Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Did Someone See a Winter Dragon?

 Finally found time to play along with the Jingle Belles, the heat here at the cottage (not a breeze to be found) has been brutal and made it hard to craft, everything I touched stuck to my fingers but I got it done.

      Before I show you my card I will show you the great sketch that Stephanie did for the challenge.


Here is my take on the sketch


I used a Lawn Fawn stamp & die set I got on sale  3 years ago I am very happy that I lined up the 3 stamp sentiment almost perfect. I used a ornament embossing folder on the red piece. I believe the cloud die is from Impression Obsession. The watercoloured sky was leftover from the card I posted earlier.

I popped the Winter Dragon up on the cloud, and a better look at the sentiment.

I am adding this to

Jingle Belles Challenge ~~ 'Twas the Sketch Before Christmas


Thanks for looking today & I have one more holiday card, but I need to step up the pace.












Hot! Hot! Hot!

Another 2 weeks of this never-ending heat and humidity in SWO, it's even too hot and sticky to craft.  Of course I could be home in the A/C but summer is short and in a couple of months it will be time to close for the winter.  It did take me much longer to make my card and of course there are always a couple of speed bumps along the way, I am happy to say even though I didn't plan for the theme I had a couple of Photoplay stamp sets that worked. Now the theme at Shopping Our Stash for this fortnight is Hot, Hot, Hot so what we want to see is a card inspired by something HOT, the weather, food, fire  we are looking forward to seeing what you decide is HOT.


I had never used this set before and it's circa 2018 and has matching dies gifted to me from a friend. I made the background with distress oxide inks, stamped and coloured the bear sunbathing by the lake and used the coordinating die and popped him up on the beach scene. The patterned paper reminded me of a beach blanket or a table cloth and felt it fit the bill


Closer look to see how the bear is elevated.
  
Thanks for stopping by at the beach party of one today and check out what the design team has decided what is HOT.








Saturday, August 2, 2025

A is for Aliens

 For the month of August we are delving into outer space and Aliens at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers.


Beam Edna up Scottie

For the second Alien challenge I have not located my alien stamps so I went the second option a Galaxy.


I made the galaxy background with blending shades of distress oxide inks an then using an IO stamp inked with yellow brilliance ink for the milky way, the sentiment is from a SU set long retired. It was fussy cut and popped up.

Thanks for rocketing by today and check out the rest of the design team projects, especially the mini books.




Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Juggling Raspberries

 Hello and welcome back to a NEW challenge at Shopping Our Stash the prompt is Eat Five a Day!! that is important information from the food guide, do you follow the "rule"? Make a card with either a fruit or vegetable or both, looking forward to see what you like the best. One of my favourites is in season right now, I picked a House Mouse stamp that has Amanda juggling raspberries. 


As always when I go to the cottage I forget things and one item was pop dots so I picked some up at Len's Mills but they are really much thicker than mine that are home. I seem to be in a Red/Pink phase but when I saw this paper in the pile I thought how it matched the raspberries. 


side view to see the elevation.


Finished the inside with some scraps of paper and I have a couple of fussy cut raspberries to attach yet. As I said earlier travelling with crafty things takes planning, evidently birthday sentiments was not on my mind, but I have lots of Holiday ones. 

I am adding this to 

Seize the Birthday ~~ Use your Favourite Colour (mine this week is Red/Pink)


Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the great projects the rest of the design team have made. 













Monday, July 28, 2025

Juggling Act

 I'm back again with another Holiday card because it's Rudolph Days and it's my first one this year, of course there are a couple other challenges that I worked into the card. My post might be short today it is so humid at the lake my fingers are sticking to the keys, there is no A/C here.


Since Christmas Kickstart's prompt was Merry go Round, there are oodles of circles on this Circle Easel card. Next in line was the Jingle Belles Tic Tac Toe board and woohoo I did 2 lines with one card.
I used a House Mouse designs image nothing fancy in the design I only have circle dies with me.


As you see the easel folds flat for mailing in a 5 1/2 inch square envelope although I have no picture the sentiment is on the back of the card.

I'm entering this in:
Rudolph Days ~~ Anything Christmas

Christmas Kickstart ~~ Merry-go-round

top horizontal row and right vertical row

House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge ~~ Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope where you are is a lot cooler and less humid than here.














Wednesday, July 23, 2025

It's a Grumpy Christmas

 Another lovely day at the cottage, another holiday card made and plans on the itinerary for another except I had not planned on a trip to Port Dover to Len's Mills for supplies, like foam dots, I realized I had not packed them so couldn't pop my image up. I decided to follow a Sheetload sketch from November 2024. there are instructions to make 8 cards but there is also the measurements for just making one and they help you use up patterned paper and scraps. I also followed the Jingle Belles tic/tac/toe challenge board. 


Stretching it a bit for the Jingle Belles it was the left vertical  line animal/diecut/red and I only have two die sets, circles and hexagons and a few word dies but they just didn't fit. I even had a scrap of smooshed water colour paper in my basket of scraps. It took me longer to pick out 2 patterned papers that I thought went together nicely than it took to make the card.


Finished the inside with a scrap of patterned paper and a wood block stamp from Michaels eons ago. It's so much easier when you have a couple of challenges that make it easy and a sketch that ties them together. 

So on to where I am adding this card.

Jingle Belles ~~ Tree Skirt Tic/Tac/Toe (left vertical line)
Animal/Diecut/Red 


Christmas Kickstart ~~ #100 Merry go round


I'm glad you stopped by today to see my newest holiday card, I hope you are making progress with yours, both these challenges are great for building your stash. 















Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Peppermint Dreams

 I am so far behind with making holiday cards, I need to step up the pace and one place I get my inspiration is from the Jingle Belles challenges, I brought some crafty things for my almost 2 weeks at the cottage, not sure I have enough to last the whole time,  home is just an hours drive away if I really get desperate, I just need to remember when fall arrives I have to bring it me. 


There is a perfect time to take pictures by the lake and I missed it.  I was very happy to see I had an already coloured house mouse image with me, saved a little time. I followed the top row of the tic/tac/toe board at the Jingle Belles challenge, Animal, designer paper and ribbon. (if I had added a diecut it would have been a two-fer.)


Finished the inside with sentiment and a scrap of patterned paper.

I am adding this to:

Jingle Belles ~~ Tree Skirt Tic/Tac/Toe



Christmas Kickstart ~~ Merry go round



Thanks for visiting today and if you need to add more holiday cards to your stash you have until 
July 30 to play.



Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Wood is Good X 2

 Hello friends as always it seems 2 weeks just fly by, I want time to slow down so I can enjoy the summer.  I managed to spend 9 days at the cottage, of course being my first trip down there were a lot of forgotten items, but Simcoe is only a 30 minute drive to pick anything up I had forgotten. There are always little things like flour, I had a plan to make some mac & cheese well can't make a roux without flour, and if you flip the breaker for the outside outlets you don't get hot water, never a dull moment when I'm in charge. I didn't accomplish much crafting, the temperature was high as was the humidity.  So on with the new challenge at Shopping Our Stash, Wood is Good....create a card that includes woodgrain or wood pieces on it. I decided to turn my woodgrain into masculine cards, they seem to go together and with mostly males in the family they are always needed.


I used Stampin'up's woodgrain background stamp inked with versamark vintage sepia ink, added some cotton yarn from my knitting bag and three enamel dots (I made them a long time ago) and the perfect big birthday wishes die which I cut 3 and layered them for elevation.


I finished the inside of the card with a favourite sentiment and a couple of scraps of the woodgrain. 

Bonus time!!!
Since I am trying to get some cards ahead to donate to the troops I made an extra card.


Same woodgrain stamp, the circle with the trees is elevated, the background behind the trees is a scrap of smooshed watercolour paper, the sentient was stamped in sepia and diecut. 


Finished the inside with some off cut scraps and a leaf  and another great sentiment. 

Adding this to 
Seize the Birthday ~~ anything goes


Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to check out the great inspiration on the MAIN Blog. 








Monday, July 14, 2025

It's Halloween all Year Long.

 My great grandson loves Halloween sculls, spiders, ghouls anything in between, So I made him a halloween card for his birthday, makes it real easy to make cards for him. 


One of his favourite colours is purple so this scull paper was perfect and when you have a BIG sentiment it makes a card easier. What 8 yo doesn't like a shaker card, actually is there anyone that doesn't love a shaker? 


Finished inside of the card with a scrap of patterned paper and some escapees from trying to get the shaker together. Of course finished it off with a Hero Arts vertical sentiment.

Hopefully I can this can pass for a Halloween all Year long challenge


Seize the Birthday ~~ Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great day!!











Poinsettia Perfection

The current challenge at the Jingle Belles is Poinsettia Perfection and you just don't need to stick with the obvious you can use any Christmas bloom, greenery, mistletoe holly even evergreen boughs but of course I stuck with the obvious, mainly because I had a gold embossed image with me at the cottage, of course with the embossing I couldn't use my copics but I smooshed distress oxide inks ( one at a time) on an acrylic block and watercoloured  with a brush. I'm really quite pleased with the outcome. 


I layered the image on gold paper and popped it up on a dry embossed red panel, I don't often make a wide border but this image deserved to be front and center. (I love my old PSX stamps) I did add a gold layer under the red embossed one before attaching it to a top  fold base.


Always a good plan to finish the inside at the same time or you really get a surprise when sending your holiday cards. I added a scrap of gold which I embossed with the same folder as I used on the front. My favourite vertical Hero Arts sentient. 

I am adding this to 

Jingle Belles Challenge ~~ Poinsettia Perfection

Thanks for stopping by today, I am way behind in my Holiday stash this year, how are you doing?






Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Red, White & Blue

 Hello again, can you believe it has been two weeks since the last SOS challenge where has the time gone, well here we are again with a new challenge Red, White & Blue, the predominant colours should be a combination of these three colours.  I made a red & white card last challenge and the leftover cardstock was still on my desk. 


The first thing I did was look for red, white and blue patterned paper and I had a Martha Stewart valentine paper pad that has to be over 5 years old once that was settled I had to pick a festive stamp set and I picked a NBUS Stampin'up salebration set from 2017.  This will be a good card for the troops drive my local craft store is sponsoring. I fussy cut the truck and the cupcakes (they were not easy). I added three red enamel dots which I made many years ago. 


Sorry the fussy cutting isn't stellar but I now have located my good snips. the truck is elevated and all three cupcakes are popped up. 


Finished the inside with leftover patterned paper and a scrap of red die cut, I use a lot of scraps when they get left on the desk.
 
I am entering this in:
Seize the Birthday ~~ Anything Goes


Thanks for visiting today and head over to the SOS blog and check out the great cards.

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends (July 1)
Happy 4th of July to my American friends 











Tuesday, June 17, 2025

A Stitch in Time.

 New month, new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and it's all about stitches, cross stitch, faux stitching with a pen, machine stitching. very short post today as my fingers are not co-operating. So here is my stitched card.


First time I have coloured this cute House Mouse Designs image up and I have had it for a few years, it really seemed like way to much work, I did use a red pen liner to do most of the cross stitches.


Carried the red scallops to the inside framing a very very old wood block stamp from the Artful Stamper. I see my photography skills are lacking today as well. 

Thanks for stopping by today and stop by to see the inspiration projects the rest of the team have made. 



 

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

You are so Sweet

 Welcome to a new month and a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash, "You are so Sweet" I think the prompt is easy peasy all you need to do is make a card with cakes, candy, icecrean even fruit will work.  Here is my offering for the challenge.


Of course I used my favourite stamp from House Mouse Designs and made a triangle easel card.  I also used the same paper as my last card I guess it was out on my desk and matched the icing on the cake.


This is the back of the easel where I added the sentiment.


Just to show the 5 1/2 inch square card folds flat and fits in the envelope. 

Thanks for stopping by and check out all the sweet cards the rest of the team had made.






Tuesday, May 20, 2025

By the Numbers

 Hello and welcome to a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash, By the Numbers which just as it sounds we want to see at least one number on your project. I thought what a great challenge as I need a birthday card for my great grandson's 8th birthday but nothing would come to mind to add a number of course after my images were coloured and cards partially done I had a lightbulb moment and know exactly what I want to do. A project for another day so stay tuned. So here is what I came up with for the challenge.


I started out with the sentiment, it has 2 numbers in it and then had to match it with an Art Impressions Golden Oldies stamp, love this image, it works for a lot of sentiments. This is one of my first AI stamps and the patterned paper is eons old too.



What is better than one birthday card? well it's two, I am making cards to donate to the local craft store, Younique Scrapbook store for the armed forces, it isn't much more work to make two, same amount of mess with just a bit more time. 


Finished the inside with a few leftover scraps and a favourite sentiment.

Thanks for visiting today and head over to the MAIN BLOG and see what the rest of the team have created.