{BYSHC} SKETCH 41

 Hello crafty friends!  Happy Friday, and happy long weekend for me!  One of the holidays that we celebrate where I work is Martin Luther King Day, so I am off work this coming Monday.  WHOOPIE!!  Even though I just went back to work last week after being off for 13 days, I need another break!  🤣🤣🤣

Anyway, I am here to share my card for Sketch 41 for the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers challenge.  

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

Didn't this turn out cute?  I'm so happy with this card! 💓 I used a bunch of products from a variety of companies, which really makes me feel like I am using my crafty stash instead of hoarding it, LOL!  Who else can relate to that statement? 😉  OK, let me rattle these off...

Navy and black cardstocks-- Recollections 

Blue shimmer cardstock-- Recollections 

Silver holographic cardstock-- Recollections 

White glitter cardstock-- Walmart

Gingham Galore Holiday paper-- Honey Bee Stamps

Little Mr. Snowman die set (includes the snowflakes and the sentiment)-- My Creative Time The coffee mug is also from My Creative Time, but I forget which set it is from!

Scallop Circle Frames die-- Whimsy Stamps 

Miscellaneous-- R20 Copic marker for the cheeks, white gel pen for highlights, Bearly Art Glue, Dollar Tree foam squares to pop up Mr. Snowman

And that's it!  I thank you so much for stopping by today.  Now, don't forget to head on over to the {BYSHC} blog to see what the rest of the DT have created with this great sketch, and of course we want you to join in the fun, too!  You must enter your cards into the challenge album in the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers FB group. You have until Jan. 31st at 11:59 PST to submit your cards, so there's still plenty of time. 

 

CHALLENGES: 

Caffeinated Christmas #25:  Snowflakes

Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round Jan '24:  Snowflakes

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #108:  ATG Christmas

Merry Little Christmas #54:  ATG

Crafty Calendar Jan '24:  ATG

Love to Craft #78:  ATG

Mix It Up #69:  ATG

Moving Along With The Times #162:  New Craft Item (snowman die & stamp set)

613 Avenue Create Jan '24:  ATG

Crafts Galore Encore #119:  ATG (2/3)

The Paper Funday #61:  ATG (2/6)

Die Cut Divas Jan '24:  NBUS (snowman stamp & die set)

A Place to Start Jan '24:  ATG

SheepSki Design #82:  ATG (2/3)

Mirtillamente #27:  ATG

Ellibelle's Wednesday Challenge Jan '24:  ATG

Ally's Angels #78:  ATG

Crafty Catz #663:  ATG

Gem of a Challenge #1:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #221:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #629-#630:  ATG

Holly and Ivy #154:  ATG Christmas

My Time to Craft #525:  Something New in Your Stash (snowman stamp & die set)

Peace on Earth #55:  ATG Christmas

Krafty Chicks #698:  Christmas

Until next time, take care! 🤗

~ Marie

A IS FOR ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES, AND B IS FOR BERRIES

 A is for ANYTHING CHRISTMAS

B is for BERRIES

Hello crafty friends!  It's time for me to share my first card being back on the design team at the ABC Christmas Challenge!  I'm sure most of you know how the challenge works, but for those who don't; we spend the year going through the letters of the alphabet 2 or 3 per month and pick themes to go with each letter.  Then the design team creates Christmas cards based on the themes, and we invite everyone to join in!  It really is fun to see how the themes can be interpreted. The host of each challenge picks her Top 5 favorites from the link entries, and one lucky participant wins a prize!  This challenge is a great way to help get those Christmas cards made throughout the year, and the themes are a great starting point.

So, now that I have explained how the challenge works, let me show you my Anything Christmas card:

Actually, I made 2 very similar cards:

The beautiful pattern on the cards is from the intricate Lacy Edge stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  This stencil is a 6x9 size, so I borrowed a page from Jennifer McGuire's book of tricks and stenciled 2 panels at once.  This video is the one I had in mind.  I used Gina K's beautiful Light, Medium, and Dark Spruce inks and a blending brush to achieve this look.  I mounted each panel onto gold mirror cardstock from Michael's, and mounted that to a green shimmer paper, also from Michael's.  The rectangular panels were die cut with Spellbinders A2 Card Creator dies, and the green shimmer paper was die cut with a Gina Marie Designs Nested Scalloped Stitched Rectangle die.  The elegant Noel sentiment is also from Gina Marie Designs, and I cut that from the same gold mirror cardstock and also from the green shimmer to act as a shadow layer.

I think these cards came out so pretty, and I really want to make more in other colors, and even for other occasions, as I think the Lacy Edge stencil can be used for pretty much anything If you decide that you NEED  this stencil in your stash, you can use my code MarieFan10 to save on your entire order, with the exception of the Master Creator Bundles.

CHALLENGES:

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #108:  ATG Christmas

Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog #54:  ATG

Crafty Calendar Jan'24:  ATG

Love To Craft Challenge Blog #78:  ATG

Mix It Up Challenge Blog #69:  ATG

613 Avenue Create Jan '24:  ATG

Crafts Galore Encore #119:  ATG (1/3)

The Paper Funday #61:  ATG

A Place to Start Jan '24:  ATG

SheepSki Designs #82:  ATG

Mirtillamente #27:  ATG

Morgan's ArtWorld #72:  ATG

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday Jan '24:  ATG

StarStampz #54:  ATG

Ally's Angels #78:  ATG

Crazy is our Fame - STENCILS Are Our Game:  ATG w/a stencil

Gem of a Challenge:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #221:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #629 - #630:  ATG

Holly and Ivy #154:  ATG

Peace on Earth #55:  ATG Christmas

Crafty Catz #663:  ATG

Krafty Chicks #698:  Christmas

Daisy Chain #81:  No Design Paper

That's all for now, my friends!  Don't forget to drop by the ABC Christmas Challenge blog to see what the rest of the design team members have created, and to add your Christmas cards to the linky! Until next time, take care!

~ Marie

SAYING GOODBYE TO 2023 AND HELLO TO 2024 -- A CRAFTY UPDATE

  Hello, hello, crafty friends!  It's been a bit since my last blog post (October 20, 2023 to be exact.), and I have some exciting news to share!   I have decided to kick 2023 to the curb and only do things that I LOVE in 2024 and to start things off with a bang, I have joined the design team at A Colorful Life Designs!  

In case you haven't heard of A Colorful Life Designs yet, it is a small woman-owned business based in Texas, and the owner Mary Kay creates the most FABULOUS stencils, and she has just introduced 21 gorgeous colors of card bling as well.  For the stamp lovers out there, Mary Kay also has a few of those in the store.  I am super stoked to be on this team full of talented artists, and I can't wait to share my creations featuring A Colorful Life Designs products with you!

And to add to doing more of what I love this year, I am excited to be rejoining the ABC Christmas Challenge design team.  You guys know how cuckoo I am about making Christmas cards all year long, so I will be sharing 1 or 2 Christmas cards a month for this awesome design team as well.

 I will also be continuing on as a design team member for the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers design team.  I really enjoy the challenge of creating cards based on the sketches that Crystal provides, and the quarterly linky hops are loads of fun!

Last, but certainly not least, I will still be collaborating with my beloved Squirrel Sisters in 2024.  We are discussing making some changes to our blog hop, but haven't reached any conclusions yet, so watch this space for more details!

All of this will keep me plenty busy, but I am always open to any new opportunities that may come along!

Ok, that's it for my crafty update!  I am greatly looking forward to all of this creative fun in 2024, and I hope you will join me on this journey!

Take Care

~ Marie