my asperations 4-21-25

        This is my second posting as a DT for the Path of Positivity Challenge, established in 2013 with an inspirational purpose.  In excerpts from the challenge  Introduction, creator/host Lisa notes, "In this day and age, we are continually bombarded with images that leave us empty: murder, war, terrorism, natural disaster, intolerance, hatred... the list could go on and on." " To that end, I have been inspired to create a place where I can come to see projects or posts that provide help, hope, courage, love, forgiveness, peace, motivation, encouragement, etc. A place to come, especially on those days when the woes of the world just seem too much to bear. This is a place I would like to share with others who feel as I do. Therefore, welcome to the 'Path of Positivity Challenge' -- a different sort of challenge blog designed to inspire, nurture, and provide support for the soul by creating a positive path to follow, one project or post at a time!" 

      Lisa established an annual goal with monthly themes and an optional twist.  2025's goal is Embrace the Unexpected in our lives. April's Theme is Embracing the Unexpected… Through Decluttering with an optional project, "go through your junk drawer or a closet and take inspiration from something unexpected that you find within."  

      About 20 years ago, I collected dried flowers from our garden for cardmaking. I thought I'd used all of them until I found a small flower press in my craft closet, which still held many blooms and leaves tucked between its cardboard platforms. I used a scrapbook template to create an oval frame on an A2-sized piece of vintage-looking patterned paper and set it aside. Next, I positioned the flowers and leaves on a 3x4-inch piece of a self-sealing laminate, then laid a slightly larger piece of acetate on top and applied pressure to seal the flowers and leaves in place. I used decorative scissors to create lacy edging on the patterned paper before using double-sided adhesive tape to attach the top edge of the patterned paper to the top of the card front. Next, I positioned the flower pouch to the front of the card, centering it into the oval frame, before securing it in place with adhesive. When everything looked positioned, I taped the other three edges of the lacy edging to the card front with double-stick tape. Lastly, the card is finished off with ribbon, sentiments, and a strip of vintage lace (crocheted by my mom when I was in elementary school, at least 60 tears ago so it really is vintage!) 

Supplies: 

·   Front Sentiment "Happy Mother's Day" from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (My Mama)

·   Inside Sentiment “Celebrate your Special Day” from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Stem in a Teacup)

·   Scotch Self-Sealing Laminating Sheets- Hobby Lobby and other craft or office supply stores

·   Small hearts embellishing the inside sentiment were made with scraps of paper and metallic cardstock.

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

·   Dried Flowers and leaves, patterned paper, Fiskars scissors, other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into: 

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge- #252 AG 

Crafty Catz Challenge- #692 AG

 Park Hopping-My Happy Place (April)    Epcot’s International Flower and Garden Festival,  

     I recently participated in a 12-day Easter card-making event that featured Cricut designs. Even though I don’t have an electronic cutting machine, I have wanted to learn about them. So, I received permission to attend the event for that reason. I was able to use a few of the designs as a digital image (in PDF format), which I could then easily color

      For this card, I used a section of the Day 7 Cricut design. After printing off the arched frame with sentiment, I used a sharp scissors to trim the center portion of the arched section, then adhered it to a piece of Easter egg patterned paper. Lastly, I printed, colored, and fussy-cut a sweet little fairy from Sweet November Stamps, then created lacyvellum wings for the little cutie with a paper punch I’ve had in my stash for at least 25 years! After attaching the vellum wings, I perched her atop one of the pretty pastel eggs.  

 

Supplies: 

·   Cricut File/PDF Digi- From The Bearded Housewife Crafters Club (This file was from the April 2025 Happy Crafty Easter Event)

·   Digi- Sweet November Stamps (Fairwee Junie)

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

·   Inside Sentiment- a freebie from Scribbles Designs “You’re Egg-cellent” (click on the link, right click the sentiment, select “copy image” then paste and print!)

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

·   Vellum, other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Friends of Sweet November (FB) April  

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Patterned Paper

The Paper Shelter- #634 Anything Goes (Opt Twist- Pastels)

Time Out Challenge- Challenge #286 (Pick Two: Prompts- Spots, Arch, Pastels)  

(via Pinterest) Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #784: Easter!   

     This card features a beautiful Easter stamp that I haven’t used for several decades. I found it when decluttering and had to put it to use! It took some time to stamp and emboss the image on vellum, then color and trim the excess. After that, the card went together quickly with items from my digi collection and stash!  

Supplies: 

·   Wood-mount Floral Cross from Biblical Impressions (Sadly company is closed. Occasionally, they show up on EBay.)

·   Stamped with black pigment ink on vellum and embossed with extra fine black embossing powder.

·   Colored (on underside of vellum) with Spectrum Noir Classique markers

·   Highlights (on top of vellum) added with Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Small butterfly digi- Bugaboo Stamps (Company no longer in business)

·   Front and inside Sentiments- Eureka Digital Stamps (He Is Risen) Currently Not Available

·   Glittery crown sticker on inside of card- Hobby Lobby

·   Gold photo corners available from several web sources (WXJ13 Photo Mounting Corners)

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

·   Patterned papers, other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #784: Easter

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #694-695

Double D’s Challenge- Spring Flowers    

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday: April (Easter) 

Outlawz Challenge-April 2025 Linky  

myasperations 4-16-24

  Since I retired, I’ve had more time for stamping. I’ve enjoyed creating and sharing a few dozen cards the last few holidays with the many people who brighten my life, including my dentist, optometrist, and their staff, plus the staff/coaches at a gym I joined. When I dropped off the packet of Easter cards earlier this week, these chocolate bunny cards were grabbed up (or should I say gobbles up?!) right away.  

     I’ve seen several memes similar to this bunny conversation over the last few years, but none were sourced. If you know of the source, please let me know as I hope to make them again next year!) Sadly, since Jan Mahew closed her digi shop at the end of 2024, this cute digi is no longer available. I did see a few stamps and dies on the web, so research might provide you with options.

  

 Supplies: 

·   Precolored Chocolate Bunny-Jans Digis (Sadly no longer in business)

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

·   Front Sentiments- Computer Generated (Unknown source)

·   Inside Sentiment “Sweet Easter Wishes” from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Easter Joy)

·   Patterned Paper- Hobby Lobby

·   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: 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Sweet Treats 

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge- #251 AG 

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday: April (Easter) 

Paper Funday- #75 Anything Goes   (Optional Twist: Things that Begin with the Letter "B")

 Park Hopping-My Happy Place (April)     Current Mood Board-Animals 

Colorful Options Monthly Challenge: April Mood Board-Pastels       

      I created this card to enter into the current Time Out Challenge with the theme “Pick Two” (prompts). My card features a sweet digi from Paper Shelter, plus 4 of the 6 options on the Pick 2 board- Floral (Tropical flowers and fronds), Spots (on water, background leaves, and her scarf), Water (ocean and waves), and Pastels (aqua, pink and yellow.)

    I used the pre-colored background from The Paper Shelter digi set on my card, plus the B&W mermaid digi (so I could color her with pastel shades.) I used a free Paint.net program to layer the B&W little mermaid digi onto the pre-colored background scene, which meant no fussy-cutting around all the little sections of the digi.) 

    After coloring the mermaid digi, I fussy-cut large fronds and tropical flowers to help frame the scene, the finished the card with a bit of bling on the little lady’s scales and fine. So pretty!

Supplies: 

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

·   Digi and Background from The Paper Shelter (Little Mermaid on vacation)

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

·    Stickles- Twinkle (Clear with glitter flecks -front) and Garden State (dark green-inside)

·   Front Sentiment “Wishing you Oceans of Joy…” from Bugaboo Stamps (Company no longer in business)

·   Inside Sentiment “Have a Magical Day” from WeAre3 Digital sentiment set (Magical Sparkle) 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:  

Time Out Challenge- Challenge #286: Pick 2  

The Paper Shelter- #634 Anything Goes (Opt Twist- Pastels)

Penny’s Paper Crafty Challenge- #594 Anything Goes

      I’m pretty excited about Spring arriving in our part of the world, so I can understand the complete joy that shines from Daphne’s face as one of her winged friends takes her for a flight through a flower garden.  Since Hollyhocks were one of my sweet Mom’s favorite flowers, I loved finding this pic in my file of old calendar pages.

   

Supplies: 

·   Background- upcycled calendar page

·   Digi- Sweet November Stamps (Daphne’s Ride)

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

·   Front (and inside) Sentiment “Happy Spring…”-Freebie from TlcCreations (Happy Spring)

·   Small flower embellishment on inside sentiment was fussy-cut from calendar page scrap

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

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

Entered into:  

Classic Design Challenge: Anything Goes April-May 2025 (optional- Feminine) 

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #694-695

Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge-AG April 2025 (optl twist- Plants and/or animals) 

Outlawz Challenge-April 2025 Linky 

Friends of Sweet November (FB) April 

myasperations 4-15-24

      I recently participated in a 12-day Easter card-making event that featured Cricut designs. Even though I don’t have an electronic cutting machine at this time, I have wanted to learn about them. So, I received permission to attend the event for that reason. I was able to use a few of the designs as a digital image (in pdf format), which I could then easily color

      This is the design from Day 2 of the event, which I used to create my card. First, I printed off two sections of the pdf image, recoloring the section with the cross to light grey, and the section with sentiment to dark grey. I used a sharp scissors trim the center portion of the dark grey section, and to cut the cross from the grey section. I then colored the “stained glass” in the cross several sparkly glaze gel pens, and the sentiment with a white gel pen. I adhered both to a sheet of Vintage music from a choir book. You can see on the scrap of it on the inside of the card that it is dated 1911. (My hubby’s grandmother was a church choir director and this book was one of the many that we uncovered in her basement after she passed away a few years ago. Most of the books had torn and stained pages, so they work perfectly for cardmaking.) I finished the card by adding a bow, and wrapping the corners of the card with scraps of the ribbon.  

Supplies: 

·   Cricut File/PDF Digi- From The Bearded Housewife Crafters Club (This file was from the April 2025 Happy Crafty Easter Event)

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

·   Inside Sentiment - Eureka Digital Stamps (He Is Risen) Currently Not Available

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

·   Scraps of pastel patterned and solid papers and other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #784: Easter!   

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #694-695

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday: April (Easter) 

Outlawz Challenge-April 2025 Linky  

    I made this sweet card for a color challenge at We Craft Cards. We had to use Yellow, Teal/Aqua, Green and White as the primary colors on our cards. I struggled with this mix of colors until I started looking through my digi collection and found raindrops and this beautiful fairy named "Fleur" (Flower in French!) Since I was using an unusual color palette, I decided to create a CAS card, which is also not usual for me. But I do like how this card turned out!

 

  

Supplies: 

·   Background digi- colored raindrops- freebie from “deepheart.tumblr.com _it rains inside my brain” (no longer available)

·   Digi- Sweet November Stamps (Fleur Rainfall)

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

·   Sentiment “Rain or Shine”- Freebie from Birdscards (Blog is closed)

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

·   Butterfly digi,  other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  l

Time Out Challenge- Challenge #286 (Pick Two Prompts- Water, Pastels)    

Classic Design Challenge: Anything Goes April-May 2025 (optional- Feminine) 

Outlawz Sunday Challenge: Songs and Rhymes- Little April Shower    

Friends of Sweet November (FB) April (AG/Winged Critter =2 entries) 

Colorful Options Monthly Challenge: April Mood Board-Pastels       

     My final card for this post features a fun Digi/Sentiment set from Whimsie Doodles which is sadly no longer in business. (However, the blog is still posted and offers 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- ‘H is for HoHoHo’ (If you look closely, you’ll see the jolly old elf in the middle column on the background paper!)

    I’m entering this card into several challenges including Simon Says: Sweet Treats (If Lizzie is like me, that cup would hold one favorite new hot beverage , Lavender Hot Chocolate. I have always like the scent of lavender, but didn’t know that it would taste so good when added to a rich, creamy hot chocolate. Well.. it does!) and Park Hopping-My Happy Place (I did a bit of research and learned that Disney and Universal Studios Parks in Florida offer flavored hot chocolate through several vendors. If lavender hot chocolate isn’t available, I’m sure I could find a blend to enjoy!) 

Supplies: 

·   Digi and inside sentiment from Whimsie Doodles (Latte Lizzie) Sadly shop is closed

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

·   Patterned Paper- Hobby Lobby

·   Front Sentiment “Thinking of You” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Beachside Bliss

·   Inside  Sentiment “Sweet Holiday Wishes” from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Cheers)

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

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

Entered into:  

ABC Christmas Challenge- “H and I are for…? ”  ‘'H is for Ho Ho Ho!' & 'I is for Ice'

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Sweet Treats (Lavender Hot Chocolate!)

Polkadoodles Challenge- Challenge 5, Week 1- AG                      

  Park Hopping-My Happy Place (April)     Lavender Hot Chocolate