Christmas Butterflies

Hello Everyone,

The end of the year brings goodbye's and hello's. And for today I am announcing that this is my last entry as design team member for Brown Sugar Challenge Blog. It has been a fantastic experience with challenges played, voted, and designed with many talented crafters. Thank you to Kim for giving me this opportunity! Here is my last card.. Enjoy!

Christmas colors and butterflies who would have thought that would be a good combination?

Theme - Buttons

Sponsor

Morgans Art

Stohttp://www.artstampsstore.com/

Festive colors and starry background creates a magical scene

The theme this week is buttons. Working with the sponsor image, I decided to make little button bodies.

Gold banding under the copper sentiments see to give the perfect glittery detail.

This is not a traditional Christmas card but I think it relays the magic of Christmas very well.  The wings of the butterflies were colored using Christmas colors and the 'sparkle' in the yellow'ish background creates the illusion of light (at least I hope it does!). These magical creatures also have buttons for their bodies accented with very thin gold tread. To me, it looks like a place where  children want to go to laugh and flutter around with the butterflies.

The sentiment is die-cut with the same material as the buttons which is cut from copper colored paper. I thought the combination would compliment the butterflies. The gold color from the banding is also accented on the butterflies buttons. This unusual scene not normally seen this time of year.. But why not? That is exactly what I asked and answered with 'why not!!'.

Thank you so much for joining me today and I do hope you can hop over and see all the other inspiration cards that were created by this very talented design team.  And who knows it may prompt you to join in the fun! Take care all and see you soon!

All the best,
Shawna

Pinecone Wreath

Hello All,

For today per Monika's, from Creative with Monika, request I am playing along with Daring Cardmakers and let me tell you I will be regular at this challenge site.  The inspiration cards are incredible and the challenges are thought provoking and well.... Challenging!! Here is my card for today, enjoy!

No it is not a mistake, I did leave a 'nail' out of the board. It needed to be imperfect. The wood is 'weathered' which I think is beautiful and is true to the feel of the photo.

Challenges Entered:
Darling Cardmakers: Elemental Inspiration 
(Elements used: Bow, Berries, Sentiment, Wood accent)



Having faith can be a pretty tall order. The kind of faith that someday all will be well with the world. Especially this time of year, when we reflect on the previous year and reminisce, and then look to the future with new optimism and hope. I have faith that future will be bright, it might take a bit, but happiness, love, and hope is what always prevails. Having faith in each other is what keeps us... well... together!  To quote the singer, George Michael in his 1987 album 'Faith':

'Cause I've gotta have faith Unh I gotta faith
Because I gotta to have faith, faith, faith
I gotta to have faith, faith, faith

There is your earworm for today! You can thank me later with your scathing comments... LOL..

Thank you so much for joining me for the second time today at TheGrandStampede. Take care everyone and we will see you all sooner then later.

All the best,
Shawna

Al, Bob, and Nameless

Hello Everyone,

For today I am playing along with CAS-ual Fridays, The Card Concept and Inkspirational. This card is out of my comfort level but I think it was a success; well you be the judge. Here is my card for tonight. Enjoy!

Poor Al is starting to 'flake out'.

This stamp is very oldie but a goodie!
Coloring the inside of the snowflake boxes gives it
some color and is still CAS.

A think dark blue border is all this card needed to finish it off.

'I think Al is starting to flake out again, Bob.
says our nameless snowflake.

Entering Challenges:

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC146- Snowflakes

INKspirational: #93- Word Prompt- Flake
Card Concept: #45- Let it snow inspiration

    

The other day I was roaming around blogland when I ran into INKspirational's challenge.. Immediately, I thought about 'flaking out'. This is slang for... well I will let Merriam-Webster define it.

Phrasal Verb:
flake out Slang
1. To renege, as on a social engagement: Sorry for flaking out on you last night—I had to work late.
2. To lose interest or nerve: I toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo but flaked out when I saw the needle.
3. To fall asleep or collapse from fatigue or exhaustion: On arriving at the campsite, we dropped our packs and flaked out on the ground.
4. To act in an odd or eccentric manner: Don't embarrass me by flaking out in front of my friends!

This card is about a snowflake who seems to be acting a bit eccentric, or flaking out. For some, the holidays can be a stressful time and can cause some rather strange eccentricities to come out. The example I used here was a bulging eye. This visual is usually used in cartoons or comic strips to show that someone is under stress. I guess you can assume the pun of the card. 

A snowflake actually 'flaking out'. Okay the joke may have landed like a lead balloon but at least the card is cute!! Right?

Thank you so much for stopping by and spending a part of your day with me.. I do hope to see you soon. Take care!!

All the best,
Shawna

Geometric Peace

Hello Everyone,

For today I am playing along with Freshly Made Sketches and Colour Q. There is nothing like a sketch and color challenge to come up with an unusual Christmas card. Here is my card, enjoy!

After die cutting I decided to leave the entire cut intact and then color in the
(ready for this) quadrilaterals and triangles. It is so good to have an elementary aged children. They reteach you so much.

Decided to keep the banner neutral but with a twist. Heat embossed a wood texture for some interest. See below.

Tried to get the textures of the banner and sentiment. Both follow Colour Q's requirements and Freshly Made Sketches well.... sketch.

That is all I have to say.
Please may there be peace on earth and goodwill towards man.
Please.

Entering Challenges:

Colour Q: cQc #319

Freshly Made Sketches: FMS215

  

So why fight it right? Fight what, you ask? Fight the fact you have one design in your head and you try desperately to do another. When push came to shove my head won.. I thought maybe my design was a knee jerk reaction to Colour Q's picture prompt but I thought the geometry of the Fossil bag was really cool.

The sketch played an important roll too but the banner became increasingly difficult to work. Then eureka! The banner needed to be plain-jane considering all that was going on above it. So I stamped and heat embossed a wood texture on the banner and cut it a bit bigger then the sentiment. I really like the way it turned out.. Maybe I should listen to my head more often..

Thank you so much for stopping by corner of the internet. I hope you enjoyed your stay at TheGrandStampede! Take care all and have a great day!

All the best,
Shawna

Happy New Year'ish

Hello Everyone,

For today I am playing along with Color Throwdown, Happy Little Stampers Sketch Challenge, and IN(K)spire_me. All three sparked my interest and then, I had an idea!! Here is my card for today.

Ushering in a new year with sparkle and glitz. This disco ball shaker card
gives the impression of a New Years party. In case there was any question, the sentiment kind of gives it away. 

This side view gives a glimpse of the depth of the shaker. I thought a little extra gold sequins
spreading out onto the card would give it a bit more glam.

   

Details showing the shaker in detail.

Entering Challenges:

Color Throwdown: ctd371

Happy Little Stampers: HLS December Challenge

IN(K)spire_me: Challenge #227- Christmas Special

    

I cannot believe the New Year is right around the corner! It just seems like yesterday we were about to usher in the new millennium. Remember the Y2K scare only to find out all was well.. I never thought that two little digits would cause so much controversy but it all seems like it was yesterday! Not almost 16 years ago!! YIKES!

I had an old friend tell me in my 20's 'Shawna, life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end the faster it goes.'. I laughed it off but I am not laughing now!! But with all this said I can also look back and see all the blessings, hope, and cheer this last 16 years has brought and for that I am grateful for my blessed life.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I do hope to see you back soon. Take care and have a great day!

All the best,
Shawna

My Favorite Flake

Hello Everyone!!

I am so happy you could join me and share your day with TheGrandStampede. For today I am writing on behalf of Make My Monday Challenge Blog to announce a new challenge and also to enter a few challenges myself; The Card Concept, The Paper Players and CAS-ual Fridays.  Here is my inspiration card for tonight. 

For the background of the card I used masking fluid and then applied
some Brusho's and lots of water!!

This weeks challenge:
White Christmas

Entering Challenges:

The Card Concept: Let it Snow Inspiration- #45

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC146- Snowflakes
The Paper Players: PP274- 'Let it Snow'

       

The color scheme comes from The Card Concept. Wonderful and serene backdrop for our focal image, the snowflake. The vellum acts as a kind of bokah effect. A perfect place to add the sentiment. 

   

Details of the snowflake and its dimension, shimmer and the 
subtle change of color between the flakes.

I know it doesn't show well in the picture but the 'white' is actually a vanilla color. The middle of the snowflake I sprayed using a mixture of Perfect Pearls Gold Metallic and water. Wow, does it shimmer! I feel subtle details such as this one brings a lot to the design. 

That should do it for me. I do hope you will hop on over to Make My Monday Challenge Blog and link up with us. I do hope you have a great night and we will see you soon!! Take care.

All the best,

Shawna 

Note:

I have never used masking fluid before so this would be a new technique for me. I am here to say out of all the adhesives, paints, and other smelly crafty things I used this is bar none the worst smell I have ever encountered. So for you crafters consider this your warning. I love the masking part but beware of the odor. You might want to mask your nose while you are masking your card! 

House of Cards BLOG HOP!!

Hello Everyone,

It is an exciting day at House of Cards. We are so excited to throwing a Blog Hop!! We have all sorts of great sponsors and prizes!! Yes! Prizes!!
Here is the inspiration photo for this months challenge.



***PRIZE WINNERS FROM THE BLOG HOP WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THE 20TH OF DECEMBER. CARD WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED NEXT MONTH ON THE 15TH, AS PER THE USUAL HERE AT HOC.  THANK YOU!***

This is my first card.. I decided to go with the color scheme from the photo to design this ol' fashioned and festive card.

The image came in black and white but I wanted it to look vintage and black was not cutting it. No problem, the digital stamp from MHK Designs was brought into Adobe Elements and recolored sepia. Then lightly colored the scene using PrismaColor pencils careful not to color over the sepia printout.

I printed the image twice and colored our skaters then fussy cut around them and adhered them with dimensional adhesive to the colored background.

Image is sponsored by:

MHKDesigns is a vintage digital stamp Etsy shop owned and operated by Mynnette Kitchen from On A Stampage.  She creates vintage stamp sets and digital paper packs for all your crafting needs.  Contact her with any requests you have at mhkdesigns.etsy@gmail.com!
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For my second card I decided to be more conceptual, going on theme rather then color. Gathering around the table brings lots of festive conversation and treats of all sorts; even the occasional button. :)

The image is sponsored by

The name says it all!  If you're looking for wholesome digital "stamps" and papers that will make you smile, this is the place to shop!  We have a variety of sets for any occasion and any crafter.  Stop by to check them out today!

Looking forward to see what you create this month!! There is a lot of fantastic inspiration on this team that will surely spark your interest and hopefully play along!

House of Cards Challenge Blog

Mynn
Sue T.

Barbara

Cohenna

Daen'Ys

Donna N.

Donna T.

Dotty Jo

Em
Emily

Heather

Jane
Joni

Judy

Karen

Katy

Lilian

Linda

Lisa

Merethe

Michele

Monika

Mrs Duck

Pat

Rocky

Ruza

You're here -----> Shawna<-----You're here

Sue N.

Tammy
Toni

For those of you who are new to TheGrandStampede I want to thank you so much for joining me and invite you to browse around to my other posts and see what I am all about! If you dropping by to say hi and hop along that's fine too.. I am just so glad you could visit.. Happy hoppin'!

All the best,

Shawna