ANNNNNND WE'RE BACK! CHRISTMAS WITH THE CUTIES -- FEB 2020

Hey all, and welcome back to my blog!  It's the start of a new week, and also the start of the Christmas With The Cuties 2020 challenges!  We have enjoyed a nice long break, and we are ready to offer you loads of inspiration to help you get those Christmas cards done for this year!  So, let's go!

Our theme this month is ATG, with the option to go for clean and simple. Our sponsor is the fabulous Bugaboo Stamps. I chose to go the CAS route, but I also decided to make 2 cards!  I figured since I have quite the collection of Jodie's fabulous images, I might as well do a double shot!  The top image is WINBIRDSKI, and the bottom one is WINBIRDSLED.  I think these images are from the old shop, and Jodie hasn't gotten them moved into the new store yet, so I can't link  them for you.  Hopefully Jodie will find time to get them in there soon!

To create my scenes, I created a cloud stencil using the Lawn Fawn Puffy Cloud Borders dies, and inked them onto my card base using Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink.  The hills were made using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders dies, cut from Recollections white card stock.  To add some sparkle, I ran Nuvo drops in White Blizzard along the stitched edges.  I also added some to the white part of the hat, and to the three snow splashes.  The images were colored using alcohol markers, and I popped them up with foam tape.  The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Mice on Ice stamp set, stamped in VersaClair Nocturne ink.

**CHALLENGES**

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #62:  ATG

Merry Little Christmas #19:  ATG (2/5)

Love to Craft #19:  ATG (2/5)

Mix it Up #34:  ATG (2/5)

Color it, Create it, Show it off:  ATG (2/3)

613 Avenue Create #230:  ATG

Crafts Galore Encore #72:  ATG (2/3)

Crafty Animals #35:  ATG 

Classic Design #2:  ATG  

2 Crafty Critter Crazies #35:  ATG with a critter

Paper Funday#14:  ATG

Unicorn Challenge #51:  ATG

Gem of a challenge #4:  ATG 

Crafty Creations #406:  ATG

Crimbo Crackers #204:  Cute

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #126:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #426 - #427:  ATG 

Colour Crazy Week #7:  ATG with coloring

Christmas 24 #4:  Make a Scene

Polkadoodles Week #8:  ATG (2/2)

CHNC #478:  ATG Christmas

Papercraft Challenges #55:  Winter Fun

The Outlawz Festive Friday:  Christmas

Thanks again for stopping by my blog today, and don't forget to head on over to Christmas With The Cuties to see what the rest of the DT has created with Jodie's images, and to join in the challenge!  Christmas is only 305 days away!  LOL  Until next time...

Take Care, and God Bless!

~Marie~

BUGABOO FREEBIE FRIDAY -- FANS WINTER

Hello all, and Happy Friday!  The weekend has rolled around again, and as always, I'm looking forward to it!  Even though I have to work OT tomorrow, it's still the weekend!  :)  But I'm getting ahead of myself...it is still Friday, so it's time for another Friday Freebie from Bugaboo.  Check out my card:

This sweet image is called Fans Winter, and you can grab her HERE for the following week.  I designed my card in Silhouette Studio so my sizing would be correct for an A2 card.  The trees, snowflakes, stitched hillside die, and clouds are all Lawn Fawn.  I used the puffy cloud borders die from LF to create a stencil to ink blend the clouds, using Tumbled Glass distress Oxide ink.  Oh, and Broken China distress Oxide was used to stamp the snowflakes.  The hillside die was cut from Recollections ink jet printable glitter paper.  Maybe last Christmas, or the one before, I picked up some rolls of gold and silver contact paper, and I thought the silver would make a perfect frozen pond for this cute skater.  At my friend Renee's request (Delaney Jane Cards), I colored her up in pinks.  I really need to invest in some softer pinks, I think!  It does look a bit softer IRL.

--CHALLENGES--

Classic Design #2:  ATG

The Paper Funday #14:  ATG (1/4)

The Holly and Ivy #65:  ATG Christmas 

CHNC #477:  ATG Christmas 

Winter Wonderland:  ATG Christmas 

Merry Little Christmas #19:  ATG Christmas 

The Crafter's Cafe #236:  Use Pink or Red

Word Art Wednesday #426 - #427:  ATG (1/5)

Polkadoodles Week #8:  ATG

Digi Choosday Week #7:  ATG

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend, and make sure you stop by the Catch the Bug blog to see what the other DT members have made to inspire you with this freebie!  Until next time, 

Take Care, and God Bless!

~Marie~

FRIENDSHIP HOP--FEBRUARY 12, 2020

Hey everybody, welcome back to my blog!  I hope your Wednesday is going well for you.  It's hard for me to believe that Valentine's Day is right around the corner...in just 2 more days!  Do you have all your cards and treats done that you wanted to make?  Yeah, me neither!  Today though, I'm not here to focus on Valentine's Day makes; let's talk about Friendship.

Do you make many (any) friendship cards?  I have to admit that I do not...if you've been here awhile, you know my main focus is on Christmas cards!  I am trying to branch out some and get more birthday cards into the mix though, so that's good, right?

Well, to get me headed in the right direction for making more friendship cards, I am taking part in a hop today that is all about just that!

This hop was organized by the FABULOUS Courtney Kreeber.  In case you don't know who she is, she is a very talented Copic colorist, and the queen of one layer scene cards!  Anyway, here is a complete list of all the hop participants, in case you lose your way, or there is a broken link:

1. Courtney 2. Leeann McKinney 3. Renee Moran 4. Natalie Walsh 5. Boryana Yankova 6. Marie Bingaman 7. Dana Joy 8. Amanda Bartholomew 9. Karen Page 10. Teresa (Scrapping for Less) 11. Amanda Stevens 12. Anne Fiene 13. Allison Kulka 14. Michele Margaret 15. Anna Celdran Mahtani 16. Tracy Shultz 17. Maria Nyce

Here is the card I made for today's hop:

My apologies for the shoddy picture; I'm really at a loss as to how to make my pictures turn out better!  Anyway, I had the SSS Emma Background stamp panel already finished months ago, just waiting for a good card.  This seemed like a great opportunity!  I had colored the white heat embossed image using Prismacolor colored pencils in red and white on this light tan colored card stock.  To add more interest to the panel, I cut a circle directly out of the center.  I decided to pop the circle up on dollar tree foam tape for added dimension.  The hello die (Recollections) was cut 5 times from red card stock, stacked up, covered in clear Wink of Stella, and coated in Glossy Accents (Courtney's favorite!).  The friend sentiment is actually part of the inside sentiment, and I embossed that in white on black.

I also rarely ever finish the insides of my cards with anything more than a sentiment, but since this is a 5.5 x 5.5 square card, I thought I should fill up more of that space.  I grabbed the stamp and positioned it all in the MISTI, and stamped it with Versamark ink twice.  I quite like how it turned out, and I hope that whoever gets this card will like it too!

So, the next stop in the hop is Dana Joy. You will be wowed by her card; I know it!!   I hope you have time to make it all the way through the hop, because I know there is LOTS of wonderful inspiration for you!  Thanks for stopping by, and until next time...

Take Care, and God Bless!

~Marie~

BUGABOO NEW RELEASE DAY -- CLYDE MADE WITH LOVE

Just a quickie post for now, as it is waaaay past my bedtime!  Popping on here to share my card for the new release over at Bugaboo:

This is Clyde Made with Love, and isn't he just so sweet?  Look at what he made for Valentine's Day!  He is one talented dragon, that's for sure!  I had my friend Renee (Delaney Jane Cards) challenging me with the coloring on this one, and boy was it a challenge!  It's definitely difficult to keep 6 different markers in the right shade order!  LOL  I think I did pretty well though, all things considered.  This card will be given to my 19-year-old daughter for Valentine's Day.

--CHALLENGES--

*will add these later*

Thanks so much for stopping by today...be sure to head over to the Catch the Bug blog for more inspiration with this cutie pie!

Take care, and God Bless!

~Marie~

Bugaboo Anything Goes challenge --Feb 1, 2020

Hey everybody!  Happy Saturday!  I hope you all have some nice plans for the weekend...I have to work some OT this morning, and then hopefully spend the rest of the day in my craft room checking out some challenges!

Speaking of challenges, it's the start of a new month at Catch the Bug, which means another Anything Goes challenge!  YAY!  I love ATG challenges...that usually means I am making a Christmas card, but not so this time!

Since Valentine's Day is fast approaching, I decided to make a card for my hubby.  I ADORE this little Mouse Hearts image, and I set up the design in my Silhouette program so that the oval shape and the outline shape of the mouse were cut as one piece.  I am so stoked that I actually accomplished this!  It definitely took some figuring out, but I LOVE the final results!  I popped my panel up on foam tape and made this card a shaker.  The pink and red sequins are from my mostly unused stash (I need to remedy that more often!).  The love you dies are from Tim Holtz/Sizzix, and I cut them each 5 times from bright pink Recollections card stock and layered them together.  After adhering them to my card panel, they were coated with clear Wink of Stella a few times, and then sealed with a coat of Glossy Accents.  I love how the shimmer shows through!  I also added Wink of Stella to the three hearts in the mouse's hands.  A few more sequins were glued to the front, and this card is ready to give to my hubby!

--CHALLENGES--

Crafty Calendar:  Use die cuts/punches (1/3)
Simon Says Monday:  All Loved Up
Crafty Sentiments:  Hearts
Cute Card Thursday #619:  Valentines
Love to Craft #43:  ATG (1/5)
Animal Friends #83:  Mouse
Mix it Up #34:  ATG (1/5)
Cutie Pie #143:  Cute, Clean & Simple
Color it, Create it, Show it off:  ATG (1/5)
Crafts Galore Encore #72:  ATG (1/3)
Crafty Animals #35:  ATG using an animal
Classic Design #2:  ATG
Digi Doodle Studios #24:  It's a Love Thing (1/3)
2 Crafty Critter Crazies #35:  ATG using a critter (1/5)
The Paper Funday #13:  ATG (3/4)
Gem of a challenge #3:  ATG (1/2)
Word Art Wednesday #424 - #425:  ATG (2/5)
Colour Crazy #4:  ATG with coloring (2/2)
Everybody-Art-Challenge #461:  ATG
Lemon Shortbread #112:  ATG (2/3)
Simon Says Wednesday:  ATG (2/5)
Polkadoodles Week #5:  ATG (1/2)
Crafting Happiness #33:  ATG (optional twist:  love)

Thank you so much for spending some time here at my blog.  Please be sure to check out what other inspiration awaits you at the Catch the Bug blog, and join in for a chance to win some Bugaboo goodness!

Until next time, my friends--

Take Care, and God Bless!

~Marie~