July Ends with SNOW

It's time for another challenge at Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog where challenges are always Anything Goes and prizes are awarded from one or more sponsors.  Stop by the blog to check it out! The sponsor this week is Digi Doodles Studio and this image is named “Jolly ol' Sparky.”  You can find it HERE. I flipped the image because I knew that I wanted him to face the card opening (this is one of the many reasons that I love working with digis- flipping, cropping and changing the size of the images.) After printing the image, I colored the cute little guy with my Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils and Dove Blender pen plus my beloved Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen. The Subway Art background is a freebie from HERE and the inside sentiment are from Lily of the Valleys Digi set named “Christmas Wishes.”  I finished the card by raiding my scrapbook stash for sparkly stickers. So festive! Am entering this into several challenges including Bugaboo Stamps Photo Challenge (I think I included all of the colors.)

  

  

Entered into: 

Outlawz Challenges- Songs and Rhymes- Four Seasons
Bugaboo Stamps- Photo Challenge        

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #396-#397 Anything Goes                   

Polkadoodles Challenge Week 30-Anything Goes  

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #448 Anything Goes                 

Sheepski Designs- #28 Early Christmas/Winter                    

The 12 Months of Christmas- Challenge #55    

My second card for this posting was created to enter into the Simon Says “Back to School” challenge. The sweet little bear named Stanley is from a Beccy’s Place digi set named Stanley’s Birthday. (You can find it HERE for FREE!) I printed the image nto kraft brown cardstock, fussycut him out, added some shading with Spectrum Noir markers and highlights with a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen.Since this is a school-themed card, I swapped out the gift he was holding with an apple that I sketched onto a scrap of glossy red paper (upcycled from a magazine page) that I fussy cut, slid into place and taped down. The gold embossed sentiment is from a retired wood mount stamp from Printworks. I mounted this atop a scrap of patterned paper that I cut into a star because I’ll be providing this card to a teacher friend who is already preparing for the coming school year! (It is a scrap of Christmas plaid. But, when paired with the red and green of the apple, I don’t think it looks too Christmasy?)

Entered into: 

Simon Says Monday Challenge- Bright and Beautiful

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge-Back to School                                

Beccy’s Place Challenge- July                                                                 

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                       

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- July                                 

Christmas in July- Day 7

I can’t believe we are at the final challenge of Bugaboo’s “Christmas in July” celebration. Day 7 is a color challenge, with the movie inspiration “Rudolph.” I have several reindeer images and stamps… but when I saw the color board with the cute reindeer cookie I remembered a card that a friend sent me a few years ago. He had just purchased a Silhouette and when I asked what kind of things he could make with it… he sent me a reindeer! I decided to upcycle it for this challenge. However, because I didn’t think it was fair to just use it as he sent it, I “dressed it up” a bit. First I added circles of color behind the Christmas light using scraps of several clear plastic document folders. (These are a staple item in my craft room. They come in a pack of assorted colors and can be found in the office supply section of most stores and on Amazon. I really like using them on my cards because they're often cheaper than colored vellum and are more translucent.  You can write on them with a fine-line permanent marker, which I used to trace the circles. I trimmed the marker lines when cutting them out. The plastic is easy to fussy-cut with a nice, sharp pair of scissors. It might also go through a die machine but I haven’t tried that yet.) Next, I tied a red ribbon around this neck and added a little bell that I sketched onto a scrap of silver cardstock with a black fine-line permanent marker. Lastly, I added googly eyes. The sheet music background is a freebie that I found HERE. The sentiment on the front and image on the inside are from my scrapbook stash. The inside sentiment is from an adorable Beccy’s Place digi set named “Here Comes Christmas.”  I’m entering this card into several challenges including Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge TicTacToe (center row across: yellow, ribbon and red.)

 

 

 

Entered into: 

Bugaboo Christmas in July Day 7 Color Challenge  

Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color Challenge – TicTacToe

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                       

The 12 Months of Christmas- Challenge #55   

I used a cute image from Ching-Chou Kuik's line of digital stamps named "Aurora Woods” (another adorable reindeer image!) to make a card to enter into Ching-Chou Kuik’s current challenge, “Make Your Background.”  I used strips of background paper left over from the card I made for this challenge on Thursday, this time creating a chevron pattern with the strips. (I used an excellent Jennifer McGuire video that you can find HERE.) I colored the beautiful image with Spectrum Noir markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen. I added "fur" around her cute cap with Polar White Flower Soft. (I love this stuff. A little bit goes a long way. You used it like glitter, sprinkling it atop glue, shaking off excess and allowing it to dry well before stacking. It is a fun way to add texture to a card... and it really is soft to the touch! I just did a check and this product is not as easy to find as in the past. And the cost at Amazon is now alarming. So... if you decide to try it, you might need to shop around. Here is one site that offers it.)  Since I didn’t want the background to overwhelm the beautiful “deer” I cut a circle of vellum that I layered between the digi image and background. (I do so love my vellum!) The sentiments are from a Beccy’s Place digi set named “Blessings of the Season.” Am entering this card into several challenges including Power Poppy’s “Sketch It Out” and Outlawz “Crash Your Stash” (the current challenge is to use photo corners. I created photo corners to decorate the inside sentiment with scraps from the chevrons that I made for the background on the card front. Was going to use gold photo corners… but then saw these colorful scraps winking at me from my tabletop and just had to save them from the trash can!)

 

  

Entered into: CCK Aurora Woods Reindeer hat

Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- Sketch It Out  

Ching-Chou Kuik's Digital Stamps Inspiration & Challenge- Make Your Background  

Ching-Chou Kuik's FB Challenge- Make Your Background                    

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #396-#397 Anything Goes                   

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- July                                 

Outlawz Challenge- Crash Your Stash- Photo Corners                          

Card Trio

My DT card for this week's QKR Stampede Challenge, features a QKR Stampede digi image named Cow Ferrie. [You can find it HERE.] I upcycled a page from an old calendar to make the scenic background and gave the image a bit of color with Spectrum Noir markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel. The Beautiful Bovine’s wings and the magic wand was given a generous sprinkling of Ferrie dust to add some texture… and magic! The sentiments are computer-generated. (Sorry for the middle school humor. I’ve been helping at an after school program in a few local middle schools and this is the kind of thing that I hear regularly… along with assorted fart sounds and belches from the young guys. Plus, I’ll be sending this card to a friend whose husband is a dairy farmer. I know it will give them a chuckle… or eight!)   

 

Entered into: 

Cute Card Thursday- #Challenge 592 – NO Patterned Papers

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                       

This week's sponsor at the Colour Crazy Challenge is Moon Flower Digi Stamps.  My DT card features a beautiful image named, "Lilly Snow White."  I colored Lilly with Spectrum Noir markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen. The little sentiment tag is hand-lettered. Am entering this card into Outlawz current TicTacToe Challenge, matching the third column: Red, Blue and Patterned paper. 

Entered into: 

Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday Color Challenge – TicTacToe

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- July                                 

I used a cute image from Ching-Chou Kuik's line of digital stamps named "Gingerbread Man Parade”" to make a card to enter into Ching-Chou Kuik’s current challenge, “Make Your Background.”  I made this background with an upcycled greeting card (I liked the pastel color scheme and all the glitter. Added a close-up pic so you can see the glitter a little better. In real life it REALLY sparkles), a few scraps of ribbon and the lacy swirly design in cream-colored felt. The finished background panel makes me think of cotton candy and cookies with pink frosting and chunky sugar… which is a perfect fit for the image. Speaking of the image, I colored it to match the background panel and think that the result resembles Christmas decorations from the 70s in their no-traditional colors.  The sentiments are computer-generated, and the little gingerbread cookie on the inside is cut from a free coloring page created by Kate Hadfield. (It appears that page is no longer available, however, there are several other freebies available including coloring pages, bookmarks, bag toppers and more. You can find them HERE).

 

Entered into: 

Ching-Chou Kuik's Digital Stamps Inspiration & Challenge- Make Your Background  

Ching-Chou Kuik's FB Challenge- Make Your Background                    

Outlawz Challenge- Twisted Thursday- [TWIST–Use a Doily]

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #447 Anything Goes                 

The 12 Months of Christmas- Challenge #55   

Christmas in July- Day 6

I can’t believe that the week of Bugaboo’s “Christmas in July” celebration is nearly over!  Here is my entry for Day 6- Photo Challenge with movie inspiration “White Christmas.” The inspiration photo, of a beautiful Christmas tree is so striking that I knew I wanted to incorporate it (not a representation of it) into my card. Was trying to figure a way to do that when I remembered a wonderful digi  named “Taking Pics” from Sheepski Designs (you can find it HERE). I formatted the image to fit an A2 sized card and measured the size of the lens. Then copied the inspiration photo and reduced the size to fit within the lens and printed both images off. Colored the photographer with Spectrum Noir markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen, then used an Exacto blade to trim the lens from the camera. Taped a scrap of acetate (lens) and the  Christmas scene in place from the underside of the card front then adhered the entire piece to the front of an A2 card. The inside sentiment is a stamp from a company that closed down many years ago.

Oh… and I created the cable sweater pattern with my markers and white colored pencil using instructions that I found HERE. (This technique was really pretty easy to do. I did a little practice on a scrap of paper which helped me to select the color I wanted to use on the card. Settled for the blue which I felt didn’t overpower the card. And LOVE the results! (Thanks Annabel, for creating the excellent tutorial. I’ll be using it again in the future!)  

  

Entered into: 

Bugaboo Christmas in July Day 6 Photo Challenge

Sheepski Designs- #28 Early Christmas/Winter                    

SheepSki Designs FB- #37 Anything Goes 

The Paper Shelter- #393 Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday- #Challenge 592 – NO Patterned Papers

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                       

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #396-#397 Anything Goes                   

The 12 Months of Christmas- Challenge #55    Twist-Plaids

Rudolph Days Challenge- June

I used a beautiful image from Ching-Chou Kuik's line of digital stamps [www.etsy.com/listing/219254993] named "Butterflies and Berries" to make a card to enter into Ching-Chou Kuik’s “Make Your Background” Challenge and the current Butterfly Challenge that features a Joy Fold Card. I used the instructions for the card from that Butterfly challenge site (HERE). I colored the beautiful image with Spectrum Noir markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen. The little vellum butterfly was upcycled from an old card. I created the background by cutting strips of patterned paper and taping them into a pattern onto a strip of double-sided tape. When I had an arrangement that I liked, I taped them onto a scrap of cardstock, which I then trimmed to fit the card front. The inside sentiment is a sentiment card from my scrapbook stash. 

My card includes all of the required items for the butterfly challenge: Theme- Joy Fold, jute and jewels (the body of the green vellum butterfly); Color- Jade, plus small amounts of jasmine (in the cream and jasmine paper strips) and several shades of orange (in a few of the butterfly wings.)

 

 

 

Entered into: 

Ching-Chou Kuik's Digital Stamps Inspiration & Challenge- Make Your Background  

Ching-Chou Kuik's FB Challenge- Make Your Background                    

Butterfly Challenge- #13Letter J for Joy Fold                  

Outlawz Challenges- Monday Greeting Challenge- Brads, Sequins or Gems            

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #447 Anything Goes                 

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- July                                 

Cute As A Button

It's Wednesday! So time for another challenge at Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog where challenges are always Anything Goes and prizes are awarded from one or more sponsors.  Stop by the blog to check it out! The sponsor this week is Cute As A Button, and I couldn’t decide which of the images to use… so I made a card with both!

This first card features a digi named “Enjoying the Rain” which you can find HERE. The rainbow background is a sheet of stationery and the digi is colored with Spectrum Noir markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen. Since I cropped the original digi, I  added a pic of the digi from the website. The sentiment is a freebie from DDDoodles which you can find HERE.

Entered into: 

Word Art Wednesday Challenge- #396-#397 Anything Goes                   

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                                                       

Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge- July

The second  features a digi named “At the Beach” which you can find HERE. I colored the beauty with Spectrum Noir markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen. After a bit of fussy-cutting, I adhered her to the background, which is upcycled from an old calendar. The sentiment on the front is from a Whimsy digi set named "Vintage Sentiments."  [You can find it HERE.]  The wonderful sentiment on the inside of the card is from an Imagine That digi set named “Flamingo Beach.” You can find it HERE.

 

Entered into: 

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie- #121 (beachy)                                        
Outlawz Challenge- Saturday Paper Ala Mode- At the Beach            

Cute Card Thursday- #Challenge 587 - Bright Colors!

Cute As A Button-#46 Anything Goes 

I’m loving making cards for the Bugaboo “Christmas in July” celebration.  Here is my entry for Day 5:  Make Us Laugh with movie inspiration “Christmas Vacation.” It’s been a long time since I’ve watched it, but I remember that it involved lots of Christmas lights… and one very sad kitty. Decided my card would instead feature a happy, no… actually a scheming kitty. The image is Bugaboo’s “Christmas Cat” (available this week for at 50% off- so just $1 HERE!) I colored the little cutie with Spectrum Noir markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen before attaching fur to his hat to add some fun texture. Sketched a circle onto a scrap of white cardstock, colored it with a silver marker and when dry drew details to create a jingle bell with a fine line black Sharpie marker. Attached the bell to the cat (Ha… I’ll be he didn’t like THAT!) and added a tiny little red bow. The sentiments on the front and inside of the card are computer-generated. To decorate the inside of the card, I created an “ornament” with a circular frame from my scrapbook stash, adding a silver cap made with a scrap of silver cardstock. To make the hanger, I punched a hole from a scrap of the silver cardstock and cut around it. I cut a slit into the ornament cap, slipped the hanger down inside just a bit and taped it on the backside. Added a bit of green twine and wove the sentiment through the circle, also taping it down on the backside.

PS We’ve had a few cats that loved to play with (i.e. decimate) the Christmas tree and other decorations. How about you?

Entered into: 

Bugaboo Christmas in July Day 5  Make Us Laugh                

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #447 Anything Goes                 

The 12 Months of Christmas- Challenge #55