myasperations 10-11-24

    For this card, I used printed off a sweet Halloween digi from Di’s Digis, then traced the cute little ghostie onto a scrap of vellum so that he could provide a guest appearance on this card. Since Di’s current challenge is titled “Elaborate Embellishments” I added a die-cut swirly bit of foliage, a handful of fall leaves fussy-cut from patterned paper, and a twine bow. I also embellished the inside sentiment (made with a Halloween napkin!), plus a leaf, spider web, and an itsy bitsy spider!

 

 
Supplies: 

·   Background- upcycled calendar page

·   Ghost Digi- from a Dis Digis B&W Digital Image (Boo to you, too) Retired

·   Shading added with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and highlights added with Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Front Sentiment “BOO” computer generated.

·   Inside Sentiment- trimmed from a Halloween Napkin.

·   Autumn leaves- fussy cut from Paper Studio paper (Hobby Lobby brand)

·   Swirl diecut- Divinity Designs (Foliage and Leaves) 

·  Spider web (sketched with a white gel pen) and spider (sketched with a black fine-line black Sharpie marker)

·   Scrap of vellum and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Di’s Digi Stamps- Elaborate Embellishments

Double D’s Challenge- To Spook or Not 

The Four Seasons Challenge- Anything Goes Fall Oct 2024   

The Paper Shelter- #613 Leaves Are Falling  (Leaves or Trees)

Crafty Catz Challenge- Anything Goes #680 AG  (Optional twist- Use Autumn Colors)

     A dear friend, Abigail, recently started a new job. When I saw the digi provided for October Progressive Challenge at Outlaws, I knew just what card I would make for Abigail! This months free digi, named Paper Planes, was created by a member of the Outlawz Team (Thanks, Cara!) I took a little artistic license when using Cara’s artwork for my card. I wanted to decorate both the front and inside of my card with both a plane, and inspirational sentiment. So I printed off the digi, and trimmed the two planes apart, and set both of them into blue cloudy skies created with decorative chalks, a makeup sponge and stencil made with a paper scrap. (I trimmed the pretty zentangle-ish clouds from the digi and set them aside for later use, possibly decorating a coral reef on my next mermaid themed card!)

    I’m entering this card into several challenges, including Path Of Positivity Challenge: Power of Words (my card was inspired by the Dr. Seuss quote, “You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.”)

                                            

Supplies: 

·   Cloudy sky created with decorative chalks, a makeup sponge and stencil made with a paper scrap.

·   Digis- Digi- Outlawz October Progressive Challenge (Caras Paper Airplanes)

·   Shading and highlights on planes added with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Front Sentiment “Just a Note to lift you up”- From Imagine That! (Sadly, the company is no longer in business.)

·   Inside Sentiment- From Jan’s Digi Stamps set: Let’s Go Fly a Kite (Sadly, the company no longer in business.)

·   Grey Parchment Cardstock and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

   Outlawz Challenge- Progressive Challenge (Oct) Paper Airplanes by Cara  

Outlawz Challenge- Oct 2024 Linky

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #669-670

Path Of Positivity Challenge- Challenge #124 Power of Words: Growth/Change

    I had so much fun making this teepee-fold Halloween card. It features a fun origami bat (I never thought I'd use the word fun and bat in one sentence!!) The bat is fairly easy to make. If anyone wants to give it a try you can find it HERE!  

    He looks quite striking on a teepee fold card. (Which is also really easy it is to make. I plan to use it more often in the future! I didn’t have any small magnets on hand to serve as the closure, but I did have Velcro and it worked pretty well, too.) 

    I’m entering this card into several challenges, including Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Add Some Texture (the textures on my card includes smooth and coarse cardstock, valley and mountain paper folds, and acetate strips.)

Supplies: 

·   Teepee Card Instructions- Youtube Video HERE, Tutorial HERE

·   Origami Bat instructions found HERE.

·   Front Sentiment- TLC Creations Freebie (FaBOOlous Halloween)

·   Cardstock, acetate strips (to help the smaller bats “fly”) and other items from my stash.

Entered into: 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Add Some Texture

Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge- Anything Goes

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday (Halloween)

Park Hopping-My Happy Place (Oct) Halloween Horror Nights (Universal Parks) For non-squeamish! 

myasperations 10-1-24

   I was recently introduced to Moondrea Designs and love the creations by artist/owner, Andreia Silva. It was so fun coloring this little beauty, which I turned into a little Cinderella, complete with a ruffly light blue dress and beautiful long tresses. 

                                           

Supplies: 

·   Moondrea Designs Etsy Shop (Princess)

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

·   Pink heart patterned paper- Hobby Lobby

·   Sentiments- Computer Generated

·   Oval template and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge (Happy Birthday)

Outlawz Challenge- Oct 2024 Linky

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #667-668

     I like making Halloween cards, and this adorable ghost digi named Boo Loves Scary Larry from Sweet November Stamp. A free Word program named Paint.net that I downloaded a few years ago helped me to layer Boo and his buddy, plus the pumpkin patch digi over a starry nebula background (find Paint.net link in my supplies list.) You can also find tutorials on the web to use either jpg or png digis and pictures to layer scenes. You can even control the amount of transparency of the backgrounds, hence you can see through little BOO!

     I posted a picture of the layered scene that I was able to just copy, size, and print off. (Note-I added a cropped WM image of this picture to respect the company's copyrights.  I saved the original to my laptop so I can make similar cards in the future and add a smaller WM after I take photos.)

    I posted a picture of the layered scene that I was able to just copy, size, and print off. (Note-I added a cropped WM image of this picture to respect the company's copyrights.  The original I saved to my laptop so that I can make similar cards in the future and add the WM when I’m finished coloring it!!)

    I’m entering this card into several challenges, all related to fall/fall colors, including Colorful Options: October (there are lots of orange pumpkins and leaves  iny card),  Cupcake Inspirations: Colors (Orange, brown and turquoise all appear in my card),  and  Outlaws Color Challenge: Photo Inspiration  (My Halloween themed card that uses all five of the color options!) and Time Out Challenge-based on a Vincent Gogh quote “As Long as Autumn Lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas, and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” (This quote it new to me, and it inspires the background sky, colors and entire fall scene!) 

Supplies: 

·   Witches Broom Nebula night sky- from my BING Screensaver Collection

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

·   Ghost Digi- Sweet November Stamps (Boo Loves Scary Larry)

·   Fence Digi- Sweet November Stamps (Scene Builder-Pumpkin Patch)

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

·   Sentiments- Computer Generated

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Colorful Options Monthly Challenge: October-Orange    

Cupcake Inspirations- #603 Color Challenge- Orange, brown and turquoise   

Outlawz- Tuesday Color Challenge- Photo Inspiration  

Time Out Challenge- #273 IBW “As Long as Autumn Lasts”    

Park Hopping-My Happy Place (Oct)    Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

    I made this final item for the ABC Christmas Challenge, and it meets both of the options: S is for Stencils and/or T is for Traditional Christmas Colours! I have had the hexagonal gift box in my stash for over 20 years. I know that because we used to sell them at the stamp/scrapbook store that I co-owned back in the late 90s! We had a large diecut machine (the original ones with foam and steel dies that were super sharp… and a bit dangerous! This gift box was one of the largest dies that we had… and we cut and sold tons of them! I uncovered a few when I was cleaning/organizing my craft room and decided to put one of them to use. The PSX stamp is from about that same time frame, so seemed like a perfect fit. I came up with what I think is an ingenious way to attach a ribbon/bow to the box, that I share in the photos. (Basically, I made a slit in the top of the box, pulled a pull piece of ribbon through to make a loop, and taped the ends of the ribbon on the inside of the lid. It was then easy to pull the ribbon through and tie the bow.  I also taped the ribbon to the bottom of the box after I tied the bow to hold it in place when the box was opened. An added note- this box is pretty flimsy with regular cardstock, so you might want to use one of the heavier weights of paper, and tape the flaps to the inside of the base to increase the stability and life of the box!)

Supplies: 

·   Hexagonal Gift Box- SVG available on Etsy HERE or a freebie template can be downloaded from HERE

·   Wood Mount Stamp- Row of Santas from PSX (Company no longer in business)

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

·   The stencil I used is from Printworks (a company no longer in business) but if you search for” Striped Stencil on the web, several pop up!

·   Ribbon and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

ABC Christmas Challenge- “S and T are for…?”   

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday (Christmas)

Allsorts Challenge- Week 800-Anything Goes  

Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #39 AG

myasperations 9-28-24

   I recently participated in Day 1 of a wonderful Card Making Retreat hosted on YouTube by Not2Shabby (HERE). In my last posting, I shared a card that artist/presenter Jamie helped me make during her demonstration. Cassie, the second artist/presenter, demonstrated how to make a Fun Fold Fall Card. Cassie provided excellent instructions, hence, my card! 

  I wanted to enter my card into the Not2Shabby Sept challenge, so I printed off a digi that met the requirements and nabbed fall-themed paper to decorate the background. I colored the digi to match the background and included a fox (challenge requirement), a beautiful, and warmly dressed, leaf raker. If you look closely, you'll see a happy little squirrel perched atop her curly hair and waving at us!  A flurry of leaves, fussy-cut from the patterned paper, embellish the inside of the card.

  I’m entering this card into four other challenges with fall/autumn-related themes: Inspiration Station; Double D’s;  Love Those Pretty Papers; and Time Out Challenge.    

                         

                        

Supplies: 

·   Girl and Fox Digi from Bugaboo Digis (Company no longer in business)

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

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

·   Inside Sentiment “My Favorite Color is Autumn” is from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Pumpkin and Spice)

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Not2Shabby Monthly Challenge- September Mood Board 

Inspiration Station- Challenge #65 Inspiration Prompt

Double D’s Challenge- Fall Leaves 

Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge- Sept 2024: Fall

Time Out Challenge- #273 IBW “As Long as Autumn Lasts”

    I wanted to make another card for the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers/BYSHC: FB Sketch Challenge and use more paper scraps, as I have a ton of them! So, I created another “quilt” using small squared of Christmas patterned paper to fit within the sketch parameters. One of my favorite gingerbread cuties from Beccy’s Place looks adorable with the quilted background, weighed down with gifts. (Note- the gingerguy is pre-colored, but I printed off an extra copy of his hands and the gifts and candy canes he is holding, so that I could color them in traditional red and green. (This allows me to enter the card into the current ABC Christmas Challenge: T is for “Traditional Christmas colours.”)

   Note- as I was positioning the little gingerguy onto the card front, I decided to flip the background as I liked having the quilted section framing his face. Also, I adhered the gifts to the digi. To add depth to the card, I trimmed around the extra set of hands and adhered them to the card with foam tape. (You can see this in the side photo.)  A bit of texture (frosting) was then added. So fun!) 

   I’m entering this card into several other challenges including Park Hopping-My Happy Place (this is a favorite challenge as it has introduced me to several theme parks that I’d love to someday visit. This one, Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Dessert Party, promises not just yummy holiday treats, but also fireworks. Sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday!) freebies during their Halloween event. So fun!)

Supplies: 

·   Gingerbread Image from a Beccy’s Place set (Sugar and Spice) Available in a Clear Set

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

·   Front Sentiment “Hello Sweet Friend” from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Keeping it Simple)

·   Inside Sentiment “May…sweet as Candy Canes” from Sweet November Stamps digi set (Christmas Sentiments)

·   Cookie Frosting- White 3D Paint

·   Patterned paper scraps, adhesives and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge FB- #49 September 2024        

ABC Christmas Challenge- “S and T are for…?”   T is for Traditional Christmas Colours

Park Hopping-My Happy Place (Sept)   Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Dessert Party 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday (Christmas)

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

    Cara, the sponsor for the September Outlawz Progressive Challenge, provided a beautiful Mandala digi that I knew would look gorgeous in fall colors! I printed off two copies of the digi, colored, fussy-cut and set them aside. I decided that a dark-colored background would allo the brightly colored mandala to POP!  My fall/Thanksgiving supply box provided a perfect solution that would add texture to the card- a paper napkin. I adhered one to the card base, then positioned the two mandalas onto a card base with a favorite autumn sentiment sandwiched in the middle!  

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Outlawz August Progressive Challenge (Mandala from Cara)

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

·   Front Sentiment “My Favorite Color is Autumn” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Pumpkin and Spice)

·   Leaf patterned paper napkin- Hobby Lobby

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenge- Progressive Challenge (Sept) Mandala by Cara  

Outlawz Challenge- Sept 2024 Linky

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #667-668

Allsorts Challenge- Week 800-Anything Goes