Pawsitively Happy Valentine's Day Card

For this week's sketch challenge over at I {heart} sketches with a tWist on the FTHS bog, I chose a Valentine image from the set "Ali's Paper Hearts." This set also comes with a sweet girl holding a string of paper hearts with this adorable puppy beside her, but I chose to just use the sweet puppy for my card this time. The sentiment is from the same set which includes 3 different sentiments. You can find the set (and lots of other great digi sets!) at http://fromtheheartstamps.com/shop/

I used a 5x7 inch card base for this card, and the stitched squares I used to die cut my CTMH patterned papers are all from a Gina Marie Designs set. You can shop for her great dies (her stitched shape sets are only $10 each!) at http://wholesalecraftingsupplies.com. These dies cut well and are half the price (or less!) than the big name die companies. I'm sorry for those who visit my blog frequently, but since she is a friend of mine and owns a local Scrapbook Outlet store I like to frequent, I am planning to share the link to her site on any of my blog posts using her dies to help get her name out there.

For my digi, I sized the little dog up using my Silhouette Studio Design software and then added a pink digi background behind him. I then printed him out with the background and printed him out two more times onto matching CTMH papers so I could fussy cut him and the heart and do some paper piecing. I used glue tape to adhere everything but the little heart in his mouth which was adhered with foam squares.

I'm planning to enter this card in the following challenges:

I {heart} sketches with a tWist http://fromtheheartstamps.com/community/2016/01/25/i-heart-card-sketches-with-a-twist-136/

CAS on Sunday: Paper piecing

http://cleanandsimpleonsunday.blogspot.com

Friends of Speedy TV

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - W, 5E - Love is in the Air + Red

DL Art Challenge

http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/2016/01/dlart-thankful-thursday-challenge-173.html

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Pink and Main Birthday Card

A few months ago I won this darling "What a Hoot" stamp and die set from Pink and Main, and since their challenge this month is "Sparkle," I thought I would watercolor the images with some sparkling H2Os. Then I used a glitter cardstock A2 card base and cut out some sparkly stars and other embellishments from the "What a Hoot" die set that coordinates with this owl stamp set. I love puns, so these sentiments were perfect! If you'd like to check out their stamps and dies, go to their website at http://pinkandmain.com
I die cut the sentiments and the mat inside the card with Gina Marie Designs stitched ovals set. I added some more die cuts from the Pink and Main "What a Hoot" die set to the inside for some more sparkle.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Pink and Main Challenge
http://www.pinkandmainchallenges.blogspot.com
Share Joy Challenge W,C5 Sketch & CAS
Stamping Sensations - M, C6, 1E, must use stamping – January  Anything Goes with a die

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Popcorn Valentine Card

Did you know it was National Popcorn Day this past week? Yep! And over at the Outlawz Festive Fridays group, that's just one of the 4 themes you can choose from to make a card for something "festive." You could choose "Appreciate a Dragon Day," "Penguin Awareness Day," or "Appreciate a Squirrel Day," also. Lots of fun ideas to play with over there!
My mom commissions me to make her holiday cards, and since she's a big popcorn fan, I thought this Valentine card would be perfect for her to send out this year. The adorable girl is a digi stamp from Whimsie Doodles. I imported her to my Silhouette Design Studio software and did a trace of her so I could digitally color her. My mom sends out 100 Valentine cards, so I knew I wouldn't have time to hand color that many cards. I sized the digi the way I wanted it and did a print and cut. I also duplicated a few popcorn kernels and hearts and digitally colored those in and made a print and cut of them, too. The "popping in to say" sentiment is a clear stamp from Stamps of Life's "Words for Popcorn" set. It has lots of fun expressions and a few fun pieces of popcorn you can stamp.
This card is a 5x7 base. I sprayed it with some red Smooch Spritz spray to put some fun color on the front. Then I added the popcorn kernels and hearts I cut on my Silhouette to decorate the bottom of the card. I tied some yellow twine to the side, also.

For the inside, I continued with the movie/popcorn theme: (I made everything on the inside with my Silhouette)

Thanks for visiting, and may the Lord bless you in all you do today!
I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Great Impressions - M, 3E, SIO - January  Lovey Dovey (Valentine or Bird)

• Share Joy Challenge W,C5 Sketch & CAS
• DL ART Thursday Challenge 2W,2nd & 4th Thurs,3E #173 Valentine/Thank You (W1of 2) Monthy Challenge: Always Anything Goes
• Friends Of Speedy TV W,5E,C5 ANYTHING GOES
• Scribbles Designs Challenge (M,P15,3E,SIO)  #37 Have a Heart
• Tinker- Dream (M,P15) #37 Valentine
• Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - W, 5E - Love is in the Air + Red

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MHK Designs First Challenge

Have you heard about the new challenge that just started January 21st over at http://mhkdesignsbymynn.blogspot.com? Mynn Kitchen is a super talented designer for several stamp companies, and she's launched a line of digi papers and stamps of her own. Now she has a new challenge blog with a lovely color palette for her first challenge. You have until February 15 to enter, and you don't have to use a MHK Designs digi, but you'll probably want to because they are so awesome! Check them out here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MHKDesigns.
For this card, I picked out some barn wood cardstock that had some of the blues/teals and dark pink of the color palette in it. The inspiration photo also has some wood in it, so I felt this matched really well. The cardstock had some snowflakes, so I chose a winter digi to go with it. The image is from the set "Skating By" and the sentiment "Snowy days the best days of the year" is from her set "Sled Friends." I used the 2 snowflakes from that same set paired with the "cold days bring firelit nights" sentiment from the "Skating By" set on the inside.
I sized up the digi image to fit my WPlus9 "Sunshine Layers" rectangle die and added the sentiment to the top left corner. I wish now that I had chosen a larger size for the sentiment, but it's easy to read when you are holding the card, so that's what's important. I used some vintage cardstock with some of the dark pink from the color palette in it for the mat behind the image.
I also sized up the sentiment for the inside of the card and added the 2 digi snowflakes and printed everything out on some teal cardstock. I used Gina Marie Designs "Stitched Ovals" set for the inside of the card and made a larger mat for the sentiment from the same barn wood cardstock. May I just make a shameless plug for my friend Gina? She owns a Scrapbook Outlet store near me and has been designing clear stamps, embossing folders and dies for the past few years. Recently she's really added a lot to her line of dies and has all the stitched shape sets for only $10 each. You can buy from her directly at http://wholesalecraftingsupplies.com/products?keywords=Gina+Marie+designs, and she offers free shipping with a $50 order. These dies cut really well and are so reasonably priced you don't have to feel guilty about ordering several sets!
The other side of the barn wood cardstock is just lovely with snowflakes and wavy lines. I have had these beautiful teal 3D snowflake stickers for YEARS in my stash and was so delighted to see they were the right color and embellishment for this card! It was a large pack, so I still have a lot of them left and wonder how many years before I'll use the rest of them?!
I hope you'll join in Mynn's new challenge! I've listed this month's prize package below the color palette. Wouldn't you love some beautiful flowers and papers?!

Here's the color palette and inspiration photo:

This is the prize:

 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

MHK Designs Challenge

http://mhkdesignsbymynn.blogspot.com

House of Cards - M, cards (CAS, Classic, Cute, Vintage), C10 - (January) Embossing and/or Color Inspiration*

Share Joy Challenge W,C5 Sketch & CAS

Southern Ridge Trading Company  (M,P1,C10) Anything Winter
Stemplegarten (M,P5 E1,C8) #45 Winter Wonderland
Paper Shelter Challenge - W,3E, SIO - #233 Winter Sports
Friends of Speedy TV

Fishing Home Decor Piece

This week over at the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge our twist is Anything Goes! That's everyone's favorite, and I hope you'll play along with us this week!

I made something a little different this week. Instead of a card, I made a small piece of wall art. My husband and sons love to go fishing, and when I saw this fun fisherman digi by our sponsor Stitchy Bear, I could see him as part of a mixed media piece of home decor. To find this image and other great digis, be sure to visit their online store:

 

 Stitchy Bear

http://stitchybearstamps.com/shop/

I had a wooden box with four partitions left over from some acrylic embellishments I used, and I had been wanting to incorporate it into something rather than just throw it away. I decided it would make a good base for this piece. It needed some color, so I used Desert Clay and Guatamala Green Twinkling H2Os to paint it.

Once the paint dried, the fun began! I had already imported my digi to my Silhouette Design Studio software and sized him up how I wanted him to be. Then I printed him out and colored him up with Copic and MEXPY markers. I knew he would be the focal point, so I planned to put him in the top half of the piece.

I bought some netting from an outlet store and trimmed up some pieces in various colors to glue into the base using Aleene's Tacky Glue. I let that partially dry while I set about choosing some fun embellishments. I had a set of wooden fishing embellishments that have been in my stash for YEARS which I used here (don't you love it when you finally have the right project for those special items in your stash that have been taking up space for ages?) as well as a die cut of an anchor that I tied with twine. Then my husband gave me the go-ahead to use anything in his tackle box to add to the piece. He had a lot of strange-looking lures and worms, etc. but many of them were too brightly colored to work with this piece. There were still PLENTY of items to choose from, though! And he teases me about my obsession with craft dies! I've got nothing on him, ladies!

After choosing some fun "divers," hooks, worms and lures, I adhered everything down. Since I had been generous with the Tacky Glue and didn't wait until it was completely dry, I was able to get most of the items to stick to the base with just the glue already there. For the others, I brushed on a little more tacky glue and adhered them in place. I then strung some fishing line through the embellishments to add a little more fun to the piece.

 

 

 Here's a close-up picture of the top half:

 

Here's a closer look at the bottom half:

 

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Fairy Tale - 2W, 2E - No. 135 - (W2 of 2) - New technique, but no cards  (my new technique was paining with H20s on wood)

 Altered Eclectics (M,P1) Anything Goes

Anything but Cute Mixed Media Challenge (M, P5 No cute images, no 100% digital projects) #9 Ring out the Old, Bring in the New (while many of the items I used were old-and it felt good to finally use some of them!- the digi was new as well as the netting I bought for this project) 

 Crafts Galore Encore (M,P1,E3) Anything Goes

Digistamps 4 Joy (P1/15,SIO) #120 Anything Goes (Optional Twist = add handmade embellishment) 

 We Love 2 Create  - 2W, E1, SIO - #2 Anything Creative/ Mixed Media Goes (W1 of 2)

Rhedd's Creative Spirit (M,P1,E3) Anything Goes (Mixed Media Altered Art / Mixed Media ONLY

 

 

 

 

 

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Hope Wall Hanging

 

 

This project was such a joy to make! First off, this is one of my favorite scriptures, and it goes so well with the theme of "hope." Since with God all things are possible, I have hope that troubling events can be redeemed and turned into something God uses for my good and His glory. God's power can overcome any seemingly impossible situation.
A woman whose son I teach in my Bible Study Fellowship Level 3 class recently shared with me some of the hard things happening in her life right now. At first I was going to make her a card with this verse, but somewhere along the line it turned into a wall hanging. I'm hoping she'll put it somewhere where it constantly reminds her to hope in the Lord.
This project was also fun for me because it includes some very nice new dies I won as prizes during the Season's Giving blog hop. I won a prize package from Graciellie Chavez' blog that included a $20 gift certificate to CAS-ual Friday Stamps. The "Casual Trees" and "Hope" dies I used here came from that wonderful little store. I can't believe they shipped out my order the same day I made it! You should check them out! Michele the owner and designer is a sweetheart, and she donates a portion of the "Hope" die receipts to breast cancer research and awareness programs. Here's the link to go feed your die and stamp addiction! http://www.cas-ualfridaysstamps.com
The scripture and flower rubber stamps I used on the small stitched circles are from Our Daily Bread's "Be Joyful" stamp set. I stamped them onto the Bo Bunny card stock with Close to My Heart's Crystal Blue ink. I also distressed the edges of all the stitched circles and some of the Casual Trees dies with that same ink. Don't be fooled by the name "Casual Trees" for the dies. They could be used as trees on a smaller scale project, but they are the perfect size for some lovely foliage here. The stitched circles dies are made by Gina Marie Designs. I know Gina personally from her local Scrapbook Outlet store and am just thrilled for her success as a stamp and die designer.
Now for the great tip I saw when taking advantage of another one of the prizes from Gracie's blog hop prize package! Included in the prize package was a free class from Stamp Academy. At first I was afraid the classes were just for Stampin' Up crafters, but it turns out the tips and techniques work with other products, too. One tip I used here is to leave the little bits in your die when you cut out letters or words and use the negative. Then you just place a tiny glue dot on the bits of the letters you need and place the die back in the hole it cut. Simply poke the tiny paper bits onto the page and voilà, they're attached right where you need them! This worked like a charm with the tiny little bits in the "hope" die. I usually don't use the negative space with my word dies because of the problem of trying to adhere those teensy little insides of the letters, but now that I know this trick, I will probably be using them that way a lot more. Stamp Academy has some free videos you can check out and several classes to choose from at http://www.stampacademy.com. Cathy was the one who helped me find the class I'm currently taking, and she's amazingly kind. I really think the paper crafting community is the nicest group of people on the planet, don't you?
The design inspiration for this arrangement came from the first Viva La Verve sketch for January. I turned it on its side after trying it out both ways because I just preferred how it looked going this direction. I added a few buttons and a cream-colored lace bow to finish things off.
My adhesives for this project were glue tape, glue dots and foam squares. I glue taped the Bo Bunny paper to the back of the picture matting. I'm hoping it will be a real encouragement to the mom I mentioned earlier.

Here's a close up of the stamps and the word "hope" before I put the second die cut into the negative space. You can see the 3 tiny little bits of paper that were so easy to work with using that tip from Stamp Academy.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva La Verve Sketch Challenge
http://vlvsketches.blogspot.com

• Our Daily Bread Designs Challenge M,1E, SIO - #269 Something New, Something Old

• Tuesday Throwdown W- #278 - Anything Goes
  
  

  • Through The Craft Room Door W, 2E - Always Anything Goes

  
  
• Fairy Tale - 2W, 2E - No. 135 - (W2 of 2) - New technique, but no cards (new technique was keeping the paper bits in the die and using a glue dot of the back of them the putting the die back in place and poking the paper bits onto the place they needed to go in the die cut)
• Retarte 2W, E3 - #69 - Anything Goes (Week 1)
• Lemon Shortbread 2W, E3, no digital projects Always Anything Goes (Week 2)

• Fan-Tastic Tuesday - W, E4, Must Be Square or Rectangular #121 Anything Goes with a twist: Use Some Flowers
• Digi Choosday Challenge -W,E2, - #4 - In Bloom
• Creative Card Crew 2W - #105 Anything Goes (week 1)
• Crafty Sentiment Designs W, 1E, SIO - Anything Goes
  • Artistic Inspirations - 2W, E3 - (Week 2) Anything Goes / Thank You
  • Crafting from the Heart - W, E3, F - Always Anything Goes
  • Craft Your Passion - W, E3 - Always Anything Goes
  • MFP Stamps Challenge http://mfpstampshop.blogspot.com Mostly Blue
  • Love to Scrap - 2W, 3E, F, digi or real stamping - (Week 2) Anything Goes
  • Melonheadz Friends Challenge - 2W, 2E, SIO - (Week 2) Cool Colors
  • My Besties UK Challenge - M, SIO, E3 if Sherri Baldy product E1 if not - (January) Anything Goes & Circles
  • Not Just Cards - M, F - (January) Always Anything Goes
  • Our Crafty Corner - M, First Monday, E3 - (January) Always Anything Goes
  • Vintage Stamping Challenges/Flonz Craft - M, 3E, Must Stamp, does not have to be vintage - (January) New Stash (new dies)
  • The Paper Nest Dolls Challenge - M, E2, SIO - (January) Always Anything Goes
  • Where the HeART is - M, 1st Monday of M, E3 - (January) Anything Goes
  • 613 Avenue Create - W - #160 Anything goes with twist: No Twist This Week!
  • Amusing - W, 2E, no digi - Shades Of Blue
  • Come and Get It - W, Unlimited - Round Things
  
  
  • Penny Black and More – M, no digis, 3E – January - One for the Girls
  • Artistic Stampers (M,P1) Anything Goes

• We Love 2 Create - 2W, E1, SIO - #2 Anything Creative/ Mixed Media Goes (W1 of 2)
• Card and Scrap (2W, P1/15) #110 Blue and White

Crafts and Me (M, P1, SIO) Anything Goes

• Sparkles Forum Challenges (M,P15,3E) #76 Monochromatic Blues

• The Sisters of Craft (M,P1) Anything Goes

• Your Scrapbook Place (M,P1,E3) Anything Goes

• Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog -M, 3rd Wed, SIO,E3 - #19 Color Challenge (Week 1 of 4)

• Crafty Friends Challenge 2W,(W2) - anything goes

• One Crazy Stamper (M,P1,E5) Anything Goes (no digital images allowed)

• Open-Minded Challenges (M,P10,3E) #1 Something New (new dies)

• Paper Creator's Crafts (M,3E) #43 Anything Goes

• Petal Lu (M, P15) #9 Anything Goes

• Noor! Designs UK (M,P1) #14 Anything Goes

• Just Keep On Crafting (M, P1) Anything Goes

• Crafts Galore Encore (M,P1,E3) Anything Goes
  
  

• Ching-chou Kuik Digital Stamps (M, P1, E3, SIO) Use something new (new dies)

  
  

  
  

  • • Digistamps 4 Joy (P1/15,SIO) #120 Anything Goes (Optional Twist = add handmade embellishment)

    Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper (M,P1) Anything goes with Patterned Paper

    
    

    • Die Cut Divas (M,P1,E4) NEW Technique, Die, Stamp, Colors (new dies and new technique for getting the little bits put in the right spots for negative die cuts)
      
      
      

  
  

• Craft for the Craic - M, 5E (First Friday of the month) - January - January Blues
• The Stamping Boutique - 2W, (2nd & 4th Friday) SIO - No.75 - (W1 of 2) - Use Die Cuts/Punches
• Stempelsonnen Challenge - 2W, 3E, stamp as main focus - No.158 - (W2 of 2) - Always Anything Goes
• Simply Papercraft - 2W, E3 - No. 21 (W2 of 2) - Anything Goes
• Simply Create Too - 2W - No.101 - (W1 of 2) - Something New (new dies)
• QKR Stampede – W, 4E, SIO – No. 175 - I'm Feeling Blue
• Creative Fingers - 2W , 3E, No totally digital projects - No.101 - (W1 of 2) Anything Goes
• Crafting-With-Friends - 2W, 3E - (W2 of 2) Anything Goes

• Crafty Girls Creations 2W,3E Always Anything Goes

• Crafting With An Attitude M,1st Thurs,3E #12 Anything Goes

• Aud Sentiments Challenge 2W,E5 #147 Anything Goes + A DT Call (W1 of 2)
• YNS Challenges - 2W , SIR (Top Pick) SIO, (Winner and Stand out) - No.31 - (W1 of 2) - Sketch* and Inspirational Photo* use either the sketch or the photo or use both

• DL ART Thursday Challenge 2W,2nd & 4th Thurs,3E #172 Penguin or Black Yellow & White (W2 of 2) Monthy Challenge: Always Anything Goes
• Little Miss Muffet Challenges 2W,1E,SIO #129 Anything Goes (tab at top)(W2 of 2)
• Creative Moments - 2W, 3E - #85 Always Anything Goes/ optional twist Let It Snow (Week 1 of 2)
• DoubleClick Skittles - 2W, E1, F - #40 Anything Goes (Week 1 of 2)
• Inspiration Destination - W, F- #69 Always Anything Goes

• The Crafty Addicts M, 1st Wednesday of M, E #7 - Anything Goes/ Elegance
• WordArt Wednesdays - W,5E , scriptural word art freebie offered each week - #218 - Anything Goes Challenge Runs 2 Weeks
• Stamping Sensations - M, 3E, must use stamping – January  Anything Goes with a die
• We Love Vintage Challenge (2W,P3/18,E2,Only Vintage)  Anything Goes with Lace

 House of Cards - M, cards (CAS, Classic, Cute, Vintage), C10 - (January) Embossing and/or Color Inspiration*

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