myasperations 8-25-21

I made this fun card for recent a challenge at wecraftcard, where the instructions were to create a card that represents a County Fair.  I thought of rides on the Midway, and then started looking for inspiration. This wonderful digi from Sheepski named “Taking Pics” along with a few free photos from the web, plus sentiments and a camera digi from Jan’s finishes. Can’t you almost hear the carousel music and smell the Kettle Corn? Yummy!
I’m entering this card into several challenges including Scribbles Designs-Fantasy (as a child I found Fairs and Carnivals with the rides, bright lights and wonderful assortment of treats almost magical. And the Wave Swinger - like the one in the camera lens of this great digi- made me feel like I was flying. So fun!)

Also, you can't tell from the photo, but I colored most of the camera with a Sharpie Permanent Silver Marker. It gives a rich-looking brushed metal finish to the camera.  

Supplies: 
·   Digi- Sheepski Designs (Taking Pics)
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Sakura Gelly Roll white & silver gel pens
·   Sharpie Metallic Silver Bullet Tip Permanent Marker

·   Sentiments and small camera embellishment on inside of card- Jans Digis (Camera Life)
·   Background photo- Cropped and recolored from  Drew County Fair Poster-Print & Share
·   Small star punch, cardstock, and misc. items from my stash.
Entered into:  
We Craft Cards Monday Challenge- State Fair
Scribbles Designs Challenge- #102 Fantasy

SheepSki Designs (FB) August 2021- Anything Goes
        Since I’m a DT for Sheepski Designs, I’m entering just for fun!
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes
Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #34 Anything Goes                     
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #505-506 Anything Goes                   

I was thrilled last year when Kris Breach, artist/owner of Imagine That Digistamps started offering monthly challenges again! I served on Kris’ DT before she took some time off and I always enjoyed working with her… and creating with her wonderful artwork.  She now offers a Progressive Challenge each month. The August digi set with the sentiments and adorable little calf makes me smile! (The set is now available for just $3.25 HERE. And f you enter a card into this month’s challenge using any digis and sentiments from the set, you’ll get next month's digi set for free! But hurry, the challenge ends on the 31st.) I printed the calf onto a beautiful wooden background digi paper, added a bit of shading and coloring plus a sprinkling of mini-flower sequins to create this sweet card!

An added note, A few months ago I was introduced to a company named Free Pretty Things For You (FPTFY), which offers a treasure trove of patterned papers, and many of them are free! After I registered as a member, I was excited to nab this set of papers that featured wooden backgrounds and pretty pumpkins. I used a free Paint.net program to layer the png calf digi onto the jpg background (the png digi remained transparent, allowing the wood to show through.) So fun!

Supplies: 

·   Digi and sentiment- Imagine That Digi Set (Pretty Calf)    

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Rustic Wooden background- FPTFY (Sunflower Pumpkin Wooden Background)

·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources

·   Mini Flower Sequins- Simon Says Stamp (Sequins Tiny Flowers Vanilla01)

·   Buttercup Liquid Pearls (flower centers)

·   Free Paint.net program can be found HERE (add watermarks, layer digis, and more!)

·   Circle template and cardstock from my stash.

Entered into:  

Imagine That Blog Progressive Challenge- August  

2craftycrittercrazies challenge- Aug 2021                                      

        Since I’m a DT for Sheepski (sponsor), I’m entering just for fun!

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends- #164 Anything Goes

The Paper Shelter- Color It!

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- August                   

I also enjoy participating in the Progressive Challenge at Outlawz each month. The August digi, named “Beep Beep,” makes a fun Christmas card when layered atop a section of an upcycled map. With a bit of fussy-cutting, foam tape, and a strip of acetate, I added depth, texture, and realism to the card. (This card is for one of my brothers who now lives in South Carolina. Am figuring that he’ll enjoy the fact that I used a scrap of a South Dakota map as the background since he is sure to recognize names of some of the towns, especially the one you can glimpse through the back window!)

I’m entering this card into several challenges including Christmas Craft Creations challenge- Non-traditional Colors (I opted for lime green, pale blue, navy blue, kraft brown, and teal. I did have to sneak in a few pops of red and green on the hearts, gifts and inside sentiment, because I didn't have them in non-trad  colors!)  

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Twinkle Lane Designs (Beep Beep! New Car Digi)

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Sakura Gelly Roll white & silver gel pens

·   Front Sentiment and gifts on front seat- EchoPark- A Cozy Christmas Element Sticker

·   Inside Sentiment- LoveSVG (All Hearts Come Home)

·   Puffy Heart Stickers- Sticko’s from WalMart (113 assorted puffy hearts for just 99 cents!)

·   Upcycled map, snowflake stickers, cardstock and all other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenges- Progressive Freebie- August Twinkle Lane-New Car

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday  

Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #556 AG

Christmas Craft Creations challenge- August Non-traditional Colors  

myasperations 8-22-21

One of my favorite monthly challenges is called the "Twofer Card Challenge" which requires the use of the exact same stamp or die to make two cards with distinctly different designs for two different occasions. The August Challenge is named "Cats/Dogs.” I dug through my stash and found several stamps that would work. Decided upon this one named “Celebrating Kitty” from Eureka stamps mostly because it was one of my mom’s favorites when we used to stamp together.
Sadly, this is the final Twofer Challenge. Since I always found it exciting to come up with ideas on ways to think outside of the box with my stamps, I plan to occasionally do some of these challenges on my own. This will not only challenge me to save money by “extending” my stamps it will also honor the originator of the challenge, Darnell. (Thanks so much, my friend! Enjoy some quality family time and I hope our paths occasionally cross in blog-land.)  

Supplies: 

·  Rubber Stamp- Eureka (Celebrating Kitty) Also available in digital or cling-mounted
Entered into:  
Twofer Card Challenge- #41 Cat/Dog
Show Us Your Pussycats Challenge- Furry Thing Goes (#69 August)

My first Twofer card features the kitty celebrating a birthday. I stamped the kitty off the bottom of the card front, to allow more room for the sentiment and balloons. Then added some shape and texture to him with a few markers and a white gel pen. (I especially like the way his pink paw pads turned out!) The balloons were created with a circle template and scraps of plastic index divider sheets. (These wonderful items- sometimes called document file folders- come in a pack of assorted colors and can be found in the office supply section of most stores. They're cheaper than colored vellum and more translucent. Punches and dies don’t work on these sheets, but they are easy to fussy-cut with a sharp pair of scissors after tracing shapes on them with a black permanent fine-line marker.) The balloons are attached to the front sentiment with small pieces of double-stick tape, then the strings and bows were added with the permanent fine-line marker. The inside is decorated with a computer-generated sentiment, banners made with paper scraps, and a little cat paw print stamp that I’ve had for at least two decades!
I’m entering the card into several challenges including Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge (my card includes three of the colors in the inspiration photo of Turkish Agate, plus the markings/veins in the background paper resemble a different type of rock- marble!)      

Supplies: 
·   Rubber Stamp- Eureka (Celebrating Kitty) Also available in digital or cling-mounted
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Front Sentiment from We Are 3 Digi Set (Birthday Wishes)
·   Paw Print- Wood Mount from Stampendous (retired)
·   Inside Sentiment- Computer Generated
·   Cardstock, circle template, scraps of plastic index divider sheets, and other items from my stash.
Entered into:  
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #505-506 Anything Goes                   
Besties Challenge- August Anything Goes

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Happy Birthday
Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color Challenge- (Turkish Agate)       
       Since I’m a DT for QKR/Stamp On It (sponsor), I’m entering just for fun!

My other Twofer card features the kitty doing a happy “back-to-school” dance! I dug into my scrapbooking stash, which provided many school-themed items to add to my creation. The little sentiment tag is from a website that provides dozens of back-to-school tags and gift ideas for teachers plus so much more… and most are free! After putting the card together I felt like it was missing something. After thinking of options… I finally hit upon the answer. Googly eyes! And TaDa… done!

Supplies: 
·   Rubber Stamp- Eureka (Celebrating Kitty) Also available in digital or cling-mounted
·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen
·   Puffy Stickers- School themed from EK Success Sticko Brand  
·   Front Sentiment- LOTS of Back to School (and other) Freebies HERE
·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources
·   Tiny Googly eyes- Hobby Lobby
·   School themed paper, Yellow Pencil, and scissor sticker from my scrapbook stash.
Entered into:  
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Add A Sentiment
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge 691- Anything Goes
Createful Heart Designs- Challenge #35 (August)
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday  
Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge

My final card for this posting is for another of my favorite challenges called the Butterfly Challenge. Each challenge includes a specific creative fold as one of the themes, but the sponsor, Mrs. A, provides easy-to-follow instructions that are really helpful. The current creative fold is a Rocker Card… and I love that Mrs. A offered instructions for several options.  With the help of a brightly colored butterfly, upcycled from a plastic gift bag, my card includes all three colors (pink and blue in the butterfly wings and Green/Sage dotted paper) and all the themes (Rocker Card, Ribbon and a Butterfly.)  I added texture to the card with a swirl embossing folder on the cardstock scrap that frames the Beccy’s Place sentiment. Texture was also added to the beauty's body, head and antennae by looping and knotting thin black grosgrain ribbon. It took a little glue on the underside to hold all the sections in place, but I like the way it worked out! I added a close-up photo of the butterfly to show these fun details.

Supplies:
·   Butterfly- Upcycled from plastic Gift Bag
·   Rocker Card Instructions, Version I from HERE
·   Sentiment “You Are One of My Life’s Blessings”” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Spring Tulips) Also available in cling-mounted
·   Swirly Patterned vellum, thin black grosgrain ribbon and cardstock from my stash.
·   Embossing folder- Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl
Entered into:  

Butterfly Challenge- #160 R is for Rocker Card    
Incy Wincy Designs- Use a Card Fold Tutorial and/or Animals  
        Since I’m a Contributor for Beccy’s Place (sponsor), I’m entering just for fun!
Beccy’s Place Challenge- August  
        Since I’m a Contributor for Beccy’s Place, I’m entering just for fun!
Path Of Positivity Challenge- Challenge #93 (Optional Twist- Enjoy Nature)
        Since I’m a Contributor for Beccy’s Place (sponsor), I’m entering just for fun!
Simon Says Monday Challenge- Dry Embossing
Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday Anything Goes

myasperations 8-18-21

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 an sweet digi from Stampers Delights. One reason I love using digis is that you can easily crop the images, and even flip their direction if desired. For this card, I flipped AND cropped, then printed, colored, traced, and trimmed! A simple easel card base (link to instructions in supplies), patterned paper, photo corners, and computer-generated sentiments finish off the fun card!  

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Stampers Delights (Chibi Photo)

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Easel Card- Instructions found HERE  

·   Sentiments- Computer Generated

·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources

·   Circle and arrow templates from my scrapbook tools stash

·  All other items from my cardmaking stash

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Happy Birthday

Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #33 Anything Goes                     

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- August       

            

I love this sweet digi named “Love to the Moon and Back” (currently on sale for $1!), and was thrilled to find a book, which holds an excerpt that beautifully compliments the digi. I’ve used the combo on several baby cards over the years, and when I recently found the circle sentiment on the inside of this card, I knew I had to make a baby card for my brand-new great-niece, Kinzly! I decided to cut out the center of the circle so that I can insert a photo of “Little Princess “K”. As soon as my sis (her grandma) emails me a jpeg this card will be on its way to her, along with a copy of the “On the Day that You were Born” book. So fun!

 

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Dis Digi (Love To the Moon and Back) 

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   The haze around the moon is made with a sponge and white craft ink

·   Front Sentiment- Nancy Tillman from her book “On the Night You Were Born”

·   Inside Sentiment- Freebie from Nettyscards.blogspot.com (Love You to the Moon)

·   Pine Branch Punch-Martha Stewart

·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources

·   Window die-cut card, patterned paper, scrapbook images and sentiments from my stash

Entered into:  

Di’s Digi Stamps- Include a Sentiment 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Add A Sentiment

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #505-506 Anything Goes           

        

When I was a Guest DT member at Outlawz Challenges last month I was introduced to a company named Free Pretty Things For You (FPTFY), which offers a treasure trove of patterned papers, and many of them are free! After I registered as a member, I was excited to nab a set of papers that featured a cute puppy as my first freebie! The little guy reminds me of a friend’s cute buddy named “Dudley.”  I wanted a monochromatic color scheme, so set my printer to grey-scale vs. color when printing the pup digi in a few sizes. Since Dudley’s owner hosts one of my favorite challenges, named “Pixies Snippets” I used lots of little paper pieces to create the herringbone-ish background. More scraps helped me to make Dudley's little red collar. With a scrap of silver paper and a bit of fussy-cutting, I created a buckle and circle tag. Puffy heart stickers add glints of red to the card front, dog tag, and inside sentiment. Grrreat!  

PS After registering on the FPTFY site, I now get regular emails listing papers that are free, sometimes for just a day or two. Anytime I’d like I can sign up for a Premium membership at a small fee, but so far I’m building a nice collection for no charge.

 

Supplies: 

·   Puppy Digi- Enlarged and cut from Free Pretty Things for You (Puppy Love Spring)

·   Colored with grey Spectrum Noir Classique markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Puffy Heart Stickers- Sticko’s from WalMart (113 assorted puffy hearts for just 99 cents!)

·   Inside Sentiment- Scribbles Designs (All You Need is Love and a Dog)

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Pixie's Snippets-Week #409

Cute Card Thursday- Challenge 691- Anything Goes

Incy Wincy Designs- Use a Card Fold Tutorial and/or Animals 

    Since I’m a Contributor for Beccy’s Place (sponsor), I’m entering just for fun! 

myasperations 8-15-21a

I had fun making cards for the Mason Jar Challenge at Double D’s with a Fiskars set named Vintage Jars. Paired with a beautiful Peony digi (a FREEBIE)  from Beccy’s Place plus a few sentiments from one of Beccy’s floral sets, I created a card that makes me think of my mom (she LOVED Peonies and they are one of my favorite Spring flowers!)  I wanted to use delicate colors on my card, so opted for a pretty mint patterned paper (a freebie) to create “wallpaper.” And since Beccy’s free Peony digi is a png file, I was able to layer it atop the “wallpaper” before stamping the jar in the correct place, coloring the peony with a pretty rose pink and shades of sage greens.  

I’m entering this card into several challenges including Digi Doodle Studios (I like something about all the seasons, but in the places I’ve lived, the sight of peonies plus their wonderful fragrance on the breeze always announce the arrival of Spring. Since they are usually in bloom on Mother’s Day, that might just be the reason they were my mom’s favorite. I do remember that my five siblings and I  always made sure that mason jars overflowing with peonies decorated the house on Mom’s special day. This also meant that many uninvited guests… namely, ants… joined in the celebration!) and the Butterfly Challenge (used two of the colors- Russian Green and Rose Pink and one theme-butterfly.)

One added note- the pretty pink medallion die-cut on the inside of the card was included in a prize I won from Mrs. A at the Butterfly Challenge last year. I love its delicate elegance! (When I received it, I remembered that I had that very die in my collection. I need to remember to use it more often.) 

  

Supplies: 

·   Mason Jar Clear Stamp-Fiskars Set (Vintage Jars)

·   Digi- Beccy’s Place Freebie 8-8-21 (Peony)

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·  Pink Diecut- Spellbinders D-Lites Medallion 1

·  Free Pretty Things Papers-12 Free Scrapbook Papers (Vibrant Mint)

·  Sentiments from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Spring Tulips) Also available in cling-mount

· All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Double D’s Challenge- Mason Jars       

Butterfly Challenge- #160 R is for Rocker Card    
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday-Flowers  
Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- August                   
Digi Doodle Studios- #41 Favorite Season/Time of the Year 
Beccy’s Place Challenge- August  
        Since I’m a Contributor for Beccy’s Place, I’m entering just for fun! 

I’ve had this fishing themed stamp in my collection since I co-owned a stamp shop in South Dakota back at the turn of the century (1998-2001.) Sadly, I don’t know the name of the company because I pulled the rubber from the wood years ago. I created the scene by using scraps of cloud stationery and blue cardstock, which I made into a lake with a ripple stamp and a few colors of blue ink. A black ink pad then helped me stamp the fishing crew, floating along on a beautiful day with their lines dropped into the depths of the cool blue water. The sentiments are computer-generated and embellished with fish cut from scrapbook paper.

I’m entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz Saturday Paper Ala Mode (I’m not sure a lake with fishing boats fit the theme “Nautical” but when located in the northcentral USA it’s about as nautical as we can get!)

It's a little hard to read the sentiments so I'll share it here- "If good things come to those who bait... I hope your birthday is a whopper!"

Supplies: 

·   Wood Stamp-Fishing (unknown company)

·   Stampscapes Rubber Stamp-Water Pattern

·   Colored with ink pads- black and several shades of blue

·   Sentiments- Computer Generated

·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources

·   Cloud Stationary, cardstock, and ink pads from my stash.

Entered into: 

We Craft Cards Monday Challenge- Boys Boys Boys

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Happy Birthday
Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper Ala Mode- Nautical

My final card for this post was so fun to make. It features a sweet “Chillin’ Bear” created by Tricia Veinot Moore, owner/artist of Little Scraps of Heaven. (Tricia is transitioning to a new shop, so her digis are available at reduced prices until the end of the year. There are hundreds of digis in her shop. Right now most are just $1 and you can find this one right now for Free! The link is in the supply list.) I colored the little ice cream lover with brown chalk and added texture with a blender marker.  The yummy background scene is from Scribbles Designs (one of 12 different building fronts- and one clock tower-created by Scribbles Designs talented artist/owner, Sandy S. The freebie sentiment adds a bit of snark to the card. (Heh heh!)

Supplies: 
·   Digi- Little Scraps of Heaven (Chillin’ Bear)
·   Digi- Scribbles Designs (Ice Cream Shoppe) 
·   Colored with chalks, Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Sakura Gelly Roll white & silver gel pens
·   Sentiment- Freebie from Ginger’s House (I scream… Ice cream)
·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources
·   Mini star punch, foam tape, patterned paper, and card stock from my stash
Entered into:  
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Funny/Punny
Outlawz Sunday Challenge- In the Good Ol’ Summertime
Cute Card Thursday- Challenge 691- Anything Goes
Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #33 Anything Goes