Friday, April 20, 2012

TSG Challenge # 152: Cards for Dad

Good morning!

I'm here with another card I made yesterday for There She Goes Challenge # 152: Cards for Dad.

I read about this challenge on Monday but I knew that I had no "male" stamps in my There She Goes stash so I sadly thought about waiting for next Monday.

Then, an idea came to my mind: THE BEES! I have this lovely stamp set with bees illustrated by Torico and I decided I could use them to make a father's Day card!

I wanted it to be clean and simple, no papers or embellishments, just a dad and his baby flying around the card:

Easy to make and simple enough for every man!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

New Challenge at Broken Box Stock!

Time for a new challenge at Broken Box Stock: Home Sweet Home!

All you have to do is to use one of the 4 versions of the "Home Sweet Home" graphic to create a card.
Digi is just 99¢, colored versions are $2.
Email a picture (or a link) of your card to Broken Box Stock.

Easy, isn't it?

For your inspiration, here's what I created using this digi:

A practical Address Book!
I used Copics and glitter and it was a great fun to color it!

Deadline is Monday, April 30, 2012 and Challenge Prize is a Toodle Club Membership & Toodle Birthday Calendar (If you are already a Toodle Club Member they give you a $25 Broken Box Stock gift certificate instead).

Don't miss this Challenge!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

A Bit Sad...

After watching her stamps for a while, last February I decided to treat myself with one of her images. Last week, I finally had an idea on how to use this stamp on a card and I created this:

I am talking about Dearie Dolls digi stamps: lovely dolls, bunnies, girls...

Just after Easter Sunday, I decided I had some time to spend browsing through her store and treat myself with some new digis...

But...

Both shops were disapeared from the web.

I contacted Mary Ellen, the creator, and she confirmed that her shops are closed now but hopefully they'll re-open soon.

The girl on the card reminds me of my daughter and I chose it with her. She loves to cook with me or with her dad and this image is just perfect for her.

When I bought it I already had in mind the way I'd have colored her dress: red and white! Then I decided to go for a new kraft paper in order to be able to enter my card in a Challenge I love but I had never entered before, That's Crafty Challenge # 60 down at The Spotted Chick blog.

I used a Doodlebug paper from the Sweet Cakes Collection (I love it, it's been terrible to use it for my card but I can't keep it forever without purpose, right?), a red ribbon and a fork charm I bought the other day for this card (I also wanted a spoon charm but I couldn't find it!).

Well, I love it and I hope Dearie Dolls will be back soon!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Great News &... Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Here in Italy Easter Sunday is almost over, we have eaten and celebrated and we are now heading towards a relaxing night in front of the tv!

But before that, I want to share some great news: I've been chosen as one of the new DT members at Broken Box Stock!
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the email!

I love their Toodles, they are so cute!!! I had already created some cards and papercrafts using their digis so I had some pictures of my creations ready to send them and... yes, they liked them!

Today, my first card has been featured on Broken Box Stock Blog and it's this one:


I used the lovely April Showers Toodle digi stamp which you can buy here: there is a black and white version and a colored version too, ready for you to use.

I colored my toodle with Copics and glitters, I mounted the umbrella with 3D dots and used some DCWV papers from the Winter Combo collection. A pink felt heart, a button and a satin ribbon add a super sweet touch!
So easy to work with these adorable Toodles!

Stay tuned, I'm working on a lot of new projects!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

TSG Challenge #150 - Metal Embellishments

I'm so happy I'm back to There She Goes Challenges: these last weeks I planned to enter a card but I never managed to finish it in time.

This week I'm ready with this card:
I've used an image from Puppy Love set. The idea came to me when I read metal embellishment as theme and thought about a bone charm I was sure I had somewhere in my stash. Well, maybe I dreamt about it but the card was already in my mind so I decided to change the one charm with a little gold heart.
Papers are from First Edition Animal Antics Paper Pad, then I added some bright yellow paper from DCWV, a ribbon (I'm sorry but I have no clue of the brand), a couple of pearls and of course some glitter in the dogs' collars.

These little puppies are so cute!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Orange + Turquoise... It's Summer!

Last week we had a great weather: it was warm, sunny, it seemed like summer!

But...

I was at home with my sick daughter...

When I saw the Challenge theme at Sparkle Creations, I opened the window, took a deep breath and imagined to be here:

Although orange + turquoise are not my favorite colors, they definitely talked about summer and the picture given for inspiration was perfect!

Luckily enough, I treated myself with two stamps from their collection and one of the two fitted all the boxes for this challenge.

This is my card:
I used Swimming Lucy and colored her with Copics. The background paper is from Echo Park Country Drive Collection, plus I added a ric rac found in a magazine, rhinestones and a clock I made from a post-it found at Muji with a brad and two arrows cut from paper.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Cards for Emily - Part 2

Here's my card for "A Card for Emily" project promoted by Dustin Pike:

Instead of using a Daisy and Buttercup image, I chose a frog image I had just bought from Doodle Dragon Studios: it's in the March 2011 collection and I love it!
I still have to write my message for Emily, it's difficult to write something after the wonderful words my daughter used in her card!

Again, if you want to send a card to Emily, read full instuctions here.

Cards for Emily - Part 1

A few days ago I read about "A Card for Emily"on Dustin Pike blog.
Emily is a 7 year-old girl who is fighting leukemia and Dustin let us choose one of his Daisy and Buttercup images to make a card to be sent to her.
I asked my daughter if she would like to make a card for this little girl and she made this:

She used the Daisy and Buttercup image from Dustin Pike, colored it with colored pencils and glitter and embellished the card with paper flowers, rhinestones and a pretty pink satin bow.
She also wrote a very moving message inside the card, which I translated into English hoping to be able to keep the same atmosphere. I suggested her not to write about illness or recovering and she really wrote THE perfect message.

I'm finishing my card and I'll post it as soon as ready.

If you want to send a card to Emily, you can read about it here.

Thanks, Dustin!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Tags!

Last month, while buried under snow, I took out my stash of unused stamps and decided I had to do something with them.

Some of them are very tiny and, although I love them, I found it difficult to put them into good use. I thought about making some tags, "tiny tags".
I made some samples and I loved both the creative process and the final results.

When I saw this week's theme at There She Goes Challenge # 146 I thought I could make some tiny tags with one of their stamps I bought last month.

And here's what I've created:
What I love most of these tiny tags is seeing them altogether!

I decided to use the Bee Happy stamp set: I took some ready made white tags with strings, I added some light green patterned paper as grass, I stamped the flower stem with green ink and glued the flowers and the bees, which I had colored with Copics, with 3D dots so they pop out of the tag.
Unfortunately, these tags are quite small and I couldn't use the sentiments in the set, so I decided to print some "with love" sentiments, cut them as a little flags and glued them to the tags.


Enjoy your week-end!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Spring Is In The Air!

I can't believe spring will be here in a couple of weeks!
Last week we had some warm, bright sunny days: heavy down coats back in the wardrobe, snow boots away, light coats out together with silk scarves and sunglasses!
But... no, not again... we had a few dark rainy days... what a sadness!
So I thought about bringing some spring in my craftroom creating these pretty clothespins:


Since I discovered these clothespins in a shop, I've made a series for every season and these pretty flowers from Birdie Brown were just perfect for the spring version!
With glitter here and there and a light green organza ribbon they instantly brought some cheer on my craft room table!

By the way, I'm a very happy winner of There She Goes Challenge # 145!!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I read my name! And this helped me in a dark rainy day dedicated to cleaning the house...
This week the Challenge is about TAGS and I'm already creating some to enter it!
Meanwhile, I've just spent my $5 coupon on a new set of Torico's stamp!