random reflections

Time Out: Joyful

A quick post to enter a card in the current Time Out Challenge: Joyful. I spent part of last weekend turning some of my tags for the 25 Tags of Christmas Challenge into cards. I ended up liking quite a few of them, including this one.

I die cut the Simon Says "Diamond Pattern" cover with Pure Poppy and added it to a white card base. I love the the design of this die and the texture it gives without overwhelming the tag itself. The tag itself was die cut with Papertrey's "Tag Sale #4" and the greens and sentiment were stamped and die cut with Papertrey's "Sending Joy,"

I needed some holiday cards for friends who don't celebrate Christmas so this one is perfect. I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Christmas.

 

 

Mostly White

The current challenge at AAA Cards is Mostly White. I love white on white, and needed another holiday card so was anxious to create one for this challenge.

I started by die cutting Memory Box's "Bianca Snowflake." It's so intricate that even with a metal shim, it took several trips through the die cutter to get a clean cut. It was totally worth it though. I coated it with Nuvo clear glitter, but couldn't get a good photo of the shimmer, try as I might. 

After embossing the sentiment from Papertrey's "Floral Fantasy: Christmas" in rose gold, I adhered some fun foam for a bit of dimension before putting it on the white card base. Here's a closer look.

White is definitely the color here. We had the kind of stick-to-everything snow yesterday that coated every tree, bush and the lawn. It was really the perfect snow because it didn't effect the roads or travel at all. 

I'm also entering this into a new-to-me challenge: CAS on Friday where the challenge is to make a Christmas card. I'm always glad to find another CAS challenge to play with!

Happy Birthday, Greg & Color Throwdown Challenge

Today is my brother-in-law's birthday. Later this evening, we'll be celebrating with him at dinner. A week from today is my brother's birthday. Sadly, I won't see him on his birthday, but we'll definitely talk on the phone. When I saw the current Color Throwdown Challenge, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for their birthday cards. Since their birthdays are so close together, I frequently make the same card for both of them. 

More frequently than not, my idea for a card at its inception doesn't correlate particularly well at its execution. This was an exception, and the cards turned out almost exactly the way I envisioned it. 

I'm guessing the majority of the cards for this challenge use these wonderful colors---silver, black, gray, and white---to create a holiday card, but I thought they were great colors for a masculine birthday card. All the design elements were stamped with Altenew's "Sohcahtoa" stamp set. The sentiment was embossed in silver from Papertrey Ink's ""Good Times."

I'm also linking this up with Seize the Birthday Challenge since any birthday card works, even if you don't use the "topping."

 

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Final Five

As it turns out there was a bonus day for Tracy McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags challenge, so here are the last five. 

Day 22 was inspired by Channin Pelletier who created a series of tags with poinsettias. I recently purchased a 12x12 piece of Alexandra Renke patterned paper, and fussy cut one of the beautiful poinsettias. The sentiment was gold embossed and I added some gold Stickles to the center of the flower. The gold is not showing up well in any of these photos.

Tag: Paper Source; Stamp: Papertrey Ink "Signature Christmas"

Day 23 was inspired by Lisa Henke.

Dies: Papertrey Ink "Tag Sale #4," Hero Arts " Happy Holly Days," Concord & 9th "Mistletoe Card Frame;" Stamps: Hero Arts "Happy Holly Days;" Zig watercolor pens; Nuvo glitter pen on bow

Day 24 was inspired Kim Heggins. As in the bow above, the holly leaves were covered with a Nuvo glitter pen which is lovely IRL, but didn't photograph well.

Dies: Papertrey Ink "Tag Sale #4" and "Sending Joy;" Stamps: "Sending Joy;" Kaiser rhinestones

Day 25 was inspired by the shaker ornament created by Jessica Frost-Ballas.

Die: Simon Says "Stitched Circles," My Favorite Things "Stylish Snowflakes;" Impression Obsession "Shake It: Shaker Card Pouches;" sequins

And last, the bonus tag, a riff on Day 22 inspired by Tracy McNeely's wine bottle tag.

Papertrey Ink "Wine Bottle Tag," Alexandra Renke patterned paper, Papertrey Ink " Stylish Sentiments: Holiday" embossed in gold, gold Stickles

When I began this challenge I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep up, but I really enjoyed it, and enjoyed using so many of my holiday stamps, some of which were purchased many years ago. I thought about half of them would be used for the family gift exchange, but on Thanksgiving we wisely decided to drop the gift exchange since no one needs anything. To replace the fun of the gift exchange (which inevitably caused a great deal of laughter) we're going to go back to playing games after dinner. Now many of these tags will be turned into Christmas cards, as I have more than I need for gifts!

 

 

Ella Turns Four!

Ella celebrated with her friends earlier in the month, but on Saturday she was officially four years old, and the family gathered to celebrate with dinner. She requested a confetti cake, no frosting which she helped make earlier in the day.

In keeping with the theme of her party with her friends, I used her invitation as inspiration for her card, and a gift card holder.

I had all the necessary supplies for a space related card, having made Caleb one last year for his birthday.

I die cut a piece of True Black cardstock with a Simon Says "Star Stream" die and layered it on a top-folding card made from Bright Buttercup. Then I die cut a variety of planets, stars, and a rocket ship from scraps of bright cardstock, arranging them among the stars. 

Papertrey Ink's "Folded Pocket Tag" die arrived just a week or so ago, and worked perfectly for tucking in a gift card to Barnes & Noble. "You're a Star" is a Simon Says die, and the ribbon is from Paper Source. Ella and I have a lunch date with a trip to Barnes & Noble to follow, so the celebration isn't quite over.

I'm linking this up with the Seize the Birthday challenge: Tags.

Papertrey Ink November 2018 Blog Hop

This month's inspiration photo for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop left lots of room for interpretation.

When I started thinking about a card for the hop, I laid out several stamp sets as possibilities. I ended up stamping and die cutting images from "Sending Joy" and "Forest Floor Winter" without any clear design in mind. Once I had a pile of images I started playing around with some arrangements. Looking at the photo, I also pulled out some of the Pure Poppy "Bitty Big" striped paper. At some point I looked at the packages, and remembered I'd just purchased a die for a stitched bow from My Favorite Things. I die cut it from Pure Poppy felt, and liked it so much I went with the idea of creating a kind package on the card. This process is really different for me, but I ended up with a card I like, and one very different from anything I'd thought of in the beginning. It's also a departure from my usual CAS designs.

I decided to center the "package" in the open frame from the "Bold Borders: Yuletide" die which was cut from white and layered on a white card base. The "Bitty Big" papers fit in the middle space, and then it was just a case of arranging the rest of the elements. I had planned to use the JOY from "Sending Joy," but it was too large. I ended up die cutting this smaller joy from Pinefeather to balance the green from the branches. The die is from an older W plus 9 set, "Hand Lettered Holiday." I added the blue berries to incorporate that color from the inspiration photo.

Using some Stabilo pens I added some dimension to the pine boughs and the berries. It's hard to see here, but the red berries have a coating of Nuvo shimmer on them. I'm curious to see how others have used this inspiration piece. You can check it out right here, as well.

Headin' Home

I've always loved the images of little red cars (or trucks) with a Christmas tree on top. Last year, I acquired two different versions of the little car with a tree. When I saw the AAA Cards Challenge "On the Move," I knew I wanted to play along. Then The Card Concept showed up with a great photo challenge with a pillow with, you guessed it, a little red car with a Christmas tree on top. Then I saw the CAS(e) This Sketch this week, and I thought I could turn the sketch on its side, and come up with a CAS card for all three challenges.

So here it is---a card for three challenges, so unusual for me.

Simon Says "Fog" cardbase, PTI True Black and Weathervane, and a strip of bright yellow from the scrap bin. The stamps are from a tiny Hero Arts set by Kelly Purkey, and the card was bumped out with dimensional tape on a Simon Says "Stitched Circle" die cut. The little car was colored with Copic markers.

Pretty quick and easy, but fun!

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Part 4

There are only four more days left in Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags challenge. I haven't lost my enthusiasm for the project. It's been a lot of fun to see what products I had that would work for a given inspiration piece. 

We were at the gym early this morning, but after that I had no place I needed to go for the rest of the day. It's such an unusual and lovely circumstance, but there might be another day like it before the long holiday weekend is over. First off the bat, I got the tag done for today, so here are the tags for Days 18-21.

Day 18: Inspired by Tracey McNeeley:

Dies: Simon Says "Stitched Dress-up Tag," Spellbinders "Large Circles;" Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Christmas Cuts Sentiments;" Patterned paper: MME "Comfort and Joy"

Day 19: Inspired by Teri Anderson:

Die: Simon Says "Stitched Dress-up Tag;" Stamps: My Favorite Things "Llama Days," Hero Arts "Color Layering Poinsettias;" rhinestone stars

Day 20: Inspired by Larissa Heskett. I loved the mistletoe image used by a variety of designers on Day 20. Not finding my only mistletoe stamp the first round, I ended up using a piece of patterned paper by Pink Fresh Studio. This is one of those tags that looks a LOT better IRL than in the photograph. There's a blue cast to the photo, and the dimension of the Nuvo drops doesn't show up well either. It's actually one of my favorite tags of the project. 

Here's a closer look--the color is more correct and the Nuvo drops show up a bit better.

Dies: Papertrey Ink "Folded Pocket Die" (one layer trimmed off) & "Skinny Mini Banners;" Patterned paper: Pink Fresh Studio "Oh, Joy;" Stamp: Essentials by Ellen "Mondo Holly"

Day 21: Inspired by Elena Roussakis:

Dies: Papertrey Ink "Tag Sale #4," My Favorite Things "Chill Wishes;" Stamp: MFT "Chill Wishes;" Simon Says "Falling Snow" stencil; embossing paste, Copic markers

If you are celebrating the US Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, I hope the day is blessed with good friends and family. 

 

  

Seize the Birthday: Clean and Simple

I have a last minute entry for the current Seize the Birthday challenge which is Clean and Simple---just my thing!

It's using an old, but goodie, Papertrey Ink die "One Liners: Happy." I die cut the banner several times to get the different colors for the greeting. Before adhering it to my white card base, I added some scored lines at the top for texture. Then I stamped the sentiment from another oldie, but goodie: "Birthday Bash Sentiments."

All that was needed then were three little matte enamel dots. 

Off to get an anniversary card made that needs to go in the mail today!

 

 

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Part 2

I'm back with tags for Days 7-11 for Tracey McNeeleys "25 Days of Christmas Tags." Going out of town definitely got me behind, but I managed to catch up over the weekend, before falling behind again this week due to a crazy schedule. Here's a look at all the tags together.

Each day Tracey posts a group of tags from which you can choose one as an inspiration piece. Some days are much easier than others, not because there aren't beautiful tags to choose from each day, but because you might not have any stamp or die that seems to fit the bill. That was true for Day 7. Nearly all the tags were created with beautiful and intricate dies of Christmas ornaments. I own not a single stand-alone ornament die. But I was inspired by the neutral color and beautiful gold of Desiree Kuemmerle's ornament. 

Ivory shimmer and gold mirror cardstock; "Winterland Tree" die by Memory Box, Papertrey Ink's "Stitched Tag;" banner sentiment from a past December Daily kit.

Here's a better look at the shimmer and gold:

Day 8: Inspired by Beverly Brown.

Cardstock: vellum, glitter paper; Patterned paper:My Minds Eye "Comfort and Joy" ; Dies:Papertrey Ink "Tag Sale #6- and W+9 "Hand Lettered Holiday"

Day 9: Inspired by Carol Maynes. I ended up making two tags on Day 9. When I stamped the trees the first time, I didn't place them high enough, so the cute polar bear covered too much of the trees. Didn't want the tag to go to waste so I colored it with Copics for a more modern look.

Both tags: Papertrey Ink "Tag Sale #10;" Neenah cardstock; Copic markers
Tag 1: Papertrey Ink "Warmest Wishes" and Hero Arts "Happy Holly Days"
Tag 2: Papertrey Ink: Warmest Wishes

Day 10- Inspired by Joyce Mehlberg. Once again I didn't have any stamps that were much like the cute images on the tags for Day 10. Joyce's tags featured houses so I turned to an old favorite from Papertrey Ink - "Winter Hills." I was also inspired by the window in one of Joyce's tags.

Dies: Papertrey Ink "Tag Sale #10;" Stamps: PTI "Winter Hills" and Simon Says "Merry and Bright."

Here's a closer look at the dimension.

Day 11: Inspired by Kelly Griglione

Premade tag; Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Spruce & Sprigs;" Dies: "Spruce & Sprigs" and Papertrey Ink "Bold Borders: Flurries;" washi tape, red glitter paper, Wink of Stella glitter pen

One of the best things about this challenge is using so many of the Christmas stamp sets and dies I've accumulated over the many years I've been stamping. Off to work on the next few days of tags!