Sugar Skull

Hello All,
For today I will be playing along with Just Us Girls, Addicted to Stamps and More!, and Cupcake Inspirations. I decided to go with Sugar Skulls for the Halloween challenge. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

This sugar skull die has a ton of tiny leaves, flowers, and sprigs. Seems daunting at first but then (like a lot of you) got inspiration from Jennifer McGuire. Instead of die-cutting each element a different color you should die cut everything all at once white and then color the pieces. Still a bit tedious but much faster than die-cutting each die a different color. I used washi tape to hold all the little pieces together and die-cut them together. Genius!!
Click on the link HERE to view her video showing ways to use your little die-cuts 

Bright and vibrant colors are typical for sugar skull design. 
To learn more about the culture surrounding sugar skulls click HERE.

Lots and lots of layers showing the crown of the sugar skull. Also, notice the holographic paper in the backdrop. That was a failed attempt to foil a negative space image on black CS. I still liked how it turned out and decided to use it for this project. 

Challenges Entered:
Cupcake Inspirations: Challenge #529- ATG
Just Us Girls: #604 - Word WeekAddicted to Stamps and More!: Challenge #415 - Die Cuts and/or Stencils



Halloween is a very interesting holiday. It is the only day of the year where you can dress up as silly as you'd like; go door-to-door and ask for candy. Any other time of year it would be criminal. Strange!

Thank you so much for stopping by and I do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. Lots of good crafting vibes are headed your way. I hope you all have a fantastic day and please stay safe and healthy.

All the best,

Pretty Pink Poppies

 Hello All,

Today I will be playing along with Cupcake Inspirations, Shopping Our Stash, Watercooler Wednesday, and Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenges! Here is my card for today, enjoy!

This card has a patterned paper base that was white with embossed areas. I thought it might resist like any heat embossed image you do by hand. And of course, I was correct. Not a huge stretch I know, but I was curious. I am inspired to use more patterned paper. I have a boat ton of it and need to slim down. That is until I see a paper pad I cannot live without. 😏

The poppies are from Altenew- Craft-a-Flower series. The entire design is feminine with shades of coral and mauve. I think the geometric brushed background is what gives it a modern feel.

The sentiment is from a retired SU set. I stamped on a dark, almost black, brown and heat embossed it the color of coral; not the traditional white I usually use.

Challenges Entered:

Cupcake Inspirations: #518- Mother's Day or Feminine Card

Shopping Our Stash: #444 - I Made This For You, Mom!

Addicted to Stamps and More!: Challenge #404- Any Occasion

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge: WWC315- All Things Feminine

Thank you so much for stopping by and I do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. Lots of good crafting vibes headed your way. I hope you all have a fantastic day and please stay safe and healthy.

All the best,

Arctic Christmas Friends

 Hello Everyone, 

For today I am playing along with Cupcake Inspirations and Animal Friends Challenges. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

This scene is actually designer paper from a paper pad set.
I decided to Christmas it up a bit by adding Christmas elements- Santa hats, the present, trees, lights, Christmas star, and sentiment. The elements consisted of an assortment of stamps in my stash. I had to keep the scale similar to the existing scene. This meant I had to be very selective on what stamps to use. I made it for my former boss, now a friend, at Michaels Craft Stores. The paper pad is from one of their signature brands of paper pads. 

Above: The slimline card gives the look of a full panoramic view of the arctic. Left/Below: The penguin has decorated its ice-pad with glittery lights that were stamped and colored using a glitter pen. The present was also stamped and fussy cut. Right/Bottom: I think these polar bears are the best! Their Santa hats were added using an assortment of stamps. I placed the hats on their heads by using dimensional adhesive. 

Challenges entered:

Animal Friends Challenge: Penguin

Cupcake Inspirations: Challenge #510- Arctic Animals

 

Thank you so much for stopping by and I do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. Lots of good crafting vibes headed your way. I hope you all have a fantastic day and please stay safe and healthy. 

Heartfelt Penguins

 Hello All,

For today I am playing along with Cupcake Inspirations, Animal Friends, and Male Room Challenges. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

CAS design card for my son to write his birthday thank you notes.

The snowflake was die-cut from an older SU stamp and die set. The gray scene and border of the card are actually two different pieces of cardstock. It gave me the freedom to move the penguin scene around to get just the right placement.

I stamped the penguins on gray cardstock and colored them using Prismacolor pencils. I then die-cut the little stars for a night scene.

My son had to write thank you notes after his birthday. So I thought to use his favorite animal, the penguin, for the central image of this card.

Challenges Entered:

Cupcake Inspirations: Challenge #510- Arctic Animals
The Male Room: TMR#146- Animals
Animal Friends Challenge: Penguin

  

Thank you so much for stopping by and I do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. Lots of good crafting vibes headed your way. I hope you all have a fantastic day and please stay safe and healthy. 

Hangin' Sloth

 Hello Everyone!

Today I will be playing along with Freshly Made Sketches and Cupcake Inspirations. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

I had the tropics in mind designing this card. I started to realize I have no idea where sloths live. After finishing this card I was a bit panicked. And I soon found out sloths live in tropical environments. PHEW!! If not I would have to declare 'artistic license'.

The sloth is from Sunny Studio. Some of you may realize the sloth is bigger than the actual stamp. I stamped the sloth and enlarged the little guy 150%. I then colored him using polychromo pencils. The flower with the original sloth didn't look in scale. Enlarging the sloth put the entire card to 'scale'. 

Hang in there seemed to the most appropriate sentiment. However, I don't know about you but I don't exactly think I would be smiling if I was hanging on a branch by my hands. Just sayin'!

Challenges Entered:

Freshly Made Sketches: FMS454

Cupcake Inspirations: CIC502

Thank you so much for stopping by and I do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. Lots of good crafting vibes headed your way. I hope you all have a fantastic day and please stay safe and healthy. 

Cool Flowers

Hello Everyone,

For today I will be playing along with Cupcake Inspirations. So here is my card for today, enjoy!

This card has a bright white base with an ivory Morracoon diecut overlay.
I decided to keep some of the pieces for an inlay. I thought it added a nice touch. 

Above: What I like most about this card is its sketchy quality of the stamp. I didn't have to be too precise when water-coloring the flowers. Below/Left: The kraft cardstock is stacked on four layers of white cardstock giving it some dimension. It really does allow the sentiment to quite literally pop and the little banner finishes off the sentiment nicely.  Bottom/Right: Another example of its sketchy nature. Also, look at the subtle contrast between the white and off white colors.

Challenges Entered:
Cupcake Inspirations: CIC 492- Color Challenge.



Here in the U.S., it is Staff Appreciation Week. Though we can't be in person to thank them for all they do; the next best thing is to mail them a handmade card. This one is slated for our administrative assistant for my children's school. She does everything! So I thought this card would be a good pick for her. I mailed it out yesterday and have yet to hear back if at all. No worries! Either way, I hope she enjoys the card and the message I left inside.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. Lots of good crafting vibes headed your way. I hope you all have a fantastic day and please stay safe and healthy. 

All the best,

Mermaid Shaker

Hello All,

For today  I am going to be playing along with Cupcake Inspirations.  As you may have known from a previous post, I created a craft camp for my nephews and their friends. It was a great time and I want to thank them personally with a handmade card. This is the card I have for you today, enjoy!

What a dreamy background!
It was created using 110lb CS, acrylic paint and a dry brush. 

The waves were cut from a wave cover plate.
 I cut off part the die to reveal what I wanted in the scene.

Surprise!
the mermaid tail is a shaker filled with sparkly bits.
The background on the tail matches the waves. Also, the tail itself is made from glitter paper.

 Challenges Entered:

Cupcake Inspirations: CIC476- Stash Challenge- add glitter 

Thank you so much for stopping by and I do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. I hope you all have a fantastic day and lots of good crafting vibes headed your way.

Geography

Hello All,

Today I am playing along with Just Add Ink, Cupcake Inspirations, and AAA Cards. The back-to-school theme seems popular this time of year. Which is good news because I have to get some teacher cards done before the first day of school. It is only 2 weeks away. This Summer flew by like a flash! Anyway, here is my card for today, enjoy!

When I was a kid school would have blackboards. If I remember correctly it was always some students job to erase the board. Of course, there was always a residual white from the chalk on the board. That's what I tried to depict using the black square.

I think back to school I think of maps geography among one of the subjects of study. Also, remember those old library ledgers inside library books? That is what I tried to depict for the background paper. 

Challenges Entered:

Just Add Ink: Challenge 421- sketch

Cupcake Inspirations: CIC451

AAA Cards: CAS game #121- Friendship
  

Well, that should do it for me!! Thank you so much for stopping by and do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. I hope you all have a fantastic day and lots of good crafting vibes headed your way.