Gratitude

Challenges are so inspiring - I wish I had more time to participate in them! So it's time to play along with the biweekly Challenge #553 at Try Stampin' on Tuesday This challenge runs through Sunday, May 8, 2022. This is a sketch challenge with an option. The optional theme is "Things that Fly". I chose two flying insects - a bee and a moth because they are images found in the paper I used.

Onto a gray card base, I added a panel of teal cardstock followed by a panel of patterned paper. I thought this paper needed a little color so using a marker I touched up the centers of the flowers with yellow ink. I added additional coordinating patterned paper for the horizontal decoration at the bottom of the card front. The two flying insects were fussy cut and adhered with foam tape. The sentiment was stamped and die-cut then backed with an offset oval in coordinating yellow print paper. Foam tape was used to adhere the sentiment to the card and an enamel heart was affixed. The inside was lined with white cardstock and decorated with a yellow heart.

We look forward to seeing your creations at our TSOT Challenge #553. A new biweekly challenge begins every Tuesday morning so there is always an active challenge available to you.

Materials

Stamp: Pinkfresh Studios "Incredibly Grateful"

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black & Copic Alcohol Marker (Y15)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Smoky Slate & Lost Lagoon

Paper: Dare 2 B Artsy "Honey Bloomz" Collection

Die: Kat Scrappiness (oval)

Misc.: Illustrated Faith Enamel Hearts & foam tape

Grateful for Your Kindness

 
It's time to play along at Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #493. There are three required colors as seen on the color board below. Black, white and neutral colors are also permitted. You may use any brand of products but the colors should match closely.

I selected pink and orange cardstock and yellow dotted paper. First I cut the papers into strips of varying widths. Using score tape, I adhered the strips onto a small square of acetate, leaving a small space between the edges of each strip. Next, with a die, I cut a circle from the acetate. The butterfly was die-cut from black cardstock and adhered to the circle. I offset the circle, adhering with foam tape. I trimmed off the excess from the circle. To finish I added some black gems.

I hope you'll join us at the Color Dare Challenge Blog. A new biweekly challenge begins every Friday morning so there is always a challenge to try. This challenge runs through Thursday, May 5, 2022.

Materials

Stamp: Pinkfresh Studios "Incredibly Grateful"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Basic Black, Watermelon Wonder, Peach Parfait

Paper: from stash

Dies: Spellbinders (circle) & RCD (butterfly)

Misc.: SU! Acetate, Scrapbook.com score tape, black gems and foam tape from stash

Your Big Heart

Here it is again - the third Monday of the month and time for a Double Trouble Challenge. This is biweekly Challenge #108. As is customary, there are three "Things" to consider when you play along with our challenge.

Thing 1 (required): Trouble Maker needs to see a basic shaped frame on your project that has been cut from a die.

Thing 2 (optional): Double Dare knows you'll be happy to have used a die so you can link up with our partner, Dies R Us #191.

Thing 3 (optional): Twisted Sister would like you to celebrate Mother's Day or another special occasion with flowers and/or butterflies. I chose to create a thank you card.

I was in the mood to create a simple card from a sketch today. It's not CAS but it's basic. I selected an old sketch from the past and a few patterned papers from my stash. After embossing the front of my card base to add texture, I added a floral panel with a die-cut border in dotted yellow paper. The sentiment was stamped on white cardstock and die-cut using a scalloped frame, then matted with pink cardstock. The butterfly was punched from dotted yellow paper and adhered to the sentiment frame. This was added to the card with foam tape. A few pearls were added to the butterfly and the sentiment. The inside of the card was lined with white cardstock and decorated with a pink punched butterfly.

We hope you'll join us at the DTC108 Blog and the DRU191 Blog for our challenges. Double Trouble runs through Sunday evening, May 1, 2022, and Dies R Us runs through Thursday, April 28, 2022.

Materials

Stamp: Pinkfresh Studio "Incredibly Grateful"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Pretty in Pink & Lost Lagoon

Patterned Paper: from stash

Embossing Folder: SU! "Painted Texture"

Punch: SU! "Itty Bitty Butterfly"

Dies: Lawn Fawn (scalloped border) & Waffle Flower ("Lacy Layers 2")

Misc.: Pearls and foam tape from stash

What a Day!

Thank you for visiting my blog! Today begins a new biweekly challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday. This is Challenge #551 and runs through Sunday, April 24, 2022. This time we're challenging you to select the following sketch OR to create a project with photographs OR to combine both elements. I used only the sketch but I think this would be a great layout to use for a scrapbook page.

I used a stamp set of Newton (the cat) enjoying his day. There are 16 small stamps showing Newton engaging in various activities. The stamps fit the squares nicely. I selected four - Newton exercising in the morning, then practicing his guitar in the afternoon, and finally reading at bedtime. The stamped images were colored to resemble my cat named Taffy, and then fussy cut. Inside the card, I lined the black card base with white cardstock and added Newton enjoying a burger. Whew! What a day for Newton! I added a little color to the patterned paper by using a Copic marker to color the little fish.

We welcome you to try our challenges. A new biweekly challenge opens every Tuesday so there is always one underway. Visit our TSOT#551 Blog for our sketches and guidelines.

I also added my card to the April challenge at Two Crafty Critter Crazies #61.

Materials

Stamps: Newton's Nook "Newton Makes Plans"

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black & Copic Alcohol Markers

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Basic Black, Real Red, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Ballet Blue

Paper: SU! DSP "Playful Pets"

Dies: Rubbernecker (stitched rounded-corner squares) & Sizzix (sentiment)

Misc.: Foam tape

Adventure Awaits

Thank you for visiting my blog. Feel free to browse. I needed some inspiration for my nephew's birthday card. He's a grown man and enjoys several hobbies, one of which is hunting so using the sketch from this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #467, I decided to go for a masculine, "woodsy" vibe. 

I looked through my paper stash and found this old paper collection. The vertically aligned triangles reminded me of fir trees. I layered a panel of cardstock and the panel of fir trees onto a vanilla card base. A piece of coordinating patterned paper was added for the horizontal panel across the center of the card front. For the tilted panel, paper with a woodgrain pattern was selected. Using punches, I created three trees and a moose. I added the moose then sponged the edges of the trees with ink and popped them up with foam tape. The ricrac trim was added to mimic mountains and the sentiment was also added. The inside was decorated with coordinating paper.

I waited until the last minute to play along with AHSC #467, so there isn't much time left for this sketch. Their weekly challenges begin every Monday morning so be sure to visit their blog for future sketches.

Materials

Stamps: Computer generated

Ink: Stampin' Up! Bermuda Bay

Cardstock: SU! Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Bermuda Bay, Cajun Craze

Paper: SU! DSP from stash (name unknown) & In Good Taste (woodgrain)

Die: MFT (ricrac)

Punches: SU! (Moose & Pine Tree)

Misc.: Foam tape

Butterfly Burst

Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #491 is up on the blog. This biweekly challenge runs through Thursday, April 21, 2022. Below is the inspiration photo from which you can select three colors of your choice. Black and white are free colors. You may use additional colors as long as they are present in the photo. I used a variety of colors.

The design was die-cut from white card stock and the ink was added with brushes. I wanted to use silver foil as the background for the butterflies but silver is not a permitted color. Instead, I went with white glittered cardstock and adhered the butterfly panel to it. Next, I adhered the panel to a white card base and added a few gems. The inside was decorated with butterflies punched from glittered cardstock. I decided not to add a sentiment at this time.

We invite you to join us at Color Dare Challenge #491. Our challenges are biweekly. We have a new challenge beginning every Friday morning and running for two weeks so there is always an active challenge to try.

Materials

Inks: DOX Dusty Concord, Salty Ocean, Lucky Clover, Spiced Marmalade & Picked Raspberry

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White & Glittered (white) 

Die: RCD "Butterfly Burst" (w/stitching)

Punch: SU! "Itty Bitty Butterfly" (inside of card)

Misc.: Gems from stash

Celebrate His Love - Easter

Although the "official" first day of spring was March 20, I always think of Easter as the beginning of spring. Easter falls on April 17 this year and while I was making my family's Easter cards, I came upon a frame die that I thought would work for my simple scene at Double Trouble Challenge #107 - and it had two bunnies!

Double Trouble Challenges are always comprised of three "Things":

Thing 1 (required): Trouble Maker has asked us to watch a YouTube video. Click HERE to see it. Cute - right? We're hoping you are inspired to create a simple scene using the KISS method. (Keep It Simple, Stamper.) An Easter theme is not required but you are free to use Easter if you wish. All you really need is a simple scene to earn a chance in our random draw.

Thing 2 (optional): Double Dare is suggesting we partner with Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #541. Isn't their cupcake photo (below) cute? Check out their guidelines and if you link your card to their challenge, you will earn another chance in our random draw.

Thing 3 (optional): Twisted Sister is all excited about hopping down the Bunny Trail, so include at least one rabbit on your project and you will be eligible for another chance in our random draw.

A scrap of pretty paper provided the background. I brushed on a little ink to enhance the colors to resemble an Easter sunrise scene. The frame was die-cut from purple cardstock and adhered to the scene panel. I wanted the bunnies to stand out so using the original die I cut just the rabbits from a tiny scrap of white cardstock, added eyes, touched up the nose and ears with a pink marker then overlaid them onto the purple die-cut panel. To finish, I adhered the completed panel to a white card base and added a sentiment. As is customary, I decorated the inside of the card with additional coordinating paper.

We welcome you to our biweekly DTC107 challenge and hope you will link up with CIC541, too.

Materials

Stamp: Computer generated sentiment

Inks: Stampin' Up! Highland Heather & Crushed Curry

Cardstock: SU! Basic White & Pale Plum

Paper: Lavinia (scraps from stash)

Die: RCD (Forest Scene)