Come To My Party!

Hi Stampers! I am excited to share this card with you this week, I just adore these little animals, and the shading on the stamps make it so easy to add a bit of depth to my colored image. For something a little different I even added cute little birthday candles on the side. I'm keeping my post short today, and sadly it will be my last for a few weeks as I took a  pretty hard fall this past week and fractured my arm fairly close to my shoulder. I'll be back as soon as I can though, in the meantime I plan to enjoy the crisp fall weather we're having!

Thanks for stopping by!

Party Time!

 

Hi Stampers! Are you ready for the party?? This week I used the Birthday Cake image from Chi Chi Memories September Release - Party Time. This sure is a fun stamp set, with Candace and Jordy all dressed up for what looks to be a pretty fancy tea party! I needed a birthday card this week, so I used this image from the set. 

I colored the main image with my Spectrum Noir markers and then used my Silver Smooch Spray to give it a little glimmer. I'm not a huge fan of Smooch Spray, but it sure looks great in person on this design. It added just the right amount of shimmer! I used my Distressed Dots background stamp and Wisteria Wonder ink from SU on the background. I love the way the silver cord looks paired up with the Smooch Spray! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

We're Back at School!

 

Hi Stampers! We were back at school this past week, and I can't believe I forgot to schedule my post! Eeek!! Well if you're looking for excuses, I have a pretty good one as once again and for the second year in a row, I started the school year at a completely new school where I had to set up my classroom from scratch. While it's always hard to say goodbye to the children I spend so much time with it's always exciting to welcome in a whole new class, and this year I am teaching First Grade for the first time since I was a student teacher, and I'm not sure I have ever worked as hard as I have these past two week! I normally don't share much personal information on my blog, but it's been a pretty exciting past few weeks - I accepted the offer to teach just a week before we had to be back at school. I just wanted to share my exciting news with you!!

In celebration of another new school year, for or my Design Team submission this past week, I used the Hello Girl and paired her up with some back to school inspired paper from Jillibean Soup. I just love these crisp colors that remind me of fall. I kept my design simple and clean, and added an apple that I paper pieced from the background paper as a little touch to the bottom corner. I also popped Candace's head with some foam dots to add a little dimension. She reminds me of a little girl I know.

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a great weekend!

Aloha Friday Challenge #6 Mid-Inspiration

Hi Stampers! It's time for another Aloha Friday Challenge card. This is my Mid-Inspiration design for Challenge #6, Birthday!

I stepped out of my comfort zone by playing with my new purple marker set a little bit. Purple and chocolate do look yummy together, don't they? Of course it's no secret that lime green is my favorite color every and I think it made a nice background for this birthday card.

I hope my readers will forgive me for making such a basic design this week. I gave myself a bad case of tendonitis in my hand - stupid smart phone! - and almost had to call out sick on this one! I'm on the mend though and I'll be back in a few days to share another fun card.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I Got Your Back!

 

Hi Stampers! If you're like me, you probably have friends how always have your back and I used this image from I Got Your Back to make a card that's perfect for giving to one of those friends! This is an adorable image that's sold as a single digi-stamp or part of the Friendship Stamp Set at the Chi Chi Memories store here!

This week I used my basic Spectrum Noir pens in Browns, Purples, and Pale Hues for all my coloring. I layered papers from my Crate Paper Snow Day 6x6 pad for the background of my card and used a Framelit Label Die to cut out the bottom of my tag. I have the pretty, sparkly buttons in my stash and I paired them up with some silver cording I found in Target's dollar bin. I used some tutorials on the Spectrum Noir blog as a guide for my skin tones and hair. 

I hope you like my card, thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Badge

Hi Stampers! I'm back this weekend with a Birthday Badge I made for the Aloha Friday Challenge #6 Inspiration using the Happy Birthday Kitty image from Kitty Bee Designs. In case you haven't guessed, our theme this week is Birthdays.

I printed this kitty image onto Bazzill Coconut Cardstock and then punched it out using my 2 1/2" Circle Punch. I layered it onto a SU Basic Gray scalloped circle cut from my Bigz Die and added some 1 1/2" Pink Pirouette Grosgrain Ribbon and a pin backing to make the badge. I colored the image using Spectrum Noir markers and added some SU Dazzling Details to the brim of her little Birthday Hat. It blended perfectly with the no so dry markers to make sparkly pink fluff.

You have time to play along with the Aloha Friday Challenge here. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. Thanks for stopping by!

For You

Hi Stampers! I am excited to be getting back into a stamping mode once again after taking a little personal break. I am just loving this image from the mini stamp set For You, part of the August release of three mini stamp sets at Chi Chi Memories. I used this week's Unscripted Sketches Flashback Summer Sketch #92 for my inspiration:

Do you love this apple paper as much as I do? I am drawn to the fall feel of this Jillibean Soup paper collection called Apple Cheddar Soup. Maybe it's the teacher in me, but it's been my go-to paper all summer long, maybe because I've stocked up for the fall, or maybe it's just 'cause the other side is so beautiful too!

I finished up the front of my card with these adorable sequins - I like to think of them as sprinkles, or little Jimmies for my cards! These things have been in my craft supplies for years and why we never realized how great they look on a card before now is beyond me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pink Sweetness

Hi Stampers! I have a fun card to share with you this week that I made using an image from Chi Chi Memories August Release stamp set called Friendship! I thought this was a perfect card for a teaching team mate as we're getting ready to return to school around here. All my teacher friends seem a little sad to be ending their summer vacations in just a couple short weeks!

I'm glad you stopped by today to peek at my card! You can get a copy of these adorable images for yourself if you head on over to the Chi Chi Memories store. Here's a peek at what's included in this set of images:

Thanks for stopping in. Don't forget to stop by the Chi Chi Blog for more inspirational cuteness!

Jordy's Diving For Fun

 

Hi Stampers! This week I used the image of Jordy diving to create my card for Chi Chi Memories.I combined two images from the Splash of Fun Stamp Set for the focal point on my card. You can get a copy of these images for yourself from the Chi Chi Memories online store.

I used Spectrum Noir markers from the Pale Hues Collection and the Brights Collection to color the images.Then I cut the little banner from my white cardstock, and colored it with my IB3 marker. I love how it made the banner look as though it was printed onto blue card stock, with no water lines whatsoever. You have to love a good marker! My background papers is from Simple Stories, and the twine and button are from SU, and the card stock base is from Bazzill.

I am entering this into:

•  the Delicious Doodles Summertime Challenge!

Thanks for stopping by, and make sure you hop on over to the Chi Chi Memories Blog to see what the other fabulous DT Members have cooked up this week!

Aloha Friday Challenge #4 Mid - Inspiration

Hi Stampers! Happy Friday! I'm back with my second project for the Aloha Friday Challenge #4. Our theme for this challenge is Summer. You can play along with your summer project by linking up to the Kitty Bee Designs Blog. You don't have to use a Kitty Bee Designs stamp, though we would love it if you did!

For my project, I used the Digi Stamp called Follow the Butterfly Bear for a cute little candle box. You can get a copy of this bear as a single digi from Kitty Bee Designs Etsy Shop:

To make my box I used a pattern from Erica Cerwin's blog Pink Buckaroo Designs, you can find the tutorial to make your own if you follow the link. Erica has lots of fun tutorials available for free, and for purchase. I love to peek at her designs now and then, she's so creative!

I colored the bear with Spectrum Noir Markers and then fussy cut her out so she would fit the box better. I used a circle punch to punch out the butterfly and then drew the dashes back in by hand using a journaling marker. The paper is from Recollections and Stampin' Up! (Blushing Bride). Here's a picture of the front of the box:

This box was super duper fast to create using my paper trimmer and score board. I'm sure I'll be making more for the upcoming holidays!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a fabulous weekend!

Sweet Land of Liberty

 

Hi Stampers! I created this card with a kit that was put together by Tanya of Life's Memories and More in celebration of her store's 7th Anniversary. The kit came with some Bo-Bunny Products (Anthem) and a bag full of goodies! Some of the Chipboard Stickers are pretty big, so I made a 5x7 card to accommodate the main image. This card came together quickly, no stamping required! 

Happy Anniversary Tanya!

Happy Carnival

Hi Stampers! It's that time of year when we see fairs and carnivals popping up everywhere! I just went to my first one this year last Friday night, and sure was a great family night out. Carnivals are such a fun part of our summer that when I saw Happy Carnival in the Chi Chi Memories store, I know I had to have it!

This week I used Jordy dressed as a Carnival Clown to make an all occasion card:

I used a 5x7 card base for this card, as the image of Jordy was printed out a bit too big for a standard 4.25x 5.5 card base. I used my Spectrum Noir Brights Set Markers to color my image of Jordy. The background paper comes from Best Creation Inc and is titled Let's Party! I love the colorful stars as a background paper, and the back side of the paper is a gorgeous birthday themed print. I wasn't going for Birthday here so I decided to cut out a few of the balloons and place them into Jordy's hand. The tickets are stamped in Tangerine Tango Ink (SU) using That's The Ticket stamp set and coordinating punch, both from SU. The button and twine both came from my stash.

As you can see here, I stamped my 5x7 envelope to march my card. Oops - one ticket was stamped upside down....I totally did that on purpose! hehe

 

Lastly I used a few scraps to make banners for the inside of my card. I intentionally did not stamp the inside of my card because I am unsure if I'll use it as a Birthday, Thank You, or Get Well card. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

It's Aloha Friday!

Hi Stampers! I am excited to be sharing my first project with you as a Design Team Member for Kitty Bee Designs. Kitty Bee Design Challenges fit right into my niche and love of creating altered and 3-D items and I am really enjoying digital stamps - perfectly stamped image every time! For my first project as a member of Team Bees, I am sharing a Summer card with you. This will make a perfect card for a little girl's summer birthday and I know just who's getting this one!

 For my card today I used the Shave Ice Anyone Bunny image. I think she's super adorable, and honestly in this heat, who wouldn't enjoy a cone of Hawaiian Shaved Ice? I used a Stampin' Up! retired set called Tropical Party to stamp the background, and Spectrum Noir Markers to color in my image.

Do you have a Summer Themed card that you would like to enter into the Aloha Friday Challenge? You can link up to our challenge at the Kitty Bee Designs Blog - you don't need a Kitty Bee Stamp to enter. Hop on over and see what the other Design Team Members have been cooking up!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Pink Peppermint

Hi Stampers! Are you managing to stay cool in your neck of the woods this week? Here in New England we are expecting a "doozy" of a day with this continuing heatwave. In fact, before I left work yesterday we had already received a verbal reminder, followed by an emailed memo asking us to please keep the kids inside to stay cool in our air conditioned classrooms - as if anyone would ever have to tell me twice to do that!!

As I sat inside my house by the air conditioner creating this card, I had a strange craving for Pink Peppermint ice cream! But really - who wants to go out in that heat even for an ice cream? Today's card is my submission for the final challenge at Catch the Bug, and I used my favorite Bugaboo Christmas stamp, Christmas Cupcake Candycanes for the main image. Today's challenge is a recipe challenge, but before I share my recipe I think I should share a photo of my card:

Doesn't it look yummy? Here's the recipe:

• Tied up with a bow: Stampin' Up! 1 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon in Pink Pirouette
• Keepin' Warm - include at least 3 layers: Walnut Cream Card Stock by Bazzill, and layers from my Crate Paper Snowday 6x6 Pad, plus my cupcake!
• Let it Sparkle - use glitter or bling: Dazzling Diamonds and Dazzling Details (SU)
• A Little Eggnog - use the color cream: Walnut Cream Cardstock for the base, Middle layer and Cupcake.

I used my Spectrum Noir Markers for this cupcake in the following colors: PP1, PP6, DR2, DR4, JG1, JG2. I also want to mention that this card was somewhat based on a recent design by my fellow ChiChi Memories Design Team member, Alice Carmen. I just fell in love with Alice's card when I saw it -the layout was just really appealing to me. You can see the card Alice created on her blog, Cards by Alice.

Before I wrap up my post, I just want to give a big shout out to the Bugaboo Design Team! I have enjoyed visiting all of your blogs this week, and viewing your fabulous creations. Such inspiration! It's really been a pleasure to participate in this week's challenges. With so many awesome prizes and give-aways up for grabs, I am hoping that I will be able to increase my collection of Christmas Cupcakes - at the very least :)

I had so much fun making this card, I am also adding it to the Merry Monday challenge at the Always Playing with Paper Blog. The theme this month is Anything Goes!

Thanks for stopping by and following along this week - keep cool - and enjoy your Friday!

~Katherine

Tag You're It!

Hi Stampers! It's Thursday and I'm back again with another Christmas in July Challenge for the Catch the Bug Challenge Blog.  Today's challenge is titled Tag You're It and I made a set of 3x3 Tags along with a little box to hold them in. I used a sheet of 6x6 paper from my Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder pad to cut out and paper piece the trees onto the cards, adding some little mylar stars to top off the trees. Talk about something that lasts, and lasts - I have had the same container of stars in my embellishment basket for at least 10 years! They just seem to last forever, but I'm not complaining - they're stinkin' cute! Here's a close up:

 

I have to admit that I have long been a fan of Lisa Young's projects and this is a project I cased from her galley at Split Coast Stampers . This is the second time I've cased this project because it just makes an adorable gift for a co-worker, neighbor, or friend.

Well I'm off to start my day. I'll be back early tomorrow morning with my final project for this week's challenge. It's been a busy week and it's been fun, but I really appreciate that I've got a few projects done for the upcoming Christmas holiday season!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Christmas In July Wednesday

If you've been following me this week, you know that I've been following Catch The Bug's Christmas In July Challenges. Today's Challenge is "Make Us Laugh" - so here's my card:

 

I created this little penguin - who I imagine is mischievously throwing snowballs at an unsuspecting playmate just out of the picture! I hope you think he's as cute as I do. I used a variety of oval punches, circle punches and a blossom punch for his feet, along with some scraps of Crate Paper "Snow Day" from my 6x6 pad.

 

 I used some Dazzling Diamond Glitter to accent the snowballs and snowbanks...and as I write this post, I am secretly wishing this was the scene outside my window tonight!! I think this summer has been a continuous heatwave, so Christmas sounds just dreamy to me....what are you doing to stay cool this summer?

Christmas Bingo!

Hi Stampers! I'm back for a second post today to keep up with the Christmas In July Challenge at Bugaboo Stamps' Blog  Catch the Bug Challenge Blog. Here's my card for today:

Today's challenge is a Christmas Bingo:

 

I went straight across the middle, using Bling, Red and Green, and Plaid. My image was stamped with Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with Red Sparkle Powder.  The bling on my card comes from the sparkly embossing powder and the glimmer paper strip in the center. I added the cute little bird as a finishing touch. I love these little guys and have been using them alot lately. Well, it's my night to work to I'm off.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Katherine

Summer Sunflowers

Hi Stampers! It's Tuesday and that means it's time for my weekly Chi Chi Memories post. This week I used the stamp set Specially for You:

I used a combination of papers from Crate Paper, Jillibean Soup and Stampin' Up! to create my card. I also used the Sweet Sunday Sketch #188 as a layout for this card.

The image is colored using Spectrum Noir markers from the Brights Set. I used the following color combinations: CR9, DR2, DR4 for the wagon, GT2, LG5, JG2 for the leaves and stems, and GB6, GB7, and a Blender Pen for the Sunflowers.

Be sure to stop by the Chi Chi Memories blog to see what the other Design Team members have been up to this past week!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Chocolate Raspberry Cream

Doesn't that just sound yummy? It's the color combination for Monday's challenge at the Bugaboo Stamps Catch the Bug Blog.

 

Here's my card for the challenge, and I of all the cards I've made for this week's challenges I think this one is my favorite. I'm not sure if it's because of the gorgeous color combination or the cute little sequin sprinkles, but I really like how it came out!

I used some paper from the Crate Paper Snowday Collection as well as Jillibean Soup's Christmas Chowder. Both are from 6x6 pads. I love, love these little pads. They are super easy to store on my desk top and real easy to keep organized! I used the ticket stamps (That's the Ticket) and punch from Stampin' Up! The buttons and sequins are from my stash. I grabbed a pinch of sequins and sprinkled them over my card, gluing them where they landed.

Here's a picture of the inside of the card. Embellishing the inside too is the way to go if you perhaps need to cover up an inky fingerprint teehee.

Thanks for stopping by today. Stay cool!

~Katherine

 

Christmas In July Sunday Sketch

Hi Stampers! It's day 2 of the Christmas in July Challenge at the Bugaboo Stamps blog and today's challenge is to use this sketch. I don't have many Bugaboo Christmas Stamps but I did ink up this stocking stamp and dusted off the matching punch to make this card:

While I was digging through my stash to find a set of die cut ovals to follow the sketch I came across a baggie full of these little sequins that have been popping up on projects all over blogland these past weeks. I never did find the ovals, but the sequins are pretty cute, don't you agree?

If you're hiding away from the heat this week, you might consider playing along with the Christmas In July challenges for a chance to win some fun images!

Thanks for stopping by today!

~Katherine

It's Christmas in July!

Hi Stampers! This week I am going to attempt to keep up with the Bugaboo Stamp Challenge Blog's Christmas in July Challenge. The first challenge for the week is Show Us Your Santa. Here's my Santa:

My Santa comes from the Jolly Old Saint Nick stamp set. I just love this vintage version of Santa. I stamped my image with Stayz-On Black Onyx ink and then colored it in with Spectrum Noir markers FS2, FS3, IB3, BT8 and my blender. I added a little bit of Dazzling Details (SU) to Santa's beard and hat for a touch of bling. The sentiment comes from Four the Holidays Stamp Set (SU) and is stamped in Tempting Turquoise. The paper is from the Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Chowder 6x6 Pad. I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch to create my card:

Be sure to stop by the Freshly Made Sketches blog to see the fun projects other stampers have created using this sketch, and don't forget to stop by the Bugaboo Stamp blog and follow along with the hop this week - they have some great give-aways!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Katherine