QKD New Release Tuesday Hop!!!! Mmmm...Pink Candy Anyone???

Hello and HAPPY NEW RELEASE TUESDAY!!! If you've arrived here from the WIS blog then you are on the right track and if not PLEASE start HERE so you get to see all of the Tuesday gorgeousness!!

Today I had the great pleasure of working with a brandy new Maigan-Lynn Creation - Pink Candy Hair!! Isn't she simply FABU!! I LOVEEEEEEEEE HER!! What am I saying, I love EVERYTHING Maigan does but this gal rocks!!
As you can see, I followed the sketch about 96% ;) I used a base of PTI's Enchanted Evening as my base.
I hadn't yet decided what my color scheme was going to be and then I found this adorable under the sea scrap in my drawer and I knew that was it! I cut them into 4 equal sized pieces and I then used some textured SU! cardstock from an old Simply Scrappin' kit as the backing for each piece. I trimmed the orange to fit each piece of under the sea paper and then stitched each one down with a zig zag trim in blue thread.
I adhered the 4 pieces down. I then set to coloring my lady! As you can see, I used a WIDE variety of markers. Copics, Prismacolor and Pantone. I set her on a green scrap of cardstock (from the same SU! kit) and stitched her down. In lieu of the 4 corner dots I chose to add rhinestones to mimic a sort of "hollywood mirror" effect. I think her pose is very indicative of that! Very "senior photo-esque"!!!
Again, not to veer TOO much from the sketch, I added "bubbles" out of metal beads for her fishy friends in each of the 4 corners.
Lastly, I added some sheer, white ribbon tied in a fluffy bow with white linen thread from The Paper Source as an added embelli. I scrunched up the width of the ribbon some so as to not interfere with the main image.

I hope you enjoy all of the newness you see today!! Thanks as always for hop, hop, hopping!!

Now, off you go to the amazing Anita to see what gorgeousness she's got for us today!!!

QKD Royal Tuesday New Image Blog Hop! "I'm LATE, I'm LATE!"

Ok so no...I'm not late I'm RIGHT ON TIME and so are you for QKD'S second day of FABULOUS, AMAZING AND STUPENDOUS new releases!!!!

Today we have a ROCKIN' sketch for you!!

But first and foremost!! If you came here from the WIS blog then you are on the right track!! If not please start here so that you don't miss one amazing creation from my fellow team members!!

Here's the fab sketch we worked with!! I twisted mine 90 degrees to accomodate the size of The Queen of Hearts appropriately.

I had the very high privilege of creating with Maigan-Lynn's GORGEOUS new designs - Queen of Hearts!! I used every single stamp in this set!! I love them ALL!!!!

I started with a base of a lemony yellow cardstock from The Paper Source. The card measures 6"X6" square.Oddly enough...I started with the spider...it's a Martha Stewart template to actually decorate cupcake tops with powdered sugar but I'm using it here as a stencil. I laid it on top of my card base, held it in place with blue low tack painters tape and took my Inkessentials dabber and sponged it heavily with black craft ink. I then coated it with clear embossing powder and heat set it. For some reason it seemed to fit the oddness, supernatural qualities that Alice In Wonderland encompasses for me...anyways ;)

I then chose the pink polkadotted paper for the left hand side background layer. I stitched it with bright red thread in a large zig zag pattern.
I then stamped my main image onto PTI's white cardstock. I colored her in with my Copics and silver paint pen. I colored her wings and then went over them with my Versamark pen, sprinkled sparkly, red embossing powder and heat set. I used my Quickie glue pen for the gorgeous butterflies that accompany her and sprinkled them with my pink microbeads and heat set those so they'd stay put!

I ADORE her and I'm thrilled how she came out. I then backed her panel with a layer of bright blue cardstock and proceeded to straight stitch around the border in the same red thread. She is popped up on 3-D foam adhesive.
I then stamped the sentiment "All ways here are MY ways" (love that) on the same pink background paper, and popped it up on double foam adhesive so it would sit a little higher than the previous panel.

You'll notice that underneath the main panel, there is a heavily distressed, Queen of Hearts playing card, with a scallop border cut out of it. I then stamped the ace of hearts straight onto the yellow card base and then again onto white cardstock. I colored it in with my Lipstick Red Copic, trimmed it out and popped it up creating a super cool dimensional effect. I did the exact same thing with the butterfly heart with crown.
There's a lot going on but it seems simple and clean in a way as well.

This set rocks hardcore so I suggest you RUN over to the store to pick yours up!!!

The last touch is the inside which is a quote that my darling friend Alexandra gave me. It rings just so true for me...I cherish it and it worked PERFECTLY with the theme of this card. I scanned it in, resized and recolored it using MS Paint. I then backed it with the same blue and stitched it with the red thread to create continuity throughout the entire card.

I truly hope you've enjoyed this new release!! Stay tuned as I'll have another cool creation for you this Thursday on the WIS blog!!! Now without further ado...you MUST head over to Anita's fab blog to see what she's got in store for us today!!!

Thanks for visiting!!

XOXO-

Robyn's Fetish NEW IMAGE RELEASE Challenge!!!

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome, Welcome, and WELCOME to our weekly challenge!!! But wait...there's more!! It's not only a Challenge week over at Robyn's Fetish but it's also a NEW IMAGE RELEASE HOP!!!

If you came here from Kristyn's blog then you are on the right track!!! If not, please start HERE so that you don't miss one stunning creation!!!

Yes...that's right...LOTS OF NEW IMAGES COMING AT YOU!!!! It's so exciting as we're adding inventory, new images, gorgeous digital stickers, and more!!

But it is a challenge so first...I challenge you to play along!!

Here are the rules!!!

1. This is a color challenge:

• royal blue
• light blue
• black
  
• white
• grey/silver

2. Create any project.

• If you use a Robyn's Fetish Image AND post about it on your blog you will be entered TWICE into the drawing to win 3 of Robyn's Images of your choosing PLUS a special surprise!!!

3. You MUST leave a comment on each team members blogs in order to be eligible to be entered into the challenge.

4. Lastly, in order to be entered into the drawing to win, please let us know of one thing that you would like to see in the Shoppe at Robyn's Fetish.

• Leave this information in the comments section in the challenge blog.

Ok...now that I've put all of THAT out there!!! It's onto my creation!!!
I started - as I've been saying over and over in every post...with my SCRAP drawers and bins. I grabbed a sizable piece of silver cardstock from SU!. I then layered with blue, glittery cardstock and then a thinner layer of silver American Crafts DP. I am using Tattered Angel as my new image!! I love her because she could be an angel OR a super heroine!! (she kind of looks like a superheroine to me!!!!)

I colored her using my Copics and Quickie Glue pen to add the sparkles on her wings and boots.
I stamped the sentiment Sparkle from the SU! set - Warm Words.

And then I sat back and looked. It was super clean, crisp and pretty. But to me it looked...a tad blank-ish. So I grabbed my quickie glue pen and doodled my standard flower/cloud doodle that I do whenever I'm on the phone, making a list, etc..etc. I've been doodling this shape ever since high school!! LOL! In any case...I like the sketchy quality to them that was once translated when glitter was put on.
I hope you enjoy my creation!!! Now...remember the rules...leave some love then off you go to Mia's stunning blog to see what she's created for us today! Don't forget to leave some love!!!!

Thanks for playing along today!! I hope you have fun!!!!!

XOXO-
Meredith

QKD New Release!!!!! Because "Love Never Goes Out of Style"

Hello Everyone and Welcome to another FANTASTIC Royal Tuesday NEW RELEASE HOP!!!
This week I am privileged to show you the Feburary WIS Kit "Love Never Goes Out of Style"!! You MUST hurry and grab one as last month's WIS kit FLEW out of the store and once they're gone....they're gone!!
However, first off, if you came here from the WIS blog then you are on the right track!! If not please start here so that you don't miss one amazing creation from my fellow team members!!

There are ENDLESS possiblities with this month's kit!!! I wanted to do a framed piece to give to my daughter for Valentine's Day. I had a frame in my stash that has a bit of a Mother of Pearl look to it. Perfect for an "Under The Sea" creation!!
I created my background first with a 5x7 piece of white PTI cardstock. The next layer is a piece of chocolate brown textured cardstock from a SU! Simply Scrappin' kit. I adhered these together and used one of my many decorative stitches with chocolate brown thread as a border.

I then decided on what do use for my circles. I chose the LOVE heart from the WIS kit and stamped it 3 times on white, light pink and dark pink cardstock. I inked it in Brilliance Rocket Red ink and heat set it with embossing powder. I then used my SU! 1 3/4" punch to pop them out. I lightly distressed the edges and used my silver paint pen to color in the tip of the arrows.
I then set to work coloring the Love Never Goes Out Of Style and her lovey little octopus friend! She is inked in Brilliance Coffee Bean craft ink and heat set. I used my Copics and sparkly Sakura gel pens to color them in. I matted my image on a scrap of DP that I had from a mat stack.

I altered my sketch a tiny bit due to the size and shape of my image. Considering I am putting this into a frame I wanted everything to be relatively flat in order to be able to fit properly behind the glass. Therefore, I made a flat satin bow in chocolate brown with white polka dots.
I then cut a strip of sparkly cardstock from the same mat stack as my bottom layer in which to place my heart shaped brads. I added a *little* extra rhinestone bling as my daughter LOVES anything sparkly.

I adhered everything down - using my regular adhesive runner for most and pop dots for my circles. I love Valentine's Day for lots of reasons but mostly for the colors, the images and the adorableness of everything that comes out at this time of year!! (especially the CANDY!! heheh)

I do hope you've enjoyed and been inspired by my creation today!!

Now - off you go to Anita's Blog to see the beautiful creation that she has for you today!!!

XOXO-
Meredith

Robyn's Fetish WW with a Twist!! NEW RELEASE HOP HOP HOP!!!

Hello Everyone!! And welcome to a Twisted Wacky Wednesday!!! Today the team and I are creating with BRAND NEW IMAGES!!! Yes!! It's a new release hop combined with a Wacky Wednesday FREEBIE!!! The freebie will be revealed at the end of the hop!!! So come on and hop along with us!!!

If you arrived here from Michelle's blog then you are on the right track!! If not, please start HERE so that you don't miss one of the team's beautiful creations!

I had the great pleasure of working with Valerie Valentine. Seriously? Could she be ANY cuter!?!?!?! My muse if you will was this adorable cupcake box that I picked up at the $ spot at Target. (I love that place!!!)
My card measures 7 by 5.5 and is SU! Tempting Turquoise. I rounded the 2 outer corners of every layer on the right hand side of the card.

My next layer is PTI white cardstock, followed by the zig zaggy, multicolored fabulous paper. I believe it's American Crafts. The next layer is PTI Pure Poppy (such a great color for Valentine's Day!) and on top of that is a hearty pretty pink layer of Heidi Grace Valentine's Day paper. Both of those pieces are edge distressed with my Tim Holtz distressing tool. Hard to find...but AWESOME for distressing. I buy them a few at a time when I can find them!!

The outside layer is stitched with a wide floating zig zag while the pink and red layer is stitched with a sort of loopy pattern.

I printed Valerie on white cardstock, on some turquoise and pink flowery paper that I had lying around in my scrap pile and again on pink Heidi Grace Valentine's Day paper.
Valerie is colored with a combination of Copics and paint pens. Her bows and the heart in her hand are all glazed up. As are the candy hearts at her feet that are cut out and paper pieced from the print out from the pink HG DP. I did color them pink underneath though so that the image didn't look blank if you see it from the side. The candy hearts are set on the card with small pop dots.

Her skirt is also paper pieced (this is my favorite part of the card). I ever so carefully trimmed her skirt out, dipped the edges in my Essential Glue Pad and then again in Martha Stewart turquoise glitter. I colored underneath just as I did with the hearts to give it the most depth that I could. The secondary layer of her skirt was printed out on yet another color of DP - blue and pink flowers, adhered on and then coated with Glaze for more dimension. Her skirt is added on with large pop dots. I left her legs bare - as I was going to put tights on her but I figured that would be going overboard. So I colored her socks a pretty shade of green and left it at that.
Valerie is matted on a piece of acrylic "paper" from Hambly that has turquoise circles on it. I stitched in a zig zag pattern to hold the two pieces together. Once my card was entirely assembled I added 4 layers of SU! Tempting Turquoise ribbon to resemble a sort of pom-pom shape. I fluffed the individual pieces of ribbon out so that they would have more presence.
I have to say THANK YOU TARGET for the color inspiration!!! =) I love how my card turned out!!
Here is a shot of the materials that I used. It's easier for me to photograph then to type it all out.
I hope you have enjoyed my creation today!!

Please keep hopping along onto Leanne's blog to see what deliciousness she's come up with today!!!

Don't forget...at the end of the hop you'll find the WW NEW RELEASE IMAGE FREEBIE!!!

Thanks for hopping with us today!!

XOXO-
Meredith

The Character Cafe New Release BLOG HOP!!

Hi Everyone!!! Welcome to a FAB NEW RELEASE HOP!!! If you came here from Lola's blog then you are on the right track!! If not, hop back to the beginning so that you don't miss one AMAZING creation from the TCC Team!!

Today I was privileged to work with Love Bug Cupid!! I couldn't stop thinking of Pepe Le Pew from The Looney Tunes when I saw this RIDICULOUSLY adorable skunk and his fluttery, glittery bee friend!! ;)
My card measures 5x5 (a standard go to for me!). My base is in PTI Kraft cardstock, followed by DP from the Belle Cafe Stack from DCWV as is its matching piece behind our little friends. In between the DP layers is a slice of PTI ivory cardstock. I used a matching leaf design on my sewing machine to stitch and match the pattern on the red/yellow/black glittery cardstock behind my image.
Our buddies are colored with my Copics, Prismacolor and Pantone markers and then all glittered up in JUST the right places =) I then matted my image on black cardstock and just did a quick straight stitch around them. I added a strip of rhinestones and a silver rivet for balance after I'd rounded 2 of the 4 corners. I then added a bit of hemp twine through the rivet for some extra texture. Lastly, I used some of this gorgeous Summer Sun Swiss dot ribbon from PTI to tie in a cutie bow to tuck our friends into.
I truly hope you've enjoyed my creation with this awesome new image for that special someone!! ;)

Now...onto official business!! LOL!

The code you need from me today is : Love Bug Code "e".

The Grand Prize will be 4 of the January New Releases!!!

The Code that you are collecting along the way is good for 30% off entire purchase at The Cafe Store!!!

To qualify for the Grand Prize, you need to comment on all of the Design Team members blogs and let us know what kind of cards you make most often at the Cafe Blog!!!

Now off you go to Rachel's blog to see what deliciousness she's got for us today!!!

Thanks SO much for visiting!!

XOXO-
Meredith

JAN 5 QKD NEW RELEASE MERMAID SKETCH ONE

Hello!! Welcome to our QKD Royal Tuesday Hop!!! If you came here from the WIS blog then you are on the right track!! If not, start here so that you don't miss one fabulous creation with our QKD new releases!!

Today is a sketch challenge!! Here is the sketch we were given to work with:

We are using a new Maigan-Lynn mermaid - Awaiting The Moment!! I was blown away when I received this as my image to work with. I am loving that she's expecting!! And that her dragon friend is also expecting with a beautiful, speckled egg nestled snuggly in her tail as snug as the bundle that our mermaid is carrying!!

I started with some purple textured cardstock and some scalloped edged DP that I've been dying to use!! I also pulled out some PTI aqua mist paper and matching ribbon. I didn't quite know where I was going with this but I tend to pull materials out that I think I *might* use but don't always end up using them all. It's kind of like 'stream of consciousness' writing....I call it 'stream of consciousness' creating!

So I set everything aside and colored my image that is stamped in basic black SU! ink. I colored the image with my Copics and paint pens. I then added a few drops of glaze to the bubbles for some added dimension. I backed the image with black cardstock as well as my second stamp which says "friendship is love with wings". I used stickers from an older SU! scrappin' kit as my flower and I added a blue strip also from the kit to the center to mimic the sketch.
My sentiment is popped up on foam adhesive and lastly I tied the ribbon adding my one last touch (it was a little empty without that there).

I hope you've enjoyed my new creation with one of our newest mermaids!!

Now - off you go to Sara's blog to see what gorgeousness she's got in store for us today!!

Don't forget!! The QUEEN is always having a sale or deal of some kind!!! Check it out!! Especially with all of the fab newness in the shoppe!!!

Make Your Own Sale
Take 10% off everything!
That makes all clearance items 65% off

(Good today through 01/10/10)
use coupon code: BL10

What's New?
Personalized Address Stamps
Personalized Etsy/Artfire Stamps
Personalized Handmade By Stamps

Thanks for visiting!!

XOXO-
Meredith