Think Ink Guest Challenge - Punching!

A few weeks ago I won a challenge at Think Ink and the prize was to be a guest designer for a challenge and to set the challenge too!
So today's the day and my challenge to you all is a super simple one, I want to see you using Punches! Now there are so many fabulous ones out there (I'm a little addicted to the Martha Stewart ones myself) that I know you don't need an excuse to play along do you?

Challenges:
Moving Along With the Times - Sketch
One Stitch At a Time - Season or Event
Alota Rubber Stamps - Let's Celebrate Christmas
Scrappy Frogs - Merry Christmas
Lexi's - Traditional Christmas Colors
Crafty Pad - Red and Green
Die Cut Dreams Christmas Club - Anything Goes Christmas
Papercutz - Christmas with lots of Bling
Stamps R Us - Sparkles and Scallops
Meljens - Sparkle and Shine
Oldie But Goodie - Glitter (old image and NO digi)
Treehouse Thursdays - Glitter
Simon Say Stamp - Sparkle
Crafts and Me - Glitter
If The Shoe Fits - Tickle me With Tinsel (make it sparkle and shine)
Fresh Brewed - Show Your Own Style (more is more and lots of sparkle!)
Paper Romance - Favorite Things (at the moment my are anything glittery and shiny)
Anything Challenge - Let It Snow
Crafty Calendar - Winter/Snowflakes
2 Sisters - Snowflakes
Totally Papercrafts - Snow or Snowflakes
Paper Play - Let It Snow
Stampin B's - Snowflakes
ECP - Snow
Stamping Vacation Music in You - Winter Wonderland
Rainbow Lady - Edge It
Digi Doodles Shop - Anything Goes
Hodge Podge Shop - Anything Goes

Card Recipe:
Image - Post A Note by Artful Inkables
Paper - A Homemade Christmas by DCWV
Medium - Copic Markers
Paint - Puffy by Tulip
Glitter - Glamour Dust by Viva Decor
Border Punch - Martha Stewart
Snowflake punch - Emagination Crafts
Ribbon - Michaels
Sentiment - Hobby Lobby

I again used one of my favorite Christmas card technique which is to use Puffy Paint for the snow and while it is still wet I sprinkle it with super fine glitter and then heat it to pop it up. This is so easy, really inexpensive and I think it adds a great dimension to your project. It looks wonderful on the fur on Santa's suit too :)
I hope to see lots of you playing along this week so be sure to add your entry at Think Ink
Katie

Guest Designer at Incy Wincy - Lace and Pearls

It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Incy Wincy as a guest designer for October and I'm sad to say my goodbyes with this card.
But as we are sponsored by Aspire to Thrive who are the sister company/charity behind Incy Wincy and that our challenge is "Lace and Pearls" then it is not really a sad goodbye.

Challenges:

Sweet Sketch Wednesday - Sketch
Charisma - Vintage
Alys - Distressing
Sentimental Sunday's - Distressing
Thrilling Thursday - Thanks
Treehouse - Thanks
No Time To Stamp - Count Your Blessings/Thankful (I'm thankful for friends)
ECP Challenges - Autumn/Fall (I chose the colors and theme of Thanks)
Artful Inkables - Embossing and Flowers (and lace)
Stamp Something - Something Digi
Speedy The Cat's Friends - Die Cut or Punch

Card Recipe:
Image - Aspire to Thrive
Paper - Flair Designs
Medium - Copic Markers
Punches - EK Success
Rose - Wild Orchid Crafts
Lace - Walmart
Embossing Folder - Sizzix
Sentiment - Joann's
Pearls - Queen and Co

I've really enjoyed working with the team at Incy Wincy this past month and will definitely be playing along with the challenges as often as I can and I hope you will do too.

Pile It On - Holiday with a Twist

We have a super challenge for you this week at Pile It On as we'd like to see a Holiday Card using *ONLY* Red, White and Green, and felt, flocking, or something soft.
We are sponsored by the wonderful Stampin Dragon Designs who gave us super designs to work with.

Challenges:
Critter Challenge - Sketch
The Ribbon Girl - Red and Green
The Crafty Pad - Christmas
Bah Humbug - Elegant Christmas (I thought the gorgeous bow and poinsettias were elegant)
Christmas Stampin All Year - Metallic (the edge on the ribbon)
Die Cut Dreams Christmas Club - To The One I Love
Wee Memories - Cute Holiday
Paper Garden - Holiday Cards
Christmas Card Challenges -Christmas with Flowers
One Stitch At A Time - Any Celebration
Meljens - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Goes
Tuesday Throwdown - Anything Goes
Stamp Something - Something Digi
Artful Inkables - Embossing and Flowers
Stampin Royalty - Ribbons
Pennys - As Long As It Flies

Card Recipe:
Image - Dragons Lair
Paper - Happy Holidays by The Paper Studio
Medium - Copic Markers
Flowers - Making Memories
Embossing Folder - Basic Grey for Sizzix
Ribbon - Michaels
Felt Santa Hat - Hobby Lobby
Sentiment - Unknown

I just love this turned out and I hope you do too!

Something Different from Me - A Halloween Chipboard Album

Happy Friday everyone!
In the dim and distant past before I started making cards I used to make mini albums and things to sell on eBay. It was a wonderful creative outlet and was nice as it brought in a little play money too.
When the economy took a downturn my sales fell too. I looked at other options and at that point handmade cards were still a popular item. That downturn in sales led me to try my hand at cards and I've never turned back! At first I sold those too but they too slumped but I was too hooked to stop (don't ask me how many I have in my closet). Well as it is coming up to the big Holiday shopping I thought maybe I could combine my new love of card making with my old love of mini albums and today I have the first result of that combination.
I hope you like it, it was a lot of fun to make and really got my mojo back on track ;)

Obviously I found a few challenges that it worked with too.

Sew Many Challenges - Halloween
Stampin For The Weekend - Shabby or Vintage
Gingersnaps - Punches
Paper Pretties - Brads
Daisy Doodles - Anything Goes (with a digi)
Bee Crafty - Anything Goes (with a digi)
The Shabby Tearoom - Tags
Paper Cutz - Tags
Tuesday Taggers - Books
Artful Inkables - Distressing
Stamptacular Sunday - Distress It
Totally Stampalicious - Paper Flowers




Book Recipe:
Images - Digital Delights
Paper - Midnight Spell by DCWV
Medium - Copic Markers
Chalk Ink - Dewdrops
Flowers - Prima
Embellishments - Martha Stewart, Spare Parts
Ribbons - Michaels
Border Punch - Martha Stewart
Base - Chipboard (cute to size)
Binding - Bind It All
















Remember that you click on each photo for a much larger image.
This really was a whole lot of fun, so much so that as soon as I finished it I started on a Fall album and I'm hoping to be able to have that up for you to see very soon.
I hope you've enjoyed this and maybe it will give you an idea to try something a little different too.

Chi Chi Memories - Happy Birthday Girl!

It's time for another guest card for Chi Chi Memories.
This time I got to use the super sweet Birthday Girl and teamed her up with some of my most favorite current papers.

Challenges:

Craftalicious - Cute
Annabelle Stamps - Sketch and Bling
Prairie Fairy - Anything Goes
Speedy The Cats Friends - Use a Die Cut
Creative Card Crew - Die Cuts
Meljen's - Circles Galore
Sentimental Sundays - Celebration
Partytime Tuesday - Outside In & Birthday
Rosie Dees - Summer Birthday
Craft Your Passion - Stitching
Artful Inkables - Stitching
Wee Memories - Free For All
Little Red Wagon - Nestabilites



Card Recipe:
Image - Birthday Girl
Paper - Cosmo Cricket DeLovely
Medium - Copic Markers
Sentiment - Sandy Lion
Cake sticker - KI Memories
Die Cuts - Spellbinders





I added some Stickles to the image to give a little Birthday Sparkle!
This is such a cute image and fabulous papers and I really love how it all turned out and I hope you do too.

Thanks A Bunch! - A Christmas Lala, or is she?

Happy Saturday,
I like to buy stamps that I can use for more than one card/occasion but for a lot of the Holiday stamps it is very difficult. It's hard to make a Bunny with an egg anything but Easter and Santa really won't work for the 4th of July, hee hee!
But some of them can be used with a little "tweak" and I think this one will make you look at your stamps with different eyes.

Of course there are challenges too:

Artful Inkables - 3 Buttons, 2 Ribbons and a Circle
365 Cards Day 74 - Buttons and Bows
Creative Card Crew - Sketch
Totally Gorjuss - Round and Round
Creative Craft - Blue and Brown
Stampin Sisters in Christ - Blue, Brown and White
Colour Create - Khaki, Aqua, Brown and Cream
Paperplay - Brown and ...
Alphabet Challenge - C is For Chocolate colors
Aud's Sentiments - Thanks A Bunch
Lala Lands - Anything Goes (with a Lala Lands Stamp)
Papertake - Sparkly, Shiny and Special
Paper Makeup - 3 Flowers



Card Recipe:
Paper - K & Co Pads Margo and Bailey
Medium - Copic Markers
Image - Ornament Lala
Flowers - Wild Orchid Crafts
Rhinestones - Queen and Co
Sentiment - Printed in Harrington font
Die Cut - Spellbinders





I colored over the ornament on the image in the same color as her dress so that when I added the flowers you couldn't see it underneath, a great way to use a Holiday stamp for other occasions.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Katie

So many challenges, so little time!

Happy Sunday,
If you've been following me for even just a little while you'll have noticed that I like to play on the challenge blogs.
Some people think I take it a little too far at times, and sometimes I'll agree with them! LOL But it is so much fun finding the challenges (I have a book with close to 300 challenge blogs in it) and working out which ones work together. It also takes me out of my creative box at times, making me try things I wouldn't do otherwise. Surprisingly I don't play for the prizes although there have been a few that I see and say "oh I'd love to win that one", but if I do win a prize it is received lovingly and is a bonus.
I've made online friends through my challenge searching and playing and I want to Hi! say to all of them!
This week there have been so many great sketches that I just had to have a day with a few of my "just because" creations.

Card 1

Think Ink have a Sketch
Die Cuts R Us wanted Handmade flowers
Crafty Creations wanted Handmade flowers as well
Little Red Wagon wanted Fabric and I made my flower from fabric:)
Glenda PSR wanted Texture (think the fabric flower should count :))
Digital Tuesday wanted Piercing (and a digi)
Crafty Card Makers wanted something Feminine
Flutterby had an Open week with a Fairy, Angel or Butterfly
Magical Crafts want "Things with Wings"
Crafty Ann's want Pink, Lilac and Lemon



Card Recipe:
Image - Heidi in the Flowers by CC Designs (I won this image and have been wanting to use it)
Photo corners - Making Memories
Paper - Flower Shower by DCWV
Medium - Copic Markers
Sentiment - K&Co
Ribbon - American Crafts
Fabric - Cranston Print Works





Card 2

Lord Have Mercy had a Sketch
Cards for Men want Paper Piecing
Color Chef wanted Yellow, Green, Brown and Cream
Pollycraft Distressing (and a digi)
Paper Popsicles were All About Home
Lets Capture Our Memories want Vintage
Pixie Dust wanted Flowers and Buttons



Card Recipe:
Image - The Potting Shed byModern Sugar Boulevard , sadly no longer available
Paper - Wild Saffron by K&Co
Medium - Copic Markers and Chalk Ink
Border Punch - Martha Stewart
Sentiment - Printed





I don't think you can see well enough in the photo but I paper pieced the door, bricks, window frame, flower pots, broom and the shovel handel. These were super fiddly to do but oh I just loved it!

Card 3

Midnight Madness started me with the sketch
Creative Cottage had their 1st challenge and it is "New" and this image is new to me
Crazy Challenge want you to Triple It and use 3 of anything. I used 3 different ribbons, 3 blue flowers and a 3 word sentiment.
Critter Challenge wanted Flowers on the image and Yellow, Blue and Green
Rosie Dees want you to "Think Spring"
One Powerful Hour had the theme of Luck and I think a lot of people throw coins in a Wishing Well to change their luck
Corrosive also wanted Luck as the theme
Handfull Of Stamps had a Lucky theme too!



Card Recipe:
Image - Audreys Wishing Well by The Stamping Boutique
Paper - Flower Shower by DCWV
Flowers - Wild Orchid Crafts and Prima
Sentiment - Printed
Border Punch - Martha Stewart
Medium - Copic Markers and Airbrush System





I hope you liked these and thanks for coming by and following along with my adventures in card making!
Katie

Cute Daisy May - Flower Power

Happy Monday!
Another week has come and gone and it's time for another challenge from Cute Daisy May
This week the challenge is a "Flower Power" theme and it has been set by Design Team member Lorraine. I love flowers so this was a great one for me to do.

I had help from a few other challenges:

Totally Gorjuss had a Flower Power theme too
Copic Colour Challenge had a color combo of C3 Cool Grey, R11 Pale Cherry Pink and G21 Lime Green (this really isn't Lime at all, a soft muted green)
Midnight Madness had a great sketch
Paper Jewels wanted Cute and Girly
Digital Tuesday want All Things Girly
Simon Says Stamp wants 3 types of embellishment, 2 dp and 1 image
Pixie Dust wanted Charms
Scrap, Stamp and Doodle want Charms too
Spoonfull want Springtime
Stamp Challenges want a Touch of Spring
Artful Inkables want Naughty or Nice, this one is definitely nice
Allsorts want a Tag, Ticket or Label
Opus Gluei wanted Ruffles or Flourishes



Card Recipe:
Image - Sheet 6 at Cute Daisy May
Medium - Copic Markers
Paper - Pink/Green Sugared by Basic Grey, Grey check - KMA
Flowers - Wild Orchid Crafts
Chipboard flourishes - Joanns
Sentiment - Studio G
Tag - Making Memories
Charm - Hobby Lobby
Ribbon - American Crafts



Inside is a message mat.



Here is the ever cute Daisy and I just love her grey dress, I love coloring with grey.
So grab some flowers, or make some, and brighten up your day with a little creating!
Hope to see your projects at Cute Daisy May
Katie

Let's get Stitchy! - A new Pixie Cottage Challenge

Here is the 3rd and final post for today.
This time at The Pixie Cottage it's a technique challenge and we want to see you Get Stitchy! It doesn't matter whether you get out your machine, thread a needle, grab a pen, stamp a line or even use a rub on, as long as it's a stitch it counts!

Obviously there are a few other challenges that I added along the way :)
Mojo Monday was where I chose the sketch
Artful Inkables want to see Chipboard and so do Belli
Colour Q had a color combo of Bravo Burgundy, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Always Artichoke and a Neutral. The colors are based on the Figgy Pudding paper by Basic Grey.
Copic's Colour had a combo of E29 Burnt Umber, YR16 Apricot and G99 Olive all of which I used to color the image.
Creative Card Crew wants Favorite Things and one of mine is definitely Basic Grey paper! LOL
Flourishes also had a Christmas theme
PaperTake also had a "Christmas Crackers" theme.



I chose to use the brand new Winter Window by Sandra Hammer that coordinates with the wonderful door you've seen me use before. It is the perfect size for the Holiday Tilda's to stand by but I love the image so much that I wanted to use it on its own.
I color it with Copic's using wnat I learned in class and the fabulous Shadow Tutorial by Marianne Walker to help me with the shading/shadows.
The color scheme was taken from the Figgy Pudding collection by Basic Grey but I don't have any of that and their Dasher collection works just as well :)
The two border punches for the scallops are EK Success and the chipboard letters are We R Memory Keepers.


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



Here is a close up of the window. I tried to color it to look like there was a light on inside the building and it was casting warm shadows on both the window and the tree outside.

I'd love to see how "Stitchy" you can get so go and create and enter the challenge at
The Pixie Cottage
Katie

Lots of fun stuff at Digital Delights including 2 FREEBIES!

Hi Everyone,
Another weekend is almost here and with today's super Digital Delights news you'll think your weekend has started early!
Firstly it's Freebie Friday. Things have changed a little on how you get your freebie but it is change for the good.
First you just have to be a member of the Digital Delights group at Paper Craft Planet or Scrapbook News Review, Card Universe and click on the Freebie Friday post.
This week we have something extra special for you at SNR as we are having a Digi Day next week and will be doing all sorts of fun things.
To celebrate we have a super freebie that you can download just by being a member.
All the details can be found here.Now you may ask why should you join a group to get a freebie? Well there are lots of good reasons. Firstly you'll get to know the members of the Design Team a little more as they join in the fun. Secondly you'll meet other DD fans and thirdly you can upload your DD creations so everyone can see how wonderful your work is! You'll see everyone elses work too so you'll get lots of ideas of how to utilize those super cute images.
The image for challenge is

so it's well worth running over to SNR to get it!
And you can also grab

at either PCP or SNR and have some fun with Pippin!

I've added a few challenges along side this one too.
Artful Inkables wnated you to make something you'd never made before. Even though altered paintcans have been around for ages this is the first time I've ever made one.
AI Factory wanted you to alter something.
Stampin For The Weekend wanted a Festive Goodie Box, how perfect is this!
Digital Tuesday wanted to see Flowers
Crafty Catz wanted you to go Dotty and I've dots of my paper and ribbons so that works
Crafty Cardmakers wanted you to Stamp Something
Corrosive Challenges wanted "Anything But a Card"
Scrap Stamp and Doodle also wanted Anything But a Card
Esty Inspired wanted you to look at Vivika's Etsy Shop and it was easy to chose Little Gingers as my inspiration.


So just like you I joined the group and downloaded the super sweet gingerbread image and this is what I came up with.



The clear paintcan was Michaels and I used a little dp from the Love Nest stack by My Minds Eye from Hobby Lobby.
The border punch is from Martha Stewart.
I printed one Ginger big for the can and another small for a matching tag, this is one thing I absolutely love about digital images.
Both were colored with Copic's.




I added ribbon to the sides of the handle and a flower on top.
It would be a great gift if filled with candy, cookies or some other sweet treat!
So go and grab your freebie and enter for a chance to win.
Katie