Wednesday, July 21, 2021

SQUIRRELS GONE NUTZ -- CHRISTMAS IN JULY AND ACETATE --JULY 21, 2021


Hello friends!  Welcome back to my blog.  I hope all is well with you, and that you are staying healthy.  It's that time of the month again, when the Squirrel Squad and I drag out those supplies we've squirreled away and put them to good use!  If you are hopping along, you should have come from the wonderful Lounon's blog, Craft Me, Craft Moi.
Since it is July, I suggested Christmas for our theme.  I know that no one is at all surprised by that!  For our supply, acetate was picked from our list. I would think that most card makers' first thought would be to make a shaker.  I totally did not want to do that, since that is what would be predicted.  Time and other ideas got away from me though, so I did end up making a shaker.  It's not the "normal" shaker though...I decided to try a full panel shaker instead!


I have been so inspired lately by AmyR at Prairie Paper & Ink on YouTube, and also by Nina Marie Trapani's latest video about full panel shaker cards, that I decided now was the perfect time to try one!  I have had this piece of plastic with the snowflakes on it since December when I received it as a treat bag full of goodies.  That's right, the bag was so pretty, that I just HAD to save it and re-purpose it!  I washed it and cut it apart, and now is its time to shine!  I also grabbed a shimmer powder panel that I created a couple of months ago and embossed it with a TOTALLY  GORGEOUS 3D snowflake folder from Sizzix, just like Nina Marie did in her video.  I continued following what she did by adding Brilliance Moonlight White ink to the raised areas, and then heat embossing with Ranger's holographic powder.  It looked SO GORGEOUS afterward!  It was a shame that I had to cover it up, but I have another similar panel that I can do the same steps with and NOT cover it up. 😀

Next, I used strong double sided tape by Scrapbook.com on the back of the panel, and adhered the plastic sheet to it, keeping one side open for the addition of the sequins.  The sequins I used are:
Moonshine Confetti by Cartwright's, Blue Blizzard blend, Frozen blend, and Winter Mix all from Sparkle Blends.  After closing up the fourth side, I added more tape, and adhered my shaker panel to a purple cardstock mat from my stash.  Incidentally, both panels were die cut using Spellbinders Card Creator die sets.  More double sided tape was added to the back of the purple panel, and then adhered to the card base.

For the sentiment, I pulled out the Christmas Phrases die sets (Tim Holtz/Sizzix), and cut "Winter" and "Wishes" 3 times each from the same purple cardstock.  I adhered them together using Bearly Art glue, and then adhered them to the panel with the same glue.  It worked very well, I might add!  When that was dry, I added several layers of clear Wink of Stella to the words so they would be as sparkly and shiny as the rest of the card!  See?




--CHALLENGES--

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #79:  ATG (3/10)
Merry Little Christmas #36:  ATG (3/5)
CHNC #551:  ATG Christmas
Crafty Calendar:  ATG (3/3)
Love to Craft #60:  ATG (4/5)
Mix it Up #51:  ATG (4/5)
Moving Along With the Times #132:  Cool it Down (2/3)
Crafts Galore Encore #89:  ATG (2/3)
613 Avenue Create #7:  ATG 
Crafty Gals Corner #221:  Christmas in July (2/3)
Classic Design #7:  ATG
Digi Doodle Studios #40:  Christmas in July (3/3)
A Place to Start:  Craft your favorite holiday/celebration (2/8)
A Perfect Time to Craft:  ATG
The Creative Crafters #42:  ATG (2/3)
SheepSki Designs #52:  Celebration (3/3)
The Corrosive Challenge #7:  ATG (2/4)
Dragonfly Dreams:  Christmas in July (2/3)
Pearly Sparkles #64:  Favorite time of year
Cute Card Thursday #690:  ATG
Creative Craft Cottage #142:  Christmas in July (2/5)
Gem of a Challenge #15:  ATG (2/2)
Word Art Wednesday #501 - #502:  ATG (1/5)
Cardz 4 Gals #151:  Christmas in July 
Polkadoodles #29:  ATG (2/2)
Digi Choosday #29:  ATG (1/2)
Penny's Paper Crafty #501:  ATG (1/3)
Christmas Craft Creations:  ATG
Crafting Happiness #105:  ATG 
Sweet Stampin':  Create your own background
Crafty Catz #560:  ATG w/optional Christmas in July
The Outlawz Twisted Thursday:  Christmas in July
The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas
Sparkles Christmas:  More than 1 Snowflake
Papercraft Challenges:  Shaker Cards

That's all from me!  Your next stop on the hop is the sweet Bory at Bory's Crafting Place.  Please leave us some comment love, and consider subscribing to our blogs and other social media sites, if you haven't already!  We hope you have been inspired today!  Until next time friends,

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless!

~ Marie









at 32 comments:

Sunday, July 18, 2021

LIL PATCH OF CRAFTY FRIENDS -- CHRISTMAS IN JULY -- JULY 18, 2021

Hello friends!  Welcome back to my blog!  Today's we're celebrating Christmas in July  at Lil Patch of Crafty Friends


And, we are lucky enough to have 2 sponsors:

Fabrika Fantasy

Prize ~ 3 Images


Fred She Said

Prize ~ $10 Voucher

I chose an image from FSS called Nuthatch, and I am using the PRE-COLORED version:

I didn't feel at all comfortable trying to color this pretty bird myself, so I am glad that Tracey offers pre-colored versions as well as ones you can color yourself.  I sized the image so I could die cut it using the largest of the smaller set of classic circles from Spellbinders, with the plan to make a frame using either a "fancy" circle, or the plain one I decided on.  The gorgeous patterned papers come from the 12x12 White Christmas Recollections paper pad.  I love the simplicity of the diagonal stripe, and the trees were perfect to go with the bird image.  I managed to find a gray cardstock in my hoard collection that matched the tone of the gray striped paper, and I used it to mat all the layers.  My cuttings left me with the strip I ended up heat embossing my Casual Fridays Snowflake Greetings sentiment on (serendipitous, no?) 😉  For that, I used Versamark ink and Recollections Snow embossing powder.  Everything was glued flat onto the 5.5" card base using Bearly Arts glue, except I did pop up the entire image panel using foam tape.




--CHALLENGES--

Crafty Calendar:  ATG (2/3)
CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper
Love to Craft #60:  ATG (3/5)
Mix it Up #51:  ATG (3/5)
Crafty Gals Corner #221:  Christmas in July (1/3)
Crafty Animals #52:  ATG using animals 
Digi Doodle Studios #40:  Christmas in July
A Place to Start #7:  Craft Your Favorite Holiday/Celebration (1/8)
SheepSki Designs #52:  Celebration (2/3)
Dragonfly Dreams:  Christmas in July (1/3)
Pearly Sparkles #64:  Favorite time of year (Christmas!)
Creative Craft Cottage #142:  Christmas in July (1/5)
Cardz 4 Gals #151:  Christmas in July
Polkadoodles #29:  ATG (1/2)
Digi Choosday #28:  ATG (1/2)
The Outlawz Twisted Thursday:  Christmas in July

Thank you very much for stopping by!  Don't forget to pop on over to the Lil Patch of Crafty Friends challenge blog to join in on the Christmas in July fun...I can't wait to see what you share with us!  Until next time,

Stay Healthy, Take Care and God Bless!  

~ Marie







at 29 comments:

Saturday, July 3, 2021

BUGABOO ANYTHING GOES -- SATURDAY, JULY 3, 2021

Hello friends!  I hope you are all well and happy on this first Saturday of July!  Hard to believe that 2021 is halfway over already.  With the start of a new month, that means a new Anything Goes challenge at the Catch the Bug blog.  This month also starts another change to the challenges at the blog.  We will now only have 2 challenges a month; the Anything Goes starting on the first Saturday, and Stella Says Sketch, staring on the first Sunday.  These challenges will both run for the duration of each month.  The freebie Fridays will continue as normal.

So now that the housekeeping is out of the way, let me show you my card:


I chose to use this cute Chubby Butterfly 2 image.  Isn't it sweet?  I think I need to get the other Chubby Butterfly image now too...hehe!  I embossed a cardstock panel with the Large Petal embossing folder by Darice, and then used Oxide inks in the colors Carved Pumpkin, Kitsch Flamingo, and Squeezed Lemonade to ink the embossed panel.  To do this, I used my Taylored Expressions blender brushes.  I love the look that this gives!  To take it a bit further, I splattered Carved Pumpkin and Kitsch Flamingo all over the panel...and the area AROUND the panel, if I'm being honest! 😒  Once the panel had dried, I used strong double sided tape to adhere it to a black panel, and then did the same to adhere that to the A2 card base.  I love the small border of the black cardstock between the white card base and the colorful embossed panel; it really sets off those colors!

My image was printed out on Accent Opaque 120lb cardstock, and then die cut with a Spellbinders Classic circle.  I chose alcohol markers that matched the inks I had used for blending, and very simply colored the butterfly.  I added some white gel pen dots to the eyes and on the cheeks.  Clear Wink of Stella was added to the hearts on the wings, and to the yellow portions as well.  For the sentiment, I used the Honey Bee Stamps Bitty Buzzwords stamp set and die set.  I know I am going to get A LOT of use out of these!  Here are a couple more pics:



--CHALLENGES--

Crafty Calendar:  ATG (1/3)
Love to Craft #60:  ATG (2/5)
Mix it Up #51:  ATG (2/5)
Classic Design #7:  ATG
A Perfect Time to Craft #7:  ATG
The Creative Crafters #41:  ATG (3/3)
Word Art Wednesday #497 -#498:  ATG (2/5)
Lemon Shortbread #149:  ATG (2/3)
Through the Craft Room Door:  ATG (2/2)
C.R.A.F.T Challenge #604:  ATG (2/2)
Polkadoodles #27:  ATG (2/2)
Digi Choosday #26: ATG (2/2)
Gem of a Challenge #14:  ATG (1/2)
Penny's Paper Crafty #499:  ATG (2/3)
Colour Crazy #26: ATG with coloring (1/2)
Besties International:  ATG (2/3)
Color It, Create It, Show It Off:  ATG with coloring (2/3)
Cute Card Thursday #690:  ATG
Crafty Catz #558:  ATG (1/3)
Crafty Animals #52:  ATG using animals
The Outlawz Twisted Thursday:  ATG (2/2)
The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  ATG

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Hop on over to the Catch the Bug blog to see what the rest of the DT has created with their chosen images (you are gonna love it, I promise!)  Don't forget, you have the whole month of July to join in the fun, and we love to see what you make, so please join us!  Until next time my friends,

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless!  😀💗

~ Marie








at 8 comments:

Thursday, July 1, 2021

2CCC -- JAN'S DIGI STAMPS -- JULY 1, 2021

Hey there friends!  It's a brand new month, which means it's time for a new challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies!  This month our sponsor is Jan's Digi Stamps:


We were each allowed to pick an image, and I chose to use this image from Brighten the Holidays:


These guys are awfully cute sorting out this string of lights!  I didn't notice until after I had uploaded my picture for the challenge, but I inadvertently colored mine the same way that it's colored in the file...OOPS!  I hope Jan doesn't mind too much!  Anyway, I colored it with alcohol markers, and used sparkle gel pens in different colors for the lights.  I added white gel pen to accent their beaks.  The image is cut using a Spellbinders Classic Circle die.  I created the background using the Christmas Lights die set from MFT.  I cut a bunch of the different pieces from scraps of  Accent Opaque cardstock, and also used that for my card base, so all of the elements would be the same shade of white.  I arranged them on the card base in a way that pleased my eyes, and glued them down using Bearly Art Glue.  I am loving that stuff, BTW!  I really like the white on white texture that adds just the right amount of interest behind the colorful image. 😀

For the Tim Holtz/ Sizzix sentiment, I cut it 5 times from green cardstock, and layered them together using the same glue.  I then coated them with many layers of clear Wink of Stella, and then a layer of Glossy Accents.  I think the sparkle of the Wink of Stella got lost under the Glossy Accents, but oh well.  Lesson learned!  The sentiment is much brighter than it appears in the photos.



Oh yes, I also added the tiniest dots of Glossy Accents to each light bulb.

--CHALLENGES--

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #79:  ATG Christmas (1/10)
Merry Little Christmas #36:  ATG Christmas (1/5)
CHNC#549:  ATG Christmas 
Love to Craft #60:  ATG (1/5)
Mix It Up #51:  ATG (1/5)
Classic Design #7:  ATG 
Paper Funday #30:  ATG (4/4)
A Perfect Time to Craft #7:  ATG
The Creative Crafters #41:  ATG (2/3)
Word Art Wednesday #497 - #498:  ATG (1/5)
Lemon Shortbread  #149:  ATG (1/3)
Through the Craft Room Door:  ATG (1/2)
C.R.A.F.T Challenge #604:  ATG (1/2)
Polkadoodles  #27:  ATG (1/2)
Digi Choosday #26:  ATG (1/2)
Penny's Paper Crafty #499:  ATG (1/3)
The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas
The Outlawz Twisted Thursdays:  ATG (1/2)
Christmas with the Cuties:  Christmas Cuties
Besties International:  ATG (1/3)
Color It, Create It, Show It Off:  ATG with coloring (1/3)
Cute Card Thursday #690:  ATG
SheepSki Designs #52:  Celebrate! (1/3)
Crafty Animals #52:  ATG using animals
Double Trouble:  Hip To Be a Square (square card, circle die cut)  (I'm both!)
Pearly Sparkles #64:  Favorite Time of Year (Christmas, of course!)
Digi Doodle Studios #40:  Christmas in July (1/3)



Well, I thank you so much for stopping by!  Head on over to the 2CCC challenge to see what the rest of the DT has created with their chosen images.  You have until July 25th to join us, so make sure you get those critters out! 😄  Until next time,

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless!

~ Marie






at 14 comments:
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ABC CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE -- W IS FOR WATERCOLORING, AND X IS FOR XYLOPHONE

  Hello, crafty friends!  Welcome back to the blog.  It's time for the next to last ABC Christmas challenge of the year...can you belie...