Dragonflies for Valentines

Hello & welcome! Today I wanted to share a card I made for a new challenge blog called Paper Dragonfly Creative Challenges and another new to me challenge: Modsquad Challenge:

Today's challenge is to make a Winter Dragonfly and a Valentine's Day card. In my mind, living in the South, one of the holidays in "winter" is Valentine's Day. So a Wintery Dragonfly Valentine's card!

I have had this CAS-UAL Friday Stamps set in my stash for a while now called Everyday Dragonflies and coordinating dies and I thought it was perfect for the challenge. And the good news is they both are about 1/2 off now on clearance! I didn't use a sentiment from the stamp set, but there are so many good ones in it:

I began with a piece of Bristol Smooth cardstock and ink blended 3 Distress Inks: Festive Berries, Candied Apple and Picked Raspberry using Scrapbook.com's foam blending tools. Then using a Jillian Vance Cover Background that I have had also for a long time (the link is to a very similar one) I die cut with my Big Shot the cool background. Splattered some Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine (I believe discontinued) for interest and movement.

Next, I stamped the dragonflies with Altenew Obsidian Black Ink (my favorite!) onto white cardstock and sprinkled with Altenew's Crisp Clear Embossing Powder and heat set. Filled in the heart bodies with a gold metallic pen and die cut the shape out of gold glitter cardstock. The sentiment is from a retired MFT Stamps set called All Heart. I thought is was perfect for the theme. White heat embossing on Lawn Fawn Licorice Black Cardstock is one my favorite ways to finish a card.  Lawn Fawn is one of the best cardstock brands for heat embossing.

Finished the inside with a simple sentiment and 3 gold glitter hearts.

The inside is all retired products, too! Love getting use out of what I've purchased.

Thank you readers for stopping by and to the 2 challenges for their inspiration!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Sweet Christmas

Christmas in January? Why not? If you make Christmas Cards all year long, it's will be a no stress December when it comes time to mail them. Jingle Belles Challenge has a Getting Fit Challenge for 2022:

"Since the New Year often brings resolutions to eat less sugar and get fit, and paper sweets have no calories, we're asking you to add candy, cookies, cake or any other favorite holiday sweet to your cards for the next Jingle Belles prompt."

You know I like to begin with a sketch and I loved this vertical sketch from the Paper Craft Crew Sketch Challenge:

I used Taylored Expressions' Stencil Masks in both Squares and Circles to keep with the sketch theme. I ink blended with my Scrapbook.com Foam Blending Tools using Ranger Distress Ink Kitsch Flamingo and for the square and for the circle Simon Hurley Over the Moon ink.

The images are from Lawn Fawn's A Creature Was Stirring Stamp Set & Coordinating Dies:

This was really a fun set to to color and die cut. I used my various alcohol markers in my stash to color - Altenew, Spectrum Noir and Copics. Die cut all the little images (many more than I used here) out while I was watching TV with hubby using my Altenew Mini Blossom Die Cutting Machine:

Why a small die cutting machine when I have a Big Shot? A couple of reasons: one it is very portable, so I can travel with it, even it that means from upstairs to downstairs in our home! That means I can still be with the family while crafting. In that same theme I can use it right on my work station...the Big Shot I have over in another part of my craft room. The Altenew mini machine cuts 2" wide piece of paper and goes through like a breeze! 

For "Bells and Whistles" I used Trinity Stamps Glass Slipper Shimmery Glossy Transparent Confetti on the Sweet Wishes card. Something a little subtle so they don't distract from the sweet images.

Here is a second card I made and I have just the friend in mind for it! She always brings us an assortment of handmade cookies at Christmas, so this will be perfect for her:

The sentiments come from a retired set by Power Poppy called Frosted Gingerbread. I did see that Power Poppy has it available in a digital stamp, but does not include all the sentiments that the stamp set did.

Thank you to Jingle Belles and Paper Craft Crew Challenges for the inspiration and the start of my 2022 Christmas Cards!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Brushstroke Flowers 2 Ways

Hi my friends! I've created 2 cards based on this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, Tic Tac Toe Challenge and combining with NBUS Challenge (Never Before Used Schtuff!) because I have never used this die set before.

I went from corner to corner with coloring, embossing and die cut:

I started with this Sizzix Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies called Brushstroke Flowers 2:

I wanted to watercolor all the die cuts, so I ran all the dies through my Sizzix Big Shot with Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Paper.  The Sympathy Card I watercolored with my watercolor paints in my stash: Holbein & Winsor & Newton. For the Birthday Card I used my pan favorite, The Stamp Market 24 Pan Color Crush Watercolor Palette:

I love the bright colors!

For the Birthday Card I used a square of white cardstock to mimic the sketch and ran it through a Taylored Expressions' Embossing Folder, called Dotted Lattice. Here is a of it picture so you can see the delicate dots:

To put the flowers together I used Bearly Art Glue and some pop dots. 

One card is bright and cheery and one card has more of a vintage feel:

If you look closely large center flower on The Sympathy Card you can see I stamped it with the Romantic Script Background from MFT Stamps with The Stamp Market mini Navy Ink Cube.

Here is the Romantic Script Background stamp which if you read it - it's from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen!

I am partial to bright and colorful cards, but I do give vintage a try from time to time. Which do you prefer?

Thanks for joining me today and I would also like to submit to the following challenges:

1) Happy Little Stampers

2) Watercooler Wednesday WWC333:

3) 613 Avenue Creates Challenge:

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

I Love You

Hi friends and welcome back to another fun challenge: Fusion Card Challenge - I just went with the sketch for my card.

I started with Scrapbook.com's Little Boxes Stencil ink blended with Distress Ink Black Soot. I taped off an area with yellow artist tape to mimic the sketch.

The rest was just fun! I used a die from a Stampin' Up! set in my stash out of red paper and layered it over the little black checks.  I recently purchased a stamp & die set from Taylored Expressions called Turnip the Beet. It is retired, but I so enjoy the little veggie characters and the punny sentiments. I think I'll have more fun making all the cards with them!

There is Glossy Accents on the tomatoes which you can see in this picture. Gives nice shiny dimension!

I'd also like to submit to NBUS Challenge, for I have never used this Taylored Expressions set before:

Well, that's it for today. Thank you to Fusion Challenge and NBUS Challenge for the inspiration and to you friends, for visiting today.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Happy Valentine's Day

Greetings, friends! I have been busy making Valentine's Cards for my daughter's 3 shops and I needed some new inspiration. I usually check out the current challenges to find it and the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #455 was the perfect jumping off point!

I am also submitting to CCEE2201- New and NBUS Challenge #34 for I have had a set of stamps which I've never used from SugarPea Designs. It was from their Caring Hearts Special Release 2016 called Caring Critters. I don't know why I've never used it. It has the cutest characters- a monkey, a puppy, a lion and a moose.

Today's post will feature the monkey but I made similar cards with all the little animals.

I started with MFT Stamps' Lots of Heart Stencil and ink blended Distress Inks through it with my Scrapbook.com Foam Blending Tools. I also die cut a piece of Hero Arts 100# Dove White card stock with a Spellbinder Die Rings Around the Circle:

I stamped the little monkey with Memento Black Ink which is a great black ink for use with alcohol markers.

The inside of the card has a great sentiment from the Scrapbook.com All Heart set of 7 stamps. I've used this set many times in making the Valentine's Day cards.

One more challenge to enter called Time Out Challenges - In Love!

A simple card, but one that I love. I want to thank the challenges for their inspiration and to you my friends, for stopping by today!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.