Friday, December 30, 2011

It's been a punchy Christmas

I recently purchased one of the 3-in-1 punches from Stampin' Up and I have been having so much fun with it! I decided to use the punch for this year's Christmas cards (see the sample one below). I mixed & matched the glitter (Glitter Ritz) as well as the papers I used, thus getting very different looks.
I also used the same punch for my gift tags this year. Along with the Stampin' Up punch, I also used the Martha Stewart pine branch punch. And I have to brag at my thriftiness (LOL) because the clear beads/gems added to the sprig of pine actually came from the Christmas crackers we used 2 years ago! How's that for using up stash!
 
Challenges:

Monday, December 5, 2011

You're Udderly Amazing

I made this card for Send A Smile 4 Kids - the hospitals are always looking for cards of congratulations/encouragement for their kids (currently cards are being supplied to BC Childrens' and Stollery Hospitals). The papers are from Basic Grey and the digi is Bugaboo.

Challenges:

Monday, November 28, 2011

Christmas tags for the kids

I've had a wonderfully crafty weekend playing with my new Stampin' Up punch. My first project using the punch was this set of gift tags that I'll be donating to Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada). Each year the BC Children's Hospital sets up a Christmas Village where hospitalized kids and their families can wrap gifts for each other. Last year they used close to 200 gift tags; I've challenged myself to make & donate at least 75 tags this year.

This batch of tags (there are a dozen in total) uses a Tim Holtz Sizzix die for the tags (cut from sparkly gold paper) and the Stampin' Up stocking punch. I used a selection of papers, including some Basic Grey and Bazzil. These were very quick to make - the most time-consuming aspect was tying those itty-bitty little bows.

Challenges:

Oh Christmas tree ...

Update:  Yay me! These trees were showcased by UnstampaBelles and chosen by My Sheri Crafts.


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I just love the cover project on Paper Creations Magazine this month and so I had to try re-creating it for myself. Well, the tree ended up being so fun & easy that I made 3!
To keep the project super simple and to ensure that all 3 trees coordinated, I used double-sided Christmas paper from "My Mind's Eye" ("The Merry Days of Christmas" collection) along with some inexpensive red cardstock. I topped 2 of the trees with fuzzy green ribbon and a few buttons from my stash. I followed the instructions in the magazine pretty closely for the first 2 trees but got a bit creative with the last one (in front). Instead of looping the paper, I used my Martha Stewart fringe scissors to cut the strips - once the resulting fringe is curled and then layered, the end tree looks almost fuzzy. I'm thinking about doing a couple more - maybe using ribbon instead of paper.

Challenges:

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Merry Christmoose

I've been shopping (again) and picked up some great new digital stamps from Bugaboo. These 2 cards are made using Christmoose from their Make It Snappy set. These images are pre-framed with a great sentiment so all you really need to do is colour and stick. And urghhh, I went over to their site so I could hyperlink this post and they've added more images to the set so I guess I'll be shopping some more later today!

One last thing, I'll be donating these cards to Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada) so they can be shared with kids at B.C. Children's Hospital.

This first card uses Basic Grey patterned papers and a super-simple design.

Challenges:



This card uses the latest sketch from Eat Sleep Stamp along with some Basic Grey scrap and die cut trees from a freebie I got last year in a magazine.

Challenges:

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

I have a couple of Christmas cards to share today and they are particularly nice since they cost me not a penny! The digital image is a freebie offered at The Outlawz' new Creative Freebie Challenge. The poinsettia is so beautiful that I had to use it twice.

Both cards use My Mind's Eye paper and embellishments that were freebies in Magazine.

Challenges:

Sketch for Card #1


Saturday, November 5, 2011

Pumpkin patch visit

I love working from home because it gives me the flexibility to take time off to participate in things like my youngest son's field trip to the local pumpkin patch. It was a wonderful day - the sun (unexpectedly) shone and all the kids behaved. I even got a couple of cute pictures of my camera-shy boy.
I started this layout using a sketch from The Scrapaholic Blog. Because I always work in 8-1/2 x 11 pages, I converted their 12x12 sketch into a 2-page layout. I chose papers from the K&Co paper pack mostly although there are a couple of unidentified scraps as well. The border punch is Martha Stewart and the die cuts are mostly My Mind's Eye. My favourite part of the entire layout (other than the smile on my DS) is the tiny little pumpkin paperclip holding the journalling spot - I bought a pack of these clips but haven't used a single one as they are just too darned cute.

Challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks - die cuts
Celebrate the Occasion - Fall (with a pumpkin)
Cooking it up with Katie - anything but a card
Craft Your Days Away - Autumn
Creative Craft Challenges - fancy edges
Going Grey with Scrap-Creations - pumpkins
Penny's Paper-Crafty - halloween
Simply Create - pumpkins
Sisterhood of Crafters - halloween
Use it Tuesdays - orange, black or purple (how about all 3! My hoarded supply is the acetate black fence and the little pumpkin paperclip. It was really hard to use these items as they are just too cute/cool to risk using up).

Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween treat bags

I made up a batch of goody bags for my oldest son's class Halloween party. The bag clips are created using several sizes of circles/scallop circles (all Nestabilities) glued onto everyday clothespins.

For a bit of added fun, some of the clips have googly eyes added. Other than the elbow fatigue from running so many sheets through the Cuttlebug, this was such a quick & easy make!

Challenges:

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Have a Meowy Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... at least in the stores ... so I decided it was time to start making Christmas cards.
The image is one of my all-time favorites from Mo's Digital Pencil. I've coloured the image with Copic markers.

Challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks - Marker it up
ABC Christmas Challenge - Use your old stash (the embellies are both over a year old)
Mo's Digital Challenge - Favourite Mo image plus a sentiment
Crafting When We Can - Christmas
Sparkles Forum - Christmas songs (personally I think they are singing "The Friendly Beasts" certainly not "Silent Night"

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Spooktacular Halloween

It's been awhile since I made anything but a standard card so I decided to make this Halloween card an easel design. The digi is from Dustin Pike's Doodle Dragon Studio (I just can't get enough of Dudley the dragon) and I've coloured him using my wonderful Copic markers. The corners are punched using one of Martha Stewart's around the page corner punches.


Challenges (lots of halloween inspiration this week!):

4 Crafty Chicks - marker it up
Southern Girls - stripes & polka dots
Crafting for all Seasons - halloween
Creative Card Crew - spooky fun
Creative Stamp Friends - halloween
Digital Tuesday - halloween
Dream Valley Challenges - halloween
Here Come the Boys - halloween
Magical Monday - halloween
One Stop Craft - halloween
Paper Creations Ink - halloween
Paper Take Weekly - halloween colours
Quirky Crafts - halloween
Simon Says Stamp and Show - stripes
The Crazy Challenge - halloween
Whimsical Wednesdays - halloween
Sentimental Sundays - fancy folds
Through the Craftroom Door - halloween

Monday, October 17, 2011

Tough enough to wear pink

This was a totally fun card to create. The image is a freebie at Dude Time Doodles and we were asked to create a project using pink. Now pink & gargoyles don't really go together in my mind but I'm actually really liking the finished card.
Along with the DTD  image, I've used patterned paper from Martha Stewart. And in the 2 corners, I've embossed two pieces of scrap acetate (from packaging) using a funky Halloween Cuttlebug folder. The sketch is from Card Positioning Systems.

Cards for Men - make us laugh
CAS Sunday - think pink
Corrosive Challenges - flying things
Crafty Cardmakers - cute with a dark twist
Creative Stamp Friends - halloween
Dream Valley Challenges - halloween
Here Come the Boys - halloween
Incy Wincy Designs - recycle (the acetate)
Magical Monday - halloween
Paper Creations Ink - halloween
Simon Says Stamp and Show - things with wings
The Crazy Challenge - halloween

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Have a ball on your birthday

Today's card is a fun & simple birthday card that I created for my niece. I was really pleased with how my colouring of the image (from Karen's Doodles) turned out so I decided to go with a very simple card design. I simply matted the image on some glossy red paper, placed it against a starred background and then added a "ribbon" of the same red paper. Super simple! I was inspired to add buttons over top of the balls - I think it's a fun and dimensional touch.

Challenges:

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Thankful

I'm having a wonderful day! It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada which means a turkey dinner to look forward to and a long weekend. The weather is good (well, at least it isn't raining) and the kids are actually getting along! And on the subject of kids, I just finished packaging up the latest delivery of cards for the BC Children's Hospital. You can read all about it here on the Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada) blog. Part of that delivery is this assortment of Halloween cards that I made using some wonderfully cute Bo Bunny paper and Cuttlebug embossing folders.

The second batch of cards (except for one) are made using the sketch from I{heart}2Stamp.

Challenges:

Friday, October 7, 2011

Queen of hearts tag

I felt like doing something a little different so I threw together this tag (ha, it actually took me what seemed like hours of playing with the elements and fiddling with those little black gems).
The image is fussy-cut and matted onto black paper. The saying ("She had all the royal makings af a Queen") and the backing paper came from the same Graphic 45 paper pack (Halloween in Wonderland). My favourite part of the whole project is how the gems swirl out from her finger - I can imagine her poking & pointing with such vehemence that she raises a wind.

Challenges:
Altered Alice - something that twinkles or shines (the crown and gems)
Card and Scrap - embossing (the crown) / distressing
Cooking it up with Katie - Fabulous, fun & "F" (fussy-cut)
Craft Your Days Away - tag it
Craft Your Passion - Anything goes with ribbon
Papertake Weekly - Anything goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Wendy Veschi style
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - Anything but a card
Truly Scrumptious - Distressing

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Simply Hallowe'en

Today's Halloween card will be donated to the BC Children's Hospital via Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada). The image is a digi from Simply Betty Stamps (she also does rubber!) and I've coloured her using Copic markers. The spider web is a scrap of acetate (left from last year) which is adhered behind a window cut into the card - I added the faux stitching around the edges to transition the cut.

And since I'm sharing a Simply Betty stamp today, I thought I would also encourage everyone to check out her shop. Please consider supporting Simply Betty Stamps by purchasing stamps or donating through her site. Her son was recently diagnosed with cancer, and all sales will help with medical bills - http://simplybettystamps.blogspot.com/2011/10/special-release-and-some-very-sad-news.html.

Challenges:
Clear it out! - Halloween
Come & Get It - Halloween
Crazy 4 Challenges - Anything goes but donate to a charity (I'm donating this card to SAS4K Canada)
Lollipop Crafts - Halloween
One Stitch at a Time - Use a digi
Secret Crafter - Halloween
The Pink Elephant - Trick or Treat (Halloween)
Tuesday Throwdown - Halloween

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Send A Smile 4 Kids Challenge

I'm really excited today because I get to share a couple of cards that I created as a guest dt member for Send A Smile 4 Kids Challenge. I've recently entered into a partnership with SAS4K and now am running the Canadian arm - SAS4K (Canada). Being an occasional guest designer is probably the most fun perk!

The challenge is called Fall Color- Anything Goes for Kids and runs for two weeks. The sponsors are Bee Crafty (3 digital stamps of the winners choice) and Prairie Fairy ($15 gift certificate). I've chosen an image from each of the sponsors because I just couldn't decide between them. Both cards will be donated to Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada).

This card uses an image from Prairie Fairy - isn't she just the cutest? I've been spotting this girl all over blogland lately and have been wanting to get my hands on a few. I frame the image using a Spellbinders die and then added some felt flowers and silk leaves that I touched up with glitter (because everything is better with glitter). I've left the inside of the card blank thinking that the sentiment on the front "Swinging by to say" could be finished off in so many ways ("happy birthday", "congratulations", "good luck"). I used this week's Midnight Madness sketch.

The card uses a Bee Crafty image - I love how simple the lines are. I didn't want the embellishments or papers to complete, so I kept the background papers subtle and just added a sheer ribbon and some tulle flowers. Again, no sentiment so that it can be used for a variety of purposes. For this card, I used this week's Skipping Stones sketch.

Challenges:

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Feline Thankful blog hop winners

I hope you had a good time on the Feline Playful Feline Thankful blog hop! I have certainly enjoyed reading all of your kind comments! I chose this card to share with you today ... it might seem like an odd choice unless you read the sentiment "I {heart} Candy". 
The image is from Pollycraft (another of our sponsors on
the hop) and the colouring is done with Copics.

So, who loves candy? Because I have some Feline Thankful blog hop candy to award!!!
 
you've won 2 digis from the amazing DTsArt!
Vist www.dtsartblog.com

you've won 5 digis from the ever-so fun Fresh Brewed Designs
Congratulations to you both! Just drop an email to felineplayful@gmail.com letting us know which digis you would like from the appropriate shops and we'll arrange for them to be sent. And thanks for taking part in the blog hop!!

And because Feline Playful is all about challenges, I'm entering my card into these challenges:

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

You really can colour anything with Copic markers

I took a class at Clipper Street recently and learned the coolest new technique - you can actually colour over glitter!

We started with a die cut - white cardstock and adhesive sheet, cut on the cuttlebug. A clear ultra-fine glitter was laid over the entire thing and well-burnished in. Then we used peel-off outline stickers to create a design (the butterfly/flower shape and circles).

At this point all I had was a shiny black and white label but then the magic happened. Once the glitter was well-burnished, I was able to colour over it with my Copic markers just like I would colour in anything else. The marker picked up the odd speck of glitter but this came off very easily when I brushed against some scrap paper. Because the colouring is done over top of the glitter the colours stay vibrant and clear.

To finish off the card a second larger die cut was cut/embossed for the background and 2 patterned papers were layer behind. I'm so excited to have found another use for my glitters and peel-off stickers! If you give it a try let me know what you think!

Challenges:

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Thank you for the road less travelled

UPDATE: Another reason for jumping up in the air - this card was chosen as one of the Top 3 at Totally Papercrafts! Yay!

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Today I want to share another thank you card that I've made - this one for a very specific purpose.

For the last year I've been taking Taekwando but will have to give up the classes for awhile - having the house up for sale, increasing pressures at work, and just life in general have gotten in the way of committing to a schedule of classes. Maybe I'll go back in the future but in the meantime I wanted to thank the school for the great experience. I found this image by doing a Google search and I just felt immediately that she was perfect for the way I feel about Taekwando - joyous and ready to fall over at any moment!


Some of the embellishments (all from Abby Road) on this card might seem odd but they are VERY appropriate for the way I practice Taekwando. First off, I am not an athletic person. I'm probably one of the last people you would expect to find in a martial arts class (thus the road less travelled). And I'm extremely directionally challenged at the best of times so asking me to do a series of physical movements in a specific order that includes directional changes ... well, let's just say that it's lucky that I didn't hurt myself or someone else (and thus explains the arrows pointing in opposite directions). I spent most of my classes struggling, getting hands & feet tangled, and feeling like a total fool. And I enjoyed every minute of it! (and that explains the joyride tag).

I should mention that I based by card on last week's challenge sketch at Midnight Madness.

Challenges:

Friday, September 23, 2011

A little birdy told me ...

... that the Feline Playful "Feline Thankful" blog hop & party is going great! There have already been a bunch of winners announced and there will be even more every day until September 27th. And if you join in the blog hop, then there are chances to win prizes at every stop along the way (including mine! just scroll down to the next post). Then go ahead and check out the party here.

The theme of the party is "thanks" and so I decided to share this thank you card that I made at a Clipper Street technique class (all about stains, inks, mists - lots of messy, inky stuff) earlier this week. It's a bit of a departure for me since there is no stamping and no colouring involved (my Copics felt sooooo lonely). The Maya Road chipboard elements were coloured using a mix of paint, distress stains, and glimmer mist. And I wasn't thrilled with the colour of the lace, so I used distress ink to darken it. Lots of fun playing with new products but my fingers are still stained!

Challenges:

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Feline Thankful blog hop - I just can't thank you enough

Hello everyone and welcome to the FELINE THANKFUL BLOG PARTY and HOP!! I became involved with Feline Playful in December of last year and it has been such a wonderful experience working with the fabulous DT. We decided to throw this blog party and hop as our way of saying thank you to the Feline Playful followers - over 1800 of you and counting - and thank you to the craft companies and challenge blogs (we're tracking over 500 challenges!) that inspire us to keep crafting.

Feline Playful has joined forces with a very long list of FANTASTIC SPONSORS who have donated images, store credit/$ vouchers and Guest DT Spots to PARTY WINNERS.

There are 3 WAYS YOU CAN WIN:

1. JOIN THE BLOG HOP - Our blog hop starts September 21 at 9:00 am (GMT) - which just happens to be the International Day of Gratitude - and ends September 27 at 9:00 pm (GMT). Each DT member (we have both past and present DT members playing along) will be awarding prizes at the end of the week to random commentors on their blog. Make sure to check out my project at the end of this post and leave a comment to win one of the prizes I have to offer. And commentors will also be entered into a GRAND PRIZE draw at the end of the week. The hop order will be as follows:

Please remember to follow the order of the hop so that you don't miss any of the DT members’ posts. If you get lost along the way, please return to FELINE PLAYFUL to find the hop order. Most of all, have fun and remember to keep coming back to FELINE PLAYFUL for all challenge listings, etc. each day.

2. FIND THE SECRET MESSAGE - Each DT member on the blog hop will share a letter on their blog. The letter I'm sharing with you is:
Once you have all the letters e-mail the secret message to felineplayful@gmail.com All correct answers will be entered into a draw for a GRAND PRIZE.


3. VISIT FELINE PLAYFUL - Enter your name using Mr Linky and you will be entered to win one of our DAILY PRIZES. You only need to enter once to be eligible to win all week long (but you do need to be a follower of FELINE PLAYFUL please). At the end of the week we will also be selecting at least 1 GRAND PRIZE winner.

So what are you waiting for? Let's get this party started!!!

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MY PROJECT:

On behalf of myself and the Feline Playful update team, I just can't thank all of our faithful followers enough for being part of the Feline Playful family. I can't send you all a thank you card, so instead, I ask you to imagine that this card has arrived in your mailbox - from me, to you.


And as a further thank you, leave a comment on this post and you'll have a chance to win one of the following prizes. I'm so very lucky to have my blog post sponsored by:

Vist www.dtsartblog.com
DTsArt - is offering 2 digis of winner's choice. DtsArt has graphics to meet all your digital needs such as digital stamps, computer graphics, svg cut files for your craft cutting machine, web sites, logos, bottle caps, auction templates and auction add ons. We help sellers make their online business stand out and get noticed with emphasis on fun. Visit our blog to get the latest news and see our projects.

Fresh Brewed Designs (where creativity is brewed fresh daily) is offering 5 digis of the winner's choice. And you'll have a difficult time choosing those 5 digis because there are just so many wonderful images available (I totally suggest checking out the food images!).

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Gothic Hallowe'en

Another Halloween card to donate to Cards for Kids (Canada) (a charity that provides handmade cards to hospitalized kids). This time I decided to go very simple and kind of gothic, using a Martha Stewart acetate die cut (the chandelier) and a layered sentiment die cut.

Challenges
2 Sisters - black, white, 1 other colour
365 Cards - make your sentiment stand out
Craft Fancy - die cuts
Crafting When We Can - anything goes
Fab n Funky - bingo (I chose embellishments, ribbon, die cuts)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Boredom

UPDATE: I'm part of a gruesome twosome! Thanks Haunted Design House for choosing this card as one of your Gruesome Twosome projects for the week!

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Today's card started out as a Halloween card (and probably could still be used for that purpose although I'm sending it to my niece who is always complaining about being bored) but I changed it around when I saw the current challenge at Haunted Design House Macabre Monday. Deadly sins, hmmm? I know it isn't an official deadly sin but I've always thought that boredom should be included.


The image is a rubber stamp, "Prom Queen" from Stampotique and is coloured with Copics. The inside of the card includes a rub-on web & spider from Basic Grey.

Challenges: