Merry Monday #258 - Penguins!

Merry Monday everyone - it's time for a new challenge! This week Colleen asks for a penguin on your Christmas card! Woo Hoo - love penguins!!

I'm still trying to use some lovely supplies that have never seen any playtime. I found this sweet penguin at a craft expo years ago and couldn't resist him - made by a Minnesota company too - bonus!! Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and Bright Blue, Heidi Swapp Marquee Love glitter,

Pop-tone Black Licorice & Snow Cone, Stamp-on-it Iridescent vellum,
Lawn Fawn Winter Perfectly Plaid 6x6, December 2015 Simon Says Stamp card kit (red text)
Stamps - Stamps by Judith & Heather F-284-HK Sm Fat Penguin
Hero Arts DC165 Polar Set by Lia (ice floe) and CL368 Create Your Own Snowman (cap - retired)
Dies - Hero Arts DI337 Nesting Oval Infinity Dies;
Lawn Fawn Forest Border and Stitched Hillside Borders (part that didn't get the stitching)
Other - colored pencils, Copic Marker (BG0000), washi by unknown, foam tape

I started by stamping & coloring the darling penguin. He sat there for awhile then I decided to add a winter cap. I actually cut & colored several different ones so there was a bit of a fashion show - LOL. Then I remembered a stamp set with an ice floe - perfect! In my crafty clean up I found this yummy iridescent vellum in the stash (another stamp expo find) - it coordinates much better with the card base in real life. I knew it would make a perfect pond. I created the background and then cut it into an oval and layered onto a black oval mat, then added the blue frame cut from 2 oval dies. I decided to anchor the oval on the side with a paper strip - the hunt was on! I wanted something red and white and I tried many, many different ones before finding an unopened pack of paper. It had no label but I recognized a reindeer on one of the pages and remember making a card with a puffy sticker. Sure enough - found the card made for a 2015 Merry Monday challenge and learned it was paper included in the 12/2015 SSS kit. Oh well, at least it didn't sit around for 2 whole years! A strip of narrow black houndstooth washi finished the right edge of the red & white paper. When thinking about a sentiment, I decided to try a bit of the patterned paper - it cuts perfectly into little sentiments & I tried a few of those too, before picking Happy Holidays. Just love this font!!

Be sure to stop by and check out the rest of the Merry Makers' cards for even more Christmas inspiration! How are you doing on cards for your Christmas list?? I'm totally done and will have plenty of cards to donate to charity - yay!!

Thanks for stopping and thanks for the kind comments! I'm enjoying my stint as Guest Designer at Merry Monday!!

Halloween set - Cards for Hospitalized Kids

Hi all - I've mentioned Cards for Hospitalized Kids in the past - a worthy charity bringing joy to hospitalized kids by sharing handmade cards. Today I have a set of Halloween cards to send this charity. I ordered the Simon Says Stamp Limited Edition Halloween kit (sold-out) and it came in yesterday's mail - Yay!!

*** Warning - photo-heavy post ahead ***

Photo from Simon Says Stamp's site

The kit came with the following:

Exclusive Simon Says Stamp 4x6 Clear stamp set "Creepy Cute"

Exclusive Simon Says Stamp Wafer thin Die "Witch Cat"

Exclusive Seed Beads "Fright Night"

Phrases and Stickers "Bootiful Night"

3 sheets of 6x6 Cardstock in Doublesided Patterns

2 Jars Tonic Mini Glow Drops: Banana Split and Apple Sour

WOW Glow in the dark Embossing Powder

30 Mini Googly Eyes

Doodlebug Tricky Treat Braddies

My Mind's Eye "Trick or Treat" Puffy Stickers

3 zipper close Kraft Stand up Treat pouch goody bags

Large Treat Box with Window

Simon Says Stamp Cardstock in White and Black

1 Package Tim Holtz Halloween Trimmings

12 Thick Tim Holtz Halloween Kraft Papers 8x8

1 Ranger Foil Tape Sheet

What fun I had playing with this wonderful kit today, creating cards for a great cause! I made 20 quick cards using many of the kit's stickers and papers, plus some additions from Michael's & Target's bargain bins. I still have plenty of papers left and haven't even touched half the stuff in the kit! Here are the cards:

Just need to add messages to the insides but I consider this quite an accomplishment for 3 hours work! It helped to use DCWV A2 cards (neutrals) and I die cut the same stitched rectangle from My Favorite Things Blueprints 20 (retired) twice from 10 different papers.The kit's papers were from Tim Holtz's Halloween 8x8 paper pad (black or brown & orange papers on one side/kraft on reverse). The only other background paper I used was from a Michael's Halloween 6x6 pad (the spider web paper), plus some orange & black DCWV card stock. Here and there I also used some black Tim Holtz washi I had in my stash. The puffy pumpkin stickers came from Michael's and the Target $ bin had the fun enamel stars and spiders. I also used Hero Arts DC197 Halloween Trimmings Stamp & Cut for the Happy Halloween on some of the cards.

Although the kit is sold out, many of the items are available singly at Simon Says Stamp so check it out if interested! Thanks for stopping and if you have a spare moment, visit Cards for Hospitalized Kids. You may find yourself sending them cards as I and some of my friends have been doing.

Hope to see you back tomorrow for my latest Merry Monday Guest Designer card. Can you believe it'll be week 4 already?!

Merry Monday #257 - Decorated Tag using texture, bling and die cuts

Merry Monday everyone - it's week 3 of my Guest Designer slot and time for Sue's Challenge #257 to include a decorated tag using texture, bling, and die cuts on your Christmas card.

Oh my - what a fun challenge! I have lots of different tag dies but I combined a couple for my card. I found the perfect paper pad for the tag and background. Then I spotted a fun polar bear Silhouette image I had cut a while back - still stuck to the mat!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Pop-tone Black Licorice,

Studio Calico Magical Collection 6x6, scrap of Basic Grey Juniper & BoBunny dotted

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 2 and 13; Hero Arts DI054 Phrase Bubbles,

My Monthly Hero Kit July 2016 (sold out) - luggage tag (cut in half), and

DI197 Tag Infinity Dies (for the tag's tab & reinforcer)

Silhouette Design ID 69566 A2 Polar Bear Card (just cut the bear with scarf)

Stamps - Hero Arts CL343 Holiday Sayings (retired)

Embossing Folder - Darice Snowflake Swirl

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Hickory Smoke Distress Ink

Other - Michael's gems, 3M glitter washi, Copic Markers, scrap of ribbon

I had one last piece of this blue patterned paper and I embossed it for some texture - actually, it's debossed for the most part - they printed the label on the wrong side so I didn't get the normal raised effect. Since it was my last piece of this paper, I used it anyway! Glittery washi adds both texture and bling to the tag and some gems to my sentiment finish it off nicely.

Funny story - I photographed the card and uploaded it, then when I went to check the Silhouette ID for the polar bear, I realized I'd left off his front legs and scarf - oh no!! So I added them and took a new photo, sigh.... Do you ever do crazy stuff like that? Tell me, please! Here's the card with the front legs & scarf missing - have a good laugh, I actually didn't notice anything was missing until I looked in my Silhouette library!!

Thanks for stopping and be sure to check out all the inspiration from my Merry Monday teamies! Have a crafty week!!

Wish Big

Hi all - I'm here today sharing a birthday card for my baby sister who loves elephants. She celebrated yesterday and texted me a picture of my card sitting in her kitchen window - she loved it!

Supplies:  Paper - Neenah white, yellow & brown; Pop-tone Blu-raspberry; scrap of a kraft envelope

Dies - Hero Arts June 2017 My Monthly Hero kit & DI399 Thorn Tree and Grasses Fancy Die

Stamps - Hero Arts June 2017 My Monthly Hero kit & CL674 Circles (retired)

The September 2017 My Monthly Hero kit from Hero Arts released on Tuesday 9/4 (already sold out) and I'm hoping to play with mine (it arrived in yesterday's mail). Meanwhile, I'm way behind on using earlier kits so I put the June 2017 kit to use for this card. The kit (sold out) has an African wildlife theme and included an elephant silhouette (along with many other animal images). One of the birthday sentiments from the Circles clear set worked perfectly with my elephant scene.

When I first received the kit back in June, I did my usual process of cutting apart the dies and making a negative for popping diecuts in to stamp. With a full set of diecuts ready, it was easy to stamp an elephant. I think I had a fiber on the stamp because I ended up with an unstamped line. Of course I noticed after the stamp was cleaned and put away so I ran a Distress Marker over it. Doesn't look perfect but we'll just say my elephant has some skin issues - LOL. The kit came with a small thorn tree stamp & matching die but I used a larger die that paired with the grasses as an add-on.

That's it for today - thanks for the visit! Hope you have a crafty week!!

Merry Monday #256 Favorite Holiday Movie

Merry Monday everyone - time to go to the movies with Nina this week for Challenge 256. Woo Hoo!!

As a young child I always watched Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer on television every Christmas season - it remains a favorite to this day. I remember hiding my face when the nasty Abominable Snow Monster came on screen - yikes! Then he turned into a sweetie at the end and Rudolph with his red nose saved the day by leading Santa's sleigh. A classic!! I found a darling & ridiculously cheap Rudolph stamp set at Michael's after Christmas last year - perfect for this challenge! Here's my movie inspired card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Teresa Collins Sweet Afternoon (blue pattern)
Basic Grey Juniper Berry (black pattern)
Stamps - Inkadinkado Rudolph, Impression Obsession Wooden Plank

Silhouette Design ID 112156 Santa's Workshop A7 card 
Dies - Lawn Fawn Hillside Borders & Impression Obsession Snowflakes Cutout
Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Hickory Smoke, Lucky Clover, Pine Needles, & Black Soot
Other - Stickles, Copic Markers, foam tape, Sizzix plaid embossing folder

The set has 5 of the movie's characters - Rudolph, Sam the Snowman, Hermey the elf who wants to be a dentist, the Abominable Snow Monster, & prospector Yukon Cornelius, plus a snow covered tree and 3 snowflakes. I decided to feature just three of the characters - of course, one of them had to be Rudolph! I stamped all three, colored with Copics & fussy cut. I stamped the tree image three times using two shades of green ink and fussy cut. I thought Hermey would be cute looking out a workshop window at Rudolph & Sam so I went searching for a Silhouette Santa's Workshop design. Found a cute one that includes an A7 card but I just folded my own card stock to A7 size. I selected some of design's pieces and cut them in white, coloring them as necessary with Copics. I embossed the walls and roof for some texture and stamped the shutters with a wood plank background. I added Icy Stickles to the icicle layer of the Silhouette design. The design came with a heart for above the window but I chose a snowflake as the finishing touch. Oops - forgot I was going to hand write DENTISTRY on Hermey's book - just like in the movie. Oh well, I'll add it later.

Thanks for stopping and be sure to check out all the fabulous cards of my Merry Monday team mates! I'm having a blast on my Guest Designer tenure!!

Another retirement card!

Wow - a third person retired from my old workplace! I attended a party back in July and there were two in August - had to miss both of those parties due to other commitments but I sent cards. I didn't blog the July card because it was similar to the cat birthday card from May. The first retiree loooooves cats! Only difference was a butterfly instead of the balloon and a congrats sentiment. I posted the first August retirement card here and today I'm sharing the final card - for my friend Jim:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A7 card, Poptone Black Licorce, 

Neenah Solar White, & a scrap of Basic Grey grid

Stamps - Hero Arts CG279 Musical Clef, Impression Obsession MC185 Fore Retirement

Silhouette files - Design ID60862 Acoustic Guitar & 

Design ID37683 Music Flats Etc, plus text of a B and two 2s

Jim has played the guitar for years - in fact, we used to sing duets back in the day during our on-the-job training after college. Our group lived in an apartment complex during the 3 month training - we called it "Compound W" (real name Westwood Village) because the buildings reminded us of Army barracks!! As recent grads we didn't have a lot of money so we spent time gathered in each other's apartments drinking cheap wine and enjoying Jim's guitar playing. He's a huge Bob Dylan fan and we even got to see Mr. Dylan in concert! Jim & I ended up in different Wisconsin offices but our paths crossed again a few years ago, both working in St Paul MN. I'm sure he got a kick out of the card when he received it on Wednesday.

I've used the sentiment from a golfing retirement set before - it says "Best Wishes Fore Your Retirement" - I just cut the "Fore" out and used a teeny "on" from another set. The guitar Silhouette design comes with a lot of layers - I tried a version making a kraft colored layered guitar but didn't like it. I found the simple black silhouette worked best for my puny "Too sharp to be flat"!

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll be back on Monday for the next Merry Monday challenge - my second week as a Guest Designer and my card is ready to go!

Congrats

Hi everyone - back today with a congrats card I made for a former coworker's retirement.

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts pool A2 card, Heidi Swapp Marquee Love glitter, Pop-tone Black

Pre-fab Die cuts - David Tutera Celebrate Lace Grid

Silhouette die cut - Design ID 207545 Welcome to the Farm

Die - Hero Arts DC149 Congrats Stamp & Cut

Jodie retired to pursue the hobby farm she's had for some time with her husband. I used to recycle my egg cartons by donating them to Jodie for her hens' fresh eggs. I wanted to do something that reflected the farm theme and found a fun Silhouette image. Sometimes the simplest idea turns out best!

Just four pieces to this card and done!! I adhered the lace grid to an A2 card, used foam tape to add the Silhouette image and finally applied the Congrats to the cow. Jodie loved the card - her party was last week but I didn't have time to blog the card until now.

Thanks for stopping and I hope you're having a crafty week!!

Merry Monday #255 JOY!

Merry Monday everyone!! The Merry Makers return from summer break today and, guess what?!, I've joined them as a Guest Designer for the next four months! I've been playing at Merry Monday since January 19th, 2015 and have really enjoyed the challenges. Thanks to Lori & Lesley for giving me this opportunity and I'm delighted to join the rest of their amazing team!!

The fabulous Marcia offers Challenge 255 this week - use the word JOY on your Christmas card.

Photo Source: Pinterest

When I saw this week's challenge, I ran for a new die from Poppystamps - Spectacular Joy. I ordered all three of their new Spectacular word dies and JOY was the first one to see some play. I love the three layers, plus I added a fourth for a bit of black shadow, using the layer 3 die to cut it.

Supplies: DCWV A2 green card, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Pop-tone Black, 

the Paper Studio glitter, Bazzill green, red for rectangle by unknown

Dies - Poppystamps Spectacular Joy, My Favorite Things Blueprints 13, 

Cuttlebug Snowflake Solo (retired)

Background Stamp - Hero Arts CG324 Holiday Background (retired)

Other - foam tape, Michael's gems, Candied Apple Distress Ink

Once I had the layered word built, what to do with it?? I tried putting it over a wreath - didn't work, the wreath was too small. Then I remembered a large snowflake die I found during a recent crafty clean-up. I cut it in white and embossed it within the die - perfect! I cut a stitched rectangle, stamped it with some holiday text, and layered it onto an A2 card. After adding the snowflake, I popped the JOY with foam tape and added some gems - done!

A great thing about Merry Monday is the flexibility on products - no specific brands, no recent releases required. Use what you have, as long as you meet the challenge theme for the week - yay! That's it for today but be sure to check out the wonderful creations by the rest of the Design Team by visiting Merry Monday. I thank them again for including me as a Guest Designer for these next four months!

Thanks for stopping by and have a joyful week!!