Sunday, December 23, 2012

Winter Wonderland

Love this time of year in Minnesota. We've had a few of those frosty mornings where the beautiful hoarfrost on the trees and every other surface, made me so happy I didn't mind scraping the windows on my car. Living in MN without a garage can be challenging, but I don't mind. My life is too full of blessings to get hung up on a little snow. Besides, snow allows you to create snowmen!

This week at One Stop Crafts we are having a Christmas Carol challenge. Prairie Fairy is our sponsor and provided the DT with some cute images to play with. I used Snow Friends to make an oversized card inspired by Winter Wonderland. I hope you can join us!

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=
My Creation
Image Detail

Ins and Outs ~ Winter Wonderland
Stamps: Prairie Fairy – Snow Friends; Summertime Designs – Wonderland Verse 
Paper: Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses; Bazzil 
Ink: Laser Printer; Copics (BG0000. 45, 49, 72, 75, 79; C00, 3, 5; YR68; E35, 57; RV21, 23, 04, 02)
Accessories: The Paper Studio Rhinestone Stars

Monday, December 10, 2012

Snow Friend Fun

We had our first significant snow fall in Southern Minnesota this weekend. WAHOO! They tried to call it a blizzard, but since the temp stayed around 30F and there was minimal wind, I don't think blizzard qualified. My house got about 11 inches of snow which certainly meant it was time to break out the snowblower. Thankfully Mr. Gears was home for the weekend and took care of the chilly duty. I stayed in my pjs all weekend. :o)

This is my first  creation with a Saturated Canary image and I'm in love! I've been eying the super cute images in blogland for awhile and finally broke down and bought some. They are so sweet and many remind me of Precious Moments. They are our sponsor this week at One Stop Craft Challenge. We'd love to see you play along with our Christmas Friends theme.

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=
My Creation
Image Detail
The color in the picture above is correct, not sure why my other pics got so off in tones.
Inside
Inspiration

Ins and Outs ~Snow Friend Fun
Stamps: Snow Blower (Saturated Canary) 
Paper: SU Whisper White, TPS (Solids and Santa & Friends) 
Ink: Laser Printer, Copics (Hair: R000, 00, 11; Elephant: BG10, 11, 13, 72; Skin: E50, 21, R20; Clothes: R20, 32, 35, 37, 39, 46; Snow and Sky: C00, BG0000); Gelly Roll Clear Star Pen
Accessories: TPS Bling Snowflake

Monday, December 3, 2012

Old World Santa

It's officially December and while I'm typically shoveling snow, today I was wearing sandals. It seems I'm living in the Banana Belt of Minnesota. It's supposed to be nice all week, but back to chilly temps on the weekend. I'll take it. January and February are almost always freezing, so the longer it takes for winter to set in, the better.

Today I have a Christmas card to share with you. This week over at One Stop Craft Challenge Bugaboo is sponsoring us. The DT made some awesome creations with a Christmas Card for a Male theme. I'd love to see you join in the fun!

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=
My Creation

Image Detail

Inspiration

Ins and Outs ~Old World Santa 
Stamps: Old World Santa (Bugaboo) 
Paper: Stamping Up (DSP, Whisper White); Basic Grey 
Ink: Laser Printer; Copics (Tree: YG93, 95, 97, G99. E44, 47; Santa E00, 40, 41, C00, 1; R34, 39, 59) 
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding (SU); SU Crystal Button and Bling; Pop Up Dots; SU Apothecary Die and Piercing Template

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Sassy Christmas

Hello and Happy Sunday! I hope you are soaking up the last bits of the weekend crafting away. I have a bit of a sassy Christmas card to share today. Not the type you'd send Grandma, but our special someone's deserve something a bit spicy and fun every now and then. Kenny K was having a sassy Christmas challenge last week and for some reason I had it in my head that their challenges started on Mondays and ended on Sundays. Nope, I'm a day off. It's kind of fitting as this girl gave me some attitude. I pushed on and was determined to make her work. I'll point out my challenges in the deets below.

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=

My Creation
Image Detail
So here's my girl. Coloring in reds is always a challenge as they are very unforgiving if you go outside the lines or fill a little bit too much. While I was coloring Kitty's hair my Copic took a dump. If you work with Copics you know what I mean. Mid stroke, a giant drop of ink splooshed out. Thankfully it stayed mostly in the hair and I decided I could fussy cut her out to trim off the excess.
 I did some cool shading with her eyes and was in love. I dabbed a bit of Stardust Stickles in her eyes when I highlighted her hair. It was nice sparkle. Then I decided to add glossy accents to her lips and eyes for realistic sheen. What I didn't realize is bubbles formed where the glitter was. Usually I'll just pop the bubbles with a pin but I didn't see these either because of the glitter or maybe because it was about 2 a.m. when I was crafting. As a result, she has very 'cloudy' eyes and the details I'd worked so hard on are pretty much lost. Okay, I can still move on and save her.
 Now to the boots. This was my first attempt at layering glossy accents over glitter. Usually I use one option or the other. I liked the glitter combo I created on the boots with Stickles and a Gelly Roll Stardust pen. I love 'slicking' up Kenny K girl's outfits with glossy accents, especially their boots. After adding the gloss, I went to bed. In the morning I discovered they looked a little different than I expected. Not bad, just different. The gloss settles in between the glitter flakes and created kind of a distressed texture (you can see the pitting on the boot below). I'd been going for a more polished, shiny look and had the happy accident to learn a new way to get a bit grungy. Now to remember that when I want that effect!
Inside

Ins and Outs ~Sassy Christmas
Stamps: Kitty Katastrophe (Kenny K Gothik Angelz) 
Paper: SU Whisper White, Basic Grey (Oliver, Eskimo Kisses); Bazzill; David Tutero 
Ink: Laser Printer; Copics (Clothes: R20, 22, 29, 59, E07; Skin:E0000, 000, 00, 11, R00, W1; Hair:E51, 15, 08, 09; Eyes: BG01, B05) Gelly Roll Stardust Pen 
Accessories: Glossy Accents; Stickles (Stardust, Fruit Punch, Christmas Red); EK Success Photo Labels Punch

Woven ChristmasWreath

Whew, did you survive the holiday weekend? Any super shopping buys? I tried to hold out from going out, but I broke down when I realized the before noon Joann's coupon included the sales and clearance prices. I needed a larger container for my Copics and the bin I thought would work was 50% off plus the additional 25% off my total purchase. It wasn't too crazy and I was able to avoid too much chaos. I'm getting the Copics moved over and  will post a pic of my storage solution once they look all nice and pretty. :o)

This week we are having Vintage Christmas fun over at One Stop Crafts. I don't do vintage very often and was a bit stumped. Then I remembered this cool woven ribbon technique I wanted to try. It looks WAY more difficult than it really is. It reminded me of braiding palms at Easter with my parents. The tricky part is getting started, and then it goes super smoothly. This technique would be cute in pink or blue for a baby card or could be adapted for pretty much anything. A crisp white wreath with silver or gold accents would make a lovely wedding or anniversary card. Anyway, I found some vintagey paper in my stash and pulled this creation together. I hope to see you join us at OSC with your vintage Christmas creations this week.

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=

My Creation
Inside

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

So Grateful Z-Fold

I love this time of year and have enjoyed posting my Thankful Thirty tidbits on Facebook this month. I was inspired after seeing a few others start the posts. I only wish everyone would do so all year long. I have so many blessing in my life I don't know that I'd be able to count them all if I assigned one to each day of the year. I hope you remember to count your blessings today.

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=
My Creation
Image Detail
Inside
Inspiration

Ins and Outs ~So Grateful Z-fold
Stamps:SU Fresh Vintage 
Paper: SU (Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede) 
Ink: SU (Soft Suede, Poppy Parade, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Peach Parfait, Bashful Blue)) 
Accessories: Framelits (Labels Collection)

Thanksgiving Leaf

Happy Thanksgiving Eve to all my readers! Well, at least my US friends who are probably planning their gathering for tomorrow or perhaps the sales on Friday. Mr. Gears and I will be spending the weekend at the circus. It's the annual event and Mr. Gears is excited to break out his grease paint and entertain the kids of all ages. It should be a fabulous time!

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=

My Creation

Ins and Outs ~ Thanksgiving Leaf
Stamps:SU Autumn Leaf Prints 
Paper: SU 
Ink: SU
Accessories: SU 
Techniques: Popping Pastels

Sketchy Christmas

Hello all! I have a quick and simple Christmas card to share with you today. I'm excited to have the long weekend ahead of me. We were let out of work early today and I don't have to go back until Monday. I hope to get lots of projects posted and if I'm lucky a few new cards made.

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=

My Creation
 I added some Dazzling Diamonds as a dusting on my tree.

Inspiration 


Ins and Outs ~Sketchy Christmas
Stamps: Stamping Up Solemn Stillness
 Paper: Stamping Up
 Ink: Stamping Up
Accessories: SU Dazzling Diamonds, 2 way Glue Pen

Monday, November 19, 2012

Butterfly Friend

A quick and easy card to share. I like having this style in my stash for those moments I want to drop a note to someone special. It's not often I don't bulk things up, so this is a refreshing treat for my eyes. :o)

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=


Inspiration 
Oldie But a Goodie Challenge ~ Anything But Christmas Not Christmas with something 6+ months old ~ This is one of the first SU stamp sets I purchased well over 5 years ago.
My Creation
 

Ins and Outs ~Butterfly Friend
Stamps: SU Shapes and Shadows; Word by Word 
Paper: SU (Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow) 
Ink: SU (Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow) 
Accessories: Sheer Ribbon, Gold Marker

Rock On Blues

I started making this card for the Kenny K monotone challenge (last week) but didn't get my final touches on it, nor have the chance to post it until now. Drat. But, I do get to promote our monotone color challenge over at One Stop Crafts this week. :) Making lemonade from lemons. I LOVE Kenny K images and had so much fun coloring up this rocker chick. I played around using greys to make the blue color pop. I'm pretty pleased with my first attempt. What do you think?

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=


Inspiration
My Creation

Image Detail
I colored my girl in Copics and then added sparkle with Stickles and Glossy Accents. I envisioned my Rocker Chick in a latex dress so I used the GA on her dress.
 And some more on her boots and guitar.
 Lots of sparkle and shine.

Ins and Outs ~ Rock on Blues
Stamps: Vicky Lee Vicious (Kenny K Gothik Angelz) 
Paper: SU Whisper White, Basic Grey Oliver 
Ink: Laser Printer; Copics (Clothes: BG0000, 000, 01, 05, 09, 72, 95, C5, 7; Guitar: BG0000, 09, 10; Skin: E00, 11, 50, 53, R20, RV69; Hair: BG000, 72, 96, C5, 7, 9); Gelly Roll Stardust Pen 
Accessories: Glossy Accents; Stickles (Gunmetal, Aqua)

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Sweet Treat Turkey

We were blessed with a STELLAR weather day in southern Minnesota. The temp showed 76F this afternoon, pretty nice for mid November. While we ran errands I saw LOTS of tank tops, shorts and flip flops. Tomorrow may bring out the snow boots and sweatshirts. The cold front is moving in with cool rain right now. We should have normal weather by turkey day.

This week over at One Stop Crafts we are having an Anything Goes challenge! Always a favorite among crafters and my DT friends and I LOVE to see the creations everyone comes up with. Hop on over and share your creation with us.

Thanks for looking! Spicey Cat Chick =^..^=

The candy is crunchy and a nicely crisped turkey gives a yummy crunch. :o)
Eyes, beak, sentiment and M&Ms are lifted
My Creation
Image Detail
Inside
Ins and Outs ~ Sweet Treat Turkey
Stamps: SU Build a Blossom and Teeny Tiny Wishes 
Paper: SU (Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Bright Patterns DSP) 
Ink: SU (Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip) 
Accessories: SU (Heart Treat Cup; Punches – Blossom Petals Builder, Circles, Heart to Heart, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border; Linen Thread)