Butterflies for Betty

March 7, 2021 | Gayle Chrvala

ModSquad Challenge:Beautiful Butterflies

A birthday card for a friend’s mom who’s turning 95 this month and playing along with the ModSquad Challenge hosted by Judy with a butterfly theme. The sponsor is Gina K Designs so I pulled out my Birthday Blessings stamp set since I wanted a die for my butterfly. I created a partial rainbow background using GKD inks and then stamped my butterflies from the stamp set. The green butterfly was stamped in versamark ink and sprinkled pinches of different color embossing powders to heat set. The top butterfly I stamped in black ink and sponged on the same inks as the background. It’s popped up on another rainbow butterfly that was stamped in clear embossing powder but it didn’t really work out like I hoped so it stayed hidden. Added a little bit of bling for it’s tail winds. This is a mini slimline card. 3-1/2″ x 6″ and the envelope was made using patterned paper and following Jenny Card Designs’ envelope directions.

Looking forward for warmer weather this week. We still have patches of snow in our yard. I would like to put the snow shovel away for the season but know it’s way to early to do that.

Thanks for stopping in for a peek.

Bubbles and Trouble

March 7, 2021March 7, 2021 | Gayle Chrvala

The Two Old Bats Halloween Challenges have begun again in March with an Anything Halloween Goes challenge. They did provide a really fun mood board:

As I am normally drawn to anything witchy and love those legs I decided upon an older red rubber wood mounted Great Impressions stamp. My patterned paper is from my stash and made me think of bubbles. Colored in my cauldron with pencils and a combination of markers for the legs and shoes. I could not resist giving Ms. Witch some red sparkly shoes. My sketch is a Lisa Curcio sketch that I found a while ago and decided to give it a whirl. Sorry I did not save the link but the panels are 1″x4-1/4″ and 1″x3″ with center 1-7/8″ x 3-1/8″ The dimensions worked out well.

Thanks for stopping in for a peek.

Ewe are Awesome

March 7, 2021March 6, 2021 | Lisa K

Each month I participate in a theme card from the Crafter’s of Faith group on SplitcoastStampers. This month’s verse is from Psalm 95: 1, 2, 6, 7, 8:

Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our savior. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms. Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us. For he is the Lord our God; and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Challenge–Make a card with music and a heart somewhere on it. Bonus add a sheep/lamb-but that is not necessary.

It took the challenge literally, as I usually do. Following is my card:

http://justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.com/2021/03/just-us-girls-574-word-week.html

This is also perfect for the Just Us Girls challenge. The heart paper is from The Stamps of Life. I used two green sheets for grass and blue for the sky. The sheep and greeting are from sheep2stamp and patterns4sheep, cut out with matching dies. One of the sheep is a mirror image, so I had to learn how to create this using palette4mirror. The music notes were already cut and in stash; they are from My Favorite Things.

I am pleased with this card. Usually I add the Bible verse to my faith cards, but this time, I with with a fun pun from the sheep set. I have no idea who I will mail this to, but I know I will find someone who really needs this card.

Birdhouse Fold-It Card

March 6, 2021 | Lisa K

This card is using products from The Stamps of Life. I own a few fold-it cards where you use dies to create the card base and then decorate the front to your heart’s desire.

The Just Us Girls challenge is to showcase animals. I love these birds and they work perfectly with this birdhouse. The birds are from the set called birds2stamp and I used matching dies to cut them out. The greeting hello is from Notebook Edge and Hello Dies set. The birdhouse itself is from the 5 x 7 Birdhouse Fold-it die set. The flowers are from hippo2stamp and solids4hippo sets along with matching dies.

This week, Stephanie Bernard, owner and creator of The Stamps of Life, stated in her Live broadcast on YouTube she would be part of a special with Home Shopping Network on Facebook. She was asking her customers who have her product that she would be showcasing to create samples for her to show. She is showcasing the birdhouse and several other items, but I only owned the birdhouse. I went to work creating a card. She said paper didn’t matter, just make it solid so it would show up in the bright lights and showcase any product from The Stamps of Life. So the birdhouse got birds for the front, embellishment with flowers and a simple greeting to complete the card. Then I added Nuvo drops to the flower center and Glossy Accents to the bird beaks and eyes. Since I went to the work creating it, I will plan to mail it on Monday. She may or may not show it in her broadcast and since I do not use FB, I will not see it. I like what I created and it works perfectly for this week Just us Girls challenge.

Bold Birthday

March 3, 2021March 3, 2021 | Lisa K

I created this card for someone turning 108 years young this month. She needs texture, large images, and loves flowers.

https://www.retrorubberchallengeblog.com/my-blog/2021/03/challenge-153-tic-tac-toe.html

This card fits the Retro Rubber Challenge with the Tic-Tac-Toe grid.

My card fits the bottom line. I used Stampin’Up sets Special Reason from 2017 and Perfectly Penned from 2011. There are dies that fit the images in Special Reason, so that takes care of the dies. The texture is created with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Folder as well as heat embossing the greeting. The color blue is Balmy Blue in the cardstock which is peeking through the die cut flower on the white layer. Other texture is the lace I used on the front.

This will also be added to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Beautiful Blossom challenge.

Watercolor Hugs

February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 | Gayle Chrvala

When is a challenge a real challenge? When it requires a clean and simple card design and watercolor. The easiest part should have been the sketch but oh my what a challenge this has been. Following along with the sketch for AAA Cards

provided had me thinking what’s next??? I found a Gina K Designs Brancing Out stamp set (that I believe had a misspelling of the word Branching) that was illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger should have been my first clue that I had trouble ahead. I stamped the image with the branches in VersaFine Clair nocturne ink and heat embossed in clear embossing powder. I chose 4 Gina K Design colors and smooched them on my surface using a water brush started “painting”. The ink colors used were Dusty Rose, Faded Brick, Sweet Mango and Wild Dandelion my portion of the rainbow. Since this is a clean and simple card challenge as well as sketch with watercolor option, I did my best from adding any extra layers by die cutting the image with Waffle Flowers A2 Lacy Layers Die and the Hugs dies from Poppystamps Hugs Heart die.

This was a third attempt to create this card. The first one was put off and on so many card bases that it has extra extra layers for dimension. The second one I tried using text vellum paper and when I taped it to the card base it crinkled…in the trash so since it’s the beginning of spring training and baseball season I didn’t want to be three strikes and you are out so I will be using this card for the AAA Cards Game #184 Sketch challenge + watercolor option.

WOW! February 28th today! Let those March winds blow and bring us some spring weather.

Thanks for stopping in for a peek!

Progressive Card Class 2 W-Fold card

February 28, 2021 | Lisa K

I am sharing my W-Fold card following directions from the card class. I used scrapbook papers along with a sticker, so my layout is a bit different from the class example.

I used the Carta Bella Home Again scrapbook papers and stickers and Stampin Up Magnolia Blooms set, Island Indigo, and Blue Lagoon papers in completing this card. The W-fold is easier than I thought. Mine is thick since I layered the inside. I liked this fold and will make it again.

February Sheetload of Cards

February 28, 2021 | Lisa K

I have been watching Crafty Al and trying her Sheetload of Cards sketch and cutting layout for February. This month, I used both a 6 X 6 pad and 12 X 12 inch papers. Get comfortable as there are many cards with the sketch or a variation of it.

The above card was created with Carta Bella Home Again 6 X 6 pack of patterned paper. I did not own matching cardstock, so I used the back side of one of the patterns for the base layer. This card was mailed immediately after making it a few weeks ago.

The above card and all following use the Home Again 12 X 12 scrapbook paper with stickers pack. The cardstock colors are Islands Indigo and Blue Lagoon from Stampin Up retired. The ribbon matches, Blue Lagoon. The banners are embossed with one of the Greenery embossing folders from SU; it is a set of 2 folders. The greetings are all from Gina K Designs sets. Some of the cards have smaller print patterns and those are from the 6 X 6 pad.

That is the many cards I created. It is a fast process when the paper is all cut and ready to assemble. I changed some of the paper after being cut. One of the choices was a bit too dark, so I was swapping out a piece here and there. Overall I enjoyed creating the cards this way. Because I kept changing my mind, they are all different. The insides have a white layer with a strip of cardstock. Some have stickers for embellishment. All have room to write a message.

Fun Fold with Tags

February 28, 2021 | Lisa K

I love fun fold cards. This month the Challenge Your Stash group at Split coast Stampers is to make a fun fold with the color red.

In making this card, I followed a tutorial and video by Connie Stewart: https://simplysimplestamping.com/how-to-make-2-beautiful-greeting-cards-custom-ribbon-accents/

The challenge called for the color red and a fun fold. I used Real Red cardstock by Stampin Up for the cardbase. Inks used are Gina K Designs Red Hot and Kraft as well as Pear Pizzazz by Stampin Up. I used a Scalloped Tag Builder punch for the tags. The stamp set used is called Floral Essence. I enjoyed stamping and creating with Connie.