Annual FUN!

Since I started blogging in 2017 I’ve participated in a wonderful annual event at Beccy’s Place named the Month of Holiday Cards Challenge. Beccy is one of the most generous challenge sponsors that I know… and if you’ve never joined in the fun, you are missing the opportunity to win some amazing prizes. The 8^th annual Challenge goes on all month, with drawings for daily challenges, posting comments, and even random entry numbers!  Stop on in HERE!
Most of the challenges follow an A-Z theme… with a few other topics thrown in to cover all 31 days of November. My entry for Day 1 (the letter “A”) features a cute little APRON shaped card that includes a sweet Christmas digi image and sentiment from one of Beccy’s new sets named “Home for the Holidays.” Scraps of patterned paper, ribbon and a paper doily helped bring the festive apron to life!

 

Supplies: 
·   Digi and Sentiment- from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Home for the Holidays)
·   Apron Template found HERE
·   Scraps of patterned paper, ribbon and a paper doily from my stash
Entered into: 
Beccy’s Place- 8^th Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge    
Lemon Shortbread Challenge- Anything Goes #131 
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes
Polkadoodles Challenge-Week #43 Anything Goes                      
Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #514 Anything Goes
 
Another annual challenge I discovered after I started blogging is the Cat Lover’s Hop, which is celebrating its 6^th year of fun and prizes! The host, Janis from Her Peaceful Garden Blogspot, recruits sponsors (42 this year!) that offer some great prizes. The challenge runs for one week and the focus is on CATS! It ends tonight and a super busy week didn’t allow any stamping time so I feared I wouldn’t get to play along. However, I spent all day happily creating and was thrilled to finish five cards. So… I’ll be sharing them in a few posts tonight before midnight. Here goes!
The first card features a cozy little digi from Knitty Kitty Digis named, appropriately, “Knitted Kitty” (which is available for just $1!) I did a bit of paper piecing to create the holiday print sweater, which looks thick and warm when shaded with my Spectrum Noir markers.  The front sentiment, which is a perfect fit for the digi, is from a new Christmas digi image from Beccy’s Place, and the inside sentiment is a freebie that I found on the simplycardsmag website which offers hundreds of free digis, sentiments, templates, and more! And anything you download is saved on the website for later access. Easy Peasy!

 

Supplies: 

·   Knitty Kitty Digis (Knitted Kitty)
·   Front Sentiment-“Have a Warm and Cozy Holiday” from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set  (Jolly Holiday)
·   Inside Sentiment- a Freebie from simplycardsmag website
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Sparkly Poinsettia Stickers and Santa Hat Sticker- Hobby Lobby
Entered into: 
Peaceful Garden Blogspot- 2020 Cat Lovers Hop
Jan’s Digi Stamps- October 2020 Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #462-463 Anything Goes                   
Crafty Catz Challenge- Anything Goes #525 (Optional twist- Winter) 
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                
 
The second card for the 2020 Cat Lovers Hop features a beautiful image from Moonflower Digi Stamps named “Lilly the Cat Fairy.” I used a gate-fold card for my base (a super easy to make option that adds a little pizzazz) and the current “Stella’s Sketch” at Bugaboo for my card layout. Shades of blue provided a nice background for Lilly’s beautiful glossy black tresses, and several touches of sparkle add some magic to the fairy and her lovely feline.
I’m entering this card into several other challenges including Bugaboo Stamps Recipe Challenge- Use a Technique  (using creative folds on my cards is one of my favorite techniques), and Outlawz Color Challenge (Shades of Blue.)

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Moonflower Digi Stamps (Lilly the Cat Fairy)
·   Front Sentiment “Happy Purr-thday” from an Imagine That digi set (Kitty Lapping Milk)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Assorted cardstock, patterned papers, tulle with glitter, and blue brads from my stash
·   Stickles- Star Dust (to add bling to her sleeves, bodice, and wings!)
Entered into: 
Peaceful Garden Blogspot- 2020 Cat Lovers Hop
Bugaboo Stamp- Stella Says Sketch Challenge #817      
Outlawz Sunday Challenge- Songs and Rhymes- Have You Watched the Fairies
Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color Challenge- Shades of Blue 
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge #658 Sparkles
Bugaboo Stamps- Recipe Challenge- Use a Technique