Special Events!

I’ve spent the last few days stamping up a storm of entries for a few special event challenges. So… will be adding several posts over the next few days. Have noticed that I’m getting a little too “talkative” in my posts again, so will try to keep these shorter!  (Ha! My husband would laugh over that statement!)
 
My first card is in honor of STAMPlorations 7th Birthday Celebration. I’ve been so busy making holiday cards, that I almost forgot that this challenge ends tonight! So will try to get one or maybe two posted before I call it a night.

My first card features an adorable digi image, a purrrfect birthday sentiment, and cute pawprint paper on a gatefold card. I love how it turned out! And added note- 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!
I’m entering this card into several challenges including Power Poppy’s Let There Be Peace (holding a purring cat provides an amazing level of warmth and peace to the soul!)

 

Supplies: 
·   Digi- Cute As A Button (Right Way to Wear Fur)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment “Happy Purr-thday” from an Imagine That digi set (Kitty Lapping Milk)
·   Inside Sentiment- a Freebie from simplycardsmag website
·   Cardstock from my stash
·   Paw Print paper- Hobby Lobby
Entered into: 
STAMPlorations- Belated 7th Birthday Celebration       
Cute As A Button- NOVEMBER: CH #62 Anything Goes
Power Poppy- Creative Confetti-Let There Be Peace                        
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Thinking of You
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #464-465 Anything Goes                   
Jan’s Digi Stamps- November 2020 Anything Goes
STAMPlorations- Nov Theme & Photo Prompt Challenge: Stamps and Contrast
Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- November             
Spectrum Noir Community Group (FB)- Nov- Anything Goes  

The second card is my second entry into the 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.) 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 first year I participated I think I won $50-$60 worth of Beccy’s wonderful digis. It was so exciting! The 8^th 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. My entry for Day 2 (the letter “B”) is a BOO card that features several digis and sentiments from one of Beccy’s retired sets that I picked up a few weeks ago for just $4.oo!  (Originally released in 2013, the set named Candy Corn was recently offered at a Throwback Thursday events where Beccy offers select retired digital sets at an incredibly low price for just 48 hours. No rainchecks.  No repeats. That is where I nabbed this sweet set. (Sign up for the newsletter to get notified of these sale opportunities by going to Beccy’s Blog and scrolling down the left side of the screen until you find the link just below the Blog Archive listing.)
Note- I seldom use pre-colored digis, but due to limited time in my schedule to “play” this month, I decided to try that out here. It helped the card to go together quickly. I did add a bit of shading and highlighting to the trio before I fussy cut them and positioned them inside of the letters I made with the help of scrapbook templates. Swweeeet!   

Supplies: 
·   Pre-colored Digis and Sentiments- Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Candy Corn) Retired set
·   Shaded with Spectrum Noir Classique grey markers and highlighted with a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Inside Sentiment- “Happy Halloween” from Hero Arts Spooky Halloween Labels Digital Set, #DK110 (no longer available)
·   Weathered wood patterned paper- Hobby Lobby
·   Other assorted background papers from my stash
·   Alphabet templates from my scrapbooking stash
Entered into: 
Beccy’s Place- 8^th Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge- B is for BOO   
Lemon Shortbread Challenge- Anything Goes #132 
Crafty Catz Challenge- Anything Goes #526 (Optional twist- Party) 
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                
Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge
Di’s Digi Stamps- Use a Digi Image                                                 
Createful Heart Designs- Oct Challenge #25 
 
My final post if for another of my favorite challenge, seasonal coffee themed hops hosted by Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog. This year's fall & winter hop has oodles of sponsors offering some nice prizes. For my card, I decided to use a freebie that I found years ago. I had fun coloring the coffee monster, named Gustav, with shades of green and love that he comes with many sentiment options. (I made one into a Talk Bubble, and will provide instructions below!)
I found the fun swirly circle paper in my stash that I wanted to use as my base, but it was so busy that Gustav didn’t stand out as much as I’d planned… even when colored almost neon green?! So, I used a technique that I developed just for this purpose- I slipped a piece of colored plastic document folders between Gustav and the busy background. (These wonderful items 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.) I finished the card with a Talk Bubble and goggle eyes that brought the little guy to life. So fun!
INSTRUCTIONS FOR CREATING TALK BUBBLES IN WORD DOCS- After you have selected the sentiment you wish to use, paste it into a Word document. Then, on the Toolbar select Insert, then Shapes and scroll down to Call Outs. Click to select the talk bubble of choice, then hover over your document and click to drop the shape onto the page. (I usually drop it onto a blank part of the page then move it into place when ready. Also, don’t panic if the shape is filled with color, we’ll take care of that next.)  Click on the shape, and a Shape Format option will show up on the toolbar. Click on it and several options will appear. Click Shape Outline and select Black. Click on Shape Fill and select No Fill. Boom! You have a Talk Bubble! Click it, then slide it over to the sentiment. If you need to change the shape or size, just click on it and you can then grab and pull the corners until it is the perfect fit!

Supplies: 
·   Digi and Sentiment- Freebies from Useless Trinkets Cuties (Gustav and Beans)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Patterned paper, scrap of blue plastic file folder and googly eyes from my stash
·   Swirly circles background paper from my scrapbook stash
Entered into: 
Coffee Loving Cardmakers- 2020 Fall & Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends- #145 Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge #659 Anything Goes
Polkadoodles Challenge-Week #44 Anything Goes                      
Bugaboo Stamps- Anything Goes    
Pattie's Creations Challenge- #176 Anything Goes  
2craftycrittercrazies Challenge- Nov 2020 #44