Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Skipping Stones Design Sketch #108

Good morning!

I hope that you all are having a lovely holiday season!  Just popping in today to share a card I created from Skipping Stones sketch 108 by the lovely and talented Jen Del Muro.


After all the trimmings and trappings of the holidays, I decided to go pretty minimal (flat) with this card, but it's totally mailable thereby I can avoid frustrating those good folks down at the Post Office and thanks to the bright pops of color- it still packs plenty of punch!

Here is this week's sketch:


If it gets your mojo going, upload your version to the SSD blog- you could win free stamps- and there would be no better way to kick off the new year than with new stampy goodness from Skipping Stones Design. :o)

Be sure to check out the other SSD gals for more inspiration.  Thanks for popping by and have a great week!

Katie

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Skipping Stones Sketch #107

Hello there!

Happy Tuesday!  Welcome to another sketchy Tuesday with Skipping Stones Design.  Here is my card for this week using Skipping Stones and some fabulous goodies from Canvas Corp:


I was going for an elegant interpretation of that line from Twas the Night Before Christmas- you know they one about the stockings being hung by the chimney with care. Except I hung my stocking by twine on cardstock..... same idea though....

The stocking was die-cut from some Canvas Corp burlap and here's a bit of a tip- after you die cut your shape, and you may need to employ use of some sharp scissors, die-cut the same shape from cardstock and glue the burlap to the die-cut so the burlap doesn't come unwoven. I topped the stocking with a bit of felt as a finishing touch.   The pretty damask paper is also from Canvas Corp and pretty much inspired the design. 

Want take a minute for yourself this crazy week and give this sketch a whirl?


Upload your take to the SSD blog and you could win a free Skipping Stones set of your choice!  Be sure to stop by the blogs of the other DT gals and guests and check out more crafty goodness based on this sketch.




Thanks for stopping by today!

Katie

Monday, December 19, 2011

Card Creations: Get Inspired in the Kitchen Challenge

Hey all-

I wanted to share a card I created for the Get Inspired in the Kitchen challenge at Moxie Fab World.  Cath challenged us to create a card based on this fun photo.


Here is what I came up with:


Ok- so the colors aren't exactly how I remembered them in my head.... whoopsie! :o)

I pulled out a few sets from Papertrey Ink (Background Basics Retro and Dot Spot) and I tried to echo both the mod pattern on the plates and the medallion burst pattern on the glasses. I tied a ribbon around the card where the two patterns met and stamped a hello sentiment in black ink.  

That's all I have for today.  Tomorrow is a sketchy Tuesday with Skipping Stones and Canvas Corp, so you will want to be sure to come back soon!  Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Katie

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Moxie Fab World Challenge- Get Inspired Potpourri

Hello-

I picked up a copy of Card Creations Get Inspired magazine a couple weeks ago and I have to say that it is FABULOUS!  I adore the Trigger Tuesday challenges that Cath issues weekly at Moxie Fab World and this magazine is page after page of inspiration triggers and cards designed from beautiful everyday objects like clothing, shoes, home decor, and the list goes on.  I couldn't resist playing along with the Potpourri Challenge and here is my card:


The couch image is a rubon that I picked up from the dollar section of Michaels and I thought it would echo the lines and feel of those darling little chairs in the inspiration image.  The sentiment was stamped in black ink from Papertrey Ink's Chairished stamp set.    I also added a bit of doily to the top of the card to tie in the inspiration photo and finished it off with a bow and straight pin. 

Here is the inspiration photo. 



Thanks for stopping by!! You have until tomorrow at midnight to link up your own take on the inspiration photo.  Hope you get a chance to play along!

Katie

Trigger Tuesday- And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Hi friends-

I took some time out for Mom last night and created a card for Cath's Trigger Tuesday Challenge over at Moxie Fab World. This week's challenge was to create a card based on the following trigger photo:


Here is my card:


I created a card base of white cardstock and a panel in light grey and embossed the gray cardstock with a canvas impressions plate.  I cut a curved piece of white cardstock and topped it with glitter to give the feeling of a glittery snowdrift. I die-cut the tree from gray cardstock and stamped the tree image in Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.  I added to glue to the front of the tree and coated it in some tinsel glitter before adhering the tree to the card.  I added pearls to the tree and stamped the sentiment before attaching the the completed the panel to the card base.

I was inspired by the trigger in the following ways:

  • Theme: Christmas 
  • Colors:  The lovely grays, creams and tans- who says that you need bright colors to make a striking card?
  • Embellishments:  I added glitter and pearls to mimic the adornment on the bird's breast and wing
  • The bird: I curved the snowdrift to reflect the curves of the bird and its feathers.
  • The trigger item itself:  The trigger is a pillow, I embossed the gray cardstock with a canvas impression plate to reflect the fabrc and adhered the stamped panel to a card base with some cushy pop dots.

Hope you like my take on the trigger.  Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas is Love- Skipping Stones Blog Hog

Hello friends and Happy Tuesday! 

Welcome to Sketch Challenge #106 and  a Blog Hop to feature many of the wonderful Texture Sets from Skipping Stones Designs!  If you just came from Kendra's blog, you are in the right place.  If you just happened along my blog today, start at the beginning of the hop at Skipping Stones Design.  The entire hop order is there and you can hop from blog to blog with ease.

For my card, I decided to highlight just two of the amazing textures from Pumpkin Seed Sentiments. 

Christmas is Love

I stamped one of the images from the set onto a banner tag from Canvas Corp that I flipped upside down to be a Christmas Tree. The scale of this tag is perfect size as a focal point for a card. I then went back over the tag tree with a lighter shade of green ink to add a bit more color.  I also used the set to provide the subtle pattern on the circle behind the tree.  Here's a close up: 


The tiny green clothes pin is also courtesy of Canvas Corp.  Who knew that tiny clothespins could be made even more cute by painting them a cheerful shade of green!  I glued it to the tree tag with some white glue and it holds the star in place at the top of the tree.  A few cheerful buttons as ornaments and a rectangle tree trunk finish off this little tree. 

I backed the tree and circle with a doily that I sprayed with some Glimmer Mist (Starfish).  The patterned paper if from the Everyone Loves Christmas Collection by Echo Park. I topped off the card by wrapping some fun green polka dot ribbon around the card and finishing it with a bow.  The tiny tag was distressed a bit and stamped with Love also from Pumpkin Seeds Sentiments. 

Be sure to hop along and leave comments on all the fabulous designers’ blogs.  This month we are welcoming Tosha LeyendekkerKendra Sand and Windy Robinson to our team as Guest Designers! Jen Del Muro will be providing all the fabulous sketch inspiration this month including the sketch we're using in today's hop!


Does this sketch get your creative mojo going?  If so, stop back at the Skipping Stones blog and link up your version of the sketch. You could win a free stamp sent of your choice from Skipping Stones Design. 

Thanks for stopping by today! Head over to Kandi's blog for some more Skipping Stones Design inspiration!

Katie



Monday, December 12, 2011

Waltzingmouse Stamps Tag Challenge

Hello friends-

I wanted to share a little Christmas Tag that I created for the Tag Challenge that Claire is running over at Waltzingmouse Stamps.


The tag was created from Spellbinder's Label 4- the largest one.  I used Oven Fresh Gingerbread Joy and Nordic Winter to create the tag in shades of light pink, rhubarb, green and ginger. I topped the tag with a bit of twine, button and ribbon from the stash.

I must confess, I am not much of a tag maker, but I had so much fun creating this little guy, that I may have to make some more!  Stay tuned!

I hope your week is off to a great start! Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Stitches and Swirls

Hello-

Just popping in with another little card to share.  This card features one of Papertrey Ink's newer sets, Stitches and Swirls and the Linen Closet collection from Die Cuts With A View. 


Sorry the lighting is not the best.  

On a rustic cream panel, I stamped the largest image from S & S with sand-colored ink.  I am in love with this set!  It is truly one of those amazing sets that doesn't take a lot of effort to make some amazing impact and I am all about impact without effort!  :o)

I added pearls to the centers of some of the flowers for a little dimension. The border punch is Martha Stewart and the gingham ribbon is from Stampin' Up. I adhered all the finished pieced to a card base that I covered with a tiny floral print from the Linen Closet stack.  The sentiment is from PTI's Mega Mixed Messages set.  You could really swap out any sentiment, but for some reason with all the homespun prints and gingham, it just felt like a Mother's Day card to me.   

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great Sunday! 

Katie

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Love is in the Cards

Hi friends-

Just popping in with a quick post today to share a couple Love cards I created for a recent call that were not picked up for publication.


This first card was created with October Afternoon's Sidewalks collection and a stamp from American Art Stamps called Couple in Love.  I paper pieced the umbrella and colored in the rest of the image with Copics. The Love sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Tiny Tags stamp set.


This "sweet" card features stickers from Martha Stewart.  I punched a small scallop border and treated it as a shelf.  The paper is from the Sidewalks collection (October Afternoon). The sentiment is from Skipping Stones Birthday Donuts set.

Hope you are having a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Skipping Stones Sketch 105

Hello friends!

Today the SSD DT gals and our guests are sharing their interpretation of Jen Del Muro's fabulous sketch, SSD #105.  Here is my take:


I used Rustic Tiles and Chic Martini to create my card. I added some pops of color using ribbon and gems. Here is a close up of the martini glass and the pleated ribbon.


The cutie black and white polka dot paper is courtesy of our friends at Canvas Corp.  Canvas Corp will be playing along with our sketches this month at SSD- so be sure to check out their blog in the designer line up below as well as the other DT gals' blogs for lots of Canvas Corp eye candy.

Here is Jen's sketch:


Wanna play along for a chance to win a FREE stamp set? Head over to the Skipping Stones Blog and upload you take on this week's sketch.

Check out the rest of the DT and our guests for more inspiration on this week's sketch:





Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!


Katie

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesday

Good morning!  


I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving holiday for those of you in the US.  I took a few days off work and my efforts were rewarded by coming down with the worst.cold.ever! Thankfully, it is loosening it's grip and so far, I am the only one in the family stricken by this monstrosity of a virus, so that is definitely a good thing.  


I know it's been quiet here on the blog front. We are slowly getting back into the swing of things and it's Tuesday, so it's time to share another Skipping Stones Design Sketch.  This is Chan's last sketch with us (sniff, sniff) and it's been wonderful to see what she and the other Guest Designers, Jimmi MayoBetsy Veldman and Jessica Griffin have created with the SSD stamps and sketches. 


Here is my card based on this week's sketch: 




I used Timeless Textures and Chic Martini to create this festive number.  This card would be perfect as an invitation to a holiday or New Year celebration. 


I stamped the Moroccan tile image on a panel of white cardstock.  Then using my Spellbinder Circle dies, I cut a hole in the white cardstock and backed it with a piece of red cardstock on which I stamped the martini glass in Veramark and embossed with white embossing powder. 


Here's a close up: 




I topped the stir stick with a little clear gem for a little oompf. The rick rack at the bottom of the card is from Creative Impressions


This is Chan's awesome sketch and if this sketch has you itching to run to your crafty space and get inky, be sure to share your take on the sketch at the Skipping Stones Design blog. There are prizes involved!!!!


Be sure to check out the rest of the DT gals and our guests to see more SSD inspiration using this awesome sketch. 


Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Skipping Stones Design Sketch #103

Hello!

Happy Tuesday!  Today we are bringing you some fabulous Skipping Stones inspiration on another of Chan Vuong's wonderful sketches.  Here is my take on the sketch:


As you can see from the sketch below, I took a few, let's say, liberties with the sketch- but that's the great thing about sketches- they are just a starting point. 


 I used Christmas Song to stamp a focal image and sentiment.  In place of the squares, I used some patterned paper from Echo Park's Christmas line.  I thought the paper had a grid like quality to it, like the sketch.

So, do you want to give this sketch a whirl?  Upload your take to the Skipping Stones Design blog and you could win a free stamp set!

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to visit the other DT gals and guests to see more eye candy using this sketch!

Have a great day and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Katie

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Waltzingmouse Stamps November Blog Waltz

Hello friends!

I am so excited to be participating in my very first Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Waltz!  The theme for this waltz is Christmas projects. Using the new Nordic Winter, I came up with this:

Nordic Christmas

I stamped images from Nordic Winter in Riding Hood Red and the sentiment in Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!). I matted the stamped panel on dark brown cardstock that I punched with a scallop border punch.  Before adhering to the card base, I tied a bit of brown twill ribbon around the matted panel and topped it with a cream button threaded with twine that I tied it into a bow.

This card seriously only took like 20 minutes to put together start to finish which is always a good thing when the days are getting shorter and shorter and daylight is a precious commodity! Hope you enjoy my waltz card! Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Skipping Stones Design Sketch #102

Hello and Happy Tuesday!


Welcome to Skipping Stones Design Sketch Challenge #102 featuring Rustic Tiles!   Rustic Tiles is an amazing and versatile set and I have been having so.much.fun playing with this set this month.  As an added bonus- Rustic Tiles is on sale this month at the Stamp Store for only $12.49. 


If you just came from Jessica's blog, you are in the right place.  If you just happened along my blog today, start at the beginning of the hop at Skipping Stones Design.  The entire hop order is there and you can hop from blog to blog with ease.


Without further ado, here is my card using Rustic Tiles, Heartsong and this week's sketch by Chan Vuong. 


Celebrate the Season




I used what I call the "snowflake tile" in the top right corner to represent the cluster of flowers.  I topped each "snowflake" with a clear snowflake accent from the stash.  The bottom left corner features the birdie from Heartsong- love that little guy and a sentiment from Christmas Song. 


I tried to get a little fancy on the bird image with a little rock-n-roll technique.  I also sponged in some pale pink ink on his chest before stamping the sentiment in darker brown ink.  You can't really see it in the picture, but once I was done stamping, I sprayed the cardstock with some shimmer spray from Amuse Studios.  


The paper is from a stack of My Mind's Eye that I picked up a few months ago from Hobby Lobby. The finishing touch on the card is a bit of sheer ribbon from our friends at Creative Impressions coupled with a pink button tied with some twine. 


Wanna win a free stamp set???  Just upload your take on this week's sketch to the Skipping Stones blog for a chance to win.  I can't wait to see what everyone creates with this sketch. 



Be sure to hop along and leave comments on all the fabulous designers’ blogs.  This month we are welcoming Jimmi MayoBetsy Veldman and Jessica Griffin to our team as Guest Designers! Chan Vuong is providing all the fabulous sketch inspiration this month including the sketch we're using in today's hop!

Head over to Shannon's blog for some more Skipping Stones Design inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Monday, November 14, 2011

Christmas Greetings

Hello!

I wanted to share a little Christmas Card I created for a couple challenges over the weekend.


I stamped the "mod pine tree" from WMS's Tiny Trees set in Pear Tart Ink and followed up with the stary garland with Raspberry Fizz ink.  To anchor the tree on the long rectangle, I tore a piece of white cardstock and drew a thin line of glue with my glue pen and followed it with a dusting of glitter to give it that meadow of snow look.  The sentiment, also stamped in Raspberry Fizz, is from Tiny Trees too.

For a finishing touch, I added a little tag that I stamped with the reverse polka dot pattern from Gingham and Co and adhered a small heart die cut.  I topped the tag with a button tied with a bit of Rustic Cream button twine.

Here is a closer look at the tag and glittery snow:


This card is based on sketch 73 for the Waltzingmouse Stamps Weekly Sketch challenge.

Image(21)

I am also linking it to the Casual Fridays Challenge #28- Tag You're It!


Hope you find some inspiration in my take on the sketch and challenge.  There is still time for you to play along. As always, thanks for stopping by!  Your visits and kind thoughts mean so much to me!!!

Katie

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Happily Ever After


Hello!  

Hope you are having a great weekend!  I wanted to post today as I am waiting for Sunday dinner to finish cooking and share another card that I had submitted for the World Card Making Day contest.  

The card below was created for the Love category and I used two of my favorite newer sets- Big Day Additions from Waltzing Mouse Stamps and Harvest Berries from Papertrey Ink. 

Happily Ever After Card


I stamped the ginko leaves and sentiment on a piece of shimmer cardstock with black Verafine ink.  I matted the stamped panel on black cardstock and attached it to a card base made from Aqua Mist Cardstock.  I added some clear rhinestones for berries for a finishing touch.

Super simple, but elegant for weddings and the like.  You could also change the color of the card base to coordinate with the wedding colors.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great evening!

Katie

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Skipping Stones Design Sketch #101

Hi-ya friends-

It's Tuesday sketch day with Skipping Stones Design!  This week's sketch is brought to us by Chan Vuong.  Here is my take on the sketch:



I pieced together different patterned papers from October Afternoon's Sidewalk collection before adhering a strip of rustic cream cardstock stamped with 4 tile images from the Rustic Tiles set- which just happens to be on sale this month!

This ribbon is by Creative Impressions- who was so generous to send us a giant envelope of goodies to embellish our cards this month.  I am so sad that this week and last week's cards used up the last morsels of that dreamy pink polka dot ribbon, but there are more goodies where that came from- for sure!

If you have a moment this week since many of us got that extra hour back- try the sketch for yourself and link up your card to the SSD blog- you could win a free stamp set!

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Hello, Friend

Hello Everyone!

Happy end of Daylight Savings Time day- for those of you in time zones that observe this phenomenon!  This is the day, the I feel like my internal clock is put back into normal mode- don't get me wrong, I love the extra hour of daylight at the end of the day, but it can be tough to get up some mornings!

First of all, I wanted to say THANK YOU for all your support in the World Card Making Day Honorable Mention contest.  In case you haven't popped over the the Paper Crafts blog recently, they announced on Friday that I won!  I couldn't believe it.  The other cards were so amazing and creative. I am truly humbled and I appreciate all your support.

I thought over the next couple weeks that I would share with you some of my other, uhm, 12 entries, that I submitted for the World Card Making Day contest. So, without further ado, meet today's card:


This card was for the Hello/Thinking of You category. The patterned paper was from Jillibean Soup and Crate Paper.  I seem to be on an orange kick recently- I think it is the season. The retro phone is a stamp from American Crafts that I picked up at Hobby Lobby and the sentiment is one of the Think Big Favorites- number 3 I think from Papertrey Ink.  The flowers are die cut from adhesive cork and finished off with a little bling in the center.

Hope you have some fun plans for that extra hour in your weekend- even if it is just catching up on some much needed sleep...  I am spending it crafting with some of my girlfriends at an inn in Amish Country.  I will be back with more posts later this week- more Skipping Stones and maybe some of my other WCMD entries to share.

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Skipping Stones Design Sketch #100

Hello! 


Happy November!  This is going to be a great month for all you sketch lovers because our sketch artist is none other than the fablulous  Chan Vuong AND there are 5 Tuesdays in November which means we will be working with 5 of Chan's fabulous sketches this month!!  


We are also joined this month by some amazing guest designers including Jimmi MayoBetsy Veldman and our honorary DT gal is Jessica Griffin.


Without further ado, here is the sketch:




And here is my take on the sketch:




I used Cupcake Cutie to create some yummy looking cupcakes complete with sprinkles.  The sentiment is from Birthday Donuts, but I thought it worked well with the cupcakes.  The patterned papers are from October Afternoon- the Sidewalks collection. 


We are fortunate this month to also be using some amazing embellishments from Creative Impressions.  See that darling pink ribbon- yep that's Creative Impressions.  


If this sketch gets your mojo going, don't forget to enter the sketch contest at the SSD blog, there's a prize involved!


Thanks for stopping by!


Katie

Monday, October 31, 2011

World Card Making Day Honorable Mention (and shameless pandering for votes...)

Hi everyone!


I just found out that one of my cards is an honorable mention for the Holiday category in Paper Crafts magazine World Card Making Day contest.  


This is the card: 



Paper Crafts is running a little contest for a pretty sweet package and allowing folks to vote for their favorite card.  So...... if you have a few minutes in the next day to vote, and you vote was for me, I would surely appreciate your support!! 

Voting is easy peasy.
  1. Visit the voting site
  2. You will have to create a user name and password and then they email a confirmation to you.  No additional spam I promise. 
  3. Click the Vote tab to see all four cards in the running- mine is card 3 (wink). 
  4. Once you select your favorite card from the gallery, click "Save Vote." 
All votes must be received by Wednesday at noon MST. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and for your support! 

Katie

Sunday, October 30, 2011

I'm a Cover Girl!!!

Hello friends!

So, a few months back, I started submitting some projects to Cricut magazine.  I have been a Cricut owner for many, many years, but like so many, it can go under utilized for weeks or months at a time.  Well, enter Cricut Magazine, published monthly by Northridge Publishing.  I picked up the March 2011 issue and was blown away by all the cool stuff that some very talented ladies were doing with their Cricuts.  It was just the inspiration I needed to dust off my bug and get to creating.  I will admit that it was a bit strange creating for fall and winter holidays in the spring time, but I created some little treat bags using my Mini Monsters cartridge, took a photo, emailed them off to the magazine for consideration.  I was beyond thrilled that they were picked up for the October issue.

So, several months pass, the weather turned cooler and one Saturday afternoon I am running my marathon errands and stop into Hobby Lobby. I saw the October issue of Cricut magazine and was surprised to see my monster treat bags gracing the cover.


The projects were pretty simple to put together- using the Mini Monsters cartridge, I cut the treat bags and layers from some Papertrey Ink cardstock.  I embossed the layers for some added dimension.

I am looking forward to receiving my issues of this magazine- this one will have to get a place of honor in the craft cave!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Katie

Friday, October 28, 2011

Feature Friday with Skipping Stones Design!!

Hello and Happy Friday!

Welcome to another Feature Friday with Skipping Stones Design!  This month, you have seen a lot of Christmas cards using our newest set, Christmas Song and some older sets including Christmas Swirls and Wise Men. (Both of these sets are on sale through the end of the month if you act fast!)

For a little twist today, I decided to make a Holiday card using a few sets that are not specifically geared towards that special time of year.... enter Sentiment Frames and Timeless Textures.... and here's what I came up with:



Using the Moroccan tile image from Timeless Textures, I stamped it repeatedly on a piece of white cardstock.  This stamp fits together like a puzzle and you can pretty quickly fill an entire panel. I mounted the stamped panel on black cardstock then wrapped a ribbon around the panel and tied it in a bow.  I added a wee little button tied with a little baker's twine to the bow.

The sentiment from Sentiment Frames was stamped in black ink on white cardstock then mounted to a piece of black cardstock that features a little scalloped edge.  I then adhered the whole thing to a piece of patterned paper (Echo Park) that I had trimmed and adhered to a standard white card base.

There you have it!  A stylin' and festive card using sets that you may not have imagined as "holiday" fare.  Take a look at your stash, with the right colors and treatment, almost any set can have a jolly festive feel!

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Papertrey Ink- October Blog Hop

Hello!

This is my second post of the day, so if you are here to see Skipping Stones Design sketch 99, just scroll down. :o)

This month's blog hop challenge was to create a project using the following inspiration photo.


This is what I came up with:

Give Thanks 

I guess you could say I was inspired by the theme of the photo to create this super simple autumn card.  I used one of the leaf images from Falling Leaves (one of my all time favorite sets) and stamped it 4 times on a rustic cream panel with different colors of ink.  (Veramagic-Pumpkin Spice, SU! Always Artichoke, So Saffron and Riding Hood Red).  I stamped the sentiment and little acorn with Dark Chocolate ink.  I wrapped   a piece of twine around the panel and secured it before mounting the card to a kraft card base.

Hope you like my take on this month's inspiration photo.  If you would like to play along, check out Nichole Heady's blog for all the deets.

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie