Challenge 7 Sketch

Random Winner of the Gift Voucher from  challenge #6 is Beadz

Please email me (Michelle) for your prize at casdanben@aol.com

Okay, we have the top three from Challenge 5 and  Challenge 6 to announce. You can click on the winners names to see all their beautiful work on their blogs.  Winners may copy the logo below to display on their blogs if they wish, and also are in the running for being a Guest Design Team Member.

Challenge 5

1.Tanja

2.Beadz

3. Sharron

Challenge 6

1.Di

2.Li Bee Ti

3.Allison

CHALLENGE 7

The next challenge is a sketch challenge!

Every other Wednesday we will host a challenge, and we want you to play! Prizes and fun and inspiration abound, and because you have a week and a half to get your entry in, there is plenty of time to find your creative magic... !
For our this challenge, we are asking you to...
use this sketch, kindly made by design team member Renata

You may combine this challenge with others- You can use any products or stamps (you aren't restricted to just using Pixie Cottage, although we would love to see how you use our products too!)- Post your creation on your blog with a direct link to the Pixie Cottage blog- Leave a comment with a link to your blog post with your entry (or use Mr. Linky if he is available)- Create a card, scrapbook page, altered box... no limit to your creativity!- Entries due by midnight (EST) on the January 24th- Winners will be announced on Wednesday, January 26th, along with the next challenge!And what will you win? I'm so glad you asked! :) One entry, drawn at random, will win a fabulous 10.00 gift voucher from Michelle's Scrapbooking & More.

Here are the wonderful cards made by our design team.

You may click on their names to be taken to their blogs to see more of their work.

Pam

Risa's

Peggy

Katie

Renata

Anne

Tammy (Sandra Hammer's new stamp April)

Michelle (this is Sandra Hammer's newest Hannah stamp..coming soon!!)

We are going to try Mr. Linky this week. This is my first time with him so if he does not work, just post a link in the comments.

Oh and I wanted to mention.... still no winner on the snippets of new stamps, so keep the guesses coming. If there are no right answers by this weekend, I will just draw two random winners.

Thanks so much for playing, Michelle

It's Tutorial Time!

Hi Everyone,
I'm Katie, member of the Design Team and I'm here with a little New Year Crafting Inspiration!
Hopefully with today being Saturday you'll get a little time to yourself for crafting.
A couple of weeks ago I made a card and I used a handmade rosette flower on it. I got some requests for directions and Michelle thought it may be good if I could give a quick tutorial.
I'm no good with editing videos and stuff so You Tube it isn't but I can take photos step by step.
So here it is, paper rosette flowers 101.


First you need to gather together your tools.
You will need:
A scoring mat such as a Scor Pal or the one by Martha Stewart
Bone folder or scoring tool
Cardstock or heavyweight printed paper
Paper cutter
Heavy duty double sided tape like ATG
Strong liquid glue, I use Beacon's 3 in 1 but Fabri-Tac is another great choice
1" circle punch used to punch two circles for each flower out of cardstock
Button



Cut a strip of cardstock/heavy dp into a strip 1" by 12"
Line the strip up into the top corner of your scoring board.



Using your scoring tool score lines at each 1/4" mark on the board.
Continue across the whole length of the strip.
A tip is to hold the cardstock firmly against the top of the board as it will move if you don't and if your score lines aren't level the flower won't work.



When you've scored the whole length take the strip off the board and start to fold along the score lines in an accordian fashion creating "hills and valleys" in the cardstock.



When the whole strip has been folded it should look like this.
I'm showing two sizes but our finished flower is using the strip that is 1" deep.
Larger depths are a little bit more tricky to work with and you have to add additional length to the strip by joining two pieces together or you can't "pinch" the flower into place (as you'll see in the next few steps)



Add a strip of ATG (or other strong tape runner style adhesive) to the first "V" at one end of your strip. Make sure both the "up" and "down" sdes of the V have glue on.



Join both ends of your strip into a circle overlapping one V on each end.
Squeeze the ends tightly to get the glue to adhere well.



Next begin to "pinch" the top edge of the circle together to make the center of the flower.
It sounds tricky but it really isn't. It will make a small cirlce in the middle of the flower and outer edge will fan out to make the flower.



Apply ATG liberally to one of the 1" cardstock circles. I've punched mine in a constrasting color to make it easier for you to see.
Have the circle glue side up on your desk and add the "pinched" flower to the top and press down firmly.
The folds in the cardstock make it very strong so you can press down very firmly without it crushing.



Squeeze some liquid glue in the center and around the inner edges and hold until it starts to set. You can also use a large glue dot pushed into the center to hold it together but I prefer glue.



Add another cardstock circle to the top.



I then inked the edges and and raised tops of the V's with chalk ink for definition.
I added a button to the top.



After completing the decoration of the flower I like to place something heavy on it while the glue completely dries and sets firm. This way I won't risk an unravelled flower.




Here you can see a finished flower on a card.

I hope I didn't make it seem complicated with so many steps, it really isn't hard at all, I just wanted to show every little step to make it easier to follow.
I'd love to see if you try one of these, they are so much fun and add something different to your cards.
Katie

Contest... New Releases

I just came up with an idea!!! I wanted to show some sneak peeks of the stamps we have coming in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted to make it even more fun. So here are five heart shaped snippets of some of the new stamps. The first person who posts here the illustrator of each of these stamps will receive their choice of one of the new stamps and a second person will be chosen by random number for a stamp also. You have till next Wednesday Jan 13th, so even if you think the correct answer is posted go ahead and guess anyway to get in the random drawing.

Also, all The Pixie Cottage Illustrators are listed at the right in the sidebar, so click on their names and visit their blogs/websites/ebay pages and it might help you figure out the answers.

Remember just leave the answers in the comment section below before Wed Jan 13th. At that time the new images will be revealed as well as the winners, who will get to pick their stamp!

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Also, I would like to welcome Hobbystempels to the Pixie Cottage family. They will be carrying the Pixie Cottage stamps in there fine store, so there is something a little closer to home for all our friends in the Netherlands. Welcome!

Stay warm friends,
Michelle

CHALLENGE VACATION

WE WILL BE TAKING A BREAK TILL NEXT WEEK. WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT THAT TIME ALONG WITH A NEW CHALLENGE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

Challenge 6 ... button it!

Take a break from stuffing the stockings and stringing the popcorn, lighting candles and all that fun cozy stuff - and sit and relax for a bit of crafting fun!

One lucky winner was drawn and our random winner of the gift voucher is....

Susie Little!

Congratulations! Please contact Michelle at CASDANBEN@aol.com to get the details on how to get your prize :)
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***Stop by tomorrow for our top three winners :) *****

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Now on to our next challenge!

Every other Wednesday we will host a challenge, and we want you to play! Prizes and fun and inspiration abound, and because you have a week and a half to get your entry in, there is plenty of time to find your creative magic... And this week, we are so pleased to have our Guest DT, Tanya. Her work is incredible!

For our this challenge, we are asking you to...

Button It!

Use an actual button, the word button, a button closure, shape your card like a button... whatever your creative hands come up with as long as it is "button" related :)

- You may combine this challenge with others
- You can use any products or stamps (you aren't restricted to just using Pixie Cottage, although we would love to see how you use our products too!)
- Post your creation on your blog with a direct link to the Pixie Cottage blog
- Leave a comment with a link to your blog post with your entry
- Create a card, scrapbook page, altered box... no limit to your creativity!
- Entries due by midnight (EST) on the January 3rd
- Winners will be announced on Wednesday, January 6th, along with the next challenge!

And what will you win? I'm so glad you asked! :) One entry, drawn at random, will win a fabulous 15.00 gift voucher to Michelle's Scrapbooking and more!The Design Team will also choose our top three, each of whom will get the super cutie little button to put on their blog! But wait! There's more! The top three will also be in the running for a spot as a guest DT!

So, buttons, buttons, buttons! Have fun! The Pixie Cottage Design Team made some "cute as a button" projects... see what they came up with :) You can click on their name or image to be taken directly to their blogs.

Let's start with our Guest DT member,

Tanya


Risa

Renata

Katie

From Denise

Inside Denise's

Good Luck! Post your comment below with the direct link to your entry :) We can't wait to see what you create! Don't forget, you can use this code
to make a direct link to your entry :) Go ahead and take this little button if you like. I know I have to look at it each time I enter a contest! I can never remember :)

So in between hanging the mistletoe, eating those cookies, and putting the scarf on Frosty, don't forget to create something for the Pixie challenge!