Cookie Challenge 41

It's time for another cookie-inspired challenge at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie. This time, the sponsor is Kitty Bee Designs.

My card features a Kitty Bee image, colored in pencils with a little sparkle from a spica pen on the candle flame. Even when I was a child, I loved the pink/gray color combo, so I embraced it for this challenge.  The image is matted on a snippet of gray, and I used a snippet of pink dotted paper as well.  The embellishments are a couple of flags of grosgrain pink ribbon and a pink flower with a pink mini gem. (It's all about pink power!)  The gray ink for the sentiment came out a little lighter than I expected, but it's an SU sentiment that says:  The more candles the bigger the wish.

This card is for these challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- Birthday
The Ribbon Girl -- April Anything Goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground #223 -- Use snippets
Word Art Wednesday #224 -- Anything Goes
Kraftin' Kimmie Wonderful Wednesday -- Anything Goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- Use patterned paper.

Cookie Challenge #40

It's time for a new challenge at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie, and it looks like the Easter Bunny has arrived. Just make a card inspired by these cookies, and you could win a prize from All Dressed Up digi stamps.

For my card, I tried the pleated skirt technique that was featured on Splitcoast a few weeks ago.  It's a fun technique and pretty easy as long as you measure correctly. The technique is designed for double-sided dp, and the only lightweight double-sided dp I had is ancient. However, the colors were perfect for a spring/Easter card.

The image (from the defunct Paper Cupcakes) is colored in pencils and mounted on a scallop die cut.

This card is  for these challenges:
Cuttlebug Mania -- Easter
Double D Challenge -- Easter
The Paper Shelter #241 -- Easter
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday --  Come Rain or Shine
Artistic Inspirations #152 -- Easter
Die-Cut Divas -- Spring
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- patterned paper.

Meowy Christmas

Aren't these cats cute? I used them for a quick Christmas card, with also incorporates the current sketch at Sketch Saturday.
The cats (a Bugaboo image) are colored in pencils.  The big button is chipboard I found when I was looking for a star-shaped metal tag (I have a bag of them, but I have no idea where they are hiding right now. I'll find them when I least expect to).
The card is for these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #404 -- sketch
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- cute and cuddly
CRAFT #355 -- Christmas
ABC Christmas -- frills or no frills (I tend toward the minimal frills side)
Holly Jolly Christmas #68 -- use your stash (chipboard button and metallic floss)
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #273 -- Cute
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra -- anything Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge 
Word Art Wednesday #222 -- anything goes

Cookie Challenge #38

Here are the inspiration cookies for the new challenge at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie.  This challenge is sponsored by Sami's Stamps and Robyn's Fetish, so there are two opportunities to win prizes.

My card was created with an image from Sami's Stamps.  I used paper piecing on the onesie and colored the baby with pencils. The dotted paper is a very old Stampin Up pattern.The sentiment is from a small unlabeled clear stamp set; not sure if it's Studio G.


I'm entering the card in these challenges:
Crafty Sentiments -- Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #220 -- Anything Goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper

Fishing for fun

Here's a card for one of the anglers in my life. It features an image from From the Heart and also the sketch for From the Heart's current sketch challenge. For the element that called for three rectangles, I used one of my favorite tricks -- paint swatches!
The image is colored in pencils, with just a touch of Stickles on the fish, because they do sparkle. Looking at this card, I realize I should have used an Orvis knot or something fishing-related on the baker's twine. Oh well...

This card is for these challenges:
I Heart Sketches #140
Crafty Ribbons -- something that leaps (fish)
The Paper Shelter #237-- animals
Crafting for all Seasons -- 3 of a kind (3 shades of green paint swatches)
Kraftin' Kimmie Wonderful Wednesday -- anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -- anything goes

Stepping out

I haven't done a shoe card for a while, and I came across this digi of a fun looking boot, so I decided to do a boot card. (Everyone hum along -- These boots were made for walking....)
The sketch is from the Taylored Expression Share the Joy Challenge.The image is colored in pencils with a little out-of-the-box cut (because I cut it too close when I was rough cutting before using the circle die.), nounted on a slightly larger purple circle, cut from a snippet.  For the narrow white panel, I used a sentiment stamp from Impression-Obsession ("Pretty shoes can cure the blues") and stamped it repeatedly on a white snippet. There's a ribbon (purple with white stitching) running alongside the white panel.  The embellishment picks up that same ribbon and features a pink flower with a pearl in the center. I think the DP is probably Heidi Grace; it was just sitting on the paper cutter when I got there and seemed like a perfect match)

The card is for these challenges:
Simon Says Monday: inspired by a song ( Everyone hum some more -- These boots were made for walking...)
Kraftin Kimmie #319, amethyst
Catch the Bug -- Bingo (designer paper; flower; pearl)
2 Crafty Girls #13 -- Anything goes with option of pearl
Share the Joy Challenge #23 -- sketch
Pixie's Snippet Playground #217 -- use snippets
The Ribbon Girl, use any image (plus ribbon)
Craftyhazelnut's patterned paper challenge -- use dp
Word Art Wednesday #220 -- anything goes

Cookie Challenge #36

It's time for another cookie challenge at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie.  Here are the inspiration cookies.

The sponsor this week is The Stamping Boutique, source of the cute snow globe image on my card.

For my card, I colored the image in pencils and fussy cut it out.  I created the card using the January sketch from Kraftin' Kimmie.  I used snippets of brown and blue snowflake paper (buried deep in my stash) and a coordinating mostly brown paper snippet, and cut them with a stitched edge die.  The white strip is another snippet that was already embossed with snowflakes and cut to the perfect size when I found it in my stash.

I am entering these challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Wonderful Wednesday/sketch challenge
Pattie's Creations #118 -- fun in the snow
Pixie Snippet Playground #213 -- use snippets
Word Art Wednesday # 218 -- anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper challenge -- use patterned paper

Sticking my neck out

It's all about the cute today. I have had the set Mindy's Zoo from Autumn Leaves for years 9since I picked up at Target on clearance) and I'm reluctance to use it because it looks so childlike. I just decided to embrace that look for this card.

The giraffes are stamped in Colorbox Chalk Chestnut Roan and colroed with pencils.  The little balloon is a random unidentified stamp I own, the with string drawn in and collected to the little guy's paw. The distressed rrame is made of craft card stock I roughed up with a scissors's edge and pulled the layers of paper apart.  It's a birthday card (see the balloon) but I didn't have a birthday greeting small enough for the tiny tag, so it goes inside.

The layout is the current sketch at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.

I'm entering these challenges:
Sweet Sketch Wednesday -- sketch
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- Create with Critters
The Paper Shelter #232 -- rough it up
Catch the Bug Birthday Celebration -- Bingo (2 animals/Kraft, twine)
2 Crafty Girls/jade's Sparkling Butterflies #11 -- anything goes with option of adding a tag
Craftyhazelnut's patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper
Kraftin Kimmie's Wonderful Wednesday -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #218 - anything goes

Two Cards

I have two catty cards to show you today.
The first uses this adorable kitten image from digi stamp company From the Heart, brought to my attention by Princess Judy. How could I resist?
The image is colored in pencils using the sketch from Taylored Expressions Share the Joy Challenge #18. The image is mounted on a snippet, with the sentiment and blue dotted layer also snippets.
The cat card is entering these challenges:
Bugaboo Birthday Bash Day 1 -- "Wild thing, you make my heart sing"
Taylored Expressions Share the Joy #18 -- sketch
The Paper Shelter #231-- shades of blue
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- best friends
From the Heart -- January image challenge
Pixie's Snippet Playground #212 -- use snippets

The other card is inspired by the tag at Tag You're It #38, using the layout from Bugaboo's 6th birthday party sketch challenge. The lion (from Autumn Leaves) is colored in pencils, fussy cut and popped up over a water-colored tag. I used three lines of rick-rack for the diagonal element on the sketch, and added baker's  twine to the tag as well.
Bugaboo Birthday Bash Day 2 -- sketch
Tag You're It #38 -- tag inspiraton
Ribbon Girl -- use any image
Craftyhazelnut's patterned paper challenge

Stencil CASE

Stencils are all the rage, so I tried my hand at it, inspired by Laura Bassen's card at STAMPlorations, which is using it for a CASE challenge.  Since I don't have any colored paste, I used good old inks (SU yellow, coral, mint and rose) to try to mimic her pastels, although mine ended up a little bolder. 

I added a sentiment in mint and some dots on the butterfly die-cut to tie in into everything else.

I'm entering these challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #45 -- Butterflies + X is for Xanthine (a fancy word for yellow)
Stamplorations -- January CASE challenge
Simon Says Monday Challenge -- stencil it
Word Art Wednesday #217-- Anything Goes

Time to decorate

I went into Christmas overdrive yesterday, doing my first round of shopping and decorating the Christmas tree. I also made one more card, so hopefully I have enough now.

The card was inspired by the photo inspiration at the Share The Joy challenge, and the sketch is from Mojo Monday.  The ornaments are from a set by Hero Arts (maybe... it has disappeared in the current mess) and they are silvere mbossed on green snippets (the green paper has a slightly raised stripe pattern that showed up in the embossing, but I'm calling that texture...).  The sentiment is from the dollar bin at Michael's, also on snippets, with the silver paper recycled from some advertising brochure that arrived in the mail and got added to the snippets bin.  The red, still another snipped, is cut with a Marianne border die.
I am entering these challenges:

Mojo Monday #427 -- sketch
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Christmas
Share the Joy #14 -- inspiration photo
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #259 -- anything Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra -- anything Christmas
Holly Jolly Christmas -- Merry Christmas
Word Art Wednesday #213 -- anything goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground #207 -- use those snippets

Christmas tag

I've been fun making tags, and here's one inspired by something I saw on pinterest. I stamped the music score on a white tag and gold-embossed the sentiment.  The holly leaves/berries are a felt embellishment.

My tag is joining tags from other people  in these challenges:

Catch the Bug Christmas Chaos Day 6 -- Christmas wrapping
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- Tag it
Crafting for all Seasons #116-- anything but a card.

Holly holly

I came across these holly and berry stickers that have been living in my Christmas file for a few years and decided to make a CAS Christmas card from them. The panel is popped up on pretty thick dimensional tape.

I'm entering these challenges:
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #255: Red and Green must be seen
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra Challenge: Anything Christmas.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- Christmas
Share the Joy #12 -- CAS
Word Art Wednesday #210 -- Anything goes
Kraftin Kimmie Stamps Wonderful Wednesday -- anything goes
Crafty Sentiments -- anything Goes.

Blue jay way

I have this thing about coloring realistic images of animals -- I call up a photo on Google images and try to copy the colors. (I'm fine making fantasy-looking animals any color.) I am really happy with how this blue jay came out.

The card was inspired by the photo inspiration challenge at Creative Inspirations. I cut the image to give it a tile look, matted it on a matching snippet of blue card stock, put it on a neutral cardstock, and added a die-cut sentiment.

I'm entering these challenges:
Creative Inspirations #333: Photo Inspiration
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps #304: Nature
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #207: Anything Goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground # 201:  Snippets

Naughty or Nice?

Here is another Christmas card, this one featuring an image from Dr. Digi.  I wanted to keep to a red/green/white color scheme as much as possible, so I left the background bare.
The sketch is from the Catch The Bug Challenge (Stella says Sketch #316).

I'm entering these challenges:
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #251 -- appropriate for child
Catch the Bug -- sketch
Really Reasonable Ribbon -- Christmas with ribbon
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- All wrapped up
Word Art Wednesday #206 -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas  Extra -- anything Christmas

Feeling like fall

Actually, it's a little early for fall colors here, but they are all over the blogosphere.  Here is a fall-inspired card using the current Sketch Saturday Sketch.

The image is from Lacy Sunshine and is called Gusty Oak.  I colored it with pencils, and used a piece of hemp ribbon to add the diagonal element.

I'm entering these challenges:
Sketch Saturday #380
Crafty Sentiments -- autumn leaves
Catch the Bug - Autumn colors
Papertake Weekly -- autumn colors
Crafting for all seasons #111-- autumn colors
Time Out --  'Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile'
Word Art Wednesday #203-- anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's patterned paper challenge -- for October.

Vintage bike

 

I got this awesome image that's an ad for a bike as an RAK.  I wanted to do something vintage with it, but lace and flowers didn't seem appropriate. I ended up using an old page from a book, a bunch of die-cute leaves, and some natural hemp twine. I like riding bikes in the fall, so why not a fall-themed bike? 

The layout is from the Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge (#68). The book page is from an old paperback thesaurus that is falling apart and that I saved especially for art projects. (It would pain me to rip apart a book that was in good shape.) (Note that I used an appropriate page behind the bike.) All the embossed leaf shapes are from a Spellbinder's die, and I just randomly grabbed snippets in fall colors and made a bunch last year; these were leftovers.

I'm entering these challenges:

Sweet Sketch Wednesday #68
Cuttlebug Mania --  wheels
Clear it Out -- Autumn/leaves
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- die cuts
Word Art Wednesday #201 -- anything goes

Make lemonade

One of the first "artsy" things I learned to do stamping was to use paint swatches. They are the perfect way to achieve an ombre effect easily. I used a swatch of sunny yellows for this lemon themed card. The stamps are from Flourishes, stamped in black with some gel dots as an accent. (I do think the ink may be smudging, so next time I will use Stazon instead of Memento).

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Monday -- Citrus with a twist
Sister Act #120 -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #197 -- anything goes

e-reader girl

I think the title of this image from The Paper Shelter is actually "coffee break,"  but she looks like a college girl about to sit down and do some reading to me.  I used the current Sketch Saturday sketch for this, taking a little liberty with the side elements on the sketch.  The image is colored in pencils and places a little to one side to accommodate the appropriate, but rather large, sentiment (possibly from Impression-Obsession).  I pierced around the main panel, and partially because I misplaced some piercings, and partly to fill space, I added a second row in some areas.
The pink ribbon coordinates with the rest of the colors much better in real life than in the photo.  The bow is attached to a white paper clip.

I'm entering these challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- back to school
The Paper Shelter #215 -- back to school
Clear it Out -- Back to school + use office supplies (paper clip)
The Ribbon Girl -- pink
Sketch Saturday -- sketch #374
Word Art Wednesday #197 -- anything goes
Crafty Sentiments  -- anything goes

Have a cup

I made my own background paper by stamping the cup on a diagonal in rows (or stripes). The main image is paper-pieced. The cup is by Inkadinkadoo and the sentiment is by Hero Arts.  I added a couple of ribbon tabs to pick up the polka dot theme and called it done.

This card is for these challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- food and drink
Papertake Weekly  -- spots/stripes
Word Art Wednesday #196 -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnuts Patterned paper challenge -- use patterned paper
Sister Act #119 -- anything goes