Cardz 4 Guyz #341 - Fun Folds

Here's how I added the patterned
paper to the folded card.

It may sound crazy, but this card just kind of made itself in a way. When I first saw this challenge over at Cards 4 Guyz, I thought "I don't want to make a fun fold card. I'm not really that good at them." Then I was walking by my craft desk and thought, "give something a try." So I grabbed a sheet of 8.5 x 11 card stock and scored it 3" on each side. Then I measured 4.5" down and marked that point. Then I cut the sides.

I was thinking that the end result would be some sort of triangle, but it looked just like a shirt to me, so I ran with it. I added Stampin' Up!'s True Gentleman DSP and hand cut it just smaller than the place on the front. I hand measured and cut the two white collars and glued them down. Then inside the card I placed the paper going vertically. I knew I wanted to add a tag to make the greeting so I created my own. (See below to print one for yourself too.)

Choosing the buttons was difficult. It's
amazing how many look similar at first
but are actually a bit different from one another.

Looking at shirt tags online, I realized that most of them are on a vertical yoke that goes across the top, so I imitated that aspect of the men's shirt too. I printed out the tag at about 2.5" wide and sized the XXL tag accordingly. When I cut out the XXL tag, I folded it and taped it on, giving it a more authentic look.

The buttons are vintage from my collection.

Here's the card standing up. You can see the folds on each side.

Here's the pattern.

There's plenty of room to write inside the card too.

Here's the tag. I sized this 2.5" wide and printed it out.

The little XXL tag makes such a cute addition. You'll know how to size this according to the size on the larger tag. Be sure to allow enough room to fold it and tuck it under the big tag.

Well that's my take on the fun fold guy card! I had a blast doing this too. Thanks so much to everyone over at Cardz 4 Guyz for helping me make another great card that I would have never made without your inspiration! And thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Shopping Our Stash #516 (Mostly Green!)

Today's card is made just for Challenge #516 over at Shopping Our Stash. The theme is "Mostly Green." Now green is one of my favorite colors, just after brown and before coral, so I really enjoyed this challenge. However I usually don't use this much green on one card, but I went all out with this one. I did pop in a little orange for contrast, but it's still mostly green!

 Here's my supply list:

• Stampin' Up! Patterned Paper
• SU! Cactus Cuties Stamp Set
• 
  SU! Amazing You (sentiment)
• Variety of Green Inks from SU! & Memento
• Authentique Ginger Snap Patterned Paper
• Memento Potter's Clay Ink
• Memento Morocco Ink
• Memento Tangelo Ink

I'm so pleased with the finished product! And once again, I would have never thought of this on my own. I'm so thankful to everyone over at Shopping Our Stash for inspiring me to make a cute card using stuff that I already have on hand! Be sure to check out their site it you haven't already and play along!

Retro Rubber Challenge #225 - Tic, Tac, Toe!

I had such a good time making this card this afternoon. The Tic, Tac, Toe Board over at Retro Rubber Challenge this time (#rrcb225) has so many fun spaces on it, but when I first saw it I knew right away that I wanted to make a flower basket card.

I chose to go diagonally starting at the top left with a Shaped Card, Embossing and Floral.

Instead of putting a sentiment on it, for now I'm leaving it plain. The idea was to make an Easter basket card, but to me it looks more spring like, and I may actually make a birthday card out of it. My Mom's birthday is the 28th of next month, and it will be perfect for her because there are a few imperfections in this one. (More about that below.)

First, my supply list is:

• Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Posies (2020)
• Memento Lilac Posies Ink
• SU! Rich Razzleberry Ink
• SU! Pineapple Punch Ink
• SU! Cinnamon Cider Ink
• SU! Seaside Spray Ink
• SU! Island Indigo Ink
• SU! Parakeet Party Ink
• SU! Cucumber Crush Ink
• SU! Basket Embossing Folder

After fussy-cutting out all the flowers and leaves, I mounted all of this on an A2 card base and glued everything down. That's where I could have done a better job. First of all, I used Elmer's glue. I have so much of it that I try to stretch my stamping supplies a little with it when I think it won't matter too much. I found out why it's important to use a better quality glue. If you look closely at the picture below, you can see that the Elmer's glue made some of the dots of ink run a little.

Good quality glue does matter!

You can see on the large violet flower that the dots aren't as sharp as on the violet flower in the back.

The next thing that I could have improved upon was the glueing process. I was able to successfully glue everything down, but the back of the card could use some improving. I think I could trace the whole thing and cut it a little smaller then glue that on the inside of the card.

Also, some of the glue ran out, damaging the card base a little. To remedy this I should have glued the flowers on while the card was open, not closed. And putting down wax or parchment paper would probably have prevented some of the damage as well.

Anyway, I'm learning, even after all these years. And despite all this, I really like the card. And I have just the person to give it to: Mom. My Mom loves all my cards no matter what, and with her birthday right around the corner she will no doubt be delighted.

Thanks for stopping by today, and be sure to check out the cool Tic, Tac, Toe Challenge that's going on over at Retro Rubber right now. It's a great one with lots of possibilities!

Ugh, the back of the card could use some improving. Some old stamping
is visible and some glue damage shows. Next time will be better!

Simply Clean & Simple with Pink

You know those Facebook posts that begin with "if not allowed please delete?" That's how I feel about this card.

I made it especially for the Simply Clean & Simple February 2024 Challenge. It's good for me to participate in challenges like this because I feel sooooo uncomfortable with Clean & Simple Cards. Others seem to create C&S cards that look so nice, but I feel like mine just don't look good!

With this one, I feel like it may be a little "not clean enough" for this challenge, but it still looks really plain to me. But since I made it especially for this challenge, I'll go ahead and enter it.

My supply list is:

• Stampin' Up! Art Gallery Stamp Set
• SU! Parakeet Party Card Stock & Ink

  

  This month's challenge was an "anything
  goes" challenge with pink as an option.

• SU! Bubble Bath Ink
• SU! Polished Pink Ink
• Papertrey Hibiscus Burst Card Stock
• Misc. Mini Rhinestones

Well, that's it for this card. It was so hard not to add some lace or twine on this one. I also wanted to put larger pink rhinestones on it, but in keeping with the simple theme I chose small clear ones, but I do think that it's a pretty card. I want to continue to challenge myself when it comes to the Clean & Simple technique, so Lord willing I'll be back again next month and give it another try.

Even if I seem a little grumpy about this one, I sincerely want to say that I am very thankful to Darlene and Diane and everyone else over at Simple Clean & Simple for giving me another opportunity to stretch myself creatively. I truly appreciate your challenge and all you do!

Try A Sketch on Tuesday #641

I feel really ready for spring. It's going to be Easter about a month and after that we're sliding right into summer. Because of that, it felt only right to make this bright and cheery card for Try A Sketch on Tuesday's Challenge #641.  

The card started with a 110# white card stock base and then added some of my favorite stamping sets and techniques.

Here's my complete supply list:

• 
  White Card Stock
  
• Illustrate Faith Patterned Paper
• Stampin' Up! Betsy's Blossoms Stamp Set
• SU! Biggest Wish Stamp Set
• SU! Pineapple Punch Ink
• SU! Marina Mist Ink
• SU! Mango Medley Ink
• SU! Cucumber Crush Ink
• Brads from Craftwork Cards

I hadn't planned on adding the brads, but after finishing the card I wished I had brought down the flowers and bird a bit. I could have just trimmed the card, but it's going to fit perfectly into a clear envelope that I already have. Plus it's big size seems to set off the large sentiment at the top.

It was really fun making this card! Thanks to everyone over at Try A Sketch on Tuesday for the inspiration today. And thanks for stopping by my blog and have a wonderful day!

He Is Risen Printable Card

With its circular shape, the design of this card is meant to resemble the empty tomb of Jesus. And hopefully the sentiment will encourage the person who gets this Easter card as well.

After printing out the design, I mounted it on black card stock, then kraft card stock and then on a pale pink card base. The black twine is from Michaels. I just happened to have some A2 kraft envelopes that matches perfectly too.

Here's the free digi. As always:

1. Snag it to your desktop or photos.
2. Put it in a Word or Page Document.
3. Resize it to the size card you want to make.
4. Print it out, either at home or at a copy center. 

I hope you enjoy the freebie! Thanks for stopping by my blog today and have a wonderful day!

12 Quick & Easy Easter Cards

I recently fell in love with a pre-printed sheet of Easter images from Colorplay. It's a fun sheet that has 12 images that are perfect for making a bunch of Easter cards fast. 

Here's are the designs.

In just around 3 hours I was able to create these 12 cards. It was quick but a lot of fun. Putting together the
colors and adding a few embellishments satisfied my creative juices, but there wasn't a whole lot of deep thinking to make these. I simply chose a few colors that matched well and stuck with those. For example, Stampin' Up!'s Rich Razzleberry was perfect for most of the cards that contained purple, but I used Gorgeous Grape too. And SU!'s Parakeet Party, Coastal Cabana and  Island Indigo were big ones that matched well also.

There were some images that I trimmed more than others, and in the case with the bottom left card, I totally trimmed off the "First Communion" saying that went with that cross.

It was really great to be able to make so many adorable cards in such a short period of time. It's my goal to make 60 Easter cards this year and time is running out, so this was a good jump start!

Sunny Bunny Easter Card Trio

Here's a sweet trio of Easter Cards that are perfect for any bunny on your list! Each image is printed out and then I embellished them using patterned paper, card stock, twines, brads and rhinestones. 

One thing I really like to do when designing Easter cards is to incorporate both Christian and secular elements. So often Easter cards are one or the other. I appreciate the traditional bunnies and eggs, but certainly don't want to forget the true meaning of Easter. Both elements are captured in these cards.

Here's the free digi. As always:

1. Snag it to your desktop or photos.
2. Put it in a Word or Page Document.
3. Resize it to the size card you want to make.
4. Print it out, either at home or at a copy center. 

I hope you enjoy the freebie! Thanks for stopping by my blog today and have a wonderful day!

Life Would Stink

Here's a sweet card that would be perfect for a young person. I'm sending this one to my daughter in North Carolina today. She likes cute drawings that have a younger feel, and I'm pretty sure she'll love this guy. But the most important thing is that she knows that life would really stink without her.

I made this card using the digital image below. It was printed at my local FedEx store, but you can certainly print it at home too. I framed the image on white card stock, then mounted it on black card stock that has a gray border on the top and bottom.

Here's the free digi. As always:

1. Snag it to your desktop or photos.
2. Put it in a Word or Page Document.
3. Resize it to the size card you want to make.
4. Print it out, either at home or at a copy center. 

I hope you enjoy the freebie! Thanks for stopping by my blog today and have a wonderful day!

Easter Cards 1 & 2

Here are two Easter cards in muted spring colors. The images were generated using Bing AI (good job on their part!) and enhanced by me afterwards.

These two will go a long way in helping me get to my personal goal of 65 Easter cards this year.

If you like the images, feel free to use them below for your own personal use!

Here are the free digis. As always:

1. Snag it to your desktop or photos.
2. Put it in a Word or Page Document.
3. Resize it to the size card you want to make.
4. Print it out, either at home or at a copy center. 

I hope you enjoy the freebie! Thanks for stopping by my blog today and have a wonderful day!

My First Crochet Virus Shawl

I've been crocheting for quite some time now, but up until this project, all my pieces have been on the simple side. It was at my monthly crochet group that I saw someone creating this beautiful pattern. She was kind enough to send me not only the printed pattern, but a YouTube video on how to stitch it. The original video proved too confusing for my first virus shawl, so I found THIS ONE, which was stitched in the round, rather than as a triangular shaped shawl.

I also started this with some yarn that was too fuzzy and slippery. So I went to the store and looked for yarn that was more "sturdy." I settled on Caron Cotton Cakes Yarn in the color "Seashell." It's actually 50% cotton and 50% acrylic, which is exactly what I was looking for, even better actually.

This yarn isn't a fuzzy-ish yarn that looks like it would pill easily. In fact, it almost has more of a string-like quality to it. It drapes beautifully, as it isn't stiff at all. The color choices are stunning too.

I liked this finished project so much that I decided to keep it on display in my living room rather than give it away. It's one that I will definitely be making again.

Alison's video is fairly easy to follow, but I must say that it really took a lot of watching the video over and over again before the pattern got ingrained in my mind. Counting is the most important part of this one, but I like the fact that I can count in sets of 10 (or 20 on the corners). I find it much easier than counting a long row of say 50 or 100 individual stitches across.

Here are pictures of the labels for the Caron Cotton Cakes. I used two cakes in total for this project. The finished size is about 40 inches.

These were purchased at Michael's. You can usually get a pretty good price there. Right now they're offering a BOGO 1/2 off, which at $12.99 a skein puts the total project at just under $20.00.

Like I said, I highly recommend Alison's video, but follow it carefully and watch it a lot. It was easy to get off-track with this one. I'm looking forward to making this one again too.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today and I hope you have a great and creative day!

Shopping Our Stash #515 - Faces!

Today's card is a perfect combination of just what I needed to make and just what a challenge called for! Over at Shopping Our Stash their challenge is to use a human face on a card. And when my son needed a birthday card for a friend at work I knew just the stamp that I wanted to use. My Favorite Things has a stamp set called Sweet Birthday Wishes. She's my go-to when I want a cute birthday card for a younger girl. Well, this girl is probably 20, but when you're 61, she's younger!

Anyway, instead of using the sentiment in the MFT set, I used a birthday greeting from Stampendous called Spanish Messages. His friend recently arrived from Mexico and I wanted to wish her well in her native language. It's a set that I bought years ago and it always comes in handy at just the right time.

It seems like I had at least 20 different Copics out on the table as I colored her in. It's often difficult to find just the right combination. In fact, when I was done with her dress, it seemed to match her skin a little too much, but by choosing the right paper from Stampin' Up! for the background, it all fell into place. I framed it in Stampin' Up!'s Chocolate Chips card stock and tied it up with a ribbon from my stash.

This was a fun challenge and I'm grateful to share it over at Shopping Our Stash and to have a cute card to pass on!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a dia maravilloso (wonderful day)!

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #240

Today's Tic Tac Toe Challenge #240 caught my attention because the ver first row has three of my favorite elements on it: Enamel Dots, Kraft Paper and the word Love!

I did this design a few years ago but revisited it for this challenge. Using an Inkadinkadoo Wood Mount Stamp I stamped a heart, colored it with Copics, fussy cut it out and used it as the letter "V" in the word LOVE.

The rest of the letters are from Stampin' Up!'s Big Letters Stamps and Dies. The ink I used is actually Polished Pink. The Kraft Paper is from Michaels. There's also a piece of latticed pre-cut die shape that's from David Tutera. It matched the Michael's card stock perfectly. I'm pretty sure that the enamel dots came from Hobby Lobby.

This is such a fun challenge for this time of year. Thanks to everyone over at Tic Tac Toe for creating this fun card, and thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Word Power Challenge #2

Today I needed to make a "thank you" card for a friend at church who gave me a crimper. Remember those? Before embossing folders, crimpers were a popular way to give texture to your card stock. This woman has blessed me with lots of little things because she knows I love to craft, and it's high time I sent her a card thanking her!

Wanting to participate again in the Word Power Challenge #2, I crafted this card with a big "wonderful" just for her. Of course I had to use the crimper in the project, which I did on the plum colored paper.

Here's my complete supply list:

• Fiskars Paper Crimper
  
• Stampin' Up! You're Wonderful Stamp Set
• SU! Highland Heather Ink
• SU! Gorgeous Grape Ink
• Kaisercraft Lilac Mist Patterned Paper
• Copics RV00, B23 & B 21
• DMC Floss E5200
• Plum Card Stock (Michaels)
• Clear Rhinestones (Michaels)

Here's the crimper! It's a big one too!

I'm so thankful for sweet friends who think of me when they're going through their craft supplies. It warms my heart.

And I'm thankful to Darlene and Diane for a fun challenge that encourages me to be a little more crafty. If you haven't checked out their new blog, be sure to do so at Word Power Challenge!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a blessed day!

Retro Rubber Challenge #223 Winter Blues

Over at Retro Rubber this time their Challenge #223 is all about blues. The truth is, I'm not really good at using the color blue and I don't really know why. I guess we all have colors that we're more comfortable with and others that prove more of a challenge. Such it is with blue for me, but that's what makes a challenge good.

For my blues, I chose to use the Stampin' Up Set from 2015 called Petal Potpourri. It's one of my favorites, especially this flower. I like it because it's a little rustic, and it has the coordinating center that gives each flower a finished look.

In order to pull off using multiple blues, I did some double dipping with my ink pads, starting with the lighter colors first then adding darker ones around the edges. 

Here's my complete supply list:

• Stampin' Up! Petal Potpourri (2015)
  
• SU! Marina Mist Ink
• SU! Blueberry Bushel Ink
• SU!Seaside Spray Ink
• SU! Balmy Blue Ink & Card Stock
• Memento Danube Blue Ink
• Memento Paris Dusk Ink
• Meemnto Nautical Blue Ink
• SU! Crushed Curry Ink
• Authentique Freedom-Virtue Patterned Paper
• Die from Recollections (Michaels)
• Sentiment from Pockful of Happiness
• Clear Rhinestones (Michaels)

Once again I'm thankful to have been stretched in my craft room. It felt good to drag out so many blue inks and create something that I would have never made on my own. If you get a chance be sure to check out Retro Rubber this week or any other for a lot of fun challenges! And thanks for stopping by today!

#rrcb223

Floral Purple Hugs

Today's card is made from Stampin' Up!'s Flourishing Phrases stamp set. What I love about it is the use of the green ombre paper. I love how it's darker at the top and lighter at the bottom where I put the phrase, which worked out perfectly. But what's really cool about this ombre paper is that I would have never bought it for myself. I think it's a Stampin' Up! piece that my demonstrator send me as a thank-you gift. From now on, I'm looking for ombre paper as it works perfectly in situations like this.

I also used Copics in Y38, YG13 and V04. The card stock is Highland Heather and the inks are Memento's Lilac Posie and Green. The sentiment is from the Warm Fuzzies set from Impression Obsession.

It was fun making this simple card and I'm hoping someone likes their floral purple hug. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Penguin Love

Valentine's Day is just so much fun. Even if you're single and eating alone that night (I've had my share of those days) there's just something so festive about love.

Here's a card that you can send to just about anyone in your life. It simply boasts a little penguin with lots of hearts and a sweet Valentine's Day wish.

I finished this one with some matting, patterned paper and rhinestones. He's offset on the diagonal just to give him a little more whimsical look.

If you'd like to make your own card, here's the free digi. As always:

1. Snag it to your desktop or photos.
2. Put it in a Word or Page Document.
3. Resize it to the size card you want to make.
4. Print it out, either at home or at a copy center. 

I hope you enjoy the freebie! Thanks for stopping by my blog today and have a wonderful day!

Rainbow Love

I made this card for someone special in my family. I want them to know that they are loved, not only around Valentine's Day, but all year long, no matter what.

The focus of this card are the sprinkles from Kat Scrapiness. They fit the occasion perfectly.

My complete supply list is:

• White Card Stock
• My Favorite Things Striped Paper
• Kat Scrapiness Love Is Love Sprinkles
• Leftover Frame
• Leftover Acetate
• Stampin' Up! Real Red Ink
• SU! Pineapple Punch Card Stock
• SU! Little Letters Dies
• Stickles Stardust
• Die Cut Hearts
• Sizzix Borders Dies 
• Gifted Rhinestones

I'm sure this card will be much appreciated, especially at Valentine's Day. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today and have a wonderful day!