Picture Perfect with Paper Smooches

 

Yesterday was such an exciting day for me. I was dubbed a "Pro Stamper" over at the Paper Smooches blog. I was so pumped I immediately broke out a new set I have called Little Fella. I just love all of the boy themed images and I have been really trying to work on the boyish cards and scrapbook pages. this next challenge at Paper Smooches is a photo inspiration.

I loved the graphic orange and white print on the headboard in the photo. So used a die to cut out the orange circles and laid them on a white background. I wanted to keep it fairly simple so I pulled in the gray by punching out several stars and layering them until they looked like a sunburst. Then I trimmed my little monster guy leaving an edge this time . Before finishing I decided I needed to repeat the blue color in the monster's eyes so I added a couple of piece of washi tape.

 Here's a little close up on the layers.

Paper Smooches color challenge

 I couldn't get enough of this stamp set so I thought I'd try another Paper Smooches challenge this week. I have A LOT of birthday cards to make right now. So another Birthday card it became.  Here is the color palate that the crew at Paper Smooches came up with.

I pulled out some card stock from my SU stash: Pool Party, Melon Mambo, Pacific Point and Going Gray (retired).  Then looking at the stamps I had to work with I decided that the Hippo was definitely the one I needed to work with. I stamped it on the Going Gray cs and then shaded and colored with my Spectrum noir markers and used my Uniball Signo white gel pen to brighten up the teeth and toes. The balloons are just 3/4" circles that I punched out of the above card stocks and shaded with my markers and the banner is stamped straight onto the Pool Party cs. I couldn't quite get that to come out in the picture as well as it looks in person. Anyway it was fun to pray around with and I'm looking forward to see what's up next.

MWM Jade 7

I was so excited that I finally got another sketch finished from the MWM series at ScrapbookSteals. It's been a while. I blame the holidays and travel. I altered the sketch just slightly. I made it fit two vertical photos instead of one horizontal photo but that is it.

Almost everything I used here was papers from the October Afternoon line Midway. I only bought the 8x8 paper pack but by cutting apart the papers you can really do a lot with it. I added some Studio calico wood elements and a tin pin from October Afternoon 5 & dime collection. I'm really happy with the bight colors and the fun embellishments I was able to use on this page.

Paper Girls Challenge #24: Wood elements

I was really excited to break out some wood elements for this challenge at Papergirls Challenge. I think I might have gone a little overboard. Maybe. All of the papers and embellishments are from Studio Calico Heyday. I think the only thing I pulled from somewhere else was the wood veneer arrow but that is Studio Calico also. At first glance this kit looks kinda girly to me but I think I did a pretty good job making a masculine page for my son. If I sound a little too pleased with myself - sorry, I just have a hard time doing stuff for my son who is almost a teenager. He loved the mustache I put on the balloon so I think it's a win!

Side note: I made a pocket on the right side of the page so I could make a place to pull out the journaling since I couldn't decide where to write.

Head on over to Paper Girls Challenge blog to see the other creations by my team members and also find the place to link up your own projects. Keep your eye out for some extra posts coming up on the blog. We are nearing our first anniversary and you don't want to miss what we have in store for you!

Paper Smooches Designer Drafts Challenge

Here's another challenge card for you. I've been dying to use my new Paper Smooches stamp set Zoo Crew. Thankfully a friend of mine pointed me to the Drafting challenge at the Paper Smooches Sparks blog this week which is a card sketch.

A simple sketch and so many possibilities! Since the alligator is my very favorite animal in the set I had to use him first. I paired him with some American Crafts Soho Garden paper. I had to stamp some of the leaves on the newsprint paper and then color them in. I masked off the eyes, tooth, spots and stomach on the little gator and spritzed Mr Huey's leaf green. The rest was colored in with a mix of Copic markers and Spectrum Noir markers.

New Challenge blog

There's a new challenge blog out called Pinspired. The idea is that the provide an image for inspiration and you make something that shows your interpretation.  I thought I'd give it a try. Let's see if I can keep up with all of the challenges I intend to go out for in the coming months. But don't we all get ambitious at the beginning of the year? ;) I really hope I can keep it up.

 I made this card based off the above inspiration picture they provided, I decided to go with the circle element and birthday theme. I needed to make a birthday card for a dear friend and she's a big fan of the color coral. I colored this cute little fox, masked him and spritzed the background with Mr Huey's in Piglet and then again is Blizzard (it's a shimmery iridescent spritz). Next I punched random circles out of the wood grain paper and filled in with washi tape from behind. Most of the washi is Teresa Collins. I taped the diagonal turquoise washi on turquoise paper and then stamped the sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

The other stuff I've been working on is trying to reorganize the whole house and get ready to put wood floors in my living room. So yeah. Good luck right?

Anyway I'm excited to see what other challenges they come up with over at the Pinspired blog. I will definitely be checking in to see what's next.

Paper Girls Challenge #23: Ledger Paper

Charity chose Ledger Paper for our challenge at PGCB this round. I have so many kits that have ledger paper in them that this was super easy to do. I was thinking it's high time to use some of my Amy Tangerine Sketchbook again so I pulled some of the papers that would go well with these pictures from Halloween I wanted to scrapbook. My daughter drew a picture about the cartoon characters that my family dressed up as so I took a picture of her drawing so I could incorporate it into my layout.  The doodle on the notebook paper is actually printed on the paper so I just colored it in with some of my Stampin' up markers and sponged some of the colors in for a softer look.

Now let's see what you come up with! Head on over to The Paper Girls Challenge blog to load up your entry. The deadline for entries is midnight January19th.

Blog Hop with Kiwi Lane Designs

 

Blog Hop!!

 You should be coming from the Kiwi Lane blog, if not make sure you start from there.

Today I bring to you a little blog hop with the fabulous Kiwi Lane templates. I was thrilled to join in on the fun this weekend. These templates store very compactly and they fit in my crop bag a lot easier than a Cricut or a Silhouette cameo - as nice as electronic cutting machines can be! There are so many choices in their online store but remember one random winner from one of the 7 blogs (including the Kiwi Lane blog), will be given a $25 gift certificate to the Kiwi Lane Shop, for leaving a comment.

 I was lucky enough to work with the Spook Alley templates. One of the designs in this template is a zig zag shape that I just knew I would use to make some awesome chevron strips with. I have to say these were the easiest chevrons I've made all year! All you do is trace, and cut with some nice sharp scissors. That's it. If you aren't confident in your scissor cutting skills just smooth out any imperfections with a sanding block. I also used the Nature templates to cut out the flower shape on the left side of the page. I took a close up to show how you can layer up the cut outs to add dimension and texture to your page.

I couldn't stop a just one project. I had this image of waves and a cute little whale from one of my stamp sets. Before cutting out I traced with white gel pen the wavy lines from the Spook Alley templates onto various shades of blue card stock. Then I layered them up until I got the look I was envisioning. Next up is Misty Buck I'm sure you will love her fabulous creations.

Here's the blog hop order. Don't forget to comment on all seven blogs.

1. Kiwi Lane http://kiwilane.com/here/blog/
2. Erica Bass http://stampingstarlette.blogspot.com << You are Here
3. Misty Buck http://mistylynnwhat.blogspot.com  >>Go Here Next
4. Megan Klauer http://meganklauerdesign.blogspot.com/
5. Penny Smith http://www.pennysmithdesigns.blogspot.com/
6. Mandy Kay Starner http://www.heyheymandykay.com/
7. Shelley Haganman http://www.scrappergirl.typepad.com

For more ideas with the Kiwi Lane Designs templates check out the blog at Scrapbook Steals today. They are having another blog hop featuring the templates and also selling the templates at a irrestable price.