myasperations 4-22-24

     This is my second entry into Sweet November Stamp‘s monthly FB challenge. After printing and coloring the digi (Emma Everfrost), I trimmed her from the cardstock, gently clipping her wings off in the process. I traced the wings onto two scraps of vellum, adding some length to the “insides” of the wings, allowing them to be easily taped to Emma’s back. (You'll need to cut out two separate wings in vellum. I tried to provide an example of the two sizes by outlining the smaller shape in pink, and the other shape, with the pretty tail, in aqua. (Sorry my outline is so messy, it is hard to use the on-line pencil to do that onto a photo!) adding the additional sections with light pastel dotted lines.) After trimming the two wings from the vellum, I added a layer of frosted window peel & stick to each of them, trimming the extra, then taping the bigger one in place first, then the smaller one so that it shows through the first. I did it wrong the first time, so am hoping this info will save you that trouble.)

Note- I'd found this glittery version of frosted window peel & stick at a hardware store years ago and love the touch of translucent fantasy the sparkly vellum wings add to the card!

     I’m entering my card into several other challenges including Park Hopping-My Happy Place, one of my favorite challenges as it has introduces me to many new amusement parks.( The little puff-ball owl in Emma’s hug reminds me of Harry Potters owl. So, this card honors Universal Studios Wizarding World of Harry Potter.)

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Sweet November Stamps (Emma Everfrost)

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Evergreen patterned paper- Hobby Lobby

·   Front Sentiment “Friends Warm the Heart” from Beccys Place (New Friends) (retired)

·   Inside Sentiment “Merry Christmas” from Eureka Digital Stamps (Currently Not Available)

·   Scrap of vellum and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Friends of Sweet November (FB) April (AG- Pink =2 entries)

{BYSHC} Spring into Christmas 2024 Linky Party        

Park Hopping-My Happy Place (April)       

Papercraft Challenges- Challenge #105 Fairies and other Mystical Beings

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends- #228

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday (Christmas)

     Starting to make cards for summer holidays. This digi from Fred She Said is a perfect fit for Mother’s Day. I love using front&back (F&B) images like this one for window cards… or those in which I create a shaped opening. In this case, an oval. I tried two different sizes of the digis and both turned out well with the same cut out oval shape (see photo).

    Here are a few things I’ve learned when working with F&B’s: 1) make sure they are the same height/width when positioning them on the paper so both sides will “line up” when taped within the opening. 2) select a sentiment that is small enough to not “stick out” behind the F&B image. (One reason I like digital images is I can change the size to fit the desired space.)

    I’m entering my card into several other challenges including Path Of Positivity: Power of Words: Love/Relationships (this Mother's Day card strongly speaks of love and relationships. In truth, I learned many lessons about love from watching my mom. She was one of the kindest and considerate people I've ever known!) 

Supplies: 

·   Digi and front sentiment- Fred She Said Digital Stamp (Emma With Sign)

The set comes with front & back digis of Emma holding a blank sign, plus signs with "You are a Blessing!", "Happy Birthday to You!", and "I Love You So Much!" plus a half sheet FULL of flowers (for just $3.50 US)

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Inside Sentiment- Freebie from LoveSVG (Click link and search for Happy Mothers Day to find current freebies)

·   Oval templates, patterned paper and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge: Love and Friendship 

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #643-644

Crafty Catz Challenge- Anything Goes #670

Colorful Options Monthly Challenge: April Pastels  

Path Of Positivity Challenge-  #120 Power of Words: Love/Relationships 

      This spring-themed card features two free digis from Beccy’s Place, two sentiments, plus other items from my stash. I like printing “wooden” items on kraft paper so I can add rich wood grain with markers. (When I want to age/weather the look of the wood, I also add a bit of white colored pencil and white gel pen to the pattern.) The original birdhouse digi features a bow, but I wanted a more primitive look, so I trimmed that off and instead framed the birdhouse base with several layers of pretty flowers that Beccy named “Mums Blossoms.” To add some depth and texture, I cut out the entrance hole, added woodgrain to a scrap of kraft and attached it to the back of the birdhouse with foam tape. I cut scraps from a paper bag into thin strips and pushed it down into the birdhouse, showing that nest building is already occurring! A few butterflies finish off the Spring theme card front. And a little pink heart adds color... and some depth of meaning... to the inside Easter sentiment. 
     I’m entering my card into several other challenges including Passion for Markers:Check It Out (the checked background is actually a scrap of lightweight cotton from my sweet mom’s fabric basket. Although she moved to her heavenly mansion many years ago, I still treasure being able to use a few of the items related to the crafts that gave her joy… sewing was one of them!) and Outlawz Sunday Challenge: Calling the Role (this poem is about the awakening of life in the Spring… three of my favorites are flowers, birds and butterflies!)

Supplies: 

·   Birdhouse Digi- Freebie from Beccy’s Place (Birdhouse with Bow) Printed on kraft cardstock

·   Flower Digis- Freebie from Beccy’s Place (Mum’s Blossoms) Printed on white cardstock

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Front Sentiment “Happy Day”- a freebie from maxammadestudio.com

·   Inside Sentiment- “Happy Easter” from Beccys Place digi set (Easter Joy)

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Beccy’s Place Challenge- April    Since I’m a Contributor for Beccy’s Place, I’m entering just for fun!

Outlawz Sunday Challenge- Calling the Role  

Outlawz Challenge- April 2024 Linky

Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #735: Check It Out 

The Paper Shelter- #592 April Showers Bring May Flowers

myasperations 4-20-24

     This month’s challenge at  Sheepski Designs  theme is “Anything Goes” and my DT card features a favorite of the work by artist Andrea Norris,  a Chameleon digi named, appropriately “Camouflage.” I used a free Paint.net program to layer the digi atop a color photo of skittles that I found on the web, then provided a bit of coloring, adding shading and highlights and on the candies, plus the appearance of reptile scales across the cuties back with a white gel pen. The sentiment, inspired by a meme I found on the web, was created with a fun font in my Word program.

    I’m entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge (my card features most of the colors on the wheel), Park Hopping-My Happy Place (This is another of my favorite challenges… as it has introduced me to many new amusement parks. This one happens to be one that I’ve visited in Wisconsin Dells. Just learned that the park named Noah's Ark,  features a new waterslide named the Chameleon (it even changes color!) and Colorful Options: April Pastels/or rainbow (If you’ve ever heard one of their ads, you’ll recognize the statement that Skittles are “the color of a rainbow”!)

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Sheepski Designs (Camouflage)

·   Shaded and highlighted with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Free Paint.net program can be found HERE (add watermarks, layer digis, and more!)

·   Sentiments- Computer Generated

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz- Tuesday Color Challenge- Color Wheel (Photo)  

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #643-644

Park Hopping-My Happy Place (April)      Chameleon

Colorful Options Monthly Challenge: April Pastels  (optional rainbow)     

    I acquired this fun digi and front sentiment from the QKR/Eureka Challenge where I served as a DT for several years before the online shop closed last year. I have been a fan of Eureka stamps ever since selling them in a small stamp store of co-owned with a friend in the late 1990s, and have quite a collection of them. So… you’ll continue to see them pop up on my blog! This sweet little duck is one of my favs and used him on lots of Spring and Easter cards this year. This is one of them! The checked paper is a freebie from a recently discovered FB page, Bonnie Kohane Craft Time. (You might recognize this talented artists name as she is a DT for several digi lines, and owner of a wonderful digi shop on Etsy named WeAre3. Sadly, Bonnie closed her shop last November. So I was happy to find her FB page, where she occasionally offers freebies… like this pretty paper!)

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Eureka Digital Stamp (Ducky-Front) (Currently Not Available)

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Front Sentiment “Easter Blessings” Freebie-Papercraftsmagazine.com (no longer available)

(When trying to locate it, I discovered a site named “Gathered” that offers TONs of free downloads for all kinds of crafts, HERE)

·   Inside Sentiment-Freebie from TlcCreations (Happy Spring)

·   Easter eggs trimmed from patterned paper- Hobby Lobby

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Crafty Catz Challenge- Anything Goes #670

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday (Happy Easter)

   This final one features a cute- and yummy- cupcake digi from Bugaboo (the company closed down a few years ago and I really miss their wonderful digis and DT team!) I’m busily working on seasonal cards to add to the assortments of cards that I’ll be giving as gifts to graduates and newlyweds over the next few months. So, I dug into my box of Valentine's embellies to turn this into a Valentine's Day card. The heart doily adds a shout of color when positioned atop B&W checked paper. Scraps trimmed from the part of the doily and checked paper hidden behind the digi adds bits of embellishment to the inside sentiment. (f you follow my blog, you’ll know that I seldom pass up a chance to reflect the front theme, colors, or patterns  of a card to the inside!)

   An added note- The inside sentiment is from a sweet Conie Fong digi set. When looking for the link to post, I discovered that Conie now offers free drawing classes on YouTube that are AMAZING! They make drawing digis look… well… attainable! My nephews and niece love to draw, so I will share with them later today. Here is the link so that YOU can also check the lessons out!)   

   I’m entering this card into several challenges including Passion for Markers: Check It Out (the B&W checks on my card really makes it POP!)

Supplies: 

·   Digi/Front Sentiment- Bugaboo Digital Stamp (Company no longer in business)

·   Inside Sentiment- Conie Fong Digi Set (Lulu and Lonny with Balloon Bundle)

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #735: Check It Out

Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge- Anything Goes

Outlawz Challenge- April 2024 Linky 

myasperations 4-19-24

     I am honored to have served as a Guest Designer for Beccy Muir at Beccy’s Place and am now one of her “Contributors” (which means that she provides me with digis or clear stamp sets several times a year and I get to create cards or other items with them!) It is always fun to see the images Beccy invites me to use and this time my card features Beccy’s new sets named Bountiful Balloons. I used 1 pre-colored digi (mainly because Beccy’s coloring is always stellar) plus 2 sentiments from the set. After enlarging a Happy Birthday sentiment to fit across the bottom of an A2-sized card front, I positioned the line of balloons to “float” about the letters. I added shading  (depth) to the sentiment with a grey marker,  and a bit of highlighting to the balloons with a white colored pencil and white gel pen. The balloons were then finished by first gently providing the look of translucency by adding various "layers" behind several of the lighter-colored balloons. “Strings” were  then  lightly sketched between the balloons and letters and little bows were added. (I first sketched the strings and bows with a pencil and then traced over them with a permanent fine-line pen, but if you have a steady hand, you might be able to skip the pencil step!) 

   If you follow my blog, you'll know that I usually try to match the inside of my cards to the front. So... this time I used a single balloon, backed by a scrap of the patterned paper used on the front. After adhering a sentiment tag, I "anchored" the balloon to it by sketching its tail wrapped around the tag so it can't float away up, up and away!  

Supplies: 

·   Precolored Digi and Sentiments from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Bountiful Balloons)

·   A bit of shading/layering with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and highlighting with white colored pencil and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Sparkly Star Stickers- Hobby Lobby

·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Colorful Options Monthly Challenge: April Pastels  (optional rainbow)      

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #643-644

Outlawz- Tuesday Color Challenge- Color Wheel 

Outlawz Challenge- April 2024 Linky

     This second card features another fun Beccy’s Place digi set that I recently added to my collection. I love that Beccy names all of her characters, and this beautiful flamingo is named “Carole”! One of my sisters, named Carol (no ‘e’), is a talented magician (I mean hair stylist!)  I’ve appreciated how she has helped to tame my mane for many decades.  She is truly a Rock Star! So this card will be sent to her. That said, I already printed off the other flock members, (Kenneth, Beverly, and Cecil) so watch for them to show up on cards in the near future! 

     I’m entering my card into several challenges including Park Hopping-My Happy Place (This is another of my favorite challenges… as it has introduced me to many new amusement parks. This flamingo card was inspired by: Kilimanjaro Safari in Animal Kingdom, Disneyworld, FL)

Supplies: 

·   Precolored Digi and Sentiment from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Flockstar)

·   A bit of highlighting added with Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Upcycled calendar page, pink feathers, and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge- Anything Goes (optional: Baby Animals) 

Park Hopping-My Happy Place (April)       Kilimanjaro Safari 

Beccy’s Place Challenge- April   

        Since I’m a Contributor for Beccy’s Place, I’m entering just for fun! 

     A few years ago I discovered a great group on FB named Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers {BYSHC}. They offer monthly Christmas-themed sketch challenges, plus they host Linky parties several times a year that include lots of wonderful prizes and the groups sponsor is so gracious and kind!) 

       This is my first entry into their annual Sping into Christmas Linky Party. I’m also entering it into several other challenges including ABC Christmas Challenge:  H is for Hats (Although it is small, Santa is wearing his iconic hat!) and Passion for Markers: Check It Out (the diecut lettering was first cut out of green checked paper, which provides a contrast to the gold and black die-cut sentiment. This challenge also requires that there must be hand-coloring on the card. The mini Santa didn’t require very many colors or coloring, however, I did use a white gel pen to add the texture of thick curls to the little guy's beard!)

Supplies: 

·   Santa Claus-Hero Arts Wood Mount Stamp (Retired)

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Front Sentiment “Merry Christmas ”- My Favorite Things Die-Namics  (Retired)

·   Inside Sentiment “Jingle All the Way”-Freebie from TLC Creates FB you can find HERE

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday (Christmas)

ABC Christmas Challenge-H and I are for…? ‘H is for Hats’.

BYSHC Spring into Christmas 2024 Linky Party        

Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #735: Check It Out