Valentine's Day for SAS4K

I'm moving houses next week and almost all of my crafting supplies have been packed but I still managed to make a few Valentine's Day cards to donate to Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada). I created these cards using free papers out of a crafting magazine, Spellbinders shapeabilities and some clipart printed off the internet.

Challenges:

• Card Positioning Systems - sketch
• Paper Creations Ink - die cuts/punches
• Send A Smile 4 Kids - Valentine's for kids
• The Pink Elephant - hearts (all the clipart images are hearts)

Out of this world

I am particularly pleased with today's 2 cards. First off, the images from Bugaboo are just such fun. Second, I went pretty wild with the colouring, using my favourite bold Copic colours that so rarely see the light. Next, I got to use patterned paper from my newest Basic Grey paper pack (and I luv my BG). I was pretty surprised, too, when I saw that the grey PP matched the grey coloured background of the stamps since I coloured these before picking my papers. But what really makes these cards special is that they are headed for the BC Children's Hospital via Send A Smile 4 Kids (Canada). The hospital is always looking for cards to use for their kids - these will be great to celebrate an achievement such as going home or making it through a tough procedure.

Challenges:

• Basic Grey - Anything goes
• Cupcake Craftroom - Anything goes
• Magical Mondays - Anything goes with a magical creature (I think monsters and aliens would count?)
• Partytime Tuesdays - Something new (papers)
• Pile It On - Anything goes
• Stella Says Sketch - Sketch
• Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
• Totally Gorjuss - Something happy

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:

• 4 Crafty Chicks - something new (the punch!)
• Charisma Cardz - anything goes
• Cooking it up with Katie - anything goes
• Divas by Design - Christmas
• Little Red Wagon - something new
• Partytime Tuesdays - anything goes
• Unstampabelles - Christmas

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:

• Craft Your Days Away - buttons or bows
• Divas By Design - anything goes
• Fab 'n Funky - anything goes
• Lily Pad - buttons
• Paper Crafting Journey - anything goes
• Southern Girls - ribbon
• The Crazy Challenge - anything goes

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:

• 2 Sisters - holiday
• Craft Your Days Away - buttons or bows
• Craft Your Passion - anything winter or holiday
• Crafty Ribbons - tags
• Moving Along with the Times - ribbons & bows
• My Partner in Crafting Crime - Christmas tags
• Paper Creations Ink - Christmas
• Ribbon Reel - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp - tags
• Simply Create Too - Christmas

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:

• 2 Sisters - holiday
• Crafts 4 Eternity - Christmas decorations
• Craft Your Days Away - buttons or bows (buttons on tops of the trees)
• Craft Your Passion - anything winter or holiday
• My Sheri Crafts - decorate for Christmas
• Our Creative Corner - include a Christmas tree
• Ribbon Reel - anything goes
• Totally Papercrafts - Christmas
• Unstampabelles - trees

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:

• Crafty Catz - digital image
• Creative Craft Challenges - minimalist
• Digital Tuesday - Christmas
• Paper Creations Ink - holiday wishes for a kid
• Send a Smile 4 Kids - holiday wishes for a kid

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:

• 365 Cards - use only 4 items (digital stamp, cardstock, pattered paper, tree die-cuts)
• Clear It Out - favourite holiday (Christmas, of course, and the trees have been gathering dust since last year)
• Digital Tuesday - Christmas
• My Partner in Crafting Crime - use a freebie
• Paper Creations Ink - holiday wishes for a kid
• Paper Sundaes - digital image
• Send a Smile 4 Kids - holiday wishes for a kid