Sunday, August 22, 2021

SQUIRRELS GONE NUTZ -- STITCHING AND THANK YOU -- AUGUST 22, 2021

Hello friends!  It's that time of the month again where my favorite crafty people, aka The Squirrel Squad, and I share what we have made for our Squirrels Gone Nutz hop.  In case you have forgotten the reason we started this hop, we all wanted to be able to use those supplies we have stashed (squirreled) away, add a specific technique or supply, and hopefully inspire others to do the same!  Don't you just love our crazy graphic that Karen designed for us?  I think that guy is hilarious!


For this month, it was decided to do stitching, which could be real or faux, and using thank you as a theme.  Now it might seem that we really just chose a technique and a theme, without actually focusing on using any tucked away supplies.  But, you're wrong!  Some of us thought with stitching, we could be using some stitching dies that hadn't been used, or thread that we have had from other crafts we've done in the past (hello cross-stitching!).  At least those were my thoughts about it!  So, with that in mind, let's have a look at what I made:

I have been getting the Spellbinders Large die of the month for the last couple of months now, and this card uses the card panel stitching die from the May 2021 kit.  Now, I know it hasn't been in my stash *all* that long, but I really did want to use it before the flowers wilted! 😆  I cut it from black 65lb. cardstock from Recollections, and then decided to use some variegated DMC thread that I have in my stash for the larger flowers, leaves, and stems.  this was all done using 3 strands.  The centers of the purple flowers were stitched with gold metallic DMC thread in 2 strands, and the smaller flowers were stitched using Gutermann Sulky thread in Holoshimmer, done with a single strand, but stitched 4 times.  All that stitching took me several evenings of watching Outlander to finish!

Once all the stitching was completed, I used Simon's Craft Tacky glue to attach any loose ends.  Then, I trimmed and attached tiny pieces of foam tape to the back of the panel, and adhered it to the front of an A2 card base.  For the sentiment, I grabbed my Bitty Buzzwords stamps and dies from Honey Bee, and cut the "thanks" shadow layer twice from the same black cardstock as the panel, and the word 3 times from the same white as the card case.  I adhered all the word layers together with Bearly Art glue, then used my MISTI and Versa Fine Clair Nocturne ink to stamp the "sending you" from the stamp set, using the die cuts as a placement guide before adhering them to the card base. As an added touch, I adhered some gems from my stash to some of the flower centers. Here are some other views of my card...I think the last 2 pics really show the dimension this card has!


Since this is a hop, you may have come here from the fabulously talented Bory...if not, I encourage you to continue on with the hop to the wonderful Karen, and make your way back around!  We are a small hop, so it wouldn't take you long at all!  As always, thanks for stopping by, and don't forget that we'd love it if you subscribed, and left us some comment love!  Until next time,

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless!

~ Marie

 

Sunday, August 15, 2021

LIL PATCH OF CRAFTY FRIENDS -- SPONSORED BY FABRIKA FANTASY -- AUGUST 15, 2021

Hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!  Today's post is a bit cheesy, LOL!  It's Team B's turn over at Lil Patch of Crafty Friends, and our awesome sponsor is Fabrika Fantasy.


Prize ~ 3 Images

Here is my card:


I used this cute Happy Mouse image.  He looks quite pleased with himself, don't you think?
Please click on the picture to enlarge it; I'm not sure why it looks so blurry here!    Anyway, I chose to use the pre-colored version, as you do get both pre-colored and uncolored versions in the file.  YAY!  I found this cheese cut file in the Silhouette Store, and modified it to suit my plan for the card.  It is originally a "whole slice," but I chose to cut it on a diagonal.  I also added what I hope looks like a bite mark (those 3 scallops close together).  I used Oxide inks in Fossilized Amber and Scattered Straw to color the cheese, which I had cut from Accent Opaque 120lb cardstock.  Before adhering the 2 layers of cheese together, I splattered the top layer with the leftover Scattered Straw ink mixed with water.  I also had to do some fussy cutting of the bottom layer so there wouldn't be weird looking edges when I offset the layers.

I asked my crafty Squirrel Sisters for advice on what sentiment to use, and they came up with several "cheesy " ones.  I liked this one the best, as I really do love cheese!  I printed that out and cut it with a banner cut file, also layering it up 2 times to add dimension.  The mouse has 4 layers altogether, as I wanted him to really stand out.



I inked the edges of the yellow cardstock layer with Fossilized Amber so it wouldn't seem so flat compared to the rest of the card.  Everything was adhered flat to the 5.5" square card base, and the card was finished!

--CHALLENGES--

Love to Craft #61:  ATG (2/5)
Mix It Up #52:  ATG (2/5)
Crafty Animals #53:  ATG using animals
SheepSki Designs #53:  Let's Be Cute (2/3)
Paper Funday #32:  ATG w/optional twist Cute Critters (1/4)
Creative Craft Cottage #143:  No Patterned Paper (1/5)
Aud Sentiments #281:  ATG with a sentiment (1/5)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to pop on over to the Lil Patch of Crafty Friends blog to see what the rest of Team B has created with their images; you won't be disappointed!  Please leave us some crafty comment love, and subscribe to our blogs too!  We appreciate you so much!  Until next time friends,

Stay Healthy, Take Care and God Bless! 💖

~ Marie








Sunday, August 1, 2021

2CCC --SPONSORED BY SHEEPSKI DESIGNS -- AUGUST 1, 2021

Hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!  The 1st of a new month means a new challenge over at the 2 Crafty Critter Crazies challenge blog!  As always, we are Anything Goes, as long as you feature a critter!  This month, our sponsor is the lovely SheepSki Designs.


For my card, I chose to work with this cute image called Walkies:


Don't these two look cute going on their little walk?  Everybody needs a bit of exercise now and then!  I sized and cut the image with my Silhouette Cameo, and colored it with alcohol markers.  The background was created with the Twisted Sunshine stencil from The Rabbit Hole Designs and Martha Stewart glitter paste in Sour Apple.  The green is more muted in the picture than it is in real life, and of course the glitter doesn't show well either. 😐  I added the black sentiment strip for them to walk on, but I did have some trouble coming up with a sentiment that would make sense with the image, AND fit the size the strip needed to be.  I finally settled on this one from the Happiness Messages stamp set from Hero Arts.  I'm hoping it suits the image well enough!  Everything was glued down flat with Bearly Art glue, except for the image, which is popped up on foam tape.




--CHALLENGES--

Love to Craft #61:  ATG (1/5)
Mix it Up #52:  ATG (1/5)
Color It, Create It, Show It Off:  ATG with coloring (1/3)
Crafty Animals #53:  ATG using animals
SheepSki Designs #53:  Let's Be Cute! (1/3)
My Time to Craft #462:  No Patterned Papers
Double Trouble #90:  "Are You Kitten Me?" (pets)
Alphabet Challenge:  I is for Insect
Polkadoodles #31:  ATG (1/2)
Colour Crazy #30:  ATG with coloring (1/2)

I thank you so much for stopping by!  I really do appreciate the time it takes to read a blog post, and leave comments!  Please don't forget to pop over to the 2CCC blog to join us with your critter projects!  Until next time friends,

Stay Healthy, Take Care, and God Bless!  

~ Marie





LAST-MINUTE INSPIRATION FROM THE NOVEMBER 2024 RELEASE AT A COLORFUL LIFE DESIGNS -- NOV 30, 2024

 Hello, crafty friends!  I'm back on the blog today to share my last 2 cards for the November 2024 release at A Colorful Life Designs.  ...