The Pixie Cottage Challenge #73 - Sketch and/or Shape It Up

It's another Once Upon a Wednesday at The Pixie Cottage and this week we have the theme of "Shape It Up" where we want to see your shaped cards. We also have a wonderful sketch if you want to use it.

Challenges:
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Bearly Mine - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything Goes or Your Favorite...
Crafts and Me - Stamp Something
Scrapbook Sisters - An English Country Garden
Diva's by Design - Florals (2 entries only)
Speedy the Cats Friends - 3D Flower
Happileigh Scrappin - Flowers and Stitching
Basic Grey - Shabby Chic
Card Cupids - 3 or More Layers
One Stop Craft - Texture
Delicious Doodles - Texture
My Mum's Craft Shop - Punch It
Your Next Stamp - Shaped Cards
Card Creations by C - Shaped Cards
Little Claire's - Shaped Cards

Card Recipe:
Image - Hannah at a Fence
Medium - Copic Markers
Paper - Basic Grey Curio
Doily Die - French Pastry by Cheery Lynn Designs
Border Punch - Martha Stewart Garden Trellis
Flowers - Wild Orchid Crafts, Prima and Love Letter Roses
Pearls - The Paper Studio
Sentiment - Heidi Grace
Lace - Wrights

I did this card pretty much freehand, just hoping it worked out as I went along! I started with a 6" square base from which I used a lid from one of my ribbon jars to cut a semi circle into the top leaving and uncut piece for the fold to hold the card together. Then I picked out a border punch, trimmed the base to the right depth and punched. Then I cut out a whole circle, edged it with lace, add the the patterned paper and then completed like a regular card. What I like is that I can make an envelope for a 6" square on my Scor-Pal and mail it easily!
I really enjoyed making something a little different and I hope you will spend time and show us your shaped cards over at The Pixie Cottage this week

It's Snowing! (Challenges that is!)

Happy Saturday,
This is one of those rare cards that I did just because I wanted to and not because of a Design Team commitment.
I love using my Magnolia stamps and there were a few challenges (19!) this week that just led me towards a new card with sweet Tilda as the star.

Everybody Art wanted Snowflakes
Stamp With Fun also wanted Snowflakes
Roses On Paper wanted Winter
Three Clovers also wanted Winter
Fussy and Fancy wanted Winter too
Stampin B's had a Winter Fun theme and I think the "punny" title makes this card a little fun :)
Stamp Something had a color combo of Blue and White
Basic Grey had a photo inspiration of a beautiful shades of blue room
Die Cuts R Us wanted you to use your Holiday Leftovers
Jacksonbelle wanted Bling!
Practical Scrappers wanted Bling too
Belli wanted Bling as well
Humblepie wanted 2 types of Bling and I used rhinestones and pearls.
Papertake had a great sketch
Tuesday Morning Sketches wanted to see Buttons and Bows
Creative Card Crew wanted to see Distressing
Creative Inspirations Callenge also wanted to see Distressing
Flutterby Wednesdays had an open theme as long as it is a Fairy, Butterfly or Angel
Stamping Vacation had a new Pick 3 challenge. I chose : An image with Wings, At least 1 gem or crystal, Any color you might see in the sky



I chose the super sweet "Love Tilda" but instead of traditional Valentines colors I chose a wintery color scheme to go with the themes from the challenges. I'm sorry I couldn't link her but my regular Magnolia sources don't seem to have her but she's from the Spring 2008 collection.
I colored her with Copic's and added a touch of silver Prismacolor to her wings and shoes.
I used scraps from both the Fruitcake and Eskimo Kisses collections by Basic Grey.
The snowflakes are Emagination punches, punched from American Crafts metallic cardstock. The ribbon is from Michaels and I printed out the sentiment in the Garamouche font.
All the panels are inked with Chalk Ink and the Rhinestones are Michaels $1 spot and the Pearls are Queen and Co.

The inside is more dp and a distressed message mat (that sounds funny!)

Here is a close up of Tilda in her Love sweater.

I hope you enjoyed this card as much as I did making it.
Be sure to come back next week for lots of new cards.
Katie

Happy Birthday - New Card for My Grafico

Happy Wednesday!
This week at My Grafico we got to work with a fabulous set called Arabian Paradise

PaperPlay had a theme of Parlez Vous, any langugage but English on your cards so I used the French for Happy Birthday
Paper Cutz wanted to see Stars
Copic Creations wanted to see Red Hair
Crafty Cardmakers wanted to see you "Stamp Something" whether it was rubber or digital
Digi Kitty wanted to see a Frame
The Pink Elephant had a color challenge of Brown, Yellow, Neutral and a color of your choice.
2 Red Bananas also had a color combo of Red, Orange, Yellow and Brown and you had to use 3 of them.
365 Cards Day 247 had an AD inspiration photo
Basic Grey Challenges also had a photo inspiration



I realized now I've added the photo that the color combo's didn't include green but I hope they'll still let me in!LOL
I used the fabulous "Scarlets Letter" dp from Basic Grey which I thought was a little Arabian in theme and worked well with the image. I printed the dancer on Kraft paper to give a coordinating look with the dp. The "Happy Birthday" title is in French as I thought the dancer looked a little Moroccan and they speak French (as well as Arabic) in Morocco. I used a new border punch from Martha Stewart called Eyelet Lace and I love the delicate look it gives.
The butterflies are from a set I bought last Christmas in England.


The dp inside was slit to allow the message mat to slip in.



So run over to My Grafico to see the sketch and give it a go yourself!
Katie

A Sneak Peak of a new Pixie Cottage Winter Stamp

Happy Saturday!
I'm all of a tizzy today not because of my new card but because I get to go to a Copic class this afternoon!! I've been "playing" with my markers since February this year but have been mainly self taught apart from video's I found on You Tube!
But my local scrapbook store is holding a set of 3 classes and the 1st is this afternoon! So hopefully you'll see a little better coloring soon! Hee Hee!

Now on to the card :) This is a sneak peak of a fabulous new stamp coming from Alisa Ramirez for The Pixie Cottage. This fabulous little reindeer is called Rudolph and he'll be available for preorder really soon!
I chose a few challenges to help me with this card.
Basic Grey Challenges had a color combo of Blue, Green and Red (and use one of their products) so I chose papers from the brand new Eskimo Kisses collection.
Christmas Stampin had a Tag challenge so I placed the cute image on a tag on the card.
2 Red Banana's gave me the sketch
La La Lands wanted to see some Sparkle
Whimsy Stamps wanted to see the "Emboss-abilites" and Treehouse Stamps wanted embossing too
Gingersnaps GC26 wanted to see Brads

I used dp from the Eskimo Kisses collection with coordinating brads and Ornaments from the Chip Stickers selection.
The sentiment is from 7 Gypsies.
I made the mat for the image into a tag and embossed the Coredinations cardstock with an embossing folder all the way from the UK that you can find at The Craft Barn, they have super quick shipping as well. I then sanded it so the flowers would stand out and I hope you think they look a little "snowflaky" like I did! LOL
The border punch is Valentines Lace from Martha Stewart.

The inside is more of the super Eskimo Kisses dp and a message mat with coordinating ribbon.

I added Diamond Stickles to his hat and topped that with Art Institute Ultra Fine glitter in Crystal for extra sparkle!
So I hope he's put you in a Holiday creating mood as it's getting closer and closer to Christmas you know! Hee Hee!
Katie

Freebie Friday At Digital Delights!

Happy Friday,
Wow, another week is almost at it's end but luckily that means that it's time for another freebie over at Digital Delights!
This week it's another super cute Halloween image, this time of Billy and he's dressed as a Devil and he's riding a spider! LOL


I got a sneak peek of him a couple of day ago and had to get working on a card right away as he was too cute for words!
I used the fantastic sketch from Basic Grey Challenges and it gave me an excuse to raid my stash to complete it.
Also Simon Says Stamp had a Halloween theme and so did Cuttlebug Challenge (also a little tip, Wendy is sponsoring this challenge so you could get even more of her wonderful images if you win!)
Dare U2 Digi had the color combo of Yellow, Orange, Black and White and I think he fit's for this challenge too!

Now I'm not saying I'm a hoarder but the black dp and letters are from "Aged and Confused - Vagabond" which was one of Basic Grey's first releases! I have so little of it left but, you know, it has to be used eventually.
The colors are a little different from the regular Halloween color scheme but I think they worked well enough.
The circle accents are from Martha Stewart from last year at Michaels and the orange "pearls" are also Martha Stewart this time from her collection at Walmart.

The inside is a little more of the dp and a message mat.

Isn't Billy a cutie?

So run on over to Digital Delights! right now and grab yourself the freebie while it's there! And I'm love to see what you can do with him so be sure to come back and link to let me see!
Katie

JOY - New Ornament Card for Lily Boo

Happy Tuesday!
You remember the sneak peek I gave you on Sunday?
Well here is the whole card!

This super new set of images can now be found at Lily Boo's Boutique and they are a must for your upcoming Christmas cards and profects.
There are 6 super ornaments in the set, all waiting for you to color!

I used the fabulous sketch at Friday Sketchers for the layout of this card and it was wonderful to work with!
I also included the challenge from Ooh La La which was use 3 different shapes, well I used a rectangle, a circle and the card is a square!
and Artful Inkables wanted Something that Sparkles
and Creative Inspirations Challenge had the theme of Christmas in October



I colored the bauble(as we call them back home in England)with Copic's and add a few touches of Diamond Stickles for some Christmas Sparkle!
The papers are all Basic Grey, some of my favorites for Christmas.
The sentiment is made with letters matching the Basic Grey papers.
The pearls are Recollections by Michaels.



The inside is more dp and a message mat for a special greeting.



So run on over to Lily Boo's Boutique and grab yourself a set right now!
Katie

Waiting for Santa (and non traditional colors again)

Hi Everyone!
It's another rain cooled North Texas morning and I couldn't be happier! LOL
It's also another Christmas card for you to see today and again I used a non traditional color combination.
One thing I also added to the card today was one of my original poems.
I've been writing poems since I was a child and I even have an old newspaper clipping of one I had published in a local paper! LOL
When I started scrapbooking I was like many other people and was hestitant in my journaling so I went back to telling the story with a poem. They are a little "Hallmark" in style but of course now I'm making cards I'm finding them to be perfect. In fact I'm looking to release a collection of them on a CD on eBay so that other people can have them for their cards too.
Today's card works for 7 challenges.

Cute Card Thursday was the Christmas in July theme
Mojo Monday gave me the sketch
The Pink Elephant wanted Animals
My Grafico had the color combo of Teal and Brown
and
A Different Challenge A Week had that same combo
Creative Inspirations wanted real or faux stitching so I added silver faux stitches to the mat and the quilt and also inside
and finally
Dutch Dare wanted cutting dies and/or punches and I used a punch for the mat on the sentiment.



This little bear was again from the Cuddly Buddly Teddy Bear's Home collection. The dp is Basic Grey Dasher and I colored the red and green circles brown with my Copic's to match the color theme. The ribbon is Offray and the rhinestones are Michaels $1 spot, I love the new colors they have right now.



The inside is more dp with a circluar journaling spot that I added more faux stitching too with a silver Prismacolor marker. The poem is my own as I said above.
I hope you're enjoying my week of Holiday cards and maybe the different color combo's will give you some inspiration to think outside the box this year, I know it made me! LOL
Katie

Just Magnolia Challenge (oh and 4 others with this one too!)

Happy Hump Day everyone!
My plans this morning were to share a card and that I will do.
But I first want to say WOO HOO!!! my 4th of the July card that I blogged about here was the one chosen at random to be on the home page of the Magnolia-licious Yahoo group for the whole month of July! Not bad for a British import . I want to thank everyone that has sent me messages of congrats, I love all the ladies at that wonderful group, so full of talent!
Anyway, back to todays' card.
This is a 5-in-1 (I must be slacking after last weeks 8-in-1 LOL) and I will admit to manipulating the sketch a little to make it fit.
The challenges are:
Just Magnolia - Sketch
Pile it On - Add 4 or more buttons (I sure managed that :))
Charisma Cardz - Anything goes
Use It! - Nature (I chose the flowers), Polka Dots and Favorite Embellishment (buttons, flowers and punches for me)
The Pink Elephant - Favorite color combo challenge, I love pink and brown so that's how it went.



I chose Tilda with Tag from Magnolia-licious as I think she always looks good in softer colors.
The dp is Basic Grey Sultry and the flowers are Prima.
I layered two of the new EK Success border punches that I got from Michaels and embossed the top the punched border with a Cuttlebug border folder.




I love the bold pattern of this paper so much that I wanted to showcase it inside so I just added a simple space for a sentiment so you can see the lovely flowers.
I hope you like her and be sure to come back tomorrow for my card using this weeks sketch at Friday Sketchers.
Katie

Another digi stamp and The Next Level Challenge

Another warm day in North Texas, it's not hit 100 yet but it will soon, I'm sure of that :)
You know how I did 6 challenges in 1 card yesterday? well today's card only fills 1 challenge and it took me all of yesterday morning to complete (and I must admit I added a final touch just a few moments before photographing! LOL)
There is a fantastic new blog called The Next Level and this week they have a sketch that I just had to do;)
It is a blog I shall be going back and back to as it is like a magazine with all the tutorials, ideas and challenges.



I loved how the sketch had a curve and a pocket and a tag, so many things to play with!
I used a new digital stamp called Daisy May that I bought from Cute Daisy May Digi Stamps and her childish innocence really appealed to me. I colored her with a mixture of Copic's and Promarkers.
The dp on the front layer is Basic Grey and the back is DCVW. The ribbon is Offray and the fabric brads are Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby. I added a sentiment to the tag and to the inside, both are from Marcella by K "Eilza" from Target. I added a punched border to the inside of the pocket using the Threading Water punch by Fiskars.




The inside is pretty standard but I added silver borders (I love my silver Prismacolor marker!) and an additional sentiment to the message block.



I wanted to show you the tag as I think it turned out cute :) I added a tiny message block for a special touch.
Anyway I hope you like her.
Have a Happy Thursday!
Katie

A Little Something for the Man in your life :)

Over at Three Clovers Kerry posted a challenge that we all need to do more of...make manly cards! I know how easy it is to get out the cute girly stamps and make sweet cards but we must not forget the men in our lives:)



I happened across this lighthouse stamp in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby and just had to have it. I knew it needed to be subtley colored and so I used my Bruynzeel pencils and OMS this time. I'm a huge Basic Grey fan but sometimes find them hard to use on cards as the images are large and get lost in the smaller scale of a card but these ones worked. The challenge included using metal and I cheated a little as the brads are fabric covered but they are metal underneath :)




I used used more dp on the inside as I said I love BG!

This will be a double post day as I have another challenge card (two actually) to share as well.
Have a great Saturday!
Katie