Monochramatic and Loving It

The Thursday Throwdown Challenge last week on Colleen's blog was to make a card using only one color (plus neutrals). Well, as you can imagine, I haven't had a whole lot of time for stamping lately so these ATC's are just perfect for a quick little something. I've even started just mounting them on a 2.5" x 3.5" card base and enclosing them as a little notecard because I haven't had any REAL creative time for a while.

I started with a scrap of Au Chocolat paper and added some Diamond Glaze/Glitter mixture to jazz up some of the flowers. Next I stamped the You Inspire Me sentiment from the Verve Visual Thoughtful Phrases set in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla and cut out with my Creative Memories Oval Cutting Syste4m. I added some dots around the edges with a Chocolate Chip marker and matted on a Super Jumbo Scallop oval punch in Chocolate Chip. I then used the horizontal slot punch to make a ribbon slider and wrapped some Chocolate grosgrain around the edges of the patterned paper. I finished off with two photo corners made from a Mega scalloped square punch and some more glitter mixture to accent. Everything is on a Chocolate Chip ATC base. I took the pic when the glitter wasn't quite dry so it looks quite a bit less blobby in real life!

A Very Punchy Card

I think I used 6 punches on this card! It all started with me wanting to use up some scraps of Spring Showers paper. The Hero Arts Doodle Leaf Flower was stamped on Very Vanilla and colored wiht a Chocolate Chip marker and blender pen. I then sponged around the circle with Close to Cocoa ink and added sparkle with Diamond Glaze/Crystal Glitter mixture. I then added dots around the inner circle with a Chocolate Chip marker. Next I matted on a Chocolate Chip Mega Scallop circle punch and then a Bashful Blue Giga Scallop circle pundh. The corners are done with the EK Success photo corner punch and the sentiment is from the Verve Visual Thoughtful Phrases set and stamped on Spring Showers paper and punched out with the word window punch. I then matted it with a section of a Mega Scallop square punch and pierced holes along the top and bottom edges. To finish off I added some Soft Subtles brads and a few faux stitch marks around the outer edges of the card.

I had such a crazy weekend! After spending all of Saturday trying to fix a seriously fatal flaw in the shopping cart I've been building for Verve, it got scrapped at abot 2:00 AM Sunday morning. Hubby and I sat in front of the computer, setting up an entirely new cart with a different provider until about 4:30 AM and then were back at it for another 15 or so hours yesterday! I'm so sick of computers right now! All in all, the switch is a good thing because the new provider is way more reliable and has free tech support. But I definitely wouldn't suggest starting over from scratch 3 days before you launch! Hubby is so, so sweet - he gave up his entire weekend to help me, which means he didn't get to study for his Software Engineering final he takes this afternoon. I don't know what I'd ever do without him.

I've Flipped for ATC's

Today's post is another little ATC. I'm just having a blast with these little cards. The stamps are from The Cat's Pajamas summer line. I just love these adorable little flip flops. Cardstock is Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip and is Cuttlebugged with the D'Vine Swirls folder. I added a little Diamond Glaze/Glitter mixture to the flip flops and around the Super Jumbo Scallop Oval. Easy, breezy, beautiful! LOL!

Okay, so I'll leave you with some mindless fun for the weekend. Lots of people have been doing this NEEDS thing on their blogs, and it's pretty funny so I had to check it out. Basically I googled "Julee needs" and then took the top 10 links and listed what I need. Evidently there's something I should know, because a few of these had a common theme!

1. Julee needs money to jump-start her business. (How True!!!) LOL!
2. Julee needs a sports field because she's concerned about providing youth a place to play soccer. (I'm a little more concerned about providing youth with a good education than a soccer field, but I'm all for sports, too.)
3. Julee needs maternity clothing. (Um, not that I know of!)
4. Julee needs real estate in Sacremento. (That would be SWEET! Then I could pop in and stamp with Lisa - I heard she has a hot tub!)
5. Julee needs to conserve energy. (Yes, I expend it faster than I can make it!)
6. Julee needs to have everything lined up in a row. (This is EERILY true! I have to have things symmetrical.)
7. The world needs more of Julee. (Oh, yeah!!!)
8. Julee needs to finish the dad-blasted GINGER project. (I have NO IDEA what that is and was too scared to click the link!)
9. Julee needs an OBGYN in Kentucky. (Hmmm... never been to Kentucky.)
10. Julee needs a Baby CD for her delivery. (Again with the maternity? Julee's all over the world must be having babies!)

One of THOSE Days

You know those days when you feel like you'd have been better off just staying in bed? Well, that was yesterday for me. First I'll tell you about the card, then if you feel like wallowing with me in self-pity you can read the highlights of the day. :)

Today's card uses another sentiment from the Thoughtful Phrases Verve Visual set. I stamped the tulips from Both Ways Blossoms on Conqueror White cardstock and colored in with Prismacolor penicls and Gamsol. I then added some flecks from Itty Bitty Backgrounds in Creamy Caramel. The background uses the Palette O' Prints paper in Certainly Celery and Rose Red. I matted the image on Basic Black and then punched completely through with my Word Window punch and stamped the Sending You Smiles sentiment on the patterned paper so it would show through. I added a few dots down the diagonals with a Black Glaze pen, some Stickles accents on the flowers, and a rhinestone flower from JoAnn's.

Just a few highlights from yesterday:

1. Decided to install a font manager so I could go through the 2500 fonts that were installed on my computer and making it run very slowly. After deactivating over 1,000 fonts, I closed the program. Well, somehow, even though I meticulously went through and double-checked that I hadn't unchecked the system fonts the program deactivated all the system fonts for my computer, which basically means - nothing will run! I was in a continuous error loop until I finally got back into the program (2 hours later) and was able to restore the system fonts! Uggh!

2. Decided to work a little on the Verve Visual shopping cart. I finally figured out where I needed to go to change something that's been bothering me for a while. And of course, as luck would have it, fixing that one thing broke 50 others! Arrggh! I spent several hours writing little snippets of code to update almost 50 individual files to fix it!

3. Started making dinner. Put the salmon in the oven, the side dish in the pan. Set the timer for the salmon and decided to run up to my studio to get the kitchen timer for the side dish. Once upstairs I forgot about the timer and grabbed another pile of laundry. Needless to say, the dish was scorched when the timer for the salmon finally went off!

4. After a day like that, I thought I deserved some Marie Callendar's Coconut Cream Pie that we bought for my birthday. Went to pull it out of the fridge and the lid came off in my hands, the pan dropped to the floor and the entire pie landed on the bottom of the fridge and surrounding floor. And trust me...cleaning up a cream pie is not a fun experience!

Bring It On!

Wow! You gals brought it for my fast and furious sketch challenge! There were 20 entries- pretty awesome for a less than 24 hour challenge in the middle of the week. My little digital buddy Random.org chose lucky #4 this time, so the winner of the challenge is Mistylynn! Congrats Misty - email me your address and I'll get your pre-release of the new set in the mail. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a slideshow of all the entries.

Thanks to all of you for the kind words of encouragement and birthday wishes yesterday. Reading all the comments was so much fun! I'm so excited about what's in store at Verve Visual. In answer to a question I've been getting, my stamps will be available as unmounted sheets of red rubber. Although the quality of clear acrylic stamps has improved greatly in the past year or so, I want the best impression EVERY time, so I chose red rubber.

I had an awesome birthday. Hubby was so sweet and bought me the 80GB Black video iPod I've been dreaming about all year, so now it doesn't have to stick out like a sore thumb amongst all our other black audio equipment. I was so surprised, and he even had the back engraved....

Julee, You ROCK my world!!!

Love, Mark

Isn't that the sweetest? Such a clever guy I married. Just had to brag on him a bit, because he is the bestest. Today's card is a little ATC I made. I'm totally hooked on ATC's now. I bought the on-board ATC book before it retired, now I just need to find some time to alter it so I can start collecting! The patterned paper on the card is from the Pink Martini Flirtini line. I added a mixture of Diamond Glaze and Art Institute Crystal Glitter to each of the polka dots for the extra SPARKLE I love and also did a few sparkles on each of the scallops of the oval. Little Sprinkle (The Cat's Pajamas) is stamped in Ancient Page Coal black and highlighed with purple and green Stardust Gel Pens. The extra jumbo scallop oval punch (I was lucky enough to find the last one at the LSS this weekend) is Night of Navy and the the horizontal scallop border is made with my Fiskars scallop scissors. The you make me smile sentiment is from Thoughtful Phrases (Verve Visual). This little ATC also qualifies for Colleen's Play It Again Sam Thursday Throwdown challenge from last week to use an old favorite layout. This is actually adapted from this card I used as my sample for Blogger Bingo Sketch 3. I just love layouts that always deliver- and this is one of those for me.

Oh - I almost forgot - Michele over at Purple Onion Designs is having an Anniversary sale. All of her stamps are at least 25% off and some even more! She is a super classy business owner and has some awesome designs, so head on over.

Here's a slideshow of all the sketch challenge entries. Enjoy!

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!

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's my birthday, and I've got some BIG news to share with y'all. I mean this one's HUGE, so be sure you're sitting down! :) One year ago today I quit my corporate job, with the dream of staying home and finding a way to never have to go back to the corporate rat race. Well, big things have been happening behind the scenes here in my little corner of the world, and today I'm announcing the start of my new venture.... Verve Visual! Have you heard of it? I've got a few FABULOUS gals on my Design Team that have been giving out some sneak peeks, so I know that at least a few of you know what I'm talking about. But for the rest of you... Verve Visual is a new online craft store, complete with it's own line of rubber stamps designed by Yours Truly! How exciting is that???

The store will be launching August 1, so there's only one more week of waiting. In the meantime, if you haven't already... meander on over to Verve Visual and sign up for the mailing list so you won't miss out on any of the launch festivities!

So without further adieu, here's my card for today. It uses the first stamp release from Verve Visual, Thoughtful Phrases, which will be available for purchase next Wednesday! The background is Cool Caribbean stamped with Fancy Pants stamps in Ancient Page Coal Black. The paisley is from the Technique Tuesday Paisley stamp set and the flower circle is embossed with a Cuttlebug flower embossing folder and then I used the debossed side and traced the imprints with a Clear Stardust gel pen. The paisley stamp is colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol and the the frame is hand-drawn. Lastly I stamped the Sending You Smiles sentiment from the Thoughtful Phrases Verve Visual set. This card is 4.25" square on a Basic Black card base.

Okay, in honor of my birthday, I have a fast and furious challenge for any of you who have time to make a card today. Make a card using the above sketch and link me to your card or email me a photo of your card before midnight Mountain Time tonight and I'll pick a random winner to receive a pre-release of the Thoughtful Phrases set. This one's only for those with US or Canada addresses, so a big pre-emptive I'm sorry to my foreign friends. :(

This has been a fabulous mail week for me, so I have a couple more RAKs to share with y'all. The first is a gorgeous birthday card from Colleen over at Distinctive Touches. I absolutely fell in love with this card and the alcohol inks background when I saw it on her blog, and now I have it here in my grubby little paws to ooh and ahhh over. She stamped the flourishes on acetate, and it just looks divine in person. Thanks so much Colleen!

The second card is a pretty little birthday wish from Deb (craftyturtle) over at Life Out of the Shell. I love the mixture of stamps, backgrounds, and the monochramatic color scheme. Thanks for thinking of my Deb!

ATC Card and RAKS!

Hello out there in blogland! I actually took a little time to stamp today, so I thought I'd pop in and show you my creation. I started with Beate's Weekend Sketch #11, and since I just got my fabulous Super Jumbo Scalloped Oval punch last weekend, I decided to do the sketch in ATC form.

The papers are all from the Carnival collection by Crate Paper. The flower and leaf is from an adorable little Studio G set that Charmaine sent me. I stamped in Only Orange on Pearlized White paper and then stamped the leaves in Certainly Celery on Certainly Celery. I doodled a little sketched frome around a white oval cut with my Creative Memories Circle Cutting System and matted on a super jumbo scalloped oval punch. I added sparkle with a mixture of Diamond Glaze and Dazzling Diamonds and added a piece of May Arts ribbon. The print above and below are rub-ons from 7 Gypsies.
Of course, once I was done, I decided I needed to make it into a card, so I added a few more mats and a Penny Black sentiment on and Only Orange 4.25" square card base.

I got a darling get well card from Dottie K. I'm really wishing I had me some bunny slippers, like Miss Bella. Thanks for the lovely card, images and get well wishes, Dottie! Your card is beautiful.

I also got an awesome little package from Shannan. Give this gal a Rubber Romance stamp (or any stamp for that matter) and she makes magic! What a gorgeous card! I love absolutely every detail. And she also included one of her ATC's I've been oohing and ahhing over on her blog. And then....a spool of the now retired (*sniff*) 1/4" Chocolate Grosgrain ribbon! YAY! What a doll! Thanks Shannan, you're the bestest!!!

Sketch 3 Winner and Slideshow!

I've been trying to take it easy, so I don't have anything new to share with y'all. I went to the DMV today to renew my driver's license, and the sad day has finally arrived....after almost 32 years of having naturally golden blonde hair, they classified me as "sandy" blonde! *sniff* For some reason that depressed me even more than the horrendous mug shot I will now live with for the next 8 years! LOL!

There were 50 fabulous entries in the Blogger Bingo Sketch 3 challenge, so here's a slideshow for you to feast your eyes on. I numbered the entries in the order I received them and then used Random.org to generate the lucky number 13. So congrats to Dottie K. for winning the third Bingo sketch contest! Dottie will receive a package of paper and matching ribbon. Yay, Dottie!

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!

Candy Bees

A while back, Kim B. posted a challenge on her blog for the first four people who wanted to alter a candy container she had. I like to alter things, so I decided to take her up on the challenge, but when I got the container I kind of had a "what in the world was I thinking" moment. What on earth was I going to do with this container? So the container has sat on my desk mocking me for almost a month until I just decided to dive in this weekend. I knew I wanted lots of color (specifically so I could have a reason to buy M&Ms! LOL! Any excuse for chocolate, right?), so I pulled out this fun American Crafts paper and got to work.

I stamped the Bee Happy Topper from Stampendous on the American Crafts paper and then again on Conqueror White cardstock. I prismacolored the bees and flower, and then cut them out and pieced on the striped paper. All circles were cut with the Creative Memories Circle Cutting System and I added some paper piercings around the Night of Navy Mat. The outer circle is Cranberry Crisp. Next I used a Quickie Glue Pen and some Dazzling Diamonds to add glitter sparkle to the wings, dots and outline of the circles on the patterned paper. Then, since you can never have too much sparkle, I cut up some rhinestone patches I got on clearance at JoAnn's to line the outer edge of the lid.

The side of the container has four separate compartments, so I did each side with a different color mat around a strip of the patterned paper. The colors I chose were Cranberry Crisp, Old Olive, Night of Navy and Cool Caribbean. To finish off I added some Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon tied in a knotted bow around the top of each compartment.

I was pretty proud of myself for finishing well before the July 25 deadline, until I realized that everyone else had theirs done at least a week ago! One more victory for the last minute stamper! :)

Thanks again for all the well wishes. My mouth seems to be doing better. Only 1/2 of it hurts now, so I guess I'm in 1/2 the pain I was in last week! I received three more gorgeous RAKs this weekend. Check it out....

The first card is from Michelle of Michelle's Stamping Room. I love how the little candle part is a mini card that folds out for a secret birthday greeting -- it's like 2 cards in one! Thanks Michelle!

The second card is a get well card from Selina (stampinselina on SCS). I just love how she stamped the Big Blossom tone on tone and then layered another Big Blossom on top. And the stitching and button are so cute! Thanks so much Selina!

The third card is a birthday card from Nancy of Seaside Creativity. I just love how easy Cuttlebug backgrounds make it to make beautiful cards. The background and color combo on this card is just gorgeous. Thanks for thinking of my Nancy!

Blogger Bingo Winner!

Congratulations to Paula!

She's the winner of Beach Blogger Bingo Round 5, filling her entire card when B8 was called. She wins this Memory Box In the Garden stamp set.

So I'm going to take a little Bingo break for a bit. I've had a blast seeing all your cards, and have been amazed by all the participation. You gals ROCK! Please hold on to your Bingo cards, though. I've been approached by someone who wants to sponsor some more Bingo in August with some fantastic prizes!!! Yay! For those of you who haven't had a chance to do Sketch 3 yet, I'll accept sketches for the Sketch 3 drawing until this Sunday July 22 at 10:00PM Mountain time. I'll announce the winner of the sketch challenge on Monday!

My oral surgery recovery is slow going. I can't believe it's already been a week and I'm STILL in pain. Today has been the least amount of pain the whole week, though, so I think it's going to be okay. So maybe I'll be able to rustle up some projects in the studio this weekend. For now, I'll share with you some awesome RAK's that I received yesterday!

The first is a birthday gift from Charmaine. She is just the sweetest! She sent me this gorgeous birthday card and hand-crafted notepad holder and matching pen. She has an awesome tutorial on how to make it on her blog. She also included some word stickers and an adorable Studio G set I hadn't seen before. The butterfuly totally reminds me of the new Garden Whimsy set. What a haul! Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness Charmaine - you made my day!

The second card is a totally awesome get well card by Melody (lacyquilter on SCS). I laughed out loud when I pulled this tooth card out of the envelope. It's just darling! The sponging on the tooth and band-aid give it so much depth - it looks like a real band-aid. What a hoot! Thanks Melody!

The third RAK is an adorable birthday card from Diane (dd2njoy). Such a great mix of flowers and colors. Bella even has a darling little flower in her hair. I feel so spoiled to get such lovely handmade cards - my sister is so jealous everytime she walks into my house and sees all the RAKs. Anyways, thanks for sending me a birthday wish, Diane!

A Double Challenge

Yesterday I slept almost the entire day, and I think I might have finally turned the corner around midnight. As of right now, the pain is manageable and I feel better than I have all week. Yay! Hopefully things just keep improving.

Since I was feeling better, I wanted to sit down and get a jump on a few cards that I need to make for family members. This card works for both the color challenge and sketch challenge on SCS this week. I started by stamping the birthday cake from a Studio G clear $1 set in black and coloring in with Not Quite Navy, Mellow Moss and Bordering Blue Markers. I then did a wash around the inside of the border with a Bordering Blue watercolor crayon and an aquapainter. I stamped happy from So Very in Not Quite Navy on Bordering Blue cardstock and then pierced around the edges of the strips.

The background is Mellow Moss stamped with Linograph in the same color ink and then run through the Cuttlebug with the Happy Birthday embossing Folder. To add a little accent I rubbed the card base gently with my Mellow Moss inkpad. To finish off the card, I matted the cake panels and the card on Not Quite Navy and added a few sparkles with a Stardust gel pen. My brother in-law's birthday is the day after mine, so I'm hoping this is masculine enough. It took all my effort not to girlie it up with glitter and ribbon. :)

Today's Bingo Numbers:
B8 {Daily Pick}
O63 {Courtesy of Dottie}
G59 {Courtesy of Melody}
N35 {Courtesy of Dina}
G50 {Courtesy of Melody}

Bling Batter Batter Bling

Well, my recovery process is still just barely crawling along. I cannot believe how much pain one mouth can have. It's like the dentists got together one day and decided to take a lifetime of wisdom tooth pain and wrap it all up into one week, so you get it over and done with all at once. I did attempt to make a card yesterday. After spending most of the day on the couch, I was inspired by the cute little card Beate sent me, so I made the trek up to my studio and attempted to be creative. This is the end result.

I used scraps and a little bling that were already on my desk. The sentiment stamp is from Penny Black. The paper is Basic Gray Infuse and is on an Always Artichoke card base and embossed with the Textile Cuttlebug folder. I used the Mega scalloped rectangle punch to mat the sentiment and my Fiskars scallop scissors for the Chocolate Chip mat behind the Infuse paper. To finish, I added a few rhinestones I got in the $1 bins at Michael's and a red organdy bow, with a rhinestone flower for the center. Simple and sweet.

I received this awesome card from Beate along with my Blueberry grosgrain ribbon booty from last week's Weekend Sketch Challenge raffle. I just think it's absolutely adorable how she made the lady bug from the petals and circles. What a rockin' stamper Beate is! She's so talented and one of the classiest people I've met blogging. Every card from her is a treasure. Thanks Beate!

Today's Bingo Numbers:
O73 {Daily Pick}
O66 {Courtesy of Dana}
I19 {Courtesy of Niki}
B12 {Courtesy of Niki}
O74 {Courtesy of Dottie}
N43 {Courtesy of Dottie}
I17 {Courtesy of Nancy}

Rockin' Blogger Tag

Although my chipmunk cheeks and I don't feel much like rockin' blogger chicks right now, I've been nominated by Sherrie, Tanis and Karrie as a Rockin' Girl Blogger. Thanks for the encouragement gals! Bribery will get you everywhere! LOL! To keep the warm fuzzies alive, here are my fab five nominees... (finding five untagged bloggers is a hard thing - sorry if you've already been tagged).

Dana - Kismet, Art & Life
Charmaine - Oodabug Alley
Kimmie - Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner
Debbie - Thinking Inking
Shannan - Pink Tulle with Feathers & Sequins

Still Illin'

I can't believe how incredibly wiped out I'm feeling. I think I pushed too hard the first couple days after my surgery and yesterday I came crashing to a halt. Pain and sleep - and absolutely no stamping, that's what yesterday consisted of. So today I'm sharing with you another card I made for The Cat's Pajamas but don't think I posted here. I'm totally beat, so once again, I'll just post the recipe.


Stamps: The Cat’s Pajamas
E-5238 Chef Poochie
D-7452 Utensils
D-7453 Cooking Up

Paper: DCWV Spring Stack, Bazzill Cardstock, Archiver’s Linen Black, Conqueror Diamond White Cardstock
Ink: Ancient Page - Charcoal Black; Sakura - Blue Stardust pen, White Gelly Roll pen; Prismacolor pencils
Accessories: Marvy - Giga Scalloped Oval Punch, Mega Oval punch & Liquid Applique; EK Success - Small Corner Rounder; Ranger - Diamond Lace Stickles; Dashes, Dots & Checks - ribbon; Fiskars – rectangle punch; Making Memories – Sticky squares


Today's Bingo Numbers:
I26 {Daily Pick}
N36 {Courtesy of Colleen}

Tent Topper

Colleen's Thursday Throwdown challenge this week was to do a tent topper card. I've been seeing these cards around and thought they were super cute, so figured I'd try it out. I'm still in a whole lot of pain, so just eeking out this card was almost more than I could handle. It took most of my energy just to decide what stamp set to use, and then I just went with paper that was already sitting on my desk. Too loopy to remember how I made it, so here's the scoop on what I used...

Stamps: Little Lady (PaperTrey), Teeny Tiny Wish (Penny Black)
Paper: Carnival (Crate Paper), Only Orange (Stampin Up)
Ink: Only Orange, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: Giga scalloped circle, 1/16" circle punch, paper piercer, Offray Kendra ribbon, Happy Birthday Cuttlebug folder, Irridiscent Ice.

Today's Bingo Numbers:
B14 {Daily Pick}
I30 {Courtesy of Dana}
N41 {Courtesy of Melody}
I22 {Courtesy of Alexis}
B10 {Courtesy of Alexis}
O61 {Courtesy of Mary}
I21 {Courtesy of Florence}
N31 {Courtsy of Karrie}
N44 {Courtesy of Karrie}
I25 {Courtesy of Dottie}

RAK Attack

I just feel so spoiled by all the nice RAK's I've received in the past couple of days. It's so cool to think there are people out there thinking of me, while I'm laying on the couch like a bump on a log! :) Okay, hubby is having to make me lay down, I'm definitely not the type to just sit around and do nothing all day.

I thought I'd share some of the awesome packages I've received with you all. The first is from Kimmie. She saw this Hello Kitty paper and thought of me. Isn't that sweet? Anyway, she sent me this gorgeous card. You can't tell in the photo, but the little lady bug trails are paper pierced - so cool! She also sent some fabulous primas and some images of some adorable stamps I can't wait to sit down and use. Thanks so much Kimmie, you're the bestest!

The second package came from my SCS Divine Secret Sister. She just keeps sending the best packages. What a treat to find all this fabulous stuff in my mailbox! Look at all the loot she sent...some fabulous velvety blossoms, a pack of the cutest little button brads, some ribbon, some divine Heidi Swapp tiny rhinestone flowers, a Cat Lover stamp and some gorgeous cards. Someone's definitely spoiling me. Thanks big sis!

The next RAK is a birthday RAK from Nancy at Nancy's Creative Mess. What a beautiful card! I just love how each petal is up on dimensionals...and all the bling is right up my alley. Thanks so much Nancy! My birthday is July 25, so the rest of you still have time to send me a card. Hint, hint! LOL. Just kidding!

The final RAK for today is from Dede. She used the At the Zoo set she won playing Bingo to make a thank you card. Isn't it the cutest! I just love this set and the happy papers and colors she used. Thanks so much Dede. Your card really brightened my day!

Okay, I'll be back with Bingo and hopefully a creation of my own on Monday.

Toothless & Alive!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to check in and let you know my surgery went fine. I'm still in quite a bit of pain, but am just about due for another set of pain pills. YAY! I started a card yesterday before I left for surgery, and finished it up this morning. This one is for Shannan's Blog Candy and uses this Page Maps sketch.

Pretty straight forward card. The bluish patterned paper is Daisy' D's and the tan floral patterned paper is Fancy Pants. I have a very Type A personality that likes things in coordinated sets, so I rarely mix two company's papers on the same card. The valium I was on to ease my nerves yesterday morning must have overridden that part of my brain, so I mixed... and I like the way it turned out. The sentiment and flowers are from Happy Harmony and are stamped in Cranberry Crisp and Not Quite Navy. I masked the flowers and stamped Linen Background in Creamy Caramel and then used a Rhonna Farrer swirl stamp around the edges in Not Quite Navy. Cardstock is Not Quite Navy and Cranberry Crisp and the 3 panels are run through the Cuttlebug with my Textile folder. The card base is stamped with the Paisley background in Cranberry Crisp. I added Diamond Glaze and Dazzling Diamonds to the flowers and to the Hodgepodge Hardware on the ribbon treatment. The bling is from a pack of rhinestone stickers my DSS sent me.

Okay, back to the couch and my pile of chick flicks. Thanks for all the well wishes!

Friday the 13th

Sounds like a pretty unlucky day to have my wisdom teeth removed, huh? I just can't wait until it's over! I almost passed out in the dentist's office TWICE yesterday watching the little "It's always a possibility you can die when you use anesthesia" video, and then again when the dentist explained the drilling process. I had to make the dentist stop talking, shut off the lights and get me a glass of water. How embarrasing, I'm such a little fraidy cat! Full scale panic has definitely set in, so think some super happy thoughts for me at 2 PM Mountain time today! Soon I'll be drugged up and cut up and weighing 4 tooths less! :)

So anyway, I was way too much of a stressball yesterday to think about making a card, so I'm posting something I did for an SCS challenge {LSC116} a while back, but didn't post here. The challenge was to use only one image stamp and it had to be a flower and only stamped once, one small background image stamp, one sentiment stamp, and no more than 3 colors on your card, and you could only use ribbon, brads and flower punches as embellishments, and there needed to be doodling on the card. Wow! That's a long list. I used the petal flower and dots from Polka Dots and Paisley and the Sending You Sunshine sentiment from A Muse. The colors on this card are Mellow Moss, So Saffron and Real Red. I used markers to stamp the flower in saffron and moss, then I used a red prismacolor pencil and gamsol to blend the tips of the flower for a two-toned effect. The punch is from the Spring Flowers punch.

Okay, on with the Bingo. I'll be taking the weekend off to recover, so won't be calling any new numbers until Monday, but you can still send link me up with your fabulous cards and I'll post them on Monday.

Today's Bingo Numbers:
I18 {Daily Pick}
G51 {Courtesy of Dana}
B4 {Courtesy of Mary}
G49 {Courtesy of Julie}
G58 {Courtesy of Sarah}

Glitter Glutton

I am such a glitter glutton. LOL! I just think everything's better with glitter, and that was definitely the case for this card. I made this as a double challenge card. The sketch was from Colleen's Thursday Throwdown last week and it also fits the Caardvark's Lucky 7 challenge from yesterday. I started by stamping Stampendous Changito and coloring with Prismacolors and Gamsol. I then did a light shadow around him with a Tombow light grey marker. I sketched a frame, stamped Good Luck from one of the All Year Cheer sets and then matted on various scraps of Crate Paper (Cowboy and Orange Crush Collections) and added a little Chocolate Chip. All of the layers except the base and the image are Cuttlebugged with the Dots and Spots embossing folder. For some reason my monkeys always end up askew on my cards. They just look too mischevious to go straight! :) To finish off I went crazy with my homemade mixture of JudiKins Diamond Glaze and Dazzling Diamonds. I used a small watercolor brush to paint each one of the dots and spots with the mixture to give it that special sparkle I love!

Today I go in for my consultation for my dreaded oral surgery. Since one of my wisdom teeth is crumbling, I was no longer able to procrastinate and am scheduled to have my wisdom teeth removed TOMORROW! So soon, EGADS! I feel like I haven't had time to prepare myself mentally! Be sure and send happy thoughts my way, because I already feel the panic attack starting!!!

Today's Bingo Numbers:
O75 {Daily Pick}
N45 {Courtesy of Julie}
G56 {Courtesy of AJ}
O62 {Courtesy of Dottie}
B3 {Courtesy of Dottie}
G53 {Courtesy of Beth}
O68 {Courtesy of Beth}
N42 {Courtesy of Cindy}
N37 {Courtesy of Robin}
I29 {Courtesy of Barb}
G52 {Courtesy of Niki}
N32 {Courtesy of Ida}
O67 {Courtesy of Karrie}
B5 {Courtesy of Nancy}
B1 {Courtesy of Tess}

Be sure and scroll down to the next post to see the winner of the Blogger Bingo Sketch #2 challenge and a slide show of all the fabulous entries. You gals are some rockin' cardstresses!

Sketch 2 Winner and SlideShow!

Wow! There were 81 entries for the second official sketch. I numbered the entries in the order I received them and then used Random.org to generate the lucky number 56. So congrats to Mary C. for winning the second Bingo sketch contest! Mary will receive an assortment of rhinestone brads and bling. Mary, please email me your snail mail address so I can get your goodies out to you.

Here's a slideshow of all the entries. Enjoy!

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!

Joy Fold Crush

Last night I set out to make a card for Beate's Weekend Sketch #9, the Joy Fold. What a fun little card to make! I've been wanting the Wild Rose stamp set for what seems like FOREVER, and I finally splurged and added it to my last order. Can you believe I used to hate flower sets? A few years ago I would not have been interested in this set at all, but now I just go gaga for it! LOL!

I actually used ONLY patterned paper on this card - 3 double-sided designs from the Orange Crush Crate Paper Collection. Since the paper is a bit textured, it has a really cool look. I followed Beate's tutorial and then used my favorite Cuttlebug folder, Textile, on the side flap and the flap under the wild rose. I lightly sanded the embossing and gently rubbed Colorbox Chestnut Roan Chalk ink over it. Both rose images are stamped in Pumpkin Pie. I did a 2nd generation stamp (stamped off on scrap paper, before stamping on the final page) with the solid rose to give a contrast with a first generation stamp of the outlined rose. I then masked the rose and overstamped the panel with Linen background in Creamy Caramel and sponged the edges with Creamy caramel ink. I did the same with the A Note of Thanks (stamp by Hero Arts) panel and used a paper piercer, my mat pack and a Chocolate Chip Stampin Write marker to do the faux stitching. The scalloped rectangle is the Mega Scallop Rectangle Punch from Marvy and the corners on the right side are cut from a Mega Scallop Square Punch.

I confess, I've been remiss on posting a few wonderful RAK's I've received. Actually, I put them upstairs on the chair next to my photo studio, and since I haven't been stamping much lately I totally spaced taking their photos! Poor little neglected RAKs!

Anyway, BIG thanks to Kim B. for this adorable chicken card. There is stitching on just about every layer of this card! Way cool! I really wish I could sew, but my sewing machine and I don't see eye to eye!

And a belated thank you to Jessica for this pretty little early Birthday RAK she sent last week. What a great thing to get homemade cards for my birthday! Thanks for thinking of me.

And now what you've all been waiting for.....

Today's Blogger Bingo Numbers:
N40 {Daily Pick}
B2 {Courtesy of Frances}
N34 {Courtesy of Dana}
B9 {Courtesy of Erica}
G55 {Courtesy of Denise}
O69 {Courtesy of Mary}
B15 {Courtesy of Dede}
N33 {Courtesy of Dottie}
B13 {Courtesy of Dottie}
G57 {Courtesy of Sherrie}
G46 {Courtesy of Wanda}
O64 (Courtesy of Angel W}
I24 {Courtesy of AJ O}
O71 {Courtesy of Julie}
G60 {Courtesy of Karrie}

I stamped!

Do you ever feel just a bit timid if you haven't stamped in a long time? I'm not sure exactly what my problem was, but when I finally did sit down to stamp yesterday, nothing was working. I finally did eek out a card, but it was kind of like pulling teeth. But now that that first card is over, I think I'll be able to kick myself back into high stamping gear. Here's what I came up with for my Bingo Sketch #3 sample.

I started by stamping Penny Black Modesty in Ancient Page Coal Black and coloring with Stampin Write Old Olive and Ruby Red Markers and a blender pen. I stamped the sentiment from Stampin Up's Happy Harmony, using Basic Black and Ruby Red markers to ink the different parts of the sentiment with different colors. Next I stamped the Paisley background on Cranberry Crisp in Cranberry Crisp. This is my favorite color for this background stamp - it's just yummy! Too bad it's retired. :( I cut the larger ovals with my Creative Memories oval cutting system and the smaller oval tabs are made with the SU Small Oval punch. The rhinestone brads are Making Memories and I added a bit of Stickles to the flowers for a touch of sparkle. It was still wet when I took the pic, so it looks kind of bluish and funny in the photo, but I'm hoping it will dry nicely. The ribbon is some gorgeous velvet Maya Road ribbon I won as blog candy a while ago.

Today's Bingo Numbers:
N38 {Daily Pick}
O65 {Courtesy of Nancy}
I20 {Courtesy of Beate}
B7 {Courtesy of Ida}
N39 {Courtesy of Karen}
B11 {Courtesy of Nancy}
O70 {Courtesy of Dottie}
I27 {Courtesy of Julie}

Beach Blogger Bingo Round Five

Well, I had a great time with family last weekend. In fact, I've been so busy I haven't even had a chance to stamp! We're kicking off the next round of Bingo with a new official sketch (see below). I had planned to use this sketch to make a more recent card for y'all, but didn't have the time, so I'll show you one of the Christmas cards I made last year that I based this sketch on.

The three ornaments stamp and the sentiment are from The Cat's Pajamas. Side Note: I got a sneak peek at the next release from The Cat's Pajamas, and you're gonna flip over how awesome the new stamps are! Oh, and Alma set up a Cafe Press store, so you can now buy some groovy Sprinkle shirts and stuff. Check it out! I love the mug and the messenger bag! Okay, back to your regularly scheduled program...The Cranberry Crisp and Cool Caribbean cardstock is stamped with the Stampin Up Paisley background I painted a few little accents with Dazzling Diamonds and Diamond Glaze on the ornaments and scallops of the oval. I really loved how this card turned out and have been wanting to make another card using this layout, so hopefully I'll be able to find some stamping time today.

Today we start Beach Blogger Bingo Round 5!!! So make sure your bingo cards are clear! To win this round, you must be the first person to receive a Blackout. I'll draw a number each morning. If you'd like me to call numbers faster, just submit a card using Bingo Sketch One, Two, or Three (today's sketch). I'll be drawing a winner from the entries for Sketch #2 on Thursday, so if you haven't had a chance to play with that sketch yet, be sure to submit your card by Wednesday at 10PM Mountain time!

Today's Bingo Number:
I28 {Daily Pick}

TAGGED

Well, that little TAG bug is going around again. I've been tagged by Amelia, Shannan and Paula to tell you another 7 random things about myself. Nothing like a peek into my own private world to start your day off, right? :)

1. I recently became hooked on watching No-Limit Texas Hold-Em Poker with my hubby on ESPN. I know, I know... it's not even a SPORT!!! LOL!

2. I love to read and each year challenge myself to read more books than the year before. Last year I read 34 (these are big honkin' 1,000+ page teeny tiny print epic fantasy novels or classic literature, not your easy peasy beach reads). This year I discovered blogging and I still have yet to finish ONE book!

3. I'm a wiz at word search games. It drives my family crazy. My favorite game is Boggle, but hubby won't play it with me anymore. He says he doesn't have a fighting chance.

4. I am generally unaware of what's going on in the world today. I never watch the news, don't read the paper and rarely go to any news related websites.

5. I have procrastinated for years on getting my wisdom teeth removed. They are now at the point where there is little choice in the matter -they've got to go this summer! I can't deal with the pain any longer!

6. I love the smell of a freshly opened can of tennis balls. Ahhhhh! The sound of the can being opened, that new ball smell.... heaven. :)

7. I flunked swimming lessons as a kid because I couldn't hold my breath under water for 30 seconds. I can't hold my breath above water for 30 seconds either... guess I would have flunked walking lessons if we'd had those, too! LOL!

Well, there you go. I'm not going to tag anyone because I don't play by the rules! Just kidding! I usually do play by the rules, but right now since I've been on blog vacation for a while I have no idea who has and hasn't been tagged, so if you want to do this little tag on your blog, but haven't been tagged, consider yourself IT!

Round 4 Blogger Bingo Winner is...

Yesterday we had a fabulous barbecue over at my sister's house and then spent the evening at my in-laws watching all the awesome fireworks displays. They have a house that overlooks the valley, so you can see 6 or 7 different major displays, and it's always a great time. Since I had another full day of family fun, I still didn't get any stamping time. *Sigh* I pulled this card out of the archives from the summer release of The Cat's Pajamas. I just loved this happy hamburger and as soon as I saw him and his dancing friends I had to put him on top of the grill. The stamps are all from The Cat's Pajamas and the patterned paper is from the Memory Box Beach Collection.

We have a winner for Round 4. There were actually two people who got an X with O62. As stated in the rules, I did the tiebreaker by summing the winning numbers on each of their cards.

Marie K. B13, I30, G47, O63, B11, I19, G59, O62 = 304
Kim R. B15, I23, G59, O71, B5, I16, G55, O62 = 306

So CONGRATULATIONS to Kim R., winner of Blogger Bingo Round 4! Kim wins the Memory Box Spring Flowers set. Yay Kim!

For all of the rest of you, I'm going to take a mini-break for the weekend, since my brother's in town and I want to spend some quality time with him before he leaves, as well as spend some time enjoying the summer sun. We'll start up Round 5 Blogger Bingo on Monday with a new sketch, playing for a Blackout. Have a great weekend!

Have a Star Spangled Day!

I didn't have any stamping time again yesterday, so I'll show you a card I did last week. I finally got my hands on some of those adorable Hero Arts bird stamps and this was what happened when I just sat down to "play" with my new stamps and paper. The paper is from the Carnival line by Crate Paper. The bird stamp and the sentiment are from Hero Arts. The circles are all cut with the Creative Memories Circle Cutting System and I added doodles and dots with a white gel pen and a black marker. Accents are some Offray Kendra ribbon, a prima, an orange rhinestone sticker and Stickles.

A great big Happy 4th of July to all my American readers (and a belated Canada Day wish to all you Canadians)! Last night I was playing a game called Apples to Apples with family. The premise of the game is to pick a card from your hand that has a word that most relates to the word on the card the judge places in the center of the table. Then the judge reads all the cards and picks the one he/she thinks is best. It's a really fun game. Anyway, the card in the middle said Expensive and the card I chose to lay down was Freedom. I just started thinking about all the lives that have been lost for the freedoms I enjoy everyday... like the freedom of speech so I can write this very blog post. So just wanted to say hats off to all the men and women who have sacrificed so much to keep that freedom alive and kicking!

Today's Bingo Numbers:
I23 {Daily Pick}
O62 {Courtesy of Nancy}
B2 {Courtesy of Nancy}
N31 {Courtesy of Dana}
B14 {Courtesy of Ida}
I26 {Courtesy of Kim}
O66 {Courtesy of Kim}
O75 {Courtesy of Sherrie}
G60 {Courtesy of Melody}
I28 {Courtesy of Julie}
I24 {Courtesy of Robin}
B12 {Courtesy of Dottie}
O68 {Courtesy of Dottie}

I21 {Courtesy of Donna}

I'm sure there will probably be a winner today, since there are so many numbers and so many of you were so close. If you think you've got an X or Blackout, please include the last number you filled in on your card when you post to claim your Bingo. The winner is decided by the order the numbers are called so therefore an X completed with O62 would beat out an X completed with a B2. Good luck and have a wonderful 4th!

Safari Thanks

Hi everyone! I've been busy, busy, busy with other stuff, but I did set aside a little time to make a card to share with y'all. I started by stamping Stampendous Changito Safari and coloring with Prismacolors and Gamsol. Next I sketched a frame and matted on Real Red cardstock. The patterned paper is another scrap from the new Basic Grey Infuse paper pad. I stamped the Stampin' Up Paisley background on Always Artichoke in Always Artichoke and made a 4.25" square card base and rounded the corners. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and I used my Provocraft mini scallop scissors for the mat around it. The dots and dashes were made with a white gel pen and I finished off with a little Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon.

Today's Bingo Numbers:
I16 {Daily Pick}
B7 {Courtesy of Erica}
N33 {Courtesy of Melissa}
N32 {Courtesy of Rachel}
G49 {Courtesy of Kim}
B11 {Courtesy of Bobbie}

Bingo Rules Refresher:
For those of you just finding out about Bingo, here's the skinny....

Email me to request your official Blogger bingo card. Each player gets their own unique card. Each morning I will call one number as a daily pick and one number for each card that was submitted (by email or a link in the comments) the day before using Bingo Sketch 1, Bingo Sketch 2 or any layout from a card I have posted since June 20. We are currently on Round 4 and are playing until someone either gets an X or a Blackout. If you think you have one of these, email me or comment on a post to claim your bingo and please include the last number you filled in on your card. The prize for this round is a Memory Box Spring Flowers acrylic set. The rules and details on how a tie will be broken can be found in the original bingo rules post. All of the called numbers for the current round can be found on the Master Bingo List. After I post a winner for Round 4, we will begin Round 5 the next morning. At that time, we will clear our bingo cards and start fresh, so be sure to keep a clean copy of your card in a safe place.

Marvelous Monday

I didn't have any stamping time yesterday, so I thought I'd show y'all the new entertainment center we got now that it has been delivered and is taking up a very large portion of my living room. We have a sunken living room, so I actually had to take the photos from our dining room up above, since the entertainment center is almost 6 feet wide. Here it is in all it's glory with the doors open and closed.

Hubby says he was thinking of me when he picked out our new sound system, because it has a built in iPod dock. My old-school 4th generation white iPod is sticking out like a sore thumb amongst all the black, though. Maybe the birthday elves will remedy that situation and get me a shiny new black video iPod? Hint, hint? :)



Okay, enough about my furniture, here are your bingo numbers...

Today's Bingo Numbers:
N38 {Daily Pick}
I20 {Courtesy of Julie}
O74 {Courtesy of Julie}