Friday, November 29, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi!  I hope everyone had a very blessed Thanksgiving.  We sure did.  My mother-in-law cooked for about 17 of us.  I decided we needed place cards for each plate and after seeing these little cutties on Pinterest, I knew I had to make them as take home favors, too.
And since I have all these paper crafting supplies, I had to dress them up, right?

 Luckily, I had these little treat bags that were just the perfect size.  I tied them up with ribbon.  Almost all of it was recycled from other projects.  Bonus for that!  Then I die cut leaves and little tags.  I stamped a sentiment on the little tags and wrote everyone's name on their leaf in gold pen.  I inked the edges of the leaves with red, which doesn't show in the photo, but it added some nice depth to each leaf.

Challenges:
{Pin}spirational Challenge #85--inspiration photo (I was inspired, by the fall theme, the orange and brown, and the Thankful theme
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/141581982009113247/
Cuttlebug--Thank you for Thanksgiving: use orange, yellow and brown--a little stretch but all my chocolate pieces are brown
Loves Rubber Stamps #80--Give thanks
Creative Inspirations #242--anything goes
Inkspirational Challenges #44--anything goes
DRS Designs #98--Happy Thanksgiving
Crafty Ribbons #72--anything goes
Milk & Coffee Challenge--Thanksgiving
Di's Digis Challenge--Thanks/thanksgiving, harvest
Delightful Challenges--Favorite Things; use your favorite embellishment or technique (my fav. embellishment is definitely ribbon and my all-time favorite thing to use paper crafting is my die cutting machine and dies)

Supplies:
Dies: PTI leaf die; Spellbinders mini tag
Stamps: Verve "Tall Oaks" sentiment

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Reindeer in a pocket

It's my turn again to post a project for the current Lollipop Ladies' challenge.  This challenge is a super cute one:
Reindeer cupcakes
with the optional challenge of grids
Aren't they adorable???  Here is my take on the challenge:
I just love this super cute reindeer from Bugaboo Stamps and I think the pocket is perfect for paper piecing.  As you can tell, my "grid" is paper.  I think it is technically plaid, but it is still a grid.  Now it's time to hop off to the Lollipop Ladies blog for all the details.  We have two challenges running simultaneously and you can enter either or both.  We'd love to finish off the year with a record number of entries.

Challenges:
Cards Galore--animals
Frosted Designs--use at least 1 of the following 11 items (I used #1, 2, 7)
1. tags
2. paper layering
3. washi
4. flags/banners
5. patchwork
6. circles
7. stitching
8. stars
9. flowers
10. buttons
11. arrows
Lacy Sunshine--anything goes
Sentimental Sundays #182--winter wonderland
Eureka Stamps #67--Santa is on his way: Christmas (Santa has to use reindeer to be on his way)
Get Inky #18--Onward, and upward . . . skyward bound (he is on the ground at the moment, but reindeer do fly)
Sweet Stamps #145--The Holidays
Fab n' Funky #195--cute critters
Crafting by Designs--Christmas/winter
Crafter's Cafe #39--anything goes
Divas By Design--use some red

Supplies:
Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "Reindeer Pocket"; Verve "Ornamental Christmas" sentiment
Papers: DCWV
Punches/dies: Martha Stewart snowflake punch; spellbinders ovals and scalloped ovals, large

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Thanksgiving

I found a tutorial for these really adorable pumpkins and thought they would make perfect place card holders for Thanksgiving.
(Super cute, huh?)
And they would have, except I needed to start way before yesterday to be able to make enough for all the people that will be eating Thanksgiving dinner with us.  I always have awesome ideas, just the follow through is not always so good. : )  So, now what to do with this super cute pumpkin?  Ah, yes, make a card to go with it and bring it to Thanksgiving dinner as a small hostess gift for my mother-in-law.  Yep, genius!
So, there's the card.  And here are the two of them together: a perfect pair.

Challenges:
Sarah Hurley--Bonfire Brights (the orange is super bright and reminds me of the flames of a bonfire and the little curly wires are kind of like fireworks spiraling off into the air)
V's Sweet Ideas #17--use some or all of the following colors: red, brown, sage, golden yellow (I have sage green and a bit of brown in the ribbon and the pumpkin stem)
One Sweet Challenge --It's a Feast: focus on one thing (I used 3 images of pumpkins and made a pumpkin)
Technique Tuesday--faux frame technique
Crafter's Cafe #38--Heavy metal (I  used metal wire for the curly q's)
Southern Girls--Round, round, baby round: use circles (the pumpkin is made up of 6 circle rosettes and a punched circle on the top)
Milk & Coffee--Thanksgiving/thankful/thank you
Stamping with Dragon--Autumn colors
Brown Sugar #69--anything goes
The Paper Girls #44--It's Time to Give Thanks
Pattie's Creations #80--Giving Thanks/thank you
Desert Island Craft Challenge #66--use at least 3 of the following (I used #1, 2, 6{ faux frame}, 10)
1.  Autumn/Fall Color Scheme (reds, browns, oranges, yellows)
2.  Be Thankful
3.  Use a charm
4.  Include a turkey
5.  Use banners or bunting
6.  Add a frame
7.  Make it an easel card
8.  3 or more designer/patterned papers
9.  Use washi tape
10.  Pumpkins or gourds

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Tall Oaks" pumpkins and sentiment
Dies: Spellbinders "Labels 4" and mini tags; PTI "Turning a new leaf" die
Papers: DCWV




Friday, November 22, 2013

It's a Party!

Wow!  Friday again!!  I'm going to warn you up front that this is going to be a long post.  Lots of info and lots of photos.  So, if you aren't interested in prizes, you might just want to jump down to the bottom.
It is our last  Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge of the year AND we are hosting a BIG party to celebrate!!!  
We are switching it up a bit for our last challenge,  normally the design team's creations are posted on the CSAYL blog for inspiration.  
This week, we are hosting a challenge and a blog hop! 
Check out each of the design team member's blogs and leave a comment, 3 random commenters will win a prize.  Then go back to the CSAYL blog  and play along with this week's challenge, there will be 7 random winners drawn from the participants this week.   That means there are 10 chances to win if you hop and participate in the challenge - we said this party was BIG!!!

THE CHALLENGE:
Create a Christmas gift set with 3 coordinating pieces...such as a card set; card, bag and altered gift combo; gift box, tag and card.  Mix and match, just make sure there are 3 coordinating pieces to your Christmas gift set!

THE HOP:
Click on each link below, visit each design team member's CSAYL blog post and leave a comment.

CSAYL 2013 Blog Hop
1. Fabiola  
2. Heather--You are here.  
3. Jenny  
4. Patty  
5. Julie  


(Collection closed)
Link tool by inlinkz.com

OUR SPONSORS:
There have been so many wonderful sponsors this year.  A huge THANK YOU you to all!!!
This week's hop and challenge has 8 sponsors!!!

Creations by AR!!! One participant from this week's challenge will win
 2 template of their choice from Creations by AR!!!
 
Bearly Mine Designs!!! One random winner from this week's challenge will win a £10 gift voucher to Bearly Mine Designs!!!
Broken Box Stock!!! One random participant from this week's challenge will win their "Holiday Toodles Mega-Pack". Digi stamps from Broken Box Stock!!!
  
Limited Runs Digis!!! One random participant will win 3 digis of their choice from Limited Runs Digis!!!
QKR Stampede!!! One random participant will win 5 Digital Images from QKR Stampede!!!
QKR
Fred She Said!!!  One random participant this week will win a $10.00 gift certificate to the Fred She Said store!


Emma Canning!!!  3 winners from this week's challenge will each win 2 digis from the Emma Canningstore.
Bugaboo!!! One lucky participant will win 7 digis of their choice from Bugaboo!! 


Remember, this week's challenge is to create a Christmas gift set with at least 3 coordinating pieces.  We have had so much fun visiting each of your blogs throughout the year!  Thank you for crafting with us and good luck!


Ok, now that we have all the details out of the way . . . here are my projects.  I created 2 different sets for this challenge because I wanted to use images/products from EACH of our fabulous sponsors.  Are you ready??  Here is set #1:
 For this set, I made a card, decorated a matching gift bag and finished it off with a faux "chalkboard" tag.  My papers are from Bearly Mine, the church image is from Emma Canning, the sentiment on the tag is from QKR Stampede and tying them all together is the pinecone image from Fred She Said.

 On both the card and the gift bag, I sponged on some snow hills around the church and added some silver stickles for snow sparkle, sponged in some sky and added a soft glow to the windows with a colored pencil.  Also on both, I colored the pinecone, added a little bit of sparkle with a glitter pen and fussy cut it out and popped it up on pop dots.  I tied the card and tag together, by adding this "faux" chalkboard sentiment "Jesus" which is continued on the inside( I totally forgot to take a picture!) with "is the reason for the season".
 See how it coordinates with the tag?  And notice the pinecone on the tag, too?
Here is set #2:  For this set, I made a card, a gift box, and a little ornament to go in the box.  I used papers from Bearly Mine, a box template from Creations by AR, the cafe scene from Broken Box Stock, a snowman from Limited Runs and a snowman from Bugaboo.  Phew!!  All the sponsors covered!  That was a challenge in itself!

 I really, really, really, love this paper from Bearly Mine, unfortunately, my design covered up most of it.  This cafe scene is a freebie from Broken Box stock.  Can you believe it's free!!??  See that little snowman on the right?  I printed out a second image and cut out only the snowman and . . .
 added him onto the box with his new friend from Limited Runs.  Aren't they cute together?  I sponged some snowhills in the background and outlined them with glitter pen for a bit of sparkle.
 Here is my cute little snowman ornament inside the gift box.  Perfect!  Just as if I had planned it. : )  Does this little guy look familiar?  How 'bout now?
Mine is not quite as chubby, but he's just as cute!  I printed out the image and used it as a pattern to created the ornament.  I cut each of the pieces out of the proper color felt and then stitched them all together using embroidery floss.  I cut out two main body pieces and before completely sewing them together, I stuff him with a bit of fiberfill.  Goes to show that you don't have to use digital images on paper only.
Wow!!  You made it to the end!  Pat yourself on the back and then hop on over to the CSAYL blog to link up and play along.  We can't wait to see what you come up with.

Challenges:
Card #1:
Christmas Cards All Year Round--winter wonderland
Sweet Stamps #144--anything goes
Scrap Creations--Make it sparkle (stickles, glitter pen and jeweled brads)
Charisma Cardz #46--Christmas

Gift Bag:
Whimsy Stamps #65--anything goes
Fab 'n' Funky #194--anything goes

Flat Friends #14--Christmas Card

Tag:
Suzy Bees Bloomin' Challenge #3--shaped card/project

Gift Box:
Timeless Tuesday #247--Winter Scenes
Delightful Challenges--anything but a card


Card #2:
Your Next Stamp #6--sketch or inspiration photo (I went with the sketch)
There She Goes #234--winter fun
Word Art Wednesday #107--anything goes
Raisin Boat #17--Christmas
C.R.A.F.T. #234--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the snow on the trees)

Ornament:
Crafty Creations #243--ready for the holidays

Supplies:
Card #1:
Papers: Bearly Mine Designs "Winter Dreams"
Stamps: Emma Canning "Church" digi; Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi; Verve "Richly Blessed" sentiment; PTI "Hands of Time" flourish on sentiment
SU! jeweled square brads
Gift Bag:
Papers: Bearly Mine Designs "Winter Dreams"
Stamps: Emma Canning "Church" digi; Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi;
Gift Tag:
Stamps: "Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi; QKR Stampede sentiment; PTI "Mat Stack 2" brackets
Card #2:
Papers: Stamps: Emma Canning "Church" digi; Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi;
Stamps: Broken Box Stock "Cafe Winter" freebie; Flourishes "Country Time Christmas" sentiment
Punches: Martha Stewart snowflake punch
Gift Box:
Template: Creations by AR "Gift Card Combo"
Papers: Stamps: Emma Canning "Church" digi; Fred She Said "Pinecone spray" digi;
Stamps: Limited Runs "Snowman #2" digi; Broken Box Stock "Cafe Winter" freebie; Flourishes "Country Time Christmas" sentiment
Ribbon: PTI "Ocean Tides" dotted ribbon
Ornament: 
Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "Chubby snowman scarf" digi
Felt/embroidery floss


Friday, November 15, 2013

Sweet Christmas

Hello, all!  It's Friday once again.  How does it keep coming so quickly???  Anyway, it's time for another challenge from Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.  This week the challenge is to use stripes on your project.  Easy, right?  Our wonderful sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps and the winner will receive 7 images of their choice.
Do you ever have one of those days when nothing you want to do on a card works?  That was yesterday for me when I tried to create this card.  Arg!!!  I think I cut each of the layers 2 or 3 times out of different patterns of paper.  I could NOT get the colors to work and the patterns didn't work.  Finally, I decided to use the paper I had in mind in the first place and lo and behold, it worked!!  And I love it!!  Here it is:
 See that red and white striped paper?  Yep, that's what I wanted to use in the first place.  Should have just stuck with it.  Here's a view from the side so you can see the popped up image.
Now it's time to head on over to the CSAYL blog and see what else the DT has up their sleeves.

Challenges:
Loves to Scrap--anything goes
Verve November Diva Dare--shape up! (use a common shape.  All my layers are rectangles and I used three snowflakes)
Fab n Funky #193--anything goes
Crafting by Designs--anything goes with the twist of Christmas
Crafter's Cafe #37--embellish like a crazy person (I used ribbon, snowflake punchouts, buttons, and glitter)
Crafty Creations #248--punches/dies
Digi Stamps 4 Joy #80--stitching, real or faux (completely real; sewing machine and everything!)
Divas by Design--something snowy (snowflake punches; snowflakes on the red panel)
DRS Designs #96--Rip Torn
Southern Girls--sweets for my sweet (anything sweeter than a cupcake?)
Crafty Ribbons #70--anything goes with ribbon
My Heart Pieces--red, green and any color you want

Supplies:
Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "Christmas Cupcake--candy canes" digi; Verve "Ornamental Christmas" sentiment
Papers: The Robin's Nest "Canadian Stripe"; DCWV all others
Punches: Martha Stewart snowflake punch
SU! real red ribbon


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Smile

Today is my day to post a project for the current challenge from The Lollipop Ladies:
Farewell Cake:

with the optional challenge of Sentiments
I was inspired by the butterflies and the flowers and I did use a combination of sentiments.  Looking at the inspiration picture now, I also realize that I pulled the yellow and green in from the leaves and some of the flowers.  Yesterday was birthday day in our house so this will be one of the thank you cards for the many gifts received.
Now it's time to hop on over to The Lollipop Ladies blog for all the details of the challenge and then get inky and play along!

Challenges:
Brown Sugar #67--anything goes
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge Blog #2--pick at least 3 of the colors from the photo (I chose the pale yellow, green, dark brown and a little bit of rust on the butterfly and pearls)
There She Goes #233--Thanks/Thanksgiving
Get Inky #17--Thanks/Thanksgiving
Lexi's Creations #104--Thanks/Thanksgiving
Paper Nest Dolls #17--Give Thanks
November Verve Diva Dare--Shape Up!  (use any common shape, I used a circle and a butterfly)
Sweet Stamps #143--Thank you
Scrap Creations--Give Thanks
Tuesday Throwdown--Gratitude
Twist of Faith #63--lots of layers with uplifting sentiment
Word Art Wednesday #106--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
The Stamping Chef #6--Ribbon and Die cuts

Supplies:
Papers: DCWV; PTI Ripe Avocado card stock
Stamps: Verve "Take Note" sentiment; PTI "Through the Trees" thank you.
Dies: spellbinders circles, large; PTI butterfly; Verve "Pennant Trim" die


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Christmas Warmth

Good morning, everyone!  It's Friday once again and that means time for another challenge from Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.  This week's challenge is to add some Christmas warmth to your project with either fabric or felt.  Our sponsor is:
Limited Runs Digital Stamps
And the prize is 3 images of the winner's choosing!!
And here is my card:
I chose to use felt on this one.  The red layer behind my image is felt and my two snowflakes are also made out of felt.
 I cut out the two smaller birdhouses and popped them up on some foam dots.  You can see that in the picture above and a little bit better in the photo below.  I also used some glitter pen on the snow to get some more sparkle.

Challenges:
Digi Stamps 4 Joy #79--3 dp and at least 3 layers
Christmas Cards All Year Round--Winter wonderland
One Crazy Stamper--Christmas
Whimsy Stamps #65--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #149--bling it up (glitter pen on the snow and jeweled brads on the snowflakes)
Christmas Card Challenge #49--dimension: Pop it up
The Paper Girls Challenge #43--cut it out (I cut out the birdhouses with scissors)
Fab n' Funky #192--traditional Christmas colors
Christmas Challenge with sketches #98--sketch (can't post it on my blog) with a twist: use a charm
Divas by Design--use a digi

Supplies:
Stamps: Limited Runs Digis "Birdhouse #5"; Fred She Said sentiment
Papers: DCWV Christmas paper pack



Heartfelt Thanks

We've got a couple more birthdays this month and are going to need some more thank you cards.  Absolutely loved the Mojo Monday sketch this week and just had to play along!!

Challenges:
Whimsy Stamps #65--anything goes
Susy Bee's #1--Emboss it (black embossing on the flowers and the sentiment
Mojo Monday #318--sketch

Love to Scrap #17--anything goes
Paper Girls Challenge Blog #43--cut it out (I cut the flowers, tag and banner tails out with scissors)
Loves Rubber Stamps #77--anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown #61--tag it!
Creative Inspirations #239--Poppies and/or red flowers
Word Art Wednesday #105--Anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Crafting By Designs--anything goes

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Joyful Blooms" flowers and freebie sentiment; Hero Arts background stamp

Friday, November 1, 2013

Noel

Happy Friday!  It's time for another challenge from Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.  This week our challenge is: From the Kitchen.  You can either make something inspired by a food item or create packaging for a food gift.  Our sponsor is Fred She Said and the prize will be some of their fabulous images.

Here is my creation:
 I like to give food gifts to a few friends at Christmas time.  Sometimes I like to make up some mixed nut mixes and this little jar will be perfect to hold the nuts.  It is a recycled salsa jar; I spray painted the lid silver and added a little cardstock sleeve around the jar.  Then added this gorgeous wreath image and created a matching card.  It stamped the bow in red, cut it out and added it to the wreath for a little bit of dimension.


Challenges:
Lacy Sunshine #20--anything goes
Paper Nest Dolls #16--anything goes
Inskpirational Challenge #42--inspiration photo (I made a wreath, just a Christmas wreath, not Fall)
Charisma Cardz #43--anything but a card (the decorated jar)

Supplies:
Stamps: Fred She Said "Christmas wreath" digi and digi "Noel" sentiment; SU! "Sketch it!" bow; PTI "Mat Stack 2" sentiment on jar; Hero Arts music background stamp
Dies: spellbinders circles and scalloped circles, large