Speed challenges are, well challenging for me, but I thought I’d give the As You See It Speed Challenge a try. I had a nice leafy background already prepared, but couldn’t find it. Then I found a leafy, stenciled background. I thought that would work, but then I thought since it was already made figured it would be disqualified. OK gather supplies. I keep card bases cut and scored – OK good I have one in Jelly Bean Green. Get out the Leafy Branch Cuttlebug embossing folder, find the Happy Birthday die – yoo hoo HB – where are you? Oh here’s the Mystic Fern die that would work under the sentiment, and finally found the HB die. I had just straightened my table and tossed a bunch of scraps in box to be filed – oh good there’s a piece of Fresh Asparagus for the fern and where on earth did this nice glittery gold scrap come from? On your mark, get set – GO! The Platinum 6 did not seem to like the EF – I had the right sandwich but geez. If I hadn’t been on such a time crunch I’d have gotten out the Cuttlebug. I was able to cut the fern and the sentiment at the same time, though I did have to put the sentiment through a second time. Glued the fern to the CB. One of the curlicues on the sentiment had to be glued to it’s backing – it was then I realized the glittery gold scrap was the Target wrapping paper that had glued to a piece of white CS. Got that fixed and the sentiment glued down – whew! Just a little over 9 minutes.

I love coloring this big floral image from the Simon Says Thankful Flowers kit. Usually I color it with light colors, but for some reason I was inspired to uses these rich reds and I really like it. Copics used: R89, R39, R27, R24, R22, G99, G03. The Cherry Red card base makes the colors pop even more. The sentiment is from an older set by Gina K Designs called Assorted Greetings – it is such a great all-purpose set with sentiments for inside the card as well as outside. I’m entering this in the  Mod Squad Challenge and the Simon Says Monday Challenge.

I always struggle with cards for my DH. I made this for our 49^th (YIKES has it really been that long?) wedding anniversary. I used the fun My Monthly Hero Kit from[JI1]  June 2019. I sponged the Spiral Petal stencil lightly for the background, and added a few leaves from the kit stamped in various shades of green. The images were all colored with Copics and cut with the matching dies. I popped the tiger up to make him look like he was coming out of the tall grass. I’m entering this in the following challenges;

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge – Create a Scene

Stay Crafty with Hero For the Guys

As You See it Apply the Y

---

 [J

I1]

The challenge at Just Us Girls is to make a card with NO stamping. Hmmmm. How do I do that? I’m a stamper. Oh, wait – I just got this gorgeous pattern paper pack called Blossom by Graphic 45, so it made creating cards without stamping a breeze. The problem with these designs is, both sides are so pretty it’s hard to know which one to use. I cut one of the small images of the pink dahlia, then cut the full size sheet for the background. I had several other scraps and used two for mats – the green stripe was the reverse of the dahlia. The Hello die came with my Gemini Jr. This is the first time I’ve used it and it VERY intricate. I got a lot of other cards made today using this pack and I’m glad to have some cards for my stash.

I was stressing over a card to make for a surprise 80^th birthday party. My husband said, “Well, you know he used to work on planes. Didn’t you say you had an airplane stamp?” That reminded me that I’d gotten the Fancy Airplane Die that was an add-on for the May 2020 My Monthly Hero Kit. Then I remembered a card Jennifer McGuire did, so I used her card for inspiration. I colored the plane with Copics: R37 and R27 with B0000 for the windshield and N7 for the tire. I used a silver Sharpie for the propeller section. I colored one to see how the colors would work together and that was a little messy. Then I colored what I thought was my final project, but when I tried to fix something, made it worse. Third time’s a charm. I cut two other planes to glue together for dimension – TIP: I was able to cut 3 planes out of a quarter piece of CS, but the last plane had a few tiny edges that ran into the previous cut – that was OK because I sandwiched that between the top and bottom layers. After assembling I used my markers to color the edges of the plane – if I were doing this again, I’d edge the uncolored pieces before gluing together. I used the Fancy Cloud die cut from white, then used the negative piece to use as a stencil to create clouds using Hero Arts Unicorn pigment ink on an Ocean Mist Card base. The sentiment is from Birthday Essentials by Newton’s Nook. It fit perfectly on the cloud and I didn’t have to worry about it being straight. On the inside I used a sentiment from the same set that says “Don’t think of it as being older, think of it as becoming a classic.” I’m entering this in the following challenges:

 As You See It Apply the Y Challenge

Stay Crafy With Hero Challenge #24 For the Guys

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Create a Scene

I love the new Shells Fancy die from Hero Arts. They are so detailed. I experimented with coloring methods and decided I liked using Distress Oxides the best – Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Frayed Burlap, Fossilized Amber. The Ocean Mist panel was partially embossed with the Forest Branches EF. I swiped a new juicy VersaMark pad across the bottom and added Sand EP from Hero Arts – it really does look like sand. The sentiment was cut with a die from JustRite and was also embossed with the Sand EP. I added some shell PP as a mat layer – unfortunately it doesn’t show well, but it does show parts of a couple of starfish which is the recipient’s favorite sea creature. I added a tiny Kraft twine bow to the starfish. I’m entering this in the As You See It Recipe Challenge – I think I got all the ingredients.

The current challenge at As You See It is a Recipe for Him – a masculine card using an embossing folder, twine, a die cut and earth tones. Grass Green panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug Leafy Branch embossing folder. The leopard, branch and sentiment are from My Monthly Hero Kit for May 2019. The sentiment is embossed in white on Dark Chocolate. The mat is also from Dark Chocolate, on a Kraft card base. The twine was thicker than I wanted and try as I might I couldn’t get the bow to lay just the way I wanted. In all my tying and untying it started to unravel, so I just pulled it apart to get a thinner strand. I finally decided a knot would work better than a bow so that’s what I went with. I’m also entering this in the Just Us Girls Word Week Challenge which is Animals.

I usually have trouble with a Tic Tac Toe challenge – the squares I can do are usually not in a line. The one at Retro Rubber Challenge just seemed to fall in place for me. The birthday sentiment from the Bold and Blooming kit by Gina K Designs released February 2017, is stamped in Wild Lilac on Lovely Lavender card stock. The pattern paper from the Secret Garden collection by Graphic 45 is from several years ago. The strip across the middle is Wild Lilac. The gems are by Pawsitively Pawsome.