Michael's 12 x 12 Pad, Happy Pawlidays - Cat edition

Last year, either just before or just after Christmas, I purchased some 12 x12 pads from Michael's, all Christmas themed.  These cards are my first efforts with the "Happy Pawlidays" set.  It is very similar to the 6 x 6 set called Christmas Pets that I worked with in November 2018. The main difference with the larger pad is that I can find larger images to fussy cut for focal points. Also, this paper pad came with coordinating washi tape. Win!  There were enough cut-apart elements that I had plenty for inside decorations, too.  Pardon my very informal photos, complete with my stabilizing digit.

I supplemented with sentiments from Sunny Studios and My Favorite Things.  I also played around with some new dies from Spellbinders.

 Next up, the dog edition!

Say Freeze Craft Smart paper pad

Just before Christmas I took one last trip to Michael's and bought several 12 x 12 paper pads. I know I shouldn't have, but the images on "Say Freeze" really called to me so I did it.  I already had the 6 x 6 version of the same paper, I just had to have the bigger one, too.

The poinsettias are from the smaller paper pad, and the outside sentiment is from Queen & Co's Special Delivery kit. The inside sentiment is from Avery Elle's "Comfort & Joy" sentiment set.  The die cut poinsettia on the front is a Sizzix die that came with a pillow box die. The inside of the flowers are embellished with copper colored Nuvo drops.

Here's the real reason I needed the larger paper pad.  There is this wonderful image of snowmen driving a red pickup truck.  It's larger, covering the front of these two 5 x 6.5" cards.  The "Merry Christmas" die is from Kat Scrappiness, cut once from gold card stock and once from cream card stock, and layered together, a little offset.

On the inside of the card I layered another piece of patterned paper and the same sentiment as above from Avery Elle. The inside sentiment is on a panel cut with a scalloped die from Gina Marie Designs.

This second truck card features the "Fa La La" die and shadow from Simon Says Stamp.  The little sentiment, "Make it jolly, so jolly" is silver embossed from a sentiment set from Scrapbook.com called "Make it Jolly".

The inside sentiment is from an old Hero Arts set CL359 from 2012.  It's embossed in silver, with a couple of snowflake stamps that I can't immediately identify. 

So, I don't need anymore Christmas cards, but I've decided not to stop making them because, I don't want to stop.

Old paper pads need love, too!

This group of cards features an old 12 x 12 paper pad from Michael's that is about 4 to 5 years old.  It's one of those pads that I keep because I'm "going to use it someday", but it's never the right one, right now.

The card bases for these are larger, 6.5 x 5, and have been in my stash since about 2009.  Yup, 10 years they've been carefully stored, stashed, and moved around from one shelf to another in my craft room. Can't blame Mimi for these because I remember buying them before I found out that "everybody" does A2 cards.

So, the plaid backgrounds are from the old plaid paper pack, and the " Love Peace Joy" is a cut-apart from the same pack.  The "Happy Holidays " banner is from a die from Concord and 9th.

The poinsettias on the cards are from an old Spellbinders die, and the poinsettias on the side are new this year from Sizzix. The twigs are from Gina Marie Designs, and are a classic to me.  The Sizzix flowers will eventually get onto cards, but now they make good photo props.  

The center panel from this card is from a cut-apart from a newer paper pad called "Say Freeze" from Michael's.  The gold snowflakes are from a Spellbinder's Small Die of the month club die for November 2019.  This one is A2 sized. Yes, I really do like to mix in new with the old to give it better life.

Yes, it appears I'm still avoiding coloring. Oh well.

Honoring Mimi by using her craft stash

My mom, Mimi, was an artist and a crafter. After she died in 2000, I took home a lot of her craft stash.

One of the items that had me baffled were card bases with fancy front edges. I'd never seen that kind before, and that was before I got into card making.  The card bases were in their original Jo-Ann's packaging.

Well, DUH, Mimi had cut the edges herself with decorative scissors. How many years did it take me to figure that one out?  About 17 years, that's how long.

This fall I am trying to use up pre-made card bases and since these are at least 20 years old, they must be among the first ones used.

This first card features a sentiment die, some glitter snowflakes, and some red decorative tape.  The tape is a dollar store find.

This card features the pink paper from Michael's called Sugar Blush.  It's one of the 6x6 pads I picked up just after Christmas last year.  The sentiment is a die from Simon Says Stamp, and the gold glitter snowflakes are from My Favorite Things' layered Snowflake Splendor kit from 2 years ago.

This card features the pink paper from Sugar Blush (Michael's), the layered tree from Pretty Pink Posh, and the sentiment from Concord and 9th.  I cut the tree parts from paper I had glittered with glitter gel. I also applied the glitter gel around the edges of the pink panel. 

For each of these cards, I put a strip of patterned paper on the bottom inside, to contrast with Mimi's fancy cut bottom edge.  I've a few more of these card bases to use up, and I will remember Mimi with each and every one I do.  I sure miss her.

Sweaters on cards, none in real life.

I am loving this sweater die from Hero Arts. It has tiny round and heart shaped punch-outs as well as a tree that can be punched out or left in place.

I cut a second sweater out just so I could get the tree in striped layers, and embellished the card with snowflakes cut from mirror gold and glitter card stock. The sentiment strip is from a 6x6 paper pad I got at Michael's.  Sigh, yes, I bought more patterned paper. So sue me.

The red background layer is textured card stock from DCWV, and was recently given to me by my sister-in-law. She's de-stashing craft items that are not quilt-related. So, even more paper for me.

The layered poinsettias will be featured soon on another card. 

Green for the Season! With some gold thrown in, too!

I made a lot of green and gold tags, and wanted to feature one on a card. This specialty paper from Tonic is made from cotton, and is very soft, with hints of gold under the green. I love it and you will be seeing more of it in coming projects!

I didn't embellish the tag, I just put the "fa la la" and the music over top of it. The "fa la la" die is Simon Says Stamp (I think, I can't find the packaging), the tag is My Favorite Things' Tagbuilder Bluebrint 5, and the music is something I got at Michael's quite a few years ago.

My stash has reached the point where if I don't label things, I forget where and when I got them and exactly what brand they are. Dies, unlike stamps, look a lot alike under the packaging. Is this my subconscious telling me to stop buying stuff?  If so, no thanks.

The deer tag is one of several I'm working on. I'm loving the shiny gold "Mercury Light" paper.  It's also Recollections from one or 2 years ago. Also, it's hard to see in the photo, but the "fa la la" is covered with glittery shimmer paste from Tonic.  It's messy and fun.