Crafty Elves Countdown to Christmas - May 2021 Edition

Merry Christmas!  It's that time when the Crafty Elves share the Christmas cards we made this month!  After you leave here you'll want to hop around and see Debra, Michael and our special guest Crafty Elf, Crystal and what they've created!

Here's how I was inspired:

I'm lucky to be guesting with Joy Clair Stamps this month and as soon as I saw these adorable bears in the Making Memories digital set I knew they'd be perfect for this month's Christmas Cards!

The set has three adorable bears and some cute sentiments and they are so fun to color and easy to fussy cut.  This snowflake is from Paper Smooches.

I picked my papers and then colored these cuties to match.  These are some very "vintage" papers from CTMH.  These lacy snowflakes were perfect for this one with the lacy feel.

I used my favorite stitched rectangles and photo frame from AJVD for all of today's cards.

I love this singing bear and that mini bold snowflake from AJVD.

And the sentiments were easy to cut by hand as well!  

For my last one, I created another stripey background using the Sentiment Strips from A Jillian Vance Design like my rainbow card from yesterday.  I added the Bold Snowflake and Merry & Bright sentiment for a quick and easy card (don't you love that pretty font)!

And the colors I used....

Thanks so much for stopping!  Before you leave I have a winner of some Happy Mail from last month's post:

Karen!  Email me at bzscrapper66 at gmail dot com so I can send you some Happy Mail!

We're playing again this month!  Leave me some love for your chance to win!

Thank you so much for stopping!  Don't forget to check out my fellow Crafty Elves places (links at the beginning of the post) and see what they have for you today!  And please do come again soon!

 

Joy Clair Release - You Are Amazing!

Hello! I'm guesting with Joy Clair Designs in May and today I'm sharing this one using some new digital stamps from the Joy Clair shop!  These images are from the new Funny Times set.  

Of course I foiled these!  I printed, cut and colored them first and then foiled them in Gold Sequins Decofoil.  I created the cloudy background with a cloud diecut and some Distress Oxides and then popped the balloons up over it.  I had printed one smaller than the other to give the illusion that it was further away.

I diecut the sentiment, also from Funny Times, with a banner die and popped that up over the top.

That's it!  The benefits of digis if you've never used them before?  You can print them in any size, you can get them immediately, you can flip them and of course, if you have a laser printer, they can be foiled using a Minc or laminator.

These are the colors I used!

Thanks so much for stopping and hope you enjoyed it!  Come again soon!

 

Joy Clair Ray of Sunshine Instagram Hop - Guest Designer

I am so excited to be hopping along with the Joy Clair team for the new release Instagram Hop!  It's a Ray of Sunshine!  And here's how I was inspired:

Eeep!  Sweet right?  I've used a couple of the new sets on this one.  One of my favorite things about digital stamps is that you can foil them!  When I saw this floral from the Forever Moments stamp set I knew right away I'd need to foil it, and when I was trying to decide what color, I decided ... all of them!  So I used some rainbow foil.

I knew some black and white stripes would be perfect and also knew that I wanted to add this pretty kitty from the Fun Times stamp set because I think the recipient will love it!

The sentiment is from the Forever Moments set and well, I guess it's not hard for you to figure out who this might be for...lol!  She probably won't see this because she only comes here when I play along with her challenge...lol!

And here are the colors I used!

Thanks so much for stopping!  Now be sure to hop on over to the Joy Clair Stamps Instagram Account!  Find out there how you can win one of two $20 gift codes for digital stamps!  That's a lot of images!  See you over there and good luck!

 

Joy Clair - Caffeine Fueled Paper Play!

I'm up on the blog over at Coffee Loving Cardmakers with this one!  If you'd like links and more details hop on over there and join me!

Thanks so much for stopping and hope you come again soon!

 

Caffeine Fueled Paper Play - Joy Clair

I'm up on the blog over at the Coffee Loving Cardmakers with a new challenge and last month's winner!  Here's a sneak peek!

Head on over there for links and details and to play along!

Thanks so much for stopping and hope you'll come back again soon!

 

Krafty Chicks Challenge #459-Camp Out

It's time for a new challenge over at the Krafty Chicks Challenge Blog!   This week the theme is "Camp Out" and it was the perfect opportunity for me to use some things I hadn't broken out yet!

I started with the some old CTMH papers and cut the background layer using a Rubbernecker Nested Deckle Rectangle Die... love the jagged edges on these!  Next I cut a circle and used some pearl texture paste and a star stencil to add stars to the circle.

So that I'd have stitches on my circular scene all around, I cut another of the same circle in the lagoon color and the dark gray to create my background.  Then I cut the MFT Snow-Capped Mountains from the dark gray circle and my grass and hill layers using the lagoon.  I cut my snowy mountain tops using a lighter gray.  I layered on those pieces after my stars were dry (kinda...lol... no patience here) and used foam tape to pop up the bottom.  Then I added the Evergreen Trees from Impression Obsession and pieced together that adorable Build A Camper from Spellbinders.

This sentiment from the Joy Clair Wild & Free Stamp Set was perfect!

I'm playing along with the Vacation Challenge at Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge!

Now be sure to head on over to the Krafty Chicks Blog and see what everyone has created for you today and then get busy and play along!

Thanks for stopping and don't forget to visit me over at the CAS-ual Fridays Blog today for something Huggable!

The Cutting Cafe-Joy Clair Stamps Collaboration!

Welcome to a very special Cutting Cafe Inspiration!  In April we're collaborating with Joy Clair Stamps and using some of their fabulous stamp sets along with our favorite Cutting Cafe files!  One of my very favorite fairly new files is the 3-D Shadow Card and I knew this Wild and Free stamp set from Joy Clair would be perfect to use along with it!

I love this 3-D card because it appears like a plain old flat card from the outside and then when you open it the shadow box "pops" up to reveal whatever 3D creation  you want to add to the inside!

I used all of the images from the set along with some of the dies in my stash to create this cute scene... and even cuter if you wiggle the front open and closed a little it looks like they're actually moving!...lol!  Just a pleasant surprise that I didn't expect!  This would be a fantastic set to decorate a travel journal don't you think?  But this card would be for someone setting out on an adventure!  Or just for fun... 'cause these two are SO cute!  And the set contains lots of great sentiments too.

That's a lot of layers!  I did add some twine to mine because I used quite a bit of popup tape, but it still lies pretty flat and would be easy to mail.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Be sure to check out the Cutting Cafe Blog on the 21st.  Comment there for your chance to win three files of your choice!  And then check out what everyone else has made for Anything Goes!  You'll see a bunch more Cutting Cafe-Joy Clair goodness and we've been sharing throughout the month too!

I'm playing along over at Word Art Wednesday which is Anything Goes!  I'm also linking up at Die Cuttin Divas Animal Cruelty Awareness Challenge.  You should check them out!

Come back tomorrow for a special National Tea Day celebration!

Caffeine Fueled Paper Play - Joy Clair

I'm up on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog and playing along with a challenge over at Joy Clair Stamps!  Hope you'll hop on over there and check out the details and maybe play along!  Also, the winner of the 3000K Giveaway on the Coffee Loving Papercrafters Facebook Group is posted!  Be there or be square!

Caffeine Fueled Paper Play - Joy Clair!

I'm up on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog today and playing along with a challenge over at Joy Clair Stamps!  Hope you'll hop on over there to check out the details!  Here's a sneak peek:

Joy Clair/Coffee Loving Cardmakers Collaboration and Blog Hop!

So excited to be participating in a fun Collaboration Hop with the Joy Clair Design Team and the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Design Team!   Hop along with us and be sure to leave some love along the way and you could win a $25 gift card to the Joy Clair shop!  

 You should have arrived here from Laurel's blog!  If you get lost along the way, just head on over to the Main post on the Joy Clair Blog here!

Today I am having fun creating with the Coffee Lovers Clear Stamp Set and here's how I was inspired:

I started off decorating my planner pages for the last two weeks of May... because... well... you know what's going on then!

Mark your calendar!

I love the large to go cup image on this set!  I started by stamping it onto a variety of the printed papers from this Simple Stories pack.  Then I stamped some onto some cream cardstock.  I cut them all out and then I cut the sections apart on the printed paper and pieced and glued them together in various patterns onto the ones I stamped on cardstock.  I popped them up and placed them over the die cut flourishes on my page.  I added some diecut hearts and paper flowers and sequins and finally stamped some coffee beans and cut them out to use as embellishments too.  I added liquid glass and they are my favorite part!  That sentiment at the top is on the set and I thought it was perfect for this planner page.  

I mimicked the same pattern on the other side but used this sentiment instead on a banner.  I also used the smaller to go cup to indicate the days the Coffee Truck will be at work :) .. Thursday is my favorite work day...lol!

For my second project, I decided a card was in order and this is what I came up with:

I started with some kraft paper and I was curious to see how some ink blending with distress oxides would look on kraft.. nothing earth shattering... but I love the tones it created.  Then I tried splattering some water over it and sopping it up... it was cool, and it left kind of a grayish color on the paper.  Next I took a coffee ring stencil and sponged some of the darker ink through the stencil and finally I splattered some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Gold and Tea colors.... then it was time to let it dry.

Have I mentioned I hate drying time?...lol!    After it was dry, I stamped the mug and steam in Versamark and heat embossed with some gold embossing powder.  I colored the cup using a gold Prisma colored pencil which really didn't do much for it.  Then I added some Liquid Glass to the cup and steam which really brought out a cool variety of colors.

I stamped the sentiment in black with my Misti and it also did nothing for me... it was the only black on the card and the whole design was too low on the card... that's when I decided to stamp the Latte part of the sentiment onto black and heat emboss it in gold.  I cut it out in a small rectangle to fit back in the same area and then dragged the edges in versamark and embossed those too.  I decided the base should be black with a 2nd matte of gold but it was still missing something.  I had too much room at the top

... so then I decided I needed a diecut sentiment in black... and this was the perfect one!  I added a little gold to the top of that too and finally this card came together for me and I love it!...So happy I stuck with it!

And last but not least ... well, you didn't think you were going to get out of here without me playing along with the Joy Clair Monthly Challenge for May did you??  Here's the inspiration photo:

And here's how I was inspired:

As always, I was inspired by the beautiful colors and light airy feeling of this photo.. not to mention the beautiful flowers!  I chose these Simple Stories and Lawn Fawn papers in complimentary colors.

These cups are so much fun to paper piece!  I stamped one on the plaid and two on white Copic Friendly paper and did some coloring and paper piecing.  I also stamped the wrap onto a recycled coffee wrap.  I diecut the two hearts on white copic friendly paper; colored them with one of the same pinks I used on the cup and stamped the coffee beans on them.  I filled in the center of the beans with a darker brown marker and then put liquid glass on them.

I used the wrap for the banner as well, along with this simple Enjoy sentiment from the Coffee Lovers stamp set.  I sprinkled a few flowers and sequins around and I was done!

Hope you'll play along with this one.. you don't have to use Joy Clair stamps, but you'll have extra chances to win if you do!  You have until May 30th to play along and you can find all of the rules on the challenge page here!

That's it for me!  So happy you stopped today!  Now, head on over to Robyn's Blog and see what she's created for you today!