Another Sweet Twofer

Hi all - hope you're having a wonderful day! From when I made a gingerbread couple card back in September, I had a bunch of die-cut kraft colored gingerbread people laying around the craft table. Decided to squeeze out another October Sweet Twofer with some of them.

 

I also had a pile of Taylored Expressions sentiment strips, among them an anniversary and a grad sentiment. My occasions were decided, however I decided to cut a single gingerbread boy in silver to match my grad papers. The couple stayed kraft - LOL! Don't ask me where the gingerbread man's stamped star buttons came from - I put the set away and am too lazy to look for it.... Luckily, the heart on the gingerbread woman came from the same Lawn Fawn set as the faces and it was still on hand! Please ignore my poor hand-drawn details & my fussy cutting on that scalloped border!! Here's a closer look with supply lists:

Supplies: Paper - Poptone Black Licorice; Doodlebug Hat's Off 6x6; 

Neenah Solar White; Curious Metallics (Galvanized)

Dies - QuicKutz gingerbread people die (long retired); Hero Arts Nesting Postage Stamps;

My Favorite Things Blueprints (retired angle panels); Taylored Expressions Simple Strips

Stamps - Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Background

Other - Doodlebug Shape Sprinkles

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio Turquoise A2 card; 

Authentique patterned 6x6 papers (a collection); Poptone kraft

Dies - QuicKutz gingerbread people die (long retired); Taylored Expressions Simple Strips; 
Hero Arts Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies

Stamps - Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Background; Lawn Fawn Love You A Latte

Other - Distress Markers; Memento Rich Cocoa & Tuxedo Black inks;
Gathered Twigs Distress Ink; ultra thin foam tape

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping and, if you're interested, you still have time to play in this month's Twofer Challenge. Thanks to Darnell & crew for all the fun!!

A Woodland Scene for Christmas Kickstart

Wow - what a beautiful sunny day we have going in MN, albeit a bit chillier than normal. I'm hoping to get out and about after I finish this post. Today I'm sharing a little scene, inspired by the theme for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge to feature woodland creatures. I used several fun stamp sets and did a little paper piecing to boot - here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV green A2 card; Momenta watercolor; Basic Grey Aspen Frost 6x6;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Penny Black Holiday Trimmings 6x6

Stamps - Paper Smooches Warm Hearts (with matching dies);

Lawn Fawn Snow Day (with matching dies); Michael's Recollections Snowman set

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints (retired); Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders 

Other - Ultra thin foam tape; Distress Markers; Hero Arts lacquer pen; Stickles

I adore the snowman, cardinal & trees in the Paper Smooches set and decided to add some sweet bunnies (my woodland creatures) from the Lawn Fawn set along with some rolling hills. The paper-pieced trees didn't take much time at all. The most time was for the stickles and lacquer elements to dry - I just left all the pieces drying while I did a few other things around the house. Everything went together quickly after that! Yay - another Christmas card done!! I'm up to 69 in the stash so am well on track.

Thanks to Jo at Christmas Kickstart for another fun challenge & for the random prize I won for challenge 20!! She'll be sending it in the mail and I can't wait to get it.

Thanks for stopping and for your kind comments! Have a wonderful week!!

Twofer Sweets

Hi all - popping in with a quick post for the latest Twofer Challenge to include sweets on two cards. Two different designs and two different occasions, using a stamp, die or stencil in common. Here's my twofer:

I chose a gingerbread person stamp from a favorite Pink and Main set as my common item. For some reason I thought it would make a cute topper for a cake on one card and a sweet Christmas couple on the second. Here's a closer look at each:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV pink A2 card; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; 

Momenta watercolor; BoBunny Believe Collection 6x6

Stamps - Pink and Main Cocoa Kisses (retired); Hero Arts for Archiver's wedding cake (retired);

Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Background

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints (retired); Taylored Expressions Simple Strips

Other - colored pencils; foam tape

I stamped the gingerbread girl, masked her off, then stamped the cake leaving off the wedding topper portion. I colored with pencils as I had left my Copics elsewhere. Wouldn't you know it - while using a blender pen, I got a blob on my girl - noooo! So I stamped another one on the pink watercolor paper and added pink pencil & stamped the face. Nice and quick. Trimmed it out and layered atop the blobbed one, then fussy cut the entire piece leaving a white border. Cut a white stitched rectangle and a rainbow one; layered all onto card and popped the cake with topper with foam tape. Added a Taylored Expressions sentiment strip from my pile.

Supplies: Paper - DCWV brown A2 card; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; 

My Mind's Eye kraft; Lawn Fawn Let's Bokeh in the Snow 6x6;

Studio Calico Magical Collection 6x6

Stamps - Pink and Main Cocoa Kisses (retired)

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints (retired); Pink and Main Cocoa Kisses dies (retired)

Other - colored pencils; foam tape; Hero Arts lacquer pen

For the Christmas card I used a different gingerbread face on my girl - nice to have that option! I stamped the couple on kraft paper which wasn't as friendly to colored pencils - oh well, used them anyway! Very quick card and on the inside the sentiment reads "Sugar & Spice make Holidays Nice" which is perfect for this sweet challenge!

Thanks for stopping and thanks to Darnell & crew for a fun challenge!!

Winter Scenes

Hi everyone - hope you had a wonderful World Card Making Day yesterday!! I went to a chorus retreat - we were coached by Sandy Marron who directs the Lions Gate Chorus from Vancouver. Lions Gate came in second at the recent Sweet Adelines International contest (see their finals package here, if desired - amazing!). We had a wonderful retreat but I came home with no energy to make cards....

I spotted the October CAS Christmas challenge to create a winter scene and gave it a go this afternoon. In keeping with my goal to reduce my crafty bits laying in piles everywhere, I used a cut made on the Silhouette last year. I added it to a panel dry embossed with a cutting plate. Easy peasy!!

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card; Poptone Black Licorice; 

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Dies - Rounded rectangle from some retired My Favorite Things Blueprint; 

stag from unknown; Hero Arts Snowflake Confetti Fancy Die

Silhouette File - Design ID 3611 Moose Frame by Joel Pilcher

Stamps - Lawn Fawn Winter Scripty Sayings

Other - ultra thin foam tape; Versamark Ink; Ranger Seafoam White ep; Picket Fence Stickles

The stag was laying in the pile too and I decided add him, leaving him white, just for fun. He sorta blends in with the background and that was fine with me! The sentiment was from a 2015 LF stamp set I'd never used before until now. While that sentiment set was out, I decided to use it on another scene, this one in a circle.

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; Hero Arts vellum; 

Momenta Watercolor; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Dies - Simon Says Stamp Nested Circles; 

Hero Arts Layering Snow Globe Fancy Die

Stamps - Lawn Fawn Winter Scripty Sayings

Other - ultra thin foam tape; Memento Tuxedo Black ink

The layers are from a Hero Arts snow globe die set but I wasn't in the mood for a snow globe. Just layered the bits onto some circles using ultra thin foam after stamping the sentiment on the snowman layer. The snowflake blob is from the same die set. Done!

For anyone kept up at night wondering if I found my fairy die (used on this card), I did!!! I searched high and low - counters, diecutting table, paper trimming table, I even looked in the garbage! Then I went to visit my parents on Tuesday, taking a bag of crafty supplies. Found the fairy stuck to a rubber embossing mat (I'd embossed the fairy on my card)!!! Whew - was glad she wasn't gone forever - LOL! Do you ever have crafty things turn up where least expected??

Two more Christmas cards for the stash - yay! Thanks to CAS Christmas for helping to keep me on task and thanks to you for stopping by!

Gift-filled sleigh

Happy weekend everyone! Ugh - I'm dangerous in a craft store - to my credit card that is!! Yesterday I visited Anchor Paper, the nearest thing to being my LSS (it's a paper warehouse with a fabulous craft section). I came away with a bag of new goodies, including several stamps. The new Taylored Expression Gifted Background and matching Cutting Plate found their way into my bag - thought they'd be perfect for the current Christmas Kickstart challenge. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; 

Poptone Black Licorice; Lawn Fawn Winter Plaid

Stamps - Taylored Expressions Gifted Background; 

Hero Arts Holiday Sayings (retired)

My Favorite Things Merry Everything (retired)

Dies - Taylored Expressions Gifted Cutting Plate
Sleigh by unknown
Other - Copic Markers; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

The stamped die cut sleigh came from my sister-in-law, a fellow card maker. She gave me several & I've had them for quite a while - can't remember the brand. She's really into Stampin' Up so it might be from them; she was unavailable for consultation. Anyone recognize it?? Thought a sleigh would be perfect for a pile of gifts! The TE stamp/die cuts 30 gifts so I have quite a few left to play with!! Since the sleigh is large, I went with an A7 card - the MFT Santa fit perfectly at the sleigh's front.

#20 - It's a Gift!

Hmmm - just noted that Christmas Kickstart allows 3 entries max. Well, this is my fourth card with gifts but I only linked one from my previous post. If not kosher, I'm sure Jo will let me know! I also made a few more poinsettia cards today so I'm up to 60 Christmas cards. Only 15 more to my goal so if I make 3/week I'll be there before it's time to start mailing :) Probably a first, since I'm usually mailing a batch while scurrying to make more - LOL!!

Thanks for the visit and kind comments!!

More gifts!

TGIF!! So glad the weekend has arrived! I was inspired by a Facebook Scramble (ended Wednesday) to use a grid or inchies. I made a card with this month's My Monthly Hero kit (see it here, if you missed it) for the challenge and still had the kit laying on the counter. Kit includes a die with openings to match the grid windows. I had stamped one in white just to try it and decided to make an Advent card out of it! There's a trio of gifts behind one window so I thought I might as well add it to the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge. I stamped a few of the gift images so, as a twofer, I created a CAS card. First, the grid card closed:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV Ms Sparkle red A2 card;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Stamps - Hero Arts retired numbers & September 2019 My Monthly Hero kit (grid)

Window Die - September 2019 My Monthly Hero kit (still available as of this post)

Ink - Distress Oxide: Fired Brick, Cracked Pistachio, Gathered Twigs & Barn Door

Other - Distress Markers: Fired Brick, Cracked Pistachio, Twisted Citron, Mustard Seed

I had stamped the grid first to try it and then had to blindly try to line up the windows. Not perfect but close enough to use!! I considered leaving all the windows white but then I got ink on one of them - hate when that happens! So, I inked some of the windows and also their edges to cover my boo-boo. It took quite a while to stamp all the numbers on the windows. I didn't do them in order for more interest. I popped the window panel onto a red A2 card with some thin foam.

I used a combo of die cuts, stamped images and sentiments for the spots behind the windows. This was a long process too - cutting and fussy cutting many of them. Well worth it for a special recipient! Here's the card with the windows open.

Supplies for window insides: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 

Tim Holtz kraft metallic

Stamps - Art Gone Wild Holiday Little Pics (11 of the little images); 
Lawn Fawn Demo Set Fall/Winter 2017 (gift trio)
Hero Arts Hero Greetings Christmas Messages (4 sentiments)
Stamp set, plus matching dies - Pink and Main Christmas Mugs

Dies - Lawn Fawn Mini Snowflakes; Hero Arts Nesting Infinity Hearts

Other - Copic Markers, Stickles, Glossy Accents; Memento Tuxedo Black ink

The glossy candies are leftovers from a card I made for CAS Christmas. See it here if desired. The gift trio was an image from a Lawn Fawn 2017 demo set from an LSS class. I had never used the Art Gone Wild set before (have had it for eons) and it had the perfect images for my windows! It also has 4 small sentiments but I'd already stamped some; will remember them for next time...

Finally, my twofer using the Lawn Fawn present image from above supply list:

Other supplies - Memory Box A2 card; scrap of Hero Arts packaging for the grid paper;

Hero Arts CL343 Holiday Sayings for the sentiment; Memento Tuxedo Black ink;

Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Die

Yay - two more Christmas cards done! I'm up to 57 and I'm really grateful for the CAS Christmas and Christmas Kickstart challenges for helping me get there!!

#20 - It's a Gift!

Thanks for stopping! Enjoy your weekend!!

Magical birthday

Hi all - my friend Lin (Sending Hugs) is a designer for the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog and I saw her beautiful card for the current Wednesday Challenge. They're doing Anything Goes using Crafter's Companion products. I'm excited to play along as I just finished a card today using a fabulous CC kit I found at my local Tuesday Morning store. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; papers from kit;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Stamps and dies from Crafter's Companion Monthly Craft Kit 10 Build a Scene

Other - Copic Markers, Michael's gem, stars by unknown

Here's a photo of the dies and stamps, plus a couple of the papers, contained in this kit:

Oops - just noticed I forgot to put the fairy die back with the others before I photographed them. Hmmm - will have to go looking for it as things tend to disappear around here!! The kit also includes white card bases in various sizes (plus envelopes), along with card stock, ribbons, and patterned papers.

Simon Says Stamp carries the Crafter's Companion 6x6 Paper Pad by Chloe containing these wonderful marbled patterned papers - so yummy!! I used them behind the leafy frame and on the mushrooms. As you can see in my kit photo, the leafy border is not a complete frame. CC intends it for a 5.5" square card but I used it for an A2 card. I cut it on a 4.25x5.5" panel and just trimmed out the bits that got mangled while cutting the smaller dimension. I then cut more leaves to glue in those areas; close up you can tell it's not a full frame but I still like how it turned out. I backed the frame with a marbled panel & trimmed it to show a small edge of the card base.  Stamped a sentiment using green ink. Added diecut mushrooms and flowers and the fairy (colored with Copics with Stickles on the wing) along with some gems and stars (gift from my friend Heather Stamping & Stitching). Done!

I think my fairy looks a bit like a Barbie doll - what do you think? I have a hard time hand drawing faces but I didn't want to leave her without any features. Oh well....

Anything Goes 092619

Thanks for stopping - hope you're having a great week!!