Winter Blues

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

Here is my card for your inspiration:

This card is full of things that make me happy: I LOVE snowflakes and snow and patterned paper and blue and die cuts and gems--so basically everything on this card makes me happy.  The  two blue snowflakes and the sentiment were recycled from a commercial card we received last year.  The card was too pretty to throw away, so I cut it up a created a new card!  I used some scraps of patterned paper for the different panels and layered them on holographic card stock before adhering them to a navy card base.  I die cut a light gray snowflake and layered it in between the two blue snowflakes.  I also matted the sentiment on holographic card stock and finished everything off with some silver gems.  You can see the shine from the holographic paper and the sparkle on the blue snowflakes a bit better in the photo below:

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:

Dies: Papertrey Ink "Fancy Flakes"

Challenges:

Through the Purple Haze #212--anything goes

Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--snowflakes

Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers #41--sketch

Double D--sparkle AND/OR shine

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #222--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday--recycle

Krafty Chicks #700--all occasions

Creative Fingers #270--anything goes

Joyous Wishes

  I have exciting news!!  A couple months ago, I was asked to be a guest designer on the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge blog for the month of January!!  This week's challenge is: "Christmas" and our fabulous sponsor is Beccy's Place.

This is the card I created for your inspiration:

I colored up the candy cane image and then used glue to adhere real baker's twine to the ribbon on the image.  And then I added a button tied with the same twine.  I think it's a fun little touch that adds so much interest.  The three vertical patterned paper strips were already cut to width I just had to trim them to the correct length--the perfect way to use up some scraps.  I stamped the sentiment added some rhinestone gems and it was all finished!

Make sure you stop by the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge blog to see what the DT created for this challenge.  Thanks for stopping by!

 Supplies:

Stamps: Beccy's Place "String Candy" from the "All Tied Up" set; PaperTrey Ink "Just Sentiments: Be Merry"

Challenges:

Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--snowflakes (on my red patterned paper)

ABC Christmas--A is for anything (Christmas) goes

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #188--winter wishes

Christmas [Or Not] Bingo--I used the "B" column: (Green, FREE, Digi image and Button)

Try A Sketch On Tuesday #639--sketch

Fab n' Funky Challenge #587--stamp it

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--add texture (with the twine, button, gems and layers)

Hello, Friend

  Hello, everyone!  Here is a mid-challenge reminder for our "Fantasy" challenge over on the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  You still have almost 2 weeks to play along with us.  Our fabulous sponsor is Sheepski Designs.  Here is my card:

I love snow (though I HATE the cold weather), but I know a lot of people don't, so I created this nice spring inspired card to help cheer you up if you are one of those people!  I started with the cute little gnome images and went from there.  I picked some garden inspired papers in happy colors and paired them with a fun sketch.  The "hello" is die cut and the "Friend" is stamped directly onto the patterned paper--I just love that look when I remember it is an option!

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: Sheepski Designs "Giant Daisies"; Verve "Text Objects" friend

Dies: Papertrey Ink "Loopy" border die; YNS "hello"

Challenges:

Cutie Pie Challenge--feeling sentimental

Beautiful Blossoms #12--anything goes along as you use flowers

Triple B--anything goes with a bird, bloom or butterfly

Creative Fingers #269--anything goes

Tuesday Morning Sketches #740--sketch (unfortunately, I missed the deadline, but I still like the sketch)

Penny's Challenge #563--anything goes

Creative Knockouts #513--lots of layers

Snippets Playground #472--anything goes with snippets (my "daisy" was punched from scraps of white, the "hello" was die cut from a card base that I had scored incorrectly and is destined for the scrap bin; the floral piece of patterned paper was a scrap that I only had to trim down to the correct length, and the loopy border was die cut from a scrap)

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #222--anything goes

Peace on Earth

The other day, I posted this card that I created from an upcycled Christmas card I received last year.  Today's card is made from the top part of that same upcycled Christmas card.  The scene is just gorgeous and just didn't need anything except a sentiment really.  I die cut the scene with a stitched rectangle die, stamped the sentiment in the top center and added a few metal rhinestones to highlight the sentiment.

There are all these little foiled dots in the trees and sparkle and shine so beautifully.  You can see it a little better in the photo below.

I love the gray/silver color in this image, so I matted it on a dark gray card stock base.  It makes it feel so icy and wintery.

Supplies:

Stamps: PaperTrey Ink "Just Sentiments: Be Merry"

Dies: MFT " Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:

Sparkles #156--winter wonderland

ABC Christmas--A is for Anything Christmas Goes

Creative Fingers #269--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday--Sparkle and Shine

Penny's Challenges #563--anything goes

Krafty Chicks #699--CAS

Crafty Catz #663--anything goes with the optional twist: no patterned paper

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #222--anything goes

 

Card Recycle

I had a few minutes to just play in my craft area the other day and I decided to work with some Christmas cards I had received last year.  Some of them are just too pretty to throw away, you know?  One of them was large enough that I was able to cut it in half and create two cards out of it.  This card is the bottom half of the card.  I die cut the image with a rectangle die and matted it on some holographic card stock that I die cut with a stitched rectangle die.  I then matted both onto a red card stock base.  It didn't need much as the sentiment was already included on the cared, so I added some die cut snowflakes that were cut out of a white glitter paper.

You can see the shine from the holographic paper and the glitter from the snowflakes better in the photo below.

Supplies:

Recycled Christmas card

Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle die; MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle and "Cute Snowflakes"

Challenges:

Sparkles--winter wonderland

Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--snowflakes

ABC Christmas--A is for Anything Christmas

Die Cut Divas--nbus (never before used schtuff--this was the first time using the holographic paper)

Moving Along With the Times #162--new craft item (the holographic paper)

Christmas Craft Creations--glitter & sparkle

Crafty Gals Corner #252--winter fun (there's a sled in the back of the truck)

NBUS--never before used  schtuff (holographic card stock)

Farm Quest #44--winter sports (sledding--sled in the back of the truck)

Christmas (Or Not) Bingo #45--I used the G column: red, die cuts, FREE

Creative Fingers #269--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday--sparkle and shine

The Paper Shelter--all things new (holographic paper)

Double D--sparkle AND/OR shine

 

Crafty Catz #663--no patterned paper

Jingle Belles--something old, something new (the rectangle dies are OLD--I have had them for years and the holographic paper is NEW--just opened the package for this card)

Winter hello

Back in the fall, I won a chance to be a guest designer at Creative Creases and this is my week to design for them!!  So fun!!  The challenge is always anything goes as long as you use a fun fold.  I don't often create cards with fun folds because it takes more time, but I do really enjoy making them, so this was a fun challenge for me.  Here is the card I created:

It is called a tri-shutter card and it is the first time I have tried making one.  I used this tutorial and it was actually quite simple in technique to create even though it looks very fancy,

I created a wintery "hello" card that I thought would be fun to send to someone to brighten up their cold winter day.  I added a lot of snowflakes with both stamps and dies and used some pretty winter papers to go with my theme.  The text paper actually says "Let It Snow" repeatedly.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you head over to the Creative Creases blog to get all the details and some fabulous inspiration from the Design Team!

Supplies:

Stamps: Rubbernecker Stamps "Snowman with arms"; Papertrey Ink "Fab Flakes"; Cardz TV "Just Sayin'" inside sentiment

Dies: Rubbernecker Stamps "Snowman with arms"; Papertrey Ink "Fab Flakes"; Verve "Classy Label"

Challenges:

Cards Galore Challenges #119--anything goes

Die Cut Divas--nbus (never before used schtuff); this is the first time using the "hello" die, the first time using some of these snowflake dies

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

We Love Stamping--new (new "hello" die and new technique)

Moving Along With the Times--new craft item (the "hello" die)

Crafty Gals Corner #251--winter fun

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #188--winter wishes

NBUS #58--never before used schtuff (first time using the "hello" die and some of the snowflake dies)

Fab n' Funky #587--stamp it

Word Art Wednesday #631--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Paper Shelter #579--all things new (new "hello" die and new technique)

 

Small spaces

 I have exciting news!!  A couple months ago, I was asked to be a guest designer on the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge blog for the month of January!!  This week's challenge is: "Inspired By a Book" and our fabulous sponsor is All Dressed Up.

This is the card I created for your inspiration:

My book of inspiration is "Thumbelina".  I remember reading that waaaaaaay back when I was a kid and when I saw this image, that's exactly what I thought of as Thumbelina was no bigger than your thumb.  This little fairy has to be pretty tiny to be sitting beneath the flowers.  I colored her up with my Spectrum Noir markers and added some gold glitter pen to her wings.  You can see it in the photo below:

I stamped the sentiment and liked the bold black so much that I added a black mat and card base to make that pink really pop.  I die cut a fun corner flourish element and added some hot pink rhinestones and it was done!

Make sure you stop by the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge blog to see what the DT created for this challenge.  Thanks for stopping by!

 Supplies:

Stamps: All Dressed Up "Little Flower Fairy"

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 12" square and "Four Corners" corner element

Challenges:

Pattie's Creations #214--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

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

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #221--anything goes

Creative Fingers #269--anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday--Sparkles and shine

Shopping Our Stash #513--Once upon a time (I think "Thumbelina" should count as a fairy tale)

Fab n' Funky #587--stamp it

Word Art Wednesday #631--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #563--anything goes

New Year

Happy Friday!!!  It's time for a new challenge from the Cut It Up Challenge Blog.  This week, the challenge is: New Year (you can create a project using something NEW, using a NEW technique, or maybe just  a NEW year's card).

Here is my card for your inspiration:

I didn't receive any new crafty items for Christmas, so I went with the NEW Year's day theme.  I had this paper pack sitting on my desk from the previous card I had made (you can see it here).  As I was flipping through it, I cam across this gorgeous paper and just had to use it.  I paired it with two different shades of gray card stock and used a teal card stock for the die cut letters.  I colored up my sweet little kitty in my favorite gray (gray cats have always been my favorite), gave him a party hat and finished everything off with some leftover die cut stars (left over from the same project mentioned above).

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: Mama Elephant "Lunar Animals"; Unity Stamps Co. small sentiment

Dies: MFT "Stitched Alphabet"; Papertrey Ink stars

Challenges:

Cutie Pie Challenge--Feeling Sentimental

Sweet Sketch Wednesday2 #269--sketch

Incy Wincy Designs--New AND/OR Let's Celebrate

Word Art Wednesday #630--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Creative Knockouts #512--celebrations

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #221--anything goes

Snippets Playground #471--celebration (must use snippets--no full sheets of anything were harmed in the making of this card: all the cardstocks were from off cuts as was the paper.  My kitty was stamped on a tiny snippet of white card stock and my stars were left over from a previous project.)

Make My Monday #216--New Year

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--cute critters

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

 

Happy New Year

I have exciting news!!  A couple months ago, I was asked to be a guest designer on the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge blog for the month of January!!  I flaked out and missed last week's challenge, so I am starting today.  This week's challenge is: "New" and our fabulous sponsor is The Paper Shelter.

This is the card I created for your inspiration:

I came across a challenge that was to use the colors gray, yellow and white, and it intrigued me so much I wanted to give it a try.  I usually stay away from color challenges because I'm TERRIBLE at mixing colors, but for whatever reason, I thought I could do this one.  I think it created a very bright, modern, celebration card and it is so fun!!  I colored up my handsome little dude and fussy cut him out so I could add him wherever I wanted.  I didn't have the exact shade of yellow card stock that I was looking for, so I used a pale yellow cardstock to die cut the letters from and once they were die cut I used my Spectrum Noir markers to create an ombre affect on each letter.  It's very subtle, but I think it is a fun touch. I finished everything off with some die cut stars.

Make sure you stop by the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge blog to see what the DT created for this challenge.  Thanks for stopping by!

 Supplies:

Stamps: The Paper Shelter "Casual Boy" digi

Dies: MFT "Stitched Alphabet"; Papertrey Ink stars

Challenges:

Cards Galore Challenge #119--anything goes

Pattie's Creations #214--anything goes

Cutie Pie Challenge--Feeling Sentimental

Cheerful Sketches--sketch (second time I've used this one--it's a good one this month!)

Crafty Calendar--anything goes

Sheepski Designs #82--anything goes

Paper Funday #61--anything goes with the optional twist: let's celebrate

613 Avenue Create--anything goes with the optional twist: new beginnings

Incy Wincy Designs--New AND/OR Let's celebrate

Word Art Wednesday #630--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #562--anything goes

ART Impressions #366--It's a clean slate (anything goes)

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #221--anything goes

Make My Monday #216--New Year

Cupcake Inspirations #585--color challenge

Magical Birthday

Hello, everyone!  It's time for a new challenge from the Creative Moments Challenge blog.  The theme is: Fantasy.  I am using an image from one of our fabulous sponsors: Sheepski Designs.

 Here is my card:

Isn't this unicorn just gorgeous??!!  Andrea Norris is the artist behind Sheepski Designs and she is very talented!  This purple watercolor look paper was on my desk (my daughter had just returned it along with some other stuff as she was working on cleaning out her room) and I really wanted to use it.  So, I pulled out some other papers from the same pack and went with a soft, magical, purple color scheme.  The vertical layer is a nice pearlescant paper and has a beautiful sheen to it.  You can see that a little bit in the photo below as well as the gold sparkle pen I used on the unicorn's horn.  I finished everything off with some large gold sequins and some elegant gold die cuts.  I had forgotten about both of these dies and I was very excited to pull them out and use them again.  

, 

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: Sheepski Designs "Unicorn"; CAS-ual Friday's "Be a Unicorn"

Dies: MFT "Fancy Flourish" and "Four Corners"

Challenges:

Cards Galore #119--anything goes

Pattie's Creations #214--anything goes

Crafter's Cafe #303--feminine

Unicorn Challenge #94--birthday

Cheerful Sketches--sketch

Sheepski Designs #82--anything goes

Paper Funday #61--anything goes with the optional twist: celebrate

Aud Sentiments #309--make your own background AND/OR birthday (I went with birthday)

Incy Wincy Designs--New AND/OR Let's celebrate (I chose celebrate)

Word Art Wednesday #630--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Penny's Challenge #562--anything goes

Double D--8th birthday/anniversary celebration (Happy Birthday!!!  This card's for you!)

C.R.A.F.T. #703--anything goes

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #221--anything goes

Penguin Love

 Happy January 1st, 2024!!  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:

My parents' anniversary is the day after Christmas, so I was able to use some beautiful winter papers and a snowy theme for this sweet card.  These little penguins are just adorable!  I used some white glitter paper on an icicle border die for an icy touch.  And to add to that, I added some ultra fine glitter to the snowflake to give some more sparkle.

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: Pretty Pink Posh "Penguin Pals"; MFT "Essential Sentiments"

Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"; YNS "Icicle border"

Challenges:

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #220--anything goes

Word Art Wednesday--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

The Paper Shelter--anything goes

A Gem of a Challenge--anything goes

Krafty Chicks #696--all occasions

Pattie's Creations #213--anything goes

Once Upon a Time #18--Mr. Popper's Penguins