FALLING FOR THE HOLIDAYS 2023 {BYSHC} LINKY PARTY!

 Hey, hey, friends!  It's time for another {BYSHC} Linky Party!  WOOHOO!!

That's right, crafty peeps, get those Christmas and holiday card making supplies out of storage (GASP!), dust them off and put them to use!  Or, if you're like me and keep them close at hand, just pick something out of your stash and start creating!

My first hop card is also my second card for Sketch #38:

This card did not turn out as I had envisioned it, but I still think it's cute.  I used two stencils from one of our FABULOUS sponsors, A Colorful Life Designs.  The white card layer features one of Mary Kay's newest stencils called Merry Christmas.  I masked off and inked every other row using oxide inks in Lumberjack Plaid and Lucky Clover.  After the ink was dry, I laid the stencil back over the cardstock, but just a little offset, and then spread Star Dust Stickles through it.  It's hard to see in the photo, but the effect is so cool in real life!  For the four smaller pieces of the sketch, I used another new stencil called Layered Gingerbread.  Since developing a love for gingerbread things (Thanks, Jillian Norwood!), I just HAD to have this stencil set!  I ink blended the cute gingy bodies with Ground Espresso oxide ink, and for the sweet little smiley faces, I used black Pops of Color from Scrapbook.Com.  To tone down the white of this layer, I blended the residual ink left on the brush all over the panel.

After everything was dry, I die cut the Merry Christmas panel with the largest Sprinkles Scallops Rectangle die from Whimsy Stamps and adhered it flat to a slightly larger green cardstock layer.  The gingerbread piece was cut to the specifications of the sketch and glued down flat to the Merry Christmas layer.  For the circle element of the sketch, I pulled out this ADORABLE 2x2 Gingerbread Man Stamp from Dianna Marcum.  I LOVE HIM!!!!  So, so cute!  I colored him with Copics, and for a special touch, I added white puffy paint to the icing, and Xmas Red Stickles to the heart.  He is also decorated with some white gel pen.  I did pop him up on foam tape for some dimension.  The sentiment is from the Gingerbread Kisses stamp set by Avery Elle and was die cut using one of the dies from the Quick Strips die set from Whimsy Stamps.  This die set is super handy for die cutting sentiments!

Well, that is all from me today, my friends!  I'm glad you stopped by, and make sure you head on over to the {BYSHC} blog to participate in the Linky Party!  There are many fabulous sponsors again this time, so you don't wanna miss it!  😊

Take care!

~ Marie

SQUIRRELZ STASH BASH -- EMBOSSED ANNIVERSARY WISHES -- SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Hey there crafty peeps!  How in the heck have you been?  It's been a little while since I have posted here, hasn't it?  Since I have been on the Whimsy Stamps Instapinner DT, I mainly post on Instagram and Pinterest.  It's so darn easy to use my phone for posting on IG, but I have always found it difficult to post to my blog using my phone.  Anyway, my Squirrel Sisters and I are back from a summer break, and we're ready to tackle some more of our sorely neglected stash.

This month's theme is ANNIVERSARY, with a supply of EMBOSSING FOLDERS.  I didn't overthink this one, and I actually finished it pretty quickly.  In our little group, I am usually one of the last ones to get a card done for our hops, but this time I came in second!  Although, I *am* writing up this post at the last minute, so there's that.  Here's my card:

I LOOOOOOVE how this turned out!  I chose the Spellbinders Embossing folder of the month from August 2022 called Intertwined Lattice as I thought it made a nice "basic" pattern for any type of card.  I chose to showcase the debossed side of the pattern, and then pulled out Uncharted Mariner Oxide ink and did some blending with a blending brush.  I went heavy toward the edges and kept a lighter hand in the middle (which is hard for me to do!)  I wasn't completely happy with the contrast I was getting, so I got the Black Soot Oxide ink pad out and added that around the edges.  I went back and forth between the two colors until I got the look I wanted, and boy does it look pretty!  For the sentiment, I pulled out the Tim Holtz Celebration Words:  Script die set, and decided on anniversary wishes, instead of the more commonly used happy anniversary.  After die cutting the words from my favorite Pen+Gear white glitter paper, I laid them against the background to see how it looked, but I thought they got rather lost.  I die cut a nice oval from some vellum, and that did the trick!  I love that vellum diffuses the background without really covering it up.  I adhered the glitter sentiment to the vellum oval using the tiniest dots of Bearly Art glue, and then I die cut the words once more from scrap white cardstock and adhered that to the BACK of the vellum oval right behind the glitter words.  That gave me the perfect way to adhere the vellum oval to the background, while also adding a little dimension.  Jennifer McGuire has shown this quite often in her videos.  And that, my friends, is it!

If you are hopping along (and why wouldn't you?), it's just 4 of us this month, as our beloved V had a heavy workload this month.  Here is the lineup for you:

Marie <----- That's me!

Karen at Misplaced Mojo 

Lounon at Craft Me, Craft Moi

Anna at Crafty Anna Studio

Let me know what you think of my Squirrel Sisters' creations...I know I can't wait to see what their fabulous hands and minds have created!  Please consider subscribing to our blogs if you haven't already and leave us some comment love!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great weekend! 😄 Take care!

~ Marie

CHRISTMAS IN JULY 2023 {BYSHC} LINKY PARTY

 Hello, hello!  Welcome back to my blog!  It's time for another Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Linky Party, WOOT, WOOT!  And since it IS July, that means it's a Christmas in July Linky Party!  Today is Day 1, and this party will be going strong until the 28th, so get those Christmas and winter holiday cardmaking supplies dusted off and get creating!

For my first card, I followed {BYSHC} Sketch 35:

And here is my card:

I decided I wanted to get a little fun and fancy with my layers for this card, so I used the Wavy Pierced Rectangles dies from Whimsy Stamps to die cut my patterned papers.  These papers come from the Fa La La La 12x12 paper pad from Recollections that I have had in my stash for several years now.  I just love the bright colors in this paper pad, and of course this gingerbread paper was the perfect match for this fun-loving gingie!  The image and sentiment are also from Whimsy Stamps and come from the Gingerbread Fun stamp set.  This stamp set is too cute, and I need to use it more often!  I also used a lot of my favorite white glitter paper from Pen + Gear (Walmart); once as the mat for the gingie paper, and then again to make the little snowy hill.  I partially die cut it with the same Wavy Pierced Rectangle die I used for the dotted paper so it would have the same edge.  I realized during the photo shoot that I hadn't followed the sketch exactly on the small panel, but I did hurry up and add some black enamel dots to at least have that element of the sketch.  The sentiment was stamped with VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink using my MISTI.  I love that tool!  It has definitely changed the game when it comes to stamping!  Oh, and the cute gingie was colored with Copic markers.  I love those too!

Additional items used:  Bearly Art Glue, foam adhesives from the Dollar Tree

Thanks for stopping by today!  I really appreciate you all taking time out from your busy days to drop by and read a bit about the creation of my card.  Ok, now it's time for you to get busy and create your own Christmas and/or winter holiday cards and get them linked up to the Linky Party!  Remember, you have until the 28th to join, and I forgot to mention that we have some fabulous sponsors joining us again, so you don't want to miss out!

~ Marie

SQUIRRELZ STASH BASH -- CHRISTMAS IN JULY W/FOIL -- JULY 1, 2023

Hello, and welcome back to my blog!  My Squirrel Sisters and I are back again to inspire you with some Christmas in July cards for our Squirrelz Stash Bash Hop!

This month's supply is FOIL, in any form that it comes in.  I don't have a hot foil system, so I simply used some foil cardstock on my card:

So, I went WAY OFF BASE with my card this month by making a pastel rainbow unicorn slimline card!  OK, so technically it's a Pegasus, but I had it already stamped and cut out, so it fit the bill for our challenge, which is to use the stuff we have not been using!  By the way, almost of all the stamps and dies I've used on this card are from Whimsy Stamps.  The Slimline Fancy Frame die cut was also sitting around from a recent 180-degree card making turn.  So, I inked up the panel with the 6x9 It's Cloudy stencil, and while that dried a bit, I dug around for the light pink foil cardstock I KNEW I had (I couldn't find it at first!) to die cut this rainbow from the Array of Rainbows die set.  I die cut the larger cloud from the set from my favorite Pen+Gear white glitter paper and adhered that to the top of the rainbow with glue and foam tape.  The unicorn is from the Unicorn Wishes stamp set and I colored it with Copics.  It was suggested to me by a good friend (thanks, Karen!) that the unicorn needed a Santa hat.  I knew that I could most likely find something in one of my Lawn Fawn sets that sadly don't get enough use either.  The only hat I found that would fit was this one from the Yeti or Not stamp set.  I colored and fussy cut it out and glued it to the top of the unicorn's head.  This necessitated the removal of one of the unicorn's ears that stuck out from above the hat. 😨  The unicorn is also popped up on foam tape.  Oh, and the sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Winter Unicorn mini stamp set. 😉  The card base is a 3.5x 8.5 slimline.  Here is a better pic of the true foil colors (except for the holographic stripe in the middle) 😒

OK, friends, your next stop on the hop is the incredible Karen at Misplaced Mojo.  In case you get lost somehow, here is the full hop list (it's small!)

Marie (that's me!)

Karen

Lounon

Anna

V

Thanks for stopping by today, and Merry Christmas in July!  

~Marie

SQURRIELZ STASH BASH -- HUMOROUS STENCILING -- MAY 29, 2023

Hello friends!  Welcome back to my blog.  It's been a hot minute since I've made a post, so let's see if I can still do it, shall we?

It's that time of the month again, and the Squirrel Squad is feeling pretty funny this time around

HUMOROUS/STENCILS

That's the name of the game for this month's theme and supply, and here is the card I made:

I've kinda had this card idea floating around in my head ever since I bought this Layered Cups stencil set from A Colorful Life Designs.  I was so inspired by the beautiful rainbow card that Amy's Wares created (you can watch her video HERE), that I just had to get this set, even though I am a lover of iced coffee myself.  

In keeping with the coffee idea, I used kraft cardstock to create my card.  I blended Lost Shadow oxide ink through the cup shape stencil with a blending brush, and then I ink blended the design stencil layer with Gina K inks in Passionate Pink, Turquoise Sea, and Wild Lilac in a diagonal pattern. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but I think it came out well!  I also ink blended the edges of the card base with Ground Espresso oxide ink.  The panel was die cut with the largest Wonky Stitched Rectangle die from Whimsy Stamps, and then I added a piece of fun foam to the back of the panel and glued it to the card base. The sentiment comes from the Coffee stamp set from A Colorful Life Designs, which I stamped in VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink, and fussy cut in a flag shape.  I finished off the inside of the card (which I hardly ever do until I actually need it!) like so 😄:

I ink blended the same Ground Espresso oxide ink through the Coffee Beans stencil, also by A Colorful Life Designs, in the bottom right corner.  DECAF comes from the same stamp set and was also stamped in the Nocturne ink.  I think any serious coffee drinker would totally love this card! 

Ok, yall know how a hop works, so your next stop is the uber fabulous V over at Passions and Distractions.  I know I can't wait to see what she has created for this month!

Thanks for stopping by today and take care!

~ Marie

SPRING INTO CHRISTMAS 2023 {BYSHC} LINKY PARTY!

 

Hey friends, thanks for stopping by my blog today!  It's time to get those Christmas card making supplies back out of storage (or if you're like me, they are never too far out of reach!), and get some cards made for this year's supply!  Here is one card that I have ready for my stash:

I created this card based on the current sketch #32:

This card was put together using all My Creative Time products.  I just love Emma's CUTE stamps, dies, and papers!  These all come from the 127th edition release, and the 128th edition mini release from the end of last year.  The papers are from the Let It Snow paper pad, and the Dots, Solids and Stripes paper pad that was made to coordinate with it.  I think I have mentioned this before, but the thing I love most about Emma's products is that she creates designs in the papers that can be die cut with the dies that go with the stamp set!  Isn't that just awesome? That way, if you need a quick card, or don't feel like coloring a stamped image, you can just die cut one from the paper pad, and it is all perfectly coordinated!  That's exactly what I did here with the cute snowman.  He is resting on top of the beautiful Snowflake Tag die, which is currently out of stock, but don't worry, I'm sure it will be back soon!  Another thing that is so fabulous about Emma's stamp and die sets is that she creates dies to coordinate with the sentiments, at least most of the time.  That sure makes it fun to add a sentiment in a different way than just on a banner or strip.  I added some fun dimension by adding foam tape to the snowflake tag, the snowman, and the sentiment.

OK, so I hope my card has inspired you to get those Christmas card making goodies out and get creating!  Don't forget to add them to the blog post for a chance to win some fabulous prizes from our sponsors!

https://byshcardmakers.blogspot.com/2023/04/spring-into-christmas-2023-byshc-linky.html

Take care and see you next time!

~Marie

SQUIRRELZ STASH BASH -- INTERACTIVE BIRTHDAY -- MARCH 31, 2023

 Hello crafty friends!  My Squirrel Sisters and I are back at it today, sharing cards we made with some neglected supplies, with the theme of INTERACTIVE BIRTHDAY cards.

So, if you've been here before, you know how this works.  Each month, we decide on a theme and/or add a technique/supply that we utilize to give love to some crafty goodies that haven't ever been used, or haven't seen the light of day in a long time.

For my card, I decided to dig out this awesome Big Candles stencil from  A Colorful Life Designs, which I had never used before.  A couple of the Sisters had challenged each other to also use foil this month, so I joined in.  This led me to using another product that had not been used yet, Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo.  As you can see from my pic, I clearly need more practice using this stuff, as there are quite a few places that are bare!  But, I figured this was going to be inside a shaker, so it would be OK. 😳  

Somewhere in my craft room, I have a gallon size zipper bag chock full of recycled packaging for making full panel shakers, but do you think I have ANY IDEA where it is?  Nope!  I had to cut apart one of the packages I had kept a slimline die in to make this shaker.  🙄    I kept it simple by only adding sequins from the Honey Bee Clear Iris mix, which I may or may not have used before, I have no idea!  I die cut the happy birthday sentiment from Honey Bee's Bitty Buzzwords die set, using both the words and the shadows layers for more presence. I then glued the whole shebang down into a 5.5" square card base.

Well, that is it for me!  Our hop is a little bit shorter this month, as one of our Sisters had to completely trash her card after she dropped an ink pad on it... 😳.  So please hop onto the next Sister in line, which is the fabulous Karen at Misplaced Mojo.  I know you will not be disappointed that you did!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great day!

~ Marie

SQUIRRELZ STASH BASH -- ANIMALS AND TEXTURE/GLITTER PASTES

Hello crafty friends!  Welcome back to my neglected blog!  It's that time of the month again where my crafty besties and I blow the dust off of some idle supplies and actually USE them!  I apologize for being late this month, but time got away from me, and I just wasn't able to finiish on time.  We like to call this the Squirrelz Stash Bash!

This month, we decided to work with animals/critters and texture and/or glitter paste, and here is my card:

I absolutely ADORE Tracey Hey stamps, and I am on an unofficial mission to collect them all.  There are actually more out there than I originally thought, so it may take me a while!  Anyway, I loved this lion from the first moment I saw him, so I wanted this to be the first of Tracey's stamps that I used.  I recently watched a YouTube video from Marilyn G where she colored an adorable Dianna Marcum bunny stamp using the dot method, and I was so inspired by it, that I decided to do this lion the same way.  This took me QUITE AWHILE, my friends!  Trying to make the dots as random as possible, while also varying their size was an interesting exercise in patience for me, but I am totally IN LOVE with the end result!  I used 3 shades of each color, and tried to follow the colors as they are shown on the stamp packaging:

I also added white gel pen accents here and there.

ANYWAY, I created the background by spreading Martha Stewart Onyx glitter paste through my favorite stencil from A Colorful Life Designs, called Up Down Triangles.  I think these triangles work very well to give a "tribal" feeling to the card.  Now, as far as Martha Calling this a "glitter" paste, I think it's a bit of a misnomer.  This color has nowhere NEAR the glitter that her other colors have, so I decided to sprinkle some Simon Says Stamp Unicorn Confetti glitter over the top while the paste was still wet.  This stuff really adds the sparkle...to EVERYTHING!  😂 When the paste was dry, I cut the panel down with a Whimsy Stamps Wonky Stitched Rectangle die and glued it onto a super thin black matting layer.  That was then glued down to the A2 card base.  I popped the lion up on foam tape.  I combined the "Be A" and "warrior" sentiments, and then stamped the largest swish on top of the warrior word with Barn Door Distress ink.  I trimmed down the sentiment strip with my mini Tim Holtz trimmer, and then also went around the edges with the same red ink.  And that's it!

OK, your next stop on the hop is the uber fabulous Karen at Misplaced Mojo.  Our hop is but a small one, and we would love it if you would hop all the way through...and perhaps subscribe if you haven't already!  Oh, and we also love to get comment love from you, so please leave us some comments!

Thanks so much for stopping by and take care! 💗

~ Marie

SQUIRRELZ STASH BASH -- LOVE AND FREINDSHIP/INK BLENDING -- JAN 27, 2023

Hey friends!  Super short and sweet post, as I have very limited time to post tonight.  It's that time where my crafty besties and I dig into our stashes and create some beauties to look at.  That's right it's time for...

This month we focused on LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP with ink blending.  Here's my card:

I used the Lawn Fawn Lots of Hearts stencil set to do my ink blending through, and used Gina K inks in Bubblegum Pink, Passionate Pink, Lovely Lavendar, and Wild Lilac.  I had wanted to add a clear glitter paste on top of the lighter colored hearts, but my paste had dried up, and that was the only one I had.  I tried to use Stickles, but it went all over the place, so this is actually panel #2.  😏  I die cut the ink blended panel with a Wonky Rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs.  The black layer behind the panel is glitter cardstock I had lying around, and so is the die cut sentiment from Honey Bee Stamps honey cuts set Bitty Buzzwords.  The die cut heart is from Spellbinders, and I embossed the white layer with a Spellbinders Embossing folder of the month called Spreading Love.  I finished the inside with the sentiment "to know you sweet friend" from the Bitty Buzzwords stamp set.

Next in the hop is the super talented V of Passions and Distractions, and I know you won't want to miss out on what she has created!  Please subscribe to our blogs if you haven't already and leave us some comment love!  Take Care!

~ Marie 

SQUIIRELS STASH BASH -- DECEMBER 30, 2022

Hello friends!  Welcome back to my blog!  My Squirrel Sisters and I have managed to squeeze in *one more* hop for this year.

This month's theme is FAVORITE TECHNIQUE, so you are bound to see that we all have our favorite things to do when it comes to this card making hobby we all share.  After some pondering, I decided that my favorite technique (for now anyway) is die cutting.  Now as far as a theme goes, you know that I will ALWAYS choose Christmas, and that I can't pass up a cute critter, so my card encompasses all three of these things.

Now, I REALLY busted through my stash for this card!  I have a small basket I keep uncolored images and completed die cuts in, so I rummaged through it, looking for something I could throw together at the last minute.  Like, literally.  It is after midnight as I type this, and we are leaving for Gettysburg tomorrow morning!  ANYWAY, I found some shimmer backgrounds I had made ohhh, probably this past summer or maybe even last summer.  Then I found this Cheery Deer from Lawn Fawn that I had assembled some time ago too.  I fell in love with the idea of that cute deer sitting in the middle of this shimmery background.  I cut the background down with a Wonky Stitched Rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs, then popped the deer up on foam tape.  I die cut the fa la la from Lawn Fawn's Winter Big Scripty Words lawn cuts from black cardstock and glued it down at the bottom of the shimmer panel.  All of this is adhered to a standard A2 top-folding card base.

OK friends, I have got to go to bed!  The lovely Ms. Anna is next in the hop lineup this time, but please won't you take a little extra time to hop the whole way through?  We love it when you do!  We also love it when you leave us some comment love!  Take care! 😊

~ Marie 💗

{BYSHC} SKETCH #29 -- DECEMBER 23, 2022

Hello friends, happy Friday, and happy Christmas Eve eve!  Are you all ready for the BIG DAY in 2 days?  I can hardly believe that it's that close already; I remember as a kid it always seemed that Christmas was SOOOOO FAAAAARRR AWAAAAAAY, and now it just comes and goes in a flash!  Sigh, to be a kid again at Christmas!  What a magical time!

Anyway, I digress...I'm here today to share the first card I made using the current sketch at {BYSHC}, Sketch #29:

As meticulous as I like to be when making my cards, this sketch threw me for a loop when it came to placing the triangular pieces on the green vellum mat "just right."  I NEEDED to have all the spacing equal or I would go crazy!  I tried just placing the patterned paper from Lawn Fawn's Knit Picky 6x6 paper pad onto the vellum, but it just kept sliding around, so I finally tore off some pieces of        Therm-o-Web's Pixie Tape (love this stuff!) and made hinges over the edge of the vellum to keep the pieces in place while I glued them down.  They are still a *little* off, but I think this method worked pretty well overall.

Now, the centerpiece of this card is made up of the negative pieces of this Circle Ho Ho Ho Die from My Creative Time that I used to make this ornament.  I just thought they would make an excellent focal point also, as the Ho's are so easy to read.  I glued all of the layers (7 or 8 of them) together with the white glitter layer on top and added them to a die cut circle of the green vellum.  This may have been a bit of overkill for the front of a card, as now it is pretty heavy and bulky.  I will know better for the next time!  I really like how you can still see the patterned paper, especially the red, through the vellum.  All of this is adhered onto a white A2 top-folding card base.

--CHALLENGES--

Moving Along With The Times #149:  Christmas (4/5)

613 Avenue Create #12:  ATG (4/8)

Classic Design #12:  ATG

The Paper Funday #48:  ATG w/optional twist - Holiday Time

A Place to Start:  ATG w/optional twist - Happy Holidays

A Perfect Time to Craft #12:  ATG

Fab 'n' Funky #563:  Last Minute Christmas

The Holly and Ivy #130:  ATG Christmas (3/3)

Through the Craft Room Door:  ATG (4/4)

Creatalicious #249:  ATG (2/3)

Crafting Happiness #137:  Christmas

Crafty Gals Corner #238:  Tis the Season

LeAnn's World 101 #57:  ATG

CCAYR:  Waiting for Santa

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #95:  ATG Christmas (3/10)

OK friends, thanks for stopping by today!   Head on over to the {BYSHC} blog to see what DT creations there are to inspire you, and then head on over to the Facebook Group to join in with a card if you have some time to spare in this "crunch time" before Christmas.  Take care!  😊

~ Marie 💗