My Time to Craft - ATC Card

The latest challenge on the MTTC Blog is to create an ATC card.  Here's a link to a YouTube video for folks who aren't familiar with ATCs.  It's basically a multimedia 2"x3" trading-style card.

My card was made to celebrate artist, Sandra's Caldwell's 65th birthday.  The image is a digi she created called, Glamour Nana, which is available in her Etsy shop.  I started by stamping and masking the balloons with a sentiment stamp in the background.  The "birthday" sentiment panel and heart punched from patterned paper came as the next layer.  Sandra's image was colored and fussy cut and layered on top and the whole panel was adhered to the 2x3 piece of colored cardstock.

I love Sandra's unique style as an artist. You can see several examples of her work by finding her name on my sidebar, checking out her Etsy Shop, or joining her FB Group Sandra Caldwell Stamp Fans.

I'm looking forward to seeing the ATC cards you come up with in the MTTC gallery.

My Time to Craft #373 - Stamp Your Own Background Paper

This fortnight, the My Time to Craft Blog challenges you to use stamps to make your own background! I used my collection of Right At Home Stamps for the challenge.  Starting with a gingham background stamp for the card base, the panel uses both the Thanks A Bunch stamp for the sentiment, with the circles and cup from Cup of Joy, and finally the coffee bean details on the cup sleeve from How Have You Bean?   The Memory Box panel die cut is called Wrapped Scallop Rectangles.  I love the wonky stitching!

Hope you will join us in making your own background stamps this fortnight!  See you in the My Time to Craft gallery!

Challenges Entered:
Watercooler Wednesday #174 - all occasions
A Bit More Time to Craft #70 - AG
Aud Sentiments #205 - AG + sentiment
Impression Obsession #152 - AG + real stamp

My Time to Craft Challenge #371 - Circles

The latest challenge on the My Time to Craft Challenge Blog is all about circles!  I was kind of stumped and then starting out messing around with my circle dies.  My original idea was creating flowers with a circle within a circle - which morphed into offsetting the center circle to make  sunny side-up eggs!  The "yolks" are three layers glued together with some Nuvo Crystal Effects on top.  I didn't have the time or patience to try for a domed effect on the eggs, but you still see the shine.  The rim of the plate is layered for dimension and the surprise of the plate is my "doodled" strips of bacon! They are colored with Copics. (E11, 18, 25, 31, 33 - in case you ever find yourself needing  colors ideas for bacon!!)

 I'm indebted to my Misti for helping me "MacGyver" the sentiment from a variety of alphabets and sentiments in my collection.  I found the bacon and egg paper in my stash - which pulls everything together in a whimsical way.  (Who can pass up a 6x6 stack of paper for $2.25?!?)

Take a peek at the DT's take on the "circle" challenge HERE and then play along with us over the next two weeks.

Challenges Entered:
Crafty Catz #417/ - AG
Crafting with Friends #67 - AG
Aud Sentiments #203/ - Cute + sentiment
Star Stampz 5/10/ - 2 or more patterned papers
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge #380/ - AG
Inspiration Destination #150/ - AG
Craft Rocket #48/ - Use Embellishments

My Time to Craft #370 - Colour on Coloured Card

Back with Challenge #370 on the My Time to Craft Challenge Blog.  This one is showing off your colouring on any card base colour except white!  I chose Sahara Sand and used the stamp Mason Jar of Flowers from Stamping Bella.  I pulled out white embossing powder and my colored pencils for this one.

Hope you will join our MTTC challenge.  Be sure to take a peek at the DT inspiration on the blog!

Challenges Entered:
Crafty Catz #415/ - Just add flowers
CASusal Fridays #198/ - April Showers Bring May Flowers
Pattie's Creations #146/ - Flowers
Cute Card Thursday #528/ - AG
Seize the Birthday April 26 /- AG

My Time to Craft Challenge #368 - Box/Bag with Matching Tag

The theme for Challenge #368 on the My Time to Craft Blog
is to make a box or bag and a matching tag. I dusted off my rarely-used envelope punch board and searched for a video to help make by a gift box for cards.  (The SU designer paper was so old, it started cracking when I scored it! Must stop collecting paper and use it!!)  Thank you, Jennifer McGuire for the easy to follow video from 2014!!

I simply added a belly band using the opposite side of the paper. The tag and words is the Gift Tag Die from Sugar Pea Designs and the flower die cut is from Sizzix Funky Floral #1.  The turquoise ribbon and orange ribbons added a pop of color to the whole design.  Take a peek at the DT creations and then play along with our newest challenge.

Challenges Entered:
Alphabet Challenge/ - A for anything but a card
Creative Fingers #144/ - AG
Time Out Challenge #106/ - Photo Inspiration

My Time to Craft #366 - Easter or Spring

I pulled out my new PTI Bunny Blessings stamp set and dies for the Easter/Spring theme of the latest My Time to Craft Challenge.  The outline bunny stamp is heat embossed in brown on watercolor paper with lots of brown inks layered for the look!  The eggs are stamped and my Copics were handy in making the grass.  The background is PTI's Mix and Mat Confetti Die, which I finally purchased and love it!! So cute, right?!?

We had a snow day on Monday, so the extra time in my craft room meant more time to play.  I started messing around with the stamps and came up with a second card using the more of the Bunny Blessings stamp set and a sentiment stamp from Polka Dot Parade #1 Mini Stamp Set .  I added a little dimension to the white bunny's ears with Copics.

Hope our theme inspires you to load a card in the My Time to Craft Gallery.  You have a fortnight to play!  Pop over and see what the DT has in store for you here!

Challenges Entered:
Brown Sugar #276/ - Spring/Easter
Crafty Catz #407/ - Layer it Up
Aud Sentiments #198/ - AG + sentiment
Cards 4 Galz #66/ - Furry Friends
Craft Rockets #46/ (March) - Something New
Creative Knockouts #235/ - Die Cuts or Punches
Crea Chicky March/ -  Easter
Creative w Stamps #24/ -March Bunnies

My Time to Craft Challenge #365 - Monochomatic

Mags wants us to use a Monochromatic theme for  Challenge #365 on the My Time to Craft Challenge Blog.  The directions are to pick a color and use variations on it.  This one is a happy accident for me. I started this card with a different challenge in mind, but there wasn't enough stamping.  All of the variations of mauve ended up to be perfect for this monochrome challenge.  The butterfly die cuts are treated with a touch of Copic marker and Wink of Stella for shine and the wings are rolled inward to give the butterflies dimension. 

Hope you will join us for the latest challenge on My Time to Craft!

Challenges Entered:
Cut It Up #142/ - AG
Aud Sentiments #197/ - For A Friend
Crafting with an Attitude #36/ - AG
A Bit More Time to Craft #62/ - AG
Monochrome Magic #8/ - AG

My Time to Craft Challenge #363 - Transport

Transport is the theme for Challenge #363 on the My Time to Craft Blog.  I chose to use the transport theme as a Valentine's card for one of my grandchildren.  I love how this sweet little bicycle turned out.  The stamps and die were a freebie with a card making magazine I bought a couple of years ago.  I've never used it before and in fact dug it out of a box of supplies I was going to get rid of! Not any more!!  The combination of patterned papers really keeps your eye moving around this card and the three epoxy hearts (I rescued from a sale bin last February) serve as a wonderful anchor.

You can see how the other DT gals used the transportation theme here.  You have a fortnight to add your card to the MTTC gallery.  See you on February 10th for our next challenge!

Challenges Entered:
Aud Sentiments #195/ - AG
Crafty Creations #359 - AG
Crafty Gals Corner #157/ - AG
Star Stampz Challenge 1/25 - Valentines or Lots of Pink/Red
Mod Squad Challenge 1/24/ - Valentine - Love

My Time to Craft #362 - Something New

Happy New Year from all of us at My Time to Craft!  Our first challenge theme for 2018 is Something New.

My card is for a friend whose new granddaughter was born a few days before Christmas! Waffle Flower's Just Popping In stamp is used for the image.  I fussy cut the hanging onesie and an extra heart to give the drawer pull dimension.

This challenge theme will be easy for those of you who got new stamps and papers for gifts! You have until January 19 to add your card to our gallery!  The DT has some inspiration to help you started HERE!

My Time to Craft #360 - Sketch Challenge

Meena created the sketch for  My Time to Craft Blog's Challenge #360.   My newest stamp purchase from PTI came to mind right away for my card- which uses masking and lots of layers.

The birch background is stamped using Fine Linen on white paper to create a background behind the the red vase from PTI's Flower Power Stamp Set.  I used the daisy-like flower as a poinsettias to make a seasonal design. The darker greenery and the vase are stamped directly on the same paper layer as the birch background.   I stamped the red poinsettias, white ball flower stems, and the round green leaves on separate paper, fussy cut them, and glued them onto the image panel.  The white poinsettia was stamped on kraft, treated with white heat embossing and popped out along with the center to add extra dimension.   An older PTI set was used for the sentiment as well.

I have a feeling I will get lots of use out of both of these new PTI stamp purchases!!

I hope you will find inspiration from the other MTTC DT members and play along with our challenge.  You have until December 15th to enter!

Challenges Entered:
PTI Make It Monday #305/ - Lots of Layers
Aud Sentiments #194/ - Christmas + a Sentiment
Through the Purple Haze #139- Layers/ (more than 3)
The Merry Christmas Challenge #45/ - AG

My Time to Craft #359 - Winter Birthday

Amy is the creative mind behind the Winter Birthday theme of the newest challenge on the My Time to Craft Challenge Blog.  I am featuring a digi from the talents of artist Sandra Caldwell for my card.  You can find the image (and hundreds more!) in her Babycakes Design and Digis Etsy Shop; it's called 1018 Reindeer Child.  I love Sandra's quirky eye and her unique illustrative style.

MTTC challenges run for a fortnight, so you have plenty of time to check out the DT creations and then enter a card in the gallery!  We'd love to visit you blog and leave you some love!

Challenges Entered:
Crafty Catz #393 - AG
Pattie's Creations #140 - Birthdays

My Time to Craft Challenge #358 - Paper Piecing

Back again with Monika's challenge from on the  My Time to Craft Blog.  It's all about paper piecing.  I went to my stamp collection and found this sweet fairy and teacup from A Day for Daisies.   I paper pieced the dress, wings, and teacup and colored her hair, body, and the teabag.  The sentiment is from Little Inker's Coffee Cozy Stamp Set, but is perfect for a cup of tea, too!

Hope you will pull out your scissors and join us with some fun paper pieced cards and share them in the My Time to Craft gallery.

Challenges Entered:
Jo's Scrap Shack FFC#213/ - AG
Really Reasonable Ribbon #175/ - AG
Cute Card Thursday #502/ - AG
Aud Sentiments #192/ - Bingo (middle column)

My Time to Craft Challenge #357- Halloween or Cats

Suzanne is this week's My Time To Craft theme designer and she has chosen Halloween or Cats for us to play with.  I've used a digi stamp from QKR Stampede called Autumn Breeze for my Halloween image.  I paired her with some textured paper I found on clearance at Micheals a year ago - which was perfect with this scarecrow image!  The sentiment is from PTI's Keep It Simple Birthday III Mini stamp set.

I had fun coloring this image.  I've been taking a self-paced online class called, Marker Painting Foundations  from Amy Shulke at Vanilla Arts and am trying to practice using what I have learned on all of the images I color.  One of the things Amy teaches is using colored pencil on top of  Copics to add additional depth and highlights.  I've also changed my technique to coloring from dark to light - which has been a big adjustment.  The other secret trick is using N0 or N2 to shade under the colors.  I've been learning a lot and recommend the class if you want to work on your shading and blending.

Hope you will join us this week.  Before you get started, take a peek at the DT creations on the MTTC Challenge Blog!

Challenges Entered:
Alphabet Challenge/ - P is for Pumpkin
Crafty Catz #389/ - AG with Autumn Colors
QKR Stampede #266/ - AG
Aud Sentiments #191/ - Halloween + Sentiment
Moving Along with the Times #56/ - Autumn/Fall
Seize the Birthday 10/12/ - AG
Time Out Challenge #94/ - Photo Inspiration

My Time To Craft Challenge #356 - Sympathy

I'm delighted to announce my debut as part of the My Time to Craft Challenge Blog DT.  I was so excited when Shell asked me to join the group.  One of the things that appealed to me about the MTTC Blog is using my stash to create cards for you, so I'm happy to share this sympathy card using an "oldie but goodie" stamp from PTI - Harvest Berries and a newer sentiment from PTI's Ways to Say Collection - With Sympathy.

I colored the branch and trimmed around the rectangle of white paper and mounted another rectangle of brown behind it as a frame.  My original idea was to use a Bravo Burgundy card base.  There was enough room on the white rectangle to mask the sentiment on two lines.  Well,  I was using a Cherry Cobbler stamp pad that was seven or eight year old (and noticed the tell-tale gold sheen on top of the stamp pad).  The red smeared when I mounted the panel on the card base!!  I was faced with the decision to either recolor the card or create Plan B - which you see here!  Stampin' Dimensionals are behind the branch - and my Cherry Cobbler ink pad is in the trash!!

I hope you will play along with our challenge this fortnight.  Sympathy cards are a little sobering to make, but they are always good to have on hand.  Before you get started, take a peek at the rest of the MTTC DT inspiration here.  You just might get bragging rights as one of our Top 3 and post the badge on your blog!  Hope to see you in the gallery!

Challenges Entered:
Crafty Catz #387/ - AG/optional CAS
Pattie's Creations #139 - Shades of Autumn
Creative Knockouts #214/ - AG
Addicted to Stamps #262/ - Make Your Mark