The Creative Crafters Challenge #97

 Good day my Crafty friends! I hope all is well and that you are creating some crafty time for yourself. I try to get creative at least 3 times a week. It helps that I'm on the DT to some fun and easy challenges. Today I'm showcasing my DT card for The Creative Crafters Challenge #97.

As always, we keep things simple and fun and our challenge is ANYTHING GOES. It doesn't even need to be a card, any paper project hand-made by you counts.  

 As soon as I saw this new Suite Collection in the pre-order for the March Exclusives, I didn't hesitate to put in my cart. Both my grandsons are playing home league indoor soccer. It's a pleasure to watch them play. My husband was a soccer player till his mid forties and to say he is fan of  the sport is just putting it mildly! Fan isn't enough to describe it but hooligan is too much. 

I coloured the jersey with red stripe for his favourite team: Olympiacos, one of Greece's great teams.

 Products used:

• Stamp Set: Match Day
• Card Stock: Real Red, Basic White
• DSP: A Wonderful Match
• Ink Pads: Memento
• Stampin' Blends: Real Red
• Accessories: Match Day dies, Wonderful Stars Puffy stickers, Stampin' Dimensionals

I like to finish the card set with a matching inside and envelope. It's a little extra but it doesn't take long. Keep it simple! A coordinating image and a strip of DSP is enough to make it special.

Hope you enjoyed my card today and that it motivates you to get creative. We all need a little me time, why not get crafty?? Upload your project for this week's Anything Goes theme on The Creative Crafters challenge.

Krafty Chicks Challenge #807: CHRISTMAS

 Happy Krafty Chicks Thursday to you!

Time for another great challenge from the Krafty Chicks Challenge Blog. Welcome to week 2 of our challenges and that's to use a CHRISTMAS or any holiday/winter theme on your project. I chose to put the spotlight on Christmas this week!

 #807 CHRISTMAS

I wanted a CAS design so I went looking for a layout on one of my favourite sites: Freshly Made Sketches and settled with #201

I knew right away which stamp set and which DSP to play with. And from there the card quickly came together.

Products used:

• Stamp Set: Beary Cute
• Card Stock: Balmy Blue, Basic White
• DSP:  A Walk In The Forest
• Ink Pads: Memento, Garden Green
• Stampin' Blends: Smoky Slate
• Accessories: Bear Punch, Glitter sequins, Stampin' Dimensionals
   

 

I like to keep the inside of the card and the envelope clean and simple, I stamped a coordinating image and a little more DSP. Quick and easy and done.

 

Head on over to the Krafty Chicks Challenge Blog for more details about the challenge and for more inspiration for CHRISTMAS week from the Design Team. There's even a place to upload your project at the end. I hope you play along with us and show us what's happening in your craft space.

Here's a direct link to our wonderful Design Team's personal blogs:

Leanne's Blog

Denise's Blog

Lori's Blog

Krafty Chicks Challenge #806: BIRTHDAY

Happy Krafty Chicks Thursday to you! 

It's the beginning of February! Let's start it off with a great challenge. Week one brings us a BIRTHDAY theme on the Krafty Chicks Challenge Blog. Create any paper craft with a birthday theme, male, female, kids, card, scrapbook or even home decor. We hope to see you in the gallery.

#806 BIRTHDAY

I dusted off the February 2025 Paper Pumpkin to follow through with my goal of reducing the pile of orange boxes. There isn't much left in the kit after this play session.

 

Products used:

• Stamp Set: Hello Spring Paper Pumpkin 2025, 12 Days of the Crafting Advent Calendar
• Card Stock: Old Olive, Balmy Blue, Basic White
• DSP: Hello Spring Paper Pumpkin 2025
• Ink Pads: Old Olive
• Accessories: Streaked Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

 

 No card is complete without finishing the inside of the card and the envelope. Keep it simple with a little card stock and/or coordinating image.

 Head on over to the Krafty Chicks Challenge Blog for more details about the challenge and for more inspiration for BIRTHDAY week from the Design Team. There's even a place to upload your project at the end. I hope you play along with us and show us what's happening in your craft space.

Here's a direct link to our wonderful Design Team's personal blogs:

Leanne's Blog

Denise's Blog

Lori's Blog

Krafty Chicks Challenge #805: ATG (Anything Goes)

  Happy Krafty Chicks Thursday to you!

Because January has a fifth Thursday, we have an ANYTHING GOES theme on the Krafty Chicks Challenge blog. One of the easiest challenges because you can have any theme you like. But this year, we've added a twist: EMBOSSING. Add an embossed element to your project. It can be a card, (fancy fold even), a treat package, home decor, or a scrapbook page. Literally ANYTHING GOES...with EMBOSSING!

 #805 ANYTHING GOES

 

 

This time around I created a Thank You card. I noticed in December that I didn't have enough in my stash to give away to the Stocking For Seniors program in my area. I normally donate a package of 4 cards (Christmas, Birthday, Thank You, and Thinking Of You). This time, I was short 27 thank you cards and 33 thinking of you. I won't let that happen this Christmas. I actually made two card, one in each orientation, one on a black base and one on a white card base. Both using the same embossing folder.

 

This picture doesn't show it well but the sunflowers are created using an embossing folder and sponge daubers to colour the debossed side of the flowers. Then I lightly swiped a black ink pad on the raised "negative" to fill in the background. I love the effect!

 Here is a close up of my first attempt. I thought I pressed to hard and the black ink touched the flower petals some. Hence why I created a second one.

 

 

But my second attempt got the same results, just maybe not as much. I'm thinking it's due to the large area of the debossed petals. I'm not going to sweat it though, both cards look great.
 

Products used

• Stamp set: Celebrate Sunflowers (for the inside of the card and envelope) (retired)
• Card Stock: Basic White, Thick Basic White or Basic Black, Crushed Curry
• Ink Pads: Memento or VersaFine, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie 
  
• Accessories: Sunflower embossing folder (non SU), Amazing Thanks Dies (retired), Sponge Daubers, Adhesive Sheets

 

 

I like to keep the inside of the card and the envelope clean and simple with a coordinating stamped image. But I didn't feel like colouring (I know, shocking) and the sponge daubers were right there. I'd say they did a good job of adding colour.  

Head on over to the Krafty Chicks Challenge Blog for more details about the challenge and for more inspiration for ANYTHING GOES week from the Design Team. There's even a place to upload your project at the end. I hope you play along with us and show us what's happening in your craft space.

Here's a direct link to our wonderful Design Team's personal blogs:

Leanne's Blog

Denise's Blog

Lori's Blog

 

Krafty Chicks Challenge #804: MASCULINE

  Happy Krafty Chicks Thursday to you!

 

 Welcome to another great challenge week from the Krafty Chicks Challenge Blog. MASCULINE is the theme this week and good luck to you. I struggle with cards for men. I love flowers and frills so I tend to buy more feminine stamp sets and play with those. I'll have to dig deep for masculine stamp set and dust them off before playing. Here we go!

 #804 MASCULINE

This stamp set was out on loan for so long, that when I got it back this week, I just had to play with it. Long time no see my friend! And since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I went with a lovey-dovey theme.

 

Products used:

• Stamp Set: A Good Man (retired)
• Card Stock: Soft Seafoam, Balmy Blue, Granny Apple Green, Basic White
• DSP: Dandy Designs (retired) 
• Ink Pads: Memento, Granny Apple Green, Soft Seafoam
• Stampin' Blends: Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lolly, Real Red, Afternoon Azure, Crumb Cake, Medium-Light
• Accessories: Paper Snip Scissors, Meant To Bee Dies, Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies, Streaked Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals
   

 I kept the inside of the card and the envelope clean and simple by just adding some DSP.

Head on over to the Krafty Chicks Challenge Blog for more details about the challenge and for more inspiration from the Design Teamfor MASCULINE week . There's even a place to upload your project at the end. I hope you play along with us and show us what's happening in your craft space.

Here's a direct link to our wonderful Design Team's personal blogs:

Leanne's Blog

Denise's Blog

Lori's Blog

The Creative Crafters Challenge #96

 Good day my Crafty friends! I hope all is well and that you are creating some crafty time for yourself. I see lots of playtime in my craft space for this year.

So I did a thing! Same thing I did last year. I joined a new challenge blog. I'm a new member of the Design Team (DT) for The Creative Crafters challenge group. EEKKK!!! It's a wonderful group of crafty people creating and motivating the viewers to participate in the easy Anything Goes challenge . New challenges start on the 15th of every month. That's your cue! Go, get in your craft space and start creating, then share with the world in The Creative Crafters Gallery.

 For my first card of the year, I'm playing with my 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar gifts from Stampin' Up!. (They are still available if you want one.) And I'm using one of the Inspirational Layouts on page 17 of the new Mini January- April 2026 Catalogue.  

If you go to my Facebook Business page you will see the unboxing of every gift over the 12 days of Christmas (December 25-January 5). The products are worth the cost. The only thing I may not use are the small puffy stickers but then again I might see someone else do something fun with them.

 

 Products used:

• Stamp Set: 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar (Last chance list, while quantities last)
• Card Stock: Thick Basic White, Old Olive
• DSP: 12 Days of Crafting Advent Calendar
• Ink Pads: VersaMark, Flirty Flamingo, Old Olive, Crushed Curry
• Accessories: Heat Tool, White Embossing Powder, Gold Flowers sequins, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

I like to finish the card set with a matching inside and envelope. It's a little extra but it doesn't take long. Keep it simple!

Hope you enjoyed my card today and that it motivates you to get creative. We all need a little me time, why not get crafty?? Upload your project for this week's Anything Goes theme on The Creative Crafters challenge.

Krafty Chicks Challenge #802: CAS

  Happy Krafty Chicks Thursday to you!

Are you ready for this week's challenge?? On the third week of the month, I'm the hostess and we are looking for CAS. I always have a difficult time with the true CAS design of lots of white space but I've come to realized after all this time that there's a wide interpretation to CAS (Clean And Simple). So just have fun with it.

#803 CAS

Another goal of mine for this year is to use up the extra card kits I have. I know I will find this challenging as I like to create, not necessarily stamp and assemble. So we will see how that goes. This kit was from March 21, 2024.

 Another CAS design. I ditched the ribbon and added an Old Olive matte. I think this was one of my best TRUE CAS cards. *honk,honk* (tooting my own horn).

Products used:

• Stamp Set: With You In Mind
• Card Stock: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Basic White
• Ink Pads: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive
• Accessories: Gems (retired), Stampin' Dimensionals
   

No card is complete without finishing the inside with a coordinating image. Same goes for the envelope. Keep it simple!

Want some more inspiration?? Go check out the Krafty Chicks Challenge Blog to see what the Design Team has created. Hope you play along and upload your project so that we can see what's happening in your craft space. Here's a direct link to our wonderful Design Team's personal blogs:

Leanne's Blog

Denise's Blog

Lori's Blog