Welcome back everyone! Whether you're a longtime reader or coming here for the first time from crafty Karen, I'm excited to see you!
It's time once again for my favorite challenge: The Squirrelz Stash Bash! As a reminder, this is our hop where we make a project using a theme and technique or supply that we've randomly chosen. The challenge is fun, but the best part is getting to use some of those supplies we've had squirreled away for who knows how long!
This month we were incredibly kind to ourselves. It's such a busy time of year, we wanted to make sure this was fun, not stressful. The theme would be Holiday/Winter/New Year (something we are all firmly entrenched in) and we decided to choose whatever technique(s) most appealed to us. I had a lot of fun with this!
I couldn't resist two different cards this time!
The first was my easy answer:
I blended three inks onto a rectangle of white cardstock in a "galaxy style". This just means I blended on a light blue first in three different areas, then added a darker blue next to it, finishing with a purple to fill in the white spots. After that, it was simple to run it through a cover plate die (Hero Arts Fancy Die "Snowflake Confetti) to get these delightful snowflakes! Glued down to white cardstock certainly made them pop through! Then I cut two "Happy Holidays" (Hero Arts Stamp and Cut "Happy Holidays"). One in a purple that matches the ink and one in a darker blue. I layered them so the darker blue was a shadow and gave a bit of distance to the busy background. Add a few rhinestones and this one was done!
Now I will take a moment to be way honest here. I hung on to the snowflake confetti created by the die cut. I had this great idea that I would use them in a shaker card and THAT would be the next card I would make. I picked out a different cover plate and it didn't cut the design the way I was expecting. so then I got a wild idea to get an embossing folder and emboss a piece of cardstock, color the embossing with markers and then cut out a snowflake in the center for the shaker element. Turns out I need to master my markers a bit more. It didn't look great. AND I didn't find the right snowflake (according to my mind) for the shaker element. So... next idea!
I decided I wanted to tackle the eclipse technique again.
Since this winter has been crazy cold (who knew negative 40 was a real temperature?), "BRRR" felt like a very appropriate sentiment! Using a Cricut cartridge, I cut the letters out of the snowflake paper. I then cut it out of ivory cardstock a couple more times to give me the dimension. Using the same cardstock, I cut two delicate swirls (Stampin Up "Parisian Beauty") that reminded me of the animated snow swirls one sees in holiday cartoons. I used them to help frame the sentiment (along with a couple of dew drop style enamel dots). Glue all of it down to some shimmery cardstock and this one is ready to go as well!
These were both so much fun and allowed me to use supplies I'd never touched! So what's more fun? Seeing how the Squirrel Squad interpreted this theme! You're going to love it too, so be sure to keep hopping! The Squirrel Squad is a small group so the hop won't take you long, but will leave you feeling totally inspired! Next up: the lovely Lounon!! If you love what we're doing, please leave a comment! We love it even more when you subscribe!