Plaid and Silhouette

 Just Us Girls (JUGS!) prompt this week is plaid.  

Lawn Fawn plaid, Hero Arts sentiment, SU Just Jade ink, stash die cut and bling.  Here is the JUGS visual prompt:

Join us at Send a Smile 4 Kids on February 6 for our new challenge!

Christmas!

Hoping to spend more time participating in challenges.  They make me stretch my creativity.  I appreciate the time and energy that design teams put into the inspiration and posts.  

Love this Christmas card!  Can't you just hear this guy's snark!  Tim Holtz deer, Lawn Fawn and Martha Stewart snowflakes, SU sentiment.  Sharing with the Make The Cards Christmas theme challenge.  

Send A Smile 4 Kids - Christmas in July

 This month's challenge at SAS4Kids is Christmas in July.  I decided to make an easel card.  

The snowman disc is a removable ornament, and includes an attached string for hanging.  Sentiment from Clearly Defined, snowflakes cut from a Lawn Fawn die.  I think this will really brighten a child's day!

Come link up with us at SAS4Kids and show us how you celebrate Christmas in July!

Snowy Greetings

 The Paper Girls have a snowflake challenge going on.  Here are my flakes:

The patterned paper is from my hoarded stash of DCWV Winter Wonder,  The silver snowflakes were cut with Lawn Fawn Mini Snowflakes die.  I'm also linking up with the Jingle Belles.  Thanks to their challenges throughout the year, I have plenty of cards to use this Christmas!

Happy Hall-O-Ween!

One of the Double Trouble challenges is to Create A Scene.

Lawn Fawn raccoon (colored with regular pencils) and pumpkin (colored with Intense pencil).  I inked the background with Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxides.  The "stars" are a Judith stamp in silver.  

Christmas in (almost) July

I try to make Christmas cards all year so I am not even more crazy come December.  Here is one of my latest.  

The Momenta dies are not the easiest ones to line up.  The berries didn't work out so well, so I topped them off with some Stickles.  No mistakes, just an opportunity for Embellishment!  I based the card off of the CAS(e) this Sketch:

I was particularly inspired by Jen Mitchell's card!

A Bittersweet Announcement

Hi, everyone! It's the second Wednesday of a new month.... which means it's time for a new Words 2 Craft By Challenge. But, before we get to that, we have...

A Bittersweet Announcement

This month's challenge is our last Words 2 Craft By challenge... at least for now. As one of our I-Teamers said, all good things must come to an end.

Six years ago, Sybrina and I, along with a few crafty pals, decided to start the word-inspired challenge blog Words 2 Scrap By. Along the way we have been blessed to work with so many wonderfully talented and incredible generous crafters. Heartfelt thanks go to:

• Sybrina, W2CB co-founder and my partner-in-craft these past six years.
• Past and present team members who never failed to awe and inspire with their incredible interpretations: Annie, Bernadette, Celeste, Greta, Jennifer, Mary Anne, Marty, Penny, and Tina. 
• Peggy, who designed our banner and badges.
• All of our guest designers. Unfortunately, this senior brain of mine is incapable of remembering the names of all you wonderful designers. Fortunately, you know who you are.  :)
• Kim Hughes of Paper Smooches, who kindly sponsored several challenges.  
• Each and every one of you wonderful fellow crafters. Thank you all so very much for your support these six years!!!

Since this is the last challenge, we've decided to change up the awarding of prizes this time around. Instead of awarding a prize to a single challenge winner, we are going to randomly select three challenge entrants and three W2CB followers to receive $10 gift certificates to Paper Smooches.
This month's words come to us from Saint Francis of Assisi.

For it is in giving that we receive.

Thank you, everyone, for all of you encouragement and support!  You have given me so much!  Here is a gift that I am giving this holiday season.  I like to give something to my co-workers, but there are a lot of them, and I don't want to make anyone feel like they have to reciprocate.  

I used a tutorial I found HERE, and eos lip balm I found at Costco (9 for $10.99 - a steal!!!).  The plaid paper is from Lawn Fawn, accented with ribbon and jewels.  I am in love with this super simple paper purse.  I think it is a great way to present an inexpensive gift.  

All that glitters...

The Jingle Belles have a challenge to use metallics and/or glitter.  Since many of the cards that I make go to deployed military as encouragement or for them to send home, glitter is forbidden.  Glitter shows up on night vision, so I don't even allow it in my house!!  Metallics it is!

Here i my first try:

 Silver washi tape layered on silver mat, silver and white joy die cut.  OK, but I thought I would try again. 

I buy a lot of my metallics from Hollo Paper in Brunswick, OH, in 4x6.  Those dimensions leave a lot of strips left over.  I used matte silver and textured gold strips to make my background, and layered it on red and gold metallic mats.  LOVE!!!  Lawn Fawn joy die cut. 

Come join us at Words to Craft By for our Kindness challenge!!

Love is in the Air

I wanted to share my Valentine I made for my husband. 

 He loves shaker cards!  I am sharing this with The Color Throdown #350:

And The Male Room:

Love is from Lawn Fawn, the hearts are from a Spellbinder background die in silver, black glitter, and red foil.  Come play along with the Words 2 Craft By Kindness challenge!

Hugs to You

Simply Create Too has a Hearts challenge, and The Paper Craft Crew has a Tic Tac Toe challenge:

I went with the middle row: die cut, Valentine's, metallic:

The red base is a pretty metallic, Cascading Hearts die cut by Spellbinders, Lawn Fawn Hugs die.  Prefect Valentine for my brother!!  You have until February 6 to play along with our W2CB Hope challenge.

Shake It Up

The Paper Girls Challenge #164 it to Shake It Up.  

Pink parchment paper die cut with a Sizzix heart, tiny punched hearts, vellum window.  I layered the "love" three times using a Lawn Fawn die.  I really like this pink and grey combination for a love card!

Twofer Wreaths

The Twofer Card Challenge this round is "wreath".  

I used the Ellen Hutson Laurel Wreath die on both cards, cutting it twice for the "joy" card.  Really hard to get the dark and the bright card in the same photo/light.  The wood grain paper is American Crafts and sentiment is Recollections, the plaid and "joy" are Lawn Fawn. 

Fun Fall Plaid

I got some fun leaf dies this week, and couldn't wait to try one out!

Lawn Fawn (amazing) plaid paper and sentiment die cut.  I inlaid the leaf with gold and orange.  Love the color combo from The Color Throwdown, even if I don't have the cute animals in my version:

Leaves!

I love fall.  The crisp air, the pretty colors, the smell of bonfires in the air.  Hard for me to imagine, when it's is 90+ degrees and very humid in Ohio today!!

I used a Spellbinders die in positive and negative ways.  The stamped background is Winnie & Walter and the plaid paper is Lawn Fawn.  Not sure which one I like better!!

Sharing this with:

I used the positive and negative of the leaf die.  

Come play along with us at Words 2 Craft By, where our prompt comes from F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.

All Bundled Up for Christmas in July

The Jingle Belles challenge is All Bundled Up, holiday cards with LAYERS... three or more layers, to be specific.  When I hear layers, I think about triple time stamping my way - using dies.  

Shopping Our Stash also a Christmas challenge - perfect for hot and steamy July!!

Gold metallic paper, the poinsettia layers are from SU!  The old Recollections sentiment is heat embossed.  I used Lawn Fawn stitched dies to make the SEVEN layers!!  Come play along with us at Words 2 Craft By for our Flip Flipping Summer challenge (talk about opposites!!).

Silly Gumballs

The parts I need to fix my Big Kick won't arrive until later this week, so I am still limping along without die cutting or embossing.  During the Great Craft Room Clean Up of 2018, I came across these images from Lawn Fawn that I stamped and cut using my stamping buddy Diana's goodies. 

I colored the image with Derwent Inktense pencils, I used a leafing pen on the silver bits, and covered the gum balls with faces Glossy Accents.  Sharing with the Shopping Our Stash For the Kids challenge.  Be sure to join us for our current Words 2 Craft By "If You Can Read This" challenge!!

Watercolor Poinsettias

Poinsettias are so pretty for Christmas!  I stamped them on Strathemore paper, and colored using Distress Oxides and a water brush. 

 I layered them onto Lawn Fawn Perfect Plaid paper, and created a gate-fold card.  The Recollections sentiment I used has a gap in the "s" of Christmas that I didn't think looked right, so I filled it in using a dental pick.  Even my smallest brushes were too wide.

Sharing this with Jingle Belles challenge is "A Coloring We Will Go".   Come play along with us at Words 2 Craft By for our Blizzard of Kisses challenge!!

Christmas All Year 'Round

I am trying to make a few Christmas cards every week this year.  I hated that I sent some store bought cards last year. 

Love this Winter Wonder paper paired with the Lawn Fawn die cut and accented with three clear jewels.  Sharing this with Jingle Belles: Text Me and the Try Stampin' On Tuesday sketch challenge with the optional metal theme.  

Come play along with us Words 2 Craft By for our New Beginnings challenge through February 7!!

Hugs & Kisses

Try Stampin' on Tuesdays challenge is Tic Tac Toe: 

I chose diagonal, lower left to upper right, Lace, Heart, Pink:

My lace is a paper doily, but I think that counts, right?!?!  The hugs die is from Lawn Fawn, the (partial) sentiment is from Our Daily Bread.  The pink paper has a wonderful texture that doesn't show up in the photo.  I got a pop up light box for Christmas, but I am not convinced that it helps improve my photos...

Come play along with us at Words 2 Craft By for our Magical Beginnings Challenge!!!

Rawr Means I Love You in Dinosaur!

I am in love the Lawn Fawn mini sets.  With larger sets, I often like only one or two of the images.  The little sets are inexpensive and allow me to buy only the ones I want to use.

DCWV Kidosaurus papers, Fiskars texture plate crocodile embossing, Staz On Stone Grey ink.  I highlighted the little hearts with Glossy Accents.  Here's the inside:

I am sharing this with Shopping Our Stash Out with the Old and In with the New and the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge:

Come play along with us at Words 2 Craft By for our New Beginnings challenge!!!