Masculine Autumn Themed Birthday Card

Welcome to Becca's Heart for Creativity blog! This 5" x 7" birthday card for my brother-in-law came together in about 30 minutes! That definitely makes my heart happy! The Granny Smith apples basket was printed and colored last year and has been waiting in my stash. The fox was stamped about 4-6 weeks ago and has also been waiting in the sidelines to be used!

The honeycomb gold CS strip and slate gray CS strip were the off-cuts trimmed for previous card bases. Likewise the sentiment strip is part of the off-cut from the base--about 4" long. The kraft and black checkered paper that I've been trying to bash since this spring has a scrap piece used here on the cover. 

Inking on half of the edges was a finishing touch. Because this is for my brother-in-law, I've left off  my typical embellishments, trying to keep it fuss-free.

Fox and Apples Birthday card = {2nd small bonus one layer card is shown below}

 Facebook groups:

a. Bash Your Scrapbook Stash group

b. The Seasonal Cardmaker group

c. Mixed Media Creativity group

d. Paper, Paper, Paper and Design Team Calls

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Challenge blog linking:

a. Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge blog; Anything Goes; 

link= http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.com/2020/10/pennys-challenge-483.html

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2nd card: small size; one layer with matching envelope from boxed set by Darice; scraps of slate gray CS and orange print paper; 2 stamps; 4 beautiful metallic foil leaves; black ink pad; colored pencils in 2 tones of orange, red, and yellow to help the gray CS blend better with the bold school bus yellow base & leaves & the orange print paper=

Crafting in the USA heartland,

Becca S

Quick and Easy Mixed Media Encouragement Card

 Welcome to Becca's Heart for Creativity blog! Whenever I can get experimental and messy, my artsy-crafty heart gets excited yet anxious. Last night I messed around with adding little taps of several hues paint around the image and background paper.

Blue, pink (looks lavender), and green are scattered around the striped paper and sheep image. Well the sheep I'm thinking of as 'ewe'/you. 

Ewe Are Special encouragement card=

Some supply notes:

a. flat base card with matching envelope = Darice

b. beige/taupe cardstock = Astrobrights/Neenah

c. digital image = clipart image freebie

d. striped paper = see the paper pad photo down below

e. washi tape = Pen + Gear/Wal-Mart

This card is not for a design team commitment however I do want to share it with a couple of Facebook groups and a challenge blog:

a. Mixed Media Creativity group in FB; paint, black ink, stamping, digital image/clipart freebie, washi tape, cardstocks and patterned paper

b. Bash Your Scrapbook Stash group in FB; not a scrapbook LO however I did use a partial sheet of a paper pad I wanted to smash this year

c. my personal profile in FB

d. Paper, Paper, Paper and Design Team Calls group in FB; a sharing site for crafting bloggers

e. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge Blog; started Sunday October 4, 2020; anything goes theme;

link= http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2020/10/c-143.html

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Crafting in the USA heartland,

Becca S

owner of 5 blogs

design team member of 3 challenge blogs

IL certified teacher=

a. endorsed in 2 areas: FACS grades 6-12; and Birth to Grade 3

b. approved short-term of 3 years: general science grades 5-8

Harvest Theme with colors red yellow green October 2020 challenge at APTS Blog

 Welcome to Becca's Heart for Creativity blog! My artsy-crafty heart is on a mixed media autumnal mood and this birthday card is testament to that! The new challenge month for A Place To Start challenge blog starts Monday, October 5th, 2020. The theme is harvest but with a twist. Chana wants to see red, yellow, and green used with your fall harvest items. 

My mind thought of apples, leaves and tractors but I went a bit different. I had sunflower doilies and reddish-orange leaf doilies, so I decided to use half of one each due to the 5" x 7" dimensions of the card. The foil butterflies had red-orange, green, and a bit of yellow so I wanted to incorporate those. Then various gems in golden/amber yellow, 2 shades of green, and red. The hedgehog was stamped on a bright neon orange but my printer's scanner light bleached that out to pale peach. The olive green with micro dot patterned paper is an oldie that was part of a card of the month kit from Paper Wishes. The black and kraft checked patterned paper is part of a paper pad I've been trying to bash this year. 

Items were arranged into a mesh of angles and layers to give a sense of walking in the woods and finding flora and fauna all jumbled together. Take a look:

Wishing you well Happy Birthday card=

October 2020 challenge month at APTS blog link=

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2020/10/october-2020-challenge-challenge-theme.html

APTS blog badge=

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Other web locations where this post or card photo will be shared:

a. Bash Your Scrapbook Stash group on Facebook; using this checked paper from this old 5" x 7" paper pad=

b. Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenges blog; Anything Goes theme; 

link= http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.com/2020/09/pennys-challenge-481.html

blog badges for b, d, & e in this section=

c. Mixed Media Creativity group on FB; a private group of artists and crafters who occasionally like to mix things up in their projects; this card has paper products (cardstock, patterned paper, doilies), foil stickers, plastic gem dots, black ink, stamping, use of 3 different stamps from 2 companies, 

d. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends challenge blog; anything goes; linking still open

link= http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2020/10/c-143.html

e. The Crafter's Cafe Challenges blog; anything goes; started Oct 1st

link= https://crafterscafeblogchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/10/252-october-1st-anything-goes.html

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Crafting in the USA heartland,

Becca S

total of 5 blogs

DT member of APTS challenge blog, MTTC challenge blog, and Createful Heart Designs company challenge blog

also an Illinois certified teacher in:

*Family and Consumer Sciences grades 6-12

*Birth to Grade 3/ECE 

*3 year short term approval in general science for grades 5-8

July 2020 Week 1 Sketch Challenge for 52 CCT Blog

Welcome to Becca's Heart for Creativity blog! My heart is nervous about this card. In person, I love the color mix of this card, however some of the supplies are from my June 2020 scrapping kit and others are from my Christmas embellishments box. But more on those details later.

My June hostessing duties for 52 CCT blog are almost over. I've got to compile DT voting for the challenge ending 7/3/2020 and post the winners on Wednesday, July 8. So that means with July Week 1 sketch that it's now time for a new hostess, Fabiola. The sketch will be featured after my card photo.

Happy Christmas card for #25-20 =

link for #25 at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown=

https://52cct.blogspot.com/2020/07/july-sketch-challenge.html

Design notes:
a. text Christmas patterned paper = The Paper Studio/Hobby Lobby
b. rose washi tape and mauve rosy paper (circle) = My Mind's Eye
c. white A2 card base, gem dots, green glitter foam trees = my stash
d. Happy Christmas die-cut =
e. checkered patterned paper, mauve paper, rose washi tape, and gem dots were part of my June 2020 scrapping kit for CKC blog PLUS the checkered paper was part of a paper pad that I'm trying to bash that was a decision in mid-May 2020 for Bash Your Scrapbook Stash

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links for challenge blogs and Facebook groups where I'll share the post or card photo=
a. CKC's last posting for June's inspiration kit can be found here=
http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/06/june-2020-killing-kit-series.html

pics of my compiles copy-cat kit for June 2020=

Above: the rose washi tape can be seen near the pink flowers; the gem dots are just to the right of that and got cropped out of this pic
Below: Most of my papers were yellow/buttery cream, pink, light blue and light green but I wanted to have some neutrals to help ground all those other pastel hues; I included 2 sheets of the checkered paper in the kit but used a half sheet for the Christmas card featured up at the top of the post

b. The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge blog; #75;
 http://thehollyandivychristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/2020/06/challenge-75-anything-christmas-goes.html

c. Bash Your Scrapbook Stash group in Facebook

pic of the paper pad cover:

d. Mixed Media Creativity group in Facebook

e. Paper, Paper, Paper, & Design Team Calls group in Facebook

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Crafting in the USA heartland,
Becca S

Design team member for these 3:
1. 52 CCT
2. MTTC
3. APTS

CKC Blog June 2020 Kit Challenge no 1 Wonderful World contribution as a GD

Welcome to Becca's Heart for Creativity blog! My heart is overflowing this month! Not only is it my birthday time but I'm having the honor to be the Guest Designer for Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog!!! As a GD I've had an early alert to the inspiration kit and what this challenge #1 entails.

CKC's Master Forger, Tara, is the hostess this month and she selected CLIQUE Kit's March 2020 "Wonderful World" curated collection for the inspirational kit for participants to copy-cat from their stockpiles! When I think of wonderful world my mind always goes first to God's beautiful earthly creations, especially to flowers and butterflies. These are two of my favorites and are seen in my layouts and cards quite a lot!!! Even my June kit I've titled "Nature's Splendor in Petals and Wings" as a verbal nod to flowers and butterflies.

Luckily CLIQUE also put a lot of floral print papers and gorgeous embellishments into the kit along with lots of butterfly die-cuts.

My Challenge #1 layout is titled "Splendor". It turns out that several of the papers I included in my kit were from My Mind's Eye "Splendor" kit collection from a couple of years ago. I saved the marketing/cover page and their title got fussy cut out to become my title! :) Ingenious!! And then the far left strip on the layout is part of the sample section off that marketing cover page that can be seen in one of my kit photos I'm including in this post. Isn't that brilliant??!!!

The base is one of my forgery pages that started out as a pale yellow cardstock. Since doing the stenciling and outlining, I applied some eye shadow makeup (YES!!) with a sponge dauber to tone down the yellow a smidgen. The multi-shade palette had mica powder/glittery teals, amethysts, and metallic golds and bronzes, so I combined those to fill in some of that open space. Also the inspirational kit had lots of artist watercolor painting like papers, so I was hoping the make-up swirls would give my attempt at a forgery some of that look....

"Splendor" layout from "Nature's Splendor in Petals and Wings"--

Some of my June 2020 copy-cat kit photos (go back a week or so in my blog archives to find the posting about making the kit and see photos of the inspirational kit)=

Above: from some of my embellishments seen in the above photo, I pulled out 2 washi tapes to use, the foil butterflies, used the right half of those cut-apart images (Webster Pages), and the pocket/journal card in black and white is seen above those cut-apart panel.

Below: the marketing cover page from My Mind's Eye's "Splendor" was included in my kit and is seen next to that large "love" text paper ANT the yellow forgery floral paper is seen in the right corner of the photo tucked in between the green and pink versions.

I love re-purposing and recycling so using parts of that marketing cover page is like a huge WIN!

I was anxious to get the layout scanned and forgot to add in any captioning or journaling. But I did a TN layout for this same blog using the same kit for June 4th and the tulips/flowers were photographed  at the same time as the lilacs seen in the TN. Most of these flowers were already part of the landscaping of a foreclosure property we bought in 2005. Due to some structural work needed in the basement, we didn't move in until Summer 2006 and lived there until Fall of 2011. The landscaped beds hadn't been touched for several years, so when my hubs didn't need my assistance at the basement, I spent a lot of hours raking and weeding as well as analyzing what I could identify that was already there. These flower garden photos were probably taken sometime after 2007.

The columns of gems and butterflies are not quite a rainbow but the inspirational kit had several versions of rainbows included so I wanted to get this aspect of the kit onto my layout page. They've almost overwhelmed the cropped snapshots but I'm thinking these just reinforce the meaning of "Splendor" and "Wonderful World"

Oh! What a beautiful world God has given us! I know there is a lot of ugliness in the world but it's not due to the Creator. It's due to the disrespect and abusive actions of some humans. Let's focus on the beauty.

Two different locations for the purple tulips planted on the west side of this featured property we used to own are the focals for this layout. They are the beauty I wanted to share from this Wonderful World's Splendor!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog=

June 12th link: https://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/06/june-2020-challenge-1.html

June 1st link: https://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/06/june-2020-counterfeit-kit-challenge-kit.html


This blog post will also be shared at these:
a. CKC's community group in Facebook

b. Mixed Media Creativity group in Facebook

c. Paper, Paper, Paper, & Design Team Calls group in Facebook

d. additional possibles: Bash Your Scrapbook Stash and/or 100 Pattern Paper Challenge groups in Facebook and/or Scrap Academy

e. The Paper Funday Challenges blog; June anything goes w/ optional twist of masculine; this is just an anything goes paper-crafted creation
link= http://paperfundaychallenges.blogspot.com/2020/06/june-2020-challenge-18-anything-goes.html


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Crafting in the USA heartland,
Becca S

Create a Shaped Card for June 2020 at APTS blog

Welcome to Becca's Heart for Creativity blog! My heart's just about ready to burst with all the action behind the scenes and creativity that's been going on the past few days with 3 different blog reveals today. This is my 3rd to release this morning!

A Place To Start offers a monthly challenge as well as some wonderful resource pages so if you're not familiar with APTS blog, please use the link down below to take you to their page in order to check things out.

Chana wants us to make a shaped card for June's challenge. None of that normal square or rectangle stuff!! I decided to sketch out a candle with flame for my design team inspiration project:

Dotted and Striped Birthday Candle card=

I divided the rainbow-striped paper into 3 sections because of how store-bought little birthday candles have twisted wax that spirals like a screw. (I hope you can see that!/imagine that!) In the wick area, I debated about putting # stickers for a special someone's upcoming birthday or to use another cute cupcake stick-on and decided to not advertise their age!! Hee-hee!! With adding the gem dots around the edge, I've made the card top-heavy...sigh! But it looks so good and the glossy shine of the dots reminds me of flickering candle light. So these are some of my design processing thoughts for my APTS blog project.

APTS has 2 different blog badges so here's 1 of them and their blog link to their reveal post:

link= https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2020/06/june-2020-challenge-create-shaped-card.html


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The 2 patterned papers were 2 of the 3 in what started as a 30 sheet paper pad collection that I selected less than 2 weeks ago to participate in May Paper Pad Madness challenge with the Bash Your Scrapbook Stash group. Take a look back a few postings to find the first projects using that paper pad. I'm glad I got to use most of a striped sheet and a small part of another dotted sheet.

Here is 1 pic of the paper pad:

and a partial glimpse of the other cards made with the same striped and dotted papers: (the card with the striped paper was cropped out of this pic)

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other places to see this birthday card=

a.  Mixed Media Creativity group in Facebook

b. Paper, Paper, Paper & Design Team Calls group in Facebook

c. Bash Your Scrapbook Stash group in Facebook; look for May 2020 Paper Pad Madness challenge

d. Seize Your Birthday challenge blog; May's challenge ends tomorrow, June 2nd.
link= http://seizethebirthday.blogspot.com/2020/05/seize-birthday-191-totally-tropical.html


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a few more cropped scans of the candle-shaped card for APTS blog:

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Crafting in the USA heartland,
Becca S

Design team member of these 5:

1. APTS blog
2. 52 CCT blog
3. MTTC blog
4. S4fC blog
5. TCCC blog

Use a Stencil theme challenge no 433 at My Time To Craft blog starts 29 May 2020

Welcome to Becca's Heart for Creativity blog! I love to give close family and friends a hand-made card for their birthday. In this posting, I've made two for the stenciling usage challenge at My Time To Craft challenge blog. Yes, two! Layouts are almost identical with just using some different colors and prints.

I'm not that happy about the execution but this past week or so has been a bit topsy-turvy and I'm just going to let these stand as is. The purple stenciled "Happy Birthday" banner was made with purple acrylic paint. The blue one was made with a paint stick, which is softer than a crayon, and wasn't the best tool for the narrow openings of the particular stencil I was using. But I tried. I experimented.

Color-wise they are very good. And I'm happy with the layouts. I tend to be a harsher critic with myself than I am when looking at others' projects. sigh...

Happy Stenciled Birthday:

#433 MTTC's "Use a Stencil" theme link=
http://mytimetocraftchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/05/challenge-433-use-stencil.html

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Paper Pad Challenge at Bash Your Scrapbook Stash group on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bashyourscrapbookstash/

My chosen paper pad is a 5" x 7" one that I discovered at Dollar Tree about 2 years ago or so. I put this in a stack of papers that I wanted to bash 2 years ago in January, but as you can see I've not been successful.

Diagonal stripe = 5 sheets
Dotted = 5 sheets
Checkerboard = 7 sheets

pic:

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other challenge blogs or FB groups for link-ups:

a. http://seizethebirthday.blogspot.com/2020/05/seize-birthday-191-totally-tropical.html

Totally tropical is an optional 'topper' theme however mine are just simple HB cards to share.




b. Paper, Paper, Paper, and Design Team Calls group on FB; a closed group for crafting bloggers to share their postings

c. Mixed Media Creativity group on FB; a closed group of artists and crafters that like to mix it up; these cards have: cardstocks, patterned papers, black marker, stencil using purple acrylic paint and another with blue paint stick, pop-up style cupcake stick-ons, gem dots, micro thin washi tape, and a little usage of gold glitter paint for candle flames (i in birthday) and bow center of stenciled present

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Crafting in the USA heartland,
Becca S

Design Team member for the following:
1. MTTC
2. S4fC
3. TCCC
4. 52 CCT
5. APTS

MTTC early October 2019 fortnight theme of inside out

My design team project for My Time To Craft blog involves bold pink, white, black, and kraft brown colors. It is a birthday card for either a niece or a special friend this month. The first 2 weeks of October's theme "inside out" is that we want to see the inside panels' of everyone's cards!

Make the inside as pretty as the outside:

MTTC link: http://mytimetocraftchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/10/challenge-407-inside-out.html


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other blogs and Facebook groups where this card will be linked:
a. BYSS (June 2019 hot pink cardstock pieces are from leftover pieces of those papers; the photo is what I started with of the mottled cardstock pack=)
link: find on FB

b. CKC blog (September 2019 copy cat kit; the 2 patterned papers used for the accent ribbon tail/banner shapes and the hollyhock stem focal)

link: https://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/09/september-2019-counterfeit-kit.html

*I know I'm a bit behind since CKC has already changed gears with a new kit and postings for October. But in my defense, when I made the card last weekend, it was still September!

c. PPPDTC group on Facebook= closed group of crafter bloggers to share what we're posting

d. https://www.facebook.com/groups/270401770074943/
DT Calls & Craft Chs (challenges); for craft challenge blog links which I will share the MTTC link

e.  my personal profile page on Facebook

f. Seize the Birthday challenge blog= anything goes theme w/ optional 'topping' of adding geometric shapes--my card has lots of rectangles and then some modified w/ ribbon tails/triangle points
link: https://seizethebirthday.blogspot.com/2019/09/seize-birthday-175-add-geometric-shapes.html

g. Not Just Cards challenge blog= anything goes theme
link: http://notjustcardschallenges.blogspot.com/2019/09/september-challenge-and-results-of.html

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There's just something about the combination of bright pink, black, and white!!!--it just packs such a visual punch!

Thanks for visiting!

Crafting in the USA heartland,

Becca S