Christmas wreath

Well, it's Friday once again and let me tell you that summer HAS arrived here in New England!  So, maybe if I think about Christmas hard enough, it will make me feel a little bit cooler.  : )  Probably not, though.  This week at Christmas Stampin' All Year Round we have this gorgeous photo for our inspiration.

Aren't those colors so fresh and fun?!  Our sponsor is Di's Digi Designs and the prize is a $10 gift certificate to the shop!!  She's got some super cute images!

I took my inspiration from the colors in the picture.  Although, I used darker greens except the one splash of lime ribbon!  I just had to add it in!  Also, my wreath is in a circle just like the images on the cookies.  Can't wait to see how you interpret this challenge.  Hop on over to the CSAYL blog for all the details and to see the other projects from the DT.  One of them, I swear, put these cookies on her card!

Challenges:

Viva La Verve June week 3--sketch

Crimbo Crackers #44--You've had it how long (wreath image about 4 months, sentiment 2 years, paper 1 year, larger pearls just got 'em last week)

Jingle Belles--We wish you a digital Christmas (my image is digital, though the sentiment is stamped--hope that counts)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge--Christmas greenery

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra--anything Christmas goes

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown #18--sequins and/or pearls

Christmas Card Challenge #30--inspiration photo (obviously, I was inspired by the wreaths)

Creative Inspiration #220--anything goes + the option of ribbon

Crafting by Designs--anything goes
Beat the Christmas Rush (June 25-July 24)--anything Christmas goes

Supplies:

Stamps: Robyn's Fetish "Beautiful wreath" digi; Verve "Ornamental Christmas" sentiment

Papers: DCWV Christmas pack for the dark green; don't know who made the other two

Spellbinders standard circles, large die

Time

This card is so, so, so out of the "normal" box for me!!  But I'm always up for a good challenge and this month's Verve Diva Dare is just that--a good challenge.  I don't use a lot of kraft paper, as I'm not usually a big fan (too neutral, I think), but I pulled some out as the base of this card.  I also don't think I have ever used paint on a card, but I pulled out some of those, too.  It started out with the clock hands.  I knew if I could pull off my vision with them, then the rest of the card would work.  I die cut them out of a deep orange/coppery color then rubbed a metallic copper ink pad over them, then dipped my paint brush in side by side puddles of an apple green and turquoise and used them to dry brush across the hands.  It gives such a beautiful verdigris look to them.  I also did the same for the gold brad I used to adhere them to the card.  For the back ground, I inked up the large clock face with the copper ink pad and then dry brushed the two paints right onto the stamp before I stamped it on the paper.  Then I dry brushed some light brown onto the cardstock for a bit of distressing.  (I think I need to work on that technique a bit!)

Challenges:
Stamping with Dragon--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI "Hands of Time"; Verve "Beautiful You"
Dies: PTI clock hands

CASE

Flourishes is having a Designer Focus on Stacy Morgan this week and have set the challenge of CASE-ing one of her featured cards.  Here is the card I chose to CASE:

Isn't it absolutely stunning??!!!  Maybe I'm partial to it because I LOVE pansies, but I love the white embossed background too.  Here's my take on it:

Supplies:

Stamps: PTI "Lock & Key"

Dies: PTI Lock & Key

The Paper Studio "Quatrefoil" embossing folder (I embossed two horizontal lines with my scor-pal and then embossed the top and bottom separately with the embossing folder, because I don't have a fancy folder like Stacy.

Freedom

 Today is Papertrey Ink's blog hop: A Touch of Gold; and I decided to play along.  I embossed the sentiment with gold embossing powder and added gold pen to the littlest stars in the fireworks blooms.  I also edged the white panel with gold pen, but it doesn't show up at all from the front.  Oh well.

Challenges:

PTI Blog Hop--a touch of gold (June 25th only)

Raisin Boat--4th of July

Viva La Verve June week 4--sketch

Brown Sugar #47--summer (to me the 4th of July marks the Unofficial start to summer)

Crafty Catz #188--pick and mix: anything goes OR add some embossing just for fun (I used heat embossing on the sentiment and the stripes in the background)

Eureka #45--Summertime fun (is there anything that says summer more than relaxing and watching the fireworks?)

Get Inky #7--red, white, blue

Our Daily Bread Designs #160--patriotic or red, white, and blue

Clearly iStamp Challenge #1-red white and blue

Supplies:

Stamps: Cloud 9 Designs patriotic set (got it for 97 cents at JoAnn's!!!  Big time score!); Papertrey Ink "Distressed Stripes" embossed with clear powder on the card base

Dies: Verve "Pennant Trim Die" and the tiny stars added to the fireworks are cut from the "Scalloped Trim Trio" star die--they were the perfect size; spellbinders classic ovals large

Santa is watching

Well, it's Friday once again!  The first day of summer, no less (at least in the Northern Hemisphere)!  But, we still need to be working on those Christmas cards, right?  And today starts the new challenge at Christmas Stampin' All Year Round.  This week's challenge is to create a gift card holder.  It can be part of a card or packaging to hold a gift card.

Our sponsor this week is Bugaboo and one lucky winner will receive 7 digis of their choice!!

So, before I show you my project(s), I read the challenge wrong and thought it said a gift card holder OR gift packaging.  So I made this really fabulous gift bag.  You can see it in the second picture.  Then when I went to add my link to the DT post, I realized it was supposed to be a gift card holder, whether part of a card or as it's own packaging.  So, I had to quick whip up a gift card holder.  Agh!!  It's been one of those weeks.  But lucky you because you get two projects for the price of one!

 I made the holder using one of my favorite cheats: an A2 envelope folded in half.  It makes the perfect base and when you cut off half of the inside flap, it is perfect for holding a gift card.  Just make sure that you adhere everything to the correct side so you don't end up with it upside down like I did.  (I told you it was one of those weeks.)  I had to do a quick cut off of the bottom of the envelope flap to make it work.  No one will ever know, except you, 'cause I just told you.

 And here is the gift bag, using the same image since it's the image I received from our awesome sponsor: Bugaboo.

 It doesn't show up very well, but I coated the snow areas and the snowflakes with SU! diamond dust glitter.  It is so sparkly in real life.  I created the "chimney" paper behind the image using my scor-pal to create the brick pattern, then filled in the grout lines with a white gel pen.  I think it's really cute.

Thanks for listening to all the blah, blah, blah.  Hop on over to the CSAYL blog to get the full details and see the other projects from the DT.

Challenges:

Cutie Pie #46--one for the kids (the gift bag would will be perfect for a child's gift; and the little Santa is pretty cute, right?)

Christmas At Sweet Stamping--cute & cuddly plus non-traditional colors (he's not cuddly per se, but Santa is cute)

The Squirrel and the Fox #46--use something metal (metal eyelets on the gift bag)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #129--frame, window or aperture

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra--anything Christmas goes

There She Goes #212--anything goes

Creative Inspiration #219--new baby or fit to give to a child

Christmas Challenges with Sketch #78--sketch

DRS Designs #75--the great outdoors (a little glimpse of the outside through the window

Supplies:

Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "Window Santa" digi; Verve "Merry and Bright" sentiments and snowflakes on the gift card holder

Papers: DCWV Christmas Pack

Punches/dies: Martha Stewart snowflake punch; spellbinders circles and scalloped circles, large

Christmas in June

Here are the 4 Christmas cards I created this past month; combined them all into one post for the Beat The Christmas Rush challenge.  Below each picture you can find the link to the original post.

 6/14--Joy

 6/7--Winter Wishes

 5/31--From Our House

5/29--Vintage Christmas

Sunflowers

Tomorrow is the last day of storyhour for me and the little munchkins, so I am putting together a little thank you gift for the woman that runs it.  She loves sunflowers and has planted a sunflower garden with the kids for the past couple years.  So, I thought a sunflower card was perfect for her.  I pulled out an old, old, old SU! set: Sketch It and had fun playing around.

Challenges:
Seems a Little Sketchy #41--sketch

Crafty Ribbons #48--anything goes with ribbon
Card Mania #23--kraft paper
Tammy's Scrapin Corner #67--anything with wings (ladybugs do have wings)
{Pin}spirational Challenge #62--inspirational photo (I went with the flowers and the color yellow)

Crafting By Designs--Anything goes with the twist of Show your season (my favorite season is definitely summer!  I hate being cold and I love having the windows open and fresh air blowing through the house.  Plus, all the flowers and the smell of fresh cut grass and clothes hanging on the line!  Oh yeah, definitely a summer girl.)
Word Art Wednesday #85--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! "Sketch It"; Verve "Joyful Blooms" sentiment
Dies: spellbinders fleur di lis squares

Celebrate

 I thought I was done making graduation cards this year, and then my family got invited to another graduation party.  Luckily, I really do like making cards, so it isn't a bad thing. : )

I decided to try out a fun technique on this one: coloring vellum flowers.  The flowers are stamped on vellum with versamark and heat embossed with white powder.  Then you color in the flowers with inks (and a q-tip) and add details with a pen.  I used a glitter pen after I was all finished to add a little sparkle to the veining in the flowers and then decided to add some glitter to the centers because they just needed something.  The card is really so much more vibrant in real life.  I had to pull out my oooollllldddd camera since my other one is in desperate need of a battery charge.  Won't even turn off at this point!

Challenges:
Just Add Ink #169--inspiration photo (I pulled out the blues and pinks)

Brown Sugar #46--graduation
Sweet Stop Sketches #215--sketch with a twist: it's a girl thing

Make It Monday #121--colored vellum flowers (there's a tutorial video on how do to this)
Eureka Stamps #44--anything goes
Timeless Tuesdays #225--scallops
Inkspirational Challenges #25--CASE (I chose to go with the mostly white background and the pink and blue colors)


Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Joyful Blooms" Flowers and sentiment; Clear Dollar Stamps graduation cap
Dies: Papertrey Ink border die; spellbinders oval and scalloped ovals, large

Birthday Wishes

 Ahhhh . . . aren't girly cards just the best?!!  Ribbon, pearls, lacey intricate dies and  . . . purses!  This is a birthday card for a dear friend.  Don't you just love the purses?  I sure do.  It took a bit of time (ok, a lot of time for me) to paper piece these all together (mostly because it's a digital image, so I had to keep running it through the printer with different pieces of paper) but I LOVE how it came out.  I even printed out the flower on the large purse two extra times, to give it a bit of dimension.

This is also my project for current Lollipop Ladies challenge:  Musks

With the additional challenge of dots

I just couldn't go quite that pink!  So I went with a little bit more subdued pink and my dots come in with the embossed lower pink panel.  So, hop on over to the blog for all the details and then come play along.

Challenges:
Fab n' Funky #175--birthdays
Crafty Ribbons #48--anything goes with ribbon
Seize the Birthday #19--sketch

Sister Act #11--anything goes
Crafty Catz #187--let's go pink
Desert Island Craft Challenge #56--use at least 3 of the following: (I used #1, 3,5, 6 {glitter pen on one of the purses}, 7, 10

1. Diecut/punch

2. Oriental Item

3. Patterned paper

4. Gemstones

5. ribbon/cording

6. Something glittery

7. Dry Embossing

8. Spray Mists

9. Teal

10. Sentiment

Supplies:

Papers: Athentique

Stamps: DigiDarla "Purses" digi image; Verve "Joyful Blooms" sentiment

Embossing folders/dies: cuttlebug dots and Damask ef; The Paper Studio "Quattrefoil" ef; spellbinders fleur di lis square die

Joy

Hi!  It's Friday again--boy does time go by fast!  Time for another challenge from Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.  This week's challenge is to include 3 of the following elements on your creation:

M - Metal
E - Embossing Folder
R - Ribbon
R - Rub on
Y - Yellow

C - Chipboard
H - Heat Embossing
R - Rhinestone
I -distressing Ink
S - Sticker
T - Twine
M - Markers
A - Acrylic
S - Stickles  

Our sponsor this week is Beccy's Place.  I know there's a prize and it's going to be fabulous, but you're going to have to go to the CSAYL blog for the details. 

There are so many adorable images in Beccy's shop; I chose this image, Joy, to work with this week.  It's so beautiful.

 I added the "Wishing You" part to make a complete sentiment (and, ok, really, it was to get in the heat embossing element of our challenge this week)

I was trying to get a good picture of the gold ink on the letters and the gold glitter in the center of the flower and just as I was going to snap the picture, the sun came out from behind the clouds and it was perfect!  The elements I used are R--ribbon, H--heat embossing, and M--Markers.  Hop on over to the CSAYL blog to get all the details and then come play along.  Can't wait to see what options you use on your cards.

Challenges:

Viva La Verve June week 2--sketch

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #29--Buttons & bows

Card Mania Challenges #22--Shabby Chic

Christmas Cards All Year Round--vintage

Sarah Hurley--All that glitters is gold (I have gold ink on the letters and gold glitter on the center of the poinsettias)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #128--die cut/punch

Christmas Card Challenge #28--use lace

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra--anything goes Christmas

C.R.A.F.T. #211--Christmas
Charisma Cardz #23--Digis only
Southern Girls--Give it an upper cut and punch it out! (use punches or diecuts)
Crafty Ribbons #48--anything goes with ribbon

Supplies:

Stamps: Beccy's Place "Joy" digi; Verve "Merry and Bright" sentiment

Papers: Basic Gray

Dies: spellbinders floral doily motifs

Biggest Fan

I was looking through my digital images to see if there was anything I could use for a Father's Day card, when I came across this set, Punny Valentine 4, from Squigglefly.  I love the images in them and when I saw this sentiment, I knew I HAD to use it for a card for my Dad.  Isn't it so fun?!

Challenges:
Viva La Verve June week 1--sketch

Sugar Creek Hollow #62--Father's Day (must be vintage or shabby chic--These seem like vintage colors to me and the fan looks like one of the older ones you would see)
Word Art Wednesday #83--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Crafting by designs--anything goes with a twist--summer fun (we only use fans in the summer and Father's Day is a summer holiday--almost)
Stampin with Dragon--One for Dad
Sister Act #10--anything goes
Catered Crop--for the boys
Eureka #43--Father's Day
Squigglefly #23--wrap it up (twine wrapped around the red panel)
Tammy's Scrapin' Corner--manly/Father's Day
Get Inky #6--boys and/or men
{Pin}spirational Challenge #61--inspirational photo (I went with the colors in the picture)

Our Daily Bread Designs #158--masculine/Father's Day
Raisin Boat #11--Father's Day

Supplies:
Paper: Basic Grey (it's actually a Christmas pack, but I really liked the colors)
Stamps: Squigglefly "Punny Valentine 4" digi image and sentiment; Verve "World's Greatest" DAD
Punches/dies: Fiskars scalloped border punch; Spellbinders ovals large, standard circles, large and scalloped circles large

Winter Wishes

It's Friday again, and that means time for another challenge from Christmas Stampin' All Year Long. This week we are looking for you to CASE one of our creations.  What does that mean?  Pick one of the cards from the Design Team and base your creation off of it.  It could be the colors, the layout, the image.  Let your imagination go and have fun!

Our sponsor this week is Fred She Said with a $10.00 gift certificate to the store for one participant!  

Link up your creation by Wednesday June 12th at midnight EST for your chance to win!

For my card, I got to work with this adorable little Westie.  So cute!  I went with my favorite color combo: pink and green and used some of my favorite embellishment: ribbon.  Other than that nice and simple.  Come and play along with us at CSAYL.

Challenges:
House of Gilli--favorite color combo
The Squirrel and the Fox #45--summer or winter (obviously, I went with winter)
Merry Monday #60--sketch

There She Goes #210--CAS
Tammy's Scrappin' Corner #65--Anything goes with the additional of texture (grossgrain ribbon and rhinestones)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #127--use your favorite embellishment (ribbon)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra--anything Christmas goes

Supplies:
Stamps: Fred She Said "Winter Westie" digi; Gina K. Designs sentiment

Girly Graduation

'Tis the season for graduation cards.  I've had two masculine ones so far, now a girly card.  If you look closely, you can see that I stamped a graduation cap behind the sentiment.  It could have been a bit darker, I think, but I wanted it to be subtle.

Challenges:
Mojo Monday #296--sketch

Flutter By Wednesday #243--open challenge with a butterfly or fairy
Charisma Cardz--Tons of Layers
Crafty Ribbons--circles plus ribbon

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Happy Thoughts" and "Blue Skies"; Clear Dollar Stamps graduation cap
Papers: Basic Gray
Dies: spellbinders standard circles, large; Verve butterfly die

Hello sunshine

This is my card for the current challenge over on the Lollipop Ladies Challenge Blog.  Our challenge for this fortnight is:

Bug Lollipops

with the additional challenge of Nature.

Guest DT spots are able to be won each fortnight
and our sponsor this fortnight is: Mad for Markers*

(thanks to Sammi).

A choice of 3 of her M4M digi stamps.

I colored the dragonfly with markers and then added SU! diamond dust to the wings to give it a bit of that shimmer that dragonflies have.  And now that I think about it, it goes with the granules of sugar that you can see on the Lollies in the inspiration pic.

Challenges:

Seems a Little Sketchy #40--sketch

Cutie Pie Challenge #45--3,2,1 challenge (I used 3 colors: blue, green, purple, 2 text stamps, and one dragonfly image)

Get Inky #5--Good Golly Glitter (on wings and I used stickles on the flower center, plus misted the flower with glimmer mist)

DICC #55--choose at least 3 or the 10 options (chose #3--lots of layers; #7--silver; #8--winged thing)

Our Creative Corner--one from each of three lists (I chose Ribbon, Metal, and Inks)

One Crazy Stamper--Summer Fun

Sister Act #9--anything goes

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! "Bunch of Bugs"; Verve "Joyful Blooms" sentiment and flower; Hero Arts French Script

Dies: Spellbinders labels one and small borders; PTI leaves; Sizzix botanical blooms embossing folder

Happy Happy Birthday

Today we are celebrating my Father-in-law's birthday and I had to throw this card together very quickly.  Yeay for a fun, easy and simple sketch to start with.  Here's the inside.  Sorry it's so dark.

Challenges:

Delightful Challenges--For Dad

CRAFT Challenges #209--Father's Day/Male

Seize the birthday #18--sketch

Southern Girls--There's always time for tic-tac-toe (I chose Ink/paint, stars, chevrons; the center vertical row)

Make It Monday #119--Flagged Borders

Brown Sugar #44--masculine birthday

Technique Time Tuesday--Faux Chalkboard technique

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! "All Occasion Greetings"; Verve "Celebrating You"; PTI "Distressed Stripes" used to create chevron pattern and "Boy Basics: Out of this World" stars and "Big Birthday Wishes" inside sentiment; Sweet and Sassy Stamps "Celebrating Milestones" numbers

Dies: sizzix star dies and Verve "Pennant Trim" die