I See...@ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "I See..." which means she wants to see those projects that have some sort of a see-through element.

This is what I did.....

I've got a couple of snowflakes cut from polka dot vellum and the sentiment is a sticker, which you can also see though.  Digi is from Stamplorations.

Can't say I blame Europeans for throwing our heat back at us......but couldn't you have waited until today at least?  I booked yesterday off work to go on a day trip that included a couple of hikes.....in weather where, when you factor in the humidity, it was 40ºC.  So, two hikes turned into one.....on a poorly marked trail so my directionally challenged ass got lost.  After tromping around in the bush for a bit trying to find the trail I finally admitted to myself I wasn't going to find my way back without help, so I pulled out the pocket rectangle and gps'ed my way back to the parking lot.  Man, was I gassed.  I really gotta stop thinking I'm 30 years younger.

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian peeps!  🍁

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Also for:

CRAFT:  Christmas

ABC Challenge:  L is for Let It Snow

Fab 'n' Funky:  something that begins with B - buttons, black, brown

Christmas [or not] Bingo:  B - Christmas, red, plaid, digital image

Die Cut Divas:  Christmas in July

Merry Little Christmas:  anything Christmas goes

Moving Along With the Times:  use a colouring medium

Addicted to Stamps:  die cuts

A Place to Start:  anything goes

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Dragonfly Dreams:  masculine

Peace on Earth:  anything Christmas goes

Sweet Stampin':  anything but birthday

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Cupcake Inspirations:  anything goes

Make Your Own Background! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Make Your Own Background!"

This is what I did....

I did some heat embossing and used some black snowflake stickers to make the background.  Snowflake stamp is from Close to My Heart and the sentiment stamp is from Stamplorations.  This is one of those cards that I call, "But we got there in the end".  You know what I mean, one of those cards where you might have had to backtrack, try something different because what you were thinking didn't work, change the size or the paper or....

....have to make it an extra layer because you put it together upside down.  Let's just say some f words were uttered.

Speaking of things not exactly going as planned.....our hospital foundation's Gala was on Saturday.  Without having to spend a whole bunch of time setting up what I want to explain....at one point of the evening I was sitting with my laptop on the stage that was set up with all the amps, mikes, instruments etc for the band that was going on later.  Once I got the most important task done, I decided I really didn't need to be sitting on the stage, where I was probably blocking the projector screen from some attendees, and I could leave my laptop on the stage and do the remaining jobs standing on the floor.  Of course, I was on the side of the stage that the staircase wasn't.  I didn't want to have to weave my way back across the stage, especially since the projector screen stand was kinda flimsy, I didn't want to risk knocking it over (and I was definitely picturing myself tripping and taking out the entire drum set), so I just turned around with the intention of gracefully sliding/lowering myself off the stage to the floor.  It was then I realized that, even though I'm 5'9", I wasn't going to reach the floor, there would be a drop.  Just as I started to go for it my body said, "Hahahahahahaha, you thought you were still 20, didn't you?  And you think you can do this in those shoes?  Hahahahahaha!"

So, there I was, just kinda perched on the very edge of the stage.  My intention was to get the attention of one of the members of the band who played the dinner music, since they were all fairly big guys, to give me a solid forearm, and that way I could use it to lower myself, but they had apparently packed up their last piece of equipment and went off in the other direction.  That's when I realized there was absolutely no way I could abort this decentation plan as the only way to get off the edge of the stage would be to do some kind of rolling flop back onto the stage, get up on all fours, and then stand up from there.  Yeah, no.

I sat there for a few minutes psychically staring at someone I was an acquainted with, hoping to get her attention so she could send her husband over.  But, either I'm not very talented when it come to psychic staring, or she did in fact sense me, and decided I was on my own (which would be very on brand for her).  I mentally hoped she had wanted one of the caterer's famous crème brûlées for dessert and they were all gone when she went to get it.

Just as I was trying to come up with another plan, the Recreation Facilities Lead came walking near so I desperately called her name.  (Quick shout out to her for not only being my rescuer but also for being absolutely amazing all through Gala.)  She came over right away and said, "Would you like some help?"  I feel like at this point I might have nodded and said, "Uh huh" like I was a child rather than a 51 1/2 year old woman.  Thing is, that although she's a solid person, she's not overly tall, so she had to offer her shoulders, not a hand or an arm.  I thought, "It's now or be stuck here forever" and gently put my arm around her to facilitate my slide off.  Only problem was between my pants and the carpet on the stage, there was no sliding, like none.  Of course, she started moving slowly away from the stage, so she could help me onto the floor.  I ended up having to throw my other arm around the front of her shoulders, and basically throw the rest of me at her in order to disembark. So, she pretty much carried me off the stage.  And, because she's so wonderful, was completely unfazed.  I spent the rest of the evening apologizing to her and asking if her back was okay.  All in all, besides that and a couple of minor hiccups that none of the attendees would have realized, Gala was a success.  The highlight of the night for me was the fact that the speakers at the side of the stage would have hid my stage debacle from most of the guests.  Well, that and the fact that there was leftover cake to take home after cleanup on Sunday.  (:

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Merry Little Christmas:  anything Christmas goes

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Aud Sentiments:  embossing + sentiment

Neglected Stuff:  use neglected stash - First time I've used those very old snowflake stickers.

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Peace on Earth:  anything Christmas goes

Allsorts:  anything goes

Inkspirational:  for the guys

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Christmas [or not] Bingo:  N - Christmas, free, dots

Simon Says:  anything goes

Black & White Plus One Colour! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying she wants to see projects that are black and white with just one other colour.

This is what I did.....

It's cards like this that make me love being on a Design Team.  (I also love being a LRW DT member because I get to be a part of a group of talented ladies, who are absolutely amazing!!)  Would I have ever coloured this stamp from Stamplorations like this if I wasn't using it for this challenge?  Nope, I would not have.  I wouldn't have had even an inkling to colour it like this, which would have been a shame because I think it makes for a unique Christmas card.

Can I just say, we have been spoiled ROTTEN in midwestern Ontario (Canada) with the weather this year, particularly into late summer/early fall.  It rarely rains and temps are very warm.  Like *casts look around room* *leans in closer to the screen and whispers*, almost too warm.  Definitely might be just me thinking that but I did go on a little tirade to my daughter about how come it's the first time in 13 years she hasn't played league fastball and it's still 25ºC at 9:00pm at night so I wouldn't have had to freeze while watching her play.  The weather has started to turn cooler now, though it was still 19ºC on Sunday night at dusk.

My pup has been loving it too as we've almost never had to skip a walk.  I had gotten in the habit of taking her for a walk in the morning and in the evening, figuring with rainouts (and needing wait for our country gravel road to dry up) there would be days where she wouldn't get a walk at all and it would all even out.  But it never rains....and when it does, it happens in the middle of the day, after our morning stroll and dries by the evening.  There's also a chance I might be typing all this as a way to procrastinate going for a walk this morning.....and also, because of the harrowing incident I had last night.  When Miley and I got back to the end of our laneway, I was opening our mailbox to get the mail when a moth flew directly in my face at the same time one of our neighbours (who are hunters) shot at something, I yelled "JESUS CHRIST!" so loud I'm pretty sure my Mennonite neighbours won't wave to me the next time I see them.

(:

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Edited to add:  Dear Mother Nature.  I sincerely and humbly apologize for saying "almost too warm" in the paragraph above.  We do jokes here at Huh.  So This is a Blog.  From time to time, we try to make corners of the Reader's mouth upturn just a lil titch, I really didn't mean to offend you in any way, shape or form.  I do appreciate the lesson you taught me tonight when I walked out of work at 8:30pm and it was 5ºC - thank you.  In the future I will strive to be more sensitive and more aware of the tone and messaging of my posts.  If you could possibly not do that again, at least not for a month or so, when 5ºC would be a perfectly expected and acceptable temperature, I would be ever so grateful.  Thank you for your consideration. 

Also for:

Crafty Calendar:  anything goes

As You Like It:  favourite card base shape - I love making square cards.  I think a square card sets it apart from store-bought cards (as they are usually rectangular).  I also love my stitched square dies so I use them a lot.  (:

Krafty Chicks:  stamps

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

Merry Little Christmas:  anything Christmas goes

A Place to Start:  anything goes

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Peace On Earth:  anything Christmas goes

Numbers! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Numbers!" which means she wants to see, well, numbers on your project.

I thought this theme was perfect to make....

a birthday card for my uncle who is celebrating his big 8-0.  Printed out an extra big 80, foiled it with gold foil and added th stickers, a couple of die cut words (from glitter fun foam) and that's about it.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.  

Also for:

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Crafty Catz:  anything goes (or make me smile if seeing a giant 80 on a card tickles the funny bone....it is meant to (: )

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Cut It Up:  this makes me happy - Making a card for a specific event/purpose. And foiling.  (:

Craft Rocket:  birthday

Dream Valley:  use a sentiment

A Place to Start:  anything goes

What's New? @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's asking, "What's New?" which just means that she wants to see those projects with newness.....could be a new job, new baby, new technique, new crafty item....so many things to choose from!

I used a new background die and made this.....

I find filling in the die cut "empty space" with other colour paper oh so satisfying.  Until I end up losing a piece.  Then it's not so satisfying at all.  (:

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season and 2024 is off to a great start for you!  Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

CRAFT:  Christmas the Last Stretch - This card used the last of the snowflake charms.

Krafty Chicks:  all occasions 

ABC Christmas: Z is for zebra (stripes)

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

Christmas (or not) Bingo:  bingo card - O with layers, stitching, twine, rectangle, free

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Simon Says:  something new

Bohemian Rapsody! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Kate's turn to choose the challenge and she's continuing on with her Queen theme and she's saying, "Bohemian Rapsody!" which means she would like us to combine three or more elements on our makes.

This is what I did....

Let's see, I've got three hot drinks, three words, four layers, six different colours, and 472 dots.  Digi is from Stamplorations.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

Crafty Gals:  dots

Double D:  dots

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Double Trouble:  keep calm and stitch on

Dream Valley:  anything goes

613 Avenue Create:  embossing

Peace on Earth:  anything Christmas goes

Can You Handle the Pressure:  Christmas + embossing folder

Krafty Chicks:  all occasions

Through the Purple Haze:  anything goes

My Time to Craft:  got to be Christmas

The Holly & Ivy:  anything Christmas goes

Simon Says: anything goes

Tic Tac Toe:  stamping, free, layers

No Snow Christmas! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

I've got the hosting duties and the challenge is "No Snow Christmas!" which just means that we would like to see a December holiday card.....but with no snow!  I'm betting Girlfriends Brenda and Chrissy are liking this challenge seeing as their Decembers are snow-free.  (:

This is what I did.....

I went a little grungy for this make, and definitely went overboard with the splatter.  And, of course most of the splatter ended up on the part of the card where the least amount of splatter should be.  I also realized I made a mistake....I'm not gonna say what it is coz if you don't see it I don't want to point it out.  It's an easy fix though, but not worth it for me to go through the whole photographing/editing process again.  😜  Digi is from Stamplorations.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Peace on Earth:  anything goes Christmas

Corrosive:  anything goes

Crafty Calendar:  anything goes

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Artiste:  anything mixed media goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Most Magical Time of Year:  anything Christmas goes

Creative Inspiration:  anything goes

Krafty Chicks:  Christmas

Moving Along With the Times:  Christmas

The Holly & Ivy:  anything Christmas goes

Unicorn Challenge:  layer it up

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Dream Valley:  make it digital

Christmas Bingo:  bingo card - O column - splatters, vellum & free

Christmas Cards All Year Round:  for a lady

The Dream Factory:  use red

Star Struck! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Doni's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Star Struck!" which just means that she would like to see stars (or a star) on your project.

Before we get to my make, I need to take a moment to apologize to fellow Girlfriend, Kate.  I'm very sorry, Kate.  I take full responsibility for my actions.  I should have known better.  I really, really, really, really, really shouldn't have posted a card last week that said, "Let It Snow".  Due to my carelessness with die cuts, the temperature in Ontario, which was around 27º-28ºC last week (unheard of for April in Ontario), has plummeted to hovering around the freezing mark, and it's been snowing on and off since yesterday.  Kate (and all other Ontarians), I hope you can forgive me.

Now, after that heartfelt apology, did I do something this week to encourage warm weather to come back?  Nope, I didn't.  In fact I so didn't that I've actually made another Christmas creation.  But.....

....at least this one doesn't even hint at snow.  I made a tree ornament!  Got some funky corrugated cardboard from some packaging and used it for the base.  Twine is upcycled too, it was used to attach at tag to a pair of pants my daughter had bought.  Second week in a row for a shaker....that's what happens when you don't clean your desk between projects....you just decide to use what's already out - ha!

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:  

Craft Rocket:  layer it up

Creative Inspirations:  anything goes

The Holly & Ivy:  anything Christmas goes

Use Your Stuff:  layers

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Peace on Earth:  anything Christmas goes

Corrosive:  anything goes

Allsorts:  anything goes

Crafty Calendar:  die cuts

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

My Time to Craft Christmas:  Christmas quote

Baby, It's Cold Outside! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Doni's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Baby, It's Cold Outside!" which means she wants to see those winter makes.

Usually, when you think of winter in Canada, especially in Ontario, you think of snow.  We were certainly thinking of snow at Christmas time when a fairly epic multi-day snowstorm hit which left people stranded, caused accidents and damage, closed roads and had many families have postpone their Christmas events.  We were lucky, all my Babies and *Sub-Babies were tucked in here on the Thursday night (23rd) with plans to stay for the duration.  We also didn't lose power, which was surprising, given the high winds.  So, we ended up having a cozy Christmas, and were able to make the short drive to my dad's place on Christmas Day and the even shorter drive to my mil's on Boxing Day so it didn't end up affecting us too much.  

Thing is, we're not exactly thinking of snow now.  Because after all that snow, the temps rose and then it rained for....it feels like.....two weeks.  So, all that's left of snow around here are some crusty, rock hard snowdrifts that just didn't get completely melted before the temps went back below freezing.

Guess what I'm saying is, if you want to see snow from 'round here, you'll have to make due with this card....

...which features purple snow - ha!  I used a snowflake from a Close to My Heart set I bought at a garage sale some time ago.  It's actually one of my favourite clear stamp sets.  Inked up two different snowflakes with Versamark and then used embossing powder.  Even though I used an Embossing Buddy on the cardstock before inking, I did have some stray embossing powder stick....so I just doubled down on that and purposely sprinkled both ep purples and made it part of the design.  Die for the sentiment and rectangle is from Stamplorations.  

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

*If you're wondering what a Sub-Baby is, that's the group term I use for my kids' SOs.  My daughter actually came up with it when we were having a conversation about....well.....pecking order, I guess you could say.  She was (jokingly) trying to get me to say I loved her SO the most out of the SOs.  I, of course, did the classic Mom thing and said I loved them all the same.  That morphed into a conversation about how, technically, I loved my three kids, a little more than the three SOs, because, well, other than the obvious, I said that if anything were to go down, I would definitely be choosing my kids over the SOs.  So, while I loved the SOs too and did consider them as my Babies (as they were granted the same circumstances as back when I would 'adopt' kids into our family if I was taking charge of them, for example, if I was taking a teammate of my kids to a sporting event, it meant they didn't have to pay for anything, but in return they had to listen to me when I told them to put on sunscreen etc.) only theirs was a permanent adoption, but they had to be ranked just a smidge, just a lil titch, below my Babies.  Her response:  "Oh, so they're Sub-Babies then."  And the rest is history.  

Also for:

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

My Time to Christmas Craft:  favourite technique - Using embossing powder!  (:

ABC Christmas:  A for anything

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

The Holly & Ivy:  anything Christmas goes

Crafty Calendar:  add a sentiment

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Use Your Stuff:  real or faux stitching

613 Avenue Create:  winter

Peace on Earth:  anything Christmas

We Love Stamping:  favourite colours - I love me some purple!

Cut It Out! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Chrissy's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Cut It Out!" which just means that she would like to see die cuts on your Christmas/winter project!

This is what I did.....

The be jolly die cut (cut from glitter fun foam) is from Stamplorations, as are the rectangle dies.  Now, I know, you're probably looking at the screen right now saying, "But, JanR, don't rectangles have 2 x 2 equal sides, not 4 equal sides?  Are you sure you didn't use a square die?"  Welp, let's just say this is a bit of a Frankenstein's Monster card.  I had originally intended to make this card rectangle shaped using the new yummy dies I just received from Stamplorations.  But then I found this PERFECT reindeer paper and HAD to use it...but there was only scraps of it left.  If you look closely at the right side of the card, you'll see that, not only did I not have enough paper for height, I also didn't have enough paper for width so I had to trim a different scrap and line it up with the first scrap, and then tape it onto a scrap piece of cardstock to have enough width.  Then, I had to cut that scrap into smaller pieces so I'd have two pieces to "stretch" it or else I would have ended up with a card that was....let me see here....just slightly taller than my middle finger in height.  [Someone stole my ruler so we're going with finger-length units of measure today.  Plus, I am LOVING thinking that at least some of you will be giving yourself (or my blog post) THE finger while you visually figure out how tall the card would be.]  Of course, if I had of known with all that finagling I'd end up with a card that was basically the same size as my stitched square dies, then I would have just went with those instead....though I do love the "wonky" stitches of this die.

I used die cuts for the reindeer too.  I got this package of Mama Elephant clear stamps and dies from Michaels at an insane discount....I believe it was $5 for the nine stamps with matching dies.  I KNOW!  Even though digis will always be #1 for me, I could not pass up that deal.  I'm pretty sure these are the only clear stamps with matching dies I own.....probably?  I know one should know what they have in their stash but hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.  I do have a good handle of what's in my crafty supplies but it's not like I've taken inventory.  I'm willing to bet this is the cutest set though.

Why not give our challenge at go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

As You Like It:  stencils or dies - Dies!  I love using dies.  Everything from word dies to shape dies.  I hardly ever use stencils because I'm terrible at inking! 

Aud Sentiments:  anything goes + sentiment

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday:  dies or punches

Simon Says:  anything goes

Crafty Sentiments:  anything goes

The Holly & Ivy:  anything Christmas goes

Unicorn Challenge:  Christmas/winter

Dream Valley:  anything goes

Incy Wincy:  traditional Christmas colours

Make My Monday:  cute Christmas

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Dragonfly Dreams:  Christmas/winter

Stamping Sensation:  Christmas

Corrosive:  anything goes

We Love Stamping: Christmas

Alphabet Challenge:  Q is for quadruple - 4 bling

Winter Wonderland:  for a child + Christmas

Make It CAS! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's my turn to choose the challenge and I want you to "Make It CAS!".  So, let's see those projects with lots of space, little layers and lacking embellishments.

This is what I did.....

Yup, this card is basically a sibling to last weeks card...despite the fact that (because work forced me to) I have indeed changed the ink cartridge in my printer.  Got dies from a mix of companies on there....the sentiment is from Stamplorations, the gnome/elf is from The Cat's Pajamas and the glasses are from Taylored Expressions. 

Let me tell you my friends.....if you're looking to make something more the stuff of nightmares-y, try adding googly eyes to an elf like this.  It goes from sweet lil toy-making sprite to horrifying evil-plotting minion real quick.  Don't believe me?  Well.....

There's obviously a reason why these gnomes are always pictured with their hats down over their eyes.

Why not give our challenge at go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Dragonfly Dreams: for the boys

Corrosive:  anything goes

The Fairy & the Unicorn:  anything fantasy goes

Alphabet Challenge: E for easy simple

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

As You Like It:  CAS or Fully Fancy - I prefer CAS cards....admittedly, I usually go for more patterned paper than on this, but it's still all clean lines and minimal (if any) embellishments.

Stinkin' Inkers:  you're the man

Incy Wincy:  for the men

ABC Christmas:  L is for letters

Crafty Gals:  one for the boys

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday:  clean & simple

Fab 'n' Funky:  for the boys

The Holly & Ivy:  anything Christmas goes

Dream Valley:  die cuts

Embossing! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Embossing!" That means either heat or dry embossing or.....

....both!  Who's a good DT member this week?  *wildly waving arms in the air while screaming, "It's me!"*

Embossed sentiment stamp is from Stamplorations, snowman is from Close To My Heart.  And I used a Sizzix embossing folder for the falling snow background.  And, that pretty much all there is to that.

Why don't you give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up? And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fabulous projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Crafty Sentiments:  anything goes
Shopping Our Stash:  Christmas in July
Retro Rubber:  anything goes - The sentiment stamp I bought at least a year and a half ago, the snowman stamp came from a garage sale I attended over two years ago.
613 Avenue Create:  sentiment as focus
Christmas Craft Creations:  Christmas characters
The Cat's Pajamas:  Christmas in July
Ike's World:  Christmas in July
ABC Christmas:  O for Over The Top
Stamplorations Never Ending Challenge:  anything goes with a Stamploration product
Stamplorations Theme Challenge:  anything goes
  

Patterned Paper or Create Your Own Background Paper! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Patterned Paper or Create Your Own Background Paper!" which means....well, any paper goes as long as it has has some sort of decoration on it!

This challenge theme is a super duper easy one for me as I have TONS of patterned paper and I usually use a lot of it on cards. So, I thought I'd try to challenge myself a bit more this week by colouring an image stamped on patterned paper (something I have done in the past....here's an example). Unfortunately, the mojo still hasn't returned and it didn't go so well. In fact, when my daughter came over to take a look at what I was working on, the conversation went like this.....

Her: Whatcha making?
Me: The usual. But I decided to stamp on patterned paper this time. I don't think it quite worke...
Her: It didn't. It's awful.

Message received, lol. Actually, I was glad for her input so I could just chuck it in the *swear word mumble* it bucket and move on rather than spend time trying to salvage it. I still wanted to make the theme a little more challenging for myself so I decided to create a card that had patterned paper be the star of the show, and this was the result....

No image here, no stamps used, just four different patterned papers, some glitter fun foam, die cuts, pearls, twine and a button.  The Be Jolly die cut is from Stamplorations and the holly is from Paper Smooches.

I didn't get my daughter's approval on this one but it was perched quite prominently on my craft desk and she didn't make retching noises so I guess it's all good.  (:

Why don't you give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fabulous projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

ABC Christmas:  M is for movie - Tis' the Season To Be Jolly
Simon Says:  masculine
Jingle Belles:  bling on the holidays
As You Like It:  favourite embellishment - My fave embellishment is buttons.  So versatile - and you can usually get them for free!  (:
Dream Valley:  add some sparkle
Crafty Creations:  anything goes
Crafty Catz:  more than 2 layers
Always Fun:  layers
QKR Stampede:  anything goes
Corrosive:  anything goes

Tie One On! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's my turn to choose the challenge and I'm saying, "Tie One On!" which just means that I would like to see projects with ribbon, twine, string or the like....anything that can be tied. That's knot too hard, right? haaaahahahahahaha

This is what I did.....

As you can see, I've got some twine on there.  I've also used a stamp from Stamplorations that has a ribbon (I stamped an extra one so I could pop it up for some dimension) so I can be an extra good DTer.  Little disappointed with the photo of this.  My colouring job looks better irl, the red is much more blended....but you get the idea.  Oh, and the lil tag is from LOTV.

Why don't you give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up.  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fabulous projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Artsy Stamper:  green, green, it's green I say
Double Trouble:  let's go green
Christmas 24 Challenge:  red, green & gold
The Sisterhood of Crafters:  patterned paper
Crafty Creations:  anything goes
My Time to Craft:  rubber/clear stamps
Crafty Catz:  anything goes
Crafty Sentiments:  anything goes
The Holly & the Ivy:  anything Christmas goes
Incy Wincy:  hand coloured images
Use Your Stuff:  use your favourite embellishments - buttons
613 Avenue Create:  use coloured pencils
Stamplorations:  stamps & nature

Any Winter Holiday Goes! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's yours truly's turn to choose the challenge and I want to see anything that celebrates a winter holiday. So, Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice/Las Posadas/Diwali/Chinese New Year/Saturnalia/Yule/Omisoka or anything else you want to make a project for!

This is what I did....

We celebrate Christmas so I went with the jolly man himself....he looks like he has a present for all my readers.....aw!! Stamp is from Rubbernecker Stamps and the die cut is from Stamplorations. And both are awesome.

Welp, my friends, that's it for me for this year. As much as I really, really wish I could do more crafting than just LRW DT duties (which I do love doing) I'm afraid it's just not possible for me right now so I won't be back until our 2020 Challenge kick off on January 1st. I hope you all have very happy holidays, and I want to extend a sincere thank you to anyone who stops by to check out what I made. THANK YOU! (:

Oh and, why don't you give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up.  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fabulous projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

ABC Christmas:  yuletide
Crafty Gals:  tis the season
The Sisterhood of Crafters:  anything Christmas
Christmas With the Cuties:  Christmas cuties
Crafty Cardmakers:  Christmas
Cutie Pie:  Christmas cuties
Make My Monday:  anything Christmas
Aud Sentiments:  Christmas + sentiment
Crafty Sentiments:  anything goes
Shopping Our Stash:  happy holidays
The Holly & the Ivy:  anything Christmas goes
Tuesday Throwdown:  anything goes
Cupcake Inspirations:  holidays

Tag! You're It! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Tag! You're It!" which just means that she wants to see tags. (Now, this is the part where I'd usually say, "How fun!" or "So cool!" or even some sort of pun if I could manage to turn one but.....well...... as everyone here at Huh. So This Is a Blog knows, I'm not pro-tag. It's not that I don't like them, per se, it's that I am absolutely horrible at making them. I once tried making them for our Christmas gifts, meaning the ones just at my own house for my immediate family.....so for kids who were like 5, 7 & 9 years old and a husband who doesn't give a lick about anything crafty I make, and I ended up taking them all off and going with the Dollar Store sticker tags instead, and breathing a sign of relief that I had made that decision and had saved Christmas. So, yeah.....let's just leave out that sentence where I'm excited 'bout this week's challenge, 'kay?)

Now, all that said, I have found a work around to my creative disability when it comes to tags. I've discovered that if I use a tag as part of a card, then I can do it, I can make something that's not retch-worthy. In the past I used to just do tiny tags with the sentiment on it, but lately, I've been a little bolder and used larger tags. And, this time, I pulled out all the stops (well, all the stops that I'm capable of making) and did this.....

Shazam!  Two tags!  And stamping.  Like with ink and a Misti, not with my computer.  I looooooove this holly stamp set from Stamplorations.  The outlines and the insides purposely don't match up and I think that's super awesome.  (It's especially super awesome seeing as I didn't stamp the two berries on the top tag all that great....but because of the stamp's wonderful design it all works out.)  Loving the font of the sentiment too.

And, despite not being very complimentary to Brenda's challenge choice at the beginning of this post, I must thank her for it.  I always feel very satisfied if I manage to make something I like for what I think of as a difficult challenge.  So, thanks, Brenda.  (:

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers:  leaves
Simply Create Too:  use stitching
Fab 'n' Funky:  Christmas
Christmas At Sweet Stampin':  anything Christmas goes
Addicted-To-Stamps:  Christmas comes early
Papercraft:  special occasions
The Holly & the Ivy:  anything Christmas goes
Stamping Sensations:  starts with B - berries, button