Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #261

It's the first Saturday of the month which means we have a new challenge up for you over at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers blog.  Our newest theme is Masculine.  I opted for a two-fer featuring bourbon on the rocks.  That in and of itself is not necessarily manly because this happens to also be one of my favorite adult beverages.  Whether it's straight up with ice or in a Manhattan (my personal fav) or perhaps an Old Fashioned, bourbon obviously isn't just for men.  I'm hoping that my choice of kraft and plaid papers gives these cards a more masculine feel.

With Snark

Love her!

Sans Snark

I used a slightly textured kraft cardstock from Neenah as the card bases.  The lined kraft paper is from a really old pad of 6x6 papers and as you can see, I positioned it on an angle.  The orange plaid/tweed papers are from a purchase made last fall.  I opted to position these vertically.  I stamped, colored and die cut the cocktail, also positioned vertically.  I adore these stamp sets from Unity.  Their designers have been speaking my language in recent years.  

Supplies:

Unity Stamps - If You Were Whiskey stamp set

Brutus Monroe - Autumn Tweed 6x6 paper pad

7 Gypsies - Postal 6x6 paper pad (this is ANCIENT)

Basic Grey - Basic Kraft 6x6 paper pad (EVEN MORE ANCIENT)

More for Darnell's viewing pleasure.  

Sorry, not sorry.  

I invite you all to visit our blog for additional Manly Snark.  Snark is optional however the masculine theme is not.  

Thanks so much for visiting me.  Much Appreciated!

Jules

 

Color Hues #107

Hello Crafty Friends!  I am the hostess of our latest Color Hues challenge and I've chosen the combination of Teal and Orange for you to work with this fortnight.  I unintentionally had myself a die cutting marathon, resulting in three cards and four tags to share with you all today.  Let's start with the one I posted on the Color Hues blog...

NBUS!

I had enough florals to create this second card.

And because I wanted to dig a bit more 

into my NBUS bin I also made this card.

NBUS!

And I certainly couldn't waste the

remaining florals, so tags it was!

Card #1 and #3and began with an ombre' direct ink pad to paper technique with three teal hues of Catherine Pooler dye ink.  

Card #1 utilizes die cut florals, an embossed vase and a die cut sentiment.  

Card #3 uses sky themed dies, a die cut penguin and a Better Pressed sentiment. 

Card #2 utilizes a bunch of leftover florals arranged on a teal panel of cardstock.  This small panel was adhered to white cardstock die cut with a cover plate.  This entire piece was then adhered to a black card base.  The sentiment and shadow were also die cut.

The tags were created with all of the floral bits and bobs leftover along with the same die cut sentiment used on my first card.  

I'm sharing affiliate links for the first time.  If you purchase through my link I get a small commission at no extra cost to you.  All of the products I've linked to today were purchased by me.  Thanks!

Supplies:

Spellbinders - Fresh Picked Vase Bouquet (NBUS)

Simon Says Stamp - Friend die

Spellbinders - Diamond Plaid embossing folder (NBUS)

The Greetery - Hey Honeycomb Penguin die set

Spellbinders - Rain or Shine die set

Spellbinders - Brighten My Day Sentiments of Wonder BP

The Greetery - Square Dance cover die

Simon Says Stamp - Thanks die and shadow

Catherine Pooler Inks

Thanks for humoring me in this longer than usual post.  Do you have a favorite? I'd love to know in the comments.

Please welcome Renate as our Guest Designer for this challenge.  I invite you to visit her work as well as those from my teammies on our blog.  

Thanks for visiting!

Jules 

For Spellbinders - Spring Plushies in Card Form

 

I am back today to share two cards I created using the Spring Plushie dies sent to me by Spellbinders.  They were designed with wool felt in mind however they also cut cardstock and designer papers fabulously.  

Up first is the card I created using the Cozy Cluck die set designed by Nichol Spohr.  Because of it's large size I opted for a 5"x7" (A7) dimension rather than my customary 4.25"x5.5" (A2) size.  I chose what I think are country styled designer papers for a folksy look.  I embossed the background with a Spellbinders folder and added some stamping from an older set made by Ellen Hutson.

My second card was created using the Carrot Companion set of dies.  This set includes dies for both an adorable bunny along with a cute carrot.  I opted to use only the bunny which I die cut from cardstock.  You can see by the photo that I chose to leave all of the little "pokie pieces" intact this time.  I added a cover plate background and some florals, both from older Spellbinder releases.  A "Somebunny Loves You" sentiment is stamped on the inside panel. I'll be sending this one to my grandson along with the plushie. 

Supplies:

Card One

Spellbinders - Cozy Cluck die set

Pink Paislee - 6x6 paper pad

Ellen Hutson - Good Egg stamp set

Spellbinders - Leafy Helix embossing folder (one of my all time favs)

Card Two

Spellbinders - Carrot Companion die set

Spellbinders - Glass Effects cover die (really old)

Spellbinders - Hop into Spring SDOTM - March 2019 (florals)

Thanks again Spellbinders for the opportunity to work with you.  And thanks to all of you who visit and take the time to comment.  Much appreciated!

Jules

Spellbinders - Spring Plushies

 

I am honored once again to have been sent some of the latest products from Spellbinders.  In this post I'm sharing two projects I created using Nichol Spohr's Felt Stitch and Create line.

Up first is my favorite of the two.  I love the color red and knew I wanted to make my Cozy Cluck chicken from a red/orange/yellow combination.  I'm really happy with how this one turned out.  She was created sans filler and will be displayed in a place of honor in my kitchen.  (I may make her a magnet, not sure yet.)

Isn't she just the sweetest thing?

I was also sent this fun duo of Felt Carrot Companion dies.  The two plushies are separate however I stitched them together to make a single hanging ornament.

My daughter-in-law keeps a small table top Christmas tree in the foyer area at 

the top of their stairs so I thought this would be a perfect Easter display.  I know 

my grandson will love it.  This one was stuffed with snipped cotton balls.

Some personal thoughts....I had a much easier time with these spring elements compared to the Christmas ones.  So much so that I now consider myself an intermediate with regards to stitching.  LOL! It helped too that I used a stiffer felt available here on Amazon.  Spellbinders also sells felt but I didn't have the correct colors on hand for these projects.  I used embroidery floss from a local box store for all of my stitching.  I used Aileen's Felt and Foam tacky glue for the pieces that weren't stitched on.  I highly recommend this stuff as my tried and true Bearly Arts did not work on this stiff felt.  (It did however work great on the Spellbinders felt I used in December.)

So?  Cute, right?  I will post some card projects using these two sets soon.  Remember, these dies are not just for plushies!

Thank you Spellbinders!  And thank you all for visiting.

Until next time, 

Jules

Seize the Birthday #302

 

Hello there Crafty Friends!  Jenny is hosting her first challenge as a member of the Seize the Birthday Design Team and she's chosen a Topping that's perfect for birthday celebrations.  MILESTONE.

Two of my daughter's BFFs just had babies so I thought a First Birthday card might be one she'll want down the line. 

I die cut the bee and hive from white cardstock and then lightly blended with Distress Oxides.  The ONE was cut from the same blue cardstock as the card base and the tiny sentiment was stamped in black pigment ink.  It's a very CAS design so to jazz it up a bit I adhered it to a white panel that was die cut with a postage edge die.  I think he's pretty cute and may make a pink version as well.  

Supplies:

Cottage Cutz - Honey Bee die (NBUS)

MFT - Stitched Alpha die set

Ellen Hutson - You're a Gem stamp set

Unity Stamps - Postage Stamp die set

Yep, Darnell.  I'm still digging into my NBUS.

I invite you to come play along.  The DT is celebrating birthdays of every age so I'm sure there will be something there to spark your inspiration.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Jules

Inkspirational Challenge #337

 

I had some extra time today so I searched my favorite (non-DT) challenge sites for inspiration.  And guess what?  The Inkspirational challenge, led by my friend Carol, lived up to it's name.  :-)  Their current prompt is Sports.  I really don't have much in the way of sports themed supplies but I did remember this guy from years ago.

My dad was an avid golfer and I think that's what originally spurred me to buy this die but I honestly don't think I ever used it.  Since Pops is gone I thought this might make for a masculine nice retirement card.  What do you think? 

It was pretty simple to make.  I die cut the green panel with a cover die and adhered it over a panel of metallic gold cardstock.  The golfer is stacked two high as is the die cut sentiment.  It's a CAS card with a bit of pizazz.

Supplies:

Spellbinders - Stitched Starry Argyle cutting plate (NBUS)

Gina Marie - golfer die

Impression Obsession - Congratulations die

I'm also adding this to Darnell's site since another NBUS bites the dust!

Thanks so much for visiting!  I appreciate your time and comments.

Jules

Color Hues #106

 

Greetings my crafty friends!  I am here today to share my DT card created for the current Color Hues challenge.  Our host this fortnight is JulieB and she has chosen the fun combination of Lemon and Lime.  I took another deep dive into my NBUS bin to see what I could dust off and use for this challenge.  I think I found the perfect stamp and die combo.

Let me introduce you to Frank....

We won't get into a discussion about how Frankenstein was 

the name of the creator, not the monster.  It does kinda ruin the pun. 

                                             

I began my card by doing a gradient blend onto a panel of white cardstock with the darkest lime on the bottom and transitioning to lemon on top.  I stamped, colored and die cut Frank and adhered him to the center of the panel leaving room for the stamped sentiment below.  I added a black frame and then adhered the panel to an embossed card base.  And Voila!  Another NBUS bites the dust.

Supplies:

Colorado Craft Company - Frankly mini stamp set (NBUS)

Simon Says Stamp - Kaleidoscope embossing folder

Waffle Flower - Pinking Rectangle die set (NBUS)

I invite you to visit our blog for more lemon and lime inspiration.  Thanks so much for visiting!

Jules