Lapful of Kittens

It's Wednesday! So time for another challenge at Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge Blog.  Penny's challenges are always Anything Goes and prizes are awarded from one or more sponsors.  Stop by the blog to check it out! (pennyschallenges.blogspot.com)

This week, one of the sponsors is A Day For Daisies, and I selected the cutest image EVER to make my card. It's appropriately named "A lap full of kittens" [you can find it here- adayfordaisies.com/stamps/animals-birds/a-lap-full-of-kittens] and was so much fun to color. The humorous sentiment on the front of the card- in the circle- is a freebie from TLC (createwithtlc.blogspot.com) and the little paw print in a mini wood mount stamp from Stampendous. I added some additional colors with banners from scraps of cardstock and snippets of plastic document folders.  [If you follow my blog, you'll see that I use these almost as often as vellum… which I use a lot. You can find them in office supply stores. They come in a pack of assorted colors, are easy to fussy-cut with a nice, sharp pair of scissors and are translucent like colored vellum. Don't you how they allow the cute little kitty tracks to shine through?

Entered into: 

Word Art Wed Challenge- #358-359 Anything Goes      (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Doing Life- Create with TLC Challenge #24                      (desiref.blogspot.co.za)

Pixie's Snippets-Week #338                                                  (pixiescraftyworkshop.blogspot.com)

Colour Crazy Challenge- #42 Anything Goes                    (colourcrazychallenge.blogspot.com)

  

Next is another card that I made for the Crop just completed at wecraftcards. The Crops theme was "Game Time" and one of the Saturday challenges was to use create a card with a spinner like the game of LIFE. I found instructions via Pinterest [here- dostamping.typepad.com/dostamping_with_dawn/2011/10/spooky-bingo-bits-viewmaster-card-video.html] and got to work. It was tedious and took quite some time to create, but it is a fun card. I used a Bugaboo set named Mini Set Cutesy Halloween Blocks. The sentiment on the front and BOO in the spinner are both freebies from decossesdynamitedoodles.blogspot

 
Entered into: 

Kitty Bee Designs- #130- Halloween/Fall                                      (alohafridaychallenges.blogspot.com)

Stampendous 31 Days of Halloween Challenge                            (stampendousblog.wordpress.com)

The October challenge at Power Poppy, called "It's Your Birthday, offers a really interesting invitation to create. Here is the info provided by this month's DT hostess- "I’m challenging everyone to use their birthday month as inspiration. Make a card that either celebrates the season (Fall, Winter, Spring or Summer), any holiday that might be happening during the month of your birthday, your wedding, your child's birth, whatever that month represents to you."  My birthday month is January, so a snow themed card seems appropriate. I stamped a jar from a Fiskars clear stamp set onto a strip of acetate and created a shaker card. Attached a cute little snowman sticker on the paper that would become the backing for the shaker, and attached it with double-stick foam tape. I left one edge open so that I could stuff a few sparkly shreds into the shaker,  then added the foam tape and top layer of patterned paper. The sentiment is made from a clear scrapbook sticker that has a clear dome. I mounted it on a scrap of black cardstock, then smeared it with a bit of glue and sprinkled some ultrafine glitter on it to add some wintry bling.

Entered into: 

Cute Card Thursday- #553 Sparkle                            (cutecardthursday.blogspot.com) 

Power Poppy- It's Your Birthday                                (powerpoppy.blogspot.com/2018/10/october-power-spark-you-say-its-your.html)

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

Candy Corn

This week the wecraftcards Forum is having a Crop with the theme "Game Time." One of the Friday challenges was to use create a card with "word tiles" like in the game Monopoly. It took me a while to come up with this card using a Bugaboo ghost image. Used scrapbooking letters for the Boo and a freebie sentiment inside [from decossesdynamitedoodles.blogspot]. A question for you- Can you name the snack the little spook just enjoyed?" [For the answer check out his tummy.] 

Entered into: 

Bugaboo Stamp- Stella Says Sketch Challenge #618     (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)

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

Stampendous 31 Days of Halloween Challenge              (stampendousblog.wordpress.com)

The new weekly challenge at Simon Says Monday is called "Take Flight." I decided to make a card using a fun image that is actually a freebie [find it at winkwinkink.com] Chalked in the clouds with a homemade template, a makeup sponge and blue chalk. The wonderful purple balloon is made from a scrap of a plastic document folder.  [If you follow my blog, you'll see that I use these almost as often as vellum… which I use a lot. You can find them in office supply stores. They come in a pack of assorted colors, are very translucent and are often cheaper than colored vellum.  Plus you can write on them with a fine-line permanent marker and they are also easy to fussy-cut with a nice, sharp pair of scissors. So, they make wonderful balloons! The only challenge is that tape or adhesive will show through, so I use an Exacto knife to cut small strips on each side of the balloon. Then, when tracing the balloon onto the document page, I sketch "flaps" on the sides, placing them where they can be slipped into the small cuts and taped to the underside of the card.) The fun sentiment is computer generated.      

Entered into: SS Monday wink freebie

Simon Says Monday Challenge-Take Flight                 (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)

I need to start building my Christmas cards for this year so made a card to enter into this week's Creative Confettis challenge at Power Poppy. The goal is to create a card that uses my monogram as the base upon which I pick the items/techniques used for my creation! In my case, K= Kraft Brown paper, M= Metallic gold, and A= antique [the sparkly gold paper in the ornament is upcycled from my mom's stash of old cards. I'm guessing that it is at least 50 years old.] The JOY image is a freebie from papercraftsmag.com/content_downloads/Joy.jpg

The scrap of sparkly upcycled paper allows me to enter the card into Cute Card Thursday's challenge "Sparkle" and the gold cord and gold photo corners add a bit more elegance to the card. The inside sentiment is computer generated.

Entered into: 

Cute Card Thursday- #553 Sparkle                                      (cutecardthursday.blogspot.com) 

Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- Three Little Letters      (powerpoppy.blogspot.com/2018/10/creative-confetti-three-little-letters.html)

Word Art Wed Challenge- #358-359 Anything Goes       (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #409                  (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Happy Little Stamper- Christmas-Anything Goes            (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)
October Rudolph Days Challenge                                        (scrapsoflifebyscrappymo.blogspot.com/2018/10/october-rudolph-days-challenge.html)

Treasures

For my final challenge in The Paper Shelter's Halloween Challenge, I repurposed a cute Paper Shelter image. The "Cute Bavarian" image became a cute little Trick or Treater when I swapped the pretzel with a bag of M&Ms and put a Plastic pumpkin full of mini-candy bars in her other hand. Isn't she adorable? [The candy photos were snatched from on-line Halloween ads from local grocery stores. I reduced them in size to fit the image and candy bucket. I used a layout from Bugaboo Stella's Sketch Challenge and assorted paper scraps and three enamel dots from my stash. The Happy Halloween sentiment inside of the card is a freebie (find it here- birdscards.com/teenween-card-first-posted-thursday-october-29-2009)

Entered into: 

The Paper Shelter- #359 Halloween                                        (thepapershelter.blogspot.com.ar)

Bugaboo Stamp- Stella Says Sketch Challenge #618            (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Halloween/Spooky      (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Colour Crazy Challenge- #42 Anything Goes                         (colourcrazychallenge.blogspot.com)

Kitty Bee Designs- #130- Halloween/Fall                               (alohafridaychallenges.blogspot.com)

Stampendous 31 Days of Halloween Challenge                      (stampendousblog.wordpress.com)

When I saw this touching image I knew that it was the perfect fit for the current Sketch challenge at Calling All Sistah's. Then I discovered that it is a freebie… how wonderful is that? [You can find it here- maridigischallenge.blogspot.com/p/feebie.html] The hope die is from CAS-usual Fridays. [This mini-die is just $3.99 and 50% of the price is donated to breast cancer research. You can find it here- cas-ualfridaysstamps.com/products/hope-fri-die] The inside greeting is from a Whimsy Stamps digi set named "Vintage Sentiments."

 

Entered into: 

Calling All Sista’s- Sketch Challenge #18                       (callingallsistahs.blogspot.com)

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

Happy Little Stamper- Anything Goes with Dies          (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

For my second entry into the current Butterfly challenge that focuses on the letter "G" I decided to make a Shabby Chic card. I love this style of card but really struggle with creating them. I used a few items that were in my mom's craft stash. [I inherited my love of crafting and coloring from her so using items that she had treasured is always precious to me. My card includes all of the colors [green in the background, purple butterflies, and metallic gold photo corners] and one of the themes- Gems [the sentiment from moms stash included tiny roses. I attached light pink heart rhinestones to the roses and then used vintage green Nuvo Crystal Drops to add some depth to the rose leaves. The lace is from mom's stash and the tan doily is a recent purchase from JoAnn's [a pack of 12 for just a buck. How could I say no?]

Entered into: 

Butterfly Challenge- #110 Letter G                                    (butterflyspotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Simon Says Monday Challenge-Take Flight                     (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)

Word Art Wed Challenge- #358-359 Anything Goes     (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Cute Card Thursday- #553 Sparkle                                    (cutecardthursday.blogspot.com) 

Critters

I wasn't planning on making a scary black cat card... but I just had to share this great digi with my new friends at the Cat Lovers Blog Hop. This digi was created by set designer Dave Lowe who gives permission to use this, and many other great silhouettes, for free. [visit his blog-  davelowe.blogspot.com/2013/09/witchcrafty-window-silhouette-printables.html] 

I printed the cat on vellum and mounted the image onto star patterned paper to represent a night sky. Cut a yellow circle moon that I slid behind the cats head, making sure to position it so that his eyes would "shine" yellow. 

The sentiment on the front of the card is a freebie from papercrafts magazine [www.papercraftsmag.com/content_downloads/Eek_9187.jpg] and the inside sentiment is from an Inkadinkadoo clear stamp set.

Entered into: 

Simon Says Monday Challenge-Halloween/Spooky                  (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Halloween/Spooky           (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

The Paper Shelter- #359 Halloween                                              (thepapershelter.blogspot.com.ar)

Stampendous 31 Days of Halloween Challenge                           (stampendousblog.wordpress.com)

2018 Cat Lovers Hop (herpeacefulgarden.blogspot.com/2018/10/main-hop-post-2018-cat-lovers-hop.html)

This week the wecraftcards Forum is having a Crop with the theme "Game Time." One of the Thursday challenges was to use "any part of the board, playing pieces, cards or money for inspiration to make a card or a project that based on Monopoly." After doing a bit of research, I decided to make a card that is based on the cute little Scottie dog game piece. I couldn't find a free clip art image, so I used a photo to sketch a silhouette that I cut from black paper. I've had this saying in my files for years. It was "author unknown." However, since I believe in following copyright laws, I did some web research and it appears that  "If a Dog was the Teacher... " first appeared in an article written by Joe Albero so I am citing that source[sbynews.blogspot.com/2014/04/if-dog-was-teacher.html]

 If any of my readers know of a different source, please let me know. Thanks.

Entered into: 

We Craft Cards Game Time Crop- Monopoly                                 (wecraftcards.com/forum)

I really had fun creating this card for the current Butterfly challenge that focuses on the letter G. One of my favorite colors is purple so my card features several shades of "grape" [one of the required colors for the current challenge.] The perfume bottle label is a freebie from TLC (createwithtlc.blogspot.com) and the perfume bottle digi was the image provided for the May 2018 Progressive Challenge at Outlawz. Was so fun to bling it up a bit for this card by adding several gems [one of the required themes for the current challenge. For the inside of the card, I used some of the same patterned paper as the card front and added a green butterfly [one of the other colors for this challenge.]

The lavender print paper on the card front and the butterfly print paper on the inside are both from a packet of lovely paper that I recently won at Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge. They went so beautifully with this card that I was so thankful to have them in my stash. [And, I'm also entering this card into Hazel's Patterned Paper Challenge… so that she can see that I'm enjoying her nice prize. Thanks so much, Hazel.]

Entered into: 

Butterfly Challenge- #110 Letter G                                     (butterflyspotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Word Art Wed Challenge- #358-359 Anything Goes       (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Cute Card Thursday- #553 Sparkle                                      (cutecardthursday.blogspot.com) 

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

Doing Life- Create with TLC Challenge #24                      (desiref.blogspot.co.za)

Three Beauties

Used  an old wood mount stamp that I picked up at a stamp show many years ago  to create another card for the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop. It's from a company named "Love you to bits" and works perfectly for a birthday card with this computer generated sentiment. So fun.

Entered into: 

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

2018 Cat Lovers Hop       (herpeacefulgarden.blogspot.com/2018/10/main-hop-post-2018-cat-lovers-hop.html)

Purchased a package of Martha Stewart Halloween gift bags a few years ago, mainly because I wanted the sparkly die cut witches that were included with the bags. For this card, I kept the background simple, upcycling an old greeting card for the front and inside. Added computer generated sentiments and a fussy-cut bat to the inside. Easy Peazy.

Entered into: 

Simon Says Monday Challenge-Halloween/Spooky                 (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Halloween/Spooky         (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Happy Little Stamper- Anything Goes with Dies                        (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

Stampendous 31 Days of Halloween Challenge                            (stampendousblog.wordpress.com)

This weeks challenge at Power Poppy Creative Confetti is a… well… challenging one. It's called " Art Imitating Life" and we are to create a card inspired by a photo. I pulled up my photo albums and found a photo from last years Christmas tree that I love, mainly because it's a snowflake. And because it reminded me of a template I'd found a few weeks ago for a beautiful 3-D Pop-up Snowflake.  It took a little time, but I was able to use the template, and accompanying video to create this fun card. [You can find the template and link to the video here- https://sites.google.com/site/kagisippopopupcards2/top/howtomake] The sentiment on the front, printed on vellum, is computer generated. The snowflake punch is from Martha Steward, and the added bling just adds some sparkle to the creation.

 

Entered into: Popup Snowflake

Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- Photo Challenge   (powerpoppy.blogspot.com/2018/10/art-imitating-life.html)

Word Art Wed Challenge- #358-359 Anything Goes     (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Cute Card Thursday- #553 Sparkle                                    (cutecardthursday.blogspot.com)