Guest Designer Reminder for Christmas Craft Creations December 2023 Challenge - Decorations

Hello everyone.  For those who celebrated, hope you had a wonderful Christmas.  I’m back today to share my guest designer (GD) reminder card for the December DECORATIONS challenge at Christmas Craft Creations (CCC). 

I chose lights this time and used Balancing Mouse and Tangled Penguin stamps sets from Gerda Steiner Designs (GSD) to create a playful scene.  I just can’t decide if the mouse was naughty tangling up the penguin or being nice trying to help untangle him. 😂*lol*

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Stamping with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and masking were used on an alcohol marker friendly Stitched Rectangle panel.  Started with the penguin, followed by the string of lights in between and ending with the mouse.  Before the masks were removed, light gray dye ink was ink blended over a Brick Pattern stencil for the background.

The fun sentiment was black heat embossed with clear glitter embossing powder for some sparkle.  The scene was coloured with the following Copic Sketch markers:

mouse - E41/42/43/44/47 

penguin- C0/2/4/6/9, YR04/27

hat - C00/1/3/4, R14/27/46/37 

lights - RV04, YR07, Y15, G05, BG05, FB2, BV13, V04, R29 

floor shading - T0/1/3/5 

For dimension, mounted the panel atop two pieces of cardstock onto a white card base, then gave the lights some shine with some Nuvo Crystal Glaze on top to finish.

I want to thank Charlotte and the CCC team for having me as their guest.  For more inspirations from the CCC team and/or link up your own entry, click HERE.  Thank you for stopping by.

Challenges:

Send a Smile 4 Kids - Winter Cards 4 Kids  

Sparkles Christmas - #155 Christmas Animals/Birds 

Share Your Designs - December AG with GSD Projects 

The Male Room - #181 Christmas 

ABC Christmas - Y is for Your Choice AG  

The Holly and Ivy Christmas - #153 AG Christmas 

Guest Designer for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown October 2023 Technique Challenge - Shaker Card

Hello there.  I’m excited to be back guest designing (GD) at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown (52CCT) for their SHAKER CARD technique challenge. 

Wanting to celebrate the late Janis Woolbright again this month over at Christmas Kickstart, I used On the Table and Peeking Friends (sentiment) stamp sets from Gerda Steiner Designs to create a CAS (clean and simple) CAT-mas (cat Christmas) tag shaker card. 😉   

Started by stamping the Santa hat with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a scrap of alcohol marker friendly cardstock.  Masked it and stamped that fun cat face.  Removed the mask and coloured with Copic Sketch markers, then fussy cut it out.

Copic markers used:

hat brim/Pom Pom - C00/0/1/2/3 

hat - R14/27/37/39 

cat - W00/1/3/5, R81 

Stamped the sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink onto a scrap of Bristol paper and heat embossed it with clear glitter embossing powder.  Die cut it out with a tag dies (retired Blueprints 4 die set from My Favorite Things).  Die cut a second tag from Whimsy Stamps Blurry Flurries pattern paper for the backing.  Added acetate and foam tape strips to the back of the tag to form the shaker part of the card.  Did not have any ribbon, so die cut a bow from shimmer white cardstock using new-to-me Fit to be Tied die set from The Greetery.  Assembled the card onto white woodgrain paper adhered to a white card base to finish.

I want to thank Andreja and the 52CCT team for having me GD with them.  To see their card inspirations and/or link up your own Christmas shaker card, click HERE.  Thank you for visiting.

Challenges:

Christmas Kickstart - #79 Cat Lovers Christmas 

Christmas Kickstart Gail’s Tic Tac Toe (diagonal L>R: Die Cut, Tag, Stamp and left column: Die Cut, Glitter, Emboss)

Send a Smile 4 Kids - Holiday/Celebration Cards 4 Kids  

The Holly and Ivy Christmas - #150 AG Christmas 

CAS on Friday - #269 Animals 

Simply Clean and Simple - October AG + optional Autumn  

Jingle Belles - Not a Creature was Stirring (festure a creature)

Guest Designer for ATSM #426 - Make Your Mark

Hello everyone.  I’m so excited to be guest designing (GD) at Addicted to Stamps and More (ATSM) today for their challenge #426 - Make Your Mark.

Tomorrow happens to be my eldest nephew’s birthday.  I have no clue how 22 years flew by so quickly!  So for my GD card, I used a few stamp sets from Gerda Steiner Designs (GSD) to create this fun mini slimline birthday card for him.

All images were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured in with Copic Sketch markers.  Started by trimming a mini slimline panel (3.25”x6.25”) from Xpress It cardstock.  The floating puppy is from Howl Are You? Puppy and he was stamped first.  Masked him, then stamped the balloon from Lovely Panda.  For the wall, Shabby Shutters distress ink was blended on with a blender brush in the upper 2/3 of the panel.  Repeated the stamping steps for the two puppies below on a separate scrap piece of Xpress It cardstock, then fussy cut them out.  The left puppy, also from Howl Are You? Puppy, was stamped first, masked, then stamped the puppy in the gift bag from Christmas Puppies.  

The floor was created with new/unused Wood Floors die from Penny Black.  The wood floor section was die cut from Kraft cardstock, then coloured with Gathered Twigs distress ink and a foam blending tool.  The baseboard was die cut twice from a scrap of thick white cardstock and glued together to give it dimension.  The sentiment from Birthday Blowout by Poppy Stamps was heat embossed on black cardstock with white embossing powder.  Assembled the card onto a white 3.25”x6.25” card base, then added shading below the puppies on the floor and drew a bow on the tail with a fine black pen to finish.

This may be a little too cute for a 22 year old, but it’s fun, too. 😉 

I want to thank Kylie and the ATSM team for this GD opportunity.  For more inspirations from the design team and/or link up your own card to the gallery, please click HERE.  Thank you for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Challenges:

Gerda Steiner Designs - March Share Your Design 

Gerda Steiner Designs - Friday Easter Egg Hunt 

Die Cut Divas - March Birthday 

Time Out - #210 Inspired by Words: Happiness is a Warm Puppy (or 3!? 😂)

NBUS #36 - new wood floor die

CAS Christmas February Reminder - Winter Scene

Hello there.  This is the reminder post for the Winter Scene challenge at CAS Christmas.

I don’t have a dog, but I imagine dog owners can relate to this snowy winter scene. 😉   I used new stamp Fido (dog in snow) from Purple Onion Designs (POD) to create my winter scene. 

On a stitched rectangle panel die cut from Xpress It cardstock, the image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Stamped it again onto masking paper from Gina K Designs (GKD) and fussy cut out to create a mask.  Adhered the mask over the image then applied Salvaged Patina distress ink with a blender brush for the background.

Removed the mask and coloured the image with Copic markers.  The sentiment from Gerda Steiner Designs Christmas Puppies was black heat embossed with clear glitter embossing powder.  Added falling snow with a white gel pen to finish. 

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The challenge ends on February 24 PST.  For more inspirations from our guest Izzy (Izzy Scraps) and the design team, click HERE.  Thank you for stopping by.

Challenges:

Peace on Earth - #9 Anything Goes Christmas 

Happy Little Stampers - February CAS Challenge: Inky

ABC Christmas - C & D are for Clean and Simple and Distressing 

Alphabet Challenge - W is for Winter 

NBUS #35 - new stamp

Crafty Animals - #58 Anything Goes Animals 

Stamping Sensation - February challenge: Anything stamped optional wings or tails 

Happy Birthday to Youuuuuuuu!

Hello there.  A crafty friend has a birthday today.  Not sure if she received it yet, but she loves Gerda Steiner Designs (GSD) stamps, so I used Howl Are You? and Owl Rather Be With You stamps sets to create this fun card for her. 😂

The owl, branch and puppy were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Xpress It cardstock and coloured with Copic markers, then die cut out with their matching dies (here and here).  “To youuuuuuuu” from the Howl Are You set was heat embossed on black cardstock with white embossing powder then trimmed into a strip.  

“Happy Birthday” is new from Lawn Fawn Giant Happy Birthday to You.  It was die cut from SU! Pool Party and Basic Black cardstock.  On the Pool Party cutout, Salvaged Patina and Peacock Feathers distress inks (DI) were blended on in an ombré.  Offset it with the black one for a drop shadow, then the “to”you” part of the sentiment was cut off. 

The background was created on mixed media paper using DI and stencils.  Salvaged Patina DI over new Slimline Cloud Edges stencil from My Favorite Things (MFT) were used to create the sky.  Twisted Citron, Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn DI with a grass stencil from Newton’s Nook and a DIY hand cut hill stencil from my stash were used to form the ground.  Assembled the card onto a white card base, then added highlights with a white gel pen and drew in the music notes with a black marker to finish.

Hope you are enjoying your special day, Izzy!  Thank you for stopping in. 

Challenges:

Crafty Animals - #55 Anything Goes Animals 

Watercooler Wednesday - #326 Helen’s All About Ocassions Challenge 

Double D - Owls or Pumpkins 

Stamping Sensations - October Animals, Birds and Bugs 

STAMPlorations Stencil Challenge - October Anything Goes 

HLS Stencil Challenge - October Anything Goes 

Die Cut Divas - October Anything Goes 

Birthday Box Card

Hello there.  I had so much fun making my first box card that I wanted to make a birthday version for a crafty blog friend whose birthday is today!  I didn’t think it would arrive in time, but surprisingly, she got it today! 🎉   She loves Gerda Steiner Designs (GSD) and I’ve had the Cheerful Hedgehogs collecting dust on my shelf for a couple of years... or longer(?) 🙈   So I dusted it off to make this.

This is an A2 sized box card.  Because I wanted one of the hedgehogs to float up in the air hanging onto balloons from new Sunny Studio (SS) Floating By stamp set, I made it portrait style.  Started by creating the base and inside shelves from Bristol paper.  First, two strips were trimmed to 1.25” x 4.75”and scored on the long side at 1.25” and 4.25”.  Added strong adhesive to the 0.5” tab area and connected them together to form the rectangle box base.  A 3”Wx5.25”H panel was adhered on the outside of the back of the box.  Left 0.25” leeway so that the balloons can extend past the top and still fit into an A2 size envelope.

The inside shelf pieces are 3.5” x 1”, scored 0.25” from each end, then die cut with the Grassy Fields border die from My Favorite Things.  Coloured them and the front piece with Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn distress inks (DI) and blender brushes.  Flicked some water and blot with a paper towel to give them texture.  On a 2.75”x5” panel, ink blended Salty Ocean DI over a cloud stencil from Honey Bee Stamps Outdoor Scene Builder to create the sky background.  Spritz with water as well for texture then adhered to the back panel from the inside the box.

All images (the gift and half-eaten cupcake are from GSD On the Table stamp set) were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on X-Press It cardstock, coloured with Copic Sketch markers and Polychromos pencils, then die cut out with the coordinating dies.  To cover the alcohol ink that bled through to the backside, a white die-cut was adhered behind.  I didn’t think about the extra weight this added to the images until I tried to suspend the balloon floating hedgehog with acetate and it was too heavy to hold them upright.  To solve that, I created two pop-up rectangle pieces (pictured below) and adhered them directly to the back panel.  I could have used foam tape, but I needed it to be mail friendly.  White heat embossed the sentiment from the SS balloon set on black cardstock to finish.

Happy birthday my friend.  Enjoy your special day as best you can during this tough time.  Thank you for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Challenges:

Crafty Animals - #43 Anything Goes Animals 

Send a Smile 4 Kids - Holiday or Celebration Cards 4 Kids or AG 4 Kids 

Gerda Steiner Designs - October Share Your Designs 

NBUS #19 - new stamps

Watercooler Wednesday - #292 Dawn’s Challenge Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist 

Uniko - #61 Anything Goes optional twist Thanks 

CAS Christmas August Reminder - 12 Days of Christmas

Hello everyone.  Dropping in with a quick reminder for the 12 Days of Christmas card challenge at CAS Christmas.

I almost didn’t have a reminder card ready, but at the last moment, I remembered a new NBUS turtle stamp set I received from a crafty friend.  So on the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 🎶...

The turtles (unknown and was a gift from a friend) and hats from Gerda Steiner Christmas Puppies were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on X-press It cardstock and coloured in with Copic markers.  Used the mirror image stamping technique to create the turtle on the left.  The wings (discontinued) were stamped with VersaMark ink on vellum and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  All images were fussy cut out and pieced together to create the two turtle doves. 😉

The Memory Box Cherry Blossom Branches were die cut from a scrap of Bristol paper to use as olive branches.  Kept them white since the turtle doves were green.   Black heat embossed the sentiment (discontinued) with clear glitter embossing powder.  Blended some turquoise dye ink onto a stitched Bristol panel from my stash.  Flicked on some water and blot with a paper towel for some texture.  Adhered the two turtle doves and added some clear shimmer to the wings to finish.

Just had so much fun with this! 😂  Have you played along yet?  More inspirations from my team can be seen HERE.  The challenge ends on August 24 PST, so there is still time to enter.  Thank you for stopping by.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Challenges:
Christmas Craft Creations - August Challenge Animals
Merry Little Christmas -  #25 August Challenget Anything Christmas Goes
Watercooler Wednesday - #284 Dawn’s Challenge All About Occasions
Just Add Ink - #518 Just Add T (turtle doves, turquoise dye ink, texture)
Papercraft - #61 Animals
NBUS #17 - new stamp set

Guest Designer for Just Us Girls Challenge #545 - Colour Week: Mustard, Teal, Light Grey

Hello there.  I’m back for the third week as guest designer at Just Us Girls (JUGS).  It’s Color Week challenge #545 using colours Mustard, Teal and Light Grey.

I almost went the floral route, but then thought one of the adorable pups in the Christmas Puppies stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs would fit the bill and created this.

I kept it clean and simple (CAS) this time.  Stamped the puppy with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on a scrap of X-Press It cardstock.  Coloured it in the colours of the challenge with Copic Sketch markers, then die cut it out with the matching die.  Die cut two more times from regular thick cardstock and stacked for dimension.

Took a stitched Bristol panel from my stash next and blended SU!’s Smoky Slate dye ink with a blender brush over an English Brick stencil from My Favorite Things.  Black heat embossed the sentiment from Gerda Steiner Designs Moody Unicorns then mounted the panel with fun foam on a white card base to finish.

If you need more inspirations before playing along, head on over to the challenge post HERE and check out what the wonderful design team has created.  Hope to see you in the gallery.  Thank you for joining me today.

Challenges:
Crafty Animals - #40 Anything Goes Animals
Gerda Steiner Designs - July Share Your Designs
Send a Smile 4 Kids - Christmas in July 4 Kids or Anything Goes 4 Kids
Watercooler Wednesday - #280 Kath’s Anything Goes with a Masculine Twist
Cardz 4 Guyz - #249 No Patterned Paper
SSS Wednesday Challenge - For a Child
Stamping Sensations - July All Creatures Great and Small
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Ink It Up