Easy Candy Wrap

It's challenge day once again over at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long!  We're being sponsored by Perfect Presentation this week and I've got a template to give away to a lucky winner!

Our challenge this week is "Non-Traditional".

Red and Green for holiday projects?  Been there, done that.

Let's think out of the box this week and use some non-traditional colors on our holiday cards and projects!

No red or green allowed!

Here's what I came up with using a template called "Easy Candy Wrap".

I decided to go with a Perfect Plum / Marina Mist color combo.

I added white ribbon to each end...

and finished it off with fun embellishment and cardstock sentiment.

Once I had the template cut out and scored, this baby took a mere 5 minutes to put together!

Easy-Peasy - love these templates!!  I hope you'll join us this week.  Hop on over to CSAYL for all of the juicy details!



Sweet Inspiration

I just posted a new challenge over at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.  This week I have an inspiration photo to get those creative juices-a-flowin'!  I stumbled upon this beauty while stalking one of my favorite food blogs - Bakerella.

I was inspired by the theme and colors and came up with this little number...

I love non-traditional holiday colors, and this double-sided patterned paper by My Mind's Eye was perfect.  The image is by DeNami Design and the sentiment is by My Favorite Things.

I added this fun embellishment for a little dimension,

and did some faux stitching in white and brown.

I also used a glitter pen on the tables to add a bit of sparkle.

I hope you're inspired to play along with us this week.

Be sure to check out all of the details on the CSAYL blog!

Have a super weekend.

Gimme the Bird

August already - can you believe it?!

I've got a new challenge posted over at CSAYL today and I'd love for you to play along.  Five, count em', FIVE free digis from Pink Cat Studio are up for grabs!

Here's my take on the "Gimme the Bird" challenge.

I used my favorite PCS image called "Birds Make a Christmas Cupcake".  A cupcake, cute birds, snowflake sprinkles - how can you go wrong?!

Here's a detail shot... 

I added a few pearls and lots of Stickles for some holiday sparkle. 

Be sure to hop on over to the CSAYL blog for the challenge details and lots of beautiful samples by the design team.  Have a great weekend!

The Whole Sha-Bang!

How's your summer going?

My kiddos are definitely keeping me busy, but we're having a great time!

Just wanted to pop in today to announce the new challenge over at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.  This week we're being sponsored by

I have quickly fallen in love with Perfect Presentation. The owner, Leigh Ann, is such a wonderful gal and her templates are fantastic, affordable and easy to use. Be sure to hop on over to the shop and check em' all out when you can.

Our challenge this week is a big one.
Only for the serious crafters.

This week I want the Whole Sha-Bang!
I want to see it all!
A package, a matching card AND a gift tag!
Here's the gift set I came up with using a template called "Able Gable".

With three sheets of Kiwi Kiss cardstock and one sheet of patterned paper by My Mind's Eye, I had this whole set done in under an hour!

I used one of my favorite Stampin Up sentiments on the front of the box and embellished with lots of orange jewels.

Instead of adding patterned paper to the top of the box, I just scored at every 1/4" inch.

For the card, I cut my papers with a slight curve, added a sentiment, and finished if off with some faux stitching.  By keeping the layout super simple and the stamping to a minimum, this was a 10 minute card that could easily be mass produced.

For the gift tag, I did a similar layout as my card and added a felt snowflake and big eyelet to the top.  Don't you just love when things are matchy-matchy?! 

Thanks for stopping by today!

If you'd like to play along with the new challenge, be sure to hop on over to the CSAYL blog for all of the details.  Have a great weekend!

Hugs,

Happy Birthday Amber Ink!

Amber Ink just turned 1!

If you haven't checked out their store before, hop on over for a visit.  They have a variety of digi stamps, clear stamps and digi papers to chose from.

And the best part?

Amber Ink is sponsoring our new challenge over at CSAYL today! 
The new challenge is "All about You" - create a holiday themed card or project using your favorite color.

Here's what I came up with using my favorite color, purple.

This image is from a set called "You're the Perfect Package".  I absolutely love this set!  It comes with loads of great images to play with.

I had fun putting together the tiny packages and adding the bows.  I even added a bow to her head for a little fun.

I'd love for you to check out what the rest of the CSAYL team did this week.  Hop on over to the challenge blog for a bit of inspiration and the challenge details.

Feeling Sketchy

It's time for another challenge over at Christmas Stampin All Year Long!

This week I was feelin' a little sketchy, so I doodled up a little something for us to play with.

  Here's my take on it...

I used my favorite image from SU's "Winter Post" set.  I have NO idea why, but I just can't seem to get enough of this skating couple for some reason. (?)

I stamped the image with Sahara Sand ink and kept the rest of the colors clean and simple with a combo of Kraft and Very Vanilla.  I threw in a bit of gold cording and some pearls to finish it off.

I hope you'll play along with us this week.  There's a guest dt spot up for grabs!  For more inspiration, check out what the rest of the design team did with the sketch by clicking here.

Have a great weekend :-)

Something for teacher

MFT posted a new sketch challenge and I snuck in a little "me time" to play along.

This cute teacher image is from the "You Rule " set in the a' la mode collection by My Favorite Things.  All of the cute papers are from the "School Spirit" collection by Crate Paper and the chipboard embellishment is by American Crafts.

School starts in 37 days and I aways like to have a little something for "Meet the Teacher Day".  Even though I always have all summer to prep, it still sneaks up on me every year!

Heavy Metal Holiday

Hold on to your Christmas stockings, because CSAYL has a new sponsor today!

Digi and rubber stamps from KennyK are a fun and edgy way to add the perfect dose of attitude and style to all of your creations! Kenny and Elena were generous enough to donate digi images this week to three, count em' THREE, lucky winners!! First place will get their choice of 3, Second place will get their choice of 2 and Third place will get their choice of 1!

This week we're going "Heavy Metal".

I want all you rockin' ladies to bust out that metal hardware and use it on your holiday card or project.  Metal frames, tags, brads, eyelets, pins - whatever floats your boat!

Here's what I came up with...

This uber-adorable image is called "Xmas Shopping" and I just love her!

She was so much fun to color with my Copics.  I popped up a few parts of the image with dimensionals for some added layers and *pop*.

Check out that little pearl earring - love it!

For the "Heavy Metal" part, I used silver brads to frame the main image and a mini library clip on the sentiment.  Be sure to check out KennyK's FAB shop and then hop on over to the CSAYL blog to play along with us!

After I did this card, I did some perusing around the web and found some new challenges that I could enter with my card.  Holy-Moly!  There are a bunch of really great challenge sites out there!  I've never done this before, but what the heck, here goes....
Art Impressions Stamps - use something from your stash (brads and clip)
AUD Sentiments Challenge - use at least 2 words
Craft Us Crazy - Christmas in July
Moving Along with the Times - Christmas in July
ABC Christmas - No designer paper
The House that Stamps Built - Christmas in July
The Little Red Wagon - Christmas in July
The Paper Shelter - Lots of dots
OWH Stars and Stamps - Christmas in July
The Paper Variety - Christmas in July

Wednesday Stamp Club with MFT

My Favorite Things posted another fabulous sketch challenge and I actually got to play along!  It's a miracle.  Entertaining 2 kids all summer can really cut into a gals stamping time! 

Here's my take on it, using their "Miss You A Latte" set.

I cut a strip of flowers with a decorative border punch and separated them with scissors.  Then I adhered three of them behind the main image.

I stamped the sentiment with white ink and embellished the top strip with some green dimensional stickers that are super sparkly.  I finished off the card with some faux stitching along all four sides.

That's it for me today.

The munchkins and I are off to the Farmer's Market!

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long

Another Friday and another challenge over at CSAYL!

This week our challenge is called "She's Krafty".  The requirement is to use kraft cardstock as the main cardstock color on your holiday card or project.

Our sponsor this week is Pink Cat Studio and I used one of their free sentiments for my card.

I picked up these cute cupcake embellishments and I've been dying to use them.  When I saw this PCS sentiment, I knew they would work perfect together.

We've got two guest designers joining us today and lots of inspiration from the CSAYL team.  Hop on over to the challenge blog to check it out and play along!