Mixed Media Monday ~ Altered Envelope

I belong to a group message board over at A Cherry On Top and recently there was a challenge to make an altered envelope or postcard.  This proved to be such a fun first time crafty experience for me!

I started with a business sized envelope that had a window opening in it.  I cut the envelope down on the short side and made a flap with a string closure and a very old brad.  I covered the entire envelope with scraps of scrapbook paper.  The flower images were fussy cut from a magazine.  Yes, I did all the fussy cutting!!  I think I'm getting better at it.  ;0)   Then I distressed and added stamping and stickers.

The floral "postage stamp" and "Sweet Blooms" banner were cut from the same magazine.  I had so much fun with this challenge!  I'm already working on another altered envelope. 

That's it from me today!  A quick post to hopefully start your week off with a smile!

I'll be adding this project to the following challenges:

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Try It On Tuesday ~ Pretty Papers

Art Journal Journey ~ Come Fly With Me

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Shell-ebrate!!

Hi friends~  I was cleaning my craft space when I got side tracked by the box of die cuts that are all assembled and just waiting to be used.  Do you do that?  Cut a bunch of dies out for a particular project, but you keep cutting since you're right there.  Then assemble all the dies in assembly line style.  I'm always left with extra die cut shapes, ready to be used for a future project. Then,when I'm feeling crafty but uninspired I go through the box of die cuts and just start using up scraps from my scrap box and die cut box.  

Enter this card!  This little crustacean has been hiding out in my die cut box for a very long time.  Probably since last summer.  It's time he make an appearance on a CAS card.

 

He's the crab from Elizabeth Craft Design.  I found this tropical leaf, which I believe is from Echo Park, in the box of die cuts as well.  He's waving the leaf like a flag in shell-ebration of something special. 

Needless to say, I didn't get very far cleaning my craft room.  But I used up some of my scraps to make this card.  Now that's a reason to "shell-ebrate"!

I'll be entering this card into the following challenges:

Cut It Up Challenge ~ Animals On Parade

Crafty Chicks Challenge ~ All Occasions

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ~ Anything Goes

Sisterhood of Crafters ~ Tropical

Thanks for stopping by!

House Mouse ~ Float Your Boat

I think I've been bitten by the House Mouse bug!  Ever since I discovered the House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge blog, I've been wanting to participate every week.  

This week, they're looking for a bit of sparkle.

Try as I might, I could not capture the generous dose of Wink of Stella I added to the flower that little Maxwell is holding.  I did however, add a couple strips of glittery washi tape to add more sparkle.

He's offering boat rides for .05 cents, however no one can seem to wake him from his cheesy dreamland.  

You can join in on the fun here.

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge

Thanks for stopping by!

Peach Tea Anyone? ~ Mixed Media Monday ~

Hello friends! How are you bearing up with all the heat?  Here on the east coast, we've had more than our fair share of rain, however on the days that the sun has peeked through, it's been very hot and humid.  So, how about a nice, cold glass of peach tea?  It's been quite some time since I've shared a Mixed Media Monday post, so here I am with a new entry in my Create Happiness Art Journal.

This sweet page is filled with papers and ephemera from Prima Marketing Peach Tea collection.

The Peach Tea collection is filled with soft pastel colors and wonderful vintage style ephemera that I love!  The bird etching is a transparent rub-on.  I love how the patterns and colors show through, but the bird image is still crisp and visible.  

I did some random stamping using stamps from Spring Vintage of Winter Time Crafts, that I found on Amazon.

This page actually came together very quickly.

I hope you enjoyed today's quick post.  I find art journaling so relaxing.  I hope you'll be encouraged to start an art journal or planner of your own too!

All these products can be found at A Cherry On Top!

Prima Marketing Peach Tea Collection
Peach Tea 6x6 Paper
Peach Tea Ephemera
Rub-Ons
Art Journals & Planners

Stay cool!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lawn Fawn How You Bean Seashell Add-on ~ ScrapbookPal

Summer is my favorite season.  Living on the east coast we have rugged rocky coasts and sandy beaches.  One thing I enjoy doing, which I don't do enough, is going to sit by the oceans edge and just be still.

I recently had the pleasure of working with Lawn Fawn's summer release.  My assignment was How You Bean Seashell Add-on Stamps & coordinating Lawn Cuts, through ScrapbookPal.

These stamps and dies are right up my coastal alley!  

Here's how I made my cards:  

I started by stamping all the seashell images onto 80# Neenah Solar White cardstock scraps that I pulled out of my scrap box.  This is a great way to use up some of the smaller pieces of cardstock that are leftover from other projects but are too big to toss away.  I then colored them with Copic Markers.

Next, I die cut them all out using the How You Bean Seashell Add-on Lawn Cuts.  You can see I amassed quite a pile of them. 

 

Next, using the Nuvo Smooth Precision Glue Pen, I randomly applied glue and then sprinkled each shell with Elizabeth Craft Designs Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter.

Card #1:

For the first card, I stenciled a very light background onto an A2 sized kraft cardstock base, using a swirly stencil I had in my stash.  I then added a strip of weathered wood design paper and simply layered all the shells along the bottom of the strip.  This image could possibly reflect the results of my collecting seashells all day at the beach.

I stamped the sentiment from How You Bean Seashell Add-on Stamps to the lower right corner.  

Card #2:

I used the Beach Sunset Stencils to create a warm, sunny background for card #2.  I needed enough sand along the bottom of the card panel for the seashells to land, so I slid the cardstock through the sandy part of the stencil so that I could extend the sand, and stenciled on Brushed Corduroy DOX Ink.

I then finished stenciling the rest of the scene using Salvaged Patina, Broken China, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn and Vintage Photo DOX Inks.

In Focus:

I glued the seashells onto the sand and added flecks of sand using a fine tip brown marker, and stamped the sentiment just above the sunrise.

Two summer cards just perfect for celebrating the all-to-short summer season here on the east coast, and I still have lots of leftover die cut images all ready to use for a future project.

I've linked all the supplies I used below, that can be found at ScrapbookPal.com:

Lawn Fawn How You Bean Seashell Add-on Stamps

Lawn Fawn How You Bean Seashell Add-on Lawn Cuts

Lawn Fawn Beach Sunset Stencils

Distress Oxide Inks

Nuvo Smooth Precision Glue Pen

Copic Markers

I hope you'll stop in for a visit at ScrapbookPal, and while you're there check out there New Arrivals and what's Coming Soon.  They also have an extensive line of wonderful products in their Clearance section.

*Affiliate disclosure: I only use, review, and blog about products/companies I like and will continue to use. Some of the products shown on my blog use affiliate links. These affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission when products are purchased through those links. *This is at no cost to you! * Please do not feel obligated to use my affiliate links. If you choose to use these links, thank you so much! It helps support my blog and bring new content to you.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas In July ~ Double D Challenges

Top o' the mornin' to ya, friends!  We're in the midst of summer and Double D Challenges is trying to cool things off by bringing you Christmas In July.

Several months ago, I was the winner of this darling little car die from Marleen Van Der Most, of Handmade by Marleen.  She is one of the amazing designers of Marianne Designs Dies.  

I went right to work cutting and piecing the car, and the little mouse family together.  I wanted this to look like it was a crazy, chaotic ride to grandma mouse's house on Christmas Eve.  That was our Christmas tradition when I was growing up and we held on to the tradition when we all had kids.  Christmas Eve at Grammy & Grampa's house.  We were a lively bunch when we all got together and controlled chaos was the norm.  These memories are all so dear to me now that both of my parents are gone.  

I stenciled the background with soft pink clouds, because I'm sure the clouds are pink in heaven!  You've got tiny mouse climbing up the tree in the back seat, where the tree is poking out the sunroof window.  Gifts and hats are flying off in the excitement to get to grandma's house, while mama mouse is trying to keep her wits about her.

The sentiment in my mind is a bit of tongue in cheek, as this ride looks like anything but peaceful but it's certainly joyful!

I do hope you'll swing by Double D Challenges to see more fun inspiration from the talented design team.  I for one am thankful to have one card to add to my Christmas card pile, as I'm a known procrastinator when it comes to getting my Christmas cards done in time for Christmas.  

Here's a little inspiration to help you get started:

And here's what you could win when you play along:

Thanks for stopping by!

House Mouse ~ Beach Time!

Good morning friends.  A couple of weeks ago, I was introduced to the House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge.   I've only played along once, until today.  You can create a project with the idea that "Anything Goes", but there's always a theme option.  

This week's theme option is to use a circle, so you'll see I've used a few.

I found this image online and printed it on my home printer, then colored it using Copic markers.  I cut the image out using a stitched circle die and mounted it to a scalloped circle card base.

Including the beach ball, I've used three circles.

I hope you'll check out the challenge.  If you don't have any House Mouse images, there are lots of printable images available on the internet.  I printed this onto 80# Neenah solar white cardstock and it went through my printer just fine.

You can find the challenge below.  I do hope you'll check them out!

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge ~ Anything goes with the option of using a circle.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Cool Tone Florals ~ ScrapbookPal July API

While I was away from home for five weeks back in May, I had very limited supplies  on hand to get creative with.  Armed with three Distress Oxide Ink colors and Pinkfresh Studio’s “With Love” stamps, die & stencils and their Rounded Braided Rectangle die, I was able to create three beautiful card designs.

I started by stamping out the floral and leaf images using Pinkfresh Studio "With Love" stamp set. Using the coordinating stencils, I blending on the Distress Oxide Ink colors in Salvaged Patina, Shabby Shutters and Unchartered Mariner. These three colors pair beautifully together!! I lightly stenciled the flower using Unchartered Mariner and then went heavier using the detailed part of the stencil in the same color.

I had brought along my Sizzix Sidekick for die cutting, so I was limited to the size of dies I could use for cutting out the images.  I had to fussy cut the flowers and leaves but was able to die cut the beautiful Pinkfresh Studio "Rounded Braided Rectangle" frame out of soft blue cardstock.  The washi tape die is part of the "With Love" stencil and die set.  It's super cute!

I finished this card when I got home and had access to all my supplies, so I cut the larger Rounded Braided Rectangle frame and layered them both with gold mirror cardstock and tucked in a small paper doily from my stash.

I added sequins from my stash for finishing touches on these cards.  

Being away from home for an extended period of time and having very limited supplies on hand to create with, I learned that sometimes less is more.  But it sure is nice to be home and back in my happy place, playing with paper and glue.

You can find all these supplies and more at ScrapbookPal.com

Pinkfresh Studio "With Love" Clear Stamps
"With Love" Stencils
"With Love" Die
Pinkfresh Studio Rounded & Braided Rectangle
Distress Oxide Inks
Honeybee Stamps Blender Brush

Thanks for stopping by!

Beautifully Stenciled Christmas Florals ~ Spellbinders

Hello friends ~  I'm delighted to be sharing today's cards I made using products from Spellbinders newest Classic Christmas release.  

I had the opportunity to work with the Christmas Florals Stencils & Sentiments dies.  Can I just say, I'm smitten with this stencil set!  I pulled out so many colors of Distress Oxides Inks, my craft room was one big mess, haha! But one good mess.  ;0)  Let me show you the cards I made.

Card #1:  

I did all the stenciling for three cards I'm sharing with you today using the following colors of DOX inks:  Salvaged Patina, Broken China, Worn Lipstick, Candied Apple, Dried Marigold, Rusty Hinge, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint and Walnut Stain.  

In Focus:

Christmas Florals is a 5 stencil set and the details are incredible!!  I cut the first panel out using the coordinating die set, which includes all the finely cut sentiments you'll see on each card.  I cut two layers using the die to add stability and thickness to the card.  Check out that sentiment strip.  I love the delicate lettering on the sentiment dies!

Card #2:  

I die cut the stenciled image out again for card #2 and simply mounted it onto a layered card base using black and red. 
The red card really pops in real life!

Card #3:

For the third card, I wanted to keep the panel whole, just mounting it to an A2 sized card base.  Easy peasy!!

Thank you for starting your week off with me and spending part of your day visiting my blog.  I appreciate you guys!!  

I hope you enjoyed your visit here today, and I especially hope you'll stop by Spellbinders to see their entire Classic Christmas release and all the New Arrivals.

I've linked the products I used today below, for your convenience:

Spellbinders
Christmas Florals Stencils
Christmas Florals Stencil & Die Bundle

While you're there, be sure to check out what's Coming Soon.  They also always have a wonderful selection of items in their Clearance section.

Hope your week is blessed.

Thanks for stopping by!