Sunday, January 21, 2018

Oh Deer, Winter . . .

~ photo heavy ~

Howdy, and welcome back.  Yeah, some days I craft, and craft some more, and other days, I am busy with life's chores.  Lucky for me, this weekend has been one of those craft, and craft some more days {smile}.  Now, before everyone gets too excited, it's snowing like crazy here, and the wind is blowing harder/faster than a ________.  (I'll let you fill-in-the-blank)  So, I have re-arranged my running schedule: todays run will be run tomorrow, and tomorrows run will be run on Tuesday.  The treadmill work will be done . . . . not sure at this moment, but I need to get some miles done.  So, I am focusing on that.
Ok, now for some crafting!  I am working on a few holiday themed orders, and entering one of them in three (yes, 3!) challenges:  Catch the Bug Challenge, Time Out Challenge and Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  Now, I believe that the last two challenges are 'new-to-me' challenges, so this will be fun!
Let's start with Catch the Bug Challenge.  I see their sketches a lot, and have wanted to play, so I am not one hundred percent that I haven't played with them before.  But, just look at this current challenge sketch!  How beautiful!
The first thing that catches my eye about this sketch is the simplicity: aka easy to work with!  You can do so much with it, or leave it clean and simple.  Me, I'm more on the more is better.  And if you haven't fallen in love with this sketch yet, simply look at what the design team has created, and you will be running to your craft room.  (just like me!) 
Ok, now on to the Time Out Challenge.  Their current challenge is to be inspired by words.  Their words.  Here is their graphics:
I went with: Gift & Open it
Ok, I don't know about you, but this screams gift card holder to me.  Or how about Birthday, or a Thank You gift, or . . .  another endless possibilities challenge.  Oh, and don't forget to see what the design team has created.  Super fun!
And my last stop, is Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  Another fun, and creative group of folks.   This may be a regular challenge for me.  (smile)
I went diagonal: light blue, ribbon, and sequins
and here is what I made:


and another view:


This over-sized card, is actually a 'packaged' gift card holder.  It's for those gift cards that are purchased that have these think wrappers.  So, instead of ripping apart the packaging to get the gift card out, simply slide the whole package into the pocket of this gift card holder!  Ta-Da!


Recipe:  I used Cocoa Bean card stock from Paper Trey Ink.  Love the heavy weight of their card stock, it gives these types of projects stand-up power!  I used Pool Party card stock by Stampin' Up! for the matts.  I just love this shade of pale/light blue.  The pattern papers I used were from the same collection: Oh Deer! by Close To My Heart.  (It was from 2016)  and yes, I hoard saved my scraps.
I did some machine stitching to hold the layers of paper in place, along with some adhesive.  The gold satin ribbon and cream crochet trim are also machine stitched to the cover.  I thought the gold satin ribbon matched the music pattern paper beautifully.
The sentiment rectangle is actually a journalling square that was cut down and matted with a scrap of Cocoa Bean card stock.  I added a retired mini paper clip to the top left corner of it, and a pair of silver sequins to the right corner.  It is adhered to the card front with foam tape to lift it off the card front.  
The paper blossom is actually from the Sweet Peppermint collection by Prima Marketing.  I just love how it adds just the right amount of contrast to the blue, without looking too gold.  
I painted and glittered two silver jingle bells, and tied them with some silver and cream bakers twine.  I then tied a triple-bow with the same bakers twine, and tucked it under the paper blossom.  I added a retired Stampin' Up! snowflake charm to the knot.  I added one lone silver sequin just to the left of the paper blossom to help repeat the silver accents.
The three banner pieces peaking out from under the pinecone pattern paper are simply scraps of this beautiful collection.  I flagged the ends with a pair of scissors.
Since my focal piece is the sentiment, I decided to add some embellishments to the lower right corner, instead of a sentiment.  So, I took two silver foil embossed pinecone die-cuts from the Oh Deer! collection and adhered them.  The top pinecone is adhered with foam tape, so that they wouldn't be smashed on.  I tied some of the same silver and cream bakers twine to a snowflake charm, and hot glued it to the stacked pinecones.  
Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have been inspired to play along with any/all of these challenges.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  Hope to be back soon {fingers crossed}.

6 comments:

Cynthia said...

This is lovely, Sharon. Great gift card design. Thanks for joining us at Catch the Bug this week!

AO Creations said...

Super cute!!! Thank you for joining us at Tic, Tac, Toe Challenge, good luck!!! Amy DT

Peggy Noe said...

Sharon, wow what a beautiful and clever card! The colors are so pretty together and I love all the stitching. Then to see that the inside holds gift cards! Love your style! Thank you so much for joining us this week at Tic Tac Toe Challenges!

Shona Chambers said...

This is such a cool idea and I've got to try this out!! Its so different from the usual gift card holding cards and love that it looks like a card itself. Fabulous colours, love the soft blue with the kraft colours. So glad you shared this with us at TIME OUT!

Lisa Lynn said...

Sharon, your card is gorgeous, and a great idea for a gift holder. Thanks for joining the Stella Sketch, Lisa Lynn DT.

Nonni said...

Beautiful shabby look! I love all the layers and details and the colors look amazing. Very fun way to include a gift card too! Thanks for joining us at TIME OUT!