A Trio of Holidays

I’m busy making packets of cards to use as holiday gifts for friends at my office and church. My first card for this card features a sweet Little Scrap of Heaven (LSOH) digi to make a card for LSOH’s Challenge that requires the use of a Jack-o-Lantern digi. A free Halloween subway chart creates a wonderful background for Little Frank and his Jack-o-lantern buddy. I printed off an extra copy of Jack, fussy-cut, and taped a scrap of yellow vellum to light his eyes and smile then mounted him with foam tape to add a bit of depth.
I’m entering this card into several challenges including Double D’s “October- what does is mean to me?” (the answer is Halloween means lots of special memories of time spent with my siblings. We used to love making creative costumes… nothing from the store for us! And we also loved scaring ourselves silly watching spooky movies while counting- and eating- our newly gathered candy stash!)

 

Supplies: 
·   Digi- Little Scraps of Heaven (Little Frank) Digi is on sale for just $1
·   Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white & silver gel pens
·   Front Sentiment- Halloween Eye Chart Freebie available HERE
·   Front Sentiment-Cut from a TLC Creations Bookmark Freebie (Welcome Great Pumpkin)
·   Inside Sentiment- “Happy Halloween” from Hero Arts' Spooky Halloween Labels Digital Set, #DK110 (no longer available)
·   Other papers and supplies from my stash
Entered into: 
Little Scraps of Heaven- October Jack-o-lantern           
Incy Wincy Designs- Halloween or Autumn/Fall Colors
Double D’s Challenge- October- What does it mean to you?                         
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                
Di’s Digi Stamps- Halloween or Harvest                                        
Lemon Shortbread Challenge- Anything Goes #131 
Digi Doodle Studios Blog- Challenge #32 Pink or Halloween (or both)   
Dragonfly Dreams- October Spooky and/or Cute
Stamping Sensations- Autumn Glory

My second creations isn’t a card, but a set of Christmas ornaments for a friend at my office who got married a few months ago. I know that she and her new hubby will enjoy sharing the cards, but I also wanted to make something that they could keep for themselves… hence the idea of ornaments. I found a free pattern on Pinterest and made a few revisions, reducing the size to easily hang on a Christmas tree branch, and making two different types of pockets. The sweet little gingerbread people are from a Power Poppy digi set.

Supplies: 
·   Digi Images- Power Poppy digi set (Gingerbread Family)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Apron Template found HERE
·   Cardstock, assorted background papers, paper doily, and satin ribbon from my stash
Entered into: 
Crafty Catz Challenge- Anything Goes #524 (Optional twist- Hats) 
Polkadoodles Challenge-Week #43 Anything Goes                      
Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #513 Anything Goes
Rudolph Days Challenge- October
Christmas Crafts All Year Round- No tricks, just TREATS!
Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- October                 

My final card this posting is a Valentine's Card that includes a base that is a few decades old. I created it back in the late ’90s and just recently found it in a box of partial cards. I remember making a handful of these items when I co-owned a stamp store. We were always looking for new and unusual supplies. We ordered a can of some odd gold spray that we discovered turned into thin globby strings… that flew everywhere! I was thankful that we’d been instructed to lay cardstock at the bottom of a deep box before spraying it. We’d assembled a few card bases with kraft and tan parchment cardstock, cut with decorative scissors named Victorian. Although we liked the look of the finished items… we didn’t stock the spray as it was way too messy! When I found this base I used two wood-mount stamps (both are now old enough to be considered “classics”) and gold embossing powder. After stamping the heart with gold pigment ink I poured on the gold powder, heated it, and repeated this process several times until the embossing was pretty thick. Then, while it was still warm, I firmly pressed the small sentiment stamp into the embossing. I love the results! (I took a photo in sunlight to try to capture the golden contrasts.) 

 

Supplies: 
·   Wood Mount Scrobbled Heart Stamp- Stampendous (retired)
·   Sentiment - Printworks “Love” Stamp (retired)
·   Gold Spray String background card- from my stash
·   Gold Pigment Pad and Gold Embossing Powder
·   Inside  sentiment- Eureka Digital Stamp (Happy Valentine’s Day)
Entered into: 
Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- Emboss Like a Boss       
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #462-463 Anything Goes                   
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge #657 Stamping
Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday Anything Goes (Twist- Embossing)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Layer It Up!