Be Creative and Enjoy Creative Crafters in November

   The Creative  Crafters starts a monthly challenge every 15th of the month and I've made a Christmas card as inspiration for this month. 

This challenge is always "Anything Goes".  
Be sure to join The Creative  Crafters challenge! 

I thought I would like this tree die, but guess what?  I LOVE this die.  So easy - only two dies and I just spread snow on top of the white layer.  (TRUE SNOW, that is). You could use glitter paper too.  This is the first time I've used the tree.  It's perfect for filling an A2 card size.

Front of Card

Inside of Card (even easy for me - LOL) 

Supplies:
Kat Scrappiness Snowy Layering Christmas Tree Craft Dies
Karen Burniston House and Fence Pop-Up

Aleene's True Snow
Distress Ink
Copic markers

I'm entering the following challenges:
NBUS (Never-Before-Used-Schtuff) - the dies

Love to Craft Challenge ‘ “Always Anything Goes” (4/8)

Mix It Up Challenge Blog Anything Goes” no w opt twist (4/8)

A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes UNLimited (11-2025)

Merry Little Christmas Challenge (always Anything Christmas Goes) 6

The 12 months of Christmas challenge - "Anything goes" no w/opt twist

December Card Chain Challenge

It's all in for the Card Chain Challenge in December!  I can't wait to see everyone's interpretation of the grids in their diagonal, vertical or horizontal choices. 

Let's start with the my choice of line or diagonal.  I chose:

Slim Line: I made a Slim Line card with Whimsy cardstock
Sleigh: My sleigh is one of Elizabeth Craft Design's (ECD) sleighs
Stencil: A Snow stencil was used with Aleene's True Snow
Sparkle: Nuvo - Glitter Drops - White Blizzard in the windows
Santa: Whimsy digital stamp set - Santa

This really was so much fun to work on, but I had taped the greeting paper to the wrong side and had to pull it up.  That's why there are two pieces of thin paper on the inside pages.  
The packages on the outside were made of a pretty package that held stamping products.  LOL

Inside of card

Supplies:
Whimsy Designer Paper "Frozen"
Whimsy digital stamp set "Christmas is Coming" 
ECD Santa's Sleigh, (there were 2 other Santa's sleighs that I have.  The sleight and presents on the front are from this set while some packages on the inside from from an older sleigh set.  
Stencil:  I don't have the package anymore for the snow
Sentiments: I think they are both ECD.

I'm entering the following challenges.

Love to Craft Challenge ‘ “Always Anything Goes” (3/8)

Mix It Up Challenge Blog Anything Goes” w/o monochrome opt (3/8)

A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes UNLimited

Crafts Galore Encore - "Anything goes" (monthly - (3/3)

September Reveal for Card Chain Challenge

 Reveal Time for the Card Chain Challenge

When I saw the Inlaid Die Cut option, I knew that's where my heart was.  I wasn't sure of exactly what die I was going to use, but...  I used the postage stamp dies.  I never used the inside dies before and I thought why not now.  I inserted white panels into the empty spaces "inlaid them" and it worked out great.  There is one inlay under the lamp shade that doesn't show up, but the other two are at the bottom left.  I used Nuvo drops on the flowers under the lamp and on top of the tree to give this more depth, although I did pop up the entire Postage die.

Even thought there are inside and outside items on the card, I still think it's cohesive.

Why don't you join us?  Sign up here, 
but be sure to mail your homemade card.

Supplies:

Waffle Flower Postage Collage Die
Waffle Flower Postage Collage Blocks Stencil
Waffle Flower Postage Collage Coloring Stencil
My Favorite Things Our Story

My Favorite Things Adorable Elephants
Nuvo Crystal Drops - Copper Penny 

Distress Ink Worn Lipstick
Copic markers
Vagabond die cut machine

I'm entering the following challenges:

Love To Scrap Challenge Anything Goes (7/8) The Outlawz Twisted Thursday Challenge - ATG w/Option 
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge "Anything Goes" #581 (3/3) Polkadoodle's Craft Challenge "Anything Goes" Wk 39
Digi Choosday - "Anything Goes" Wk 38
A Place to Start - Anything Goes

Julia Spiri and Antique Cars

 World Wide Open Design Team Challenge

You MUST be a DT on any Design Team in the World to be eligible to enter this Challenge ~ New exception rule, this challenge is now open to any of Julia Spiri Facebook Members, and you are not required to be on a DT.

I found myself falling in love with this antique car and the cute couple sitting therein.  They look like they're ready to enjoy the highway and wonderful spring weather.  I used Copic markers and made a couple mistakes on the car and so had to deepen the colors and also some places I would have wanted to have more shine.  But I really do like this little card and the couple tootling along in it.

The challenge runs from April 15th through May 12th, Sydney Time Zone 7:00 a.m. or if you're in California, like me, The challenge starts on a Wednesday, April 14, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight. 

Supplies:

Julia Spiri Newlyweds on a Cabriolet 

Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched Rectangles

Little B Handwritten (hello die is part of the set)

My Favorite Things Cloud Stencil

Copic markers

Distress Ink Blueprint Sketch

Vagabond die cut machine

I am entering the following challenges:

Digi Choosday - "Anything Goes"  Wk 15

Through The Craft Room Door “Anything Goes”

Colour Crazy - "Anything Goes" Wk 14

Crafty Sentiments - "Anything Goes"

The House That Stamps Built - A1421 (Signs of Spring)

Pammie's Inky Pinkies  "Anything Goes"- #2115

A Father's Day Card

My friend Nancy Edwards used the cutest image for a card she is giving her husband (on Facebook) and I had to have it.  I love Nancy's coloring and all the special things she did to make her card an EVENT worth celebrating for Father's Day.  Visit Nancy at Pink Panoply to see her gorgeous card.

I stenciled the background with "wall paper" and I'll call the floor a "rug".  The image was easy to fussy cut and I adhered it with glue-dots so the image would not be pressed close to the paper.  I was going to pop it up on foam, but actually forgot to do so in my enthusiasm to put the card together.  I'm very happy with the results.

I think this is a picture of a guy relaxing on the weekend with a cool something in his hand to ward off the summer heat. 

Close-up below

Supplies:
Mo's Digital Pencil (image)
Distress Inks: Mermaid Lagoon & Frayed Burlap
Die-namics Blueprints 11 (YOU ROCK die-cut)
Little B Handwritten (congrats die-cut)
The Crafters Workshop.com (TCW) stencil for the wall & Kite stencil for the floor
Copic markers
Glitter paper
Vagabond die cut machine

I'd like to enter the following challenges:
Make My Monday: Summer Activities
Sweet Stampin': Diecuts/Punches with stamp
My Time to Craft: Summertime

Thinking of Hero Arts Tiger Lily

Be sure to check A2Z Scrapbooking for the challenge this month.  You can't do better than an "Anything Goes" challenge, now, can you?

I think I sponged Mustard Seed distress ink through the stencil on the entire background panel.  I had created this flower more than a year ago and knew I wanted to use it this month with my newly created lilies for this month.  I wanted a more CAS style card, but with the flower popping off the page.  I quite like the style which is entirely different from my other tiger lily cards this month.  My first card was posted on our A2Z September 1st post and the second card on the September 3rd post.
I think most stencils such as the Hero Arts Scrollwork stencil would work well with this flower.  It's a simple design that can be repeated over and over again.

Close-up

I used a similar design and background on the card below September 1, 2018.

Be sure to go shopping with my discount code Arlene15 to get 15% off your purchase of $25 or more.



 Please join us in this month’s “Anything Goes” challenge for your chance at a free digital stamp set AND, if you used Hero Arts or Sugartree Stamps, a $20 gift card to our etsy store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month
. Use my discount code Arlene15 to get 15% off your purchase of 
$25 or more.

• Hero Arts Tiger Lily at A2Z Scrapbooking Stamp and Die Set here
• Hero Arts Tiger Lily Die-Cut at A2Z Scrapbooking here
• Hero Arts Spiral Stencil at Hero Arts
• Hero Arts stamp set Everyday Sayings - sentiment
• Flower - unsure which Hero Arts inks I used
• Vagabond die cut machine

Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

It's THAT TIME of the Year!  

National Coffee Day

There will be a National Day Coffee Loving Cardmaker's Blog Hop time right here

And Over at A2Z , you can catch some of the DTs dipping their spoons into their favorite beverages too.  Kristina has her own brew and a list of the other DT brews here too.

"A2z Scrapbooking is giving away one $25 gift card to the store. Leave a comment on a2z Scrapbooking coffee blog post, on this post and/or any of my teammate's blog posts by October 7, 2018 11:59 pm Pacific time. Winner will be announced October 8, 2018 on the a2z Scrapbooking Supplies blog."

Close-up below

I sponged frayed burlap all over the woodgrain die-cut and then thought it too light so added some touches of vintage photo.  I wanted to use my new stencil and create a nice design on the cup and tattered rose seemed the perfect color for an old-fashioned cup of cocoa, coffee or tea.  The rest kind of fell into place.  I used a lot of different dies on this, but I am SO HAPPY I purchased the new HA Woodgrain Die.because you can also emboss with the die - here is a YouTube video.

Remember your 15% discount - discount code Arlene15 to get 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. check out this post at A2Z Scrapbooking.

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don't miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements!

Please join us in this month’s "Clean and Simple" challenge.   As you know, we’ve changed our rules a bit and participants are no longer required to use Hero Arts products to enter our challenges. Each month we feature a ‘Digi of the Month’ which will be the prize offered to our randomly-chosen challenge winner from our Hero Arts store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month

The a2z scrapbooking store carries a wide variety of Hero Arts products! Get discounted new releases, sales, grab bags & more. Proceeds from our store benefit Celiac & Behcets disease foundations. Use my discount code Arlene15 to get 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. If you're looking for a Hero Arts product you don't see in store, use the Request Custom Order button from with-in the shop.

• Hero Arts Scrollwork Stencil
• Hero Arts Woodgrain Texture Fancy Die
• Sugartree Hug in a Mug digital stamp set
• Elizabeth Craft Design Hot Chocolate (rising steam)
• Die-namics Stitched Oval STAX
• Spellbinders Shapeablilites On the Edge (an old set)
• Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo distress inks on the die-cut & Tattered Rose on the cup
• Nuvo Crystal Drops Gloss - Simply White

Monochrome at A2Z Scrapbooking

I love the butterflies and spiral stencil from Hero Arts and putting the two together works so well.

It's a monochrome challenge at A2Z Scrapbooking and when I was making this card, I wasn't paying attention to the colors, just putting them together for fun.  I love when that happens.  Please join the challenge at A2Z Scrapbooking.

I usually fill in all the holes in this stencil, but I'm trying to be open to different techniques, such as leaving white space.  AND I like it.    Using an Ombre ink will allow for a design with three different ink colors in one ink pad and you know they will MATCH.  I used only the Ombre ink and VersaFine ink on this card, meaning I didn't have to make any major ink choices.

Close-up

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don't miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements!




Please join us in this month’s "Monochrome" challenge for your chance at a free digital stamp AND, if you used Hero Arts, a $20 gift card to our Hero Arts store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month



The a2z scrapbooking store carries a wide variety of Hero Arts products! Get discounted new releases, sales, grab bags & more. Proceeds from our store benefit Celiac & Behcets disease foundations. Use my discount code Arlene15 to get 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. If you're looking for a Hero Arts product you don't see in store, use the Request Custom Order button from with-in the shop.


Hero Arts Spiral Stencil at A2Z
Hero Arts Color Layering Butterflies at A2Z
Hero Arts Ombre Butter to Orange Ink
VersaFine Ink
Vagabond die cut machine

A2Z Anything Goes Again with Butterflies & Spirals

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don't miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements!


 This is one of the few times I have not used a die cut machine, but I wanted a simple one layer card and used a monochrome color scheme.  I hadn't tried this technique of just putting a long post-it through a card and inking up the rest of the card in a long time and I like how this turned out.   I didn't want a long sentiment, so I searched for and found a short sentiment to go with the lovely soft butterfly.

Please join us in this month’s "Anything Goes" challenge for your chance at a free digital stamp AND, if you used Hero Arts, a $20 gift card to our Hero Arts store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month





The a2z scrapbooking store carries a wide variety of Hero Arts products! Get discounted new releases, sales, grab bags & more. Proceeds from our store benefit Celiac & Behcets disease foundations. Use my discount code Arlene15 to get 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. If you're looking for a Hero Arts product you don't see in store, use the Request Custom Order button from with-in the shop.

• Hero Arts Spiral Stencil at A2Z
• Hero Arts Color Layering Butterflies at A2Z
• Hero Arts Ombre Butter to Orange Ink
• Hero Arts My Words, an older Hero Arts set

scramble at Hero Arts Starts 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time

Welcome to the 161st Scramble at Hero Arts.Flickr Group.   Our theme is to create a card or paper arts project that includes a die cut or punched cut and is holiday themed.  

1. Please use at least one Hero Arts stamp, stencil, or die to create your project.

2. You can use a punch or die cut from any machine (Cameo, Cricut, Vagabond, Cuttlebug, etc.)

3. You can choose any Holiday from Fathers or Mothers Day to Christmas or Thanksgiving.

You have 90 minutes to complete your project, and you can choose your 90-minute block at any time during the next 24 hours. The 24-hour window ends October 15, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. PDT (12 noon EDT). 

• Once your project is completed, take a photograph and tag it as quickcard161 (all one word—no spacing). Post it to the Hero Arts Flickr group photo pool. 

• Post the photo of your project in this discussion thread on Flickr by copying the URL of the photo and pasting it within square brackets--like these: [ ] in your reply to the discussion.

Don’t forget that you have 90 minutes to complete your project. The Scramble ends October 15 at 9:00 a.m.PDT (12 noon EDT) so be sure to post by then!

Here are some samples for you.  I'm afraid I didn't get the entire first card in the photo.  The outside layer is white.  I used the jar with all kinds of little images and fun dies to work with from a few Winters ago and also the bow is from Hero Arts Red Christmas Felt too..   (Winter Scene)

The Christmas cups from last year are one of my favorites,  I used an Ombre ink pad Pool to Navy on the cup and the new Spiral Stencil with Distress Ink Broken China peeking through the stencil. The stars are from Hero Arts Red Christmas Felt from a couple years ago.

(Coffee Cut Tags and Spiral Stencil) 

Close-up of the coffee cup - love those Nuvo Crystal Drops in 

Red Berry, Simply White and Midnight Blue. (Coffee Cut Tags)

A creme colored tag (Hero Arts Nesting Tag Dies) with Hero Arts Ornaments Stamp and Cut images.  Some Nuvo Crystal Drops (Ebony Black and Red Berry)

Have FUN!

Case a Designer at A2Z Scrapbooking - It's All About Tags For Me

When I saw Cindi's card here, I knew I had to try it with just plain ol' nesting dies, not that anything Hero Arts is plain.  But I just got my new Hero Arts stencil in and I couldn't wait to try it out.  And you won't believe what distress ink color I used - WILD HONEY.

I popped the orange tag up and put some sequins in.  Then I thought the tag hole was a bit big, so I copied another DT, Monica, with her neon  butterfly from August 12.  I added the smallest tags with a sentiment.          

Cndy's card of wonderful cups.  You can see those wonderful dies nesting below her cups in the first photo.  Monica's butterflies are vivid with neon inks.



 

The results below.  It's a tag card   The sequins can move around to their hearts desire. You can see this post at A2Z Scrapbooking.



Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don't miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements!




Please join us in this months "CASE a Designer" challenge for your chance at a $25 gift card to the a2z store. The current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month.

The a2z scrapbooking store carries a wide variety of Hero Arts products! Get discounted new releases, sales, grab bags & more. Proceeds from our store benefit Celiac & Behcets disease foundations. Use my discount code ARLENE15 to get 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. If you're looking for a Hero Arts product you don't see in store, use the Request Custom Order button from within the shop.

• Hero Arts Tags
• Hero Arts Spiral Stencil
• Hero Arts Butterfly stamps (I had the matching dies and didn't cut out the shape, however, I have used just the stamps in many other projects without die-cutting)
• Hero Arts Neon Orange Ink
• Hero Arts Ombre Light Ruby to Royal Red (Used the darkest color for the pops of dark red color on the orange body) - you could use any neon ink too
• Old Hero Arts sentiment
• Vagabond die cut machine
• scrap papers