The Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge for February is still going strong and to keep you inspired the DT has put together an assortment of projects using both old and new JDS sets. For my part, I enjoyed creating this simple Valentine’s card. The set I used was just released in January and is called Valentine Wishes. Take a look at what comes in the set:
Pretty, right? And those sentiments!!! I love this set! I really liked the color combo Jan used for the floral heart wreath so I opted to use the precolored version of the image, but all the images above come in both color and b/w so you get a lot of bang for your buck! I printed the image and sentiment and die cut it with a Pink & Main’s Stitched Rounded Rectangles die. In my quest this year to use more of my stash, I found patterned paper in my scraps that coordinated with the colors in the image to create the layout. Once layered, I die cut them with a larger die from the same Pink & Main set. I added the focal panel using thin foam tape for dimension. I opted to embellish with die cut flowers from MFT’s Stitched Flowers die set using pink and yellow cardstock also from my scraps. I used an embossing stylus to shape the petals and added epoxy dots to the centers. This card came together quickly I’m looking forward to coloring the b/w version of this image in a bunch of color combos!
That’s it for me but I strongly suggest you visit the challenge site to see all the pretty things the team made for you! While there, be sure to add your own creations there in the current challenge to have a chance to win free images from Jan’s Digi Stamps! Full details are on the challenge site. I’ll be back before you know it with my Squirrel Squad for another little hop using our hoarded nuts…er supplies. In the meantime I hope you are staying safe wherever you are!
A new month means a new challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies!!! This month we are sponsored by the delightful Beccy’s Place and this time around I had the pleasure of working with this fun sloth image from the South of the Border set, which is perhaps my all time favorite Beccy’s Place set! All the critters in the set are adorable and have quirky personalities!!! Have a look at what comes in the set:
Super cute, am I right?!? OK, card details…. I printed the image and one of the corresponding sentiments on Bristol paper, which I then cut to fit on an 4″ x 8.5″ slimline card with a 1″ mat. I used Prismacolor pencils to color this lovey dovey sloth and give him (grass? leaves?) something to sit on so he wasn’t levitating… which would have been kinda funny looking! Now in many cases I use Gamsol to blend out the pencil but when it comes to critters, I like the texture it provides and how it makes them look fuzzy and soft. Here’s a close up look at the image:
I knew I was going to use a lime green card base but I wasn’t sure what I was going to use to give it some detail until I found this Tropical Leaves stencil by Kaisercraft in my stash. This is where using Evernote as an inventory system really shines! I totally forgot I had this stencil but I knew I wanted to get a look of tropical leaves. I remembered a small embossing folder, but it was going to leave a seam on a slimline card. So I turned to my trusty Evernote and searched my whole stash for tropical leaves. I found 4 potential stamp sets, but then I saw this stencil I had forgotten about, and it was the clear winner! The background was super easy to create with a little ink (love my Impression Obsession hybrid inks) and a blender brush. I added some clear green epoxy dots from Gina Marie Designs and this card was ready to give to my better half! Here’s one last look:
If you’ve been a follower for any amount of time, you know what comes next… it’s time for you to check out the new post at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies to see what the rest of the talented DT have made, and this month they have knocked it out of the park! While you are there, you’ll also want to get the scoop on the prize for this month from our great sponsor! And since we’re talking about how awesome Beccy’s Place is, drop on over to see what she has in the digi store! But, you can’t win if you don’t play… so be sure to link up your next critter project for a chance to win!!!
That’s it for me. I’m still trying to find my rhythm this year and finding I’m not even on the same bar of the music score. I’m either playing the wrong song or I’m not playing at the right speed. I’m feeling an awful lot like the sloth in my card these days!!! Hubby will find this a fitting Valentine’s card this year! LOL
Welcome my crafty friends to the inaugural edition of my new hop group, Squirrels Gone Nuts!!! I became quite close with several of the members of the Collected Crafty Collabs group and we all wanted to continue on finding fun ways of using our stash through the new year. So my Squirrel Sisters (Anna, Marie, and V) and I nominated a few gals to be Honorary Squirrels (Bory, Lounon, and Natasha) and we set about creating a new set of prompts for each month of the year. There will always be a theme for the month along with either a supply or technique. And being a much smaller group it will be easier and less daunting to our viewers to hop along and see all the inspiration! We plan to have a guest in some of the coming months, but even then the hop size will be manageable. So let’s get to it, shall we?
The Monthly Prompt: The theme for January is “New” (could be new year, new baby, new home, new you, etc) the supply requirement is to use Leftovers… you know, backgrounds, images, die cuts, etc that you created for a previous project and never used or maybe you had extras leftover. Even paper scraps are leftovers! We all had baggies, bins, bowls or boxes of leftovers, so time to use some of them for a project!!!
You should have arrived here from Anna who is kicking off the festivities today! And here is the full lineup for today:
I am notorious for making backgrounds and then not using them. My stash of previously made backgrounds was easily 6″ thick or more. I dug through the stash and picked out several with stars or starbursts as those remind me of celebrations and I wanted to make New Year’s cards. Here was what I started with (the white piece is embossed with an embossing folder), though I didn’t use everything shown:
Let’s start with the rainbow card! It started off as that plain bristol paper embossed with a folder from Darice called Star Border.
Once I ink blended some Distress Oxides on top of that embossing, it went from boring to shazam! All I needed at that point was a sentiment, which I made from a scrap of silver mirror cardstock using dies from Sizzix called Christmas Phrases. I found a star die in my stash from a magazine freebie and cut out a few to sprinkle around the card accenting the embossed stars. I matted the panel on more of the silver mirror paper for some added shine, but true to my nature, I cut a rectangle out of the middle to use for future sentiments. The card felt like it needed just a little something extra, so I added some clear rhinestones and I love how this card turned out!!! Now let’s look at the blue card…
This was a simple stencil background using Kaleidoscope Stencil A from Altenew with 3 shades of Distress Oxides… Chipped Sapphire, Mermaid Lagoon, and Tumbled Glass. I used a thin frame die, also from Altenew, from their Fine Frames Cover die and cut another sentiment out of the same scrap of silver mirror cardstock I used in the first card. A couple more stars, and I thought that was enough on this busy background! I opted to glue everything down flat on these 2 cards to keep them simple, but then I got crazy with the cheeze whiz (sorry, song lyric from Loser by Bexk, circa 1994, that has been stuck in my head ever since) for the final card!!! LOL!
For this card I channeled my inner Jennifer McGuire and made an acetate card. This started out as an embossed background stamp that had either ink or watercolor over it. Its at least 3 years old, so no telling! I certainly can’t remember!!! The stamp is from Impression Obsession and its a Cover a Card background aptly called Starburst. I used an old set of Spellbinders Pinking Circles to die cut out the piece on the front and another from fun foam to pop it up. I placed the negative piece on the inside. Now, ala JM I also cut 2 more pinking circles… 1 to cover the adhesive on the inside of the card front (which is also where I will write my sentiment) and another to fit inside the aperture on the inside. And I backed the card with a full panel of white 110 lb cardstock to cover the adhesive there too. The Cheers sentiment from MFT’s Hand-Lettered Holiday was heat embossed on vellum and die cut to match. The inside image is from fun cocktail set from Stampin’ Up! called Making Spirits Bright, which is colored with Prismacolor pencils. I added a handful of clear sparkling sequins from Pretty Pink Posh to dress it up. I love how well the stamps from 3 different companies came together for this card. Its fairly simple but so different from store bought cards that its special even if it is simple!
I wasn’t planning on making 3 cards but its just kinda part of my process to have more than 1 possible card in the works for any assignment in case something doesn’t turn out. And frankly, after pulling them out, I just didn’t want to stash these backgrounds again. Oh, and the other 2 papers from that first pic? Yeah, lets just say there is a good reason I have more than 1 card going for each assignment. They definitely didn’t turn out. That’s it for me… time for you to head to Marie’s blog!
You are going to love my Squirrel Sister Marie’s take on the theme!!! If you are inspired to play along with our monthly theme, be sure to use #SquirrelsGoneNutz when you post so we can see your projects! Thanks for visiting and be sure to see what the rest of my scurry of squirrels have for you today!!!
How on earth did it get to be the middle of January? We welcomed in the new year, I blinked… and here we are! I swear my craft room has a time warp in it!!! Well, let me hurry up and share my project with you before your time warps too! As you know, the challenge at Jan’s Digi Stamps for January is going on and you have a couple weeks left to upload your projects for a chance to win digi images from Jan’s Digi Stamps Shop! The team each created a project to share today over at the challenge site to keep you inspired! Be sure to pop over there and see all the beautiful cards and get details on the current challenge, which as always is Anything Goes!
Now I know that Christmas already passed us by, but at the end there, some of us were panicking a bit because we hadn’t made enough in time. I don’t want that to happen to me ever again, so I make a point to make at least 1 or 2 Christmas cards a month all year long. It helps that Christmas images are some of my favorite to play with!!! For this card, I used the gorgeous pre-colored images in the Holiday Sleigh set. Take a quick peek at everything you get in this set:
After printing, I die cut the images with a stitched circle die. With just 1 sheet of 6×6 paper, I was able to cut the 4″x 5.25″ card front, use half of the remainder as an accent piece on the front, and used the remainder on the inside as a decorative element to tie the inside to the front. I love double sided paper!!! And it was serendipity that both sides coordinated with the precolored images! I had a small sentiment stamp from a Hello Bluebird set that fit perfectly. Using a small, gold, mirror cardstock scrap, I die cut a jingle bell as an embellishment and gave it a red bow to match. A little foam tape and a small sprinkling of sequins to add more metallic gold to the card, and this card was done! This one came together in record time for me!!! And *that* is why Jan’s sets rock… you have line images, pre-colored images, accessory images, and sentiments to choose from or to mix and match with items in your stash. The possibilities are endless! So much versatility! Here’s another view of the card showing the shine of that mirror cardstock and the dimension of the layers:
I would be negligent if I didn’t add that Jan has some great new sets in the shop AND there is a sale going on through the end of January on some awesome sets! So first, go check out the sale! Then please have a look at what the rest of the amazing team has created… and welcome our newest team member, Suze! And while you are there, remember to upload your latest creation in the challenge! As a truly Anything Goes challenge, we want to see not just your cards and scrapbook pages, but also your knitting, baking, jewelry makes, home decor… you name it! Anything goes!!!
I have fun news to share tomorrow and I’d love if you come back to get the details and it would be even more fun if you decided to play along! Details tomorrow at 10AM EST 😁 Hint: it has something to do with Squirrels!!! 😉
Hello my friends! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have kicked off a great new year in style! And I hope you have recovered from all the festivities and are settling nicely back into your routines.
So many of us reflect at the change of every year, and 2020 had everyone hoping for change in the new year!!! Have you made any resolutions or goals??? What about crafty goals? I have, and thought I’d put them here for the world to see, and to hold me accountable. 😁 Maybe some of these will resonate with you too!!!
Blogging More: I really enjoyed blogging last year and participating with hops, so you will see more of that here in the new year. I have also enjoyed doing DT work, so that will continue through 2021. In 2019 I only posted 32 times in the whole year, but in 2020 that number jumped to 85!!! And I’d love for that # to make another jump in 2021. The more I blog, the more friends I make, which is a win. If I inspire someone along the way, well that would be the frosting on the cupcake!!!
Using My Stash: I’m so very proud of the hop I created last year, Collected Crafty Collabs, where we focused on using things in our stash rather than the latest or greatest stamps or products on the market. Like Justine Hovey, I am tired of trying to keep up and being tempted by so many new releases that I could never use it all. So, the only new products you will be seeing here for awhile are new digi releases for DT work, which I justify as reasonably priced and easy to store, so I’m ok with those. The rest of the year will be me delving deep into my stash and enjoying things I bought and never had a chance to use.
Getting Value for My Purchases: I have given this a lot of thought and think that I should really use a stamp set or die more than once for me to get the $15+ worth of value from it. Ideally, I think 3 uses justifies the purchase. So, when I do break down and buy something new I am *only* doing so if I have 3 different ideas for using the set (not including making multiples of 1 design). Before I place an order, I will either sketch out or describe in writing what my 3 ideas were so that when the set comes in I can keep it with it and not forget my inspiration for the set in the 1-2 weeks it takes to arrive. I also want to review the sets I currently own, try to remember any cards I made using them, and spend the year trying to fulfil that 3 card minimum for each set. That may be 3 cards in 1 go (and post) or 3 times over the course of the year as the set fits a cardmaking need. We’ll see how diligent I can be as the year progresses. I have a Squirrel Sister who might be up for a 3 Cards, 1 Set Challenge, so hopefully that will keep me motivated! (Anna, let’s talk to see how to make this work!!!)
Paper Pad Killing: I will be the first to say that I own more paper pads than any 1 woman should. Twice in 2020 I did posts on killing a paper pad ala Jess Crafts. I have found a group of friends willing to give it a go for their first time ever, and I think when they see how easily it comes together, they will want to do it again. I’m realistic though, this is more likely to be a monthly or quarterly project, and I just need to keep my paper pad purchasing under control until I put a dent in my stash!
Organization: This past year, several of my hop and DT deadlines were in the same week. That week I’d end up eventually cursing and swearing, unable to find a certain ink pad without pulling out 10 others. I’d promise myself that I’d label them before the next deadline week came around, and then I wouldn’t. If biting the bullet 1 day can save me 12+ times of frustrations, why have I not done it yet?!? I own several brands of ink pads, and I want to focus on getting at least the Distress Oxides before the end of January. Maybe my Simon Says Stamp inks in February, and Impression Obsession inks in March, and regular Distress in April. I have some stragglers that aren’t in full sets, so they could be wrapped up in May, and the rest of the year I could enjoy the glory of labeled ink pads. I’m pretty happy with the rest of my organization, though their placement around the room may change a bit to be more efficient. My dies are not near my die cutter, for instance, so I’d like to tweak the room a bit, and sadly new furniture will be the only way I can adjust things. That doesn’t fit into my immediate plans, which I’ll talk about next.
Just Stash January (aka No Spend January): As I mentioned above, I can’t buy it all, and I’ve bought more than 1 woman should. I could craft for the rest of my natural life and not run out of anything but adhesive. Hell, I could craft well into the afterlife (whatever version of it you believe in), nearly for eternity, if there was a way to “take it with you”. My good friend and Squirrel Sister, V of Passions and Distractions, is hosting a Just Stash January party and I want to get creating with my stash to play along. I encourage you to check out THIS POST by V for more details of how you can play along with us!!!
Design Teams: Crafting is therapy, and without it I slide into a funk. Sometimes, I wake up in the funk and would just sit and sulk all day… until I remember I have a deadline, and I go craft… and my mood improves. Dt’s keep me accountable and thus make me craft when I would otherwise spend the day on the internet looking at what other people are making. As much as I enjoy the 2 Challenge DT’s I am on, I would like to add 1 more… 1 that doesn’t require using digis. I have used digis for years, and appreciate the ability to resize, rotate, flip, etc. I have amassed a large number of them and have a good organization for them on my cloud drive. All that said, they are not my go-to when I just want to play with paper. I hate fighting with my printer, and I really hate when I forget its a digi and try to watercolor it and have my ink smear. A couple new unsponsored challenges have sprung up, so maybe I’ll see if they would be a good fit for me and my schedule. Just another way to meet the goals above and get more value for the products I own.
Variety: I find that many of my cards end up looking the same… layers, image, sentiment, sequins. Similar layouts… no real variety. My hop groups really encouraged me to break out of my creative rut and try techniques I hadn’t done before or had forgotten about, or to use supplies I hadn’t reached for in ages. I’ve put together a list of techniques I want to try in the coming year. Hoping I enjoy the variety, produce cards in a wider set of styles, and perhaps find new things I’m good at. And the bonus is that I won’t bore you with the same thing over and over!!!
Whew! That’s a lot to work on, but they have a certain amount of overlap, no? Certainly in 365 days around the sun, I should be able to make a dent in these goals! I’m also really eager to share with you a new project I’m kicking off… details coming on January 20th 😉. Hope you’ll be excited too!!!
Its the first Monday of the month, which means I get to share with you the latest creation I made as part of the Jan’s Digi Stamps design team because it’s also the first day of the new challenge!!! Now, while Jan has added some great new products to the store for the month, I couldn’t let the holiday season pass without sharing the card I made with the set she released as a December 2020 freebie! It’s called Ornaments, and it was supposed to be free only through the end of 2020, but I see that they haven’t taken it off the site or added a price to the set, so stop reading right here and go grab the freebie if you haven’t already. I’ll wait here for you to come back!
Whew! Aren’t you glad you scooped that up while you could!!! OK, so where was I? Oh yes, I had to show you this card because I was so happy with how it came out and it somehow wasn’t posted sooner with all the holiday hustle and bustle. Like most of Jan’s sets, it has a b/w and a precolored version. *Unlike* Jan’s other sets, it does not include sentiments or accessory images. Eventually I will color this baby up and add glitter to the swirls, but as I actually needed this as a last minute Christmas card for 2020, I opted to use the precolored version to whip up an easy card. The supplies are listed below and the assembly was self explanatory.
Supplies used:
Ornaments set from Jan’s Digi Stamps, precolored image printed at home
Swirls Cover a Card Background from Impression Obsession
Gold embossing powder
Spellbinders Nesting Deckled Rectangles dies
Recollections Christmas stamp set for the sentiment, also heat embossed in gold
Foam tape and sequins from my stash
Now, if you read this post late and the set is no longer free, then shame on you for not grabbing it in December during the promotion period!!! Make sure you subscribe to both the challenge and Jan’s Digi Stamps Shop to get notifications when she has other discounts, promotions, and freebies, and to find out when she has new releases! Be sure to visit the challenge site today to see what the rest of the team created to kick off the challenge, and remember to submit your January projects (up to 5 entries per challenge) for a chance to win free images! Good luck, my crafty friends!!!
Welcome! I hope you had a great time last night kicking 2020 to the curb!!! And here we are with a fresh start, a bright outlook, and a rainbow colored card to celebrate a 2021 birthday! The January challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies is sponsored by QKR Stampede, a division of Stamp On It.
They kindly provided me with this image, aptly named Party Cow. I had fun playing with this and this cute cow was easy to color up with my Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. The patterned papers are from a 4×6″ paper pad from Hobby Lobby called Eat Cake that I have had *forever*. Almost all the papers have touches of glitter which are hard to see in photos, but give the card a special touch. I used 2 of the coordinating papers with some scrap cardstock in my stash. I used Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle and oval die sets, as well as an old Spellbinders scalloped oval die set. The paper is busy and I wanted the focus to be on the image, but I couldn’t resist adding this fun, punny sentiment from an older My Favorite Things set called The Whole Herd die cut with banner dies from Creek Bank Creations. I thought this card already had so much going on that I really didn’t need any other embellishments, but I did assemble the card with foam tape to enhance the different layers. Here is another angle so you can see the dimension of the card.
The rest of the girls on the DT have created some fabulous projects and you can see them all by heading over to the 2 Crafty Critter Crazies challenge site! Then, when you make your first critter project for January, come back and enter it for a chance to win the prize from QKR Stampede. In the meantime, you can hit the Stamp On It site to see all the brands they carry and to see if there is anything there you would like to add to *your* collection! Thanks for visiting with me today and Happy New Year!!!
My friends, I am so sad to say that this is the *final* hop in the little group I put together oh so many months ago. What started as an avenue for bloggers to collaborate, turned into a little community of talented crafters who did their best every month to wow and amaze you, and many pf them have become my closest friends. All the while, they stuck to the premise of using the stash of supplies that we have all collected over the years and not used nearly enough. I have to say, seeing Justine Hovey and others on IG saying they are no longer trying to keep up with all the releases when they have so much they haven’t even used yet… well, it makes me feel like *maybe* we started a trend. *Maybe* we made people think about what they have stashed in closets and drawers, bins and shelves, and even still in the bag we bought it and brought it home in. And *maybe* that sparked a conversation, then another conversation, and another. Now don’t get me wrong, stamp companies aren’t going to slow things down while they still have folks throwing money at them… but if enough people reduced their spending they would reduce their releases so we could enjoy shopping instead of battling between FOMO and a depleted savings account. I can hope, anyway! Here I am, getting all sentimental about the hop, and you are just here for the cards! Wait no further…
I made today’s first card using primarily the Cool Christmas set from MFT, but as it didn’t have a squirrel image I also pulled in the We Must Celebrate set from Stampin’ Up! I thought if I can’t make a squirrel card, I should at least make a 4 snowman card with a squirrel!!! (You didn’t think I’d let the last month go without a squirrel, did you?!?) In case you are wondering, Marie is the red snowman (Christmas is her favorite thing ever (only 2nd to donuts), so I went with red), V’s fav color is Cobalt, Anna’s fav is Turquoise, and I can never decide between yellow or lime green, so I used both. When I realized the color spread, I just knew I had to make our snowman car purple to complete the rainbow along with the orange carrot noses! The images are colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended with Gamsol. Now for the background, I ink blended a little Distress Oxide Broken China and Hickory Smoke using hill templates I created out of printer paper. I traced over the snow drifts with a thick layer of Crystal Ice Stickles and pulled it out a bit with an old paintbrush to spread the sparkle across the snow. I also added Stickles to the trees for extra snowy sparkle! The images are almost all popped up on foam tape for dimension. I couldn’t have glued them flat if I wanted as the Stickles is really dimensional too. Here’s another look that captures the layers and sparkle of the card better.
And here’s a better look at the coloring… I added glossy accents to the hubcaps and carrot noses. The trees got a double coat of Stickles; Frosted Lace for the opaque white and Crystal for some iridescence!!! The 2nd coat was still wet while I was taking pictures 😊
I know it doesn’t look like it, but this card came together super quick and thankfully Stickles dries fast! It went so fast I actually had time to make a 2nd card. Check it out:
The snowy ground is glitter paper but the snowfall in the sky is BoBunny glitter paste with extra loose glitter added to help it match the paper. This card almost didn’t make the hop because when it was 95% done, I blundered with the sentiment, which was supposed to be stamped directly on the background. I was out of time to remake the background and almost threw it out. Rather than waste the time and effort, I punted and stamped the sentiment on white, die cut it, and matted it on the matching glitter paper. Not what I was shooting for, but still cute, no? What doesn’t show in the pic above is the iridescence of the glitter paper and how much green it has in it, which is why the snowman’s accessories are purple and green. Here is a better shot of the glitter:
I know I’ve spoiled you to expect 3 cards from me, but with Christmas we’re lucky I managed 2! Thank you to all of my fellow crafters who hunkered down and had a project and post ready to go in a week that had so many other demands for our time. I appreciate you more than you know!!! And a really big thanks to anyone who followed along, and maybe subscribed along the way. That totally makes all the work of posting worth it!!!
The December challenge at Jan’s Digi Stamps is going through January 3rd, so you still have plenty of time to entry your current crafty projects. Remember that the challenge is a truly Anything Goes challenge, so cards, layouts, home decor items, planner pages, pottery, sewing, and even Christmas cookies are all included!
For my card, I used an accessory image in the Holiday Sleigh set, shown below.
I’m still having health issues limiting my hands, so I used the precolored image from the set to make life easier. A little bit of printing, die cutting, and embossing, and the card was done with a little help from a retired paper pad by Recollections and some scrap cardstock. The sentiment was from a set in my stash. A few half pearls finished this card off nicely. Here’s another look at the card.
This card came together so easily, I whipped up a bonus card, this time using an accessory image from the Jan’s Digi Stamps set called Holly & Boo, shown below.
Again, I went with the preprinted version of the holly and pines in the set. I used 2 and simply rotated and positioned them to create opposing corners. A little printing, die cutting, and heat embossing the sentiment and this card was also done in a jiffy. Best part is, the patterned paper is part of the same 6×6 sheet I used in the first card, but this is the back side! Gotta love double sided paper! More scrap cardstock, mirror paper, and a handful of sequins to finish it up.
Please don’t forget to see what the rest of the team made today to inspire you, and check out the sale going on through Christmas at Jan’s Digi Stamps. I know its a busy time of year, but after you finish whipping up your last minute cards, handmade presents, tags, desserts, or just made yourself a new bookmark… pop over to the challenge and enter a photo of your project for a chance to win free digis. All the details are over at the Jan’s Digi Stamps challenge! It’s been my pleasure to design for Jan this year and I’m eager to see what new sets she comes out with in 2021.
That’s it for me today. I’ll be back before the end of the year, but I want to thank those of you who follow my tiny, little blog or Instagram account, and those who leave me comments and encouragement. This holiday season fills me with gratitude. And I hope that regardless of what you celebrate, or if you even celebrate at all, that you too can find gratitude for something in a year that tested us all.
December??? Now how did that happen when we weren’t looking?!? One minute we’re dying Easter eggs and the next we’re lost in a time warp of sleepless nights and bad dreams, and while we’re still foggy from the sleep deprivation they sneak in December! The way the rest of this year has gone, I wouldn’t put it past them. Now, where was I??? Ah, yes… December… the first Monday of December to be exact. And that means there is a new challenge at the Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge!!! Well, at least there are some things we can still look forward to these days! To kick off this month’s challenge, the easy thing would have been Christmas card. But as a person with a December birthday, I know that birthday cards are needed… even in December, so I chose to use a Christmas set to whip up a quick birthday card!
This card pairs an accessory image from the Over the River Christmas set and a sentiment from #1 Dad to make this color blocked card. I thought these presents are just perfect for any time of year birthdays in addition to the Christmas set they were released with. I used Tombow markers to watercolor the images, then using a sketch (sadly now outdated… the unfortunate issue with working ahead to meet deadlines) from Atlantic Heart Sketch Challenge (#397) I chose 3 matching colors of cardstock and stamped them all with My Favorite Things Lined Up Dots background stamp and Versamark, then heat embossing with white powder. I adhered the 3 panels, then matted the focal image and popped it up with foam tape. Simple, colorful, and quick to pull together. In fact, its took me longer to type this up than it took to make it!
So with that, I invite you to head to the Jan’s Digi Stamps challenge to see what the rest of the team created, and for you to enter your latest creation in the challenge. Remember you can enter up to 5 times per challenge. All the details are on the challenge site. I also invite you to visit the Jan’s Digi Stamp store to check out her new sets for the month and to see what is currently on sale! Be sure to follow Jan’s websites so you get notified when she releases a freebie, or announces a new sale or coupon! I thank you for visiting me and hope you find ways to enjoy the holiday season during this bizarre time. I’ll be back mid month for JDS to provide more inspiration for you and encouragement to share your projects for a chance to win prizes. See you then my crafty friends!
Welcome back everyone! We’re doing things a little different this month at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies for our December challenge post. There is no sponsor this month, so the DT could use anything from their stash this month to make their critter projects! Now if you follow me here, you know I’m a huge fan of Jane’s Doodles stamps. Jane posts free digis on the Jane’s Doodles blog periodically, but I’m seriously addicted to their clear stamps (and own most of the store… shh, don’t tell my husband!). I combined 2 of their Christmas/winter sets to create today’s slimline scene card. It looks complicated, but the card came together in a couple hours, including drying time.
I used painters tape cut with scissors in a rolling hill shape to mask off a road for my car, and ink blended with Distress Oxide Hickory Smokes. Then I cut another piece to create the snowbanks and ink blend the sky with 3 pink shades of Oxides… Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, and Spun Sugar and set the card base aside to dry. I stamped all my chosen images from the Winter Fun and Driving Home For Christmas sets on bristol smooth paper and watercolored them with Tombow markers. When dry I fussy cut them out and played around with my scene. Once I knew how I wanted it laid out, I chose a sentiment from the Driving Home For Christmas set and stamped it on the background. I carefully added my scene pieces with foam tape for dimension, then added a little Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen on the snow caps and snowbanks to finish it off. Here’s a closer look at the coloring, though the sparkle is hard to capture in photos.
Now despite the fact that there is no sponsor this month, there is still a prize… a fun clear stamp of winter sentiments. Full details are in the challenge post at 2CCC to see a picture and to check out what the rest of the DT made using their stash! I always think these types of challenges give you a better idea of the true style of the designers when they can pick their own supplies. And if you like what you see, be sure to visit their blogs, leave them some love, and give them a follow if you like their style. We all appreciate your comments and follows so much, and it keeps us motivated to keep creating to inspire you!
I hope this card puts you in the holiday spirit, and that you can find ways to enjoy this special time of year in a year that has been exceptionally hard for so many. I hope you find the strength, resolve, and faith to help deal with the challenges we’re all facing, this year. I am making a point to appreciate the little things and fall back on my faith that the bigger things will work out for the best, in time. Take care, crafty friends!
Welcome to the final installment of Same Set Syndrome, the hop group who uses the same supply from a same manufacturer to show how many styles and varieties of cards you can make from that one supply, all while supporting the small craft companies in the industry. You should have arrived here from Sharon Luska, and at the bottom of this post I link you to LeeAnn Mckinney who is after me.
This month is very special for a couple reasons. Not only is it the last hop month for the gals in Same Set Syndrome… but we are showcasing Scrapping For Less, owned by my friend Teresa Russell of the blog Fresh and Renewed. Little did we know when we picked Teresa’s business to showcase that before the SFL month Teresa would decide to retire and close the shop! But unlike other sad closings in the industry, Scrapping For Less isn’t closing due to lack of support… its actually a happy decision for Teresa to be able to spend more time with family and friends and enjoy retirement!!! As the supply for the month, Teresa selected for us a paper pad called Frosty Gnomes. Teresa is also giving out 2 goodie bags on her channel so be sure to check that out!!! And if you leave a comment on each stop of the hop, you’ll be entered in the grand prize from the Same Set Syndrome hops!
For my project, I opted to “Kill a Paper Pad” and use the whole thing in one project, making as many cards as I could from the pad. This time around for the sake of time and mass production, I opted to use the same layout for nearly all the cards which helped speed my decision making, yet provided just enough change in colors and products to keep me from getting too bored. Have a look at my big ‘ol pile of cards:
Now, I could have stretched this pad even further if I had allotted more time to the project but life gets crazy this time of year, and 2020 hasn’t helped, so for each 6×6 piece of paper, I was able to create at least 2 cards, totaling 31 cards!!! 3 of each design, plus a bonus card made from scraps! Not bad, eh? Are they all my favorites, no. But they will bring a smile to the face of someone in a nursing home, or a teacher at school, or one of hubby’s coworkers. And, I was able to bust them out in just a few hours of work over 2 days!
“How?!?”, you ask? Because I learned a trick from Jess @ Jess Crafts on how to get a lot of cards from one pad by using the paper wisely. There are a bunch of ways to do it (you *really* should check out her channel and blog if you aren’t already a fan of hers!), because she is developing 1 sheet wonders to show more ways than the 1 I used here, which is cutting at 5.25″ in one direction, leaving a .75″ strip, then cutting the big piece down to a 4″ card front and a 2″ scrap that can be combined with another 2″ piece to make a full card 4″ card panel. Sometimes the pattern is busy enough you don’t even see the seam, other times I choose to cover it with a strip of paper or make them slightly smaller to create 2 panels. There are usually 2 sheets of each pattern in a pad, so you get 3 card fronts and 2 strips from every pattern! And with just a few of those strips and 1 stamp, I was able to create card #31, like a bonus card and now I have fewer scraps to save or trash! I haven’t embellished them yet with Nuvo drops or epoxy dots or Stickles. Right now they are mail friendly and if I donate them to a charity I want to make sure they meet any requirements they have. I can always add doodads later to dress them up! Let’s take a look at some of my favorites from this Kill a Paper Pad session:
Supplies used
stitched circle dies from Simon Says Stamp
the Snowflake 5 die from Impression Obsession
a reindeer cut file from a Miss Kate Cuttables set called Flying Reindeer set (#68894)
‘Tis the Season Christmas Tree Silhouette cut file (#280104)
Tree Card Silhouette cut file (#102412) .
I created the 8 point snowflake file myself to match the paper to use on the final set of cards I created. The sentiments were hand cut with my paper trimmer.
I used random cardstock (blue, red, kraft, white, shimmer paper in white, and vellum… all from my stash for card bases, mat layers, and elements
The only patterned paper was from the SFL Frosty Gnomes pad which includes 2 designs of faux glitter paper.
The Season Greetings stamp is from Jane’s Doodles Driving Home From Christmas set.
I LOVE YOU SNOW MUCH is from Jane’s Doodles Winter Fun set
Merry Christmas stamp was from the Recollections Christmas set #606947
Inks used we Versafine Red, VersaClair Morning Mist, Simon Says Stamp Khaki, and Simon Says Stamp Caribbean Blue.
This is only the 2nd time I’ve killed a paper pad, and I find it incredibly rewarding. I preferred my process last time better when I also incorporated old embellishments and ribbons into my cards, and the paper had more variation to keep me from getting bored. While I used the paper cutting technique then too, I had fewer cards with the same layout and I ended up with so much more variety. Check out this post if you would like to see my previous Kill a Paper Pad post using a Recollections pad. It includes links to follow up posts describing the challenges of using that paper and how I stretched the paper to make 35 cards!!!
The Collected Crafty Collabs hop group is at it again, using those supplies we’ve squirrel away and forgotten about!!! The prompt this month is Christmas cards, which is easy enough… but using any texture paste, glitter paste, dimensional glaze, or mousse. Once the mojo started flowing, I had all sorts of ideas for some of those fun pastes! Check it out!
For my first project today, we’re going elegant!
This background is made with Nuvo Cosmic Brown (an almost Bronze) embellishment mousse and the Woodgrain Rings stencil from Gina Marie Designs, sadly this appears to be either discontinued or out of stock. After the mousse dried I add some inking around the edges with Distress Ink in Walnut Stain. I die cut the MFT Believe dienamics from red mirror cardstock and matted it on the same. I agonized over the sequin placement for longer than I care to admit and settled for this arrangement. Here is a close up of that gorgeous mousse and mirror cardstock:
Next up, I used the Poinsettia stencil, also from Gina Marie Designs, masking off areas of the stencil so I could ink blend it with different colors.
Yeah, I’m crazy like that. Then for the extra challenge, I added Nuvo Moonstone Glimmer Paste over the whole thing for some sparkly goodness! I die cut a label shape from thick vellum cardstock from Stamp On It. I used a die set from Sizzix to cut the sentiment from a white scrap, which I ink blended to match the flower centers on the panel, then gave the words a coating of the same glitter paste. I didn’t have any glitter dots or glues to match, so I die cut circles, inked them to match, and added more glitter paste! Check out how glittery this card is!!!
And for my third and final card (I have mentioned before that I’m an overachiever!!!), I had to sneak in a squirrel as our hop mascot!
The background was ink blended with Distress Oxides in 3 shade of turquoise and then Ranger Opaque Texture Paste was applied through a Simon Says Stamp stencil called Falling Snow. The images are all from a Lawn Fawn and Simon Says Stamp Stamptember set called Nutty or Nice from a couple years ago, that I’m using for the first time! I watercolored the images with my trusty Tombow markers and die cut them with the coordinating dies, which I was so thankful I bought this time. The stitched hill die is from Creek Bank Creations and I cut it with white shimmer cardstock. All the images were popped up with foam tape and the sentiment white says “Nutty or Nice?” was stamped inside rather than the front. Take a look at the shimmer and dimension:
I have an abundance of these products that I *just had to have* and most have sat unused in my drawer of pastes. Yes, a whole drawer….
Ridiculous, right? *No one* needs *this* many pastes. And while these products lend themselves well to the shimmer and sparkle of holidays like Christmas and New Year’s, I really need to find ways to use them the rest of the year as I tend to not want to do messy crafts when I’m trying to bust out holiday cards. When things settle down in January (please tell me things will be better in 2021!), I want to take a month and really explore the ways I can incorporate these products more often! If anyone wants in on that challenge, hit me up and we’ll make it a group event! An “Anything but Christmas Paste Challenge” LOL
OK, I’m the official starting point today so I will provide you with the whole schedule so you can see how many fun ways the group interpreted the theme this month. Remember, they could use the theme, or the supply, or BOTH! And if you like what you see along the way, be sure to leave them a comment and make their day and make them feel appreciated for busting out a project during a holiday week here in the states. To my fellow Americans, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you get to spend it in the company of those you love!!! Thanks for dropping by today!
I’ve been MIA for a bit because my autoimmune has been flaring and typing is painful. Keeping this post as short as I can as a result, so please forgive me. Today’s ultra CAS card for the November challenge mid-month inspiration uses a small accessory image and sentiment from the Autumn of Splendor set from Jan’s Digi Stamps.
I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils, adding a shadow in the snow beneath them. Then I added Ice Stickles, both in a line on top of the snow and then brushed more over the whole snow area for a glittery effect. I struggle leaving well enough alone, and added more glitter glue for falling snow, making me wish I had colored the pine cones to look like they had snow on them. Uber CAS, yet still pretty and sparkly. Here is a closeup trying to capture all the shimmer:
I hope you are following us at the Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge and Jan’s Digi Stamp Shop. If so, you already know this news, but I wanted to share with the rest of you that Jan has a deal and a freebie available through Christmas:
Now you’ll want to hit the Jan’s Digi Stamp Challenge site to see what my teamies made to inspire you and to enter your latest creation into the challenge to have a chance to win 1 of 2 prizes (details on the challenge site). Then you’ll want to pop into the Jan’s Digi Stamp shop to snatch up your freebie and grab anything else that tickles your creative fancy!
That’s all for me for the foreseeable future. I’ll be back in time for the Collected Crafty Collabs Hop on the 25th, but not likely before then unless my hands become much more cooperative. I’d cross my fingers, except I can’t!
It’s the first Monday of November (how the heck did that happen?!?) which means the new challenge at Jan’s Digi Stamps challenge! You are a follower over at the challenge, right??? I hope so! Because for a limited time, Jan is offering a free digi stamp to her readers and challenge players!!! How cool is that? Read below for the details:
For my post today, I used an accessory image from a brand new set called Peppermint Mice. Ordinarily I would insert the watermarked picture of the image set, but my power and internet were both wiped out by Hurricane Zeta and I can’t access my files to add it here and at the time I type this, the set has not been uploaded to the store yet. I will edit the post as soon as I can though, but trust me… super cute!!! I used the pre-colored version of the image but after picking paper I realized I needed to tweak the color just a bit. With my Prismacolor pencils, I colored over the beautiful coloring Jan did to intensity the shades to match. It was easy to keep the shadows and hilights of the original precolored image. In an attempt to make the wreath fuller, I added a green halo of branches behind the drawn ones. With some colored cardstocks, I matted the focal and made a band across the center. A few rhinestones finished it off! If you are seeing this before my power and internet are restored, I extend my apologies for the inadequate photo taken outside with the sun wreaking havoc with shadows. I intend to replace the photo when I can use my photo lights!
So be sure to see what the whole team created to inspire you by heading to the JDS challenge site, and submit your latest project while there! Also hit the Jan’s Digi Stamps store to check out the new sets and to claim your freebie!
That’s it for me! Prayers to my fellow Americans who are affected by the recent hurricane and other catastrophes. Fingers crossed that all the polling precincts are up and running come November 3rd! What a year this has been!!!
Hey there, my critter loving, crafty peeps! It’s the start of a new month, which means the start of a new challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies where its always Anything Goes with a critter! This month the challenge is sponsored by The Paper Shelter and the DT was provided with the same set to work with called My Little Dragon Army. It comes in b/w and precolored, and includes a coordinating background paper. Take a look at the image set:
I’m not gonna lie…. I was stumped with how to use the viking image and still make a card I could use for my family or friends in my life. I realized that while the viking and dragon overlapped, it wasn’t by much. A quick read of the Terms of Use from The Paper Shelter and I felt comfortable altering the image for my personal use. I opened the b/w version in Silhouette Studios and erased the viking girl and shield from around the dragon. Then I enlarged the dragon for a slimline card. This set does not include a sentiment, which left me to my own imagination. I surprised myself coming up with 2 ideas. I picked a font that matched the line weight of the image and looked medieval, and created 2 card fronts. The first one I colored is my favorite. Take a closer look:
I colored both images with Prismacolor pencils. This color combination above was inspired by the challenge at Catch The Bug. These are blended just with pencils, not with Gamsol.
The second card will be a birthday card for a friend who loves dragons and purple! Take a closer look:
I’m really pleased with how these turned out and that they are quite different from both the original image set and from what my teamies came up with. I’d love if you go to the 2 Crafty Critter Crazies challenge site to see the variety of projects with this set. And while you are there, be sure to enter your latest critter project in the challenge!!! And, you’ll want to visit the sponsor, The Paper Shelter, to see what else they have to offer! Thanks for visiting me today! I appreciate it so much!
I am submitting one of these cards to the following challenges:
Welcome back, my friends! This month we are doing something special… kinda a Wild Card month with projects using one of the sponsors we have previous showcased… Joy Clair, Not 2 Shabby, Create and Inkspire, and Kat Scrappiness. To make it interesting, we decided to make this a technique month so we are all making fun shaped cards! And as a reminder, at the end of the hops (last one is in November), Allison Kulka who has organized the hop, will be drawing a winner from all the blog posts for a $50 gift card to the hop sponsor of your choice! To have a chance to win, leave a comment on as many of the hop stops along the way! For my project I opted to use the August Create and Inkspire kit!
Using my Silhouette, I selected a palette shape, sized it to be approximately A2 size, and cut it twice from 110 lb cardstock as a card base. I could have welded the shapes together but I prefer to score the back piece along the top and attach it to the front piece using Score tape. Next I stamped and heat emboss my sentiment, which is a combination of stamps from the C&I kit. The kit also came with a fun stencil of various splats which I used to add my ‘paint’ to the palette. I used hybrid inks from Impression Obsession and blending brushes for my paint splats, and that finished my card! Here is a view of it standing up.
The next person in the hop is my friend, LeeAnn McKinney. Don’t forget to leave a comment here before hopping along to have more chances to win!
Howdy y’all! Welcome to my favorite time of the month… the day my crafty friends and I are hopping today in the Collected Crafty Collabs, where we dig out those hardly used crafty supplies we’ve squirreled away in our stash! You should have arrived here from Danielle Brown. But if you arrived here because you are a subscriber of mine, please work your way around the hop til you get to Danielle because her project is sure to be awesome! After me, you’ll hop next to my sweet friend across the pond, Bory Yankova! Don’t worry, I’ll link to her again at the end of the post!!! If you are new to our hops, participants can use the monthly theme prompt or the suggested supply, or BOTH! Since I suffer from CADD (Crafty Attention Deficit Disorder) and have to be working on multiple projects at once, I was able to complete two in time for today’s hop! First up…
If you are of a certain age (*ahem, cough… Marie… cough), this may remind you of Juicy Fruit gum… but instead of a zebra, it has a scurry of squirrels!
Y’all know I couldn’t resist using squirrels again, especially when my collection of them continues to grow!!! These are from the new Lawn Fawn set called Let’s Go Nuts, as is the tiny sub-sentiment. The bold die cut sentiment is a Spellbinder’s alpha set that was the July 2018 XL Die of the Month. I love this alpha set but its size has been limiting… until slimline cards became a thing!!! I used scrap cardstock in fall colors for my background, mixing in skinny strips of gold mirror cardstock. The alpha shadow was cut in brown to coordinate with my squirrels, and I used the gold mirror cardstock for the marque layer. Speaking of the squirrel images (one for each of the Squirrel Sisters), they were colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol and popped up on foam tape. Here are a couple closeups before we get to the more elegant card in this post!
I was so excited when we picked the monthly prompts for this month because I was finally going to make myself use some of the foiling products I have accumulated and never used. I just had to break out the laminator and use from Thermoweb foil! Have a look!
So shiny in real life and so hard to capture in photos!!! The background is a Gina K Designs Foil-Mates toner printed background, foiled in Thermoweb Amber Watercolor foil that is gorgeous with variation in colors that make you just keep turning the paper this way and that! Copper, gold, platinum… just stunning! I didn’t want to cover it up so I die cut a frame from Gina Marie Designs and a thanks sentiment from Momenta called Thanks Floral Wreath, in gold mirror cardstock. The frame around the sentiment is an old Heidi Swapp toner sticker label that I foiled in gold and popped up on foam tape. Not my typical card but I love how it turned out!!! Bear with me while I show you a few other angles to try to capture the various shades in the foil!
Doesn’t do it justice, so you’ll just have to believe me! The recipient will get to appreciate the beauty of this foil in real life. If this is your first time here, please consider subscribing to my blog and/or my Instagram account @misplacedmojo and follow the other crafter’s on the hop that made projects that appealed to you! Speaking of which, don’t forget to continue onto Bory!!! Thanks for visiting with me today! I am thankful for all of you who invest some of your valuable time to see what I have posted. Thank you!!!
At the risk of losing you on the *very* first sentence of this post, I am going to share a revelation I had… there are just 67 days to Christmas! Yikes!!! I have a bigger Christmas card list this year than ever before, so I need to get started and ASAP! And this is a great time to remind you that you have until November 1st to enter the Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge. So with that, I present today’s card using this fun set from Jan’s Digi Stamps called Over the River.
I am going to get so much use out of this set!!! I love that the stack of presents can be used not just for Christmas but also for a birthday card too when paired with another sentiment. But for today’s card I used the car image and one of the three sentiments included in the set. I printed the black and white version of the image not knowing what patterned paper I would use and if the colored version would coordinate. I found this great village scene paper in my stash with non-traditional Christmas colors which I thought was fun. It made it a little tricky to color but it was good practice for my coloring mixing skills with Prismacolor pencils. In addition to colored pencils, I also added silver gel pen for the trim and I added Crystal Stickles to the snow in the image. My focal point was just the right size and shape to work with the current My Favorite Things sketch, so I cut some paper strips to use as the other elements. Here is a picture of the sketch #511:
The patterned paper and focal image were die cut with Pink and Main Rounded Stitched Rectangle dies. The lighter green strip of paper is actually white paper covered in Evergreen Bough Distress Oxide ink as I didn’t have cardstock to match and the pink and green together was a little… much. The focal is popped up in fun foam for dimension. I’m actually really pleased with how this turned out and it reminds me of a custom, mint colored VW Bug an ex-boyfriend had back when I was in high school. I was thrilled to find that I had sequins in my stash that matched, and the shimmer of the Stickles has a pink and green flecks to the glitter that just makes this card come together in real life!!! I know the picture doesn’t do it justice, but you know I just gotta try to share the shimmer in a close up (or two)!
That’s it for me, but you, my friends, still have work to do!!! LOL! You should hop over to the Jan’s Digi Stamps Challenge to see what beautiful creations my teamies made for you! And while you are there, you should link up your most recent project or two in the challenge! We are truly an Anything Goes challenge so it need not include digi stamps or paper…. your latest quilt, beaded project, crocheted scarf, or baked cookies are perfect entries too. Whatever your craft, you can enter it here for a chance to win Jan’s digis from the Jan’s Digi Stamps Store! And you can enter up to 5 times per challenge, so remember to come back again throughout the month. I hope you have gotten a start on your holiday cards so you can relax and try to enjoy the Christmas season in this strange year. Cards have never been more important than now, when we can’t always see our friends and family but we can always let them know they are in our hearts when we send them a card made *just* for them!
I am entering this card in the following challenges:
A little group of my friends and I decided to have a mini hop for Halloween card, a Hop-lloween, if you will. Now, before you roll your eyes at the mention of another hop, this one is only 6 hops, not a gajillion!!! And by now, you should be following these talented ladies anyway 😁 Here’s the full lineup to make sure you see everyone’s creations:
For my card, I used a clear set called Witch Way to the Candy by My Favorite Things… a set I *had to have* then never used. Time to fix that!!! Now I could have stamped and fussy cut the images out… but I decided to mask and create a one layer scene instead! After all the stamping and masking on bristol paper was complete, I colored up my images with Prismacolor pencils. When happy with the coloring, I reapplied the masks and ink blended with Distress Oxide inks. I used Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Blueprint Sketch and Seedless Preserves for the sky and then went over the bottom with Black Soot for the ground. I left it to dry overnight before removing the masks, just so I wouldn’t smudge anything. The next day when the ink was completely dry, I removed the masks and heat embossed the sentiment on the bottom. I few gems from Lucy’s Little Things finished the card off! I love how they reflect the colors near them!!!
That’s it from me… your next stop is Von Marie! And be sure to follow back around to Lounon to make sure you see all the spooky goodness we have for you today!
Blogging More: I really enjoyed blogging last year and participating with hops, so you will see more of that here in the new year. I have also enjoyed doing DT work, so that will continue through 2021. In 2019 I only posted 32 times in the whole year, but in 2020 that number jumped to 85!!! And I’d love for that # to make another jump in 2021. The more I blog, the more friends I make, which is a win. If I inspire someone along the way, well that would be the frosting on the cupcake!!!
Misplaced Mojo 