MEWsager Gift Tag

Finally! After many technical difficulties and a few lost posts, I got my blog back to working!

Welcome to the 2020 Cat Lovers Hop, (our 6th year!) hosted by HerPeacefulGarden.

As you know, I look forward to this hop each year. Unfortunately, those of you who follow my blog know that I haven’t been able to craft as much this year, as what little energy I have has been used up caring for my folks. In trying to get ready for this hop, I find out I’ve been away so long that WordPress has completely changed up the format and it’s like learning how to make a post all over again. Argh! (I think there’s something to that saying about not being able to teach an old cat new tricks!) Ok, enough caterwauling!

I found this adorable little hand held massager at the Dollar Tree. Not only is it cute, but it’s perfect for my mom whose psoriatic arthritis makes it too painful for her to give my dad a back massage that distracts him from his pancreatic cancer pain. This allows her to knead his muscles without hurting her hands.

I was hunting for a cat stamp to shadow my printed punny sentiment, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. They say necessity is the mother of invention… So I drew and drew a likeness of the cat until I was satisfied with it — which reminded my why I really prefer buying stamps!! After printing the message on cardstock, I cut out the tag (Spellbinders Exquisite Labels 11)and then traced my cat image and colored it in. On the back side I used the cutout of the cat image and then wrote a personal note around it.

I copied my drawing and made this .jpg file (aka “digi”) in case you happen to find a similar massager at your local dollar store and want to use my kitty drawing for a card. You should be able to right click and save it. If not, you’ll have to take a screen shot or draw you own. I rarely use digis, so I don’t know anything about re-sizing, etc., sorry, but I’m sure you can figure it out! Tag me or come back and comment when you post your project so I can cheer your efforts!

This will be my only entry in this year’s Cat Lovers Hop. I hope you have a FURbulous day and enjoy the rest of the hop!

~D.Ann

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Superhero Thank You Cards

Welcome back! That’s both for you and for me! I finally made a couple of cards for the first time in weeks! It only took three days and several do-overs, but it sure felt good to be transforming plain old paper into something fun and beautiful again!!

I started out fairly simple, but wasn’t happy with the watercolor sky. (nor that I managed to get some on the inside. Fortunately, the recipient won’t mind.)

I like how shiny her little gold crown turned out!

The next one got a little more challenging with an animated inside, as you’ll see in a bit.

I like the blended Distress inks for the sky better, don’t you?!

Here’s the card in action (click on the image below to start the video):

I also love that amazing holographic paper… just perfect for a South Florida vibe!…

 

Supplies:

  • Altenew – Cityscape A & B cover dies
  • Altenew – Signature Words dies
  • Spellbinders – Palm Trees die
  • Motion Crafts by Uchi’s Design – Super Friends stamp set (SMS)
  • Motion Crafts by Uchi’s Design – Rotary animation set
  • My Favorite Things – Peek-a-Boo Circle Windows, Jumbo
  • The Ton – Most Interesting Cardmaker stamp set
  • Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black ink
  • Gina K Designs dye inks: Black Onyx, Lipstick, Sweet Mango, Wild Dandelion
  • Marvy Uchida Le Plume II markers: 53, 103, 8, 94, 67, 49, 83,  87
  • Ranger Tim Holtz Distress inks:  Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick, Barn Door, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord
  • Copic Markers
  • Brea Reese Metallic Pens – Gold
  • Kuretake Zig Wink of Stella clear
  • Hunkydory Holographic Mirror paper – silver
  • Core’dinations cardstock blue and white
  • Sookwang Scor-tape
  • Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue

Obviously, I’m still puttering along, but I have a huge backlog of cards I need to make, so maybe I’ll get back in the groove and you’ll see more posts soon! Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts!

~D.Ann

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Humorous Pop Out of Bed Card

Spritz, spritz, wipe, wipe… This post has been thoroughly sanitized with bleach and I know you’re staying 6 feet away, so we’re all safe. : ) I know we all need some humor to keep us sane in these stressful times, so I thought I’d share this cad I made last year to cheer up my dad as he started feeling the effects of the chemo….

Hahahaha! Both he and mom got a kick out of it.

Gotta love that exhausted rooster!

Googly eyes on the ‘toast’ and a nice enamel toaster add to the fun:

I love putting something funny in a delicate and delightful frame….

Supplies:

  • Art Impressions Fainted Chicken
  • Spellbinders Romancing the Swirl Ringlet Round die by Becca Feeken
  • Spellbinders Toast with Jam and Bread stamp and die set by Debi Adams

I hope you got a chuckle out of this sweet card! Since we don’t sleep in toasters and half of us are supposed to be staying in… no need to pop out of bed, ok?!

Take care!

~D.Ann

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p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

Update on dad: Thanks to all of you who have been e-mailing your well-wishes while he has been getting chemo for pancreatic cancer these past 4 months! They did the preliminary set-up MRI and CTs at UM Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Thursday. They hope to be up and running with the new MRIdian Linac machine by April 8, and afterward they will schedule his 5 days of radiation… barring further interference from the coronavirus. They’ve changed it so that only the patient can go into the hospital and all have to have their temperatures taken and maintain social distancing except the medical personnel treating him, so we feel fairly confident as they’re not near where the sick patients are. We were going to stay down in Miami during his treatments, as traffic is usually too thick and too exhausting for any of us to handle driving back and forth 5 days in a row. But with over 2000 of Florida’s 4000 COVID-19 cases here in South Florida, they’ve shut down all but essential business (and his treatments are essential) so traffic is MUCH lighter, cutting the drive down to an hour. I’ll probably go stay at their place and we’ll drive back and forth each day… that’ll be better anyway, since mom and I also have weak immune systems. Eight weeks after the radiation they will reassess his progress. Thank you again for your kind concern!!

 

Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop: Your Friendship Warms My Heart card

Hello, hello!

Due to all that’s been going on this year, I was sad to miss the Spring Coffee Lovers Hop for the first time in over 5 years. Now, the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Hop is in full swing and things are still crazy, but at least I can get to crafting once in a while.

As I was recovering from a procedure on my legs, I had to take short daily walks. Since it’s still blazing hot here in Florida, I chose to do my walking in stores… DANGEROUS!! Lol!! I came across some wonderful royal purple ultra soft and snuggly pjs, robe, blankie and shoes – all on sale – that I would have loved to have if I lived where it gets cold. The few winter things I have haven’t been used in the past few years as it doesn’t even get cold for a few days like it used to down here. (I see a bunch of you sticking your tongues out at me right now!) But I immediately thought of a dear friend up North who is very sensitive to the cold, so I decided to send them to her along with a Ghirardelli chocolates, cocoa and brownie treats and Laura Childs’ latest tea shop mystery to snuggle up and enjoy on a couple of cold winter days.

Hence the need for a darling little cocoa card and this one fit the bill perfectly. Some day I’ll tackle using Copics in creams for fur, but I didn’t have the time, so stuck with standard brown…

Supplies:

  • Lil’ Inker Designs Cocoa Bear
  • Spellbinders Card Creator A2 Divine Eloquence
  • Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink
  • Copic Markers: C1, 3; E11, 33, 79; R20, 22; RV17; V04, 09
  • Pebbles Inc Pearlescent Chalks Jewel Tones
  • Gelly Roll Glaze pen
  • Park Lane Paperie 110# cardstock for base
  • Core’dinations 65# cardstock purple and white
  • Scrapbooking made simple adhesives

Unfortunately, this will be my only entry in the Coffee Lovers Hop this time. Perhaps next spring I’ll be back to crafting more. Enjoy the rest of the hop!

-D.Ann

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p.s. Any ads you may see are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

 

2019 Cat Lovers Hop Crafty Cat Card and The Gray Muse Enamel Pin Giveaway

**** edited to note: giveaway now closed****

Hello and welcome to the 2019 Cat Lovers Hop celebrating our 5th year – MEOWZA!! Paws up to Janis, who puts loads of hard work into putting this hop together for us each year!!!

Unfortunately I won’t have as many posts as I’d planned for you this year (see previous post for deets), but I do have at least one card and a fabulous giveaway sponsored by Rubeena at The Gray Muse for you at the end of this post. In fact, I used her fun new Cats in the Craft Room stamp set to create a card for my dad who just got home from the hospital:

I wanted the front to rouse curiosity, so I cut out the cat that’s coloring and had him peeking into the ‘window’ with no sentiment

On the reverse side I found kitty on the craft mat in the same set that pretty nearly fits the head size and stamped it on the back for the face. The kitty in the CRAFTS box (that’s FTs, not Ps) in the set provided the paws… I just cut them out and folded them over the edge before gluing down the cat.

To give depth to the inside, I stamped the cat drawing 4 times and cut out each ‘page’, distressed the edges and then layered them exactly as the stamp, with the kitty on top. Then I drew thought bubbles to the stamped sentiments and wrote in my explanation of the scene below (now you know why I prefer using stamps!! lol!).

This card says everything I wanted to say! I’m SO happy that Rubeena has branched out into stamps! The Gray Muse is most famous for her fun enamel pins. Some are true-isms like this one: We rise by lifting others!

Supplies:

  • The Gray Muse Cats In the Craft Room stamp set
  • Spellbinders Gold Labels 4 dies
  • DCWV Mercury Glass Stack & Glitzy Glitter Stack
  • AC Cardsctock glitter card base
  • Core’dinations white card stock
  • Tsukineko Memento dye ink Tuxedo Black
  • Tsukineko Versamagic chalk ink Red Magic
  • Marvy Le Plume II pen #1122
  • Kaiser Craft Neon Gel pens
  • The Paper Studio Gemstones
  • Sookwang Scor-tape
  • Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue

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**** edited to note: giveaway now closed****

Now, for the part you’ve been waiting for!

First, in case you want that terrific cat stamp set, some of her other lovely stamps or some of her fabulous enamel pins, The Gray Muse is offering an exclusive 10% discount to all hoppers and readers of my blog during the hop (Oct 21-26)… just use the code: SPONSOR10:

 *****   *****   *****

In addition, Rubeena  has kindly offered to give away one of her recent kitten-in-the-craft room enamel pins to someone who comments on this post!
     

You can read about her Kitten & the Craft Box pin HERE and her Kitten & the Craft Mat pin HERE… they are based on her own cats! We can all relate to their shenanigans!!

What do you have to do to be entered to be the winner of one of above cute pins from The Gray Muse? Well, let’s show her some gratitude… First, go to her Facebook page HERE, like it and leave a message thanking Rubeena for her generosity! Then come back here and leave me a comment that you did so. Easy peasy. If you’re not on Facebook, or for a second entry, you can go to her Instagram Page HERE, follow it and comment on one of the two pins pictured above (just click on the picture to go directly to the post) and then come back here and leave me a comment that you did it. Maximum 2 entries per person. (BTW, while you’re there, I highly recommend signing up for her informative and entertaining newsletters. You will have until Midnight, Eastern Standard Time, October 27, 2019 to get your comments in. Sometime during the next week, I will publish a post listing all winners from giveaways on my blog from this hop (chosen using Random.org). Winners will have 48 hours to claim their prizes so be sure to subscribe to my blog so as not to miss that post!!

*****   *****   *****

But wait! There’s more!! Rubeena went above and beyond and sent me several of her pins as samples and I’ll be giving them away. In addition, before the cat pins came out, I had already purchased the trophy pin for this years hop:

Here’s how these enamel pin giveaways will work: On Sunday, October 27, 2019, you can send me ONE e-mail (d.annscraftingwhims (at) gmail (dot com)) with your entries (please mark your calendars as I may not be back here to remind you this year) as follows:

  1. You can nominate someone else’s card for the Carmaking Talent award pin (presented by me). Did someone enter an exceptionally beautiful or difficult card that caught your eye. Please let me know the name and entry number from the Main Hop Page. Please send only one nomination.

2.  You can nominate someone else’s funny/humorous card for the CUT-UP award (the interactive papercutter).Please let me know the name and entry number from the Main Hop Page. Please send only one nomination.

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3.  Would you like to be in the running to win one of the above enamel pins?

Please let me know the letters of the ones you’d like to win (in order of preference) and I’ll use Random.org to pick winners.

You will have until Midnight, Eastern Standard Time, October 27, 2019 to get your e-mail to me at d.annscraftingwhims (at) gmail (dot com). Sometime during the next week, I will publish a post listing all winners from giveaways on my blog from this hop. Winners will have 48 hours to claim their prizes so be sure to subscribe to my blog so as not to miss that post!! Sorry I can’t be more specific on the date, but everything is up in the air as dad just got home from the hospital and starts chemo Monday. Thanks for understanding!

Thank you, Rubeena and The Gray Muse, for your generous support of this crafty Cat Lovers Hop!! Your goodies and discount make this event even more fun!!

Phew! I’m ready for a cat nap after this!! I look forward to seeing all of your crafty projects but I may not get around to commenting on them all as I have done it the past. Hopefully, next year I can be back with you all in full force! Have fun hopping!!

~D.Ann

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p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

 

Spellbinders You’re A Gem Gift Boxes

Hello, precious peeps!

I know you’ve seen these cool party favor boxes before, but this time I did something new – I put the sentiment inside the lid. I like the surprise of the recipients opening them and being doubly surprised! I did a batch of 24 for the party, but you get the idea with just these 4:

Supplies Used:

  • Spellbinders Contour You’re A Gem Steel Rule Die & Die D-lites You’re a Gem etched dies
  • Recollections Signature Brights glitter cardstock pad
  • Tombow Xtreme adhesive (this tape is strong enough to hold the boxes together despite the glitter!)
  • Sookwang Scor Tape (for the gem die cuts on top)
  • Misc chocolates and mints… plus a few extra for the crafter! (Gone BEFORE Jan 1! LOL! It’s a good thing those peppermint brownie Ghirardelli chocolates only come out once a year!!) : )

I am playing along with the following challenges – click on any one for more information on how you can join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by today and for leaving your comments. I always read them all and appreciate your encouragement!

~D.Ann

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p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

A Fun Diet Tip and a Free Digi!

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since I’ve posted something! lol! Let’s hope this year is better for all of us! To help get it started off right, today’s post is going to be a bit different from my usual crafting posts. This past May I made some adjustments to my diet that helped me lose 40 pounds in four months. Then life’s circumstances kept me from sticking to it for the past three months. Fortunately, despite that, I’m only up 2 pounds. Now that life has calmed down some, I’m ready to knuckle down and lose the last bit of my excess baggage. Since I know many of you are trying to be good, too, I thought I’d share a fun diet tip with you. I know, using “diet” and “fun” in the same sentence is a major juxtaposition, but you’ll see what I mean soon enough.

Disclaimer: this post is in no way to be considered medical information and you should consult your doctor before following any dieting advice. (Although this is very true, you’re going to chuckle when you see what that advice is!)

If you’re like me, you might have grown up around folks who always kept a candy jar on hand ‘for company.’ I loved visiting family members that had those jars when I was a kid and now I keep one myself – only it somehow seems to run out of chocolates more often than I have company to share it! So I made up a sign to put on the candy jars.

Before I show it to you, I will preface this with a disclaimer… For those of you that know me as a Bible Study teacher, know that I work hard to make sure that what I teach is accurate and never taken out of context. This, however, is most definitely taken out of context and is totally just for fun, ok?! So here’s the sign (from above)…

Just in case you don’t have your Bible handy, here is what Colossians 2:21 says:

“Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch”

Hahahaha! A dainty reminder of a stern order. Of course, this was not originally intended to keep one away from chocolates, but it sure does make me smile! I did it in ombre red to subliminally indicate STOP.

If this makes you smile, too, and you want to use it but don’t have the gumption to letter your own sign, nor to use Paint Shop or another program to make up your own sign, I’ve created a free .jpg digi you are welcome to save and print out for your personal use. All I ask is that if you post it on your blog or on social media, please link back to this blog post, ok? Thanks! Come back here and leave me a comment if you do and I’ll try to visit your post. Have fun!

Right click on the image above to save it to your computer.

Supplies:

  • Spellbinders Wonderful Locket die
  • Core’dinations 65# white cardstock
  • printed digi (see above)

And, yes, I am going to enter this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes. : )

I hope I made you smile! Wishing us all the best as we try to maintain our resolve and reclaim our figures!

~D.Ann

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p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

 

 

Decoupaged Napkin Cards

Why, hello there! I’m glad you’ve stopped back by! Today I have some fun cards to share with you. Seeing one of Janis’s projects over at HerPeacefulGarden reminded me that I had done some decoupage cards with napkins a few years ago that I never got around to posting. We’d gone to my cousin’s husband’s family’s house and she showed us all how to apply those pretty napkins like you get at Tuesday Morning to heavy cardstock or tagboard with some lightly watered down glue spread thinly over it. You pull the napkin apart, select the part you want to see, and carefully lay it down, pressing with a brayer, rolling pin or something else, to keep bubbles from forming. Once dry, apply it to a card base and you’re done! Here are the two I made that day:

SO pretty and SO easy! Now I always watch for clearance napkins for cardmaking, but I have a hard time covering them up as they are so pretty. : )

She had a neat sentiment for the insides:

  

“This is more than a card. It’s  HUG with a fold in the middle.’ I love it!

Later, at home I took a set of tea napkins I had and decoupaged them, but when dry, I die cut the napkin base and layered it on a card:

That was a couple of years ago (so don’t feel too bad, Janis!) and it still looks just a if I’d made it yesterday! You can see the inside has just a little bit of chalk around the edge to make it special, too. It’s a lovely any occasion card in cool winter colors.

Materials used (blue tea cup card):

  • PPD Paula Scoletta Teacups Morocco Napkins
  • Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles
  • Coredinations 110# white cardstock and 65# blue cardstock
  • Colorbok Metallic Paper: Shiny Gold
  • Sookwang Scor-Tape
  • Tombow Xtreme adhesive runner
  • Aleene’s Original Tacky Glue
  • Pebbles, Inc. Pearlescent Chalks Jewel Tones

I am playing along with the following hops and challenges. Be sure to click on them for more information on how you can play along and enter for prizes:

Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your comments!

~D.Ann

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p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

 

 

 

 

Hello My Favorite Nuts Acorn Shaker with Gift Card

Hello, again! I’m glad you’ve returned! Today’s card is a shaker with a surprise:

Those of you who follow me, may recall THIS card with a similar concealed surprise. I just love that the Spellbinders Die-of-the-Month acorn can be turned into a gift card holder for these fun acorn-shaped gift cards from that coffee shop that ends in BUCK$!

And the Queen & Company Happy Harvest Fall Kit has those fab acorn shakers to match. This time the shaker is filled with fabulous mini ‘gems.’ Observation: The gorgeous glitter paper in that kit is made so well that the glitter won’t rub off, but that also means it’s not really the best for intricate dies, like the Hello Fall insert of this acorn die. It simply doesn’t want to cut clear through. I recommend using it for non-intricate cutting. The leaf also gets added dimension when you score the veins. The acorns get some realistic color with a dauber and some Distress inks.

What else is behind that acorn?….

This darling family! I love that the two squirrels/chipmunks in the acorn are hugging, with coffee in hand… something that has led to many a spill in this family! And the mugs have kitty paw prints on them and a stuffed kitty is lying on the floor… another signature of our family. The sentiment: ‘You are my favorite nuts’ – ever so apropos! By cutting them out of separate cardstock, I was able to color them with Copics and not have them bleed through to the back of the card. It also allowed me to fussy cut around the arms and put them through the cup handles.

By the way… didja notice that acorns, just like humans, come in all varieties?! : )

Materials used:

  • Spellbinders Small Die of the Month – October 2018
  • Queen & Co.  Happy Harvest Fall Kit (dies, foam, clear plastic, paper, glitter paper and beads)
  • Neat & Tangled My Favorite Nut stamps & dies; Puppy’s Favorite Things stamps
  • Core’dinations cardstock: white, brown, kraft, yellow
  • Recollections card base
  • Tsukineko Memento Desert Sand dye ink
  • Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, Barn Door, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain
  • Copic Markers: E13, 23, 25, 29, 31, 55, 71;Y38; YR02, 04, 07, 24; W1
  • Simply Defined Permanent adhesive runner & Stay-Put adhesive glue
  • Misc. ribbon and Starbucks gift card

I am playing along with the following hops and challenges. Be sure to click on them for more information on how you can play along and enter for prizes:

I’m so glad you stopped by! I enjoy reading your encouraging messages and greatly appreciate them!

~D.Ann

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p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.

2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop – Life is BeauTEAful card

Hello and welcome! Time has flown by. I can’t believe it’s already time for the 2018 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

Here is my first card, using fall colors:

The inside and envelope coordinate, too:

Oh, and FYI that sentiment is done by some precision cutting of two different stamps. : )

Materials used:

  • Hero Arts Tea Party Fancy Die
  • Hero Arts To Seize or Not to Seize & Kit-tea stamp sets
  • Spellbinders Floral Ovals dies
  • Your Next Stamp Coffee & Tea Border die
  • Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge & Barn Door
  • Tsukineko Memento dye ink: Tuxedo Black
  • Core’dinations cardstock: white & black
  • Scotch tape runner
  • Sookwang Scor-tape double sided adhesive
  • Simply Defined ‘Stay Put’ adhesive glue

I am playing along with the following hops and challenges. Be sure to click on them for more information on how you can play along and enter for prizes:

Hopefully, I’ll see you back real soon with a couple of other caffeinated cards I’ve made, if I can get them typed up. : )

~D.Ann

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p.s. any ads on this page are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed by me.