I'm back with a CAS birthday card for the current challenges at Seize the Birthday and Wednesday's Simon Says Challenge: Use Something New.

Sometime in November I purchased two dies I'd been eyeing for some time: the Pink Fresh Studio's "Dainty Blossoms" and the Noteworthy Frames. After Christmas I had time to play with them. Today's card uses only the "Dainty Blossoms," but I'll be back later with some cards using both dies. I love the way they look, but I must admit that die cutting the blossoms requires some time and patience even with a metal shim. I do not, however, regret either purchase. 

This card uses just two of the eight dies included, both die cut from metallic cardstock (which might have been one of the reasons they didn't cut so easily.) I adhered them to a white card and added a bow tied with beautiful silver cord that my friend, Michelle, gave me. The sentiment is embossed with Platinum embossing powder on one of Papertrey Inks "Skinny Mini Banners." I almost didn't order that set of dies, but I'm already glad I did. It was the perfect size for one of Simon Says "Tiny Words" phrases (another new purchase with a lucky blog win from Simon Says.)

It's cold and raining here, and we woke up to no heat. A heating contractor is due here in an hour or so, and I'm hoping it's a simple fix. We certainly don't want to leave the house without any heat while we're away for a week.

 

The latest challenge on CAS on Friday is "Make a Christmas Card." I've shared a few of the cards I made, but haven't shared the ones I made using the tags for Tracey McNeeley's 25 Christmas Tags challenge. I spent the better part of a day right before the holiday turning some of the tags into cards. They've all been mailed now, so it's a good time to share. I'll be entering the first one into the CAS on Friday challenge.

The card I'm entering is the only card I made this year in non-traditional colors, and it's one of my favorites. 

The tag uses Papertrey Ink's "Warmest Wishes" set. I ran the beautiful Altenew embossing plate through the die cutter with Raspberry Fizz cardstock, mounted it on a top-folded white card, and added the tag. 

Here are a few more:

This card went to Hannah. Sarah set me the cutest video of Hannah opening the card and giving it a very close examination. My grandchildren are young enough that I don't expect much appreciation from them. Sometimes the card is destroyed in just minutes. It's the pleasure of making it that matters. In this case, the card was truly appreciated, and it survived the holiday season.

Using the Simon Says stencil "Falling Snow," I covered a black card with white embossing paste to create a backdrop for the tag created with Neat and Tangle's cute "So Foxy" stamp, Simon Says "Merry and Bright" and "Diagonal Stripes." 

This turned out to be another fave:

I die cut Simon Says "Diamond Pattern" from Blueberry Sky paper (PTI) and left the die cuts remain in place. I adhered it to a card made from "Spring Rain," and then added the dimensional tag created with stamps from PTI's "Winter Hills" and the "Tag Sale 10" die.

The next card uses the same "Diamond Pattern" die cut this time from Pure Poppy cardstock. In this case, I released all the little pieces to expose the white card behind the cute penguin tag stamped with My Favorite Things "Chill Wishes" and some more embossing paste with the "Falling Snow" stencil by Simon Says.

And one more:

The tag for this cards was die cut with PTI's "Tag Sale 4" and the beautiful holly (and die) are from Hero Art's "Happy Holly Days" which I watercolored with Zig markers. The bow was die cut with a die from Concord & 9th's "Mistletoe Card Frame." It's hard to see clearly, but the tag is mounted on Pure Poppy that was embossed with Papertrey Ink's "Tintype" Impression Plate. 

When I started making tags for Tracey's challenge I didn't expect to turn many of them into cards. In the end, I think I created 15 or 16 cards from the 26 tags. I ended up needing all of them so it turned out to be a worthwhile endeavor.

 

 

 

Today is the monthly blog hop at Papertrey Ink. I truly did not expect to get a card made for the hop, but found some time this afternoon to play around. I love the pretty inspiration piece.

Strangely, considering the number of Papertrey Ink stamps and dies I own, I didn't own a single Papertrey heart die. I found one by Concord and 9th, however, that seemed made for this challenge. The die itself is designed to cut the heart into a larger piece of cardstock, but I was able to fussy cut around the outside edge to create the heart I was looking for. I adhered it to my new "Shape Shifters Oval 4" die cut from a piece of Pink Peony Bitty Big patterned paper and then to a white top-folded card.

To replicate the pretty flowers, I fussy cut a group of flowers from the Make It Market kit, "Color Pop Florals," and then added a sentiment die cut from "Swoosh" in Hibiscus Burst. All in all, I'm happy to have my first Valentine made!

 

 

Despite the quiet nature of this blog, it's been anything but quiet around here the last few days. I'll be back later with a Me on Monday post, but wanted to get this elegant Christmas thank you card entered in The Card Concept's current challenge which closes within the hour.

I'm thinking this Floral Fantasy deer (Papertrey Ink) qualifies as elegant. I'm done with Christmas cards, but already have multiple thank you notes to write. I was delighted to find a "Christmas Thank You" sentiment in an old favorite from Papertrey Ink, " Signature Christmas."

The deer was silver embossed on Weathervane Cardstock, die cut, and adhered to a Smoky Shadow panel die cut with Simon Says "Stitched Rectangles." The sentiment was embossed on vellum and then wrapped around the panel before adding it to a Weathervane top-folded card. Here's closer look.

This might be the first Christmas Eve ever that I don't have baking or wrapping left to do. Even the gifts going to Racine in early January are wrapped and ready to go! I'm planning to spend most of the day right here in my craft room, making more thank you notes and getting a start on the many January birthday cards that need to be made. 

 

I had a few spare moments yesterday, and had a pile of new die cuts laying on my desk, calling to me. I took advantage of some of the Black Friday sales and two of the things I picked up were two dies from Poppy Stamps. The poinsettias are the same image, just two different sizes. I thought I could use the larger one for an entry into the current Color Throwdown which calls for red, green, white, and kraft.

I also used a Simon Says die that's been in my collection for over a year, and I could never come up with a way to use it. It worked perfectly this time, and I'm thinking it will see a lot more use now. From the start, I decided on a thank you card, since I hope I don't need any more Christmas cards. I think I have everyone covered!

I hope the gold center and a few gold sequins don't disqualify this from the Color Throwdown Challenge, but I felt like the card needed a little sparkle. Here's a closer look:

The second card uses the smaller poinsettias, and I think it's a good entry for CAS on Friday. Although the challenge says "Christmas Card," I'm throwing it in the ring since clearly it's a Christmas Thank You card. 

This card started with a premade 4-bar white card from Paper Source. The band of striped paper came from a 6X6 pad by American Crafts, but had no title for the pad. I think I picked it up a year or two ago at Hobby Lobby. 

All the diecuts were cut from Simon Says "Schoolhouse Red" paper and Papertrey Ink's "New Leaf." The sentiment was stamped with Papertrey Ink's "Never Enough Thanks." (That's certainly true! 

Off to finish up the preparations for hosting our duplicate bridge group tonight.