Butterfly Birthday

 The Butterfly Spot challenge always offers an option of a fancy fold, but I am very often intimidated by going outside my comfort zone when it comes to card folds. However, this time around, the Book Binding fold looked simple enough for me to try, so I jumped right in. I used papers from a free magazine gift, and an image by Bo Bunny. The stamped sentiment is by Simon says Stamp. Another option of this challenge is to include a braided element, which I did with braided jute. The butterfly is colored with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and is fussy cut. I tweaked the dimensions of the card to fit into a 5x7 envelope that I have, as square cards require extra postage in the US.

A Passion for Markers challenge 629, Things with Wings

Butterfly Challenge 167, B is for Braid, the colors Buff, Banana and Bougainvilla, and the Book Binding Fold. I also included a butterfly, of course.

Word Art Wednesday 

Allsorts challenge 665, handcolored

Double Trouble challenge 104, I did Thing 1, Thing 2 and Thing 3  

Creative Creases challenge 26, use a fun fold. I used the book binding fold.

Christmas Selfies

 A friend sent me this stamped image years and years ago, and I found it as I was organizing my Christmas supplies. I have no idea who made the stamp, as she didn't indicate it when she sent the stamped image, but isn't it fun? This was sent to me over 10 years ago but it has a fresh new look that translates perfectly to today's designs. All I had to do was die cut with a stitched rectangle die by Gina Marie Designs, color it with alcohol markers, and stamp a sentiment by Simon Says Stamp from the Christmas  slimline Stamp Builder set.

February Rudolph Days challenge. With February being such a short month, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to squeeze in a card for this challenge, but found this stamped image that works perfectly for a CAS design.
ABC Christmas Challenge, C is for CAS  

Word Art Wednesday

Allsorts challenge 665, hand colored or paper pieced 

CHNC challenge 583, Christmas

Stay Crafty with Hero Arts 

Cup of Tea

As part of my plan to start using those stamps in my stash that have not been inked yet, I found this cute set by Gerda Steiner Designs called Positivi-tea and decided to do a secondary challenge for myself by using yellow. The funniest part about this image is that I merrily colored away, thinking it was a bear.  Once I took another look, I thought that the ears are too large to be a bear, so what was it anyway? My final conclusion is that it's a mouse...without a tail showing! So I colored the little hands pink, rather than the brown that I first intended. What do you think? Bear or mouse? Anyway...........I popped him on a tag by Gina K Designs, and added banner flags cut with dies by LDRS.

   Gerda Steiner Feb. Share Your Designs challenge, anything with Gerda Steiner products

MFT sketch challenge 582 

Ally's Angels challenge 55, AG

Word Art Wednesday 

SSS Wednesday challenge, AG

DL.Art February linky 

Stay Crafty with Hero Arts, AG

Steampunk Anniversary

 So what do you make for someone who doesn't like hearts and flower designs for their anniversary? Well, a steampunk anniversary ATC of course! This one is for my daughter and her husband, who have an anniversary in April. The Banksy Diver stamp and Steampunk submarine images are all by VivaLasVegastamps, and the sentiment is by Cardz TV. I made the undersea background with three shades of Distress Ink, and then spattered water on it, which I dabbed with a paper towel.

Lost Coast Designs challenge 38, steampunk/vintage
  

DL.Art February linky

Note To Self

 Here is another ATC that I made today. I've had this rooster gentleman stamp by VivaLasVegastamps for years but never inked it up, until now. I combined it with a clock image and a sentiment from two other stamp sets. The patterned paper was in my scrap stash and I thought it had just the right vintage/distressed look to it.

Lost Coast Designs challenge 138, steampunk/vintage

Kreative Tanten challenge 62, ATC
DL.Art February linky 

Journey

Lost Coast Designs has a challenge this month to make a stamped Steampunk or Vintage project, and as I looked through my Lost Coast Designs stamps, I knew this Bird on a Bicycle image was the perfect one to use. The background (an old wood mounted stamp by Anitas)  was stamped and heat embossed on crimped card stock for extra, distressed texture. Then I stamped the bicycle image on cream card and fussy cut it. I also stamped and fussy cut a banner image by My Minds Eye. A little bit of navy ink blending to tone it down, and a fun cog die by Sizzix was the perfect final touch.

Lost Coast Designs challenge 138, Steampunk/Vintage

DL.Art February Linky
Kreativetanten challenge 62, ATC or Tag 

High Five!

I have been challenging myself to enter a few new challenges that I don't regularly participate in, and I got an email today, from the Gerda Steiner blog , inviting me to join in their monthly challenge. I don't think I've ever entered there before, so I jumped right in with a digi that I had called, Cat In Leaves. Once I colored this cute little guy with alcohol markers, I searched through my stamps for an appropriate sentiment and decided on this one. Doesn't he look just like he's trying to give us a high five from that leaf pile? I rarely, if ever, use digi stamps, and my learning curve was steep (I had to ask my husband to help me figure out how to print it out with his laser printer...and I went through four sheets of paper before I got a decent result, ugh. I think I need to watch a few tutorials on resizing digi stamps so I'm not all thumbs the next time. The stamp is a digi, but the sentiment was stamped in ink.

Gerda Steiner Share Your Design challenge for February

Word Art Wednesday

DL.Art February linky

SSS Wednesday challenge, AG 

SUYP challenge 75, cats

Kreativetanten challenge 62, ATC or tag 

Go For It!

I saw the current challenge on Die Cut Divas, which calls for using a die and an angle in your card. It took me a day or two to get my mind around the requirements and come up with a design, but this was a lot of fun to make. I used the Joy Ride stamp set by Hero Arts for the bike, Keep Calm (also by Hero Arts) for the chevron border and a stitched border die by MFT  for my angled road. The heat embossed sentiment is by Close To My Heart and the cloud dies are by Paper Smooches.  

Die Cut Divas Feb. challenge, angle it.

Stay Crafty with Hero Feb. challenge, AG 

DL.Art's Feb. linky 

Word Art Wednesday

SSS Wednesday, AG 

Dream

I haven't done much stamping this month as our sweet pup, Toby, was in failing health. As we've adjusted to life without him over the past week and a half, crafting is helping me keep busy and is always the best therapy. Poppystamps make some of my favorite dies and this one is called Leaf Flourish Heart. I cut it in two different colors and layered  it so the leaves are green with the pink heart. The sentiment is stamped at an angle and is by Brutus Monroe from the set, Catching Dreams. I pulled out an old wood mounted butterfly stamp by Rubber Stampedge and added a few rhinestones as a finishing touch. The embossing folder is by Sizzix,    

Poppystamps challenge PSC#89, use a heart or felt
 Die Cut Divas Feb. challenge, use a die and an angle

 DL.Art's Feb. linky
 Word Art Wednesday

Double D Designs challenge, shades of pink 

 SSS Wednesday, AG

Stay Crafty with Hero Arts, AG

 

You're the Best!

 My granddaughter is going through a difficult time at school and I wanted to make a card of encouragement for her. I pulled out this stamp and die set by Hero Arts called Dress Up Stamp and Cut and made this design. The set is really fun because it comes with three different skirts that you can die cut to mix and match two different girl torsos and legs. The face is also interchangeable, which gives lot of cute options. I used a sentiment stamp by Brutus Monroe, stitched heart die by My Favorite Things, and angled card stock strips behind the girl image.

Snippets Challenge 422. I used snippets of card stock for the angled strips as well as for the girl and her skirt.  

Die Cut Divas Feb. challenge, Angle it. Use an angle.
 Stay Crafty with Hero Arts, AG 

Allsorts Challenge, I love... I love my granddaughter! 

Word Art Wednesday

DL.Art's February challenge 

We Love Stamping February Challenge AG 

Ally's Angels challenge 55, AG 

Birthday Coffee

I have had this coffee stamp by Uniko Designs for some time but never inked it up until this week. I decided to make a birthday card for a coffee loving friend with it and combined the I Love Coffee stamp set with the Mid-Century Modern Background Blocks stamp to make this fun pink and black color combo. The sentiment is a free digi by Uniko from Papercrafters magazine. I added some shading with markers, and kept it CAS.

  Uniko Stamps 10th Birthday Quest #1, make a birthday using only Uniko products 

Word Art Wednesday 

We Love Stamping February challenge

Allsorts challenge 664, I Love Coffee 

DL.Art's February Linky

Double D Feb. challenge, shades of pink 

Butterfly Garden

 I have been wanting to use my stencils more often, so I pulled this Leaf Print stencil by Stamplorations out, and made my background using Bashful Blue by Stampin' Up. The circle stencil was cut with circle dies and cardstock, then inked through the circle shape. I then used a very old, wood mounted stamp by Rubber Stampede for the flower, and butterfly stamps by Clearly Besotted. The coral stripe along the bottom was masked and inked . All this needed was some natural colored twine and I'm ready for spring.

Butterfly Challenge, C is for Circle, coral, Cornflower Blue and Celedon (and my butterflies of course)

 We Love Stamping February challenge, AG with optional stencils
 DL.Art's February linky

Word Art Wednesday

Allsorts challenge 664, anything I love. I love using stencils 

Ally's Angels challenge 55, AG

Stay Crafty with Hero Arts,AG 

Good-bye Sweet Toby

This was a hard week for my husband and me as we lost our dear pup Toby.  Some of you know that we have had our malti-poo, Toby,  for about 11 years, after we inherited him from our daughter. He was diagnosed with kidney disease about a year and a half ago and we thought we would lose him at that time. However, with prescription foods, supplements, and periodic subQ fluids given at home by me, he lived a happy life up until about two weeks ago. He began losing weight, but was still eating and drinking, and even barking at the squirrels in the backyard. That changed on the weekend before Valentine's Day and we knew we would have to say good-bye soon. 

Anyone who has loved a pet knows the hole that is left in our hearts. There will never be a pup like him again. Here he was just last week in his flannel pajamas, which I made for him years ago.

Rest in peace sweet boy.

 

  

Birthday Circles

My daughter and I worked with square shapes last week, and this week I dug into my huge box of punched and die cut circles to make a few cards like this. I seem to have collected an entire plastic shoebox sized container of assorted circles in solid colors that have been just sitting , gathering dust, for years. It's time to pare this snippets pile down! I used a scrap piece of patterned paper as the base, and layered different circular shapes on the front until I liked my design. The sentiment stamp is by Fiskars and I snipped out a word or two from sentiment strips by Simon Says stamp.  This is a great way to use scrap die cut and punched shapes on a card because there is no right or wrong way to do it.

Pixie's Snippets challenge 421. This card is made up of nothing but snippets, so yay for me!
Allsorts challenge 662, AG  

PIP challenge 2206

DL.Art's February linky 

Word Art Wednesday 529-530

Creative Fingers 224 

Make A Wish

I've been trying to finish some cards that  have gathered dust in my To Be Completed box for years, and this is one of them. I used a wood mounted stamp set  by Hero Arts to make the background (Lots of Dots),  and bow dies by Winnie and Walter, and My Favorite Things. The label die is by Diamond Press and sentiment is by Love Nicole. I wanted the bow and label frame to pop with color, so ink blended with Stampin' Up Poppy Parade ink to get the right shade. An old Fiskars paper crimper came in handy to give texture.

PIP Challenge 2206, AG

Allsorts challenge 662, AG

Creative Crafting Uncles #25, birthday 

Word Art Wednesday 529-530

Creative Fingers challenge 224 

DL.Art's February linky

Birthday Calories

 I've been making a lot of birthday cards this week, and having fun pulling out a few stamp sets that I hadn't inked up yet. This cake and plate are by Fun Stampers Journey, and I did a little simple masking to place the cake on the plate. The stitched labels are by Stephanie Barnard, and the fun sentiment is by CASual Fridays stamps. Oh, but I wish that sentiment were true!

Creative Crafting Uncles challenge, birthday

SSS Wednesday challenge, AG

DL.Art's February linky

Word Art Wednesday