Seize the Birthday #296

 

Hey there my crafty friends!  Welcome to the last Seize the Birthday challenge for 2024.  Barb is our host for this one and she's chosen a Topping that I personally think is a challenge for many of us.  Masculine.  I was happy to be pushed into making a guy card because I tend to skip them in my regular crafting schedule.  

Now before you go calling me sexist, let me add a disclaimer.  

This could totally be a gal card as well.  I just so happen to know several

real life girlfriends who can absolutely put down a six pack, no prob! 

Trust me, I've been a witness.  LOL!!!  But for today, it's totally masculine.

I began my design by die cutting the six beer steins/pilsners from white cardstock and then used my Copic markers to create the look of beer.  The heads of foam were cut from the same white cardstock.  I arranged the beers three on three onto black cardstock and added a white heat embossed sentiment in the middle.  I used a postage die to cut the focal and added it to an embossed yellow card base.  

Happy Beer-day to Some Yet to Be Determined Human of Male Gender!

Supplies:

MFT - Pint Sized die set

MFT - A Toast to You stamp set

Simon Says Stamp - Lumen embossing folder

Thanks so much for joining me today.  I invite you to visit our blog for more masculine inspiration.  Have a wonderful holiday season and I'll see you back here for more STB fun in 2025!

Jules

Spellbinders - Gingerbread Felt Plushies

 

It's almost Thanksgiving here in the states which means Christmas is just around the corner and with that comes holiday gift giving and decorating.  I was thrilled when Spellbinders contacted me about creating with some of their newest products...felt plushies created by Nichol Spohr.  

DISCLAIMER - a stitcher I am not so if I can do these, anyone can.  :-)  I do highly recommend watching Nichol's YouTube tutorials if you happen to be a newbie like me.  They are extremely helpful and I can say with assurance that practice makes perfect.  

Today I'm sharing my gingerbread boy and girl.

Aren't these just adorable?  

I used felt from several different companies, including 

Spellbinders who now carry felt in variety packs in bundles.  

It's hard to see but the boy version has white glitter felt for his hat 

and icing bands.  This set comes with teeny tiny eye dies but I found it 

easier to just stitch them on with my DMC floss.  (Based on Nichol's recommendation I used three strands from six strand skeins.)  You'll 

see I stitched the blush cheeks however I used Bearly Arts liquid glue for 

the icing bands and it seems to work really, really well.

You can see from my second photograph that I added a floss loop to the top of each plushie to make them ornaments.  I opted to use green floss so that it hides a bit better in the Christmas tree branches.  My grown daughter has already laid claim to these puppies and I'm excited that she loves them as much as I do.  

Stayed tuned for the next couple of weeks.  I will be sharing more examples of three other holiday stitched die sets.  I've never been one for stitching but must admit that it's becoming rather addicting.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!  A very Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends and much love to everyone.  I will see you back this weekend with a new challenge post from Seize the Birthday.

Jules

Penny Black - Permission to Play Series 1-2

This past summer Jill Foster from Penny Black Inc. shared a ten part series that she titled Permission to Play.  Her goal was to create cards for the pure joy of it.  She provided ten sketches and over the past four months I've been slowly playing along.  I am going to share the cards I created, popping them in here and there in between regularly scheduled DT assignments.  

Today I'm sharing cards one and two based upon her series.  I won't be going into any details other than sharing my supply lists but feel free to ask any questions in the comments.  

Design 1

Sketch 1

Design 2

Sketch 2

Supplies:

Spellbinders - Layered Daisies die set

Spellbinders - Leafy Helix embossing folder

Spellbinders - Essential Sentiment stamp set

Ellen Hutson - Clear Droplets

Penny Black - Hats Off stamp set

MFT - Porthole die set

Ellen Hutson - BearWare Grand Tour

Papertrey Ink - Linen cover plat

Simon Says Stamp - Kaleidoscope embossing folder

Honeybee Stamps - tiny gold stars

Thanks for stopping by!  Your time is much appreciated.

Jules

Spellbinders - Florals Through the Years - Poppy

I'm back today with two new card designs created with the new Spellbinders Florals Throughout the Years Better Press collection kindly sent to me by Yana.  My cards today feature the August Poppy.  I chose this particular one because of my love of red.

Once again, my Better Press images were created with Distress Oxides and white linen cardstock.  I cut the focal image and two coordinating mats using the Essential Modern Oval dies.  The sentiment is from the Essential Sentiments stamp set. It's sold out on the Spellbinders site but I was able to find it here.   The background was embossed with using the Leafy Helix 3D embossing folder.

This second card was created much the same way however I used the Notched Corner Frame die set and added in some finishing pearls.  You will notice that I am once again displaying this one on the DIY Easel.

Thanks so much Spellbinders!  And thank YOU for your time.  Much appreciated!

Jules

Rubberstamps.com - Deck the Mail Holiday Contest

 

Welcome to the Rubberstamps.com Deck the Mail Holiday Contest!  This contest is limited to Instagram so if you don't follow me there (what???!!!) you should.  My IG handle is Julie Peddicord ... very original, don't you agree?  

As designers for Rubberstamps.com we were each given a holiday/winter stamp set of our choosing.  Our only rule was that we needed to create a coordinating envelope along with our card.  I chose the All is Calm, All is Bright stamp set and created three different cards to illustrate just how versatile a silhoutte stamp set can be.  (I believe I utilized all but the star outline stamp in my designs.)

 

In this version I stamped the images and sentiment in black pigment ink onto

 Neenah Desert Storm cardstock, adding in some glitter glue to serve

as snow.  The white trees were heat embossed onto a kraft envelope.  

In this version I used the bench and Santa stamps.  I white heat embossed 

them onto black cardstock and added splatters of white ink to serve as snow.  

The envelope was adorned with a single house and tree.  This was stamped

in black and heat embossed in clear to prevent smudging in the mail.  

The sentiment is from a Simon Says Stamp set in my stash.

On my final card I opted for a bit of color.  I chose a mini slimline design to  which I added

some ink blending of Distress Oxides to achieve a night sky. The neighborhood feel was 

achieved by overlapping stamp sets (black pigment ink)  to create a street view.  I added 

another Simon Says Stamp sentiment from my stash as well as some white pigment ink 

splatters for snow.  The Santa sleigh and sentiment were stamped in black onto a grey 

envelope and then heat embossed in clear to prevent water smudging in the mail.

So you're probably thinking "What's the Contest?"  Good question!  And here's your answer....

• The post (or posts) with the most (tallied) likes - the creator (a DT member) wins a $25 gift card to rubberstamps.com plus their followers who liked the post(s) are entered to win either two stamp sets or an address stamp of their choice.

So basically, just like our IG posts.  All viewers who like the creator post(s) with the most hearts will be entered to win two stamp sets from Rubberstamps.com.  

Thanks so much for visiting!!! 

Jules

Color Hues #99

 

Today's post is all about Pink and Aqua, the two new colors for our mid month Color Hues challenge.  Our host this fortnight is Marcia who chose this wonderful color duo.  We also want to welcome Bonnie Klass to our Design Team and also joining us this challenge is Teresa.  I hope you'll give them both a warm welcome.

Now on to my card....

My interpretation of Aqua is a bit different than the graphic but

 that's why we call this COLOR HUES!  (By the way, this PaperTrey Ink

 cardstock is actually named Aqua Mist so you choose your favorite hues.)

I used a fuchsia floral for my focal point.  (Say that three times fast!)  The pinks were all cut from white cardstock and blended with Distress Oxides.  The branch was cut from aqua cardstock and then shaded with Distress Oxides to give it a bit of depth.  The finished branch was adhered to an oval die cut which was popped up onto an embossed card base.  Aqua pearls provided the finishing touch.  

Supplies:

Memory Box - Little Fuchsia Flower Trio Branch die set

Spellbinders - Essential Modern Ovals die set

Spellbinders - Sentiments of Wonder Better Press

Spellbinders - Intertwined Lattice embossing folder

Trinity Stamps - Mirrored Mint Pearls

I invite you to visit our blog for more inspiration from our Design Team and guest.  I hope to see your creation in our gallery!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jules

Spellbinders - Florals Through the Years - Cosmos

I'm back today with two new card designs created with the new Spellbinders Florals Throughout the Years Better Press collection kindly sent to me by Yana.  My cards today feature the October Cosmos, which happens to be my birthday month.

This easel is also a new product die from Spellbinders.  It's perfect to display both the calendar pages as well as cards.  

I'm experimenting with different backgrounds.  The angle of the "winter" sun is no longer in my favor so I have to get creative.

For both cards I used Distress Oxides and linen cardstock to create my Better Press design.  The sentiments are from the Spellbinders Essential Sentiment stamp set which appears to be out of stock.  (ooh!  I did find it here.) I die cut the tag using the Spellbinders Die of the Month from June 2019 and added some twine from my stash.  I added some gems to the first card but opted to leave the second card unadorned.

Thanks to Yana and the Spellbinders team!  It's always an honor to get to work with them and their wonderful products.  I will be back soon with my last set of cards using these fabulous new Better Press plates.

Lastly, thank YOU for stopping by!

Jules

Seize the Birthday #295

Hello my crafty friends!  I am here today to share a new card I created for current Seize the Birthday challenge.  Ashwini is our host and she's chosen a Topping that I don't think we've used before....Focal One.  She is asking that we use one single stamped image as our focal point.  My card may help clarify.  

My focal image is a single stamp illustrating a potted hot pepper plant.

No other stamps were used in this focal however you 

may use additional stamps for your sentiment.

If Toppings aren't your thing any birthday card will work!

I began by stamping and coloring (alcohol markers) my focal image onto a white cardstock panel.  I stamped the Happy Birthday portion of the sentiment in black and the Hot Stuff portion in red.  I colored a scrap of white cardstock using one of the red shades of Copic markers and die cut a zig zag to add to the front.  In hindsight it may not have been the best of ideas but at the time I thought it provided a bit more southwestern flavor.  It's handmade not Hallmark, right?

Supplies:

Hero Arts - Hot Stuff stamp set (CM602)

Concord & 9th - Bunch of Blossoms stamp set

MFT? - Zig Zag border die

We have Fran joining us today as our Special Party Guest.  I invite you to visit our blog for more inspiration and I hope to see your card in our gallery!

Thanks so much!

Jules

Spellbinders - Florals Through the Years - Sweet Pea

 

Spellbinders has just released a fun new Better Press collection called Florals Throughout the Years and they were gracious enough to send me a few.  These floral plates are actually part of a calendar set appropriately named 2025 DIY Calendar Press Plates.  The complete collection allows you to create beautiful desk calendars showcasing a different floral for each month.  As you will see from my examples, the florals make stunning cards in addition to calendar pages. 

I created three cards featuring the April's Sweet Pea Better Press Plate along with additional sentiments.  

In my first two examples I utilized the floral name plate in my card design, adding in a stamped Happy Birthday to complete the sentiment.  I opted to create a sympathy/thinking of you card in my third design.

For those wondering about inks.  All of my designs were created using different shades of Distress Oxide inks onto white linen cardstock.  I love the shading I can get with multiple colors of ink.  

I used different mat shapes to set off each design just a bit differently.  I also used three different embossing folders on the front of the card bases.  In this way I have three unique cards using just one focal Better Press set.

Supplies:

Spellbinders - April Sweet Pea Better Press plate set

Spellbinders - Essential Modern Oval die set

Spellbinders - Notched Corner Frame die set

Spellbinders - Intertwined embossing folder

Spellbinders - Tiled Motif embossing folder

Spellbinders - Leafy Helix embossing folder

Ellen Hutson - You're a Treasure stamp set

I hope you enjoyed my first set of floral cards.  I will be back in a couple of days to showcase another of my favorite florals from this set.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!  Always appreciated!

Jules

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #256

Wow!  Can you believe another month has gone by? Hubby and I were fortunate enough to spend ten days in Western North Carolina where we could almost see the leaves turning before our very eyes.  Seriously.  The difference in our lakeside view between our arrival and departure was amazing.  We also spent time with family that included four soccer games where my grandson scored in each one.  I'm a pretty proud Grandma. 

I was also fortunate enough to spend an afternoon with The Sisterhood's own Chris Dring.  We traveled east for a visit to The Enchanted Cottage Papercrafting Boutique in Lewisville, NC.  It was FABULOUS and let's just say that we both did our part to support the local economy. *wink*  It goes without saying that I will most likely make this a regular stop during my quarterly visits to NC.

Now on to our Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers monthly challenge details!  Our prompt for November is Critters and I took the opportunity to create a holiday card.

                                                                                   

I used colored cardstock scraps to die cut all of my elements.  If you glance down to my supply list you will see that I was an Equal Opportunity Manufacturer crafter for this one.  (I love when a mix of manufacturer's product, both old and new, play so well with one another.)  I think this is pretty straightforward in completion but I should say that I stamped the sentiment before embossing the arched panel.  This seems to work pretty well for me.

Supplies:

Cottage Cutz - Santa and Reindeer

Hero Arts - Off Beat Holiday

Simon Says Stamp - Swirling Snowflakes embossing folder

Pinkfresh Studio - Braided Tag die set

Honeybee Stamps - tiny gold stars

I invite you to visit our blog where you'll see some fantastic card designs created by my fellow Sisters.  Pick a favorite critter and come play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jules

Color Hues #98

 

If it's the First then it's time for another challenge at the Color Hues blog.  Karen is our host and she's chosen the wonderful holiday color scheme of Red and Black.  We don't place limits on the occasion (only the colors) so feel free to create whatever your heart desires using red, black and other approved neutrals.

Before I get to my card I'd like to mention that Cindy is stepping down from our team.  We will most definitely miss you Cindy!     

I chose to create a 100% die cut card.  No stamping on this one folks!  The sentiment is stacked four high to create the dimension.  I also popped up the embossed front panel for even more depth.  All of the focal elements are from a single die set so it was limited supplies with an easy design.  I hope you like it as much as I do.  I am a sucker for red in fashion, decor and crafting!

Supplies:

Cottage Cutz - Ho Ho Friends die set

Simon Says Stamp - Winter Berries embossing folder

Joining us as guests today are Izzy and Colleen B.  I invite you to visit our blog for more Design Team inspiration and hope we've motivated you to join us in the gallery!  

Thanks so much for visiting!  

Jules