Sparkle and Shine

Good morning!  Today is the kick-off for Catch the Bug's "Christmas Chaos".  Our challenge today is "Sparkle and Shine"...that's right, we would like to see glitter, sparkle, gems, and/or pearls!

I thought this festive image of Ruby was just perfect; she's colored with pencils and accented with glitter.  I went with pearlized patterned paper and added some bling for embellishing.

Image: Bugaboo "Ruby Christmas-Ornaments" Digital Stamp
Ink: Printer
Paper: G.P. 110, SU! Wild Wasabi, PTI Raspberry Fizz, Heidi Grace Designs Patterned Paper
Embellies: Art Glitter, PTI Button, K & Co. Bling
Extras: Prismas/Crayolas/Goo Gone, MFT "Stacking Stars" Die-namics, Foam Tape

For some holiday inspiration, please check out the rest of the DT's creations here.  Remember, we will be having a new challenge every day and there are great prizes up for grabs!

Thank you for stopping by!

Angela

You Crack Me Up!

Good Friday morning!  Stamping Bella had a fun sketch for Bellariffic Friday this week, so I thought I would play along and make 1 more Easter card.  I combined a few challenges to make this one.

I pulled out one of my favorite DPs, colored the image to match, added a bit of glitter, some felt flowers and a Bella Dot.  I even added a sentiment to this one...not sure why I don't usually do that?

Image/Sentiment: Stamping Bella
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select, Lemon Tart, and Dark Chocolate, Heidi Grace DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Sakura Black Gel Pen
Embellies: Felt (The Cat's Pajamas), Doodlebug Glitter, Bella Dot
Extras: Prismas/Crayolas/Goo Gone, The Cat's Pajamas CutUp Die, Dimensionals

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Bellariffic Friday: Sketch
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge: Easter/Spring
More Than Favors Wacky Wednesday: Easter/Spring
Rainbow Lady's Challenge Blog: Happy Easter
The Paper Shelter: Anything Goes/Easter
Tuesday Throwdown: Pastels


Thanks for stopping by!

Angela

TMS#90: Surprise Pop-Up Card

Good Tuesday morning! No sketch from Melissa at Tuesday Morning Sketches this week, but a technique challenge instead. I will have to admit, I am not much for techniques.... I don't have a lot of patience.... Surprisingly, I will concede that I did find this one to be rather fun though! You can view a tutorial here; there is also a YouTube video link towards the end of the tutorial. I had more luck watching the video. Also, I would recommend using a piece of scratch paper to practice with before breaking out the "good stuff"!

I colored my image with pencils and then applied a LOT of glitter.... Glitter...it makes me happy! Since my DP is pretty busy, I kept the layering and embellishing to a minimum; just some simple felt flowers with buttons. The real fun with this card is when you pull up the tag to expose the hidden message. How fun is that? Now that I have learned how, I think I may be using this technique again....

Image/Sentiment: Stamping Bella

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Sakura Black Gel Pen

Paper: PTI Stamper's Select, Fine Linen and Dark Chocolate, Heidi Grace Designs DP

Embellies: Barbara Trombley's Art Glitter in "Angel Dust", Doodlebug Glitter (brown), PTI Dark Chocolate Twill and Buttons, PTI Raspberry Fizz, Fine Linen, Simply Chartreuse, and Hawaiian Shores Felt

Extras: Prismas/Crayolas/Goo Gone, Spellbinder's Nestabilities, Corner Chomper, The Cat's Pajama's CutUp Die, DMC Floss, Red Line Tape, EK Success 3D Dots

I can't wait to see what the rest of the DT has crafted using this fun technique; I hope to see you play along too!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Angela

Tiddly Inks Challegne #23

I'm squeaking by again with the Tiddly Inks challenge...a new one will be posted tomorrow. The challenge for this past week is glossy accents or cracked glass. I went with the cracked glass technique. It's a bit hard to see in the photo though.

I colored the image with pencils then applied 4 coats of UTEE. Then I put the panel in the freezer for a few minutes before bending the panel to crack the "glass". I then rubbed a bit of Creamy Caramel ink over the top and wiped it off with a tissue. I embellished simply with a ribbon to keep the focus on the image/technique.

Image: Tiddly Inks Digital Image

Ink: SU! Creamy Caramel

Paper: G.P.110, PTI Dark Chocolate, SU! Cool Caribbean, Heidi Grace DP

Embellie: Wright's Chocolate Ribbon

Extras: Prismas/Crayolas/Goo Gone, Suze Weinberg's UTEE, EK Success 3D Dots

Thanks for stopping by; I'll be back tomorrow with a card for Tuesday Morning Sketches!

Angela

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Good morning! It's time for another challenge from Melissa at the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog. This week it's actually a folding technique, the diagonol double pocket card. You can find a tutorial here on SCS. Our sponsor is Paper Pretties, who just had a grand reopening sale and released a bunch of new sets last week.

I was really surprised at how easy it was to make the card. I did use a piece of typing paper for my first try.... I found that it was a bit harder to use DP, since it was a bit thicker. You also need to be a bit more careful if using a pattern like stripes. Mine is the first version shown on the tutorial; when I tried to make the second version (which opens up), I didn't have as much luck. I will have to sit down and try it again....

Image: Paper Pretties Digital Stamp
Paper: PTI Lemon Tart and Dark Chocolate, Heidi Grace Designs DP
Embellies: PTI Lemon Tart Satin Ribbon, Glitteries Lemon Glitter
Extras: Crayolas/Goo Gone, Spellbinder's Nestabilities, DMC Floss, Crop-A-Dile II

This was a fun card to make, and the folding went quickly! I think it would be fun to include a gift card in one of the pockets too....

Hop on over to the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog to view the DT's samples; hopefully you can play along!

Thanks for stopping by; have a great day!

Angela

Tiddly Inks Challenge #3: Fabric

Hello there! It is a cold, windy Wednesday...I hear it is supposed to be 34 degrees Friday night. Good grief!

I have a card that combines 2 challenges today; I love it when I can do that! I see some people are able to combine many more than that; I'll have to work on it.... I used the sketch over at SCS and went to work. I had great plans to use fabric in my i-top brad maker, but I found that the Heidi Grace fabric I bought to go with my Heidi Grace paper didn't match. The fabric was much more vibrant. Then I thought of my PTI felt, but discovered that the Hawaiian Shores felt didn't match the Hawaiian Shores paper.... What a bummer! Then I checked the Dark Chocolate felt/paper and found it was not a good match either! Double bummer! I guess today was not my day! LOL

I decided to go with SU! Cool Caribbean since it matched the DP and also goes great with the felt. When SU! was retiring that color I bought a bunch because it is one of my very favorites; I do tend to hoard it though. The image is a digi; I am really liking the ability to resize the digis to your project. I colored her with Prismas and added some glitter to her wings. I used SU! felt flowers combined with the PTI felt and repurposed a green felt heart for the leaves. I like how this card turned out; the colors make me happy! Plus, if I get to use glitter that makes me happy too; I don't even mind the mess!

Image: Tiddly Inks Digi Stamp

Sentiment: Hero Arts

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: G.P. 110, SU! Cool Caribbean, PTI Dark Chocolate, Heidi Grace DP

Embellies: Barbara Trombley's Art Glitter in "Polar Bear", PTI Hawaiian Shores Felt, SU! Stitched Felt Sweet Pea Flowers

Extras: Prismas/Goo Gone, SU! Stamp-a-ma-jig, Foam Tape

Here's a link to the Tiddly Inks blog in case you would like to check out the challenge. The DT's cards are worth taking a look at too!

Just wanted to share a bit of happy news; DD tried out for flags with the marching band. She found out today she made it! Makes me remember H.S. (MANY years ago) when I was a flag and also played the bass drum in the marching band. Were any of you in the band? I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks for stopping by today; enjoy your evening!

Angela

Just Bee-cuzzz

Good Sunday morning!

Janet issued the challenge of paper piercing this week on The Corrosive Challenge Blog I love to paper pierce! I have a couple of different tools that I use; the first is a metal template from Lasting Impressions and the second is Tim Holtz's piercing ruler. I used the ruler for this card; I love that it is clear so I can visualize my project better. It also has a very fine grid that makes lining things up very easy.

I used Mercy's sketch; I really thought it was a fun one and I plan to use it again! I also used a new digi image from Pink Cat Studio; I just love the whimsey of Melissa's characters.... Isn't this little Lily just darling? Don't you just love her beehive hairdo? LOL It's so perfect for a little bee!

Image: Pink Cat Studio Digi

Paper: PTI Stamper's Select, Lemon Tart and Dark Chocolate, Heidi Grace DP

Embellie: Barbara Trombley's Art Glitter (wings), Doodlebug Glitter (brown)

Extras: Prismas/Crayolas/Goo Gone, Sakura Black Glaze Pen, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Tim Holtz Piercing Ruler, Foam Tape

I borrowed a trick from my friend Larissa, and dotted Lily's eyes with a black glaze pen. I also used glitter liberally; Lily really sparkles! Actually glitter is the only embellie I used on this card...I'm not really sure where I would put ribbon or brads.... Have you ever done that? Made a card without ribbon, brads, flowers, etc.? I feel like it "works" for this card....

I hope to try this layout again with butterfly Lily and ladybug Lily. If only there were more time in the day!

I hope you have time to stop by and check out the other DT's cards today; check my sidebar for links to their blogs. Maybe you can even play along!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your Sunday!

Angela

It's Bellarific Friday!

Good morning! Today I have another baby card to share; I love making baby cards! Our theme this week was flowers, so I thought the combination of Pookie Lollipop and this pretty floral paper would work out great. I also used Mercy's sketch for this card; check it out here.

Pookie Lollipop is colored with pencils and Goo Gone. I used a healthy dose of the sparkly stuff on the yellow flower. In real life it really sparkles and you can see the shading on the petals through the glitter! The smaller flowers and her little brown headband are accented with brown glitter.

Image: Stamping Bella "Pookie Lollipop"
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Lemon Tart and Dark Chocolate, Heidi Grace DP
Embellies: PTI Lemon Tart Grosgrain Ribbon, SU! Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Barbara Trombley's Art Glitter in "Angel Dust", Doodlebug Glitter
Extras: Crayolas/Prismas/Goo Gone, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Foam Tape

Tips and Tricks:
Have you ever been able to see your DP through light colored ribbon? I sure could when I was making this card.... To fix that I cut a strip of the Lemon Tart CS the width of the card and just a smidge smaller than the width of the ribbon. I glued the strip down first and then adhered the ribbon over the top of it. Voila! Problem solved!

I hope you will head over to Blogabella and check out the rest of the entries for today's challenge. Thanks for stopping by and sparkle on!

Angela

Oh my! I just went to Em's blog to link it up and it was a sketch challenge this week.... Hmmm! How could I have missed that? Turns out we were supposed to include flowers on our sketch.... Well, no sketch and no flowers.... Major faux pas! What's a girl to do? Well, I guess I will choose to not sweat the small stuff and keep on stamping!

Happy New Year!!!

Here's my entry for this week's TCP Tuesday challenge. The challenge was to make something "new". It could be a New Year's card, use new stamps, layout, etc. I decided I would go with a New Year's card, using paper and stamps that I havn't used before, so I guess they are "new" too!

This Heidi Grace DP was in a card kit I received in a swap; I really liked it, so when I saw a pack of the paper on sale at JoAnns I bought it...a long time ago! I hadn't opened the pack until today and I really like the papers; I think they are my new favorites! I was able to use 5 of the DPs on this card.

I stamped 2 extra balloons, paper pieced them and added them to the image. I also added some M.S. glitter to the hat, horn, and champagne bubbles. I also used some gorgeous black satin ribbon I found in my stash and some black Swarovski flatback crystals. I used the "Metro" QuicKutz alphabet for the numbers.

Image: The Cat's Pajamas "You Say it's Your Birthday", SU! "A Brand New Year"
Paper: PTI Aqua Mist, True Black, G.P. White, Heidi Grace "Reagan's Closet" DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Sharpie Black Finepoint
Embellies: Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter, Swarovski Black Flatback Crystals, Black Satin Ribbon
Extras: Crayola Colored Pencils/Goo Gone, QuicKutz "Metro" Numbers, Foam Tape

Happy New Year to you; may 2010 be your best year ever!

Angela