Christmas Card Challenges #42

We have a very easy Challenge this week at Christmas Card Challenges, so I hope you join along.  It's "Anything Goes."   Yes, our challenges do have that "feature" every week, but this week, there's no inspiration photo or color challenge, so you're on your own.  Show us your beautiful creations.

This card was so fun to make that I made several to add to my stash.  I popped up the front panel using foam tape and also popped up the ornament.

Stop by the Christmas Card Challenges site to see what the other Designers created this week for your inspiration.

We also have a Design Team Call going on right now.  The term runs for 6 months (December through May).  What a great way to get a head start on your Christmas/holiday cards for 2017.  Click here for more information.  The deadline to apply is Friday, October 7. 

Christmas Card Challenges #24

We're starting a new "term" at Christmas Card Challenges soon (June), but we have a few new Designers working with us right now.  So, hop on over to the Challenge blog (click here) to see all the inspirational items this week.

Then, get your crafty supplies out and start working on your Christmas cards, tags or gifts.  We'd love to have you join us and since this week is "Anything Goes," it's the perfect time to show off your beautiful creations.

Lots of distressing, but a very simple design.

And I kept the inside simple also.

I liked the design, so I created a 2nd card using punched ornaments.  Yes, they're "floating" in space, but adding hanging threads just didn't look right on this card...although I think I like the poinsettia card better.

I can't wait to see what you create. 

Card Front Sentiment: Word Art Digital Stamp

Card Inside Sentiment: Stampin' Up!

Ornament Stamp: Dollar Bin Stamp

Poinsettia Die: Darice

Ornament Punch: Stampin' Up!

Distress Ink: Tim Holz Vintage Photo

Adding this card to:

Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes

Christmas Card Challenge #18

Thank you for stopping by today. We have an easy challenge this week at Christmas Card Challenges:

Anything Goes

It may seem a bit odd, since our challenges every week do have an "Anything Goes" option, but this week there's no Photo or Color Challenge to inspire you. . . so you're on your own.  I can't wait to see what you create.

I have a mini tutorial for you this week; so grab a cuppa and let's get crafty.

I decided to use my "Quilt" Embossing Folder for my card. Since my 1-1/4" punch was just a tad shy of the "squares" on the EF, I had to adjust the layout; which meant the squares on the outer edges would need to be cut so they fit an A2 card and there'd be a slight gap between the squares.

All lined up and ready to be embossed.

This is the back side.  You can see the quilt pattern a bit better on solid cardstock...and you can see where the DSP needs to be trimmed.

All trimmed and ready for the outer band of green (every quilt has an outer edge, right?).  I could have just placed the squares on top of the green, but I felt the additional "frame" looked better...at least it does in person.  I so have a lloonngg way to go in photographing my cards. :-(

I added a bit of Wink of Stella to the stars, because after all...stars twinkle LOL

I decorated the inside and completed the sentiment.

Stop by the Christmas Card Challenges blog and see what the other Designers created this week. Then, get busy and link up your Christmas card. I can't wait to see your creation.

Christmas Card Challenges #38

I'd like to welcome Pamela Harris and Teri Mosby to my blog. They are recent Bloglovin' subscribers.

The weeks are ticking by and before you know it, your Christmas cards will have to be mailed.  Do you have all of yours done yet?  If not, grab your cardmaking supplies and join the Christmas Card Challenges crew to get at least one more card completed.  After all, this week theme is:

Anything Goes

Due to personal reasons I wasn't able to make a card this week so a friend, Patti Widerman, stepped in for me to create my DT sample card.  I'm blessed to have so many talented friends that will help me out in a pinch ~ and since none of them have their own blog, I'm able to showcase their beautiful work here.

 The card decoration is made from 6 double sided hexagon pieces (Stampin' Up! punch).  How cute is this!

The front is embossed with a snowflake EF and the snowflakes were accented with white gel pen, mini flowers and pearls.

Are you wondering about the "trees" in the background?  These are handmade from cardstock cones that are wrapped with yarn. Since I didn't have any thick yarn, I took 3-4 strands of regular yarn, twisted the strands together and glued it to the cardstock cone.  So fun to make.  If you make your own cones, you can make them any size and they cost next to nothing to make. 

Note: Since the yarn is placed tight to the previous row, you don't see the cardstock pattern/color from the front ... only if you look inside the cone.  So, it's a great way to use up your strange cardstock patterns or colors that you know you'll never use.

Stop by Christmas Card Challenges to see what the other Design Team members created. Then, grab your cardmaking supplies and join along. I love to see what you create.

Bingo Tic-Tac-Toe

I have a project to share with you today that's been in the works for several weeks now.  Not that it's taken me that long to finish it, but life just got in the way and I had to set it aside for a couple weeks.

Most of my cards / paper projects tend to lean toward the "girly" side. So I thought I would change it up and make something for a "boy."  Really now, what boy doesn't love cars, right?  This project was a blast to make.  I didn't take pictures along the way, but I'll try my best to explain how I created this project.

Since Doodle Pantry has LOTS of car images~ I mean LOTS of car images... I couldn't pick just one ... I decided to create a project that used just about ALL of them. Hence, I came up with,

Bingo Tic-Tac-Toe

The object of the game is to cover 3 cars in a row (just like "Tic-Tac-Toe").  However, since each card has a few different cars on them and the same cars are in different locations, it makes it more like "Bingo" but with no "Free Space."

 To make my life easier, I used all pre-colored digis.  I love that you get B&W line art AND color images with each Doodle Pantry set.  It saves a lot of time on a project this big.

Each Card has 9 car images ~ there were 13 to chose from (I only used 1 "Bug" car image) ~ so I mixed up the images on all 4 cards.  Yes, you only see one Card here, the other 3 are just about completed, but I wanted to get this post done.

I used Photo Editing software to create the grid on the digital paper from the Classic Bug & Gas Can set. The grid piece is 4-3/4" square.  The cars were punched with a 1-1/2" square punch. I rounded the corners and sponged the edges to set it off from the background paper. This piece is matted onto Navy cardstock. I'm debating about laminating the Cards, but haven't decided yet.

The "Call" tags (I'm not sure what to call them) have a car image on one side and "What a gas!" sentiment, surrounded by a dotted circle, on the other.  I used a 1-1/2" circle punch for the car image, then sponged the edges. Using my light table, I glued the punched car to the back of the sentiments I had printed on an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of white cardstock.  Then the entire sheet was laminated.  I used a 1-3/4" circle punch to punch out the "Call" tags. Note: Because the car image is a smaller circle, the lamination won't separate.

To play the game, the car image is placed face down and the tags are selected one at a time.  If it matches a car on your card, you cover that image with a:

Marker Tag ~ aka Petroleum Can

I printed a sheet of gas cans, laminated the sheet and used a 1-3/8" circle to punch these out.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this project as much as I enjoyed creating it.

I'm entering the above project in Beccy's Place Monthly Challenge ATG
and Simply Papercraft ATG Challenge #11

The Doodle Pantry sets I used:

Children's Cards

I was inspired today by three Challenges.  

First inspiration came from Send a Smile 4 Kids and their CAS challenge (all cards must be for children).  I created 4 cards so I can add them to my box of cards  for this group that does so much to brighten a child's day.

 The other inspiration came from two "Anything Goes" Challenges:

QKR Stampede

Word Art Wednesday

I even remembered to take pictures along the way to show you my process in creating these cards.  So, sit back and enjoy.

Since one is a CAS challenge, I thought I'd keep it simple by embossing the cardstock image using this plastic shim:

But, the oval in the shim didn't match the Spellbinder's oval dies I had.  I know I could have made my own "shim," but at the time, that seemed like work.  So I improvised.  I printed the pre-colored image (Doodle pantry Poodles of Fun) 4 up on a page.  Then I cut an oval out of the 4" x 5-1/4" cardstock using the oval die. 

Next, I embossed just the outer piece.

I glued the embossed piece to a white card. Then glued the oval image back where it belonged.

Next, I used the next smaller and next larger ovals (I have both oval sets) to create the "frame."

Using the 3 different sizes of oval dies places the "frame" right over the center cut line...so you don't have to worry about seeing an embossed or cut edge. 

The sentiment is a personal creation and I've included it for download at the end of this post.   

These images are just too doggone cute. What child wouldn't love to have a Poodle card? 

Click on the image below, then right click to save the white background, png file.

Products used:

Doodle Pantry Poodles of Fun Digital Set

~Petite Ovals Large and Small Spellbinders Dies

~Stampin' Up! Large Oval and Scalloped Oval Punches

~Embossing Folders~Wired Fence and Dots

~Memento Lilac Posies Ink

~Stampin' Up! Calypso Coral Ink

Doodle Pantry New Releases

Doodle Pantry is releasing several new sets this month. Great time to stop by the store to see what's new and what's on sale.  One new set is Cute Crawlies.

How cute is this frog image?

I printed 2 vines with about 1-1/4" gap between them. I also printed 3 frogs and the sentiment.  Now, the easiest way to make this card would have been to punch out a small orange circle, then use a smaller circle to punch out the frog.  But nnnoooo . . . I went and punched a hole out of the white piece with the vines. Then I punched a smaller hole out of orange cardstock and placed that behind the white-vine-piece to create the mat. I punched the frogs out using a larger circle and placed them behind the orange mat.

It looks great in person, but unfortunately on the computer it looks like the orange mat and frog are on top of the white-vine-piece . . . does all of this make any sense?

I tried to carry a bit of the sketch to the inside also, along with another frog. BTW, the DSP and the sentiment are also from the  Cute Crawlies set.

Be sure to stop by the Doodle Pantry store to see all the new releases.  Then, stop by the Doodle Pantry Blog to see other new product creations by the Design Team and link up your creations to the new Ants in My Pantry Digital Challenge beginning at noon EST. 

It's Cupcake Time

Have you ever needed double-sided cardstock for a project, but couldn't find the right pattern or color for your project?

That's what's SO great about Doodle Pantry digital sets. Not only do you receive beautiful images (color and B&W) and sentiments, but you also get several coordinating papers ~ both patterns and solids.

I wanted to make a cupcake holder that I saw . . . somewhere~on some blog or on YouTube. But I didn't have the "right" double-sided cardstock.  Enter the Yummy Cupcake Digital Set by Doodle Pantry.

I created my double sided cardstock by printing a full page of one digital paper pattern, flipping the cardstock over and printing a coordinating digital paper on the other side.  There are lots of possibilities with this set.

After die-cutting the pieces (sorry, the die cut is no longer available), I ran the solid brown through an embossing folder to create the "lines" in a cupcake wrapper.  Then glued the DSP "top" to the "bottom," added a bit of ruffled ribbon and pearls and placed a ribbon through punched holes in the top to hold it all together.

I printed 2 pre-colored cupcake images; cut one out completely and cut just the "frosting" out of the second to pop it up.  The sentiment is from the set also (punched with a tag punch), matted in brown and placed on the DSP that I used on the inside of the cupcake holder (the reverse side of the tag has the little sprinkles).

There are so many possibilities using digital images. Hop on over to the Doodle Pantry store for your next digital set or check out the Doodle Pantry blog to see wonderful inspirations from the DT.

I'm entering the following challenges:

• Whimsy Inspiration -#81 Use A Die Cut (ends 4/13)
• Wonderful Wednesdays - (Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps) -  Always Anything Goes
• Digi Sketch Challenge - Sketch* and/or Anything Goes (I chose "Anything Goes") - WINNER
• Get Creative Challenges #11 - Die Cut (ends 4/5)