Paper Craft Crew Challenge with Swirly Birds

Once upon a time .... I used to do a lot of card challenges.  Splitcoast Stampers have several challenges every week - from color challenges to design challenges.  A lot of stamping blogs also offer different challenges.  With this card I am doing a design challenge from the Paper Craft Crew Card Sketch (say that 10 times fast!)  They are celebrating their 200th challenge with this design.  I was a member of the Paper Craft Crew when it first started and did weekly cards for a few years as a member of the team.  Back then, I mainly did digital cards for the challenge since that was when Stampin' Up still supported My Digital Studio.  Sadly, that is not the case anymore (and I am still sad about it!!)  I decided to get out my new Swirly Birds set.  This is the cutest stamp set!  It's funny - when I first saw it in our pre-order, I did not like it so I didn't purchase it early.  Well, guess what was on my first order when the new catalog came out!!!

I used several stamp sets on this card.  For the Dapper Denim striped background, I used the  Diagonal Stripes Background Stamp (pg 125).  For the light Flirty Flamingo center background, I used one of the watercolor wash stamps in Work of Art, stamping off once before stamping on the white card stock.  I like the combo of denim and pink in this card, what do you think?

Here is the sketch if you are interested in making a card with it.  You might want to visit Pam's blog since she is giving away a pretty good prize this week!  (Sunny Girl Scraps)  Also stop in at the Paper Craft Crew Challenge Blog and see the other cards for this challenge.  Many of team members are also giving away blog candy.

Paper Craft Crew Challenge 130 and Blog Candy!!

It's time for my challenge from the Paper Craft Crew.  I got my card done in time and posted on the site .... I just didn't get it posted to my site earlier!!

Again, I fell back on My Digital Studio for my card.  I love the colors in this card - taken straight from the DSP - Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Sahara Sand and Black.  What do you think?

This month there is BLOG CANDY!!  You'll get:  Chevron Embossing Folder, Island Indigo Chevron Ribbon & the Banner Punch.



So make sure you check out the Paper Craft Crew Blog to see what the other designers have created using the sketch.

Sun & Sand Paper Craft Challenge

Oh how I wish I was at the beach!  I ache to walk on the sand, bake in the sunshine and just soak in the salt spray!  How did a beach lover marry a "I hate the sand and sun" type of guy???  I don't know but I guess after 40+ years, I should be used to it by now!!  Marianne and her family are on their annual 4th of July camping week at Myrtle Beach.  I'm hoping that the tropical storm that is lurking in the Atlantic Ocean does not cause them too many problems.  I don't think it will.  They will probably have to do indoor activities tomorrow but after that, they should be ok.

Here is my digital card I made for Paper Craft Crew sketch challenge.  Just about everything on this card came from the Anchors Away MDS kit.  I really like to try and use one kit - makes coordination a lot easier!

Check out the rest of the designers' cards HERE.  Also ... you could win some blog candy if you go the the site!! 

In celebration of our 100th Card Sketch we are going to offer some BLOG CANDY!  Pam will be doing a drawing after the Sketch ends and will announce the winner when she announces the Featured Artisans.

The blog candy you'll receive includes:

Blackberry Bliss Stamp Pad

Pistachio Pudding Thick Backer's Twine

Chevron Embossing Folder 

Island Indigo Chevron Ribbon

and.. the Banner Punch!

Also, you'll want to visit the other blogs…  You never know who else might be offering some blog candy!

Retiring Stamp Cards for Blog Candy!

Now that the retired lists have been announced, I am going to share cards I've made using the stamps that are retiring.  AND if you leave comments each day, I will be putting together packets of the cards and doing a GIVE AWAY at the end of May!  So, stay tuned and let me hear from you!!

I will be selling a LOT of my retired stamps this Saturday at Stampers Alley's Used Stamp Sale in Mooresville.  If you live close, you can get some great deals at this annual sale.  Last year I got a Big Shot for a friend for about $25 so come on down if you live close!

This card uses the Button, Button stamp set.  Not only is it good for a focal image but it is also a great stamp for making your own backgrounds.  The DSP on this card is also retired - Sweet Shop (I think).  The border above and below the stamped image is Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon.  I used DSP Brads for the centers of the stamped buttons.  The buttons are stamped in Calypso Coral, Island Indigo and Pool Party - all colors that will be staying with us next year.

On this card I used the wonderful Word Play - I will really miss this set!  It was a really simple card to make - just cut a few banners from DSP!  The large button was retired a couple of years ago but I thought it made a great focal point.

And the winner is .....

Congratulations to Kathy Mc for winning my BLOG CANDY! 

Kathy said: 
"Red, black and white is one of my very favorite color combos, and this card is super. Wish I'd practiced more with my MDS software because I just don't use it. Couldn't have been too impressed with any of my Halloween costumes because I can't remember any in particular…but that was years ago. Thanks for the chance at your wonderful blog candy, Sharon!"

Kathy, contact me (smaranich@yahoo.com)  and send me your address so I can send the goodies to you.

NOTE:  I used the site, Random.org to draw Kathy's name but can't figure out how to show it here!!  It came up with #22.

Paper Craft Challenge 15

It's time for my sketch for the Paper Craft Crew.  We are trying something a little different.  We now have teams who are responsible for each week.  I am the leader for this week's team and we have some great cards for you.

Here is the sketch we were to work with:

And here is my card using My Digital Studio (of course!).

I will be drawing for the BLOG CANDY tonight .  So if you haven't left a comment HERE (for my give away) or HERE (for the grand prize), you better hurry!

How do you like my November blog header?  The turkey is made using flowers!  Love it!

Don't Miss - Blog Candy by All Paper Craft Crew!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

This is the Grand Opening of the Paper Craft Crew Challenges. Please check out the blog and leave us a take on the sketch for this week. If you do the sketch and leave us a link to your sketch you will be entered into a drawing to win a Grand Prize Basket full of goodies! The Grand Prize drawing winner will be announced on Wednesday, November 7 and posted at 9pm EST the same day.  Mention that you read this on my blog, Inkie Fingers please!

Wait - there's more opportunities for you to win BLOG CANDY!  Make sure you visit each of the Crew's blogs, make a comment and you may be the winner of stamps, watercolor crayons, embossing folders, etc. from their blogs!!  There are several opportunities so go check out the other blogs after reading mine.  You will find a link  to the blogs in my side bar.

 Look for the Paper Craft Crew on Facebook!  You can like us by clicking HERE!  You can also find the Paper Craft Crew on Pinterest.

And, yes, I have some blog candy for you too but you have to leave me a comment below!!  Just like Trick or Treat!!  Tell me what your favorite Halloween costume was when you were growing up.  I think mine was dressing up like a hobo.  I loved Halloween growing up, didn't you?  There was always one house in the neighborhood that gave away caramel apples and we would make sure we went there before she ran out.  Too bad you can't do that in this day and age.  I feel sorry for all the kids in the northeast today that won't be able to go Trick or Treating.

My blog candy is a jar of Melon Mambo Embossing Powder, a spool of Raspberry Ripple Ribbon, a chip-board clipboard and this card below made with the Ornaments Bundle that was on sale this month.  We will be drawing for the prizes next week so stay tuned!

Our sketch for the week is:

And my take on the sketch using MDS2 is:

My Supply List:

Background     Color = Real Red

Embellishments
    Satin Ribbon\Satin Ribbon - Basic Black
    _Designer Kits\Eventful Year - embellishments\Eventful Year - pennant banner (re-colored)
    Baker's Twine\Baker's Twine - Crumb Cake bow (re-colored)
    Baker's Twine\Baker's Twine - Crumb Cake bow (re-colored)
    Baker's Twine\Baker's Twine - Crumb Cake bow (re-colored)
    Baker's Twine\Baker's Twine - Crumb Cake bow (re-colored)
    Brads\Basic Black - brad
    Brads\Basic Black - brad
    Brads\Basic Black - brad
    Satin Ribbon\Satin Ribbon - Basic Black bow

Stamps
    Hip and Handsome Overlays\Hip and Handsome Overlays
    _Designer Kits\Twitterpated\Twitterpated - flower outline, Color = WHISPER WHITE
    _Designer Kits\Twitterpated\Twitterpated - flower outline, Color = WHISPER WHITE
    _Designer Kits\Twitterpated\Twitterpated - flower outline, Color = WHISPER WHITE
    _Designer Kits\Spring Fever\Spring Fever - enjoy life, Color = BASIC BLACK
    _Designer Kits\Spring Fever\Spring Fever - enjoy life, Color = CHERRY COBBLER

Punches
    Labels & Tags\Top Note shape,  Filled with: Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Love Letter - designer series paper\Love Letter - pattern 3
    Basics\Storytime - triangle, Fill Color = BASIC BLACK
    Basics\Storytime - triangle, Fill Color = BASIC BLACK
    Basics\Storytime - triangle, Fill Color = BASIC BLACK
    Basics\1.25 Circle Punch, Fill Color = BASIC BLACK 

I don't know about you but I have been watching the news coverage about "Sandy" non-stop.  My heart goes out to the people in New York and New Jersey.  We got a call today from the Red Cross to see if we are available to deploy.  Unfortunately, I have a lot going on in the next couple of weeks so I can't go at this time.  I imagine they will be needing people for a while and maybe we'll be needed later.

OK - now leave a comment and go visit the other blogs!

Stamping Queens Sketch + Blog Candy

Two posts today!  The other post I thought was scheduled for yesterday .... guess I picked the wrong date!  Makes sense since yesterday felt like two days to me.  In fact, I was talking to my friend, Margaret, earlier and told her today was Thursday.  She corrected me and told me no, it was Wednesday!

I took Mom to her regular doctor yesterday to see if we could get a grip on what was going on.  I think Mom thought he was going to "fix" her when he actually cannot do that.  He explained to us about what a crap shoot pinpointing the cause of pain on the spine when you have so much going on up and down.  She has arthritis, degenerative discs and stenosis.  When they did the surgery, they hoped they were hitting the source of her pain.  But, guess not all of it.  So, now we need to get the injection to the S-1 vertebrae and hope that helps.  He was going to call the pain mgt. doctor to see if he could fit mom in any earlier than July 16.  So, as usual, I am waiting for doctors to call!!  After the doctor left the room yesterday, Mom fell apart.  She is getting really depressed and giving up hope of ever feeling better.  She called Ashley last night and could barely talk to her, she was crying so hard.  It is really tough to see your mom like this.

I had my card class in the afternoon (I'll be sharing those cards tomorrow).  I did good this time - they finished 4 cards in 2 hours!!  I really tried hard not to let them be too intricate but still look pretty.  After class, Marianne and Judy and I went out to dinner at Pomodoro's in Mooresville.  It was really good and I have my lunch for tomorrow!!

Today is Stamping Queens Sketch Challenge and I did my card on MDS.

Look familiar?  I used the the elements from the digital kit, Sweet Shop - same as I have done on my blog background and banner.  The black frames are from the Candid Frames download.

We’d love to have you join us for the Stamping Queens Challenge this week!  Simply make a card using the basic bones of the sketch above, and then visit the stampin’ queens sketch challenge blog  to add your interpretation.  This week we are giving away BLOG CANDY - a 10-second bow maker.

Sketch Challenge 35 AND Blog Candy!

I made my Queen's Sketch Challenge card this week using My Digital Studio.  I think it really turned out good.  What do you think?

Supplies Used:
Certainly Celery Paper
Summer Smooches DSP
Apothecary Art, Fundamental Phrases, Frames With A Flourish, All Scallops Stamp Sets
Circle Punch
Labels Collection 1 Punch
Certainly Celery Bow embellishment

This week, there will be Blog Candy to be given away on the website for participating.  We have an easy sketch this week so make a card and post to HERE and you might just be a winner!!

And the Blog Hop winner is .....

True Random Number Generator Min:0 Max:7 Result: 4

I used Random.org for the drawing of the cards from the Blog Hop and Tiff is the winner:

 Tiff said...

Love love love the little snow gal. She's super cute. And I love those colors on that card. Beautiful job will all of the stamps!
October 24, 2011 10:42 AM

Tiff - please contact me with your address so I can get these cards in the mail to you.

I have been working on a big project for the past few days.  When Sharon was visiting me on Thursday, she made Christmas cards from the samples from the upcoming Christmas SAS while I worked on making "lollies" / rosettes!!  I have been wanting to make a fall rosette wreath but it was intimidating me and I kept putting it off.  Finally I cut a few strips last Wednesday night and scored and pleated them while watching tv.  That got me started so pretty much all day Thursday, I made rosettes - a total of 22 in all!  They are all different sizes and colors.  I used mostly Spice Cake DSP but I also used a few strips of Paisley Petals and some non-SU DSP that coordinated. Let me tell you, if I didn't have the SU Simply Scored Scoring Tool, I don't know that I could have done that many!!  I scored each strip (2" x 12") every 1/2" on one side.  Then I flipped it over and scored in between each of those score marks.  So, the finished piece was scored every 1/4".  Then I accordian folded the strips and hot glued 2 together forming a circle.   I used a round lid that I found that measured about 4"  to form the rosette in.  It made it much easier.  I punched a 2" circle and hot glued it to the back side of the rosette and used one of my punches to sit on top of the rosette while it dried.  I bought a styrofoam wreath at M's and covered it with strips of Spice Cake fabric.  I hot glued the medallions onto the wreath and used various buttons on the centers.  Mostly I used the big Designer Buttons from the mini catalog (love, love these!!) but I also used a few (retired) Corduroy Buttons and a metallic button that I found in my stash and 2 heart shaped silver earrings that I don't wear anymore.  The hardest part for me was trying to figure out whether to put a ribbon on it!  I tried a strip of Spice Cake fabric but didn't like it so I used some spray starch on the (retired) Chocolate Chip striped grosgrain ribbon and tied it at the top.  

I had a pretty busy weekend.  Sharon and Bob (from Florida) were camping nearby - in Denver and Marianne and Greg decided to take their camper over their and join them.  I went over Friday night while Sonny was painting (!).  I borrowed a friend's mahjong set and taught the Marianne and Sharon to play mahjong.  They caught on quick and kept the set on Saturday and played a little more.  Saturday night, we joined them for dinner at a restaurant right across the street from the campground along with Mom and Angela..  After dinner we went back to the campground where another couple joined us.  We had a camp fire and made smores and visited.

Today is Sonny's birthday - he's now officially on medicaid!!  Wow!  I fixed breakfast for us this morning and now have 2 big pots of my grandmother's delicious vegetable soup cooking on the stove - not that he will eat it - he doesn't like veggies!!  But I am going to take a pot of it over to my Mom, freeze some of it and enjoy the rest this week!  We finally turned our heat on yesterday.  We didn't get any of the snow that the east coast was getting but it has been pretty cool here the past few days.

Well, time for me to get ready for my Steeler game!  Not too sure about today's game against "Pretty Boy Brady" and the Patriots .....

Blog Candy Winners

Contratulations Friends!  I ended up with quite a few cards so I decided to pick 4 lucky winners for the month's blog candy!  I went through all the comments for the month and typed them all up in a numbered Exel file and then used Random.org  to pick the winners.  If your name is listed below, contact me with your address so I can get the cards in the mail to you.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

22   Diane C said  Another reason to order more. These are great cards. Love the use of the papers done with stripes. The jewelry tag is one I have yet to order. Another idea waiting to be tried on a card. Your ideas are great and usually simple to do. Love that.

38  Chris R said - What fun! I would love to win, even just one card! Love all the details you put in the cards. Hard to pick just one favorite. All have great details. Thanks for sharing your talent with us.


17  Georgiegirl said - Why do I struggle to find colors that co-ordinate instead of coming to your site and making it easy on myself and just "steal" your color combinations. Very nice cards as always.

1   Teri  said -  Thanks for the chance to win!

Timestamp: 2011-07-02 03:18:09 UTC

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!!

Another Holiday Planner Winner

Since I never heard from Becka who was one of the winners of my blog candy, I picked another number today.  The winner is:  Cindylu2u

 Cindylu2u said:
I'm just in awe of your work, fantastic cards!! I am now a follower and can't wait to see more!! Thanks
 

November 28, 2010 1:50 PM

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

45 

Timestamp: 2010-12-05 15:49:38 UTC

 

 

Contact me Cindy and I will send you one of the Holiday Planners!  Congratulations!!

WINNERS!

THIS WILL STAY ON TOP UNTIL SUNDAY - STILL WAITING ON SCRAPPERBECKA - IF I DON'T HEAR FROM HER, I WILL DRAW ANOTHER NUMBER SUNDAY.

Welcome to my first Blog Giveaway!!  I was blown away by all the wonderful comments I received in my Blog Hop.  So I decided to do THREE give-aways instead of two!   

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

28 42 36 

Timestamp: 2010-11-30 22:36:18 UTC

Winner of Tag Holder and Tags:  

 CardMonkey said...

Love, love, LOVE your cards! Beautiful and inspirational. I am now a proud follower! Merry Christmas and happy New Year, with all the blessings of good health and prosperity to you and your family.

Winner of Holiday Planner #1: 
scrapperbecka said...
Very cute cards! You did a awesome job! I am now a follower, love your work.

Winner of Holiday Planner #2:  Giselle Varela
Giselle said...i love all of your projects. New follower :) the planner is soooooooooooooooooo beautiful!!

Contact me with your mailing address and I will get your goodies in the mail to you!  If I do not hear from you by December 5 (Sunday), I will draw more names.


Congratulations!

Blog Candy

Check out this blog candy HERE!

Candy

Here's a beautiful blog candy up for grabs!  Check it out!

Live & Laugh

I love those words …. live & laugh! That’s what life is about, isn’t it? We all need to heed those words and not sweat the small stuff! I had such fun today finishing up a couple of the projects from the CK classes. Who knows, at this rate, I may even finish the projects from last year??!! The acrylic album I am sharing with you today is from the Button Farm. The directions that came with the kit were about the best I’ve ever seen – so easy to follow. Check out the kits and don’t be afraid to order one of them – you will be able to put it together in no time! Now I just have to find some pictures for this one OR you may be seeing this album later as a GIVEAWAY!! I have never done any blog candy but I am thinking about doing some giveaways when I return from my trip in early September. I have been getting some really nice e-mails from some of you about my blog and it really has made my day! Thank you so much for your comments & keep them coming!! At least I know there is someone out there reading my blog.

Remember - you can click on the pictures to see the whole thing.

This is the front of the book.

Page 2 & 3 – notice how each page mirrors the one before it so you can’t see the back of the images through the acrylic.

Isn’t this paper great? It’s by Basic Grey. The page with the 4 squares is actually a transparency that was added to made an additional page for the book.

A square was cut out of the page on the right for a picture.

That lettering on the page on the right is actually on the next page – you can just see it through the acrylic.

Another transparency added page -

THE END! What do you think?

blog candy alert

Last day for Blog Candy HERE!

Blog Candy

Blog candy HERE

blog candy alert

check HERE for blog candy!

and HERE

Everyone wants ... Blog Candy

There -away is a great giveaway ..... HERE!!