by-a-song.html  Four days after I posted this Mya Angelou passed away.  May 28,2014.

I also included a copy of the poem.

Caged Bird

BY MAYA ANGELOU

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind   

and floats downstream   

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and   

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams   

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream   

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied   

so he opens his throat to sing.

 The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

Triple Stamping 4

Thanks to all my friends that left such nice comments on my other triple stamping cards.  When I finished them, they did not look like I expected and I could not decide why until I looked at others I made a long time ago.  I realized I was not leaving enough of a border between layers so I decided to make another card with larger borders.   I wanted to use the stencil technique again but I chose a larger pattern and sponged it in Dandelion, Cantaloupe, and Rose Bud. I also wanted to color on this one so I used the grapes from Gina K Designs, Better With Age, and colored them with Spectrum Noir markers. I will enter this in the Mod Squad Challenge,  http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/

Triple Stamping 3

This is the third card I made for Judy Woodland's challenge at Mod Squad this week. The challenge is to create a card  using one of my favorite techniques,triple stamping.  I decided to try a stencil for the background.  The vines are from a set that is not labeled and I can't remember the manufacturer. I used a die to cut some little flowers and sponged the edges. I glued them to the trellis background. 

  You can see other challenge cards here http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/

Triple Stamping 2

This is the second card I made for Judy Woodland's challenge at Mod Squad this week. The challenge is to create a card  using one of my favorite techniques,triple stamping. I used some textured dp. but it does not show up on the picture.  I stamped and colored the butterfly on the base, but I did not like the result so I stamped a second butterfly colored it with Spectrum Noirs and put it over the original stamp.  I used two Gina K sets for this card Hope is Faith and master Butterfly.  You can see other challenge cards here http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/

Fishing Notebook

This is a card I mad for Stamp TV Mix it up Monday challenge.   The challenge was to make it pop with black. I used Gone Fishing by Theresa Momber for this card. My son saw a notebook that I made for my husband's birthday and said I want one of those. My husband's card was a hunting card but Kim enjoys fishing more so I made this for him. The card I made for my husband is below.  He has a trained Lab that he hunts with so this was perfect for his birthday. 

Triple Stamping Hope

My friend, Judy Woodland, is hosting the challenge at Mod Squad this week. the challenge is to create a card  using one of my favorite techniques,triple stamping. I wanted to do something a little different so I chose some dp. I used three sets from Gina K Designs for this Picture It, Hope is Faith  and  Friendship Family, Love. Take a look at the other cards in this challenge here http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/

Hydrangia

My husband looked at this card and said," Wow, that was a lot of work". This definitely took a bit of time, but the results are well worth the time.  The Hydrangea, an Impression Obsession die, is mounted on lilac card stock that was cut with a Spellbinder's die. A piece of white card stock was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and then mounted on black card stock which was adhered to a white card base. I will enter  it in the IO challenge Welcome to my Garden.
http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/05/new-impression-obsession-challenge-welcome-to-my-garden.html
IO die DIE044-Y

Out of the Box Challenge

The challenge at Impression Obsession is called Out of the Box.  You were to use a stamp or die in a way different then what was intended or to do something new for you,  This is out of the box for me because I made an aquarium instead of a snow globe and it is the first time I used this die and their shake it pouches. If you like shaker cards, this is the way to create some great designs.   The fish in the aquarium is part of a piece of stationery that I have had for ages.  I filled the corner with some IO shells and tucked some moss behind the shells.  See some great ideas here   chttp://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/04/new-impression-obsession-challenge-outside-of-the-box.html

IO  Snow globe DIE122-R   Shell Set DIE077-W

Yellow Gingham

Lee Murphy is hosting a Going Gingham challenge at Mod Squad this week. http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/. For this card, I used an IO die to cut the center of some white card stock and edged it with two strips of yellow gingham dp.  I adhered  the white card stock to a yellow card base.  The wheelbarrow and tiny flowers are also IO dies, and the sentiment is from Gina K Designs

Wild Flowers

This card was made for a challenge at Poppy Sketches.  http://poppysketches.blogspot.com/   Every two weeks a different sketch and color pallet challenge is posted. This week's challenge can be seen below.  Anyone can play and there are some generous sponsors for the cite.  I stamped white card stock with a stamp from Penny Black  in London Fog ink and colored the flower part with Spectrum Noir markers.  I used an IO die to cut out the squares on the side.  I cut a red strip and a blue strip with the same die so I could fill the middle strip with alternating colors.I mounted this to grey card stock and then on white card stock. I added a sentiment and some red ribbon for embellishment.

Wagon

I love this wagon stamp from Heartfelt Creations.  This simple card follows the sketch from My Favorite Things.  Since I have several male family and friends celebrating birthdays in the next few months, I decided to make some masculine cards for challenges.Craft card stock is perfect for this. I stamped the wagon and the sentiment on some dp with versa mark ink and embossed it with black embossing powder. The card base was embossed with a barbed wire embossing folder, and three button die cuts  replaced the flower in  the sketch.  You can see other cards using this sketch here.  http://www.mftstamps.com/blog/category/wednesday-stamp-club/

 

You are my Sunshine

This is a card for the challenge at Impression Obsession "You are my Sunshine".
 http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/04/new-io-challenge-you-are-my-sunshine.html
I started with craft card stock which I  embossed  with A Darce embossing folder and adhered it to a slightly larger piece of black card stock.   Next, I cut a second strip from craft card stock and embossed it with Darce  grass embossing folder.  After I sponged that piece with tea die and  walnut distressed inks,I adhered it to a slightly wider strip of black card stock.   I cut yellow and blue circles using Spellbinder Dies and positioned the sea shells which were sponged with Memento desert sand and rich cocoa.  I finished with some sea birds. I placed the final pieces on an A2 card base.
The Impression Obsession dies I used are DIE078-F Sea Birds and 
Sea Shells Code: DIE077-W

Pop of Pink

This card is for the first Poppy Sketch Challenge. http://poppysketches.blogspot.com/  It was both a sketch and color challenge.  The borders are Spellbinders' border dies, the larger butterfly is Cheery Lynn and the smaller butterflies are Martha Stewart.

Strawberry Squares

I made this card for the Tuesday Morning Sketches.  The Strawberries are freebies from Becca's Place, I colored them with Spectrum Noir Markers then cut them with Spellbinder Dies.  I sponged some Memento Summer Sky around the strawberries while they were still in the die.  The bird is a Sizzix Die.

 
http://tuesdaymorningsketches.blogspot.com/

Celebrate Spring

I created both of these cards for Stamp TV Monday Challenge,Celebrate Spring. The daffodils and cone flower stamps are illustrated by Theresa Momber for Gina K Designs  The dies are all Spellbinder dies.

Blue and Yellow Blossom

This card is for the MY Favorite Thing sketch challenge.  I just got this new die from Memory Box and had to try it out. I will definitely do some experimenting with this again.

http://www.mftstamps.com/blog/category/wednesday-stamp-club/

Thinking Pink

I created this for Cat's challenge at Mod Squad which was to make our own DP.  I must have thought I was creating for Lee with all the pink I used.  I used pink card stock and stamped over with Gina K Design's Fall Foilage in Shabby Shutters  and Bring the Bling in  Aged Mahogany.  The flower and flourish are Spellbinders' dies and the butterfly is Martha Stewart. The sentiment is Gina K Designs' Hope. You can find all the beautiful designs for this challenge at  http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/

Winter Scene

This card is for a  Green Challenge at Impression Obsession. http://mitrafriant.typepad.com/impression_obsession_news/2014/03/new-impression-obsession-challenge-green.html
I sponged a background using London Fog to create snow bank.  Then I sponged Pear Tart, Bahama Blue and Paris Dusk to create the night scene.  The light washed out the colors a bit when I took the picture. I then secured  two sprigs of pine branches that I had dusted with some home made flower soft.  I popped up the three deer with pop dots.  Really a quick and simple card.

 Pine Branch Die  DIE021-N
Deer Trio DIE080-N

Daring Adventure

MFT has the best sketches and I love a sketch challenge so I gave this sketch a try.  The dp is from Heartfelt creations, and I paired it with a golden brown.  I used a cuttlebug folder to emboss the top and a different one to emboss the strip.  I am not sure who manufactured the sentiment, but I found it in a stash drawer and realized I had never used it. My new favorite flower is this die from Susan's Gardens. I added a few pearls and I was done.  There are some fabulous designs entered in this challenge so if you have some time take a look.  




http://www.mftstamps.com/blog/category/wednesday-stamp-club/

ColorfuLEE Yours Grapes

Lee's challenge at Mod Squad  http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.com/   really was a challenge for me because I can't wrap my head around red and brown, but I gave it a try.  I stamped the grapes ( Gina K Designs) with versa Mark on GKD cranberry tart card stock and embossed with white.Then I bleached the card stock which turned it a pretty golden color.  I decided I might like some green on the leaves so I washed my water brush and then used Bamboo laves ink pad to grab some color on the brush and added it over the bleaching.  Then I added a little pink to some of the grapes. Layered this on some craft CS that I had stamped with some branches and sponged the edges with distress ink.  Added a flower and some twine for embellishment and placed it on white CS.  Stop over to the Mod Squad blog and look at the beautiful creations that were done in red and brown for this challenge.

Golden Doves

I love this dove and holly stamp from Flourishes,  It has been on my wish list for over a year so I was thrilled  to buy it for half price during their Gambler's Sale.  I was anxious to work with it so I made my first Christmas card.  I will enter this in flourishes' Timeless Tuesday Challenge  A Touch of Gold
http://flourishes.org/2014/03/timeless-tuesday-263-a-touch-of-gold/

Going Green Sketch

This is an entry for MFT   http://www.mftstamps.com/blog/category/wednesday-stamp-club/  sketch challenge and for Lee's Going Green challenge at Stamp TV.
http://stamptv.ning.com/forum/topics/mix-it-up-monday-stv14mon11-going-green



The challenge at Stamp TV is to use the color green and one other neutral color. I chose some green dp and matched it with an ivory base.  The bottom panel was created with Die-Namics Chicken Wire die, and the flower is  a dogwood die from Susan's Garden.  Both sentiments are from Gina K Designs.

It's a Wash

This card will be entered in Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge It's a Wash at Flourishes.

http://flourishes.org/2014/03/timeless-tuesday-262-its-a-wash/  We were to use Washi tape on our card. I used theWashi tape as borders around Flourishes'Wild Roses stamp set. I tried a

white wash technique from a video by Melanie Muenchinger at http://melaniemuenchinger.blogspot.com/ and a technique for using two embossing folders by Gina K at Gina K Designs   http://stamptv.ning.com/video/two-embossing-folders-one-card.  Made a few mistakes on this one so I will visit both techniques again.