CFC81 - Believe

Happy Friday!  I hope everybody has had a wonderful week.  I'm here today with the super-fun CAS-ual Fridays challenge for this week!  Here it is:

CFC81: Knotty or nice

Incorporate knots into your clean and simple project

And since it's the first challenge of the month, that means we're sponsored by the fabulous Simon Says Stamp!  But not only will the winner of this challenge receive a gift certificate to spend in their store, she will also be a future guest designer at the CAS-ual Fridays challenge blog!

So, onto the challenge.  I really had a hard time deciding how I wanted to incorporate knots onto my card.  I kept thinking about the knots in a wood grain pattern, but wasn't sure if that would count.  So I decided I would learn how to make French knots to use on this paper yummy:

I used this tutorial, which was great and super easy to follow.  I used the All Yule Need stamp set from Paper Smooches to stamp and paper-piece the tree and star.  I made the French knot "ornaments" using red embroidery floss.  I cut the December calendar from the Simple Stories Handmade Holiday 6x6 pad, and stamped the "believe" from the Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler set under the numbers.  I stamped a star over the 25.  Here's a close-up of the knots and calendar:

We'd love to have you play along with this week's challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to get knotty with us.  Thanks for looking!

Supplies: corrugated card base: Recollections; patterned papers: Simple Stories (red plaid, calendar), Lawn Fawn (green chevron for tree, yellow for star), Echo Park (tree trunk); stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Ranger (Tim Holtz Distressing Ink in Frayed Burlap); embroidery floss: DMC

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - Let's be merry

Happy Monday!  I hope everybody had a wonderful weekend and a great World Card Making Day!  I know I sure did.  I got to sit down and make a few cards, and even had a friend stop by and make one with me.  I played along with the challenges over at the Paper Smooches Blog.  And speaking of Paper Smooches, let's get to the SPARKS challenge for this week!  Since it's the second week of the month, that means...

...yep - it's a sketch challenge!  And here is the sketch we're working with this week:

And I think I've probably said this about every single other sketch that Kim has given us during this design team term, but this sketch truly challenged me.  I struggled with it for the longest time.  But as soon as my brain stopped seeing a big ol' arrow head, but rather 4 triangles at the bottom of the sketch, I had an idea!  And I paired that idea with the new (adorable) Chilly Chums set to create this paper yummy:

I would have NEVER thought to do something like this on a card, and that's why I love Kim Hughes and her sketches. And her stamps.  I started off by cutting a piece of cardstock down to 2.25" x 4.25".  Since, in the sketch, the square on the right (below the word) looks just slightly wider than the square on the left, I cut the cardstock so that I had two pieces: one a 2.25" x 2.25" square, and the other a 2'"x 2.25" rectangle (the difference is pretty subtle).  Then I cut each of those directly in half, diagonally, to create a total of 4 triangles.  I stamped each triangle with the little hat (also from Chilly Chums), then masked it and stamped the adorable animals over the mask.  I colored them in with Copic markers, then positioned them onto my patterned paper so that there was just a slight gap in between each one.  I stamped a sentiment from the Christmas Sampler set (which I'm really loving!) onto some candy cane striped patterned paper, and rounded the top corners.  I stitched around the edges of all the chums, and between each lil' guy as well.  I added some baker's twine to represent the vertical line in the sketch, and finished off the card with Stickles on the hat trims and Glossy Accents on the eyes and beak.  I LOVE THIS CARD!  I think it's so different, and what's not to love about those cute little faces looking back at you?!?  Here are a couple close-ups of the chums:

EEK!  I love those faces!  I'm super excited to see how other people are inspired by this sketch!  I really hope you'll play along.  You have until next Sunday, October 14th at 11:59 pm EST to do so.  You can play along with the challenge here.  The winner will receive a $30 credit to the Paper Smooches store!!  And don't forget the check out the rest of Team 2's wonderful creations, and give em' some love!

Angeline

Erica

Jackie

Savannah

Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card base: The Paper Studio (kraft); cardstock: Copic X-press It Blending Card (white); patterned papers: Lawn Fawn (yellow, green), My Mind's Eye (red); stamps: Paper Smooches (Chilly Chums, Christmas Sampler); ink: Tsukineko; markers: Copic; Stickles glitter glue, Glossy Accents: Ranger; corner rounder, hole punch: We R Memory Keepers; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana; stapler/staples: Ranger (Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher); baker's twine: Divine Twine

World Cardmaking Day, Take 2

Hello again!  I'm back with the second card I made yesterday to celebrate World Cardmaking Day.  This is the card that has me absolutely GIDDY!!!  I played along with the Paper Smooches Blog, and for this card, I followed the sketch that Kim posted (from Operation Write Home).  Here's the sketch:

I've been playing with the teacher stamp from the Smarty Pants set, exchanging the pointer in his hand for other various objects.  Well, I found that the candy cane from the All Yule Need set fits quite well is his little hand, and the hat from the Chilly Chums set looks pretty darn cute on his head too!  I don't know what it is about this card, but I think it may be one of my favorites...ever.  And now for the paper yummies:

So, I changed the sketch ever so slightly by making that center panel a little bit smaller.  I just couldn't bear to cover those plaid and candy cane striped patterned papers!  I love 'em so hard!  I stamped and colored the guy, then paper-pieced his tie.  I gave him the hat and the candy cane, which look so stinkin' cute with a little Stickles on them.  I stamped a sentiment from the All Yule Need set, and added some machine stitching.  Here are some other views:

I would love to remake this card a bunch of times using different patterned papers...maybe tomorrow!

Thanks so much for looking!

I'm playing along here:
Paper Smooches World Cardmaking Day challenge
Simon Says Stamp Celebrates World Cardmaking Day

Supplies: cardstock: The Paper Studio; patterned papers: Lawn Fawn (yellow), My Mind's Eye (red), Authentique (green); stamps: Paper Smooches (Smarty Pants, All Yule Need, Chilly Chums); ink: Tsukineko (Memento Tuxedo Black); markers: Copic; glitter glue: Ranger (Diamond Stickles); corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana

CFC53: you are the apple of my eye

YAY!  It's Friday!  And you know what that means...another CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  This week we're getting punchy:

                   CFC54: Clean And Simple projects using punches, or dies

And the fabulous sponsor for this week's challenge is Lawn Fawn:

I've been a fan of Lawn Fawn's cute stamps for awhile now, but hadn't been lucky enough to try them until recently.  They have some of the cutest images out there!   And now for the paper yummies:

I used Lawn Fawn's My Silly Valentine set to create this cute little card.  Although the set may have originally been intended for Valentine's Day, most of the images and sentiments can be used for non-Valentine cards.  I thought this apple was adorable...just look at that cutie face!!!  And the sentiment fit perfectly onto this patterned paper with writing lines by Cosmo Cricket. I chose to use a scallop punch that was large enough to fit an apple in each little "hump".  I paper-pieced each apple and leaf with cardstock, and popped one lil' guy up with dimensional adhesive.  Here's a closer look:

I also used a corner rounder punch on the corners of the writing paper and the card itself.  I hope you will break out your punches and/or dies and play along with this week's challenge!  The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate from Lawn Fawn.  You have until Thursday, May 24 at noon EST to play along.  And don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's creations here.  Thanks for looking!

I'm also playing along here:
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #169: Alphabet letter 
(3 elements beginning with the same letter. I chose P: patterned paper, punch, and paper piecing)
Friday Mashup #59: It's all ribbons and bows (I mashed it up, using a decorative edge and ribbon)
Simon Says Stamp Clean and Simple Challenge


Supplies: card base: The Paper Studio; cardstock, patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket (blue, red, writing lines), The Paper Company (green); stamps: Lawn Fawn; ink: Ranger; scallop edge punch: EK Success; corner rounder punch: We R Memory Keepers; ribbon: The Ribbon Boutique; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts