C4C Deer Friend

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this "Deer Friend" image from Memory Box. I had colored a whole bunch of these last week, so I keep using them for all sorts of things other than the Christmas cards for which they were intended. I am sorry to say that ship has sailed. It's New Year's Eve... Today, I used my deer friend for the C4C challenge. I love this sketch.

I am wild about this BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses DP as well. When I was thinking about what to do with this sketch, I ran across a color challenge blog called ColourQ. On the sidebar, you can click on an SU card stock color, and you are linked to color combinations and thus challenges, that incorporate that color. Very cool!! THIS one matched my Eskimo Kisses DP so well, so I used for my C4C creation for this week - Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Bashful Blue (I used Soft Sky because it matched the BasicGrey DP more closely) and a neutral. I am happy with the results.

This has been one heck of a year - quite challenging in many ways, for me and for many people I know. Tonight I am hanging out with my guys at home. We'll have some special treats and watch the ball come down. We were in Philadelphia earlier today at Dave & Busters Restaurant/game stop extraordinaire. We stood outside at 6:00 PM and watched a fireworks display on the river - gorgeous and magical. Wishing you peace, strength, hope and joy to you as the journey continues... Happy New Year!

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...

Deer Friend

Hello and happy day after Christmas! We had a really lovely Christmas Eve and Day. I ran out of time though, to do some little things I love to do. I had such good intentions, but I did not get more than 5 cards written and mailed... Ack!!! This week while I am off with my boys from school, I am going to try to send some special notes to far away friends. I think I need to start my Christmas cards in June next year... Today I used Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch SSSC49, for this "deer" card. I love this "Deer Friends" image from Memory Box. It is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Solar White, colored with Copics, cut out with Nestabilities and mounted on Cool Caribbean. The base is a Crimson A2 card from Memory box. The patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Eskimo Kisses 6X6 paper pad. It is matted with Old Olive. Thanks for stopping in and enjoy the weekend!!

Silent Night

I {heart} this card that I made for today's OCC Challenge which is create a winter themed card featuring snow or snowflakes somewhere on your project. In doing this challenge, my 2009 Christmas card emerged! It is December 19th, and I have not yet made my cards. I was going to make the embossed Santa card from my previous post, but then I though about the layers and the mailing issues with envelopes extra postage etc., so I decided against it. I wanted a simple card that was on the flat side. Soooooooooooo I had gotten this wonderful stamp from Memory Box at my LSS before Thanksgiving, and I saw THIS sample on the Memory Box website. It was so gorgeous. I CASE'd it, changing the shape of the card, mounted it on black and embossed the background layer with a snowflake EF. I also bought a bunch of twinkling H20's from Lumin Art that I received in the mail this week. I tried them and I LOVE them. So today, I will work on my cards. We are having our first snowfall of any consequence here in central New Jersey. The weather outside is frightful, but I am delighted!!!! Let it snow!!!!!

Here is the recipe:
Stamps - Memory Box~ Tree Silhouette and All is Calm/Bright.
Paper - Papertrey Ink white cardstock, SU watercolor paper, SU Shimmery White, Basic Black.
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black.
Accessories - Aqua Painter, Cuttlebug and Snowflake EF, Dimensionals.

Simply Santa

Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenge this week is to make super simple, easy to mass produce cards for Christmas or any occasion that suits your fancy. I love the simplicity of the Thanksgiving card in my last post, so I decided to turn on its side and try it with a Christmas theme. Well, I would not say that this is super simple, but it will be easy to make many of them. I love the vintage look and I am pleased with this one. Thanks Sharon for inspiring me to get started!!!

Here is the recipe...

Stamps~Clear Art Stamps - Vintage Christmas

Ink~Versa Mark, Riding Hood Red, Ranger Antique Linen.

Paper~Riding Hood Red, Buttercream from Taylored Expressions, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip.

Accessories~Nestabilities, Ribbon from May Arts, Fiskars Border Punch, Dimensionals, SU Gold elastic cord, SU Button Bouquet Button, Scor-Pal, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots EF.

Thankful

Our Creative Corner hosted a color challenge this week. The challenge colors are: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie and White. I am in a big Thankgiving card mode, so here is my take on the challenge. I love this Bramble Wreath stamp from Memory Box. I bought it online at Stampin' Treasures where I saw it used in some samples with Autumn Flower Soft. It looked gorgeous. I stamped the wreath image with VersaMark and then Chocolate Chip ink on Choice Buttercream card stock from Taylored Expressions (it is delicious!) and embossed it with clear embossing powder to give it a little texture and shine. (Thanks for that trick Lucian!!). The ribbon is May Arts - it's so lucious. The sentiment is from Clear Art Stamps Thanksgiving set. Happy Thanksgiving to you and thanks for stopping by!

Look Who's Coming!!

I am so inspired by Sharon Johnson, and I have been wanting to do a card with her famous "ribbon treatment" forever. Now that I finally did it, I can't stop myself! Sharon has a wonderful store on her website that is full of wonderful things for stamping simply... or not. Her ribbons are luscious, and there are so many other wonderful things. As far as this card goes, I have to laugh at myself - it is VERY simple, but it sure took me a loooooooooooooooooooong time to get it right. I have to learn how to be a quicker whipper upper!! I love these Crafty Secrets Cotton Scraps vintage images on fabric. You can get them from Sharon's store! I am in need of Thanksgiving cards, so I decided to use my inspiration and goodies from Sharon and do this card today. This one cracks me up. I love it!

Thankful For You

Here is another card that I made today with Crafty Secrets Cotton Scraps that I purchased from Sharon Johnson's Ribbon Store. It's funny, I started out to do the Stamp Simply Challenge which was to do a Matchbook Fold card. My main image was too big to make the matchbook work, so I tore it all apart and put it back together as a regular card. I did a lot of laboring on this card that was meant to be "simple". Ha Ha Ha! I like the way it turned out anyway, and I did use Sharon's famous "ribbon treatment" on this one too! The sentiment inside is "Happy Thanksgiving".

Find Yourself a Cup

Today is a beautiful fall Sunday here in NJ. The leaves are gorgeous! I played along with Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch today, and you can see the influence of the day in my card. I really loved working this sketch. Here it is...

and here is my card. I turned the sketch sideways to make it work with the sentiment.

I really love the way it came out. I have had this fabulous sentiment stamp from Quietfire Design for a while, and I finally inked it up and used some new papers that I got recently. I love the warm colors and the lace in this card... makes me want to call my sister and invite her over for tea and a talk...

Here is the recipe ~

Stamps: Find Yourself a Cup~Quietfire Design, Cup Collection~Stampington & Company.

Paper: Dusty Durnago, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Brushed Gold, Grapevine and Cornucopia~Creative Imaginations, Almond Dot~Bo Bunny, Buttercream Choice Cardstock~Taylored Expressions

Ink ~ VersaFine Vintage Sepia

Accessories ~ Dimensionals, Nestabilities, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool, lace, Gold Zig Painty, gold mini brads.

Geometric Halloween

This week's challenge over at the Crazy 4 Challenges Blog is to create a card using at least three different geometrical shapes........Squares, Circles, Rectangles, Octagons, Triangles.......you name it, just make sure that you have three of them on! I decided to use Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch #40 for the layout for my creation, and it took shape with circles, diamonds and rectangles. Fun!

Here is the recipe:
Paper ~ Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, Black, Cast-A-Spell DSP, Imaginisce Hallowimsy - Lollipop Lizzy, black glitter paper.
Stamps ~ Autumn Apparitions
Ink ~ VersaMark
Accessories ~ White embossing powder, MS spider punch, Nestabilities, 1" circle punch, dimensionals, 1/2" orange polkadot grosgrain ribbon from Sharon Johnson's ribbon store.

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.

A Thanksgiving Wish

I was happy to have the time to play with Mercy Kerin's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #42 today. Silke Ledlow of My Life is Mercy's guest muse this month. I love Silke's work. Here is the sketch:

I got a new set on Friday called "Thanksgiving" from Clear Art Stamps. I love the vintage style of these stamps and they are perfect for coloring. When I saw Mercy's Sketch today, I knew just which image I would use. I was off from work today and indulged myself with the time to do it. The images were a little challenging to color, but I am happy with the end result. Here are the materials I used:

Stamps: Clear Art Stamps~Thanksgiving.

Paper: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Soft Sage, Really Rust, Autumn Vine DSP, Solar White,

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, VersaFine Vintage Sepia

Accessories: Copics, Dimensionals, Sponge, 1/4" grosgrain ribbon-Mustard, Burgandy and Sage, Linen twine, Nestabilities, Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-A-Dial.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pomegranate Martini Therapy

I CASE'd my CASE (see "For Joanie" below) to make another cocktail themed card for another very special person who has been walking with me on a difficult journey. She loves Pomegranate Martinis, so I bought her a hand painted pomegranate martini glass, and made this card for her. I love the way it turned out. The martini image is from MFT's "Girls Night Out". The pomegranate next to the martini is from the "Chillax" definition from Taylored Expressions Chillax stamp set. It can be used to make a lemon, lime, etc... it worked for a pomegranate if the right colors were used. I colored the images with Copics. The sentiment is a combination of 2 stamps from MFT's Girls Night Out set. I used only the "Here's to" part of one stamp and combined it with the "Group Therapy" stamp to complete the sentiment. It worked so well because the recipient of this card is a social worker/therapist. I used Stardust Stickles on the rim of the glass for some sparkle. Can't you just taste it??

Medallion Thank You

My wonderful work friends took me out on Friday night to celebrate a milestone in my breast cancer journey. I needed a special card that I could make for all of them. I found THIS fantastic card created by the very talented Kriss Huels while checking out blogs, and decided to CASE it for this occasion. It is simple and beautiful and it was easy to make several of them.

Here is the recipe ~

Stamps: Medallion, Wonderful Words
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Night of Navy
Paper: PTI White, Urban Garden
Accessories: Large White Grommet, 1 1/4" and 1/2" Circle Punch, Nestabilities, Baja Breeze 1" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Glue Dot

For Joanie

I needed a very special gift for a very special person. She happens to love a good margarita, so I decided to get her a margarita glass from Santa Barbara Design Studios and make her a fabulous card to go along with it. The glass is hand painted and has a recipe on the bottom of the glass. I knew I had to use Taylored Expressions "Chillax" stamp set for the card. In searching for inspiration, I went on Splitcoast and found THIS great card by Denise Marzec. I ended up CASEing her card and came up with this one. I hope Joanie loves it...

Here is the recipe ~
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Chillax
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Soft Sage
Paper: Solar White, Soft Sage, Melon Mambo, Autumn Leaves Chrysanthemum, Taylored Expressions Green Cardstock
Accessories: Copics, Nestabilities, Melon Mambo 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Stardust Stardust Stickles, Sponge Daubers, Pink Button

Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn Thinking of You

This is my take on Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge (MTSC39) this week. I love the images from Papertrey Ink's Autumn Abundance Set. I am not so sure of the colors I used here, but the sky has been so incredibly blue along with the autumn color coming, that I had to try to make it work with the blue and the autumn colors. What do you think??? This set is fabulous for Copic Coloring....

Recipe:

Stamps: Papertrey Ink~Autumn Abundance
Papers: More Mustard. Brilliant Blue, Dusty Durango, Haiku DSP (Retired), Taylored Expressions Buttercream Choice Cardstock.
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia
Accessories: Copic Markers, atyou spica gltter pen, Chocolate Chip 5/8"Grosgrain Ribbon, Nestabilities, Chocolate Chip Corduroy Buttons, Word Window Punch, Dimensionals, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool.

Believe!

This week's MFT My Favorite Challenge, MFTMFC15, is to use the MFT Colors -- Pink, Black and White -- on your project. I used SC244 for the layout. My stamp set of choice was Think Pink for my card. It's all very fitting, as this is a big celebration weekend for me - I just finished 20 weeks of chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. So this card is in honor of me! I will use it to pay forward some encouragement that have been so blessed to have on this journey of mine. Thanks for stopping by today!

Totally Witchin'

This is my take on Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply #103 - Overstamped Sentiment Challenge. The image is from Crafty Secrets Halloween Images and Journal Notes. These are so fun to use, and you can purchase them and many others from Sharon's Ribbon Store. I loved this image, but I made the mistake of using an embossing powder on it that I had never used before and it did not cover the way I wanted it to. So I had to cut it down, and use different powder on a different part of the image... even so, I think it's a fun card! Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy Hallow's Eve

I love this stamp from SU - All Hallow's Eve. When I saw the Clean & Simple Layout FTL57, I knew it just what I would do.

Here is the recipe:
Stamps: SU All Hallow's Eve, SU All Holidays
Paper: Crushed Curry. Kiwi Kiss, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, White
Accessories: Heat gun, Black Embossing Powder, Embossing Buddy, Dimensionals, Nestabilities, Rich Razzleberry Polkadot grosgrain ribbon, Sticky Strip

I am really happy with the way this turned out!! Thanks for stoping by....

Fall Post-Its

I found these cute little Fall themed Post-it note pads in Target's Dollar Bins last Fall. I found them in my stash yesterday along with some coasters. I found this design on someone's blog a long time ago... I am sorry I can't give credit to that person. I don't remember where I found it.

I love this new polka dot ribbon from SU in the new In Colors, so I decided to use this opportunity to play Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenge #101 - Let's Polka! and put all of these things together. The challenge is to get some polka dots in somewhere on your project, and the more, the merrier!!! Perfect!!

I Cut a 4" square piece from SU's (retired) Autumn Vine DSP and used the corner rounder on all corners. I used sticky strip to adhere the Post-It notepad to the coaster, then sanded the edges to give it a distressed look. I covered a binder clip with a strip of SU's Cast-a-Spell DSP and added the SU polka dot grosgrain ribbons to it.

My favorite part of this project is the little oval detail on the left of the clip.
I came across a post on a blog (so sorry again. I have to find out where i saw this and I will post it. I think it was Cindy Lawrence's blog...) about using Copics to color directly on to an image, then spritz it with alcohol and stamp. I tried this using the acorn from SU's (retired) Dotted Autumn set using a variety of browns and greens. I stamped it on Buttercream cardstock from Taylored Expressions, cut it out with Nestabilities and added a scalloped background piece. I LOVE the way that technique worked, and I want to experiment with it more.

Thanks for visiting! See you again soon, I hope...

All Hallow's Eve

I love SU's new background stamp - All Hallow's Eve. There are so many things you can do with it. I decided to use it for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge this week - MTSC36. I also wanted to try UTEE (Ultra Think Embsooing Enamel). I thought the skull on this stamp was perfect for that. What happened on my white skull here was a mistake, but I actually think it works well for this particular image. I had embossed it first with black embossing powder on VersaMark ink. Then I decided to use the UTEE to pop it more. The black embossing powder ran, but in this case, I think it makes the skull look more spooky, so I left it alone.


The base of the card is Basic Black. The next layer is Basic Gray embossed with the Cuttlebug spider web EF. The next layer is SU's Cast-a-Spell DSP with a torn piece of Elegant Eggplant on the top and Pumpkin Pie on the bottom. I used Martha Stewart's Spider Web Border Punch to make the bottom border under the torn piece of Pumpkin Pie.

For the focal image, I stamped All Hallow's Eve with Versa Mark, embossed it with black embossing powder on Pumpkin Pie, and cut out the piece I wanted to use. I placed the white skull from my UTEE experiment on top of the Pumpkin Pie, and popped it up with dimensionals. The ribbons are from MFT's Halloween Collection . The sentiment is from Su's All Holidays. The Black Jute String that I used to tie the tag is from Sharon Johnson's Ribbon Store.


Thanks for stopping in today!

Simple Halloween

I decided to try this week's Stamp Simply Challenge over at Sharon Johnson's Blog today. Sharon is an amazing artist - I love her work. I recently bought some Cotton Scraps and Ribbons from Sharon's store and I was anxious to use them. This weeks challenge - ssnotime102 - is to leave your Comfort Zone... to leave your stamping style comfort zone and do a card or project in a style TOTALLY unlike what you normally do.

Well, this is very unlike what I normally do. I don't normally use a lot of white, yet I am very attracted to cards with lots of white space. I don't usually make cards with little or no stamping. On this one, just the sentiment is stamped. I love this Cuttlebug embossing folder and I LOVE these ribbons. Sharon's ribbon selection is absolutely YUMMY! I used the Bow Easy to make this beautiful bow. That is a tool to have!! You can also get it at Sharon's store.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Books Fall Open...

Here is my second overdue teacher card! I am thrilled that I got them both done this weekend. I just LOVE this new MFT set - I {Heart} Books. I can tell already that I am going to get LOTS of use out of it! I used this week's MFT sketch MFTSC95 for my layout and turned it on its side. Seems to be the trend for me this weekend.

I was browsing on SCS for a little inspiration, and came across THIS post by Michele Boyer. I loved her project, so I went to her BLOG for more details. She had the brilliant idea of switching the heads from another image in this set so that she could have a girl head on this image. That was just perfect for my card!! Thanks Michele! I wish I had thought of that, but I am glad you did!!!!!

I am so happy with this card, and even happier that I can cross this off of my to-do list. It's about time!! Thanks for stopping by today!

Peace, Love & Literature

I LOVE this new MFT set by Stephanie Fizer - I {Heart} Books. I work in my sons' school library and I {heart} what I do. I work with books and kids!! Now if I could just stamp for a few hours in my work day...

Summer has screamed by. The end of the school year was crazy, and I never got the boys' teacher gifts to their teachers in June. I still have 8 days until school starts... better late than never, right??? The gifts are books that I chose very specially for these two wonderful teachers. I wanted to make cards to go along with their gifts, of course.

For this one, I used this week's Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge MTSC35 for the layout. I turned the sketch on its side to make it work with this image. The colored and patterned papers I used are all from Taylored Expressions Easter Key Ingredients Kit as is the cording that runs between the 2 DP's. I used Choice Buttercream cardstock, also from Taylored Expressions, for the base of the card and for stamping the image and sentiment. This paper is an absolute DREAM for coloring with Copics. The image is stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and colored with Copics.

You can't see it in the pic, but I used some crystal effects on the glasses to make them look - well - glassy. I got this idea from a post by teacher114 on SCS that you can see HERE. Thanks for the idea teacher114, and good luck with the upcoming school year!

I really love this card, and it is perfect for the person for whom I made it. I love it when that happens!!! Now I have to get to work on the other one.

Summer Fun Gift Card Holder

I had intended this project for the August '09 WICKED challenge on SCS which is SU only. Then I re-read the directions, and boy! I really did not follow directions very well! The picture above shows the outside front of this little purse. The picture below shows the inside. The gift card goes in the little slot. I love the summer fun feel to it. It took me a long time to make it, but I do love it!

The recipe:

Stamps - Cheers to you, Wow Flowers, Oval All.

Ink - Melon Mambo, Memento Tuxedo Black, YoYo Yellow, Only Orange.

Paper - Tea Party DSP, Almost Alythist, Old Olive, Melon Mambo, White.

Accessories - Copics, Word Window, 1 1/2 & 1 3/4", oval and scalloped oval punches, Basic Grey. Magnetic Snaps, Melon Mambo pokla dot grosgrain ribbon, Crystal Effects, Crop A Dial.

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.

Happy Birthday Sean!

I needed a birthday card in a hurry for a special teenager who is an amazing guitarist, so I used Inkadinkado's Rock Star set, and CASE'd myself for this one. HERE is the original. I love the new Cast A Spell DSP from SU, and knew it would be a perfect background for this.

Here is the Recipe:

Stamps - Inkadinkado~RockStar
Ink - Versamark
Paper - Black, Shimmery White, Old Olive, Brushed Silver, Cast A Spell DSP
Accessories - Black and White Embossing Powder, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool, Ticket Corner Punch, Black Brads, Star Buttons, Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Merry Mouse

This is my take on this week's Wednesday Splitcoast Sketch - SC240. I colored this adorable mouse with Copics and added lots of sparkle with my atyou spica glitter pen. The picture does not do it justice. It is very snowy and sparkley!

Here is the recipe...

Stamps - Impression Obsession~Christmas Tree Mouse.
Paper - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, White, Brushed Gold.
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black, Versa Mark, VersaColor Gold.
Accessories - Cuttlebug/EF, Nestabilities, Copics, atyou spica glitter pen, black embossing powder, Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain ribbon, Dimensionals.

Catch Some Rays

I used SC238 Sketch for this card. I just love MFT's WTG sets, and this one is so... sunny and swimmy and beachy! Those are a few of MY favorite things. It took me forever to make the paper choices, but I love the way it turned out.

Here is the recipe:
Paper~Kraft, Confetti Cream, Pacific Point, Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Solar White, Creative Memories Beach Mats, EK Success A Day at the Beach.
Stamps~MFT Catch Some Rays.
Ink~Memento Tuxedo Black, Creamy Caramel.
Accessories~Cuttlebug, Copics, Nestabilities, Soft Suede Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Sponge.

Beach Outlines

This is my card for SC235 sketch challenge. I love this sketch, and I love the way this card turned out. The images all come from one stamp: Split Layering Collage-Seaside from a company called Outlines Rubber Stamp Company. The stamp was part of my birthday gift from my sister Lisa. Thanks LiLi!! See the pic of the stamp below. I stamped the image on Solar White paper with Memento Tuxedo Black ink 3 times and colored the areas I wanted to use with Copics. I used a 1" circle punch to cut out the colored images.

You can't see it in the picture, but I used my atyou spica glitter pen to add sunny sparkle to each of the 9 images. I love the way it looks when the light hits it!

The card is 5.25" square. I used retired SU Cool Caribbean as the base. The next layer is Pacific Point topped with a layer of white which is run through the Cuttlebug. I sponged Cool Caribbean ink on the embossed layer to give it interest and dimension. The 1" circles are matted on black and then Pacific Point scalloped circles, all of which are cut with circle nestabilities. I finished it off with Melon Mambo 1/2" Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon. Voila! Time to hit the beach!

True Friend Re-Do

OK - I had so much angst over my first try at VLVjun04. My first go is a few posts below. You can view it HERE. The piercing was wrong, the paper was wrong, so I reworked it. I am much happier with this one. It's so funny how these things can haunt you... and how much time it can take me to get the right combination of papers and embellishments. This one made me nuts, so I just had to re-do.

Recipe:
Stamps: Verve~Hundred Hearts, SU~Bella Blossoms.
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette.Paper: Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP.
Accessories: Piercabilities, Rich Razzleberry Grosgrain Ribbon. Sticky Tape, MFT brads, Sponge Daubers, Nestabilities, Bow Easy, Cuttlebug & EF, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool, Sea Sponge, atyou spica glitter pen.

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!

Without You...

The challenge this week over at MFT Sketch Challenge and Chatter {MFTMFC5} is to use paper piecing on your project. This is one of my favorite techniques, and MFT images are so often so great for it. I used the Digital Girl set, and paper pieced her dress, chair cushion and desk. The rest I colored with COPICS. Take a look at my beautiful watermark. I got it from Karen Giron of The Sweetest Thing, who does beautiful work and who has a lovely selection of watermarks for sale. I love mine - got it in 2 colors. To take a look at Karen's selection of watermarks, Click HERE. She is incredibly gracious and helpful. I treated myself to Photoshop recently, and I have to say I am not getting the hang of it very easily. Karen has provided great support for her product and has gone out of her way to help me use it and to encourage me to persevere with my new friend/foe Photoshop. Thanks Karen! How do you like my watermark?? I can't say I am exactly sure what I did, but it looks great, don't ya think?

Here are the ingredients for my card:

Stamps: MFT~ Digital Girl.
Paper: Kraft, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Raspberry Tart DSP, Ski Slope DSP, Solar White.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, Xyron Sticker Maker, Nestabilities, Hodgepodge Hardware, Dimensionals, Pink Brad from MFT, MFT Ribbon.

True Friend

I made this for VLVjun04 - the 6/19/09 Viva la Verve sketch with a twist. The twist is to use one piece of DSP for inspiration. I just got my new SU In Colors and new Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, so I wanted to give them a whirl. This year's In Colors are really intense. I always have a hard time saying goodbye to the old ones, but I usually fall for the new ones eventually. I decided to jump right in . I am not thrilled with the piercing on this card, mostly because when I put it all together, some of the piercing fell in places I wish it did not. I also tried another new toy - my MFT Hotfix Glitter Pearls with the Professional Touch Hotfix Chrystal Applicator. Oh boy, I sure do need practice with these. I burned my finger, burned the pearls a bit, and ended up gluing the pearls on with glue dots... I love the idea of this, just have to figure out how to do it right. Despite the issues I had with it, I like it the way this card turned out. Here is the recipe:

Paper: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP.
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette.
Stamps: Verve~Hundred Hearts, Bella Blossoms.
Accessories: Nestabilities, Sticky Tape, atyou Spica Glitter Pen, Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool, Sponge, Sponge Daubers, Professional Touch Hotfix Chrystal Applicator, MFT Hotfix Glitter Pearls, Bow Easy.

Hello Sunshine!!!

I just love this card... I made it for MFTMFC3 which was to make a Tri-Fold card. This one is a Joy Fold Card - you can find the tutorial HERE. MFT's Who's That Girl images are some of my VERY favorite. This one is from Let's Picnic. It has been monsoon season here in the Northeast, and the thought of a picnic on a sunny summer day is delicious. Maybe some day the sun will come out!!!

The base of my card is black. I used some red paisley paper for the left panel from Creative Memories that I have had stashed away for a long time ~ very picnic-y! The red check paper is also CM. The gray is from SU's Walk in the Park DSP, as is the DSP matted on the More Mustard panel. I paper pieced the dress on the WTG image and colored her skin with Copics. I used CM shiny silver paper for the plate, and I used COPICS to color the food and wine bottle which I cut out, glued and applied liquid glass for shine. The blade of the knife is colored with a silver Zig Painty. The sun was made with MFT's Build a Bouquet set. I stamped a circle with Barely Banana, stamped a flower image on top with Summer Sun and then punched it with a circle punch. I stamped the flower image again and cut it out to make the sun's rays. The scalloped oval is Garden Green.

The left corners are punched with the ticket corner punch. I adhered white brads with glue dots. I did not want the brads to show on the inside, so I clipped the posts of the brads with a craft clipper and glued them on with glue dots. Wishing you sunshine in your summer days...

Happy Birthday Girlfriend!

Tomorrow is a very dear friend's birthday. She loves MFT's Who's That Girl images, so I wanted to make her a birthday card using one of them. I also used this week's MFT sketch MFTSC83. This card is actually quite funny because the chance of her pampering herself on her birthday is probably close to zero %. She'll be running her 3 kids around like a crazy person to all sorts of activities. I hope she can have a little down time and that her family treats her like a queen on her special day!! I also hope she does not see this post today, but I am probably safe - she is too busy! Happy birthday Carol! Can't wait to celebrate together.

Here's the recipe ~

Stamps: MFT~Girls Day In & Time for the Bubbly.
Paper: Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Regal Rose, Walk in the Park DSP.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black.
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Copic Markers, Pacific Point striped grosgrain ribbon, Bow Easy, Dimensionals, Large Oval Punch, Oval Scallop Punch, Liquid Applique, Heat Gun.

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...).