myasperations 11-30-21

Many years ago, I had read how to make felted wool from old woolen clothing. A short time

later I gave it a try after I found a well-worn white wool blazer at a thrift store for a few dollars.

I cut the blazer into pieces, removing the liner, buttons, etc. then washed the pieces in hot

water with mild detergent. When finished, I let them tumble in a dryer at a high temp until 

they shrunk down (nearly half the size than when they started out!) When finished I had a nice

amount of beautiful, felted wool! I cut it into circles and squares, decorating them

with embroidered and beaded accents for Christmas tree ornaments. I recently found a few of

the decorated circles and they made me smile as the holly sequins had been from my mom’s

stash, and I’ve never seen anything like them since.  I decided that one of them would make

a beautiful embellishment for a card using a sketch from a current challenge. I love the way it

adds a bit of bling to the otherwise lumberjack-looking card front! I wanted to add another

embellie to the inside, but with less bulk. So cut a circle from kraft cardstock and was happy to

find a few of the holly sequins in MY stash, which I attached with thread and seed beads. 

Supplies: 

·   Front Sentiment- “Thinking of You at Christmas” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Cardinals)

·   Inside Sentiment- “Merry and Bright” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Cardinals)

·   Felted wool, holly sequins,red seed beads, patterned paper and cardstock from my stash.

Entered into:  

Sketch N Scrap-Card Sketch  #205  

Simon Says Monday Challenge- Sparkle Mode

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- November             

This is my final card for one of my favorite events, Beccy’s Place Holiday Cards 

Challenge held every year during November. The yummy digi and inside sentiments is from

one of Beccy Muir’s newest digi sets. Since I was running out of time getting this card done so

I  can post it tonight, I used a colored digi. (I seldom do this, but I love the color palette Beccy

used- and those cherries look good enough to eat- so decided to go the quicker route of using

the pre-colored digi. But then because I might opt for quick, I rarely go for easy and of course

had to do lots of fussy cutting, layering with foam tape, and for this card also adding texture by

creating yummy foam with some White 3-D paint I picked up at JoAnnes that works great!

Supplies: 

·   Colored Digi from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Cheers)

·   Shaded with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and highlighted with Sakura Gelly Roll white and silver gel pens

·   Scribbles Shiny White 3-D Paint- JoAnne’s Fabrics  

·   Front Sentiment-“Warm and Cozy Holiday” from  Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Jolly Holiday)

·   Inside Sentiment “Delicious Christmas Wishes” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Cheers)

·   Coffee themed paper- Echo Park 6x6 paper pad

·   Red & White checked napkin (under the mug)from our local dollar store

·   All other items from my stash

Entered into:  

Beccy’s Place 9th Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge- Day 28 - "Y" is fo rYummy

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

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #570 AG

Jan’s Digi Stamps- November 2021 Anything Goes    

Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper Ala Mode- Christmas

Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge   

myasperations 11-29-21

I wanted to make another windmill card for the current Butterfly Challenge because I enjoyed making the last one!  The challenge  sponsor, Mrs. A,, provided such easy-to-follow instructions for two different versions of the windmill card.) I only have a few pieces of this gorgeous floral paper left, but knew it would look lovely on this card. After attaching the windmill squares, I fussy cut a few blooms with leaves and a bit of ribbon to add to the card front.  My card features three of the colors in the current Butterfly Challenge (wine, wisteria, and wheat) and all three themes (Windmill card, words/sentiment, and a butterfly.)

Supplies: 

·   Windmill Style Card Instructions, Version I from HERE

·   Stampin’ UP! Elegant Butterfly Punch (retired)

·   Punched Butterfly is detailed with a Sharpie black permanent fine-line marker and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Front Sentiment “Hello Sweet Friend” from Beccy's Place Digital Set (Keeping It Simple)

·   Inside Sentiment- Unknown Source (I removed rubber stamp from wood years ago)

·   Patterned paper, cardstock, and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Butterfly Challenge- #164 W is for Windmill Card   

Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #47 Anything Goes                      

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- November             

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #519-520 Anything Goes                    

The sponsor for the November Outlawz Progressive Challenge is Sheepski Designs, and the digi is named “Claudia’s Plant.” I wanted to try to color the plant realistically, so checked the Andrea Etsy shop and found a colored image from a designer named Claudia. She had colored pretty stripes on the stems, and because of the name of the digi, I thought the plant might actually belong to her. So googled “plant with heart-shaped leaves and striped stems” and was greeted by beautiful photos of a plant named Alocasia Zebrina. I colored the plant accordingly, added a few lovely sentiments, and made the pot by paper-piecing a little scrap of natural bark paper I’ve had in my stash forever. I love the wonderful knothole pattern on it.    

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Sheepski Designs (Claudia’s Plant)

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

·   Front Sentiment is from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles (appears to no longer be available)

·   Inside sentiment- Eureka Digital Stamp (Loving Ways) Also available in unmounted or cling-mounted

·   Patterned paper, cardstock, a scrap of natural bark mulberry, and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenges- Progressive Freebie- November Sheepski Designs

Path Of Positivity Challenge- Challenge #96 (Optional Twist- Be Grateful)

My final card for this posting is for one of my favorite annual events, Beccy’s Place Holiday Cards Challenge. The yummy digi and both sentiments are from one of Beccy Muir’s newest digi sets. It was so much fun to color. To add some depth to the card, I printed off an extra copy of the holly and jingle bell, colored, fussy-cut, and adhered them to the mug with foam tape.  A strip of real twine covers the cord drawn on the mug.

Now I’m going to make myself a nice mug of hot chocolate with a splash of Peppermint Schnapps. (The temps are dropping below freezing tonight so that sounds like a good plan!)

Supplies: 

·   Digi and Sentiment from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Cheers)

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

·   Pioneer Clear Photo corners- available from several sources

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

·   Patterned paper, cardstock, twine, and NOEL tag from my stash.

Entered into:  

Beccy’s Place 9th Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge- Day 15 -"M" is for  

             Marshmallows

The Paper Shelter- #493 A Christmas Card

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #570 AG

Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday Anything Goes (Optional Twist- Christmas)

Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper Ala Mode- Christmas

myasperations 11-28-21a

I wanted to create one more entry for the current challenge at Double D’s. The theme is Trees, so I looked through my stamps and digis and picked out a beautiful Christmas Tree from a Beccy’s Place digi set. Paired with a few sentiments, a sweet tree topper from All Dressed Up, and some sparkly stars. I love the results!

 

Supplies: 

·   Tree Topper Digi- All Dressed Up (Christmas Tree Fairy)

·   Tree Digi- Beccy’s Place digital set (Oh Holy Night) 

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

·   Small star punch and star template from my scrapbook stash

·   Front Sentiment “Merry” from Beccy’s Place digital set (Gnome Style)

·   Inside Sentiment “Thinking of You at Christmas” from Beccy’s Place digital set (Christmas Cardinals)

·   Stickles- Star Dust (on fairy wings!)

·   Silver star on black background paper- JoAnne’s Fabric

·   Silver metallic cardstock and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Double D’s Challenge- Trees                                                              

Beccy’s Place 9th Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge- Day 22 - "T" is for Tree

All Dressed Up- #123 Anything Goes (Nov)

All Dressed Up FB Challenge- Christmas and/or Sparkle 

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends- #170 Anything Goes

Rudolph Days Challenge- November

This month’s image from Cute As A Button’s November Progressive Challenge, named “Give Thanks” features a beautiful digi image and scripture sentiment. I printed the image on kraft brown paper to bring out the rich color in her skin and clothes, plus the highlights on her dark hair.  I love the details that Francesca Lopez always includes in her artwork, and wanted to highlight the intricate beadwork in this image. Sakura Glaze gel pens worked perfectly to add the texture and bright colors of seed beads.

I’m entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz TicTacToe (matching the diagonal from the lower left to top right-  Thanksgiving+foliage/pine trees+pumpkins!)

Supplies: 

·   Digi and front sentiment- from Cute As A Button digital image (Give Thanks)

·   Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen and Glaze multi-colored gel pens

·   Inside Sentiment- “May Your Blessings Be Plentiful” from Power Poppy Digital Set (Autumns Opulence)

·   Pine Forest Patterned paper- Hobby Lobby

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Crafty Sentiments Challenge-Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #519-520 Anything Goes

Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color Challenge- TicTacToe Board   

Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge

Cute As A Button- October: CH #74 Anything Goes + (Option) Use Twine

Cute As A Button-FB Progressive Freebie Challenge- #74 Give Thanks

Path Of Positivity Challenge- Challenge #96 (Optional Twist- Be Grateful)

My final card this posting was made for the Lift Challenge, one of the newest challenges I’ve discovered. The unusual concept of the challenge, called “hitchhiking”  intrigued me. Here is how the site defines the concept- “Every three weeks, our team chooses a sample card from someone who inspires us and we recreate that card (with reference to the source of course). Because we want to try a certain technique because it's different than we do differently, or just because a card is so beautiful. We like to challenge ourselves. Of course, we give it our own twist by choosing different paper, different decorations, etc., but basically, the map remains the same. That's hitchhiking in our eyes.”  The selected card this time inspired me to create my final card for this post which features a fun digi from The Paper Shelter. I printed off a separate short string of Christmas lights to hang below the main focal point, hitchhiking that aspect of the inspiration card. And the halos around the lights add a special spark of multicolored beauty. So fun!

To the right is the inspiration card (sketch)

Supplies: 

·   Digi- The Paper Shelter (Decorating Our Mushrooms)

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

·   Lightbulb halos made with a small circle stencil, chalks, and makeup sponge

·   Front Sentiment “Decorate Everything”- from Beccy’s Place digital set (Making Merry)

·   Inside Sentiment upcycled from an old Christmas Card

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Lift Challenge- #165 Card Inspiration              

The Paper Shelter- #493 A Christmas Card

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- November             

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #570 AG

myasperations 11-27-21a

I just had to make a card that features this cute digi from All Dressed Up for their current Facebook challenge.  I wanted to turn the digi into a two-sided version, and after a little planning, I came up with a pretty simple way to do that! First I printed, colored, and fussy-cut the wreath, including the inside. Next, I laid the cut digi, face side down, onto white cardstock and traced around the sleeping cat. After cutting out this cat, I lined it up against the wreath digi to make sure it was a good fit. Then I added details (striped fur, ribbon, and bow) making sure I had flipped the cutout image so that I added the coloring to the correct side. When finished I adhered it and finished my card with items from my stash. (And doesn’t it look like a little kitty, sleeping peacefully under the mistletoe ball, is having a sweet dream!) 

 

Supplies: 

·   Digi- All Dressed Up Digi Stamps (Christmas Kitty)

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

·   Front Sentiment- “Christmas Kisses” from a Lili Of The Valley Digital Set (Christmas Wishes)

·   Sentiment on inside of front flap-“... and a warm hug”- Computer Generated

·   Inside Sentiment- TLC Creations Freebie (Dream A Little Christmas Dream)

·   Pioneer Clear Photo corners- available from several sources

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  
Show Us Your Pussycats Challenge- Furry Thing Goes (#72 October)      
All Dressed Up- #123 Anything Goes (Nov)
All Dressed Up FB Challenge- Christmas and/or Sparkle           
Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- November             
Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #570 AG
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #519-520 Anything Goes       

            

I was thrilled when Kris Breach, artist/owner of Imagine That Digi stamps started offering monthly challenges again! I served on Kris’ DT a few years ago and always enjoyed working with her… and creating with her wonderful artwork. She now offers a Progressive Challenge each month. December’s adorable digi set includes a bunch of playful pups in a pickup and related sentiments. (The set is now available for just $2.99 HERE. And if you enter a card into this month’s challenge using any items from the set, you’ll get next month's digi for free! But hurry, the challenge ends on the 31st.)

The grungy green card base is actually a Christmas card from a box that I bought several years ago at the local Goodwill at 75% off. They make great bases for layered cards and have their own envelope.  

 

Supplies: 

·   Digi and Sentiments- Imagine That Digi set (Truckin’ Santa Paws)

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

·   Winter background- created with a green ink pad and Embossing Arts Tree Trio stamp (no longer in business)

·   Sparkly Santa Hat Sticker (inside)- Hobby Lobby

·   Card base- from a box of Christmas Cards found at Goodwill  

·   White flocking (on Santa hats) and all other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Imagine That Blog Progressive Challenge- Truckin’ Santa Paws 

Double D’s Challenge- Trees 

Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #47 Anything Goes                      

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends- #170 Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Outlawz Challenge- Crash Your Stash- Flocking  

Outlawz Challenge- Inlinks Challenge

I’ve built a nice collection of gingerbread stamps and digis. This sweet one, from Digi Doodle Designs, is my newest. I printed the cute pair on Kraft cardstock, colored, and then perched them atop a red & white checked sign. The large “joy" was I made with letter templates created from a Beccy’s Place sentiment.  Another sentiment plus photo corners, puffy stickers, and a pretty boy finish off the card.

Supplies: 

·   Gingerbread Digi- Digi Doodle Studio (Gingerbread Kids)

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

·   Front Sentiment “Joy” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Tied Up With String)

·   Inside Sentiment- “Sweet Christmas Wishes” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Cheers)

·   Puffy Heart Sticker-Sticko’s

·   Pioneer Black Photo corners- available from several sources

·   Sheer black dotted Swiss ribbon- JoAnne’s

·   Patterned paper, small scrapbook “Merry Christmas” tag, and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Crafty Sentiments Challenge-Anything Goes
Beccy’s Place 9th Annual Month of Holiday Cards Challenge- Day 8-"G" is for Gingerbread
        Since I’m a Contributor for Beccy’s Place, I’m entering just for fun!
The Paper Shelter- #493 A Christmas Card
Digi Doodle Studios FB Challenge- November Anything Goes
Digi Doodle Studios- #44 Christmas and Winter
Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday Anything Goes (Optional Twist- Christmas)
Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper Ala Mode- Christmas