Just Because

Time to Pile It On, Just Because.  This week the challenge theme at Pile It On is "Just Because"  Our sponsor is Nikki Silvils, the designer of this cute scrapbook paper kit. 
This card was super easy to make, and if you're like my buddy Pam it's right up your alley.  Pam would loves to fussy cut while she's watching a Yankee game.  The beaver is cut out and popped up from a page that contains medallions and designs, the back is a sheet that coordinates with the other papers, which like the two used here are cute as can be for your fall cards or scrap pages.

Here's the deets:
stamp - no stamp, the image is cut from the papers
ink - no ink - the sentiment is from the alphabet stickers
paper - Nikki Sivils
miscellaneous - gel pen for faux stitching; twill ribbon; leaf charm' pin

Here's the challenges:
Pile It On #41- Just Because
Sweet Stampin' - In Stitches
Raise the Bar #78 - Furry Friends
Totally Papercrafts #87 - Animals
One Story Crafts #152- Anything Goes
Delightful Inspiration - Falling Leaves 
Paper Play week 40 - Autumn colors
Moving Along With the Times #119 -  Autumn Leaves
Paper Variety - Forest Friends
Fussy and Fancy - Fall or Halloween

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again.  Now, stop over to the Pile It On challenge blog to see what the rest of the design team created and to get all the details on this week's challenge.

Check It Out

Check it Out!  That's what the Cuddly Buddly challenge #15 wants you to do.  Use checks, plaid or tartan patterns.  That challenge got me thinking of some Graphic 45 Christmas paper in my stash.  Yeah!  another Christmas card done.

Did you know that there are free digi images available at Cuddly Buddly.  I can't think of a better deal than that.  Click here to find out the details.  I checked it out and was amazed.  Go to the shop and click on the "Instant Downloads" menu.   Click to list the images by price and you can view all the free ones.  I clicked on the last page and made my way backwards from there.  There's several pages filled with a variety of images.  If you haven't made your Christmas cards take a look to see what's available.  I picked up a couple Easter images too.  Go on a spree, you can't go wrong at these prices. 

After you've picked up some great new images why not use one to make a card or project for the "Check It Out" challenge.  Who knows, maybe you'll win and then you can get even more images. You don't have to use Cuddly Buddly images to play along with us but we'd sure love to see what you do with them.

Here's the deets:
stamp - Cuddly Buddly "Xmas Lights"
ink - hp printer; Ranger "Scattered Straw
paper -  Georgia Pacific white cs; Recollections red card base; Graphics 45 "Christmas Past" Collection; Bazzill "Beeswax" cs; DCWV green cs
miscellaneous - copics; Nesties circle and inverted scalloped circle dies; Hero Arts Snowflake bling; Crystazzi gold bling; red silk ribbon; burlap twine; ornament charm; sewing machine; glaze pen


Here's the challenges:
Cuddly Buddly #15 - Check It Out
Simon Says - Sparkle and Bling
Cutie Pie #2 - Bingo (charm, something with wings, ribbon or lace)
Crafts and Me #55 - Use a Digi
Cardmad Fairy #17 - Too Early for Christmas
Thanks for visiting, please come back again.  I hope you'll find time to play along with us in the "Check It Out Challenge" at Cuddly Buddly.

Boo!

I think that pumpkin charm is darling

Don't be frightened, it's just time for Stampin' for the Weekend's challenge which is the "Colors of Autumn".  It doesn't get much easier than that.  You can make any kind of card or paper craft you wish, just use fall colors.

You can get lots more inspiration from the rest of this very talented design team by clicking here.  All the details as well as a linky thingy will be there.

For my card I used a Teddy Bo image.  I picked this one because not that long ago I wore a pumpkin costume just like it.  That year I took a holiday but went into the office with my daughter.  I wish I knew where those photos are, I would put one in this post. 

don't forget the inside

Here's the deets:
stamp - Teddy Bo "Pumpkin Bo"
ink - hp printer
paper - Georgia Pacific white cs; Bazzill "Intense Kiwi" and "Tangelo" cs; My Mind's Eye "Blackbird" dp
miscellaneous - copics; candy dots; Queen and Co. gold rhinestones; baker's twine; pumpkin charm; stickles; Ranger glossy accents (doesn't show in the photo - it's on the candy in his bag)


Here's the challenges:
Stampin' for the Weekend #18 - the Colors of Autumn
Teddy Bo - My Favorite Colors

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again.  Now it's time for you to create something using the colors of Autumn.  Don't forget to link it up at Stampin' for the Weekend.  We love to see what you create.

Delicious Doodles

One of the most fun things you can ever get to do is be a guest design team member.  This week I have the honor of being a guest designer for Do You Stack Up.  The theme for the challenge is "Brown".   The sponsor Delicious Doodles supplied this pretty image.  Since I didn't plan on using brown on the image I went through my stash to find some dp that fit the theme and found some that I thought worked really well.  I hope you'll take some time to stop over at the Do You Stack Up challenge blog and find some time to play along with us.

We applied to adopt a puppy and said we would be willing to complete the vet care that was scheduled. What we didn't plan on was our daughter getting sick and needing surgery just as we were getting the pup.  Fortunately Liddy came through the surgery with flying colors but is going to need a long time for healing.  The puppy goes for surgery tomorrow.  So you can imagine it's a little hectic here and why I need to finish up this post quickly.

don't forget the inside

Here's the deets:
stamp - Delicious Doodles "Sniffing Daisies"
ink - hp printer
paper - Pebbles "L'il Miss Collection"; Rubber Soul "Garden Variety" collection; Stampin' Up "Soft Suede"; Bazzill "Frosted Teal" and "Maraschino"
miscellaneous - copics; candy dots; powder blue pearls; lace; burlap twine; flower pot charm; Taylored Expressions die; sewing machine









Here's the challenges:
Do You Stack Up - Brown
Fab N Funky #93 - die cut and/or punches
Crafts and Me #55 - Use a Digi

Thanks for stopping by, i hope you come back again. 

A great big thanks to Do You Stack Up for picking me to be a guest Designer.  Pop on over and join in the fun with this week's "Brown" challenge.

Cornucopia




This looks like something I would sink my teeth into so could somebody make a dozen of these and bring to my house for Thanksgiving dinner?  On second thought bring them tomorrow, I'll get pie for Thanksgiving.

This gorgeous cuppies is the inspiration photo for Cupcakes Inspirations challenge CIC130.  So this week the challenge is a piece of cake, well, cupcake. 











This week the sponsor is Doodle Pantry and I think this cornucopia is gorgeous and I loved coloring it.  This image comes in a set with 3 sentiments and another image.   

To get some more inspiration, you can see what the rest of the design team made and find the linky thingy over at Cupcake Inspirations blog.   We'd love to have you play along with us.

don't forget the inside

Here's the deets:
stamp - Doodle Pantry "Let Us Be Thankful"
ink - hp printer
paper - Georgia Pacific white cs; Bazzill "Parakeet" and "Glow" cs; Jillibean Soup "Dutch Mustard" dp
miscellaneous - copics; brads, burlap twine, leaf buttons; sewing machine




Here's the challenges:
Cupcake Inspirations CIC130 - photo
Tuesday Morning Sketches #113 - sketch
Totally Papercrafts #86 - Autumn
Friday Mash Up - Fall theme and/or brads, lots and lots of brads (I used four, that may or may not be lots and lots depending on your point of view)
Crafting for All Seasons - CH#10 - Fall Colors
Freshly Brewed FBC66 - Fall, Autumn

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again.

Everyone at Cupcake Inspirations would love to have you play along with us, so get cracking on a card inspired by that gorgeous cupcake.  Don't forget to link it up here.

Fast and Easy

Sentiment as focal point cards are fast and easy.  With the right paper and a few embellishments they look like a million bucks.  There are lots of places you can find inspiration.  This card was inspired by a card I saw on the Sharon Johnson's No Time To Stamp blog.  If you're stumped or your mojo's gone on walk about, that's a good place to poke around.

Here's the deets:
stamp - Pape Pretties "Birthday Sentiments"
ink - Stampin' Up "Always Artichoke"
paper - Stampin' Up "Kraft" cs; K & Co "Life's Journey" dp
miscellaneous - pleated ribbon; lace; Webster's Pages Silhouette (the cameo); sewing machine; brads




Here's the challenges:
Paper Pretties PWC173 - Use a Sentiment as a focal point
Southern Girls #28 - Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations #137 - CAS
Simon Says - Anything Goes
Top Tip #53 - 2 or More ribbons, twine, lace, fabric
Truly Scrumptious #66 - Clean and Simple
Paper Sundaes #88 - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again.  By the way, unless you've been on a desert island for the last 20 years you know that October is breast cancer awareness month.  One of the easiest things you can do to help the fight is to click on the pink ribbon at the top of my sidebar.  It's a good thing.

FIGHT LIKE A GIRL

Fall Birthday

This week at Cooking It Up With Katie challenge #77 is to punch, include a pocket and a pair of something. 

This week our sponsor is Digital Delights. There's some really adorable Halloween images. If you like to stamp but don't like to color you're in luck, some of the images are already colored for you. For me, that's half the fun of making a card but it is time consuming. If I needed to make several cards (like Halloween party invitations) the already colored images would be a great help.

The pocket on my card was drawn freehand and is supposed to look like a pants pocket.  I'm not sure if I succeeded. 

The Stampin' Up library clip holds a bill sticking out of the top of the pocket. That the pocket is deep so the clip ensures the bill won't get lost.  .

The punches are Stampin' Up's oval and scalloped oval for the sentiment and there is a pair of buttons, one on each side of the sentiment, as well as a pair of brads on the pocket. 

Here's the deets:
stamp - Digital Delights
ink - Bic Marker for sentiment, hp printer
paper - Paper Pizzazz leave print; Recollections Printed Scrapbook Paper (olive with polka dots); Nicole orange cs; the Paper Cut "Red Hot" cs
miscellaneous - copics; mini brads; Stampin' Up oval and scalloped oval punch; buttons; burlap twine; sewing machine; Stampin Up library clip

Here's the challenges:
Cooking It Up With Katie #77 - punch, pocket, pair of something
Corrosive #133 - Punches and/or dies
Stamps R Us -  Operation Write Home Birthday challenge (no glitter)
Paper Play week 38- Autumn Leaves
Paper Cutz #110 - Button Up for Fall
Crafty Sentiments - Happy Birthday

Thankf for stopping by, I can't put into words how grateful I am that you visit and leave comments.  I hope you'll take the time to play along with us at Cooking It Up With Katie.  We all love to see what you do with the recipe.

A Couple of Cuties

That's the name of the stamp set for this image.  It's a perfect name.  There's another stamp in the set I can't wait to get inky so if you like this stamp stop back.  Hopefully I'll use it soon.  Of course if you ever saw the list of stamps I want to use you'd be right to think I'll never get to them, the stinking problem is that all these stamp companies just keep making more and more must have stamps.  If there's ever a shortage of new and appealing goodies I just might catch up.  Sound familiar?

Here's the deets:

stamp - Crafty Secrets "A Couple of Cuties"

ink - Memento "Rich Cocoa"

paper - Bazzill "Pinecone", "Beeswax" and "Parakeet"; Jillibean Soup "Dutch Mustard" dp

miscellaneous - copics; silk ribbon, burlap twine; heart charm; Nesties oval and scalloped oval dies; brads

Here's the challenges:

Paper Players PP65 - sketch

One Stitch at a Time - Favorites (I love charms, they are  my favorite embellie)

the Squirrel and the Fox #1 - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz  #101 - Autumn

Sew Many #69 - Ovals

Really Reasonable Ribbon #32 - Autumn theme

Sugar Creek Hollow - Vintage Children (I know they're driving a car but they're little kids, they remind me of the Campbell soup kids - maybe they hot wired one of their parents cars)

Tuesday Throwdown #68 - Fall

Crafting for All Seasons #110 - Fall Colors

4 Crafty Chicks - Fall/Autumn

Delightful Challenges - Happy Fall Y'All

Digi Doodles #76 - Autumn Colors

Thanks for stopping by, I do hope you'll come back again.

Rip Roaring Good Time

the ticket Christmas sentiments and 25 printed on it

Seems like a lifetime ago when a rip roaring good time usually entailed too much liquor, dancing (on the bar?), meeting the most adorable guy (son of Frankenstein), pledging your never ending love to anyone within ear shot and ending with a hangover that made you swear you'd never drink again.  At least you thought that was where it ended till you went back to the bar and people start telling you things you did the last time they saw you and you have no idea who they are and no recollection of those exploits.  But I digress...

Making a beachy Christmas card is what's a rip roaring good time as you near the golden years...

Here's the deets:
stamp - My Favorite Things "The Beach"
ink - Memento "Rich Cocoa", Ranger "Tea Dye" and "Scattered Straw"
paper - Stampin' Up "Kraft" cs; Graphic 45 Christmas Past collection; Neenah Classic Crest Natural White card stock
miscellaneous - MFT ribbon; burlap twine; snowflake charm; Christmas ticket

Here's the challenges:
My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club MFTWSC38 - sketch
One Stitch at a Time #81 - Favorites (charm)
2 Sisters #58 - Gingham or Plaid
Polka Doodles #38 - Distress It

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you come back again.

Triangle Star Card

This is a fold I've wanted to try for a long time, ever since I saw it on Stamp Owl's (Frances Byrne's) blog.  So when the Pile It On Challenge called for a fancy fold it was time for me to make a triangle star card.  I used Frances' tutorial which you can find here.

It's actually pretty easy.

Because I put some ribbon rose on the inside the card didn't want to stay closed, so I stuck a piece of velcro to the bottom of the star. 

Here's the deets:

stamp - the Cat's Pajamas "Shine Brightly"

ink - Stampin' Up "Brocade Blue"

paper - Best Occasions light blue cardstock; Stampin' Up "Bella Bleu" dsp

miscellaneous - Nesties "circle and lacey circle" die; Stampin' Up oval and scalloped oval punches; the Cat's Pajamas "ocean" seam binding; Basic Grey pearls

Here's the challenges:

Pile It On #39 - Fancy Folds

the Cat's Pajamas TCPTUES177 - Create Roses with Seam Binding

Stampin' B #129 - Use 2 or more Spellbinders

Card Makin' Mamas #29- Get Punchy

Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes

Southern Girls #28 - Anything Goes

Simon Says - Use Dies and/or Punches

Going Grey with Scrap Creations - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll play along with the Pile It On challenge and make a card with a fancy fold. 

Shaped Card

It's time for another fabulous Cupcake Inspiration.  Boy do I love this cake that's topped with a cupcake.  The colors are so soft and feminine.  It looks divine, another cake I couldn't bring myself to cut but I wonder what's under the fondant.  Is it a chocolate cake or a yellow cake?  Is there fruit or lemon between the layers.  Fortunately you don't need to know what's on the inside to be inspired and if you need a little jump start there's plenty to see on the Cupcake Inspiration challenge blog.  The design team has been busy making cards for your viewing pleasure. 

This week the challenge is sponsored by Stamp Fairy.  My card is made with one of the freebies on the site.  If you've never tried using a digi before, this is a great way to find out if you'd like it.  You can choose from 10 images.  



I was inspired by the top layer of the cake.  I made a card shaped like a cupcake and used the colors of the top layer when I made it.  A cupcake is a pretty simple shape to make.  I took a piece of plain paper and cut it the size of an A2 card, then rough sketched the shape of a cupcake, making sure to have a part of the icing area be on the card fold.  Trace it or affix your pattern to your card base with a removable tape then cut it out.  Then cut the "icing" portion off of the pattern and do the same thing to cut out a piece of white card stock. The "icing" was fancied up  with an embossing folder and glitter.

To make the card a little more interesting I used the paper tole technique and made three layers of the image.  The bottom layer is the entire image.  For the middle layer the heart and halo are cut off.  The top layer is the head.   The close up is supposed to show you the three layers but it isn't the best photo I've ever taken.

Here's the deets:
stamp - Stamp Fairy Freebie digi
ink - hp printer
paper - The Paper Cut "Sno Cone", "Sweet Tooth" and "Red Hot" card stock
miscellaneous - copics; Spellbinder's oval, scalloped oval and cherry dies; Kaisercraft pearls; embossing folder; glitzy glitter

Here's the challenges:
Cupcake Inspirations CIC129 - photo
Raise the Bar #76 - Things with Wings 
Stampin' B #129 - Use 2 or more Spellbinders
Speedy the Cat's Friends week 74 - Things with Wings
Top Tip #51 - For the Kids

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you'll play along with us at the Cupcake Inspiration challenge. 

Leftovers

It's time for another Cuddly Buddly challenge.  Have you been on pins and needles waiting for it.   Well, I have. The challenge is to add a big number or letter to your creation.  I've had this idea to make a gift bag racing through my brain for a couple weeks.  The planning, the gathering, the putting it together.  I don't think I put as much thought into planning my wedding.

The planning of this bag brings me to this next little story.  When you go out to restaurants are you at best an odd duck or worse an embarassment to your family and friends.  Crafters are always thinking about making things.  For me it's like a never ending ticker tape passing thru my head.  I'm always finding inspiration in weird places, always on the look out for materials.  So last weekend hubby and I are out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant and we have leftovers.  Our waitress came to the table with the fun box and a brown paper bag.  Well, the bells are going off in my head, I needed one for this project so I asked the waitress if I could have another bag.  The way she looked at me I knew she was wondering if she was translating what I said correctly or what else I could have meant and my hubby is making the "what the heck do you want a second bag for" face.  I explained that I wanted to make something and I got another bag.  After we got home I found hubby had placed both the bags on my desk and I couldn't tell which one was the unused one.  Oh well, go figure, if I hadn't asked for a second one you know that toting bag would have had lots of grease spots on it.  But I digress...

For my project I used the "Eline's Digi Set - Baby Girl's Bath & Bedtime".  Talk about getting a lot of bang for your buck, well this is it.  There are 25 cute as pie images and five patterned papers.  If you're a pink kind of girl this set is worth it just for the papers.  You download them once and you can use them forever.  I can always use the gingham check and the polka dots.  If you've visited here often you know how much I use and love pink.  Oh, but you need to make a bag for a baby boy, no problem she's got little boy collections too and yes, there's a collection for when you don't know if it'll be a boy or girl.

The big letter on the bag is from a set of rub-ons.  After putting it on white card stock I cut it out and then mounted it ontolight pink cardstock cut it out and then repeated on dark pink cardstock.  It doesn't show that well in the photo but in real life all those layers look great. 

How about a couple tips?  If you decorate a bag when you set it out pay attention to which side the seam is on.  Don't ask me how I know and don't go taking any close looks at my photo.  It's not enough to ruin your work if you use the wrong side but a seamless side looks better.  In addition to the seam, there's usually a manufacturers mark on the bag which may or may not show when you fold the top down, so be prepared to cover it.  Also if the bag's edge isn't very nice you will want to use a die cut on it.  Border punches don't work so well, been there done that and had to die cut it afterwards.  The ribbon isn't just a decoration, it's attached by several glue dot to the back of the bag.  You could punch holes or slots to wind yiour ribbon through.  Whatever works for you.  The bag that inspired me used ribbon through slots.  You can see it in the July/August 2011 Papercrafts magazine on page 28.  But with that bag you have to put your gift inside and staple it closed, with the ribbon affixed to back you can open and close the bag over and over again which means the recipient can open it without ruining it and afterwards put it out on display and have it be functional. 

Here's the deets:
stamp and paper- Cuddly Buddly "Eline's digi set - Baby Girl's Bed & Bathtime"; scraps of pinks and white cs
ink - hp printer
miscellaneous - gingham brads; rub on letter; Doodlebug buttons; pink Candy Dots; pink glaze pen; MFT die-namincs "large scallop" and "large scallopey scallop" border dies, mini brads, ribbon

Here's the challenges:
Cuddly Buddly - Add a big letter or number to your project
Top Tip #51 - 1 for the kids
Simon Says - Dies to die for
Ruby's Rainbow C#12- For the girls
Creative Card Crew - Babies
Picture Perfect Creations Specialty Challenge  #10 - Use 3 designer papers

Thanks for stopping by, I hope I've inspired you to play along with us at the Cuddly Buddly challenge to add a big letter or number to your project.  You don't have to use Cuddly Buddly products to play along, but if you've got them we'd love to see what you create with them.  By the way, did you know there's some free digi images available, well, now you do.

What a Cutie!

What a Cutie!  How's that for a challenge theme?  The possiblilities are endless so you have no excuse to not play in this week's Stampin' for the Weekend #17 challenge.  This week we have a sponsor.  It's Wee Stamps
and boy oh boy are these cute.  You have to stop over to the SFTW blog to see what the rest of the design team has created.  Those ladies blow me away, they just get better and better. 

Sometimes less is more.  There's only one piece of dp on this card, one stamped image ,one mat, one big old bow and one flower.  There's four candy dots and four pieces of bling.  It's not a clean and simple card but there's not much to it.  The dp had nice big floral motifs in caty corners.  One is on the face and the other is on the inside.  To show off the design it made sense not to over layer papers and the big old bow is covering the plain area of the paper.  The color combination is one of my favorites, it works so well when you want a pretty feminine look. 

Here's the deets:
stamp - Wee Stamps "Wee Suzi"
ink - hp printer
paper - Stampin' Up "Certainly Celery"; Crafty Secrets "Heartwarming Vintage Collection
miscellaneous - copics; candy dots; prima flower; ribbon; sewing machine

Here's the challenges:
Stampin' For the Weekend #17 - What a Cutie
the Pink Elephant TPE117 - photo inspiration
Digital Tuesday #129 - People Images


Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll find some time to play along with us at Stampin' for the Weekend.  You should pop over there to see what the rest of the design team made.  There are some real cuties there.

My Fall

I've been reading lots of posts about the cooler weather and the changing leaves but it was 95 degrees here today.  At the moment it's pouring and temp may have dropped about 10 degrees but an hour from now the sun will be back out and the temp will go back up.  So if you're the type who lives for the changing seasons and the cool crisp autumn air, well, Florida is just not for you.  The changing leaves is a glorious site but I'm happy to trade that for the palm trees.  There are so many different types it's amazing.  So these days I'm getting my doze of fall colors from crafts. 

Knickers are one of those fashion items that pop up once in a blue moon but never seem to catch on.  I've owned a couple pairs in my younger days but as I recall they weren't very flattering. But golfers are a different breed of people.  Golf attire is a bizarre mess.  There are things that people wear to play golf that could never be worn to any other function,  Who comes up with those golf outfits anyway.  I'd rather see golfers wearing these knickers than some of the wacky things Ive seen in the stores.  Since I haven't taken up the sport I don't make it onto the greens, but I do drive around here and see golf courses everywhere.   In these parts it's almost a crime if you don't play golf.  But I digress...

don't forget the inside

Here's the deets:
stamp - Crafty Secrets "Golf Time"
ink - Memento "Rich Cocoa" and Stampin' Up "Always Artichoke" marker for sentiment
paper - Recollections Kraft card base; We R Memory Keepers "Autumn Leaf" and "Tawny" dp; Bazzill "Tangelo", "Almond Cream" and "Parakeet" cs; Neenah Classic Crest Natural White cs
miscellaneous: copics; MFT "Solid Brackets" die-namics; Recollections leaf brads; regular and mini brads; button; golf bag charm; burlap twine; sewing machine

Here's the challenges:
Partytime Tuesday PTT#34 - sketch
Pile It On #38 - the Colors of Fall
Tuesday Throwdown #67 - Fall
Paper Pretties PWC172 - Use Fall as your Inspiration
Crazy CCH#85 - Men Only
Critter Challenge - recipe:  1 image, 2 dp, 3 embellishments (brads, button, charm) and 1 sentiment
Dream Valley #16- Buttons
the Kraft Journal Make It Monday - Welcome Fall
Kaboodle Doodle #85 - Lots of Layers
Raise the Bar #75 - Leave Summer
CES#5 - Embellish Me More (at least 4 different types of embellies)
Fairytale #24 - Sports
Friday Mash Up #24 - Autumn theme or Yellow and Orange or both
Sugar Creek Hollow - Fancy Borders

Well, I just piled on the challenges and if you like to do that too then play along with us at Pile It On.  But you don't have to find lots of challenges, just the Pile It On challenge (this week the Colors of Fall is the theme) and one other challenge and you're in like Flynn.  We'd love to see what you create and we're always looking to see what challenges you've found to add to our lists.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again. 

Homecoming Dance

can you read the banner - it says "fall fling"

Do you swap?  If you're interested there's a forum on Splitcoast Stampers there's a forum for swaps.  This card is for Kate (celestial-stamper) annual Halloween swap.  This particular swap is closed, the cards are due any day now but Kate's usually got some swap going and there's usually a fun thread of yakking to follow with some fun trivia type quizzes. 

It was difficult to decide between a cutesy or a dark motif, and as you can see the dark side won out.  It's hard to see the dp on the card face since the image and embellies cover so much of it but in the pic of the inside you can see the graveyard easier. 

It struck me that these kiddies are all dressed up for a dance which put me in mind of a "fall fling".  So hopefully you're getting the idea that the graveyard is all tricked out for dance.



These kiddies (I think they're adorable, does that make me weird?) are Bowtie and Mink.  They're Daniel Torrence images.  When I colored them I used some pale greens, lavenders and grey on the face of Bowtie.  He doesn't strike me as the type to have a peaches and cream complexion.



 On the other hand Mink is partial to pink so there's just a very slight undertone of green which barely shows except on her eyelids where I used a darker shade because Mink thinks that the green eyeshadow really plays up her hair.  I think she's right

. 
Mink wore her best skirt for the dance.  It's purple, her second favorite color, which goes so well with her favorite pink.  The skirt has lots of bling on it, because the fall fling is a semi-formal dance.

The banners are dressed up with red stickles in the hopes of looking like blood and there's a spider hanging of the banner just because.  I couldn't resist adding the cockroach ribbon once again - just because.

don't forget the inside

Here's the deets:
stamps - Stampotique Daniel Torrence "Bowtie" and "Mink"; Taylored Expressions "Pennat a la Carte"; Crafty Secrets (spider web) "Halloween Fun"  unknown alphabet stamps for banner
ink - Memento "Tuxedo Black"; Studio G red, green and lavender for banner
paper - Recollections Neutrals card base; Bazzil "tangelo" cs; Moxxie "Midnight Dreary - Tomb It May Concern" dp
miscellaneous - copics, Taylored Expressions tiny twinkles and pennant die; twine, ribbon, stickles; stapler; EK Success "Graveyard" border punch

Here's the challenges:
Creatalicious #26 - Anything Goes
Really Reasonable Ribbon - #32 - Autumn theme (cockroach ribbon)
Catch the Bug - Let's Create a Scene
CES #5 - Embellish Me More (at least three different types)
Corrosive #133 - punches and/or dies
Sew Many #68 - Halloween
Fab 'N' Funky #90 - bingo (embellie, ribbon and die cut)

Cupcake Inspiration Time

CIC128

Could you eat something this pretty?  Well I'm more of a butter cream fan so I could probably just marvel at how pretty this one is but give me a birthday cake with those big old fluffy roses on the corner and I'm in trouble.  I don't think it would last long enough to give me any inspiration.  But this lovely cuppie which just happens to be this week's Cupcake Inspirations challenge put me in the mind of a cute Mo Manning stamp I happened to have just waiting for a chance to get inky.

can you see the butterfly charm?  click on the photo
to enlarge it

This week our sponsor is Amber Ink (because your brilliant, not patient).  Lots of fun stuff to be had there and some of it is digital for those of us who are not patient. 
Stop over at the Cupcake Inspirations challenge blog to see how the rest of the design team has been inspired, to find out what the prize is, check out the rules and most importantly to link up your creation.  You can find it all by clicking here.


Here's the deets:
stamp - Mo Manning "Birthday Fairy Lee"
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
paper - the Paper Cut "Pink Lemonade" cs; Stampin' Up "Kraft" cs;
S.E.I. "Chocolat" dp 
miscellaneous - copics; ribbon, pink burlap twine; butterfly charm; brads; pink pearls; stickles; glaze pen; stickles; sewing machine





Here's the challenges:

don't forget the inside

Cupcake Inspirations CIC128 - photo
Crafty Cutz #100 - sketch
Moving Along With The Times #116 - Sparkle
Delightful - Girly Girl
Cute Card Thursday #182 - Anything Goes
Truly Scrumptious #65 - decorate the inside
Paper Shelter #31 - Fairy and Elves
Fab 'n' Funky #90 - bingo (stamp, 3 dp, die cut)
Crafting for All Seasons #9 - Birthday
Ruby's Rainbow #12 - For the Girls
Papertake Weekly - Things with Wings
Magical Monday - Anything Goes
Kraft Journal - Use a Sketch
Top Tip #51 - Birthday Time

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again.  No go get busy making a card inspired by that beautiful cupcake.  Don't forget to link it up on the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge blog.

Better Late

Than never.  I'm not quite myself the last couple days.  Hopefully things are getting back on track.

This card is for Wednesday's Cooking It Up With Katie challenge.#75 "A Group of Green Girls".  Are you new to Katie's challenge?  Well every week Katie gives you a recipe, this week it's:
Start with a Girl (or something Girlie)
Add a little (or a lot) of Green
Include a Group (more than 2 of the same thing).
This week the challenge is sponsored by Sassy Studio Designs.

Sorry, I don't have a photo of the inside and I don't know the who made the pirate map paper, it's been in my stash forever as if it were waiting for this image.  It's probably left over from years ago when my daughter was a pirate for Halloween.  The strips of dp on the crossbars are from Basic Grey's "Origins" and that great deep dark green cs is from Stampin' Up.  For the groups I used three bows, three crossbars and three pearls, it's always easy to ass three embellies to a card.  For the girl, I used the Sassy Pirate.  Here's what I like about the girls at Sassy.  They're fun to color, they're sassy and a little sexy without being thrashy.  There are also images of men, images of couples, and images of heroines from books ans movies.  Go take a look and then get busy making a card so you can have a chance to win a Sassy prize. 

Here's the deets:
stamp - Sassy Studio Designs - Once Upon a Time - Pirate Penny
ink - hp printer
paper - pirate map (unknown); Stampin' Up "Handsome Hunter" and "Certainly Celery"; Basic Grey "Origins" dp
miscellaneous - copics; Queen and Co pearls; burlap twine; Blue Moon key charm

Here's the challenges:
Cooking It Up With Katie #75 - A Group of Green Girls
Partytime Tuesday PTT#33 - Ribbon, trim and fibers oh my
Tuesday Throwdown #66 - Pearls
L'il Red Wagon - Use Twine
Pile It On #37 - Layer It On

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again.  Now go visit Katie's challenge, check out what the rest of the DT has created, maybe even leave them a little love.  You can get all the challenge details and find the linky thingy there.