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:

Through the Purple Haze #212--anything goes

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:

Through the Purple Haze #213--anything goes

Unicorn Challenge #94--dots AND/OR stripes

Crafty Calendar--add a heart

Moving Along With the Times #165--love hearts

Crafty Gals Corner #252--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

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

Pattie's Creations #215--anything goes

Sheepski Designs #83--anything goes

Paper Funday #62--anything goes with the optional twist: no patterned paper

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #224--anything goes

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

A Gem of a Challenge #163--anything goes

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:

Through the Purple Haze #113--anything goes

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

Card #3:

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"

Challenges:

Pattie's Creations #215--anything goes

Penny's Challenges #565--anything goes

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)

Crafting Happiness #163--cute

Card #7:

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"

Challenges:

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

Card #8:

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions"

Challenges:

Moving Along With the Times #163--love hearts

Card #10:

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT "Lovely Lions" lion and hearts; Verve "Text Objects" love

Dies: MFT "Stitched Heart STAX"

Challenges:

Crafty Gals Corner #252--add a heart

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:

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #224--anything goes

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

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)

Build You Holiday Stash Cardmakers #42--sketch

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)

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #224--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #636--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Double D--patterned paper

The Future

Hello, everyone!  It's time for a new challenge from the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  The theme is: CAS (Clean and Simple).  I am using an image from one of our fabulous sponsors: Hetty Claire.

 Here is my card:

Sometimes I really struggle with CAS cards, but I have been getting better at them.  I really love how this one turned out!  The image was done in a little bit of grayscale already, so I decided to add just the tiniest bit of color.  Then I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die, stamped the sentiment and added a couple die cut hearts in a very light pink.  What do you think?

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: Hetty Claire "The Buttercup" digi; Sweet n' Sassy Stamps "Future"

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle and "Tag Builders 5" small hearts

Challenges:

Word Art Wednesday #624--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Addicted to CAS #251--heart

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #223--anything goes

Double D--heartfelt

Creative Fingers #271--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

Sheepski Designs #83--anything goes

Lion Love

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

Here is my card for your inspiration:

Oh, my goodness!!  Isn't this little lion the cutest!!??  I'm working on my Valentine's Day cards and this is the first one completed.  It's a bit of an unusual color scheme with the yellow, but I'm working on a batch with several different patterned papers and the yellow makes more sense with some of them than with others.  The background was created with a stencil from Simon Says Stamp; it's perfect for Valentine's Day!

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: MFT "YUZU Lovely Lions"; Verve "Text Objects" love

Dies: MFT "Stitched Heart STAX" and "Tag Builders 5" small hearts

Fiskars "Apron" border punch

Simon Says Stamp "Hearts and Stars" stencil

Challenges:

Make My Monday #218--use patterned paper

Penny's Challenge #564--anything goes

C.R.A.F.T. #708--love/Valentine's Day

Creative Knockouts #514--Love/Valentine's Day/Anniversary

As You Like It --digital or physical stamps and why (I soooo prefer physical stamps!  I love being able to stamp them wherever I want on a card.  Also, I'm not super tech savvy when it comes to using digi stamps, so I don't know how to do a lot of the fancy things with them.  I do like being able to resize the image, but I was a whole lot more paper and the images don't always end up being the size I wanted.  Plus, I have soooo many physical stamps and I love the ease of using them)

Sweet Stampin'--Valentine's or Galentine's Day

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday--fun with stencils

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #223--anything goes

The Paper Shelter #582--hearts

Crazy Cat

 Happy February 1st!!  It's time for a new challenge on the Critter Crazy Challenge blog!  As always, it is a month long challenge: Anything Goes as long as you feature a creature.  Here is my card for your inspiration:

The reason for this card is a LONG story!!!  The short version is that I took my female kitten in to the dr. to be spayed and there were complications.  She has had two additional surgeries (one because she ripped all the stitches out and had an open wound) and a couple rounds of antibiotics and sedatives to try to keep her calm.  That is a joke!  Anyone ever try to keep a kitten calm???  Yeah, it's not working real great.  Anyway, I digress.  The Dr. has been amazing, even coming in on his day off to do the second surgery and not charging me for various things.  So, I thought it would be a good idea to send him a fun little "thank you" card.  I kept it nice and simple, just adding a black cat (like my Shadow) and adding the sentiment and a few die cut stars.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hop on over to the Critter Crazy blog and check out the details and the rest of the projects from the Design Team.

Supplies:

Stamps: Riley & Company "Burt"; Pretty Pink Posh "Thoughtful Greetings" 

Dies: Riley & Company "Smiling Burt"; Papertrey Ink stars

Challenges:

Through the Purple Haze #212--anything goes

NBUS #58--never before used schtuff (the cat stamp and die are brand new, I won them last month and this is the first time using)

Crafty Catz #664--anything goes with the optional twist: make me smile (how can you NOT smile when looking at this crazy cat!)

Creative Fingers #270--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #623--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #564--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes