Teacher's Pet

I've got a new challenge posted over at Christmas Stampin All Year Long today!  This week we're going to focus on some very special people - TEACHERS.

Teachers hold a very special place in my heart and my family has been blessed by several over the years. Anyone who can be in a room with 30 kids all day and be passionate about what they're doing is a saint in my book!

So, this week I want you to be "Teacher's Pet" - make a holiday card or project for a teacher. Use school supplies, school themed stamps - whatever blows your hair back!  Show me what you've got!

Here's what I came up with...

Does anyone else LOVE the MFT "a la amodes" as much as I do?  For this card, I used an image and sentiment from the "You Rule" set.  To give it a bit of a holiday feel, I stamped a present onto the binder paper image before I popped it up. The fun school themed papers are by Crate Paper.

If you'd like to join us this week and have a chance to be a guest designer for CSAYL, leave your link over on the challenge post. 
Thanks for poppin' by today!

Inky Wednesday

Hey stampers!

Thought I'd pop in today to share some fun news with you.  I was recently invited to join the design team over at Inky Impressions!  You can check out their shop right here - oh my gosh.....CUTE stuff!!  I'll be designing with them for the rest of this year and will have something "Inky" to share with you on my blog each Wednesday.  In addition to posting on my blog, I will also be a contributor to the Inky Impressions Inspirational Blog.

My card for today uses a fun image called "Sammy Making Snow Angels".

I used the color challenge over at the Inky Impression Challenge Blog as inspiration.

I was also inspired by the Crazy Amigo sewing challenge and the charming challenge over at the Creative Craft Challenge blog.

Here's a close up of Sammy having fun in his glitter snow patch.

I added a bit of faux stitching around the border and finished it all off with some wide ribbon and a snowflake charm.  This gorgeous charm comes in a set of five that you can find right here. 

Here's a peek at the inside.

The sentiment reads, "If a snowflake fell everythime I thought of you...We'd really have a white Christmas".  Isn't that a great sentiment? I love it!

You can check out all of the great sentiments available from Inky Impressions right here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

FIVE FREE DIGIS!

Have I ever told you about my "thing" for Billy?

He's my favorite character from Pink Cat Studio and just melts my heart for some reason.

PCS is sponsoring our new challenge over at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long this week.  Our challenge is to use some kind of funky, cool fold.  I'm calling it "Fancy Shmancy" and you can check out all of the team samples as well as links to some great tutorials right here. 

I decide use my cute "Billy Rides a Polar Bear" image and make a side-step card.  I embellished the right side with some torn white paper, felt snowflakes and trees cut with a Sizzix. 

If you'd like to play along with us this week and have a chance to win ANY 5 Pink Cat digis, hop on over to CSAYL and link up your "Fancy Shmancy" creation!

Got Mono?

This week over at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long, we've got a monochromatic challenge.  Are you game?  You can check out all of the details on the CSAYL blog.

I decided to use Baha Breeze for my cute little holiday creation.

I used a white 5 1/4" square for my card base and "Ski Bunny Trevor" as my main image.

I kept the embellishments clean and simple, and finished it all off with some piercing around the edges.

I'd love for you to play along with us this week!

Sweet Summertime

It's a miracle!

I'm here today and I DON'T have a Christmas card to share!

After a long Summer vacation entertaining the kiddos, they are back in school.

I used some of my new found free time to hop on over to the local scrapbook store, and stumbled upon this ADORABLE patterned paper by Little Yellow Bicycle.  It's part of the "Sweet Summertime" collection.

Of course I had to pair it up with this Greeting Farm cutie from the Creeper Kit.  The TGF Farm Fresh Challenge Blog is running a challenge called "Button it Up", so I paper pieced her hat and added a little green button.  And would you believe that I actually had ribbon with lemon slices on it?!  Who knew?!  I love discovering things in my stash!

That's it for me today. 

 I'm off to hang out with the 3rd graders :-)

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.