Glitter n Sparkle DT (Add Buttons)

For my Cupcake Inspirations Surprise Sweetie post, click here.

Hello, everyone!  It's Sunday, so that means there's a new challenge starting today over at Glitter n Sparkle Challenge Blog! This week we would like you to Add Buttons to your creation. I made a set of three thank-you cards using a beautiful silhouette image from Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet called Cat Mail. I love this image! It looks so tranquil - and there's a kitty!

I wanted to keep these on the masculine side so that's why I chose these colours, although I think these would be fine for a male or female. I need a thank-you card for my former neighbour, who keeps an eye on my old house, so one of these will be for him. Which one is your favourite?

Watercolour backgrounds are so trendy right now and I wanted to see how they would work with digis.  This was tricky because I have an inkjet printer, and as soon as the ink gets wet, it bleeds - badly. So I decided to create the backgrounds first and then print the images afterwards.  To start, I printed the images on printer paper to get an idea of their location on the page. I prepared the backgrounds using Distress Ink reinkers (Mowed Lawn, Crushed Olive, Tumbled Glass) on watercolour paper.  I waited for them to dry completely and then printed the images again, keeping my fingers crossed that the images would line up with the backgrounds I had made. I think it was a success!

Dies used on these cards:  Avery Elle Wonky Stitches and Poppystamps Stitched Buttons. I applied Glossy Accents to all of the buttons.

Here is a close-up of each card individually:

Card #1

For Card #1, the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Thanks. The watercolour panel is mounted on patterned paper from MME Reunion 6x6 paper pad.

Card #2

For Card #2, the sentiment is from Newton's Nook Simply Sentimental.

Card #3

For Card #3, the sentiment is from Clearly Besotted A Little Sentimental, and I added some black twine.

I would like to join the following challenges:  Beccy's Place AG UE; Crafting from the Heart AG 3/3; Crafty Friends Use a Sentiment 2/3; Crafty Gals Creations AG 1/3; Creative Inspirations AG Option Sketch UE (WINNER CHOSEN BY DT); Crop Stop Linky #7 Distress Inks available here 5/5; Deep Ocean For the Boys UE; Di's Digi Designs Add a Sentiment 2/3; DL.ART Thankful Thursday Thank You 1/3; Get Creative No Printed Papers 2/3; Ike's World Challenges Pets/Animals 2/3; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Jo's Scrap Shack AG 3/3; Little Scrap Pieces Show it Off Saturday 1E; Not Just Cards August AG UE; One Stitch at a Time Four-Legged Friends UE; One Sweet Challenge New Technique or New Medium (Watercolour Background with Digis) 1/3; Papertake Weekly Take Your Pick: Buttons 3/5; Pixie's Snippet Playground Black snippet used for die-cut buttons 1/3; Poppystamps The Heat is On (hot summer day) UE; Scribbles Designs Boys will be Boys (made for my former neighbour) 2/3; Simon Says Stamp AG 4/5; Stitchy Bear Stamps Facebook Group August AG UE (TOP 3); The Outlawz Saturday Paper A La Mode Frame Image 1E; Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Create Your Own Background UE (TOP 3); Wags n Whiskers Frame it Out 2/2; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 3/5

Thank you for looking at my card! Wishing you a joyful day!

I'm a Surprise Sweetie!

Hello, everyone!  Exciting news!  I am the Surprise Sweetie over at Cupcake Inspirations this week! Woohoo!

We have a theme challenge for you!

Check out our fabulous sponsor, which just happens to be one of my favourite stamp companies: Newton's Nook Designs!  I had so much fun making my card, and it has lots of layers!  I've had this stamp set in my stash for months and I've been waiting for fall so I could use it!

The set is called Newton's Perfect Pumpkin, and I coloured the stamped image with Prismacolor pencils.  I normally colour Newton as a tabby like my boys, but I decided he would be a black cat for this occasion. The fun sentiment, spider web, and "eek" are all from the same set. I stamped the spider too but messed up my stamping so I covered it with a glittery spider sticker.

The patterned papers are from Doodlebug Ghouls and Goodies, and the black die-cut border is from Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Borders.  I finished off the card with a strip of washi tape (Dollarama) and some tiny black gems (Want 2 Scrap). I followed the sketch over at Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge:

Please come over and join the Layers Challenge at Cupcake Inspirations!

Thank you to Nina and Cupcake Inspirations for having me as your Surprise Sweetie! I had fun!

I would like also to join the following challenges: Beccy's Place AG UE; Blessings Ink Amusing Challenges AG 1/2; Craft Your Passion AG 3/3; Crafty Gals Corner Lots of Layers 2/2; Crafty Friends Use a Sentiment 1/3; Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper August AG UE; Creative Inspirations AG Option Sketch UE; Di's Digi Designs Add a Sentiment 1/3; Die-Cut Diva's Favourite Holiday (Halloween) 3/4; DL.ART August AG UE 1/day; HIMCR Freestylel 2/3; Ike's World Challenges Pets/Animals 1/3; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Jo's Scrap Shack AG 2/3; Not Just Cards August AG UE; Send a Smile 4 Kids AG 4 Kids 3/3; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday AG 3/5; The Outlawz Twisted Thursday Twist AG 1/2; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 2/5

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Masculine Vintage Birthday

Hello, everybody! Today I am sharing a masculine birthday card that features a beautiful vintage image from Gecko Galz.  It was free on the collage sheet available as part of the Gecko Galz August newsletter (you can sign up on their left sidebar). This card has a dog theme but I did  sneak in a kitty die cut!

I inked around the image with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and then layered it with brown and black cardstock.  Behind the image is a vintage button card from Crafty Secrets Button Up set, which was also inked with Brushed Corduroy. The fun ticket is a freebie from Pixel Scrapper, also inked. The birthday sentiment is a wood-mounted rubber stamp from The Old Island Stamp Company, and the patterned papers are from MME Reunion 6x6 paper pad. The die cuts are Poppystamps Stitched Buttons, Poppystamps Walking Cat, and a snippet of MFT Medium Fancy Flourish. I added a crown charm to the dog's head and a few black gems.

I would like to join the following challenges:  Beccy's Place AG UE; Card Mania Anniversary/Birthday 3/3 Crafty Gals Corner Lots of Layers 1/2; Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper August AG UE; Creative Inspirations AG Option Sketch UE; Crop Stop Linky #7 Distress Inks available here 4/5; Deep Ocean For the Boys UE; DL.ART August AG UE 1/day; Gecko Galz Life is a Circus (WINNER); Gecko Galz Facebook Group Circus, Circus; Gecko Galz Facebook Group Royal Decree (royal object - crown); HIMCR Freestylel 1/3; Incy Wincy Birthday Wishes 1/5; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Jo's Scrap Shack AG 1/3; Lunagirl Moonbeams August Animals 3/3; Not Just Cards August AG UE; One Stitch at a Time Four-Legged Friends UE; Papertake Weekly Take Your Pick: Vintage and Buttons 2/5; Pile It On Animals Dressed Up UE; Poppystamps The Heat is On (warm colours) UE; Scribbles Designs Boys will be Boys (made for family member) 1/3 (TOP SCRIBBLER AWARD); Simon Says Stamp Monday Ticket, Please 1/5; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday AG 2/5; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 2/5

Thank you for looking at my card! Wishing you a joyful day!

Winner

Winner

You're a Super Star!

Hello, everyone!  I was inspired by a few challenges when I made this card. I found this adorable free image at My Cute Graphics and thought it was purr-fect!  Super Girl and Super Cat!

I die-cut the image with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles and mounted it with foam tape on some patterned paper from MME.  The sentiment is from Imagine That... digis by Kris - Elvis Bear - this set was a freebie at one point - thank you, Kris!  I added some die-cut stars from Memory Box Cosmic Star and a few red star sequins.

The challenges that inspired me were:
The Paper Girls Super Heroes 1/3
The Craft Garden Eight (there are eight stars) 1E C3 (WINNER)
Stamp and Create One for the Girls 1/wk 1/4

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Silent Night

Hello, everyone!  I'm back again today with another Christmas card!  I like to make at least two per month and this will be my third, so I'm ahead of the game this month!  I used a cute vintage kitty clip-art image from Graphics Fairy, which is still available as a freebie, and I fussy-cut and popped up with foam tape.

For this card I wanted to create my own background. No patterned papers were used. I stamped the three poinsettias from Mark's Finest Papers MFP Stamp Shop Christmas Selections Mini clear stamps repeatedly in Versamark and heat-embossed them in clear. It's hard to see in the photo but it looks quite fetching in person. You can click on the photos to enlarge them. Here's a better view of the embossed background.

I created the black striped border using a stencil with Black Soot Distress Ink and a finger dauber.

I added a thin strip of gold washi tape.  

The sentiment is from Whimsy Stamps - Christmas Mini Tag Sentiments, and I heat-embossed it in white on a black scrap and die-cut into a banner with Taylored Expressions Banner Stacklets 1. Here are the stamps used.

I would like to join the following challenges:  Beccy's Place AG UE; Craft Your Passion AG 2/3; Crafting from the Heart AG 2/3; Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Use Some Gold UE; Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra August UE; Create Something Catchy Create Your Own Background 1/2; Creative Inspirations AG Option Sketch UE;  Crop Stop Linky #7 Distress Inks available here 3/5; Cut it Up Old School (old technique - make own background) 1E; Die-Cut Diva's Favourite Holiday (Christmas) 2/4; DL.ART August AG UE 1/day; Get Creative No Printed Papers 1/3; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Hiding in my Craftroom Any Holiday (Christmas) 3/3; Little Claire's Christmas in August 2/3; Lunagirl Moonbeams August Animals 2/3; MFP Speedy Fox and Friends Have a Candle or Make a Candle; Not Just Cards August AG UE; One Stitch at a Time Four-Legged Friends UE; Papertake Weekly Take Your Pick: Vintage 1/5; Pixie's Snippet Playground Black snippet for sentiment 3/3; Send a Smile 4 Kids AG 4 Kids 2/3; Simon Says Stamp AG 1/5; Sister Act Cards Only AG UE; Sparkles Christmas No Designer Paper 1/3; The 12 Months of Christmas Link-up Optional Snow People 2/3;  The Outlawz Twisted Thursday Add an Animal 2/2; Winter Wonderland Christmas Carols/Songs "Silent Night" 1/3; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 1/5

Thank you for looking at my card! Wishing you a joyful day!

Candy Cane for Snowman (FTHS)

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm sharing a card I made with the Free Stamp of the Month over at From the Heart Stamps.  The image is called Candy Cane for Snowman and I coloured it with Prismacolor pencils. I added Liquid Pearls for the snowfall and loose glitter around his body and along the snowbank.

The patterned paper scrap is from BoBunny and the die-cut border is from MFT Dotted Scallop Trio. The snowflakes are from Impression Obsession and I die-cut them from gold glitter paper.  The background is embossed with Cuttlebug Charles, and I rounded the corners on just the upper-right.

I would like to join the following challenges:

1. Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Use Some Gold UE (WINNER)
2. Die-Cut Diva's Favourite Holiday (Christmas) 1/4
3. DRS Designs Inspired by Colour UE
4. From the Heart Stamps Stamp of the Month 1E
5. Hiding in my Craftroom Any Holiday (Christmas) 2/3
6. Little Claire's Christmas in August 1/3
7. Pixie's Snippet Playground Patterned paper strip and die-cuts from snippets 2/3
8. Rudolph Day August 1E
9. Send a Smile 4 Kids AG 4 Kids 1/3
10. The 12 Months of Christmas Link-up Optional Snow People 1/3 FT

Thank you for looking at my card! Wishing you a joyful day!

Hummingbird Just For You

Hi, everybody! I'm back again today with a second card. It's been awhile since I made a very embellished card so I decided to give it a go now that my mojo seems to have returned.  This gorgeous image is from the Pretty Petunias set from Imagine That... digis by Kris.  This is a pre-coloured image - the vibrant colours are so gorgeous that I did not feel the need to colour it myself.

I made a shaker card with another image from this set here. I won some ITDK digis last week (thank you, Kris!) and fell in love with the hummingbirds!  I am on a hummingbird kick after watching these tiny birds at our feeders this summer. Such an inspiration they have been for me!

I die-cut the image with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles. You've probably noticed I use these dies on a lot of my cards. Here's a tip:  If the stitched rectangle die isn't the right size for your image, die cut it anyway and then die cut it a second time using partial die-cutting, with just the outside edge of the die, to make the rectangle any size you like, and it's still stitched! 

Here are the other items used on my card. I am happy to say that I used some items that I won recently.  I tend to hoard my crafty stash so I'm trying to get better at using it:

• Dies: Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles, Spellbinders Moroccan Accents, My Creative Time Scalloped Stitched Ovals, Cheery Lynn Ivy Strip, Nellie's Decorative Border (won in candy from Snoopy's Homemade Fun - thank you, Snoopy, I love this die!) 
• Ribbon:  Crinkle Ribbon (won from Karen at Little Scrap Pieces - thank you, Karen, I love your ribbon!)
• Flowers:  Large stitched felt flowers (won from Kerry at The Craft Garden - thank you, Kerry, it was hard to use these beautiful flowers as I wanted to hoard them forever, I love them so much!), two teal flowers from K and Company, and royal blue flower from thrift store - used item.
• Sentiment:  Deedee's Digis Spring Blocks
• Charms: Hummingbird (won in candy from Snoopy's Homemade Fun - thank you, Snoopy, I love this charm!), heart (from my stash)
• Enamel Dots:  MME (won in candy from On a Stampage - thank you, Mynn, I love them!  I am still hoarding most of your candy but I used the enamel dots)
• Ink:  Distress Inks - Seedless Preserves and Spun Sugar (inked around sentiment oval)
• Gems:  Dollarama
• Button:  Thrift store - used item
• Butterfly:  Dollarama
• Patterned paper: Dollarama

Here's a photo of a female ruby-throated hummingbird resting on our clothesline this summer.

My card was also inspired by Scrap it With a Song's Rock Song Beautiful Sunday by Daniel Boone. I have fond memories of this song from my childhood!  I used the sentiment "Have a Beautiful Day" on my card because the words "Beautiful Day" are repeated in the song many times.

I would like to join the following challenges: Artistic Inspirations AG UE; Beccy's Place AG UE; Brown Sugar Buttons and Bows 1/2; Cheery Lynn AG 1E; Cosmic Colours #16 See Colours Below 2/3; Craft Your Passion AG 1/3; Craft-dee BowZ AG with Handmade Bow UE; Crafting by Designs August AG 3/3; Crafting from the Heart AG 2/3 (DT FAVOURITE); Crafty Calendar Bingo (Pink, Gems, Ribbon) 1/3; Crafty Gals Corner AG 2/2; Crafting Musketeers Sketch 1E; Creative Fingers AG 3/3; Creative Inspirations Flowers UE; Creative Ladybirds AG 3/3 (DT FAVOURITE); Crop Stop Linky #7 Spellbinders Dies available at Crop Stop here and Distress Inks available here 2/5; Dies R Us The Great Outdoors 3/3; Di's Digi Designs Ribbon, Lace, Twine, any or all (used ribbon) 1/3; Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper August AG UE; DL.ART August AG UE 1/day; Dragonfly Dreams Wings UE; Emerald Faeries Favourite Colours (Pink/Magenta) 2/3; Fan-Tastic Tuesday AG with Glitter 1/4; Imagine That... digis by Kris Customer Link-up and Win UE; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Jo's Scrap Shack Lazy Days of Summer 1/3; Little Claire's Favourite Colour Combination (Pink/Magenta) 2/3; Little Scrap Pieces Show it Off Saturday 1E; Natalie and Amy's Buttons and Bows 1/3; Not Just Cards August AG UE; Paper Creator's Crafts Dies and/or Punches 3/3; Papertake Weekly To Die For 4/5; Pixie's Snippet Playground Die-cut leaves from snippets 1/3; Scrapbook Blessings Club AG with Twist Glitter 1/3 (TOP 5); Scrappy Moms Stamps Summer Fun (watching hummigbirds) UE; Simon Says Stamp Work-it Wednesday Die Cuts 2/3; Sister Act Cards Only AG UE; Suzy Bee's Bloomin' AG with Border (see border die-cut) UE; Wags n Whiskers Frame it Out 1/2; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 5/5

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a beautiful day!

Peaceful Winter Scene

Hello, everyone!  Today I am sharing a peaceful winter scene card that I made with a gorgeous stamp from Serendipity Stamps that was gifted to me by way of a gift voucher from my sweet friend, Shellie! Thank you, Shellie, I love what I was able to buy with the gift voucher!

The rubber stamp is called Winter Homestead, and I heat-embossed it in gold (Zing Gold - Glitter Finish).  To add snowfall, I used embossing paste and Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow stencil.  The gold border is a peel-off from Crafty Secrets, but I don't believe they sell these any longer. The sentiment is an older wood-mounted rubber stamp from Plaid and I heat-embossed it in the same gold.

It's hard to photograph the sparkle, but this one shows it a bit better:

I was inspired once again by the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches - they are having a 200th sketch celebration:

I was also inspired by these fun challenges:

Serendipity Stamps AG UE

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Use Some Gold UE

Hiding in my Craftroom Any Holiday (Christmas) 1/3

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Happy Birthday Squirrel

Hi, everyone!  I'm back again today - I guess I do have my mojo back!  I have another card to share for the Freshly Made Sketches 200th sketch celebration! Check out their sketch below. This card is for a masculine birthday so I added no embellishments.

The cute squirrel is a cling-mount rubber stamp from Magenta called Party Squirrel and I coloured him with Prismacolor pencils and fussy-cut. I love creating little scenes so I used Lawn Fawn Grass Border with patterned papers from Simple Stores, Colorbok, and Doodlebug. I created the sky by sponging Tumbled Glass Distress Ink using a cloud template from Netty's Cards (thank you, Annette!).  The sentiment stamp is from Avery Elle Cake and Candles clear stamps.

Here's the 200th sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  Head over and join the celebration!

I was also inspired by these fun challenges:

Magenta August AG 1E

Dies R Us The Great Outdoors 2/3

Vintage Stamping AG 3/3

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!