Time got away from me again, and I needed a birthday card for a two-year old quickly. Luckily, I had the Jane’s Doodle stamp set, Greetings.  The little boy is fond of cars, and I’m guessing he’ll be happy with all the animals piled in on their way to his party.

It has been awhile since I did any coloring with Copics, but it was a great thing to do while I watched the Cotton Bowl. I’m a big Ohio State fan, stemming back to my childhood when we were lucky enough to attend games there on a regular basis. I was happy to finish the card, and equally happy that my team won the game. 

Once the coloring was done, I die cut the panel with Simon Says Stitched Rectangles as well as a mat in bright blue. Adding them to a bright orange card base made for a colorful card. I’m not sure any two year old will spend much time with any of his cards, but it might hold his attention for a minute or two. 

The sentiment is from MFT Bitty Birthday Blessings. After stamping it on orange cardstock, I die cut it with the MFT Itty Bitty Strips die. 

I’m sending this off to the Seize the Birthday Challenge. The optional challenge is Somthing New. I hope to be back again using something new, but this time it will be Anything Goes! It’s also off to Addicted to Stamps and More where Birthdays is the current call and my last entry to Double D’s Birthday or Anniversary Challenge (It’s their 9th! birthday.)

I spent most of yesterday on paperwork and unpacking and organizing cardstock. Before we left for Wisconsin, I emptied a large carton that I had hauled to the basement while my craft room was renovated. It had been sitting there for over a year. Almost everything in it was 12X12 paper I had accumulated while I was scrapbooking. I went through it piece by piece, pulled out the papers I thought I could use for card making, and took the rest to the crafting charity shop. I had a lovely pile of papers, many of which I had totally forgotten about, so while we were at Sarah’s I cut them all down to 8 1/2 X 11 and sorted them into three categories. They’re filed in three plastic boxes on the bookshelf behind my desk where I’m very likely to find them when I need them. 

Last night when I finished the sorting and organizing, I found the pieces to a card I never finished before we left. It’s just perfect for another entry to the Double D Challenge: Birthday or Anniversary. Since lots of die cuts were involved, I’ll be adding it to A Cut Above where Anything Goes. 

It’s another CAS card–but brighter with more contrast than most of my cards. I love the hot pink against the black. The frame were cut at a friend’s house several years ago. They’re by Papertrey Ink, but I couldn’t find them in the shop so they may be retired. I stacked three of them together for some dimension as well as the stamped and die cut sentiment before adding them to the black panel which was embossed with Altenew’s 3D Checkered Squares embossing folder. It all went on a Raspberry Fizz (PTI) card base.

The sentiment is also from an older Papertrey Ink set, Penned Elegance, and die cut with the accompanying die. The set is so old that it’s a solid die, and it took me awhile to remember how to get a good cut. The newer open dies are so much easier. It’s a reminder of how much the industry has changed since I started stamping over 3o years ago when all the stamps were wooden (or unmounted!) and embossing was the revelation that got many of us going.  The final touch was a few bright pink pearls.

Thanks for visiting. I hope your week is off to a good start.

I was out of appropriate thank you notes for the holiday, and found a group of Waltzing Mouse images I had stamped several years ago when I got together with friends to share stamps. All the images had small ornament hangers on them which I snipped off. All of them were attached to 4-bar note cards from Paper Source. The deer needed just a sentiment–this one from the Greetery’s Sentiment Suite: Thank You. I made two each of these:

I had just one of the ornaments and I tied a silver bow on the top. It still needed more, and I found a red circle and a Papertrey Ink doily die in my stash. They were added to a dark blue card, and I decided it didn’t need a sentiment. 

Perfectly CAS, quick and easy. Now to get the notes written and the cards in the mail! 

Hard to believe Christmas is just four days away. I’ll be back on Christmas with the Woodblock Wednesday card as Christmas is the last Wednesday of the month. 

The days are flying by so quickly, I didn’t realize how long it had been since I had posted. In the last four days, however, I’ve gone from almost no shopping done to being finished with the shopping. Tracy always helps with wrapping, and we’ve got plenty of time for that. All my Christmas cards are finally finished (as of yesterday!), but only the ones going to international addresses have been mailed. My goal is to have them all in the mail by Saturday. 

In 2023 I made 10 Christmas cards each month, so by the time November rolled around I was all set. There was so much traveling this year, it didn’t happen. I have multiples of several designs, but lots of single designs which makes it much harder to get finished. This card was one I created before we left for Wisconsin in November, and assembled while we were there.

Gina K’s Tapestry Embossing Folder is one of my favorites, and I thought it made a festive background for the beautiful sentiment from The Greetery, Scripted Holiday Greetings. The sentiments are so beautiful, I couldn’t resist it! The red, green, and gold are such a traditional color combo, but work well here. The gold border doesn’t look quite even, but it’s as much the photography as than the card. I have to say, taking photos of cards this season has been a trial. 

Red, Green, and Gold are the colors for the Colorful Options Challenge which I haven’t entered in a long time. The card also fits the Time Out Festive Challenge. As luck would have it, the challenge is sponsored by Gina K Designs.

We got our first significant snow last night, so it’s beginning to look like Christmas outside. Inside it’s looked like Christmas since the weekend. I was seriously behind there due to a nasty cold that found me on Thanksgiving. Fortunately, that has gone its way. I just love the lights from the Christmas tree and the mantle. There are lights around the window over our sink in the kitchen, and Tracy has a tree lit with colored lights on the patio table, as well as white lights all around the wrought iron railing that surrounds the patio. We can see it from the kitchen, dining room, and from one window in the living room. It’s so festive, and I’m now definitely in the holiday spirit.

Today is my brother-in-law’s birthday and a week from today is my brother’s birthday. I almost always do duplicate (or almost) cards for them. When Simon Says hosted it’s STAMPtember event where they offer exclusive designs from major stamp companies, I caved only once. As soon as I saw the Gina K Stay Cozy set, I knew it would be perfect for masculine cards. 

Since these are winter birthdays, I decided on an ink blended background splattered with white for snow. The Gina K Master Layout #5 was the perfect window for the scene.

I die cut the window frame with the larger die in Gina K’s Master Layout #1 (one of the most used dies in my collection) and adding some foam tape for dimension. The sentiment came from Honey Bee’s Stay Still set of sentiments. 

There are several NBUS items used on this card. The Gina K Stay Cozy, the Gina K Master Layout #5, as well the Pinkfresh Studio 1″ blending brushes which I received as part of the August Create and Connect event. I’ve had the Master Layout #5 for a couple of years, and why I haven’t used those brushes before is beyond me! They are fabulous, and I just ordered three more during Simon Says Black Friday sale. 

As luck would have it, this card fits three challenges: The Paper Players: Be A Deer, Shopping Our Stash: Masculine, and Seize the Birthday: Masculine. I’ll also send these off to Darnell’s NBUS challenge.