Tic Tac Toe Challenge: Thankful

 I am honored to be a guest designer this week at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge!!  I was even more thrilled when I got the board and saw that it was a board full of autumn!  I used the right vertical column (Fall Colors, Thankful Sentiment, and Free).

I've always loved the little stitched heart in this woodgrain die but I always seem to cover it up.  (Sadly, this company is gone.)  I made a conscious effort this time to have the leaves swirl around the heart - see it right below the orange leaf.

I picked a layered leaf die so I could use a variety of fall colors with the two tones. I left the edges of the top layer unadhered for a dimensional look.  I like sparkle and I like white on my fall cards.  Fall is my favorite seasons - the beautiful colors just glow and almost seem to sparkle when the sun comes through them.  I also like the frost that adds to that sparkle.  So this card represents everything I love about fall!

Tic Tac Toe is a fun challenge.  It gives us inspiration, but it's open enough for us to be creative or go in a direction for cards that we need to be making.  I still need Thanksgiving cards so I wanted to start with either the "Thanksgiving" square or the "Thankful Sentiment" square - but I can see multiple directions that do not need to be fall or Thanksgiving!

Thank you to the entire group for letting me be a guest this week!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord & 9th Leafy Layers die, Simon Says Stamp Thankful 1, L'il Inkers Cover Up Die Stitched Woodgrain

Paper: Concord & 9th Neutrals Foil Paper Pack, Stampin' Up Mango Melody, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Terracotta Tile, Cajun Craze and Crumb Cake

Other: Studio Katia Pearls - Gold Foil and Arctic Breeze

Freshly Made Sketches: Just a Note

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Brum and here’s what I did with it!

 

I struggled with this challenge and I don't know why.  I got my mind set around a particular direction (snowdrifts and snowmen) and I tried and tried but it just was never right.  I do most of my crafting on the weekend but by Monday morning with a week of work looming in front of me, I had nothing for FMS. That's how long I struggled. Then I saw the sentiment in my not-yet-used stash - it's by The Stamp Market - as I explored what I had from them, the die popped out as a fun way to fill a corner (although it's actually a cover die).  I found paper with lots of colors in a more muted, autumn tone - and it all came together in no time!  I need to listen to that little crafting voice more often - the voice that says "this isn't right" or "go for it"!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week a Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: The Stamp Market

Dies: The Stamp Market Ready to Bloom Card Cover

Paper: Honey Bee stamps Harvest Festival, Stampin' Up Shaded Spruce and Just Jade, My Favorite Things Pineapple

Ink: Stampin' Up Just Jade

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Marigold Gems

Season's Greeting with Holiday Borders

 Two days ago I posted a Christmas sweater card using the Holiday Borders from The Ton.  It was a regular sized card, but these borders fit slimlines so I couldn't put them away until I'd given it a try.

I am sure it's a terrible thing to say but I am not a huge of classic Christmas colors - red, green and white.  I find it kind of "cold" . A little kraft does help but it's still not my go-to Christmas combo. However, it is traditional so I always try a few cards.  And I do think it works with these borders. 

I discovered The Ton due to their sentiments.  With this Modern Christmas Greetings set, I love the way the sentiments are designed to layer on top of each other.  I also love their Easy Expressions set - I used one of the sets here.  I guess I'm a bit odd - I don't love red and green for Christmas, and I find sentiments the most exciting type of stamps or dies!!

I've only used a couple of the borders on this card.  They have amazing detail!

Another sad note, the charming town of Grand Lake CO evacuated urgently last night - as in a knock on the door, pile in the car and go.  It's a different fire than the big one I've been talking about with the most recent updates here. My family and I spent a lovely weekend here just a few months ago. 

The winds are a huge problem.  This is wind and smoke.

And if you ever doubt the dedication of the firefighters, look at the conditions they are in.  Thank God for these heroes - they are in my prayers at all times.

News Release: State Fire Agency Urges Caution as Wildfire Danger Rises. Read the full release at https://t.co/KWMrRTEbhJ #cofire pic.twitter.com/tkiflXwsZs

— COFirePrev&Control (@COStateFire) October 20, 2020

BTW - personally my home is not in any danger. We sit about 30 miles from the mountains and the fire would have to rip through Denver and the suburbs.  But I love my mountains.  I have relaxed in the mountain air and played in our mountains in all seasons for decades.  Here's my view.  That big "cloud" on the horizon is smoke. Today it was blowing away from us.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: The Ton Modern Christmas Greetings

Dies: The Ton Holiday Borders

Paper: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake, Real Red, Shaded Spruce

Ink: Stampin' Up Real Red, Shaded Spruce

Freshly Made Sketches: Merry Merry Christmas

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and I got to create it!!  I used the sketch to make a very MERRY Christmas card.

 

I already had the "MERRY" letters created.  The letters are a full size stamp from The Stamp Market and then there's a full grid die to cut them all out at once.  I've used them before here and here, then I kept all the extra letters in little baggies. It's very handy to pull them out. The Stamp Market just came out with those trees and I knew exactly what I wanted to do!!  The ground is a die also but it would be very easy to free hand cut a snowy base.

It is so much fun to see what the design team and all of our players do with a sketch especially when I created it.  The advantage to creating a sketch is that I have some idea of what I'm going to do - five squares were definitely put there for the word "MERRY"!!  Then I look at what the design team has done - and I'll browse every card in the gallery - and I am amazed what everybody else sees in the sketch. There is such variety and I love being part of that!

I hope to see you playing along!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: The Stamp Market Alpha Cuts (big letters), Winnie & Walter Happy Christmas (small sentiment)

Dies: The Stamp Market Alpha Cuts and Tall Tree die, Taylored Expressions Build a Scene Calendar 5x7 (the ground)

Paper: Doodlebug Designs polka dot, Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Coastal Cabana and Granny Apple Green, Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist

Ink: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Snowflakes

52 Christmas Card Throwdown: Christmas Sweater

I got a new die set that screamed out to be a "Christmas sweater" for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge.  I love sweaters with classic nordic prints, but I am very much not a red/green person.  I know - that's almost blasphemy in the Christmas season.  I just prefer the softer, gentler side of the season including the colors. So my Christmas sweater card is pink!

These dies are actually separate borders. I used five of them in this card.  It's not my idea to use them that way - The Ton talked about it on their blog post introducing the dies. Also, the dies are the length of a slimline card so multiple uses.  The bold Merry Christmas is also from The Ton. I am a huge fan of unique fonts and styles so I adore this die!

Thank you to 52 Christmas Card Throwdown for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: The Ton Merry Christmas Sentiment and Holiday Borders

Paper: Taylored Expressions Cupcake and Sea Salt

Other: Studio Katia Pink Carnation, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Snowflakes

Color Throwdown: Together in Spirit

 I don't do many Halloween cards.  I just don't have people who appreciate them.  Therefore, I haven't bought Halloween products in years.  But I made an exception this year.  I got the Trinity Stamps Slimline Boos stamp set.  Can you guess why?

The set comes with a mask!!!  I LOVE IT!!!  Then when I saw the way that end ghost was looking at the smiling ghost - he needed the mask.  One of my sons will definitely appreciate this!

The stamp is a full slimline.  I could not find my big Misti to stamp with.  I have everything in my craft room - and it's fairly well-organized.  Where would a Misti in a pink box disappear to?  So I really had no way to to get a good stamped image.  To hide the worst of my problem areas, I put the image behind this trio of squares. I ended up liking the way they are peeking out even though there are dozens of funny little ghosts you can't see.

I had not planned on working on this card this weekend, but the colors at Color Throwdown were just right.  It really hadn't occurred to me to use kraft but how perfect for my sons!

On a sad side note - I've talked about the fires in Colorado.  They don't get much coverage because they are dwarfed by the fires on the west coast but they are still burning.  A month or so ago, one of the fires became the largest in Colorado history - that fire is now out.  But another fire that is just above Fort Collins (where my son is at Colorado State University) has now beaten that record.  It's dwarfed the earlier fire by almost 50% again and it's not out.  Plus there are high winds and no moisture in the forecast.

Here's the town of Estes Park.

And in the foreground of this shot is the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. (Those are the lights from the hotel, not fire.) It's a beautiful hotel, but have you seen The Shining - this is where it was filmed and is still considered haunted! It couldn't look any more haunted than it looks right now.

Fort Collins is very close to the fire. The maps of the burn areas and the evacuation zones are horrifyingly close.  But there's a very big reservoir and no trees between the fire and the town so other than being engulfed in smoke for the last two months and perhaps the next few, it should be OK.  But there are other towns that aren't so protected - so sending up prayers.

Even crazier, new fires started today.  Towns are being evacuated.  We haven't had any storms - so they aren't caused by lightning.  There is supposedly no old, unsafe electrical equipment in the area (as with some of the California fires).  So these must be human-caused. Don't even get me started on the idiot in my own neighborhood shooting off fireworks last night.

2020 needs to be over.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Trinity Stamps Slimline Boos

Dies: Trinity Stamps Slimline Series: Modern Embossed Panels die, Little B Halloween (bat) - very old

Paper: Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie and an old patterned paper

Other: Little Things by Lucy Tangerine Mix

Poppystamps: Peek-a-Boo

I'm on the Poppystamps blog today with this fun peek-a-boo card!

I love the expressions on this trio of Squeaker Ghosts from Poppystamps!  I used the Haunting Pumpkins to give them something to play peek-a-boo with.  I don't have a "peek-a-boo" sentiment but Poppystamps has this small alphabet so I could create my own. Then I added some detail on the black panel with a frilly cobweb from Halloween Ingredients. 

There are lots of other details and pictures on the Poppystamps blog - be sure to check it out!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Halloween Ingredients

Dies: Poppystamps Squeaker Ghosts, Haunting Pumpkins, Poetic Uppercase Alphabet

Paper: Memory Box Frosted Glitter Paper Pad