Jingle Belles, Dare to Get Dirty, and a Beautiful Surprise

The Jingle Belles challenge this go around calls for a trio.  So you see here I have three gingerbread men on a banner of three.  That Happy Holidays die is supposed to be one piece but I cut it apart to balance it out a bit better with this design.  I am also using this card for a couple of Dare to Get Dirty Challenges - DTGD16Cook22 (Sabrina's) and DTGD16StampersandeeA.    And yes, the background paper on this contains pink and so I added a layer of pink cardstock and some little pink cotton thread bows to hold my banner together.  You can't see it, but there's a little bit of cinnamon tucked in to give it more of a holiday flavor.

This next card is one of four that I'm making for some very special friends.  It's also inspired by a couple of Dare to Get Dirty challenges - DTGD16StampingQueenJAR, DTGD16albitas, and DTGD16justwritedesigns.  Again, I can't tell you specifically what the challenges were, but I really like the way this came out.  I spent way too much time playing with Brushos and watercolor paper, and someone is sure to question my blue and green fingers tomorrow at work!

I used the SU stamp set By the Tide and embossed the fish and coral in silver EP.  The Memory Box Oceana Corner die only came in the mail last week and I was so glad to use it right away for this. Those little silver "bubbles" are actually the punch outs from the diecut.  

And speaking of coming in the mail - I received this beautiful card from my blogging friend Sunshine in New Zealand.  I love that diecut and those flowers are so pretty.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's winter down there.  So I hope creating these flowers made her feel just a little bit warmer.  She also sent me that cute little piggy bank.  The flowers on either side of the money hole remind me of wings!  Thank you Sunshine!

Well, the deadline for posting the Dare to Get Dirty cards is tomorrow I think and I'm not sure that I'll get anymore done, but it was fun doing these!

Dare to Get Dirty - Splitcoaststampers Fan Club Challenges

Well, I'm going to try to do a few of these again this year.  These are the challenges you can participate in if you belong to the Splitcoaststampers Fan Club.  The only rule is that you cannot tell the exactiments of the challenge, you may only use the code of the particular challenge you are entering your card in.  So, some of this may be gibberish, and you may not be able to tell what the challenge is, but I hope you still have fun looking at what I came up with.

I used a new bird stamp that I was gifted by my blogging friend Sabrina - Unity's Welcome to the Hood.  The colors are a little wacky (Basic Gray, Flirty Flamingo, and Peekaboo Peach) but the card is for a co-worker who wears a lot of these colors. She just had foot surgery (yet again) and I wanted to wish her well.  This is for Lydia's challenge DTGD16UnderstandblueA. Remember, I can't link you to the challenge because you have to be a fan club member to see what's there. 

The next card was created for Dina's challenge DTGD16dini. I used another Unity stamp called Tiny Mountains.  And Lovely Lilac, Lavendar Lace and Almost Amethyst papers and to color my Mountains.  There's a little bit of Bashful Blue in there for the sky too.

There's a story behind the stamp on the next card.  This winter Rachel saw an envelope/piece of trash on the grass in the backyard of her townhouse from her upstairs window, but before she got around to rescuing it, it snowed.  When the snow melted it became visible again and so she went out to fetch it to throw it away.  The name of the recipient had washed away and the package contents were spilling out when she noticed that it was a rubber stamp, and since she could not get it to the rightful owner guess who she gifted it to?  It's Stampingbella's Tiny Towne Sally and Her Snail which I'm using for Susie's challenge DTGD16susieaustralia.  I used Pistachio, Pear Pizzazz, Lovely Lilac, Flirty Flamingo, and Peach cardstock (in addition to the watercolor paper the image is on).  That was die cut with an oval die, the butterflies cut with Memory Box's Dancing Butterfly die. The Leafy Spring Border is also a Memory Box die and the card base was embossed with a butterfly embossing folder. I colored it with my aquapainter and various SU inks.   

The last one - for now - is for Vicki's challenge - DTGD16vdutchr.  It's a one-layer card.  I stamped Unity's Wonderful Gift Stamp (the chipmunk), a sentiment from SU's Painted Petals, and used a stamp from SU's Timeless Textures for the brick wall.  The chipmunk was colored with my aquapainter and a mixture of the same colors that I used on the bricks - Dusty Durango and Delightful Dijon.  

Stay tuned for more.  I'm really having fun in my craft room this week even though I've been so exhausted from work.  Some "monkey wrenches" as my boss puts it, have come up in the last couple of weeks and we're scrambling to get them taken care of as soon as possible for a good start to the school year.  I really can't believe that it's August already!