Tie a Bow for Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends! Here we are at another Thursday already! Where does this time thing go?! I’m trying to embrace Spring for as long as possible.

Today starts a new challenge over at Cute Card Thursday and this week we’d like to see your “Tie a Bow” creations! I am a huge fan of ribbon and have WAY too much that I could never possibly use it all in my life time! LOL! How about you? Do you have a big ribbon stash too?

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So does it feel like we are at the salon? She’s fashioning her “new do” which I think would be so fun to go have a spa day with mom or your favorite female person, right?!

The sponsor for this week’s challenge over at Cute Card Thursday is All Dressed Up Stamps and I have used this cute image from the store called “New Hair Do” for my card today. Now although she does already have a bow tied to her hair, I thought this was a good opportunity for me to pull out some of my ribbon and actually tie a bow! I thought this image would make for a wonderful feminine/Mother’s Day card too.

I started out by white heat embossing a piece of purple cardstock with a Simon Says Stamp Background stamp called Flower Explosion. The sentiment on the black banner was also white heat embossed and placed over the design right above the “mom” sentiment that was die cut with silver mirror cardstock. I layered the purple embossed panel over a piece of black cardstock.

I ran a piece of white organdy ribbon around the two layers and then added the oval cut image panels onto the card front. I added the tied bow with the organdy ribbon off to the right side and then layered another bow I tied with some silver cord and then topped that with a pearl accent. All of these layered were attached to a 5″ square white top folding card base.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring of the image. I’ve used Copic markers to color her in with and brushed some Wink of Stella over her bow. (Which is hard to see of course!) I’ve also taken some tiny pearls and randomly added them to her hair.

The ovals were cut out with the Tonic Studios Basic Oval dies and then I also sponged some Tumbled Glass distress ink around the edges of the scallop image panel before attaching it to the black oval panel.

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By the way, I have chosen the color theme purple for my card today as it’s my favorite color. I have actually used many of my favorite items for this card, so I hope you’ve enjoyed it too! (Purple, ribbon, metallic, heat embossing, die cut sentiment, Copic coloring, pearls, florals, background stamps…I have too many favorites! LOL!) Do you have lots of favorites too?

Thanks for dropping in!

Challenges:

All Dressed Up Challenge – (April) Anything Goes + ADU image
All Dressed Up Facebook Challenge – ADU image + use favorite color(s) (purple)
Always Fun – #109 Female/Mom
Crafting By Designs – Girls
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – For a Special Lady
The House That Stamps Built – Tic Tac Toe M819

Bubble Bath Beauty

Hello friends! Yes, I’m still here! LOTS of fun stuff to share!

Today, I have a silly kitty card to share with you today:

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Oh my, that face just really cracks me up!! It’s been several years since I have ever had to give a cat a bath, but I believe that’s pretty much how they feel about water in general. I have used this Whimsy Stamps digital image called Bath Cat by Crissy Armstong. (It was previously released as a rubber cling stamp, but now you can also get it in digital format if you prefer that!)

I started out my card with a piece of white cardstock and clear heat embossed several of the solid circle images from the Whimsy Stamps Circles Circles Circles clear stamp set. I then took a few of the distress ink colors and blended them over the heat embossed circles. The ink resisted those and then I spritzed it with some water and dapped it with a paper towel for water droplets. I heat embossed the sentiment with white EP and cut it out in a banner to attach over my background.

The circle inked background was corner chomped on two of the corners and then I placed it over a blue A2 sized top folding card base which I also corner chomped the same two corners on that as well. I then added the image panel and popped it up over some craft foam to attach to the front of the card. I then cut off the edge of the circle with my scissors and lastly added some clear sequins to the design.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring I’ve done on the kitty. I’ve used the following Copics to color him in with:

Kitty – W7, W5, W3, W1, R11, R00
Bathtub – B24, B21
Bubbles – BG000
Duckie – Y17, Y15, Y13

After I cut the image out with a circle die, I sponged around the edges of it with some of the distress ink I used on the background. I used a Wink of Stella glitter pen on some of the bubbles and then used some Nuvo White Blizzard Glitter Drops on the water drops.

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This one gave me a chuckle and sometimes even when you are feeling yucky, you just want someone to tell you that you are beautiful!

Thanks for dropping in today! I’ll see you again soon!

Challenges:

Simply Create Too – Anything Goes (no twist)
Daisy Chain – Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP1918 Anything Goes
Get Creative – Anything Goes (no twist)
Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal

Whimsy Stamps May Release + Anything Goes for Cute Card Thursday!

Hello friends! Hope you are having a great week so far!

Today starts a brand new challenge over at Cute Card Thursday! The theme for our challenge this week is an easy peasy “Anything Goes” theme! Whimsy Stamps is also our sponsor this week and I have used one of the brand-new May digital releases for my card here:

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This really SWEET penguin by Crissy Armstrong was previously released as a rubber stamp and now it’s available in digital format too! I’ve used the Penguin Prezzie digital stamp on my card here along with some other Whimsy Stamps products!

The image panel was cut out with the Whimsy Stamps Notched Squares Dies Set and mounted over a piece of black cardstock. I added some pearls in each corner. For the tiny hearts and the “mom” sentiment at the bottom, I have used the Whimsy Stamps Mom’s Layered Flowers clear stamp set. I stamped the tiny hearts around the penguin with some pink ink and the “mom” sentiment at the bottom over the pink gingham paper with black ink. I also stamped the sentiment ‘for you’ with black ink on the image panel from the Whimsy Stamps Everyday Mini Sentiments clear stamp set.

I found some soft pink gingham paper to use and mounted it over another piece of black cardstock and another piece of gold cardstock too. After adding the ‘mom’ sentiment, I took three strips of gold cardstock to add for accent pieces and then added some lace in the center strip that I wrapped around the card front panel. I attached these layers onto a white 5×5 top folding card base. The penguin image panel was popped up in the center with some foam tape.

Here’s a closer view of the coloring I’ve done on this image. These penguins are so fun to color! I have used the following Copic markers on my image:

penguin – C8, C5, C3, C1, blender, YR24, Y15, Y11
present – BG45, BG13, BG10
bow – R85, R83, R81, R00
ground shading – C1, E0000

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Although I think you could use this cute penguin image for a birthday or even Christmas, I thought since we are in the month of May, it would be a great card to send to mom! All you need is to make it with a few feminine colors along with lace and pearls for accents!

Thanks so much for stopping in today and I appreciate your kind comments so much!

Flying Dragon for 2 Crafty Critter Crazies

Hello friends! Welcome to May! Yay! I’m so happy that my flowers are finally up and blooming! It always brings a smile to face when I see the colorful blooms!

Today is the 1st of the month which also means the start of a new monthly challenge over the 2 Crafty Critter Crazies challenge blog! All you have to remember is that you need to use a critter somewhere on your creation…that’s it! The sponsor we have for this month is Fabrika Fantasy:

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I have used this adorable digital image kindly provided to us from our sponsor called Flying Elf. I love how that dragon is looking up at her! 🙂

After coloring her in, I’ve taken a cloud stencil and sponged in some clouds behind her to give the appearance of being in the air! I’ve used the ink foam blending tool and distress inks for that. I then cut out the image panel with a cross-stitch rectangle die from Lawn Fawn and then used a cloud border die also from LF to cut out along the bottom that also adds to the “cloudy” feel of the design. I stamped a sentiment from a My Favorite Things stamp set.

I wanted to add a “magical” element to my design, so I found some really cool cosmos looking papers from my stash and added that as a layer underneath the image panel which I popped up a bit with foam tape. I then added a purple shimmer ribbon with a bow around the bottom portion and layered it over a piece of gold mirror cardstock and then an additional piece of black cardstock that was layered over a white A2 sized top folding card base. Lastly, I added some black pearls in the upper right of the image panel.

Here you can see a closer view of the coloring I did on the image. I’ve colored it in with my Copic markers. Then on her belt, the trim on her boot and the middle of the dragon bridle, I colored those in with a gold gel pen. Such a cute image!

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Here’s a better view where you can see the shine from the gold mirror cardstock. It helps to add a “magical” feel to the design, I think.

Thanks so much for dropping by! I appreciate you being here with me! Hope to catch up with you all at the end of this week to see what you’re up to!

Whimsy Critters Everywhere!

Hello friends! Hope you are having a wonderful week so far! I have been busy in my craft room trying to prepare for a class next week along with trying to help my son pack and move out of state…so my plate has been a bit full lately. I do have a couple of really fun critter creations that I’ve made using some Whimsy Stamps products today:

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If you don’t remember, Whimsy Stamps has come out with a couple of really adorable clear stamp sets to help promote their “Adopt Don’t Shop” campaign with $1 of the sale from each stamp sold going to the Gulf Coast Humane Society.

Now, normally I am a “dog fan”, but I know many of my blog friends and several others are huge cat fans as well! I have also been requested to make up some cat friendly cards too! So, I thought this would be such a great opportunity to make one! I’ve used the adorable Adopt Don’t Shop CATS clear stamp set for this one.

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I have used a kraft colored A2 sized top folding card base and stamped the little paw print from the stamp set with the same color around the edges. I also took the humorous sentiment from the set and white heat embossed it over a piece of espresso cardstock and cut a banner strip from it. This same color of cardstock was used as a layer behind the kitty image panel that I’ve cut out with the WS Hand Stitched Nested Rectangles die. I covered up the bottom portion of this panel with some plaid papers. I then wrapped some twine around the middle of it and tied a bow which I have attached a wood veneer heart in the middle.

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Here’s another card I had made to help cheer someone.

Vicki-WS-I'veGotYourBack-flat Here’s a pop quizz…. if you’ve known Whimsy Stamps for a while, does this particular image look familiar to you? It’s a VERY old one and also one of the very first rubber stamp sets that Whimsy Stamps sold! I believe mine is dated 2009! I wanted to keep it as I’ve been a part of this company off and on since it started! 🙂 Really cool to still have it. Obviously, it’s not available for purchase, but they did offer it as a freebie during their “Adopt Don’t Shop” party event last month. The paw prints along the edges were also used from an older stamp set from Whimsy Stamps as well. (You can see a portion of it on the right side of the photo above.) Vicki-WS-I'veGotYourBack1

Both of these images were colored with Copics.

The sentiment came from the same stamp set and was white heat embossed and cut out with the WS Quick Strips Die set. I cut around the pup’s tail and then used a rectangle die to cut the rest of the image out and then layered onto a black piece of cardstock cut from a scallop rectangle die. I layered the paw print piece, another piece of black cardstock and the image panel onto a white top folding A2 sized card base. Lastly, I’ve added a few black enamel dots and even gave their eyes some shine with glossy accents.

Thanks so much for dropping in today! Hope you’ve enjoyed my critter cards! I’ll be back again tomorrow with a different kind of critter! 🙂

Challenges: –

Crafty Catz – Anything Goes
Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
QKR Stampede – #344 Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP1916 Anything Goes
Creative Moments – Anything Goes

Coming Up Flowers at Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends! Welcome to Thursday! We are already near Easter this weekend and it’s a great time to be thinking about flowers! This is the new challenge this week over at Cute Card Thursday, so I hope you can join in the floral fun with us!

I decided to pull out some stamps that I received a few months ago by Repeat Impressions from a challenge win because they are ALL floral themed and I thought it would be perfect to work with for the challenge:

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To help with my design, I’ve used the tic-tac-toe board from the Repeat Impressions challenge. I have used the Flower Power Background stamp and stamped it with white ink over a piece of vellum and then mounted it over a light purple piece of cardstock so that it was a bit more subtle looking, but yet still had the floral pattern.

I’ve also taken one of the stamps from the Beautiful Days Collection called “Daisies & Butterfly” and stamped it with waterproof ink over a piece of Bristol smooth watercolor cardstock. After coloring it, I fussy cut the image and then die cut a scallop square layer to place behind it and then cut another layer of black cardstock to layer behind that. I thought it really brought out the details of the image. The butterfly was popped up with some foam squares.

Lastly, I’ve stamped a sentiment, did some paper piercing with a tool pick around the corners of the vellum layer and around the image layer. All of these layers were mounted over an A2 sized top folding white card base. I then took some clear “dew drops” and attached them over the front of the card.

Here’s a closer view of the watercolor I’ve done on the image. I’ve used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and occasional help with a water brush to blend or soften up the colors as needed. Hard to see, of course, but I’ve taken a glitter brush pen and went over the wings on the butterfly. You can also see the details of the paper piercing that I’ve done on the vellum.

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I noticed that after I had stamped the sentiment with black ink, the white ink from the vellum showed through a bit. I was going to layer something over it, but decided that I actually liked it that way, so left it.

I’m always out of sympathy cards when I need one, so this will be a nice one to have on hand for that. Thanks so much for stopping in and I’ll see you again tomorrow!! 🙂

Challenges for this card:

Repeat Impressions – A1019 Tic-Tac-Toe
Just Us Girls – Off the Edge
Allsorts – Blossoms, Butterflies and/or Bugs
The Creative Crafters – Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday – Beautiful Blooms

I Believe I Can Fly!

Hello friends! It’s been a while since my last post, but the reason is that I was of course having some computer problems! I had to reset my whole computer back to the factory setting and try to get it back up and going to what I had. Thankfully because of my drive, I didn’t loose any photos or anything! I think it’s back up to “normal” now, but it was scaring me there for a few days!

Speaking of “normal”…I’m not sure pigs can fly, but boy is this image so CUTE!

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I’m using this new April digital stamp by Crissy Armstrong for Whimsy Stamps called When Pigs Fly. I love how he’s looking down as if he’s looking at the clouds below him with a huge smile! I thought the sentiment from the Whimsy Stamps Bold Statements clear stamp set was the perfect compliment for this image too.

I took a cloud stencil and some Tumbled Glass distress ink with the foam blending tool to sponge on some clouds around the image. I cut off the bottom portion of the image panel with the Whimsy Stamps Envelope Edger die set and cut an additional piece from the suede-colored cardstock for a layer behind it. I also cut out some clouds from an older Whimsy Stamps die that I had and sponged some more of the distress ink on the bottom of each one to layer and stamp the sentiment in suede ink over a pink panel. I added some pretty shimmer ribbon with a bow at the top of these layers and then attached it all over a top folding A2 sized suede card base. Lastly, I’ve added some Studio Katia Crystal Clear Confetti sequins randomly over the card.

Here’s a closer view of the image and how I went about coloring it in using Copic markers. Here’s what I’ve used:

pig: R20, R11, R00, R000 – wings: BG13, BG10, BG000 – hooves: C8, C5, C3
birds: E47, E44, E43 – beaks: E43, E41, Y11 – bellies: E43, R00, Y11
I used white gel pen for cheeks and covered the wings with Wink of Stella

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Something to note about my card is that because this was a digital stamp, I was able to size it the way I wanted to accommodate my card design. This is what is great about a digital stamp. You may not like it as small as what I’ve made mine for coloring purposes, but I didn’t mind it at all and enjoyed putting this together. Hoping to give it to someone special soon! 🙂 Hope you like it too!

Thanks so much for dropping in today! Now that computer is back up and running, I will be back again tomorrow with another post! Have a great day!

Challenges for this card:

Krafty Chicks – Chicks/birds
Pammies Inky Pinkies – PIP1915 Anything goes
A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes
Crafting From the Heart – Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon – Look Up, Way Up (things in the sky)

Whimsy Stamps Cuddly Ride

Hello friends! 🙂

It’s been SO gorgeous outside with this wonderfully warm weather we’re having right now, so I find it hard to stay indoors right now! We have rain coming, so I will be able to get some crafting done then!

Swinging by to share this really sweet digital image by Sylvia Zet for Whimsy Stamps called Cuddly Ride! They have sold the rubber stamp version, but now they’re releasing these older images as digital files now! So weather you like the rubber stamp or the digital images, it’s great to know that you can choose either!

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I got her colored up in the following Copics:

Snail shell – E29, E27, E25, E23, E21
Snail body – W5, W3, W1, E21, E000, R20
Snail bow/patches, girl outfit – B37, B34, B32, YG13, YG11, C5, C3, C1
Girl’s Hair/Skin – E49, E47, E44, E43, E40, R20, R00, E21, E11, E00, E000
Pointillism under snail – W3, W1, W0
Used a white gel pen for highlights on snail and covered the ground with a Wink of Stella glitter brush pen

After coloring her up, I also sponged some clouds behind her with a stencil and then cut it out with the Whimsy Stamps Notched Square Dies. I’ve also cut an additional larger blue layer for behind the image. For the blue flowers scattered around as well as for the pieces for grass accents on my card, I’ve used the Whimsy Stamps No-See All Seasons Tree Dies.

I’ve taken a sentiment from my stash (retired Whimsy Stamps) and white heat embossed it over a piece of the blue cardstock and then I’ve used the Whimsy Stamps Quick Strips Die Set to cut it out. Lastly, I’ve added some ribbon, a bow with a resin flower glued over the center of it and then I’ve added some rhinestones to the centers of the blue flowers.

From the same sentiment stamp set that I’ve used, I took a tiny heart image and stamped it with green ink around the colored image. Of course, I tried to capture the wonderful shimmer underneath the snail where I’ve colored the Pointillism technique, but it just won’t show up in photos very well, but I just love the shimmer under him! I also used a silver metallic gel pen to color the “buttons” on the girl’s jumper.

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I thought she turned out really cute and I think this would make a wonderful card for that special friend who is always by your side!

That’s all for me now. I think I may need to go back outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine before it’s gone! Have a lovely day!

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – Animal Antics
Crafting With an Attitude – Anything Goes
Creative Knockouts – Anything Goes
Crafty Catz – Anything Goes + optional: Use Your Dies
Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
Simply Create Too – Anything Goes

Rainbow Shaker Birthday!

Hello friends! Yay! It’s Friday and I thought I’d share this happy shaker card that I made.

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I saw over at My Favorite Things “Birthday Project” Challenge was a “rainbow” theme and I thought this would make for a happy and fun birthday card design! So I pulled out the MFT Transparent Triangles Background stamp (now retired) and heat embossed it with white EP over some Bristol Smooth Watercolor paper. I went to work with my rainbow background and sponged several colors of Distress Oxide ink in rainbow form over the heat embossed background for a “resist technique”. I spritzed some water over it and my sprayer went a tad bit “droopy” and I ended up with a weird large droplet pattern, but I decided I wanted to keep it anyway, I liked it.

So to make sure that my shaker balloon was going to line up with my bear, I needed to stamp, color and fussy cut out this bear from the Beary Special Birthday stamp set. I needed to fussy cut it out because the coordinating die cut would also cut out the balloon from the image, and I didn’t want to include it as I was making my own! I’ve also white heat embossed a sentiment from the same stamp set and cut it out with the Essential Fishtail Sentiment Strips. I also took the Mini Balloon Shaker Window & Frame Die-namics to cut out all of the pieces that I needed for the balloon. (I used the fussy cut out bear for placement to see where I needed to die cut a hole in the background for the shaker area.) Before attaching the bear down, I also took some green cardstock and cut out a border with the Grassy Fields Die-namics. I sponged the edges with green ink and took a Copic marker to give a shadow around the bear. So after I placed my “balloon hole” where I needed it on the background, I took the rainbow sequins to place inside the Mini Balloon Shaker Pouches and added a piece of black cardstock for the background, which was placed over an A2 sized white top folding card base.

Here’s a closer look at the bear and how I’ve got him colored in. I forgot that in addition to the rainbow sequins I had, I put some tiny star sequins in there as well. At first, I thought I had gone a bit too dark for coloring the bear, but I like how he blended out and I think he really stands out on the rainbow background and doesn’t get lost with the black accents on the card. I took a white gel pen to his cheeks and added some shimmer to his present with a glitter brush pen.

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Here with the card lying flat, you can better see the shaker bits on the inside of the balloon and how they really stand out against the black balloon background.

I think I got a smile and it was passed around for the shaking.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my card today and I thank you so much for stopping in! Wishing you a very happy and rainbow filled weekend too! 🙂

challenges:

MFT Birthday Project – Rainbow
Creative with Stamps – Birthday
Crafting By Designs – Anything Goes
Little Red Wagon – “Shake It!”
Always Fun – Birthday

It’s the April Anything Goes for Cute Card Thursday!

Hello friends! This week has completely flown by me so very fast!! I can’t believe how quickly it went and I’m thinking being outside in the warmer weather will make it go even quicker! Summer will be here soon, right?!

Today is Thursday and also the first Thursday of the month, which means it’s time for our regular “Anything Goes” theme at Cute Card Thursday! We are also sponsored by our regular monthly sponsor Whimsy Stamps! So of course, you know I’m going to be using one of those for my creation today:

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Isn’t she just a cutie?! This newly released digital image is called Elfie from Whimsy Stamps. I’ve been starting to see a few lady bugs here and there around my area, but I actually don’t like it when they are everywhere! Otherwise, I can take them on a card and think they’re so cute!

After coloring her up, I cut her out with a stitched circle die and layered another circle with black cardstock behind her. I also cut out the Whimsy Stamps Friend Word die set with black cardstock and set it aside to work on the rest of my card.

I pulled out this embossing folder with lady bugs (by Darice) and embossed a piece of red cardstock with it. I took some white ink to lightly go over it to highlight the texture a bit. I layered this piece onto a piece of black and then layered these over a white A2 sized top folding card base. The circle image was place towards the right of the card and then I just cut off the excess circle with scissors.

I stamped the “hello” from the Whimsy Stamps Painted Sayings clear stamp set with black ink next to the image. The “friend” die cut piece was glued at the bottom of the card. I also took the WS Quick Strips die set to cut out a couple of stitched banners from some shimmer paper and added them to the side of the circle. Lastly, I’ve put the black gingham ribbon bow over the banner strips and added the lady bugs and sequins to the design. I filled the sequins with some Nuvo White Blizzard Glitter Drops.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring of this cutie. I’ve used some Copic markers to color her in and then I’ve used a Wink of Stella Clear Glitter pen to add some shimmer over her wings and the wings on the butterfly. Here’s the list of Copics I’ve used:

Hat, skirt, shoes and ladybug – R39, R37, R35, R32, C8, C5, C3
Shirt, leaves – G24, G21, G20
Hair – E49, E47, E44, E43
Skin – E21, E13, E00, E000, R20

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I think there are so many different ways you could color up this image, but I saw her holding this little ladybug and so I just went with that theme when coloring. Hope you’ve enjoyed my card today and got inspired!

Challenges I’d like to enter this card for: