Just Us Girls - Template Challenge

Hi everyone! Happy Saturday! I'm excited to bring this template challenge to you today from Just Us Girls.Our template challenges are being sponsored by My Time Made Easy. Lauren Meader has expanded her line of Cute Critters and I have two new ones to show you that will be available on Monday, March 1. Here are the Bouncing Bunny and Cute Lil' Chick making their debut.These little critters just make me smile! :-) I used the Under Cover template as the base for these and used the SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) software and my Cricut Expression to cut them out. The pieces of the bunny and chick are cut files also cut with the Cricut using SCAL. I used copic markers to color in the face of the chick and the nose of the bunny. I sponged the edges of the critters with Close to Cocoa on the bunny and barely banana on the chick. I liked the depth of color this technique gave me. I don't know if you can see it, but I used pink chalk to highlight the bunny's ears and cheeks. I used Basic Grey papers for the bellies on both....Bittersweet on the bunny and Lemonade on the chick. I added the flowers, coordinating ribbon to hold the box together, and the cotton for the bunny's tail! And the Under Cover box is big enough to hold some really great goodies, too! Adorable, right? You should see what the JUGS DT has created! They have done some very clever things with these critters! Stop by the JUGs blog to see all of them. You can also stop by the blogs of each of the DT members. We are saying goodbye to our February Guest Designer, Iwona Palamountain, also. She has done a fabulous job with us, so please make sure you stop by her blog to give her some love.

Kristin Bueter
Pam Imholz
Alicia Weiman
Dana Gustafson
Maria Levine
Mona Pendleton
Tracey Cuccia
Iwona Palamountain (February Guest Designer)

If you'd like to play along, you can use ANY template or design of your own. Just stop by the JUGs blog to get the details! Lauren is giving away a template of your choice by a random drawing if you participate in the JUGs template challenge!

You've read about the SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) software I've used on this project. Canda, from Canda Craft, is offering a 10% discount at her store for my readers. Here's the information if you are interested in a discount:

Coupon code: JUGS315

Expiration Date: 3/15/10

Discount: 10% off ENTIRE purchase
http://www.candacraft.com

Thanks for stopping by today and for your kind comments. They are truly appreciated!

Makeup 4 the Weekend Challenge

Happy Friday everyone! I'm here with a Makeup for the Weekend challenge from Paper Makeup Stamps. This week Lisa McKinney is hosting and she chose an inspiration challenge. Look at the fantastic picture she chose for inspiration.I am a very literal person...even with sketches, so I naturally went literal with this picture and created this card.I'm not sure I like my brayering. I should have used glossy cardstock...I know that works much better, but I forgot and just used regular cardstock. I brayered Cool Caribbean ink (retired SU) using a piece of ripped paper to keep the white on the bottom. (I tried to soften the white/blue edge with more caribbean ink by using a dauber. Not sure I like that either!) I punched a 1" circle for the sun and placed that on the cardstock while I brayered the caribbean ink. Then to get the yellow, I used the negative piece from the circle punch, placed it around the opening and inked that with barely banana. I like the effect of the white around the edges. I used Friendly Flowers for the flowers/vines and the sentiment is from Birthday Cheer. The butterflies were created with a Martha Stewart punch using Basic Grey's June Bug dp. There are crystals on each butterfly and star dust stickles on the flowers. I used my new grass border punch that I just purchased on my shopping trip last weekend with my friend Cheryl. Oh, and I sewed around the edges! I'm real happy with that! LOL!!

So what do you think? I'd love to hear from you. I like the outcome. I actually made this on Monday and thought of changing it all week, but left it alone...I had more DT work to do and other things going on this week after work! No time to play around! Check out the details for this challenge on the PMS blog. You can link up your creation on Mr. Linky there for us to see!

Thanks for stopping in and I hope you have a great weekend! I know I so look forward to mine! See you tomorrow for a My Time Made Easy template challenge from Just Us Girls! You won't want to miss that!

Recipe
Stamps: Dream Big, Birthday Cheer (PMS)Paper: Neenah white, summer sun, garden green, June Bug (Basic Grey)
Ink: Barely banana, garden green, cool caribbean
SU Markers: Real red, baroque burgundy, garden green, summer sun, really rust
Accessories: MS butterfly and grass punches, 1" circle punch, crystals, star dust stickles, brayer, sewing machine

Mr. & Mrs. Whooty Love Owl

Hi all! I have something really cute to share with you today. I met with my friend Cheryl Rowley on Friday for some stamp shopping and I wanted to give her a little present (she always gives me something she's handmade...so sweet!). I knew her sister collects owls, so I decided to make two cute critters from My Time Made Easy. Here is Mr. & Mrs. Whooty Love Owl. I used the cut file from MTME called Whooty Love Owl and the Undercover template. I used my Cricut Expression and SCAL software (I'll get to that later) to cut the boxes and the all parts of the owls with the exception of the eyes and the bellies. I used the PDF files for those and traced the bellies on the Shutterfly digital paper. These were so fun to make! It was a little confusing to figure out all the pieces and the coordinating colors I was going to use, but once I got that out of the way and created the first one, the second one went together in no time! The one thing I added after I took the picture was regal rose and chocolate chip ribbon around each box. It looked so cute with the ribbon! Inside one of the boxes were some stamps I had for Cheryl. Lauren Meader has a couple on her blog that are adorable! On one, she used the Heart Stealer Raccoon cut files to create a skunk! So clever and cute!

Now I have a special offer for you. I was approached by Canda of Canda Craft to offer my readers a 10% discount on their entire purchase at her store. This is where I got my SCAL software (Sure Cuts A Lot). It's a software you load onto your computer that will work with your Cricut and any .svg files. My Time Made Easy sells all their templates and cut files in the .svg format. The SCAL and Cricut do all the cutting work for you! That's what I used when I cut out my Undercover box and the owl pieces for my project above. It's an amazing software! There are also many .svg files out there in the www (some free!) that you can download and cut (just do a google search)! The SCAL software also has many of its own shapes and such that you can use, as well. I haven't played with all the bells and whistles yet (I've only had it for about 2 months), but I've seen what it can do and I'm impressed! Lauren Meader has a tutorial here on her blog that you can view for more information.

So if you are interested, here is the information you'll need for the discount.

Coupon Code: JUGS315
Expiration Date: 3/15/10
Discount: 10% off ENTIRE purchase

http://www.candacraft.com

Long post, huh? I hope you visit Canda Craft and see if there is anything you can use with the discount! She has more items in her store that are stamping related, so take a peak! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your week!

Artful INKables Think Ink Tuesday Challenge

It's time for another Think Ink Tuesday challenge from Artful INKables. They have an interesting challenge going on...make a naughty or nice card. We just had a release and one of the new sets is called Sexy and Sweet. So I decided to use that set and make somewhat of a naughty card.So what do you think? Naughty enough? I think this cat is pretty sexy! There are a bunch of suggestive sentiments that go along with this set, but they are a little too racey for me! LOL! I felt pretty comfortable with this one!

I saw Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday sketch today and was very intrigued by it! I just had to use this sketch today. I figured out that all I had to use were five 1" strips of dp. I used SU's retired Autumn Vine (of which I have 3 packs!). These were mounted on a piece of chocolate chip cardstock and then tied with So Saffron grosgrain ribbon. This was then all mounted on a So Saffron card base.

If you'd like to enter our Naughty or Nice challenge, head on over to the Artful INKables blog to check out the details. You could win a grab bag of stamps from Artul INKables! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great week!

Recipe
Stamps: Sweet and Sexy (AI)
Paper: PTI white, chocolate chip, so saffron, Autumn Vine dp
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and rich cocoa, so saffron
Copic Markers: YR14, 23, 24; Y21; E99; B00; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, so saffron grosgrain ribbon, pearls, star dust stickles, dimensionals

Just Us Girls - A Color Challenge

Saturday...my favorite day of the week! The beginning of the weekend and time for another Just Us Girls challenge. This week is a color challenge, and Maria has a lovely one for us today.When Maria first told us her colors, she said, "ivory, chocolate, and coral with a touch of raspberry" I thought it sounded like it would make a great drink! :-) But instead of making a great drink, I made this card. I thought the colors had a sort of vintage feel, so I picked up this Crafty Secrets set called Sweet Kids. I looked through my dp and chose SU's Raspberry Tart. It had the coral and raspberry colors I needed in it. I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch and was on my way. I also used this lucious chocolate satin ribbon from SU (retired). (I don't like the way my card photographed. I don't know why I couldn't capture the colors better!)

If you want more inspiration, go to the JUGs blog. The girls really have some fabulous designs for you! You can also visit their personal blogs here:

Kristin Bueter

Pam Imholz

Alicia Weiman

Dana Gustafson

Maria Levine

Mona Pendleton

Tracey Cuccia

Iwona Palamountain (February Guest Designer)

Thanks for stopping in today. Have a great a weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Sweet Kids (Crafty Secrets), Background Basics Text Style (PTI), Inkadinkadoo sentiment

Paper: PTI vintage creme, chocolate chip, Raspberry Tart (SU)

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, chocolate chip

Copic Markers: E00, 02, 08, 11, 15, 21, 53; R0000, 20, 21, 22; RV13,14; YG0000, 91; W-3

Accessories: Nesties, pearls, satin ribbon, start dust stickles, scallop border punch, dimensionals

Makeup 4 the Weekend Challenge - Paper Makeup Stamps

Paper Makeup Stamps has a new challenge for you today and it's one of my favorites...a sketch challenge. Gabby Arriaza came up with this fabulous sketch that I have to admit gave me a few fits! I sort of had to case Gabby's card because all the layers were throwing me off! It's nice to see a sketch in action...I think it relieves some of the stress!

I chose this beautiful fairy named Rose (for the obvious reasons). (She's also available in digi format here if you like digis.) She's colored in the Color Throwdown colors of light green (river rock) and rust, and the third CTD color is burgundy...can you see it in there? The rose is a burgundy color! That is the only way I could work it into my card! I also added a burgundy flower when I took my picture! I hope that counts CTD girls!

The dp is SU's retired Apple Cider. I'm on my way to keeping my New Year's resolution of using up that old dp! It was perfect for this challenge...well, except for the burgundy! The ribbon is river rock and I swirled some river rock ink around the image, the sentiment and the white lacy piece. I'm very happy with this card. I made it a Thank You card because I need to send out a thank you to a very nice friend. The sentiment is from Everyday Thanks.

If you'd like to participate in this challenge, you can get all the information from the PMS blog. You can also post the direct link to your creation there. You don't have to use PMS stamps, but if you have them, why not? There are some great ones out there, too! Thanks for stopping in today. Have a great weekend!
Recipe
Stamps: Rose Fairy, Everyday Thanks (PMS)
Paper: PTI white, river rock, really rust, Apple Cider dp (SU)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, river rock,
Copic Markers: E00, 02, 08, 11, 15, 97; YG0000, 91, 95: RV09, 17, 19; R32; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, oval punches, MS lace punch, river rock ribbon, star dust stickles, dimensionals

Artful INKables Blog Hop and Release Day!

Hi everyone! Happy President's Day! Hope you are enjoying your day off (if you are lucky enough to have the day off)! I'm home for the whole week! I so need it!

Well, today is the Artful INKables release of three new sets and a new mini set, which is something new for AI. I'm the last stop on the hop, so you should have seen some great examples of the new sets! You should have come here from the super talented Sherry's blog. If not, head on over to the AI blog so you don't miss out on the entire hop!

I'm sharing a card using my favorite set of the new release called "Any Birdy Home?" I adore birdhouses, so when Kristin showed us the sets, I knew I had to have this one!

I couldn't decide which of the three birdhouses in this set to use because they are all so cute! I decided on this one because it fit the sketch I wanted to use! I started with this great Basic Grey paper, Marrakech, and paired it with SU's retired Good Morning Sunshine dp and Pacific Point cardstock. Such pretty colors, don't you think?

I hope you enjoyed our hop today! Now hop over to the AI store and take a look at the entire sets...it's quite a release. Something for everyone!

Thanks for stopping in and hopping with us! Have a great day!
Recipe
Stamps: Any Birdy Home? (AI)
Paper: PTI white, pacific point, Marrakech (BG) and Good Morning Sunshine (SU)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, sahara sand
Copic Markers: YG95, 97; Y17, 18, 38; B0000, 12, 16, 24; E18, 31, 35, 37, 39; W-3
Accessories: Nesties, oval punches, scallop border punch, star dust stickles, dimensionals