Signs of Spring

Last month I was honored when one of my cards was chosen as a "Customer Standout" by Imagine That Digital images. The honor included two digi sets of my choice and the invitation to be a Guest DT this month to share cards made with them. Of course, I said, "YES!" This card, featuring images and sentiments from the digi set named "Frog Pansies Boot Planter." You can find it HERE.

PS- I am excited to announce that I'm joining The Imagine That Designer Team starting next month. The owner/artist [and chief bottle washer!],  Kris Breach was so helpful and kind during my Guest DT gig that I'm thrilled to be able to join her team. Am busy creating my cards to share next month. So... stay tuned.

  

Entered into: 

Outlawz Challenges- Song/Rhyme: April Showers      

Simon Says Monday Challenge- Beautiful Blooms   
Bugaboo Stamps- Back to Nature                                 

Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- Think Spring   

Cute Card Thursday- #578 Flowers                                                                      

This week's sponsor at the Colour Crazy Challenge is Doctor Digi. As a DT I enjoy having a choice of which image to color… and this week it took me all of two seconds to decide. "Vic the Viking" immediately inspired me, mainly because my hubby is 100% Norwegian and I knew that he would love this image.[You can find Vic HERE.]  I colored Vic with Spectrum Noir markers and white gel pen plus used a few treasures from my accessories stash to enhance the sentiment panels. [The little sword is actually from a packet of cocktail pics that I picked up several years ago at a party store. It is originally a light green clear plastic. However, to make it realistic, I painted it with model care paints. A little tedious… but well worth the effort.] The Norwegian flag was also from a packet of cocktail pics. I removed the toothpick and attached the flag to a strip of silver cardstock to reduce the thickness of the wooden pick, and to reduce the chance of someone getting poked by it. The sentiment is computer generated.

It is a little hard to see in the photo, but the card is a trifold panel with a front of the card gate fold. This allowed me to adhere the front panel so to that gate fold, allowing it to flop over/cover the hulking Vic who was hiding inside [on the second panel]. The third panel folds back for mailing, but allows the card to stand for display. So fun. 

 

Entered into: 

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                                    

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- April                                       

For this weeks QKR Stampede Challenge, my DT card features two images from Eureka Stamps, a sentiment named "Bunny Hugs" and a sweet image named "Smiling Bunny." Both can be found HERE. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers and white gel pen. I upcycled the pretty flower embellishment from a card in my stash and layered a few scraps of paper in coordinating colors topped by a scrap of patterned vellum. Don’t you love the way it mutes the colored strips of paper in such an elegant way?  The final touch of texture is to give the cute critter a fluffy tail using a Velcro dot. [We had display boards at the office and use Velcro dots to attached items to them. However, we only use the stiff Velcro dots, meaning that the softer ones get tossed. EXCEPT when I am around. I always rescue them from the trash… this time for bunny tails. How fun is that?]

 

Entered into: 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Spring Mood Board                              

Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper Ala Mode- Spring                                                 

My final entry for this post is a "thinking outside of the box" one. The current photo inspired challenge at "Give a Crafter a Cookie" is a tray of gorgeous Easter cookies that look way too good to eat. Their delicate designs reminded me of the crazy quilt vests that my mom and I used to make for craft shows. I thought I had some scraps in my stash that we hadn't used… and started searching. And I hit pay dirt. Found a few lovely quilt squares that were finished and ready to be put to use. Because mom and I had wanted the quilted vests to look vintage and elegant, yet to be durable, we used sturdy fabric including velvet, strips of old silk ties, and scraps of upholstery fabric. [Mom was a seamstress and a crafter who made quilts, clothing, curtains and even upholstered furniture, so she had just about everything in her stash, including a pile of grandpas old silk ties. So fun.] Together we had researched stitching from antique quilts, some were family heirlooms, and had so much fun making the crazy quilt squares so many years ago. Actually two decades ago. Mom would have LOVED seeing me use the few leftover quilt squares in this way.] To reflect the egg-shaped cookies, I cut an oval window into postcard-sized piece of cardstock, adhered the quilt section beneath it with double stick tape, and attached it to the front of an A2 card. Picked a strip of cardstock in a muted pink color that complemented the quilt pieces from my scrap folder [I was truly in crazy quilting mode, trying to use up my scraps], and cut a strip that was 5.5 x 2.5 inches.  I used a decorative scissor to cut along one of the long sides, then adhered it to frame the top of the card front with double-stick tape. I then folded the other side of this strip to the back of the card and taped it down. Lastly, to cover this tape and created a "frame" [every quilt requires a frame] I selected a muted green piece of cardstock that was slightly larger than my card and attached it as a base. I created the sentiments especially for a group of new friends that I met in a women's Bible study a few years ago. We've stayed close over the year, mainly because of the deep sharing, and healing that occurred during our months together. They are now some of my most treasured friends.   I'm entering this into a few other challenges, including Pixie's Snippets [not sure if fabric snippets will work for that challenge. So... Di, please let me know if the scraps need to be paper and I'll be happy to make another entry. You know that I do love snippets and have lots of them!] 

Entered into: 

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie- #115                         

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #382-#383 Anything Goes                    

Pixie's Snippets-Week #350