Cute Daisy Jumps Rope

I've got to get this post finished. I promised myself a good snack once I complete this (hee, hee, gotta bribe myself). I've been working on this all morning but it feels so good to have the time again to play! My son went back to college (miss him but I was tired of feeding him that's for sure) and my hubby is helping a buddy do some work. Hurray! House all to myself!
Funny how I had the whole summer to work on projects, but I seem to be more creative and motivated now that school has started up again and I'm back at work. I know a big part of that is that crafting is my after work and weekend treat, so it's more special now that I am limited in time.
But part of having limited time is cramming a whole lot into a little time slot! So, to be frugal with my time and participate in some of my favorite challenges, I combined some of them with this project. Digital Tuesday's challenge this week was "Hop To It". Something had to hop or jump. This little cutie from Cute Daisy May was just perrr-fect! And to meet the challenge over at the Cute Daisy May Challenge blog, I had to use blue and green, so I dressed my little girl in blue jeans and a green jacket and mixed in some of my retired SU Baja Breeze DSP and Green Tea DSP. So far, so good! Next up was the Dare U2 DigiStamp Challenge which was as easy as 1,2,3: 1 ribbon, 2 patterned papers, and 3 flowers. I pulled this velvety ribbon out of a scrap jar so I'm not sure anymore where it came from, but I thought it gave it an old-fashioned charm. To continue the old-fashioned look, I sponged the edges of just about everything on here. I gave my prima flowers a little shimmer, too, with some candlelight shimmerz. Then, I added in the Making Memories Wedding brads.
That does it! I think I've earned a tasty treat and then I'll see what else I can cook up (in the craft room, that is).
Project Recipe
Paper: SU Baja Breeze CS (retired), SU Baja Breeze DSP (retired), SU Green Tea DSP (retired), SU Old Olive CS, SU Chocolate Chip CS, GinaK White Pure Luxury CS
Stamps: Cute Daisy May Digital Stamp (freebie!)
Accessories: SU 5-Petal flower punch, Carl Craft flower punch, Prima flowers, Making Memories Wedding brads, Candle Light Shimmerz, PTI Chai Distressing Ink, ribbon (unknown), cuttlebug, Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities, copic markers

Messy Little Boys

I have three sons who are now grown men. But let me tell you what! They invented the phrase "rough and tumble"! They were always getting into something (another way of saying "getting into trouble") and coming in the house dirty, sweaty and smelly. They were ALL BOY! I have a hard time finding images of less-than-perfect (but ever so cute) boys, especially digital images. Then, Lindsay The Frugal Crafter pointed out a free coloring book website which has images of "Precious Moments" kids that you can download for free. I was able to find several utterly adorable little boys!!!
This little guy with his canine companion reminded me of those messy but still cute boys I raised. So after coloring him with my copics, I created a card for one of the now-big guys. The inside will read "You've grown into a fine, young man."
This card was designed to meet the requirements of THREE, yes three, challenges. The Dare U2 Digistamp Challenge was distressing, so I took some Core'dinations Vintage ColorCore Cardstock and tore the edges. Then, I ran it through the cuttlebug inside the distressed branches embossing folder, and finished the look with a little sanding. The great thing about this cardstock is it is made for distressing giving you a great contrasting core color.
Next up, I used the sketch from Digital Tuesday Challenge. I really like the clean design of this sketch. Finally, the Copic Creations challenge was "eyes". The Copic Creations design team used anime images which have these gorgeous big eyes. My image has the lovely Precious Moments characteristic tear drop eye, so I just was able to add a subtle touch of color to the boy's eye and the dog's eyes. This was the first time I've added color to eyes before. Once I got over my fears, I really liked the look. You can see a closer look at the eyes below.
Wowzer! I know people who can enter 3,4,5 challenges with one card, but usually I can only manage 2 at best. This project just seemed to come together fitting easily into the requirements of my favorite challenges. But it all started with that great image.
Project Supplies
Paper: PTI white CS, Core'dinations Vintage Collection CS, SU Old Olive and Baja Breeze CS, SU Green Tea DSP (retired), GinaK White Pure Luxury CS
Stamps: Coloring Pages Precious Moments, PTI Star Prints (sentiment)
Ribbon: PTI Ripe Avacado twill
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Provo Craft Distressed branches embossing folder, Spellbinders Oval die and ribbon slide die, shaped paperclips (unknown but I think JoAnn's), copic markers

Dare U--Pink, Black and White

When I was in high school black and pink were my favorite colors to wear. In fact, my senior ring had a pink stone--not my birthstone or a stone with the school colors--pink. There is something so fun about combining black and pink, and so many ladies fashion stores incorporate one or both of these chic colors into their color schemes. It was a lot of fun to drag them out for the Dare U2 Digi Stamp Challenge this week.
I totally copied this card from Nicole Heady's blog today. PaperTreyInk is gearing up for another release so be sure to see Nicole's blog to check out the original design, plus take a look at all the goodies coming out this week. I love how clean and simple her design is (all her designs are like that), so I wanted to get that same feel with my card.
I grabbed those shopping bags (a digi stamp) from Lindsay's Shop, did a little paper piecing, a little coloring, and ta-da! finished. I added some glossy accents to the bag I colored to make it a shiny store bag--totally looks like something from Victoria's Secret. There's bound to be something naughty (or just expensive) in that bag.
Mind you, my shopping bags never look like these. I always end up with those horrible plastic bags, and they say Michaels, or JoAnn's, or Hobby Lobby on them!
Project Recipe
Paper: All papers from PTI--White, Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, True Black, Black & White Basics PP, Raspberry Fizz Mix PP
Stamps: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Shopping Bags digital stamp
Ribbon: Ribbon FX (Hobby Lobby)
Accessories: Inkssentials Glossy Accents, copic markers

Have a "Cherry" Nice Day

I'm still playing with cherries today. This cute little digital image is from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. I have an earlier post with this image, but I wanted to try out my new RED Liquid Applique on these cherries. What I found was that I really liked them all glossy once the Liquid Applique had dried, but if I heat them with my embossing heat gun, it turned them PINK. Now I like pink but I already had a red color scheme going and the pink just wasn't going to work, so I printed out another set of cherries, filled them in with the Liquid Applique and let them dry--no heating.
I created this card for the DareU2DigiStamp challenge for this week. The challenge is to use embossing. My red background paper has the Cuttlebug embossed branches on it.
Well, triple digit temperatures AGAIN today, so I think I'll either go eat some ice cream or print out one of Lindsay's ice cream images...something to cool me down!
Project Recipe
Paper: PTI Pure Poppy CS, PTI New Leaf CS, PTI Black & White Basics PP, GinaK White Pure Luxury CS
Stamps: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff 2 Cherries, PTI Handwritten Notes (sentiment)
Ribbon: PTI New Leaf Saddle Stitch, SU Real Red grosgrain
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug branches embossing folder, SU Large Oval punch, SU Scallop Oval Punch, SU 5 Petal Punch, Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities die, Paper Studio brad, copic markers, Marvy Uchida Red Liquid Applique

For the Birds

I love the "summery" feel this card has to it. Still trying to use up Stampin Up's current in-colors papers and cardstock before I become absorbed with the new in-colors. For this card, I used the DareU2Digistamp sketch challenge. Find it here. Grabbed some Tangerine Tango CS (only a couple of small pieces left in my stash) and some Haiku patterned paper, mixed in a little So Saffron, and I was set to digi stamp! The digital stamp, by the way is from My Grafico. It's a set called For the Birds. I colored this little guy in with colors to match my papers. One of my most devoted followers (aka my mother) wanted a pic of the copics I use in my project, so I included them with the image. The very thin marker on the right is a Spica Glitter pen. I added a little shimmer to my feathered friend. Hope you can catch a glimpse of that on the picture.

Project Recipe

Paper: SU Tangerine Tango CS, SU So Saffron CS, SU Haiku PP, GinaK Pure Luxury White CS

Stamps: SU A Little Birdie, My Grafico For the Birds

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Tags, a clear "bauble" from Michaels colored with a marker, copic markers

The Color Purple

Is everyone on a purple kick these days? I've been doing way more purple projects than is normal for me. This project, though, is inspired by two challenges: Lauren Meader's Timeless Template Challenge and the DareU2DigiStamp challenge of the week. Both challenges required the use of purple. Lauren's challenge specifically called for a gift using one of her Timeless Templates, purple, and butterflies. I chose to work with the For Keepsake template to make a cupcake holder for one of my coworkers who had a birthday today.

The DareU2DigiStamp challenge involved using a digital stamp, which I used on the card, and lilac and lemon. I used a free digital image from My Grafico called Vases and Flowers. I colored it in with my copics and added it to the front of the gift card. Badda Bing--two challenges in one!

And, yes, I did use my copic airbrush kit! I wanted flowers for my box that matched my SU Almost Amethyst cardstock, so I took some inexpensive white flowers I got from Walmart and Hobby Lobby and "painted" them the right color. For my next trick...I think I'll try airbrushing on acetate, hmmm!

Project Recipe

Paper: SU Almost Amethyst CS, SU So Saffron CS, SU Tea Party DSP, GinaK White Pure Luxury CS, PTI clear acetate

Stamps: My Grafico Vases and Flowers Digital Stamp, CTMH Playful Flourishes

Accessories: PTI For Keepsake Timeless Template, copic markers, compressor and airbrush kit, flowers, MS butterfly punch, SU Beautiful Butterflies Sizzix Die, Cuttlebug, CB script embossing folder, piercer, MM buttons, twine, SU eyelet border punch, Ranger stickles

Froggy Prince

I had so much fun with this little digital image from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. It's part of the Pretty Princess collection. And, yes, there's a princess, a castle, and a banner that accompany this royal amphibian. I added the sentiment before I printed out the image and then it was just a few minutes of coloring with copics and this little baby was ready to go!

This card is for the DareU2DigiStamp sketch challenge this week. I dusted off my Cricut to cut out the odd-shaped circles for the lily pads (yes, I had to use a machine to cut out misshapen circles! Sad, I know!). I have no confidence in my ability to draw or cut freehand. Although, I did manage to snip out a little pie shape from the circles without undo trauma. Then, I just punched out the little flowers and "cupped" them for dimension. The smaller lily pad is popped up with dimensionals.
Project Recipe

Paper: SU Baja Breeze CS, SU Certainly Celery CS, SU Green Tea PP, GinaK White Pure Luxury CS

Stamps: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Pretty Princess Collection

Ribbon: SU Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain

Accessories: Cricut, DoodleCharms cartridge, cuttlebug, Spellbinders nestabilites scalloped rectangle, craft bunch floral punch, copics

Chick with Bling

Just in time for Easter, I grabbed (not literally) my digital stamps from LPS to make a card for two challenges. Little Paper Shop has a sketch challenge going on right now. Check it out here. They are giving away free digital stamps to a random winner. And Dare U2 Digistamp has a bling challenge. I might have gone a little overboard on that one (ya think?). Yeah, I added Angel Wings Shimmerz to the egg after I colored it with copics, and then the blingin' flowers, and just couldn't stop myself, had to use DCWV glitter cardstock, too. This is going in my grown son's "Easter basket". Hope he's not offended! Easter hugs, everyone!
Project Recipe
Paper: SU Bashful Blue CS, SU Delicate Dots PP, DCWV Glitter CS, GinaK Pure Luxury White
Stamps: LPS Chick Egg
Ribbon: PTI Spring Rain twill, twine
Other: Paper Studio button, copics, Kaiser green rhinestone flower, Dress It Up Petals, Angel Wings Shimmerz