50th Birthday Fun Fold Card

Double Trouble has a challenge to make a fun fold card, something that is far outside of my comfort zone. Fortunately, they also provided some tutorials for how to do this, so I started with the easiest one, and here is the resulting card I created. My friend Lori is turning 50, so I wanted a pretty card that didn't give her too hard of a time about her age. Hopefully she likes the one I came up with. The heart portion of the card was fun to design; I cut the hearts out using my Cricut and then used the negative piece on my card with a stamped piece of cardstock underneath it.

When the card is opened, you can see the rest of the flowers I stamped plus the sentiment. I know the sentiment looks a little high up on the card, but I wanted to leave space for my family to sign and personalize it.

Creating this was a fun experience, so I may get even braver and try out some of the more complicated fun fold tutorials on their list!

Recipe:
I Am, Intrinsic Backgrounds, Universal Backgrounds & Just a Number stamp sets
Tickled Pink papers & flower die-cut
Kraft, Blush, Crystal Blue & White Daisy cardstock
Hollyhock, Blush, Crystal Blue & Twilight ink
Gold Metallic marker
Black marker
Gold & white ribbon (Michaels)
Edge distressing tool
Cricut Design Studio: heart overlay
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title shape
Cricut Artiste cartridge: 50
Challenges: Double Trouble #92 Fun Folds; Creative Creases #14 Anything Goes with a Fun Fold; Bitten By the Bug Anything Birthday using a Cricut cut; Let's Craft and Create #175 Anything Goes with lots of layers

Friend or Food? Layout

Our cat Thor wasn't quite sure what to make of the hamster, but it was fun to get these photos of him sitting on top of Humphrey's cage! This layout took me a long time to complete; I had put together the background using two patterned paper strips and the leftover die-cut chevrons from a layout I completed back in 2014 (I knew they would come in handy some day), but then it sat on my desk for a while. I was going to play along with last week's challenge from Tic Tac Toe Challenges, so I added the top tag and cut out the cat die-cut, but then inspiration deserted me. Finally pulled the layout out again this morning and added some heat embossing ("friend" and "the story") and enamel dots so I could play along with this week's Tic Tac Toe challenge. Thanks to TTT for giving me the push to get this one done at last!

The photo on the right lifts up to reveal two more photos of my kitty. Here' my favorite one. He's actually yawning but his face look ferocious.

Recipe:
Friendship Word Puzzle, A Typeface & He Said, She Said stamp sets
Dreamin' Big papers
Black, Cranberry, Topiary, Goldrush, Crystal Blue, Grey Wool & White Daisy cardstock
Goldrush, Cranberry & Crystal Blue ink
Goldrush & Black pigment ink
Black marker
Clear embossing powder
Black & White enamel dots
Cranberry ribbon
Flower punch (EK Success)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: chevrons
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: tag
Cricut Artiste cartridge: cat, question mark
Pattern: EMS Sketch Challenge 75

Challenges: 2 Crafty Critter Crazies #55 Anything Goes with a critter; Let's Craft and Create #175 Lots of Layers (I have five layers on two sections of my layout); Tic Tac Toe Challenges #130 (I used the left column down)

Lamassu Layout

We saw these enormous statues during our visit to the Assyrian exhibit at the British museum. Part human with the torso and feet of either a bull or a lion, they once guarded the entrances to the palaces of Assyrian kings. My color scheme is based off of a typical Assyrian color scheme that was discovered by analyzing minute paint pigments discovered on some of their artwork.

Recipe:
Skylark and You & Me papers
Desert Sand, Flaxen, Smoothie, Lagoon & White Daisy cardstock
Desert Sand, Flaxen, Smoothie & Lagoon ink
Black marker
White enamel dots
Smoothie grosgrain ribbon
Lagoon washi tape
Buildings stencil (from my stash)
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: Discover the World, title
Pattern: The Studio Challenges August 2021 sketch

Challenges: Use Your Stuff #430 Anything Goes