It’s getting closer to that time of year and Back to School…well kind of sort of with a hybrid option for our grandchildren’s school district. We will have a 4th and 3rd grader this school year and their mascot is an owl so I pulled out my GKD Friends Til The End stamp set as well as a TPC Studio teacher stamps set for the book and inside stamps. This was a very intriguing sketch challenge from The Paper Players and my mind took me to a gatefold card.

The letters are Concord & 9th’s alphabet dies. Not sure how much longer I’ll be able to make “cute” cards for our grandson the big 4th grader but maybe I’ll slip spending money in the card for him.

The challenge at Double D Challenges is Sunflowers. I can definitely pick out a real live majestic sunflower growing in someone’s garden however in my stamp collection it was a little more difficult. So just in case these are not actual sunflowers, I created a very “sunny” background using three different stamps and distress inks. Using my Waffle Flowers A2 layering dies I cut out my background piece and then cut the thin border from GKD Lucky Clover cardstock. The stamps used to create the background are Gina K Designs’ Eclectic Summer, Love and Prayers, Heartfelt for the sentiment and the fussy cut sunflowers are StampinUp! Touch of Nature.

I initially cut the sentiment circle on vellum and stamped with my go to VersaFine Black Onyx…..MISTAKE. I had smears all over then I tried gluing the vellum in sections to the green layering circle and covering with sequins until I realized it was a hot mess! Perfect for these hot days of summer!! Deconstructed the sentiment section very carefully and used white cardstock for the sentiment circle. Whew!! Saved my project and didn’t even think twice about tossing. I really liked the background and was undecided if I wanted to cover it but what’s one more sun-ny flower.

Thanks for looking. Stay cool. Stay Safe.

ModSquad Challenge Patterned Paper Trio

I just realized that I have a lot of birthdays coming up through September so I better get working on my cards especially if our mail service is going to slow down!

My card was created using GKD’s Birthday Blessing stamp set and matching butterfly die which is the theme of the Double D Challenge. My trio of patterned papers for the ModSquad Challenge are from GKD’s Fight Like A Girl patterned paper set and undetermined first layer of patterned paper. The sentiment was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black ink and sponge lightly in GKD’s Key Lime ink while still in the Spellbinder’s large classic ovals die.

My card today was created for a dear friend’s birthday and also for Gina K’s August Monthly Mix Challenge hosted by Mindy Eggen. Mindy is challenging us to create a card using the design concept of “White Space”. So after watching some videos this is the card I decided upon. My stamps are from GKD’s Hello Sunshine STVKit, cardbase is Tranquil Teal and inks are Ocean Mist, Lemon Drop, Key Lime and Tranquil Teal. I added some GKD Vanilla Ice sequins and stamped the sentiment in VersaFine Onxy Black ink.

Plenty of White Space and CAS, too.

Hard to believe it’s the middle of August already. One day seems to blend into another but we had the opportunity to watch our grandson play some baseball. I was very impressed that parents were socially distanced, wore masks, the players knew as soon as they went into the dugout to cover up with their masks. The end of game all of the boys lined up on the baseline and tipped their hats. Chase had a good game, 2 hits, 3 stolen bases, caught an infield pop-up for an out, 1 RBI but unfortunately hit two batters. He was so upset but sucked it up to finish out the inning. At the end of the game the coaches brought the two boys together and they had a moment of good sportsmanship and gave a “guy” hug to each other. Oh how these 9 and 10 year olds can show the world all good in it and in each other.

Gatefold Christmas cards that I created following Jennifer McGuire’s Surprise Gate Fold Cards. Of course Jennifer’s cards are more elaborate than mine but I do like this concept and how they turned out. The poinsettia card outside folds were sponged using a Tim Holtz stencil, the star card uses patterned paper and the ornament card has dry embossed panels.

Primarily you need a decorative die and the outline matching die with the decorative die on the outside of the gatefold and the outline die is behind the outside die with a message which leaves the inside of the card for a personal handwritten message. I think I may add “something” maybe a light stamped image or light stenciling inside, too. These were fun to make. I hope someone comes out with a large snowflake die and outline.