Friday, December 8, 2017

Holiday Fun- Day 2!

I've been so swamped with my job these past few weeks that I haven't had much time to create. So… took a few days off just for some play therapy in my craft room. Most of yesterday I played, plus was up crafting until 2 AM which means I am a happy camper with lots to share the next few days. I love this time of the year!

The current Tiddly Inks challenge is named Be Merry. I decided to make a Christmas card that is very tailored to a dear friend and her hubby who have adopted two beautiful little girls. Abigail and Hope are from China and both like Pandas. I know that they will love this image from the Tiddly digi set names "Beary Sweet" (and am thinking their mom and dad will like it, too.)
Because there is five years difference in their ages, I made one image larger than the other and then flipped it to create a better layout (one reason I love digis is this kind of flexibility.) I also added the extra line "sisters" to the "Beary Special" sentiment to fit the theme of my card. The little bear and ladybug image on the inside sentiment (that I printed on my computer) is also from the digi set. To see the entire set, plus some wonderful card designs using the images, visit www.tiddlyinks.com/digital-stamps/beary-sweet-panda-digital-stamp
PS The artist that creates these amazing images has asked that anyone who posts them adds a watermark to the finished card. It took me a while to figure out how to do that... but found a free option that is fairly easy. Since I do use- and love- the work of so many stamp/digi artists I am willing to help protect their creative work. So, if you are one of these artists and you'd like me to watermark any of your images that I use, I'll be happy to do so. Just let me know. That said, I also promise that I will NEVER post your B&W images that I purchase.  And if I do post any of your sets on my blog, I'll ask your permission first. All of the stealing/posting of copyrighted images on Pinterest makes me ill!
Entered into: 
Tiddly Inks- Be Merry                                                               (tiddlyinkschallenge.blogspot.com)
Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- Anything Goes   (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)
Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge2- Extra for Dec   (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.com)
Christmas Cards All Year Round- Anything Goes              (christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk)
                  
This wonderful digi image named "Coffee Words" is discounted at Bugaboo for just $1 because it contains a typo/misspelling. (bugaboostamps.com) I love the image and quickly rectified the problem by layering some patterned paper strips over the two largest oopsies. The others aren't so easy to read in the word mix. And… it was so easy to make this into a shape card. I just printed it out onto a sheet of cardstock, positioning it so that the image is large (1/4 of the 8.5 x 11 sheet) and shows up below the fold line of the "card." After printing off, and folding the card, I penciled in the mug shape (which was easy to do because I just had to follow the edging of the words), cut out the shape, added the embellies. And… it's done! Am going to send it to a friend seeing if we can set up a coffee date in the coming weeks (if our harried schedules allow!)
Am entering this card into several challenges- Bugaboos Holiday Chaos week of challenges (today's photo inspiration challenge includes a table setting plus lots of red and green), SumMoreFun mood board (inspired by the great holiday colors plus the hot beverage mug for Santa), plus this great card is my first entry into the  week-long 2017 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog hop. There are so many wonderful prizes, plus creativity galore, and really nice people involves. Check it out!   
coffeelovingcardmakers.com/2017/12/2017-winter-coffee-lovers-blog-hop-2/
 
Entered into: 
2017 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop                                     (coffeelovingcardmakers.com)
Bugaboo Stamps- Holiday Chaos - 12/8 Photo                               (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)
SumMoreFun  Challenge- Color Challenge- All Decked Out        (summorefun.com)  
                             
The current Power Poppy Challenge is entitled 12 Days of Christmas. Am entering this into the Day three challenge- Gift Bag. Used an unbelievably adorable image from Beccy's Place called "New Friends" and used the very easy to follow instructions on the Power Poppy link to make the bag topper. The mittens along the edge of the topper and blue snowflake strips that I placed across the corners of the image are actually scrapbook stickers (company unknown). I used their colors as my guide when adding color to the image, plus when selecting the pretty bow that also has snowflakes. (I did add a close up of the image because I love the way it shows the shadow cast by the ribbon, imprinting little snowflake images onto the bag front. In this close up I also noticed that I need to go and add some color to that little boy's eyes. I'll make them light blue to fit in with the color scheme.


Entered into: 
Power Poppy- 12 Days of Christmas (Day3)  (powerpoppy.blogspot.com/2017/12/power-spark-with-twelve-days-of.html)
Beccy’s Place Challenge- December                            (beccysplace.blogspot.com)
Simon Says Monday Challenge- Icy Inspiration      (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- Gift It                (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)
Di’s Digi Stamps- Winter Holidays                             (disdigidesignschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

My final entry on this post is for several challenges, including a CAS Christmas at AAA Cards and an "inky fingers" challenge at wecraftcards. Sadly, I had to sacrifice a few of the white chocolate peppermint holiday kisses to make this card but I did it! Heh heh. (It was a little tricky to not tear the foil so that I could carefully wrap a few cardboard shaped kisses with it. And… Drat…I did have to eat more than three of the kisses in order to get two that were not torn. Sometimes crafting is so very hard.Ha!) 
The fingerprints were made with white craft ink. It came off of my fingers quickly with hand sanitizer. 

Entered into: 
AAA Card Challenges- Christmas                                   (aaacards.blogspot.com/)
We Craft Cards Wednesday Challenge- Smudge it     (wecraftcards.com/forum)
Artistic Inspirations Challenge-Challenge #191          (artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.com.au)
Cute Card Thursday- #507 Anything Goes                   (cutecardthursday.blogspot.com) 

QKR Stampede- #273 Anything Goes                            (qkrstampede.blogspot.com)

30 comments:

  1. So fun alll your cards are great, Lovin' your coffee cup!!

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  2. Great projects. I love the shaped card with all the words.

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  3. All are fantastic and I love the coffee cup design.

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  4. These are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your sweet Tiddly creations with us at Tiddly Inks! Good luck,
    Rene

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  5. Such lovely cards! I'm partial to the Tiddly Inks one (of course ;-) ). It's super sweet! So nice to hear that you plan to follow the artists' TOU....all the Pinning of unwatermarked digis makes me sad too. Thanks for joining us at Tiddly Inks.

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  6. WOW Kathy you have been busy while you are "taking a break", hehe. Beautiful creations. The coffee mug is adorable. Thanks for joining us at the Holiday Chaos 2017 Friday Inspiration Photograph Challenge, Lisa Lynn GDT.

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  7. Super cute cards! Thanks for joining for our Christmas Chaos this week at Catch The Bug.

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  8. Wonderful collection of cards Kathy, you've sure used your time well! I love the card you made for your friends and their two little daughters, it's precious. The colouring is fabulous and you did a wonderful job resizing and flipping the image.
    Your second card inspired me so much that I just had to pop out and make myself a cuppa! I'm back now... and happy with my coffee. I love the sparkly holly you attached to your cup, mine is just plain.
    The gift bag you created is gorgeous! I love the way you've coordinated all the colours, and that ribbon bow is beautiful. The line of stickers around the top gives a lovely border too. Love it.
    Your last card is wonderful, and I'm very impressed at your dedication to your craft... definitely a sacrifice! Great job Kathy.
    Cheers,
    Beccy

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  9. I love the big coffee cup shaped card and all are so wonderful!

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  10. What wonderful projects! Love your shaped coffee card, so much fun!

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  11. Super cute idea with the kisses! I love it! Thanks for playing along at AAA Cards.

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  12. Such a fantastic collections of creations. Love what you have done with the kisses.

    Thank you for sharing with us at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge x

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  13. You always have fun ideas using unexpected items, love the sweetie wrapper idea. Thanks for joining in with AAA Cards Christmas Challenge.

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  14. Kathy, The chocolate kisses card is fantastic! I'm delighted that you were willing to make whatever sacrifice might have been necessary to get the untorn wrappers. :-D I'm so glad to see you playing again this week at QKR Stampede. Good Luck and Merry Christmas.
    NanaConnie DT

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  15. awesome coffee cup die and stamps. Fun card

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  16. Beautiful cards! Love the shaped coffee cup and also love those cuties with the bear hats!

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  17. Aww! so cute! Love them all! Come and play the Christmas challenge at Paru’s Card Making challenges

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  18. LOVE that subway coffee shaped card a lot!

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  19. What fabulous projects!! So glad you joined our 12 Days of Christmas challenges over at Power Poppy! Your bag is just super adorable!

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  20. All your projects are so sweet!

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  21. super cute cards...love the shaped cards.

    Alicia

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  22. Adorable card and fabulous colouring..
    Thank you so much for sharing and joining in with us at CCAYR...[ Christmas Cards All Year Round]

    Luv CHRISSYxx

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  23. aww can't choose a favorite! Love the way you color!
    Thank you for playing along with us over Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, we all hope to see you again! x zoey

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  24. Oh wow! I am loving all of your Christmas cards! You are so creative. Thank you for joining us at SumMore Fun challenges.

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  25. Fabulous Holiday cards! They all look wonderful! Thanks for playing along with us over at SumMore Fun Challenges!

    Theresa (SumMore Fun DT)

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  26. The coffee cup with words is amazing! I love all your cards but that really sticks out and it's a wonderful take on the SumMore Fun Challenge. Thanks for playing along.

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  27. Oh WOW I really enjoyed all your cards and wondered why you did not enter more over at the SumMore Fun Challenge Blog. Thank you for playing along and I hope to see more of your projects/cards in the future. Design Team Member, MaryAnn

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  28. Those panda hats! adorable!! Your coffee cup card is beautiful.

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  29. Love your drink/cup card, so cute and perfect for the Victorine Originals/SumMore Fun challenge. So glad to see you playing along. ~DT Heather (VO/SumMore Fun)

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  30. Your cup card is so cute! Love that idea! Thanks for joining our SumMore Fun challenge! -DT Jamie

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Thanks you for your comments. They bring joy to my day!