CARDtober 2021 Challenge #1 Shaped Box Card

I have the honor of posting the first CARDtober challenge at the 2 Peas Refugees message board.

Challenge #1 is to make a box card if you have never made one. I've even done a simple tutorial, which will be posted tomorrow. 

For those who have made box cards before, the challenge is a bit more....challenging: to make a box card that is shaped, and doesn't look boxy. And yes, I'll be posting a tutorial tomorrow on how to do that, too.

For now, though, here is my sample card:

And the twist is to make an envelope from patterned paper for your box card. This one wouldn't fit an ordinary envelope, anyway. I used thin patterned paper that I found at Tuesday Morning on clearance when they were getting rid of most crafts. I used my Envelope Board to make a 6 X 7 inch envelope, so it was quick. And it's a rectangle, even if just barely, so hopefully it won't be as expensive to mail as a square envelope is.

For those who have never made a box card before, the tutorial will be for a very simple box structure that can be decorated with patterned paper like this one which I made years ago for my DH:

Or, if they want to use print and cut files, they could do something like this one:

#CARDtober2021

STAMPtember Week 4: Stamped Background with Matted Stamped Image

For this one I did not use a background stamp, but stamped the bats multiple times on the purple mat to create the background. Then I stamped, colored, and added a background mat to the owl/pumpkins image. I did add a little Wink of Stella to the star, buckle, and eyes of the owl.

It's pretty simple for the amount of time it took. I didn't have the right sizes of matching ovals, so I had to make one with my Silhouette for the black oval, and that is when I realized that my oval die is not perfectly symmetrical.

It worked, though.

Great Outdoors Box Card Tutorial

This took me a lot longer than I expected, but I finally finished the tutorial for how to make a multiple level box card with Queen & Co. Foundation dies (instead of having to buy specialty box card dies).

I used the Queen & Co. Foundation dies, their Great Outdoors Kit, and a few stamps from My Favorite Things.

The YouTube link to the tutorial can be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSgUyG3Ze5M 

Here is a photo of the completed project:

STAMPtember Week 3: Birthday Queen Card

This week is the third STAMPtember Challenge, to use heat embossing (or a different way of coloring) for a stamped image. It is also the birthday week of the owner of Queen & Co., and Demo Donna posted a birthday card challenge.

Since the owner is the Queen of Queens at Queen & Co., I pulled out the gift those in the Queen tier (for spending way too much money), and made a card with it. Except for the white ink and embossing powder, everything used was from Queen & Co.

STAMPtember Week 2 Challenge: My Favorite Things Carousel Card

The inspiration for the second week of STAMPtember that I posted on the RefuPeas stamping board is to make a card with your most recently purchased stamp set. I bought a few things when My Favorite Things discontinued them, which is the last stamp purchase that I've gotten. Their Carousel Horses stamp set and matching carousel die is one of the two stamp sets that I bought with that order. I'll probably be using the other one (My Favorite Things Mermazing set) during CARDtober, since I will be a hostess again this year.

 

September 2021 Sheetload of Cards

This is the first time I have actually followed the full directions. I used a couple of Silhouette print & cut files for the sentiment and the jar of flowers embellishment. The plaid paper was from Simple Stories, and the other fall print was from Imaginisce (from a long time ago).

Here is an image that shows the two different cards when you do it as per instructions:

And yes, I did all 8 cards this time, too:

I wasn't sure that I was going to like the results, but I'm actually pretty happy with how the cards turned out.

I angled the sentiment to give balance to the asymmetrical banners. Normally I like asymmetrical, but I've had some issues with vertigo lately. I wasn't sure if it was due to my balance being off, or the asymmetrical banners just made the card feel off balance. Angling the sentiment the opposite direction on the banner seemed to look better, though, and I love the fall jar of flowers print & cut. with these papers.

STAMPtember Inspiration Week 1 Card 1 Birthday Dragon

I kept hearing about "STAMPtember" but didn't know what it was. The name sounded like fun, perhaps challenges, but it's apparently about Simon Says Stamp (SSS) having exclusive stamp sets during September. They came up with the name STAMPtember. With DH on disability, and me his caregiver, I need to be using what I have, not buying more stamps.

I asked if anyone on TwoPeasRefugees would be interested in a no cost version of STAMPtember inspiration, just simple prompts to make something with stamps we already own and sharing them to inspire one another on the stamping board.

The prompt for the first week (Sept.1st through the 7th) is to use a stamp or stamp set that is at least 6 months old, that you have never used.

I bought this Unity stamp set sometime in 2020, or Jan. 2021 at the latest, and it has been waiting to be used ever since. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but it reminds me of dragon drawings my oldest son used to do when he was younger. He's hitting a milestone birthday and is old enough that this seemed like a fun birthday card to do for him. I had some issues with the coloring (ink pad and sponge dauber), so I used Nuvo drops to hide the mistakes and give it a little dimension. I used Wink of Stella on his wings, although you can't really see it, and I'm much happier with the end result.

The birthday print paper is Doodlebug Hip Hip Hooray paper from awhile ago. The yellow with white polka dot paper is from Queen & Co.'s Beach Bound paper pad, and I used their Foundation dies for the various card layers. The teal and green card stock are both Bazzill. The Cuddlebug Dragon and candles sentiment are from Unity Stamps. I fussy cut the dragon.