myasperations 12-31-22

I like that the monthly sketches at the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers group {BYSHC} usually inspire me to use some of the many scraps of my patterned papers. The December-January sketch is inspiring, so I pulled out a few patterns of snowflake paper and got busy. This sweet little Cute As a Button ginger chef image was just asking to be the center of attention, so I printed the cutie on kraft brown cardstock and printed two copies of his hat on white. After a bit of coloring and fussy-cutting, I was able to complete my card… with the help of a few Beccy’s Place Christmas sentiments. So SWEET! 

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Cute As A Button (Sugar is Sweet)

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

·   Front Sentiment “Christmas Baking…” from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Making Merry)

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

·   Snowflake Papers- Hobby Lobby

·   Christmas Basics Boxed Cards - Hobby Lobby (fussy-cut Gingerbread cookie embellies from one of the cards)

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge FB- #29 Dec 2022

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday Christmas

Papercraft Challenges- Challenge #89 Decking the Halls

 

I had found a white sentiment background, with the large white “JOY” cut out for a different card… and was surprised at how quickly a card went together for the current Double D Challenge. I slipped a rectangle of red & white striped paper beneath the sentiment and the card almost finished itself. All it needed was a sweet embellishment, specifically a mint candy printed on white cardstock, colored with shades of green (because I prefer spearmint flavoring vs. peppermint) and fussy-cut. The only real challenge was to make the cellophane wrapping of the mint look transparent by positioning and adhering it at the base of  the “O”, then  penciling the stripes from the letters onto the embellishment. After carefully adding the red stripes with a marker, a bit of shading and highlighting of the cellophane and mint brought the yummy candy to life! 

                          
Supplies: 

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

·   Cellophane wrapped mint Digi- from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Candy)

·   Inside- “Wishing You a Sweet Christmas” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Candy Canes)

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Double D’s Challenge- Red & White   

Outlawz Sunday Challenge- Deck the Halls

Allsorts Challenge- Week 708-709: ATG (CAS)

Paper Funday- #48 ATG (Optional Twist-Holiday Time)

Beccy’s Place Challenge-January   

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

This final post was created for Scribbles Designs current Challenge “Not a Creature Was Stirring” (i.e.-Create a Christmas-themed project featuring one or more ANIMALS.) I love artist/owner Sandy’s punny sentiments and quirky characters, so decided to highlight them in my cards for this challenge. Here is my first card, featuring one of my favorite’s named “Wooly” (an added note, this digi is actually a freebie. He is also winking… but you can’t see that here since I used another freebie- the sunglasses- on my card. Go HERE to see him in full wink mode!) 

Supplies: 

·   Sheep Digi- Scribbles Designs (Woolly Wink-FREE)

·   Instructions for Z-fold card can be found on Pinterest (I liked the one HERE)

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

·  Front Sentiment From Scribbles Designs (BAAPPY Birthday)

·  Sunglasses-a Friday Freebie from Scribbles Designs found HERE  

·  Inside Sentiment - Computer Generated

·  Sheer black dotted Swiss ribbon- JoAnne’s

·  All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Scribbles Designs Challenge- #115 Not a Creature Was Stirring

Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #52 Anything Goes                 

myasperations 12-30-22

Over the last few weeks, we’ve suffered a few major blizzards. Each time I was safe and warm in my craft room, while heavy snow fell and whipped around. The agency where I work was hosting its second annual office door decorating contact and the weather inspired this design that features a fun Santa digi (enlarged to fill several sheets of copy paper), and a flurry of snowflakes. I used a few sparkly snowflake stickers, and was going to die-cut more, until I found several envelopes full of paper snowflakes that are precious to me! Back in the late 1990’s one of my sisters, who is skilled at folding and fussy-cutting intricate snowflakes, taught me how to make them. A few days later, as I added dozens of the snowflakes to the scene on my office door, I enjoyed warm memories of the afternoon that we spent together, laughing and munching on Christmas cookies as we snipped up a storm! Note- you can't see it in the photos, but his "shades" are made with metallic red paper. In-person, they provide a bit of color and nice reflective surface!

Supplies: 

·   Digi- The Paper Shelter (Xtreme Xmas)

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

·   Sentiment “Merriest Wishes” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Cozy Christmas)

·   Snowflakes- hand cut from copy paper

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper à la Mode (December-Add Snow)

Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday Anything Goes     (Outdoor Background)  

Incy Wincy Designs-Christmas and/or Movement   

The Paper Shelter-  Christmas Break-Anything Goes

Beccy’s Place Challenge-December   

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

This second card was also created during a recent blizzard. It features a sweet image from Di’s Digi and a free sentiment from TLC Creations.

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Dis Digis- (Hedgehogs Snowman Friend)

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

·   Inside Sentiment- TLC Creations Freebie (Warm Winter Wishes)

·   Snowflake paper- Hobby Lobby

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

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #575-576 Anything Goes                   

Di’s Digi Stamps- Any Winter Holiday  

Creative Fingers Challenge Blog: ATG #245

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday   Christmas

Outlawz Challenge- December 2022 Linky

One of my favorite challenges is named Snippets Playground because the sponsors/hosts are so sweet, plus I love that it encourages me to use the many scraps, i.e. snippets, that I just can’t stand to toss!  This card includes so many little bits and pieces of treasures from my stash. The current challenge is “Anything But Christmas” and I had fun using a template I found on Pinterest to make a patchwork-looking cat. I am not sure how I did it, but my feline turned out much, um… fluffier… than the template. (Maybe it should serve as a warning for me… since I really love holiday treats! I also love the sentiment on the inside of the card. It’s from one of my favorite sources of humorous- and free- sentiments.)

Supplies: 

·   Cat Scrap Template- Found on Pinterest HERE

·   Front Sentiment- Computer Generated

·   Inside Sentiment- Gingershouse.blogspot.com 5-14-17 (I got called ‘pretty’ today…)

·   Small paw print stickers-Hobby Lobby

·   Small heart stickers, scrap of ribbon and other items from my stash.

Entered Into:  Cat scrap template

Snippets- Week #444 (Anything But Christmas)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- December           

Patties Challenge- #201 Anything Goes (Dec)

Show Us Your Pussycats Challenge- Furry Thing Goes (#84 December)

myasperations 12-25-22

I love making packets of handmade “all occasion cards” for gifts at Christmas, weddings, graduation, etc. I couldn’t deliver my Christmas gift packets because a major blizzard meant four days of “no travel”.  I happily spent many hours in my craft room making cards. (These graduation cards will go in the gift packets for friends at my office, as the local high school graduation colors are burgundy and gold.) The graduate silhouette is a freebie from a large set of SVGs (which I print off as a black jpg image on white cardstock.) Easy Peasy!  I seldom use rubber or clear stamps anymore but I like how this sentiment looks when gold-embossed on a strip of vellum. Gold star stickers plus a few hand-made embellishments add some texture and bling to the card!

Supplies: 

·   Graduation Silhouettes- A freebie from apexembdesigns.com HERE

·   Front Sentiment- Eureka Stamp (Congratulations) Available in unmounted, cling-mounted or digital format

·   Inside Sentiment “Happy Yay Day!” from a Beccy’s Place Digital Stamp set (Funny Farm)

·   Embellishments (Fussy-cut hat/tassel from scraps, and diploma from patterned paper)

·   Gold star stickers-Hobby Lobby

·   Other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #575-576 Anything Goes                                   

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Any Occasion    

Allsorts Challenge- Week 708-709: ATG (CAS)

Gem of a Challenge- Week #26 Anything Goes                             

Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #52 Anything Goes                      

I had fun making some New Years' cards for the gift bags, too. This one features a freebie from the current Outlawz Progressive Challenge. (I was excited to learn that this digi was drawn by an artistic member of the Outlawz Progressive Team. How neat is THAT?! Thanks, Sandra! ) Making this card was not difficult, but it was time-consuming since it involved fussy-cutting, paper-piecing, and coloring, plus included the use of many items and tools including acetate, vellum, stickers, patterned papers, circle template, markers, white gel pen, and more. (I’d be happy to make a tutorial if there is enough interest. Just note that in a comment or email me at asperkathy(at)charter(dot)net and I’ll see what I can do!)

     Note- Outlawz moved to a new platform for their challenges earlier this year and I’m really liking how much easier it is to navigate plus posting entries is so quick and easy.  The number of followers is smaller than at the old site, so if you haven’t joined yet, you might want to do so soon! Not only will it bring a smile to our friends at Outlawz, but with current numbers, your chance of winning prizes in their random drawings is pretty good. (I have already won a nice assortment of digis!) There are 9 different challenges, with prizes from up to 15 sponsors, on the site HERE. Stop by to look around. And if you have any questions, leave a comment and I’ll see if I can help you get started!

Supplies: 

·   Digi-Outlawz Beer Bottle (Freebie for Dec 2022 Progressive Challenge)

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

·   Sparkly Star Stickers- The Dollar Store

·   Front Sentiment- “Happy New Year” eyeletoutlet.blogspot.com (Freebies section HERE)

·   Inside Sentiment- from Jan’s Digi Stamps (Happy New Year)

·  Sentiment Sticker- “Celebrate! Cheers!” from the clearance aisle at JoAnne’s

·  Circle die, star template and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenge- Progressive Challenge (Dec- Outlawz Beer Bottle)

Outlawz Challenge- December 2022 Linky

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday      Celebrate

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- December           

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Party

Paper Funday- #48 ATG (Optional Twist-Holiday Time)

Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #667 Use Die Cuts (Mega Christmas Challenge)

       Since I’m a DT for Sheepski (one of the sponsors), please don’t include me in the draw for their prize!

 

myasperations 12-22-22

Below is our local weather forecast. (Surrounding schools, and the agency where I work, are all closed. Looks like I'll be spending the next few days in my craft room while my sweet hubby watches his favorite westerns and Die Hard movies!)  So stay tuned for some card postings. 

ACCUMULATING SNOW ENDING THEN A GROUND BLIZZARD AND DANGEROUSLY COLD CONDITIONS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY... TRAVEL THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT COULD BE IMPOSSIBLE AND LIFE-THREATENING... Snow will continue to exit from west to east this morning. Later today northwest winds gusts of 40 to 50 mph will develop and last through Friday night. Many hours of whiteout conditions are expected with travel becoming very difficult or impossible as roads drift shut. In addition, arctic air with dangerously cold wind chills will spread across the region. This event could be life-threatening if you are stranded with wind chills in the 30 to 45 below zero range. Please avoid traveling. In addition, heavy snow remaining on trees from the last storm and strong winds arriving could result in tree damage and power outages as temperatures drop below zero. 

Below are a few photos. The first shows just how much snow we've had over the last three days... as we started with an inch or two on the ground on Monday. I also provides a glimpse of how my hubby takes care of the birds during this cold weather. There were 3-4 dozen sparrows, wrens, starlings and junkos there at dawn and he's scattered more seed a few times since then. You can also see the snow on the roof and large icicles. The second shows why our electricity might soon be out. Trees all over the county are currently covered with the results of a wave of heavy snow last weekend that knocked out power for thousands of homes across the region. When 40-50 mph winds hit later today, branches will surely take out more power lines. We'll be praying for those impacted, including the power company staff who will be out working in the awful weather! 

myasperations 12-21-22

One more Ice Cold entry from an ice-cold part of the country (30 below zero windchills forecast for later today. Now that means BRRRy cold!) I'm glad that this little cutie from All Dressed Up, has a furry friend to keep her warm.

     Note- this digi doesn’t appear to be available on ADU’s Etsy site, but for a short time it is one of the many free digital images available from an FB Advent Challenge. You can find details, HERE.

Supplies: 

·   Digi- All Dressed Up Digital Stamp (Christmas Bear)

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

·   Assorted Snowflake Stickers- Hobby Lobby

·   Puffy Heart Stickers- Stickos (available from several sources)

·   White pompom, patterned paper, and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Ice Cold

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #573-574 Anything Goes                   

All Dressed Up- #134 Anything Goes (December)

All Dressed Up FB Challenge- December CAS                               

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday  

Outlawz Challenge- December 2022 Linky

The monthly sketches at the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers group {BYSHC} usually inspire me to use some of the many scraps of my patterned papers. I liked the December sketch so I pulled out my scrap box and got busy. I found two patterns of snowflake paper that were almost big enough… but did require some piecing together “behind the scenes” to match the sketch. Computer-generated sentiments adhered atop a few strips of another snowflake paper, and some die cut into circles of vellum, provide a base for the tired elf in a cup!  

 

Supplies: 

·   Digi- The Paper Shelter Digital Stamp (Nap In A Cup)

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

·   Sentiments- Computer Generated (except Merry Christmas tag is from my scrapbook stash)

·   A small feather, patterned paper, and  other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge FB- #29 Dec 2022

The Paper Shelter-  Christmas Break-Anything Goes

Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday Anything Goes    

Snippets- Week #443

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- December           

Allsorts Challenge- Week 707: ATG

Incy Wincy Designs-Christmas and/or Movement   

My final card for this blog features a yummy digi from Beccy’s Place that just explodes with Christmas. So of course, I had to give it center stage on a card that includes a party with lots of color, layers, and shapes, plus a bit of bling on the inside sentiment. So fun!

I’m entering this card into several challenges including Cupcake Inspirations- Happy Holidays (both the cupcake in the photo and the mug are mounded with clouds of yumminess. They remind me of  the many treats we’ll have in the coming weeks. And that I’d better get my fat pants out!!)

Supplies: 

·   Digi and inside sentiments from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Christmas Cheer)

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

·   Front Sentiment- QKR Stampede Digital Stamp (Merry Christmas) Also available in unmounted or cling-mounted

·   Sparkly Christmas Foliage Stickers- Hobby Lobby

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

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

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

Cupcake Inspirations- #559 Theme Challenge- Happy Holidays 

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Any Occasion    

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #625 AG   

Paper Funday- #48 ATG (Optional Twist-Holiday Time)

Double D’s Challenge- Red & White