Sketch 225

Good morning. It is time, once again, for a new Tuesday Morning sketch. This week we are being sponsored by Paper Pretties. Before I get into my card, here is this week's sketch for you to use:

I have used Paper Pretties's "Drummer Boy" image. My card is a white base with a burgundy mat topped with two DPs from My Mind's Eye. I have used a Spellbinder die for the square, and a QuicKutz die for the corner piece. My ribbon should be familiar by now as it seems to be my "go to" ribbon this Christmas. My card does not have the charm on the bow. I have charms, but no Christmas ones that would go with the card (sorry). 

If you have a chance, stop by the Tuesday Morning blog and have a look at the great DT cards this week. We also have a new designer, Kris,  joining our team. I know Kris would appreciate a warm welcome and a little "love," so visit her blog and leave her some warm fuzzies.

Gotta run. Have a great day.

CCC Challenge - Tread Lightly

This week our challenge for you is:

 #101 Tread Lightly - Pastel Colours

We are happy to welcome this week's sponsor ... 

Our sponsor is STAMP ART DESIGN BY KATHRYNE! These images are sure to delight you! Kathryne creates images covering so many themes, and they are so very cute too! You can find SADK designs here in the Whimsy Shop...

Our random prize winner will receive a selection of FIVE IMAGES, of their choice!

I've been a big fan of Kathy's work for some time. In fact, I follow her blog, so I had already drooled over her new Christmas release and had fallen in LUV with that cute little Santa Mouse image and knew that I had to figure out some way to combine our pastel theme with the image. (How did I do?) I do plan on using this image several times, and I am going to color him in traditional colors as well,

I've colored Santa with my Copic markers. I've used DPs from a My Mind's Eye 6 x 6" pad called simply "Merry."  I used a white 6 x 6" card base, pink card for matting, some sheer green ribbon and a few pink pearls. The stamped sentiment was cut with a Spellbinder die. I've kept the card, itself, relatively simple as the image is just TOO, TOO CUTE, and I did not want to distract from it (also to keep postage fairly reasonable - LOL). 

I hope you will play along with us this week at Card Crafter's Circle. I also hope that I've shown that even if you are madly working on your Christmas cards, you can still use our pastel theme!

Challenges:

• Bearly Mine Challenges W, 2E, SIO - #112 Christmas In Pink
• LEJ Designs W, SIO - #79 Seasons Greetings
• Addicted to Stamps and More -  C10 - #71 Anything goes

New Inky Impressions Release

Told you this was a busy week (smile). Inky Impressions has a brand new release with wonderful holiday themed images and sentiments just in time for you to finish off those holiday cards and creations. My card uses two of the new images -- "Caroling Lili" and "Old Lamp Post."

After coloring Lili with Copic markers, I cut the image into an oval shape. I used Spellbinder's Stately Oval for the background on which to mount my image. I colored the lamp post and then used Crystal Effects over the globe. After it was thoroughly dry, I fussy cut the post. The papers I used were from my stash, so no longer have the manufacturer's name to share with you. I've had them for several years. The burgundy card is also from my stash.

I punched holly leaves and white pine sprigs (Martha Steward) on which to lay my white poinsettia. I used red berries and white snowflakes (Michael's Crafts). My little corner pieces were cut using a QuicKutz die, and the oval on which my sentiment is stamped is a Nellie Snellin die.

Please stop over at the Inky Impressions blog to have a look at the lovely cards the rest of the DT have made using the new release. You will also find all the new images in the Inky Impressions online store.

We are offering one lucky, random winner the chance to have ALL of the new images FREE!!  You just have to leave a comment on the Inky blog. No hopping from blog to blog this month. Easy, right?  We will draw the winner at the end of November and post their name on the blog.

The Inkettes have been very busy playing with these super cute new images and sentiments, and loving them!!  You can see their creations, but we would love you to visit their blogs and leave them a comment, so we have hidden one digi on each of the Inkettes blogs!!  They don't know which one they have, but you can have a chance to win it by leaving a comment on their post.  Again we will randomly draw a name from the comments left, at the end of the month.

Challenges:

• Crafty Hazelnut Challenge - Anything Goes for Christmas (11/29)
• 4 Krafty Girlz - 2W E3 Anything Goes (W1 of 2) 
• An Inky Situation - W Any craft style JFF - #17 People
• ABC Christmas - W for Winter Wishes
• Stamping Sensations - Christmas (3 of 3)
• Jingle Belles - Christmas Traditions (caroling)
• Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes

New Birthday Release

This has been a super busy week. In addition to my "regular" DT assignments, I've had two new releases with which to work. This card uses one of the new images from Sami's Stamps. Here is a picture of all the adorable new images in Sami's release:

You are really going to be blown away when you see the beautiful cards the DT have made using this new "party animals" images! These images aren't just for birthdays, either. You will find they work for other occasions as well.

I've used Birthday Surprise and colored it up using Copic markers. The papers are from My Mind's Eye "Madison Avenue" 6 x 6" designer pad. The cardstock used for matting is brown (from my stash). The ecru seam binding ribbon was purchased online. The pearls are by Recollections (Michael's Crafts). The brown circle "doily" was cut using Spellbinder's Stately Circles die, and the image was cut using Spellbinder's basic circle die.

I hope you will take a few minutes to run over to the Sami's Stamps blog and have a look at the gorgeous creations spotlighted there. Also, take a look at the store where the entire new release is available for purchase. You just may find some more beautiful samples from the DT over there. 

Flutter By Oops!

Hello followers. Today is Wednesday, and I have an oops -- it seems I didn't pre-schedule my Flutter By Wednesday blog. I thought I had pre-scheduled all my blogs for the week, but guess not. As a result, I was a little late going live today.

Our challenge this week is OPEN. This means that anything goes as long a you use a butterfly or fairy on your card. Also, if we get over 50 entries, there will be a special prize.

This week I used a sweet image by Mo Manning at Mo's Digital Pencil. I colored her with my Copic markers. Isn't she a beauty? My card base is red with a layer of DP from the Christmas 6 x 6" pad by My Mind's Eye. The green piece that surrounds my little image is the negative piece left from the die I used for my Inky Impressions card. I adhered the scrap piece over the photo to create a frame. Pretty neat, eh?  The snowflakes are from a package I purchased last year from Michael's, and my sentiment is from a little set of stamps I received free with a British stamp magazine I purchased. 

I hope you will join us this week at FBW. We love seeing everyone's beautiful work.

Challenges:

• Twisted Tuesday 2W, must use twist - Theme:  Pop Dots   Twist: Use  Polka Dots (Week 1)
• Cheerful Stamp Pad - 2W, JFF, mixed media - (1st week) Wings
• MarkerPOP Challenge - 2W, 2E, C10, must use Copic or ShinHan markers - (2nd week) Anything Goes with markers
• Squigglefly - W, SIO (SIR to win) - Polka Dots
• Addicted to Stamps Challenge - 2W, Must use stamp- Challenge #69 (1st Week) Punches and dies
• Great Impressions - M, 3E, SIO - (November) (2nd Week) Holiday Card or Tag.
• Scribble and Scrap - 2W, SIO, E3, C15 Challenge #5 (1st Week) Always Anything Goes.
• Stamping Sensations - M, C6, 1E/craft type - (November) (2nd week) Christmas
• Beccy's Place -  Holiday cards (11/29)
• Scrapper's Delight Challenge - Anything Goes (11/29)
• Crafty Hazelnut Challenge - Anything Goes for Christmas (11/29)

Red and Green

It is time, once again, for another Inky Impressions challenge. This week we are asking that you use RED and GREEN on your card -- easy as can be with our holiday crafting in full swing, eh? Remember, you do not have to use an Inky Impressions stamp, but if you do, we will enter your name into the drawing twice. As an incentive to join us, we are offering a prize of 4 digital images, available in our store, for one lucky winner.

As a Mother/Grandmother, I've done my fair share of school and dance holiday programs, so I just couldn't resist using Tu-Tu Cute Lili (think Nutcracker ballet)  for my card this week. I've stamped Miss Lili with Momento ink and colored her with Copic markers.

I've used a white card base, green card and Recollections (Sugar Plums) DP to form the base for my sweet image. I've matted my image with both white and green. I've stamped my sentiment with green ink and cut it using a Spellbinder die. The green dotty circle behind my image was also cut using a Spellbinder die. Because there was so much going on with the graphics on the DPs, I did not add any other embellishments.

I do hope you will have time to join us in this week's challenge. We know the holidays are fast approaching and many of you are busy already with preparations. Because of that, we have tried to make the challenges for the coming weeks easy to fit in with your holiday card making/crafting.

Challenges:

One Stitch At A Time - Holidays 
Artistic Inspirations "Use a Sentiment"
Love to Scrap "Anything Goes"
Auds Sentiments - Feminine (5 entries only)
Di's Digis - Girly
CRAFT - Christmas (5 entries only)
Crimbo Crackers - Christmas Words
Sweet Stampin - Christmas is Coming (2 entries only)
LEJ Designs - Seasons Greetings
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes (2 entries only)

Sketch with a Twist

This is twist week at Tuesday Morning Sketches. That means that not only do we provide you with another fantastic sketch, but we are also asking you to add our twist to your card in order to qualify for our great prize. This week the twist is 'THANK YOU.' Yes, we'd like you to make a thank-you card using our great sketch. You know you are going to need lots of thank you cards for all those goodies Santa is going to bring you (smile).

First, let me share this week's card sketch with you --

For my card, I've used this lovely little image from Tiddly Inks. They definitely are BFFs, don't you think? I've colored the sweet girls with Copic markers. The DPs are from K&Company. The pearls are from Recollections, and the rose is from Wild Orchid Crafts. The butterflies are punched with a Martha Stewart punch.

I don't know about you, but my Muses/Mojo tend to disappear around this time of year. Between the colder temperatures, the shorter days, the holiday preparations, and the general day-to-day stuff, my creativity and imagination starts to wane a bit (OK, a lot).  As the days get shorter (and busier), my projects get simplier -- but I don't want to not do anything. Having great sketches, such as those from Tuesday Morning Sketches, is a great help in keeping my fingers in the creative pie. If you aren't already, consider becoming a blog follower so you can automatically get new sketches week after week, and we'd love to have you join in our challenges whenever you can.