Warming Up!

Hi and welcome to my blog. I hope that you are enjoying the Christmas season. It has been unusually cold here in the South for this time of year. I made a card with this cute little mousie warming IN a cup of cocoa! LOL! I have been enjoying my cups of cocoa lately.

I used the Gina Marie dotted die for the background and cut it using metallic blue card stock. I stamped the image, colored it with alcohol markers and fussy cut it. I used the stem of a flower die for the "steam" in the cup. The white bottom portion of the card was run through a snowflake die. The greenery is a Gina Marie die cut from green card stock. I splattered white acrylic paint over the greenery and cup for snow. I made "marshmallows" using 4 pop dots and adding white sparkle flocking to them. You can see one marshmallow in the cup and 3 on the greenery.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful and warm day!

Challenges entered:

House Mouse and Friends:  Anything Goes - Option Something Warm

                         2 crafty Critter Crazies:  Anything Goes #21
                         Tuesday Throwndown: Anything Goes #420

Bits and Bobs #9

Hi and welcome to my blog! It is another bits and bobs day! I had fun looking through my scraps to make a Mother's Day card. This image is an old one that I have had in my stash for a long time. I colored it with Spectrum Noir markers and cut it out using a Spellbinders Small Circle die. I made the frame awhile back using the Heartfelt Creations Butterfly die set. I placed the die on the fold of my patterned paper to make a complete frame. The bottom border was made using a scrap of patterned paper and the Spellbinders Bracket Borders 2 die. I then added embellishments I found in my stash.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

Dies R Us:  Flowers + Die

heARTful Challenge:  Anything Goes + Stamp

One Crazy Stamper:  Anything Goes

Scrapy Land:  Anything Goes + Die

Altered Dies #24

Hi Everyone! I hope you are enjoying this Christmas season. Well, this is my last altered die card! I must say that this has opened up a whole new way of looking at my dies. On this card I used part of a window die for the angels wings!

I started with the Spellbinders Decorative Window Scene die and cut using white glitter card stock.

I cut the window apart and used the 2 bottom pieces for the wings.

I cut Spellbinders Labels 4 from green patterned card stock and adhered the angel on top.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Challenges entered:

Scrapy Land:  Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown:  Anything Goes

Altered Dies #23

Hi Everyone! I can't believe the Christmas season is upon us! This year just flew by. I want to show you another altered die card I made into a Christmas card. I am showing this a day early because my Just For Fun card is going up tomorrow. This cardinal by Inkadinkado is one of my all favorite Christmas stamps. The image was cut using the Gina Marie stitched circle die.

I started with the Tim Holtz Woodlands dies by Sizzix.  

I cut 10 trees and then cut the bottoms off of each one.

I then arranged these bottom pieces in a circle to form the wreath!

I had all these little "trees" left so I decided to make another Christmas card with them while I had everything out on my desk.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope this has inspired you to create some wreaths of your own. Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Challenges entered:

Crafting By Designs:  Get ready For Christmas

Double D Challenge:  Traditional Christmas Colors

Altered Dies #22

Hi Everyone! Are you ready for Thanksgiving? This card might put you in the spirit! Humor got the best of me with this quirky turkey! The saying is computer generated.

I don't really have any turkey stamps except for one small one. I really need to look at buying a few, so I made this fun turkey using a die and a chicken stamp by Sparkle N Sprinkle!

I started off  by cutting with the Cheery Lynn Mega Italian Flourish die. I cut from a background I had made a long time ago with alcohol inks.

The die was a little larger than the background, but I knew I would be cutting off some of the bottom anyway. I then cut between the scallops and this became the turkey's tail feathers!

The "turkey" is a chicken stamp courtesy of Sparkle N Sprinkle. I colored him with Spectrum Noir markers, fussy cut him and pop dotted him on top of  the "feathers."

I hope you enjoyed my altered die card today. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Crafty Creations:  Animals

Scrapy Land:  Give Thanks

Word Art Wednesday:  Anything Goes #256-257

Altered Dies #21

Hi! I am back again with another altered die card. It has been a fun year seeing how I can use my dies in different ways than normal. I have three more to show and the year will be over! Boy has it gone fast!

For this card I started with this wreath die by Spellbinders.

I then cut it apart and used the parts like branches. These are the "branches" over the window. I also cut another piece off the die for the birds to perch on.

I used a Sizzix brick embossing folder and sanded it to make the card look like the outside of a house. I used patterned paper behind the window to look like wallpaper inside the "house." I stamped, colored and fussy cut the birds and tea kettle that is sitting inside on the "windowsill." The window die is the Decorative Window Scene die from Spellbinders. Wouldn't it be nice to have a spot of tea on a cold Fall morning? 

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Challenges entered:

Crafting By Designs:  Anything Goes

Dies R Us:  Thankful For Nature

Scrapy Land:  Anything Goes

Altered Dies #20

Hi and welcome to my blog. I have another altered die card to show you today. I made a fairy using a Cheery Lynn butterfly die for her wings!

                            I started with the butterfly die and cut off the antennas.

I patted my Versa Mark ink pad over the butterfly and added Sparkle N Sprinkle Glisten embossing powder to it and heat set it. Then I adhered the girl image to the die.

Here is a picture of the fairy that shows the sparkle better.

The background was made by inking up the negative flower stamp with Bundled Sage Distress ink then making streaks across the stamp using teal and brown markers then stamping it on cream card stock.

The first butterfly I cut did not cut out all the little pieces so I cut another one. I then had the negative of the 2 butterflies left. Not wanting to throw away that piece I placed washi tape behind them and made a quick card! Here is the result.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Altered Dies #19

Hi Everyone. I hope you are enjoying your day. I have another altered die card to show you. I love using die shapes on my cards and here is an easy way to dress them up a bit. I started with the Crisscross Spellbinders background die, adhered it over green card stock and cut it out all at once using the Sizzix Fancy Labels die. Now I have a fancy look to my shape!


Step 1.

Step 2.

Here is the card!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this simple way to add flair to your die shapes!

Challenges entered:

ABC Challenge: Q = Quick
Great Impressions:  Anything Goes

Altered Dies #18

Hi and welcome to my blog! I am showing another altered die card today. When I was making this card I wanted it to have a vintage look. I had an awful time finding patterned paper to go behind my image. Have you ever had one of those days? I even had some friends over who were helping me find the patterned paper that looked right. We found one, then I decided that sepia looked better on the image instead of black so that trashed my patterned paper idea I had, because the sepia color did not go with the paper. Do you remember the show What Not to Wear? I remember them saying on that show that as long as something goes it is fine to wear it. You don't have to be matchy matchy! So that is my philosophy on this card. My patterned paper goes! LOL!

     I started with the Flower Bramble die by Cricut and cut using cream card stock.

I adhered it to pink card stock and cut out an oval using Spellbinders small ovals die in the middle to give the card a different look.

I decided that the card looked too large so I cut it down some. I added the patterned paper behind the oval and pop dotted the image on top. Now the card looks more like a frame instead of just adding something on top of the background. I also added teal butterflies that were cut out using Tim Holtz's Butterfly Frenzy die.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Challenges entered:

Scrapy Land:  Anything Goes + Die

                                                                 

Altered Dies #17

Hi and welcome to my blog! I have another altered die card to show you today. I made flowers from the Spellbinders Shuttered Window die! As you can see I chose bright summery colors. Summer lingers a long time here in South Carolina! I love birds and birds go with flowers, so I just had to add this little cutie to the card. I hope you enjoy seeing how the flowers were made.

I started with this die. You see that the top of the window looks like half of a flower.

I cut out 2 windows and cut off both the tops.

When the 2 tops are put together they make a flower! As you see on my card, I added patterned paper behind the flowers for them to stand out more.

I made three to go on my card. The Dina Wakely bird was stamped on patterned paper and fussy cut. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful and blessed day.

Challenges entered:

Die Cuttin' Divas:  Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Anything Goes

Scrapy Land:  Use An Image

Word Art Wednesday:  Anything Goes #246-247

Altered Dies #16

Hi and welcome to my blog! At the beginning of the summer hubby and I ate outside at a downtown cafe at dusk. There was a nice little breeze and a jazz player nearby playing delightful tunes. Small little lights hung over us as we ate. This card reminds of that wonderful evening! This card is also another altered die card. Sometimes we don't have a die that we want so we can alter some that we have to make them into something else. That is what I did on this card. I wanted an awning over the table and chairs so that it would look like they were at an outside cafe. I saw a fence die that I had and thought that I could make it into an awning. It worked just fine!

I cut the fence by Impression Obsession from blue card stock, bent down the top part of the fence and adhered it behind a layer of card stock above the table and chairs.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have been inspired to look at your dies differently and make them into something very different. Have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Scrapy Land:  Use An Image

Simon Says Monday Challenge:  Summer Fun

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Make For The Border

Tuesday Throwdown:  Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday:  Anything Goes

Altered Die #15

Hi Everyone! I am back again with another altered die card. August is a good month for eating ice cream. I love ice cream and can eat it all year round! On this card I made an ice cream cone by altering two dies. I am always in need of birthday cards so I made this one for a birthday.

I started off using the Memory Box Flowering Tree die shown here.

I turned it upside down to make a cone and layered it on a white triangle. Next I used the Stitched Circle die from Gina Marie for the ice cream. I used my scallop scissors to cut off part of the circle.

The ice cream was popped up and I added some enamel dots for "sprinkles."

I stamped, colored and fussy cut this cute penguin from Stampalicious and also popped him up on the card. 

I hope this inspires you to do some die altering of your own. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Double D Designs:  Polka Dots

Scrapy Land:  Anything Goes/Die

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Celebrate

Altered Dies #14

Hi and welcome to my blog! I usually show my altered die cards on the first and third Thursdays of each month, but due to being a guest designer this month for Word Art Wednesday I am showing this altered card today. I know many of you hit the beaches or the lake in the summertime. I have made it to the beach once this summer. It certainly feels good to be near water in the middle of the hot summer, so I have made an underwater altered die card today. The background was made by using the salt technique.

I altered a die to make the "coral."  I started with the Blooming Branch die by Memory Box and cut it out using blue glitter card stock and purple card stock.

I layered these on top of each other and added Clementine embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle.

I used Mudd Puddles Sea Glass and Shell Pieces on the bottom of the card. Glisten embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle was also used with them to look like sand. The mermaid is also a Sparkle N Sprinkle stamp.

It was fun making this underwater scene. I hope you enjoyed how I altered the die to look like coral. Have a wonderful and blessed day and keep cool!

Challenges entered: 

Dies R Us:  Water and/or Beach

Scrapy Land:  Emboss It

Simon Says Monday Challenge:  Add Some Texture

Altered Dies #13

Hi Everyone and welcome to my blog! I was so happy when I learned I had been chosen as a guest designer for Word Art Wednesday for the month of July. What a wonderful privilege!

I have always loved this beautiful verse about peace that is being showcased here this week. There are quite a few verses in God's Word that tell about peace. When Jesus was born the angels said "peace on earth goodwill toward men." Later it is written that God gives peace that passes all understanding, even when we live in a stormy world! AND that is a peace He gives deep in our souls and only He can give it!

I decided to use a beautiful peacock stamp from Inkadinkado. I must have peacocks on the brain because I saw some beautiful ones when I went to Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, SC while visiting my son a few weeks ago. This one was really showing off for us and I was happy to get his picture!

I have been making the altered die cards on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month. This is a day early but I altered some leaf dies from Sue Wilson and used them as feathers on the peacock! His body was glittered using Sparkle N Sprinkle Olaf White glitter. The frame for the card is a Spellbinders Decorative Labels 8 die layered on a Labels 8 die cut from blue card stock. The Lace Corner is a Cheery Lynn die.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Challenges entered:

Really Reasonable Ribbon:  Summer Flowers

Simon Says Monday Challenge:  Red/White and/or Blue

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Anything Goes

Sparkle N Sprinkle: Anything Goes With Glitter, Embossing Powder, Flocking

Altered Dies #12

Hi Everyone! I have another altered die card to share with you today. This one is a wild card for a boy's birthday as you will see! The background was made by using dot resist watercolor paper and adding blue Color Burst. I added confetti stars for embellishments. The "cute" little monster was stamped, colored with Spectrum Noir markers and fussy cut.

Here is the inside of the card. I cut a strip of orange card stock and added numbers washi tape over it. I also added some confetti stars under the sentiment.

I used the saucer and tea bag from the Tea Time dies by Tim Holtz. I turned the saucer over and attached the tea bag to the top for it to look like a flying saucer! I punched circles on the saucer for windows.

This was a fun card to make. I hope you enjoyed how I altered the saucer and tea bag to make my UFO! Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!