My Time Sketch #35 and Raspberry Suite #16.....{It's Harvest Time}

OK, challenge people, are you ready for a two-fer? It's time for another saturday challenge with Lauren Meader and the My Time to Create Design Team....today Lauren has a great sketch for us!

Sketch Challenge:

I also wanted to get in on Dawn McVey's color challenge so I applied her chosen colors to Lauren's sketch, mixed in a whole lot of my "own interpretation" and ta-da! A card was born :)

Color Challenge:

Well, these are not my usual colors but they work here I think. I picked up this awesome vintage owl and It's Harvest Time sheet music at The Graphics Fairy...one of my favorite places for free vintage images. I converted the owl image to black and white in my Microsoft Word program and also changed the tint on the sheet music so it would be a kraft color.

Lots of textures here...let's begin with a glitter loaded backdrop! Gasp! Yes, I dumped fine glitter all over the chocolate cardstock. It's so spooky and sparkley! The chunk of sheet music is printed on cream cardstock and accordion folded so it adds dimension. The Damask Designs stamp set was the perfect way to stamp some leafy looking DP plus I roughed up the edges of that piece with a distressor from SU!. The chocolate cardstock that provides a mat for the owl has been embossed with a scor-pal and has vintage cream ink rubbed over the ridges. The final touches are some salvaged trim from a lampshade I was tossing, the fence punch from Martha Stewart and a couple of buttons from the old stash.

Want to see more fabulous cards inspired by the sketch from the My Time team? Don't forget to upload your creation to the Mr Linky that will be on Lauren's blog. You could be recognized in her weekly My Time to Shine top 5!

Lauren Meader
Alicia Weiman
MacKenzie Bruckler
Maria Levine
Kendra Wisenbaker
Kristen Beuter
Tracey Cuccia
Pam Imholtz
Jen Tapler
Odette
Lisa Kind
Tamara Harder

OK, gotta run! I hope you get a chance to make something this weekend and that you enjoy your Labor Day. We'll be spending ours bbq-ing with friends! Can't wait!

Supplies:

• Paper: Georgia Pacific and Papertrey Ink
• Digital Images: The Graphics Fairy blog
• Stamps: Papertrey Ink
• Ink: SU!
• Glitter: Martha Stewart
• Punch: Martha Stewart
• Craft supplies: trim, button, floss
  
  
  

Raspberry Suite Challenge #14....oh my {sweet} friend

Oh my sweet friends, Dawn McVey has done it again! Another color challenge that is a challenge for sure to open my eyes to new color combos. Let me confess....I am quite unfair to the color purple....pretty much all shades of purple are TOUGH for me to craft with. I do enjoy the color purple but have such a hard time making it work for me! Well, out of sheer need to break out of my box and to participate in Dawn's challenge I went for it. And you know what? I am actually really happy with the resulting card purple and all! Thanks Dawn and Raspberry Suite Challenge #14!

the challenge:

my card:

Taking a creative cue from so many designers out there who are lining it up, I made random width strips of raspberry fizz grid, plum pudding bitty dot (both from Papertrey Ink) and a deep red cardstock and cream cardstock from Bazzill. The matching ribbon is also raspberry fizz saddle stitch.

Look at all of those delish hot colors marching across the card. Love them! Oh and the perfect knot! That hardly ever goes my way. LOL!

Click the pictures in this post to get up close with the crystal effects on the heart and the clear glitter on the frosting area that give this cute cupcake some sparkle!

You know what else sparkles??? Well, it's YOU! I just love visiting so many creative blogs every day and I really appreciate that you take the time to visit me. So from me to you, have a cupcake Sweet Friend!

Supplies:

Paper: Papertrey Ink and Bazzill

Ink: SU!

Stamp: Studio G

Ribbon: Papertrey Ink

Punch: SU!

Other: button, craft gem, zig writer pens, crystal effects and clear glitter (Martha Stewert)

Raspberry Suite challenge #13....my {cherry} best

Whew! Made it for Dawn's color challenge. Just in the nick of time! I didn't want to miss this week's challenge because I thought the colors were the PERFECT opportunity for me to join in on the cherry craze out there right now! Yep! It was time :)

the challenge:

my project:

I think I have a new obsession! Cherries, vintage material yo-yos and these fab colors together! Yum! The cherry stamp is from My Cute Stamps (Sweet Chocolate set) and the backgrounds are made with Papertrey (Simply Stationary and Polka dot basics). Quick, simple and cute at a small 2 3/4 x 4 1/4 size.

Thanks for coming by!

Supplies:

Stamps: My Cute Stamps and Papertrey Ink

Paper: Georgia Pacific

Punch: SU

Ink: SU!

Other: vintage material, buttons and paper piercer

Raspberry Suite Challenge #12 and CPS124 ... {Damask Anniversary}

NOTE: scroll down to the next post for the My Time to Create Challenge!! :)

It's a great day for a challenge! Or maybe even two! In a couple hours we are off to a surprise anniversary party. FIFTY years of wedded bliss!! Isn't that amazing? What a momentous occasion. It certainly calls for an elegant card and I reached right for the gorgeous Damask Designs by Dawn McVey for Papertrey Ink. I just love the presence the largest image in the set has as well as the elegant script font sentiments. I decided to continue to be inspired by Dawn and use the colors she chose for the most recent Raspberry Suite color challenge and also turned to the CPS cards sketch #124. This way, most of my card decisions were made and I could jump right into the fun part...stamping and assembling.

the challenges:

my project:

So I turned the sketch to a vertical orientation but otherwise, left the layout intact. This was perfect for a clean and elegant card. I relied heavily on the cream color in Dawn's color challenge so that the sprinkles of color would really shine and I wanted to highlight the two tone damask image in the center of my card. I first loaded the stamp with Pink Passion SU! ink and then rolled the edges in Purely Pomegranate SU! before stamping onto the cream cardstock. Loved it! This techniques gives the image a sort of inner light, especially IRL.

The beautiful scripted sentiment comes in the Damask Designs stamp set and to make it fit the circle punch, I first inked and stamped the "Happy" and the separately, inked and stamped the "anniversary" underneath. One of the small damask images in the set gives a subtle background detail to the sentiment when stamped in celery.

Good ol swiss dots to the rescue on the bottom panel and some pretty ribbons finish of the base of the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I had better run and get ready for the party. Back later to see what everybody has done with these challenges.

Supplies:

Paper: Stampin Up! and Georgia Pacific

Stamps: Damask Designs by Dawn McVey for Papertrey Ink

Ink: Stampin Up!

Embossing folder: Cuttlebug

Ribbon: Stampin Up! and Michaels $1 bin

Punches: Stampin Up and CM

Other: craft gem

Celebrate good times...come on! (you know you want to)

Hello friends! Lots to celebrate this month in our circle of family and friends. Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, oh and a baby expected any day now! You name it, we are celebrating it. So time to prepare with a few handmade cards to honor those special people in my life. This card started out as card casserole with a bunch of punched butterflies from the last Raspberry Suite challenge. I ended up not being able to use the element I created on this card but still have high hopes for sharing it another day. I dug deep into the stash of goodies and came up to the surface with a handful of ribbons, gems, flowers, buttons, metal tag and HAMBLY! Oh my sweet hambly you've been ignored for far too long!

So here she is! A little on the wild side with loads of pop color and shine but I just adore this little card. Perhaps it was just a little late at night when I decided to load it up with all the sizzling colors but I love it! This is a HAPPY card! She's got her dancing shoes on for sure and is definitely demanding a celebration of some kind!

I wanted to share a simple (perhaps a tad mundane) discovery on this card. I had to use foam tape to prop up my flowers when layering them over the ribbon and to bump up the metal frame tag. My foam tape is the basic white kind and this card was very dark and rich in color.
With a quick swipe of a brush pen down the sides of the foam the white is transformed to black and is much less visible once applied to my card.

This is a view of the foam tape under my metal rimmed tag. Great camouflage huh?

Just one more shot of the sparkle and shine...gratuitous? YES! But still oh so fun. Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great one!

Supplies:

Overlays: Hambly Screenprints

Flowers: Petaloo and prima

ribbon: Papertrey Ink

other: craft gems, foam tape, metal rim tag, vintage buttons, embroidery floss, ric rac

A thank you, a peek and the Friday Freebie!

Hello friends! That title is a mouthful huh? Well, lots of juicy bits to share this morning so I am so glad you stopped by!

First a HUGE THANK YOU to Dawn McVey for choosing my card to be In the Spotlight for this past week's Raspberry Suite Challenge! Definitely made my day to see my card nestled among such wonderful card friends :) I am in the letter "D" spot below! Yay! Such an honor! Thank you Dawn! This spotlight was made extra special to share since my dear sister in law, Traci Garzelli, is featured in the "O" spot!!! Love her and love her masterful use of the clean and simple with always THE *perfect* touch of something special. Yay Traci!

Next up is a peek for the My Time to Create Challenge team color challenge that will go live tonight at midnight EST. This inspiration for this challenge will for sure bring out the happy and cheerful in your creations. Join me here tonight to be color *inspired* by Lauren's color choice this week!

And one more piece of news that might make your mouth water! I have been spending alot of time stalking The DigiChick Boutique as of late and have been *ehem* a bit hooked by the whole concept of digital papers, hybrid projects and all that you can do with just one kit, let alone combos of a couple kits. And remember, I am no techno wiz, I do all my hybrid stuff with Microsoft Word so you don't have to go totally high tech to enjoy beautiful digital papers. Check out my Word tutorial at the bottom of this post {here}. And speaking of beautiful digital papers.....

Run on over to the DigiChick Blog and grab these lovelies for FREE today. Even if you do nothing more than open them and print them as a full sheet of paper to play with, you will not be disappointed! Elise Hansen does amazing digital kits and this friday freebie is no exception!

OK, that's it for now. Back at midnight with my color challenge card. See you then!!!

Raspberry Suite Challenge #11 ... {enjoy Life}

Greetings everyone! A card for consideration in Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #11. Crafty Dawn is known for her unique color combos and this week is QUITE a challenge with 5 colors and no white or cream neutral! Well, she did edit to add and say you could use it if needed but I managed to avoid it except for a *tiny* bit on one of my papers and on my ribbon. I use white a lot so I challenged myself not to this time :)

the challenge:

my project:

I have to say, I am quite excited with how the bright colors pop against the gray background! This was such a fun challenge and I will definitely use this again!
Now of course I can't have butterflies who don't "fly" so a side shot to illustrate their 3 dimensionality. Also, something I haven't done in a while, I stamped the black with pigment ink. I usually avoid that stuff like the plague since it tends to smear with my impatience BUT it was a great creamy black on this gray cardstock from Bazzill.

I'm so glad you stopped by today! I hope you take a moment today to just "enjoy life"...ciao!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Papertrey (raspberry fizz and pure poppy) and Bazzill (black and gray)

Printed paper: CM (green with swiss dots)

Stamps: Fancy Flourish and Star Prints from Papertrey Ink

Ink: black pigment by Colorbox

Dies: Sizzix

Punches: Martha Stewert (small butterflies)
Other: craft gems and ribbon (target $1)

Raspberry Suite Challenge #10 with Ava!

Hi all! Just a quickie post to join in the fun at Dawn McVey's blog for the Raspberry Suite challenge #10! WOW! What fun colors! Just perfect for a cowgirl!! :) This special cowgirl is Ava and she was created strictly to honor a special brother sister pair. All proceeds are being donated to the make a wish foundation of Illinois. See my post from MONDAY and read all about it. :)

The challenge:

My card:Ava is a digital stamp so I printed her out on a piece of transparency and started painting away with acrylic paint! Yes, I said painting...this technique was first introduced to me by the talented and amazing Elise at Mamacow Creations. Check out her recent post {here} with this technique. It's is such a cool effect. It makes your image really pop off the page just like a cartoon. Love it! This shot is to hopefully illustrate the *shine* this technique gives your image. One item of note.....do your painting on the opposite side of the where your inkjet printer printed so your printer ink doesn't smear. Works great with stickles too...check out her shiny belt and earring :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:

Digi image: pink cat studios

Paper: papertrey ink

Ink: Papertrey ink

Punch and embossing plate: SU!

Other: ribbon, transparency, acrylic craft paint, star brad, zig pen and stickles

Raspberry Suite challenge #9

Hey friends! Another Raspberry Suite color challenge from the super duper Dawn McVey! These colors were perfect for a bachelorette card I wanted to make. As luck would have it, the bride's wedding colors are shades of green!

the challenge:

my card:

This cutie is the "mommy"on the cricut new arrival cartridge. She's been hand trimmed and I also made her some long and luscious locks and a wine glass....as the bride has requested a wine country day via limo.
As you can see, I have turned to my old friend, the Swiss Dots embosser. This time I tried double embossing because more of a great thing is better! ;) Also, the sentiment was created using two different sentiment stamps in Dawn's Damask Designs set. Isn't that font gorgeous??
Thanks for stopping by! I truly appreciate that you came for a visit! :)

Supplies:
Cardstock: bazzill
Cartridge: Cricut New Arrival
Stamps: Damask Designs by Dawn McVey
Ink: SU!
Embossers: Cuttlebug
Punch: fiskars
Other: craft gem

Raspberry Suite Challenge #8 {again} and a sweet find

TGIF darlings! I love a friday...especially when it's the last day of school for my 2nd, now 3rd GRADER! Wowsers! Final day of school = class party and a thank you for a wonderful teacher! Thus, the coordinating card to yesterday's gift box! Keeping in theme with Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Challenge #8. Literally, this is card casserole, AKA all pieces from my desktop reworked into a sweet little card.

the challenge:

my card:
and the combo of yesterday's triangle box and the card casserole card :) Check out the details and the GIVE AWAY I am hosting with Kelleigh Ratzlaff HERE. {click}
And just to share something random, check out these smashing aluminum tart pans/jello molds I scored a a thrift store in Ukiah, CA! I LOVE them and I especially love that they were 25 cents. I just have to think of the PERFECT thing to do with them!

Have I confessed here in blogland I am a thrift store junky? I AM! And the junkier and cheaper the thrift, the happier I am. I LIKE to buy crafty stuff for a 5 cent price tag...it makes my day in fact. I have more thrift scores to share in future posts that will eventually make their way into the crafting and home dec ideas I have rolling around in my head. OK, I am blabbering...it's getting late and I need to wrap this up and schedule it.

I am SO glad you could stop by today! I am honored that you share your day with me :)

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #8....many thanks {a latte} and a GIVEAWAY!

Hey friends! Happy Thursday and happy Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #8! First off, I owe Dawn McVey a THANK YOU....I was so excited and honored to be in the spotlight for Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #7! Wooohoooo! There were amazing projects all around and I have no doubt they will be even more amazing this time around with such a fun color combo. Keep reading for more....this week I thought I would try a gift box template for the challenge.

the challenge:

my project:

This extremely cute triangle box is a template from Kelleigh Ratzlaff at The Digichick Boutique! The box measures 2 1/4 inches tall and 6 3/4 inches long. Is is just high enough to fit a coffee gift card along with a few odds and ends desk supplies for a treasured teacher at my daughter's school. LOOOOOVE this cute box that opens at one end (note the pull ribbon on the right)

The *perfect* coffee cup comes from My Cute Stamps by Holly Brooke Jones as do the jelly beans turned coffee beans from her Easter stamp set. The sentiment, circle stamps and papers are all Papertrey Ink. Some other fun details are the swiss dot embossed raspberry fizz paper that has been swiped with a PTI vintage cream ink pad, the iridescent glitter on the whipped cream topping and a tiny dab of crystal effects on the paper pieced raspberry fizz heart on the cup.

I'm so glad you stopped by today....I have some news to share:) Kelleigh has asked me to join her creative team and I am SO excited! So you will definitely be seeing more digital hybrid projects from me with Kelleigh's fabulous designs! Kelleigh and I have arranged to give away three $5 gift certificates to her store at the Digichick Boutique to the three randomly drawn people who:

1. Leave a comment here on this post, and if you don't already, please sign up to follow my blog with the followers button on my right side bar.

AND

2. Visit Kelleigh's brand spankin new website at http://kelleighratzlaff.com/ and register to receive her newsletter...there is a button on the header bar on her main page that says "newsletter" for you to click. And then you just enter an email address and you are all linked up.

I hope you are excited...I sure am! Don't worry if you don't consider yourself a digi papercrafter....I don't think I am either! LOL Kelleigh's files are saved in several formats (including the free Adobe Acrobat) so they can work for everyone.

The winners will be announced one week from today, Thursday June 11. Good luck! and thanks for participating and spending your time here :)

Supplies:
Template: Triangle box by Kelleigh Ratzlaff
Paper: Papertrey Ink
Stamps: My Cute Stamps (Sweet Chocolate and Jelly Beans) and Papertrey Ink (Polka Dot Basics and Faux Ribbon)
Embossing: Cuttlebug swiss dots
Punch: Martha Stewert border punch
Circle cutter: colluzzle
Scallop circle: Cricut Mini Monograms
Ribbon: American Crafts
Other: bead, eyelets and foam tape