ALPHABET CHALLENGE - F is for FESTIVITIES

 Hi friends!

So excited to announce that I have joined THE ALPHABET CHALLENGE Design Team, and will be bringing a fresh new sample card just for the Challenge here every other week! Woohoo - I hope I get to inspire you to get paper-crafty on the regular. 

The current challenge is the letter F for FESTIVITIES - Christmas in July, Birthdays, Weddings, any festivity you know or worship in July, and you have two weeks to play along!

I’ve chosen to highlight the various Strawberry Festivals we have in these parts. It’s a big deal - rides, parades, all things delicious a person could make, and consume, with strawberries! Our winters can feel long so we max out on every available summer activity. 

I’m also playing along with the following Challenges: 

ELLIEBELLE’S GARDEN PARTY  Challenge #17 - 

Anything in or from a garden (ends 8/10)

WE LOVE STAMPING July Challenge - Summertime (ends 7/29)

WORD ART WEDNESDAY Challenge - Anything Goes #760-761 (ends 7/22)

I started by making a wood “crate” which I proceeded to mostly cover up 😂 I grabbed some kraft card stock and dry embossed it with a wood grain folder, then lightly ran a white pigment ink pad over the raised side, and then the same with a brown ink pad. This panel was cut and pasted in strips as shown. 

All the element outlines were stamped in a dark brown ink to coordinate with the crate colors. The strawberries were coated in the gloss medium and when that had dried I added some dots with the white gel pen. Flower petals were brushed with a Wink of Stella pen for a very subtle sparkle. Lots of fussy cutting and hand-cramping going on here!

The white panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle, and this was mounted over a piece of brown and white petite ginghamy patterned paper. The crate was mounted on foam strips, and some of the images are mounted on tiny foam dots for extra dimension. Celebrate sentiment was die cut twice and stacked. 

SUPPLIES

all stamps - Stampin’ Up! Sweet Strawberry set

Celebrate die - Spellbinders Wild Hello Card Kit #KOM-JUN21

stitched rectangle border die - My Favorite Things Wonky Stitched Rectangles #MFT-0839

wood grain embossing folder - The Paper Studio

brown gingham paper - Recollections pad

gloss medium

white gel pen

Wink of Stella pen

matte gold sequins

assorted ink pads

colored pencils

white pigment ink 

metallic coated cardstock in gold

Thanks for stopping in today, I can’t wait to see what you make!

SELFIE BEAR

 Hi friends!

Playing along with this FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES Challenge

(ends 7/13)

and this CRAFT ROCKET Challenge #138 Animals

 (ends 7/31)

Well I just love Donna’s Polaroid theme! Unlimited possibilities, but you know I’m going to pick a sassy animal every chance I get 😂

 

THE PROCESS

Starting out: I built my little bear using kraft card stock and a couple patterned papers. He got a bit of flush on his cheeks using a mini blending brush and pink Distress ink. The phone was die cut from silver card stock, and lined with irredescent vellum. The frame was cut using a couple basic rectangle dies. I lightly blended some blue behind where his head would be.  Red stars were punched out and affixed as shown. 

Next: I needed to computer print the sentiment I had in mind, and I mounted that on some heavyweight card stock, and then to the frame

Finishing up:. The frame was foam mounted, and also the bear and phone. I actually couldn’t find a star embossing folder so apparently I don’t own one 😂 In lieu off, I punched out some larger stars and glued them down randomly. 

*TIP of the DAY*

You can use nearly any die or punch to create the look of an embossing folder. Just cut out shapes matching your background paper, and glue down tightly!

THE SUPPLIES

bear dies - Dress My Craft Cute Teddy Bear #DMCD5742

phone dies - Miniature Mobiles #DMCD7205

rectangle dies - Spellbinders Nestabilities

star punches - assorted from stash

blending brushes

random patterned paper

assorted colored card stock

silver metallic cardstock

iridescent vellum 

Thanks for stopping in today!

CHILL POPSICLES

Hi friends!

Playing along with this FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES Challenge

(ends 7/6)

Happy to finally get this set out and use it! When I make a purchase I like to write out a little Post It to include in the storage envelope stating the price, location and date purchased. I find it incredible this could’ve been from a 2023 purchase - what?!! Maybe I wrote the date wrong 😂

 

And so I’m also playing along with the July NBUS Never Before Used Schtuff Challenge, where Darnell has graciously arranged for some fabulous prizes! 

Check the NBUS blog for rules and such. 

These popsicles didn’t come with indentations so I just cut some thin strips, rounded the corners slightly, and covered them with gel medium after I had pasted them down. I used a scissor to take a bite out of the orange one for interest, and added the white gel pen to the corners for an illusion of dimension. I used a little brown ink and a blender brush to get some shadowing on the sticks, and added some white gel pen to the tips. I backed both popsicles with some heavyweight scrap card and then put the orange one on foam tape as well.

I used the scalloped circle to suggest a modern paper doily by using a Crop-a-dile to punch holes around the edges as shown. The sentiment is triple mounted for some dimension.

SUPPLIES

sentiment stamp and die, and popsicle dies - Spellbinders Have a Chill Summer

 #CSOM-JUL22 & #CDOM-JUL22 

plain circle dies - Crafter’s Companion Gemini Elements

scalloped circle die - Spellbinders Scallop Journal Cards #S4-1438

gloss medium

white gel pen

brown ink

Thanks for stopping in today!

SUNRISE WILDFLOWERS

Hi friends!

Playing along with this MAKE MY MONDAY CHALLENGE

#291 Blend 2 or 3 Colors (ends 7/11)

I was inspired by the flower theme Billie and Caz had going, and the arch used by Dawn. I’ve always loved this image because of the variation in petals - delicate and airy to solid - and it seemed perfect in white. 

TECHNIQUES

I blended three Distress Oxide inks, then spritzed lightly with the distress spray (it really only shows up well in the yellow area). I coated the panel thoroughly with anti-static powder because I was too impatient to wait for appropriate drying time, then heat embossed the flowers in Versamark and white embossing powder. To help tie in the brown elements, and provide a sense of perspective, I stamped dots in SU Crumb Cake at the base, and dotted the area with a brown fine tip marker and a white gel pen. 

*TIPS*

Sometimes an embossed panel will look better, and lay flatter, when flipped to the reverse side. 

The only way to tie a perfect bow for a length of twine is all by itself, and then glue it on 😂

SUPPLIES

wildflower stamp - Stampendous Agapanthus Cluster #P107

 random dots stamp -unmarked, from a set of older wood mounted

arched die - SpellbindersArch Labels and Tags #S5-624

hello die - Spellbinders Simon Hurley Foliage Hello #S2-382

embossing folder - Spellbinders Sun Rays #SES-021

twine

white gel pen

Distress Oxide inks & spray

SU Crumb Cake ink pad & darker brown marker

white embossing powder

Thanks for stopping in today!

BIRTHDAY CHICKENS

 Hi friends!

Playing along with this ALPHABET CHALLENGE

D for Double (ends 6/25)

A newly acquired, pre-owned die consisting of chicken wire and wood frame in one inspired this little farm scene. I die cut the piece in brown and used darker brown ink to provide some low lights to the knotty wood frame, then trimmed the wire portion out using an Exacto knife. I ran the frame die through again using silver card stock and mounted it behind the brown frame so that the silver wire shows in the open area. 

The chickens and quips are from a fun older Stampin’ Up! set I’ve always loved but never actually used. The background is just blue and green inks blended onto the white card front. 

SUPPLIES

  chickens, egg and small sentiment stamps - Stampin’ Up! Hey, Chick Sale-a-bration set

frame with wire die - Dies…To Die For Chicken Wire and Wood Background #TDF269

quote bubble dies - Picket Fence Word Bubbles #PFSD144

happy birthday die - Memory Box Happy Birthday Chic Script #94871

silver card stock

alcohol markers

Thanks for stopping in today!

GOOD LIFE DUCKS

 Hi friends!

Playing along with this ALPHABET CHALLENGE

D for Double

(ends 6/25)

These two just make me happy - love how ridiculously over-sized they are for their little pool. I resisted the urge to add googly eyes, but just barely! Settled on outlining the pupils with some neutral gray marker. Pond was cut from a scrap of handmade faux watercolored paper using Distress ink. Both ducks are foam mounted. 

 

SUPPLIES

duck stamps - CTMH Close to My Heart Makin’ Waves #C1365 clear set

sentiment stamp - Kolette Hall

enjoy word stamp - Fiskars Lea Griffith clear set

pool with border dies - FSJ Pool with a View die set #DI-0549

sunrays stencil - Picket FenceSlim Horizontal Rays of Sun

alcohol markers

white gel pen

mirrored bubble flat back gems

Thanks for stopping in today!