Saturday Spotlight #16: Bigger IS Better!

Stamps: Magnolia, Alota Stamps, Penny Black sentiment. Cardstock: Soft Suede, Barely Banana, Etcetera 'Party', Gina K white. Ink: Memento black, Copics, Soft Suede. Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Bazzill dotted white organdy.

Many of you have probably noticed that Vicki has not been commenting on your entries which is abnormal for her and that her card is not posted here.....Vicki's computer crashed this past week due to a virus. She has had it in for repair but it looks like she won't be able to get back online until next week sometime. Hopefully she will back real soon! We miss you Vicki!!
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*Thank you so much to everyone who played along with us last week in our Let the Sunshine In challenge!*

Click HERE to see all the winners!

For this week's Saturday Spotlight #16 challenge.....
The Spotlight Divas would like to challenge you to think "bigger is better"! Use oversized bit items, accessories, images etc. that may even be too large for your card!! Get out all those BIG things and use them!

For our Spotlight sponsor this week we have...
Michelle's scrapbooking and more
(click HERE to go to store.)

**One lucky winner from our challenge in Mister Linky this week drawn from random.org will receive a set of Hannah stamps release by Sandra Hammer which is perfect for A2 cards and a $10 gift certificate from the store!! **

Bigger is definitely better when it comes to cupcakes and wishes! For my card, I also used a 'big' 5 1/2" x 5 1/2 " sized card versus the regular A2 size.

The sketch is inspired by another awesome layout from Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #48.

Be sure to check out all the BIG creations by the Spotlight Divas:

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)
Erin (Scrap, Stamp and Be Merry)
Jodi (Inked Inspirations)
Maria (Joyful Stamper)

Then share your big creations by linking to this week's Saturday Spotlight challenge #16 so you can be entered in the drawing for this week's prize!

Joyful Feathered Friends

Stamps: Penny Black sentiment. Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Basic Grey 'Wassail' DP. Ink: Versamark. Accessories: fine detail white EP, circle Nestabilities, Martha Stewart snowflake punches, square punch, mini primas, gold Stickles, Basic Grey buttons.

Well, I did it -- I made a Christmas card in traditional holiday colors in January! It's my plan to stay ahead of the holiday rush (way ahead!) by creating one holiday card a week with Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge. This week's challenge was 'no coloring', so I took the easy way out and used a sentiment as the focal point.

This gorgeous DP was a gift through WRAK from Kathy (Will Stamp for Wine), as well as the gold stickles that dot the center of the mini primas. The DP made this card eligible for the WRAK challenge category 'Bird Day'. See these elegant feathered friends?


Midnight Madness sketch #38 inspired the layout; it's sort of a hybrid between their traditional sketch and the fun, new CAS sketches they are offering.

We actually have some sunshine today, our first in weeks, so it's time for me go build up some Vitamin D and enjoy the light! Hope you are enjoying some sunshine, too!!

My Cup of Tea!

Stamps: Basic Grey 'Cup of Tea', SU Background. Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Basic Grey 'Bittersweet'. Ink: Creamy Caramel. Accessories: brads, teapot charm, organdy vanilla ribbon.

Woo hoo -- I finally completed a WRAK challenge; it's been months! It's a color challenge to use Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, and Creamy Caramel. Not only do I rarely (ever?) use caramel, but it's pretty uncommon for me to use gold, either. I'm a silver kind of gal! But thanks to this elegant charm sent to me by my buddy, Jacque, I was inspired to give the challenge a go.

I just couldn't make myself use Caramel, but I did find this Basic Grey DP that has shades of caramel (in small doses) and the sentiment is stamped in caramel, too.

The WRAK item, the floral pink cardstock, is from another buddy, Lena (tackertwosome); thanks, Lena! And although not through WRAK, I received these perfect shade of pink brads from my friend Joanna (Sitting on Copic Pens and Needles), so thanks going out to Joanna, too.

Tuesday Morning Sketch #30 is the inspiration for the layout. I went with CAS because the colors of the fun rectangle/square elements really seem to pop off the vanilla background.

Speaking of Jacque, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers because she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. You can read about this newest stumbling block in a tough year HERE and leave a supportive note, if you'd like. She's such a strong lady and amazingly generous, too -- she's offering some awesome blog candy in the very post where she announced her diagnosis! Take care, Jacque; we're pulling for you!!

Card Kit to the Rescue!

Stamps: SU 'For Father', Papertrey 'Birthday Basics'. Cardstock: Stampin Up. Accessories: Stamping Bella dots, chocolate grosgrain ribbon, twine, Rectangle Nestablities.

I have the BEST Secret Sis!

Angela (monkeymama of Just Monkeying Around) came up with the wonderful idea to host a Secret Sister Card Kit swap over on SplitCoast Stampers. It was definitely my lucky day when the matches were made because look at one of the first kits my sis sent:

And I didn't think to photograph the kit contents until after I created the first card!

Perfect timing, too, because my dad's birthday is coming up in February and I have a terrible time creating masculine cards. How could I not be inspired by this wonderful kit?? Thanks also to Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #57 for a great sketch to utilize my kit goodies.

I even decorated the inside since I wanted to be sure to let Dad know a birthday is a good day to let the tools rest:


It feels good to have card ready to go and not be frantically stamping to beat the mail truck! Thanks, Secret Sis!!

Together Forever

Stamps: Pink Cat Studio. Cardstock: Papertrey, Imagninesence DP. Ink: Memento black, Copics. Accessories: oval Nestabilities, Papertrey ribbon, Martha Stewart border punch.

Such a sweet image and so much fun to color! Huge thanks going out to my stamping buddy, Angela (Just Monkeying Around), who made my day by surprising me a card kit containing every supply on this card, plus so much more. And if you've ever received one of Angela's kits, you know she is the queen of card kits, always including the finest ingredients and plenty of them!!

Inspiration for this layout came from Midnight Madness sketch #37. Have you seen how they are not only giving previews of the upcoming week for those who like to work ahead, but are also offering a CAS version in addition the more elaborate sketches? Great inspiration and more user friendly, too!

Saturday Spotlight Challenge #15: Let the Sunshine In!

Stamps: Upsy Daisy, French Script, Hero Arts 'Life with Sunshine'. Cardstock: Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, black. Ink: Versafine Onyx, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Apricot Appeal, Really Rust. Accessories: Martha Stewart zig zag border punch, Bazzill black gingham ribbon.

Are you feeling the winter blues? The past week has brought us nothing but fog and drizzle, creating an all-around dreary atmosphere. To brighten the day.....

The Spotlight Divas would like to challenge you to LET THE SUNSHINE IN!! Since we want to be done with all those wild snowflakes from last week, we thought this week we would ask you to get your bright colors or use mostly "yellow" or monochromatic yellow for your creations this week!

(The theme fits perfectly with our sponsor for this week!)


For our Spotlight sponsor this week we have...

(click HERE to go to store.)

For my challenge card, I decided to go literal and use the sun as a focal point. This image panel is inspired by the talented Michelle Zindorf, but there's actually no brayering involved -- it's all sponging! Check out Michelle's tutorial HERE.

Now it's your turn to show us how you Let the Sunshine In! **One lucky winner from our challenge in Mister Linky this week drawn from random.org will receive 3 free images from the store!! How cool is that?!**

Be sure to check out the other Spotlight Diva's sunshine:

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)
Erin (Scrap, Stamp and Be Merry)
Jodi (Inked Inspirations)
Maria (Joyful Stamper)

Wishing you sunny days or at least time to create your own!

Clean and Simple Birthday Wishes

Stamps: Penny Black sentiment. Cardstock: Black, My Mind's Eye 'Party Time'. Ink: Versamark. Accessories: Detail white EP, 1 1/8" circle punch.

One more card to add to my birthday card stockpile! This CAS design was inspired by Tuesday Morning sketch #29. I used the sketch exactly as drawn with no embellishments (not even ribbon!); it's the glitter DP that adds some pizzazz:


It could almost be a masculine card, couldn't it?

Remember to wish big; I'm wishing for the rain and fog to go away! Stay tuned for tomorrow's Saturday Spotlight challenge -- it's sure to brighten your day!!