Many Thanks

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late and I'm soooo sorry!  I had computer issues this week and I HATE trying to blog and type on my ipad!  So, welcome to this week's challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week it is a color combo:

I took the gold literally and used metallic gold paper and gold embossing powder.

I started by inking the stripes in a chocolate brown and a stencil.  I stamped the leaves in versamark and embossed them with gold embossing powder, then colored them in with an orange marker.  I stamped the "thanks" with the chocolate brown and then the "many" with gold embossing powder.  I added a mat of gold paper behind the sentiment and a tiny strip along the striped edge.  In this photo you can see the shine of the gold and the shimmer of the embossing.

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us.  This color combo is perfect for fall/thanksgiving cards, but you could use them for so many other things.  Hop on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the team created; there are some gorgeous creations over there.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Falling Leaves" and "Thanks Cling Set"
Fiskars "Upper Crest" border punch
MFT "Diagonal Stripes" stencil

Challenges:
Cards Galore Challenge--anything goes
Dragons Lair Challenge--inspiration photo

A Bit More Time To Craft #31--anything goes

Creative Fingers Challenge #119--anything goes

Alphabet Challenge--R is for Recipe (I used: Sentiment, stamps, dies/punches, embossing)

Cute Reindeer

Sorry to all affected that this post is a bit overdue.  I had some computer issues and wasn't able to get my photo uploaded until today.  So, I'm a little late, but welcome to a new challenge from Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra.  As always, we are a month-long anything (Christmas-related) goes challenge.

This is my absolute favorite image from Bugaboo, unfortunately it seems to be retired.  So sad.  I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this month.  It's getting quite close to Christmas, so if you haven't started on your Christmas cards, this is a good excuse to get started.

Supplies:
Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "Plush Reindeer" digi
Dies: Spellbinders "Classic Circles, large"; PTI "Fancy Flakes" snowflake

Challenges:
Creative Fingers Challenge #119--anything goes
Alphabet Challenge--R is for Recipe (I used ribbon, digi stamp, dies/punches)
A Gem of A Challenge #181--snowflakes

Noel

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

That diamond element made me think of my favorite Fleur De Lis square dies and from there, I just got a bit "fancy".  Wasn't really intending to go that way, but I really like how it turned out.

I embossed the sentiment with gold embossing powder and then colored in the poinsettia with a red sharpie; the fine point tip was perfect!  For the diamond element, I die cut two of the squares and then used a ruler and my craft knife to cut out the center of one of them.  I stamped the music background on to the second die cut square and layered them together to create a frame of sorts.  Head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the team did with this; they are all sooooo completely different; the variety is awesome.  I hope you get a chance to play with us this week, sketches are always a great way to start a card.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions: "Noel" and "Sheet Music"

Dies: Spellbinders "Fleur Di Lis squares" and "Radiant Rectangles" oval; Darice Damask embossing folder 

Challenges:

Craft Your Passion #335--anything goes

Christmas Card Challenge #46--anything goes

Hiding In My Craft Room #272--any holiday

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #304--use a sentiment

Crafty Catz #343--embossing (I used by heat and dry embossing)

Brown Sugar #221--anything goes

Crimbo Crackers #118--die cuts

Crafty Ribbons #172--ribbon or lace

C.R.A.F.T. #386--Christmas

The East Wind #65--bump in the night (embossing)

Craft-Dee BowZ--anything goes with handmade bow

Divas That Cut--embossing

Creative Craft Cottage #74--use a ribbon

Thinking of you

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack, and this week it is Anything Goes!!

 Our sponsor is Robyn's Fetish and I was given this little cutie to work with:

Pretty cute, huh?  I dug deep into my stash for this one; the only thing that is newer than probably 3 or four years old is the image.  The leaf paper is from one of those big 12x12 printed paper packs that I got on sale at JoAnn's about 15 or so year ago.  You know the ones I mean: about 150 pages for $19.99, but they were half price for $9.99.  And I HAD to have them and have spent the last 15 years thinking I will NEVER be able to use them. : )  This leaf print has been one of my favorites and I think I am down to less than half a sheet now.  The mulberry paper, I have had nearly as long and probably for the same reason: it was a BIG pack for a cheap price.  Anyway, all of those "I'm never going to be able to use these" all added up to a rather fun card.  The rhinestones were also an old stash and I finally used up the pack on this card!  Yeay!!  Hopefully, this will encourage you all to take a look at those old papers, embellies, etc and see how you can use them in a new way.  I hope you'll get a chance to play along with us this week; I can't wait to see what you create.

Supplies:
Stamps: Robyn's Fetish "Bearly a Pumpkin" digi; Verve "Take Note" sentiment
Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangles

Challenges:
As You Like It--do you prefer new or old stash (of course, I LOVE new stash, who doesn't, but I am trying really hard not to buy any new papers or ribbons right now because I have so many.  As you can see from my description above, I really get a kick out of using up my old stash)
Crafty Ribbons #164--ribbons or lace
DRS #249--inspiration photo: bright halloween colors (I used orange, green, and gold)

Little Miss Muffet #149--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #108--anything goes
Creative Inspiration #260--Halloween/fall
Crafty Addicts #26--Autumn colors
Tuesday Throwdown #316--festive pumpkins
Tuesday Morning Sketches #274--sketch

One Stitch At A Time #273--Halloween colors
A Gem of A Challenge #180--Autumn colors
Word Art Wednesday #252--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
{Pin}spirational Challenge #176--inspiration photo (inspired by the fall colors and theme)

Pattie's Creations #127--halloween or autumn

New Techniques

In September, my mother-in-law and I went to a Stamp & Scrapbook Expo and went to a couple of JustRite Stampers workshops.  One of them was on background techniques, specifically combining background stamps.  We worked on making the background for this card:

The colors come from Gelatos and this is the first time I had given them a try.  I do like the look they give.  And there is even a bit of shimmer, which is fun!  Then we layered a second background stamp over both the background panel and the sentiment panel.  I might have to get me some of those Gelatos, it was pretty fun.

Supplies:

Stamps: JustRite Stampers "Crackle" background stamp, "Honeycomb" background stamp, "Retro Sparkle" background stamp; Verve "Peace On Earth" sentiment

Challenges:

Sweet Stampin'--seeing spots and/or stripes 

C.R.A.F.T. #386--Christmas

Inspiration Destination #108--anything goes

Addicted To Stamps #216--anything goes

Crafter's Cafe--use a new technique (gelato backgrounds)

Snowflakes Promise #31--anything goes

Craft Your Passion #339--anything goes

A Blog Named Hero--geometric (circle background)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #303--cute or anything goes

Cat's Out of the Bag

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

Don't you just love it???  I'm a total cat lady (I have three) so the kitties jumped out at me right away.  And of course, I love pumpkins, so I had to go with them, too.  But you can be inspired by ANYTHING in the photo: the colors, the pumpkins, spooky tree, whatever catches your eye.  I needed a birthday card, so I used this fun sentiment to go along with my sweet cats.

I stamped my pumpkins and cats on separate pieces of scrap card stock , colored and fussy cut them out.  The cats are solid images, so to make them really dark and solid black, I also colored them with a black sharpie.  And the finishing touch are the yellow rhinestones I added for their eyes!!  They are so fun and really glow as if they were actual eyes.  Thanks for stopping by; now hop on over to The House blog to see how the rest of the team has been inspired by the photo.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Cat Sil. (lg)", "Cat Sitting Sil.", "The Cat's Out . . .", "Tall Pumpkin" and "Wide Pumpkin"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:
MFP #42--photo inspiration (inspired by the cats)

Crafty Cardmakers #175--things that go bump in the night
One Stitch At A Time #273--Halloween colors (black and orange)
Word Art Wednesday #252--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Cut It Up #107--pumpkins
Hiding In My Craft Room #271--spooky
Cards Galore--anything goes
Pattie's Creations #127--Halloween or autumn
Tuesday Throwdown #316--festive pumpkins

Cutie Pie Guest Designer

Today, I'm posting as a Guest Designer for The Cutie Pie Challenge.  I was so honored when Lisa from the DT contacted me to ask if I would like to play along with them.  Did I ever!!  

The challenge this month is 5 of a kind (use 5 of one thing).  The sponsor is All Dressed Up Stamps and I was given this adorable image to work with:

 Isn't she so sweet?!  So, my 5 of a kind are dies; I used 5 different dies: the oval, scalloped oval, filigree border, snowflake and ? . . . a stitched rectangle die used on my base layer papers; you can see it the best at the top of the striped paper.  I colored her up with my Spectrum Noir markers and then added some SU! Diamond Dust glitter to the fluffy parts.  Here's a close up of the sparkle:

Thanks for stopping by and thanks, Lisa, for the opportunity to play along.  I hope everyone will head over to the "Little Extra Cuti-ness" inspiration post to see some more adorable cards.

Supplies:
Stamps: All Dressed Up "Little Christmas Girl-03"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle; PTI "Filigree Border" and "Fancy Flakes" snowflake; Spellbinders "Classic Ovals, large" and "Standard Scalloped Ovals, large"

Challenges:
Sweet Stampin'--seeing spots and/or stripes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #303--cute or anything goes
A Bit More Time To Craft #30--anything goes
Crafty Catz #342--all tied up
Cute Card Thursday #447--3 brads/gems, 2 patterned papers, 1 ribbon/washi
Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2--sketch

Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--glitter and sparkle
Fab n funky Challenge #322--shades of gray OR lots of sparkle
Crafting with An Attitude #20--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
All Dressed Up #62--anything goes with an ADU image