Crafty Chicks September Blog Hop...

It's that time again!

Time for the Crafty Chicks "School" Hop!

 

Haven't been to a Hop before?  Here's the deal:  Every month we have a different theme, and offer a prize to one lucky winner.  If you would like to qualify to win the prize, just leave a comment on each blogger's site.  Then, on the rafflecopter below, click "did it."  That's it!  After you do that, a bunch of other options to earn more entries will appear, if you feel so inclined.  After a week of entries, the prize winner will be announced on Jessica's Page.  We will also contact the winner, so make sure your comment includes your contact info.  The winner will have one week to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.

 

The prize this month is a $25 gift certificate at 3 Girl Jam!  That's a lot of adorable ribbons and flair, my friends :)  Check out their Facebook Fan Page too if you have a chance :)

 

 

And now, on with the Crafty Chicks School Hop! 

 

******{{You're probably coming from Elizabeth's Blog, but if you stumbled across this page, and you want to start at the beginning of our Hop, you can head back to Jessica's Page and start there!}}****** 

 

 So, I'm massively obsessed with this whole chalkboard trend.  I've been adding bits of chalkboard paper and chalkboard tape to everything...jam jars, cards, pages, meat and cheese trays...you name it, and I have a chalkboard accessory for it.  I even bought a chalkboard wall decal AND a chalkboard easel for WORK...because I'm just that crazy about chalkboards.  Here's how my extreme love of chalkboards evolved:  I spent my entire youth writing all of my Mom's planned assignments etc. on the chalkboard in her classroom...and then...they switched over to the dreaded whiteboard.  Yes, it's less messy.  Yes, it's easier to read.  Yes, it means your hands don't get all dry and powdery.  But there's something so perfectly charming about an ACTUAL chalkboard.  Yep.  :)

 

Anyway, so I made a little school-themed card for my project.  The chalkboard pieces are Fancy Pants chalkboard stickers.  The stamps are some older Stampendous wooden stamps.  I find occasion to use these little guys almost every year at back-to-school time...they're so cute!  The paper is just some cork patterned paper I had laying around (sorry...I didn't have the strip anymore...I'm guessing it was a Simple Stories one, but I've been collecting an awful lot of cork patterned paper lately).  I used a Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to staple on the ribbon (it's from American Crafts), and then I pop-dotted on the top pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may notice (or maybe not...as someone who is not always particularly observant, I'll totally give you a pass if you didn't) that the writing on the two chalkboard pieces look different.  On the top one, I used a white bistro marker...something about the finish on the chalkboard stickers wasn't really agreeing with the drying time on the bistro pen though.  I wound up liking the broken look it finished with anyway, so I left it as is.  For the inside though, I wanted something cleaner, so I switched to a white Recollections chalk marker.  Oh, and I colored the little characters with Copic markers :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, I'm super happy with how it turned out.  I like that it could  be for someone with first-day-of-school jitters, or it could  just be a cute school-themed card for anyone who's having some trepidation about what they're working on.  Anyway, that's all I've got for the hop this month...hope you enjoy it and the rest of the girls' great projects!  More craftiness coming soon!

 

******{{If you're continuing on the hop, head on over to Nicole's Page.  And don't forget to follow any of the blogs you like on the hop...we'd love to have you stick around!}}******
 



 

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August Crafty Chicks Blog Hop...

It's that time again! 

Time for the Crafty Chicks "Travel" Hop!

 

Haven't been to a Hop before?  Here's the deal:  Every month we have a different theme, and offer a prize to one lucky winner.  If you would like to qualify to win the prize, just leave a comment on each blogger's site.  Then, on the rafflecopter below, click "did it."  That's it!  After you do that, a bunch of other options to earn more entries will appear, if you feel so inclined.  After a week of entries, the prize winner will be announced on Elizabeth's page.  We will also contact the winner, so make sure your comment includes your contact info.  The winner will have one week to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.

The prize being offered this month is a $30 giftcard from Linnie Blooms Designs sponsored by Linda Barutha!  You can see even more of her super adorable products and ideas at Linda's Pinterest Page. 

 

 And now, on with the Crafty Chicks Travel Hop! 

 

******{{You're probably coming from Julie's Page, but if you stumbled across this page, and you want to start at the beginning of our Hop, go here }}******

 

So, I took a sort of non-traditional approach to travel/vacation, I guess.  Normally, I would probably have done a scrapbook page.  And I DID just finish a Smashbook for my Michigan trip, but I decided I wanted to make something especially for the hop, and I was trying to use stamps I've purchased and haven't actually used yet (oops!). 

 

Now that I've established the premise that I'm thinking out-of-the-box this month, remember a few (okay, a lot) of years ago when people were taking pictures of gnomes all over the place when they were on vacation?  I've been sort of in love with that idea ever since I saw it in the movie Amelie (love that movie, by the way).  If you haven't seen it, she kidnapped her dad's prized gnome and took pictures of it all over the country and then mailed them to her dad anonymously.  I mean seriously...it's still hilarious.  Meanwhile, that idea has since morphed into the Travelocity "roaming gnome", which is also pretty adorable if you ask me. 

 

So when I think vacations, I think gnomes.  Call me a weirdo (go ahead, do it...I don't mind...lol).  And I also tend to think about people that I wish were on vacation with me (OR, alternatively, I think of people I'd like to remind that I'M on vacation and THEY'RE stuck at home...what?  Don't pretend you don't think about it.).  So that's where this card came from:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The houses are a Technique Tuesday stamp, and the polaroid and gnome are from two different Lawn Fawn stamp sets.  I colored the gnome with Copics, and wrote in the hello with a Copic multiliner.  Then I just added some washi tape to finish up the front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the inside, I added a sentiment from the same Technique Tuesday set and added some more washi tape.  See?  Easy peasy, right?

 

And that's all I've got for this month...hope you like it...more craftiness soon :)

 

And now you've reached the end of our Hop...hope you enjoyed it, and hope to see you again next month!  (P.S.  Don't forget to follow any of the blogs you like from the hop!)



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Crafty Chicks Christmas In July Blog Hop...

It's that time again! 

Time for the Crafty Chicks "Christmas in July" Blog Hop!

 

Haven't been to a Hop before?  Here's the deal:  Every month we have a different theme, and offer a prize to one lucky winner.  If you would like to qualify to win the prize, just leave a comment on each blogger's site.  Then, on the rafflecopter below, click "did it."  That's it!  After you do that, a bunch of other options to earn more entries will appear, if you feel so inclined.  The prize winner will be announced on Elizabeth's blog.  We will also contact the winner, so make sure your comment includes your contact info.  The winner will have one week to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.

The prize being offered this month is a Christmas in July paperpack, with 20 sheets of Christmas/Winter cardstock and an extra 20 yards of Christmas twine!  Check it out:

 

 And now, on with the Crafty Chicks Christmas in July Hop! 

 

******{{You're probably coming from Heidi's Page, but if you stumbled across this page, and you want to start at the beginning of our Hop, go  here }}******

 

So, I know that Christmas in July is a thing...I'm not sure I really get it, though.  I think it's probably because I work in retail.  People with normal jobs...jobs where you have weekends off...jobs where you get holidays off...they think all the Christmas hub-bub starts in November, so Christmas in July is a fun novelty.  Anyone in retail can tell you...Christmas starts at the end of August, my friends.  Surprised?  Take another look next time you're out shopping...it's already creeping in...Christmas is hiding in the wings right this very minute.  Look past the stack of clearance flip flops and beach décor...you'll see a stray box of ornaments...red and green glitter ribbon hidden on a bottom shelf...snowflakes popping up where they don't belong.  I'm aware that this seems crazy, but people want Christmas available earlier and earlier every year.  I've already had multiple people this year upset that we don't have any new Christmas décor at the store yet.  I can't help it...the masses dictate retail calendars...as far as I'm concerned, from a retail perspective, summer is over...Halloween will be here any minute, and Christmas will start showing up by the end of next month.  It's weird living a retail life...your calendar is all messed up.  I've learned to just embrace retail seasons and forget about how the normal world gauges time.  So, when we go into full-on Christmas mode on the day after Halloween...I come home and put up my Christmas tree...and it'll probably be taken down BEFORE Christmas, because we're already gearing up for Valentine's Day. Yep.  I'm a total weirdo, huh?  Oh well :)  A well-adjusted weirdo, and that's the main thing!

All that said, I decided to go non-traditional for my Christmas in July projects.  I still get to have fun stamping and coloring without getting into full-on holiday headspace ;)  lol.  So here's what I came up with:

I'll Be "Gnome" For Christmas
This guy was fun...I found this stamp a few months ago and had to get it because it was so dang cute.  I had no idea what I was going to use it for, and haven't actually used it till now.  I like how he turned out...simple and cute!
 

Front

Inside

Supplies: Stampabilities Gnome Stamp, Cardstock (Kraft, Coconut Swirl, and Cherry Splash), Copic Markers, Memento Ink, Foam Dots

Santa Baby
I've used this gal on a card once before, but I bought her several years ago.  I have such trouble deciding what to do with fine line stamps that are difficult to cut out.  For whatever reason, I have a desperate aversion to just stamping directly on the card base and doing other stuff around it.  I decided to just stamp and cut, and give the edges a wide berth.  This BoBunny line is from a bunch of years ago, but I hoarded it away when I got a bunch originally, so it's still hanging on :)

Front

Inside

Supplies: Penny Black Stamp, BoBunny Patterned Paper, Copic Markers, Memento Ink, Foam Dots

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how they all turned out.  Christmas in July turned out to not be so bad afterall ;)  lol. 
 



If you're continuing on the hop, head on over to Jessica's Page.  Enjoy!



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Crafty Chicks Blog Hop...

It's time for a blog hop!  The Crafty Chicks Blog Hop, to be exact :)

 

I've always thought this concept of the blog hop was kind of fun and exciting, and now I get to band together with a group of awesome designers to showcase our creations, to bring fun and inspiration to all!  Hip, hip, hooray! 

So here's the deal:  Every month we'll have a different theme, and offer a prize to one lucky winner.  If you would like to qualify to win the prize, just leave a comment on each blogger's site.  You have one week, until June 22nd, to comment on all the blog stops.  Then, on the rafflecopter below, click "did it."  That's it!  After you do that, a bunch of other options to earn more entries will appear, if you feel so inclined.  One is a scavenger hunt to find our crafty chick mascot in one of the project photos on the hop...just leave a comment in the rafflecopter letting us know where she is! The prize winner will be announced on June 24th on Elizabeth's blog.  We will also contact the winner, so make sure your comment includes your contact info.  The winner will have one week to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.

The prize being offered this month is a fabulous mini album kit from Archiver's.  It's called Daily Junque, and it's a Pink Paislee creation.  Check it out: 

 

 

And now, on with the Crafty Chicks Wedding Hop! 

 

******{{You're probably coming from Valerie's page, but if you stumbled across this page, and you want to start at the beginning of our Hop, go  here }}******

 

Whew!  Now that we're through all the fine print (conveniently made to be not-so-fine, for your reading pleasure), we're on to the project!  For my project, I made a rogue stop at Archiver's this week to pick up a few things.  As a general rule, I don't keep much on hand in the way of wedding project supplies...people are so particular about colors and themes for weddings, so I usually just pick up items for the specific project I'm working on.  Also, I had a serious shopping bug,, so that was pretty inspirational in making the extra stop instead of scavenging for supplies that I surely already had at home :)  Thankfully, I managed to get out of there with my pocketbook (mostly) intact.  I decided on making a card, mostly because I'm single and therefore don't have wedding pictures of my own...and didn't have time this week to track down permission from friends to use their wedding photos on my blog! lol. So here it is:

Front:

 

Inside:

 

Supplies Used:  Bazzill Charcoal Cardstock, Bazzill Coconut Swirl Cardstock, Basic Grey Little Black Dress Patterned Paper, Authentique Irresistible Patterned Paper, Stamping Bella (Uptown Couple: Emily & Ryan Under the Umbrella) Stamp, Prima Say It With Crystals Flourish, Memento Ink, Prismacolor Pencils, and American Crafts Foam Dots.

I just roughed up all the edges with a scissors.  I actually have a specific tool to do that with, but it just never looks right...it doesn't get them rough enough.  (On the other hand, the odds of me taking a giant slice out of the paper I'm roughing up increases exponentially when I'm using a scissors...alas...no risk, no reward, right?  lol).  I chopped up a large gem flourish into smaller bits, and used one of the smaller pieces on the corner.  I had to convince myself to stop there so it didn't get too crazy...I was feeling extremely bling-y at the time :)  I had originally intended to blend all the colored pencil out with Gamsol, but I wound up liking how it looked kind of "sketch-y" without the blending, so I left it at that.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out overall.  I'm vaguely obsessed with this pink and green thing right now...I don't know why.  It keeps popping up in all my ideas lately.  I like the contrast of the whimsical stamp and the serious paper...it's a little bit formal and a little bit cutesy.  If you read my blog much, you know that cutesy is pretty much my schtick ;)  lol. 

And that's all for my post this time around.  It's been super crazy at work lately, but I have best intentions to start posting crafty stuff more regularly again...I'm woefully behind on at least a half a dozen projects at the moment, so there should be plenty to post once I get my butt moving again!

If you're continuing on the Hop, head on over to Heidi's blog next.

Hope ya'll enjoy our first hop...many more to come :)

 

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