Making S'more Memories

Today I am playing along with Sketch Saturday Challenge #610. I thought this sketch was perfect for what I had in mind for an anniversary card for my husband. We are both getting closer to retirement and are planning to spend a lot more time traveling in our motor home, so I wanted to do something related to RV-ing. The stamped images are from My Favorite Things. I colored with Copic sketch markers.

Here's the fabulous sketch:

And here is my card:

Every time a bell rings...

...an angel gets his wings. 

Playing along with the Jingle Belles challenge, to make a card featuring at least one bell. I was happy to find a bell sticker and some coordinating ornament stickers in my Christmas stash. Scraps of paper, a little stitching, a Joy sentiment and always always foam tape. Easy peasy. 

No Special Reason

This weekend I had the chance to play with the Sketch #434 from Freshly Made Sketches. I liked it so much I ended up making 5 cards with a few variations.

Here's Linda's sketch:

And here's the first card I made using the sketch and various bits of paper, some stamped and some just die cut:

The stamp and coordinating die set are a retired Stampin' Up set called Special Reason. I've had it for a while but haven't used it until now.

I'm going to make enough to send to a bunch of friends to let them know I'm thinking of them and missing them. 

Peace

Today I had a chance to play along with the Jingle Belles sketch challenge. I stamped the reindeer and the "peace sentiment: using the Altenew Festive Silhouettes stamp & die combo. The holly is from a Tim Holtz die and the papers are all random scraps. 

Here's the sketch:

Here's my card:

Hello Feathers

Playing along with Freshly Made Sketches #425 today. Here's the sketch:

Feathers seemed perfect for this challenge. I triple die cut the feathers in white cardstock to add dimension. Then I tore some pieces of patterned paper and die cut a partial image to add the color. You can find this fun technique (as I did) on the Stop and Stamp the Roses blog post.

Stick with me on this...

I had to travel for work most of this week. As you'd expect, the COVID-19 virus was the hot topic, but the airports were crowded and flights were full. When I got back to CA I had to make a run to Costco. There I found that people are stockpiling, ahem, toilet paper. An employee told me that people load up their carts faster than they can bring out a new pallet! Now there is a limit of 2 packages per visit. But apparently I am the only one with the foresight to load up on wine and M&M's as those shelves were full. Jokes on them!

Then I spent yesterday making cards with the amazingly talented Julie Ebersole. We made 20 cards and I learned a bunch of new techniques...so fun!

Today I am back to making Christmas cards. This card is inspired by the Jingle Belles Challenge to make a card featuring stickers. These stickers are from Carta Bella a Very Merry Christmas. I made a couple of tags for interest and that's about it. Pretty simple. 

I am also submitting to: 

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #480 make a Christmas card with a vintage theme.

Woof

Today I made a card for a friend who is recovering from surgery. I used the Crafty Cardmakers challenge, to make a card featuring embossing. I just love these goofy pups from the Tim Holtz Crazy Dogs set by Sizzix, which especially awesome because it includes the stamps, dies and this fun splotch embossing folder. I colored the pups with Copic Sketch markers and glued to a craft card base. On the inside I wrote "Translation: Get well soon. We miss you." 

Hello Rosebud

Made a card for a long distance friend I met in Alaska last summer. We both make cards so we send each other one at least once a month. Her nickname is Rosebud and this card has roses in full flower and bud form, so it's perfect for her.

I used the sketch challenge from Sketch Saturday #598 but mixed it up a bit, moving the ribbon to the side and reversing the direction of the strips...which I had to do because I cut them in the wrong direction. I also stitched around the edge because I just love stitching on cards. The papers are scrapbook papers from Jen Hadfield. The photo is slightly washed out because I don't have an indirect lighting source at the moment.

And here is the fun sketch from Sketch Saturday. 

For some reason, I can't center the sketch. One of these days I'll spend some time learning more about formatting!

Getting "Red-y" For Christmas

Today I made a card for the  Jingle Belles  and Christmas Kickstart challenges, to make a card prominently featuring the color red. I loved coloring this silly little reindeer.

Materials used:

Reindeer from Unity Stamps.
Colored with Spectrum Noir markers.
Papers are Doodlebug milk & cookies.
Stitched around the white cardstock, added a Christmas bulb to cover where the stitching didn't quite match up and finished with a bit of twine.

Hello Spring!

Well, it might not be spring just yet but temps hit 72 F this weekend in my neck of the woods. It feels amazing but doesn't bode well for the water outlook in NoCal this year. 

Today I made a card based on the Cut it Up Challenge 194 Your Favorite Color. TBH, my favorite color varies depending on how it is used. I love green but I look ghastly wearing it. But I think every room in a home looks better with a plant, even faux, because green complements pretty much everything. 

I die-cut the card using Stephanie Barnard Sizzix Framelits and Jen Hadfield scrapbook papers. I fussy cut the flower and die-cut the Hero Arts Hello. 

Berry Merry Christmas!

Yep, I am on a roll. Two Christmas cards completed this year. I am determined to post all my cards on the card challenges I participate in, something that I am horrible at.

I used some Penny Black Festive & Frosty papers and this fun tag from my stash.

I stitched around the edges (using my Baby Lock Soprano-to the horror of my sewing instructor) and a bit of red ribbon. Piece of (fruit)cake.

The sketch is from 52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown. I'm planning to do a lot more of their challenges in 2020!

Happy New Year!

OK, I am going to post my challenge cards this year...I didn't make it past February last year, even though I made and mailed at least one card a week! Which is hugely a lot for me.

Here is my take on the Jingle Belles challenge to make a card using wrapping paper or gift tags. This year I wrapped my Christmas gifts using rolls of gorgeous paper from Target in black, gray and white, all with gold accents. We had a flocked tree in our front room and the packages looked so cool under the tree. 

I used the black/gold wrapping paper for the sky and the white/gold for the snow. I have no idea where I got the gold material that I used to die cut the Tim Holtz trees, but I will tell you it has a slick backing that neither glue nor tape runner would adhere to. Mini-glue dots (cut into quarters!) did the trick. Also discovered that stamping on wrapping paper makes a blurry mess. My first card sacrificed itself for the teaching moment. 

Congratulations to Stephanie and Lauren on Jingle Belles' 10th year and thank you for the inspiration! xo