Christmas in July (again)

 I'm still trying to use snippets to reduce the clutter in my craft room but I swear the gremlins sneak in at night while I'm asleep and deposit more into my collection! I can't come up with any other logical explanation?! 😊

For this card, I used a couple strips of SU! (r) striped dsp along with some pre-cut Poppystamps Shasta twig dies I had stashed away that were used to create branches. I used a retired SU! ornament punch with a snippet of red and white polka dot paper and tied it onto the branch/card with some very old retired SU! gold cord. The sentiment is a pre-print from SSS and I added some droplets of gold Stickles to the branches and called this one done.

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

The Snippets Playground #432 -  Christmas in July (must use snippets)

Christmas Craft Creations July Theme - must use patterned paper

Jingle Belles Christmas Challenge - Stars or Stripes Forever

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #19 - A/G

Dies R Us Challenge #196 - A/G using dies from their store (Shasta Twigs)

I'm sliding in on the seat of my pants for a couple of these challenges just before they close, but I think I made it! (whew)

Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a super summer day!

Carol

For Dad

Happy Father's day to all the dads out there, and also to our dads up in heaven along with so many others.

I made several cards like this to send to friends of ours, using MFT stitched strip dies and some snippets of dsp. I used a punch to make the silver star, and used SU! mini punches to make the smaller ones, and then used negatives from a SSS star border die for the tiny stars. The sentiment is an old wooden stamp I've had for years and there is no name on it, so I don't know who made it. The blue cardstock is from SSS.

Sharing this with the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - add a sentiment

Dies R Us challenge #195 - Dad's Day/Make it Masculine

Have a wonderful day and to all the dads and grandfathers out there - enjoy your special day set aside to honor you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Spring Birthday Card

 I'm trying to use my older purchased items instead of buying new. Today's card makes use of older dies, snippets of cardstock and designer paper and an embossing folder.

I started with the Joanna Sheen Daffodil die I've had for quite a few years. I cut it from snippets of green, yellow and orange, fussy cutting portions and interchanging them to look like the color of daffodils. The tag was cut with a Lawn Fawn die, and I added a heat-embossed gold circle to the top, adding a little twine bow. I stenciled the tag with a Data Dots stencil and some Pumice Stone distress ink before placing the flowers on top. The green strip of designer paper is by SU! and the yellow panel is from a paper pad by Teresa Collins (very old). I embossed the card base with a Cuttlebug pinking stitch EF and added a pre-printed sentiment from SSS, backing it with a snippet of black card. I'm pleased with how this turned out and it will be going in the mail in a week or so.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

The Flower Challenge #66 - use scraps

Dies R Us Challenge #189 -A/G using dies sold in their store 

(Lawn Fawn)

Seize the Birthday #234 - Green & White or A/G

the Allsorts Challenge Blog week #668 - Feminine

The Little Red Wagon #636 - Emboss everything

Happy Little Stampers March Stencil Challenge -A/G

That's going to do it for me today, but thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you're in the midst of having a great week!

Carol

Golf Anyone?

 I have a card today made with a person in mind who enjoys golf. He's also one who enjoys carpentry work, so I used a stitched die-cut frame along with a snippet of woodgrain designer paper. I added the green panel in the center to represent the golf course. The Tutti golf bag die was cut from white and vanilla; coloring the white with copics and adding the vanilla behind it. The club covers were cut from snippets of card and carefully glued on top of the clubs. The sentiment panel was die-cut with a Sweet 'n Sassy ticket die and stamped with a Sweet 'n Sassy sentiment. I added 3 star brads in gold, silver, and pewter on the side to give it a masculine touch. I put this on a soft stone card base and called it done.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

The Snippets Playground #423 - use snippets

(golf club covers, sentiment panel, woodgrain frame, green panel)

Shopping our Stash #465 - Full Metal Jacket - use something metal or metallic (star brads)

NBUS #36- Never Before Used Schtuff - the golf bag die

Dies R Us challenge #188 - A/G using dies sold in their store

(the Tutti Designs Golf bag)

The Retro Rubber Tic Tac Toe Challenge #177 must use stamps older than 1 year ( Sweet 'n Sassy sentiment - at least 10 years old)

I used the vertical line on the left :

(metallics, pattern paper, birthday)

The past 2 days we've had weather hitting 70 degrees, and tomorrow morning they're calling for a dusting to an inch of snow. Crazy! 

I'm looking forward to the switch to daylight savings time next weekend regardless of the temperatures!

Thanks for stopping by and do have yourself a wonderful week ahead!

Carol

Alfie

Here's a valentine I made with a favorite stamp from my collection. This is Alfie, a stamp from Unity that I've treasured for years! I stamped the image with light grey ink, then colored him with Copics, adding a few darkened highlights with a marker pen. I used a MFT stitched circle die along with a Spellbinders scalloped circle die in darker blue to place Alfie on. I used some T.E. cloud stencils to create the sky along with Tumbled Glass distress ink; then added the Inky Antics (1999) sentiment. I finished the card with a few tiny glittered heart stickers I've had for ages!

This might be my favorite Valentine I've made this year so far.

I'll share this with the following challenges:

Critter Crazy Challenge Blog #59 = A/G featuring a critter

A Place to Start challenge #202202 February 2022 - A/G

(Optional - My Fauna Valentine (include a critter)

the Happy Little Stampers February Stencil Challenge - A/G

Dies R Us Challenge #186 - Valentines/Love 

(Must use dies sold in their store) - Spellbinders

The Paper Players PP577 theme challenge -

Love & Friendship

That's going to be it for me for today, but I hope your week is off to a good start, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

Autumn Thank You

I have an Autumn-themed card today made with some SSS Orange Peel and Lemon Chiffon cardstock. Sorry the yellow looks more like vanilla, but it's a beautiful pastel yellow color. I used a Poppystamps Tulisa collage to cut the panel on the front, adding a piece of orange behind it. The matching orange border was made with an EK punch, inserting gold-embossed negatives, and adding a narrow piece of brown ribbon. The sentiment is from SU! (r) gold-embossed on a piece of chocolate cardstock and I added orange, gold and yellow gemstones to finish this one with a little sparkle.

 I took a photo from a different angle, but the yellow still looks like vanilla😏

I'll enter this into these challenges:

The Color Hues Challenge #25 - Yellow and Orange

(they're celebrating their one-year anniversary)

Dies R Us Challenge #176 - A/G using dies sold in their store

(the Poppystamps Tulisa Collage)

the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - make it sparkle & shine

the Four Seasons Challenge - anything goes FALL

That's it for me, but thanks for stopping by and make it a great day!

Carol

Two Grumpy Dogs

I guess these cards reflect my state of mind lately with all that's going on in the world 😏 I felt the sarcasm building with each card I made for the final Twofer Challenge #41. I'm sad to see it go, but grateful for having it around for so long to inspire me to use my stash to create cards! Best wishes to Darnell and everyone else who's worked tirelessly to make this challenge so successful for so long! I'll miss you!

First up is Grumpy dog card #1 - from the Tim Holtz collection of Crazy dogs stamps and accessories. I added a balloon, hat and bowtie to make this masculine version, adding a few streamers from a GStudio $1 stamp set (anyone still have any of those?) and embossed them with gold, adding bright glaze pen colors to the confetti bits. The sentiment is a pre-printed one from SSS and the corners were done with an old retired SU! corner punch. I added turquoise/white twisted twine to them for fun. The dsp is retired from SU! and the card base is Island Blue from SSS. My hubby's birthday is next month and I may save this for him just for chuckles since he's been grumpier than me lately! Hah!

I'm also going to enter this card into this challenge:

The Male Room Challenge #153 - make a masculine-themed birthday card

Here is card #2 with Grumpy Dog! I was cracking up laughing as I made this one and found the most appropriate sentiment I could find to compliment his expression! 😊 He doesn't look anything like joyful, which is why I used it! I strung a little bone on some twine and added a little bow - can you tell he's just delighted with his measly "present?" 😇 For fun, I added a die-cut poppy Shasta twig and dotted it with sparkly red Stickles. The plaid paper is from Echo Park and I added some liquid applique to the fur on his Santa hat.

As if the card front isn't funny enough, I added this funny stamped sentiment inside the card for more laughs too. It's by Riley & Co's funny bones collection and I had to have it as soon as I saw it! 

I'm also going to enter this second card into the following challenges:

Dies R Us Challenge #175 - A/G using dies from their store (the Poppy die)

 

NBUS #29 - Never Before Used Schtuff - The Riley & Co sentiment stamp

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Funny/Punny

(They're showcasing Riley & Co products this week)

Thanks for stopping by and I wish everyone a happy week ahead with no grumpy dogs or people to make you frown! It takes less energy to smile than it does to frown anyway 😁

Carol

Happy 4th of July

 Happy Independence day America!

Today I'm sharing a card made to celebrate July 4th here in the USA.

I used lots of stars and stripes to represent our flag.

The red and white stripes were made with snippets, aligned in a diagonal pattern and placed behind a white frame. The sentiment panel is a die-cut from SU! that I embossed with a square lattice ef. The word "happy" came from an Easter die set, and the "4" was cut with an Impression Obsession set of number dies and a snippet of red glitter paper. The blue stars were done with a SU! retired mini star punch, and the tiny white stars were negatives from a SSS star border die.

I'm sharing this with...

The Repeat Impressions Theme challenge J3021 - red, white, & blue

the Dies R Us Challenge #172 - a/g using dies from their store (I.O.)

the Paper Players PP548 - stars and/or stripes

Thanks for stopping by and I wish everyone a safe and happy day of celebration!

Carol

Christmas Ornament

 Today I have  quick & easy Christmas card to share. The background was done with a Sizzix snowglobe/holly leaves embossing folder on some shimmer white cardstock. I added a punched SU! (r) ornament done with a snippet of red & white dsp. I added a pre-printed SSS sentiment to the center; then added some gold cording to make a bow and hang it from the die-cut Poppystamps Shasta twigs. The final touch was to add some snow to the branches.

 with some liquid applique.

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:

The June Rudolph Days Challenge - a/g Christmas

Dies R Us Challenge #171 - a/g using dies from their store

MLCCB#35 - June Anything Christmas Goes

HLS June Christmas Challenge - A/G Optional "tinsel"

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a fantastic day!

Carol

New Puppy Card

I recently sent this card to a blogging friend who got a new puppy. Once again, I made another hidden gatefold card and used some powder pink. white, and grey cardstocks, adding a snippet of gray & white dsp. I cut the ovals and scalloped oval with Spellbinder dies, and embossed the background with a Darice pawprint background ef that I bought ages ago and don't think I've ever used until now! The doggie image is from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps and I finished this with lots of pink Nuvo drops on the scallops.

Here's what the gatefold looks like when you lift the top flap, and there is plenty of space to write your sentiment inside when you open these flaps. I added 2 pieces of matching dsp to the sides and added a congrats sentiment also from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps.

l'll enter this into the following challenges:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #51 - must use a critter

Dies R Us Challenge #170 - a/g using dies sold at their store (Spellbinders)

NBUS challenge #27 - never before used schtuff (EF)

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a fabulous day!

Carol

Masculine Birthday

 I made this birthday card for a dear friend of ours who celebrates his birthday in May. I started with an Island Blue Card base, adding some stenciling with a GMD weave stencil and white craft ink. The clock is by Impression Obsession, die cut in pale grey and black. I also cut a larger black circle with a MFT stitched circle die for the mat. I die-cut the clock hands with a snippet of gold glitter paper, adding some tiny circle bits randomly on the card for a little extra sparkle. The sentiment is pre-printed from SSS and matted with black.

I'm sharing this with these challenges:

Dies R Us Challenge #168- A/G using dies sold in their store (the I.O. clock)

Seize the Birthday #213 - A/G optional "furry friends"

STAMPlorations May Stencil Challenge - use a stencil

Thanks so much for stopping by and I wish you all a fantastic weekend!

Carol