Inspired by All the Little Things & MOJO Monday

Today we have a brand new inspiration challlenge over at Inspired by All the Little Things and I decided to pair the inspired with the sketch at the MOJO Monday Contest! I saw that sketch and fell in love with it! I inked up the large blooms again from Great Friend (Verve) and the sentiment is from Poppy Birthday (Verve). I used Calypso Coral and paired it with a Baja Breeze card stock card base. 

I stamped the sentiment and the foliage in Basic Gray ink...and tried to think outside the box with the sketch. My colour choices come from the inspiration I chose for Inspired by All the Little Things. I could have gone with an airplane themed but I LOVED the colours and decided they would work perfectly for the idea I had using the MOJO Sketch. 

I found an older scallop edge die in my stash of dies and added a white scallop ruffle, to tie in the white in the flowers. Don't look too closely...I fussy cut all the flowers...the flower die for this set is on my wishlist!

Come and play along at MOJO Monday! 

Julee picks a winner for every 50 entries, up to a max of 7 winners. This is how I first won a stamp set from Verve! And be sure to stop by at Inspired By All the Little Things, we have a wonderful Creative Guest with us this week!

Inspired by All the Little Things

This week at Inspired by All the Little Things, I am the hostess and I am SO excited to share my Creative Guest with you! She is talented, fun and lovely! Be sure to visit the blog, to see who is designing with us this week as our Creative Guest!

I was inspired by the colours and created a CAS card for the challenge! I stamped the floral images three times onto the card front...each time I stamped slightly off the card front. I used my Copic markers to add some flicks to the floral centers. The foliage is stamped around the flowers. No masking...just careful placement.

I hope you will stop by to join us!

 Inspired by All the Little Things

Viva la Verve & Inspired by {Special}

Sunday! Hooray! I usually spend my Sunday's crafting and today I have a card to share for the new Inspired by All the Little Things & the Viva la Verve sketch!

I watercoloured the flowers and kept my design fairly simple! I added some washi to the bottom of the front panel for a metallic punch of colour!

Inspired by All the Little Things, VLV & SSS {Amazing Birthday}

Today I am sharing a card I made for three different challenges! Viva la Verve, Simon Says Stamp & Inspired by All the Little Things. The inspiration photo from Inspired By gave me the colours I wanted to use...I mixed red, blue and dark blue with an all white background. Following the sketch, I added some ribbon in behind. I used my Zig Markers to watercolour the blooms.

We hope you will come and join us at Inspired by All the Little Things!

Inspired by All the Little Things {The Thief of Joy-A Personal Note}

Sunday already? Where does the time go? Lately I have been noticing that it is going much faster than normal! Summer is just around the corner and I really have a lot of big ideas and plans to accomplish before the end of the school year! Does anyone else ever feel like there is not enough time in the day!

Friday I came home from work to find such a wonderful "happy mail" email in my mailbox. Her kind and thoughtful words really boosted me. 

Every once in a while, being a crafter can be intimidating. We try to not compare ourselves to other stampers or crafters but we do. We wish we could colour better or that we took better photographs. Do you know what I mean? It is hard to be happy with who we are...right now. We always want to be better. 

This year I have been focusing on being the best me I can be and I am striving to compare myself to ME. No one else.  (Easier said than done...right?)

In the meantime, I am sharing another card that I made for the Inspired by All the Little Things challenge once again. This time I wanted to create something for the challenge that was not a floral. I was inspired by the colours and the watercoloured images in the graphic.

I stamped the images in distress ink and then used my waterpen to "smudge" the images. Then I added some blue watercolouring around the images, to tie them all together. I used a sentiment from Verve, and two retired Stampin' Up stamp sets. 

As a final pop...I punched out one butterfly on vellum and one on white paper...then I added them with a glue dot over the butterfly on the card. My card panel is slightly skewed...just for some added interest.

I hope you have the chance to craft day and remember to find joy in your creativity!

Hello Friend {Power Poppy, Inspired by All the Little Things & Power Poppy}

Today we have a brand new inspiration challenge over at Inspired by All the Little Things! It is my turn to host and I chose a watercoloured floral image for the inspiration. My good friend, Nancy Leppek, is our guest this week and she created a stunning card! I also wanted to link up to the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge. 

 

I was inspired by the arrangement of flowers and I couldn't help it! I picked up some digital images from Power Poppy last night. She is having a sale and I could not resist! So I inked up the floral set  called Ranunculus in my copic markers and kept the design simple. The sentiment comes from a SugarPea Designs stamp set called Funky Wreath – Spring Addition. I tried to leave some white spaces...to add some visual interest.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you are stamping away today or doing something crafty!

Inspired by All the Little Things {Design Team Call}

Inspired by All the Little Things is having a Design Team Call. 

We are looking for 4 card designers to join our team.

Here are the terms:

1. Make one card each week based on the inspiration.
2. Comment on the submissions of others. (we will use a commenting schedule)
3. Post your card and the challenge graphic onto your blog each week.(you MUST have a blog)
4. Stay on for a 4 month term. 

We are looking for designers who are team players and who take good, clear photos of their work.

No experience is necessary.

To apply please send an email to thepaperplayers @ yahoo.ca (no spaces) and 

put Inspired by Design Team Call in the subject line.

In your application, please include:

1. A link to your blog.
2. Attach the photos of three of your favourite cards you have made.
3. Links to three of your best blog posts.
4. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Deadline to apply is Friday, March 18th at Noon (PST). I will reply within 48 hours to let you know if I have received your application. If you do not hear from me, please send again.

We will be emailing all successful applicants by Sunday, March 20th.

Thank you for considering joining our team!
Inspired by All the Little Things

Hugs!

Lesley

Inspired by All the Little Things {Romantic Warm Beverages}

Hello stamping friends! 

Today we have our brand new challenge up on the blog

and you can find all the details HERE!

This is the inspiration photo...

We have a wonderful guest we are showcasing today! I won't spill the beans here...but I hope you will stop by to check out what she did with this inspiration!

I found the inspiration to be quite "romantic" and so I whipped up an anniversary card for my hubby! I used a Jane's Doodles stamp set and did some masking on a single layer card. Then I coloured the image with my copic markers. 

We hope you will come and join us!

You can find all the details HERE!

Exciting News

Hello stamping friends! 

I have an exciting announcement to make 

and you can find all the details HERE!

I hope you will come and follow...

Inspired by All the Little Things {Spotlight on Darnell Knauss}

Welcome to another week of Inspired By All the Little Things!!! 

Each week I have been fine-tuning this feature, trying to make it more accessible for all! The linky is now open for one month and I hope you are inspired to play along!

This week I am delighted to welcome Darnell Knauss. Darnell is an inspiration not just with her fabulous art work but with her use of the English language! If ever you want to have a giggle and be inspired at the same time, Darnell is your designer! She is a wonderful lady; kind, thoughtful and sincere. I was so happy she was able to be my featured designer this week! Welcome, Darnell!

She made two cards this week to inspire you! I just love the papered cups and the stitched dies!

Aren't they fabulous!!! I asked Darnell to answer some questions about herself...here is what she had to say!

1. What is the name of your blog? When and why did you start it?

www.djkardkreations.com

I started my blog in October 2011 as a way to link people to my Smugmug site where I had already downloaded hundreds of cards. It was stagnant for a bit, so I feel like my blog didn't officially launch until January 2012 when I discovered challenges. After that, I was off and running!

 2. What is your style of card making?

Clean and simple (CAS). Sometimes quick and clean and simple (QACAS).

  

3. Who inspires you as a designer?

It would be easier to say who doesn't inspire me! We are all privileged to meet incredibly talented card designers in Blogland via challenge design teams, but I'm also consistently blown away by the design capabilities of many "unknown" card artists. I've been blogging long enough now to be thrilled as I've watched many of these talented unknown artists achieve well-deserved recognition by challenge owners and, hence, the rest of our community.

4. What sort of things inspire you as a card maker? Photos? Sketches? Other designers?

What you said. All of it! Although, to be serious, I now find that most of my inspiration comes from my daily visits around Blogland. I see the cards of others and that will spark a flame of an idea in my own hamster brain, either because I like the design layout or it will make me think of a stamp or die I have. And, of course, either before or after I make a card, I will check out my favorite challenges.

5. Share something about yourself that we may not know?

Hmm. I'm pretty much an open book and if you've been reading me since 2012, then you pretty much know all there is to know. I'm thinking. Oh, well, this isn't common knowledge yet: I'm very excited to share that I'll be traveling to England in July and meeting lots of my bloggie friends while I'm there! 

Thank you so much, Darnell for joining us this week and for sharing your talent with us!

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspired by All The Little Things {Spotlight on Jeanne Jachna}

Hello friends! Welcome to another Inspired by All the Little Things! 

Jeanne Jachna

This week I am thrilled to highlight my friend, Jeanne Jachne! She is one talented designer and an all around great pal! I sent Jeanne a pretty gold/peach inspired photo and she went to work, creating her magic! Jeanne's style is truly inspirational! She designs for challenge blogs and stamp companies alike! I love how she creates such bold and fresh designs! Here is the photo I gave her to play with! Thank you so much, Jeanne for sharing your talent with us this week!

 I hope you will be inspired to play along! The linky will be open for one month! Just look at this scrumptious card!!!

Isn't her card stunning!!! I asked her to share a bit about herself!

1. What is the name of your blog? When and why did you start it?

The name of my blog is "A Kept Life".  When I left my career to focus on family, my husband started calling me his "kept wife".    The name of my blog is a play on that expression.  I was forced to make a choice between work and family when my daughter was diagnosed with a medical condition.  I didn't feel like I was doing my job very well, because I was focused on my daughter...   and I didn't feel like a very good mom because I was feeling guilty about having to miss work.    Leaving my career allowed me to give 100% to family and capture memories with my children while they were still young.    I'm blessed by my husband who was able to support us, even if that meant a second job. 

Because I had more time I volunteered frequently school and church.   You could always count on me for goodies at the bake sale, decorating lockers, or helping out at a holiday party.  I started making  mini scrapbooks of field trips for teachers, sports seasons for coaches, and campouts for my scouting friends.   I spent lots of hours drooling over projects in my favorite magazines between basketball practice, and after school meetings.    I loved being able to personalize projects for each recipient and seeing how delighted they were to receive it. 

One day I saw a card made with a die set that matched the stamps - this was a game changer - no more fussy cutting!   I had to have this set!   The set was only available on line.  While I was on their web site I saw that they had a weekly challenge.  Maybe I could win something to help defer the cost of all the amazing products I wanted!!     The only way to play the challenge was to link to a gallery or to my blog.  But WHAT is a BLOG?    I started clicking on all  the linked up projects and was amazed!    So many great ideas for ways to use the products, and a way to express myself!!!   That was for me!!!!  So I started a Blog!!!   That was in May of 2011!  

  

2. What is your style of card making?

 I like to think I don't have a particular style of card making... I like it all!   I expect I am most known for a collage type card with a mix of pattern papers and lots and lots of layers.  I admit I do love embellishments and a pretty bow!   But I do like to try new things and am always trying to challenge my comfort level!  You might be shocked to find me playing at a CAS challenge, or playing with watercolors, but the one thing all of my projects have in common is LOTS of COLOR!   

  

3. Who inspires you as a designer?

In my "perfect world" I'm not inspired by one designer in particular.  I see beauty in diversity.  I love the unexpected.    II like many different styles and appreciate the nuances of each.   When I started blogging I had a handful of "heros" that I looked to almost daily for inspiration.  I was in awe of how they could make an amazing new design almost every single day.  After a while I saw a pattern in their projects - the same color scheme, or layout, and I lost interest.  I want to keep challenging myself - I want to be unpredictable - so I surround myself with many different designers and styles. 

  

4. What sort of things inspire you as a card maker? Photos? Sketches? Other designers?

I'm most inspired by photos.  A photograph can take me back to a specific time or place.  A photograph can make me dream of things I want to do, places I want to go.  When I'm crafting it's my sweet escape - I can go anywhere, be anything.  If it's winter, I can still be surrounded by flowers and palm trees.  If it's summer I can create a wintery wonderland.  The only limit is my imagination.  

Come and play along with us! We hope you are Inspired...

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspired by All the Little Things {Spotlight on Lee Ann Barrett}

So I have decided to start a weekly segment on my blog called "Inspired by...All the Little Things". We are on Week 2 already! It will be a Sunday feature and it will post at no specific time...as it is all about inspiration! Maybe as the week's go on, I will nail down a specific time! Ha! I have always wanted to highlight and celebrate other designers. There are so many who really inspire me!!! And so this week I have my first Guest!

Today's inspiration is one of my favourite things; flowers! Bright, sunshiny and happy!  

I asked my friend Lee Ann Barrett to design a card today based on the inspiration! Just look at the stunning card she created! I was awestruck when I saw it!!! She is SUCH an inspiration to me!

Lee Ann Barrett

 I asked her to share a bit about herself...

What is the name of your blog? When and why did you start it?
The name of my blog is Greyt Paper Crafts.  The 'grey' part of it is in honor of my grey hound, Bella.  I started card making for Operation Write Home and started my blog so that I could participate in their blog hops and challenges. 

What is your style of card making?
My style of card making is ever changing.  I've tried everything and can tell you what I a not- shabby chic!  I lean towards clean but not too cutesy.  I like CAS but it does not come easy to me. I have been on a coloring kick lately. Some have described my card making as elegant, but lately I am staying away from a lot of layers and fru fru.  :)  After making countless cards with layers, swirls flowers at the like, it is my goal to make cards that are mailable!

Who inspires you as a designer?
I have been greatly inspired my Iwona Palamountain, but sadly, she is not blogging anymore.  Recently, I have been inspired by the amazing Kim Wiener (blog- Wienerhoneymooners ) and Cornelia Wenokor (blog- Stempel Spass).  If you haven't seen these ladies' creative works, check them out! 

What sort of things inspire you as a card maker? Photos? Sketches? Other designers?
No one specific thing inspires me; sometimes it is colors, sometimes it is a sketch.  Usually, I put images and elements down and move things around until I get something I like.  Not very glamorous is it?!  :)

Share something about yourself we may not know?

I worked in the operating room, specializing in neurosurgery.  

Thank you so much, Lee Ann for being my first guest at Inspired by All the Little Things! You have inspired me so much!!! Are you inspired by Lee Ann or the inspiration photo? Come and share a card or project if you make one using the photo. We would love to see your work! The linky will be open for the next two months.

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspired by All the Little Things {With Sympathy} A New Feature on My Blog

Hello stamping and crafting friends! Lately my style of card making has been shifting and I see that I am being influenced by so many styles...Shabby, Vintage, Country...I have always had a love for blue and white. Back when I was starting out and collecting items for my hope chest, I gravitated toward blue and white china. I love the blue and white roses! My entire home is made up of reclaimed furniture and items I have found 2nd hand...I love the "old" and worn look. 

So I have decided to start a weekly segment on my blog called "Inspired by...All the Little Things", It will be a Sunday feature and it will post at no specific time...as it is all about inspiration! I am a weekend crafter and so I may not have the chance to craft until Sunday; which is what I did today!

Altenew Vintage Roses

Verve Joyful Blooms

Lace from SRM Stickers

Butterfly Punches from Stampin' Up

Couture Creations Embossing Folder

This feature will not always be "shabby". In fact, I intend to just let the inspiration go where it may! I hope you will join me as I am going to include a link up below. This is NOT a challenge but I hope you will "play" along and share how you were inspired by my inspiration photo. Of course, you may not be inspired at all! But if you are...please share! 

I intend to invite guests from time to time...just so you can be inspired by others as well. 

The linky will remain open for the week...it will close next Sunday at Midnight (PST). Happy crafting! I cannot wait to see how you were inspired!

Some simple rules to keep things organized and enjoyable:

• Please use the graphic for your post and link back to this post.
• Any posts that are offensive to myself or others will be removed.
• Please comment on the submissions of others...we all love the support!
• Yes you can combine with other challenges but NOT other inspiration challenges please.
• Have fun and challenge yourself!

An InLinkz Link-up