Thanks For All You Do!

This is my card for January's Monthly Challenge for the Creative Card Chicks.  This group is a kind of mystery image swap, where we each get an image and additional items to complete the challenge each month. This is the 8th month of our new round--join me into the middle 2021.

I am the hostess this month and sent everyone this tea cup image from Two Paper Divas, along with some fun patterned paper and embellishments.  I colored the image with my Copic Sketch Markers.  I added a sentiment from one of the Simon Says Stamp Sentiment packs.  I used two of the Stampin' Up Tranquil Textures Designer Series Papers for the background and added strip.  Three ribbons for tags on the side and 3 blue rhinestones were then added for the final touch for this card.

Here is the inside of my card:

The Creative Card Chicks are to post our cards between the 21st and 23rd of each month--so if you check the blogs on my sidebars, you may see more of these wonderful creations!  Many of our members also post their card in our SCS thread--so you might find more there.  Be sure to come back and join us again in February with an image that Vickie sends out.

Image/Sentiment:  Two Paper Divas Tea Cups 2/Simon Says Stamp Sentiment Strip

Cardstock/Patterned Paper:  The Paper Cut Cougar Opaque 100# White; Stampin' Up Early Mint Macaron, Night of Navy, Tranquil Textures Designer Series Paper

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Accessories:  Copic Sketch Markers; Blue Rhinestones; Stampin' Up Night of Navy Stitched Grosgrain, Balmy Blue Satin, Mint Macaron Ribbons

Gift Wrap and Scotch Tape!

Today is the third Wednesday of the month and this is my Ready, Set, Go Challenge Card! The 3 Musketeers--Kelly, Jeanette and me--are back with another challenge for January, our 45th month!  That means we are coming to the end of 4th year--YAY!

Kelly provided the challenge for us this month: Welcome 2021!  Typically in January, it's 'out with the old, in with the new!'  For the RSG challenges, that would be too easy.  This month, we will Ring in the OLD, out with the NEW! I'd like for you to take a scrap or leftover sheet of your Christmas paper - any design you like - and use that as the 'designer paper' for your card. But wait!  When we wrap our gifts, we use tape!  So, your second required element is to use clear scotch tape.  Be creative in the way you use it!  You may use a small stamp/sentiment if you like but let your recycled Christmas paper and scotch tape be the star of this new year's show!

Ready, Set, Go!

Yes, Kelly--this is a challenge for sure.  The Christmas paper was not the challenge part as I actually cut apart a gift bag that was under the tree.  The part that made me think hard and often, was how to use the Scotch Tape!  I first thought about covering a piece of acetate and make a circle background for a stamp or die.  The, I thought about layering strips of tape and using that as "cardstock" to die cut some words.  I needed to find small enough words in my stash to fit the width of the tape stack and I found a set of Momenta Script Words.  So--there are maybe 7-8 layers of tape in each stack and I die cut fun, love and shine!  I put a rhinestone for the dot on the 'i" for shine along with three rhinestones on the bottom of the card--I think that is the only bling needed.  I used a strip of Real Red grosgrain ribbon to cover up the line from the fold in the bag.  I think it is a pretty cool Christmas Card!  Thanks so much for a fun challenge this month Kelly and for allowing-making us to really think outside of the box for our creation!  

Here is the inside of my card, with another strip of the gift bag:

Please be sure to check out the other Ready, Set, Go cards.  Here is a link to Jeanette's and Kelly's blog.  I am sure you will not be disappointed and will see a couple of great cards! I hope Kelly and Jeanette like my card. I am up for the next theme, so be sure to check back to see what we are up to on the 3rd Wednesday in February

Image/Sentiment:  None-other than Momenta Script Word dies

Cardstock/Patterned Paper:  Stampin' Up Real Red, Basic Black;  Gift Bag cut for patterned paper

Ink:  None

Accessories:  Stampin' Up Real Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon; Rhinestones; Scotch Tape!

Big Grumpy Birthday

Today is the 18th and the due date for a Mystery Swap on SCS. This is my card for that swap.  It is a group of us who do a bi-monthly swap where we all use the same mystery image, sent to us by the hostess. This swap was created by Forest Ranger—Jeanette--back in 2010 and we are now in our 62nd round!  Terry is our hostess this month and sent everyone this great image from Taylored Expressions Big Grumpy and Big Grumpy Birthday Sentiment.  She sent everyone a different sentiment and when she will swaps out the cards, we will get back 3 different ones.  Terry will also send everyone the next image, which I get to pick out! We then get to do it all again, for round #32, in March!   

I love this image and used it every month in 2020 for my One + Twelve Challenge!  I colored Big Grumpy with my Copic Sketch Markers.  I then embossed a panel with Stampin' UP's Square Lattice folder and then die cut a circle from the middle with The Ton Couture Cuts Double Stitched Circle.  I layered Big Grumpy under the circle and added a few yellow enamel dots.  

Here is the inside of my card, with a strip of washi tape:

I hope Terry and all of the mystery swappers like my card.  If you check my sidebar on the left, you might see some other swappers who have posted their cards today or in the next few days.

Image/Sentiment:  Taylored Expressions Big Grumpy and Big Grumpy Birthday Sentiments

Cardstock/Patterned Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest 100# Solar White; Stampin' Up Mango Melody, Old Olive, Cajun Craze

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Copic Sketch Markers; Stampin' Up Square Lattice Embossing Folder; The Ton Couture Cuts Double Stitched Circle Dies; Gold Enamel Dots

New Year--New Name

It is a new year and now it is time to show off the card I made for our new group--Classy Card Ladies!  We are still going to post on the 15^th of the every month.  All of us are previous members of the Dueling Darlings and are now into our 11th year of these duels.  And, a few of us are old enough to be members of that first duel in August 2010!  Our new team names are the Pearls and the Diamonds--very Classy names for us!   For our January Challenge, our team leaders, Jeanette and Kelly are the hostesses. Jeanette is a Pearl and Kelly is a Diamond--same as me!   And we are all team Classy Card Ladies!  

The theme for January is Winter Fun!  Kelly sent us a fun filled kit with with great die cut images, sweet patterned paper, fun ribbons and pretty embellishments--I hope I did it justice with the card I made.  I have not made a tag card in a long time and I thought this would be fun to do.

The cute winter images Kelly sent were from the Gerda Steiner Designs Snow Angel stamp and matching die set. There were sweet images of Santa, a reindeer, a bird and the cute snowman that I used.  All of them were making snow angels!  I colored this little cutie with my Copic Sketch Markers and I added a bit of Lawn Prisma glitter to his hat.  I die cut the tag with the included sentiment on the bottom with my Stampin' Up Banner dies along with another banner layer from navy. The background is the pretty patterned paper of snowflakes called Crystal Bleus that Kelly included in the kit. I added a blue glitter snowflake at the top of the tag and a bow with some of the pretty ribbon Kelly sent.  I also used the sweet snowflake gems that were also in out kit.   This was fun card kit to play with--thanks Kelly ❤️! 

Here is the inside of my card:

I hope all of the Classy Card Ladies enjoy my card this month. Please be sure to stop in to see what all of the Diamonds as well the Pearls have created this month.  There are two members who do not have blogs: Suzy who is on the Diamond team and Debby who is a Pearl. You will be able to check out their creations in their SCS gallery, if you click on the link for their name.  All of the others should be found on my left sidebar.  I am sure you will enjoy all of the wonderful creations this month!

Image/Sentiment:  Gerda Steiner Designs Snow Angels Stamp and Die set

Cardstock/Patterned Paper:  White; Stampin' Up Night of Navy, Brocade Blue; Recollections Crystal Winter Blues Patterned Paper

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Copic Sketch Markers; Blue Shimmer Ribbon; Glitter Snowflake and Snowflake Gems; Lawn Fawn Prisma Glitter, Stampin' Up Banner Dies

Sending Smiles Across the Miles

Today is the 12th and it is time for another Hot Mess card.  This is card number 18 and we are well into year #2. The idea of Hot Mess ~ Success started with Kelly and the general theme is to Get Messy and you will have Success!  Messiness can be almost anything that we come up with--glitter, alcohol inks, glimmer glitz, sponged backgrounds, etc., anything that is a bit messy.  We are a group of 6 and we will post a card each month on the 12th.  The links to the other 5 members are on my left side bar and I will also link them at the bottom at this post.

For this month's messiness,  I wanted to use a bottle of Marabu Alcohol Ink Rainbow that has been sitting on my shelf.  I even have two bottles and I don't know where I got them............  I used it along with some Tim Holtz Alcohol inks on Tim Holtz Silver Sparkle Alcohol Ink Cardstock.  I am not sure the Rainbow changed the colors much, but I really like the shimmer from the cardstock.   I die cut the piece I made from Gina Marie Designs Stitched Squares along with a Silver layer.  I then used Simon Says Stamp-CZ Designs Chunky Hello die and shadow to cut the silver word, layered three times and the Gorgeous Grape shadow.  The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Friendship and I embossed with white on black cardstock and used the coordinating die to cut it out.  The background layer was embossed with a Stampin' Up Embossing folder called Subtle Dynamic for a bit of texture.  I did not think any additional bling wass needed as there is lots of sparkle and shimmer on the card.  

Here is the inside of my card, with a strip of the inked paper.

Here are the links to the other members of Hot Mess ~ Success.  Please be sure to check out Jeanette's, Terry's, Kelly's , Carol's and Darlene's blogs. I am sure you will enjoy seeing how everyone got messy and was successful in making some great cards!   We will all continue in  2021, so be sure to check back to see what we are up to on February 12th.  

Image/Sentiment: Taylored Expressions Simple Strips Stamp-Friendship and Matching Die; Simon Says Stamp CZ Designs Chunky Hello Die

Cardstock/Patterned Paper: Tim Holtz Silver Sparkle Alcohol Ink Cardstock; Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grape, Basic Black; The Paper Cut Silver Mirricard

Ink: Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks; Marabu Alcohol Ink Rainbow; Versamark

Accessories:  Stampin' Up White Embossing Powder, Subtle Dynamic Embossing Folder; Gina Marie Designs Stitched Square Dies

Close as a Memory

Today is the 10th and the day we are to post our  Stamp What? challenge with the three collaborators you have seen many times in the past--Kelly, Jeanette and me! We started this in January of 2020, so we are now starting our second year of this fun challenge.  Kelly came up with the challenge to randomly pick a Stampin' Up set and make a card with that set.  Get the dust off of those forgotten Stampin' Up sets! 

I decided when this group challenge started to only use the wooden Stampin' Up stamps that are on my bottom shelves.  So this month, I randomly picked the Close as a Memory set!  This is also an older set as the year 2006 is on the box.  

I  also decided to go old school when inking up the image and pulled out 2 of my very old Stampin' Up write markers!  I am not sure the last time I used any of them and I still have most of the colors.  I used my Brocade Blue marker to color the blooms and a Gumball Green to color the stems and leaves.  I then spritzed water on the stamp before placing on a piece of watercolor cardstock to get a muted, soft look.  I no longer have a Brocade Blue ink pad, so I used the same marker on the sentiment and "huffed" the stamp before placing it on the cardstock.  I really liked the look of the  first card, so I decided to make two more!   I cut two of the panels with a Memory Box Matinee Rectangle Layered die. I embossed the back panel with three different embossing folders and they are listed below.   I added some pearls to the center of the flowers.  

I like the look of my cards this month and I hope you do too.  Be sure to check out Jeanette and Kelly's cards.  I am sure they have some fun cards with those "oldies but goodies" stamp sets by Stampin' Up!  And be sure to check back every month on the 10 to see what we create!

Image/Sentiment: Stampin' Up Close as a Memory

Cardstock/Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up Dapper Denim, Whisper White; Strathmore Watercolor Cardstock

Ink:   Stampin' Up Write Markers-Brocade Blue, Gumball Green

Accessories:  Sizzix Curlique-on card without die cut; Taylored Expression Garden Party-one double layered die cut image; Stampin' Up Finial Press-single layer die cut image; Memory Box Matinee Rectangle Layers Dies; Pearls

Have an Ice Day

It is time for another The Three Musketeers post. We are ready to showcase the card we all created with the fun image that Jeanette sent for January--for Card #77!  That means we are in year #6--can you believe that?  All three of us sure have enjoyed the challenges every month and we hope that it continues for a long time!  Kelly is up for the February challenge so be sure to come back to see what we create!  

For our card this month, Jeanette sent out this sweet image from Sugar Pea Designs  called Have an Ice Day! I think it is so cute and I love the expression on the face of this cute guy!

I colored the image with my Copic Sketch Markers.  I added some Lawn Fawn Prisma Glitter from Lawn Fawn on his hat.  I then die cut the image with Elizabeth Designs Dashing Circles and layered it over another circle cut from a Spellbinders die.  I then die cut the included sentiment with a stitched tag from Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2. I added s strip of silver foil that I embossed with a Sizzix Tim Holtz Embossing Folder called Snow Flurries.  I added some Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine under the sentiment tag and a few silver Drip Dots from Taylor Expressions.  I hope Jeanette and Kelly along with you enjoy my card!

Here is the inside of my card:

Please check out the other Musketeer's cards.  Here is the link to Jeanette's blog along with Kelly's blog.  I am sure you will not be disappointed and will see a couple of great cards!  They may post today or tomorrow, so be sure to check out their blogs for their card!   As I mentioned before, Kelly is up for our February challenge.  Please be sure to join us again.  

Image/Sentiment:  Sugar Pea Designs Have an Ice Day

Cardstock/Patterned Paper:  Accent Opaque 120# White; Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana; Silver Foil; Snowflake Foiled Patterned Paper

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Copic Sketch Markers; Sizzix Tim Holtz Snow Flurries Embossing Folder; Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2; Spellbinders Nestabilities Circle Dies; Elizabeth Craft Designs Dashing Circles Dies; Taylored Expression Silver Drip Dots; Lawn Fawn Prisma Glitter

At Home With Gnomes

I think 2020 and back into 2019 was the year of gnomes.  They were all over the place and especially in the stamping community.  All different kinds of gnomes for many different seasons and holidays.  But, I think some of the best ones are winter gnomes!  My stamping friend Jeanette did a series in 2020 where she made a card every month, using a different gnome image, and posted on her blog.  I loved looking at them whenever she posted those cute non-faces.  So-I asked her if she minded if I "borrowed" her theme for 2021 and she graciously said yes.  So-At Home With Gnomes was created!  Each month I will create a card using one of my many gnome images.  I do not have a set day for the post-but I do plan to make one every single month!

For my first card, I picked one of my winter gnome stamps from Whipper Snapper Designs called Gnome Sled. Isn't this a sweet image.   I colored these guys with my Copic Sketch Markers.  I picked some pretty patterned paper from Simple Stories called Cozy Christmas and used both sides-Red Flurries and Stripes for the background.  Three enamel dots are the final touches!  I think this is a fun card.

Here is the inside of my card:

I am sure I have more than enough gnome images to use a different one each month.  I will be back in February and will show you another gnome, so stay tuned!

Image/Sentiment:  Whipper Snapper Designs Gnome Sled

Cardstock/Patterned Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest 110# Solar White; Stampin' Up Basic Black, Island Indigo; Simple Stories Cozy Christmas Red Flurries/Stripes

Ink:  Hero Arts Intense Black

Accessories:  Enamel Dots;  Copic Sketch Markers

Calm Christmas

This is my January Crafters of Faith card.  This is a great group that my friend Kelly started on SCS.  She hosted for 5 years and now Faith has taken over for year #6. We will continue as we have in the past with each month a new hostess gives us a scripture and challenges us to make a card with that theme.  Lisa is the hostess this month and gave everyone this challenge:

Scripture--Psalm 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 

Challenge--Use this verse to inspire your card or project. 

I love this retired image from Stampin' UP called Calm Christmas.  I love the detail on the dove and especially on the wings.  I inked up the dove and sentiment with Cherry Cobbler and cut out the layer with my Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2.  The scalloped background is Garden Green, cut with My Favorite Things Blueprints 20 and layered on a Garden Green card base. I added three white enamel dots for the final touch.   I really like the look of this card! 

Here is the inside of my card, with another sentiment from the same set:

I hope Lisa and the others from the Crafters of Faith group like my card this month!  We are to post between the 7th of each month, so if you look on my sidebar, you may see other creations.  I know that there will be many posted in the COF thread on SCS too! 

Image/Sentiment:   Stampin' Up Calm Christmas

Cardstock/Patterned Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest 110# Solar White;  Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Ink:  Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler

Accessories:  Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2; My Favorite Things-MFT-Blueprints 20; White Enamel Dots

I Love Snow!

We have had a lot of snow the past week in Wisconsin-like 8 inches one night and another 4 inches two days later.  And--I do love snow.  We have gone snowshoeing both days of the new snow and it sure is a good workout!  And, it is beautiful to be out among the trees full of snow!

I used one of my cute winter stamps from Whipper Snapper Designs called Frappe Snowman.  Isn't he sweet!  I colored him with my Copic Sketch Markers.  I picked some pretty patterned paper from Echo Park Paper for the background and a layer at an angle behind the image.  I added some Lawn Fawn glitter on the image-Prisma on the heart and Chunky on the ground.  Three Gina K Designs Mini Snowflakes along with some bakers twine are the final touches!  I think this is a fun card.

Here is the inside of my card:

I plan to ink up more of my winter images in the next few weeks--stay tuned!

Image/Sentiment:  Whipper Snapper Designs Frappe Snowman

Cardstock/Patterned Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest 110# Solar White; Stampin' Up Cool Caribbean, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso; Echo Park Paper A Perfect Winter-Snowy Stripe

Ink:  Hero Arts Intense Black

Accessories:  Gina K Designs Mini Snowflakes; Lawn Fawn Prisma and Chunky Glitters; Copic Sketch Marker; Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine