Pink and Teal

Wow, I just love this week's challenge at SP and Company. It's a color challenge (my favorite kind) *and* one of the colors is PINK - my favorite color of all! This week we're asking you to make a card using a Pink and Teal, two beautiful colors and work beautifully together. For my card, I used this adorable Tina Wenke image, Skating Penguin.

Supplies: Tina Wenke Skating Penguin  Stamp Set (SP and Company), 

Winter Wonderland "In the Neighborhood" dp (MME), pink heart from mat stack (The Paper Studio), 

Blue Lagoon buttons (SP and Company), Fiskars border punch,

Copic markers and pop-dots.

Visit the SP and Company blog to see the other girls' Pink and Teal inspirations then participate in the challenge for your chance to win a prize from the SP and Company store!
Lisa

For the Birds

Note: This is my 2nd post of the day. Please scroll down for my SP and Company challenge card. (I'm on a cardmaking roll!)

Winter has barely started and I am already wishing it was over! I am not a fan of cold weather - it's definitely for the birds, in my book! I am, however, definitely a fan of this adorable snowman image - For the Birds - from From the Heart Stamps.

Supplies: For the Birds (FTHS), Christmas 6x6 paper pad (The Paper Pad), 

border die (Spellbinders), green cardstock, sentiment stamp (TAC-retired),

Icicle Stickles (Ranger) and Copic markers.

I love playing along with the Stamp of the Month challenge at From The Heart Stamps. It's a really fun way to get a new freebie each month from FTHS!
Lisa

Zak and Amelia

Popping in with a quick card here featuring new releases from DigiStamp Boutique, Zak and Amelia:

I love them! They're sold individually but look really great side by side.

My winter break has officially just begun. I am looking forward to rest, relaxation and a lot of crafting! For those who celebrate Christmas, stay sane - it's almost here. :)
Lisa

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

I love the new word art in the DigiStamp Boutique shop! My card features the December freebie:

I used the uncolored version so I could play with my Copic markers, but there's a cool pre-colored version also. No matter which version you use, this makes a pretty quick card! Great for those of us who may not have started their holiday cards quite yet...  (like me!)

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
My Mum's Craft Shop - Winter/Christmas (entry #3)
Digi Haven  - Merry Christmas
Paper Crafting Journey - It's Christmas Time!
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Heck of a Challenge - Colourful Christmas!

If you want to make your own word art cards, be sure to check out the other word art images in the DSB shop. They're currently on special for a fabulous price!
Lisa

Edwin and Hetty

Ohmigosh, Christmas is just 3 weeks away! How did his happen? If (like me) you haven't started your holiday cards yet, here's another cute new Christmas digital stamp from DigiStamp Boutique. His name is Edwin and he's part of a special offer named Christmas Edwin and Hetty set. I'm proud to say that Edwin was my suggestion for a name, after my grandfather. (He had a sense of humor, so I don't think he'd be offended about an elephant being named after him!)

I colored him in with my trusty Copic markers and used ribbon and papers from my stash. (My craft room cleanout/reorganization is almost done and I have been working hard to use up my scraps and bits of things. I swear I should never buy another piece of paper or ribbon again!)

I really love these new elephants, especially the Christmas set. (There is also an "everyday" Edwin and Hetty set.) They are so cute and different from the usual bears, penguins, etc., that you usually see this time of year.

I'm also entering my project into the following challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes
Emerald Faeries - Anything Goes
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
My Mum's Craft Shop - Winter/Christmas (2nd entry)
Charisma Cards - Christmas (2nd entry)
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes (2nd entry)
Pile It On - P is for....  (p is for present) (2nd entry)
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - Free and Easy

There's lots of Christmas card inspiration to be found on the DSB blog, so be sure to check it out. If you have time to leave a comment or two on the other girls' cards, I'm sure they would appreciate it.
Lisa

A Perfect Pet Gift Idea

Does your Christmas gift list include a dog-owning friend or perhaps a furry friend of your own? If so, I have the perfect easy gift idea for you! This week's SP and Company challenge is "Easy Christmas" - be it an easy to make card, ornament, gift or other project. So you'll find lots of easy to make projects on the blog today!

For my easy gift, I packaged up some homebaked dog treats in a cellophane bag, secured it with ribbon and embellished it with an oversized tag and a fancy bow. I used the adorable Snowman and Snowdog by Tina Wenke and some papers from the Christmas Reflections 6X6 pad (Echo Park). I used one of Sami's awesome YouTube bowmaking tutorial videos to make my big, fancy bow.

Here's a closer shot of my tag:

I found the biscuit recipe here: Brown Eyed Baker PB Biscuits. Next time, I think I'll try this recipe: Sally's Baking Addiction PB Bacon Dog Treats.

I'm also entering my project into the following challenges:
Just For Fun - Merry Christmas
My Mum's Craft Shop - Winter/Christmas
Charisma Cards - Christmas
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
All Sort - Inspired by a Christmas Song or Carol (Frosty the Snowman)
Pile It On - P is for....  (p is for pup as in snowdog and p is for peanut butter since the biscuits are made with peanut butter)

Check out the other great DT projects on the SP and Company blog, Scrapmaster's Paradise. Make your own Easy Christmas project and enter to win a prize from SP and Company!
Lisa

Ho Ho Holidays!

Wow, how'd it get to be Friday already? It's amazing how quickly that week passes by with a holiday right in the middle of it! Did you go any Black Friday shopping today? I did not. Instead, I spent the morning continuing to clean and reorganize my craft room. I'm planning on reaping the benefits of a tidy crafting space this afternoon!

It's fitting that today's challenge at Totally Papercrafts is Ho Ho Holidays. With Christmas less than one week away, it's best to get hopping on those holiday cards! We're sponsored this week by the always adorable DigiStamp Boutique. I used one of the November releases, Christmas Windows. Isn't it pretty?

Here's a close up, so you can see the sparkle from the microfine glitter that I used on the snow along the windowpanes, as well as on the star garland.

Head on over to see the other festive holiday projects from the rest of the Totally Papercrafts team. Then get going on your own holiday cards and projects! If you play along with this week's challenge, you could win a great prize from DigiStamp Boutique!
Lisa

Technique Showcase with SP and Company

This week's SP and Company challenge will give you lots of inspiration for your own card making! This week the DT is showcasing various stamping and card making techniques. For my card, I chose to show off different ways to add texture your card. I used this adorable Santa Claus Stamp Set by Tina Wenke.

 

Here's a close up to show off some of my texture adding techniques:

I added texture with flocking powder, Glossy Accents, Stickles, layers, distressed edges on one of my layers, stitching and ribbon. You could also try embossing - either the embossing folder kind and/or the embossing powder kind. It's a fun way to play with all of those cool crafting products that we all like to collect!

Check out the other SP and Company girls' cards on the blog. They used a wide range of really cool techniques! Then try your hand at a new technique and link up for your chance to win a prize from the SP and Company store!
Lisa

Bailey, the Christmas Reindeer

Have you started making your Christmas cards yet? There are lots of cuties on special in the DigiStamp Boutique shop, including this adorable reindeer, Bailey.

Supplies: Bailey (DSB), sentiment (TCP), Jillibeans 6X6 Christmas pad, 

Scarlet cs (TAC-retired), Glossy Accents (Ranger), 

silver Stickles (Ranger), rhinestones (Michaels), ribbon and Copics.

Holly Jolly Christmas - Christmas with Warmth

Flourishes - Winter Scene

Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

As always, you can find lots of great card inspiration over at the DSB blog!

Lisa

Winter Hues

Ah, not the red and green kind! The cool, icy blue kind! That's our theme this week at SP and Company.

Supplies: Penguins Sledding (SP and Company), Aqua Lagoon pearlescent cs (Paper and More), 

Frosty Snowflakes digital papers (DSB), Copics, 

rhinestones (Paper Studio), and microfine glitter.

I just love this Penguins Sledding stamp by Gill Roberts. They look like they are having so much fun!

Hop on over to the SP blog to see the other cool and winter projects from my team mates. Play along with this week's challenge for a chance at a prize from SP and Company!
Lisa

Santa Scene

Guess who's hosting the Totally Papercrafts challenge this week? Yep - yours truly. :) I decided to make this one of my favorite kinds of challenges - a sketch challenge! Figuring out my layout is always the hardest part for me, so I love having a sketch already in hand so I can concentrate on the fun stuff - coloring and picking out papers and embellishments! Here's this week's sketch:

Our sponsor this week is the fabulous DigiStamp Boutique. For my card, I am using one of the brand new December releases - Cute Santa Scene.

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
Do You Stack Up? - Christmas
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Winter
Charizma Cards - Christmas Makes
Craft Us Crazy - Christmas/Winter

I had a lot of fun with these little characters. After coloring them with my Copics, I added some Glossy Accents on Rudolph's nose and the snowman's carrot nose, as well as adding some microfine glitter on the ground. I layered an additional snowman onto some pop-dots to give him some dimension. (If you look carefully, you can see a bit of a shadow to the left of the snowman.)

So, now that you've seen the sketch and my sample card, head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog to check out the rest of the team's cards. Then play along for a chance to win some cute images of your own (like this one!) from DigiStamp Boutique!
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts - For the Boys

Welcome to this week's Totally Papercrafts blog challenge - For the Boys. For my card, I used this adorable Torico/Birdie Brown image that I got free from Torico last month. (It was the November freebie. I'm not sure if it's in her shop now or not.)

The layout is based on an old SplitCoastStampers sketch. The blue and red papers are actually really large tags from an old Basic Grey Christmas paper pack. I've never used tags much, especially really big ones like the blue one. I thought they were better put to use as "scraps" for a card.

This week's Totally Papercrafts sponsor is the awesome Simon Says Stamp. Head  on over to the blog to check out the other DT members' cards. Be sure to leave them some love and then join us for a chance to win a $25 gift card from Simon Says Stamp!
Lisa

Something for Christmas, but Not a Card!

This week's Totally Papercrafts challenge will make you put on your thinking cap! Our challenge is to make something Christmas-y, but not a Christmas card. A-ha! This was good timing for me as I am working on an order of candy boxes for someone at work. Here's my project for this challenge:

Don't you love that patterned paper? I have a weakness for striped paper and I love the scale of this for cards and other small projects. It's not available yet, but it will be on the DigiStamp Boutique site soon!

Here's a better view of this cute new reindeer from this month's November release at DigiStamp Boutique.

If you're a regular on my blog, you've seen these little boxes before. If you're new, you may want to check out this Milk Carton Box tutorial. These are simple to assemble and make a nice little gift filled with candy or other small items.

This week's challenge is sponsored by the wonderful Wild Rose Studios. Head on over to the Totally Papercrafts blog to get some design team inspiration for your non-card project. Wow! The DT ladies have really outdone themselves this week. There are some great projects!  Then be sure to join us for a chance to win two stamps of your choice from Wild Rose Studios!
Lisa

Not a Creature Was Stirring...

...except Arthur Mouse! This little cutie is one of the Offers of the Month over at Digi Stamp Boutique.

What do you think of my papers? Sally-Ann, owner and creative force behind DigiStamp Boutique has branched out into digital papers. The green is from the Dotty Christmas paper set. The red dp hasn't been released yet but there are more digital papers coming, so keep on checking the site! :)

My layout is based on an old sketch from SplitCoastStampers (SC237). Whenever I have stampers block, a sketch always helps me get going. I colored Arthur up with my trusty Copics, adding some silver Stickles and some dimensional white fabric paint. Then I popped up the image to allow the ribbon to thread under the image neatly. I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
Divas by Design - Use 2 or More Patterned Papers
Moving Along with the Times - Lets Go Dotty
Pause, Dream, Enjoy - Anything Goes
Loves Rubber Stamps - Fun with Ribbons

Sadly, it's back to work tomorrow after a long holiday weekend. Where did those 5 days go and can I get a few of them back?!

Lisa

Christmas Cards

My oldest daughter, Jessica, has an on campus job at her college. She asked me to make Christmas cards for her two bosses. Because her co-workers (about 20 of them) are also going to sign, she needed space for everyone's signature. I came up with the idea of doing a simple tri-fold card - an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper folded mountain valley style would fit perfectly into a regular business sized envelope. My daughter chose this cute new Happy Santa set from Torico's Birdie Brown site. I like that the variety of images and included sentiments (love those!) made it really easy to come up with two different cards.

First up, card #1:

Here's a close up of Santa and his reindeer: 

I simply opened up a Word document to create my cards. My youngest daughter taught me how to be able to put my images in Word exactly where I want them. Under Picture Tools, choose Wrap Text and then choose the "Tight" option. Do that for each individual image and then you can move them where you like!

Here's card #2 - just switched out the greeting and the Santa and voila! Fini!

Here's another close up of Santa (excuse the glare on the right):

The sky was the most nervewracking part. I couldn't color it in with Copics, like I did everything else, because it was so large. I decided to use chalk, but I always have a hard time getting my color to be even and not streaky. Whew, I was glad when I was done with that part! (It's a little hard to see the chalk in the photos - it's more noticeable in person.) After I colored everything in, I added some bling with Stickles - Icicles Stickles for the snow and gold and silver Stickles for the reindeers' bells. (I made them silver on one card and gold on the other just for a little variety.) I also used some white flock on Santa's beard and hat. I spent the whole evening coloring and decorating these cards but I had a blast doing so!

Hopefully I've inspired you to get started on your own holiday cardmaking. I still have to decide on the design for my family holiday cards and get going on those, too!
Lisa

Twinkle, Twinkle Christmas Star

Happy Friday and welcome to another Totally PaperCrafts challenge! This week's challenge is a fun one - Twinkle, Twinkle Christmas Star. I don't know about you, but I need to get going on my holiday cards and this is a good start!

For my card, I used this adorable skating Percy from the Christmas Percy Set from DigiStamp Boutique. I  love penguins and he is just so cute and fat and cuddly looking! :)  I had a blast coloring him up! My papers are a mishmash from my supply. The finishing touches are a bit of ribbon, some chunky Martha Stewart glitter and this cute little round sentiment from DigiStamp Boutique's Simply Christmas Greetings A4 sheet. I love these greetings. They're so simple - print out, punch it out with a circle punch, add a bit of Copic color and you're done! For my layout, I used this older SplitCoastStampers sketch:

I'm also entering Percy into the following challenges:
By the Cute & Girly - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Forever Friends - Anything Goes
Crafty Ribbons - Christmas
Card Makin Mamas - Anything Goes
Pink Gem Designs - Polka Dots/Stripes

Why don't you check out the other ladies' cards over at the Totally PaperCrafts blog for some cardmakking inspiration. Then play along for a chance to win a gift certificate from the generous Simon Says Stamp!
Lisa

Totally Papercrafts challenge with Kenny K

Hi! Welcome to another Totally Papercrafts challenge! This week our theme is Christmas and our sponsor is the fun & funky Kenny K. Kenny & Elena graciously let the DT have some Kenny K images to use, so I chose the spunky Mistletoe:

I apologize if this photo isn't the best. My DH is in Colorado on a business trip and I (being the good wife I am, lol!) let him take our camera with him on his trip. So I'm stuck using the cheapie camera that I bought my (then) 12 year old for Christmas. I'll try to replace it with a better photo Sunday night.

It's hard to see in the photo, but I added white fun flock to the fur on her Santa suit and used some red Candy Cane Stickles on the mistletoe berries. (Yes, I realize now that mistletoe berries are white and holly berries are red. Oops! lol)

Be sure to visit the other DT cards at Totally Papercrafts. Then break out your Christmas stamps and join us in this week's fun challenge! You know you need to get started on those holiday cards soon....  :)
Lisa

The Hostess with the Mostest

Hey, guess who's hosting the Totally Papercrafts challenge this week? Yep - me! Our sponsor this week is Whimsy Stamps and I decided on a sketch for this week's challenge:

Here's my card, which features this adorable Whimsy Stamp, Starry Night:

Supplies include: Starry Night (Whimsy Stamps), purple dp (Creative Memories), chunky glitter (Martha Stewart) and some foam stick on snowflakes (Michaels).

I love this cuddly polar bear and his little penguin friend! I am also entering them in the following challenges:
Bearly-Mine Challenges - Anything that Glitters
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Christmas is Coming!
Stamp n Doodle - A Touch of Sparkle
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes!

My sketch is a basic one that lends itself to any theme, so why don't you grab some stamps and play along? You could win 5 digi stamps from Whimsy Stamps. Head on over to Totally Papercrafts, check out this week's cards from the DT and get inspired to win! :)

Lisa

Partying with Totally Papercrafts!

Welcome to this week's Totally Papercrafts, Time to Party! Our sponsor this week is Karen's Doodles. I chose this adorable giraffe image. It's not your typical "party" image, but to me those giraffes look like they are having an awful lot of fun together! I made this card for my oldest daughter who loves giraffes and loves singing in her school choir. (In fact, she went to a carolling "party" last week where they surprised their choir director by showing up at his house to sing.)

At first, I was worried about what paper I could possibly use for a Christmas card with this much brown and yellow. Fortunately, I bought this Bo Bunny 6X6 pad the last time I was at Archiver's. The brown dots go with the giraffes nicely and it already had the swirl design printed along the bottom edge of the paper. The snowflakes were cut with my Cricut using the Winter Woodland cartridge.

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:
http://blog.icopic.com/ - holidays
http://mymumscraftshopchallenges.blogspot.com/ - cute and funky Christmas
http://cupcakecraftroom.blogspot.com/ – Christmas Traditions


Be sure to head on over to Totally Papercrafts to check out the rest of the DT's cards. TGIF!!!!
Lisa

Totally Exciting News!

Did you notice that things look a little different? Yes, you've come to the right blog! I've just decided it was time to "winterize" my blog with a new look to herald some other changes. :)

I've enjoyed my guest DT spot with the gals at Totally Papercrafts and was bummed that my temporary gig was about to end. But Cathy from TP emailed me over the weekend and asked me to become a permanent member of the team. I immediately said yes! You can now see the little blue Totally Papercrafts badge proudly displayed in my right sidebar. :)

I've made a few changes to my blog schedule. Since my Totally Papercrafts posts will be on Friday, I've decided to discontinue my Fab Fridays, instead just posting links and tips when I find something too good not to share. I've also decided that I would no longer have a weekly (Sunday) timeslot for my DigiStamp Boutique posts. This way I can post when a new set of images is released  and not feel tied to a schedule.

Wow. It's been tough getting to the computer lately to share my news with you. My kids have been needed the family computer for school so my computer time at home has been pretty limited. Only one more week of school, though, until break. Yay!

I do have a card to share with you today. I wanted to use my Cricut Winter Wonderland cartridge and came up with this card:

You can kind of see it in the photo, but I added some glitter to the "snow" using my glue pen and some ultrafine glitter. You can see it a little better here, although I have yet to master the art of photographing the sparkle:

They were fairly quick to make. I also decided to type the greeting and "signatures" inside my card. They're dated, too, so all I have to do is write the names of the people I'm sending the card to. My handwriting is pretty terrible, so I figure not making people read it is sort of a Christmas gift in itself. ;-)

See you on Friday with my first Totally Papercrafts post as an official TP Design Team member! I can't wait! :)
Lisa