Wow, where on earth has the time gone? I took a "lil break" from my passion and the "lil break" turned into almost 2 years! With so much money invested into my hobby, I don't think that I will ever completely abandon my passion for paper and stamps. The desire to create again has hit me full force and I found myself looking for a few challenges. I created this card featuring an Inky Impressions stamp, Nickies Birdie. The colors are

Challenges starting thursday, march 29

Simon Says Stamp......Anything goes (due by next tuesday 4/04)
Aud Sentiments......Sentiment saying "Happy Easter"
By LORI Designs.....sketch
Craft Us Crazy.....Anything but a card (meilen designs)
Do You Stack UP?......Sewing
Cute Card Thursday....Easter
Lili of the Valley.....Anything Goes
Meljens Designs.....Anything Goes
Inky Impressions......Flower Power
The Pixie Cottage.....Cuddly Critters
Kenny K's Krafty Girlz's.....Fun and games

ATS Wednesday.....♥Valentine Ideas♥.....

This is my second post for today, please scroll down to see the Pixie Cottage's Love Themed Challenge.

Hello again!
I'm back with this weeks All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge, this weeks theme is ideas for Valentine's Day . Now that the kids consider themselves "too old "to take treats to school, I had think about this project a little bit. At the end of the day, I decided to make Valentine treat boxes. Originally I had made three treat boxes of various sizes but wasn't able to capture all three treat boxes and card into the photo. I think that treat boxes are perfect ideas for gift giving. You can dress them up beautifully for a more sophisticated crowd or make them simple for kids. The possibilities are endless here! I feel my "mojo" trying to return and I plan to make some fancy Valentine treat boxes for a few of my friends.

Once again I resorted to my scrap bin for design paper and used what I could find to decorate my treat boxes. Both boxes are embellished rather simply, I just add some eyelet lace trim. Of course I had to make a card and decided to feature C.C. Designs Honey Teacher Rubber Stamp. I covered Honey's Teachers apple with my sentiment titled "For You". The base layer of my card was embossed with Sizzix's textured hearts embossing folder. I also used my EK Success hearts border punch to embellish Honey Teacher's mat and added ribbon and Kaiser half back gems for contrast.

Be sure to head over to the ATS Wednesdays Challenge Blog to play along with us. Every week there is a new and exciting prize being offered .... but in order to be eligible to win,your card must include a stamp that is sold in the ALL THAT SCRAPS store..Whether it is one of our wonderful in-house designs or from the various other stamp companies that ATS carries, the choice is yours. Then be sure to link up your creation with Mr. Linky by next Tuesday at 10:00pm EST with only one entry per person please! For more Valentine Day Ideas, be sure to check out the ATS DT Blogs♥

• Lesa Rapp
• Traci Porter
• Risa West (Me♥)
• Rachel Schneider
• Pam Varnell (me)
• Mary Pfaff
• Mary Giemza
• Amy Young

Have a beautiful day and I thank all of you so much for your kind and beautiful words of inspiration. Your acts of kindness truly touched my heart in ways that you could never imagine.

Hugs
Risa:)

card details........
stamp ATS Honey Teacher, sentiment PTI, c/s Bazzill and PTI....DP Yellow Bicycle (on treat bags).....inks Copic Markers, SU Red Riding Hood and Memento Tuxedo Black, tools Sizzix's textured heart embossing folder, EK Success Hearts border edge punch and MS fancy scallop border edge punch.....Embellishments ribbon, lace and half back gems

The Pixie Cottage Challenge#53...Love/Sketch

Hello Everyone and Happy Wednesday!
Today's Pixie Cottage Challenge theme is ♥♥♥...Love...♥♥♥ ! As with all of our challenges, you can make a card based on our weekly theme or you can make a card based on the present sketch.

This weeks challenge really helped to cheer my spirits. My image, Fairy Molly, designed by Ellen Gutierrez is among my favorite Pixie Cottage images. My image is colored in with Copic Markers and her wings were embellished with extra fine glitter. Other embellishments are felt flowers, Liquid Pearls an Kaiser half back pearls. I haven't brought any new Valentine design papers yet and had to resort to looking around in my scrap bin. I found a couple pieces that were large enough to make a card and that made me happy. Usually my scrap pieces are small and I can't stand it when I find a great piece of DP that is too small to do anything with!

Should you decide to participate in this weeks Pixie Cottage Challenge, remember the theme is ♥♥♥ and we are looking forward to viewing your creations! Have lots of fun with our LOVE theme and if you feel the need for more inspiration, feel free to use this weeks sketch as well.

For more LOVE inspired cards, please click here to see the Pixie Cottage DT Creations, the girls really had fun with this challenge and I hope that you do too! Click here for the rules etc.

card details...... stamp...The Pixie Cottage's Fairy Molly,sentiment MFT....c/s Bazzill...DP from my scrap bin....inks Copic Markers and Memento Tuxdeo Black....tools SU's window punch, Spellbinders lg. circle and lg. scalloped circle dies.....embellishments...felt flowers, Kaiser half back pearls, extra fine glitter,Liquid Pearls and Liquid Glass on Fairy Molly's heart.

My card also qualifies for the following blog challenges.....

The Reason Why I Haven't Been Around...

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year Wishes To All!

I've been meaning to post a note regarding my absence but no matter how many times I tried, I wasn't able to do anything that made sense. My cousin passed away suddenly right before Christmas and I haven't been myself for a while.
We were very close throughout childhood and as adults, my cousin was like the sister that I never had, almost like my mom in some cases and most of all, my best friend. My entire family is still reeling from our sudden lost and the past few days (or weeks) have been very painful. I never knew that losing someone so close to me could be this painful, I've cried buckets of tears wondering why her? I know that God has his reason for everything and I'm really trying to come terms and get a grip on life itself.
When I woke up today, I decided that today was the day to take life by the horns and deal with my pain by dealing with life itself. My husband and the kids have been understanding to some degree and I can tell by their faces that they are happy to see me coming back around.
I hope that you all can forgive me but I wasn't in any shape to do too much of anything, I tried but when old memories got in the way, I just fell apart and retreated to my bed.
I finally finished my card for Wednesday's challenge and it took me forever to finish it but I hung in there and managed a card that I can live with.
Well...enough gabbing for me, I'm going to take a hot shower and get ready for bed, today has been a long one.

Hugs
Risa:)

*My Christmas post was created a week before Christmas and pre-scheduled, I should have said something before hand, but I didn't have the strength...the shock was too much to handle.

Merry Christmas!

Hello Everyone,

I'm wishing the warmest of Christmas wishes to you and your family. May God shower his choicest blessings on you and your family this Christmas!

Merry Christmas and may the New Year begin on a joyful note.

hugs
Risa

All That Scraps Wednesday....Inspired By A Song

* I typed up both ATS and The Pixie Cottages challenges last night before I started baking. I thought that I had scheduled both post but apparently I didn't. At any rate, I'm glad that I followed "my mine" and checked everything out.

Hello Again!

This weeks All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge is to make a card that is inspired by a song. The song that came to my mind was "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow", I think the song is by Dean Martin but I'm not 100% certain.

I gave Sugarplums Polar Bear some dimension with layering and for a little color, I lightly airbrushed B00 around Polar Bears outer edges. I embossed the white background with Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots embossing folder. At one point, I was going to emboss Polar Bear but decided not to at the last minute. (I was afraid that I was going to mess up and didn't have the time to start over again). My design paper, by Imaginisce, is titled "Let it Snow" and I simply punched out the words and applied it to my card.

For more Inspired By A Song cards, please be sure to stop by the All That Scraps Blog for inspiration. The girls had a lot of fun with this challenge and I'm sure that you will too!
We hope that you are inspired by a song and that you participate in this week challenge. Please link your challenge cards to the All That Scraps blog before 9:00 p.m. est next Tuesday.


card details...
stamp C.C. Designs Sugarplums Polar Bear rubber stamp, sentiment taken from my design paper.....Imaginisce, c/s Bazzill and PTI, design paper Imaginisce....inks Copic Markers and Memento Tuxedo Black.....tools SU's window punch, Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots embossing folder and air brush compressor ....embellishments ribbon, Prima Flowers, Black Stickles and Kaiser half back pearls.

Take care, have a beautiful day and thanks so much for stopping by!

hugs

My card also qualifies for the following blog challenges...

Pixie Cottage #50 Team Sketch/Party Theme

Hello Everyone,

Are most of you ready for Christmas yet? Or are you still running around in a mad rush decorating the house and planning your dinner? As usual, I'm still running around with last minute details for gifts, dinner and baking obligations. Each year I promise myself that the next year will be different but so far, I'm in the same rut, I think that I was more organized when I was working a full time job...seriously!

Enough gabbing on my end, this weeks Pixie Cottage Challenge is a team sketch and the theme is "Party/Celebration"! As with all of our challenges, you can choose either the team sketch or the theme for our challenges. Please note that our "Party/Celebration Challenge" will last two weeks! Yes...we are giving everyone a lil vacation and we will resume January 5th, 2011.

I'm kicking off the challenge with Playful Penguins, designed by Eileen Gutierrez. I totally adore this stamp, the penguins are too cute!!! At this time, Playful Penguins are not available, but if you are interested, please contact Michelle here.

card details.....
stamp The Pixie Cottage's (Playful Penguins), sentiment Papertrey Ink...c/s Bazzill and PTI...design Paper My Minds Eye (Colorful Christmas)....inks Copic Markers...tools SU's corner rounder punch, snow flake punch and eyelet setter....embellishments ribbon, Kaiser half back pearls, glaze pen on candy cane and Sparkles

In between baking pies and fulfilling cookie orders, I plan to "pop in" from time to time and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Have a beautiful day and thanks so much for stopping by!

hugs
Risa
My card also meets the following blog challenge requirements

The Pixie Cottage #49..Guest Sketch/Family Friends Theme

This is my second post for today, please scroll down for All That Scraps Winter Flower Challenge.

Hello Again and Happy Wednesday!

I'm back with a sample for today's Pixie Cottage Challenge. This weeks challenge is a guest sketch and the theme is family and friends.

I had a little trouble trying to incorporate the entire sketch onto my card but I made sure to include as much of the sketch as possible. My image, April with Hearts is fairly large and adjustments were necessary. Once again, I've combined the traditional Christmas colors of red,white and green with lovely holiday design papers, flowers, buttons and ribbon. In my mind, April with Hearts is giving a loved one her heart and wishing them love,peace and joy for the holiday season.

We only have a one more challenges left and you really want to make sure to get in on all of the challenge fun. Be sure to stop by the Pixie Cottage Blog and check out the design teams Family and Friends creations for inspiration and the challenge rules. We hope that you have lots of fun with this weeks challenge as we look forward to viewing your creations! Thanks so much for taking the time to visit and for your wonderful and kind comments. Take care and have a beautiful and blessed day!

hugs
Risa:)

card details.....
stamp...April with Hearts...sentiment SU.....c/s Bazzill and PTI.....design paper..American Craft's Dear Lizzy...inks Memento Tuxedo Black, SU's Olive Green and Copic Markers....embellishments ...Kaiser half back pearls, ribbon, Stickles, flowers and buttons

My card also qualifies for the following blog challenges...
Creative Belli Blog....Any embellishment that is related to Christmas
Stamp With Fun - Christmas
Allsorts - Christmas
Pear Tree Designs - Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday - Christmas
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes Christmas
AI Factory - Happy Holidays
Hanna and Friends - Christmas in Red
Paper Cupcakes - Christmas with Red and Green
Crafty Ho's - Red and Green
CRAFT - Color Combo "Festivia"
Thrilling Thursday - Celebrate
Cute Card Thursday - Flowers
Sew Many Challenges - Flower Power
Creative Cowgirls - Anything Goes
Mad For Markers - Anything Goes
One Stitch At A Time - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
Fresh Brewed...Merry Christmas

All That Scraps Wednesday....Christmas Flowers

Hello Everyone,
This weeks All That Scraps Challenge is right on time for the season.....Christmas Flowers! I had ordered a couple of poinsettia's but once they arrived, they were way too big for a card and I was very disappointed with my purchase. Needless to say, I guess that whenever I get around to making a Christmas layout, my huge poinsettia's should workout well! *lol*

While deciding on a image, I decided to use Sweet November's Stamp designed by Amy Young (Nixie). Nixie looks like a snowflake flower and I thought that she would be perfect for this weeks challenge. I love the expression of her face, it looks like she is welcoming the winter snow with such joy and glee.

I colored in Nixie's face,arm ,torso and legs with my Copic Markers. To give a hint of color to her snowflake body, I used the markers B00 (Frost Blue*), RV00 (Water Lily) and 0 (Colorless Blender*). Then I used my colorless blender and swiped the tip against the tip of the RV00 until I obtained just enough color on the tip of my colorless blender. Next step, I took my colorless blender and ran the tip over the outer areas of Nixie's snowflake body and repeated this process until I was finished. I repeated these same steps for the inner areas of Nixie's snowflake body but used B00 and my colorless blender. I also repeated this same process on Nixie's fur, I used my colorless blender and B00. To me, this method is perfect when you only want a hint of color. I applied the ultra fine glitter by generously going over the snowflake with my quickie glue pen and then drizzled the ultra fine glitter onto the snowflake and carefully tapped off the excess glitter. I finished my card by embellishing it with ribbon, flowers and half pearls.

For more All That Scraps DT inspiration, click here to check out the teams lovely creations. Should you decide to accept out Christmas Flowers Challenge, you have a week to finish your project. Please upload your card/project to the ATS Blog with the Mr. Linky feature. You have until Tuesday night at 9:00 PM EST to submit your entry. Each week Christine gives away a lovely prize and the winner of our Christmas Flowers Challenge will receive Imaginisce X-mas flowers! I can't wait to see your creations....have fun and shower us with your flower creations! ☺ Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope that you have a beautiful day!

card details...... image SNS by Amy Young (Nixie), sentiment Whimsy Stamps (Winter Seals) ...c/s Bazzil and PTI....inks Copic Markers and Memento Tuxedo Black....tools used Cuttlebug's 5X7 Polka Dot embossing folder, quickie glue pen* and Nesties square and square scalloped die....embellishments....ribbon, Kaiser half back pearls(Pearl) , Palette ultra fine glitter and Petal-Loo flowers.........*.....sold out at this time....*

My card also meets the following blog challenge requirements....

Allsorts - Last Minute Christmas

Ellephantastic - Christmas/Winter

Our Daily Bread - Christmas

Lil Red Wagon - Use a Diecut (Nesties)

Penny's Paper Crafty - Christmas

Stampin' Royalty - Winter Holidays

A Spoonfull of Sugar - Christmas

Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes

The Crafty Pad - Anything Goes

AIFactory - Christmas/Winter Holidays

Dutch Dare - Christmas Tag/Card/Ornament
Doodles - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamps...Holiday card minus the colors red and green

ABC DT Challenge....Non-traditional holiday colors

Sparkle and Shine!

Hello Everyone,
Today I'm back with card that is basically a non-traditional styled holiday card that is full of shine and sparkle. My image, Pirate Princess is dressed up in pink and lots of sparkle and to tell you the truth.... I had a lot of fun with this card.

I paired together stripes,solids and polka dots along with pink snowflakes and lots of glitter for a fun and whimsical card. My image is by My Cute Stamps and I think Pirate Princess is adorable on both land and sea!

card details.....
Stamp...My Cute Stamps (Pirate Princess), sentiment by Impress Rubber Stamps....c/s Bazzill and PTI...design papers My Minds Eye (Madison Ave.) the polka dot paper is from my scrap stash....inks Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers....tools EK Success open scallop border edge punch, various snow flake punches and SU's window tag punch.....embellishments Glitz Stickles on scarf,bodice and shoes...regular Stardust Stickles on dress hem and snowflakes, ribbon half back pearls

Card Challenges.....
Simon Says Challenge......Christmas card without any reds or greens
Bunny Zoe's Crafts.....Sparkle & Shine
The Crazy Challenge......Use at least 3 design papers
Cupcake Craft.....Non-Traditional holiday card
Alphabet Challenge Blog...Glitter
The Character Cafe.....Glitter!!!

Have a beautiful day and if you have to be on the road, drive safely.

hugs

Purple Celebration

Hello Everyone,

I'm starting off the week with some fabulous news...I'm a new designer for My Cute Stamps! I was thrilled to bits when I received the news and could not wait to receive my DT starter kit. I tell you, the stamps are super cute, the images stamp like a dream and most of all, you get a lot of stamps for one reasonable price!

My image is from My Cute Stamps Royal Celebration stamp set and would you believe that a total of 13 stamps are in this kit? I see myself having tons of fun making note cards for special and everyday events, the possibilities are endless!

I also want to mention that here in Michigan, we received our first snowfall for the winter season and it came in with a bang! We have a mixture of snow and ice and school has already been canceled for today. I'm not saying that having a snow day so early is unusual but normally, most snow days take effect in the months of January and February. If this snow storm is any indication of what our winter is going to be like, all I can say is "we are in for an good old fashioned winter"!

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

card details....
stamp and sentiment by My Cute Stamps...c/s Bazzill and PTI...inks Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers..tools Nesties petite circle die and decorative elements eyelet circle die, SU's window tab punch,MS fancy scallop border edge punch and Cuttlebug's Swiss Dots embossing folder...embellishments ribbon,mini roses and extra fine glitter

card challenges.....
Catered Crop...Use any ingredients from the recipe chart (my ingredients....Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Bazzill c/s, Cuttlebug embossing folder (Swiss Dots) and glitter)
My Sheri CRAFTS....Parties/Celebrations
Fresh Brewed Challenges...Sparkle & Bling
Paper Pretties....Punches

hugs

Claudia & Co. .....December "Spotlighting" Challenge

Hello and Happy Friday!

This month's Claudia & Company's challenge theme is "Spotlighting"! We want you to spotlight a particular area of your card and you can apply this technique in various ways. You can either color in your image and spotlight a particular area of your image by omitting color in that area or you can stamp your image and only color in a particular area of interest. The choice is yours to make and we would love to see your take on our spotlighting challenge.

I'm not 100% pleased with the results of my spotlighting but after viewing the Claudia & Co. DT cards, I have an idea for future cards using this technique. Winter Hannah's colors are almost monochrome and I simply spotlighted an area of Winter Hannah's skirt and jacket. Other features are the embossed snowflake background,tiny snowflakes and ribbon.

Be sure to stop by and check out the Claudia & Company Blog and check out the DT cards. I love each DT members take on the challenge and I hope that you are inspired as well. You have a month to complete your card and all cards are to be uploaded to the Claudia & Company Blog. The only rule....you are required to use Claudia & Company Stamps. Have a great weekend and have fun with the challenge!
card details.... stamp and sentiment....Claudia & Company (Winter Hannah)...c/s Bazzill & PTI...inks Copic Markers....tools Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder and EK Succes wavey scallop border edge punch and snowflake punch...embellishments Stickles,half back Pearls and ribbon
card challenges.....
Frosted Designs....Ribbon
If The Shoe Fits....Texture
Paper Cutz....Must have something relating to snow flakes....(I used my snowflake punch and my Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder)
Studio 313...Sparkle & Bling
AiFactory......Holiday or Christmas
Glitterbabe's....Christmas...No Green or Red

All That Scraps Wednesday.....Holiday Gift Ideas

Note* This is my second post for today, please scroll down for The Pixie Cottages Sparkle & Shine Challenge.

Hello Again!

This weeks All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge is to make gifts for the holiday season. I made a trio of gifts that range from a cocoa treat holder, a nugget treat box and a mini decorated tin.

I found the inspiration for my cocoa treat holder here and the instructions are super easy to follow. Perched on top of the cocoa treat holder is the adorable new C.C. Designs Sugarplum "Brr Emma". I settled for traditional holiday colors and added gold embellishments for sparkle.
A few months ago, I brought a die-cut from my local scrap store. The scalloped die cut was a mini treat holder that had enough room for a single nugget candy. I made a template from the die cut and after several attempts, I came up with a version similar to the one I brought from my LSS.
My treat bag was made with Spellbinder dies and this is what the inside of my treat holder looks like. There is just enough room for a single nugget or in my case, two Hershey's Bliss Chocolates. I also decorated a mini round tin with design papers, ribbon, a flower, gold cord and a tiny gold bell.
The inside of the tin is filled with a few York mini Peppermint Patties.

Be sure to stop by All That Scraps Blog for more holiday gift ideas. The DT did a fabulous job and their creations will surely inspire you! Should you decide to take on this weeks challenge, keep in mind that you can use any stamp that is sold at the All That Scraps On-line Store. Link your creations to the All That Scraps Blog , you have until next Tuesday and the deadline is 9:00 est. The winner of our gift idea challenge will win a $15.00 gift certificate from the All That Scraps Store. Have fun with this weeks challenge and I'm hoping that you "knock our socks off" with your creativity!

Details....
stamp C.C. Designs Sugarplums "Brr Emma", sentiment Whimsy Stamps, c/s Bazzill, DP Imaginisce...inks Copic Markers, SU's Olive and Memento Tuxedo Black....tools Spellbinders Sm. Big Scallop die,Scor- Pal, dbl. sided tape, corner rounder punch and small edged scallop scissors...embellishments ribbon, half back pearls, gold cord, Stickles, clear treat bag and mini gold bells.

Blog Challenges......
Really Reasonable Ribbon.....Anything but card and must include ribbon
Saturday Challenge....Christmas
Mark's Finest Papers...Red & Green
* Pile it on - it's all in the wrapping
* A crafty little place - anything goes
* scrap-creations - anything goes
* sugar sweet paper treats - anything goes
* top tip tuesday - anything goes
* There's magic in the air with paper cupcake - anything goes
* totally stampalicious - anything goes
* Bugaboo stamps - anything goes
* Creative inspirations - christmas gifts
* little red wagon - christmas tag or bag
Paper Sundaes.....Gift It!