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Super Stash Sketch

Today's card is one inspired by Amy's Super Sketch Sunday with a twist for this week. I actually created this card entirely with scraps. Even the card base was a piece of cardstock that had some collateral damage from a previous ink gone wild episode. I was able to cover it up with the patterned paper, so all was okay. The ribbon was a scrap on my desk, and all the papers came from my scrap drawer. Hooray for using scraps! I would never think to mat anything with patterned paper, but I really like how that was a requirement for one of the layers on the sketch. I had all the pieces ready to do the sketch the right way, and then I stamped the Hello on the wrong side, and I felt it looked best to flip the sketch and center the panel. I was actually supposed to hang the sentiment, but for some reason I just felt like keeping it simple. The orange polka dot paper is from BoBunny, the orange and blue paper is from the Magnolia line by My Mind's Eye, and the brown paper used as the mats for the two layers is from the retired Au Chocolat line by SU! Stamps are from my new Funky Florals set by Lizzie Anne Designs. I stamped the flower cluster in pumpkin pie and colored with Prismacolors & Gamsol. Next I stamped the flowers again on a scrap of the orange polka dot paper and just cut out the cluster of three flowers and stuck it on top with glue dots. For sparkle added some Diamond Glaze and Dazzling Diamonds to the flowers and then embellished with a chocolate grosgrain bow. The sentiment is also from the Funky Florals set and is stamped in Chocolate Chip. I then finished off with some piercings around the edges and across from the hello.

Okay, that's my quickie card for the day. Hope y'all are having a great week!

Blushing Guava

Well, I finally got a chance to take a break and stamp for a few minutes. Hooray for stamp time! :) Thanks to enabling from Amy and Shannan, I finally broke down and bought a few CHF backgrounders, so I knew I wanted to use the Lined Paper one with this week's mojo sketch. I started by cutting blush blossom and groovy guava card stock for the back panels. I then taped them together and stamped the background in groovy guava so they would line up when I separated them. Next I sponged the outer edges with a little groovy guava ink. The two image panels use the new Lizzie Anne Designs Far East set. I ink the branches with a black marker and then used a Fantastix brush tip marker filled with groovy guava ink to color in the leaves and then stamped onto Classic Cream cardstock. Next I highlighted the image with a light grey marker and then painted a mixture of Diamond Glaze and Dazzling Diamonds on each of the leaves.

The second panel I started by stamping the solid blossom with Blush Blossom, then stamping again with the swirly blossom over the top in Groovy Guava. Next I stamped the swirly blossom again in Versafine Onyx Black, but offset it just a hair to give a little depth to the image. I colored around all the edges with a light gray marker, and then sponged both panels with blush blossom and then groovy guava ink. The sentiment comes from the Heartfelt Phrases set, and is stamped in groovy guava and then offset and stamped again with Versafine Onyx Black. The ribbon is SU! Cream taffeta that I colored with a Copic marker. For the finishing touch I added some swirls to the opposite corners with the big swirl stamp from the TCP Polar Holiday set. What a mutt this card turned out to be - four stamp companies on one card front! LOL!

Okey dokey, that's all for now folks. If you'd like a chance to win Father Figure or Great Expectations, be sure to check out Shannan's blog this week! ;)

Mojo Monday Week #35

Happy Monday Everyone! It's hard to believe it's already time for another Mojo Monday sketch. Time has just been flying by for me lately, and there hasn't been much stamping going on. I've felt kind of in a stamping rut lately, feeling like everything I produce looks the same. So last night I sat down to make a sketch that would be challenging and different from my norm. Hope you like it and have fun with the layers. I promised myself some stamping time today, so hopefully my sample card will be coming later today. :)

As always, you're free to use any stamps you like and use the sketch as inspiration to jumpstart your inner mojo. Here's the drill... 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 Mojo35 so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

Check out last week's fabulous creations in the slideshow below:



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!

Verve Visual Release Day!


And now back in stock...

Anniversary Birds
& Thankful Blossoms

Father Figure


Today's card features the new Verve set, Father Figure, that releases tomorrow, and is my Mojo Monday sample card. I know, I'm really slipping if Thursday is the first time I get to play with my own sketch!

Father Figure is a very special set for me. I've always had a really hard time picking out Father's Day cards because they never seemed to say the right thing. So, this year I set out to design a set that could express what I really wanted to say. I think we all know men who are pillars of strength and character, and this is a set to honor them. So I started by stamping the main phrase stamp repeatedly on Kraft cardstock to make it look like newspaper print. The stamp says, There are so many words that define you. You're a man of integrity, a role model, provider, protector, teacher and friend.

Next I sponged the background piece with Ranger Tea Dye Distress ink and then around the edges with Walnut Stain Distress ink. Next I stamped the Dad sentiment in Tea Dye on a Kraft circle cut and embossed with Nestabilities circles. I then shifted the stamp slightly and stamped with the Walnut Stain ink, to give a 3-D shadow effect to the letters. I stamped the I'm so proud to call you... stamp above and the line of dotted circles above and below and then shaded with Tea Dye and Walnut Stain ink and matted on French Roast muslin cardstock. The blue panels are created by stamping the dotted stripe on the diagonal in Night of Navy on Bordering Blue. I finished off with a strip of French Roast cardstock in the center, secured with two jumbo eyelets.

For more sneak peeks of Father Figure and a chance to win this set, be sure to check out the Verve Blog this morning!

Superstar


Happy Wednesday! Today starts the sneak peeks of our two new sets over on the Verve Blog. The designers have created 5 fabulous projects featuring the new Great Expectations set. And if that isn't enough to tempt you, I've got two words for you... free stamps! :) Now, skedaddle on over, after you pause briefly to look at my sparkly star card. :)

For those of you still reading, I paired the Superstar sentiment from Great Expectations with the Seeing Stars set. The layout is last week's Mojo Monday Sketch. I stamped several of the stripey stars and colored with copics and punched/scut them out and layered them on black mats. Next I stamped the star with flourishes in the corner and then on another piece of Bright White pearlized paper. I colored the two side panels with my Copic marker to match and then ran the whole back through my Cuttlebug with the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder. A few dotted accents around the stars and some rounded corners and I was done.

Have a fantabulous day!

YOU make me smile!

Today I have a super quick card for you. Amy reintroduced her Super Sketch Sundays this week and since I love her sketches, I knew I had to make time to play early this week, before things got too busy. I picked three papers from a K & Company paper pad I got a while back. I just love the vintage feel of these papers, although in the photo, the Swiss Dot embossing kind of makes it harder to see the cool designs on the back two pieces of paper. I haven't been a fan of Blue Bayou since it was released, but it seemed to be a pretty good match for the flowers in this paper, so I went with it and I like how it turned out. Basically, the only stamping on this card is the sentiment (From the Heart Messages by Hero Arts). I stamped it in Blue Bayou on Classic Cream, pierced some holes on the top and bottom and then sponged lightly around the edges with River Rock ink. The flower is cut from a scrap of the K & Company paper and has a small fern rhinestone in the center. I taped the two back panels together and then ran through the Cuttlebug, then added the big patterned paper piece and matted everything with Blue Bayou. Finished with a cream taffeta knotted bow and sprayed the whole thing with opalescent glitter for a fantastic shimmer in real life.

Mojo Monday Week #34

Happy Monday Everyone! Hope y'all had a great weekend. I finally finished my data entry project, so hopefully I can find time to stamp this week. Sadly my studio sat neglected all weekend long! :( This Friday we're releasing two new Verve sets, so you'll definitely want to be checking out the Verve Blog on Wednesday and Thursday for some fabulous sneak peeks and a chance to win the new sets.

I really like just changing one or two elements of a sketch to come up with a completely different look. This week's sketch was influenced by last week's sketch, but just by changing the main panel to a circle and adding a grounding strip it takes on a completely different feel. I haven't made a sample card yet, but this layout really says modern/asian to me and the wheels in my head have been turning. I can't wait to see what y'all do with it. As always, you're free to use any stamps you like and use the sketch as inspiration to jumpstart your inner mojo. Here's the drill... 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 Mojo34, so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

Check out last week's fabulous creations in the slideshow below:



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!

TCP Activity Booklet


Have you all seen the swanky new clear set just released from The Cat's Pajamas? If not, you need to skedaddle on over, cuz It's a Mod, Mod World has the whole TCP gang... Sprinkle, Poochie, Fifi and some out of this world modes of transportation all in one fantastic set! These are the images that first made me fall in love with TCP - and now they're CLEAR! Wooohoooo!

I'm almost through my massive data entry project and am hoping to find a little time to stamp tomorrow. But since I've been neglecting my studio all week, I'm pulling out a project I made a while ago for TCP with the It's a Western Thing and Having a Pow Wow sets. I've got two nephews and no girls in sight, so I'm always on the lookout for some cute boy projects. When I saw the adorable cowboys & indians stamps in these sets I knew I needed to make a boy project, and my first thought was a little activity book for a road trip.

I started by cutting two pieces of Grungeboard down to 4.25" squares and then sponging with Versafine Vintage Sepia. The grungeboard smells and feels like leather, so I thought it was perfect for the outside of my booklet. I then rounded the corners and used my Bind-it-All for the very first time in the year I've had it to punch holes in it.

Next I stamped the penguins and colored them with Copic markers on rectangles cut with my Nestabilities. I found some Creative Impressions twill pre-printed with horseshoes in my stash, so I attached a strip across the top of my panel with two jumbo brads. Finally I stamped Howdy in Crimson Red versafine ink, did some faux stiching around the panel and added to the front of my cover.

I then designed a series of 4 x 4" square activity pages on the computer and printed them out. I included tic tac toe, connect the dots, words searches and some blank coloring pages. I then stamped images from the sets on the coloring pages, punched holes in all the sheets, rounded the corners and bound into my booklet with the Bind-it-All. I added a little bit of ribbons to the top coils because I just can't seem to help myself when it comes to ribbon. Anyways, I think this would be a cool project to give to a little guy heading out on a roadtrip.

Okey dokey, hope y'all are having a fabulous weekend. We hired a new landscaping crew to come out and do a major spring cleanup on our yard. When we woke up this morning, they had already started and to our dismay...... they pruned THE NEIGHBOR'S 8' shrub down to a 1' shrub!!!! Eeeek! Hubby and I were mortified! Our neighbors were really cool about it, and the landscaper is going to work with them to make it right, but oh the drama! LOL!

Blessing

Happy Thursday! I have a really quick card for you today. It started out as Jen's SFYTT for this week, but I really wanted to use these new Heidi Grace stamps I got at Archiver's, so I cheated (shhhhh! Don't tell!) and flipped the sketch and then moved the image panel a bit. I think you can still see the inspiration from the sketch, though - so it's all good. This card only took 15 minutes! Woohoo! :) The dp strips are from a new Making Memories paper pack I picked up the other day. Sorry, I can't remember the name and think I threw the packaging away already! The tree image is stamped on Pearlized Bright White in Versafine Onyx black and then colored with Copic Markers and highlighted with Stardust Stickles. The Blessing stamp is stamped directly on the middle dp panel and then colored quickly with copics and highlighted with Orange Peel Stickles. Everything is matted with black cardstock and glued to a white card base. I love the crispness of black mats against white, and when mixed with bolder colors it really pops. I finished off the card with some black satin ribbon and some black brads in the corners of the image panel.

Okay, hope y'all have a fabulous day! I'm still working on that huge data entry project. I can't believe this is something I ever enjoyed. Earlier in my life, I was a proof operator for a bank and remembered it as one of the funnest jobs I ever had. Blech! Now I can't even imagine the sheer torture of sitting in front of one of those machines day after day encoding the routing numbers on all those checks. LOL! I'd SO rather be stamping! :)

RAKS & Awards

Hey Everyone! I'm cruising right along with my data entry project. Haven't had time to stamp, so I thought I'd take some time to share some of the amazing cards I've received in the last month or so. I'm so terrible at getting these posted in a timely manner, but I truly do get all giddy every time I come back from the mailbox with a handmade card. I set them out all over the house and smile each time I walk by them. Thanks to everyone who takes that extra time to send a smile my way!

First off, I'd like to thank Paula {Paula Ponders}, Maria {Scraps by M} and Cindy{The Scrappy Chick} for selecting me for the Arte y Pico You Make My Day award. I am now supposed to give it to 5 blogs that I think “deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and that also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.” There are so many deserving blogs out there, and I'm sure most of you have already received this award, but I'll name my top new-to-me "blog crushes" right now.

1. MishMash
2. Jennifer's Sweet Designs
3. iSTAMP
4. Paper, Ink, Scissors & Stamps
5. Zany Not Crazy


Okay now on to the RAK's.....First up is this fabulous surprise that landed in my mailbox this week. Heather sent me this with the sweetest little note. She's an avid blog reader and remembered a post I wrote a while back about my "thing" for Hello Kitty. So she bought this ADORABLE Hello Kitty candy dispenser and sent it my way. Isn't that just the sweetest? It even has a little roll of Hello Kitty stickers that dispense around the base HK is sitting on! Don't you wish you had one? And the card Heather sent is just beautiful. She used Swirly Stars and the bling and embellishments are just lovely. Thanks so much Heather!

Next is this beautiful card by Bobbi G. She won Thankful Blossoms a while back and sent me the first card she made with the set. The yellows and pinks are just gorgeous in person. Thanks so much Bobbi!

This card from Squirrellyshirley uses the Pattern of Friendship retired set from SU! I love this set and Shirley always makes these ladies just jump for joy. Such a lovely card, Shirl! Thanks for brightening my day!

The next card is from Karrie. It came at a really low point for me and has been sitting on my desk cheering me up for about a month. Has it really been that long? Anyways, Karrie shares my love of coffee and this card is just perfection. Karrie will you come stamp with me and teach me all your secrets? ;)

This card is from Carole and is just exquisite. This card is just dripping with sparkle and charisma. Can a card have charisma? Well, if it's Carole's it can! Both the card and its giver are total smile makers! :)

This beautiful silhouette card using Serenity came from Charmaine. This card just takes my breath away. It's so soft and striking all at the same time. Charmaine has such a knack for making one layer cards, but she's also fabulous at making whimsically fun cards too, like in this second card she sent. This one uses the sketch from the Honored Guest Contest going on right now. I love the cute little birdie paper she used and the pink polka dotted wing on the birdie is just precious. This card definitely makes me smile. Thanks so much Charmaine!

The next card is from Amy S. This card used the first Verve sketch challenge and is absolutely stunning in person. Amy's cards are sophisticated, crisp and perfectly embellished, and this card is classic Amy. Her note was so eloquently written, and seeing this card in person just blew me away. Thanks so much Amy!

The next card came from my good friend, Cindy Brockes. She hadn't stamped in about 6 months and went online to check out my mojo sketches and made a few cards to send out. Her cards are always fabulous and this one is no exception. This little cat just cracks me up. She's definitely missed here in the stamping world! Thanks Cindy - it totally lifted my spirits to receive this card!

The last card is a fantastic little card from Colleen. She used this card to demonstrate a technique to her class on My Creative Classroom. I just love the way the yellow looks on the navy. Such a classy card, Colleen. It was so cool to hear from you! Thanks so much for brightening my day! :)

Double Take

Hey everyone! Today I'm sharing with you two cards I made a week or so ago. I think, but I'm not positive, that they were my attempts at a sample card for what was going to be last week's mojo sketch, but I decided to change it up and go with a different sketch. (My memory does fail me from time to time, so if this is your sketch, please let me know.) I don't think it was, since I was looking for something easy for a swap card, and I always try to create my own layouts for swaps. Anyways, neither of these two cards really floated my boat so I ended up going with a different design.

Both cards use Thankful Blossoms (Still out of stock - hopefully it will be arriving next week.) and the only difference is a color change and flipping the sketch. The Apricot/Ruby Red combination was inspired by the Wild Saffron (K & Co) paper I used. The apricot layer is embossed with the Paisley cuttlebug folder and I used Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon.

The second card uses SU! Soft Sky Prints paper and some Pink satin ribbon. Colors are Purely Pomegranate and Pretty in Pink and the background layer is embossed with the Swiss Dots CB folder.

Okey dokey, that's all for today. I have a huge data entry project I have to finish by Monday and it will probably take me every last second to complete it, so I'm not sure how much stamping I'll get to share with you this week.

Oh, and just a reminder about the Vervalicious Inspiration Challenge. Entries are due by April 22, and a random winner will receive $15 in Verve Bucks to spend at Verve so get those entries in! And check out the daily posts by the design team to see the fabulous projects they've created from this inspiration piece.

Mojo Madness Winners & Slide Show

This month's Mojo Madness Honors go to...

Deb N. of Paper, Ink, Scissors & Stamps for this wild little number. I love all the different elements on this card. There's so much to look at , but it all looks cohesive and definitely takes a walk on the wild side. Just marvelous, Deb!


Nancy R. of iSTAMP for this mojolicious card. This card is just beautiful. I love the way she did the ribbon with the side embellishment, and the hardware really seemed to be the perfect accent to this elegant baby boy card. Every detail looks well thought out and classy.

So, congrats Deb and Nancy!!! Email me your addresses and your choice of Verve Visual stamp set and I'll get your goodies on their way! Thanks everyone for playing, I love seeing your work! The judging was SO HARD this week. With so many fabulous entries, I definitely have to weed out some fantastic cards on technicalities during the judging process. Generally, sketches should be used as inspiration, and you should feel free to go wherever you want to with them. If you've read my blog for long, you know that I am rarely able to follow a sketch to a T. However if you're looking to win the contest, being true to the sketch is important. Here's a few tips for keeping your card in the running...

  • Be sure to be on time with your upload.
  • Be true to the sketch. If one panel drops below another panel, make sure that your card does the same. Some movement is allowed (you can flip the sketch and turn it into a square, and slightly move pieces to accommodate the size of your image), but for instance, on this sketch, centering the two panels vertically on each other or moving the horizontal band so it is positioned further down than the top panel significantly changes the sketch, and therefore disqualified some entries.
  • Include all major pieces of the sketch. Unless a piece says it's optional, every part of the sketch should be included in your card.
  • Link a good sized photo with good lighting. If I can't see it, I can't choose it.

Don't forget to check out all of the fantastic entries in the slide show below. They're truly stunning.




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!

Mojo Monday Week #33

Happy Monday Everyone! Hope y'all had a great weekend. I actually got a little stamping in and we had fantastic weather, so I'm refreshed and ready to start another week! I'll be back a little later with the mojo winners. There were a few entries that were uploaded to SCS and hadn't been approved (no upload Sundays), so I haven't been able to view them yet.

Here's this week's mojo sketch - it's a square card, which is one of my favorite types of cards to make. They're just so cute and you can make them whatever size you want. I usually do 4.25 x 4.25" so they fit in a regular sized envelope, but 5.25" squared is a really good size if you have a bigger image you're working with.

Okay, you know the drill... 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 Mojo33, so we can see everyone's mojoliciousness all in one happy place.

I was feeling a little behind since I hadn't had a chance to participate in either of the TCP Tuesday challenges yet, so I combined week 1 (TCP colors - pink, yellow & black) with week 2 (Big or Little Sprinkle). Now honestly, I'm not a big yellow fan, so I was kind of hesitant to do this color challenge. But then I saw this week's hideous SCS color challenge (Glorious Green, Real Red and Night of Navy) and suddenly this color combination was looking downright gorgeous! LOL! :) I actually LOVE how this card turned out, and the yellow adds just the right amount of sass and splash.

I started by stamping Big Sprinkle (who's releasing in photopolymer very, very soon!) on Bright White Pearlized Cardstock in Versafine Onyx Black and then coloring her collar and nose with a Copic Marker. I stamped the Think Drink thought bubble and then trimmed a box around Sprinkle and the outline of the Thought bubble. I then stamped Think Drink again on Pretty in Pink and popped up over the original thought bubble. Matted with Yoyo Yellow, Pretty in Pink and a Black Scallop Rectangle. I used the Small Circle Snowflake for a background on one yellow panel and then stamped the Naughty? sentiment on the other yellow panel. The Pretty in Pink base is stamped with the Small Circle Snowflake in Pretty in Pink and then I added piercing all around. To jazz it up a bit I added all sorts of doodling to showcase Sprinkle.

Shoebox Swap

This morning I went to a Splitcoast stampers shoebox swap get together for my area. It was a blast! I must admit morning is not my best time for stamping, and it definitely took me about an hour to wake up, but after that I was on a roll and having a ball getting to know Jacksonbelle and chatting with Rachel from Hope Stamps Eternal and the rest of the SWISS (Southwest Idaho Shoebox Swap) Gang. These girls are a hoot to hang out with! I always struggle coming up with my swap card - it has to be something that's relatively easy to mass produce, looks good, and takes less than 10 minutes to assemble. For once my stamping supplies smiled upon me and this swap card came together in a snap. I really love the way it turned out, and since I took the whole Happy Thoughts set, people could customize the sentiment they wanted to add to make the card their own. YAY!

What's in the Card:
Stamps: Happy Thoughts, Thankful Blossoms (Verve Visual)
Paper: Soft Sky & Close to Cocoa Prints, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Ink: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Close to cocoa
Accessories: Nestabilities square dies, Quickie glue pen, glass bauble

Smiling Embrace

Hey there everyone! Sorry I've been MIA. My migraines have returned for another impromptu/unwelcome visit. Today the pressure isn't so bad, so as long as I make this short and get off the computer right away, I might have a chance at keeping Mr. Migraine at bay today. This card is something I whipped up this morning. I've had this Michelle Wooderson sketch printed and sitting on my desk all week, and finally decided to just dive in.

I used my new favorite set, Embrace Life by SU! I started by stamping the cherry blossom image on 7/8" square punches and then coloring with Copic markers. I matted on Ruby Red Extra Jumbo Scallop Square punches and then added a little Stardust Stickels and set aside. Next I stamped the blossom again randomly across a 2" strip of white cardstock. In hindsight I wish I had used Blush Blossom, but it's too late now! :) I then colored the flowers iwth Copics and then overstamped the panel in Blush Blossom with the Linen Background and lightly sponged the edges with Blush Blossom ink. I used a small corner rounder for the scalloped edge on the Ginger Blossoms dp panel (embossed with the Swiss Dots CB folder) and then sewed the blossoms strip to a Blush Blossom card bases stamped with Linen. If I hadn't been so lazy, I would have changed the thread to white thread, but that would have required winding a new bobbin, and rethreading the needle, which just wasn't going to happen with my headache. I stamped the dotted frame and sending you smiles sentiment from Thoughtful Florals in Ruby Red and then punched out with the Word Window punch. I added a small cut out blossom for a little accent in the corner. Finished off with two Foof-A-La buttons tied with DMC floss, and then added some accents with a white gel pen.

Okey dokey, hope y'all have a fantastic weekend. I'm still reeling from Michael Johns getting voted off - what was American thinking, anyway? He's not my overall favorite to win the whole thing, but he definitely didn't deserve to go home this week! Okay, off my soapbox... Julee OUT! :)

Double the Fun

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today starts this month's Verve Project Parade Challenge. This month we have an inspiration challenge for you. Check out the Verve Blog for details about how you can play along and have a chance to win some Verve Bucks.

The inspiration piece is a collection of gorgeous pillows. I felt so inspired I made two cards for the challenge. The first card is basically my interpretation of the top left pillow in the bunch. It's a little different from my usual style of stamping, but I was just having so much fun with the vines and leaves from Thankful Blossoms that I just let myself run wild a bit. All stamps are from Thankful Blossoms. I stamped in Taken with Teal and Always Artichoke on Soft Sky paper. Next I cut out a few stamped flowers and then layered thm on the panel fro some dimension. I added sparkle with a mixture of Diamond glaze and Dazzling Diamonds on the open petals of the flowers. To finish I added some white dots around all the taken with teal leaves and petals with a Signo white gel pen. Each flower center is finished with a clear rhinestone. I really love how it turned out, although I had a really difficult time trying to photograph the card!

The second card is completely different. I was inspired by the yellow and turquoise color combination and also the swirls in the pillows. I started with a white square of cardstock and stamped the bird from Anniversary Birds in Versafine Onyx Black. I wanted him to look like he was walking on some billowy clouds, so I stamped the solid swirl heart from Heart to Heart below him in Cool Caribbean. Next I masked the heart tops with copy paper (super easy to do, since the heart exactly fits the Marvy Super Jumbo heart punch) and then brayered So Saffron over the rest of the panel. I then stamped the birdy twice, once on the aqua K & Co. paper and once on the Saffron K & Co. paper, then cut out the body and the wing and paper pieced them onto the brayered panel. Next I inked up just the Wild Thing and stamped it in Onyx Black above the birdy. This panel is matted on a Nestabilities scallop square. The squares are all from K & Company paper, and I added some dots around each square with a black glaze pen. I finished off with Stardust Stickles on the clouds and then matted the whole thing on a 4" square card base.

Hope you enjoy the challenge! :) Be sure to check the Verve Blog for more details, and for daily posts from the design team sharing their inspiration projects.

Blushing Embrace

Hey Everyone! I've got a Stampin' Up! card for you today. I just love this Embrace Life set and am so happy I finally broke down and purchased it. Usually by the time I decide to buy a set I've seen so many cards made with the set already that once it arrives I'm totally stuck and can't think of anything original to do with it. That's not the case with this set. I just love it!

Today's card started out as Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the week. My dimensions went awry somewhere in the making of the card, so it doesn't look exactly like the sketch, but it still has all the basic "bones" in the right places. I decided to make it a little smaller than a usual card (not for any real reason other than that's what felt right at the time). So this card is 5.25" x 3.75" I started by stamping the blossoms from Embrace Life in Versafine Onyx Black on Classic Cream. I then colored with Copic markers. I stamped another blossom off the page and added the sentiment for the bottom cream panel. Next I stamped the blossoms again all over a piece of Blush Blossom in Pretty in Pink and then colored with a Copic marker. I slid three ribbon sliders from the Styled Silver Hodgpepodge kit onto Vanilla Taffeta. Then the sliders looked a little empty so I glued three 1/4" hole punches of Blush Blossom in the centers of each slider and then covered with a generous amount of Stardust Stickles. I really like the look.

Okey dokey. Short & sweet today, peeps. Hope you have a fabulous day! :)

Mojo Monday Week #32 - Mojo Madness CONTEST

It's the first Monday in APRIL, so that means it's time for another Mojo Madness Contest! Just make a card using this sketch and leave a comment on this post with a link to your project by Sunday, April 13 at 8 PM Eastern. Once all the entries are in, I'll pick the TWO entries that I think are the mojo-est of them all. Those two winners will each receive their choice of ANY Verve Visual set! Sound like fun? Well, let's get started! If you upload your cards to SCS, please use keyword Mojo32 (no space between Mojo and 32) so we can see them in one place.

You can add any kind of shape or embellishment you want for the star. I chose the butterfly from Thankful Blossoms for my sample card. This card came together super quickly. I started by picking my colors to go with the Spring Branch Crate Paper. I puleed out my Serenity set and stamped the flower and The Joy of the Lord is my strength sentiement in Vintage Violet. I then lightly highlighted with a Copic Marker and sponged around the edges of the panel with Vintage Violet Ink. I stamped the butterfly in Versafine Vintage Sepia so it would be off the panel and then stamped the butterfly again on the blue paper, cut out and popped up over the stamped butterfly. Both the bule and the orangish yellow paper are the backsides of papers from the Spring Branch collection and are matted on Vintage Violet cardstock. For a little sparkle I added a bit of Diamond Glaze mixed with Dazzling Diamonds to the butterfly wings on the patterned paper as well as the popped up butterfly wings. The back blue panel is embossed with the birds & vines Cuttlebug folder. To finish I added three clear Dew Drops to the side.

And to start your week off right, check out the 58 fabulous entries for last week's challenge. These gals are just rockin' the sketches lately!



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How?

Hey everyone! Happy Friday!!!!

I haven't had time to stamp, but I thought I'd pop on and share a card I made a little while back for The Cat's Pajamas. This one was my original inspiration for the Verve Visual Sketch Contest that is going on right now. Sometimes I just play and then create a sketch from the finished product, and other times I sketch out a layout and make a card to fit it. Both ways seems to work for me, although I usually prefer starting with a sketch so I don't have to think too much while I'm creating.

The stamps are all from the Havin' A Pow-Wow set. Aren't these penguins just too much fun? I started by stamping them in Versafine Onyx Black and then coloring with Copic markers. I also sketched in a little sand for them to be standing in and then sketched a little border around the panel to give it a Southwestern feel. Next I stamped the cactus, colored with Copic markers, cut out and popped up on dimensionals over the panel, to give a little more depth to the project. Next I stamped the penguins again and cut one out to glue on the How? panel. All cardstock is from paper Accents. To finish off I added a bit of sparkle to the feathers on the headdress with Diamond Glaze and glitter.

Okey dokey, hope y'all have a fantastic weekend. I see my accountant tomorrow morning, so hopefully I'll be able to finish pulling everything else together today. Seems like I still have a mountain of stuff to do, but such is the fate of a procrastinator! LOL!

Tweet

Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm still working on pulling all my reports together for taxes. I think I've done more stalling than actually working on the reports, though. Isn't it always the case that when you don't want to do something, you can find a million other things that "need" to be done right away? Like updating my blogroll, dusting in between the keys on my keyboard, trying to locate the cat's brush for a long overdue grooming session.... you get the picture? LOL

I did take a small break from all those "important" things to make a card, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I started with this great sketch that Sarah posted on her blog. She's celebrating her 1 year blogging anniversary with three days of challenges. I pulled out my brand new Tweet stamp from Pink Cat Studio and stamped her twice in Versafine Vintage Sepia. Isn't she cute? Next I colored her with Copic markers and then cut out a wing and the tailfeathers of the second stamped image and tried the paper tole technique - popping those pieces up on dimensionals. All of the paper is from the gorgeous new Blue Hill collection by Crate Paper. I pierced some holes around the two panels and then sponged them lightly with Vintage Sepia.

The sentiment is from the You made me smile today stamp from the Verve Thankful Blossoms set and I used a Chocolate Chip marker to just ink up the smile portion of the sentiment. Next I highlighted around the sentiment with a grey Copic marker and then around the rest of the circle with an aqua Copic marker. I pierced some holes around the circle, sponged with Vintage Sepia and matted on more Blue Hill paper. For some pizazz I finished off with some Stardust Stickles accents, a little American Crafts ribbon, and then matted on a Close to Cocoa card base.

Mojo A Go-Go

Happy Wednesday! Seriously? Wednesday already and I'm just now getting my sample card for Mojo Monday done? Well, there's lots going on here and I've got taxes "hanging over my head" right now. And taxes + mojo does not equal crazy delicious! :) So here's my right brain's meager attempt at the sketch, while my left brain is sucking up all the good juices worrying about taxes. In hind sight I should have made some different layering choices to make the scallop circle pop a bit more... and who knows what I was thinking when I pulled out the chocolate ribbon? Probably just laziness since it was already on my desk. But chocolate goes with everything, right???

Nothing here was rocket science. DP is Ginger Blossoms from SU! and the stamps are from the Embrace Life set. I stamped in Ruby Red and then colored with Copic markers. On the Ruby Red panel, I stamped the leafy stamp and then colored in with a Ruby Red marker. Just enough of the edges are sponged with Close to Cocoa to make it look odd that they all aren't. LOL! I stamped an extra blossom sprig and trimmed four blossoms and adhered them on micro pop dots for a little dimension. Added a few piercings under the sentiment and around the scallop. I added a few dots to the DP with a Ruby Red marker and then made the befuddling choice to mat the whole thing on a Cameo Coral card base. Still not sure why I picked that one - it definitely makes the Groovy Guava look washed out. I guess you can just call me Simon today - because I think this card is quite forgettable. LOL!

Hope the mojo bug strikes you with something spectacular today. I'll be thinking of y'all while I'm up to my elbows in receipts.

Verve Sketch

Hey everyone! Happy April! We've got some exciting thingss going on over at Verve. First up, we have a new Sketch contest that starts today. Click—>HERE <—- for all the details! Here's my card using the sketch. You can check out the Verve Gallery to see what everyone on the design team did with the sketch. The winner of the contest gets to be the June Guest Designer for Verve, so be sure and give it a go.

In addition to the contest, we have four new uber-talented designers joining the Verve Visual design team!! Make sure you check out these blogs to give them a warm welcome:
Carole
Laura
Susan
Amy

Card Details:
Stamps: Thankful Blossoms, Wonderful Wishes Remixed (Verve Visual)
Paper: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery (SU!), Fleuriste Collection (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum (SU!)
Accessories: Signo white gel pen, Stardust Stickles, Robin's Nest Men's Dew Drops