Beary Sweet Mouse Baby!

**Click HERE for Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential: Hats On! post**

Stamps: Stampendous 'Beary Good Friends', Pink Cat free digi sentiment. Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Textured Barely Banana, Basic Grey 'Two Scoops', GP 110 white. Ink: Memento black, Copics. Accessories: Long rectangle Nestabilities, wide pink grosgrain ribbon.

A new baby girl in the family arrived recently, so I wanted to make a sweet holder to dress up the gift card we would be sending out. This pop-up tutorial by Jane (Whoopsie Daisy) gave me a quick and easy template and I only needed to add a set of pink monogrammed cards to complete the gift!

Have you seen the new Pink Cat digis yet? So adorable I couldn't resist purchasing a few. As I was browsing, I discovered they also offer a whole set of sentiments that coordinate with the images, but also work for this House Mouse image for FREE. Isn't that generous?

A baby footprint stamp by Stampcraft and the SU! 'Congrats' sentiment completed the inside, still leaving room for a personal note:



The layout is inspired by the Midnight Madness Sketch #29, done on a miniature scale with a ribbon added for closure.

Now it's time to spend some time organizing my craft area -- it looks like a natural disaster hit after it was dismantled to search out a missing phone line!

Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential: Hats On!!

Stamps: Stampendous 'Contented Mudpie', Papertrey 'Signature Greetings', 'Vintage Labels'. Digital image: Shirley's 2 Girls 'Cheers'. Cardtock: Textured Red, Papertrey white, Bashful Blue, Daisy D 'Paisley Sugarplum'. Accessories: Label One Nestabilities, Bazzill red gingham ribbon, glitter snowflake brads.

This week's Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential Challenge #9 is Hats on! As Vicki describes it: Use hats for your creation or put a hat on something, make your own, use stickers, etc. Just put hats on it!

This little 'Contented Mudpie' is one of my all-time favorite House Mouse images, as is or dressed for the season with a Santa hat I cropped from a fun image 'Cheers' by Shirley's 2 Girls. Before:

And after, with a touch of glitter for good measure:

This week's card layout is inspired by the ever-versatile Tuesday Morning sketches, Sketch challenge #21.

Be sure to check out the other Spotlight Diva creations:

Vicki (Stamped Smiles)

Chris (Twinkles Glows with Stamps)

Boni (Bonibleaux Designs)

Crystal (Crystal's Crafty Creations)

Darlene (Dar's Crafty Creations)

Dawn (My Stamping Thyme)

Debbie (Crafting Fairy)

Erin (Scrap, Stamp and Be Merry)

Maria (Joyful Stamper)

Susan (Stamping Tink)

Jodi (Inked Inspirations)

Play along for your chance to win this awesome blog candy: Don that thinking cap and show us some 'Hats'!

Saving the Earth

Digital sentiment included in November e-issue of SheetLoads. Cardstock: SU Berry Bliss, Purely Pomegranate, GP 110 white. Accessories: Martha Stewart scallop border punch, Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon, chocolate bar.

Our family tries to help Mother Earth along by reducing, reusing, and recycling because she really does deserve a little respect. Still, a little humor never hurt and neither does a taste of chocolate. Here's one gift that can be savored and and the wrappers recycled (except the foil in our area) without leaving too large of a carbon footprint!

This altered chocolate bar is also a nod to Opus Gluei challenge #34: Sweetie Pie which challenged us to let our sweet tooth be our inspiration!

You still have a few days left to check out the great sketch by Barbara Debose and download your free e-copy of the November SheetLoads issue with bonus sentiments sheets.

Here are a few sneak peeks from the December SheetLoads issue which will debut December 1st!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Stamps by DRS Designs: Bunch of Wheat K137, Small Happy Thanksgiving B069. Cardstock: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip. Ink: Chocolate Chip. Accessories: oval and square Nestabilities, dotted chocolate ribbon.

On this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for a healthy family, good friends, making ends meet in tough economic times, and a hobby (stamping) that I enjoy, although it doesn't necessarily help with the previous item!

Be sure to stop by the DRS blog for a showcase of more of my Thanksgiving cards featuring the newest DRS Design releases.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving with plenty of reasons to be thankful!

Pink Thanksgiving Greetings

Stamps: Papertrey Vintage Labels and Picnic sentiments. Cardstock: Basic Grey 'Indian Summer', Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo. Accessories: Label one Nestabilities, dotted Melon grosgrain ribbon.

This clean and simple card relies completely on Basic Grey's 'Indian Summer' for its design -- how could I cover up these gorgeous patterns and images? The small image panel also has a real leaf pattern, almost like a photograph but it didn't show too well in small amounts, so I added a leaf cut out of another sheet of DP and popped up for a little extra dimension.

The sketch is inspired by the Mojo Monday week 114 sketch.

It's funny I didn't realize how much pink this Basic Grey's 'Indian Summer' had until I started pulling together items for this card! I really wanted a bright color to stand out from the chocolate pattern at the top and then I noticed one of the vertical patterns was the same as my ribbon. The pink perks up the card and gives it more of a feminie feel; totally appropriate considering who usually puts the most work into the holiday, don't you think?!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, traditional or otherwise!

Thanks Sow Much!

Stamps: Hero Arts (Real Salvia), Papertrey (Flower Garden Sentiments); Patterned Paper: DCWV (Garden Party with glitter); Cardstock: Stampin Up (watercolor paper); Inks: Stampin Up (Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi); Markers: Stampin Up (Pretty in Pink, Rose Red); Paper Punch: Stampin Up (word window).

November's e-issue of SheetLoads included several sheets of free sentiments that are sized perfectly for the main panel, but this area is also perfect for long, skinny images, too. These Hero Arts real flower stamps are still some of my favorites, and fit the bill for this sketch.

The technique for these flowers is called 'Faux Watercolor with Markers' which is basically inking up the image and then spritzing it with water prior to stamping for a softer look.

The glittery butterfly is cut out of the DP and popped up to accent the flowers:

There's still time to 'Show Us Your SheetLoad' for a chance to win a set of acrylic stamps; check out THIS POST for full details!

Follow Your Heart, Edwin!

**Click HERE to go to Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential: Ornaments challenge post**

Stamps: Magnolia 'Edwin'. Cardstock: My Mind's Eye 'Out &About with Glitter', Doodlebug white, Baja Breeze, Real Red, Papertrey white. Ink: Memento black, Copics. Accessories: Long rectangle Nestabilities, Bazzill ribbon, cording, charm, Martha Stewart snowflake punches.

Tuesday Morning sketches challenge #20 is actually a recipe: 3 designer papers, 2 embellishments, and 1 flourish. The DPs were a cinch since I tend to collect them with a vengeance -- don't these have a fun Nordic feel? It was a little more difficult to narrow down the embellies, but I finally decided on the Bazzill ribbon (a true bargain at Archiver's at only $1.99 per 15 yds.) and a charm. Two stamping buddies, Jacque and Vicki, sent me some of these fun charms -- thanks, friends!

The flourish was the sticking part; my mind was set on a chipboard flourish, but despite copious amounts of other shapes, there were no flourishes in my stash. I ended up settling on the paper version and tried to allow only one to really show on the DP -- can you see it on the right side of the image? Fun challenge, Melissa!

The layout is based on Midnight Madness sketch #28, which had the perfect image shape for this skiing Edwin who was a gift from the very generous (and talented!) Jacque.

Now the girls and I are off to enjoy this sunshine before it really is time to break out the skis!

DRS Designs Sponsors Card Positioning Systems!

**Click HERE to go to Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential: Ornaments challenge post**

Stamps by DRS Designs: Snowflake Address Label Frame K107, Serve Our Country at Christmas D530, Star background H124. Cardstock: Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red, Bashful Blue, GP110 white. Ink: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Versamark. Accessories: Stardust EP, Long Rectangle Nestabilities, SU felt snowflake, Martha Stewart snowflake punch.

DRS Designs is sponsoring this week's sketch on Card Positioning Systems. This card is based on the sketch and also features an 'out-of-the-box' use for the newly released Snowflake Address Label Frame. Or maybe I should say a new 'in-the-box' use? The mailing label area is the perfect size for this sentiment and will create a coordinated set when used as originally designed on the card envelope, too.

Be sure to check out this week's challenge and link your creation for a chance to win a gift certificate!

Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential #8: Ornaments!

Digital images by Cutting Café: ‘All About Christmas’. Cardstock: Vellum, silver, Doodlebug white glitter. Accessories: Circle Nestabilities, hole punch, organdy ribbon.

Christmas is only 33 days away – can you believe it? And in the spirit of preparing for the season, this week’s Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential, sponsored by the Cutting Cafe, is all about ornaments.

Here's this week's challenge: Make your version of any type of ornament...doesn't have to be just for Christmas...any kind!

For my first ornament, I colored in the snowflake from the ‘All About Christmas’ set via the free Paint.net and then printed it out on vellum. A couple of circle die cuts and voila – a gift tag that is also a memento to hang on the recipient’s tree. The vellum image gives a beautiful stained glass effect when backlit by a Christmas tree light.

The second ornament is all about the sparkle – glitter DP, Dazzling Diamonds on the snowflake image, and even glitter pen accents on the center snowflake!

Sparkly items are so difficult for me to photograph their true beauty (it's much better IRL when you can play with it in the sunshine!), but here's a more detailed photo of all the bling:

Be sure to stop by the Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential challenge #8 post to see how the other Design Team members created ornaments or used them in their projects. Link your own ornament creation to the post for your chance to win three free sets of your choice from the Cutting Cafe!

Blog Candy Winner!

According to Random.org, the winning comment for the set of Bulldog cards from Saturday Spotlight's challenge to create a Masterboard is:

#12: Donelda!!

Donelda said...
Jessica, Wrinkles is so very cute!! You sure are good at this digital stuff. Wish we lived closer so you could get me up to speed :-) Thanks for always leaving links!!
November 14, 2009 1:40 PM

Thanks, Donelda! E-mail me your address and I'll have these cute pups on their way to you!!

SheetLoads: November Simple, Special, Stunning!

It is time for the November edition of Simple Special Stunning at the SheetLoad of Cards blog, featuring samples by Ann Seleshanko.

Each month one of our artists will share three different cards that use the current layout. Each card is a "step up" from the previous one, but they are all fabulous. It is a good way to show how SheetLoad is geared toward papercrafters of all levels.

Here are some sneak peeks to whet your appetite...

Enjoy!

SheetLoads of Birthday Wishes

Digital sentiment freebie from November SheetLoads; Patterned Paper: DCWV (The Sweet Stack with glitter); Cardstock: Stampin Up (Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze), Georgia Pacific (110 white); Ribbon: unknown source (white grosgrain, double-stitched blue); Die Cut: Nestabilities (Long Rectangle scalloped); Paper Punch: Stampin Up (scallop border punch).

Have you downloaded your free November e-issue of SheetLoads yet? Aren't those sheets of freebie sentiements awesome? Using one of these pre-sized sentiments with the great November sketch (including all the cutting dimensions), this card went together in a snap!

There's still time to link your November SheetLoad creation for a chance to win the grand prize of a complete set of Studio G - Series 37 - Bohemian stamps (12 sets!); two runners-up will receive eight (8) of the Studio G - Series 37 - stamp sets. Check out the Show Us Your SheetLoad post for full details.

Merry and Bright Christmas Kitty

Stamps: C.C. Designs 'Itzie Inkies Christmas', Papertrey 'Signature Christmas. Cardstock: Basic Grey 'Eskimo Kisses', Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, Old Olive. Ink: Memento, Copics, Purely Pomegranate. Accessories: Martha Stewart snowflake punches, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Snowflake Rain Dots, Stardust glitter pen.

I don't know about your pets, but our cats never helped decorate the Christmas tree. In fact, it was quite the opposite with Molly deciding the lower third of the tree should never host an ornament (or garland, or light...)! Still, it does make for a cute holiday image, doesn't it?

Have you seen Deb's fun snowflake tutorial on the KLSNS blog? She demonstrates several techniques for dressing up your snowflakes and one of the easiest is punching them out of printed paper and embellishing with a bit of glitter like this card. Be sure to link your decorated snowflake projects to the November Snowflake Challenge post on KLSNS for a chance to win a and surprise stamp and a $10 gift certificate!!

This fun sketch is inspired by Friday Sketchers #78 -- doesn't it looks like a nicely wrapped gift?

Now to get back to those Thanksgiving projects!

Gobble 'til Ya Wobble, Freebies, and Awards!

**For the Saturday Spotlight Challenge #7 (Masterboards) and card blog candy giveaway, please see THIS post**

Digital 'Turkey' available at Aisne's Creations, Ribbon freebie by Kristin (crafty creations). Cardstock: Fall Daze - Paper Pack 2, Chocolate Chip. Accessories: Circle Nestabilities, Martha Stewart scallop border punch.

So what exactly is a Poser Club? For $10, you have a 3 month membership and are able to download any of the weekly graphic packs Aisne produces; November week 2 alone included 12 different packages of images! This cute little turkey in his different poses was one set, along with pilgrim counterparts.

Here's how Aisne describes how to use Club images: The graphics may be used for an assortment of projects including scrapbooking, taggers, web & blog design, email stationery, printable projects such as candy wrappers, cardmaking and more and they are great as a 'teachers resource'.

Want to try out this type of image before you buy? Check out Aisne's blog for a free 'Cookie - Cool Fever' and create a few Cool Cookie tween cards of your own.

Then stop by Kristin's blog for this free 'Gobble Till You Wobble' ribbon, too!

The sketch for this card was inspired by this week's PaperCraft Planet sketch challenge.

On to the award portion of this post!

Isn't this a fun award that my buddy, Deb (Freckle-Face Printworks) gave me? And I'd like to pass along the honor to these bloggers who always bring a smile to my face:

1. Joanna at Sitting on Copic Pens and Needles. Joanna is even newer than I am to the blogging world, but she's a fast learner. Being very talented and a hilarious writer helps, too. Stop by her blog and you won't be disappointed!

2. Order of the Opus Gluei. Jana and Rosemary host this challenge blog and are such fun ladies that you know you'd love to go out to coffee with them and chat about ANYthing! Their challenges are unique and always have a fun spin -- play along to be featured as one of the Gluei groupies or just read their side bar for a good laugh. Oh yes, and did I mention they are both talented multi-crafters?

Wishing you smiles from a very soggy Illinois!

Saturday Spotlight #7: Make a Masterboard!

Digital stamps by Digital Ink Co. 'Wrinkles'. Cardstock: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Fred She Said 'Blossom Kit' freebie, GP 11o white. Ink: Copics. Accessories: Circle Nestabilities, Bazzill brown gingham ribbon.

The Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential challenge #7 is to create a Masterboard. Here's how Vicki describes this technique: Use your stamps (any!) to create your own "masterboard" or your own designer paper to create several cards/projects at once...good way to get several Christmas cards done!

Basically, a masterboard is your own personalized designer paper, using whatever images or colors fit your project. I used the blue digital freebie cardstock base by Fred She Said and added Digital Ink Co.'s Wrinkles bones and food dishes in an alternating pattern. Here's a TUTORIAL by Vicki that features the stamped version.

What a great way to get exactly the paper you want and then use it to create a coordinating set of cards! Here are two other card using Wrinkle's masterboard:




Be sure to check out the Saturday Spotlight for more great examples of Masterboards and how to use them! The winner of the this challenge week chosen by random.org will be able to choose THREE FREE DIGI SETS from their store!!

**Now for a little added fun: Are there any bulldog fans out there? I will be giving away this card set as blog candy to one randomly-chosen person commenting on this post. Just leave Wrinkles some love and be sure to check back next Friday, November 20th to see if he will be heading your way!!!

Tiny Tilda!

Stamps: Mini Magnolia, Papertrey 'Mixed Messages'. Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Daisy D's 'Snowflakes and Holly' DP. Ink: Memento, Copics. Accessories: Long rectangle and circle Nestabilities, gemstones, Crystal Effects.

As if Magnolia's Tildas weren't cute enough, did you know they have mini versions available only in Europe? Angela, a very generous stamping buddy, has a great inside source for these cuties and shared several images with me. Thanks, Angela!! Here's a close-up of this mini Maggie:

This week's Tuesday Morning sketch #19 is to create a circular card and I knew this mini Maggie would be the perfect size to use with my largest Circle Nesties. If you place the die so just a bit of it is off the fold, you have an easy shaped card.

Caardvark's current 'Circle of Friends' challenge is to create a circle card, so this tiny Tilda fits not only because of its shape, but also because she came from a friend!

I realized after finishing the post that I should have included some point of reference so you could tell how tiny Tilda truly is; the entire card is only about 4 inches in diameter! That's definitely tiny for Tilda!

Need Inspiration?

Have you heard of the blog The Divine Influence? It's a group of 'Divine Gals' who visit crafting blogs each week in search of amazing creations, then profile these talented bloggers on the blog. I've been invited to join the team, so now I have the opportunity to 'peruse with purpose'!

I'm always open to suggestions, so if you see noteworthy creations be sure to send me an e-mail and I'll visit their blog, too!