Christmas Card Challenges #19

I have a quick post today, mainly because I forgot to write it last night.  We have a new challenge at Christmas Card Challenges and it's a Photo Challenge.  I hope you play along ... you know you're going to need Holiday cards sooner than you think.  Why not get started now?

I took the photo literal and turned the front of my card into a "present."  Very easy and so fun to do.  I popped up the "package" with foam.

Stop by the Christmas Card Challenges blog to see what the other Designers created this week.  Then, get crafty and get your Holiday cards started.

Crafty Creations #295 ~ Chalkboard

I'm the hostess this week at Crafty Creations Challenges.  By the time I had written that challenge post I completely forgot to write my own. Duh!  So, I'm sorry this is a bit late today. 

The Challenge Theme for the next two weeks is: Chalkboard  I've been wanting to try this technique; although I think I did mine a bit unconventional.

We're sponsored by Oak Pond and I used one of their digital images called Wine.

I reversed the digital image and then changed the background to a dark grey~have I mentioned before how I love working with digital images? LOL  I created the sentiment also.  It's a png file with white lettering ~ I've included the black image below as a freebie.  In hindsight, I think I should have softened the "white" sentiment a bit; but it was my first try at "printer" chalkboard (vs. "stamping" chalkboard).

It may be hard to see in the photo, but I used a white watercolor pencil to shade the grapes (and darken a few of the lines) and green to color in the vines. A CAS card, but certainly not as quick as I had hoped.

I hope you hop on over to the Crafty Creations Challenges blog and check out what the other DT members created.  I hope you join along because I'd love to see what you create.

Feel free to save and use the sentiment below. I'd love you to link back to my blog if you use it.  It's a png file with clear background, so it can be layered over other digi's. I hope you enjoy!

Christmas Card Challenges

Christmas Card Challenges has a Color Challenge Theme for you this week; although the only real rule to play along with us is to create a Christmas Card.

I've got another CAS Christmas Card this week for my "stash" since I think they'll be easier to mail than big bulky cards. 

I hope you'll join along.  Stop by the blog (click here) and see what the other DT members created . . . we're almost halfway through the year !

And here's the color theme for this week's Challenge.  I chose the ivory, gold and berry colors (first 3 on the chart).  The sentiment and the stars are die-cuts. The star "hanger" is gold pen.

Christmas Card Challenges # 21 ~ Anything Goes

Quick post today . . . and yes, I'm late posting my card. But great excuses. Yesterday was our Community's first ever Mystery Dinner Theatre (cooked by one club, served by another club and the play was by a third club). Lots of fun but a very busy day for me ~ I was involved ~ and a late night.

And, since this weekend is the Leesburg BikeFest and we live close by, we left early with another couple for breakfast out and a day at BikeFest.  Lots of fun, lots of bikes, but a bit warm for me (close to 90 degrees) walking around.  However, the bike ride there and back was great ! 

So, here's my card for this week's Christmas Card Challenge~Anything Goes. I'm really trying to learn this CAS cardmaking technique from our Team Leader, Alanna. She does it SO well.

I heat embossed the sentiment with silver embossing powder. It looks great in person and looks so nice with my silver, textured snowflake~I only glued it in the center so the "arms" would have dimension.  I used a black cardstock base to set off the burgundy-rust and silver colors.

Please stop by the Christmas Card Challenges site to see what the others created this week. Better yet, get out your crafting supplies and join along.

Crafty Creations #286

Happy April 1st. This will be my first post of the day, although it actually is the second one I've written. The other post will appear at noon Eastern Time.

The theme for Challenge #286 at Crafty Creations is:

Anything Goes

(no foolin')

We're sponsored by Sans Designs and I used one of her images, but digitally colored it. I love this background.  I'm glad I saved the colored version; I think it'll be one that will get used more than once.

Be sure to stop by the Crafty Creations Challenges blog to see what the other DT members created.  We sure hope you link up (the challenge ends Monday, April 13 at midnight).  It's an easy one ~ Anything Goes ~ so we hope to see many of you playing along with us.

Christmas Card Challenges # 15

I'm a bit behind today. I got called into work at 6:30 a.m., just got home and realized I forgot to do my post today for this week's challenge.  So, short post, but I hope you'll want to join along when you see what the DT created (click here).

Christmas Card Challenges #15

Theme: Inspiration Challenge

Blue & Silver Ornaments

I actually picked up on the stars in the photo (see below) ~ which is why you don't see any ornaments on my card . . . we all dance to the beat of a different drummer LOL

I hope you join along. I love to see what my crafting friends create !

Crafty Creations #283

Crafty Creations' Challenge through March 2 is:

White plus One

The lavender cardstock is very "shimmery."  I love how CAS (for me anyway) this came out.  The dress die cut is from Whimsy Stamps. 

I cut the dress from the lavender and white glossy photo cardstock.  I then placed a piece of lilac vellum behind the lavender piece and inlaid the white dress. The pearls were a necessity because that's where the alignment holes were and I needed to cover them with something. Pearls worked.

I hope you'll stop over and see what the other DT members created (click here). We hope you join along because we really do love to see everyone's creations.

I'm entering this card in the following:

  >  Die-Cut Divas: Words, Quotes & Sentiments
  > Papertake Weekly: Take Your Pick (I chose "Color Theme" using a Cool shade of Violet)
  > Crafting for All Seasons:  Dies and/or Punches (I used Dies)
  > Whimsy Stamps Inspiration Challenges: Use a Sentiment

Christmas Card Challenges #6

The challenge this week at Christmas Card Challenges is to CASE (copy and share everything) another DT member's card. 

I CASE'd our Team Coordinator's card from August 17th. Ever since Alanna posted her card, I've been wanting to do one very similar.  I just loved the clean and simple design to her card.

Now, I don't have the fancy embossing folder that she used, so I had to get a bit creative. But, overall, there's a bit of similarity to the two cards.

To get the "blank" areas on my card, I used several shims so certain areas would emboss and other areas wouldn't. Then I used a circle and rectangle die to create the embossed lines. Next I used the ornament die to emboss the image of the ornament onto the cardstock. I forgot to take pictures along the way, but I was able to snap one picture of the process.



A lot of steps . . . it might have been easier to just find and buy the embossing folder she used, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.



I really liked the Merry Christmas Die and Stamp set she used, so I bought it several months ago. That made it a bit easier to CASE her card, even though I changed the greeting.  I stamped "Christmas" and die cut "Merry" to switch it up a bit.

Whose card will you CASE?  Check out what the Design Team created this week (click here).  Hopefully we'll inspire you to "Copy and Share" one of our cards.

Here's what I used to create my card:

White Cardstock

Darice Wire Fence Embossing Folder

Memory Box Ornament Die

Die-namics Circle and Rectangle Dies

Simon Says Christmas Die & Stamp Set

Stampin' Up! Cherry Cobbler Ink and Cardstock

Thinking of You

First, I'd like to send out a big hello to Frances, Theresa and Christine . . . my newest blog followers.  Welcome !

Now onto today's info . . . do you like a sale?  How about a 40% off sale?  Well,  . . .

It's Doodle Pantry's BIG END of the year 2014 SALE!!!

Since the last week of the year is always so busy, Doodle Pantry decided to have an end of the year sale a little bit earlier . . . from now

Until DECEMBER 19 ONLY!!!

40% OFF YOUR Entire CART (EXCLUDing GIFT CERTIFICATES)*

*Minimum $2.50 must be in your cart before coupon can apply.

COUPON CODE:   END2014SALE

Now would be a great time to stock up on all those Doodle Pantry digital images and sentiments and papers you've been drooling over ~ especially if you're a follower living in the European Union since Doodle Pantry will no longer be able to sell digital items to you after Jan 1, 2015 due to the new EU VAT laws. 

The Snow Crocus is a new set just released this month. It works for so many different occasions.

I used the pre-colored image in lilac (you have several to choose from in this set). It's gorgeous !  I paired it with shimmer lime green and shimmer lilac cardstock.  I used the Darice "Crackle" Embossing Folder and added a bit of white satin ribbon.  I cheated and didn't even do a bit of coloring on this digi; I loved the way it came out and didn't want to mess with it.

The sentiment is also from the Snow Crocus set.  I guess I'm tired of making Christmas cards and decided that a nice 'Thinking of You' card was in order.

This is just one of the many sets you could chose from (did I mention there was a sale?  Oh how I love sales LOL). Click here for more information on this terrific sale and to begin shopping. 

And if you buy ANY Doodle Pantry item, you'll get Milk & Cookies for FREE . . . a sale AND a freebie ~ now you're talking my language {smile}

Christmas Card Challenges #2: CAS Design

Before I begin, I just want to say that this is my 100th post for 2014. I'm not sure I'll surpass what I did last year, but then this year hubby was in the hospital twice and we moved  . . . so life got a little in the way of me crafting like I would have liked. While this may not be exciting to many of you, I'm just thrilled that I've kept with it and I'm still enjoying sharing my creativity with you. Thank you for all your comments and encouragement during the past 2 years.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Another Sunday means another challenge at Christmas Card Challenges.  The theme this week is:

CAS Design

I took it literally. So I used digital images and sentiments and made a very clean and simple card...although I spruced it up a bit by adding a few layers.

I used My Digital Studio (available through Stampin' Up!) to create the single layer which was placed on a burgundy mat.

It's printed in a very pretty light burgundy, although it really looks washed out in my photos. One day I'll learn how to take better pictures . . . although I probably need a better camera first.

The inside is a stamped sentiment from Stampin' Up! and I used the same graphic I had created, only a tad bit smaller.

I hope you'll join along this week. We'd love to see your creations. If you need a bit of inspiration, check out what the DT made this week at Christmas Card Challenges.

Crafty Creations: Something to "Die" For

We have a new challenge at 

Crafty Creations ~ Something to "Die" For.  

No, we're not being morbid . . . we want to see your beautiful creations using Dies !  

We're sponsored by Robyn's Fetish.  I had a beautiful snowman digi image from Robyn's Fetish that I was in the process of coloring . . . and then coffee decided it wanted to play along and help color the digi.  I know "drinks and crafting don't mix" but I needed my coffee and I had to craft. 

 Needless to say, I ran out of time to print and color another one, so I'm sharing a "back-up" card. I used several dies and this card was somewhat quick and easy to put together ~ I'd already glittered the sentiment die-cut piece.

Note:  I'll try to do another card with the snowman before this challenge is over.  Robyn's Fetish has beautiful images; check it out here.

The large snowflake is a Whimsy Stamps die and the smaller snowflakes are from a Martha Stewart punch. The die I used for the sentiment is from Stampin' Up! and the sentiment is ??? . . . well, it's wood mount but there's no name on the stamp/wood. I've had it for years and still love it.

Stop by the Crafty Creations blog to see what the other DT members created for your inspiration. Then dig through your Dies, find one you haven't used in awhile and create !

Christmas Card Challenges #1: Color Challenge

It's the beginning of another year at Christmas Card Challenges. Yes, our Christmas cards for this year should be completed by now and we're going to begin working on our cards for 2015. {smile}

The challenge this week is a Color Challenge using Christmas Tones. 

I had so much fun creating this card, that I might just do a few extra to send out this year.  I squiggled a bit of lime green glitter glue onto watercolor cardstock in the shape of a tree. I punched a star out of silver glittered cardstock and added that to the top of the tree design. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!

Very simple, very quick ~ except for the drying time ~ and it can be mailed without extra postage, which is a plus.  Here are the colors for this week's challenge . . . I love the greys and greens together.

Just think ~ if you get started now on your 2015 Christmas cards, you won't be in the same situation next year that you're in this year . . . scrambling to get your cards completed . . . so you can get them in the mail . . . in time for Christmas. {smile}  Or, is that just me that's scrambling?

Please be sure to stop by the Christmas Card Challenges blog to see what the other Design Team members created this week for your inspiration.  Or better yet, check out each DT member's blog. I've listed the direct link to their blog below. We have several new members and I do believe this week is by far one of the best ever . . . you'll love all the wonderful ideas.  Then grab your crafting supplies and begin crafting !

Alanna

Carol ~ new member

Donna

Gail ~ new member

Jessica ~ new member

JoAnn

Lisa

Margo

Marsha

Monica

Shirley Anne ~ new member

Tenia ~ new member

I'm linking this to Bugaboo's Second Annual Holiday Chaos Challenge. This card is for Saturday's Challenge: Sparkle & Shine

Christmas Card Challenges #33: Color Challenge

Welcome to another Sunday. This week we have a Color Challenge at 

Christmas Card Challenges.

I had fun creating this card and it didn't take long . . . love that part.  In case you want to join along, here's the steps:

1)  I punched the ornament shape (Stampin' Up! punch) out of cardstock.

2)  I used the negative piece to use as a stencil and sponged (just dabbed with a sponge) the red (Memento Lady Bug Ink). I tried to get some areas darker than others and left a bit of white showing for the "shine."

3)  Used a silver glitter pen to draw the hanging "silver thread."

4)  Tied a bow out of heavy silver thread and attached with glue.

5)  Cut a red and silver mat to go behind the white.

6)  Punched a white and silver evergreen branch border (Martha Stewart punch). I offset the silver piece just slightly over the white. I think it looks better in person than in the photo.

That's it . . . no dimensionals, nothing raised (other than the bow, which you could probably draw as well). So this should be an easy card to mail at regular prices.

I didn't put a sentiment on the front. Still not sure if I will, but I like it better inside. However, that part isn't done yet, so you only get to see the front. You're on your own for the inside {smile}.

Here's the Color Challenge Palette.   Great colors to work with, so I hope you join our challenge, or at least get inspired to make a couple Christmas cards.  

Only 20 more weeks until the end of November and those cards should be in the mail. You better get busy.

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

> Speedy Fox and Friends (Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company) Challenge #220-Red

> Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #185: Glam It Up (silver, glitter pen, silver bow)

Crafty Creations: CAS

I struggle with Clean and Simple (CAS) cards ~ although the more I have to do them, the more I like the way they look and enjoy the style (they just don't allow me to use up my scraps/stash).

 

So when I found out the theme for our upcoming challenge at

Crafty Creations was to be CAS . . .

I panicked. Until I decided to use a Stamp and Die Set from Stampin' Up! called Secret Garden. I really love this set and I used the larger flower for my die cut and stamp.

 

 

I embossed the stamp on white cardstock with clear embossing powder. Then I brushed over the area with purple shimmer acrylic paint. My original idea was to have a "wash" effect and just use a single layer. However, after "washing" the cardstock with the purple shimmer paint, I didn't like the way it looked, so I improvised because I really liked the look of the flower, just not as a single layer. 

 

 

 Using another piece of cardstock, I die cut the flower shape. Then I trimmed around the painted flower, leaving a good margin so  you wouldn't see any edges behind the die cut. I did another identical flower image and cut out the center part to add dimension to the flower. I used dimensionals on the die cut piece, raising it above the painted flower; and . . . Wallah!!! Still a CAS card, but with a bit of pizazz.

 

 

Be sure to stop by Crafty Creations to see the other CAS cards created by the other DT members.

 

 

Quick and Easy

Another Sunday . . . which means it's time for another Challenge at Christmas Card Challenges.  This week's theme is: Make Words the Focal Point.

 

Initially I had a hard time thinking of what to do for my DT card. Then I found this great free digistamp from A Piece of Heart (click here for the sentiment; click here to see all their freebies and designs) and my card was born.

 

I changed the color of the sentiment from black to green and printed it on Kraft cardstock. The striped DP is from The Paper Studio~Classic Christmas Cardstock Pack.  The ornament border is something I picked up eons ago ~ SW Glad Tidings Icon Adhesive Borders by K&Company.  I added dimension to the center only . . . mainly because it was just a tad too long and I could get it to fit better if I puffed up the middle.  And, to be honest, I didn't realize it was self-adhesive until I wrote this blog and looked for the name on the package (duh!).

 

Check out what the other Christmas Card Challenges DT members have created for you this week (click here). Hopefully we'll inspire you to make a few Christmas cards ~ for this year or next.

I'm entering the following Challenge with this card:
 ~ Clear It Out Challenges - Theme & Stash: ATG

For the Dogs

The actual Catered Crop challenge theme is "Animal House Recipe Swap Quickfire" but since I chose a dog as my "animal" ~ I decided to title this post "For the Dogs."

 

A neighbor (and good friend) recently adopted the cutest little schnauzer rescue dog. So, of course, our little dog had to send a card to welcome her to the neighborhood.  If you're not a dog/cat/animal person you might not understand this crazy way of thinking.

 

 

The window digi stamp is from Doodle Pantry ~ Window Box Wishes. And since you receive jpeg and png files from Doodle Pantry, I used the png file so I could add the dog digi stamp, Stamp Fairy's ~ Charlie Happy Life.   I wanted it to appear as if the dog was looking out the window . . . from one house to the other. The window is a pre-colored digi, but I enhanced the window frame and curtains and colored the dog with Copics.   The brick embossing folder is from The Paper Studio ~ A2 Bricks.

 

The sentiment is computer-generated.  I sponged the brick and inside papers using Memento Toffee Crunch and added a bit of Memento Dandelion to the inside papers as well.

 

Let's Get Krafty

   Let's Get Krafty . . . that's the theme this week at Crafty Creations Challenges. So, show us your craft projects using kraft colored card, ribbon, felt, etc. Our Sponsor this week is Bunny Zoe Crafts.

 

I decided to keep my card simple (although it definitely was not easy like I thought it would be).

 

The card base and top layer are Kraft cardstock. I added yellow for a little color. And, the best part about making this card ? !  I used two new items I just got in the mail: a stamp and a die.

 

The pattern on the front of the card is a stamp by JustRite Stampers called "Stitched Ribbon Background." I inked it up using VersaMark Watermark Ink, added clear embossing powder and heat embossed it.  I see SO many possibilities with this stamp.

 

The other new item is the flower. It's the Die-namics Hibiscus die I got from mftstamps. I'm not sure the picture does it justice; it's real cute in person (it has vein lines on the flower petals).

 

 

The sentiment stamps are from Stampin' Up-Thoughts & Prayers. The flower stamp is also by Stampin' Up!-Secret Garden and I colored it with Copics and Sharpies.

 

 

Be sure to check out what my fellow Crafty Creations teamies have designed for you this week as they Get Krafty. Click here to check them all out.

 

Note:  If you receive my blog posts via email, I finally have the "Email the Author" option at the bottom of the email working. So, if you don't want to leave a comment on my actual blog web page, then you can click the "Email the Author" option and I will finally get your email. I love hearing from you and you can let me know if there is anything special you'd like me to feature in the future..

 

I'm entering the above card in the following challenges:

  >  Catered Crop: Sentiment-al Recipe Swap Quickfire

  >  Shopping Our Stash: Favorite Stampy Technique (mine is heat embossing my stamps)

  >  Tuesday Throwdown: Anything Goes

  >  Nutcrafters: CAS

 

Keep Crafting,