Paper Sweeties Guest Designer!

Hello everyone!
I have the honor of being a Guest Designer over on the Paper Sweeties blog this month! what a privilege this is for me, especially if you have ever been to their blog and seen the absolutely GORGEOUS projects their team creates time after time!!!!

The new challenge inspiration photo is this gorgeous one....

isn't it fabulous? so many things to choose from for your project!

you will see the various elements I pulled from the photo in my card. I began with the wonderful Happy Wishes stamp set, embossing it to create the chalkboard effect. turning the image on its side adds a nice twist! a white colored pencil was used to draw in the extra lines and white craft ink for more shading.

paper for the card base is from the Authentique Legacy collection. just LOVE this paper! :) a bit of copper striped vellum tops the banner and is wrapped in lovely Robin Egg baker's twine. do you see the little smidgen of a doily peeking there at the top of the banner? every coffee cup needs a doily! ;)

flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, lovely shabby bark heart (which mimics the wooden frame) comes from Live & Love Crafts, and coffee cup was die cut from aqua felt with a Simon Says Stamp die.

now you have to take a look at those precious little floral sequins. they are absolutely precious irl! these are from the Cupcake collection. it was SO hard to choose just one pack! Paper Sweeties has so many adorable colors of these lovelies! :) you will be seeing these sequins on many upcoming projects!

the highlight of the entire card is that wonderful seam binding though. what makes this ribbon stand out is that Debbie, the owner, lovingly tea stains every batch by hand. I used the Robin Egg and Oatmeal.

Check out the Paper Sweeties Facebook page for more updates and fun.
thanks so much for stopping by today! and thanks again to the lovely folks at Paper Sweeties for having me! :) I hope you are inspired to join the challenge.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wed - anything goes
Artistic Inspirations - anything goes
Stamping Sensations - anything goes with a stamp (Paper Sweeties)
Petal Lu - anything goes
Sisters of Craft - anything goes
Frilly and Funkie - layer it up

Celebrate Christmas with Jellypark! Blog Candy Winners, too!

Coffee of the Day - Hazelnut

Today begins a new challenge over at Jellypark, and Mel was kind enough to invite me to be a guest designer! it was truly a delight to be back playing with the fun images found at Jellypark, so thank you for the invitation, Mel!

the theme for the month of November is Christmas. I do hope you will play along! my former teamie, Lisa Sumpter, so do stop by to see the great cards she has made. :)

I made 2 projects, both using papers from the My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland collection.

for my holiday tag, I used the cutey image 'Skater Girl' and fussy cut her once I had finished painting. shimmerz paint adds shine to her skates while stickles add a bit of texture and sparkle to her hat.

the tag base was embossed using the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder. several shades of ink were watercolored for the bg, and then white craft ink was applied to the snowflakes. blue glimmer mist was lightly sprayed over the top.

snow mounds were cut from lyrics I printed of the song, 'Let it Snow.' shimmery Mr. Huey's spray was added and stickles was applied to the borders. same treatment for ice skating pond oval.

pom pom trim, button, baker's twine, silver cord, tag, sequins, and vintage holly leaves complete the tag. can't wait to add this to a gift at Christmas! :)

my next project is a card implementing the popular chalkboard look. I used the 'Christmas Window' image by Jellypark. lots of sparkle and shine on the main image thanks to shimmerz paint and stickles!

I created the chalkboard tag by drawing lines with a white gel pen and then lightly sponging white craft ink over the entire tag. embellishments include baker's twine, gorgeous wide, white ribbon, buttons, a Petaloo poinsettia, and holiday lights created with dies by Memory Box and matching paper. I added crystal effects to the lights to give them extra gloss.

thanks so much for stopping by! it was wonderful to be crafting again! hopefully it won't be so long between times in my craft room.....

I also now have the winners of my Pinktober Blog Candy. it took me a bit to figure out how to get piccys of the random.org generator, but finally have them! I need the following 3 people to get in touch with me at (jenscull at yahoo dot com) please:
3. Terriavidreader
7. stef h
4. Mel H :)

Thank you to everyone who entered! I wish I could give all of you a prize for being so fabulous!!!

Challenges
Tag:
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - anything Christmas goes
Emerald Faeries - non-traditional Christmas colors
Mema's Crafts - anything goes
The Crafting Cafe - not a card
Pile it On - feeling cool
Christmas at Sweet Stamping - snowflakes
Crafts 4 Eternity - tags & tickets
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - sparkle (shimmerz paint, glimmer mist, stickles, sequins)
Crafty Calendar - all about Christmas
Little Claire's - Christmas
Catch the Bug - anything goes
Brown Sugar - anything goes
Delicious Doodles - Baby, It's Cold Outside
MAWTT - winter
Paper Shelter - Christmas
Crafting for All Seasons - Tag It
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - anything goes
Divas by Design - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wed - anything goes
Word Art Wed - anything encouraging goes
Creative Card Crew - bows
Craft-Dee BowZ - anything goes w/handmade bow
Crafty Boots - music
Eureka - buttons and bows
Incy Wincy - buttons and bling (sequins)

Card:
Papertake Weekly - sketch (turned on its side)
Animal Fiends - It's Cold with an animal (kitty)
Bearly Mine - Christmas Cards
Emerald Faeries - non-traditional Christmas colors
Really Reasonable Ribbon - anything goes w/ribbon
Pile it On - feeling cool
Crafty Ribbons - tag w/ribbon
Crafts 4 Eternity - tags & tickets
Crafty Calendar - all about Christmas
Little Claire's - Christmas
Brown Sugar - anything goes
QKR Stampede - 3 of a kind (buttons)
Sister Act - any card goes
Aud Sentiments - 2 or 3 words sentiments
MAWTT - winter
Crafting for All Seasons - Tag It
Crafty Creations - brads, buttons, or bows
Divas By Design - anything goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wed - anything goes
Word Art Wed - anything encouraging goes
Creative Card Crew - bows
Craft-Dee BowZ - anything goes w/handmade bow
Eureka - buttons and bows

Chalkboard Boy on Sled

Coffee of the Day - Moon Pie (found a little bit left. wooo hoooo!)

To help get you ready for tomorrow's HUGE post, I am sneaking in my last card made for Hope You Can Cling To. I actually made several others that never showed up here on the blog. will possibly add them some day. but goofball me thought the deadline for adding cards to the HYCCT galleries was tomorrow instead of yesterday. somedays I don't have any idea how in the world I survive moment to moment without my head falling right off of my shoulders.... so I quickly put this one together. well, not THAT quick. it still takes me a while.

anyway - this was for the last challenge, 'Pick a Team' in honor of "Breaking Bad". I have never seen this show, but it is on my list of things to watch. the idea for the challenge was to create a black & white card, but then add one other color depending upon which 'team' you chose. Since I knew I was making a Christmas card, I went with green, since red is not really one of my fave colors, although I craft with it all the time.

All stamps are from Flonz. they have the greatest vintage stamps. they take well to Versamark, too, even though they are clear. these stamps come from 3 different sets. I thought the chalkboard technique was a great one to use for a black & white challenge. other touches were added with white craft ink and my white gel pen. btw - Tim Holtz made a fab tag using real chalk on his. will have to try that sometime.

Papers are Basic Grey 25th and Pine, button is vintage, big die is Spellbinders while holly leaves are a Basic Grey die. little red holly dots are stickles that I added after uploading to SCS 'cause I felt it really needed a pop of red. a little doily piece, baker's twine, beaded poinsettia, washi tape, tickets, and rhinestones complete the card.

Hope you have a great weekend! See you tomorrow! :)

Challenges:
Flonz - traditional Christmas
Alphabet Challenge - T is for twine
Brown Sugar - anything goes
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - monochromatic (hopefully the neutrals are ok)
Craftitude - anything goes with twine or string
Crafts 2 Challenge You - monochromatic vintage Christmas
Jingle Belles - holiday traditions (my father & I used to go sledding every winter when I was a little girl. we took our sons and they kept going even as they became teenagers. it is great fun no matter what age!)
Art Impressions - Holly Jolly Christmas
CRAFT - Christmas
Paper Shelter - winter fun
TTCRD - anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - seasons (winter) waving hi to all of my former teamies!!!! :)
Crafty Bloggers - Christmas
Created with Love - Christmas reds and greens
Incy Wincy - ribbon, twine, or fibers
Sparkle and Sprinkle - anything goes with embossing powder, glitter, and/or flocking
Crazy Challenge - 'B' is for: boy, bow, button, bling, berries, black
Crafty Calendar - all things Christmas
Christmas Cards All Year Round - Winter Wonderland
Card and Scrap - Christmas card
Papertake Weekly - anything goes Christmas