Holiday's Delight

This card was made in combination of this week's Our Creative Corner challenge, which is is all about Christmas; and Wednesday's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge #291 that I used for my layout.  See below.

At first I had a hard time visualizing what I would do, but when I took out my brand new Greeting Card Kids set from SU, I knew.  The set comes without sentiments.  Since it looks very old fashioned, I pulled out my Crafty Secrets Vintage Christmas stamp set, and used a sentiment from there.  These Greeting Card Kids images remind me so much of these little Gurley Holiday Candles that my beloved Aunt Gina used to give to my sisters and I at holiday time.  There were Halloween candles, Thanksgiving candles and Christmas.  We  always put them on our holiday dinner table.  You can get them at the Vermont Country Store.  These SU images are very nostalgic to me.  I love them.

Here are my supplies:

Stamps~SU Holiday Card Kids, Crafty Secrets Vintage Christmas.

Ink~Momento Rich Cocoa, Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink.

Paper~Nenah Solar White, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red,SU Merry Moment DSP (R), Creative Memories Metallic Gold.

Accessories~SU Alpine 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon (R), gold brads, Polar White Flower Soft, Flower Soft Glue, Gold Stickles, Copics, Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Mat pack & piercing tool.

Easter Wishes

I started this card before I left with my family for vacation to Southern California just before Easter. I planned to use Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #67 for the layout, but I only got as far as the focal point before I left.

Yesterday I finished the card with inspiration from the OCC, as this week's challenge is to incorporate a bow on your card/project. Easter Was a week ago, I know, but I will save this for next year. I love the colors and I love the egg wreath from Verve's Easter Joy set. Here are the ingredients for my card:

Stamps ~ Verve's Easter Joy, SU All Holidays.

Paper ~ Cameo Coral, Elegant Eggplant, Tea Party DSP, Neenah Solar White.

Ink ~ Memento Tuxedo Black, Cameo Coral, Elegant Eggplant.

Accessories ~ Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Pink Pirouette 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon, Elegant Eggplant 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, SU Border Punch, Sticky Strip, Hero Arts self adhesive crystals.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Swinger de Monkey Valentine

We are getting lots of snow here in New Jersey today. School is closed, which means I don't have to go to work. It also means PJ's all day and lots of crafting! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this new Verve stamp set called "Love Monkey". My son, Greg, has a Beanie Buddy (stuffed animal) that my sister gave him when he was about 4 months old. He's a turquios and yellow monkey named Swinger. He is Greg's lovey, and even though Greg is 10 now, Greg is still quite attached to this little guy. When I saw this Verve set, I knew I had to have it, and I knew that it would be the focal point of Greg's Valentine card from me. I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for the layout, but did it shorter and wider because I wanted the card to be oriented this way. I will use it for MOJO125 and also for this week's challenge from Our Creative Corner which is to create a card/project for the men in our lives.

The base of the card is a pre-cut, Crimson, A2 card from Memory Box. The DP is from BasicGrey's Nook & Pantry. Other papers are Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry and Neenah Solar White. I stamped the monkey image with Bermuda Bay ink, and colored it with Copics. After I cut the monkey out, I covered it with VersaMark ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder to brighten him. He is adhered to a white circle with Dimensionals. I embellished with a "buckle" from retired SU Hodgepodge Hardware and Bermuda Bay polka dot grosgrain ribbon. My little Valentine will love this!

Flurry of Love

I bought this adorable Pure Innocence set from MFT called "Flurry of Love" and have been wanting to ink it up. Our Creative Corner's Happy New Year Sketch Challenge today - SASSC46 - inspired me to use it.

I love this sweet image and I am pleased with the way it all came together with the sketch. I paper pieced the image with BasicGrey's Eskimo Kiss DP (I can't get enough of it!) and colored the face, stockings and background with my Copics. You can't see it in this photo, but I used a Versa Marker on the flurries and the snow beneath her her feet. I then hot embossed those areas with Hologram Highlights to give it sparkle. I used white Liquid Applique to puff up her hat and boots. I love it!

Sweet as Pie

This week's OCC Challenge is to incorporate some kind of food or drink image on your card or project. I have had this adorable "Sweet as Pie Flopsy" for a while, and so it was perfect for this challenge. I used Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch #50 for the layout. (see below). The picture here does not really do this card justice, but you get the idea.

Here's the recipe -

Stamps ~ MFT Sweet as Pie Flopsy.

Paper ~ Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Barely Banana, Ninah Solar White, BasicGrey Nook & Pantry.

Ink ~ Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaFine Onyx Black, Pink Pirouette.

Accessories ~ Fiskars Border Punch, Dimensionals, Nestabilities, Copic markers, Sakura Black Glaze Pen, SU Kiwi Kiss 3/8" satin ribbon, sponge, Scor-it.

Thanks for stopping by...

Happy Birthday Mom!

We celebrated my mother's 87th birthday yesterday... we are blessed that she is in good health and still going strong. I used this week's Crazy for Challenges sketch - C4C7 - for the layout for this 5.25" card. This week's challenge from Our Creative Corner was a color challenge. I really loved the combination of Blush Blossom, Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter and Soft Suede. My mom is a bird lover, so I used Verve's Birthday Surprise for the main image. A little pink bling for the birthday girl, and voila! Happy Birthday Mom!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps ~Verve's Birthday Surprise.
Paper ~ Handsome Hunter, Blush Blossom, Soft Suede, Sage Shadow, White, Autumn Vine DSP (retired).
Ink ~ Soft Suede, Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaFine Onyx Black.
Accessories ~ Copics, Nestabilitites, Soft Suede 1/2" polka dot grosgrain ribbon, Nestabilities, Hero Arts crystals, Dimensionals, Cuttlebug, Sponge Dauber, Crystal Effects.

Christmas in August

I love this "Dasher" image from SU, and when I saw that the OCC Challenge this week is to make a Christmas card, I knew I wanted to use it. I used Mercy Kerin's MTSC34 sketch for my layout. What a great combo!!

Recipe:

Stamps - Dasher, A Cardinal Christmas.

Ink - Versa Mark, Momento Tuxedo Black.

Paper - Carden Green, Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, Brushed Gold, Merry Moments DSP.

Accessories - Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain ribbon, Nestabilities, Mini brads, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Dimensionals, Ticket Corner Punch, 1 1/4 & 1 3/8" Circle Punches.

Thank You Flower Pitcher

This week's OCC Challenge was a sketch. My dear sister gave me this gorgeous stamp for my birthday along with a shopping spree at Scrapper's Cove. I was waiting for a good layout to try it. I had to turn the OCC Sketch sideways to make it work - a little creative license... but i think it was a beautiful match. I love it!

The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Blace on Solar White paper. This closeup of the flowers to show the Atyou Spica Glitter Pen sparkles that look so great. I could not capture this effect in the picture of the whole card.

Here are the ingredients:

Stamps: Impression Obsession~Flower pitchers, SU~Short and Sweet

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Solar White.

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Copics, Atyou Spica Glitter Pen, Nestabilities, Word Window Punch, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots EF, Crushed Curry Polk-Dot 1/2" Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Beach Time Invitation

I am SUPER happy with the way this card turned out. I used this week's fabulous OCC sketch challenge for the layout. The centerpiece is an image from Crafty Secrets "Summer" Cotton Scraps collection. I first saw Cotton Scraps used for card creations on Sharon Johnson's blog, and I had to try them. I purchased mine via Sharon's Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, along with her lucious ribbon offerings and other things like the amazing Bow Easy. Of course, it took me hours to "whip" this baby together, but theoretically, it could have been a quick project! LOL!!

Here's the Recipe~
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Confetti White, Baja Breeze, Blue Bayou, Riding Hood Red.
Stamps: Hugs & Wishes
Ink: Soft Sky, Pacific Point.
Accessories: Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool, Karen Foster White Mini Brads, Dimensionals, Cuttlebug, Brayer, Nestabilities Ribbon Tag Trio, Sticky Strip, Twill Tape,
Crop-a-dial.

For You

I have had this Hero Arts stamp called "Marion's Bouquet" for a long time. It is perfect for coloring with Copic markers - I finally got to it. It was so much fin to color this image! This week's OCC Challenge was a color challenge using Regal Rose, Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery. The idea for this card came together for me using this stamp and this color combination. The base of the card is Certaily Celery. The main image is with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, stamped on Solar White, colored with Copic markers, and then matted with Regal Rose. The sentiment is from Verve's "So Happy" set. I used a Versa Marker and clear embossing powder to "pop" the ribbon around the neck of the vase. I used Certainly Celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon, SU button bouquet and Basic Jumbo Grommets Designer Hardware as embellishments.

Basketful of Blessings

I did not get to do last week's OCC Challenge which was to to create an Easter theme card/project. So, better late than never, I did it today. I am in love with Taylored Expressions Sweet Spring Collection. Perfect for this challenge. The base of the card is Certainly Celery. The main image is stamped on Solar White with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copics. All of the rest of the papers and embellishments except for the rhinestone "cherry" on Cuppie's head are from Taylored Expressions Easter Key Ingredients. I embossed the brown layer with the Cuttlebug and the Swiss Dots Embossing Folder. I love this time of year - it is full of hope and new life. Happy Easter!

Courage and Healing

Lately life has been a bit overwhelming, and I have not had much time to create. I am always happier and more content when I can spend time feeding my creative soul. This one is a 3-fer. Last week's OCC challenge was to add a doodle to your project. My doodles are on the top panel. I used the colors from SCS CC208 (Pink Passion, Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip), and the layout from SC218.

Recipe:

Stamps: Crafty Secrets Clear Art Stamps~Support the Girls
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Passion, Raspberry Tart DSP, White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Dew Drops, Markers, Dimensionals, MS Lace Border Punch, Mat Pack and Piercing Tool

The inside has a beautiful blessing by Joyce Rupp that reads:

May you desire to be healed.
May what is wounded in your life be restored to good health.
May you be receptive to the ways in which healing needs to happen.
May you take good care of yourself.
May you extend compassion to all that hurts within your body, mind, spirit.
May you be patient with the time it takes to heal.
May the skills of all those who are caring for you be used to the best of their ability in returning you to good health.
May you be open to receive from those who extend kindness, care and compassion to you. May you rest peacefully under the wings of divine love, trusting in this gracious presence.
May you find little moments of you to sustain you. May you keep hope in your heart.

OCCC The Sea

I have been away for way too long. I have been so busy - went to Vermont with my boys to visit my dear friend Carol and her wonderful family. I went for Copic Certification (woo hoo!!), and I have been crazy busy with all sorts of things. What else is new?? Anyway, I was so happy to have the time to do the OCC challenge today, and I needed to use my new found Copic skills. They surely need to be honed, but I am working on it. This week's OCC Challenge is a sketch - You can find it HERE. Here in NJ, we say "down the shore" for "going to the beach". There is no place I would rather be than down the shore. I bought this stamp set a couple of months back. It was perfect for this sketch, and for working with my Copics.

Here is the recipe:
Stamps: Clear Art Stamps ~ Seaside.
Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, SU Petals & Paisleys DSP (retired), Barely Banana, Riding Hood Red, White, Cool Caribbean (retired), Neenah Solar White.
Ink: Tsukineko Tuxedo Black.
Accessories: Copics, MS border punch, Riding Hood Red ribbon, Dimensionals, Mat Pack and Piercing Tool, Atoyu Spica Glitter Pen, Corner Rounder Punch, Sponge.

I Melt for You

I tried to get a good picture of this so many times that I finally gave up. You get the idea though... I really struggled to come up with something different (for me anyway) for this week's OCC challenge which was to add something clear to your project. You can find challenge details HERE. I found these little votive holders and mocha scented candles for dirt cheap a while ago, and decided to use one for this CLEAR challange. I used the solid and outline hearts from MFT's Heart's Galore with Blazing Red Stazon ink to stamp the red hearts on the glass. Then I used White Craft ink on the outline heart and stamped on top of the red. I cut out the paper hearts with my Nestabilities on Bella Rose DSP on top of Riding Hood Red cardstock. The sentiment is also from MFT's Hearts Galore. I masked the stamp so that I could split it into 2 lines to fit inside the small paper heart. I applied sticky tape to Riding hood Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon and adhered it to the glass, and topped it with the paper hearts. I then used Liquid Embroidery to put the little white dots on the top and bottom of the glass. Cute!

It's New Year's eve day. It's snowing here in central NJ,and I love it. 2008 has been a whopper of a year - some big challenges, and some great gifts. I wish you and yours a great start to 2009 and a peaceful year ahead.

Happy Anni-VERVE-sary Julee!

I have had so little time to stamp these days - I am amazed at the people who have so much going on and still turn out these amazing projects every day! The blog posts out there have been bowling me over!! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa... whatever your celebration is. I had one of the nicest Christmases I can remember. It helps to have 2 little boys who are awaiting Santa and his reindeer with such excitement and delight. One of my boys is a choir singer - the sound of children singing always makes me cry. My guys were also in a Nativity play. I used a lot of tissues in the past couple of weeks. Also, this was the first year in a very long time that I was in a work environment at Christmas time where Secret Santa and lots of other festivities took place... so fun. I worked from my home for 10 years prior for a company that was 750 miles from my home, so my work holiday celebrations were a party of one! It was so much fun this year to have a community to Fa La La La La with! I also sang on Christmas Eve at a children's Mass which was very moving. We celebrated with family and friends here in our home on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, we went to a big old fashioned Christmas dinner at our dear Friends' house with lots of wonderful food, many kids, lots of caroling by the fire - just wonderful!!! I am so happy though, that I got to post my latest OCCC card today. I made it on Sunday, but I never got to post it. I need to get back to my stamps and ink!!

So, last Saturday's OCC Challenge was to make either a love of a lifetime/anniversary card/project or just something for that special someone who makes you go all lovey dovey. Vervegirl Julee Tilman presented this challenge in honor of her 11th wedding anniversary. So here is my lovey dovey card to help mark the occasion! May you have many happy anniversaries ahead of you Julee and Mark...

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Owl Together Now, Verve ~ Feeling Groovy
Paper: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Afternoon Tea DSP, White.
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red.
Accessories: Nestabilites, Photo Corner Punch, Copics, 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Cuttlebug, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool, Sponge.

For You for 2

I made this card today for two challenges: SCS Sketch Challenge SC202 and this week's OCC Challenge which is to use silhouette stamps for your project. I am so happy with the way this turned out.

Here is the recipe ~

Stamps: Fresh Cuts stamped on Vellum with Versa Mark, embossed with black embossing powder, and colored with re-inkers and a blender pen.
Paper: Basic Gray, Black, Pacific

Pointe, Kiwi Kiss, White, Vellum, Urban Garden DSP.
Ink: Versa Mark, Black.
Accessories: Small Oval Punch, Square Scallop Punch, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug & Swiss Dots EF, Rhinestone Brads, Flower Fusion, Dimensionals, Kiwi Kiss Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool.

Inspiration Cupcake

Today's OCC Challenge is an inspiration challenge using a pretty cupcake from the Martha Stewart website. It has a Christmas-y feel color wise, but of course it can be used it for anything. I have a dear friend with a December birthday, so this will be perfect for her.

The base of the card is Very Vanilla. I just got this new "Snow Dots" Cuttlebug embossing folder that I love. It looks like a comfy winter quilt to me. I used it to emboss on Real Red and I inked a brayer with Close to Cocoa ink and rolled it over the embossing to bring out the design. I used my Nestabilities for the circles and rectangles. The cupcake image is from SU's "Crazy for Cupcakes" paper pieced with (retired) "Dashing" DSP. I added sparkles to the icing with Stardust Stickles. The sentiment is from Verve's Birthday Surprise framed with a piece of antique brass Hodgepodge Hardware and striped grosgrain ribbon from SU's most recent Holiday Mini Catalog. I had some beautiful Laura Ashley buttons that have been in my stash forever which I thought would be the perfect final touch for my cupcake!

Time for the Bubbly Two-fer

This card is inspired by this week's OCC Challenge - "It's All in the Coloring", and the Splitcoast Sketch SC200. I really wanted to try using Copics, though I have no idea what I am doing... I used one of my favorite MFT sets - "Time for the Bubbly". The card base is Kiwi Kiss topped with a layer of black card stock, topped with a layer of Haiku DSP. I stamped the main image on white card stock with black Stazon ink and colored with Copics. I paper pieced the "wallpaper" with Haiku DSP. I stamped the image again on white card stock and colored the border of the mirror with my silver Zig Painty. It's nice and shiny "in person". I cut it out and then used Soft Sage shadow ink by Memories and a blender pen to color the mirror to make it look like the reflection of the wallpaper in the mirror. I stamped a little flower from Eastern Blooms on the mirror to emulate the wallpaper design in the reflection. I used my square Nestabilities to cut the three white squares with black borders. I stamped the images of the bubble bath, wine glass and wine bottle with black Stazon and colored the with Copics. I used my Color Spritzer Tool to spray a little black on the white squares for texture, then adhered the colored images on them and mounted them with Dimensionals. The sentiment is in black Stazon on white card stock edged with black ink. A piece of Pumpkin Pie 1/4" grosgrain ribbon is inserted into an eyelet and tied in a knot. I've got a ways to go with Copics, but I have to say, I am pleased with this one. Thanks for looking!

Vintage Verve Birds

These wonderful "Black Tie Birdies" were perfect for both this week's Our Creative Corner mid-week challenge and this week's challenge over at Stamp Something. The OCCC challenge is hosted by Julee Tilman of Verve Visual. The challenge is to give your Verve projects a vintage glow with a technique called Vintage Values. For challenge and technique details, click HERE. This week's challenge at Stamp Something is called "Something For the Birds". Make a project using bird images; any types, sizes, shapes, and colors.

The card base is black textured card stock topped with a layer from SU's Ghostly Greetings DSP. On top of that is a layer from SU's Bella Rose DSP. The main image is stamped on white card stock with Black Craft Ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I used markers to color the wings and bows and added a little glitter glue for sparkle. The balloon is cut out and adhered with dimensionals. To achieve the vintage glow, I used Sahara Sand Ink, then Basic Gray, then Classic Black ink applied with a craft sponge. I matted the main image piece with black textured paper. The sentiment is from Verve's Feeling Groovy stamped on white, and matted with Ghostly Greetings DSP and Riding Hood Red cut with square Nestabilities. I added a black mini library clip, and a pink button from SU's Button Bouquet. I threaded the button with a super thin piece of black card stock and adhered with a glue dot. This is the first time I tried this technique. I love the effect.

OCCC Bling on the BLING!

This is my creation for this past week's OCC Challnge which was to "Bling on the Bling"! I am a little low on bling-y things at the moment, so I used Hologram Highlights on my peonies to make them sparkley, and I used some red rhinestones in the coner and clear Dew Drops on the bottom right. If you enlarge the picture, you can see the sparkle much better. Here is the recipe -
Stamps: Pretty Peonies, Verve ~ Black Tie Birdies for the sentiment.
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rose DSP, Ivory.
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip.
Accessories: Hologram Highlights, Scallop Edge & Photo Corner Punches, Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain & Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware, Dimensionals, Dew Drops, Red Rhinestones.