A Different Kind of a Card Challenge and a Papercrafters "Year in Review" Blog Hop Idea

Hello and welcome! 

Last month I discovered the Card Chain Challenge through Brenda's blog. Now I do play and link up in a lot of challenges weekly, but this one is a completely different kind of a challenge and I was intrigued so I had a good look around their blog and I thought it sounded like lots of fun. It's a sort of worldwide card exchange with participants from all over the world. You can read all the details here, if it sparks your interest as well.

At the Card Chain Challenge we are given a variety of options to choose from for our card, including a sketch, but only one needs to be selected. Last month we could select from:

Colors (doesn't have to be an exact match):

Sketch:

Theme Options: Transport / Shoes / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Brads / Faux Stained Glass

As mentioned, we only needed to choose one of the given options but I went with the sketch, shoes and brads, and my colors are almost a match too, but a paler version of each because I wanted to make a fall themed card.

My card went to Greta in Oregon who was the person in front of me on the link. And this is what I made. I was happy to hear that she loved it!

I went with a fall themed color palette. The image was one I selected for a prize I had won a few weeks ago from Jan's Digistamps, it's actually called April Shower Promise, but when I selected this image a few weeks ago, I had planned on coloring it in with fall colors. The large blossoms remind me of my Zinnias which are still currently in bloom. (But I'm sure frost is not far away!!)

I colored with a mix of Copic markers and Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. Tim Holtz's stencil set from this kit was used on the background with Scattered Straw and Shaded Lilac Distress inks. And then I wiped the ink pad directly across the edges. I also decided to use Stampin Up's very old French Script background stamp randomly on the image panel and card front. 

The butterflies were done with a Martha Stewart punch, and I added brads as embellishments to follow the product option given. A little bit of Stickles glitter was added to the flower centers. 

The sentiment is an oldie from Whimsy Stamps called Autumn Letter Seals but no longer available. It's been stamped on vellum paper using jet black Stazon ink, which is necessary for non-porous surfaces including vellum paper. 

The full card chain for October can be seen here, and if you would like to join in for November, you can sign up here, but only a few more days remain before the linky will be closed. 

Year in Review 2021 Blog Hop Idea

Yesterday I posted some information about a Year in Review blog hop idea and I'm looking for a few bloggers who would like to be part of this end of the year hop featuring our favorite creations of 2021.

Quick Details:

• Create a blog post featuring YOUR OWN favorite creations of 2021 to be posted on your blogs starting on Wednesday December 29th. This is when the linky tool will be open.
• I will provide the html code for the linky tool to each person signing up. Please include this in your post on your own blogs and all participants will link up their posts using this linky tool directly on  their blogs. 
• You must have a blog to participate - new bloggers are welcome!
• The linky tool will remain open for 1 week. Your blog followers are welcome to link up their own favorites during that time period (even if they haven't signed up as participants).
• This will be a blog hop, so please plan on visiting and commenting on each participant's "Year in Review 2021 posts". 
• This sign up is for any papercrafter with a blog. You don't have to have a papercraft only blog - as long as you have some favorite handmade cards to share in your review post you are welcome to sign up!

If this sounds like something you'd like to participate in, please use the linky tool provided below:

Thanks so much for visiting!

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through some of the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

Challenges:

Jan's Digis Challenge - AG // 

Also linking up here:

Dare to Share //  Sunday Showcase (first Sunday) // Inspire Me Monday //  Link Up Potpourri  // Hello Monday // Random-osity Good, Random, Fun // You're The Star Blog Hop Link Party @Stonecottage Adventures // Anything Goes with Your Hosts @ My Random Musings // Jenerally Informed The Happy Now //  Wonderful Wednesday // Classy Flamingos // Thursday Favorite Things // Little Things Thursday // Encouraging Heart and Home @ Slices of Life 

Papercrafters: Year in Review 2021 Blog Hop Idea - Looking for Participants/Co-Hosts

Year in Review 2021 Blog Hop Idea

In the last week of every year I always like to look back at all the cards I created over the year and select my favorites. 

This year I thought it would be fun to collaborate with other bloggers who would like to participate in a sort of a "blog hop" where we will each create a post sharing our favorites and then use the linky tool I will provide to share our posts with each other. I am hoping there will be a few interested bloggers. The blog hop would start on December 29th and the linky tool will remain open for a week. Participants/co-hosts are encouraged to have their posts prepared by Wednesday December 29th, but it is not absolutely neccessary as the linky tool will be open for a week, so you may link up your Year in Review post any time during that week.

Each participants can decide on which way to write their Year in Review post, personally I always select a favorite of the month (to make it easier), but you may do a Favorite 5 of 2021 or even just Favorite Christmas Cards of 2021. These do need to be YOUR OWN creations (yes, we're tooting our own horns!) 

You can take a peek at my Year in Review post from last year if you're unsure of what I am talking about.   

Quick Details:

• Create a blog post featuring YOUR OWN favorite creations of 2021 to be posted on your blogs starting on Wednesday December 29th. This is when the linky tool will be open.
• I will provide the html code for the linky tool to each person signing up. Please include this in your post on your own blogs and all participants will link up their posts using this linky tool directly on  their blogs. 
• Your blog followers are welcome to link up their own favorites during that time period should they decided to create their own "year in review" posts. The linky will be open for one week.
• You must have a blog to participate - new bloggers are welcome!
• This will be a blog hop, so please plan on visiting and commenting on each participant's "Year in Review 2021 post". 
• This sign up is for any paper crafter with a blog. You don't have to have a papercraft only blog - as long as you have some favorite handmade cards to share in your review post you are welcome to sign up.

If you would like to be added to the list of "co-hosts" please use the linky tool below to sign up. Also please ensure there is an email address listed on your blogs so I can contact you with the linky tool html code for the blog hop when we get closer to the time.

The linky above is scheduled to be open until November 30th, but I may close it sooner or extend the sign up period depending on interest. And if there isn't enough interest I may decide not to host the blog hop at all. 

Thanks so much for visiting!

A Quick and Easy Christmas Card with a Die, Patterned Paper and a Sentiment

Hello and welcome!

It's Saturday again and time for new theme at Allsorts challenge! Lorraine is hosting this week and she picked the theme of "Include a Sentiment". We'd love for you to join us  for a chance to win! There will be two winners this week as we have two dies to give away, one from Tonic and one from Tattered Lace. 

Time ran away from me this week and I decided on making a CAS card using a die from Penny Black, a piece of patterned paper from my stash and a sentiment with a clean and simple sketch. I love how this turned out and it was so quick to make too!

The beautiful die I used is called Deer in Tree by Penny Black. I purchased mine from PB stamps but it's now out of stock there. And unfortunately out of stock at scrapbook.com as well, so I linked it to Amazon. 

After die cutting I removed the inner tree parts, there are a few tiny ones so I had to take extra care not to lose them, then inked these all up using Evergreen Bough Distress Oxide ink. 

I glued the white tree outline with the deer inside onto the piece of patterned paper (sorry, I don't know the maker) then carefully glued all the pieces back into place using Tombow Mono Multi glue (my favorite for all kinds of gluing). Then adhered this panel onto a white A2 card base. 

The sentiment from the Penny Black set Season's Gifts was stamped using Evergreen Bough  ink once again and I finished the card by adding a die cut snowflake with a flatback rhinestone in the center. 

Related Products You May Like:

I don't usually use die cuts as the focal point, but loved how quickly this card came together!

I feel like there's an optical illusion going on here...the snowflake is a die cut I adhered to the card, but on the photo above it appears to be cut out of the card base. Or are just my eyes seeing it that way?? On the first photo it appears "normal"  so it must be the camera angle :-)

And here are the prizes you can win this week. The linky to enter can be found on the Allsorts challenge blog .

Thanks so much for visiting!

This post may include 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. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

I'm linking up here:

Penny Black Saturday - PB Products // River of Creativity - Wildlife // Aud Sentiments Challenge - Christmas Sentiment // Krafty Chicks - All Occasions // TIME OUT Challenges - Down to Earth // Fab n Funky - Embellish It  (Rhinestone) // Little Red Wagon - Outside // Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes // Crafty Sentiment Designs - AG // The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - AG Christmas // Alphabet Challenge - O for Outdoors // Crafty Catz - AG // Jingle Belles - Holiday Creatures // 

Always AG and Link Parties: 

Taylor Made Cards 4 U // Crafter's Castle // 613 Avenue Create opt. twist watercolor // Crafty Creations // Creative Moments // Lemon Shortbread // Through The Craft Room Door // The Corrosive Challenges // A Bit More Time to Craft // A Perfect Time To Craft // Classic Design  Challenge * // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge // Love to Craft // QKR Stampede // The Creative Crafters // World Wide Open Design Team Challenge // 

Dare to Share //  Sunday Showcase (first Sunday) // Inspire Me Monday //  Link Up Potpourri  // Hello Monday // Random-osity Good, Random, Fun // You're The Star Blog Hop Link Party @Stonecottage Adventures // Anything Goes with Your Hosts @ My Random Musings // Jenerally Informed The Happy Now // Shelbee on the Edge Spread the Kindness //  Effortlessly Sophisticated // Wonderful Wednesday // Classy Flamingos // Thursday Favorite Things // Little Things Thursday // Encouraging Heart and Home @ Slices of Life   

Cat Lovers Hop 2021

Hello and welcome! 

I'm so excited to be participating in this year's Cat Lover's Blog hop!! I first discovered it last year when it was at the end and too late to participate, but made note to keep an eye out for it for the following year, and that time has arrived! 

I feel right at home on this hop with all the cat loving card makers and if you too are a cat lover and would like to participate, you can check out all the details here on Janis's blog Her Peaceful Garden. This is the 7th year of cat lovers hop, I must have been living under a rock for not knowing about it sooner! She has lots of sponsors lined up and anyone can join in with a card during the time frame of the hop, which ends on October 30th.

Do you ever completely finish a card, take picture and then you're just not loving it?? Well, that's what happened to me with the first take of this card (shown at the end of this post),  not sure what exactly it is, maybe the designer paper, but in any event, this post is later than I had planned because I completely re-designed the card. You can see the original make at the bottom of the post. 

So here is my second take on the card:

This stamp set - Penny Black Gather Around - was from last year's Penny Black release but when I finally decided to order it last year, it was out of stock. This year I started looking for it ahead of time and I was lucky to have found it. Unfortunately it's once again out of stock at many retailers, there is one available through an Amazon seller. 

Related Products:

I stamped the image on Bristol Vellum paper using Versafine Onyx ink,  then colored with distress inks. After re-thinking my card design, I decided to fussy cut the image using my Cutterbee scissors.  

To make the background I used a brick wall stencil (Options HERE and HERE)   and Pumice Stone Distress Oxide ink. I also used the floorboard from Penny Black's Floor Die set to add to the scene, also inked with  Pumice Stone ink. 

The fun sentiment is from Penny Black from the set "Dear Santa". It works so well for all kinds of cute images not only for cats :-) You can take a peek at it below. The image does lead to Amazon when you click on it, where it will be easier to read all the fun sayings. 

Oh, and I used the Classy Stripes stencil on the very top of the card before stamping "Dear Santa". "Please Define Good" has been stamped with Versarmark ink on black cardstock and then heat embossed using detail white embossing powder.

Leave it to me to add the sentiment crooked and when I tried to straighten it, a little bit of paper got torn and so I ended up removing the sentiment and adding a snowflake border die (old - options) behind the sentiment to cover it up. LOL, but I do like how it turned out now. 

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If you are a regular blog reader, then I'm sure you've seen photos of my cats before, and they are on the side bar, but here are a couple more.

This is one I shared when we first adopted them in 2010. They've surely grown into their ears :-)

And here they are all grown up. This is Thomas. He loves to chase away the squirrels in the backyard and loves to wake us up at any time during the night. 

Surprisingly, Fussy's fur turned a bit more brown-ish as she's gotten older. She is our shy kitty and for some time she would only come out of her hiding place when it was time to eat. She's turned into a very snuggly kitty and now only hides when we have visitors. 

And here is the rejected card. I think it's a combination of the floor die I used and the patterned paper I used to frame the image that makes me not like it. It just doesn't look right to me, but thought I'd share it anyway since I went through the work of photographing it before changing my mind :-)

This post may include 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. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

I'm also linking up here:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - PB Stamps // Simon Says Stamp - AG // House That Stamps Built - Funny or Snarky // The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - AG Christmas // Everybody-Art-Challenge - Fun with friends // Cute Card Thursday - AG // Critter Crazy Challenges - Critters // Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Patterned Papers // Happy Little Stampers Dies // Jingle Belles - Creatures // 

Always AG and Link Parties: 

Taylor Made Cards 4 U // Crafter's Castle // 613 Avenue Create opt. twist watercolor // Crafty Creations // Creative Moments // Lemon Shortbread // Through The Craft Room Door // The Corrosive Challenges // A Bit More Time to Craft // A Perfect Time To Craft // Classic Design  Challenge * // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge // Love to Craft // QKR Stampede // The Creative Crafters // World Wide Open Design Team Challenge // 

Dare to Share //  Sunday Showcase (first Sunday) // Inspire Me Monday //  Link Up Potpourri  // Hello Monday // Random-osity Good, Random, Fun // You're The Star Blog Hop Link Party @Stonecottage Adventures // Anything Goes with Your Hosts @ My Random Musings // Jenerally Informed The Happy Now // Shelbee on the Edge Spread the Kindness //  Effortlessly Sophisticated // Wonderful Wednesday // Classy Flamingos // Thursday Favorite Things // Little Things Thursday // Encouraging Heart and Home @ Slices of Life