Mother’s Day Flowers

Hello friends! Sending a happy Mother’s Day to all of the celebrating moms this weekend! It’s a beautiful day out today and tomorrow will be too, so I’m going out to plant some flowers that I’ve been wanting to do! I hope that you’re having a nice weekend in whatever you’re doing.

I just wanted to share a card that I had made just for Mother’s Day:

Vicki-TE-MothersDay

I love how this turned out with all of those blooms bursting out from the antique pail! I’m in the middle of going back over some classes that I’m doing, and this was one of them that I’ve switched up to fit this occasion. The original card had carrots as a base and I didn’t have the flower dies they used, so I made my own version with what I had.

The antique pail, flowers, leaves, bow and foiled sentiment dies all came from Taylored Expressions. The scallop rectangle frame came from My Favorite Things and some of the design papers I’ve used came from Scrapbook.com.

The background papers and large flower came from the same pattern papers as a couple of other flowers and dark green leaves. I used some light pink ink to sponge some of the other flowers and center of bow. The center of the scallop frame has some light green blending, so that it wasn’t so stark white behind the flowers. I also sponged around the antique pail.

I arranged the flowers inside the pail and turned it over to attach with glue over the center of the scallop panel. I popped up the front flower and added some colored gem dots to the center of the flowers and bow. I attached some mirror cardstock to the back of the scallop frame panel to match the foiled sentiment. The sentiment was attached over the pail at the bottom.

It took a little bit of time to cut and arrange all of it, but it was fun to fiddle with.

Thanks for taking some time to stop by and I hope you’ve enjoyed this pail of flowers for Mother’s Day! Have a fabulous weekend whatever you do! 🌼🏵️

Challenges:

Creative Inspirations – Feminine
The Paper Funday – Anything Goes optional: Flower Shoppe
Craft Rocket – Flowers
Cardz 4 Galz – Celebration (Mother’s Day or other)
My time to Craft – Mother’s Day or Friendship
A Place to Start – Anything Goes optional: For a Lady
Aud Sentiments – Foiling and/or Flowers + sentiment
Unicorn – For the Girls
Get Creative – Ladies Only

Mix It Up with Inlaid Die Cutting!

Hello friends and happy May! I hope you are having a wonderful week and have been enjoying your Spring season with lots of sunshine and flowers! There’s always lots of things to do when the weather turns warmer, but that’s a good thing!

Today starts a new challenge over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog! There is always lots of wonderful inspiration from the team, so please go check it out and play along! The challenges are always ANYTHING GOES with an optional theme. This month’s optional theme is Inlaid Die Cut (flat or raised)! For these challenges, you have plenty of time to enter as they run for 6 weeks! I look forward to seeing what you come up with! Here’s the project I made:

I think this card turned out very well using the inlay die cutting technique! I found the perfect dies, but of course you can use almost ANY dies you want to try this including your regular shaped die cuts! I always find those frame style dies to be very easy to work with for this.

I received this cool freebie die from Taylored Expressions called “Simple Stems” and thought it would be perfect for this technique. I also inlaid a sentiment die from my stash over top of the flower and inlaid that too. I used the Taylored Expressions Frame in Frame 3 die set to create the middle pattern and glitter frame around the flower. These were also inlaid into the white card front panel.

It’s a little tricky at first to figure out in what order to die cut all of your pieces so that it looks right. Mine is very flat which I find helpful for mailing out and with the cost of postage stamps going up again this Summer, I need to rethink the type of cards I make any more. Here’s a photo so you can see that everything lays flat to the card front:

For the inlaid die cutting, I also find sticky sheets very helpful. I took a piece of double-sided sticky sheet and placed it on the back of the white card front panel AFTER I had cut out the frame from it. This makes the inside of the panel sticky so that I could lay all of my pieces on top and also keep it flush with the white card front panel. Once I laid all of the die cut pieces, I took the backing off the sticky sheet and attached it the A2 top folding white card base with everything in place. You also don’t have to worry about liquid glue oozing out.

It’s a simple CAS card, but it was so fun to do! Hope you’ve enjoyed my card and take some time to check out the challenge this month! Thanks so much for dropping in! See you soon!

Challenges:

Daring Cardmakers – “Something Old, Something New” (old glitter paper and new die cut + I used blue paper)
Simon Says Stamp Monday – Feminine
Moving Along With the Times – #166 Flowers

April AJ Page-One Cup at a Time

Hello friends! I hope you’ve been enjoying your month so far! We’ve had a few really nice days this month, but it’s still a tad bit chilly and hopefully it will warm up more next month! It’s hard to believe we are already headed into May for this year!

That means it’s time for the monthly Art Journal Page collaboration with my crafty friend, Carol (from Crafty-Stamper)! We get creative trying to use up our never-ending stash piles along with a prompt for each month. I know she always has great inspiration to share, so please check out her blog too! Here’s my AJ page with the “SMASH OUR STASH” April prompt of “HALF” -(e.g. 2 halves to create whole item/half of something):

Yes, coffee please! I’m a coffee lover and so is my husband! I don’t think we’d be able to start a day without it! I know there are lots of people who don’t like coffee and that’s OK…as long as there will be some somewhere for me, I’m good! 😉☕

It was my husband that inspired this page for me when I asked him what his favorite shape was, and he answered with a circle. Looking down at my coffee cup was the circle I saw and decided to take more inspiration from a coffee cup we purchased at one of our favorite local coffee cafes you can see in the top corner of the photo. To achieve the look, I took a cardstock color matching the cup and splattered white paint over it. The “HALF” is obviously the coffee cup that was cut out with circle dies. I cut another piece of the handle which makes it look like the view you would see from the top of the cup. The other “HALF” of the cup was placed in the corner area at the bottom and this coffee is more of my husband who likes plain black coffee. But this is certainly how we start our day together which is great since he’s retired now. The other “HALF” cup has the latte art, and I did that one with light sponging around the edge and then took my colored pencils to free hand the design. Not sure if that’s exactly what it looks like, but I gave it a try.

For the background: I’ve used a strip of wood plank pattern paper from my stash, and I’ve also heat embossed a coffee bean background stamp with, of course, coffee embossing powder that I’ve had for a very long time, and it was a great time to use it! I’ve also heat embossed the “coffee” sentiment and quotes with it. Below the embossed coffee is a sentiment that says: “Take life one cup at a time” and the other two at the bottom say: “First we drink coffee, then we do the things”😂
The coffee cup-stained background, I’ll share more about below.

I also took a big brush marker to go around the edges of the cups and the sentiment strips. I wanted the heat embossing to stand out a bit more over the brown cardstock, so I took a white Tim Holtz crayon and rubbed over top of it to brighten it up.

Have you ever made backgrounds with coffee? I had such a fun time playing with it and decided to make several different backgrounds that I could use for later!

I don’t drink instant coffee, but I have some in my cupboard because I like to make a chocolate cake that has instant coffee in it…so good! I took some of this instant coffee and made the coffee cup-stained background for my page to create more circles that went with my circle coffee cups.

I also decided that since I had a cup of it, that I would go ahead and make more backgrounds with it and just play around with different things. I splattered, I smooshed, I’ve added salt along with a few other things and let dry and make patterns with. Once dry, I cleaned them off and here are the results of my play. I wish I had done another cup circle background though.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my art journal page and been inspired in some way! Thanks so much for dropping in! Have a great weekend! Mine will be busy!

Challenges:

Art Journal Journey – Geometric Forms
Creative Artiste – Anything Goes Mixed Media
Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
Try it On Tuesday – Inspired by a Song (Can’t think of coffee with the “Coffee Song” by Frank Sinatra!)
Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
Penny’s Paper-Crafty – Anything Goes using paper

Mail Carrier Birthday and Class Results

Hello friends! I hope that this Spring weather hasn’t gotten too crazy for you. I know that this is a season of storms and tornadoes where I live in the Midwest, and I saw Iowa get some tornadoes come through. It’s windy here, but luckily not that bad. So, I thought this would be a good time to catch up sharing some things I’ve been working on!

My first project is a birthday card that I made for my son last month. He’s a mail carrier and so I thought this would be fitting for him. The mail carrier came from a MFT Birdie Brown stamp set (retired) that was actually a female with ponytails and a dress. So, I’ve altered it and masked off the ponytails and drew in some shorts. The mailbox die (retired) and other postal related stamps/dies all came from MFT as well.

For the background: I’ve used a MFT cloud stencil and cut it out with a stitched rectangle die. After coloring the image with Copics, I cut it out with another rectangle die and placed it over the red postage stamp rectangle. I cut out the mailbox pieces and put it together over the cloud panel and added a few postal images at the top right corner along with the envelope in the background. I finished it out with the birthday sentiment on the mailbox (retired) and a few white gel pen details on the image.

Although he’s a mail carrier, I didn’t have to mail this card to him, and I got to see him smile when he opened it…which is better than mailing it!😊

Last month, I also participated in the Taylored Expressions Virtual Stamp Joy. I also just realized when registering for this event that I have participated in every single one of these since she started it during the pandemic in 2020! I think the pandemic has really changed the world in several different ways, but I’m glad that this was one of them as I have enjoyed doing these. There’s just something about getting a class event mailed to you and attending in your PJs while having snacks and crafting that I find appealing, I guess! 😉

Of course, doing virtual, I have lots of time to finish up projects, but I think I had them all completed within a week after the event…I just had to photograph everything and now I’m finally getting them on this post to share: (IF YOU ARE ON MY WEBSITE, CLICK EACH PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT-CLASS INFO AT BOTTOM OF PHOTO)

This was the “Strip Class” where we used the TE Strip dies in various ways…I made a few extras!

I had a busy month for sure! I’m also in the middle of another session of classes that I’ve been working on and having to go back in my spare time to get through each one. During the exact same time as Stamp Joy was going on, there was another freebie class weekend that was going on, so now I’m going back and watching the replays to do little bits at a time…I have a little way to get through it still, but when I finish, I will share those results too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my catch-up post today and have been inspired to have some fun even if you can’t be outside! I’m sure when it gets a bit warmer, I will want to enjoy it, but for now, I’m going to play in my craft room!

Thanks so much for stopping in and have a great day!

Challenges: (top card only)

Pearly Sparkles – For a Man/Boy #94
Dragonfly Dreams – Use a Die
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2415 Anything Goes
Creatalicious – #276 Anything Goes with Optional: Use Something New (new postage dies/stamps from MFT)
Ally’s Angels – #81 Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Stencil It (stenciled cloud background)

April Showers Bring May Flowers at Sparkles Monthly

Hello friends! I’m so very happy to see April come as well as the warmer weather it has brought our way! I’ve actually been taking sometime outside to see some blooms with daffodils, tulips and other buds popping out everywhere! We are expected to get some rain tomorrow, but that is exactly what April is all about…and then the May flowers to follow!

This is exactly what it’s all about for this month’s challenge over at Sparkles Monthly too! We hope you can share your “April Showers-May Flowers” projects with us this month! Here’s what I’ve chosen to make:

I always love a good Spring rain with a little bit of sunshine peeking through that causes rainbows! I never get a good photo of one, so I just enjoy it while it lasts!

I’ve used a fairly new product from Taylored Expressions with my card today called “Create-in-quads ROYGBV” which creates 4 different card panels at one layered stencil session. (I now have 3 other panels to make cards with too.) I used the “Create-in-quads ROYGBV vase die” to cut it out and then another one in black cardstock for a slightly off shadow effect behind it.

For the background card panel, I had a DCWV rain drops stencil (that I’ve had for a long time) and blended some blue ink over it. I’ve also cut a piece of blue/teal colored glitter paper for a thin border behind it to attach over an A2 white top folding card base. I then took another piece of blue cardstock strip to make a “landing/grounding” for the vase to sit on. Before popping up the ROYGBV vase, I took a marker to create a blue shadow underneath where the vase would be positioned. I was going for a “rain puddle” look. Popped it up with foam tape and added a white enamel dot in the center of one of the flowers. I also took a glitter pen to cover over the raindrops and “rain puddle” under the ROYGBV vase.

The sentiment came from the Taylored Expressions Mini Strips-Rainbow stamp that I’ve white heat embossed over black cardstock and cut it out with the Mini Strips-Asymmetrical die and chose the ones that I wanted to use for this card to attach over top of the vase. (I also have extra sentiments to use on other projects.)

Hope you’ve enjoyed my card today! I also hope that you will take some time to stop in and join in the challenge with us this month! I have several projects finished that I’d like to share, but I find it so hard to come and sit at a computer when the sunshine and happy weather is calling my name! Maybe when it rains tomorrow, I will post more things!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Challenges:

Just Us Girls – Word Week: RAIN
A Place to Start – One or More Flowers
Crafts Galore Encore – #122 Anything Goes
Try it On Tuesday – Rainbow Colors
Addicted to Stamps & More – #465 Die Cut and/or Stencil
Crafting Happiness – #170 Rainy Weather

March Art Journal Page-You Just Have to Ride

Hello friends! We are at the end of March, and it happens to also be Easter weekend as well this year! So happy Easter and I hope you’re enjoying the beginning of the Spring season! I will be out as this post goes up, but I wanted to get in this month’s AJ page!

It’s time for the monthly Art Journal Page collaboration with my crafty friend, Carol (from Crafty-Stamper)! We get creative trying to use up our never-ending stash piles along with a prompt for each month. I know she always has great inspiration to share, so please check out her blog too! Here’s my AJ page with the “SMASH OUR STASH” March prompt of “POSTAL”:

For this month’s theme, I knew I had lots of real postage stamps in my stash and some ephemera pieces as well as some postal tissue wrap from Tim Holtz. I have a huge roll of it and it was time to get it back out and use it up! When looking for my postage stamps, I also found a post card that I previously created and a vintage looking photo that I printed out…which I also turned into a very large postage style stamp.

The top of the page says: “Some days you just have to ride, however difficult it might be!“

For the Background: I used an 8.5″ x 5.5″ piece of acrylic paper with pre-punched holes at the top and blended some media paints over the background which gave me the bright blended colors. I ripped pieces of the Tim Holtz Postale Tissue Wrap and attached with matte medium over the blended paint background. After it was dry, I ripped some more of the pieces and sanded the edges. I also took some ” Rusty Brown” wax and went over the textured areas and around the edges with my finger. Then I splattered some white paint over top.

I popped up the pre-finished postcard and also added some ephemera around it and added that Shetland pony postage stamp. I thought it went well with the vintage photo that I turned into a postage stamp with a die. The quote at the top was printed on my computer, ripped edges and sponged with brown ink.

This is a bit busier in design than what I had planned it to be, but I had fun playing with it and I was glad to use up some more of that piled up ephemera! I hope you got a “KICK” out of it too! 🫏 Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you soon!

Challenges:

Art Journal Journey – On All Fours
Love to Scrap – Anything Goes
Creative Artiste – Anything Goes Mixed Media
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Anything Goes

Tricorn Fold Cuteness

Hello friends! I hope that you’re having a wonderful week so far! We have officially started Spring over my way and now I’m just waiting for the weather to warm up to match it. I’m looking forward to being outside with the flowers!

Speaking of flowers, I saw this really cute image over at Beccy’s Place and wanted to play along, so I printed it out and colored it, but didn’t quite know what I wanted to do with it until I saw Beccy’s tutorial – Tricorn Fold Card: (click name for her tutorial)

Isn’t this so fun!? I thought it was such a unique design that stands up, but also folds flat for a 4×6 card size. I usually make an A2 (5.5″x4.25″) card size, but I can also easily create my own envelope for any size too. It was a bit tricky at first and I messed it up because I put the scores going in the opposite direction, so I had to start over. I wasn’t confident enough to figure out the mat layers of all the angles, so I just added some pattern papers to the largest two panels and then placed blank white on the back of the card for a message.

I also found a stitched hexagon layering die in my stash that worked out for the design which is what I used to cut out my colored mouse and layer behind him. I found a sentiment that worked well for the space I had on my card and then finished it with a couple of teal rhinestones I had laying on my table. It was fun to create, and it will also be great to send out too!

Here’s a closer view of the colored image that I’ve done using Copic markers. I did add a few white dots to his cheeks with a white gel pen as well as the center of his eyes.

I have my card lying flat so you can see that it will fit inside an envelope for mailing. It does spring back up, but I think that’s what will be great for a recipient to pull out of the envelope to see that the card stands up by itself.

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you’ve enjoyed my card!

Challenges:

Beccy’s Place – March Monthly Challenge optional Bingo (Not sure if the flowers in the image qualify, but if it does then I used the center across row)
Crafty Catz – Anything Goes #667
Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal #81
Critter Crazy – Anything Goes featuring animal #84
Creative Creases – Anything Goes with Fun Fold #78
Creative Inspirations – Anything Goes
The Crafty Addicts – Anything Goes #11
Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes #226
Crafty Calendar – More Than One Fold

Playing With Paper Blocks and Bunnies

Hello friends! Easter is coming for us for very soon and I’ve been enjoying all of the Spring that’s starting to come up outside with flowers and buds on the trees! It’s still a little cool, but hopefully the weather will even out and stay warmer!

Since I’ve been trying to get motivated for Easter, I’ve pulled out some papers from my stash and have been inspired to CASE (copy & share everything) a friend that really inspires me to use things I have! First, I’d like to share a fun Easter card that I’ve made for a sketch challenge that I was inspired by as well:

That sitting bunny is so cute! (Thank you Carol…more on that later in post!) If you check out the sketch from the Sketch Saturday challenge blog (see in challenge list below), you will see all of the fun angle strips in the sketch. I thought it would be fun to pull out some Easter papers from my stash. I wasn’t sure how to do the background until I saw that this sitting bunny worked perfect for a part of the paper pad that had this wheelbarrow image in it! I cut it out from the paper and placed the bunny on it.

For the background of the card, I thought it would be fun to use my stencils to create a scene with grass and clouds. The wheelbarrow bunny fit in the open area and then I used the angles from the sketch to cut pieces with the same Easter paper pad. I just eyeballed everything by marking notches and lining those notches in my paper trimmer to get a straight cut. Even the solid paper on the base layer came from the paper pad. I just cut it A2 size to fit over an A2 top folding white card base.

The sentiment was stamped and cut out with the coordinating die. I added some shadow under wheelbarrow with a green marker (not really the color I wanted, but it worked), and colored a bit of pink on the bunny too. I added teal rhinestones next to the sentiment and done.

Next, I wanted to share something else that I was inspired by from my friend Carol at https://ourlittleinspirations.blogspot.com who sent me a very cool card and kind gift:

She always inspires me with her “snippet” creations and coming up with cards like this one to utilize those pattern papers we hoard so much! The pattern is very pleasing to the eye and so I wanted to create one myself! With all of the papers I have, I’m sure I could make a zillion cards! 😆 I also love how she used a monochromatic green theme with it…which I will need to try another one with this idea! You should go check her blog out and be inspired too!

Also, she was very kind in sending me these die cut sitting bunnies & stools! I do not know exactly where this bunny is from, but I’ve seen it around the craft world. So cute! Thank you so much for your kindness and inspiration my friend!

So here’s the card that I created inspired by Carol. I really love plaids and I thought it would be fun to re-create her design which I measured out her pieces and cut based on what I thought they were. It was really fun and not as hard as it looks like it might be. I wrote the measurements and cut from the same Easter paper pad as I used on the card above. I started with a white base…that way if I messed up, it wouldn’t matter too much. The sentiment piece was also from the same paper pad. I just white heat embossed the sentiment and added some stitch details with a white gel pen.

I used one of the sitting bunnies that Carol provided me with, and tried to match up what I had from my stash the best I could to die cut some hearts along with the A2 side folding card base.

I brushed the hearts with a glitter brush pen and called it done.

I had so much fun playing with these paper blocks and bunnies! I hope you’ve enjoyed my creations and inspiration today as well! Thanks so much for stopping by! C U SOON!

Challenges:

Sketch Saturday – #746 optional twist: feature an animal (top card)
Simply Create Too – Bunnies & Blooms #198 (top card)
Make My Monday – Spring, Flowers, Weather, etc. #221 (top card)
Fab ‘N Funky – Spring #591 (top card)
Daring Cardmakers – Spring is in the Air (top card)
The Paper Funday – Anything Goes optional: dies #63 (top card)

Sweet Treats for Sparkles Monthly

Hello friends! I hope that you’re having a great week! Do you have any up-coming plans this weekend? I think I’m going to catch up on some craft things because it’s going to be a bit cooler and rainy over my way. The flowers are starting to come out and some of the daffodils have bloomed…so I hope the weather holds!

Today begins a new challenge over at Sparkles Monthly and Helen would like to see some “Sweet Treats” this month! I always think of birthday cards with this theme, so I thought I’d get ahead and make another birthday card to add to my stash especially since my son’s birthday was yesterday! So here’s my card for this challenge:

YUM! I’ve used the Simon Says Stamp Sundae Afternoons set and had lots of fun coloring up this image, and as I did, I was thinking of all of the different flavors of ice cream and toppings!

I realized that I needed a background and a surface for the sundae to be placed on, so I created a background with a cutting plate and sponged over the area where I was placing the sundae image. I also took a strip the same size and sponged the top area where the sundae would set on and then cut both pieces out with a stitched rectangle die. I also used some fun polka-dotted papers from my stash and added another stitched rectangle piece behind it before placing in on an A2 top folding white card base. The die cut background front panel was popped up with foam tape.

For finishing it off, I stamped the sentiment at the bottom from the stamp set, added some shimmer with a glitter brush pen over the whip cream on top and the fruit slice. I took some glossy accents over the cherries, toppings and jellybeans. I also added a few clear bubble drops to the background.

This was a really fun card to create and now I have a birthday card ready for someone! I hope you’ve enjoyed my card today and have been inspired to join the challenge with us this month as I’d love to see what everyone comes up with!

Thanks for dropping by and enjoy your weekend ahead!

Challenges:

Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – Anything Goes PIP2410
Penny’s Paper-Crafty – Anything Goes Using Paper #567
Crafts Galore Encore – Anything Goes #121
Love to Craft – Anything Goes #79
Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes #225
The Male Room – Food & Drink #184

Mix it Up With a Fun Fold

Hello friends! Happy March! I’m happy to see this month come as signs of Spring start popping out everywhere! Pretty soon the flowers will start coming up too! Are you ready for Spring?

Today starts a new challenge over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog! There is always lots of wonderful inspiration from the team, so please go check it out and play along! The challenges are always ANYTHING GOES with an optional theme. This month’s theme is FANCY FOLD! For these challenges, you have plenty of time to enter as they run for 6 weeks! I look forward to seeing what you come up with! Here’s the project I made:

These birds are ready to party! How fun are those party hats?! I’ve found this really cool take on a “Z” fold card, but this one has been named “Diamond Z Fold Pop-Up Card“. There are so many variations of this that I found on You Tube, but they’re all the same concept of the two diamond shapes on front and then an additional diamond pop-up mechanism on the inside that moves when you open the card. (Click on the card name for a tutorial.) The only thing I did differently than hers was using scallop square die cuts and I covered the pop-up mechanism on the inside with pattern paper so it’s not as noticeable.

I’ve used the My Favorite Things (retired) Birthday Chicks that I stamped, colored and die cut out and arranged over the design. I’ve also used the My Favorite Things (retired) pattern papers and of course the same for the scallop stitched squares. For the white squares, I’ve used a MFT cloud stencil with blue ink for the clouds and the sentiment was white heat embossed and cut out with a banner die.

When this card is closed, this is what it looks like. Notice that you do not see the bird on the inside panel next to the bird on top of the balloon as he is hidden until you open it.

It folds up just like a Z fold would and it’s A2 and ready for a regular A2 envelope. I’ve placed an extra panel on the back of the card for a special handwritten message and decorated it a strip of pattern paper and another party bird. I didn’t put anything on the inside stars pattern because I thought it took too much away from the front of the card and you don’t want an inside message to show on the front of the card. It takes a bit of maneuvering to decorate images and sentiments as to where to put them strategically on the card, but it was so fun!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my card today and go check out the challenge to come and play along with us! I really look forward to seeing all of the different fancy fold projects in the gallery this month!

Thanks so much for dropping by and I’ll see you soon!

Challenges: