We’re up to Challenge #19 over at Peachy Keen Stamps!! How exciting! Everyone has really blown us away with how creative they can be, and our design team is BEYOND amazing! Go check Emma’s, Lorie’s, Viv’s, Janice’s, Nikki’s, and Jacqui’s gorgeous cards to see what I mean! This week, you have a chance to win Peachy Keen’s newest face assortment – Simple Sallies! They are a great companion to our Simple Simon assortment pack.

For my card, which was, ahem, late! I decided to use the Winter Peekers and Phrases set. I love these guys because it brings me back to when I was seven, punching out the perforated paper dolls. Only now, it is much more time consuming and intricate! I loved interchanging different outfits on the same doll, and with paper piecing, you get to do just that! I used the super fun “Eskimo Kisses” paper from Basic Grey (courtesy of Kathy Claus) and I love how it turned out. My goal was to really focus on the coloring and paper piecing, but I definitely need to visit a technique forum/challenge to get some new inspiration. I have a feeling all my projects are starting to look alike! Let me know if you guys know any great tutorials or forums I could check out! I have FIVE pictures of this card, because I couldn’t choose which ones to post and also, I tried to capture the dimension. I really tried to pop out the characters as much as possible, thus, keeping the background pretty flat. Not sure how well it looks on camera, but in person, it really “pops”! I used Prismacolor colored pencils and Gamsol to blend my character’s faces, and used Copics to outline their scarves. Ribbon is from American Crafts, and I just did some hand-stitch on the bottom border with white embroidery floss.

Thanks for looking, and good luck in the challenge!

Sketch:

Peachy Keen Challenge #19 ~ Sketch

My card:

Peachy Keen Challenge #19

Peachy Keen Challenge #19

Peachy Keen Challenge #19 ~ Snowman Closeup

Peachy Keen Challenge #19 ~ Gingerbread Closeup

Peachy Keen Challenge #19 ~ Penguin Closeup

PKS Challenge #18

I was up until the wee hours of the morning (my babies go to sleep around 7:30 and I finally decided what I wanted to do with my card around 9:00 … lol, not good!), but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. The picture looks a bit blurry but I am too tired to mess with it anymore!

I hope everyone has a great time playing along in this challenge – we have some exciting ideas coming up in the new year!

PKS Challenge #18 Entry

Paper: Wonderful Winter – My Mind’s Eye, Solid cardstock – Bazzill

Ink: Timber Brown – Staz On, Tuxedo Black – Memento

Penguin Stamp: Peachy Keen Stamps

Sentiment Stamp: Peachy Keen Stamps

Button, Ribbon, Tag : Not sure? They’ve been in my stash for a few years!

Now for my photo for today. While at Archiver’s, I purchased many a thing to decorate and give as gifts. One thing I purchased was this recipe box holder. My mind is in a creative overload. I have so much I can think to do with it, that I need to back up the truck a little bit (did I just hear my stepdad’s words coming out of my mouth fingers?) and plan what I am going to do. It is completely overwhelming. What questions should I be asking myself?

And now, the big, bad box.

December 06, 2009

Anyway, we still don’t have all our Christmas decorations up, but Jorge did get the lights strung on the tree, and there is something magical about lighting up a Christmas tree, isn’t there? {Sigh} I just LOVE this time of year! We even got a sprinkling of snow today. Lucy was most excited.

December 03, 2009

This first image is of my favorite corner in my kitchen (yes, I really painted my kitchen that color – on purpose!) These little cocinas bring me to my happy place – and make me wish I was eating some tamales. :)

December 02, 2009