Five B's

I selected my cards to post and realized that I have five B's- Bugaboo Bingo, Butterfly, Black Cat, and Bear. I don't think I could've planned that!

Had fun creating another card for the Bugaboo Christmas in July event. This one, for the Tuesday BINGO challenge, includes the diagonal- texture, Bugaboo image, and ribbon. I provided a close up to show the Polar White Flower Soft that I used on Santas suit and hat. (It's so FLUFFY!)  I used a sweet image from freedeariedollsdigistamps.blogspot.com and the sentiment is a freebie from TLC Creations (createwithtlc.blogspot.com)
Note- I printed the image on the light green background paper and added some shading to give the sofa a slightly worn look. Also printed the image on white cardstock, colored it with Spectrum Noir markers, fussy-cut and mounted it to the sofa with foam tape to make it pop  right off of the paper. Then mirrored the small dots in the brown gingham oval and ribbon scraps. Awww, so cute!

 

Entered into: 

Bugaboo Stamps- Christmas in July- Tuesday                             (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)

Doing Life- Create with TLC Challenge #21                                   (desiref.blogspot.co.za)

Simon Says Monday Challenge- Krafty Christmas                       (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #395 Anything Goes   (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Happy Little Stamper- Christmas-Anything Goes                        (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

The latest Butterfly Challenge focuses on the letter O. The background of my card is an upcycled Thank You card. I cut an oval from light green and adhered it on top of the sentiment. I then punched a butterfly from black cardstock, attached olive green scraps to the underside of the wings and perched him on the oval. Layered the thank you section onto moss green base and finished the card with black photo corners.  

 

Entered into: 

Butterfly Challenge- #104 Letter O                              (butterflyspotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Artistic Inspirations Challenge-Challenge #205       (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)

Another entry for the Power Poppy challenge called "Inspire Me" that involves CASEing a card made by one of the DTs. My inspiration is a CAS card by Cindy Lawrence that features a black cat. For my card, I decided to use a grungy tan parchment paper as my base, then added a freebie silhouette that I found on the web. (It was created by set designer Dave Lowe and he gives permission to use this silhouette, and many others. Here is the link-  davelowe.blogspot.com/2013/09/witchcrafty-window-silhouette-printables.html ) and the fun EEK! sentiment is a freebie from TLC Creations (createwithtlc.blogspot.com) 

 

My inspriation-

Entered into: 
Power Poppy- Inspire Me                           (powerpoppy.blogspot.com/2018/07/go-ahead-inspire-me.html)

The Paper Shelter- #349 Anything Goes                          (thepapershelter.blogspot.com.ar)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes       (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Happy Little Stamper- CAS-Animals                                (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

My final card for this posting is a wonderful bear from a Little Scraps of Heaven (LSOH) digi named Taste of Summer. He was the weekly freebie earlier this year.  I used a scrap of real napkin for his "picnic blanket" and made the grass with scraps of green paper. The little ant stamp is from Judikins and the Hello Sunshine is a free sentiment from Paper  Smooches (www.papersmoochesstamps.com) PS- This weeks freebie from LSOH is an adorable panda bear holding a pencil (find him here-lshdesigns.blogspot.com) 

Entered into: 

Little Scraps of Heaven (FB)                                                          (lshdesigns.blogspot.com)

Penny's Challenge- #390 Anything Goes                                    (pennyschallenges.blogspot.com.au)

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #344-345 Anything Goes  (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge                            (craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com)

Guest Designer Gig- Part 2

Was so fun to see more of my cards featured at Beccy's Place where I am a guest designer for a few months. The featured set this time is called "Sweet as Candy" and includes a treat called Allsorts. I've never tasted them, but I was told they are popular in Australia (where artist/illustrator Beccy Muir lives) and are really sweet. Beccy said that the black layers are black licorice flavored, and the pastel layers taste like cake frosting. (I have a feeling that I'd have to scrape that part off to eat them as I don't much care for frosting!!) But they are really pretty.  I found some boldly striped paper in my stash that was fun to use on one of these cards. The other was paper pieced. Kinda tedious, but I do like the results! Stop by Beccy's Place to see the great cards made by the other DT's. https://beccysplace.blogspot.com/2018/07/new-release-sweet-as-candy.html

 
 

This cute image was the April digi for the Progressive Challenge at Gerda Steiner Designs, but, unfortunately, I can't find the image in the shop. With it, I used a new set of circle dies to create a type of card fold that I've never made before, using a tutorial provided here debbiesdesignsblog.blogspot.com/2016/07/fancy-flap-card-fold.html

I wanted to show all of the levels of the card and apologize if the second level photo is fuzzy. (I need new glasses but am a little worried. What types of lenses come after trifocals?!) I also added a red heart-shaped rhinestone to the coffee cup to add a bit of bling. So fun!

Entered into: 

Gerda Steiner Designs- Share you Designs Challenge        (gsd-stamps.com/blogs/share-your-designs)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Use a Die or Punch    (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Happy Little Stamper- Dies- Anything Goes                        (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

Penny's Challenge- #389 Anything Goes                               (pennyschallenges.blogspot.com.au)

                  

I really like the colors and themes on the latest Butterfly Challenge that revolves around the letter O. My card includes the color Orange (butterfly) plus theme/technique of Oval (with sentiment) plus both overlap and over the (in the layering of papers and placement of elements.) The floral background paper is actually a scrap of wrapping paper, and I used a decorator scissors that I rarely use to get the rough edge on the oval and floral paper. After stamping, coloring and fussy cutting the butterfly, I brushed a little Radiant Pearls on its wings to add the soft translucency. After gluing it to the vellum I used a fine line Sharpie to draw in the little antennae. (The lower edge of the rust oval looks brown but that must be due to lighting as it is not darker than the other edges in real life.)

Entered into: 

Butterfly Challenge- #104 Letter O                                                 (butterflyspotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Cute Card Thursday- #538 Bugs & Butterflies                              (cutecardthursday.blogspot.com) 

Artistic Inspirations Challenge-Challenge #205                          (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)
Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #344-345 Anything Goes     (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Here is another of the coffee themed ATC's that I created for The Happy Little Stamper monthly challenge. The cute cup image is a digi from Verve Stamps that I purchased during the 2017 Coffee Lovers Fall Blog Hop. I used two colors of dotted swiss paper for the background, printed the mug on another dotted patterned paper, and fussy cut steam swirls from scraps of vellum. (I first had the swirls behind the sentiment but decided that it looked more interesting to see the sentiment through the vellum. The sentiment was created on my laptop using a font named Papyrus.

 

Entered into: Coffee ATC

Happy Little Stamper- ATC-Coffee                                               (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

Double D’s Challenge- Tea and/or Coffee                                    (daranddiane.blogspot.com)

We Craft Cards Monday Challenge- Layered Backgrounds     (wecraftcards.com/forum)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge                             (craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com)

Kitty Bee Designs-#123 Anything Goes                                        (alohafridaychallenges.blogspot.com)

Bugaboo Christmas in July!

Last year I'd only been blogging a few months when Bugaboo celebrated their Christmas in July event. It was so much fun, so I'm happy to participate again this year. I spent the weekend happily making Christmas cards.

The first, for Saturdays' Challenge, "Baby It's Cold Outside" features a Bugaboo image, "Three Snowmen." I reduced the images to fit within a wonderful film strip die from Marianne Design. (Being able to enlarge or reduce images is one of the reasons that I love using digis.) Printed the sentiments off on my computer. Am entering the card into several additional challenge including The Cutie Pie BINGO Challenge (Third column- Glitter, Diecut and Card Candy- the photo strip is perfect for a bit of card candy! Actually, next time I enter a card candy swap, I will be making these!), Simon Says Wed and Happy Little Stamper challenges (Use a Die).

 

Entered into: 

Bugaboo Stamps- Christmas in July- Saturday                       (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)

The Cutie Pie Challenge- #125 BINGO                                     (cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.com)

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Use a Die or Punch      (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Happy Little Stamper- Dies- Anything Goes                          (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

Artistic Inspirations- Challenge #205                                     (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)
   

The second, for Sunday's Challenge, "Bugaboo Sketch" features two Bugaboo images, "Deacon Elf Sitter" and "Comfort Chair" (printed on patterned paper, shaded with Spectrum Noir markers and highlighted with a white gel pen before fussy cutting.) The sentiment is computer generated. Am entering the card into several additional Christmas in July challenges. (Since I love all things Christmas, I love this time of the year!)

 Entered into: 

Bugaboo Stamps- Christmas in July- Sunday                               (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)

Di’s Digi Stamps- Christmas in July                                                (disdigidesignschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #395 Anything Goes   (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge                             (craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com)
Happy Little Stamper- Christmas-Anything Goes                                   (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

The third, for Monday's Challenge, "Anything But a Card" again features the Bugaboo image, "Deacon Elf Sitter." He is colored with Spectrum Noir markers, and I added some delicate embellishments to his jacket and hat with a white gel pen. This time I perched him atop a little gift box that I made with Christmas themed scrapbook paper and a tutorial (christensencraftsandsuch.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-to-make-paper-box.html)  The scrapbook paper I used was pretty heavy, so when folded as per the tutorial was bulky. I found that after following the directions on the tutorial I unfolded the paper and cut some sections out to make it easier to fold together. (I developed photos of the cuts I made below.) Oh, and I cut Deacons legs off (that sounds awful!), then taped his body to the edge of the gift box, also taping him to the ribbon to add a bit more stability. I then added his legs with foam tape to pop them out a bit adding more of a 3-D look. The side photo below might help you to see this detail.  So fun!

 

Entered into: 

Bugaboo Stamps- Christmas in July- Monday                  (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)

The Paper Shelter- #348 Ribbon, Lace and/or Twine     (thepapershelter.blogspot.com.ar)

Simon Says Monday Challenge- Krafty Christmas           (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)

Penny's Challenge- #389 Anything Goes                           (pennyschallenges.blogspot.com.au)

Kitty Bee Designs-#123 Anything Goes                              (alohafridaychallenges.blogspot.com)

                  

My last card for this posting isn't for the current Christmas in July event, but it is being entered into a Bugaboo challenge, "Stella Says Sketch"!  I used a freebie from Beccy's Place and lots of paper scraps to make my yummy card!  I do have to note that I hand drew the chocolate chips to the bottom dip. They probably don't stand out quite so much. I think in real life they probably only peek out occasionally, right? For some reason, I didn't have any ice cream in the house so I couldn't do a still-life rendition. (Ha! As if it would have lasted long enough to do that anyway!) The sentiment on the front of the card s also from a Beccy's Place digi set named "Candy Shoppe." The sentiment on the inside is a freebie from desertdiva-hannelie.blogspot.com

Entered into: 

Beccy’s Place Challenge- July                                                           (beccysplace.blogspot.com)

Bugaboo Stamp- Stella Says Sketch Challenge                             (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)

Pixie's Snippets-Week #331                                                              (pixiescraftyworkshop.blogspot.com) 

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #344-345 Anything Goes     (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

We Craft Cards Wednesday Challenge-Ice Cream!                      (wecraftcards.com/forum)

One final note, I just learned that a generous, and very sweet, blogger that provides several challenges a month is offering the chance to win a wonderful assortment of blog candy this month. All you have to do is share the offer on your blog! Below is a photo of the "candy" and here is where you can learn more!  https://craftyhazelnut.blogspot.com/2018/07/blog-candy.html

PS Hazel's other challenges that I regularly enter are Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge (craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com) and Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge  (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk) Check them out! 

Holiday Fun + Coffee!

Made another tree card for the latest challenge at Paper Smooches, "Christmas in July." I used one of their sweet free digis to create an ornament. I used an eXacto blade to cut two small slits along one pine branch on scrapbook paper and wove a strip of red ribbon through it to make a pretty hanger for the ornament. Colored the candy cane heart with Spectrum Noir markers adhered it onto the card with mounting foam.  A red bow and computer generated sentiments finish off the simple card.

Entered into: 

Paper Smootches- Christmas in July                                  (http://www.papersmoochesstamps.com)

Kitty Bee Designs-#122 Christmas in July                        (alohafridaychallenges.blogspot.com)

Christmas Crafts All Year Round- Include a Tree            (christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk)

The Paper Shelter- #348 Ribbon, Lace and/or twine     (thepapershelter.blogspot.com.ar)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge                  (craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com)

Another entry for the Power Poppy challenge called "Inspire Me" that involves CASEing a card made by one of the DTs. Once again I was drawn to a happy card created by Allison Cope. Instead of polar bears, I used a Power Poppy Digi stamp set and computer generated sentiments on my card.

  Inspiration Card- 

Entered into: 

Power Poppy- Inspire Me                    (powerpoppy.blogspot.com/2018/07/go-ahead-inspire-me.html)

Di’s Digi Stamps- Christmas in July                                (disdigidesignschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Happy Little Stamper- Christmas-Anything Goes        (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

Word Art Wed Challenge- #344-345 Anything Goes   (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)

Just discovered another group of fun challenges at The Happy Little Stamper. Was fun to create a few designs for the July ATC challenge that features coffee. For this ATC I used a paint chip strip because the colors and names of the paint colors made me crave a cup of coffee. I think I need a Glazed Summer Pecan Latte and  Pronto! (PS The sentiment is from lovesvg.co).

Entered into: 

Happy Little Stamper- ATC-Coffee                  (happylittlestampers.blogspot.com)

Penny's Challenge- #389 Anything Goes        (pennyschallenges.blogspot.com.au)

QKR Stampede- #304 Anything Goes            (qkrstampede.blogspot.com)

Double D’s Challenge- Tea and/or Coffee     (daranddiane.blogspot.com)

                

I needed a Valentine card for a wedding gift packet and decided to use a vintage PSX wood mounted stamp (sweet little cupid) and the row of posies is an unmounted stamp but I think it might be an old one from Art Impressions.. I added a smidge of sparkly Stickles in the center of the posies, and… of course… I used some of my beloved vellum to add a special elegance to the card. So lovely!

        Entered into: 

Simon Says Monday Challenge- Add a Little Sparkle   (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)

Artistic Inspirations Challenge-Challenge #204            (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)