Finished Christmas Cards Prior to Year End...

These dozen I completed between Christmas and New Year's. They are like others I did during the year but they weren't completely finished in time to send. The ATC's in the front are still in need of a sentiment but... not today. It was delightful to have the time to finish these this week, so I did. :)

From the October 2021 Paper Pumpkin kit, and previous post. I had enough envelopes to make five more...

Finished Scrappy Backgrounds that are a quick and easy card. Add twine, bling and sentiment and bada boom! More Christmas cards...

This one, the background was completed from a video I watched of Nina-Marie Trapani's a couple months ago. The struggle here was die-cutting this Concord and 9th mistletoe three times and stacking them. Ou vey!

And a napkin card completed...

Off and running tomorrow with my annual challenge to make a minimum of five Christmas cards each month... who's with me? And, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Paper Pumpkin Christmas Kit...

As I finished working with the October 2021 Paper Pumpkin kit, I was soooo delighted! I followed tutorials from a couple different peeps who showcase doing alternative cards with the supplies in the kit. By the end, I had made thirty cards (with makings for five more) AND completed matching envelopes. I have a challenge for myself to make five Christmas cards a month during the year but had missed two months in a row, which made me feel short supplied...

These two are what the kit was supposed to make, five of each. I made one each...

I made one each of these three. They didn't knock my socks off but I'm happy to have them for my stash...

This one, I thought, was very, very clever. The kit comes with ten envelopes that are embossed with the silver trees on the bottom. Creative Chelsea, on YouTube, cut each envelope into thirds and created this. I found it to be very elegant! I made five but have five other envelopes that can also be broken apart..

These three, I absolutely loved and made three each! The first card on the left was using the negative space of the vellum trees, which are on card number three here on the right. I thought this was SOOOOOO clever! 

The last task of this month, is to get these addressed and postal. Then, I can start ALL OVER again in January with my challenge to "Make Five Christmas Cards a Month"... who's with me?

Random Cards...

These were made when I attempted to do the "Crushing on Cardstock" class back in August. The class ran from August 23rd thru the 27th. I only did the first couple classes and then waited for some other supplies to arrive before I would finish. The next thing I knew, another two months had passed. I want to send these so I need them documented somewhere. Hence, the "Random Cards" post...

These two were very clever. We used Glad Press'n Seal (invented by Jennifer McGuire's husband) and cardstock spacers to keep the pieces exactly spaced the same. The Press'n Seal keeps the pieces together while we flipped it to add dimension. I liked this but, I think next time, I won't add the dimension. I think it's a pretty simple card but delivers a great punch... 

The one on the left kicked my butt. The one on the right, I look forward to doing again in black and white...

At this point, two and a half months later, I predict I won't get back to this class until the new year. What a putz!

Sugar Pea Designs WONKY Cake...

This set by Sugar Pea Designs called "Bring on the Cake", originally came out in June of 2016. I purchased not soon after that and used the stamp set to make a variety of cards. THIS time, I used the coordinating die set to make these cakes. When watching the Patriots football game over this past weekend, I thought I'd multi-task and just die-cut, and die-cut and die-cut. As I put these together this week, I realized that it would have been smarter (and MUCH quicker) to pick the patterned papers first, then die-cut coordinating solid color papers. BUT, when do I ever do anything the easy way?? Anyway, five more birthday cards for my stash and absolute delight that I used an OLD set to make it happen... :)

Autumn Cards from Partial's Box

Working on my box of partials, here's three Autumn cards...

This one was a background I did at a friend's house in Columbus in what FEELS like decades ago, although it was only pre-pandemic. The added leaves are a new acquisition that I've had a BLAST die-cutting a bazillion... who knew?!!

This one is actually a one of a kind (OOAK). The background was done in a class with Brutus Monroe at Junkie Fest 2018. I haven't known what to do with the foiled piece, until now...

This is a Mod Podged napkin from ions ago. Why it took so long to turn it into a card is beyond me. BUT, a quick card nonetheless...

So, three more things out of my Partial's Box makes for a Happy Camper! Craft on peeps...

Birthday Cards with Ice Cream DSP from Stampin' Up...

Over the weekend, I worked with the Designer Series Paper called "Ice Cream Corner" from Stampin' Up AND the Sheetload of Cards for June 2021 by Call Me Crafty Al. Surprisingly, I completed twelve. How cool is that?!!

Four in corals...

Four in teals...

Four in purples...

This morning, I made envelopes to match the colors in the cards. Now, I've got a LOT of birthday cards for my stash. That should keep me in business for the rest of the year. Oh happy day!!

Gelli-plate Cards...

 

SO, I must do a blog post on MY birthday, right?!! It's a given. These cards are all from the Gelli-plate...

When I was making all those hearts with the strips from other backgrounds in the previous post, I took this print and added the white acrylic paint and decided the print DID NOT need to go in the trash. I cut it down and added the sentiment sand here you go, done!

This one was part of a challenge to "recycle". It's deli paper I used to bring up the paint on a Gelli-plate. The sentiment is one from the TON... wicked cool!

The three like this were done yesterday after watching a fellow YouTube crafter's video on making prints from her 5" x 7" Gelli-plate. I used copy paper to pull up the image made with foam stamps from Joggles, stencils and acrylic paint. I then, heat embossed the gold hearts through a Newton's Nook stencil, die-cut and stacked the smile die and added the bling. It's a relatively quick card and one that can go to another fellow crafter who shares a May birthday...

Stripper Heart...

I actually made these at the beginning of the month but I thought they should be immortalized in a blog post before they go postal. Each strip behind the heart die-cut is from a background that was headed to the trash can. I CASE'd a card my friend Annie had done and I just couldn't stop making these... <3

The "Partials" Box...

 

The last time I worked on my "Box of Partials" was at Cozy Crop two years ago this week. A lot has accumulated since then. Truthfully, I hate this box! I find it very difficult to see where or what I can do with leftovers. Part of me just wants to make the exact card it had originally been. BUT, I persevered and ended up with eleven cards. This took almost two weeks to complete and I'm now tired of it all... so, away the box goes until next time! SOOOOOO, what did I do? Take a looky-loo...

This was leftover from a weekend with crafty peeps at my house in January of 2019. Made from a cereal box. Why'd it take so long to complete this? Who the heck knows! I will say, I had about six of them though. Thankfully, these were the last two...

This is from two events. The die-cut is from a weekend with Deb where I die-cut a half dozen of these. The paper underneath was a paper sitting next to me while I crafted at Annie's last year. It's actually NOT from the box of partials, it's from the box of backgrounds. Two birds, one stone... 

This is two former cards turned into one. It works here and no more pieces of this exist in the box of partials... YAY!!

A Mod Podged napkin from YEARS ago...

Two of these half distressed in blue backgrounds from... I don't know where. Anyway, added washi tapes to look like buildings, the sun, a sentiment and voila, done!

This one was a wow!!! I learned to paint this on a visit with Susan Hiles in December of 2019. It sat in this box because I didn't know what to do with it. This just "happened" and OMG! I'm quite happy with it!

From a weekend with Susan Moll a bazillion years ago...

This was part of my New Years card with a flower someone else colored and sent me... oh, and bling!

And finally, I learned this technique at Barb's last year, just before the Ernman came back to New Jersey for a job. We used sticky Saran Wrap but after that, I'm drawing a blank. 

Anyway, this resulted in eleven completed cards so now I need to get them postal... which one is going to you?

Tiny Tattered Houses...

April 5-7 of this month, I took an online class with Jennifer Chamberlain called "Tiny Tattered Houses". It did take me a few days to re-watch the videos and end up with the four scenes above. This class was really great! The first day, we used the gelli-plate to make colored pages which would later be the roof and house colors. She also taught us to be looking at cereal boxes or any food container for numbers we could use on the houses... 

Of the four, this was my favorite. The house # is from a cereal box and the walkway is from a catalog showing sheets...

This one, the house # is from my prescription drug box...

This one, I used an old envelope that Carol Eckhart had sent me back in 2017. The original card still hangs on the "wire-worthy" in the Studio...

This one kept growing into one that could ONLY be sent to a fellow cardmaker who always signs her cards "from the 40 Acre Woods" so you KNOW, I must send it there.

I loved this class so much! I want to do another series in my junk journal but you know me, NOT the speed demon. However, this class is available to me until next year. I wonder if THAT'LL be enough time... LOL

Remaking a Former Card...

 

I originally learned this card at Pam's in VA back in the Fall of 2018. I wanted to redo it for some fast cards to get postal this month. Original post HERE...

Scrappy Backgrounds...

On Monday, I asked in Seongsook's Stampers, what's your favorite color? My thought was to make Scrappy Backgrounds in the colors that were mentioned, then get them postal to those who answered. I started with the "brick, or deep red" color, then teal, then yellow. When I start a Scrappy session, I take all the scraps that I keep in the white elongated box that the Ernman made me that you can see behind the iron and lay them out in rainbow order, then get to work...

Blue was an incredibly popular answer so, I'll focus on that next. Meanwhile, back at my desk, these will go postal... :)

February Sheetload of Cards

 

Isn't this cool?!! I was following a "Sheetload of Cards" for February by Call Me Crafty Al, on her YouTube channel. I found some very, very old papers from my stash that I thought would compliment each other. The results knocked my socks off... :)

A crafty friend, Robyn (from one of my card groups) came over yesterday and asked me to teach her how I made the envelopes that accompany most cards I send out. I made these to match the above...

I was so pleased with all the combinations... how about you? Should I send YOU one so you can see it in person? I can do that you know...

Random OOAK Cards

Following a tutorial, I made this... it'll be a "One of A Kind" or OOAK as I enter it in my spreadsheet.

Another OOAK... 

This was using "parts" from many other things like a random pink background that had no home, a foil piece from my foiling days and a foreign language piece from a Paper Pumpkin kit used as a squiggly accent.  How about that?!! It all works!

My goofy card for the ♪♫ green, green, the grass is green on the far side of the hill ♪♫ theme for March in CCME... another OOAK. 

This OOAK I put together on March 19th for a new member of Seongsook's Stampers who asked me about how to make a fabric card. I sent some fabric and some sticky back paper with an instruction sheet...

We had a coffee challenge the week of Zack's birthday in Seongsook's Stampers. This was my entry. I thought I'd be doing more of these but today (4-26-21) it doesn't seem to be on my radar. Therefore, it's a OOAK...