Pilin' on the Sentiment

This week at the Pile It On Challenge we're challenging you to focus on the sentiment. We're sponsored by StitchyBear's Digi Outlet, so I used this quote by Thoreau from Dreams Sentiments by Coosty Creations.

Some years ago, my mom lent me some heavy-duty fringe scissors which I'm only now getting around to using! I went through my ever-growing scrap box for my ROY G BIV papers. I used my Silhouette Cameo to create the gold & white frames. I used a ruler & a blue gel pen to draw the out border.

I colorized the sentiment by Coosty Creations in Photoshop and printed it on a shiny white paper. I cut some clouds with an IO die on my BigShot from the same paper, and used them to frame the sentiment. To bring it all together, I added a gemstone embellishment which I had partially colored with a blue Copic.

I made the inside message section by masking the center, coloring it with Copics, and added a border with the same blue pen I used on the front. The little cloud inside is actually leftover from another project; it was stamped with blue ink & I added detail with a glitter pen.

Be sure to check out all the projects Pile It On! this week. My card ended up being very similar in design to Jenn's and similar in style to Helen's...great minds think alike I guess! Many thanks to the SBDO artists for letting us play with their great images.

Challenges/Inspiration:
Crafty Catz: No Designer Paper
Crafty Sentiment Designs: Bright Colors
Cuttlebug Mania: Use/make a Frame + die cuts (clouds)
Scrapbooker PhD #21: Bling
Shopping Our Stash #193: I Made This (fringed background) + Stash (scrap paper)
Sweet Stampin' Challenge: Sentiment as the Focus + [digi]stamp
Whimsy Inspiration #81: Use A Die Cut (clouds)
WordArt Wednesdays #175: Anything Goes

Update: This was a Top Pick for Shopping Our Stash #193!

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting! Hope you'll join us at Pile It On,

Pilin' on the Digi Paper

This week at Pile It On! we're challenging you to use Digi Paper and/or a Pre-colored Digi Stamp. We're sponsored by StitchyBear's Digi Outlet, so I used Coosty Creations' Zebra digi stamp & paper pack to create this funky card:

click images to enlarge

Okay, I have to admit something here: Even though I'm one of the sponsor coordinators at Pile It On! and actually chose this theme, I managed to completely run out of color printer ink & couldn't fit the purchase in before this card was due, so I chose to work with this black-and-white digi paper set.

Working from the black-and-white palette, I incorporated neon ribbon, buttons, and patterned papers as well as a neon-orange embossed version of the Zebra digi stamp. I printed the digi onto a shiny white paper, heat-embossed it, and added detail is a black gel pen.


I haven't done paper-weaving in quite some time, but I was inspired to try this technique again from a beautiful card fellow crafter Ike recently sent me.

I used a neon orange gel pen to add some hand-drawn detail to the inside message section.

Challenges/Inspiration:
Bunny Zoe's Crafts December Challenge: Buttons
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge: Anything goes
Scrappy Hands Challenge #29: Squares
Seems a Little Sketchy: Sketch
Sparkle N Sprinkle January Challenge: Embossing Powder, Etc.

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting! Hope you'll join us at Pile It On,

Live, Laugh, Love - Lace at OSAAT

OSAAT November Prize Pack

This fortnight at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT), our theme is Anything Goes with Lace. StitchyBear's Digi Outlet has hundreds of digital products from many wonderful artists. Even if you don't use a store image, you'll still be in the drawing to win the super-duper November prize pack.

I used the Anthurium Digi Stamp and Paper Pack by Coosty Creations and a sentiment stamp from Indigo Blue for my card:

Inspiration/Challenges:
Catered Crop: Anything Goes
Technostamper's Monday Lunch Time Sketch Challenge: Sketch #342

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at One Stitch at a Time,

Rural Mail - New digi set from Coosty Creations

Rural Mail by Coosty Creations

This is the 2nd week of our Use Flowers challenge at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT). StitchyBear's Digi Outlet has hundreds of digital products from many wonderful artists, one of which is Coosty Creations. 

I really enjoy using Coosty Creations' digis & paper packs (see my past projects here), so I was excited to get a chance to use her newest collection, Rural Mail.

My OSAAT teamie Samara made a wonderful project using the Paper Pack & Digi set. I used the pre-colored version of the digi stamp.

I printed the pre-colored image onto a gray natural-textured paper (similar to the green & blue papers), and printed the Post Box on white paper and pieced it on. The circles were cut with a set of dies, and I used the negatives for the inside card (see below).

I punched the flowers from a map-patterned paper, folded them to give them some dimension, and filled the centers with a gold VIVA pearl pen. The white plane is a wood piece that I heat-embossed with glittery white powder. The Airmail stickers are form my stash.

The little stamp "letter" in the vellum envelope is from a Laugh Lines set.

Inside the envelope is this one-sided card:

I'm entering this card into the following fun Challenges:
Craft for the Craic September Challenge: Something with Circles On It
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes (4th entry)

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at One Stitch at a Time,

Camel notch swing card - Coosty Creations + Alipeeps Art

Here's a card I made a while back featuring the Camel Cool digi stamp by Alipeeps' Art and the Camel Digital Stamp Pack by Coosty Creations. Both are available at StitchyBear's Digi Outlet.

My mom lived in the Middle East when she was growing up, so I made her this card. Here's the other side of the swing insert, a photo of my mom and her parents. Hope you don't mind, Mom!

This notch swing card was designed in Sure Cut A Lot (SCAL) and cut with my Silhouette electronic die-cutting machine. All of my Notch Swing Cards are archived here. If you'd like to try it yourself, a version of this card design is now available for purchase as SVG files for your die-cutting machine in the SaySomethingLoudly Etsy Shop. Thank you for supporting my crafting!

Thank you for visiting, and be sure to check all the great products at StitchyBear's Digi Outlet,

Private Time - New images from Coosty Creations

Sitting Waiting by Coosty Creations

This is the 2nd week of our Use a Die challenge at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT), and one lucky winner will receive the super-duper September prize pack. StitchyBear's Digi Outlet has hundreds of digital products from many wonderful artists, one of which is Coosty Creations. 

I really enjoy using Coosty Creations' digis & paper packs (see my past projects here), so I was excited to get a chance to use her newest collection, Sitting Waiting.

My OSAAT teamies CraftyGirl and Anne Lise have also made unique projects using this fun digi collection!

I made a Potty Training Congratulations card... I don't have children, but I know what a frustrating process it can be for child and parent. So it seems like as good an occasion to celebrate as any!

In PhotoShop, I digitally paper-pieced some of the digi paper into the digi stamp image. I then printed it and colored the image with Copics, using the blender-texture technique for the floor. I used some pink flocking on her pretty boots.

Although it's almost impossible to see, I added lace & a blue background to to the window. I painted the toilet with Glossy Accents.

I created the door flap in SCAL and cut it on my Cameo. The door is cut from a shiny Core'Dinations cardstock and embossed with a SU! woodgrain embossing folder. I made a doorknob with a brad & made a little "privacy sign" with a Doodlebug tag die. I hand-wrote the sentiment with a purple glitter pen. The stars are cut/embossed from a toilet paper tube with a PageMakers die. I heat-embossed two of them with hot pink and purple.

I'm entering this card into the following fun Challenges:
Cards Galore Encore September Challenge: Make a Card
CMD-Challenge: Copics
Crafter's Cafe #81: Card for a child
Digi Sketch Challenge: Sketch and/or Theme, Girly (T)
Words 2 Scrap By: To Everything There Is a Season (I know this is a different take on theme, but somehow I think it's very appropriate! It is certainly an important part of growing up!)

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at One Stitch at a Time,

Desert-themed ATCs - Final week of Crafting with Dragonflies Challenge

You have one more week to make a Set of 3 Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) for our current challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies (the deadline is July 8) They are fun to collect an swap, and make great card toppers. I had so much fun making my Message in a Bottle set that I decided to make a set of desert-themed ATCs:

The backgrounds are digi papers from the Camel Digital Stamp Pack by Coosty Creations. The birds are a stamp from the Cloudy Skies set by ArtsyfArtsy Stamps, which I recently won from Sweet Stamps (thank you!).

All of my desert-themed stamps seem to be quite large, so I pulled out my Shrinky-dink plastic and made embellishments for each of the ACTs. I coated them with Glossy Accents, which made them difficult to photograph but enhance the image in person.

The camel Shrinky-dink was made with an Animal Spirit Stamp by Sue Coccia for Earth Art International. I stamped this intricate design with Timber Brown Staz-On ink.

Don't you just love this digi paper with these curious camels?! I just added a little Antique Linen distress ink to the edges. I cut the little banner from a Kraft paper, doodled on it with a watermark pen (Versamark) and heat-embossed it with Brown Sugar embossing powder (ZING).

I made the border on a base of the plain desert digi paper, using Glossy Accents and gold microbeads.

It would probably be more accurate if this were a date palm, but I just had to use this Coconut Palm rubber stamp by Under the Rubber Tree to make a Shrinky-dink. I inked it with stamp markers.

The silly sentiment is from Inky Antics. I used the same ink for the sentiment as for the bird shadows (Gingerbread from VersaChalk), but I added some blue-green glitter embossing powder.

The refreshing watering-hole was hand-cut from a holographic plastic and embossed in my BigShot with a Sizzix folder. I put some mesh (one of my favorite recycled items, from a bag of avocados) behind it for added texture.

I added a border with a TEKwriter glitter pen, and used bright green Liquid Pearls to accent the corners. I backed it onto a light blue cardstock.

The cactus stamp is from the Fred Bear Out West set from MFT. I stamped it in green pigment ink, colored it with a stamp marker, and fussy cut around all those darn little needles. And then I put it in the toaster oven & totally forgot about it...it burned just enough to give the green some tint, so it was a happy accident.

I printed this background with a blank top so that I could ink directly onto it. I used a die circle and its negative as masks to create the sun. I backed the scene onto a patterned paper.

These adorable little quail die cuts are from Cheery Lynn's Birds of Earth & Sky set, which I bought from Sweet Stamps. I cut them from a black-on-gray, textured Core'Dinations cardstock, sanded them very carefully to reveal some of the gray, and added details with a brown marker, a glitter pen, and a white Glaze pen. I have friends & family in Arizona, so this theme was very close to my heart. We call the baby quail "walnuts" and they are beyond cute in person. I used a border punch for the teensy flowers and a sunburst punch for the larger ones, and added some Liquid Pearls to the centers. The flowers were partly inspired by my best friend, who called me while this Spring while driving from Flagstaff to Phoenix, just to tell me how beautiful the blooming Sahuaros were!

Inspiration/Challenges:
Scrappy Hands #16: Use a Stamp
Wicked Wednesdays: Inspirational / Uplifting Quotes or Words (I'm entering the Oasis ATC with the "I'll never 'desert' you" sentiment)

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us at Crafting with Dragonflies,

Feelin' Fuzzy with PIO and SBDO

Our theme this week at Pile It On! is Fuzzy, sponsored by StitchyBear's Digi Outlet. This isn't my week to play along at Pile It On, but since I'm on the sponsor's Design Team (One Stitch at a Time) I couldn't resist participating.

I interpreted this as a texture challenge, so I used the fun Knitting Digital Stamp & Paper Pack by Coosty Creations, available at StitchyBear's Digi Outlet.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Cardmania - Emboss It (the sentiment is heat-embossed in white)
Hobbybook Designer Challenge: Add a sentiment
Little Miss Muffet Challenges: Button Bonanza
Open Minded Crafting #10: Use Ribbon
Polkadoodles: Something Old, Something New (the wooden buttons are old, and the felt ribbon & pom-poms are new)
Rhedd & Rosie's Challenge Blog: Texture
Sparkle N Sprinkle: Anything Goes with Glitter, Embossing Powder and/or Flocking (Sparkly Fluff on the yarn digi, and the sentiment is heat-embossed)

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us this week for our Fuzzy challenge at Pile It On. The theme at One Stitch at a Time is Use a Digi so I hope you'll join us for that as well.

Steampunk Horse - Anything Goes at OSAAT

This week at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT), it's Anything Goes. StitchyBear's Digi Outlet has hundreds of digital products from many wonderful artists, and if you use one of our products you'll be entered to win the super-duper main prize.

I used the fun Steampunk Horse Digital Stamp and Paper Pack by Coosty Creations:

I just love these digi papers! Her papers always print out so nicely. I digitally placed the horse PNG onto the backing paper, printed it on Neenah cardstock, and colored it with my Copics. I edged it with scalloped scissors.

I cut the gears on silver cardstock (Recollections) on my Cricut. I used a sentiment sticker on the metal tag (Making Memories), and added a little Tim Holtz game spinner.

The gold ribbon is dry-wall tape colored with a Gold Leafing pen.

Inspiration/Challenges:
4 Krafty Girlz #2: Anything Goes
Art Impressions Stamps Challenge #119: Anything Goes
Ooh La La Creations: Cards for Men
Divas by Design: Anything goes
Rhedd & Rosie's Challenge Blog: Steampunk
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Use a product available at SSS (Tim Holtz game spinner)
The Pink Elephant Monday Card Challenge: Digital Images or Digital Papers
Whimsy Inspiration: Masculine

Thank you for visiting, and hope you'll join us this week at OSAAT,

Out of this World! with OSAAT

It's time for a "Use a Digi" challenge at One Stitch at a Time (OSAAT)! I love stamping, but digi stamps are so much fun too, and StitchyBear's Digi Outlet has hundreds from many wonderful artists.


Because I LOVE IT, I chose the Starship Digi & Paper Pack by Coosty Creations:

I was inspired by the Gatefold challenge at Incy Wincy Designs. Here it is folded closed:

The chevron is made from Rolo wrappers. They are about 2.5 inches wide, so I cut them down to 1-inch strips and folded theme using the Patchwork Chevrons technique from SEI.

I put a message section on the back:

Inspiration/Challenges:
Cards For Men: Metal / Metallic
Crafty Bloggers Network: Favourite Things (Star Trek, chevron ribbon, Chocolate/Rolos, recycling, corner notch punch)/ 2nd entry
Great Impressions: Square Card
Incy Wincy Designs: Gatefold Card
Squigglefly: Masculine Card
The Crazy Challenge: Anything Goes

Thank you for visiting,