Winter Castle

Phew!  I finally finished a Christmas project that I've been struggling with for three weeks and it is packed away for NEXT Christmas.  I celebrated by taking on the BBTB2 " New" challenge here.

I needed a card to put in Master J's castle mailbox this week and as I remembered how pretty it looked in the snow, strung with colorful lights, I thought about the Winter Castle shadow box file from Lori Whitlock just waiting to be cut on my Explore.

 A new project deserves a new cutting blade and a new mat, don't you think?  Even so, I had to move the dial to Fabric + to get a clean cut with this heavyweight textured paper.  I added the 'Happy New Year' sentiment from the Phrases cart, and the banner comes from 'Bits and Pieces.'  I discovered that since Fabric+ cuts twice, it also writes twice and my 2017 text came out very clearly.  (Note to self - remember this!)

Here's a side shot to show the dimension.  I used clear Wink of Stella to add sparkle to the castle, hills and snowflakes and is ALMOST as pretty as the real thing in Master J's back yard!

Hurry over to BBTB2 and see all the entries!   Thanks for visiting with me today.   : )  Christine

Happy New Year!

Well, we are (mostly) in our new home although we had to rent a  storage unit and obviously need to downsize a little more than we did!  I lost my craft room and now occupy a corner and one wall of our bonus room.  DH complained that he had been squeezed out of his half of the room, but as I told him, "You snooze, you lose."   I worked hard every evening unpacking boxes, arranging my supplies and filling all the available space! LOL.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.  All the family visited at one time or another and we thoroughly enjoyed showing off our house.  The First Night of Hanukkah fell on Christmas Eve, so we waited until yesterday, New Year's Eve AND the Last Night of Hanukkah to visit Master J and his parents for a delicious dinner of latkes, apple and pear chutney, brisket and vegetables.  Yum!

 I adapted a swing card from the Artfully Sent cart this year and was quite pleased with how it came out.  I could not find my card holder so please forgive the binder clip!

The sentiment comes from the Phrases cart.  You can't tell, but I used my Wink of Stella pen to add a sparkle to both sides of the Star of David in the swing window.  I am linking my card to the BBTB2 Nativity and Menorah challenge here.
Thank you for visiting with me today.  Time to get back to packing up the ornaments from the tree.  (Not my favorite thing to do!)   : )  Christine

C U Later Alligator!

I've been playing all week with Jooniper Parker's Half Zig Zag file in DS.  I was working on a road trip card with Filmore - the sixties style van from Cars - for the BBTB2 challenge this week but it just wasn't working out the way I had envisioned.   Grrr!  Part of the problem was that ever since I looked at the Design Team's projects, I had the fifties song "See You Later, Alligator!" stuck in my head.

So, I gave up on Filmore and searched for alligators instead.  Can you believe this sentiment image from Wild Card 2?  Woo hoo!  The alligators are from Animal Kingdom and to make them pop I cut them from textured card stock and sponged them with Distress Ink. Since the card is for Master J, I added tiny jeweled eyes.  This is such a fun fold and much easier for a beginner than the cascade card.  Thank you, Jooniper - I'm working on my next one!

Make sure you check out this fun challenge at BBTB2.  Thanks for visiting today.   : )  Christine

Owl Pillow Box Treat Holders

I am soooo late with the September treats for the children at OHM although I have had the file designed for weeks.  I love this owl pillow box from the new Lori Whitlock 'To You From Me' cart.  The box itself actually closes the way it is supposed to do although I had to retrace the score lines as my Gen 1 Explore does not do a consistent job of scoring.  (Do you hear justification for the new Explore Air 2 that's supposed to be out soon? LOL!)

I had to 'slice' apart the wings because they cut as though they were placed on the sides of the owl and this was a huge waste of paper.  This is an easy fix that's worth doing when cutting multiples of a design.

The original owl has a heart on his belly but since I wanted to add an apple and a sentiment there, I used 'hide contour' to eliminate the heart.  The sentiment comes from 'Autumn Celebrations' and I customized it by slicing off the pumpkin.  I stamped the belly with one of the background stamps that came with my CTMH 'Flower Market' bundle.  If you don't look too closely, they kinda, sorta look like feathers!

The apple is, of course, everyone's favorite image from 'Doodlecharms.'  Pop over to the BBTB2 page and see how many of the DT used this apple! I am linking my project with this week's challenge but wish, wish, wish that there were lots of entries to inspire me.  Sigh!  Thanks for visiting with me today : ) Christine

Another Attempt at a Z Fold card!

This Z Fold pop up card is intriguing me!   Every time I make one, I learn something else about the design.  (Give me six months when everyone else has moved on to something else, and I will have finally mastered it!  LOL!)  Here's a Halloween version that I have been working on for a Challenge in one of my Facebook groups: -

I cut the fence in three sections, one of which was sized at the width of the card (5.5 " for this card) and the other two sized at half the width of the card (2.75").  I flipped one of the smaller sections of fence by using the mirror feature on Design Space so that the whole fence would fit together perfectly when folded.

The images come from Monster Bash, Mini Monsters,  Creepy Critters, Artbooking and Holiday Cakes.  The fabulous background paper is Graphic 45.  

Trying to get a clear photo of this card was tricky, tricky, tricky!  Note to self - two spooky trees is one too many, so look at the project from all angles BEFORE gluing!!!!!  Thanks for visiting with me today.   : )  Christine

Master J Has Glasses!

When Master J's Mama built his castle she included a mailbox and 'suggested' the family e-mail her with messages for Master J that she could print off and deliver to his mailbox.  Well, no!  If anything is going in the mailbox from Grandma and Grandpa,  I will have the pleasure of making a handmade card! 

Unfortunately, Master J has inherited eyesight problems from his Mama.  (She had laser surgery and we're now saving up for him!)  This week he was fitted for his new glasses and of course, he looks as cute as a button.  So the card I made for him this week congratulated him on his new glasses.

The overlay is from Artistry and I duplicated it and welded it 4 times for the background of the card.   The glasses and the eye chart cuts come from Dr. Checkup and Mike Wazowski comes from the Best of Pixar.   He's on an action wobble to add a little interactivity to the card.  Here's the innies: -

A couple of notes to self : -

* This particular "Congratulations" is from Cake Basics and cuts as ONE word.

*  Love this font for writing with the Explore - Always Here

And to finish up with a pic of Master J in his glasses.   Can we have a collective "Awwwww?"

Incredibly and most unexpectedly, this week's challenge at BBTB2 is Eye Glasses!   So of course, I'm linking up with the challenge here.  Aren't those soccer glasses from Maureen fabulous?  Check out all the other fun glasses available from the Life's a Party cart!  Thanks for visiting with me today  :  )  Christine

Z Fold Pop Up Card

Don't you just LOVE this bicycle cut from the new CTMH cart, Flower Market?   When I saw the bicycle pop up box card here in Lori Whitlock's shop, I was inspired to make my own pop up card and here it is:-

It was not as simple as I thought it would be to line up all the folds and decorative elements, but I was pleased with the final result and my sister's reaction when she saw her card was, "This is just how I want my life to be!"                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                

The floral trellis comes from the Bloom cart and the various pots and flowering bushes come from the Pop Up Neighborhood, Flower Market, and Bloom carts.

As you can see, I did not adhere the front of the wheel to the grassy Z fold strip so that it would extend beyond the fold when closed.  Although quite bulky, it does stay closed and lies flat enough to go nicely in an envelope.  Yeah!

 

The butterflies came in a sequin mix packet and I inked their bodies to add a little detail.  One last top view:-

This is a fun fold with lots of dimension and I plan on making more of them.   Thanks for visiting with me today.      : )  Christine