Happy New Year 2025!!!

 Welcome back and Happy New Year to my erratically posted, blog 😆 

You know, I could really try harder to post more often, so I will. My goal is to post 2 cards a month, this 2025 year. So lets begin. 

I decided to participate in Color Throw Down's color challenge : Black, White & Gray. 

Super simple, right? But it's actually tricky to do cards in monotones without getting bored or challenged by the lack of pizzaz or color pops. A master or intermediate card maker would enjoy this challenge and blow it away, but for little more than an amateur card maker like myself, I struggled. I ended up making two cards because I felt the first one was way too simple, so I went back to the drawing board and tried harder.

I stamped Altenew's "Enjoy Your Journey" on Neena Solar cardstock, and cut it out with MFT's Selfie Square & MFT's Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle in Black cardstock. Then I added Gem Stickers from Honey Bee Stamps from the "Farm Fresh Holiday" collection.

Then, I decided to try another card, and really challenge myself again.

I stamped out Avery Elle's "Look For Rainbows" bunny, out on Lawn Fawn's "Narwal" gray cardstock, and fussy cut it out. Then I masked off the face of the bunny, and sponged a pattern from Gina K's "Leafy" stencil, in Distress Ink "Weathered Wood", to add some texture on the umbrella. I created a background by stamping out MFT's "Scene Builder" on some more Narwal cardstock, in Memento " London Fog" ink.  After that, I used popdots placed for dimension on the back of the bunny, and placed it in the scene on my card.

Then, I diecut a pennant out for my sentiment by using MFT's "Skinny Strips" dies, and stamping out the sentiment from Penny Black's "Rain or Shine" set, in white ink from Pink Fresh, called "Calico White". To add just a touch of sparkle, I added some Gem Stickers, from Honey Bee Stamps, from their "Farm Fresh Holiday" collection.

This was quite the challenge, and one that I want to challenge myself with again, because I enjoy the effort to think outside the creative box! I still wish I could add some pink to the nose and ears, but those are the rules! 😄

Until I post again, Enjoy your crafting day!

Creating

 I'm back. But where has the time gone? Where has the creativity gone? I don't know about you, but I used to have endless creative ideas. But then life takes over and when you finally have a minute, you're creatively done. Nothing. Toast. 

It used to bother me until I realized, that's life. There's an ebb and flow to everything. It's been a year or more since I have had the energy to create. And that's ok. I re-joined my favorite craft site, SplitCoastStampers, and I'm using their weekly challenges to inspire some new ideas in me.

This week's CAS (Clean And Simple) challenge is : Recycle. You can recycle anything to use on your card.

A couple weeks ago, I attended a store that was closing and found a badly damaged hymnal with many loose pages. This was the perfect way to reuse them in a way that they would be appreciated again.

So, I created the following card from the challenge.

I stamped out my image and colored it in with Copics, fussy cutting it out.
I cut down my music sheet to what size I needed. Then, I matted it against some Chiffon Bazzil Cardstock, that I matted over some Kraft cardstock, making them the base of my card.

I Cut out a frame, using Avery Elle's Pierced Birthday Frame die, and put PopDots under the frame to pop it up a hair off the card, for some small form of depth. After that, I glued my chipboard down, and placed the colored in image of the Cross on top of it, and added a few pearls for some interest.

I'm not certain if I can actually call it a CAS card anymore, but I love how it turned out!!

So, if you're ever finding yourself stuck in a crafting rut, or feeling uninspired, don't let it get to you. Eventually, it'll come to you! Until then, don't be too hard on yourself, it's all just the ebb and flow of life :)