House Mouse "Monica Romances" and Memory Box "Wild Blooms" cards. Use of Negative Space

I hosted a challenge over on ScrapZee.com a couple of weeks ago. The challenge was use of negative space. I made two examples for the challenge. The first one I used the House Mouse image, "Monica Romances" by Stampabilities. The image is colored with Prismacolor color pencils. I used a heart die by Spellbinders to create my heart border on the bottom of the card. The negative space allows the red mat to show through the hearts. What did I do with the hearts I cut out with the heart die? I used them to dangle from my twine bow of course!

The next card was created using a die from Memory Box called "Wild Blooms". I used the negative part of the flower to make my card and put the flower I cut out away to use another day on another card.

Working with negative space can open up another use for your dies and punches. Need some more inspiration? Check out my Pinterest board for cards made using negative space: HERE

Wishing you all Happy Crafting!

House Mouse Tent Topper Card and Grand Madison Window Die Card

Hello! I meant to post these awhile ago. I actually have been making cards lately...well a few but just haven't been getting around to posting them. Things have been kind of chaotic and hectic in my life for awhile. Anywho....the card pictured above was made using the Grand Madison window die from Poppy Stamps / Memory Box. I fell in love with this window die and have pinned many examples of it being used on Pinterest. I have a lot of ideas for it and sure hope I find time in the near future to try out all of those ideas. The sun and sunrays were made with Colorbox pigment inks. The landscape is a die also by Memory Box called Country Landscape. The DP is by Basic Grey.

The next card below was for a challenge I hosted over on Card Swaps on the CardMaker site. The challenge was to make a tent topper card. The image I used is called O Happy Day....a House Mouse stamp by Stampabilities. I colored the image with Prismacolor color pencils. Embossing folder is by Cuttlebug and the cardstock is by Bazzill.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and staying cool. It has been a hot summer so far here in the Midwest!

A Sparkly Glittery House Mouse Christmas

Back with another post for today. I am entering this card into four challenges:

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge Blog - Christmas Sparkle - I have glitter on each of the bows on the heads of the mice. The green , red and gold cardstock is metallic and the bows / ribbon are also metallic. Had a difficult time getting a good photo to show all the sparkle so please believe me...the card sparkles in real life! :)

Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog - Sparkle and Bling with an option to use a Stampalibility stamp. I did use one...House Mouse

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge Blog - Anything Goes as long as it sparkles - I have that going on!

CardMakers Card Swap Forum Weekly Challenge - hosted by Golda this week - Golda challenged us to make a Christmas card using something you wouldn't usually see on a Christmas card - hopefully I have that covered with using mice! :)

Images are House Mouse by Stampabilities. As shown below they are one image but I stamped each mouse separately and then colored with Prismacolor color pencils. Cardstock and ribbon are from my stash and not sure of the maker.

Hope everyone is a having a happy and crafty weekend!

Sketch Challenge, House Mouse & Little Indy!

It's my turn this week to host the sketch challenge over at Card Swaps on the CardMaker site. Above is the card I made using my sketch. The image is a House Mouse image by Stampabilities. Designer paper is by Basic Grey and the cardstock is Bazzill and Die Cuts With A View. Image is colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. Want to join in on the sketch challenge and all the other fun activities over at CardMakers? You can find it HERE. There is another fun card crop coming up in August on the CardMaker site. Hope you will consider checking it out and join us for lots of fun and inspiration!

Below is the sketch I designed for the sketch challenge:

Also wanted to share with all my crafty blogging friends my news of our newest family member. Meet Indiana Jones who we are already calling "Indy"

We have been actively looking for another dog for the last month. We finally felt the need to fill the empty space left from losing our beloved Scout last November. Indy is nothing like what we were looking for. We were thinking a bigger dog...maybe another Aussie like our Scout was. ...but then we saw the picture below on the internet. Everything just started clicking and we knew we found our new fur baby! Isn't he adorable? He has been with us since Sunday and I am already smitten and in love with the little guy!

So now that our search is over maybe I will find more time to start crafting again. Indy has already found his favorite spot in my craft room to hang out with me!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is staying cool with this massive heat wave we are having across the states!

Happy Easter

I'm sliding in at last minute here with a card for the current House Mouse and Friends Challenge Blog. The challenge is Easter and you can find it HERE. I chose to make a joy fold card for this cute image. If you have never made a joy fold card you should try it. It adds a fun spin to the traditional top or side fold card. You can find the directions HERE courtesy of Splitcoast Stampers. Below are some additional pictures to show you how the card opens.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Designer Paper: We R Memory Keepers
Tools: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, SU slot punch
Ink: Colorbox Pigment Ink and Memories Black Ink
Techniques: Image colored with Prismacolor Color Pencils. Jellybeans also have a clear glaze added to them with the Sakura Glaze Pens for added extra shine.

Wishing you all a Happy and Blessed Easter!

House Mouse Flower Bed

I'm hosting the weekly sketch challenge this week over at Card Swaps on the CardMakers site. Sketch challenges are my favorite type of challenge. I also enjoy making my own sketches. I used a House Mouse stamp for my image....Flower Bed. I colored the sleeping critter with Prismacolor color pencils. Cardstock used is by Bazzill. The border punch is by Martha Stewart and the embossing is from a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I plan on making a few more of these to send out to wish some friends a happy Spring. We are getting a touch of Spring weather this week with temps reaching almost 60! I know it's only February but it sure is nice to get a bit of a teaser of what hopefully is around the corner soon.

Here's the sketch I drew for this challenge from which I created my card.

If you would like to join in on the challenge this week you can find it HERE. All participants will have their name put into my hat for a chance to win a RAK from me.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a great week!

House Mouse Swap

I use to host and participate in a lot of card swaps. It was always fun to get that "manilla envie" (as us swappers call it) in the mail from a swap. I would open it up and ooooh and ahhh over all the cards all the participants made. Swapping eventually came to a stop for me as it was getting harder and harder for me to see due to an eye disease I have been battling for many years. I usually stick to the weekly challenges now where I only need to make one card and can take my time making it.

Recently though I was officially declared legally blind. So before I loose all eye sight completely I thought I would join a swap or two and have some fun. A paper crafting friend of mine is currently hosting a House Mouse swap that required you to make 5 cards. Couldn't resist joining it as I love House Mouse. I chose a simpler image to make it easier for me to color...went with a birthday theme AND used scraps from my over flowing scrap drawer.

I sure hope the other swappers enjoy my card. I know I am looking forward to seeing all their creations. If you have never tried a swap, you should! They are fun, addicting and a great way to learn new things from other card makers.

Thanks for stopping by!

One Mouse - 4 Challenges!

Hello my "Blogging Friends"!
I am submitting this card for 4 challenges:

House Mouse & Friends - Folds, more than one fold. This gave me the opportunity to try making a "Joy Fold " card which I have been wanting to try for awhile. The pictures below show the different folds. You can find a tutorial HERE on how to make a joy fold card. Tutorial is by Splitcoast Stampers.

Cupcake Craft Challenge - Keep it simple. This is actually pretty simple for me. I usually like to throw on some ribbon, flowers, maybe some bling. Avoided that for this challenge.

A Spoon Full Of Sugar - Spring is in the air!

ClubCK / Cards, Crafts & Decor (hosted this week by Geminijen) - Spring and at least one element of the card "popped" with a pop dot or dimensional. I popped the circle at the top that holds the flap down.




Inside of card.


Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Image: House Mouse / Flower Drop by Stampabilities
Ink: Memories
Sentiment: Computer generated. Font from dafont.com
Printed Paper: We R Memory Keepers
Cardstock: Bazzill
Tools Used: Spellbinders Nestabilities and Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Embellishment: Pearl by Kaiser
Technique: Image colored with Prismacolor color pencils
Completed card size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Tails of True Love / House Mouse

The challenge this week on the Paper Crafts message board is being hosted by Tasia and she challenged us to make a card that is any shape but square or rectangle. This was perfect because I have been wanting to make a heart shape card using my Spellbinders Nestabilities.

Inside view

Supplies Used:
Image: Stampabilities House Mouse "Tails of True Love"
Ink: Memento
Cardstock: Bazzill
Tools Used: Spellbinders Nestabilities and BossKut Flourish die
Embellishments: Pearls by Hero Arts, flowers by Prima and brads from my stash
Techniques: Image colored with Prismacolor color pencils and blended with Gamsol

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas card & 3 challenges!

It's that time of year again when I start frantically trying to get all my Christmas cards made. You would think I would work on them all year and not be rushing at last minute....but no. One of these years maybe I will learn. I'm trying to make cards that are A2 size and with not too many lumpy embellishments so that it doesn't cost me a fortune in postage. I'm having a hard time though keeping my cards simple. I'm so into ribbon, flowers, bling and all those fun things that make it harder to mail your card. I don't think I did too bad with this one though. I was also able to make it work for three challenges, as well as I was able to use my scraps from the last card I made. Yeah!

The challenges I'm able to enter this card for are:
2 Red Bananas - A Christmas card
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Use the colors red and green
The Pink Elephant Challenge - Use your favorite coloring medium which in my case is to use my Prismacolor colored pencils. I love coloring with them!
I would highly recommend stopping by all three of these challenge blogs to check them out for some awesome inspiration.

Supplies Used:
Image: House Mouse "Santa I ate your cookies"
Ink: Memento
Cardstock: Bazzill
Printed Paper: Christmas Mint by SEI
Tools Used: Spellbinders Nestabilities and Cuttlebug Embossing folder
Embellishments: Metal dots by Colorbok
Techniques used: Image colored with Prismacolor colored pencils
Completed card size: A2

Halloween - 5 Challenges

I have never really been into Halloween much throughout my life. I usually don't make and send Halloween cards but who could resist this adorable mouse image? So I bought some fun Halloween papers and decided to try some of the challenges currently going for this type of card. I am submitting this for 5 challenges:
2 Red Bananas - Halloween
The Pink Elephant - Black, Orange, Purple and White color challenge
A Spoon Full Of Sugar - Halloween
Simon Says - Halloween
Mojo Monday - A sketch

Since I really don't do Halloween I didn't have much to work with in my stash of supplies and stamps. I think I could have used a dangling spider in the upper left corner. I bought a couple other Halloween images to work with so I may have to go find me a spider stamp.......I think one would have looked great on this card!

The sketch for this week at Mojo Monday is also for their monthly contest sketch. I am not sure if you are allowed to combine challenges or not on contest week but I wanted to at least give them credit and thank them for a great sketch! You can find it below.

Supplies:
Image: House Mouse by Stampabilities " Spooktacular Flower"
Sentiment: Sizzix Sizzlets dies
Ink: Memories
Cardstock: Base is Georgia Pacific and rest is Bazzill
Printed paper: Bo Bunny
Spellbinders Nestabilities circle dies
Brads from my stash
Techniques: Image colored with Prismacolor Color Pencils
Completed Card Size: 5 1/2" square

Hope everyone had a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Mouse Bounce / House Mouse

The weekly challenge this week on the Ck / Paper Crafts MB is being hosted by Barbara / lillyscrapper. Her challenge is a recipe calling for you to use:
* a critter
*1 , 3 or 5 flowers
* ribbon
* a punch
My critters are from the House Mouse collection by Stampabilities called "Mouse Bounce". I have colored them with Prismacolor Colored Pencils and blended with Gamsol. Flower punch is by Paper Shapers. I also used a border scallop punch by Martha Stewart. Ribbon and button are from my stash. Card base is Georgia Pacific. Colored card stock is Bazzill and printed papers are from the June Bug collection by Basic Grey. Barbara is offering an awesome prize this week for the winner chosen by random .....Prismacolor Color Pencils and a House Mouse stamp!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

Keeping Cool / House Mouse

Seasons is the current challenge over at House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge Blog. This little guy has found a great way at "Keeping Cool" with the beach, some lemonade and an ice cube! Card stock is by Bazzill and printed paper is from the Lime Rickey collection by Basic Grey. I usually choose to color my images with Prismacolor Colored Pencils and then blend with Gamsol but this time I didn't use Gamsol. All color was put down with several layers and blended without the use of Gamsol. Takes a bit longer this way but I found it to work better for coloring the glass and ice cube not to use Gamsol. Popped a yellow circle to represent a lemon wedge on the edge of the image and it said Summer to me!

I really enjoy the House Mouse challenge blog and I can always find a lot of inspiration there. I hope you take some time to check it out. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Image: Keeping Cool / House Mouse by Stampabilities
Cardstock: Bazzill
Printed Papers: Lime Rickey collection by Basic Grey
Tools Used: Spellbinders Nestabilities, Boss Kutz swirl die, Paper Shapers flower punches
Pearls by Hero Arts
Completed Card Size: 5 1/2" square

House Mouse ATC

Artist trading cards are miniature works of art created on 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" card stock. They have become very popular with artist and crafters throughout the world. If you would like to learn more about them, click here and here. Also if you google "ATC", will find a ton of info about ATCs as well as several galleries displaying samples.

I made these for a swap I am in that requires that we use a House Mouse image and we were to make 6 of them to trade with 6 other swappers. I chose to use Mudpie "Having a Ball" as my image. He is colored with Prismacolor colored pencils then blended with Gamsol. I used crystal Stickles by Ranger on the ornament and Snow Dimensional Paint by DecoArt for the brim and pom pom on Mudpie's Santa hat. I used Spellbinders Nestabilities to cut my scallop circle. Card stock is by Bazzill and the white card stock is embossed with Cuttlebug's Snowflake embossing folder. Double sided satin ribbon by Offray and corner punch by Stampin Up was used to finish off my ATC.

If you have never tried making an artist trading card....you should. I'll warn you though, they can be addicting! Thanks for stopping by.

House Mouse Challenge 39 A Birthday Card & Simon Says Stamp Challenge / Animals

I have a two-fer....two challenges in one card. The first challenge is the House Mouse & Friends challenge #39 which is to make a birthday card for a boy or girl using a House Mouse or friends image. I thought at first that I would use one of my House Mouse birthday images and then as I was looking through my stamps I saw all these mice jumping around in joy as if they were celebrating and wishing someone a Happy Birthday. So I chose to use them. The House Mouse & Friends challenge blog is a favorite of mine to follow weekly.

The second challenge is for the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog which this week is "animals". I think I have that covered with my 3 happy jumping up and down mice! Simon Says Stamp is a fairly new challenge blog. I would recommend checking it out and I highly recommend their online store "Simon Says Stamp" for all your stamping needs. Not only do they have a great selection but their service is outstanding!

I also enjoy creating my own sketches and here is the one I created for this card. If you like it please feel free to use it!



Supplies Used:
Images: House Mouse by Stampabilities
Cardstock: Bazzill and Wausau
Printed Paper: BasicGrey from the Lime Rickey collection
Ink: Memento
Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities, Cuttlebug ribbon slider die
Brads & ribbon from "my stash"
Techniques: Images colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with Gamsol.
Completed card size: 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a chance to check out the great creations at House Mouse & Friends and Simon Says Stamp challenge blogs!

Cupcake Craft Challenge -#33 A Sketch & The Pink Elephant #8 / Easter Theme

I have a Two-fer today! The Cupcake Craft Challenge this week is a sketch. I love sketch challenges! I got a new wide screen monitor recently and sometimes it will stretch out pictures that aren't formatted for wide screen. So I wasn't sure if the sketch called for a circle or an oval. It showed as an oval on my screen but when I printed the sketch for reference it printed out as a circle. I checked some of the other entries and found that some did a circle and some did an oval so ....I did a circle and followed the sketch from there.

The challenge this week at The Pink Elephant is a theme....Easter. This was perfect for me as I needed to make an Easter card any way. I chose to use Monica from the House Mouse collection. On the outside she is presenting the Easter egg and then I chose to decorate the inside with Monica now sitting inside the cracked egg. If you haven't noticed from my blog....the House Mouse line of stamps are one of my favorites. Love those critters!

Above is the sketch we were to follow for the Cupcake Craft Challenge. Below is a picture of the inside of my card.

Supplies Used:
Images: House Mouse by Stampabilities
Sentiment: Computer generated
Ink: Memories - Black
Cardstock: Bazzill
Printed Paper: BasicGrey - Two Scoops Collection
Spellbinders Nestabilities
Pearls by Hero Arts
Offray Ribbon
Techniques Used: Image colored with Prismacolor Colored Pencils and blended with Gamsol
Card Size: 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square

Thanks for dropping by and don't forget to check out the Cupcake Craft Challenge and The Pink Elephant blogs.

Throwing Daisy Petals / House Mouse

I combined 3 challenges into one card! I didn't think I could but without really trying it all started to develop and next thing I knew....I had completed 3 challenges. That's a good thing this week because I have had a very busy schedule giving me less time to craft.

Challenge #1 is the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge. This is challenge #77 and the sketch to follow is below.

Challenge #2 is for the Cupcake Craft Challenge blog which had the theme of "Spring" for the challenge. You could use any image, paper, colors etc as long as your creation somehow said "Spring". I chose to use a House Mouse Image called "Throwing Daisy Petals" and I used some soft pastel colors that I felt made me think of Spring.

Challenge #3 comes from a brand new challenge blog called Use It!. This is their very first challenge and I am glad I am able to join in on their "maiden voyage". The idea behind this challenge blog is to use your current stash of supplies and not run out and buy something new to make your project with for the challenge. For this first challenge we were to use a favorite paper, use something we have never used before, use some ribbon and use a button. My paper is from We R Memory Keepers, you can see my ribbon and buttons and my never used is the floss I used to tie the buttons down. I had bought a card with 6 different colors of pastel embroidery floss on clearance a couple of years ago and never used it. I pulled it out today just for this project. My buttons are also probably from about 4 years ago and about time I used them!


Supplies Used:
Image: House Mouse by Stampabilities "Throwing Daisy Petals"
Cardstock: Bazzill
Printed Paper: We R Memory Keepers
Ink: Memento
Buttons by Lasting Impressions
Spellbinder's circle nestabilities
Floss by Making Memories
Techniques: Image colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with Gamsol

I hope you will take some time to check out the other fabulous creations at Mojo Monday, Cupcake Craft Challenge and be sure to check out the brand new challenge blog Use It! Why not join in on the fun!

Little Punkin / House Mouse

The challenge this week over at The House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge Blog is "chipboard". Along with a House Mouse or friend image you must use chipboard of some kind in some way on your creation. I have to admit I wasn't too happy with the challenge as I do not really get into chipboard. I don't even have too much in the way of chipboard pieces. But that's what challenges are all about right......to make us try new things! I was unable to do last week's House Mouse challenge so I didn't really want to miss this week too. I found some chipboard letters I have and the idea started. I thought of "Little Punkin" and then thought of the Halloween paper I found when cleaning my craft room last month. Before I knew it....I had created a Halloween card which is also unusual for me as I do not get into Halloween much either. I love "little punkin" though and couldn't resist him. I had several House Mouse stamps on my wish list that my kids bought me for my birthday last year. Little punkin was one of them. I had to paint the chipboard letters. I also added two chipboard photo corners which I also had to paint. I think if I can find a chipboard bat one day to add to the card I would then feel it was complete. For now though this is my entry for the challenge this week and I am also way ahead of having a Halloween card ready to mail to someone in October!
Supplies Used:
Image: House Mouse "Little Punkin" by Stampabilities
Cardstock: Wausau and Bazzill
Printed Paper: Unknown
Ink: Memories
Chipboard
Brads
Techniques: Image colored with Prismacolor Colored Pencils and blended with Gamsol

Don't forget to check out the other creations over at the House Mouse & Friends Challenge blog!

Spa Time / House Mouse

This week over at CK the challenge was hosted by Patti / ant me. The challenge is called "My Cup Overflows".For this weeks challenge you were to create a card or layout or altered item using a cup somewhere on your project. It could be a dainty tea cup or a hefty mug. The card itself could be in the shape of a cup or mug. I dug through my stamps and found this one with the mice having a good time diving into the teacup. Seemed perfect for the challenge.
Supplies Used:
Image: House Mouse "Spa Time" by Stampabilities
Cardstock: Royal Fiber / Wausau
Printed Paper: DCWV
Ink: Memento
Spellbinder's Circle Nestabilities
Martha Stewart Heart Border Punch & Martha Stewart Threader Punch
Techniques: Image colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with Gamsol

Thanks for the challenge Patti!

Dreampuff / House Mouse

The sketch this week over at Mojo Monday Challenge Blog has LOTS of layers! I was up late last night helping my son with finishing up a portfolio for one of the art colleges he is applying to. I decided while keeping him company I would tackle the Mojo sketch. I challenged myself further by using a printed paper with a color combo that I'm not use to working with. I also stamped my image on color cardstock instead of the normal white or cream. I was happy with the end result and really enjoyed the sketch!
Supplies Used:
Images: "Dreampuff" House Mouse by Stampabilities, Sentiment by Limited Edition
Cardstock: Die Cuts With A View, Bazzil and Wausau
Printed Paper: Unknown / from my stash
Ink: Memento
Martha Stewart Heart Border Punch
Spellbinder's Circle Nestabilities
Prima Flowers
Brads
Techniques: Image colored with Prismacolor Colred Pencil and blended with Gamsol

Be sure to check out all the fabulous creations over at Mojo Monday.....consider joining in if you haven't already!