Fall Friends

Good morning 🙂   Yesterday was so cold and windy here, but I guess I shouldn’t complain, as some communities to the west of us got snow….and lots of it!!  I guess winter comes, but the drivers – that’s what I dread the most 🙁  But for now, I’m going to enjoy fall, and the beautiful colors, like I have here on this card.  I used Autumn Joy from The Paper Shelter for it.  I just love the look on the boy’s face 🙂  I colored the image with my Prismacolor pencils, then cut it out with an unbranded stitched rectangle die.  I had just the scrap of paper for the background, as the leaves in the DP and the leaves in the picture coordinated perfectly.  I cut a few strips for the top layer, and then die cut the 3 layered banners with a die (from – I can’t remember).  To add just a bit more Fall fun to the card, I punched out some colorful leaves with a Fiskars corner punch 🙂

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations – #281 ATG

Fab n’ Funky Challenge – #364 Fall Colors

The Paper Shelter Challenge – #311 – Colours of Autumn/Fall

Crafty Catz – #386 ATG with an optional twist, use blue green and brown…guess there’s a bit of all of those colors in this card…

Jo’s Scrap Shack Fun-day Friday – #208 ATG

Eyes

Hi there 🙂  It must be a Saturday afternoon, shortly before the close of an Aurora Wings challenge??? Here I am, with my last minute entry 🙂  I’ve been working on it, here and there, for a while, but finally had the time today to get everything to “gel” properly on paper 🙂  This time, the challenge theme is “Crop It”….which I thought was so cool.  I used the image Elven Princess.  Her eyes are so mesmerizing, that they had to be the focal point!! The gorgeous flowers at the bottom of the image were perfect for a border for this card, as well!  I colored the relevant parts of the image with SN and Copic markers, then fussy cut the flowers out.   I found a sentiment that seemed to fit the whole feel of the card perfectly, and printed it out on the top layer, then placed the flowers under it.  I used a curvy cutter….from Creative Memories, to cut the curved pieces that allow the eyes to show through, then, after placing the pieces, edged them in small adhesive rhinestones. I added a few more rhinestones, and matted the whole thing in a pale blue…..then called it finished – just in time 😉

I’d like to enter this into:

Aurora Wings Challenge – #57 Crop It

Through the Craft Room Door – Week of Sept. 26 – Oct. 2

The Sketchy Challenges – #127 ATG

Morgan’s ArtWorld – #19 ATG

Polkadoodles Crafting Challenge – Weeks 38/39

 

Thumbelina

Good morning everyone 🙂  Well, it’s back to work for me today, after a very nice week off 🙂  I made this card, after being inpsired by the Ching-Chou Kuik Facebook group‘s challenge, of Once Upon A Time.  I thought “Thumbelina”, as soon as I looked at this sweet image, Garden Daisy Fairy, by Ching-Chou Kuik. I colored her up with my SN markers, keeping to an autumnal color scheme, then cut the image out with a stiched die (unbranded).  I searched through my papers, to find a pattern that was a bit reminiscent of an old book, and found this one….I don’t know why it reminded me of a book, but it works 🙂  Then I got the brilliant idea (yes, that was sarcastic) to do some inlaid die cut corners (Cheery Lynn corner die) out of some metallic CS.  Ugh!!! Those pieces are so so so tiny, I was really giving myself heck for that bright idea by the end of it!!  The flowers are from my “scavenged” bin….ones that I’ve picked off of other items or silk flowers that I’ve dismantled.  I stacked the fluffy one, and gave it a brown brad centre, then stacked the other ones….and couldn’t find an appropriate centre.  I have some old brads, they are white fabric, with black letters on them….of course there are no “good” letters left, so I grabbed some of them, and colored some of them with a dark brown marker.  The letter still showed through, though, so I dabbed them in embossing ink, then dipped them in some Distress embossing powder, and TaDa….they even have some texture 🙂  I die cut some leaves (unbranded die) and tucked a few blue sprigs around the flowers, to finish the front of the card.  This card seemed to be the perfect opportunity to try a fold that I’ve never done before, but have been eyeing up.

This book fold 🙂  It was a bit “math-y” for me, but not so much so that it will put me off doing it again.  I printed off the once upon a time, and a fairytale birthday sentiment on some parchment printed paper, and cut them out with some of the stitched dies….for the “pages”, then added the last few flowers and leaves I had…..these flower centers are flat, but I did the same thing with the embossing 🙂  I was very happy with the result of this card 🙂  Hope you like!!

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Get Creative Challenge – #62 Autumn/Fall

Crafty Gals Corner – #141 Fancy Fold

Classic DT Open Challenge – September ATG

Delicious Doodles Challenge – September – Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden

Simon Wednesday Challenge – Pop It Up

Autumn Dreamer

Hi there 🙂  I’m really on a fall roll, card wise, here.  Must be the weather outside 😉  I’ve used the image Golden Fall, by Ching-Chou Kuik, for this card.  I colored her up with my SN markers, then did the background sky with my Prismacolor pencils.  I dug through A LOT of paper, before I found the subtle orange print for the background, and then…lo and behold, some lace paper, that I just HAD to have….about 4 years ago, lol.  A bit of green CS was also tucked in.  I wrapped a circle die cut with some eyelash yarn, then took the same yarn to make a strip along the bottom, and under the wooden pumpkin embellishment, that’s been floating around in my craft room for an infinity or two.

I’d like to enter this in:

Ching-Chou Kuik Inspiration and Challenge Blog – Fall/Fall Colors/Pumpkins

Creative Inspirations – #280 Seasonal!

Morgan’s ArtWorld – #19 ATG

Through the Craft Room Door – Week of Sept. 19 – 26th

Color Crazy Challenge – Week 38 ATG

 

Hedgehog Thanks

Good morning 🙂  It’s the first day of fall here, and also the first day of a new ATG challenge at Creative Fingers. We have the fabulous Lemon Shortbread as a sponsor this time 🙂

There are so many adorable images in the shop, but I decided to go seasonal, and use an image that I’d won a while back, called Hedgehog Leaves. I colored this cutie up with my SN and Copic markers.  I forgot how much fun fall leaves are to color!!  After cutting the image out, I began assembling the card, following this sketch, from Creative Sketchy Girls:

What a fabulous sketch, with so many possibilities!!  My leaf print background paper is a scrap that I’ve had for a very long time, and was just the right size for this card, I dug in the scrap bin for a dark brown piece, and inked the edges with some Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  A small piece of burlap finished off the layers.  I cut the “thanks” with an unbranded die, from another scrap of brown paper.  A few leaf brads were added, just because they looked good, and were feeling neglected lol.

I’d also like to enter this into the following challenges:

Mod Squad Challenge – Leaves

Creatalicious Challenges – #123 ATG with optional twist of Leaves

Lemon Shortbread Challenges – #50 ATG

Pixie’s Snippets Playground – Week 299 & 300 ATG with snippets

The Crafty Addicts – #40 ATG/use a brad or button

Floral Congrats

Hi there 🙂  The card I have here is very unusual for me, as it doesn’t have a colored image, but I’m loving it!! I played with some of my other obsessions in the quest to accumulate enough craft supplies and tools to last for the next millenia….dies and flowers 🙂  For the background, I used a Tim Holtz die, and placed the cut out piece over a light blue CS background sheet.  The sentiment is from Tattered Lace, and is cut from some silver mirri card.  I’ve been really stocking up on flowers, and then tending to hoard them, rather than use them, but here, these flowers fit the bill perfectly.  I die cut the lacy leaves with a Tonic Studio die.  To balance out the shine of the sentiment, I used my last little silver baubles from Recollections.  I love these embellishments, they came in sheets with a generous amount of 3 different sizes, and the silver and gold ones had such a nice metallic shine…..and of course they were discontinued 🙁  Isn’t that the way it always happens??

I’d like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Fab N’ Funky Challenge – #363 Floral Embellishments

Cupcake Inspirations – #423 Floral

Dies R Us Challenge – #81 Fancy Corners

 

Steampunk Anniversary

Good morning 🙂  Today is the anniversary of a special couple, whom I’m proud to call good friends.  I wanted to make a steampunky card for them, so went on a search for an appropriate image to use…and found this one..Steampunk Heart…at the Delicious Doodles by Teri Sherman shop 🙂 Perfect!!!  I colored the image with the Copic markers that I’ve managed to aquire (it’s going to be a sloooowww process, but they can be used with my SN, thank God).  I didn’t know what to do after that, so took inspiration from this sketch at The Sketchy Challenges:

I love that part of this sketch is to challenge you to try a medium that you’ve never tried.  It’s so easy to get into a rut, that it’s great to get a kick in the pants like this every once in awhile.  I cracked my sticky embossing powder earlier this week (it’s been sitting on a shelf for YEARS, unopened), and it was so cool the last time, I decided to try another medium with it….foil.  Now, I’m talking about a roll of foil that has been sitting for about 7 years, because the glue that came with the kit was dried out, lol.  So I used a Stampin’ Up stamp and got to work on a patterned paper from Steampunk Botanicals paper pad from Recollections …..I was quite pleased with how it turned out 🙂  Since it seemed that I was diving into some long forgotton/neglected items in my stash, it’s no surprise that I found the black cut-out ribbon at the bottom of the bin…. A black sentiment was done with (yup, old) alpha stickers, and I added some screw head brads to finish this off after popping the heart up with some foam dots.

I’d also like to enter this in the following challenges:

Simon Monday Challenge – Shimmer and Shine

As You Like It Challenge – Favorite Paper Pad..Steampunk Botanicals…why?? I have a hard time with Steampunk designs, so this gives me a good base, as well, there are so many designs that can be used in other genre cards.

Artistic Inspirations – #186 ATG

The Crafty Addicts – #40 ATG/use a brad or button

Happiness Is….

I’m on a bit of a roll here…getting things done and blogged (Housework does NOT count when your on vacation!!!).  This little sweetie is from Molly Harrison.  After coloring the image up with my SN markers, I went about adding a ton of bubbles for the background.  Love the effect, but about half way though, I was wishing I’d taken it a bit easier when I’d started, lol.  I thought this image was perfect for a wine bottle tag.  I kept the design fairly simple, with some bling and a perfect little sentiment.  It’s nice to have a few of these on hand for last minute gifts 🙂

I’d like to enter this in the following:

Kitty Bee’s Aloha Friday Challenge – #103 Fairytale/Fantasy

Tuesday Throwdown – #361 Fantasy

The Paper Shelter -#310 Make it Digital

A Snowflake’s Promise – #44 ATG

Crafting With an Attitude – #31 ATG

Bewitching

Hi there!! It’s hard to believe that another week has gone by, and we are already officially into autumn!! It also brings us to a new challenge over at C.R.A.F.T.  Our theme this time is Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving….a broad selection for all your fall makes 🙂  We have the very talented Nikki Burnette as our sponsor this time 🙂

I colored the beautiful image, Taryn, up with my SN markers, having a lot of fun making the background with the glowing moon 🙂  For the background, I embossed a piece of dark blue CS, after inking the embossing folder with black ink to give the pattern some definition.  I added some birch tree die cuts, in black, for a bit “extra”.  Everything is matted in a green, and I used some orange sparkly alpha stickers that I had in my stash (and amazingly had the right letters for!), for the sentiment.  A few sparkly bats finished this bewitching card off 🙂

I would like to join the following with this card:

Crafty Catz – #384 Halloween

Classic Design Team Open Challenge – #17 ATG

World Wide Open DT Challenge – #26 ATG

Get Creative Challenges – #62 Autumn/Fall

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – #66 ATG

Sunflower Celebration

Good morning 🙂  Even the calendar is now saying that fall is soon settling in, so I guess instead of grumbling about the colder weather, I should be looking forward to all the great things that this time of year has to bring.  Pumpkin…everything!! Yum 🙂  And cozy sweaters, pretty leaves, no more bugs!!

I’ve always thought that sunflowers were one of the first indicators of fall.  Even though they bloom much sooner in the year, they really seem to shine when the colder weather comes around.  I’ve made this sunny fall card as my inspiration piece for the new challenge at the Sheepski Designs Facebook group.  Of course, the beautiful image is from the Sheepski Designs shop, and is aptly named Sunflowers 🙂  If you wish to purchase this image, or any of the other beautiful ones at Andrea’s shop, please feel free to use this discount code:

SKISUSAN10

I colored the flowers up with my SN markers, and lightly inked the edges with Distress Inks.  With such a bold image, I wanted to keep the embellishments and design to a minimum, so used a simple wood patterned background paper (yay Dollar Store!), some burlap ribbon (yay again Dollar Store!!), and a CTMH stamped sentiment.

I’d like to enter this card in the following:

Allsorts Challenge – Week 433 – Feels Like Autumn

Hiding In My Craft Room – #318 It’s Fall Y’all!

As You Like It Challenge – Flora or Fauna – Flora, for cards, and apparently, this year its Sunflowers in particular!!

Digi Choosday Challenge – Week 38 ATG

The Ribbon Girl – September, Use Any Image Challenge