Echo Park Paper Giveaway

I just recently came across  new challenge blog ~ Frosted Designs.  They have Sketch Along Tuesdays, and Fabulous Friday Challenges.  And just for spreading the word, they are giving away an Echo Park Paper kit to one lucky winner! 

I know I wouldn't  mind that showing up in my mailbox!  So, why not head on over and check them out ~ they are definitely on my list of challenges to follow.  

Just Be You

I haven't yet had a chance to use my Unity Dec KOTM so I pulled out that set to play with.  I paper pieced parts of the bee and added some shimmerz to the hearts and the wings.  I started to to sew on it, and then a little bit into it, my bobbin ran out of thread....ok, I think I can cover up those few holes after I put a new bobbin in.  So far, so good, until the bobbin thread decided to jam my machine, which made my stitching, well, not so nice.  Aside from starting over, what can I do now....sew another border around the paper and make it look messy intentionally!  OK, at this point I am thinking a distressed card is in order, so out come the sponges, ink, distressing tool, new trims and different buttons (of course by now my desk is a complete disaster).   I sewed the trims on and then added the image piece.  Finally done....and the finished project is completely different that what I had originally envisioned, but that's ok, life would be boring if it went as we planned.  I'm still undecided on if I really like this one or not, but, hey, after all that I'm sharing ;)

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Stamp Scrap & Doodle - Anything Goes
Wee Memories - Free your Creativity
Paper Sundaes - Distressing
One Stitch at a Time - As you like it
Sweet Stampin - Clear as mud
The Crazy Challenge- Dots and stripes
Claudia & Co  - 2 sheets of DP, 3 buttons, 1 image and at least 1 piece of decorative trim
City Crafter - Sew fun
Do You Stack Up - Patterns
Paper Cutz - Your Choice
Catered Crop - Tools: sewing machine and sponges; Techniques: Machine Stitching 


Thanks for visiting and have a great day! 

Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: Dec KOTM (Unity)
Ink/Coloring: Memento Rich Cocoa; Creamy Caramel
Paper:  Naturals Ivory, Pink Pirouette; Gina K Luxury White; DP - Loves Me 
Embellishments:  Buttons; Linen Thread; Zipper Trim (Wrights); Vintage Trim; Shimmerz (Angel Wings) 
Tools: Sewing Machine; Paper Distresser; Circle Punch; Nestie; Sponges
    

Happy Birthday

I really liked this weeks sketch at PaperWorks Co, so for my card today I decided to use that as my starting point.  

This week I chose to showcase one of the first stamps Rachelle Ann Miller designed for Paperworks Co, Birthday Parade.  You can't go wrong with this one as it is great for either a boy or a girl!  

I thought I would do something different and instead of going with the bright colors I had planned, I decided to go with a more monochromatic theme, using blue and white.  The image is colored with copics.  I added stickles to the star on the balloon and on the flower, but decided I wanted some more sparkle.  I took my spica clear pen and colored various parts of the image and didn't stop there, I colored each flower, the ribbon, the blue scalloped piece and the centers of all the dots on the DP and also outlined the image panel.  Unfortunately I can't quite pick up the shimmer on my camera, but I promise you, it is there!  Now for those rounded corners....my corner punch seems to be punching a bit strange, they look a little off.....maybe because I am using the same punch on both layers?

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
AI Factory ~ Anything Goes 
Easy Craft Projects ~ Use your old stash (DP, ribbon, flowers)
Stamp Something ~ Anything Goes
Mami Doodles ~ "Use mostly blue"
Allsorts ~ "Blue and Brown"
Catch the Bug ~ "Blue and White Birthday"
Craft Your Days Away ~ Anything Goes
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle ~ Anything Goes
Totally Gorjuss ~ Cuddly
One Stitch at a Time ~ New (Stamp)
Pile It On ~ Anything Goes
Pear Tree Designs ~ Free for All
The Crafty Pad- Something New (Stamp)
Copic Creations ~ Use anything new (Stamp)
Creative Inspirations ~ Celebrate
I Did it Creations ~ "Brrr, I'm Turning Blue" - use blue
The Crazy Challenge ~ Buttons
The Shabby Tea Room ~ "White and Bright"  - white and another color
My Time to Craft ~ Spots and Dots


Have a great day and thanks for visiting :)

Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: Birthday Parade (PaperWorks Co)
Ink/Coloring: Memento Rich Cocoa; Copics (E31, E33, E35, E37, B0000, Booo, BG0000, B32, B34, N0, N1, 0); Spica Clear pen
Paper: Ballet Blue; Gina K Luxury White; DP - SU 
Embellishments:  Ribbon (Bluebird); Flowers (Bazzil & Prima); Button 
Tools:  Corner Rounder; Border Punch

Life is Too Short to Match Socks.....

...and besides, how can you match them when they disappear into thin air?  I will never figure that one out, seriously, where on earth do socks go???  I have a drawer in my laundry room with no less than 30 unmatched socks sitting in it right now.....and some have been there for over a year (because I think the minute the garbage men take them away the match will mysteriously appear and then I just wasted a perfectly good sock)......so yeah, I admit it, sometimes my kids wear unmatched socks (although the only difference is the color stitching of the logo).  I also admit that it drives me nuts that there are missing socks out there...somewhere......

Now onto the card that inspired this little discussion: 

I think this is just a really "fun" set to use.  I followed the Unity Hip Hop sketch on SCS for this card.  When I saw it I knew I wanted to play along because this is actually one of my favorite sketches and I have used many variations of it in the past.  Since my background paper is a bit on the busy side, I added a simple knotted ribbon to the corner and then some brads to the sentiment in place of the o's.

I do have one more card that I finished today, but I can't show you that until Thursday.  Now to type up and pre-schedule that post since I'm not sure when else I will have a chance to get to it.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
AI Factory ~ Anything GoesMeljen's ~ Square or Round Shaped Card
Easy Craft Projects ~ Use your old stash (DP, Cardstock, ribbon, brads)
Stamp Something ~ Anything Goes
Craft Your Days Away ~ Anything Goes
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle ~ Anything Goes
One Stitch at a Time ~ New (Stamp)
Pile It On ~ Anything Goes
Pear Tree Designs ~ Free for All
The Crafty Pad- Something New (Stamp)
Copic Creations ~ Use anything new (Stamp)


Have a great day and thanks for visiting :)

Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: Matching Socks(Unity)
Ink/Coloring: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics (BG13, BG15 (I think ~ I put them away before I wrote them down), YG23, YG25, YR21, YR23, YR24) 
Paper: More Mustard; Gina K Luxury White; DP - unknown (from a Grab Bag at my LSS) 
Embellishments:  Ribbon (Mustard); Brads; Dimensionals 
Tools: None

All Geared Up for your Special Day!

Today I have a card to show you using the Tinheart Collection stamps from Paperworks.  The image is from the Jam Tinheart set and the sentiment is from the Alfy Tinheart set.  I will admit that this is another collection that I had to buy in it's entirety and I am glad I did because these robots are just so much fun to use (not to mention cute) and there are girl robots too.  

I have quite a few robot themed papers to choose from but in the end decided to use these Scenic Route papers as I thought the gear paper was a good match for the sentiment.  I colored the image with copics and added some Crystal Effects to his eyes, clock and heart.  Since I don't have any gear type embellishments, I made my own.  I cut one out from the designer paper, covered it in Crystal Effects and then added a washer to the center.  I also placed a washer on each end of the sentiment.  My youngest son looked at this card and asked if it was for him because he really likes it.....so I guess he will be recipient of this one.

Have a great day and thanks for visiting :)

Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: Tinheart Collection (Alfy Tinheart and Jam Tinheart) - Paperworks
Ink/Coloring: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics (BG000, BG72, BG75, YG23, YG25, YR21, YR23, YR24)
Paper: Confetti Cream; Gina K Luxury White; DP - Scenic Route (Hampton Collection)
Embellishments: Crystal Effects; Washers 
Tools: Nesties (Inverted Scallop Circle); Border Punch (Martha Stewart)

♥ All You Need is Love ♥

I was asked by Peggy at PaperWorks Co to be a Guest Designer for this month and since I love the stamps she carries I just had to say yes (the fact that she's so nice doesn't hurt either)!  


Here is my first project for the month using The First Date stamp from one of my favorite collections, the Little Loud Freckle Love Collection.  All of the Little Loud stamps are "retired" and currently on sale for 40% off! 

I used some of my leftover BoBunny papers from last year and paired them up with Pink Pirouette Cardstock.  After stamping the sentiment (which comes with the image stamp) I colored over the "love" with a pink copic marker and added a rhinestone for the o.  I also added a few rhinestones to the designer paper and some stickles to the flowers and the hearts on the girl because you can never have enough bling. 

As a side note, I can't believe I have been away from my blog for so long!  The last few months have been crazy busy for us and here I thought that by taking a break from Design Teams I would free up a bit of time but still get the chance to craft.....Well, unfortunately for me, "no commitments" translated to basically no crafting and the "free time" I gained was instead filled up with guests, all kinds of meetings, dr/ortho/dentist visits, school events/parties, getting ready for the holidays, and the major one.....trying to clean out the kids rooms and organize all their outgrown toys so we can get rid of them.  That is really hard for me ~ I still picture them playing with these things and it makes me sad that they are growing up so fast.  I think the hardest was the Little People sets ~ they all loved playing with these and would make a whole town in one of our downstairs rooms with all the sets.  I am still not completely done with sorting all these sets yet.  Most of them are retired so it makes locating a picture of the complete set online a bit more difficult especially when you don't remember the name of the set.  We also celebrated Ashley's 8th birthday on December 30th ~ where does the time go? 


Have a great day and thanks for visiting :)

Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: The First Date  - Little Loud Freckle Love Collection (Paperworks)
Ink/Coloring: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics
Paper:Pink Pirouette; Gina K Luxury White; DP - BoBunny
Embellishments: Sickles (Stardust); Ribbon (May Arts); Flowers (Prima); Rhinestones (Michael's)
Tools: Nesties (Petite and Petite Scallop Ovals, Circle and Petite Scallop Circle); Border Punches (Martha Stewart)