My Very First Blog Hop!!

Happy Monday Everyone!
This is the very first time I've been a part of a blog hop (apart from a hopper of course! LOL) and this one is extra special as it celebrates the fact that My Grafico is up and running again and we are getting back into the swing of the weeKly challenges!

Here are all of the details - you don't want to miss a thing!

If you came to me from Crystal's Blog then you've hopped your way through and now what you're doing. If not then to start, you need to go to back to Martha's blog so you don't miss anyone on the list. Then follow the hop and be on the look-out for a LETTER to be highlighted on each blog you hop to! You will want to leave a comment on each blog along the way to win an image from the Candy Shoppe set (see below) AND you want to collect the letters to create a phrase. Once you know what the phrase is, you want to email your guess to mccreations@ymail.com by 10:00 pm (PST) tonight and you might just be the winner of this super cute Candy Shoppe set!



Of course as well as the hopping I have a new card for you and as I was in the celebratory mood I couldn't resist adding a few challenges to my finished card!

First the challenge for the team (and anyone else who wants to play)atMy Grafico is to use a sweet image and the colors red, pinK, and green.
Pile It On was going Round In Circles and so I thought this fit well :)
ABC Challenge were on letter C and that was a Circle theme too!
Whimsy Stamps wanted some texture and with the embossing, the glittered papers and different levels to the card I think I did that :)
Dutch Dare gave me the sketch, Allsorts wanted us to forget Rubber! and finally Creative Inspirations were looking for Friendship cards.


I'm sorry for the colors, they are really off on this, it was darK when I took it!
They are not as "neon" looking as this in real life.
I used the Gumball image from the set and one lucKy person will be getting the same image, just comment on the post today for a chance to win! I colored the image with Copic's, cut it out and matted it on an Octaganal Nestie. The dp is from DCWV, The Sweet StacK and I carried on the circle theme with the embossing on the green border.
I added for circles to a circle tag with Polka Dot brads! Finally I printed out the sentiment.
The inside is just more dp and a matching message mat.
Don't you want to just blow a bubble right now?

Remember I will be giving away the Gumball image to a random person chosen from everyone who leaves me a comment on this post today. And did you find my featured letter? Keep collecting letters to create a phrase and email to the address above by 10:00 pm PST TONIGHT to win this entire set:


I'm the last one on the list so I hope you've enjoyed seeing all my team mates creations and that you've had a little fun along the way.
Remember you can always go back to Martha's blog to see if you've missed anyone along the way.

There will be more prizes all week long so you want to visit the My Grafico Challenge blog every day for chances to win:
TUESDAY: sign up at the challenge blog to become a Follower and you could win a Superheroes set.
WEDNESDAY: They'll be more samples for you on the teams blogs and also you can join in and create a sweet card, you might just win a Back to School set of digital stamps.
THURSDAY: Leave a comment at the Challenge blog and you might win the Halloween Ghoulies set
FRIDAY: Last but not least, everyone who has joined the Followers list or left a comment at the Challenge blog has a chance to win the Trick or Treat set

Of course if you aren't a winner all the sets can be purchased at My Grafico so you can play at the super low digi prices! (and instant gratification too!!)

All kinds of fun planned so be sure to check back often! I will post reminderes through out the week of each day's activities so you have lots of chances to win!

Thanks for joining me and I really hope you've loved all the wonderful creations along the way.
BTW, one final clue to the letter?....it's the start of my name! LOL
And for a bonus prize just from me, join as a follower of this blog this week and you'll be in with a chance of a special something too!
I'll reveal the prize in a day or so.
Have fun!
Katie

A Great New Challenge blog!

Happy Friday!
Another week gone and it was the first week of school and it has whizzed by!
Today I have a great new card to show you to welcome the start of a new monthly challenge blog.
Lily Boo Too is a brand new challenge blog from the people who bring you the super digital stamps from Lily Boo's.
The very first challenge is a theme and recipe challenge of;
A NEW HOME CARD MADE USING

2 RIBBONS,3 FLOWERS AND 4 BRADS.

Over at the design team we got to play with a great new image and the results were so cute!
You can get to play with it too for free!
Click here to download it



I colored the image with Copic's and matted it with the new Loops system punches from Martha Stewart, you may remember my search for it in an earlier post.
I added flowers from the Brides collection at Michaels and added button brads from Making Memories.
I'd love to see your creations over at the blog and remember the image is free and you get a month to create so what's stopping you, go and play!!!!
Have a great weekend.
Katie

The curse of technology but I got there in the end!

First let me wish myself and my dh a Happy 15th Wedding Anniversary!
Through the good and the bad we are still together and still as silly with each other as ever :)
We are getting a rare dinner out alone tonight so Nate's Seafood here we come!

This morning was wonderful with a trip to Sam Moon's which if you are an accessories lover you will think you've died and gone to Handbag Heaven!
This afternoon I got a a couple of hours to update my blog, finish (well start) some DT projects whose deadlines are racing towards me. Well I put my Flash card in the PC and no way could I get it to read it. I tried a new card, retook the photos and still no joy. I went downstairs to use my dh's PC to read the photos, it worked and I emailed them back to myself to work on.
Then my editing program wouldn't work. Then I got one image to work on but the other was corrupt. So I had to take the photo again, run downstair to the other PC (climbing on a chair to reach the CPU as it's high on a shelf in the media closet), email it back to myself, run back upstairs and finally I got the image done.
Ugh...
Oh well here it is!LOL
I started with the colors at Kaboodle Doodles which were Black, White and Purple.
Truly Scrumptious wanted anything but a card
Then Bee Crafty wanted us to go a little OTT ( I think this is pretty OTT for a notebook)
Double Dutch wanted us to Go Back In Time and choose an old challenge so I chose their #3 challenge which was "Just a Note" where they wanted you to "pimp a notebook"
Whimsy Stamps wanted you to Add a Little Sparkle
and Pile it On told us "Good Things Comes in Threes"
Simon Says had a Back to School challenge and as the kids going back to school means more creating time for me I decided that this pimped notebook, that holds all my challenge notes, fitted the bill perfectly!
and last but by no means least Modern Sugar Blvd wanted to see Polka Dots.



This fabulous image is called Blogging Mama and is one of the latest Digital Stamps at Modern Sugar Blvd. I really think on a project like this digi's come into their own as I could never have found a rubber stamp this big but my digi's I can size them just how I like!
I colored her with Copic's and it's the first time I attempted black hair and I used just C5 and C7 and I don't think she looks too grey. The dp on the book is DCWV from last years Halloween stack. I printed out the sentiment and then matted it on Coredinations cardstock that I had embossed with Swiss Dots and sanded for the purple to come through.
I added bows and flowers and rhinestones and ribbons to try and get the "Over The Top" feel, did it work?



I just wanted a close up of her hair as it's the first black hair and I wanted to remember it! LOL
Anyway, I must log off as all my plans for this afternoon went up in smoke apart from getting this up but at least one thing was done!
Katie

Super Design Team News!

Happy Hump Day Everyone!
I don't have a project for you yet today but hopefully later on.
But I do have some exciting news!
I'm going to be a Guest Designer at Cute Daisy May for 3 months!
I simply love Linnie's designs which you can purchase at Cute Daisy May Digi Stamps as they are soft and free flowing just like someone has sketched the image for you. She has over 90 different sets of stamps are just 1.99UK which is just over $3. She accepts Paypal with the "instant download" option so as soon as you play you get to play!
So look for new projects featuring Linnie's wonderful artwork here really soon.
Katie

Something a little different today - Another new Lily Boo image

Hi Everyone, I hope you had a great weekend!
Ours was busy but fun and this morning the house seems very quiet as Georgia and Nathan have gone back to school.....
So I decided to do something for the littlest one who is still at home who turned 3 earlier this month and make him a plaque for his bedroom door.
Of course I can't make anything that doesn't cover challenges and with this one I managed 5 which is low for me but it wasn't as easy as when I do a card :)
Also it shows another of the wonderful Lily Boo boy images that I have the greatest pleasure working with and I highly recommend popping over and buying a sheet to play with ;)
Pile It On had "Good things comes in 3's" as their theme and I did dewdrops in rows of 3's and used the polka dot ribbon 3 times too
The Pink Elephant gave me the sketch which I tweaked just slightly to make it fit on the wooden plaque
Paper Blooms wanted a piece of Home Decor
Truly Scrumptious wanted us to make "Anthing but a card"
and finally
No Time to Stamp wanted us to use Polka Dots which I did with the dp and the ribbon.



The image was from Lily Boo's Boy Circle Collection and I colored him with my Copic's.
The wooden plaque was from Hobby Lobby and I painted it with Apple BArrel paint in Carolina Blue. The dp is Making Memories and the sentiment is KI Memories that I got at Joanns.



Doesn't this just make you want to relax?
I'll get it hung on Carter's door soon.
It's hubby's birthday today so I think we may get a quick happy hour drink before dinner! LOL
Have a great Monday.
Katie

Let Your Dreams Take Flight, a new Lily Boo card

Another Friday rolls around!
I'm happy to report that my new printhead arrived safe and sound and my printing is perfection! So I can make lots of new cards....if I could just find the time!LOL
Also my fabulous Martha Stewart Loops punches arrived on Wednesday and I love them!!!
Thanks again to Terry at More Than Ink for his super service.
We had a car scare yesterday. We had packed a picnic and were all in the car waiting to go out. I got in and turned the key...click, click, click and no starting :(
Oh no, we only have one car and it is 8 years old (but it is paid for :))and with visitors here it is needed. Hubby thought it could be the battery (that was 3 years old this month)so when he got home from work we borrowed the neighbors car (thanks Jenny!)and headed to Walmart. The sticker on the battery was 8/06 and it had a 3 year replacement warranty on it and we wee delighted to find that Walmart stood behind it completely and we walked out with a free brand new battery! All the way home we prayed it was the problem and hoped it would work. 10 minutes later, the key turned and .....roar the engine came to life and we were back in the driving seat!!! So a day that started badly ended much better.
To top it off we had a movie from the Redbox and watched Hannah Montana the Movie outside on the protector!
Now I've updated on my week I'm sure you're waiting for the new card.
This one covers 7 challenges an features one of the wonderful new Boy Circle images from Lily Boo (I'll link below)
I started with the sketch from PaperPlay
then I added a color combo of Green Galore, Soft Suede and Whisper White from ScrapMasters
Cute Card Thursday had a theme of Lazy Dayz and 3 Clovers wanted us to use Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Finally I added embellishments to fit ABC Challenge who wanted buttons, Whimsy Stamps who wanted Ribbons and Crafty Creations who wanted us to use Tags.



I printed out the fabulous image from Lily Boo's Boutique on Georgia Pacific cardstock and colored him with Copic's. I cut him with a QK nesting flower (that I think looks more like a scallop circle) and then matted the whole thing on another circle. The dp is DCWV The Green Stack and the buttons are The Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby




The inside is more dp and a matching circle message mat.



I just wanted to give a close up of this cute little guy!
This is the last weekend before school starts on Monday so I'm hoping we can fill it with fun things!
Have a great weekend!
Katie

Printer problems again but I still found an image to color!

Happy Wednesday!
I'm still having huge problems with my printer but UPS are delivering a new printhead today (Thanks Kodak :)) so I'm hopefully going to be up and running again soon.
But in my stash of printed images I found one perfect for today's card.
As usual I couldn't help but combine challenges and this one covers 11 of them.
Delightful Sketches started me off with the sketch
PaperTake Weekly were celebrating 100 challenges with a "take your pick" so I chose the Delightful Download challenge from June
Lili Of The Valley wanted us to be So Charming
Pollycraft wanted our Favorite Things
Stamp Something was on a Summer Vacation and I thought this cute elf looked like he was on Holiday and having fun!
The Pink Elephant also wanted Summer
Secret Crafter wanted some Fancy Corners so I dug into my old corner punches and found this one that I thought worked
Cute Daisy May wanted Words to be the focus and I chose a dp with words all over it and quite a large sentiment too
Pile It On wanted Masculine cards
and
Digital Tuesday wanted Male cards too
Finally
Dare U2 Digi gave a color combo of Blue, Green and White or Cream.



I used a wonderful image from Digital Delights and he is so cute! It is the first time I've used one of Wendy's designs are really are a "delight" to work with.
I colored him with Copic's and the dp is from a DCWV stack.



The inside is plain, just a little more dp and a matching octagonal Nestie for the message block.
Anyway, I'm hoping to be back up and running really soon.
Katie

Is it OK to be so excited about a punch?....

Since seeing the new punches coming out from Martha Stewart I've been desperate to get my hands on the Loops one.
I stalked message boards waiting for people posting sightings at Michaels, I found sites that had it preordered in case I couldn't get it in person and when I saw people using it I got even more excited.
Well when I read that Michaels had finally got it in the stores I couldn't wait to get over there and grab one. But of course it had to get into the stores while my visitors were here and my plan didn't work out quite how I wanted it to.
By the time I got to the store it was Thursday and the first one I tried was already sold out :(
Friday morning I tried another....same story, sold out :( :(
I got home and went to the sites I'd bookmarked, sold out too! Went to eBay and of course I could get one....at 3 times the price!
I sat and searched and low and behold I saw the Holy Grail!
The Loops punch was here!, I eagerly clicked buy and added a note asking them to let me know if it was actually in stock as I didn't want to get my hopes up too high.
No more than 10 minutes later I got an email and YIPPEE!!!! it was in stock and it's waiting in a box right now to ship to me tomorrow!!
I don't usually rave about a website but this time I just have to say Kudos to Terry at More Than Ink for his wonderful customer service and I know I'll be back next time I'm on a hunt!
I'll be stalking the mailman until I get hold of my babies but hopefully by the end of the week I'll be playing like the best of them!
If you've never seen what these new punches can do then here's a demo.



Enjoy!
Katie

Time for a new card and guess what?.....more challenges!

Happy Thursday!
I hope you are all well and enjoying these few weeks before the kiddos go back to school.
We ae busy everyday here as my Mum is in town from England and the children are loving every moment of having Nana here.
I did manage to get another card done though and this one covers 10 challenges.

I started with a sketch from Digital Tuesday Challenge
This worked as 3 Clovers wanted you to get Techie and use a Digi image
Then for colors I used the combo of Pumpkin Pie, Pale Plum and Crushed Curry that Scrap Masters gave me.
Then I started adding themes from;
Whimsy Stamps - Animal Magic
Creative Card Crew - Princess Party
Stamp With Fun - Birthday
Allsorts - Vintage
Secret Saturday Crafter - Cute as a Bug
ABC Challenge - Anything Goes with an option of Animals
Cute Daisy May - Floral Fantasy


I used a wonderful image from Cuddly Buddly's Teddy Bears Playtime Collection
I colored her with Copic's and the dp is just a collection from my stash. The flowers are Prima, I printed the sentiment and added Diamond Stickle to her crown.



The light wasn't good but I added more dp to the inside and a large message mat.




I just wanted a close up of this super cute Princess (or maybe she's a Queen?) teddy bear!
I'll be back soon with another card and I hope you liked today's!
Katie

You're a T-Riffic Friend! My Grafico DT card

Happy Monday!
Today I have a wonderful new card for the challenge over at My Grafico and it's all about Dinosaurs!
They have a wonderful set of digital stamps at the My Grafico Store designed by Meljen Designs called simply Dinosaurs! I got to work with the T-Rex and I thought he was so adorable!

If you join in the challenge you get a chance to win the set for yourself!
This card also covers a few challenges:
The Cuttlebug Spot" wanted a favorite folder (I have so many faves!)
Tuesday Morning Sketches gave me the sketch
Simon Says Stamp wanted buttons and ribbons
Paper Play wanted All Creatures Great and Small
Dare U2 Digi wanted us to get Distressed
and both
Whimsy Stamps
and
No Time To Stamp wanted a card for friends.



I printed the T-Rex out on a piece of green dp and some blue cardstock and paper pieced the scales and stomach parts. I colored the claws with a Sharpie Paint Pen.
The ribbons are pieces from my scrap jar and I printed the sentiment.
I inked the embossed mat and the sentiment mat with chalk ink and added buttons from The Paper Studio.
I hope you like him and I'd love you to drop on over to the My Grafico Challenge blog and join in with the challenge too!
Katie

Brand New Lily Boo Collection!

Hi Everyone!
Sorry I've been absent for a few days but with printer problems, painting the bathroom and my visitors arriving I'm afraid creating slipped to the side burner.
But I'm so excited to show you today's card as it's my first as a member of Lily Boo's Boutique Design Team!
Lily Boo's have such wonderful images and today they are releasing a Brand New Set and I got to play with it and it's wonderful! It's a Boy Circle Collection and the images are so cute! They are only 1.99UK (about $3.30)for 6 images, you couldn't buy one rubber stamp for that price!
Of course I couldn't just "make a card" I had to find lots of challenges to make it for! LOL
This one covers:
Creative Belli who wanted wood
Crafty Creations needed buttons
PaperTake Weekly wanted you to be inspired by the Seasons so I chose Fall
Color Throwdown gave me the color scheme of Basic Grey (his jeans), Blush Blossom (his shirt), Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust
and finally
Stamp With Fun had a sketch



I printed him out and colored him with Copic's.
The paper is Scenic Route Harvest.
I hope you like him and run on over to Lily Boos' Boutique and grab the set for yourself!
For my US readers I wanted to assure you it's easy to order from a UK site, they accept Paypal and Paypal does the conversion to $ so you'll know exactly how much you're paying. The download arrives the minute you pay so you can play right away!
Have a great rest of your day and be sure to stop back tomorrow for a card for the MG Design Team too!
Katie

OK, Now I really think I need an Intervention!

I hope you are having a great week so far!
It's been a great week so far for me.
Yesterday I got to have my first card on a the new Design Team at My Grafico Challenges and it felt great!
And now I can reveal some great news I got on Sunday, I'm on another team at Lily Boo's Boutique!
They are a new digital stamp company based in England (my homeland :)) and soon they'll be having a challlenge blog too so everyone will get a chance to play with their fab images!
I must admit that today I'm going a little far with the challenge combining but as my Mum comes into town in 2 days I really need to get everything in one card! LOL
Today's card covers the following 17 (WOW) challenges:
Papertake Weekly gave me the wonderful Dawny P sketch but I think I missed it by a day :(
Three Clovers wanted some fruity
and
Cute Card Thursday was feel fruity too!
One Stop Craft Challenge wanted Swirls (in the dp) and Pearls
Just Magnolia anted us to Distress and so I sanded down the embossed cardstock and also inked the vintage lace
Pollycraft wanted Buttons and Bows, you can see the bow and the buttons are on the embossed borders.
Rubbernecker Stamps wanted Buttons too
Paperlicious wanted at least 5 buttons, I hope the embossed ones count!
Colour Create gave me the color combo of Pink, Orange and Green
No Time To Stamp wanted us to use lace
and
Dutch Dare wanted lace too
Creative Card Crew wanted Girls to Have Fun (I may have missed the deadline on this too!)
Paper Play wanted Dimension
Daring Card Makers wanted Bejewelled Bliss!
High Hopes was Going for the Gold
Creative Inspirations wanted some Bling
and
finally
Stamp Something wanted something Paper Pieced.
So after that huge list here comes the card!



I used Tilda with Ladybug and covered the ladybug with a punched apple to go with my theme.
The dp is DCVW.
I embossed the Coredinations green cardstock with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and sanded it for the white to show through.
The lace was distressed further with green chalk ink and I added pearls and rhinestones to fulfil the challenges.
I embossed the orange borders with the button Cuttlebug folder and then inked on the topped. I added gold accents with my Prismacolor marker to complete the Gold challenge.



The inside has more dp and another button embossed border.



I admit I'll be going for rehab soon! LOL
Have a great day!

My Grafico Baby Challenge

Happy Monday!
Today has my first Design Team card on the My Grafico Challenge Blog and as the theme was baby I just had to do both a boy and girl version!
These super cute designs come from the New Baby Accessories set and I chose to both color with Copic's and paper piece the bib. I then punched the tiny holes around the bib for more texture. I love how easy it is to paper piece with digital images as I simply flip the image, print on the back on the patterned paper, cut out, flip over and layer!
These cards also cover some other challenges as you know I couldn't do just one!
Delightful Sketches gave me the sketch and both
Pile It On
and
My Time to Craft wanted me to use flowers.



The dp on both cards is DCWV Nana's Nursery, Baby Boy and Baby Girl.
The flowers are Prima.







Here is the girl version.





I hope you enjoyed these cards and I'd love to see you giving the My Grafico challenge a go.
They have lots of freebies that you can download and use and there is always a great prize for the winner!
Katie