Another Birthday Alpaca!

Hello & welcome! How's your weekend going? I'm resting up from the chorus retreat and watching the last day of the Olympics, plus Twins baseball. 

Thought I'd fit a card into my day for two challenges: Day of the Month Card Club #66 - Alpaca Day and Seize the Birthday #289 - Cute Critters. Here's my creation:

Supplies: Paper - Recollections A2 card; 

Neenah Solar White; Tim Holtz Jewel cardstock;

Doodlebug Sugar Shoppe; many scraps

Stamps - Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Birthday

Dies - Marianne Design Eline's Alpaca;

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set;

Taylored Expressions Simple Strips

Other - Copic Markers C2, C00 for shading;

preprinted sentiment strip (brand unk); foam tape

I was lucky enough to get an alpaca die set from friend Gundi (papierelle) for my birthday last year - perfect for this challenge, plus it's the only alpaca item I own!! Thanks again Gundi!! You can see a previous card I made for Craft Roulette with this set HERE. Gundi is on the DT at DotMCC and friend Hilary (Fiddling About) is guesting this month. Thanks for the inspiration!!

I simply die cut and assembled the alpaca, shading a bit with Copics. Isn't he the cutest?? Added to a die cut rectangle & onto an A2 card with some Doodlebug papers. The two sentiment strips were in my bits box. I liked using the Spanish one since alpacas come from South America. I think my baby sister will get a kick out of this for her birthday. We both speak some Spanish & often use it in our conversations.

For a change I'm actually using the "Topping" at Seize the Birthday. I usually just take the Anything Goes option. Friend Darnell (djkardkreations) is a Surprise Party Guest and inspired me to play along. Plus I know a couple of the DT from my Merry Monday Challenge (no longer with us) days. Thanks for the inspiration!!

Nothing else for today - hope you enjoy your week! Thanks for visiting!!

Jump In!

Hey there - happy Saturday! I'm posting later than usual since I was at a chorus retreat last night and most of today. When I got home last night I watched Craft Roulette Episode #227 on replay, sped up on the settings so I could get the parameters & then get some sleep!! Here's my card which I finished when I got home from the retreat this afternoon:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah white & unk brand of grey

Stamps & dies - Hero Arts My Monthly Hero kit Jul2019

Other - various inks; foam tape

Host Mary Gunn FUNN had Joy Wilson (Pajama Crafter Stamps) as her guest and the wheel had some fun with us.

• Project - 4x8" card: I scored a 8x8 piece of card stock in half to form a tall card.
• Colors - Mountains: I used greys, greens, browns, blues & black; figure all of those are on a mountain somewhere!
• Element - Float(s)/Floating: A canoe floats!
• Random - Water: I inked a lake for my boat & gave it a mountain with trees on the top shore and a dock on the other.

What came to my mind after a long chorus retreat was a Hero Arts kit from 2019 with lots of elements for a lake scene. Inked and stamped some Neenah and assembled on the grey card. The sentiment came from the same set. Quick and easy!! I did use a water spritzer to spray my lake & the droplets were too big for my taste - oh well...

Come & play along - it's fun and stretches your imagination to fit all the parameters in. Details on Craft Roulette can be found HERE. You don't have to be a member to submit but becoming a member gives you a longer submit window, plus access to extra content.

Thanks for stopping by & happy crafting!!!

Fa La La La La

Hi everyone - I'm here with a card for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge - #89 Animal Antics:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White; scraps;

Paper Studio A2 card; Hero Arts glitter paper

Stamps with Dies - Simon Says Stamp Carol Singers (retired)

Dies - Hero Arts Snowy Street Lamp;

Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders

Other - Copic Markers; Distress Inks; foam tape;

Recollections puffy stickers;

Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Versamark ink;

Ranger Seafoam White embossing powder

Jo and her elf Gundi want to see animals playing in the snow. I flipped through the Christmas stamps and found this never-used Simon Says Stamp set from Stamptember 2017. Decided to give it some love and thought that animals playing musical instruments would be a different take on "playing in the snow" - lol.

Stamped/die cut/colored the three critters. Die cut some snow and a lamp post. Backed the open part of the lamp with a scrap of orangey yellow paper (left out the candle which I used on a previous card). The lamp post is too long for a horizontal A2 card so I trimmed off the excess and covered the bottom with a snow bank.

Stamped and white embosed the sentiment on a pastel blue A2 card. Blended Stormy Sky Distress Ink over the top half of the card and added some Black Soot to the edges. Assembled the elements onto the card & added some puffy musical note stickers - done!

The lamp post set is one I bought locally through the Hero Arts 2024 Holiday Shopbox program. New holiday isn't released at Hero yet but I shared a link to Simon Says Stamp where Shopbox items are now available online. The full release will be online at Hero Arts on August 22nd - can't wait!!

Since my stamp set got first play here, I'll add my card to Darnell's August NBUS Challenge #65 & also to Merry Little Christmas Challenge #57 where anything goes for Christmas.

Thanks for stopping & have a crafty day!!

Live in the Sunshine

Happy Monday, at least in this neck of the woods! Very gloomy, rainy day here - no time better to make a card! Blogging friend Hilary (Fiddling About) inspired me to play in the latest We Love Stamping Challenge - Focal Sentiment or Quote (or Anything Goes). I often use the AG theme but today I was intent on finding a nice quote and building a card around it. Here's what I created:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts Dove A2 card; Neenah Solar White

Stamps - Technique Tuesday Bring on the Sun (retired);

Hero Arts July 2024 Card Kit of the Month

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Lost Shadow,

Mermaid Lagoon, & Antique Linen

Other - Memento Tuxedo Black ink;

Hero Arts Creamsicle & Lemon Drop

I searched a couple of stamp boxes for a quote, finding one in a retired Technique Tuesday set by Ali Edwards (c2011). The July 2024 Hero Arts Studio card kit had the perfect images to use with the quote. I was also thinking of Darnell's (djkardkreations) IDEAS program - this week I = Ink. I did some basic ink blending with Distress Inks on a piece of Neenah, then added the stamping. Quick & easy. Final steps were to die cut my panel and add to an A2 card - done!

I'll add my card to Darnell's August NBUS Challenge #65 too since my stamps got first play today. *Update - will also add my card to the current Time Out Challenge #269 (a trip to the beach screams Summer to me) with Kate's (Cards a la Kate) reminder. Funny because friend Greta (GG Creations) is on the DT so you'd think I'd play there more often & another friend Betty (created by bjk) is guest designer this month. Oh well, I have trouble keeping track of which challenge is doing what theme... Thanks for the inspiration on those challenges too!!

Thanks for stopping & happy crafting!!

Christmas Boutique Shaped Card

Happy Sunday everyone!! I'm a happy camper - Twins Baseball is back on my television!! Contract is resolved with my cable company (good news) but I had to upgrade my service to get the Twins channel (used to be on a cheaper package). So I took care of the upgrade and watched the Twins beat the White Socks this afternoon - yay!! While watching, I made a card:

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio Holiday & 

woodgrain; many scraps

Dies - Spellbinders Christmas Boutique (DOML-Oct23)

Other - Park Lane gems & Hero Arts pearl; EK Success stars

This was my first play with this club set from last year. Just a bunch of die cutting and assembling! A bit fiddly but fun too! The set comes with the word NOEL for the sentiment but I left it off. Here's a side view - I love how the fence sits out from the building for some dimension:

Since my boutique set is newly used, I'll add my card to Darnell's August NBUS Challenge #65. I'm also linking to Merry Little Christmas Challenge #57 where Anything Christmas Goes.

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

A See Through Card

Happy Saturday everyone!! I'm here with a card for episode #226 of Craft Roulette (see the replay HERE). I wasn't able to watch live since I was participating in a chorus choreography class - very fun but right during CR. I watched when I got home but it got too late to start crafting. Here's the card I made today:

Supplies: Paper - Acetate A2 card; Neenah Solar White

Stamps with Dies - Avery Elle This Book (retired)

Dies - A Jillian Vance Design

Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Other - Copic Markers; Sharpie fineliners;

foam tape

This week host Mary Gunn FUNN had Tracey Phillips as guest for the second time. The first time was actually the first time I played along at Craft Roulette! I should've mentioned then that Tracey has a YouTube Channel called Mindless Crafting. She also does a kid's show and has an online store with stamps, etc. Interesting parameters this week:

• Project - See Through: I made an acetate card.
• Colors - Jungle: Used greens and browns.
• Element - Teach(es)/Teacher(s): I used a wise owl teacher with school books.
• Random - Tangle: Zentangle was suggested in the discussion so thought I'd try it!

I've watched Jennifer McGuire's great video on Clear Cards so decided to try one for Craft Roulette. I formed a top fold A2 card with a piece of acetate. Die cut a rectangle from white Neenah and did zentangle (after watching a video) as a border using a green Sharpie. Colored the border with a green Copic. Stamped, die cut and colored the books and owl. Doodled some zentangle & handwritten titles on the books. Left a sentiment off since I couldn't think of one. I'll finish off the inside as Jennifer shows in her video.

Here's a view of the card standing up; you can barely see the acetate but it's there:

Sadly, the cute Avery Elle set (from 2012) is retired. Even sadder, it's the first time I'm using it!! Typical, right? Anyway, I'll add my card to Darnell's August NBUS Challenge #65 since my owl and books are newly used today.

That's it for today - thanks for stopping by & have a crafty day!!

July 2024 Card Chain Reveal

Hi friends - welcome to another Card Chain Reveal, this time for July 2024! Twenty-seven people participated and you can see the entire chain revealed HERE. My card went to Gail L. (What's Normal) in Canada:

Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card; Neenah white;

Poptone Blue Raspberry;TH Kraft Metallic 

Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain

Stamps - Hero Arts CL228 Asian Elements (retired)

Die - Hero Arts Feb 2024 My Monthly Hero Classic Kit (sold out)

Hot Foil Plate with Die - Spellbinders All You Need Sentiments

Other - Hero Arts honey lacquer (from a MMH kit);

Hero Arts & Betterpress inks

We had the following options to use when creating our cards:

Color Palette Option

Sketch Option

Theme Options: Asian / Feathers / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Ribbon or Lace / Embossing

I went with the colors, sketch & theme of Asian. I loved the colors for this month! You might think of Topaz as being yellow but I found a blue topaz ring while on a Caribbean vacation - very pretty. For the sketch I achieved my horizontal line element by doing some scoring. The oval was replaced with a circle.

I pulled out a Hero Arts kit with an Asian influence (see a previous card with it HERE) & used the coverplate die on my blue topaz layer. I die cut the center out with a circle die. Next I cut a second coverplate in gold and used another circle die, one click larger, to cut out the grid portion. Glued that over the opening on the topaz layer & added to a gold A2 card.

Next I stamped and fussy cut elements from a long retired Hero Arts set (c2008). I'm ashamed to admit I bought it new & had never used it before now - yikes, might be a new record on Mt NBUS!! Added gems, pearls and some honey lacquer & adhered to the card. Added a letterpressed sentiment made using a hot foil plate - just love to make these!!

I received this darling card from Jeanne (Cards by Jeanne). I just love the floral spray atop the soft inking - thanks Jeanne!! And thanks too for the die cut bits - can't wait to use them!

You can sign up for the August Chain until the 6th - go HERE for details. Simply make and send one card and receive a card - so fun!

Thanks for stopping by!!