Pink Christmas

Oh, my!  It's November already!!  Where has this year gone?  Since it is a new month, it's time for a new challenge from Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra.  As always, it is a month-long, anything goes (Christmas related) challenge.  Our sponsor is the fabulous Bugaboo Stamps and the winner will receive 7 images of their choice!  Here is my card using my absolute favorite Bugaboo image: Polar Bear.  Unfortunately, I think it might have been retired as I can't find it in their store.  So sad.  

I just this this bear is the cutest ever!  And so easy to color as you really only have to color the scarf.  And add a bit of gray to highlight the white.  I had these little snowflakes sitting in my "bits and pieces" stash and am so excited to have been able to use them.  They are not traditional Christmas colors, but work perfect on this card.  (ok, I may  have chosen the card colors because I saw the snowflakes and wanted to use them). The "snow" is cut out of very glittery paper; the glitter has bits of pink in it and it looks so pretty in real life.   Thanks for stopping by, hop on over to the CHNCC2 blog for all the details and to see what the rest of the DT has come up with.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #57--anything goes
Penny's Paper Challenge #25--anything goes
Addicted To Stamps #168--Holiday
MFT #252--sketch

ABC Christmas--V is for Very Cute
Fab n' Funky #279--Christmas
Clear It Out Challenge--theme: Halloween or Christmas; stash: die cuts
Eureka Stamps #164--pets & Animals
Crimbo Crackers--Pink
Winter Wonderland--anything goes


Supplies:
Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "Polar Bear" digi
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13"; Lawn Fawn "Stitched snow hills", PTI "Fancy Flakes" and "Shakers: Snowglobe" all small snowflakes

Simple friend

I'm a big fan of CAS when it is done right, but I don't do it very often because it is sooo hard to do right.  I gave it a try the other day and I think I really like how this one turned out.

 I spritzed some glimmer mist on the main panel to give it some shimmer, but it's so hard to catch it in a photo.  Unfortunately, some of it dropped in big drops which you can see just to the left of the image and to the right above the image.  It was a little frustrating but then I decided to go with it; it kind of looks like water droplets done on purpose.  I can pretend that, right?

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #57--anything goes
Crafty Gals Corner #43--anything goes
Inky Impressions #276--Halloween OR purple, orange, black
Crafter's Cafe #135--black, purple, orange and/or ghosties
Word Art Wednesday #207--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Shopping Our Stash #225--go paperless (no designer paper)
Cas-ual Fridays #144--bingo (I went with the coloring, spritzing, die cutting row)

Supplies:
Stamps: Cas-ual Fridays "Mon Ami"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13"

Chocolate

I've had this stamp set for months, now, and just have never had the chance to use it.  Since I've had a bit of extra stress this past month, I decided to take some time and just stamp for fun.  No occasion, no DT projects, just fun.  This sentiment is just so true, don't you think.  I would have chocolate every single day; in fact, I do most days. : )

Mod Squad--bold & beautiful (the floral paper is very bold and this gorgeous raspberry ribbon is both bold & beautiful!)
Craftin' Desert Divas--sweet & yummy (CHOCOLATE--if I'm stretching it too far on this one, I'm sorry)
Viva La Verve October week 4--sketch

If You Give a Crafter A Cookie #30--inspiration photo (inspired by the pink ribbons)

As You Like It--favorite: brights or pastels & why (bold and bright for me; I've never been a real fan of pastels, maybe I got it from my mother; she is a big fan of deep, saturated colors)
Verve Diva Inspiration Challenge--black, white and glam
Craft Dee Bow-Z--anything goes with handmade bow
Southern Girls--rocking those stripes

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Chocolate"
Dies: Spellbinders "Standard Circles, large"; Verve "Chocolate" word die

Vase of Tulips

Welcome to another What If Wednesday? on The House That Stamps Built challenge blog.  This week we have an awesome sketch for you.  Here it is:

Here is my take on the sketch.  I totally had a Christmas card in mind, even knew which image I was going to use, but as I was taking another quick look through my new Repeat Impressions stamps that I just got, I found this gorgeous image.  I know it's a bit "spring-y" but I had to use it anyway.

I've got a fun little tip for you: if you don't have matching card stock (I didn't have any the right shade of green), use one of the markers you used to color you image to color the edges of the die cut.  Perfect match!  I did that on both mats.  Now hop on over to The House blog to see how the rest of the DT has used this sketch.  I'd love to what you do with it.

Challenges:
Sugar Pea Designs #21--anything goes
As You Like It--Favorite: brights or pastels (& why); I definitely choose brights any day.  Pastels are not my thing at all.
Cute Card Thursday #396--anything goes
Brown Sugar Challenge #169--anything goes
Creative Fingers--anything goes
Craft Dee Bow Z--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Paper Nest Dolls--anything goes


Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "1317W Vase of Tulips" and "A Happy Hello"
Dies: Spellbinders "Standard Circles, large" and "Picot Edged Circles" Verve "Classy Labels Mini Die"

Give Thanks

Life has been super stressful for the past month, so yesterday I administered some therapy by getting out some new stamp sets that I hadn't gotten to use yet and stamping Just For Fun!  Usually, I'm creating with a specific purpose, but not this time.  Fun, I tell you.

I LOVE how this one turned out.  It's super cute and super CAS, and I love it!  I use a black pen to draw the lines over and under the sentiment, masked it off and inked the inside with a light gray.  It gives a layered look without adding any bulk.

Challenges:

SOS #225--go paperless (no designer paper)

{Pin}spirational Challenge #152--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the color combo of black and orange)

Come And Get It--use orange

MFP #74--CAS design using a large sentiment highlited by a tiny stamp

Hiding In My Craft Room #222--any holiday (Thanksgiving)

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge #103--use leaves

Cute Card Thursday--anything goes

D.R.S. Designs #197--Fall-in For You

C.R.A.F.T. # 334--black, white, plus one

Sugar Pea Designs #21--anything goes

One Sweet Challenge--fall colors

Pattie's Creations #115--Fall or Halloween

Scrapper's Delights #49--Fall/Halloween

Fussy or Fancy #150--orange, black or purple

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Falling For You" leaves and "Thanks" cling set; Craftin' Desert Divas "Farmer's Market) pumpkins

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13"

Sufficient

Today, I'm playing along with Verve's Diva Inspiration Challenge: Black, white and glam.  When I was looking in my paper stash for another project I found this beautiful floral paper and knew it would be perfect for this challenge.  The big, bold pattern is super fun and elegant at the same time.

 I spritzed the white flowers with some gold glimmer mist to make them sparkly, but it is hard to catch in the photo.  I added black rhinestones to the center of each of them after adding a bit of gray to add some depth.  It really makes them pop.

Supplies:
Verve: "2 Corinthians 12:9" plain jane; "Surely Goodness"
Dies:
Spellbinders: "Classic Circles, large" and "Picot Edged Circles"; MFT "Fancy flourish"

Challenges:
Time Out Challenge #42--inspiration photo (Inspired by the color scheme)

Tuesday Morning Sketches #303--sketch

Word Art Wednesday #206--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Penny's Paper Challenge #250--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #56--anything goes
C.R.A.F.T. #334--black and white +1 (my +1 is gold)

Ornamental tags

Today I'm playing along with the Paper Trey Ink October Blog Hop.  They had such a gorgeous inspiration photo that I just had to play along:

I made these super cute little tags that could also double as ornaments.

 I used Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the snowflakes and a glittery gold embossing powder on the sentiment.  It's hard to see in the photos, but the sparkle is really fabulous in real life.  You can see it a little better in this photo:

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI "Damask Designs" and "Sparkle & Shine: Holiday Additions Mini Set"
Dies: PTI "Fancy Flakes" and "Tag Sale #4"; Verve "Sprightly Sprigs" and "Flag It"

Challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes
Creative Fingers--anything goes
Brown Sugar Challenge #169--anything goes
Little Miss Muffet #123--tags
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--wrap it up
Inspiration Destination #56--anything goes
Crafty Gals Corner #42--ribbon and/or flourishes
Penny's Paper Challenge #250--anything goes
Crafting By Designs--Get ready for Christmas
Our Daily Bread Designs #259--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the Christmas theme and the ornaments)

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long #58--set of tags

Truck Load

I've wanted a pickup truck & filler set for a long time.  Probably ever since SU! came out with their "Loads of Love" set and that was a loooooong time ago.  Well,  I finally have one, and it is adorable!!  This set is "Farmer's Market" from Craftin' Desert Divas and their are several holders, multiple fillers, and whole bunch of super cute sentiments and a bunch of facial expressions to add to the fillers.  This set is going to get a lot of use.  I only received it this week and my middle daughter already used it, before I even got a chance!  Anyway, he's the card.

I did some masking so I could stack up a bunch of pumpkins in the bed of the truck.  Then I stamped and cut out additional pumpkins for the embellishments.  I used the flourish die to accents those pumpkins as I thought it kind of looked like a pumpkin vines.

Challenges:
Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge #103--use some leaves
Cute Card Thursday #396--anything goes
DRS Designs #199--Fall-ing For You
Inspiration Destination #56--anything goes
Crafty Gals Corner #42--ribbon and/or flourishes
Addicted To Stamps and More #167--Make your mark
Sugar Pea Designs #21--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #206--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Creative Inspirations #332--sketch

Die Cuttin Divas #238--photo inspiration (inspired by the pumpkins and fall theme)

Crafty Cardmakers #150--autumn colors
Wags n' Whiskers #164--fall colors
Craftin' Desert Divas--photo inspiration

Cas-ual Chic--bingo (I chose the stitching, coloring, distressing column)

Supplies:
Stamps: Craftin' Desert Divas "Farmer's Market"; Repeat Impressions "3306W Falling Leaves"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle and stitched line and "Formal Flourish"; Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Give Thanks

Welcome to another What If? Wednesday challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a gorgeous inspiration photo for you:

Don't you love all those fall leaves?  And the reflection is fabulous!  Here is my take on the challenge:

As I am a relatively new member of the team, I don't have any tree stamps from Repeat Impressions, yet.  So, I had to go with the Fall theme of the photo.  Plus, I just received this awesome pumpkin stamp in the mail this week and "had" to use it. : )  But, I did use the colors from the photo and leaves, and that's what inspiration photos are all about.  Create however they inspire YOU.  Make sure you hop on over to The House blog to see how the rest of the DT was inspired.
  My ribbon was salvaged from a treat packaging I received a couple years ago and the button came from a pair of pants.  Gotta love recycling.  Oh, and the rhinestones were left overs from some mosaic fairies that my daughters have.  Hand-me-ups to Mom!

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "514W Prize Pumpkin", "3306W Falling Leaves" and "2826W Let Us . . ."
Dies: MFT "Blueprints #13"

Challenges:
Craftin' Desert Divas--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the colors)

DRS #196--color challenge

Crafty Cats--anything goes
Di's Digis--too cute to spook (halloween or fall themed)
Cas-ual Chic #2--bingo (I used the stitching {stitched die}, coloring, distressing column)
One Sweet Challenge--fall colors
Pattie's Creations #115--Fall or Halloween
Scrapper's Delights #49--Fall/halloween
Wags n' Whiskers #164--fall colors
Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge #102--autumn colors
Hiding In My Craft Room #221--favorite cutting tool (my favorites are my Spellbinders Wizard die cutting machine/and dies, my Fiskars paper trimmer and my SU! craft knife--used all three; I also used scissors to distress the edges of the cream card stock)
Sketch Saturday #383--sketch

YNS #25-- color combo or sketch (this week I went with the color scheme: brown, orange, yellow and white)
Crafty Cardmakers #150--autumn colors
Die Cuttin' Divas #238--photo inspiration (inspired by the leaves, pumpkins and fall colors)

Lamp Post

Welcome Fall, and welcome everyone to a new challenge on the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog.  This week is an all-time favorite: Anything Goes.  We have 3 awesome sponsors:

Sweet Stamps

Dr. Digi's House Of Stamps

Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet

I was given this beautiful image to work with from Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet.  Have I mentioned before that I love Fall?  Well, I do!!  Love the leaves and the pumpkins and the cider and the . . . well, you get the point.  And I love how this card turned out.  

I heavily distressed the edges of the papers with ink and it really gives it a great vintage feel and also kind of a darker feel to go with the light in the image.  Don't you just love those little patterned leaves??  I knew I wanted to use these dies, but I didn't think traditional fall colored leaves would go with the style of the card.  Non-traditional papers to the rescue!. : )
And here's a free tip for you:  I don't have any larger pieces of a really good, dark brown left anymore, so I used a lighter brown for my scalloped oval and then inked it up with some dark brown ink.  Perfect dark brown color.  I will be doing this a lot.  Can't believe I never thought of it before.
Head on over to the LTSCB blog to see the full details of the challenge and then get inky and play along.

Challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes
Jo's Scrap Shack #110--anything goes
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #55--anything goes
Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2--sketch

Fab n Funky #277--make it square
Word Art Wednesday #205--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
{Pin}spirational Challenge #151--inspiration photo (I was inspired by all the brown and the vintage feel of the picture)

Scrapper's Delight Challenge  #49--Fall/halloween
Pattie's Creations #115--Fall or Halloween
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Cards Galore--Halloween or make a card
Sugar Pea Designs--Falling for Fall

Supplies:
Stamps: Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet "Fall Lamp Post" digi
Dies: MFT "Falling Leaves"; Spellbinders "Classic Ovals, large" and "Scalloped Ovals, large"

Pretty in pink

The As You See It Challenge blog is dedicating this week's challenge to a brave little girl named Lola--a little 9-year-old battling cancer.  The challenge is to use some of Lola's favorite things to help cheer her up.  How could I not play along!!??  I have a nine-year-old and I can't imagine her having to deal with that.  My prayers are with you, Lola!  Here's my card, sending happy thought:

I tried the no-line coloring technique on this one.  It's the first time I've done it and I can't really decide if I like it or not.  I mean, it's pretty, but I might prefer seeing the lines.  I used a glitter pen on the wings to give them sparkle and a more "fairy" like look.   I spritzed the background paper with some gold glitter spray, you can see a bit of it in the next picture.  You can also see the glitter pen on the wings.

Challenges:

Tuesday Morning Sketches #322--sketch

Creative Inspirations #331--CAS or Fussy & Fancy

Word Art Wednesday #205--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Inspiration Destination #55--anything goes

Aurora Wings #18--anything goes

In the Pink #80--pink ribbon

Cas-ual Chic #2--bingo (I used the coloring/spritzing/die cutting row)

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper

Cutie Pie Challenge--pretty in pink

Craft-Dee BowZ--anything goes with handmade bow

Card Mania #73--1 digi; 2 patterned papers; 3 embellishments

Crafting with an Attitude #8--anything goes

Unicorn Challenge #2--think pink

One Stitch At A Time #247--awareness or use pink

As You See It--pink, fairies, unicorns, sugar & spice and everything nice + gold for awareness 

Hiding In My Craft Room #221--favorite cutting tool (I used my three usual tools on this one: my fiskars paper trimmer, my SU! craft knife and my Spellbinders Wizard die cutter & dies)

Supplies:

Stamps: Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet "Who Me"; Verve "happy thoughts" freebie

Dies: Spellbiners "Floral Doily Motifs" and "Labels One"; Verve "Flag It!; MFT flourish

Sparkly tag

I don't usually make a whole lot of Christmas tags, but I was inspired by a bunch of challenges this week.  And let me tell you that this one is soooo pretty!  I used some heat n' stick powder to attach some dazzling diamonds glitter to the snowflake.  I love that glitter; it's so fine and sparkly!  Anyway, here's the tag:

 To make a spot for writing the recipient's name, I added a plain circle to the back of the tag.

This is a good size and after the gift is opened, it will make a lovely tree ornament.  A two-for-one!

Challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes
Jo's Scrap Shack #110--anything goes
Winter Wonderland--Christmas with ribbon
In the Pink #80--pink ribbon
Crafty Ribbons #130--Christmas to die for
C.R.A.F.T. #333--Christmas
ABC Christmas--U is for Unusual colors
Mod Squad Challenge Blog--Christmas & a die
As You Like It--monochrome or color & why (I'm definitely a color girl; monochrome is fabulous when done right, but I have a hard time creating something with only one color)
One Stitch At A Time #247--awareness (or use pink)
Unicorn Challenge #2--think pink
Crafting Musketeers #30--Christmas with ribbon
My Favorite Things--handmade tags

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve "Ornamental Christmas"
Dies: PTI "Fancy Flakes"; Spellbinders banner die and "Standard Circles, large"

Spinning snowflake

Here is is already mid-October!  Yikes, this year sure is flying by.  I'm popping in today with some mid-month inspiration for Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra.  We're a month-long, anything Christmas related goes challenge.  Here is my card:

 I decided to try making a spinner card; it was my first one; and it was pretty fun and rather simple, too.  Here is a photo of the inside;

 And a photo of the spinner in "action":

Thanks for stopping by.  There's only a month and a half left before Christmas!  Yikes!  Now is the time to get started on those Christmas cards if you haven't yet.  Play along with us and you'll have a good start.

Challenges:

Fashionable Stamping #104--changing seasons

Christmas Card Challenge #45--anything goes

Addicted To CAS #74--sparkle (I used gold glitter embossing powder on the snowflake and gold sequins)

A Gem of a Challenge #155--spots and/or stripes (green spotted paper)

Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge #101--something that begins with "S" (snowflake, sentiment, sequins)

Creative Fingers Challenge #95--anything goes

As You See It #107--sketch

Crafty Catz #296--embossing (heat embossing)
JustRite Stampers #128--back to Nature (snowflakes)
Little Miss Muffet #122--anything goes
Art Impressions--Let's go for a spin (make a spinner card)
Crafty Creations #200--don't be blue
Creative Inspirations #331--CAS or fussy & fancy
Mod Squad--winter and a die
Addicted to Stamps #166--anything goes
Inspiration Destination # 55--anything goes

Supplies:
Stamps: JustRite Stampers "Applique Christmas Labels One" snowflake and "Christmas Stitched with Love Vintage Labels Seven" sentiment
Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Happy Fall

It's Wednesday and that means it's time for another What If? Wednesday challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week the theme is pumpkins.  I love fall, and I love pumpkins; I just think they're so cute!  I don't have any Repeat Impressions pumpkin stamps (gasp!  I know!!  It's been remedied now, my new stamps just arrived) so I had to get pretty creative and I used a pumpkin punch.  Anyway, here is my card:

I punched the pumpkins twice, once out of orange card stock and once out of brown for the stems.  I inked them with two shades of  orange ink.
Now it's time to head on over to The House blog and see how the rest of the team has interpreted this challenge.

Challenges:
Eureka Stamps #162--pumpkins
Come And Get It--Happy Fall Y'all
Fashionable Stamping #104--changing seasons
MFP #283--have 3 panels
Creative Fingers #95--anything goes
Viva La Verve October week 2--sketch

C.R.A.F.T. #332--autumn/halloween/thanksgiving/bonfire night
Sugar Pea Designs #20--Falling for Fall
Scrapper's Delights #49--Fall/halloween
One Sweet Challenge--fall colors
Fussy & Fancy #149--autumn colors
If You Give A Crafter A Cookie #29--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the pumpkins)


Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Happy Everything"
Dies: MFT corner bracket: Spellbinders "Picot Edge Circles", "Classic Circles, large" and "Scalloped Tags"
Fiskars pumpkin punch

Fabulous Birthday

If you saw my previous post (here) the background on this card will look slightly familiar. : )  I really liked the look of the butterflies stamped over the musical score, but the orange was just a little too much for what I had in mind for my mother-in-law.  Purple and Green are her go-to colors and she really likes butterflies, so this is much more her style.  I spritzed some glimmer mist over the background and it gives it such a beautiful shimmer. 

Challenges:
The Paper Nest Dolls--anything goes
Wags n' Whiskers #165--use a die cut
MFP #282--collage stamping
Tuesday Morning Sketches #321--sketch

Shopping Our Stash #222--birthday
Word Art Wednesday #204--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Addicted to stamps #165--inspiration photo (inspired by the colors)

Penny's Paper Challenge #248--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #54--anything goes
Southern Girls--Let's celebrate

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Butterfly (lg)" and "Sheet Music"; Verve "Better Together"
Dies: Verve "Classy Label " die; MFT "Blueprints 13"