Thanks - Winnie & Walter Rerun

Hi, Friends.....

I haven't been on here much in July because I have been flitting here and there and busy outside in my garden.....that is, when I wasn't collapsed in front of the fan trying to get cool!!

I wanted to make a quick last-minute (almost literally!!) entry in this month's Winnie & Walter Rerun challenge. I don't own the featured set, so I took inspiration from the gorgeous colors and design of Shay's lovely card HERE. You might need your sunglasses on because these colors are bright and saturated!!! I used one of my leftover Easter egg dye backgrounds that had the right colors. LOVE!!!

Products used include:
Winnie &Walter - In a Word: Thanks Cutaway die
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Audrey Cutaways die set
Winnie & Walter - LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T Designs stamp set
Winnie & Walter - LS Exclusives: So Tweet with Evelin T Designs die set
Memento ink in Tuxedo Black
Distress Markers
Scraps from Canson -140 lb XL Watercolor Pad
DCWV Solid and Glitter Scraps
"Scraps" of leftover Easter egg dye for my background :)

Thank you so much for stopping in today. I want to be on here more regularly in August!

I hope each of you is having a good and safe summer. If you think of it, keep all those affected by the terrible fires in your prayers. We have been fortunate thus far here in my part of Idaho. There have been two small fires in our area and nothing more. Evacuating in 2015 and not knowing whether or not we would have a home to come back to is still fresh in my mind. So scary. Pray for the safety of the firefighters and for all those in danger's way.

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter Rerun Challenge #32
2. Simon Says Stamp Work-it Wednesday July Challenge - Watercolor 

Defying the Laws of Physics with Scraps!!

Hi, Friends......

I am squeaking in under the wire with a snippets card for Di's Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge. I have been so busy with summer activities and working in my garden that my cardmaking has taken a back seat. 

Recently, though, I had a brainstorm about what to do with my big pile of odd-shaped white/off-white cardstock scraps. I had an ancient kids' ink pad which was coming apart but still had plenty of ink in it. I couldn't just waste it, right??? So I misted and smooshed it on my craft mat and dyed a bunch of the scraps to use for die-cutting.

PROBLEM: I know that all cardmakers will understand when I say that no matter how many scraps I dyed and die-cut, my scrap pile never got smaller!!! What's more, I ALSO ended up with a huge pile of dyed scraps, and multidinous little piles of lovely die cuts....PLUS a wastebasket full of tiny scraps. WHERE did these all come from???? Why is it that you absolutely can NOT use up scraps???? They merely multiply....more and more. It totally defies all known laws of physics!! Arrrrgh!!! What insane explanation can there be besides spontaneous generation???? So much for the law of conservation of mass!

Here is spontaneous generation in action:  you can see my NON-diminishing pile of white and cream cardstock scraps, the defunct ink pad, my big pile of dyed cardstock, and my little piles of pretty die cuts.  You can also see my stubbornly stained craft mat that won't come clean and is now permanently dyed green.  (I haven't tried alcohol yet, but this might indeed drive me to drink!!  Ha.)

I had an order for an anniversary card so I made this one with a few of the scraps: 

Products used include:
Winnie & Walter - Sentimental: Gift stamp set
Versafine ink in Onyx Black
Sizzix - Thinlits TH Wildflowers #1 die set
My Favorite Things Die-namics - Stitched Oval STAX die set
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Audrey Cutaways die set
Verve - Sprightly Sprigs die set (discontinued)
Various white cardstock, mixed media paper, and watercolor paper scraps
Kids ink pad (should just have been thrown away, but nooooo!!!)

Hope you enjoyed my card with its soft watery look. I love how it turned out....even though I ended up with more scraps than I started with! lol...

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you are having a lovely summer....or winter for my upside-down season friends in NZ and Aussie-land! :)

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #330 - Use Snippets
2. Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday July Challenge - Summertime
3. Southern Girls Challenge - Tic Tac Toe (I used diagonal - Ink, Stamp, White)
4. Word-Art Wednesday Weeks 344-345 - Anything Goes
5. CARDZ-TV Anything Goes Challenge #56
6. DL.ART Thankful Thursday #232 - Anniversary
7. Tuesday Throwdown #401 - Stitching-real or faux
8. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use a die or punch
9. The House that Stamps Built DCC74 - The Great Outdoors
10. DL.ART July Linky Challenge - AG

Butterfly Gift Box

Hi, Friends......

I am here with an upcycled gift box that I made for Mrs. A's  Butterfly Challenge.  I used only the butterfly + W is for Wheat (color) in this project.

My project started out as an interesting hexagon-shaped Turkish Delight box.......

....and ended up as a pretty gift box:

Someone needs to make a crafting cartoon similar to the X-Box one above that says.......

Son: Oh, yay!!....Turkish Delight!!

Janis: Oh, yay!!!....Turkish Delight BOX!!

Now do you see why I chose that cartoon for this post?!! :D

This box was easy to cover because it has a separate top and bottom...and also because the "flaps" unfold easily from the interior.  Here's the lid all unfolded:

I chose some coordinating K&Co. butterfly prints and glued them onto the unfolded top and base.  I trimmed with a craft knife, scored the folds for a crisp look, and then reconstructed the box.  It was quite easy!  

Inside the base of the box.

The box base turned over.

The flaps of this particular box all interlock so no glue is necessary.  But I glued it, anyway, for extra security.

Here's a zoomed in shot of the tag I made for the box.  The tag base is made of cork and the bow is twine.  I like the organic texture of this combination with the nature motifs I used.  The Versafine ink stamped on the cork perfectly.

Finished project.........

Products used include:
Empty candy box
K&Co. patterned paper
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Katharine Cutaways die set
Winnie & Walter - Sentimental: Gift stamp set
Versafine ink in Onyx Black
Verve - Sprightly Sprigs die set (discontinued)
Prima flowers
Distress Ink in Walnut Stain and Tea Dye
Want 2 Scrap - Adhesive Pearls
Quick Quotes - Antique Brads
Twine from my stash

Hope you liked my butterfly gift box. I had a lot of fun making it! Have a great rest of the week and thank you for stopping in today.

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge #103 - I used the Butterfly + W is for Wheat option
(more coming....)

Graphic 45 Sporty Father's Day Card

Hi, Friends......

I am here with a baseball-themed Father's Day card I made for an order this month. I went with a super-easy collage style made from Graphic 45 papers....great for a masculine card without any fancy doo-dads.

I often use a 5-1/2" square format when I make this kind of card so the ephemera fits without being too crowded. I know this size takes extra postage if it is being mailed, but since this was going to be hand delivered it didn't make any difference. I do try to keep that in mind when filling orders.

Supplies used include:
Graphic 45 "Good Ol' Sport" Collection
Distress Ink in Bundled Sage to ink edges of panels
Buttons from my stash
Core'dinations cardstock for card base

Hope you liked this simple vintage-looking card. Have a great day and rest of the week!!!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Word Art Wednesday Weeks #340-341 - Anything Goes
2. DL.ART June Linky Party
3. TCP Tuesday Challenge #347 - Outdoors
4. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
5. The House That Stamps Built - J2718 Anything Goes
6. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper June Challenge
7. The Craft Blog June Challenge - Masculine Card

Your Kindness Card with White Embossing

Hi, Friends......

I am here to share with you another heat embossed card.  This one has very simple messy watercoloring for almost an impressionistic look. It's an autumn scene and you might think I am jumping the gun with it, but let me tell you it is STILL chilly here in Idaho. (If everything weren't so leafed out and green, I would think it was already autumn. The air truly has thaaaaaaat kind of nip to it. I don't know if it ever hit 70 yesterday, although it was bright sunny all day, and it was in the 40s last night!! Brrrr.)
 
This card was inspired by several challenges: 

1. The June Winnie & Walter Rerun Challenge. I don't own the rerun set (Scenery: Into the Woods) but I was inspired by Shay's lovely card HERE with the white embossed wood grain. I rarely use my white embossing powder for anything besides sentiments or snowflakes so I wanted to give something new a try. I even stayed with a woodsy/tree theme! :)

2. The current Double Trouble Challenge which is a Double Dare Color Challenge along with Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge.  Even though these are more summery colors, the Sorbet color reminded me of red autumn leaves and the rosy tint of the autumn sky, so I gave this out-of-season theme a go.  I did not do the optional Thing 2 Twist of String Things this time. (I'm still not sure what they thought of my frayed burlap for the String Twist from one of my other entries, but I thought it was clever! lol....)

Double Trouble Challenge #3

 

3. As You Like It Challenge - Fave Type of Embossing and Why. As I mentioned before, I honestly can't decide which I like better....but one of my favorite things to do when watercoloring is to heat emboss my image for raised outlines. They help to keep me in the lines, so that's what I did here. (Not that I stayed in the lines on this card, but I DID do the heat embossing! Ha.)

 

I wasn't sure if my white embossing would work very well with the challenge colors. The Glacier color is rather pale and I feared it might not give enough contrast with the white embossed sentiment. So while I had my stamps set up on my MISTI, I stamped a second panel to be embossed with dark brown powder. 

Which do you like better???? I am leaning toward the white one. It's a different look for me and I think it is pretty, although the dark one looks more autumny.

Products used include:
Winnie & Walter - Kindness with Evelin T Designs stamp set
Versamark ink
WOW! Embossing Powder - Opaque Bright White Regular
Stampendous - Clear Embossing Powder in Clear Bark
Distress Inks in Ground Espresso, Tumbled Glass, and Abandoned Coral
Canson - Mixed Media Paper Spiral Bound Notebook
Core'dinations Cardstock for card base

I hope you enjoyed seeing me try out white embossing on a watercolored image. It was fun and I think I will have to remember to do this again soon! Thank you so much for stopping in today!!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter Rerun #31 - Scenery: Into the Woods
2. Color my Heart Color Dare #297 - Nutmeg, Glacier, and Sorbet
3. Double Trouble Challenge #3 - I am participating in Thing 1 (color challenge) and Thing 2 (Color My Heart)
4. As You Like It Challenge - Fave Type of Embossing and Why
5. Word Art Wednesday Weeks #340-341 - Anything Goes
6. DL.ART June Linky Party
7. DL.ART Thankful Thursday Challenge #230 - Wedding or Thank You
8. Power Poppy June Challenge - Let's Go Round and Round (I used a tree with a round crown.)
9. TCP Tuesday Challenge #347 - Outdoors
10.TIME OUT Challenge #112 - WARM (I love warm autumn days with crispy leaves...but right now I would be content with a warm enough summer for my zucchini seeds to sprout!!!)
11. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
12. The House That Stamps Built - J2718 Anything Goes
13. ARTastic June Challenge - Country (I was inspired by the rounded crowns on the trees and the blue sky.)

    


 
  

Joy - June Rudolph Days and Double Trouble Color Challenge

Hi, Friends.....

I am here with my June entry into Scrappy Mo's Rudolph Days Challenge.  Finally.......I've been able to enjoy a full month of cardmaking and blogging so Mo's wonderful challenge isn't the only thing that has made me break away and get into my craftroom!  It has felt good to be active in here again.  Not sure how long that will last, though, because summer activities pull me away as the weather gets warmer.  Right now it is unseasonably cool and my THIRD planting of zucchini has still not come up!!  (And that is with fresh seed!!)  :( 

Today, I am also entering both the Double Trouble Challenge and the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge which have teamed up using the same colors for their challenges as a Double Dare kind of thing. So much fun!!!

 

For this Christmas card, I went very simple: no-stamping and non-traditional colors. It's always fun to see if I can make different color palettes work for Christmas. (I'm still having a challenge getting that "glacier" color to photograph true to real life and my die-cut cardinals are actually a tiny bit redder IRL, too. Sigh...)


I have tons (prob literally...ask my hubby!!) of patterned paper and rarely make a completely die-cut card with only solid cardstock. This one has a tiny bit of patterned cardstock for the cardinals, but otherwise it is all solids. I am unaccustomed to this look and it leaves me feeling like it still needs something. But it is good for me to try different looks, so here it is. The non-fussy look of the card makes it somewhat masculine, too.

Products used include:
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Audrey Cutaways die set (has scallops)
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Katharine Cutaways die set
Winnie & Walter - In a Word: Joy Cutaway die
Memory Box - Cheery Cardinals die set
Baker's Twine that had been tied around a prize from ACreativeJourneyWithMelissa <3
Core'dinations and DCWV cardstock - solids and patterned (for the cardinals)

Thank you for stopping by today. I have one more idea I might try for this color challenge, even though photographing this particular combination is giving me fits! lol...   Have a great day!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Double Trouble Challenge #3 - I am participating in Thing 1 (color challenge), Thing 2 (Color My Heart), and Thing 3 (String Things with baker's twine) YAY!!
2. Color my Heart Color Dare #297 - Nutmeg, Glacier, and Sorbet
3. Power Poppy June Challenge - Let's Go Round and Round (I used a scalloped-edged die.)
4. Three Amigos Challenge #15 - Use Machine Die Cutting
5. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper June Challenge
6. The Craft Blog June Challenge - Masculine Card
7. Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #391 - AG Christmas opt. Washi Tape
8. Rudolph Days at Scrappy Mo's June Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas
9. Christmas Cards All Year 'Round June Challenge - Non-traditional Colors
10. DL.ART June Linky Party

Happy Birthday, 2 Year Old

Can't beat 'em....join 'em!

Hi, Friends......

I am here with a sweet card made with a wonderful cut-apart from Graphic 45. I just love this replica vintage magazine cover. It's difficult to read the finer printing, but on the lower left it says "Two years old to-day." Pretty little girl and fabulous fancy cake....Yum!

Products used include:
Winnie & Walter - Essentials: Audrey Cutaways die set
Graphic 45 "A Place in Time" collection
Pretty DCWV scraps from my stash
Distress Ink in Walnut Stain for inking edges
Some weird sythentic raffia ribbon that's been in my stash for ages and that I thought I had finally used up!! Nope.

Hope you liked this sweet vintage card. Can you tell that I've had a lot of fun with my Graphic 45 lately? LOVE! Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful week!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Power Poppy June Challenge - Let's Go Round and Round (I used a scalloped edge die)
2. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Bright and Cheerful
3. Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper June Challenge
4. Three Amigos Challenge #15 - Use Machine Die Cutting
5. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Food and/or Drink  Does cake count as food???? It does if you are a grown-up and doesn't if you are a kid! :)
6. All Sorts Challenge Week #473 - Sweet Treats