Welcome to my blog!

Thanks for visiting my blog. As the title suggests, I love to scrapbook, stamp, and sing! I will share cards and scrapbook pages I create, as well as information about my music - Barbershop harmony.

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Craft Roulette 212

Hi all - I played along during the Craft Roulette LIVE last night while at my dad's. I had a package of new MFT that I had brought from home to "process" & pulled out a new grid die from their March release.


Supplies:  Paper - Paper Studio; Hero Arts; Neenah
Stamps - Hero Arts Live & Laugh (c2011 - retired)
Other - enamel dots (unk brand); foam tape
Hero Arts Sparkle Lacquer & orange ink

Craft Roulette host Mary Gunn FUNN had Nina Yang of Waffleflower as her guest. Sadly, I didn't have a single Waffleflower item with me to use - oh well. That wasn't a requirement - just would've been nice. Here's what the craft wheel spun for our four parameters (screen shot from my laptop):


During the discussion, it was thought just about any occasion could fit a co-worker. If you're retired like I am, you could just made something for a former co-worker. For colors, I googled best kite colors and found a site that touted bright colors of red, orange, yellow, and blue so that's what I used. For my April element, I used two - April 4th is National Moment of Laughter Day so I used "laugh" in my sentiment and April's flower is daisy so I added die cut daisies. For the Random element I covered my daisies with sparkle lacquer. 

After die cutting the MFT cover-up, I backed it with a scrap of ancient Hero Arts layering paper that I've been hoarding. Added to an A2 card. Stamped the sentiments in orange ink on Neenah cardstock and fussy cut. Popped them into the windows with foam tape. Die cut the daisies and covered in sparkle lacquer which dries quickly. Added to the center strip and adhered some enamel dots for centers - done!

I was able to pop outside for a quick photo in natural light, even though it was getting dark. Didn't bother to take a better photo today - I'm getting lazy - lol. If I'm watching a LIVE, I like to play along and try to finish my card - kinda reminds me of the old Hero Arts 90 minute Scrambles we used to do!

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty weekend!!

Friday, April 26, 2024

Feel Better Soon!

Hi all - TGIF!! It's very gloomy here today with possibility of severe weather, though it'll probably stay further south. I'm popping in with a few cards made while sitting in front of the television. First up, a bouquet for a friend who broke her foot (a different friend than a previous post - we're accident prone, I guess):


Supplies: Paper - Neenah white; Paper Studio A2 card;
Betterpress Porcelain; scrap of black
Stamps - Spellbinders Celebrate Everything
(exclusive freebie in Issue #253 of Simply Cards and Papercraft)
BetterPress Plate w/Dies - Spellbinders You Are Everything Sentiments
Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set
Other - Copic Markers; foam tape

I just did some simple Copic coloring on the floral image which I'd stamped on Neenah. Die cut it with a stitched rectangle. Adhered to A2 card & added a pressed sentiment w/shadow. Since the stamp is newly used, I'll add to Darnell's April NBUS Challenge, plus this is my card for her IDEAS program (see Darnell's inspiration HERE) - A=Anything Goes this week.

Next, a couple of sympathy cards I needed for this week. A cousin passed on Tuesday and one of Dad's Arizona neighbors lost their son to longtime illness. I went with a  couple Spellbinders sets ( Essential Floral Reflection & Floral Reflection) that I used before HERE and really love. For these I added a layer to the label and really liked it that way. Another Betterpressed sentiment finished them off. 


Which one do you prefer? I made the one on the right first but liked the deeper colors of the second one on the left.

Thanks for stopping & have a crafty day!!



Sunday, April 21, 2024

Spring Storytime

Welcome everyone - I have a Diva post today with some inspiration for our April Die Cut Diva Challenge - Make a Spring Card! We have RAM Stamps as our fabulous sponsor this month; Rachelle Anne Miller designs just adorable images & I've enjoyed coloring them!! 

Here's my card:


Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card; 
Hero Arts Bermuda; Neenah white; scrap of yellow
Digi Stamp - RAM Stamps Storytime
Clear Stamp - Hero Arts Sky's the Limit (c2009 - retired)
Embossing Folder - Spellbinders Checkered Scallops (EOM-Mar24)
Dies - Kat Scrappiness Never Ending Square Dies
Other - Creative Expressions Wordies Hello Spring;
Copic Markers; foam tape



RAM Stamps is offering a prize of a $10 gift certificate for our 
random winner drawn from eligible April entries.

I see Spring because the tree seems to be sprouting its new leaves. To reinforce the theme, I used a spring sentiment. The printed digi (thanks Arlene!) was colored with Copics, die cut with a square and matted with another square. In keeping with Darnell's IDEAS (E for embossing), I decided to layer it onto an embossed panel. First time that folder got used (just 1 month from receipt, fantastic!) so I'll add my card to Darnell's April NBUS Challenge. A stamped/fussy cut sun & a preprinted sentiment strip finished the card.

Now for a bonus using a fave image of the Divas - Friendship Mouse - such a cutie!!


Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card; Neenah white;
Michael's green
Digi Stamp - RAM Stamps Friendship Mouse
Dies - Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched Rectangles (retired)
Other - Creative Expressions Wordies Hello Spring;
Copic Markers

We hope to see you in the April Diva gallery with your Spring creation! Just remember to include a die cut or use an embossing folder in your design &, if it's not obvious, share why your project evokes Spring.

Thanks for stopping & happy crafting!!




Saturday, April 20, 2024

Pair of Birthday Cards

Hi all - I'm back with a pair of birthday cards made yesterday. First up - card # 3 (and final) for the current Day of the Month Card Club #62 National Look Alike Day (two of something):



Supplies: Paper - Neenah white & black;
Ms Sparkle pastel A2 card
Stamps - Sentimentally Your Fabulous Florals (a magazine
freebie with Creative Stamping Issue 130)
Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set
Memory Box Wishing You (exclusive for Simple Pleasures)
Other - Copic Markers; Memento Tuxedo Black ink;
happy sentiment strip from stash (maybe SSS?);
black & white gel pens; foam tape

Was shopping at JoAnn yesterday and picked up a UK magazine with some freebie stamps. One was the corner flower arrangement so I stamped it in two corners, inspired by Gundi's gorgeous card HERE. Colored both images as similarly as possible and die cut with a stitched rectangle. Adhered to a black mat, then a pastel A2 card and added a sentiment. The "birthday" was the other 1/2 of the die cut sentiment used on my brother's bday card - used the "happy" there.

Since the magazine freebie stamp is new, I'll add this card to Darnell's April NBUS Challenge too.

Once again I was visiting my dad with access to limited supplies but I played along during last night's LIVE of Craft Roulette with Mary Gunn FUNN & this week's guest Kelly Taylor (see the replay of Episode #211 HERE). Here's the card I made during the LIVE:


Supplies: Paper - Ms Sparkle sand & aqua; Neenah white
Stamps - Hero Arts Typewriter Notes (c2013 - retired) &
same magazine freebie as above (coffee rings)
Ribbon - May Arts
Other - Hero Arts & Memento inks; Copic Markers


The roulette wheel spun the following (screen shot during LIVE):



I remembered a box of old clear stamps in the satelitte studio. Found a typewriter to use for the element Mechanical. A website with Summer Color Palettes gave me some color ideas (I went beachy with blues & sand). During the discussion, Good Tidings was thought to include birthday, congrats, etc so I went birthday. For Tie Closed, I went literal and made a gatefold card with a ribbon to tie it closed. The typewriter is glued to one side only so that helps to close the gate too. While I submitted during the LIVE, I took a better photo today for this post.

Made the gatefold with the sand colored paper, then added some panels of aqua. Stamped the aqua panels with the coffee rings and typewriter gibberish (right side got a bit goopey, oh well - handmade, right?!). Stamped the typewriter on Neenah, colored with Copics & fussy cut. Assembled card and tied with ribbon - done! This would work for a masculine card too if I changed the ribbon to twine.

That's it for today - hope you're having a crafty weekend!



Thursday, April 18, 2024

Santa with Reindeer

Hi friends - Thought I'd combine participating in Darnell's IDEAS program (see this week's inspiration HERE) with the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge - Santa and His Sidekicks. I had an extra Santa from a previous card and stamped a couple of reindeer to accompany him. For IDEAS, this week is embossing so I pulled out a 3D embossing folder I hadn't used yet.


Supplies: Paper - Neenah white; Paper Studio A2 card, 
Patterned paper unk (in scrap bin)
Embossing folder - Spellbinders Criss Cross Motif (3EOM-Nov23)
Stamp with Dies - Hero Arts Mr & Mrs (retired at HA 
but found HERE at Frantic Stamper) & Jingle All the Way (retired)
Dies - Tim Holtz Sizzix Big Tidings
Other - Copic Markers; white gel pen; foam tape; Park Lane red gem

Another simple card - stamping, coloring & die cutting, plus the background embossing. I'll add this card to Darnell's April NBUS Challenge too, since the embossing folder got first play here. I have more Spellbinders folders that need some love - hope to get to them later this week.

Now that I think about it, I'll add my card to the current Day of the Month Card Club Challenge too. They're doing Look Alikes and since I have two very similar reindeer, I think my card qualifies!!

That's it for today - thanks for stopping by! Happy crafting!!





Sunday, April 14, 2024

Craft Roulette Episode 210

Happy Sunday! Friday night I watched my first LIVE at Craft Roulette - episode 210 (replay here) with Mary Gunn FUNN. Her guest was Carrie Rhoades who does some designs for Trinity and for Spellbinders. I should say I watched part and listened during other parts while I crafted along... I submitted a photo during the LIVE but took a better one in natural light yesterday. Here's the better photo:


Supplies: Paper - Neenah White;
Bo Bunny Blessed; many scraps
Dies - Poppystamps Fern and Daisy Pop Up Easel Set;
Spellbinders Floral Reflection (blue flowers) & 
Fancy Edged Ovals (retired)
Other - printed sentiment (brand ??); various gems

At Craft Roulette they spin the wheel four times for the must-include parameters. I photographed my computer screen to capture them during the LIVE.




The host and guest create their card based on the parameters during the LIVE. Players can submit during the LIVE but have until Sunday night. There's a lot of banter between the guest and host while they're crafting together online; it's fast & fun and prizes can be won randomly from submissions.

I was visiting my dad but I keep a stash of basic supplies at his house (my "satellite studio"), plus I brought a few die sets with me. When the Project came up "Include Action" & the discussion mentioned pop-up cards, I was ready with a Poppystamps set. For Colors, I found this website with all sorts of fabulous Northern Lights photos. I used white, green, pink, blue, purple & yellow for my colors. For Blackboard, I found a chalkboard looking patterned paper with loads of text like a teacher might write on a board. Mary also mentioned using a white on black sentiment strip during the discussion so that worked for me too. For the Random element oval, I was lucky because the pop-up die set I used includes an oval for the center! Plus I had a sweet bitty pierced scalloped oval die that I used to cut a stack of diecuts for the stopper.

Here are a couple other views of this pop-up that I also took in a better light:



If interested, I made another version of this card last year HERE & in 2021 I skipped the pop-up panel and made an A2 shaker card HERE. I'll be sending this card to a chorus friend. Remember I mentioned one who broke her leg? Well, another one broke her ankle! No, we're not normally so accident prone but when you have a large group, things are bound to happen. Anyway, Jen is out until after our upcoming Regional contest which is a shame! Broken Leg Bonnie has healed enough to go home from rehab - unbelievable how lucky she is to recover her independence so quickly!! If you remember, my mom died 2 years ago after breaking her leg (they couldn't do surgery & she just faded away in less than four months).

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!!

Saturday, April 13, 2024

A Trio of Feminine Birthday Cards

Happy Saturday!! I'm back to share a trio of feminine cards for April birthdays. Four dear friends all have birthdays in the first couple weeks of the month; I shared a card for the earliest one HERE. First up today is one I made using some darling images from my friend Gundi (papierelle). I used another one of the images HERE.


Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio Pastels A2 card;
Betterpress Porcelain; Paper Studio Bright Vintage
Betterpress w/Dies - Spellbinders You Are Everything Sentiments
Other - Kitty images from Gundi - thanks again!
Copic Markers; foam tape; Betterpress Cosmic Sky ink

I colored the kitty images with Copics & fussy cut. Adhered a strip of texty vintage paper onto an A2 card, then popped the kitties up with foam tape. Added a pressed sentiment die cut w/coordinating die and given a shadow. My friend Avis loves cats and she really loved this card! I'll add it to the Anything Goes section of Seize the Birthday.

Next up, a couple quick and easy cards using bits leftover from other cards:


Supplies: Paper - Ms Sparkle A2 card; various scraps;
Neenah white; Betterpress Porcelain, Paper Studio Bright Vintage
Betterpress w/Dies - Spellbinders You Are Everything Sentiments
Dies - Memory Box Plumed Gypsy Butterfly
A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set;
MFT Blueprints (retired); Hero Arts Nesting Infinity Ovals
& Jan 24 Premium MMH kit (sold out); flower center unk
Other - Foam tape; Cosmic Sky Betterpress ink


This final one has a strip of MFT's Colorful Canvas and a flower panel by unknown, along with a leftover Hero kit flower and Spellbinder's birdie from Sweet Birds on a Branch (retired at Spellbinders but still here as of this writing at Frantic Stamper).


That's it for today! Thanks for stopping & I hope you're having the fabulous weather we're getting (might reach 80F!)