20000 hit blog candy!!

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Happy Thursday Everyone!
Yesterday at about 8am I saw that I had my 20,000th hit on my blog!
I can't believe in less than 5 short months I've found so much support from people I never knew before!
On May 27th I posted the first two cards to my blog and now there are probably close to 100!
I've gone from trying a few challenges to being a little "obsessed" and trying to find more and more to add to my cards everyday!
And I even started my own challenge blog at Cooking It Up With Katie
I've even made it on to some Design Teams which enable me to continue crafting every day!
So I had a blog candy planned for my birthday new month but I'm going to bring it forward and start it today.
All you have to do is leave a comment and if you could pass the message on your blog too I'd love it!
I promise it will be worth it for you ;)
Here are the goodies waitng to come to that special person who wins.


The winner will receive:
Paper Trends magazine
2 1/2" set of Chipboard Letters
2 Luggage tag holders (perfect for altering)
2 sets of 3D Christmas embellishments
3 sets of Studio G stamps (included a new Christmas one!)
KI Memories Jellie Embellishments
Set of 8 embossed cards and envelopes


I'll be making the draw on November 1st from all the comments left before the Witching Hour (midnight) on Halloween.
So leave a comment below and pass on the message so more can join in the fun!
If by any chance I get more than 100 comments I'll add more to the Candy so it's an incentive to pass on the fun!
Katie

Challenge #4 at Cooking It Up!

Happy Thursday!
It's time for a new challenge at my Cooking It Up With Katie blog and I can say i'm really happy with how this card turned out.

This time the recipe is:
Start with a Christmas theme,
Add some Sparkle,
and finish with a Border.

Obviously it wouldn't be me without other challenges too ;)
Fun With Shapes gave the sketch and I turned it a 1/4 turn
Daring Cardmakers wanted at least 5 of your favorite things so I chose Border punches, Dew Drops, Flowers, Nestabilities and Basic Grey paper.
Easy Breezy Kewl had a color combo of Handsome Hunter, Winter White and Real Red with a Christmas theme
ABC has a G is for Green theme
Ooh La La wanted a Victorian Christmas
Our Creative Corner wante a favorite Holiday movie. To me the Holidys (or Christmas mainly) are about sitting with family watching old musicals that we can all sing along to. One I love is Oliver! and it's Victorian setting works well with the vintage feel of this card.
Scrapbox Challenge wanted to see Glitter and so I add some to the snow!
Simon Says wanted to see some Sparkle too!
Winter Wonderland had an open Christmas card week.
Fab's Big Christmas wanted Ovals and/or Scalloped edges
Practical Scrappers wanted to see punches, especially border punches.


This fabulous stamp is by Stampabilites and I got it on clearance at Hobby Lobby earlier in the year. It's called Vintage Lamp Post and I saw it on eBay too.
It's not my usual style to color as it doesn't have very much open space but it was perfect for the theme I wanted.
I used Copic's to color the little space there was and added Glossy Accents to the lamp area and Frosted Lace Stickles for the snow and ice. I like this color of Stickles as it is much more muted than the others and dries with a more 3D effect, perfect for snow.
The dp is Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses and the border punch is the new 3 Dot Scallop from Martha Stewart. I searched forever for this punch and ended up ordering it from Walmart
The Poinsettia is from Hobby Lobby I think.
The swirls are a Big Shot die and the I used my Nesties for the backing blocks (with a little tweaking and cutting to make them fit.
The sentiment is 7 Gypsies.


I used more dp and added another flower to the message mat inside.



I hope you can see the sparkle of the snow and the glow from the lamplight in this shot.
I'd love you to play over at my Cooking It Up With Katie challenge, you could be my next Top Chef!
Katie

Challenge #2 at The Pixie Cottage

Sorry for the triple post day but it's worth it!
Also remember to click on my photo banner at the top for details of my 20000th hit blog candy!
It's time for another challenge at The Pixie Cottage and this time it's a theme challenge of "Celebrate!"
This means a birthday card, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Wedding, New Baby, really any great occasion fits this!

I used some more current challenges to help me in the creation.
Three Clovers gave me the sketch this week.
Charisma Cardz wanted Delightful Daisies
Scrap Masters Finally Friday wanted Embossing and Layering
Frosted Designs wanted to see you Pop It Up with layers/pop dots etc
Crafty Catz wanted Buttons or Brads
365 Cards Day 240 wanted a decorated pin
Creatalicious had a recipe of scraps of dp (I have tons of those!), new cardstock, and handmade flowers (I wonder who made those daisies! Hee Hee!)
Just Us Girlswanted 3D Flowers
One Stop Craft also had a Celebration theme
Allsortswanted a Furry Friend and I don't know if a cow is really furry but she certainly is cute enough!



I used the super cute cow designed by Alisa Ramirez that you can get at Michelle's Scrapbooking
I colored her with Copic's and matted her on green. Then I embossed a piece of Coredinations cardstock with a Daisy embossing folder and sanded it so the color showed through. Then I added another green mat.
I used the new Martha Stewart Daisy border punch to create a double border and then topped it with ribbon.
I printed the sentiment out and double matted it too. Then I added it to the card with Pop Dots.
Finally I created the pin from a heart jewelry finding from Hobby Lobby and a selection of glass and pearl beads and a premade bow from Offray.
The flowers were punched, sanded and fastened with a brad. Then I folded the petals upwards to add more depth.
The dp is from some DCWV scraps from an old stack.



The inside is more dp with a message mat.



I know she's not really very furry but she sure looks cute and friendly!



The Copic's I used for this card are:
Y11 - Pale Yellow
Y15 - Cadmium Yellow
Y17 - Golden Yellow
C1 - Cool Grey #1
C3 - Cool Grey #3
E93 - Tea Rose

I'd love to see your Celebration cards so please go and create and then post them for us all to see at The Pixie Cottage, you maybe the winner of a new stamp so it's worth a try!
Katie

It's New Release Day at Digital Delights!

It's a super triple bill today!
Also remember to click on my photo banner at the top for details of my 20000th hit blog candy!
I can finally show you the new releases at Digital Delights.
There is a fabulous new assortment of Thanksgiving and Christmas designs and you can see them all at Digital Delights
I got to work with the fabulous Mrs Rosie Claus.
She's such a cutie with her plate of cookies, go over and buy her right now! LOL

I used a few challenges along the way as usual.
Paper Cutz wanted 3 different patterned papers
2 Red Banana's had a recipe of a Square, the color Red and 3 Buttons
A Spoonfull of Sugar wanted a Cooking theme
La La Lands wanted to see Ribbon


I used the fabulous new dp from Basic Grey called Eskimo Kisses.
The ribbon is from Michaels and the sentiment is 7 Gypsies.
I colored Rosie with Copic's.

The inside is more dp and a message mat.

Here's a close up of sweet Rosie Claus with a plate of treats!
Be sure to check out all the new designs at Digital Delights and be sure to click the links for all the examples from the Design Team.
You can also see all the Design Team members from the link in my sidebar until Delightful Sketches/Digital Delights.
Katie

Thank You - Brand New Card for My Grafico

Happy Wednesday!
It's time for another sketch challenge at My Grafico and this week's theme is Thank You and the Design Team got to work with this wonderful floral set called Mix and Match Stems by Mujka Designs
Also remember to click on my photo banner at the top for details of my 20000th hit blog candy!
Kraftin Kimmie wanted the colors Brown, Rust and Green or Yellow
Everybody Art , The Crafty Pad and Crafty Cardmakers all had an Autumn theme and I thought the colors and the Thank You worked well for this.
Digital Tuesday had a color combo of Kraft, Orange and another color which really worked in with the others.
Bee Crafty wanted to see Distressing
PaperTake wanted Spots and Stripes and there are both on the dp
Design Dollies wanted Stripes too
Digital Ink had a recipe of Fabric, Glitter, a Button and a Bow. I used Fabric style paper, glitter in the center of the flowers, buttons on the side (and they are printed on the paper too) and I tied a bow around the flowers.
365 Cards Day 238 wanted to see Fine Twine, which I used on the wooden buttons.
Belli also wanted Raffia or Twine



I did something a litte different this time with the images. First I printed them in 3 different sizes as all flowers aren't the same size. Then I colored them with my Copic's. I then cut them out and I used a stylus and embossed the petals and folded the petals up towards the middle for depth. Finally I inked the edges for more dimension. The dp is from The Crafty Stack and it was perfect for the "fabric" part of one of the challenges.
The wooden buttons are just from the gazillions that I seemed to have amassed over the years.
The mat behind the flowers is Coredinations cardstock that has been embossed with Perfectly Paisley Cuttlebug folder. Then I sanded it down to reveal the color beneath and then inked over the raised areas.



The inside is more dp and a message mat.




Hopefully you can see the depth created by the embossing of the petals.



The Copic's I used to color the flowers are:
YR01 - Peach Puff
YR61 - Yellowish Skin Pink
Y38 - Honey
E25 - Caribe Cocoa
E37 - Sepia

I'd love to see you using the sketch at My Grafico so get creating and post them over there for us all to see. Who knows you may win the set for yourself!
Katie

Sneak Peak for Digital Delights

Hi Everyone,
Another double postng day!
I can only show you a tiny bit of my new card but I hope it will be enough for you to drop on Thursday to see all of it!



Be sure to check out the other Design Team members blogs
herefor more sneak peaks!

Katie

Halloween - A New Cute Daisy May Card

Happy Monday,
It's another new week and it's Halloween time at Cute Daisy May!
I decided to use a non Halloween image from Sheet 27 and this is a great advantage of digital stamps.
The original image said "Tooth Fairy" on the bag but with a little work in my editing program I removed the words and replaced them with "Trick or Treat".
As usual I used other challenges to help me create this card and with it being the last week in October there were a lot with very similar themes. I managed to find 22!

Tuesday Taggers had "Things that go Bump in the Night!"
Crafty Creations had "All Hallows Eve" as their theme
Stampin For The Weekend wanted a "Haunting Good Time"
Everybody Art
Incy Wincy
Kaboodle Doodles
Creative Inspirations
Stamp with Sarah Kay
Penny's Challenge
Rainbow Lady
Sunflowers and Dragonflies
all had Halloween as their theme
Stamp Something had a Halloween theme too and Linnie from Cute Daisy May is sponsoring there this week so enter both challenges and you have even more of a chance of winning!
Digital Tuesday wanted "Things With Wings"
Cute Card Thursday wanted Candy Corns or any candy/sweet treat theme.
Cuttlebug Challenge had a Halloween theme too and you have to ue their product so I got out my trusty embossing folders!
Handfull of Stamps wanted Layers, with 3 of the same thing layered.
A Spoon Full of Sugar gave me the sketch
Crazy 4 Challenges was getting Geometrical wanting 3 or more of the same shape
Flutterby Wednesday still has an open month as long as your creation has a Fairy or Butterfly on it.
Creative Card Crew wanted Babies or Children
Copic's Colour Challenge wanted us to use G99 Olive, V17 Amethyst and YR68 Orange
My Time To Craft wanted to see Halloween colors too.



I used the fabulous new dp from Basic Grey called Eerie. I cut the block with a labels Nestie.
I embossed some Coredinations cardstock with the Swiss Dots embossing folder and cut it into strips to sit behind the image.
The flowers are from Prima and patterned brads are from the Target $1 spot.


Inside is a poem I wrote a few years ago and I left a space at the bottom for a personal message.



She certainly is a Halloween Cutie!
I'd love to see you join in this weeks challenge at Cute Daisy May!
And be sure to click on my banner at the top of the page to bring up my BLOG CANDY post for a chance to enter!
Katie

A Sneak Peak of a new Pixie Cottage Winter Stamp

Happy Saturday!
I'm all of a tizzy today not because of my new card but because I get to go to a Copic class this afternoon!! I've been "playing" with my markers since February this year but have been mainly self taught apart from video's I found on You Tube!
But my local scrapbook store is holding a set of 3 classes and the 1st is this afternoon! So hopefully you'll see a little better coloring soon! Hee Hee!

Now on to the card :) This is a sneak peak of a fabulous new stamp coming from Alisa Ramirez for The Pixie Cottage. This fabulous little reindeer is called Rudolph and he'll be available for preorder really soon!
I chose a few challenges to help me with this card.
Basic Grey Challenges had a color combo of Blue, Green and Red (and use one of their products) so I chose papers from the brand new Eskimo Kisses collection.
Christmas Stampin had a Tag challenge so I placed the cute image on a tag on the card.
2 Red Banana's gave me the sketch
La La Lands wanted to see some Sparkle
Whimsy Stamps wanted to see the "Emboss-abilites" and Treehouse Stamps wanted embossing too
Gingersnaps GC26 wanted to see Brads

I used dp from the Eskimo Kisses collection with coordinating brads and Ornaments from the Chip Stickers selection.
The sentiment is from 7 Gypsies.
I made the mat for the image into a tag and embossed the Coredinations cardstock with an embossing folder all the way from the UK that you can find at The Craft Barn, they have super quick shipping as well. I then sanded it so the flowers would stand out and I hope you think they look a little "snowflaky" like I did! LOL
The border punch is Valentines Lace from Martha Stewart.

The inside is more of the super Eskimo Kisses dp and a message mat with coordinating ribbon.

I added Diamond Stickles to his hat and topped that with Art Institute Ultra Fine glitter in Crystal for extra sparkle!
So I hope he's put you in a Holiday creating mood as it's getting closer and closer to Christmas you know! Hee Hee!
Katie

Freebie Friday At Digital Delights!

Happy Friday!
It's been a not too good week here so I didn't get around to making a card with the wonderful Freebie this week.
But it is well worth grabbing and you cna do over at Digital Delights
I promise you'll enjoy my DD posts next week though as....shhhhh.....there will be a set of new releases that you are just going to love! Be sure to see all the Design Team blogs as sneak peaks start on Sunday!





Remember to grab Mr Moose as he's free so what have you got to lose!
Always be sure to join in my 20000th hit blog candy, details are "stuck" at the top of my blog.

Katie

Pass Me The Coffee - New Retro card for My Grafico

Happy Wednesday!
It's time for another sketch chalenge at My Grafico and this time the team got to use the fabulous Vintage Appliances set! I'll admit this was a little out of my comfort zone of "cute, cuter and even more cute" but once I had the right idea it was fun!
Of course I found a few challenges to go with the sketch which helped me along the way.

Colour Create had the combo of Red, Yellow, Black and White which I thought worked well for the vintage feel of the card and Paper Maniac wanted Black, White and a "Pop" of color so I thought they'd go together.
Etsy Inspired had a jewelry store for inspiration and I loved these Sparrows Nest Earrings and thought they had the perfect vintage touch.
Kraftin Kimmie wanted to see Buttons
Paper Play wanted you to use your Favorite Embellishment and I'll admit to having a soft spot for rhinestones at the moment, most of my cards have them, and there's pretty much always a punched border too!
The Secret Crafter wanted you to Dig Deep and bring out an old image but this one is "old style" but new to me but the papers certainly are old so I hope that counts.



I colored the Coffee pot with Copic's in a graphic/retro style that I hope I got right.
The dp are from my stash and I had to add a border from the fabulous Valentines Lace border punch from Martha Stewart. This was originally a Valentines only release and Michaels sold out of them immediately but Martha has just brought lots of new punches and thankful brought this one into the regular line! Yippee!!
I'm on a border punch kick right now so I can assure you that you'll be seeing lots in the next few weeks of cards :)
I printed the sentiment and double matted to match the color scheme. I hope I brought a little retro feel to this card, it's not a genre I'm familiar working with.



The inside is more dp and another border across the message mat.



I think we all know a friend who can be a bear without her coffee and I hope this brought a smile along the way.
Katie

Puppy Love - A New card for Cute Daisy May

Happy Monday!
It's time for a new challenge at Cute Daisy May and this week's theme is "I Love You". I thought I'd take a little liberty with the theme and for all you dog lovers I did a Puppy Love card!
This image is so super cute and it comes from Sheet 35 and I wanted to turn it into a Christmas card, don't ask me why?
I've used some other challenges to help me create this card.
Friday Sketchers gave me the sketch
Paper Cutz wanted Tags
Scrap Masters had Embossing as their Finally Friday challenge
Charisma Cardz said "It's So Distressing"
Lili Of The Valley wanted a Christmas Card for a Child
Whimsical Ink Sorority wanted to see some Bling!
Fun with Shapes and More wanted Christmas with non traditional colors.



The papers are a combination of some old Cosmo Cricket, Scenic Route (sad to see them close :() and The Paper Studio.
The embossing folder is Snowflakes from Cuttlebug and the sentiment was printed and then cut with a scalloped Nestie.
Theimage was colored with Copic's and then I added ink to the image, mat and the squares behind it too.



The inside is more dp and a message mat topped with ribbon.



So I'd love to see you "show your love" and enter a card in this weeks challenge!
Katie

Halloween Card for Pile It On and 17 other challenges too!

Happy Sunday Everyone!
It's time for a new challenge at Pile It On and it's a current one, we want to see your Halloween projects!
The design team got to play with wonderful designs by Simple Doodles and I chose this super spooky cocktail!
Of course the idea behind Pile It On is to try and get lots of challenges that work together and this time I got 17 in the mix!
PaperTake Weekly wanted us to go to "The Dark Side" and create a Halloween project and so did Corrosive Challenges
Use Your Stash wanted Purple, Polka Dots and Paint
Midnight Madness gave me the sketch
Digital Tuesday had a Halloween theme too and so did Stampin B's and Creative Friday did too!, and guess what? Stampartic wanted Halloween as well and surprise, surprise so did One Stop Craft
Cute Card Thursday had a Spook Fest!
Trimmies Craft Challenge have a recipe of 1 ribbon, 2 buttons and 3 paper
IldiCo were "In Stitches" and wanted to see sewing whether real or fake.
Cupcake Craft wanteed Buttons and Stitching
If The Shoe Fits wanted you to Bling It Up and so did Handfull of Stamps as long as the Bling was colored, and Stamp Somthing wanted more Bling!
Paper Cutz wanted to see Tags



I printed 3 copies of the image on Georgia Pacific cardstock and colored each with Copic's. I cut one with a Label nestie and use it for my base. Then I cut another complete one and popped it up on top. Finally I cut just the bowl of the glass and spider and added it as a final layer. I used a vellum tag that I painted and added alphabet beads for the sentiment. I tied it around the stem of the glass to look like a wine charm (I hope it worked! LOL)
The dp are just from my scrap box. The rhinestones are from the $1 spot at Michaels and the ribbon is American Crafts.



Inside is another nestie for the message mat and matching ribbon.


I hope you can see the layers from this angle.
So I'm sure you still have plenty of Halloween projects to make so go and create and enter the challenge at Pile It On this week!
Katie

Design Team Call for Magnolia Down Under

I know this is a double posting day but with the time difference between the US and Australia I'd have been too late posting it tomorrow! LOL
Kellie has been running a fabulous Magnolia challenge blog for a while now called Magnolia Down Under.
Well she's been doing so well gathering Maggie friends that she now has a Magnolia Store!
She already has a fantastic Design Team but is looking for a guest for the next 3 months. There are so many wonderful designers out there and I'm late getting my entry in (closes Midnight tomorrow Australia Time!) but I thought I'd give it a go.
I'm a Magnolia addict in fact 4 more made it to my house this week and 2 more are sitting in an envelope waiting to come here too!
I try to use a Magnolia each week and love all the designs they keep coming out with.
Anyway Kellie wanted to see some favorites so here they are "in no particular order" as they say on Dancing With the Stars!

















So I've thrown my hat in and fingers crossed!
Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Sunday with a new card.
Katie

Freebie Friday At Digital Delights!

Happy Friday!
Yet another week has gone by and that's good news as it means it's time for another Freebie from Digital Delights and it sure is a great one!


As part of the team I got to play with it early and I found a few challenges that it worked with too.
My Time To Craft wanted Quick and Cute
2 Red Bananas wanted Purple, Black and Orange
Sketch and Stash gave me the sketch
Allsorts had a Halloween theme
Digital Tuesday had Halloween as their theme too.
ABC had F for Flying and the bat balloons are definitely flying!



I printed him out nice and large, a huge benefit of digital stamps, and then colored it with Copics'.
The papers are from DCVW from a previous years collection.
The sentiment is 7 Gypsies and the chipboard letters are by Provo Craft.



The inside is just more dp and a message mat.



He's so cute and he's FREE so what are you waiting for? LOL
Go and grab him and play. Remember there is a sketch challenge running right now at Delightful Sketches and you could use this cutie to enter that too!
Have a great weekend.
Katie

Time for more Cooking It Up With Katie!

Happy Thursday!
It's time for a new challenge over at my challenge blog Cooking It Up With Katie

The recipe for this challenge is:
1. An image of something that's been cooked or can be cooked;
2. Use some buttons;
3. Add a little something inside. This could be a decorated message mat, a pocket for a gift card or anything else you come up with.

Of course even though it's my own challenge I still couldn't just "make a card" I had to find more challenges to go with it! LOL


Lord Have Mercy gave me the sketch
Crazy Amigo wanted Buttons and Knots
Cupcake Crafts wanted Buttons and Stitching
TCP Tuesday wanted to see Buttons too
Whimsy Stamps wanted you to Get Punchy
365 Cards Day 227 wanted to see things "In Motion" and I hope the steam from the pie counts here.
and both Crazy 4 Challenges and Play Along Monday wanted to see Thankful/Thank You on your project.

The papers are from the Crafty Stack by DCWV. I love the cardstock weight of these papers and the textured feel. The pie image is clip art from The Mama Bear Kitchen set from Digi Scrap Kits. I printed them out 3 times and cut and layered them and added some extra ink around the edges.
The border punch is Apron Lace and the "steam" from the pie is a punched out piece from a border punch I've had for years. The wooden buttons are tied with grey twine and the sentiment is from 7 Gypsies.


The inside is more dp and another image from the same clip art set. This time I printed the Mama Bear directly onto the mat and then added another cut out version popped up for dimension.

Doesn't the pie look yummy?

This challenge would be perfect for those of you who love Magnolia stamps and who've got the new Yummy In Your Tummy collection!
So I'd love to see your creations over at Cooking It Up With Katie
Katie

New Card for Delightful Sketches!

Happy Thursday!
It's time for a new sketch at Delightful Sketches and it's my first time designing for a challenge for Wendy!



This sure was a great sketch, you'll see I rotated it so my horizontal image would fit, I love the way these sketches are so easy to do that with!
I worked with this wonderful barn and it's a great image for all sorts of occasions.
It also fits with The Pink Elephant challenge of Fall and Created By Hand had a Harvest theme too and Scrappy Frogs had a theme of Trees
Penny's Challenges wanted Fall and Trees too!
Three Clovers had a Nature theme and I think this worked too!



I colored the image with Copic's and added a bow made with a great Harvest ribbon from Michaels.



The inside is more dp and a message mat topped with more of the Harvest ribbon.





It's a great prize for the winner this time too, a $20 gift certificate from The Ribbon Retreat!
I'd love to see what you can do with this sketch so hop on over to Delightful Sketches and share your creation with us!
Katie