myasperations 7-23-25

   This past week I’ve been making Christmas cards for the monthly Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers (BYSHC) Challenge and also their annual Christmas in July Linky Party! I also used a few music-related items that will allow me to enter this card into the current Time Out Challenge.

   While decluttering my craft room, I’ve found many “treasures” that I’ve had for 2-3 decades.  The PSX (Personal Stamp Exchange) wood-mount rubber stamp that I used to make this card is one of those treasures.  The stamp is actually a gift tag that we used to carry in the stamp store I co-owned back in the 90s. After stamping with black pigment ink and embossing with fine black embossing powder, I fussy cut the “to” and “from” center from center. After coloring the many items on the tag, I used assorted papers and sentiments, plus this month’s BYSHC Sketch, to assemble the card. (The black and gold paper was created using a spray paint Marbling technique found on the web.)

     

                 

                    

Supplies: 

·   Wood-Mount Rubber Stamp “Christmas Tag” from PSX (Company No Longer In Business)

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

·   Front and Inside Sentiments are from Beccy’s Place Christmas Digi Sets (Sadly, digi sets are no longer available.)

·   Music patterned paper- Hobby Lobby

·   Black&gold paper made with Spray Paint Marbling-tutorials found HERE and HERE

·   Wreath embellishments on inside were fussy-cut from a JoAnn’s Crafts Christmas Paper Pack (Sadly, company is out of business)

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

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

Entered into: 

Time Out Challenge- Challenge #293 (Inspired By… Your Favorite Song)      

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- Weeks #708-709 AG/Family Friendly

{BYSHC} Sketch Challenge FB- #59 July 2025        

Via Pinterest {BYSHC} Christmas in July 2025 Linky Party 

     I have built a nice collection of digis from artist Ching-Chou Kuik over the years. This is one of my favorites! I used a free Paint program to layer this beautiful digi atop a weathered wood background. Some delicate coloring with Spectrum Noir markers and a few gel pens bring the digi to life, especially when some sparkle is added.  

     An added note, several years ago, I was introduced to a company named Free Pretty Things For You (FPTFY). They offer 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 features a set of freebies (six different designs) named “Winter Wonderland.

Supplies: 

·   Easel Card- Instructions found HERE  

·   Free Winter Wonderland Digital Paper you can find HERE

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

·   Digi- Ching-Chou Kuik Digital Stamp (Snowflake Imprint)

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

·   Front Sentiment “Merry Christmas”- Sticker and inside snowflake sticker are from my stash

·   Inside Sentiment from a Beccy’s Place Christmas Digi Set (Sadly, set is no longer  available.)

·   Stickles-Diamonds (to add sparkle to the snowflakes and her jewels)

·   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 #07-2025 Jul/Aug  

{BYSHC} Christmas in July 2025 Linky Party

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Friday: July (Christmas)         

Outlawz Challenge-July 2025 Linky  

     This card was made for a few challenges that invite us to create cards for children! My hubby and I are not blessed with any children, but we do have many nephews and nieces, who now have kiddos… so I find myself needing cards for them quite often. This sweet card named “Dolphin Hugs” is perfect for one of our great nieces who loves critters of all kinds. She also has fine, wavy, white blond hair… so I made sure that this little mermaid is sporting fine white-blond tresses that are rippling in the water as she snuggles her friendly little friend.

   The black and gold paper was created using a spray paint Marbling technique found on the web. And the deep blue undersea background image is from one of my favorite FB sites for free digis, Free Printables for your Junk Journaling with TLC.  The group sponsor, Paulette Slater, provides dozens of free sentiments and digis monthly. (See details in my supplies section.)

 

Supplies: 

·   Pre-colored undersea background- from Free Printables for your Junk Journaling with TLC (on FB). If you join HERE, you’ll have access to thousands of digital images and sentiments. You can also search for specific items or topics.  

·   Digi- Sweet November Stamps (Dolphin Hugs)

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

·   Front Sentiment “The Ocean is my Happy Place” from an Imagine That digi set (Company is no longer in business)

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

·   Black&silver paper made with Spray Paint Marbling-tutorials found HERE and HERE

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

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

Entered into:  DDD-SNS-Mermaid with Dolphin

Inspiration Station- Challenge #76 Inspiration Prompt (My card was inspired by the beach and water in the prompt photo) 

Double D’s Challenge- A Card for the Kiddos 

Crafty Catz Challenge- #698 AG (optn. For a Child)

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

Friends of Sweet November (FB) July