Time to Celebrate Christmas in July

Hello Everyone!

Today I have a card to share that was created for the Dies R Us Inspiration Blog!
One of my team mates mentioned doing 'Christmas in July' cards.  I thought it was a great idea and decided to give it a whirl myself!

Now mind you ... when it's upper 80s outside, I'm really not in the mood for holiday cards  ... BUT ... with the A/C on and I'm in the basement ... the temperature feels like it could be snowing in here!  LOL
So why not!

I don't make many 'shaker' style cards but am always impressed with them when I see the amazing creations other crafters come up with so that was the direction I decided to go with today's card.

AND, it's a great use for that packaging so many of my dies come in ... I keep them all and when I get a free minute I cut the edges off so I have a flat panel to use for various other projects.

Here are a few steps I took in making my shaker card:

First I decided on what scene I wanted to create and chose the Memory Box 'Cascade Evergreen Frame and Memory Box Everygreen Trio (no longer in stock) but the Memory Box Mountain Evergreen would work well also.

As you can see, I cut a panel in white and another in green.

Next I wanted to create a 'backdrop' for my evergreen forest so I cut a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 panel of white card stock and simply sponged just the top half to represent the sky using Tim Holtz 'broken china' distress ink and a large sponge dauber.

After cutting the green trees from the border ... I staggered them on top of the white tree panel to give the illusion of snow on the branches.  Next I started 'creating my forest'. 

 

To create my SHAKER, I decided to hand cut strips of dimensional tape to help create my 'window'.  After laying a strip on all four sides, I removed the protective strips from all but the top strip.  Next I adhered my 'window panel' ... poured in some Martha Stewart 'snow' ... pulled the top protective strip off and VOILA!!

Now for the finishing touches!

By positioning the Impression Obsession 'Icicle Edger' across the top and one of the deer from the Frantic Stamper 'Reindeer Duo' Set, down on the bottom, the dimension of my winter scene really came together ... what do you think?

I couple more dies for the inside sentiment and the first holiday card of the 2016 season is complete!
I chose the other reindeer in the Frantic Stamper 'Reindeer Duo' Set, and the Cheery Lynn Designs 'Merry Christmas with Tree' Sentiment die.

Sorry for the long post ... thanks for sticking with me!!

I hope you'll take the time and pop over to our Dies R Us store!
The holidays are 'not that far away you know!' ... YIKES!

There are so many wonderful die cutting companies to choose from ...

I'm sure you'll find exactly what you might be looking for (and more, lol) !!!

Remember, there is a new inspiration sample shared each and every day of the month

on our Dies R Us Inspiration Blog using a variety of dies from several different companies.

Then of course you'll want to come join us at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog.

There's a new challenge theme offered on the 1st & 15th of each month with

a gift voucher prize to one lucky winner each challenge!

OH!  And did you know we have a FB Page and PINTEREST Page?

I hope you'll check out all the fabulous fun going on through DIES R US!!

Challenges to share in:
Broken Fairy Challenge #6 - Anything Goes / Twist - Christmas in July
Digi Designs Challenge - Christmas in July
Christmas Cards All Year Round July Challenge - Anything Goes (Christmas)
Creative Corner Challenges - Anything Goes
 Cut It Up Challenge - Anything Goes (must have die cuts)
Winter Wonderland Challenge - Let's see a Christmas tree and make it cute.
 ABC Christmas Challenge - N is for No Rules

Till next time . . . 

And, as always . . .

Happy Birthday Wishes

Happy Saturday Everyone!

The other evening I noticed the challenge over on the Impression Obsession Blog

is Happy Birthday to You and I thought it would be fun to play along

and started looking into what I/O dies I had available that would work.

Here's what I came up with ...

I'm so pleased with the outcome of this quick/easy creation I just might have

to make a few more in various colors for my upcoming craft shows.

The Impression Obsession dies I have used are:

Boy with Flowers - DIE248

Greeting Set - DIE174

Puppies - DIE142

I created the background by first sponging 2 different shades of Tim Holtz

distress ink in an angular motion then spritzing  with

some very old 'pink lemonade' Memories Mists (surprised it still worked).

A few sequins and a little hand doodling ... VIOLA!

Challenges to share in:
Crafty Girls Creations Challenge - Anything Goes
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Cute + Sentiment
In the Pink Challenge - So Cute (and pink of course)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Enjoy your weekend!

As always . . .

The Sweet Signs of Spring!

Hello Friends!

As my post title suggests, the sweet signs of Spring are finally starting to be seen & heard here in Akron, Ohio!  YAY!!

One of my favorite creatures in all the world to watch are butterflies.

They are so delicate looking and so attentive to their pollination duties.

So today's card is based around the beautiful butterfly.

I had a couple of challenges in mind when designing today's card and one of them was the 'Think Spring' Challenge at the Impression Obsession Blog.  

This beautiful Impression Obsession 'Fancy Butterfly' die set was perfect for a technique I spotted while blog hopping (as soon as I remember where I saw it I'll come back and give credit) and wanted to give a try.  I LOVE how this card came together.  

This die set is two parts ... a solid panel and a 'decorative cut out' panel ... so you can layer your butterfly.

For this technique:

• I die cut two butterflies on my focus forward panel
• positioned 'scraps' of pattern paper behind my cut out
• and adhered my ' decorative cutout' butterfly on top of the pattern paper but just in the center so the wings would have dimension.

I also added a touch of sparkle to the middle and wing tips ... so pretty IRL.

The other challenge I had in mind when creating this card is for the current Butterfly Challenge - "P is for Pattern Paper" + a Butterfly of course.  

The pattern paper I used behind the white butterflies is K&Co.  The pattern paper I used as my mat came from my scrap drawer and don't recall who the mfg. was.  But it was purple and green so worked perfectly with my K&Co scrap pieces.

A little sponging of Tim Holtz 'Dusty Concord', Kaiser pearls, a sentiment from the Close to My Heart 'Butterfly Kiss' stamp set and this card was complete!

Other challenges to share in:
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Things with Wings
 DL.ART Thankful Thursday Challenge - Anything Goes
Scrapy Land Challenge #13 - Anything Goes using Scrapy Land Dies (Impression Obsession)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

I hope you'll give this quick, easy and awesome technique a try!

As always ...

UPDATE

Here are two more cards using the same technique.

Christmas Greetings!

Hello my friends and welcome back!

I've been so wrapped up in craft show creating, DT creating and Thanksgiving preparations that I just needed to take a moment for a little ME time and create a little something for some of the challenges I enjoy taking part in.  

Today's card is for the current challenge at Impression Obsession which is Christmas Greetings.  I don't have as many IO dies as I would like (working on that problem) but I went through those I had and thought a winter scene (at least in my mind) depicts the holiday time of year so this is what I created.

 

The Impression Obsession dies I have used today are:

Fence Trio - DIE034-U

Small Deer - DIE117-C

Fir Trees - DIE084-V

I have grown to love creating 'scenic' cards ... especially for the GUYS ... which can be very difficult to create a card for!  These particular die cuts are PERFECT for that situation!

My background design paper is a scrap from my stash and the snow was created by simply tearing scraps of white card stock.  I used a white gelly roll pen to create 'snow' on the trees and fencing.

Okay, play time is over ... back to business!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek!  Hope you found inspiration!

As always . . .

A "Blue" Challenge at Impression Obsession

Good Morning Bloggers!

I'm SO energized this morning!  We were out to dinner last evening with a long time friend of mine & her hubby and it was such a WONDERFUL evening.  Nice restaurant, awesome food and fabulous conversation.  I've learned over the years just how valuable girlfriends are and I TREASURE each and everyone I'm blessed to have!

Anyways ... onto today's card creation!

I was working on 'redoing' my die cut storage and of course in my mind I was creating cards along the way.  While working with the few Impression Obsession dies I have I thought I'd check out what their latest challenge is and see if I could play along.

 The current challenge at the Impression Obsession Blog is to use the color BLUE.

I have used Medium Blue card stock for my snowy background.

And, Navy Blue card stock to create the trees.

 The I/O dies used on this creation are:

DIE108-F (the boy on the sled silhouette)

DIE084-V (Fir Trees)

I die cut my trees twice!  Once with the NAVY card stock and again on WHITE.  

By offsetting the navy tree over the white tree, it gives the illusion of snow on the branches!  LOVE THAT!!

For the snow I've simply torn white card stock and added white Stickles along the ridge of each snow mound.  I've also popped up my little boy silhouette for more dimension.

Here are a few additional challenges I'd like to enter:

A Gem of A Challenge - Something NEW (Fir Tree Dies)

Allsorts Challenge #240 - Free & Easy

Open-Minded Crafting Fun #1 - New Toys/Techniques (new dies)

Outlawz Paper a la Mode - Something New (new dies)
Come and Get It Challenge - Something New (new dies)

** After Thought!  After all was said and done, I didn't like all the WHITE snow space so I went back and added the 'Let It Snow!' sentiment and updated the images here on my blog ... hope this hasn't confused anyone at the challenges I entered.  
It is the same card!**

Well that's it for me today!  

We are expecting some REALLY COLD temperatures over the next 3 days so you'll probably be seeing a lot of me this week!  LOL!!  

The 'silver lining' to nasty weather is the opportunity to stay in my crafting cave and create ... and maybe do a little reorganizing along the way!! 

Have a great day everyone and thanks for taking the time to stop by!

As always . . .

Joan's Gardens Challenge and MORE!

This week's Joan's Garden challenge is a fun one and when I saw it,
I knew exactly what I wanted to do!

This week's challenge is to:

Use Black and White Only

Christmas

Use a Frame

You must use a product sold at Joan's Gardens.  Also, mention that you are doing the card/project for Joan's Gardens Challenge. It would be nice if you would add this link to your post: www.atjoansgardens.com

 
During my last trip out to Joan's Gardens, I couldn't help but grab up this adorable silhouette die by Impression Obsession (DIE108-F). 
Now as you know, no one should sled ride alone ...
so I die cut it again and now this little guy has a buddy to have winter fun with! LOL!

My frame was created using the largest Spellbinder Nestabilities 'Labels Fourteen' die. 
I cut it out then actually used the 'negative' for my frame.

With the computer problems I was having last week and my FUN but busy weekend, I'm late adding my card to this challenge.  Of course you have until THURSDAY to join in the fun so PLEASE check it out and join in!

Other Challenges:
Great Impressions November Challenge - Holiday Card or Tag
Little Claire's Designs - Christmas
Christmas Cards All Year Round - Winter Wonderland
Heck of a Challenge - In The Frame

I have SO MUCH TO SHARE WITH YOU ... BUT ...
So as NOT to overwhelm you today,
tomorrow I will have a post and photos about the Friendship Tea I was a part of on Saturday
along with 10 High School Girlfriends.  What an AWESOME time!!

 

Till then, thanks for stopping by and as always . . .

Recipe:

Papers:  Black cs, White cs

Stamps:  AMuse (snowflakes), Hero Arts (sentiment)

Inks:  SU 'soft sky', Versafine Onyx

Accessories:  Spellbinder Labels 14, Impression Obsession DIE108-F die, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, x-Press It Foam Mounting Tape, Flower Factory White Organza ribbon  

Spring Time and Sparkle

Good Saturday Afternoon to you all!

Today I have two cards to share with you for two different challenges.  

First is a fun card for the Sassy Studio Designs Dare to be Sassy Thursday challenge #171.  I'm also entering this card into their May Guest Designer Post.  I love these images and have been wanting to try out for the guest designer and am FINALLY going to 'go for it'.  I hope they like my creation.  This week's challenge is to use something wet on your project (stickles, smooch, crystal effects, dew drops).  I have used pink cottoncandy & mauve Stickles.

Recipe:

Sassy Studio Designs Digi Image:  Katniss Girl of Fire Sassy

Papers:  White cs, bright pink cs, internet music score dp, Basic Grey 'sultry' 6x6 paper pack

Accessories:  Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, xPress foam mounting tape, Cheery Lynn Designs DL112 Exotic Butterflies Small, Cheery Lynn Designs B165 Lace Corner Deco E, Prima flowers, Stickles, Memory Box #98401 Tiffany Frame and #98402 Cherise Label dies

Other Challenges:

The Outlawz Twisted Thursday - Singing and/or Music

2 Sisters Challenge - Anything Goes

Catch the Bug Challenge - Anything Goes

CMC Copic Challenge #65 - All About the Hair

Totally Gorjuss - Anything Goes with Sparkle

CCEE Stampers - Things with Wings

Delightful Challenge - All About Music

In the Pink Challenge - Lets Fly Away ... In Pink!

Stampavie and More - Pretty in Pink

Stamp n Doodle - Pretty in Pink
DL.ART April Linky Party - Anything Goes  

The second card today is for the "Springtime Fun" challenge at Impression Obsession.  I have never participated in their challenge and after seeing a creation my friend Diane (Nellie's Nest) created for the challenge, I thought I'd give it a try.  

I have used three Impression Obsession products for this CAS card.  

I've created the background with their F8714 Dandelion Stem rubber stamp and Momento 'bamboo leaves' ink.  The corner treatment is their rubber stamp F1047 Daisy Corner which I colored with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and fussy cut with my Fiskars swivel craft knife.  The adorable birds is a die I purchased this week at Joan's Gardens and it is Impression Obsession DIE058-N, which I cut from heavy black cardstock.

Other Challenges:

Creative Moments - Things with Wings (entry 2)

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Green, Yellow and one other

Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT Challenge - Anything Goes

Loves Rubber Stamps Challenge - Anything Goes

Papertake Challenge - Anything Goes

THANKS SO MUCH for stopping by today and I hope you are finding crafting time in your busy schedule this weekend!  I don't know what I would do if I didn't have time to craft ... 'therapy at its best!'

ENJOY the rest of your weekend!  SO NICE to see the SUNSHINE!!

As always . . .