Do you have a certain theme card that is just your hardest theme to make a card for? Mine is usually Masculine. I just have a hard time sometimes making a card that would work for a guy.  Well not this time as The Lounge’s challenge is a sketch challenge and worked perfectly with Bountiful Harvest set.  You still have time to do the challenge as it ends tonight.

I colored the tractor with prismacolor pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits. Did a little out of the box when using the Spellbinders. Used some Fallish paper for the three sections. Happy Birthday is from Love is in the Air.

Please see The Lounge for the rules of entering the sketch challenge.


        Thanks for stopping by!

                        Amber

It’s Friday which means it is time for another challenge over at The Lounge. This week it is a sketch!

Since I had Hoppin’ Into Spring still sitting out, I used another image and sentiment from the set. Colored with copics and added black dots. Flower is actually a brad.



Play along with us this week and be entered to WIN!  That’s right!  More important than bragging rights, (although who doesn’t love bragging rights?!)  you are entered to WIN a $20 gift certificate from  Our Craft Lounge. You have until 11:59pm Thursday, March 1st to enter.   Participate as many times as you like!   A random winner will be selected and posted here on the OCL blog at the beginning of next month. Rules are posted at The Lounge.

This is also for the Free For All 105 challenge over at SCS, add a little "character" to your creation

        Thanks for stopping by!

                     Amber

Decided to play in the Our Craft Lounge challenge this week which is a sketch:

Used Sea-sons Greetings for my card along with Ski Slope design paper. Colored images with copics, added Sugar Sparkly Fluff to the hat. For some added fun I used MuddPuddles Christmas Lights Sea Glass on the image.
The turtle is on dimensions as is the entire scallop layer.  Stamped sentiment in the corner.

Also for the F486 – Cards with Character.

Come join us over at The Lounge and show us your card using the sketch. Can’t wait to see it!

        Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

It’s Friday so it’s time for another challenge over at The Lounge. This week it is a sketch challenge.

Going to a 16th birthday party tonight so I whipped up a card for the birthday boy using Bear-ly Fishin’. Sentiment is from The Botz Family. Both sets are from Our Craft Lounge.  The fish is on a dimension. BasicGrey Aged & Confused  Sublime Collection paper was used and layered on brown cardstock along with a brown ribbon. The button is a lime green color that isn’t showing up really well here.

There was some talk a while back on Facebook about not using eyelets much anymore So I pulled them out to use on my card. I need to pull those neglected little guys out more often!

This is also for the F4A57 challenge over at SCS. The theme was to be Inspired by the Sun.


         Thanks for stopping by!

                      Amber

So this week’s sketch over at The Lounge is just a tad different. It is a layout for a scrapbook page…BUT… you can use it to make a card too if you don’t scrapbook.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my scrapbook page:

I didn’t stamp much but a few pumpkins from On The Fence. With the top one being clear embossed. I also used the lined image from The Journey as I wanted to write down how old the kids were. (While we don’t celebrate “Halloween”, we do have a Harvest Party for the kids where they can dress up in non scary costumes and have a fun time.)

Supplies used: My Mind’s Eye design paper, Black cardstock, The Journey &  On the Fence stamps, bat wing decorative scissors, clear embossing powder, distress inks

I liked the sketch so much that I wanted to show how easy it is to take a scrapbook layout and make a card instead.

I am also the hostess over at SCS today for the Hope You Can Cling To challenge. My challenge is 3..2..1,  use 3 design papers, 2 embellishments and 1 ribbon to make a card. Please come join us in making cards for a great cause.

Supplies used: Under the MistleToad, My Mind’s Eye paper, black cardstock, copics, prismacolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, snowflake brad, Spellbinders, ribbon, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, sparkly fluff, crafty sparkle glitter

       
         thanks for stopping by!

                    Amber

Yesterday was Our Craft Lounge’s sketch but I didn’t complete my card as I was too busy making Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls. They are good!


Anyways, back to the sketch which was this:


I had the images embossed already awhile back but hadn’t made anything with them so I decided to make them fit. I used pink pasilee and rusty pickle design paper, layered on black and gray. Mummy is on dimensions and sentiment is layered on square scallop nestie.

This is also for the Inspiration Challenge254 using the Halloween cookies for inspiration from Better Bit of Butter.  Also for the HYCCT challenge #14 which was my friend’s Kimme of using Ribbon.

          Thanks for stopping by!

                     Amber

Have you noticed my new blinkie on the side? Splitcoaststampers is partnering with the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center for a month long card drive to benefit those affected by breast cancer. There are special challenges all month long in the Hope You Can Cling To Challenge Forum. The Challenge Forum at SCS is open to everyone so come play with us!

My card is for Lydia’s challenge from Saturday of a Pink Holiday. I used Our Craft Lounge’s Under the Mistletoad. Used prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits for blending. For his antlers, I added some That’s Hot Pink Sparkly Fluff and Sugar Sparkly Fluff on his scarf. Sponged the edges in pink and snowflake cuttlebug folder for the background. The design paper comes from a DCWV Christmas stack. Used a pale pink ribbon to finish it off.

Sketch is from The Lounge Friday DT Sketch Challenge 33 which is still going on so you have time to come play with us there too.

         Thanks for stopping by!

                     Amber.

I went to a good friend (I’ve known since kindergarten) of mine’s wedding yesterday! 15 minutes before leaving for the wedding, I whipped up a card for the happy couple! All I can say is thank goodness for the Our Craft Lounge sketch over at The Lounge this week!

I used Our Craft Lounge set Bird and Groom to make a black/white wedding card. Used pattern paper from DCWV La Crème matstack, top note in white, scallop circle nestie in black and plain circle nestie in white. Using a black prisma color marker, I colored in some of the designs on the cake.  The sentiment was attached with Craft Glue Dots Dot N’ Go while the scalloped circle layer was attached with Pop Up Glue Dots. I had some “wedding rings” from previous weddings I have attended that I attached to the ribbon.

All in all I think the bride and groom will love the card as I really love how it turned out in such a short amount of time.  And for your enjoyment, a few pictures from the wedding:


Mr. & Mrs. Bogan and her little girl, Madeline.
 

Their first dance as husband and wife. I love how I captured them and had to add some softness to the picture.


I loved how simple but elegant the tables were decorated. (I think those are heaters in the background as we are in a shelter house of sorts as the wedding was to be outside and the reception in here but it rained so the wedding was held inside the shelter house too.)

The cake was like the decorations, simple but elegant. I loved the oval shape of it and oooohhh so yummy. We all had two pieces as each layer had a different flavor middle.


They had Dan Foster of Dan’s Portraits and Caricatures come during the reception to draw caricatures of us (free of charge) if we wished. I will have to say we had fun trying to figure out what/who he was when we saw him come in with his ‘suitcase’.

Here he is drawing caricatures of the twins that I have known all my life. (We were joking at our table that really he only needed one twin up there to draw their faces.lol)

Finally there was a chance for Ger and I to have our caricatures drawn. Let me tell you, Dan is hilarious while drawing. My cheeks were hurting so much from laughing the entire time. Here is our caricature with a heart between us saying 17 as next month will be our 17th anniversary. (twas all his idea as he asked us how long we had been married.)

Thank you, Catherine and Tristan, for a fun Anniversary gift even though you didn’t know you were giving one!  It was a fun, relaxing evening out for us (no kids!) and a great time seeing my school friends again that were there that I haven’t seen in a few years. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your special day!


       Thank you for stopping by!

                  Amber

Our Craft Lounge sketch this week is such a cute one that I had to play. I used one of the new sets, Under the Misletoad, and combined it with a few challenges on SplitCoastStampers: Try New Technique287 – Sparkly Stained Glass and Free For All27 – Think Snow….Man. (it was hard to get a good picture of the card because of the acetate)

I used so much glitter on the frog, it wasn’t funny, green, brown, black, blue, red, white! Used Helmar V2 Vellum spray to attach my acetate to my nestie. On the nestie I stamped the tree and colored with copics, added some stickles to the star and balls/stripes on the tree. using a white gel pen I made some ‘snowflakes’ in the background. On the front of the acetate, I added some Sugar SparklyFluff for my snow.  The gifts are on pop dot, colored with copics and added white with gel pen.  Used ColorCore Cardstock for middle piece that I used my “man” tool on, Sandpaper, to distress the snowflakes to show the core color of the paper.

Come play with us over at The Lounge.

          Thanks for stopping by!
                 
                  Amber

Welcome to Our Craft Lounge Blog Hop! Hope you have enjoyed all the sneak peeks. I am showcasing Mummy Crossing today. (Details below on how to get your name in the drawing for it)

 

And since it is Friday, I also did Our Craft Lounge sketch. The sketch is brought to us by Holly:

I pulled out some Rusty Pickle Halloween paper that I've been hoarding and used it for my background and strips. Colored the image with prismacolor pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits. Distressed the edges with scattered straw and black soot. Added some ghosts and black cat confetti.

For my second card, I used copics to color the image and did a little out of the box with the cat. Used My Mind’s Eye paper and Martha Stewart border punch on the bottom and some ribbon in the middle.


OK - here's the details of the Sneak Peeks and Hop.
**Leave a comment each day on the peeks, August 18th & 19th and the hop on August 20th, 1 winner will be chosen from all 3 posts for a stamp set I'll be giving away.
**The winner will be chosen Sunday August 22nd.
**Leave your email address with your post so I can contact you.

Here is the blog hop list incase you get lost along the way:

Amber Hillman
Beate Johns
Beth Silaika
Bev Gerard
Broni Holcombe
Cambria Turnbow
Charmaine Ikach
Cindy Lawrence
Deb Felts
Debbie Corbari
Deborah Anton
Denise Marzec
Heather McNally
Holly McMillen
Jeanne Streiff
Joy Kennedy
Julie Okada
Kendra Wietstock
Kisa Peters
Lori McAree
Maree Truelove
Michelle Fowler
Pam Hooten
Tammy Hershberger
Terri Thill
Vicki Garrett

And here you can find a list of retailers that carry OCL products!

Enjoy all the yummy eye candy!

        Thanks for stopping by!

                  Amber

This is my second post for today, scroll down if you are looking for my post for Crafty Sentiments.

I am co-hosting a Bridal shower this month and am in charge of the invites. Using Our Craft Lounge Friday’s sketch 22 and the Inspiration Challenge241, I came up with the invites. I used this pillow from the Inspiration as it fit so well in with our theme.

I used Life’s a Beach, brown sugar sparkly fluff and some Malibu Beach sand on my cards.


Using Scallop Spellbinders I cut out my image and layer. Added the sand AFTER using Spellbinders. Since the stamps are acrylic, I bent the tree to the other side for a few of the cards and for the envelopes.(which are not shown) Martha Stewart border punch with a little bit of SU ribbon over top. I used DoubleMates cardstock for all but the Kraft that is from The Paper Studio.

           Thanks for stopping by!

                      Amber

OCL sketch and Color Throwdown #100 is represented here in my card today.

The colors to use were certainly celery, regal rose, real red and baja breeze (but I used bordering blue as I don’t own baja breeze).  I used OCL Treasured Friend and sentiment from OCL Say it With Flowers. I cut the sentiment apart and shaped it to fit my circle.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper and used watercolor crayons to color my image.  Stamped the sand dollars on  light brown cardstock, cut them out and strung them on the linen thread.

            Thanks for stopping by!
                    
                    Amber

 
Here is my card for the OCL Sketch Challenge #19, it also qualifies for the Free For All challenge18 which was to be inspired by this poem:

Ice Cream Poem

I like ice cream. Yes I do!
One scoop for me?
No! Make it two!
Hmmm two scoops of ice cream,
I want more
How about three?
No, make that four!
1, 2, 3, 4,
Splat! "oh no! It's on the floor!"

Here is the sketch:
  

I combined two sets, Whale of a Tale with Lil’ Pea-Nut for my card. Now little octopus has a flower in ‘her’ hair: 

  But this card is going to a little boy for his birthday tonight so I stamped the birthday hat from Lil’ Pea-Nut, colored it with copics, cut it out and attached it over the flower making the little octopus into a  “he”.     

Next I added brown Sparkly Fluff to his suction cups, stamped/colored balloons, present and ice cream from Lil’ Pea-Nut and attached them with Helmar ZapDots.  I used twine in place of the ribbon and the ice cream in place of the button. Paper is BasicGrey archaic pad.

       
         Thanks for stopping by!

                Amber

Our Craft Lounge’s Friday sketch over at The Lounge is a fun one. I finally found some time yesterday to play along.

The sketch comes from design team member Kendra Wiestock this week:


Colored Sunkissed with copics & prismacolor markers, attached sun with zapdots for dimension. Cut wording apart to be able to layer it on the circle.

So come play with us as You can even WIN A PRIZE – any one Our Craft Lounge stamp set of your choice. ONE WINNER will be selected for each MONTH. All you have to do is use any Our Craft Lounge stamps that you wish – but you must use OCL stamps to be eligible to win the prize. So go make your card and then head over to The Lounge to link your card. Can’t wait to see what you make.

Thanks for stopping by!

Amber

It’s Friday and if you have been following, you know that means it’s time for another Our Craft Lounge sketch! Come join us in the fun and see how you could win some OCL stamps!  I combined the OCL sketch with the Free 4 All 15, which was to make a card you could give to a boy (young or old). 

I used “Fishing with Dad” and embossed it in black. Paper pieced the shirts and colored the deck with copic. The water was colored with prismacolor pencil and blended with odorless mineral spirit. Used cloud stencil for the sky. The design papers are from the Karen Foster Fishing Line. Used spellbinders to cut out the middle layer using the out of box technique for the image.

         Thanks for stopping by!

                   Amber