Tiddly Inks Halloween Hop

Tiddly Inks is doing their second blog hop a little differently:

Link your entry in the Inlinkz box for the blog hop on the challenge blog and then wait until 6 PM when we close the Inlinkz list. Then come on back to the challenge blog and visit all the entries in the Inlinkz list. When you click on each entry, it should open a new window with the blogger's card and entry...kinda cool, huh? It means we don't have to direct you to the next blog.... just go back to the challenge blog to keep going through the entries.


The DT members have their amazing cards listed already, but the full blog hop STARTS AT 6 PM CST after eveyone has a chance to list their cards. :) The hop officially ends July 24, and we have planned a party on the PCP page from 6 PM until 10 PM on July 24, so please stop by.


There are some pretty good prizes, whether you participate or or just leave comments, so go take a peek at the full hop details here.


Happy Halloween! :) I hope you enjoy all the magical entries! :)

So, in keeping with the spirit of Halloween, I present my first Halloween card of the season ...

The images are both from Tiddly Inks and they are just sooooo cute. The little pumpkin is a freebie right now for members of the Tiddly Inks PCP group and when I first saw him, I just knew that he had to be layered. I printed him off 3 times and then fussy-cut each section. The vampire robot is on a spring so that he not only pops out, but bounces as well. I really wanted to capture that sense of movement since Halloween is all about the sugar rush. You can see the layering a bit better in this picture.

I used a Martha Stewart border punch (grass) for the bottom layer of the step card and the sentiment is just printed off my computer. How timely, that my LSS sent around an email yesterday telling us that she had the brand-new Cuttlebug folders in and one set just happened to be robot-themed. I embossed some Co-ordinations "Black Magic" paper and then sanded it to bring out the green.

Well, I have the feeling this won't be my only Halloween card even though I still have some left over from last year. I LOVE Halloween! Now, go back to Tiddly Inks and check out all the other projects on the blog hop.

Pollycraft flash your freebie

I adore Pollycraft digital images and she's been incredibly generous with freebies. If you aren't already following her website and PCP group, then go right on over and join. 

I coloured this cutie with Copic markers and then fussy-cut another copy of the balloons for layering over top (to give a 3-D look). There's some glossy accents on the heart on his sweater so it would stand out a bit more too. I found this red/white ribbon in a bargain bin at Michaels and I thought it just picked up the circus feel of the image. The sketch used is from MAWTT.

Challenges:

• Pollycraft Monday Challenge - bold & bright
• Pollycraft Monday Challenge - flash your freebie
• MAWTT - sketch; include an animal

LIfe's a beach!

I've had a pretty productive weekend that resulted in several cards and a scrapbook page. And just so you don't think I spent all my time inside, I also threw in a day of yardwork and a trip to the beach today. And so in honour of an afternoon spent sunning and sand-castle building, here is a simple little card made using a Michelle Perkett freebie (currently on offer at CDAC).

I used Basic Grey papers (from Green at Heart) along with some scrap ribbon. I wanted to add a bit of bling so added the row of rhinestones on the left along with a pink gem in the girl's hair. I also added some Stickles to the starfish but it is so subtle as to be unnoticeable.

The sketch is for CDAC's sketch challenge and was quite easy/versatile to use. I'll have to keep this one handy for the future.

Challenges:

• Everybody Art - vacation (nothing beats a vacation at the beach)
• C.R.A.F.T. - child/baby (features a child)
• All Sorts Challenge - summer days
• One Stop Craft Challenge - pink, blue, green and a hint of red (it's hard to see but the centres of the flowers is red)
• Our Creative Corner - beach
• By the Cute & Girly - warm summer days
• CDAC Sketch Challenge - sketch

Donkey smiles for Michelle

Todays card has been created as a RAK for a special person in the crafting world. Michelle is a design team member for many of my favourite sites and I've always admired her work although I've never actually communicated directly with her. She clearly is special though because since she was injured (see her full story here) more people than I can count have jumped forward to send her cards, words of encouragement and financial assistance with medical bills. Several digital companies are offering free images in honour of Michelle and I picked this one from Karen's Doodles.

Isn't the donkey just too cute? Of course I coloured him with Copics - the hooves were a challenge but finally ended up OK (although perhaps still a bit too dark?). I wanted to create a special/interesting card so I went with this overlapping tri-fold. If you want to try it, here are the steps. I'm afraid I don't have exact measurements.

1. Stick 2 card blanks on top of each other to create a 3-panel card. Make sure the front panels overlap each other, then close the card with the left panel on top.
2. Open the card and on the front left panel, measure about 1/3 of the way from the top-left corner and then about 2/3 of the way from the bottom-right corner. Cut a diagonal line between these 2 points making sure to stop at the fold.
3. Close the card so that the right panel is on top. Measure 2/3 of the way down from the top-right corner and 1/3 of the way up from the bottom-left corner. Cut a diagonal line between the 2 points, again making sure to stop at the fold.
4. Trim 1/2 - 3/4" from the shorter edge of both front panels.
5. Matte and layer the different card panels (I used Basic Grey patterned and miscellaneous purple card).
6. Decorate as desired

Here is another photo of the card taken to show the different panels.

I chose a Rainbow Echo sentiment (created just for Michelle) which I circle punched and then layered onto another circle of the same size. I adhered the donkey onto some white card and then cut out the entire thing so that he could be popped out and up. P.S., never fussy-cut an image with flower petals on it ... what was I thinking?

Well the card is on its way to Michelle and I hope it brings her some pleasure. Reading her blog it sounds as if she is being flooded.

Challenges:

• A Spoon Full of Sugar - kickin' it for Michelle
• Paper Sundaes - lots of layers
• Karen's Doodles - UK - shaped cards (I know this looks rectangular when closed but open it up and it's definitely not)
• By the Cute & Girly - warm summer days
• Allsorts Challenge - summer days
• Totally Gorjuss - thinking of you
• Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - animals

Twas the night before Christmas ...

Well, it's several nights before Christmas but it's never too early to get started on one's holiday cards. For this card I used a vintage image that was recently offered by Create with TLC. I'm not sure what the family is collecting but I decided that it was evergreens and mistletoe for the holidays. I coloured the image using Copics and then added a few dots around the border with Christmas red Stickles. I wanted to stick with traditional colours but make them quite vintage in feel so I used muted greens, reds & yellows for the clothes. I imagine that the girls' dresses would've been made by their mother, probably out of the same bolt of fabric, so they all match but with different trims and structure. I think I may have spent a bit too much time thinking on this one (LOL).

I love to re-use and recycle and so rather than making a poinsettia flower, I pulled this one off an old Christmas gift tag. A little trimming and it works wonderfully.

The sketch is from Crafty Creations:

I decided to treat this as if the card was divided into 4 squares and so I used two slightly different shades of brown card in order to create a bit more interest (all the colours are quite muted). The final touch was the ribbon which was found in my stash (and amazingly was exactly the right length).

Challenges:

• 
  
  Crafty Creations - sketch
• 
  
  Cute Card Thursday - Christmas
• 
  
  Fab 'n Funky - Christmas
• 
  
  Little Red Wagon - use a tree somewhere (the image includes a tree)
• 
  
  Stamp Something - something digital (the image is digital)

Off the Wall colour challenge

This card was created for the Off the Wall Craftiness colour challenge. I wasn't sure how I felt about the bold yellow and turquoise but in the end I quite like it. The bear is a freebie that I recently picked up from Sassy Cheryl's PCP group. Isn't he adorable? The papers are from the new Basic Grey "Wags & Whiskers" collection. The flowers in the corner were pulled from my stash and then coloured with Copic markers to match the image flowers.

Challenges:

• 
  
  Off the Wall Craftiness - colour challenge (tangerine, teal, white)

• Papertake - in the garden (these colours might not occur naturally but they are quite summery)


• 
  
  Truly Scrumptious - sketch and optional theme of "how does your garden grow"

Pre-school

UPDATE:   Well, I never got Alex to cooperate with telling me in his own words about pre-school so I finally gave up and finished off the page with just a list of the class, a close-up shot of Alex, and a header. The header is inspired by the current challenge at Club CK which was to create a banner. For the first section of the banner, I cut a square from the patterned paper ("S") and then cut triangles from some scrap. I didn't have any red alpha stickers so I used my Copic markers to colour white stickers.


------------------------------------------------------------

ORIGINAL POST:   Alex "graduated" from pre-school last week. I have a hard time taking this seriously but he & his classmates certainly did look adorable in their best outfits & cardboard caps. Alex was just beaming with pride! After seeing the ceremony (and I use that word with much amusement) I felt motivated to scrapbook the class photo.

The journaling isn't complete as I want to add Alex's actual memories of pre-school and he isn't willing to cooperate yet. As well, I find myself unable to remember most of the kids' names (one of the down-sides of having his sitter drop him off). I will add the names and Alex's journalling to the lined paper at the bottom. The page itself was quite simple to make. I matted the photo in red and then matted half of it in cream (I cut away the cream on the bottom edges so that it wouldn't blend in with the cream lined paper). The embellishments are cut from some of the spare "Teacher's Pet" paper and then adhered with pop-dots. I'm going to do my best to get Alex to write some of his memories down himself so that I can have his actually handwriting on the page.

Recipe:

• 
  
  Imaginisce "Teacher's Pet" patterned paper (lined, school-themed squares)
• 
  
  October Afternoon "Night Light: Jack" patterned paper (red w. stars & circles)
• 
  
  Bazzil cardstock
• 
  
  The Pink Elephant Challenge sketch

Challenges:

• 
  
  The Crazy Challenge - you're a star (my son IS a star, and the paper has stars on it)
• 
  
  One-Stop Craft Challenge - one for the boys (layout of my son, for my son)
• 
  
  Simon Says Stamp - PCP group- for the boys

May an angel sit on your shoulder

A very dear co-worker is managing through a difficult time right now and I made this card to try and show her how much I'm thinking of her. Her adult daughter is quite ill and so Mary is busy taking care of her daughter & grand-children as well as working and taking care of herself.

I chose to use this vintage image (made available through Digital Two for Tuesday) because the angel looks not only beautiful & sweet, but also motherly (and Mary needs somene to mother her). I coloured the image with Copics and then added Stickles "Crystal" to the wings and the design on her dress. The clouds are cut out using a die cut from Die-namics with a bit of Copic shading and Stickles added.

It doesn't come across well in the picture but this card is very layered - I used 3 different thicknesses of pop-dots to put the clouds at different heights above the cardbase. The angel herself is sitting slightly above the highest cloud. The sentiment cloud is also pop-dotted.

The papers are all from Basic Grey "Euphoria" collection, as is the flower sticker at the bottom. The sticker has been altered with Stickles and 3 little pearls. The final touch was the rub-on flourish which comes from a Heidi Swapp set. The rub-on is, of course, also touched up with Stickles. It's crucial that this card be extremely sparkly and though it doesn't show in the picture (I really must learn to take better photos), in real life the card just shines!

Challenges:

• The Crazy Challenge - up in the air
• Creative Card Crew - to die for (use a die)
• My Time To Craft - angelic
• Totally Papercraft - swirls & pearls
• Bee Crafty - 3D
• Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - make a scene
• Paper Sundaes - lots of layers

Christmas in July

The temperatures are getting close to 30' so, of course, my thoughts turn to Christmas. Well, actually there are several challenges on right now for Christmas cards and I've had this image coloured for the longest time just waiting to be used in a card.

I used a sketch from Truly Scrumptious and then my usual Basic Grey papers ("Eskimo Kisses" set). The image is from Wendy's Digital Doodling and I probably coloured & matted it 6 months ago. The buttons on the coat are glossy accent'ed and the holly in her hair is Stickle'd. The real fun was in creating the evergreen bough in the corner. I used a punch and some scrap paper in a couple of shades of green to create the branches. The ribbon was quite a challenge as it is very "hairy" but I like the loose look of it. You can't see it in the picture but the ribbon also has silver tinsel in it which goes nicely with the silver Stickled snow.

Challenges:

• Truly Scrumptious - sketch
• Corrosive Challenge - Christmas
• Dare U 2 Digi Stamp - the great outdoors
• Fussy & Fancy - Christmas in July
• Incy Wincy - punches
• Winter Wonderland - punch it out
• Little Red Wagon - nestabilities (I used Labels #10)

Photo box altered project

I had to say good-bye to my boys' daycare provider last week. She has been taking care of them for 3 years and has been absolutely exceptional. She is a stay-at-home Mom with two girls of similar ages to my boys and although she could have been just a babysitter, she chose to operate like an official daycare. She took the kids through the preschool curriculem, took them on educational fieldtrips and taught them valuable social skills. And she did this with a calm, loving attitude that I absolutely respect.Unfortunately (for us) she is going back to school to pursue her doctorate in early childhood education.

I wanted to make her something to show her how valued she is, and also to act as sort of a remembrance and finally decided on this wooden box that I bought at Michaels. I like the idea of including pictures of the kids (aren't they cute?) as well as providing a spot for keepsakes.

To alter the box, I painted and distressed the top to give a worn shabby-chic appearance. The bottom and sides are covered in Basic Grey patterned paper from the "Indian Summer" collection. In the photos it doesn't look like the paint goes with the paper but in reality the purplish colour is carried subtly throughout the paper.  I also added a scalloped edge (really hard to see in the picture) along the top to finish the edge. The entire outside is sprayed with a matte finish so that it is durable and washable.

Inside the box I continued with the same paint along with a flourish from the "Indian Summer" cardstock sticker pack. I selected an "October Afternoon" paper to line the inside. Looking at the photo, I realize that I should have painted or covered the backs of the photo inserts but at least the brown matches (LOL).

I'm not sure if I'm pleased with the finished box or not. I should have printed the photos in black & white and I also should have made the lid more elaborate. Of course, her decor leans to clean lines and rich colours so hopefully this works. I so rarely make altered items that this was quite a challenge.

I also want to share the birdhouses that the boys made for her. They used almost every colour of paint available to them! Luke, in particular, went for lots of sparkle on the roof of his because hummingbirds like shine and he wanted to attract them.

Challenges:

• Crafty Catz - distressing (the box is sanded & inked for a distressed/aged look)
• One Stop Craft Challenge - distressing

Birthday card for my sister and a bit of a brag

Before I show today's project, I want to brag a bit ... My Teachers Rule cards have been selected for the Top 3 for The Crazy Challenge "make it in an hour" challenge.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Birthday card for a very patient little sister:

It's hard for me to accept & believe but my baby sister turns 40 today! I have a hard time believing that I've passed 40 so it seems just impossible that she is 40.  I came across this digital stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil and it immediately struck me how perfectly it portrays the relationship we had as kids. Yes, I admit that I wasn't the perfect older sister. In fact, I was probably quite the monster. Considering my sister has always been very tough (much tougher than me) it's quite amazing that she never belted me! And thus, you can understand why I chose the sentiment I did.

I chose purple for the little sister's dress because one of my favourite pictures of Margaret shows her as a little girl in this incredibly poufy purple dress. She looks completely round (the last time she ever looked plump) and ever so cute.

I wanted to keep the design of the card simple and this sketch from Sketch Saturday really fit the bill. The blue ribbon came from my stash, and the two daisies were cut from another ribbon scrap. I added jewelled brads to the centres of the flowers to add some bling. For some extra shine, I also added stardust Stickles to the white rubon.

Challenges:

• Sketch Saturday - sketch
• Crafts & Me - birthday
• Alphabet Challenge - "J" is for jewels (the jewelled brads)
• Crazy 4 Challenges - use 2 or more ribbons (blue ribbon, daisies are cut from another ribbon)
• Magical Crafts - flower power
• Quirky Crafts - ribbons
• CDAC embellishment challenge - use your finest jewels

Recipe:

• Basic Grey "Euphoria" patterned papers
• Mo's Digital Pencil "Stepsisters" digital stamp
• Copic markers
• Ribbons (stash)
• KaiserCraft "White Flourish Corners" rub-on
• Stickles, stardust
• Jewelled brads (stash)

Happy trails ...

I have to admit to a terrible jealousy because a co-worker is resigning in order to spend more time with her family. I wish I had the financial resources to stop working but I will likely be working into my 90's in order to support my scrapbooking habit. Anyway, I made this card to wish her well on her new road.

The image is "Speedster" and is part of Phindy's Place newest collection "Summer Cuties". Isn't she just adorable? I used my Copic markers to colour her and then added some Stickles to the flowers in her romper and to the ribbons on her handlebars. I also added Glossy Accents to sections of the bike in order to give it a bit more dimension. The card sketch is from Create 4 Fun - quite a simple and versatile sketch. Everyone is thinking about summer so I'm entering this card into several challenges as follows:

• Create 4 Fun - sketch
• Totally Papercrafts - one for the girls
• By the Cute & Girly - summer
• Craftalicious - cute
• Crafty Ho's - fun in the sun
• Drunken Stampers - summer
• Simon Says Stamps - PCP group - summer