STELLA SAYS SKETCH CHALLENGE @CATCH THE BUG -- SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021

Hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!  It's time for a new Stella Says Sketch at Catch the Bug, and here it is:

I said in my most recent post that I would mostly likely be making a lot of my Christmas cards using Bugaboo images, and this card is no exception!

I had this Poppi Xmas Snowballs image in my little image basket, and it seemed the perfect size for this sketch.  I grabbed three patterned papers from the 12x12 Recollections paper pad called Fa La La La, and set about coloring the image using the papers as inspiration.  I have to say, I really like those three colors I used on his scarf...I may have to use that combo again!  I also grabbed a bright green card stock from The Paper Company 8.5x11 card stock value pack called Christmas Fun.  I love this bright green!  I used it for all the matting layers, and for that border strip down at the bottom.  That was punched and embossed with a Martha Stewart punch I think I got on clearance. 

 I got to use my newly acquired bottle of Bearly Art glue for this card...I still need to get the hang of using it though!  I popped the image panel up on foam tape, and added a couple pieces behind the left side of the sentiment circle, while the upper right corner was glued to the image panel.  Star Dust Stickles was added to the snowy bits, and clear Wink of Stella to the white areas of the hat, and the sentiment circle.  Oh yes, the sentiment comes from two Lawn Fawn sets; Cheery Christmas, and Toboggan Together, and was stamped with Versa Fine Clair Nocturne ink.

        

--CHALLENGES--

Christmas with The Cuties #49:  Festive Furries and Feathers

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #78:  ATG (1/10)

Merry Little Christmas #35:  ATG Christmas (2/5)

Crafty Calendar:  ATG (2/3)

Papercraft Challenges #70:  ATG 

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper

Love to Craft #59:  ATG (3/5)

Mix it Up #50:  ATG (3/5)

Besties International:  ATG (3/3)

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

613 Avenue Create:  ATG (1/8) 

Crafts Galore Encore:  ATG (3/3)

Crafty Animals #51:  ATG using animals

Classic Design #6:  ATG

Daisy Chain #53:  Cute Animals

Paper Funday #30:  ATG w/optional twist Sparkle and/or Shine (2/4)

A Perfect Time to Craft #6:  ATG

Gem of a Challenge:  ATG (2/2)

Word Art Wednesday #495 -#496:  ATG (1/5)

Lemon Shortbread #147:  ATG (3/3)

Aud Sentiments #276:  ATG w/sentiment (2/5)

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

Cute Card Thursday #689:  ATG 

Polkadoodles #24:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday #23:  ATG (1/2)

Penny's Paper Crafty #498:  ATG (1/3)

Colour Crazy #23:  ATG w/coloring (1/2)

Crafty Catz #555:  ATG 

CHNC #546:  ATG Christmas

Jingle Belles:  All Bundled Up (3 or more layers)

Addicted to Stamps and more #407:  Christmas

The Outlawz Festive Friday:  Christmas

Well, that's all I have for today!  Don't forget that our challenges run for at least two weeks now, so you have more time to join in!  And the DT always appreciates when you leave them some love for their creations!

Thanks again for stopping by, and until next time...

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless!

~ Marie

BUGABOO ANYTHING GOES -- SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 2021

Hey there, friends!  Happy first Saturday of June 2021!  Boy, it's so hard for me to comprehend it, but in another 12 days, my younger daughter will be 21 years old!  It seems to me that it wasn't too long ago when I shared here that she was turning 16; and now here we are a mere 5 years later, and she will be old enough to drink legally! 😭  Where did my babies go??  

Anyway, that isn't the reason for my post today...it's the first day for our Anything Goes challenge at Catch the Bug! 

I am really loving the recent changes we made to our challenge blog, as it is so much easier for me to keep track of what is due and when, AND I get to use a lot of images I want to use!  I can see a lot of my Christmas cards having Bugaboo Stamps images on them this year...LOL!  And with that in mind, here is my card:

YAY, I can add another Christmas card to my very small pile for this year!  I used this Snowman 004 image that was already printed and die cut with Spellbinders Labels One largest die.  I also had this lovely piece of watercolor paper sitting around that I had used to play with Tonic shimmer powders, so I decided to pair them together.  I chose Copic markers that matched the colors on the watercolor piece, added some white gel pen accents on various parts of the image, and spread out some Star Dust Stickles over the snow on the ground.  I usually add some to the image too; not sure why I didn't this time, but I may add some later on. The image panel is popped up on foam tape.

I really wanted to use as much of the pretty water colored piece as I could, so I cut it to fit a 5.5" square card base with a border showing all the way around.  For the sentiment, I pulled out the Sizzix Christmas Phrases One die set.  I cut each word 4 times from 110 lb. white card stock scraps, and glued them together.  To make it more cohesive with the image, I added the Stickles to the bottoms of each word.  And that does it for this Christmas card! 😍

--CHALLENGES--

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #78:  ATG (1/10)

Merry Little Christmas #35:  ATG Christmas (1/5)

CHNC #545:  ATG Christmas

Crafty Calendar:  ATG (1/3)

Papercraft Challenges #70:  ATG 

Love to Craft #59:  ATG (2/5)

Mix It Up #50:  ATG (2/5)

Besties International:  ATG (2/3)

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

Crafts Galore Encore #88:  ATG (2/3)

Crafty Animals #51:  ATG using animals (see the wee birdie on the snowman's hat?)

Classic Design #6:  ATG 

The Paper Funday #30:  ATG w/optional twist Sparkle and/or Shine

A Perfect Time to Craft #6:  ATG 

Gem of a Challenge #12:  ATG (1/2)

Word Art Wednesday #493 - #494:  ATG (2/5)

Double Trouble #85:  Something, Anything, Everything (2/4) (also linked to Paper Funday)

Lemon Shortbread #147:  (2/3)

Aud Sentiments #276:  ATG + sentiment (1/5)

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

Cute Card Thursday #689:  ATG

Polkadoodles #23:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday #22:  ATG (2/2)

Penny's Paper Crafty #497:  ATG (2/3)

Colour Crazy #22:  ATG with coloring (1/2)

Crafty Catz #554:  ATG

Passion for Markers #594:  Make it Cute

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

Thanks for dropping by!  Don't forget to pop over to the Catch the Bug blog to see the rest of the DT creations, and to join in on the challenge!  Remember, you have 2 weeks to participate.  Also, leave us some love, if you would be so kind!  😍  Until next time, friends...

Stay Healthy, Take Care and God Bless!

~Marie

2CCC -- BECCY'S PLACE --JUNE 1, 2021

Hello friends!  Happy June 1st!  As usual, these years just keep flying on by at the speed of light, or so it seems to me.  Well, with it being the start of a new month, that means it's also the start of a new challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies...where it's always anything goes using critters.  This month we are being sponsored by Beccy's Place:

I chose to use the adorable shaggy dog in Beccy's Dog Tails Too digital stamp set, and here is my mini slimline card:

I'm sure you all must have seen The Shaggy Dog movies from Disney?  We have seen both the original and the remake with Tim Allen.  I like them both, but there is just something special about those older Disney movies, isn't there?  Anyway, I looked up some pictures of these Old English Sheepdogs to see how I should color this guy, and this is what I came up with.  His white areas look a bit TOO gray for my liking, but I am still happy with my end result!

I just wanted this card to be simple, so I printed the dog and sentiment out on the same panel.  The scalloped layer was colored around the edges with the darkest of the blue markers I used to outline the dog image, Copic B02.  Both layers are adhered down flat, and I added Glossy Accents to his nose and tongue.  After that dried, I added white gel pen to both also.  I'll probably just write a simple encouraging message on the inside whenever I send this out to someone.

--CHALLENGES--

Love to Craft #59:  ATG (1/5)

Mix it Up #50:  ATG (1/5)

Besties International:  ATG (1/3)

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

613 Avenue Create #5:  ATG (5/8)

Crafts Galore Encore #88:  ATG (1/3)

Crafty Animals #51:  ATG using animals

Classic Design #6:  ATG 

A Place to Start #5:  ATG (4/8)

Digi Doodle Studios:  Boys to Men (male themed) (1/3)

Jan's Digi Stamps:  ATG (1/5)

A Perfect Time to Craft #6:  ATG 

Pearly Sparkles #63:  For the Men/Boys

Gem of a Craft Challenge #11:  ATG (1/2)

Word Art Wednesday #493 - #494:  ATG (1/5)

Double Trouble #85:  Something, Anything, Everything/optional Yoyo fun (Walk the dog)

Crafting Happiness #98:  ATG

Lemon Shortbread #147:  ATG (1/3)

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

Cute Card Thursday #688:  ATG (Critters theme optional)

Simon Says Wednesday:  ATG

Polkadoodles #22:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday #22:  ATG (1/2)

Penny's Paper Crafty #497:  ATG (1/3)

Colour Crazy #21:  ATG with coloring (1/2)

Crafty Catz #553:  ATG 

Passion for Markers #594:  Make it Cute

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  ATG

And that's it! Thanks so much for stopping by, and make sure you pop over to the 2CCC blog to see what the rest of the DT made with Beccy's images...and don't forget to get out your critters and join us! 😃 Until next time,

Stay Healthy, Take Care and God Bless!

~Marie~

SQUIRRELS GONE NUTZ -- MAY 20, 2021 --BIRTHDAY AND ALPHABET DIES

Hey there my crafty friends!  How ya been?  Things in my neck of the woods are going strong.  Hubby has been busy planting a vegetable garden in the evenings, which has left me a bit more time in my craft room.  Not that I have made much of anything, but I have gotten a *little bit* of organizing done. 😄  

Anyhow, today is my favorite day of the month, where I get to collaborate and hop with Squirrels Gone Nutz, aka the Squirrel Squad.  We are still making that ever-so-valiant attempt to use those crafty things in our stash that we have forgotten about or are hoarding (WHAT?!?  NO WAY!) 😆  Our theme/supply for this month is BIRTHDAY, and ALPHABET DIES.  Here is my card:

I have had these SUPER CUTE little bees (free digi from Clearly Besotted) sitting on my desk for THE LONGEST TIME.  I just adore them!  I colored the images with Copics, and then let them sit around on my desk some more.  When it came time to create the card for this hop, I decided it was time to use them!  This die cut circle (Spellbinders) was stashed in the storage pocket with the dies, so I pulled it out and did some ink blending through a stencil.  I have had this stencil for a really long time, and I think it is from Recollections.  I used Scattered Straw and Wild Honey oxide inks for the blending, and after removing the stencil, I added more Scattered Straw lightly over the entire circle so it wouldn't be stark white.  For more texture, I first spritzed the circle with water, and dabbed it up with a paper towel.  Then I grabbed my Gathered Twigs regular distress mini ink pad, smooshed some onto my glass desktop, and spritzed it with water.  Using a paintbrush, I splattered my circle (and a few other things on my desk!) with the ink.  Then my final addition to the circle was to spritz it with shimmer spray made from Perfect Pearls and water.  I did lots of spritzing today! 😆  The happy die cut is from Tim Holtz (Celebration Words Script), and the alphabet dies are Oliver's Stitched ABC's from Lawn Fawn.  I cut each of these 2 times from 110lb white cardstock scraps, and once from the brown glitter cardstock (Recollections).

Now at first, I thought I was going to pop up the circle on foam tape, so I added lots of it and stuck it down to the card base. Then, as I set about figuring out the positions of the other elements, I realized that popping up the circle was NOT a good idea, as it would make adhering the happy word and letters way too difficult.  Thankfully, I was able to peel the circle up and remove all the foam tape. (whew!)  After I adhered the circle with LIQUID GLUE instead, the word and letters were much easier to adhere with liquid glue as well.  The bee images are popped up on foam tape.  I also added some of the Gathered Twigs ink around the edges of the kraft card base, and some shimmer to the bees wings with clear Wink of Stella.

--CHALLENGES--

Papercraft #70:  ATG

Love to Craft #58:  ATG (4/5)

Mix It Up #49:  ATG (4/5)

613 Avenue Create #5:  ATG (4/8)

Classic Design #5:  ATG 

Paper Funday #29:  ATG (3/4)

A Place to Start #5:  ATG (3/8)

A Perfect Time to Craft #5:  ATG 

Let's Craft and Create #171:  ATG (3/3)

The Corrosive Challenge #5:  ATG (4/4)

Word Art Wednesday #491-#492:  ATG (2/5)

Lemon Shortbread #146:  ATG (1/3)

Creative Fingers #208:  ATG (2/3)

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

Digi Choosday #20:  ATG (1/3)

Penny's Paper Crafty #496:  ATG (2/3)

The Outlawz Monday Greetings:  Use dies (1/3)

Simon Says Wednesday:  Use dies and/or Punches

Alrighty, your next stop in our hop is the fabulous V, right HERE.  There's only a few of us in this hop, so it won't take you too long to get through it all, I promise!  I sincerely hope that we can inspire you today, that you will leave us some comment love, and subscribe if you haven't already!  We sure do appreciate it!  Until next time,

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless! 

~Marie~

DEBUT AS A DESIGNER FOR LIL PATCH OF CRAFTY FRIENDS -- LEMON SHORTBREAD -- MAY 16, 2021

 Hello friends!  Welcome back to my blog!  I have some exciting news to share with you -- today is my first post as a designer for Lil Patch of Crafty Friends!  I'm super excited to be joining this group of talented crafters, and I hope to be an asset to the team!  Our sponsor for the next 2 weeks is Lemon Shortbread:

And here is my card:

I chose to use this image called Rain Shield.  I used Copic markers to color her up, and I wanted her to look like she is some kind of nature fairy or something, so I used a lot of shades of green.  I'm pretty happy with how she turned out.  I used brand new stencils from Michael's (Recollections brand) to create the grass and sky.  All the inks I used were Distress Oxides; for the grass, I used Mowed Lawn, and then splattered with that ink and also Rustic Wilderness.  The sky is Tumbled Glass, and splattered with the same ink and Broken China as well.  I feel like I was channeling my inner Marine Simon as I was splattering away! 😆 

 

I cut all the elements of my card using my Cameo.  For the cloud shaker, I designed and cut out the frame 8 times; 7 plain ones, and one stitched one for the top.  I also cut my acetate with my machine.  Even the tiny raindrops inside the shaker were cut with my Cameo.  Now you would think, with all of this planning, that I would have thought to color my cardstock BEFORE cutting those raindrops.  But did I?  NOPE!  I had a HECK of a time coloring each of those buggers, on both sides!  They still were a bit sticky from the cutting mat, which made the process even more difficult.  BUT, I persevered and got the job done.  Next time I will know better...I hope. 😄  I also added clear seed beads and some Rock Candy distress glitter to help the raindrops move around.  The sentiment is computer generated.

--CHALLENGES--

Papercraft Challenge #70:  ATG 

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG (the patterned paper is behind the shaker)

Love to Craft #58:  ATG (3/5)

Mix it Up #49:  ATG (3/5)

Besties International:  ATG (3/3)

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

613 Avenue Create:  ATG (3/8)

Classic Design #5:  ATG

The Paper Funday #29:  ATG (2/4)

A Place to Start #5:  ATG (2/8)

A Perfect Time to Craft #5:  ATG

Let's Craft and Create #171:  ATG ( I didn't follow the option this time!) (2/3)

The Corrosive Challenge #5:  ATG (3/4)

Word Art Wednesday #491 -#492:  ATG (1/5)

Lemon Shortbread #145:  ATG (2/3)

Creative Fingers #208:  ATG (1/3)

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

Use Your Stuff #422:  Stencils

Polkadoodles #20:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday #19:  ATG (1/2)

Penny's Paper Crafty #496:  ATG (1/3)

Colour Crazy #19:  ATG with coloring (1/2)

Crafty Catz #551:  ATG 

The Outlawz Twisted Thursday:  First letter of your mom's name (Cyndi, clouds)

Well, that's about it for today, my friends!  Thanks again for stopping by, and don't forget to come on over to the Lil Patch of Crafty Friends blog to play along with the always Anything Goes challenge!  Oh, and leave the DT some love for their projects too! 

Until next time,

Stay Healthy, Take Care and God Bless!

~Marie~

BUGABOO STELLA SAYS SKETCH -- SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2021

Hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!  I'm back today to share my card for the current Stella Says Sketch challenge at the Catch the Bug blog.  Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

I took a few liberties with the sketch...actually because I forgot I was to be using the sketch!  Luckily my card turned out pretty close to it anyway! 😉  I used a Bird's Cards free cut file for the honeycomb pattern, layered it onto a lighter yellow layer of cardstock, and jazzed it up a bit with some Brushed Corduroy oxide ink around the edges, and on some select cut out pieces.  I also mixed the ink with water and then splattered the pieces for more interest.  All the hexagon pieces are popped up on one layer of foam tape, while the image oval was given 2 layers of foam tape.  I decided not to add a sentiment just yet, although it will probably be something simple like "hi."  Oh yes, and the image is Bees - Small Flower, which was a recent freebie.

--CHALLENGES--

Love to Craft #58:  ATG (2/5)

Mix it Up #49:  ATG (2/5)

Besties International:  ATG (2/3)

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

613 Avenue Create:  ATG (2/8)

Crafty Animals #50:  ATG using animals

Classic Design #5:  ATG 

Paper Funday #29:  ATG (1/4)

A Place to Start #5:  ATG (1/8)

A Perfect Time to Craft #5:  ATG 

Let's Craft and Create #171:  ATG/optional no patterned paper (1/3)

The Corrosive Challenge #5:  ATG (2/4)

Gem of a Challenge #10:  ATG (1/2)

Word Art Wednesday #489 - #490:  ATG

Lemon Shortbread #145:  ATG (1/3)

Creative Fingers #207:  ATG

Cute Card Thursday #685:  ATG

Fab 'n' Funky #522:  Sunshine Colors

Sweet Stampin':  Things with Wings (1/3)

Polkadoodles #19:  ATG (1/2)

Digi Choosday #18:  ATG (1/2)

Penny's Paper Crafty #495:  ATG

Crafting Happiness #95:  ATG option

Colour Crazy #18:  ATG with coloring (1/2)

Crafty Catz #550:  ATG option

The Outlawz Festive Fridays:  ATG

Thanks so much for stopping by...don't forget that our challenges now run for two weeks!  That should be plenty of time for you all to join us!  Also, don't forget to leave the DT some love, because we all need more of that these days!  Until next time,

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless!

~Marie~

BUGABOO ANYTHING GOES BI-WEEKLY CHALLENGE -- MAY 1, 2021

 Hello, and welcome back!  It's May 1st, and this is my second post for today.  I hope you don't mind!  In this post, I am featuring my card for Bugaboo Stamps Anything Goes bi-weekly challenge at the Catch the Bug blog:

I've had this adorable Banana Monkey image printed and colored sitting on my desk for a little while now, as I was going to use her for a Humor Me Wednesday card on April 21st, which was banana day.  Since the format of the site has changed, I was able to use her for this challenge instead.  I also had it mind the whole time she was sitting on my desk that I wanted to make a shaker card with bananas in it.  So, I set about finding a good banana image, and I made my own patterned paper with it, as well as a smaller version of the image for the shaker bits.  Of course, it wouldn't do just to have tiny cardstock bananas in my shaker, so I added plenty of sequins too...mostly from the Doodles Paper Playground Bee Creative Sparkle Blend mix, but also some Moonshine confetti sequins form Cartwright's, a few Crystal Rainbow Fusion sequins from Studio Katia, and some yellow clay hearts from the Sherbet Clay Hearts mix from Twiddler's Nook.  Even though this see through shaker was a bit of a thorn in my side to put together (I had to start over again 3 times!), I am pleased with the outcome.  I don't think I will be making another one anytime soon though!  😉

Here's a close up of the image that was colored with alcohol markers.

Hopefully here you can get a better look at the sequins.

--CHALLENGES--

Papercraft Challenges #69:  Fruits, food, and Vegetables

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper

Love to Craft #58:  ATG (1/5)

Mix it Up #49:  ATG (1/5)

Besties International:  ATG (1/3)

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

613 Avenue Create:  ATG (1/8)

Crafty Animals #50:  ATG using animals

The Corrosive Challenge #5:  ATG (1/4)

Gem of a Craft Challenge #9:  ATG (1/2)

Ok, that's all from me...don't forget to check out our bi-weekly anything goes challenge that starts today!  Leave the rest of the participating DT members some love for their creations, and PLEASE join in on the fun!  It wouldn't be the same without your participation!  Until next time...

Stay Healthy, Take Care and God Bless!

~Marie~

2CCC -- TNT ARTSPIRATIONS --MAY 1, 2021

 Hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!  Today is May 1st, and that means it's time for a new challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies!  This month's sponsor is TNT Artspirations:

We were permitted to choose which image we wanted to use, so I decided on this Betta Fish:

And here is my card:

We have had a few Bettas over the years, and I know none of them were "quite" this color, but I chose 2 colors I thought would look nice together from my Tombow markers, 606 Violet, and 620 Lilac.  I did one body section at a time, and started with the lilac as a base layer.  Then I brought in the violet for the shaded areas and blended that out with more lilac.  I did go over the fins and tail twice to get the blend I wanted, and made sure to go over the lines in the drawing (as best I could) for definition.  I thought the main body looked a bit plain, so I added dot detail with the violet marker.

For the card base, I thought an actual fish bowl would be AWESOME, so I cut 2 bowls from acetate, put a score line in the bottom one, and adhered them together with strong double sided tape.  It's not pretty by any means, but it works!  The fish bowl is a cut file from the Silhouette store, and it came with the water, "sand," and the 2 pieces of "grass."  I deleted the fish that came with it, of course, and the castle was a separate file.  I just thought he should have a castle, even though he covers most of it.  😊  I cut the water piece from Bristol smooth surface watercolor cardstock so I could play some more with my Tonic shimmer powders. 😍  I used Blue Blitz and Green Parade to make my Betta some pretty, shimmery water to swim in.  I cut 3 more of these pieces, 2 of them in reverse to make panels for hiding the adhesive.  The other pieces in the bowl were colored with alcohol markers.  I didn't notice until editing my pictures, but I can see that I adhered these a teensy bit crooked...well, it is a hand made card, right?  Here are a couple more pics:

As you can see in this picture, I adhered everything flat, except for the Betta, to which I added foam tape.

Thanks so much to TNT Artspirations for sponsoring 2CCC this month.  I had fun coloring the Betta and making a home for him!  Don't forget to check out what the rest of the DT made with the images they chose, and to stop by their blogs and leave them some love!  Until next time...

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless!

~Marie~