Falling for Candy

Come join the Squigglefly Challenge Blog as this week we challenge crafters to use any Squigglefly image and Fall colors or theme.  For my card, I used a soon-to-be released new stamp from Artist Jane Beljo called Winnie.  I think of Fall as changing colors, cooler weather and Halloween!  This Squigglefly image is sure to please everyone.

I paper-pieced Winnie's dress and hat with one of the same patterned papers that I used on my card front and colored the rest of her with Copics.  I cut out a diecut haunted house and placed it in the "background" of my scene, blinging it first.  A lonely spider and a candy lollipop sticker complete the card.

And today the weather has taken a turn toward Fall.  A steady rain is falling, a lot less than expected, but still substantial, and the temps have dropped into the 70s!!  School is in session and the local swimming pools are closed except for the weekends.

If you love Fall and want a chance to win free digi's from Squigglefly, check out the challenge HERE.  If you haven't started collecting your Squigglefly images yet, you can use a FREEBIE for this week's challenge.

Food For Thought

Time for another Halloween card using the Queen Kat Design stamped image called Werewolf by artist Rossana Castellino.  This time I used her on a Z-Fold card with some Halloween patterned paper from Carol Lee Creations.  AND it's time for another installment in the life of our pretty Werewolf as it waxes and wanes along with the moon:

"She thought she needed some in-depth research into the human psyche and all its twists and turns, so she enrolled in a night class in philosophy.  She wan't stupid or anything, just not in tune with college life and the cruelty of a professor who had been turned down for tenure (again) earlier that fateful day.

When she didn't answer his question to his satisfaction, he tore into her in front of the whole class.  "Think, damn it," he cried in uncontrolled fury.  "What would it take to make you use that brain of yours and think?"

It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't also made a sarcastic remark regarding her unusually thick and abundant hair (especially on her long thin legs).  She left in tears, which soon turned to snarls in the light of the full moon.

As he was leaving the campus, she confronted him and it was her turn to tear into him...literally.  As she was gnawing at what little was left of him, she couldn't help but think of her former professor with a satisfied little smile as she finally had an answer for the question he had posed to her in class earlier.  "You, professor, have made me think.  You were excellent food for thought."

I hope you enjoyed my story and are inspired by my Z-Fold card.  You can find this pretty Werewolf stamp by artist Rossana Castellino at the QKD Shop.  Do you want a good reason to buy some Halloween stamps there?  Check out the Facebook Page and sign up for our customer blog hop, The Thirteen Days of Halloween.

A) You must use at least 1 Queen Kat Designs stamp OR fabric Block as the focal image on your project of the blog post.

B) The post that you make should include detailed directions on how you made your project so you may want to pick something simple to intermediate if you plan on signing up for more than one day. J

C) You are most welcome to sign up for more than one day, but please remember this is a commitment and if you forget it will break the hop and our hoppers will be lost in internet land.

Please see the line up below for the schedule of themes for our 13 days of Halloween Blog Hop. To sign up, please send an email to Vikki at info @ katstamps.com with HALLOWEEN BLOG HOP in the subject line. Please include the following info in your email body:

Name:

Blog Address:

Email Address:

Mailing Address:

Date(s) you would like to sign up for:

Although right now we are not limiting the number of sign ups we have on any given day, if we get an overwhelming response to a certain day, we may ask you to choose another option to help fill the 13 day hop. This is a first come first serve sign up.

Sign ups end September 5, 2012

Dates and Themes:

October 1: Skulls/Steampunk Halloween

October 2: Bats

October 3: The Color Purple (anything goes as long as you use purple!)

October 4: The theme is Spooky!

October 5: Skeletons/Bones

October 6: The Color Orange (same here! Use orange and you are good to go!)

October 7: The theme is Flowers! Make them into Halloween flowers!

October 8: Pumpkins

October 9: Lets get cute! Show us the cute side of Halloween.

October 10: Labels (old bottle labels, old advertisements, etc)

October 11: Vampires

October 12: Zombies

October 13: Happy Halloween

There will be prizes scattered throughout the blog hop for our readers to win and if you participate you may be asked to host a drawing for one! If you do not feel comfortable doing this please let us know when you sign up.

Each person who signs up and participates in our 13 Days of Halloween Blog hop will receive a special gift from Queen Kat and will be entered to win a prize pack from the Queen Kat Designs store! The drawing will be held after the blog hop is complete on October 14th.

After sending in your sign up email to Vikki, you will receive an email back as soon as she gets your sign up. Please allow 24-48 hours. We will send out reminder emails about the hop in July and August and in September we will send the posting schedule to you so you know who the next blog to link to will be.

We appreciate you all and hope your summer is going swimmingly!!

-The Queen Kat Designs Royal Court

So check out the shop, choose your faves and sign up for fun and prizes!!

Got a Black Magic Woman

Today I made a card using part of the Voodoo Child stamped image by artist Charles Bristow.  The image comes complete in its own gorgeous frame and a ripe Halloween moon, but on this card I wanted to fussy-cut her and enlarge the moon.

I used some leftover patterned papers I received in a swap, cutting one into a kind of short fence border at the bottom of the card.  Some beads and skulls decorate the black wrought-iron of the fence, pieces cut from a lovely bit of lace from the spoils of our own Holley's trip to Turkey.  Leftover seed beads decorate the nightscape, as well as a few wisps of shimmery clouds in front of the moon (gotta love Stickles).

I colored Voodoo Child with my Copics (twice), adhering one straight onto the bg paper and another on top of it using dimensional tape.  I like the ethereal quality of the scene I created, but next time I need to use a less busy background so my image will really pop out at you (BOO!).  Mwahaha!!
Are you getting your Halloween cards in order?  Pop on over to the Shoppe for more spooky, fun images from Charles and the other talented artists at Queen Kat Designs.  And don't forget to join us for the 13 Days of Halloween Customer Blog Hop.  Sign up on our Facebook page now!

Card Making with the Granddaughters

We're entertaining our new family members after our son's wedding, and while the boys (Tony, Jaylen and Frankie) were on the computer downstairs, we (Me, Bella and Christina)  were sitting at the card table, Copics in hand, stamped images in front of us, having fun.  We each made a Christmas card,  using a QKD stamped image from artist Che Gilson called Peppermint Girl.

Here's my 4 year old's card.  I think she did a great job on using my treasured Copics, don't you?  She even spelled her name on the front of the card.  I like the way she framed the image with patterned paper.  That tiny bow in the corner just makes the card,

Next up is my new granddaughter's card.  Nina is eight years old, and loves to scrapbook (so does her mommy, that's why I love her so much).  Both girls used DCWV Holiday card bases.

I made my card using a card base from the same DCWV set.  After coloring her, I placed her on my card and just threw everything but the kitchen sink onto it.  Some pearls, snowflakes, candy mints stickers, diecut evergreens, candy cane border stickers, and a metal sentiment charm.,  But I like it!!!  Hope you do too!

It's never too early to start making your Christmas cards.  I've got four so far.

Sliding Into Christmas

Squigglefly Challenge Blog offers us crafters a new challenge for the week.  You must showcase a technique!!  My card showcases a sliding element.  I first saw this type of card over ten years ago when I was first introduced to stamps.  I never made more than the one I made then, as I was so new to the card making world, and my eyes were on "regular" cards.

So I was surprised to see these things on Split Coast Stampers, where you can view a tutorial of how to make this type of card.  Meanwhile,I had this super cute Santa sitting on my desk, begging to be made into a card.  The Squigglefly digi image is called "Santa Down the Chimney" by artist Siobhan Harrison.
I love how you can take digi images, liker Santa Down the Chimney, and print it any size you want, any color you want, and even flip it to the right or the left.  Digi's are so very versatile!!
Okay, back to Santa!  The card is a folded 3x6 made of green cardstock.  I made a flat base of the same color and attached patterned paper to it.  After printing my image, I colored and Stickled it and placed it on black cardstock to frame it.  Then I punched four holes, one in each corner.
I lined up my image with my patterned paper, placing it toward the top of the base,and punched two holes in the base where the top two holes were punched on my image.  I punched another hole in each of the corners at the bottom of the base, lining them up with the top punched holes.  (So that's one hole each in the corners of my framed image, and one hole each in the corners of my patterned paper base.)

I threaded sheer ribbon through the holes, forming two "rails" on which the image can slide.  The photo up top is of the card in its starting position.  The second photo is after the image has been slid (slided?) down toward the bottom of the card.
On the inside, I printed a Christmas sentiment and placed a word sticker that reads "BELIEVE".

I hope you like my slider card and are inspired to step out of your comfort zone to try one yourself!!  Whatever card you make, if you make one with a Squigglefly digi image, enter it into this week's challenge for your chance to win!!

Good luck and Happy Crafting!!

Friendship Blooms

I was so excited to open up my package from Crafters' Companion!  Not only did I order some goodies for myself, but I had won the new Morehead clear stamp set called "Raindrops".

The monthly challenge at Crafters' Companion Challenge Blog is FRIENDSHIP.  So today's card features my flower-holding girl, face hidden by her over-sized rain hat.  I colored her with a combination of Spectrum Noir markers and Copics, and used a bit of Stickles to make her shimmer.  I also stamped her onto patterned paper and paper-pieced her outfit onto the image.   Then I fussy-cut her out and popped her onto some fun cartoon paper featuring the Peanuts gang.  I don't know of a tighter group of friends who have lasted through the years!!
After framing my image, I added some pearls and an extra sunflower.  I had some last few pieces of purple papers in my file drawer (hurray, my stash is going down!) and finally added a bit of fiber to the corner of my card.
I don't know if you can see it, but I also used a tiny border stamp from the same set in silver ink at the top of the Peanuts paper, since I had to cut out the original raindrops from my girl.
Have you discovered Crafters' Companion stamps and supplies yet?  This summer they have been giving away tons of prizes, and there have been some terrific sales, too.  The challenge prize for August is a $30 gift certificate!!  Oh, boy, I have my eye on that prize!!  But I'm a generous crafter, so I'm sharing this info with you. LOL!  You have until the last day of the month to enter to win!!

Love at First Bite

As Halloween approaches, I am gearing up for the holiday with a stack of newly-made cards.  Today's card uses a QKD image called Werewolf by artist Rossana Castellino.  She has a story to tell...
"They met at the animal shelter.  She stumbled against him, and his skin smelled so heavenly she had to take just a little nip.  It was love at first bite.  Although all their dates were scheduled around the cycle of the moon, their relationship bloomed.  Until...
He said it was a guys' night out, which was fine with her, as the moon was waxing full and she had more basic needs to fulfill.  So when she came face to face with the love of her life while she was hunting late that eventful night, she was torn between her desire for him as a lover, and her desire for him as, well, dinner.  Until...
She saw what, or rather who, had brought him out into the forest.  She was a tiny thing,big blue eyes and hair that shone in the full moon.  Such a pity to have to tear into her about property ownership.  When she was finished with the poor human, she turned her attention on her lover.  As you can see by my card, there wasn't much left of him by the time her anger had abated and her hunger sated.  Just a small bone to remember him by.  Ah, well, all is fair in love and werewolves!"