Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Top Ten Blog Hop & a Giveaway!

*** Drawing for Doodlebug Doily Prize is closed ***
Winner is:
 
It's hard to pick a favorite, but I love the Sweet 16 Birthday Card! I'm following your blog.(clayandamy@sbcglobal.net)
 
___________________________________________________________________________

 
 Welcome to my stop on the Top Ten Blog Hop! 
 
 
 I'm so excited that you stopped by!  If you have come here first, let me explain what's happening.  There are 24 designers in this hop, each of us posting our top ten favorite projects of 2014...tons of inspiration!  In addition, many of the designers have giveaways planned (including me, see below), AND there is a Grand Giveaway as well... a $75 gift certificate to Paper Issues!  For every Top Ten Blog Hop blog you comment on, you will receive one entry for the Paper Issues Gift Card...that's up, to 24 entries!  Make sure to stop by all the blogs to increase your chances of winning, you have until January 4th!
 
1)  Now for my projects, honestly I had a tough time picking just 10!  But here we go... (not in any particular order...) This first layout is of my daughter and her friends all dressed up for their Homecoming Dance.
 
  Creative Scrappers Sketch 263 Reveal featuring Elle's Studio Love You more collection.
 
2)   I created this card for Doodlebug Design...click on the link below the picture to get the free cut file.
 
 Doodlebug Design Sugar Shoppe Project featuring Doodlebug Design Sugar Shoppe
 
3)  These flowers were a labor of love...I created them using a cut file designed by Jamie Cripps.
 
 Paper Issues:  Mum's The Word  made from various Doodlebug Papers including Tiny Prints and Sprinkles Vellum.
 
4)  This layout features one of my sweet Fuzzbutts, Rosie.  I am a crazy cat lady, and I'm ok with that.
 
 
Creative Scrappers Sketch 268 featuring some Simple Stories Snap! Cat Collection
 
5)  Here is another project I created for Doodlebug.  That is me, a VERY long time ago camping with my family.  Click on the link to get the free cut file for the grid.
 
Doodlebug Design Happy Camper Layout featuring some Doodlebug Happy Camper Collection.
 
6)  The layout below features my daughter and her cousins...this is what happens when you leave your phone unattended!

Creative Sketches Book V3 using Echo Park's Creative Agenda line.
 
7)  These pictures are from 2002, when my daughter thought raking was fun....

 Paper Issues:  Woodn't You Know it's Fall created using Doodlebug Design's Friendly Forest.
 
8)  Another fun afternoon with my daughter and her cousins!  I'm so happy they love to spend time together!
 
 Paper Issues:  Die Cutting Saturday featuring Fancy Pants True Friend.
 
9) More cat pictures.... both my girls relaxing under the Christmas tree....

 Paper Issues & PageMaps Team Up using Santa Express from Doodelbug Design.
 
10) And finally, I love the little lopsided Doodlebug Snowmen....I used a cut file by Lori Whitlock to piece together this fun card!

Paper Issues Pinspire Me Monday using some Doodlebug Cardstock, Sprinkles Vellum & goodies from the Frosty Friends collection.
 
And now, for my giveaway, I'd like to give one lucky visitor three of each of the Doodlebug Doilies (24 Different colors/prints) !  That's 72 doilies in all!  First, follow my blog (links on right column).  Next, leave a comment letting me know that you followed and which project you liked best.  Don't forget to leave me an email as well so I can contact you if you win!  This giveaway is open worldwide, and I'll pick the winner on January 5th. This comment will also count for the grand giveaway! 
 

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas!!!

Just a quick post to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy and Healthy New Year!! 
 
 
I hope you are able to enjoy some time with family & friends!
 

Monday, December 22, 2014

Paper Issues: Making it Merry

Hi Everyone!  It's time for a new Issue at Paper Issues..."Making it Merry!" sponsored by Gossamer Blue .  We're looking for projects that celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.  Show us your Handmade gifts, ornaments, holiday décor, holiday traditions, holiday menu, traditional foods, decorating the tree, lighting the menorah/kinara, cookie baking, gingerbread houses, things that make you happy! And of course, any project using Gossamer Blue products!  We got to play with some Gossamer Blue Get Happy Collection...here's what I created:
 
 
I love this picture of my daughter and her gymnastics friends from last year!  It was nice to see the girls all dressed up, we're used to seeing them in the gym!

 
I loved the wood veneer shapes in this collection!!  The paper colors and patterns were also a lot of fun!


 
Make sure to link up your projects to the Making it Merry Issue, You could win the December main kit from Gossamer Blue!  It's full of all sorts of scrappy goodness!!!
 
 
And stop by the Paper Issues Store to get some Gossamer Blue Goodies!  Use code KATHYS and get 20% off your whole order!  That's it for me today, I hope you have and amazing holiday season!  Thanks for stopping by!
 


Monday, December 15, 2014

Toni From Designs: Mischief Under the Tree

Hi Everyone, I have a fun layout today featuring the Snarky Christmas Flair Set from Toni From Designs.  This set is perfect for these pictures of my "naughty" kitty Daisy playing under the Christmas Tree.  They coordinated perfectly with the Oh Deer! Collection from Fancy Pants Designs.  I also used the Fancy Pants December Sketch.
 
 
Here's a peek at the entire set, I'm sure just about everyone can relate to these!
 
 
And here are some close-ups...

 

 Make sure to stop by Toni's Etsy Shop to pick up Snarky Christmas and the other Holiday sets. Use code KATHYSKOU and receive 10% off your order of $10 or more!  That's it for me today, I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday season!  That's it for me today, thanks so much for stopping by!
 

Paper Issues: Pinspire Me Monday

It's Pinspire me day over on the Paper Issues Blog today!  Shannon Morgan put together this fabulous Pinspiration board to jump start our creativity!!
 
 
I, of course, can not resist a snowman...so I combined some of my favorite things....a fun shadowbox card by Lori Whitlock from the Silhouette Store (here) and some Frosty Friends goodies from Doodlebug Design!


I changed Lori's design slightly.  First I used one of the patterned papers from Frosty Friends for my background, and in place of her adorable snowman, I added one of the Doodlebug Snowmen from the Mix and Match Snowman Craft Kit.  Best of all, this card folds flat so I can send it off to a friend!  Make sure to stop by the Paper Issues Blog to see the other pinspired projects!  If you create something using this board, make sure to show it to us on the Paper Issues Facebook Page!  That's it for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Paper Issues: What the #@!$%& Issue

Today's layout was created for the What the #@!$%& Issue over at Paper Issues, sponsored by Feed Your Craft. We're looking for projects that incorporate punctuation, office supplies, speech bubbles, journaling, and the like! For my layout, I used an ampersand in my title.  Take a peek...

 
I love this picture of my daughter and her friends...they all were just inducted to the National Honor Society...thus my title!!  I mixed some fun Teresa Collins Something Wonderful collection with some gold papers and tapes from Stampin' Up.

 
I also added some gold stitching.
 

Link up your projects here and you could win three sets of flair from Feed Your Craft!  That's it for me today, thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Lori Whitlock: December Creative Team Blog Hop

 
 
Welcome to the December Lori Whitlock Creative Team Blog Hop!  I'm so excited for my first post as a CT member!  You should have arrived here from Traci's blog.  If you're starting here, be sure to head over Lori's site to start from the beginning.  You can also find out how you can get this fun freebie and enter to win a $15 Gift Card to Lori's SVG Shop!

 
I have a fun gift card holder for you today that I created using some Frosty Friends from Doodlebug Design.  I've started doing this each year for my teenage daughter.  I fill it with a few gift cards from her favorite places (restaurants, movies, retail stores).  It's a big hit!
 
 
I started with the 4x6 Horizontal Pocket Mini Album which I re-sized to be 3x5 to accommodate the smaller size of the gift cards.  I then used the Snowman Set and Christmas Icons to decorate the cover and the inside pages.

 
 I used the un-tabbed divider in the set as a card holder.  I simply added a couple of cut lines to hold the corners of the gift cards.  They fit nicely in the pockets!
 
 
And here are the other pages...






 
I haven't filled it yet, but I'm working on it!  Now is a great time to stock up on files!  Lori is having a sale on her SVG files. 


 
You can also save on digital files at Snap Click Supply. 

 

 
That's it for me!  Your next stop on the blog hop is Cathy!  Thanks for stopping by!
 


Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Paper Issues & Pagemaps Team Up!

A few ladies from the Paper Issues Creative Team have teamed up with Becky Fleck and PageMaps for the December PageMaps Newsletter!!  I was lucky enough to get to play along.  Here's the FABULOUS Sketch that I received...


And here's my take, I turned the sketch upside-down, but other than that pretty much stuck to it!


I used some Santa Express goodies from Doodlebug Design to go along with this very silly photo of my two kitties...Daisy and Rosie.  They really do believe that we put the Christmas tree up for their benefit!


I created a fun little Christmas tree using a Limeade Polka Dot Doily from Doodlebug Designs and decorated it with some silver stitching and some Doodlebug Sequins!


 I couldn't resist using this title!


 And I topped it all off with a Ladybug Doily & some Holly Berries Sprinkles from Doodlebug.  Make sure to stop by the PageMaps blog to check out all of the fabulous sketches and the layouts as well as the Paper Issues Blog!!   That's it for me today, thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Doodlebug Design: Christmas Cards

Hi Everyone, today, I have some Christmas Cards that I created for Doodlebug Design to share with you!  Every year I make my own Christmas cards...it's gotten a bit out of control, and I'm now making about 100 each year.  I need a design that is fun, but can be easily replicated.  Here's an idea I came up with this year!
 

 
These were really pretty quick to put together.  I started out with some basic supplies:  Some Doodlebug Textured Cardstock, a few patterned papers from Santa's Express, some Doodlebug Doilies & Sequins, some Merry Christmas Doodle Stickers and some Doodlebug Woodsy Washi Tape.
 
 
The cards are standard A2 size.  I cut the card bases from the Doodlebug Textured Cardstock to be 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" (finished card size 4 1/4" x 5 1/2").  For each card, I then cut a piece of coordinating paper from the Santa Express Collection (3 3/4" x 5 ") .  I topped it with another piece of Textured cardstock measuring 3 1/4" x 4 1/2".  I layered these all together, and I added some stitching to the top layer.
 
 
The trees were easy to make.  I started by cutting the Doodlebug Doily in quarters.  For the bottom of the tree I used the whole quarter.  For the next two layers, I cut each slightly smaller.  I then layered them on my card using a piece of the Woodsy Washi for my tree trunk.  You can decorate them in a number of ways.  I chose to add some more stitching and some sequins.  I topped them off with some stars from the Stars & Stripes Star Jewels.  To finish the card, I put a Merry Christmas Doodle sticker inside.

 


The end result is that each card is similar, but unique!  They really went together quickly!  Now I only have to make 97 more!!!  I hope that this inspires you to make some quick cards for your family & friends!  Make sure to check the Doodlebug Blog each day for more inspiration from the Design Team!  Thanks for stopping by!