Mojo Monday Sketch #501

I haven't been blogging because my camera is dead.  This picture is off of my phone; please forgive my poor photography.

In my craft room I have a rectangular plastic "basket" that has accumulated unfinished cards, single embellishments, or 12x12 scraps that are the last of a collection.  This basket goes ignored for literally months (and sometimes a few years!)  Last week I saw Julee's most recent sketch:

I decided this was the perfect opportunity to peruse the bits in the basket.  I found the "HB" chipboard letters I had created from American Crafts paper.  In that same basket I found scraps of that same American Crafts collection.  My card came together fairly quickly, but my husband commented,"what is 'HB'?"  I changed out my circles for balloons, hoping 'happy birthday' seemed more obvious for my "HB".

Thank you, Julee, for the inspiration!  It was really rewarding to finally make use of those two chipboard letters :)

paper:  American Crafts "a la mode"

dies:  My Favorite Things & Simon Says Stamp

Happy Monday!

Yankee Doodle Dandy Birthday

This card was created just for my nephew, who was born on July 3rd.  He likes to refer to himself as a "Yankee Doodle Dandy boy."  He also LOVES knights.  I doubt that this card would have come together so quickly if I hadn't just finished purging my craft room and reorganizing my stamp sets; I mixed so many varied supplies.  I think because everything I currently own is fresh in my memory that I was able to get this card to come together in less than an hour.

I used a "You are my" die, but cut the 'a' twice to change the phrase to "You are a".  The distressed stars background is from a Simon Says Stamp card kit (August 2016), but I used distress oxide inks to  make it patriotic.

inks:  Ranger "Fired Brick" and "Faded Jeans"; Hero Arts black dye
card stock:  Simon Says Stamp
dies:  PTI "double-ended banner" and "Phrase Play #1" vol.8 no.2; My Favorite Things "Blueprints 24"
stamps:  My Favorite Things "Good Knight"
Copic markers:  C3, C5, and RO8  

Princess Thank You cards

I am on a "use it up" kick right now...these papers came from a 12x12 pad of princess-themed papers.  I *almost* used up what was left of this collection creating a set of thank you notes (24 in total) for my daughters' princess-themed birthday party.

There are only two 12x12 sheets left of the original 12x12 pad; they are both of pink hearts, so I filed them with my Love/Valentine-themed papers.

My friend made the birthday cakes; Julia wanted a chocolate Cinderella cake and Kathryn wanted a banana Belle cake.  Yes, that is a real rose in the center of the Belle cake!  The cupcakes have pumpkins or magic wands (Cinderella) and the Belle cupcakes have rosebuds.  I found old pictures of the girls in their princess dresses and framed them with frames from the dollar store to add to the party decor.

stamps:  Hero Arts "Thanks a Bunch" (thanks!) and Stamping' Up (princess crown)
dies:  My Favorite Things "Blueprints 24"
ink:  Close to my Heart bubblegum

Orange You Glad It's Christmas challenge

Jingle Belles has an inspiration photo challenge going on right now.  Challenges are so much fun, especially when they take you out of your comfort zone with non-traditional colors or in this case, a color I rarely craft with...ORANGE!  Here is the inspiration photo:

I tried to copy the tree and I also tried to find a background paper similar to the trefoil pillow at the bottom of the photo.

This is not a card I would ever mass-produce; but it was fun to make and it was a great way to use up scraps.  The tree is created from a Martha Stewart branch punch (I punched 68 white branches all from white card stock scraps) and the bows are cut from a My Favorite Things Die-namics Blueprints 26 (from Bazzill scraps).  The trefoil paper is by Echo Park.  The sentiment is a Lawn Fawn stamp from "Toboggan Together".  Lastly, the Fresh Peach ink and pearls are both by Hero Arts.

I like making stuff; especially when it involves using up scraps :)

Vintage-y challenge

I really enjoy old book stores especially for perusing children's books.  The art work from Dick and Jane books or old Little Golden Books (and the like) make my heart happy.  Whenever a vintage card challenge arises I always think I should find damaged books at a yard sale and up-cycle the pretty art onto a card...yet I have never done so.  I do have a little bit of October Afternoon "Under the Tree" ephemera, like the reindeer on this card, which is similar in style to vintage children's books.

I found a 6x6 sheet of music paper from an old card kit.  The music paper is mounted on a 6x6 sheet of snowflake paper by My Mind's Eye "be merry" collection.  The reindeer competed too much with the music paper for my liking, so I found a scrap of vellum to glue the reindeer on, which I anchored with an Echo Park "Christmas Cheer" chipboard element (black pennant w/ snowflake).  Lastly, my sentiment is a rub-on from Creative Imaginations.

This card is for the "Spirit of Christmas Past" challenge at Jingle Belles.  Thank you, Stef & Lauren for helping me create a card that is out of my comfort zone; it wouldn't be a challenge if it didn't stretch our creativity.  And I have one more card ready for Christmas 2018.

Happy creating!

Sing a Song for Christmas challenge

The current Jingle Belles challenge is to create a card incorporating the theme of music.

I have waited until the eleventh hour on this challenge because I wasn't sure what to do, but then I decided to clean up my craft room and as I was putting away a box of Simon Says Stamp goodies I spotted this stamp set:

Sometimes you just need to go shopping in your craft room :)

Supplies:
Dies:  Jingle Snowflakes (Simon Says Stamp);  Stitched Retangle (MFT De-namics Blueprints 24); Small Scalloped rectangle MFT De-namics Blueprints 20)
stamps:  Simon Says Stamp (Fa La La set)
ink:  Indigo Impress die ink
papers:  white card stock, navy linen card stock, and 6x6 Color Burst Splash by Ken Oliver Crafts

Happy Wednesday!

Simon Says Stamp Birthday Card (Set of 6)

Do you make crafty New Year's Resolutions?  My 2018 resolution is to "Use It Up."  Are you ROTFLOL?  I am actually doing quite well so far...even though I probably have enough patterned paper for two lifetimes.  So far I have not purchased any new patterned papers, but that does not apply to Simon Says Stamp card stock nor steel dies; especially steel dies :)

The current Simon Wednesday challenge is "Anything Goes."

My supplies for this card are:

Simon Says Stamp Lake Shores ink, Simon Says Stamp Ring Wreath die, Simon Says Stamp Big Birthday Wishes stamp set, and the following Simon Says Stamp MME puffy stickers:

 (Simon Says Stamp September 2016 card kit)

And yes, I used the entire pack of puffy stickers to create these 6 cards.  I am very happy with these fun birthday cards.

I hope you will join me in this fun challenge.  Happy Sunday!

Inchies Christmas Cards

I created two INCHIES cards for the current challenge at Jingle Belles' "Have Yourself a Merry LITTLE Christmas"; i.e. use inchies, twinchies, or other small shapes on your card.

I stamped in Stampin' Up! Real Red ink using a My Pink Stamper Biggie Christmas sentiment.  The patterned papers came from a discontinued card kit.This challenge was the perfect opportunity to use my My Favorite Things Blueprints 20 dies that I purchased with my Christmas money:

Happy Sunday!

A Coloring We Will Go & Text Me

 I have two cards to share today; both are for Jingle Belles.  The card above includes a Carta Bella tag and decorative paper.  The two stamps used are "Snowman & Riley" and a Hanna Stamps sentiment.  The green base card stock is Bazzill cut from a My Favorite Things Blueprints die.  The ribbon is by Stampin' Up!  I colored with the following copic markers B41, E19, E21, E33, and R59.  I am entering this in the current "A Coloring We Will Go" challenge at Jingle Belles.

Below is the card I created for the "Text Me" challenge (the My Mind's Eye papers have subtle text in them.  I added a red glitter snowflake from the sale aisle at Michael's; the chipboard reindeer is by Carta Bella.  I made this card two weeks ago, knew I had plenty of time to post it, then promptly forgot to post it ;0

Thank you for stopping by!

We Three Kings (multiples of 3) Challenge at Jingle Belles

The current challenge at Jingle Belles is to have three of a kind on your card; three trees, three stockings, etc.  Just like their previous challenge, my card came together in about 30 minutes...I hope this bodes well for the remainder of 2018; I can stare at supplies for hours and not have anything come together.  This was easy-peasy.

I used an MFT Die-namics to cut the three circles and edge from both the holly paper and white foam and adhered them together.  I cut the base layers from coordinating 6x6 papers, and then placed the flair buttons in the circles.  Done.  I think I may be using this die quite often in the future :)

Happy Saturday!

Supplies:
die:  MFT Die-namics "Stitched Triple Peek-a-Boo Window and Edge"
paper:  Pebbles "Home For Christmas" 6x6
adhesive flair buttons:  Echo Park "Christmas Cheer" by Lori Whitlock

Simon Says Stamp Patterned Paper challenge

The current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is "Use Patterned Paper."  They are showcasing Doodlebug products, and you know I love me some Doodlebug!  My die cut hearts are Doodlebug "Sweet Cakes" papers and the glittery chevron is Doodlebug Sugar Coated card stock.

My die is "Heart Parade" by Simon Says Stamp and my sentiment is an SRM sticker.  The black card stock is also by Simon Says Stamp.

These papers and die make my heart happy.  Thank you for stopping by :)

Look What Santa Brought Me Challenge at Jingle Belles and SSS

The My Favorite Things Die-namics "Winter Wreath" has been on my wish list for months, but it never came back in stock at MFTstamps.com...fortunately Santa found it at amazon.com.  I die cut it four times from Ponderosa Pine linen card stock (XPEDX).  It cuts beautifully even without the precision plate! 

My card practically designed itself; I knew I wanted to use my new wreath die for this first Jingle Belles challenge of 2018 and for the "Something New" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp, and I created this card from start to finish in about 30 minutes.

The sentiment is a die by Avery Elle and I cut it and the MFT Winter Wreath bow from gold glitter sticker paper.  My "berries" are adhesive sequins by Jillibean Soup.  I cut my two base layers using MFT Die-namics Blueprints 20; the base layer is red linen (XPEDX) and I embossed the white card stock layer with Tim Holtz "Bricked."

Happy 2018!