Signs of Spring

At the We Craft Cards Forum, we are offering Spring themed challenges during April.  For the challenge I’m hosting, I invited participants to share their favorite “Signs of Spring.” My favorite sign of spring is that I get to pack my heavy winter clothes away... and welcome the much lighter clothing from the back of my closet. I also like to shop for at least a few new blouses or dresses, usually in bright floral colors and patterns. So my card features a wonderful image from Scribbles Designs named “Dress Shop” that shows off a few new Spring fashions in the front window. I decided to add some depth to my card by using an Exacto knife to cut out the “windows” and line them with scraps of acetate. The pretty dresses that were cut from the large window were colored, embellished with a bit of ribbon and bow, and adhered to the card base. When the finished store front was added to the card, the window is popped up with squares of thick foam tape. I added lace curtains to the upper windows by fussy-cutting a lacy border from scrapbook paper, and also popped the windows up with foam tape. Lastly, I added squares of foam tape all along the edges of the store front to stabilize the card.

Supplies: 
·   Digi- Scribbles Designs (Dress Shop)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment “Happy Spring”- Imagine That! Digi Set (Teacup Bunny)
·   Inside Sentiment- Simply Crafts 171-Bonus sentiment downloads found HERE  (Register for access to hundreds of free digis, sentiments, patterns, templates and more. )
·   Digi items decorating the inside sentiment are freebies from Mari Digis HERE
·   Patterned paper, acetate, ribbon and all other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
We Craft Cards Monday Challenge- Signs of Spring
Scribbles Designs Challenge- #98 Spring Fling
The Paper Shelter- #464 With a Sentiment
Jan’s Digi Stamps- April 2021 Anything Goes    
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends- #155 Anything Goes

Another wonderful sign of Spring (and summer, and HOPE) is a rainbow. I created this card for one of my favorite challenges, named Double D’s, which is hosted by two kind and generous friends named Diane and Darlene. Their photo themed challenges always offer a fun collage of images to help inspire our creativity. The current collage features rainbows, mermaids and unicorns! I plan to make a card with each of these wonderful themes to enter over the next few weeks. This is the first one which includes a wonderful scripture-inspired digital image (which is actually a free coloring sheet that I reduced in size to fit an A2 card front.) It was so fun to color!

Supplies: 
·   Digi- Hope Ink Freebie (Remember Gods Promises)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Double D’s Challenge- Anything with a Rainbow-Unicorn-Mermaid      
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #485-486 Anything Goes                   
Outlawz Sunday Challenge- Spring's Vivid Carnival
Incy Wincy Designs- Borders and/or Bright Colors
        Since I’m a DT for Sheepski (sponsor), I’m entering just for fun!
Polkadoodles Challenge-Week #14 Anything Goes                       
Createful Heart Designs- Challenge #30 (March)

Other signs of spring are Easter and butterflies and I had fun creating this card which celebrates both! It features a cute digi that is the freebie from Bugaboo, the sponsor for this month’s Progressive Challenge at Outlawz. I’m entering this card into other challenges The Butterfly Challenge (all three colors-Lawn Green/Lilac/Laser Lemon, and one theme-Butterfly) and CCC Digi Creations (Include an Animal- the wagon holds sweet little chicks!)

Supplies: 
·   Cloudy Sky background paper- Freebie from freevintagedigistamps.blogspot.com
·   Digi-Bugaboo (Bug Brats Easter01)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Inside Sentiment- “Sweet Easter Wishes” Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Easter Joy)
·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Butterfly Challenge- #155 L is for Lantern Fold     
Outlawz Challenges- Progressive Freebie- Bug Brats Easter       
Bugaboo Stamps- April Week One Anything Goes  
CCC Digi Creations- #124 Include an Animal
Do-Al[l] Kreatives #52 Spring
Let’s Craft and Create- Ch #170-Anything Goes  (Option- Add Flowers)
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge #681 Anything Goes

It’s April 1st? No fooling!

It’s time for the April challenge at Sheepski Designs. This month’s theme is “Animal Magic” and I loved using the digi named Otter Halves to create my card. Printed on Kraft cardstock and colored with watercolor pencils the little cuties look so soft and fluffy. I added depth and sparkle to their eyes with a fine-line black marker and white gel pen and finished the card with sentiments and little puffy heart stickers.
PS Stop by the Sheepski blog to learn more about the monthly challenges. Maybe you’ll be inspired to enter a card or two yourself and have a chance to win some wonderful digis created by artist Andrea Norris!

Supplies: 
·   Digi- Sheepski Designs (Otter Halves)
·   Colored with Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils, fine-line black Sharpie marker and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment- Handmade by Paula Freebies (You’re One in a Million)
·   Inside Sentiment- “Wishing You all the Sweetest” Imagine That Digistamp set (Birthday Bunny)
·   Puffy Heart Stickers- Sticko’s from WalMart (113 assorted puffy hearts for just 99 cents!)
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday  (Anything Goes)

2craftycrittercrazies Challenge- April 2021 

        Since I’m a DT for Sheepski (sponsor), I’m entering just for fun!

Since it’s the first of the month I’m also sharing my DT card at QKR Stampede, which is always “Anything Goes” and several prizes are awarded. My DT card features a digi that includes the sweet cow image and the “punny” sentiment. Since the patterned background paper is so bold, I kept the coloring simple, merely adding a bit of pink to the nose and udders and adding lots of shading to the digi and sentiment. The red ribbon and frame add a bright shout of color!   

Supplies: 
·   Digi- QKR Stampede- Digital Stamp (Herd Birthday) Also available in unmounted or cling-mounted
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Cowhide background paper-Imagine That Digital Stamp Set “Lil Cowpokes” (retired)
·   Inside Sentiment- Computer Generated
·   Sheer red dotted swiss ribbon- JoAnne’s
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Createful Heart Designs- Challenge #30 (March)
Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- April                       
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge #676 Anything Goes

My final card for this post features a beautifully calligraphed scripture verse from Eureka Stamps. I feel that it is perfectly matched to the beautiful photo which a talented friend captured at a nearby lake a few years ago. God’s presence is so clearly visible in that richly colored sunset.

 
Supplies: 
·   Sunset photo (taken by a friend)
·   Front Sentiment- Eureka Digital Stamp (Be Still and Know) Also available in unmounted or cling-mounted
·   Sparkly Heart Sticker- Sticko’s from WalMart (220 assorted hearts for just 99 cents!)
·   Inside Sentiment- Desert Diva (Happy Birthday to a Very Special Person)
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Double D’s Challenge- Skies  
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #485-486 Anything Goes   

                

Pandatastic

It's time for another challenge at Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog where challenges are always Anything Goes and prizes are awarded from one or more sponsors.  Stop by the blog to check it out!
For this challenge, my DT card features an adorable digi and background paper from The Paper Shelter set  named (appropriately) “The Most Adorable Panda”!  After coloring and fussy-cutting the little cutie, I put my card together, attaching him to the front of a card that features the patterned background from the digi set. Shading added with a grey marker, and foam mounting tape provides some depth to the card. Black photo corners ground the image and the inside sentiment (a freebie from the web) adds the perfect “Awwww” factor!
I’m entering this card into several challenges including TIME OUT Challeng- (the quote mentions spending time outside in the garden. I think this little cutie would be all for that task!) and Outlawz Saturday Paper Ala Mode Challenge (I’m betting this panda would love spending time out on a cool Spring day!)   

Supplies: 
·   Digi - The Paper Shelter (The Most Adorable Panda)
·   Background on front and inside of the card- The Paper Shelter (The Most Adorable Panda)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Inside Sentiment- Useless Trinkets Cuties Freebie (Have a Pandastic Birthday)
·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
TIME OUT Challenge- #184 Quote                 
Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #13 Anything Goes
Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper Ala Mode- Spring or Easter

I while ago I won a Jan’s Digi Stamps challenge and picked the wonderful set named “Glasses” as my prize… mainly because I saw a tutorial at Jan’s shop and fell in love with the card! When I discovered that the set included the “Eye Chart” background, I knew it needed to come and live at my house! Jan’s tutorial provided some great tips (including using a hole punch on the lenses of the glasses to make “removing” (i.e. cutting them out) so easy! The only major change I made was to switch the color of the cat-eye frames to a pretty blue in my Word program (Just copy the image and paste it into a Word document. Click the image, then in the top toolbar click Picture Format, click Color and then select the color you want. Easy peasy!) I added a bit of fun with black photo corners and even staples to hold the eye-chart in place. I love how it turned out! So fun!

Supplies: 
·   Glasses Digis and Eye Chart from  Jan’s Digi Stamps set  (Glasses)
·   Shading and highlights added with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Sakura Gelly Roll white & silver gel pens
·   Glasses Card Tutorial found HERE
·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources
·   Papers, acetate scraps, stapler, adhesive, and foam tape from my stash.
Entered into:  
Jan’s Digi Stamps- March 2021 Anything Goes   
Lemon Shortbread Challenge- Anything Goes #142
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday   (Anything Goes)
Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes 

 
My final card this post has a wonderful vintage feeling compliments of a freebie pocket watch digi and a handmade hatpin (from a embellishment exchange years ago.) A few scraps of patterned paper and vellum, an upcycled pocket calendar page, a strip of satin ribbon,  and a computer-generated sentiment provide an elegant yet classic tone. A smattering of puffy heart stickers finishes off the card with a bit of color and whimsy!

Supplies: 
·   Pocket watch Digi- Freebie from the Old Design Shop (HERE)
·   CS Lewis Quote- Computer Generated
·   Puffy Heart Stickers- Sticko’s from WalMart (113 assorted puffy hearts for just 99 cents!)
·   Papers, old calendar page, a scrap of satin ribbon and hatpin from my stash.
Entered into:  
We Craft Cards Monday Challenge- Tick Tock Spring Forward 
Incy Wincy Designs- Steampunk and/or Vintage
Pattie's Creations Challenge- #180 AG

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #485-486 Anything Goes       

             

Signs of Spring

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 she invites me to use.  This time, the digi set, named Azaleas is one of Beccy’s encore sets, which means it’s been part of her collection for a while but is also an old favorite and so deserves to be highlighted! I was excited to create with this set because it’s been a favorite of mine for a few years. I used a tutorial that Beccy provided on her blog earlier this year, which details a “technique for creating four hand-coloured cards from one large image.”  After doing a little experimenting with the placement and size, it was pretty fast and easy to use the beautiful floral digi and one of the sentiments from this set to create four separate cards. I finished two and set aside the others for later.  
I’m entering this card into several challenges including TIME OUT Challenge (the quote mentions spending time in the garden… in my case, a flower garden!)

 

Supplies: 
·   Tutorial for creating a 4-in-1 card can be found HERE
·   Digis and  Sentiments- Beccy’s Place digital set (Azaleas)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Sparkletz Embellishments-Mermaid
·   Pink photo corners available from several web sources (WXJ13 13 Sheets 13 Colors)
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Flower Power
TIME OUT Challenge- #184 Quote 
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #483-484 Anything Goes                   
Dragonfly Dreams- Include a Flower or Flowers

My second card reminds me of the playful side of Easter morning, with jelly beans, chocolate eggs and a basket lined with the sparkle of plastic grass! This was followed by the beautiful music at the Easter morning service at our church… and a wonderful feast of baked ham and au gratin potatoes. (Hmmm… it’s funny how so many of my favorite childhood memories involve food!)
I’m entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge (shades of blue and purple, white and twist of Easter grass sparkle and texture), and Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge (Twist- Use Fav color- I love all shades of purple/lavender.)

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Bugaboo (Brat- Boy Easter Bunny)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Inside Sentiment “Happy Easter” Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Easter Joy)
·   Egg made from oval stencil and scrapbook paper
·   Butterflies cut from patterned scrapbook paper, bodies and antennae added with fine-point Sharpie markie
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
The Sisterhood of Crafters- Easter/Spring
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge #679 Easter
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Easter Mood Board                                              
Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color Challenge-Inspiration Photo plus a twist         
Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday Anything Goes 
        Since I’m a Contributor for Beccy’s Place (sponsor), I’m entering just for fun!
 
My final card for this posting is for one of my favorite challenges called the Butterfly Challenge. Each challenge includes a specific creative fold as one of the themes, but the sponsor, Mrs. A. provides easy-to-follow instructions that are really helpful. The current creative fold is Kite Fold. Mrs. A provides a tutorial for two different versions. I chose the second one, which is free-standing kite card.
I upcycled the patterned section from the front of a 12x12 paper pad as the base of my card as I liked the way the squares fit on the kite shape and the paper is thick enough to provide a really crisp fold. The pale blue butterfly adhered atop a circle of vellum on the kite, and the pretty butterfly printed ribbon were both prizes in an earlier win for this challenge. I loved using them on this card to show Mrs. A’s generosity in the prizes she offers!  I added punched butterflies instead of strips of ribbon to the kite tail because I liked the look of black butterfly silhouettes against the butterfly-printed ribbon. I sewed pairs of silhouettes together just above the ribbon knots so that they will show on both sides of the kite tail in case it gets twisted in the envelope.  I also sewed the antennae on the butterflies with black thread, which you can see if you look closely at the close-up photo. I did lay the kite on a strip of patterned paper when taking the photos to show how it will fit in a slimline (business) envelope.    
My kite fold card features all of the colors- Kilimanjaro (pale blue sky-although it doesn't show well in the photo, the butterfly on vellum is actually light blue), Kobi (light pink), Kombu Green (dark sage) and themes- Kite fold Card, Knots (in the ribbon), and Butterfly.

  

Supplies: 
·   Kite Fold Tutorial provided by challenge sponsor HERE
·   Inside Sentiment- maxammadestudio.com freebie (Happy Day)
·   Butterfly Punch- Fiskars
·   Pale blue butterfly and butterfly print ribbon from past win in this challenge.
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Butterfly Challenge- #154 K is for Kite Fold     
Outlawz Sunday Challenge- The Butterfly Song 
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday  
Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge
Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper Ala Mode- Spring or Easter      

When Pigs Fly!

Last month I won this sweet digi set from a Coni Fong FB contest where my comment saying how much I liked it was the random winner! (Might I say that I squealed with delight about my win?!) Adhered to a cloudy sky background with some puffy heart stickers and a fun sentiment the finished card is sure to bring a smile to my sweet hubby’s  face next year on Valentine’s Day (if I don’t misplace it before then!) 

Supplies: 
·   Digi and inside sentiment- Conie Fong digi set (Lulu and Lonny With Balloon Bundle)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Cloudy Sky background scrapbook paper- Freebie from freevintagedigistamps.blogspot.com
·   Front Sentiment- “Don’t Go Bacon” Whimsy Doodles (company no longer in business)

·   Puffy Heart Stickers- Sticko’s from WalMart (113 assorted puffy hearts for just 99 cents!)

·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Conie Fong Art & Design Group [FB]- Monthly Challenge- March Anything Goes                 
Double D’s Challenge- Skies 
Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #13 Anything Goes                      

Several years ago I discovered a website that offers a huge assortment of free digis and sentiments. I had to “join” to access them, but that hasn’t posed any issues and I don’t get a ton of emails from them. I DO get a nice assortment of freebies that I enjoy using. The next card features a pre-colored Christmas sweater digi! I love that it includes the cute little hanger. I made the digi even more obnoxious by adding more color and a bit of bling… because well… it’s a Christmas Sweater!

Supplies: 

·   Sweater Digi- pre-colored freebie from LoveSVG (xmas sweater)
·   Shaded/accented with Spectrum Noir Classique markers&Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment- Metal “Cheers” brad and Inside Sentiment- plastic scrapbook border (purchased from Oriental Trading Company in 2012!)
·   Silver photo corners available from several web sources (WXJ13 13 Sheets 13 Colors)
·   All other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends- #154 Anything Goes
Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #535 Anything Goes

The card above inspired this second Christmas sweater card since I traced the digi onto vellum and used it as a template for paper-piecing this beauty! It all started when I had the little scrap of gingerbread cookies that I just couldn’t throw it away because it is so darn cute. After making the first card, I realized that the strip would fit perfectly on a sweater, so I found other scraps of patterned paper and got busy cutting and pasting. It was tedious, but I do like the results!  To make it more “sweater-like” I added shading and highlighting to resemble cable stitching (at least that is what it is supposed to look like!) And, while in fussy-cutting mode, I trimmed one of the holly leaves and berries from the inside LoveSVG sentiment to adhere to the front of the card. The little scrapbook border strip that lists holiday treats inspired me to add the paint chip to the card since it features the colors “Dark Raspberry”, “Berry Brown” and “Frosted Plum.” Yep… I do like adding extra little surprises like that to my creations! (But not when I bake as they often are not edible!)
 

Supplies: 
·   Paper pieced digi- freebie from LoveSVG was used as my template
·   Shaded/accented with Spectrum Noir Classique markers&Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment- “Have a Warm and Cozy Holiday” Beccy’s Place Digi Set  (Jolly Holiday)
·   Inside Sentiment- freebie from LoveSVG (May Joy Fill Your Home)
     One set of holly and berries was fussy cut and added to the front sentiment
·   Scrapbook border strip, paint chip, scraps of dotted, plaid and plain paper and cardstock from my stash.
Entered into:  
Pixie's Snippets-Week #399
Rudolph Days Challenge- March    

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #483-484 Anything Goes                   
Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- March