Inspired By #200 ~ Inspired By You

It's time for a new Inspired By!  

We're celebrating our 200th challenge!

This time we're asking you to pick past winning cards as your inspiration! Sound fun? This is a celebration, so there will be prizes from DT members! The link for the winner's card gallery and prize drawings are on the Inspired By blog.

Okay, onto my card and my inspiration!

I was inspired by Caroline's (IB#169) scrumptious cupcake!

 

While I WISH I had a big beautiful cupcake like Caroline's, 

I had to settle for a much smaller version.

I used PTI's Sweet Celebration set for my more petite version. The paper I used for the chocolate cupcake is a fun textured paper I've had forever. It almost has a leathery feel to it. I liked the speckled look it had and thought it mimicked Caroline's coloring! 

 

Remember I mentioned DT prizes? 

Well, here's mine!

 

I put together a little Valentine gift for one random winner (deets on the IB blog)! A Poppystamps cover plate, chevron Washi tape, buttons and tin pins!

This is our final IB post for the year. We'll be back with fresh inspiration in January. But until then, we hope you'll join us in this celebration! Wishing each and every one of you a joyful holiday season filled with blessings!

Inspired By #199 ~ Warm Winter

 

 

Hi friends, it's time for another Inspired By challenge! 

The title of this inspiration photo is warm winter.

Hmmm..... not gonna happen here in Ohio!

 

I must say though, a sweet little gingerbread man does make me feel warm and cozy. Not to mention a cup of cocoa! I do know that's not cocoa in our photo, but a girl can dream! 

I guess you've figured out those gingerbread men and pine cones were my inspiration for this tag. I die cut a PPP scallop circle tag then stamped the border (Inky Antics). There's glitter added here and there to the pine branches and some frosting added to the gingerbread man. He's a die cut I picked up years and years ago. Actually, several of them to make decorations for a large extended family Christmas party. I have no idea who made them, there's nothing on them. They came from a teacher supply store.

 

Your turn! I look forward to seeing how your were inspired this week. Let's go take a peek at what the team has to share!

Inspired By #198~ Holiday/Winter Beauty

 

 

Oh my, this is a frosty looking photo! Beautiful, but frosty! This is just one of your options for Inspired By this week and the one I chose for my card. 

I used this wonderful PTI snowflake die to cute a piece of aqua blue vellum. I have no clue where I picked up that vellum, but I like it! Then I cut a shaker window to recreate those frosty bits that magnificent snowflake is resting upon. A little more sparkle and a simple sentiment (PTI) finished things off. It's also a loose interpretation of our sketch, shifted to the middle!

 

Still need Christmas cards for this year or maybe you've finished and would like to get ready for next year? Either way, we would be happy to have you play along. After all, you inspire us too!

Inspired By #197 ~ Color Challenge

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends! 

Wouldn't our Inspired By photo make a lovely centerpiece for one's Thanksgiving table? I was inspired by those wonderful colors to create a card. Not of the Thanksgiving kind, but of the Christmas kind!

PTI's Bells and Boughs saw the light of day for this one! It's an old set, but still a pretty one. This was quick and easy. A little stamping, a little die cutting and a few rhinestones for bling!

We hope you'll be inspired to play along with us this week.

Have a blessed day friends. 

Gotta run, there's cooking to be done!

Inspired By #196C ~ Neighbor Tag

 

 

Hi friends! We have a new challenge for you today at Inspired By! I was inspired by the cute houses, their decorations and those peppermint stripes! Here's what I came up with.

I've used one of my first PTI set ~ Love Lives Here, a very old HA snowflake, equally old SB postage die and yes... my new sentiments from The Greetery! I'm determined to revisit my older stamp sets and vast supply of 6x6 paper pads. I think it's working and I'm enjoying it!

I hope I've inspired you to join us this week. Need a bit more of a nudge? Let's go see what the team has to share!

Inspired By #195 ~ White Christmas

 

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"... and then the snow can go away LOL! Although I could go for some snow like that in our Inspired By photo. You don't have to shovel or snow blow paper snow! 

You guessed it, I was inspired by those pretty white snowflakes! The pine trees also caught my eye.

 

 My hubby called this one a cold card... brrr!!  

This pretty snowflake panel was another 12 Kits leftover. I turned it into a shaker filled with frosty bits from PPP. My Taylored Expressions ship-lap stamp provided a soft background. Keeping the promise I made to myself to use older stamp sets this year, I added two trees from PTI's Holiday Folk set. I think I've overlooked this set for too long. You'll probably be seeing more of it in the coming weeks! And yes, I did slip in another of my favorite sentiments from The Greetery!

Okay friends, put on your mittens and get frosty with us!

Inspired By #194C ~ Welcome Friends

 

 

Hello and welcome, friends! 

Welcome to another Inspired By challenge!

I was inspired by our Christmas photo this week.

Those sage greens, rich browns, and pops of red!

I recently purchase the beautiful Cathedral Die from The Greetery and couldn't wait to use it! It's die cut from wood grained patterned paper (MFT). I opted not to do stained glass. Instead, I added a panel of vellum so the Christmas wreath (SSS) adorning it would be the focal point. I hope you don't grow tired of me using these Christmas sentiments and dies (also from The Greetery). But golly, I just love them to bits!

Thanks for spending some of your day with me. Lets go see what the team has to inspire us and then maybe you will be inspired to play along too!

Inspired By #193 ~ Friends "Fall" Together

 

 

Hello lovelies! Are you ready for a new Inspired By challenge? I have a Thanksgiving card to share. I was inspired by the big acorn!

 

My friend and teammie, LeAnne sent me this die cut acorn a long time ago. This seemed like the perfect time to bring it out! I've paired it up with some PTI Sprigs and Sprays, a wee DeNami Design sentiment and a sprinkling of rhinestones. 

There are so many wonderful items in our IB photos this week. What will inspire you?

Inspired By #192 ~ Who's Your Boo?

 

 

I have a certain little boo that my card for this week's Inspired By will go to. 

Check out what I made for Sweet P!

I was inspired by those pastel buildings. Aren't they fun? After die cutting a PPP story book die, I stamped my images then added background colors with Copics. The storybook panels are popped up with fun foam. They're a little hard to see, maybe if you zoom in, but there are clear embossed bats flying around in the background. Gloomy days make card photography tricky sometimes! 

Okay peeps, it's your turn! You know you can't resist this cute inspiration photo. Lets see how fast we can fill up the IB gallery.  Ready...  set... GO!

Inspired by #191 ~ I'd Fall for You

 

 

It's Thursday and that means a new challenge is up at Inspired By! You probably know the drill by now; you can choose from our regular IB photo, the IBC photo for the holidays and we have a sketch. It's up to you! I was inspired by the fall leaves and cutie patootie bear this week.

If one bear among the autumn leaves is cute, well... five is even cuter! Don't they look like they wore themselves out frolicking in those leaves! I know just the family of five this will go to to wish them autumn blessing and a Happy Thanksgiving! 

 

 

Your turn, friends. 

I can't wait to see how you're inspired this week!

Inspired By #190 ~ Pumpkins Rock

 

 

Pumpkins do rock! They come not only in all shapes and sizes now a days, they come in oodles of colors! Put your pumpkin thinking caps on and play along with us at Inspired By. If pumpkins don't float your boat, that's okay, you can choose from our Christmas or sketch options.

I was inspired by the pretty painted pumpkins this week. I die cut a PPP pumpkin and frame. I stuck with the light grays, creamy whites and that little hint of blue from one of those pumpkins. Did you see that? The pumpkin looked a little lonely, so I added a couple of PPP stitched leaves.

I couldn't let those die cut extras go to waste, so I made another card! This pumpkin didn't look as lonely on the printed paper, so I added just a couple of tiny leaves. 

I hope I've inspired you to play along. Still thinking about it? Let's go see what the team has for us, that will convince you for sure!

Inspired By #189 ~ All the Peels

 

 

Hey there! We have a new challenge up at Inspired By today. Michele had the great idea of inviting some of our card making friends to join us this week. Kind of like the monthly feature on her personal blog 'playing cards with friends'. Every member of the design team has invited a guest to join us! 

My friend, Vicki Dutcher from All I do is Stamp, is guesting with me today! Be sure to stop by her blog to check out her fabulous card and leave a little love. I'm sure you'll love her creativity as much as I do!

 

I do love a good crispy sweet Gala apple and you all know I love polka dots! So... I've combined the two! I was also inspired by the kraft color of the burlap tucked into that basket. I couldn't resist some cute fall leaves to sweeten things up a bit.

Don't forget that we have a Christmas photo option as well as a sketch. Three ways to be inspired! What do you say we go see what everyone on the DT and their friends have whipped up. Then we hope you'll invite a friend to play cards with you too! The more the merrier!

 

Inspired By #188 ~ Colorful Fall

 

 It's officially here, Happy Fall y'all!

Come get colorful with us at Inspired By. 

 

I die cut a few colorful leaves (PPP) of my own for today's card. I broke out of my shell and used some purple for a change. My in house critic gave this one an "eh" LOL! He must not be a purple fan either! But I happen to think our sister-in-law, who's birthday is in November, will enjoy it. Uhhhh.... at least I hope she does and you too!

I'm off to visit my teammies, want to join me? Then you can get busy on your card!

Inspired By #187 ~ Hello Fall

 

 

Hello friends! The lovely season of autumn is just around the corner. We invite you join us at Inspired By as we give it a warm hello. 

Don't you just love those fuzzy felt buds! I've been looking for something like that locally with no luck. Etsy maybe? I thought I had the perfect stamp for them only to discover that I don't! I must have given it away or perhaps it's just hiding from me. So, I changed gears and remembered the pretty eucalyptus stamps and dies Michele shared with me on her last visit. My frame was made using a MFT skinny tag die to cut the openings. I dry brushed some white paint on it as well as on my sentiment sign. 

How will you be inpsired? Maybe you'll choose our Christmas photo or sketch? We don't mind which direction you go, we just love it when you play along!

Inspired By #186 ~ Back to School

 

 

Hey there! We're celebrating {Back to School} at Inspired By this week. You also have the option of {Cool Holiday: IB186C} and our sketch. So many fun options! I went with back to school. You see, I just HAD to have the Concord & 9th crayon dies months ago. This is their first outing (hangs head in shame!).

Another card for my Sweet P stash! She likes to do what she calls the three crayon challenge. Close your eyes, pick three crayons and then color the coloring book page she picked for us. It gets interesting! I did teach her that she can stretch those three colors by coloring lighter or darker. Now she's even experimenting with mixing the colors ~ that's my girl! 

This card was super simple. An ABC dry embossed background, my three crayons and a PTI tiny tag holding a DeNami Design sentiment. I think I'll package this one up with a new coloring book for the wee one. She loves to get mail from gramma and papa!

Okay, your turn! Thanks for visiting

Inspired By #184 ~ Penguin Love

 

 

Hello, hello it's time for a new Inspired By challenge! This week is about penguin love and it just so happens that Sweet P loves penguins! I've used our Christmas photo to put together a happy little number I'll send to her this winter.  

 

 

Using an older RC set, I created a topsy-turvy background with stocking caps and snowflakes. The caps were heat embossed with white embossing powder and colored with Copics. To add to the fun, I filled their pompoms with Stickles! The star of the show is chillin' out on a vellum snowflake (PTI). I didn't add a sentiment because I don't think there's a place on the card front for one! I'll decide on one when the snow flies then add it to the inside.

 

How will you be inspired this week? Penguins, snowflakes, hats, maybe even that little sprig of holly ~ perhaps the sketch? Oh, the suspense, I can't wait!

Inspired By #183 ~ Flower Me In...

 

Hey there sweet peeps! 

It's Thursday and that means a new challenge at Inspired By. 

 

I focused on the colors and that cute galvanized pail. The flowers are arranged kind of willy nilly; so I let that dictate my design. Yellow PTI sunflowers fit the bill along with some teeny red ladybugs (DeNami Design). My interpretation of the galvanized pail is a gray oval die cut (PPP)! The twine bow on the sentiment tag (PPP) is a nod to the wooden handle on the pail.

You'll want to head over to the IB blog to check out the Christmas inspiration photo and sketch options. We can't wait to see what inspires you!

Inspired By #182 ~ MIC.KEY m.o.u.s.e

 

Hey there, are you ready to put on your mouse ears and get crafty with us as Inspired By? I had so much fun making my card, lets get right to it!

Ta -dah! See what I mean, it just make me happy! I used two circle dies to create my Mickey. After he was cut out, I dry embossed the panel with polka dots then put together the shaker (PPP fillings). Even his SB bow tie has dots on it! The little wish upon a star is PTI.

Remember that we now have a Christmas inspiration photo for you along with our regular prompt or there's a sketch. Your choice!  You can check them out over at IB along with all of the inspiration from the amazing DT! Thanks for stopping by today!

Inspired By #181 ~ Fintastic Birthday

 

Hey there! After a little summer break, the team at Inspired By is back! We have a new challenge for you today and a new feature on the blog. You'll want to pop over to check it out, especially if you're in need of stocking up on those Christmas cards before the rush!

I had a little fun with today's card using some of the shapes and colors. I found a piece of swirly embossed paper in my stash and used it as water for my PPP dolphin to splash around in. He's not a shark, but he does have the same triangle type fin! The striped paper is my nod to the life saver on top of the cake. That sprinkling of rhinestones is my fancier version of those bubbles.

Since my card front had a lot going on, I added the sentiment to the inside along with a little more fun. I used Bazzill Marshmallow cardstock for my base. It's my favorite 'not too bright white' go to!

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Okay friends, lets go see what the team has to share then you can check out the new addition to our weekly challenges!

Inspired By #180 ~ Slip Into Something More Comfy

 

Oh my sweetness... polka dot flip flops! Could these cookies be any cuter? That being said I went in a totally different direction for this week's Inspired By challenge ~ Ha-ha!

Polka dot popsicles in lots of flavors! When I saw this IO stamp awhile back, I knew it had to come live with me. After die cutting my stamped panel with a PTI set, I added a few PPP flower sequins as a nod to those blooms on the flip flop cookies. 

Polka dots, flip flops, happy colors, something comfy... we'll let you decide what inspires you. I hope I have!

Winners for this challenge will be posted on July 8th, so you have until July 7th 11:55 pm PST to play along. That's two weeks, friends. Maybe you can get two cards made! 

The design team is taking the month of July off. We'll be back in August with a batch of new inspiration photos for you! 

I'm off to the dentist for a cleaning this morning. 

Maybe I'll have a popsicle later ~ shhhh don't tell!