Pearly Sparkles ~ January 2020 ~ Anything Goes

Hi Crafty Friends, Happy New Year!!! Our first challenge of the New Year at Pearly Sparkles is ANYTHING GOES. I love making cards for my relatives and special friends.  I shared a wedding card that I made for a young woman that we've known since she was little.  Today I'm sharing the shower card I made her. Once again, I tried to include the things that were meaningful to her, succulents, Indian lore, outdoors.

All of the dies except the bracket die are from La-La Land Crafts.  I also used two LLLC background stamps to create the patterned papers.  I colored the succulents using Prisma Colored pencils. The design of the card was inspired by a card from Irina Blount for a La-La Land Crafts Make n Take held at our local store, Memories for the Making. I hope you'll start this new year by joining in our Pearly Sparkles crafty challenge.

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge 433 ~ Anything Goes

Hello Crafty Friends, Happy New Year's Eve! It's time to send out the old and ring in the new.  I hope your New Year brings you joy, peace, and happiness. Our final Die Cuttin' Divas challenge is ANYTHING GOES and, sadly, it really is the FINAL challenge.  Our wonderful leader is going to be very busy pursuing an advanced degree in education so it's time to bring DCD to an end.   My card is rather versatile.  It could be a masculine New Year's wish but it is actually a retirement card for a friend of the hubby's.

The papers are from Authentique's Mister set.  The die cut is from Sizzix, one of the Tim Holz collections.  I used adhesive foam between the layers to add a little dimension.

Thank you to all of you for following us at Die Cuttin' Divas.  We look forward to seeing your final challenge projects.

Cut it Up Challenge #190 ~ White on White with a Pop of Color

Hi Crafty Friends,

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. 

Since my sister-in-law passed away I host both Christmas breakfast and dinner.  I've always done breakfast but dinner at our house is a newer tradition.  I try to set a festive table for both meals and it usually reflects my fondness for snowmen and snowflakes.

So, this Cut it Up Challenge - white on white with a pop of color - worked well since I chose the Snowflake Napkin Holder from our sponsor, The Dreaming Tree.

The base of the holder is white card stock.  Then I layered the red glitter snowflake base and added the white snowflake cut out of white linen card stock.  I thought the added gems was the perfect finish especially since I have red snowflake mats with rhinestones on the tips to add to the table.

I think these will be the perfect accessory for our table settings.

I hope you'll join our challenge.  The Dreaming Tree has the most amazing cut files and you could be a lucky winner.  Just follow the Cut it Up link above.

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge 452 ~ Bring in the New Year

Hi Crafty Friends,
Merry Christmas tomorrow!  I hope you have a beautiful day surrounded by love, joy, and good cheer.
The Die Cuttin' Divas are getting ready to bring in the New Year with this challenge.
What better way to celebrate than with a bottle of bubbly and a cute little bottle tag to decorate it,

I used the Wine tag die set from Jaded Blossom along with the Scallop slider die.  The image is from Digital Delights by Louby Loo.  The image mats are Nestabilities.  I colored using Copic Markers.
Just follow the link above to join in our challenge.

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge 451 ~ Holiday Spirit

Hi Crafty Friends,
What can show Holiday Spirit better than a Santa card? Here's my make for the Die Cuttin' Divas Holiday Spirit challenge.

Once again I used a panel from one of the Authentique Christmas stacks.  The die and stamp is one of the new Crafter's Companion stamp and die sets.  I love that the die cut word stays attached to card. This card really didn't need much embellishment.  The graphic and die cut say it all!
I hope you'll share your Holiday Spirit with us.

Cut it Up Challenge #189 ~ Anything Goes for Christmas

Hi Crafty Friends,
Our Cut it Up Challenge #189 is sponsored by Newton's Nook. I purchased an adorable flamingo holiday set and used one of the images for this card.

I think it's so much fun when you're looking for a non-traditional image and color scheme.
The mats were cut using La-La Land Crafts postage stamp dies and the leaves are also LLLC dies.  I colored using Copic Markers and added some enamel dots for accent.  The flamingo footprints also come with the set.
Come on over and share your Christmas projects with us.  You could be the lucky winner of a gift certificate from Newton's Nook.

My Time to Craft Challenge #412 ~ Christmas Flowers

Hi Crafty Friends,
Another Christmas card to share with you today for the My Time to Craft challenge.
I've used La-La Land Crafts pointy flower dies to create the flowers on this card.

I just stacked the 4 different sizes and added a gem to create the flowers.  The leaves are from Jaded Blossom's flowers set.  The papers are Authentique.
Follow the link above to share your Christmas Flowers with us.

Sharing Some AMAZING News!!!

Hi Crafty Friends, If you are a regular follower of my blog or Facebook page then you know how much I LOVE Jaded Blossom stamps and dies.  I have been using them for my card and treat projects for years because I can always find just the right sentiment, the perfect die set, or the cutest image. To say that I am a huge fan wouldn't be an exaggeration! Now a dream has come true.   I am the newest JADED BLOSSOM DESIGNER - woohoo!

My first post as a DT member will be January 1, 2020.  What a great way to start off the new year.   I'll be posting 2 Wednesdays a month along with the Jaded Blossom Challenge (1st Sunday) and the monthly new release and blog hops. I hope you'll make it a point to check out my projects You can find the blog posts HERE. And the amazing Jaded Blossom stamps, dies, and extras can be found HERE.

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #450 ~ Winter is Coming

Hi Crafty Friends,
For Die Cuttin Divas Winter is Coming challenge I used some of my favorite dies from La-La Land Crafts.  It's so easy to build scenes using LLLC dies.

I just love the mercury glass background paper.  It came in a stack I purchased at Hobby Lobby. All of die cuts were cut using the Gemini Jr. using White Linen card stock from Paper Temptress.
Please share your winter cards with us by following the link above.

Just Popping in!

Hi Crafty Friends, I thought I'd drop in to share a tag I made to attach to a hostess gift we're taking to a party this afternoon.  When I need something special, yet quick, my go-to stamps and dies are always Jaded Blossom! Here's my tag ~

I used the new Poinsettia die (small) die set, Mini Tag Dies 2, and Luggage Tag Dies.  Of course I found the perfect stamp in the For The Hostess set.  Everything was cut using my Gemini Jr.  I used an older DCWV stack for the papers. I'm almost ready for Christmas.  The decorating is done, the gifts are purchased, cards are ready to mail.  Now I get to spend time in my crafty space finishing up the handmade gifts.

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge 449 ~ Choose Any Sketch from 2019

Hi Crafty Friends,
Happy December!  Are you almost ready for Christmas?  The countdown is on and I'm sharing the last of my holiday cards over the next few weeks.  They're all finished and ready to mail - woohoo!
For the Die Cuttin Divas sketch challenge we're asking you to use your favorite sketch from our 2019 sketch challenges.  I used the sketch from August.  You'll see it at the bottom of the post.

Authentique papers came out with some great traditional holiday design panels and I've made quite a few cards using them.  I love this red truck.  The mats were cut using Jaded Blossom's card mat die and stitched rectangles.  It's a quick and easy way to make a lot of cards.

I hope you'll join us for this challenge.  

Cut it Up Challenge #188 ~ Tic Tac Toe

Hi Crafty Friends,
We're playing Tic Tac Toe for Cut it Up's challenge this week. You'll find the Tic Tac Toe grid below.
Right now, I'm making Christmas cards every chance I get so it was easy to use my Tic Tac Toe choices to create yet another Christmas card.
I chose 

The hills are a La-La Land Crafts stitched hill border die and so is the flag.  The trees and button were in my stash.  The designer paper is Cozy Plaid by Carta Bella. You can see that I chose the right hand column: button, border or banner, and designer paper.

Come and play along with us. Our challenge sponsor is Stinkin Cute Paper Piecings

My Time to Craft #411 ~ Christmas Scene

Hi Crafty Friends,
Now I'm in Christmas countdown mode.  It's less than a month away!!! Are you ready?
Our My Time to Craft theme for this challenge is Christmas Scenes.
I used a variety of dies and one stencil, all from La-La Land Crafts, to create this 4.5 x 6.5 in card.

The snowy mountains and lake dies are from the October Club kit.  The 3 trees and Santa sleigh are available in the store now along with the stencil.  

I hope you'll join us for this challenge.  Be sure to visit the MTTC blog to see some amazing Christmas scenes for inspiration.

Die Cuttin' Divas challenge 448 ~ 3-2-1

Hi Crafty Friends,
We have a fun, different challenge for you today.  It's 3-2-1 and you get to choose 3, 2, 1, of different items for your project; papers, patterns, colors, embellishments - your choice.
Here's my card.  It's a wedding card with the bride's colors and theme in mind.

To meet the challenge theme I chose 3 Copic colored flowers, 2 die cut feathers, and 1 stamped background. The design of the card was inspired by a card created by Nicolette Marie, a La-La Land Crafts designer.  I used several LLLC products (flowers, background stamp, and leaves.  But, I also used an old Martha Stewart punch around border, the feather die from Crafter's Companion Advent set (yes, I opened it!), and Jaded Blossom stitched and scalloped ovals and sentiment from the Fancy Wedding set.
This was a fun challenge.  I hope you'll play along.  Just link your project to our DT blog, Die Cuttin' Divas.

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #447 ~ Thank You/Thankful/Giving Thanks

Hi Crafty Friends,
We are so thankful for our many followers and participants at Die Cuttin' Divas so we thought this would be a great theme for this challenge.
I decided to make a set of thank you cards to give as a gift.  I have a sweet friend who still loves sending cards and I love making them for her.

I love this new internal scallop die set from Jaded Blossom.  I cut it and the sentiment using my Gemini J. I've had this patterned paper for awhile and I think this is the last piece.  I had enough to make a 6-card set, woohoo!
I hope you'll play along with us this week.  Just follow the link above.

Cut it Up Challenge #187 ~ Celebrate Fall

Hi Crafty Friends,
It's time to Celebrate Fall for Cut It Up's 187th challenge. It was also time to try some stamping techniques in the creation of this card.

Our sponsor, The Cutting Cafe, provided an entire file containing oval and circle shapes with borders.  Although I have lots of metal dies, it's nice being able to use a cut file in order to size the shapes to any size I need. I used the wheat stamp which is included in La-La Land Crafts Simple Joys Background stamp set.  The patterned interior is also from that set.  After cutting out the oval border, I stamped it using LLLC's Wood Planks background stamp then popped it up over the oval base. I hope you'll join us for this challenge.  The Cutting Cafe is providing our challenge winner with her choice of files.  Just follow the Cut it Up link above to play along.

My Time to Craft #410 ~ Christmas Animals

Hi Crafty Friends, We're sharing Christmas Animals for this challenge at My Time to Craft. A year ago I attended a La-La Land Crafts retreat.  We spent 3 days learning and creating some amazing projects.  It was a jammed packed weekend and I'm still finishing projects from the retreat! This cute little Christmas card was one of our class projects.

Doesn't this sweet Hippo with its deer antlers bring a smile to your face?  The Hippo, tiny stamps and sentiment are all from La-La Land Crafts Deck the Halls clear stamp set.  The star circles are LLLC dies.  I filled the shaker with seed beads - a nice change from sequins. I hope you'll share one of your Christmas animals.  Just follow the link above.

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge # 446 ~ Anniversary

Hi Crafty Friends,
I made a CAS anniversary card for our Die Cuttin' Divas challenge this week.

I think is perfect for a long married couple who love to travel.  I've used a border die from Whimsy Stamps and the Card Mat die and one of the word dies from Jaded Blossom.  The stamp is a part of JB's Happy Hello set.
Thanks for stopping in.  I hope you'll play along.  Just follow the link above.

Die Cuttin' Divas #445 ~ Sketch

Hi Crafty Friends,
We're starting a new month so it's time for a Die Cuttin' Divas sketch challenge.
You'll find the inspiration sketch at the bottom of this post.
It's November and my goal is to have enough Christmas cards completed so that can go in the mail early in December.  This is a great goal but one I rarely meet - ugh! Here's one more to add to my collection using our challenge sketch.

Everything on this card is from my scrap stash - papers, die cuts, and bling.  I keep telling myself I really need to keep using what I have on hand; I did, yay me!
Here's the sketch for you to be inspired by - 

I hope you'll play along with us.  Just follow the link above.

Cut it Up Challenge # 186 ~ Thanks, Thankful, Thanksgiving

Hi Crafty Friends,
We're THANKFUL at Cut it Up Challenges and we're hoping you'll share your Thankful projects with us this week.  The team is also using the SMOOSHING techique.  We hope you'll try it.
Our sponsor is Scrappy Dew who provided our files for this challenge.  I chose the Wreath Girl set for my project.

This is a cut file but I chose to upload the jpeg image to my Silhouette software, adjust the size, and then print it out on my Canon Printer.  I used my Scan n Cut2 to cut out the image.  
So, what is SMOOSHING?  It's the technique I used for the background.  You place ink on acetate and then "smoosh" the acetate onto your background paper.  I misplaced my alcohol inks so I used Distress Stains.  They made more of a splat that a smoosh but I rather liked the result so I rolled with it!  I finished off  with some Wink of Stella on her wreath and some twine.
I hope you'll join our challenge this week.  Just follow the link above.
Happy November!!!

My Time to Craft challenge 409 ~ NO Squares or Rectangles

Hi Crafty Friends,
We have a fun one for you this time at My Time to Craft.
For this challenge we're asking for shape card EXCEPT squares or rectangles!
Jaded Blossom to the rescue with their Octagon stitched dies.

I've been wanting to use this Caffeinated Boxer stamp from The Rabbit Hole Designs and I needed a masculine birthday card so here it is.  The inside of the shaker was stamped with Jaded Blossom's Birthday Splatter stamp then heat embossed.  I finally added some seed beads to my stash and I think they look fun inside the shaker.  I colored the image using Copic Markers.
So put your designing cap on and come up with a shaped card to share with us. Just follow the link above.

Pearly Sparkles November Challenge ~ Christmas

Hi Crafty Friends,
Wow, welcome to November and time to really start thinking about Christmas. A Christmas theme at Pearly Sparkles Challenge Blog is appropriate, don't you think?
I attended a retreat last year where we spent 3 days making an assortment of cards, albums, and gift boxes.  It was a busy, busy 3 days and I came home with a lot of ideas and a lot of unfinished projects. One of the projects was a holiday box album.  I had assembled all of the interactive inside pages but never got to the actual decorating.  I decided my project for this month would be a perfect reason to get it completed.  I'm sharing the the cover and a picture of the album-in-the-box so you can get an idea of the total project.  I'm thinking that the way I designed to exterior would also be a good template for some Christmas cards only on a smaller scale.

The box album is 6 x 6.  The die cuts are from La-La Land Crafts (sponsor of the retreat.) All of the patterned papers are from Authentique's Alpine set.  The box album is 1 inch deep .

Here you can see how the pages are built into the box which opens like a book.  Most of the pages have pockets or flaps so lots of room for pictures, journaling, or fun embellishments.
Please join us at Pearly Sparkles.  We can't wait to see one of your Christmas projects.

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #444 ~ Anything Goes!

Hi Crafty Friends,
Well, the nasty cold bug visited our household and the hubs and I have been down for a week - yuck! I know I'm really under the weather when I can't even spend time in my craft room.   I think we're on the mend and I'll have several crafty posts for you this week.
Our 5th Tuesday challenge at Die Cuttin' Divas is always ANYTHING GOES.
This is a birthday card I made for my hubby's great friend who loves fishing. The stamp is from Whimsy Stamps and created by Jennifer Dove (LOVE her!)

I colored the bass using Copic Markers.  The stitched mats are Jaded Blossom dies and the sentiment and flag dies are from La-La Land Crafts.
I'm so happy with the way this turned out.  I colored a second one for another masculine birthday using a slightly different layout.
Please join us for our ANYTHING GOES challenge.  Just follow the link above.