CFC92 - Irish you a magical day!

Happy Friday!  Can you believe it's already March?!?  Wow...time does fly when you're having fun!  And speaking of fun, I'm here today with a new challenge from CAS-ual Fridays!

CFC92: Wallpaper

Stamp your own background for your clean and simple project

And our sponsor this week is the fabulous Ellen Hutson!  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $25 gift certificate to spend here.  Awesome, right?

So since it is March, I chose to make a card to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, and I knew the perfect stamps to use to make the background for this paper yummy:

For this card, I went straight to the A Magical Spring stamp set from Paper Smooches.  I knew the shamrock would make the perfect stamped background, and how could I resist that leprechaun?!?  I stamped and colored his skin, hat, clover, and shoes on some Copic X-Press Blending card stock, then paper-pieced his clothing and hair with some cute patterned papers.  I added some gold Stickles to his buckles and bow tie.  I fussy-cut around him, and stood him on the flag-cut sentiment panel. Here's a close-up:

Heehee.  He makes me happy!  I hope you'll play along with this week's challenge.  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card base: The Paper Studio; card stock: Copic X-Press Blending Cardstock; patterned papers: Lily Bee Design, Doodlebug; stamps: Paper Smooches; markers: Copic, Prismacolor; ink: Tsukineko; glitter glue: Stickles by Ranger

CFC65 - Get well soon

Happy Friday to all!  I'm here with this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

This week our sponsor is Stampotique.  They have such a wide variety of stamps in very different styles, so you're sure to find something you love.  They were also generous enough to provide all the Girl Fridays with our choice of stamps.  How cool is that?!?  AND, the winner of this week's challenge will receive a $30 gift certificate to use in their store!  Woohoo!

Okay, so on to this week's challenge: square cards.  There is just something so cute about a square card.  I love 'em so hard!  And here is this week's paper yummy:

The chicken soup and the frame are all one stamp, and the "Get Well Soon." is a separate stamp.  The denim with the graph pattern inside was cut from a piece of patterned paper (part of that yummy Summer Fresh collection again!).  This card came together so quickly and easily.  I just stamped right onto that graph pattern, colored in the frame, the chicken, and the top and bottom of the can, then paper-pieced part of the can's label. I cut down a piece of hexagon patterned paper with a perforating blade to give it a bit of a rough edge.  I stitched around the edge, added a ribbon, and voila!  Here's a close-up of those cute Stampotique stamps:

And the ribbon:

I hope you'll join in the fun of square cards this week.  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to play along with this week's challenge.  Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations; patterned papers: My Mind's Eye (hexagons), Simple Stories (journaling spot, red gingham); stamps: Stampotique; ink: Tsukineko; markers: Prismacolor; ribbon: Michael's; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Coats & Clark

CFC61: Love you to my core

Hello, and happy Friday to all!  I hope you're all surviving the weather in your neck of the woods.  Personally, I'm wishing for some rain.  It's ridiculously hot here, and our summer monsoon season is the only time of the year we get any humidity to speak of here in Arizona.  Only, it keeps getting humid without a whole lotta rain. The clouds build, and then nothin'. Just stickiness. Kinda' makes you wanna strip down naked (as a jaywalker, my friend's daughter would say. LOL) and lay under a fan.  And speaking of STRIPPING, let's talk about this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge!

CFC61: Use strips of color or pattern in your clean and simple design.

That's right!  We're stripping this week. And the sponsor for this week's challenge is Freckled Fawn.  They have some seriously cute things in their store.  And the winner will receive $25 to spend there.

For my card, I wanted to try something I've never tried before. I adhered a bunch of strips of patterned papers onto white cardstock, then stamped an image onto the strips, cut it out, and used it for paper-piecing.  Now for the paper yummies:

I have long wanted the Falling For You stamp set from Paper Smooches, and I finally got it a few days ago.  I thought it would be so cute to use for this challenge.  I stamped the apple onto my strips, paper-pieced it, then added some zig-zag stitching along a few of the strips.  I stamped the sentiment on my white card base, as well as on the kraft banner die cut, and centered the kraft sentiment over the white sentiment .  I colored in the hearts, stem, and leaf with Prismacolor markers.  Here are some close-ups:

I hope you'll play along with us and STRIP for this week's challenge.  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Core'dinations (kraft); patterned papers: Echo Park, Lily Bee Designs, Simple Stories; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko; markers: Prismacolor; scalloped heart punch: Martha Stewart; corner rounder punch: We R Memory Keepers; banner die: Lil' Inkers Designs; die cutting machine: Cuttlebug by Provocraft; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer

Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge - You're out of this world!

Happy Monday, everybody!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge.  Since it's the second week of the month, that means it's time for a designer drafts challenge:

Yep, it's another one of Kim's awesome sketches.  I'm tellin' ya, these sketches have been some of the most challenging sketches I've done.  They're not your typical straight-lines-and-shaped-elements type sketches.  She's really left a lot to interpretation, and thrown in things that "scare" me: diagonal lines, curved lines, asymmetrical elements, etc.  And I've created some of my FAVORITE cards by using her sketches!  And this week is no different.  Here's the sketch:

Since I tend to follow sketches pretty literally, that curved line was really throwing me for a loop.  I didn't know what to make of that for the longest time.  And then, Kim Hughes to the rescue!  My problem was solved with the July Paper Smooches stamp release.  The new set Space Cadet set gave me the idea to create this paper yummy:

I stamped the rocket ship onto white cardstock, stamped the flame coming out the bottom, then repeated the flame using generational stamping. I had never really used that technique before to depict movement or distance, and I'm thrilled with the way it turned out:

I masked the rocket, then stamped one of the aliens "inside" the ship.  I colored everything in using Prismacolor markers.  I added Glossy Accents to the window to make it look like a bubble window:

I used some Core'dinations cardstock to create my moon, and sanded it to give it some color variation.  Then I used the champagne bubbles and wedding band stamps from the Hubby and Wifey set, and the solid circle stamp from Metropolis to create "craters" on the moon.  I also used Metropolis for the small white stars on the black cardstock.  I finished off the card with a sentiment strip I created using Space Cadet and Alphadot:

I'm really excited to see how other people interpret and use this sketch!  You can play along with the challenge here.  You have until next Sunday, July 15th at 11:59 PM EST to play along.  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!  Now get busy with that sketch! :)

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Recollections (black), Core'dinations (yellow-orange); patterned paper: Echo Park; stamps: Paper Smooches (Space Cadet, Hubby & Wifey, Metropolis, Alphadot); inks: Tsukineko (black), ClearSnap (ochre), Joann (white); markers: Prismacolor; glitter glue, Glossy Accents: Ranger; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; sanding block: Making Memories; white gel pen: Signo Uniball 

CFC59 - You're my universe

Happy Friday!  I hope you've all had a fantastic week.  And speaking of fantastic, lets talk about the new challenge at CAS-ual Fridays!  This week, we're all going round and round:

Round and Round: use 2 circles in your design (a circle shaped card can count as one of the circles)

Yep, 2 circles is all you need to play along this week!  And this week's sponsor, The Twinery, has been generous enough to provide each of the Girl Fridays with some of their delicious twine, AND will be awarding the winner of this week's challenge a twine sample pack!  How very sweet of them!

Their twine is super cute, and comes in such great colors.  I used it to create this paper yummy:

 

I decided to go with a round card, 1. Because I rarely do shaped cards, but they're super cute, 2.  Because the card base counts as one of my circles, and 3. Because I found a super cute sketch, featuring a round card.  I couldn't wait to use my brand new, only-seen-by-sneak-peeks-and-monthly-club-members Paper Smooches stamp set, Space Cadet.  I can't even link to it yet, because it's not even available for sale until July 1, but I will definitely link to it then.  This set is so freakin' cute, and worked really well for my round card (I think).  I mean, just look at this cute lil' monocular alien in a space ship. I stamped and clear embossed him, them colored him in with Prismacolor markers.  I added Stickles to the light ports, then added Glossy Accents to his glass "dome":

I used a couple patterned papers from Studio Calico, and curved my sentiment to match the curve of the inner circle.  I added some cute yellow bakers twine from The Twinery, and popped the alien up on dimensional adhesive:

This week's challenge was so much fun, and I hope you play along.  There are so many different possibilities, I just know you all are going to rock this challenge, just like every other!  Just make sure you rock it by next Thursday at noon EST.  Maybe you'll be the lucky winner of that awesome twine sample pack from The Twinery!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned papers: Studio Calico; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko; embossing powder: Hampton Art; markers: Prismacolor; cutting dies: Nestabilities; die-cutting machine: Cuttlebug; baker's twine: The Twinery; glitter glue, glossy accents: Ranger; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Simple Card Saturday - a happy day to you

Happy Saturday!  I hope everybody's long weekend is going great so far.  I'm on duty tomorrow, so I don't really have a long weekend, but I have 6 days off after that, so YAY!  Last week I picked up a bunch of goodies from BlueMoon Scrapbooking, including some of the Sidewalks line from October Afternoon.  I absolutely love the papers in the collection, and the stamp set is adorable.  The line was released last year, but I didn't have it yet and couldn't resist.  Okay, now for the paper yummies:

Okay, is that stamp not the cutest thing EVER?!?  I love it!  I stamped him on the natural colored cardstock, colored him in, then paper-pieced his clothes and flag:

I love that this stamp set has multiple sentiments that will fit in the flag.  The stamps and all patterned papers are from the Sidewalks collection.  I machine-stitched around the cardstock, then added a button from the October Afternoon 9 to 5 collection on top of a little ribbon tab:

Thanks so much for looking!  I hope you continue to have a wonderful and safe weekend!

I'm playing along here:
The Gingham Challenge in the Moxie Fab World
One Stop Craft Challenge #184: For the Boys
Paper Play Challenges '12 Week 21: Summer Lovin'
Paper Crafting Journey Challenge #10: Anything For Kids Goes

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections; patterned papers, stamps, button: October Afternoon; ink: Memento; markers: Prismacolor; ribbon: Michael's; stapler: Ranger; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Singer

Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge - One of a kind

Happy Monday to all!  Today I have a card for the weekly challenge at the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge blog. Even though I'm in group 2 of the design team (weeks 2 and 4 of the month), I still created a card for today's challenge. It will be linked up to the challenge gallery rather than in the blog post itself.  Being that this is the third week of the month, the challenge is this:

Yep, it's a color challenge! And the colors for this month are super yummy:

Fun, right?  I know these colors are "Candylicious", but my card doesn't have anything to do with candy.  And I don't know how these colors appear on your screen, but the color in the upper right kinda messed with me a little.  On one computer, it looked a little lime-y green, but on my laptop it looks yellow.  And since my laptop is the one I use while I'm crafting, I went with yellow. Ok, now for the paper yummies:

I used the giraffe from the Zoo Crew set and a sentiment from Word Salad, only I changed the configuration of the words in the sentiment a little.  I colored in the giraffe using Prismacolor markers that match the papers, and paper-pieced him onto the orange patterned paper.  I added Glossy Accents to his eye and "horns":

I added some twine and a cute little button, and finished off the card with some machine stitching:

I used a super cute sketch from Retro Sketches from last month:

I hope you will play along with this challenge.  For each challenge, there will be a PS PRO. This PS PRO will receive a banner for their blog and a $30 credit to the Paper Smooches store.  You have until Sunday, May 27 at 11:59 PM EST to play along.

Please stop by and show some love to the Team 1 designers also:

Kasia, Heather, Glenda, Lori, and Savannah

Did you know?  Paper Smooches is now on Pinterest! Come follow the entire team and company here!!! 

Thanks for looking!

I'm playing along here:
Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge

Supplies: card base: Recollections; cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white); patterned papers: Echo Park; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Memento; markers: Prismacolor; twine: Offray; button: craft supply; hole punch: We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-dile II; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana

Happy botday! ("magic" card)

Happy Thursday!  Today I'm sharing a card I made for the Hero Arts May 2012 contest.  There are three categories for the contest: 1) theme (birthday), 2) interactive cards (any theme), and 3) color challenge (any theme).  I chose to combine two and make an interactive birthday card.  I had the perfect recipient in mind - my friend's daughter, Emma, who was turning 8.  She loves crafting with us and had even asked for a handmade birthday card.  I decided to use the Hero Arts Robot Trio stamp set and to make Emma a "magic card".  I used a combination of this tutorial and this tutorial.  Basically, a "magic card" has an image that appears black and white, then when you pull a tab, the image "magically" becomes colored.  Sounds confusing, right?  Well, lemme just show you what I'm talking about with this paper yummy:

Here is the card "closed".  The cute little robot is black and white. See that little pull tab at the top?

When you pull that tab, the image starts to emerge "magically" colored!:

Continue pulling, and he continues to be colored all the way.  He even has a special message for the birthday girl, or should I say "botday" girl? (Sentiment was created using Hero Arts Fanciful Swirl Alphabet)

Here's the cute guy all colored in:

And here's the whole card, fully extended:

The card also opens just like a regular card, so I could write my own special message to Emma.  I wasn't there when she opened it, but she told me she loved it.  This card took a little while to make, but was a lot of fun.  I will definitely try this technique again!  How about you?  The Hero Arts contest runs through the end of the month, so you still have plenty of time to enter!

I'm also playing along here:

A Blog Named Hero Challenge #4: Dust 'em off

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #169: Alphabet letter (use 3 elements beginning with the same letter.  I used R: robot, ribbon, rectangle dies)

Ooh-la-la Creations Challenge #105: Ribbon or twine (or both)-  I used both

The Pink Elephant TPE148: Polka Dots & Stripes

Truly Scrumptious Challenge #80: Anything Goes

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (berry), Georgia Pacific (white); patterned papers: Echo Park (aqua stripe, cupcake, pink houndstooth frame), My Mind's Eye (yellow dot); acetate: Recollections; stamps: Hero Arts; inks: Tsukineko (Versafine Onyx black, Staz-On Jet Black), Close To My Heart (Hollyhock); embossing powder: Hampton Art; markers: Prismacolor; star dust pen: Sakura; white gel pen: Uniball; rectangle/scalloped rectangle dies: Nestabilities by Spellbinders; scalloped circle punch (for pull tab): Martha Stewart; eyelet: American Crafts; ribbon: Michael's; baker's twine: Divine Twine

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - Happy everything

Happy Monday to all!  I'm super excited because today kicks off the term for the new design team at the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge blog.  Kim has completely re-formatted the challenges, so instead of an inspiration photo every other week, you'll now be able to play along with a new challenge (and see tons of fabulous inspiration from the new DT) EVERY WEEK!  And the type of challenge will be varied as well.  Here are the types of challenges you can expect to see, starting tomorrow, and every Monday thereafter:

• Week 1: Trend Watch (inspiration based on a current trend)
• Week 2: Designer Drafts (sketch challenge)
• Week 3: Cool Shades (color combination challenge)
• Week 4: Picture Perfect (inspiration photo)

Each week will stay the same from month to month; when there is a fifth week in a month, the last week will be an extra week to participate for challenge 4.  Another exciting change is that the design team has been split into 2 groups.  Group 1 will be creating projects for the first and third weeks, and group 2 will have the second and fourth.  Here's the breakdown of the teams:

Group ONE (week 1/3): Kasia, Heather, Glenda, and Lori

Group TWO (week 2/4): Angeline, Kimberly (your's truly), Jackie, and Erica

Fun , right???  Plus, the amazingly talented Savannah is staying on the team, and will serve as coordinator.  She and Kim have truly outdone themselves with this new re-structuring.  I'm so excited to see what awesome projects come out of this!  I mean, just look at these cute new graphics!

Okay, onto the challenge for this week, the Trend Watch.  Even though I'm in group 2, I still created a card for today's challenge. It will be linked up to the challenge gallery rather than in the blog post itself.  The inspiration is this:

I love the cloud/sunshine trend that's so popular right now, and couldn't resist making a card based on this picture.  Now for the paper yummies:

The cloud is a sticker from the Echo Park "Little Boy" Collection Kit.  The yellow patterned paper is from the same collection, but it's normally yellow and white striped, so I colored it with Prismacolor markers for a yellow-on-yellow paper.  I die cut a circle to create my sun, and stamped a cute little face from the Alfresco stamp set.  I stitched along the edges of the cloud, and stamped a sentiment from Simply Said.  For the background (which looks better in person than it does photographed), I stamped the polka dots from the Geo-Graphic set and heat embossed them with white powder. You may be able to see it better here:

I hope you will play along with this challenge.  For each challenge, there will be a PS PRO. This PS PRO will receive a banner for their blog and a $30 credit to the Paper Smooches store.  You have until Sunday, May 13 at 11:59 PM EST to play along.

Did you know?  Paper Smooches is now on Pinterest! Come follow the entire team and company here!!! 

Thanks for looking!

I'm playing along here:

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge: The Sky is the Limit

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned paper, sticker: Echo Park; stamps: Paper Smooches (Alfresco, Simply Said, Geo-Graphic); ink: Tsukineko (Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black); embossing powder: American Crafts; circle die: Nestabilities; die cut machine: Cuttlebug; markers: Prismacolor; ribbon: Michael's; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Paper Smooches April Guest Designer - week 4

Hi, everybody!  I'm back to share the final cards for my guest designer spot at the Paper Smooches blog this month. Boy, I tell ya', 4 weeks just flew by.  It's crazy...

For this first card, I knew I wanted to use the little coconut drink from the Get Outta Town stamp set.  And from the moment I laid eyes on that stamp, I knew I wanted to flock that little coconut.  I also wanted to incorporate some embossing on this card.  It just so happens that the embossing folder I chose looks an awful lot like the circle of dots from the Potpourri set.  So I combined all of those things to create this paper yummy:

I stamped the circle of dots using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen for a very subtle look. I stamped the coconut drink and colored it in using Prismacolor markers.  Then I added Fun Flock to the coconut:

I stamped the sentiment, added some machine stitching, and finished it off with baker's twine.  Here's another view of the flocked coconut:

For the second card, I wanted to create a card for Mother's Day coming up, or any day you want to show your mom how much you appreciate her.  I stamped and embossed the hibiscus from Get Outta Town several times, masking some parts and popping up others.  I colored them all in with Prismacolor markers.  For the sentiment, I used the "thanks" from Simply Said along with "mom" from Pretty Momma.

Here's a closer view of the flowers:

Thank you so much for looking!  I had such a blast being a guest designer for Kim Hughes and Paper Smooches Stamps.  I am so honored to have been chosen for this!

Card 1 is playing along here:

Creative Inspirations Challenge 160: Anything Goes

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #118: No patterned paper

Ooh-la-la Creations Challenge #103: Bold & Bright

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge

The Ribbon Carousel Challenge RCC50: Anything Goes

Card 2 is playing along here:

Creative Inspirations Challenge 160: Anything Goes

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #118: No patterned paper

Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge PWC203: Clean and Simple

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge

Lily Pad Cards April's Virginia's View Challenge  

The Ribbon Carousel Challenge RCC50: Anything Goes

Card 1 supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), The Paper Company (blue), Core'dinations (green); embossing folder: Lifestyle Crafts; circle die: Spellbinders; die cut/embossing machine: Cuttlebug by ProvoCraft; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko (black), Ranger (Antique Linen); markers: Prismacolor; flocking: Stampendous; Glossy Accents (flocking adhesive): Ranger; baker's twine: Divine Twine; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Card 2 supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Recollections (black); stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko; embossing powder: Hampton Art; markers: Prismacolor; scallop edge punch: EK Success; ribbon: Hobby Lobby; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Paper Smooches SPARKS DT call - Happy everything

Paper Smooches Stamps is taking applications to be on the design team for their SPARKS Challenge blog. Ever since I got my first set just a few months ago, I've been hooked on Kim's stamps. They are such fun and unique images and sentiments, and you can't beat her customer service. I am so honored to be the guest designer for this month, and have had so much fun creating all kinds of cute paper yummies. So when I saw that she was going to be holding a DT call for the SPARKS challenge, I couldn't wait to get started. Here's the deal: using any of the SPARKS inspiration photos (past or present), create a project inspired by that photo and submit it. Easy enough right? To make it even easier, Kim's not even requiring the use of Paper Smooches stamps on the project you submit! Of course, I HAD to use my Paper Smooches stamps though...it just wouldn't feel right otherwise. And there are so many great inspiration photos to base your project on - you're bound to be inspired by at least one! This is my first project (you can submit as many as you'd like). Here is the inspiration photo I chose:

I just love 1) the rainbow , 2) the gray, and 3) that little heart in the bottom right corner. Not sure if that's a watermark or an actual part of the image, but it sure is cute. I wanted to base my card on those three things and do a nice clean and simple card. Now for the paper yummies:

They look black in the photos, but the cardstock and embossing powder are a charcoal gray color. I stamped and embossed this awesome hexagon pattern from Geo-Graphic, then colored it in to resemble the rainbow of colors in the inspiration photo. I stamped and embossed the sentiment from Simply Said, and added a heart from Word Salad. I added some machine stitching and Stickles glitter glue. Super CAS card, but I love it! Here's a close-up:

So how about you? Are you going to apply for the SPARKS DT call? Good luck to all who do!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (gray), Stampin' Up! (white); stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Versamark; embossing powder: American Crafts; markers; Prismacolor; glitter glue: Ranger; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer