Laurel Burch Christmas Kitty

Hey cat loving friends - I'm back with yet another kitty card for the special October Christmas Kickstart Challenge in memory of Janis Woolbright (Her Peaceful Garden). I created it, though, with the tic-tac-toe element Gail (Crafty Nomad) has added to Day 8 at CKC. We can enter these cards at the main challenge too, where this card would be #4 of a possible 6. Gail will take up to 3 cards at her challenge so I should be able to squeeze 2 more into both!

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card, Vintage Christmas,

& Glitter cardstock; scraps of red & green for the present;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Hero Arts Pitch Black

Stamps with dies - Laurel Burch Indigo Cats Cling Set

(I don't see the dies at LB - I got them back in 2017 at Stampendous)

Stamps - Hero Arts PSST! (2012-retired-speech bubble),

Fluffy Stockings Stamp Cut (2015-retired-sentiment) &

Jingle Bells Script Bold Prints 

Dies - Elizabeth Craft Designs Oh Christmas Tree;

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

Embossing Folder - Darice Cats

Other - Copic Markers; foam tape;

Hero Arts clear and sparkle lacquers, Cherry Ink

Here's Gail's Tic-Tac-Toe Board; I used the left side vertical, plus the right side vertical - wow!

Oh how I love Laurel Burch designs - I have tote bags, jewelry, knick-knacks, you name it. And stamps too - a wonderful set with Stampendous from 2017; you can see another card with it HERE. One friend commented after my first three kitty cards that she couldn't believe how much kitty stuff I have. LOL, that's just the tip of the iceberg, as they say. I have TONS!!!

I started by stamping a piece of red striped paper with my new Jingle Bells cling background using Cherry ink. Then I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle and embossed the cat background. You can see the card I made for Janis HERE after she sent me the ef - shows more of the ef pattern. Added the rectangle & a piece of glittery ground to an A2 card. Stamped, die cut & colored kitty. Added lacquer to his eyes and sparkle lacquer to the red triangles on his body. Die cut and assembled some ECD presents. Stamped the sentiment in a speech bubble and fussy cut - assembled the card elements & done! 

I'll also add this card to Darnell's October NBUS Challenge since my Jingle Bell background stamp is getting first play today & to Fiki's Show Us Your Pussy Cats Furrything Goes Challenge.

That's all I've got today - time to rest up after last night's chorus rehearsal. We are doing a Jingle & Mingle which involves inviting any community women singers to come in for 7 weeks of rehearsals to sing 2 songs with us on our winter show 12/2 - no auditions or membership required. We had 13 guests attend the kick-off; it was so fun, plus we had treats - yay!

Thanks for stopping and happy crafting!!

Two Kitties with Tree

Hey everyone - hope you enjoyed World Card Making Day yesterday! After finishing and posting my cards, I had some chorus work to do - auditioning people for our front row ensemble. Took about three hours, including set up & take down. Very fun to see new people trying out!

I'm back again with another card for the October Christmas Kickstart Challenge remembering Janis Woolbright (Her Peaceful Garden). Today my card has a kitty duo - one mischievous & the other calm. My kitties loved sitting under my Christmas tree every year - once they matured, they ignored the ornaments. As kittens, though, they especially loved those cheap satin covered baubles, batting them around the room like crazy!!

Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card; 

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

American Crafts Heidi Swapp Christmas 2015

Stamps - Hero Arts I Love My Cat (2009 retired),

Laughter & Joy (2011 retired)

Fluffy Stocking Stamp & Cut (2015 retired)

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

Other - Copic Marker; Hero Arts clear sparkle lacquer; 

Park Lane star; foam tape; Hero Arts Cherry ink;

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

I pulled out some old faves from Hero Arts - the cat set is totally non-Christmas but I made it fit! The cute tree is from a set gifted to me by long-time Hero Arts group friend Jean (Right as Rain) - thanks again, Jean! I stamped the tree on a dot stitched rectangle & colored with Copics. Added sparkle lacquer to the baubles. Stamped the sentiment & adhered a woodgrain strip for the floor. Added the panel to an A2 card. Stamped & colored the kitties and added to the card with foam tape - done!

I'm also sharing my kitty card at Show Us Your Pussy Cats Furrything Goes Challenge & at the current Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero Challenge where the theme is Holiday! Celebrate!

That's it for today, friends. Thanks for visiting!!

Happy World Card Making Day!

Hi crafty friends - it's World Card Making Day - yay! Time to celebrate with our fellow crafters around the world sharing handmade cards!! Today I have another card for the October Christmas Kickstart Challenge remembering Janis Woolbright (Her Peaceful Garden). Janis was a sweet cat lover who passed away in January. Of course, we're featuring cats!

Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card; BoBunny Joyful Christmas;

Paper Studio Vintage Christmas; scraps of red & green;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

American Crafts Heidi Swapp Christmas 2015

Stamps with dies - Hero Arts Kit-tea Stamp & Cut &

Holiday Season Messages Bundle

Dies - Birch Press Design Jolly Holly Contour Layers;

A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set;

Elizabeth Craft Designs Small Doilies

Other - Copic Marker; Hero Arts clear lacquer; foam tape

I just love this little HA kitty in a tea cup image (see a twofer with it HERE)! I stamped and die cut the image, paper-pieced the cup with some Christmas paper & colored the kitty with Copics. I built my card from there - finding some background papers and die cuts to fill in. I recently got the BPD holly set and am using for the first time today. It's a layering die (which we're using at Die Cut Divas this month) but I only used the base layers here. Yay - another Christmas card for the stash!

I'm also sharing my kitty card at Show Us Your Pussy Cats Furrything Goes Challenge which is coordinating with CKC this month & at Darnell's October NBUS Challenge since my holly dies are getting first play today.  And finally to the current Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero Challenge where the theme is Holiday! Celebrate!

And here's a quick & easy card using ephemera from the Spellbinders November 2020 kit (ok, I'm slow - most of it is still in the box!):

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting & have a crafty World Card Making Day!!

Cat Lover's Christmas Challenge - Remembering Janis at Christmas Kickstart

The October Christmas Kickstart Challenge remembers Janis (Her Peaceful Garden), a cat lover who created an October blog hop revolving around cats. I knew Janis through the Card Chain Challenge & shared her love of cats. Sadly Janis passed away in January but Jo has brought the cat theme to CKC in Janis's memory. Being a cat lover, although I didn't manage to do Janis's hops, I have to play in this challenge!

I pulled a stack of cat themed stamps from my stash - some Christmas, others not. For my first CKC card (we can play up to 6 times this month) I decided on a TH crazy cat looking down on a Sunny doggy. Here you go:

Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card;

BoBunny Joyful Christmas; Authentique Pleasant;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Stamps with coordinating dies - Tim Holtz Crazy Cats (dies discontinued);

Sunny Studio Santa's Helpers (sold out)

Stamps - Hero Arts It's All Good (retired)

Other - Copic Markers; foam tape;

Memento Tuxedo Black & Rhubarb Stalk inks;

Hero Arts clear & sparkle lacquers

I didn't use a cat from the Sunny set because the style is so different than the TH cat. It didn't seem to matter with the doggy image. Isn't he a cutie and the cat looks down on him with "what do you think you're doing in there?" My kitties (both gone now - RIP) loved boxes and would definitely be upset if a dog took residence in "their" box! This card really makes me smile & I hope you do too.

Thanks to Jo and her cohorts for putting on this tribute challenge! RIP Janis - we miss you! I'm also sharing at Show Us Your Pussy Cats Furrything Goes Challenge which is coordinating with CKC this month - thanks Fiki!

Thanks for visiting & have a crafty day!!

Inspired by Lisa of My Paper Tales!

Happy Tuesday everyone! When I saw Lisa's (My Paper Tales) gorgeous card for the current Just Us Girls Challenge CASE a Design Team Member, I just had to play along!! You see, she used the beautiful English Garden washi from Pinkfresh Studio. I was the lucky recipient of some cuts from this washi back in June - thanks, Lisa!! I see it's not on the PFS website right now, nor could I find it on other sites I visit - so I'm doubly lucky. Sorry it has taken me so long to make use of them but it's perfect timing!

Supplies: Paper - A2 card from Spellbinders;

Lawn Fawn Petite Watercolor Wishes

Stamps - Stampendous Laurel Burch Floral Reflections (retired 

but I see it HERE on eBay)

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 21 (retired)

Other - PFS English Garden Die cut washi courtesy of Lisa; foam tape

I die cut a pierced rectangle and adhered to a Spellbinders white A2 card (love the cards from their kits!). Figured out where I'd place the wreath and stamped the sentiment. Added the wreath & a couple extra flower clusters, plus a butterfly with foam tape. Adhered some leafy sprigs in two corners. I liked how Lisa's elements went off the edge of her background panel. She trimmed her's off but I left mine. I also like how she used a larger sentiment so I searched the stash for one that covered a lot of the circle within the wreath. Thanks for the inspiration, Lisa!! And thanks again for the washi cuts - I still have more for the future!!

That's it for today - thanks for visiting!!

September 2023 Card Chain Reveal

Hello friends - we're revealing cards that went round the world for the September Card Chain Challenge. Twenty-nine people participated and you can see the full reveal HERE. My card went to sweet Jeanne (Cards by Jeanne H), just a few suburbs away from me in the Twin Cities MN.

Supplies: Paper - Recollections Coffee & Cream;

Sunny Studio Critter Country; BoBunny Dotted;

Lawn Fawn Petite Watercolor Wishes;

Strathmore Cold Press watercolor paper;

Target Hot Spot Fall from years ago

Dies - Hero Arts Autumn Leaves;

My Favorite Things Blueprints 23 (retired)

Stamps - Joy Clair Designs Thankful for You

Other - Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso & 

Ripe Persimmon Distress Inks;

Hero Arts White Iridescent Shimmer Mist; DoCraft gems;

Ranger clear embossing powder; Darice sequin;

Hero Arts Unicorn White Pigment Ink

We could use any/all of the following for our card design:

Color Palette Option

Sketch Option

Theme Options: Foxes / Autumn / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Foil / Fancy Fold

Once again I've used multiple options: Colors/Sketch/Themes - Autumn & Friendship. I decided to skip the foiling and fancy fold techniques this time. I made this a 5" square card and layered the sky blue and leaf patterned sunset papers atop. Stamped & embossed the sentiment and then, to make it stand out a bit against the pattern, I rubbed some white ink over it with a Q-tip, then cleaned the embossing - really liked how that turned out!! I didn't have the right color enamel dots so I went with gems. I die cut the scalloped strips and adhered to the card and topped with my leaf. For the leaf, I blended Ripe Persimmon DI on watercolor paper, then die cut and inked the edges with Vintage Photo. Next I spritzed with shimmer mist and let dry. Added a copper sequin and popped the leaf onto the scalloped strips with a bit of foam tape - done. This turned out just like I planned - doesn't happen often...

Since Jeanne lives so close, whenever I get to send a card to her, I like to deliver my card in person. This time I picked her up at her place & we headed to our favorite local stamping store, Anchor Paper. Found some great bargains, then grabbed lunch at Arbys. Fun times with Jeanne and here's a photo of her holding her card:

My September card came from dear Jo (Jo's Blogs) in the UK. I just love her sweet fox floating among the clouds!! I swear if weren't for Jo and her Christmas Kickstart Challenge, I wouldn't get any Christmas cards made - thanks Jo!

Want to join in for October? Go HERE for details and to sign up by 10/6/23.

Thanks for stopping and have a crafty week!!

Four Cards with Spellbinders Four Petal Sweet Flowers

Hi all - hope you're enjoying the weekend! I'm sharing some cards with Spellbinders products that I purchased after attending an online Spellbinders/Altenew event in February. You can see my versions of the event cards HERE. Today I'm finally getting around to using a stamp set and label dies from the Spellbinders Four Petal Collection - first up, a shaped card I sent to a chorus friend who had knee surgery on last Monday (she's doing great):

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Paper Studio Turquoise A2 card

Stamps - Spellbinders Four Petal Sweet Day Flowers;

Hero Arts retired sentiment

Dies - Spellbinders Four Petal Labels

Other - Copic Markers

I die cut one of the labels twice from an A2 card. I meant to leave the fold on the left edge - oops, it cut through. Oh well, I just scored a hinge on the back label.... I stamped the floral image and colored with Copics. Added the sentiment and die cut the panel with a size smaller label than the card base. Assembled & done - very simple. I'll send this one to Darnell's October NBUS Challenge since the Four Petal stamps and labels got first play here.

I had stamped/colored four white A2 panels with the floral image. I decided to make a couple October birthday cards with the second and third panel:

I cut a label from a black A2 panel. Used the negative for the card at left popped up with foam tape over a stamped A2 panel. The sentiment is from the same stamp set. I saved the black label to use on card 4. For the card at right I used two labels to cut a frame. I added the frame to another floral panel that I'd trimmed to 4x5.25". Matted it with black and adhered to an A2 card. 

I cut the fourth floral panel with a label die and matted it with the black label saved from card two. Stamped a sentiment from a retired Hero Arts set. Keeping it simple, I mounted the stamped/matted label to an A2 card with foam tape.

That's it, friends! If you care to, let me know which one is your fave. Thanks for stopping by!!