Saturday, November 1, 2025

myasperations 11-1-25

    It’s November first, which means I get to share my DT card for All Dressed Up (ADU) Stamps monthly FB Challenge. The theme is “Christmas” and I just had to make a card that features this adorable ADU digi name “Christmas Kitty.”  I used bright traditional colors on the card background, wreath, anad his fuzzy green blankie, so decided to use more neutral colors for the felines ultra fluffy fur. Don't you just want to pet him?! 
    
              
Supplies: 

·    Digi- All Dressed Up (Christmas Kitty)

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

·    Front Sentiment from an Angie Blom Freebie (Purr Purr Purr)

·    Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·    All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  ADU- Christmas Kitty
Stop back later!

     This cute little Angel from Sweet November Stamps is announcing the true reason for Christmas! I wanted to use a non-traditional color scheme and opted for shades of blue and brown. I really like the result especially her reddish blond hair. I used a calligraphy pigment marker from Zig that has a very fine tip which allowed me to frame her face and head with all that lovely whispy hair!  
     When decluttering my craftoom I found a pile of lovely Christmas subway art backgrounds that I had printed on vellum at least 10 years ago. Sadly, this one appears to no longer be available. However, when searching the web for it, I did find a different one, also free and Christian-themed, that you can find HERE. (It’s multicolored, but you can change that if you’d like a more subdued look, just print it in greyscale!)
Supplies: 
·    Digi- Sweet November Stamps (Little Christmas Angel)

·    Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen and Zig Memory System Calligraphy II Pigment Marker (Pure Brown)

·    Christmas Subway Art (no longer available)

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

·    Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·    All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  

Stop back later!

    My final card this posting features an upcycled calendar page, aflame with the vivid colors of Fall!  A beautiful fluttering of leaves are framed in several layers of fall colored cardstock. Depth was added to the card by inking and firmly stamping the leaf on the paper, then repeating stamping the image several times before re-inking. I also like to stamp and fussy-cut a leaf or two that can be used for embellishments. Overlapping a leaf onto a sentiment adds texture and dept. So fun! 
     I usually like to decorate the inside of the card to fit with the colors, patterns, themes, etc. on the front. In this case, before I adhered the calendar page to the front of the card, I cut a rectangle from it's middle to use as backing ofor the sentiment on the inside of the card. Since the area I cut from the calendar page would be covered by the framed rectangle of  stamped leaves, it was an easy, and effective, nab!  
Supplies: 

·    Background scene is upcycled from an old calendar

·    Leaf Wood Mount Rubber Stamp from Embossing Arts (Company no longer in business)

·    Colored with Tsukineko Kaleidacolor Inkpad, Autumn Leaves (Available from several web sources or use ink pads in fall colors)

·    Sentiments- Power Poppy’s Digital Stamp Set (Autumns Opulence)

·    Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·    All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  
Stop back latee!
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Saturday, October 25, 2025

myasperations 10-25-25

     I found a bit of time the last few days to create two cards for the October Coffee Loving Paper Crafters/Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge. Both cards feature a sweet image from Tiddly Inks named Something Warm, which is one of my favorite freebies! (You can find the link in my supplies list below.)       

     For the first card, I upcycled a card from a boxed set that I found at a local thrift store. I use an Exacto knife to trim a photo from the front, leaving a gold “frame” for the digi. I kept my coloring of the snowman to a minimum, so that he didn’t overwhelm the background of pastel snowflakes that I adhered behind him. A few snowflakes, a scrap of snowflake embossed vellum cut into a circle, and sentiments finish the card.
    NOTE- Christy Croll, the artist/owner of Tiddly Inks, closed her challenge blog a few years ago, but maintains the blog to offer access to coloring tutorials plus several freebies (including this image) HERE, and sells a nice assortment of digis in her Etsy shop HERE.   
      
                      
Supplies:
·    Digi- Tiddly Inks Freebie “Something Warm” (You can find in the Freebies section of the blog HERE)
·    Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·    Snowflakes from Lawn Fawn LF995-Mini Snowflakes Die Set and other assorted ones from my stash.

·    Front and Inside Sentiments are from Beccy’s Place Digi sets that are no longer available. (Business recently changed to clear stamps/wholesale only)

·    Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·    All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  
Classic Design Challenge: Anything Goes #10-2025 Oct/Nov
Penny’s Paper Crafty Challenge- #608 Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #723-724 AG/Family Friendly
Park Hopping-My Happy Place (Oct) Badlands Snow Park (WI)
Rudolph Days Challenge- October

     This second coffee-themed entry is a shape card that features the same free digi, but this one has an earthy color palette.  An upcycled cardboard coffee sleeve, plus cream and tan musical background paper, both enhance the earthy color scheme. Sentiments, along with a few embellishments from my stash, finish the fun card. (Note- The card base accommodates a gift card, so if desired, you can add one and bring an even larger smile to the recipient's face!)  
                                
Supplies: 

·    Coffee cup template was made with a compilation of designs I’ve collected over the years. (I plan to make a template in the neart future and will post it here. So…. stop back in November!)

·    Digi- Tiddly Inks Freebie “Something Warm” (You can find in the Freebies section of the blog HERE)

·    Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Black Fine-line Sharpie Marker, and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·    Front Sentiment “Good Days Start With Coffee”- Unity Stamps (Latte Life Snippets Ephemera)

·    Inside Sentiment- “May Your Holidays be Caffeinated.”  (Source currently unknown. I’m looking for it in my vast digi files. If you recognize it please share that info in a comment. Thanks! )

·    Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·    Upcycled cardboard sleeve, other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  
Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #811: Fun Folds  
The Paper Shelter- #656 AG
Pattie's Creations Challenge- #235AG (Oct)
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday: Oct (Christmas)         
Outlawz Challenge-Oct 2025 Linky  

    My final card in this post features a spooky black cat silhouette that I stumbled upon on the web. It’s from an assortment of Halloween window silhouettes created by set designer Dave Lowe, who gives permission to use this and many other great silhouettes for free. (see details in my supplies list.) I printed the cat on tan parchment paper. I could have left his eyes and nose uncolored, but instead I decided to color his nose with a deep pink marker and added a touch of white highlights with a white gel pen. Two eyes were sketched with a pencil on a scrap of paper. I drew green circles (irises) on the eyes,  followed by small black circles (pupils) and a dot of white gel pen to bring the eyes to life! When finished, they were cut out and adhered on his face.  Next came the background. When using my laptop’s Word program to set up the page with my silhouette and sentiments, I made sure the cat silhouette was spaced so that he could be positioned at the bottom of a 3.5-inch circle. After printing the silhouette, I used a circle template from my scrapbook stash to draw a “moon” that framed the feline, and cut it out. A larger circle of yellow vellum was drawn, cut, and adhered behind the moon, then both were adhered to an A2 card front covered with spider web paper. The addition of sentiments, a little hand-sketched and fussy-cut bat, a round yellow vellum moon on a scrap of starry sky paper, and a smattering of silver stars finishes the card! 
                          
Supplies: 
·   Black Cat Silhouette- See Dave Lowes free assortment HERE

·   Small details added with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Black Fine-line Sharpie Marker, and Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

·   Front Sentiment is a computer-generated quote from Mary Shelly, the author of the book Frankenstein

·   Inside Sentiment-“Happy Halloween,” a freebie from Birdscards.com (Blog now closed)

·   Spider web paper and 3-D silver stars- Hobby Lobby
·   Night sky paper, yellow vellum, misc. items and tools from my stash.
Entered into:  
Colorful Options Monthly Challenge: Oct Color Board (Luxury Black) 
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Friday, October 24, 2025

myasperations 10-24-25

    I haven't been able to post many cards to the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers (BYSHC) Falling for the Holidays Challenge - Oct 2025, and it closes tonight! This post features three cards that I’ll be posting via my blog and Pinterest as soon as I finish this write-up.                       

                                            

    This first card features a pair of Christmas digis from an amazing artist named Mo Manning. The base of the digi is actually a paper doll named Lula. Instead of dressing her in her fairy garb (part of the paper doll set), she donned a lovely gown and set of wings (from different digi set) to become a Christmas angel!
    (Great news- Mo closed her website a few months ago when she opened a new one. I just visited that new site to make sure that I had the correct link in my supplies list and discovered that Mo added a link to the old site, so you can still get all her wonderful original digis… and they are 50% off! She had originally planned to close her old site, so I don’t know how long these will be available. You can also find 19 Freebies by typing Freebie in the search. Here is the link for the new website and the old one with its freebies and discounted digis!)

Supplies: 

·    Sheet music-photocopied from an old chorus book (1957) inherited from my husband's grandmother (She would have loved this card!)

·    Digis from Mos Digital Pencil (Lula Fairy Doll- now just $3.25) and (Lula Angel Wings-Free)

·    Colored with Spectrum Noir Classique markers, Sakura Gelly Roll White & Sparkle gel pens

·    Card Base with navy border- from a boxed set of cards/envelopes found at a local thrift store

·    Inside Sentiment- “Wishing… Blessed Christmas” from a Beccy’s Place Clear Stamp Set (Lamb of God) found HERE

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

·    Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·    All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  
 Penny’s Paper Crafty Challenge- #608 Anything Goes
      Since I’m a DT for All Dressed Up (one of the sponsors), please don’t include me in the draw for their prize!  
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #723-724 AG/Family Friendly
Park Hopping-My Happy Place (Oct)   Living Nativity at Silver Dollar City, Branson MO    

     All the items on this second card are items from my stash!
Supplies: 

·    Penguin image- from a retired Stampin’ Up set (I discovered the little cutie already colored and fussy-cut when organizing my craft room.)  

·    Patterned papers- from Oriental Trading Company many years ago.

·    Sentiments- both front and inside are from my stash of scrapbook lables/titles.  

·    Pioneer Clear Photo corners- available from several sources

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

·    Snowflake embellishments- assorted sizes of window clings (which my sweet Mon once used in her apartment. She loved them!)

·    Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·    All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  
Via Pinterest {BYSHC} Falling for the Holidays Challenge- Oct 2025        
Polkadoodles Challenge- Challenge 11, Week 4-AG                     
Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge-AG Oct 2 -Nov 5 2025  
Outlawz Challenge-Oct 2025 Linky  
Via Pinterest Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #723-724 AG/Family Friendly

    This last card features a beautiful digi that was fun to color with the many shades of Christmas and embellish with little stitches. I love how it turned out!  

Supplies: 
·    Stockings Digi (with its own sentiment!) is a freebie from Free Printables for your Junk Journaling with TLC (FB) (Although this digi appears to be retired, the group sponsor, Paulette Slater, provides dozens of free sentiments and digis every month to site members. If you join, HERE you can access the free digis… and you can purchase sets of digis at her shop HERE.)

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

·    Inside Sentiment- “Have a Cozy Christmas” is from a Beccy’s Place Digi set that is no longer available. (Business recently changed to clear stamps/wholesale only)

·    Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·    Patterned papers, other misc. items and tools from my stash.
Entered into:  
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Monday, October 20, 2025

myasperations 10-20-25

     This year, Path of Positivity is challenging you to Embrace the Unexpected!  This month's theme is "Unexpected colours for a holiday [of your choice]" (See more theme info HERE.) This theme is optional, so as long as your creation is positive or encouraging in some way, enter it into the POP challenge for a chance to win $6 worth of images from our sponsor, Scribbles Designs, and/or be honored as one of our special "picks"!
    My card features a wonderful digi from Scribbles Designs named "Jack-O-Lattern" and the "Unexpected [Fall/Halloween] Color Scheme" is teal and shades of brown/rust! There is a wonderful reason for this color scheme. A few years ago, a friend had a Teal pumpkin with a flickering candle on her front step on Halloween instead of a typical orange one. I was curious, and then impressed when she explained that her daughter has many food allergies, and having a Teal pumpkin on display meant that they have non-food treats available for children with allergies! (You can read more about the "Teal Pumpkin Project" HERE.)   
    An added note, the inside sentiment adds a fun feature to the card that was easy to make. I folded it in the middle, then also folded the ends up, so that when they were taped down so the sentiment "pops-up" when the card is opened (I added to photos of the inside of the card, and one from the side to try to show this folded section.) 
Supplies: 

·    Background on card front is from Sande's Poema “Fall Harvest” set (Obtained via a recent weekly email newsletter which you can join HERE, or check out the FB page HERE for additional info. Sande’s creations always impress me… and she provides them free to those on her newsletter!)

·    Front Sentiment “Sweet Fall”- freebie from Lovesvg.com (Note- you need to open an account to access freebies) 

·    Digi- Scribble Design (Jack-O-Lantern)

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

·    Inside Sentiment- from a Digi set by MMedelIllustrations (Etsy shop is on break) 

·    Other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  
Sande's Poema Card Making Community Monthly Challenge- Oct  (Fall or Thanksgiving card)
Sande's Poema Card Making Community Weekly Color Challenge 10/20 (Gold/Yellow/Green)
Sande's Poema Card Making Community "First Post" to FB group by Oct 31  
Polkadoodles Challenge- Challenge 11, Week 4-AG                    

     This fun Halloween card took a little time and some fussy cutting, but I like the way it turned out! After coloring and fussy cutting the Jack-o-lantern, I used an Exacto blade to cut his eyes and mouth from the digi. I traced Jack onto a piece of yellow cardstock, then to add some depth to the pumpkin, I adhered it to the yellow background with foam tape. Round circles were punched out of black scraps for his eyeballs, with a few dots of white gel pen to add highlights. When finished, their eyes were positioned into cutouts and adhered to the yellow background,
      The other parts of the card came together pretty quickly, with leaf embellishments (cut from Dollar Store paper plates) adding additional color and texture.

 
Supplies: 

·    Instructions for Z-fold card base can be found HERE.

·    Digi and Sentiments from a Beccy’s Place Digi set that is no longer available. (Business recently changed to clear stamps/wholesale only)

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

·    Large Fall Leaf embellishments- trimmed from Dollar Store paper plates

·    Sookwang double-sided tape- Available from several sources on the web.

·    All other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  
Classic Design Challenge: Anything Goes #10-2025 Oct/Nov  
Inspiration Station- Challenge #78 Inspiration Prompt (inspired by the pumpkins in the Cornucopia) 
Passion for Markers Challenge- Week #811: Fun Folds
Outlawz- Tuesday Color Challenge- Color Board-Oct (twist-Halloween Jack-o-lanterns) 
Double D’s Challenge-Halloween Colors      
Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday: Oct (Halloween, Autumn)         
Pink & Main Challenge- #10- October: All Things Fall   
Park Hopping-My Happy Place (Oct)   Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party
Colorful Options Monthly Challenge: Oct Color Board (My card has orange, plus a bit of black for Jack’s eyes!) 
Paper Funday- #81 Anything Goes  (Optional Twist: Cute or Creepy)

     While decluttering my craft room, I’ve found many items I haven’t used for some time, including washi tape! I had fun making two slimline cards with washi tape accents to enter into the new ABC Challenge- V is for Vertical! Although both cards have a vertical orientation and gift partially decorated with washi tape, the color schemes and sentiments are different.
Card with Victorian Color scheme
 
Supplies: 
·    Washi Tape- Ivory with silver stripe

·    Front Sentiment “Merry Christmas”- Trimmed from scrapbook label

·    Inside Sentiment- “Merriest Wishes” from a Beccy’s Place Digi set that is no longer available. (Business recently changed to clear stamps/wholesale only)

·    Burgundy satin ribbon, kraft cardstock, patterned paper, other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  Washi Tape Victorian Colors-silver stripes
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge-Get Ready for Christmas
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #720-721 AG/Family Friendly
ABC Christmas Challenge- U and V are for?  ‘V is Vertical’

Card with Traditional Color scheme
Supplies: 
·    Washi Tape-Brushed silver with white dots

·    Front Sentiment “Merry Christmas” from Eureka Stamps (Currently not available)

·    Inside Sentiment- “Peace, Love, Joy” from a woo-mount PSX stamp (Company no longer in business)

·    Silver pigment ink, Silver Embossing powder and heat gun all from my stash.

·    Small Heart and Star puffy stickers- from Walmart

·    Red grosgrain ribbon, metallic silver cardstock, patterned paper other misc. items and tools from my stash.

Entered into:  
Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge-AG Oct 2 -Nov 5 2025 (optl twist-All Tied Up) 
Outlawz Challenge-Oct 2025 Linky  
ABC Christmas Challenge- U and V are for?  ‘V is Vertical’
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge-Get Ready for Christmas
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #720-721 AG/Family Friendly
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