Christmas!

 I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I had a few weeks in November with bronchitis that derailed some time making cards. I did manage to get my Christmas cards list done and mailed out on time. 

Here are a few of them.

The first uses the BYSHC sketch challenge 29.

I used 6x6 paper pad from Hobby Lobby called A Very Merry Christmas and the snowman stamp from the Unity set Stay Warm. (This was part of my prize from the drawing for sketch 25.) I found the Joy stamp in another set by Momenta. I used the wonky stitch oval die by Gina Marie Designs and affixed it to black card stock. I wanted to add some shimmer with some glitter or heat embossing but being under the weather I went with basic.

Another part of the prize from sketch 25 was the background papers I used in these two cards. 

The Greetings of the Season was also part of the prize. I used a snowman from a cut apart 12x12 sheet I bought years ago (probably from Hobby Lobby or Joann). This card used 3 patterned papers.

This last card has two of the papers. The cut apart house from another paper set I affixed to some green card stock. I liked using non traditional Christmas colors for these cards.

I now have a cold during this week between Christmas and New Year so I am hoping for a healthier new year. LOL.  I've also got a big chunk of my birthday cards in the first months of the year so I really need to rally and get these done. Hopefully I'll be better at posting here as I go, too. 

Until next year, 

Mindy

Thanksgiving!

 It's almost Thanksgiving!

After being sick for about a week and a half I finally felt well enough to try to whip out a card. I realized that I needed to put these in the mail on Saturday or risk them not making it across the country in time for Thursday. So rather than spend too much time on design I went with the current sketch (#28) from the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers group on Facebook.

I made 12 of the same card so I used a sheet or two of Paper Studio Painted Pumpkins. I couldn't find the maker of the checkered paper from the scraps I found. I adhered those to some cardstock from Core'dinations Chocolate Lovers. For the sentiment I used black cardstock from The Paper Studio and the wonky stitch oval die from Gina Marie Designs.  I'm not sure where the Grateful stamp is from, I apparently tossed the packaging. To shine it up I used the Stampin' Up! Embossing Kit and Gold Glory.

Since I only made one card design for this year here's a few cards from the past. I don't have the best photos for these or too many details.

This was a shaker card.

This one used some scraps from the pumpkin paper to put in the back of the pickup. The turkey head is from a Stampin' Up! set.

This one opens up in the middle and I had a turkey poking up from the bottom fold.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Guess it's crunch time for getting my Christmas cards done.

Until next time...

Mindy

Magical Adventure 2

It's been a minute, I guess. 

Here's Magical Adventure 2. For these I added some enamel dots and rhinestones.

Happiness Starts Here

Best Day Ever

Magic

Do You Believe In Magic?

 Here's what I used:

white cardstock -the Paper Studio

red cardstock -Recollections

yellow cardstock -Darice

Magical Adventure 2 6x6 paper pad by Echo Park Paper Co.

yellow enamel dots from Pool Party by Echo Park Paper Co.

red enamel dots from Happy Christmas by Carta Bella Paper Co.

rhinestones by Recollections

Momenta cutting templates

wonky stitch rectangle die by Gina Marie Designs

2" circle punch by The Paper Studio

glue runner -adtech

Until next time!

Mindy

Halloween Ghosts

 I'm back! I took a week off from posting because I just wasn't feeling the cards I was making. I went back to them today and finished them up even though they aren't quite what I was wanting them to be. Sometimes they just are what they are and you gotta move on.

I recently found the ghost paper and just loved it!  I think that is why I am so bummed because I don't feel like I turned out a project I like for the paper I love so much. I have another sheet though so I will revisit this paper when I get more inspired.

What I used:

black cardstock (Recollections)

white cardstock (The Paper Studio)

orange cardstock (Over the Rainbow pack by Darice)

black bats on purple 12x12 paper (American Crafts)

white ghosts on black 12x12 paper (American Crafts)

white Trick or Treat on black 12x12 paper (All Seasons Three paper pack by The Paper Studio)

Happy Halloween stamp (Recollections)

black and purple sequins

scallop stitched square die (Gina Marie Designs)

Jet Black ink pad (StazOn)

 glue runner (AdTech)

Until next time,

Mindy

Sunflower Market

 This week I used the Carta Bella 6x6 paper pad Sunflower Market.

            Farm Sweet Farm

Home Sweet Home

Good Day to Have a Good Day

This last card I made to send to my grandma for Grandparent's Day. She has always made me an apple pie when our family would visit her and Grandpa in Kentucky.  

That's it for now. I need to start on some Halloween cards and continue to build my stash of Christmas cards. 

Until next time...

Mindy 

Farmer's Market

It's Farmer's Market here this week!

These cards use the Echo Park Paper 6x6 paper pad Farmer's Market.

The first card is a slimline I made to send to my Dad. He's a big fan of Farmall red tractors. The red frame I cut with the Momenta templates I featured previously.  

This one is a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 card.  I decided not to mat any of the papers and just let the red card base be the only color. I started with the row of jars to go with the main jam jar sentiment. The other paper is mostly a scrap. I needed just a little bit more so I added the blue check.

For this one I decided to cut down the seed packets to individual ones to use just the flower seeds. I felt like this kind of flowed through the life cycle and the little moments from seeds, to green, to flowers. 

That's all for this week.

Until next time, keep creating things that fill you up!

Mindy

BYSHC Sketch Challenge 25

 Hello friends! 

I decided to finally get started on some Christmas cards and use this month's sketch challenge in the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers group. 

Silent Night

Have a Glorious Christmas

Joy

Merry Christmas

Celebrate the Season

What I used:

Echo Park Paper Co. 6x6 pad, The First Noel

Carta Bella 6x6 paper pad, Home For Christmas

Echo Park Paper Co. designer die, Sweet Merry Christmas

Darice dry emboss folder brick pattern

Spellbinders Nestabilities die circle

Gina Marie Design rounded square stitched die

SU! cardstock in Garden Green and Night of Navy

Cardstock in red, white, and black

This was a great sketch to use and may come in handy for some other holidays coming up.

Until next time, keep creating things that fill you up!

Mindy

for the boys

 Hey there friend! 

This week I have a couple of birthday cards for some guys. 

I found this cutting template set at Hobby Lobby last weekend so I thought I'd try it out. It's a set from Momenta with a lot of possibilities. 

Here's a close up of some of the results I used on this card.

It's hard to see on the red but there is an imprint. Maybe I need to run it through the machine twice to see if it comes out more defined. 

My First Car

So for this one I used the Toy Box mega bundle paper pack from Echo Park Paper Co.  This set is reminiscent of Toy Story but the age of 16 may be that in between time of playing with toys and nostalgia. I found this ephemera of My First Car so I thought it would be perfect. 

The papers are double sided so a few of the frames are cut from the same piece of paper and flipped over. The green frame is Garden Green cardstock from SU! (I think).  The sentiment is from a SU! bonus set All About Everything in a Paper Pumpkin kit from April 2016. I stamped it on white cardstock and added some chalk to "age" it a bit. 

My next card is for a birthday at the end of the month.

I used the same die set and the imprint came out pretty good on the sides but the top and bottom are faint. Maybe rotating for the second run through the machine will help. I'll try it next time.

This frame I decided to cut so that I could overlap the other frame. Here is the final card.

Don't Feed the Wildlife

The card base is cream cardstock from Recollections. I also used red and green cardstock scraps for the frames. All of the papers are from the 6x6 paper pack from Carta Bella called Greetings From Summer Camp.

Until next time keep creating things that fill you up!

Mindy

Plants & Flowers

Welcome, friends! The theme this week seems to be plants and flowers. I've got plenty of papers for that and since I haven't been the best at keeping real things alive, papers may have to do for me. LOL We actually got a little rain Friday morning... at least enough to make a puddle. Hopefully that helps a little with soaking the ground. Anyway, on to the cards for this week...
 

Enjoy These Moments

This card was a request for a plant lady. I found these papers in Carta Bella's 6x6 paper pad Gather At Home. I used black cardstock to make a frame for my sentiment. I'm not sure that you can really see it but I used the stitched round square nested die by Gina Marie Designs.  I used a corner rounder on the sentiment to fit it right in. The other three papers are layered on SU! Garden Green cardstock. 

I Must Have Flowers

My cousin's birthday is coming up this week so this card is being sent out to her. She is a great crafter and is making flowers lately. I thought I would use the 6x6 paper pad by Carta Bella Flower Garden for her card. I decided to accent a few of the papers by layering on black cardstock. I rounded the corners of the sentiment to mimic the white inset. 

P.S. I'm still trying to figure out a better way to photograph cards.  I am a work in progress. LOL!

Until next time, keep creating things that fill you up!

Mindy

something quick but cute

 This weekend I have planned a trip to the coast which means the time I would spend crafting for the post will be spent sitting in the sand listening to the ocean waves. #sorrynotsorry

So this week I am showing a couple of quick birthday cards I've sent out in the past months that involve zero stamping. That's right no inking involved!

For this card I used Carta Bella's Home Again Collection Kit. 

On a black base card I started my layering with a blue striped paper. The next layer is a piece cut from the larger 12x12 sheet of different quotes and frames. (It's probably in the ephemera pack.) The banner is a plaid paper I cut to size and pointed. The words are die cut from a scrap of cardstock that matched. The die set is Simply Perfect Mix & Match Sentiments by Spellbinders. 

The next card is another simple card using just paper.

This card uses the 6x6 paper pad Flower Garden by Carta Bella. On a white card base I layered the black background flowers. The next layer is cute windows with flower boxes. And last the top piece I cut to make a swag of drying flowers. Easy peasy.  The words are die cut from the same Spellbinders die set. 

I've been getting these paper packs from Echo Park Paper but you can find them at many online or hometown craft stores. 

Hope these gave you a little inspiration on some quick cards. 

Until next time, keep creating things that fill you up! 

Or get your toes in the sand...that helps too! 

Mindy

silly old bear

 Hey there, friend! Thanks for checking in!

"A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside." 

I didn't quite have enough time last week to squeeze this one in so I am continuing the Winnie the Pooh theme!

The polka dot background is paper from a Carta Bella paper pad called It's A Celebration. I found the cute bees in the paper pad called Flower Garden by Carta Bella. The striped paper is a scrap from probably The Paper Studio like the red stripe I used in last week's card. Winnie the Pooh and the honey pots are from the chipboard set that I've had tucked in a drawer waiting to be used. The only stamped image used is from the Hero Arts set called Friends. 

The second card was inspired by honey pot paper I found at JOANN last week. It's by American Crafts and I just loved the shades of blue and yellow!

 I used an embossing folder (from JOANN) on the background cardstock, which I think is an old color, More Mustard, by Stampin' Up. My order from the latest sale of 6x6 paper pads at Echo Park Paper just arrived this week where I found the bee paper in the Sunflower Market pad and layered it onto black cardstock. I used the Wonky Stitched Oval die by Gina Marie Designs on the honey pot paper. The stamped words are also from the set Friends by Hero Arts.* I used two punches from The Paper Studio and just trimmed them off to not take up as much space. I found some enamel dots from Echo Park paper to add a touch of color in the white space. The two bee friends are from the chipboard set I've been using for these Pooh cards.  It's always fun to incorporate items from different companies and have it all live together in one project. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

*Just a tip when using clear stamps...make sure that you keep it stuck to the original packaging or on your stamping block. It has a tendency to stick to anything that might get set on it and be lost for days until you retrace all the steps you took when you were last using said stamp. 

Oh, bother! LOL

Until next time, keep creating things that fill you up!

Mindy

Winne the Pooh: Social Media Hop

Welcome hoppers!

My first post and my first hop!

What better way to jump into blogging my creations than to share them with great card makers right out of the gate. No pressure, right? I'm going to do my best to not be too critical of my own creations. I find it's best to embrace what you have. A lot of great things can come from what you already own and how you apply what you know. There's always room for learning new things and new techniques and adding to your supplies. (All craft rooms can testify to that, I'm sure.)

So let's get to this Winnie the Pooh Social Media Hop, shall we? I'll admit that the 90's for me included quite a bit of Winnie the Pooh even though I was a teenager and heading to college. I guess that was just what was "in" at the time.  I will also not deny that I have seen most every movie related to Winnie the Pooh.. sometimes nostalgia just takes over. 

Here is my first creation and my first time using a digi set. 

 

Since Winnie the Pooh sends my mind back in time I decided for this first card to imitate an old instant photo. The base of the card is 4.25 by 5.5.  I used an image from the digi set Together We Have It All from Polka Dot Orchard and colored it in with some pencils I had on hand. The die is from the Nested-Scallop Stitched Square Dies by Gina Marie Designs.  The stamped words are from two different stamp sets I received as gifts: "FRIENDS" is from a set by Hero Arts and "through thick and thin" is part of BFF (wit and wisdom) by Unity. The bees are cut from a sheet of Playful Bees paper from The Paper Studio. The background paper is a scrap from a paper stack called Ninth Street by The Paper Studio.

My second card uses the digi set Hundred Aker Woods from Polka Dot Orchard. 

I printed the map on cream cardstock and then colored portions of it with pencils.  Then I tore the top and bottom to give me just a portion of the map and adhered it to torn black cardstock. The sentiment is from the same set that I cut to leave a border. The striped paper is open stock from The Paper Studio I think called Tiny Stripes. Pooh and Piglet are chipboard from a set I've had for a few years but I threw away the packaging while organizing.  This card was pretty quick mixing some old with some new. 

Be sure to stop by again next week. I've got another couple Winnie the Pooh cards to show you. (I just found a cute paper to try but it's too late to get it into this post.) It's going to be my goal to share a creation once a week so I hope you'll join me!

Thanks for hopping over from Cindy!

Your next stop on the Hop is Nedra.

To start at the beginning head over to our hostess Crystal.

This is social media wide so be sure to follow all the way through as we hop from blogs, to YouTube, to Facebook, and Instagram (check out #winniethepoohhop). If you get lost head back to the beginning.

Until next time, keep creating things that fill you up!

Mindy