Now That Song Is Stuck In My Head...

It's a good thing I'm a Beatles fan. I've got their "birthday" song stuck on my brain, and it keeps going round and round. At least it isn't some random crapola song, lol!! And it's all because of a card I made. It's fun and funky, and looks so cool in real life; the photo just doesn't do it justice!

I was originally inspired by the Inspired By Challenge, where, at first I was beyond stumped. For the second straight day, a rather large PING smacked me, and a card came together. In addition to playing along at Inspired By, for the first time, I am also going to play along at Pixie's Snippets Playground. I'd heard of it, even visited it, but not until today have I played along. Head off to Darnell's blog and read why... After hearing of Di's hard work for all these years, I thought I should pay tribute to a fellow crafter and sweet person, and run headlong into the playground.

So here's my card:

I found this sheet of 12x12 number paper and cut it to fit the front of my card. It's reminiscent of the "score" of a football game. Mostly, I was inspired by the colors and textures over at IB. I found a scrap of kraft, and while rummaging in a drawer the other day, I ran across my ancient paper crimper, and thought it might add the dab of texture I was looking for for this card. First cut with an MFT triangle die, it was then run through the crimper. A teensy snippet of green from the scrap files fit my Studio Calico sentiment perfectly. A trio of silver sequins and all done. So there. Fairly EZPZ. Give your drawers and cupboards a good rummage. See what fun tool or supplies you find! By the Way... Can you guess what it says on the inside? Leave your guess in your comment if you are so inclined to do. Large hint in the first paragraph... As always dear friends...

Snow Day

It's January. I live in Wisconsin. It's supposed to be cold. We're supposed to have snow. So tell me why people are so surprised, and why the meteorologists make such a big deal out of it?? Yes, we're getting a bit more than usual today (6-12"), but it's happened before. And I'm pretty sure it will happen again. Common sense dictates that if you can, stay home. If you must go out, be careful. There. Weather rant done. So let's move on to the card I have for today, shall we?

For a few days I stared at the Less Is More sketch, and knew I wasn't going to come up with a single card. So there I was, working on a different card, pulled out an Avery Elle set, and PING, just like that, I had an idea for a LIM design!! Nothing fancy, but I like it. Looks really nice in real life.

I took a little liberty with the sketch and moved it over to the left:

I found a polka dotted scrap in the files, and while the cardstock looks black, it's really a lovely navy blue. The afore mentioned die is from Avery Elle Mod. And those are EH Letterboard letters. EZPZ. And now I must run. DH is calling. As always...

Are You Back To Normal Yet?

I'm trying to get back in my groove, and since the last vestiges of our Christmas guests are in the dryer, I guess I'm getting there. Later this week, I'm going to start gathering up everything I need to start work on the taxes. Oh joy! DH has me hopping and in between hops, I've had the chance to make a card or two. I'll show you a couple today.

I found a couple of challenges and made a couple of cards. The first card will go play along at The Card Challenge, where I've gone pretty Clean and Layered. The second card heads off to CAS Colours & Sketches.

Here's the first one:

I found a scrap of tiny polka dotted paper in my file drawer to match what's on the table. And then I used a Studio Calico set to make that inner panel. The frame is a NBUS die from Altenew, which I fell in love with, and had to have! The 'beautiful' is from another Altenew set stamped and die cut. Thought about something in the upper right-hand corner of the frame, but nothing looked better than plain, so plain it is! 

And my second:

Thought I'd get ahead a bit on making more masculine cards, rather than scramble at the last minute. I started with another NBUS (yes, I've been bad...just wait though...more orders are either on their way, or patiently waiting me to push that sweet "place order" button!) from N&T. I colored the triangles with a blue Copic. The frame in kraft was cut with an MFT die. And the Uniko sentiment was embossed in white and cut with a PTI flag die. EZPZ. Super fast card. Love it when that happens. Well, I've got a few other things to get done today, and a bit of commenting to do, so will stop for now. You all have a lovely afternoon and evening. See you soon. And as always...

Twofer Challenge # 12

Well here we are, with the holidays all wrapped up and tucked away for the next good long while. I was blessed with three celebrations, and the best part, after the beautiful and moving Christmas church services, was spending time with some of my family. Daughter Jeanne and son Joe flew in from Phoenix as an early Christmas surprise for their dad, and we had a lovely time. Christmas Eve/Day with daughter Cathy and family, and a post-New Years "Christmas" with son Christian and his little darlings. I hope your festivities were as low-stress and as happiness-filled as mine were! If you have time, tell me in the comment section, your favorite part of the 2018 Holiday! My favorite was making it to church on Christmas Eve and hearing exactly why we celebrate, followed closely by time with loved ones. *sigh*

But you're here to see my Twofer Challenge cards, aren't you? Well, I won't keep you any longer!

For some reason, I immediately thought of this older, and somewhat obscure Penny Black die set that I have when I saw this prompt. My brain wouldn't let go, and as hard as I tried to use something else, brain said, "Umm...excuse me, but there's no way anything you try will turn out decently. I'm in charge here and you will use those PB birds. Period." Understood. You only have to use that 2x4 upside my head once. Brain was right:

That baby card is really sweet irl, but in the photo it looks a bit flat, or something. The letters are from a Pebbles die cut set from my scrapbooking days, and they fit so nicely on a card. Not sure of the patterned paper, but I like it (naturally I like it...it's polka dotted,lol!!). And there's that PB bird, layered several times and winked up with some sparkly Stella. Our Pastor and his wife are expecting their first baby this Spring, so I'm all set with a card!

The second card is a birthday card. Boy, girl, adult, child; I think it works for just about anyone. The 'celebrate' is from a Studio Calico set, as is the teensy party hat. Lots of those PB birds (see, brain, I can follow directions, hahaha) in rainbow colors. All scraps, yay! And there you go. I hope you will pull out your bird stamps, dies, or stencils and join us in the gallery. Two cards, two different designs using the same stamps, dies, or stencils. If you haven't, do stop over at the Twofer Challenge and see what my teamies have created. Be sure to welcome our newest DT member, Leslie, and have a gander at our two GD's, Izzy and Sonja's cards! I promise you'll be delighted. And as always...