Oh HAPPY Day!

The sentiment on this card describes my feelings right now. I've been writing a large federal grant the last few weeks and have spent many evening hours in my craft room 'de-stressing.' (It's much cheaper than therapy. Well… okay… it's a bit cheaper than therapy!) 

I am officially joining the monthly challenges at Gerda Steiner Designs with this card. The sweet kitty on a shelf image is the designated image for this month. Love it! And it just begged to be showcased in a window card, so that is what I did. The card base came with the window panes precut (no longer available). To make the curtains, I drew a pattern to fit the window opening, made the patterned paper two sided (with double stick tape), cut them out then used a light grey marker to add the pleats. I used the same grey marker and a stripe stencil (available here  www.etsy.com/listing/478445757/stripes-stencil-template-stencils) to create the wallpaper and to create the "siding" on the outside of the house. The sentiment is a freebie (from here decossesdynamitedoodles.blogspot.ca) Am entering the card into several other challenges including a few "anything goes", plus Art Impressions "Perfect Past Times" (besides card making, I kinda like napping!) and DigiStamps2Joy "Being Young" (because many of my favorite childhood memories involved kittens and reading.) 

Entered into: 

Gerda Steiner Designs- Monthly Challenge           (gsd-stamps.com/blogs/news)

Art Impressions- Perfect Past times                        (artimpressionsstamps.blogspot.com)

DigiStamps4Joy- Anything Goes (Being Young)  (digistamps4joy-sa.blogspot.co.za

QKR Stampede- #287 Anything Goes                     (qkrstampede.blogspot.com)

Penny's Challenge- #371 Anything Goes                 (pennyschallenges.blogspot.com.au)

These two sweet images are from Little Scraps of Heaven. I combined them onto one card that I'm entering into the LCOH monthly Challenge "Easter." Had fun using pastel colors… because… well… SPRING! And tried to add a little bit of texture and whimsy by adding thread whiskers. They aaren't quite what I had planned. Should have used a smaller needle so that the bunnies didn't have those caverns in their cheeks. But they still are cute… just a bit prickly! Am entering the card in several other challenges that focused on Easter or Spring and offered a few wonderful mood boards! 

Entered into:

Little Scraps of Heaven (FB)   Easter Challenge                         (lshdesigns.blogspot.com)

Simon Says Monday Challenge- Easter/Spring Inspiration    (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Easter Inspired                 (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

The Cutie Pie Challenge- #121 Spring Cuties                              (cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.com)                

SumMoreFun  Challenge- Mood Board                                       (summorefun.com)  

Artistic Inspirations Challenge-Challenge #195                        (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)

The current challenge at Power Poppy is called "Inspired by Fabric." Thinking about fabric always makes me think of my mom, who was a seamstress who made most of my clothes when I was very young. She used most of the fabric scraps to create one-of-a-kind quilts, sewn by hand in a crazy quilt pattern.  As I little girl I especially loved that the quilt she made for me included pieces of fabric from favorite dresses and pajamas, sewn together with embroidery stitches in a wide range of colors. So… I searched the web to find fabric that reminded me of Mom's quilts. (Sadly, I no longer have the quilt mom made me back in 1962. It endured lots of heavy use and many repairs as sections became threadbare. About 10 years ago it basically fell apart. I wish I would have preserved it, but Mom wouldn't have liked that. I can almost hear her saying, "I made it to keep you warm! Use it!" t On the web I found a quilt piece that was perfect! The floral pattern and lacy accent inspired me to make this card. The cute dress is made with the simplest origami pattern I've ever used! (yelloworigamibird.blogspot.com/2014/08/3d-dress-card-tutorial.html) The doily behind the dress is from my "Mom stash of treasures" that my sisters and I discovered when we cleaned out her apartment years ago after she moved to her mansion in heaven. I hadn't seen her crochet since the early 1970s, so it is an heirloom!  And the sentiment, that I printed out on my computer, also makes me think of Mom. She was the kindest, sweetest person I ever knew. She's been gone nearly 8 years and I still miss her! Am entering this card into a few additional challenges, Crafty Hazelnuts patterned paper challenge, and Deep Oceans, "Vintage/Shabby Chic" (because the doily is vintage.) I'll be sending this card to one of my sisters who will appreciate the story behind it. And… the origami dress was so easy to make that I put together another one, changing the waistline a bit, and adapting the color scheme to meet the challenge at The Paper Shelters "Hot or Cold Colors" (the champagne white, grey and frosted vellum look icy cold).

Entered into: 

Power Poppy- Inspired by Fabric                                   (powerpoppy.blogspot.com/2018/03/power-spark-inspired-by-fabric.html)

Deep Ocean Challenge- #176 Vintage/Shabby Chic  (deepoceanchallengeblog.blogspot.com.au)

The Paper Shelter- #330 Hot or Cold Colors              (thepapershelter.blogspot.com.ar)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge             (craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com)