Purple Goodness

I wanted to play with this digital image from the moment I saw it! I love dragonflies and this one is just perfection. It is part of a new digital stamp set called Doodle Flowers from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. There are several other beautiful stamps in the set, and I'm sure I will get to them, but I so wanted to use my copics and my spica glitter pens on this one. But the rest of the set has great sentiments and floral images you are going to just love to use again and again. I always seem to do dragonflies in purples and green, but that just works for me. Besides this was a great switch from all the fall colors I've been using lately.
Be sure to check out Lindsay's blog for more crafting goodness and if you haven't seen all the new stuff in the store, be sure you drop in there, too. As always, spend $5 and get a free single stamp! From here, be sure to check out the rest of the design team. I've seen some sneak peeks and heard some talk about some great projects. You are sure to get plenty of inspiration!
Project Recipe
Paper: DejaViews PP, SU Old Olive CS, DCWV Latte CS
Stamps: LSS Doodled Flowers Digital Stamp Set, PTI Handwritten Notes (sentiment)
Accessories: cuttlebug, Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities dies, ProvoCraft Divine Swirls embossing folder, PTI Perfect Plum Satin ribbon, SU So Saffron ink and sponge, copics, Spica Glitter Pens

Pixie Cottage Challenge

Aren't these little fellows just the sweetest?  I love those sleeping mice! It looks like these guys really partied hard last night and they're all just hanging out resting up. This is a new stamp from a new stamp company called the Pixie Cottage. The stamp is appropriately called Cuddly Cute by Alisa Ramirez.
The Pixie Cottage has a challenge blog and once my stamp came in, I just had to ink it up and try it out with the Challenge blog sketch. Of course, I waited to the very last day to get this in, but in all fairness, the stamp only came in on Friday and I had a crop on Saturday that I co-organized, so this is really my first chance to really work with it. Be sure to check out the Pixie Cottage blog to see what the design team has done with all the stamping goodies and visit Michelle's Scapbooking and More store to find Pixie Cottage stamps.
In other news...Saturday's crop was just a load of fun! My two best buddies were there and we actually got some work done--can you believe it! Of course, this morning we're a little hoarse from all the gabbing we did, but we had A LOT of catching up to do! Although I usually don't get much accomplished during a crop, I always learn so much from everybody there. I missed my mom who couldn't make it to this one, but everyone that could make it were so fantastic to work with! I think Jana and I are not even going to think about planning another crop until March or something. We are definitely ready for some personal crafting time.
Project Recipe
Paper: PTI Lemon Tart, PTI, SU Basic Black CS, GinaK White Pure Luxury CS, PTI Bitty Box BasicsPTI Black and White Basics PP
Stamps: The Pixie Cottage Cuddly Cute, CTMH Boutique Borders
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Classic Ovals Nestabilities, PTI black twill ribbon, copic markers, Sandylion Essentials Yellow & White flower stickers

Holidays Digi Style

It's a digital holiday parade. Be prepared to do lots of scrolling because I covered some holidays today using digital stamps from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. Before I get this parade going though, let me let you know about some great stuff going on at LSS. First, be sure to check out Lindsay's Blog. She's got a design team call going on for her My Grafico store front. Also, she's looking for guest designers. Be sure to check out the store this week. There's lots of new stuff in there and if you're ready to tackle some Christmas cards, she's got some really cute new images to help you out with that. Also, check out Shannon's blog for a great tutorial on changing the color of digital line images in PhotoShop Elements. And while you're checking things out, don't forget to see what all the rest of the LSS Design Team is up to!
It's getting really close to Halloween, so I squeezed in a couple more projects for that holiday. The two projects below look kinda like cards in the picture, but they are actually little treat bags of M&Ms.

Lindsay's really been rockin the circle stamps these days. I found the circle stamps over at My Grafico for free and I filled the centers with my LSS Halloween stamps. Color these little cuties in with markers, punch them with a 1 3/8 circle punch, mat using the SU scalloped circle punch and attach to project. Cute, simple, and quick! Gotta love that!
Through with Halloween? How about a Thanksgiving project sure to please any Thanksgiving hostess?

The little pumpkin is a template by Kelleigh Ratzlaff that you can find at The DigiChick. The beautiful leaves are a digital stamp called Leaf Montage from LSS. I colored them with copics (oh, so fun!), cut them out with nestabilities, and sponged the edges. The lid lifts off the "pumpkin" so it can house a little treat like these candy corns.
Want to get a jump start on Christmas cards? How about a clean, simple card design that can be quickly mass-produced?

The circle stamps are from a new set over at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff called Christmas Cupcake Wrappers. Be sure to check out Lindsay's blog and some of the design team blogs. I think some of the team used the wrappers. I printed out the circle stamps, colored them in with my copics, and again used SU punches. With these stamps and a few scraps of paper, you can have a great set of cards in no time at all. Might even have enough time to make some cupcakes!
Busy, busy, busy! As you read this, I'll be taking my GRE. Wish me luck. I don't have to get a really high score, but I gotta prove I'm college material again!

Verve Does Winter

Here's a couple more for the Verve Release Week Challenge. I don't have many Verve stamp sets, but this set Ornamental Christmas was a must-have. I like how I can custom color the ornaments with copics or paper piecing. I stamped this one with craft ink, added embossing powder and then, heat embossed it. After that, I added my color with an R59 copic marker.
Here's another winter card using the Verve Winter Mittens Digital Image set:

I broke out the Polar White Flower Soft for the mitten cuffs. I printed the mitten image out on some shimmery white cardstock and then printed it out again on black and white paper. I punched out a couple of snowflakes from some glittery DCWV paper which I also used for some matting to provide a pretty contrast to the black and white. The sentiment was printed out several times on shimmery white cardstock to create a strip of patterned paper.
Now, cross your fingers that I win some Verve stamps this week!
Project Recipe
(Top Picture)
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream CS, SU Bravo Burgundy CS, Me & My Big Ideas Our Holiday Traditions PP
Stamps: Verve Ornamental Christmas
Accessories: button (unknown), cuttlebug, Spellbinders Classic Squares dies, PTI Scarlet Jewel ribbon, PTI Vintage Cream satin ribbon, craft ink, Zing embossing powder, heat tool, R59 copic marker
(2nd Picture)

Paper: PTI Shimmery White CS, SU Basic Black CS, DCWV Spring Glitter Mat Stack, PTI Black & White Basics PP
Stamps: Verve Winter Mittens Digital Image Set
Accessories: Sheer white ribbon (unknown), Polar White Flower Soft, Paper Studio brads, Marvy Uchida snowflake punch, Martha Stewart Arched Lattice border punch

It's Starting To Feel A Lot Like Christmas

Well, I don't know how much it feels like Christmas around here. Temperatures are still in the 80s, but the stamping community is certainly starting to gear up for the holidays! I don't think I'm quite through with Halloween and Fall/Thanksgiving, but I've spent quite a bit of time the last couple of days with some winter projects. Let me share a few of them with you today, but come back Thursday for some more Fall Fun.

This first card includes a FREE digital image from Verve which is only available this week. There's a new release this week and that also means a week of challenges. I've got three done! I printed the mittens and colored them with my copics. I added some Martha Stewart Mica Flake glitter to give the appearance of melting snow (I guess that's what it would look like. We don't have mittens or snow here.) The sentiment is also part of the digi download. I changed the color of the sentiment from black to brown and sponged everything with Close to Cocoa. The small snowflake is a Martha Stewart punch and the large snowflake in the background was cut with my cricut. Everything got some sparkle with stickles.

For this one, I found some retired SU Christmas paper that I had stored away (hoarded away is closer to the truth). I'm glad I found it because so far I just haven't found any Christmas papers that I HAVE to have this year. I printed the sentiment from the Winter Mittens Free Digital stamp at Verve. I changed the color to a red to match my card, added a pretty bow with a button. The sparklies are from Basic Grey.

Do you not just LOVE this little fellow and his birdie friend? This is a free digital image from the very talented Inger Harding. Be sure to check out her blog. I colored him with my copics. I used some more of the retired SU Christmas papers, added a velvety ribbon, a copic-airbrushed flower, and a corderoy brad. The sentiment is from a Verve stamp set titled "All About You" which I stamped with craft ink and then embossed.
It's certainly looking wintery on my blog, anyway.
Project Recipe
Papers: SU Old Olive CS, SU Chocolate Chip CS, PTI Vintage Cream CS, PTI Pure Poppy CS, PTI Ocean Tides CS, SU Holiday Treasures (retired), K&Co. Classic K Baily DSP
Stamps: Verve All About You, Verve Winter Mittens Digi Images, Inger Harding Design Snowman 1 Digi Stamp
Accessories: cuttlebug, Nestabilities dies, SU Old Olive Striped Ribbon, PTI Vintage Cream Grosgrain ribbon,  red velvet ribbon (unknown), Paper Studio Spare Parts Corderoy brad, Prima botanical mix, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, Cricut, Accent Essentials cartridge, Basic Grey Bling, stickles, green button (unknown), copics, copic airbrush kit, Martha Stewart Mica Flakes glitter, Zing clear embossing powder, heat tool

Who's the Boss

Today was Boss's Day and I have two of the best bosses you could want to work for. They  support our efforts in the classroom, are positive and encouraging, and organized and self-disciplined. Teaching is a tough job, but these two keep our campus running smoothly and efficiently. So, even though I contributed with a monetary donation to the gift fund, I wanted to do something just from me to show my appreciation of their efforts.
Verve has a stamp set titled "All About You" with a stamp that says "Hope today knocks your socks off!" I hope today we did knock the socks off our principal and assistant principal with our show of support and appreciation. But using that sentiment as the focus, I used a template from Lauren Meader and PTI  called Stocking Stuffer to create these cute "socks" for my bosses. The template is free, by the way. I wanted to make them look like men's socks so I used papers with a more masculine feel to it. I created the "socks", filled them with m&m's, and then added the Verve sentiment for encouragement. That makes this project just perfect for the Verve "Encouraging Words Project Parade Challenge". Here's another look at each sock individually.

Project Recipe
Paper: SU Chocolate Chip, SU Parisian Breeze DSP (retired), SU Manchester DSP (retired), SU Baja Breeze (retired), PTI Kraft CS, PTI Vintage Cream CS
Stamps: Verve All About You
Accessories: PTI Timeless Template Stocking Stuffer, white gel pen, SU Baja Breeze striped ribbon (retired), PTI Dark Chocolate Satin ribbon, Spellbinders Label Nestabilities die, cuttlebug, Paper Studio brads, twine

Boo 2 You

I got some good news this week! I've been awarded a grant which will pay for a master's degree in Library Science. I'm going to be a LIBRARIAN! Well, in about two years, I'm going to be a librarian. In the meantime, I'm going back to school. The cool thing about this program is that all courses will be online! Yipee, no money for gas is needed.
Okay, I'm through with the personal stuff. I created this card for three different challenges. First up is the design. I used the sketch challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches. I haven't had a chance to use one of Melissa's sketches in a while, so I was real anxious to use this one. It's cute, huh, with those spider webs? The spider webs are courtesy of Tamara Bennet. They are an SVG that I cut with SCAL and my Cricut.
The challenge at DareU2 DigiStamp was to use the colors yellow, orange, and black. No problem there since I created a Halloween card for the Digital Tuesday Challenge. I love it when challenges all come together. And since I've been on a Halloween kick lately, these challenges were just "frightfully" perfect!
Project Recipe
Paper: SU Pumpkin Pie CS, SU Black CS, SU Haiku DSP (retired), Ginak White Pure Luxury CS
Stamps: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Spooky Pumpkins
Accessories: SCAL, Cricut, Paper Studio Self-adhesive gemstone, copcis, sponge, Ellen Hutson ribbon