For Mom or a Special Lady at The Pixie Cottage

This is the last Pixie Cottage challenge before we take a break for summer.  With Mother's Day coming up in a few weeks, this week's challenge is Mom or Someone Special.   As always, there is a great sketch to go along with the theme.  You can follow the sketch or the theme, or do both.

I used Valentine Hannah, available at Michelle's Scrapbooking, and I covered hearts in her hand and basket  with Flower Soft, drew in some stems.  Hannah is colored with Copics, and background was colored with Pebbles Chalks.  She was cut/embossed with Spellbinders Labels 17.  All DP is from Prima Fairy Flora pad.  The background DP was embossed with CB folder.  Sentiment from Flourishes, cut and embossed with Spellbinders Labels 10.  All edges inked with Distress Ink. 

Stamps:  Valentine Hannah from Michelle's Scrapbooking; Flourishes Spring Bouquets.
Paper:  Flourishes Classic White, Prima Fairy Flora pad, The Paper Studio.
Ink:  Memento, Distress Ink.
Accessories:  Spellbinders Labels 10 and Labels 17, Flower Soft, flat-back pearls, Cuttlebug Geometric Rings EF, Pebbles chalks.

Green and Gorgeous at The Pixie Cottage

Sorry I have been MIA for so long...some health challenges, my daughter's wedding - which was BEAUTIFUL!, and a relationship breakup...all together a bit overwhelming.  I plan to post wedding pictures and shots of the things that I made for the wedding in a later post. 

Today's card is for The Pixie Cottage Challenge #117, which is Green and Gorgeous.  As always, there is a great sketch to follow, you can follow the theme, or you can do both.  I chose to follow the sketch, though I do have some green in there. :)

I used the adorable Hannah With Umbrella , available at Michelle's Scrapbooking.  She is colored with Copics and then cut out and attached to an embossed background.  The embossed gold paper is a scrap from my stash, used a MS border punch on it.  Sentiment from Stampin Up, cut out with Spellbinders Circle and attached to Spellbinders Persian Accents die.  Added the dainty little Memory Box Fuschia diecut.  Few rhinestones and Stickles. 

Buttons and Bows at The Pixie Cottage

Two and a half more weeks until my daughter's wedding.  I keep getting asked if I am getting panicked and sometimes I wonder if I should be.  I think we have been slowly working on things and getting things done that everything is just done, except for the cake and a few other last minute details.  Once I get another camera I will take pictures and post everything. 
So here we are with another Wednesday rolling around, and that means another challenge at The Pixie Cottage. This week it's Buttons and Bows.  There is also the great sketch provided.  So follow the theme or the sketch, or both!  Come join us. 

I used Copics to color Hanna on Stepping Stones by Sandra Hammer, available at Michelle's Scrapbooking.  The image was cut /embossed with Spellbinders die and sponged with Distress Ink.  All DP is Basic Grey Stella Ruby.

Stamps:  Hannah on Stepping Stones from The Pixie Cottage.
Paper:  Basic Grey Stella Ruby;  The Paper Studio.
Ink:  Memento, Copics, Distress Inks.
Accessories:  Spellbinders Lacy Ovals die, Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish die, ribbon, buttons

Anything But a Card at The Pixie Cottage

This week at The Pixie Cottage, the challenge is Anything But a Card.  There is also a sketch to follow should you choose.  Use the sketch or the them or both, but come join us for this week's challenge!
I saw one of these cute baskets back before Christmas somewhere in blogland, then I ran across it again here with this great tutorial.  I thought it looked like one of those "fortune teller" paper fold up things we used to make and play with as a kid, and that's what it is!!  How cute is that?!?  A friend asked me to make some baskets for the tables at a bridal shower, with pink, brown and green as the colors, and she wanted it "funky but elegant".  Ooooooookay.  Not sure this fits into that description, but I got the colors right.  All DP is My Mind's Eye, sponged with Distress Inks.  I used the beautiful Faith Sentiments stamp from Michelle's Scrapbooking.  The pink roses and top flower were handmade by  me, and the other flowers at the base are from Michael's, spritzed with Glimmer Mist.  Sorry about the poor picture quality, but my camera has gone MIA and I now have to use my cell phone, and no matter how I tried it would not focus on the sentiment.

Stamps:  Pixie Cottage "Faith Sentiments" from Michelle's Scrapbooking.
Paper: The Paper Studio, My Mind's Eye.
Ink: Distress Inks, Memento.
Accessories:  Martha Stewart punch, Spellbinders Labels Fourteen and Fleur-de-Lis Squares, handmade and purchased flowers.


Challenges
Make it Monday - Anything Goes
One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes
Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes
If The Shoe Fits Scrap It - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes

Pixie Cottage Challenge #106

It's time for a Clean and Simple challenge at The Pixie Cottage.  Every Wednesday is a new challenge, with a sketch and a theme.  You can follow the sketch or the theme, or do both.  Come join us!  For this week's clean and simple challege, I followed both theme and sketch.  I used Valentine Hannah by Sandra Hammer available at Michelle's Scrapbooking.  I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils.  Cut and embossed the image with Spellbinders Lacey Ovals, inked with Distress Ink.  Sentiment (can't remember which company, because it fell off it's backing) was stamped with Colorbox Queues, then cut/embossed with Spellbinders Ribbon Banners and inked it with Distress Ink as well.   The background DP is from DCWV Simple Elegance pack, and I photographed it so you can see the foil swirls.  

Stamps:  Valentine Hannah from The Pixie Cottage; (?) sentiment.
Paper:  The Paper Studio, DCWV Simple Elegance, Neenah Solar White.
Ink:  Colorbox  Queues, Distress Ink.
Accessories:  Spellbinders Lacey Ovals and Ribbon Banner dies, corner rounder/heart punch.

Truly Scrumptious - Love and Hearts.
Paper Sundaes  - Valentines.
My Time to Craft - Adorable.

Love and Kisses at The Pixie Cottage

How did another week go by so quickly?!  I finished my daughter's veil and headpiece; plan to post pictures of both in next couple of days. I will also post a picture of the invitation, and eventually get each of the different favor boxes posted; there are 22 different ones, and I posted one way back here. Just need to get the rest up here.  

Wednesday means another great challenge at The Pixie Cottage!  This week's theme is "Love and Kisses".  There is also the great sketch you can follow.  Go with the theme or the sketch, or do both!  I used this gorgeous digi image from the Pixie Cottage, called "A Bloom and Her Trio" by , available at Michelle's Scrapbooking.  I was in a tinkering mood, so printed the image onto regular copy paper, then quick colored it with Prismacolor pencils.  I spritzed the image with water and then smeared it around with my fingers.  When it was almost dry, I sponged on some Distress Ink all around the image.  I layered a piece of vellum over the image to give it a soft focus look, and cut both layers with Spellbinders Twelve.  I cut the doily and inked the edges with Distress Ink. Put all the layers down, added the butterflies and the lady silhouette cutout.

Stamps:  "A Bloom and Her Trio" by Artish, from The Pixie Cottage.
Paper:  "Fairy Flora" by Prima, The Paper Studio CS and vellum. 
Ink:  Distress Ink.
Accessories:  Cheery Lynn Designs French Pastry Doily die, Marianne D LR0139 Elegant Lady die, Spellbinders Big Scalloped Circles and Labels Twelve, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Stickles, flat back pearls.

The Pixie Cottage #104 - Embossing

I have been MIA for several weeks.  Life sometimes knocks the wind out of our sails temporarily, and I had a few days of feeling pretty ragged.  My daughter, Shelbie, was home from December 24 and left late Sunday.  I truly enjoyed her being home, and also seeing and hearing her and Tyler bantering with each other again.  They are both such a joy.  Shelbie and I managed to get quite a few wedding items taken care of checked off the list, the main thing being finishing all of the invitations and getting them mailed out.  I also managed to get the earrings and necklaces for the bridesmaids made, Shelbie's veil finished, started on her headpiece.  Got the fabric for the flower girls' dresses, and finally got the measurements for all five bridesmaids so I can get started on their dresses.  March 10 will be before we know it! 
So here we are again with another weekly challenge at The Pixie Cottage, this one being one of my favorite themes - embossing.  There is also a wonderful sketch, and you can choose do follow the theme, the sketch or both.  I have used the sweet Valentine Hannah by Sandra Hammer, available at Michelle's Scrapbooking.  The image is colored with Copics, as well as the speckled background around it.  All DP is Rhubarb Tart by Memory Box.  The vine is a Cheery Lynn die that I cut apart.  Can definitely say that die can hold up to repeated cuts...I have used it many times before, and also used it for the 250 wedding invitations, and it's still like new.

Stamps: Valentine Hannah from the Pixie Cottage.
Paper:  Rhubarb Tart by Memory Box, The Paper Studio.
Ink:  Memento, Copics.
Accessories: Spellbinders Deckled Oval, Deckled Rectangle, and Labels Twelve dies, Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish, embossing folder, corner rounder, gold leaf pen.

Challenges: 
One Stitch at a Time:  Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmakers:  No Floral embellishments
My Time to Craft:  Favorite embellishment (flourish)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE ! ! !

May the peace and beauty of the season be with you always!

100th Challenge Blog Hop at The Pixie Cottage!!!!

It's a very special challenge at ThE PixiE  CottagE this week as we are celebrating our 100th challenge!

To mark this special occasion we are having an "Anything Goes Christmas" challenge and also a blog hop for some very special prizes!

You should have come to me from Davi Long Reid and if not, then please go back to ThE PixiE  CottagE so that you don't miss a spot on the hop.

You'll need to collect letters from all the blogs on the hop to be in with a chance of winning.

Also, you must leave a comment at all the blogs as each one is giving away a PixiE CottagE Digital Image so plenty of prizes to be had.  The winner from my blog will be chosen from the comments, and will win a digital image of their choice!

Finally, when you get back to the ThE PixiE CottagE leave your name and link to your blog in the Inlinkz box for a chance to win a $20 Gift Certificate to Michelle's Scrapbooking!  We'd love for you to enter with a Christmas card/project but if you are only entering the blog hop, please add BH after your name. Only one "Blog Hop Only" entry per person.

So now you just need to leave me a comment and then hop along to Tanya Johnson to carry on with the fun!

For this 100th challenge, I made this little banner. 

I cut the backdrops and letters with my Cricut, embossed each backdrop with a Sizzix folder then edged each one with a gold DecoColor pen.  The letters were cut from a thick gold metallic cardstock.  I threaded each little pennant onto thin gold wire with a sparkly bead between each one.   I colored the cute "Not Even a Mouse" Pixie Cottage image with Copics, cut it out and mounted it on Spellbinders Holly Motifs.  I then suspended it with fine wire from the Merry banner.   The poinsettias were made with Spellbinders Poinsettia Creations, with sparkly beads added to the centers.  Below are close ups of the image and one of the poinsettias.

Stamps:  Not Even a Mouse, by The Pixie Cottage.

Paper:  The Paper Studio, not sure who made the gold CS.

Ink: DecoColor pen.

Accessories:  Cricut, Spellbinders Holly Motifs and Poinsettia Creations, Stickles, wire, beads, Sizzix Snow Globe EF.

Last Minute Gift at The Pixie Cottage

The theme at The Pixie Cottage is last minute Christmas gifts and cards.  As always there's a sketch  you can follow as well. 
You know how it is during the holidays...there's always one more little gift or trinket for something that comes up unexpectedly or last minute.  Last year at this time I was the "newbie" at work and really didn't know anyone well at all.  I chose not to participate in the name-drawing for Secret Santa gifts, because I didn't want anyone to feel obligated to buy something for someone they didn't know. There were two ladies that were very helpful with breaking me in and teaching me the ropes, and I made them each a little gift similar to this one pictured, just different colors and images.  They loved them!  :)

One of those ladies needed some little gifts for her daughter's classmates and asked if I could make up 15 of the mugs with an image that kids would like, and I went straight for "To Santa From Buffy" by The Pixie Cottage.  Last week I had stamped and colored a bunch of these images to use on Christmas cards.  I just love the chubby little bunny!  They have now been reappropriated; just need to color up a few more.  You can get this stamp from Michelle's Scrapbooking.

Buffy is colored with Copics, then I cut around the image very closely and attached it to Spellbinders Deckled Classic Ovals which I lightly sponged with Distress Ink.  I made the "mug"from Kraft paper, embossed some little swirls with copper EP. I then attached the oval to the front of the mug.  Inside the mug are two different flavored packets of cocoa, mini marshmallows in the cellophane, and two skinny chocolate covered peppermint sticks (that somehow managed to hide behind the cellophane).  Quick and easy little gift!

Stamps:  To Santa From Buffy, by The Pixie Cottage.
Paper:  Kraft CS, Neenah Solar White.
Ink:  Copics, Distress Inks.
Accessories:  Spellbinders Deckled Classic Oval, Stickles, Liquid Pearls, copper EP, ribbon.

The Pixie Cottage Holiday Home Decor

The challenge this week at The Pixie Cottage is a little different.  We want to see holiday banners, ornaments, etc...  Or if you create a card, it must follow this week's sketch (below) 

I made this little wreath by stringing a bunch of jingle bells onto wire.  The bow and curly tendrils are 1/4 metal strips I cut and curled.  Few nicks on the fingers while manipulating it because the metal edges are sharp, but it turned out pretty. The leaves were in my stash, and I swiped a cotton ball with Distress Ink over them to give them a patina.  I colored "To Santa From Buffy", available at Michelle's Scrapbooking, with Copics, cut around the image and suspended it in the center of the wreath.  I have this hanging on the inside of my front door.  Now I hear a pretty jingly sound when someone opens the door and there's no more sneaking up on me. :) 

Challenges: 
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes.

Stamps:  To Santa From Buffy by The Pixie Cottage.
Paper:  Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Memento, Copics.
Accessories:  Liquid Pearls and Stickles, jingle bells, wire, cording, thin metal sheet.

Pixie Cottage Challenge #97

Happy Wednesday all!  Time for another challenge at  The Pixie Cottage challenge blog.  This week's theme is Make a Set.  That could be something like a card and matching box, a set of tags or set of cards.  There is also the sketch to follow, so you could choose to do the sketch as well. 

My daughter is getting married in March, and I made this set of tags for each of the five bridesmaid's gifts.  I know, I'm way early with these, but there is a LOT still to be done.  I used the Faith Sentiments stamp available at Michelle's Scrapbooking, cut and embossed with Spellbinders Scalloped Rectangle, and inked with Distress Ink.  The tag was cut with my Cricut, using some metallic cardstock from Hobby Lobby.  I made all the flowers (I'm getting better and quicker at making them) , except for the white one at the upper right.  The leaves are from Marianne D dies.  Added scraps of lace, some pearls, and crinkled seam binding. 

Hope you join us this week for a fun challenge! 

Stamps:  Faith Sentiments by The Pixie Cottage.
Paper:  Metallic paper from DCWV, Neenah  Solar White.
Ink:  Memento, Distress Ink.
Accessories:  Cricut, seam binding, flat-back pearls, Marianne D die, Spellbinders die, lace, handmade flowers.


Challenges:
Craft Your Days Away - Embellisment bingo (pearls, flowers, ribbons).
Gingerloft - Lace, fabric or felt.
One Stitch at a Time - Anything goes.
Simon Says Stamp - Tag, You're It!
Cooking With Cricut - Bible verse or quote

Pixie Cottage Challenge #96

Whew...where are the days going?  I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving!  Over at the Pixie Cottage Challenge blog the theme this week is Family Thankfulness.  There is also a great sketch to follow...so follow the theme, follow the sketch, or do both.  But come play along with our challenge this week!

I need more Christmas cards, so I followed the sketch and used Sebastian the Snowman, available at Michelle's Scrapbooking.  He is colored with Copics and has Stickles Frosted Lace on his feet.  The corner embellies are Spellbinders Holly Motifs and the snowflakes are a Cuttlebug die.  Gold Dew Drops for a final touch.  Easy peasy. 

Stamps:  Sebastian the Snowman from The Pixie Cottage.
Paper: 
Ink:  Copics.
Accessories:  Spellbinders Holly Motifs, Cuttlebug snowflakes, Dew Drops, Stickles.

This week's sketch

Pixie Cottage Challenge #95

This week at The Pixie Cottage challenge blog, the theme is Blue For a Boy.  There's also a great sketch to follow, as always.   I just go this new Pixie Cottage image by Alisa Ramirez called Not Even a Mouse, available here at Michelle's Scrapbooking.  How CUTE is that little bear with the mice sleeping all over him!!  I decided to follow the sketch this time, flipped it on its side.

I colored the image with Copics and added Liquid Pearls to the fluffy parts of the hats.  Cut and embossed the image with Spellbinders Labels Fourteen, edged it with a gold leaf pen.  The little poinsettia and frilly diecut in the back are Spellbinders Holly Accents and Motifs.  Used Cheery Lynn French Doily die on the green damask paper.  Traced around the die and cut free hand for the matt, sponged the edges of both.  All DP is The Paper Studio.  Added the Dew Drops.

Stamps:  Not Even a Mouse from The Pixie Cottage.
Paper:  The Paper Studio.
Ink:  Copics, Distress Inks.
Accessories:  Dew Drops, gold lead pen, Spellbinders Labels Fourteen, Holly Accents and Motifs, Liquid Pearls.

This week's sketch

Jester Favor Box

Over the past several weeks I have been making flowers, punching different leaves, and cutting box bases from scraps of cardstock and DP in my stash.  Even a lunch bag didn't stand a chance and got punched out for a couple different flowers.  I spent several weeks before all the cutting and punching, planning 22 different little favor boxes, all for my daughter's wedding.  She knows I love paper crafting and I love boxes and she asked if I could make a different favor box for each table.  So I now have one each of 22 different boxes completely finished, and 7 more of each cut out and the flower parts and leaves and embellishments cut out and ready to assemble.  I'll eventually get them all posted.

So anyway, as I was surfing through different challenges I came across the fancy folds challenge at Our Creative Corner and use your scraps challenge at  Mark's Finest Papers.  This is the box that fits both as it is a fancy fold and is made entirely from scraps in my stash. I call it Jester (yes, I'm a dork...I named each box).  I went to a Montessori school for 9 years, entering public school at age 11.  I have kept in touch with the teacher I had during those Montessori years, and when I graduated from high school she gave me a book on origami boxes and this box is one of them. 

The base is a 6 1/2" square scrap I had in my stash, have no idea who the maker is but I got it at Hobby Lobby.  Various folds got it to the box form, with little "flaps" on each side. It came out to 2 1/2" square. The flourished paper I also got at HL, and thankfully have enough scraps for all eight boxes.

Here's a view from the top.   For the base of the lid I traced around the outside of one of the Spellbinders Lacy Doily Accents dies, cut it out by hand, and then embossed it with the same die.  I did a die cut from the same die using the another scrap same as the base and glued it onto the base, so it has an inlaid look into the embossed based.  I have seen different tutorials for Prima-like flowers around blog land, using the Retro Flower punch.  I don't have that punch, so I searched my Cricut cartridges and cut the layers of the flower  and the star base on my Cricut and made the flower.  It's tan cardstock with a sponge bath of Milled Lavender Distress Ink.  The fern leaves are a punch. 

Just another shot with the lid askew so you can see the inside. 

Underside of the top, with it's little lid that fits right inside the box.

Our Creative Corner - Fancy Folds
Mark's Finest Papers - Use your scraps

Stamps:  None.
Paper:  Stash scraps, from Hobby Lobby (not sure of maker).
Ink: Distress Inks.
Accessories:  Spellbinders Lacy Doily Accents, Cricut, fern punch.

A Pixie Cottage Christmas Card

Time to start adding more Christmas cards to you stash, and this week's theme at The Pixie Cottage is Christmas card.  There is also a wonderful sketch to follow.  So create a card using the theme or the sketch, or both, but come join us for this week's challenge! 

There are lots of wonderful Pixie Cottage stamps available at Michelle's Scrapbooking.  For the Christmas card theme, I used the Winter Window image by Sandra Hammer.  I colored it with Copics, sponged lightly around the edge with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink, and added some Stickles to the snow and tree.  I stamped and cut out an additional tree, colored the same at the first one, and mounted it on foam dots.  I followed the sketch and used DP from The Paper Studio. Sentiment was printed from my computer, cut/embossed with Spellbinders Double-Ended Tag and added the acrylic snowflakes. 

Stamp:  "Winter Window" from The Pixie Cottage.
Paper:  The Paper Studio  DP and  CS.
Ink:  Copics, Distress Ink.
Accessories:  Stickles, foam dots, acrylic snowflakes.


Challenges
One Stitch at a Time:  Christmas
Papertake Weekly: Anything goes
ABC Christmas Challenge: V for vintage.

Going For Gold at The Pixie Cottage!

It's another Wednesday challenge at The Pixie Cottage. This week's theme is Going for Gold.  There's also this wonderful sketch to follow.  As always, you can choose the theme, follow the sketch, or do both!  Hope you join us!
This week I decided to follow both theme and sketch.  I used Hannah at a Fence, by Sandra Hammer, available at Michelle's Scrapbooking.  Still need lots of practice, but I chose to color the image with Copics again.  It is layered on cardstock and gold vellum.  The background strips were embossed with a CB folder and layered over gold vellum background.  The flowers I made, and the leaves are from a Crealies die.  Added some gold Liquid Pearls to the corners of two of the panels. 

Stamps:  Hannah at a Fence from the Pixie Cottage.
Paper:  Sand CS (scrap from my daughter's wedding invitation), vellum, SU! CS.
Ink:  Memento, Copics, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories:  Handmade "Prima" style roses, Crealies CL CS 11 leaf die, Cuttlebug EF from Oriental pack, Liquid Pearls. 

Sweet as Candy, Pixie Cottage #92

Time for another challenge at The Pixie Cottage!  As always we have two parts to the challenge and you can choose either or both to play along with.  We have a fabulous sketch and our theme this week is Sweet as Candy.  I finally figured out how to merge digital images, and couldn't wait to use Mystical Mushroom digital image by ARTish, available at Michelle's Scrapbooking. 

Isn't that a cute image?!? It is a great background for the little fairy. The scene was colored with Copics. Added some Stickles to the swirlies.  I cut/embossed the scene with Spellbinders Big Scalloped Circles, layered on top of In Spades Penant.  DP is from Bearly Mine Designs.  Flowers and leaves are Marianne D dies.

Stamps:  Mystical Mushroom, The Pixie Cottage; Summary Fairy, The Greeting Farm.
Paper:  SU! CS, Bearly Mine Designs DP.
Ink:  Copics, Colorbox Queues.
Extras:  Stickles, Spellbinders Big Scalloped Circles and In Spades Penant, Marianne D LR0111 and LR0150, flat back pearls.

Dark and Spooky at The Pixie Cottage

It's another Wednesday (yay, two more days till the weekend!), and that means another challenge at The Pixie Cottage.  Halloween is only a couple weeks away, and this week's challenge is Dark and Spooky.  There's also another great sketch  you can follow, or you can combine the sketch and the theme.  I chose to go with a simple card layout again this time.

I used this cute little Hannah Witch stamp, available at Michelle's Scrapbooking and More.  She is colored with Copics.  I drew the moon around the witch, which is from Inkadinkado, and then added PearlEx in splotches.  The background was sponged with Distress Ink.  Background DP is a freebie from Bearly Mine Designs.  Sentiment I printed from my computer. 

Stamps:  Hannah Witch from The Pixie Cottage, Halloween Trails by Inkadinkado.

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, digital paper from Bearly Mine Designs.

Ink:  Memento, Distress Inks.

Accessories:  PearlEx.

Fall Fun With The Pixie Cottage

Okay, I'm back in gear now, have my Pixie Cottage DT card ready.  This week's challenge at The Pixie Cottage is Fall Fun.  There's also a great sketch to follow, or you can do both theme and sketch. 

Isn't this a fun image!  It's a digital image by the wonderfully talented ArTish called Barnie's Fall Ride, available at Michelle's Scrapbooking and More.  I colored it with Copics and cut the octagon shape by hand, sponged the edges with Colorbox Queues.  All the DP is from Prima First Blush collection.  The sentiment was printed off my computer, cut out with SU tag punch and attached on foam tape.  I followed this week's sketch and kept this pretty simple.

Stamps:  Barnie's Fall Ride digital image.

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Prima First Blush, The Paper Studio.

Ink:  Colorbox Queues, Copic markers, Memento.

Accessories:  Foam tape, round studs. :)