More Hugs from an Elephant

Hello, Friends!

The way this week started, I had accepted that I would not get to enter a card into Anna's final challenge on her Casometry Challenge 3 Randomizer Final Stage.  However, since we got Frank's blood tests back, they showed two of his numbers were better and I could breathe for the first time since I saw him on Monday, I decided to make a card during the time he was at the clinic getting another treatment.  

Anna's challenge, which you can see here, was to make a new card using the same products we had used for one of our other cards that we had made for her  other challenges.   We had to use the exact same stamp sets and dies, in my case.  (We were also to use the same embossing folders or stencils, but I hadn't used any of those on my first card.  We were not to remove any of those items when making this card and we also couldn't add any new stamps or dies (stencils or embossing folders) to our card.  However, we could use different embellishments or techniques.  

Here is a picture my first card.  

You can read about it here.  

The plan I had for my card on Sunday night and the plan for my card on Wednesday night with just a few hours left in the challenge were very different.  My cards are more similar than I had intended but I'm just glad I got to make one!  I ended up using a sketch challenge from My Favorite Things which just began today.  You can see the blog post about this sketch here.  

I used different patterned paper and colored card stock, but I used the exact same stamps and dies for the rest of my card.  I used almost all My Favorite Things products to make this card, just like I had the first.  I started with a white card stock base.  I used the Pierced Rectangle Frames to put a Pure Plum frame around my card.  This time, I just put the frame on flat around the other papers I was using.  Remember, on the first card, I put it on with foam tape to create a shadow box effect.  I used the Dots and Stripes Confection 6 x 6 Paper Pack and the Plaid Patterns 6 x 6 Paper Pack for my two selections of patterned paper.  I used the Words for Friends "HUGS" die again to cut the letters out of Pure Plum card stock so I would know right where to place my letters.  Then I cut the "HUGS" letters out of Coral Crush card stock three times.  Although the first layer went into the negative space left in the Pure Plum card stock, I layered the other two sets of letters on top of each other so they would stand out a bit.  I stamped "So happy for you" from the Pure Innocence Happy Banner Stamp Set on a strip of Daffodil card stock.  It was so easy and fast to pick my colors because I just chose the same colors of card stock that were in the Plaid Paper.  I love matching products!  They make life so much easier!  

Next, I die-cut and stamped the same elephant I used on my first card from the Birdie Brown Adorable Elephants stamp set and colored her with my Copic Markers.  I used the MFT Color Chart to pick the marker that would match the coral color that was in my paper just to help her color coordinate a bit.  She even has painted toenails on this card.  Every girl feels better when her nails are done and I'm sure elephant girls feel the same way.  After everything was cut, stamped and colored, all I had to do was adhere everthing to the card base.  I put my elephant on with foam tape so she would stand up from the card just like the word "HUGS."

Speaking of hugs, big cyber hugs to all of you who have prayed for Frankfurter and my family this week.  It was so awful on Monday and I was pretty positive I would be blogging bad news today.  Instead, I had good news and a cute elephant card to share instead.  We offer all praise to God for this wonderful turn of events!

For a Wednesday night update, Frank was much more awake and alert today.  He had both of his treatments of medicine and fluids.  We are so thankful two of his numbers were better.  We will continue with the two treatments tomorrow and check his numbers again on Friday.  We continue to pray that his liver will improve and he will feel like eating and drinking again soon.  We are very, very grateful for every single day we have with him.  He is a Super Miracle Dog!

Happy Stamping!

I used the following My Favorite Things products to make this card,

unless otherwise listed:

Birdie Brown Adorable Elephants and Pure Innocence Happy Banner Stamp Sets

Memento Black ink by Tsukineko

Copic Markers

Solar White Card Stock by Neenah

Coral Crush, Daffodil and Pure Plum Card Stock

Plaid Patterns and Dots and Stripes Confection 6 x 6 Paper Packs

Birdie Brown Adorable Elephants, Pierced Rectangle Frames and Words for Friends Die-namics

Scotch Double Sided Foam Mounting Tape by 3M

Hugs from an Elephant

Hello, Friends!

Can you believe I've been able to post a card 4 weeks in a row?

I can barely believe it myself!

This one was close, though.  After I finished the watercolor flower last week, my back was really bothering me.  I had to spend 2 full days in bed waiting for the pain to ease up and then still had to take it easy.  Knowing I had an eye doctor's appointment on Monday and that I would be too tired to stamp after it, when I felt a little better on Saturday, I took advantage of it and made this card.  It was a good thing, because by Sunday morning, my back was causing me a lot of pain, again!  I have a doctor's appointment coming up and if you wouldn't mind saying a prayer that he can give me some advice to keep this from happening over and over, I would really appreciate it!  It's quite frustrating to make a little progress and then see it slip away over and over.

Now to happier things!  Anna Kossakovskaya's Randomizer Stage 4 Challenge is on her blog here.  This week, the theme was to make a card with a random stamp plus friendship.  I used Evernote to pick my random stamp and got My Favorite Things BB Adorable Elephants.  If you haven't seen this set, you must check it out here.  It is a cutie and I was thrilled to use it for my card!

Since it was a My Favorite Things stamp, I checked out their sketch challenge here and it was perfect to use with one of the elephants to create my card!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my blog post done in time to enter their challenge.  See why I need my back to be better all the time!  :)

  

I used almost all My Favorite Things products to make this card.  First, using the MISTI, I stamped my elephant, colored him with Copics and then used the matching die to cut him out.  I picked this elephant because I thought he kind of looked like he was waving to the recipient of the card.  

I used Gravel Gray Cardstock to form my base and to die cut two Pierced Rectangle Frames.  I used MFT's Tiny Check Paper Pack for my yellow checked paper (adorable!!) which I cut just a bit smaller than one of the frames.  This way it fit perfectly behind the frame for my background.  Instead of having the paper go all the way across the card like in the sketch, I used my frame die to cut another piece of Gravel Gray cardstock to fit inside the frame.  I used a set of dies called "Words For Friends" which had the "Hugs" die in it to cut the letters out of that same Gravel Gray strip.  I popped the "hugs" letters out of the gray cardstock so I had negative space or holes where they had been.  Then, I cut the word "hugs" out of Pineapple Prestige Cardstock and used the inlaid die technique to put them in the negative space in the gray strip.  This allowed the whole piece of gray cardstock with the yellow letters to lay flat across the back of the card.  However, before I adhered the hugs strip down, I stamped, "So happy for you" from the stamp set "Pure Innocence Happy Banner" on a small piece of Pineapple Cardstock.  I arranged the gray strip, the yellow strip, and my elephant exactly where I wanted them to go before I started to glue anything down.  When I had them where I wanted, I adhered the "hugs" strip and the "so happy for you" strip in place.

Just to add some interest to the card, I adhered the 2nd Pierced Rectangle Frame right on top of the first with foam tape.  I used foam tape on the half of my elephant that wasn't on the frame and regular flat adhesive on the side the was on the frame so he would be able to lay flat.  This made my elephant stand up from the background while creating a shadow box feel where the words were placed.  After this step, my card was complete!

While Anna has a bonus week coming up for her challenge, I would be thrilled to be able to post a card a week on my blog again!  Although it's easy to be discouraged by my health situation, I have to remember that last year it was not possible for me to make a card at all.  Making one a week for a month is a big improvement!  I've definitely made more cards this year than I was able to all of last year and it's only May!  If you remember to say a prayer for my doctor to be able to help me, please remember to say "thank you" for how far I've come, also.

Happy Stamping!

I used the following products by My Favorite Things, 

unless otherwise noted, to make my card:

Birdie Brown Adorable Elephants and Pure Innocence Happy Banner Stamp Sets

Memento Black Ink by Tsukineko

Copic Markers

Solar White Cardstock by Neenah

Pineapple and Gravel Gray Prestige Card Stock

Tiny Check Paper Pack 

Birdie Brown Adorable Elephants, Pierced Rectangle Frames and Words for Friends Die-namics

Scotch Double Sided Foam Mounting Tape by 3M