Papercraft Star Challenge #10

Hope you've all been enjoying the DT projects for this week's challenge at Papercraft Star. Our challenge this week was a clean and simple card sketch and here's what I came up with.
I found some new digi stuff to play with at Fred She Said and this is my very first attempt at using one of several downloads I bought. The flowers are from the Faux Foldy Flowers 1 set. These digis print out on a full sheet of cardstock in several sizes so you can stack--or not. :) Some of her downloads even contain SVG files!
Mine were printed on white cardstock and I inked them with Tattered Rose Distress Ink and then went over the embossed lines with Aged Mahogany. White brads covered in Scattered Straw Stickles and Peeled Paint leaves finish up the flowers. I put it all on a background of fun green plaid October Afternoon paper. I think it made for a cheery card! :)

Supplies
Paper: Georgia Pacific White Cardstock, October Afternoon Fly a Kite
Stamps: Fred She Said Faux Foldy Flowers 1 Digital Stamps
Inks+: Tattered Rose, Aged Mahogany, and Peeled Paint Distress ink; Scattered Straw Distress Stickles
Tools: Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder, Spellbinders Wizard, Fiskars Paper Edgers Decorative Edged Scissors
Miscellaneous: Offray ribbon, brads

You have until tomorrow August 28th at noon EST to get your entry in for this weeks challenge and then make sure you come back and vote for your favorite entries from our players and DT between then and midnight Monday. Come dazzle us with your creative genius! :)
Have a blessed day!

What a wonderful day!

This morning started off with a wonderful blessing when I discovered that my "Isn't She Lovely" card won a Spotlight Artist award at City Crafter Challenge blog!

Yippee! I was really happy with how the card turned out and now I'm even happier. :) And speaking of CCCB check this out.
Aren't these little birdies just beautiful. Unfortunately I don't speak or read Russian (I'm pretty sure that's what this is LOL), so I can't tell you exactly what it says, but I believe the gist of it is that the person giving it to you thinks your blog is nice and they enjoy visiting it. Sure hope that's what this means or it could be very embarassing. hee hee That's how I'm going to view it anyway, because that's the way I think my sweet bloggie friend Kirsty meant it when she awarded me with it on her personal blog, Handmade Little Things. Kirsty is the mastermind behind City Crafter Challenge Blog, one of my favorite places to play for card challenges. If you're into card making and have never played there, you definitely need to give it a try. Kirsty and her DT girls do an awesome job of both inspiring us and being great sources of encouragement and support by visiting and commenting on submissions for each weeks challenge. Trust me, you won't feel like you're just a number there. The challenges are great too! And no, LOL, I'm not saying this because I just won a Spotlight Artist there. hee hee I really enjoy the atmosphere at CCCB. So here's a great big THANK YOU! to Kirsty for being my bloggie friend and picking my blog for this award.
Those who receive this award are supposed to pass it along to ten of their favorite blogs to visit. That would really be tough so I'm just going to send this out to those of you who regularly follow my blog and leave me such wonderful encouraging comments. If you'd like to display the award on your blog, feel free to grab it. I hope you all enjoy visiting my blog and seeing what I've made or just sharing a chuckle.
My second blessing of the day came when I visited my friend Traci's blog, He IS Able. If you'll remember a couple of weeks ago I created a card with a cross on it as my submission for her very first blog challenge. Well, her hubby pulled my name as the winner! Traci has started a wonderful card ministry to help spread the love of Christ. She's still collecting cards and has a card giveaway every week to one of her commenters. It's a worthwhile cause and she has been a blessing to me. If you'll take the time to visit her blog I bet she'll be a blessing to you too. Thanks Traci!
Don't forget that the sketch challenge at papercraft Star started today. Join us for the fun this week. You have until Saturday at noon to get your entry in.
Have a great tomorrow and thanks for listening to my ramblings.
Blessings,

Just a little sugar

Hope you're having a happy Tuesday. I had fun making this card, but I'm sure not going to have fun cleaning up the mess I made doing it. LOL Isn't this Sarah Kay image sweet.
Here are the challenges I'm entering this card in:

7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog--Strip It Down
Digi Doodle Shop's Best--Anything Goes
Meljen's Designs #21--brown, teal, orange
Sentimental Sunday #17--words of inspiration

Supplies
Paper: Recollections Kraft, Bo Bunny, Strathmore Watercolor paper
Stamps: Sarah Kay "First Kiss", Raindrop Echo Designs "Words to Inspire"
Inks+: Derwent Watercolor pencils, Prisma Colored pencils, Walnut Stain and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks, Gemini Masterpiece Odorless Mineral Spirits
Tools: Nestabilities Labels 8 (S5-019), and Classic Ovals Large (S4-110)
Miscellaneous: Prima e-line flowers and mini roses, Celebrate It ribbon

Thanks for stopping by

Isn't She Lovely

I have to laugh every time I think about reading Kirsty Vittetoe's blog post this morning about her three hour card. This card took over three DAYS! I knew what I wanted to do, but I just couldn't get it to pull together--until this morning. Huff! Now here I am down to the wire on submission time, but. . . it's done.
The photo is my beloved grandmother on the occasion of her tenth grade graduation. She's been gone seventeen years now and I still miss her. Living out in the country and being an only child, she was my playmate when I was a kid. Endless hours sitting on her front porch playing Scrabble, Rook, dominoes, and Monopoly. Letting me lick the beaters after she made a pound cake. If you've ever heard the expression "cathead" biscuit--by golly she could make 'em and they'd melt in your mouth. She wrote down the recipe for me, but I've never been able to get them to turn out like hers. Sigh.
For the card I printed off her photo and placed it in a chipboard frame that my sweet friend Silvia made for me because I am probably the last living human being on this earth who does not own a Bigshot. hee hee I covered the frame in silver embossing powder twice and stamped into it with a rubber stamp. I then used some Pitch Black Alcohol Ink over the EP to antique it. The pink and white flowers and leaves are from one of the awesome Digi stamp files I purchased recently from Fred She Said. The yellow roses are just spiral rolled paper strips.
Although this is in card form, I just night cut the other half off and use this in a heritage mini album. Haven't decided yet, but that's why I didn't add a sentiment. If I do the mini, I'll probably put her name or initials in the top corner.

Here are the challenges I'm entering this card in. Thought I try a couple more new ones out.
City Crafter Challenge Blog--"Isn't She Lovely"
Crafts and Me Challenges--petals and pearls
Fab 'n' Funky Challenges--flower power
Creatalicious Challenges--Vintage

Supplies
Paper: Recollections cardstock, white cardstock, American Crafts Dear Lizzy
Stamp: Stampabilities Ornate Textured Background, Fred She Said Paper Roses and Leaves Digital Stamp File
Inks+: Tattered Rose and Peeled Paint Distress Ink, Adirondack Butterscotch ink, Pearl Perfect Pearls, Brilliance Starlite Silver Dew Drop ink, Ranger Silver Superfine Detail Embossing Powder, Ranger Pitch Black Alcohol Ink
Tools: sewing machine
Miscellaneous: clear glass microbeads, seam binding, acrylic rhinestones, silver heart charm, Recollections adhesive pearls, silver sewing thread

I'm happy with how it turned out and I hope you like it too.
Thanks for visiting!

Lacy Flowers and Butterflies

The colors for this card come from this week's #43 challenge at the Play Date Cafe--dark green, light green, and turquoise blue. There is lots of layering and a great Penny Black stamped image. I had ordered some seam binding and it arrived just in time to add a little to this card. I also added a couple of my handmade butterflies, which qualifies this card for the challenge at Crafty Creations.
Thought I'd try out a few other new challenges too. I'm always looking for somewhere fun to play.
For Fun Challenges--1 ribbon, 2 DP's, 3 embellies
Stampin' for the Weekend--Anything Goes
Craft Your Days Away--With Wings
Flutterby Wednesdays--1 part sparkle, 2 parts DP, 3 parts buttons or gems

Supplies
Paper: Recollections Summer Flower, Coordinations cardstock, My Mind's Eye 29th Street Market, White cardstock
Stamp: Penny Black Lace Flower
Inks+: Memento Bamboo Leaves, Summer Sky, and New Sprout
Tools: Martha Stewart Arch Lattice Edger punch, Cropadile
Miscellaneous: seam binding, Kaisercraft adhesive pearls

Not sure what's up with the photo. I took a ton of pics and everyone of them made the card look like it's bowed out in the middle at the top and bottom, but it's straight as it can be. If I knew more about cameras I could probably fix this. ☺ Hope you enjoy the card anyway.
Blessings,

Tomorrows the last day to vote at Papercraft Star!

Don't forget to pop in to Papercraft Star and cast your 2 votes, one for a contestant entry and one for a DT member entry for Challenge #9. Voting remains open until 12:00 a.m. EST Monday. This week's prize is a $10.00 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink. YUM!

Challenge #10 will be open for submissions on Wednesday, August 25th through Saturday, August 28th at 12:00 p.m. EST. Here's the challenge--a card sketch.

And here's a sneak peek at my DT example.

Anyone can play. We don't mind if you combine our challenge with others. Any style, any media, card, layout, altered--WHATEVAH! So what's holding you back. Come play along with us.

Happy Sunday!

Papercraft Star Challenge #9

Isn't this little kitty cute! I'm going to call it a he, so he is a Penny Black Stamp. This weeks inspiration photo at Papercraft Star featured several hot air balloons and some beautiful muted pink, browns, and blues. At least that's what I saw. :) It never ceases to amaze me at just how different each one of us can interpret the same scene.
The October Afternoon paper on the left is a map of London so it kind of looks like kitty is flying over the city with his balloons! Wish I could fly over there. Sigh! There's so much incredible history to be explored in the British Isles. Just the thought of all those old castles and beautiful landscapes gets my heart jumping.
This card made me happy, even if I can't go to London. The colors are my favorites and I feel like I'm pushing just a little bit out of the creativity bounds that I call normal. I think I'm growing, at least I hope I am. I know that I'm getting a LOT faster at making a card. :) Here's the ingredient list for my little cat's flying adventure.

Supplies
Paper: Recollections cardstock, October Afternoon, The Paper Studio, Strathmore Water Color paper
Stamp: Penny Black Bubbly Collection
Inks+: Tattered Rose and Antique Linen Disstress Ink, Derwent Water Color pencils
Tools: Nestabilities Classic Ovals large (S4-110), Classic Scalloped Ovals Large (S4-111), Standard Circles large (S4-114), Martha Stewart Branch and Doily border punches, sewing machine
Miscellaneous: Offray ribbon, beads, Prima mini roses and flowers

Thanks for popping in to visit. Make sure you get your entries in for the Papercraft Star challenge this week before noon tomorrow and then come back and vote. Remember, everybody gets two votes--one for a participant and one for a DT member. This weeks prize is a $10.00 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink! Remember, DT members are not eligible for prizes, so one of YOU will win! Break out all those supplies and show us whatcha got.
Blessings,

Tag Tuesday

No paper tags. That's the challenge this week at Tag Tuesday. Well, the only paper on here is the tiny little tag. :) When I read no paper, I immediately thought of sticky back canvas so that's what the background image is printed out on. It's a beautiful antique rose image that I got from Magic Moonlight Studio. The base of the tag is a piece of 4 x 6 chipboard which I painted with Tattered Rose Distress crackle paint and inked with Vintage Photo Distress ink. The butterfly is one of my dryer sheet butterflies that's embossed and colored with Glimmer mist.
Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I'm looking forward to checking out all the other Tag Tuesday players. :)
Don't forget Papercraft Star's brand new challenge starts today. It's a clean and simple card sketch. Everyone is invited to come play! See ya there.
Blessings,

Digi Doodle Shop's Best #20

The challenge this week at Digi Doodle Shop's Best Challenge was to use flowers. The image is a Digi Doodle digital stamp called Country Flowers. Isn't it sweet! I guess I'm ready for fall because I keep reaching for the rich yellows and reds here lately.
Several months back I picked up a little $1.00 package of Studio G Fresh Flocking. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but . . . it was only a dollar. After I printed out this image the thought came to me to make my flowers a little dimensional, so I dug out the little pots of flocking and VOILA! I wasn't sure how to work with it, but I just put a little Scotch Quick Dry glue where I wanted the flocking and sprinkled it on. I like the way it looks cause the flowers aren't flat.

Supplies
Paper: Recollection Kraft Cardstock, Scenic Route Sonoma Collection, Strathmore Watercolor paper
Stamp: Digi Doodle Shop Country Flowers
Inks+: Walnut Stain and Antique Linen Distress Inks, Derwent Watercolor pencils, Studio G. Fresh Flocking
Tools: Nestabilities Classic Squares Large (S4-126)
Miscellaneous: Michaels ribbon, Recollections Rhinestone Stickers

Thanks for visiting!

Quilted Hearts

This was not my original idea for this weeks challenge at City Crafters Challenge Blog, but I like it a lot better. :) The theme this week was "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", focusing on the heart part. The color palette and tone of the card come from the new challenge at the EmbellishMagazine.com. Color Challenge. They wanted a "quirky-cutesy, clean style" card using sea foam, peach, cream and kraft colors.

Lots of hearts, and though this may not qualify for quirky, I think it qualifies for cutesy and clean. LOL The colors are beautiful together and I love quilts. This card made me think about some doll quilts I made for my daughter when she was little.

For a little extra something, I made some little seed bead daisies to add along the bottom of the card.

Supplies

Paper: Recollections cardstock, Kraft cardstock, Provocraft Mini Stack, October Afternoon Fly a Kite and Thrift Shop, Iron Orchid Designs

Tools: Cricut, needle and thread

Miscellaneous: The Robert Stanley Collection ribbon, seed beads

Thanks for stopping in today!

Play Date Cafe Challenge #42

Dark brown, green, and beige were the colors of the challenge this week at The Play Date Cafe. I've been trying really hard lately to NOT buy any more paper. I'm a hoarder. I admit it. So I went into my two big boxes of scrapping paper and found some that would fit this weeks requirements.

I used another beautiful Sarah Kay image on this one and colored it with a combination of mediums. The background is watercolor, her clothing is Distress ink, and her skin is colored pencil blended with odorless mineral spirits. My watercolor pencils really don't have a good color for skin tone. I may have to splurge on one of those Copic markers everybody's crazy about for that. If anyone has a number recommendation, please leave it in a comment below.

I wasn't sure about sewing around the knotched corners with my machine, so I used the plastic canvas for a piercing template again and hand sewed the stitching, just to be safe. :)

Supplies

Paper: Recollections cardstock, All My Memories, Anna Griffin, Sassafras Lass, Strathmore Watercolor paper

Stamp: Sarah Kay Isabelle with puppy Coco

Inks+: Derwent Watercolor pencils; Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, and Peeled paint Distress Inks; Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Gemini Odorless Mineral Spirits; Old lace and Caramel Apple Glimmer Mist

Tools: EK Success 3/4" circle punch, Making Memories Instant Setter, plastic canvas

Miscellaneous: sewing thread, Crafters Square hemp cord, eyelets, Prima e-line and mini rose flowers

A special thank you to all of you who have visited here recently and left me such wonderful encouraging comments. You're all such a blessing to me.

Tag Tuesday Crowns

The challenge this week at Kard Krazy's Tag Tuesday was to create a tag using crowns. Now you may look at this tag and think "well that's pretty plain". Trust me. It was NOT plain to make. LOL I haven't worked this hard on a project in a while.
The image is a snippet of one I downloaded at Karens Whimsey. I printed it out on watercolor paper. I then used Prismacolor colored pencils to color the image. Odorless mineral spirits and a blending stump were used to blend the pencil color.
The next part took quite a bit of time and could have been done better I'm sure. I used a ruler and pencil to draw a faux stained glass pattern onto the image. Using an Exacto knife and the ruler I cut the image apart. I then began to slowly reconstruct the image with grout line spacing on a piece of white cardstock. Lesson learned here. I should have used black cardstock. I'll explain later.
After the image was glued onto the cardstock I used a Versamark stamp pad over the whole image. Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel was sprinkled over this and then heated with a heat gun. It makes a perfect stained glass look.
My next step was to add black paint into the grout lines. This is why I should have used the black cardstock. The UTEE got into the grout lines and wouldn't let the paint soak in so I had to use a Sharpie to try and fill in some of the gaps. That's why my grout is splotchy.
Even though that was a big mistake, the distressed look really grew on me. I got halfway through completely redoing the whole project and decided I really liked the first one.
I glued the image onto a piece of black cardstock and added a crown image from The Graphics Fairy colored with the pencils, blended with the OMS, and covered in Ranger Glossy Accents. I was going to add some words to the tag but everything seemed to take away from the image and I thought it best to just let the subject matter speak for itself. :) Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!

Papercraft Star Challenge #8

It's a new challenge week at Papercraft Star Challenge Blog, and this week we want you to use the 3 B's--buttons, bows, and bling.
I had a blast making this card. Isn't this image adorable! It's a Meljen's Designs digi image I bought from Whimsy Stamps. I will definitely be getting some more of these! I colored the image with my Derwent watercolor pencils and them added some Stickles too. If you look real close you can see some teeny tiny red gemstone blings in the centers of the little flowers. So fun!
The image is double matted and attached to some of my favorite October Afternoon DP. I used my Signo white gel pen to do some faux stitching around the red mat. I trimmed the corners of the mats with my 1" circle punch. Need to get myself a ticket corner punch. :)
The red twill ribbon is attached to a 1/2" strip of black cardstock. I added a little more bling at the bottom of the ribbon strip and a cute little bow made with my Bow Easy at the top. Three pretty red buttons tied with some hemp cording complete my 3B's card.

Supplies
Paper: October Afternoon, Recollections Cardstock, Bazzill, Strathmore Watercolor paper
Stamp: Meljen's Designs Garden Bird House Digital Stamp
Inks+: Derwent Water Color pencils, Signo White Gel pen, Stickles--Waterfall, Yellow, Orange Peel, Xmas Red, Crystal
Tools: EK Success 1" circle punch, Bow Easy
Miscellaneous: Recollections Rhinestone Sticker gemstones, Studio 18 Rhinestones, Celebrate It Ribbon, buttons, Martha Stewart Bakers Twine

You have until noon EST tomorrow to get in your submission for this challenge, and guess what--There are prizes this week! Yep, this weeks winner will receive a $10.00 Michaels gift card and if you join in at the Papercraft Star Forum and post ten times during the challenge week you'll be in the running for a $10.00 gift card from My Favorite Things! Who knows, you might be this weeks lucky winner!

Make sure you come back after noon EST on Saturday for the voting. That's different this week also! You'll now get two votes! You can choose your favorite from our participants and your favorite from our DT members. Voting runs through 11:59 p.m. EST Monday. Come play with us at Papercraft Star!

The Shabby Tea Room Week #22

It's been a while since I've played at the Shabby Tea Room, but I decided to give it another try this week. The challenge was to make a project from the following photo inspiration.

I see creams, black, and silver so that's what you'll find in my card. Though a little time consuming, the card was easy. It was the photographing that was a problem. I couldn't seem to find a place to take the pic that didn't wash the card out so that you couldn't tell that the paper was cream colored. The remnants of that tropical whatever it was have been playing havoc with the weather all day so lighting ops were terrible.
I was trying to go for a very elegant sophisticated looking card. I'm really pleased with how it came out. Hope you like it too.

Supplies
Paper: Recollections cardstock
Stamp: The Paper Studio
Inks+: Stazon Jet Black, Versamark Watermark Stamp Pad, Zing Clear Embossing Powder
Tools: Martha Stewart Garden Trellis border punch, EK Success Decorative Corner punch, Bow Easy
Miscellaneous: Robert Stanley Collection ribbon, pearl beads, Kaisercraft Pearls

Have a blessed day!

Thoughts in Red and White

Well, I have my friend Kristina to thank for this card. She put me onto the Daily Dare blog and I now have a list of challenges I might like to try. You enabler you! :) Here are the two challenges I'm entering this card in.

Just Us Girls #45--sketch
Just For Fun Friday Color Challenge #23--kraft, red, and white

Sketch challenges are one of the areas I still have trouble with. I have a hard time stepping outside of a literal translation of the sketch. I'm a rule follower. What can I say. It goes against my very nature to not follow the given sketch to a tee. I guess the ability to see outside of the box will come as I grow in my crafting.

Supplies
Paper: Kraft and white cardstock, October Afternoon Thrift Shop
Stamp: Digi Doodle Shop Calliopsis, Inkadinkado Garden Flower
Inks+: Barn Door Distress Ink, Derwent Water Color Pencils, Stazon Jet Black, Polymark Medium Gold Iridescent Dimensional Fabric Paint
Tools: Nestabilities Classic Ovals Large (S4-110 and Classic Scalloped Ovals Large (S4-111), Martha Stewart Daisy Edge punch
Miscellaneous: Celebrate It ribbon, button, Crafters Square hemp cord, Recollections Rhinestone Stickers

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to come back tomorrow and see my DT project for this weeks challenge at Papercraft Star. Submissions are open until 12:00 EST Saturday. Come play along with us!

Digi Doodle Shops Best Challenge #19

Here I am coming down to the wire again on this weeks Digi Doodle Shops Best Challenge #19. Hey, I can only make cards so many hours of the day without my family complaining of neglect. :)
Fall is fast approaching although temperature wise it's still dead in the middle of summer here (110+ heat indexes). I just thought these fall colored DP's from Scenic Route were so pretty so I decided to use them on my card for this challenge. Our challenge was to use our favorite stamp. This is my newest stamp purchase. I just LOVE Sarah Kay images!
Am I awesome with the sewing machine on those little squares or what! Just kidding. :) I was so scared that I would mess the card up that I got out a piece of plastic canvas and used it as a guide to paper pierce the "stitching" around the edge of the squares, then I sewed it by hand. Although most of the coloring was done with the water color pencils, I just couldn't get her clothing to match the colors of the DP so I went over her outfit with some watered down Distress Ink and it matched perfectly.

Supplies
Paper: Recollection cardstock, Scenic Route Sonoma Collection, Canon Heavyweight Drawing Bristol paper
Stamp: Sarah Kay "Bernadette admiring the spring flowers"
Inks+: Stazon Black, Derwent Water Color Pencils, Aged Mahogany and Antique Linen Distress Ink, Pearl Perfect Pearls, Crytal Stickles, Old Lace Glimmer Mist
Tools: Nestabilities Deckled Squares Large (S4-202), Martha Stewart punch
Miscellaneous: Prima Mini Roses, Offray ribbon, buttons, DMC embroidery thread

Hope you like the card. It was a fun one to make.
Blessings,

He IS Able Card Ministry

Hi all and a happy Tuesday to you!

Todays card is very simple, but the sentiment packs a punch. It's a simple mixture of a distress ink background with a cross image that I painted with water color pencils and a touch of Perfect Pearls.

This card was made for a new blog that I was introduced to by my friend Savannah O'Gwynn. The bloggers name is Traci and she was burdened to do a greeting card ministry. You can read her first blog post here to get a full understanding of the why's and how's she has begun her trek. She has challenged those who visit her blog to come up with a greeting card based on some scriptures from Genesis dealing with Noah. You can read the whole post and the deets of the challenge here. Every week she draws a winner from her comment section to receive a card that has been donated to her. The card is mailed to the winner complete with a stamped envelope ready to be mailed out and be a blessing to someone. This weeks card is made by the incredibly talented Deb Saaranen at Dream in Color.

Traci's blog and ministry is only a little over a month old and in the fledgling stages. Anyone who blogs remembers those days. I know it would be a blessing to her if you'd take the time to hop over there and visit. Maybe you can even get involved with her ministry and make a card or two. :)

Tomorrow starts challenge #8 at Papercraft Star. It's button, bows, and bling! If you're like me, you've got tons of this so dig it out, create something, and come enter it in this weeks challenge!

Have a blessed day!

Go Vote at Papercraft Star!

Hey Everybody! Just wanted to remind you that you have until midnight EST tonight to hop over to the Papercraft Star Challenge Blog and vote for your favorite project. Remember, there will be two winners. One participant and one DT member decided by YOUR votes. So come help us pick our winners this week.

Blessings,

Flower Challenge at Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom Blog

Ellen Hutson has a wonderful blog attached to her store called the CLASSroom. You can find some really cool techniques taught there. At the beginning of the month a challenge was announced that really caught my eye. You all know how much I LOVE flowers, especially making them myself. The challenge was to make a project with flowers. I encourage you to check out this link and the following posts, especially the one about Susan Tierney Cockburn here. Her hydrangeas and ivy are incredible!

Supplies
Paper: Recollections cardstock, October Afternoon Thrift Shop, unknown brand maroon cardstock
Inks+: Tattered Rose Distress Ink, Derwent Water Color pencils, Olive Vine Glimmer Mist, Inkadinkado Blending Chalk, Cotton Candy Stickles
Tools: Martha Stewart Modern Garden and Rose Leaf punches, EK Success Retro Flower punches, Nestabilities Classic Ovals Large (S4-110) and Classic Scalloped Ovals Large (S4-111)
Miscellaneous: Vintage Shabby Seam Binding

This is my second post of the day so if you'd like to see my card for the opening challenge at the brand new 7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog click here.

Hope you like the card! I loved every minute of making all those petals (white cardstock I colored with the distress ink) and the stem (packing paper and Glimmer Mist)--haven't made one of those in a while.
Blessings,

Brand new Challenge Blog at 7kidscollegefund

I don't know about you , but I'm pretty picky about where I do my online shopping. I don't buy online a lot, but I'm crazy about these Sarah Kay stamps and I can't get them anywhere locally. I decided to purchase them from 7kidscollegefund and I can tell you I'm more than happy that I picked them to shop with. They have a great selection and the ship time is fantastic.
Well on top of being a great online store, they've started up their very own challenge blog aptly called 7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog. Wednesday they posted their very first challenge--pink and dots and this is my card for the challenge.
My friend Silvia (who by the way makes the most awesome cards!) made a card using this labels 10 Nestie die and I just fell in love with it. I had to order it and another Sarah Kay stamp I can't wait to use.

Supplies
Paper: October Afternoon Fly a Kite, My Mind's Eye Laundry Line, Coordinations cardstock, white cardstock, Strathmore Watercolor paper
Stamp: Sarah Kay Spring Is Back
Inks+: Derwent Watercolor pencils, Tattered Rose Distress Ink, Cotton Candy Stickles
Tools: Nestabilities Labels Ten (S5-022)
Miscellaneous: Recollections Adhesive pearls, Prima mini roses, Celebrate It ribbon

I'm trying to experiment more with background elements. So much to learn.
Hope you like the card!

Play Date Cafe #41

Julie Ranae has challenged us with the colors of Tuscany this week for the Play Date Cafe Challenge #41. Red, yellow, and white are our palette. Hope you all aren't getting tired of all the October Afternoon papers I've been using lately. I can't help it. I LOVE the papers in the Thrift Shop and Fly a Kite collections. Originally this was going to be a 5" x 7" card, but I just couldn't get it to layout anyway that I liked, so I decided to make it an easel card so I could use the lattice border punch as the stopper. I love this stamp, and yes it is an actual woodmounted rubber stamp. :)

Supplies
Paper: October Afternoon Thrift Shop, DCWV, Recollections cardstock
Stamp: Rubber Stampede Sunflower
Inks+: Derwent Water Color pencils, Scattered Straw Distress Stickles
Tools: Nestabilities Large Scalloped Octagons (S4-187), EK Success 3/4" circle punch, Martha Stewart Garden lattice punch
Miscellaneous: Paper Studio adhesive pearls, Studio 18 Rhinestones, ribbon

Don't forget to get your Papercraft Star project in before noon tomorrow and then come back and vote for your favorite submission.

Thanks for stopping by!

Papercraft Star Challenge #7

The Papercraft Star Challenge Blog offered up a photo inspiration for challenge #7. I went through several ideas before I settled on this little easel card. I think I may be hooked now that I know how easy they are. Lots of layering here and the yellow accents in the inspiration photo drew my eye so I rifled through my flower collection to find these little yellow Primas. Luckily I had some buttons to match! I wanted to put a Bible verse on this card so I found one I liked and printed it out on my computer. A couple of Nestie dies and voila!

Supplies

Paper: Cherry Arte, DCWV, Bazzill, Recollections

Tools: Nestabilities Labels Two (S4-162)

Miscellaneous: Prima roses, buttons, hemp, Offray ribbon, Recollections adhesive pearls, brown fiber

Hope you've decided to play along with us this week. Make sure you get your project submitted by noon(EST) on Saturday, then come back between then and Monday night to cast your vote for your favorite entry. We've seen lots of great projects in our challenges so far. Come show us what you've got!

Blessings,

Cupcakes! and a little news

Isn't this stamp cute! I've really been using a lot of digital stamps lately. Don't get me wrong, I love my rubber and arylic stamps but sometimes . . . well a digi just fits the bill. City Crafter Challenge Blog's Week #16 challenge is called "Yum" and we're supposed to create a project that's food inspired. They might not be the healthiest choice, but cupcakes ARE food. :) I'm also entering the card in the Meljen's Design Challenge Blog for the #19 challenge. Since this is a Meljen Design digi stamp it works out perfectly for her Clean and Simple challenge this week. (You don't have to use one of her stamps for the challenge, but if you do, you get entered twice for the drawing.) I love her digi stamps and these happen to be freebies that you can pick up on her blog. Yes, I said these because the sentiment is a separate digi stamp.
How do you like the frosting on the cupcakes? Isn't that cool! It's called Liquid Applique. I haven't been able to find any locally so I ordered it online, along with some stamps of course. LOL I watercolored the cups and added some beads for the sprinkles. It's a fun card and it was fun to make.

Supplies
Paper: Recollections cardstock, October Afternoon Thrift Shop, Strathmore Water Color paper
Stamps: Meljen's Designs
Inks+: Derwent Water Color pencils; Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink; Red, Waterfall, and Crystal Stickles; Liquid Applique
Miscellaneous: ribbon, beads

This has been a really great week. You may have noticed that I've been in a creating frenzy this week. The mojo has really been working and it's because for some reason or another, I was really relaxed in my crafting. It's been great and I hope it continues! It always helps when you have wonderful bloggie friends who drop by and leave you wonderful words of encouragement or even something to make you laugh--Jan! A HUGE thanks to EVERYONE who comments here. I love reading your comments.

Besides all the craftiness that's been going on around here I have a couple of other nice things that have happened the last couple of weeks to tell you about. I know some of you are predominantly scrapbookers. If you're into vintage, shabby chic, lots of flowery, lacy embellies, etc., you NEED to visit the Swirlydoos blog by clicking on the button on my sidebar. Krissy Mosbarger heads up Swirlydoos which includes a kit club (THEY ARE GORGEOUS), blog, and forum. I've been a stalker on that forum for a long time. They had the greatest tutorials and shared ideas on there. Did you catch the HAD? Well, unfortunately, a few months ago some really hateful person hacked into the forum and basically wiped out all the wonderful stuff that was there. Krissy and her Swirly Girls are having to rebuild it as best they can. Some of it sadly is gone forever.

If you subscribe to my YT channel and watch my videos then you have probably seen the one that I did on how to make the organza flowers. This idea came from one of the Swirly Girls--Lisa. Well a couple of weeks ago Lisa wrote me and asked if I would allow them to use my video as a tutorial on Swirlydoos for her flowers. Of course I said yes, so I was able to help just a wee little bit in getting this site rebuilt. All those ladies are so incredibly talented. Go check them out. You just may become a fellow stalker like me. :)

Another nice surprise came yesterday when Judy from the Digi Doodle Shop left a comment on my pansy card I made for this weeks challenge there. She liked my card enough to include it in the Digi Doodle Gallery! Whoopee! This was the first time I got to play in their challenge and she picked my card for the gallery! Digi Doodle has some fantastic digital stamps so you can check them out too by clicking on the button for the shop on my sidebar.

Don't forget to play along with us at Papercraft Star Challenge Blog this week. It's a color inspiration challenge and you have until noon on Saturday to get you project entered. The blog has had some reconstructive surgery done, so go check out the new look. My DT submission for this week will be posted tomorrow so please come back and have a look see.

Hope you're having a great week too!
Blessings!