Sunday, November 29, 2020

Christmas & Coffee

This card was created for a wonderful annual event at Beccy’s Place named the Month of
Holiday Cards Challenge (not just Christmas cards, you can make cards for ANY holiday.) This
is my third year of participating, and I’m honored to now be a member of Beccy’s DT (called a
Contributor!) and am blessed to have a large collection of Beccy’s amazing artwork!
The 8th annual Challenge goes on all month, with drawings for daily challenges, for posting comments, and even random entry numbers!  Stop in HERE to learn more.  Most of the challenges follow an A-Z theme… with a few other topics thrown in to cover all 31 days of November. This card is for the letter “Q” as in Quirky Quacker! I love this spunky goose, and the inside sentiment, also from the digi set, so perfectly reflects his body language! I’m entering this card into several other challenges including Sketch N Scrap’s Sketch #181, which provided an excellent base upon which to build this card!
Supplies: 
·   Digi-Beccy’s Place Digital Set (Grumpy Goose)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment- Computer Generated
·   Inside sentiment- “It’s All Fun and Games…” Beccy’s Place Digital Set (Grumpy Goose)
·   Cardstock and assorted background papers from my stash
Entered into: 
Beccy’s Place- 8th Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge    
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                
Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #518 Anything Goes
Sketch N Scrap-Card Sketch #181             
                        
I won this Happy Christmas die a while ago and love the way it looks in gold and glittery red paper on a B&W patterned background. I also love to upcycle items on my cards. In this case, the wonderful background, with its B&W squares, is actually cut from the cover of a pad of scrapbook paper and the inside sentiment is from an old Christmas card. I’m entering this card into several challenges including the Day of the Month Challenge- #21 Make Your Own Head Day (an actual holiday where schools challenge students to “Just use your brain and make anything you want!” Before I throw away just about anything, including packaging, I always look for ways I could use them. This card has two examples of this upcycling.)
Supplies: 
·   Die-“Happy Christmas” (My Favorite Things)

·   Inside Sentiment- Upcycled from old Christmas card

·   Metallic red and gold cardstock from my stash

·   Background paper- Upcycled cover from a 12x12 paper pad

·   Gold photo corners available from several web sources (WXJ13 13 Sheets 13 Colors Photo Mounting Corners)

Entered into: 
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge #662 Silver or Gold
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #466-467 Anything Goes                   
Day of the Month Challenge- #21 Make Your Own Head Day
Dragonfly Dreams- Christmas/Winter
Let’s Craft and Create- Ch #165-Anything Goes 

I made this card for the current challenge at wecraftcards. It is named “Elf” and is to reflect the movie character’s love of hot chocolate by creating a card with any sort of hot beverage rings, spills, or both on it. I remembered winning a collage stencil a few years ago that has coffee rings and dug it out to use for the first time! Yay!  The cute cup image is a digi from Verve Stamps that I purchased during the 2017 Coffee Lovers Fall Blog Hop. And the sentiment is from a wonderful web shop that sells brads of all types, plus offers freebies sentiments about coffee, cats, and more. I thought that the sentiment tag needed some coffee beans, so sketched a few onto a scrap of vellum outlined them with an ultra-fine black Sharpie marker and colored them with markers- on the underside of the vellum. To add the beautiful sheen of real coffee beans, I added a layer of transparent tape to the top and bottom of the beans, then fussy-cut them. After adhering them to the card, I added a few highlights with a white gel pen, being careful not to touch the ink until it had time to dry.   

Supplies: 
·   Digi- Verve Stamps “Coffee Please Digi Set” (Company is no longer in business)
·   Shaded with Spectrum Noir Classique markers
·   Front Sentiment- Eyelet Outlet Blogspot Freebie (Dark Matter)
·   Coffee Ring stencil- TCW 6x6 Mini Butterfly Collage
·   Cardstock, background paper, brown inkpad and ink sponge from my stash
·   Coffee beans- hand made with a vellum scrap
·   Upcycled calendar page
Entered into:  
Simon Says Monday Challenge- Food and/or Drink                    
Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- November             
STAMPlorations- Nov Stencil: Anything Goes    
NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff!)-  Challenge #20                 

Holiday Fun 2

I really like the current Stella Sketch at Bugaboo so decided to make another card before the challenge closes. But I have to admit that it isn’t my usual style! I had received a lovely floral card from a friend earlier this year. She had noted that we needed to get together for coffee soon. Then COVID hit! I came upon the card yesterday and decided to repurpose it… into a birthday card for her. I think she will love it. (I plan to add a Caribou coffee gift card with a note that we’ll plan a coffee date when it is safe to do so. I look forward to seeing her again. It’s been toooo long!)
Note- the front sentiment is from a sheet of freebies from Simply Cards & Papercrafts Magazine. You can register to obtain access to it… and hundreds of other fee digis, sentiments, patterns, templates and more! And anything you download is saved on the website for later access.
Supplies: 
·   Digi- Bugaboo (Coffee Cup) Retired
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment-“Enjoy Your Special Day”  freebie available HERE.
·   Inside Sentiment- “Brewing up Birthday Wishes” from Imagine That Digistamp (Coffee Kids Bundle)
·   Cardstock, upcycled floral card, and vellum from my stash
Entered into:  
Bugaboo Stamp- Stella Says Sketch Challenge #819       
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays         
Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge

I supervise several afterschool programs for 5th-8th graders. We are now providing all programming via social media, and one of my tasks is finding craft projects they will enjoy. We sent a copy of this free coloring sheet to all 80 members a few weeks ago. I made a “sample” (that I turned into a napkin holder by attaching the gobbler to a section of a toilet paper tube!) that was shared at last week’s ZOOM meeting where we encouraged the students to email photos of their turkeys after the holiday. I am looking forward to seeing their creations!
I’m entering this card into several challenges including Power Poppy’s Just Color (I didn’t follow the challenge completely as I should have taken a pic of the process of coloring! I did use a coloring sheet and also took a picture that includes the back of the turkey where the coloring looks more kaleidoscopeic! Hmmm did I just make up a word? I’ve been told that I am pretty vocabularious.) and the Path Of Positivity’s “Gratitude” (a turkey represents Thankgsgiving, the holiday day in the US dedicated to expressing/feeling gratitude.)
 

 
Supplies: 
·   Digi- Crayola Coloring Sheet (Build Your Own Turkey)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
Entered into: 
Bugaboo Stamps- Nov Photo Inspiration                         
Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- Just Color                      
Crafty Catz Challenge- Anything Goes #529
Path Of Positivity Challenge- Challenge #85 (Optional Twist- Gratitude)
             Since I’m a DT for Sheepski (sponsor), I’m entering just for fun! 

Jan Mahew, cardmaker/artist/stamp designer, is providing this beautiful digi as a freebie this month. Stop by Jan’s Digi Stamp Shop to nab your copy! (But don’t wait too long as it’s noted as available “for a limited time.”) I paper pieced the red ornament (after messing up on my coloring) and used a Spectrum Noir silver Sparkle pen, and white gel pen, to color the other ornament.
 
Supplies: 
·   Digi- Jan’s Digi Stamp Shop (Ornaments)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sparkle Pens, plus Sakura Gelly Roll white & silver gel pens
·   Front Sentiment- “Hello Friend” from Beccy’s Place Digital Set  (True Beauty)
·   Inside Sentiment-“Have a Warm and Cozy Holiday” Beccy’s Place Digi Set  (Jolly Holiday)
·   Holly Paper- from an Imagine That Digistamp set (Marleen’s Christmas Stocking)
·   Cardstock and green ribbon from my stash
Entered into:  
Jan’s Digi Stamps- November 2020 Anything Goes 
The Paper Shelter- #451 A Christmas Card 
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #466-467 Anything Goes   
Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday Anything Goes 
Spectrum Noir Community Group (FB)- Nov- Anything Goes 

This card was created for a wonderful annual event at Beccy’s Place named the Month of Holiday Cards Challenge (not just Christmas cards, you can make cards for ANY holiday.) This is my third year of participating, and I’m honored to now be a member of Beccy’s DT (called a Contributor!) and am blessed to have a large collection of Beccy’s amazing artwork!
The 8th annual Challenge goes on all month, with drawings for daily challenges, for posting comments and even random entry numbers!  Stop in HERE to learn more.  Most of the challenges follow an A-Z theme… with a few other topics thrown in to cover all 31 days of November. This card is for the letter “P” as in [Christmas] Pudding. I love coloring this pudgy little gingerbread cookie, especially when printed on Kraft paper. All that is needed to bring the cuties to life is a few markers and a white gel pen. Easy Peasy! I’m entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz Saturday Paper Ala Mode- Vintage Christmas (although the look of my card isn’t vintage, the Christmas pudding he is carrying is definitely a vintage dessert. Am wondering if any of my readers have ever made one? Or even tasted one?!)   
 
  
Supplies: 
·   Digi- Beccy’s Place  (Sugar and Spice)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment- “It’s Christmas… Fat Pants” Beccy’s Place Digital Set (Grumpy Goose)
·   Inside Sentiment- “Christmas Cheer” Beccy’s Place Digital Set (Tied Up With String)
·   Cardstock and patterned papers from my stash
·   Embossing Folder-
Entered into:  
Simon Says Monday Challenge- Food and/or Drink
Di’s Digi Stamps- Emboss it (wet or dry)
Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper Ala Mode- Vintage Christmas
Sketch N Scrap-Card Sketch #182                    

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Holiday Fun

This card was created for a wonderful annual event at Beccy’s Place named the Month of Holiday Cards Challenge (not just Christmas cards, you can make cards for ANY holiday.) This is my third year of participating, and I’m honored to now be a member of Beccy’s DT (called a Contributor!) and am blessed to have a large collection of Beccy’s amazing artwork!
The 8th annual Challenge goes on all month, with drawings for daily challenges, for posting comments and even random entry numbers!  Stop in HERE to learn more.  Most of the challenges follow an A-Z theme… with a few other topics thrown in to cover all 31 days of November. This card is for the letter “N” as in Naughty List. I had fun creating this card that uses a digi from one of my newest Beccy’s Place sets and a free “certificate” that I found on the web. Not sure who will receive this card, but I have five siblings, and lots of childhood stories about naughtiness (jokes, pranks, etc.) so know several likely candidates!
I’m entering this card into several challenges including the Day of the Month Challenge- #21 Make Your Own Head Day (an actual holiday where schools challenge students to “Just use your brain and make anything you want!” For this card I did use my brain and came up with a way to use a digi image that is not typical for a Christmas card. Ogre anyone?!) and Christmas Crafts All Year Round- Family & Friends (as noted above, my sibs and I deserved coal many years!)
Supplies: 
·   Image- Beccy’s Place Digital Set (Beasties)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Sakura Gelly Roll white & silver gel pens

·   Naughty List Certificate freebie can be found HERE

·  Front sentiment “Coal”- hand-printed
·  Inside sentiment- Beccy’s Place Digital Set (Grumpy Goose)
·  Cardstock and background papers from my stash
Entered into: 
Beccy’s Place- 8th Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge- N is for Naughty   
Christmas Crafts All Year Round- Family & Friends
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes
Day of the Month Challenge- #21 Make Your Own Head Day
The Paper Shelter- #451 A Christmas Card
Polkadoodles Challenge-Week #48 Anything Goes                      
Let’s Craft and Create- Ch #165-Anything Goes  (Option- A Sketch of your choice)
Spectrum Noir Community Group (FB)- Nov- Anything Goes  

This wonderful digi is Cute As A Bug’s November Progressive Challenge freebie on FB. Francesca has drawn such a bright smile on this handsome young pilgrim’s face. Can’t you almost hear his laughter?  Markers and blue chalk helped bring the sky and young man to life.
Supplies: 
·   Digi and inside sentiment- Cute As A Button (Pilgrim Boy)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment- “Happy Fall” is from a Power Poppy Digi Set (Autumns Opulence)
·   Cardstock, background papers, Cloud stencil and Decorative Chalks from my stash
Entered into: 
Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Anything Goes
Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge
Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- An Attitude of Gratitude      
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #466-467 Anything Goes                   
Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- November             
Cute As A Button-Facebook Progressive Freebie Challenge #42 Pilgrim Harvest
Cute As A Button- NOVEMBER: CH #62 Anything Goes                           
Scribbles Designs Challenge- #94 Layer It Up  (At least 3 layers)

This happy elf is the Stamper’s Delights November Progressive Challenge freebie on FB.  The base of my card, with the circle cutout and inside sentiment “Joy” is from a boxed set that I found at an after Christmas sale last year. The cutout provided the perfect frame for the dancing elf. I colored the elf, then covered the underside of the image with clear packing tape. I fussy-cut the image, then used a permanent black Sharpie maker to color the backside. (The packing tape keeps the color from leaking through!) I sandwiched the little guy between squares of clear acetate and blue plastic document folder*. I taped these to the underside of the card front, then attached another one of the card fronts from the boxed set to seal the ornament inside. (*Note- Plastic document folders come in a pack of assorted colors and can be found in the office supply section of most stores and from some dollar stores! I really like using them on my cards because they're cheaper than colored vellum and are more translucent.  You can write on them with a fine-line permanent marker or white gel pen. The plastic is also easy to fussy-cut with a nice, sharp pair of scissors. And then can be adhered to a card with small strips of double-stick tape.) A few snowflake stickers help finish the fun card!
 
Supplies: 
·   Digi- Stampers Delights Digital Image-Jolly Holiday
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Sentiments are from an Imagine That Digistamp set (Marleen’s Christmas Stocking)
·   Card base, acetate, blue plastic document folder, and snowflake stickers from my stash
Entered into: 
Stampers Delights Progressive Challenge (FB)- Nov Jolly Holidays (elf)  
Lemon Shortbread Challenge- Anything Goes #133 
CCC Digi Creations- #120 Christmas is on the Way
Besties Challenge- November Anything Goes
Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday Anything Goes (Optional Twist- Festive Color Combos)
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                
 

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Christmas and A Playful Cat

It's time for another challenge at Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog where challenges are always Anything Goes and prizes are awarded from one or more sponsors.  Stop by the blog to check it out!
For this challenge, my DT card features a sweet image from Dr Digi Doodle named Cat Flap Florence. I love the look on this feline's face, which gave me the inspiration for the computer-generated sentiments. To add a bit of realism to the door, I created a doorknob from a silver button, gluing a circle punched from silver metallic paper to its center.  It was glued to a backplate made from a rectangle of silver metallic paper. The two little paw prints accenting the inside sentiment were punched from a sheet of scrapbook paper.
I’m entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz Tuesday Challenge- TicTacToe (diagonal from upper left to lower right- button used for doorknob, kitty is the star of the card and kitty is inviting the dog to come outside and play. So they will might see a blue sky?)
Supplies: 
·   Digi- Dr. Digi’s (Cat flap Florence)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Sentiments- Computer Generated
·   Cardstock, woodgrain, and silver metallic papers plus silver button from my stash
·   Cat Print paper- Hobby Lobby
Entered into: 
Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color Challenge- TicTacToe        
Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge
Polkadoodles Challenge-Week #47 Anything Goes                      

I wanted to make another card to enter into a few embossing challenges. I used a Cuddlebug Embossing Folder and navy cardstock to create the front of my trifold card. After embossing the navy cardstock, I used a circle die cut a “window.” I backed this with a square of acetate. A single beautiful snowflake, made with the Eliza snowflake die from Simon Says, was attached to the acetate with glossy accents. (Be cautious to use only a very small amount… otherwise you’ll end up with a mess when you press the snowflake onto the acetate. And allow plenty of dry time before finishing the card as the snowflake will easily slide and make a mess. Guess how I know that?! I’d recommend leaving this step to the very end. That is what I plan to do when I make another of these cards in the future.) I used a square of snowy grey paper for the flap that will show behind the snowflake when the card is closed. It was fun to use some charms, a metal sentiment tag and scraps of sheer ribbon from my stash to complete this elegant card. (Oh… the half-circle behind the inside sentiment is from the circle die-cut from the embossed navy cardstock.)
Supplies: 
·   Snowflake Die- Simon Says Stamps (Eliza Snowflake Wafer Die)
·   Circle Die- Little B Dies
·   Glossy Accents- used to attach Eliza snowflake to acetate
·   Cuddlebug Embossing Folder- Snowflake
·   Cardstock, background paper, sheer ribbon and snowflake charms from my stash
·   Cardstock, acetate, snowy background paper, charms, metallic sentiment, ribbon and silver cords from my stash
Entered into: 
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes
Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- Let It Snow     
Let’s Squash It! Challenge- Use a Christmas Themed Embossing Folder and Stamps               
Double D’s Challenge- Nov- Winter Blues                  
Crafty Catz Challenge- Anything Goes #528 (Optional twist- Christmas) 
Di’s Digi Stamps- Emboss it (wet or dry)                                       
Outlawz Challenge- Crash Your Stash- Charms
 
This card was created for a wonderful annual event at Beccy’s Place named the Month of Holiday Cards Challenge (not just Christmas cards, you can make cards for ANY holiday.) This is my third year of participating, and I’m honored to now be a member of Beccy’s DT (called a Contributor!) and am blessed to have a large collection of Beccy’s amazing artwork!
The 8th annual Challenge goes on all month, with drawings for daily challenges, for posting comments, and even random entry numbers!  Stop in HERE to learn more.  Most of the challenges follow an A-Z theme… with a few other topics thrown in to cover all 31 days of November. This card is for the letter “M” as in Mulberry Paper (and for the name of the beautiful free digi!) It was fun to use some of my mulberry paper… which I’ve had since the mid-'90s.  
Note- on my supplies list I note that the source of the inside sentiment is “unknown.”  I currently have over nearly 12,000 digital images on my laptop. Many are within the 740 folders of digi sets so I cannot just pull them up by title. I know that this sentiment is hidden in one of those sets as I did print it off to make this card. And… I need to find it again because I really like it. So, when I do, I'll add the source here. In the meantime, if any of you recognize this sentiment and can tell me its source, please let me know. Thanks!]
Supplies: 
·   Beccy’s Place Digital Freebie- “With Love At Christmas” (Margie’s Christmas Freebie)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Inside Sentiment- Thinking of You (unknown source)
·   Cardstock and elegant gold-threaded mulberry papers from my stash
Entered into: 
Beccy’s Place- 8th Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge    
Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #466-467 Anything Goes                   
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge #661 Sentimental
Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #517 Anything Goes