Stocking Miles

I had a card order for 5 Christmas cards and was told they could all be the same, so I made an assembly line and cranked out 5 of these little cuties.

I stamped the image - called Stocking Miles (Kraftin' Kimmie) - with Memento Tuxedo black ink onto Bella’sBestest paper and coloured it with copics.  After he was coloured I fussy cut him out and added glitter to the stocking rim.

I mounted that onto a circle embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder and layered that onto a Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX die.  The pattern paper is from my scrap pile with a Real Red card base and the Fishtail Flag is Pear Pizzazz.  Across the top I added a piece of red ribbon and tied on two little bells with some red bakers twine.  These are being hand delivered so I could be "bulky" with my embellishments and I love that the bells have a sweet jingle to them!

Cheerio.....Leslie

Miles the Mouse - September SFYTT

Well it's the last Saturday in September and that brings to an end my job as the September Guest Designer for Jen's Sketch For You To Try.  I have loved my job and I took it very seriously, managing 4 out of the 5 weeks!

For my last card I used the simply adorable Stocking Miles from Kraftin' Kimmie - the sponsor for this month.  He is stamped in Memento Tuxedo black ink and coloured with copics.

The paper is Authentique Wonder and I paper pieced his little stocking adding lots of glitter around the trim.

I used the Fishtail Flags Stax in several sizes and the "Noel" is from the sentiment set called Merry and Bright.  Here's the rest of the fabulous SFYTT Sisters for more inspiration:

Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Jen Tapler
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

Thank you again for the wonderful opportunity to be your Guest Designer this month.

Cheerio.....Leslie

Moaning Moira - September SFYTT

It's my third week as Jen's September Guest Designer for her Sketch For You To Try and I'm having so much fun with the Kraftin' Kimmies images - the sponsor this month.  For today's card I used Moaning Moira - don't you just love her name?!

I stamped Moira in Memento Tuxedo black ink and coloured her with copics. 

I knew I wanted her face either green or a ghostly gray and I settled on green.  The pattern paper is Basic Gray Eerie and I used some purple and orange to mat it - two of my "go to" colours for Halloween.  Her dress has a bit of sparkle from my Atyou Spica pens and I added some MS glitter to her wings.  I had a lot of fun with the embellishments - a bat brad (sheesh, try and say that fast!), MS spider web border and that oh so sparkly black ribbon.  I love that the sentiment comes with the image and I cut it out using the Oval Stax 1 & 2.

On the inside I used the Fishtail Flags Stax and just stamped the top portion of Moira, leaving room for my spooky greeting.

Have a great weekend and I hope you can play along with Jen's SFYTT!

Cheerio.....Leslie

Meet the Punkins - September SFYTT

It's Saturday and for me, (this month only), that means another card as Jen's Guest Designer for her September Sketch For You To Try!

Halloween is my second favourite time of year.  I absolutely LOVE everything about it - the costumes, the decorations, the colours, the treats (mmm) and of course the pumpkins - all sizes, shapes and colours. Let me introduce The Punkin Family from Kraftin' Kimmie, our sponsor this month!

I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo black ink, coloured the pumpkins with copics and then added some extra shading with OMS and pencil crayons.  I used a green and orange Atyou Spica pens for a touch of glitter on the pumpkins.

I rotated the sketch this time and for a little texture used the swiss dots embossing folder on the largest polka dot paper.  The image seemed a bit stark so I added some clouds I made with the MFT Wonky Scallop Border die-namic.  I cut out a border and placed it randomly, sponging the edge and voila...clouds!  I added some grass but got a little carried away I think!

The paper is perfectly named Happy Halloween from Echo Park and the ribbon and the papers came from TE Fright Night Project Pantry.  I added three dots in the corner and popped up the littlest Punkin for a little dimension.

Of course I had to do the inside and the Open ZigZag die-namic seemed to imitate the pumpkin carvings.

For more inspiration here are the rest of the fabulous SFYTT Sisters:

Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Jen Tapler
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

I hope you've had time to play along with Jen's sketch this month. 

Cheerio.....Leslie

BIG news!

Finally, I can share my exciting news!  Last month I received a comment on one of my cards and then an email from Susan Liles.  Yes, THAT Susan!  She asked me to be the "September Guest Designer of the Month" for "Jen's Sketch For You To Try" (SFYTT)!!!  At first I thought she must be mistaken - me?  A guest designer?  Fortunately she (and Jen) didn't reconsider after all my questions :) and here I am....excited, delighted and honoured to be asked.  As a Canadian, I'm even more excited that the sponsor this month is also Canadian - Kraftin' Kimmie stamps!

This is Jen's Sketch For You To Try for September and there are five Saturdays this month so plenty of time for you to play along.

I love a sketch - I almost can't make a card now without one.  I do like to flip or rotate a sketch but for my first card this month I left it exactly as it was - can't promise that for next week - LOL.

I stamped the oh so classy Lana in Memento Tuxedo black ink and coloured her with copics.

The pattern paper is MME Lost & Found Madison Avenue paired with some Pretty in Pink and Early Espresso.  I added a crown border layered over some Pretty in Pink satin ribbon and topped each tip with a sparkly rhinestone.  For a bit of texture on the Pretty in Pink layer, I used my Sizzix Flourish Texture plate.  The finishing touch for Lana was lots of glitter on her wrap.

I'm loving doing the insides of cards too, matching up the image and papers.

Here's the rest of the fabulous SFYTT Sisters for more inspiration:

Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Jen Tapler
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

I had so much fun with this sketch - I hope you'll play along too.

Cheerio.....Leslie

Happy Birthday Dana!!

My friend Dana is celebrating a birthday today!  She knows I love snowmen and sent me this adorable image recently from Kraftin' Kimmie stamps.  It's called Frosty Winter Friends - a perfect friendship card!

I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo black ink and coloured him with copics.

I wanted to keep it simple and relatively flat for mailing so just some red, navy and ballet blue cardstock and I ran the white piece through my swiss dots embossing folder.  I finally bit the bullet and bought a set of Atyou Spica pens (yay!) so I used the blue and red pen for some sparkle - LOVE these pens!  The banner is from MFT First Place Award Ribbon and I added two red rhinestones to either end of the sentiment which is included with the stamp.  Then some chunky glitter for the icy puddle he's standing in and he was ready to celebrate with Dana.  I like how he's standing - possibly thinking 'let's get this party started'! :)

Please stop over at Dana's blog and wish her a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday my friend!!!

Cheerio.....Leslie