Merry Christmas

Happy October!!  I can't believe I just said that!!  Where has this year gone?  Well, it's time for another challenge from Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra and if you've been playing along with us all year, you will have gotten a good head start on those Christmas cards!  As always, it's anything goes as long as it's Christmas related and you have all month to play along (as many times as you want!).  Our awesome sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps and here is my creation to inspire you:

I just love this little bear from Bugaboo.  Unfortunately, I think he's retired (maybe just hasn't been moved to the new shop yet) but I just.  can't.  stop.  using.  him!  I went pretty CAS with this one and got to use up some paper scraps at the same time!  A die cut snowflake and a few silver sequins were all it needed to dress everything up.  I hope you will play along with us this month; I can't wait to see what you create!

Supplies:
Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "Polar Bear" digi; Verve "Ornamental Christmas" sentiment
Dies: PTI "Fancy Flakes"

Challenges:
Winter Wonderland--anything goes
CAS(E) This Sketch #241--sketch

Merry Christmas #136--anything goes
Crafty Creations #351--anything goes
Crafty Gals Corner #142--anything goes
Crafting By Designs--Getting ready for Christmas
Creative Inspirations #281--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #189--use a 2 word sentiment (Merry Christmas)
Little Miss Muffet #172--anything goes
Cutie Pie--my favorite cute image (this is definitely my favorite Bugaboo image and one I reach for again and again when creating Christmas cards)
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes

Cow's It going

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack.  As always, we are now an Anything Goes challenge.  

Our sponsor this week is the fabulous Lawn Fawn:

Here is my card for your inspiration:

Oh, my goodness, this card cracks me up!!!  Isn't it so cute!!??  I used two Lawn Fawn dies for this card: "Say Cheese" and "Stitched Hillsides".  I won a stamp set from Cardz TV a couple weeks ago and I picked out "More Critter Captions"

Then, a couple weeks ago I went to a Scrapbook and Card Expo and bought myself this adorable stamp set from Mama Elephant "Lunar Animals" for my birthday:

And while all of the animals are adorable (even the little snake and I HATE snakes), as soon as I saw that cute little cow, that cow sentiment from my new sentiment set popped into my head and I knew these two sets HAD to go together!  

I stamped the cow twice and then a third time using my mirror image stamp to create a cow facing the opposite way.  Then I colored them up and fussy cut them out.  Oh, my, they are just too cute!

Supplies:

Stamps: Mama Elephants "Lunar Animals"; Cardz TV "More Critter Captions"

Dies: Lawn Fawn "Say Cheese" and "Stitched Hillsides"; Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"

Paper MFT "Woodland Trails"

What do you need to do to enter?

Challenge Rules

1. Please post a direct link to your blog post that includes your challenge entry project, using the linky tool on Jo's blog. 

2. Be sure to include a link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering your project into

3. THREE entries per person are allowed for each challenge and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4. For all entries -NO BACK LINKS ACCEPTED- 

The date on your blog post should be dated between the start date & the end date for the challenge you are entering, in order to be eligible for the challenge prizes

5. You may link up to other challenges but be sure to link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering 

 * All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements

WILL NOT be eligible for the top 3, any sponsor wins or any random wins by Jo

All random wins will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.

You have until Oct. 6th by 6:00PM (eastern, USA) time to link up.

All winners will be announced during the week of Oct 8th.

Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create!

Challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes
Crafty Creations #351--anything goes
Crafter's Cafe--stitching (I used stitched hillsides)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes
Crafty Gals #142--anything goes
Penny's #247--anything goes
MFT #352--sketch (I turned it vertical instead of horizontal)

Creative Inspiration #381--anything goes
Creative Craft #96--for the men/boys
Come And Get It--anything goes
Cardz TV #15--anything goes
Creative Fingers #137--anything goes
A Gem of a Challenge #203--fun outside
Sheep Ski Designs #6--feature a creature
Divas That Cut--masculine/men/boys
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #14--anything goes

Miracle of Christmas

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week is a favorite of all: Anything Goes!  We'll expect to see lots of entries this week!  Here is my inspiration card:

I just got a package of new stamps in the mail this week and both the sentiment and the ribbon image were in it.  As you can see, I didn't waste any time inking them up!  Right now, the weather is far from Christmas-y, but maybe the theme and the nice icy, blue colors will help cool everything off.  Not that I want it to be cold!!  But it is the end of September (in New England) and the temps have been in the 80's with high humidity.  Definitely not Fall weather!

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Holly Ribbon" and "May the miracle . . ."
Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics, A" rectangle and "Beaded rectangles"

Challenges:
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes
Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--use leaves (I have holly leaves in my image)
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Crop Stop #32--anything goes (spellbinders dies)
ABC Christmas challenge--S is for Sketch
Word Art Wednesday #302--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Winter Wonderland--wrap it up (the ribbon reminds me of a package wrapping)
A Bit More Time To Craft #52--anything goes
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #300--anything goes with snippets (the background paper on my card is actually 3 scrap pieces that I pieced together to look like a solid piece.  the seams are all behind the ribbons)
Incy Wincy Designs--unconventional Christmas (blue is not the usual Christmas color)
The Holly and Ivy #15--anything goes
Creative Inspirations #380--seasonal
Inspiration Destination #134--anything goes
Creative Fingers #137--anything goes
Cardz TV #14--anything goes
Hiding In My Craft Room #352--any holiday
Sketch Saturday #482--sketch

Simon Says Monday--heavy metal (I used a metal charm)

Birthday Wishes

It's Saturday!!  That means it's time for another challenge from Di's Digi Designs.

The challenge this time is: Autumn
and here is my card:

Aren't these little fairies the sweetest?  All of Di's images are super cute and this one is no exception.  I chose this image because we start to see these mushrooms late in the summer and early fall (matter of fact they are growing all over the lawn right now) and seemed like a good fit to me.  I dressed the little sweeties in some fall colors, added some leaves and a gorgeous sparkly orange ribbon to finish everything off.  I just got a mini MISTI for my birthday (my brother and sister-in-law are THE best!!) and I used it to stamp the sentiment with a dark brown ink.  I needed to stamp it several times to get a dark enough impression and the MISTI worked perfectly!!  It is a little hard to see in the photo; the sentiment says, "make a wish: may all your birthday wishes come true".  

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this time; I love being inspired by what you create.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Di's Digi Stamps "Fairies Storytime" digi; PTI "Mum's The Word"

Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"; MFT mini leaves

Challenges:
Cardz TV #14--anything goes
Creative Fingers #137--anything goes
Just Add Ink #378--just add texture
Crafty Catz #385--birthday party time
C.R.A.F.T. #434--autumn, halloween, thanksgiving
Little Miss Muffet #172--anything goes
Mod Squad--leaves
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #134--anything goes
Penny's Challenge #347--anything goes
The Paper Shelter #310--make it digital
Creative Inspirations #280--seasonal
Tuesday Throwdown #361--fantasy
A Gem of a Challenge #203--fun outside
Fussy and Fancy #196--fall colors
Sugar Pea Designs #35--sketch

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Unicorn Challenge #25--birthday
Craft-Dee BowZ--anything goes with handmade bow

Fall Anniversary

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a beautiful color palette for your inspiration:

Isn't it gorgeous!!??  There are so many options with all those beautiful colors.  If I actually worked ahead, I would have loved to really play with these, but I don't and life has been rather crazy lately.  I've spent the 4 out of the last 5 weekends in New Hampshire at my parents' house (3.5 hrs away) and with starting up homeschooling again and having all day music school on Tuesday, I'm really struggling to even keep up!  But enough about my whining and complaining, that's not why you are here!  I used this sunflower image last week on this card, but I really wanted to use it again in full this week, as last week I only used the flower head.  I do love sunflowers and this one is so happy!  And it fit the color scheme and Fall theme I was going for.  So, I used the dark brown, yellow and the golden yellow with a bit of the dark orange.  Plus green, but mine isn't quite the minty green of the photo.

It doesn't show in the photo, but the ribbon strip is actually a dark olive green that matches the sunflower leaves quite well and adds more color and texture.  AND it was in my bits and pieces pile, so it was a win to use it up!  

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this week, and remember that you have until the end of the month to enter any of our challenges from this month.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Happy Anniversary" and "Sunflower"

Challenges:

The Paper Nest Dolls #9--anything goes

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #196--fall colors

YNS #73--color combo

Viva La Verve September--sketch (I turned it on it's side)

Hiding in my Craft Room #318--it's fall y'all

Sweet Stampers #11--lots of layers

Cardz TV #13--anything goes

A Bit More Time To Craft #52--anything goes

Coffee

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack.  As always, we are now an Anything Goes challenge.  

Our sponsor this week is the fabulous Bugaboo Stamps:

I was given this super fun image to work with:

Now, I am NOT a coffee drinker, but soooooo many people I know are, and there are probably quite a few of them to whom this sentiment applies.  : )  And I think it's really fun, anyway.  I actually started out this time by choosing the ribbon I was going to use.  I have a LOT of ribbon and I figured it was time to try to use some up.  So, I picked my ribbon, and colored my image to go along with it.  AND I managed to use up this particular ribbon.  Yeay!  I have a pretty good idea who I will be sending this card too, and she is into the oranges and greens, so this will be perfect.

What do you need to do to enter?

Challenge Rules

1. Please post a direct link to your blog post that includes your challenge entry project, using the linky tool on Jo's blog. 

2. Be sure to include a link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering your project into

3. THREE entries per person are allowed for each challenge and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4. For all entries -NO BACK LINKS ACCEPTED- 

The date on your blog post should be dated between the start date & the end date for the challenge you are entering, in order to be eligible for the challenge prizes

5. You may link up to other challenges but be sure to link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering 

 * All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements

WILL NOT be eligible for the top 3, any sponsor wins or any random wins by Jo

All random wins will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.

You have until Sept. 21sst by 6:00PM (eastern, USA) time to link up.

All winners will be announced during the week of Sept. 24th.

Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create!

Supplies:
Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "BUGMisJJCoffee" digi; PTI "Heart to Heart 2" coffee cup
Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle

Challenges:
Scrapper's Delights #70--anything goes
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #14--anything goes
Little Miss Muffet #171--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #188--anything goes
Tuesday Morning Sketches #420--sketch

Crafty Creations #350--anything goes
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes
Creative Knockouts #211--anything goes

Two Snowmen

It is the middle of September so it's time for our mid-month inspiration for Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra.  It's always Anything (Christmas) Goes!  If you haven't started yet, it's time to get working on those Christmas cards!  And if you have, good for you, keep up the good work!  Here is my card for your inspiration:

I have finally used up the last bits from the Christmas paper pack I have been working on for almost a year.  I've had it much longer than that, but last year around this time was when I really started trying hard to use up all the little scraps.  I had made the paper strips that are along the bottom and top of this card and had two little pieces left that were just perfect for the hats on these adorable little snowmen.  And now it's all gone!  Yeay!!!  I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this month, there are still a couple of weeks left.

Supplies:
Stamps: YNS "Holiday Snow Globe Set"; Verve "Peace On Earth" sentiment
Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder

Challenges:
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
ABC Christmas--S is for Sketch T is for trio (I used a sketch)
MFT #350--sketch

Cuttlebug Mania--anything goes
The Holly and Ivy #4--anything goes
Aud Sentiments #188--anything goes
Creative Fingers #136--anything goes
Hiding In My Craft Room #317--Super Scraps
Christmas Card Challenge #21--inspiration photo (inspired by the snowmen and the colors)


The Paper Shelter #309--embossing
Penny's Challenge #346--anything goes
Crafty Creations #350--anything goes
The Merry Christmas Challenge #34--anything goes
C.R.A.F.T. #433--Christmas

Happy Sunflowers

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a tic tac toe challenge for you:

These are so fun because you pick the elements you want to use!  I used the right hand column: embossing (I used a linen texture plate from PTI), thinking of you, and charms.  And here is what I came up with:

 I was completely inspired by this card on the Power Poppy blog and wanted to give it a try myself  I started by masking the stem on the sunflower image and stamping it repeatedly over the panel of kraft card stock (this was a bit time consuming as I had to mask the stem each time to ink it and then REMEMBER to take the tape off to stamp the image.  I forgot one time, but that's why they make card stock with two sides).  Then I stamped the leaves and colored everything in with colored pencils (I really wanted to use my markers, but the pencils showed up much better on the kraft.  I shaded the flowers with a gray pencil as I already used the darkest yellow I had to color the flowers.  I added highlights with my gel pen.  I colored the leaves with two shades of green and highlighted with the gel pen again.  I outlined all the images with the gray pencil to add depth.  Then I cut the panel out with a stitched rectangle and used a linen texture embossing plate to add a subtle linen detail.  It's tough to see in the photo but you can see it better in the photo below.  I added stickles to the center of the flowers and I LOVE the sparkle!  Finished everything off with my sentiment and tied a charm on with some twine.

I hope you will play along with us this month; remember that you have all month to play with this challenge.  And if you need any of the stamps I used, there is a discount code off your entire order on my left sidebar.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Sunflower", "Leaf Outline, small", "Leaf Outline, large", and "I'm so glad . . ."
Dies:  MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle
PTI "Linen/Canvas" texture plate

Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft #51--anything goes
Alphabet challenge--M for make your mark
Cards Galore--anything goes
Power Poppy--get krafty
Pink Gem Challenge #202--use kraft
Cuttlebug Mania--anything goes
As You Like It--flora or fauna (while I love adorable little critters, I mostly use flowers on my cards.  They're just so pretty and can be used for most occasions)
Aud Sentiments #188--anything goes
Creative Fingers #136--anything goes
Cardz TV #12--anything goes
Sketch Saturday #480--sketch

Crazy 4 Challenges #402--glitter (glittery stickles)

Hello Sunshine

Hi!  It's time for another challenge from Di's Digi Designs: Ribbon, Lace, Twine and/or Cord.  Here is my card for your inspiration:

I used seam binding ribbon and some really delicate lace.  They seemed to fit with this beautiful lady with her fabulous pearls!

Supplies:
Stamps: Di's Digi Stamps "Candy 1920" digi: Verve "Celebrating You" sentiment; PTI "Damask Designs" damask on the light blue paper
Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large" and "Teardrop Circles"; MFT "Blueprints 12" flowers and leaves; Cuttlebug Damask embossing folder on the dark blue vertical layer

Challenges:
Craft Dee Bow-Z--anything goes with handmade bow
Creative Fingers #136--anything goes
Crafting with An Attitude #30--anything goes
Creative Sketchy Girls #15--ribbon rope, lace or pearls (I used ribbon, lace and pearls)
Dies R Us #80--die cut handmade flowers
Calling All Sistahs--inspiration photo (I used the color combo)

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #296--anything goes with snippets (all the blue papers/stock are scraps and the flowers are all die cut from a scrap of blue card stock, plus two of the flower layers {there are 4 in each flower} were just hanging out in my bits and pieces stash waiting to be made into a card)
Pink Gem Challenge #202--use kraft
Aurora Wings #56--anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown #345--dies and/or punches
Cuttlebug Mania--anything goes
The Paper Shelter #308--lots of layers
Penny's Challenge #345--anything goesCrafty Creations #349--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #133--recipe: flowers, die cuts, ribbon and pearls/buttons
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes plus I used the sketch

Little Miss Muffet #171--anything goes
CRAFT--embossing (I dry embossed the dark blue vertical strip)
Aud Sentiments #188--anything goes

Sympathy

Happy Wednesday!  It's time for another challenge at The House That Stamps Built.  this week is a Designer's Choice Challenge and Shirley has chose the theme of Sympathy cards.  They are one of those things that you need unexpectedly so it's a good idea to have a few in your stash.  Here is my card:

I started by stamping my image in versamark and heat embossing it with white embossing powder.  Then I cut it out with the die cut before I did the inking so I would be able to keep the edges of the die cut clean.  I used a light aqua ink to sponge over the embossed image to really bring out the design, but in a subtle way, and also inked very lightly around the inside of the die cut.  I wanted to add interest to the background while keeping it uncluttered, so I layered a panel of kraft card stock which I had swiped the edges of with some white craft ink from SU!  I also distressed the edges a little bit to help it stand out from the kraft base.  For the sentiment, I didn't want the black to be so stark, so I stamped it off on a piece of scrap paper first to soften it up a bit.  I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this week.  Sympathy cards can be hard to make, but I like how elegant they can be.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Warm Memories" and "Dandelion Breeze"
Dies: Spellbinders "Floral Ovals"; MFT "Stitched Scalloped Borders"

Challenges:
Craft-Dee Bow Z--anything goes with handmade bow
Tuesday Throwdown #395--dies and/or punches
Simons Says Stamp Monday--stamp it
A Gem of a Challenge #202--use kraft card stock
Sweet Stampin'--heat embossing
Creative Sketchy Girls #152--ribbon, rope, lace or pearls (I used ribbon and pearls)
Card Mania #96--shabby chic or rustic
Cards Galore--anything goes
A Bit More Time To Craft #51--anything goes
Cardz TV #11--anything goes
Brown Sugar #266--anything goes
Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 #120--sketch and the optional twist of love, romance and pearls

Word Art Wednesday--anything goes with uplifting sentiment

Unmounted stamp storage

Happy Labor Day!  It's my turn to share a project of the week on the House That Stamps Built blog.  I originally got this idea from Wendy, the owner of Repeat Impressions and thought it might prove useful to some of you.  So, I'm showing you how I store my unmounted rubber stamps from Repeat Impressions (but obviously, it would work for any company).  Here's what you will need:

•  a three ring binder (mine is for 8x11 inch paper and it is 1 1/2 inches deep from Staples)
• card stock or paper to fit your binder (I used white card stock from Staples just for a little sturdier weight)
• page protectors to fit your binder (mine are heavyweight sheet protectors from Staples, I think the package has enough to hold 70 sheets)
• tack-it-over and over adhesive ( I got mine from Amazon, but Repeat Impressions sells it)
• a clear block
• ink

Because the adhesive needs time to dry, the first thing I did was scribble a fine layer over the backs of all my stamps.  If you are not familiar with tack-it over and over, it is a removable adhesive that will allow you to mount your stamps to a clear block over and over without having to reapply.  After you have applied it, allow it to dry for several hours or overnight.  

 Then, the real process (and fun) begins!  I categorized my stamps according to the Repeat Impressions online catalog which makes it easier for me to find them when I need to add a link for a blog post.  It also makes it easier to find a stamp rather than having to look through the entire binder.  You can see in the photo below that I labeled the top of this page "Nature" to correspond with the "Nature" category on the website.  Under that, to the left, I wrote the category "Flowers".  Then I stamped each image that fits in that category and labeled them with their item number and names.  I also included the dates I got the stamps. Since I have a lot of the flower stamps, I filled the entire page, but you will see later on that some of my pages are nearly empty--leaving room for when I get more stamps in that category.  On this page, I have "Vase of Tulips", "Tulip Bouquet", "Sunflower" and all the stamps from the "Flower Power Separates" set.

 After stamping the page, slide it in the page protector and place your rubber stamps right on top of the corresponding image.  The Tack-it adhesive will stick to the plastic and you will always be able to find your stamp AND see what it looks like when it is stamped.   This is a bonus for those sentiments that are hard to read backwards!

 Now, you can easily slide the card stock sheet out of the page protector to see the images and sentiments you have.

 I stamp both sides of my card stock so I can use both sides of the page protector, then I place them in the three ring binder and all my unmounted rubber stamps can now sit on a shelf.  The pages below hold the "Holy Crap" set, "Music Background" and "Bass Harbor Light (lg)"

 The photo below shows one of my pages that only has two stamps on it, leaving room for me to grow my collection. : )

 And, this last one shows my entire collection, it just about fills up my 1 1/2 in binder.

I hope this gives you an idea for a way to store all the fabulous unmounted rubber stamps from Repeat Impressions.  It is so much better than how I was storing them: in the mailing envelope I got them in.

Life is sweet

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack.  As always, we are now an Anything Goes challenge.  

We have two awesome sponsors this week:

 Bugaboo Stamps:

Di's Digi Stamps

Here is my card using this adorable little bear from Di's Digi Stamps:

What do you need to do to enter?

Challenge Rules

1. Please post a direct link to your blog post that includes your challenge entry project, using the linky tool on Jo's blog. 

2. Be sure to include a link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering your project into

3. THREE entries per person are allowed for each challenge and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4. For all entries -NO BACK LINKS ACCEPTED- 

The date on your blog post should be dated between the start date & the end date for the challenge you are entering, in order to be eligible for the challenge prizes

5. You may link up to other challenges but be sure to link back to Jo's Scrap Shack and to the challenge post you are entering 

 * All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements

WILL NOT be eligible for the top 3, any sponsor wins or any random wins by Jo

All random wins will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.

You have until Sept 7th by 6:00PM (eastern, USA) time to link up.

All winners will be announced during the week of Sept 10th.

Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create!

Supplies:
Stamps: Di's Digi Stamps "Birthday cake Teddy" digi; PTI "The Sweet Life" sentiment
Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large" and "Teardrop Circles"
Cuttlebug embossing folder

Challenges:
Hanna And Friends #281--pastel
Cute Card Thursday #493--too cute!
Mod Squad Challenge--for a friend
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes
Southern Girls--retro challenge: smash your stash (The strip of paper strips down the side of the card were all scraps from a paper pack I've had for YEARS and I'm almost through using up and the pink card stock is several years old)
Addicted To Stamps #257--make your mark (image colored with spectrum noir markers)
Tuesday Morning Sketches #418--sketch

As You Like It--fur or feathers and why?  (I definitely prefer fur over feathers.  I have 2 cats and had another for almost 18 years, and we've had multiple dogs.  I just love the soft fur and they are so cute.  Though right now, we do have a baby chick--1 day old-- and it is super cute, but I still prefer fur!)
Craft-Dee BowZ--anything goes with handmade bow