Christmas Star

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog.

 

I am getting ready for a visit from my son and his family the end of this week. My precious 6 year old granddaughter will be here for a week. It will be such a wonderful family time.

 

We also will be having our annual extended family picnic on Saturday. That will be a great time as well. My brother hosts this at his home. His house is large and laid out in a way that the 70 of us that show up won't be crammed in there. He also has a huge backyard, patio and deck that accommodates everyone nicely. This year he added a pool for those that will want to swim.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #642 on Splitcoaststampers.  Barbara was our hostess and she chose tranquil tide, pool party and silver for her color trio. Optional was Christmas in July.

 

tranquil tide, silver, pool party

For my card I decided to use the Stampin'-Up set "star of light". I saw this card on Pinterest as inspiration. I used different colors, added additional layers and silver stars to make it my own.

On the horizontal rectangle panel I stamped the star swirl in tranquil tide ink. Layered that over tranquil tide cardstock.
On the image panel, I stamped the star light trails in tranquil tide ink. The MISTI was a great help with placement.
The stars are cut with the matching dies to this set-in pool party, tranquil tide and silver.

I stamped some additional stars in the upper left corner and added a couple of silver stars to the star swirl.
My Merry Christmas sentiment is also from the star of light set. I cut a banner with an MFT die in pool party cardstock and stamped in tranquil tide ink.

 

Well that's it for me for this post. So until next time.........God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: star of light (Stampin'-Up)

Paper: : pool party, tranquil tide, whisper white, silver  

Paper Size: A2

Ink: tranquil tide

Accessories: starlight thinlits (Stampin'-Up), flag dies (MFT), MISTI  

I am also entering:  

1.  Christmas All Year Round has an anything goes challenge.

2.  Creative Craft Cottage has a Christmas in July challenge.

3.  Die Cut Divas has a Christmas in July Challenge

4.  Weekly Christmas Card Challenges has an anything goes.

5.  CHNC #342 is anything goes Christmas. Optional use a die-cut

~ Honeymoon Car ~

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog on this Saturday in July.

 

Hope you have some fun plans for the weekend. Today we are going to my next door neighbor's baby gender reveal party. She is pregnant with her first baby and today the sex will be revealed.

 

Only her friend knows the baby's sex and we will all find out together. I have never been to a reveal party before so I am looking forward to it. As I type this post her hubby has a pig on a spit roasting over a wood fire in the backyard. It smells so delicious. I have my windows open and the scent is wafting in.

 

But now it's time to move on with this post. Because, I have an appetizer to prepare for the event. This is my card for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog.

 

Today, I am sharing a sneak peak of some new dies that will be released over the weekend in the online store. There are 20 new wedding dies and 17 fun new nesting shapes. Today I am showing the new Honeymoon Car die and I placed it inside a Wacky Stitched Circle Die. I also used the Love Phrase word die.

So let's get started with some details on how I created my card.

Step 1:  I started my card this week by choosing my card colors. Since this is a wedding card, I wanted the colors to be bright and fun. I decided on blushing bride, mint green, and rose red as the main card colors.
Rose Red card Base: 4 1/2" x 5 1/2"
Blushing Bride Layering panel: 4 1/8" x 5 3/8"
Blushing Bride Designer Paper Panel: 3 7/8" x 5 1/8"

Step 2: I cut my wacky stitched circle in a shimmery vanilla cardstock. The Honeymoon Car is cut in the mint green along with the other card colors. The detail on the CottageCutz dies is always amazing and this new car is no exception. Plus, I love the stitching on this new die and we have other shapes coming with the same stitching.

 Step 3: I started assembly of the card. At this point I wanted to stamp my sentiment. I am only going to use the words forever and always from my stamp. So I taped off the other words and used my stamp-a-ma-jig for placement. I didn't tape all the way to the top of the stamp. When I inked my stamp, I had the top part of stamp off the ink pad.
I placed my love word temporarily on my card just to see where I was going to place the sentiment. That way I don't have any interference from other cardstock and I get a good image.

Step 4: I adhered my honeymoon car image to the wacky stitched circle panel. Used dimensional adhesive to lift it off the circle panel. It always adds depth to your design. I love the balloons and tin cans that are part of this die. Just the way the bride and groom car gets decorated for their departure. So cute! Love this new die.

Step 5: Finished my card assembly. I used double sided tape for all the layers, multi medium matte for my Love word phrase.

 

Well, that's it for me for this post. So until next time.......God bless.

Dies I used to create card:

 

~ Precious Little Boy ~

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog.

I have been a bit pre-occupied for the last several days because we just purchased a new vehicle for me. We traded in a Honda CRV that we owned for 13 years with 150,000 miles. We stayed with the Honda CRV because it's so reliable and we had no major problems with the 2004 model.

 

Cars have changed a lot in 13 years. Nearly everything on my new model is programmable. There is a big screen in the middle of the dashboard with all the stuff. I spent 30 years in the telecommunications industry so computers were my forte. I am computer savvy but this car presents a challenge.

 

On both my laptop and I-Phone everything was intuitive. Not so on this car. I have had to watch videos and read the owners manual to figure out things. Even programming the radio presented a bit of a challenge.

 

I managed to get the Sirius satellite stations programmed and then today I went back to add a couple of stations and I had to play around to get back to where I could use the preset options. Maybe you can tell that this has me a bit stressed. Now I can empathize with my friends who can't maneuver around so well on computers.

 

Let's move onto my card for today. I am tired of talking about this new car.   

 

This one I made for the color challenge #641 on Splitcoaststampers. Karen was our hostess and she chose soft sky, elegant eggplant and watermelon wonder. Optional was no flowers.

I had a lot of ideas come into my head for a card using these colors. But when it came down to getting it created my ideas weren't working. So, I went another route and I like how it turned out.

For my background, I used a template and sponged in some clouds with soft sky ink. Used a post-it note to make the horizon line and continued sponging with soft sky ink. For the shore line, I sponged with crumb cake ink (a neutral).

My little fishing boy is an image from ODBD. I stamped in elegant eggplant ink. Added a fish cut in watermelon wonder cardstock. Looks like my little boy is going to have a successful day fishing (lol)!

Used the CottageCutz word die -Precious- and cut in elegant eggplant cardstock. I adhered it over some white foam sheet to lift it up off the background. The little boy sentiment is from the same ODBD set as the image.

Added a starfish using another CottageCutz die and that completed this card. Well, that's it for me for this post. So until next time........God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: little boys (ODBD)  

Paper: soft sky, elegant eggplant, whisper white, watermelon wonder

Paper Size: A2  

Ink: soft sky crumb cake

Accessories: precious word phrase, paddles and rope ladder dies (CottageCutz)

Techniques: sponging

  

Dies I used to make card: 

I am also entering:

1.  Craftaholics R Us has a summer challenge.

2.  Sunny Day Crafting has a B is for beach challenge.

3.  Cardz For Guys has a beside the sea challenge.

 

~ The Journey ~

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog on this summer Saturday in July. We are having such a beautiful day here in Pittsburgh.

 

I just came back from a 4 mile bike ride with my friend. We ride on a tree lined trail and the temp was so perfect. I always feel great after riding. On the next outing our plan is to add a couple of miles. I just got my bike so we are newbies to this form of exercise. I will keep you posted on my progress.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog. I have been showing you over the past several weeks how to combine word die phrases with a stamped sentiment. Check out my cards here, here, here, here, here and here.  I am continuing with this series today as well.

I needed a card for my good friend who is battling cancer. I send her cards regularly and today she had a good report from her doctor. So I wanted to make one that dealt with her journey. She has quite an amazing attitude and a fighting spirit. 

So I decided to use the Journey Phrase and I thought the Bicycle in Grass dies would work well together. And I would combine that with an appropriate sentiment. So let's get started with some details on how I created my card.

Step 1: White Panel size: 3 7/8" x 4 5/8"
I stamped my sentiment in a teal ink. I taped off the word Journey since I was using the Expression Phrase die for that word. I lined it up with my stamp-a-ma-jig.

Then I masked the sentiment off and taped down the brick wall stencil. I used 3D embossing paste.

I like using this paste with stencils because it gives whatever you are stenciling some dimension.  Set this panel aside to dry.

Step 2: While the embossing paste was drying I cut the grass and place on the bottom of the panel. I decided not to use the grass that is part of the bicycle die. I wanted something that would extend across the image panel. I used the Spring grass die and cut it in a garden green cardstock.

Step 3: I die cut the bicycle in a pomegranate red cardstock. The birds are part of the die so I cut 2 in the medium-blue and adhered them over the red birds.

The journey phrase is cut 2x because I like the words to pop and putting two of them together gives nice dimension. I used a teal cardstock here.
And, last is my butterflies. They are cut in a medium blue-green cardstock and matching designer paper. I used the butterflies from the Fancy Pocket Plus and Angled Pocket dies.

Step 4: The embossing paste was dry enough to begin the card assembly. My layering panels are a medium blue-green cardstock. Size: 4 3/4" x 4". The card base is teal cardstock. Size: 5" x 4 1/4". 

I attached the bicycle using Ranger multi-medium matte adhesive. Just dabbed it on in a few places and then placed it behind the grass.

The Journey Phrase and butterfly is attached with the same adhesive. Added a few small pearls to the butterfly body.

Well, that's my card for today. Hope I have given you an idea for making a card using the Expression Phrase dies. Until next time........God bless.

 

Dies I used to create card

 

 I am also entering:

1.  Crafting with Friends has an anything goes challenge.

2.  Emerald City Crafts Challenge has an anything goes challenge #1.

3.  That's Crafty Challenge Blog has an anything goes challenge.

~Celebrate Patriotism~

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog.

 

Hope your July 4th celebration was a great one. We spent the day with good friends of ours and their family. It's become our tradition the last 4 years or so. Karen is so hospitable and extends the welcome mat.

 

I made this card for my cousin to thank him for his military service and also as a 4th of July celebration card. I wanted to post it on July 4th but there was just no time. We went out to a farm to pick blueberries in the morning. Then after a quick shower we went to a card dealer to start the process of buying a new car. Then off to our friend's home for our July 4th celebration.

 

So I am posting it a couple of days behind schedule (lol)! Here are the details on how I created this card.

 

This is a card I created for the Splitcoaststampers color challenge #640. I was the hostess and I hosen real red, dapper denim, smoky slate and whisper white for the color palette. Optional was to create something patriotic.

dapper denim, real red, smoky slate, whisper white

I found lots of patriotic ideas on Pinterest this week. Here is one idea I used for inspiration.

For my background, I used the Cuttlebug Stars embossing folder. My flags are cut in dapper denim with an MFT die.

For the stars, I used the Stampin'-Up "star framelits dies. The celebrate word is cut from the CottageCutz "celebrate phrase" die.

 

Well that's my card for today. So until next time........God bless.

 

card details:

Paper: real red, dapper denim, whisper white, smoky slate  

Paper Size: A2  

Accessories: celebrate phrase die (CottageCutz), flag stax & sun, moon and stars dies (MFT), star framelits (Stampin'-Up), star embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

 

I am also entering:

1.  TicTacToe Challenge- I chose summer, die-cut, pattern paper

2.  Crafting By Designs has an anything goes challenge

3.  Shopping Our Stash Our Stash has a flag day challenge. We are to use the colors of our flag.

~ Precious Little One ~

Hello Blogger Friends and a happy Saturday to you all. This is a holiday weekend here in the USA. Our July 4th celebration is coming up on Tuesday. So enjoy whatever weekend plans you may have.

 

The card I am showing today is one that I made for my weekly Saturday post on the CottageCutz Blog. So let's get started on some details of how I created this card.

I have been showing you over the past several weeks how to combine word die phrases with a stamped sentiment. Check out my cards here, here, here here and here.  I am continuing with this series today as well.

Today I wanted to create a baby card and use the Baby Koala w/Blanket die. I thought the Precious Phrase would work nicely along with a baby sentiment. So let's get started with some details on how I created my card.

Step 1: I started my card this week with a sketch. I liked this one because it's a square card and I thought it would fit the Koala Bear well.

Step 2: Once the layout was decided on, I started figuring out my square card base and the additional layers. I decided to make a 4 3/4" square card. Then I picked my card colors. For the center squares I was able to use the stitched square & square set dies. I used the 2nd largest of each set.

Sweet Sugarplum Card Base: 4 3/4" square
Vanilla Layer: 4 1/2" square
Wild Wasabi Striped Designer Paper: 4 3/8" square
Daffodil Delight Center Square Layer: 3 1/8" square
Vanilla Center Square Layer: 3" square

Step 3: I cut the Koala Bear in a medium and dark brown cardstocks. Decided to use a yellow for the blanket. The ears and tummy are cut in vanilla and I shade them with cocoa ink.

Step 4: Started some partial card assembly. I hadn't cut the oval or the rectangle layers yet and I needed to determine how large to make those.

Step 5: Placed my Precious Phrase in this step. This helped in the placement of the center square. The sketch has everything evened off. I moved my image panels down slightly to accommodate the phrase.

Step 6: I decided to use the 4th largest oval from the Oval set. The Koala Bear fit nicely in that size oval.

The rectangle panel underneath the oval is cut at 1" x 3 3/4". I used a hearts embossing folder on this panel. These were both cut in the sugarplum cardstock.

The green flag is 5/8" x 4 3/8" and I cut in wild wasabi cardstock that matched the designer paper.

Step 7: Before I assembled all the center layers, I stamped my sentiment. It is a bit large and I wanted to make sure everything would fit. It also had more words than I wanted to use.  So I used my MISTI and taped off the words "for a special". I inked up just "Little One".

Step 8:  Almost finished. I adhered the image to the oval panel and then attached it to

the square sentiment panel. 

Step 9: Assembled this panel to the card base to complete my project. I used a couple of hearts in the sugarplum shade to finish it off. There is such detail in he CottageCutz dies. Here is a close-up of the Koala Bear. Love the font on these new phrase dies as well. the square sentiment panel. 

I hope I have given you some inspiration today. If you need a baby card this bear is just too sweet. And, by changing the color of the blanket you could make it for a boy or girl. Well, that's it for me for this post. Until next time........God bless.

 

Dies I used to create card: