The January Blues at Sparkles Monthly

Clean and Simple, flowers, Get Well, masculine, Ocassions, Shopping My Stash, Taylored Expressions

Hello friends!  For those of us that experience the cold weather season for January, I hope you’re finding ways to keep warm.  I have been wrapping myself in blankets with fluffy slippers around the house…and yes, I have the heat up too! LOL  I think I seem to feel the cold more as I get older in age!  This week will be really cold for us here. So I suppose that’s why they say “January Blues”?🥶

Anyway, that brings me to the January challenge over at Sparkles Monthly and for this month, our hostess is asking for “January Blues” (monochromatic blue) on your project.  Be sure to stop by the blog to see what the rest of the design team has created for you.  Here’s my project for this challenge:

Usually, when I think of blues, especially in January, I tend to think of snowflakes.  I wanted to do something a bit different and decided to pull out my blue tone alcohol inks and make a background.  It was really fun to play around with, and of course, you make a panel and make more than one to save for other cards! Blue makes for such a great masculine card too.

I found some cardstock to match up with the background and die cut the alcohol panel with a stitched rectangle die, layered it over a piece of white to attach to an A2 sized top folding blue card base.  (I’m glad that I’m using some older items from my stash as I think this is old Stampin’ Up! paper that needs to be used!  I THINK it’s Pacific Point?)

I pulled out a leaf die from Taylored Expressions called Subtle Sprigs and cut one in white to place over top the alcohol background.  I also used the TE On Occasion stamp set by white heat embossing over blue cardstock, cutting it out with the die and placing it over the background with the sprig.

It’s a very simple card, but I wanted the alcohol background to take the stage on this one.

I hope you’ve been inspired today to play along with us this month for the challenge at Sparkles Monthly! (P.S.  This will also work with the Monochrome challenge at Mix It Up this month too!) Thanks so much for stopping in today with your kind support!  I really appreciate it!  See you soon!

Challenges:

  1. Addicted to CAS – #274 Blue
  2. Crafty Catz – #685 Anything Goes with optional: CAS
  3. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2502 Anything Goes
  4. Try it On Tuesday – Feeling Blue
  5. C.R.A.F.T. – #746 Anything Goes 
  6. The Male Room – #194 Clean & Simple
Published

31 thoughts on “The January Blues at Sparkles Monthly”

  1. Stunning background, Vicki. I so love the alcohol inks. Must use them more often myself.

    Love the white leaf and emboseed sentiment over it.

    xxx Margreet

    Liked by 1 person

  3. You really nailed the January blues with this gorgeous card! I absolutely LOVE that beautiful background you created and it looks perfect with that pretty blue cardstock as well as the white stem and sentiment. It’s just stunning. I too am trying to stay warm and usually have 3 layers of tops on with a zipped up hoodie on top. My electric bill doubled so turning the heat up is not an option. I guess this is “global warming”. Take good care and stay warm. Crafty Hugs!

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  4. that blue background is gorgeous. I always forget how fabulous alcohol inks work because sometimes they are just fussy. But yours are not. 😀. It’s very cold here too. Glad we have the wood stove and fluffy slippers too. If you want to your card also works for TIOT. Hope your January is going well, other than the cold. Hugs Erika

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  7. WOW love the fabulous inky background and certainly deserves centre stage, the white die-cut and embossed sentiments stands out nicely against the blue. I have my velour pjs and dressing gown on with a woollen throw round my shoulders-had the heating on for about 3 hours. I agree I said to my daughter this year is the first time I have really felt the cold but was down to minus4 the other day, don’t remember it getting this cold before, maybe it has and just getting old lol.

    Carol x

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  8. Love your inked background – I know of several other crafters who make extra backgrounds to keep on hand for various projects and I really need to do that! Great challenge theme – the blues are very dramatic!

    Liked by 2 people

  9. A gorgeous inky background Vicki, so beautiful and love the added die cut sentiment and leaf..

    Ooo..you make me want to get my inks out and dust them off and play..

    Luv CHRISSYxx

    Liked by 1 person

  10. A lovely background and shades of inky blues. Thank you for sharing with us at Try it on Tuesdays.

    Yvonne

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  14. Vicki, your card is absolutely stunning! The blue alcohol ink background is mesmerizing and pairs beautifully with the white die-cut leaf and embossed sentiment. It’s a perfect representation of the ‘January Blues’ theme.

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  15. Love the alcohol background – perfect for January. All this card needed was a focus point and a sentiment which you chose perfectly. I’m ready for warmer weather and honestly no more snow!!!

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  16. Thanks for joining us at TIOT. I know I said this before, but their is a really pretty blue card Vicki. Hugs again-Erika

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  17. Fabulous job with those alcohol inks, love love the pattern you got with them. Gorgeous shades of blue, too. Stay warm, my friend! Gonna be rougher than usual up there this week. XOX

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    1. Thank you Meg for resubscribing! I’m sorry you’re having problems getting updates, but I hope it starts working now! I appreciate your support my friend! (and now I know it’s you! LOL)

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  23. You created a stunning alcoholic background. That must have been great fun. The combination of all those layers looks beautiful. The white accessories are a perfect idea

    xx

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