Twofer Challenge #41 - DOG/CAT

Hello friends.  A bit of news first...due to family health problems and a change in priorities, our fearless and FABULOUS leader Darnell has decided to discontinue The Twofer Challenge.  Don't be sad though...this challenge has had a great run and we've all learned how to stretch our stamps and dies and stencils into twofers and even threefers sometimes!!  So let's make this last challenge go out with a bark or meow, and how better than with a super FUN Twofer Challenge??  This month is for all you DOG/CAT lovers out there!!

 

We are DOG lovers in this house, so of course my twofer this month a couple DOG cards...a pet sympathy card and a birthday card, both using the same die cut dog from SU!'s Pampered Pets stamp and die set.

Let's take a closer look at each one individually...

This was a doggone simple card to make, and it's always good to have a pet sympathy card on hand for when our furry friends pass over the rainbow bridge!  I framed a piece of the DSP that matches the stamp and die set with MFT's Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window Die and then added the cute little pup that is also on one of the DSP papers using the die that comes with the set.  I actually cut two of the dogs from plain white cardstock to give a bit of dimension to the pup as he sits over the die cut window.  The sentiment is also from the Pampered Pets set.  I matted my top layer with a piece of Real Red cardstock and then adhered to a top folding white card base. 

My birthday card is a fun one where I stamped the dog image multiple times without re-inking to make him look like he's running towards the tree...because, well, look what's up in the tree!!

Yep, one of those gosh darn SQUIRRELS!!  Our first dog Brinkley used to charge to the tree in the back yard and then sit literally for HOURS waiting for the squirrel to come down!!  Too funny!!  I stamped the dog image in Soft Suede ink on kraft cardstock and then used the same die as my first card to cut him out and place him over the stamped running images on my card panel.  My tree was stamped from The Greetery's Fir & Foliage stamp set, and that little squirrel is from a CP Christmas set called Here We Come A - Caroling and he's been pop dotted to stand out a bit.  The sentiment is from the Pampered Pets set.  I think this card will be going to my hubby later this month for his birthday as he used to LOVE watching Brinkley treeing a squirrel!  Our dog Daisy now barks at the squirrels from the comfort of the recliner in the living room, but doesn't bother expending any energy chasing them around outside...she thinks she's a diva!!  Haha!!

So there you have my two dog cards both using the same dog die, but for 2 different occasions.  We can't wait to see YOU in the gallery with all your DOG/CAT cards, and feel free to add some photos of your pets if so inclined!  If you need some more inspiration, make sure you check out what our talented DT and Special GD's have come up with, and then play along with us right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

The Twofer Challenge #40 - BIRDS

Hello friends.  It's time for another Twofer Challenge and this month the prompt is BIRDS.

Remember that this challenge requires you to create two DIFFERENT cards for two DIFFERENT occasions using the same stamp, stencil, or die with the given prompt for the month.  If you need a refresher on how to play along with this challenge, make sure you check out the side bar on The Twofer Challenge site (HERE) where there are all kinds of helpful tips!

So let's get started!!  I chose to use a Flamingo for my bird, and used an older PTI set called Some Like It Hot.  Take a look:

My slimline card with the rainbow flock of Flamingo's is an encouragement card and my other card is a birthday card (birthday sentiment is on the inside as I ran out of room after using the RWE quote on the outside).  Let's take a look at them separately...

I know there's no such thing as all these colorful Flamingo's in real life, but don't they all look so prettyfull all lined up together!  And who wouldn't be cheered up with a lineup like this?!!  I started with a torn strip of dsp (thanks Michele!!) that looks like sand on the bottom of my layer, and then started stamping from the center out so I could space them as evenly as I could.  Once I finished stamping the colorful flock, I mounted the panel to a black piece of cardstock and then adhered to a white card base.  My sentiment was embossed in white on a black strip (SSS - Tiny Words) and then I added foam tape to the back before mounting to my card.

My 2nd card uses the same Flamingo from PTI's Some Like It Hot set, and I coupled it with a stenciled wave from PTI's Sun & Surf Stencil Collection and a sentiment from Gina K's By The Sea 1 stamp set.  I once again matted it with a piece of black cardstock before adding it to a Ocean Mist card base.  The ocean waves also have WOS on them, so they really shimmer in real life!!  I was trying for a more masculine card with this one, but I'm not sure I succeeded...maybe????

So there you have my twofer...an encouragement and birthday card that both use the same Flamingo!  We can't wait to see what YOU come up with using the BIRD prompt this month!  Check out what our DT and Special GD's have for inspiration, and then play along with us right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Twofer Challenge #39 Reminder

Hello friends.  Marcia here with a friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with us at The Twofer Challenge this month until the 24th.  The theme this month is SUNSHINE!!

Remember that to play along with this challenge you need to create 2 cards using the same stamp, die, or stencil on both cards, and the design and occasion for each card must be different.  

I used an older MFT SUNSHINE die on my encouragement and thank you cards.  Take a look...

I'm on a bit of a MFT kick this month, and used 2 different Pure Innocence images, as they both reflected SUNSHINE so perfectly to me!  Let's take a look at my encouragement card first...

 For this card I started with my background first, and used the SUNSHINE die to make a stencil and then stenciled just a portion of the SUN in the upper right hand corner with Wild Dandelion ink (Gina K).  Next I stamped the image of the little girl and her unicorn floaty (MFT's Sunny Days Ahead) on my panel and then stamped her again on a piece of copy paper to make a mask.  After adding a bit of two way glue to the back of my mask, I covered the stamped panel with the mask and finished my background.  I started blending from the bottom up and added sand, water, and just a few clouds using a cloud stencil (A Colorful Life Designs). 

 At this point I removed my mask and then used my Copics to color the little girl...all except for her swimsuit which I paper pieced using some of PTI's Bitty Big DSP in Raspberry Fizz.  The sentiment is one that is included in the Sunny Days Ahead set.  I attached the panel to a crimped panel (The Greetery's Crimped Frame Dies) and attached both to my card base on an angle.

For my Thank You card I used the same MFT SUNSHINE die and die cut it directly from my top panel, removed it and ink blended it up with Wild Dandelion ink (Gina K), and then inlaid it back into my panel.  For this card I colored up and die cut one of the MFT Pure Innocence girls from the Sweet Summertime set, and then added some pop dots behind her for a little dimension.  The sentiment is also from the same stamp set.

And here's the inside where I partially stamped the little girl and the thank you sentiment that also comes with the set.  Edited to add:  The Inspired By Challenge is looking for watermelon cards, so my 2nd card fits perfectly with this challenge and I'm linking it up!

 

So there you have another two examples of using SUNSHINE on two different cards for two different occasions.  We can't wait to see YOU in the gallery, so come play along with us right HERE.  Remember that this challenge is open till the 24th. 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Twofer Challenge #39 - SUNSHINE

Hello friends.  It's time for another challenge here at The Twofer Challenge, and this month we're looking for SUNSHINE on both of your cards.

 

Remember to use the same stamp, stencil, or die using the keyword SUNSHINE and to create two distinctly different layouts for two different occasions, and have FUN playing along with us this month!

Most of you that follow me know that I've been pretty hooked on a company called Pinkfresh Studio lately, and am head over heels in love with their 2, 3, 4, & 5 layer stencils!  And they just so happen to have a 3 layered stencil set called Layered Sunbursts that worked beautifully for this challenge!  Take a look:

Since it is almost technically Summer, I thought a Summer birthday card and a Summer note card would fit the bill nicely using this sunburst stencil.  Let's start with the notecard...

I started by blending VERY lightly Gina K's Wild Dandelion ink for the 1st layer, proceeded to the 2nd stencil layer and using the same ink, but with a bit heavier hand, and then finished with the 3rd stencil layer and again the same ink but with a very heavy hand, and ended up with this bold and bright sunshiny background.

    I die cut my stenciled layer with The Greetery's Crimped Frame Dies and attached to a white card base, before adding my sentiment and adorable little girl from MFT's Drink Up The Sunshine set.  I also added a wobbler to the back of the little girl for some fun action, and I think my oldest granddaughter Addy will get a kick out of this card sometime this Summer (maybe with a little gift card inside to use for an ice cream treat!).  

For my birthday card, I used the same stencils for the background, but changed up the color for the 3rd layer and used PTI's Summer Sunrise ink which has a hint of orange in it.  Next I added a layer of waves that I stenciled using PTI's Sun & Surf Stencil Collection and Salty Ocean Distress Ink, and added to the bottom of the card.  I also added some WOS to the waves but of course I couldn't capture the shimmer on camera...grrrrr!  

 My cute little shark is from MFT's Baby Shark dies, and I pop dotted him to the side of the card and then added a sentiment strip from the Drink Up The Sunshine set (MFT).  Really love how this one turned out and already have a recipient in mind to send it to this Summer!

The DT and our special GD's Veana and Daphne all have FABULOUS cards to share with you for inspiration, and you can check it all out right HERE to play along with us.  We can't wait to see YOU in the gallery with your two DIFFERENT occasion cards using the same stamp, stencil, or die with the prompt SUNSHINE!!  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Twofer Challenge #38 - Cake/Cupcake

Hello friends.  It's that time of month again (no, not THAT time of month!!) for a new Twofer Challenge and this month the prompt is CAKE/CUPCAKE.

I chose to use a cupcake and used Elizabeth Craft Dies Small Cupcake Dies to come up with these two cards...

I made a slimline Birthday card and a regular size encouragement card using the cupcake dies.  Let's take a closer look at each individual card...

I really do like the slimline craze that is going on except for...yep, the photographing part!!  My card is a 3 1/2 x 8 1/2 size and I used a couple Pinkfresh Studio dies (Slim Stitched Rectangles) for my Aqua Mist layer and the white layer that I added my cupcakes to.  The cupcake liners were die cut from PTI's Bitty Big DSP in Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy, & Sweet Blush and the frosting layers were die cut from cream cardstock and sponged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  The sprinkles and the sentiment are both from SU!'s Sweet Ice Cream set.  I finished with some glitter to the red hearts and some Glossy Accents to the cherry on the middle cupcake.  

Can you spot the cupcake on my encouragement card?  I used the cupcake liner die on a piece of kraft cardstock that I had stamped the woodgrain on to use as a washtub for my little hamster (he's a 3rd cousin to Hammy's Dad's Mom 7 times removed...got it??) and the umbrella is the frosting die turned upside down using more of the Pure Poppy Bitty Big DSP from PTI.  I die cut the handle and little tip at the top of the umbrella using an actual umbrella die from Impression Obsession with matte silver cardstock.  The background is a scrap of smooshed water color that I thought looked like a rainy day and I also added a tiny raindrop gem that I've had forever in my stash.  The sentiment is from MFT's Rain or Shine and the hamster is from Colorado Craft Company's Birthday Wishing set.

  So there you have it...a normal cupcake card and a not so normal cupcake/washtub/umbrella card!  It's amazing what you can come up with when you let the old imagination lose!!  We can't wait to see what YOU come up with using a CAKE/CUPCAKE stamp, stencil, or die to come up with TWO DIFFERENT designs for TWO DIFFERENT occasions this month!  Make sure you check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the DT and our Special GD's right HERE and then play along with us!  This challenge is open till the 24th.

SPECIAL NOTE** And if you'd like to join in a fun recipe exchange, feel free to add your favorite cake or cupcake recipe to your post when you play!

My favorite and EASY cake recipe is a Cherry Dump Cake...

2 cans Cherry Pie Filling

1/2 tsp. Almond extract (optional)

1 Box Yellow or White Cake Mix

3/4 cup melted butter (NOT margarine)

Chopped nuts and/or coconut if desired

Grease 9 x 13 pan and preheat oven to 350.  Spread the 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling evenly over the bottom of your greased 9 x 13 pan.  (you can add the Almond extract here if you'd like)  Traditional Dump Cakes have you "dump" the dry cake mix over the pie filling at this point, but I like to use an extra bowl and mix the cake mix and melted butter with a fork till it's kind of crumbly and then add over top of the pie filling.  You can add the chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts both work great!) and/or coconut to the crumbly cake mix before you spread it over the pie filling, or add it to the top of the cake mixture at this point.  If you do add the cake mix dry over the pie filling, try to add the melted butter as evenly as possible over the dry cake mix, or you will end up with dry areas of cake mix after the cake has baked.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or cool whip and enjoy!  (tastes great the next day too if you just nuke it in the microwave)   

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Twofer Challenge #37 - LEAVES

Hello friends.  It's that time of month again and we have a new challenge for you here at The Twofer Challenge, and this month we'd like to see you use the same stamp, die, or stencil of a LEAF/LEAVES to make your TWO distinctly different cards.

I had gotten a new (to me) stamp set for Christmas from my sweet friend Sue that ended up being just perfect for this challenge...Altenew's Leaf Clusters.  Here's both of the cards together that I created using the same stamp from that set:

I made a "Just a Note" rainbow card using all the leaf clusters in the set, and then made a birthday card using just one of the leaf clusters.  (The red leaf cluster is the same stamp I used to create the green cluster on the birthday card.)

I went in rainbow order (ROYGBIV) stamping the different leaf cluster stamps around the outside perimeter of my panel, and then matted with a thin black layer and attached both to a white card base.  Next I stamped and die cut the "Just A Note" from The Greetery's Opposites Attract stamp set, and also die cut two extras to give some dimension to the sentiment.  A little bit of black & white bakers twine finished off this easy and colorful card.

 My 2nd card came out a bit different than what I had originally planned in my head.  I had envisioned covering the whole front of the card with green leaf clusters, and then die cutting smaller circles (maybe 2 or 3) from the covered card front and placing little monkeys behind the cut out circles...like they were swinging around from branch to branch.  Just one little problem...I couldn't find any monkey stamps in my collection!!  After digging for what seemed like hours I finally found one stamp from waaaaaaaay back when that had never even been opened from Stampendous called Changito Cheer.  Only problem now was that the monkey was too big for my original idea and he was already holding onto the pom-pom and megaphone so that it would have been a bit tricky to cut those off and still make it look like he was gripping the tree limbs!  OK, on to plan B!  I just stamped the leaf cluster at the top of my white panel and then colored the monkey with my Copics, fussy cut him out, and then pop dotted him to look sort of like he was swinging through the trees doing a birthday cheer!  The "celebrate" was stamped and die cut from The Greetery's Birthday Blooms stamp set.  I added a piece of foam to the back of the panel and then adhered that to a top folding white card base.  Not what I originally planned but I still think it came out cute!!

The possibilities are limitless with a prompt like LEAVES, and we can't wait to see what YOU come up with!  Make sure you check out what our talented DT and Special GD have come up with this month to inspire you, and then play along with us!  You can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Twofer Challenge #36 - YOUR CHOICE

Hello friends.  It's March and time for a new challenge over at The Twofer Challenge, and this month is something new...YOUR CHOICE!

Yep, this month it's YOUR CHOICE!  Now before some of you get too excited, let me explain that the same rules still apply...2 cards for 2 different occasions, using the same stamps, stencil, or dies.  So whatever choice you decide on, just remember that you must use the same stamp, stencil or die.  Since it is March and I have a wee bit o Irish in me, I decided to use a SHAMROCK for my choice, and used a brand new stamp set from Colorado Craft Co. called 4-Leaf Clover and came up with a friendship and birthday card.

I just can't seem to resist these cute little critters designed by Anita Jeram (illustrator of the "Guess How Much I Love You" book), and these little mice in the field of clover and holding up the one lucky clover just melt my heart!!

For my friendship card I stamped and clear embossed the image before coloring with my Copics, and then partially cut around the upper half of the mouse and 4 leaf clover.  I attached a piece of Ocean Tides DSP (PTI) to a top folding white card base, and then adhered the mouse image to the bottom half of the card.  I did put a pop dot behind the 4 leaf clover to make it stand out a bit more and also added some TH Distress Glitter.  The sentiment is also from the 4 - Leaf Clover set, and the inside sentiment says "hard to find and lucky to have".

 My birthday card uses the same image, but instead of coloring all the clover green like in my 1st card, I colored them all different colors so that the one 4 leaf clover that the mouse is holding up would stand out like the rarity it is!  I also used more tan Copics to color the mouse in this card than the warm grays I used on the 1st card.  I die cut the image using a SU! oval die and backed it with a black scalloped oval, before adhering to a white layer that I embossed with a Darice embossing folder.  I wrapped some black & white gingham ribbon (Michael's) around my embossed layer and a black layer before completely adhering my oval to the two layers and then finished by adhering it all to a side folding white card base.  I also added a tiny tag (PTI) that I stamped Happy Birthday (The Greetery) on and then finished with a few Disco Ball sequins from Gina K.  The inside sentiment is from the 4-Leaf Clover set and says "May Your Blessings Outnumber The Shamrocks That Grow" and I thought that was pretty fitting for a birthday card.  Two of our daughters have March birthdays, so this card will be going to one of them.

So there you have it...2 different cards for 2 different occasions using the same stamp!  We can't wait to see what you choose for your choice...it should be quite a colorful gallery this month!  If you need more inspiration and ideas, check out what our DT and Special GD Nancy have come up with right HERE and then play along with us! This challenge is open till the 24th.  :0)

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Twofer Challenge #35 - BALLOONS

Hello friends.  It's time for another Twofer Challenge and this month the prompt is Balloons.

Everyone has Balloon stamps, stencils, and dies in their stash (right??!!), so this should be an easy and fun challenge for all of us!  Remember that you need to submit 2 cards using the same stamp, stencil, or die, and that both cards need to have a different design and be for different occasions.  If you have any questions about how this challenge works, then please refer to the side bar on the Twofer Post where Darnell has done an awesome job of explaining exactly how this challenge works.  Sorry to keep bringing this up, but you'd be amazed at the number of entries we get each month where the cards are for the same occasion, or the design is the same but the colors are different.  OK, glad we got that out of the way!  Now onto the FUN!!

I am absolutely in LOVE with a small stamp set from Papertrey Ink (technically it's now called "Ink to Paper", but they'll always be Papertrey Ink to me!) called Lift Me Up that I purchased a couple months ago, and because it has Balloons in it, it worked perfectly for this challenge!  Take a look:

 
I made a Valentine's card and a birthday card and both cards use the same heart Balloon!  Let's look at the Valentine's card first:

This card is going to our youngest granddaughter Maddy (aka Eunice Cornelia or "Uni-Corn" as her big sister wanted to name her!), and she'll only be 5 months on Valentine's Day, but you can never start them out to young with a shaker card, right?!!  I started by inking up a pink cloud background using A Colorful Life's Cloud Edger stencil and then building my shaker over the cloud background.  I stamped the upside down teddy bear and heart balloon onto Lovely Lady cardstock (PTI) and then die cut them with the coordinating dies.  The sentiment is from a PB set (flying by) and the rest of the sentiment is inside:

The inside sentiments are from MFT's Sweet Celebrations and then I repeated the teddy bear and heart balloon.  Pretty CAS but it gets it's punch by being a shaker card!  :0)

For my birthday card I stamped a row of the stick figures included in the stamp set across the card, and then die cut a row of rainbow heart and regular shaped balloons so they each had one to hold.  I stamped the heart shaped balloons with Happy Birthday (The Greetery) and pop dotted the 2 regular balloons and then tied each with a piece of black & white twine.  I also used The Greetery's Crimped Frame Die on the stamped panel and then layered with a piece of Summer Sunrise cardstock (PTI) and attached both layers to a white card base.  Another pretty easy card, but I really, REALLY like the way this one turned out!!  And it could be used for a child or adult, and guy or gal!  A win, win!!

We're really looking forward to seeing our gallery filled with lots of colorful balloons, so check out what the rest of the DT and our Special GD Greta have to inspire you right HERE, and then play along with us!  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Twofer Challenge #34 - FLOWERS

Hello friends.  Welcome back and Happy New Year!!  We're looking forward to another FUN and CREATIVE year with you all, and seeing how we can stretch our stamps, dies, & stencils each month to come up with TWO DIFFERENT cards for TWO DIFFERENT occasions using the SAME stamp, die or stencil!  Are you ready for this month's challenge??  We're looking for FLOWERS this month and you can check it all out right HERE.

  I had a new Altenew stamp set to play with called Paint-A-Flower: Spider Mums and came up with  Birthday and Hello cards...

 Let's take a closer look at each one...

My birthday card uses my favorite CAS style, and I simply heat embossed the image in white, and then used a couple sponge daubers to blend in the ink colors.  The sentiment comes with the stamp set, and I finished the card simply with a black border and white card base, and a few clear sequins.  Easy peasy and pretty!

My 2nd card has a bit of a WOW factor to it and uses a technique that I saw Gina K do on one of her Stamp and Chat lives.  It's a bit time consuming, but I love the way it turned out.  You get as many colors of cardstock as you want (I chose to go in rainbow order) and stamp and heat emboss the image (using your MISTI) on each color of cardstock you chose.  It's important to start with the same size cardstock (5 1/2 x 4 1/4) and stamp them all in the same spot in your MISTI, so you end up with 6 or 7 colors that are all stamped EXACTLY the same.  Then you simply cut them into strips (mine were 1/2") and start placing them on a thin piece of cardstock or printer paper that is also A2 size.  Once you get all your pieces adhered you can trim it down or leave it that size.

I chose to trim mine down and then mat with a black layer and attach both to a white card base.  Before I added my black mat, I added a piece of vellum on a diagonal, and then added a "hello" die cut (one in black and one in white that I glued offset) from Catherine Pooler Designs.  Because you will have so many strips of cardstock in each color left over, you could technically make a lot more cards...if you're in to mass producing!  I made 3 and then put the rest of the strips away for me to find 10 years from now and wonder what the heck I was saving them for!  (Sorry...just the way my brain works!!  Haha!!)

I know you ALL have flower stamps, dies, and stencils, and we can't wait to see the gallery flooded with all your DIFFERENT cards!  If you need a little more inspiration, make sure to check out what the rest of the DT and our Special GD's  (Viv and Brenda) came up with right HERE and then play along with us.  This challenge is open till the 24th. 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!