Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Happy Little Stampers October Sketch Challenge

Hello and Happy October! I'm here with a card I made to jump start the October Sketch Challenge over at Happy Little Stampers.
Here's the sketch


And here's my card

I started with a panel cut from soft sand cardstock using MFT's Blueprints #13. I used WPlus9's Landscape die to cut the grassy hill. I stamped two trees using Stampin' Ups Festival of Trees and added a fox from PTI's Hello Foxy set, colored with copics. The sun and clouds are cut using WPlus9's Sunshine Layers. I cut the clouds out of polka dotted vellum to give them a light and airy look but also add a little texture. The sentiments are a combination from Happy Little Stampers Butterfly Birthday and "foxy" is from the PTI set.

I'll be entering this card into the following challenges:
The Card Concept using Clean and Layered as my design style
Word Art Wednesday
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge
The Male Room

Be sure to hop on over to the Happy Little Stampers blog to see what the others designers have created and join in on the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Shaped Die Cut Boxes with PTI

This week's Make-it Monday comes from Ashley with her shaped die cut boxes... they are incredible cute and fun to make!!

I don't have any large sized shaped dies from PTI that would be conducive to this challenge so I pulled out my trusty Framed Out #12 and it was a perfect fit to go along with MFT's Paper Bag die. The newest Holiday Folk Make It Market Mini Kit made for fun little images. Since there is a window in the die, I used a piece of acetate to cover it so none of the tasty goodies will fall out. I cut the sentiment from Christmas Cheer and embossed it using clear embossing powder and while it was still warm, sprinkled some Martha Stewart glitter on the die cut.
This is what the other side looks like.

While I was making the first box, I happened across the mug in the Candy Cane Christmas set and thought that would make a cute treat bag too.

This time I allowed the white from the bag to show through the window and using the same method as above, I clear embossed the coffee cup and added glitter. Since I love hot peppermint cocoa, I thought a little Hershey's kiss would be a sweet addition.
Here's the other side to that bag

Again, I did the same embossing treatment to the sentiment from Christmas Cheer and added a red punched snowflake with a little gem in the center.
Gosh these were fun to make!! Thanks Ashley for the fun project and thanks to everyone who stops by. Blessings~ Birgit

Friday, September 25, 2015

Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop


I just discovered that the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop started today too, so I went right to work in my craft room and came up with this card to enter into the blog hop. There's nothing like a good cup of coffee except a good cup of coffee while you're blog hopping!


I used my new layered Fancy Tea Cup die from PTI and paired it with the notebook paper. The sentiment is from PTI's Choose Joy. The moment I read it, I knew I wanted to stack some coffee cups up to make a card. The coffee rings were done by smooshing brown ink onto a piece of acetate and spraying it with water. Then I stuck the bottom of my Glossy Accents bottle into the brown ink and stamped it onto the paper. Pretty cool, how it came out!

I'm also entering this card into the Word Art Wednesday Challenge
Simon Says Monday Challenge
CASology ~ Circles

Have fun along the hop! Hope you find lots of coffee inspiration!!
Blessings~ Birgit

Bright Birthday

Just wanted to post a card I made to the Seize The Birthday challenge this week, where it uses die cuts.

I used PTI's Horizontal Sentiment Splits and Doodlie-Do to make this card.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges
Word Art Wednesday Challenge
Simon Says Monday Challenge
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

Thanks so much for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

September Blog Hop with PTI

Good morning!! I'm playing along with PTI for their September Blog Hop.
Here's their sweet inspiration photo

Here's my card

I used Framed Out #12 for the chalkboard frame and stamped a sentiment from Happiness In Bloom in the center and heat embossed it in white. Twig Wreath adorns my chalkboard.
I'm also entering this into the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday
Simon Says Stamp Monday
AAA Cards Challenge

I also wanted to share a couple of necklaces, using vintage images that I made at a recent scrapbooking event I went to.

They were so easy to make and quite fun and addictive.

Have fun along the hop!! Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Make It Monday ~ Two Toned Stamped Sentiments

This week was Danielle's turn to host PTI's Make It Monday and her genius, creative and super fun two toned stamped sentiments is the challenge. You can find all the details HERE. What a fun technique!! I couldn't decide if I wanted to do black and white or use a color so I did both.

I used the biggest word I could find from Big Hugs and used the fruit from Still Life Summer and some flowers from Nostalgic Notions.


For this one I used leaves from Embellished Elegance and Rosie Posie, since I think she's been feeling neglected lately. ;0)
I didn't have the striped cover plate so I cut panels using MFT's Blueprints #13 and cut them into 1/2" strips. Thanks Danielle, for making it doable for those of us who don't own the striped cover plates!!

I'm adding this card to the Word Art Wednesday Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

Thanks so much for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

A CAS Challenge With Marcia

Today I'm posting some cards I made for a CAS challenge with my sweet online friend Marcia. We've been enjoying challenging each other monthly to help each other think outside the box. What fun I've had getting to know her, she's a real treasure and I count myself blessed to call her my friend!!

I used MFT's Inside Out Stitched Squares and the Layered Pumpkin from Kitchen Sink Stamps. The sentiment is from MFT's Primitive Pumpkins.

For this card, I cut the green scalloped rectangle with WPlus9's Sending Sunshine Die. I stamped the sunflower using Kitchen Sinks Layered Sunflower and ran it through the die cutting machine with the mosaic die from PTI's Stamp A Fair kit from last year. The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted, Sunshine & Smiles. The little button and fishtails finish it off.



On the third card, I used the Stitched Interactive Window die from MFT to cut the front panel and stamped just a single pumpkin on the center window from Sunny Studio's, Harvest Happiness. I then stamped the other cute images from the same set and colored them in with my copics.

The last card uses the Layered Carnation from Kitchen Sink Stamps. Are you noticing a pattern going on here? Yes, I've just recently discovered Kitchen Sink Stamps and I am loving them! The detail is amazing, though they take a bit of practice lining the images up properly. Thank goodness for the Misti!!
Anyway that's it for my magic today! Be sure to stop by Marcia's blog and leave her some love too!
One of these cards will be entered into the following challenges
Word Art Wednesday Challenge
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge
Simon Says Monday Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Happy Little Stampers September Blog Hop


Hello stamping friends! Happy Little Stampers is celebrating the first release of their stamps with a blog hop!
Comment on the HLS blog, and then continue on to each designer. You must comment on all the blogs in the hop to be eligible for prizes.

You should have arrived here from Ingrid's blog.
If you got lost, don't despair. Just start back at the Happy Little Stampers blog.
The blog hop will run for one week giving you enough time to hop through and check out what the designers will be creating.
One lucky commenter will win the GRAND PRIZE which includes the whole release! That's four sets of stamps with a value of AUD$69
Four lucky commenters will win a gift certificate to the HLS store!

Now lets get on to the cards...
My first card was created using Bold Birthday Sentiments and Butterfly Birthday.

I started by stamping the "Happy" sentiment in grey using the stamping off technique to achieve a lighter color value and going to the darkest color value by stamping the image full strength. I stamped the focal word using multiple complementing colors and added the word "birthday" over the lighter value "happy". The butterfly from Butterfly Birthday was stamped in black and colored in with Copics using coordinating colors.

Next up is my card using Butterfly Birthday

I stamped the beautiful butterfly image in rainbow colors creating a circle pattern. The sentiment was stamped in a circle die, placed in the center of the butterflies and I added the words "my friend" to the lower right corner to finish this card off. I just love the font used in this set!!

Next up is a card using Big Bold Numbers

These numbers work great when creating a background or use them alone to make a grand statement!

My last two cards use the Mixed Christmas Sentiments.



This is a great collection of holiday sentiments in a variety of wonderful fonts that will suit all your holiday card making needs.

I hope I have inspired you today with my cards. The designers and I have had so much fun playing with these stamps! Next you need to hop on over to Melissa's blog.

Happy little Stampers
Kylie Purtell
Loll Thompson
Linda Walmsley
Leslee Stone-Rasmus
Gail Townsend
Gloria Lee
Ingrid Blackburn
Birgit Norton (That's Me!)
Melissa Lane
Sue Trembeth
Anita Bowden
Carol Steedman
Carol Dunham
Susan Bridgman
Bonnie Klass

Creating A Fall Scene

Good Sunday morning~ I'm popping in to post this card to thePaper Players Challenge to create a fall scene. I couldn't help but turn to the adorable little elephant from WPlus9 to make this fun little fall card. Doesn't everyone have an elephant that loves to play in a pile of leaves?

I used WPlus9's Unforgettable and the leaves are from MFT's Easter Blessings. The dies I used are all from MFT, Blueprints #13, Postage Stax and the banner from Blueprints.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge
Simon Says Monday Challenge

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Creating Along with PTI

It's that time when PTI asks us to Create Along with them in place of Make-It Monday. I went with a card inspired by Betsy Veldman found HERE.

I immediately fell in love with the Holiday Folk Mini Kit and can't wait to add it to my cart. I love everything about this kit!! So for my card, I started with a piece of white linen card stock and inked the edges using Peeled Paint distress ink. The swag at the top and bottom of the panel are stamped using a combination of Embellished Elegance and Oh Tannenbaum and the tree and sentiment is from Oh Tannenbaum as well.
I like how this card turned out but once I get the kit with the background papers, all that work will be done for me and make my holiday card making that much easier. Plus I'll get to play with all those adorable little polar animals. EEEeeep, they're cute!!
I'm adding this card to the Word Art Wednesday Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge using stamping and ink blending as my go to technique.

Thanks so much for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Monday, September 14, 2015

Happy Little Stampers September Sketch Challenge ~ Reminder

Hello friends~ just popping in to remind you of the September Sketch Challenge for Happy Little Stampers.
Here's the sketch


I used PTI's Happy Hexagons to create a random background using some festive fall colors and added the butterfly from Butterfly Birthday from Happy Little Stampers. The sentiment is from the same set.

Be sure to pop over to the Happy Little Stampers blog, as there's still time to join in on the fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Blessings~ Birgit

Friday, September 11, 2015

Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge ~ Colouring

Hello~ I made this card for the Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge where the challenge is "colouring".



My technique is water coloring! I spritzed on some home made glimmer mist using MFT's Harlequin Stencil onto the front of my white cardstock base. The pink scalloped rectangle and the front stamped rectangle is cut using MFT's Blueprints #1. I stamped the flower image from Clearly Besotted Sunshine & Smiles onto the panel and heat embossed it in white and colored it using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens. The sentiment is included in the Sunshine & Smiles set. (I'm really enjoying using the flowers in this set!!) The little ribbon tails and button are also cut using MFT's Blueprints.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday
V's Sweet Ideas
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Thanks so much for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Thursday, September 10, 2015

PTI's Make-It Monday ~ Camouflaged Pocket Inserts

Good morning~ I found time this morning to make a card for PTI's Make-It Monday challenge, where Dawn showed us how to create camouflaged Pocket Inserts. You can find all the details on their blog.

Here's the bookmark out of the pocket

The stamp sets I used were Background Text Style, Petite Pots, Embellished Elegance and Pumpkin Patch.

I'm also entering this into the Word Art Wednesday challenge

Thanks so much for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Playing Along With Merry Monday

I'm back again with a quick post to add these Christmas cards to the challenge going on over at Merry Monday Christmas Challenge, where the theme is holly leaves.



I used some old printed papers from my stash, Clearly Besotted Little Pudding, MFT's Pierced Fishtail Stax, Frames die cuts from Simon Says Stamp and the sentiment is from Just Rite's Christmas Gifts.

I'm also entering one of these cards into the Word Art Wednesday Challenge. It's their 200th challenge and they've got lots of prizes up to give away so be sure to hop on over to their blog and join in on the fun!
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for stamping and die cutting
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Thanks so much for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Sunflowers On Parade

I'm going to a friends summer cottage on an island here in Maine, and I wanted to bring her a hostess gift. She lives very simply and loves flowers so I thought I'd make her a set of note cards using sunflowers as the theme, since it is sunflower season here in Maine. The design is simple and uncluttered and a wee bit vintage.

I dug out all my sunflower stamp images so that each card is the same, but different.
I'll list the sets I used to create these at the end.
This is the burlap bag I made to put the cards in. I stamped the image on a piece of muslin and heat set it with my iron after I was done.
Card #1

Card #2

Card #3

Card #4

Card #5

Card #6

Here is the complete set:

I would like to also bring a loaf of homemade bread, sunflower, if I can find a recipe online. If anyone has one they'd be willing to share, I'd be greatly appreciative!!

I'm also entering one of the cards I made using the Kitchen Sink Stamps into Darnell's challenge for NBUS, since I just got my first order from them. They take a little practice but are really quite cool with all the different colored layers and detail. I'm also entering one of the cards into the Word Art Wednesday Challenge

Thanks so much for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Stamps Used: Kitchen Sink Multi Step Sunflowers, PTI Petite Pots, Simple Sunflowers, Garden Variety, Flower Favorites, Postmarks, Penny Black Petal Power and sentiments from WPlus9's Fresh Cut Flowers.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Making A Scene with NBUS Challenge #5

I'm popping in this morning to share a card that I made using this new window die from MFT Stamps, it qualifies for NBUS! I actually made the card the other day and was going to post it and then Darnell posted her NBUS Challenge #5 so I thought it would be perfect for that as well!



I started by inking the bricks onto a Kraft card base, using a brick stencil from MFT using Fired Brick and Antique Linen Distress Inks. I cut the window using MFT's Window die (NBUS) and put a pie, cut from Quickutz and the smallest pumpkin from MFT's Primitive Pumpkins, to make you think it's a pumpkin pie. Can you smell it fresh out of the oven?
The window ledge is cut using MFT's Easel Die-namics. I cut the trees using PTI's Topiary Trio and a flower in a pot and the bird from PTI's Petite Pots.
A happy little fall scene to send to a friend!

I'm also entering this card into the Word Art Wednesday Thanks so much for looking! Blessings~ Birgit

Friday, September 4, 2015

Artsy Sunflower Collage

Happy Friday paper crafting friends! I wanted to share a card I made using this image I found on Pinterest as inspiration:

It's a piece of canvas wall art but I was inspired to make a card.


I started with a piece of Parchment cardstock and stamped a bacgkround from Heidi Swapp in Antique Linen Distress Ink. I added some script background from PTI. The butterflies are from Crafts Meow Butterfly Kisses. I added a postage stamp and cancellation image from PTI's Postmarks and Just Rite's Greetings from Paris. The sunflower is stamped using Clearly Besotted Sunshine & Smiles (love this flower!) and colored it with my copics and adding gel pen accents.

The sentiment is also from Crafts Meow Friend of Mine and I added some black Wink Of Stella to give it some sparkle.


I distressed the outside edges with more Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.
I haven't done a collage style card in a very long time and am just loving how this turned out.
I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday
The Shabby Tea Room
Simon Says Monday Challenge
Time Out Challenge

Thanks so much for visiting! Blessings~ Birgit