LIL PATCH OF CRAFTY FRIENDS SPONSORED BY JOY CLAIR DESIGNS -- FEBRUARY 20, 2022

 Hello friends!  I hope you are all doing well!  Today is the start of a new challenge at the Lil Patch of Crafty Friends blog, where it's always ANYTHING GOES.  This time, we are sponsored by Joy Clair Designs:

***Exclusive Sponsor***

Joy Clair Designs

Prize:  1 digital stamp set

Where you can find Joy Clair on social media:

BLOG

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

For my card, I am using this lovely butterfly from the Just Butterflies set, along with the Just a Note sentiment:

At first, I contemplated printing on vellum and coloring the different sections from behind, but I wasn't sure if the ink would really ever dry, so I opted for printing on regular 'ole white paper.  I sized and cut my butterfly with a white outline using my Silhouette Cameo.  The pale yellow panel was designed with a larger butterfly-shaped opening to allow the black card base to show around the main butterfly.  The sentiment was also printed on this panel.  The rainbow colors on this butterfly fit the design of it just perfectly IMO, especially with the addition of pink.  I had to add some pizzazz to this pretty simple design, so I used Star Dust Stickles to go over each section, doing my best to maintain the black lines in between.  The butterfly is glued down to the card base only behind the body and antennae.  Here are a couple of pics that will show the dimension:

And here are a couple more to maybe show some different views of all the shine from the glitter, LOL:

--CHALLENGES--

Crafting Happiness:  ATG

Creative Moments #231:  ATG (3/3)

Papercraft Challenges #79:  ATG 

Besties International:  ATG (3/3)

Craft Rocket #89:  Sparkle/Bling

Color It, Create It, Show it Off:  ATG w/coloring (3/3)

613 Avenue Create:  ATG (3/8)

Crafty Animals #58:  ATG using animals

Daisy Chain #60:  For the Girls

Classic Design #2:  ATG

Critter Crazy #59:  ATG w/featured critters (3/5)

The Paper Funday #38:  ATG (4/4)

A Place to Start #2:  ATG (3/8)

A Perfect Time to Craft #2:  ATG

The Creative Crafters #49:  ATG (3/3)

Let's Craft and Create #180:  ATG (3/3)

The Corrosive Challenge #2:  ATG (4/4)

Pearly Sparkles #70:  ATG 

LeAnn's World 101 #47:  ATG

Mirtillamente #6:  ATG

We Love Stamping:  ATG w/stamping (by hand or digital)

Cute as a Button #77:  ATG (2/3)

Word Art Wednesday #531 - #532:  ATG (2/5)

Polkadoodles #8:  ATG (2/2)

Penny's Paper Crafty #515:  ATG (2/3)

Colour Crazy #7:  ATG w/coloring (2/2)

Crafty Catz #583:  ATG (2/3)

CD Sunday Plus #79:  ATG using a CD, USB, or digi

The Outlawz Monday Greetings:  ATG

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  ATG

Well, that's all for me today...make sure you come over to the Lil Patch of Crafty Friends challenge blog to join us in some Anything Goes card making fun!  We look forward to seeing what you create!  Until next time my friends,

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

~ Marie

DIGI DOODLE STUDIOS CARD SHARE -- FEBRUARY 18, 2022

EDIT;  MY APOLOGIES, FRIENDS!  I THOUGHT I HAD THIS BLOG POST FINISHED AND READY TO GO FOR THE 18TH, BUT I DIDN'T!  

Hello friends and welcome back to my spot in blog land!  I hope this post finds you well and feeling happy!  Today is my day to post for Digi Doodle Studios, and here is the card I have created for you:

Again, I am using the BUMBLE GARDEN PAIRABLES SET in conjunction with the coordinating BUMBLE BUZZ 6x6 paper pack.  For this card, I used the side-facing bees along with the daisy to create a sweet little scene.  The image is colored with alcohol markers, and I added shimmer to the wings with Wink of Stella.  I also used the clear Gelly Roll pen to add shimmery dots to the flower center.  I especially think the grass I created is pretty fun, having used the dotting technique.  These little bees are just too cute, especially when most of us are so ready for spring!  Not that it's coming any time soon, but we can wish, can't we? 😉

--CHALLENGES--

Crafting Happiness #120:  ATG

Creative Moments #231:  ATG (2/3)

Crafty Calendar:  ATG (3/3)

Papercraft Challenges #79:  ATG

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper

Craft Rocket #89:  Sparkle/Bling (hard to see in the pics, but it's there!)

Color It, Create It, Show it Off:  ATG w/coloring (2/3)

613 Avenue Create:  ATG (2/8)

Crafty Animals #58:  ATG using animals

Classic Design #2:  ATG

Critter Crazy #59:  ATG featuring critters (2/5)

The Paper Funday #38:  ATG (3/4)

A Place to Start #2:  ATG (2/8)

A Perfect Time to Craft #2:  ATG

The Creative Crafters #49:  ATG (2/3)

Let's Craft and Create #180:  ATG (2/3)

The Corrosive Challenge #2:  ATG (3/4)

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #165:  

Pearly Sparkles #70:  ATG

Stamping Sensations:  Wings or Tails

LeAnn's World 101:  ATG

Mertillamente #6:  ATG

We Love Stamping:  ATG w/stamping (hand stamped or digital)

Cute as a Button #77:  ATG (1/3)

Gem of a Craft Challenge #4:  ATG (2/2)

Word Art Wednesday #531 - #532:  ATG (1/5)

My Time to Craft #475:  All You Need is Love

Through the Craft Room Door:  ATG (2/2)

Polkadoodles #8:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday #7:  ATG (2/2)

Penny's Paper Craft #515:  ATG (1/3)

Colour Crazy #7:  ATG w/ coloring (1/2)

Crafty Catz #583:  ATG (1/3)

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  ATG

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to head on over to the DDS store to grab this set for your own spring cards!  Also, the LOVE AND/OR FRIENDSHIP CHALLENGE is still going on over on the challenge blog, so get over there and play along!  Until next time,

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

~ Marie

SQUIRRELZ STASH BASH -- FEBRUARY 15, 2022

Hello friends, and welcome back!  Today is the day that the Squirrel Squad gets together to bust out our squirreled-away stash and wow you with our creations!  If you're here just to check in on me, you're in luck, as I am starting off the hop this month!  Here is the full line up for you:

Marie -- that's me!

Karen

V

Boryana

Lounon 

Anna

Our theme this month is BOTANICAL, with a COLOR PALETTE as inspiration:

And here is my card:

For the botanical aspect of my card, I grabbed those gorgeous Honey Bee Lovely Layers:  Coneflower Honey Cuts that I just HAD TO HAVE after seeing so many beautiful cards made using them.  And then they just sat here after I inventoried them and put them away.  Like so many of my other HAD-TO-HAVES...but that is the purpose of our hop, isn't it? 😁 For the colors, I grabbed an old paper pack from Michael's that just happens to have most of these colors in it; in fact, I think the paper pack is even named "botanical."  I die cut all the layers from the 2 shades of pink, and then chose some pink Copics to match.  I couldn't just have them all one flat color when there is so much actual dimension to this flower!  I'm pretty sure I used RV13 and RV14 on the darker pink, and RV21 and RV23 on the lighter pink.  The bottom-most flower layer received many applications of color, while the upper layers received progressively less applications.  I think the petals turned out to have a nice variation of shades in the final result.  The center of the flowers was colored using R39 and R89.  It did take quite a bit of fiddling around, laying the layers on top of each other over and over again to make sure that my coverage was good!  It's still worth it though!  For the leaves, I just added the darker green ones behind the lighter green as a sort of shadow.  I glued the coneflowers to the 5.5"square kraft card base, but underneath them, I glued a Spellbinders Big Scalloped Square die cut on which I stamped a Happy Birthday sentiment in Rich Cocoa Memento ink.  Despite all the flower layers, I think this card is pretty CAS.

Squirreled away items used:  Coneflower die set

Memento ink

sentiment stamp

--CHALLENGES--

Crafting Happiness #120:  ATG

Creative Moments #231:  ATG (1/3)

Crafty Calendar:  ATG (2/3)

Papercraft Challenges #79:  ATG 

613 Avenue Create:  ATG (1/8)

Crafts Galore Encore #96:  ATG (3/3)

Daisy Chain #60:  For the Girls

Classic Design #2:  ATG

A Perfect Time to Craft #2:  ATG

The Creative Crafters #49:  ATG (1/3)

The Corrosive Challenge #2:  ATG (2/4)

Pearly Sparkles #70:  ATG

LeAnn's World 101:  ATG

Mirtillamente #6:  ATG

Gem of a Craft Challenge #4:  ATG (1/2)

Through the Craft Room Door:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday #7:  ATG (1/2)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Don't forget to keep going in our little hop; you don't want to miss out on what my Squirrely Sisters have created!  Your next stop is my fabulous Squirrel Sister, Karen!  Have a great day, friends, and until next time,

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

~Marie

ABC CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE -- FEBRUARY 9, 2022

Hey friends!  I am back with some more exciting news to share with you...if you hadn't guessed by my post title, I am now a member of the ABC Christmas Challenge DT!  I am so excited to be joining this team, and a BIG THANK YOU goes out to Helen for extending the invitation to me after their DT call.  This will definitely help me get those much-needed Christmas cards made this year!

So, as this is the second challenge of the year, we are on letters C - Clean and Simple; and D - Distressing.  I went the CAS route for my first DT card(s):

I don't often do CAS cards, so I thought this would be a perfect time to make some!  I really wanted to break in my new Lawn Fawn Giant Holiday Messages set, and what better way than by doing some white heat embossing on colored cardstock with some ink blending around the edges.  I am totally in love with this look, and I had fun making these.  I chose these 2 pretty colors from my stash, and then tested out which oxide colors would look best.  The winning colors for the green were Lucky Clover and Rustic Wilderness, and for the blue I used Salvaged Patina and Peacock Feathers.  The ink blending was done using brushes from Taylored Expressions.  For a bit of shine, I adhered some Moonshine Confetti from Cartwright's with my Bearly Art glue.

--CHALLENGES--

My Time to Craft Christmas #27:  Clean and Simple

Lawn Fawnatics #118:  CAS

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #85:  ATG (1/10)

Merry Little Christmas #42:  ATG Christmas

Crafting Happiness #120:  ATG

Crafty Calendar:  ATG (1/3)

Love to Craft #66:  ATG (5/8)

Mix it Up #57:  ATG (6/8)

Besties International:  ATG (2/3)

Craft Rocket #89:  Sparkle/Bling

Crafts Galore Encore #96:  ATG (2/3)

Classic Design #2:  ATG

The Paper Funday #38:  ATG (2/4)

A Place to Start #2:  ATG

A Perfect Time to Craft #2:  ATG 

Let's Craft and Create #180:  ATG (1/3)

The Corrosive Challenge #2:  ATG (1/4)

Pearly Sparkles #70:  ATG

LeAnn's World 101 #47:  ATG

Mirtillamente #6:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #529 - #530:  ATG (2/5)

Holly and Ivy #109:  ATG Christmas (1/3)

TTCRD:  ATG (2/2)

Creative Fingers #224:  ATG (2/3)

Alphabet Challenge:  W for Winter

Addicted to Stamps and More #422:  Christmas

Peace on Earth Challenge #9:  ATG Christmas (1/3)

Simon Says Wednesday:  Emboss It

Penny's Paper Crafty #514:  ATG

The Outlawz Monday Greetings:  Add Some Sparkle

The Outlawz Festive Friday:  Christmas

Happy Little Stampers:  Christmas

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Don't forget to work on your Christmas card stash by joining us at the ABC Christmas challenge.  We can't wait to see what you create!  Until next time,

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

~ Marie

DIGI DOODLE STUDIOS CARD SHARE -- FEBRUARY 4, 2022

Hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!  I hope that you are all doing well and staying healthy.  My family is continuing to stay healthy, and I am very thankful for that.  Today I have a card to share from Digi Doodle Studios featuring the new adorable BUMBLE GARDEN PAIRABLES, and one of the cute papers from the BUMBLE BUZZ Digi Doodles 6x6 paper pack.

I had it in mind to use this hexagon background from this Background Bundle made by Bird's Cards, and to make it into a shaker.  Bird has LOADS of freebie cut files available on her site for any occasion you can think of, so it's definitely worthwhile to check it out!  I sized the background to be 5.25" square to fit nicely onto a 5.5" square black card base.  I cut the background 4 times from Accent 

Opaque 100 lb. white, and twice from the colored print outs I did on 65 lb. cardstock.  I adhered all the white layers together (painstakingly, I might add) using Bearly Art glue.  After doing so, I realized that this WASN'T going to make the best shaker, so I grabbed a pair of Tim Holtz scissors and cut out the innards before adhering the last 2 layers of the background and the acetate.  Boy let me tell ya, if you don't have a pair of these scissors, I HIGHLY recommend them!  I had no problems whatsoever cutting thru those layers of cardstock, and my hand never got sore while cutting!

Anyway, then I dug out the sequins and blends that I wanted to add to my shaker.  I used gold and iridescent sequins from my stash, and I picked out many different pieces from the Bee Creative blend from the Sparkle Blends Shop.  This blend has sold out, but Amber has many other pretty blends in her shop to choose from!  Here is a pic of one of the fabulous little gold bees in this mix:

It doesn't show as gold in the pic but trust me it is!  I closed up the shaker using the black with yellow polka dots paper from the paper pack.  In the above picture, you can also see that I made the hexagon background match the polka dots exactly, by using the eye dropper tool in Silhouette Studio.  Just another fantastic thing about using digital products! 😊 Now, about these adorable bees...

I colored them with alcohol markers, trying my best to match the polka dot paper and the hexagon background.  This was as close as I could get with the markers I have, and I think it works just fine. I added clear Wink of Stella to their wings for some subtle shimmer.  The hive was colored with the same yellows, and white gel pen highlights were added. The tree branch comes from a Miss Kate Cuttables file (I think), but I am unsure which one.  I really must learn to write everything down!  The cute sentiment is one of several included with the Pairables set, and I cut it from the same printer-colored paper as the background.  The DT twist for this month is to add pearls or gems, so I chose to add a pearl to each corner of the card.  Oh yes, I adhered the branch down flat to the card front, while the other images and the sentiment are popped up on foam tape.  I added two layers of foam tape to the hive.

A view from above:

Up close and personal with the stars of the card:

--CHALLENGES--

Crafting Happiness:  ATG 

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper

Love to Craft #66:  ATG (4/8)

Mix it Up #57:  ATG (5/8)

Besties International:  ATG (1/3)

Craft Rocket #89:  Sparkle/Bling

Color It, Create It, Show it Off:  ATG with coloring (1/3)

Crafts Galore Encore:  ATG (1/3)

Crafty Animals #58:  ATG 

Classic Design #2:  ATG

Critter Crazy #59:  ATG featuring a critter (1/5)

The Paper Funday #38:  ATG (1/4)

A Perfect Time to Craft #2:  ATG

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #165:  

Pearly Sparkles #70:  ATG

LeAnn's World 101 #47:  ATG

Mirtillamente Challenge #6:  ATG

Gem of a Craft Challenge #3:  ATG (1/2)

Word Art Wednesday #529- #530:  ATG (1/5)

Cardz 4 Gals #165:  Make it Sparkle

Double Trouble #102:  SomeThing, AnyThing, EveryThing w/optional twist to not make a standard A2 card (mine is 5.5" square)

TTCRD:  ATG (1/2)

Creative Fingers #224:  ATG (1/3)

As You Like It:  True Love or Fabulous Friendships -- I have a few friends that are always very supportive and encouraging, so this card will BEE for one of them!

Polkadoodles #6:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday #5:  ATG (1/2)

Colour Crazy #5:  ATG with coloring (1/2)

Crafty Catz #581:  ATG (1/3)

The Outlawz Monday Greetings:  Add Some Sparkle

Thanks again for stopping by today!  I hope I have inspired you to get creative today, if you haven't already that is!  Please don't forget to pop on over to the Digi Doodle Studios challenge blog to join in the LOVE and/or FRIENDSHIP challenge for this month...it's a short month, so you best get crackin'!  Until next time friends, 

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

~ Marie