Happy Easter & last day for the March Die Cut Diva Challenge!

Happy Easter wishes to everyone celebrating today!! Most of my immediate family will celebrate in Arizona but I was going to take my friend/sister by choice Connie and her hubby to Easter buffet at Afton House Inn. We did the Thanksgiving buffet once and it was very good. I ended up coming down with a bit of a sniffle so we'll have to reschedule. Boo hoo!

I'm sharing at Die Cut Divas today along with the rest of the end-of month team. It's Anything Goes for this month at the Divas - just remember to use a die cut &/or embossing folder & get your last entries in by 9pm Pacific time today.

First I have some darling Easter treat boxes made using a new Lawn Fawn die set:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb;

Lawn Fawn Fruit Salad Petite; Graphic 45 Time to Flourish;

Scraps of green

Dies - Lawn Fawn Carrot Treat Box

Stamps with Dies - Carrot 'bout You (coordinating dies HERE),

Carrot 'bout You Banner Add-On (coordinating dies HERE)

Other - Copic markers, Memento Tuxedo Black ink;

Hero Arts Ultra Pink & TE Pumpkin

Lawn Fawn has generously donated a $25 gift card to their online store 

for our random winner. Thanks, Lawn Fawn!

The box was just released for Spring 2024 and so were the stamped/die cut additions. So easy to put together and Kelly Marie has a great tutorial video on the product page. I simply die cut the box from patterned papers and the carrot tops from some green scraps & assembled per the video. Stamped, die cut and colored the bunnies, sign & banner and added to the assembled box. Both are filled with Easter candies - yum!! I'll add my carrot treat boxes to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since they're new. 

For my bonus today, I made some little chick boxes - so cute for Easter!

Supplies: Paper - Lawn Fawn retired & 

scraps of Neenah white, black and orange

Dies - Lawn Fawn Tiny Gift Box &

Tiny Gift Box Chick and Duck Add-on

Other - White gel pen

Simply die cut and assemble the box following the video tutorial Kelly Marie shares on the product page. Die cut and add the chick elements form the add-on set. These boxes had room for two Dove candies each. I will link my chicks to the current Dream Factory Challenge where no bunnies are allowed on your project. And my yellow chicks fit the current I Spy with My Little Eye Challenge to included something yellow.

And I can't forget to wish Hilary (fiddling about) a happy birthday today! Here's the card I sent her using Spellbinders Spring Reflection (DOML-Feb23) and a bunch of snippets along with a background of MFT's colorful canvas in a fave color of Hilary's - green! The sentiment came from a Betterpress set You are Everything Sentiments. Hilary received the card a while ago (you never know about the post) but waited til today to open it!

Happy Birthday, Hilary!!

That's it for today. Hope to see you in the March Diva gallery by 9pm Pacific time today! 

Thanks for visiting & enjoy your Easter!!

Delivering Christmas Cheer!

Hello and welcome! I'm back with my third and final entry for Christmas Kickstart #84 - Get Your Grinch On! That means feature green prominently - so fun!!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah white; Paper Studio text & glitter;

Spellbinders A2 card & Betterpress Porcelain;

Hero Arts Pitch Black

Betterpress Plate - Spellbinders Christmas Icons

Dies - Taylored Expressions Easy Strips 1/4" ;

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Hero Arts watercolor pencils from MMH 1223 kit;

Key Lime & Green Apple Reactive Inks & sparkle lacquer;

Betterpress Black Ink

I bought the background paper last week at Hobby Lobby, thinking it would make a fun card for this Kickstart Challenge. But what to put with it? Settled on a Betterpress image I bought locally right after Christmas. Isn't that little VW bug just the cutest??!! Pressed it along with a sentiment from the same set, then die cut with a stitched rectangle. Next I added some soft watercoloring & put some snowy sparkle on the "road". Matted it with a sparkly green layer, then a white one. Die cut the text pattern with a stitched rectangle then added it to an A2 card. Added narrow strips of black to simulate a ribbon, then popped the car panel atop it with foam tape.

While I had the Betterpress and watercolors out, I did a poinsettia panel too. 

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card;

Betterpress Porcelain; scrap of green

Betterpress Plate with Dies- Spellbinders Poinsettia Corner

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Hero Arts watercolor pencils from MMH 1223 kit;

 & sparkle lacquer; Betterpress Black & Leaf Inks

Pressed the panel with black ink and watercolored. Die cut it with a stitched rectangle & added some sparkle to the pine cone. Pressed the sentiment in green ink and die cut it, along with a green shadow. Adhered to an A2 card - done! I'll add this card to the current Merry Little Christmas #55 where Anything Goes and also to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge #60 since my poinettia plate is new.

That's it for today, friends - thanks for stopping by!!

Panda-monium

Hey everyone - I'm back with my third & final card for the current Day of the Month Card Club Challenge - #61 National Panda Day. Wishing them a happy 5th blog birthday too!!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White; Recollections Black;

scraps of green; Paper Studio A2 card

Stamps with Dies - Poppystamps Whittle Panda Pickup Kit

Dies - Hero Arts Thorn Tree and Grasses

Other - Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; foam tape; Copics 

I'd used up my panda items so didn't think I'd be entering a 3rd card to DotMCC this time. Then last Tuesday I was checking my blogging friends' posts and spotted Lisa's (My Paper Tales) link to her Poppystamps post. Besides her darling card, she made a treat bag featuring a pickup truck. While the pickup was sweet, I noticed it came in a kit with, you guessed it, PANDAS!! I placed an order right away &, even with our bad weather, it arrived yesterday. Didn't get my mail until after chorus rehearsal last night but, with more snowy & icy weather today, stayed in to work on this card.

Die cut the pandas in white and black & either pieced bits or used a black Copic to color. Die cut a bunch of bamboo stalks and shaded with Copics. Die cut several panels of grass to offset for the bottom. Stamped a sentiment and inked the edges with Black Soot Distress ink. Assembled on an A2 card - done! I'm really happy with how this turned out.

I'll also link to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since my panda kit got first play today.

Thanks for visiting & have a crafty day!!

Betterpressed Butterflies

Happy Monday everyone! Did you get any snow? We got about 8.5" but now it's raining/sleeting - yuck!! Perfect time to stay in and craft (after shoveling, of course)!

It's Anything Goes this week for Darnell's IDEAS project - see her fabulous inspiration today at djkardkreations. Since IDEAS has no B for Betterpress, I'm taking advantage of the Anything Goes theme - lol. April will be here soon and I need 6 birthday cards in just the first 9 days of it! Here's a card for the first birthday coming up on April 4th:

Supplies: Paper - Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain;

Recollections Black; Paper Studio A2 card

Betterpress plates with dies - Spellbinders Butterfly Swirl &

You Are Everything Sentiments

Inks - Spellbinders Betterpress Black & Memento Summer Sky

Other - Crayola pencils; Park Lane gems

I ordered the Betterpress from Spellbinders back in November & have been loving it! I especially love the sentiment sets with everything on one plate plus a matching single die. This butterfly set comes that way for the butterflies, plus it has a separate sentiment with matching die. I bought it at my fave local store, Anchor Paper, who dove right into Betterpress & carries plates from multiple brands.

After pressing the butterflies, I colored them with pencils. Normally I don't like coloring with pencils but I received a beautiful birthday card from Hilary (fiddling about) who'd done her pressed flower image with pencils (she hasn't blogged it yet). Very pretty - thanks again, Hilary! So I decided to try my luck with pencils. Since the butterflies are small, I didn't do much shading.

Next, I die cut the butterfly panel with a stitched rectangle and brushed ink along three edges. Adhered it to a black mat, then an orange A2 card. Added a pressed sentiment with shadow, done with a multiple sentiment plate - love it! Added some rainbow gems among the butterflies - done! I'm adding my card to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since the press plate is newly used.

Then I had the idea to spray a piece of Betterpress paper with some Hero Arts shimmer sprays and, once dry, press the butterflies. These I went ahead and die cut in one pass with the matching die. I'll save them for future but here's how they turned out (I used black ink but it appears brown on the shimmery background):

And why not another Betterpress card? This time I made a Christmas card with a plate I ordered from Spellbinders when they had a sale right before Christmas. First time using it too! The current Christmas Kickstart Challenge is highlighting the color green so what could be better than a bunch of pine trees?! This is my second entry (max of 3).

Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card; 

scrap of red; Betterpress Bisque

Betterpress Plate with Die - Spellbinders Seasons Greetings Evergreens

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set;

Impression Obsession Cardinals

Betterpress Inks - Leaf & Cosmic Sky

Other - Hero Arts Sparkle Lacquer; R46 Copic; black & white gel pens

Looking at my Betterpress inks, I wanted something more piney than Leaf which is my only green. So, while inking the plate I added a couple layers of Cosmic Sky (medium blue) & then more Leaf - it worked! I did the sentiment with just the Leaf - you can see the difference. I added a line of sparkle lacquer to the base of the pines & then a trio of cardinals which I detailed with gel pens & a Copic.

Thanks for stopping by & have a wonderful day!

Craft Roulette 207

Hey crafty friends - a couple Diva pals, Arlene (A Bit of This and That) & Dawn (Dawn's World), like to play at Craft Roulette but I hadn't jumped in the pool yet. Spotted Dawn's darling card this morning and headed over to watch Episode 207's video replay. Note - it starts with a slide show of all the submissions from the previous week, then the episode begins. I spotted both Dawn's card and Arlene's card - so fun & a map graphic shows where all the cards came from. They had over 400 submissions (done digitally)! 

So while the host Mary Gunn Funn & her guest Tracey Phillips made their card from the 4 parameters spun on the roulette wheel, I worked on my card. Here's what I came up with using A2, Ice Cream Store colors, Tasty, & Add a banner:

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio pastel A2 card; Neenah white;

Paper Studio Bright Vintage patterned paper 6x6"

Stamps with Dies - Hero Arts Color Layering Ice Cream &

Lawn Fawn Bannerific (both retired)

Dies - Poppy Stamps Double Stitch Scallop Rectangles (retired)

Inks - Hero Arts Sand Stone, Ultra Pink & Green Apple; 

Altenew Citrus Burst & Cotton Candy;

TH Distress Oxide - Spun Sugar & Cracked Pistachio; &

Taylored Expressions Pineapple; Memento Tuxedo Black

Other - foam tape; Park Lane pink gems

Stamped & die cut three ice cream flavors - lemon, mint and cotton candy & one cone. Die cut a rectangle from a pastel swirly paper and adhered to a pastel A2 card. Die cut a white scalloped rectangle frame and adhered to the card. Popped the cone on with foam tape. Stamped and die cut a Lawn Fawn banner and add a sentiment from the ice cream stamp set (curved on the stamping tool to fit the banner). Added a couple gems (one covers up a boo-boo) - done!

That's it for today! If you're getting snow, hope it's not too bad for you - it started here before 10a & is expected to go til tomorrow at 4a when it'll turn into rain. Yuck!!

Take care & thanks for stopping!

Panda Hugs

Hey everyone - I'm back with a second card for Day of Month Card Club Challenge 61 using the theme of National Panda Day. They're celebrating their 5th blog birthday too - woo hoo!!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White; Hero Arts Pitch Black;

scraps of lime and red; Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain

Stamps - Inkadinkado Asian by Design (retired but found it on eBay HERE)

Stamps with Dies plus transfers - Hero Arts

 Feb 2024 My Monthly Hero Classic Kit (I have Premium)

Betterpress plate w/dies - Spellbinders Merry & Bright Sentiment Strips

Dies - Spellbinders Dancin' Birthday Panda &

Make a Wish Arch Labels;

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Memento Sky Blue and various Hero Arts green inks

I mentioned when I posted card one for this challenge that I was set on using a fairly new Spellbinders die set but I couldn't find it in the stash. Well, yesterday I was looking for another die set and there was the entire bundle I sought - yay! Such a cute bundle with the monsters and dinasaur too!! The panda was so easy to cut and assemble - you can make the body swing but he's just as adorable without it.

I still had the March 2024 Hero Arts kit on the table so I stamped/die cut a bamboo sprig for Mr. Panda. Die cut an arched label for him and found a Betterpress sentiment from the Christmas batch I did a while back. Next I stamped the Inkadinkado large bamboo three times on a stitched rectangle, changing ink colors and angles each time. Sponged some ink on the edges and added some rub-on Chinese characters. Adhered to an A2 card & added the label with panda - done!

I'll also link to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since my panda got first play today.

Thanks for visiting & have a crafty day!!

 

Birdie Slimline

TGIF everyone!! If you got snow like we did, I hope it's not impairing the start to your weekend!

Yesterday I die cut a bunch of things to assemble while watching some television. I picked a Spellbinders set I've used once before (only 2 years after release - lol) and decided to make something for the Just Us Girls #718  & Time Out #259 collaboration challenge "Birds of a Feather". One linky puts you into both challenges!

Supplies: Paper - Park Lane slimline card; 

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; 

Recollections black; loads of scraps

Stencils - Taylored Expressions Set the Scene - Clouds Stencil Strips

Dies - Spellbinders Sweet Birds on a Branch & unk slimline layer die;

Lawn Fawn Little Music Notes

Stamps - Hero Arts Chirp Stamp & Cut

Inks - Memento Summer Sky & Tuxedo Black

First I created a sky with a TE stencil on a 5.5x8.5 sheet of Neenah, then die cut it with a Spellbinders slimline rectangle layer (the die escaped from its set so I don't know which one it is...). Matted it with black and adhered to a gold slimline card. Die cut the birdies & leaves from a bunch of scraps. Used a kraft envelope as paper to die cut the branches & a leftover piece of black from the mat for the notes. I had found a birdie stamp set to use for this challenge but here I just used one of the sentiments. Assembled and done! This one will go to the chorus friend who broke her leg a few weeks ago.

Since I used a lot of scraps aka snippets, I'll also share at Snippet's Playground #476. Here's a photo of the snippets used on my birdies and leaves:

It's always fun to see the bits of other cards within the snippets! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a crafty weekend!!

A fun Easter Platform Pop-Up!

Hey everyone - I'm sharing at Die Cut Divas today but am also posting here with a bonus. It's Anything Goes for this month at the Divas - just remember to use a die cut &/or embossing folder.

Here's my platform pop-up card combining new and older supplies 

from our fabulous March sponsor, Lawn Fawn! 

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb;

Lawn Fawn Petite Rainbow Plaid & Dotted; Paper Studio green card;

Scraps of pink/yellow/orange

Dies - Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-Up,

Platform Pop-Up Picket Fence Wrap Around,

& Grassy Border

Stamps with Dies - Lawn Fawn Hay There, Hayrides!

(coordinating dies HERE),

Carrot 'bout You (coordinating dies HERE),

Carrot 'bout You Banner Add-On (coordinating dies HERE), &

Hay There, Hayrides! Bunny Add-On (coordinating dies HERE)

Other - Copic markers, Memento Tuxedo Black ink;

Hero Arts Ultra Pink & Green Apple inks

Lawn Fawn has generously donated a $25 gift card to their online store 

for our random winner. Thanks, Lawn Fawn!

I had loads of fun putting this pop-up card together on Tuesday. I have to admit, it was a long process - what I like to call one of my masterpieces - LOL. Just did simple stamping, coloring and die-cutting, then assembled but it took several hours! Oh, and I masked off the fence and sponged green on the lower part of the wrap-around. The platform was released in 2022 but the fence add-on just came out this spring. Kelly Marie has a great tutorial video on the platform's product page - so easy to assemble!

Here are a couple more views - from top & flattened (fits an A2 envelope):

You can see a Christmas version of the platform pop-up with a different add-on HERE. And if you're still with me, here's a bonus project - a little thanks treat box using Lawn Fawn's Fancy Box set. Very quick & easy to die cut and assemble. I probably could've done a dozen of these in the time it took to make the platform card!

That's it for today. Hope to see you in the March Diva gallery - you have until 9pm Pacific time on 3/31/24 to join us! I'll add my pop-up to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since the Easter stuff is all new. I'll also join the current Lawn Fawnatics Challenge #169 where the theme is to be inspired by a favorite book, movie or song - my book is Peter Rabbit, of course. My farmer looks a bit happier than the one in the book, though, & that's Peter driving the carrot car!

Thanks for visiting & happy crafting!

Wonderful Panda

Welcome back, friends - I finally had time to finish a card for the current Day of Month Card Club Challenge celebrating National Panda Day. It's their 61st challenge and celebration of their 5th blog birthday - congrats!!

Supplies: Paper - Recollections A2 card; Neenah white & black;

scrap of purple Momenta watercolor print; 

Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain; Tim Holtz Kraft Classic

Stamps with Dies - Hero Arts From the Vault Cute Animals

(dies retired at HA - HERE at Frantic Stamper);

Hero Arts Feb 2024 My Monthly Hero Classic Kit (I have Premium)

Betterpress plate w/dies - Spellbinders You Are Everything Sentiments

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

This card wasn't what I intended when the challenge was announced on March 7th! I was pretty set on using a fairly new Spellbinders die set but I haven't found it in the stash yet. I'm sure it's in a safe place...

Meanwhile, I'd found a sweet little panda stamp in a Hero Arts animal set to use - but with what?? Then on Friday, my March 2024 Hero Arts kit arrived with loads of stamps and dies that would work perfectly with the panda! I die cut a stitched rectangle with the fancy window die in the kit - see the hatched line texture? I ran it through the Platinum 6 with an embossing pad to impress it a bit more that I got from die cutting the window. 

Next I stamped the layered mountains and sun onto a scrap of purple paper. Adhered it to a black layer, then popped the window layer over it with foam tape. Added it to a white A2 card. Then I stamped three bamboo sprigs using 3 different inks & layered them along the left edge of the window. Added a stamped/die cut panda & a Betterpressed sentiment - done!!

I'll look for my panda die set later - need to finish up my Easter cards and get a Diva post ready for Thursday first! Since my MMH kit is newly used, I'll also add my card to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge.

Thanks for visiting & have a crafty day!!

Spring/Easter cards with Embossing Folders

Happy 3rd Monday of March!! I'm playing along with Darnell (djkardkreations) and her IDEAS program to give some structure to using all those crafty supplies. This Monday focuses on E for Embossing Folders but Darnell mentioned she will add wet embossing to the E in future.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah white; Lawn Fawn Petite Rainbow Plaid;

Bazzill green; Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain; 

Bright yellow from unk

Embossing Folder - Spellbinders Swirling Blooms (EOM-Feb24)

Stamps with dies - Frantic Stamper Spring Bold Sentiments

(coordinating dies HERE)

Hero Arts From the Vault Cute Animals

(Here at Frantic Stamper; coordinating dies HERE)

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Betterpress w/Stencils - Cosmos Backdrop Bundle

Betterpress Ink - Bark; Inks - Altenew Bamboo; Hero Arts Moss,

Butter Bar, Creamsicle & Tangerine

Other - shimmer brown envelope; Copic Markers; 

Hero Arts Sparkle Lacquer; foam tape

While making my first cosmos cards with my Betterpress, I did a second panel on porcelain Betterpress paper, stenciled it with the coordinating stencil & cut it into two parts like I did before. I found one of the die cut panels in the bits box & used it to create this Spring card for my sister. I thought a panel using the Spellbinders February 2024 Embossing Folder of the Month would complement it. Crazy that I got to it this quickly, right? 

Next, I was looking through my stash of handmade cards and found a daffodil card from last May that I didn't really like - the daffodil coloring looked bad to me. Tried to fix it and it looked worse so I carefully peeled off the sentiment and bee for this card! The sentiment had a little flaw that I covered up with a flower from the bits box. Since my embossing folder was newly used here, I'll add my Spring card to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge.

While I was at it, I made another Avery Elle bunny card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Park Lane A2 card; Paper Studio pastel cardstock

Embossing Folder - Spellbinders Easter Egg Hunt  (3EOM-Feb24)

Stamps - Taylored Expressions Many Minis - Holiday (retired)

Stamps with dies - Avery Elle Easter Egg (dies HERE)

Dies - Hero Arts Thorn Tree and Grasses & Tag Frames Infinity Dies

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Copic Markers; foam tape; American Greetings stickers

I embossed a pink panel using Spellbinders February 2024 3D Embossing Folder of the Month. I ran a darker pink over the raised bits & adhered it to an A2 card. Next, I trimmed down the grass from that cannibalized daffodil card. My first bunny was paper pieced but this one was simply colored with Copics. A sentiment label and some chick stickers completed the card. Yay - another Easter card for the stash!

That's it for today, friends - hope you have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!!

St Patrick's Day Gnome

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone! Loads of celebrations here, including the big parade in St Paul, were held yesterday instead of today. Ours too - we went to a local VFW post, dining on corned beef & cabbage - yummy!

I only sent one St Paddy's Day card - to my friend Heather (stamping and stitching) and her family over in Ireland. I was lucky enough to visit them in Ireland twice; the first time was nearly 10 years ago already!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah white;

My Favorite Things Colorful Canvas; scraps for the rest

Stamps - Hero Arts Celebrate Every Day (retired)

Dies - Spellbinders Gnome Drive Holiday & Gnome Drive Spring;

Lawn Fawn Lucky Clovers

Stencils - Taylored Expressions Set the Scene - Clouds

Other - Park Lane gem

If you missed it, I made a Valentine gnome car back in February - see it HERE. So fun to die cut and assemble the gnomes and cars! The shamrocks I used came from a new Lawn Fawn set; I didn't use the ones in the Spellbinders set. I trimmed an A2 card down to be a 4.25" square card for something different. I'll share my card at Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since my shamrocks got first play here. The St Patrick's Day elements from the Spellbinder's Spring Gnome Drive set were also newly used. I didn't play with the Easter elements from that set at all this year - oh well.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful day & thanks for visiting!!