A while back I had painted the chipboard birdhouse, bird and branch then glued them together. At the time I was just fooling around with a few bits and pieces so they were set aside until I decided how I wished to use them. The challenge at CYHTP has a twist of fall to it and as the colours were kind of fall looking and it is the end of summer I decided that it would be a good image for the embossed background. Too me it looks as if the little bird is thinking of leaving hence the goodbye summer title. The embossing folder is a newer one by Tim Holtz called Foliage and I used a brush and 3 different inks on top to get the background. This folder is 3D and is so detailed that the CS used splits if one isn’t careful. The stamps are from GKD called Triple Play Holiday and I fussy cut the leaves and twine ribbon before adding them to the card front. The additional branch behind the birdhouse is another GKD set Birds & Blossoms 2 and I fussy cut this out too. Gems are from my stash and I also added a bit of gold to the leaves before calling the card finished. Thanks for looking and I hope your weekend is a good one.

Have you ever started a project with something in mind and find that it morphs into something quite different? This card is one of those and that it fits more than one challenge is a happy accident and not by design. I had seen something this morning (cannot remember where) that I thought was a great idea for a card. As I couldn’t find it again I realized my idea wasn’t going to work but I had already die cut and paper pieced the word thanks and decided to go ahead with another idea. After prepping the card front and background layer I took a piece of white CS and laid the paper pieced layer on top of it. That led me to die cut the letters of the word again and using a curved oval piece I laid them out above the other piece in a curve. Didn’t like it so I removed the original paper piece and set it aside. Then using the same die I cut several words in different scrap paper thinking to add them in the curve shape all over the white layer. After gluing the first word at the top I started on the next and it didn’t take long to realize that I wasn’t going to get it exactly where I wanted it. Went ahead anyway only this time with the intention of having each word slightly offset from the others. Once they were glued I stamped the leaves in fall colours using 2 different stamp sets from GKD. Then I added the gems before adding this layer onto the rest. I actually like the result although it is a far cry from what I originally envisioned. Before I started the post I went through a few challenge blogs just to see what was there and discovered that 2 additional challenges were also suitable for my post. My original paper pieced bit is laid out ready for another card that I have an idea for, so tomorrow if I have time I shall finish that one as well. Thanks for spending time with me today.

I decided to have a go with this challenge after Angie shared the link to it and this is what I came up with. As well I’m entering it into the Colorful Options challenge as the colours work for that too. Stamps used are mostly from GKD, but the snow baker is a free digi stamp found on Pinterest. There was one image I really wanted to try, but although Pinterest showed it, when I visited the website it wasn’t to be found so I gave up. Actually this card also came about because I needed to distract myself from pain today. My back decided to play up after we visited some friends on their sailboat yesterday as it was a challenging boat to get on and off from. It will settle but having a distraction helps me stop focusing on it.

The scoring part of the background was from an idea J. McGuire shared recently and I thought it would be fun to try myself. Using a scrap piece of kraft CS I scored the lines diagonally at each corner and then went over them with white ink and a brayer. Then I added a gold piece in the center and a white stamped piece on top of it. The gingerbread stamp worked well for this challenge. After I’d coloured the digi stamped image I fussy cut it and added as shown. I felt it needed more so used the coffee cups which were also fussy cut once stamped. There is a bit of shimmer here and there although photo doesn’t pick it up. Card front is a dark chocolate that the camera makes almost black in the photo. One more Christmas card for my stash so less work in November. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and thanks for looking.

Navy and lime green go well together and I came up with this card. Happy birthday to the challenge blog. Adding it to the Seize the Birthday challenge as well. Inspiration came from a photo seen on Pinterest but mine is quite different to what I saw. Using up some scrap card stock I die cut some squares and then rounded the corners in two places. I did the same with the lime green paper. Stamps used are from GKD and were 2 different sets. Mandala shape was stamped onto the smaller pieces in white and then heat embossed with more white. I put the pieces together as shown and then added them to the card front. Sentiment was stamped at bottom of the card and then I added a few gems in the same colours. I like the simplicity of this card and the colours make it effective to my eyes. Hope you all have a great weekend. Ours is shaping up to be busy but fun.

Having another opportunity to be a guest designer for a challenge is exciting and somewhat scary at the same time. Creating something that may inspire others is a challenge all on its own. Upon thinking about this I decided to use my gilding flakes to create a background because the colours in mine remind me of fall. I used a sticky sheet to add the flakes and then cut the piece down to the size I required. I also wanted to try a small shaker and used a bottle die and insert from MFT. I die cut the opening and inserted the bottle shape into the opening. It was filled with leaves stamped onto some inked CS and most of them fussy cut, and I backed it with a scrap piece of vellum so it was sealed. The bottle comes with a stopper and I die cut several layers in dark brown gluing them together before adding to the bottle. The frame was cut using an old die but which brand and model I no longer remember. I cut several and stacked them together to get a bit of dimension and stability before adding it to the card front. The two larger leaves and sentiment are from an older GKD set called stitched leaves. Sentiment was cut from the same gilded flake layer left over and added to the black shadow layer. I went over the larger leaves with a gold pen where the dots were for added interest. My shaker is a bit tight, but the leaves do move if the card is shaken. As so often happens the photo doesn’t really do the card justice as it is quite vibrant in R.L. Thanks for spending time with me today.

For this card I used the inspiration from the cute top left image and a few of the colours from the rest. My stamp is a new one from Penny Black called Waddling By and I stamped him several times in black and then with Versamark so I could heat set with clear powder. Then I coloured it using Inktense pencils and a some grays from Prisma colour. Once it was fussy cut I added foam tape ready for popping up. Using StampinUp DSP I cut the background piece and attached to card front and then from the same package chose the blue pattern and die cut using an oval die from Hero Arts. Using some scrap white CS I cut a shape to denote snow hills and added it to the oval before adding the penguin. I stamped the sentiment onto a scrap piece of white, leftover from a cover plate die cut and added a bit of black glitter pen to the heavier sections on the words. Die cut this with a small die from Creative Expressions and also another small one from the same blue piece as the oval. I offset the two for interest. I’m quite pleased with how this turned out and got it finished just prior to our next set of guests arrival. We have them for a couple of nights which is fun. Thanks for looking and hope you all have a wonderful day.

This card was intended for the challenge at Color Hues, but I ran out of time when some expected guests arrived earlier than they thought they would. I had hoped to get it finished later in the day, but that didn’t happen and I missed the deadline. I like the card enough to post it even though it isn’t intended for any challenge now. Stamps used are from 2 different sets, one by Art Impressions (bear/cup and sentiment) and the other by GKD that had coffee bean stamps. The ribbon is from my stash. die cut ovals are Hero Arts. For the coffee cup section I used some masking tape that I cut into small strips so I could mask off areas I didn’t want colour and I used a Sakura gelly roll pen to add the green. The bear was done with Sakura glaze pens and also one pen from Ohuhu. When the cup and bear were coloured I fussy cut it out and popped it up over the coffee beans using some foam tape. I hope you think he is a cute as I do and have a great day everyone.

When making this card I forgot to measure so I suspect it is a bit more than 1/3 in size. That said I’m uploading it anyway. I had the embossed piece left over from a trial run at using only part of the folder which is a 6″ X 6″ size. I also had the glitter foam hearts on my desk, given to me by my friends 5 year old daughter Scarlett when we saw them last. They may come for a visit this weekend so I shall give the card to her if they come. She is a very artistic and articulate little girl, and her sister is a tomboy. Although they live on the island it isn’t close so means a bit of trek to see them. Hopefully if they do come, Ellie her sister won’t destroy my fairy garden as she is a child who is likely to stomp through it just to see what happens. I’ll need to keep eyes on her for sure as her parents don’t really use decent discipline. Instead they try bribery and to me that isn’t effective. Sentiment is from a new set by Hampton Art. Thanks for looking.

The recipe at As You See It is to use the elements shown in the photo above. My first attempt (done yesterday) is below. I was just about ready to post it when I realized that I had forgotten the watercolour element in the recipe so this morning I started again.

For this one I began with a scrap of Mixed Media CS and some distress crayons. I scribbled the crayon colours across the paper and smoothed with my finger to blend out. It wasn’t quite what I was looking for so I spritzed it with water and blended it once more using my finger. This looked better to my eyes. This gave me the watercoloured element of the recipe. After drying it I used a Penny Black stamp and stamped the rose over the colours. I did go over the leaves with a water brush and some additional colour as I wanted them more green. I die cut the layer with an unbranded stitched rectangle set and I also used the same set for the sentiment. I found a scrap of PP in my stash which is from StampinUp and added this to the card front after which I added the floral layer. There is a touch of sparkle on the roses that isn’t evident in the photo. As you can see prior to adding the floral layer I added gold twine at the bottom of the piece and the sentiment underneath it. The gem was added to hold the twine in place as it kept moving. The butterfly was coloured and fussy cut and the additional rose was added last minute as the space there looked unbalanced and the butterfly needed grounding. I believe that this time around I managed the recipe. Below is my first attempt that missed on ingredient.

My PP frame is from GKD (old) and I die cut it with a Paper Roses frame die. Popped it up on the bright pink CS. I also used DSP from StampinUP for the flowers which are a die from Memory box. I thought the striped paper would make the brights really bright. The leaf is also from Memory box. The sentiment was fussy cut and is from a new set by Hampton Art. I got these in one of those mystery box purchases. Kind of fun to receive as you have no idea what is inside. Mine included a couple of metal stencils and a lot of stickers as well as the stamp sets. Not a bad deal although I don’t use a lot of stickers.

Thanks for spending time with me today. Have a great week.

With the colour choices at JUG’s and the embossing folder requirement at CYHTP, I figured out how to make a card that would work for both challenges. All CS is from my stash mostly by GKD. Although in the photo the teal embossed background looks quite blue – it is actually a beautiful darker shade of teal and was embossed with a new folder by Gemini. This folder also came with the stamp curved to work with the curve in the folder and a die also curved for use to add together to the other piece. In fact they almost click together as the raised portion border fits into the small holes of the die cut. The little pug is from a dollar store set as is his hat. I coloured him with Inktense pencils and Sakura gel pens, then popped him up on top of the border piece. Gems from my stash and some fallouts from another project completed the card.