FWF Redo

Does anyone do this? Make a card, and then sit and mentally edit? Something about my FWF card was bugging me. The light wasn't right and in editting the photo, the colors were just not reading true. And the buttons. Definitely not giving me the warm fuzzies that button usually do. So, what's a secretly anal retentive girl to do? Carefully pry off the heart and buttons, do it over and reshoot! LOL!


With that out of the way, and after some much needed organizing (there's still tons more - does it ever end????), I hope to have my January KitCat card posted tomorrow.


Snowy Hugs,

Woohoo for Friday & FWF!

TGIF! It's been an up & down week with my now annual sinus/ear issues. Something about this time of year. But I'm on an upswing now, and ready to ring in the weekend with some Unity fabulousness! Of course, I am drooling over the February KOM and counting down to the 15th when they will start shipping. But in the meantime, I wanted to revisit two fave Unity stamps that I thought were perfect for this time of year. We are expecting some serious snow here and V-Day is just around the corner, so what could be better than a snowman valentine, eh?

Be sure to hit the Unity Blog to get the entire list of Friends With Flair participants!
Happy hopping & warm winter wishes,

PS - I just couldn't resist coloring the bird. A little "blue bird of happiness" moment. ;)
Image(s): Unity Stamp Co. - Snow-one Like You, So-and-So Loves
Pattern Papers: Cosmo Cricket - Hey Sugar
Cardstock: MFT Perfect Panels - cream; Bazzill Basics - Hazel; kraft (local source)
Embellishments: MFT buttons - Chocolate Kiss; PTI twine
Colored with Copics
Inks: Unity/Palette Hybrid - Moulin Rouge; Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Walnut Stain, Antique Linen

December Kit Cats

"Oh the weather outside is frightful, but snowmen are still delightful..." At least that's how I'm singing it today. Jeanette was our hostess with the mostest this month, and supplied us with a very cute image and lovely papers....and luxurious ribbon, fun snow-fetti and chipboard snowflakes that I'm realizing just now I totally forgot to use. Eesh! Time to go burying my head in the snow! As luck would have it, this also fits the Stamping Around challenge fellow KitCatter Lorie is hosting! Woohoo!

I colored up this snowy sweetie with my trusty Copics and taking a cue from the embossed & glitzed pattern paper, Stickled his brains out! :D I used a Snowflake set from Spellbinders to cut snowflakes from the text paper J supplied.

Be sure to visit all the Kit Cats to see their sure-to-be adorable creations.

Kelly

Jeanette

Susan

Lorie

Michelle

Snowy & sleepy hugs,

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....with Unity FWF!

ETA: Lorie is the winner! Congrats, Miss Lorie! I'll be putting some Unity goodness in the mail to you this week! Must be kismet because I'm entering this card in the Stamping Around challenge that Lorie is hostessing. :D

I'll be back later today with an FBD new release! Stay tuned. :D
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Happy 2010! What better way to start the new year than with Unity's Friends With Flair, right? :D Be sure to head over to the Unity Blog for the list of participating stampers and be on the look out for the FWF blinkie! Leave a comment for me before noon EST tomorrow, and you'll be entered into my drawing for some Unity rubbah and images. (See - told ya I'd have another giveaway this week!)

Winter has definitely arrived here in Ohio, so it's no wonder that all I wanna do is make snow cards! I'm also totally hooked on the Joyride collection from Collage Press, and green being my favoritest color, this paper just makes my heart sing! For fun, I strung the snowflakes on twine and hung them from the top of the card - kind of like we'd hang props for a high school play. Ah, those were the days! LOL!


Hugs & love,


Image(s): Unity - Snow-one Like You, Wordsworth - Seuss Tree
Pattern Papers: Collage Press - Joyride collection
Cardstock: local source
Embellishments: metallic snowflakes, PTI twine, ribbon, Stickles
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMagic Aloe, VersaMagic white
Colored with Copics

Winner & Complete Card

Hi girls! Thanks to all you troopers who hung in there on this one. Not exactly the note I wanted to end '09 on, but it is pretty accurate, as this year I have been one tardy cardmaker! 2010 is sure to be a better year - I promise! And it starts tomorrow with the 1st Unity Friends With Flair Friday of the new year - woot woot! :D

But today, finally, I'm posting my completed card for the SOTC for December (Kadie's fabby monthly swap group).

The theme/challenge was to create a winter scene. Well, this is pretty much my look for winter - hair whipping and all bundle up! I just totally fell in love with these Pure Innocence stamps from MY FAVORITE THINGS! This is a newer line to MFT and they have been selling like hotcakes! I snapped up my 2 faves - this one, called "Flurry of Love" and another which I'll be using soon called, "Snow Day". As of yesterday neither were available on the MFT website, but there are plenty of other cuties from the PI collection to choose from. (No, I'm not compensated by MFT - I just love their stamps, especially for paper piecing!)

So, for all of you who guessed that the image was from MFT - congrats! And BIG CONGRATS to Andrea (aka Scrapamum)! (Check out Andrea's super amazing scrap layouts! My current faves of hers are on THIS post!) Please email me with your address at paperaddictcatherine@yahoo.com and I'll get your card kits mailed next week.

My NY Eve will be happily low-key, but all the while I'll be thanking God for the blessing of your friendships in 2009, and looking forward to growing with all of you in the new year!

Hugs,


Image(s): "Flurry of Love" - Pure Innocence for My Favorite Things
Pattern Papers: Collage Press - Joyride collection
Cardstock: MFT white perfect panel; others - local source
Embellishments: Stickles - Frosted Lace; Liquid Pearls - Opal; Our Craft Lounge's Sparkly Fluff in Sugar; Dark Brown DMC Floss
Ink(s): Memento - Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Ink - Walnut Stain
Colored with Copics

November KitCats (just a wee bit late)

If you're doing the FRESH BREWED DESIGNS Blog Hop, scroll down to the next post!Thanks!!!! And if you aren't following the hop, why not??? The images are awesome, the possibilities are endless, the inspiration is divine! Go ahead, take a peek! :D

Hey friends! Normally we post on the first Sunday of the following month, but November was my turn to play hostess and I was a little distracted my a professional exam. My fellow Kittens were awesomely supportive & understanding, and didn't even blink when I asked if we could delay a few days. Love you girls!

So for the kit, I sent everyone this super adorable image from Susana's Custom Art & Card Design. If you haven't shopped with Susana before, you really need to put that on your list because she is super sweet, ships quick and always throws in a little something extra. Another fabulous thing is that she carries exclusive lines from Victoria Case, Elisabeth Bell and Anki Bärgman. This image is from Victoria's Winter Wonderland release, and she's called Cocoa Puff. I knew the girls would love coloring her and that she'd look totally cute with some papers from Basic Grey's Eskimo Kiss collection. I honestly forgot which ribbons & fibers I gave the rest of the KitCats, and just grabbed some sheer pink polka dot ribbon and white pearly dew drops. I used Stickles on the snow and Diamond Glaze on the poinsettias, to hopefully make them pop. I also used Stickles on her hat for a little added interest.


Please be sure to stop by and leave some love for the rest of the KitCats:
Kelly, Susan, Lorie, Michelle and Jeanette.

TFL & Hugs,


Image(s): "Cocoa Puff" - Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art & Card Desing
Pattern Papers: Basic Grey - Eskimo Kiss Collection
Cardstock: local source
Embellishments: Dew drops - Robin's Nest; ribbon - unknown
Colored with Copics

Snow Joy

Being a naturally defiant child (okay, and adult - LOL), there's an old adage I heard alot: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Having spent all of my life living in the Great Lakes region, I have come to appreciate the blessing of experiencing 4 distinct seasons. And while I freely admit that I am guilty of longing for winter during the summer months, and summer during the winter months (and fall - being my favorite - almost every month), it has become something of a pet peeve to hear my fellow Ohioans complain (or even excessively comment) on winter weather. After the initial rounds of "It's freezing outside!" or "Look at all that snow!" my patience wears thin. Unless you've recently moved here from Bermuda, the shock and disgust when the thermostat drops and the white stuff flies is rather ridiculous to me. You can't beat the weather, so I say, why not enjoy it?! Make a snowman, have a snowball fight, or allow yourself to be completely amused at the sight of your favorite canine rolling in the snow banks or proudly sporting a small pile of fluff atop his snout.

This simple card serves as my humble "Ode to Snow" and was rather hastily created as a thank you to my dear friend, OhioMary - who misses the Ohio snow (she currently lives in Maryland) and would happily celebrate what my neighbors seem lately to disdain.

TFL and warm-hearted, cold-nosed hugs to all!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Some of you must be thinking, "Finally! She's posting something stamped!" I know, I know, bad stamping blogger! But, having a rare 3-day weekend, I took advantage and stayed up all night Friday. Since I don't know when I'll have the opportunity again, I'm going to spread them out over the week - yes, only over a week, in the hopes that I get motivated to make every weekend a stamping weekend. So, here's the first one. The main image is from StampFrancisco. All I knew when I started was that Ive been wanting to use this image and vowed it would be before spring! I've also had the sentiment in mind since I got her. I embossed her in black and colored her with SU! Wonder Crayons and a blender pen. I refused to pay $6 for it online, and now it's sold out. My brain kicked in - print it on vellum! So I did, several times along with some other cold weather appropriate one-liners. The paper is, of course, Basic Grey from the Figgy Pudding collection. The brads I've had for years, and the ribbon was a clearance find at Archivers. Best of all, I finally got to use my new SU! punch! It all just kinda came together and I must modestly say - Me likey! How about you?

Tracy's Sketch Challenge

Here's my take on the SC posted on Tracy's blog.

It scanned a bit crooked...

Still playing with the Figgy Pudding papers, and a new stamp set from Basic Grey. I actually didn't have the right dark green paper, so I used Always Artichoke direct2paper on a piece of olive card stock. I was lucky that I did have red cardstock that was close enough to use with the Ruby Red ink pad. The metal elements are actually salvaged from a card I made at an SU! workshop. (I'm hoping Santa remembers to put some HodgePodge Hardware in my stocking!)

TFL!!! Now I'm off to a craft show that my friend is selling her cards at!

Sketch Challenge

My first SCS Challenge entry- and a double at that!

The guidelines were this layout (SC152) and the following colors (CC142): Certain Celery, Bashful Blue and Basic Grey. I had to cheat. The only color I had was Certain Celery ink.

Stamps: Snowflake from SU! Seasonal Whimsey, Seuss Tree from Wordsworth
Ink: Certain Celery, Brocade Blue (stamped off once)
Cardstock: Local Paper Store (Hollo's in Brunswick for any Ohio-ans peeking in)
Other: Tag made with punch from SU!, Ribbons from Making Memories (green) and JoAnn's (light blue on tag), silver e-z set eyelet from Coffee Break Design (on tag), light green gemstones from Hero Arts, and highlight on snowflakes (that you probably can't see) with a Gellyroll pen.

TFL!

I Confess

So, I didn't really want to go with my sister to Borders on Thanksgiving Eve... And I suppose I didn't have to make her stop at the Archiver's store in the same plaza...And I didn't have to buy the Basic Grey Figgy Pudding paper pack, or the coordinating Versa Color petal in Sea Breeze...BUT I DID! Here's the first card. Bonus: Finally using my tag maker!

Merry Swinging

I stalked the stamp set (Hampton Arts, "Swinging Christmas") I used for these 2 cards on Addicted to Rubber Stamps for what seemed like forever until they were back in stock! I love them!

This one didn't scan well (can't figure out exactly why), but the sentiment is "Jingle Belle Swing" so I thought it'd be cute to string some mini jingle bells on wire.

Also had scanning probs on this one (the ribbon is much paler in person). I used to hate coloring images, but I love it now that I have the SU! Watercolor Wonder Crayons, which I used here.

Christmas/Winter