Just Scraps Challenge #18 - Fussy Cutting

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in our last challenge. Einat, I pulled your name out of the butter tub this week and if you send me your snail address, I’ll get a little package in the mail.

Came across the term ‘fussy cutting’ on someone’s blog a little while back and just loved the phrase - don’t know if it’s original to that particular person or if it’s a phrase common to the craft.  No matter, I love it. Fussy cutting -perfect description for some of the work behind so many of the cards and layouts I see so many of you do. And certainly perfect for this one. Don’t know why on earth I’d choose a card with ‘fussy cutting’ for a card swap - I have to do twenty plus - but I’m hoping everyone will like it. I do.

Soooo - challenge for this fortnight: Let`s see a little fussy cutting on your card or layout.

Be sure to sign on with Mr. Linky below. Mr. Linky closes again in two weeks, Sunday, September 5th - can you believe it, the summer is almost gone! -at which time I’ll draw for a little candy. Have a great week and thanks for coming back!

Jean

I’m late! I’m late! This should have been posted last night but DH has had an affair with a kidney stone the past few days and I’ve been back and forth to the hospital and what not. He’s home again now and things are back to normal. Or as normal as it gets around here. Still not quite ready for that wedding. SIL called last night and I missed a few names on the list in preparing the wedding favors, etc. so I’m still not finished! I think I might be color blind. My niece had it all laid out wonderfully in a spread sheet, color coded and everything . Amongst those I missed were my brother and his wife - parents of the bride. haha  Fortunately it’s raining here today and coolish so I’ll head on up to the loft and get things done. The past couple days we’ve had fabulous weather - in the low 30s - amazing! Here in Newfoundland, that is uncommon, believe me. I hope it lasts - the wedding is on Saturday and is to take place outside in the garden! Max is ‘walking  in the wedding’ he tells me and Grammy can’t wait to see her two boys dressed up wedding fashion!

Sooooooo, in keeping with all the activities around here this week, the challenge at Just Scraps is to create a wedding card! I have to get a special one done for Sarah Jane myself but I’ve been fooling around with the stamp set Artistic Impressions from Stampin’Up. I’ve seen a number of beautiful cards using this set and have cased several.

I have a stack of tiny cards on hand that I use for leaving DH notes as necessary. They are super easy to make and he actually notices them. This is a new version - a little fancier - using the same stamp set. He’ll know he’s my king - haha - tongue’s in the cheek on that one ladies!

The hardware on the last one is actually silver but it photographed as gold.

That’s it for today.

And Congrats to Mary Demmons who won this week’s little bit of blog candy. Contact me at justscraps.ca@gmail.com Mary with your snail mail address and I’ll get a little package in the mail to you this week.  Too funny! I’ve been cutting out numbers and stirring them up in my butter tub for DH to draw from. Just discovered random.org and it took me only seconds to generate #17. Needless to say, the butter tub has just been retired!

Be sure to sign on with Mr. Linky below. Mr. Linky closes next Sunday, July 18th at which time I’ll use random .org - no butter tub - and get a little blog candy in the mail.

Have a great week !

This is my entry for Christmas Cards All Year Round - http://christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.com

So glad to have been directed to this site. What a great way to get your Chrsitmas cards done early.  Not sure I like the color here but we had to use a pastel - I’m more for red and green for Christmas. Still, I had fun making these. Gave the diva little pearl earrings and used white Flower Soft on the cap - pompom and trim - isn’t she gorgeous? . . . and matching baby blue envelopes . . . Inside sentiment is computer generated: Sending a Little Holiday Cheer

This week’s Mojo Monday Sketch:

Discovered the Christmas Cards All Year Round challenge through one of the ladies who visited my blog. The challenge each month is to make either five assorted Christmas cards OR five identical cards. Love having a whole month to work on this - I’m sometimes a little slow off the mark. There’s also the added plus of having all your Christmas cards finished by the time December rolls around.

Anyway, combined the Christmas Card challenge with this week’s Mojo Monday sketch and this is what I came up with.  Not sure I like the colors here but I had to use at least one pastel (blue). My number one critic says “Not very Christmas-like” and I have to agree. While I love these colors, for me nothing says Christmas like red and green! I did use two of my favorite stamps: Penny Black’s to your wishes and Stampin’Up’s Serene Snowflakes.  The inside sentiment is computer generated: Sending a Little Holiday Cheer.

Hoping that the new year will allow us to spend more time on our sister site, paperandpiecings.com. Patterns are plentiful but finding the time to piece and prepare them for distribution in our online store is a struggle. In the meantime, to those of you who have subscribed, hope you enjoy the freebies we are sending out tomorrow. We’ve used the cat in a Valentine, and the cardinal and reindeer in Christmas tags. A little late for this year but you can always get an early start on next.

If you haven’t subscribed, take a couple minutes to do so now. We’d love to hear from you!

Happy New Year!

Cardinal Christmas Tag

Picked up several Christmas  ‘pickles’ when I was vacationing in Nova Scotia this past summer.  Wrapped these up tonight for Christmas gifts and decided to incorporate the legend into a Christmas card. Turned out pretty good except I realized I had a typo after everything was put together and had to start all over again. Ignore the error. It should read:

Long ago in Germany

the legend came to be:

the story of a pickle

hidden in  a tree.

Why we are not certain,

but this we know is true:

this simple Christmas tradition

is enjoyed by me and you.

Deep inside the branches

of every Christmas tree

hides a simple pickle,

camouflaged in green.

Try to find the pickle,

but keep your hands behind,

for if you touch the Christmas tree

you’ll lose the prize in mind.

Oh, but if you find it,

how lucky you will be!

For you a special present

is tucked beneath the tree.

The Christmas Pickle

Finished an order for a number of these ’sliders’. The slider holds a packet of hot chocolate and the tiny box holds a little chocolate. You can never have too much chocolate in your life! Not exactly sure where I found the slider pattern but they are pretty much all over the place. Search for “hot chocolate slider”and take your pick. The tiny box is made from a Stampin’Up die.

Cocoa Slider and Treat Box

Always have a couple extra Christmas gifts on hand - just in case. My all time favorite is the popcorn basket. I’ve wrapped this one up many times, but this year’s presentation tops all. Found the plastic tub and matching cups at Canadian Tire - perfect size for a box of microwave popcorn, Cracker Jacks, peanuts, chocolate (lots of chocolate) and two Coke in a glass bottle. The Coke has to be in a glass bottle - pop in a can just doesn’t compare - truly! Also included is a gift certificate from the local video store for rental on a couple movies.

A Night at the Movies

Treats for everyone

The gift certificate is tucked into a gift card holder embellished with a paper piecing from www.paperandpiecings.com. This particular pattern is one of our own and is available for purchase and immediate download for only $ 2.00. All our patterns are available in pdf, svg, and scut files. Be sure to check out the site and subscribe for our occasional newsletter and freebie.

Movie Gift Certificate Holder

I test cut all my patterns using SCAL software but for personal projects I usually hand cut all the  pieces as I find it quite relaxing. In a hurry tonight, however, and used an svg file with SCAL and the Cricut. Perfect! Takes just seconds to cut!

A Quick Cut

The finished gift: Attractive, inexpensive and suitable for just about anyone!

Merry Christmas!

After finishing a card for Mojo Monday, (pictured here with some of my Mom’s beautiful embroidery - she just finished this cloth and I grabbed it for a photo shoot!) I went on to finish a couple sets of Christmas cards to add to my fast dwindling stash.

Mom's Embroidery

The photos hardly do justice. Both cards are embossed and are quite lovely. I do have a new camera but seems I rarely get opportunity to take photos in the daytime.

Anyway, here they are. Thank you Kelley for lending me your stamp set, Serene Snowflakes by Stampin Up. It’s definitely on my next order!

Peace on Earth

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Ho Ho Ho

This is my third attempt at Mojo Monday and by golly, I think I’ve got it this time. I used a digi stamp from Dustin Pike’s MistleToad’s Christmas Stamp Set. Love the result.

Meet me under the MistleToad

Cardstock: Stampin Up Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White

Designer Paper -  Stampin Up Merry Moments

Cuttlebug Embossing Folder:  Swiss Dots

Stampin Up Punches: 1-1/4 Circle, Scallop

Ribbon: Real Red

Sentiment: Meet Me Under the MistleToad I typed on computer, printed on Whisper White and punched out.

The frog was sized in Word to fit in a 2-3/8 x 3-3/8 rectangle and colored with my Copics.