Recycled Flower

 I found this beautiful large flower in my snippets box that was recycled from a card I received. It was too pretty to throw away and I decided to make a birthday card with it. I also found those 2 previously cut green leaves in the box along with the flower, so I paired them up. The sentiment was previously heat-embossed with white on some dark brown cardstock, so I used that snippet too. The background was cut from white with a Lawn Fawn stitched windy day die. My snippets box is a wee bit lighter today, but I have a long way to go before I use up all those bits I've saved through the years :)

I'm sharing this with these challenges:

The Freshly Made Sketch #549

The Snippets Playground Challenge #435 - must use snippets

Dies R Us Challenge #199 - summer

(must use dies sold in their store - Lawn Fawn background die

AAA Birthday Card Challenge #40 - A/G

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful Sunday!

Carol

Time Flies

 Today I have a birthday card that took a total of 6 hours to create. Oy! I carefully cut several strips of designer paper snippets to create a herringbone background, then die-cut it with a Lil Inker stitched rectangle before embossing it with a CB Clockworks embossing folder. I also die-cut the card base with a larger Lil Inker stitched rectangle die. The Impression Obsession clock was die-cut from several colors, meticulously adding all the negatives into their corresponding slots to create the multi-colored clock. I mounted the clock onto a die-cut black circle, then attached it to the card. I added 2 die-cut mini butterflies and placed them on either side of the clock and  added a Studio Calico stamped sentiment. The only problem is, I stepped back to take a photo of it and realized I'd glued the clock image onto the card upside down! DERRR😖 My hubby looked at it and said "just send it, nobody will notice." The only problem with that is that I noticed and couldn't let it be. So I put it down for a day and gave it some thought. I decided to die-cut another clock and glue it right over top of the original one so that the time spent on this wouldn't be a total loss! That also explains why this card took so long to put together! I added some mini red gemstones to the butterflies and sentiment to give this a little sparkle. I put the birthday sentiment inside. At my age, time truly does fly - especially when you're spending so much time making ONE card! LOL

I'll share this with the following challenges:

The Snippets Playground #428 - must use snippets

Let's Squash It #20 - let's squash those scraps!

Can You Handle the Pressure - Must use an embossing folder

A/G with an optional twist of using flowers

Crafty Catz Challenge #595 - A/G with an optional twist of Masculine

Allsorts Challenge Week 676 - A/G add some sparkle

Seize the Birthday #238 - Faux or Real Stitching

Dies R Us Challenge #193 - A/G using dies sold in their store (I.O)

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for laughing with me at my oops! moment too! Life's too short to cry over mistakes. Better to laugh and move on, but hopefully the next card won't take so long to put together! 😄

Have a great day!

Carol

A Trio of Blue Cards

While sorting through my monstrous stash of dsp pads recently, I found these remnants and decided to use them up. I found a sketch that I liked, and used some of the smaller snippets to put these cards together.

Before I go any further, if anyone has a fix for copying challenge graphics to our blog posts, I'd appreciate it. I can no longer copy and/or paste any graphics since a blogger update changed my ability to do that. I'm aware that some challenges require those graphics to be included in our posts, but blogger left me out in the cold!  Now I'm also having difficulty moving post write-ups to the center as that feature has become finicky too.

The first card was made with a SU! bird punch. The branch is also included with the punch. I added a Lily of the Valley sentiment to this one along with a few GMD soft blue beads for fun.

                                    I'll enter this into:

              the Paper Players PP589 theme challenge of "birds or bees"

               The Allsorts Challenge week #674 - A/G option of "scenic"

I made a masculine birthday card by adding an old SU! Hodge Podge hardware photo turn to the corner of this, along with some gemstones and an enamel black star sticker The sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp.

I'll enter this into the Krafty Chicks Challenge #609 - all occasions

Last but not least I made this one with a Memory Box Prim Poppy die, cutting the flowers from more tiny snippets of these blue pattern papers as well as pastel green for the stem. I added some Wink of Stella to the little bud and added a Sweet 'n Sassy stamped sentiment; then added a few aqua Nuvo drops randomly for sparkle.

This card will be going to the Dies R Us challenge #192 - A/G but must use dies sold at their store. (Memory Box used here)

It's also going to the Snippets Playground #427, since all of these cards began with using snippets of that leftover paper pad!

If you stayed with me for this longer-than-usual post - THANKS!

I wish you all a wonderful day and as always, thank you for stopping by!

Carol

 

Easter Card

 Today I have an Easter card to share, made with a Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 18 die, a Simon Says Stamp egg die, a Gina Marie Designs bunny die, and a Kaiser Craft die-cut sentiment. I added a little twine bow around the bunny's neck and added an eye and a nose with markers. The word "Happy" was heat-embossed with white ep on navy card and fussy cut to fit above the die-cut word Easter.

Entering this into the following challenges:

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - A/G

Dies R Us Challenge#190 - A/G using dies from their store (Spellbinders)

Krafty Chicks Challenge #605 - A/G

Crafty Cats Challenge #589 - A/G or lots of layers

the Four Seasons April SPRING challenge - A/G Spring

 Sorry if I haven't been around to visit lately. We've been dealing with the loss of 2 life-long friends in January and February,  and then earlier this week my husband's sister suddenly passed. She's being buried on her 55th wedding anniversary and the sadness is beyond words for both of us.

I hope to pick up the pieces and get back on track soon, but for now I'm just trying to breathe without having panic attacks.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all a good weekend and a very happy spring as well.

Carol

Quilt Cards

I haven't used my MFT quilt die for some time, so I had a play with it recently. I used 3 matching designer papers from SU! and some black cardstock to create one. I die-cut all the pieces to make my card and added a GinaK Designs sentiment at the bottom. Once I put this together I had lots of pieces left, so I cut 3 more from black and made a total of 6 cards, adding die-cut buttons with I.O. dies and weaving thin strips of matching designer papers through the holes. I added an assortment of sentiments so I'd have a few cards on hand for different occasions.

I'd like to enter this card into the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #519

I'll also enter it into the Dies R Us Challenge #185 - A/G using dies from their store  (Impression Obsession Button Dies)

Thanks for the visit and I hope you're doing well. Have a safe, warm and happy weekend!

Carol

An Anniversary Card for my Husband

 Today my husband and I are celebrating our 53rd wedding anniversary and I made this card for him. I started with a dark brown card base, adding some beautiful white textured paper from SSS. The Impression Obsession wooden heart is brand new - a gift I selected as a prize from winning the Dies R Us Challenge recently. How lucky was I 😄

I die-cut both layers from SU! woodgrain papers and added a little arrow and die-cut heart where I stamped the number in the center in white. The "Love you" is an older die from SSS and that's all this card needed. My husband doesn't like fussy things but I think he'll enjoy this.

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and got to spend time with friends and family.

We spent half our Christmas day in the ER with my husband being sick and unable to eat. Turns out he has gallstones as well as an infection, so he's not enjoying the holidays much this year, but he's home and doing better today, thank goodness!

Of course I'm going to enter this into the Dies R Us Challenge #183 where the challenge is to use any dies that the Dies R Us store sells.

I'll also enter this into the NBUS Challenge #33 with this brand new wooden heart image.

Thanks for stopping by and I do wish you a wonderful day and a great week ahead as well.

Carol

December 25th

 I've been working hard to use up my Christmas paper pads to make cards (so I can buy new ones for next year) and this card was made with some snippets from Photoplay Kringle & Co. I used 3 strips that I thought looked good together, and added used a SB labels 25 die to cut the word "December" from a sheet of scrapbook paper. I used a red marker around the edge of the die before removing it. The stitched circle is from MFT, and the glittered red 25 was cut with Impression Obsession dies. I fussy cut that cute little Gerda Steiner critter and placed him on the bottom, then added some black and red gemstones to finish this card.

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:

CARDSTV- a/g challenge #155

Repeat Impressions - the House that Stamps built 

Theme Challenge D821 Christmas - use patterned paper

DiesRus Challenge #182 - a/g using dies sold in their store

(Spellbinders, Impression Obsession)

The Happy Little Stampers December A/G with dies

Thanks so much for stopping by today - I hope your day will be a good one!

Carol

Thank You Card

I had some pink cardstock on my table, so I decided to make a thank-you card. I used some Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels 2 dies for the sentiment panel and mat, along with a retired SU! sentiment that's been a favorite of mine for years. I used a new ARTplorations gridlock stencil to create the background along with some CTMH soft grey ink. The pink border was done with an EK bricked punch and some GinaK bubblegum cardstock, and I matted it with black for contrast. I punched another border from white, and used it as a stencil to decorate the envelope with matching pink ink. The gemstones are from Gina Marie Designs

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

The Repeat Impressions Challenge S121 - stamp your envelope

The Dies R Us Challenge #177 - A/G using dies sold at their store (Spellbinders)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Simon Says Lots of Layers

Happy Little Stampers September A/G with dies challenge

Thanks for stopping by today and I do wish everyone the best possible day with lots of sunshine!

Carol

More Christmas Cards

While working on the card in the previous post, I pulled all the smaller snippets of paper from that Lawn Fawn paper pad to make 3 more Christmas cards. These were all quick and easy to make using a few dies and some SSS pre-printed sentiments. For this one I used a PoppyStamps set of stitched holly leaves and berries for the corners.

For this one I used some Lawn Fawn stitched snowflake dies, along with an unbranded die and a punch to create the smaller snowflakes. I used clear wink of stella on all the flakes for some subtle sparkle and shimmer.

For this one I used different dies in the Lawn Fawn stitched snowflakes set, and added more sparkle with some bits of metallic gold cardstock to fill in the centers and outer edges of the snowflakes. Looking at the photo, I see I attached the sentiment panel crooked again 😏 I need to buy a T-ruler to avoid this as I seem to be doing it all the time lately. 

I'm entering the first card into the MLCCB #37 - August Christmas a/g

Also entering the last card into the Dies R Us Challenge #174

anything goes using dies sold in their store (Lawn Fawn)

Thanks for stopping by and have yourselves a great day!

Carol

 

Birthday Hummer

I made this hidden gatefold card for a dear friend who celebrated her 90th birthday yesterday. She has a great shaded patio where she loves to sit and watch the hummingbirds at the feeders that are placed within her beautiful flower gardens. I started with a Lawn Fawn stitched windy backdrop die to create the background, then added some die-cut flowers by Darice along with some snippets of pink polka-dot dsp. The die-cut hummingbird is by Cheery Lynn and I used a snippet of watercolored cardstock that was leftover from another project, covering it with Versafine and embossing it with clear ep for a little shine. The sentiment is a pre-printed one from SSS.

 When you flip the top of the card up, it reveals this hidden gatefold inside. I used 2 die-cut stitched heart dies and added the die-cut bird which I colored with Copics and attached to just one side of the fold. The striped dsp is from SU!.

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

The Snippets playground #403 - must use snippets

Dies R Us Challenge #169 - A/G using dies sold in their store (Lawn Fawn)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to be back again soon with another post. 

Carol

Quilt Cards

I haven't made a quilt card in a long time and I wanted to use this pretty piece of Echo Park pink dsp I've had for years. I cut both the dsp. and a piece of red cardstock with a MFT quilt die and put all the pieces together to make the quilt. I die-cut some stitched nested hearts for the center, adding a little heart-shaped gemstone. I placed this all on a Lawn Fawn pink card base, adding a love sentiment.

I'll enter this card into the following challenges:

The Color Hues Challenge #11 - use red & pink

Happy Little Stampers February Anything goes with Dies Challenge

 When you cut 2 pieces of cardstock and designer paper to make the quilt, you have 2 pieces left over, so why not use them to make a reverse design? That's what I've done here and and made a birthday card. I have a friend who celebrates her birthday close to Valentine's day, so this is going to her. For the center, I used a set of Impression Obsession button dies and cut thin strips of the dsp and wove them into the button holes. I added a birthday sentiment and called this one done.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Dies R Us Challenge #162 - a/g using dies sold in their store (I.O.)

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #398 - birthdays

Thanks for stopping by today and make it a great day whatever you do! I hope those of you living in winter zones have a nice quilt to keep you warm!

Carol

Turkey Time!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I knew I had to get busy with some cards to send out. I pulled out the Lawn Fawn Tiny Box die and Turkey/Peacock add-on dies to make this card. I die cut a pastel green pre-embossed panel with MFT stitched square dies to mat the white panel - which was embossed with a Darice ef and lightly colored with Derwent pencils. The turkey was assembled with snippets of cardstock and popped onto the main panel with foam dots. I added some clear Wink of Stella onto the snood just for fun. The die-cut stitched blue cloud was added to break up the dark green color of the card base. The fence was done with a Martha Stewart punch and the grass was die-cut with a Sweet 'n Sassy grass border die. The tiny leaves and acorn were negatives from an EK leaves border punch that I added just for fun. The stamped sentiment is from SU! Teeny Tiny Wishes (2009-10)

 Since I had all the dies out, I figured I'd make a couple treat boxes too. One with wings up and one with wings down - since I couldn't decide which version I liked best 😜

Sharing with the following challenges:

Pixie's Snippets Playground #390 - must use snippets

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #659 - a/g

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #44 - a/g using a critter

NBUS Challenge #20 - lawn fawn turkey add-on dies

Dies R Us Challenge #156 - give thanks

Retro Rubber Challenge #147 - a/g using stamps older than 1 year

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope your day is a happy one for you!

Carol

Masculine Birthday

 I made this card for a friend of ours who loves the outdoors and loves to go hunting. The paper was a snippet of camo design and I thought it would make a good background, so I die-cut it with a Lil Inker stitched rectangle. The sentiment panel was done with snippets of white and kraft, and both pieces were die cut with a Venetian Label die set from Gina Marie Designs. The little deer was punched from a scrap of kraft using a very old Martha Stewart punch and I called this one done. Guys don't seem to care much for fussy cards, so I kept this one simple and CAS.

I will enter this into the following challenges:

Dies R Us #153 - one for the boys

Cardz 4 Guyz #253 - monochrome

the Snippets Playground #387 - use snippets

Thanks for stopping by and I apologize if I haven't been around to comment on your blogs. My husband recently had a surgical procedure and tending to his needs has taken a lot of my time, so crafting has taken a back seat for a while. Thanks for your understanding and have yourself a good day!

Carol

Frosty Christmas Wishes

Here's another Christmas card I made using an older Tim Holtz die to make the tree line in the background, along with some Lawn Fawn stitched hillside dies to create the rolling snowy hillside. The little red coupe is an unbranded die that I cut with several colors, piecing them together. I added some black mini brads for hubcaps and added lots of liquid applique for snow on all the trees. The sky was sponged with Tumbled Glass ink to make clouds and I added some diamond Stickles to the edge of each hill die for the illusion of sparkly snow. The sentiment is from an older SU! set.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

July Rudolph Days Challenge - Make a Christmas card by the end of July

Dies R Us Challenge #149 - Christmas in July

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #644 - Christmas in July

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all a great weekend!

Carol

Christmas in July

I recently made this Christmas card which left me with 2 negative pieces that I put together to make this 2nd Christmas card. I used the Memory Box Pine Trio die along with some green mirror card and some glittered gold cardstock. The tiny red stars were negatives from a SSS star border die, and the image was placed on a panel of SSS woodgrain cardstock with a matching green mirror card mat. The sentiment is by Northwoods  and this card was done.

I'll enter this into the Dies R Us Challenge #149 - Christmas in July

So far making Christmas cards hasn't cooled me off too much because it's hot hot hot outside! I'm chilling inside as much as possible but tomorrow we must venture out for groceries. I think I'm ready to sign up for meals on wheels as I hate to shop/hate to cook these days. Anyone else feeling that way lately?

Take good care and have a good day!

Carol