Hambo Challenge Time

This is my second post for today. If you're here to check out the new challenge from Christmas Stampin All Year Long, please scroll down to the next post.

April 30th - can you believe it?!
A new month is just around the corner and we've got a new challenge of "epig" proportions for you on the Hambo blog! I created the sketch for this challenge, so I'd love for you to play along with us. (You know....it would make me look good to the Hambo boss hog in charge .*wink*)Here's what I came up with...
This was the first stamp that I ever purchased from Hambo, and it's still one of my all time faves. It's appropriately called "Harvest Moon" and it's a great image to paper piece.

I used some patterns from BasicGreys "green at heart" collection and some yummy felt flowers by Stampin Up.

I finished it off with a fun little sentiment that I thought would be perfect for a gardener.

You can check out all of the juicy details and see what the rest of the team came up with right here. Thanks for stopping by today to visit me. Have a fantastic weekend!

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long

It's time for another challenge over at the CSAYL blog. My Christmas card collection is coming along nicely, how about you? The challenge this week is to make an easel card.

They look a little intimidating at first, but they are SO simple to make. You can check out a tutorial here to get you started.

Here's what I came up with...
I love non-traditional colors for Christmas, and this double-sided paper by BasicGrey was perfect for the look I was going for. The sketch this week over at Mojo Monday was a great starting point for me and really got those creative juices flowing.

I finished it off with some GINORMOUS striped ribbon and then glued a cute felt button in the middle.

The most important part of an easel card is the inside. You need to have some kind of embellishment to hold up the front of your card when it's displayed. I decided to use a button. You could also use a brad, a rhinestone or a sentiment popped up with a dimensional.

I made the ric-rac strip with my new punch from EK Success - love it!! You'll definitely be seeing more of that on future projects :-)

I hope you're inspired to play along with us this week. A big thanks to all of the ladies that participated in our sketch challenge last week. I loved looking at all of your cute creations!

Pink Cat Digi GIVEAWAY!

Melissa is busy working on the next Pink Cat Studio rubber release scheduled for Tuesday, May 4th! You are going to LOVE what she has put together! There will be 3 new sets - 2 large sets of Lily & Billy and a smaller set featuring baby animals. EEEEK! Only 5 more sleeps to go!

There is not a new digital release today, but we couldn't just leave you empty handed. Melissa has created this adorable flower image with buttons.
Ohh.....I just love me some buttons!
And guess what?
It's FREE today when you make any purchase from the Pink Cat Studio digital or rubber stamp stores!

I decided that this image would be perfect for Mother's Day...

I loved the colors that Melissa used to color the image, so I did the same! I used my Copic Colorless Blender to create the polka dots on the large flower, and popped up the vase with dimensionals.
I even added some tiny buttons of my own...

I didn't have a pink button in the right size, so I just used my Copic (R22) and colored a white button.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you're all having a great week so far. I can't wait to see the new episode of Survivor tonight. Did anyone else see that tribal council last week - OMG!

Hambo Hump Day

Graduation time is quickly approaching and this cute digital image by Hambo was really fun to work with.I used one of Karen's sketches from several weeks back and some really bright patterns from SU's Sale-A-Bration paper pack. I paper pieced little Henrietta's graduation gown by running my patterned paper through the printer and just cutting it out.

Be sure to check out the Hambo blog tomorrow. Thursday is always an exciting day over there! There will be a brand new digital image released for a super low introductory price AND a one of a kind digital image will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Oh, and don't forget that you have until midnight tomorrow to participate in our April challenge! A brand new challenge will be announced on the 30th.

My son is busy at school this week with STAR testing. I'm off to go bring his class a nice healthy snack so they can stay focused. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow.

Black and Purple

It's time for another Little C's challenge! This week we want you to create something with black and only one other color. Here's what I came up with... Kudos to my buddy Maria for making a great tutorial! I just can't stop making these boxes! I started off with some Rich Razzleberry cardstock and clear embossed a flower image from SU's "Embrace Life" set. Then I clear embossed some extra flower images on some scrap cardstock, cut them out and added them to the box with dimensionals.

Here's a close up of the lid details...
I used an eyelet punch along the bottom border and added some purple jewels to the front.

For the top, I used a big gorgeous Prima flower. My kids were very quick to point out that the flower has green on it, so I should be disqualified - precious aren't they?

I wanted to use black leaves, but didn't have any, so I colored some brown ones with a Copic and voila!

I also added some black glitter for a little sparkle.

Want to play along with us?

Create according to the "theme" and post a comment on each of the Little C's Diva blogs...Jen and Maria. Then, leave a link to your creation on Jen's blog.

Thanks a bunch for stopping by today!

Skating by with a thank you

Did everyone have a great weekend?
My husband surprised the family with a Wii and I kicked some major butt in tennis! I hate to say it, but my arm is a little sore - hee hee.

My daughter recently celebrated her 7th birthday. Where does the time go?! Can you guess the theme for her birthday this year? Yep, she and ten of her friends got to spend the afternoon at the ice skating rink. We had SO much fun. Daddy even put on a pair of skates and got out there with all the girls. What a guy! The highlight of the day was her ride on the Zamboni machine.

I wanted to make a fun thank you card for everyone who took the time to come out and spend the afternoon with us. While I was cleaning out my magazine stash a few months ago, I came across an old issue of Paper Crafts that had an ice skating themed article. Based on the sample in the magazine, I drew up a template and made my own version with blue eyelets and some BasicGrey patterned paper.
The charm is part of a set of five by Karen Foster. I had to order them online, because my local scrapbook store shut down - gasp! I ordered them from "A Cherry on Top" and received them in three days!

I'm off to be 1st grade room mom today - wish me luck!

Recycled Ribbon?!

Happy Saturday! Just poppin' in really quick to let you know about an Earth Day inspired blog hop that my friend Tanya organized. Hop on over to the "Create It Green" blog and check it out.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long

I hope you all had a fabulous week. Can you believe that it's almost May?! I'm so happy that the weekend is finally here. As most of you know, Friday is challenge day over at the CSAYL blog. This week we've got a sketch for you. Oh, how I love love love a sketch!Here's what I came up with using a Whipper Snapper cutie...
I used the "Swiss Dots" embossing folder on my frame to give it that little somethin' somethin'. Dry embossing is a great way to add some interest to part of your project without taking anything away from the focal point.

If you'd like to play along with us this week, hop on over to the CSAYL blog to link your creation. Who knows? We may even ask you to be a guest designer *wink wink*!
Thanks for visiting me today. Have a super weekend.

Pink Cat Digital Release Day!

Meet the fashionistas! Holy cute!
I giggled the whole time I was coloring these gals in!

I thought these images were perfect for Mother's Day and for gift packaging for little girls. So that's exactly what I did this week. I made three gift sets with matching cards that are all ready to go when the occasion strikes.

First up is the owl.
Oh my.....she's totally workin' that hat!
For this set, I used Pale Plum cardstock for the "bag" and paired it up with a BasicGrey pattern from their "kioshi paper pad".

I embellished with Prima flowers and added lavender pearls to the centers.

Here's a close up of the matching 4 x 4 card with one of the free sentiments available to all PCS customers.

Next up today is the Fashionista Kitty...

For this one, I paired Melon Mambo cardstock with a pattern from BasicGrey's "green at heart" paper pad.

Adorable, no?

Here's a close up of the coordinating 3 x3 card with another great PCS sentiment.

My last sample for today uses the Froggy Fashionista... A dear friend of mine is a Kindergarten teacher and her class is the "frog class". This gift set is going to be perfect for her upcoming birthday!

For this one, I used black cardstock for the bag and paired it with another fab pattern from BasicGrey's "Green at heart" set.

I added some sparkle to her eyelids, flower and pearls.

Be sure to hop on over to the Pink Cat blog to see what the rest of the design team came up with this week. When you're done there, hop on over to the digi shop and pick up the new fashionistas for your collection!

Melissa is busy working on a new set of rubber images, so we won't have a digital release next week. But I promise, the new rubber images will be worth the wait! Let's face it - Melissa NEVER disappoints.