Birthday wishes

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack.  As always, we are now an Anything Goes challenge and our sponsor this week is Di's Digi Stamps.  

I won this image from Di's Digi Stamps a couple months ago, and I knew it was perfect to pull out for my brother's birthday.

Isn't he adorable!?  I used a blue fine point marker to draw the corner frames.  And it's very subtle, but I used a star stamp in light gray to add interest to the sentiment panel.  As this is one of the only boy digi image I own, I think it will be getting a lot of use as he's just the cutest!  I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this week.  I can't wait to see what you create!

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 and 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 July 27th by 6:00PM (eastern, USA) time to link up.

All winners will be announced during the week of July 20th.

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

Supplies:

Stamps: Di's Digi Stamps "Watering Can Bunny" digi; Verve "Party Time" sentiment and "To the Moon" stars on sentiment panel

Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A"

Challenges:

The Paper Nest Dolls #7--anything goes

Love To Craft Challenge Blog #12--anything goes

Cheerful Sketches--sketch

Sheep Ski Designs #4--square cards
Creative Inspirations #278--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #132--anything goes
Little Miss Muffet #167--anything goes
Sweet Stampers #9--favorite colors (my favorite color is blue, specially that turquoise blue)
Come And Get It--use 2+ designer papers
Kraftin' Kimie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes
Fab And Funky #360--use patterned paper
Penny's Challenge #338--anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--we're seeing stars (star brads and stars on my sentiment)

Stained Glass Christmas

Happy Wednesday!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This time we have a lovely inspiration photo for you:

So, as you can see, my card has absolutely nothing to do with this super summery photo.  But, wait, it does as I used the color combo, though my green is a bit darker than the darkest teal gray in the photo.  But I also captured the starfish with the star in my images and the waves with the scalloped border.  To create the star embellishment, I stamped the round image twice, colored them and then fussy cut out the star parts and layered them together with some cardboard for dimension.

And that is what inspiration photos are all about!  You can create whatever it is that you feel inspired by.  I hope you will play along with us this week, there are really so many options!  And make sure you visit the House blog to see how the rest of the team was inspired by this.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Stained Glass Round" and "Christmas"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle and "Stitched Scallops"

Challenges:
Christmas Card Challenge #17--inspiration photo (I used the colors in the photo)

Sweet Stampin'--Christmas in July
Hiding In My Craft Room #309--Christmas in July
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #342--anything goes with the twist of use die cuts
Cardz TV Christmas in July #2--anything goes
CAS-ual Fridays #178--Christmas in July
Aud Sentiments #189--Christmas in July
As You Like It--do you prefer gems or pearls?  (I really like both, but it depends on what type of card I am making.  Pearls are more elegant and fancier in my mind, so for a card like this I prefer to use gems)
Creative Inspirations #278--anything goes
The Holly and Ivy #10--anything goes
Creative Fingers #134--anything goes
Art Impressions #212--bling, glitter or glossy
ABC Christmas--N is for New; O is for old  (the round stamp is new, first time I've used it and the scalloped dies are a couple years old
Crafty Calendar--anything goes
Divas That Cut--Christmas in July
Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--anything goes
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes
Unicorn Challenge #23--Christmas in July
{Pin}spirational Challenge #195--inspiration photo (inspired by the Christmas theme)

Last Day

My little nephew is turning 3 next week and he loves dinosaurs, so of course, I had to pull out this adorable dino set from Sugar Pea Designs.  I mean, aren't they the cutest!

As he is only three, he totally won't understand the sentiment, but my brother will, I'm sure.  And it's just too fun!

Supplies:
Stamps: Sugar Pea Designs "Prehistoric Pals"
Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"; Verve "Pennant Trim"

Challenges:
Sugar Pea Designs #33--I used the sketch

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Crafting with Attitude #29--anything goes
Creative With Stamps #16--celebrate

Dare 2B Artzy--bright colors
Hanna And Friends #277--birthday
Penny's #337--anything goes
Crafty Gals #131--do it for the dudes
Cardz TV #6--anything goes
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps--anything goes

Fishy Present

I have EXCITING news!!  A little while ago I was contacted by the coordinator from Di's Digi Designs and asked if I would join their design team?  Di's images are so, so, sooooo adorable, I had to say "YES!"  

So, today is my first challenge as part of the design team!  Thanks Aud and Di for asking me!  Our theme this challenge is: Christmas In July. The sponsor for this challenge is Craftin' Desert Divas and the winner will receive 2 digi images of choice.

 And here is my super cute card:

 I mean, could those penguins be any cuter??  And look at the little present; if I had to guess, I think it might be . . . . a fish??  So cute!  Sorry for the darkness of the picture; the penguin with the scarf, his hat is actually green as are the dark parts on the present though they show up as black.  I used glitter paper to die cut an icicle border than I placed below the ribbon and I added clear Wink of Stella to the pom-poms on the hats and the snow along the ground.  You can just see a bit of sparkle in the next photo:

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us as there are fabulous prizes to be won!  Plus, it's time to get working on those Christmas cards if you haven't started already!

Supplies:
Stamps: Di's Digi Stamps "Penguins Fishy Friend B&W" digi; Verve "Ornamental Christmas" sentiment
Dies: Spellbinders "Label 37"; MFT icicle border die

Challenges:
Cardz TV Christmas in July #2--anything Christmas goes
Cut It Up #126--Christmas in July
CAS-ual Fridays #178--Christmas in July

Aud Sentiments #189--Christmas in July
Cute Card Thursday #486--ribbons/bows
Merry Christmas Challenge #25--ribbon
The Paper Shelter #302--punches and/or dies
The Holly and Ivy #10--anything goes
Tuesday Morning Sketches #411--sketch and theme: Christmas in July

Fussy and Fancy #191--celebration (celebrating Christmas)
Winter Wonderland--Christmas Penguins
Crafting By Designs--anything goes
Creative Craft Cottage--Christmas in July
Merry Monday--any Christmas challenge (I used the challenge to create a card in red, green, and white)

ABC Christmas--O is for old (my papers are a couple years old and the mulberry paper is probably 15+ years old and I've had this image for several years)
Crop Stop--anything goes (with a spellbinders die)
Craft Dee Bow-Z--anything goes with handmade bow
Unicorn Challenge #23--Christmas in July
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes
Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--anything goes
Divas That Cut--Christmas in July

Baby Jesus

Here it is the middle of July, and that means it's time for our mid-month reminder from Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra blog.  Remember, you have all month long to create whatever you want for Christmas and link it up to our challenge.

For my card, I knew I wanted to use the strip of patterned paper strips at the bottom, so I went looking for an image that would pair well with it.  And I found this adorable clear stamp from Wild Orchid Crafts that I had totally forgotten I even had.  It's so cute and perfect for simple and elaborate cards alike!

I had made the strip along the bottom a while ago by adhering little tiny strips of scraps to a larger piece that would fit along the bottom of a A2 sized card with a little overhang so I could trim it off perfectly to fit.  So, I adhered it first along the bottom of the card base and then layered the white panel on top.  And there it is: a (almost) one layer card.  I also added two little banners that I cut from the left over scraps.  I just love using up scraps!  It's tough to see in the photo, but I used my ruler and piercing tool to create a little bit of pierced interest on either side of the sentiment and in the upper right corner.  Embellishment without using any embellishments!
I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this month: Christmas is coming faster than you think!

Supplies:
Stamps: Wild Orchid Crafts nativity stamps; Verve "Peace on Earth" sentiment

Challenges:
Cardz TV Christmas in July #2--anything Christmas goes
CAS-ual Fridays #178--Christmas in July

Aud Sentiments #189--Christmas in July
Little Miss Muffet #167--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #152--anything goes
Crafty Creations #345--anything goes
Creative Inspiration #278--anything goes
The Holly and Ivy #10--anything goes
Shopping Our Stash #311--CAS
Pink Gem Challenge #198--animals
Hiding In My Craft Room #308--super scraps
Stamplorations CAS--anything CAS

Creative Craft--Christmas in July
Merry Monday--anything Christmas (but just in case, this fits the theme of challenge #250: rustic feel)

ABC Christmas--O is for Old (both the papers and the stamp are 5+ years old--probably a lot more!)
Unicorn #23--Christmas in July
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes
Christmas Cards All Year 'Round--anything goes

Summer treats

Hello, Everyone!  It's Wednesday again, and time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a fun Tic-Tac-Toe challenge for you:

I had so much fun with this one, I created two cards for you.  My first one uses the diagonal: polka dots, paper piecing and faux stitching (with my stitched rectangle die).  I also used sky blue, sweet treats, and hot pink.

 Don't you just love that cupcake liner??!!  I've totally had ones like that before.  All the patterned papers on this were from scraps.  I'm slowly whittling away at the pack they belong to.  My second card (which I actually posted earlier this week here) used the right column: Friends, lime green and faux stitching.  Don't  you love those citrus slices?

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this week.  The Tic-Tac-Toe board gives you so many choices, there's really no excuse to not play along. : )

Supplies:
Card #1:
Stamps:  Repeat Impressions "Cupcakes" and "Birthday"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" Stitched rectangle

Card #2:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Citrus Slice" and "I'm so glad . . . "
Dies: PTI Loopy die; MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched line

Card #1 Challenges:
Pattie's Creations #136--image of something sweet
Through the Purple Haze #128--spots and/or stripes
Creative with Stamps #16--celebration

Dare 2B Artzy--bright colors
{Pin}spirational Challenge #194--inspirational photo (I was inspired by the cupcakes)

Art Impressions #212--bling, glitter or glossy (I have rhinestones for bling and I used glossy accents on the cherry to make it shine)
YNS #68--sketch

Stamplorations Summer CAS challenge--CAS

Hiding in My Craft Room #308--super scraps
Shopping our Stash #31--CAS

Project of the week: out of the box die cutting

Today is my day to share a Project of The Week over on The House That Stamps Built blog.  I'm going to give you a quick little tutorial on how to do the out of the box die cutting technique; something that I find myself using quite a bit.  Here's what you need for this technique:

• an image (I used "Feline Friendly"
• ink
• a die
• scissors
• pencil
• washi tape or similar low tack tape (I forgot to put it in the picture)

 This technique works really well for large images (ones that are too big to fit in your die) and needs to have a part or parts of the image that hangs outside the width of the die.

 Line up the die around your image where you want it and lightly trace along both sides of the die around the part of the image that falls outside of the die.  For my card, it is along the sides of the die just around the cat's tail.  In the next photo you can see where I drew the lines:

 Take your scissors, and carefully cut along the IMAGE lines just until you have cut in far enough to be able to pop the piece up over your die (you'll see what I mean in the next photo).  I drew light arrow lines to show how far in I cut.

 Slide your die under the cut out part of the image until it lines up between the two lines you traced before and tape it in place so it doesn't move.  You can see how the cat's tail is up on top of the die.

 Run it through your die cutting machine like normal.  You can see that my die cut is smaller than the die; I ran it through a second time after adjusting it because I didn't want all that white space at the bottom.

 Carefully and thoroughly erase any pencil lines and smooth the cut out portion down so you can't see the cuts.

 And here is my finished card:

I just love how his little tail is hanging out over the edge; I really think it adds to the cuteness.  For my sentiment I used "Friends Make . . .".  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Feline Friendly" and "Friends Make . . . "
Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangles; MFT "Four Corners"; Sweet n' Sassy Stamps heart die

Challenges:
Cards Galore--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
The Paper Nest Dolls #6--anything goes
Dies R Us #76--layers
SheepSki Designs #4--square cards
Incy Wincy--friends forever
Penny's Challenge #336--anything goes
Crafty Gals #130--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #290--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Crafty Creations #345--anything goes
Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2--sketch

Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday--anything goes
Cardz TV #5--anything goes
Pink Gem Challenge #198--animals