Bookmark

I go through a lot of bookmarks.  I'm usually reading several books at one time, so I keep my bookmarks busy. Bookmarks are essentially tags, but unlike typical tags, which you load down with embellies and dimension, a good bookmark is flat.I used the Back to School inspiration from If You Give a Crafter a Cooker to come up with the design. It is a digi image (possibly from Inktegrity) colored in pencils and fussy-cut, then layered on a "notebook-lined" sheet of card stock, and a yellow one under that.  To add a little more interest without a lot of dimension, I coated the apple and the bookworm 's eyes with Glossy accents.

I found a sheet of alpha-stickers in appropriate primary colors and added an optimistic sentiment (because, sadly, not all books can actually be "best book"). How do you like the ribbon -- it has the alphabet on it.

This bookmark is for these challenges:

Crafty Sentiments -- bookmarks
CRAFT -- Back to School
Cookie Challenge #26 -- Back to School

All that Glitters

I pulled out two different glitter EPs for this card, Pirate's Gold and Winter Wonderland.  The card really has a lot of sparkle in real life.
The stamps and die are from Prickly Pear. The center of the ornament is a snowflake shape so I carried the snowflake theme through with the dp and snowflake embellishment.
I've seen people using multiple rows of twine all pushed together, and I like the effect, so I used gold cording over gold washi tape to mimic the look.

The card is for these challenges:
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #243 -- use gold
Holly Jolly Christmas #54 Snowflakes and Sparkle
Rudolph Days August -- anything Christmas
Die-Cut Divas August -- favorite holiday
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra Challenge -- anything Christmas

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

Nothing wrong with old

I'm getting down to the end of a 6x6 pad of Christmas paper by Echo Park ('Tis the Season collection), so I decided to try using the snippets for a technique from the Technique Junkies newsletter called circle strips. I don't actually have a 1-inch circle die, so I had to cut the circles a little big and overlap them, but I think the technique still looks good. I used a printed ribbon (mounted on another snippet) for the sentiment.  The embellishment is a felt holly leaf/berry combo from an old Stampin Up packet.

I made two of these, and it's quick and easy.  I'll probably attack other holiday snippets in the same way.

I'm entering the card in these challenges:
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #242 -- use something old (DP and embellies both qualify)
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra -- anything Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned paper Challenge -- use patterned paper
Catch the Bug Bingo challenge -- (I chose the row with Diecuts, polka dots and ribbon)
Pixie's Snippet Playground #190-- use those snippets
Word Art Wednesday #197 -- 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

Brought to you by the letter S

Hazel asked for things that begin with S for this week's Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge. Let's see how many we can use.

My card features Snowmen Stamped on a Snippet of white card Stock and covered with Sparkling Wink of Stella glitter. The edges are Sponged with Colorbox Ice Blue chalk ink. That Snippet is mounted on an angle on a Snippet of Silver Shimmer paper. I used the current Sketch at Sketch Saturday for this card, and it gave me an opportunity to use a Snippet of my favorite Snowflake paper (this is a great way to get some impact from that paper without using up a lot of it).  I also used a Strip of Snowflake ribbon and and another Silver Shimmer paper Snippet.  I accented the lower corner with Snowflake dome Stickers. The card base is Stampin Up Night of Navy card Stock.

In addition to qualifying as an S card, this card is for these challenges:

Sketch Saturday #373
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #241 -- begins with S
 Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra -- anything Christmas
The Ribbon Girl -- any image with ribbon
The Paper Shelter -- use ribbon or lace
Word Art Wednesday # 196 -- anything goews
Pixie's Snippet Playground #189-- use snippets

Bee happy

I got this image as an RAK recently and it's such a happy image I was really eager to use it. It was stamped on watercolor paper, which I don't usually use since I color with pencils, but it adds an interesting texture.
I used the current Mojo Monday sketch for this. Since there was already a sentiment on the image, I used the banner area for ribbon that has sunflowers on it. I tried doing one of those random loops of string I've seen on other cards, but I'm not sure I like it (or did it right).

This card is for these challenges:
Mojo Monday #409
Addicted to Stamps #156-- anything goes
Crafting for all Seasons #107-- Bright and Beautiful
Ribbon Girl -- must include ribbon
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper
Word Art Wednesday #195  -- anything goes
Clear it Out -- anything goes
V's Sweet Ideas #37 -- anything goes.

Fun with washi tape

The Butterfly Challenge this go-round is to use washi tape (and a butterfly, of course). To make this, I put a bunch of washi strips down (in rainbow order), die cut a circle, then die cut the butterfly out of that. I mounted it on white paper, then added the other elements.  My first plan was to use the butterfly I cut out , but it was too big and busy, so I used a smaller butterfly and covered it with purple glitter.

The layout for this is the current Sketch Saturday, #372.

The large butterfly is a Simon Says die, the smaller is actually from a punch. The sentiment (white empossed) is from an old Stampin Up set.

I'm entering these challenges:
Butterfly Challenge #36 -- washi tape
Sketch Saturday #372
Clear it Out -- anything goes (clearing out some glitter and washi tape)
World Art Wednesday #194 -- anything goes.