Cup of Christmas Cheer-Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #193: Shaped Card

Hello Creative Crafters! 

   Happy Thanksgiving Week! This week I am thankful for each and every one of you all reading this :) Crafting is such a wonderful hobby that has become a huge part of my life. I lost a very close friend a few years ago and suffered from horrible depression. Crafting has helped me come out of that, and I am finally productive and happy again. Those years of being so down really did a number on my body, and because of that I gained a significant amount of weight. Through much discussion with my family physician and the physician in my family (my husband), we decided that weight loss surgery is good route to assist me in my complete life overhaul. I have already begun all the steps needed to take me on this journey, including significant diet changes. Today, (Tuesday, Nov25th) I am having a surgical procedure to get me ready for the big surgery to come. I guess I am telling you all this because I will begin to share some of the process and progress on this blog. If anyone has any questions about my experience or what I'm having to go through, feel free to e-mail me. Thank you for letting me share the things I love with you all!

Now On To The Crafting!

This week at the Die Cuttin' Divas  the challenge is to make a shaped card (Don't Forget The Die Cut). Myself and my Design Team Sisters are using some UH-Mazing images from our sponsor for the next two weeks,StitchyBear Digi-Outlet. I'm not traditionally a Digi Stamper, but honestly, I might be a convert. It was so simple! Let's start at the beginning. The image set I chose to work with is called the "Cuppa Warm Pack" and it's created by Stitchy Stamps. I just love the variety in this image pack, it's as if each individual image is a different theme. I must confess, I was really thinking using digital stamps would be tedious, and complicated. Lol Not even close! I had the images sized and printed before I would have even found my ink with a traditional stamp. There was also another plus, that I didn't realize was even an option! I can color them on my computer!!! Now, you all may already know this, but I did not. It was (were? idk)  as if angels were singing. I LOVE coloring, I mean I REALLY LOVE coloring.(I take a coloring book on camping trips. For Real)  Sadly, at times, it can be time consuming. This sped up the process so much. My printer isn't a Rock Star, so the colors aren't as pretty as they could be, but I still love it! 

After printing the image the lines were not as dark as I would have liked them. (My black ink is running low) I used a black Sharpie to trace every line. I like the almost cartoon-y look it gave the image. I couldn't find my Glossy Accents, so I used a Glaze Gel Pen in clear to add dimension to the tree, marshmallows, and candy cane. 

I used a white gel pen to add stitch lines to my circular Shaped card base. I also used my Cricut Explore's Print then Cut feature to cut out this image. I added traditional brass colored brads to the sentiment I printed off of my computer. The papers used were some GP white cardstock, solid Paper Studio green cardstock, and patterned paper also by The Paper Studio from a Holiday paper pack. 

I really like how this card came out, I am definitely adding this design into my Christmas Card Rotation. I hope you all love it as much as I do! Don't forget to play along with us at the Die Cuttin' Divas this week in our Shaped Card Challenge- No Rectangular Cards(And Don't Forget the Die Cut). Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments below :)

~Dusty Rae