They Don't Call It a Challenge for Nothing!

Whew! It's Color Throwdown Challenge day and this week is a toughie! Broni kicked my butt this week with these colors. Check em' out...

And here's what I came up with:

I started with Everyday Button Bits from Papertrey Ink which I stamped in River Rock and added in these blue buttons from Stampin' Up. I added in some stitching and a little ribbon and called it done!
I cannot wait to see all your wonderful creations this week. You can play along by making a card or paper craft project and uploading it to your blog or online gallery then direct link it to the Color Throwdown Blog using the InLinkz tool at the bottom of the post. Easy Peasy. Make sure you visit the blog for oodles more inspiration from the design team members. And here are they're blogs for your viewing pleasure:
Tammy Hershberger
Kristin Bueter
Broni Holcombe
Barbara Anders
Danielle Kennedy
LeAnne Pugliese
And Silke Ledlow, our Guest Designer for September.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits(PTI)
Paper: Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, River Rock(SU!)
Ink: River Rock, Passion Pink(SU!)
Accessories: PTI texture plate, buttons(SU!), twine, ribbon(my stash), sewing machine

Gator Greetings From Chicken Girl Designs!

My card today features this cutie called Gator Greetings from Chicken Girl Designs available exclusively at I {Heart} Papers! As soon as I saw him I was compelled to bust out the Copics!



Of course you see I am now addicted to using the out of the box technique with my nesties and I've added two of my new go-to embellies: vellum heart (this time with glitter AND a threaded button) and kraft paper! I also added some Spica glitter marker to the presents and even his toothies!

Hope you're enjoying my Chicken Girl creations as much as I enjoy creating them!
Nice to see you today!

Ingredients
Stamps: Gator Greetings from Chicken Girl Designs
Paper: kraft, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Certainly Celery dsp(SU!), gift dsp(LSS)
Ink: Copic markers
Accessories: sewing machine, large border punch(EK Success), spica glitter marker(Copic), heart to heart punch, texture plates #4(SU!), fine crystal glitter(Martha Stewart)

Chicken Girl Release Day at I {Heart} Papers!!!

It's May 10th and that means the new Chicken Girl digis are available!!! Check out these 4 new and oh so adorable images designed by Jannie Ho available exclusively at I {Heart} Papers: Gator Greetings, Owl Graduate, Kitty Cake, Monkey Around Or Click HERE to view the entire May Collection!

My card today features the Kitty Cake digi!

I started by coloring my image with Copic markers and cut him out with my circle nesties. Actually I did this several days ago, but I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with the rest of the card. I'm so glad I waited because in the meantime my new Thrift Shop papers arrived from Kate at I {Heart} Papers. It was a coinky-dink that my coloring matched the papers AND THEN I stumbled upon this week's Sketch For You To Try from Jen del Muro.

I added in just a few simple touches like the hemp twine and staples...then I felt my focal panel just needed a little umph so I grabbed one of the clear rubber sets from Chicken Girl called "Birthday Wishes" and added a little balloon to Mr. Mousey's hand and a newsprint-wrapped present to my design. I also used the sentiment from this set "Let's Party". I love how the clear stamps coordinated with my digi stamp so well!!! The Birthday Wishes set is still available for purchase in the I {Heart} Papers store. Click HERE to view the entire set.


Make sure to stop by and visit the new release creations from the fabulous design team members:
Carlie
Michele
Tammy
Lori
Loretta
Christy
Kate

And be sure and stop by the I {Heart} Papers store to pick up all your paper crafting goodies!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Kitty Cake, Birthday Wishes(Chicken Girl Designs)
Paper: New Blue from SU!, Kiwi Kiss(textured)(Stampin' Up), Thrift Shop by October Afternoon from I {Heart} Papers
Ink: Copic markers, Brilliance Graphite Black, Antique Linen(Ranger)
Accessories: scallop border punch, hemp twine(SU!), mini stapler, yellow staples(Making Memories), circle nesties(Spellbinders)

Have A Sunny Day!

I'm back with another card I made using the Sunny Days set from Chi Chi Memories. This adorable set retails in Natalie's shop for $3.75 or individually for $1.99 each.
I have a couple of little girl birthdays coming up and I thought this would be so cute for one of them.

I finally got my hands on some Urban Prairie papers from Basic Grey (I'm wayyy behind, I know) and thought it would be great paired with the girl image from this set. My sketch is my own interpretation of this past week's Sketch For You To Try from Jen del Muro. It's just far off enough from the sketch that I decided not to upload it to her gallery!
Notice here I used matching blue thread as well as one of the new card stock colors from Stampin' Up called Daffodil Delight. I am technically still a demo so I received some new paper samples in the mail. I have to say I really like this shade AND it matches perfectly with the Urban Prairie paper I used! Also, I colored and cut out a second parasol and popped it up on foam squares for a bit of added dimension. I really like the effect it gives!
Well, make sure to stop by and visit Natalie at the Chi Chi Memories store to pick up your Sunny Days set! It's a great one for all your Summer birthdays, or even a great image for a barbeque invite!!!



Thanks for stopping by today! I will be back next week with some super exciting announcements so stay tuned!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Sunny Days from Chi Chi Memories
Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red(all SU!), Urban Prairie(Basic Grey)
Ink: Copic markers, ink jet printer ink
Accessories: yellow ribbon foam squares and rhinestones are from my local craft store, scallop border punch(SU!), white gel pen, blue thread(from my stash), sewing machine and computer generated sentiment using MS Word

Happy Birthday, Man!

I struggle with masculine cards....but this month's release at Papertrey Ink was all about masculinity and with some fabulous man-card tips I was easily on my way to create this birthday card for my Father-in-Law or "Grampy" as we affectionately call him. We're heading over to celebrate his birthday today and thankfully I had a little window if time today to get card making.
I haven't yet purchased any of this month's release sets from PTI, but my cart is full I'm just waiting for the $$ to arrive....could be months ahahahha!!! But man o man do I wish I had the new Background Basics: Woodgrain set! Here's my take on some of the tips the PTI Design Team had to say about creating masculine cards. You can read their fab tips HERE.

Looking at these photos uploaded, I wish I had stamped off and stamped more, lighter leaves in the background. Hmmm, I wonder why this didn't occur to me at the time?
Ahh well, I'm still happy with the results.
Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!

Ingredients
Stamps: Piece of Cake, Turning a New Leaf(PTI)
Paper: Kraft, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla(SU!)
Ink: Craft White, Note Quite Navy, Old Olive
Accessories: Argyle texture plate(SU!), jumbo brads(Making Memories), corner rounder(Marvy), Labels One Nestabilities(Spellbinders)

It's A Birthday Card for the Color Throwdown Challenge 82

Hello, Everyone! So I went on and on yesterday about Chi Chi Memories and rightfully so because Natalie's stuff is awesome. But before I stumbled upon her stamps I bought a digital stamp from Pink Cat Studio and had already started coloring it up and because time is SO limited these days I decided to finish coloring this adorable stamp and use the colors from this week's Color Throwdown Challenge #82 Navy, Ruby Red and Olive. I, of course, took my own creative liberties and decided to use Pacific Point instead as it's just a wee bit more vibrant which I thought went with my Basic Grey papers nicely.



Too bad that my pictures don't show the hi-lights I put on Cowboy Billy. I'm trying to get better pictures AND work more professionally with my Copics. Speaking of which, I signed up for a class in April at a local store. The class will be taught at Abeille in Brookline, MA by Liz Ballard from A Muse Art Stamps so I'm super excited!
I hope every one's excited tomorrow is Friday. Little Keith has his 2 year check up tomorrow and we're having a family birthday on Saturday to celebrate his 2nd birthday. Time is moving at warp speed, I swear! Well, that's all for now. Have a fabulous weekend!

Ingredients(All SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Pink Cat Studio's Cowboy Billy (digi stamp), All Occasions(I think that's the name)(Stampin' Up)
Paper: Ruby Red, Old Olive, Pacific Point, decorative paper is from Basic Grey
Ink: Copic Markers, Stazon Black
Accessories: Large Star Punch, 1 in. and 1 3/8 circle punches, Junior Alphabet dies

10% Off All Stampin' Up & A Birthday Card & Gift Holder

Good morning!! Don't forget to take advantage of my 10% off Stampin' Up sale now through January 31st. E-mail me your order today! And don't forget it's Sale-a-Bration time and for every $50 you spend you get a free SAB item.
I'm showcasing my favorite SAB set today, Happy Moments. This is a fantastic set that can be used for so many different occassions and you can earn it free!
I made this card for my Brother-in-law for his birthday and I liked it so much that I made a gift card holder using the same concepts for my brother's girlfriend. These projects also feature some of the papers from the Good Neighbors 6x6 paper pad which you can also earn for free right now. I'm loving all these colors expecially with Kraft paper. I colored this adorable little gift image with my SU inks and markers and blender pens then used a Copic marker to do some hi-lighting.
I found a template for this gift card holder on Splitcoast Stampers and knew it would be the perfect way to present Kaitlin's coffe card and it was so easy to make. Cut a piece of card stock to 4.25 x 11. On the long side, score it in the middle at 5.5 and then in from each end make scored at 4.25. This will yield a square 4.25 card. Then you have this middle piece where the gift card will be stored. I folded the card in half on the 5.5 score on it's reverse side and lined up a Nesties label die and ran it through my Big Kick. Then I folded the card how I wanted it to be when it's done and used Sticky Strip to hold the flaps together.
I really love how these cards turned out. For questions on the gift card or how you can get all your supplies for 10% off, please e-mail me at lpryor1@hotmail.com.
Thanks for stopping by.

Ingredients (All SU unless noted)
Stamps: Happy Moments(SAB)
Paper: Good Neighbors(SAB), Kraft cs
Ink: Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquois, Old Olive, Stazon Black
Accessories: linen thread, curly label punch, blender pens, metal edge tags, word window punch, sprial punch, pop-up gllue dots, texture plates #4, Nestabilities Label One dies(Spellbinders),green brads(Making Memories), small corner rounder(Marvy),

Stampin' Up Purchases 10% Off & Occasions Mini Card

Ok, so I'm a broken record...but I would have killed for a 10% discount on my SU purchase especially during SAB time. So I want to just keep it out there. This off is good until Jan 31st. Please e-mail me your order at lpryor1@hotmail.com and I will send you an invoice through PayPal...easy!
So here is a new card that took me forever and I'm still not that happy with it to be perfectly honest. It started out as something totally different twice and this is what it ended up as. The biggest change I would make would be to stitch around the Cocoa panel as it appears a little plain for me.
Anywhoo.....I really wanted to make something using the new Sweet Pea stitched felt flowers and something from the Sweet Pea designer series paper from the Occasions Mini and SAB.
So I opted not to use my tabletop photo studio tonight and I really do notice a difference in the quality of my photo! I was just lazy honestly. To Do tomorrow: Permanently set up studio in craft room!
Today was a nice day at home with the Keiths. I hope you enjoyed your day too!
Thanks for stopping by!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Vintage Labels(SAB)
Paper: Kraft, Pretty In Pink, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Sweet Pea dsp, Good Neighbors dsp(SAB)
Ink: Pretty In Pink, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Sweet Pea stitched felt, Curly Label punch, Scallop Border punch, Word Window punch, pink ribbon from my stash, machine stitching

Happy Birthday Ashley - Last Card for a Bit

Good morning, Everyone. Some of you already know that Keith and I bought a home in Dedham. We're SO excited, but we have so much to do before we can move. Unfortunately, I {think} I'm packing up my crafts today! I'm so sad, but it makes sense because I won't have time to craft AND I won't be tempted to craft when I should be packing.
So here is my last card for a little bit....It's a birthday card for Ashley who's turning 4. Isn't it sweet?
This card features the exciting new digital stamps from Pink Cat Studio. Pink Cat Studio have always had awesome stamps but there's something great about being able to buy these images and get to use them immediately! I love that! This image is Itty Bitty Betty in her ladybug costume which I got for FREE when I purchased her in this same costume holding her Halloween pumpkin. Click on the link above to find out more details.

Our move date is scheduled for November 8th (wow, that seems far away) but between having a yard sale and packing everything up and getting settled in our new home I bet it will fly. Bye for now, but soon I'll be crafting from my very own STUDIO!! Which Keith says is the reason we had to buy a bigger house in the first place! HA!
I will be sure to upload pictures of my new home and studio as soon as it's ready.
See you soon!
Ingredients:
Digi Stamp: Pink Cat Studio, Itty Bitty Betty Ladybug Costume (digital), sentiment from $1 bin at Joann Fabric
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Ridinghood Red, Whisper White, Bella series dsp (all SU!)
Ink: Copic markers, Brilliance Graphite Black (which I love)
Accessories: Nestabilities circles, scalloped circles, labels one (Spellbinders), Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug), sewing machine, ribbon (stash), silver twine and button are both SU!

Simple & Quick Birthday

Hello today! I have a very busy day today, but I wanted to post this cute little card. It's a quick and simple card that I put together using my new Piece of Cake set from PaperTrey Ink. I heat embossed one cake layer in white and stamped the other in Close to Cocoa. I also heat embossed the flowers on top in Crimson and Clover embossing powders from Close to My Heart which I'm not too fond of actually. They're very grainy and didn't give a really nice clean image, but it will do.
I also machine stitched this card which I like to do from time to time.
Ingredients:
Stamps: Piece of Cake(Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red, So Saffron dsp (all SU!)
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red (SU!)
Accessories: sewing machine, scallop border punch
Have a great day!

Happy B-day & Feel Better Soon Wishes

Here's a card that I put together yesterday for a girlfriend of mine who's a bit under the weather. I hope by the time it reaches her she's feeling herself again! I used the Bunny Slippers set from My Favorite Things which is my favorite get well soon set and it's the BEST to paper piece. Here I paper pieced using Cottage Wall dsp from Stampin' Up! and Old Olive cardstock. I also made a faux hard-wood floor underneath my gal here which was sooooo easy and I think adds a lot to the design.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Bunny Slippers (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Cottage Wall dsp (SU!)
Ink: Memento, Copic
Accessories: Old Olive ribbon, modern label and word window punches
Technique: Paper Piecing

Here's another card I had to make in a pinch. I was craving an Anna Wight chicken so I recreated this card that I made a long time ago using scraps from the last project. This happy birthday ribbon is from AC Moore's $1 ribbon bin and it's EXACTLY the color of SU!'s Old Olive grosgrain. I have to get more of it. It could be used in so many ways!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Crazy for Chickens (Whipper Snapper Designs)
Paper: Kraft(Bazzil), Pumpkin Pie (SU!), designer paper is called "Celebrate Gifts" (maker unknown)
Ink: Memento, Copic
Accessories: paper flower (Target), kiwi button (SU!) happy birthday ribbon (AC Moore $1 bin, must get more)

Wishing everyone a happy day! I'm off to get ready for the exterminator to arrive. We have what appears to be a yellow jacket planet underneath our back porch and we're currently being held hostage and cannot use our grille or that part of the back yard because they have taken over! $275 later we can reclaim our outdoor space! Right, because I have an extra $275 just laying around!

Delightful & Delicious - My First Verve

Verve Stamps recently released new stamps and when I saw some of the design teams' work with these new sets I just knew I had to have them.
Here is my first Verve creation. It's actually a birthday card. Inside I'm going to write "Here's to your success" and put a gift card for coffee! I have been looking for a coffee stamp set for a while now, but the images just weren't right. Verve did everything right with this one. I am totally in love with Verve now and I can't wait to show you some samples with the other new sets I got. More to come!
Ingredients:
Stamps: Delightful & Delicious(Verve)
Paper: Kraft, Black, White, Going Grey, Kiwi, Urban Oasis designer series paper (all SU!)
Ink: Stazon Black
Accessories: kiwi ribbon (SU!), paper piercing tool

Daniel's a Blast

We went to the best first birthday party ever yesterday and this is the card for the guest of honor, Daniel, who is also our dear friend's son and my husband's Godson. Little Keith had the best time playing at the water table and in the sprinkler. We had a blast watching him have so much fun.
As you can see, I "borrowed" one of the images I had already painted from the Pun Fun note card set that I've been working on!
Ingredients:
Stamps: Pun Fun, Nursery Necessities, Stem Sayings, star background(not sure which set) (all SU!)
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point (all SU!)
Ink: Stazon Black, and various greens, blues, yellows and oranges to water color with all from SU!
Accessories: large star punch, 3/4 circle punch, linen thread(all SU!), button and ribbon from my stash
Thanks for stopping by!

Yes, I love Pink & Brown!

Here is something new for you today. Yes, I've been on a pink and brown kick! I love love love it. I even busted out the sewing machine for this one, but I don't claim to be an expert. I'm a novice, in fact. I can count on one hand how many times I've sewn something!
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Stamps: Cupcake(Treehouse Stamps), Sweet Little Sentiments(SU!)
Paper: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Sweet Always dsp
Ink: Memento, Copic, Spica glitter marker
Accessories: pink rhinestones, circle nesties
Techniques: paper piecing, sewing

Suzie's Chill Birthday

I was inspired to make this card for my friend Suzie who's turning 30!I wanted it to be special and blingy...like her!


Ingredients
Stamps: Chill Out(My Favortie Things)
Paper: So Safffron textured & cs, Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss, Walk in the Park dsp(SU!)
Ink: Memento Black, So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Mini Flower punch(unkown), 5 Petal Punch, Birds&Swirls die, 1 in and
1 3/8 circle punches(SU!), circle nesties, rhinestones, glue pen, MS Word and Book Antiqua font(sentiment)

Dad's Birthday

Here's a little something I made for my dad's birthday. We gave him a dozen of his favorite golf balls so I thought this was a fitting card.
I took my inspiration from my fellow blog buddy Laura. Her creation can be seen here and be sure to check it out because hers is actually a golf tee holder and card which would be AWESOME for father's day.
I used my Nesties to cut the golf ball and used my texture plates to make the divets and just used the negative side. To make the tee I used my round tab punch and just cut the bottom off into a point (also from Laura).
I wrapped the golf balls in brown paper bag and adhered the card in a plastic envie to the front. I'm going to have Little Keith walk it over to Grampy today when we go to work to visit him.
Ingredients:
stamps: All Holidays
paper: Good Morning Sunshine dsp, kiwi kiss
accessories: nesties, texture plates, paper piercing tool, sponge, distress ink

Accordion Flower CASE

CASE, I think, means Copy and Share With Others. Well, I've been eyeing this card in the Sale-A-Bration catalog for weeks and weeks and I just HAD to make one myself. I thought this was going to be so simple. The instructions were simple, but believe it or not, I FUSSED WITH THIS DARN FLOWER FOR WAY TOO LONG! It's not as easy as it looks, but then again, is anything really?

Well, I thought this was so beautiful and bright and cheery that I had to make one for my husband's Nana who is celebrating her birthday today, but in the hospital, unfortunately. We think she'll be home in a few days and then we can celebrate this weekend, yay.

So, even though it looks like I copied this right out of the cattie, I did change a few things; I scallop punched the edge of the flower, I changed the middle by using a build-a-brad and the center of the circle stamp from the Polka Dot Punches set. I changed the stem and the sentiment and the way it's attached. And now that I've listed these subtle changes it makes me feel better to know I'm not a copy cat!

I made this accordion flower by using a 12in strip of Delicate Dots dsp 1.5in wide, ran it through my scallop border punch and feel it's still a bit too wide so my next one I think I will make .25 in smaller and see if it makes a difference.

Finally

Well, I finally had an opportunity to stamp last night even though it was only a small window of time. It's been a tricky few days here with Hubbs sick and prepping for the baby's 1st birthday party so I've been a little MIA. But you know me, I will squeeze in crafting where ever I can!
This is my first time with my new Pun Fun set. I know, I know. Everyone has had it forever, so that's why I decided to attempt more bold and modern colors and a simple, but fresh layout. I'm happy with the results. I only wish my camera would cooperate and stop hiding all my shadowing!
Anyhoo, I will try to stay in touch as much as possible!
Ingredients from SU!
Stamps: Pun Fun, Polka Dot background
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, Summer Sun, Whisper White & Good Morning Sunshine dsp
Ink: Memento, Copic markers
Accessories: paper flower (non SU!), corduroy brad, scallop border punch, piercing tool & mat