Pink Elephant with AiFactory

Hello all and welcome to Thursday with AiFactory. Today, the DT is working with a set of brushes and the challenge this week is:

ANYTHING GOES

Brushes can be used in a variety of ways, and I have chosen to make my own patterned paper.

We were also challenged to meet as many challenges as possible, so I will list those at the end. For this card, I used the ZooBalloo Cricut cart for the elephant (3" on shadow and silhouette), and the dots embossing folder in the Cuttlebug. Both the solid green and the patterned paper were made in Word - I wanted to make sure they matched so that's why I made the solid paper too. I added ribbon, sewing, and popdots.

So head on over to AiFactory to see all the changes that are going on and to enter this weeks challenge. You have until Wednesday, April 7th at 11:00pm EST to be eligible for the brushes/flourishes prize and a chance to be a guest designer.

This card meets the following challenges:

• Pile It On - #12 Animals


• Incy Wincy Designs - #36 Sewing


• Card Positioning Systems - layout CPS160


• The Cuttlebug Spot - Celebrate our colors (green & pink)
• Color Dare - pink, green, & black

Thank You Skunk

We had a really great weekend thanks to my Auntie Lena. She hosted a cookie decorating day for the kids as well as an early Easter egg hunt - since Bean's little cousin was in town for a few days. Bean had a great time! All the kids did. I really wish my little cousin Sarah would move back so we can have more great weekends with the kids.

This is the thank you card I made for my Auntie last night in appreciation for all her hard work - and enchiladas! :

The cute skunk is from MyGrafico colored with copics, the sentiment is Stampin' Ups Short & Sweet, the DP is Paper Studio's Pink Armadillo. Plenty of 3D dots have been added as well as 3 little blings.

This card also meets the following challenges:

• Pile It On - #12 Animals
• Color Chef - #44 bright pink, turquoise, black, white
• MyGrafico - #4 In Threes (my bling)
• Splitcoaststampers - layout SC273

Little Easter Baskets

Hello all. Today at The Character Cafe we are having a great challenge:

ANYTHING BUT A CARD

This was perfect for me since I have been wanting to make these little baskets for Bean's teachers. The tutorial for these are at Splitcoaststampers and were super easy!

I used K&Co's Wild Saffron DP again - it's a versatile pack, oval and scalloped nesties through the Cuttlebug, image from The Character Cafe, colored with copics. I don't have the candy Easter eggs to go along with the pics, but I know once they're in, they are going to look fab!

Little Robbie's heart was blank and I used a text box in Word and a funky font for the "Happy Easter."

So Bean will present these to her teachers next Friday...she loves giving them gifts (usually in the form of rocks).

So join us this week at The Character Cafe for a great challenge. Our PRIZE this week is Fairy Jocelyn and Hoppy Frog images as well as a $5.00 Gift Certificate for The Cafe Store, a Winner's Blog Badge, and your blog featured in the Winner's Section of the Store.

Create an Easel Card at AiFactory

I just love Ella from AiFactory and was super excited that we got a chance to use her this week for the current AiFactory Challenge:

Create an Easel Card

So here is the front of my card. At first I wasn't sure what to do...I don't know why. But then I thought: Clean and Simple always works. The DP is K&Co's Wild Saffron, PTI brown CS, nesties, AiFactory digi, colored with Bics and Copics, and nesties through the Cuttlebug.

Here is a side view. If you don't know how to make one, I highly suggest going to Splitcoaststampers for a tutorial. So my second challenge was making the inside part, so I used a little scallop punch, layered with red, and used the Cricut Mickey Font for "Dance" cut at 1 inch, all on pop dots.

Here is the card on display. Isn't this just the bomb? I love trying a new technique. So don't forget to play along this week at AiFactory and enter your easel card. You do not have to use an AiF image, but there are plenty of FREEBIES and we'd love to see one on your creation.

Quack

Lately, I've been feeling like my family tree has more than it's share of nuts...or quacks. So this card is dedicated to all the crazies in my life :)

Of course, people might be saying I'm the one throwing stones while I live in my glass house...but what do they know? They're all quacks!

So I finally broke open a paperpack I got a few months ago. I'm such a dork. I see paper I really like, then don't use it because it's "too pretty to use." HUH? Anyway, the DP is Cosmo Cricket, and I included a little sewing. The card size is 5.5".

The sun-like nesties are new - got them at HL's latest 40% off sale. The duck is from Cricut's Animal Kingdom cart cut at 3.5", shaded with chalk inks. I added a little white pen - then regretted adding it to his head...I think it's a bit much. I made the eyes using my Cropadile - just punched 2 small black eyes and added white pen. I think I'll add a little glaze.

The layout is Card Patterns #56. They have really good layouts so visit if you haven't been there already. Then you can also see that I made Super Six for this card!

Friday with Character Cafe

Hello all. Friday's are Character Cafe Challenge Day. So half of the DT is playing along with the challenge at The Character Cafe Challenge Blog, and the rest of us are playing elsewhere in blogland.

First of all, can you believe this little guy is a FREEBIE? Well, he is! I colored him with Bics and cut with my nesties. With his little shaggy look, I thought scuffing up all my edges was fitting.

This card meets the following challenges:

• Splitcoaststampers - Layout SC272


• Color Dare - real red, more mustard, gable green, tempting turquoise

So pick up this cute FREEBIE and if you're looking for a challenge, head on over to The Character Cafe.

Thursday Pirate with AiFactory

Hello everyone and welcome to Thursday's AiFactory Challenge! Today's challenge was set by the talented Erin and she has asked us to:

SET A SCENE

'

The DT is using this cute little Pirate boy and his treasure chest. My scene: a treasure map. The map is from the Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut cart - which has the best accessories (cut at 12"). I cut it from an old manilla folder and inked it up with Ranger Tea ink and once dried, I sprinkled a little water on it to create the spots. The blue background is also created from the file folder inked with Ranger Denim ink. Oh, I also used plenty of pop dots!

So play along with us this week at the AiFactory Challenge Blog for a chance to win a free digistamp from the AiFactory Store. Don't forget to visit the rest of the DT for further inspiration: Erin Cheri Penny Monica Fliss Fink Laurie Carole Carlie Kerry Angie Jodi S

Hello Kitty Part 2

Yesterday I mentioned that I'm making a set of 4 cards using the Hello Kitty Cricut cart and showed 2 of them. Well, here are the other two:

This one uses Splitcoaststampers SC13. The papers are MME Magnolia, the sentiment is a $1 acrylic from Michael's, and I did a little shading with my chalk inks.

This diecut was much easier than the rest since it has nice, easy cuts. All the same papers and inks. The layout is SC66.

I haven't completed the holder/box just yet. I'm a little "stuck" on how to embellish it. I guess I'll go out into blogland for a little inspiration!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Hello Kitty Project

So I've got four Hello Kitty cards in the works right now, and here are two of them:

I'm using my current fav paper pack MME Magnolia. This is one of the first packs I bought a LONG time ago and I use it, put it away, and rediscover it again. This layout is Splitcoaststampers SC80. I used my chalk inks for the shading.

The HK Cricut cart is filled with adorable cuts, BUT if your kitties are too small, it makes it really difficult to piece together. With all the details in the kitties, you really want to go with a larger cut, but the accessories seem to cut great at all sizes.

I just LOVE the jacket! This layout is Splitcoaststampers SC76. I used my copics to add a little shading. These are left without sentiments on purpose to be used for any occasion. This will ultimately be a set of four cards in a box...hopefully it will done in time for Easter.

St. Patrick's Emo

Well, that's what I'm calling her. When I first saw her, I thought she was just perfect. I got her (and a couple others) from MyGrafico and I couldn't decide if she was sad or shy...and I know the "word on the street" these days is "Emo." So she's my Emo girl.

Details: PTI white and kraft, MyGrafico digistamp, copics, oval nesties (just got these!), two different border punches, ribbon.

This card also meets the following challenges:

• Pals Paper Arts - color combo: Garden green, Certainly Celery, Kraft
• DareU2Digistamp - #33 no patterned paper (this was a tough one!)
• Card Patterns - #55 layout

Easter Set using Character Cafe digi

No one ever said Easter is all about bunnies.
I wanted to put together a little something for the kids, and the girls are easy...but what about boys? So I thought this little guy was perfect!

Isn't he just adorable? He is colored with Bics and Copis, I used M's Just Chillin DP and MME Magnolia for the solids, The Character Cafe digistamp, and embellishments.

Over at The Character Cafe Blog this week, Deanne has set the challenge:

SKETCH/LAYOUT

I love layouts since they are a really great jumping off point when I make cards. Anyway, a 2 year old little boy isn't going to be overly impressed just getting a card...so I made a coordinating t-shirt to go along with his Easter gift.

Here's what I did: I opened my image in Paint, filled in the areas using the paint bucket in coordinating colors, saved. I then opened Word, opened and sized my image. I set my printer settings to "iron on transfer" which automatically flips the image, and printed on my transfer sheet. Then just folow the directions on the iron-on packaging. Why is he backwards? Because I didn't read the instructions first that tell you NOT to flip the image. Oh well.

So this is for Rhys, and I hope to post the girls' gifts next week. This also meets the following challenge: All Sorts Challenge - #42 Just For Men

Flowers and Butterflies with AiFactory

Good evening! It's Thursday and that means a new challenge with Aifactory Challenge Blog. This weeks challenge #27 is:

CLEAR and SIMPLE

Yes, you read correctly - clear. So join us by creating something simple with a clear component!

This week the DT is working with a beautiful set of flowers. I am using the Mariposa. LOL! Do you get it? Mariposa is Spanish for butterfly! That's why I just HAD to use my new butterfly punch. So I "stamped" my digistamp 3 times in different sizes and colored with Bics and copics.

For my clear element, I punched my butterflies from acetate (transparency) and sponged with blue Ranger alcohol ink. I bent the wings up a bit and adhered with tacky glue (LOVE the tacky).

So come play along with this us by creating something wonderful using something clear!

This card meets the following challenges:

• Cupcake Craft Challenges - #81 Flower Power
• Cardpatterns - layout #54
• Pile It On - The One You Must - one color and a neutral

If you play along at AiFactory, you do not have to use an AiFactory image but there are plenty of FREEBIES if you do want to!

My Angel

Happy Tuesday. Here's a card I made for a few challenges:

The DP is MME Magnolia, sewing, TCC digistamp, Ranger inks, flower embossing folder in the Cuttlebug and computer generated sentiment. I applied 3 coats of UTE (ultra-thick embossing powder), put my image in the freezer for a few, then cracked it in several places for the glass look.

I recently got this image at TCC and was dying to use it. I printed it and colored it with Ranger Inks (using q-tips). This technique can make an image look really "soft."