Take a Bow with Deconstructed Sketches

It's been awhile since I posted a project, but I have been working on them.  I have been doing the weekly HeArt Journaling with The Greeting Farm, but just have not shared them here....perhaps I will get busy and start adding those.  But for now, I have a card to share with you.   

Christmas already....yep, I decided to get a little bit of a head start this year.  For my card I used the sketch at Deconstructing Sketches.  At first the triangle shape intimidated me, but I really like how it turned out.

The image is Take a Bow from Tiddly Inks ~ I love Christy's images ~ they are just so cute and fun to color.  The challenge over at Tiddly Inks is to use paint so I used some shimmerz paint on the flowers.  The papers are from the Tinsel and Twigs Collection from The Girls Paperie ~ these are some of my favorite holiday papers and am kicking myself for not buying more of them at the time.  The lace trim and ribbon were pulled out of my vintage trim collection.  


Looking forward to Monday...DI Season begins for the Elementary level!  I am managing two teams there....Hold It (Structural challenge) and Built to Last (Rising Stars).  I am excited to see what the kids have prepared for their tryouts.  The Middle School has to wait until November, but that will be here before we know it.  There I am managing Coming Attractions (Fine Arts challenge).  I am really excited to be starting another DI season and can't wait to see how the kids decide to solve their challenges.


Well, the weather here is beautiful, so I am off to enjoy it for a bit with the kids.


Have a great day!   

Back 2 School

Today my term as a Design Team member for Claudia & Company comes to an end.  I would like to thank Claudia for inviting me to be a part of the team for these past 6 months and will definitely miss working with her and the other girls.


Today I will be running out to pick up last minute school supplies and then heading over to the Middle School with the kids so Alicia can set up the locker shelves she and my husband made.  Tomorrow my kids are headed back to school...summer went by way to fast and I will really miss them being here all the time!  For my last project I decided to make  a back to school card.
  

Once again I used Puddle Jumper Lucy (what could be more perfect for a back to school card?), and paper pieced her dress and bag.  All coloring was done with copics.  The papers are from the Cosmo Cricket Odds & Ends Collection...definitely need to get some more of this!   I added rhinestones to the center of her bows, pearls to her dress in place of the buttons and colored over her shoes with a clear glaze pen.  The sentiment is from a Unity Stamp set.  I was so happy to find some polka dotted ribbon that was a close enough match that I could use it on here.


I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Fussy and Fancy Friday - Sketch
The Pink Elephant - Paper Piecing
The Pixie Cottage - Back to School
Allsorts - Back to School
Paper Play - Back to School
Sentimental Sunday - Back to School
Stamp Something - Back to School
StampInsanity - Back to School
City Crafter - All Dressed Up
Catch the Bug - Warm colors and paper piecing
Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes


Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Back with a Claudia and Company post

After a brief summer hiatus, the Claudia & Company Design Team is back.  It was nice to have a break since we had so much going on these last few weeks as you can tell from my lack of posts lately.  Since the kids are back to school next week :( we decided late last week to take the kids up to Wisconsin Dells for a few days ~ we all had a great time and the weather was perfect!  
      

For my card I used Puddle Jumper Lucy and colored her with copics.  I added some rhinestones to the center of her bows and some silver "pearls" to her dress for the buttons.  To add some shine to her shoes I colored over it with a clear glaze pen.  The papers are from the Pink Paisley Soiree collection.  I added a green ribbon and some bakers twine along with a green button.


Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Christmas in August with Daisy

We have been so busy running the kids around to tennis lessons, acting lessons and playing outside that I haven't had much time to play along in challenges lately.  Now, with the exception of band and flute lessons, there isn't quite so much running so I found some time to head into the craft room.  Since it's been awhile since I've played along in challenges, I decided to check out a few and see what I could come up with.  

Squiggle Stamps currently has a challenge to make something for Christmas.  I used the image Daisy with Gift (which happens to be a freebie right now in the shop), colored her in with copics and added some stickles.  I followed this weeks sketch over at Mojo Monday but modified the sketch elements to fit the size of my image.

I would also like to enter the following challenges:
Totally Gorjuss - Christmas in July
Crafty Catz - Christmas in July
Sweet Stampin' - Christmas in July
Fussy & Fancy Friday - Christmas in July
Allsorts - Free and Easy


Thanks for stopping and have a great day!


Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated 
Stamps:   Daisy with Gift (digi stamp) Squiggle Stamps; Sentiment - Amy R Stamps Winter Sentiments 
Ink/Coloring:  Rose Romance; Copics (E00, E01, E21, E23, E25, E27, R81, R83, R85, YG11, YG13, YG91)
Paper:  Rose Romance; Gina K Pure Luxury (White); DP - Provo Craft Winter Stack  
Embellishments:  Ribbon (rose);Stickles (stardust); Rhinestones  
Tools/Misc: Circle Nesties; Circle Punches, Dimensionals

Lollipop Love - Sophie and Dylan

Lori, owner of By Lori Designs, is celebrating Lollipop Day with a digi giveaway.  How appropriate, since one of her stamp lines is none other than "Lollipops".  In addition to the Lollipops, she has Puddle Jumpers, Sugar Sticks, Elephants, Special Editions (which are images already combined for you), Spoonfuls (which I believe her mom created) and Bug & Roo which were created by her daughter Hannah (what a talented family).  I just love these images ~ they are so fun to color, they always bring a smile to my face and they make the cutest cards.  
        
Here is a card I created using Lollipop Sophie and Lollipop Dylan.  Don't they make a cute couple?

I merged the two images in photoshop and colored them with copics.  The designer papers are from Basic Grey.  I machine stitched each layer, added some punched hearts, ribbon and pearls. 

Thanks for stopping and have a great day!  

O Scrap meets Cupcake Anya

I came across the O Scrap blog the other day and saw that they were giving away a free digi kit and had a contest to make something using the kit so I decided to make a card and a few 3x3 note cards.  

Along with the digi kit I used the digi image of Cupcake Anya from the Greeting Farm.   I used the floral paper for Anya's dress and bows while the rest of Anya was colored with copics.  I cut out some of the flowers from the kit and added buttons to the centers.  The little circle embellishments were punched from the floral paper as well.  The sentiment is from the Happy Chef set by the Greeting Farm.  I also followed the Which One Wednesday Challenge at The Greeting Farm's Farm Fresh Challenge Blog which happened to be a sketch challenge this week.
  

These four note cards use different items from the digi kit.  On the two flower cards I added buttons to the center of the flowers.  The Happy Bird-day sign that the bird is "holding" I made myself.


Thanks for stopping and have a fantastic day!
   

Claudia & Company Biannual CHA Sale

Hello everyone! Can you believe it is that time again...CHA is almost here!  I can't wait to see all the new goodies, but in the meantime, Claudia and Company is having their Biannual Getting Ready for CHA Sale!

Now is a great time to stock up on all those wonderful crafty goodies that have been on your wishlist, but still haven't made their way into your craft room.  In the Claudia and Company store you will find items marked down 25-40% off regular price in almost every category; including the super popular 6x6 sampler packs! Prices available while supplies last and through July 15th.

Claudia also has a fantastic giveaway for you this week. How would you like to win this Cinch Binding Machine? 

All you have to do for a chance to win is help spread the word by posting about the "Getting Ready for CHA" sale on your blog (in an actual blog post and not a sidebar addition) by July 14th; go back to the Claudia and Company blog, and link your post.  Please feel free to use the blog banner at the top to add to your post.  

Do you want a second entry for the Cinch machine?  No problem, just add the sale blog button below to your sidebar and leave a comment on the Claudia and Company blog after you have done that.

Complete details of the sale are available on our store website:  www.claudiaandcompany.com

The winner of The Cinch Binding Machine will be announced on July 15th.



Have fun shopping!

Today is an Inspirational Day for Claudia & Company.  Both Joy and I are up today and have created projects showcasing the newly released digital stamps.  I chose to use the Seahorse image and paired it up with the Heart of a Card Sentiment set.  

I went with some bright summer colors for this which was nice to work with since we haven't seen much sun around here the past few days.  The image was colored with copics and I used a clear glaze pen on the eye to give it a little more realistic look.  For the little bubbles in the water I used some rhinestones that I had colored with a copic.  The pearls in the upper corner and the pearlized button on the lower left corner were again colored with a copic.  The larger turquoise ribbon was recycled from a gift and a bit too plain for me so I dressed it up it by layering some turquoise ribbon with silver threading on the top, middle and bottom.


Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
     

You Inspire Me

Today is an Inspirational Day for Claudia & Company.  Both Joy and I are up today and have created projects showcasing the newly released Little Miss Mia stamp set.

Today I paired Mia up with some paper from the October Afternoon Detours collection  Mia was colored with copics and then I added some stickles to the band on her hat as well as the flower.  To finish off the card I added a button from the Basic Grey Kioshi set that I threaded with some linen thread.


There will be no challenges for Claudia and Company in June, but there will be inspirational posts twice a week by various members of the Design Team showcasing this month's releases.


Thanks for stopping and have a fantastic day!  

Claudia & Company Blog Hop

Welcome to the last stop of the Claudia & Company blog hop.  You should have arrived here from Piali's blog, but if not, please head back to the Claudia & Company blog to start from the beginning.  We even have two guests with us for this hop...welcome Arlene and Jamie!


Now onto the cards.....  

This card uses the dolphin image from John Grutta and one of the sentiments from the Claudia & Company Heart of a Card sentiment set.  The image is colored with copics and the rhinestones were colored to match the paper.   

This card uses the seahorse image from John Grutta and one of the sentiments from the Claudia & Company Heart of a Card sentiment set.  The image is colored with copics and the rhinestones were colored to match the paper.  I added some linen thread as an accent.

This is a set of notecards using various sentiments from the Claudia & Company Heart of a Card sentiment set (designed by Claudia herself) and some papers from the Echo Park Springtime collection.   All the rhinestones were colored to match the paper.  Below is each card individually.

I love how versatile this sentiment set is....with so many possible combinations you can't go wrong with this one!  

  

And last, but certainly not least, is a card using the Little Miss Mia set by Jane's Doodles and papers from October Afternoon's Farm Fresh Collection.   Mia is colored with copics and since she is perfect for paper piecing, I did just that.  I added some brown pearls (and even used some for her eyes), an actual flower to her hat and some vintage lace.  I added some faux stitching to the image and sentiment panels as well as some kraft hearts that I had covered with Crystal Effects.


Please be sure to leave a comment by Friday June 10th.  One lucky person (who has left a comment on all the blogs participating in this hop) will win a $15.00 gift certificate to Claudia and Company.

Here is the Blog Hop List:

Claudia and Company

Taylor

Joy

Arlene

Tanya

Kadie

Jamie

Piali

Jodi

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!    

By Lori Designs Final Challenge Entry

Today is the cutoff for the final challenge at By Lori Designs blog and I am cutting it really close.  Here is my card:

I will be back in a few minutes to type more, but only have about 5 minutes left to link it up.....be right back   OK....got it linked with two minutes to spare.

The challenge was to use this sketch (which I rotated):

The image is Lollipop Lil' Chef and I thought that the Modern Homemaker collection from October Afternoon was a perfect match for her. I love how these papers look against Kraft cardstock.  The only embellishment (aside from the rolling pin, pot holder and oven mitt that were cut from one of the papers) was some thin pink ric rac ribbon. Now I need to start scrapbooking some more....I have a few pictures of my girls making cookies that this image would be perfect with.


Today my husband and I got to chaperone Tyler's class field trip to Old World Wisconsin.  I love going there, it is just so neat to see and I think the kids enjoy it as well ~ they even got to play tug of war with a pair of oxen.  The weather was beautiful and we got lots of exercise with all the walking...and lots of sun which I loved...however right now I'm not loving the sunburn I got....my arms and chest are quite sore.  I always take pictures on class field trips, but when we arrived I tried to turn on my camera and found out that the battery was totally dead.  No problem, I always carry a spare...well, at least I did until today ...last minute I decided to change purses this morning and completely forgot about the camera battery.  So, unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures today.    


Thanks for stopping and have a great day!

Cheeky Beach Scene

Happy Tuesday....and welcome to another challenge with Claudia & Company.  Today our challenge is to make a card with a Fancy Fold.  A few ideas would be an Easel Card (which is what I chose), a Gatefold Card, a tent card or a stair step card.  

I chose to use Cheeky Beach and made a beach scene with her.  I used papers from the My Minds Eye Good Day Sunshine Boy collection...just goes to show you you can use these papers for more than just boy projects.  The panel behind the image is made from kraft cardstock which I roughed up to look like sand (thanks for the idea Jenny), some torn blue paper for the water and then some lighter blue paper for the sky.  I also rubbed a Palette Ink New Canvas pad over the water and sky.  Cheeky was colored with copics and I added some Crystal Effects to the beach ball to make it more realistic.  I used some Teal Bakers Twine and attached a starfish charm and a bow to it.  As you can see on the "inside" of the card, I again roughed up some Kraft cardstock to look like a beach and added a few seashells.  I really had a lot of fun with this card and love how it turned out.  I followed the sketch over at Sketch Saturday, but I did rotate it.

 

I also used the challenge at Wee Memories to be inspired by a picture on Etsy or Pinterest.  Here is my inspiration picture from pinterest:

We'd love to have you join in our challenge.  You have until Saturday, June 11th to link up your entry.  For more inspiration from the Design Team, head on over the the Claudia & Company blog. 


Keep an eye out, we have some great new releases coming up next week!

Yesterday we went over to my brother's house for the day and couldn't have asked for better weather.  We spent the entire day outside and had a great time (and some great food too).  Now I'm hoping this weather is here to stay!

Fancy Anya

Sorry this is posting late....I just got back from my son's play and noticed that blogger never published my post when I had it scheduled...

Today is an Inspirational Day for Claudia & Company and the Design Team has some wonderful projects to share with you.

For my card I used Fancy Anya from The Greeting Farm, colored part of her with copics and paper pieced the rest.  The designer papers are from the Lily Bee Picket Fence collection.  I made the lace flower from some vintage lace, placed a button in the center and finished it off with some ribbon.  A piece of ribbon down the side and some pearls complete the card.  I followed this weeks The Deconstructed Sketch.  

I had wanted a shimmery background for this card so I sprayed each panel of the card with some Baby's Breath Shimmerz Spritz that I picked up awhile back.  After letting it dry, I don't see any shimmer, just a few splatter marks on the cardstock...I'm hoping this spray will work better on canvas projects. Yep, even though I know nothing about "altering" a canvas, the kids and I decided to pick up a few canvas panels the other day...now I need to get daring and actually take one out of the bag and just have fun with it...after all, you can always paint over it ;)

Make sure you visit the rest of the Design Team to see their beautiful projects.

This weekend Tyler had one of his friends sleep over Saturday and then we went to the bowling alley for his birthday party on Sunday.  He had so much fun with his friends!  Last night two of his friends came over to make costumes for their class play and today I get to  see them in action ~ looking forward to it!   

Thanks for stopping and have a fantastic day!