Novel Birthday

  Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  With the beginning of a new year, we are changing up things a bit.  There will no longer be weekly sponsors; it will be "just for fun" (and the thrill of being chosen as one of the top picks!)  But every so often, there might be some prizes thrown in for a special surprise. This week, to get everyone back in the swing of things, the challenge is nice and easy: Anything Goes (just remember to use at least one die cut)

Here is my card for your inspiration:

Oh, my goodness, I LOVE how this turned out!!!  Is this not the cutest scene ever???  My daughters and I have been invited to attend a 15th anniversary for a Story hour group we attended when my girls were little.  It is also combined with a 65th birthday party for the women who founded it and is still running it.  So, of course, I had to create a book themed card!  I've had this adorable stamp set from MFT in my stash for quite a loooooooong time and had never had a chance to play with it until now!  I also used a super cute die set that I bought from MFT a couple months ago, and it, too was languishing in a pile of never before used items.  Well, no longer!!  Now they have both been shown some love and I think I will be reaching for them again very soon.

One of my very favorite challenges is: Snippets Playground.  It is a challenge about creating cards using "snippets"--those small pieces of things that we all save.  Well, I love stuff, but I also love using stuff and getting rid of stuff.  So, creating a card that uses up those bits of stuff left over from other cards is THE best!!  The challenge is (almost) always anything goes (using snippets of course), but this time you also have to include a picture of the snippets you used.

So, knowing that I wanted to use some patterned papers to create my scene, I pulled out these sheets of paper that had already been cut into.  Out of these, I cut my wallpaper, curtains and the little rug!

I have a confession, I save (almost) EVERY offcut of white cardstock because you never know when you will need a little piece to stamp a small image on.  So, I went to my stash and found these three snippets of white cardstock on which my images fit perfectly!  (You can see them lined up ready to go into my MISTI in the photo below:

After stamping the images, I decided I wanted to have a patterned lampshade, so I pulled out another small snippet from the same paper pack.

The only full piece of paper that I used was for my "floor", but never fear, once I cut the floor, I also die cut the curtain rod and the picture frames from part of the remaining patterned paper.  Then I cut the "baseboard" from a snippet from my white stash as well as the window frame.  The "cloud" paper was from a piece of patterned paper that I have had for 20 years!  And the pictures were stamped on a scrap of white card stock before adhering the frames to them and trimming them out.

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: My Favorite Things "Our Story"

Dies: My Favorite Things "Picture Window", "Fundamental Furnishing" (rug), and "Decor and More" (picture frames)

Challenges:

Snippets Playground #445--show us your snippets

Double D--birthday

As You Like It Challenge--favorite reason to send a card and why?  ( definitely choose birthday cards!  Mostly because that is what I make the most of, but also because it is an easy way to let someone know you are thinking about them on their birthday.  And if I have the time, I can really personalize it to the recipient--like this card.)

Crafty Calendar--add a sentiment

Creative Inspirations--something old, something new (new=stamp set and die sets; old=patterned papers)

Creatalicious #250--anything goes with the optional twist: something new (stamp and die sets had never been used until now!)

NUBUS #46--never before used stuff

Make My Monday #191--something new (stamp set and die sets)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--too cute

Double Trouble #129--Cuddle up (Thing #1: use 3+ colors--I have yellow, blue, green, and brown; Thing #3: warm & cuddly image--my little girl and kitty are snuggled up together)