ColourQ #122

This is my third post of the day.  Please scroll down to see my 12 Kits of Christmas post and my card for Cath!

Happy Tuesday, ColourQ fans!  Are you ready for a "love"ly color combo?  I couldn't resist inking up some sweet little hearts with this palette:

I stamped a grid of polka dotted hearts using a darling little stamp from DeNami Designs in Regal Rose on a white cardstock panel.

Next I cut a strip of black cardstock and heat embossed white hearts across it.  I stamped the heart one more time in Versarmark onto red cardstock and added a "love" sentiment, also from DeNami, then cut it out by hand and attached it with foam tape.

I finished off the card with some Maraschino baker's twine and one of PTI's Tiny Tags.

FYI:  This cutie measures just 4 1/4 inches square, if you're curious about the scale of the stamps.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Kraft, True Black, Pure Poppy, White)

Stamps:  DeNami Designs (Hearts Petit Fours stamp set, Heartfelt Greetings Petit Fours stamp set), Papertrey Ink (Tiny Tags)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Regal Rose), Inkadinkadoo (Black), Tsukineko (Versamark)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (tag die)

Accessories:  The Twinery (baker's twine), Filigree (embossing powder)

Won't you join us this week?  I can't wait to see your designs in the ColourQ gallery!

Thanks for stopping by again today!  Have a good one!

The 12 Kits of Christmas--Month One

This is my second post of the day.  Please scroll down to see my card for the Blog Hop for Cath!

Edited to add:  Renee is generously offering up some blog candy to one lucky commenter!  Be sure to see her post for more details, and leave comments on all of the designers' blogs to increase your chances of winning!

Hello friends!  I'm back with my second post of the day, and it's another special one!  I'm so excited to introduce you to a new group that I'm delighted to be a part of, The 12 Kits of Christmas.

The idea behind this monthly challenge came from fellow stampers Renee Lynch and Suzanne Dahlberg, who were looking for a way to get their holiday cards done in a more timely fashion.  They invited 10 more crafters to join them in a monthly challenge to do just that.

Each month one of us sends a kit of holiday card-making supplies to the rest of the participants.  At the end of the month, we will all post our creations on our blogs.  Hopefully you'll be inspired to get some of your Christmas cards done throughout the year, or even adapt the designs to use for other occasions.

This month's kit was provided by Renee Lynch, and let me just say that she was incredibly generous with the supplies!  Our kits were jam-packed with die cuts, stamped sentiments, patterned papers, gorgeous ribbons, buttons, bells, and pearls.  Here's a peek at the contents:

I had so much fun working with these goodies!  I have 5 cards to share with you today.

I was first drawn to the amazing die cut windows and wanted to make a couple of cards using those.  The first one has a view from outside looking in at a Christmas tree.  I used lots of foam tape to pop up the layers and added some scored lines on the card base to resemble the siding on a house.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy, Simply Chartreuse, Smokey Shadow, White)

Stamp:  Waltzingmouse (2011 Holiday Ornaments)

Tools:  Poppystamps (Grand Madison Window die), Cheery Lynn (O Tannenbaum Christmas Tree die), Papertrey Ink (Double Ended Banner die, Diamonds impression plate), scoring board

Accessories:  Ranger (silver Stickles), Michaels (silver pearls)

For the next card, I wanted to show a scene looking out of a window.  It uses die cuts from PTI's In the Meadow, embossed cardstock to resemble snow, and some gorgeous baker's twine.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Spring Moss, Pure Poppy, True Black, White)

Stamp: Waltzingmouse (Compliments of the Season)

Tools:  Poppystamps (Grand Madison Window die), Papertrey Ink (In the Meadow dies, Woodgrain impression plate), McGill (tag punch), polka dot embossing folder

Accessories:  baker's twine

My next card uses some of the patterned paper Renee provided, from October Afternoon's Holiday Style.  I couldn't resist using the sentiment from Waltzingmouse's Compliments of the Season with some silver jingle bells.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (True Black, Pure Poppy, White)

Patterned paper:  October Afternoon (Holiday Style)

Stamp:  Waltzingmouse (Compliments of the Season)

Ink:  Papertrey Ink (Chamomile Tea Dye), black

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Mat Stack 4 die, Sheet Music impression plate, Holiday Photo Finishers die), Spellbinders (oval die), corner rounder

Accessories:  ivory seam binding, silver bells

I wanted to make a really simple card to highlight the horse-drawn sleigh from PTI's In the Meadow, so I layered the snow banks with foam tape on an Aqua Mist card base, added a sentiment banner, and adhered two die cut stars from Memory Box's Star of Wonder.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist, True Black, White)

Stamp:  Waltzingmouse (2011 Holiday Ornaments)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (In the Meadow dies, Double Ended Banner die), Memory Box (Star of Wonder die)

Accessories:  red pearls

For the last card, I decided to CASE a design from Paper Crafts' Holiday Cards & More Vol. 6.  Right next to my card in this issue (on page 41), Veronica Zalis had a beautiful card made from patterned paper strips on a kraft base, and I just loved the mix and match look.  I added some red seam binding and a wooden button to my version.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Kraft, White0

Patterned paper:  October Afternoon (Holiday Style)

Stamp:  Waltzingmouse (Say it with Style)

Ink:  Papertrey Ink (Chamomile Tea Dye), red

Tools:  EK Success (border punch)

Accessories:  wood button, red seam binding, DMC floss, thread

Ready for more?  Here are links to the rest of the 12 Kits of Christmas team:

Suzanne:  The Card Yard

Cathy: EmptyNestCrafter

Joyce: Cards-by-the-Sea

Kim: CupcakesCardsandKim

Amy: Stamp-n-Paradise

Kara: KandRDesigns

Sharron: OnPapillionWings

Marybeth: Marybeth's Time for Paper

Jeanne: AKeptLife

Jessica: The Paper Parade

Renee: ItsAPatchworkLife

I can't wait to hop around and see what they've made!

Thanks for visiting!  I'll be back later today with a new ColourQ palette!

For Cath (sans CHA) with Love Blog Hop, CAS-ual Fridays #37, & CR84FN47

Hello, crafty peeps!  Are you ready for a mega-fun blog hop in honor of Miss Moxie Fab herself, Cath Edvalson?

The idea for this hop came from talented crafters Lorena Canto and Virginia Lu, and there are dozens of amazing designers participating!  Cath recently shared the news on the Moxie Fab World blog that she would be unable to attend CHA this year due to severe pain in her shoulder.  To wish her a speedy recovery and thank her for keeping us up-to-date on all things trendy, we're sending her well wishes with some creations just for her!

I was also inspired by the sketch this week at CAS-ual Fridays and the sweet colors at CR84FN.

One of my go-to sets lately has been PTI's Faux Ribbon.  I used it on this card to stamp rows of circles in Real Red, Regal Rose, and Pool Party.  I added a Pure Poppy felt flower with a button center and a Tiny Tag stamped with the sentiment "feel better".

The eyelet border is CASEd from my friend Karen Baker's design for CAS-ual Fridays this week--I knew it would be perfect with these circles.

The Aqua Mist panel is debossed with PTI's argyle impression plate, which I thought was a fun contrast to the circular elements.

All supplies from Papertrey Ink unless noted

Cardstock:  Aqua Mist, White

Stamps:  Faux Ribbon, Tiny Tags

Ink:  Real Red, Regal Rose, Pool Party (Stampin' Up!), Versamark (Tsukineko)

Tools:  Argyle impression plate, Tiny Tags die, Beautiful Blooms dies, Eyelet border die

Accessories:  Pure Poppy felt, Aqua Mist button, DMC floss, thread

To see the rest of the cards on the hop, all you need to do is stop by Lorena Canto's or Virginia Lu's blog for links to the participants.

We hope you're back in tip-top shape very soon, Cath!  Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery!

Card Patterns sketch #150

Ah, the weekend!  I've been enjoying a lazy morning with some quality time in my crafty space.  I hope your weekend is off to a great start, too!

If you need some inspiration to jump-start your next crafting session, look no further than this week's sketch at Card Patterns!  It features a fun diamond shaped panel, but you'll have to check out the samples on the Card Patterns blog to see just some of the ways this element can be interpreted.  I hope you'll share your creative ideas with us this week as well!

As an added bonus this week, one lucky participant will receive a $25 shopping spree from our generous sponsor, My Favorite Things.  Who wouldn't love that?

Now I must admit, I struggled with this sketch.  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to choose a stamp set from My Favorite Things to work with this week, but I had a hard time deciding how I would make it work with the sketch.  The set I chose was the Die-Namics Polka Dot Greetings Die and Stamp Set Duo, which has the cutest sentiments and fonts and a fun label shape.

I finally decided to use the sentiment "I just can't thank you enough".  I wanted to stamp the "thank you" part of the sentiment repeatedly on the background, so I actually cut the stamp apart, which is something I do occasionally if selective inking isn't an option.  I stamped a piece of Early Espresso cardstock with the words in Versamark, then heat embossed them with clear powder.

The diamond shape is one of Spellbinders Labels Three Nesties, cut from Vintage Cream cardstock and stamped with the full sentiment.  

I punched a border strip from Very Vanilla DSP and added a wide strip of Rose Red grosgrain ribbon tied at the side.  

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Rose Red, Early Espresso), Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream)

Patterned paper:  Stampin' Up! (Neutrals DSP)

Stamps:  My Favorite Things (Die-Namics Polka Dot Greetings Die & Stamp Set Duo)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Early Espresso), Tsukineko (Versamark)

Tools:  Spellbinders (Labels Three), Fiskars (border punch)

Accessories:  Stampin' Up! (ribbon), Michaels (pearls), Stampendous (clear embossing powder), DMC floss

You will definitely be seeing more of this stamp set and its coordinating die soon!  Thanks, MFT!

I hope you'll play along with the sketch this week.  Thanks for stopping by today!

CAS-ual Fridays #36

Hello there!  Just a quick post tonight before the challenge ends at CAS-ual Fridays.  What a fun theme this week--use only black and white in celebration of Penguin Awareness Day!

Have you checked out the gallery for this week's challenge?  Holy cow!  There were over 230 entries when I last visited, and there are so many amazing creations.  But hey, I finished this card so I might as well throw my hat in the ring!

I wanted to do some sort of silhouette in a negative space, so I pulled out PTI's Happy Trails and die cut the dragonfly from black cardstock.  I punched a 2 inch circle in a wide strip of black cardstock to make a window, then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder.  I balanced it out with three dots of white Enamel Accents on the other side of the frame.

The space behind the silhouette was looking a little plain, so I added a piece of white cardstock debossed with the Cane Print impression plate.

All supplies from Papertrey Ink unless noted

Cardstock:  True Black, White

Stamp:  Happy Trails

Ink:  Versamark (Tsukineko)

Tools:  Cane Print impression plate, Happy Trails die, circle punch (Marvy Uchida)

Accessories:  Enamel Accents (Ranger), white embossing powder (Filigree)

Thanks for joining me tonight!  I'll be back soon with a new CASE Study challenge!

ColourQ #121

Hello, friends!  Glad you could join me today for a new challenge at the ColourQ!    I can't wait to see your creations with this color combo:

I had a few too many things on my mind when making my card, so I'm not totally happy with the way it turned out, but sometimes that's just how it goes.  The teacups seem to be floating in space and need something to ground them, but my brain was not working well enough to find a solution, so this is how it will stay for now!

I stamped the teacups in Real Red, Old Olive, and More Mustard on a kraft card base that is only 3 3/4 inches wide.  I stamped the bottom using PTI's Background Basics:  Tin Types, then stamped a sentiment from Tea for Two on a white strip of cardstock.

To finish the card, I added some white dots to the cups with a gel pen, scored a frame around the edge, and tied some olive floss around the card front.  I suggest cutting a small notch in the edge of the card to keep your floss in place, as you can see in the photo below.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Kraft, White)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Tea for Two and Additions, Background Basics:  Tin Types)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Old Olive, Real Red, More Mustard), white gel pen

Tools:  scoring board, hole punch, corner rounder

Accessories:  DMC floss

Please visit the ColourQ blog to see the rest of the team's samples!

Thanks for visiting today!

Moxie Fab World Map to Your Heart Challenge

Hi there, crafty people!  I'm so happy I had a chance to squeeze in a challenge last night.  This one is ending tonight over in the Moxie Fab World, so you'll have to run if you still want to enter!

The Map to Your Heart challenge asks us to incorporate a map on our project.  I didn't have any real maps laying around, but I did have some journal cards from October Afternoon's Road Map collection that fit the bill.

I took one of those journal cards and used a frame die to cut out a space at the bottom.  In the negative space, I stamped a globe and a sentiment from PTI's Masculine Motifs.  The globe was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with clear powder.

I die cut a tiny heart from another journal card with a plaid print and added some hand stitching around the edge of the map before adhering those elements with pop dots.  

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist)

Patterned paper:  October Afternoon (Road Map collection)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Masculine Motifs)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red), Tsukineko (Versamark)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Fillable Frames #11 die, Heart Prints die, Linen & Canvas impression plate), corner rounder

Accessories:  Stampendous (clear embossing powder), DMC floss

Pretty simple, but I like how it turned out.

Thanks for visiting today!  I hope your week is off to a great start!