Thanksgiving Card

It's Thanksgiving in the USA, so I wanted to share a thank you card on my blog today.  This clean & simple card is easy to put together, but it has little details that make it special.

Supplies: cardstock from Bazzill; patterned paper from Doodlebug; stickers from Lily Bee; stamp from Unity; inks from Clearsnap.

I used a stamp with a detailed image.  The butterfly has tiny flowers and hearts cleverly incorporated into the design.

I could spend a long time looking at the scenes on this adorable patterned paper.  See the cute little fox and pumpkins?  And the turkey...oh the turkey!

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  Happy "Turkey Day"!  :)

Meet Mr. Chevron

Many of us--myself included--have a hard time coming up with ideas for masculine greeting cards.  So I was delighted the other day when I stumbled upon inspiration for a masculine card while I was reading a book.

Supplies: patterned paper from October Afternoon; paint from DecoArt; stamp from Unity; ink from Hero Arts; stickers from Lily Bee.

I was geeking out with a classic Star Trek book that included a minor character named "Mr. Chevron."  What a name!  My mind ran to a pair of chevron papers that I had recently purchased, as well as a male "potty person" stamp that I recently won.  I asked myself, could I combine these new supplies to make a couple masculine cards?

Yep, it worked!  It was a good day, because I got to combine three of my favorite passtimes--reading, card making, and drinking tea.  :)

At first I was thinking of holding on to these cards to use as Father's Day greetings next summer.  But I realized I don't have to wait that long.  I've already used one as a birthday card for my uncle, and I'm sure I'll be able to use the second one soon.  Thanks for the inspiration, Mr. Chevron!  ;)

Under the Weather

Hello, lovely teatime bloggers!  It has been a long time since I've had the chance to join you.  I hope that you are all well.  Unfortunately, I've had a few colds so far this autumn.  The only upside I can see to that is a ready-made excuse to drink a lot of tea with honey.  :) 

Supplies: cloud paper from Bella Blvd; pink striped paper from Crate; all other paper from Lily Bee; stamps from Unity; ink from Hero Arts.

With the parade of colds and sore throats that have plagued me this autumn, I have not had as much energy and time for crafting as I would like. However, I have managed to make some cards lately, and the one I'm sharing in today's post is, appropriately, a get-well-soon type of card.  I have some new stamps from Unity that I was excited to use, and I worked two of them (the heart and the sentiment) into this card.  The paper is all just scraps I had on hand, and it felt good to de-stash.  And...that's about it!  Take care and have a happy T Day.  :)

CPC Mid-Month Challenge

Hi, scrapbookers!  It's time for the mid-month reveal at Child's Play Challenges.  This time around we are making pages inspired by Hot Wheels toy cars.  Here is my DT page.

Supplies: cardstock from Wausau Paper, themed paper from Reminisce, printable ticket from Echo Park, alpha-numeric stickers from October Afternoon, phrase sticker from Basic Grey, Candi dots from Craftwork, corner punch from Creative Memories, pens from Zig.

The flames in the Hot Wheels logo inspired this page.  Well, that and the fact that my son has a toy firetruck in some of the photos.

Want to play along with this challenge?  You have until the end of the month to link up your page with the CPC blog.  Our first November challenge also runs through the end of the month, so you have two ways to play along with CPC.  Happy scrapping!

10 on the 10th: Autumn Colors

Hi everyone!  Today is November 10, so it's time for my "Ten on the Tenth" post for my monthly destashing series.  Even though meteorologists are predicting a massive snowfall for today, my theme for this post is autumn supplies.  Here is the kit that I put together for this month.

Supplies: items 1 & 2 (cardstock): teal & gold cardstock from Bazzill; items 3 & 4 (patterned paper): stripes from Doodlebug Design & polka dots from Simple Stories; items 5 & 6 (embellishments): journaling cards & border strips from Simple Stories; items 7 & 8 (nonconsumables): stamp set from My Mind's Eye & oak leaf stamp from Hero Arts; items 9 & 10 (throwaway items): empty masking tape roll & upcycled gift tissue.

That is the same My Mind's Eye stamp set that I used last month.  It has so many stamps that I just felt like I could get a lot more out of it by using it again for another month (and well into the future, I'm sure).  For the last couple months I came up a little short on paper in my Ten on the Tenth kits, so I made sure to include lots of paper this time.  Speaking of which, here is a photo that shows the flipsides of the papers.  It also shows a closer look at the tiny oak leaf stamp.

Making sure I included lots of paper in my supply kit this time certainly paid off, because the first project I ended up making was this double page layout called "Hello Fall."

Additional supplies: enamel shapes & puffy stickers from October Afternoon; stamping paper from Basic Grey; stamping ink from Hero Arts; pens from Zig; household twine.

It's always difficult to showcase a big, two-page layout on a blog, so feel free to click on the photo to enlarge it.  I've also included a closeup shot of the journaling.

Hip, hip, hooray for getting ten photos onto this layout!  I placed the photos in a basic grid design, and I used embellishment clusters to separate the photos (see below).

The Simple Stories products from my kit are basically made to go onto this sort of a grid layout.  I had fun using these supplies for their intended purpose, but for my second project I shook things up a bit.  My second project is a one-page layout, created on the back of the first page from the two-page layout.  Instead of creating another grid page, I made circular shapes the focus of this layout.  I used the empty tape roll as a template for cutting the circles from my photos and papers, and I also used the tape roll as a guide for adding chalk lines.

Additional supplies: ink from Hero Arts; pens from Zig; chalk from Stampin' Up; puffy stickers, enamel shapes, & flair badges from October Afternoon.

At this point you may be saying, "Wait, Denise, if your first project is a layout, your second one is supposed to be a card.  You made that rule yourself!"  Never fear, I made a card as well, and here it is (below).  As you see, I went back to a grid design for this one.  I thought about adding a sentiment or a small embellishment to break up the grid a bit, but in the end I decided to leave the card as-is.  I just love the patterned papers so much, I didn't want to do anything to take the focus off of them.  Plus, without a sentiment to "pin it down," this card can be for almost any occasion.

Additional supply: brown ink from Tsukineko.

Usually I make just three projects with each Ten on the Tenth kit, but this time I was able to make a fourth project.  Yay, bonus!  This one used up all the leftover bits from the kit.  I made it on the back of the second page of the two-page layout.  You may have already seen this one, since I used it as my October entry for the Berry 71 Bleu challenge.

~previously blogged here~  Additional supplies include 8.5 x 11" kraft cardstock from Neenah Paper, stickers from October Afternoon, die cut leaves from Doodlebug, and Candi dots from Craftwork.

All together, with this kit I was able to create one card, one double-page layout, and two single-page layouts.  I scrapped a total of two dozen photos, which felt very, very satisfying.  I'd say I definitely got the most from this kit.  And the best thing is that I made everything using supplies that I already had in my stash.  Thanks for coming to look at everything that I made.  I hope I inspired you!

CPC November Challenge

Hello, everyone!  After letting Princess Leia take over my blog for the last two days, I'm back--and just in time, because today is the November design team reveal at Child's Play Challenges!  Here my page, entitled "The Lions in Winter."

Supplies: cardstock from Bazzill; spray mist & leaf patterned paper from October Afternoon; die cut dotted paper from Graphic 45; chevron stamp & swirl patterned paper from My Mind's Eye; washi from Love My Tapes; pom poms & ribbons from Scrapbook Fantasies; crystal cabochon from Olla Podrida Etsy; brown ink from Tsukineko; black ink from Hero Arts; black gesso from Ranger; acrylic paint from DecoArt; lion sticker from PSX; glitter film from The Paper Company; pen from Foray; standard office hole punch; upcycled jumbo bubble wrap.

This month we have an exciting crossover challenge with the blog Pixels and Paper.  To play along, we want you to create a layout using the following inspiration image and a "recipe."  The recipe is: something gold + an animal + at least three patterned papers + "bling" + something from your stash that is over a year old.

The inspiration photo is a Christmas/winter scene, and it influenced me to scrap a winter photo.  

As far as the recipe goes, I used lots of gold ribbon for my "gold," my lion photo for the "animal," and three patterned papers (a yellow leaf print, a die cut dotted print, and a brown swirl print), all visible in the photo above.

For the "bling," I tucked a faceted cabochon into the layers to the right of the title tag.

Finally, for "something over a year old," I used this lion sticker.  I've had it for about ten years!  Speaking of lions, can you believe that these lions at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth, Minnesota, actually LIKE to be outdoors in the winter!  It's their choice to remain outside.  They enjoy their heated rock.  I was so surprised by these lions that I just had to scrap their photo and write their story on my page.

Are you ready to try this photo prompt/page recipe challenge?  If you make a page, you can submit it to BOTH Pixels and Paper AND Child's Play Challenges and be in the running for prizes at both sites.  All types of layouts--traditional, digital, and hybrid--are accepted at both sites.  I hope you'll play along with us this month!