CTS #236

Good morning!!  Is anyone already settled in their back to school routines?  Wowza!  I woked up "late" this morning and feel like I'm chasing my own tail.  Ha ha!  Luckily, I know that slowly but surely I'll get back in the groove but I'm totally not there yet.  Lucky for me, I'm almost always in the groove when it comes to sketches and this week's CAS(E) this Sketch challenge is no exception.  Here's my card:

I had a great time with this card and it all started with this adorable giraffe from Pink Fresh Studio.  I decided to keep him black and white to go with the background paper.  Then I added a punch of color with a yellow piece cut using Stitched Mats: Side-Stitched Rectangles.  I needed a place for my sentiment so I went with a black piece of cardstock cut with a Stitched Mats: Long & Skinny Rectangle.  Then, I decided I needed something between the giraffe and the yellow so I softened it with a piece of polka dot vellum cut with a Fringe Scalloped Circles Die.  I finished it all off with some puffy stickers from Elle’s Studio Live Love Laugh collection.  Here's a closer look:

Thanks so much for checking in with me today!  I hope you'll join us at CAS(E) this Sketch this week!  See you there!

Lil' Inker Designs August Release Hop Day #2

It's day two of the Lil' Inker Designs New Release Hop and I get to share even more fun goodies with you today!  I'm sure you've already been eyeing all the awesome new items, lucky for you, you can get it all right now in the Lil' Inker Store.  Hopefully, you checked out all of Amy's amazing creations before hopping here.  If not of it you get lost along the hop you can always find your spot by going to the Lil' Inker Blog.  For now, I'm ready to show off some more fun stuff!

My first card uses the Hello Beautiful Cover Up Die, Hello Dino Stamps, and Hello Dino Dies.

This card came about because I couldn't decide which Dino from the Hello Dino Stamps to use.  I loved them all!  So, I stamped them all in fun colors and cut them out using Hello Dino Dies.  I lined them up on a piece of white cardstock and trimmed it down to just fit the dinos.  I knew I wanted to use the Hello Beautiful Cover Up Die on this card and I thought it would be a great layer with my dinos.  When I layered it directly behind, it felt like too much white.  So, I got the idea to add some of the dino colors peeking out from behind my main focal strip.  This gave my card color and dimension!  It also made the Hello Beautiful Cover Up Die pop against my grey card base.  I finished it off by building a fun sentiment block with my sentiment from Hello Dino Stamps stamped on both the main card and on a separate strip of paper.  A couple enamel stars finished off the front.  Here's a closer look:

Next up, I used the gorgeous new Eat Cake Stamps and Eat Cake Dies to create this fun card:

I stamped SO many cakes using the new Eat Cake Stamps and Eat Cake Dies.  They were SO cute, I couldn't stop!  I loved how this one looked with the gold embossing on the salmon colored cake.  I found this super cool paper and it went so well with my cake, I knew it had to be the card base!  I cut it with the largest Stitched Mats: Rounded Rectangle.  I set my cake on the paper but it was a little too much color so I knew it needed something to separate the two layers.  I tried a white circle but it was too much, vellum was the perfect solution!  I cut my vellum with a Fringe Scalloped Circles Dies and added my cake with a springy wiggle thingy (technical term).  I finished it off with tons of clear sequins.  Here's a closer look:

I hope you enjoyed my creations and will join the rest of the team on the hop.  You'll want to leave comments along the way because Laura is giving away the ENTIRE RELEASE to one lucky commenter.  It could be you.  I'm sure I'll see you on the hop and tomorrow for another fun day of release projects.  See you then!

Laura/Shop

 Amy Kolling

Chrissy Larson <---Yup, that's me!!!

 Heather Hoffman

Jen Carter

 Jessica Frost Ballas

Karen Baker

Lisa Henke

Sarah Jay

Don't forget you can check out the new release right now in the Lil' Inker Store and you can get all the goodies I used today.  Here's what I used:

Lil' Inker Designs April Release Day #3

Well, it's the last day of our new release hop at Lil' Inker Designs and I'm super excited to show off these last couple products.  Hopefully, you started out at the the Lil' Inker Blog so you don't miss a stop on the hop and have come here from the amazing Amy's blog.  If you are feeling a little lost, make sure you hop back to the Lil' Inker Blog to get back on the trail of fun.  You can also check out the Lil' Inker Store where all of the new release goodies, and a whole lot more, are ready and waiting for you to put in your cart!

Today I had some fun creating some projects for some VERY important people.  Teachers!  They do so much for everyone and it's so fun to be able to show them how much we appreciate them.  My first project uses the new Apple Shaker Die.

Every teacher needs a special spot to put her coffee/tea/cocoa or beverage of choice, right?  So, I thought it would be super fun to make a felt coaster using the Apple Shaker Die.  I started by cutting a tan and a green piece of felt using the Dual Dotted Squares Dies.  These are perfect for this project because the holes are precut for you to just stitch the two layers together.  Next, I added my apple cut using the Apple Shaker Die.  I tied a piece of twine around the stem before stitching the apple down.  Next, I used the Teacher Word Die to cut a piece of green felt to glue down across the apple.  It was a super easy project but I think it would get a big smile.  Here's another look of the finished project:

Next, a card to accompany the gift.  For this card, I used the Apple Shaker Die, the new Apple of My Eye Stamps, and the super fun Stitched Chevron Border Die.

I started this card with a super fun pack of patterned paper all about school.  I loved this star background paired with the yellow notebook paper so I wanted to layer them.  I decided the Cover Up Die: Alphabet would be perfect for this card so I cut the yellow paper and layered it on the green for my card base.  Next, I cut some flashcard and hand writting paper using the Stitched Chevron Border Die.  I flipped one cut and joined them together before adding them as a pretty cool border on my card front.  Next, I got to work making and apple shaker with the super cute Apple Shaker Die.  Once I had all my layers cut and ready for filling, I decided to go with buttons and I LOVE how it looks!  I stamped the thank you sentiment from Apple of My Eye Stamps on my border but I felt it needed a little more.  So I cut another fun paper with Fringe Scalloped Circles Dies and stamped another awesome sentiment from the Apple of My Eye Stamps.  I was very happy with how all the elements went together when I put the card all together.  Here's a closer look:

Keeping with the education theme, my final card for this release is a graduation card using the amazing new Grad Class Stamps.

I went simple for this card and cut an oval from stone card stock using the Dual Dotted Ovals Dies.  I then stamped stars from Girl's Best Friend Stamps in Versamark around the oval before adding black stars from Grad Class Stamps.  Then, I simply filled the oval with an awesome sentiment from the Grad Class Stamps.  Simple, elegant, and perfect for a grad come the end of the school year...which is approaching SO quickly!  Here's another look:

I hope you enjoyed my creations and will join the rest of the team on the hop.  You'll want to leave comments along the way because Laura is giving away the ENTIRE NEW RELEASE to a lucky commenter during the new release hop.  You have until April 9th at 11:30PM EST to comment.  The winner could be you.  I hope you enjoyed our new release!  We love sharing these awesome products with you!  Be sure to keep hopping, here's the list:

Laura/Shop

 Amy Kolling

Chrissy Larson <---Yup, that's me!!!

 Heather Hoffman

Jen Carter

 Jessica Frost Ballas

Karen Baker

Lisa Henke

Sarah Jay

Stephanie Gold

Don't forget you can check out the new release right now in the Lil' Inker Store! Here's what I used for my projects today:

It's Monday!!!

It's Monday!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Ours was busy but still super fun.  We got to go see the movie Trolls and, shockingly, it was really cute.  Can you tell I wasn't super excited to see it but that's what you do when you are a mom.  The boys had a blast and with a massive nerf war on Sunday, their weekend was the best ever.  Now, it's Monday and for some reason it always seems to drag on.  So, I was trying to think of a way to make it more fun.  What better way to start a Monday than with a Christmas card??  I can't think of anything better!  Ha ha! 

In case you haven't already noticed, I'm slightly addicted to the Lil' Inker Designs Rustic Christmas stamps.  I just can't help myself.  I keep reaching for them and they pair SO nicely with my holiday kit from Clique Kits.  If you haven't checked out their kits, you must!  They are jam packed with fun stuff.  I have a feeling I will be starting a subscription soon since I'm having so much fun with this one.  All the past kits look amazing too!  I used paper, stickers, and little extras (those asterisks...hello!!!) on this card.  I started with this fun paper and then started layering vellum that I inked and cut with both the Fringe Scalloped Circles Dies and Border Builders die set.  I was inspired by Jen's gorgeous card to color my city from Rustic Christmas stamps in colors that coordinate with my paper before cutting it out with the Rustic Christmas dies.  I stamped some trees on the vellum and then layered a tree sticker from my kit in front.  Next, I cut Hope from black card stock using the Brush Script Christmas Word Dies.  I added a sentiment strip and then some fun asterisks from the Clique Kit along with some clear sequins.  Here's a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and I hope your week is starting off on a high.  Have a great one and I'll see you here tomorrow!  Here's what I used for my card: