Snowy Strips

     Here's another snowy card featuring the current Stella Sketch at Catch the Bug.  It was the perfect opportunity to use up some strips of snowflake paper that I'm running out of. (None of these snippets was long enough to stretch across the page. I had to cut each piece in two and line them up on the edges of the card, covering the bare space in the middle with the image.)
     The snowman image is from Paper Cupcakes, colored with pencils and some Wink of Stella. The sentiment is a Purple Onion Design. 

This card is for these challenges:
Catch the Bug-- Stella Sketch 614
ABC Christmas -- S is for Snow
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #402 -- include "Joy"
Pixie's Snippet Playground #334-- use snippets
CRAFT #482 -- Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper
Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #352 -- anything goes

I like big books

     It's time for another PINspirational Challenge. The sponsor this time is Elisabeth Bell Designs, who is offering two digital designs of your choice from their store. All you have to do to enter the random draw is create a project inspired by the PIN (at right) and link up at the challenge blog.
      For my project I was inspired by the pile of books, so I made a card featuring this fun image and sentiment from Bugaboo. (And yes, I do like big books.)  The image is colored with pencils, with colors taken from the patterned paper.  There's a gel dot on the sentiment oval, which is matted on a scalloped oval.

The card is entered in these challenges
Catch the Bug -- Make Me Smile
Crafty Sentiments -- use a punch or die
If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #102-- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #351 -- anything goes
Creative Inspiration -- anything goes
Pammie's Inky Pinkies -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper

Snow trio

     The patterned paper (a lovely snippet) reads 'Tis the Season, and seriously, it won't be long now before the stores put up Christmas decorations. (true story: we were at Costco this week and asked about the Gatorade mix they usually carry. The cashier told us they'd sold out what they had, and now that it's August they'll be stocking hot chocolate "because that's what people around here drink in August" -- said in a sarcastic tone with an eye roll, as it was 90 degrees that day.)
     But I digress... Here's a Christmas card using the current Stella Sketch from Catch the Bug blog. I'm not sure who designed the digi stamped because I printed it out a while ago and it's just been waiting for me to do something with it. (I checked several files, and I can tell you with certainty several companies that did not produce it.)
     The image is colored with pencils, with clear Wink of Stella adding a sparkle. I used a scallop-edge scissors (remember them? Sometimes it's just easier to use a scissors on a small piece rather than digging out the die and die-cutting it). Red ribbon and gems added as embellishments.

This card is entered into these challenges:
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenges #400 -- anything Christmas
Catch the Bug -- Stella Says Sketch #613
Rudolph Days for August -- anything Christmas
Crafty Sentiments -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #350 -- anything goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper
Pixie's Snippet Playground #333 -- use snippets (all the papers are snippets)
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Head out on the highway

     It's time for another challenge from PINspirational Challenge. There are a lot of ways the inspiration Pin (there on the right) could be interpreted, but to me, it read "masculine." What kind of inspiration are you getting from it?  Create a project based on the Pin, link it up at the PINspirational Challenge blog, and you will be in the random draw for a gift certificate from Fred She Said.
     My card features a pre-colored image from Fred She Said (you can choose from several different colors for the motorcycle, or get it as line art and color it yourself). Since I was going with a manly card, I stuck to a simple color scheme of blue, black, and white. The black layer is embossed with a diamond pattern, which was as close as I have to the classic non-skid pattern. For embellishments, I went with three simple grommets.
      For a sentiment, I computer-generated a line from the classic motorcycle song, Born to Be Wild.

This card is entered into these challenges:
The Paper Shelter #350 -- Digital image
Crafty Sentiments -- anything goes
Pammie's Inky Pinkies #1834 -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #348 -- anything goes

Tea for 222

A new challenge, #222, is live at PINspirational Challenges, sponsored by Little Blue Button Digital Stamps. To get into the random draw for a $10 gift voucher, just make a project inspired by the photo Deanne found on Pinterest.

For my card, I used a stacked teapot image from Scribbles Designs, which lent itself to some fun paper piecing.  I found a bunch of old coordinating papers and created a fun set of china that I would personally be happy to have in my kitchen. The handles are simply colored with pencils.

The sentiment is of unknown origin, but it seemed to fit the image. I added some pinkish gems to the sentiment after cutting and matting it.

This card is for these challenges:
Time Out Challenge #115-- food and drink
Pammie's Inky Pinkies #1832 -- anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #346 -- anything goes
http://craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com/2018/08/craftyhazelnuts-patterned-paper-august.htmlCraftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper

Sweet Christmas birds

     Some things are just too darn cute to pass up. That's how I felt about this image from Crafty Sentiments. I think they are supposed to be European robins -- European robins are tiny and cute, unlike North American robins, so I tried to color them as such (with my good friend Google images offering guidance in the way of many gorgeous photos).
     The layout for this card comes from SCS, this is the sketch challenge of the week. It even called for the little banners, where I used printed ribbon to include a sentiment. The snippet of plaid paper is ages old; I think it was from the first or second year I made Christmas cards (which translates to sometime in the previous century.)

This card is entering these challenges:
ABC Christmas -- R is for Robin
Crafty Sentiments -- anything goes
CRAFT #479 -- Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Card Challenge #397 -- anything Christmas
Pixie's Snippet Playground #332 -- use snippets
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper
HLS Christmas Challenge -- anything Christmas
Creative Inspiration -- holidays
Word Art Wednesday #346 -- anything goes

Santa bearing gifts

I'm slowly compiling Christmas cards, thanks in part to all the wonderful people who sponsor Christmas challenges all year 'round. This one features a tiny stamp I've had for a long time, and I don't think I've ever used it before. It's a simple, silly image, but I think it works well with the patterned papers I matched it with. Santa is colored with pencils, with silver gel pen giving some details on the gifts. White gel pen dots highlight the red frame around Santa. The fishtail flag is made from a nice piece of ribbon that has a holly leaf pattern woven in it.  I especially like using this ribbon on cards because it doesn't fray.

This card is for these challenges:
July Rudolph Days -- anything Christmas
Winter Wonderland -- Christmas gifts
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Card Challenge #396  -- for man or boy
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned papers
Word Art Wednesday #346 -- anything goes