cg says [something loudly]

Sugar Water

2012-02-03T08:44:00.000-05:00

Lucky me, I was the random winner of Pattie's Creations Challenge #35! Whoop whoop! I won 2 digi stamps of my choice (always so hard to choose!), so I used one of them (Sweet Nectar) to make this cheery card:

Challenges:

Card Patterns #150: Sketch

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #145: Photo Inspiration (right)

Pattie's Creations Challenge #36: Embossing

Have a sweet day everyone!

Happy Groundhog Day!

2012-02-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

The adorable and apparently immortal groundhog Punxsutawney Phil did his little thing this morning, but I stayed inside and made this card for my husband, using freebies from MelJen's Designs:

That groundhog is too cute. I used Deconstructed Sketch #37 and the Loving You Challenge at MelJen's Designs DT Blog for inspiration. Thank you everyone! Happy Winter!

Dude Time Doodles Jug Band Serenade

2012-02-01T07:22:00.000-05:00

Happy February! Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles is celebrating Valentine's Day this month, so I brought out Cletus, Jethro Jug & Skeeter for little romantic serenade:

This week at Dude Time Doodles we want to see "a touch of RED." You can view that as a color challenge, or be inspired by the photo on the right.

To spread the love, I'm also entering this in the following awesome challenges:
Party Time Tuesdays #53: Anything Goes
Shopping Our Stash Challenge 37: People Who Need People (I've been hoarding this music-patterned paper forever!)
Quirky Crafts Challenge #3: Make a Scene

Here's a close-up of the band:

These images were so fun to color, and work so well with my current favorite embellishment: Sparkly Fluff. I also used black Sparkly Fluff for the banjoman's beard. For the hats, I used FlowerSoft. The "CoonSkin" Hat is made with a mix of yellow flocking and light brown & "Heather" FlowerSoft.

I made the banners from a brown paper bag! I stamped the flattened bag with one of the Pretty Pendants from the set by SP & Company, heat-embossed it in red, squished up the bag, then cut out the pendants. They are glued/strung onto a red-and-white bakers twine. This is literally Baker's twine, in that it came with the sweet bread we bought for Christmas morning at a local bakery!

Can't wait to see what you come up with the Dude Time Doodles Touch of Red Challenge!

Love Note

2012-02-01T06:26:00.001-05:00

Jehanne of Just Some Lines gave her CDAC Group followers this sweet digi stamp this week, and suggested we use it for this week's Just Some Lines Blog Challenge: It's a Dog's Life. I used the sketch from the Critter Sketch Challenge 100 Blog Post Challenge & Hop (congratulations!), and a freebie sentiment from Digi Doodle Shop (I'm always entering this into the DDS Anything Goes Challenge). I was also inspired by the color/photo challenge at CR84FN, but I could only choose 3 challenges to enter :(

The dog is, of course, based on my favorite Card Model, Walt:

...who just wants to take a nap on mommy's sweater, thank you very much!

I lived to 100 and all I got was this card

2012-01-31T10:03:00.001-05:00

My mom started a cardmaking group at her church some time ago, and it's quite the active group now! One of the members likes my cards (Mom of course brings my cards by to show off! Love ya Mom!) so she's commissioned a couple. This time she wants a birthday card for a friend who's turning 100! That's all the information I had, so I tried to make something classic that would appeal to just about anybody:

Stampin' Royalty

I had too many ideas floating around in my head, so I was glad to have some focused inspiration via challenges (hello Feline Playful!) As soon as I saw the Stampin' Royalty Challenge Picture (right), I felt the whole project come together. I think my folks own those blue water glasses! I also used this week's sketch at The Paper Players (see below).

The focus of this card is a rubber stamp by Magenta Style, which I found in a box of stamps Mom acquired. The stamp came back to Maryland with me from Arizona, and now the card I made with it is on its way from Maryland to Arizona! I stamped it six times; all the colors are embossing powders, except for the 2 blues which are stamped in blue inks and then heat-embossed with clear embossing powder (well, the dark one is in clear & the lighter one is in Kaleidoscope). I pieced it in 3 layers, using 2 thicknesses of pop foam. I edged the foam in yellow, but wrapped the final square with white ribbon.

Challenges:

Paper Players #80: Anne Marie's Sketch Challenge (right)

Stampin' Royalty Challenge #108: Picture Inspiration (above right)

Mark's Finest Paper Challenge #92: At Least 4 Layers

Thanks everyone! May you live 100 good years!

A Snowy Valentine

2012-01-29T18:56:00.001-05:00

I awoke to the nicest present in my inbox: the new newsletter from The Stamping Boutique, complete with tutorial & freebie! I really like how Audrey's Heart includes a snow theme...at least in our area, we're more likely to have a White Valentine's than a White Christmas!

I decided to put off the card I should have made today and used the freebie to make this card, with more inspiration from the following challenges:

The Stamping Boutique Challenge #24: Die Cuts

Gingerloft Challenge #32: Let it Snow

Cooking It Up with Katie Challenge #88: Hearts + Punches + Embossing

Card Positioning Systems Sketch #136 (Challenge #1 of their 5th Anniversary Celebration!)

Totally PaperCrafts Challenge: Pearls and Lace
The Corrosive Challenge: I {Heart} You

I recently purchased some wonderful ribbon, twine & embellishments from the NEW online store Can You Digi It?, which you've got to check out. They have some great sales going on! I bought some wooden buttons, and was tickled to see some pretty wooden snowflakes include in my package! One of my favorite parts is that they're pre-painted white; all I did was edge them with a pink Copic marker (R83).I used teh same color to edge the backing papers.

I cut the little hearts with my Cricut, using the Walk in My Garden cartridge. The big Conversation Heart is from an SVG/SCAL set available for free at Denise's Scrapbooking. Thank you Denise!

I edged the light blue background with a Recollections border punch, and patterned the paper by stamping hearts & snowflakes on it and heat-embossing them with two different pink embossing powders (Stampendous & Martha Stewart).

I colored the image with Copic markers, and added dimension to the "snow" with Glossy Accents. I paper-pieced Audrey onto the the heart background, and popped up the little conversation hearts with foam tape.

I finished it off with some pink & regular adhesive pearls. What a great way to spend a chilly Sunday! I craft on my couch, with my husband in his chair playing XBox and working... I had red Copic build on the couch beside me, and Walt decided to jump up to take advantage of the blanket pile. In this house, we live around crafting!

Have a great day!

Pile It On #5 - Just Because

2012-01-29T08:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Sunday! This week's challenge at Pile It On is "Just Because" and we're sponsored by Stamp-N-Doodle.

I've entered this card in the following challenges:

CRAFT #139 - Digi Image, Ribbon, Buttons

Crafting for All Seasons #19 - Blue & White

Dutch Dare Card Challenge #149 - Buttons Galore

Shelly's Images - Text Me

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes

Stampavie Challenge #161 - Blue and white

The Pile It On team members were given this lovely Chickadee digi stamp from Stamp-N-Doodle to play with. Their images are so beautiful...wait till you see what the DT came up with! Wow! I colorized the image in PhotoShop; the image is shaded so well that you really get a great mix of hues. I printed it on thick, textured Letterpress paper, which I used for teh card base as well.

I made the patterned paper by embossing Letterpress paper in my BigShot with a Sizzix Texture folder, and then using a baby wipe to color it with blue Tim Holtz distress ink.

I used a sentiment from the Clearly Beautiful Cardinal set by Prickly Pear, and stamped it in Memento blue. I picked up this Keepsake Shaker Box kit by Dimensional Scrapbooking/DASA Industries at Mom's church's rummage sale. I filled it with blue glitter I got somewhere.

I sewed the buttons onto the card with metallic thread. The button on the frame is glued on, but I did put thread through it first. I used three ribbons on this card; As the Beauty Queen said, I'd like to thank double-sided tape!

Have a great day, and be sure to Pile It On!

A little freaky

2012-01-29T05:47:00.001-05:00

I'm totally crushin' on Dilly Beans Stamps...they are both cute and funky, and use great patterns. I splurged and bought one of their new pre-colored Digi Collage Sheets, Girlie Skellies. The hanging hearts are from the same set, but I printed them on Shrinky Dink plastic and shrunk them in my toaster oven. The heart brads are red, but I heat-embossed a black enamel on the tops.The charm is from Stamp and Create.

This card was inspired by several challenges:

Dilly Beans Designs: Freaked

i[heart]2stamp January Challenge: Sketch

Crafty Ribbons Challenge: Love is Red & Black

HIMCR #31: Nontraditional Valentine's Day Project

One Stop Craft Challenge #167: Stitching

Ruby's Rainbow #20: Red & Black/Valentines

Inside (image from same set):

Kitchenalia

2012-01-26T18:16:00.000-05:00

My followers know that I have a little niece whom I absolutely adore, and one of her many talents is making cookies with Nani (my mother-in-law). So I made this card for them!

The little cutie is the What's Cookin? digi stamp by Mo Manning, and I paired it with this sweet background rubber stamp from Art Impressions Stamps.

Inspiration:

Digital Pencil Challenge #119: All My Favorite Things + Mo Manning image
- This celebrates two of my most favorite activities: crafting and cooking!
Daring Cardmakers: Kitchenalia
- I love Kitchenalia. I love the word & I love filling my kitchen with pretty tools!
iCopic Challenge #66: BV Color Family
- I only have 4 Copic markers from the BV family: BV000, BV00, BV02, BV04. I colored the main image with this build, and colored the flowers with the set as well. The flowers are from a white ribbon; the netting on the sentiment piece is from the same ribbon.
Art Impressions Stamps Challenge #48: A Card for a Child
- I know a four-year-old who's going to be getting her sticky little hands on this!
Mad for Markers January Challenge: Use a New Color Combination
- What a fun challenge! Since I already had chosen a lavender scheme, I paired it with the color Teal to make a combo that I for one have never worked with!

Copics: BV000, BV00, BV02, BV04, BG000, BG10, BG15, BG49, BG09, B000, G00, YG25, YG67, G07, B32, Y08, YR12, YR31, R29, R59, RV02, C-2, C-5, C-7, E50, E51, E33, E11, E13, E17, E37, E47

Dude Time Doodles New Release Blog Hop

2012-01-24T22:00:00.004-05:00

Welcome my stop on the Dude Time Doodles New Release Blog Hop! [If you arrived here from somewhere else, please begin at the beginning, which is a very good place to start!]

One of the Dudettes - or Dude - will be named our MYSTERY HOST at the end of the hop and one lucky person who comments on that blog will win a free Dude Time Doodles image of their choice; So be sure to comment on each blog. You have a whole week to hop!

Here's the hop order:

Anne

Michelle
CG (You're here)
Dawn (Next stop)
Ruth

The Design Team is featuring three fantastic new DTD images: Archie Heartful, Axel Lumberjack, and Syd Sadsack. I used Archie Heartful to make a fairly traditional Valentine's card:

I used the tutorial & template from Extreme Cards & Papercrafting to make the Double Heart Spiral Pop-Up on the inside:

Your next stop on the hop is the wondrous Dawn. Thank you in advance for your comments!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Creative Stamp Friends Challenge #43: Old-Fashioned or Antique
Cupcake Craft Challenge #176: All you need is Love
Critter Sketch Challenge #99: 3 Embellishments
Paper Creations Ink Challenge #17: Love/Romance
Stamp with Fun Challenge #144: Cute Vintage

Birdies & Banners

2012-01-24T20:05:00.001-05:00

We send out a fair amount of Valentines, so I wanted to get another one ready to go. This looks so much better in person! As always, I had plenty of fabulous inspiration:

MelJen's Designs Challenge #93: Red and/or Pink plus Kraft
Fetch-a-Sketch #16
Crafting When We Can Challenge #10: Something Not Intended for Crafting
- I made the banners from a brown paper bag!
Hiding in my Craft Room Challenge #30: Baby Wipe Technique
- I made the pink backing paper with this technique; my first try and it was so fun! The HIMCR tutorial is super, give it a try.

Inside:

Stamps: Love Strung Birds digi stamp by Meljen's Designs (thank you!), Pretty Pendants set by SP & Company
Dies: Sizzlits Scribbles Swirls, Spellbinders circle, Recollections border punch
Paper: Recollections cardstocks, paper bag!
Tools: ZipDry glue, Recollections double-stick tape, BigShot, Marvy heat tool, MS scissors, baby wipe!
Embellishments: Copic markers, Recollections embossing powder, Versamark ink, Sakura gel pen, Martha Stewart adhesive gems, Recollections heart brads, Tim Holtz & 7Gypsies distress inks

Toot toot!

2012-01-23T11:10:00.001-05:00

It's official: I'm part of the One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT) Design Team! Toot toot! (That's me tooting my own horn!) Many thanks to Choccy & Stitchy & everyone at OSAAT [the challenge blog for StitchyBear Digital Stamps]. I'm already having great time!

I made this card as a sort of personal celebration (you know how I love those!); I used a digi stamp from Ike's Art, one of the fantastic artists whose work is available at the StitchyBear store.

For further inspiration, I used the following challenges:

Deconstructed Sketch #35

Colour Create #88: Pink & Green

The Ribbon Reel Challenge #19: Pink Polka Dots< (oops, missed the deadline!)/div>

Some time ago I created this polka-dot digi paper template in InDesign, so I can just go in and change the color scheme and resize it. I printed it on linen cardstock, so it's nice and sturdy! The center ribbon is actually 3 pieces of ribbon. I made the furls on the outer white silk ribbons by pulling on a thread, and then adhering & styling it with double-sided tape.

Polkadots & geraniums always remind me of Spring in Spain, so I used a Spanish sentiment stamp from one of my Dilo en Español sets.

Have a great day everyone, and Happy New Year!

Pile It On #04 - Add Lace

2012-01-22T09:00:00.007-05:00

It's challenge time again at Pile It On! This week we're sponsored by Whoopsi Daisy, and so have the theme "Add Lace" to go with their sweet images. One lucky winner will receive their choice of 2 digi sheets their online shop. I chose this groovy gal from Sheet #261:

This is a Free Standing Pop-Up Card, but it's not really a card as there's no room for a message section!. Here it is closed:

I couldn't get any good light in the house today (and it's too gray outside), and some of the best light is in the living room. So Walt helped me with these photos :) Allen stood behind me & barked the entire time.

Challenges:

Pile It On #4 - Add Lace

Gingersnap Creations Random Redhead Challenge - Use Your Favorite Paper

I Brake for Challenges - Fancy Folds

Whimsical Designs - Anything Goes

Cupcake Craftroom January Challenge - Anything Goes

Hotshot Craft Challenge #3 - Flowers

Karen's Doodles - Paper Piecing

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything But a Card
Crafty Emma - Anything But a Card
Little Claire's - Anything But a Card
Pattie's Creations - Fancy Folds
Craft Your Passion - In the Bag/Box

I had so much fun making this. I've been saving this paper from (I bought it from SP & Company as part of a $5 grab bag!), and I'm glad I used it for this. I printed the Whoopsi Daisy image along with this sentiment by Create with TLC as one piece, and then fussy-cut & colored another copy of the image. Her shirt & pants are printed onto Heidi Grace fabric. I added some embellishment with a glitter pen, and create the 3-D hair with a mix of yellow flocking & light brown FlowerSoft.

I masked the image and created a border with yellow Tattered Angels glimmer mist. I ran the the base piece through my sewing machine to create a zig-zag stitch.

Update: This card won the random prize for Pattie's Creations Challenge #35 - Fancy Folds! Thank you!

Year of the Dragon New Year's card

2012-01-21T14:29:00.001-05:00

This week, the Cheers & Challenges Eclectic Ensemble (CCEE) Stampers are celebrating the Chinese New Year with a fun challenge: "Either use a Dragon on your card or find out what animal relates to your birthday year in the Chinese Zodiac and create a card using that animal." Since I was born in the Year of the Snake, I decided to make a snake-skin pattern...but then it occurred to me that this is very similar to dragon-skin, so I guess this is a two-fer!

As soon as I saw this incredible photo (left) for the Patterned Paper challenge at DYSU, I knew I had to make something with my Mykonos paper by 7 Gypsies. I made the "scales" by lining up a Spellbinders die on the lovely paper and embossing & cutting each circle separately, so this did take quite a while... I also edged them in black.

On another piece from the same paper pad, I heat-embossed this {ippity} Stamps sentiment in black, and added some sheer green ribbon & gold gemstones.

This card is also inspired by Jen Rzasa's gorgeous card for CASE Study #74. In fact, I was so inspired by her work that I used the scrap from my first project to make a 2nd project, this one inspired by Jen's DT card for this week! (Be sure to check out Jen's cards.)

It's difficult to see in this photo, but the top piece is popped up from the base:

I embossed & cut little flowers & centers from another piece of the 7 Gypsies paper, using a Spellbinders die & my Big Shot. I glued the toppers onto tiny metal brads, built the flowers, and used the brads to attach the flowers into the circles.

Everything is distressed with Tea Dye distress ink. Except the sentiment piece, on which I used Antique Linen distress ink. I'm addicted to this stuff now!

The sentiment is from a new-to-me set from Clear Art Stamps. I wanted to stamp it onto ribbon, but I didn't have any that would work so I made made own faux ribbon with a white linen cardstock. I sewed a tight straight stitch in white, and distressed the "ribbon" with ink & my paper distresser.

I also stitched the edges of the top piece, but my bobbin crapped out on my early on so it's just empty stitching. Looked good to me, and was easier than fighting with my machine at that point!

This could be a card, but I really like it and think I'll just hang it in my house. Happy New Year everyone!

One for the Moms

2012-01-20T04:49:00.000-05:00

So have you entered the Dude Time Doodles BINGO Challenge yet? The Design Team examples are so awesome! I was particularly inspired by Anne's cute shaped card featuring Gladys Salt by Dude Time Doodles/Bonibleaux Designs, so I just had to use the image myself. Here's my card, with Walt in the background:

I was intrigued by the current Color Throwdown combo of Ivory, Kraft, Olive & Red, and thought it would look good with the "Stripes & Pearls" theme at Card und More.

I colored Gladys with watercolor pencils, and distressed all the pieces with Antique Linen distress ink. The flower was cut on my Cricut from glassine paper using the Walk in the Garden set. I scrunched up the paper, stacked the pieces, secured them with a brad & glue, and sprayed the flower with a green Tattered Angels glimmer mist. For a final touch, added an adhesive pearl in the center.

I generated the sentiment with Folkard™ font. It's a favorite quote of mine, attributed to Mark Twain: "My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it." The look on Gladys' face is exactly the look Mom gave me when I quoted that to her! Ha ha!

Public Dancer

2012-01-19T09:46:00.001-05:00

My mom was recently given 4 giant boxes full of wood-mounted rubber stamps, and they are slowly making their way to her cardmaking group, friends, and various classrooms she works with that need crafting supplies. One of the stops was in my room at her house, while I was visiting...I swear, I went through those boxes before unpacking! My intention was to use them while I was there, but I got swept up in the holidays and ended up bringing a bunch back with me in my suitcase. Yes, I tipped the skycap! One of the stamps is this fun ballerina from Art Impressions Stamps,and it works so well with this sentiment from Create with TLC.

I embossed & cut out the piece with a Spellbinders die in my Big Shot (Love it!). Although it's difficult to see in these photos, I added pink to the edges of the image & sentiment die cuts with chalks, and sprayed the pieces with matte coating spray. The swirl is from the Scribbles Swirls Sizzlits die, and the flowers are from the Flower Creations Spellbinders Shapeabilities set.

She makes me want to dance across the living room!

Inspiration:

The Crazy Challenge: Tic Tac Toe / left-to-right diagonal (Ribbon/Lace, Image, Gems/Pearls)

The Paper Players Colour Challenge #78: Calypso Coral, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz

Everybody-Art Challenge #176: Sketch

Stamps: Art Impressions Stamps, sentiment from Create with TLC

Paper: Hot Fudge Studio, Recollections, KI Memories, stash

Tools: Big Shot, Sizzlits & Spellbinders dies, HP printer & ink, EK Success corner punch, tweezers

Embellishments: Memento ink, Hero Arts & Martha Stewart self-adhesive gemstones, stash lace & bakers twine, Copic marks, Sakura glitter pen

Update: This card made the Top 5 for The Crazy Challenge #102! Thank you!

Stampin' Up! Love

2012-01-19T09:09:00.000-05:00

I'm so embarrassed; I made a card for this week's "Dies" challenge at Simply Stampin' and completely forgot to include a Stampin' Up! stamp. It's not like this requirement is hidden; I believe it's actually bolded and underlined directly above the Linky LOL! They were nice enough to leave my project in the pool for the random prize (using a Stampin' Up! stamp is a requirement for Top 3), but it's not like I don't have SU! stamps I want to use, so tried my hand at the challenge again.

I stamped this lovely balloon/sentiment from a 2002 SU! set in SU! Wild Wasabi & Memento Rich Cocoa inks. I embossed & cut out the piece with a Spellbinders die in my Big Shot (Love it!). I distressed the circle & the card base (a pre-embossed cardstock) with SU! Barely Banana ink. I stamped a balloon border with the same stamp and colored it (and the center balloon) with SU! watercolor crayons.

I finished off the card with a little ribbon furl. So glad I made this -- I'm very happy with it.

Inspiration:

Simply Stampin' Challenge #42: To DIE for!!!

Emerald Faerie Garden Challenge #16: Green and Gold/Yellow

Cardabilities Sketch #47

Party Time Tuesday's Challenge #51: Happy Birthday

BINGO Challenge at Dude Time Doodles

2012-01-18T07:19:00.000-05:00

This week at the Dude Time Doodles challenge blog we're playing BINGO!

I chose the right-to-left diagonal row: twine, step card & brads.

Wait till you see the DT cards...Wowza! Hope you'll join us. One lucky winner will receive Two images from Pattie's Creations.

I made this card with the Rodeo Randy set from Dude Time Doodles, for my husband to give to his brother on the occasion of the birth of his son (my husband's nephew)!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #59: No Floral Embellishments

One Stitch at a Time Challenge #96: Anything Goes
Crafty Calendar January Challenge: New News
Cards for Men: Boys & their Toys
Pattie's Creations Design Challenge: Fancy Folds

Stamps: Rodeo Randy set from Dude Time Doodles

Paper: DP from stash, Recollections

Tools: Zip Dry glue, glue dots, Fiskars papercutter & finger knife, MS detail scissors, HP printer & ink, hole punch

Embellishments: Recollections embossing powders, stash eyelets, watercolor pencils, Sakura gel pens, Copics for edging, bakers twine, Recollections brads

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-17T22:26:00.000-05:00

I wanted to make a card this evening, so I whipped together this Chinese New Year card with help from the following challenges:

Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #117: Clean & Simple w/Mo Manning Image

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #35: Clean And Simple project with scallops

clean&simple Fall-to Layout #173

I used InDesign to combine Fan's Cricket by Mo Manning and the sentiment by Create with TLC, and printed it onto the smooth side of a banana/coffee bean paper Mom bought on a trip to Ecuador. The backing paper is actual Joss Paper that I bought years ago at a local Chinese market. After coloring the image with Copics & gel pens, I glued the pieces together and ran the whole thing through my Big Shot with a Spellbinders emboss/die. I cut the bottom off of the top piece to reveal the ruffle. It's simple, but very textural.

Have a lucky day!

It's all in the numbers

2012-01-17T17:26:00.000-05:00

It's the 100th Challenge over at Our Craft Lounge, so the theme is to include numbers on your project. I had the perfect papers from a KI Memories set that I've been itching to use, which went great with my favorite Tiddly Inks sets, Whaz Up or Down, which I always have to color like my dogs, Walt & Allen. I also always have to add Polar White FlowerSoft to "Allen" and black OCL Sparkly Fluff to "Walt"!

This is my first time coloring transparent balloons with my Copics, but thanks to a YouTube video I really like the result!

The sentiments are heat-embossed in light blue, and are from a set that I've had for years...it was one of the first stamp sets my mom gave me, way before I was even into cardmaking, so it definitely qualifies this for the Shopping Our Stash Challenge! This week's theme is "Borders", and although it's a little difficult to see (click image to enlarge) I spent a lot of time on the central border. The presents are a strip from one of the pieces from the KI Memories set; I added orange ribbon to the top & bottom of the strip, and hand-sewed a zig-zag border in bakers twine on the bottom.

Inspiration:

Our Craft Lounge Challenge #100: Numbers

Sketch Saturday Week #190

Robyn's Fetish Challenge #90: Animals

Tiddly Inks Challenge #78: green, yellow, orange, blue (+ use Tiddly Inks image)

Shopping Our Stash Challenge 35: create a border detail

Here's Walt with the card:

I wanted to get both of my boys in the photo, and this is the best I could do:

Have a great day everyone!

Dude Time: King of the Neighborhood

2012-01-17T07:43:00.002-05:00

I'm having so much fun as part of the Dude Time Doodles Design Team! I still kinda have to pinch myself! I wanted to make a simple card for the Sexton of the church across the street, who also tends our lawn & keeps me up-to-date on the neighborhood gossip, and the proud Leif Blower from DTD/Bonibleaux Designs seemed a perfect fit. I paired it with this fun sentiment from Create with TLC.

Inspiration:

Card Positioning Systems: Sketch #251
Samuel Taylor's January Blog Challenge: Distressing
I distressed the all pieces with Antique Linen distress ink. Their prize this month is 4 bottles of Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Tea Dye, Weathered Wood, Pine Needles and Worn Lipstick. Oh how I'd love to add those to my collection!

You have until this afternoon to submit to the Dude Time Doodles Freebie challenge, and a new challenge will be posted tomorrow (Wednesday) on the Dude Time Doodles Challenge Blog. Trust me, you won't want to miss this one!

Pile It On #03 - Fuzzy Friends

2012-01-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

Pile It On is sponsored this week by Di's Digi Downloads with the theme of "Fuzzy Friends" so I used her adorable Daffodil Fun digi, which is only $2 and has so many fun crafting possibilities. I made a birthday card appropriate for a child (for the Celebrate the Occasion Challenge), using my NEW Big Shot machine and Spellbinder's dies. Thanks Mom & Dad & Santa!!! I love its emboss/cut function (also qualifies this card for the Use Your New Stash challenge at Ladybug Crafts).

I actually printed this twice and fussy cut the colored image and glued it on top to give it some dimension. The image is colored with watercolor crayons, which give some a great effect! I even added a shadow in crayon behind the sentiment piece, which is raised with pop-foam.

Challenges:
Pile It On #3: Fuzzy Friends

Celebrate the Occasion Challenge #45: Child's Birthday

Ladybug Crafts Challenge #51: Use your new stash

Be sure to check out the gorgeous cards from the Pile It On DT and join us!

Warding off the snow

2012-01-14T02:42:00.000-05:00

I don't want to go jinxing things by saying that it's been a fairly mild winter so far, so I won't. It's bitterly cold today -- at least by my standards -- but sunny. We got a little bit of snow on Monday (exactly during rush hour, thanks Universe), which was very pretty and just enough, thank you. But 'tis the season, so I'm expecting we'll see a bit of the white stuff before Spring; hopefully I'll get to witness one of my favorite sights: a red cardinal in snow. The current theme at the Dilly Beans Challenge Blog is "Frosty," so I decided to make my own version of that scene, in card form!

December's Silly Dilly Beans Stamp Club freebie was their cute Winter Birdie (thank you Megan!), which I thought would be perfect for the "Paper Piecing" challenge at DRS Designs as well as the Totally Papercrafts "Spots & Stripes" and the Fussy & Fancy "Let It Snow!" challenges. I used the sketch from Repeat Impressions.

I paper-pieced the Winter Birdie digi with 3 papers onto a light blue; I added some details with Copics and then ran the whole piece through my embossing machine. I lightly sanded it to show the white core and create "snow".

For the base, I stamped and heat-embossed the grass and sentiment in jade green and white respectively. I picked up this old rubber Sea Grass stamp by Posh Impressions at a church rummage sale and I think I'm going to have lots of fun with it! I cut around the grass blades so that the image piece would fit behind it.

Stamps: Winter Birdie and Girlie Skellies digital collage sheet by Dilly Beans stamps, Sea Grass stamp by Posh Impressions, sentiment from Build-a-Snowman set

Paper: DCWV, Paper Company

Tools: Zip Dry & tacky glues, Fiskars papercutter, Versamark ink, Marvy heat tool, stamp block, Big Shot, MS detail scissors, Recollections double-sided tape, sandpaper, HP printer & ink

Embellishments: Recollections embossing powders, stash eyelets, Copic markers, stash ribbon, Polar White FlowerSoft

With bells on

2012-01-13T05:57:00.001-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I wanted to do some coloring, so I pulled out the lovely Rajasthani Girl digi by the very talented Priyanka (who's blog address I misplaced!) and used the super sketch at Robyn's Fetish Challenge Blog to make this card. I was also inspired by the Embellishments challenge at One Stitch at a Time.

The medallion & sentiment stamps are heat-embossed in gold & silver, and I added detail to the medallion with glitter and gel pens.

The backing paper is actually from India!

Update: Whoo hoo! This card made the top 3 for Robyn's Fetish Challenge #89! Thank you!

Valentine's Graffiti

2012-01-12T17:54:00.001-05:00

I had so much fun making my funny Valentine with this week's Dude Time Doodles FREEBIE (join the challenge for your chance to be Guest Designer!), that I wanted to follow my heart and make another, ha ha.

I've been itching to use one of the neato wooden picket fences I got in a swap, so I decided to pair it with this cute Penny Back stamp. I stamped the image with black StazOn and then cut it out with a cut beautiful Spellbinder's die in my Big Shot (LOVE that machine!). I colored the frame & background with watercolor crayons, but I used watercolor pencils for the image itself. Using double-sided tape, I added some flair to the top with pink tulle. I adhered the image to the base with double pop-foam.

I painted the wooden fence with brown acrylic paint, sanded it a bit, and heat-embossed some hearts in red. Before embossing it, I sprayed the piece with matte coating, which has the added effect of repelling the stray embossing powder. I tied a small charm on it before gluing it down.

I was inspired by the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday #189

Penny Black @ Allsorts January Challenge: Love & Hearts

Dude Time Doodles January FREEBIE Challenge

2012-01-11T06:40:00.001-05:00

Woot woot it's time for another Freebie Challenge at Dude Time Doodles! This week we have Count Vladimir to play with.

Hint hint, the current challenge at Pile It On is Manly Cards, sponsored by none other than Dude Time Doodles/Bonibleaux Designs! So why not join both challenges, and maybe a few more?

I gave him black jeans, because he's a romeo! Remember that song by Michael Penn? "What if I were Romeo in black jeans? What if I was Heathcliff, it's no myth..." My husband put that on a mixed tape for me when we were dating in High School ... love him so much!

This silly sentiment (Happy Valentine's from one bleeding heart to another) just popped into my head, so I heat-embossed it in red using the Bleeding Freaks font by Thomas W.Otto. For the frames, I used one from a the Frame It Fab set by Create with TLC. This heat-embossed from the printer so well!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Pretty Little Ribbon Shop January Challenge #6: Be my Valentine
Anything Goes Challenge 58: Anything Goes

Stamps: Count Vladimir from Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles, Frame It Fab set by Create with TLC, Bleeding Freaks font by Thomas W.Otto

Paper: Hammermill, Recollections, patterned velvet paper
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Marvy heat tool, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, Martha Stewart detail scissors, ZipDry glue, ZIG glue pens
Supplies: Our Craft Lounge sparkly fluff, Copic markers, Recollections embossing powder & adhesives gems, silk ribbon

Green Hydrangeas

2012-01-10T19:40:00.001-05:00

I wanted to do a little stamping, so I used the lovely Hydrangea Bouquet set from Raisin Boat .

The image is made of 4 stamps (3 from the set & a Hero Arts sentiment), but I did it 5 steps. The flower bunch and leaf is one piece, so I stamped & embossed in the leaf, cleaned the stamp, and embossed the bunch in a lighter green. The stems are in the same Stampendous Glitter Jade as the leaf, and the vase & sentiment are in a pretty Recollections red.

I was inspired by the sketch at CardPatterns and the red, cream and sage green color color at Colour Create. I sewed on the buttons onto a stack of lace, some leftover Christmas present ribbon, & a pattern ribbon.

I drew on the border with an Elmer's gel pen, and used a flower stamp from the Raisin Boat set to decorate the inside.

Inspiration:

Colour Create Challenge 87: Red, cream and sage green

CardPatterns #147: Sketch

Birthday Sundaes Challenge #38: Birthday Cards

Sweet Stampin': Spots & Dots

Happy Day everyone!

Christmas Thank-You

2012-01-10T18:07:00.000-05:00

We spent Christmas at my parents', so when we arrived home we had a big box of presents from my mother-in-law. We physically got home at 2 in the morning, but we were so happy to see our sweet dogs after a week away that we stayed up and had a second Christmas! Several days later, I was organizing the recycling pile and decided to grab out the pretty wrapping she used to make her a thank-you card (I kept the beautiful tags & ribbon she used for next year!)

I was intrigued by the Recycling themes at Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenges and Squiggle Stamps, so I made the backing and little presents by wrapping pieces of cardboard (actually from the packaging for my new Fiskars papercutter!)

Both the cute dog stamp & the holly border are from sets my Mom got free with her Quick Cards magazines.

Inspiration:

Card Positioning Systems #250: Sketch

CRAFT Challenge 136: Thank You

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge: Recycle Something

Squiggle Stamps: Recycle/Uprecycle

Crafts & Me Christmas Bumper Challenge #66: Anything Goes

I added dotted borders to the front and inside with a Sakura gel pen.

Stamps: Dulcie Jackson and Adam Pescott for Quick Cards, Hero Arts

Dude Time Doodles Piles It On!

2012-01-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

This week's challenge at Pile It On is sponsored by Dude Time Doodles, so we have the theme "Manly Cards," whatever that means to you! It can be for a man or boy, or something that a man or boy would give. Hope you'll join us.

I used the Ernie Carpenter set from Dude Time Doodles/Bonibleaux Designs.

I heat-embossed the Builder3 sentiment onto blue metallic paper. I had lots of fun with Ernie: I colored him Copics, and then used Flowersoft on his hammer & cuffs, and flocking on his hat and hair (love the Sparkly Black flocking from Our Craft Lounge!)

I cut strips of Echo Park DP for the background, and covered the edges with dark blue-and-white baker's twine. I strung up the "loose wires" (actually silver elastic) with my favorite brads.

For the inside backing paper, I used a piece of silver-embossed white, handmade paper I found in my stash. I colored this Carpenter Box digi from Tiddly Inks, added silver FlowerSoft on the pliers, and stamped the "Happy Birthday" Hero Arts sentiment & heat-embossed it in silver.

Challenges:

Pile It On - Manly Cards

Skipping Stones Designs - Sketch Challenge

Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge - Brads (or eyelets)

Crafty Creations - Heat Embossing

Little Red Wagon - Felt or flocking

Fussy and Fancy - Happy Birthday (or use animal print)

Kathy’s Lily Pad Palette - Color Combo (with Our Craft Lounge)

Our Craft Lounge - Color Combo + photo inspiration (with Lily Pad)

Hello Little One

2012-01-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

My sister-in-law's best friend just had her second child, and being as she's practically family I wanted to send along a card.

This week's Lili of the Valley Challenge is New Beginnings and I just happen to have a new Baby stamp from LOTV! I used the lovely color combo #118 at ColourQ and the fab sketch #33 from Deconstructing Jen.

The Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge recently changed management, and I'm so glad that it's still up & running as Lili's Little Fairies!

Anything Goes at Dude Time Doodles

2012-01-04T08:00:00.002-05:00

This week at the Dude Time Doodles Challenge Blog, Anything Goes!

Friday, January 6 is Epiphany/Three Kings Day in Christian tradition, so I decided to make a card for my parents featuring modern versions of the Magi -- I know it will make them laugh. I decided to do very little research, and was able to incorporate frankincense, myrrh, and gold into the image!

Although I always liked putting my shoes out, I wasn't always excited about the annual Three Kings Day parade, which largely featured costumed people on floats hurling candy into crowds of children. I was beaned right between the eyes by a particularly enthusiastic King when I was 4 or so, and it taught me a valuable lesson, probably. So I was excited to find this candy-themed paper in my stash, as it will really make my folks smile, and also makes it qualify for the Sports Team Colors challenge at Use It Tuesdays! For the Team colors, I went with family favorites: left to right: Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, Arizona State University.

I used a green glitter pen to fill in the highlights on the candy pieces, and added one to the back:

Be sure to follow the few simple rules listed over at Dude Time Doodles and link your creation with Mr. Linky by January 10th for your chance to win a Dude Time image of your choice.

Above the Weather

2012-01-04T04:10:00.000-05:00

I have many new goodies from my trip at the holidays, including lots of ribbons, some glassine paper, and a pretty set of cardinal stamps. I was able to use them all for this relatively simple card inspired by the following challenges:

Fetch-a-Sketch #14

The Shabby Tea Room Challenge #95: Time Flies + Photo Inspiration + Something with Wings

Thanks everyone! Have a great day. And don't forget the Anything Goes challenge at Pile It On, and well as the new challenge at Dude Time Doodles (to be posted at 8AM).

I made the flowers by cutting pieces out of glassine paper on my Cricut from the Walk in the Garden set. I scrunched up the paper, stacked the pieces & secured them with a brad & glue. Then I sprayed them with Tattered Angels glimmer mists: Sunshine Yellow and Jack O'Lantern. I stamped a Stampin' UP sentiment on the inside:

Kind Thanks

2012-01-02T19:00:00.001-05:00

While visiting Arizona, Mom & I spent a lot of time at the local craft store Crop Girls, truly a wonderland for those of us who craft. We went in a few days just to crop & hang out, and also took a couple of classes. I wanted to send them a thank-you, so I made this card using a lot of products they introduced me to!

I was inspired by the following challenges:

Card Patterns Sketch #146
The sketch really brought my idea together, especially the little embellishments on the right-hand side: I used tiny, vintage-y paperclips from 7Gypsies.
Craft Your Passion Challenge #91: Anything Goes + Distressing
All the pieces, thanks to Tim Holtz products, are ink-distressed with Antique Linen and aged with a paper distresser.
Simon Says Stamp and Show: Something Old ... Something New
The teensy paperclips, enamel & glitter (see explanation below), and the rose-and-netting ribbon are new from Crop Girls too, but the large rose is from a ribbon sent to me from the awesome Linda for the Thanksgiving Postcard swap at City Crafter. Mom already owned this adorable camel stamp, but I liked it so much that she bought me my own set! Thanks Mom! I stamped it with my new brown Memento ink and colored it with colored pencils. The pencils, paper ribbon, and 2 of the brown papers are newly in my possession but are literary old, in that they went through many hands before ending up the Church rummage sale where I found them! The other two brown papers have been in my stash for at least two years.

I used a technique we learned in a class at Crop Girls taught by Jennifer Dove: Fran•táge. Fran•táge was invented by Stampendous designer Fran Seiford, and it's a mix of montage, collage and total awesomeness. Jennifer showed us how to layer enamel and mica onto a card and melt it from below with your heat tool. If you have an opportunity to take class in this, do it! It's so much fun. I wanted all the products (the aged blue is wonderful!), but I bought the Aged Copper enamel (copper with a touch a green) and Shaved Ice mica/glitter.

Stamps: BaZooples #4 set from Inky Antics, sentiment from Stampin' UP!

A Banner New Year

2012-01-02T16:33:00.001-05:00

I had a great time visiting my parents in Arizona over the winter holidays, and wanted to make them a special thank-you card. What better inspiration than the very first Stamping With Sami (SWS) Challenge from SP & Company Stamps! I used their Pretty Pendants & the matching SVG files to create the banner for this tri-fold card.

I was really drawn to this week's Sketch Challenge at Simply Stamping, and I can think you can tell I had great fun with it! Other than the Pendants and the backing papers, all DPs & stamps are Stampin' UP!

Inspiration/Challenges:

Stamping With Sami (SWS) Challenge #1: Stamp Something! / Use your SP and Company Stamps

Simply Stamping Challenge #40: Sketch

Stamps: Pretty Pendants & matching SVG files by SP & Company, Stampin' UP!

Paper: Stampin' UP!, Recollections, Paper & More

Tools: Zip Dry glue, Versamark & Memento inks, Marvy heat tool, stamp block, Cricut & SCAL, hole punch, Crop-O-Dile II, Sew Easy straight-stitch tool & piercing mat

Embellishments: Recollections embossing powders & pop-tape, stash eyelets, baker's twine from Crop Girls, Copic markers, Crayola colored pencils, ribbon from Christmas present packaging(!)

Update: Wow, this card made the Top 3 for the Simply Stamping Challenge #40! Thank you!

Pile It On for the New Year!

2012-01-01T00:00:00.006-05:00

I'm so pleased to be ringing in the New Year with Pile It On's first challenge of 2012! Our Anything Goes theme is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp, so I know you'll want to join us!

Boy, we have a talented bunch at Pile It On, made even better with the addition of our fabulous new teammates. Our whole team is participating this week, and even your favorite volunteer (er, me) joined in with this altered box (originally packaging for delicious cheese).

Here are my challenges for this project:

Pile It On #01: Anything Goes

Colour Create Challenge #86: Blue, Silver & White + Embossing

CRAFT Challenge #135: New Year

4 Crafty Chicks Crazy Egg Challenge #70: Something New

Paper Pretties #186: Ring in the New Year

Top Tip Challenge #66: Anything Goes

Stamps: Pretty Pendants & matching SVG files by SP & Company, frame by Fiskars, sentiment by Hero Arts, Freeform font (2s slightly modified)
Paper: Recollections (two versions of silver paper & glitter cardstock), Core'dinations
Tools: Zip Dry & Tacky glues, red double-sided tape, Marvy heat tool, stamp block, Cricut & SCAL
Embellishments: Offray ribbons, silver elastic, stash brads, Stampendous & Recollections embossing powders, Elmer's glitter pen, tissue paper flowers, Tattered Angels glimmer mist (Granite), Copic marker for edging (Royal Blue)

Thank you everyone, and here's to a great year of crafting!

Dude Time Doodles December Inspirational Challenge

2011-12-21T00:30:00.000-05:00

This week is the Dude Time Doodles December Inspirational Challenge, and we want to see projects featuring, in some way, your Favorite Christmas Movie.

Our Design Team did a super job showcasing how to incorporate Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles into this theme, and we can't wait to see what you come up with.

My favorite Christmas movie, no contest, is the original, animated The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. I used a quote from the end of the poem by Dr. Suess [ref.]: "Maybe Christmas ... doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas - perhaps - means a little bit more!" And paired it with a funny sentiment on the inside: "Hope that's true, because all you're gettin' is this card!"

On the front, the frame is a digi stamp from Create with TLC, and the rest are from Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles. I printed them onto Shrinky Dink plastic, shrunk them in my toaster oven, and then colored the tree & presents with gel pens. You can't see it in the photo, but I stamped a flourish in clear embossing powder on the sentiment piece, after I printed it. The image on the inside is by Marlooney, available from Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles. I love that little guy!

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Hooked on Crafts Challenge #14: Christmas
The Crazy Challenge #98: Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #51: Anything Goes
Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge Week 86: Make a Christmas Card

Stamps: O Christmas Tree, Santa's Balls & Presents! from Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles, Frame digi stamp by Create with TLC, Fiskars sentiment stamp

Paper: Studio G, Hammermill, Recollections, Shrinky Dink plastic
Tools: Fiskars papercutter & finger knife, Marvy heat tool, acrylic block, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, Martha Stewart scissors, ZipDry glue, toaster oven
Supplies: Sakura & Elmer's gel pens, Copic markers

Dude Time Doodles Dec 14 / Marlooney image

2011-12-14T08:00:00.003-05:00

This week at Dude Time Doodles we're showcasing a fun image by Marlooney to get you ready to Valentine's Day! This is called "Cheap Valentine", doesn't her expression say it all?!

Not being prepared to depart 2011 quite yet, I made a Christmas Gift Card Holder:

And the inside:

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges, which you might be interested in as well:
PaperCrafting Journey: Christmas Creations
Samuel Taylor's December Challenge: Anything Goes

Pop-up Gift Card Holder Tutorial at Paper Garden Projects

Stamps: Cheap Valentine & Santa's Balls by Marlooney for Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles, Clouds digi stamp from Shelly's Images (thank you!), sentiment generated with Banjoman font

Paper: Hammermill, Graphic 45, stash DP, white linen cardstock from Paper and More
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Martha Stewart detail scissors, ZipDry glue, ZIG glue pen, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign
Supplies: Recollections flocking, stash pearl necklace, Elmer's & Sakura gel pens, Copic markers

Fetch-a-Sketch Challenge #13 sponsored by Dude Time Doodles

2011-12-12T12:00:00.008-05:00

Dude Time Doodles is sponsoring this week's Fetch-a-Sketch challenge, so you know there's going to be some great inspiration from both Design Teams! I had lots of fun making this card, using the sketch & Santi Beaches.

It's a bit difficult to see, but the base of this card is acetate (clear plastic).

Hope you'll join along at Fetch-a-Sketch, and maybe even pull out your Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles images!

Stamps: Santi Beaches & Presents! by Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles, sentiment from Studio G, pine tree stamp by Tim Holtz, FIskars frame stamp

Paper: Hammermill, Recollections, acetate, stash DP
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Tim Holtz paper distresser, needle, Marvy heat tool, Martha Stewart detail scissors, ZipDry glue, ZIG glue pen, Singer sewing machine, acrylic block, ProvoCraft corner punch
Supplies: Recollections embossing powder & flocking, thread, Versamark & Memento inks, tulle

Dude Time Doodles Challenge reminder and freebie

2011-12-10T23:42:00.000-05:00

I haven't participated in the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge for quite a while, and found the perfect reason when I saw "Kris Jingle" being offered for FREE on the Dude Time Doodles blog! It's only available for a limited time, and I'm looking forward to seeing people use it for our current challenge DTD Challenge, "Show Us Your December Holiday Spirit". And while you're at it, why not Bling It On for the December Pile It On challenge‽

Peace on Earth with Fall-to Layouts and ColourQ

2011-12-10T02:11:00.001-05:00

I've been on a stamping/embossing kick, so I decided to try my hand at the ColourQ Combo #114 (Poppy Parade, Certainly Celery, Cool Caribbean, Kraft + white) and Clean&Simple Fall-to Layout #168. Oh my goodness, be sure to check out the DT and contestant projects for both challenges...simply amazing. I was truly inspired.

The blue & white pieces are stamped & heat-embossed with snowflakes in Kaleidoscope (clear, glittery embossing powder). I used some small snowflake stamps to heat-emboss the border on the red circle. The "shadow" is the same kind of paper, but embossed all over in Kaleidoscope. I added a little hand-drawn border on the kraft piece with a glitter gel pen.

Stamps: Raisin Boat, Martha Stewart, K&Co.

Up on the Housetop

2011-12-08T13:21:00.000-05:00

I actually find myself in the odd position of being kinda caught-up with my holiday cards...but I can always make more! I couldn't resist using a couple of the super holiday freebies from Tellen's Place Designs...and it was the perfect opportunity to finally use the reindeer-themed stamp set from Studio G (I think) that I've had in my Christmas stash for years. Gotta love those little hooves! For the layout, I turned to Mojo Monday Sketch #218. Thanks everyone!

This card is all about texture (you know how I love texture!): The base is a shiny, textured Core'dinations cardstock; the bright white piece is Hammermill cardstock heat-embossed with snowflakes in Kaleidoscope (glittery, clear embossing powder); the oval is plain Recollections paper with the sentiment stamped with chalk ink & heat-embossed in Kaleidoscope; the strip uses the same Recollections paper but the hooves are heat-embossed in copper. I colorized the image in brown & printed it on white linen cardstock. Santa's beard is covered in white flocking (as is Ally's outfit on the inside, see below), the white on his hat & coat are heat-embossed with clear powder, and the snow on the chimney is heat-embossed in Kaleidoscope (I love that stuff!). I "paper-pierced" the edges with my sewing machine.

Can't believe Christmas is right around the corner! I'm certainly feeling the spirit :)

Feeling peaceful with Glitterbabe

2011-12-08T10:27:00.000-05:00

This week's Dudetime Doodles December Holiday Spirit Challenge is being sponsored by Glitterbabe's Digis, so as a way to advertise both I made this simple card featuring GlitterBabe's Dove digi stamp (thank you!). I've included instructions & tips on how to heat-emboss digi stamps, just scroll down. I was also inspired by the first of the 2012 Christmas Card Challenges (oh my!): One Layer Christmas Card.

I made a border the circle around the digi stamp, and heat-embossed it. Then I stamped & heat-embossed Peace in the middle. It's nearly impossible to see in this photo, but I painted the dove's body with Granite Tattered Angels glimmer mist. I added - • - • - borders on the front with a Sharpie white paint pen and on the inside with an Elmer's glitter gel pen.

There are plenty of great tutorials out there on how to heat-emboss digi stamps (CDAC, Digital Delights, Mel Stampz), but here's how I do it:

I finally broke down & bought an "embossing-buddy", a little cotton bag filled with cornstarch that you rub over your paper before heat-embossing so that excess powder doesn't stick. Oh my goodness it was worth every penny! If you have one, rub it over the paper before printing.
I use coated cardstock from Recollections' Metallics line (available at Michael's). Using photo paper also works, but you have to worry about the coating bubbling up. If you use photo paper, you want to print it at "high quality", but I find that with the Recollections paper it works best to print it at normal quality, but run it through the printer twice (quick, like a bunny!)
Immediately pour on the embossing powder; I like to give it a minute to stick, then I knock off the excess & heat it up. Easy-peasy!

Dude Time Doodles First Wednesday Challenge: Holiday Spirit!

2011-12-06T22:00:00.007-05:00

Dude Time Doodles is kicking off December with a theme challenge: December Holidays, or, more specifically, we want you to Show Us Your Holiday Spirit!

Our sponsor this week is Glitterbabe, and the lucky winner will receive 2 free images from her store...*3* if the winning participant uses a Glitterbabe image. Can't see what you will create.

I become such a kid again during the holidays, which means I'm also prone to a certain amount of mischief-making. So here's my take on showing a little Christmas Spirit:

The framed pictures are Santi Beaches, Duck Snowball Warrior by Dude Time Doodles, which I printed onto Shrinky Dink plastic, colored, and shrunk in my toaster oven. I made the Christmasy scene with O Christmas Tree & Down the Stairs, and generated "Santa's Work Shop" for the little door.

Both Mooning Elf & the Christmas Cheek sentiment (below) are by Marlooney & are sold at the Bonibleaux Designs store.

Challenges:
Dude Time Doodles: Show us your Holiday Spirit for December

Come & Get It Challenges: Anything Christmas
Here Come the Boys Challenge #16: For the Man/Men in your Life
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle: Holiday Card

Bonibleaux Designs digi stamps:

O Christmas Tree, Down the Stairs, Santi Beaches, Duck Snowball Warrior by Dude Time Doodles

Mooning Elf, Christmas Cheek sentiment by Marlooney

Paper: K&Co., Hammermill, Recollections, Shrinky Dink plastic
Tools: Fiskars papercutter & finger knife, toaster oven, acrylic block, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, Martha Stewart scissors, ZipDry glue
Supplies: Sakura & Elmer's gel pens, Copic markers

Pile It On for December: Bling with Designed2Delight

2011-12-03T22:00:00.008-05:00

The current Pile It On Challenge is going to last all December, so you have plenty of time to play along! The sponsor is Designed2Delight and our theme is Bling.

One of the Pile It On DT members is sitting out this session (life happens!) so I rushed in to pinch-craft. Designed2Delight very generously let us choose our images from their great store, and let me tell you I'm gonna have to buy this one! Aren't these Whimsical Cardinals so expressive‽ If you click on the image, you can view it larger to see all the details.

I knew I wanted to paper-piece the image, but I ended up using fabric from a pack of Heidi Grace swatches. I printed the background pieces, cardinals, and their scarves onto the fabric, which I ran through my inkjet printer by taping it securely onto a piece of cardstock. Making sure the top is well-secured is key. This method works well for printing on tissue paper, too.

I was especially pleased to find that the images were offered together as well as separately; that's not usually the case with stamps (even digital ones), and it makes this a super deal! Having the images separately as well made it easier to print & piece. Fussy-cutting the fabric wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done, but I'm happy with the result.

I added some fringe to pre-beaded stick pins that Mom sent me recently. Man, those are some serious pins! My childhood best friend had a beautiful collection of vintage hat pins, and I remember thinking they were more formidable than a collection of pocket knives! They were really fun to use.

I stamped & heat-embossed the sentiment in red onto a ready-made tag. It says "happy holidays from our house to yours," but since the photo above actually includes my neighbor's house, here's one facing our actual house:

Challenges:

Pile It On Challenge #49: Bling

Going Grey with Scrap-Creations Challenge: Christmas

Jingle Belles: Holiday Card Link-up Party

Raise the Bar Challenge #86 + DT Call(!): Christmas

Bling it On December Challenge: Christmas

Scrappin' Chics December Challenge: December Holidays / Anything Goes

Forever Friends December Challenge: Christmas + use an Animal

Stamps: Whimsical Cardinals digi stamp by Designed2Delight, sentiment from Studio G (I think)

Tools: Fiskars papercutter, needle, awl, Marvy heat tool, acrylic block, HP printer & ink, Adobe InsDesign, Tim Holtz scissors, ZipDry glue, Crop-O-Dile II
Supplies: Heidi Grace fabric swatches, Recollections embossing powder & adhesive gemstones, metallic cord from stash (well, pulled off of ready-made Christmas tags), Versamark ink, tulle, Sakura & Elmer's gel pens, decorative pins from stash (thanks Mom!), Tattered Angels glimmer mist

a Real Red fingered dawn

2011-12-03T16:06:00.001-05:00

I loved making Christmas projects last year with SP & Company's Ornamental Trees set, and when I saw SP Color Combo #128 (Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Lucky Limeade), I just had to pull out the set. I made a scene using these lovely triangles, and was inspired by Homer's epithet in The Iliad: rosy fingered dawn [ref.]. Although in this case it's a Real Red fingered dawn!

I matched my idea with the Card Positioning Systems Sketch #246 to make this Shabby Chic-ish card:

I used masking and emboss-resist to create the top panel.

Inspiration:

SP Color Combo #128: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Lucky Limeade

Card Positioning Systems #246: Sketch by Tami Mayberry

Stamps: Ornamental Trees by SP & Company, sentiment from Tim Holtz

Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Tim Holtz paper distresser, needle, Marvy heat tool, Martha Stewart detail scissors, ZipDry glue, Singer sewing machine, acrylic block
Supplies: natural paper & cardstock from stash, Recollections embossing powder & pop-dots, thread, Versamark, Inkadinkado & Memento inks, Paper Pretties ribbon

Update: Whoo-hoo, this card won SP Color Combo #128!

Cooking It Up with Katie Challenge, sponsored by Dude Time Doodles

2011-12-03T08:47:00.000-05:00

Dude Time Doodles is sponsoring the current, Anything Goes challenge at Cooking It Up with Katie Challenge (Nov. 30 - Jan. 5), and I just had to make a card for the occasion using Hanukkah Harry!

I made a flap card. Here it is closed:

Isn't he just something else?! I paper pieced him using, in part, Core'dinations cardstocks. Love this stuff...his coat is from their Whitewash collections, white to blue. I machine-embossed & sanded it to reveal this lovely pattern. His at & pants are Core'dinations too, black-to-brown from their Black Magic collection. I printed the image, flipped, onto the light side of the paper and then sorta scraped the detail lines onto the black side. Worked great, very easy!
The card opens:

The sentiments & image on the inside are all from Dude Time Doodles too. I made a piercing template for the little hand-sewn Stars of David, and although they were a bit time-consuming, they were totally worth it. So cute!

For the back, I used two Hanukkah stamps from a Stampin' Up! set. It's difficult to see in this photo, but the Star of David is stamped & clear heat-embossed on both the back of the card (light blue) and the back of the message card.

Don't forget to visit Cooking It Up with Katie to see all the lovely creations. I heard a "rumor" that NanaConnie is going to be featuring Dude Time Doodles cards all through December, so be sure to check out her blog too!

Stamps: Hanukkah Harry, Menorah and Hanukkah Sentiments from Dude Time Doodles, Jewish Holidays stamp set from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Fiskars papercutter & deckle scissors, HP printer & ink, sandpaper, Sizzix Texture Boutique & embossing plate, awl, needle, Marvy heat tool & punch, Martha Stewart detail scissors, Provocraft corner punch
Paper: Core'dinations Whitewash, Hammermill, Recollections, Mark's Finest
Embellishments: Copic markers, Recollections embossing powder & adhesive gemstones, variegated floss, Versamark & Memento inks, Copic markers for edging, Sakura gel pens

Dude Time Doodles New Release Blog Hop

2011-11-29T22:00:00.012-05:00

Welcome to your first stop on this month's Dude Time Doodles New Release Blog Hop! There're 5 new super-fun images out today: Abner Abominable, Fanny SkiBum, Gabe Gretna, Harold HoHoZzzz, and Welder Wenceslas.

I'm so excited to get to join them this month as the November Guest Designer. In fact, just as I was finishing up this very card, they asked me to come onto the team! Wow! Of course I accepted, and now I kinda feel like I made this card for myself! Thanks everyone, it's like a party everyday!

Here's the hop order:

Linda (Next stop)

One of the Dudettes - or Dude - will be named our MYSTERY HOSTESS at the end of the hop and one lucky person who comments on that blog will win a free Dude Time Doodles image of their choice.

Here's my card, using Gabe Gretna:

Thanks for stopping by, and stay crafty!

Sugar and Spice challenge at Pile It On, sponsored by Whoopsi Daisy

2011-11-29T17:02:00.000-05:00

[This post was supposed to go up on Sunday, but Blogger ate my homework. And, much like the child whose puppy ate her homework two days before it was actually due, I had ample time to rewrite it but I was visiting the in-laws and, well, playing dolls with our 4-year-old niece trumped my remembering my blogging duties! Oh well, better late than never:]

The Pile It On challenge this week is sponsored by Whoopsi Daisy Designs, and in the spirit of their sweet & girly digi stamps, the theme is Sugar & Spice (Girly, baking, color, etc.). As always, the PIO Design Team made awesome projects, so you'll have plenty of inspiration! Hope you'll join us.

Here's my take, using this adorable digi stamp from Whoopsi Daisy Designs:

This is a Side Spring card, and I adore that it really only takes one sheet of paper. I first saw this type of card at Grannyscards, and it was easy to follow the Splitcoast Stampers tutorial that she linked to.

Here it is "open":

And the back message section:

Inspiration:
[I missed the deadlines on the last 2 challenges this card was inspired by!]

Pile It On #48: Sugar & Spice (Girly, baking, color, etc.)

MyGrafico Challenge 115: Dinner/Cleaning

Stamps + Fun = Creativity Challenge #74: Stitching
Top Tip Tuesday Challenge #61: More than 1 fold

Simply Merry

2011-11-23T07:08:00.001-05:00

Here's a quick Christmas card I whipped out the other night.

Inspiration:

Fetch-a-Sketch Challenge #11

Samuel Taylor's November Challenge: Christmas Card

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C114: Black + White + WOW

Lights through the Darkness

2011-11-22T22:01:00.001-05:00

It's certainly been wintry here; we have one last tree changing & dropping leaves, so I'm enjoying the burst of yellow before the view empties into spidery branches against the flat sky. Although it does open up to the most beautiful nightly view of Orion.

I've lived in places that don't have much of a winter, and even though I'm cold and slightly blue the whole way through, I rather enjoy the winters in Maryland. There's something so starkly beautiful about those months, and especially at this time of year when people put candles & lights in their windows. Festivals of Light are are one of those human phenomena, a universal need to shine a little light through the darkness.

Last year I was blown away by Chen Rosenberg's cityscape Hanukkah card, and I thought of it again when I saw Kryssi Ng's card for this week's CASE Study. Inspired by both, I made my own version using this fab Silhouette freebie from Beyond the Fringe Crafts:

And the inside:

Inspiration:

CASE Study Challenge #66: CASE card by Kryssi Ng

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge: Die Cuts

Paper Crafting Journey Challenge #23: Embossing

Stamps: Wonky Silhouette by Beyond the Fringe Crafts, Let It Shine sentiment from Verve Stamps, Happy Holidays sentiment from Studio G (I think)

Tools: Fiskars papercutter & punch, Cricut, SCAL, HP printer & ink, Sizzix Texture Boutique & embossing plate, ZipDry glue, Marvy heat tool, makeup sponge

Paper: Recollections, scrap posterboard, Paper Pizazz

Embellishments: Copic markers, Stampendous embossing powders, Tim Holtz Distress inks, Tattered Angels glimmer & chalk mists

Sentimental Sundays Challenge, sponsored by Dude Time Doodles

2011-11-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

I'm really enjoying my time as Guest Designer at Dude Time Doodles (DTD), and I couldn't resist making something for this week's Sentimental Sundays Challenge, which DTD is sponsoring.

The challenge theme is Masculine Gift Tags (plus a sentiment), so I made a tag using the Let's Hear it for the Boys! set from Sentimental Sundays (provided for this challenge; Thank you!) as well as Tim Tightend from Bonibleaux Designs/Dude Time Doodles.

So fun! I used a basketball-embossed paper I bought some time ago for a project, and ran the yellow pieces through my embossing machine more adding the colored pieces. The "be merry" sentiment is a polymer stamp (Studio G I think?); isn't it just right with that DTD image?!

Hope you'll join the fun and make a tag for this challenge.

Postcard Swap at City Crafter - My loot!

2011-11-20T21:34:00.001-05:00

I had so much fun making my postcard for the Thanksgiving Postcard Challenge / Swap at City Crafter, and was truly inspired by all the entries. We have until Nov. 22 to send out our postcard & some Thanksgiving goodies to our swap partner, and I just sent mine out yesterday. However, my swap partner, Linda from My Happy Place, was really on the ball and I received my goodies from her on Friday! Whoop! Thank you so much Linda, it brightened my whole weekend.

Before we get to the goodies, here's the way this beautiful package arrived at my doorstep:

Wowza! It's decorated on the front too. Just think of all the smiles this gave along the way!

And here's what was inside:

Linda's postcard is so lovely and cheerful...The stitching is so exact and perfect, I can't believe it. You can read more about the postcard in her original post.

And now for the goodies:

I cannot wait to use all of this! That rose ribbon is so fantastic that I might just hang it up in the house to admire!

Many thanks to Linda and the whole team at City Crafter. Looking forward to more challenges and swaps!

Update: Linda enjoyed the package I sent her as well! Be sure to check out all the final swaps on the City Crafter Party blog.

Dude Time Doodles November Inspirational Challenge

2011-11-16T00:00:00.006-05:00

This week's Dude Time Doodles challenge is an inspiration challenge: Make a card inspired by the image on the right. You can interpret it any way you'd like: Thanksgiving, color theme, leaves, gratitude, turkeys, whatever! Here's the official scoop:

1. Use the photo / color inspiration and the Dude and Dudette creations to get your mojo moving.

2. You are not required to use BDD images. Although it would make us really really happy and giggle a lot if you did!

3. You can use humor, innuendo, be a little naughty, sarcastic. As long as your project is masculine.

4. Be sure to use the InLinkz in the Dude Time Doodles post to submit your creation.

This month, we have an awesome new sponsor.

Graphicat Designs is a Brand New website full of some of your favorite things. Not only do we carry our own unique blend of sarcasm based sentiments and fun images, but we are the Canadian retailer for some fabulous other stamp companies such as Tickled Pink, Simply Betty and Whimsy Stamps. Graphicat Stamps come in digi format, High Quality Clear Photopolymer and Unmounted Red rubber for all your stamping pleasures! Graphicat also offers many other great paper crafting items from custom, hand made embellishments to BoBunny paper pads. *And* we offer FREE SHIPPING! So pop on over and check us out, sign up for our newsletter and look around.

Graphicat Designs is Proud to sponsor Dude Time Doodles, a fellow stamp company with images that match our sarcastic ways at Graphicat!

The winner will receive a Sushi Stamp Set from Graphicat Designs, pictured here:

Isn't that such an awesome prize?! Hop over to Dude Time Doodles and check out the gorgeous cards by the Design Team; then take that inspiration and join the challenge!

I decided to make a Thanksgiving card with Bountiful Blessings. I knew I wanted to layer the image, but couldn't decide on the card design. So I asked my Creative Consultant (my fab husband) for some direction, and he suggested "dimension & texture". So I made a simple framed card, using a template I made for a FlowerSoft/Dimensional card back in August.

I separated the image into 4 layers, with texture on each. There's FlowerSoft on the feather, Glossy Accents on the eyes, apple, and ham (I love that I can honestly say that I glazed the ham!), glitter glue on the stein & buckle, flocking on the pumpkin & squash, and I machine-embossed the football. Each layer is popped up with foam pop-dots.

I only have two Thanksgiving sentiment stamps: one in English and one in Spanish. I chose the latter, from from Dilo En Español Stamps, and stamped it with StazOn onto a pretty, preprinted acetate sheet Mom sent me. I backed the acetate with vellum, and popped the whole thing with foam tape.

The inside was built with the scraps from cutting the front frames, and I enlarged some of the main image for embellishments.

Even though this is a GDT card, I'm entering into the Texture Challenge at Lily Pad Cards. Be sure to check out all the wonderful DT cards for this challenge at Dude Time Doodles, and I can't wait to see what you create!

Stamps: Bountiful Blessings from Dude Time Doodles, Que Siga La Fiesta set from Dilo En Español Stamps

Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Cricut, SCAL, HP printer & ink, Sizzix Texture Boutique & embossing plate, Martha Stewart detail scissors & border punch, ZipDry glue, ZIG glue pen

Paper: Recollections, Hammermill

Embellishments: Copic markers, Pretty Petites ribbon, FlowerSoft, Stampendous flocking, Recollections pop dots & foam tape strips, Glossy Accents

Dude Time Doodles November FREEBIE Challenge

2011-11-09T00:00:00.003-05:00

It's time for another Freebie Challenge at Dude Time Doodles, and I'm super excited to get to play along with the Design Team again as a guest designer! Hope you'll join us; and if you win, you could become the Guest Designer for December! This is a super-fun team, and the images are so great to work with.

This month's freebie is Duck Snowball Warrior. Doesn't he look like he just hit by a snowball & is saying, "Oh yeah?!," about to fire off in snowy retaliation! My husband & I always enjoy a good snowball fight, but it can get pretty serious!

I decided to stick with a snowy color scheme, so I added detail to the digi with gel pens. I generated the sentiment with Harrington, and traced it with a glitter pen as well. The snowman is printed on a shiny white paper and paper-pieced onto the white background. I added "snow" with FlowerSoft & flocking. I made the frame in SCAL & cut it on my Cricut, so that I had a frame with little circles I could make into snowballs! I filled each indent with Glossy Accents and covered it with Polar White FlowerSoft. I cut a backing frame mat from scrap cardboard, and edged it with a gold pen. After putting it all together, I added some glittery Stickles along the inside frame, and on the edges of the tulle.

For the inside, I cut some white circles to make a snowball-pyramid. I edged them with a Smirk glitter pen. I glued a shiny white mat onto the flat white card base, and embossed it together with a Polka Dots (I did the same for the front frame).

There are so many possibilities with this digi, so be sure to enter the challenge and make yourself a fun Winter card!

Supplies:
Stamps: Duck Snowball Warrior from Dude Time Doodles, front sentiment generated with Harrington font
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Cricut, SCAL, HP printer & ink, Sizzix Texture Boutique, Cuttlebug embossing plate, Martha Stewart detail scissors, ZipDry glue, ZIG glue pen, Glossy Accents
Paper: Recollections, Hammermill
Embellishments: Smirk, Elmer's & Sakura gel pens, Flowersoft, Recollections flocking, Krylon gold leafing pen, cardboard from stash, tulle

Happy Divorce!

2011-11-08T16:42:00.002-05:00

Despite all one's wisdom & best intentions, sometimes Life Happens. My friend's marriage ended suddenly three years ago, and she's really risen to the challenge and is doing great. The breakup took about a year, but since then they've just been going through the legal hoops (expensive hoops!) to end the legal part of the union. Well, I was talking to her yesterday & she said that next week it will be final. Whoo-hoo! She said that if she had the time (she's a mom, who has the time?!) she might throw a party or something, so I thought I'd make her a card. I know she'll get a huge kick out of it. Transition is tough, and people who get through it even stronger certainly deserve a card!

I was inspired by the following challenges:

Fetch-a-Sketch #10

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #55: Brown, Cream, Pink

Craft Your Passion #83: Anything Goes + Brown

Stamp: Our Betty by Funky Hand

Update 11/18/11: Thank you all for your lovely comments on this card. And thank you Crafty Cardmakers for choosing it for your Top 5 for Challenge #55!

Postcard Swap at City Crafter

2011-11-07T09:26:00.001-05:00

I decided to try something different this week, and signed up for the Postcard Swap at City Crafter. Everyone's postcards are so gorgeous! I had tons of fun making mine, which I'm also entering into their Postcard challenge.

I won this funky rubber stamp at the Spotlight Challenge, and I've been itching to use it! I liked the idea of a movie-flyer postcard from Classic Hollywood. I stamped it with StazOn & colored it with watercolor pencils. I crazy-stitched it on my sewing machine (sew much fun!), and sprayed both sides with a Satin Finish coating. I added a little lace that I sprayed with orange glimmer mist.

The back:

I made the back in PhotoShop, using mostly a new-to-me form of digi stamps, "PhotoShop Brushes." These are collections of images that you load into your PhotoShop brush presets. I learned about these through a link at Graphics Fairy to Pretty Procrastination. You have to check out that post, it has lots of good info, links, and a promise of many more files! See my supply list below for links to the image sets I used here.

I "aged" the postcard with Antique Linen distress ink. I added some "noise" in PhotoShop to the lines, text & Postcard sentiment to give more of an aged look too. The "Air Mail" stamp was colorized in PhotoShop, but I added the color to the sentiment with a watercolor pencil.

Supplies:

Postcard Banner digi stamp from Tidbits Trinkets

PhotoShop Brushes: Stamp Brushes set by Alex Duka, Handwriting Brush by obsidiandawn

Tools: Fiskars papercutter, HP printer & ink, Adobe PhotoShop Tim Holtz paper distresser & ink, Singer sewing machine, ProvoCraft corner punch, ZipDry glue

Paper: Hammermill

Embellishments: rubber stamp from stash, Loew Cornell watercolor pencils, Coats & Clark thread

Update: Linda enjoyed the package I sent her as well! Be sure to check out all the final swaps on the City Crafter Party blog.

Dude Time Doodles November Holidays Challenge, Card #2

2011-11-05T14:30:00.000-04:00

Happy Saturday everyone. With only 3 more days to enter the Dude Time Doodles November Holidays Challenge, I thought I'd give you a little extra inspiration! Be sure to hop on over and check out the beautiful DT projects for this challenge, if you haven't already.

The first card I made inspired by this challenge was a Thanksgiving card, so I wanted to make a card for another, lesser-known November Holiday, "Stay at Home because You are Well Day"! I used the Hammock Harold set from Dude Time Doodles, a digi from Create with TLC, and some funky papers from 7 Gypsies to make this Shadow Box Card:

And the back:

Here's a view from the top:

I'm working on wedding invitations (130! Holy Crap!) for my husband's cousin, so I won't be doing much blogging for the rest of November. But check in every Wednesday for a new Dude Time Doodles Challenge! I'm having such a great time being a guest designer with them.

Take a cue from Hammock Harold, and have a great day!

Dude Time Doodles November Holidays Challenge

2011-11-02T00:00:00.005-04:00

I'm so excited to be a guest designer for the month of November at Dude Time Doodles! They are such a fun and talented group.

This week's challenge at Dude Time Doodles is
November's Special Days (pick one):

World Hello Day (Nov. 21)
U.S. Thanksgiving (Nov. 24)
Stay at Home Because You are Well (Nov. 30)

Hope you'll join us!

I chose Thanksgiving, so that I could use Ted Tightend & Paul Pilgrim from Dude Time Doodles. I made a "Pigskin Time" sentiment to play on the traditional ham & football so many of us enjoy on that day!

I made a horizontal Notch Swing Card (my vertical notch swing card & SVG templates available here), so that images can take turns being in front! I paper-pieced them, and used Copics to add details. I added some football-like hand-stitching. It's really very simple, and looks so good! The patterned papers are embossed Black Magic Core'dinations; one is a light yellow + black, and the other is light brown + black. The interior paper is a DP I had in my stash...those swirls are kinda pig-tail-y, right?!

And the back:

Stamps: Ted Tightend & Paul Pilgrim from Dude Time Doodles, front sentiment generated with Chinchilla font, interior sentiment stamp from Fiskars, leaf stamps from stash
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Cricut, SCAL, HP printer & ink, Tim Holtz paper distresser, sandpaper, Sizzix Texture Boutique & embossing plate, Cuttlebug embossing plate, awl, needle, Marvy heat tool, Martha Stewart detail scissors
Paper: Core'dinations, Recollections, Hammermill
Embellishments: Copic markers, Offray ribbon, Recollections brads, ZING embossing powder, nameplate from stash

Feliz Dia de los Muertos

2011-11-01T09:20:00.000-04:00

Today is Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) as well as All Saints Day. I like the idea of taking time to think of the "saints" in our lives, living and dead.

Yesterday was Halloween so I put my Dia de los Muertos Lantern in the window, and we did get some trick-o-treaters, although not many. They were so cute, and it's so fun to watch the proud parents.

I had entered my Lantern Box into the Skeleton Challenge at Paperminutes and I wanted to share with you the lovely graphic they put together of all the submissions:

Photo credit: Paperminutes

Stop by the Paperminutes blog to click through to each blog & to see the awesome ATC example. Gorgeous, aren't they?!

I also want to mention that I've signed up for the Postcard Challenge/Swap at City Crafter, and would love for you to join us! The deadline is Nov. 7, so rush over and check it out.

Have a beautiful day!

Coffee Chat Card with Jen's Dig Stamps and Pile It On

2011-10-30T12:36:00.002-04:00

Another week, another fun challenge at Pile It On! Their challenges are extra fun because you're expected to add the theme onto other challenges. This also makes the blog a great resource for finding challenges. This week's challenge is sponsored by Jen's Digi Stamps, and the theme is "Keep Warm."

I volunteer at Pile It On, helping with the winners postings and whatnot, but as soon as I saw this cute image from Jen's Digi Stamps, this card idea popped into my my mind and I just had to play along with the DT! Their cards are always so gorgeous (wait till you see this week's projects -- wowza!), I'm so honored to be listed amongst them!

Here's my coffee card, made for the following challenges:
Pile It On #44: Keeping Warm
Aud Sentiments: Make Us Laugh
Card & Things: Color Challenge (Night of Navy, Old Olive, Bashful Blue)
Scrap-Creations: Digi image & paper

Stamps: Jen's Digi Stamps, Stampin' Up!, digi paper from Create with TLC

Paper: Recollections, Hammermill, Core'dinations, Mark's Finest Papers, stash

Tools: Fiskars papercutter & punches, Cricut, SCAL, HP printer & ink, Martha Stewart scissors, Marvy heat tool & punch, awl, needle, Crop-O-Dile

Other: Copic markers, Sakura gel pens, Pink Paisley baker's twine, Recollections embossing powder & pop-dots, Versamark & Memento inks, Stampenous embossing powder, variegated floss, Sweet Petites ribbon

Autumn Camus #3

2011-10-29T09:19:00.001-04:00

This is my third card using this Albert Camus quote Wordart freebie from Paper Makeup (my first card is here and my second card is here).For my color scheme, I followed Color Throwdown #165: Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive.

I printed the sentiment onto China Blue linen cardstock from Mark's Finest Papers. I love this stuff. The blue changes depending on the light; for example, in these photos it looks almost white but in my living room it's a baby blue.

As with my second card I used the Vase with Gerbera Daisy stamp SP & Company's For Every Woman set so I used masking to incorporate a leaf stamp. I then used a reverse mask (Thank goodness for adhesive masking paper! Worth every penny!) over the whole thing and heat-embossed some green polka dots onto the vase (I did this for the Polka Dots challenge at Less is More, but totally flaked on the deadline!). This was tricky, but I love the see-through feel.

Because I was making this for Less is More, I tried to keep it CAS (Clean & Simple), which is why everything's stamped onto one layer. This seems simple, but it's certainly doesn't allow for mistakes! I colored the details with Copics, and punched the corners with my Martha Stewart flower corner punch.

The photo is too bright, but all the interior mats are embossed with polka dots:

Autumn Camus #2

2011-10-29T07:35:00.002-04:00

This is my second card using this Albert Camus quote Wordart freebie from Paper Makeup (my first card is here). I wanted to revisit the idea of a vase with leaves in it (which I've actually done in real life, but our leaves are all wet and yucky right now). I also wanted to make a card for the current Digi Makeover Challenge.

The only vase stamp I have, from SP & Company's For Every Woman set, comes with a Gerbera Daisy, so I used masking to incorporate a leaf stamp. I paper-pieced the vase, and, as you can see, got lots of mileage out of my Martha Stewart flower border punch! I made Shrinky Dink buttons and sewed them onto the card with orange thread.

I followed the current Mojo Monday Sketch, where I got the tag idea. Mom recently sent me a baggy full of mini tags with color-matched eyelets, so I tied one onto the card with baker's twine. I colorized some of the Wordart text color, and hand-colored the tiny leaf.

Inspiration:

Paper Makeup / Digi Makeover Challenge 8: A Color Challenge

Mojo Monday #212: Sketch

Candy Corn Cards

2011-10-29T06:52:00.003-04:00

I'm so happy to see that Therese of Paper Faces Designs is back blogging, and as soon as I saw her Candy Corn freebies I just had to make a couple of cards.

Therese was kind enough to welcome me into her Design Team last year, and being a part of that team with Jeannie & Natasha was really influential. The DT has disbanded for the time being, but Therese has lots of wonderful digi image & cut files on her blog for free and for sale (just send her an email if you see something you like). You can see my many Paper Faces Designs projects in my archives.

For the top card, I imported Therese's Candy Corn digi stamp into Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) and separated the pieces into layers. For the insides, I used her Candy Corn SVG cut file.

For the second card, I simply added a big hole to the front! This is something I've wanted to do for a while: there's a piece of black tulle stretched across the hole, and that's what the image is glued on.

On the backs of both I stamped little candy corns and then hand-colored them. I love the look, but man that's a lot of candy corn!

Card 1 Inspiration:

Sentimental Sundays Challenge #78: Halloween (with freebies; thank you!)

Crafting for All Seasons Challenge #12: Halloween

The sentiment is a freebie from Sentimental Sundays; it fit perfectly!

Card 2 Inspiration:

Fab n Funky Challenge #96: Halloween

Die Cuttin' Divas Challenge #38: Halloween Colors

Autumn Camus #1

2011-10-28T20:15:00.002-04:00

Paper Makeup recently offered a Wordart freebie with a lovely quote by Albert Camus: "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." A sentiment so nice, I used it thrice! (Thank you Paper Makeup!) I'll be posting the other two soon.

This was the first card I made; I really wanted to make a vase with leaves in it, so I cut a vase with my Cricut using the Walk In My Garden cartridge, and added some stamped & colored leaves.I wasn't working with a set color theme, but the main images are on kraft paper, and the off-white background is a leaf-embossed cardstock.

The window element was actually an afterthought... it seemed like a nice way to set the scene, and it gave me a chance to incorporate the cute carved tree digi stamp by SJ's Little Musings (see more photos below).

I cut the window frame on the Cricut, but everything else was done with punches.

I'm entering this card into the Forever Autumn Oldie But Goodie Challenge as well as the Fall challenge at Celebrate the Occasion. One of the requirements at the Oldie bu Goodie Challenge is to use a stamp older than 6 months... I've had the tree digi stamp about 8 months, and the leaf stamps are years old!

That's my not-so-mini schnauzer Allen in the photo above. Here's the card closed:

And the inside:

Hope everyone is doing well. The weather is acting up all over the world it seems; sending you all warm, dry, and safe wishes!

Dia de los Muertos Lantern Box

2011-10-28T15:50:00.001-04:00

I just had to take the Magical Box (also called an Exploding Box) challenge at City Crafter, and decided to make it extra magical by turning it into a Day of the Dead lantern. I'm also entering this into the Paperminutes Skeleton challenge, the 4 Crafty Chicks Paper Piercing challenge, and the Halloween challenge at Allsorts.

Here's the box, all closed up. It's 3.5 x 4.25 inches. I used K&Co. paper, some pretty ribbon, and orange flower tape. I found the images online: the skull on the left is by KitKat79; the one on the right is by Kate Pullen (About.com). I colored them with gel pens and then pierced them with my awl. I wanted big holes, so I used a piece of corrugated cardboard as the piercing mat.

This box has a surprise, in that it contains a battery-powered tea light:

The tea light is velcoed onto another box inside the main box:

The interior box's lid is decorated with Cockscomb flowers, which are traditional for Dia de los Muertos. I love these flowers (my husband's aunt in Mexico has some); they're wrinkly and fuzzy and bright. To mimic the fuzziness, I added flocking to each.

Then you remove the lid on the smaller box to reveal a Dia de los Muertos play set:

The items aren't glued down, so you can set it up however you like.

I put easel backs on the skeletons so that stand up:

I bought the little clay dish while visiting said aunt in Mexico this summer, and added decoration on it with gel pens. The tiny Mexican lime, cup, and vase are polymer clay. I decorated them with gel pens and Copics. The flowers are supposed to be marigolds. These type of dishes are common in Mexico, but I was also inspired by this photo of a Dia de los Muertos altar.

Inspiration:

City Crafter Challenge Blog Week #80: Magical Box

Paperminutes Challenge #189: Skeleton

Allsorts #126: Halloween

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #61: Paper Piercing

Update: This placed in the Top 3 for 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #61: Paper Piercing. Wow, thank you!

Goin' Wild...again

2011-10-27T13:13:00.000-04:00

I totally fell for the stamp sale at Michaels this weekend, and one of the sets I bought came with a pretty flower that goes well with some tropical DP I have. So I whipped together this bright card!

Before we look at the card, I want to remind you:

Dude Time Doodles November New Release Blog Hop
You'll laugh the whole hop through! Through November 1.
Pile It On Challenge #43: Be Happy
Another fabulous challenge at Pile It On, sponsored by JellyPark. Through November 29.

Here's my card for the following challenges:

Cards for Men Challenge #22: Animals

Stamps R Us Challenge: Nature's Gifts

Designed2Delight Saturday Challenge: Cute Critters

Solid Gold.

2011-10-24T03:42:00.000-04:00

Boy I am having a great week! I've done a lot of house-cleaning & baking, fueled by the excitement of winning last week's Triplicate Trials Tuesday Challenge as well as the GDT position for November at Dude Time Doodles. Whoop! I even managed to make a few cards, like this bright fellow featuring a sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps and a vintage image from Beyond the Fringe Crafts.

Triplicate Trials Tuesday Challenge #11: Sketch + Hot Pink, Jet Black, Solid Gold + Theme: Modern, Chic, Art Deco, Graphic

Paper Makeup Digi Makeover Challenge 7: Spotlight Technique

Wild Birthday

2011-10-22T05:24:00.000-04:00

I have a subscription to Raisin Boat, the stamp rental company, and love getting to choose 2 sets a month to play with. This month, I got the wrong set in the mail and they got right back to me -- on a weekend -- and when they sent me the correct set they included some free baker's twine. Now that's good customer service!

I decided to make a card around the golden yellow-and-white baker's twine from Raisin Boat and the light yellow-and-white baker's twine that my Dilo en Español stamp set came packaged in. A celebration of good fortune!

The stamp sets I rented this month are What a Zoo! And What a Zoo Too! and I used both for this card. I chose the White, Turquoise + Yellow color combo and photo inspiration at Sketchy Colors. Following the Inchies theme at Kaboodles Doodles, I stamped the scene onto this lovely DP from 7 Gypsies, paper pieced it and added details with Copics & Sakura gel pens, and then cut it into 1-inch squares. I wanted to make sure that the paper piecing stayed in place when I cut it down, so I ran the pieces through my sticker machine. The inchies are popped with foam tape, and I ran baker's twine behind them. The sentiment are strung horizontally with baker's twine as well.

Totally coincidentally, both of the challenges I'm entering are numbered 89!

Inspiration:

Sketchy Colors #89: White, turquoise + yellow
Kaboodles Doodles Challenge #89: Squares or Inchies

Stamps: Raisin Boat, Hero Arts

Paper: Recollections, 7 Gypsies, stash (mostly scraps)

Tools: Fiskars papercutter & deckle scissors, Cricut, SCAL, Martha Stewart scissors, Marvy heat tool, Xyron sticker machine

Other: Copic markers, Sakura gel pens, baker's twine, Recollections embossing powder & pop-dots, Versamark & Memento inks

R.A.D. Card

2011-10-21T16:43:00.000-04:00

Happy Reptile Awareness Day (R.A.D)! I wonder why it's a day of awareness instead of appreciation? Does one need to be reminded to check oneself for reptiles on a regular basis?!

I am very reptile-aware, being the proud owner of an 11-year-old green iguana, Percy. He's the pride of the family, truly!

I found out about this Day via the current challenge at Die Cutting Divas, and made a point of visiting TLC Creations today because she always has freebies for Specials Days. She certainly didn't disappoint! I just had to use her vintage image & sentiment digis for the DCD challenge. For the layout, I went to the current sketch at Card Positioning Systems.

I whipped this up pretty quickly! I designed the front pocket & tabbed insert in SCAL, and used Cricut's Paper Dolls cartridge for the die-cut leaves. The insert has a photo of Percy himself:

Invaders, possibly from Space!

2011-10-21T05:51:00.000-04:00

Don't you just love it when a card comes together? I received the Computer Fun Lili of the Valley rubber stamp for my birthday (thanks Mom!), and thought it would go perfectly with the paper from my Smirk for Men set. I've had the Space Invader stamp for years (well, my husband has; Mom gave it to him. Thanks again Mom!), and the little cut-outs are from a card set I designed last year for my husband's birthday.

This card was also inspired by the following challenges:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge: Masculine
Fetch A Sketch Challenge #9 (I rotated the sketch 90 degrees counter-clockwise)
Truly Scrumptious Challenge #68: Shaker Card/Boxes

Felicidades

2011-10-18T07:04:00.000-04:00

I made this card for my best friend, who's birthday is coming up, and was inspired by the following:

Sketch Saturday
I rotated the sketch 90 degrees.
Lili of the Valley Challenge #116: Warm & Cozy
I love this stamp by LOTV! Few things are as cozy as curling up with a book. I also added a bookish surprise on the inside (see photos below).
Die Cut Dreams Challenge #100: Use a Poem on your card
I couldn't pass up this challenge! The poem I chose, In the Desert by Stephen Crane, is my friend's favorite.
Use It Tuesday Challenge #17: Metal
Brads & nameplate are long-hoarded and metal!
Paper Crafting Journey Challenge #21: Orange, Black & White
I had lots of fun with the paper. The striped & dotted papers are Echo Park, and the embossed/sanded layers are Black Magic cardstock from Core'dinations. The white linen paper I used for teh mini card, newspaper piece, and sentiment is actually the card I got with gift cards from AC Moore (a lovely present from my awesome mother-in-law!). Talk about upcycling!

Stamps: Lili of the Valley, Dilo En Español, Tiddly Inks

Paper: Recollections, Core'dinations, Echo Park, Hammermill

Tools: Cricut, SCAL, Cricut markers, Fiskars papercutter, HP printer & ink, InDesign, Tim Holtz paper distresser, Sizzix Texture Boutique, Sizzix & Cuttlebug embossing folders, awl, sandpaper, Martha Stewart scissors & punches

Other: Copic markers, Sakura gel pens, metal brads & nameplate from stash

Celebrating Autumn

2011-10-17T09:52:00.000-04:00

I was introduced to Shadowbox cards by the Stampin' Dymonz Scrap Shack Cardmaking Group, and this is my second attempt (here's my first). I thought it would be a great way to combine this wonderful Fall Fence image by Shelly's Images with the whimsical Fall by Karen's Doodles.

Also also used a couple of leaf freebies from Shelly's Images, which I imported into SCAL (my cutting software). I "printed" them on my Cricut Expression using a brown Cricut marker, then used it with the blade to cut them out (I created a "shadow" layer in SCAL).

Here it is folded closed, and here it is pulled open:

You can see that the fence moves to the right. There's also a braided hemp rope going over the right fold. I also ran my embossing tool over the "veins" on the leaves. Dr Sonia and others have really been inspiring me to try that, and it does look good!

Here's the back, with this sweet First Day of Fall image from TLC Creations:

Inspiration:

Shelly's Images Terrifically Thrilling Thursday Challenge: Show Us Your Layers

Delightful Challenges: Colors of Fall

Shadowbox Card tutorial: Splitcoast Stampers

Digi stamps: Maple Leaf, Oak Leaf & Fall Fence by Shelly's Images (thank you!), Fall by Karen's Doodles, sentiment & image on back by TLC Creations (thank you!)

Paper: Recollections, stash, Hammermill

Tools: Cricut, SCAL, Cricut markers, Fiskars papercutter, finger knife & deckle scissors, HP printer & ink, InDesign

Other: Copic markers, Sakura gel pens, hemp twine

Quilted explorer

2011-10-14T10:58:00.000-04:00

For my birthday (34, my goodness ... I'm just getting started!), Mom bought me some Lili of the Valley stamps and die cuts, and I'm been itching to use some of the adorable little boy stamps! The Little Pirate and Sleeping Reader make a nice set.

In order to use two stamps on one card, I decided to make what I'll call a Notch Swing Card. The concept is simple: secure a piece of paper slightly larger than the cut-out space by cutting small slits, or notches, in both. I put this card together in SCAL, and if you'd like to try it you can download my SVG files via the link at the bottom of this post (please leave a comment if you do).

I couldn't resist making something for the Columbus Day challenge at CCEE Stampers ("Make a card with a ship, ocean, or anything that relates to this day."). I grew up near Puerto de Santa María, where Columbus set sail for his second voyage to the New World. For seven years, I spent Columbus Day with the Girl Scouts, trekking to the church where he prayed before his voyage. Columbus Day isn't very popular in the States these days, since people doubt his "discovery" legacy, but I've always enjoyed the lesson of Columbus: Follow your dreams; They might not lead where you imagined, but it will be a great adventure.

The background was inspired by the Photo Inspiration/Use Your Scraps challenge at DYSU. Not only are the colors in the photo example beautiful, I liked the idea of using up my scraps to create a quilted feeling.

I sewed on the buttons, and I'm entering this into the Button Up! challenge at Divas by Design. I stamped & colored the images on Hammermill cardstock, fussy-cut them, and glued them onto the blue linen paper.

Here's card closed flat:

Here it is winging open one way (see photo at the top of this post for the view with it swing the other way):

I put the message section on the back so that the inside served as a sort of background for the front. Here's the inside:

And here it is open from the back:

Inspiration:
CCEE Stampers / CCEE1141: Columbus Day

DYSU #41: Use Your Scraps + Photo Inspiration
Divas by Design #12: Buttons

Stamps: Lili of the Valley

Paper: stash (scraps), Hammermill, China Blue Eyes Linen Finish Card Stock from Mark's Finest Papers

Tools: Fiskars papercutter & deckle scissors, MS detailing scissors, Marvy heat tool, sewing machine

Other: ZipDry glue, Simplicity thread, Recollections embossing powder
Copics: E13, YR00, E35, E31, E47, E37, YR09, B18, B39, B32, B23, B00, BG15, BG10, RV11, YG67, YG63, G99, G07, YG03, YG41, Y000, YR31, YR12 (I also used YR12/Loquat for all the edging)

Download card cut files (svg)

Shakin' it up for Dia de los Muertos

2011-10-13T18:44:00.000-04:00

I so fun much making a shaker card with these cute stamps, that I had to try it again with this lovely sketch from Addicted to Stamps.

I'm also entering this into the Halloween challenge at Drunken Stampers.

Inspiration:
Addicted to Stamps Challenge #14: Sketch

Drunken Stampers Challenge #76: Halloween

Stamps: Studio g, Queremos Pastel set from Dilo En Español

Paper: Recollections, Core'dinations

Tools: Fiskars papercutter & deckle scissors, stamp block, MS detailing scissors, Marvy heat tool, awl, Cricut, SCAL, Sizzix Texture Boutique & embossing plate

Other: ZipDry glue, Recollections adhesive rhinestones & micro beads, Versamark inks, Copics, Sakura & Elmer's gel pens, Studio g ribbon, Shake It set from Impression Obsession, Stampendous, Recollections & Speedy the Cat (from Mark's Finest Papers) embossing powders, flowers from Sandra

Pretty Spooky

2011-10-12T15:04:00.003-04:00

Wow, I'm so honored to have made the Top 3 for Dude Time Doodles' Think Pink challenge. I'm so excited I could poot! (Please see my card to understand that last statement!) I couldn't resist taking up their invitation to participate in this week's challenge, and I'm excited to be trying out for their Guest Design Team call too. Won't you join me?! The deadline is October 18.

I don't usually do this, but I combine two color challenges onto this one card. For the background color scheme I used the Brown theme at DYSU, and I incorporated the Pink necessary for the Dude Time Doodles challenge.

Apart from the color, the other part of the Dude Time Doodles challenge is to use their fantastical freebie, Eyegor. Isn't he just something else! The hanging pieces are actually Shrinky-Dinks that I printed out and shrunk in the toaster oven. The middle one has a tiny Eyegor on it!

For the layout, I went to the always-great Fetch-a-Sketch.

Inspired by the theme at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge, I tore the background pieces, and used my distressing tool on all the edges, including ones I cut with deckle scissors. I also sponged some Antique Linen distress ink onto the image piece.

Thanks for the inspiration everyone!

Update: Whoo hoo! This card won me the November Guest Designer Spot at Dude Time Doodles!

Dem bones, dem bones gonna shake around

2011-10-11T20:32:00.001-04:00

I remember when I first started surfing the craftosphere and people were referring to stamping as an "addiction"...boy do I get it now! I never have enough, apparently. I love to treat myself to the $1 bin at the crafting superstore, and I just had to have the set of these adorable Halloween stamps. They're such a fun mix of American Halloween & Day of the Dead. They are just the right size to make a scene, and fit perfectly in my Shake It lids. My first attempt was made for the following challenges:

Crafty Ribbons Challenge #3: Pretty Spooky

Cupcake Craft Challenge #163: Halloween

Samuel Taylor October Challenge: Halloween

Stamps: Studio g

Paper: Recollections, Echo Park, stash

Tools: Fiskars papercutter, stamp block, MS detailing scissors, Marvy heat tool, needle, awl, Recollections punch

Other: ZipDry glue, Recollections adhesive rhinestones, pop-up foam & micro beads, Versamark, Tim Holtz & Memento inks, Copics, Sakura & Elmer's gel pens, Studio g & Sweet Petites ribbons, baker's twine from stash, Shake It set from Impression Obsession, Stampendous, Recollections & Speedy the Cat (from Mark's Finest Papers) embossing powders

String art, via Let's Create

2011-10-11T20:08:00.000-04:00

I've been following Helen's wonderful range of crafting projects at Let's Create for some time now, and I couldn't resist buying a few of her string art templates. (She has wonderful embellishments & crafts available on Etsy.) Helen definitely inspired me to try string art; it's not usually my kind of thing, but she does such beautiful things with it that I had to try it myself! I love the result, but it certainly takes time. A good project to work on while watching a movie!

I've only tried two of the templates: for my mom's birthday card and for a "commissioned" card for a friend of mom's after she saw her birthday card! I forgot to take a photo of the latter before sending it off to Mom, but here's her card:

The sun and "shine" sentiment are from Verve Stamps, and I won them at Mojo Monday (Thank you, I love them!). The birthday sentiment is a shrinky dink. Mom really seemed to like the card, and that was the goal!

Musically inclined

2011-10-10T19:43:00.001-04:00

Dawn left a a lovely comment on my card for for the Link Up for Pink, and she also suggested I submit it into this week's Think Pink Dude Time Doodles challenge. What a compliment, thank you! I ended up making a different card for the challenge, with Marlooney images. I love Marlene's humor & her hilarious freebies, and once the freebie time ends her images are available at the Dude Time Doodles/Bonibleaux Designs shop.

I decided to make a set of cards, with my Dude Time Doodles card matched with one for the Make Us Laugh challenge at Cards for Men. Both cards are based on the Week 127 sketch at Sketch Saturdays. For the In Stitches challenge at Sweet Stamping, I added hand-stitching on the mats and machine-stitching on the backgrounds.

Here's the card for Cards for Men:

Inspiration:

Cards for Men Challenge #21: Make Us Laugh plus DT call

Sketch Saturday Week #127

Sweet Stamping: In Stitches

Here's the card for Dude Time Doodles:

Inspiration:

Dude Time Doodles Challenge: Think Pink

Sketch Saturday Week #127

Sweet Stamping: In Stitches

Supplies for both:

Digi stamps: Marlooney (thank you!), Fonts for WordArt: Platinum Hub Caps Solid & Folkard

Paper: DCWV, Paper Pizazz, Hammermill, Core'dinations, Recollections, China Blue Eyes Linen Finish Card Stock from Mark's Finest Papers

Tools: Fiskars papercutter, HP printer & ink, InDesign, MS detailing scissors, Marvy heat tool & punches, sewing machine

Other: tulle from WalMart, ZipDry glue, Simplicity thread, Scotch foam tape, baker's twine from Pink Paislee & stash

Copics: YG03, YG63, YG67, BG10, E11, YR00, E17, E000, RV04, RV02, 100

Update: My card made the Top 3 for the Think Pink Dude Time Doodles Challenge. Thank you!

Let It Snow...but not for a few more months

2011-10-10T18:45:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness, is it Monday already?! Dang. Although I finished this card yesterday, I didn't get around to photographing it until today ... so I missed the deadline for the Mojo Monday contest. Oh well, I had lots of fun with their great sketch. The theme is inspired by this week's Let It Snow challenge at Lili of the Valley (LOTV).

Both images are by LOTV, but I did not color the center image; it's a pre-colored die cut piece. The smaller image is an LOTV rubber stamp, which I stamped onto shrink plastic and colored with markers. I added FlowerSoft with Glossy Accents to both.

Inspiration:

Mojo Monday #109: Sketch

Lili of the Valley Challenge #115: Let It Snow

Stamps: Lili of the Valley, Studio G, Alys Paterson for Quick Cards Made Easy
Paper: LOTV, Shrinky Dink bright white plastic, Recollections, K&Company
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, stamp block, MS detailing scissors & punches, Marvy heat tool, Crop-O-Dile, toaster oven
Other: tulle from WalMart, ZipDry glue, Stampendous embossing powder, Versamark, Memento & StazOn inks, Marvy markers

Meandering down the Yellow Brick Road

2011-10-07T17:38:00.000-04:00

I was really excited to see the Maze Book theme at the Fairy Tale Challenge Blog, and ended completely losing Sunday while I made it! It was really fun; see my tutorial links at the bottom of this post.

The book slides into a matching corner-bookmark.

There are six tags plus 6 pages with room for photos.

Included two pop-outs; this fold-out sheet:

and this pop-up rainbow thingy:

Inspiration:
Fairy Tale Challenge #25: Make a Mini album or Maze Book

Digi stamp: Diva Dorothy by Tellen's Place Designs
Paper: Graphic 45, Hammermill
Ribbons: from Sandra/Tellen's Place challenge prize (thank you!)
Shoe cut file: Paper Dolls Cricut cartridge

Tutorials:
Fairy Tale Challenge #25 (see video)
Stamphenge
Glitter Adventure

Linking Up for Pink

2011-10-07T15:46:00.002-04:00

I'll be the first to admit that I've become a bit jaded when it comes to Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, as I'm not sure how many mammograms I have to have until everything I purchase stops coming in Pink packaging, but it's worth it if one person gets the treatment they need. Breast Cancer has of course touched my life: my grandmother had a mastectomy, a coworker has treatments every morning before coming to work, and many other people close to me have battled it and other such illnesses. I can't even begin to imagine their courage.

So, in that spirit, I made a Pink card for the Link Up for Pink blog party hosted by Celeste, Gaby, and Yolie. For layout & image ideas, I looked to this week's Deconstructed Sketch, sponsored by Tiddly Inks. The sentiment is a freebie from Create with TLC. Thanks for the inspiration, ladies!

I'm going to take the suggestion at Link Up for Pink and send my card to the PA Breast Cancer Coalition.

Friends are always giving me a hard time for not putting a label on my cards, so I made one for this card. Not only does it have links to this blog and Link Up for Pink, it has a QR-Code that will take you to this post. Hi there!

You can generate your own QR-Code here. Thanks for checking out my card, and many healthful wishes!