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.

Snappy Birthday Li Li!

Today is my dear sister Lisa's birthday. Happy birthday Li!!! or shall I say... Snappy Birthday! We have had so many great adventures in our lives. We have shared many joys and sorrows. Today I celebrate her birth, her life, her place in my family and the many things we have to share in the years ahead. She's going to love this silly crab... The layout comes from Jen del Muro's November 15th SFYTT. I thought it would be perfect for my little crabby guy.

Here is the recipe:
Stamps: Crab & Company
Paper: Pacific Point, Black, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, White.
Ink: Stazon and Classic Black.
Accessories:Re-inkers, markers, dimensionals, Stardust Stickles, Circle Punches, Cuttlebug and EF.

Joy to the World!

I just LOVE this sweet little mouse. On my Black Friday jaunt to Scrapper's Cove, I found this clear stamp set (Peace on Earth) and another one with the same little critter by Impression Obsession. I tried to link to their website here, but it's not working for some reason. When I saw Beate's sketch last week - WSC67, I knew this would be perfect for it. Main image is stamped with Black Stazon on Whisper White mounted on a layer of Ridinghood Red and then Pink Pirouette scalloped edge cut with Nestabilities. That three layered panel is adhered with dimensionals. The base of the card is black topped with Ski Slope DSP. The left panel is also Ski Slope DSP on top of Kiwi Kiss. I used reinkers with an aqua painter to color my critter along with shades of brown ink and a blender pen. I used my silver Zig Painty pen to highlight the top of the ornament. The sentiment is stamped in black ink on a Metal Edge Tag. I applied glue to the aluminum edge, and then sprinkled it with Dazzling Diamonds. The ribbon is Riding Hood Red Taffeta. I accented the top right corner with Dew Drops. Sweet!

SnowflakeMan

On Friday, instead of hitting the mall, I went to Scrapper's Cove and made a few purchases! One thing I bought was this adorable stamp from Hero Arts - Cupcake Snowman. I also had to have these sequins and adhesive crystals, also from Hero Arts. When I checked the OCCC on Saturday morning with my cup of tea, guess what the challenge was??? Well, you guessed it. It was to make something using SNOWFLAKES or SNOWMEN! Woo Hoo! My cupcake Snowman was calling me to ink 'm up!

Here is the recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts ~ Cupcake Snowman, Sweet Serendipity.
Paper: Night of Navy, Kiwi Kiss, Real Red, Whisper White, Brushed Silver.
Ink: Black Stazon, Real Red, Kiwi Kiss, Almost Amethyst, Baja Breeze.
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Snowflake EF, Aqua Painter, Blending pen, Liquid Embroidery, DD, Snowflake Punch, MS Snowflake Border Punch, Dimensionals, Hero Arts Snowflake Sequins and Adhesive Crystals, Felt Flurries, Rhinestone Brad, and snowflake ribbon from Michaels.

Thanksgiving Place Cards

Thanksgiving is by far, my favorite holiday. It is chock full of wonderful memories, traditions, and warmth - no shopping and wrapping (well, there can be lots of grocery shopping, but I don't mind a bit!) - just gathering with family and friends to share all kinds of things. I love it! Ever since I can remember, we always made place cards for my family's Thanksgiving table. This year, we are going to my niece's house for the feast. She and her wonderful husband are hosting for the first time in their new home. They have a wonderful story, those two, and I am so happy that we are going to celebrate at their house this year. There will be 21 at the table, and of course, I wanted to make the place cards... this is what came up with.

I took my inspiration from 2 wonderful artists Nancy Riley and Amy Sheffer. I just loved THIS card that Nancy made - I needed to use those adorable pumpkins, so I lifted them directly from her creation to mine. Thanks Nancy! I saw THIS wonderful place card design on Amy's Blog, and I loved the idea of using the library clips. I love the way Amy used the clip to hold the name plate with the backing a bit tilted. That did not work for my cards, but the library clip was a great embellishment for mine. Thanks for the idea Amy!

This year has been quite a challenging one for me and for my family, but the blessings that we have far outweigh the trials. My husband and children are the loves of my life. I have a wonderful family. We have such rich traditions filled with love and beauty shared with my parents and sisters and our extended families. My dear friends, both old and new, are such gifts... they give my life such warmth, color, strength. I love my work, I love my craft... I have met such wonderful people in this SCS and blogging world and I have learned so much in this last year. I wish you a beautiful Thanksgiving filled with love, great smells, tastes, some rest... every good thing. Gotta finish my place cards and head to the feast!

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.

Sledding!

I had it in my mind that I would be able to do all of the Verve Holiday Release Sketch Blitz challenges, but life got in the way and I only made two. I really like this one that I did for day 2. I changed it up a bit by turning it upwards and a few other things. I did not add a sentiment since the Cuttlebug folder I used had lots of words on it. I used the wonderful Felt Flurries from SU's latest mini catalog for the main embellishment. I ran the Sledding embossing folder through my Cutttlebug twice - on Baja Breeze and on white. I cut out and colored the snowman, and sparkled him up with some Stardust Stickles. The base of the card is Chocolate Chip topped with Ski Slope DSP from SU's Holiday mini. The embossed panel is backed with Real Red. The panel beneath it is Soft Sky DSP (retired) and punched with Martha Stewart's lace punch. I finished it off with a strip of Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla 3/8" Satin Ribbon.

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!

Abundant Blessings

This is my card for the VERVE HOLIDAY RELEASE SKETCH BLITZ. Julee Tillman of Verve Visual is getting ready for another Verve Release! From Tuesday 11/4 through Saturday 11/8, Julee will post a new sketch challenge and a sneak preview of one of the new sets. I have some catching up to do...

Here is the Recipe

Stamps: Verve ~ Abundant Blessings.
Paper: Haiku DSP, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Kiwi Kiss
Ink: Chocolate Chip.
Accessories: More Mustard 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Old Olive 3/8" Organdy Ribbon; Large Oval Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Filigree Designer brad, Rhinestone Brad, Dimensionals, Mat Pack and Piercing Tool.

Paper Craft Planet

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!

WSC63 Ghoulfriends

I love this set from MFT - Totally Witchin'. I decided to use Beate's Weekend Sketch #63 to try it out. I turned the sketch upwards and took some license with it, but I like how it turned out. I stamped the main image with black Stazon and colored it with markers. Copics would have been great for this, but I don't have the right colors... I matted the main image with black textured card stock. The base of the card is Basic Gray with a layer of Green Galore on top and a piece from Ghostly Greetings DSP on top of that. The vertical piece is also from Ghostly Greetings DSP with a thin layer of black textured paper on the left side. I stamped the cauldron with black ink, and used basic Gray and Lovely Lilac for the swirly steam. I then colored the cauldron and traced the swirls with a Versa Marker. I embossed the cauldron with clear embossing powder, and used heat and stick powder with purple mica glitter on the swirls. Love that effect! I died a piece of white taffeta ribbon with lovely Lilac ink, paired with with some 1/4" black grosgrain ribbon and tied a knot of 1/8" black and white stitched ribbon to make the bow. The sentiment is stamped on Whisper White in Lovely Lilac, punched with the Key Tag Punch and matted with Lovely Lilac. The black mini library clip accents the sentiment. I am going to make a few more of these for my Ghoulfriends...

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.

Love that Verve Birthday Bird!

This is a card for the "October Project Parade" challenge over at the Verve Stamps Blog. This month's challenge is to use Embossing on your project. It can be either wet or dry embossing. . .or both. I love embossing, so I was eager to do this one. I chose to use both wet and dry embossing. I have some Copics that I have played with a little bit, but had not really entered that world yet. Both Pearl Art and the Rutgers University Bookstore near my home had some back in the summer, but not a wide selection. I bought everything in stock in both places and now neither place carries them anymore. Time to order them online! I have ended up with lots of different colors, but need lots of fill-in markers for gradation. Anyway, I was dying to try them, so I thought these images from Verve Visual's "Birthday Surprise" would be perfect. Due to the limited Copic colors that I have, I really struggled with the card stock colors. I don't know that I would have ever come up with this combo were it not for this particular situation, but I really like the way it all turned out!

The base of the card is black textured card stock. I embossed the bird and balloons on Shimmery White with Versa Mark ink and black embossing powder and then colored with Copics. I used Chrystal Effects to add shine and texture, and I used an unlabeled product in my stash that is a clear glaze with glitter on the bird. I used my round/scalloped Nestabilities to cut and mat the bird image in black and Old Olive. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss a layer of "Brocade Blue" which sits on a layer of "Orchid Opulence" (That paper pack was previously unopened for a long time). I used the Ticket Corner Punch on both layers and glued 2 purple rhinestones in each corner on the orchid. The ribbon is Kiwi Kiss Satin. The sentiment is stamped in black ink on white cardstock, cut with rectangle Nestabilities and matted on a black scalloped rectangle. I need lots of birthday cards this month, so I am on my way!

Journey Journal

I found these wonderful spiral notebooks in the clearance section of Staples. They are covered in plain brown paper with fabric binding on the left. The first page on the inside has calendar months from 2007, 2008 and 2009. I had better use them up soon! LOL! They were marked $1.99, but when I got to the register, they rang as $ .50. Needless to say, I bought every one in the bin!

I was inspired by THIS beautiful card on Beate's Blog and CASE'd it for this project.

I covered the front of the journal with Eastern Blooms DSP and sanded the edges. I covered the inside front cover with one piece of Eastern Blooms DSP to pretty it up. Night of Navy 1/4" grosgrain ribbon is adhered with sticky strip to divide the sections on the top.

The main image from Eastern Blooms is stamped with Chocolate Chip ink on a piece of white speckled card stock. The Riding Hood Red flowers are punched with a tiny punch from Creative Memories. I placed blue brads in the center of the flowers. The 2nd layer is Old Olive. The 3rd layer on the top and bottom is Night of Navy punched with the Scalloped Edge Punch.

The ovals are cut with Nestabilities. The white oval is stamped and sponged around the edges in Night of Navy with "journey" from Define Your Life. I cut 2 of the same sized from Riding Hood Red and Night of Navy cardstock and placed the white oval slightly right of center on the red oval. I used a Night of navy marker to add dots around the edges of the red oval. The blue oval is placed to the left of the red one. I attached a Hodgepodge Hardware piece to make it look like it's holding it all together.

I attached some Sticky Strip on the front where the Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon is placed and tied a knot. Voila! A journal for a new journey.

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.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart

Today is the anniversary of my marriage to Joe, 19 years ago. The day today was much like it was then... beautiful, clear, crisp, fall day. I made this card for the occasion. It's a combination of the SU Love Owl-ways set with the Verve's "Feeling Groovy" set. Inside, I used another stamp from this set that says "We've got a groovy kind of love". Truth be told, these reflect songs that were NEW when we were growing up (really dating myself), and I love them. Very appropriate for this particular occasion on many levels. I also made this card for the OCC Chipboard challenge on 9/20/08. Happy anniversary Joe... the best is yet to be!

Take a Deep Breath, Dee...

I made this for my friend Dee who is a bit over stressed these days - just like me, and probably you... Maybe I will make a bunch of these and send them to everyone I know... LOL. I love the colors I chose for this... Very calming, don't you think?

The main image is from MFT~Serenity Now! stamped with Black Stazon. I used paper piecing for clothes and mat. I colored the background with a copic marker. The image is framed in Chocolate Chip. The base of the card is Groovy Guava. The next layer is Chocolate Chip with the corners punched with the Ticket Corner Punch. I glued amber rhinestones in the corners. The Chocolate Chip layer is topped with Sage Shadow which is run through the Cuttlebug. The solid horizontal layer is Really Rust. I used the Word Window Punch to cut out the window in the bottom. I punched it twice horizontally to get it to be long enough for the sentiment. Then I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip ink on white and glued it to the back to the Sage Shadow layer.

I used square punches to make the diamond shaped piece on the left. I layered it and topped with a Build-a-Brad and some brown stitched ribbon from Michael's.

There... I feel calmer already!

My maiden voyage into the blogging world...

Well, I have finally taken the plunge and started a blog to journal my passion for stamping and paper crafting. I have dabbled in the stamping world just a little over a number of years. My passion for this craft though, was really ignited by my friend Lucian, artiste extraordinaire, SU demo and all around wonderful person. Since I started going to her workshops, my interest spiraled into a stamping frenzy! I found SCS and began to explore the blog world. One thing lead to the other, and now I am a full blown stamping addict.

Many thanks to all the amazing artists, bloggers and SCS gallery posters for all of your inspiration and encouragement. So here goes...

I have found that the best way to improve as a stamping artist is to do challenges. My schedule is very tight, and I can't stamp every day. I usually treat myself to the weekly OCCC. I have to get to that one later, but this week I decided to do Beate's Weekend Sketch as well. Beate is an amazing inspiration - a well known fact in this world. This is my take on this week's sketch WSC60.

The base of the card is black. I used SU Ghostly Greetings DSP for the next layer, and put it through the Cuttlebug with the spider web embossing folder. I stamped the witch hat image from SU's Eat, Drink and Be Scary in black craft ink on white paper and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I used a sponge dauber and Pumpkin Pie ink and rubbed it over the hat image and added a bow made with black stitched grosgrain ribbon from Michaels.

The green horizontal and white vertical panels are also Ghostly Greetings DSP. The vertical panel is bordered with Basic Gray and pumpkin pie cut with a Nestabilities long rectangle die. The "Halloween" panel is stamped on white card stock with Blank ink, bordered with Pumpkin Pie and then black cut with a Nestabilities rectangle die. I used the 5-Petal Flower punch layered with orange and green Accents and Elements and finished it off with a Build-A-Brad with the spider image from Eat, Drink and Be Scary.

Hoping to post another card later... see you next time.