Red Alert! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's my turn to choose the challenge and I'm going with "Red Alert!" which just means I would like to see some red on your make.

Good week for a "use red" challenge since Valentine's Day is on Friday.  That's why I made....

...a Christmas card.  Coz every year my Valentine is a bag of Zesty Cheese Dorito chips and chips don't be needing a card.  To tell the truth, I'm thinking about switching it up this year and having cake be my Valentine.  I just seem to be in the mood for cake right now.  Heck, maybe I'll do both!  Doritos for supper, cake for dessert.  The Valentine's meal of champions.  (:

Sentiment digi is from DigiStamp Boutique which has been closed for a while now.  ):  Background is made with a die and paper scraps.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Peace On Earth:  anything Christmas goes

Love Those Pretty Papers:  red

As You Like It:  favourite stamp type - Digi all the way!  Zero space needed to store, you can resize and flip if needed, and digis are less expensive.  (:

Crafty Catz:  use a die

ABC Christmas:  D is for die cuts

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

Shopping Our Stash:  3 or more patterned papers

The Holly & Ivy:  anything Christmas goes

Unicorn Challenge:  dots and stripes

Christmas [or not] Bingo:  G - red, free, gems, die cuts

Merry Little Christmas:  anything Christmas goes

A Cut Above:  anything goes with a die cut

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Dream Valley:  2 or more patterned papers

The Neglected Stuff:  neglected craft items - Background was made from paper from my scrap pile - a pile I should definitely dig into more often!

Tic Tac Toe:  designer paper, red, free

Sweet Treats! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Sweet Treats!" which means she would like to see those yummies on your project.

This is what I did....

I used a digi from Digistamp Boutique (no longer in business ))): ) and some gingerbread patterned paper for my sweet treats.  Ever look at a card when you're posting it and wonder why you didn't do something?  I'm looking at this and wondering why I didn't put some Stickles on the puddings.  Maybe I'll just have to do that.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Also for:

CRAFT:  anything goes

Krafty Chicks:  all occasions

Christmas With the Cuties:  Christmas pinks + cute

Double Trouble:  something, anything, everything

Dream Valley:  anything goes

Love Those Pretty Papers:  patterned paper

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Peace On Earth:  anything Christmas goes

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

The Holly & Ivy:  anything Christmas goes

A Place to Start:  pink

Simon Says:  anything goes

Use A Stencil @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Doni's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Use A Stencil" because she wants to torture me which means that she wants to see those projects that you've used a stencil on.

Okay, can we just talk a moment about my complete lack of Stencil Game? Well actually, my complete and utter lack of ability to use ink for anything other than inking up a stamp. Like no blending, smooshing, spreading, stencilling, brushing, edging or anything else that involves getting ink onto paper without it being transferred there from a stamp. I've tried the Tim Holtz blenders, blender brushes, makeup sponges, direct from the ink pad and it all looks like it's been applied by an emu with a drinking problem. I've pretty much given up trying. Just thought I'd get that out there so you know, that I know, how weak my offering is for this challenge....

Just in case it's not obvious (yeah, it's not), those are supposed to be snowflakes, from a snowflake stencil, behind the elves.  If you look close enough, you can actually see where I managed to ink off the side of the stencil - d'oh!

I decided to try an ever-so-popular-right-now slimline card.  Thought it would work well with this design.  Using this patterned paper for it turned out to be an excellent idea as I could line up the circles with no measuring needed.  It was just luck that this was one of the few pieces of 12x12 Christmas patterned paper I had (from 10 years ago when I first forayed into papercrafting and I bought scrapbook sized paper rather than 6x6 paper pads) that were the colours I was going for.  I should say too, the photo turned the white at top yellow....it's actually the colour near the bottom of the card.  If I get a chance I might take a new photo....no time this a.m. though!

Those cute lil elves are from The Cat's Pajamas and the sentiment is from Digistamp Boutique (closed).  It almost looks like it's a heat embossed sentiment, doesn't it?  Though, if you know me, you'll know it not because it doesn't have telltale flecks of stray embossing powder (despite using an Embossing Buddy).  But, my heat embossing skill definitely does beat out my stencilling attempts, for sure.

Why don't you give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fabulous projects the other Girlfriends have created.

The Cat's Pajamas:  slimline card
613 Avenue Create:  anything goes
Dragonfly Dreams:  anything goes
Stamping Sensations:  masculine
Corrosive:  anything goes
Crafty Calendar:  anything goes
Crafty Friends:  anything goes
ABC Christmas:  Q is for quiet (coz they're sneakin' in)
Simon Says:  oh so cute
Crafty Sentiments:  anything goes
The Holly & the Ivy:  anything Christmas goes

Mahalo Nui Loa! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Mahalo Nui Loa!" which is Hawaiian for "Grand Thanksgiving" according to Google Translate. I'm thinking it's more like "thank you" when you don't ask The Google to do the translation for you but we all'll just have to pop on over to Brenda's blog to see for sure. And, while we're there, we can all be jealous of her because she gets to live in Hawaii and she probably didn't have to park her van in the shop on Monday night so she could avoid having to scrape off layers on freezing rain on Tuesday morning.

So, it's "thank you" projects this week! And this is what I did....

I used a digi from Digistamp Boutique which is no longer in business. I do believe that it's supposed to be a robin but I went for more of a winter bird seeing as it's all dressed up for winter. Not that you don't see robins in winter weather at times.....there's loads of times 'round here when winter decides to show up for a day or two (or more) in April and/or May. You should see the robins then....all hopping around looking all confused, poor things. But that's pretty much what we're all doing when snow comes in the spring though.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the fantastic projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Sweet Stampin':  spots & dots
Crafty Gals Corner:  snow much fun
The Male Room:  anything goes
Craft Rocket:  winter
As You Like It:  anything goes
Alphabet Challenge:  U is for Use Some Stitching
Make My Monday:  use words or sentiment
Crafty Sentiments:  anything goes
Shopping Our Stash:  winter blues + old stash - patterned papers are a few years old
Dream Valley:  anything goes

Shine, It's Your Day @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Shine, It's Your Day" which just means that she wants to see cards that shine....so think glitter, bling or even an image like a light bulb. So many possibilities!

This is what I did....

Don't Santa & Rudolph look so happy together?  I'm thinking that this was just after Rudolph tattled on those nasty name calling Other Reindeer and Santa is making him feel better.  And, look at that smile, it worked!  (Or perhaps Rudolph is thinking Santa is doing some name calling of this own rather than just chortling.)  Digi is from Digistamp Boutique.  As you can see, Rudolph has a very glittery nose, Santa's belt buckle is Stickled up gold and (even though it's a bit hard to tell in the photo) the sentiment was die cut out of glitter felt.  Rudolph's nose will shine the way through a foggy Christmas Eve, I'm sure!

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Allsorts:  be there or be square
Winter Wonderland:  animals
ABC Christmas:  H is for hats
Fab 'n' Funky:  cute critters
Simon Says:  add some texture
Merry Christmas Challenge:  anything Christmas goes
The Holly & the Ivy:  anything Christmas goes
Cutie Pie:  delightful digis

Winter Wonderland @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's our first challenge of 2018 - yay! And, it's Heather's turn to host and she saying "Winter Wonderland" which (obviously) means that she wants to see projects featuring snow and winter weather.

This is what I did.....

Can't really get more wintry than snowpeople and snowflakes, I'm thinking.  I used a digi from DigiStamp Boutique.  I absolutely love how there's a snowman, a snowwoman, two snowboys and one snowgirl.....that's our family, right there!  Except, we're not made of snow, I guess.  And I don't think I could ever get the males in my house to wear top hats....or scarves....or sparkly buttons.  But, I'm pretty sure my nose is to scale, so there's that.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Pile It On:  snowpeople
Dream Valley:  Christmas
The Crazy Challenge:  winter wonderland
The Merry Christmas Challenge:  anything Christmas goes

Christmas Critters @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Kate's turn to choose the challenge and she wants to see those holiday animals. Perfect challenge for this time of year, right?

This is what I did....

I made a pop up gift card holder.  Thought this digi from DigiStamp Boutique would be perfect for teacher gifts.  Hmmmmm.....I must say, I could have blended out my colouring better.  I guess when you're looking at it after midnight, for a challenge that's due in about seven hours, the colouring job will look spot on.

I was just happy the constructing, folding, etc. of the holder went (basically) according to plan.  I'm usually terrible at figuring out these types of projects.  I did have one minor glitch.....I had originally used a different sweet little border die to make the detailed edge.....but I ended up getting a stand alone sweet little border rather than a sweet little edge.  I blamed it on the die, rather than the user, of course.  Usually I'm good about putting my dies back in their package so I don't worry about losing them (though I'm not so good about putting the package back) but I was pretty mad at this one so I taped it to the desk with washi tape so it could think about what it had done.  I was just all kinds of relieved that the flap was long enough and I didn't have to make a whole new one.

I didn't bother with a photo of the inside as I'm sure most of you know what a pop up gift card holder looks like (and if you don't you can see the one from the tutorial I used)......and because this piece of patterned paper was just the right length with the manufacturers information still attached.  I'm doubting my daughter's teacher will notice, much less care, but I know if a fellow crafter saw it, it would look like a lump on plate glass.  So, remain closed, it shall.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Crafty Sentiments:  snowflakes
The Cutie Pie Challenge:  snowflakes
Use Your Stuff:  Christmas is coming
Allsorts:  snowflakes
Aud Sentiments:  Christmas + sentiment
The Male Room:  Christmas

Foodie @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Foodie" which just means that she wants to see projects with food or drinks on them.....well, with images of food or drinks anyways. She doesn't want to see your crafting-while-snacking mishaps.

This is what I did....

As you can see, I've got two types of food on there - Christmas pudding and gingerbread men, neither of which will be touching my lips this holiday season.  Blech.  I could eat the gingerbread man if I had to, say in a case of being polite....but I might just do the one-bite-mmmm-good-hide-it-somewhere-and-dispose-of-it-later thing....but only if it was homemade gingerbread.  I never feel the need to be polite with store bought baked goods.  The Christmas pudding - uh uh.  In my early 20s I briefly worked in a factory (hated it) and one of the things I had to make was suet cakes, you know, for birds.  The suet had to be heated so it would become liquid, then mixed with birdseed, then poured into packages, which you could never do neatly so then you'd have to try to wipe the greasy fat off the outside of the packages while it was fast getting cold (because there was very little heat in the part of the factory where you did this) and turning back into a slimy, sludgy mess.  And you smelled like beef fat for DAYS no matter how many times you showered.  Now, I know you can probably make Christmas pudding without the suet....but the only Christmas pudding I ever see is made by my very old fashioned mother-in-law (like pour the bacon grease on the dog's kibble, old fashioned) so I know there's definitely suet in her pudding.  And, if she knew my feelings about the stuff, she'd probably make it with extra suet....just in case I ever lost my mind and decided to have some.

Yes, so while you now know my intimate feelings about Christmas pudding - the irl stuff - I must say I do think this version is super adorable.  It's from DigiStamp Boutique.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Simon Says Stamp:  food and/or drink
The Holly & The Ivy:  anything Christmas goes
The Merry Christmas Challenge:  anything goes + Christmas
Fab n Funky:  Christmas
Crafty Friends:  add a sentiment

Give Us Your Background @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she got a fun one for us. She's saying, "Give Us Your Background" which just means that she wants us to make our own background paper. So fun!

Now, I'll admit, I had a bit of trouble with this one. I was totally overthinking it too, of course. As much as I love inked backgrounds I'm completely horrible at trying to produce them myself. I cannot blend ink smoothly, I end up making a big mess, and a lot of paper ends up in the garbage (and more than a few swears fly outta my mouth too).

In the end I followed this tutorial from Mel Stampz and made this...

So, while I did use patterned paper, at least I dressed it up, right?  What you do is use an embossing folder on the patterned paper, use clear embossing powder on the raised sections, then ink the rest of it.  Of course the embossing powder resists the ink, so it comes through as is.  It looks stunning if you use a dark ink that completely covers everything but the raised parts (click on the link above to see a sample of that).  Silly me, I thought that what would happen here, but obviously, pink isn't dark enough to black out the pattern.  Still, looks pretty cool if I do say so myself.

I did do some ink smooshing too, which I can sorta, kinda do. Sprinkled salt on it but I really don't see that effect on it at all....maybe because I blotted off the excess ink before I did?  I dunno....yet another example of why me and inks aren't best of friends.

Digi is from DigiStamp Boutique.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up? And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

The Holly & the Ivy:  anything Christmas goes
Addicted To Stamps:  Christmas
The Merry Christmas Challenge:  anything Christmas goes
Addicted To Stamps & More:  holiday
Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  anything Christmas goes
Dream Valley:  use a stamp or digi image
Sweet Stampin':  heat embossing
Shopping Our Stash:  on trend - Distress Ink smooshed backgrounds....that's still trendy, right?
City Crafter:  inspirational photo

Monster Mash! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's my turn to choose the challenge and I hope you'll have fun with it. The challenge is "Monster Mash!" which means I want to see creatures or aliens and the like on your projects.

This is what I did....

Digi is from DigiStamp Boutique. It's s/he fun? He's perfect for that teen boy crowd, I'm thinking.

This card was very much inspired by the always lovely, Lauren Bergold.  She makes the bestest, most funnest monster cards, especially monsta Christmas cards.  You should really take a boo at them.  (Haha, see what I did there.)

So, why not get out your creepy-crawly or cutesy-wootsy monsters and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up? And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Fab 'n' Funky:  Christmas
The Crafty Addicts:  add a sentiment
A Snowflake's Promise:  anything goes
Christmas Card Challenge:  Christmas
Winter Wonderland:  hats or scarves

Egg-Cellent @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Heather's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Egg-Cellent" (not to be confused with

).  She's wanting to see projects that have eggs on them, Easter or otherwise.

This is what I did....

I went full on Easter with an adorable image from DigiStamp Boutique.  Sentiment was a freebie from Create With TLC.

So, why not get all eggy and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up? And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Deep Ocean:  Easter
Fab 'n' Funky:  buttons & bows
The Paper Players:  Easter bunnies
Crafty Friends:  B is for......bunnies, bow, blue, brown, button

Plaids & Polka Dots @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Donna's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying "Plaids & Polka Dots"....I'm pretty sure everyone will know what that means.

This is what I did.....

Let's just say that they paper was darn dotty when I first picked it out of the pack.  I really didn't take into account the fact that I was going to end up covering up most of the dotty hexagons with other paper.  Oh well, at least I didn't end up covering them all up!  Digi is from DigiStamp Boutique.

So, why not dot and plaid it up and then head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up? And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Thank You @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Donna's turn to choose the challenge and she saying "Thank You". I don't think that needs any explanation!

This is what I did....

(I realize that this is a bit self-serving but...) Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!  I don't think I've stopped snickering since I made this.  I'm telling you, if you don't find that sentiment at least a teeny touch amusing, then honestly, I don't even want to know ya.  Digi is from DigiStamp Boutique.

So, why not show us your grateful side and then head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

CAS on Sunday: black & white + one other colour
The Paper Players: black & white + one other colour

Something New @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's my turn to chose the challenge so I'm gonna go with that old familiar, first challenge of the New Year challenge, "Something New".  And, it's a pretty open challenge really.....it could be a "new" theme, new-to-you technique, new stash....as long as it's something that's in someway new, it's in!

This is what I did.....

I ticked a few boxes with this one!  I've got a new baby theme, used a sketch I had Pinned but have never used before (so, not new new, but never used), used a new-to-me digi (from DigiStamp Boutique) and I also used a some letters from an unopened package.  (Also not new new, but let's just be happy that I used them, 'kay?)

I was also planning on using a new technique....I don't have a large fishtail pennant die so I went looking for a tutorial on how make one.  Turns out, there really aren't any that would work for this size (that I found, anyways).  So, I made up my own tutorial.  Well, not a tutorial really.  I basically just found the centre point, drew lines from the edge to that centre point and then cut it out with scissors.  I know, *flourishing hands* ta-da!  My New Year's gift to all of you.

So, why not do or use something that's shiny & new and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up?  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Button It Up @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to chose the challenge and she's saying, "Button It Up". She not asking us to be quiet or more modest though....she just wants to see buttons on your projects.

This is what I did....

And the cool part is (other than the rib-tickling pun, of course) is that the horse is on an Action Wobble so it's extra fun - yay!

So why not pull out some buttons and join us for the challenge?  Then head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up.  And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.