Luck of the Irish

Hi, Friends........

I don't make very many St. Patrick's Day cards, but I had these adorable Irish die cuts that I had received in a prize a couple of years ago and wanted to use them. I teamed them up with some layered DCWV St. Paddy paper and added sequins from the pot o' gold, of course! Fun little card to get us in the Irish mood. :)
 

I made a matching envelope with the design outwards and cut a tag for the address place......which I placed at a jaunty angle on the front.

Supplies used include:
St. Patrick's Day embellishment assortment received in a prize
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Audrey Cutaways die set (scalloped background)
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Katharine Cutaways die set (straight edged background + tag)
Doodlebug - Mini Doilies
DCWV paper
Gold sequins from stash
WRMK Envelope Punch Board

Hope my card made you smile today. Maybe this little leprechaun will bring you good luck today on the Ides of March! :)

💚
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - Layering Die Cuts Challenge (I layered the background dies)
2. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - 5 Challenge (I used 5 embellishments on my card: 3 Irish + 1 doily + sequins.)
3. Hero Arts National Craft Month - Dress up an Envelope Challenge 
4. DL.ART March Linky Challenge - AG
5. CARDZ-TV - Anything Goes Challenge #85
6. Double Trouble Challenge #23 - Wearin' O' the Green
(I participated in each of the Troublemaker Challenges - Green, H2H, and Gold)
7. Heart 2 Heart March Challenge - Wearin' O' the Green
8. TCP March Tuesday Challenge #355 - Envie Envy (decorate an envelope to go with project)
9. Crafter's Castle Challenge #15 - Anything Goes w/ opt. Use Glitter
10. Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday February Challenge - Green and Gold

Wishing You Joy

Hi, Friends......

Seems like I am always playing catch up with the Butterfly Challenge, but this fortnight's challenge was too much fun to let pass by. The theme this time was the Letter B: Butterfly + Bifold, the specialty card type. I also chose Bluebell from the options. Mrs A. has excellent tutorials on a tab on her challenge page for different designs of these cards. 

I used some Christmas gift card credit to buy the Graphic 45 Flutter collection. (Swoon!!) The double-sided sheets were perfect for the bifold design and even included the Bluebell color!! I went for a clean monochrome look.

Here's a shot of it closed. You can also see that I made a simple butterfly medallion to decorate the coordinating envelope, too.

Here it is opened up. A couple butterflies magically appear when it is opened that were hidden before.  :)

I cobbled together a sentiment from several different sets. The line that says "on your" originally said "on your day" (you can see the set in the top photo). I could have done stamp surgery and cut off the "day" to use separately, but I live in fear of losing tiny pieces from my sets. Masking was the perfect solution! All I needed to do was use a bit of washi to cover up the extra word and my stamp stayed intact and I am much less likely to lose part of it!! Yay!!!

Products used include:
Winnie & Walter - In Bloom: Frenchy's Festive Florals stamp set
Winnie & Walter - In a Word: Happy stamp set (the word BIRTHDAY in my sentiment).
Winnie & Walter - LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T Designs stamp set (for the little heart I attached to the tail of the JOY word)
Winnie & Walter - Purrfect with Evelin T Designs stamp set (sweet little birdie on the sentiment panel)
Graphic 45 Flutter Collection
Distress Ink in Faded Jeans and Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Audrey Cutaways die set (for butterflies and medallion on envelope)
Sizzix - Circles, Scallop die set
M&C Boutique - Large Circle Frame die set
Doily from my stash

Hope you liked how my bifold card turned out. It was fun to try this design!

Hope you are staying safe and warm wherever you live. Winter is not giving up without a fight around here with more snow in the forecast for tomorrow, but then warmer weather in the high 40s is predicted this weekend. It is amazing how spring-like it seems around here, considering we still have a foot of dense snow and ice on the ground! But I can hear water trickling outside in the afternoons, accompanied by birds singing, and the sun is noticeably higher in the sky than it was in the winter. I know spring really IS coming!!! Yay!!

❤
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Butterfly Challenge #118 - B is for.... (I used Bifold + Bluebell)
2. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - Layering Die Cuts Challenge (I layered the circle dies)
3. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - 3+ Stamp Set Challenge
4. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - 5 Challenge (I used 5 butterflies)
5. Winnie & Walter - Altering Stamps by Masking Challenge (I masked off part of a sentiment stamp)
6. Papercraft Challenge #16 - AG w/ opt. Animals
7. TCP March Tuesday Challenge #355 - Envie Envy (decorate an envelope to go with project)
8. Word-Art Wednesday Week #376-377 - AG
9. Penny Black and More March Challenge- Going around in Circles
10. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper March Challenge
11. DL.ART March Linky Challenge - AG
12. The House that Stamps Built - DCC36 Easter or Spring
13. Dare 2B Artzy March Challenge - Anything Goes
14. Hero Arts National Craft Month - Birthday Card

With Appreciation

Hi, Friends.......

Here with a quick last-minute entry into the current Winnie & Walter Rerun Challenge. I already made one entry, but I wanted to try some colored pencils on kraft, inspired by Heather Hoffman's lovely card HERE.

I am very much a beginner at making floral backgrounds so you will have to bear with me here....I had no idea what I was doing!!! lol.... 

I stamped and heat embossed the kitty image and then masked it before stamping a garden of flowers around the little sweetie. I colored the cat with my Prismacolors, blending with Gamsol, and added some highlights with the white pencil to my stamped flowers. I even made an envelope to match!

Supplies used include:
Winnie & Walter - Purrfect with Evelin T Designs stamp set
Versafine ink in Smokey Gray
Clear embossing powder
Prismacolor Colored Pencils
Gamsol for blending
Winnie & Walter - In Bloom: Hollie's Festive Florals stamp set
Various dye inks from my stash
Winnie & Walter - Sentimental: Gift stamp set
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Audrey Cutaways die set
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Tilda Cutaways die set
Core'dinations/Darice Kraft Cardstock
Scrap of DCWV Glitter Cardstock
DCWV Patterned Cork

Thank you for stopping by today. Hope you liked my card. I need a lot of practice with this kind of scene building, but it was fun giving it a try!!!

Our weather is warming here a little bit finally. It was very slushy and slippery today and we are still covered with ice and snow, but it melted my icicles today....so that is progress!! The birds are migrating in and mobbing my birdfeeders since they are having trouble finding anything else to eat right now. A few more days of this warmer weather, though, and they will have some exposed vegetation and bare ground to poke around in. Spring is coming!!!!

❤
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter Rerun #38 - Happy Dance
2. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - Layering Die Cuts Challenge (I layered the background dies)
3. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - 3+ Stamp Set Challenge
4. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - 5 Challenge (I used 5 different flower stamps in my garden)
5. Winnie & Walter Build a Scene Using Masking Challenge
6. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Create a Scene
7. TCP March Tuesday Challenge #355 - Envie Envy (decorate an envelope to go with project)
8. Papercraft Challenge #16 - AG w/ opt. Animals
9. SUYP Challenge #40 - AG opt St. Catrick's Day
10. Craft Stamper TIMI March Challenge - AG with Stamping
11. All Sorts Week #509 - Favorite Season (My favorite season is any season when I can grow flowers!!)
12. Word-Art Wednesday Week #376-377 - AG
13. Dare 2B Artzy March Challenge - Anything Goes
14. The House that Stamps Built - DCC36 Easter or Spring 
15. DL.ART March Linky Challenge - AG 
16. Hero Arts National Craft Month - Fave Coloring Medium (Hard to pick a fave, but I really enjoyed my Prismacolors for this card!) 

Starry Congrats Shaker Card Set

Hi, Friends.......

I'm here to share a set of fun Congrats cards. I think they would be good masculine graduation cards. 

As you might already know, I typically do a lot of layering on my cards. I never like to waste all the covered up "middles" of the lower layers, so I often cut out a smaller shape from the centers to use later. The hole gets concealed by upper layers and the card is lighter and less bulky for mailing, too.

Recently, due to some careless oversight on my part, a few "congrats" die cuts got in contact with some of these holey backgrounds and I realized that they looked great in the holes!! One thing led to another......and the chilling specter of making shaker cards reared its ugly head! Eeek!!! I hardly ever make shakers. A bad childhood experience (or at least one in the not-too-distant cardmaking past) convinced me that this kind of card is NOT for me!! But.....never one to avoid making the same crafting mistake twice, I plunged in and made a whole set of them. Insane, right? Yep. lol....

I am loving stars lately and thought this would be a great way to use a bunch of my gold star confetti. I layered up some star die cuts, too, from the scraps of my congrats die cuts, etc. 

Lucky thing that I somewhat centered these tag cut outs when I made them some months ago.  Honestly, though, it was all completely inadvertent!

Supplies used include:
Winnie & Walter - In a Word: Congrats Cutaway die
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Katharine Cutaways die set (black background panel, tag)
Winnie & Walter - Big Bang Confetti Cutaways die set (stars)
Winnie & Walter - Big Balloon Cutaways die set (bow)
DCWV glitter cardstock scraps
Core'dinations/Darice cardstock and scraps
Acetate sheet from stash
Gold star confetti from stash

Hope you liked my starry cards. Thank you for your encouraging comments!!! Stay safe and warm if you are in a cold place.......like I am here in Idaho. Brrrrr......

❤
Janis


Thank you for the honor of entering this set of cards in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - Layering Die Cuts Challenge
2. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - Card Set Challenge
3. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - 5 Challenge (I used 5 colors: black, medium gray, light gray, gold, and white)
4. Unstampabelles Challenge #87 - Time for Men
5. Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #347 - Use Snippets
6. Crafter's Castle Challenge #15 - Anything Goes w/ opt. Use Glitter
7. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - AG
8. Word-Art Wednesday Week #376-377 - AG
9. DL.ART March Linky Challenge - AG

Roses and Lace on Your Special Day

Hi, Friends.......

I am back with a pretty card that I have been wanting to make for some time. I've had most of these elements together in a bag for months, but couldn't settle on a design for the card. Does that ever happen to you??? I loved the coral lace with the rose print and die cut, but it just wasn't coming together.

I originally had planned on just the open outline of the rose and a simple die-cut sentiment. I decided to layer the rose and ended up jettisoning the die-cut sentiment and stamping a new one. The die-cut patterned paper background didn't look right as one panel, so I threw caution to the wind and cut it into strips. Finally it was looking more like what I wanted. A few dew drops and black round drops topped it all off.

I started out intending this to be a birthday card, but now I think I will save it for a wedding card.  What do you think???

Supplies used include:
Winnie & Walter - In Bloom: Maggie's Roses Cutaways die set
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Audrey Cutaways die set (white backround panel)
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Katharine Cutaways die set (rose patterned paper panel that I cut into strips)
Winnie & Walter - Sentimental: Gift stamp set
Versafine ink in Onyx Black
Studio Katia - Clear Round Drops Mix
Adhesive black round drops from stash
Scraps from stash
Thrift store lace from stash

Hope you like my card! Thank you for taking the time to stop by today. Your visits and comments mean the world to me!!

❤
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - Layering Die Cuts Challenge (I layered the rose outline over the rose background..as is intended with this set!....and layered two background panels.)
2. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - Customizing Die Cuts Challenge (I sliced up the background die-cut panel and also added dew drops to the rose die cuts.)
3. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - 5 Challenge (I used 5 black round drops)
4. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Vintage/Past Times
5. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper March Challenge
6. All Sorts Week #509 - Favorite Season (My favorite season is any of them that we are NOT in right now!!! lol.... I love to be out in my garden growing flowers and vegetables, so a warm spring or a moderate summer would be perfect right now!!)
7. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - AG
8. Word-Art Wednesday Week #376-377 - AG
9. Mod Squad - Use Stripes (I made stripes with my strips of patterned paper.)
10. The House that Stamps Built - Anything Goes Challenge F2719

Hip Hip Hooray - House Mouse

Hi, Friends.......

I am here with a last-minute House Mouse entry for this fortnight. I had a lot of fun coloring up this celebratory little critter. I also used some fun Winnie & Walter stencils for their 5th Birthday Bash challenges.  

I also am entering this in the current Winnie & Walter Rerun Challenge where I was inspired by the balloons in Shay's card and the happy critters in each of the cards by Shay, Gayatri, and Heather!

I used several different background techniques for this card.

1. For the balloon background, I masked off the area over the image and stenciled using my new Distress Oxide ink pad in Tumbled Glass. Fun!!!  Then I shaded the edges with regular Distress Ink in Broken China, a slightly deeper blue.

2. For the pink card background, I stenciled with the Winnie & Walter star stencil using Distress Oxide in Spun Sugar and heat embossed with clear powder. I was hoping for a subtle effect.....but it was TOO subtle!!!  lol...   Now I never feel overly constrained to "follow the rules" of craft techniques......so I purposely overcooked the embossing powder to make a narrow halo around each star....just enough to accent them. You don't usually want a halo like this, but I did for this application.

3. I wanted more stars, so I also stamped some coordinating stars on the pink with white pigment ink. As you know, pigment ink stays wet a long time......even when you wield your heat gun at it. That's why I usually like to heat emboss pigment ink. But I wanted a soft matte finish for these white stars. So after I blasted them and they were still tacky here and there on the margins, I went ahead and heat embossed them with clear powder. It still looks matte, but the edges have a tiny bit of gloss. I like it.

Supplies used include:
Stampendous - House Mouse Designs - Confetti Fun stamp
Versafine ink in Smokey Gray
Distress Markers for watercoloring
Winnie & Walter - Big Balloon Cutaways die set
Winnie & Walter - Scenery: Triangled Creative Screenings
Winnie & Walter - Scenery: Big Bang Classic Star Creative Screenings
Distress Oxides in Tumbled Glass and Spun Sugar
Winnie & Walter - Scenery: Big Bang Confetti stamp set
Hero Arts - Unicorn White Pigment Ink
Clear embossing powder
Unity - "Hip Hip Hooray" (still trying to track down the Unity set this grab bag stamp came from.)
Canson - Mixed Media Paper Spiral Bound Notebook
Core'dinations/Darice Cardstock

Hope you like this happy card! Thank you for stopping by today.

❤
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. House-Mouse Challenge #285 - Anything Goes HM w/ opt. of Weather
2. Winnie & Walter - Masking with Stencils Challenge
3. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - Layering Die Cuts Challenge (I layered the balloon tie over the balloon end...as is intended with this set!)
4. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - 3+ Stamp Set Challenge (I used W&W, Stampendous, and Unity)
5. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - Customizing Die Cuts Challenge (I decorated up the balloon die cut)
6. Winnie & Walter Rerun #38 - Happy Dance
7. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - AG
8. Word-Art Wednesday Week #376-377 - AG
9. Hero Arts National Craft Month - Fave Coloring Medium   (Hard to pick a fave, but I use Distress Markers a lot for coloring.  I do love them!!)

Thank You - Another Aperture Card

Out Out Damn Spot GIF from Cat GIFs

Hi, Friends........

Did you see the aperture card I posted the other day for the Butterfly Challenge? I had so much fun making it that I decided to do another one. I just love the look of this elegant design.

Winnie & Walter has a Masking with Stencils challenge as part of their 5th Birthday Bash, so I got out one my stencils for this card. I knew I was going to make a horizontal oval aperture, so I used the next size larger oval die to make a mask to put under the stencil for the front of the card. I did tone-on-tone embossing with clear embossing powder.

Did you notice I used some pretty rhinestone and pearl swirls?  I usually shy away from these because I have trouble peeling them away from their acetate backing sheets without losing some of the rhinestones.  But I suddenly had a great idea!!!  (uh-oh....)


EASY WAY TO APPLY SWIRLS TO CARDS:
1. I placed the swirls still on their acetate on my card in the exact positions I wanted them and then put a piece of Glad Press 'n Seal over the top of the arrangement, pressing to adhere it to the swirls. (If I recall correctly, Jennifer McGuire's hubby invented this magical wrap!!) 
2. Then I flipped over the piece of plastic with the swirls and gently peeled away the acetates. Voila!! It worked perfectly....no pearls or rhinestones lost!  Peeling the acetates away from the swirls rather than the swirls away from the acetates is THE way to do it.
3. Then I flipped the plastic back over and carefully positioned it before pressing the swirls down onto my card. Oh, yay!!! It worked better than I could have ever dreamed!! I just had to share this with you. :)

For the inside, I used a larger oval from my set and masked the stencil again. This time I used Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters and didn't heat emboss.

Supplies used include:
Winnie & Walter - Scenery: The Leaf Effect Creative Screenings
Versamark ink
Clear Embossing Powder
Distress Ink - Shabby Shutters
K&Co. patterned paper
My Favorite Things Die-namics - Stitched Oval STAX die set
Zva Swirls
Sticker and ribbon from my stash

It was fun playing with one of my stencils today and trying the masking technique. I need to do that more often!! Thank you so much for stopping by today.

❤
Janis


Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter - Masking with Stencils Challenge
2. Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash - 5 Challenge (I used 5 embellishments: 4 swirls + 1 bow)
3. Unstampabelles Challenge #86 - Bright and Cheerful
4. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Vintage/Past Times
5. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - AG
6. Word-Art Wednesday Week #376-377 - AG
7. All Sorts Week #508 - Spring Flowers
8. CARDZ-TV - Anything Goes Challenge #84
9. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper March Challenge