CYP Challenge 101 - Easel Card

Hello, Friends and Happy Monday. Wow, what a nice weekend it was here. We enjoyed warm sunny spring weather all weekend and loved it. Most of the snow has now melted; believe it or not we still have some snow on the ground mostly around the pond. A majority of the wild Mallards and Wood Ducks are beginning to fly back north and we are seeing some of our fair weather birds return to the ranch. That is a good sign and always means the seasons are changing. I got a few photos of a Black-billed Magpie busy gathering brush, twigs and stray duck feathers around the pond and a Tree Swallow searching for nesting areas. And our ducks, French Rouen Clairs, did some pond diving today which means the water is warming up. I got some video of them while they were swimming. But I’ll have to work on dubbing the sound because I can’t go in the pond area without my African Geese honking and hollering and talking to me cause they think I’m going to feed them. They are so spoiled.

I spent some time searching the web for horses this weekend as well. My hubby wants a Gypsy Vanner so I am in the market as it were. There are lots out there, I just have to do my due diligence and find the right one for us. Ok, so enough of the home and family life thing. I only write these passages for my loved ones who want to know what we’re up to on the ranch.

"Challenge 101 at Craft Your Passion"

Our new challenge is up at CraftYour Passion and this week our theme is “Easel Card.” Our lovely sponsor this week is The Paper Shelter. I just love their awesome digi stamps. So get out those supplies, join us for the fun and build an Easel Card for a chance to win a prize. Oh, and don’t forget to stop and check out the lovely Design Team creations too.

For my card I used the adorable “Let’s make a Picnic” digi for my focal image. She was so fun to color.

I also want to share my draft image that I colored in  grays to show you how I kept my focus on my light source.

I don’t always color a draft image but sometimes I tend to forget about my light source when I’m coloring especially when the image has a lot of detail. So I colored a draft using my cool gray Copics as there’s a lot of elements in this image. I got the idea from Zoe at Make It Crafty. She is an awesome artist and I adore her work. She publishes some wonderful ideas and helpful hints on her blog and in Magnolia Ink Magazine. So drop over and check out this talented lady's artwork.

Supplies Used:

DPs and Cardstock: BoBunny and Bazzill

Dies: Memory Box, Magnolia, Spellbinders

Stamps: Paper Shelter, Hero Arts

Flowers, Trim & Twine: WOC

These are the Copics I used to color my image.

I’m entering this card in the following Challenges:

Make It Monday – Anything Goes
Dies to Die For - Anything Goes
The Paper Shelter - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by. Come back tomorrow as I’ll have a new project to share with you and I’m announcing my candy winner from last Tuesday’s post.

Hugz,

I Brake for Easter Baskets

Hi, everyone. Tuesdays will be never be the same for my blog. That’s because I have joined I Brake for Stamps Design Team as of last week. So I will be posting a weekly project with awesome products from the store here as well as projects for our monthly challenge blog here. So with that, my first project is for our Challenge that officially begins tomorrow. Our theme this month is Easter.

I created a cute little mini Easter basket. These make great favors for friends or your children’s friends. My basket is a simple angled box frame. You can download my template here. I used strips of cardstock to make a weave pattern design for the box exterior. For the handle I used an EK Success punch and added some pink grosgrain ribbon. I would suggest using brads to attach your handle for a strong hold if you plan are filling it with Easter goodies. I adhered mine with ScorTape.

I used a Magnolia die cut for the tag and stamped my sweet “Bunny Tail End” image and colored him with Copics. Isn't he adorable? I distressed the edges around my tag with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink. Finally, I took the scraps of cardstock I used for my weave paper and ran it through my Fiskars Crimper then shredded it with my Martha Stewart Fringe scissors to make the basket grass.

These are the Copics I used to color my image.

I’m entering this project in Make It Monday – Anything Goes Linky Party.

OK…now I know you’ve been waiting for the most exciting part of this post and that is Candy time. What’s your favorite childhood Easter Holiday memory? Leave me a comment and I will put your name in a hat and let my hubby draw a winner next week. I’ll announce the winner before my next post on Tuesday. You will have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the I Brake for Stamps store.

And don’t forget…you can save 10% at I Brake for Stamps just by using my coupon code SAVE10CATHY.

Thanks for letting me share my project with you today and have a wonderful week.

Hugz,

Craft Your Passion Challenge 100

Hello, Friends and Happy Monday. This weekend was pretty quiet around here. I did get a taste of Spring weather with the temps rising toward the 60s today. But I’m not holding my breath because March is our snowiest month. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I spent a lot of time in my craft room this weekend working on some projects and getting ready for some Happy Easter fun. Stop over tomorrow as I am going to post CANDY on my blog.

Our new challenge is up at Craft Your Passion and this week our theme is “Anything Goes” in celebration of our 100th Challenge. That is the easiest challenge ever so come join us with a project for a chance to win some great prizes. We have 8 sponsors this week which is so awesome. So head over to CYP and checkout the lovely Design Team creations and we also have some special guests joining us for the celebration.

For my project I created a corner bookmark for my granddaughter. My image is Hootie Pie Clown from Pink Cat Studio which is one of our sponsors this week. He’s so whimsically cute and I know Isabel will love it. I’m also sending her a Smash book that I made for her; it’s very girly.

All of the elements I used for this card where from my  scrap stash. I did not open one package of new product for this one.

These are the Copics I used to color Hootie.

I’m entering this project in Make It Monday – Anything Goes Linky Party.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back tomorrow as I have a new project to share with you and a chance to win some Candy.

Hugz,

I Brake for Stamps DT Announcement

Hello, Friends. I have some awesome news to share with you! I’ve accepted a new Design Team position with “I Brake for Stamps.” WooHoo!!! I can’t wait to share my weekly projects with you. I have so many ideas already and I hope I can inspire you. I will be posting on the Store Blog here every Tuesday and the Monthly Challenge Blog here. And don't forget to check out my talented Design Team sisters' blogs from these sites too. They are totally inspiring.

Of course all of my posts will also be available on my blog, Cathy’s Creative Place. The only difference is I tend throw in a little about my everyday ranch life here in Colorado because my family members read my blog. J We're spread across the Midwest so we don't see each other very often. Although there's lots of texting and Facebook activity going on between us. OK, so here I am rambling again…LOL

I gotta tell ya a little about I Brake for Stamps store. It is so awesome, filled with over 3000 stamps. There’s something that caters to everyone’s taste. They also carry Wild Orchid Crafts flowers; I just loooove these. And you can use my coupon code “SAVE10CATHY” for 10% off any order. Is that cool or what!?!

My badge is on the side bar with a link to the store and you can use my coupon as often as you like.

OK…that’s it for me today. I just wanted to make the announcement so come visit me next Tuesday. I am planning to give away some CANDY in celebration of my new DT assignment.

Hugz,

My Paper Pieced Cowboy

Hello, Friends and Happy Monday. I hope you had a great weekend. Our weather this week was so extreme!!! I mean really, really, really extreme. We had 70 degree temps with high winds and 7 inches of snow within 24 hours. So, the saying goes here in Colorado…I’ve said this before…If you don’t like the weather, wait a few hours. And of course with the temps and spring like conditions comes the spring heat. OMG, my ducks are courting already and the birds are inspecting all of the bird houses around the ranch. OK, so enough of that…

Our new challenge is up at Craft Your Passion and this week our theme is “Paper Piecing.” This is such a fun technique, if you’ve never tried it, you gotta cuz it is so fun. OK, I'll say it again, it's so FUN!  Our sponsor this week is AiFactory and I am using “Cowboy” for my card. Very typical for me since I’m a ranch livin’ and lovin’ cowgirl myself. And you gotta check out my DT girlfriends' projects too cuz they are awesome.

I used some digital papers for my Cowboy’s hat, vest, boots, plaid shirt and bandana for the paper piecing. I used Copics to color the remainder of my image’s skin, hair and Cowboy’s chaps and belt.

I also wanted to enhance the scene so I used my Mini Magnolia Butterfly Scene stamp as the background. The wheat paper was heat embossed with Seafoam embossing powder from Ranger on Bazzill cardstock using a Hero Arts stamp.

I added some dimensional elements of punched stars and jute twine for the card and finished it off with some gold stickles for the stars on my image’s chaps and hat as well as Copic Silver Spica for his belt buckle.

I used so many Copics for this image especially the background that I didn’t take a photo of the colors. Sorry, but the rubber band broke and that was all she wrote. Time to skip that part…LOL. I hope you will join in the fun for this Challenge cuz you are gonna love it.

I’m entering this card in the following challenges.

Make It Monday – Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by. See ya next time...

Hugz,

My Cute Kitten

Hello, Friends. Our new challenge is up over at Craft Your Passion and this week our theme is a Recipe of “1 Ribbon or Twine, 2 Design Papers and 3 or more Buttons.” That’s pretty easy right?

 

My card features “My Cute Kitten” digi from Delicious Doodles, our sponsor this week. I had fun coloring the kitten as an American Tabby. She looks so cute.

My DPs are from PTI and the cardstock is Bazzill. I used my Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace border and the circle and scallop dies are from Spellbinders.

My yellow flowers are Prima; the purple flower was made with my Nellie Snellen punch and emboss tools from my cardstock. I added buttons from my stash to the middle of each flower and adhered them over satin ribbon. My “love” sentiment is a rub-on from Doodle Bug Designs.

I decorated the inside with similar elements and tools from the front and left a blank space for a personal message.

These are the Copics I used to color my little girl and her kitten.

I’m entering this card in the following challenges.

Make It Monday – Anything Goes

I Brake for Challenges – I Brake for Love

Crafts and Me – Use a New Image

Have a great week and I’ll see ya soon…

Hugz,

My Little Prince

Hello, Friends and Happy Monday. I hope you all had a great weekend. I spent most of it in bed with a back injury. So I did a lot of reading and watched the Super Bowl. I guess it was fitting since we had 2 feet of snow from our last storm so I couldn’t go anywhere anyway. It started Thursday evening and finally let up just before noon on Saturday.

Our new challenge is up at Craft Your Passion and this week our theme is Anything Goes with “No Pattern Paper.” But you can make your own pattern paper designs using stamps, dry and heat embossing, markers, doodling, etc. One of our sponsors this week is Doodle Pantry and I am using one of their digis called “Little Frog” for my card.

Did you know that there are literally around 5000 frog species in the world? That’s a lot of frogs. Too bad they aren’t all princes…LOL

I chose a couple of Hero Arts stamps for my background paper using a watermark technique just randomly stamping with Versamark ink. I colored my image with Copics, added a Spring Border die cut from Memory box and scrap ribbon from my stash.

I also heat embossed the butterfly stamp using blue powder on the blue cardstock and orange powder on orange cardstock. Then I cut them out and adhered them to the card bending the wings for a 3D effect. This would make a great card for a little boy.

These are the Copics I used to color my sweet little frog image.


I’m entering this card in the following challenges.

Make It Monday – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp – Animal Antics

Crafty Ribbons Challenge – Men or Boys

Thanks for stopping by. See ya next time...

Hugz,