Tiddlyinks Challenge #24- Artist Trading Card

I need to be honest here... I really didn't know what an Artist Trading Card (ATC) was- and I still don't! All I know is that its about 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".... so that's what I made. Hope its correct! Made this to enter the Tiddlyinks Challenge #24. Anyway, this is what I came up with... used the Tiddlyinks Annie's Card image that was a freebie awhile back. If you join their Papercraft Planet group, you can get freebies every month! Anyway, I thought Annie was cute and decided to use her for my ATC. Since these ATC's are so small, there's not a lot of room for much more than the image, so I kept it very simple. Supplies:

• Annie's card image- Tiddlyinks
• Cherry blossoms- Wild Orchid Crafts
• Swirl punch- EK Success
• Ticket punch- SU
• Cardstock- Bazzil
• DP- Best Creations
• Stickles

Tiddlyinks Challenge #23- Diamond Glaze/Crackle

This is my second post for today- please scroll down for my other post. When I first saw this image by Tiddlyinks called "Donna" (named after Donna Mikasa), I knew I had to get it. She's so cute! And I love her little frog friend with matching umbrella. Thanks Donna for requesting this image! Now we can all enjoy using it too. This week's Tiddlyinks Challenge is to use diamond glaze or Crackle on your project. Don't know if you can tell, but I used glaze on Donna's umbrella, raincoat and rubber boots. I guess glaze doesn't photograph well, so its hard to see on my photo. I also tried out this cool technique I found on Color Me Copic. It teaches you how to make a grassy background for your image. This was really fun and gave my card some life. I then added some distress ink for the sky using my blender and just dabbing the ink on. And for the inside of my card, I used this cute kids sentiment. I thought it matched the image perfectly! Supplies:

• Donna image- Tiddlyinks
• Diamond Glaze
• Lacey Circle die- Spellbinders
• Scallop border punch- Fiskars
• Daisy chain punch- EK success
• Sending Sunshine sentiment- Hero Arts
• Kids quotes- Inkadinkado
• Cherry blossoms- Wild Orchid Crafts
• Swirl punch- EK Success
• Crystals- Kaisercrafts
• DP- Bo Bunny
• Cardstock- Bazzil

Challenge Time!

What can I say?! I've been inspired by all those challenges out there lately... this card came together without that much effort and seems to qualify for a few challenges! Here's the challenges I'm entering:

• Tamiko's Challenge- Altered Anya
• All That Scraps Challenge #48- Clear Cards
• Flutterby Wednesday #124- Sparkle and Shimmer

How exciting! I've never entered the Flutterby Wednesday challenge before so this is really rare for me to have 3 for the price of one! So Tamiko's Creative Team is challenging everyone to alter an Anya. Normally I would do the head switcharoo, but I decided to be brave and try opening up the eyes. Let me explain a little about my altered Anya. I've been wanting to try this for AGES! Ever since I saw Amy (A thousand Sheets of Paper) do a tutorial on this I've been dying to try. Once you have all the right tools, its not that hard. I finally got my new light box (little problems with the batteries, but now works fine) and new Copic Multiliner pen so I was able to try this out. It was fun choosing which images to combine together. Can you guess which two images I used? Well, I think the Angel Anya is a dead giveaway, but I also used Fleur Anya's eyes. I guess you can't tell since their eyes are pretty much the same. I'm sure you'll be seeing more of this technique again soon. Next, I've been playing around with acetate cards, so I wanted to practice a bit more and added Angel Anya to acetate instead of regular cardstock. I think this qualifies for the All that Scraps Challenge this week. Believe me- acetate cards are pretty challenging! Finally, I normally use bling on my cards, plus I used Angel Anya, so she qualifies me for Flutterby Wednesday! Not sure if you can tell, but she has stickles on her wings. Also added pearl bling and glittered sakura's as accents. Here's a close up of Angel Anya. I like her with her eyes open! I feel like a proud mama! Supplies:

• Angel Anya- TGF
• Sakura- Island Scrapbooking
• Pearl Bling- Kaisercrafts
• Sweet Wonderful You sentiment- Hero Arts
• Labels dies- Spellbinders
• DP- Best Creations
• Stickles

Tiddly Inks Challenge #22- Sketch Challenge

Please scroll down to see my other posts for today... Guess I had a lot to share! I guess all the challenge blogs are on the same wavelength cause this is my 3rd sketch challenge this week! Check out the Tiddlyinks Challenge blog for more info on this week's challenge. I think my DH is right, these sketchs do make my cards more professional looking than my usual style. I went a bit out of my comfort zone again and decided to use only pink, ivory and beige on my card. I like how the leaves punched out of the beige came out- totally not my style but the effect came out great! I also attempted to design my own flourish out of pearls. Do you like it? Its totally free hand-no template whatsoever. I was nervous, but I think it came out nice. Decided to use the Tiny Dancer image as my focal point. Bought this digi because DD dances ballet and it reminds me of her. I never thought I would have a daughter that danced ballet, but when I saw a class of little ballerinas at the Y one day, I couldn't resist enrolling Akemi in ballet lessons. Sadly she is talking about quitting, but I'm hoping she will continue. Supplies:

• Tiny Dancer image- Tiddlyinks
• Flowers- Wild Orchid Crafts
• Pearls- Kaisercrafts
• Leaf punch- MS Crafts
• Cardstock- Bazzil
• DP- SU

LOTV Challenge #65- Sketch Challenge

I promised you another sketch challenge and this one was way more difficult than yesterday's post. As you can tell from my posts that I just LOVE LOVE, LOVE LOTV images. They are the cutest images and they just make me happy when I make something with them. 'nuff said. OK- so as I already told you, sketches are not my norm, but I'm liking the results. Just picked up this paper from Island Scrapbooking over the weekend (they got TONS of new paper in by the way). There are a bunch of coordinating papers in this color scheme and I think its such a fresh look for winter. Inked up James Bear again and added him to the sketch. I also love snowflakes so instead of circles, I used snowflakes. This was fun and definitely challenging for me! Hope you like it! Supplies:

• James Bear- LOTV
• Snowflake punches- MS Crafts
• Fleur de lis pendant- Spellbinders
• Cardstock- Bazzil
• DP- Bo Bunny
• Crystals- Kaisercrafts
• Stickles
• Sentiment- Dandelion Designs
• Circle and Scallop circle punch- EK Success

CC's Designs Sketch Challenge

After debating a bit, I finally broke down and got this cute Take A Seat set by CC's Designs. This set comes with a lot of different people and cute accessories like couches, walls, stools, etc. that they can sit on. I'm glad I got the set and have no regrets whatsoever. Wanted to try the sketch challenge at the Wednesday Challenge Blog, which was much harder than I thought! I guess I generally don't follow sketches, so I had some difficulty in making sure all my pieces were laid out in the right order. Hope I got it right... Also wanted to kill two birds with one stone and make a card for a special friend. She gave me a RAK recently and I wanted to thank her for it, so I designed this card so that I could also use it as a Thank You. Its in the mail now, so she should be getting it soon. Normally I would wait till she got it, but had to post already since there's the challenge deadline. I hope she likes it! It was my first time playing with crochet lace. I got this from Tamiko's at the Islander Girl Social. I've never used it before, so I wasn't sure what to do with it. Also added on corners from my new set I got from Sizzix. It must be an old set because it was on clearance. Like the paper? I got this plus a whole lot more from the Fall Clearance Sale at Island Scrapbooking this weekend. Someone was selling a lot of SU DP packs for a whopping $6, so I totally scored on this. I like getting coordinating papers, makes my job so much easier. (I make like its my work yah?) Anyway, here's the close up of Emma (I think that's her name). I like that she's holding a rose and the rock wall she's on also has roses on it. Added my own roses from Wild Orchid Crafts too. Since I was planning on giving this card away, I stamped the inside. This is the first time I've used my Verve stamp set and I love it! There are several thank you phrases in this set that fit perfectly in the circle! Plus they are clear, so you get perfect placement everytime! Here's a close up of the sentiment so you can see the detail on the circle I added in some small flatback pearls as accents. Hope you liked my card! My DH thinks the sketch made my card look more professional. I guess I agree with that. It sure took me a long time to make this one card. I have another challenge card to share with you tomorrow- that one is even more complicated than this one!! I'll get the hang of it one day. Supplies:

• Emma, rock wall stamps- CC's Designs
• Sentiments and heart flourish circle- Verve stamps
• circle, scallop circle dies- Spellbinders
• Scallop oval punch- SU
• DP- SU
• Cardstock- Bazzil
• Corners (flourish)- Sizzix
• Roses- Wild Orchid Crafts
• Lace
• Pearls- Kaisercrafts
• Butterfly punch- MS Crafts

Tiddlyinks Challenge #21: Our Pets

OK- I'll admit, my photos have been kinda junk yah? Its normally because I try to take them late at night, no good lighting in the house, so I rely on my junk flash.. My GF Debi told me to try taking day photos- which are difficult for me because I'm usually at work. But since its a weekend, I thought I'd take her advice and try it out. Of course, I waited till the sun was going down, so I had some difficulty with shadows and coloring- my image kept looking really blue. I resorted to correcting the color on the computer. I finally got it to look like what the true image looks like in person. Anyway, hopefully my photos will improve over time... Maybe I need some photography lessons from my GF Les... Or maybe I need to by a small photo studio! :) OK- back to the project... Decided to enter the Tiddlyinks challenge again this week. The challenge was to use one of their images with a pet in it. I had already bought this cute Mavis the cat stamp from Stampinbella and thought she'd be purrrfect for this challenge. To make sure it qualified, I checked with Christy and she said that since its her artwork, she'd allow it. I didn't check with her if I could make a 3-D item, but I'm hoping this still qualifies. I couldn't resist making this watering can (template and instructions can be found here) that I saw on Cami's blog earlier. She did such a cute job that I had to copy her. I decided to paper piece Mavis' dress using some scrap DP. I covered the watering can bottom with some punched grass and then added some roses. Hope you like it! Supplies:

• Mavis Cat- Stampinbella/Tiddlyinks
• Grass punch- MS Crafts
• Roses- Wild Orchid Crafts
• Watering can template- Splitcoast Stampers

Have A Fin-Tastic Day!

Its rare that I am inspired by challenges, but this one caught my eye. I had entered last week's All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge as a fluke (just so happened to make a card that fit the criteria), when I saw the challenge for this week... a color challenge using Chocolate, Aqua, and Kraft colors. I love love love this color combo, so I kept this challenge in the back of my mind. This is what I came up with... just got this new Mermaid Emma holding a starfish digi and thougth she would be perfect for this challenge. Now, she actually comes in another version with seaweed, a rock, etc., but I opted for the image that just had her in it. Since there was no other scenery, I had to make my own... I thought my distress inks would provide the perfect ocean look for the card and mounted it on the chocolate brown. The card base was cut from Kraft cardstock. I then handcut my rock for her to sit on and laid her on top of it. Found some old Doodelbug sea creature stickers and used it for the rest of the scene. The sentiment was from one of the CC's summer sentiments set. Here's a close up of the mermaid. I think she's just darling! Hope you have a Fin-Tastic week! Supplies:

• Mermaid Emma- CC's Designs
• Seaweed, fish, and shell stickers- Doodlebug Designs
• Fintastic sentiment- CC's Designs
• Cardstock- Bazzil
• Distress Inks- Ranger
• Stickles

ATS Challenge- Double Pocket Gretel Card

I really don't remember why I decided to make this double pocket card. I think it may have been because of the ATS's challenge this week is to make one. I like this version with the diagonal pockets. I'm totally amazed that I actually made a card in time to meet a challenge deadline! Check out the ATS Challenge blog here... I really like Gretel sitting down, so I used her for this card. I think she fits nicely since the card is diagonal in the same direction that she is facing. Added in some grass from my MS grass punch so that she has something nice to sit on. Supplies:

• Gretel stamp- CC's Designs
• DP- Fancy Pants
• Cardstock- Bazzil
• Sakura flowers- Island Scrapbooking laser cuts
• Rhinestones- Hero Arts
• Grass punch- MS Crafts

April OCS

I was happy to be partnered up with Joy from Tamiko's for this month's OCS. This is the last month that Teri will host the OCS, but the OCS will continue on because Linda and Kyoko have taken it on for all of us! A big mahalo to Teri for coordinating the OCS- its such a fun way to meet new people who share the love of card making! Thanks to Linda and Kyoko too for allowing it to continue!

So, I think I remember that Joy's favorite color is blue, hopefully I'm right cause I went with blue for the card. I also decided to use this as an opportunity to enter into the Tamiko's challenge #2- Nestibilities. I decided to use my Dhalia Nesties and make a pop up flower card- which I haven't made in such a long time, I had to pull out my instructions again. Hope she likes it!

Here's a close up of Emma...

And here's what the card looks like when its opened...

If you haven't checked out Joy's blog or Tamiko's online store, you are missing out! Her blog hosts the Tamiko's challenges and other fun stuff. Her store has great scrapbooking supplies at good prices and free shipping for purchases over $25! Supplies: Cardstock- Bazzil DP- Dhalia Nestibilities- Spellbinders Sugarplums- CC's Designs Gem- Kaisercrafts Vine die- Sizzix Stickles

Two Scoops Rice- Inspiration Challenge

Have you ever been inspired by something? Well Maylee was this month's Challenge host for Two Scoops Rice and she chose this pillow from Crate and Barrel as our source of inspiration. We had to come up with a card/project that was inspired by this pillow. I found this exremely challenging since the colors are so dark, and I'm used to working with lighter colors. I know, you are thinking... that's why they call it a challenge! Right??

So here's the first card I came up with. Luckily, I found some DP that matched the look of this pillow! Its by My Little Shoebox and I loved it when I first saw it, but couldn't seem to figure out how to use it, so it just stayed in my drawer, until now.

Since the DP had flowers on it, I initially thought of using this cute bee stamp by TSR. Isn't it cute? Somehow I didn't do the bee justice though. I think it might be a junk layout that I used. I'm sure you can do better! If you want to enter this challenge, check out the Two Scoops Rice blog for more info.

Here's a close up of the bee...

Ok- so I knew I could a little better, so I decided to ink up one of my favorite fairies. This set comes with 3 fairies all holding different flowers (same pose). To add more drama, I cut black cardstock using my nesties and layered it on some bright yellow DP. I like how this one came out better. What do you think?

Here' s a close up of this cute fairy.

So come on and join the fun! The winner of this challenge will win a prize from Two Scoops Rice (and bragging rights too). You will have 2 weeks to submit your entry-please post the link to your entry on the Two Scoops Rice Challenge post. Good Luck! Can't wait to see all of your projects!

Nutshell's Challenge #10- Shades of Green

Hello Everyone! I'm back for my last appearance as a Guest DT member for Nutcrafters. This week's challenge is to make a project using shades of green. Now that Valentine's Day is over, its time to get in the mood for St. Patrick's Day! Instead of making a card, I decided to make another gift bag using some Bo Bunny green paper. This paper has a subtle flower pattern that reminds me of shamrocks, so I thought it would be perfect for this challenge.

Since I didn't use Thankful Rae yet, I decided to ink her up to decorate the bag... Oh yah.. the tutorial for this bag can be found on Elena's blog. Its an origami bag that's fairly easy to make.

Back to Rae... I love that she's hugging her flowers- she's really enjoying them! One of my favorite color combos is green and pink, so I couldn't resist putting some pink in there with the different greens. Here's a close up of Rae...

If you would like to enter this challenge, please check out the Nutshell's blog here... Challenges run 2 weeks and you will need to leave a comment on their site with a link to your project. You can use any stamp that Nutcrafters sells, so you are not limited to the Nutshells line either- but they are so cute, you will want to use them in your project! Good Luck and can't wait to see all of your projects!

Supplies:

DP- Bo Bunny

Thankful Rae- Nutshells

Flowers- Prima

Flourish punch- Paper Shapers

Ribbon

brads- American Crafts

Circle and Scallop Circle punch- Marvy

Two Scoops Rice Challenge- Altered Item

Hi Everyone!

Back with another Two Scoops Rice Challenge! This time Stephanie is our hostess and the challenge is to use an TSR image on an altered item! I chose to decorate one of the mailboxes I got from Oriental Trading Company. Just covered the mailbox with some DP from SU and chose to use one of the cute fairies from the Garden Fairies set. Since the DP was floral, I thought the fairies would match perfectly.

Here's a close up of the green fairy.

I also decorated the cover... Decided to use a variety of flowers to cover the front.

Here's the other side of the mailbox... Since this was a gift for Valentine's Day, I added the heart on the flag.

Check out the Two Scoops Rice Blog for more information on how to enter this challenge. You have two weeks to submit your entry (by February 27) and the prize is any 2 single stamps of your choice! I just got in some new Two Scoops Rice stamps in the mail, so I'll be posting more samples soon. Plus my blogging friend and fellow DT member, Enjoli gave me a couple of TSR stamps that I can't wait to ink up and make some cards with (Thanks Enoli!). Can't wait to see all the entries!

Nutty Nutshell's- Recipe Challenge

Hi Everyone!

It's time for another Nutty Nutshell's Challenge! I was stoked to be asked to stay on for another month as a Guest Designer for Nutshells. Their stuff is really cute!

Anyway, this week's challenge is a Recipe Challenge. All you need to do to play along is to make a card using at least 3 layers, ribbon and glitter! I think most of my projects have those elements already, so this wasn't such a hard challenge for me!

To give her some bling... I stickled her hair ribbon and clothes. I like the effect of embossing the circle behind her. I've seen that on other people's projects and that subtle effect always catches my eye.

OK- time for you to play along with us.. check out the Nutshell's Challenge blog here for more details...

Supplies Girl digi- Nutshells

DP- American Crafts

Cardstock- Bazzil

By my valentine sentiment- Hero Arts

Stickles

Ribbon

Embossing folder- Cuttlebug

YNS Challenge #8- Anything that Sparkles!

Time for another YNS Challenge! This challenge is to include something on your project that sparkles! That's my kind of challenge! I chose Fairy Fhiona (again) because I love the look of glittered wings on fairies. Makes them look more magical!

As you can see... I'm still on my Valentine's kick. Here's a closer look at Fairy Fhiona... Isn't she cute? Go check out the other samples made by the DT (here) and bust out that glitter and bling so you can enter the contest too!

Did you go sign up for the blinkie contest yet? There may still be time left, so go get your blinkie and leave a comment right now if you haven't already done so! You may just be the lucky winner of all 4 new releases! These new releases are soooo cute, you will want to get your hands on them when you see them.

Speaking of new releases... don't forget to join us for the new release Blog Hop tomorrow (1/21)! This is my first blog hop and I'm so very excited!! So stop by tomorrow to see all the fun.

Did you sign up for the YNS Fan Club at SNR Universe? If not, you can sign up here... then join our group here...

Supplies:

Fairy Fhiona- YNS

Heart handled bag- Sizzix

Flowers- Prima

Cardstock- Bazzil

Stickles

Marker- Copics

Heart die- Spellbinders

Love ya stamp- Hero Arts

Two Scoops Rice Sketch Challenge

Hello! Back today with other challenge from Two Scoops Rice... this month's challenge is a sketch challenge! Joni, our hostess for this challenge, came up with this great sketch! This was a great one for me since most of my cards look the same all the time... time for me to expand my horizons. hee hee. Check out the Two Scoops Rice blog for more info on the challenge.. So, here's what I came up with based on the sketch... I decided to use the Mushi Fairy stamp for my card... I think this is one of Two Scoops Rice cutest designs. I guess I just like the fairies! Here's a closer look at Mushi Fairy... Contest Rules: 1. Use any Two Scoops Rice design stamp and the above sketch for your card. 2. Deadline to enter is January 29, 2010. 3. Post a comment on the contest post here, with a link to your card. 4. Winner will be selected by our hostess, Joni and will win their choice of 2 single stamps from the Two Scoops Rice Store! Please check out what the other DT members have come up with for this sketch challenge! Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Nutty Nutshells Challenge #7

Hi Everyone!

Its time for another Nutty Nutshell's Challenge! This time its a color challenge using pink and brown... my favorite!

OK- so I'm still on a Valentine's Day card kick and these new Nutshells digis are the perfect for Valentine's Day!

To enter, create a card using the colors pink and brown, and any stamp or digi that Nutshells sells on their onlines store.. Then post a comment with a link to your entry and you could win a gift voucher!

Good luck!

December OCS

Hi Everyone! Just thought I'd share with you the card I made for the December OCS that Teri hosts every month. I think she actually wanted to skip November and December for the holidays, but there was a lot of participants who still wanted in even though this time of year is so hectic. I was one of them who wanted to participate- so Thank you Teri for hosting again! Its so fun to be able to exchange cards with other crafters. My partner this month was Teresa. Hope you like the card Teresa!

Since its December, I decided to do a Christmas card. This is another Emma image from CC's designs. I had fun coloring her in pink instead of traditional Christmas colors. I think it matched the DP better anyway since it was a lot of pastels.

To give her cuffs a frosty white look, I used my white smooch. Normally I use liquid pearls, but I decided to go with the smooch since it dries faster. It isn't as thick either, so its flatter on the page.

Supplies:

Emma stamp- CC's designs

Be Merry sentiment- Imaginisce

Pearl- Crystal accents

DP- Bo Bunny

Cardstock- Bazzil

Markers- Copics

Ribbon

Smooch

Can you believe Christmas is less than a week away???

OOPS!

Forgot to tell you what the prize is if you win the Nutshells #6 Challenge! Sorry.. my bad... You can win a gift voucher! Woo hoo! Doesn't that make you want to go and enter now?

Also- the contest info is posted on the Nutshells blog. Since the Holidays are coming up, you have some extra time to make your card- the deadline to enter is January 5th. The next challenge will be posted on January 6th. Can't wait to see all of your entries!

Nutshells Challenge #6

Hi Everyone! Thank goodness its Wednesday! Do you know what that means? The week is half over- Yay!! The sooner this week is over the better.

Since its Wednesday, that means its time again for another Nutshells Challenge!! Challenge #6 to be exact. This week's challenge is to make a Christmas Card using any stamps that Nutshells carries. I chose a the Christmas digi stamps since they are perfect for a Christmas card.

I've been meaning to use this Cosmo Cricket paper and thought it would be a good background piece since I wanted to keep the angels in white/pastels. I decided to make a tri-shutter card since they are very easy to make AND I could dangle the angel on the cloud from the middle section.

Here's what the card looks like when its open.

Here's another view of the inside. I used the SU Sizzix deco strip with the sentiment Peace, Love, Joy & Cheer. I ran out of glitter paper, so I just cut it from white cardstock and used stickles to give it the bling it needed.

Its hard to tell from the photos but there is a little shadowing on the angel's clothing, but that's it... kept it very simple.. they are angels after all!

I hope you will join us for this challenge... check out the challenge blog here for more info.

Supplies:

Angel digis- Nutcrafters

DP- Cosmo Cricket

Cardstock- Bazzil

Stickles

Markers- Copics