Flip-a-Coin Challenge at 12 Months of Christmas

For those of you who have been self-isolating, I hope you've been using your time wisely, and by wisely I mean building your stash of holiday cards!! My card today is a DT make for The 12 Months of Christmas, a challenge blog that promotes creating holiday cards yearlong. 
The challenge is Anything Holiday card Goes with a fun twist, where you'll need a coin to flip for the creation of your card. All Dressed Up is the guest sponsor, and I have used a digi called "Tra-La-La-La". I used Decosse's Dynamite Doodles paper from a kit called Snow Bokeh Trees (I love all her Bokeh papers).

Of course, I flipped my penny to "discover" my challenge requirements, and then I used my coin to cut out the greeting, which is a part of the image. Here is the flip-a-Coin box where you flip for your own requirements:

FLIP	HEADS	TAILS
1	Make a card with 3 layers or less	Make a card with 4 or more layers
2	Make a rectangular or square card	Use a fancy fold technique
3	Add dots to your card	Add stripes to your card
4	Add lace or ribbon to your card	Add gems or pearls to your card
5	Add a frame to your card	Use faux or real stitching on your card

As you can see, I flipped Heads for #1 and made a card with 3 or less layers; #2 was Tails for using a fancy fold technique; #3 Heads had me add dots to my card (if you click on my card, you'll see that all my singing animals are wearing dotted winter accessories; #4 brought out my lace; and #5 Tails caused the card to offer faux stitches.

Prize Info For This Challenge

• Main Prize being offered: TWO images of winner's choice from All Dressed Up Stamps store to one random winner.

• Additional Sponsor: Décosse's Dynamite Doodles
• Prize being offered: One free digital paper to everyone who links up a minimum of two cards to the challenge. Cards can be anything goes for this prize. The mini set of six digital papers called Eclectic Mix 1, will also be offered up as a prize to one individual who has followed the twist.

So, how have you been putting you're isolation time to use?  My house has been cleaned, de-cluttered, organized, and redecorated in a couple rooms. My front deck is now decorated, and my tomato garden is flourishing. AND I have a healthy stack of holiday cards from which to choose this December. Of course, I don't have children to home school and entertain, nor a job to do from home. I'd love to know what you've been doing with yourself,  and I would LOVE to see your holiday cards linked to The 12 Months of Christmas Blog. See you there!

Challenges I am Entering:

Shopping Our Stash - Christmas in July

The Holly & the Ivy Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

2 Crafty critter Crazies - Anything w/a Critter Goes

Digi Doodle Studios - Christmas in July

Sheepski Designs - Anything Goes

Sweet Stampers - Christmas in July

Anything Goes at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog

The most difficult part about the last few months is missing my friends. It's one thing to text and call, but a totally different matter when you can't get that hug, or taking a long car ride together, or thrifting our way through the stores. So when this month's challenge theme at Scribbles Designs let us choose our own theme, I naturally thought of friendship.
I've sent quite a few (dozen) handmade cards in the mail and dropped off at my neighbors and left for the letter carriers. Here's one of the cards I made (when I say one, I mean two; after all, it's just as easy to make 2 at once). It features a Scribbles Designs' image called Envelopes 2.(p.s. It's a freebie) I think they work great as pockets, don't you? Because I had a perfect sentiment from a rubber stamp set from Stampin Up, "Friends are like pockets...you can never have too many." 
I found a roll of teal-colored burlap while cleaning and organizing my craft supplies, and made it my background for the Copic-colored image and the sentiment. All I needed to finish off my card was a strip of cording and something at the top of it and I was finished. Well, except for my second image, which I colored and created a very similar card.

Now it's your turn. You have free reign to create what you want, and when you link it up to the main challenge blog, you'll get a chance to win a gift certificate to the Scribbles Designs Store!

Challenges I am Entering:

Cards 4 Guyz - No patterned paper

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Use Your Stuff - Summer Fun (hot summer colors)

Classic Design - Anything Goes

Daisy Chain - No Design Paper

The Crafting Challenge - Bright Colors

Beach Life

I found this lovely digi image in one of my photo folders. I printed it twice and fussy-cut the second image in pieces, adhering it with dimensional tape onto the fully colored and uncut image. The background was created i Photoshop using three digital papers from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles and Pixel Scrapper Dawn Prater.
Using Mod Podge, I adhered my beach scene to a piece of wood and attached cording with which to hang it. It's going into the screen room at my cabin, over a cabinet where we hang our outdoor stuff (swim suits, caps, etc., before we enter our "home away from home."
But there is something missing! There is a mystery to be solved!! I have NO IDEA whose design this digi is!! There is a tiny copyright symbol hand-written at the bottom of the digi:

"M '11"

That's the only clue I have to identify who drew this lovely image. Does anyone know whose it is?? Please comment so I can give the designer his or her due credit. Meanwhile, I hope you're getting in lots of crafting during the isolation that COVID-19 is causing.

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Moving Along with times - At the Beach

Southern Girls - Anything Goes

Papercraft Business Papercraft - Ocean/Water

Exercise?!! Not Me

How is everybody dealing with Covid-19 and its demands on society? My daughter just got back from road trip, passing though states where NO ONE wore masks, inside nor out. She is isolating in the basement for another week before she shares her breathing with me. The basement is made up for her to be comfortable - TV, fridge, microwave, bathroom - but it gets lonely, for both of us. Can't wait until she "returns" to me.
Meanwhile, I've started creating cards again. It looks like the repercussions from this virus will continue for months. So I need to revamp my outlook and plan a couple more months ahead. I'll be sharing my goals and expectations with you in a later post, but for now I colored up an image I had already printed to make today's card.
It's one of those unusual fold, slanted cards. I actually created 2 different cards with the same paper that I cut on the diagonal. My image is a digi from Ike's Art called "Basket Case". I thought this kitty's expression worked perfectly with my sentiment. On the inside, another sentiment asks "Meow's it going?"

 It will go into my box saved for neighbors and friends, to keep their spirits up. Every other week I deliver handmade cards to a few neighbors, since we can't really socialize. In fact, it's time to pass out a few more...

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - ANything w/a Critter Goes

Classic Design - Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday - NOT Square!

Crafty Creations - ANything Goes

Crafty Animals - Anything w/an Animal Goes

Creative Moments - ANything Goes

Show Us Your Pussy Cats - Furrything Goes

Sprucing Up my Front Porch, DIY Style

I was recently gifted with a box of spray paint. Usually I stick with colors like black,  gold and white, but I suddenly had a rainbow of colors with which to play..and play I did. I'd always wanted to decorate or "stage" the front of my house, but before the VA rehabbed the house for my hubby's disabilities,we had a four-step cement stoop with iron railings and bushy bushes, the kind that needs a team of landscapers to get rid of.
But now I have a front porch that runs from one side of the house to the other, and a ramp the same length in front of it. So I started with my mailbox. I had 2 cans of teal/aqua spray paint, colors that complemented the yellow brick of my house. I added some sparkle with gold paint, giving iy=t a monogram.

Once I rehung the mailbox, the white oval address  sign looked out of place, so it got a new coat of color, with the house numbers highlighted in gold as well. I still need to purchase a new light fixture.

Then it was onto the welcome mat. It once looked so bright ad colorful, and I decided to  use acrylic paints  to refresh the colors rather than buying a new onw.

All of that is to the right (and in front of) my front door. Time to put something on the other side to balance things. I had a large metal urn that I had poured the fluid acrylic paint mix leftover from a previous painting session. I gathered what sticks and flowers, etc. I had stored in the garage and basement and came up with a nice arrangement.

 That left the "wall" space above the arrangement, on which I hung a metal art piece I again spray-painted to keep the colors in complement.

I'd say my front porch is looking very summery,  wouldn't you? Here's the final photo of the whole setting.

I'm the kind of girl who wants to eat her cake AND frosting, so as a bonus, I attacked, I mean painted, the gas lamp near the sidewalk. Bonus!!

I think I'll tackle the back deck next, but not until the week of muggy, 90+ degree temps is over. I have plenty to do inside the house...
Happy crafting and DIY'g, peeps. Have fun and stay healthy!

Best Friends

During the last few months, I've been keeping in touch with my friends, sending them handmade cards. Today's card features a digi image from the Queen herself, Sandra Caldwell. It's called Puppy and Kitty Friends, and I used colored pencils to give them their colors. I inherited a bag full of paper flowers, so I went wild with them on my card. Our dog, Wilson, loves to stop and sniff the flowers. His favorite is to walk headfirst through the dandelions that have gone to seed, where just a slight breeze sends the tiny light seeds floating through the air (except those that get stuck on Wilson's face).

Sandra's image showcases the widely different match-ups when it comes to friendships. Some people's personalities go together like coffee and donuts; others have people wondering, "how the heck did that happen?".While working at a local church, my co-worker and I were (and still are) total opposites. I never would have believed back then that we would become the best of friends, our relationship lasting through work conflicts, job loss and personal tragedies. Go figure!!