Monday, March 11, 2024

Spring poppies

 Hello, everyone!  It's time for a new challenge from the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  The theme is: Flora or Fauna.  I am using an image from our fabulous sponsor: Polkadoodles and I chose to use both flora and fauna.

 Here is my card:
Now, I know that these flowers are poppies, and in the Northeast, at least, poppies are not spring flowers.  But I colored them up in a light pink, and we can pretend they are a spring flower.  The little fox is wearing his spring scarf, because it can still be chilly here in the spring.  This image is really large and I wanted to show off some of the patterned paper, so I die some out of the box die cutting, allowing the flowers to stand tall but keeping the image panel much smaller.  All the papers where from a paper pack I have had for AGES and it was sitting on my desk since my daughter had just given it back to me.  Last week I decided to have a little fun and try to use some of the stuff that was on my desk before putting them away.  I added a little bit of die cut grass to the bottom of the image and some silver stickles to the centers of the flowers for some sparkle.  I finished it all off with a die cut "Hello" that I die cut twice and layered together, and then added some light pink pearls.
You have all month to play along.  So, get inky and link up your creation; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:
Stamps: Polkadoodles "Poppy Flowers--Autumn Fox" digi
Dies: Sweet n' Sassy Stamps grass border die; MFT smartphone die "hello" and "Blueprints 12" square (I used it for the outside the box technique and then trimmed the square down further with my trimmer)

Challenges:
Fab n Funky Challenge #590--favorite colors (pink and green are not my favorite colors, but for some reason, they are my favorite colors to use when making cards.  I think it's because they go so well together in nature.)
Penny's Challenge #566--anything goes
Cards Galore #121--anything goes
Sheepski Designs #84--anything goes













613 Avenue Create--anything goes with the optional twist: diamonds or pearls
Beautiful Blossoms--anything goes













Triple B Challenge--anything goes with birds, butterflies, or blooms









The Paper Shelter #586--in the garden
Craft Rocket #112--for the girls
Paper Funday #63--anything goes with the optional twist: the DIES have it

Friday, March 8, 2024

Winter doesn't last

  Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge is: Use Spring Colors

Here is my card for your inspiration:
I was looking through my many digital images, hoping to find a crocus to use for this challenge, when I came across this beautiful parrot tulip image from Fred She Said.  I never found a crocus (don't even know if I have one of them as a digi), but the tulip does the job just as well!  The yellow paper was part of a paper pack that was sitting on my desk waiting to be put away and it became the color inspiration for the card.  I die cut the paper with a stitched rectangle die and then ran it through in an embossing folder to give some beautiful texture.  I remembered that I had some ribbons that had originally come with the paper pack as part of a card making kit many, many, many years ago, so I pulled them out and found this matching yellow ribbon.  I did a fun "out of the box" die cutting technique which allows the leaf of the image to pop outside the die cut rectangle.  I finished it off with an encouraging sentiment and some clear dew drops.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the Cut It Up blog for the full details of the challenge and to see what the rest of the Design Team has created. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Fred She Said "Parrot Tulip" digi; Verve "Beautiful You" sentiment
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle and Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle
Cuttlebug embossing folder

Challenges:
Penny's Challenge #566--anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday--bright & cheerful
Cards Galore #121--anything goes
Sheepski Designs #84--anything goes
Die Cut Divas--anything goes













Paper Shelter #586--in the garden
Double D--first signs of spring



Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Shine on us

The last year or two, I have saved some commercial Christmas cards that we have received from other people because they are just too pretty to throw away.  From time to time, I get a chance to use pieces of those cards to create other cards.  It's so easy and fun that it seems like cheatin!  But I guess it is really no different than using a pre-printed image or topper.  Anyway, I was cleaning up my crafting area and thought it might be fun to just randomly use some of the things that were on my desk rather than putting them away.  I started with this blue card base; it was already cut to size I just had to score it.  Then I went looking for a blue themed Christmas card from my stash and I found this one.  The picture is so large that at first I wasn't sure I would be able to add a sentiment without covering up a big portion of the image.  Then I came upon the genius idea of heat embossing the sentiment directly onto the image.  I first die the the part of the image I really wanted with a stitched rectangle die.  Then I heat embossed the sentiment with gold embossing powder and it turn out sooooo beautiful!!  I wasn't sure how it would emboss on the shiny surface, but it is perfect!
I really wanted to be able to reuse the sentiment as well, so I added it to the inside along with the rest of the tree from the front of the card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Beyond Measure"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:
Paper Funday #62--anything goes with the optional twist of no patterned paper
Creative Knockouts #515--die cuts/punches/stencils
Krafty Chicks #704--all occasions
Creative Fingers #272--anything goes

So glad

 I lead a women's small group at our church and this semester we are incorporating some "social events" into our schedule.  We meet on Thursday mornings and two weeks ago, Thursday was the day after Valentine's Day.  So, we had a little Valentine's Day party with treats and a few games and I asked each woman to bring a little Valentine's Day card for each of the other women in the group.  This is the card I created to give to everyone.  They are little--4 1/4 x 4 1/4 (mostly so I could cut a 12x12 piece of paper into 9 pieces--I needed 7 cards though I made an extra to give away to a friend) so I created coordinating envelopes to hold them.  Making envelopes is a great way to use up some of that 12x12 patterned paper that you never use!

I die cut the cream hearts and then used the leftover outlines in my mini MISTI to hold them in place so I could stamp the sentiment without having to reposition it every time.  Then I did the same thing with the little banner.  Everything seemed a little plain so I added the stamped pink hearts onto the cream heart.  Inside I wrote each of them a note telling them why I was glad they are part of our group.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet n' Sassy Stamps "The Future"; Repeat Impressions "I'm so . . ."; Verve "To the Moon" trio of hearts
Dies: MFT "Stitched Heart STAX" and "Blueprints 12" stitched banner

Challenges:
Unicorn Challenge #94--dots AND/OR stripes
Crafty Calendar--add a heart
613 Avenue Create--anything goes with the optional twist: love letters (sentiment as the focal)
Aud Sentiments #310--used dies AND/OR love/anniversary/wedding
Double D--use patterned paper
Krafty Chicks #704--all occasions
Creative Fingers #272--anything goes
Alphabet Challenge--X is for x-tra hearts

Monday, February 26, 2024

Blue Skies

Hello, everyone!  Here is a mid-challenge reminder for our "CAS" challenge over on the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  You still have almost 2 weeks to play along with us.  We have two sponsors and the image I used today came from Mirtillamente.  Here is my card:


I kept this one nice and CAS: die cut the image panel with a stitched die, colored up my image, stamped the sentiment and adhered it to the card base before adding some clear dewdrops to mimic rain.

Remember, you still have almost 2 weeks to play.  So, get inky and link up your creation; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:
Stamps: Mirtillamente "Phoebe Rain" digi; Verve "Blue Skies" sentiment
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:
Cards Galore--anything goes
Sheepski Designs #83--anything goes
Paper Funday #62--anything goes with the optional twist: no patterned paper
Shopping Our Stash #515--put your best face forward (use a human face)
Word Art Wednesday #636--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Penny's Challenge #565--anything goes
Krafty Chicks #704--all occasions
Creative Fingers #272--anything goes

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Valentine's Day cards

Fair warning: this post contains a lot of pictures!  These are the Valentine's Day cards I created using Kendra's cutting guide and card layouts.  If you are unfamiliar with this challenge (or idea), you use 6 sheets of 6x6 patterned paper to create 15 cards.  She gives a cutting guide for each sheet of paper and card layouts using those papers.  It's really fun and uses up (almost) entirely those sheets of patterned paper.

Below are the scraps that are left over.  The bigger pieces are no more than an inch tall.  Sometimes I seem to have trouble measuring correctly and one of those larger leftover pieces came because I cut part of the paper too short.  But it usually works out in the end.
I tried to keep most of the elements the same since I am creating them all for the same occasion.  It makes it easier for me.  Not all of the cards use the same elements, but most of them are the same.  I did use the same image stamps set on each card, but I used sentiments from different sets to fit the recipient and the space a little bit better.

Card #1: uses some stretchy cream lace that appears on a couple of the other cards and some adorable heart shaped pearls which appear on almost all of the cards.
Card #2 uses a heart and star stencil that I just got last month as well as a star embossing folder (on the green panel) that I also just got last month.  I added some die cut hearts to the striped panel as it seemed a little empty with anything there.
Card #3 has only the heart shaped pearls as embellishments.
Card #4 got a good dose of those heart pearls.
Card #5:
Card #6: uses the left over triangles from the previous card.
Card #7 was for my honey, so I could use a little sappier sentiment.  It also uses my favorite lion from the stamp set.  They are all adorable, but he's the cutest!
Card #8 was for my 6-year-old nephew; I thought the image was kind of fun.
Card #9 will be posted with information on March 1st.

Card #10 has a cute little heart die cut, and I stamped some hearts around on the pink layer with some light pink ink.
Card #11
Card #12
Card #13 I already shared in a post earlier in the month.  You'll notice that the last three cards have a different color mix for the lions.  I colored these three first and couldn't remember how lions looked.  (I know, sad!)  When the darkest brown ink began to run out, I switched to the other color combo and realized they looked better.
Card #14 uses the cream lace and the heart/star stencil
Card #15 uses the heart/star stencil and some really tiny strips to create a fun layout.

 Thanks for making it all the way to the end!

Card #1:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions" and Verve freebie sentiment

Challenges:
Cards Galore--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #636--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Card #2:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"
Dies: MFT "Tag Builder Blueprints 5" tiny hearts
Simon Says Stamp stencil
Park Lane star embossing folder

Challenges:
NBUS #59--never before used schtuff (this was the first outing for the embossing folder)

Card #3:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"

Challenges:

Card #4:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions" and Verve freebie sentiment

Challenges:
Crafty Calendar--add a heart
Krafty Chicks #704--all occasions

Card #5:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions" and Verve Freebie sentiment
Dies: Verve "Classy Labels"

Challenges:
Sheepski Designs #83--anything goes
A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Card #6:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions" and Verve Freebie Sentiment
Dies: Verve "Classy Labels"

Challenges:
Creative Inspirations--someone you love/a special friend (this one went to one of my daughters)

Card #7:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"

Challenges:
We love Stamping--Romance (for my honey!)

Card #8:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"

Challenges:

Card #10:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions" lion and hearts; Verve "Text Objects" love
Dies: MFT "Stitched Heart STAX"

Challenges:

Card 11:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions" and Verve freebie sentiment

Card #12:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"; Verve "Text Objects"
Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Challenges:
Aud Sentiment #310--use dies AND/OR love/anniversary/wedding

Card #14:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"; Verve "Text Objects" 
Dies: MFT "Stitched Heart STAX"
Simon Says Stamp stencil

Challenges:
Creative Knockouts #515--die cuts/punches/stencils

Card #15:
Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"
Simon Says Stamp stencil

Challenges:
Alphabet Challenge--X is for X-tra hearts

Friday, February 23, 2024

Peace

 Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge is: Stripes AND/OR Dots

Here is my card for your inspiration:
I chose to use both dots AND stripes!  This card came as a result of a little accident I had in my crafting area this week.  I have a very flimsy wire rack that holds a bunch of supplies including a paper pack that contains both of these papers.  Well, every once in a while, that rack decides to just let go and fall over!  It happened this week and I had to pick everything up and as I was cleaning things off my desk to make this card, I came across the paper pack which has a bunch of scraps all jumbled up in it.  I saw some stripes and remembered there were some dotted papers in it as well, so there you go!  I die cut the oval and stamped the sentiment, but the card seemed a bit too plain just like that, so I die cut some berry twigs and added red nuvo drops for the berries.  It's still a bit plain in my opinion, but it works.
Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the Cut It Up blog for the full details of the challenge and to see what the rest of the Design Team has created. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Beyond Measure" sentiment
Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Ovals, large"; Memory Box "Winterberry Twigs"

Challenges:
Cards Galore--anything goes
Unicorn Challenge #95--dots AND/OR stripes
Christmas Kickstart #83--out on a limb (the branches and berries could be on a limb)
Aud Sentimens #310--use dies AND/OR Love/anniversary/wedding (I went with dies)
Incy Wincy--Valentine/love AND/OR no pictures (I went no pictures)













Snippets Playground #474--anything goes with snippets  (The papers were cut from snippets of 12x12 papers, the ovals and branches were cut from snippets of card stock)
Word Art Wednesday #636--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Double D--patterned paper