Welcome to my blog!

Thanks for visiting my blog. As the title suggests, I love to scrapbook, stamp, and sing! I will share cards and scrapbook pages I create, as well as information about my music - Barbershop harmony.

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Panda-monium

Hey everyone - I'm back with my third & final card for the current Day of the Month Card Club Challenge - #61 National Panda Day. Wishing them a happy 5th blog birthday too!!


Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White; Recollections Black;
scraps of green; Paper Studio A2 card
Stamps with Dies - Poppystamps Whittle Panda Pickup Kit
Dies - Hero Arts Thorn Tree and Grasses
Other - Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; foam tape; Copics 

I'd used up my panda items so didn't think I'd be entering a 3rd card to DotMCC this time. Then last Tuesday I was checking my blogging friends' posts and spotted Lisa's (My Paper Tales) link to her Poppystamps post. Besides her darling card, she made a treat bag featuring a pickup truck. While the pickup was sweet, I noticed it came in a kit with, you guessed it, PANDAS!! I placed an order right away &, even with our bad weather, it arrived yesterday. Didn't get my mail until after chorus rehearsal last night but, with more snowy & icy weather today, stayed in to work on this card.

Die cut the pandas in white and black & either pieced bits or used a black Copic to color. Die cut a bunch of bamboo stalks and shaded with Copics. Die cut several panels of grass to offset for the bottom. Stamped a sentiment and inked the edges with Black Soot Distress ink. Assembled on an A2 card - done! I'm really happy with how this turned out.

I'll also link to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since my panda kit got first play today.

Thanks for visiting & have a crafty day!!



Monday, March 25, 2024

Betterpressed Butterflies

Happy Monday everyone! Did you get any snow? We got about 8.5" but now it's raining/sleeting - yuck!! Perfect time to stay in and craft (after shoveling, of course)!

It's Anything Goes this week for Darnell's IDEAS project - see her fabulous inspiration today at djkardkreations. Since IDEAS has no B for Betterpress, I'm taking advantage of the Anything Goes theme - lol. April will be here soon and I need 6 birthday cards in just the first 9 days of it! Here's a card for the first birthday coming up on April 4th:


Supplies: Paper - Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain;
Recollections Black; Paper Studio A2 card
Betterpress plates with dies - Spellbinders Butterfly Swirl &
Inks - Spellbinders Betterpress Black & Memento Summer Sky
Other - Crayola pencils; Park Lane gems

I ordered the Betterpress from Spellbinders back in November & have been loving it! I especially love the sentiment sets with everything on one plate plus a matching single die. This butterfly set comes that way for the butterflies, plus it has a separate sentiment with matching die. I bought it at my fave local store, Anchor Paper, who dove right into Betterpress & carries plates from multiple brands.

After pressing the butterflies, I colored them with pencils. Normally I don't like coloring with pencils but I received a beautiful birthday card from Hilary (fiddling about) who'd done her pressed flower image with pencils (she hasn't blogged it yet). Very pretty - thanks again, Hilary! So I decided to try my luck with pencils. Since the butterflies are small, I didn't do much shading.

Next, I die cut the butterfly panel with a stitched rectangle and brushed ink along three edges. Adhered it to a black mat, then an orange A2 card. Added a pressed sentiment with shadow, done with a multiple sentiment plate - love it! Added some rainbow gems among the butterflies - done! I'm adding my card to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since the press plate is newly used.

Then I had the idea to spray a piece of Betterpress paper with some Hero Arts shimmer sprays and, once dry, press the butterflies. These I went ahead and die cut in one pass with the matching die. I'll save them for future but here's how they turned out (I used black ink but it appears brown on the shimmery background):


And why not another Betterpress card? This time I made a Christmas card with a plate I ordered from Spellbinders when they had a sale right before Christmas. First time using it too! The current Christmas Kickstart Challenge is highlighting the color green so what could be better than a bunch of pine trees?! This is my second entry (max of 3).


Supplies: Paper - Park Lane A2 card; 
scrap of red; Betterpress Bisque
Betterpress Plate with Die - Spellbinders Seasons Greetings Evergreens
Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set;
Impression Obsession Cardinals
Betterpress Inks - Leaf & Cosmic Sky
Other - Hero Arts Sparkle Lacquer; R46 Copic; black & white gel pens

Looking at my Betterpress inks, I wanted something more piney than Leaf which is my only green. So, while inking the plate I added a couple layers of Cosmic Sky (medium blue) & then more Leaf - it worked! I did the sentiment with just the Leaf - you can see the difference. I added a line of sparkle lacquer to the base of the pines & then a trio of cardinals which I detailed with gel pens & a Copic.

Thanks for stopping by & have a wonderful day!




Sunday, March 24, 2024

Craft Roulette 207

Hey crafty friends - a couple Diva pals, Arlene (A Bit of This and That) & Dawn (Dawn's World), like to play at Craft Roulette but I hadn't jumped in the pool yet. Spotted Dawn's darling card this morning and headed over to watch Episode 207's video replay. Note - it starts with a slide show of all the submissions from the previous week, then the episode begins. I spotted both Dawn's card and Arlene's card - so fun & a map graphic shows where all the cards came from. They had over 400 submissions (done digitally)! 

So while the host Mary Gunn Funn & her guest Tracey Phillips made their card from the 4 parameters spun on the roulette wheel, I worked on my card. Here's what I came up with using A2, Ice Cream Store colors, Tasty, & Add a banner:


Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio pastel A2 card; Neenah white;
Paper Studio Bright Vintage patterned paper 6x6"
Stamps with Dies - Hero Arts Color Layering Ice Cream &
Lawn Fawn Bannerific (both retired)
Dies - Poppy Stamps Double Stitch Scallop Rectangles (retired)
Inks - Hero Arts Sand Stone, Ultra Pink & Green Apple; 
Altenew Citrus Burst & Cotton Candy;
TH Distress Oxide - Spun Sugar & Cracked Pistachio; &
Taylored Expressions Pineapple; Memento Tuxedo Black
Other - foam tape; Park Lane pink gems


Stamped & die cut three ice cream flavors - lemon, mint and cotton candy & one cone. Die cut a rectangle from a pastel swirly paper and adhered to a pastel A2 card. Die cut a white scalloped rectangle frame and adhered to the card. Popped the cone on with foam tape. Stamped and die cut a Lawn Fawn banner and add a sentiment from the ice cream stamp set (curved on the stamping tool to fit the banner). Added a couple gems (one covers up a boo-boo) - done!

That's it for today! If you're getting snow, hope it's not too bad for you - it started here before 10a & is expected to go til tomorrow at 4a when it'll turn into rain. Yuck!!

Take care & thanks for stopping!

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Panda Hugs

Hey everyone - I'm back with a second card for Day of Month Card Club Challenge 61 using the theme of National Panda Day. They're celebrating their 5th blog birthday too - woo hoo!!


Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White; Hero Arts Pitch Black;
scraps of lime and red; Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain
Stamps - Inkadinkado Asian by Design (retired but found it on eBay HERE)
Stamps with Dies plus transfers - Hero Arts
Betterpress plate w/dies - Spellbinders Merry & Bright Sentiment Strips
Dies - Spellbinders Dancin' Birthday Panda &
A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set
Other - Memento Sky Blue and various Hero Arts green inks

I mentioned when I posted card one for this challenge that I was set on using a fairly new Spellbinders die set but I couldn't find it in the stash. Well, yesterday I was looking for another die set and there was the entire bundle I sought - yay! Such a cute bundle with the monsters and dinasaur too!! The panda was so easy to cut and assemble - you can make the body swing but he's just as adorable without it.

I still had the March 2024 Hero Arts kit on the table so I stamped/die cut a bamboo sprig for Mr. Panda. Die cut an arched label for him and found a Betterpress sentiment from the Christmas batch I did a while back. Next I stamped the Inkadinkado large bamboo three times on a stitched rectangle, changing ink colors and angles each time. Sponged some ink on the edges and added some rub-on Chinese characters. Adhered to an A2 card & added the label with panda - done!

I'll also link to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since my panda got first play today.

Thanks for visiting & have a crafty day!!


 

Friday, March 22, 2024

Birdie Slimline

TGIF everyone!! If you got snow like we did, I hope it's not impairing the start to your weekend!

Yesterday I die cut a bunch of things to assemble while watching some television. I picked a Spellbinders set I've used once before (only 2 years after release - lol) and decided to make something for the Just Us Girls #718  & Time Out #259 collaboration challenge "Birds of a Feather". One linky puts you into both challenges!


Supplies: Paper - Park Lane slimline card; 
Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; 
Recollections black; loads of scraps
Stencils - Taylored Expressions Set the Scene - Clouds Stencil Strips
Dies - Spellbinders Sweet Birds on a Branch & unk slimline layer die;
Stamps - Hero Arts Chirp Stamp & Cut
Inks - Memento Summer Sky & Tuxedo Black

First I created a sky with a TE stencil on a 5.5x8.5 sheet of Neenah, then die cut it with a Spellbinders slimline rectangle layer (the die escaped from its set so I don't know which one it is...). Matted it with black and adhered to a gold slimline card. Die cut the birdies & leaves from a bunch of scraps. Used a kraft envelope as paper to die cut the branches & a leftover piece of black from the mat for the notes. I had found a birdie stamp set to use for this challenge but here I just used one of the sentiments. Assembled and done! This one will go to the chorus friend who broke her leg a few weeks ago.

Since I used a lot of scraps aka snippets, I'll also share at Snippet's Playground #476. Here's a photo of the snippets used on my birdies and leaves:


It's always fun to see the bits of other cards within the snippets! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a crafty weekend!!



Thursday, March 21, 2024

A fun Easter Platform Pop-Up!

Hey everyone - I'm sharing at Die Cut Divas today but am also posting here with a bonus. It's Anything Goes for this month at the Divas - just remember to use a die cut &/or embossing folder.

Here's my platform pop-up card combining new and older supplies 
from our fabulous March sponsor, Lawn Fawn


Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb;
Lawn Fawn Petite Rainbow Plaid & Dotted; Paper Studio green card;
Scraps of pink/yellow/orange
Dies - Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-Up,
Stamps with Dies - Lawn Fawn Hay There, Hayrides!
(coordinating dies HERE),
Carrot 'bout You (coordinating dies HERE),
Carrot 'bout You Banner Add-On (coordinating dies HERE), &
Other - Copic markers, Memento Tuxedo Black ink;
Hero Arts Ultra Pink & Green Apple inks


Lawn Fawn has generously donated a $25 gift card to their online store 
for our random winner. Thanks, Lawn Fawn!

I had loads of fun putting this pop-up card together on Tuesday. I have to admit, it was a long process - what I like to call one of my masterpieces - LOL. Just did simple stamping, coloring and die-cutting, then assembled but it took several hours! Oh, and I masked off the fence and sponged green on the lower part of the wrap-around. The platform was released in 2022 but the fence add-on just came out this spring. Kelly Marie has a great tutorial video on the platform's product page - so easy to assemble!

Here are a couple more views - from top & flattened (fits an A2 envelope):



You can see a Christmas version of the platform pop-up with a different add-on HERE. And if you're still with me, here's a bonus project - a little thanks treat box using Lawn Fawn's Fancy Box set. Very quick & easy to die cut and assemble. I probably could've done a dozen of these in the time it took to make the platform card!



That's it for today. Hope to see you in the March Diva gallery - you have until 9pm Pacific time on 3/31/24 to join us! I'll add my pop-up to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge since the Easter stuff is all new. I'll also join the current Lawn Fawnatics Challenge #169 where the theme is to be inspired by a favorite book, movie or song - my book is Peter Rabbit, of course. My farmer looks a bit happier than the one in the book, though, & that's Peter driving the carrot car!

Thanks for visiting & happy crafting!




Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Wonderful Panda

Welcome back, friends - I finally had time to finish a card for the current Day of Month Card Club Challenge celebrating National Panda Day. It's their 61st challenge and celebration of their 5th blog birthday - congrats!!


Supplies: Paper - Recollections A2 card; Neenah white & black;
scrap of purple Momenta watercolor print; 
Spellbinders Betterpress Porcelain; Tim Holtz Kraft Classic
Stamps with Dies - Hero Arts From the Vault Cute Animals
(dies retired at HA - HERE at Frantic Stamper);
Betterpress plate w/dies - Spellbinders You Are Everything Sentiments
Dies - A Jillian Vance Design Stitched Dot Rectangle Backdrop Set

This card wasn't what I intended when the challenge was announced on March 7th! I was pretty set on using a fairly new Spellbinders die set but I haven't found it in the stash yet. I'm sure it's in a safe place...

Meanwhile, I'd found a sweet little panda stamp in a Hero Arts animal set to use - but with what?? Then on Friday, my March 2024 Hero Arts kit arrived with loads of stamps and dies that would work perfectly with the panda! I die cut a stitched rectangle with the fancy window die in the kit - see the hatched line texture? I ran it through the Platinum 6 with an embossing pad to impress it a bit more that I got from die cutting the window. 

Next I stamped the layered mountains and sun onto a scrap of purple paper. Adhered it to a black layer, then popped the window layer over it with foam tape. Added it to a white A2 card. Then I stamped three bamboo sprigs using 3 different inks & layered them along the left edge of the window. Added a stamped/die cut panda & a Betterpressed sentiment - done!!

I'll look for my panda die set later - need to finish up my Easter cards and get a Diva post ready for Thursday first! Since my MMH kit is newly used, I'll also add my card to Darnell's March NBUS Challenge.

Thanks for visiting & have a crafty day!!