myasperations 9-28-24

   I recently participated in Day 1 of a wonderful Card Making Retreat hosted on YouTube by Not2Shabby (HERE). In my last posting, I shared a card that artist/presenter Jamie helped me make during her demonstration. Cassie, the second artist/presenter, demonstrated how to make a Fun Fold Fall Card. Cassie provided excellent instructions, hence, my card! 

  I wanted to enter my card into the Not2Shabby Sept challenge, so I printed off a digi that met the requirements and nabbed fall-themed paper to decorate the background. I colored the digi to match the background and included a fox (challenge requirement), a beautiful, and warmly dressed, leaf raker. If you look closely, you'll see a happy little squirrel perched atop her curly hair and waving at us!  A flurry of leaves, fussy-cut from the patterned paper, embellish the inside of the card.

  I’m entering this card into four other challenges with fall/autumn-related themes: Inspiration Station; Double D’s;  Love Those Pretty Papers; and Time Out Challenge.    

                         

                        

Supplies: 

·   Girl and Fox Digi from Bugaboo Digis (Company no longer in business)

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

·   Front Sentiment “Happy Day”- a freebie from maxammadestudio.com

·   Inside Sentiment “My Favorite Color is Autumn” is from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Pumpkin and Spice)

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Not2Shabby Monthly Challenge- September Mood Board 

Inspiration Station- Challenge #65 Inspiration Prompt

Double D’s Challenge- Fall Leaves 

Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge- Sept 2024: Fall

Time Out Challenge- #273 IBW “As Long as Autumn Lasts”

    I wanted to make another card for the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers/BYSHC: FB Sketch Challenge and use more paper scraps, as I have a ton of them! So, I created another “quilt” using small squared of Christmas patterned paper to fit within the sketch parameters. One of my favorite gingerbread cuties from Beccy’s Place looks adorable with the quilted background, weighed down with gifts. (Note- the gingerguy is pre-colored, but I printed off an extra copy of his hands and the gifts and candy canes he is holding, so that I could color them in traditional red and green. (This allows me to enter the card into the current ABC Christmas Challenge: T is for “Traditional Christmas colours.”)

   Note- as I was positioning the little gingerguy onto the card front, I decided to flip the background as I liked having the quilted section framing his face. Also, I adhered the gifts to the digi. To add depth to the card, I trimmed around the extra set of hands and adhered them to the card with foam tape. (You can see this in the side photo.)  A bit of texture (frosting) was then added. So fun!) 

   I’m entering this card into several other challenges including Park Hopping-My Happy Place (this is a favorite challenge as it has introduced me to several theme parks that I’d love to someday visit. This one, Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Dessert Party, promises not just yummy holiday treats, but also fireworks. Sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday!) freebies during their Halloween event. So fun!)

Supplies: 

·   Gingerbread Image from a Beccy’s Place set (Sugar and Spice) Available in a Clear Set

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

·   Front Sentiment “Hello Sweet Friend” from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Keeping it Simple)

·   Inside Sentiment “May…sweet as Candy Canes” from Sweet November Stamps digi set (Christmas Sentiments)

·   Cookie Frosting- White 3D Paint

·   Patterned paper scraps, adhesives and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge FB- #49 September 2024        

ABC Christmas Challenge- “S and T are for…?”   T is for Traditional Christmas Colours

Park Hopping-My Happy Place (Sept)   Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks Dessert Party 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday (Christmas)

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

    Cara, the sponsor for the September Outlawz Progressive Challenge, provided a beautiful Mandala digi that I knew would look gorgeous in fall colors! I printed off two copies of the digi, colored, fussy-cut and set them aside. I decided that a dark-colored background would allo the brightly colored mandala to POP!  My fall/Thanksgiving supply box provided a perfect solution that would add texture to the card- a paper napkin. I adhered one to the card base, then positioned the two mandalas onto a card base with a favorite autumn sentiment sandwiched in the middle!  

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Outlawz August Progressive Challenge (Mandala from Cara)

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

·   Front Sentiment “My Favorite Color is Autumn” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Pumpkin and Spice)

·   Leaf patterned paper napkin- Hobby Lobby

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Outlawz Challenge- Progressive Challenge (Sept) Mandala by Cara  

Outlawz Challenge- Sept 2024 Linky

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #667-668

Allsorts Challenge- Week 800-Anything Goes  

myasperations 9-26-24

     In the late 70s, when celebrating our first Christmas together, I learned that my new hubby's Mom made several special holiday cookies, and his favorite was Gingersnaps. A few days later, I agreed with him as I bit into one of the chewy, delicious, and spicy cookies. This card features a photo of the handwritten recipe card that my MIL gave me. Since I’ve had it in my collection for nearly five decades, I consider the original a precious heirloom!

  

Supplies: 

·   Wooden Spoon Digi  from a Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Tied Up With String) Retired

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

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

·   Paper scraps, and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #667-668

ABC Christmas Challenge- “S and T are for…?”  T is for Traditional Christmas Colours

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

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday (Christmas)

Outlawz Challenge- Sept 2024 Linky

     I recently participated in Day 1 of a wonderful Card Making Retreat hosted on YouTube by Not2Shabby (you can view it HERE). Jamie, the first artist/presenter, demonstrated how to make a Collage Belly Band Card using patterned paper and ephemera. I was inspired to make one of my own with items I had on hand. THIS is the result!

    The gatefold front holds lovely fall-patterned papers. But the belly band is truly the highlight of my creation.  It features a cute little origami fox from a set of 12 origami critters that I found on sale at Oriental Trading Company a while ago. The original fox is cute, but I did a bit of fussy-cutting to create the look of “fur.”  When he looked nice and fluffy, I set him aside and began building the collage for the belly band. A small white paper doily provided a base. Next, I created and adhered a sentiment banner, perched the fox upon it, and used a few scraps of white paper and my trusty Fiskars scissors to add two fuzzy little paws. Next came a few leaves, stamped with an Autumn Leaves Rainbow ink pad, fussy-cut and adhered. A few enamel dots add texture and shine.

      I’m entering this card into several challenges including and Outlawz Sunday Challenge: Summers End (the line that most inspired is “savoring the beauty of the season.”) and several others that focused on fall/fall colors (Inspiration Station’s Photo Prompt,  Double D’s, Time Out, and Not2Shabby- which also requires that the card includes a fox. Mine does!)

  

  

Supplies: 

·   Gate Fold Card with Belly Band instructions in the YouTube link, or I found one on Pinterest HERE

·   Origami Fox Digi- Oriental Trading Company (Everyday Origami Booklets)

·   Front Sentiment-“Fall Is In the Air” from RG Ave (Company no longer in business) 

·   Inside Sentiment- “May your blessings be plentiful” from Power Poppy Digital Set (Autumns Opulence)

·   Fall Leaf Wood-Mount Stamp from Embossing Arts (company no longer in business.)

·   Wicker Basket Filled with Apples Wood-Mount Stamp from PSX Rubber Stamps (company no longer in business.)

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

·   Tsukineko Kaleidacolor Inkpad-Autumn Leaves (available through several web sources)

·   Patterned papers- Hobby Lobby, JoAnne’s and Stampin’ Up!

·   Enamal dots, and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Not2Shabby Monthly Challenge- September Mood Board 

Outlawz Sunday Challenge- Summers End  

Inspiration Station- Challenge #65 Inspiration Prompt 

Double D’s Challenge- Fall Leaves  

Time Out Challenge- #273 IBW “As Long as Autumn Lasts”

      I have many great-nieces who love mermaids, so I never seem to have enough cards to fill the need! This one, which features a Sweet November Stamps cutie named Coral Reefwater, will go to a kind-hearted and caring 12-year-old niece who is a little nervous about this thing called “middle-school.”  I hope it encourages and also reminds her just how awesome she is!

Supplies: 

·   Mermaid Digi- Sweet November Stamps (Coral Reefweaver and Moki)

·   Coral is perched on a freebie digi from Sweet November Stamps (Maiden Rock) Printed on kraft brown cardstock

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

·   Wave Patterned Paper- JoAnne’s Crafts

·   Front sentiment- “Say Yes to New Adventures” from Beccy’s Place Digi Set (Smooth Seas) Retired

·   Front sentiment- “I Want to Be a Mermaid” circle sentiment from Hobby Lobby (top part is covered by sentiment noted above)

·   Inside Sentiment- “You Are Awesome” Freebie from Skogstokiga (Blog closed)

·   Small fishes- From Keep It Simple 6x9 Paper Pack (Penguin Party) 

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #758: For a Child  

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #37 AG                                          

Park Hopping-My Happy Place (Sept)       The Little Mermaids Undersea Adventure 

Friends of Sweet November (FB) Sept  

myasperations 9-24-24a

     If you have visited my blog before you might have noticed that I usually like coloring, fussy cutting, and layering. CAS and mixed media backgrounds are a struggle for me! So, I was hesitant when a friend challenged me to make a few backgrounds with ink pads, a spray bottle, and a glass surface. After I realized that a few current challenges were offering a “Make Your Own Background” theme I decided to give it a try. It WAS a challenge to make such a mess on my craft table… but I was pleasantly surprised with the cards that evolved!  

                                   

For the first card, I swiped dark blue and dark green ink pads across the glass, spritzed it with water, and dabbed a piece of A2-sized, textured white cardstock through it.  I spritzed the card with water a few times, but there was little change. I think the texture soaked it up, keeping the color from spreading.

     I hosted a Stampin’ Up! party back in the 90’s, and selected a sweet wood-mounted stamp set with my hostess credits. Thus started my stamping adventure/addiction(!?) The scarecrow in this set just shouts “Autumn”… so I made it the center of attention on this card.

     I’m entering this card into several challenges including several that focus on fall/fall colors (Inspiration Station: Photo Prompt, Double D’s Challenge: Fall Leaves, and Outlawz Festive Friday: Fall is Coming) 

 

Supplies: 

·   Images- Stampin’ Up! Rubber Stamp Set “Harvest” (retired)

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

·   Front and inside Sentiments “Harvest Greetings” and “Enjoy the Autumn Leaves…” from RG Ave (Company no longer in business)  

·   Small pumpkins (fussy-cut from a scrap of patterned paper from Hobby Lobby).

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Make Your Own Background (in Stamptember) 

Inspiration Station- Challenge #65 Inspiration Prompt 

Double D’s Challenge- Fall Leaves   

Allsorts Challenge- Week 799-(Option AG)

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday (Fall is Coming)

Outlawz Challenge- Sept 2024 Linky

      For the second card I swiped dark blue and dark green ink pads across the glass, spritzed it with water, and dabbed a piece of regular white cardstock (A2 sized) through it. A few more water spritzes spread the colors beautifully, and adding some unusual lacy splotches, and wavy stripes which inspired me to make it into an underwater scene. I dug through my “Ocean” folder of digis and embellishments, and opted to feature an adorable Merman digi from Tiddly Inks. (Although this digi is no longer available, Christy Croll, the artist/owner of Tiddly Inks still provides several freebies and coloring tutorials HERE, and sells a nice assortment of her wonderful digis in her Etsy shop HERE.)

     I embellished the card with some sweet little fishes from a Not2Shabby paper pad (see if you can find the five little fishes on the card front (the clear sticker that I removed from an Embossing Arts wood-mount stamp, and yellow and blue scraps of a plastic file folder. (These wonderful items, sometimes sold as “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 you can use templates to trace shapes onto them with a permanent fine-line marker. A sharp pair of scissors will then make cutting the shapes to an easy task.)

     I’m entering this card into several challenges including ABC Christmas Challenge:“T is for traditional Christmas Colours” (The card has lots of Red and Green in the quilt blocks), and Park Hopping-My Happy Place (I love fantasy stories, and this little Merman is probably  a friend of the lovely Arial!)      

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Tiddly Inks Digi Set (Merman) Retired

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

·   Ocean floor plants and shells- Upcycled the clear sticker removed from a wood-mount stamp from Embossing Arts (company is no longer in business)

·   Small fishes- From Keep It Simple 6x9 Paper Pack (Penguin Party) 

·   Pearl Grey photo corners- available from several web sources (WXJ13 Photo Mounting Corners)

·   Scraps of plastic file folder- Yellow (create a sandy base for the  plants and shells), and Blue (cut into an oval to help Merman stand out from background.)

·   Front Sentiment “Happy Day”- a freebie from maxammadestudio.com

·   Inside Sentiment- Freebie from TLC Creations (You Are Awesome)

·   All other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Make Your Own Background (in Stamptember) 

Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #758: For a Child

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #667-668

Di’s Digi Stamps- Favorite Colors (2 or 3)  Shades of Blues and Greens

Park Hopping-My Happy Place (Sept)   The Little Mermaids Undersea Adventure (Magic Kingdom USA) 

Paper Funday- #69 Anything Goes   (Twist: Make Your Own Background)

     I wanted to enter another card into the current Time Out challenge (theme Snarky), and remembered a funny sentiment that I used on a card several years ago. Although it is a little harsh, my favorite guy (husband) wasn’t offended by it (he actually laughed out loud when he read it!) so  I decided to put it to use. When paired with this Whimsy Gingerbread guy, and a background created from a mound of scraps cut into small squares pieced together to create a "quilt" in traditional Christmas colors, I like the way the card turned out!

     I’m entering this card into several challenges including Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers/BYSHC: FB Sketch Challenge, Snippets (I love how this challenge encourages me to use up paper scraps, which I did on the front “quilt” and on the strip behind the inside sentiment… which is actually a snippet trimmed from the edge of my quilt snippets!!) and Paper Funday: Make Your Own Background. 

 

Supplies: 

·   Digi- Whimsey Stamps Digi Set (Oh Snap)

·   Cookie is printed on kraft paper. Shading, highlights and eyes/buttons are colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   White Frosting- White 3D Paint

·   Sentiments- Computer Generated

·   Patterned paper scraps, adhesives, and other items from my stash.

Entered into:  

Time Out Challenge- #272 Snarky  

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge FB- #49 September 2024        

Snippets- Week #489

Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge- Anything Goes (optional twist- Book It)

Crafty Catz Challenge- Anything Goes #678 AG      (Optional twist- AG)   

Polkadoodles Challenge- Week #37 AG                                          

ABC Christmas Challenge- “S and T are for…?”  T is for Traditional Christmas Colours