Snowflakes, Hot Chocolate & Marshmallows

I love my coffee but I also love hot chocolate.  With marshmallows.  In winter.

Today I have a  mug-shaped card to give this warm and toasty drink

as a gift. This was a lot of fun to make and I hope the recipient loves it!!

I started with a Saturated Canary image called "Hot Cocoa".  I love her

and I think she's just adorable.  I colored her to coordinate with my yummy 

snowflake "Winterings" paper from Little Yellow Bicycle.  Her earmuffs
 and boot lining are puffed with SnowTec. 

  

I cut out a window in the mug and filled the hole with acetate so the cocoa
and marshmallows are viewable.  I then stamped the sentiment 
and snowflakes with Stazon Opaque white ink.

                                 I made the steam coming out of the top of the cup with wire.

 

The big blue snowflake is from Michaels and I made the rosette with the

same papers.  The burlap sticker is also from LYB.  The flourishes were

                           made with Magnolia dies.  The snow fluff is also from Michaels.  

A side view of the hot cocoa and marshmallows stuffed inside.

 Copics I used.

I am honored this week to be the guest designer over at ABC

Challenges.  The challenge is "Let It Snow".  We were to make a card

using either snow, snowflakes, or a snowman.  I hope this card is

up to the challenge!!

Other challenges I would like to enter this fun card into:

saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.com: hot chocolate & marshmallows
2sisterschallengeblog.blogspot.com: snowflakes
craftysentiments.blogspot.com: snowflakes
incywincydesigns.blogspot.com: Christmas with snowflakes
lexiscreations.blogspot.com: snow
lollipopcrafts.blogspot.com: happy holidays
tammyscrapincorner.com: Christmas shaped cards 
qkrstampede.blogspot.co.uk: holiday cheer
stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.com: let it snow
delightfulsketches.blogspot.com: all about christmas
crazychallenge.blogspot.com: It's Christmas Time

Balloon Wishes for St. Jude Children's Research!

Good morning everyone!  This adorable digi from Saturated Canary is

called "Balloon Wishes".  She comes with several cute balloons

you can change out as desired.  I chose to just fill her balloon space 

with a cute flair button I bought on Etsy.

Isn't she the cutest??  I followed a sketch for a challenge and I think it worked 

very well for her.  The cute papers are from Echo Park called Sweet Day.

I used Spellbinders around the image and the frame of the card was made

with Martha Stewarts Flourish Lace punch around the page.  I think it's

a new product because I've never seen this particular set before.  But of course
 I had to have it!  Hehe.  I wanted it because I knew it would look just 
gorgeous with some ribbon woven through it.  

A close-up of the weaving:

Thanks for visiting!!

Challenges she will enter:

toptiptuesday.blogspot.com: kids and teens

saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.com: sketch challenge

cutedaisymay.blogspot.com: use a digi

glitternsparklechallengeblog.blogspot.com: ribbon or lace

crazy4challenges.blogspot.com: put a bow on it

sendasmile4kidschallenge.blogspot.com: anything goes 4 kids
polkadoodle.blogspot.com: any die will do
pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com: anything but a Christmas card
uniquecrafterschallenge.blogspot.com: sugar & spice
deepoceanchallengeblog.blogspot.com: pastel colors

Give Big for St. Jude Children's Reasearch!!

Today I have a sweet boy card to share.  The image is

 from Saturated Canary and is called "Give Big". 

I followed a sketch for a specific challenge and I just love the layout!  I'm not good at 
boy cards so this sketch was so helpful in getting me started! 

  The little flags he is holding come bare which gives you the opportunity to write 
your own message in them.  I love that versatility!

  Here is a close up of the grass I cut and chalked.  The wooden stars I bought at my local
 fabric store. I then stitched them into the paper to keep them in place.

I am going to enter this card into a few challenges:

chocolatecoffeecards.blogspot.com: it's the sketch I used!

kaboodledoodles.blogspot.com: stripes and/or polka dots

sendasmile4kidschallenge.blogspot.com: anything goes 4 kids

pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com: anything but a Christmas card

There Are Still Little Princesses

Well, my sister has been posting some fabulous, beautiful creations while I've been moving.  It's been a while since I've been able to do any coloring or creating since we've sold our house and have been moving.  We have a busy six to seven months as we build our new home but I am finally unpacked into our temporary home and have a comfortable spot for my crafts.  It's not perfect, and I don't have everything unpacked, but it will allow me to post a little bit between the building chaos until all the goodies are moved into their final craft haven.

I did make an autograph book for a special little girl named Madeline (Maddie) that just went to Disney World.  Her mother works for me, and I have the pleasure of hearing about all of her antics as she grows up.  She just started kindergarten this year.  Her favorite color is pink and I felt this would be a perfect book for her to collect autographs from all the princesses that she would meet.

It was fun making this for her.  She is at the age where everything is special to her eyes.  As she presented her book to all her princesses for their signatures, she told them her mommy's boss made it "just for me".  So cute.

The book is a mini paper album from Kolo that I've had for a while.  I replaced the ribbon that was part of the album with some other ribbon from my ribbon stash.  The background paper is Beautiful Moments by Carina Gardner.  It is by Carta Bella Paper Company.  I love how the bird plays into the special moment of the day.  It definitely will be a time to remember for Maddie.

The image is "Fancy" by Krista Smith from Saturated Canary.  She is so talented and I keep buying her stamps.  I think my husband may try to figure out how to block her site.  Just kidding (but he may wish he could).  I used Copic markers to color her.  The white pearls in her hair are from a Perlen-Pen by Viva Decor and I smeared Diamond Stickles on her dress.  I cut and embossed her with spell-binder die cuts.

"A very Important Date" pocket watch is a stamp set called Greetings from Wonderland by Crafty Secrets.  I used a circle and scallop punch and put on top with a pop dot.  The rope and gem was from my stash.

I honestly can't remember where the shoes came from.  They were in my stash.  It has a beautiful set of gloves with it and a vintage sewing bust.  I love it.  The gems, pearls and flowers came from my stash also.

Below is just one of Maddie's signatures from Disney World.  This is a beautiful souvenir for Maddie to treasure for years to come.

Here is a picture of a very pretty Maddie after she was made up at the Princess Palace.  Isn't she sweet?

I am going to enter this into the following challenges:

www.saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.com  Fairy Tales
http://anythingbutacard.blogspot.ca/  Any But a Card Challenge
http://eclecticellapu.blogspot.co.uk/ Layering or Openable or Interactive
http://stamptacularsundaychallenge.blogspot.com/  Recipe Challenge

Until next time,
Jo

Ornamental Christmas

Hello everyone!  Hope all is well.  I'm trying to get a head start on
some of my Christmas cards so I'm not panicking at the last
minute like I usually am!!

This sweet digi is from Saturated Canary and she is called Christmas Angel.

I colored her over a year ago when I was first learning to use my Copics.

 My coloring has improved since then and I can see all my mistakes.  Hehe.

But oh well, don't wanna waste her!!  Yes, I could print her out

again and start all over, but I like seeing my progress.  Plus I still

think she's hella cute!!

The sentiment is from Whimsy stamps and can be found here.

I just love their sentiments.

The ribbon is seam binding that I colored ombre with my Copics.

I used RV91, 95, 99.  I think it turned out pretty nice.

The oval is Spellbinders floral ovals.

The poinsettias diecuts are from Marianne creatables.

The pine branches are Cheery Lynn.

They are all finished off with lots and lots of sparkly stickles!!

The pink stem that looks like it is covered in ice I bought from

my local Michaels.  This thing is gorgeous and it comes in

multiple colors!!

I don't have any ornament shaped die cuts so I decided to make my own.

This is just like we all used to do before the land of electronic cutters

and die cuts existed!!  LOL!!

A close up view of the silver topper on the ornament.  I drew in some lines
with my embossing tool to give it some depth.

Hope I can stay on course and continue to plug away at my Xmas 
cards!!

I will be entering the following challenges:

saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.com: shaped card

simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com: get in shape

whimsyinspires.blogspot.com: all things sparkly

cutecardthursday.blogspot.com: fairies & angels

mariannedesigndivas.blogspot.com: shaped cards

fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.com: pearls & flowers

crimbo-crackers.blogspot.com: shaped, pink, Christmas

craftyannschallengeblog.blogspot.com: Christmas in October

stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.com: anything goes

charismacardz.blogspot.com: recipe

Spooky Cute Zombies II (OUT OF CONTROL!)

  My last entry was just the card topper but here is the final easel card completed!

(Please see my last entry for more detailed pics of the front of the card)

Instead of brads to hold the card in place, I used more skeleton hands!

(They're coming out from under the ground)

I tried to make a huge paper wound to add to the gore

but I'm not super happy with it.  I added stitches to make

it seem more authetic. 

Here is the pocket on the inside of the card that holds

another sentiment and a place to write.

Cards pulled out of pocket...

(keeping with the zombie theme)

And a little added bonus to ward off those brain-eating Zombies...

Found those cute gummie brains at Target!!  Love it and it worked perfect

for my project!!

I used my Spellbinders and Word to make the candybag topper.

This is a gift for someone who LOVES, LOVES, LOVES zombies!!

Hopefully she loves it!!

Be safe this Halloween my friends!!

Spooky Cute Zombies

Hello everyone out there in blogland!! I hope everyone
is havinga fabulous weekend so far!  Fall is definitely in the air
and it is my favorite time of year.  Halloween is the theme for
 this post.

  I've been working very hard to get this card done in time for some really fun

challenges.  I've been wanting to use these Zombie digis forever and

now is my chance!!  Yay!!  I'm not one of those people who is crazy over

zombies but these guys are just so cute.  I have a lot of friends who are

big fans of the show The Walking Dead so this is for them!!  I, unfortunately,

have nightmares pretty easily so watching that show is out of the question for me!!

This is a pic with the iron gate semi-closed.

I made the "Ghoulish Greetings" sign hanging on the iron gate by using my writer
tool that engraves into metal. I then added a little white paint into the grooves.
Several  jump rings make the chain and I hooked it through the gate.

 

The flowers are from my stash.  The paper vine is from La-La Land Crafts 

and is called spooky vines.  I had a plastic skeleton that I broke apart  

and stuffed into the flowers and above Zombie girls head to give
the appearance they are creeping out of parts of the card.  

Spooky!  A little spider web and some rhinestone spiders

are crawling on the gate.  (look hard and you will see them!)

Another arm reaching out from behind....

You can see one of the rhinestone spiders there too.

This pic and the next are with the iron gate opened.  I added moss to 

the graveyard ground.

The drippy blood edger and bloody letters are from Martha Stewart Crafts.

Copics I used.

The zombies are Saturated Canary designs again!!  I know.... shocker, right?

I just can't help myself though.  I just love all of Krista Smiths stuff!

The girl is called Zombie Niamh and she is mounted on a wobble

so she has a cute little "shake" she does when you hold this card.

The boy is Zombie Philly. 

The graveyard is from Make It Crafty.  (I only used part of this background

stamp).  The house and the iron gate fence I cut out with my cricut. 

The flowers, ribbon, and other accessories were from my own

stash.  Papers are Authentique.

This is the photo inspiration for the current challenge over at 

Saturated Canary:

The challenge can be found here:

http://saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.com/2012/10/challenge-28.html 

Other challenges I will be entering:

stamptacularsundaychallenge.blogspot.com 

7kidschallengeblog.blogspot.com 

divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com 
lovetocreatechallenge.blogspot.com 
paperplaytime.blogspot.com
allsortschallenge.blogspot.com
cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.com
littlemissmuffetchallenges.blogspot.com
stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.com
artwithnoboundaries.blogspot.com
scrapalicioususa.blogspot.com
craftingforallseasons.blogspot.com
thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.com
simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com
challengeupyourlife.blogspot.com
cardmakinmamas.blogspot.com
trimmiescraftchallenge.blogspot.com
craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.com
craftymesschallengeblog.blogspot.com

This card topper was later made into an easel card.  Please take a peek at it on 

my blog entry dated 10-29-12!!   Thank you!!

A Fairytale Wedding

 My dear friend Rachel got married today in Italy!  How romantic is that!?  

Sounds like a girls fairytale wedding dream to marry in a castle in Italy, doesn't it?  

 That's how I finally came up with the idea for this card. The beautiful 

bride is a Saturated Canary digi called "Bride" and the carriage

is a digi from Crafts & Me.

  I originally made this card with the bride walking

through a rose covered archway and down a long stone path leading to a church on the

 hillside.  I ended up ditching that idea because I just wasn't happy with all the green 

that the pasture brought into the picture.  

I think birds also make it feel very fairytale like.  I love how these birds

 turned out to appear to be carrying the scroll.  The sentiment is a digi from Sassy Design Studios.  I printed it on cardstock, rolled both ends, with one end

wrapped around a decorative metal rod I purchased at Michaels.

I then distressed the paper and added some ink to

give it an aged look.

Of course this had to have flowers!!  The white one already had bling but

then I added glitter stickles to the rest of them.  It is difficult to see,

but there is also a diamond bauble at the bottom of the bouquet.

I love how the bride turned out.  I have a tough time coloring black hair so

anytime it turns out halfway decent, I'm happy.  I cut a "C" shape at the top of

her headpiece and inserted tulle to give her a veil.  I then added more bling to

give her a pearl headpiece.

Most of my cards are quite bulky because of all the embellies.  So I

have to make enveloboxes like I'm sure a lot of you do also.

This is the one I made for this card.

This card was made with so much love and I hope you find some inspiration!

I will be entering this into several fun challenges:

saturatedcanarychallenge.blogspot.com:  B's: Bride, birds, bouquet, bling, brads

7kidschallengeblog.blogspot.com:  1-2-3

whimsyinspires.blogspot.com:  Anything goes

thepoodlesparlour.blogspot.com:  Here come the girls
thepinkelephantchallenge.blogspot.com: Wedding/Anniversaries
blog.oozak.com: Sparkle
comeandgetitchallenges.blogspot.com: tictactoe (pearls, free (diecuts), ribbon)
paperprettiesblog.blogspot.com: punches
thecraftypad.blogspot.com: scraptastic
scrap-creations1.blogspot.com: pick 3: ribbon, pearls, die-cuts/punches
gingerloftchallenge.blogspot.com: birds
kaboodledoodles.blogspot.com: flowers
tuesdaythrowdown.blogspot.com: gems