Let's Squash It! Challenge #27 - Snowflakes and Stars

 

It's December and we're Squashing it one last time for 2022, and in fact for a little while as Gail and I have decided to 'press pause' on Let's Squash It! due to life outside Blogland getting in the way.  Thanks so much to everyone who has played along and supported this challenge - we've had a blast and we hope you have too.

However, let's still have some December fun and we've got a lovely theme with which to see out the year: Snowflakes and Stars! Poetic, huh! We'd like to see either or both on your cards - the choice is yours.

Here's the card I made for the theme.

I used this lovely EF by Tim Holtz to create a simple background and then added stars and a sentiment. I used water colour card and the texture is lovely.

Gail and I are delighted to be joined by our reining empress and dear stamping buddy, Linda, for this challenge. Head on over to see her gorgeous card!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #26 - Let's make a Christmas Card

 

Hi there, I'm over on the Squashy blog today to share a little inspiration for our current challenge! We've gone super-easy this month and would just like to see you use an EF to create a gorgeous Christmas card.

Our guest this month is the lovely Cat from Cat Luvs Paper. 

You can see her beautiful guest creation by clicking here. 

For some reason I decided to de-boss the inky, water-coloured background for my card. I used watercolour card, which takes embossing so beautifully. I wanted to fill the little 'wells' made by the de-bossed Christmas Trees with plenty of ink so there was a good depth of colour. Seems to have worked ok and was a quick and simple make. I used that fabulous 'Noel' die cut again, sent to me by my sweet buddy, Greta. 

Embossing Folder - Darice Trees

The cards in the Squashy Gallery for this theme look fabulous. I really think embossing seems to especially suit cards made for the festive season. You have until the end of November to play along with this challenge and Cat, Gail and I all hope you'll come and join the festive fun! 

Let's Squash It! Challenge #25 - Reminder

 

This month we're all about Trees and Leaves at Let's Squash It! and we're delighted to have the very talented Joanne with us as our guest.

For my second card for this challenge I made this...

The gorgeous EF is a Sizzix 3-D Texture Fades folder by Tim Holtz called Acorns. 

The sentiment is from Hero Arts set Zen Messages. This particular set is currently sold out, but there are plenty of other sets in the HA messages series that would look great on this or a similar card.

You still have until the end of the month to play along with this challenge and it would be great to see more cards in the gallery. I think this theme would work well for Halloween and Christmas cards, so why not come and join the fun?

Let's Squash It! Challenge #25 - Trees and Leaves

 

Anyone else got a drive full of leaves? Thought so!

Our theme for Challenge #25 over at Let's Squash It! is Trees and Leaves - a perfect challenge for this time of year.

We have the super - talented Joanne with us for October and I know you'll love what both Joanne and Gail have created for the challenge.

Here's what I made...

The background was coloured in bands with Distress Inks before I got busy with an EF. Unfortunately, I can't give any details for the folder as I bought it on eBay without any packaging. However, I can tell you that the Celebrate die is from MFT and the beautiful leaves are from my dear blogging friend Linda W over at Scrappin', Stampin', Singin'.

Joanne, Gail and I all hope that you'll come and play along with this fun challenge!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #24 - Inspiration

Hi folks, I'm over on the blog today at Let's Squash It! to share some inspiration to get Mr Mojo engaged for our current challenge...

We have a lovely guest with us for September: Jenny M from My Paper Epiphany and I know you'll love the adorable Holiday card she made for our launch post. You can see it by clicking here. 

I don't know about you, but I always like to keep a small stock of thank you cards and so made this simple little card to add to the numbers.

I think this is the first card where I've used Saltwater Taffy Distress Ink and I quite like the colour. The embossing was created by alternating two Cuttlebug border folders on the central portion of the card. I had to be quite careful with how I positioned the folders, but I think it worked out ok. The sentiment comes from a SSS set called Thanks.

This was such a quick and easy card to make with the border folders, yet I hope you'll agree the end result is very pretty and effective. I really enjoyed the challenge of finding a way to emboss just a portion of my card and I was so pleased to find yet another way of stretching my existing embossing folders rather than just rushing to buy more.

This fun challenge runs until the end of September and Gail, Jenny and I all hope that you'll come and play along! 

Let's Squash It! Challenge #24 - Cuz 2 out of 3 ain't bad!

 

Sometimes, it's hard to come up with a fun title for a challenge... this was one of those occasions! For September we're playing with ratios or percentages or fractions or however else you choose to describe embossing just 2/3rds of your card! 

We have a fabulous guest as our August Empress, Jenny Martin, joins us for the month. The card she's made for this challenge is a gem and I know you'll love it as much as I do!

Here's what I made for the challenge. It's mine and the hubster's anniversary in a few days time so I thought I'd use this theme for his card. 

This card looks so much better IRL as the gold has gone very yellow in the picture. The Katzelkraft rat is a favourite and I thought he'd be so much fun with that MFT sentiment! My embossing folder is a Sizzix one called Romantic. I was amazed at how thick it is - so much so that I only needed one plate (plus my base plate) in my Cuttlebug sandwich. 

Please come on over to the blog and play along with our fun, new challenge!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #23 - Inspiration.

 

I'm over on the blog to share a little bit more inspiration for our current challenge at Let's Squash It! where Gail and I are delighted to be joined this month by Emma from Trenouths Crafty Creations. 

I decided to channel the femininity of Emma's card for my card. It really is a card... it's a tag-shaped card and actually larger than it looks on the photograph. 

The EFs are Kirsty Allsop/Cuttlebug Swiggles and a lovely, little Sizzix number that doesn't have a name on it. Just like Emma, I used plenty of white in the background to really make the main image 'pop'. The image is from Stamplorations - I've just been over to the site for the link and read that Shery is due her surgery in a few days time. Good luck, Shery, we're all thinking of you and your family.

We currently have a grand total of 2 beautiful cards in the gallery at Let's Squash It! Well done to Joanne and Robyn! Here's hoping we'll have a few more appear to join them before the end of the month. Come on guys, shaped cards are so much fun!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #23 - Don't Be So Square

There's a fun new challenge over at Let's Squash It! where we're asking you join us in making shaped cards as we play...

Gail and I are joined by our July Empress, Emma from Trenouths Crafty Creations and I know you'll love the card she's made for this challenge.

I knew I wanted to make a star shaped card, but unfortunately my star dies are very small. However, I'm quite pleased with the end result even if it is tiny!

I decided to emboss the MFT patterned paper using a new to me EF from Cuttlebug and Kirsty Allsop called Swiggles. I don't think it's available anymore, which is a pity as it's really sweet. The sentiment is from Beary Special Birthday by MFT and the little chef is from a magazine freebie called Here Come the Girls. 

I'm going to link up at Die Cut Divas who are also playing shaped cards. Such gorgeous cards from the DT - go take a look!

Emma and Gail have created two beautiful cards for this challenge, which I know you'll want to see, so don't be square and come and play along!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #22 - Keep it CAS

 

It's the final call over at Let's squash It! for our CAS Challenge. Even though I'm still on the Covid sick list I felt well enough to do a little cardmaking this morning and this was the result.

I really do love the EF I used for this card: Distressed Lines by Creative Expressions which I combined with a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp and a watercolour background and some cute shapes from my scraps box.

There's still a week left to play along in this challenge, and Gail, our lovely guest Carol and I hope all you'll come and join the fun.

Let's Squash It! Challenge #22 - Keep it CAS

 

We're all about clean and simple cards over at Let's Squash It! this month as we play Keep it CAS!

I think I've kept things reasonably CAS for my creation, although I did get a little carried away with the boots and the flowers. The EF is Altenew Dotty Circles - isn't it pretty! I really do like these 3-D folders from Altenew as they give great depth and pristine embossing. The boots and flowers are from a set that I don't think is quite kosha, despite being advertised as such. 

We have a lovely new guest over at Let's Squash It! as Empress Carol joins us with a beautiful card which is just so perfectly CAS.  And you'll all go 'squeeeeeee...' when you see Gail's card for this challenge. Come and take a look and please play along!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #21 - Make it Manly!

 

We're Making it Manly over at Let's Squash It! until 30th June. 

I don't know about you guys but I am someone who needs inspiration and ideas when it comes to making cards for the Misters. Gail and our Empress of Squash, Joanne, totally smashed it with their fabulous creations and I have to say I'm quite pleased with the cards I've created for this challenge. Seems that an embossing folder is a great place to start for making it manly! 

I was inspired by Joanne's card as I loved the 'pop' of gold she used against a dark, embossed background. Here's what I made:

The embossing folder and stamp are from a magazine freebie I've had tucked away for years. Unfortunately, the packaging doesn't appear to give the magazine details so I can't share them. It's a great little set as you get a folder, a selection of stamps AND some dies. The 'Cheers' die is from Sugar Pea Designs. 

There's still six whole days to join the challenge and Joanne, Gail and I really hope you'll decide to Make it Manly and join the fun! 

Let's Squash It! Challenge #21 - Make it Manly!

 

It's all about the guys this month over at Let's Squash It! as we play Make it Manly! Birthday cards, Father's Day cards, anniversary cards, birth announcements... the choice is yours, just make sure it's one for a male!

Let's be honest, I really struggle with masculine makes, but was very pleased how quickly this card came together after I'd chosen a few key elements. The image and sentiment are from Stamplorations and the EFs I used are Darice - Square Patterns and Creative Expressions - Distressed Lines. It's not easy to tell but the embossed card was carefully coloured with black Distress Ink.

We have a fabulous guest with us and I know you'll love her stunning creation. Gail and I really hope you'll come on over and join the fun for this challenge. 

Lets Squash It Challenge #20 - Squash Those Scraps!

Over in the Land of Squash we've been squashing scraps this month and using our EFs to take things up a notch.

I had a few pieces of this pretty paper in my stash and decided to bring two scraps together with this lovely dotty, spotty EF and a gorgeous floral from Stamplorations.

I love how using an EF in this way really pulls together the two papers to make a cohesive and pleasing card.

There's still a few days left until the end of the month, so why not come play along?

Let's Squash It! Challenge #20 - Squash Those Scraps!

 

Welcome, welcome, welcome! It's the 10th of the month and so this can mean only one thing: there's a brand new challenge over at Let's Squash It!

This month we're all about the scraps. Whether it's plain cardstock, coloured card or patterned paper we want to see you squashing those scraps!

Here's what I made for the challenge.

I had quite a few different pieces of DP leftover from previous projects, so I cut myself a cardstock base and then just added the snippets in an appealing pattern. Then I ran this through my embossing machine and here's the result! 

The cute panda is from Creative-Depot and the 'Fabulous' die is from Stamplorations.  

I'm also linking-up at the official home of the Snippet - Snippets Playground Challenge #427. 

Gail and I have a fabulous guest designer with us for this challenge, and I know you'll love what she's made to inspire us all, so please head on over and take a look!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #10 - Geometric and Repeating Patterns

This month we're all about Geometry and Repeating Patterns over at Let's Squash It! 

I've really enjoyed creating cards for this challenge as there's something just so satisfying about geometric designs. Looks like quite a few of you agree as we've got some gorgeous cards in the challenge gallery!

For my card I created a very quick and easy background using Distress Oxides, my Gel press and a favourite We R Memory Keepers EF. Don't you love the colours, I know I do!

 

The little kitty stack is from Art Impressions. I always enjoy colouring cats and giving them all their own individual little looks. I'm quite pleased with this little card; that oh, so simple geometric background really makes it!

Our challenge is open until April 30th and we'd love you to come and join the fun!

Let's Squash It! Challenge #19 - Without Geometry, Life is Pointless.

 

We've got a fun new challenge on offer over at Let's Squash It! starting today and running until April 30th! Gail and I would like to see Embossing Folders with Geometric Shapes and/or Repeating Patterns, please.

I had way too much fun making this little card! The MFT bees are so cute (Honey Bees) and I'm really pleased with how the Kaisercraft Embossing Folder Honeycomb gave a lovely deep, crisp emboss to the Bazzils card. Unfortunately, I can't find a link to the EF and can only assume it's gone out of stock. 

I always like geometric pattern embossing folders and think they can make great backgrounds especially for masculine cards. I was going to head that way until this crazy little idea came into my head!

I do hope you'll come and play along with Gail and me as I think we all need a little Geometric Fun in our lives from time to time!

More Inspiration for Let's Squash It! Challenge #18 - Emboss/Deboss

 

It's time for the final Inspiration post over at Let's Squash It! where we're playing where we're playing Emboss/Deboss. 

I've really enjoyed this challenge and have loved trying different ways of combining both sides of my EFs on the same card. It appears that this technique has captured the imaginations of our participants as we've got some beautiful, really inspirational cards in the gallery.

During this challenge I've been especially interested in trying to use the small EFs that I seem to have acquired along the way. I was messing about with a piece of watercolour card and a small EF from Sizzix; just flipping the folder backwards and forwards and running it through my Cuttlebug. I came up with this panel and thought it was perfect as a background.

Here's the folder in comparison with the card.

I'm so pleased with the texture and the pattern made with just this little folder to play with. The flowers were sent to me by one of my Card Chain Challenge buddies, Lucille. Aren't they lovely? She sent them all coloured and ready to use, so putting my card together was just so quick and easy. The sentiment is from a cute set by Funky Fossil called Small Print #2.

You've still got until March 31st to come and play along, so why not break out those EFs and come join the fun! 

Let's Squash It! #18 - Emboss/Deboss

 

If you're looking for a fun challenge and love embossing folders then please look no further than the new challenge over at Let's Squash It!

For the rest of March we're playing Emboss/Deboss and we'd like to see both techniques on your card. There's a Technique Time post for you to check out a few ideas to get you started over on the blog.

Here's what I created for the challenge. 

I started by using a Cuttlebug border folder an working my way up the front panel embossing and debossing as I went. The creamy, soft watercolour card took the embossing and debossing beautifully.

The small folder left a faint indentation in the card, so I decided to run with it and incorporate it into the design. I did this by scoring a deeper line with my paper scorer.

I left this card really CAS as I wanted the embossing/debossing to be the star of the show!

Gail and I really hope you'll come and play along with this fun challenge.

Let's Squash It! Challenge #17 - Grasshopper Green Reminder

It's reminder time at Let's Squash It! as we continue to play with the colour green, an insect of your choice AND those all important embossing folders!

We're thrilled to be joined by the lovely Marianne as our Empress this month. If you take a peek here you'll see her gorgeous card, plus the little bit of fabulousness that Gail created too.

Here's what I made as my second card for this challenge.

To be honest, I followed a very similar formula to my first card, and let this beautiful EF from Altenew do all the work. My insect is a tiny Hero Arts ladybird from a set I bought very early on in my cardmaking career. I don't think I've ever used this little stamp before. After embossing and inking the cardstock I stamped the ladybird on the stalk of the daisy, and then stamped and fussy cut another body. This looks quite effective IRL as I added some Glossy Accents to the ladybird for a little shine.

We've got three beautiful cards in the gallery for this challenge, but to be honest, Marianne, Gail and I would love to see a few more and very much hope you'll come and join the fun. Don't forget, there's always a random prize from our fabulous Prize Vault on offer for one lucky player! 

Let's squash It! Challenge #15 - Grasshopper Green!

 

We're playing Grasshopper Green until the end of the month over at Let's Squash It! and we'd like to see green and an insect on your cards!

Here's what I made for the challenge:

Not my usual style of card, but it was interesting to try this technique. The embossing folder is Wisteria Wall by Joanna Sheen and the butterfly is an oldie from Hero Arts. I've layered the butterfly by cutting extra wings, but you can't really tell from the pictures.

I'm also linking this little card over at Simon Says: Emboss It where it's all about embossing folders and/or heat embossing.

Our Empress this month is the lovely Marianne, and she's created a beautiful card for the challenge, so come on over and take a peek!