December Joy - TIME OUT CHALLENGES HONORABLE MENTION - INKSPIRATIONAL TOP PICK!

 Hi all!

I'm glad the year is winding down...It's been a difficult 2023!  Despite the challenges this year, I am grateful I have been able to face all those challenges with grace and joy...mostly due to my fantastic hubby.  What are you happy to say goodbye to in 2023?

  

For today's card I was inspired by the Tic Tac Toe challenge board , the Time Out and the Inkspirational challenges.  I am all about sparkle and since I'm still making holiday cards, the these challenges helped send me on a great direction.

 

This card has Altenew's fabulous Vintage Tile embossing folder...it makes for a great background, subtle yet impactful.  Also included are the Nordic Vines foil plates and the Joyful Greetings stamp and die set.

The top part of the card has the embossing folder, the soft lines do not distract from the beautiful silver foiled vining on the forefront of the card.  Next, the sentiment was heat embossed with silver and colored with blue markers...I'm still working on my technique...  

This holiday card is finished off with the gorgeous glitter paper in a pale shade of blue.  I adore glitter paper, it makes me happy we are now able to find them in so many different colors to match our creations!

That's it for today, I hope your have a joyful, colorful rest of your 2023!

Winter Wishes

 Hi all!

Welcome to another challenge with AAA Cards!  This time we have a sketch to inspire you.  I know it’s a busy time of year, but take some time out of your day to be crafty!

Although the sketch is simple, I decided to bump it up a bit by making it a shaker card.

The background paper is made with layers of embossing and ink blending. Starting with the snowflakes from Altenew’s Snowy Delight, the image was stamped on white paper, and embossed with clear embossing powder. The paper was then ink blended with a light blue.  The process with the heat embossing, ink blending and stamping was repeated 2 more times with darker shades of blue ink.

The acetate was stamped And heat embossed with white embossing powder with the sentiments included in the stamp set.  They were heat embossed with white embossing powder with the sentiments included in the stamp set.

Finally, the shaker card was assembled with ice crystal type gems to keep with the winter theme.

It's Friday!

 Hi all!

Welcome to another edition of CAS on Friday!  This time around we are challenging you by limiting your color choices.  Black and white and only one other color.  What color will you choose?

I choose to add coral... Altenew's Coral Berry to be exact, it's one of my favorite colors! 

This card uses Joy from Altenew, along with their Poinsettia and Berries combo.  The 'Joy' die cut sentiment is the only part with any color...can you tell?  The spotlight techinque didn't photograph well, but I promise you it's really pretty in person!

The background was stamped first with ony the outline.  Then the sentiment was stamped with both the outline and the layered stamps to fill it in.  Altenew's layered stamp sets are what attracted this former florist to their company...I'm obsessed with them, and now even more so with all their floral die cuts and stencils!!  SWOON!!!

Now be sure to visit the other DT's creations and spend some time in your crafty space...it's a great place to unwind during the stresses of the holiday!

Have a colorful day!!

OMG - Guest Designer!!! I FORGOT TO PUSH PUBLISH!!!!!

 Hi all!

AAACCCKKK!!!  I FORGOT TO PUSH PUBLISH!!!  Sorry this is late in it's post...

OMG!!  I have the honor to be asked to be a guest designer on the Color Throwdown this week!  It's such a thrill to be invited to be a part of their post...it's like high school and being accepted!  I'm 30+ years away from high school, but the thrill is still there...

This week our colors are cobalt blue, aqua and gold...such a great combination!  Blue is an underrated color for the holidays, so I decided to create a holiday card using my new die sets from Concord on 9th, Over the Rooftops.  

I didn't opt to make the card interactive...not sure why...it's a great feature of this die set!  I'll be sure to do it next time.  The background was inked with Altenew Glacier Caves  and Cool Summer Nights color stories then splattered with metallic gold watercolor paint.

The houses were ink blended in the colors to match, but the litte windows have brushed gold metallic paper for some shimmer.  The sentiment and the moon were also done with the gold paper.  

***Since I'm a SLACKER and forgot to push publish, I thought I'd add another card I made at the some time for my guest post...I'm so bad!!!  

My uncle passed away the day before Thanksgiving this year and I felt the sentiment was perfect for my cousin.  He had a long battle with colon cancer and while I grieve, I am happy he is at peace with my aunt in heaven.

Have a colorful week everyone...I'll try to be better!!

Tag-a-Polooza! - INKSPIRATIONAL WINNER!

 Hi all!

Do you make your own gift tags for the holidays?  I always have the good intentions of getting them made, but life always seems to get in the way of those intentions...UNTIL today!!  I spend the entire day making elaborate tags for some homemade items I will be giving to loved ones. SO much fun...and I used up a very small amount of my enormous scrap paper stash.

  

I unfortunately do no have a live tree in my home...I love the smell of them, but not the mess.  Homemade simmering potpourri to the rescue!  I made from dried oranges and apples, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cranberries and rosemary.  Pop the contents of the jar into a pot and simmer on your stove for a beautiful and non-chemical smelling Christmas!  These are winter and holiday themed so I'm throwing my hat in the ring for the Time Out Challenge DT call.  They aren't your typical colors or themes for this challenge, hopefully it will make me stand out ;)!

These tags coordinate with the natural look of the potpourri, not my normal aesthetic, but I do love to coordinate gifts with their wrapping.  I pulled out all the stops for these, using nearly every vendor of crafty goodness I have in my stash!  The oranges are from The Greetery, they're so beautiful and natural looking.  The sentiments are from Simon Says Stamp, Elegant Modern Christmas which I love,.  I even made a few with 'Feliz Navidad' for our Spanish speaking friends...they'll love that touch.  I can't forget to mention the Wood Cookie from Altenew, it's a great size for a tag base!   

Since I decided to use up my crafting supplies for this project, I had to add some glitter from my ginormous stash on half of these.  It's perfect for the Inkspirational challenge for this week...subtle glitter...not in your face, but effective?  I think the chunky glitter lends its self to ice on the branching?  Either way, you can never go wrong with a little sparkle, am I right?  

I made over a dozen of these today, and to keep this post from getting too long, I'm going to share them on a reel over on my Instagram if you're into that sort of thing and want to see them all!  

Thanks for stopping by today, have a colorful day!

Winter Wishes

 Hi all!

Well, my goal of not leaving the studio for the entire day was kiboshed...darn responsibilities...  Are you able to stay in your crafting space for a full day without interruption? I'm so jealous of those that can...*sigh*...I will try again later in the week.  Also, any suggestions on how to take better photos of cards?  I generally just use daylight, but with the weather changing, the lighting is terrible...I hate to invest in a ton of equipment, but what choice do I have?  Suggestions?

  

I was able to finish one last card, it wasn't my favorite of the day, but I do love a solid color card...or non-colored card in this case!  I used the sketch...although turned on its side....provided by the Try Stampin' on Tuesday challenge blog, and the seasonal theme of 'Winter' for the Inkspirational challenge.  These photos were taken at 3 o'clock today...it's very overcast in Ohio in the winter...sigh.

In keeping with my monochromatic theme of the day...not on purpose mind you...this card is all one color.  I'm not really sure if it has the full effect desired, but a card with lots of texture is always a fun one.  Snowflake dies from Pinkfresh were used for the circles in the sketch, one smaller than the other.  Then a leftover strip cut from the Dashed Snowflake die by Waffle Flower from this creation earlier today.

The delicate sentiment dies are from an old Spellbinders Christmas Mix and Match Sentiments...it's retired, but available on Amazon!  They are so beautiful and feminine.  The combination had to be place on a vellum panel to stand out against the busy snowflakes in the background.  The 3rd snowflake was needed to ground the sentiment, and you can't have too many snowflakes...unless it's real snow...

The card front was finished with a bunch of sequin sparkles...winter isn't complete without some sparkle, right? 

 That's all I have for now, I hope you all have a non-monochromatic, colorful, non-cloudy day!

Peace on Earth

 Hi all,

It's been a hard nearly 2 months for the people in the conflict, as well as for the world.  We are watching horrors being committed on fellow humans.  I am praying for Peace on Earth...for everyone.  No matter race, religion or nationality.

  

I adore a good monochromatic creation, and these little houses are the perfect die cuts for this aesthetic.  The white with the subtle shades of blue are so calming together.  I'd love to live there...

Using only white card stock, 2, A2 panels were inked up with Altenew's Cool Summer Night inks using their new large blending brush...add it to you Christmas list, you'll thank me later for it!  One for the background, the other to fill in the windows of the houses and to make the trees.  The background panel was created with an ombre effect, then splattered with metallic watercolors to make the stars in the sky.  A great background for the layers to come.

In creating the scene, 2 die sets were combined.  First, My Favorite Thinks My Neighborhood die set along with the Concord & 9th Over the Rooftops.  Dies are some of my favorite items to use while creating, they are incredibly versatile and can be created in ANY color.  All you need is one, and you have a million different opportunities for inspiration...I mean, I don't have just 1, but you get the idea;).

The snowy hills were die cut 4 times to create the base of the scene, then the houses were placed with the largest ones in the foreground and the smaller ones up the hills.  The tiny little trees were added, they look like perfect little boxwood landscaping bushes in their scale to the houses!

This October, I was introduced to the Timeout Challenge blog, and I've had the opportunity to participate a couple of times since then.  This creation is for their current Winter/Holiday/DT challenge.  The simple color theme screams winter for me with all the white and touches of blue.  In keeping with the theme, I am also going to enter this in the Peace on Earth Christmas challenge blog.

So that's it for this creation!  I'm still in the studio, kickin' up paper...I'm sure I'll have other posts to annoy you all with soon!

Have a colorful day!

Some me time...FMS QUEEN OF CLEAN! - CT FEATURED STAMPER!

 Hi all!

It's been an INSANE 2 weeks...it always is around the holidays...but why does this year seem even busier?  Anyone else in that boat?  I haven't had hardly any time for myself, let alone studio time!  Today however, I have locked the door, no one in or out...except maybe the dogs and to get lunch...but no other time!!!  I'm committed!

 

I've started out my creative session today with the Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown challenges for inspiration.  The color combo is one of my favs, almost had it for my own wedding!  The sketch is simple, and lends it's self to a package in my eyes.

When this amazing Big Beautiful Bow die from the Greetery was released, I knew I HAD to get it...I am a girly girl and bows are the perfect addition to any gift.  With the color combo, a black bow was a must, and the glitter paper just makes it sing!  It's unfortunately out of stock...again...but I'm sure they will have more coming.  I even got mine on a re-order, so don't give up hope if you really want it!

The greens were added with greenery from Altenew's Through the Window die set...It was from the Cozy and Comfort retreat, hopefully it will be released to the public sometime soon?  The smaller boughs of greenery worked better as not to compete with the gloriousness of the ribbon.

The simple tag is part of the Greetery set and the tiny sentiment is from Altenew's Classic Greetings set.  A large sentiment seemed so out of place, and the simple 'for you' does allow me to give this card for more than just a holiday greeting card, but for a winter birthday or hostess gift as well.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break...if you celebrate that.  I am ready for the Christmas season to begin!  Have a colorful day!

Simply Stencils

 Hi all!

It’s time for another challenge with AAA Cards Challenge blog!  This time around, we are going with a color challenge…BLACK and GOLD.

Black and gold are not a go-to combo for me, so this was a challenge for me.  I decided to push myself with only using stencils as well.

The black background stripes are stenciled 2 times with Jet Black Altenew crisp dye ink.  I wanted to be sure it had a deep dark and smooth covering, hence the 2 time application.

The gold ‘hello’ was done also with 2 layers of embossing ink then 2 layers of gold embossing powder.  It was hard to keep the little flakes under control…. I finished off the CAS design with 3 simple gold sequins.  

MThat’s it for me!  Be sure to visit the rest of the DT and share some love…have a colorful day!

CAS Holiday Hugs!

 Hi all!

It's time for another CAS on Friday challenge!  Have you finished your holiday or Christmas cards yet?  Me either....hopefully this challenge will help you get closer to the end of your card count because the challenge is CHRISTMAS!  

I used the adorable Altenew Snowy Delight and Stellar Cascade embossing folder for this quick and easy CAS card.

It's hard to tell here, but the background paper for the sentiment is a red glitter paper...  It just adds a little shimmer to my snowman friends here.  Speaking of which, they were colored with alcohol markers to make them ready for some fun in the snow!

That's it from me, I hope you visit all the other DT members for more inspiration, and we hope to see your creation on the blog soon!

Have a colorful day!

Sweater Weather!

 Hi all!

It's another fabulous challenge at the Sisterhood of Crafters!  The theme this time around is SWEATERS!  Nothing better than cozy sweater this time of year in my opnion.

Once again, the new favorite embossing folder from Spellbinders was the starting point...it has sweater vibes to me.  It was used as the front panel for my shaker card featuring the Greetery's Fair Isle stencil set.  The color challenge from JUGS helped pick the colors of this bright holiday sweater! The glitter was a mistake for the shaker, as it's sticking to the acetate...any suggestions on how to keep that from happening??

The gorgeous sentiment is also a new fav from Simon Says Stamp called Fancy Giving Thanks, it's seen a ton of use this month.  Instead of adding the sentiment on the background panel, it was cut out from it so the sweater panel could shine through...kinda diggin it...

Finally, the sequins have been in the shimmer stash FOREVER, couldn't even begin to think of where they are from!  Little dots of coral glitter were added with old Stickles glue...are they even still around?  Literally, they have been there for over 15 years.  It was a bit gooey, but manageable.

 

I am also entering this creation for the JUGS challenge and the TGIF Challenge for this week!

That's it for me today!  Be sure to visit the other DT ladies from the Sisterhood, they have made beautiful things to inspire you!