Grateful & Encouraged

Hello friends! It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow for us in the United States and I’d like to send a heartfelt Thanksgiving greeting to you all! I would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone for your kindness and friendship. I’m very grateful for you and encouraged by your support!

I’ve been working on several things and haven’t spent the time to photograph and share everything yet, but I will be sharing soon. In the meantime, I’d like to share a few projects that I’ve made in lieu of the Thanksgiving holiday:

I don’t normally send Thanksgiving cards, but it’s a great way to say thank you to someone that hosted a dinner or brought something to share or just spend time with you! That is the ONLY turkey stamp I own! The stamp set is called “Sassy Thanksgiving” by CZ Designs at Simon Says Stamp. I thought the sentiments in it were too cute and funny. You certainly could make this any type of thank you as well.

This is also a fancy/fun fold card called a “Swing Easel Card”. I found a tutorial using a vertical style on You Tube here – SWING EASEL TUTORIAL (I also used the same detail of embossing an additional panel with leaves and went over the texture with some gold paste.)

I made another panel for the center area and ink blended some blue that faded out and then splattered some gold paint over it. I then layered it over a piece of gold that fits in the center panel of the easel. I gold heat embossed the large sentiment and cut it out with the die. It was popped up over the leaves. I also cut an additional strip with the gold for the “catcher” of the front panel of the easel card. I added the turkey and leaves along with the stamped sentiment on the inside bottom.

Autumn is my favorite time of the year and I enjoy using the colors and images in the cards I make, so here’s more that I’ve made:

I’ve made a couple of encouragement cards to send out to some people and I’ve used a favorite card kit from my stash by Taylored Expressions. The images come from the stamp set Wheatfield Dreams. I’ve used an oval die and oval mask to do some ink blending and just cut out the colored image to pop them over top. Both sentiments were copper heat embossed.

I kept the backgrounds simple with the one on the left stamped with a background stamp from TE and the other was cut out with a wonky stitch die and layered over a green card base.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my creations, and I am so grateful you’ve chosen to stop by!❤️

Challenges:

Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – Anything Goes
Crafting Happiness – Thanksgiving/Harvest #148
Four Seasons – Fall Season
The Crafty Addicts – Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore – Anything Goes

Thanksgiving Cuteness

Hello! Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow for my U.S. friends! Just wanted to pop in here to share this fun little card I made to help me get into the Thanksgiving mood and I needed a bit of a giggle which is what I was doing as I colored these fun critters:

Aren’t these guys hilarious?! This is one of the stamp sets that was released during the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember event this year and of course if you recognize the critters, then you know it was designed by Newton’s Nook. The stamp set is called “Talk Turkey” and was only available during this event. I don’t make very many Thanksgiving cards, but when I saw this stamp set come out, it just had me giggling and so I nabbed it up! I think I would certainly enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner with this crew!

For the card, I ink blended the background with the distress inks: Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey and Scattered Straw. I spritzed with water and dried the splotches with a towel. (I’ve done the same method with the sentiment strip too.) I then used some black and white paint to splatter over it and set aside to dry.

While waiting for the panel to dry, I colored up all of the images with my Copics. I’ve added some gold and white gel pen marks in certain places and then I fussy cut them all out leaving a white border around them.

I took a strip of green cardstock and die cut a grassy border and attached to the background panel. I cut both of these layers out with a stitched scallop die and then cut out the black embossed sentiment with a banner die. I then arranged all of the images where I wanted them and glued them down. I took the banner and popped it up with foam tape. I added the leaves and covered them with a glitter brush pen for a bit of sparkle. I attached all of these layers to a white A2 card base and cut off the sentiment strip along the edge.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my card today and it made you smile! Thanks for dropping by!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving with love, laughter and lots of thankfulness in your heart. 🦃

CHALLENGES:

Aud Sentiments – Anything Goes + sentiment.
Creative Knockouts – Anything Goes
Colour Crazy Craft – Anything Goes with coloring
Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – Anything Goes
Shopping Our Stash – Triple Threat (3 of something- I used 3 different dies, 3 critters, 3 leaves)

Choose to be Grateful for Crafty Chefs

Hello friends! I hope that you’re having a wonderful week so far! The weekend is here, but it sure has been a beautiful couple of days this week with sunny and warm days so hubby and I were able to go out to walk around a bit before the snow starts hitting us!

Something that is great to go out in nature to see are the critters with the birds and the silly squirrels…we have them EVERYWHERE! They’re busy gathering and burying their food for wintertime around here. My thoughts turned to the Simon Says Stamp “Big Thanks Autumn” November card kit (sold out, but not papers) as I love all things Fall/Autumn and this card kit with those beautiful papers spoke to me and I wanted to create with it to make my project for this month’s Crafty Chef’s Group recipe from our lovely friend Meg’s recipe:

There were some blue colored A2 card bases already cut and scored inside the kit, so I used one for my side folding card base here and then layered a dark brown cardstock piece from the kit as well as a piece of copper mirrored cardstock which was then layered over a piece of the decorative papers (I mentioned above) in the kit, which is also where the critter, mushrooms and leaves images came from on this card.

The leafy background paper was cut from a MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle Die and then I took a strip of the copper mirrored cardstock across the bottom third of the layered pieces and also added some twine wrapped around the bottom of the layers before popping them up with craft foam over the card base. I die cut a branch from a die in my stash and then fussy cut the images out from the papers included in the kit which were glued or popped up with foam squares over the panel. I sponged some Tea Stain Distress Ink around the edges of these pieces before attaching.

Lastly, I’ve taken one of the sentiments from the sentiment strips sheet included in the kit and ran it through my laminator with a piece of copper Deco Foil. (I think that is a cool way to add a little extra something to those sentiments.) I made a banner out of it, sponged it with some of the ink I used for the images and popped it up over the leafy background piece with foam tape.

Here’s a closer look at the critters I’ve cut out and how I’ve arranged and popped some of them up to create my scene. There was also a very pretty SSS Autumn Sequins Mix included in the kit, and I took some of those and added it to the layout and then filled the centers with some gold Stickles glue.

For the Crafty Chef’s recipe that was given, here’s what I MUST use:

Mirror cardstock
3 layers or more
ribbon (I hope my twine counts!)
image of garden visitors (birds, hedgehogs, etc)

CAN do items:

Sparkle/Glitter (I used sequins and Stickles)
pearls/gems (I did not use) *passed onto next chef.
dry embossing (I did not use)

There is a new recipe given for each month and no pressure to follow along or even when you want to follow along and play…which is great and I’m happy to be able to use up some of the goodies from my stash (NEW AND OLD) and just have fun with it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my creation today as well and I will be seeing you all again soon! Thanks so much for stopping in today friend, as I’m very grateful for you!

Challenges:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies – Anything Goes + animal(s)
Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal(s)
Creatalicious – #199 Anything Goes optional Autumn/Thanksgiving
The Paper Girls – #212 Thankful/Grateful
The Divas That Cut Paper – Thanks or Thanksgiving
A Bit More Time to Craft – #128 Anything Goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – #146 Anything Goes
QKR Stampede – #408 Anything Goes

Happy Thanksgiving with Gold at Cute Card Thursday!

Happy Thanksgiving! (For those that celebrate the Holiday) I will be busy today visiting with my family and having dinner. I look forward to seeing my boys as it’s been a few months without seeing them! So it will be fun!

Today starts up a brand new challenge over at Cute Card Thursday and the theme for this week is “GOLD!” Really fun and versatile metallic to use in your creations, so I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with for this!

In conjunction with the Thanksgiving Holiday today, I thought my creation for this week’s challenge needed to reflect that:

Vicki-CCT610-BMGold

Since the main goal of the challenge is using gold, I kept the main focus on doing that, plus there are a couple of challenges going on that helped me figure out how to put it all together. (see bottom of post for challenges.)

I have pulled out a stamp set called Plaid Tidings and used a plaid foilable toner sheet for the strip in the background.

I started out with an A2 sized top folding white card base and used a Darice embossing folder to emboss the leaves over the kraft background panel. I took the toner printed plaid sheet and Gold Static Foil Transfer sheets and layered it over a piece of Bazzil Gold Mirror Cardstock and another piece of white cardstock. I attached this to the embossed background.

For the background panel and the cut out leaves, I’ve used the “Kissing Technique” to add the plaid image over the leaves. I sponged around this panel along with the leaves with some kraft colored ink and attached the white panel to another piece of the gold mirror cardstock. I’ve added some gold ribbon around it and used some foam tape to pop it up a bit.

Here’s a closer view at some of the details in my card design. (You can better see the foiling done over the plaid with that Gold Static foil!)

For the sentiment, I heat embossed it over white cardstock with some Gilded Embossing Powder. I die cut it out with a circle die and sponged some more kraft colored ink around this and then attached it to another circle layer of the gold mirror cardstock.

I attached this over the square leaves and ribbon panel and added a gold ribbon bow at the top of it. To finish it off I added some gold sequins filled with Ranger Gold Stickles.

Vicki-CCT610-BMGold-flat

Hope you’ve enjoyed my GOLD Thanksgiving card today!

Have a beautiful day! I’m thankful today for my wonderful family and lovely crafty friends that I have right here! I appreciate you being here with me!

Challenges:

Try Stamping On Tuesday – TSOT436 sketch
Daring Cardmakers – Natural, Gold and White
Shopping Our Stash – SOS409 So Thankful
Stamp, Ink, Paper– SIP206 Thankful
Crafter’s Castle – Anything goes November
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP1947 Anything Goes

Caring Thoughts Wreath

Hello friends! Sorry to be throwing so many posts out to you at once, but as you can see there are so many exciting things going on the first of the month and I’m happy to be sharing it with you!

I have come up with an easel card design that I’ve created using the digital set called Memory in Our Hearts:

Vicki-SnS-MemoryinOurHearts-OctGDT

The great advantage to using a digital set is that they come with pre-colored images as well as outlined images to create many different looks you’re wanting. In addition to that, you can also manipulate the size and structure of your image as I have done with my card here. (This is a great way to come up with a unique design too!)

I have taken some of the pre-colored “sprigs” in the fall theme color and sized and moved them around in a Word doc. to create my own Fall wreath with it! I then added the beautiful sentiment to the center and placed where I wanted it and then printed it out along with a couple more sprigs that you see on the inside of this design.

Vicki-SnS-MemoryinOurHearts-OctGDT1

To step things up a notch, I’ve used a protractor to draw a circle around my wreath image as well as a larger circle for a mat behind it and fussy cut them out. (I didn’t have a circle die large enough to accommodate my wreath image.) I took my ink blending tool and some Tea Dye and Vintage Photo distress inks to add some color around the edges. Since I made a Fall wreath design, I wanted to add some glitter to the leaves. So, I took the Nuvo Precision glue pen and added some glitter over them. For the “berries”, I took some Ripened Pumpkin Nuvo Crystal Drops in random areas around the leaves. I made a bow with some natural twine and added it to the top of the wreath. (I did this same process for the smaller “sprigs” on the inside of the card as well.)

Vicki-SnS-MemoryinOurHearts-OctGDT2

For my card design, I have made an “easel style” card (more on that below). My card size is a 5 1/2″ square. I have used the same cardstock color that I’ve used to print out my wreath image and separated it in two panels to fit on the front of my card base. I took an embossing folder from my stash to add some texture to my design and also used the distress inks again to add some color around the edges. I used glue to add some “dots” in the corners and then sprinkled some “Autumn Medley” glitter over them and let it dry. I have also taken some 1/4″ Tear Tape to the middle edges of the card base and burnished some of this same “Autumn Medley” glitter to that. I think it really brings in that pretty Fall color theme with some added sparkle!

Vicki-SnS-MemoryinOurHearts-OctGDT3

And for the inside of my card, you can see that those extra “sprigs” that I’ve printed and cut out create an easel style “stopper/display” function for my card design. It’s easy to create this look with a score mark made in the center of the card front base as you can see with the circle wreath shown fully.

I have used some of the same-colored cardstock as the printed-out wreath for the inside of my card with some more distress inks along the edges as well as another strip of 1/4″ Tear Tape along the bottom edge burnished with some more of that “Autumn Medley” glitter. I’ve used some foam tape to pop up the “sprig” cut out images so that they create the “stopper” for the front card base to rest while being displayed.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed my interactive card today and I look forward to sharing many more projects with you during my guest design spot!

Thanks so much for stopping in today my friends! Please be sure to check out my earlier posts from today! See you soon!

challenges:

{Cupcake Inspirations} CIC457 – Fall
Try It On Tuesday – Thankful

Just A Girl and Her Pumpkin

Hello friends! Wow, I think Fall has begun over my way as the air has changed with cooler temperatures and I absolutely LOVE it! 🙂 Although I’ve been busy crafting away in my room, I like to get outdoors for a few breaks to walk around and see signs of the leave starting to change over.

Today, I am over at the Whimsy Stamps Inspiration blog to share my card with you using one of the really adorable images from this month’s release called “A Girl and Her Pumpkin” digital stamp by Crissy Armstrong:

Vicki-WSGirlPumpkin-Sept25-blogpost

Isn’t she adorable?! I really enjoyed coloring her up with my Copic markers. As I was coloring, it actually reminded me of going to a near-by apple orchid with my children as they were growing up. I would take photos of them with all of the pumpkins surrounding them as they would pick out which one they wanted to carve for Halloween. (My oldest was not a fan of “pumpkin guts” and so we always ended up doing that part for him! LOL!) But it must have made an impression with them because they still enjoy going as adults now! Besides, what’s better than apple cider donuts and freshly picked apples?! YUM!

So, after the reminiscing of memories, I cut her out with the WS Hand Stitched Nested Rectangles along with the card front base and attached to a white A2 sized top folding card base. For the sentiment, I took a piece of vellum and heat embossed a greeting from the WS Painted Sayings stamp set and I also took some of the splatter images from the same set and stamped them randomly in the background with white ink.

Before attaching the image panels onto the card, I’ve added some gold ink around the edges, attached some leaves behind it and popped it up with foam tape. The piece of vellum was hand cut into a banner and folded around card base and attached with glue behind the letters to hide it. I then put some burlap ribbon around the card front base as well as the image panel, vellum banner and gold sequins filled with gold Stickles.

Here’s a closer view of the image and how she’s colored. You can also better see the gold inked edges. And of course, the photo didn’t pick it up, but I took some Wink of Stella clear glitter brush pen to go over the pumpkin with.

I’ve also used a cloud stencil to lightly sponge in a nice Fall sky behind her.

I think she would look so cute surrounded by a field of pumpkins…so there’s an idea! Maybe I’ll work on that for next time!

Thanks so much for stopping in today! I appreciate you taking the time! See you soon!

challenges: