Baby Robin

The final challenge in Beccy's Place Sixth Annual Month of Holiday Cards is to "use the stamps, colors, papers, and embellishments that you love to create one final card." I had lots of fun making this card that includes so many of my favorite things- coloring, fussy-cutting, and upcycling [ribbon from Godiva Chocolate, vintage sheet music from my hubby's grandmother who was a church choir directors, the embossed brown square was on a card I received from a friend, a bit of bling and an inside sentiment crafted to match the front of the card! The wonderful digi and inside sentiment is from a Beccy's Place digi set named "Baby Robin." 

Entered into: 

Mod Squad Challenge- Come to Critter Days                                             (modsquadchallenge.com)

Beccy’s Place Challenge- Month of Holiday Cards- Final Challenge     (beccysplace.blogspot.com)

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                             (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes                     (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #413 Anything Goes   (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Made this card for the current Pixie's Snippets challenge and it includes a large assortment of scraps of vellum, an old map, cardstock and patterned paper plus a strip of ribbon. Also used a die cut tag that I've had in my stash for a while. The sentiment on the front of the card is computer generated and the beautiful script sentiment on the inside of the card is from Denami Stamps. [Twenty years ago when a friend and I owned a stamp store in South Dakota, Denami Stamps was one of our most popular lines. They were high-quality stamps and the owners, Gary and Nami Nakamura, were such nice people. I'm sure that they are still nice people selling good quality products because they are still in business. Stop by their website to check out their images. Bet you'll find something you like. www.denamidesign.com] Am entering the card into several other challenges including the Power Poppy Confetti Challenge TicTacToe [diagonal from upper left- red, die cut, green], Outlawz Tuesday TicTacToe [diagonal from lower left- red and white stripes, sentiment, and tag] and If You Give a Crafter A Cookie Challenge [tag has candy cane stripes.]

Entered into: 

Pixie's Snippets-Week #340                                                   (pixiescraftyworkshop.blogspot.com)        

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greetings- Red on Card       (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie- #108 Candy Cane              (giveacrafteracookie.blogspot.com)

Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color-TicTacToe                         (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)

Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- TicTacToe      (powerpoppy.blogspot.com/2018/11/weve-got-surprise_27.html)

Am so excited that Today is the start of the 2018 Fall | Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! I discovered this wonderful event last fall on FB and have participated in every one since then. They are inspiring, encouraging and there are LOTS of great prizes. [For details, visit http://coffeelovingcardmakers.com/2018/11/2018-fall-winter-coffee-lovers-blog-hop] For my Day 1 entry, I made a sweet little ATC. The fun retro feeling background paper is actually a label that I pulled from a disposable coffee cup. I loved the colors and patterns and just couldn't toss it in the trash. Luckily it peeled away really easily. The cute cup image is a digi from Verve Stamps that I purchased during the 2017 Coffee Lovers Fall Blog Hop. I printed the mug on dotted patterned paper, and fussy cut steam swirls from scraps of vellum.  The sentiment is one of Kelli Winnell's Friday Freebies. (You can find it, and dozens more, here kelliewinnell.typepad.com/blog/freebie-Friday.)

Entered into: 

2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop            (Coffeelovingcardmakers.com/2018/11/2018-fall-winter-coffee-lovers-blog-hop)

Cute Card Thursday- #558 Recycle Something       (cutecardthursday.blogspot.com) 

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

Picking a Tree

For this week's challenge at QKR Stampede I made a card using a QKR digi image (Q-digi13801 Picking a Tree) that you can find at stamponit.net. I colored the sweet image with Spectrum Noir markers and white gel pen. I made the background with scraps of wrapping paper [that I "rescued" after a gift was opened at a family birthday party. Yes… my whole family knows that I am always on the lookout for gift wrap that I can upcycle. They actually ask, "Kathy do you want any of this?" before they throw it in the trash!] and added assorted snowflakes from my collection of punches. Added some shading to the "sky" by tapping the tip of a few shades of blue markers against the paper then sketched simple snowflakes randomly on top of the blue shading. Added a little texture with Polar White Flowersoft on the hat and pompom. The sentiment on the inside is also from QKR. [You can find it here- Q-digi8717 Merry Christmas Digital Stamp]

PS Stop on by the QKR Stampede where the weekly challenges are always Anything Goes and prizes are awarded (qkrstampede.blogspot.com)

Entered into: 

Cute Card Thursday- #558 Recycle Something                             (cutecardthursday.blogspot.com) 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes                      (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #413 Anything Goes   (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

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

This entry for Beccy's Place Sixth Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge inspired by the letter "Z" is Z-fold. [Find the fold template here- papercraftinspirationsmagazine.co.uk/category/how-to/z-fold-card.htm] The sweet image on the front is from Beccy's Place digi set "Sugar and Spice."  The sentiment on the front is a freebie from TLC  [createwithtlc.blogspot.com] and the inside sentiment is from a Beccy's Place digi set named "Sweet Shoppe." The die cut rick rack border papers are from my scrapbook stash and the little puffy heart sticker was added to the inside sentiment… just because I love those sweet little stickers.  [From my stash of these stickers that I found at Walmart a while ago. Each packet contains 113 of the little beauties for just 99 cents. I currently have a few hundred on hand as a girl can never have enough puffy heart stickers!) Am entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz Tuesday TicTacToe [center column- top= tree, center= sentiment, bottom= pink rickrack] and If You Give a Crafter A Cookie Challenge [image includes a candy cane.]

 

Entered into: 

Beccy’s Place Challenge- Month of Holiday Cards Letter Z      (beccysplace.blogspot.com)

Christmas Crafts All Year Round- Gingerbread                          (christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk)

Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color-TicTacToe                                     (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie- #108 Candy Cane                      (giveacrafteracookie.blogspot.com)

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)

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

I won this sweet image in a challenge from The Paper Shelter [TPS] last month and couldn't wait to use it. It's named "Follow the Stars" and is a perfect fit for the current challenge at TPS, "Snow Days" [or in this case, Snowy Nights.] One thing that I love about TPS digis is that most come in a set with a wonderful background that compliments the image. And… I mix them up when appropriate. This background is from the digi set named "Snowboarder Girl." I did reformat the background in grayscale for the card then sponged grey and blue inks along the edge so that the glow from the lantern would show up. Speaking of that glow; it's made with a few layers of vellum, regular and yellow. [I do love my vellum stash.] A new friend from blog land recently gifted me with the snowflake die [Thanks, Darnell] and I love how it adds the delicate snowflake edging to the background. Since I have a nice assortment of Christmas cards for this year, I decided to make this one more generic. she inside sentiment is a free bookmark that worked perfectly for this card. [You can find it here- http://courtneydefeo.com/the-brightest-lights-in-orlando]

 

Entered into: 

The Paper Shelter- #364 Snow Days                                        (thepapershelter.blogspot.com.ar)

Artistic Inspirations Challenge-Challenge #210                    (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)
Outlawz Challenges- Twisted Thursday- Anything Goes     (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)
Word Art Wed Challenge- #362-#363 Anything Goes         (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com) 

Christmas Hope

This entry for Beccy's Place Sixth Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge inspired by the letter "Y" is Yankee Blue [night sky.] The patterned paper is from my scrapbook paper stash and the digi image is a freebie from Beccy's Place named "Mums Coat." [find it here- beccysplace.blogspot.com/2011/11/mums-coat.html] I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers and white gel pen, fussy cut the image, added Polar White Flowersoft to the stargazers hood and then adhered her to the card front.  I added a pink vellum heart on the Christmas star then layered the word Hope die cut from black cardstock. [The hope 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 Beccy's Place digi set named "The Nativity."

 

Entered into: 

Beccy’s Place Challenge- Month of Holiday Cards Letter Y      (beccysplace.blogspot.com)

The Cutie Pie Challenge #129 Winter Layers                               (cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.com)

Kitty Bee Designs- #132- All Wrapped Up                                    (alohafridaychallenges.blogspot.com)

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

Word Art Wed Challenge- #362-#363 Anything Goes              (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

I needed a birthday card for a little friend and when I found this image from Time For Tea Designs I knew it would be perfect. [It is a freebie for members of the Time for Tea Designs Community Page on Facebook.] The princess is colored with Spectrum Noir markers, white gel pen and gold gel pen [to add golden pattern on her gown.] The stars in assorted sizes area made with glitter gold paper, a star die cut and star stencils. The inside sentiment is from Birds Cards [www.birdscards.com]

 

Entered into: 

CAS-ual Fridays- #213 Shades of Gold (Logo)                               (CAS-ualfridays.blogspot.com)

Time for Tea Challenge- Anything Goes  [FB or web]                  (etsy.com/uk/shop/TimeForTeaDesigns)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes                      (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Artistic Inspirations Challenge-Challenge #210                            (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)
Outlawz Challenges- Twisted Thursday- Anything Goes             (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)

This week's Monday challenge at wecraftcards is to create a card with letters as the focal point. I dug through my stickers and didn't find anything that thrilled me. Then remembered that I had lots of letter tiles in my scrapbook stash... and hit payday! Love these elegant lettering tiles which create Christmas cards in a flash. Was so quick and easy that I made two cards with a few differences, the color of the layering paper and straight edge vs. decorative scissors. Which do you like best?

Entered into: 

We Craft Cards Monday Challenge-Christmas Letters                (wecraftcards.com/forum)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #413 Anything Goes   (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Snowy Days

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, I used a digi from one of the challenge sponsors, All Dressed Up. The sweet digi is named "Snowy Days" [you can find it here- https://www.etsy.com/shop/alldressedupstamps?ref=l2-shopheader-name] The background is made with subway art [a freebie from www.smilelikeyoumeanit.net/2010/11/merry-christmasa-little-early.html?m=1 ] I added some color and sparkle to the background with assorted snowflake stickers from my stash. Finished by providing a little texture with Polar white Flower Soft on her hat and scarf pompoms. The sentiment on the inside is a freebie from TLC  [createwithtlc.blogspot.com]

Entered into: 
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Baby It's Cold Outside   (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Kitty Bee Designs- #132- All Wrapped Up                                 (alohafridaychallenges.blogspot.com)

Double D’s Challenge- Snuggle Up Buttercup                           (daranddiane.blogspot.com)

The Cutie Pie Challenge #129 Winter Layers                             (cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.com)

All Dressed Up- Anything Goes                                                    (alldressedupchallenges.blogspot.com)

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie- #107 Christmas                       (giveacrafteracookie.blogspot.com)

Another sponsor for this weeks challenge at Penny's is Di's Digi's. I used Di's digi image named "Woolcup Kitty" [find it here- https://www.disdigistamps.coml] It was fun to use some pretty yarn from my mom's craft stash.  She would have LOVED this kitty image. She loved all things cat. The sentiment on the front is from a Beccy's Place digi set named "True Beauty." [The inside sentiment is a freebie from https://www.birdscards.com/christmas-digi/]

Entered into: 

Di’s Digi Stamps- Include a Sentiment                               (disdigidesignschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

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

Artistic Inspirations Challenge-Challenge #210               (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)
Word Art Wed Challenge- #362-#363 Anything Goes    (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

This entry for Beccy's Place Sixth Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge inspired by the letter "X" and is x shaped [crossed]. I know… I'm pushing it. But couldn't think of anything else that starts with an x but… well… and x!  The candy cane image and inside sentiment are both from Beccy's Place digi set "Tied Up With String."  I picked up the chalkboard background paper a few months ago at JoAnn's and need to see if I can buy more of it. Love how it looks on this card. 

Entered into: 

Beccy’s Place Challenge- Month of Holiday Cards Challenge Letter X      (beccysplace.blogspot.com)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #413 Anything Goes           (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

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

Warm Wishes

This entry for Beccy's Place Sixth Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge inspired by the letter "W" is Warm Winter Wishes. The cute little bear is a freebie from Beccy's Place [beccysplace.blogspot.com/2010/07/little-bear-blue_08.html] and the inside sentiment is a from a Lili of the Valley digi set named "Christmas Wishes." I made the candy cane wands by cutting red and white striped paper on the diagonal in thin strips. Used a light grey Spectrum Noir alcohol pen to shade each edge, then added a line of highlight with a white gel pen. The quilt background was made with scraps of wintery background paper with a layer of vellum to mute the colors so that the little bear shows up. Also, I included the card in a few challenges that focused on warmth and snuggling because that is what a quilt is for, right? 

Entered into: 

Beccy’s Place Challenge- Month of Holiday Cards Letter W      (beccysplace.blogspot.com)

The Cutie Pie Challenge #129 Winter Layers                                (cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.com)

Double D’s Challenge- Snuggle Up Buttercup                              (daranddiane.blogspot.com)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #413 Anything Goes  (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

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

Outlawz Challenges- Saturday Paper Ala Mode-Christmas          (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)

I used a beautiful image from Bugaboo named "Frame Happiness" to make another card for the current Butterfly Challenge that focuses on the Letter J. My card includes one theme- Joint [sections on the Z-fold of the card. You can find the card template there- papercraftinspirationsmagazine.co.uk/category/how-to/z-fold-card.htm] I found a wonderful adult coloring book at the local Goodwill and a section of one page for the background on the inside of the card. Layered with pink vellum, I love the soft feeling it gives the card. Printed off a few extra butterflies which I fussy-cut. Then traced the wings on pink vellum and fussy-cut. Then cut a few slits into the butterfly, slid the pink vellum wings into slits and taped from the underside to add a 3-D element. I didn't use a sentiment on the inside. Will be sending this card to a young friend in college to help her through finals in the next few weeks. Will write a note on the back of it.

 

Entered into: 

Butterfly Challenge- #112 Letter J                                       (butterflyspotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Calling All Sista’s- Photo Challenge #19                             (callingallsistahs.blogspot.com)

Word Art Wed Challenge- #362-#363 Anything Goes   (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Made this card  with a beautiful image  Ching-Chou Kuik's line of digital stamps [www.etsy.com/listing/219254993] named "Silently Sparling." markers, and fussy cutit. ussy-cut and adhered to the card front. Wanted to create an elegant card with shades of gold to be able to enter it into the current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge. Used a cream colored base card, layered vintage sheet music [from a chorus book dated 1929, that we found in the basement when we cleaned my husbands family home before his mom moved into assisted living years ago. His grandmother was a church choir director for many decades so there were boxes of sheet music and booklets, most in good shape. Yay.] This was topped with a gold-bordered frame that I cut from an old card. I colored the beautiful image with Spectrum Noir markers, fussy-cut and set it aside. Created the candle glow by punching a circle from vellum and coloring along the outer edged with a yellow gold marker. Carefully cut around the candle and her hand with an Exaco knife and then slid the vellum circle behind, taping it down from the underside of the image.  Then adhered the image to the front of the card. To add the glimmer of metallic gold, I added a strip of Jolee's gold border stickers. Also used a pin to remove the round centers from another line stickers and "sprinkled" them across the card to add more sparkle and layered several of them to create her brooch.  For the inside of the card, I used another scrap of sheet music, the sticker scrap left when I had removed the border sticker [I really am an upcycler to the nth degree] and a from a Lili of the Valley digi set named "Christmas Wishes."

 

 


Entered into: 

Ching-Chou Kuik's FB  Challenge-Christmas          (facebook.com/groups/chingchoukuikdigitalstamps)

CAS-ual Fridays- #213 Shades of Gold                     (CAS-ualfridays.blogspot.com)

Colour Crazy Challenge- #47 Anything Goes           (colourcrazychallenge.blogspot.com)

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                             (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com) 

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