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.

Congratulations Molly!

This is my Mojo Monday 88 creation. It's a graduation card for my niece Molly who is one of the most special people in the world to me. She is graduating from 8th grade and moving on to High School which will I hope and be a wonderful new experience filled with promise for her. I love how this card came out, and I can't wait to give it to her.

Here is the recipe:
Paper: Regal Rose, Barely Banana, Old Olive, Baja Breeze and Walk in the Park DSP.
Ink: Versa Mark, Regal Rose, Memento Tuxedo Black.
Stamps: Verve~Beautiful Kindness .
Accessories: Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon, Key Tag punch, White embossing powder, Cuttlebug & Swiss Dots EF, Hero Arts adhesive backed crystals, Mat Pack and piercing tool, Dimensionals, Color Spritzer Tool and Regal Rose marker.

Be Calm...

It's already Monday evening of Memorial Day weekend 2009. I can hardly believe it! We had a nice day starting out with our yearly tradition of sitting on the wrap around porch of my sister and brother in law's beautiful old Victorian home which is in an old town in central NJ. The town holds a parade each year for Memorial Day, and it starts right in front of their house. It's an old fashioned thing with many fire trucks, marching bands, bagpipes... I just love it. I love the nostalgia of these holiday celebrations. I love that my boys can experience this and appreciate what the holiday really means in addition to the way it has become all about the BBQ's, the sales and getting out your white shoes!! Hee hee... Of course, it's the unofficial start of summer, which is a beautiful thing too.

This card is for this week's MFT sketch challenge: MFTSC82. I love this little "Be Calm" stamp from MFT by Annie La Pointe. I thought it would be perfect for this sketch. The base of the card is white and sponged around the edges with Elegant Eggplant ink. On top of the base is a layer of Elegant Eggplant that is embossed with the Scor-Pal to give it texture. The horizontal and vertical panels are both from SU's Tea Party DSP.

The image is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Solar White paper and colored with Copic markers. The pipe and shower head are colored with a Zig Painty oil-based paint marker to give it lots of shine. I stamped with image again, colored the hydrangeas, cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals. I added a little sparkle to the hydrangeas with my Atyou Spica glitter pen. The white oval is cut out and embossed with oval Nestabilities. I used sponge daubers with Creamy Caramel and Baja Breeze ink to create the background for the image. I cut the stamped image out and glued it on to the oval. I die cut the scallop edged oval from Wild Wasabi textured paper and pierced the scallops with my mat pack and piercing tool. The whole oval piece is popped up with dimensionals.

I inked the sentiment only from the same stamp, cut it out with the Word Window Punch, embellished it with a yellow button from my button stash and tied it with linen thread. The picture does not really do the card justice - it came out really nicely. Thanks for stopping, and happy start of beach season (well, at least here in NJ anyway...).

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.

Group Therapy Without a Twist...

I have to laugh at myself... I had it in my mind to use the Viva la Verve sketch VLVMay01 with a twist for this card. The only problem is that I forgot all about the twist, which is the use something from your home to inspire your project. Well, I looked around to see if I could back in to some inspiration, but no... So here is my card without the twist. The base of the card is black topped with a layer of Real Red. The panels are made with SU's Summer Picnic and Petals and Paisleys DSP. The image is from MFT's "Girl's Night Out" and is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on Solar White cardstock. The dresses are paper pieced, and the rest of the image is colored with Copics. I used "Water" Dew Drops for embellishment and SU's taffeta ribbon to finish it off. Next time, I will remember the TWIST!

Happy Mother's Day

I waited too long to make my Mother's Day cards, and to add to that, the creativity was just not flowing. I had recently received Verve's gorgeous Because of You set, and had to use it. I was perusing Laura Fredrickson's BLOG and found THIS card, which is amazing. I CASE'd it for my mom - it was so perfect. I changed it by adding a base of Purely Pomegranate and mounting the white on top. I used Cameo Coral for the base strip down the left and punched it with SU's new Eyelet Border Punch. I added a strip of Raspberry Tart DSP on top of that. I used was Kiwi Kiss double sided satin ribbon with a piece of Hodgepodge Hardware at the knot. The sentiment is stamped on white with Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black ink. It is then matted on Kiwi Kiss. Cameo Coral and Kiwi Kiss are used to highlight the words "inspiration", "Because of you", and "purpose". The flowers and greens are stamped with Cameo Coral and Kiwi Kiss. I added some Cotton Candy Stickles on the flowers for a little sparkle. I gave this card to my mom tonight. She LOVED it. Thank you Laura for the inspiration. Your work is always so gorgeous, and I really needed a kew to release my creative block. Happy Mother's Day!

Birthday Wishes

I have been the recipient of many kindnesses lately, and I have many cards that I want to make and send. It's also time for holidays, graduations and lots of birthdays... I found a new challenge this morning and I immediately knew what I would do with it. I happened upon Amy Rysav's wonderful blog today : Prairie Paper & Ink. Amy has Friday sketches. You can find this week's sketch details HERE. I just got some new papers from SU, and I immediately thought of it for this sketch. I really like how it came out. The base of the card is Kiwi Kiss topped with a layer of Good Morning Sunshine DSP that I sponged around the edges with Chocolate Chip ink. The side panel is Chocolate Chip topped with a layer of More Mustard that is embossed with a Cuttlebug EF. I punched three 1 1/4" circles from Good Morning Sunshine DSP and one from white card stock and mounted them on four 1 3/8" circles punched from Pacific Point card stock. The sentiment is from Verve's Circular Sayings stamped and sponged with Chocolate Chip ink. I used a piece of Kiwi Kiss striped grosgrain ribbon as an embellishment on the bottom right. It is simple, and easy. Thanks for stopping by!

Favorite Peep

I just love this MFT set - "Hangin With My Peeps". I finally got some stamping time today, and used it to create a card for SC225. I tried something new with the grass. After coloring with Copics, I used the grassy stamp from this set, inked it with Garden Green and stamped lightly under the bench. I love the way that turned out! I stamped the main image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Solar White paper. The jacket is paper pieced Teaparty DSP. I used the same paper for the panels and matted them on Elegant Eggplant. The base of the card is Kraft. The main image is matted with More Mustard and then Elegant Eggplant both cut with Nestabilities. The sentiment is stamped with Elegant Eggplant. I used 1/4" grosgrain ribbons and Dew Drops for accents. I can't wait to send this to one of my favorite peeps...