Tek Tuesday over at The Character Cafe!!!

Hi Everyone!!! Welcome to another super fun Tek Tuesday!!!

Today I will be showing you how to alter all of those really nice store bags that you get when you shop...particularly this time of year.

The bag I started with was a store bag that measured 10 x 10. I found paper that matched the pretty chocolate brown that the bag color that was my base. It's all past season SU! holiday scraps. I then chose my image, Christmas Scamp and he's the CUTEST!!

I measured the DP mattes one inch down for each design.

I matted the images together and sewed 2 of them together using red thread.

I then colored Scamp with my Copics and Sakura gel pens. I used Stickles to glitter-fy his hat trimmings and then sprinkled white velvet flock over that. It's SO cute and 3-D in person!!

I added some embellishments and adhered it all together. I then put a plain piece of cardstock on the back (or you could embellish both sides!!!)
I then used my SU! word punch to punch out the handle on both sides of the bag.

You could tie a ribbon or fibers here for an easy closure or add a small magnetic snap!!

It's SUCH a fabulous way to recycle the bags rather than use them to take your lunch to work in!!! They are better than that!!!

I wanted to share with you my inspiration for this bag. A LONG time ago...my darlingist friend Joanne, who was our SU! demo, taught us how to alter a simple and so affordable paper bag. You could easily do these for goodie bags for a child's party for SO much less than buying the themed ones!!!

But I digress. Joanne showed us how to do this and I was HOOKED!!! I've used it over and over and am surprised that I'm just now showing you this!!
Thank you for the inspiration Jo!!! AS ALWAYS!!!
Thanks for visiting!! And have fun altering!!!


XOXO
Meredith

QKD - Royal Sketch Monday!!!

Hello!!!! Welcome to a fabulous Royal Sketch Monday!!!

Above is the sketch that we're working with today!!! Such a fun one!!!

First and foremost! =) If you've arrived here 'just because' I thank you for visiting!!! But you should have arrived here from Penny's blog as we're hoppin' right along!! If you didn't you'll definitely want to start at the beginning of the hop so you don't miss one of our Design Team's fabulous creations!

I wanted to steer away from the holiday cheer for this one as most of what we've all been working on is one kind of holiday project/card or whatnot! =)

I grabbed this delicious leopard print (roar!) paper from my stash knowing exactly which stamps I wanted to use!! The card base is 5"x5"...a standard go-to size for me.

I cut all of the circles for the background using my various SU! punches ranging in size from 1 3/4" all the way down to 3/4". I layered them on the background as close to the sketch as I could ;)

I then used black and brown as the decorative strip on the left, zig zag stitching them together. I used the adorable skull from the Happy Skullz Birthday Set - also quite a go-t0 for me as well as the star from the Party Like A Rockstar Set. Another MUST HAVE!!! Each of these sets are a BARGAIN at $6.99 each!!!

I inked the stars up in SU! Basic Black ink on a variety of scraps that I had in my drawer and then punched them out with the SU! star punch. I adhered them with pop-dots for some great added dimension.

The skull was inked also in the same black and then glittered up with my gold paint pen as well as some blingidy bling bling with gold glitter on the teeth!!

I matted the 'tag' on basic black cardstock and tied it with some polka dotted ribbon and attached it with a pop-dot.

I think it's SUPER cute!!!

I hope you enjoyed my creation!! Now...keep hopping along!!! Let's see what Linda has in store for you today!!!

I've added the full list below in case you lose your way!!!

QKD Blog
Alex's Blog
Vicki's Blog
Kelly's Blog
Helene's Blog
Penny's Blog
Meredith's Blog --- THAT'S ME!! =)
Linda's Blog
Anita's Blog
Sara's Blog
Ashley's Blog
Queen Kat Designs Store


Thanks for visiting!!!

XOXO-

On The Seventh Day Of Christmas The Queen Gave To Me...

The Doodiliest stamp set in all the land!!!

I have used this set over and over and over. It's fabulous for the holidays but also other occasions as well!!

Today I bring to you a Christmas tag!! As all of the others (for continuity) I have used my Cricut to cut a 5" tag plus insert. The insert is an old school, vintage, colored olive green and ivory gingham DP. I stitched it down with bright red thread. I then added gold gems to the perimeter and used my red sparkly Sakura pen to doodle in between the stones.

I then inked up PEACE from the Doodled Holiday Words set and set to color it with my Sakuras and gold paint pen.

I matted it on a scrap of red cardstock whose edges I lightly distressed and adhered it to the tag with pop dots.


I hope you check out my fellow DT members to see what they've been coming up with!!!


Penny
Anessa
Anita
Steph
Helene
Meredith --- That's ME!
Vicki
Ashley


Thanks for visiting!!!!

XOXO-
Meredith

On the Sixth Day of Christmas The Queen Gave To Me...

A fabulous party!!!!

I literally feel like I went WILD with today's tag!! HA!! I'm running with the Hanukkah

theme today with the blues/golds! I used the star from the Party Like A Rockstar set as the background paper. I stamped it in SU! grey dye ink and then went over the entire sheet with my sanding block and a nail file. I then traced the stars in gold paint pen.

I then stamped the Let's Party (I *think* this may be from a kit set) but there are lots of amazing party sets at shoppe so head on over and shop shop shop!!! I stamped it in gold pigment ink, heat embossed it, stamped over it again with grey ink, heat embossed it and then went over it with my glue pen and my Martha Stewart turquoise glitter. I adhered it to a slice of blue scrap, stitched the border and set it aside to dry.
Once again - I've used my Cricut to cut the tag and insert. I pulled out my Primas and created this gorgeous border. I added a fabric covered brad in the center of each Prima then used my tiny glue dots on one petal each for placement under the tag insert. I then stitched it all down using ivory colored thread in a zig zag pattern. It's heavier than the rest of my tags but the effect is AWESOME.

There were a few white spots showing so I used the smaller same colored Primas with a simple copper brad in the center to cover up any white spots.
I added gold ribbon as the hanger and again...VOILA! Tag number 6!!!!
You MUST head over to the shoppe as there are SO many exciting things going on!! New releases, new kits, new embellis!!! What are you waiting for? =) Come on over!!!

Thanks for visiting and don't forget to check out my fellow DT members and their gorgeous creations!!!

Penny
Anessa
Anita
Steph
Helene
Meredith --- That's ME!
Vicki
Ashley

XOXO-
Meredith

Robyn's Fetish Design Team Challenge #9!!!

Good morning everyone!!!! Welcome to another FABULOUS week of Robyn's Fetish Challenges!!!

Today we were issued a COLOR challenge!! I LOVE color challenges as they often put together colors that I may not have paired up myself.

This week is the following:

• Blue
• Lilac
• Silver/Grey
• White

And the image must be printed in BLACK ink only! =)
I printed the chimney stockings image first. Using my Copics and silver paint pen I took my time coloring in this super fun image. I used my glue pen and turquoise and purple sparkles to bling up the ornaments on the mantle.

I decided to go with a 5 x 5 square card base in blue. I then had a scrap of the gray/white toile paper that I used as my background paper. I then layered light blue under the lilac and stitched the awesome chimney stockings image on top.

I then used my type-set looking stickers (except the R in bright - which is a rub on) to add the sentiment "merry & bright".

As a last touch, because you all know I just can't leave well enough alone, I added turquoise self- adhesive rhinestones to the center of the blue snowflakes for just another little "touch".


Please come and play along!!! Post your link on Robyn's challenge blog!!!

It's a super fun color challenge!! Enjoy and have fun!!

Thanks for visiting!!!

XOXO-
Meredith

On The Fifth Day of Christmas The Queen Gave To Me...

One crystal chandelier!!! (to the tune of...5 GOLDEN RINGSSSSSSS!!!!)

Again...one of my VERY first QKD stamps!! I've used it over and over in SO many projects!!!

This time it's on my 5th tag, a Christmas tag, and reminds me of a warm and cozy house filled with guests, friends and family alike all celebrating in the spirit of the holidays!!!

Using my Cricut to cut the tag plus insert. I adhered a piece of sheer gold ribbon along with green ric rac on the tag itself. I, then, stitched the insert with bright red thread to the tag. I then cut some of last year's SU! Christmas DP and ran it through my printer to insert the FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA. As another layer before the main focus panel....which is the golden chandelier!
I inked it in both gold and olive green pigment ink and heat embossed it. Using the flip side of the SU! paper I ran it through my Cricut again and cut the exact same tag only smaller 2.75". Plus the insert. I inked the edges of the outer circle so it would stand out better and stitched around the outside. I JUST got these gorgeous, fabric brads at Michael's the other day and they've been SCREAMING to use on this project!!

I added one brad, colored in the bulbs and some of the crystals with my gold paint pen, added some beautiful 5/8" PTI - Pure Poppy Ribbon and voila!!! Tag number 5!!
Thanks for visiting and don't forget to check out my fellow DT members who are also participating in this challenge!!!

Penny
Anessa
Anita
Steph
Helene
Meredith --- That's ME!
Vicki
Ashley

YOUR LAST DAY TO GET THESE DEALS!!!

Cyber Days Shipping Sale
Save on shipping rates!
Spend $20 get $2 shipping...
Spend $50 get FREE Shipping...
Spend $100 get FREE shipping & a FREE stamp set!
(Good through12/5/09)
These are USA rates only

Thanks for visiting!!

XOXO-
Meredith

On The Fourth Day of Chrismtas The Queen Gave To Me....

a board game under the tree!!!! Well...not REALLY but she did create the fabulous Child's Play Game Set. Today I have another Hanukkah tag for you!!! You can see a theme going here...one day Christmas, one day Hanukkah...etc! =) I'm tryin' to keep everyone on their toes!
Again, using my Cricut I cut a 5" tag plus insert. The outer section of this tag I inked up in silver ink and heat embossed. I then stitched the DP center with navy thread. I printed the dreidel from the clip art in my Word program, colored over it with my Versamark pen and heat set that as well.
I found a beautiful sentiment about Hanukkah on-line, printed it out, covered it with Versamark Dazzle and heat set that as well. It's hard to see in the pictures but it says:

"...and may this festival of lights bring blessings upon you and all of your loved ones for happiness, for health and for spiritual wealth, and may the lights of Hanukkah usher in the light of Moshiach and a better world for all of humankind."

I added 2 sparkly, glittery, silver brads and adhered that to the tag. Lastly (once I had everything else in place as I wanted to make sure that I had enough room, I added the QKD sentiment "Playing Happily Ever After".

I added black leather cording for hanging and again...Voila!

I hope you enjoyed my tag today!! See you again tomorrow!!!

XOXO-
Meredith

On The Third Day of Christmas The Queen Gave To Me...

An adorable Skullz and Mini Sweets Stamp set!!!

Welcome to my Day 3 of the QKD 12 days of Christmas challenge!!! Today I have a Christmas card for you as I told you all in my last post that we are lucky enough to be able to celebrate both holidays - Christmas AND Hanukkah here in my house.

Again...I started with my 5" round Cricut tag with matching insert. Yes...those are radishes on the paper but the colors were SO perfect that I ran with it!
I added the vintage looking red/ivory gingham ribbon to the base of the first layer of tag. I then added my radish paper and zig zag stitched the perimeter with a really beautiful and truly vintage green thread from my Great-Grandmother's sewing basket.

I then sat...and looked through my book of QKD stamps. Yes, I FINALLY put them all in an old school sticky kind of photo album...you know...the kind with the peely pages that we used to use to collect stickers when we were kids? That we now wouldn't DARE to think about using for photos because of the damage they do??!!! LOL!!

Anyway, I've added all of my awesome QKD collected stamps into an album so they are ready for me when I need them. I looked and looked and bingo...my very often "go-to" set Happy Birthday Skullz set. I used the three mini stamps - flower, heart, crown.

To represent the 3 gifts from the Wisemen. I know they are not the CORRECT gifts...but it's what they represent =) I did add the gold glitter, however, to at least get one of the gifts truly represented!!
I stamped the flower and crown in SU! Real Red dye ink and the heart in green pigment ink and heat set that with embossing powder and my heat gun. I used my SU! 1" and 1 - 1/4" punches to crop and matte each image. The images themselves are popped up on foam dots.

The sentiment "enjoy" is from the Mini Sweets Set stamped on the back side of the radish paper in brown chalk ink and heat embossed. I then trimmed it out and corner rounded all sides, which as I found is difficult on a small, trimmed image so it came out more oval than rounded but I like the look of it.

I stitched that down and then rummaged through my button collection. First the new ones...and that would be the red button and then the vintage ones...the flower and globe looking one. I honestly think (and keep in mind...these were my Great-Grandmother's so don't scold me!) that the ivory flower button is REAL ivory. It's hard to tell on such a small piece but judging by the patina and feeling of it...I'm thinkin' it's real. Oy...back in the 40's...
Anyway - I used it and I love it!! I hand stitched all 3 buttons on to make sure they were good and secure.

Lastly I chose an olivey ribbon with brown ticking on the edges as the tag holder.

I hope you enjoyed my day 3!!! Stay tuned for Day 4 tomorrow!!!

Don't forget to check out my other team members blogs for their daily creations!!!

Penny
Anessa
Anita
Steph
Helene
Meredith --- That's ME!
Vicki
Ashley

Thanks for visiting!!

XOXO-
Meredith

On The Second Day of Christmas The Queen Gave To Me...

Puffy Bugs and a Doodly Stamp set!!! =) Hi Everyone!!! I have another tag for you today!!! My family is an interfaith family. I am Jewish and my husband is not. We celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas culturally...not religiously. We explain to our children about family and the importance of helping others especially during this time of year and about being spiritual, faithful and hopeful. So with that my tag today is a Hanukkah tag. I used the Puffy Bugs and Doodled Holiday Words stamp sets along with my printer to come up with an appropriate sentiment for the Jewish holiday.

Same as my tag from yesterday, I used my Cricut to cut the tag and it's inside. For Hanukkah I'm using blue and silver. The background paper called to me for some calming visual intrigue but I've added lots of bits so it's not busy but not too serene either. I adhered them together and then zig zag stitched around the perimeter.

I inked the Puffy Bug in SU! Brocade Blue and colored her and her baby in with my Copics. I punched them out using an oval scallop, paper pierced each scallop and put a speck of silver stickles in ever other piercing.
I then stamped JOY from the Doodled Holiday set in gray pigment ink and heat embossed it. I also used my silver stickles after I stitched around the perimeter of that layer.

I added a stripe of blue polka dotted ribbon and to that I hand stitched halfway around a little metal circle that I had lying around from goodness knows what, a star brad (even though it's not a 6 pointed star as the Star of David is...I figured it could represent) and the heart pin as a little triumvirate of decor. Lastly, I printed in Word the words The and Of Hanukkah in blue ink on grey cardstock. I trimmed them out with my SU! word punch (I think that's what it's called) and found just the right place for them. I added some silver cording and Voila! Merry Hanukkah everyone!! ;)

Thanks for visiting!!!

And don't forget!!!

Cyber Days Shipping Sale
Save on shipping rates!
Spend $20 get $2 shipping...
Spend $50 get FREE Shipping...
Spend $100 get FREE shipping & a FREE stamp set!
(Good today through12/5/09)
These are USA rates only

XOXO-
Meredith

Robyn's Fetish Wacky Wednesday!!!

Hey Y'all!!! It's been a helluva week for me so I don't have a WW creation for you today but here is the preview of the amazing Clarabelle image!!

So run...don't walk over to Robyn's challenge site and grab up this awesome freebie!!!

XOXO-
Meredith

On The First Day Of Christmas The Queen Gave To Me...

A gorgeous Fantasy Christmas Tree!!!

I'm on the wagon with the rest of my QKD Girls!!! We're rockin' out the 12 days of Christmas and we're doin' it in style!!

I'm making 12 tags...each one will be a surprise!!! They will all be using QKD stamps and I will be posting a new one for the next 12 days!!!

Here is my first tag!!!I used my Cricut and my Doodlecharms cartridge to cut out the circle tags plus inserts. I inked up the Fantasy Christmas Tree in Inky Ocean Green pigment ink and heat set it with a dusting of red, sparkly embossing powder. I then added gems as the ornaments and lightly colored in the rest using colored pencil. The sentiment 'Magic Can Happen' is from THIS set. I inked it up in the same green and heat set it. I then ran it through my scanner, enlarged it in MS Paint, and printed it out. I trimmed it out and then used my SU! ticket punch to trim the corners.

(I always have candles lit in my studio when I work and I LOVE how you can see the flickering of them in the face of the brads!!!)

I then took my glue pen (A MUST HAVE) and green glitter and blinged up the sentiment!!

I added the tree with pop dots to give it some nice dimension and lastly added 2 green polka dot brads for some purposeful imbalance.

I stitched around the perimeter of the tag in a zig zag pattern with green thread. Lastly, I added gold cording as the holder for this tag.

I hope you enjoy and don't forget to check out my other team members who are in this challenge with me!! They are all listed on my side bar!!! Go give 'em some love!!

Thanks for visiting!!

XOXO-
Meredith