Danny's Cards Blog

My local Hobby Lobby had a blowout sale on a number of stamps, and I loaded up (which means tons of inspiration for the next few weeks). I was excited about these koala stamps thatwere so charming from first sight. The stamps come from Art Impressions , but my Hobby Lobby had these marked down on clearance for $3.49. I made these koala cards for two distinct challenges. Let's take a look. The first challenge is courtesy of The Color Throwdown blog. Here were the colors they wanted makers to use: And here's what I did with the red, blue, green and grey. I used Copic Markers to color in the koala. The background is a basic cuttlebug brand emboss folder. For my second card, I used Paper Craft Crew's sketch. I used the exact same stamp, but without color restrictions, I made a far more eclectic card. Here's the sketch: And here's the card I made based on the sketch: Using 3D Dot adhesives, this card ended up with a lot of dimension. Here's another view of the card...

In some great news, I was the featured creator on Making the Cards for challenge #25. Be sure to check out their site for some great inspiration and feel free to leave comments on their blog acknowledging some fantastic work! Over on AAA Cards , they had a challenge of Along the Edge. This means making a nice Clean and Simple card with the edge used as a way to enhance the overall look of the card. Here's the challenge in question: The optional twist had me utilizing Dry Embossing. I have a ton of embossing folders so I knew this would be a perfect challenge for me.  The card I'm submitting to the challenge is this bee card. I was inspired by the various bug cards I've been making and this hive like embossing folder I owned. This stamp came from Jillibean . Here's the result: I loved the way the card looked so much with the edge embossed and the stamp off to the side, that I ended up making a few more. The follow cards use Sweet Kawaii Design stamps: And here's th...

Over on TIME OUT Challenges , the theme of the week was HUNGRY. I actually felt a bit stumped on what to do with this. I pulled out all my food stamps and food embellishments. I actually purchased a Bakery and Kitchen themed embossing folder, and with that, this became my focus. So here's the challenge: So this is the Cuttlebug Embossing Folders I used. And this is the, now out of print, Lori Whilock Stamp Set I used. I actually got this stamping set on clearance when my local AC Moore closed. It was the first time using both these sets. So I made two versions of the card. So wihout further ado: I colored the stamps with Copic markers and used 3D adhesive to give them a bit dimension. For this card, I kept the three elements fairly close together. One thing I've always struggled with is Copic Coloring. They're such fancy markers, but I never feel I do them justice. I ended up watching a tutorial by Mary Doodles that helped me out immensely.  And here's the second car...

Hey crafters! It's been a minute. My craftspiration has been low, but in truth, I've also been busy on a few projects. I'm working on a teaching blog series, dedicating more times towards playing video games and enjoying the nicer weather. So the crafting is on the back seat.  That said, yesterday I found a bit of time with myself, so I got to use some of the new items I acquired. The Just Us Girls Challenge group posted this beautiful color combo this Saturday. The color combo was as follows: The colors definitely showcased a spring vibe to me. Which was perfect because I just acquire my Birdhouse Easel Card Dies from Anna Griffin. I compiled my paper and went to work. Here were the results: The card and the embossing actually didn't take a particularly long time. What gave me a heart attack was when I went to apply the purple house to the purple cardstock. That was a complete accident! I meant to apply the purple colored house to the blue backing. I was devastated b...

Over on Cupcake Inspirations , they showcased three colors to use as a source of inspiration. They were giving major honeycomb vibes with this set of colors: For some reason, the yellow, brown and black really felt masculine to me. Like many cardmakers, I struggled with masculine cards, but recently I acquired Anna Griffin's Calligraphic Sentiment dies . I thought these dies, would really help make the colors pop. Slimline was on the dock for today, and so here is what I made: Everything about this made me happy. I background emboss folder really help give it that masculine edge. To give it just a little more texture, I also added four black dots at each corner. Super thrilled with the results.  My less successful attempt followed: While it still looked good, I was less thrilled with how flimsy the paper felt after going through with the emboss paper. If I decide to go with this flower paisley folder again, I'm going to need to back it up with even more 3D dot adhesives. Defini...

Over on Anna Griffin, she recently released her Baby Icon Cut and Emboss Folders . Baby cards are often the hardest items for me to keep in stock. They're often my biggest sellers at trade shows, and as someone in their 30s, I know so many people having little ones. So I went to work. I really didn't know where to begin my day, so I started with creating a whole slew of sentiments. I often struggle with what a baby card should say, but Best Wishes kind of covers all the bases. But that didn't really help with inspiration. I went looking for Sketch Challenges. The first challenge comes courtesy of Sketch Saturday :  And here was my result: Using an assortment of pattern papers, I was really happy with the result. I ended up using the horsey cut so that the little mustache could peek through. Over on Try Stampin' on Tuesday , they're up to their milestone 500th sketch. Here was the sketch: And here was my creation based on that: I was thrilled with this result. It fe...

Last night I perused the internet to find a card that would give me inspiration. I stumbled upon this Mojo Monday Sketch challenge that served as the perfect inspiration for some Easter cards. Here is the sketch provided: I didn't concern myself too much with the size and dimension of the card. I largely focused on the layer with the medium shape on the bottom, followed by the smaller shape and the larger shape. With that in mind, I created an Easter Egg card matched those ideas: I created two versions of the card (nearly identical), changing up the colors ever so slightly: The embossed folder is the Darice Easter Egg embossing folder . The die cut is the Anna Griffin Easter Egg Cut and Emboss Dies . With some 3D adhesive pop dots, the eggs really popped. This is a sketch challenge that is perfect for your scrap box.  If you enjoy what you see, be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button at the top to see new posts. And be sure to follow me on Instagram  @DannysCards Related posts: F...

Over on Freshly Made Sketches blog , they offered a very simple and elegant sketch this week that I liberally applied my ideas to. This sketch is the kind of classic design that creators really can all in on: The shape was perfect. Ultimately, I took the design and also added to the bottom right corner as a sort of parallel to the top left design. Here was the result: I used my Anna Griffin Floral 3D cut for the flowers and leaves. The background is a Darice Script Emboss Folder , and I finished up the piece with a button to give it a little extra texture.  And remember, if you like what you see, be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button at the top to see new posts. And be sure to follow me on Instagram  @DannysCards Related posts: St. Patrick's Day Cards: Inspired by... Challenge Global Design Project #275: Lovely Envelope Cards Color Week Challenge #567: Notable Note Cards Try Stampin' Challenge #486: Smash the Patriarchy Cards Daring Cardmakers Dictionary Day Entry: Defining Bir...

Over on the Through the Purple Haze blog, the designers gave way to a Tic Tac Toe board. Unlike other blogs, I could muster dozens of different ideas. As it's November, I'm in the full swing of the holiday spirit. Take a look at their tic tac toe challenge: I went for sentiment, emboss and gold down the right hand column. That said, I also put my final product on patterned paper, and this whole idea was inspired by my brand new die set from Anna Griffin: Anna Griffin Classic Christmas Decorative Door Dies .  Here's the final product: I wanted the doorway to stand out, so I utilized black, which helped accentuate the gold. The brick background gave it that perfect holiday feel. What I love about the set is that none of it felt too time consuming. As everyone knows here, I love my Anna Griffin dies, but often they're time consuming and it feels like everything takes just a bit too long to do. The only part that took extra time were the lanterns, ribbon and hanging holly,...