August AJ Page-Good-bye Summer

Hello friends!  Here we are at the end of August already!  I’ve already been feeling the Autumn vibes, so I thought I’d create with Summer one more time.  There is still a few more weeks left of Summer, so let’s enjoy it!

Wanted to share a photo that hubby took a really good close-up shot of a bumble bee enjoying the last bit of summer blooms on one of our flowers in the back yard the other day.  He is covered in pollen!  I love the bright colors in the flower.

Speaking of bright colors, today starts another monthly AJ page with my crafty friend Carol (from Crafty-Stamper) who is collaborating with me to “SMASH OUR STASH”! 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 STASHAUGUST prompt of “BRIGHT/HAPPY COLORS”: 

Bright and happy colors to me are those sunny yellows, citrus and basically a rainbow of bright colors.  I tried to reflect this with my page using mainly blended ink colors, but I also used some watercolor and paint too.

FOR THE BACKGROUND:  I used a 5.5″ x 8.5″ piece of Bristol Smooth Watercolor cardstock.  I covered the background with a light wash of blue watercolor and let it dry.  I took a stencil from My Favorite Things (closed) called “Sun Ray” and went over the background with yellow paint applying with a watered-down sponge.  Once that was dry, I splattered the entire background with some metallic gold watercolor.  I covered the bottom portion of the page with some wood plank background paper. (I like to make my own book to add my finished pages in.)

The “Summer” lettering was die cut with white cardstock and then ink blended with several different bright colors.  I stamped out the lettering above it.  Both the stamp and dies came from Lawn Fawn.

Here’s a closer view of the drink glass I created using some die sets from Taylored Expressions called Summertime Sips.  There was the glass that I lightly ink blended around the edges and then for the separate die for inside the glass, I ink blended a few different colors for that tropical drink look.  There are also ice cube dies that I cut from glitter cardstock to put in there.  I cut another glass from vellum and then cut the stem of it so that I could attach it to the front of the glass which is where I added all of the items inside to make it look see-though. 

The straw and the umbrella were cut in white and then ink blended and put together for the glass.  I also took the TE Fresh Squeezed die set to cut more pieces from white cardstock and then I ink blended some green and orange colors over them to arrange around my cup.  The green slice on the top of the cup was cut with scissors so that I could add it to the inside of the glass rim.  I covered the inside of these citruses with a glitter brush pen.

Lastly, I took a black detail pen to make lines around the edges of the page and also the stitch marks within the lettering and around the sentiment strip at the bottom.  This was printed from computer and ink blended with yellow ink.

  • Thanks so much for stopping in today!  Hope you’ve enjoyed my page!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Challenges:

  1.  Art Journal Journey – Hot Summer (Nights and Days)
  2. Creative Artiste Anything Goes Mixed Media
  3. Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone – August -No Cards

And speaking of bright and happy, I know a few people have mentioned my new grandson and wondering if I get to see him.  My answer to that is every single chance I can get! LOL  He’s growing so very fast!  He came for a visit for lunch…well grandma fed him his bottle.

I will be getting to see him again VERY soon and I’m so excited!  How can you resist that face!?

Thought I’d share a little update to make you smile! 😉

Flowers for Sparkles Monthly!

Hello friends!  I hope that you’re enjoying this month so far!  The weather has really started to warm up now and it’s been nice and sunny to be outside.  I have so many projects that I’m working on, so my blog has been a bit neglected lately.  I will be able to share with you all of the things that I’ve been working on later…but for now, let’s talk about flowers!

Today starts a new challenge over at Sparkles Monthly and this time it’s my turn to pick a theme and I have chosen “FLOWER(S)  for this month.  Flowers seem to work for so many occasions which is why I chose it.  Here’s the project that I came up with:

I needed a card for Mother’s Day this last weekend, so I thought I’d pull out my stash of die cut flowers from Taylored Expressions and create several pieces in different colors to place inside my wheel barrow.

I’ve die cut several pieces from the Fresh Cut Flowers die set in pineapple, guava, dried fig, chocolate truffle (centers) and green tea (stems and leaves).  I used the same color of ink to sponge a bit of dimension over the centers and then splattered some white Copic ink over just the flowers and the toffee background that was stamped in toffee ink with the Weathered Words Background stamp.  

I arranged all of the die cut flowers and leaves behind the Farmhouse Wheelbarrow die cut from chocolate truffle, toffee and woodgrain textured cardstock.  I also used the Building Blocks Happy Additions to white heat emboss over a piece of chocolate truffle and cut out with the coordinating die.  The toffee background was placed over an A2 sized top folding white card base and then I added a white frame die cut from the A2 Thin Frame Cutting Plate for an “anchor/ground” for the wheelbarrow to sit on.  The sentiment greeting was popped up with a foam strip and then I’ve added a few enamel dots including in the center of the wheel.

  • Thank you so much for stopping in today!  Hope you’ve enjoyed my card and that you will stop by the challenge blog to see the rest of the inspiration from the team.  I look forward to seeing what floral creations you share in the gallery with us!

Challenges:

  1. Craft Rocket Flowers
  2. 613 Avenue Create – Anything Goes with optional: Floral Delight
  3. Creative Friday Spring
  4. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2519 Anything goes
  5. Simply Create Too Anything for a Woman
  6. Little Red Wagon ‘D’ is for diecut

Pearly Sparkles Guest

Hello friends again!  I have two posts going up for today, so please see my post for the Mix It Up Challenge details in the above post when it goes live or click HERE.


I’m so excited to have been asked to be a guest for this month’s Pearly Sparkles Challenge!  I always love playing along in challenges and supporting them when I can as I always find inspiration in using my supplies when I play!

So for May’s Challenge, they would like to see:  BLACK, WHITE PLUS ONE OTHER COLOR in your project(s).  Here’s the card I made for this theme to inspire you:

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for this, but I thought you couldn’t go wrong with some flowers.  I pulled out a long forgotten stamp set from Taylored Expressions called “Picked Posies” (no longer available) and black heat embossed the images over watercolor paper and used one pink watercolor brushed over the petals.  I die cut each flower with the coordinating die.

I made the rest of the card layout with all black and white elements.  I stamped the TE Checking In Background stamp in black ink over a white panel, placed this over an A2 sized top folding black card base.  I also used the TE More Easy Edgers die to cut an additional piece of white cardstock and placed it over the stamped checkered background.  I also used some more of the elements from the flower stamp set and stamped some more black images on that background before I attached the watercolor flowers on it.  I centered each flower with a black rhinestone.

For the sentiment, I white heat embossed over black cardstock using the TE Hello Friend Stamp & Die set.

  • Thanks so much for stopping in today and I hope you’ll check out this challenge to see what the rest of the team has to inspire you with so you can play along too!

See you again tomorrow!

Challenges:

  1. Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
  2. 613 Avenue Create – Anything Goes with optional: splash of color
  3. Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
  4. Ally’s Angels – Anything Goes
  5. Crafter’s Cafe – Anything Goes optional: Female
  6. Double D – Springtime Flowers

March AJ Page-Favorites

Hello friends!  Here we are again at the end of another month!  Although I’ve been really busy this past week, I think I’m ready for March to be over with!  Mainly because of this crazy weather and another because I’ve been busy doing things other than crafting! LOL  (Must be time for that organizing…er as I like to say “agonizing”!)

Today is our monthly AJ page with my crafty friend Carol (from Crafty-Stamper) who is collaborating with me to “SMASH OUR STASH”! 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 “Favorite Things”: 

I’m sure you might’ve guessed that one of my favorite things to do is obvious on this page!  (This craft room actually looks a bit more organized than mine is currently!)  I did have so much fun with this one!  I’ve used SO many of my favorite things on here:  old stamps, mixed company favorite stamps, foiling, heat embossing, coloring (Copics and watercolor), ink blending, die cutting, fussy cutting, using old paper stash, mix of papers, favorite colors, the subject of stamping, my favorite room, wearing sweats, crafting while sun going down, etc, etc, etc.  Honestly, this was easy, but it could be because I enjoyed putting it together.

For the background:  I used a standard white cardstock base measuring 5.5″x8.5″ and then took some very old Stampin’ Up! paper (Porcelain Prints) to cover the entire size so that I could get the look of wallpaper.  I then used some textured woodgrain cardstock from my stash for the floor, the window and the shelves.  (The shelves were popped up with a foam strip)  I die cut a scallop border in white for the trim above the floor and also die cut a frame for the wall hanging.  The sentiment for the wall hanging was gold heat embossed and placed behind the frame. (I sponged some white clouds in there too.)  The border at the top was printed off my computer and I used another scallop border die to cut it out.  I sponged some brown ink around the edges of the page and added all of the elements.

The stamper girl image was from an old company called “Hambo Stamps” (went out of business several years ago), but I think it’s so cute and funny!  This is where the gold embossed sentiment came from as well.   Had fun coloring her up with my watercolor pens.

For the window, I used the Taylored Expressions Foil It-Dreamscapes along with the coordinating stencils that I received from Virtual Stamp Joy earlier this month.  (I will share my projects in another post later on.)  I also used the TE Arch Windowpanes die set to cut out a frame in the woodgrain cardstock over one of the ink blended panels.

And lastly, the little crafty items on the shelves and floor came from the Lawn Fawn Just Add Glitter stamps & dies.  I stamped and colored those up with Copics to place on the shelves.  I also thought it would be fun to add some glitter spilling from the gold glitter bottle and dumping onto the floor…always a fun thing to happen in the craft room while you ignore it because you’re so intently working on something!

All this page did for me was to remind me that I really need to do more organizing!  I hope you’ve enjoyed my page today and take a hop on over to see Carol’s inspiration too!   Thanks so much for stopping in today!

(P.S.  I’m currently away and it will be a few days before I can reciprocate your comments, but I truly appreciate your kind words of support.)

Challenges:

  1. Art Journal Journey – Home Sweet Home
  2. Anything Goes in a Card Free Zone – March (no cards)

Sending Love Using My Stash

Hello friends!  Just popping in with a quick post to share a card I’ve made for a few challenges.

This year, I’m going to try and “shop my stash” instead of buying and buying and buying all the things.  YES…I know it’s easier said than done, but I’ve joined a fellow crafter that I’ve known for a long time to join in her monthly challenge prompts in her group on FB  (This & That With Danni’s Dreams) to help keep me motivated in spending less.  I’m sure she’d love you to join her, so check it out.  Her monthly prompts are from her “Use Your Stash” challenges that she just started this year.

Her themes/prompts for January 2025:  gnome(s), embossing folder, border die/punch, heart(s) and 12×12 paper.  (You can choose one, several or all.)  Here’s the card that I’ve made “Using My Stash” with ALL of the prompts:

I think gnomes are cute and I happen to have several stamps, so it was no problem finding one of those!  I’ve used an older gnome set from Whimsy Stamps Gnome One Like You.  I colored him up with Copics, but I fussy cut out the gnome and the heart balloon to pop up over the image on the circle that I’ve stenciled some pink clouds on.

The background has an older Sizzix embossing folder not sure of the name, but it’s a 3D embossing folder with hearts piled up.  The embossing folder and hearts was another two of her prompts.  I splattered some gold watercolor over the background before placing it over an A2 sized top folding cream card base.  I also used a corner chomper to round the edges of the right two corners.

I’ve used some very old 12×12 papers from Stampin’ Up! called “Fan Fare”.  I hoarded it for a long time and even wrote the coordinating colors on the back of the package!  It’s high time to use some of it up…even if it’s a small strip!  I’ve also taken the Whimsy Stamps Basic Border dies (not available any more) to cut a mirror gold strip along the edge of the papers. (The remaining of her other prompts used.)

I gold heat embossed the sentiment from the stamp set over a piece of the cream cardstock.  I cut it out with a banner die and sponged some light pink ink around the edges.  Lastly, I covered the heart balloon with a glitter pen and added a couple of tiny sequin hearts around the gnome.

I had a great time pulling out items from my stash and it felt good to be using them!  I certainly plan on doing more of these every month!  So stay tuned for more posts to help “Use Your Stash”!  Thanks so much for dropping in!  See you again soon!

Challenges:

  1. Freshly Made Sketches – #FMS668
  2. Creative Friday – #376 altrosa (Old pink)
  3. Crafty Calendar – Add a Die Cut
  4. Stamping Sensations – Anything Goes optional:  hand colored image

Christmas Florals for Sparkles Monthly Challenge!

Hello friends!  I hope you’re having a great month so far and looking forward to a great weekend ahead!  I know it’s starting to get “crunch time” with the Holidays quickly approaching us in a few weeks, so it’s time to get those Holiday cards finished up and sent out!  

Today starts the November challenge over at Sparkles Monthly and for this month, our hostess is asking to see Christmas Florals on your project.  Be sure to stop by the blog to see what the rest of the team has created for you.  Here’s my project for this challenge:

When I saw this challenge, I knew what I wanted to pull out to play with right away!  I’ve pulled out the beautiful Taylored Expressions Scattered Holiday Blooms Bundle. I also wanted to use the Scattered Holiday Blooms Foil Panels which I foiled in gold.

After I foiled the panel, I used the coordinating layered stencils to go over it.  I was almost thinking that I might not want to cut the panel out after blending it because I liked it so much, but I wanted to try out the die that cuts each of the blooms out.  I love that the center of the large poinsettias has an extra cut in the center to lift up the edges too.  I ended up layering two of the poinsettias together for each one for even more dimension.  I layered some of the leaves around them and they were popped up over the card with foam tape again.

For the background of the card, I used the TE Sketched Plaid embossing folder over a toffee cardstock.  I took some gold ribbon and wrapped it around the two corners with the top one in a bow.  I then attached this over a white top folding A2 card base.  I used my corner chomper to round the corners of the base and toffee card panel.

Lastly, I die cut the “JOY” letters in white and gold mirror cardstock and attached them by slightly off-setting them before placing on the card front.  I added the holly to the “O” and a few more of the tiny blooms that were cut out from the blended panel to finish off the card.

  • I hope you’ve enjoyed my card today or have been inspired to get those holiday makes going by joining in the challenge with us this month!  I look forward to seeing what you create!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I’ll see you soon!

Challenges:

  1. Creative Friday – #372 Christmas
  2. Crafty Catz – #682 Anything Goes with optional: ribbon/twine
  3. Pammies’ Inky Pinkies – PIP2445 Anything Goes
  4. Krafty Chicks – #742 Christmas
  5. Just Us Girls – #753 Word Week:  JOY
  6. Crafts Galore Encore – #129 Anything Goes
  7. Love to Craft – #83 Anything Goes
  8. Merry Little Christmas – #59 Anything Goes Christmas
  9. Let’s Craft & Create – Anything Goes with optional: use a bow

Thankful for Fall, Pumpkins and Coffee!

Hey friends!  Just poppin’ in with another card I made and wanted to get it in before the deadline ends…which I normally don’t always do!😁

I have been playing along (with the exception of the last few years) with the Coffee Loving Papercrafters “Coffee Lovers Blog Hop” which has been going on since 2014!  It’s hard to believe it’s been around that long, but looking back at the posts that were shared recently for “a look back”, I had a different blog platform and there I was playing along 10 years ago!  Really appreciate all of the fun that Amy has provided to us through the years as well as the many sponsors that have been apart of it.

I’ve pulled out some stamp sets from one of the sponsors (Newton’s Nook) new and older from my stash in honor of this occasion:

That is the cutest cup of Pumpkin Spice Latte that I’ve ever seen!  I’ve used the NN Newton’s Mug stamp set with coordinating die to stamp, color and cut him out.  He was popped up with foam tape over the background.  For the pumpkin image on top of the mug, I’ve used an older NN stamp set called “Love a La Carte” (No longer available).  I just stamped, colored and fussy cut the image to place over the mug.  I also added some gold glitter on the heart above it.

For the background:  I cut a piece of paper with the NN Frameworks die set and pulled out some watercolors for the background and then splattered some gold after the background was dry.  I layered this over the brown cardstock.  I also used a piece of that brown cardstock to white heat emboss the sentiment which came from an older STAMPtember collaboration set with NN called “Talk Turkey“.  I cut it out with a banner die and attached it to the side of the scallop panel.  The leaves under the mug and over the watercolor panel were from the NN Autumn Mice stamp set and coordinating dies.  

I was trying to also follow along with a fun sketch from the Inky Paws Challenge (see below) and so I’ve pulled out some more papers from the NN Coffee House Stories paper pad that I thought went with the coloring on my cup and attached it to an A2 top folding brown card base.  I also added a strip of gold glitter paper to bring out the touch of glitter on the tiny heart above the pumpkin.

  • That’s it for today!  I hope you’ve enjoyed my coffee card or have been inspired to create something fun too!  I’m off to check out all the other entries for more inspiration!  Have a wonderful weekend ahead!

Challenges:

  1. Coffee Loving Papercrafters – #fallwinter2024clh 2024 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop using coffee, tea, cocoa, and/or apple cider
  2. Inky Paws Challenge – #234 sketch
  3. Double Trouble – #179 Lotsa Layers
  4. Inspiration Station – #67 inspirational photo (the coffee, leaves and pumpkin inspired me)
  5. Crafty Animals Anything Goes + animal
  6. Critter Crazy Anything Goes with a Featured Critter
  7. Inkspirational – #328 Layer It (layered leaves and panels)
  8. Shopping Our Stash – #534 Time for a Hot Drink

Mix it Up With Paper Piecing!

**THIS IS POST TWO OF TWO FOR TODAY!  SCROLL BELOW TO SEE MY POST FOR THE GDT CREATIVE ARTISTE.  THANK YOU!**

Hello friends and a happy November!  I think that the last two months completely flew by and here we are getting closer to the end of the year…what?!  I hope that you look forward to happy times ahead and lots of crafting fun too!  I’m thankful you’re here with me, so let’s get this month started.

Today begins a new challenge over at the Mix It Up Challenge Blog and it’s always “Anything Goes with an optional theme“.  The optional theme this time is “Paper Piecing“! (This challenge is open for 6 weeks, so you have plenty of time to enter!)  Here’s what I came up with using this theme:

I absolutely love the look of quilts, but I like to keep my making of quilts done with paper!  So I thought this theme would be great for making a quilt pattern design for Christmas.  I normally paper piece stamped images, but I wanted to do something different this time and pull out more stash items and use them!

Several months ago, I purchased a card kit from Taylored Expressions called “Pieced Patterns” and I loved the concept of cut out squares attached over a “map” to follow along on how/where to place the squares.  It’s really easy to piece different colors/patterns together to make a design.  Some squares were also cut diagonal and I stamped a tone on tone pattern over some of the squares before they were cut out.  Then they were placed over the “map” design and cut out with a square die.  I also cut the stitched scallop frame to go around the square pattern.  I die cut a white snowflake twice to layer in the center of the pattern and added a red gem in the middle of it.

I attached the paper pieced pattern over a white card front that was cut with the Taylored Expressions Pierced Lattice Cutting Plate that was then attached to a top folding A2 white card base.  For the sentiment, I white heat embossed it from the Taylored Expressions Jingle All the Way stamp set and cut it out with the coordinating die.  It was popped up at the bottom with thin foam tape.

I can see this might be fun with several different squares cut out ahead of time to place over the different “map” designs to create multiple design patterns ready for cards!  It’s just a matter of taking the time to cut out all of the squares.


I have decided to create a “bonus” card using the same “paper piecing” technique, but with a stamped image this time…as we all need more Christmas cards, right?!  

For this card, I pulled out an older card kit from my stash (2016) and used the Doodlebug pattern papers that was included with the kit.  The papers are too cute not to use and hoarding them is not a good idea! 

I stamped the tree onto a stitched white rectangle, then stamped the tree, star and banner over some of the pattern paper, carefully cut it out and attached it to the stamped tree and white panel.  Before I attached the stamped pattern pieces, I used my Copics to color in the tree stump and outline around the tree.  I also added some details to the pattern pieces for shading as well.

 The banner was popped up with foam tape and I attached all the layers together over a top folding red A2 card base. All the cardstock/papers were included in the kit. I’ve added some red rhinestones on the tree where the ornaments were to finish it off.

Anyway, hope you’ve enjoyed all of my projects today and I hope you will take some time to check out the challenge blog to see what the other talented designers have made.  I look forward to seeing what you make!  Have a great day!

Challenges:

  1. Inkspirational – #327 Seasonal (Winter/Christmas) 
  2. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2443 Anything Goes
  3. Cardz 4 Galz – #237 Showcase Your Patterned Paper (second card)
  4. Crafty Catz – #681 Anything Goes with optional twist: use dies/punches (top card, but dies used on both of them!)
  5. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – #240 Anything Goes
  6. Penny’s Paper Crafty – #583 Anything Goes Using Paper

October Art Journal-A Strange Feeling

Hello friends! **THIS IS A PRE-SCHEDULED POST AS I’M AWAY AT A STAMP RETREAT!!** 

The weather is finally starting to cool down now and we’ve finished cleaning the yard to prepare for winter months to follow soon.  Halloween will also be here in a few days, so I thought it would be fun to make my page today with that in mind!

Today is 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” October prompt of ODD/Oddities” (anything unusual or strange): 

I don’t know if this is considered odd to anyone else, but I certainly do!  This weird scientist looking guy has a strange facial expression as he’s holding up a head in the bottle!  I’ve put so many details in this page that I thought you’d need to see close-up photos below.

For my background:  Starting with a 5.5″ x 8.5″ heavy watercolor paper with pre-punched holes at the top for binding later, I sprayed the background with mica sprays in Hocus Pocus, Jack-O-Lantern and Flickering Candle.  I sprayed some extra water over top to get them to blend together as they seem very concentrated and they didn’t move much over the watercolor paper after spraying a few times.  I took a leaves stencil inked over places with light brown ink.  I then ink blended the edges with black ink and stamped some lettering stamped randomly.  Lastly, I splattered with black and gold watercolor. 

Upon a closer look at the bottom:  I needed an area for shelves to hold the potion bottles, so I took some Tim Holtz Halloween collage paper and attached it with matte medium.  It crinkled a bit, but I sort of liked that look.  I then found some decorative strips in my stash and added those for the “shelves”.  The crow and “curious” ephemera was also found with all of my Tim Holtz Halloween stash….along with the paper doll “guy”.  I cut off a head from one of them to place inside the jar.  I added some thin metal wire around the jar and cut a slit in the guy’s hand to make it look like he’s holding it.  I also added a bit of color to the guy’s flower and bow tie on his jacket outfit with markers.  BEFORE popping up the paper doll guy to the page, I ripped some black cardstock for the ground underneath him and tucked in the bones.

For the Bottles:  I used a Taylored Expressions “If You Dare” Stamp & Stencil set to make all of the bottles.  I also used the TE “If You Dare Halloween Labels” to foil and cut out to place over each jar.  To die cut some extra “strange things” to put inside a few of the jars and the bones at the bottom, I die cut pieces from the TE “Little Bits Cauldron Confetti” dies.  (The die cut bats from this were also used on the top of the page.)  For more finishing details, I doodled in some of the jars and then added some colored glitter/sparkle and pearl drops for the inside contents.  If you look closely at the crow’s eye, you can see I’ve added a tiny dot of yellow sparkle.  Some of the details were popped up and some were just glued down.

A closer look at the top:  Mostly die cut pieces were used at the top and the first I put down was the spider web and spider from Whimsy Stamps called Spiders and Webs…they’re huge!  (this store is so good at spooky things!)  I drew a line with a black marker from the spider to the web.  For the window, I die cut it out from a really old Mama Elephant die I’ve had in my stash…not sure if it’s still available.  BEFORE I placed the window down, I die cut the moon from the Lawn Fawn Shadow Box Halloween Add-On die set.  I blended in some yellow and gray  and covered it with a glitter sparkle pen.  I added the die cut bats and placed the window over top.

Lastly, I took some Tim Holtz Halloween clippings word strips and added to the page.  I took a black marker and went around the strips above the paper doll “guy”.

I know there are people that are not Halloween fans or care for the spooky things, but I really enjoy the weirdness of it all and have fun making things with it!  In the words of Lydia from Beetlejuice:  “I myself am strange and unusual“.

Winona Ryder in a hat as Lydia in Beetlejuice

I do hope you’ve enjoyed my page today and I really appreciate you stopping by!  I will be back later with things we’re doing at the retreat!  See you soon!

Challenges:

  1. Art Journal Journey – Autumn Colors & Inspiration (Purple, orange, yellow and black!)

Mushrooms at Sparkles Monthly!

Hello friends!  I hope that your October has been a good for you!  We have just started seeing some cooler weather and even a bit of frost coming tomorrow night!  I also wanted to say thank you for your comments about my last post.  After having such a break, getting my crafting back on has been touchy.  I’m trying to get organized!😁

Today starts the October challenge over at Sparkles Monthly and for this month, our hostess is asking to see a mushroom(s) on your project.  Be sure to stop by the blog to see what the rest of the team has created for you.  Here’s my project for this challenge:

I really like how this one turned out!  I was trying to keep it in an Autumn feel with using these colors and adding leaves.  Everything I’ve used came from Lawn Fawn.

I started by cutting out the background panel, the leaves and the mushrooms in different colors of cardstock.  I sponged over the each of the pieces for dimension and shading and then splattered over top of them with brown and white paint.

I just attached all of the layers together that I thought was pleasing to my eye and then I white heat embossed the sentiment over the brown cardstock and cut out the banner and popped it up over the leaves with foam tape.  Lastly, I just added a few white gems for sparkle.

I hope you like my card today and has inspired you in some way to play along with us for the challenge this month!  I would to see your mushroom creations in the gallery!  I appreciate you stopping today!

Challenges:

  1. Penny’s Paper-Crafty – #582 Anything Goes Using Paper
  2. Just Us Girls – #748 Leaves
  3. Creative Friday – #370 Faux Stitching (in die cut background)
  4. Crafty Catz – #680 Anything Goes optional: Autumn Colors
  5. Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP2441 Anything Goes
  6. Four Seasons – Anything Goes Fall
  7. Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes
  8. The Paper Funday – #70 Anything Goes optional: Autumn