colourQ challenge #230

I wasn't sure I'd be able to work with the colourQ challenge colors this week, primarily because I didn't HAVE any of them (how is that POSSIBLE?!?!), but I hope I faked it well enough. I did have black and white, but I used Kiwi Kiss, Creamy Caramel, and Pool Party for the other colors. I must admit that I have no idea why I DON'T have Cool Caribbean! Anyway, I used a little star stamp and a wonderful sentiment stamp from Neat and Tangled. The cardstock, miraculously, is Summer Starfruit (I had half a sheet in the entire house!). Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

PTI Make it Monday #153

I'm baaaaaaaack!! I finally got into my craft room this week thanks to the amazing inspiration over at Nichole Heady's blog! This week's challenge is Watercolored Backgrounds With Heat Embossed Sentiments and I have had so much fun playing around with watercoloring. The key is to use watercolor paper and some imagination and VOILA! For this card, I used PTI's Watercolor Wonder stamp set, a spray water bottle, and every turquoise ink I have (PTI Hawaiian Shores, Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers & Broken China, SU! Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, & Baja Breeze). I inked the stamped, spritzed it VERY LIGHTLY with water, and stamped on my watercolor paper. I did this very randomly, and if I had places that had too much water or color, I carefully smoothed them out with a damp paintbrush. The stamp is from Neat and Tangled, and I heat embossed it with SU! Sterling Silver embossing powder. This card reminds me of the ocean or a delicious swimming pool, and I am so ready for summer!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!!

Happy 7th Anniversary, Papertrey Ink!!

If you haven't checked out Nichole Heady's blog, I hope you'll take a few moments to check it out because it is amazing!! I have been a faithful follower of Papertrey Ink for several years and really love their stamps and inks and dies. And their design team is super talented! I look forward every month to their new product release. This card is for their most recent challenge to create a project with STRIPES! PTI has new vertical and horizontal stripes coverplates coming out this month that allow you to make a large gingham pattern with a spray ink or, as I did it, with an ink pad and sponge dauber. I recreated Nichole's idea using my Silhouette Cameo and cutting out a similar template. I also used an image from a print-out that Nichole posted on her blog last week. The cardstock is PTI white and Hibiscus Burst along with SU! Night of Navy. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to play along with the challenges on Nichole's blog this week. The prizes are FANTASTIC!

colourQ challenge #226

It has been snowing BIG TIME here in East Tennessee and we are freaking out!! Winters in the South typically consist of a few snowy predictions followed by a disappointingly light dusting. We converge on the grocery stores, hoarding milk and bread and chocolate and diet Coke (that's me!), and then wake up the next morning to yucky grey skies and schools in session. Not this time!! If you've seen the national weather, you know that we have been lambasted with several inches of snow that we were not prepared for. Southerners just don't know how to drive when the roads are icy and they were definitely icy. As crazy as it was in Knoxville, Atlanta was absolutely slammed beyond anything they could've prepared for!! So please keep these poor folks in your prayers as they dig out of a nasty and frightening situation. I tell you all this to tell you that it was nothing short of a miracle that I was able to make a card today. The kids were in school for all of 3 hours yesterday and it looks like that might be it for this week, but while Bailey & her friend were sledding and Morgan was watching another episode of PAW Patrol today, I flew into my craft room and whipped this up! I had seen the inspiration for this card on Pinterest yesterday and knew (once again) that it would be perfect for a colourQ challenge. The ombre color scheme looks really nice with the fringe - if you don't own Martha Stewart's fringing scissors, buy them!! They are amazing!! Just don't use them on your bangs - lol!! Thanks for stopping by! Stay warm and safe if there's snow where you are.

colourQ challenge #224

Whenever I look at Pinterest, I always find cards that would be PERFECT for a colourQ challenge, and this one was at the top of my list! I LOVE these colors - you just cannot beat turquoise and red together! I could not find any Island Indigo in my stash so I used a bit of Bermuda Bay. I really like the clean look of this card and I hope the recipients will, too. Thanks for stopping by and have a great night!

colourQ challenge #222

My paper crafting time and skills seem to have taken a hit over the holidays, but I cooked and baked like a BOSS so my hands weren't too idle over the past few weeks! Hope y'all had a very merry Christmas! My family had a wonderful holiday! Personal note: I've tried my entire adult life to have a peaceful, Christ-filled Christmas, and it has never happened, despite making changes here and there to our schedules and traditions over the years. But this year - THIS YEAR - was lovely! We did several service projects, saw Santa, had lots of fun, set reasonable expectations, and enjoyed being together. It truly was MIRACULOUS!! And I realized only yesterday how successful we'd been when a friend sent over a belated Christmas gift and I didn't even realize she hadn't given us a gift. I DIDN'T KEEP SCORE THIS CHRISTMAS!! This is huge for me! So, enough about me - this is the card that took about 5 tries and several different approaches to finally complete! I saw the inspiration on Pinterest,  but I didn't have the stamps used for the sentiment. I tried using letter stamps and stickers and I didn't like the result. I wish I could do calligraphy or that I had had small, script letter stickers for this card. The FAN{TACHE}TIC is cut using my BRAND NEW Silhouette Cameo which is probably my fourth favorite Christmas gift of all time, right behind my engagement ring, my iPhone, and my cobalt blue Kitchenaid mixer! Thanks for stopping by today! Go check out this week's colourQ challenge and get some inspiration for the new year!

December Design Team Projects

I absolutely LOVE this line of Christmas paper from Jillibean! I have been using the same pad of Peppermint Twist paper from K. & Company for YEARS (and I still love it!) but it was great to find something new and fresh and fun!! I have seen so many projects using Papertrey Ink's Christmas tree die and I am amazed by how quickly these projects came together just by having a theme to work with! I learned to make this little bag topper a hundred years ago, maybe even before I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, and it is one of the easiest and prettiest way to dress up a plain white or Kraft bag. And you don't have to use tissue paper, which I am ALWAYS searching for even though I have a ton stashed around the house. I may have another project or two to post this week, but please don't hold your breath - I've been baking like crazy and I still have a little more to do!! Hope y'all have a very merry Christmas!! 

Make It Monday #142: Decorated Kraft Bags

I have seen so many beautiful projects using PTI's Christmas tree die that when I saw this week's MIM challenge, I knew I had to use it! I LOVE to use Kraft bags for gifts. There are limitless possibilities for decorating these wonderful blank canvases! I used a pad of Christmas paper from K & Company that I have had forever and a Christmas sentiments background stamp that I bought at Archiver's a couple of years ago. The ribbon is a BEAUTIFUL satin from Paper Source and I added four clear rhinestone brads from Stampin' Up! for a bit of pizzazz. Thanks for stopping by on this Thanksgiving Eve . . . I really have LOTS to do but here I sit, blogging!! Happy Thanksgiving - I hope you have many things for which to be thankful this year!!

Turkey Day's A'Comin'



If you haven't yet made a cute Thanksgiving card for someone special in your life, there's still time!! I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest and I used the sunburst card tutorial that I found on-line. I have tried to fake this technique a couple of times without success, but this tutorial is almost foolproof. The cute little turkey is easy to put together with a couple of punches and the details are easy to cut out from cardstock scraps. I LOVE the googly eyes - they are one of my favorite embellishments!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great week prepping for Thanksgiving!

colourQ challenge #216

 

I sure have missed making cards and blogging about them! For the past two challenges, I have actually made cards but not in time for the challenge cut-off {pouty face}. So anyway, this week, I needed a couple of cards and the colourQ challenge colors just screamed trees to me! But I have to say, the Mighty Oak stamp set and coverplate from PTI are an absolute NIGHTMARE to work with!! I have tried several ways to improve how well the coverplate cuts out and I finally found that several rectangles of lightweight cardstock stacked together act as a shim to improve the impressions. Although, I nearly broke my Cuttlebug!! So, after making this card and another one that I'll post later in the week, I think I'll take a break from this particular die for a while . . . maybe till next fall!!

colourQ challenge #214

I was afraid this week's colourQ challenge color palette wasn't going to inspire me until I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest! I was surprised by how much I loved the Dusty Durango with the other colors and the Bashful Blue gives the card a beautiful brightness. The stamp set I used is PTI's Bigger Blooms and I can already tell, even though I haven't used it very much, that it is going to be one of my go-to stamp sets. It is beautiful! I think this card is perfect for fall and I hope y'all are having beautiful weather where you live like we are here in TN! Thanks for stopping by!

Candy Corn Card with tutorial

I saw the inspiration for this card on Pinterest and thought it was one of the cutest cards I had ever seen! And since I recently bought Papertrey Ink's Friendship Jar stamp set, I was easily able to CASE it!! The best part, though, was how easy it was to make the paper candy corn!! Aren't they adorable? I was amazed by how quick and easy they are to make. I always appreciate a good tutorial for cute ideas, so here it one just for you. Enjoy making lots and lots of candy corn!



Punch 1.75", 1.25", and .75" circles

Adhere circles using lots of adhesive

Cut stack of circles in half

Cut each half in half and then in half
again to make 8 candy pieces 

 

colourQ challenge #212

I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest a month of so ago and saved it for THIS COLOR CHALLENGE!! I knew there would have to be a Halloween challenge and this card is perfect. Isn't this tic-tac-toe design so clever? And I had almost all the colors this time - that never happens!! I did have to sub Lovely Lilac for Wisteria Wonder, but I think it's close enough. The banner is handmade using a trick my friend, Annie B., taught me. It's super easy, but I barely remembered it myself and it's been a long day, so I will try to post a tutorial another time. Unless, Annie B. is feeling generous and will post one for me!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great night. I'll be watching "Pretty Little Liars!!" Woo hoo!!

colourQ challenge #211

WOW WOW WOW!! I really like the colors in this week's colourQ challenge. These colors may not typically "go together," but I REALLY like how my card turned out. The stamp I used is the unsung hero of Papertrey Ink's Baby Button Bits Stamp Set, and the sentiment is from PTI's Iconic Images. I made this card for a dear friend who came to visit me yesterday when my sweet, 12-year-old daughter had knee surgery. This same wonderful friend also brought us a delicious Oreo ice cream pie from Bruster's so, obviously, I wanted to make her an extra-special card to thank her for her kindness! This card definitely fits the bill! Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!

colourQ challenge #210

I'm afraid this week's colourQ challenge didn't really speak to me. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the turquoise, yellow, and white together, but the Dusty Durango threw me off a bit. But I gave it a go and this is what I came up with. I found the inspiration for this card on the Neat and Tangled blog this week. The technique is called bokeh, which I did not know the meaning of until a few minutes ago. If I understand it correctly, the idea is that the images are blurred, which is the effect you get when you layer vellum over stamped images. I used the splatter stamp from my new Sweet Stamp Shop Zombies set on a white cardstock base and then I stamped my sentiment in black Versafine ink onto vellum. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

 

Spooky Eyes - an easy Halloween card

Today's easy Halloween inspiration is from Pinterest, of course! I made several of these cards in just a few minutes. The most time-consuming part of the process is the embossing, which is absolutely essential to giving this card pizzazz!! I used black, Pumpkin Pie, and Rich Razzleberry cardstock but you could use any of your favorite Halloween colors. There are so many possibilities!! Thanks for stopping by - now, go make some Halloween cards!!

colourQ challenge #209

This week completely got away from me! I have been making lots of Halloween cards for Scrappin' in the City and hopefully, for my new etsy store that I would love to have up and running soon. The colors in this week's colourQ challenge #209 are some of my very favorite, but I just could not create the floral fantasy I was hoping for. This is a super simple card, but wouldn't a child LOVE to find this sweet little card in their lunchbox or backpack? Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for some Halloween inspiration!!