Snowtime like the present...

So excited that I didn't toss the old Christmas gift wrap since it came in handy for the Jingle Belles challenge to make a card using wrapping paper. Double excited because this paper is also perfect for the Winter Wonderland challenge to make a card featuring snow. TRIPLE excited because this also works well with Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge to use something upcycled in the card. Sweet! 

The three cute polar bears are cut from a section of gift wrap that was a freebie from the World Wildlife Fund. The red snowflake base is scrapbook paper. I stitched around the edges and added some more snowflakes made on the Cricut and embellished with a little bling. 

Second week of 2019 and 2 cards in the bucket!

Scrapping in the New Year!

One of my resolutions for 2019 is to complete a baby scrapbook for my adult son and give it to him next Christmas. I bought a 50 page scrapbook so I will need to complete two pages a week. Yikes! To keep myself on track, I plan to submit one page to a scrapbook challenge every week. So today I am submitting for the first time to two scrapbook challenges!

For my first page I used this cool layout from The Studio Challenge.

I also used the prompt from Lasting Memories Layout Challenges, to make a page using a minimum of 3 patterned papers. I used four here. 

One down, 99 to go. I can do this! 

No time like the Presents!

New Year's resolution #1 is to enter two challenges a week in 2019! 

Here's #1 for week 1. The Jingle Belles challenge is to make a card using Christmas wrapping paper. I almost tossed this paper right before Christmas (resolution #2 - get rid of stuff I can't find a use for). The paper featuring birds came from the World Wildlife Federation. I had to fill in a bit of the white space and went with stuff I had on hand (resolution #3 - use up stuff I have on hand). 

I am also submitting this to Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge, Anything goes.

Sketchivus for the Rest of Us...

It is so hot and smoky here in N. Cal that it's hard to imagine it will ever be cold again. But Christmas will be here before you know it and I have less than 10 cards made! Today I made a card based on the sketch currently featured on the Jingle Belles blog Sketching in a Winter Wonderland. 

The lovely and talented (and traveling buddy extraordinaire) Stephanie created this sketch:

I made a birthday card yesterday using these botanical papers so they were sitting out on my table just daring me to make a card from them. So I did. Take that botanical papers! The sentiment has been in my stash for several years and I'm glad to finally put it to use. It's shiny so it didn't photograph that well.

I am also submitting this to Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge: Anything goes, as long as it's Christmas. 

Jingle on...

Less than 200 days til Christmas and I'm way behind on Christmas cards so today I made a card based on the Jingle Belles challenge, to make a card featuring bells. The sentiment and most of the papers are from a coordinating scrapbook paper set. I think I'm up to 7 cards.

Summertime means graduations and tomatoes

I am on a roll, two cards in two days. Yay me! I found the perfect sketch  for a graduation card I need for this weekend, Sketch Saturday #515. Here's the sketch:

For my card, I used two types of miscellaneous patterned paper, two types of ribbon, and a few embellishments. I cut the cap and diploma using Cricut Design Center. Unfortunately, the colors look a little muddy in the photo but I'm pretty happy with it. 

I'm also entering the following challenges:

Always Fun Challenges where the theme is Graduation, perfect!

Crafty Hazelnut Patterned Paper Challenge

Shopping our Stash Graduation or Congrats

And now if you made this far, feast your eyes on the coup de grace, the harbinger of summer...my first almost ripe Early Girl tomato.  I love love love sandwiches of all kinds and few things me happier that a REAL tomato on my sandwich. You're welcome. 

Oh tie a piece of twine around the Christmas card...

Finally a couple of Christmas cards, based on the Jingle Belles card challenge, to make a Christmas card using ribbon, string, twine, lace, dental floss, shoe strings...you get the idea. I made two using the Tim Holtz Snow Globe dies. 

It might not be very noticeable but the first card uses subtly patterned paper for everything except the snowy roofs and mountain tops.

For the second card, I water colored the globe and then die-cut all the pieces using different colors of Kraft-core paper, and roughed them up with a nail file.

Now I'm up to six Christmas cards. Hmm.

I am also submitting this to Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge, this week's challenge is Anything Goes as Long as it's Christmas.