You Brighten My World

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all the kind comments yesterday. You guys are the best blog friends a gal could ask for. It's nice to know y'all understand. Today I have a special card to post. This one uses a sketch I created for the Verve Visual Honored Guest Card Contest that starts today. For a chance to win, all you need to do is submit a link to a card using the sketch provided. If chosen you could be the next Verve Honored Guest and will get to play with the March release sets right along with the Verve Visual Design Team. We'll be doing some random prize drawings throughout the contest, so be sure to get your entries submitted. For all the details and to see the sketch, check out the Verve Blog. Everyone on the design team has created a card with this sketch, so be sure to check out their creations, too.

I really like how this card turned out, although it took FOREVER to get to the finished card. I guess that's what's been frustrating me the most about my stamping lately. Things that used to come quickly are taking a lot more effort. This card really shouldn't have taken much more than half an hour, especially since I already had the sketch drawn up and the stamps picked out. But I spent so long deciding on what papers and accents to use, that by the time I finished the card, two hours had passed! Sheesh! Who has 2 hours to sit around and only finish one card? Not me! LOL

I eventually decided on this BasicGrey Scarlet's Letter paper, because I was thinking about Allison's Suggestive Sunday challenge this week. The striped star is from the Verve Visual Seeing Stars set and I actually stamped it first in Crimson Red Versafine and then colored in the star with Prismacolors and Gamsol and then just stamped over it with Onyx Black Versafine. To give it a nice glassy look, I painted the star with Diamond Glaze. The trailing stars on either side of the striped star are from the Swirly Stars set and I outlined them with a light gray Tombow marker for a little softness. The sentiment reads "you brighten my world" and is actually created from two different stamps. The first two words are from the you brighten my day stamp in the Thoughtful Florals set (a remixed photopolymer version of Thoughtful Phrases that's releasing soon). The second two words are from the You rock my world stamp in the Uplifting Phrases set. Both phrases are stamped on a word window punch with Satin Red Versafine ink and bordered with the word window dashed frame stamp from Thoughtful Florals. I added a tiny red rhinestone to each punch and also to each tiny scallop behind the horizontal layer in the sketch. To finish off, I tied a black satin ribbon around the top.

Happy Wednesday

Hi everyone! How is your week going? Mine's been COLD. We've been having quite the snowstorm here, and I just can't seem to shake the chills. I did manage to shiver my way on up to my studio and make a new card, so snuggle up with something warm and take a gander.

I started by stamping the solid swirly heart from Wild Thing in Soft Sky and then stamping the outlined swirly heart over the top with Purely Pomegranate. Next up I inked up just the Wild and then the thing and stamped them in each corner of the square panel. (I just use cut up post it notes to cover up any areas on my stamp I don't want to have ink, then ink it up on my pad, pull off the post it notes and stamp.) This layer is matted with Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky and Basic Black. I then stamped the You Make My Heart Sing portion of the sentiment directly onto some Soft Sky Prints paper and tied a knotted bow of black May Arts ribbon around it. The two corner accents are just a cut up word window punch that I wrote xoxo on and added a few dots around the edges with a black pen. The XO paper is from a paper pack by My Mind's Eye and I finished off with a few rhinestone stickers.

I don't usually share a lot of my personal feelings here on the blog, because I'm a pretty private person. But I've been feeling disappointed in my cards lately and I'm sure you've noticed my regular posting has been somewhat lacking. To be honest with y'all - I'm exhausted. I stay up way too late, get up way too early and push myself every minute of every day, and it's starting to catch up with me creatively. The past few weeks it's really felt like I've been fumbling around at my craft desk, going through the motions. I hope y'all won't give up on me - I'm sure I'll find my mojo lying around here again soon. Until then, just know that I treasure your comments and reading them is the bright spot of each and every day.

Well, peeps, I'm going to to go try and stay warm. Blankets, hot tea and fuzzy socks are my treat of choice today. Be sure to check back tomorrow as I have something special planned here and on the Verve Blog.

Masculine Thank You

Hi everyone! Today's going to be a quick post because I have to scoot out the door to go watch my little nephew this morning. The other day the Harlequin and Accessories set from Flourishes showed up on my doorstep (thanks Jan Marie!) and I didn't waste any time getting it all inky! When I first saw this background stamp, I thought of all the possiblities for masculine cards. You could go anywhere from a playing card theme to a rough and tumble rugged look just by changing the fill-ins and the colors used. So today I'm showing you my masculine thank you card. I don't make a lot of masculine cards. Hubby likes anything I make and isn't too picky, so I rarely need to make something that is truly hopped up on testosterone! LOL

I started by stamping the Harlequin background in Chocolate Chip craft ink on Brown Paper Bag paper by Paper Accents. I then used a prismacolor pencil and gamsol to fill in the space between the two lines. I stamped the diamond accessories in Night of Navy in the intersections. This piece is stitched with my Janome Sew Mini and then sponged with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink. The image panel is stamped with stars from the Seeing Stars set in Chocolate Chip and the sentiment is from Fancy Florals Remixed (Re-releasing in photopolymer Feb. 10) and is stamped in Night of Navy. This panel is stitched and inked with Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip inks and then I took my paper distresser to the edges of both panels. I stamped the larger textured star, cut it out and added it in the corner with a pop dot. I tied hemp around the paper bag panel and added some knots. The blue layer is Buckaroo Blue and is stamped with the same color ink randomly with the stars and then run through the Cuttlebug with the Squares folder to add some texture and dimension. Everything is matted to a Chocolate Chip card base.

Okay, hope ya like it. It was a fun card to make. Have a great day, peeps!

Mojo Monday Week #22

Happy Monday everyone! It's Monday again, so that means it's time for a little MOJO! This week's sketch is a fun one. It's great to use for a variety of looks. You can use a monochromatic color scale for a color blocked look, or you can mix it up and use some of those gorgeous scraps we all seem to have piled up in our stash.

So if you're feeling a little inspired, mosey on over to your craft area and cook up a little mojo! If you make a card with the sketch, just link me up in the comments of this post, so I can come check out your creation. If you've got your link to me by Sunday at 8 PM Mountain time (6 PM ET), I'll include it in the slide show next Monday. If you happen to upload to SCS, please use keyword Mojo22, so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

I kept my sample card pretty basic. I really love this paper collection called Silver Lining by We R Memory Keepers. I've been so COLD lately, that I just felt drawn to these warmer colors. For the card, all I used was stamps, ink, paper, scissors and a sponge. That's the bare essentials, gals! You can use any dimensions you want for the four strips, but for those of you that are into measurements, my panels are 1 x 4", 1 7/8" x 4", 1 3/8" x 4" and 5/8" x 4". Each panel is sponged with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink. The orange paper is the back side of one of the printed papers, and I stamped the largest star from Polka Stars in Pumpkin Pie, trimmed with scissors, inked the edges and matted with Basic Gray cardstock. I did the same for the Emerson quote panel from Seeing Stars. Everything's matted on a 4.25 x 5.5" Basic Gray card base. Easy peasy!

And to start your week off right, here is the slide show with all of last week's mojo submissions. With the exception of Vicky G, whose link said the photo had been removed and Melissa D, who didn't leave a link and I couldn't find it on SCS. If you gals want to leave me a working link, I'll add your cards into the slide show. Thanks!



NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!

Bling Baby Bling

Happy weekend, everyone! My week has been so incredibly busy I haven't had much time to sleep, let alone stamp! Yep, the "me" time I promised myself has been thrown out the window almost every day this week. :( So, late last night I promised myself I'd get a card done to show y'all. I sat down with Beate's Weekend Sketch and this blingtastic card is what came forth.

I started by stamping the two hearts from Wild Thing in Purely Pomegranate and Versafine Onyx Black on Pearlized Cream. Next I curved the row of hearts on my acrylic block and stamped the corners of the panel in alternating rows of Purely Pomegranate and Onyx Black. I colored the open heart in with a Pretty in Pink marker, highlighted each heart with a gray Tombow marker and pierced holes around the edges. This panel is layered onto a scallop rectangle cut with my Nestabilities dies.

The sentiment is stamped in Onyx Black with the row of hearts stamped right below it in Purely Pomegranate. I then used the ticket corner punch on one end, matted on black cardstock and added a d-ring from the Pewter Hodgepodge collection with some May Arts satin ribbon tied through the loop. The glitterific background paper is from the K & Company Smitten Paper Pad. For the corner accents, I wanted a scallop type look, so I punched a 3/4" circle in a piece of black cardstock and then punched a 1" square around the circle. Next I just cut diagonally on the corners to give me two unique looking photo corners. I love how it turned out. To finish up with the card, I added some Hot Lips Baubles to each scallop on the two outer edges of the scallop rectangle.

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Wild Thing (Verve Visual)
Ink: Purely Pomegranate (SU!), Onyx Black (Versafine)
Paper: Pearlized Cream (Paper Accents), Smitten (K & Company)
Accessories: Mat Pack, paper piercer, Pewter Hodgepodge, 3/4" circle punch, 1" square punch (SU!), ribbons (May Arts), Scallop Rectangle Dies (Nestabilities), Hot Lips Baubles (Stamping Bella)

Swirly Fun

Today's card is for this week's color challenge over on SCS to use Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Real Red. At first I wasn't feeling this color combination, but I think it turned out all right in the end. I started with the two hearts from Heart to Heart. I stamped the larger heart in Blue Bayou and the smaller heart twice in Soft Sky. I then punched the hearts out with my Super Jumbo and Mega Marvy heart punches and sponged with Soft Sky and Blue Bayou ink. Next I taped a piece of Blue Bayou and Soft Sky cardstock together and ran it through my Cuttlebug using the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder. The sentiment is from the Flirty Phrases set and I used the frame stamp from Thoughtful Phrases around it and then punched out with the Word Window punch. for a little embellishment, I stamped the small heart from Wild Thing in Real Red and then lightly went over the middle with a blender pen to lift a little of the color. The polka dot ribbon was a find in the $1 bin at Michael's a while back.

So, have y'all been checking out the crazy delicious projects on the Verve Blog? Hop on over and give the girls a little love - they do such a great job! And speaking of Verve, the Hearts & Stars Launch Pack special is only available until January 24 at 11:59pm MT, so if you've been waiting - don't wait too long!

Life is Sweet

Hi everyone! How's your week going? So far, so good? This morning I woke up bright and early (not a usual occurrence, since I usually stay up way past the time "normal" people go to bed) and was in an unusually chipper mood. Maybe I'm just happy to have my quarterly tax report done that I've spent the last week and a half working on. Woohoo! Time to play! Well, at least I can take a short break before I need to finish up the rest of the things that need to be done to meet with my accountant for the year end tax mumbo jumbo.

So, I started by pulling out some new rubbah that's just been sitting on my desk collecting dust. I literally have piles of new stamps I've somehow "collected" over the past few months that are uninked and sorely neglected. And they had such high hopes that they were going to a loving home! Poor things! :) Anyways, I've known since I first saw Cupcakeabella that not only did I have to have her, I needed to pair her with this fabulous Life is Sweet sentiment from the Flourishes Sweet Treats set.

Isn't Cupcakeabella fabulous? I just love her little flippy "do" The idea of her sitting on this extremely large cupcake is quite absurd, but it's super cute and makes me smile! I stamped Cupcakeabella on Ginger Blossoms paper and paper pieced the two parts of the cupcake and bella's dress. Next I added some red rhinestones with some diamond glaze and sponged around the edges of the panel with first Groovy Guava and then Ruby Red ink. I layered this onto a rub red square and a Groovy Guava scalloped square, cut with my Nestabilities Square dies. I then sponged the scallop square with a little Ruby Red ink and added a few little lines around the scallops with a Ruby Red marker. The background paper is also Ginger Blossoms and I tied a knotted bow where the two patterns meet. The ribbon is some old stuff from Fancy Pants Designs, that just happens to match Groovy Guava perfectly and I thought it went well with the paper. I finished off with three little Foo-fa-la buttons in the corner. The finished card measures 5.5" x 5.5".

Mojo Monday Week #21

Happy Monday everyone! Did last week seem to just fly right by for all of you? I've had my head buried trying to get some reports done (blech!) and so the week seemed to pass without any of the "me" time I promised to make sure I gave myself this year. Man, it's only January 21 and I've already lost track of most of my new year's resolutions. Anyone else need a reset? :)

How about a little inspiration to get your mojo kickstarted this week? Today's sketch is one that's been rattling around in my brain for a week or so now. Hope you like it! You know the drill... if you make a card using the following sketch, link me up in the comments of this post, so I can come check out your creation. If you've got your link to me by Sunday at 8 PM Mountain time (6 PM ET), I'll include it in the slide show next Monday. If you upload to SCS, please use keyword Mojo21, so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

Speaking of happy places, has everyone seen the newly released stamps from The Cat's Pajamas? If not, let your fingers do the clicking right now! They're guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I am truly smitten! Two brand new clear sets of Cowboys & Indians stamps and three Love themed sets, including some new swanky hearts and some of my favorite Valentine's images in photopolymer! Woohoo! I'm jumping for joy - just can't wait for Squaw Sprinkle and the rest of her tribe to hit my mailbox! In honor of these newly released stamps I made this week's mojo sample using TCP images.

I started by stamping Tink with Balloons in Smokey Gray Versafine ink on Classic Cream cardstock. I cut and embossed the square with my Classic Nestabilities dies and then pierced around the edges and added some color around the edges and on the balloons with a blender pen and Soft Sky and Certainly Celery ink pads. The hearts are punched out with the EK Success Whale of a Punch Folk Heart punch and are randomly stamped with the Medium Heart Circle (which is now available in the Loving Mew Clearly Swanky set). I also stamped the same heart circle on Certainly Celery and punched out with a 1" circle punch. Everything is matted with Basic Gray card stock.

The background is embossed with the Heart Blocks Cuttlebug folder and then I took my Soft Sky pad directly to the paper and rubbed in circles to accent the embossing. The ribbon is from May Arts and I finished off with some fern rhinestones and Stardust Stickles accents. I just think Tink with Balloons is adorable. I really don't like small dogs in real life (sorry all you dog lovers), but this little stamp just pulls at my heartstrings! Love it!

Linda asked last week if there was an easy way to print out past Mojo Sketches. Well, ask and you shall receive, Linda! :) I've compiled all the sketches I've posted here on my blog (Mojo #1-20 plus a few pre-mojo sketches) into a pdf file and you can download it by clicking the Mojo Sketchbook link on the sidebar. I've also added a Mojo Monday logo to the sidebar, which will always link to the most current sketch post. There is a slideshow link to view all of the sketches in a slideshow format. If you'd just like to print an individual sketch, you can find it in the slide show and then click the link to view the photo page. Then just right click the photo and choose print picture. I also added a sidebar link to all past Mojo Monday sketches if you want to read my ramblings! :) Even if the week has passed, if you do a sketch, link me up, so I can check out your work! I love seeing what everyone creates.

Okay, that's it for today, peeps. Be sure to check out the slide show below for the many fabulous mojo submissions from Mojo Sketch #20! And the Verve Design Team will be posting new projects all week at the Verve Blog, so be sure to pop in and ooh and ahhh over their fabulous creations! :)



NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!

Something Old, Something New

Happy Sunday, everyone! I actually made a little stamping time this morning, so I thought I'd share. I'm totally hooked on this Loveland paper by Scenic Route, so I had to use a little more of what was sitting on my desk. The layout is Beate's Weekend Sketch #31, and is a super fun one. I pulled out another one of my neglected new sets - Hearts and Love by Inkadinkado and an old, old friend - my Stampin' Pastels and got to work.

I started by arranging the two bird stamps on my acrylic block how I wanted them to line up, then I stamped them both at once in Versafine Onyx Black and then outlined each bird with a light gray Tombow marker. Next I restamped just the heart part of the bird with heart stamp in Versafine Crimson Red on another sheet of paper and cut out and layered over the black heart. I then stamped the swirly border stamp across the top and bottom of my image panel with Crimson Red ink and then sponged some Pretty in Pink chalk to give it a softer framed effect. This panel is matted with Black cardstock and then I used the smallest of the corners from the SU! photo corner punch in opposite corners and added some Fern rhinestones.

The sentiment is from the Verve Visual Flirty Phrases set, and I inked it with Versafine Onyx Black and Crimson Red, cut out and used the SU! ticket corner punch on all the corners. I paper pierced a line of holes underneath the sentiment and then finished off the card with 3 little black satin bows on the vertical strip of Loveland paper.

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Hearts and Love (Inkadinkado), Flirty Phrases (Verve Visual)
Paper: Loveland (Scenic Route Paper Co.), Basic Black (SU!)
Ink: Onyx Black, Crimson Red (Versafine)
Accessories: Photo Corner Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Mat Pack (SU!), Black Satin ribbon (May Arts), Fern Rhinestones (MAMBI), Stardust Stickles (Ranger), Paper Piercer (Making Memories)

Make Your Own Happiness

Happy weekend everyone! I can't believe it's already Saturday night - where did the week go? I finally got a few minutes to craft today, in between my nephew's basketball tournament games. Since I knew I only had limited time, I pulled out Jen's Sketch For You to Try and got right to work.

I got this Inkadinkado Birds Galore set on a trip to Archiver's before Christmas and I don't think I've even had a chance to use it yet. What a shame! Jen's sketch looked like it would fit this image really well, so I stamped the bird image with Olympia Green Versafine ink and then colored in the open areas with a Certainly Celery marker. Next I inked the bird part of the stamp again with Satin Red Versafine and then inked around the edges of the bird with Crimson Versafine to give some color depth to the bird. I then stamped the bird, cut it out and glued over the green bird and used a light gray Tombow marker to add some shadowing around the edges. The patterned paper is some scrumptious Scenic Route Paper Loveland Collection. These colors just made me happy - two different colors of red, some pomegranate, pink, celery and black. I cut the striped paper into 1/2" strips and matted with black cardstock. The rhinestone flowers are some $1 bin finds from last spring, and I tied a length of black satin ribbon down the side. To finish off I stamped the Make Your Own Happiness sentiment from the Hero Arts Happy Messages set directly on the patterned paper and added a touch of Stardust Stickles to the flourishes on the bird.

I really love this Happy Messages sentiment set, and I think you'll be seeing me use it a lot. Make your own happiness - how cool is that? Too often I get wrapped up in all the "things" that I think I need or want to make me happy. You know the line of thinking.... if my business is successful, if I lose weight, if I get published, if my house was suddenly and miraculously clean from top to bottom.. if I had more money... if I had more space and time for crafting.. if I had a better house, furniture, etc. .... then I could REALLY be happy. What lame reasoning we trap ourselves with! Happiness can't be bought or earned - it's an emotion, one that comes from inside us. We control whether or not we choose to see the joy in life - to revel in the small wonders of creation. We may not be able to choose our situation in life - but we CAN control our perspective of our situation and how we ultimately react to the things life sends our way. So go out and make yourself some happiness! Rejoice in the little everyday blessings that surround you. Give yourself permission to be happy, no matter the situation - and go out and make it happen! :)

Be Yourself

Here's another card I've been working on for a while and finally finished up. It's for last week's SCS sketch challenge {SC158} to do a kickstand card. I got a set of Hero Arts sentiments called Happy Messages a while back and I just love how inspirational they are. It's just chock full of really meaningful sayings. This one stamp - "You can be anything - be yourself" really hit home for me.

Lately I've been thinking about how easy it is to lose myself and my "style" the more responsibilities I take on. It's always tempting to look at other people's fabulous creations and berate myself and my work. In doing work for design teams, blogs, contests, sketches, etc., I often put pressure on myself to come up with something new that will knock everyone else's socks off. When it's something for a design team or special project, I often spend hours trying to make everything just perfect and prove that my few good cards in the past weren't just "one hit wonders". I have these expectations I feel I need to live up to, but in the end, I'm usually disappointed with the results. I'm beginning to realize it's not because my project is bad, it's that I compromised myself and my creative style to create something I thought OTHERS would like. The magic of stamping becomes work when I try to be someone I'm not. After all, wouldn't this world be a boring place if we all stamped just the same way? That's why I love making sketches for you all. It's so fun to see how different everyone's styles are.

Okay, I've probably rambled on long enough, but the sentiment inspired me to THINK, and so I tried to make this card just for ME. No it's not mind shattering stamping, and some of you might not like it at all, but I enjoyed the process - and that's what's really important. So today I challenge you to make a card for fun - one that's totally YOU! Don't worry about perfection or whether anyone else will like it. Just create a little piece of joy for yourself and delight your stamping soul! :)

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Swirly Stars (Verve Visual), Happy Messages (Hero Arts)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky (SU!), Classic Cream (Neenah), My Mind's Eye DP
Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Accessories: Bind-it-all, polka dot ribbon (May Arts), Chocolate Taffeta (SU!), Janome Sew Mini, Rhinestone pocket patch

Silhouette Hope

Hi everyone! I've been busy working on tax stuff (yuck!) the past few days, so haven't had much time in the studio. Today I was able to finish up a card I've been working on in 5 minute increments throughout the week! It uses the sketch Kimmie posted for her contest last week. Of course, I missed the contest deadline (which was Monday), but I just loved the sketch.

My color inspiration came from this Sassafrass Lass Indian Summer paper. I've been meaning to use the Stem Silhouettes stamp set I borrowed from Lila before Christmas, and just haven't had the time, so I figured I better bust out a card so I can return it to her. I started by stamping the flower in Versafine Smoky Gray ink on Classic Cream cardstock. Next I colored each of the blossoms with a red Spica Glitter pen and then outlined the entire stamp image with a light grey Tombow marker. I finished with a few little dots with my glitter pen in opposite corners and matted on Sahara Sand. The sentiment is made with the Wonderful Wishes Remixed set. I stamped the wishing you sentiment in Versafine Smoky Gray and the Hope word in Versafine Crimson Red ink. All layers are matted on Sahara sand and the card base measures 5.5" x 5.5" square. The ribbon is Chocolate Taffeta (love this stuff!) from SU!.

Okay, that's it for today, peeps. If you haven't been checking out the Verve Blog this week, you should head on over to see the fabulous projects our Guest Designers made with the new sets!

Valentine Hearts

Well, I managed to sneak away for a little bit today to create a new sample card for this week's mojo sketch. I want to try to get back to the basics of stamping, so I decided to make a card using no embellishments or expensive tools. Just good old fashioned ink, paper and a paper trimmer.

Hubby really likes poker, so I was inspired to try and give the feel of playing cards to the layout. My ingredients list for this one is small, but the card still seems to have my usual flair, so I think I accomplished what I set out to do. I originally got the entire card done, and then dropped the card into my open Versafine inkpad! EEEEK! So I hurried and stamped another Valentine Be Mine square to replace the old one. And now that I look at it on screen, I notice my sentiment is a bit skewed. Guess I shouldn't have been in such a hurry! LOL

Stamps: Wild Thing (Verve Visual)
Paper: Basic Black, Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Real Red (Stampin' Up!), Onyx Black (Versafine)
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Pop Dots

Mojo Monday Week #20

Happy Monday everyone! Are you ready to kick off the week with some mojo? My weekend was filled with shipping, shipping and more shipping. I did do a little bit of stamping, but unfortunately nothing I can show you just yet. Hopefully I can pull myself away sometime today for some stamping therapy.

Since last week's card was a bit of a challenging layout, I decided to base this week's card on this simple card I posted the other day. Feel free to change the three diamonds to any shape or embellishment you desire. As always, everyone is welcome to join in the fun, regardless of how long you've been stamping! If you do the challenge, just post a link to your card in the comments of this post by Sunday, January 20 and I'll add it to the slideshow of all entries that I'll post next Monday. If you upload to SCS, be sure to use keyword Mojo20, so we can view all the submissions in one place.

I'll try to make a new sample to show y'all sometime today. Have a wonderful day! If you haven't already, be sure to check out the post below this one to view all of last week's awesome Mojo Madness entries. And be sure to visit the Verve Blog to read about Guest Designer Karrie Baker!

Mojo Madness Winners and Slideshow

Wow! The first Mojo Monday Contest of 2008 was a huge success. There were 44 fabulous entries for the contest, and the judging was so tough! Everyone turned the mojo on high this week. To start your week off with a little eye candy, be sure to check out the slide show at the end of this post to see all of the gorgeous submissions! This week we resume our regular non-judged Mojo Monday challenges. The next judged Mojo Madness contest will be posted on Feburary 4. Okay, on with the winners. Are you dying to know who was the mojo-est of them all?

My discussions with the mirror on the wall found Jan Tink and this beautiful creation to be dripping with the kind of mojo that just leaves you begging for more. Bring on the layers, Jan! I absolutely adore the way she did a little doodling on each of the mats to give a grounded framed look. The card is just stunning - ribbon, the colors, the embellishments - everything just seems made for each other. My trusty little mirror on the wall also found this card by Amy S. to be absolutely mojolicious! I love how she wove the ribbons through the jumbo eyelets, and of course how sparkly the card is! Just fabulous.

Congrats, Jan & Amy! Email me your pick of the new Verve Visual stamp sets and your snail mail address and I'll send your new stamps on their merry little way!

Thanks for everyone who participated! Your cards were all so lovely! Here's the slide show with all this week's mojolicious entries.


NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!

RAKS and TAGS

Hey everyone! Hope your weekend is going fabulously! I was tagged a few days ago by Linda, so I thought I'd pop in and play today. I also am posting some fabulous RAKs I've rediscovered in my messy studio that I forgot to share with y'all.

1. Name your two favorite scrapbooking topics? I don't scrapbook...not even a little. But when I look at other people's pages, I really enjoy the autobiographical ones.

2. What are the two best places you've been to? We don't travel much, so this is a hard one. I guess I'll go with the two major vacations we've taken in the last 10 years - St. Thomas and Las Vegas.

3. Name two things you do every day? Check my email and pray.

4. Tell us two things that everyone pretty much knows about you? I make cards and am married to a fabulous guy!

5. Two places you wish to visit? DisneyWorld and The Statue of Liberty.

6. Two things you may not know about me are: I am really good at Boggle, so no one likes to play with me even though it's my favorite game. I love jigsaw puzzles.

7. Two nicknames you've had at some time in your life: Pookduke (my mom called me this when I was younger, I have no idea why. I didn't mind it until one day I was in a store and heard someone calling for Pookduke. I quickly put the kabosh on that nickname!!!). My other nickname is Jewels (only my closest friends are allowed to call me this - I'm pretty particular about not using nicknames).

8. Name two of your favorite drinks? It changes all the time, but Mr. Pibb always stays at the top of my list when it's available. I also like the occasional Mojito.

9. What are two interesting (in a good or bad way) jobs you've had in your life? Office Manager for a wholesale tree farm (not terribly exciting, but an industry I had no familiarity with and always kept me hopping). Graphic Designer for a corporate events & meeting planning company.

10. What are two things you would like to learn? How to watercolor and how to cook.

11. What two things would make your scrapping/stamping work space work even better for you? Furniture!!! I use a broken down old cheap desk, in which all the drawers are broken and a folding table. And better organization (which would be made possible by new furniture! LOL).

12. What are two of your best organizational tips for stampers that do not have a lot of space? Go up, not out! One of my favorite things in my stamp room is a little $10 shelf I placed on my table that gave me three times the space for storing things and still left everything at my fingertips. I also use a vinyl over the door shoe holder to store your punches - it keeps them all in one place and saves valuable space elsewhere in the room for my other toys!

13. And the question I am adding is..... What are your two favorite stamping toys? Right now I'm totally smitten with my Nestabilities dies. They make layering so easy! My other favorite toy right now is Liquid Pearls. I just love how it looks on cards!

Okay, now that I'm done with my answers, I'm supposed to tag two people to answer the above questions and then to also add a question of their own. The only requirement is that the question must be in twos. So, in honor of the fact that she's back in blogville, I'm tagging Dana and I'd also love to hear Sherrie's answers.

So now, I'll share my fabulous happy mail with you...

The first card is from Charmaine - an adorable little one layer thank you card that is simple perfection. I love the colors, and the little ribbon treatment on the side has me itching to try that as an accent on one of my next cards. Thanks Charmaine - love it!

The second card is from Bethany and was for my anniversary. (Yes, I'm really behind on posting this!) I loved this card when I saw it on her blog, and then my jaw dropped when I opened the envelope and saw it in person. It's just sparkly, shimmery goodness! All the little details make this one fabulously delightful card. Thanks Bethany!

And the last card is one I missed when I was showing you all the Christmas cards I received. This one cam from Monika, the M.A.D. Stamper and is so pretty, I just had to share it with you. I love the color combo, the fabulous ribbon treatment and the little dot in the center of each snowflake along the top and bottom edges of the card. Thanks Monika!

Wishing Star

Well, today I took a whopping 15 minute break for myself and sat down and made a card. It's not stellar, but it is a quick and easy layout and gave me a much needed sense of accomplishment. It's a rare thing for me to finish any project in less than an hour, but since I could only carve out 15 minutes, I'm pleased as punch that I was actually able to FINISH the card I started!

So, here it is. It's pretty simple. I started with a piece of Pomegranate cardstock stamped with the Tres Chic background and then ran it through the Cuttlebug with the D'Vine swirls embossing folder. While I was up, I cut and embossed two coordinating squares with my Classic Squares Nestabilities. Back at my stamp table, I stamped the Swirly Star form Verve Visual's Swirly Stars set in Purely Pomegranate on the white embossed square and then matted on the Soft Sky square.

Next I stamped three of the smaller swirly stars in Soft Sky on the scrap of Soft Sky left from cutting my square and then punched them out with the Stampin' Up! star punch. Next I punched out a Large Tag punch and stamped the Wishing You a Day Filled With Possibility sentiment from the Starlight Starbright Remixed set in Versafine Onyx black. Next I punched a hole in the top of the tag with a 1/8" hole punch and set a silver SU! eyelet with my 1/16" hole punch. I tied a bit of aqua organdy ribbon through the eyelet and attached to the card. Everything is layered onto a Soft Sky card base, and then I finished it off by outlining each small star and filling in the large star with Stardust Stickles. You can't really tell in my poorly taken photo, but this card is all sparkle!

Okay, that's it for today, peeps. Hope you all have a pleasant tomorrow! :) Be sure to check out the gorgeous eye candy Ana created for Verve over on the Verve Blog.

Blogoversary Winners & Verve Visual Release Day

I absolutely loved reading all 258 comments about your stamping goals for this year. 2008 is a blank slate - go out and make your dreams come true! So, I'm sure you don't want to hear my yipyap about all my goals this year, so I'll just cut right to the winner's list.... except, first I want to say a great big, huge thank you to hubby who patiently compiled the list of everyone's comments, so that I could finish up working on my last minute to-do's for today's Verve Visual release. You're the bestest, hubby!


Here are our lucky winners!!!
Libby - winner of the brand spankin' new Wild Thing set!
Carol Moore - winner of the Seeing Stars set!
MJ - winner of the Heart to Heart

Congrats to all of you! Please email me your mailing address and I'll get your sets sent your way!

It's the 10th of the month and that means it's Verve Visual release day! Hallelujah! I'm releasing 5 new sets today, so head on over to the Verve Store and check them out. If you've got to have them all, there's a really sweet deal on the Hearts & Stars Launch Pack that you won't want to miss. And be sure to check out the Verve Gallery, which has been restocked with loads of eye candy from my fabulous Design Team and special guest designers.

Today's card was made using the Polka Stars set that released today. I made it for Shannan's birthday a while back. She loves polka dots, Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, ribbon and sparkles, so I tried to incorporate a little bit of all those things into the card. Not being a Guava fan myself, I was surprised how much I liked it when combined with Chocolate Chip. I believe the card is from this Sketch For You To Try by Jen from quite a while back.

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Polka Stars, Fancy Florals (Verve Visual)
Ink: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Chocolate Delicious Desserts (Studio 8)Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware, Ticket Corner Punch, Star Punch (SU!), Stardust Stickles, May Arts ribbon

Lucky Stars

I'm sure most of you are completely on top of things and already had all of your holiday Thank You cards made and mailed out a week ago, but I seem to be running farther and farther behind these days. This particular card is going to someone who sent me a very cool present and I've been meaning to send a card to express my gratitude for 2 weeks now, and the days just seem to fill up. Do you ever have someone you really want to send a card to, but you want to make them a very special one, so it ends up taking longer and longer and then ends up being embarrassingly late? Well, that's the story with this card. So this one's going out in the mail today to Alma, who I really do thank my lucky stars for! I wanted to make her a really cool Cat's Pajamas card, but nothing was working out as I planned in my studio (which seems to be the story of my stamping life lately), so I decided to go with a star theme.

The stamps on this card are from the upcoming Verve Visual release of Polka Stars and the already available Starlight Starbright Remixed. I just loved the layout of Colleen's Thursday Throwdown sketch challenge when I saw it, so I knew I had to try it out. It took me a little bit of thinking to figure out how she did the curvy part with the Nestabilities dies, but I eventually figured it out. I started by stamping the largest Polka Star in Blue Bayou on a circle cut with my Classic Nestabilities Circles. I then cut a coordinating scallop circle mat out of Blue Bayou. I randomly stamped the two smaller polka stars in Soft Sky on a 5.25" x 5.25" square of Soft Sky. Next I cut the swirl pattern from a piece of patterned paper from my stash. Sorry I don't know the vendor, it was in a Self-Adressed kit I got a few months back. I then pierced holes along the edges of the patterned paper and glued it to the Soft Sky piece. I stamped the star bracket stamp from Polka Swirls in Blue Bayou along the curves of the patterned paper and then used the 3 star stamp from Starlight Starbright for a border along the bottom of the card. The sentiment is also from Starlight Starbright and I stamped the 3 star stamp below it. It's punched with a 1 1/4" circle punch and matted with a 1 3/8" Blue Bayou circle punch. To finish I tied some Blue Bayou double stitched ribbon around the card and added some accents with a black glaze pen. And finally, I colored in the polka dots with a yellow glaze pen and then a hint of Stardust Stickles.

Okey dokey peeps! That's a wrap for today. Be sure to check out the Verve Blog for more sneaky peeks. The design team has really been hitting some home runs with these new sets.

Mojo Monday Week #19 - Mojo Madness CONTEST

Hey everyone, are you ready for some Mojo Madness? Today's the first Monday of the month, so that means it's time for our once a month Mojo Madness Contest. Just make a card using the this sketch and leave a comment on this post with a link to your project by Sunday, January 13 at 8 PM Eastern. Once all the entries are in, I'll pick the TWO entries that I think have mojo gone wild. Those two winners will each receive they're choice of one of the 5 new Verve Visual sets releasing this Thursday, the 10th!!! Sound like fun? Are you ready for the sketch? Okay, have at it! ;) Oh, and if you upload your cards to SCS, use keyword Mojo19 so we can all see them in one place.

Now, this isn't the card I had in mind when I drew up this sketch, but I couldn't find the set I wanted to use in my chaotic studio, so I decided to use the new Verve Visual Heart to Heart set instead. I love the classic elegance of this set. The two hearts stamps coordinate with the Marvy Super Jumbo (blue handle) and Mega (pink handle) heart punches, which makes it super easy to have all sorts of layering fun. And all seven of the sentiments fit inside the hearts, for even more possibilities. My color choice for this card was pulled from the Hey Sugar Cosmo Cricket paper. I first stamped the solid swirl heart on the aqua-ish patterned paper in Cool Caribbean, stamped the sentiment in Versafine Onyx black in the center and punched out with the Super Jumbo heart punch. Next I stamped the swirl heart frame in Versafine Crimson Red on Pearlized Cream cardstock and punched out with the Mega heart punch. I then used Chestnut Roan Chalk ink to ink up the edges and then layered the two hearts with pop dots. The heart rows are from the Wild Thing set and are stamped across the Pearlized Cream panel in alternating rows of Cranberry Crisp, Apricot Appeal and Cool Caribbean. I then sewed this panel and the aqua panel to cranberry crisp paper and inked up the edges with Chestnut Roan. I wrapped some gold cord around the top and bottom of the long panel. The background paper is run through the cuttlebug with the Hearts embossing folder and then inked lightly with more Chestnut Roan ink. And voila, a card is born. LOL!

Okay, that's all for today, peeps. Go forth and create! :)

Mojo Monday Week #18 Slide Show

Hey everyone, there were some fantastic cards made with sketch #18. Check them out...

Mojo Monday Week #18 Entries:



NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!

Every Little Thing

Today's card is a preview of 2 of the new Verve Visual sets releasing on January 10. If you haven't noticed, I really love music lyrics. From the time I was very small I was always writing poems and song lyrics. I think there's nothing more magical than a true songwriter sitting down at the piano or with a guitar and singing the songs of their heart. It's moving in a way that no amount of electric guitar and manufactured sound can reproduce. (Although, I enjoy my fair share of electric guitar, too!) Anyway, the sentiment on today's card is from one of those little songs that gets stuck in your head and there's no getting it out. I wanted to have a flirty little phrase I could use to give hubby "just because" cards and I just couldn't get this sentiment out of my head when I designed the set.

About the card...
So today's card is for Mr. Shadowcatcher, and thus is a little simpler than my normal style. I tried not to "foof" it up too much, although a little bit of Stardust Stickles just "hopped" onto the card all by itself - I have absolutely no idea how that happened! LOL ;) The sentiment is from the Wild Thing set and the swirly star flourish is from the Seeing Stars set. (The release is less than a week away, peeps! Are you excited?) I stamped the two images on white cardstock with Night of Navy ink and then stamped another image of the star flourish in Crimson Red Versafine ink and cut out just the star and layered it over the image for a little pop of color, with a dab of Stardust Stickles sparkle. All the mats are Night of Navy cardstock and the fabulous paper is from the Daisy Bucket Designs Rock Star Collection.

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Wild Thing, Seeing Stars (Verve Visual)
Ink: Night of Navy (SU!), Crimson Red (Versafine)
Paper: Rock Star (Daisy Bucket Designs), Night of Navy (SU!)
Accessories: Stardust Stickles

Okay, that's it for today. I have such a long list of things to do, and am still trying to finalize the stamp designs for February, so it's back to my design cave for me. Be sure and check out the Verve Visual Blog for another sneak peek of the new sets.

Let Your Light Shine

Wow, I have so enjoyed reading all your stamping goals for 2008! What a fun and inspiring thing to read. I just have to tell you all to go out and DO IT. You're all stars, so let your light shine! :) If you haven't shared your goal with me yet, be sure to check out my Blogoversary Giveaway post for a chance to win one of the upcoming Verve releases!

I know I told you that I'd be showing you sneak peeks of Seeing Stars and Heart to Heart this week, but when I sat down to stamp this morning, all I could think about was this sentiment from the Swirly Stars set releasing on January 10. And one thing I've learned over the years, is to never try and force a certain card if you're in the mood for something else. So this card just evolved, I didn't have a plan when I sat down, and then I had to improvise after my sewing machine decided to fight back. Swirly Stars is a set of 8 stamps and is one of only 2 sets that will be released in red rubber as well as photopolymer.

About the card...
I started by cutting and embossing a Classic Cream square with my Nestabilities dies and a Basic Gray coordinating mat. Next I inked up the large swirly star with Versafine Satin Red ink and then I swiped just the edges all around the star with Versafine Crimson Red to add a little dimension before stamping. The Cat's Pajamas sells these ink pads in little 1" cubes (like Stampin' Spots) and they are absolutely fabulous! The small cube is perfect for fine tuning exactly what you want to be inked, and the ink is super juicy, but dries quickly and cleans up so easily. It's my absolute favorite ink. Sorry for the side note, I'm just giddy about finally having this ink in cube form! :) On with the card details. Next I stamped the four star flourish with Crimson Red ink on either side of the star and set aside. To finish off my stamping I inked up the top part of the sentiment with Crimson Red and the bottom word "SHINE" with Satin Red ink, stamped and punched out with a round tab punch.

The patterned paper is from the gorgeous Indian Summer line by Sassafrass Lass. I've been hoarding it, but some of your comments made me feel the need to dig into my stash and use, use, use! :) I intended to sew a zigzag stitch across the bottom and the top edge of the top panel of paper, but after I sewed the first edge, I could get my Janome to sew any more. I'm sure something is threaded wrong but I didn't feel like digging out the book, so I just used my Mat Pack and a paper piercer to punch holes across the bottom edge and added the round tab punch with pewter brads. Next I tied some Chocolate Taffeta ribbon across the panel and adhered the star panel on pop dots. To make this star shine, I used a rhinestone star from the DCWV Rockstar Rhinestones pack (thanks Lila). Everything's on a Basic Gray card base. It really was a simple card, even though it seems like I've rambled on about it forever! LOL!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Swirly Stars - Clear (Verve Visual)
Ink: Satin Red, Crimson Red (Versafine)
Paper: Indian Summer (Sassafrass Lass), Basic Gray (SU!), Classic Cream (Neenah)
Accessories: Classic Squares (Nestabilities), Round Tab Punch, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Chocolate Taffeta ribbon (SU!), Rhinestone Star (DCWV), brads, sewing machine

Oh, and if you'd like a sneak peek of the Heart to Heart set check out Bethany's post on the Verve Blog! Have a happy day, peeps! :)

Blogoversary Giveaway!

Wow! It's hard to believe that it's only been a year that I've been blogging. So many of you seem like old time friends that I've known forever, and it's only been in the past year that I've met you. Hooray for blogging! Hooray for new friends! This blog has been a blessing to me beyond my wildest dreams. Hubby had been bugging me to start a blog for 2 years before I started this one, and I'm so glad he did. I feel honored to read every single comment that's left here and feel like I owe you all a thousand thanks for your support and encouraging words as I wander along my creative path.

So to celebrate my blogoversary, I've got some goodies to give away! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post answering the following question by 10PM ET on January 9. I'll announce the winners on January 10.

What would you like to see change/improve in your stamping life in 2008?

I'll pick three random winners from all the comments I receive. Each winner will receive one of the January 10 releases from Verve Visual. The first winner will receive the Wild Thing set used on today's card. The second winner will receive the Seeing Stars Set and the third winner will receive the Heart to Heart set. I'll be showing you peeks of the other two sets later this week. Check out the Verve blog for more sneak peeks. Winners must have a mailing address in the US or Canada and cannot be a member of the Verve Visual Design Team.

So today's card highlights my favorite set from the new release and uses this week's Mojo Monday Sketch. Is it okay for me to have favorites? :) Wild Thing is totally my personality, and since Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday and hubby's birthday is the day after V-Day, I needed something flirty and fun to make some cards for him. This clear stamp set has swirly hearts and flirty sentiments that you'll love.

So all that said, maybe I should answer the question myself. During 2008 I would really like to see an improvement in my shading/coloring skills. I have never taken an art class, (not even in high school), so I'm completely at a loss when people talk about the "light source" and perspective. I just do what feels right, but it never looks like what I think it should. I would really like to be able to achieve some greater depth in my shading. I watched Sherrie's video tutorial using her copics, and I can't wait to try out some of these new tips. Maybe if I really work on it this year, I can become a better colorer.

About Today's Card...
I started this card by randomly stamping the solid swirly heart in Pretty in Pink and the solid small heart in Purely Pomegranate to make a background pattern on my Pretty in Pink card stock. I then ran the cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder and wrapped some May Arts satin ribbon around the side before matting on a Basic Black card base. I then cut and embossed two rectangle shapes with my Rectangle Nestabilities and stamped the heart frame stamp in Purely Pomegranate. Next I stamped the solid swirl stamp in Pretty in Pink inside the frame. They're a perfect fit and since the stamps are clear, they're so easy to line up. Next I stamped the Wild Thing You Make My Heart Sing sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black. I then decided I wanted the heart to "pop" a little bit more so I stamped another solid swirl in Pretty in Pink, cut out and layered with a pop dot inside the solid heart frame. To finish off, I added some pink rhinestone bling to the white panel and the ribbon strip.

Mojo Monday Week #18 (on Tuesday)

Happy 2008, everyone! I hope your year is filled with success, happiness, health, personal growth and all of life's greatest comforts. :)

I had a very busy day yesterday with no time to hop on and post a new sketch for y'all. This week's sketch is a very simple one, but it's also really versatile. It would be great for turning an ATC into a full card or just for using some of those larger rectangle images and dies. This week is just a regular sketch. To be included in the slide show, just leave a comment with a link to your card by Sunday, January 6. If you upload your card to SCS, please use keyword Mojo18, so we can see all the cards together. Be sure to check out the slide show all of last week's mojolicious submissions at the end of this post.

This card is a terribly late one for Charmaine and baby Isaac. I actually made another card for her a few weeks back and for the life of me can't find it. I know I didn't mail it, so I have no idea where it could have run off to. I started by cutting and embossing a large rectangle (the largest in the Classic Small Rectangle set) and a coordinating Taken With Teal mat (the larges in the small Scallop Rectangle set) using my Nestabilities dies. I like to cut and emboss first and then stamp, because I've had the ink smear too many times doing it the other way. I then stamped Baby Carriage from The Cat's Pajamas and a sentiment from the Hero Arts Happy Messages set in Versafine Onyx Black. I colored the carriage with prismacolor pencils and gamsol and then outlined everything with a Grey tombow marker and added a little shimmer with a clear Spica glitter pen. I then punched a double hole punch in the top left corner and threaded ribbon around and through the holes for a flat bow.

For the side strip, I used the SU! Typeset Alpha Lower with my Stamp-a-majig to line up the letters. I matted on a strip of Taken with Teal and added some Epoxy star pebble brads from Making Memories to the top and bottom. To finish off I stamped the tiny star from the Starlight Starbright Remixed set in Certainly Celery by each of the letters. The patterned paper is from Chatterbox and is matted on a very thin layer of Basic Black and glued to a Taken with Teal card base. I wish I had stamped a little oval to ground the baby carriage so it's not ominously floating out there in all that white space. But if I take it back upstairs to "fix" it, it will most likely never get mailed, so this one's just going to be a carriage floating down from heaven. :)

Okay, I'll be back tomorrow for my one year Blogoversary post with a sneak peek and giveaway of one of the Verve Visual sets that will be releasing on January 10! Woohoo! And check out the Verve Blog for daily posts and fabulous sneak peeks from the talented Verve Visual design team!

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Baby Carriage (The Cat's Pajamas), Happy Messages (Hero Arts), Typeset Alpha Lower (SU!), Starlight Starbright Remixed (Verve Visual)
Paper: Taken with Teal, Basic Black (SU!), Chatterbox DP
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Certainly Celery (SU!), Prismacolor pencils & gamsol, clear Spica glitter pen
Accessories: Rectangle dies (Nestabilities), Star brads (Making Memories), ribbon from Michael's, Stardust Stickles

Mojo Monday Week #17 Entries:



NOTE: If you get a message that says no photos found, please hit the refresh button on your browser or the F5 function key on your keyboard, and hopefully it will reload with the pictures!