Sweet Treats

It is time for Tuesday Morning Sketches annual Anything Goes Challenge. I strayed from the normal card to do a treat bag. I made several of these in Christmas patterns to use for gift cards. This one is for Valentine's treats.

I cased this from Dawn Griffith. She did some for Halloween and has an instructional video. Dimensions are 3 1/2" across and 4" high. The little heart and the sentiment are from SU. 

It is perfect for some Valentine treats for the granddaughters.

The Tropics

 Oh what I would give to spend Christmas in  this scene in the tropics: colorful beach homes, sunny skies, and an inviting sea. It has been so gloomy and rainy and cold here for several days. Okay, I know winter starts today but I really am wanting to just skip it. I think I will post this card on my bulletin board and spend several minutes a day just staring into it.

I used SU's Pool Party cardstock and a Darice cloud embossing folder on the upper 2/3.  With various stamps from SU's Waterfront set, I made sand, water and a bright yellow sun. The houses are die cut from a scrap of white with Gina Marie Design Die from Joy Clair Designs. I colored them in tropical colors with SU Blenders. The palm tree die cut from a white snippet with a die from SU Peaceful Nativity. It too is colored with Blenders.  I added some shading and highlights around the clouds and sun. 

I am entering this at Pixie's Crafty Workshop  Challenge #303 and playing for a prize.  Check them out--the challenge runs for 3 weeks and lots of prizes available

Lots of Pinks

 Diving into my scraps today and came up with these papers from several years ago by Stampin' Up!

Fun note card for Send A Smile 4 Kids for a teen girl.

I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

Can somebody help? I thought I had figured out the new blogger. But recently, and maybe it is only from certain blogs, I am having problems copying and downloading pictures, like sketches, from another blog. I use the picture icon and by URL but l keep getting an error message. I finally had to save the sketch to my downloads and upload from computer. 

Hey Chick

Back with a second sketch challenge today. This one is from CAS(E) this Sketch! #401

The gold is a scrap. The feather paper is from Stampin' Up! Bird Ballad DSP from last year. The chick is also from SU, colored with Stampin' Blends. Ought OH, I think the chick is shedding a few feathers. They are from the Positive Thoughts Stamp Set, stamped in Pool Party, Old Olive, and Hello Honey. then die cut.

This will be a cute note card for someone.

Pretty Poppies

Christmas cards are in the mail.  I pulled up several sketch challenges to work on today. This is the first. Hopefully will get more done today.

Time to pull out SU's DSP Peaceful Poppies that I have had for several months. All the pages are so beautiful.  The paper is no longer available but you can still purchase the Painted Poppies stamp set.

The papers are so pretty, they can really be the focal point of a card. But here I stamped the 2 step poppy to be my focal point. The tag is from Sizzix. The sentiment from Creative Memories. 

I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

Frolicking Zebras

New challenge time for Let's Squash It. This month is use any embossing folder and dies/fussy cutting. I ended up using both dies and fussy cutting.

I have been playing with the new Quite Curvy stamps and dies from SU. It has been a learning curve (see what I did there?) (pun intended) to get the cutting edges the right way and lining up curves on the card base.  This card I used only 1 side of the curves.

After die cutting the green grass with the curvy die, I ran it through a Sizzix for Stampin' Up! folder. I don't know the name, I just call it wavy lines. I think it looks like grass. I adhered that to a Pool Party background that I used a Darice cloud embossing folder on.  The zebra is from SU, stamped and fussy cut. His little robin friend is from the Quite Curvy set. It has a coordinating die cut. Colored with Prismore colored pencils. I don't know, do they have robins in Africa plains? The hello is also SU, it has a die cut but it is just easier to fussy cut it.

I think this will also be a fun card for kids at Send A Smile 4 Kids. Their current challenge is winter cards for kids. So I suppose winter in Africa is like our summer.

Leap Frog

 Christmas cards are done. Waiting on the special stamps I ordered from the post office.  I hope they get here before it is too late to get the cards sent out.

Moving on the the next Holiday, I am making Valentines for Send A Smile 4 Kids

The frogs are from SU. I colored them with Stampin' Blends and cut them out. They are playing leaf frog but not doing very well getting over the next one. A scrap of red polka dots run down the side. The sentiment is a masked partial stamp from SU and cut by hand.  I did the Hoppy on the computer and trimmed them down.

I used a bunch of snippets so also entering at Pixie's Crafty Workshop and playing for a fun die cut prize

Snowflakes

I love using sketches for a jumping off point for card designs. I have a whole Pintrest board of card sketches.  This one is from Dawn Griffith It is really great that she puts the measurements on there for you, although my squares are a different size. I used scraps leftover from using 12x12 sheets for other cards.

My interpretation:

The papers are snippets from Snowflake Splendor paper from SU--pieces from 3 different designs  The snowflake is die cut from a scrap of vellum. The sentiment is from SU's Itty Bitty Christmas, new this year. I used a Sizzix Falling Snow embossing folder for the background Pool Party cardstock. 

For challenges

Let's Craft and Create Challenge 165 --use a sketch.

Let's Squash It challenge to use a Christmas embossing folder and stamp.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop: Pixie's Snippet Playground.  Playing for the prize. I was about to order blending brushes when I saw that Di is giving away brushes with this challenge. Holding off ordering, hoping to win them.

Cat Antics

 I no longer have any cats but I remember some of the antics that could get into and makes messes. I am entering the 2020 Cat Lovers Hop with this cutie from Newton's Nook Designs

The "wallpaper" is from my scrap bin, the last of a paper pad but I don't remember who makes it. I added a "fireplace" of red bricks with a Tim Holz e/f and a mantle with a scrap of "wood" paper. I can just see a cat jumping up on the mantle to investigate the wreath hanging there. The image was colored with Stampin' Blends. 

Grateful Heart

I am grateful when a sketch challenge offers the opportunity to use up some scraps. I have a plastic bag full of fall theme scraps. So it was easy to pick out papers for this card.

The wreath is from Impression Obsession, colored with Stampin' Blends then die cut with circle, backed by die cut scalloped circle. Basic card is early espresso from SU.

The design is by Tuesday Morning Sketches 

Pretty Poinsettia

 I found a new challenge this morning. I think it is going to be a fun one. Do you have a lot of embossing folders? Seldom use them? Then this challenge is for you, to spur you into dragging them out and use them. They have such a fun logo also. Let's Squash It

I used gold foil paper from Kaisercraft with an argyle folder from Cuttlebug. 

The upper portion is a poinsettia folder by Sizzix for Stampin' Up! The poinsettia flower is red vellum cut with a Poppy Stamps die. The sentiment and label are both SU.

Be Merry

 I love blues with snowflakes.

Pretty quick card. 3 strips from scraps on the left.  Blue vellum,. Sentiment from SU. White glitter paper die cut snowflake. 3 silver sequins.

The design is from Tuesday Morning Sketches

Anniversary Card

Just a general anniversary card for friends. 

Everything here but the sentiment is Stampin' Up! products. The sentiment is from The Angel Company. The background is reverse sides of the same patterned paper. At the divide, I used a strip of vanilla cardstock instead of ribbon. I had the circle and sentiment on and decided it needed something else. So I stamped and punched little butterflies to bring in more of the orange color. for balance.

Entering in Let's Craft and Create challenge #164--use paper strip instead of ribbon.

Snowfall

 As I said in my previous post, I am not a snow person. But paper snowflakes are another story. 

I used a Stampin' Up! falling snow EF on the background then created a snowdrift with 3 snowflakes down in the corner. These were die cuts from a retired SU product. Before adding the snowflakes, I sprayed them with Glitter Blast. Then added a clear gem in the center of each. They really do sparkle. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up! Itty Bitty Christmas set. I think they are great for tags but also for wherever you need a small sentiment.

The layout is the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch!

Check out their site, you will see I was inspired by the designer Brian King who used leaves where I used snowflakes.

Snow Time

Winter and snow will be here before we know it. Ugh! I am not wild about the real thing but love a pretty snowflake patterned paper, like this one from the Snowflake Splendor DSP from Stampin' Up!

The foil strips are from Kaiser Craft pads of foil paper purchased on Amazon. Not expensive and comes in  a lot of different metallics. Just the thing to add glimmer to a card. The image and sentiment are from SU Christmas Magic (retired). I die cut a snowflake and sprayed it with Glitter Blast. Clear sequins at the bottom are hard to see but add more sparkle.

I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches 

Christmas Cardinals

In my part of Indiana, cardinals stay around all year. It is so neat to look out on a snowy day and catch sight of cardinals sitting on a tree branch. My cardinal card is another in the upcycling series. I cut the focal image from an old Christmas card and placed it off center on an SU plaid paper. 

The sentiment is SU, done in Real Red and fussy cut around the edge. I glued that to a red scrap and trimmed a border around it. Does this make you think the birds are named Peace and Joy?😀😀😀

I am submitting this to  Just Us Girls  challenge

Another portion of the old card I was working with had this same image in a small circle. So I got a twofer upcycle with this one.

I have used several small snippet's so I just for fun, I am also submitting to Pixie's Crafty Workshop Pixie's Snippet Playground Challenge #388.

Holly Upcycled

 Do you upcycle Christmas cards that you have received in the past? It is fun to take parts of them and make new "designer" cards, therefore the term upcycle instead of recycle.

The holly print is the upcycled part of of this card. It was a bit plain on its own so I added strips of gold foil on each side. The sentiment is Winnie & Walter. The holly die cut is Marianne Design. I punched out berries and winked them for some shine. A gold bow pulls it all together. 

Inside is a sentiment from Stampon' Up! and an additional holly leaf.

The sketch is by Andrea at Tuesday Morning Sketches

Snowfall

 I have Christmas cards on the mind so saw this design of Tuesday Morning Sketch

 with snowflakes down the side.

I recently saw references to "salt technique" on a blog. I gave it a try but not too successful. I did the watercoloring  and sprinkled sea salt on but didn't get the white spots that are supposed to appear. Guess I will need to practice a bit more.

So, I just have a SU Lemon Lime Twist watercolored background. The snowflakes are punched from a scrap of hot pink glitter paper that I purchased from Walmart a few years ago. The sentiment die cuts are SU. I layered them on black to give some dimension. The right side needed a little more balance so I added 3 pink sequins.

Here is a second try at "salt technique". This one looks a bit better. It has 2 colors of blue and a lavender watercolor backgrounds. The snowflakes are stamped and heat embossed with silver. The sentiment from SU. I wanted more shimmer so sprayed it with Glitter Blast. Glitter cards are really hard to photograph. It is really sparkly IRL.

Make a Mess

I am a champion of making messes. Not only in craft room but many other rooms in the house, especially the kitchen. So when this challenge from Shopping Our Stash SOS 429: Make a mess! came up I knew I should enter.

You may have to expand the picture to really see all the details. The background is the wet baby wipe technique with SU inks: pool party, tempting turquoise, highland heather. Using a wet baby wipe, dab it on an ink pad and lightly dab onto cardstock or watercolor paper. I dabbed off on a scratch paper first so the colors would be lighter. All this resulted in very inky hands. 

Next layer is an SU vellum square doily sprayed with clear glitter burst spray--best to do this outdoors. I used a box indoors but the valve got stuck open and I could not get it to stop spraying. Nearly asphyxiated myself before I got the box moved outdoors. Starting over! I had to wait a few days for a new can of glitter burst spray to be delivered. 

The strip of blue is from the scrapbox. I think it came from a Ms. Sparkle paper pad purchased at Joan's.  Large letter die cuts are from scraps of silver paper. The Christmas sentiment is an old one from SU on a die cut label sponged with pool party ink.  I added 3 clear sequins for more glitter. 

So there is my "messy" card that turned out quite nice. This definitely will be one of a kind--no mass producing.

Skating Fun

 I have been shuffling these 3 strips of paper around for about a week.  When tI saw his new challenge at Just Us Girls I took it as a sign I was meant to use them.

That adorable fun skating reindeer is a digital from Bugaboo Stamps. The die cut and sentiment are Stampin' Up!

Let It Snow

 Even though I am not too wild about being out in snow, I do love snowmen. The are just so adorable and make me smile.

This little guy is from a Recollections set that I picked up on sale at Michael's last year. The sentiment is in the same set. I stamped it on a scrap and fussy cut around it. The square vellum doily is from SU. Snowflake punch is from Martha Stewart. I added clear glitter glue to the snowflake to make it sparkle. The little snowflakes are from SU. I used Hampton Arts white pigment ink to stamp them all around.The shiny strip of paper is from the stash, as well as the snowflakes washi tape.

I used the sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches

Also posting at Tuesday Throwdown challenge #465 Anything Goes

And playing for that great prize of sentiment stickers. at Pixie's Crafty Workshop

Pretty tone on tone

 I have a pretty feminine tone on tone retirement card to share today.

The cardstock is Soft Sea Foam from Stampin' Up! I used a soft green ink to get the tone on tone effect. Stamp sets: script background from Inkadinkadoo, leaves from SU Forever Fern. I die cut a circle and then embossed it with a SU embossing folder. The flowers are an old unbranded one, stamped in dark pink (Regal Rose)  and colored with Prismacolor pencils. Leaves are an SU punch, lined with Soft Sea Foam Stampin' Blend pen. The sentiment is SU. Accents are ribbons from the stash and 3 green sequins.

Playing along with The Paper Players tic-tac-toe challenge, using the middle row across.

Season of Thanks

 One thing I like about living in southern Indiana is the changing of the seasons. Although some days seem to have several seasons in one day😀. But when Time Out Challenges posted their challenge with cue word seasons, I immediately thought of fall. I love all the colors of the fall season. And large stands of sunflowers are one of my favorites.

The stenciled background if from a paper in SU's Botanical Prints product medley. I used orange and yellow randomly. The sunflower and leaves are SU"s Painted Harvest. The sentiment also SU is on a Sizzix label. I added gold and copper glittery washi tape at the bottom.  And dressed up the inside with a sunflower peeking over the edge. I added a few clear sequins enhancements, though they are hard to see. The just add a little sparkle without detracting from rest of the images.

The other inspiration was this beautiful photo at Hand Stamped Sentiments

Her is the cue card from TIME OUT

Happy Halloween

 Getting a head start on the Halloween cards for the grandkids.

The stripe paper is from the scrap box. The happy halloween from SU! A strip of orange glitter washi tape creates some sparkle. The Boo sentiment is by Craft Smart. I stamped it with Hampton Arts white pigment ink. This is the only white I have found that does a good job of white stamping.

I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

Giving Thanks

 I have a regular client who likes to send Thanksgiving cards. Here is one I made for her. I found the inspiration from a YouTube video for Birds of a Feather stamp set by Stampin' Up!

I started with Kraft cardstock. Used Versamark to stamp  2 leaves and some dots from SU Gather Together set. Then 2 scraps of paper from the stash. These papers are from Ms. Sparkle Watercolor paper pad. The rest of the layers are from various SU sets.

Submitting to Shopping Our Stash challenge #427 "Pile It On"

Also submitting at Pixie's Crafty Workshop Snippet Playground. All the parts except card base were from scraps. Playing for the great prizes, some flowers and stencils plus word stickers.

Gone Fishin'

 I used up a lot of my stash of Get Well cards recently so have been working on replenishing that. Using the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches here is one:

I used a Sizzix EF to make wavy lines on the front of a SU Soft Sea Foam card base. Then Swirly Bird dies to make waves. The fish is a pre-colored digital from Louby-Loo. I did the banner sentiment on the computer and of course "fishtailed" the ends. Three blue sparkly sequins are also riding the waves. 

How is this especially a get well card you might ask. The answer is inside:

I took the cut outs from the wavy die and glued them inside to make more waves. Hope the recipient of this card does not suffer seasickness.

Here is the sketch:

You can see, I made wavy lines instead of straight ones.

I think I will do another of this design with "a very happy birthday" inside for my husband who likes to fish and snorkel in the tropics.