FESTIVE FRIDAY

The theme for Festive Friday's challenge this week is National Library Worker Day - as a (retired now) library media specialist this challenge is right down my alley!!  All of my professional life I worked in various libraries - reference librarian in San Angelo, TX and Dayton, OH, law librarian in La Crosse, WI, and elementary school librarian in Bellevue, NE and Lincoln, Ne. (Air Force wife is the reason for so many places). So for my entry I created bookmarks for fifteen of my friends and mailed them as happy mail since we are all so isolated now.  Many of the blogs I follow say their mojo is lacking these days - I found doing a project  like this is really therapeutic for me - you'd think I'd be reading - and I just can't concentrate on a book.

I've had the alphabet paper from Graphics45 for a long time (back when vintage was my thing!) and used it for the basis of my bookmarks.  Cut apart the letters and adhered them to a black base and then onto the bookmark I created with the die.  Punched a little hole and added some twine.  The elements from the challenge on my bookmark for Lynn are books, alphabet, pens (little girl is writing notes), ribbon (hope twine qualifies), and yellow.

Thanks for stopping by and love to read your kind comments.

TIC-TAC-TOE GUEST DESIGNER

What a great way to begin April as guest designer on the Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge!!!  This challenge is new to me and discovered it through Nicole - started following her after taking her Altenew class.  Every week brings so many fun ways to play - I even managed to get two lines to work in my card for today.

My card works for across the bottom - stripes, black and heat embossing or down the right side - layers, friend and heat embossing.

I began by die cutting the stripes in black and layering it onto a top fold card base.  I stamped the bouquet on Bristol paper in black ink and then heat embossed in clear powder.  Colored my flowers with my Zigs.  Before adding my bouquet to the card, I stamped the little friend sentiment in black and also clear heat embossed.  Added the bouquet, trimmed it off on the side, put a few black Nuvo drops here and there and done!!

Thanks to Tic-Tac-Toe for having me as their guest designer - be sure to create a card this week and link it up here.  So many ways to inspire you and get those creative juices flowing.

Always enjoy reading your kind comments - thanks for visiting today.

HAPPY EASTER

Here's a quick card today that I did for the current Tic-Tac-Toe #57 challenge.  I chose pastel colors, die cuts and a colored card base for my card.

I had this alcohol inked piece in my stash and and die it with a stitched rectangle which was mounted on the blue card base.  Die cut the "Easter" letters and then layered them up to make them more prominent, added the little "happy" sentiment and done!  Photographed this in the late afternoon so my colors appear darker than in real life.

Thanks for stopping by, have a good day and stay well.

HAPPY EASTER GIFT

The challenge this month at A Blog Named Hero is "Anything But a Card" and I've made a cute little pillow box for an Easter gift. 

The flowers and leaves from the Hero Arts January My Monthly Hero kit were die cut from various soft colors. I used a small oval piece of cardstock on which to design the arrangement and after I had it finished just glued to the box.  Had a pillow box die in my stash and die cut that from some pale gray strip patterned paper.  Added the little sentiment (stamped in my favorite HA black ink) and done.  Perfect for a little gift of candy, money, a small piece of jewelry, whatever - now to decide who receives it!!

 

Be sure to enter our challenge this month for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Hero Arts!  Thanks for visiting today.

WILDFLOWER BOUQUET

Lots of time to color these - very relaxing and takes the mind off the disturbing and scary events these days - hope everyone is taking good care of themselves - I am 'cause my kids don't give me a choice!  Anyway, made a card for a few of challenges today.

I stamped and embossed this pretty bouquet on Bristol paper and colored with my Zigs.   I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for my design.  Dry embossed the circles with two dies for my background.   Pink, purple and white are Color Throwdown challenge colors for this week - maybe the green leaves and not enough purple will disqualify me, but worth a try???  The current code word at Addicted to CAS is texture so am entering my card there also.

Thanks for stopping by - love to read your kind comments.

ANOTHER ACRYLIC

Another last entry for CAS Mix-Up acrylics challenge and also some homework for the latest Altenew Academy class - Layering Dies 3D. This card uses another piece of my acrylic salad spinner paper albeit only a small bit.

After die cutting the solid butterfly from the stitched background piece, I adhered that to the card base.  Then I inlaid the acrylic piece and finally the matching lacy butterfly attaching it only in the center.   Added the small sentiment and done.

Finally, thanks to Bonnie and Loll for making me go outside my box with acrylics on my cards.

Always enjoy having you visit my blog.

ACRYLIC FLOWER

Have a quick last entry for the CAS Mix-Up challenge (use acrylics) for this month.  I saw this video and gave it a try - very messy but fun.  I was glad I did it in my kitchen with a plastic cloth on the countertop.

Found parts that would work and created my layered flower.  I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for my design.  The leaves were cut from a piece of watercolored paper.  Added the little sentiment and a few enamel dots and done.I

I am also entering my card at the Hero Arts Stay Crafty challenge - send a card to a friend during this COVID-19 time.  The little sentiment is from their January 2020 Monthly Kit.
 

Thanks for stopping by and also your kind comments.

SNOWDROPS & WARM WISHES

I have a memory of snowdrops that has been with me for many years.  When I was in the delivery room for my second child, the obstetrician came in and said he had been out in the garden (it was a Sunday) and the snowdrops were beginning to bloom - it was a wintery day in early March and in Edinburgh, Scotland. Now it is March again many years later and I have made a snowdrops card for the CAS Christmas Challenge - a winter flower. 

I die cut the snowdrops twice and adhered them together for some stability.  Attached them only at the bottom part and left the flower parts free.  The background is a stitched square with an overlay of sort of metallic white vellum (put double-sided adhesive on it before die cutting).  Added the little sentiment and done.

Thanks for visiting today and also for your kind comments.

 

HAPPY EASTER

Although my card has nothing to do with "Luck of the Irish" which is the theme at CAS Watercolour, it certainly is green and think that it will qualify.

I began by watercoloring the background and then die the cross from The Greetery.  Too complicated to explain how I did the rest of the cross 'cause I was just kind of winging it.  I layered up the cross part three times for some dimension.  Then put the die cut background onto the white card base and inlaid the cross parts.  Added the little sentiment and some enamel dots and done.  

I am also entering my at Happy Little Stampers (dies).
 

Thanks for stopping by and love to read your kind comments.

CAS MIX-UP REMINDER

I have another idea for you today for CAS MIX-UP and using acrylics in your card making.  This is probably been done somewhere else and maybe even used for the challenge already (I'm writing this in early February).  I put three colors of paint on a piece of acetate and smooshed the card stock.  You can get a lot of interesting texture doing this. 

After it was dry, I die cut my flower.  I die cut the stem separately.  I tried mixing the acrylics to get the color of green I wanted but couldn't get it - so ended up coloring the stem with my Zigs.

I thought the piece of acetate looked interesting so used it as a background for my flower.  The sentiment is a very old one from Hero Arts.  Besides acrylics, I used die-cutting, smooshing, stamping and a little watercolouring.

There is still time get your entry into the Mix-Up for this month, so hope you have a go!  Thanks for stopping by today and always love to read your kind comments.

EASTER LILIES

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had been coloring the lilies from The Greetery in various mediums.  So today I have two more cards to share.

I used distress inks to color the top card and then added details and some depth using colored pencils.  Blended some broken china ink for the background and spattered with some water.  Put my bouquet together, added a little sentiment, put Nuvo drops in the centers of the white flowers and done.

My second card uses only colored pencils for coloring the flowers.  I blended some peeled paint and shabby shutters distress inks on a piece of white cardstock and then die cut the leaves and palm fronds from it.  Added details with colored pencils.  Arranged my bouquet on the background piece, put it all together with the sentiment and done.

I am entering both cards at Happy Little Stampers current challenge and also the second one at the Festive Friday challenge (flowers, green, pastels).

Thanks for dropping by and love to read your kind comments.

BLOOM AND GROW

Another birthday card for you today even though our A Blog Named Hero February birthday challenge is over and a new challenge begins tomorrow.

I used the Hero Arts/Altenew collaboration Bloom and Grow stamp for my spotlight card today.  I began by stamping the large flower in black along with the leaf from the set - created a mask for placement of the leaf sprig.  Then using a square frame die, I die cut the center portion of the flower.  I chose picked raspberry and abandoned coral distress inks to blend color onto the square piece.  The other piece was die cut with the second largest HA rectangle infinity die and adhered to a peony top folding card base.  The blended piece was added back onto the card with some fun foam backing.  I added the little sentiment, some enamel dots and done.  

As long as I had the stamp in place on my MISTI, I stamped out four cards and will make a set using different colors and sentiments.  Any large floral stamp would work for this design such as Peonies or try it with a background stamp like this one (Everything Flower).  I think it would also be fun to use different flowers but with same design and color for the square part.

Thanks for visiting today - a new challenge begins tomorrow (15 March) so be sure to stop by A Blog Named Hero and check it out.