Easter Blessings

 

I'm here with a reminder for Challenge #286  at Time Out Challenges where you still have another week to Pick (at least) 2 of the following word prompts to spark your creativity and come play cards with us!

Stencil, Floral, Spots, Arch, Water and Pastel

Some words may have a double meaning; for example 'Water' may inspire you to pull out your water colours you may be inspired to have a nautical theme (i.e. on or around the water)!  Please mention which words you have chosen and how they inspired you - especially if it isn't obvious!  And please remember we only allow a total of 5 challenges - ours plus 4 others!

This challenge is generously being sponsored by Gina K. and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design team members a $25 credit to the store!  The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!

This pretty die was Day 1 of the Gummiapan Easter Advent Calendar.  This is the first year Gummiapan has released an Easter Advent Calendar and as I am so sick of losing weight only to put it on again at Easter and Christmas that I told my husband I did NOT want any chocolate this Easter and wanted him to preorder this set instead!  

Unfortunately, I've been laid low for a week now with yet another bug, but was determined to make an Easter card for my choir director.   I just hope my shaky voice will last the next few days for the musical marathon that is Easter in our English-speaking parish (5 services in 4 days)!

I cut the whole floral oval twice and then just the blooms along the bottom once.  Once I trimmed off the blooms and foliage, I coloured them using pastel alcohol markers and overlaid them back on the stacked oval frame.

So I've included Pastel and Floral on my design and I guess since the oval frame is closed at the bottom it's an Arch of sorts as well!

I was able to cut the frame from snippets of white card left over from previous projects (a failed pillow box in this case) and the Easter sentiment (The Greetery) was cut once from a snippet of gold cardstock and then again from a snippet of a more reflective gold paper.  The flower centres, "blessings" and the carefully nestled Easter eggs (Poppy Stamps Whittle Chickens and Eggs) - were also cut from from the same snippet.

I'd like to enter the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #73 - the floral frame is NBUS; 

Darnell's Weekly IDEAS - D for Dies this week; 

Krafty Chicks Challenge #704 - CAS week;

Word Power April 2025 Challenge - Sentiment as focus;

Snippets Playground Challenge #504 - Snippets of gold as follows;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Spots and Flowers

Time Out Challenge #286 has just gone live and it's one of our new challenges for 2025 - a Pick 2 Challenge!  

This is our 2nd Pick 2 Challenge and the concept is simple - we give you 6 words to choose from and you use at least 2 of them to inspire your creation!  TBC, you can pick more than 2 if you like - all 6 if you really want to challenge yourself but just make sure to pick at least 2!

The Words for this challenge are

Stencil, Floral, Spots, Arch, Water and Pastel

Some words may have a double meaning; for example 'Water' may inspire you to pull out your water colours you may be inspired to have a nautical theme (i.e. on or around the water)!  Please mention which words you have chosen and how they inspired you - especially if it isn't obvious!

This challenge is generously being sponsored by Gina K. and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design team members a $25 credit to the store!  The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!

Speaking of guest designers, our guest designer this fortnight is Fran of Fran Made in Oregon our winner of Challenge #281!  Be sure to check out the Time Out Blog to see how how Fran and my talented team mates were inspired by these 6 words!

I do hope you enjoy our challenge and I do hope you can take Time Out and join us for some fun!  And please, if it isn't obvious let us know how these words inspired your creation!  And please remember we only allow a total of 5 challenges - ours plus 4 others!

I started by Stencilling some Spots (Spellbinders Advent Calendar 2024) in Pastel colours onto an Arched  Panel (Spellbinders Essential Arches), then added a Floral arrangement (Spellbinders Advent Calendar 2024) and some Water droplets and finished my card off with a simple "Hugs" sentiment (Spellbinders Vivid Script).

So I managed all 6 and was pretty chuffed because everything was NBUS - the stencil, the set of arches, the flowers and the "hugs" sentiment - but as I said it's only necessary to Pick 2!  I hope you'll Pick 2 and join take some Time Out of your busy schedules and join us!

I'd like to enter the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #73;

Die Cut Divas April Challenge - Spring; 

Moving Along with the Times Challenge #177 - Spring Flowers;

Fab 'n Funky Challenge #614 - Think Spring;

Triple B April Challenge - Blooms;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Winter Wreath of Joy

I just had to have this die set (Sizzix Festive Wreath) when I saw it - there were so many useful elements I thought it was great value!  However as is often the case, when it arrived it was a little bit bigger than I had anticipated and so it fell into that black hole that is my NBUS pile and I soon forgot about it! 

  Thankfully, Dawn has chosen Christmas Foliage as the theme for the month of April at  Sparkles Christmas Challenge 171, so I was inspired to dig a little deeper in my NBUS pile and found it!

Once I had constructed the layered elements and arranged them satisfactorily on my wreath I added a single word sentiment (from an old Reverse Confetti set I think) in red to pick up the red berries (both glossily accented) and added them to a red card base!

I'd like join the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #73 - NBUS Wreath die set;

The 12 Months of Christmas Challenge #121 - Anything Goes Christmas Optional Twist Vintage;

ABC Christmas Challenge - F is for Focal Sentiment;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #61 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Festive Friday Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

Girls Creative Christmas Challenge #118 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Peace on Earth Challenge #84 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Ellibelle's Corner April Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Leap of Faith

Challenge #280 at Time Out Challenges has just gone live and this fortnight we want to see projects Inspired By Your Favourite Movie!  

This challenge is generously being sponsored by Claire Brennan Design and Illustrations and Claire is offering this incredible Stamp set as a prize for our Top Pick as chosen by the design team!  

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!  Speaking of guest designers, our guest designer this fortnight is Ginger of Andora's Stamping Studio!  Be sure to check out how Ginger was inspired by her favourite movie as well as my talented team mates over on the Time Out Blog!

Many of you will remember Claire Brennan from her Waltzing Mouse Stamps days!  As soon as I heard Claire was back I went shopping and this stamp set was first in my basket!  I love the mid 20th century city skyline which could be any city but I'm thinking New York ... and therefore the perfect backdrop for a card inspired by my favourite movie West Side Story.  With a little imagination, this NBUS dancer (Spellbinders Just Dance) could very well be Maria as she dances and sings I Feel Pretty!

I'd like to enter the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #72 - NBUS dancer;

Cut It Up Challenge #326 - The Colous of Spring (I'm thinking of the blossoms on my ornamental plum tree which are about to bloom);

Cards4Galz #246 - Spring time (who doesn't leap for joy when it finally arrives);

A Cut Above March Challenge - Anything Goes;

Word Power March Challenge

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Roll out the Red Carpet

Onefer

 

The 97th Academy Awards have just concluded and once again the bold and beautiful have graced the red carpet with their elegant (and at times eccentric) fashion choices!  Time Out Challenge #284 is all about past and present red carpet haute couture as inspiration!

Our challenge is sponsored by Picket Fence Studios who have very generously donated a $25 store credit to be awarded to our top pick as voted by the Design Team.  Our winner will also be invited to guest design with us in a future challenge.  Speaking of guest designers, we are joined this challenge by  Carol our winner of Challenge 279!  Please do drop by and see what she has made especially for this challenge and if you didn't come from the Challenge Blog, drop by there as well and see how the rest of the team were inspired by Red Carpet masterpieces!

Stephanie has handpicked a few creations from previous Academy Awards to help you on your way but feel free to find your own red carpet outfit  - please include a photo so we can appreciate how you were inspired!  Here's a closer look at Stephanie's picks

Can you guess which of these magnificent dresses was my initial inspiration for this challenge?  Yes it was Halle Berry's gorgeous number, though it was a tough choice as I also had ideas a few of the others and there was also a beautiful dress Liz Taylor wore for her first Academy Award in 1961!

Here's a closeup of Halle's dress!  Firstly the sheer bodice - I framed a panel of dark red vellum (so I'd have somewhere to hide any adhesive)!  Next the embroidery - I used this NBUS fuchsia die set (Memory Box Delicate Fuchsia Trio) to mimic the spray of greenery and flowers on Halle's gorgeous dress.

I did make up all three flowers from the trio but I only used one in the end so there was room for this "fabulous" word die (Honey Bee)!  I guess the alliteration appealed to me and luckily it just fitted inside the frame!  Lastly, once everything was in place I added a little sparkle to mimic the gold sheen in  Halle's dress with my newly acquired Wink of Stella pen (loving it)!

Twofer

I couldn't let all that inspiration go to waste and Zoe Saldana's dress with all it's billowing frills made me think of Ursula from the Little Mermaid and I was inspired to make this octopus card for my husband's birthday using 3 shades of purple - light to dark as in Zoe's dress.

The die is actually meant to be interactive with the bottom legs spinning independently of the rest of the body but I struggled to give it enough support while still allowing the legs to swing so I went with an action wobbler element instead.

And what would an Octopus do without his garden?  I cut some coral with dies from a few different sets from various coloured snippets (below is just a sample that I thought to photograph during construction).

The signpost die is from the same set as the Octopus but the sentiment is from a Poppy Stamps set (Whittle Sea Life Sentiment) - I performed surgery on it so it could be split across 2 lines.  

I'd like to enter both cards in the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #72 - NBUS Fuchsia die set, NBUS Octopus;

I'd like to enter Card 1 in the Snippets Challenge #501 - various coloured snippets were useful for cutting the coral;

I'd like to enter card 2 in the following fab challenges;

Fab n Funky Challenge #612 - Punny Sentiment;

Crafty Animals Challenge #92 - Include an animal;

Die cut Divas March Challenge - Include a critter (and a die cut);

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Sparkling Deer

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 170 has just gone live and Billie has chosen Christmas Critters as the theme for the month of March!

One of the most useful items I bought last year was this 3D-embossing folder (Sizzix 663613 Folk Art Pattern) the has added gorgeous texture and interest without detracting from the elegance of my Christmas Critter (Poppy Stamps Nordic Deer).   

Actually this is a redo of a previous design with much cooler stash than I had at the time - the deer, the banner (Spellbinders Make it Merry Sentiments Dies) and the "Sparkle" (Creative Craft Sparkle and Shine sentiment die).   

The banner die was another really useful item - it's a four die set with interchangeable sentiments.  So you can have a plain banner or any of the 3 sentiments included in the set - Jingle All the Way and Make it Merry are the other sentiments.   What I really love about this die set is the ridge that forms a border around the banner when the sentiment die is inserted ... also no poking required!

I cut the banner and lace collar from this lovely gold glitter paper I saved from a Christmas Cracker.

And once I'd cut and assembled the deer, I sprinkled glitter onto wet glossy accents for some real sparkle.  I did the same for the stacked "sparkle" sentiment.

I'd like join the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #72 - NBUS Nordic embossing folder, sentiment banner, "sparkle" sentiment;

Snippets Challenge #500 - Sneaking in with my gold snippets and hoping the Christmas theme, sparkle and touches of gold are celebratory enough

Crafty Animals Challenge #92 - Use an animal on your creation;

ABC Christmas Challenge - C and D - D is for die cuts;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #61 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Festive Friday Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting, I hope you go away a little inspired!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and will try to find you!

Kate