Happy Purr-thday

 

I needed a birthday card, so I checked the Seize the Birthday Challenge.  The topping theme is Funny/Pun-ny, or if you that is not your style, Anything Birthday Goes.  I don't typically buy stamps with puns, but as a proud crazy cat lady, I do have a considerable inventory of cat stamps and some of them have puns like "pawsome" or "purrfect."  That meant I would be making a cat card (surprise!) and entering it in the Show Us Your Pussycats Challenge.  I selected a sentiment from the Black Cat Love set from Impression Obsession.  I also have a number of cat dies, so I checked the Die Cut Divas and they are looking for white on white with a splash of color which is one of my favorite styles.  I have several dies that cut windows which either include a cat or can have a cat added to them.  I could cut one out in white and back it with part of a colored background to show through.  That would make a clean and simple card which I could enter in the Simply Clean and Simple challenge.  So which die should I use?  I checked Time Out Challenges which is currently a pick two.  The choices are monochrome, geometric, floral, stitching (real or faux), birthday, and CAS.  I had birthday and CAS covered, but what if I used squares in my layout and put little cats cut using one of my favorite cat dies simply called Cat Set from Impression Obsession in them?  That would add a geometric element to my card.  Okay, cats in boxes it would be!  I had my concept, time to get to work.

I cut nine squares from 110 lb white card stock using Essential Squares from Ellen Hutson to get frames which I stacked to make three "boxes."  I used the same die to cut three from a background from my stash which I had painted with Lindy's Magicals using a mixture of Hydrangea Blue and a touch of Sweet Velvet Purple from the Victorian Bouquet set.  That gave me three blue frames to use on another project and three blue squares that fit perfectly in the white frames.  I arranged the frames, placing shims under the outer corners of the middle square to keep it level.  I had stacked three die cuts for each frame to provide ledges for cats to sit or stand on, so I picked three of the six that the die cuts and settled them in their boxes.  I stamped the word "Meow" for a greeting on the front.  Inside I stamped a birthday pun and framed it with two cats cut from the blue background.  I now have a birthday card ready for one of the many feline aficionados in my life.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Fall Leaves in Shades of Orange

It is getting to be fall here.  The heat has broken but don't put away your summer clothes.  You dress in layers because it can be chilly in the morning but much warmer by lunchtime making you regret wearing that heavy sweater you left the house in.  The leaves on a few trees are just starting to turn and folks are putting up Halloween decorations.  The theme for the Sisterhood of Crafters challenge is fall, the Cut It Up challenge wants to see embellishments, and the AAA Birthday challenge wants to see Ombre shades.  I am also playing the Seize the Birthday. A Place to Start, and Die Cut Divas anything goes games.  I should mention that the optional twist for A Place to Start is Pumpkins which are a fall theme, but I am not playing that option.  

I started by using the Simon Says Stamp Vine Background die and copper foil paper to cut an outline of leaves and glued it to a panel of Vanilla card stock.  Next I put a few dabs of red and yellow acrylic paint on different ends of my gel press and brayed the paint with the goal of creating a blend of color from yellow orange to red orange and then lifted the print on heavy weight printer paper.  I used the same Simon Says Stamp die to cut the print and used the leaf pieces to fill in the outline.  I used dies from Gina K Designs' Lace Flowers set first to cut three "birthdays," one in copper foil and two in white cardstock which I stacked and then the shadow from dark green cardstock.  I stamped the happy belated sentiment from the same set and embossed it in copper.  I glued everything on a dark green panel and glued that to a Vanilla card base. I finished the card off with some green sparkles.

The thing about the Vine Background die is that you end up with a lot of extra pieces.  I had an orange background, a copper background, an orange outline, and of course, some copper leaves left, so I made another card:

 

 

I will figure out what to do with the rest of the pieces later.  In the meantime why don't y'all go by the challenges above to check out the other entries and perhaps be inspired to enter yourself.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

A Simple Quick(ish) Christmas Card

 

'Tis the season for stepping up my Christmas card making.  To make it easier I have an 8 x 14 lucite bin that I store all my Christmas themed dies, embossing folders, stencils, and leftover die cuts.  I keep the stamps separately "filed" in a drawer by theme such as sentiments, snowflakes, trees, religious, etc.    Because snowflakes are my favorite design element, I get out all my snowflake dies early in the year and cut multiples of each and keep them sorted in clear "flip flop" pockets.  If I need a quick Christmas card I can get out a card base, pick a background from my stash or a trimming from one, add a large snowflake or several small ones, a leftover sentiment or quickly stamp one, add a sparkle in the center of the snowflakes and I have a card.  If I have time I can add a few more touches like an extra layer or embossing.  

Towards the end of summer I go through my other stencils, embossing folders, and dies and add any that might be useful to my Christmas bin to have handy,  Let's face it.  Most of the cards I will be making for the next few months will be holiday cards.  Last week when I was looking through my embossing folders I found a Sizzix 3D Impresslits Snowflake folder by Tim Holtz hiding in the back which was easy for it to do given that it's only @ 3 x 4.5 inches.  It cuts and embosses a 2.75 and 1.75 inch snowflake in one step.  Talk about a time saver!  I bought it as part of the 2021 release and forgot all about it.  It has now lost it's status as a NBUS (Never Been Used Stuff).  I used it and the sketch below from CAS Colours and Sketches for the Alphabet K for Keep it Simple Challenge.

I followed the "add a few more touches" version of my quick(ish) formula.  I picked a strip left over after trimming a background I made, I don't know how long ago, and swiped the edges with ColorBox silver metallic pigment ink.  I put a small scrap of silver foil into the newly rediscovered embossing folder, ran it through my die cut machine and had a 3D snowflake to use now and a small one for my stash.  I looked through my snowflake stash and selected one cut using the retired Beautiful Blizzard die from Stampin' Up to layer on the silver one and finished my focal point with a sparkle.  I cut a 4 x 5.25 piece of white to add a layer for interest and heat embossed a sentiment from Close to My Heart's Snow Flurries set in silver.  All that was left to do is attach everything to the card base and stamp a sentiment inside.  In less than half an hour I had a card.

I also plan to enter this in the NBUS, Jingle Belles Cardstock Christmas (no patterned paper), Can You Handle the Pressure Anything  Goes Using an Embossing Folder, and Peace on Earth Anything Christmas Goes Challenges.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

A Crazy Cat Lady Can Use Any Cat Die or Stamp on a Christmas Card

 

Every January I promise myself I will play the Christmas challenge blogs and make at least one  Christmas card a week to avoid the December card making blitz, so that maybe, just maybe, I can actually get them sent out before Christmas.  Alas, I always get distracted with making birthday, sympathy, encouragement, thank you, friendship, and you name it cards.  Seeing the Christmas in July theme on the Cut It Up and CAS on Friday challenges gave me the kick I needed to get started.  I checked the ABC Christmas challenge for this month and saw one of the letters is "N" for "non-Christmas stash."  As a proud crazy cat lady I can work a cat into any kind of card.  I still had the Cat Collage die from Poppy Stamps out after making this birthday card for my brother, so why not use it for a Christmas card?  The Peace on Earth Christmas challenge has a lovely mood board, so I went through my background stash and found one to pick up the blues.

When I am playing with ink or a technique, I will make lots of backgrounds and figure out what to do with them later.   This means I don't always remember exactly what I did on a particular one when I get around to using it.   On this one I ink smooshed with, I think, Dylusions Balmy Night shimmer and Tim Holtz Winter Frost mica sprays.  It is bluer than it looks in the photo.  I cut a piece of it slightly larger than the square I cut the cat from and, to pick up the silver in the above photo, swiped the edges with silver metallic ink from Color Box.  I cut the star from gold foil using a die from Memory Box.  I used gold embossing powder and a sentiment from the Stampin' Up set, Star of Light, on the front and a sentiment from Close to My Heart inside.  It says "A silent night, a star above, a blessed gift of hope and love."  Now I have one Christmas card for 2025!

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Birthday Glimmer Kitty

 

"Tis the season for birthdays!  Between family and friends I need quite a few this month.  I made this one for my brother, a crazy cat dad who likes to garden, following this sketch from Just Add Ink.

When I sit down to play with inks I will make a mess of backgrounds and figure out what to do with them later.  Sometimes I only use part of one and keep the leftover scrap for something else.  The background behind the cat was from a leftover bit made by smooshing Hero Arts Glimmer Inks in red, copper, and bronze on watercolor paper.  As you can see by the second image they really do shine when you tip them to the light!  The cat was cut using the Cat Collage die from Poppy Stamps and the vegetation with a die from Altenew's Leaf Mix die set.  I gilded the edges by holding the paper vertically and pressing the edges into a versamark pad and then gold embossing powder.  I stamped the sentiment with one from the So Many Sentiments set by Gina K Designs and embossed it as well.

I am also entering this in the Critter Crazy Special Birthday Bash Milestone challenge celebrating their 100th challenge and the Show Us Your Pussycats anything goes challenge.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi and 

Red Violet Scraps and Silk Flowers

 

I live in the City of Richmond, Virginia.  A childhood friend lives Gloucester which, being rural, is somewhat lacking in retail opportunities.  Sometimes when we meet for lunch, instead of meeting somewhere halfway, she comes up here for a Hobby Lobby fix.  Now I buy pretty much all my crafting supplies online, so I am just along for the ride and company while she shops.  Or at least that's what I tell myself.  Let's just say I walked out with four packages of silk flowers from The Paper Studio and a few other goodies.  I suspect I am not the only one with an enabling crafty friend or two.  

For my first ever card with silk flowers I decided to use the Freshly Made Sketch below to make a card for the {PIN}spiratioinal Flower challenge and a new challenge, the Beautiful Blossoms Floral challenge.  Beautiful Blossoms is a monthly challenge that starts on the 15th of each month and ends on the 12th of the following month.  All entries must have a floral focal point even if the optional mood board does not feature flowers.

In my continuing effort to use my scraps I picked out trimmings that were mostly shades of red violet and glued them diagonally on a piece of printer paper.  After I trimmed the ends I edged the border with Dusty Concord Distress Oxide ink.  

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Using My Green Scraps

 

I love to experiment with different techniques to make backgrounds which means I often have small pieces and trimmings left after cutting them down to card size or to fit behind a die cut window.   My bin was overflowing, so I pulled out the strips and sorted them by color family with the goal of using them on cards.  The Colorful Options Challenge color of the month is green so those are the ones I used to make this card following the current sketch from the CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge blog.

I glued the strips at an angle on a piece of printer paper and trimmed off the edges.  I used the last larger piece of the background I used for yesterday's card to back a window cut using Poppy Stamps' Cat Collage die and gilded the edges with gold embossing powder.  Because the strips were mostly watercolor paper which is pretty thick, I glued a bit of watercolor paper behind the upper half of the window panel to bring it up to the same level as the bottom.   The sentiment is from the So Many Sentiments set by Gina K Designs. 

I also plan to enter this in the Cut It Up CAS and Show Us Your Pussy Cats Furry Thing Goes challenges.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

The Season to Sparkle

 

The sketch below from Freshly Made Sketches was the perfect one on which to test drive my new Penny Black die, Christmas Elegance.  It which cuts openings in the paper, so the design is formed by negative space.

I planned to use the technique I used on this card where you put wadded up plastic wrap on thickly applied watercolor, press it down and let it dry for a while.  I must not have applied enough watercolor because it did not end up with the cool texture I was looking for, so I went on to plan B.  I used the Crafters Workshop Lush Petals stencil with Rustic Wilderness and Pine Needles Distress Oxide Inks to put a pattern on the top half of the page, turned the stencil around, and repeated the process on the bottom half , so the petals would fan out towards both ends.  I repeated the process using ColorBox Gold Metallic ink after moving the stencil a little up and over to get a shadow effect.  I then masked off the ends that would show and applied some more Pine Needles in the middle and rubbed the excess gold ink off in spots so the color would show better through the tree openings cut into heavy white cardstock.  I gold embossed a sentiment from an old Close to My Heart set, Holiday Wishes.  I then pressed the edges of the inked, die cut, and sentiment pieces perpendicularly into a Versamark pad and then into gold embossing powder and melted it to gild all the edges.  I attached everything to a white card base and popped up the sentiment with foam tape.  I finished it off with bitty sparkles that  I had colored with an alcohol marker.

Here is the inside:

The sentiment is part of the same stamp set and the stars part of Stampin' Up's Star of Light set.  The gold embossing does not show up well in the photo.  I also plan on entering this card in a brand new challenge, the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge.  It is an anything Christmas goes challenge with a mood board for inspiration if you would like some. 

This is an unusual card for me becuase I don't often used traditional Christmas colors.  Thank you for stopping by, Until next time, Hansi