Sites of the week

Well, it’s no secret that I love to create and work with sketches. So, when Skipping Stones Design came knockin’ to see if I was interested in being a Guest Sketch Artist I was all aboard in a heartbeat…well, sorta. I have to admit that I hesitated for a second because it’s December and it’s crazy around here, but I really wanted to do this so, here I am! And, I must say that I am in very good company! SSD has a great group of guest designers this month, too. You can see the Meet ‘n Greet on their blog HERE.

This week’s sketch…

My take on it using Funny Coffee, Volume #1 and a sentiment from Christmas Song…

Detail shot…

A star and a buck…get it? Love it!!

New sketches are posted on the SSD blog each Tuesday. I hope you will play along, too!

Usually when I sit down to create something, I end up adding layers or embellishments to the project that I had in mind. This time something completely different happened. I had a bunch of the layers laid out and ready to get glued and sewn and I saw something. Something simple and without layers, using these trees from the Verve Winter Fun die set and the beautiful font from Bright Spirits set {one of my all time fave Christmas sets…EVER!}…

The first set of trees that I did were glittery, but I wasn’t loving them…for this card. I end up with a simple line of Stickles for my glistening snow…

I have to say that I like the way that it came out! When I go to grab my Verve stamps, I almost always have a card in my head that had layers upon layers and various embellishments. However, I am finding that many of these stamps {and dies!} are speaking to the other side of my creativity…clean and simple. What’s even better about this card {in my opinion, at least} is that it can be changed up in so many ways without losing the clean and simple nature of it. I think I may just give it a go with all pattern paper layers!

Off I go. Lots on my to-do list today and only a little bit of time to get it done!

Welcome to the last SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY sketch for 2011!

**If you have played along with each of the sketches, please note the instructions later in this post**

I have to say that I had my reservations switching from a weekly sketch challenge to a monthly sketch, but this has been a wonderful year and I having really enjoyed the new format. I will be continuing with the monthly sketch format in 2012 and I hope that you will play along, too!

SFYTT has certainly been blessed with some WONDERFUL sponsors! I would like to thank all of our sponsor’s this year…

The Cat’s Pajamas
Verve Stamps
Your Next Stamp
Skipping Stones Design
Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps
My Favorite Things
Anita Be Stampin’
Stamping Bella
Unity Stamp Co.
Amber Ink

Finally, I want to thank SPLITCOAST STAMPERS who has donated a one year Fan Club subscription to our Christmas Day giveaway for one lucky SFYTT partipant.

More info on the giveaway at the bottom of this post. For now, let’s get to this month’s sketch…

Since there is no official stamp company sponsor this month, you will find the SFYTT girls playing with stamps from the various sponsor companies. For my first SFYTT card this month, I chose to play with some stamps from The Cat’s Pajamas…

This sweet lil’ image is from the Bearing Presents set…

As with many of the sketches, I took a creative liberty and made my circle panels a little wonky instead of straight across. The snowflakes are from the new Snowflake Lace Paper from TCP and they are adorned with red rhinestones…

Because I knew this would already be a quite lengthy post, I chose to not have a Designer of the Month for December 2011. I have LOVED looking at all your creations and LOVE that you play along with the sketches…THANK YOU TO YOU for that! Over the past couple of days, I have realized that I really should have asked someone to play along with us this month. I’m taking note of that for next year!…With the new format this year, there has been a bit of a learning curve. I’m always looking for a way to make SFYTT as a whole better for YOU, the SFYTT Sisters and the sponsors. It seems to always be a work in progress…as I guess everything in life is.

I feel myself getting a little off my intended path here. Steering my way back…

Want more great SFYTT inspiration? Check out what the SFYTT Sisters have come up with…

Amber Hight -just got back to the states and all her stamping supplies are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Iwona Palamountain
Jen Tapler
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

If you have participated in each of the sketches, you are probably very excited to complete this sketch and be officially entered into the drawing for the prize package {filled with stamps, gift certificates and that SCS Fan Club membership} that has been mentioned in these details…

1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

So, have you completed all the sketches and have linked your creations? If so, in your BLOG POST for your DECEMBER SFYTT creation, you will need to also link your previous 2011 SFYTT creations. Just create a list somewhere in your post of the months January-November and link each creation. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A BLOG {and that’s ok!}…email me a linked January through December list.

YES, I realize that this may seem a tiny bit tedious, but the prize package is well worth those few extra minutes it will take to link your creations in your post or email. The winner’s entries will be confirmed through this linked list.

Happy stamping and GOOD LUCK! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send me and email {link under my pic}.

Note: The link system closes at the end of the day Christmas Eve. Winner will be announced by noon on Christmas Day!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I started the decorating at our house the other day and I hope that I can get it finished this weekend. While I was hoping that the lights would get hung outside, the weatherman is predicting stay indoors or freeze your rear end weather…with some rain mixed in. I guess we’ll just have to get cozy while Clarice Pumpernickel watches over us. Clarice Pumpernickel is the name of our elf that comes each year to watch the kids and report back to Santa. Yesterday she landed in the small basketball hoop atop our gameroom door. Ellie whispered to her that she thought that might be a little bit too dangerous of a place and that she should probably find a safer place to hang out tomorrow {she’s in the sleigh now}. Gotta say that was pretty cute!

As for what’s been happening in the craft room…

You might remember THESE FALL TAGS that I did a little while ago. I mentioned at the end of the post that I thought they might be cute ornaments, so that’s the spin I did on these cute paper balls.

Detail shots of each tag…

I used sentiments from the new Verve set, BRIGHT SPIRITS. Oh, how I {heart} this font! The base these tags is the TAGGED RECTANGLE DIE, also from Verve. The tag die is probably one of my faves of all time! I see a whole bunch more tags cutting cut in the very near future to put on all my Christmas gifties!

Speaking of gifties…I gotta run and make some! Have a great day!

Say it ain’t so! I don’t want sleep in mornings and lazy pajama days to go away! Now, those couple holiday pounds that I am sure have taken residence in each hip, I feel a little differently about! Hiho, Hiho…it’s off to the gym I will go! This morning is going to be brutal, I am sure. Hopefully Pandora will play me some good jams to get me going.

After the gym, I think I will need to squeeze in a little crafty time! Over the past week or so, I have had a lot of fun playing with my new stamps {that are being released TONIGHT!} from The Cat’s Pajamas. When I got the new ANYWHERE RIBBON SLIDE CutUps die, I knew I wanted to use it for something holiday and something other than a ribbon slide on a card. How about an ornament…

This ornament consists of 12 pieces of cardstock measuring 7″ x 7/8″, each die cut with the ANYWHERE RIBBON SLIDE from The Cat’s Pajamas. The pattern paper that is slid through the slides measures 6″ x 9/16″. They are then all stacked on top of each other and holes are punched at either end {I used my Crop-o-dile so that I could punch through all the pieces at once}. Large brads are put through the holes and then the strips are spread out until they form a ball.

The top of the ornament is adorned with a triple bow created from the new Cranberry seam binding ribbon and button that is strung with silver cording. The tag, which is part of the stack that is bound with a brad, was created using the new J*lly H*oliday set…

This set is a lot of fun and coordinates well with many of the previously released Circus Panels and Big Ticket CutUps dies, as well as the Stamp Trio stamp set from The Cat’s Pajamas. Gotta love being practical and the many more ways to get creative!

One more shot, so you can see how it’s put together {the top looked the same before I hot glued the heck out of that bow!}…

I hope you have enjoyed my TCP Sneaky Peek week sneak peeks! Be sure you don’t miss what all the other girls have come up with, too! Alma has been posting special previews and links each day on her blog.

Tonight is the release party in our forum on SCS. Hope to see you there for fun, prizes and more!