Card Makers Success Summit - Day 1 - Inspired by Erin Reed.

Friday, my time, marked the first day of the Christmas-themed Card Makers Success Summit, and what a lovely way to kick off the festive crafting season! I managed to watch a few of the presentations, but the first project I sat down to make was inspired by Erin Reed’s presentation.

Erin shared a fun fold she calls a Narrow Fun Fold, and I really enjoyed trying it out. Her class included a digital printout with patterned papers, poinsettia images, leaf clusters, and sentiments, but I decided to put my own spin on the design using supplies from my stash.

For my version, I used patterned paper from a paper pack I already had, along with some pearlescent card for a little extra festive shine. I cut one kraft and one gold leaf cluster using Pinkfresh Studio Curvy Leaves, then created the poinsettia for the front of the card with the poinsettia and leaf dies from the Waffle Flower Poinsettia Frame die set.

The sentiment is from the Altenew Holiday Flower stamp set. I white embossed it onto black card and cut it out with an Altenew Featured Sentiment die, which gave it a crisp finish and helped it stand out beautifully against the softer Christmas florals.

I’m so pleased with how this card turned out. It’s always fun to take inspiration from a class and then make the project your own, and this Narrow Fun Fold was a lovely way to start my summit crafting. I’m looking forward to seeing what else the event inspires me to create!  Day 2 wrap up email has just arrived so more inspiration to check out!

Mixed Media Butterflies for Die Cut Divas

 Hello crafty friends! Today I’m sharing my sample card for Die Cut Divas, where our June challenge theme is Anything Goes. Although we don’t have an official sponsor this month, we do still have a prize: one of our Divas won a $25 gift card to Whimsy Stamps and has generously chosen to pass it on. The gift card will be awarded by random draw from eligible June entries.

For my card, I created a mixed media background and paired it with layered butterfly die cuts. The butterflies were cut using Montie’s Craft Supplies Layered Butterflies from a piece of bubble watercolour card that had not quite worked out. Happily, it turned out to be perfect for these little cuties. I added Silver Lining Lunar Paste over the smaller layered pieces to give them a lovely shimmer and extra dimension.

To create the main panel, I first primed the surface with clear gesso, which gave the card a beautiful “tooth” and made it ideal for adding layers. I then “watercoloured” some Altenew Leaves by colouring directly over the stamp with watercolour brushes, spritzing it with water, and stamping the image onto the panel.

Once the leaves had dried, I used a Dina Wakley mini stencil to add brick details with Catherine Pooler brown ink. I also stamped randomly with a Hero Arts scripty stamp to build up more texture and interest in the background. After everything was completely dry, I added the butterflies and the sentiment strips, which I printed on my computer.

To finish the card, I added splatters of white Dina Wakley acrylic paint. I love how the soft watercolour, stenciled texture, script stamping, and shimmery butterflies all came together for a layered mixed media look.

I hope you’ll come and join us for our June Challenge - Anything Goes. Just remember to include a die cut and/or embossing folder on your project, of course! 

A Creative Day with Grace

 As the school holidays draw to a close, I had the pleasure of spending a full day with Grace—my turn to look after her and make some memories. Earlier in the week, she enjoyed a day with Pop, who took her swimming. 

Yesterday started in the craft room, where inspiration struck thanks to a new dragonfly die. We cut dragonflies from rice paper, each taking three to decorate with different mediums. I experimented with Nuvo Shimmer powders in blue and green for one, used mop-up paint for another, and finished the third with Temu Glitter pens—this last one sparkled beautifully and became the centerpiece for today’s card. 

Grace made some rainbow backgrounds and added her dragonflies (but I didn't get any photos of her two cards)

For the card, I chose ombre patterned paper in blues, die-cut a  panels using Gina L Master Layouts 2, and layered onto a larger sized panel for extra depth. The dragonfly die came with a grid die, which I cut from silver holographic card—perfect for a shimmering background. A stamped sentiment from Altenew Sentiment Stripes completed the look with some holographic dots for extra shimmer. 

Our afternoon adventure took us to Gloputt, an in-the-dark mini golf course. We laughed our way through the glowing obstacles and capped off the day with several rounds of Air Hockey. I was soundly beaten by a nearly seven-year-old, but the fun and laughter made it a perfect ending.

Guest Designer Fun: A Sweet Treat–Inspired Card at Time Out Challenge

 I recently won over at Time Out Challenge and was absolutely thrilled to be invited to join them as a Guest Designer for Challenge #310. Of course, I didn’t hesitate for a second — I said YES!

Today I’m sharing the card I created for this fortnight’s challenge, which is themed “Inspired by a Sweet Treat.”

Anyone who knows me, will know this challenge was made for me. I’m a self-confessed chocoholic, and I honestly don’t think a day goes by without at least a little chocolate… sometimes more! So naturally, chocolate became the inspiration for my card.

To begin, I embossed a piece of red cardstock using an older embossing folder to give it a lovely vintage feel. For the “chocolate,” I used a dark brown cardstock and embossed it with the Altenew Mod Squares folder. Cutting it on an angle allowed those squares to really resemble a block of chocolate. I then added some extra richness by swiping the surface with Gold and Redwood Ink.

The wrapper was created by tearing some silver cardstock along with a scrap of vintage patterned paper, adding texture and a slightly rustic feel. For the sentiment, I reached for an older (now discontinued) stamp from Quietfire Design, designed by Suzanne Cannon. I stamped it using Altenew Espresso Ink to keep the colour palette warm and chocolatey.

And of course, once I started, I couldn’t stop there! I had a little extra playtime and created more Sweet Treat–inspired cards, including a fun birthday cupcake and a celebration cake.

This challenge was such a joy to work on, and I loved letting my sweet tooth guide my creativity. Thanks so much for stopping by — I hope my chocolate-inspired card brings a smile to your day!

Die Cut Divas - Hello Friend

Can you believe it's the last day of February.   Where has the month gone?   It's time to share my sample for Die Cut Divas. We have Pink and Red Challenge this month - asking for predominant colors of red &/or pink (neutrals & a bit of a non-neutral are ok). 

Remember to use a die cut &/or embossing folder in your red/pink creation.

 Hero Arts as our sponsor this month! 

Hero Arts has generously donated a $25 gift card for our 

February random winner - thanks Hero Arts!!

I started this card with a gorgeous pack of two-sided patterned paper from the Scrapbook.com Watercoloured Collection. One side features a soft, pale pink, while the reverse is a deeper rosy shade. I trimmed the lighter side to create the main panel, then stamped florals from the Hero Arts Delicate Blossoms stamp set (now retired) onto both patterns.

To add a little extra depth, I shaded the images with a red marker before fussy cutting the darker blooms and paper piecing them into place. Added a dark pink mat.  For the sentiment, I die cut a silver “hello” using the Altenew All About You dies and paired it with a stamped “friend” from the Hero Arts Hello There set. A scattering of silver die-cut dots finished the card for a touch of shine.

Do come and join us.  You have till 9.00pm US Pacific Time to get your card into our gallery for a chance to win the gift voucher. 

Red and Pink Love You

 Hi Dawn here to share my Pink and Red card for this month's Challenge at Die Cut Divas, asking for predominant colors of red &/or pink (neutrals & a bit of a non-neutral are ok). 

Remember to use a die cut &/or embossing folder in your red/pink creation.

We have the wonderful Hero Arts as our sponsor this month! 

Hero Arts has generously donated a $25 gift card for our 

February random winner - thanks Hero Arts!!

I started by white embossing Hero Arts Cling Heart Pattern Background stamp (circa 2016 - retired) and then using some Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry to blend all over the embossed hearts.  I used a Gina K Master Layout 2 to die cut the panel and a white matting layer.  I took the DO ink and did a ink pad to paper to colour my card base.  The love you heart is another retired Hero Arts set - Stamp & Cut Yes. (circa 2014) stamped and clear embossed with the DO Picked Raspberry ink and cut with the co-ordinating die.  The ribbon is a Poppy Stamps die called Grosgrain Ribbon.  Added some white and Rose cold foliage from Altenew's Branches and Berries.

We hope to see you in the February gallery by 9pm Pacific Time on Feb 28th.

Thanks for visiting & happy crafting!!

Momigami Card

 I can now share the card I made using some of the Momigami papers I made a week or so ago.   Momigami is a technique of Japanese kneaded paper.  My local swap group had this as our theme for February.   Here are the papers I made  - you can check out some of the tutorials on YouTube. 

I used hand lotion to make these papers.  Three thinner papers and one thicker double sided scrapbook paper.  I used bits of all of these to make the card that was sent to Carol.

The background piece was the thicker paper.  I kept all the scrunched up areas and ran a teal green Distress Oxide over the paper.  I used two of the thinner papers to make the flowers (Altenew's Petite Mountain Aven Layering Dies) and the flower centres were cut from the third paper.  I die cut a gold frame from Gina K Master Layouts 12 and added the flowers.  Finished with a foiled sentiment and  some glitter dots.   The papers feel so soft and fabric like.  And I was delighted on how the card turned out. 

First week back at work has been hard!  Getting up 2 hours earlier than the past few week has taken a toll.... I'm shattered.   Luckily tomorrow is a non work day and I'll be able to sleep a bit later.  

I'm sitting typing this while thunder is rumbling all around - have had some heavy rain too... but very warm and humid.   

Curves Challenge.

 My little NZ swap group challenge was set by Jude - a card with some sort of curve on it.   My card went Maxine... and she has let me know it arrived.

I used a Spellbinders A2 curved borders One die set to make the two curved panels on my card.  I took the stunning paper from Franceville Luxe Illusions pack.  I fussy cut three of the leaves from PP and added them in the lower left hand side with a twin bow with a gold dot in the centre.   Added some little gold hearts cut from Simon Says Stamp Falling Hearts die.    Sentiment from Altenew Silk Art Craft Your Life kit.  Matted the panel with black card and added to a 5 1/2" card base.   

Star Flower Cluster - Anything Goes with Birch Press.

 Hi there.... it's the last day of the month so I'm sharing my card for Die Cut Divas.   I'm currently overseas in Perth, Australia visiting with my family.   So I got myself organised and made my card early...

Our lovely sponsor this month is Birch Press. 

Our sponsor will be giving away a $20 gift card to the winner of our challenge.  *Note: Challenge winner must have US address.

I die cut my cross stripe die from some dark blue card and added to a die cut panel. I die cut the Star Flower dies from white and used blue inks to add the colour.   I stamped and die cut Altenew Baby Breathe and added a touch of yellow with a maker.   Sentiment is a die cut one from Couture Creations.   Added a few Ranger Enamel Accents to finish

Z fold floral

 Time to share the Z fold card I've made as my DT sample for Die Cut Divas - our challenge this month is to make a Z fold card..   

Our sponsor this month, is Altenew who very generously will be giving our August winner a $20 gift card. Thank you to Altenew for their generosity.

There are lots of different types of Z fold cards - I've gone with a Z fold Flip card. 

I used a Sizzix Framelits Flit-It die to cut my base.  I found an old DCWV Matstack called The Chateau Lavender.   It has gorgeous card with glitter.   It's simply gorgeous.  The die set has the dies to cut the panels so all in all, very easy to make.  I chose a little Altenew stamp and die set - Mini Delight Adore You Add on.   I stamped and used the Woodless Watercolor pencils from Altenew to add colour.  I then sprayed them with some Shimmer Spray in Frost.   The sentiment is from the same stamp set. 

This is what the inside looks like.    It was fun to pull this die set out and make this card... It's been a while since I last used it.   

So came and join us with you Z-fold card.  

With Sympathy

 Last weekend my team lead at work, lost her Mum.   She had been ill for a while but it is still sad when your Mum passes.   The team wanted a card for all of our team and the other team (both teams work together) to all sign.  

I decided I needed to make a slightly bigger card - 5.5" x 8" card so there was space for all the expressions of sympathy and condolences.

I made the card very CAS - using Altenew Fairy Tale Floras which I stamped and black embossed.  I used the matching simple colouring stencils with some pink and green inks.   The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set which is my favourite to use for sympathy cards.   Ran a gold paint pen around the edge of the panel.   

Always sad to have to make this sort of card. 

Clean and Simple Birthday card.

 It's one of my colleagues birthday today so I made a card for her.  Inspired by a video I watched by Christine Stokes on YouTube (you can watch it here)   I loved the idea she used to make her butterfly from printed paper using a background from PNGwing.   I have a few backgrounds in my saved files... so printed off one of them onto some off white cardstock and away I went....

Christine often makes square cards, so that's what I did today.   I cut my card base at 5" square, next layer was 4.5" and the main panel 4" - I used a Kaisercraft stamp - Botanical to partially stamp on the background.  I used Altenew's Petite Mountain Aven die to cut the paper I printed.  Love how all the different colours look on the flower and leaves.  Add the sentiment from Altenew Label Love set.  Added some little pinky handmade enamel dots and some glossy accents on the flower centre.  

Card Maker Success Summit - Inspired by Nicki Baxley

 Well the best made plans of mice and men..... My idea to watch more sessions last night were scuttled by the internet doing down last night-  No wifi in the house and no service from the local cell tower... so I had to wait till today to re-watch Nicki Baxley's Easel card session and have a go.   It was a labour of love... made a few mistakes and had to redo my embossed panels a couple of times...but in the end made it!

Nicki's Easel card is a bit different from how I've done them before, but turned out awesome.  Looks like a normal card till it's opened.    I liked her use of green and red card I went with the same colour scheme.  I took an Altenew embossing folder - Beautiful Begonia for my background.   I added some Altenew Vineyard Berry and Berrylicious inks to the edges.  My floral focus is a Hero Arts Vintage Poinsettia stamp and it's matching die. I stamped it with Versafine Onyx Black ink and clear embossed.  I used an idea I saw on a video by Jo Simmons, made my own stencils for adding some ink blending.  Stamped it twice and cut out the whole image and then just the cut out the flower part.  Used that as a mask to ink up the leaves and then used the second negative piece to ink blend the flower before die cutting out the coloured image.  Added some gold pen around the edge and added some Zig Glue and added some gold foil in the centre of the poinsettia.  The stopper is made with a Joy die from Chloes Creative Cards - a freebie from a magazine. I added a little sub-sentiment  from a Kaisercraft stamp set. 

As I used a Woodblock stamp for this card, I'm entering it into the Woodblock Wednesday Challenge...

Will be working on more of the sessions over the next few weeks.  Slowly building up the Christmas cards.  

MFT Magical Dragon

It the last day of the Die Cut Divas "Birthday Challenge" - and I'm here to share my card. 

Our sponsor this month - My Favorite Things - 

Such a wonderful company which sadly has recently closed.

Don't worry, though, we'll still be offering a $25 prize!  

Most of my MFT stash is older products. And for this birthday card I chose to use Magical Dragons stamp set.

I started with a piece of black card and used Altenew White Cloud ink and a Your Next Stamp - mini Star Splatter to make my starry background.   Used two Simon Said Stamp Stitched Circles dies to make the frame.   Cut the aperture from the white panel with a Spellbinders circle die.   Stamped and clear embossed the flying dragon from MFT Magical Dragons stamp set and cut with my Brother Scan'N'Cut .  Used some Spectrum Noir Aqua Markers to add colour.   Used some Spectrum Noir Black Glitter pen for the wings.  Stamp and embossed the sentiment from the MFT stamp set and cut with one of  Altenew Featured Sentiment dies.   Added it a white card base. 

You have till 9.00pm Pacific US time to join us with your birthday cards

Dawn & The Divas

Mosaic Tiled card.

 I have been a bit unwell over the past week....a bad head cold that has ended up on my chest. I had last Friday and Monday off work, went back on Tuesday and only lasted till lunch time... and been coughing since.  Today I had the day off... my day before the birthday day off!  I had a hair appointment set for midday and then a visit to the optometrist in the afternoon, so decided easier to just take the day off!  My hair appointment got moved 3/4 hr earlier ( suited me better ) so did some shopping and had lunch at the Mall.  Got a new winter vest, a lovely pink sweater and picked up some old magazine freebies that my local stationery store was selling for between $2.99 to $6.99.  Also got my granddaughter's birthday present - ready for the 1st of July.   The trip to the optometrist was a bit expensive as I need to replace my frames and lenses - been 6 years with the same frames and prescription.   A couple of weeks till the new ones will be ready.  

Anyhoo.... Today I am sharing a card I made a while back to send to my friend Suna as part of our NZ swap group.  It was Suna's turn to set the challenge - and she chose "Mosaic card" - you can do this a number of different ways, I chose a tiled mosaic design.   Suna has let me know the card arrived....

I started with a stenciled panel I had made a few weeks ago.  It's an Altenew stencil - Floral Garden.  It was one of Altenew's earliest stencils - I took it and sliced it into 1 1/2" by 1" rectangles and added to a brown card panel.  I added some twine around the panel and then stamped the sentiment from Altenew's Our Friendship Blooms stamp set and cut it with a circle stitched die and a matting circle from a Gina K Master Layouts set.  Added some of my handmade dot embellishments.  

Suna let me know she has sent her card to me over a week ago but it still hasn't arrived.  She also sent me a birthday card that was post 2 days ago, that arrived today.  She lives about a 25k's from me (about a 20 min drive) but sometimes the post takes weeks to get between us.  

It's been a successful week for me with card challenges - won Jen Rzasa's challenge with my no black card (here) and Star on the top of the Tree at Christmas Kickstart Challenge with this one. 

Hopefully I'll get some time to play over the weekend... Going out to dinner tomorrow night with our friends and catching up with the Junior Turley's on Sunday lunch.    Take care all. 

Beautiful Day - Hello Beautiful and a bonus birthday card

 It's the final day for our challenge at Die Cut Divas.   

FLOWERS

Our sponsor this month is Altenew. They will be giving our winner a $50 gift certificate to their online store. Thank you Altenew for this very generous gift.

I am a real Altenew fan.... and have A LOT of their stamps, dies and stencils.   And today I've used one of my earliest purchases.  - Beautiful Day stamp and die set.   I've had this one for over 9 years!  

I stamped the focal flower and then lots of leaves and branches.  I used Shades of Purple ink set and Freen Fields inks to add the stamp layers on the flower and leaves.  I used some watercolour pens and Copic markers to add colour to the smaller branches and berries.  I then die cut all the pieces.   I made a frame with Gina K Master Layout 18.  I added some soft brown inking with whatever ink was on my blending brush.  I layered all my elements and added a sentiment from Hello Beautiful stamp set.   Added some home made enamel dots made by adding clear packing tape to some purple card and die cutting with my dotty background die.  

I also made a bonus card - because Altenew are a FAVOURITE company for make floral cards... so much choice. 

This card was inspired by Natasha Foote in her video #1171.  I used Altenew Sweet Spring Stencil.  It's an older stencil - just two layers.  I chose to used teal colours.  Fresh Dye inks in Aqualicious and Teal Cave.  Something a little different.  I cut the panel with a Pinkfresh Studio die - Folk Art Rectangle and then used Hero Arts Arches die to cut out the centre panel and also the next size up to cut a white arch.  I used the Teal Cave ink to add colour to the matting layer.  I stamped a sentiment from Altenew's Just a Number stamp set.  Added some of the Teal Cave to a scrap of white card and cut out with my dotty background.   Added to the card and added Glossy Accents to make my own enamel dots.  Loving doing this at the moment. 

Our challenge is open till 9.00pm Pacific US time  - Just remember to make use of your die cutting machine to die cut/emboss.   

Craft Roulette #264

 I've been having fun playing all the long weekend here in NZ.  We had Friday off for ANZAC Day. 

Sunday, I decided to play along with Craft Roulette #264  

This card is for a crafty friend who inspires me, and is in dreamy purples (my favourite colour).  My card base is "kraft" and is for my crafter friend.  My flowers are and butterfly are off centre - one to the left and one to the right.    The panel and the butterfly are from a digital paper set I got as a freebie from Papercraftsecrets.com.au as part of one of the Card Summits I attended.  I pulled out my Scan'n'Cut (now more accessible in my re-organised craft room) and cut all the butterflies.  The panel was trimmed with my mini guillotine to a square.   This is a salute to the CR Guest Ardyth Percy-Robb, who loves making square cards. The sentiment is from Altenew's Sincere Sentiments.   This was my 28th submission... it's been a few months since I've had time to play.

Christmas card and tag.

 For my NZ swap group this month, my friend, Suna, set us a challenge - make an unusual card and add a tag!

My unusual element on this is using some fabric - some calico, that I had used some 49th and Market rub-ons to decorate.  I embossed a panel with snow flakes and added to my white card.   

And here it is with the tag I made

I made this tag with an Altenew stamp and die set.  Too cute!

I have been ultra busy with the family here.   Chaotic at times... but loving the hugs from my two little grandsons and also my two granddaughters who have been around lots as well!  Managed to find a little time tonight to share this. 

Here are the four of them.... keeping me on my toes for sure!

Golden Anniversary card and a Masculine Thanks card

 Our friend's Michael and Yvonne are celebrating their 50th Anniversary next Saturday.  They had a big celebratory luncheon this past weekend.   Around 80 family and friends gathered to celebrate with them.  It's was an amazing weekend with lots of the family and friends going back to their place for a bit of a party in the evening.   

I made them a Golden Wedding Anniversary card 

I used some rose-gold card to die cut the Couture Creations Lace die and the numbers from a Mama Elephant numbers die.  The wine glasses are a freebie set from many years ago.  I cut them from white card and some gold glitter card. I trimmed bits and pieces to make the top and bottom white.   The sentiments are from Altenew's Ambridge Rose stamp set.  

And hubby wanted a Thanks card for his friend, Brian, whose holiday house we used for the weekend. 

I used some Franchville cardstock in ombre greens and blues.  I cut some angled stripes and glued them onto my panel.  I used Altenew Thanks die to cut from each of the colours and glued them onto the shadow layer.  Hubby was pleased that I had managed a masculine thanks card.  

Thanks for stopping by.  

Snuggle Bunny at Die Cut Divas

 Last day of our challenge at Die Cut Divas.   I've got my sample to share. 

This month is all about card making..  celebrating World Card Making Day which was earlier this month.

I used an older MFT set called Snuggle Bunnies to make my card. 

I had this cute little bunny in my "to use" pile.  I had stamped and coloured him a long while ago and used my Scan'n'Cut to cut him and a few of his buddies out.  All the stamps in the set are just adorable. I paired him with a WRMK's embossing folder and an Altenew Slim Sentiments die cut.   A very CAS card. 

Do come and join us - the challenge finishes at 9.00pm US Pacific time.