{BYSHC} Sketch 50 - Merry Christmas

 Hello and welcome back! We are still working with  {BYSHC} Sketch 50 until the end of the month. This month's sponsor is A Colorful Life Designs! They have generously offered a $25 gift card to their store! Stencils and bling are their specialty!

I do not yet have any of the ACLD stencils, but do have other stencils.....so I grabbed the plaid builder stencil set from Unity Stamp Co. and some distress inks and oxides. Once stenciled, I splattered some watered down white acrylic paint and some distress oxide spray in vintage photo as well. After everything was dry, I die cut it with the largest scalloped and stitched rectangle die from Unity. Backed it with a piece of dark green cardstock, and the sentiment is stamped onto red cardstock with versamark and embossed with white embossing powder. I did end up die cutting it with the same die as the plaid panel, but did it after the fact, so had to match up the scallops! I added a few white enamel dots to break it up a bit.

Great sketch for clean and simple or it can easily be adjusted to have something added!! Sketches are made to inspire.....not to require!

I also want to mention that the {BYSHC} Design Team is about to embark on the Falling for the Holidays Linky Party! Starting October 18th! Lots of inspiration and prizes! Get those holiday cards finished early this year! 

Fall Colors Instagram Hop!

 Hello friends! My friend Bobbie Sue McConathy (bobbiesue.two38creations) asked if I would be interested in participating in an Instagram hop....of course I said sure! I'm always up for a good hop! This particular one is on Instagram. The link to my instagram page is here.

I made two cards....I was sort of indifferent about the first card. Not sure if I liked it or not, so I made another! 

So this one started with a particially stenciled piece that was sitting around. So I ink blended the edges, splattered some white acrylic paint, distress spray stain (vintage photo) and some crackling campfire oxide. The sunflower is from Unity Stamp Co. called ...sunflower wishes. The bees and sentiment are from this set too.  I stamped onto watercolor paper with versfine clair in nocturne, colored with Tombow ABT markers, then fussy it and attached it to the panel. The sentiment was stamped in black and embossed with clear embossing powder and then cut out. The bees were just stamped right onto the panel and then I added some enamel dots and some burlap twine to bring it all together.

The second one started with an ink smooshed panel that I made using a bunch of different colors. After I did all the smooshing I added to the top a background stamp from Unity Stamp Co. called rustic foliage. Stamped it in versafine clair nocturne. I then splattered some white acrylic paint and distress spray stain onto that. Once dry, I die cut it with a fancy edge die. The red piece is a scrap that I didn't measure of have to cut! Just added it behind! I then added some natural bakers twine, a preprinted sentiment, a button and some clear shiny sequins. 

Have fun hopping!!

~ October 2024 Friends of Unity Blog Hop - CASEd It! ~

 Welcome to October! This month's theme is near and dear to my heart....CASEd It! Do you even know how many cards I have screenshot, saved on Pinterest, printed and have in a file.......more than I care to admit! Let's just put it this way.......I have PLENTY of card designs to choose from! CASEd means to copy someone else's card and to do your best to recreate it or "CopyAndShareEverything!" But don't forget to give credit where credit is due!!  

It took me a hot minute to figure out which cards I wanted to recreate....as I mentioned I literally have thousands saved! Enough to last a lifetime! :)  But alas, I ultimately decided on three.....

First is a card by Julissa Sargo from the Plaid Builder stencils examples from the Unity website. I had created this background some time ago, but it got put aside. Just found it and the lightbulb went off! I did not mask off the section for the sentiment, so had to improvise! I used Journee Girl and fussy cut her out, like Julissa's card, then added a sentiment and a paperclip. The sentiment words are from a kit called Full of Fall by Tierra Jackson, but since I don't have the set (and it wasn't configured as I needed) and I liked the sentiment, I typed it up and printed it out! :) Die cut with the scallops and banners nesting die set. 

Julissa's card for reference!

Next is Lisa Arana's Watercolor technique!! My nephew got married a couple weeks ago and the dress code was black tie formal :/ So I figured a soft neutral card would work since I have no idea what the colors are. I used the same floral set, He Provides, but a different script background...a faithful letter.

Colors I used on the flower boquet are speckled egg watercolor pencil, then used hickory smoke oxide w/ water to blend out the pencil. Next I used some walnut stain pencil and added some shading. For the leaves I used peeled paint pencil and a mix of forest moss and old paper distress inks. Water, blend, mix, water, dab, mix, blend.....

Then I watered down some speckled egg pencil and went around the image and then splattered some watered down white acrylic paint and shimmer watercolors onto the image before I fussy cut it out. 

The background started with a 110lb piece of white cardstock, versamark and white embossing powder. Ink smooshed hickory smoke, vintage photo and forest moss. Smoosh, blend, water, smoosh, blend, etc. Lastly, I splattered some tea dye ink to bring in some dimension. I couldn't find any newsprint that would work, since my background is lighter than Lisa's. But this piece of green polka-dot paper that came in a KOM goodie bag works perfectly!

Lisa's cards for reference!

Lastly I've chosen Crystal Minkler! While I didn't have the exact same snowman, I think Snowmie will work!

The blue on blue on blue, die cut and splattered with white is what I loved about this one! I stamped the snowman onto watercolor paper with Versafine Clair, colored in with some water and distress watercolor pencils. Fussy cut this cutie out and added some shimmer watercolor, which unfortunately are not really very visible any more! Grabbed the scallop and rectangle nesting dies and used the two largest to die cut those panels. Mounted the snowman and sentiment using foam adhesive to pop up! 

Crystal's for reference! Looks like I needed more white splatter! LOL

Ok, but maybe one more! LOL I was going through my saved inspiration photos and saw that I had saved this one FOUR times! :| Who does that?!? Well Tenia has been a favorite of mine for some time. The first save of this one was in June 2022! I love how she uses multiple layers, pops things up, use of staples and washi and how creative and interesting her cards are!

Here's my take on her card. While I didn't have the same rose, leaves or the same washi, the look is very similar! I used Numbers, Etc. itty bitty (appears to be no longer available), Gotta Love Sentiments, the rose is from KOM December 2016 {always been you} and leaves are from KOM August 2016 {open your soul}. You may be saying to yourself...that rose looks different than what's in the kit. That's because I cut it down a little bit. It was a little too big for what I needed so you do what you need to do! Stamped the numbers and sentiment with Versafine clair, stamped the rose and leaves in versamark and embossed with white embossing powder. I then ink blended over the embossing with Saltwater Taffy. Because I used distress ink and not distress oxide, the water trick didn't do quite the job I needed it to. So I splattered on some watered down white acrylic paint. Washi tape from stash, rose gold staples and multiple layers of foam adhesive! I LOVE it!!!

Tenia's card for reference.

I could do about 1,000 more CASEd cards, but that would make for a long blog post! LOL For the time being, enjoy these four and I have no doubt that there will be more!

Thank you for hopping with us this month! Be sure to leave me some love! I get so excited to hear what y'all think! To start the hop at the beginning you can visit Crystal here, or to move on to the next stop, April!

{BYSHC} Sketch #50 - Peace Love Joy

 Hello again! I'm sharing today a card I created for the Sketch 50 challenge at {BYSHC}! This sketch is so versatile! It can either be a simple background with a sentiment across the middle, or you can add any shape or image just about anywhere!

This started with a piece of white cardstock. I spritzed it with some water and embossed with a 3d embossing folder from Stampin Up called Cable Knit Dynamic. I fell in love with this folder a few years ago when a friend (thanks Vanessa) sent me an envelope filled with embossed backgrounds! I knew I needed to find it! Well after much searching, and a few $$$, I now have my very own embossing folder! :) Back to my card! LOL After embossing, I added a strip of scrap plaid paper, a die cut snowflake from Waffle Flower (winter crystal die), and some sentiments cut from a Unity Stamp Co. kit (winter wonderland walk). Except for the white embossed panel, everything else was stamped and cut at a previous time and was waiting for the right moment! Never throw anything away! :)

Added some silvery glitter enamel dots from Gina Marie Designs for that little something extra!

This month's sketch challenge is sponsored by A Colorful Life Designs! They carry an amazing bunch of stencils and bling! They are providing one lucky randomly chosen winner to receive a $25 gift card to their store! Entries should be posted prior to 11:59pm (PST) October 31st to be eligible! 

The announcement will be made November 1st!

Also be on the lookout for the Falling for the Holiday's Linky Party! It begins October 18th and runs through midnight on the 25th! Stay tuned for the entire list of sponsors! Prizes galore! Get those Christmas and Holiday cards done early! No need to stress in December!

Creative Scrapbooker Magazine - Card of the Month October 2024 Nominee!

 Hey friends! Just throwing this out into the blog-iverse! A card of mine has been chosen to participate in the Card of the Month for October 2024 at Creative Scrapbooker Magazine! It's really just for fun (and maybe a bit of pride), no prizes are involved.....just to be forever known as the October 2024 Creative Scrapbooker Magazine's Card of the Month! 

You may have already seen this on a previous post, but alas, here is the card that is in the running!

To be honest, I'm included with some FABULOUSLY ridiculously talented friends! Some of whom I have actually learned so much from! I'm not expecting to make it to the end, but it's still fun to see how far along I do end up going! 

If you are so inclined.....here is the link! I would 100000% appreciate any votes!

https://creativescrapbooker.ca/card-of-the-month-oct-2024/#/bracket?round=5

{BYSHC} Sketch 50 - Joyful Wishes

Welcome to {BYSHC} Sketch 50! I started on the team during Sketch 11! How exciting to still be here at #50! This month's sponsor is A Colorful Life Designs. 

Today's card features a sweet reindeer from Unity Stamp Co., called Just for You Dear. I started with a blue panel that I sprayed with water and embossed with a 3d embossing folder by Stampin Up called Cable Knit Dynamic. A friend (Vanessa you know who you are) sent me a few backgrounds already embossed because I didn't have the embossing folder. After I received her gift, I just had to get one for myself!  I then stamped the reindeer onto a piece of white, colored with King Art Art Markers (alcohol). I then die cut the image using one of the circles from the scallops and circles nesting dies. The sentiment is also from the kit, stamped onto a scrap of white and everything was mounted with foam adhesive. A few enamel dots by Gina Marie Designs were added for a little extra interest.

I added a few dots of white gel pen for a little accent!

Be sure to get any and all entries into the sketch 50 album on Facebook to be eligible for a prize from A colorful life designs!

{BYSHC} Sketch 49 - Merry Christmas

 We are to the last Friday of the month, so be sure to get your entries in for the {BYSHC} Sketch 49 before midnight on the 30th!

As I have mentioned before, the sponsor this month is Therm-O-Web! Be sure to give them a look! 

Today's card went together somewhat easier than the others this month! Maybe because it was the fourth one I had done! LOL The papers are from a My Minds Eye pad called Christmas! Lots of rich colors! Glued the two papers together, then die cut with the largest scallop and rectangle nesting die from Unity. To that I took a piece of ribbon from my stash and, because it was wider than I would have liked, folded it in half and glued the center together with Therm-O-Web tear tape! I tied the bow and stuck it to the ribbon with some Zots (also from Therm-O-Web). The Merry Christmas is by Hero Arts. I had the brilliant idea to use the Therm-O-Web adhesive sheets. I stuck it to the back of the red cardstock I wanted to die-cut the "merry" from and ran it through the big shot. When I pulled the word off....it was sticky! :) Christmas was stamped onto black cardstock with versaMark and then embossed with gina k. designs white embossing powder! I did add a rectangle of vellum under the sentiment because it was just getting lost on that background!

Don't forget to get your cards in before the 30th to be eligible for the Therm-O-Web prize!