Valentine texting

Happy Friday!  Not only is it almost the weekend, it's also time for a new challenge on the Cut It Up Challenge blog!  This challenge is very timely with the theme of: Love/Valentine's Day

Our sponsor for this challenge is the Cutting Cafe:

And here is my card:

I chose to work with the Cutting Cafe's Feb 14 (Color 1) file.  It is a whole page of cute and colorful love/Valentine's Day themed images.  The texting image caught my eye right away as I have a smartphone die set from MFT that was perfect to use with it.  This card will go to my husband so I didn't want to make it too fancy and girly.  I used some scraps of paper for the background (the dotted one I only had to trim a little off the top to make it fit), die cut my phone out of some scraps of card stock and added some little die cut hearts that were left over from a border die cut I used on a different project.  All in all, it was a very quick project and used up a bunch of scraps!  Win-win in my book!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you will hop on over to the Cut It Up blog to see what the rest of the team created.  Then get creative and play along with us; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:

Stamps: The Cutting Cafe "Feb 14: Color 1" printable stamp set

Dies: MFT smartphone and "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle; Verve "Scalloped Trim Trio" hearts left over from the heart border die

Challenges:

Snippets Playground #421--anything goes as long as you use snippets

Shopping Our Stash #463--my heart BEETS for you (use hearts and/or vegetables)

Try Stampin on Tuesday #541--sketch with the optional twist: red, pink, gold

 

Die Cut Divas--angle it

Creatalicious #228--anything goes with the optional twist: love

Word Art Wednesday #530--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Simon Says Stamp Monday--love it in the air

Use Your Stuff #441--Hearts/love

Cupcake Inspiration #537--valentine hearts

Cardz 4 Guyz #289--love cards

Pink Christmas

 Happy Thursday!  I have the honor of being a Guest Designer for the Krafty Chicks Challenge for the month of February!  

This week, the challenge is:

Christmas

And here is my card:

Every year, I think it is such a same to throw out all the beautiful Christmas cards we receive in the mail, so I save them, thinking I will do something with them.  After a while, I decide I won't and I throw them away.  Well, this year, I actually decided to recycle them.  I created a post a couple weeks ago that showed 3 cards I had created out of pieces from one commercial card.  This card was also created from a card I received (though this time, I used all the elements that could be reused).  I die cut out the sentiment and matted it on red cardstock.  I found some card stock that coordinated with colors in the trees that I fussy cut out.  To keep the background from being too plain, I embossed the pink layer with a snowflake embossing folder before adhering it to the teal card base.  The sentiment and baubles on some of the trees are glittery, so in real life this is quite sparkly and shiny with the red sparkle and the gold element.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 12" stitched rectangle (it only has stitching on one side, so I ran it through my die cutting machine again after flipping the die around so it would have stitching on both top and bottom of my sentiment panel)

Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder

Challenges:

Sparkles Christmas challenge #133--use some gold (gold on "Merry" and on elements on the trees)

Die Cut Divas--angle it

Creative Fingers Challenge #224--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

Christmas Kickstart #59--sentiment takes center stage

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #175--anything goes

Peace On Earth #9--anything Christmas goes with the optional challenge of this mood board (I used the color pink and Christmas trees)

Recycled Birthday

 I received several Christmas cards that I thought I could recycle to create new handmade cards.  And yes, I did say Christmas.  This present was one out of three that were on a Christmas card.  One of the presents definitely looked Christmasy, but this one said "Birthday" to me.    I've had these felt balloons from Stamps of Life for several years and this was the perfect card to finally use them on.  Rather quick and easy to make, and pretty cute, too!

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT "Essential Sentiments"

Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Balloons and paper from Stamps of Life

Challenges:

Try Stampin' On Tuesday #540--monochrome and/or sketch (I chose the sketch)

Creative Fingers #224--anything goes

Double Trouble Challenge #102--something, anything, everything (Thing #1: anything goes; Thing #3: play with a previous partner--Try Stampin' on Tuesday)

Cards Galore #96--anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

Crafting Happiness #120--anything goes

Penny's Challenge #514--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #175--anything goes

Retirement

 Happy Thursday!  I have the honor of being a Guest Designer for the Krafty Chicks Challenge for the month of February!  

The challenge this week is: Stamp Act (you must using stamping on your project)

And here is my card:

This sweet little stamp set from Sugar Pea Designs is perfect for masculine retirement cards.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Sugar Pea Designs (I think this set must be retired; I can't find it on the website)

Challenges:

Cardz 4 Guyz #288--something beginning with "P" (patterned paper)

Creative Fingers #223--anything goes

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Cards Galore #96--anything goes

Cutie Pie Challenge #167--simple starts

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper

Crafting Happiness #120--anything goes

Penny's Challenge #514--anything goes

Elephant Birthday

Happy February!!  I have the privilege of being the Guest Designer for Critter Crazy challenge for the month of February!  I'm so excited and so honored to have been asked.  As always, the challenge for the month is Anything Goes as long as you feature a critter.  Here is my card:

This is the final card in a set I have been making with a One-sheet Wonder template.  One-sheet wonders use an entire sheet of patterned paper to create a group of cards.  This particular one I used makes 12 to14 cards, I believe.  If you would like to see the rest of them, you can go here, here, here, here, and here.  For this card, I added a small scalloped border, a vellum die cut circle, and some blue rhinestones.  The photo below shows the card and three tiny little pieces of patterned paper that were left over after making all the cards!  And the only reason they are left is because I trimmed them off to make some of the paper fit my layouts better.  Otherwise, I used an entire piece of 12 x 12 patterned paper on this set.

Please head over to the Critter Crazy blog to see what the team has created and for the full details of the challenge.

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT "Adorable Elephants" image and sentiment

Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"; MFT "Stitched Scallop Trio"

Challenges:

Pattie's Creations #190--anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper

C.R.A.F.T. #624--anything goes

As You Like It--favorite coloring medium (I love using my Spectrum Noir markers--the blending is fabulous!)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes

Krafty Chicks #596--all occasions

Crafty Catz #580--anything goes with the optional twist: add flowers (I have flowers on my patterned paper)

A Gem of a  Challenge--anything goes

Recycled cards

 I got to have a little fun today and just play.  I decided to try upcycling Christmas cards that I received this year.  I've had the thought before, but never made it happen.  Today, I finally did it.  All three cards in this post use pieces from the same Christmas card.  On the first one, I die cut the main image with a rectangle die.  The plaid banner piece was a piece that actually ran down the side of the original card.

I embossed a piece of kraft card stock for the background panel and added a mat of light turquoise.  I added a sentiment strip and some snowflakes that had been punched a long time ago.  They were just sitting in a bag waiting to be used.

After cutting out the image, I had the sentiment and a cute little house left over.  They were perfect to pair together to create this second card.  I used the same red card base, and some embossed kraft strips.  I added some light turquoise and then added some red glitter paper die cut hearts.  The largest one was in my bits and pieces stash and was the inspiration for adding them to the card.

After finished the second card, I still had two small squares of the card left.  They had some pieces of trees on them and seemed to pretty to throw away.  So, I found a sketch to use to use them up.  Unfortunately, you don't really see the pattern with the ribbon covering them.  But at least I did use them

I also got a chance to use this adorable little snowman stamp that I have had for several years and never inked up.  He's super cute; so I will definitely be using him again.  I paper pieced his hat with the little bit of left over plaid from the first card.  Then I added a fun little pom pom to the top of the hat.  I stamped some light turquoise snowflakes around the top of the focal panel.  The ribbon was in my bits and pieces stash.

Card #1:

Supplies:

Stamps: Verve "Beyond Measure" sentiment

Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle; MFT "Blueprints 14" sentiment banner

Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder

Martha Stewart snowflake punch

Challenges:

Incy Wincy Designs--color combo and/or sketch (I chose the sketch)

Cards Galore Challenge #92--anything goes

Through The Purple Haze #188--anything goes

Creative Inspirations--anything goes

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #42--anything goes

Dare 2 B Artzy--winter fun

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #164--inspiration photo (I went with the color scheme and snowflakes)

Love To Craft Challenge Blog #153--anything goes

Sweet Stampers #64--winter/snow

Penny's Challenge #513--anything goes

C.R.A.F.T. #624--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes

Krafty Chicks #596--all occasions

Alphabet Challenge--V is for vehicle

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Card #2:

Supplies:

Dies: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps largest heart; MFT "Smartphone" two smaller hearts

Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder

Challenges:

Sparkles Christmas Challenge--a winter scene

Creative Sketchy Girls #68--sketch

ABC Christmas--anything Christmas goes

The Paper Funday Challenge #57--anything goes with the optional twist: winter landscapes

613 Avenue Create--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #528--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Snippets Playground #420--anything goes with snippets (one heart was left over from another project, the other two were cut from snippets.  The two main pieces were scraps from the recycled card, and the kraft and turquoise layers were all scraps)

Creative Knockouts #437--die cuts/punches

Card #3:

Stamps: Rubbernecker Stamps "Snowman with Arms"; Papertrey Ink " Fab Flakes" and sentiment

Dies: Verve "Elegant Ovals"

Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder

Challenges:

Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--snow people

Pattie's Creations #190--anything goes

Love To Scrap Challenge Blog #66--anything goes

Creatalicious #227--anything goes with the optional twist: winter

Craft Rockets #88--use dies

Crafty Gals #227--snow much fun

{Pin}spirational Challenge #285--inspirational photo

Crafting Happiness #119--anything goes

Make My Monday #166--winter

YNS #175--seasons

Creative Moments #230--sketch

Use Your Stuff #440--embossing

Creative Fingers #223--anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #575--anything goes with the optional twist: use a sentiment

Praying

 So, in my last post at the beginning of the year, I mentioned how I had suddenly found myself Design Teamless.  Well, I have to say that didn't last very long!!  Within a couple days, I have an offer from the owner of the Cut It Up Challenge blog to come join their design team!  I'm excited to announce that today begins my first challenge as part of that team!!  Yeay!!  The challenge for the next two weeks is: 

Hard to Say (sympathy, belated birthday, sorry, etc.)

The sponsor is DRS Designs and you can win a fabulous prize!

I chose to make a sympathy card and it was perfect (yet unfortunate) timing as a friend just lost her mother and I will need to send this card.  I was hoping to add it to my stash to have on hand when needed.  Here it is:

I chose to work with this beautiful sympathy sentiment.  I think it would also be perfect to add to the inside of a card, but wanted to make it the focal point.  In my stamp collection, I also had this pussy willow image from DRS Designs, and I thought it made the perfect backdrop for the sentiment--a way to highlight it without detracting from it.  Other than the focal panel, the star of this show is that pink mulberry paper!  It adds so much interest and softness at the same time.  I definitely don't use it enough!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please check out the full details of the challenge and get some beautiful inspiration from the Design Team over on the Cut It Up Challenge blog.  You'll be glad you did!

Supplies:

Stamps: DRS Designs "Praying for Friends Sympathy Greeting" and "Brush Pussy Willow"

Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle (I used it to die cut the sentiment panel and to trace around to create the mulberry paper layer)

Challenges:

Cards Galore Challenge #95--anything goes

Through the Purple Haze #188--anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with pattern paper

Love To Scrap Challenge Blog #66--anything goes

Creative Inspirations--anything goes

Craft Rockets #188--use dies

Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2--any sketch from 2021 (I chose sketch #198)

613 Avenue Create--anything goes

Crafting Happiness #119--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #174--anything goes

Fab n Funky #543--use 2 or more patterned papers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #528--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Krafty Chicks #596--All Occasions