Limelight Sketch Challenge and Shimmerz Newz!

Happy Sunday! I can't believe the long holiday weekend is almost over. The time just flies! We had a good one here, got a lot done around the house but still had time for family and fun {and even some stamping!}. Sorry for the not-so-great photo, we are having a very overcast and snowy day here today so not a lot of luck taking good pictures. If you click it you'll get the larger version which should show a little more detail.

I made this card for the Limelight Papercratfs challenge for this weekend - it's a Six Chicks sketch challenge! Here's the sketch {LLPC009}:

You were also supposed to use some black products in honor of Black Friday. I DESPERATELY want some of the Core'dinations Black Magic cardstock, but I haven't gotten any yet {haven't done the Christmas shopping for myself yet, LOL!}. So I just used plain ole' black cardstock, black ink, and actually it's hard {very hard!} to see from this photo but the long skinny panel underneath is actually black cardstock that I did the Opalite Smoosh technique from Technique Junkies on using Green, Silver and Rose colored Opalite inks. That's where I pulled the color combo from, but unfortunately I ended up covering most of that panel up! It is really pretty and shimmery in real life though.

All of my stamps are from Prickley Pear. I just love this sentiment. Every time I see it it makes me giggle. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the holidays and we are making sure to have some of our family traditions passed down for our boys, etc., but it's still funny! After my DH saw this card, he proclaimed it to be the "anti-Christmas card". heehee. Well, he should know...

After I stamped the ornaments I painted them with Pink Poinsettia Shimmerz Blingz and Silver Bells Shimmerz. Did you know you can now buy Shimmerz directly from Shimmerz? Never a color out of stock! They are having a Grand Opening/Black Friday sale too - it's a heck of a deal. Check it out.

Supplies, etc.: Stamps from Prickley Pear. Palette Noir and New Canvas ink. Sage Shadow, Brushed Silver, GP 110# White, Basic Black and Rose Red cardstock. Pink Poinsettia Shimmerz Blingz and Silver Bells Shimmerz, silver cord {retired from SU}, dimensionals, Opalite reinkers for Opalite Smoosh background piece.

Have You Hugged a Snowman Today?

Isn't this little girl the CUTEST?!? She is my absolute favorite image from Lilac City Designs. She just makes me smile, she's so adorable and that snowman - love!! I chose the colors based on this pretty patterned paper that I wanted to use. Once I stamped her with Palette Noir ink, I colored the image in with colored pencils and Gamsol. I used my Quickie Glue pen to glitter the snowman with Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and then I flocked the snow underneath him with white flock, as well as the brim of her hat and her little hat puff ball. Double ribbon in coordinating colors and a few dimensionals finish it all off.

Thanks for stopping by today - did anyone brave the crowds to get some deals? Do tell! I did a little bit of online purchasing but not too much. We don't need a lot right now which is good! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday weekend!

Bellis Gone By

Wednesday again and time for the Belli Challenge! With the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow many of the designers wanted to take the week off. So Chris decided to take this opportunity to celebrate Bellis Gone By! This week's Belli Challenge is to make a project using WHICHEVER past Belli Challenge you want! I chose #31, Baubles and Bling. I just LOVE these glittery brads! I also used SC196 from Splitcoast for the layout.

All you need to do is make a completed project embellishing your work with the Belli of your choice. Share the link here in the comments linking to Chris's Blog and uploading to Splitcoast with CBCxx {where the xx is the number of the Belli Challenge you chose to do; no spaces}. Chris will do a random drawing for all participants and have a special pack of assorted Designer Papers for the winner! Be sure to visit the other Belli Girls for more inspiration {links on the left sidebar}.

Here is the list of Bellis Gone By - I can't believe we're past 40 already!

1 BEADS
2 RUB ONS
3 BUTTONS
4 WHEEL
5 CHIPBOARD
6 {SOMEHOW SKIPPED THIS NUMBER}
7 HARDWARE
8 FLOWERS
9 GLITTER
10 CHALKS
11EMBOSSING POWDER
12 SCRAPS
13 UFOS
14 RIBBON
15 PENCILS
16 EYELETS
17 DIE CUTS
18 PAPER PIERCING
19 WHITE GEL PEN
20 MULBERRY PAPER
21 VELLUM
22 PAPER BAGS
23 DESIGNER PAPER
24 CIRCLES
25 ENVELOPES
26 FELT
27 BIRTHDAY
28 CONTAINERS
29 SCALLOPS
30 COASTERS
31 BAUBLES & BLING
32 BACK TO SCHOOL
33 FIBERS
34 SQUARE
35 METAL EDGE TAGS OR FAUX METAL
36 LEAVES
37 PAINT
38 CLIPS
39 PEARLS
40 THANKSGIVING
41 TABLE DECORATIONS
42 GIFT TAGS
43 CORD

Blog Challenge Candy Winner!

I forgot to post my Candy Winner! Whoops! Time got a little ahed of me there, but this morning I put the entrants names into a big cup and DS #1 chose the winner - Kisa! I'll send you a little goodie bag from me, thanks for playing along on the Queen Kat birthday blog hop.

Back later with a card for today, I've gotta get on the other computer for that!

Glittery Ornament Tag Card

TGIF! Another week has flown by! Today I wanted to share this glittery ornament tag card I made using one of the great transparency tags from Prickley Pear. The tags coordinate with some of the rubber stamp designs, giving you all kinds of flexibility in your paper craft creations.

For this one, I glittered the back of the tag using glue and some of my {wide varitey of} glitter colors. I mounted it on white so the sparkle would show through. Click the photo for the giant view - you can *definitely* see the all the glittery goodness there!

Next, I cut a bunch of long rectangles from my nestabilities and alternated layering and using dimensionals. I Cuttlebugged the red background piece and then double-mounted it onto the card base. To finish it off I used double-layer ribbon in coordinating colors and a little glittery brad at the top of the tag. Easy peasy and no stamping required {although I *could* have as the matching stamp for this tag is FABULOUS!}. The colors are So Saffron, Sage Shadow and Real Red.

ALSO, for those who live in the Madison area, tomorrow is the One of a Kind Stamp & Scrapbook Expo!!!! {Probably, you knew that already, it's big news!}. Well I will be there, and I will be helping Nicole in the Prickley Pear booth and also demo'ing the Radient Rain sprays and daubers. So if you come to the show, stop by to say "Hi!" and also check out the booth, I am just in love with so many of the Prickley Pear stamps - I'm sure you'll love them too! For everyone else, you can still shop online - PHEW!!

Chin Up - Shimmerz Style!

Aahh...snowmen. They are among my favorite winter stamp images, SO cute! This one is from Firecracker Designs by Pamela - the Chin Up snowman. He is one of my favorites! I thought I'd share him today because we had some snowflakes drifting down this morning when I woke up - nothing that reached the ground, but it's definitely a snowflake kinda day here!

I stamped him in Palette Noir and colored with Copic markers. Then I painted the whole thing with Shimmerz. Then I stamped him again, colored and cut out his scarf and popped it up on dimensionals. (Shimmerz'd that too). I brushed Silver Bells Shimmerz directly onto the snowflake stamp and randomly stamped them behind him. If you click the image to get the giganormous version, you can SOOOO see that Shimmer(z)!

The main image panel is on dimensionals too. Red rhinestones in the corners for extra bling, double ribbon behind and viola! Easy peasy!

Bling It On - A Challenge and a Belli and Some Candy Too!

Bling It On, birthday style! Here you all are at my stop on today's blog hop, are you feeling the excitement? As my frequent readers know, I must have been a magpie in a former life; my most favorite things in papercrafting are those that SPARKLE - glitter, rhinestones, Shimmerz...anything to give that touch of bling. So show me YOUR bling on any type of paper creation and you could WIN! It's that shiny, glittery easy!

I combined my challenge to you with a challenge to ME - Chris' weekly emBELLIshment challenge. This week is Belli #43 is for CORD! You can visit Chris's blog for more details and to link up your creations for a chance to win a prize! The rest of the Belli DT has inspiration for you too, and their blog links are in my left sidebar. The sketch is MOJO61 from Julee's Poetic Artistry blog.

So for the QKD Blog Hop Challenge and your chance to WIN BIG PRIZES......You have until midnight PST on Friday, November 21st to post the link to your creation to THIS POST to get your name in the drawing for one of the awesome Queen Kat birthday presents! {That's 2 AM Saturday, CST}. If you use QKD stamps on your project, you get to enter twice! For every blog challenge you do, you'll get one entry, so start hoppin'.

For my bling, I used two types of glittery paper of this card, I after I colored my cute little cootie I went over him with a glitter pen, and my shiny metal dots and cord round out my urge to sparkle for today! You can see all the glitz and glimmer if you click the photo to see the LARGE view {and it is way large, LOL}.

Oh, I almost forgot, and this is important!! In addition to getting an entry into the QKD big prize packages, when completing my challenge you will also get a chance to win some rockin' BLOG CANDY from ME!! I will draw one random winner from those participating in my Bling it On challenge to win a little prize package - some ribbon, flowers, bling, patterned paper, and the October issue of Paper Crafts magazine. I don't have a photo because I'll just grab some of everything and throw it in. The more people who participate, the more I'll throw in! So link up!

See the post below this one for full blog hop schedule, and be sure to check out what Queen Kat Vicki herself has in store for you in your next stop - click here.

Today's QKD Blog Hop Schedule

It's finally here! Today is the Queen Kat Designs Birthday Blog Hop with the Royal Court! Below is the schedule of where we will be all day. All times I have listed here are in CST {since that's where I am of course!}.

8 AM - 9 AM: QKD Blog - Kick Off
9 AM - 10 AM: Heather
10 AM - 11 AM: Maria
11 AM - 1 PM: Jennifer
1 PM - 2 PM: Vicki
2 PM - 3 PM: Penny
3 PM - 4 PM: SG
4 PM - 5 PM: Cheryl
5 PM - 6 PM: SJ
6 PM - 7 PM: Taylor
7 PM - 8 PM: Jessica
8 PM - 9 PM: Lara
9 PM - 10 PM: Nikki
10 PM - 11 PM: Jules
11 PM - 12 AM: QKD Blog - Ending

You will have until 2 AM Central Time on Thursday {that's Midnight Pacific} to enter all question challenges and games. You will have until midnight PST on Friday, November 21st to enter all creative challenges that you actually have to create something for.

How do you win?

Everyone who enters one of the Royal Court blog hop games or challenges will have their name entered into a drawing for a prize. If you use QKD stamps on any of your challenge projects you'll get a double entry. We have several prizes to give out. All winners will be announced at the QKD blog on November 22nd. Winners will have until November 26th to claim their prizes.

QKD Birthday Week!

That birthday party I've been telling you about is well under way! SheetLoad of Cards and 2 Sketches 4 You both have sketches and challenges with great prizes sponsered by Queen Kat Designs starting TODAY. Don't forget the Stamp Something blog already has their sketch up. All three blogs will have QKD blog candy up for grabs for participating!

On Wednesday, the QKD Royal Court will be having a blog hop, so please check back then and join us for some fun challenges and even more prizes!

Here's my card for the Sheetload sketch to get you thinkin' about stampin'...

A New Prickley Pear Girl!

Sheesh, I can't believe I forgot to post this last week. Nicole has added a new Prickley Pear Girl to the team and she is AMAZING. The lovely and talented Sally Lynn MacDonald has joined our group and I can't wait to see what she comes up with! Visit her blog and say hi when you get time! I also added her blog to the PPRS group in my left sidebar.

Speaking of Prickley Pear, how about some project inspiration? I love love this little penguin, he's so adorable. I made this awhile ago, I used Beate's WSC60 (see, awhile ago!) for the sketch. Thanks for stopping by today!

Queen Kat's Birthday Celebration - Starts Monday

Next week Queen Kat Designs is celebrating their 2nd birthday and there will be tons of fun challenges to celebrate!

Queen Kat Designs will be the featured company on 3 different challenge blogs - Stamp Something {started yesterday, see the next post down}, SheetLoad of Cards and 2 Sketches 4 You {both of these start Monday}. All three blogs will have QKD blog candy up for grabs for participating!

On Wednesday, the QKD Royal Court will be having a blog hop, so please check back then and join us for some fun challenges and even more prizes!

WOW, a busy week! Well, until then, here's a little QKD art to tide you over - another project using "Build a Sweet". I really had fun creating with this set! This card was made for yesterday's Limited Supply Challenge over on Splitcoast - LSC194, All Acrylic!

Stamp Something Friday!

TGIF! Can you believe the week is gone already? I've been busy working with Vicki and the other members of the Royal Court preparing for the Queen Kat Designs second birthday party! That's right, on Wednesday November 19th Queen Kat Designs is turning two! There are LOTS of things planned for the celebration, so be sure to check the store blog often next week for your chances to win!

But like I said...TGIF!! For *you* that is! The kick off for the birthday celebration begins TODAY as QKD is sponsering this week's challenge over on the Stamp Something Challenge Blog. It's a sketch challenge with a BIG prize package. The sketch is below, along with my sample. Click the link for more details, and be sure to check out the samples made by the QKD Royal Court as well as the Stamp Something Design Team!

Go on and Stamp Something!

Hope Card

Well, it is official that winter has arrived here in Wisconsin. Baby, it's COLD outside! LOL. But since I'm still in denial, I am holding back on the snowman and winter cards for another couple of days and sharing this card instead.

This layout is from the September Verve Stamps OSW template. Yeah, this card has been sitting around for awhile. Although since I didn't have as much blogging time the last couple months, it means I do have a few cards in the queue to post - so I've got that going for me! Ha!

All stampshere are from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. I am really liking the look of focusing on the quotes or sentiments on cards - and they can be used for just about anything! I have so many great word stamps - quotes especially - from many different companies. I buy them because I just love them, and then don't use them because I can't find space on the card front for them. PROBLEM SOLVED! I am pleased with how this card turned out, and it's quick on the main image - no coloring required! *smile*

Happy Birthday to ME!

Wow - I can't it's that time of year again already! We have a very full fall with both the kids' birthdays, our wedding anniversary, my birthday, plus all the holidays as well. It officially kicked off last month with my DS #1's birthday (the only one that really matters...just ask him), and we've fast-forwarded to mine already somehow! So anyway, here's the card I made for myself....

Hahaha, not really. It's just another fun sample I made with my Build a Sweet stamp set from Queen Kat Designs. But since it has a birthday sentiment on it, I thought it fitting to post it today for your viewing pleasure.

The color scheme is from CC189 over on Splitcoast - Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip and Pink Pirouette. The paper is Basic Grey's Lily Kate, which went astonishingly well with this color combo. I think it's definitely one I'll use again. After I stamped the sentiment in Brilliance ink I added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter over the top for some extra bling (and because I was too lazy to wait for the ink to dry!). Colored the main image with colored pencils and gamsol.

Thanks for the visit! Hope you all have a great week!

Queen Kat Designs - Release Party TONIGHT!

Queen Kat Designs is having an online release party TONIGHT at the newest online hangout - Papercraft Planet. If you haven't joined yet, you MUST! The fun starts at 7 pm MST {6 pm PST, 9 pm EST, 8 pm CST} in the QKD Group {<---click}. Come and party like royalty!

Shimmerzy Ice Cream

How about something Shimmerzy to look at this evening? *g* I have had a lot of fun with this Build a Sweet stamp set from Queen Kat Designs in the last couple of weeks! This one uses the ice cream cone base and one of the toppers. I painted the entire image with different colors of Shimmerz Paints. I knew I wanted to use a hodgepodge frame for the sentiment (it's a rub on!!), but I only had the piece in vanilla, so I sponged and distressed it with a rose colored Palette ink, along with some Timber Brown StazOn. Once I had that ready I punched some shape layers to fit inside and added some matching ribbon.

Fun and easy and MAN does it sparkle. I am in desperate need of birthday cards so you'll be seeing more of them in the coming weeks as I try to catch up!

QKD Release Party - THIS Saturday

Queen Kat Designs is having an online release party at the newest online hangout - Papercraft Planet. If you haven't joined yet, you MUST! Once you do, add me as a friend so I know you're there - Jennifer Greco.

The release party is scheduled for Saturday night {November 8th} in the QKD Group {click}. The fun starts at 7 pm MST {6 pm PST, 9 pm EST, 8 pm CST}. Come and party!

New Coupons!

Here's the latest 40% off coupon for JoAnn Stores - good through November 15th. Shop on!

Friends and Family sale at JoAnn - 15% off everything November 7 through 9.

Also from Archiver's until December 1st - $3 off $15.

Cupcakes on my Mind

I don't know about everyone out there in blogger-ville, but I can NOT believe it's November 1st already. Where oh where has the time gone? BUT, at least it's Saturday right? How about somethin' fun to see {look up}. heh heh.

Made this card earlier in the week using the current Splitcoast Color Challenge {CC190} of Pixie Pink, Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss. Bright! Normally I am a bright-colors challenged kinda stamper, but this color combo sang to me with these awesome new stamps I got from Queen Kat Designs. It's called "Build a Sweet" - how fun is that?!

Colored that yummy cupcake with colored pencils and gamsol, added in some white gel pen spots, lots of dimensionals, and I FINALLY found a use for those metal dots I got at the JoAnn $1 Spot oh-so-long ago since they match perfectly....that's a victory right there!

Happy weekend to you all - it's 60 degrees here {on NOVEMBER FIRST} and that's the biggest miracle I've seen in awhile!