myasperations 4-1-25

   This is my DT card for All Dressed Up Stamps FB Challenge. It features an adorable digi image named “Potted Plants." I gave the card a Spring vibe by using two contrasting colors, blue and orange. They really pop… just like the trees will soon be doing here where I live. Ahhh… I love this time of the year!  Oops.. did you notice the little kitty helping to supervise her work. So sweet!

                                                            
Supplies: 

·   Digi- All Dressed Up Stamps (Potted Plants)

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

·   Patterned paper- Hobby Lobby

·   Front Sentiment- “Thinking of you” from Eureka Stamps  (Currently Not Available)

·   Inside  Sentiment- “Happy Birthday” from QKR Stampede Stamps  (Currently Not Available)

·    Oval Templates from my scrapbook stash

·   Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·   All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Birthday Wishes (March) 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Crafty Catz Challenge- #690 AG- Optional: Spring Green

Allsorts Challenge- Week 820- Spring Flowers  

Outlawz Wednesday Sketch Challenge- April 2025    

      This is my final card in the current challenge at The Paper Shelter named “Fur or Feathers.

The cute little bird digi is from one of my digi sets from The Paper Shelter, but I have nearly

100 of their sets, and cannot locate the one with this small birdee!

      I saw a on Jennifer McGuire tutorial (HERE) where she made a beautiful card using a

Paper Smooches Birdhouse die, and it inspired me to finally purchase a Big Shot so that I

could make cards like hers! While decluttering I found a box of partial cards, including this

one. I finished it up, added the little birdie entered it. Yay!

Supplies: 

·   Birdhouse Dies from Paper Smooches (Paper Smooched appears to no longer have a website. But I’ve seen a few sets on EBay.)

·   Little Birdee Digi- from digi set from The Paper Shelter (But I can’t locate it in my files. If you can identify the digi, please let me know.)

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

·   Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·   Sheer black dotted Swiss ribbon- JoAnne’s

·   All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday: March (Spring) 

The Paper Shelter- #631 Anything Goes  (Opt Twist- Fur or Feathers)

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #692-693

     The Time Out Challenge new theme is “Favorite Movie” and since I am an avid movie lover… I plan to enter several cards! This is my second entry, inspired by the movie “Star Wars.” My brand-new husband and I went to see it and were blown away by the special effects. The bar scene with all the odd aliens still impresses me. Nearly 50 years later we still love space related movies, but this one still remains one of my favorites!    

 

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Oddball Art/Lizzy Love Stamps (Princess Leia) Sadly it appears that this Company is no longer in business

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Sakura Gelly Roll white & silver gel pens

·   Front Sentiment “May the 4^th be with you”- Computer Generated

·   Inside Sentiment “Celebrate with a BANG!” from Eureka Stamps  (Currently Not Available)

·   Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·   All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Time Out Challenge- Challenge #285 (The Challenge: Inspired by your favorite movie) 

  Park Hopping-My Happy Place (April)     Star Wars-Disney World Galaxy’s Edge

Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #782: Anything But Birthday  

myasperations 3-30-25a

    I have occasionally donated handmade cards to a local residential drug treatment center for several years. After retiring, I’ve wanted to increase my donations, but also wanted to make sure that I was meeting the client's needs. After checking, I learned that they like cards for their children (of all ages) plus also thinking of you/miss you type cards with blank insides for parents, spouses and friends, in assorted themes. 

      This is the latest card for my donation box. It features a wonderful wildlife stamp that I’ve had since the late 1990's when I co-owned a stamp store in South Dakota. The company, named Northwoods Rubber Stamps (NWS), was one of our anchor companies. I did a little web research and found that NWS  is still in business. This stamp appears to be retired, but they have a wide range of themes/images available. That said, their scenery, wildlife, and rural/farm-related stamps were among our best sellers, so you might want to check them out!

 

 

Supplies: 

·   Owl Image- Wood Mount Stamp from Northwoods Rubber Stamps (retired)

·   Colored with Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils, with additional shading and highlights by Spectrum Noir Classique markers, and Sakura Gelly Roll white pen

·   Weathered wood background upcycled from an old calendar

·   Front Sentiment “You’re a Hoot”- a freebie from papercraftsmag.com (no longer available) 

·   Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·   All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Double D’s Challenge- Birds  

The Paper Shelter- #631 Anything Goes  (Opt Twist- Fur or Feathers)

       I wanted to make a few more cards to enter into the current sketch at Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers group (BYSHC) Challenge on FB. This is the first one. It features three of my favorite things, coffee, snowflakes and the jolly old elf!

      The Santa mug is from an Angie Bloms digi set that I added to my collection last Christmas.  Markers, my trusty white pen, a short burst of snowflakes and assorted items from my stash brought the card to life! An added note- I didn't want to color his hat re, because the whipped cream looks so yummy. And leaving it white looked to blah to me this AM. So, I opted for a light pink marker. Who doesn't like a flood of  peppermint cream on their coffee (or hot chocolate?!  

 

             

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Angie Blom Digital Designs (Christmas Joy Mugs)

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

·   Front Sentiment “Have Yourself…”  from Polka Dot Orchard digi set (Merry Little Coffee)

·   Inside Sentiment “Sending Love this Christmas” from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Gingerbread Season)

·   Snowflakes- Cheery Lynn Designs Die (C146 Snowflakes) Retired

·   Snowflakes- Lawn Fawn LF995-Mini Snowflakes Die Set

·   Green Polka Dot paper- Hobby Lobby

·   Coffee Beans photo- freebie from Dreamstime.com (HERE)

·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources

·   Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·   All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge FB- #55 March 2025      

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #692-693

      This sweet card is my final entry into the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers group (BYSHC) Challenge on FB. It features a fun Digi/Sentiment set from Whimsie Doodles which is sadly no longer in business. (However, the blog is still posted, and has some excellent tutorials that I have found helpful, especially on coloring hair and eyes with alcohol inks. You can find them HERE. (Tuesday Tutorials are listed in the right panel on this link.)

     I’m entering this card into several challenges including ABC Christmas Challenge- 'G is for Girls' (Elf on the shelf, Elf the movie and other Elves are usually boys, so I decided to use a girl elf for this card. Yay!) 

 

Supplies: 

·   Digi and inside sentiment from Whimsie Doodles (Elves Watching) No longer available/Shop closed

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

·   Patterned Paper- Hobby Lobby

·   Front Sentiment- “Thinking of You at Christmas” from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Cardinals)

·   Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·   All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into: 

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge FB- #55 March 2025         

ABC Christmas Challenge- “E, F and G  are for…? ”  'G is for Girls'

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday: March (Christmas) 

Outlawz Challenge-March 2025 Linky  

myasperations 3-30-25

    I enjoy finding new folds to use, and this one was much easier to make than it looks! I decided to make a card for Double D’s current bird-themed challenge by using a set of quirky chicken digis from Beccy’s Place. Other items from my collection of digis, papers, etc. helped create a card with a nice WOW factor… and one that also packs a chuckle!

     An added note- Beccy Muir, artist/owner of Beccy’s Place, is discontinuing her digi line on June 30th (learn the reasons for this difficult decision HERE.) If you have plans to add any of her digi sets to your collection, or have any gift cards you need to use, you have several months to go digi shopping. In addition, Beccy added a “Digital Stamp Sale” section to her shop, in which she has posted a large number of digis and sets from the past, priced from $3.00 to as low as 31¢ (US rate.) Since I often use sentiments from Beccy’s digi sets on my cards, I made sure to pay attention not just to the images but also the sentiments in the sets as I filled my cart with these treasures before they are gone forever! (Sad sigh!) 

  

 Supplies: 

·   Floating Gate-fold Card- Instructions and video provided HERE  and HERE

·   Chicken Digis from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Spring Chickens)

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

·   Weather Wood paper with fairy lights- Hobby Lobby

·   Happy Birthday Banner- Fussy-cut from a DDDoodles Freebie (Birthday Bash Banners)

·   Front Sentiment- Dr Digi’s House of Stamps (Grumpy Sentiments Sheet)

·   Inside Sentiments from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Spring Chickens)

·   Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·   All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Double D’s Challenge- Birds  

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Birthday Wishes (March) 

Outlawz Challenge-March 2025 Linky  

The Paper Shelter- #631 Anything Goes  (Opt Twist- Fur or Feathers)

      The Time Out Challenge's new theme is “Favorite Movie,” and since I am an avid movie lover, I plan to enter several cards! My first card is inspired by the movie “The Little Mermaid” who longed to find her one true love. 

      My card features a Sweet November Stamps (SNS) digi named “The Lookout.” I printed the digi, plus one extra set of her tailfins, fussy-cut and set them aside.  The background “ocean scene” is created from an upcycled calendar page and watercolored patterned paper in shades of blue.  I created a base for the mermaid at the bottom of the cardfront, the tore several strips from the remaining paper to create crests of wave on the water.

     I colored the mermaid and positioned her in the water. Next, I cut a small slit in the “water” along the bottom of the digi. into which I could “anchor” the mermaid and her rock in place. But first, I added ripples around the slit with markers (light grey and light blue) and a white gel pen, slightly smudging the ripples in several places. When finished, I slipped the bottom of the mermaid digi into the slit, and added a strip of clear tape to the backside of the scene to hold it in place. I adhered the rest of the lovely lookout in place with adhesive, then created a bit of magic with the tailfins!

     Coloring the fins to match the mermaid’s body, I used lighter shades of pink on the upper fin. This helped me to give it a look of translucency by adding a bit of light grey to resemble cascading hair shining through it.  Like with the mermaid, I anchored the tail and fins in place by cutting two small slits into the “water” and adding ripples before slipping the fins into place.

     The final touches to the card were to add sparkles to the mermaids scales, fins and water spray plus to add the sentiment and heart embellishment. I do love hot this card turned out. Maybe one of my favorites EVAH!! 

 
                
Supplies: 

·   Photo of sky-upcycled from an old calendar

·   Water and waves created from blue watercolor paper- Hobby Lobby

·   Digi- Sweet November Stamps (The Lookout)

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

·   Stickles- Diamonds and Stardust versions (to add texture and sparkle to scales and water.)

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Time Out Challenge- Challenge #285 (The Challenge: Inspired by your favorite movie) 

     I made this card for the current Path of Positivity Challenge: Embracing the Unexpected, i.e.: make something you wouldn’t normally make!)

I love the look of shabby chic card, but much like CAS, I have a very hard time using the technique. When I saw this wonderful set of papers from The Graphics Fairy*, I just had to give it a try! All of the items on this card came from this paper set except for the pink striped paper, ribbon scraps, gold paperclip, and sentiment.  

    *Note- The Graphics Fairy is one of my favorite “go-to” places for vintage inspiration and freebies. Sign up for their newsletter (on the top of their website) and receive  a monthly email that links you to freebies, plus wonderful tutorials for making cards and so much more!  

                                

Supplies: 

·   Digis- Freebie from The Graphics Fairy (Book Page Tags)

·   Front Sentiment “Never Underestimate the Power of a Smile” from my scrapbook stash

·   Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·   All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Path Of Positivity Challenge- Challenge #129 (Embracing The Unexpected)

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #692-693

Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge-AG March 2025 (optl twist- Encouragement) 

Allsorts Challenge- Week 820- Spring Flowers  (Optional- AG)