Embellish Magazine Color Challenge

Today's post is my submission to the latest Color Challenge from Embellish Magazine.  Here is the inspiration photo:

Here is my holiday card creation based on the color combination above:

I hope you enjoyed my simple holiday card. Coming up this week is my first official project as a member of the Papercraft Star Design Team (Wednesday, December 1st). I am also hoping to start my December Holiday Journal where I will post a daily (if I can manage it) update on my holiday journal chronicling the activities in my life from December 1st through Christmas Day. This ambitious project will highlight digital stamps from The Cutting Cafe...wish me luck!



Stamps: Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers (PTI)

Ink: Sweet Leaf (CTMH)

Paper: Chocolate, Pure Poppy, Stamper’s Select White Cardstock (PTI), White Cardstock (misc)

Embellishments: Berry Sorbet grosgrain ribbon (PTI), Color Couture: Vol. 11 (PTI), Red Rhinestones (Queen & Co)

Tools: Polka Dot Basics Impression Plate (PTI), Big Shot Express (Sizzix)

Cutting Cafe Monday with Frosty the Snowman!

Hello Everyone,

Welcome back to another Cutting Cafe Monday. Last week's Monday was on Tuesday but I am back on track now. This week's project is a cute little Christmas card I made for my niece. She lives in Zambia so I have to get her holiday gift in the mail today. I love this card because of the non-traditional holiday colors and the fact that I got a chance to color!

This card uses three different digital stamps sets from the Cutting Cafe called Christmas Mini Colored Set Christmas in a Square and Fun with Frosty the Snowman. So I have the background stripes from the Mini Colored set, the snowman from the Fun with Frosty set and the card sentiment from Christmas in a Square. You can't really tell from this photo but Frosty and the title are popped up for some dimension. This card is fun and simple and I hope you get inspired to download some fun stamps from The Cutting Cafe too!

Frosty the Snowman Card
Stamps: Christmas Mini Colored Set, Christmas in a Square and Fun with Frosty the Snowman (Cutting Café)

Paper: Black and Hawaiian Shores Cardstock (PTI), White Cardstock (misc)
Embellishments: Hibiscus Burst grosgrain ribbon (PTI)
Tools: Copic Markers

First Annual Papercraft Star Blog Hop!

Welcome to the First Annual Papercraft Star Thanksgiving Blog Hop Week sponsored by My Favorite Things. Our Designers have come together to celebrate this special holiday by creating projects inspired by Thanksgiving and all that we are thankful for in our lives, including you!

We are so happy you could join us for this special event! You should have arrived to my blog from Kimberly, if that is not where you arrived from, then please join us at Papercraft Star to start the hop from the beginning so you don't miss a thing! You must be a follower of Papercraft Star, visit all the blogs and comment in order to be entered to win our fantastic Grand Prize!

During this special week of Thanksgiving we hope that you'll find a wealth of inspiration among the beautiful projects our Designers have created especially for you! To add to the fun, we've got fabulous prizes along the way at many of our Designer's blogs and you'll be entered to win our fantastic $25.00 Gift Certificate by our generous sponsor My Favorite Things, if you visit every blog and leave a comment with all of our Designers! You have until midnight (Eastern Time) on Saturday November 27, 2010 to leave all your comments and be entered to win the Grand Prize. We'll draw the winners of the prizes and announce them beginning Sunday November 28, 2010.

Here's my card...I decided to play with my copics and use one of my favorite stamps sets for the holidays.  I had a ball coloring and distressing!

Here is a closer look at the jar contents and the spirit of the sentiment which is gratitude. I am truly grateful for my family and friends...but I am also grateful that I have been given the love of craft and that I can spend my spare time indulging my creative desires.

Finally, for those interested, here is a snapshot of the copic markers I used to make this card.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and thank you again for joining us for the Papercraft Star Thanksgiving Week Blog Hop, your next stop on the hop is JENNIFER CUTHBERTSON!
(if the name link above does not work please us this link: Jennifer http://www.jencuthbertson.com/)

Papercraft Star Thanksgiving Blog Hop: “Grateful”

Stamps: Friendship Jar & Friendship Jar Fall Fillers (Cutting Café); Say It In Style (CTMH)
Paper: Barn Red (CTMH); Pewter Press (We R Memory Keepers); Kraft (misc)
Ink: Autumn Terracotta & Barn Red (CTMH); Black Soot, Vintage Photo & Antique Linen (Ranger Distress); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Embellishments: Terracotta Tile grosgrain ribbon (PTI); Chipboard element (CTMH)
Tools: Copic Markers (0, N0, N2,YG13, YG17, YR02, YR04, YR18, E07, E08, E09, E55 & E57)

Deck the Halls with Scraps!

Happy Friday Everyone!

It has been a quiet blog week for me but with the holidays around the corner I need to kick it into gear! Today's post is a fun little card that I created using up some scraps and some circle punches. I ended up making 6 cards in total and will probably make more using different shapes. Here is the photo...

Do you want to make your own holiday cards this year??? This is really an easy card that can be mass-produced. Just grab some pretty scraps and a circle punch (2 if you want an extra layer), add a black pen and a fun holiday stamp and you are ready to go. I used a CTMH stamp set for the sentiment and the "cord" that holds the ornament but you could really do that with a black marker and write out your own sentiment. That would be a wonderful thing to receive from someone...especially if you got your kids involved...it would be a family crafting event!

I hope you enjoy this simple project. Sometimes I just love the easy peasy cards soooo much. This card makes me smile because it was fun AND easy. Coming up this weekend is another fun project with the Thanksgiving holiday in mind as well as my first blog hop with Papercraft Star!

Supplies:

Stamps: Holiday Trinkets (CTMH)
Ink: Black (CTMH)
Paper: Tokyo (Bazzill Basics) and some old holiday-themed designer paper (Stampin' Up)
Tools: 1-3/4” and 2” punches

Kraft Outlet Tutorial and 15% Discount

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share some great information. As a new design team member for Papercraft Star I find out about some great deals for people who follow my blog....here's one for you!

This week, Kraft Outlet is offering an exclusive discount for the readers at Papercraft Star (and C's blog too).... shop now and receive 15 percent off your total order at the Kraft Outlet! To claim your discount all you need to do is use the voucher code STAR15 at check out! This savings won't last long, so hurry and get your shopping on!



This offer from Kraft Outlet is so exciting that I also wanted to share you a special treat from Papercraft Star as well! A fantastic tutorial using Kraft Outlet products!

The tutorial, created by Papercraft Star Senior Design Team member, Tracy, is for a Christmas scrapbook mini album based on a design by Laura Dennison. Information about her YouTube channel can be found in the video. The album was created with several products carried by Papercraft Star's November Design Team sponsor, Kraft Outlet, owned by Babette Switzer. The first video is a step-by-step tutorial for the actual construction of the album. The second is a more detailed page by page look at the completed album. The Kraft Outlet products used in this album made it's construction a breeze. We encourage you to visit the store and browse through the great crafty items Babette has in stock and don't forget to enter STAR15 at checkout to receive your 15 percent off discount... pass the word!




To see Tracy's amazing tutorial go here.

To see the completed Christmas album go here.

Cutting Cafe Monday featuring Christmas Goodies Bag!

Hello Again,

It is Monday and you know what that means...that's right...another project featuring digital stamps from the Cutting Cafe.  Today's project coordinates with last week's tag using the Christmas Tree Goodie Bag Holder and more labels from Christmas Mini Words.

You will see the color scheme uses the same Olive and Burgundy color scheme.

I decided to add a die cut star as a base for some of the mini words.

The christmas tree was popped up and married with another mini word tag..."O Christmas Tree".

The final picture is of the bow. I like how it turned out but also the photo shows the beauty of the grosgrain.

Come back next Monday for another fun project featuring digital stamps from the Cutting Cafe!


Supplies:

Stamps: Christmas Tree Goodie Bag Holder and Christmas Mini Words (The Cutting Cafe)
Ink: Olive (Colorbox)
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive and some old holiday-themed designer paper (Stampin' Up)
Embellishments: Simply Chartreuse grosgrain ribbon (PTI), Bookplate and Star die (PTI)
Tools: Big Shot Express (Sizzix)

Papercraft Star News!

Hello Everyone,

I have some fantastic news...I have been named to the Papercraft Star Design Team!

I am very excited and honored to have been chosen. Please take a look at the site and see the weekly challenges and join in the fun. One great thing is that there is a challenge calendar so that you can see the designated challenges well in advance if you would like (for those who like to plan ahead). Each week there is a different sponsor with a chance win some wonderful products. You help decide who wins each week by voting for your favorite. Take a leap and join in the fun!

Every Wednesday a new challenge is posted. You have until noon on Saturday to  post/link your project. From then until Monday night you can vote online for your favorite project. The weekly winner is announced on Tuesday. There is even a grand prize given out once a month with the winner chosen at random from the entries submitted that month. There are things scheduled throughout the week like tips, tutorials, and design inspiration. For more details check out how Papercraft Star works.

Check out the other talented new designers from Papercraft Star...you can see their introductions here.

Angie Barrs
Kimberly Duran
Jen Cuthbertson

I thought I would share the current challenge with you so you could see the kind of fun things going on at Papercraft Star...the current Challenge #21  is a photo-inspired challenge. You are to use this summer photo as inspiration to create a Holiday Card or Tag

I decided that I would take the soft and muted colors to create a holiday card. I went with a rustic cream, a light aqua, a gray blue and denim patterned paper that has been sitting in my paper stash for quite a long time.

The soft denim background helps the card sentiment pop. I also love the depth I can get using a spellbinder die and some distress ink. I decided it would be nice to tuck the sentiment behind the floss...again giving some more texture to the card.

Finally, a close up of one of the onraments. I decided to keep it subtle by embossing the design using some glittered embossing powder. I think this maintain the softness I am going for but adds a little sparkle too.

I hope you enjoyed this card and look forward to sharing more projects inpired by Challenges at Papercraft Star!

Coming soon...Challenge #22 begins on November 17th and is a Papercraft Recipe...

Make a Holiday Card or Tag that features a Christmas Tree or Ornament

Use the Cricut or Other Die Cut on your project
Add Ribbon
Add Handmade Embellishment
Add Bling
(use anything additional you desire)


Deck the Halls!
Stamps: Vintage Ornaments & Vintage Ornaments Additions (PTI)

Ink: Juniper (CTMH), Tumbled Glass (Ranger)
Paper: Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, Rustic Cream (PTI), Denim Patterned Paper (misc)
Embellishments: Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder (SU), DMC Floss
Tools: Vintage Ornaments dies (PTI), Spellbinders Labels 4,Big Shot Express (Sizzix), Embossing Buddy, Heat Gun (Marvy)

Cutting Cafe Monday...ooops Tuesday...featuring holiday digital stamps!

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posting my "Cutting Cafe Monday" post. I was in Richmond, VA yesterday taking my Copic Certification class...and it was fantastic! I will share more about that experience and some of the things I created later this week.

Now, I want to shift gears and post a fun tag I created to go with the Christmas Tree Goodie Bag Holder from The Cutting Cafe. I made  the goodie bag and then the tag to go with it. I still need to fill the goodie bag so I will save that for next week and show you the cute tag today. The tag uses the layered tree from the goodie bag holder and some seasonal words from Chirstmas Mini Words set (also from The Cutting Cafe). I am obsessed with tags right now so you will probably see a bunch of them over the next few weeks.

I hope you enjoyed my holiday tag. Coming up later this week will be a seasonal single page layout and projects I worked on in my Copic Certifcation class. Have a fantastic Tuesday everyone!

Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Tree Goodie Bag Holder and Christmas Mini Words (The Cutting Cafe)
Ink: Olive (Colorbox)
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive and some old holiday-themed designer paper (Stampin' Up)
Embellishments: New Leaf grosgrain ribbon (PTI) Scarlet Jewel button (PTI), DMC Floss, Limitless Layers Dies and Tag Sale #2 Die (PTI) 
Tools: Big Shot Express (Sizzix)

Tag! You're It! Challenge from Waltzingmouse Stamps

Hello Everyone,

Today's post is in response to the challenge posted at Waltzingmouse Stamps blog. The challenge was to create a tag with a Christmas theme. I decided to do a gift bag with matching tag. I hope you like it.

I hope you enjoyed this project. Have a wonderful rest of the week!

SUPPLIES

Paper: Silhouette (CTMH), Kraft and Pure Poppy cardstock (PTI), Cream cardstock (Bazzill)

Stamps: Vintage Labels 2 and Complements of the Season (Waltzingmouse)

Ink: Versamark, Black (CTMH), Charcoal (Colorbox), Antique Linen (Ranger)

Embellishments: Black satin ribbon (Offray), Cream-stitched black ribbon (CTMH), Nightfall Pearls (Queen & Co), red kraft bag (misc)

Tools: Bigshot Express (Sizzix), Labels 2 (Spellbinders), Superfine Black Embossing Powder (Ranger), Heat Tool (Marvy)

Cutting Cafe Monday featuring Welcome Fall

Hello!

Welcome to Monday and another Cutting Cafe post. Today's post is a layout titled Happy Harvest featuring the Welcome Fall digital stamp set. This layout features photos of some trees in our yard that are turning lovely shades of yellow, orange and red.

I just love fall on my cul-de-sac. The trees in the neighborhood are all mature and often create a canopy over certain streets. When the leaves start to turn I always do a special layout of the leaf-raking chore. The photos in this layout all show the leaves before they hit the ground and cause us a few weekends of work.

The picture below shows a cut basket that I paper-pieced from some lovely paper from Close to My Heart called Felicity.

I hope you enjoyed the layout today. Have a wonderful Monday everyone.

Supplies:
Digital Stamps: Welcome Fall (Cutting Café)
Paper: Felicity, Bamboo, Olive, Cocoa and Autumn Terracotta (CTMH)
Ink: Charcoal (Colorbox)
Embellishments: Brads (misc)