Tropical green with bee

Hi all - normally I don't post more than once a day. If you're looking for my Die Cut Diva reminder, go HERE. I realized this morning when I spotted Hilary's card (here at her blog fiddling about) that I hadn't made a card for the February Let's Squash It!! challenge. We're to use green and an insect, plus an embossing folder of course. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio; Momenta; Neenah

Embossing Folder - Park Lane Tropical Border

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop;

Kat Scrappiness Get Well Soon Sentiment w/Shadow

Momenta Bee Happy 

Ink - Memento Bamboo Leaves

Other - Pink & Main enamel hearts; Crystal Stickles

I die cut a panel of the varigated green watercolor print using a stitched dot rectangle die, then embossed it with the tropical border. I ran a green ink pad over the raised parts for some definition. Next I die cut the sentiment & shadow and popped up with foam tape. Die cut the bee and stickled the wings. Added some enamels hearts - done! This card is going to an auntie who had surgery. 

That's it for today and be sure to check out the last day of the month post at Die Cut Divas!

 

Final Day of Angle It with Hero Arts!

Hey everyone - I'm part of the last day of the month post at Die Cut Divas today. You have until 9p Pacific Time today to enter our Angle It Challenge. The winner, randomly drawn from eligible February entries, will receive a $25 credit from our sponsor Hero Arts. Here's the card I'm sharing at DCD:

Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card; Tim Holtz kraft;

Doodlebug Swiss Dots Rainbow Petite & some scraps

Stamps - Hero Arts Lifestyle Faces &

Apr21 My Monthly Hero kit (sentiment) 

Dies - Hero Arts Lifestyle Forms, Lifestyle Picnic Day 

Nesting Cloudy Infinity Dies, &

Thorn Tree and Grasses

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop

Other - Hero Arts flower gem; white gel pen;

Crayola pencils for detail on doll; black Sharpie

Copic Marker C1

I enjoyed playing with paper dolls when I was young. The Hero Arts version caught my eye when I ended up with the Valentine accessories in my January 2022 My Monthly Hero add-on package. Then I found the Halloween accessories on sale at Anchor Paper so had to order the doll & picnic sets, plus the face detail stamps. Very fun! I thought the kite flying away went well with the sentiment.

And here's a bonus card! I made two versions of this card but I'll just share the one I made for Uncle Bert who loves to travel. The other went to my retired pilot friend.

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio (map); Park Lane A2 card;

Authentique red and blue layers; Anchor Paper silver

Dies - Hero Arts Jun16 My Monthly Hero kit;

 A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop

Stamps - Apr21 My Monthly Hero kit (sentiment)

I'll add my first card to Darnell's February NBUS Challenge since my paper doll is new. Thanks for stopping & hope to see you in the Diva gallery!

 

A Ducky Easter card

Hi all - I'm sharing the card below at Die Cut Divas today. We have Angle It as our February challenge with sponsor Hero Arts, my favorite company - yay!! I was able to get a Spring 2022 item early, via the ShopBox program at my local store Anchor Paper. As of Feb. 15th, you can purchase all Spring 2022 items at the Hero Arts online store.

Supplies: Paper - BoBunny Cottontail;

Authentique (a mixed pad);

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb

Stamps - Hero Art Color Layering Duckling Bundle &

Apr 2021 My Monthly Hero kit,

plus matching Frame Cuts

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 18 (retired);

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop

Other - black & white gel pens, pink marker, 

Hero Arts inks; Park Lane gems

Isn't this duckling the cutest?! I thought he'd make an adorable Easter card and the stamp set happens to include an Easter sentiment. I die cut my angled panels from an Easter paper pad and glued them to a white panel. Next I die cut it with a stitched dot rectangle. Stamped the sentiment and found the font hard to read. I carefully blotted out parts with white gel pen and rewrote them the way I preferred.

The duckling image has with 3 layers so I chose my 3 inks and die cut the outline. I always stamp a trial image in my MISTI and put the negative of the die cut around it. I pop the die cut in and stamp, removing it to reset each layer. I find that works best for me. If I'm "off" a bit on stamping the trial layers, I can reposition the negative. Sometimes I'm still "off" and just try to correct things with markers and gel pens.... This time I started with the second layer since it had the feet, making the negative easier to position. I stamped the little patch of grass from the set and included a leftover dragonfly from my Scramble card from a couple weeks ago.

Now for a bonus! My friend Linda (can you believe she has my middle name too?) and her hubby bought a new house and invited me over for lunch. I took them a birdhouse as a housewarming gift and made this card:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts, Basic Grey, Paper Studio

Stamps - Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Dec2021

Dies - Hero Arts Neighborhood Houses;

Taylored Expressions Easy Strips 1/8"

Thanks for stopping and I hope to see you in the February Diva gallery!! You have until 9pm Pacific Time to share your creation with an angle, plus a die cut &/or embossing folder. A random winner, chosen from eligible February entries, will receive a $25 credit to use at the Hero Arts online store.

Happy Valentine's Day 2022!

Hey crafty friends - one of my favorite days of the year has finally arrived! Happy Valentine's Day! I previously shared a couple of this year's Valentines (here & here) and thought I'd share the rest. 

I used a mix of supplies, mainly Hero Arts (My Monthly Hero kits - Jan2017 for heart bouquets Jan2020 for text and sentiments & Heart Tree Stamp & Cut) and Penny Black (Share a Hug for the kitty and So Very Much for the heart text and single balloon). Thanks again to Jean (Right as Rain) for the fun Penny Black sets!!

Card four has the final digi leaves left over from the previous Valentines using Rachel Vass Floral Heart (no longer available). I also made a Birthday/Valentine card for my friend & birthday twin Lynn but unfortunately forgot to photograph it. I'll share card one at Watercooler Wednesday where the current challenge is All About Occasions.

I've celebrated my birthday several times already, including yesterday with my family. Today I'm having dinner at a friend's house then heading to chorus rehearsal where we're having a little Valentine celebration which, I'm sure, will include Happy Birthday sung to me. 

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and thanks for stopping by!! 

Scramble with Two

Hi all - I'm part of a private Facebook group that has continued the tradition of doing Hero Arts Scrambles - 90 minutes to create, photograph & upload a card featuring Hero Arts products & a given theme. This time the theme was Two - be it using the numeral 2 or having two of something. I chose the latter using 46 of the alloted 90 minutes for my card today.

Supplies: Paper - BoBunny Serendipity;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb;

Teal & Latte maybe Stampin' Up?

Stamps - Hero Arts Old Letter (retired) &

Apr 2021 My Monthly Hero kit (with die to match)

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 18 (retired);

Taylored Expressions Easy Strips 1/8"

Other - Park Lane gems

I die cut two diagonal panel from BoBunny paper using a Blueprint die set. I trimmed off the top panel to leave a gap for my sentiment. Stamped some patches of Old Letter on each panel, then adhered them to a latte colored A2 card. Stamped the My Monthly Hero kit sentiment in grape ink. I die cut and stamped two dragonflies from the same set as the sentiment, adding a gem for each head. I die cut strips using a new Taylored Expressions 1/8" strip die and adhered above and below the sentiment. Done! Very quick & easy. 

I was so excited to find the Easy Strips at Anchor Paper Monday since they were out of stock (and still are as of today) at TE. I'll add my card to Darnell's February NBUS Challenge since my Easy Strips are new.

This card already went out in the mail to the tenor in my former quartet. She took me out last night for an early birthday dinner at the Olive Garden - yummy!!

Thanks for stopping and thanks to Cindy (Escape to Stamping) for a fun Scramble!

Featuring the Sentiment!

Hey crafty friends - thought I'd pop in with a card for the current Christmas Kickstart challenge to feature the sentiment. When I saw the theme I knew exactly which stamp set to grab!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Core'dinations Black, Silver Dream from Anchor Paper;

Paper Studio glitter and Old World Winter

Stamp - Hero Arts Jolly (retired)

Dies - Sunny Studio Snowflake Circle Frame

Pink Fresh Studio Folk Edge Rectangles

Other - Versamark ink; Hero Arts gems

Taylored Expressions silver EP

Yes, I reached for Hero Arts Jolly clear set containing 3 jumbo words - Jolly, Merry & Peace. I've used it many times before; go HERE, if desired, for a slimline example. And if you search my blog for Jolly, you'll find other examples using each word. I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink and silver embossed it onto a panel die cut with a PFS Folk Edge Rectangle die. I matted it with a silver frame and then a black frame cut with the plain rectangle included in the PFS set. I used the largest PFS Folk Rectangle to cut a piece of Old World Winter paper and adhered it to a white card, layering the Merry block with some extra rectangles behind for dimension. I love that Old World Winter snowflake paper so much I had to go out and buy another pad this morning - I had none left! Luckily the Paper Studio products are 50% off at Hobby Lobby right now - hmmm, maybe I should've bought more....

I had die cut many snowflakes while working on cards for this post. I thought a bunch of gold and silver ones would look great sprinkled around the sentiment. Added a few gems - done!

My card will also venture over to Watercooler Wednesday where Helen is doing All About Occasions.

Thanks for stopping and have a wonderful day!!

 

January 2022 Card Chain Reveal

Hi everyone - once again it's time to reveal cards that went around the world for the Card Chain Challenge. This month 27 people participated; you can see the entire chain HERE. I sent my card to sweet Marga in Spain. It was fun to write to her in Spanish - I suppose it would've been nice to use Hola Amiga as my sentiment... I began learning Spanish in grade school and kept it up all through college (one of my majors). Too bad I don't get to speak it much day to day.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Concord and 9th green

My Favorite Things Woodgrain Whimsy;

Sunny Studio Sweater Weather

Stamps - Hero Arts All Occasion Messages (retired)

Sunny Studio Everything's Rosy

Dies - Spellbinders Snowflake Splendor

Hero Arts Spring Branch (retired)

Sunny Studio Everything's Rosy

Other - Park Lane gems

Once again I've used both the color scheme and the sketch, plus the theme of friendship. I thought the hexagon from the Spellbinders snowflake set would be fun in place of the circle element.

I received this beautiful card from Arlene (A Bit of This and That) in California. I just love the blue flowers and the gorgeous marbled quilted background (it's patterned paper)!! Arlene's a teamie with me at Die Cut Divas - check out our challenges if you like to use die cuts. Arlene also sent me a bunch of die cuts that will come in handy for future cards - thanks, Arlene!! 

You can still sign up to participate in February Card Chain - go HERE by the 6th; you only need to make and mail one card - so fun! Thanks for stopping and have a crafty day!!

A Bee-utiful Birthday

Hey crafty friends - the Die Cut Divas have a new challenge up today and I thought I'd share something even though it's not "my day". We're doing Angle It with our February sponsor Hero Arts - fitting for fans like us! I've been a long time Hero Arts fan and fondly remember my days as a Hero Hostess. I especially love their kits and am only missing one (the one with the octopus) since their inaugural set released in October 2015. Needless to say, I have a lot of Hero Arts! Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Stampin' Up green;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Paper Studio glitter

Stamps - Hero Arts 01/21 My Monthly Hero Kit 

& Old Letter (retired); Penny Black Sprinkles and Smiles

Dies - Hero Arts 01/21 MMH Kit

Other - Copic Markers

I was flipping through my stash of MMH kits for some Valentine stuff and came across this darling bee kit from last year that I hadn't used yet! I even had to snip apart all the dies which I usually do when the kit arrives.... It's perfect for a friend who likes bees!

I die cut, stamped and colored the floral branch and the bee with Copics, then die cut the honey comb. It's an insert die so I fussy cut the perimeter to make it stand alone. Formed an A7 card with the green cardstock and stamped some Old Letter (from 2011 & still as wonderful now as then!) on the left & right edges. Stamped a sentiment from a fabulous PB set gifted to me by Jean (Right as Rain) - thanks again, Jean!! Assembled the card, angling the branch at a diagonal - that's all it takes & done!

And speaking of Jean, she sent another PB stamp (Botanical Notes) which I used on the card below, along with the same sentiment as above. I started with a piece of white Neenah and blended some Salty Ocean and Speckled Egg Distress ink onto it with a Nuvo brush. Stamped and colored the image, then trimmed and matted onto a Pink Fresh Studio Folk Edge Rectangle.

Spotted my friend Betty's (created by bjk) gorgeous flower card that she made for Paper Players current Tic Tac Toe Challenge & she inspired me to play along with card one. I used the same diagonal lower left to upper right - Birthday, Flower, Die Cut. I think this is my first play over there...

I also will enter card one at Darnell's February NBUS challenge since the MMH kit got first play today.

 Hope to see you in the Diva gallery this month and I'll be here for "my day" on the 21st. Meanwhile, check back tomorrow if you'd like to see the January Card Chain Challenge Reveal.

Thanks for stopping!!