Planting a Garden with the Control Freaks

The Freaky theme this month is Plant a Garden, using any flowers or plants. It should be fun to see everyone's "green thumbs" this month.  If you landed here from Melissa's blog, welcome! There are five of us gardening today.

You just know I had to go with flowers, didn't you? This theme gave me the opportunity to ink up the new Darling Details set, and play with the awesome dies that coordinate. I love eyelet lace, and these frame dies make the perfect delicate surrounding on a card.

I went with bold colors for the first card, using Berry Burst and Calypso Coral as the main colors. 😮 This is a little out of my comfort zone, but I like the way it turned out!

The background is Bright & Beautiful 6x6 DSP, the Happy Birthday is from Biggest Wish, and I added a few 2023-2025 In Color Dots to bling it up a bit.

The second card was easy-peasy since the only stamping involved was the greeting (Copper Clay). The beautiful daisies pattern is found in the Fresh as a Daisy DSP pack. 

The DSP was framed with the large eyelet frame and adhered to a Copper Clay card base to match the daisy centers. I unraveled some Boho Blue Textured Ribbon and used just a few threads to make the bow. I thought the daisies needed something more delicate. The greeting tag is from the Nested Essentials Dies.

Up next is Bree, at Craft-somnia Momma. Take a look at what she grew!!!

 

Control Freaks Thanks & Gratitude

The Freaky theme this month is Thanks & Gratitude - and I have SO VERY MUCH for which I am overwhelmingly thankful. If you just landed here from Melissa's blog, RubberFUNatics, welcome! We have seven very thankful Freaks for this hop, so let's get going!

I only have two cards to share today, because a certain new puppy is keeping me out of the craft room. Seriously, I had forgotten how much a puppy is like having a toddler in the house. If they're being quiet, you better go check what they're up to! So...on to the first card....

I was a little disappointed to see the Pretty Pumpkins bundle isn't carrying over since it's really been growing on me lately. Ah, well, there will be new goodies to distract me soon enough. I thought the wheat pattern in the Harvest Meadow DSP (also retiring) would be the perfect background for the colored pumpkins.

That wheat straw looking stuff behind the pumpkins is an unraveled bit of Gold Fine Art Ribbon. I brushed a little Crumb Cake on the DSP behind the pumpkins to make them stand out a bit more. The Early Espresso die cut greeting is from the Word Wishes Dies in the annual catalog, and I'm happy to say the Brushed Metallic Adhesive-backed Dots are carrying over!

The next card will give you a sneaky peek at some goodies from the 2022 Jan-Jun Mini that starts Jan. 4th! The first thing you might have noticed is the floral bunch from the Blessings of Home bundle, which is part of the Heart & Home Suite Collection. Gosh, I love coloring, and this set is right up my alley!

Next you might have noticed the watercolor-washed embossed background. That's the Hive 3D embossing folder, also part of the Heart & Home Suite Collection (along with a bunch of other cool stuff!).

If you're wondering about the little label with the greeting from A Wish for Everything, that is from the die set that goes with the Bouquet of Love Hybrid Embossing Folder in the J-J mini. Oh, I cannot wait until you see all the new products coming soon!

Up next is Debbie, at Debbie Henderson Designs. I just love her sense of design, and frequently say "Oooo!" out loud when I see something she created. 😊

 Product List

Pretty Pumpkins Bundle

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad

Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

Cinnamon Cider Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

So Saffron Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

Mossy Meadow Stampin' Blends Combo Pack

Baker's Twine Essentials Pack

Gold 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Shimmer Ribbon

3/8" (1 Cm) Fine Art Ribbon

Brushed Metallic Adhesive Backed Dots

Add All to Cart

GRATITUDE, from the Control Freaks

This month the Tour de Freaks are focusing on gratitude! Despite this crazy year, there is still much to be thankful for, and I count my blessings every single day. I'm first on the blog roll this month, but you may have landed here from Connie's blog, Stamp and Art Squared. Either way, welcome! There are seven of us this time, so be sure to follow the links at the bottom of each stop to visit all the Freaks.

I chose the oldie but goodie Country Home set, because I really liked the greeting. I am thankful for ALL the good things. (And sometimes even for the bad, because it makes me appreciate the good all the more.) Instead of using the milk can or pitcher image to place the bouquet in, I opted to use the bouquet as a background for the sentiment.

Some Cinnamon Cider was sponged around the edge of the image panel to give it a bit of an aged look after coloring and embossing.

On this next card, I did use the pitcher for the cotton boll bouquet. At first I was going to just use the DSP (In Good Taste) as the background, but then I had the idea to pop the frame up for dimension, and make it look like a still life painting. 

I think it turned out kind of neat! It needed a smaller sentiment, so I used Itty Bitty Greetings for the expression of gratitude.

That's all I have to share today. I wanted to do more, but Mom is here for a two week visit, so I haven't had a lot of time to create.

Up next is Tami at Swimming in Stamps, so hop on over to see her project!

Winter Wonderland, Control Freaks Style!

Welcome once again to the monthly Tour de Freaks! This month our theme is Winter Wonderland, so anything chilly, frosty, or frozen goes! I'm the first stop on the tour, but you may have landed here from The Stamp Doc. Weren't Melissa's projects awesome? There are seven of us on this month's hop, so click the button at the bottom of each stop to hop on to the next stop!

Like I said, the theme is Winter, which can be anything winter-related, whether a holiday, or just plain old frosty beauty. And the perfect frosty beauty comes in the Feels Like Frost Specialty Designer Paper. I've used it on both my cards today. Up first is a card using the Frosted Foliage stamp set that is part of the Feels Like Frost Suite. It is a set of six cling stamps with five Frosted Frames Dies that coordinate. (Look on page 41 of the Holiday catalog.)

The frame was cut from Vellum Cardstock, with icy accents added using Shimmery Crystal Effects and Ice Stampin' Glitter.

Some snowflakes were also added, cut from Sparkle Glimmer Paper to jazz it up a bit more. In keeping with the cool theme, the greeting was stamped in Night of Navy and cut with the label die.

It really is so much more sparkly in real life! The next card combines the beautiful Snow Globe Scenes Dies (page 43) with a greeting from Itty Bitty Christmas. And that fabulous DSP, of course!

The trio of trees was cut twice and overlapped to make the snowy woods behind the church. I also added some Ice Stampin' Glitter to the trees for more frosty sparkle, and Sparkle Glimmer snowy hills.

The greeting was stamped on a strip of Vellum Cardstock using StazOn Jet Black, and adhered at the side with a glue dot.

Round iridescent sequins from Snowflake Sequins added a touch more shimmery goodness, and also covered the glue dot under the greeting. That Shimmery Crystal Effects is fab for gluing sequins!

Up next is our newest Freak, Bree Renwick, over at Craft-somnia Momma. Be sure to give her a warm welcome!