Mix It Up Challenge Blog + Optional: Diecuts

Boy, do I love die cuts — they’ve basically become my creative language! 😄

And the holidays are the perfect excuse to pull out all the goodies and make fun tags. At Mix It Up, it’s always Anything Goes, or you can add a twist and focus on Die Cuts. You know me… I went with the twist 😉

I made this tag for my boss — total chaos on the loose 😂 — using Spellbinders’ Yuletide Ride and Christmas Cocktails Etched Dies. He loves white cars, so that’s what he got… loaded up with all the things! There’s a peppermint in the backseat (ha!), plus a tree, stocking, gingerbread, Santa hat, lights, candy cane, and greenery. So fun. So crazy.

I added foil using the Sprinkled Glitter hot foil plate with white foil — I love using it as falling snow! ❄️

To finish it off, I smudged white ink under the tires and along the base of the tag, then embossed the sentiment from Waffle Flower’s Family Christmas Sentiments in white.

I hope you join us at MIX IT UP, we'd love to see your creations!

Gingerbreads E'rywhere!

Hey friends, how are you?

 We have been invited to our son's in-laws for Thanksgiving - our two girls are spread out and our youngest daughter will be traveling with her in-laws, so it's a quiet time for Jim and I...and top it off, I will be dog sitting. 😀 BUT, if it works out, we will join them for a bit.

I wanted to make a gift for our hostess, something she could use - at home and for the holidays, so I created 8 gingerbread tags - 4 girls and 4 boys, paired with a gingerbread mug and tea towel. And when the to/from tags are cut off, the gingerbread all become ornaments you can place on your tree or use for decorations!

Everything on the gingerbread tags comes from Pretty Pink Posh (Gingerbread Holder and Christmas Holder Additions); I then finished them off by adding holiday greetings and to/from tags using The Greetery's Tear Strip Tags (I've owned this die and stamp set HOW LONG, and just used them for the first time 😁).

The final picture shows the large mug and a hand towel tucked inside; I think the set will make a nice gift showing our appreciation for the invitation and the work that goes into feeding a large group of peeps!

  

Two girls / two boys with tags 

 

Two girls / two boys without tags

 

 

Two girls / two boys with tags 

 

  

Two girls / two boys without tags

 

 Gingerbread mug and matching tea towel

 

MIUCB - Keep It Simple (Stupid / Silly = KISS)

Oh friends...this time at Mix It Up Challenge Blog we're going with KEEP IT SIMPLE...which is truly next to impossible for me. lol... Therefore, I renamed it KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID/SILLY = KISS!

I made 4 cards in different colors with this layout / design; I'm showing the purple one here, but I'll share the others soon!

I added the Pretty Pink Posh scallop piercing die in the background; the flowers were created with the beloved SSS Elegant Rose stencils. I then splattered some black gaouche and some Tim Holtz Statue Foundry Wax (which has to be heat set). 

I used Spellbinder's Alabaster for the main panel, cut with a scallop die and adhered to Papertrey Ink's True Black cardstock to help the main image 'pop', finished it off with a touch of sparkly stickles. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you join us at Mix It Up; and if you don't want to play with KEEP IT SIMPLE, we always enjoy seeing ANYTHING GOES!!

LTSCB - Happy Halloween (a few days late)

At Love to Scrap Challenge Blog, it's always ANYTHING GOES, but this go-round, I'm sharing the suitcases I made for our kids for Halloween. These photos were right before I put the luggage 'handle' on them, but you still get the gist!

For the past few years, I've made a card for each of our kids (3 + 2 in-law kids); but this year, I created one suitcase per family / kid, but gifted things to encompass everyone. 

Teal is for our oldest daughter, Forest Green is for our youngest daughter and hubby, Orange is for our son and wife. I put $31 cash inside the suitcases, then gifted other fun things to each kiddo. 

The suitcases are a die from Papertrey Ink, they are an absolute favorite for 3D gifts. I used one for our son's couples shower with his bride-to-be.

For all of these, I added hot foil using the Spellbinder's web background with opaque black foil, then shading around the edges. I then die cut everything possible - HA - from Pretty Pink Posh: Halloween Mug Additions, Big Halloween Cupcake Dies, Spooky Mug Additions, Ghost Holders Die, Spooky Fence Die, I think that's all of them. 

I then started shading and layering all the pieces - I kept each suitcase similar in layout.

I hope you enjoy seeing these and are inspired to create your own 3D project, we'd love to see it, or as always, ANYTHING GOES, is an easy one - so join us!!

Love to Scrap Challenge Blog

Hello, friends! I hope you are well!

Thanks for joining us on the Love to Scrap Challenge Blog!

This is the card I made our youngest daughter for her birthday. Both my girls like coffee, and this daughter likes PINK, so there is LOTS of pink on this one. 😉 I have really enjoyed seeking color inspiration from Pinterest, and this is no exception. When you see the inspiration, you'll understand the blue in the background. 😃 I used new cardstock from Concord and 9th, my first time using their cardstock and I really like it! Lots of pink options that all go together well, I appreciate that!

I die cut all the pieces and more from the Cup of Kindness set. I made a card similar to this, HERE, and used the same background (Spellbinder's Candy Stipes die, not sure it's available any longer, sorry), I loved it so much!

I die cut the lid components and wrapper from white and added some shading. I also added shading to the flowers and leaves and have tons left over for another card in the future. The other cup has a heart swirl stencil in white, then shifted slightly and blended in a bright pink. 

The heart on the 'floral' cup was embossed with Spellbinder's Tufted 3D embossing folder. Then I lightly swiped white ink over the top before adding glossy accents.

A bit of blue in the background to go along with the color inspiration photo, finished it off with some silver half back pearls. They really added the perfect touch!

Trying to capture the dimension - hopefully you can see it!

Can't wait to see what you create for Love to Scrap; we enjoy seeing your creations!

MIUCB - Paper Piecing or Anything Goes

Hello, friends! Welcome back to another challenge at the Mix It Up Challenge blog! This time we're focusing on Paper Piecing; however, we always welcome ANYTHING GOES, too!

I took a bit of liberty with the "paper piecing" and didn't use it in the typical sense I am familiar with! Instead, I used this sweet doggy from Pretty Pink Posh and paper pieced on some different colors of cardstock for one of his ears, the patch over one eye, and his tail (it's sticking out from the side of the package). I actually did it to one of his paws too, but it ended up being hidden by the bow. 

This card was 100% CASE'd from Nichole Spohr; she provides so much inspiration! I made two of these cards and gave the other to our soon to be daughter-in-law for her birthday. 

I cut the ribbon and bow from super sparkly silver paper. I cut the circles from a darker purple than the gift box, but then added copic coloring to give them even more dimension, I REALLY love how they turned out!

My color inspiration came from Pinterest, HERE.  The base was a wonky stitched rectangle, also from Pretty Pink Posh; if you zoom in, you can see I also used the cascading star stencil  with clear sparkle paste.  I added lots of splatters to the background and finished the design off with a little bling.

Thanks for stopping by; whether you're paper piecing or just creating - please take a moment and share your design with us, we love seeing them!

Some-BUNNY Loves You

Hi friends, how ya doing?

If you follow me on Snapchat (whimsycreation) or Instagram (whimsical_creations), you will notice this as being a much more involved version of the treat boxes I made for the Ronald McDonald Children's Home (RMCH). I made 10 of these with only the bunny peeking out to take to the RMCH; I filled the boxes with green and pink faux grass, then added as much candy as I could pack in to each one. I also took the leftover candy to RMCH, I hope the families were able to enjoy the items! 

All die cuts are from Pretty Pink Posh (bunny products and treat box)- goodness, I so love their products!

Anywho, as I was cutting the boxes for RMCH, I cut 2 extras to create little care packages for a couple dear friends. One's favorite color(s) is black and white; I didn't know the other's favorite color, so I did a light lilac.

Before I die cut the boxes, I used the Spellbinder's Tufted 3D Embossing Folder to emboss the full panel. I embossed, die cut, then embossed again to help with any embossing that was somewhat flattened during the die cutting process. 

Once complete, I highlighted the black box with white pigment ink and the lilac box with a dark purple ink. All inks, except the white pigment ink, are from Simon Says Stamp pawsitively ink. I adhered the boxes together with double-sided tape to make sure they were strongly secured. I then die cut and shaded lots of elements from the Easter Mugs Addition and Big Easter Cupcake dies; the bunny is from the  Bunny Face Shaker dies. The inside of the bunny ears were cut from white card stock and some were cut from a light grey card stock, shading was added with pink Copics. 

Oh, I almost forgot, I purchased the grass border die, also from Pretty Pink Posh. I die cut it from a couple different shades of green card stock and also added shading. I was able to create two rows of grass from one die cut. 

Thanks for HOPPING by, I hope this gives you some inspiration!

Candy Canes, Candy Canes!

If you read my last post, then you know my pure love with this die set from Honey Bee Stamps, Lovely Layers: Candy Cane.  😍

Needless to say, they have appeared on many of my holiday cards this year and you can see, they are the focal point on this card, this time appearing in pink and blue. I love when you put all 3 layers together; although I do have one card in which only 2 layers are shown (coming later).

Another favorite for me this year, is the Tufted 3D embossing folder from Spellbinder's. Again, lots of shading as well as glittery stickles and Opaque Texture Paste. 

The sentiment is from Waffle Flower, Overlapping Christmas Words and Stencil set. All inks are Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Ink cubes.

The beautiful embellies are from Papertrey Ink Moonshine and Tropical Teal.

Thanks for popping in, wishing you and yours the happiest holiday season!

Love to Scrap Challenge Blog - May 2024

Hey friends, thanks for stopping by!

This round at Love to Scrap, I used this insanely fun Cup of Kindness stamp and die set from Concord and 9th! I die cut 2 of the large cups, 'wrappers', and lids for the cups. Before putting the cups together, I used a couple stencils to accent the base of the cups. For the pink cup I used the sketched lines from the PTI A Little Sketchy set; for the aqua cup, I used SSS XL Rose Bouquet (all inks from Taylored Expressions).

The background is a, new to me, die set, Spellbinders Candy Stripes, in which I die cut two pieces and flipped one over to create the criss-cross pattern. I lightly blended some blue on the background before adhering everything together. 

I love how this turned out, the colors are so happy and if you're a coffee lover like me, it speaks to your heart!  😂

Stop by Love to Scrap and grab some inspiration, then join us. We love seeing your creations!!

Happy 2024 - Love To Scrap Challenge Blog

And we are off to the races of 2024, which will close out in the absolute blink of an eye! Are you ready?

For Love to Scrap this round, I'm sharing a couple quick Halloween cards I made; all the pieces/parts were left over from previous projects, I kept everything clean and simple, taking inspiration from Spellbinders Truckin Through the Seasons samples. Lots of die cutting, shading, and zero coloring! I stamped and embossed the sentiment, added some white gel pen, and voila, they were ready.

 Hope you will join us at the Love to Scrap challenge blog, we love seeing things you take time to create!

Mix It Up Challenge Blog - Anything Goes + optional No Stamping

Hi friends - I hope you had a very Merry Christmas; ours was great except for the nasty weather we had; 30 degrees below with wind chill. My hubby had a total knee replacement December 19 so that has kept us close to home BUT we've had to be out and about in the weather for his physical therapy. 😏

So let's move on to the fun these next two months!! At the Mix It Up Challenge Blog, it's always 'Anything Goes' but if you'd like to throw in the option of No Stamping, please do - but never required. Regardless, we enjoy seeing your projects!

I fell in love with these 'newer' Quadrant products from Pinkfresh Studios; I thought it would be fun to add a small poinsettia for the "O" in JOY; the poinsettia is from The Stamp Market. I am still working with foiling - it's new to me, but I do love how this turned out - fun, geometric and festive! All inks are from Taylored Expressions.

Once I had the poinsettia cut, I added some some shading and of course, added stickles and rock candy glitter to the letters and the poinsettia. Some sequins finish it off!

PS - I recognize these are not some of my best photos...I asked someone to help me and I don't think she was thrilled with the task; the photos show it. LOL!!

Thanks for popping in; hope to see you again soon, and don't forget to join the fun at Mix It Up!