Snow Flurries

 I'm here for just a minute. Catching my breath during a fun week of creating. I'm cranking out Christmas cards that others have designed right now, and it's helping me learn some new things and stay busy trying to keep up! 

I made a shaker card that I just wanted to share today. I love shakers! 

The snow globe works well in many styles. Using some DSP I made a scene inside mine. 

Hope you are having a great day!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges: 
Just Us Girls - Winter 
NBUS - the snow globe set is new from           Concord & 9
Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge

Thanks with a shot of Hugs

 Happy day, it's Monday again, I hope you had a great weekend. Last week I enjoyed wearing short sleeve tees at the beach where we spent two lovely nights! Today the fleece top is coming out and I'm liking my hot tea even more than usual with the chilly temps we're having.  I'm only a coffee person when it comes to today's card. 

I spent a bit of time re-watching an online card class and Jennifer shared a Pop up Christmas card. What makes this special is the window die cut out of the card front and the image popping to thie inside when opened.  It's so easy to do and adds a bit of fun for the recipient. 

Combining the old goodies of C9 Cup of Kindness stamps and dies and the new-to-me SSS Curvy Background stamp helped give me a fresh take for the card front. Maybe it's a tad busy but I just had to think of coffee with those swirls! I think they will work with snow scenes as well. 

I adhered the floral die cuts on the cup, then ran it through the machine to cut out the cup. It flattens the flowers to mimic an inlaid look. 

Speaking of Online Card Classes, I'm beginning the So Very Merry Class today. More Christmas cards to come!

That's all for me, thanks for taking time to visit. 

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Adding this to the NBUS Challenge

and the special challenge at Just Us Girls #800  

Tweet-est Friend!

 A new day and a new month and I am GLAD! Hopefully our high heat and stormy afternoons will give way to more pleasant weather soon.  In the meantime, while I had all the Tweet Friend supplies out, I gave it another go. Hope you enjoy my shaker card. You know I love them! 

I love the versatility of the sentiments and being able to die cut them and mix the smaller phrases in is a plus. I think the mailbox will be what I grab for often, but the flowers are pretty in their own right and the bird bath is great for any season. 

Copics were used for coloring and the stencil (Gina K Cropped Circles) was sponged over with Ranger inks on two corners. I'm happy these two feathered friends are having a bit of fun in the sun! 

No challenges today, just a quick share! Thanks for coming by!

Be yourself

         Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Just a Hello ...

 Hello crafty friends, it's good to be here today! You know how I love card challenges and it's even more fun when I get chosen as Guest Designer. That's the happy circumstance for today's card, which I've created for the Tic-Tac-Toe challenge! 

You may know that they post a board and you may chose which elements you'd like to include on your card. 

I'm delighted that this prompted me to finally pull out my new-to-me Strawberry Patch large dies from Spellbinders. 

I was first led in the direction of FRUIT in the top row, but instead I decided to go with: embossing, fun fold, and gingham in the left row vertically. 

I love interactive cards, but don't make them often enough. This one is an interlocking  gatefold and it was so fun to make, I can't wait to try another one! The card measures 5.5 x 5.5 and I want to remind you that it will require extra postage. I needed the extra space to feature those beautiful berries! 

The sentiment is heat embossed, and there is embossed texture on the die cuts. I added a bit of shading with Copics and inks. 

Please be sure to check out the fantastic cards from the team, and join us to play along! You will find them HERE. 

I'm so happy for your visit today! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

More with Interactive Cards

 Hey there, hello again! I'm back today to wrap up my theme this week of interactive cards, this time featuring the PTI products of Salt Air: Flora and Fauna, Reef Builder Dies, and sentiments. You can see that I'm still on a beach theme, but today's cards are to welcome a new little one. 

I'd never seen - or noticed - a Rocker card until recently in a blog challenge, and I just had to make one! They've been around for quite awhile - but now look so cute dressed up with dies. 

My card began with a 5" die cut circle scored in half. A smaller circle was glued just on to the bottom half and was embellished with the die cuts.  Just a note of caution - don't glue them down until you check the balance on your card. You don't want your rocker to be lopsided.  I loved making this, can't wait to try it again. Photos don't do them justice. 

The second card is a Flip Fold card, again, only requiring circle die cuts, no other special die needed. With this one, I added patterned papers to the front, and glitter to dust the seashells in sparkle. 

I definitely enjoyed stamping these sea creatures, and adding sponged color to the flora. All inks used are from PTI.  Here's a view of the inside. 

I love the way interactive cards give a surprise to the recipient upon opening. 

I will be back tomorrow with something I consider special! Hope to see you then. 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

Interactive Cards: Slimline Shadowbox

 How are you doing on this Tuesday morning? My past week allowed some wonderful family time, as my husband and I were out of town and able to help with the big sisters of the new baby! 

I had a few cards ready to go on the hopper that explore some special folds and interactive features. First up, the slimline shadowbox! 

I used an old favorite from Papertrey Ink - Fenceline: summer to create both cards. 

The first card measures, 4-1/4" by 8". The folds for the base are so easy, I got help from Jennifer's wonderful video HERE. I began by inking a simple scene of sand ocean and sky using Altenew inks. The fence was stamped on the bottom layer, other images were stamped and fussy cut to add depth to the front and the outer layer of the card. 

I used textured card stock in bermuda bay, adding a white frame over the top. 

For the second card - I will show you my mistake! THe first card is what I learned from it! 

Do you see what's missing?  The shadow box! OOPS. I glued the scene panel just behind the front of the card, instead of placing it onto the INSIDE of the box. Now you know what NOT to do, lol! 

Creating multiple cards with a set or a theme is helpful to me, as I learn and get better as I go. Learning from my mistakes may turn out to be helpful for you. Maybe not! This card measures 4" by 9". 

I've enjoyed pulling this set out to use again, I have only inked it up once before, HERE if you missed it. Oh, HERE is one more. 

The sentiment is from Altenew Craft Your Life Kit - Fragrant Florals.

Thanks for hanging on through this long post. Hope you caught some happy thoughts/vibes from your visit with me today!

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

             Make something beautiful! 

For the Paper Players #599

 Can you believe how fast the weeks are going round? I've been loving being a Guest Designer at The Paper Players this year, and it's time for a NEW challenge! It's a color challenge from LeAnne, using my fav new colors from Stampin' Up!: Tahitian Tide and Parakeet Party. My best bet for getting close to the bright and happy shades was using my Zigs to color. Wow, was that ever fun! 

I also made a trifold window card. My blog theme this week will be Interactive cards, so I am kicking it off using stamps from Penny Black which work well for this technique.

When you open the card, you get the full bouquet of flowers in a cute teacup! My 'painting' is loosely done and leaves bits of white in the flowers. I carried the friend sentiment from the front to the inside. Lastly the sweet sentiment and my message to go with it will be seen. 

 I bet you can guess where the extra hearts came from ! Changed my mind and decided to go with a larger window. I didn't want to use a belly band to hold the card together, so this metal clip with black thread will do. I decided that was just the bit of something 'extra' the front needed! Supplies listed below. 

What will you choose? Can't wait to see your cards in the challenge gallery. Thanks so much for visiting today! My PB stamps are never before used, so I am entering this at NBUS.

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

My PB stamps are never before used, so I am entering this at NBUS.

Supplies used: 
Stamps: Honeybee Stamps and dies - BItty Buzzwords, Penny Black - Fresh Bouquet, Smile 
Paper: MFT Colorful Canvas Pack
Accessories - Zig markers, SU Heart dies

Pop Up Fun with Hello Bluebird

 Hello, it's Tuesday and I've another card to share just for fun! I combined a new-to-me double layer pop up technique and the sweet Balloon Buddies stamps and dies from Hello Bluebird for this special birthday card.  I did easy coloring with Copic markers and used the dies to cut out these cute images. 

Inspired by THIS wonderful tutorial by Jennifer McGuire I followed her directions for making the box pop up elements and assembling the card. No special dies needed. Yaay! I love that part.  

Another plus is that the card stands up on its own. The photo below gives a peek of the side view.  

 

 I added what I thought were silver gems but discovered in different light that they are pearls.  Too late now, lol! These stamps are new to me, so I'm joining the challenge at NBUS once again. Also, playing along at Time Out. 

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you have a wonderful day!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By 198 Winter Beauty

 Hi there, I'm back again with a new card for Inspired By 198 and I'm so glad to see you today! I was stalled on this challenge. Because there are fun and beautiful options and I just couldn't decide! 

 

I went along with  **SNOW* based on the soft blue fluffy flake in the photo but it took a totally different direction. 

My card is a bridge card including snowy DSP and a die cut village. If you've never made one of these before (like me) let me tell you they are so fun! 

I included a second line of homes on a snowy hill behind the main row of images. 

These cards stand up on their own, and also fit into a regular A2 envelope for mailing.

I added a sentiment and a few aqua gems, other supplies are listed below.  

Thanks for your visit, have a great day. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Jennifer has a great video showing how to make a bridge card HERE.  

Stamps: Sentiment Suite Christmas and Basics Dies from The Greetery 

The houses are Stampin' Up! Hometown Greetings Edgelits THESE are used for the first time today, so I will be adding this card to the NBUS challenge. 

A Happy Heart

In my kitchen hangs a sign that says, "Joyfulness is a happy heart."  And Scripture tells us that a happy heart is good medicine.  

Coloring this snowman yesterday was good medicine for me. I think he illustrates a happy heart with his cheery face and arms bursting with gifts, and that makes me smile! 

Here are just a few details. I colored using Copic markers, adding texture with the colorless blender and a white gel pen. Masking the snowman image, I blended Distress Oxide inks and added spatters of white paint. Lastly, the snowflakes were added with a stencil and glitter paste. 

What makes this card even more fun is the pop up interactive feature. The arms and gifts are a second layer assembled on a spring.

Playing along with the snowman fun at The Paper Players!

May your day be filled with Light and Love and a cheerful heart. All good gifts. Your visits are a gift to me, thank you! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Art Impressions Snowman Shaker stamp, The Greetery - Tree Trimmings

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black; Distress Oxide Inks - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Antique Linen

Accessories: Copic makers, The Greetery - Frosty Flakes Stencil