Feelin' Thankful at Pile It On & Card Cupids

Howdy! Today begins a new challenge at Pile It On: Let's be Thankful.

I also want to remind you that the current "Happy Fall Ya'll" challenge at Card Cupids is running through November 14th. I hope you'll join the challenge and send in a card (it doesn't have to be the card you enter in the challenge). This challenge is sponsored by Fresh Brewed Designs, and I used her Pilgrim & Indian digi stamp to create this funky Thanksgiving card:
 

This is very much a "recycled" card; Yes, that's actual tin foil on the back. I printed the image randomly onto a piece of cardboard; actually, it's the box from a frozen lasagna, which I sanded down to reveal just the pretty colors. Man, my little HP printer really puts up with a lot! I frayed the burlap, and added some "leaves" cut from a can using a Sizzix die. The bottle cap is store-bought, and I fit the sentiment inside. The sentiment is from TLC Creations, and just for kicks I embossed that with a woodgrain pattern (embossing plate from a•muse studio). I had so much fun making this!


I'm entering this into the following challenges:
Aud Sentiments - give thanks
Card Makin' Mamas - Thanksgiving/Thank You
DL.ART Thankful Thursday Challenge - Thanksgiving
Eureka Stamps - thanksgiving
LEJ Designs #28 - Use Die Cuts Or Punches
Scrap Creations - Use a digi
The House that Stamps Built - giving thanks

Hope you'll join us at Pile It On and Card Cupids. Also, the theme this week at One Stitch at a Time is "With Thanks," so you might want to join us over there too!

Thank you for visiting,

Roman Bath & American Ink

So I had a little "retail therapy" at JoAnn's yesterday, and bought one of Cuttlebug's gorgeous new embossing folders with matching border folder, the Roman Bath one. I thought it would work nicely to stamp with too, and it is! Well, it's not exactly stamping, you just rub ink on the raised portion and emboss, but I really like the effect.

I just had to try this week's sketch at Annabelle Stamps, it's so interesting. Their DT projects are amazing, but I ended up interpreting the sketch much more literally. Many thanks for the inspiration!

The circle design is a stamp I received in a random pack of unmounted rubber stamps I won in a contest. They are so beautiful. I'm out of foam, so I stamped this very "professionally" by stepping on it! I inked the stamp, put it on a mat and put the whole thing on the floor, put my paper on top, and stepped on it with the ball of my foot. Works every time!


For the inside, I stamped the sentiment with a DO Crafts stamp and used the border embossing plate to emboss the matching design over the sentiment. I then added the top border, one of my favorites from Annabelle Stamps.
 

Inspiration/Challenges:
Annabelle Stamps Challenge - Sketch*
Card Mania - Embossing
Charisma Cardz - Feeling blue
Everybody-Art-Challenge #212 - Embossing

Thank you for visiting,

Superstitions & Traditions

I have a silly personal superstition that I'm lucky in "#100th" challenges, beginning with my wins for SPCC #100 and Raise the Bar #100, but in reality my wins-losses are more like 2-6. Still, a superstition's really all about the ritual (I wouldn't still be entering challenges if I only cared about prizes!), so I do like to participate in "100th" challenges if possible. In that spirit, I couldn't pass up Sketch N Stash #100, where we get to pick any of their past sketches. They're all great, so I had my husband pick a number at random, and he chose #17.

Part of the Sketch N Stash Challenge is to "your newest or neglected stash" and everything on this is long neglected, except for the green tulle, which I just got from Mom. Oh, and the white embossed background; I made that on Monday while over at a crafty friends' house. I've had the ribbon & foam snowflakes in my stash for several years, and the image, star, and backing paper are actually from last Christmas...I really thought that I had finished that card, but much to my surprise I found the pieces in my Christmas Crafts stash. Better late than never, I suppose!

I distressed the edges with some plain red ink. I colored the Stampin' UP! image (stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black) with Copics, and I cut the star on my Cricut (I did it so long ago that I can't remember what cartridge/file I used) and add the border with a fine black pen. I do remember that I sprayed the star with a Tattered Angels glimmer mist. I machine-stitched around the patterned paper with sparkly thread, and added the "ho ho ho" ribbon as my sentiment. The small snowflakes already were covered in glitter, so I added some Stickles to the large, plain snowflake. I'm really happy with this card, even if it did take a year to make!

Inspiration/Challenges:
Loves Rubber Stamps #25: Anything Goes
Ooh La La Creations: Christmas
Sketch N Stash #100: Free Choice + your newest or neglected stash 
It's All About the Vintage: Snow
Sweet Stamps #90: Christmas

Thank you for visiting,

Happy Holidays Tulle You

I got together with my local crafting friends again, and we pooled our resources to make some fun Christmas cards for our stashes.

Now, I have a relatively large Christmas stash, but it's mostly papers & embellishments from Christmases past; my head almost exploded when I saw one of the crafters' stashes! Man, she got some super deals on embossing plates, dies & stamps last year, and  I had lots of fun trying some new things. Now I really want this Poinsettia stamp/die set from Spellbinders. The embossed background and sentiment stamp are also courtesy of her stash. I had brought some green tulle with me, so I made this card while I was there. The die set comes with a center for the flower, but I decided to add some liquid pearls instead.

I came home from crafting with lots of ideas! And a really long shopping wish-list!

Thank you for visiting,

Anything Goes! at OSAAT

Today begins another fun challenge at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT): Anything Goes!
I used Beautiful Nature by My Heart Pieces to make this simple holiday card:

I printed this out on thick white cardstock, colored it with Copics, and then used a Sizzix embossing folder & embossing diffuser to make the frame. 

The chipboard sentiment was free with a magazine, and I edged it with a bronze Sharpie and added a little ribbon. The card is backed with a shiny brown paper (Recollections), and I finished the corners with some paper Candi. Oh, and I used my scallop scissors on the card corners.

We don't always choose our own DT images at OSAAT, but sometimes we get to choose for ourselves and teammates. It's fun to see several different takes with the same image. This week I got to chose for myself & my teamie Crafting Vicky; do check out her gorgeous card for this challenge on her blog!

Inspiration/Challenges:

• Cards by Lady Anne / Friday is Sentiment Challenge: Anything Goes
• Challenges 4 Everybody: Always Anything Goes
• It's All About the Vintage: Make your own background
• LEJ Designs Challenge #27: Anything Goes
• Mema's Crafts November Challenge #1: Anything goes (winter/holiday optional)
• One Crazy Stamper: Anything Goes
• Oozak: Winter Vibes
• Really Reasonable Ribbon: Winter Holiday & ribbon (I know I didn't use a ton of ribbon, but I feel like it really makes the card)

Hope you'll join the "Anything Goes" challenge at One Stitch at a Time this week (and be sure to check out my teamies' fabulous projects!) For entries using a StitchyBear Store product (be sure to add a # after your name when entering), the prize is a selection of die cuts from Crimson Cloud. You're welcome to enter the challenge using different products, but instead you'll be entered into the draw to win a $3 coupon to StitchyBear Digi Stamps. Can't wait to see your projects! 
 

Thank you for visiting & I truly appreciate your comments,