Christmas Joy

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack.  As always, we are now an Anything Goes challenge and our sponsor for the week is Sparkle N Sprinkle. 

Here is the card I created:

 I love making Christmas cards throughout the year.  In fact, I have to or else I'll end up with way too many to make with no time when December comes around.  The candle image (which I printed and colored three times) and the flower image are two different images included with this digital file.  I colored them and then fussy cut them all out so I could layer the flower image over the candles to create something that looks like it could be a Christmas centerpiece for your table.  I added red nuvo drops to the berries to give them some shine and dimension.  Here is a close up of the image:

What do you need to do to enter?

Challenge Rules

1.  Please post a direct link to your blog post that includes your challenge entry project, using the linky tool on Jo's blog.

2.  Be sure to include a link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering your project into.

3.  THREE entries per person are allowed for each challenge and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4.  For all entries-NO BACK LINKS ACCEPTED--the date on your blog post should be dated between the start date and the end date for the challenge you are entering, in order to be eligible for the challenge prizes.

5.  You may link up to other challenges but be sure to link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering.

*All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements WILL NOT be eligible for the top 3, any sponsor wins or any random wins by Jo.

All random wins will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.

You have until April 5th by 12:00AM  (eastern, USA) time to link up.

All winners will be announced during the week of April 8th.

Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create.

Supplies:

Stamps: Sparkle N Sprinkle "Christmas Candles" digi; Verve "Beyond Measure" sentiment

Challenges:

Crafty Creations #387--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes

Penny's Challenge #423--anything goes

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

Atlantic Hearts Challenge #309--sketch

Aud Sentiments #223--anything BUT Happy Birthday

Creative Moments--anything goes

Crimbo Crackers #181--anything goes

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge--anything goes

Merry Little Christmas #8--anything goes

ABC Christmas--E is for embellishments (button and ribbon)

Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes with the optional twist: include some stamping (my sentiment)

Craft Dee BowZ--anything goes with handmade bow

Dreams

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built and this week it is a fan favorite: Anything Goes!! And here is the card I created for your inspiration:

 The inspiration for this card started with the oval of cloud paper that I found the other day while looking through some patterned papers.  I thought it would be perfect for a CAS card with these hot air balloons.  There is a young man at our church turning 19 this week, so I turned this into a birthday card for him.  I thought the "Dreams" sentiment was perfect as at 19 you have lots of dreams for the future.  The cloud paper is actually adhered inside the card and I created a window, complete with frame and acetate so it could be seen on the outside as part of the scene.  And the sentiment is stamped inside on the cloud panel.  I thought this was a fun touch.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the House blog to see the rest of the DT's creations and then get inky and play along with us.  And if you need any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your ENTIRE order coupon code over in my left sidebar.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Dreams Take Flight" and "Hot Air Balloon Cluster"
Dies: Spellbinders "Standard Ovals, large"; Paper Smooches "Cute Clouds"

Challenges:
Hand Stamped Sentiments #311--sketch

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes
Creative Fingers #160--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #223--any sentiment BUT Happy Birthday (mine is a birthday card, but does not use a birthday sentiment)
Incy Wincy--for the men and the boys
Hero Arts National Craft Month--use your favorite coloring medium (I love coloring with my spectrum noirs!)
Brown Sugar #288--transportation

Basketball Birthday

Monday, my oldest turns 13!!  Yikes, I am going to have a teenager; I'm so not old enough! LOL!  Basketball is her favorite sport and she really got into playing it this year, so I decided to make a box card full of basketballs for her.  A thirteenth birthday requires a pretty awesome card after all.

 The basketballs were die cut with two sizes of circle dies. I hand drew the lines and then placed them all in an embossing folder to give some basketball texture.  Then I sponged on a darker orange ink to bring out the texture a bit.  I die cut the numbers twice, once out of the glitter silvery paper and once out of white card stock and then adhered them together so they would be a bit sturdier.  The white 3 was actually already die cut in my bits and pieces stash.  Below is the back with the main sentiment and where I will write a little note.  The sentiment I wanted to use was too wide, so I turned it sideways.

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI "Baker's Dozen" front sentiments and "Big Birthday Wishes" back sentiment; SU! basketball hoop (have had this stamp set for probably 15 years!); Sweet n' Sassy Stamps "Celebrating Milestones" small numbers
Dies: Spellbinders "Standard Circles, large"; PTI "By the Numbers" and "Baker's Dozen" banners

Challenges:
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #32--anything goes
Crafty Calendar--for a child
Penny Black--going round in circles
As You Like It--dies or stencils (definitely dies; because you can create fun dimension cards like this)
Time Out Challenge #131--hugs, kisses and a lot of birthday wishes
Hero Arts National Craft Month challenge--birthday
Make My Monday #92--going round in circles
Crafty Sentiments--shaped cards
Penny's Challenge #422--anything goes
Mod Squad--metal dies with NO digital elements

Happy Birthday

It's Saturday!!  That means it's time for another challenge from Di's Digi Designs.

The challenge this time is: Make it Girly
And here is my card for your inspiration:

I LOVE this image for making girly cards!!  I think it's the pearls, honestly; they get me every time!  This card was actually inspired by the big of card stock that the sentiment is stamped on.  I was looking for something a couple weeks ago and came across the panel that was already stamped.  I loved the pattern (damask is my favorite decor theme) and the color combo, so I pulled it out of my stash and left it on my desk so I would use it.  As sit was only a small piece, I had to create some more "papers" to go along with it.  The base panel started with a Hero Arts "French Script" stamp and dark gray ink. Then I embossed the panel and sponged orange ink over the raised parts.  I LOVE it!!  Definitely will be doing this whole combo again.  For the horizontal panel, I used the same French Script and dark ink and also stamped the damask pattern from the inspirational panel with orange ink.  I die cut the image so her pearls dangle over the frame and I used a pearl pen to add dimension to her necklace.  I finished everything off with gray pearls and a gorgeous handmade flower from Petal Lu Creations.

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us; I can't wait to see what you create.  And make sure you hop over to the Di's Digital Designs blog to see what the rest of the team has made for this challenge.

Supplies: 

Stams: Di's Digi Stamps " Candy 1920s" digi; Hero Arts "French Script" rubber stamp; Skipping Stones Designs "Timeless Textures" damask element; Verve "Surely Goodness" sentiment

Dies: Spellbinders "Butterfly Corner" frame; Verve "Sprightly Sprigs"

Challenges:
Cut It Up #170--flowers
Creative Fingers #160--anything goes
Time Out Challenge #313--hugs, kisses and a lot of birthday wishes
Hero Arts National Craft Month--birthday
Pink Gem Challenge--anything goes
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #102--anything goes
Double Trouble #24--Thing #1--metallic (silver frame)
Crafting By Designs--blooming flowers
The Paper Shelter #375--girl power
Penny's Challenge #422--anything goes
Mojo Monday Sketch #511--sketch

Dies R Us #117--one for the ladies
Craft Rockets #57--flowers

Happy Hello

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps.  This week we have a beautiful inspiration photo for you:

And here is the card I created:

Phew!!  Inspiration photos are probably my least favorite challenge; I have a hard time mixing colors, but I am really happy with how this one turned out.  I was inspired by (obviously) the little bunny and the dark gray, dusty pink and cream colors out of the color combo.  I stamped the bunny on cream card stock so I wouldn't have any shocking white around the edges when I fussy cut him out.  All the papers were cut from scraps and the ribbon was the last bit on the roll--just enough!  I added a little heart charm to add to the spring feel.  Below is a close up of the sweet little bunny; so cute and so happy with his armload of clover!

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has done with this photo.  And if you "need" any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your entire order coupon code over in my lift sidebar.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Happy Hello" and "Clover Bunny"

Dies: Lawn Fawn "Peek-a-boo Backdrop"

Challenges:
Atlantic Heart Sketch #308--sketch

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #102--anything goes
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #348--anything goes with snippets (all my papers and the ribbon)
Pink Gem Challenge--anything goes
Sweet Stampers #30--Easter/spring
Cardz TV #85--anything goes
Creative Fingers #159--anything goes
Crafty Catz #453--anything goes with the optional twist: spring
Word Art Wednesday #378--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Creative Craft Cottage #116--spring fever
Dies R Us #116--one for the ladies
Creative with Stamps #36--friends

Craft Dee BowZ--anything goes with handmade bow

Masculine cards

Today is my day to share a Pick of the Week over on The House That Stamps Built blog.  Last month, I shared my top feminine picks from 2018 and today, I am going to show my top 5 (okay 6!) masculine picks from 2018.  Masculine cards seem to be more difficult for a lot of us, so hopefully, this post will give you some great ideas.  If you want to check out the original posts, clink the link above the picture.

January:

This card uses "Metro Map" and "Birthday"

April:

I create this card with "Class of . . . " and "Grad's Cap and Diploma"

also April:

This card is super fun with "The Cat's Out . . ." and "Curiosity Cat"

May:

This card uses "In all things", "Beta Fish" and "Plant"

June:

I just love this one using "Father's Day" and "Large Palm Trees"

And because I (surprisingly) had a really hard time just choosing 5 masculine cards, here is a bonus from September:

using "Cape Hatteras Light" and "Belated Birthday"

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope this gave you some ideas for creating those hard to make masculine cards.

Friends

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack.  As always, we are now an Anything Goes challenge.  

Our sponsor this week is the fabulous Lawn Fawn:

Here is my card for your inspiration:

 Lawn Fawn always has the cutest images!  I used this adorable bunny set, and the super fun, Double Slider Surprise die set to create this cute card.  When you pull the little pull tab the rest of the scene slides into view.   It's so fun!

All the papers are some freebies that I received with a Lawn Fawn order a while ago.  I stamped and fussy cut a bunch of flowers to go along with the sentiment and several carrots because bunnies love carrots!  This little scene was partially inspired by Peter Rabbit.  I'm sure McGreggor would hate to look out at his garden and see this!

What do you need to do to enter?

Challenge Rules

1.  Please post a direct link to your blog post that includes your challenge entry project, using the linky tool on Jo's blog.

2.  Be sure to include a link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering your project into.

3.  THREE entries per person are allowed for each challenge and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4.  For all entries-NO BACK LINKS ACCEPTED--the date on your blog post should be dated between the start date and the end date for the challenge you are entering, in order to be eligible for the challenge prizes.

5.  You may link up to other challenges but be sure to link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering.

*All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements WILL NOT be eligible for the top 3, any sponsor wins or any random wins by Jo.

All random wins will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.

You have until March 22nd by 12:00AM  (eastern, USA) time to link up.

All winners will be announced during the week of March 25th.

Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create.

Supplies:
Stamps: Lawn Fawn "Somebunny" and "Pull here"
Dies: Lawn Fawn "Stitched Hillsides" and "Double Slider Surprise"

Challenges:
As You Like It--favorite: dies or stencils (I definitely prefer dies.  I use dies on almost every card I make and usually more than one.   They make is so easy to create shapes and can be basic or elegant and in between)
Creative Moments #164--anything goes
Mod Squad--layered looks (I used a lot of layers on the card and then layered my images over and behind my layered dirt rows)
Crafty Creations #386--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #378--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Penny's Challenge--anything goes
Shopping Our Stash #391--celebrating friendship
Use Your Stuff #350--stitching: faux or real (I used several stitched edge dies)
Crafting By Designs--anything goes
A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes
2 Crafty Critter Crazies--anything goes with a critter
Creative Craft Cottage #116--spring fever
Lawn Fawn--inspired by a book, movie, or song (Inspired by Peter Rabbit)
Dare2B Artzy--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Crafting with an Attitude--anything goes

Thanks a latte

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a fun Tic Tac Toe board for you:
  

Here is what I created for your inspiration:

Sketch challenges are my favorite, but I think tic tac toe boards might be my second favorite as you can basically create your own challenge.  I used the diagonal starting in the top right: pink/ribbon/paper piecing.  I'm being very driven to use things that are sitting out on my work desk whether it's my bits and pieces stash (which I am making sure to keep front and center!) or these strips of scrap patterned papers that I make with the last little scraps of paper packs.  So, other than the tic tac toe board, this card was inspired by that strip of patterned paper down the left side.  As a bonus, there was a wonky oval of the gray and white chevron paper in my bits and pieces stash that was just the perfect size for paper piecing the smaller cup.

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has done with this photo.  And if you "need" any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your entire order coupon code over in my lift sidebar.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Thanks a Latte'"

Challenges:
Your Next Stamp #109--patterned paper
Aud Sentiments #222--funny sentiment
Cute Card Thursday #572--anything goes
Crafting By Design--anything goes
Make My Monday #91--something new (I got this stamp set in January, this is the first time I have used it)
Creatalicious Challenge #158--anything goes with the optional twist: CAS
Creative Sketchy Girls #33--use lace or ribbon
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #32--anything goes
Crafting with an Attitude--anything goes
STAMPlorations Theme and Sketch Challenge--theme: stamps + coffee/tea and sketch

90th Birthday

I was asked by a couple at my church to create a 90th birthday card for an aunt.  My first commissioned card and I had a blast!  They told me her favorite colors were pink and blue and they were looking for something elegant.  This is what I came up with:

 I used a lot of my favorite products on this one and I absolutely LOVE how this turned out!  I also decorated the envelope for a little extra special touch.  The sparkly "0" was in my bits and pieces stash; I just had to die cut a "9" to match.  Then, I die cut two more of each out of white card stock and layered them all together to create some dimension.

Supplies:
Stamps: Papertrey Ink "The Sweet Life" and "Damask Designs"
Dies: Papertrey Ink "The Sweet Life" and number border die; Spellbinders "Radiant Rectangles"

Challenges:
MFT Birthday challenge--You're how old? (use numbers)
ART Impressions #241--floral cards
Craft Dee BowZ--anything goes with a handmade bow
Cards Galore Challenge--anything goes
Crafting with an Attitude--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Divas that Cut--anything goes
Creative Sketchy Girls #33--use lace or ribbon
Craft Rockets #57--flowers
Incy Wincy--let's use ribbon
Cute Card Thursday #572--anything goes
Crafty Friends #105--ladies/girls
Simon Says Stamp Monday--feminine/girly

Shelf Sitters

It's Saturday!!  That means it's time for another challenge from Di's Digi Designs.

The challenge this time is: Tic Tac Toe
(You'll have to go to the blog to see the board)
And here is my card for your inspiration:

I used the last column: hand colored image, 2 or more patterned papers, gems/pearls.  Though, I got creating and really enjoying the process and loving how it was turning it out and totally forgot to check the tic tac toe board!  So, after I got the picture taken and uploaded and was going to upload to Di's Design Team blog, I realized I hadn't completed a tic tac toe!!  Luckily, all I needed to do was add a few pearls and it fit!  I really did have a great time with this one.  An adorable image, a bunch of fun patterned papers with bright colors make this a fun card for a little boy at our church.  And I was able to use up a few items from my bits and pieces stash: the three pieces of ribbon on the left side and the "b" on the right side.  I did have to die cut the "h" to go along with it, but I thought it made a fun little HB sentiment.

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us; I can't wait to see what you create.  And make sure you hop over to the Di's Digital Designs blog to see what the rest of the team has made for this challenge.

Supplies: 

Stams: Di's Digi Stamps "Jungle Shelf" digi; Your Next Stamp "Silly Monsters" sentiment

Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle; PTI lowercase alphabet

Challenges:
Your Next Stamp #109--patterned paper
Give a Crafter a Cookie #112--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the bright colors of the sprinkles)

Cute Card Thursday #572--anything goes
C.R.A.F.T. #504--sketch

Little Red Wagon #487--lions & lambs
Penny's Creations #420--anything goes
Crafting By Designs--anything goes
Crafty Sentiments--anything goes
Use Your Stuff #349--rainbow (I used rainbow colors on the banners and lots of colors on my patterned papers)
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #347--anything goes with snippets (besides the pieces that were in my bits and pieces stash, all the patterned papers except the base layers are scraps)
Three Amigos #24---rainbow (I used rainbow colors on the banners and in my papers)
2 Crafty Critter Crazies #24--anything goes
Dies R Us #116--for the men/boys
Crafty Calendar--for a child
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes
Cardz TV #84--anything goes
As You Like It--layers: one or many (still have to go with lots of layers; you can use so much fabulous papers!)

Thinking of You

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built and this week it is a fun Designer's Choice Challenge!   Joy has challenged us with "Easter/Spring".

And here is the card I created for your inspiration:

I used this sweet little bird's nest image, since birds lay their eggs in the spring.  I added little speckles to the eggs to look like robin's eggs and then didn't color my little bird like a robin!  Oops!!  Well, maybe other birds have speckled eggs, too, and the robin's coloring wouldn't have matched my color scheme.  Then I stamped the sentiment and stamped the little bird perching on the "T"; I thought it was a really cute touch.  I used some butterfly paper in spring like colors and some dotted pink ribbon to finish everything off.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you will hop over to the House blog to see the rest of the DT's creations and then get inky and play along with us.  And if you need any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your ENTIRE order coupon code over in my left sidebar.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Bird's Nest Branch", "Tiny Bird", and "Thinking of You"

Challenges:
Cards Galore #61--anything goes
Creative with Stamps #36--friends

Creative Sketchy Girls #133--use lace or ribbon
2 Crafty Critter Crazies--anything goes
Crafter's Cafe #214--birds OR CAS with blue
Incy Wincy--let's use ribbon
Atlantic Hearts #306--sketch

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

Hello, Gorgeous

Edited to Add:  I wasn't thinking and scheduled all of my additional birthday blog hop posts after the main one, so you see them first.  To go to the main BLOG HOP post where you can collect the letters click HERE.

The Love To Scrap Challenge blog is have a blog hop to celebrate our 6th birthday this month.  You can see my blog hop post here; make sure you join in the fun, there are 6 prizes to be won!  One of our sponsors is STAMPlorations and they are offering a prize of a $25 gift coupon code to their store.

Here is the card I created using some of their fabulous products:

I started off with this beautiful teacup image and then added a die cut frame popped up with foam tape on top.  I die cut the "gorgeous" three times out of scrap white card stock, layered them together and then used some gold guilding paste to color guild it.  I finished it off with a little fishtail banner (that was in my bits and pieces stash) stamped with "hello".

Don't forget to check out the blog hop; you could win some absolutely fabulous prizes!

Supplies:

Stamps: STAMPlorations "Cup of Roses" and "Frames & Flowers" sentiment;

Dies: STAMPlorations "gorgeous"; MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle; Elizabeth Craft Designs rectangle die for the inside of the frame.

Challenges:
Word Art Wednesday #376--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
CAS(E) This Sketch #311--sketch

Southern Girls--girl power
ART Impressions #251--flower cards
STAMPlorations Theme and Sketch--theme: stamps and coffee/tea (I used a tea cup)
STAMPlorations--never ending anything goes
Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #101--anything goes

Merry Christmas

The Love To Scrap Challenge blog is have a blog hop to celebrate our 6th birthday this month.  You can see my blog hop post here; make sure you join in the fun, there are 6 prizes to be won!  One of our sponsors is Lawn Fawn and they are offering a prize of a $25 gift certificate to their store.

Here's what I created using one of their adorable stamp sets:

 My sister got me this set for my birthday back in September and I finally got to play with it!! It is SUPER cute (as are all Lawn Fawn sets).  I had a lot of fun playing with it and dressing up these adorable mugs!  There are several different faces you can add, as well as the scarf and several different icons.  You can also add different things to the inside of the mugs.  So fun, I tell you!  I paper pieced the scarves for some added fun, stamped the whipped cream and extra two marshmallows for some additional toppings and colored up the mugs to match my color scheme.

The Merry Christmas die is also from Lawn Fawn and was a great way to finish off the card, though there are several different sentiment options to go along with the mugs.

Don't forget to check out the blog hop, you could win some awesome prizes!

Supplies:

Stamps: Lawn Fawn "Thanks a Latte"

Dies: Lawn Fawn "merry christmas"

Challenges:

Cute Card Thursday #57--greens
Crimbo Crackers #179--anything goes
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #32--anything goes
Merry Little Christmas #8--anything goes
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #427--anything goes with the optional twist: vintage or shabby chic

Get Your Party On

The Love To Scrap Challenge blog is have a blog hop to celebrate our 6th birthday this month.  You can see my blog hop post here; make sure you join in the fun, there are 6 prizes to be won!  One of our sponsors is Dr. Digi's House of Stamps and they are offering a prize of 2 digital images from their store.

Here's what I created using one of their cheeky stamps:

I won this image quite a while ago and am finally getting around to using it.  Isn't he fabulous!?  Lots of layers, some stars and a fun sentiment (from one of our other sponsors) finish him off and create an awesome masculine birthday card!  Or, at least I think so anyway, but I might be a little biased.

Make sure you check out the blog hop; you could win a prize from one of our generous sponsors.

Supplies:

Stamps: Dr. Digi's House Of Stamps "El Gordo" digi image; CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Woot, Woot" sentiment

Dies: Verve Star die; Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle

Challenges:
Your Next Stamp #108--stars
The Paper Shelter #372--birthday
Creative Knockouts #287--lots of layers
As You Like It--layers: one or many and why (I love the look of one layer cards when done well, but I find it difficult to do myself.  I usually don't add a lot of embellishments to my cards, but I do love to add layers of patterned paper, specially when I find a good layering sketch like this one)
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Dies R Us #116--for the men/boys
Cupcake Inspirations #465--plaid

Pink Gem Challenge--anything goes
Cheerful Sketches--sketch