Christmas Treats

I'm hosting the final 2023 challenge at Little Red Wagon and have another Queen-inspired theme. I've chosen the song "Under Pressure" and I'm looking for last-minute Christmas (or other winter holiday) creations. 

Each year, I get together with a good friend to make lots and lots of shortbread. I used some of them to package into little bags and created some tags to tie and top them off. I also made some little treat packages filled with chocolates. On each package, I added a little cat Santa card. I gave these treat packages to colleagues. 

Please head to Little Red Wagon to see the "Under Pressure" creations of the Girlfriends. We'd love for you to link up your projects too!

I wish you all a happy holiday and, in the tradition of my faith, a very merry Christmas. 

5

Sending Holiday Kisses and Reindeer Wishes

Happy Wednesday! It's the wonderful Imke's turn to host our weekly challenge at Little Red Wagon and, just like she's done all year, she's giving us a choice! This time, she's asking us to choose between human and animal. 

As you can see, I chose animal, creating a Christmas card with a reindeer and little mouse. 

We'd love for you to join in the fun this week! For inspiration, head over to Little Red Wagon to see the projects created by the rest of the Girlfriends. 

6

Happy Birthday

Happy Wednesday! I can hardly believe that we'll be turning the calendar to December in two days. This year has flown! With the exception of some baking (which I've already started) and a few small items, I'm done my shopping. Wrapping is another story altogether... A number of years ago, I switched to using reusable cloth Christmas bags for wrapping and that helps the process. 

I'm hosting this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and, continuing my Queen-inspired themes, I'm using Bohemian Rhapsody this time. Just like the song combines a number of styles, I'm looking for creations that combine a number of elements. The sky is the limit!

As some of you know, I gave my sister the nickname of Kami years ago - which is a twist on camel. We were holidaying in Egypt and I kept handing Jo (Kami!!) my things so I could take photos. At one point, she was laden down with a number of my things and asked me if I thought that she was my camel. Hence, the name Kami which is still used to this day. Anyway, I always look for camel-themed items for birthdays and Christmas. Cards are easier given that I am a cardmaker! 

I've combined a number of different elements and techniques here - rounded corners, stamping, colouring, paper piecing (those little party hats - one for the camel's head and one for her hump!), die cutting, shadowing/layering, crimping, embossing, pop dot dimensionals and sequins. I had fun making this card as it reminds me a bit of some of my earlier creations back from when I first started making cards. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see all the elements used my the Design Team - and then have fun as you make your own "Bohemian Rhapsody" creation! 

2

Sprinkled with Happiness

Happy Wednesday! It's Brenda's turn to host at Little Red Wagon and she must be hungry as she's selected "Let's Eat!" as our theme for the week. 

My little niece is having a birthday soon so I decided to make a card for her with a yummy cupcake as the highlight. The sentiment, frame (die) and cupcake are from My Favorite Things and the sweet little mice from Reverse Confetti. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the delicious "Let's Eat!" projects - and then join in on the fun by linking up a creation of your own! 

4

Joy

Jan is this week's hostess at Little Red Wagon and she's selected "Home Sweet Home" as the challenge. As long as your project (card, layout, tag, decor item, etc.) has a home (house, bird's nest, bee hive, lion's den, etc.,) on it somewhere, we'd love for you to join us! 

I've got lots of homes on my Christmas card that showcases the town of Bethlehem from thousands of years ago. I really like how the sky turned out. I blended two different blues (Faded Jeans and Stormy Sky), splashed a little water and then sprayed some glitter fabric spray. At first, I thought, "Oh dear..." but then I got a tissue and smeared it around and LOVED the look. I decided to use my white gel pen for some extra stars and was even happier. I wish the photo showed it off a bit better. My daughter had donated the glitter fabric spray to my craft stash once she was done using it to make a Halloween costume and I was pleased to show her the card.

I used silver cardstock for the star and "joy" sentiment. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see all the homes there - and then join us for this week's challenge! 

5

Thank You (and Thinking of You)

Chrissy is back hosting our challenge at Little Red Wagon and she's giving us the opportunity to make thank you cards with her "Thanks a lot!" theme. 

I needed both a thank you card and a thinking of you card so used the same design for both. I did a bit of extra background colour on the thank you card but they're otherwise pretty much the same. I purchased the sunflower stamp from a Canadian Company, Ecstasy Crafts, and assumed the stamp was from a Canadian company due to their maple leaf logo, but it turns out that Woodware Craft (the stamp company who produced the sunflower stamp) is UK-based. 

Head over to Little Red Wagon for some inspiration and then use this week's theme to add to your thank you card stash! 

4

Let's Do Coffee

Jan is our fabulous hostess for this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and she's looking for projects including "Hot, hot drinks!" As we've had snow this week in Central Ontario, Canada, the timing couldn't be better. 

I used an image from My Favorite Things along with a sentiment from Mark's Finest. Even though I'm not a coffee drinker, I do love to join my friends "for coffee". 

You can find more inspiration on the Little Red Wagon blog. We'd love to have you join along in this week's fun too!

3

I CAN Drive a Stick

Boo! With just under a week until Halloween, our wonderful Chrissy has chosen the theme "Trick or Treat/Halloween" for this week's Little Red Wagon challenge.

I pulled out some oldies but goodies and had such fun making my Halloween card. The sentiment is from My Craft Spot, the witch from Your Next Stamp, and the spooky fence was made from a Martha Stewart border punch. I used a number of different distress inks to blend my background, masking a full moon after the first layer of yellow. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Halloween creations - cards, scrapbook pages, home decor, etc. We'd love to see what you make! 

3

Congrats

It's the lovely Imke's turn to host at Little Red Wagon and she's letting us choose between using patterned paper or no patterned paper. How easy is that to join the fun?!

I went with no patterned paper, opting instead to create a background with a heat-embossed mandala with distress oxide smooshing all about. The sentiment was cut from a word die from My Craft Spot. Well, it was from multiple cuts then all glued together. I finished things off with a few little "droplet" gems. 

Please head to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends created - and then link up your own paper project using patterned paper or not. 

3

Hippo Birdie to YOU

I'm hosting this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and, continuing my Queen-inspired challenges in 2023, I've selected "Who Wants to Live Forever" - birthday theme!

I used products from a variety of companies on my creation - frame is from Your Next Stamp, the YOU dies from My Favorite Things, the stamps and Hippo Birdie to sentiment from Lawn Fawn and sequins from My Craft Spot. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to check out the other Girlfriends' wonderful creations - and then link up a project of your own. We all celebrate birthdays!

3

Thanks So Much

The lovely Brenda is hosting our weekly Little Red Wagon challenge. Brenda lives in Hawaii which, while absolutely beautiful, does not really have the array of fall colours that some other climates enjoy. Perhaps this is why she is asking us to create with fall colours this week. 

I needed a set of thank you cards so pulled out some products from My Craft Spot (no longer in business). The fall border and coordinating dies was used to cut out leaves and acorns after smooshing fall colours onto watercolour cardstock. I then used some My Craft Spot sentiments and used another My Craft Spot die for the "torn" edges. I finished things off with some splatters - which seems to be my new favourite hobby!! 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the fall colour paper projects created by the fabulous design team. We'd love to have you join the fun too! 

3

Happy Bee-Day

Janice is our fabulous hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's looking for layers! Here in Canada, we often start layering our clothes this time of year but Jan is looking for layers of paper. In fact, she wants to see at least three layers on our projects!

By the time this post goes live, I'll be in England. Unfortunately, my aunt passed away earlier this month so I'm over for the funeral. I'm there with my mum, older sister, and younger brother. It just so happens that Saturday is my niece's birthday and she lives near London so I made this card to hand deliver to her! That doesn't happen very often. 

I started with the card base and then added a black mat either side. I took a piece of watercolour cardstock and smooshed some Fossilized Amber oxide ink all about. I used half the paper to create two panels and the other half to die cut with my never-before-used-although-had-to-have-at-the-time-of-release bee hive panel die (Studio Katia). The little doily is from My Craft Spot (no longer in business), with the tiny popped bee on the front from Your Next Stamp (also no longer in business). The sentiment. little bee and flight path inside are from My Favorite Things.

Now it's your turn to layer up! Please head over to Little Red Wagon for inspiration from the wonderfully talented team there - and then link up your own paper creation! 

4

Happy Birthday My Friend

It's our wonderful Doni's turn to host at Little Red Wagon this week and she's looking for balloons! Balloons for celebration or balloons for travel. However you'd like to showcase them, we'd like to see your balloons.

I used a stencil and inked some balloons onto a card base. I typically add a mat over my card base but thought this would be a good opportunity to use the entire base - so that's just what I did. After the balloons, I added some water splashes and then some black ink splatter before adding a heat-embossed sentiment strip. I finished things off with three dewdrops.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to check out all the balloons there! I hope you'll join our fun too!

6

With Sympathy

Chrissy is hosting our Little Red Wagon challenge this week and she's calling out "Square or Rectangle". You can decide to create something that is either square or rectangular - or add a square or rectangular element to your creation. 

I decided to go square ('cause it's hip to be square). My card is 4.5" x 4.5". However, as I needed three cards and wanted them to be similar but not identical - and because two had to be posted overseas and square cards sometimes need more postage (although I'm not sure why or when, I just know it's happened to me before), I opted to go with rectangle for the other two. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the squares and rectangles. We'd love to have you join the challenge this week as well! 

4

A Pinch to Grow an Inch

It's Imke's turn to host at Little Red Wagon and she's giving us another choice this week - Small or Large.

I decided to go small (and incredibly simple) with this little birthday card to tuck in with a gift. The wee crab is from Your Next Stamp and the die frame and sentiment are from My Favorite Things. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the other interpretations of this week's Small or Large challenge. What will you make?

6

Best Wishes

It's my turn to host this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and I've chosen another Queen hit as the theme. This time, it's "Bicycle Race". However, I felt that limiting crafters to bicycles alone would be rather restrictive so I'm opening things to include any sort of transportation - trains, planes, automobiles, scooters, prams, hot air balloons, canoes, etc. If it gets you from A to B, you are being transported! 

I had really wanted to include a bicycle on my card but things didn't work as planned so I'm thankful the theme is open to all transportation! I had a card design in mind and then my daughter asked me to make a wedding card with flowers. She showed me some photos she'd found online and I thought I could work them into something with a bicycle. However, I just didn't like the look of things with a stamped and cut bicycle though, and wasn't thrilled with the size of the bicycle either. I was happy when I remembered the little VW camper die in my stash as it seems a much better fit. Plus, Erin is really happy with the card and that's the main thing. 

I'd love for you to head over to Little Red Wagon to be inspired by the rest of the amazingly talented Girlfriends' creations - and then link up your own! 

5

Deck the Halls

The wonderful Brenda is hosting our Little Red Wagon Challenge this week and she has decided on the theme "Dog Days". She wants to see anything to do with dogs!

I have been having fun adding cards to my Christmas stash and this card makes Number 3! It's a simple card as many of my crafting supplies are in accessible as my son repairs a crack in our foundation. We didn't know there was a crack but, following a massive rain last week, we noticed a little bit of water came through. Fortunately, it's not a big deal and has only affected my craft room - and my son is incredibly handy so can do the repairs himself. However, I've had to move lots out given the dust and debris of the repair. My cards for the next few weeks will be simple ones as I need to create a few more before I leave for holidays. 

I used products from a variety of companies - a Mama Elephant frame, large sentiment from MFT (which is heat embossed in silver) and little pup from Your Next Stamp. I've had the pup for years and this is the first time I've inked him up! I also paper pieced the little scarf and gift to match the frame. I finished things off with some Wink of Stella on the antlers, a silvery bow and a few snowflake sequins. Christmas card #3 done!

We'd love to see your Dog Days interpretation. For inspiration, head to Little Red Wagon Challenge to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created! 

5

You are Pretty Awesome

Jan is our wonderful host of this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and she wants us to "Craft with Kraft"! As long as you're using kraft paper, you're in!

My card is created with scraps. I used some washi tape dies to cut some scraps of pattered paper. It's actually just one bit of paper that had coordinating designs on both sides. The doily circle was cut during another crafting time but wasn't used and just collecting dust on my crafting desk. And the "awesome" was also cut using a few layers of scraps. The awesome die and sentiment stamps are NBUS that I received in a grab box of crafting goodies a couple of years ago. And everything is layered atop a kraft card base in order to keep Jan happy. 

Head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' creations - and then pull out your kraft paper to join the fun! 

6

You Rock!

It's time for our weekly Little Red Wagon challenge and the theme this week is "Multipurpose". We're looking for paper crafts with no specific purpose - so no birthdays, no weddings, no babies, etc. 

I made this "You Rock!" card for one of our office student staff. He has done amazing work for us this summer with our orientation events and we want to show him our appreciation. I had a very difficult time photographing the card to show all the sparkle - on the rainbow bursts, stars, hair, nails and microphone. The panel die and stamps are all from Your Next Stamp.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the projects - and then create something for no reason at all to join the challenge!! 

4

Yappy Birthday

It's our wonderful Doni's turn to host at Little Red Wagon this week and she's saying "Boys will be boys". Simply put, she wants to see masculine cards! Think the traditional blues and browns, fishing and cars, snails and puppy dog tails, etc. That said, any of these things are great for girls too! 

This card is for my middle guy who's celebrating a birthday next month. This year, for his birthday, he asked me to make a donation in his name to a charity of my choosing. When Jack was in Grade Six, he asked for donations to our local humane society instead of gifts for himself. I will donate to the same this year and thought it would be fun to make a dog-themed card. Plus, it includes puppy dog tails as per the old nursery rhyme of that which little boys are made. And when I saw the background paper, I knew it was perfect for when said son was in elementary school, he had lovely long hair. Once, on the playground, he whacked his head and needed to go for stitches. Despite the traditionally masculine name of John Richard on his hospital ID, the nurse called him "Princess" a couple of times - which is one of the names on the patterned paper of my card. We still call him Princess from time to time! 

We'd love to have you join our challenge at Little Red Wagon this week! Head over to the blog to see how the rest of the Girlfriends interpreted the "Boys will be boys" theme! 

6

Joy to the World

It's the lovely Chrissy's turn to host our Little Red Wagon challenge and she's saying, "It's cold over here!" As Chrissy lives in New Zealand, I thought that very well might be the case for her. Not exactly sure where she is, I checked the current temperature in Christchurch and, last night (Tuesday although already Wednesday morning for Chrissy), it was 14C. That doesn't sound cold to this Canadian but I'm sure it's all relative! Anyway, Chrissy isn't necessarily looking for cold things but cool colours - so blues and purples, etc. 

I decided to make another Christmas card. That makes two so far this year! The layout for this card is the almost same as last week although the products used are different. I actually used three distress inks for the blue background although difficult to see. And the silhouettes of the Holy Family and star are covered in Wink of Stella. I finished things off with a black gem in the middle of the star. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the "cool" creations! We'd love you to join the challenge too! 

4

Fall on Your Knees

It's the wonderful Imke's turn to host our Little Red Wagon challenge this week and, like Imke does every week she hosts, she's asking us to make a choice. This time, it's Christmas or New Year. As I don't give New Year cards, the choice was an easy one for me! I'm also very thankful for this week's challenge as I'm always so impressed with crafters who make Christmas cards through the year. Now I have one!!

I used products from a number of companies - including a NBUS sentiment from Sweet 'n Sassy. Quite honestly, I have no recollection of buying this set so am not sure where it came from! However, I thought it was just the right sentiment to go with my little nativity silhouette and scene. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the choices made by the rest of the Girlfriends - Christmas or New Year - and what they created. We'd love to have you join the challenge too! 

6

Have an Otterly Wonderful Birthday

Woohoo! It's my turn to host this week's Little Red Wagon which means I've had the Queen tunes cranked again. This time, it's Seven Seas of Rhye. As you may know, the song ends with a couple of lines from "I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside" which is a song I really enjoyed as a child. And I've always enjoyed being at the sea too. So, with Seven Seas of Rhye as my inspiration, I'm asking crafters to create something with a beach theme!

The uni where I work has several colleges in order to create community within the school. (Think the Harry Potter house system. Go Slytherin!) My college affiliation is Otonabee College and our mascot is an otter. The uni is spread across the banks of the Otonabee River so there are the occasional otters to see! When I saw Heffy Doodle's Otter Side stamp set, it seemed too good to be true, especially as we have the two sides of the river to our campus. I made this card for my youngest son's birthday in August. He attends the university where I work and also has a campus job - on the "otter side" of my office. Plus, he loves a good pun, just like his mother. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' beach creations - and then join the fun by linking one of your own! 

4

Have a Good Day

Brenda is our fabulous host at Little Red Wagon this week and she's asking us to "Let the Sun Shine"! You've likely guessed that this means she's looking for us to use a sun on our project. 

I used an MFT sunbeam stencil on my card. This is one of the first stencils I ever purchased and I think this is now the second time I've used it... Oh dear! I decided to create a rainbow sun as an added pick me up and also in celebration of Pride Month. The sentiment is also from MFT and I finished things off with a few Your Next Stamp gumdrops. By the way, I learned that Your Next Stamp will be closing its doors so there are some great deals over there! A few years back, I did some guest designing with Your Next Stamp - plus they are a Canadian company - so I'm especially sad to see them go. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see all the Girlfriends' sunshiny creations - and then link up one of your own to join our fun! 

6

HB2U

It's Jan's turn to host our Little Red Wagon challenge this week and she wants us to "Bow for Bows"! Essentially, she's looking for any sort of bow - such as a ribbon tied in a bow, the bow of a ship, somebody leaning over in a bow in the midst of rousing applause. There are lots of possibilities! 

This cruiser was originally going to go along the ship route but decided to head in another direction. One of my best friends shares my birthday so I made this card for her. She LOVES yellow and LOVES anything to do with snow so I combined the two. As she lives just a few blocks away, I was able to hand deliver the card on our special day to ensure the paper bow (created with a die from My Craft Spot, no longer in business) did not get bowed out of its well-wishing duties.  

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see how the rest of the Girlfriends interpreted this challenge - and then find a way to incorporate a bow (pronounced as you wish!) on a project of your own! 

6

I Turtley Love You

Hello Friends! How are we halfway through June already?! 

The fabulous Shani is our hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's saying "The Power of Love". Now, I have to admit that I've been singing this all week (and perhaps Shani is too!). My husband's favourite movie was Back to the Future (the trilogy, in fact) and, if you don't know this movie, "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis is a big part of it. The song always makes me think of Ralph and that's a good thing. In fact, tomorrow marks six years from his passing and the kids (all in their 20s!) and I will be gathering and spending the day together. I think I'll blast The Power of Love.

I've always loved a good pun so decided to put one to use on my card. The sentiment is from an old stamp set and the little turtle is one of my favourite stamps. He's tiny but sweet!! He's from Your Next Stamp's Aquarium Antics set. The rest of the card was made with scraps. Well, one scrap piece of patterned paper with several different dies used to cut the border and hearts. I liked the leftovers from the paper die so used them as little banners. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' creations - and then use the Power of Love to create something of your own to link up! 

6

With My Deepest Sympathy

Happy Wednesday from hazy Ontario. We've got a record number of forest fires here in Canada and, although I'm nowhere near any of the fires or danger, our area is under an air quality advisory due to all the smoke that's blown our way. I'm thankful that my camping vacation was last week as I had beautiful weather and clear air (other than the mosquitos and blackflies that were occupying too much airspace for my liking). My thoughts are with all those affected by the fires. It's simply devastating.

Doni is our hostess for this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and she wants to see "Things that fly". A colleague of mine recently lost his mother-in-law and I made this card to send to him and his husband. I used a Stampin' Up bird punch, a Flora & Fauna background stamp, a Mama Elephant frame die and a sentiment stamp from My Favorite Things. I was blessed to win a gift card from My Favorite Things with their June card kit release (Everything Wonderful card kit) so I purchased the new kit with this sentiment stamp being part of the set. Huge thanks to My Favorite Things! The stamping is done on a layer of vellum for a softer touch - and then three little pearls were added to the centre of flowers to finish things off. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see how the Girlfriends used "things that fly" as inspiration for their projects. We'd love to have you join our challenge this week too! 

5

Wishing You All the Best

It's the talented Chrissy's turn to host this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and she wants to see things get warm by seeing creations using warm colours. Pull out your reds, oranges, yellows, etc., to see what you can come up with!

I was short on crafting time before my holidays so pulled this card together rather quickly. I'd used some brown at the bottom to represent the ground but I'm wishing I hadn't!! Oh well. I added some Wink of Stella on the hot air balloon and the stamped image and sentiment are heat embossed as well. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' warm colour creations - and then link up one (or two!) of your own!

PS When this posts, I'll be off camping and hope for warm/hot weather! 

6

Happy Birthday

It's the talented Imke's turn to host our Little Red Wagon challenge this week and she's continuing her "either, or" theme of the year. This week, our choice is "Flora or Fauna" and I decided to go the route of flora. I just got back from Bahamas, having gone there on a cruise last week, and I was in awe of the wonderful, bright florals there.

I used a variety of leaf stamps from the stamp company which has been perfectly named for this challenge - Flora and Fauna! I used some generic square frame dies as well as some generic word dies. For the final touch, I added a leaf die cut from Your Next Stamp. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends chose to do for the challenge - and then create a flora or fauna project of your own! 

6

Amazing, Marvelous You - Scrabble Tile Card

Yippee! It's my turn hosting at Little Red Wagon and I'm still singing Queen songs this year. This challenge, I'm singing along to "Play the Game". I'm looking for paper crafting projects that have anything to do with or are inspired by games or sports. 

A few years ago, my daughter gave me a bag of crafting Scrabble tiles and I thought this was just the right opportunity to pull them back out. I made this card for the wonderful mother of a friend. Her name is Rika so I used the tiles to spell out her name. 

Being Canadian, I would have preferred an extra letter L in marvellous!! Otherwise, I'm happy with how the card turned out. And, in the card's defence, I did willingly and knowingly choose the sentiment despite the spelling. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created. We invite you to "Play the Game" too!!

4

Praying for You Tissue Box

This week, the wonderful Brenda is hosting our Little Red Wagon challenge and she's looking for "Spring Flowers". Even though daffodils are my favourite spring flower (in fact, my favourite flower), I decided to go with tulips on my project.

A friend of mine is going through a particularly difficult time and recently had a funeral to attend. I made a little tissue box for her to tuck in her purse, reminding her that she is very much in my thoughts and prayers. 

As this tissue box has a built-in card, I was able to write a short note of encouragement to her as well. 

I'd used the free tissue box cut file a few times years ago and was happy to find it again! If you're interested, you can find the cut file HERE. It's the perfect size for travel-pack tissues. The sentiment and sentiment frame/circle are from My Craft Spot, the corners from EK Success and the little tulip inside from a Martha Stewart punch. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the spring flower creations made by the Design Team - and then create and link up one of your own!

5

Wishing You Sunnier Days

The wonderful Janice is hosting this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and she's looking for things that are clean and simple. I wasn't sure what to create as there are so many options! My daughter suggested that I go literal and have a broom image with a sentiment reading, "You sweep me off my feet". I checked my stamps and don't have a broom image though. I'll have to keep that idea in my back pocket for another time.

I have a couple of friends who are going through especially difficult times right now so I thought a care to show I care would be a good idea. I used MFT's Weather With You stamp and die set and created a clean and simple card. Well, it's clean other than the sand on which the little panda is standing. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' clean and simple projects - and then we'd love for you to link up one of your own! 

4

Love You Mum

It's the lovely Shani's turn to host our weekly Little Red Wagon challenge and she's calling for "Slim Pickings". Shani is looking for us to showcase slimline cards.

I decided to create a Mother's Day card for my beautiful mum as Mother's Day is coming up the second Monday in May here in Canada. 

A couple of years ago, I purchased a set of (generic) slimline panels and I think I used them (and not even the entire set) once, so this was the perfect kick to get my act in gear. I also purchased the "MUM" die set from Simon Says Stamp a year or two ago and that's never been used either - until now! The "LOVE YOU" sentiment is from Studio Katia and heat embossed. 

Years and years ago, I purchased some flowers which I do still use from time to time although they mostly sit forgotten. It was so much fun to pull them out again to create my card. Fortunately, Mum lives less than a kilometer away from my house so I won't have to worry about things getting squished in the post. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to check out the Girlfriends' take on this week's Slim Pickings challenge - and then create and link up your own slimline projects! 

5

All-Star Birthday

The wonderful Doni is "Star Struck" at Little Red Wagon this week. She's our fabulous hostess and she's looking for stars to adorn our projects.

My younger brother is turning 50 this month and I made this card for him. There are indeed (at least I really hope there are!!) 50 stars. He really is an all-star, having received all the best genes in the family. I'm proud to be his sister. And, hopefully Doni is proud of me with all those stars!! :)

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see all the starry works of art over there! We'd love for you to join our Star Struck challenge too! 

6

One Step at a Time

It's finally spring here in central Ontario and I'm loving it!! Yesterday, when I returned from work, I could see some daffodils just starting to poke through the ground. Woo hoo!

The fabulous Chrissy is our hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's looking for layers. While I'm peeling off the layers now that spring has arrived, I've piled them on to create my card this week. Chrissy asks for at least two layers.

I created a motivational card for my Memorydex. I haven't made one in ages and, since it's been so long, I realized when I added the card to my Memorydex that it's upside down!! Oops! As the cards are for my own enjoyment, I wasn't overly concerned. 

The card was made entirely with scrap bits of paper. And there are a number of layers: the card, the mat, the doily on the right, the daffodil cuts, the little heart (which I dry embossed), the round frame with sentiment and the bottom border. I also added some stamping, inking and stencilling on the card before finishing things off with some gems. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Design Team has made - and then layer up with your products to join the fun! 

5

Happy Easter

Happy April! The delightful Imke is hosting this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and she's chosen the theme "Spring or Fall?". Your choice! Imke is looking for any sort of paper projects with a spring or fall theme. I'm sure she'd be super impressed if you combined them too!

As spring is my favourite of the seasons, this was my choice as soon as I read the theme. And, as daffodils are my favourite flowers, I decided they would be the highlight of my spring card. I used a die from Simon Says Stamp and layered some of the daffodil cuts atop a stencilled background. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to be inspired by the rest of the Design Team. We'd love to have you join us!

And for those of you who celebrate Easter, enjoy the long weekend, the blessings of spring and perhaps a chocolate egg or two from the Easter bunny! 

5

Congrats to the Grad

I'm delighted to be hosting at Little Red Wagon this week. In keeping with my Queen-inspired challenges in 2023, I've chosen the hit song, "We Are the Champions". I'm looking for any sort of congratulatory-type project. 

I decided to go with a card as one of our incredible student staff members at work will be graduating at the end of the term. She loves butterflies so I knew I wanted a butterfly as my focal point. I first tried a small cap on the butterfly's head but that really didn't work so decided the butterfly would wear the cap on her wing. Much better! The butterfly, cap and pink mat are all covered in Wink of Stella and it looks quite pretty in real life. And the background floral paper is also embossed with little butterflies. 

The butterfly is from Flora & Fauna stamps (although I think the set might be retired as I can't seem to find it) with all the rest of the stamps (cap and sentiments) from Simon Says Stamp's Grad Party set. Inside, I stamped, "Now go change the world". The black scallop frame is from My Favorite Things. I found a reverse set of frames (with the scallop on the outer edge) but I'm thinking this set must also be retired. The little pink corners are from an EK Success punch. Back when I first started making cards, I had corners on pretty much everything!! It was fun to pull out the dusty punch and use it again. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' projects - and then link up one of your own! 

4

Hang in There

The delightful Brenda is hosting our newest Little Red Wagon and she wants to see cards that are hard to make. It's not so much that she's looking for a great deal of mastery going into our next-to-impossible feats of crafting skill, but cards (or other paper projects) that are difficult for the very reason we're sending them - sympathy, illness, thinking of you, etc. 

Years ago, I did some guest designing for Your Next Stamp (a Canadian company!) and received a fun stamp and die set called "Scratch Pad". I've always liked this set and thought that the "hang in there" sentiment would be a fun way to cheer up somebody who's otherwise having a difficult time. I love that there's even some little scratch dies that come with the set. The brick background was created with an MFT stencil and the white frame was created with a no-name die from Amazon (with a shoutout of thanks to my DT sister, Shani, for showcasing the die on her blog so I could purchase one too!). I simply tore the black cardstock to create my ripped (scratched!) mat. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to view the rest of the Girlfriends' projects. We hope you'll join this week's challenge too! 

4

Be U, Beautiful

It's halfway through March and we're still in full winter here. It continues to snow here and there although temperatures are starting to go above freezing which is always a delight. Spring will be here soon, I hope!

Janice is our fabulous hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's asking us to "Bring on the Bling!" Janice is looking for sparkle and glitter, gems and charms, as we create our projects (any sort of card, bookmark, home decor, scrapbook page, journal page, etc.).

I used two types of glitter paper and my MFT "Bold Beautiful" die to create my project. I chose papers that matched a glittery dragonfly embellishment but, when I added it on, I didn't like the look so decided my card was perfect just as it was. I was able to save the dragonfly and its continuing to hibernate until another crafty day. 

I saw the BE U idea ages ago, perhaps on the MFT blog during the release countdown? I'm typically all about proper grammar and spelling (even when texting!) but thought this was fun and decided to break the rules a bit. 

Please head to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriend's glitter and glam. You may want to consider wearing sunglasses!

4

Merci

Bonjour! This week, the delightful Shani is our hostess at Little Red Wagon. Shani lives in France and she's chosen the theme "Frenchified" for this week's challenge. Basically, if your creation is inspired by something with a French connection, you're just the person we want to have you join us! Think wine, brie and camembert, escargots, macarons, Marseille soaps, Chanel, Dior or Vuitton, etc. 

I decided to go ultra literal and used Paris and the Eiffel Tower on my card. I've been privileged to visit Paris and other parts of France several times. We usually rent a flat for the full "when in France" experience. Paris is one of my favourite places to visit.

The background for my card was created with an MFT stamp and the Eiffel Tower stamp is from MFT's "In Paris" stamp set. I used some blue, white and red twine (colours of the French flag) and letter dies from My Craft Spot (no longer in business). 

Please head to Little Red Wagon for "l'inspiration française" and then think happy French thoughts as you create for this week's challenge.

5

Wishing You Well

Happy March! I can't believe how time is flying. I'm in Toronto this week for meetings and professional development - and will be giving a presentation to my peers at University of Toronto tomorrow. It's busy but exciting!

Doni is our hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and her theme is "Feel Better - get well or encouragement". I made this card for my sister-in-law who is currently being treated for breast cancer (with a very positive prognosis!!). I used a stencil and frame die from MFT, a flower stamp, die and stencil from Altenew and a sentiment from My Craft Spot.

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Girlfriends' creations - and then link up your own "Feel Better" project! 

6

Hello - All Die Cuts

Happy Wednesday! We're in for another doozy of a storm here in Ontario, Canada. Things are supposed to get really bad through the night so I'm relieved that I'll be working from home tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers and praying hard that things will be clear by Friday as I'm heading to southern Ontario for the weekend to cheer on my youngest in an ice hockey tournament. It looks as though things should be cleared up by then. 

Chrissy is our ever-so-creative hostess at Little Red Wagon this week and she's chosen the theme "Die Cuts". With the exception of my card base which I cut with my paper trimmer, all other elements were created from an assortment of dies from an assortment of different crafting companies - My Craft Spot, Reverse Confetti, Flora and Fauna, Gemini. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see the many ways die cuts have been used by the Girlfriends - and then create a paper projects with a die cut or two to join the fun! 

5

We're a Perfect Pair

It's the wonderful Imke's turn to host our Little Red Wagon challenge this week and she's chosen the theme, "Fruits or Vegetables?" I went with veggies to create my little (4.25 inch) square card. 

I used a NBUS die from MFT to create the sunburst frame around my little pea and carrot pals (from the no-longer-in-business Lil Inker Designs). That was then popped on a coloured mat for a bit of dimension. 

Given the small size of the card and the different die frames used, I opted to include the sentiment on the inside of the card.

Please head to Little Red Wagon to see the rest of the Fruits and Vegetable creations - and then link up one of your own! 

7

Love You

It's my first time to post on Little Red Wagon in 2023. This year, I'm using Queen's greatest hits as inspiration and, this week, I've chosen my favourite of all their songs (and also ranking right up there as one of my all-time favourite songs in general) - Somebody to Love. As this week's challenge is the final one before Valentine's Day, I thought it was fitting.

I recently viewed a video short from Gerry's Craft Room YouTube Channel and used her card to inspire my own creation. I should have marked the holes first as the top right stitching is a bit misaligned. Fortunately, the grungy look of the card helps it not look too horrible! I hand-cut the heart and basically used a variety of items from my crafting stash that I've had for ages. 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have created - and then link up your own "Somebody to Love" project! 

4