OHC Round-Up

It's time for another round-up of cards for my One Hundred Cards challenge (if you're not familiar with the challenge, read about it here). I'm happy to say that I have completed over half of the quota so far (42 themes left!), and I'm hoping to finish everything by the time November rolls around.

For today's round-up, I've got a few cards featuring some retired stamps. I apologize in advance if this frustrates you, but I really want to go through my crafty stash and make use of everything I've bought.


OHC 26 - Chocolate

Lawn Fawn - Here's The Scoop stamp, October Afternoon - Summertime Pillow Stickers, Doodlebug - Mini Doily in white

Although chocolate seems like an easy theme, I admit that I struggled with it. I think a part of it was that while I had several chocolate-themed papers, stickers and stamps, none of them were quite in the same style. So, I opted for a less literal route and went with an inspiration based on hot-fudge sundaes (with yummy chocolate!).

OHC 44 - Baby

Hero Arts - Sun Showers (CL869), Lawn Fawn - Hello Sunshine Petite 6x6 (retired)

For this card, I decided to use a fun and whimsical stamp set that I could use soft colors with. This set also happened to have a slightly different sentiment - not the usual "happy baby/happy shower", which I thought would be sweet coupled with sweet wishes on the inside of the card.

OHC 47: Winter

My Favorite Things- Doodle Garden: You're The Coolest stamp (retired), Lawn Fawn flair (retired), Snowflake Wood Veneer

Winter is one of the themes you will be seeing a lot of in the upcoming months as we transition into the holiday season. Since it will be featured so heavily, I decided to keep this card very simple and use a retired stamp. I also skipped the sentiment and used a piece of flair instead.

OHC 56 - Peach

WPlus9- Punny Produce: Peaches

I've had this little stamp set for ages, but just had not gotten around to making a card with it. I love both the font in the set and the watercolor-like look of the peaches. I also added some fun bold-striped pattern paper and some sequins.

OHC 66 - Strawberry

Clearly Besotted - Let's Roll stamp

I came very close to not counting this card because I went to photograph it and noticed the little hedgehog was not lined up in the middle of the circle. The perfectionist in me went a little batty over it! But if I remake every card I'm not completely happy with, I'll never be done. So, into the "finished" pile it goes.

OHC 78 - Silver

WPlus9 - Doodle Buds stamp, Ellen Hutson LLC - Fancy Thanks stamp

I found this glossy silver journaling card and thought it was just perfect to use with the theme. I added some doodled flowers and a simple sentiment, then set everything against a diagonal stripe. I think it really works!

OHC 79 - Wind

My Favorite Things - A La Mode: You Anchor Me (retired)

When I think of wind, the first thing that always pops into my head is sailing -- which, of course, leads to anything nautical. So, this simple card is a nautical one, but with bright summer colors. Fun, yea?

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Fly Away

 I love rediscovering treasures in my crafty stash. Sometimes it's a supply that I bought a while ago and forgot about. Other times it's an old card that I saved. But last week I found a stack of notes I'd taken when I first started making cards.

For some unexplained reason, I had initially tackled card-making with a kind of rigorous academic approach. I'd written down "things to never do" and "things to always do" and pages-worth of supplies I just had to have... I think I stopped taking notes when I branched into looking up different card-making styles and the advice got conflicting.

Reading those notes now was such fun. There were a few good tidbits in there, of course, but the majority of advice were rules I was just itching to break. And, thus inspired by my rebellious streak, I decided to make a card.

I chose Tiddly Inks' Chloe and Peeps stamp set. Now, Chloe the black-winged fairy has a sweet story, but I always see her as a rebellious mischief-maker -- and that seemed just perfect for this card. I stamped her out onto some cardstock with black ink and then colored her in with my Prismacolor pencils. That broke rule #1 - do not use colored pencils to color the stamp (don't ask why this was a rule, but it was in there!).

I trimmed the panel a bit and matted it with a piece of warm grey cardstock. Then I broke another rule and used a background color that wasn't in the image -- I grabbed a striped patterned paper. I adhered it to a top-folding card base. I added Chloe's panel with foam squares (dimension was another rule-breaker!).

Lastly, I skipped stamping a sentiment (yep, another big no-no) and added a piece of flair. A scattering of sequins later, the card was done. And I must say, not bad for a card that broke every rule. ;)

Thanks for reading
~Elle~

P.S. This fits OHC theme 81 - Birds.

Level Up!

Today's card features a really fun stamp set and die set from My Favorite Things. Game Controller die comes with two controller dies and all the buttons you can customize. It's great for both masculine cards and cards for any gamer in your life. Level Up stamp set is the perfect stamp companion as it features fun and unique sentiments.

I have used this stamp and die set for masculine birthday cards twice already, and I can really see myself using them even more. My favorite part about the die is that it's easy to change out and customize colors. In the card I'm sharing today, for example, I used black for the base and pulled a couple of extra colors from the patterned paper I was using. This created a fun contrast that really makes the card pop.

I kept this card really simple and embellishment-free. I also hand-drew the little twirly cord leading to the controller - just to ground it a bit.

Since I really like how this turned out, I'm going to enter it in the MFT Superstar contest.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

P.S. This fits OHC theme 24 - Playful.

OHC - Weekly Round Up #3

It's time for another weekly round-up of the cards I've created for my OHC challenge!

OHC 93 - Watercolor:

C.C. Designs - Patty (retired), Akashiya Sai watercolor brush pens, Ranger Distress Inkpads- Cracked Pistachio (background)

I kept this card pretty simple and went all out with sequins as embellishment. I think they fit the stamped stars and dots just perfectly.

OHC 3 - Forever:

My Favorite Things- MSTN I love you more stamp, Blueprints 15 die; Lawn Fawn - Hearts die; Kaisercraft - Cherry Blossom 6.5x6.5

I wanted to play with some patterned paper and negative die-cuts with this card. I also echoed the dots in the paper with some enamel dots as embellishment.

OHC 58 - Feminine:

Simon Says Stamp- Lovely Spring, Pretty Pink Posh- Sparkling Clear sequins, Ellen Hutson LLC- Peach sequins

This card was really difficult to photograph, as the colors are pretty light and subtle. I went for a combination of warm pinks and browns, with a touch of light green. I also brought in some peachy colors and sparkle with sequins.

OHC 10 - Nostalgia:

My Favorite Things- BB Adventure Is Calling, Copics

I colored this Birdie Brown stamp with very bright, summery colors. I added the cute bunny from the set next to the sentiment, and I think this really dressed up the sentiment panel.

OHC 46- Brown

My Favorite Things- BB The Whole Herd, Lawn Fawn- Chit Chat (w/ coordinating dies), Lawn Fawn- Let's Polka Mon Amie paper, Doodlebug Sprinkles Chocolate vellum

This is a pretty simple birthday card. I played with different shades of brown and colored in a cute goat from Birdie Brown.

And that's all for this week!
This week's been really busy, so I didn't get a chance to get crafty a whole lot. But I'm hoping to catch up next week with more projects to share.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Weekly Round-Up (OHC) 2

It is Saturday, and it's time for another weekly round-up of the cards I created for my OHC challenge!

As you may have noticed, I did not post too many cards this week. In part, it was because the majority of my cards were OHC and I wanted to save them for my round-up. The rest was split between having some guest designer projects (really awesome things coming from Some Odd Girl!) and work keeping me very busy. I've managed to (barely) find enough time for my daily creative hour, but not enough to take photos and make fun posts about it.

The next couple of weeks are likely to be the same, but as the OHC to-make list starts to dwindle, I anticipate a lot more cards being shared.

Now, onto the cards~

OHC 17 - Dream

 The Greeting Farm- Cuddly Thanks, Clearly Besotted- Say It In Style, Copics

OHC 85 - Mint

Mama Elephant- Ella and Friends, Mama Elephant- Photobomb (sentiment), My Mind's Eye On Trend 6x6 paper, Copics

Note: The patterned paper is mint, even though it doesn't fully look like it in the picture.

OHC 34 - Summer

Stamping Bella- IDA Lulu (retired), Prismacolor pencils, Papertrey Ink Wet Paint Cuts Die (hello)

OHC 96 - Thanks

Simon Says Stamp- Sailing (July 2015 Card Kit), My Favorite Things Blueprints 1 die, Copics

OHC 14 - Alone

WPlus9- Happy Mail, Copics

OHC 21 - Velocity

Avery Elle- Roll With It (retired?), Lawn Fawn- Let's Polka flair

OHC 80- Country

Dare 2B Artzy- Lemonade, Pink Paisley- Citrus Bliss 6x6, Copics

OHC Round-up: Week 1

As I've mentioned before, I've made a ton of progress on my OHC project. So much, in fact, that I have oodles of cards to show and I'm starting to worry about being able to share them all before the year is up -- especially given that I've got a few other things up my sleeve I'd love to share.

So, I've decided to do a weekly OHC round-up, where I display a few cards at a time and get through that list a bit quicker. I will try to post a supply list under each card, but if I miss something, please feel free to let me know in a comment!

Without further ado...

OHC 74 (Masculine):

My Favorite Things: Inspired By Travel stamp (retired)

OHC 42 (Groovy):

Simon Says Stamp: Hand Lettered Encouragement

OHC 57 (Sea):

Avery Elle: Swim Team, Avery Elle: Knotty, Paper Smooches: Borders I die.

OHC 92 (Celebration):

Avery Elle: Bunting stamp, Mama Elephant: Carnival Cupcakes stamp, Lawn Fawn Hello Sunshine Paper and Flair (retired)

OHC 13 (Gold):

Simon Says Stamp: Big Scripty Greetings, My Mind's Eye Fancy That 6x6 paper

OHC 40 (Autumn):

My Favorite Things: Watercolor Flowers, My Favorite Things: Written in Watercolor, Avery Elle Harvest Collection 6x6

Phew, that's a lot of cards! :D

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 20 - Joy

Today's card uses Mama Elephant's Chance of Rain stamp set. I picked this stamp for its cute images as well as for the sentiments. I have several stamps and papers that have to do with weather or rain, so the sentiments will be very useful in my stamp collection. My favorite, though, is the sentiment about joy. So when I pulled OHC theme 20 (Joy), I just knew I had to use this set.

I started by stamping the girl, bear and umbrella onto some Copic marker paper. I used chocolate brown hybrid ink as it softens the image a bit. I colored them in with Copics, going with bright and cheerful colors. After they were colored in, I added a mouth to the girl with a brown marker and carefully cut the images out, leaving a small white border.

I wanted a fun background that incorporated a rainy weather. I started by adhering a piece of Lawn Fawn's Hello Sunshine (retired, sorry!) patterned paper to an A2 top-folding card. I had a piece of white cardstock that was the same size as the card front (4¼x5½"), so I die-cut it on one side with Lawn Fawn's Puffy Cloud border die. This gave me a fun and unique layout.

I adhered the images I had colored and cut out, then drew in an umbrella handle for the girl. I stamped the sentiment above the images with dark brown ink, then used a light teal to stamp a cloud around it.

Lastly, I used my Copic marker to quickly sketch a ground for the girl and bear to stand on.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 83 - French with SOG

Today's card features a lovely stamp from Some Odd Girl called Frenchie Gwen. I was really drawn to this stamp set for two reasons: 1) It's a lovely image with a super cute outfit that looked like fun to color, and 2) I have family living in an area that predominantly speaks French, so a stamp with sentiments in French is high on my "need it" list when it comes to supplies. So, when I pulled out OHC theme 83 - French, this was the stamp I reached for.

I started by stamping Gwen in black hybrid ink onto some Copic marker paper. I colored her in with Copics, choosing a palette of white, blue, dark grey and a hint of red. After she was colored in, I added some accents with a white gel pen and carefully cut Gwen out with a pair of sharp scissors.

I grabbed a couple of great patterned papers. The first was a simple navy with a tiny white polkadot, and the second was an air-mail stripe that brought in the touch of red that was accented on Gwen. I adhered the two papers to a white top-folding A2 card base (4¼x5½"). I then cut a chunky strip of white cardstock and added my sentiment in navy ink. I cut one end at an angle and adhered it to the card with foam squares.

I wanted to add a touch of gold to the card - the sparkle would contrast fabulously with the navy, so I added one of the awesome gold foil doilies from Some Odd Girl. Of course, the doily photographed very shiny, but I assure you that it's a lovely gold in person.

I adhered Gwen to the card with foam squares and then scattered a few enamel dots around for fun.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 51 - Spring

Today's card is a bit different because it's a spring card, and we're well into summer. But, I drew the OHC theme 51 (Spring) and that's what I had to create. For my card, I chose to use the fabulous Birdie Brown's set Somebunny.  This sweet set features some of the cutest bunnies in a variety of poses and sweet sentiments to match.

I started by cutting a tag shape out of Kraft cardstock, using the Stitched Duo 1 dies. I also die-cut a piece of orange patterned paper (from a Lawn Fawn paper pad that's now retired) and used a stitched scallop die to cut it to size.

I stamped the cute bunny and the flower cart onto some marker paper with brown hybrid ink and colored everything in with Copics. I carefully cut out the images, leaving a small white border. I adhered the patterned paper and the bunny to the tag shape, then tied an orange chevron ribbon around the top.

I matted a piece of mint polka dot patterned paper to a kraft panel and adhered them to a standard white top-folding A2 card base (4¼x5½"). I added the tag with foam squares. I wanted a subtle sentiment, so I found a small sticker in my stash that had a minty green color, and I added it to the card.

As a last touch, I adhered a few enamel dots to the tag.

Thanks for reading!
Elle

OHC 54- Secret

Today's card features the newest stamp from The Greeting Farm's Super Secret Stamp Club - Ezra. The second I saw this stamp, I knew I had to pair it up with OHC theme 54 - secret. The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of "secret" is a journalist uncovering the secret of the century! I guess all those mystery books, shows and movies have got me thinking about that. And how perfect is Ezra with his camera?!

I stamped him out in brown ink and colored him in with Copics. I carefully cut him out with scissors, leaving a small white border.

For the card background, I picked two fun papers from my paper stash - a cute speech bubble paper and a camera sketchy paper. I layered them together, then added a strip of black cardstock to create some contrast.

I used  the sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Here's the Scoop stamp set, added to a thin strip of cardstock. I angle-cut the sentiment strip and adhered it to the card.

As a last touch, I added a few black enamel dots, and the card was done!

Thanks so very much for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 01 - Friendship

Today's card features a cute little critter duo from The Greeting Farm's Wood Friends set. It also happens to be theme #1 in OHC - Friendship.

I started by stamping the deer and the squirrel with some black hybrid ink. I colored them in with Copics, then carefully cut them out with some sharp scissors. I made a little summer scenes for them on a piece of white cardstock I'd die-cut into a small rounded rectangle.

I found two fun pieces of patterned paper to use as a background. One is a subtle warm grey stripe, and the other was a fun polkadot. I adhered the two together and added them to a cream A2 card base (4¼x5½") with foam squares. I layered my scene together and added it to the card front.

I wanted to do something a little different for sentiment, so I stamped it onto a little tag I'd die cut from white cardstock. I adhered a strip of striped paper to the bottom, and decorated it with some bright enamel dots.

As last bits of decoration, I added a few more enamel dots and a white flag-shaped banner under the stamped panel.

Overall, the card is a bit busier than my usual style, but I like how it turned out.

Thanks for reading!

~Elle~

Illustration Friday: Waves

It's Friday, and it's time to share another self-made illustration! This week, what I really wanted to practice is my line-work -- i.e. get more comfortable with using a pen to draw directly onto paper. So, my illustration is the swirly sea you see in the image above.

My inspiration for the waves was a painting I saw a few years ago in a World exhibition at our local museum. The painting in question was from Japan and it featured lines and swirls in the sea, with bright Koi fish intermingled into the design. It was both fascinating and meticulous, and I loved the idea of making waves with thin repeated lines and swirls. I've seen the design since in a lot of modern nautical art, and I always enjoy seeing it.

I started this card by cutting out a stitched rectangle panel and stamping the boat from Avery Elle's Knotty stamp set. I stamped the boat in blue ink because I wanted it to be a bit faded and fit into the image in a subtle way. I quickly sketched in some pale color with my Copics. Then I drew in the sea! I didn't plan any of the images, I just started with one swirl and build up from there. Once I'd filled out a few of the swirls, it became a lot easier to figure out the rest.

After that was done, I used Copics to color in the background. I stamped my sentiment onto a thin piece of white cardstock and trimmed one end into a flag shape. I adhered it to the front panel.

For the background, I used nautical striped patterned paper (theme 49 for OHC was stripes!), and I adhered the front panel with foam squares. As a last touch,  I scattered a few enamel dots around the card.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 22- Red

I've occasionally come across questions about which color I find difficult to color with, and I've always replied that I don't really have one. And it's true! I love all colors and I'm happy to work with all of them, even if I tend to mainly gravitate toward bright colors. I've used red, for example, as a fabulous accent color and as the main color for many Christmas cards. So, it was never on my radar as a challenging color to use... until this card!

When I picked theme 22 from OHC (red), I thought this was going to be one easy-peasy and quick card that's bright and happy. But once I got down to coloring and choosing my papers, it was a lot more difficult than I'd thought. Red is a very commanding color and can even look aggressive. So, to use it as a main color on a card took a bit of extra thought.

I printed the adorable Giddy Tia digi from Some Odd Girl and colored her in with Copics. I chose to accent the red in her dress with golden yellow and gave her white hair - just to be a bit different. Once that was done, I carefully cut her out with a pair of scissors and set her aside to work on the rest of the card.


I grabbed a medium grey card top-folding A2 card base (4¼x5½") and adhered a piece of red patterned paper to the front. Then I added a gray strip of paper to break up the color a bit. Adding that gray did soften the red a little more and added just the touch of neutrality I needed.

For my decorations, I used a bright red doily from Doodlebug and some enamel dots I had in my stash. I adhered everything together and added Tia.

For the sentiment, I die-cut the word "happy" from a die and added "day" in alphabet stickers.

In the end, the card turned out a bit Christmas-y and definitely not the deep rich red masterpiece I'd envisioned before starting. But I think Giddy Tia makes it a super happy and cheerful card nonetheless.

Before I go, here's a sneak peak of my guest DT project over at Some Odd Girl blog. Please check it out! I had a lot of fun creating it. :)

Thanks for reading!!
~Elle~

OHC 48 - Love

The minute I saw Avery Elle's Geek Love stamp set, I just knew I had to have it. Not only is it absolutely adorable love set with great sentiments, but it is customizable! You can stamp different outfits, different hairstyles and generally have fun personalizing your favorite couple. I bought this set right at launch, and I've been itching to use it ever since.

So, when I pulled the One Hundred Cards challenge theme 48 - love - I decided this was the perfect occasion!

I stamped out the couple from Geek Love onto some Copic marker paper with brown hybrid ink and then colored them in with my Copics. I kept the coloring super simple and cartoon-like to match the cute image style. After the coloring was done, I carefully cit out the couple with a pair of sharp scissors, leaving a small white border.

I wanted to keep the rest of the card relatively simple, so I die-cut a piece of patterned paper with a stitched rectangle die. I chose the paper because it had cute hearts and a navy (more masculine) color. While I had my Bigshot out, I also cut a smaller stitched rectangle out of gray cardstock. This is going to make the background for my lovely couple. I also die-cut a red heart with this fabulous sketch heart die from Simon Says Stamp.

The card came together really quickly. I adhered the paper and gray panel to the cardstock, then stamped a little sentiment in the upper left corner. I adhered the red heart to it, then added my cute couple on foam squares. As a last touch, I added 3 little enamel hearts that were in the same tones as the patterned paper.

And there you have it!

I also wanted to add that you will probably be seeing a lot of OHC cards coming up. I've been doing really great with this challenge, and I'd really like to finish before the holiday season gets upon us and things get mega busy for me. So, I'll try not to be so repetitive and continue linking to OHC or using OHC in the title so much. I'll still make a note of what my theme is and you'll be able to click on the OHC label at the end of each post to see what I've done so far.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 31 - Birthday

Today's card is a simple birthday card featuring Lawn Fawn's Party Animal stamp set. It's also a part of my One Hundred Cards challenge (read about it here), with theme 31 - Birthday. Birthdays and thank-you cards are the cards I make and use the most, so theme 31 is especially useful to me.

Party Animal is one of my favorite stamp sets from Lawn Fawn's new release - and judging by all the lovely cards that feature this set, I'm not the only one that feels this way. This set is filled with little details you can use to create a fun card, so it is definitely worth having.

For my card, I started by die-cutting my front panels, using stitched rectangle dies. I then used the Puffy Clouds Borders die to die cut two cloud shapes at the top. I added a touch of color to the front panel with distress inks (Wild Honey for the bottom and Broken China for the clouds. Then I adhered everything together to a top-folding A2 card base (4¼x5½").

I stamped the two critters, balloon and birds onto some Copic marker paper with brown hybrid ink. I then colored them in with Copics -- I went for warmer colors, echoing the patterned paper and card base. After everything was colored in, I carefully cut them out, leaving a small white border.

I adhered the critters to the card with foam squares.

As a last touch, I stamped the sentiment from the stamp set onto a ½" strip of white cardstock. I trimmed it to size and added it to the card.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 32 - Home-made (with SOG)

Today was a very long, very busy and very stressful day. It was one of those days where I'm just playing catch-up, and even though I'm getting a ton done, it feels like there's an infinity more to do. Eventually, though, the day ends and I take a few minutes to rest and relax (instead of just falling asleep out of sheer exhaustion).

Tonight, I put on some quiet music and grabbed my knitting needles. Now, I an not a knitter by any means. About all I can manage is a simple European knit, long enough to make a wonky scarf. But that clinking of needles and repetitive motion calms me down and lets my brain recharge. And, as always, that led to that creative burst of inspiration where I just had to make a card. I pulled one of the themes from my One Hundred Cards challenge box and came up with "home-made". That just fit so perfectly with what I was doing!

I wanted to do something knitting-related, and Sweater Kaylee was the right stamp. Not only does it feature Kaylee sporting a rockin' sweater, but it has wonderfully punny sentiments that even non-knitters would appreciate.

After stamping Kaylee out in brown hybrid ink, I colored her in with Copics. I went for a combination of teal, purple, brown and golden yellow. I think this colorful combination is fresh and summer-like - even if sweaters aren't particularly summer-y. After I was done coloring, I carefully cut her out, leaving a small white border.

I found a fun crochet patterned paper from Simple Stories Homespun collection. It featured lovely neutral colors and fit perfectly with my theme. I matted the paper onto a cream-colored card base. Then I adhered Kaylee with foam squares.

I stamped the sentiment onto a thin strip of cream cardstock and matted it with a yellow gingham from the paper pad. I cut one edge at an angle and adhered it to the card base. as a last touch, I added 3 enamel dots near the sentiment, using the colors from Kaylee's outfit and the patterned paper.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 72- Black

Today's card is another one in my One Hundred Cards challenge (read about it here). When I pulled out the theme "black", I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. My first instinct was to make some kind of starry sky, but I'd already done that with a different OHC card and I didn't want to repeat myself. So, I decided to go in an different direction and explore under the sea.

I started by preparing my top-folding A2 card base (4¼x5½") out of black cardstock. I made sure to line the inside with some white cardstock so it was simpler to write in. I then die-cut a stitched rectangle out of black cardstock. It looked a bit too plain and too severe for the fun card I had in mind, so I flicked some pearlescent white and turquoise paint thinned with a bit of water over it. This created a spotty effect that softened up the panel. The color was very bright when I was applying it, but it dried to a more subtle tone -- something to keep in mind when deciding how much color to add.

I'm sure most of you have already seen the super adorable Lawn Fawn set So Jelly. This cute set is both mega adorable and very inexpensive, so it's a great set to add to your stamp collection. I stamped 3 jellyfish and decided to do two-tone coloring on them with my Copics. I blended orange and pink, blue and purple and yellow and blue-green. This gave the jellyfish a fun rainbow-like look. When doing this kind of blending, you want to choose shades that are relatively close together in brightness, and just go back and forth with the two colors until they look blended. After they were colored, I added some details with a white gel pen and die-cut them with the So Jelly dies.

Since I really loved how the rainbow looked against the black, I die-cut a scalloped rectangle out of rainbow-striped paper. This paper is from a Lawn Fawn collection that's been retired (Hello Sunshine Petite 6x6), but you can find a similar stripe in the new Beachside paper set.

I adhered all of my elements together and added them to the card front. I wanted to add a sentiment, and I thought "thanks" was the perfect one. I die-cut the sentiment out of some gray striped paper (Hippo Line Dance) and adhered it to the card.

As a last touch, I scattered a few sparkly clear sequins around the page.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 76 - Pear

Today's card is another entry in my One Hundred Cards challenge (read about it here). When I pulled out the "pear" theme, I knew just the perfect stamp set to use -- Avery Elle's Berry Good. This set features some lovely images of fruit that are perfect for practicing your coloring, as well as some great sentiments. I especially love the whimsical font in the sentiments, and I can really see myself reaching for them often.

For this card, I decided to use my Copics and practice coloring some semi-realistic textures and shading. I stamped out two pears onto some Copic marker paper in black hybrid ink. I used a variety of Y, G and YG markers for the pear body, then added a few dots of soft orange. After I finished coloring, I carefully cut the pears out, leaving a small white border.

I wanted the pears to be the main focus of the card, so I kept the rest of the card super simple. I die-cut a piece of patterned paper into a stitched rectangle. I stamped the sentiment onto some white cardstock and die-cut it with a stitched circle die.

I wrapped a piece of green grosgrain ribbon around the top of the patterned paper and adhered the sentiment over it. I adhered that panel to a chartreuse top-folding A2 card base (4¼x5½"), then added the pears on foam squares.

BUDGET TIP: Look for stamp sets that combine something unique with something simple and practical. For example, Berry Good set that I used in today's card has unique, quirky-styled sentiments and simply-drawn fruit. The fruit can be stamped and colored in many ways -- Copics, pencils, watercolor, even paper-piecing.

OHC 43 - Coffee

Today's card is another card for my One Hundred Cards challenge(read about it here). When I pulled out the theme "coffee", I was stumped - not because I have nothing coffee-inspired, but because I have so many awesome coffee-themed supplies that I couldn't possibly narrow it down to one or two to use! So, I took a slightly different approach and pulled a bunch of colors and patterns.

The first paper I reached for was Lawn Fawn's Milk Chocolate Line Dance (from the Let's Polka Mon Amie collection). It has a lovely brown tone that reminded me of iced mochas I used to drink with friends. I also grabbed a pale aqua paper from Pint-sized Patterns: Beachside petite pack. I also added in some embossed vellum from Doodlebug that I had laying around. A bit of yellow and pink, and I was ready for stamping!

I used Lawn Fawn's Love You a Latte stamp set to stamp a couple of cute cups. I colored them in with my Copics, then die-cut them into a circle. I colored in a quick background and added some hearts with a white gel pen.

I adhered everything together with a combination of regular adhesive and foam tape. Lastly, I adhered some white alpha stickers to spell out "coffee".

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

OHC 36 - Blue

Today's card features another stamp from The Greeting Farm's Super Secret Stamp Club - cute little stamp called Love Peppermint. This stamp is in the style of their Beans collection. I don't have any stamps from that collection, so I was super happy to get this set to play with.

Today's card is a double-duty card. First, it's a color Monday - and I'm using a color combo I've been itching to try:

In particular, I love the idea of combining blue, mint and yellow/orange. Blue and orange are contrasting colors, so they really make the combination pop.

Secondly, it's another entry for my One Hundred Card challenge (read about it here).

I kept the card itself very simple. Since I wanted the peppermint girl to really pop, I kept the card base and patterned papers in the blue and mint tones. I layered all the elements together, then adhered them to a square 4¼ by 4¼" card. Lastly, a few enamel dots and the card was done!

Thanks so much for reading.
~Elle~

P.S. Busy times at work continue. I apologize in advance if I'm a bit slow to respond or if I miss a day or two posting cards.