Halloween Hoop-Dee-Do!

Hello folks!

I am over at the Neat and Tangled blog today sharing a little project I made with the adorable Halloween Scene.  Here's a little sneaky peak:

Please stop over and check it out!  Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Katie

Bewitched

Good morning!

Halloween is just a few short days away and the excitement is palatable around here- along with the girls trying so hard to finalize their costume selections.  I wanted to share a card I made a few weeks ago that was inspired by one of the sketch challenges currently appearing in the September/October issue of Paper Crafts Magazine.

I stamped the images from Waltzingmouse Stamps on a piece of soft stone cardstock and added some ink to "ground" the images.  The window frame was made from PTI's block alpha die- cut twice.  I just trimmed around the die negatives and voila, instant window frame. This was attached to a card base that I covered with patterned paper from American Crafts.   I stamped the sentiment on a tag and finished the card off with a couple buttons. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a fantastic day! 

Team Edward or Team Jacob?

Hello friends!

Just popping in to share a little card I created with Skipping Stones latest sketch challenge and our Fangs or Fur set.

There are some awesome images and sentiments in this set for Twilight fans.  I chose to use the image that features Edward and Bella smooching in the meadow. Behind this image, I tried my hand at paper pleating and wrapped the pleated strip with twine before adhering to the card.  I chose to use soft blues and grays for the card because those are the colors I think of when I think of the movies (and yes, I am a fan). 

Here's a look at Fangs or Fur: 

And here's this week's sketch: 

Stop by the Skipping Stones blog for more inspiration using this week's sketch and to play along with this week's sketch challenge.  One lucky participant will be chosen to win a free stamp set.  Yay!

That is all for me today.  Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great Tuesday!

Ombre + Ikat

Hello there,

I hope you are having a super lovely weekend!  Just stopping in on this beautiful Sunday to share a card I created using Avery Elle's Ikat set trying my hand at a little ombre gradient stamping.

The colors for this card were inspired by a super fun set of glasses I saw this summer at Target which featured bold gradient stripes going from yellow to berry. 

I tried to mimic the effect with inks.  From left to right (SU Barely Banana, PTI Harvest Gold, SU Blush Blossom and Cameo Coral, PTO Melon Berry and Berry Sorbet.) The Ikat pattern was stamped on white cardstock with was mounted to a Berry Sorbet card base,  I stamped the sentiment in Berry Sorbet on a strip of white card stock, matted it with Harvest Gold and adhered it to the card.  I affixed a couple gems for a finishing touch. 

That's all for me today.  Thank you so much for stopping by! 

Inspired by Pinterest: Foxy Baby Card

Hello and Happy Friday Friends!

Like many of you, I am sure, I love Pinterest and come across the most interesting and inspiring photos and projects through this site.  Many of my cards and projects are indeed sparked by pins, but sometimes, my favorite ideas for cards and paper crafts don't involve even a scrap of paper in their original form.

For instance, a few weeks ago I came across this picture:

A Beautiful Mess

I thought that this chair of foxy pillows might make for a good baby card, so I pulled out some of my dies and came up with this:

The fox was made by combining my boxy banner dies from Papertrey Ink with pennant and oval dies from Spellbinders.  I cut my desired shapes from patterned paper (My Mind's Eye) and pieced together the fox before tracing the shape onto a card base to make the shaped card. I added buttons and twine for the nose and eyes and the sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps- Compact Sentiments.

You can check out some of what's been inspiring me lately on Pinterest by checking out my boards.

So what's your favorite non-paper inspiration for paper projects? 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Katie 

A Neat & Tangled iPhone upgrade

Hello all!

A couple weeks ago, I shared my Neat & Tangled iPhone upgrade on the Neat & Tangled blog.  Danielle was so gracious to allow me to share this little how-to on my blog as well.  Enjoy!

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So you may have heard that Apple's iPhone 5 was available for purchase last Friday.  Me?  Not so much.  I was driving my kids to school before work and couldn't figure out why all these people were standing in line outside the AT&T store at 7 a.m.!

I guess I am not what you would consider an early technology adapter. I think I am waiting for my kids to get older so they can show me how to do all this cool stuff.  I received an iPhone 4 for Christmas last year, and although I love my phone, updating models was just not part of the plan at this time (literally, I can't upgrade for another year). :o)

I strongly believe that part of the fun of phones, tablets and laptops these days is the ability to personalize and customize your technology and experience.  In honor of this new technology, I decided to use some of my crafting supplies and Neat & Tangled stamps to give my old iPhone a little upgrade.

I pulled out a few of my Neat & Tangled sets: Little Tangles and Just Hello.



I also used a few other supplies:

And you will also need one of these.

I found this clear iPhone cover at Michaels.  It is created by Mark Richards Enterprises.  It was $3.99,  but you could use a coupon to bring down the cost even more. :o)

I trimmed a piece of patterned paper to 2.25" by just a touch shorter than 4.5" and rounded the corners using the 3/8" corner chomper.  Using the phone cover as a guide, I traced oval where I would need to trim away the paper for the camera flash and lens.  I used my old Stampin' Up slot punch to start the oval and finished it with a craft knife. This is seriously the hardest part of the whole project. :o)

Next, I selectively inked and stamped one of the tangles from Little Tangles onto the cardstock to make a phone cord.  I stamped the phone from Just Hello on a piece of aqua cardstock and trimmed out the handset and adhered to the "cord."

I also stamped the sentiment from Just Hello onto the patterned paper and then slipped it into the cover and snapped my phone in place. Now I have a low cost, but high style and totally adorable cover for my iPhone that just may help me keep loving my old phone until I can upgrade!

That's all for me today.  Thank you so much for stopping by!

Katie

Skipping Stones Sketch Challenge 149

Good morning!

Skipping Stones Design introduced another fantastic retro sketch challenge today.  This week's sketch is by Cristina Kowalczyk and I used Beautiful Botanicals and Everyday Blessings to create the following card:

I used Beautiful Botanicals and stamped the large floral image in versamark onto a tag I cut from cardstock and embossed with white embossing powder. 

The sentiment and the leaf image stamped on the brown cardstock are from Everyday Blessings.

Here is a look at this week's sketch:

Be sure to stop by the Skipping Stones blog to link up your take on this week's sketch and to check out the other great projects by our Design Team and October guests!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kindness Matters!

Good morning and TGIF!

Today is the big day at Neat & Tangled!!  All 5 of the new releases are for sale as of 8 a.m. this morning.  If you want to run, run over to the Neat & Tangled shop to fill your carts, I completely understand.  I will be here when you are finished shopping. ;o)

Today, we are showcasing Kindness Matters.  I love, love, love this set for many, many reasons. One, because it's true- kindness does matter!! Second, the set lends itself to all sorts of occasions.  I will me using this set often as I nearly go through as many thank you cards in a year as I do birthday cards!   I also love how Danielle combined her gorgeous handwritten script with classic and elegant fonts making the set super versatile for all kinds of styles!

Ok, enough gushing about my love for this set... on to the projects!

My first card shows the combination of script and font for a thank you note.  The papers are from Echo Park For the Record 2.  Look closely at the red patterned paper- the hearts are an image from the set and that image lends itself to all kinds of fun background building.  I also selectively inked and added a heart to the end of the "you are" script.



Second up is a CAS and punny card I made by combining Fresh Blooms, Little Bear and Kindness Matters.
First, I stamped the swirl and the hive.  Next I selectively inked one of the larger sentiments from the set.  I was really after the word "kind."  I find that my Memento Drop inks work super well for this.  Next, I stamped "BE," cleaned the stamp and inked up and stamped just the "E" so "BE" becomes "BEE."  I stamped the bee trio and colored in the images with markers.

Please be sure to stop by the Neat & Tangled blog to check out all the other great projects using this set. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Neat and Tangled New Release Celebration- Do Not Open

Good morning friends!

Neat and Tangled is releasing 5 new sets tomorrow morning, and today, I am sharing a little gem with you called Do Not Open.  I used this set to whip up a couple tags that are the perfect addition to your holiday gifts for those who need a little reminder that patience is a virtue. (I am looking at you Paige and Sophie!)




One of my favorite things about making tags is that they can literally be made from scraps as both of these examples were.  These tags also came together so quickly as Danielle thoughtfully designed the circle portion of the image to coordinate with a 1.5" circle punch making this set a perfect choice if you have many gifts under the tree that need tagging.

If you haven't already, be sure to to stop over at the Neat and Tangled blog to check out all the other amazing projects.  You can also leave a comment on the Neat and Tangles blog for a chance to win a set of your choice.  Also if you see something you like, it will be available for order on Friday, October 5th at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.

I will be back tomorrow to share some projects with one more set. See you then!

Thanks for stopping by!