Sneak Peak- Hello Heartsong 2

Good morning!

Happy Tuesday and welcome to another sketch challenge with Skipping Stones Design.  This week's sketch 121 is our final sketch from Angi Barrs (sniff, sniff) and it's pretty awesome.

I happened to stop in Archiver's over the weekend and with some new papers from Cosmo Cricket, pulled together this card:

I started by stamping some of the texture images from Garden Stamp Kiss on a piece of gray patterned paper to give it a bit more interest.  

Next, I stamped the circle pattern from Pumpkin Seed on a piece of yellow patterned paper.  I interpreted the rectangles in the sketch as weaved paper or ribbon, so I punched a piece of melon patterned paper with my "Leave it to Weaver" Fiskars board punch.  I flipped over the piece of paper and punched it again to make longer slots to accomodate a wider strip of paper.  Next, I wove the papers together and trimmed the edge of the yellow paper with pinking shears.  I attached the woven strips to my card.  

For the focal point, I stamped the bird, branch and sentiment all from Heartsong 2 on some lined paper I had cut with a Spellbinders die from the Hopscotch Collection from Pretty Little Studio.  I inked the edge of the label as well as the inside of the bird to give it more color. I adhered the label to the card and finished it with a few buttons tied with twine.  

Here is this week's sketch: 

Ready to give this one a whirl?  Link up your take on this week's sketch to the Skipping Stones blog by next Monday night for your chance to win a free set of your choice!  

Be sure to check out the other DT gals and our guests, Angi, AJ Otto and Amy Tsuruta for more inspiring takes on this week's sketch!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Katie

Egg Hunt- yet another scrapbook page

Hello friends!

Pretty Little Studio's sketch challenges have somehow broken me out of my no scrapping rut.  This week's sketch inspired me to create something fun with photos that have sat untouched for two years, so PLS- thank you!!!

This week's page features Paige in the midst of the great egg hunt.  She is an expert egg hunter, by the way.  The girl's got a built in radar for plastic shells somehow.

I used lots of yummy papers from the Hopscotch collection to make this page- which includes that adorable bunny that I trimmed out and adhered.  The eggs and grass were cut from the collection papers with dies from Amuse studios.   This page also taught me a valuable lesson which I share with you.  Spray the cardstock with ink first, THEN adhere your elements- trust me on this.

Thanks so much for "hopping" by.  I hope you have a "hoppy" week!

Katie

Change Can Be Beautiful

Good morning!

Thanks for popping over to see me today!!  I have a little card to share based on Skipping Stones Sketch 120 designed by Angi Barrs.

I went the Clean and Simple route this week and here is what I came up with:

I interpreted the circles in the sketch as butterflies that I stamped in rainbow colors.  The butterflies are from Skipping Stones Dandelion Dreams and the sentiment is from Always Here. 

For a little added interest, I scored 2 horizontal lines with my Score-buddy.  A few gems finished it off.  There you have it, a CAS card that took me no less than 4 attempts- and 2 whole pieces of cardstock.  Lesson learned that sometimes CAS is not as easy as it looks, and always check your fingers for ink before picking up a finished or nearly finished card..... Oh well.  :o)

Here's a look at Angi's sketch: 

Want to play along?  Just link you version to the Skipping Stones Blog by next Monday night for your chance to win a free stamp set!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great Tuesday!

Katie

Ooh-la-la

Hello friends!

Playing along today with the Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge #89. I was so excited last week to have Royal Mail, and inside were all my goodies from the February WMS release!!  I couldn't wait to use my new stamps and I was feeling very Parisian when this card came together!

I stamped the Tour Eiffel (as they say in France) from the Paris Nouveau set and paired it with the ooh la la sentiment from Compact Sentiments.  The sketch calls for one large focal image and I thought this worked pretty well.  The rest of the card I tried to keep simple- just a sweet scalloped edge and some gems to evoke the twinkling "City of Lights" feel.  The patterned paper is Teresa Collins.   

I just love these sets and I am thinking that they will come in handy for my daughter's birthday party in a few months- she is very into Fancy Nancy and we are having a spa slumber party.   I promise to share when I get to creating for that event!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Katie

Bunny Buns

Hello friends-

Something strange came out of my craft room last night.... a scrapbook page!  I know, right?! Inspired by Pretty Little Studio's sketch challenge and the hoard of pretty papers that are mocking me on the shelves of my Expedite, I decided to put together a page for Easter 2010.

This is Sophie at age 2+ enjoying some cinnamon buns that I had plated to look like bunnies.  I can't take credit for the idea- one of my girlfriends did this with biscuits for Easter, but since my kids don't care for biscuits, the cinnamon bunny buns were born.

I used several papers from Pretty Little Studio's Hopscotch collection with a few prints from Summer Breeze thrown in for good measure!   To make the pennant banner, I die cut some papers with the double ended banner die from PTI and wrapped them over the top of a piece of twine.

The page title area is comprised of a scalloped circle that I cut with Speelbinders, Mat Stack 5 (PTI) and a journalling rectangle. With a 3/4" punch, I punched out one of the sweet bunny images from the collection, inked the edges and popped him up on a foam dot.

The title was created from Thickers by American Crafts. Finally, I stamped some ink splotches from Skipping Stones Designs Grunge set in Melon ink.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my bunny buns (LOL)!!  Have a splendid day!

Katie

St. Patrick's Day Card

Hello there!

Just popping in with a quick and easy St. Patrick's Day card to share.  It's really a friendship card with a St. Patrick's Day theme. I actually created this card a few months back for a Paper Crafts call.  It, along with many of my other approaches for that issue were not selected, :o) but it's the perfect timing to share it again with you!!!

I started by covering my card base with some cutie paper from Pretty Little Studio.  I love PLS for their sweet vintage and kitschy nostalgic collections.  I then rounded the corners of a piece of white cardstock.  The word die cut and stamped sentiment are from Papertrey Ink, Wonderful Words.  A gem, shamrock die cut from my Cricut and a punched floral border from EK Success finished the card.

Maybe it's the fact that I am more Irish than anything (maiden name Murphy), but I was really pleased how this came together. I hope you have a fabulous and safe St. Patrick's Day!

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

Skipping Stones and Scor- Pal blog hog!!!

Good Tuesday Morning!

Today Skipping Stones Design is excited to be celebrating the release of another BEAUTIFUL stamp set! It is called Beautiful Botanicals and it is a must have!!! And, even better, Skipping Stones has joined up with the fabulous Scor-Pal team for an amazing blog hop! The hop will begins at the Scor-Pal blog and will finish off at the Skipping Stones blog! If you came from  Diane Zechman's  blog you are already on track! If no, you may want to hop on back to Scor-Pal to join in on ALL the fun!

Don't forget to leave comments! Skipping Stones Design will be giving away one stamp set to a lucky winner and Scor-Pal is giving away a Scor-Buddy, so there is lots to win!

Our sketch artist this month is  Anji Barrs and here is my take on this week's sketch.

I used several Skipping Stones sets on my card this week: Beautiful Botanicals, Dandelion Dreams, and Grunge 1 and 2. My card this week was inspired by my love and fear of spray ink.  They terrify me! I hope I am not alone here.  I know they add so much to a project and they are oh, so trendy, but they can be somewhat- how do you say- unpredictable, and the thought of messing up a nearly finished project is more than I can take sometimes! Luckily, my answer to getting some control and still getting the look comes from my Skipping Stones stash- in the form of Grunge 1 and 2!

I started by stamping the splatter image from Grunge 2 in Grapefruit Memento ink to create a background.  The sketch, you will notice features four rectangles, so create this effect on my card, I used my score buddy to emboss some lines that I then inked to further define.  Next I die cut an oval and complimentary scallop.  I stamped the large floral images in Aqua and Cantaloupe ink from Beautiful Botanicals, Butterfly from Dandelion Dreams and more splatters from Grunge 1.  A couple small pearls and a little inking around the edges finished it off.

The sentiment is from Beautiful Botanicals stamped in Walnut Stain distress ink.  I finally added a scalloped edge in aqua and a matching rick rack trim to finish off the card.

Now it's YOUR turn! Join in the sketch challenge this week by creating a card using the featured sketch and link up to the Skipping Stones site for your chance to win FREE stamps! You don't have to use Skipping Stones Stamps, but we love when you do! Do you have a Scor-Pal or Scor-Buddy? We would love to see you rocking those, too!!! We ask that you don't combine the challenge with more than five total in your post (including SSD) and please link back here! Have fun! Your next stop on the hop is  Gini Cagle's  blog!

A HUGE thank you to Scor-Pal for providing Scor-Buddies to the Skipping Stones Design Team! We LOVE THEM!!!!

Here is the complete hop order for you, just in case!

Scor-Pal Blog
Lindsay Amrhein
Diane Zechman
Katie Gehring
Gini Cagle
Stephanie Mino
Karen Baker
Anji Barrs
Lisa Andrews
JoAnn Valderama
Katie Tate
A.J. Otto
Jennifer Ingle
Steph Ackerman
Wendy Jordan
Tami Mayberry
Pamela Young
Amy Tsuruta
Kandi Phillips
Wendy Price
Skipping Stones Design Blog

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy hopping!

Katie

Introducing Beautiful Botanicals from Skipping Stones Design

Good morning and Happy Monday!

:Later today Beautiful Botanicals will officially make its debut at Skipping Stones Design.  In honor of this momentous occasion, I made a card (wink)!

I stamped the large floral image from the set in Ocean ink from Amuse Studio.  Next I added two sweet little butterflies from Dandelion Dreams in Memento Mango ink.  The butterflies reminded me of two friends, so I stamped my friendly sentiment toward the bottom of the card in black Verafine ink.  I tied a gingham ribbon around the card and added some Sunflower colored pearls from Queen and Co as a finishing touch.  

Here's another look at the sentiment.  I just love this font!  So elegant.  The set includes sentiments perfect for Mother's Day, as well as for Mom and Sis. 

The papers are from Heidi Swapp's new collection, Sugar Chic, from Pink Paislee.  I picked this up at Archivers over the weekend.  I think I am in love! 

Check out some of the other DT gals and guests for some more inspiration using this gorgeous set.  Be sure to come back tomorrow for an awesome blog hop.  I will give you a hint- Skipping Stones has teamed up with another manufacturer who makes an absolutely indispensable tool for card makers and just wait to see what all the DT gals do with it!! Oh, and there will be prizes too!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a beautiful Monday!

Katie 

 

Ahoy Matey!

Good morning!

Just a super quick post to share a card I created for this week's Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge.  It's been several weeks since I have had a chance to play along, but this was the week and here is my card:

I used Half Pint Heroes on my card to create a little pirate peering out a porthole on a ship.  The pirate is from PTI Tiny Treats Birthday, but the other images are all WMS!  It was fun and maddening to create the little nautical flags and as a disclaimer, I have no idea what the flags mean.  My card likely says Beware- Calm Seas Ahead!  LOL!  

I found this cool photo on Pinterest that inspired these flags. 

Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Skipping Stones Design Sketch #118

Good morning!

It's Tuesday and the start of another sketch challenge with Skipping Stones Design.  This month, our sketch artist is the adorable Angi Barrs and here is the first sketch of the month!

Here is my take on this week's sketch using Heart Song 2 (another sneaky peak for you- this set will not be available until April, but oh boy is it worth the wait!!)

Inspired to give this sketch a try- link your take on this week's sketch to the Skipping Stones blog by next Monday night.  You could win free stamps- and who doesn't love free stamps!

Be sure to check out the other DT gals and our guests, AJ Otto and Amy Tsutura for more inspiration using this week's sketch!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!
Katie

Key to My Heart

Hello friends-

I still remember when I received my first real key- it was 6th grade and my mom was headed back to her teaching job.  I was trusted to come home after school while my little brother and sister went to a babysitter.  For me, the key meant responsibility, autonomy and a sure step towards adulthood.  It was exciting and perhaps that is what started my fascination with these little metal objects.

Keys are just cool-check out this inspiring photo from Pinterest:

So imagine my delight when I stumble across a package of brightly colored, just plain awesome key embellishments in the Martha Stewart aisle at Michael's.  As I sat down at my desk to create a card, restraint left the building and I used the whole package to create a key collage on my card.

Key to my heart

I started by stamping a background pattern on Raspberry Fizz cardstock with white ink and used a border punch to create a scalloped edge.  Then I arranged the keys on the pink cardstock and removed the adhesive backing to adhere them to the cardstock.  I didn't have the right sentiment in my stash of stamps, so I created one on my computer, printed it out and adhered a tiny red heart for added emphasis.  Some turquoise ribbon and rounded corners on a card base of pure poppy finished out the card.

Hope this card unlocks some inspiration for you!  Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a fantastic day!
Katie

Supplies: (All supplies are from Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted)

• Cardstock- Pure Poppy, White, Raspberry Fizz 
• Stamps: Background Basics Retro and Dot Spot
• Ink: Fresh Snow 
• Ribbon: Hawaiian Shores 
• Die Cut: Love Lives Here
• Embellishments: Martha Stewart (EK Success)
• Tool: Corner Rounder (Creative Memories)
• Typewriter Font: dafont.com

Feature Friday- Another Sneak Peek of Beautiful Botanicals

Hello!

Hooray for March!  I am so glad that it is finally here!  With the advent of March comes all kinds of great things- warmer weather (hopefully), longer days (most definitely) and in just a little over a week- a brand new gorgeous set from Skipping Stones Design called Beautiful Botanicals.  My sketch card this week featured an image and sentiment from this set and I am back today to share another card using Beautiful Botanicals, Dandelion Dreams and the equally lovely to be released in April Heartsong 2.

I love color combinations featuring gray and yellow and that was the starting point for my card.

On a piece of yellow and cream striped patterned paper (My Mind's Eye), I stamped two silhouette images from Beautiful Bontanicals and one image from Dandelion Dreams in gray ink. I trimmed the stamped images into rectangles and matted them on a piece of gray cardstock.  They kind of remind me of sun prints that I made as a child hanging in a gallery.  The stamped images were adhered to a card based that I covered with some gray and cream polka dot paper from October Afternoon.  The thank you sentiment is from Heartsong 2, stamped onto a punched tag and adhered to the card.

There you have it, a super simple and flat (for ease of mailing) card that could even be easily massed produced for gift giving.  Be sure to check out the other DT gals and our guests later this month when we officially debut this beautiful set.  I know the projects will be amazing!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great day!
Katie