Pixie DT - Sketch and Paper Piecing Challenge

Good Morning!

Happy Wednesday! Today is a new challenge over at The Pixie Cottage and this week we have a fun sketch and the added challenge of paper piecing. As always you can combine this challenge sketch with the theme or choose one or the other to enter the challenge.

I've chosen to only use the sketch because I wanted to use this sweet stamp from Diane Carubia called Cookie and Kaboodle with Roses. It would have been hard to paper piece these sweeties.

I've used some pretty BG Green at Heart papers and then embellished with flowers and ribbon and some sticky pearls. The image was colored with Copics.

This card also fits the challenges at:
Digi Doodle Shop: Anything Goes
Sew Many Challenges: Anything Goes
Creative Craft: Stamp it Up
Other Lovelies: Flowers
Corrosive: Flowers
Magical Crafts: Flower Power
Quirky Crafts: Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today. If you have a chance, pop on over to the Pixie Blog and check out all the DT samples and join in our challenge this week! Have a great day!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for our new Whimsy Stamps release...there will be lots of fun new digital images tomorrow!

Happy Stamping,

Wishes for Bella - Week 2

Welcome to week 2 of the Wishes for Bella Blog Hop! 

Before we get to this week's hop, I would like to say thank you to all who participated in the hop last week! And a huge thanks to those who have created a card for Bella, we know she will love them! We received over 20 cards for Bella last week, lets see if we can send even more this week!

Now for the winners of last week's hop...

 

The winner of my Spellbinders candy is Dorcas

Erin's winner is Karen Alpine

Sandie's winner is Jenny Lazlo

Jude's winner is Fiona

Jenni's winner is Lisa

Christy's winner is Stephanie 

Congrats to everyone! Please contact the blog candy owner and claim your prize! And then hop back over here and join us again this week. There are lots of beautiful cards to see for Bella and more prizes to be won.


The Wishes for Bella - week 2 hop starts right here on my blog today and will run until Noon EST on Monday, July 5th. Be sure to leave comments along the way and enter linky features for your chance at the prizes. And in case you missed our hop last week and want to know more about Bella, here is a link to her website, Bella Tucker. org. Currently you can...read about Bella and the illness which took her arms and legs, make a card and send some smiles to Bella, make a donation to her fund for medical treatment/care, or purchase bracelets to help support her medical fund.


I have a card using a Whiff of Joy image for Bella this week. I decided to go with some cheerful purples and yellows on this card, which I think fit really well with this image and I hope will also make Bella smile.

The sketch is from Sketch Saturday and I've paired that with some BG Koishi papers. I've stitched the edges on the sewing machine and embellished with flowers, buttons, flower brads, and ribbons. The image was colored with Copics.

The next stop on this week's blog hop is....Marcea Watkins! Please be sure to hop over to Marcea's blog to see what she's created for Bella. Then after you finish hopping, if you decide to make a card for Bella, be sure to hop over to Erin's blog where the grand prize entry linky is posted. Remember you can enter up to 4 times if you make Bella a card for every week of the hop!

Please mail your card(s) to:
The Bella Tucker Fund
P.O. Box 199
Londonderry, NH 03053 
USA

I have a  little thanks for hopping with us today candy for you. It's a $10US Gift Certificate to shop at Whimsy Stamps. One lucky hopper will win this prize!

To enter for a chance, please just hop with us today and then leave your name and blog link in the linky feature below. Good luck and thanks for hopping with us today!



Happy Stamping,

Pixie DT - Scrap it with a Song

Morning All!

Today, Michelle of Michelle's Scrapbooking, is sponsoring the challenge over at Scrap it with a Song and they have asked some of the Pixie DT members to contribute some samples as guest designers for the challenge.  Scrap it with a Song is a challenge blog that uses song lyrics for inspiration and this week the challenge is "I Can See Clearly Now." I don't scrap, so I've created a card with this theme in mind.

I decided for the lyrics to use clear as the starting point of my card and used some clear acetate for the base of my card. I also used the sweet wedding stamp, Maisy and Matt's Wedding, available at The Pixie Cottage.

I used some white Staz-On ink to stamp a swirl pattern around the acetate. This swirl stamp is from the Whimsy Stamps set Proud Momma. Staz-On ink is great because it dries fast and doesn't smudge. I colored my image with Copics and then framed with a rectangle Nesties set. The white layer was embossed with the CB folder Tapestry. I've embellished with ribbon and a tag with a sentiment from Whimsy Stamps, flowers, and sticky pearls.

Thanks for dropping by today. Hope you have a great day! Be sure to check back tomorrow for the next week of the Wishes for Bella blog hop! There are lots of fabulous prizes to win and you would be helping to make a child smile!

Happy Stamping,

A Vintage Sketch with Flowers

Happy Friday All!

Wow what a busy week! It's going to take me some time to get into a new routine with the kids for the summer I think. Anyone else having that problem? I am glad it's the weekend, we have some fun things planned so I'm looking forward to it! Hope you have a great weekend too!

Just Magnolia and Stamp Something

Today being Friday means new challenges over at Just Magnolia and Stamp Something. And this week I've decided to combine these challenges and so I only made one card to share. The challenge at JM is a fabby sketch by the ever talented Bev! I loved this sketch and know for sure I will be using it again. And then at Stamp Something our challenge is Something Vintage with Flowers so a very easy couple of challenges to combine!

I've gone with this beautiful new Tilda that Bev was kind enough to stamp and share with me. Isn't she just darling! Probably my new favorite Magnolia. I ordered her, but she's not arrived yet. So thankful for the images Bev! I've colored with Copics and then cut the image out and popped it up on foam tape. I've used Bev's sketch and some BG Capella papers that have been distressed and torn and stitched for that vintage/shabby look. I embellished with pearl brads, lots of flowers, dry embossing, lace and organdy ribbons, and a sentiment from the Ticket Sentiments at Whimsy Stamps.

This card also fits the challenges over at:
Simon Says: Friends (this card is for someone special)
Cute Card Thursday: Reuse (lace)
Delightful Challenges: Summer

Thanks for dropping by today. I hope you'll join in with us this week at Just Magnolia and Stamp Something! Have a fantastic Friday!

Happy Stamping,

Sweet Little One

Hi All!

Wow, I can't believe this week is already half over! YIKES! Summer vacation officially started here yesterday so I'm not sure I will be able to post as often as I have been. With 2 kids home, MY time is a bit less than it was during school, but I hope to post at least a few times a week.

I have a card to share today that I created last night while the kids were playing and hubby was working. If I can get an hour like that everyday, I should have no problem being able to share a creation every few days, at least I hope!

I decided to work with this sweet little hAnglar image, which my dear friend Deb shared with me. She sent me a bunch of these sweet images a couple of weeks ago. It's so nice to be able to color them as I've not been able to purchase any of my own. Thanks Deb!!!

I've colored the image with Copics and highlighted with white gel pen. I've used some papers from a recent swap (thanks Stacey!) and stitched and distressed the edges for a shabby look. The layout is from the challenge over at Papertake Weekly. I've embellished with flowers and a sentiment from Whimsy Stamps.

This fits at these challenges too...
Everybody Art Challenge: Pink and Green
lovely hAnglar only: Shabby

Thanks for stopping by today. Don't forget about our Wishes for Bella blog hop, which runs until next Monday. You can find the details HERE! Have a great day!


Happy Stamping,

Wishes for Bella Blog Hop - Week 1

Hello All!

Today I have a special card to share for a special little girl. My card is also part of a blog hop today! I hope you will sit back and relax and take a little hop with me....

Today we are holding a blog hop in honor of Bella Tucker. Bella is a NH girl who sadly came down with a near fatal infection that has left her without her arms and legs. She is lucky to be alive as doctors didn't think she would recover from this illness. Bella has the love of her family to help her through this trying time as she learns to live a life without her limbs.

Bella and her family have a very, very difficult road ahead with many challenges as you can imagine and we would like to help in a small way by sending some cards and love from around the world to Bella. There is a special website dedicated to Bella and the awareness of her struggle, Bella Tucker.org. You can also make a donation and read more about Bella on this blog. We hope you will take a minute to learn about this brave little girl!

Erin Bailey, of Scrap Stamp and Be Merry, is the organizer of these 4 special Wishes for Bella blog hops to raise awareness for Bella and hopefully lots and lots of cards and wishes in the mail for her too! Join us for the next 4 Tuesday as we create cards for Bella and host hops with prizes for you!

My blog is the first stop on the hop today - Week 1! From here you will continue with our hop and visit the blogs of other caring crafters who are helping us send smiles and wishes to Bella. All of the stops on the hop have eye candy to share and some also have blog candy! So be sure to visit all the blogs and then at the end of the hop, we ask that you also create a card for Bella, share it on your blog to help raise more awareness, and then mail your card to Bella.

Once you have done so, please hop on over to Erin's blog to enter for a chance to win our Grand Prize which will be drawn on July 20th after each of the 4 hops for Bella have ended. If you participate and mail a card or 2 or 3 or 4 to Bella, you can enter each of your cards for up to 4 chances at the grand prize! The grand prize will include items from our sponsors...

Whimsy Stamps, Simon Says Stamps, Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, Paper Jewels, Soft Pencil, Quixotic Paperie, Fircracker Designs by Pamela, Digital Delights, Sunshine and Giggles, Lala Land, Crissy Armstrong, The Stamping Boutique, and Digi Images by Edith.

And Erin has other special weekly candy chances on her blog for anyone who mails a card to Bella and enters on Erin's blog each week! So lots of prizes to be won each and every week and all you need to do is send a card to Bella and post it on your blog. This can be a new card or an old card, as long as you send it to Bella, that's what really matters!

This is my card using the digital stamp Hang in There from the Crissy's Digi's collection at Whimsy Stamps. I think this image is perfect for bringing some smiles.

I've colored with Copics and some white gel pen dots, then cut the image out and popped it up on foam tape. The sketch is from Cute Card Thursday with some designer paper and card stock from SU!. I've embellished with sticky pearls, a lace doily, lots of flowers, and 2 "Happy Mail" Ticket Sentiments from Whimsy Stamps.

This card also fits the challenges at:
Cupcake Craft: Strawberries and Cream
Totally Gorjuss: Sugar and Spice

I also have a blog candy prize for this hop today...

To win, you must create a card for Bella and then post on your blog and leave a link in the linky feature below by 11:59am on Monday, June 28th. I will draw a winner and announce that afternoon. We will also be posting all the blog hop winners on my blog when I post the start of the new hop each Tuesday. And don't forget about the grand prize drawing after all 4 hops have ended on July 20th, that info will be posted on Erin's blog. So be sure to enter for that prize each and every time you create a card for Bella!

My prize is this Spellbinders Borderablilies Heirloom Scroll Border die. One lucky person who sends Bella a card will win this fab die. I will mail to anywhere, so please, help us out and make a card for Bella! Good luck to all!

To send a card to Bella, please use this mailing info....
The Bella Tucker Fund
P.O. Box 199
Londonderry, NH
03053
Thanks for joining us today! I hope you will join us each week from now through July 20th! The next stop on the hop today is Jenny Laszlo.  Happy hopping and helping Bella!

Happy Stamping,

Whimsy Welcomes

Good Morning!

I just have a quick post today to share with you the new members of our Whimsy Stamps DT! Our call ended last Friday and we have chosen 5 new gals to join our team and create with us for the next 6 months!

Annika of Another Messy Crafter

Donna of Bearly Mine Crafts

Lori of Just Ducky

Nathalie of  Les Brico-Decos

Vanja of Vanja's Crafty Den

Welcome ladies! We are very excited to have each of you on our design team and can't wait to see your Whimsy creations!

I will be back shortly with a card for a special blog hop! Please join me at Noon EST today! See you then!

Happy Stamping,

Garden Summer

Happy Friday!

Hope you all have a great day today and a fabulous weekend! Today is new challenge day over at Just Magnolia and Stamp Something. Both challenges are really fun and I think you could even combine them if you like!

Just Magnolia

First I have my JM card and our challenge this week is the theme of Garden. Please remember to use a Magnolia image on your project to qualify for the prize which this week has been donated by Wild Orchid Crafts! Some ideas for the garden theme would be embellishing with flowers, using garden/in the garden images, floral papers, etc.

For my card I used some floral papers, an outdoor combination of images, and lots of flower accents. These flowers can all be purchased at Wild Orchid Crafts. My Tilda image was colored with Copics and then sat on the swing. I've used the sketch from Sketch Saturday for my card layout and the papers are K and Company with Magnolia Fairytale Collection papers. I've embellished with swirls of rhinestones, sticky pearls, flowers, and ribbon. I've also used the sewing machine to add some stitching details and the lace border punch for the trim accent. 

This card also fits at:
Our Creative Corner: Gotcha Cornered
Magnolia Down Under: Swirly Swirls
Allsorts: Lace and/or buttons

Stamp Something

Next is my card for Stamp Something. This week our challenge is Something for Summer. You can interpret this challenge in your own way. Use images that are summery, summery papers, inspired by summer project, etc. Our sponsor this week is La La Land Crafts. They gave each of our DT some images to work with too!

I've gone with a beachy summer theme and used this sweet Beach Rosie image from La La Land. I've colored with Copics and framed with Nesties. I also added a pearl to the oyster in the image. I've used some Wild Asparagus papers and embossed with the swirls and swiss dots CB folders. I've embellished with sea themed brads and some hemp twine. Then added a sentiment and a clip to hold it on. The sentiment is from Whimsy Stamps.

This card also fits at:
La La Land: embossing
Spoon Full of Sugar: Sunshine

Thanks for dropping on by today. Before you go...I have a bit of blog candy for you. I've decided to give away this sweet Beach Rosie stamp to one lucky winner. All you need to do is use the linky feature below and enter before this Stamp Something challenge ends on Thursday, June 24th at 7pm EST. (this stamp is bare red rubber and has been used once, but cleaned). Good luck!

EDIT TO ADD:

Blog candy winner is Dorcas! Thanks for entering for this cute stamp ladies. Dorcas, please contact me to claim your stamp!

Happy Stamping,

Are You Grumpy

Good Morning!

How's your week going? I can't believe it's almost Friday! Happy about it too, love the weekends. I made some time for crafting yesterday afternoon and so I have a card to share with you today.

This is Gruffy Little Gnome from the Meljen's Designs Collection for Whimsy Stamp. I think this image is just too cute! And even though he's a little grumpy guy, I went for a cheerful color combo.

I used the sketch from this week's The Pink Elephant challenge with these bright and colorful Cosmo Cricket papers.  I colored the image with Copics and used some Stickles and a white gel pen for added highlights. I've embellished with buttons, ribbon, brads, and some twine. It's a fairly clean and simple design which I think lends well to more masculine cards.

This card fits these challenges too:
Cupcake Craft: One for the Boys
Stamp with Fun: Fairytales
Sweet Stampin': doodling
Polka Doodles: Nursery Rhymes
Your Next Stamp: Buttons
Totally Gorjuss: One for the Boys

Thanks for visiting with me today. Hope you have a great day! See you back here tomorrow with my cards for the brand new challenges at Stamp Something and Just Magnolia. Have a great day!

Happy Stamping,

Pixie DT - Sketch and Patriotic

Good Morning!

Today is Wednesday and that means a new Pixie Cottage challenge! This week we want to see you try the sketch and/or use the theme of Patriotic on your creation. Remember you can combine the sketch and theme or just use on or the other to play along. And while it's not necessary to use a Pixie Cottage stamp, if you have one, why not use it!

For my card I chose to use both the sketch and theme. I've used this sweet Sandra Hammer image called Hannah on Stepping Stones for my card.

I used some red, white, and blue colors for the patriotic colors of the USA along with some papers with stars on them. I went for a country/distressed look with these papers and distressed the edges with scissors. I've colored the image with Copics and then embellished with ribbon and lots of beautiful rose flowers.

This card also fits the challenges at:
My Time to Craft: Someone Special or Special Occasion
Sentimental Sundays: Summertime
Paper Play Time: Flag Day 
Crafty Ann's: Fly the Flag

Thanks for coming by today, hope you have a great day!

Happy Stamping,

Taking Photos

Hi All!

Happy Tuesday to you! Hope you're having a great day. We've already done the grocery shopping and got the laundry started. Unfortunately, I don't have a card to share today and not sure I will have time to craft either. I should be back tomorrow with a new creation though.

I have had a couple people ask how I take my card photos and so I wanted to share a picture of my new light studio. My hubby got this for me for my birthday last month, all on his own I might add! It was reasonably priced at $100 and came with the 2 lights for the sides, a tripod for the camera, and a box with white sides and a colored background in gray and blue. The really nice thing about this light studio is that it's portable and folds up in it's own storage case. So if you don't have the space, you can put it away in the closet.

If you live in a place that has mediocre lighting and you can count on the weather outside to be as undependable as possible, these light studios are a great alternative. I used to get decent photos from my table lamp, but I always had to lay the photo down so taking photos of anything but a card was tough. I really love this studio! and so does someone else....

As you can see the sides are white and for mine the bottom is gray as I have it upside down to use all 3 white sides for my photos. I lay a piece of white card stock over the gray bottom. The lighting comes at the subject in the box from the sides and then over top from your room's light source. You can see here that someone else has decided that this makes a pretty cozy sleeping spot too!

EDIT TO ADD:
You can get this light studio from Hammacher Schlemmer

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a great afternoon with fun things planned!

Happy Stamping,

Shabby

Hi All!

Hope you're Monday is off to a great start and that you had a nice weekend. It was rainy here again, but we had some fun anyway. We did dinner with friends on Saturday and then our weekend Sushi lunch on Sunday, yummy! Hoping for some sunny days this week as the kids are going stir crazy being stuck in the house and mommy isn't too happy either!

I did a little crafting yesterday and came up with a card for the "Shabby Shabby" challenge at lovely hAnglars only. I had gotten some new papers on Friday and so I started with those. They are from my local store, so not sure of the brand at the moment.

I created the shabby look by stitching the paper edges on a sewing machine. I also distressed the card stock paper edges with scissors and then used my thumb to scuff and tear the designer paper edges. I've colored the image with Copics. I received this image from my friend Deb. The layout is from the challenge at One Stop Crafts this week. I've embellished with cherry blossoms, lace, sticky pearls, and a sprig of gems which I got from a recent goodie swap with my friend Bev. The sentiment is from Ticket Sentiments at Whimsy Stamps.

This card also fits at:
Practical Scrappers: Glitter and Flocking (thanks Tanya!)

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you have a great Monday!

Happy Stamping,

A Happy Sketch

Happy Friday!

Good morning! Hope you're day is off to a great start. Today is Friday and that means new challenges at Just Magnolia and Stamp Something!

Stamp Something

At SS our challenge is a very simple one, we want to see you create a Happy Something! Easy right? No excuse not to play along this week! Our sponsor this week is Karen's Doodles, but we also have some unclaimed prizes so we have some mystery candy too! There will be 3 chances to win this week! Get out those stamps and show us some HAPPY!

I've used this cute Tiger Fun image from Karen's Doodles on my card today with some fun bright and cheerful papers. These are BG Lime Rickey with the sketch from Delightful Challenges. My papers being spots and stripes also fit the challenge at Charisma Cardz this week. The image was colored with Copics and I used the dotty background technique to add some other accents. I've embellished with buttons, hemp twine, ribbon, eyelets (fits at Practical Scrappers), brads, and a sentiment from Whimsy Stamps.

Just Magnolia

This week our JM challenge is a sketch challenge created by our talented Mina. The sketch was a lot of fun to work with so we hope you will give it a try. Please remember you must use a Magnolia image on your project to qualify for the prize. Also, our Mina has a fabulous blog candy chance on her blog right now, hop on over and check that out too!

For this card I went with bold red and white/cream colors with these sweet Magnolia papers. These are from the summer collection. I've distressed the edges with scissors and then embellished with brads, flowers, ribbon, hemp twine and a strawberry charm, and a sentiment from Whimsy Stamps.

This card also fits the challenges at:
Paper Sundaes: Summer
Sentimental Sundays: Neglected Stash (this stamp and ribbon)
All Sorts: Strawberries and Cream
Magnolia Down Under: Polka Dots (embossed layer)
Our Creative Corner: Summer

Hope you have a great day and a fabulous weekend! Thanks for stopping by, be sure to check out the DT samples from my fellow teamies at JM and SS!

Happy Stamping,

Woodland Fairy

Hello!

Hope you're having a great day. I can't believe it's Thursday already, can you? Another week just flying on by, it must be that Summer is almost here because the weeks certainly don't go by this fast in the dead of winter.

Today I have a card to share with you that I created using the new digital stamp from the Meljen's Designs Collection at Whimsy Stamps. Melissa has created a bunch of really sweet fairy tale and nursery rhyme themed images. This one is called Woodland Fairy.

I've used the sketch from this week's Truly Scrumptious challenge which is actually being sponsored by Whimsy. I paired the sketch with these pretty Stampin' Up! papers and I stitched the edges on the sewing machine. The image was colored with Copics and then I added some Stickle accents. I've embellished with roses, ribbon, brads, and a grommet. The sentiment is from the Ticket and Oval Snippets Sentiments available at Whimsy Stamps.

This card also fits the challenges at:
ABC - Weather
Simon Says Stamp - Recipe (1 image, 2 papers, 3 embellishments) For mine I have metal hardware, flowers, and ribbon.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope you have a great Thursday! If you're up for a challenge head on over to Truly Scrumptious and join in. Whimsy also has our monthly challenge going...the theme is Summer with the option of bugs. You can check out the details HERE.

Happy Stamping,

Pixie DT - Sketch Challenge

Happy Wednesday!

Wednesday means a brand new challenge over at The Pixie Cottage! This week we have a guest sketch and theme challenge for you. The sketch was created by the talented Donalda and the theme is Father's Day. As always you can use the sketch, the theme, or combine both.

I've chosen to only use the sketch this week as I wanted to use one of the new wedding images just released at The Pixie Cottage shop. This image is called May I Have This Dance.

I used some Copics and Stickles to color this image. Unfortunately the Stickles caused the ink to run a bit on the dress, but I actually like the soft hint of color it left behind. I've used Donalda's sketch with some black and white papers and card stock.  I'm not sure of the brand of these papers however. I also used a CB folder to dry emboss the white layer. I added some pearls and ribbon, and some flowers and more pearls to embellish this card.

This card also fits the challenges at:
Daring Cardmakers: String of Pearls
Stamptacular Sunday: I Do
PaperPlay Challenges: Flowers and Sparkle
S2G Challenges: Brides

Thanks for stopping by today. If you're up for a challenge, head on over to the Pixie Cottage and join in! Have a super day!

Happy Stamping,

Some Pink and Green

Good Morning!

Happy Tuesday! Hope your day is off to a nice start. I have a busy day with errands to run and laundry to take care of here today, hope you have something more fun planned.

There is a brand new challenge blog that has just started up called lovely hAnglar only challenge to create with hAnglar images. I just happened to have a couple hAnglar images and thought I would have some fun playing along. I've been trying to order these sweeties, but always seem to miss out on them. Thankfully, my dear friend  Deb has just sent me a few more so I can continue to play. Thanks Deb, love them all! 

The theme for the challenge is Pink and Green for a color combo. So I've used some pretty pink papers and a floral print with pinks and greens. Very soft colors for this sweet image. The image was colored with Copics and I added a few white gel pen highlights. I've also stitched the paper edges and distressed with scissors. I embellished with flowers, sticky pearls, and a sentiment from Whimsy Stamps.

This card also fits these challenges:
Sketch Saturday: sketch/layout
A Spoon Full of Sugar: Floral Fantasy

If you like these adorable images, Rach has a fab blog candy on her blog right now to win a set of the new baby stamps! They are really sweet!

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a great day!

Happy Stamping,

Gorjuss Monday

Good Morning!

How was your weekend? Good I hope! It wasn't the nicest weather here either day, rain a good deal of the weekend, but we made the most of the time we had. Hoping for a sunnier week ahead. The rainy drab weekend did lend to some crafting time though which is always fun!

I've been wanting to just make some cards for no other reason than to stamp so I went through my stash and settled on this sweet Sugar Nellie Goth Girl stamp and decided to try the challenge at The Sugar Bowl too.

I used the sketch from the challenge along with the added theme challenge to use the color combo pink, white, and black. It's been a long time since I joined in at the Sugar Bowl challenges or used my Sugar Nellie stamps. I used some white, pink, and black card stock with a black and white polka dot paper (? not sure on the brand) and a pink and white stars paper (Magnolia).  I used the sewing machine to stitch my paper edges and them embellished with corduroy buttons and black hemp twine.

The image was colored with Copics and this was my first try with black hair. I still need some practice, but I was happy with the final result. I also used some pink Copics to created the dotty background detail around the image. My final accent was to add some sticky gems to the 4 corners of the card as well as to her hair.

This card also fits the challenges at:
Incy Wincy Challenges: For the Little Ones
Just Add Ink: Just add Stitching

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a terrific Monday! 

Happy Stamping,

Pixie Cottage - Distressing Tutorial

Hello!

Today I have a little something other than a card to share with you. As part of my DT work with the Pixie Cottage, I have a quick tutorial to share about distressing techniques and the different looks you can achieve by doing each one. Now I know some of you are afraid to rip beautiful papers, but trust me, it's fun and easy and creates a great accent or bit of texture on your creation. So don't be scared, let's have some fun tearing it up!

Before distressing, I stamped my image and colored with Copics on each of these samples and I've used the new stamp Hannah on Stepping Stones by Sandra Hammer. I've stamped her in Memento Ink on each of my samples and colored her the same so that you can see just how the distressing effects the image. 

Tearing

The first distressing technique I'll show you is plain old edge tearing with your fingers. No tools necessary for this one.

For this look, I hold my two pieces of paper together and starting at the top, holding the paper between by thumb and index finger in my left hand while tearing with my thumb and index finger with my right hand, slowly tear down the paper towards yourself. Then once you have your papers torn, slide them apart and glue them together with the edges somewhat matching up. Then trim the backing card stock around the image if necessary.

*Tip to remember: always go slowly, never just rip quick or you won't be able to control where the tearing will go.

Sponging

Next, I have a sample using just some ink and a sponge.

This technique is by far the easiest, but if you aren't careful with your ink it can be the messiest too! I've used Distressed Ink in Antique Linen, but you can use any ink pad and sponge you have in your stash. I stamped my sponge on the ink pad and then carefully sponged the edges of my image paper all the way around the image on all sides of the paper. I did a bit more sponging at each corner. Then I mounted my image piece to a card stock layer.

Scissors

I think this next technique is my favorite to do and use. It creates a great texture with the papers and spices up the project a bit.

For this look, I open the scissors all the way and while carefully using the inner edge of the scissor blade, I scuff up the edges. You can do this by gently and slowly dragging the scissor edge down the paper. I did this technique on both the image layer and card stock layer. If you have a paper edge distressing tool, you can create just about the same look as with the scissors. But if you don't have one, why buy one when scissors do the trick just fine.

*Tip: go slowly and be careful not to cut your paper or your fingers.

Sewing with some Tearing and Sponging

This last distressing technique uses a sewing machine along with a couple of the other techniques. If you don't have a sewing machine, I think you could achieve a similar look with some paper piercing and faux stitching.

First, I glue my image and card stock layers together and then sew them together with the sewing machine. I just use a simple stitch and do the edges. Then I use my thumb nail and gently go under the edging and fold it up to the stitching line. I gently and randomly tear the edge here and there and then smoosh it down with my thumb. The final touch is to add a small amount of ink sponged on the edges of the card stock layer.

Now if you don't have a sewing machine. You could do some paper piercing stitch holes along the edges and then use a white gel pen to add in the stitch lines. And using a ruler, lined up on the faux stitching edge so you don't go too far over, you can run your nail under the edging using the ruler as a guide. And finish with tearing and some sponging.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial for different ways to distress your projects. And I hope you'll give it a try too. Don't be afraid to tear it up sometimes!

Have a great day!

Happy Stamping and Distressing,

Special Challenges

Good Friday Morning To Ya!

This week was so quick and busy too! But I have to say I am happy that we are at another weekend! Hope you have some fun things planned. Not sure yet what we'll be up to, but I'm sure we can find something.

Today is new challenge day over at Just Magnolia and Stamp Something. These week are special challenges on both JM and SS.

Just Magnolia

First at Just Magnolia it's our special monthly challenge with a tutorial from Mindy Baxter using ribbon to create a pretty edge detail. This challenge is sponsored by Simon Says! Remember to use a Magnolia image to qualify for the prize.

This is my card using the tutorial with a piece of lace. I love the ribbon border idea and it was really easy to do. Hope you'll give it a try too!

I've used a Tilda image and colored her with Copics, unfortunately the camera changed the colors of my blues to more green-blue. In real life the colors match these pretty SU! Parisian Breeze papers. I've used Baja and Chocolate card stock and embellished with flowers, pearls, brads, and a ticket sentiment from Whimsy Stamps.

This card also fits the challenge at:
Charisma Cardz: Flowers

Stamp Something

Next I have my Stamp Something card and this week we've started a special monthly challenge at Stamp Something. Each month will be be hosting Digi Days in support of all the fabulous digital stamp companies out there. We hope it will encourage you to take the digi plung! We will have multiple company sponsors which means multiple blog candy winners! Stop by SS and check out who we have this week!

We are also currently holding a design team call for some new members to join the Stamp Something team for July through December. If you're interested, visit the SS blog for more info!

I've created my card using an image from Bugaboo Stamps! They have some really cute images and some really funny ones too! I opted for cute!

I've used this sweet elephant with a balloon image and colored with Copics. I CASEd the layout from Bev and her fabulous card seen HERE. I loved her layout and the use of the spiral punch. I always forget I even have that punch! I've used some My Minds Eye papers and blue card stock. I stitched the edges on the sewing machine and added buttons and hemp twine to embellish. I also finished with a ticket sentiment from Whimsy Stamps.

This card fits the challenges at:
Crafty Catz: Boys are Back
Crafty Pad: Male Cards

Thanks so much for dropping by today. Hope you have a marvelous weekend!

Happy Stamping,

Pixie DT - Sketch and Metal

Happy Wednesday All!

Boy this week is just flying on by, gotta love those 3 day weekends! Today is a new challenge over on the Pixie Cottage. We have a fun sketch to try along with the theme of metal. As always you can combine the sketch and theme or just use one or the other. And if you have a Pixie Cottage image, we'd love to see it! The Pixie Cottage now has digital images too!

I've used the sketch and the theme on my card today along with the new stamp Hannah on Stepping Stones. There are many new stamps now available at Michelle's Scrapbooking and Michelle has great service! There is also a blog candy chance going on right now and one lucky person will win the new Wedding Collection Stamps by Artish. 

I've colored Hannah with Copics and then tore the edge of my image and card stock layer. I've also sponged on some distressed ink accents. The papers are Capella from BG and I've embellished with roses, sticky pearls, ribbon, and a rose charm for the metal part of the challenge. The sentiment is from Whimsy Stamps Oval Snippet set.

This card also fits the challenges at:
Clearly I Stamp - Flowers
Fun Two Stamp - Metal Accessories
Magical Crafts - Metal

Thanks for dropping by today! Hope you have a great Wednesday and if you're up for a challenge head on over to the Pixie Cottage and join in!

Happy Stamping,