Card Contest! 24 comments

I can't believe I've already soared past 10,000 hits since I started this little old blog! To celebrate I'm having a little card contest. This contest will run until I hit 15,000 hits. All you have to do to enter is post a link as a comment on this post or email me a picture of a card you created using the sketch at right. It doesn't have to be a flower, but there must be something in the lower left corner. That's it. I'll pick my favorite and announce the winner after my blog counter reaches 15,000 hits. The winner will receive this adorable acrylic A Muse Animal Wishes stamp set! I can't wait to see what y'all come up with!

My sample card is probably one of the all-time favorite cards I've ever made. It's actually a very simple layout - as close to one layer as I get! I made it a while back as a submission for an LSS design team, but then chickened out and never ended up submitting anything. The quote is a Wordsworth sticker, all embellishments are Making Memories, the cardstock is Bazzill and the designer paper is Basic Grey.

There will also be RAKs for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. Good luck everyone! On your mark, get set.....Go! :)

RAKS, RAKS and more RAKS 4 comments

I have received so many wonderful cards and gifts recently and I feel so blessed! I'm so sorry if you've sent me something and I haven't posted it yet! I didn't forget...I've just been super busy. Lame excuse, I know...but life happens! :) So without further adieu... take a look at all my loot... aren't I spoiled??? :)

I received this lovely RAK from Allison. She said that once you make a 'Gramupabella' card you have to find the right person to send it to! Isn't that funny! Well, Allison, have no fear - I loved it! Check out Allison's blog Stampin' When I Can - it's an awesome resource for tutorials, sketches, blog candy...and cards! Thanks Allison!

This next card I received from Squirrellyshirley right before I boarded my plane for my VSN getaway. I just love the vacation themed papers and embellishments she used! Once she arrived at Cindy's she gave me this beautiful handmade table runner and cloth that perfectly matches the Asian chest I have in my front room. It's just gorgeous! Thanks so much Shirley!

When I arrived at Cindy's she gave me two beautiful cards one as a thank you for coming and one as a thank you for being her featured artist. She's so talented! I love them both. She also had a little package waiting for me including adhesive rub-ons with glitter, a set of Asian stamps and a huge alterable flower. I just can't wait to use all of these fun toys!

Jennifer's gift to me on the trip came from the A Muse store and are these two adorable sayings stamps I fell in love with. Thanks Jenn, I love them and can't wait to use them. I know exactly what cards I'm going to make with them! Yay!

A great big thanks to Sandi (BSDemonstrators) for her CCRAK card and to Pam (Pampopular) for her welcome RAK. I just love getting happy mail.

Splendiferous Gnome 8 comments

Oh my goodness! My new Cat's Pajamas stamps from the summer line arrived yesterday and they are so CA-UTE!!! I was bouncing up and down like a kid on Christmas morning!!! I don't know how I'll ever wait until they release in May to share all these wonderful stamps with you! Alma has really outdone herself this time. You're gonna love them ALL! Aren't I such a tease? LOL! :) I added a logo with a link to the Cat's Pajamas site over on the sidebar, so now we can all see Sprinkle everyday!

Do you like my new colors and flowers on my banner? I was so ready to be done with St. Patrick's Day! LOL! Oh and guess what else? My Hello Friend card won a card contest over at Creative Accents!

Okay - on with the stamping. Here's another card I made at Cindy's last weekend. I used to not like these Gnobbly Gnomes, but this little guy looked fun to color, so I stamped one of Cindy's images and made a card. This was another PageMaps sketch, which I tweaked justa a little. I was really drawn to the lacing.

I started by stamping the image from Gnobbly Gnome (Stampin Up) in Black Stazon on Conqueror White Card Stock. I then colored him in with prismacolors and mineral spirits and sketched a frame around the edges and matted with Basic Black cardstock. The circle background paper is from Scenic Route and the floral background paper is from Cindy's stash (K & Company, I think). I used my mat pack and paper piercer to punch the holes for the silver brads and then laced them with silver cord.

Next I added the negative image of a half circle punch I made for my Broomzelda card. This was a tweak to the sketch, but I liked the look of it. I used my stardust gel pen to add faux stitching around the black panels. To finish, I stamped Have a Splendiferous Day (A Muse) in Black Stazon in the bottom right corner and added dots and doodles across the top and bottom of the card with my black glaze pen. I just noticed there's no sparkle on this card, so I will soon be pulling out one of my 30 bottles of stickles and spiffing Mr. Splendiferous up! :)

Gypsy Flower 11 comments

Today's card features some of my older Basic Grey paper from the Gypsy line. The colors are really rich and vibrant and although outside of my usual color palette - they always make me smile! And I just love my new Build a Flower set by Autumn Leaves. There are so many possibilities with these flowers! I can't wait to have a little more time to play around with all the pieces. The layout of the card is for Sketch Challenge 116 on SCS.

I started by stamping the petal stamp and the flower center on Gypsy papers in Black Stazon and cutting each piece out. Next I glued onto a Basic Black Rectangle and dotted around the corners with a White Sakura Glaze pen. I used orange stickles around each petal and in the flower center.

To finish, I layered this panel onto another piece of Gypsy patterned paper and a solid orange piece of Gypsy, matted on a Basic Black cardbase. I used my Black Sakura Glaze pen to dot around the patterned panel and added some black organdy ribbon for the finishing touch.

Oriental Kitty 13 comments

When I was at Cindy's I just HAD to make a card with her Oriental Kitty stamp from Pink Cat Studio. How could I resist a geisha kitty? It just wouldn't be right! LOL

I started by stamping Oriental Kitty in Black Stazon on Pearlized White cardstock and coloring in with markers (Real Red and Going Grey) and a gold gel pen. I then stamped the Asian characters stamp from Oriental Plate #1 on the side and pierced around the edges with my mat pack and paper piercer.

Next I wrapped gold cord around a piece of Scarlet's Letter Basic Grey paper and used my photo corner punches as a template to dot photo corners with my gold gel pen in opposite corners. For the final touch, I added two rhinestone bobby pins (JoAnn's $1 bin) to opposite corners of the card and glued down the oriental kitty panel. She turned out pretty cute, don't ya think? :)

Photo Corner Punch and Blogger RAKs 4 comments

Okay, you ladies are crazy for the photo corner punch I've been using! And do I blame you? Absolutely not, it is one of my favoritist punches! :) I've received dozens of emails asking where I got this little punch. I actually found the last one at my LSS, but have not been able to find them anywhere else for quite some time. But have no fear, Cindy has just let me know that she can order these punches for you!!! YAY! The photo corner punch is $11 plus shipping, which is a screaming good deal. So let your fingers do the clicking over to My Inky Fingers and shoot Cindy an email, so you, too, can be the proud owner of one of these fantabulous punches! While you're there, be sure to have a looksie at the list of other great products she's able to order. After all, she with the most toys wins!!! LOL :)

I received some fabulous Blogger RAK's while I was gone. The first one is a gorgeous card from Beate Johns. I have been an admirer of her work on SCS for quite some time. And I just love her new (and extremely popular - already 75,000 hits!) blog, Fresh & Fun. Thanks Beate, I just love the Doodle This set - and you've mixed all a girl could want into this - Cuttlebug, Basic Grey and Stampin Up! :)

The second card is from Jana Weaver. I just love these ribbon flower cards I've been seeing. I'm going to have to try and make one, although that would mean I would actually have to *gasp* CUT into the ribbon I've been hoarding in my stamp room! LOL! Thanks for the happy mail Jana. Check out Jana's blog, Jana's Creative Pursuits in Stamping, she's got some bellalicious cards and projects! Thanks so much, Jana! I just love how cheery this is and how you used the stitched ribbon for the stem and leaves!

The Big Announcement.... 16 comments

Okay, I think I'll have a coup on my hands if I string y'all along any longer! LOL! So here it is...

I'm now the newest member of the Cat's Pajamas Design Team!!! Holy cow! I'm so excited! I just about fell out of my chair when I read the email from Alma last week! I made this card the night I found out, but it fell behind Cindy's counter and she had to pull out her counter and cabinets to retrieve it for me before I left yesterday! (Thanks Cindy, you ROCK, Sistah!) All images are Cat's Pajamas. I masked the television to place Sprinkle in the TV and then colored with prismacolors and mineral spirits. ETA: In my excitement (and tiredness) I totally forgot to mention that Sprinkle in the TV was HEAVILY inspired by Karrie Baker. What a dork I am!!! The background uses two different asterisk stamps on Pretty in Pink paper. The top Basic Black scallop is made with my slit punch and I used crystal effects to adhere the rhinestones to each scallop. The presenting word window is stamped with Karen Foster Snap Stamps. So get ready to see a LOT more of Sprinkle and her furry friends in the coming months!

And here are some pics from my trip... We did some shopping at Impress, A Muse and Rubber Soul. We did some stamping at My Inky Fingers Headquarters, and after it was all over - we were all Sleepless in Seattle! And then there's a pic of some of my A Muse purchases. I left Boise with 75 pounds of luggage and came home with 96 pounds of luggage, so between these stores and all of Cindy's enabling I gained 21 pounds on this trip! LOL! Okay - at least 2 of those pounds were the espresso beans Cindy sent home with me! Too bad I didn't take a pic of the 5 pound bag she bought!!! :)

Home sweet home! 10 comments

Well, my awesome VSN vacation is over and it's back to Idaho for this exhausted little chickadee! Tonight I showed my hubby all my cards and this is the one he chose for today's upload. It was actually made for someone I was thinking of when I was at Cindy's. It will hopefully make it to the post office today since I forgot to send it when I was at Cindy's!

Cindy and I had a blast this weekend picking PageMaps sketches for us both to do. This was the first sketch we did and from there we alternated who got to do the picking. I started this card by stamping Utopia from World Tour in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla, cutting out and matting on Chocolate Chip. I mounted on some really cool postage stamp paper I got in the clearance bin at one of the LSS's we went to in our travels. Sorry, there was no name on the paper. The faux rivets are made with medium sized brads, chocolate chip circle punches and little dots all around them with a clear glaze pen. The glaze gives it a really neat effect - click the picture to make it bigger - hopefully you can see the detail! The Wish You Were Here stamp is from Cindy's massive collection of stamps and OOPS! - I don't remember who makes it! I used a tiny circle punch for a faux ticket corner punch and added a little polka dot ribbon.

Don't worry... I haven't forgotten my big announcement... and my promise of pictures from our shopping trip! They'll be coming this week!

VSN Wrap Up 4 comments

Okay, so I made quite a few cards this weekend and I have some VERY exciting news to tell y'all... but you still have to wait until I get home. I'm typing this from Cindy's computer after everyone has gone to bed and I can have unlimited access to the computer! I didn't realize how addicted I am to checking my email and blog until I had to share a computer with 4 other people for the weekend! LOL!

I did make a few VSN challenge cards, but I found out that I'm a creature of habit and had a really hard time focusing on the challenges since I wasn't at home with access to all my favorite stamps. I also did my fair share of watching everyone else stamp! I felt a little off my game when doing the challenges. We did have a few of our own challenges going on here using some old PageMaps sketches. I'll be sharing my cards and goodies from my stay at Cindy's (and my super exciting news... have you guessed it yet?) throughout the week.

But for now, I'll leave you with the challenge cards I posted on SCS... Sorry for the poor photos, I am not much of a photographer without my tripod, OTT Lite and D-flector portable photo studio!

Broomzelda. I'm SO not a witch person, but when brainstorming about things that fly for this challenge, I thought of a witch and Cindy had this hilarious stamp that I just HAD to use. The stamp is by Uptown Media and is stamped on white shimmer paper and colored with prismacolors, mineral spirits and stardust gel pen accents. I didn't like the stars in the image, so I used my Stamp-a-majig to stamp the star from the Small Saying (Stampin Up) set over the stars. Dots are made with a white glaze pen and the paper is K-ology from the huge drawer of scraps that Cindy was nice enough to let us dip into. We were like kids in the candy store!

French Filigree. This card was a disaster! LOL. It started out with a PageMaps sketch Cindy and I were using. The image is from the Technique Tuesday Irony set and is stamped on Very Vanilla in Pale Plum and then painted with Crystal Effects. The ovals are cut with the Creative Memories cutting system and matted on a giga scalloped oval punch. Cindy's version of French Flair (she cut out the birds and rearranged the rubber when she mounted it) is stamped on Pale Plum with Perfect Plum ink. I got these really coool silver ribbon sliders from Impress on our shopping trip and had to use one. I ORIGINALLY stamped Merci (Carte Postale) on Enchante paper in Pale Plum, cut out and then painted on crystal effects to make a bubble inside the slider. I went to call my husband, leaving it to dry. When I came back, it had been moved, and a paper had been placed on top of it, mucking it up. I tried to just put more crystal effects over it, but when it dried you couldn't even read the words. So I pulled it all out, stamped in Perfect Plum and tried again. That time I got it too wet and the ink bled and you couldn't read the word, so I tore it out and tried again. This time I stamped in Black stazon so it wouldn't bleed and put it up on the apple crate Cindy uses to take her photos. Then someone moved a card and placed it on top of the crystal effects!!! That time it didn't damage it, although it's not as bubbly and even as I had hoped it would be. I'm not doing it again, though! LOL

Thoughtful Piercings. This challenge card was to do paper piercing, which really isn't much of a challenge for me, since I pierce almost all of my cards! This was another PageMaps sketch Cindy and I were doing. The flower images are from Pink Cat Studio and a re prismacolored. The Thinking of You is from Green Grass Stamps. The paper is Basic Grey Blush.

Hello Friend 12 comments

Okay, so the A Muse store was awesome! We got some great pictures and I splurged on a whole bag full of stamps, including some new releases! Tune in next week for some pics of our shopping extravaganza.

Okay, on to today's card... I just love the new line of Stampendous spring stamps. This chickadee just makes me smile! I started off the card by stamping the Hello Chick on Pearlized White Paper Accents paper and coloring with prismacolors and mineral spirits. I then cut out with my Creative Memories oval cutting system and matted using pop dots on a Bashful Blue Giga scalloped oval punch. Next I matted a piece of Lily Kate Basic Grey paper on Bashful Blue and ran through my Cuttlebug using the D'vine Swirls Embossing Folder. I added two photo corner punches to opposite sides and then painted Dazzling Diamonds and Crystal Effects mixture over all of the swirls and accented the flowers and leaves of the chick image.


Next I used my Sakura Black Glaze pen to doodle around the edges of the ovals and outlined the lines of the stamped image with my clear stardust gel pen. I then added a 1/2" strip of the LilyKate striped paper with rhinestone brads at the bottom and glued to the yellow LilyKate card front. The final accents were piercings across the top and bottom of the card and layered Forever Flowers by Prima added to the corner of the image with a rhinestone brad.

Easter Blessings 10 comments

Hi there everyone! Are you ready for VSN? Have you taken a look at the shopping list yet? We've been having a blast. Jennifer is here now and Shirley will arrive tonight. Today's agenda includes our big Seattle shopping trip - including the A Muse store! Are you all jealous???

Since it's officially spring (for a few days now), it's time for some Easter cards. Todays card features my Creative Memories Cutting system - one of those tools I just don't know how I ever lived with out!

I started by cutting out three ovals from different LilyKate Basic Grey papers and matting on Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery Ovals and then piercing around the edges. They look surprisingly like.... Easter Eggs! LOL

Next I stamped stamped Easter Blessings by Stampendous on Whisper White and colored with prismacolors and mineral spirits. I then trimmed the piece and ran through my Cuttlebug with the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder. I then pierced around the edges and matted on Bashful Blue with thin pop dots.

I don't usually use white as the base for my cards, but it just seemed fitting since eggs are white. I used my stamp-a-majig to line up the Three Eggs stamp by Stampendous across the bottom of the card and then colored them in with prismacolors.

I layed down a mat of Basic Grey paper, added two photo corner punches and glued down the easter egg cutouts and sentiment. I finished the card off with a little organdy bow and some Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds sparkles.

I'm Here!!! 12 comments

I survived my plane trip to Cindy's and we've had a blast so far! A little shopping, a little stamping and a whole lot of fun! This is going to be an awesome weekend! I have some really exciting news to share with you all, but you're going to have to wait until I get back home! Here's a little card to tide you over...

I just love this Doodle Leaf Flower by Hero Arts! It reminds me of the Doodle This set in the Stampin Up Spring Mini, except it's a little cleaner - more my style! And the patterns inside are so much fun to color.

I started by stamping the Doodle Leaf Flower on Pearlized White Paper Accents paper and then coloring in with Chocolate Chip, Rose Red and Regal Rose markers. Next I stamped the Thinking of You sentiment from Hero Arts on some Perhaps Basic Grey paper and trimmed and pierced holes across the top and bottom of the strip. I then glued this strip onto more of the Basic Grey paper and attached with Making Memories rhinestone brads.

I then matted the doodle flower on chocolate chip and rose red, skewing each layer to give the card a little movement. I used my 3/4" circle punch to add some half-circle Rose Red tabs to the top and bottom. I finished the card off by sketching a frame around the flower image and adding lots of Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds sparkle accents.

My First Bella Card 10 comments

Today's the day!!! I fly out this morning at 11AM for my VSN getaway and true to my last minute personality it's 1 AM and I'm still posting, packing and trying desperately to find the email with my flight confirmation on it! LOL!

I just got this Bella in an image swap and thought I'd take a stab at my first Bella card. What a fun little thang Miss CosmoBella is! She just looks like the life of the party! I think I picked this card tonight because I might be needing a little something for my nerves before I get on that plane in the morning! I'm okay once I'm in the air... but the take-off and landing just leave me terrified. If you've ever seen Meg Ryan in the movie French Kiss, then you have a little idea what I'm talking about! LOL

I colored Cosmo with prismacolors and mineral spirits, added a little sparkle to her martini with my stardust pen, stamped cheers in Black Stazon with my Karen Foster Snap stamps and doodled a border around the edges. Next I framed her on some green Phoebe Basic Grey paper and added two photo corner punches to opposite corners. Next I matted more Phoebe paper on a Chocolate Chip card base and accented the circles with Dazzling Diamonds and Crystal Effects.

I originally had a different layout in mind for this card, but I messed up the doodles on the corner by the cheers, so I had to figure out a way to cover it up! Primas to the rescue! Turning Cosmo askew, I used my craft knife to slit a hole in the cardfold large enough for the ribbon to pass through on the top and bottom. Finished off with some Prima Forever Flowers and a rhinestone brad.

Another PageMap Sketch 11 comments

Only one more day until I leave on my VSN getaway! The other day I was chatting with Cindy and she suggested we do a personal challenge together. We picked a PageMaps sketch and got right to work. Well, I got distracted and never got back to it. Yesterday Cindy posted her card using this sketch, so I knew I had to finish mine up ASAP. That's me, the last minute stamper at it again!!! LOL! So here it is...

I started by stamping the Hero Arts Doodle Leaf Flower in Black Stazon on Whisper White and coloring in with a Taken With Teal Marker and a blender pen. I then cut it out and accented with Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds.

Next I cut the background pieces of Loves Me (Stampin Up) designer paper and punched two photo corner punches of each color. I used glue lines to attach some turquoise grosgrain ribbon down the seam and then doodled around each photo corner punch and the edges of the entire piece. Next I glued the punches down on alternating corners and stuck two heart shaped pins I found in the Notions bin at JoAnn's under the two diagonal photo corners. The rhinestone brads are also from JoAnns.

For the final touch, I stamped the Love Your Smile from my Autumn Leaves Golden Moments clear stamps in Black Stazon and accented with my clear Sakura Stardust gel pen. The card base is Whisper White and measures 5.25" x 5.25".

Holy Moley it's Monday!!! 11 comments

I can't believe how fast the past few weeks have flown by! This is the week I've been waiting for!!! On Wednesday I fly out to Washington to stay with my bestest blogging buddy Cindy for FIVE whole days!!!! We're having a little pre-VSN shopping spree and a wild and crazy VSN (Virtual Stamp Night) weekend with Jennifer and Shirley. I'm so excited...can you tell??? I hope you will all plan to play along with us this weekend, because we'll be hosting a really fun challenge!


Okay, on to the stamping stuff. Today's Technique challenge over on SCS was to use only browns and creams. Now that's a color combination that is right up my alley! Chocolate is such a yummy color - I go through Chocolate Chip cardstock faster than I even go through white cardstock!

The layout for this card is from PageMaps. I began by stamping the Hero Arts Doodle Leaf Flower in Timber Brown Stazon on Very Vanilla three times. I colored each one in with my Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa Stampin' Write Markers and blended with my Blender Pen. I then cut each flower out, stuck a clear rhinestone flower from JoAnn's in the center and set aside.


Next I stamped Linen (Stampin Up) with Chocolate Chip on Close to Cocoa and inked around the edges with a dauber and the Chocolate Chip inkpad. I then glued the flowers onto the cardstock and doodled in the stems and leaves with my Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write marker. I then added two photo corner punches (which I pierced using my paper piercer and mat stack) to diagonal corners. I then used my Chocolate Chip marker and my Stamp-a-majig to stamp just the Hero Arts Thinking of You Border sentiment (from the Happy Wavy Borders set) in the corner.


Finally, I swiped the Close to Cocoa inkpad directly on the Very Vanilla cardstock base and then used a cosmetic sponge and the inkpad to sponge around all the edges.

My New Easter Bunny 7 comments

I received my new Inkadinkado Easter Bunny stamp this weekend and had to do a quick card with him. This card is 4.25" square.

I started by stamping the Easter Bunny in Black Stazon on Pearlized White Paper Accents paper. I then matted on some green paper from my Phoebe 6x6 Basic Grey paper pad and then colored in with prismacolors and odorless mineral spirits.

Next I stamped Happy Easter from the Cat's Pajamas in Black Stazon on Pearlized White and punched the corners with my corner rounder and matted on the same green paper. Then I pulled out my paper piercer and punched holes all around the images.

I then used my Bloomin Cuttlebug embossing folder on Whisper White and Pixie Pink. I then inked the white with Celery Stampin Pastels and tied a ribbon to finish it off.

A Sprinkle in Time 3 comments

How fun it was to be a featured artist over on Cindy's blog yesterday! I even got a little teary eyed at everyone's wonderful comments. :) For my two featured projects, I tried to pick cards that really represented me and my style. And anyone who's been reading for very long knows there's two types of cards I always seem to gravitate to.... Sprinkle and Asian! :)

For the first card, a St. Patrick's Day theme was requested and I obliged with a Pot O' Sprinkle Shaker. I used another print-out from my stack of a shaker box tutorial found on TayloredExpressions blog months ago!

The paper is the Green Day line from Reminisce. I stamped Pot O Sprinkle (Cat's Pajamas) with Black Stazon on Pearlized White Paper Accents paper and colored in with Sakura Glaze and Stardust pens. All circles were cut with my Creative Memories Custom Cutting System. I used a mixture of Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds for a little sparkle on each scallop. The shaker is filled with shamrock confetti from Michael's.

I saw a bunch of cat themed cards at Big Lots the other day that did some word plays be replacing feelin' with feline. I just had to try it with my Karen Foster Snap Stamps and the phrase Feline Lucky. *GRIN* I stamped it in Black Stazon on Pearlized White and matted with Basic Black and raised on thick foam pop dots on top of the black organdy bow I tied around the card.

For the second card I went with an Asian theme and thought it would be cool to use the stamp Cindy sent me on my project. I started by gold embossing the Faith Hope Love (Stampendous) stamp on red paper from the Provo Craft Paper Slab. I then trimmed and used my Krylon Gold Leafing pen around the edges for a gilded look. Next I matted this piece on Basic Black cardstock.

For the background layer of the card, I gold embossed two of the butterflies from the Pink Cat Studio Oriental Plate #1 on the red pattterned paper and edged around the entire panel with my gold leafing pen. Next I wrapped Stampin Up Gold Cord around the card front several times and attached an Asian coin charm.

Check ME Out! :) 1 comments

I'm the March Featured Artist over on My Inky Fingers!!! Check it out to read a little about me and see two of the "secret" projects I've been working on. :)

Scrappy Gift Set 5 comments

I've been seeing all these cool projects lately and have been printing them out and setting them on my desk. The only problem is, the stack of projects to try is becoming overwhelming! Today I made it my mission to try at least two. I got the instructions for the really cool post-it note holder from the Running With Scissors blog. The paperclip tutorial by Beth Silaika was highlighted in last week's SCS newsletter.

I used the Sweet Nothings Collection by A2Z Essentials again and stamped the same Rhonna Farrer flower stamp and added a rhinestone center to match the card I made yesterday. I found the big paperclip at OfficeMax, but they are cheaper at Wal-Mart if you can find them. (My store always happens to be out of stock!) The bigger scallops are patterned paper punched with my Mega Scalloped circle punch. I layered a Bazzill chipboard circle covered with another patterned paper in the center and then added a cuttlebug die flower and a clear rhinestone flower from the JoAnn's $1 bin. The backside is identical. I finished off with some May Arts sheer polka dot ribbons.

The pen is just coordinating paper backed with Terrifically Tacky Tape and rolled around the barrel of an RSVP pen.

Sketch This 7 comments

I made this card for the Sketch Challenge over on SCS. After I finished the card a little birdie told me that the a, b, and c on the sketch means you're supposed to use three different papers. (Like, DUH? That makes total sense - but how was I supposed to know that?) Do you ever feel like there are things you're just supposed to know but nobody ever explains? Like what do all those little numbers and letters on the sketch mean? I always thought that different papers were denoted by different shades on the sketch and the numbers were just there so you knew what layer the panel was supposed to be on. I've been stamping on and off for almost 12 years and there is still so much "insider" knowledge on SCS that I just don't get. Am I all alone here?

Anywho - this yummy paper is from the A2Z Essential Sweet Nothing Collection and I pulled it out from the bottom of my stash. I cut up the panels and layered them according to how I interpreted the sketch and then stamped the Rhonna Farrer clear $1 flower stamp four times in Black Stazon on the patterned paper and cut it out. The happy stamp is from Green Grass Stamps and is inked with Chocolate Chip on Shimmer White paper and secured with hodgepodge hardware. Each flower has stickles on the edges and rhinestone flowers I found in the JoAnn's $1 bins (thanks for the tip Cindy!). The final touch is a corner punch dotted with my black Glaze pen and secured with mini brads.

I originally stamped a Michael's $1 stamp on acetate and secured to the 2nd panel, but I didn't like the look so I covered it up with the flower cutouts. LOL! Nothing like flowers to cover up our mistakes! I finished the card off with a red bow and glued to a Chocolate Chip card base.

Scarlet Thanks 6 comments

When I saw that this week's SCS Featured Stamper Challenge was Holly (aka Toy on SCS), I knew I had to make a card. Her gallery is one of my all-time favorites and I just love her style. I picked this card to CASE (copy & share with everyone) because I just love the tabs and brads and the color combination. Here are my modifications:
1. I used designer paper.
2. I replaced the top square panel with flowers.
3. I used different stamps.


I started by stamping French Flair in Chocolate Chip on Chocolate Chip cardstock. Then, without reinking I did a second generation stamp on the Basic Grey Scarlet's Letter paper. (Isn't it dee-lish? Cindy still has some available on her Basic Grey share if you hurry!). Next I stamped the scroll from Carte Postale and the Thanks from Circle of Friendship in Chocolate Chip on Scarlet's Letter and matted with Chocolate Chip. Then I stamped French Flair on a scrap of Close to Cocoa and cut into 1/2" strips for the tabs with brads.

I used my mat pack and paper piercer to pierce holes all around the Close to Cocoa and the Chocolate Chip Mats and to punch evenly spaced holes for the Making Memories Aged Copper mini circle brads. Next I glued it all down, added the Prima Forever Flowers and added a page pebble from JoAnn's to the Circle of friendship punch out (1" circle, matted on Chocolate Chip and glued with a pop dot). The final touch was a Many Thanks rubon from 7 Gypsies across the center panel.

So Happy 2 comments

What a great weekend! I was able to get a lot of projects crossed off my list and I'm feeling a bit more like my old self. YAY! The tooth pain has eased up somewhat, so that's helping too. I told y'all I'd be posting a creation with the blog candy stamp I received from Cindy and here it is. It's the Faith Hope Love stamp by Stampendous. I also used my brand-spanking new Green Grass stamps, which I LOVE!

This card was inspired by Jan's suggestion that she would like to see some non-feminine wedding cards for her son's upcoming wedding. Well, I couldn't resist the beaded hatpin, which kind of feminizes it a little, but it just looked so perfect on the card! LOL! This card could also be used for an anniversary or a valentine.

I started by stamping the Faith Hope Love stamp (Stampendous) on shimmer white paper in Black Stazon. I then outlined the characters with crystal Effects and matted on Basic Black cardstock. Next I used my Real Red Stampin Write marker to randomly stamp just the love character (not the word) from the Kanji (Stampin Up) set on patterned paper from a Provo Craft Paper Slab.

Next I stamped So Happy in Love (from the Card Greetings set by Green Grass Stamps) in Black Stazon on Shimmer White and outlined the Love with Crystal Effects. I then matted offset on Basic Black and punched a 1/16" circle in diagonal ends of the piece to slide the beaded hatpin (Creating Keepsakes at JoAnn's) through. Next I adhered the piece to the card base with black mini brads in diagonal corners.

Nugget Bunnies 8 comments

I was cruising around SCS the other day and I saw Kathie Mcguire's adorable little bunnies made from Hershey nuggets. I just HAD to get a bunny stamp and try it. These are just so cute and easy to make! ETA: I got the bunny stamp at Michael's this past week.

I stamped the Bunny Face (Rubber Stampede) in Black Stazon on White shimmer paper and colored his ears with prismacolors and mineral spirits. I then cut out the image and glued to the front of a Hershey's Nugget with mono adhesive. Next I took a strip of Loves Me paper (Stampin Up) and wrapped it around the body of the nugget, securing with Terrifically Tacky Tape. Finally I used glue dots to adhere a fluffly little pompom to the other end as the bunny's tail. Fast, fun and CA-UTE!

My cat, Katie, got an awesome RAK that she wanted me to share with you all. Earlier this week Lisa (crazycatstamper) sent me a picture of her cat, Taz, with a lei and double-dog dared me to get a picture of Katie like this. Well, of course I had to try - it was a double-dog dare, after all! :) Anyway, getting the lei on was not much of a problem and even a few pics were okay (although by the look on her face you can see our definitions of okay differ considerably! LOL), but when I went to take the lei off - Katie FREAKED out. She ran as fast as she could and hid under the bed and started strangling herself with it trying to get it off. Poor thing!!! Luckily Mark came home and was able to coax her out from under the bed long enough to get the thing off, but she was very unhappy with me most of the week. So Taz sent Katie a RAK, complete with an envelope stamped with kitty pawprints, apologizing for what their mommies conspired to do to her! With the RAK were some yummalicious milk flavored cat treats that Katie has been consoling herself with all weekend! LOL! Ironically, the card that came with the treats says Wisdom - would have been good if I'd had some of that BEFORE I traumatized my cat! Anyways, thanks Lisa and Taz, you gave me a chuckle and Katie has forgotten everything but the sound of the treat bag shaking out some yummy treats!

Blog Candy Winner & ENABLER ALERT!!! 1 comments

The winner (literally picked out of a hat! LOL!) of the Blog Blarney giveaway is.... Anonymous - SS who posted:

St Patricks Day stuff?? OH that is one holiday I don't actually have much stuff for so I NEED this blog candy!! My DH b-day is March 9 and his name is Patrick but he's Italian....go figure!!! I found your blog the first day you opened up shop....good for you!!I am a great big BLOG DORK!! I read yours and My Inky Fingers and have no idea how to subscribe or what a reading service even IS!! Show me what you have learned about watercoloring or was it Gamasol technique?

Congratulations SS! Please email me your address so I can get your goodies out to you! I so enjoyed reading everyone's comments. You guys just make me smile everyday!

ENABLER ALERT!!! Check out My Inky Fingers for a fantastic Basic Grey paper share. There are 4 new BEAUTIFUL collections of paper by Basic Grey and Cindy's offering these great collections and a few other goodies for a great price! For those that don't know, Basic Grey is awesome cardstock weight patterned paper and comes in 6x6 and 12x 12 paper sets. The 6x6 include 2 of each design, but the images are scaled down, so they're perfect for cardmaking! The 12x12 collections include one of each design plus a sheet of coordinating tags as well as a sheet of alphabet stickers.

Sorry for not having a card to post today. I've been having terrible tooth pain the past few weeks, and after a trip to the dentist have found that the gums around my wisdom teeth (which I have stubbornly, and now seemingly, stupidly, refused to have removed) have become infected and swollen completely around the teeth. This means I have to have surgery to have them removed - but in the meantime have to live with the pain! :( Hopefully I can find some time to stamp over the weekend.

Spring is ALMOST Here! 3 comments

The bright sunshine we've been having has me in a springy mood. I pulled out this cute little bunny stamp I got at Michael's for 40% off. After I stamped him I set him aside and he just happened to rest next to this DCWV patterned paper that my VSN Secret Sis sent me and I thought they just looked so perfect together.

I started by stamping the Bunny stamp from Rubber Stampede in Black Stazon on Whisper White. I then masked him and stamped the Skinny oval from A Muse in Going Gray at his feet. I colored him with prismacolors and mineral spirits and added highlights with my pink and green stardust gel pens. I then cut the image out and matted on Passion Pink.

Next I stamped Happy Easter from The Cat's Pajamas in Passion Pink and dotted around the edges with my pink stardust pen. Next I matted on a D'vine Cuttlebugged piece of Passion Pink and Cool Caribbean. I know this folder is old hat, but it's brand new to me - so I went crazy with it! LOL! I then decided I needed more embossing, but I had already matted my DCWV patterned paper onto the card base, so I ran the whole thing through the cuttlebug (just the front, wrapping the back around the back of the embossing folder so it wouldn't be embossed). Next I tied a ribbon around a cuttlebugged strip of Passion Pink and glued to the card base.

Then I used my Mat Pack and paper piercer to pierce holes around the edges around the bunny. I used pop dots to layer on the Happy Easter piece. Then, because I needed some sparkle, I painted Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds mixture on almost all of the embossed swirls. The card just sparkles in real life! Just makes me smile!

You know what else makes me smile??? HAPPY MAIL! And I got two beautiful cards yesterday!

The first card is from my new blogger friend Charmaine. Charmaine's got a brand spanking new blog called Oodabug Alley. Check it out, she has some CA-UTE cards and I'm so excited she's bloggin now! I just love this quarter-fold card she sent in pink and brown - one of my favorite color combos! The rhinestone body is just such a clever idea. Thanks bunches Charmaine - you're such a sweetie!

The second card is from kthaman. It was a special RAK for being a selected winner in her last VSN challenge. Another great color combination. I'm a such a fan of the small sayings stamps and I always forget to use them. Thanks Karen!

Okay, today's the last day of my Blog Blarney Giveaway. If you haven't signed up, there's still a little more time! I'll be drawing a name tonight!

Dot-a-riffic! 6 comments

I finally got a chance to do one of the SCS challenges again. I used to do them almost daily, but life has been getting in the way recently. This one is for Sketch Challenge 114. I used some of the delicious paper that I got in my Self-Addressed kit of the month today. It is from the Homemade Collection by We R Memory Keepers.

I thought the paper matched Bodacious Bouquet really well so I stamped the flowers in Cranberry Crisp and Bordering Blue on Whisper White. I then rounded the corners and inked the edges with Chocolate Chip ink and a sponge. Next I layered on Cranberry Crisp and tied some stitched grosrain around the panels. I cut a strip of the white patterned paper and layered onto Bordering Blue Cardstock and tied a ribbon with a slider (it says happy day) around with Terrifically Tacky Tape.

I then stamped and cut out the bodacious flower, dotted around it with my black glaze pen and attached with a pop dot to the flower panel. I dotted the bordering blue mat and then glued everything down to a piece of the brown patterned paper with notched corners. For the finishing touch I added sparkle to the flower centers with Dazzling Diamonds and Crystal Effects.

Good Friends 8 comments

Do any of you ever commit to more than you should and then get to a point where you're just about ready to drop it all? I was listening to a radio show the other day where an organization expert was asked a question about how they balanced work, family and everything else. The gal replied that there's no such thing as balancing these things...it's a juggling act. How true! Something is always in the air. Well, I've got a LOT of somethings in the air right now and I'm hoping I don't start dropping them. It seems the more and more stressed I get, the less creative I am. This card was such a struggle for me. I'm relatively pleased with it now, though, thanks to a late night emergency help session from Cindy! Thanks, Sistah....you ROCK!


I started out with a stamped image I received from a friend. The set is called Pattern of Friendship and I just think it's retro look is so cool. I colored the image with prismacolors and mineral spirits and then doodled a frame around the edges. Next I layered with Chocolate chip and some more of ...you guessed it.... the Stella Ruby Basic Grey paper. Next I glued the three sides of the mat down to form a pocket to tuck a tag in.


I stamped good friends on Whisper White with my Karen Foster snap stamps in Chocolate Chip and then at the bottom of the piece I stamped ... never go out of style. For the top of the tag, I punched a 1/2" circle out of Chocolate Chip and then used my 1/4" handheld circle punch to punch out the middle. I then distressed the edges of the tag with my Tonic paper distressing tool and tied a knot with twill tape. To finish off the tag I stamped good friends on both tails of the twill tape and frayed the ends.


I used a cosmetic sponge and a Close to cocoa inkpad to ink up the edges of the image and the tag. Finally, I used my Cuttlebug to cut out a coordinating flower die cut and attached with an antique copper brad.

Pot O' Sprinkle 8 comments

I've had this card idea in my head for a while now, but I've just never had a chance to sit down and make it. This pot o' sprinkle just cracks me up. It looks like something my cat would do - she's always getting into things. She has recently started hopping onto my stamp desk, grabbing the first thing with ribbon she sees in her teeth and carting her "treasure" off. It's pretty cute!

I started this card off by stamping Pot O' Sprinkle from the Cat's Pajamas in Black Stazon on Whisper White. I then colored with my Sakura Glaze pens (love these!) and my Sakura Clear Stardust pen (for Sprinkle's Hat and the shadow on the pot of gold). I then cut the image out with my Creative Memories Circle Cutting System, dotted around the edges with my black Glaze pen and matted on a Mega and then a Giga Scalloped punch. I pierced holes in the Basic Black scalloped circle and outlined with my startdust gel pen.

The background paper is all from the Green Day line of Reminisce papers. (I'm giving some of these papers away in my blog candy giveaway.) I cut two strips of designer paper together and then alternated panels on a Basic Black card base. I then laid down some black grosgrain ribbon across the center, punched holes in each end with my 1/16" circle punch and secured with Making Memories jewel brads. I then tied to knots of black organdy around each end of the grosgrain and trimmed the edges.

The You're in Luck sentiment is stamped in Black Stazon on Whisper White and is actually glued with pop dots to the inside of the card. I punched through the entire card front with the word window punch two times overlapping to make a bigger window and then dotted with my black Glaze pen. The final touches were 1/2 circle punches using the 3/4" and 1" circle punches and then highlighted with glaze and stardust pens.

Happy Mail! 4 comments

Oh, lately I've been such a LUCKY girl in the RAK department! Here is a picture of the blog candy I won from Rachel at Hope Stamps Eternal. Along with the four stamps, she tucked in this beautiful card. I just love how she made the little ribbon blooms. It's amazing! Sometimes I think I get stuck in a rut with ribbon, and this has a whole new spin. Thanks Rachel!

I also received blog candy from Cindy over at My Inky Fingers. It included a very cool new Asian stamp with the Faith, Hope and Love characters. I just love it! Sorry, I'm too lazy to climb upstairs to get the stamp so I can take a picture of it for you - so you'll just have to take my word that it's really cool. LOL! I'll be posting a card using it soon enough, though! She also sent this stew pot pals card that I think is darling - I just love the colors of these sassy little beets! Cindy wrote that maybe if I stared at the card long enough I'd start to like my vegetables! BWAHAHAHAHA! I think if that worked, my mom would have tried that YEARS ago! :) Thanks so much Cindy!

Today, I also received a little surprise from my VSN Secret Vixen. Doesn't that sound like I've got a little someone on the side??? LOL! Anyways, she sent this gorgeous Delight in Life card. I love how the flowers are dangling from the cord. And she added some glitter for the flower centers, because she knew that I'm all about the sparkle! She also tucked in some patterned papers, ribbons and brads to play with. Hmmm... I wonder who she is?! I just NEED to know! :)

You're in Luck! 6 comments

I have had this week's SCS sketch challenge printed out and sitting on my desk most of the week You really have to have teeny tiny squares to fit 3 across a regular sized card, so I was having an inner struggle trying to decide what to do and what images to use. I bought this teeny little 4 leaf clover stamp at Archiver's this week, and since it is March... I decided to go all St. Patty's Day on ya. :)

First I cut 1 1/8" squares of Very Vanilla and used my Stamp-a-majig to line them up and stamp the clover in Garden Green. I then doodled around the squares and dotted the stems of the clovers with my Garden Green Stampin' Write marker and sponged the edges with a dauber. Next I matted on Basic Black and glued onto a strip of the Green Day paper from Reminisce, using pop dots to raise the center square above the others.

Next I used my slit punch to do two 5.5" long scalloped edges, punched holes in each scallop with my 1/16" circle punch and matted underneath the striped Green Day paper. I then layered another pattern of Green Day paper on a Basic Black card base and glued down everything I had so far. Next I stamped the You're in Luck Cat's Pajamas stamp in Garden Green on Very Vanilla, punched out with the Word Window punch and sponged around the edges. I then stamped the Cauldron from Cat's Pajamas in Black Stazon, colored in the bubbles with a gold gel pen to make it look like a pot of gold, cut out and glued down with a pop dot.

For the final touches on the card I pulled out my black Glaze pen and dotted around all the squares and the word window punch. I then painted a mixture of Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds on the clover, the gold and on each hole in the scalloped edges. The final addition was a sheer black bow tied across the top of the card.

If you haven't entered my Blog Blarney drawing yet, be sure to check it out. The prize includes some of this fabulous Green Day paper!

The Good Life 2 comments

Tonight I just sat down and did some stamping for the fun of it. It was kind of fun to stamp without an agenda for once. I saw these stamps in the dollar bin at Michael's a few weeks back and knew I just HAD to have them. My dream vacation has always been to rent a beach house and spend an entire month (well, actually an entire summer, but I'm trying to be realistic! LOL!) living on the beach. The good life seems the perfect phrase to go with that dream.

I started once again with my Stella Ruby Basic Grey paper. I just absolutely LOVE it - it's such a versatile line! I like to find ways to use the paper as part of the picture I'm trying to paint. In this case I chose to stamp the palm tree on striped paper, so it looks like it's in the sunset on a sandy hill. I then colored it in with Stampin Write Markers and covered with Crystal Effects and sprinkled with a slight dusting of Dazzling Diamonds. I also stamped The Good Life stamp in black Stazon on the striped paper and filled in with Icicle Stickles. All edges are lightly sanded with a Making Memories sanding file (looks a lot like a nail file!). I added a little hemp to finish off. Are you ready to hit the beach now?

Let's Celebrate March with BLOG CANDY! 62 comments

Okay - this was supposed to be posted yesterday, but the automated blogbots at Blogger LOCKED my blog as possible spam! What a terrible mess! I just got unlocked - almost 48 hours after it was first locked! Anyways, I'm so happy to be back in Blogland!

I can't believe February is over and it's already time to celebrate a new month! I'm so thankful for all the wonderful friends I've met through SCS and through this blog. You guys have me smiling every day with your wonderful comments and emails.

There's a Cat's Pajamas stamp that says, "There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who are Irish...and those who wish they were!" I am in the latter group. Although I've never been fond of corned beef (EWWW!), I've always wished I was Irish so I could celebrate St. Patty's Day in style! LOL. Well, since it's my blog, and I'm betting at least one of you out there comes from Irish descent...
We're gonna celebrate with some BLOG BLARNEY! :)

Just leave a comment on this post with the answers to the following questions by Friday, March 9 at 10PM Mountain (12ET) and I'll draw a random winner. The blarney package includes ten 6x6 sheets of the oh-so-fabulous Green Day line of paper by Reminisce, 10 lightweight blank coasters, Happy St. Patricks Day ribbon, green organdy ribbon, Pistachio Glitter Glaze and a Good Luck stamp!

In your comment I'd like you to tell me:

1. How you found my blog and how long you've been reading. (Newbies welcome!)
2. Are you an email subscriber to this blog? (Feedblitz sign-up is on the sidebar)
If no, do you use a blog reading service (Google Reader, Windows LiveFeeds, etc.)?
3. What type of projects/techniques you would like to see more of on this blog?

Stella Ruby Box 4 comments

So are y'all sick of seeing Stella Ruby yet? I hope not, because I still have a lot more in my pack! LOL! I went to Wal-Mart today to look for these boxes Cindy Lou Who uses for storing her Karen Foster Snap stamps. When I got there and saw they were only 97 cents, I had to buy every last one they had! LOL! The boxes are brown paper mache and are just shy of 5 x 5 inches square. I immediately knew I had to alter at least one of them as a gift box.

There's not much stamping on this box, but there was a whole lot of punching going on tonight. The punches used are the 3/4" and 1" circles (and an intermediate cut with my Creative Memories cutting system), the small and large oval punches, the small and large tag punches, the EK success photo corner punch, the crop-a-dile and my new Cuttlebug flower die.

To begin I painted the lid of the box with Making Memories yellow scrapbook paint. (It was the only color I had that went with the paper, but I didn't like it so I painted over it with L'il Davis Strawberry glitter glaze. I didn't realize it would make it so pink! LOL Oh well. I used my Xyron machine to cover the sides and to lay down the Chocolate Chip and Basic Grey Stella Ruby squares on the top of the box. I used sticky strip around the entire box lid to glue down some Choclate grosgrain ribbon and then used my Crop-a-Dile to punch holes along the edges of the box to attach flowers (both Bazzill Blossoms and Cuttlebug dies) with black brads.

I made the flower with 10 sets of small and large oval punches, and three sizes of circles for the flower center. I put the 3/4" circle through the xyron upside down and sparkled up with some Flax glitter. I raised it on a pop dot and used my gold gel pen to dot all around the edges. For the tag, I stamped just the Hello Friend part of the Hello Chick by Stampendous in Whisper White craft ink and then traced over it with my white gel pen. Finished off with some brown organdy ribbon

More Stella Ruby! 4 comments

I sat down to make a card focusing on punches and ended up making two because the images just weren't fitting how I wanted them to. The first card measures 4" square. I used one of the Rhonna Farrer flourishes for the antennae and the large and small oval punches (Stampin Up) to make the wings of the butterfly. I then traced over the antennae with my Jelly Roll Black Glaze pen and drew in a body. As you can tell, I love my black glaze pen, so I went dot crazy all over this card. I used some Icicle stickles to give the butterfly body a little sparkle and two halves of a circle punch, dottted with a gold gel pen for some visual interest. Finished off with some black brads and ribbon. All patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Stella Ruby line.

The second card was actually supposed to be the background for the butterfly in the first card, but it just didn't fit. On this card I used the EK Success Wrought Iron corner punch and both my mega and giga scalloped square punches. I often forget how pretty the Wrought Iron punch is. I stamped Measure of a Life on the Stella Ruby paper in black stazon and colored in the sunflower with prismacolors and mineral spirits. Added two lines of grosgrain ribbon across the card and some layered Forever Flowers with a black American Crafts brad. Final touches were made with my gold gel pen around the corners of the black Giga scalloped square.