Something for Kids or Teens at Allsorts Challenge

Good morning, a new theme starts today at Allsorts challenge and it's my turn to host. Hope to see you joining in for a chance to win a wonderful prize by Craft Stash, a beautiful Woodware stamp set. 

For this week I selected the theme of "For Kids or Teens" - including young adults still in their teen years.. This can be any type of card for any occasion, gift, tag, decorated bag, etc. 

Please note, some affiliate links are included in this post, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase through the links. As always this is at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting this blog.

I made this card for my amazing son for his 18th birthday!! How time flies, it really does seem like yesterday when I brought my first chubby cheeked bundle of joy home with no idea of what I was doing!

Earlier this month I was moving furniture around in my craft room and the shelf that held all my designer papers among other things snapped and broke. I had to throw it away as it wasn't fixable. It was one I had picked up at a Joann's Black Friday sale many years ago, not really the best shelf for heavy papers even though it was meant to hold 12x12 papers and came with some drawers for other items. Silly me kept not only heavy papers on this shelf system, but also my heavy punches, it was just too much weight. 

In any event, this broken craft shelf incident caused me to re-think my paper dilemma, I have soooo much of it but rarely if ever would reach for it, so I decided to cut most of them down to 6x6 inches so they are easier to store and easier to look through. And I also placed them closer to my desk so they are within reach. I still need to get through my paper scraps which are pieces already cut but random sizes and I want to be sure non are taller than 6" (I am still keeping some full 12x12 sheets separately in case I make something bigger, but I rarely do). Keeping all scraps at 6" or shorter is going to be so helpful! Hopefully I can manage to throw some of them away too, I don't know why I even hang on to tiny pieces .....

So the papers I used on this card were some of what I had discovered in my paper mess. I always think star themed cards make great masculine cards for the younger male. Here I used the colors vintage red, navy and white, along with some gold accents. What appears black in the photo is actually navy card stock. 

The star dies are all from my Design Team years at Whimsy Stamps, and no longer available, but it's a basic shape and there are some great choices at A Cherry on Top or Scrapbook.com if you are in the US, and for those of you in the UK and overseas I am sure Craft Stash has a good variety available too. And don't forget about Amazon...

I layered the big star over a die cut circle and white circle frame, then added the small stars all around with foam tape to make them pop up. The no. 18 is from a chipboard Alphabet and Number set. I found mine at Michaels, but can't seem to find it online. There may be more options on Amazon. My sticker set is made of kraft chipboard and I ran my Wink of Stella glitter brush over the numbers for a little sparkle. The small stars were die cut from brushed gold paper that was part of a Hero Arts My Monthly Hero kit - I don't remember which one, but also available in single sheets at Scrapbook.com.

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The only stamping I have done here is the sentiment, which came from this Penny Black clear set. I really like this simple font as I think it's fitting for a more masculine card. For an extra little detail I used a stapler on two of the corners. 

And below is a photo of the card recipient and the maker :-)

I'm linking up here:

Challenges:

A Vintage Journey - Numbers // Creative Fingers - Anything Goes // Aud Sentiments Challenge - Add a Sentiment // Cute Card Thursday - Sparkles (glitter on the numbers) // Make My Monday - Masculine // Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Movie Inspiration / Captain America // Stamps & Fun = Creativity  - Masculine // 

Link Parties:

Dare to Share // Beautifully Made Sat. 5pm // Inspire Me Mondays // Little Cottage Linkup // Love Your Creativity // Handmade Monday // Anything Goes with your Hosts (Mondays) // Craftastic Monday // Beautifully Made // The Happy Now // Hearth and Soul (starts Monday night)Tuesday Turn About // Wonderful Wednesday // Classy Flamingos // Welcome Wednesdays // Artsy Fartsy // Thinking out Loud Thursday // Little Things Thursday // Thursday Favorite Things // Slices of Life (Encouraging Hearts and Home) // Creative Compulsions // Fridays at the Fire Station // Friday favorites //High Five for Friday // Friendship Friday // Funtastic Fridays // A Morning Cup of Joe // On the Edge // Friday Favorites // Best of the Month-- (first Friday/ month) // Party In Your Pj's // 

Celebration Time at Allsorts Challenge

Hello and welcome! It's Saturday and that means a new theme starts today at Allsorts challenge for everyone to join in! It's Kath's turn to host and she picked the theme of Celebration Time - birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, new home, new job, Christmas and more! We'd love for you to get crafty and share with us! One lucky winner will receive  a Tonic die and  your entry may be one of the top 5!

I made an anniversary card for my husband (last month was our 22nd anniversary) using the Hero Arts February 2019 stamp kit. 

Please note, some affiliate links are included in this post, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase through the links. As always this is at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting this blog.

By the way their classic kits (where still available and this one including) are now reduced ($5 off). There are currently a total of 8 kits in this reduced category, you can see these 8 kits here or take a look at all of their monthly kit products. 

I  created an inky background using distress inks - Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipstick, Seedless Preserves, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire. A circle die cut and a wide strip of masking tape were used to mask off the bottom border and moon. 

The dancing couple from the stamp kit was stamped using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink (I need to buy a re-inker for my ink pad!!)  and I used the matching die that comes with this kit to cut out the image. I used foam tape to adhere to the card.

  

The '"true love" sentiment is an oldie from Whimsy Stamps - Chalkboard sentiments, but unfortunately it is no longer available and I wasn't able to find anything comparable. The music notes are part of the Hero Arts kit. 

On the bottom part I used one of Tim Holtz's Quotations stickers. 

Hero Arts February 2019 stamp kit // Whimsy Stamps Chalkboard Greetings (retired) // Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipstick, Seedless Preserves, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire // Versafine Clair Nocturne ink // Tim Holtz's Quotations // Sizzix Big Shot // Foam Tape // 

Thanks so much for visiting!

I'm linking up here:

Cute Card Thursday - stamping // / Inspire Me Monday - Linkup // Artsy Fartsy // Thinking out Loud Thursday // Little Things Thursday // Thursday Favorite Things // Slices of Life (Encouraging Hearts and Home) // Creative Compulsions // Fridays at the Fire Station // Friday favorites //High Five for Friday // Friendship Friday // Funtastic Fridays // A Morning Cup of Joe // On the Edge // Friday Favorites // Best of the Month-- (first Friday/ month)

Party In Your Pj's // Tuesday Turn About // Wonderful Wednesday // Classy Flamingos // Welcome Wednesdays // Dare to Share // Inspire Me Mondays // Little Cottage Linkup // Love Your Creativity // Handmade Monday // Anything Goes with your Hosts (Mondays) // Craftastic Monday // Beautifully Made // The Happy Now // Hearth and Soul (starts Monday night)

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Winter Scenes or Snow for Allsorts Challenge

A new theme starts to day at Allsorts challenge, Tracy is hosting and she selected the theme of Winter Scenes or Snow. Hope you'll play along for a chance to win a beautiful woodland animal stamp set by Clarity Stamps

. 

It's so strange, I love making winter scenes and winter cards, but for some reason I was struggling so much with this challenge! Maybe it's because it's currently over 80 degrees (over 26 Celsius) outside, so practically summer, but I think it's also because I had a specific card in mind and it just didn't work out the way I wanted it to. This one almost didn't make the cut either....

Some affiliate links are used in this post, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always this is at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting this blog.

In any event, I started out with a mask in place to cover the hill, and flicked some masking fluid (I have this one by Winsor and Newton) onto the background using an old paint brush and let this dry completely. Then I inked the sky with a mix of distress inks and oxides (Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipsick, Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire.) I removed the mask and rubbed off the masking fluid, then stamped the Berry Branch - Penny Back's Berry Bevy using a stamp platform with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink onto the inked panel and colored the berries using Festive Berries distress ink. This is when I almost threw the card away...

I mistakenly colored one of the snowflakes made with the masking fluid in red. Ughhhhh!!! I tried to add some blue ink over the red but it just made it stand out even more. I'm sure every crafter can imagine my frustration!! It wouldn't have been as upsetting had this not been my 3rd attempt at a card! At this point it was already late Wednesday evening and I decided to start another card Thursday morning. So Thursday morning when I went back to my messy craft room, I really didn't feel like wasting another card and not sure why I hadn't thought of it the night before, but I decided to add a die cut snowflake right over the mess-up and it worked out perfectly! The snowflake die I used is from a retired set by Whimsy Stamps, but there are many snowflake dies available. 

The sentiment is part of Penny Black's set Brush Pines stamped with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink. 

Penny Black Berry Bevy // Penny Black Brush Pines // Masking Fluid // Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink // Distress Inks and Oxides Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipstick, Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire // Festive Berries // Stamp Platform Options // Snowflake Die Options // Ink Blending Tool Option

Thanks so much for visiting!! 

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I'm linking up here:

Cute Card Thursday - Dies and Punches // The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas // Chocolate Baroque Challenge - Anything Goes // Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Use PB Stamps

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - October Challenge

If you're looking for my outfit posts, please click HERE. The new blogger update won't allow for a pre-dated post so I can no longer include it to the top. A direct link is also found in the "pages" tool bar. 

Hello and welcome to the October Crafty Wednesday Challenge right here on my blog! I'm so happy you decided to check out the new theme and I'd love to see you joining in too!

Just a quick note, going forward all themes will also have an anything goes option as well, for those of you just wanting to share what you made.

This Month's Theme:

All Things Autumn/Fall or Anything Goes

I'm also relaxing the rules a bit, you no longer need to link something new, you can link anything new or old - yes, back-linking is allowed! Please continue to link no more than 3 separate entries so I can get a chance to visit each one. As always, you may share anything handmade: Cards, Pages, Home Decor and anything else as long as it's handmade by you! 

Please note: This post includes some affiliate links meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always this is at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting this blog.

My October Creation:

Autumn Fox

I combined a few Penny Black stamp sets here: Smile All Day, Snow Blanket, Nature's Friends and Nature's Gifts along with a couple of old Stampin Up stamps (leaves and sentiment).

 

The tree image Snow Blanket was inked up with distress inks and stamped with the help of a stamp platform. This tool is extremely helpful when I add another color of ink like I did here on the edges of the tree. The fox from the cute set Smile All Day has been stamped using Walnut Stain distress ink onto an extra piece of bristol paper and I used my Zig Detailer waterbrush for coloring, then fussy cut to add to the card. I wanted him to stand out a bit from the colorful background so I stamped the sentiment from Stampin Up onto a strip of white card stock and added the fox next to it. The flying birds are from the set Nature's Friends and the bird sitting on the fence post is from the set Nature's Gifts. I added a little bit of ink to the sky and around the tree using a blending tool. Using my Zig detailer I also went over the fence to color in what would have been snow. (And if you look closely you can tell that I missed a bit of snow here and there :)

I'm linking up here: Encouraging Heart and Home

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Last Week's Top Picks

Selecting just 3 is never easy but something that has to be done and last month's top picks are listed in the order of entry.

No. 5 Andrea W.

No. 24 Loopyloo

No. 29 Jenni Martin

As always, in order to be in compliance with GDPR I am not able to post links, but I have decided to create a Pinterest Board where my Top Picks of the month will be pinned with links back to each Top Pick's blogs.


You can see their wonderful creations HERE.


Congratulations! Your Top Pick logo is below, feel free to post it to your own blogs!

To play along in this month's challenge simply use the linky tool below.

A few things to remember:

• You may follow the theme or anything goes

• Link up to 3 different entries.
• Backlinking is allowed.
• You may combine with any other challenges.
• You may use any brand of stamps/digis (no company restriction).
• Please do include a link back here to my blog in your blog post.

Cute Christmas for Allsorts Challenge

Hello and welcome! It's time already for a new theme at Allsorts challenge and this week we're getting you all started on Christmas cards if you haven't already. Many crafters do work on Christmas cards year round to have a variety ready when the time is here, but I am not one of them. Some years I make my first ones in July, but this year, this is my first Christmas card of the year. 

The challenge was chosen this time by Mervi, and she wants to see "Cute Christmas". We have a prize by Pinksy Doodles, the winner can select some digital products from her Etsy shop, you can see one of the items up in her shop on my card, the pretty paper which comes in a set of several colors, I chose to work with this pretty pink.

Please note: This post includes some affiliate links meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always this is at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting this blog.

I'm sure many of you recognize this cute snowman as Penny Black's "Snowy", a stamp my husband picked out for me many many years ago. His big hat and scarf are perfect for paper piecing.

The snowman was first stamped onto the white card stock, then again on a 'post it' note and fussy cut to use as a mask. I also used a handmade mask over the bottom portion so I could ink up the sky. I used Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide with an ink blending tool. When the masks were removed, the pretty sky and snowy valley and the snowman were revealed. I stamped Snowy again on the pattern paper and fussy cut the hat and scarf to add to the snowman. 

The sentiment is a favorite from Penny Black's clear set Season's Gifts, stamped with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink and I added a few rhinestones as embellishments. It's hard to see but I used a clear Wink of Stella glitter brush on Snowy's hat (the furry part). 

The white image panel was adhered to the same Pinksy Doodles paper to give it a frame and then onto a white card base.

Penny Black Snowy // Penny Black Season's Gifts // Pinksy Doodles Paper Pack // Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink // Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink // Copic Markers for Nose and Cheeks // Cutterbee Scissors // Ink Blending Tool - Options // Sticky Rhinestones // Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope to see you joining in with a cute Christmas card this week. All details can be found on the challenge blog. 

I'm sharing with these blogs:

Alphabet Challenge - The letter M (Masking) // Jingle Belles - Snow //Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes // Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB Stamps