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.

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas wishes to all celebrating! All my Christmas cards, made steadily throughout the year, were mailed weeks ago and I've decorated & partied, performed in & attended shows. Time now to relax with family and enjoy the  holidays. Hope you enjoy your holidays too!!

Today I'm sharing a thank you card I made for Christmas gifts received. The patterned paper varied from card to card but this was my go-to for this year. I'll make more tomorrow for today's gifts but I made 11 for gifts I already received.

Supplies: Paper - Memory Box A2 card; Lawn Fawn patterned;
Neenah white; Michael's lime
Stamp with matching die - Taylored Expressions Handlettered Sentiments
Die - My Favorite Things Blueprints stitched rectangle; Hero Arts Infinity Circles
Other - Paper Studio holly stickers; Pine Needles Distress Oxide Ink

My friend JoAnn and her hubby John received this particular one for the box of handmade truffles they gave me (they made 2600 of them!!), plus a wonderful caroling party they hosted last week. Don't get me started on the divine chocolate yule log John made - he's an amazing baker and chef.

If you want to scroll further to see my Christmas trees for this year, please do! Otherwise, thanks for stopping and happy holidays!!

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Last year I didn't share any tree photos but I put up one tree. My mom went into the hospital 12/12/18 and from there to rehab til end of January 2019. We spent Christmas doing puzzles in the rehab center and I didn't have much time to do much decorating! Well, I made up for it this year, putting up SEVEN trees!! First tree (normally would be downstairs in the corner of my family room) is a 7.5 foot slim tree. I didn't think I'd have the time and energy to put up my big tree this year so I got out the slim one for upstairs. It looks a bit skinny in front of a large window but, oh well.... Not a great photo either, now that I get a good look at it, but it'll have to do...


I decorated a couple of Hallmark triangle trees perfect for their mini ornaments. I bought the larger one (holds 22) a couple years ago and the smaller one this year (holds 10). I put one at my parents' house and one at home. 

 

Here's a miniature tree with the bulk of my mini ornaments:


The base for this one has a train that used to go around it. Unfortunately the battery box got corroded one year so it doesn't work right now. Next is my other tree with mini ornaments - this one has pine cones which account for some of the dark spots. I decorated both of these mini trees at my parents' house in my home-away-from-home "studio".


I put up a 3' tree in my family room atop a table. I didn't realize I still had this one in the closet so thought I'd give it a play.


I also put up my Hallmark designer mini tree; each designer at the time contributed an ornament to the set. Then I add extras to fill up the branches. The base came with the tree - so cute!


Bonus - a wreath I usually put in my foyer; this year it's on the wall as you enter my studio. I decorate it with a bunch of mini ornaments I got back in the 90s.


That's it for this year - whew!! I had fun decorating, including my parents' tree which I didn't share (looks pretty good, though). Hope you have a wonderful Christmas whether you're celebrating today or some other day. See you in blogland in 2020 and thanks for stopping by!!

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Last Minute Christmas Madness?

Hi all - hope you're having a great holiday season! Have you been out and about on this Christmas Eve day? I visited three stores, each one a madhouse! But, it had to be done to get ready for all the festivities tomorrow. I still had time to craft though. Over at Christmas Kickstart, Jo announced an Anything Goes Challenge or "last minute madness" for those final holiday cards. Well, don't need any for this year but it never hurts to get a jumpstart on next year's stash! Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; Paper Studio red & glitter;
Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; pp from an old Simon Says Stamp kit
Stamps - Hero Arts Origami Happy Holiday (retired)
Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints rectangle;
Ink - Tim Holtz Fired Brick Distress Oxide 

I bought the darling Lawn Fawn light bulbs die at my favorite LSS Anchor Paper  a couple weeks ago. Finally had a chance to use it last night and this afternoon to craft a simple string with some glitter paper layered onto white then green. I ruffled through quite a few paper pads before settling on the perfect sheet for the background. There was only one of these sheets and, of course, I blobbed the sentiment after stamping. Covered it by stamping a new sentiment on a white strip, then matting on red paper. This time I let the ink dry longer after stamping!!


Just a quick post today. I hope to be back tomorrow with a Christmas post of my holiday trees - just need to get my photos sorted.... If you don't make it back, I'll wish you a Merry Christmas now. Thanks for stopping and thanks to Jo for cramming in one last challenge for this year!!

Saturday, December 7, 2019

The Christmas Story

Hey everyone - hope you're enjoying the weekend! I just returned home from our chorus holiday show which turned out great!! Besides the chorus and a chorus quartet, we had a small mixed chorus (ten men and ten women) and a high school girls quartet - what a variety, all so talented! I was glad to have a bunch of friends and family attending. What a joy to share songs of the season with a packed audience!! We'll also visit a local care center for a charitable performance next week.

While I'm pretty set for this year's Christmas card mailing, I still wanted to make a card for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge to tell the Christmas story - "the reason for the season". Decided to go with the Penny Black manger die, always so pretty. I'm also including this in the current Die Cut Divas challenge for Christmas or Winter cards. Haven't played there in a while so thought it was time! Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - from various Hero Arts kits
Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 21 - retired (stitched rectangle);
Penny Black Manger; Michael's Mini Word Stamp & Die 
Other - EK Success star

Besides the PB die, I'd brought a bunch of My Monthly Hero kit stuff to my parents' house. Can't remember if I mentioned establishing a small studio there for when I visit. I have multiples of many things, including paper trimmers, die cutting machines etc. Might as well get them used! Anyway, a couple MMH kits had some beautiful shimmery card stock and hand dyed papers. The dark blue and the gold card stock looked amazing to me with the hand dyed paper. I used the reverse side of it, thinking the back looked like a sandscape. While the kit is sold out, you might be able to see the dyed paper here. I cut the manger twice and stacked them, adhering to paper with foam dots. The sentiment die cut was left as a single so the manger stood out more. The shimmer is so beautiful in real life!

That's it for today, friends. Thanks for stopping and enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

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Sunday, December 1, 2019

One more Santa card

Hi all - hope you've recovered from Thanksgiving dinner if you celebrated on Thursday. We finally finished the leftovers today - wow, that store-bought meal was supposed to feed 8 but I think we fed about 14 over several days! Of course I went and bought an extra pumpkin pie on Friday because my mom loves Hyvee's (a grocery chain) pies. My sister-in-law had brought a chocolate pudding pie and a pumpkin pie to Thanksgiving but we gobbled both up quickly!!

I'm back with another Santa card for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge. Jo inspired me with her masking so I had a go with a freebie stamp set I got with a UK magazine. I went to Barnes and Noble for a new book released on Tuesday and found myself picking up several UK craft magazines with the freebie stuff. Luckily I'm a card member there so get a 10% discount!

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Poptone Black
Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints Stitched Rectangle (retired)
Stamps - Santa's Workshop freebie from the 10/19 edition of Crafts Beautiful;
Hero Arts CL722 Merry Christmas Messages (sentiment) - retired but can often be found at Michael's
Inks - Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky
Other - Viva Perlen-pen; Copic Markers

Challenge #24 - Show Us Your Santas
I stamped and colored the Santa sleigh and reindeer, then masked off both and filled in the sky with Distress Oxide inks applied with a Picket Fence life changing brush (works well with these inks on the right paper). I tried to flick some sparkly snow onto the sky and managed a few specks. Impatient, I took my watercolor brush and just dabbled around with the perlen-pen goop. Not the best but not bad either! Santa's just taking off from a rooftop in case you wondered about the white at bottom. I hand-drew the reins.

That's it for today! I've already written out twenty Christmas cards to mail so I'm well ahead of last year!! Now off to decorate.... Enjoy the rest of the weekend and thanks for stopping!

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

If you're celebrating in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!! We're delighted to be enjoying a prepared meal from a local grocery - Prime Rib but with all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings. My sister-in-law is bringing the pumpkin pies - yum!! I've mentioned in years past that my mom & dad don't want turkey to eat anymore, ever since wild turkeys started to visit their yard. No problem, I like other meats better too! Funny, though, I featured turkeys on several of my Thanksgiving cards, including the one I'm sharing today.

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; Authentique patterned papers
Stamps - Hero Arts sentiment & pumpkin (retired); Lawn Fawn Turkey Day
Taylored Expressions Mini Strips - Harvest
Dies - Concord & 9th Happy Holidays Label Die Set; Taylored Expressions Mini Strips
Other - Copic Markers, Michael's gems

I just love this large label from Concord & 9th! It has a Happy Holidays sentiment, intended for Christmas use, but I think it'll be great all year long for large sentiments! Most of my other Thanksgiving cards were similar in design so I won't bother sharing. I used other TE mini strips including the funniest - "got stretchy pants?" I think I'll need them after dinner!!

I'm thankful for so many things again this year, including all the lovely crafting people I've met over the years. Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!!

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Jolly Santa

OK - I made it back with another card for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge. As promised, I used the vintage Santa image my friend Jean (Right as Rain) sent me this summer. Thanks again Jean!! Just love this guy and decided to stamp him in brown on an ivory card.

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card
Stamps - Stampendous Jolly Santa (retired); 
Taylored Expressions All Tucked In - Christmas
Distress Inks - Vintage Photo, Festive Berries, Old Paper
Other - Xmas Red Stickles

#24 Show Us Your Santas
This one's a true one-layer which I don't make often. I stamped Santa in Vintage Photo & inked the edges with Old Paper. Decided to stamp the flag banner directly overtop in red and then the sentiment in the corner. Added a few red Stickles to the holly berries and called it done!

I was so excited to get a package from Taylored Expressions with some November 2019 release items, including the clear set with the sentiment I used. I also bought the new All Tucked In box too - cute as can be!! That was the first thing I used out of the package but so far it's just a plain box. I'll blog it if I decorate it at some point but you can see fabulous examples at the TE link shown.

Just a quick post today - I'll be back on Thursday with a Thanksgiving post. Until then, happy crafting and thanks for stopping!!

Monday, November 25, 2019

Santa Ho Ho Ho!

Posting two days in a row - so impressed with myself, LOL! Anyway, Jo has a Santa theme for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge & I just had to play along!! My intent was to use a lovely Stampendous cling stamp my friend Jean (Right as Rain) sent me this summer. Well, I was out of town without the craft crate containing that stamp - darn. Instead, I used a fun Penny Black stamp I found at my LSS a while back but hadn't used until now. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and colors;
American Crafts paper (a Target Hot Spot find a few years ago)
Stamps - Penny Black St Nick
Dies - Hero Arts Nesting Ovals Infinity Dies; MFT Blueprints rectangle (retired)
Other - Copic Markers, Hero Arts lacquer pen, Hobby Lobby gems


I started by stamping and coloring the Santa image, then added lacquer to the glasses. Once dry, I fussy cut Santa - now what to do with him? I decided to cut a lime green oval and placed the image on it but it looked odd - he's just a head! Decided to cut another oval & use part of it as the body. Added the head and some gems for buttons, then matted the oval with a darker green one. The sentiment is from the same stamp set but the last HO had a period after which I changed to an exclamation point using a black marker. Tried to cut a speech bubble but it didn't fit so I trimmed the sentiment to a rectangle. Inside the card it reads "Merry Christmas - you made the nice list" from a Hero Arts set. Now to figure out who's nice enough to get this one - LOL!

Thanks to Jo for another fun challenge! Pretty sure I'll be back with a card using the Stampendous Santa; I already pulled him out and am planning the card.... Hope you're having a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping!!

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Warm and Cozy Christmas!

Hey there - hope you're having a great weekend! I'm skating in on the last day to play along at CAS Christmas where this month's challenge theme is Warm and Cozy. Hard to believe but this'll be their final challenge of the year. Almost time to start mailing out Christmas cards - OMG!! Are you ready? I'm am! Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - sparkly card from a My Monthly Hero kit; 
Neenah Classic Crest Solar white; Poptone Black Licorice
Stamps - Hero Arts CL999 Holiday Mittens (retired)
Dies - Hero Arts DI643 Wood Frame Infinity Dies and
Other - Copic Markers; Michael's gems; Joy foam tape;
Fired Brick Distress Oxide and Memento Tuxedo Black inks

I have the matching dies for the mittens and hat but I stamped them a while back with some other images for coloring. Too close to one another to use the dies, oh well.... A cap and mittens make our Minnesota winters warm and cozy! If you believe that's all it takes, I've got a swamp in Florida to sell you - LOL! A heated seat and steering wheel definitely help! I have a small pile of snowflakes from a previous card where I used the negative panel - I've been adding them here & there to my cards - so cute!



That's it for today, friends. Thanks for stopping by!! And huge thanks to Loll, Bonnie and team for a year of inspiration and great challenges! Looking forward to more fun next year too!

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Holiday Greenery Twofer

Hey everyone - it's been a while. Guess I've been busy getting things ready for Thanksgiving and for our upcoming chorus holiday show. Time flies!! Anyway, at the Twofer Card Challenge, Darnell and company are doing twofers with holiday greenery. LOL - I missed that part when I popped over there but luckily the stamp I chose has greenery along with poinsettias!! Here's my twofer:


I was away much of this week and came home to a shipment from Hero Arts with the November My Monthly Hero Kit and some other goodies. I went right to a new Stamp & Cut set with the fun little label I used on both cards. Here's a closer look with supplies:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV card; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Poptone Black Licorice
Stamps - Hero Arts Decorative Poinsettia Frame Stamp & Cut & a retired sentiment
Die - Hero Arts Wood Frame Infinity Dies
Other - Copic Marker R46; Hero Arts Red Royal & Memento Tuxedo Black inks

I layered several black frames and inlaid with the stamped white panel. Left it very plain; too plain maybe? I decided to leave the poinsettia frame in outline except for some red berries. While we didn't have to make cards for two different occasions this month, I thought I might as well get a head start on my holiday thank-you cards.

Supplies: Paper - Lawn Fawn Spruce notecard; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Stamp with die - Hero Arts Decorative Poinsettia Frame Stamp & Cut 
Other - Copic Markers; Hero Arts Red Royal & Memento Tuxedo Black inks; foam tape

Why, you ask, did I put the red dots on this one? To cover up a couple ink spots I didn't like. Tried to hide with white gel pen but it wasn't working for me - oh well.... Anyway, my twist was to rotate the label and I thought it was in perfect proportion to this Lawn Fawn 4-bar size card. Nice & simple!! One more Christmas card for the stash which is nearly there! I'm up over 75 cards - yay!


That's it for today, friends - thanks for stopping!! And thanks to Darnell and her team for another fun challenge!!

Thursday, November 7, 2019

It's Snowing!!

Well, not literally but we have had our first snowfall. But it's snowing over at the Christmas Kickstart Challenge where the theme is Snow! I was lucky enough to win a prize over there - a darling image from WPlus9. Decided it would be perfect with falling snow behind. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio Turquoise A2 card; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Stamps - WPlus9 Holiday Hugs; Tim Holtz pine tree stamp from his Alcohol ink kit
Dies - Hero Arts Snowflake Confetti Fancy Die ; 
My Favorite Things stitched rectangle from a retired Blueprints set

I stamped the girl with bear image, colored with Copics, masked it off and stamped the trees behind. Die cut the panel to fit an A2 card and stamped the sentiment. Back in October I had used the Snowflake Confetti die to emboss on this card. Then I also cut a white panel with the die for another card (shown later in this post), saving all the little snowflakes and dots of snow that I didn't use on it. It was fun to arrange them falling down my Holiday Hugs card!

Here's a view of the stamp set I received from Jo at Christmas Kickstart - retired from WPlus9. Maybe you could find it elsewhere, although I didn't see it on a couple of crafty sites I usually visit... WPlus9 has the die available so I snatched that up for future use - along with a few other goodies - groan! Nice enabling, Jo!!


Here's the card I made using the negative of the snowflake confetti die - I love the black/white gold color combo:

Supplies: Paper - Poptone Black Licorice; Tim Holtz Metallic Kraft;
Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Dies - Hero Arts Snowflake Confetti Fancy Die and Joy Stamp & Cut;
Simon Says Stamp Holiday Frames;
Other - Corner Rounder; foam tape

Thanks again to Jo for the prize and for another fun challenge!

Challenge #23 Snow

Thanks for stopping and I hope you're having a wonderful & crafy week!!

Monday, October 28, 2019

Jingle All the Way for Christmas Kickstart!!

Hey all - I had time to create a card for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge that started last Tuesday. I was away from home but had a handy tote bag of stuff for Christmas crafting. I had brought only one stamp set with any kind of jingle bells on it but I made it work. I'm back home today and could get this blog post written at my leisure - whew!! Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Paper Studio Merry Making 6x6
Stamps - My Favorite Things Merry Everything (with matching dies, both retired);
Hero Arts Merry Christmas Messages (sentiment - retired);
Taylored Expressions Gifted Background; and
snowflakes from various sets
Dies - Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders;
Taylored Expressions Gifted Cutting Plate
Other - Copic Markers, Glossy Accents, white gel pen & foam tape

I had some leftover gift images from a previous card so I colored them up and decided to pop them into the sleigh from the reindeer set. Only one reindeer had jingle bells around his collar but that works!! After I colored the sleigh it looked bare so I decorated it by stamping various snowflakes from several retired sets. Liked it much better that way!

Thanks for stopping friends and thanks to Jo for a fun challenge!! Have a wonderful day!!!

#22 Jingle All the Way


Monday, October 21, 2019

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!!

Monday, October 14, 2019

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!!

Sunday, October 13, 2019

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!!




Sunday, October 6, 2019

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
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!






Saturday, September 28, 2019

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!!

Friday, September 27, 2019

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!!