Quick Sympathy Cards

Happy Sunday All!

I'm busy today trying to get some of the Christmas decorations brought back downstairs and put away but since I'm taking a 'cooling off' break, (that running up & down the stairs will get you overheated and tuckered out!)  I thought I'd share the quick cards I created yesterday. 

I will have a craft show coming up in April and as I looked through my card stash I noticed I was short on sympathy cards.  So, here are a few quick cards that I thought came together beautifully using one sheet of 12x12 Ella & Ivy (Ethereal) designer paper.

I was able to get four A6 cards out of one sheet and I simply used the same stamp (old SU set) and a few different die cuts (mainly Sue Wilson) for my designs.  (The sheet I used is the one 2nd in from the left on the top row in the above photo.)

 

A simply inside verse was used, leaving room for any additional personal condolences.

 Okay ... I guess I'd better get back to work before I lose my steam! LOL  (I LOVE decorating for Christmas ... don't like having to take it all back down and put away! ugh)

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a fabulous day!

As always . . .

No Place Like Home . . .

Happy Weekend Friends!

Since it is so bitter cold here in Ohio, I'm taking advance of

the situation and playing in my cave with some of the new dies & papers

I recently purchased.  

We celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas here at the Pavlick house ... which

ended yesterday.  That means now I need to spend several days putting away

all these beautiful decorations that I spent weeks putting up right after Thanksgiving!  Ugh!

BUT ... before I begin that task, here's a card I created yesterday

in a matter of 10 minutes using two new dies I received from the Dies R Us store.

The dies I've used are both from Memory Box ...

Home For The Holiday

and



Chancery Snowflake

As you can see, I only used a PORTION of each die.  I love it when I can use a die in more than one way and as I said ... this came together in a matter of minutes and I think is perfect for this time of year.

The background paper I've used is from Ella & Viv paper company 'Blue Christmas Kit'.

This is a 12x12 paper pack and I have several more panels left for additional cards ... YAY!   So pretty!   The little glittery blue snowflakes are 'pop outs' from another die used over the holidays and were just laying on one of my work tables begging to be used.

Challenges to share in:
Jingle Belles Challenge - Look What Santa Brought Me (new dies)
4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #384 - ATG twist/dies or punches
 Craft Rocket Challenge #44 - Winter

Okay ... I guess I'd better get started with putting Christmas away for another year!
(lots of trips UP & DOWN the steps ... uugh ... getting too old for this, lol)

Thanks so much for stopping by ...
Stay warm & safe ...
As always,

Watercolor inspiration . . .

Hello Friends ... how is your first week of January wrapping up?

I love drawing crafting inspiration from others out in blogland and my card today was created for just that reason!  For many years now I have been so artistically inspired by Birgit (Biggan over on Splitcoast Stampers).  Although I don't have the artistic abilities Birgit has, I still try to mimic some of her designs and see how I do.  Currently, she is the guest designer over on the CAS Watercolor Card Challenge ... so here we go!

Birgit's Design:

To create my watercolor background panel, I first die cut a rectangle from a scrap of heavier weight card stock and used it as my template attached to a panel of white water color paper.  I've used Tim Holtz Oxide Distress Ink ... Pistachio & Worn Lipstick.  

Next I die cut my Poppystamps 'Tulip Branch' from white card stock and went back to my craft mat station to color it using the same oxide inks.  Once I attached my flowers to the background panel I felt it needed 'something' so I edged the panel using the Worn Lipstick pad and blended it out with a wet paper towel.  Better!

Added my AMuse sentiment and Viola!  

Thanks for stopping by today ...

As always . . .

Challenges to share in:
Seize the Birthday Challenge - ATG Birthday


4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #384 - ATG w/twist - Dies or Punches
Creative Knockouts Challenge #227 - Celebrations
Moving Along with the Times Challenge #62 - Flowers

Love Forever . . .

Today over on the Tutti Designs Blog, I'm  filling in for team mate Giovana!

If you are in need of cards for Valentine's Day, Anniversary, Long time Friendship, Wedding, or anything to do with Love, you will want to check out this release.  

Today I chose to create using the 

Heart Stained Glass die as my focus.

There are so many ways you can create with these stained glass dies (more patterns available in our October Release) but today I decided to use the 'stacking' technique to create added dimension & drama.

Here's how it began . . .

I've used the Ken Oliver 'Stick it' sheets to make my stacking very easy.  When you are using beautiful intricate dies such as these, a product such as stick it makes it easy and less mess.  You can find this product in a variety of stores but I purchased mine from the Dies R Us Store.

I die cut two stained glass panels using the stick it on both sides of my card stock before die cutting ... giving me a sticky side on each side.  Then I sandwiched a plain white die cut panel in between the two stick t panels.  You can stack these as high as you want by using a plain card stock die cut in between (sticky) panels. 

Lastly adhering my glitter paper panel to the top for a beautiful finish.

To finish my card  I chose to add one of the hearts from the 'Nesting Stacked Hearts' die set 

 

 

and adding the words 'Love' and Forever' which were die cut from the same glitter paper as my focus stained glass panel. 

Please be sure to pop over to the Tutti Designs Store and check out all of the fabulous dies available.

Need more inspiration? 

The team has something new to share here on the Tutti Designs Blog EACH and EVERY DAY!   Pop in often and see for yourself ... what a talented group of designers!!

For your convenience, here are all the Tutti Designs quick links you will need:

Tutti Designs Store

Tutti Designs Pinterest

Tutti Designs Facebook

Tutti Designs Blog

Thanks for stopping in and as always . . . 

Challenges to share in:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Something New (stained glass die)

Word Art Wednesday Challenge #316-#317 - ATG

A Bit More Time to Craft Challenge #59 - ATG

Double D's Celebrating a Birthday!

Hello Friends!

It's time for a new challenge over on the Double D Challenge Blog!

AND, it's time to CELEBRATE!!

Diane & I are proud to announce it's the
2nd Birthday of Double D!

We will be celebrating all month (both challenges) with extra prizes being offered and even some of our fabulous DT ladies are going to be offering prizes on their blogs!  SO,  you'll want to be sure and pop over to everyone's blogs during January ... YOU just might be a lucky winner!!

To get us started, Team Diane is hosting and the theme is:

 

Anything Birthday/Anniversary Goes
 using Mood board

Let It INSPIRE You

I must say I am so excited and truly inspired by our amazing design team ladies!  I chose the cute image in the upper left corner of Diane's mood board as my inspiration ...
Let The Party Begin!!!

I had several pieces of glitter & foil paper left over from Christmas cards and thought they would make beautiful balloons and I was right!  I love how this card came together!

The main die I've used is:

Impression Obsession Balloons

 I also used the bow from an Elizabeth Craft Balloon die (#726),
the Happy Birthday comes from an older Spellbinder D-Lites set called Happy Birthday Garland (5 die set - S2-187)
and the little birds are from the Joy! Craft 'Bird Cage' die set (#6003/0034).

 I've used scraps of paper from the DCWV Glitter Pack and the DCWV Foils pack.
A few little white Nuvo Crystal Drops added dimension to the background.

I hope you'll come join in our challenge fun
and help us celebrate our BIRTHDAY!

Here are the AMAZING PRIZES Diane has up for grabs to one TWO lucky random draw winners.



AND

 But, you need to play to win!!  LOL

  Remember ... some of the DT ladies are also offering prizes ... be sure to stop by their blogs and share some love!

Team Diane

Diane Hover
Amelia Breytenbach
Rebecca Deeprose
Donna Phalen

Judy Woodland

Team Darlene

Darlene Pavlick
Leslie Miller
Kathy Krug
Vicki Robertson
Aussie Annie

 Hope to see you there!
As always . . .

Challenges to share in:

Craftaholics R Us Challenge #1 - Celebration 

Scrapy Land Challenge #81 - ATG  using product carried in their store

Crop Stop January Party #36 - ATG using product carried in their store

Pause, Dream, Enjoy Challenge #1 - Die Cuts

The Crafty Addicts Challenge - ATG

Repurposing . . .

Hello Dear Friends!

Since it was pretty quiet around here during the New Years weekend, I decided to play around in my cave, just doing what ever came to mind.  We receive so many card sets from companies we make contributions to and even though I do give a lot away to my Mom, her church and a few friends, I still end up with a lot I just feel I need to do something with so I've begun using a lot of the card fronts and repurposing them into my own card designs.

Here's one I made the other day ... (should have photographed the original card ... oops ... next time).

The original card was 'Get Well Soon' ...

After cutting the card front away from the whole card, I die cut the portion of the image that had the Gold Finch & a few of the Dogwood Blossoms, using the Poppystamps #1268 'Stitched Main Street Tag' (the two largest ones).  I didn't like how much space there was between the two panels so I die cut a panel using the largest die again in white and fussy cut a narrow mat around the image before adhering it to the black mat.

I thought using this Penny Black 'Just for You' die sentiment would give this card more flexibility.  I die cut it twice in white, once in black and once in the green.  Then stacked them together for height & dimension.

A Cuttlebug embossing folder was used to add texture to my Stampin' Up 'Pear Pizazz' background.  A little yellow bow at the top of my tag and a few Nuvo white crystal drops and my card is ready to go.

The original card came with a pretty matching envelope so I'll of course be using it.

Challenges to share in:
Love to Craft January Challenge - ATG
 Lemon Shortbread Challenge - ATG
Retarte Challenge #112 - ATG

I hope you've enjoyed what I'm sharing today and have found inspiration in repurposing something you've received in the mail that you just know you don't want to throw away.

Thanks for stopping by ...

A SPECIAL EDITION of Creative Inspiration Magazine

Hello Friends and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WhooHoo!
The Creative Inspiration Magazine has created a SPECIAL EDITION to get our New Year off to a fun & creative start.  This issue is all about SKETCHES & INSPIRATION!
And, I'm thrilled to say I'm a part of it!!

The January 2018, SPECIAL EDITION, Issue 21 is now available for viewing.

I LOVE working with sketches and even though I stopped at four cards, I could have gone on & on!
Here's a little sneak peek and what I've created ... you'll have to check out the magazine for the full picture!  LOL

 Card 1

 Card 2

 Card 3

Card 4

Please pop over and check out the FULL VIEW of my cards and all the other amazing creations shared in this fabulous Special Edition!  If you are a scrapbooker,  you won't want to miss out viewing this issue also.  There were many layout sketches used by various crafters that I'm sure you will draw inspiration from!

 Hope to see you there! 
 Please pop back and let me know what you think of this magazine and my work!
 I'd love to hear your thoughts!

 As always . . .

 

Dies R Us Challenge

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

I can't believe we are into another New Year ... where is the time going?

I decided to join the fabulous team of designers over on the Dies R Us Challenge Blog today.  Being the DT coordinator for Dies R Us, I don't always have the opportunity to play along.  But I've decided to 'switch it up a bit' and join in today!

The new challenge is an easy one for everyone after all the hustle & bustle of the holidays!

ANYTHING GOES

(using dies by companies carried in the Dies R Us Store)

Here's what I've come up with ... hope you like it!

Here are the dies I've used on today's card:

Memory Box - Enchanted Deer Collage

Precious Marieke - Wood Fence

Penny Black - Your Day

Poppystamps - Tender Deer

I started out by die cutting the Enchanted Deer Collage twice (2 paper panels together and cut at the same time).  Then I used one of the cuts as a 'stencil' in order to add some color to the background.

After sponging on a little color, I adhered the 'clean' die cut to the top of my stenciled panel to create the focus for my card front.  I've had this fence panel laying on my work station for WEEKS!  I created it for another card but it didn't work out so it's just been laying around waiting to be used!  Today's the day!

When my card was finished, I thought it looked like Mommy & Daddy deer watching their young one venturing off into the world on his own ... or maybe he's going back to school after the holiday break!  LOL

Well that's it for me today!
Here's wishing you a FABULOUS 2018!!
Thanks for stopping by ...
As always ...