Hello Flowers & Catch Up

Hello friends!  I hope you’ve had a great week so far!  It’s a rainy day, but I have some errands to do as it will be a busy weekend so I wanted to get some things done.  I also have some more catching up to share with you at the end of the post too!

I made a card using some older Newton’s Nook products I have and played along in a few challenges as well:

I am not sure if I used this stamp set or not before that I received a few years back from Newton’s Nook called Versatile Vases (retired), but I think it’s a great set with lots of versatility.

I stamped the flowers, then stamped the vase over top of it to make it look like the flowers are inside the vase.  I colored with my Copic markers and cut out the panel with the Newton’s Nook Framework Die Set and then cut another panel with pink cardstock for the frame around it.  I then stamped the hello sentiment at the top right corner of the panel.

I followed along with the sketch (see below) for the Inky Paws challenge and used some pink ink to stamp the solid flower image from the Versatile Vases set and layered it over a pink cardstock layer.  The purple dotted paper came from the Newton’s Nook Birthday Woofs Paper Pad.  I arranged each panel over a white top folding A2 card base, but before attaching the purple dotted strip going horizontally behind the flower panel, I wrapped some white twine around it and added a bow with it.  

I used some foam tape to pop up the flower panel and then added some purple rhinestones to the center of each flower.

It’s a very simple and sweet card perfect for sending a smile!


I’m still catching up with some projects that I had been working on earlier this year and never had a chance to post each thing I was doing at the time.

You may remember the “Stamp Joy Virtual Event” that I did back in March and I shared those in my post here.   During the exact same time I was doing that, there was another event going on through Scrapbook.com called SBC Fest which was recorded so I watched it later and participated in the classes as I had time.  I finally finished what I wanted out of it in May and so here are the things I made except for the scrapbooking classes as I wasn’t interested in those projects.  (I used items mostly from my stash.)

*If you’re on my website, click on each photo to enlarge*

I’m getting closer and closer to posting my “catch-up” projects!  I have one more event that I attended this Spring and a class that I haven’t shared yet, but will post soon!  

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by, for leaving me a comment or just catching the photos of what I’m doing.  I hope you enjoy my sharing as much as I’m enjoying creating.

Have a wonderful day!

Challenges: (Top card only)

  1. Inky Paws – #228 sketch
  2. Cupcake Inspirations – #599 Pink & Purple
  3. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2430 Flowers
  4. Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes

One for the Boys at Sparkles Monthly

Hello friends!  I hope you’ve had a nice weekend.  I spent mine doing house chores which is fine as there has been a heat advisory here for a couple of days, so I thought I’d stay indoors!

I’m here today to share my project(s) for the new challenge over at Sparkles Monthly with the theme of “One for the Boys“.  I’m always needing masculine cards, so this worked for me!

Cheers!  I’ve pulled out the Taylored Expressions Hoppy Days stamp set for this card.  I like the pun sentiments that go with it.  I stamped the “bubble pops” image above the beer in yellow ink and added some sparkle with Stickles.  I also used some liquid applique and heated it up for the “foam” on the beer stein.  The die set cuts out the beer stein as well as that oval platform underneath.  I cut off the excess on the side of the card after I popped it up with foam squares.

I stamped the pun sentiment in navy ink on the top left of the card.

I trimmed two thin strips of copper mirror cardstock then attached on each side of the pattern design before popping up the beer stein.

  • For the pattern details on the card, I used the Taylored Expressions Create-in-Quads Mod stencil set which actually makes 4 different card panels at once. (this particular one is retired, but click here for other sets.)  These are all of the four cards I completed:

I had the beer theme in mind when creating a card in the first place, but then I thought it would be fun to pull out one of these create-in-quads stencils to make a pattern and have four cards completed at the same time.

I was thinking of masculine colors to use and I came up with the Taylored Expressions colors: Blue Corn, Mushroom, Pineapple and Salt Water Taffy.  I used a full sheet of white cardstock and after the stenciling was finished, they were cut into 4 sections for card fronts.  All the card fronts were attached to Blue Corn A2 side folding card bases.

To continue with the masculine look of the cards, I’ve added some touches of Copper metallic with mirror cardstock and other details.  Each card was done a bit different and you can see the others in the gallery below with details.

If you’re on my website, click on each photo below to enlarge:

I hope you’ve enjoyed my set of masculine cards today!  Please be sure to stop by the Sparkles Monthly challenge blog to see the inspiration from the team and I hope you’ll play along!

Thanks so much for stopping in!  I appreciate you taking the time to join me here!

CHALLENGES:

  1. Daring Cardmakers – “Cheers!”(Beer card)
  2. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
  3. Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
  4. A Perfect Time to Craft – Anything Goes

Aliens Made Me Do It for Craft Roulette & More Catching Up!

Hello friends!  For those that celebrate the July 4th holiday, I hope you had/ having a great weekend!  We usually do a cookout and later watch fireworks.  It was a bit hot and humid so we didn’t stay outdoors very long and watched a movie instead.

WARNING:  PHOTO HEAVY POST!!!!

0CraftRoulette

I think I may have posted about this before, but last year I was introduced to Craft Roulette (a papercraft game show on You Tube) by Chelsea from Inky Stamper when she was a guest on there last year.  I quickly became addicted to it and have been playing quite regularly.  In fact, this is Chelsea’s third time as a guest on there and I wanted to share what I’ve made for episode #222 that aired on You Tube Friday July 5th, 2024.

The parameters this week are…

  • PROJECT – Dutch Door (create a card/project with dutch door)
  • COLORS – Gnomes (whatever inspires those colors to you)
  • ELEMENT – Movie 
  • RANDOM – Building Blocks

If you’re interested in playing along, check out the Craft Roulette website on how to enter and watch the episode!  You can watch/play along on You Tube with them every Friday evening. (Check what time zone you’re in compared to the Central US time zone used for Craft Roulette live shows.)  You have until Sunday evening to play.  If you enter the Craft Roulette #222 episode by then, you can also enter your card over at Inky Stamper Inkspiration Group on FB for a chance to win a prize from her as well.  So check it out!

I think this one turned out cool using the Inky Stamper Alien stamp set! I have my alien (which is my “movie” element parameter) colored up with pencils and cut out with the die. I stamped the molecule (which is my “building blocks” random parameter in red ink over a piece of Doodlebug graph paper. I sponged the edges of this piece with some grey ink before attaching it to the bottom portion of the card. The sentiment also came from the same stamp set that was white heat embossed over black and cut out with a banner die and popped up with foam squares.

To create the “Dutch Door” card for the project parameter, I just used a black A2 card base and cut the front in half so that only the bottom portion of the card opens up. For the torn hole behind the alien, I used the Lisa Horton Torn Aperture 3D embossing folder and die. I used some silver mirror for the outer edges and black for the back along with a piece of white for the background details. I finished it off with some Pinkfresh Studio Ice clear drops.

Here’s the inside of my Dutch door card.  I took a white piece of cardstock for the inside of the card along with the white piece from behind the torn aperture on the front and ink blended a galaxy background with reds, blues, greens, yellows and black which works with the “gnomes colors” for the colors parameter.  I sprayed the background with water, let it dry and then I white heat embossed the sentiment from the alien stamp set and then I used silver watercolor to splatter over top of both pieces. 

I attached the insert for the aperture back in with the silver frame and attached it to the front bottom portion with half of it sticking up above it.  (As you can see in the photo above.)  The alien was attached over the aperture with foam squares.

Had a lot of fun making this one and playing along using the parameters!


Obviously, I don’t post the cards I make every week for Craft Roulette on my blog, but I thought I’d share all the creations that I made last year since my very first contribution that I’ve done.  I thought I’d save the cards for posting at the end of each year to look back on them.  I started in January of last year and only skipped a couple of them.  This card today will be my 72nd contribution!

So here’s a gallery of cards that I’ve contributed since I first discovered Craft Roulette in January of 2023 up to December 2023:  (I will post the cards for this year in December!)

  • If you’re on my website, click on the photos to see enlarged

Wow!  That was ALOT of cards!  I placed the episode #s on each one for reference on what the parameters would’ve been.  So this is what happens when I don’t post!

I have fun trying out the parameters each week and entering.  I did win a prize one week from The Paper Insider which was a box of gorgeous papers.  They’re all so gorgeous that I seem to be hoarding them and not used any of it!🙄  That will be a goal for one of these weeks for sure!

Hope you’ve been inspired with my post today and maybe I’ll see you over at Craft Roulette sometime!  Thanks so much for stopping in today! 

Challenges:  (For Alien card only!)

  1. A Place to Start – Anything Goes
  2. Creative Crafting Uncles – #54 embossing heat/dry (I did both!)
  3. Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes
  4. Love to Craft – #81 Anything Goes
  5. Love to Scrap – #168 Anything Goes

A Cherry Hello and Catching Up!

Hello friends!  I hope that you’re enjoying your week so far!  Summer is now in full swing over my way and it certainly is feeling that way too!  

Where I live, June is also a time of year when the blooming cherry trees from May now turn into the cherries ready to be picked!  If you’ve never tried a cherry jam, I highly recommend it!  With the freebie image over at Beccy’s Place, it seemed like a great idea to make a card with it:

Without the sugar, cherries can be extremely tart and so it’s never something I would pick from a tree and eat especially with a pit in it!  I do love a good cherry pie though!

Coloring cherries is also fun!  I opted to use the non-colored version of the image and I printed it out twice because I cut out the front cherry and front leaf on the image to pop up with foam tape for dimension.  I used Copics to color it in along with the background circle it’s on.  I also added a white highlight with a gel pen.

I thought it would be fun to make a punny sentiment to print out “A Cherry” on my computer and then cut it out to weave into my white heat embossed “hello” cut from red cardstock.

I die cut the scallop circle which also cuts out the center that the cherry image is on.  I layered it onto the Doodlebug gingham paper and attached it to the white scallop rectangle that is all attached to a red A2 top folding card base.  I finished it with a couple of red rhinestones.


  • FOR THE CATCHING UP:  The last several months/year, it seemed like my blog posts were really random and sometimes I would go a few weeks before posting the next time.  I seem to struggle on and off with having no motivation to get crafting or even go into my craft room at all.  I know this happens from time to time, but it seemed to be up and down and all over the place which is why I took on joining a few challenge design teams.  It helped to get me a routine of at least getting motivated to get into my room on a regular basis anyway.  I didn’t want anything that was too strenuous, or I felt that I would give up completely.  This is also the reason why I do art journaling…it helped with “no pressure” on what I could create and use whatever I wanted.  After looking at things I’ve created, I still have things that I’ve made but never posted about!  So I thought I’d try to catch up with some of the things I’ve done and finally post it.  There will have to be some more posts to catch up with it too!

So here is the start of some of my catching up towards the end of last year…

Do you remember the 12×12 Sampler SWAPS that I was doing with my blog buddy group? (Patti, Shirley and Donna) We would swap out the squares and then finish it ourselves by adding the background papers and placing into 12×12 shadow box frames.  We had completed one for each season, but for this last one we decided to make one about our “favorite craft”.  Here’s all of the squares that is still hanging up on my wall right above my computer and next to a clock and other craft items I made.  I enjoy looking at it and seeing all of  the squares from fellow crafting friends.  This was fun to participate in and it really helped me with struggling motivation as well, so I’m glad I did it!  Plus, it is cool to have it for inspiration in my room!

I actually had this done AND photographed last June!  I forgot to get it posted on my blog.🙄

This is the square that I decided to do for this swap.  I do love lots of glitter, so of course there is glitter on the floor spilled over along with glitter on the “walls”.  If you don’t recognize these cute mice, they’re from Lawn Fawn Just Add Glitter stamp set.  For each square, I wrote each person’s name on the paper from the table.  Of course my name is on this one.


I was also asked to commission a card for someone’s very special birthday in November last year and forgot to post it as well:

I thought this one turned out so cute!  I was told this card was to be for a special lady’s birthday who turned 100 and that she really liked plants.

Of course my first thought turned to plants and green colors.  Then I thought, I don’t think I have any “plant” style stamps!  The only thing that I thought of at the time was this darling My Favorite Things Sittin’ Pretty stamp set from my stash.  I also thought it would be fun to have a banner going across a wreath with the special number over it.  I found the My Favorite Things “Fall Wreath” stamp set (not in store) and the banner came from an older (retired) Lawn Fawn set.

I also had a fern embossing folder that I embossed over green cardstock and then rubbed some gold wax over it to bring it out.  I gold heat embossed the banner and popped it up over the wreath.  I was just going to place the colored plants around it, but decided it would be cute to add the girl sitting on the wreath.  She’s there to wish the special lady happy 100 with all of those plants around her!  I added a border of grass at the bottom to help ground everything, added some gold foil for a layer and attached it to a green A2 card base.

Here’s what I did for the inside of the card:  I stamped the wreath off the edge on each side of the panel with green ink and then sponged around the edges with the lighter green ink.  I gold heat embossed the sentiment.

  • I hope you’ve enjoyed my new “Cherry Hello” card today as well as the projects that I am catching up with posting about!  There will be more coming!

THANK YOU FOR STOPPING IN!  I’M GRATEFUL FOR YOUR TIME AND THOUGHTS!

Challenges: (For Cherry Hello card ONLY)

  1. Beccy’s Place – June Freebie image (THANK YOU!) optional: Food
  2. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2425 Anything Goes
  3. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Emboss it (embossed hello)
  4. Alphabet – ‘F’ is for Fruit
  5. Ally’s Angels – Anything Goes
  6. Penny’s Paper Crafty – Anything Goes Using Paper

It’s Funny and/or a Pun at Sparkles Monthly Challenge!

Hello friends!  Happy weekend!  Wow, it’s been very warm outside and I’ve been spending my time indoors.  I hope to be sharing some more posts with lots of things very soon, so stay tuned in!  Today starts another challenge over at the Sparkles Monthly Challenge blog!

This time was my turn to choose a theme and I thought with Father’s Day, masculine cards are a good way to use those “FUNNNY and/or a PUN” on our cards!  To make someone laugh or at least smile, is the main reason why I love to make cards!  If you feel like having a chuckle with your cards, make one and enter this month!  I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Here’s my card for the challenge:

Nothing better than a hot French fry, but a French fry with a smile and bow tie is too fun!😆  (This is an American term for this food, but I know they’re called “chips” in Britain…either way, delicious and fun!)

For this challenge, I knew I wanted to pull out a large card kit I had gotten back in 2018 from Simon Says Stamp partnered with Doodlebug to create the I Chews You kit.  (Most of the items are not available any more other than the stamp set that I’ve linked.)  I fell in love with all of the cute images and puns from the Doodlebug So Pun Friends collection!  In this card kit, there was a die that cut out the box and fries.  The sentiments came from some “Chit-Chat Clippings“.

I first took a piece of white cardstock for the front panel and cut it with a wonky stitched rectangle die and placed it over a side folded A2 red card base.  I then took a wonky stitched circle die and cut a circle from the Doodlebug So Much Pun paper pad.  I placed it in the lower right and cut off part of the edge of the circle sticking out past the white panel.

I took the die cut fry box and cut it out in red and white.  I used the white strip to make the band at the top of the box.  I cut out the fries and sponged around the edges and arranged them behind the box and attached it to the circle panel.

The sentiment bubble was inked around the edges and placed in the top left above the fries.  I added a black layer behind the box sentiment strip and cut off the edge sticking out.  Lastly, I thought it would be fun to add a smile face to the fry and then I stamped, colored and die cut a bow tie from my stash to add on the one fry.  I finished it with some Doodlebug Heart Sprinkles.

I really had a great time putting this one together and I hope you’ve enjoyed it too!  Hoping to pull out this card kit again and make several cards with it as there is still so many things in this kit that I never got a chance to play with!  (I have so many things I need to do this with!)😉

Please be sure to check out the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the team and I hope you will take some time to have fun and play along with us!

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by!  I’ll catch you soon!

Challenges:

  1. Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes
  2. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2423 Anything Goes
  3. As You Like It – With or Without Words and Why? (I feel like this is the main reason to send a card to someone that includes a sentiment.  I especially like the fun and/or pun for sending smiles.)
  4. Tic Tac Toe – TTTC249 (I used first row down:  layers, die cut, pattern paper)
  5. Penny’s Paper-Crafty – #573 Anything Goes Using Paper
  6. Aloha Friday Masculine
  7. Creative Moments – #259 optional twist: Men and Boys

Try It On Tuesday GDT-Book Pages

Hello friends!  Happy June!  Hope you’ve been enjoying your month so far!  It’s going to start warming up at the end of this week which means I’ll probably start spending more time indoors with the air conditioning and hopefully have some time crafting!  Yay!

save guest tiot 24

I’m super excited to share my post with you today as I’ve been asked to be a guest designer for this challenge at Try It On Tuesday!  Always happy to be apart of the challenges and support them as much as I can as they help to inspire creativity!  

I’m loving the challenge theme for this one which is “BOOK PAGES”!  There are several different ways to go with it, but here’s my take with the challenge:

I am an avid reader and I do love turning the pages of a good book, but sometimes you can come across an old book that is in bad shape or even a book that has no meaning to you and that you might normally throw away.  I don’t do that, but I keep it instead for purposes of using in my crafts!  I do the same with magazines, etc.  Sometimes I use the illustrations for art journaling, etc.  I’ve even kept some for the purpose of gift wrapping.  How about you?  Do you keep things like this for anything?  If you do, then this challenge would be a great for using it up!  I’ve even seen some decorative papers that have a “book page look” which would be suitable, I think, for the challenge as well!

For my card:  I’ve used a cover plate die (unknown) and cut the pieces from a book page and then cut it again in black cardstock so that I could use the frames.   I took some brown ink to sponge around the edges and in the center randomly, so that it wasn’t so stark white.  I then splattered it with both black and white paints, wrapped some twine with a bow around and placed it on a side folding A2 black card base.

The flower image:  I took another book page and stamped/heat embossed the Bursting Blooms stamp from Taylored Expressions(retired/not in store) and cut it out with the coordinating die.  I had some fun watercoloring the image with some Daniel Smith watercolor samples and than I sponged around the edges with some more of the brown ink before attaching to the card with thin foam squares. (I also cut an additional piece of white cardstock for added thickness as some book pages can be thin.)

To Finish:  I’ve taken the Taylored Expressions Sundry Sentiments and white heat embossed the sentiment over black cardstock and cut it out with the coordinating die.  I attached it to the card along with some black rhinestones.

I love how this one turned out and I hope you do too!  Please be sure to pop on over to the challenge blog and check out all of the inspiration from the team!  I look forward to seeing your creation in the gallery as well!

Thank you for stopping in today and I’ll be sharing more with you soon!

Challenges:

  1. Allsorts – #784 Flowers Galore or Anything Goes
  2. Creative Fingers – #279 Anything Goes
  3. Alphabet – ‘E’ is for embossing wet or dry (heat embossed flower and sentiment)
  4. Krafty Chicks – #719 Stamps
  5. Time Out Inspired by a Quote from Henri Matisse: “There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

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:

  1. 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)
  2. Crafty Catz – Anything Goes #667
  3. Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal #81
  4. Critter Crazy – Anything Goes featuring animal #84
  5. Creative Creases – Anything Goes with Fun Fold #78
  6. Creative Inspirations – Anything Goes
  7. The Crafty Addicts – Anything Goes
  8. Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes #226
  9. 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:

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

Bugging Out With Sketches

Hello friends!  I hope you’re having a good week so far and staying safe wherever you are in the world.  Sending hugs to all experiencing a troubled time.  I hope that my post can bring a smile to you today.

I needed to create some get well type of cards and so I thought I’d try to incorporate some challenges while working on them which helps me to concentrate more in what I’m doing and maybe think outside the box a bit.

My first card is made with the Beccy’s Place Challenge freebie this month and she also challenged us with a sketch which I’ve decided to use for my card. (see sketch below)  I was really happy to use up some more pattern papers with it and I also decided to add a tiny dragonfly at the top to enter another challenge and to adhere to my “bug” theme today!

I printed the image in black and white and colored with Copics.  The dragonfly and the center pink strip were stamps that I cut out and added to the design.  The rest is pattern paper from my stash except the scalloped kraft border in the center that I cut out with a die.  I stamped the sentiment and cut it out to go with my twine around it. *You will notice in ALL of these cards that I’ve used some sparkly gems.  I wasn’t aware until posting them!  I must be on a kick of wanting to use them!*

Challenges for 1st card:

  1. Beccy’s Place – August challenge + sketch
  2. Paper Dragonfly Creative – Anything Flies (Goes) or Party
  3. Kreativ-Tanten – Anything Goes
  4. The Crafty Addicts – Anything Goes
  5. Crafty Calendar – Anything Goes
  6. Dragonfly Dreams – Dragonflies

And for this next card, I’ve played with a large bug:

Around my area this time of year, you can hear the sound of these cicada bugs with their distinct noise throughout the trees.  My husband likes the sound when a bird catches one! EEW!  This bug is a cute one from Inky Stamper called Cicada and I’ve colored it up with pencils this time.  Hard to see, but I’ve also added some shimmer with a glitter pen on his wings.

I’ve used the Picket Fence Tree Bark stencil over kraft on the background and then splattered it with brown and white paint. The leaves under the bug and the accent came from the Lisa Horton Variegated Leaf EF+die that I cut over light green cardstock.  I used some metallic green wax to go over the details in them.  I also used some gel pens to make some doodles around the strip, the circle and under the sentiment along with following a sketch. (details below) You will also notice more sparkly gems!  I’m also entering this in the Inky Stamper FB challenge this month which is using an IS bug image.

Challenges for card

  1. Sketch Saturday – #732 sketch + twist: add a doodle
  2. Creative Knockouts – #501 Anything Goes
  3. We Love Stamping – Masculine
  4. Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
  5. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – Anything Goes
  6. A Place to Start – Anything Goes optional: leaves/trees
  7. The Corrosive – Anything Goes

For my last card I decided to keep this one simple’ish’:

So, I know these aren’t real bugs because I’m not squealing, but these guys are too cute! They’re popping up out of the dirt for a special greeting!  I mixed in both a new and older stamp set from Lawn Fawn on this one. I’ve used another sketch for this one and decided to keep it very simple.  The hardest part of this was the coloring which honestly wasn’t all that difficult either because they’re small images.  I’ve also added some shimmer with a glitter pen on the wings and of course, there’s those sparkly gems again!

Challenges for card

  1. Sunday Stamps – SSC316 in the corner sketch
  2. The Paper Players – CAS using any Bug
  3. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Clean and Simple
  4. Krafty Chicks – CAS (Clean and Simple)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I appreciate your time and thoughts!  I’ll be seeing you again on Saturday with another AJ page!

Feeling Tropical at Sparkles Monthly

Hello friends!  I hope that whatever state you’re finding yourself right now, that you’re able to find a bright spot in your day somewhere.  In watching the news, there are so many variable patterns in the weather and my heart goes to those in Hawaii dealing with the wildfire disaster.  My card today is not only for the DT challenge, but also a tribute to our tropical friends in Hawaii.

There’s a new challenge today over at the Sparkles Monthly Challenge with the theme of: TROPICAL and/or BEACH

Since I live in the Midwest area, I don’t get a chance to see too many scenes like this, but maybe someday hubby and I will get a chance soon!  The inspiration for my card came from my computer background photo and I loved the look of the water with the setting sun.  Everything I’ve used on my card today came from Lawn Fawn.

The entire background was done with stenciling using the LF Beach Sunset Stencils and inks.  I added that mice couple from a freebie stamp set that came with one of my orders.  I colored them pretty dark with cool grey tones so that they blended into the beach and looked like a silhouette.  The sentiment at the bottom was white heat embossed from the LF Butterfly Kisses set.   I’ve used a glitter brush pen over the sun and purple reflective water.  I think I got a little carried away with the white gel pen, but I was trying to make it look like the dark areas were highlighted with some of that setting sun over it and there’s just no removing any lines! (If you’ve done this, then you know what I’m saying!)

I hope that you’ve enjoyed my Tropical themed card today or found some inspiration with it.  Thanks so much for dropping in and please check out the challenge details with inspiration from the DT and play along!

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for:

  1. Four Seasons – Anything Goes Summer
  2. Crafts Galore Encore – Anything Goes
  3. The Paper Funday – Anything Goes optional: Great Outdoors
  4. Penny’s Paper-Crafty – Anything Goes using paper
  5. Get Creative – Summer Nights
  6. My Time to Craft – Stenciling
  7. Creative Fingers – Anything Goes