Upcycling

Another Christmas card completed! This one features a gorgeous, glittery ornament that I am recycling/upcycling from a card I received a few years ago. I see it every time I go looking for Christmas embellishments in a manila folder I keep, and I finally put it to use.

The base card might look familiar to you -- I used it for a recent PINspirational Challenge card, and as I noted on that post, it's part of a wedding or save- the-day kit I picked up for a mere quarter at a yard sale. For this card, however, I ditched the bride and groom and went with a black/white/gold color scheme.  The sentiment was stamped multiple times and embossed in a glitter gold EP. I also added the gold cording to the ornament, which is popped up on foam tape.

This card is for these challenges:
Rudolph Days -- Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #443-- anything Christmas
Crafting By Designs -- getting ready for Christmas
Word Art Wednesday #392 -- anything goes
Crafty Sentiments -- anything goes

Christmas pattern

         I've made another Christmas card, this one inspired by the current sketch at Sketch Saturday, mainly because it gave me a chance to showcase this lovely piece of patterned paper. The paper comes from a small mat pack I got at Michael's a few years ago, and I don't think I've used it before because I didn't want to cover it up.
         The card also showcases a couple of snippets -- a green strip cut from a snippet from that same mat pack, and a black snippet that was the perfect size for the white-embossed sentiment. (Sentiments is from Whimsy Stamps, I think.  Sorry for the uncertainty -- my stamps are downstairs and I'm upstairs.)

This card is for these challenges:
Pixie's Snippet Playground #354-- use snippets
Sketch Saturday #568 -- sketch
Winter Wonderland -- use red and green
Craftyhazenut's Christmas Challenge #422 -- anything Christmas
Christmas Crafts All Year Round -- garlands, leaves, Christmas Flowers
Double D -- Pick a Pattern
Word Art Wednesday #392 -- anything goes
Craftyhazenut's Patterned Paper Challenge-- use patterned paper

Celebrate things

Another PINspirational Challenge has been posted, and it's all about love. This would be a great inspiration if you need to make a wedding or anniversary card for June. Or if you just want to celebrate love. Or if it inspires you in another direction -- just follow the inspiration and link up your project on the PINspirational blog.

I made a wedding card. I guess this might be considered a "semi-homemade card" like those semi-homemade recipes. In my stash, I had a little box (purchased at a yard sale) that contained blank cards that have black-and-white stripes, plus cutouts of bride and groom clothing, so I decided to use them but to jazz them up with a few touches of my own. I added the sentiment (from an old SU set) in silver embossing, plus I placed some pearls on the dress and added a row of gorgeous lace to the card. (Here's a photo showing the details). The cut-out is on foam tape so it's got a little dimension.

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- weddings
Catch the Bug -- bingo (lace, monochromatic, sentiment)
Word Art Wednesday #390 -- anything goes
Crafty Sentiments -- Anything goes

Butterflies at the gate

The current Butterfly Challenge includes the option to make a gatefold card. I hadn't made one in a while and so I decided to take the challenge.  This card uses a piece that straddles the gatefold for the main features of the card, which is a die-cut flourish (which could be a branch) and a die-cut butterfly.
The deets: white cardstock cut vertically to 4.25x11 inches, then folded to make the gatefold. Snippets of a Cosmos Cricket patterned paper used on both flaps. Die-cut Granny Smith-colored snippet stamped with the sentiment (from Faerie Song stamps, ink is Ranger Slate), with the butterfly cut from snippets of gold vellum. (I cut two and layered them just to give the butterfly a little more substance).  I used some dots of glitter on the butterfly.

This card is for these challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #123 -- gatefold, gold, Granny Smith
Word Art Wednesday #390 -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper

Dads

The newest challenge is up at PINspirational Challenge. Hope you can join us for the challenge -- it's an opportunity to jump start your brain for a Father's Day card. Just create a project inspired by the inspiration photo (left).

I chose to use this sweet penguin image for my card. I like the black-and-white of the inspiration pin, but I wanted to add a little color as well. I'm not sure who made that penguin stamp (it's old). I stamped with Tuxedo black ink and added a little color with pencil. I chose to use the scalloped circle to add more color. The background is a snippet of a B&W printed paper (also old).

This card is entering these challenges:
Word Art Wednesday #388 -- anything goes
Crafts Galore Encore #64 anything goes
Pammie's Inky Pinkies #1922 -- anything goes
Catch the Bug -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper
Crafting by Designs -- anything goes