Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge - November 2016

Welcome to the November Inspiration Challenge at Paper Sweeties!  Here is your inspiration photo for this month:

Just love the look of a pretty decorated Chalkboard... and these colors... yum!  I can smell the crunch leaves now (even though where I live now it's still like Summer).  After 45 years of Autumns though... I can remember... 

Here is how I was inspired:

Love when I have a chance to use this black chalkboard paper I got a long time ago.  I never had much luck with the chalk ink I bought so I like embossing on it.  I embossed the wreath from Hello Spring first in Old Paper distress embossing powder and the sentiments from Coffee, Yes Please (inside the wreath) and But First, Coffee (underneath) in white.

I stamped some of the coffee beans/leaves from Coffee Yes, Please and some leaves from the Fall Stand Add On 2 and colored them with watercolor markers, cut them out and scattered them around my wreath along with some pretty Creamsicle sequins and the green from the Watermelon sequin mix.

I didn't have the right colors of embossing powders for my chalkboard drawings so I embossed the flowers and pumpkins and leaves with various powders and then used a white paint-like marker to color them in white.  When that was dry I used my watercolor markers to add some color over it.  I really like the way it came out and I will do that again for sure.  The pumpkins are also from the Stand Add On 2 and the flowers and leaves are from Hello Spring.

Then I used the dies from Coffee, Yes Please to make my plaid cup.  I had that half of a sunflower in my little "extras" collector on my desk and thought it would go well on this one along with some extra pumpkins, leaves and coffee beans.. that pretty heart was an extra too... I always save the inside hearts when I cut out the heart garland from the Sweet Borders set and there it was right when I needed it!

So thanks for stopping by today!  I sure hope you play along this month and I can't wait to see what you create!  Now hop around to see what the rest of the design team has created for you today!  And so happy to have Lori Turner joining us as a Guest Designer this month!

Beth Luetschwager 
Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties

Jeri Thomas 
Jill Norwood 

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Kathy Schweinfurth

Larissa Heskett
Lilian Forsyth  
Lisa Bzibziak

Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michele Henderson
Michelle Bala

Nancy Salkeld
November Guest Designer:  Lori Turner

Hello Spring - Paper Sweeties	Coffee, yes please - Paper Sweeties	but first, Coffee - Paper Sweeties	Stand - Add on 2 Stamp Set - Paper Sweeties	Thankful - Paper Sweeties
Coffee, yes please Sweet Cuts - Paper Sweeties	Sweet Cuts Sweet Borders - Paper Sweeties	Creamsicle Sequins--Paper Sweeties	Watermelon Sequins - Paper Sweeties

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #184

So I probably shouldn't say anything because you probably wouldn't remember but last week I vowed that every week my Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge project would be a Christmas card like Tracey at Trace-Elementz.... well... I'm not known for my great memory and I got my adorable Halloween Come In For a Bite cupcake set along with that cute Happy Halloween with the Spider-web from Jessica Lynn Original and got so excited and thought today would be a good day for a Halloween card so there you go (I'm thinking to keep my promise to you and myself there may be another AHSC card coming this week with a Christmas theme...lol) 

Isn't he a cutie??? Dracula and Frankenstein are my two favorite monsters and they are both in this set!  I just used some Halloween paper from my stash, a spider web embossing folder from Stampin Up and some random sequins from my stash.  The background dies are from CDD... one of my faves to use is the Fancy Frame Dies set... I use it ALL the time!!

Here's the Sketch!  Love this one:

So thanks for stopping by and please do come and play along with us!  Come back tomorrow for the November (Yup... tomorrow is November!) Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge (You still have one day left to play along with the October Challenge).

Purple Poinsettias for the Hop To Stop

Wanted to share another card for the Hop To Stop Blog Hop to Raise Awareness for Victims of Domestic Violence.  If you want to play along you have until tomorrow and you can visit The Damsel of Distressed Blog to learn more and play along.

I've created another Christmas Card... I'm really starting to like these colors for Christmas.  Have I ever seen a purple poinsettia... no I have not.. unless you count the ones in my head ever since I saw these new Winter Wonderland Dies from Craftin Desert Divas.  I was really hoping I'd get my order before the hop was over and I did (because Tara ships super fast) and went to work on it today.

For the background, I used a snowflake embossing folder to emboss some colonial white paper and then I just dabbed my Versamark Ink over the whole thing and sprinkled some clear gold glitter embossing powder on it.  Now... I will tell you... my bathroom floor and my shirt were covered with glitter when I got done.  I still haven't quite figured out this embossing powder... I don't know when it's "done" and I don't know how to apply it without it blowing all over the place... so when (if) I do ever figure this out... I will certainly let you know.  I added a little clear embossing powder over the top because my glitter kept rubbing off.  Regardless.... I love the way it looks.

These Winter Wonderland dies... LOVE... LOVE.... LOVE.  I used the Stitched in Circles dies as a backdrop for them and the Flag Banner Dies for the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and let me know you were here.  And don't forget to get your purple on and link up to the hop.  There are prizes!!  And the more linkups the more prizes are given away... it's pretty awesome.  And if you do, visit at least three other projects to do your part, but I highly suggest visiting many more... there are some great people and inspiring stories out there and you may just learn something or maybe you'll read something that sounds familiar and feel not so alone?  Or maybe you'll just brighten someone's day... and that's worth its weight in purple and gold!

I'm not sure if I'll have time for yet another purple creation... you just never know... I did go out and get a few purple things just for this hop so it's possible I'll just do it!  And Hey, Becca!  Thanks for hosting this very important Hop.... you are pretty awesome!

The Hop to Stop and Craftin Desert Divas Digis

Two more days to play along with the Hop To Stop.  We're trying to blow up the web with the color purple to raise awareness of Domestic Violence.  Please take a look over at Becca's Damsel of Distressed Blog to learn more about this epidemic.  And join us!  Play along and be sure to stop at some or all of the wonderful projects by participants because you will read some really chilling but also hopeful stories from people who have been affected by Domestic Violence.

Today I'm sharing a shaker card I made using one of the adorable digis available over at Craftin Desert Divas.  I just love this Rainy Day Girl Digi.. it's one I've used a bit.  Today I decided to use Word to decorate her umbrella with some pretty flowers using the Flower Power Digis and I printed a second girl on the plaid paper (all about the plaid lately) and paper pieced her raincoat and boots (I'd buy those boots!).

I cut some raindrops out of my top layer with my Cricut and then used the Sky Is The Limit dies to cut some cloud shapes at the top.  

I printed the quote I found on the Internet onto white paper and made a simple banner with it so that it wouldn't take up too much space and cover up my clouds.  And I used my favorite CDD Shimmer sequins inside and outside of the shaker.. I LOVE these because they are clearish with some pretty iridescent qualities and they are awesome on any project!

So thanks for stopping today!  It's been a rough week at work, but my craftroom is back in business this weekend so I'm hoping to see you again with some more purple and I'll be hopping around to check out everyone else's creations and leave some love as well!

Here are links to the CDD products I've used: 

Rainy Day Girl Digi http://craftindesertdivas.com/rainy-day-girl-digital-stamp/

Flower Power Digis http://craftindesertdivas.com/flower-power-digital-stamp/

The Sky Is The Limit Dies http://craftindesertdivas.com/the-sky-is-the-limit-dies/

Shimmer Sequins http://craftindesertdivas.com/shimmer-sequins/

Atlantic Hearts Sketch #183 and Hop To Stop

Welcome to this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #183!  I'm also playing along with Becca Cruger's Hop To Stop to raise awareness for victims of domestic violence.  The statistics are startling and you can read more about it by heading over to Becca's Damsel of Distressed Blog and play along with us to help this very important cause and maybe win some prizes too!  And please do visit many (or all) of the projects linked up .. you will not only see some beautiful artwork but read some stories that may help you understand how many people this affects.

So I was also inspired by my good bloggy friend, Tracey at Trace-Elementz Blog (I highly suggest you visit her blog) because she is playing along with the Atlantic Hearts Sketch weekly and has decided to create a Christmas card each week with the sketch.  Just for fun I'm playing along with her too!  Of course, because I wanted to also play along with the Hop To Stop which focuses on the color purple AND I wanted to create some cards using the new CTMH PML cards, Happy Happy Christmas I had a dilemna... and then I found these two PML cards in the pack that were gold looking and decided that purple would go just perfectly with them!  (And yes, I did flip this sketch vertically ... on accident... I decided I needed to lengthen my PML card a bit and cut it diagonally so I could separate the two pieces and when I did that, I cut it the wrong way...lol!  Yup... that's me).

I embossed my light purple background with snowflakes... I felt that the sentiment Peace & Joy was perfectly hopeful for the Hop To Stop ... My wish is for all to find Peace and Joy for the holidays and always...

 

It was also a great opportunity to use my new snowflake dies from CTMH.. LOVE them... this is the smallest of the two so they are pretty big but this one was the perfect size to file in some of that space above my sentiment.  And I scattered some purple CTMH bling from my stash around.

A beautiful diecut Angel Wing from Memory Box, some squigglies from Paper Sweeties, some pretty purple ribbon from my LSS, leftover leaves from music note paper from this month's Lessology project, and a pretty pre-made paper flower from Hobby Lobby... oh... and some Nuvo Embellishment Mousse in gold of course... similar to Inka Gold finished it off.

Here is the sketch!  So... come and play along with us and I can't wait to see what you create!  Thanks for stopping!

Cutting Cafe Inspiration-Breast Cancer Awareness

Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month it was the perfect time to show you some of the awesome Breast Cancer themed files.  Today, I am using the Breast Cancer T Shirt Printable Set and here is what I've created for you:

I LOVE the T Shirt shaped card that comes with this set.  The Owl Shaped Card is from a different set, that is also awesome and I used it because I thought it went perfectly with that funny "Save The Hooters" sentiment that does come in this set along with a T Shirt printable with an owl on it, but I decided I wanted to use this owl on a T Shirt.

I'm playing along with the Creative Craft Cottage Challenge #73 Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness and the Daisy Chain Challenge #1 Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Challenge!

I think this cutie was perfect for the T Shirt and I cut the sentiment from my Cricut along with the cute little pink ribbons that also come in the T Shirt set.

So I just cut the top layering parts from the Owl Shaped Card in the size I wanted it (a little over 2" tall) and pieced it together on my T Shirt.

And you can use this T Shirt shaped card for any kind of card!  Here I used it along with the pumpkin layering parts from the Pumpkin Shaped Card and the coffee cup from one of the Coffee Shaped Card!  Then I stamped it with my custom stamp that Regina made me that included this cute sentiment that's on one or more of the printable sets available in the Cutting Cafe.

Cute, right??

And since I had the Owl Shaped Card set I couldn't help but make the full sized card.. and I cut a ribbon from glitter paper from the T Shirt set and used the negative space from my sentiment!

Love how these sets work together!

So be sure to check out the Cutting Cafe blog with links to all of the wonderful Design Team projects on the 21st!

Atlantic Hearts and the Hop To Stop

For the next couple weeks Becca Cruger over at The Damsel of Distressed Blog is hosting the Hop to Stop Blog Hop-here is the meaning from her Blog:

If you're wondering why everything (at least that's my hope) in the blogosphere is turning purple... there IS a reason - the Hop to Stop is here! 

You see, purple is the color of National Domestic Violence Awareness month. 

1 in 3 women will experience domestic violence over the course of their lifetimes. 

Let that sink in - 33% of all the women you meet. 

Women between the ages of 15 and 44 are more likely to be injured or die as a result of domestic violence, than through rapes, muggings and car accidents combined.

And women aren't the only people who are affected! Women, men, transgender - gender doesn't matter. Domestic violence is something that exists regardless of gender, socioeconomic status, religion, education level, etc.

I've decided to use my Atlantic Hearts Sketch this week to spread the word and here's what I've made:

So if you want to join along with the Hop to Stop, create something where the color Purple is the star and link up!  Becca asks that you comment on at least three other projects linked up to help spread the love, but I'll tell you it's worth visiting every single piece of art because you will read many uplifting stories and learn a few things along the way.  And use the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts to get you started!  Such a versatile sketch!

I started with my background piece... I ink distressed my background piece with some Tim Holtz distress inks in various purple shades and then splattered some water on it.  Then I used a stencil and some purple shimmer embossing paste to create my strip down the middle.  After that was dry, I swiped some purple Inka Gold onto the stenciled areas and then some gold Inka Gold around the edges.  Finally, I splattered some gold droplets around.

I finished it off with one of the beautiful sayings from Becca's stamp set, Strong Women, which is perfect for this Blog Hop with lots of beautiful and inspiring sentiments.

So thank you for stopping and please be sure to check out all of the projects both over at Atlantic Hearts and the Hop to Stop!  And play along!

October 16: Paper Sweeties October 2016 New Release Rewind!

It's a Release Rewind over at Paper Sweeties!  Today is the day we show you how well the new sets go along with all of your old favorites!  (Although I don't think that's a big secret)!  And here is what I've made for you today:

What?  No gold??  Well, I did add some glitter to this one so I think you'll forgive the lack of gold.  I made this random stamped background paper using the cute candy shape from the Basket: Add On stamp set, one of the snowflakes from the Merry Little Christmas set and the springy sproingy stamp from last month's Thankful set embossed with white on red cardstock.

You can get these pretty chenille Candy Canes in the Paper Sweeties shop!  Aren't they cute... and see how I inserted a few of the snowflake sequins behind the little flowers from my stash?  And those Marshmallow sequins... love them.. they are white and irridescent and I thought they worked perfectly.

And I used part of the sentiment from yesterday along with one of my favorite "Sweet" Cuts... :) ... see what I did there?  And that yummy crinkly seam binding ribbon in Strawberry!

So I hope you enjoyed the last few days... I've certainly enjoyed having you!  Before you get back to what you were doing, please do check out all of the projects my fellow Design Teammates have created for you!

Beth Luetschwager
Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties
Jeri Thomas 
Jill Norwood 

Kathy Schweinfurth

Larissa Heskett
Lisa Bzibziak (You Are Here)
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michele Henderson
Michelle Bala

Nancy Salkeld

You can find all of the new products here:

What's New

Merry Little Christmas

Merry Little Christmas Sweet Cuts

Basket

Basket Sweet Cuts

Basket Add-on: Baked with Love

Basket Add-on: Baked with Love Sweet Cuts

And some oldies and goodies:

Happy - Sweet Cuts Dies - Paper Sweeties	Thankful - Paper Sweeties	Sweet Cuts Sweet Borders - Paper Sweeties	Red & White Chenille Candy Canes - Paper Sweeties	Strawberry Seam Binding - Paper Sweeties
Paper Sweeties - Marshmallow Sequins