DTGD with a Flourish

I received my order from the new web company (really new, the Grand Opening was Friday),Flourishes, today and I had to use them right away (well, at midnight once we finally called it a day on the remodeling.) Let me tell you, this set, Cake Decorating 101, is pure stamping fun and absolutely ZERO calories- teeheehee! I decided to use it in the DTGDJeanneS challenge of paper piecing because that is my all time favorite technique. The cake stand has been heat embossed with UTEE then crackled BUT I am so disappointed in the way my photo turned out. The cake stand looks so much prettier in person. Thanks, Jeanne for this awesome challenge! Take care!

Cake Decorating 101 card recipe:

Stamps: Cake Decorating 101- Flourishes, Cherubs- Crafty Secrets
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Infuse- BG
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Accessories: Word Window punch, corner rounder punch, ribbon (Heidi Swapp ?), UTEE, heat gun, Liquid Pearls (white opal), Sakura clear Stardust pen

DTGD Black & Brown Only Challenge

Our home improvement project is going on Day 3 in the morning but we feel it should be wrapped up by day's end. It's been great having my Dad here and his help has been invaluable! So I am uber busy and the Dare To Get Dirty celebration offers a combined 16! different challenges! Well, I am a weak person, and I had to participate in at least one. Lindsey Botkin aka Jacksonbelle (yes, the same that has the ebay store with all the yummies like Lizzie Anne Design stamps and May Arts ribbon to name a few- if you haven't already, check her out) had a really neat challenge to make a card using only black and brown. You could use a light neutral for stamping your image but that was it. I had actually been playing around with PTI's Text Box on Thursday and had stamped this image in Chocolate Chip. Stampin' fate had shown me a beginning. It's a very straight forward card. In order to make the black contrast a bit more, it is actually heat embossed with black EP. That includes the "frame" around the main image. Try as I may I cannot stamp that little frame directly around any of the reverse images in the set (I've even tried my Stamp-a-ma-jig) so I always have to cut and paste the 2 pieces together. This was a fun card to make, especially the stamped background. I enjoy the fact that with stamping when you can't find the exact PP you just make one up yourself. Well, I have such a busy day coming up so I need to say Take care!

Black & Brown card recipe

Stamps: Text Box- PTI
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla, Basic Black
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Versamark
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Chocolate Chip ribbon, Vintage Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals, Word Window punch, Magic Matters, Black EP, heat tool

New Enabler in Town- Cybertown, That Is

Oh me, oh my! I'm in so... much trouble! On Friday, August 27th a new web store by the name of Flourishes began their Grand Opening and all I can say is WOW! One of my fav designers, Julia Stanton over at Belle Papier is on their Design Team so I knew I had to check 'em out. It was love at first site. Right now they have released 2 sets of clear stamps- Cake Decorating 101 and Flourished Words. Both are YUMMY! They are offering a super combo pack which includes both stamp sets, a 6 x 6 pad of the new BG Infuse and 2 coordinating ribbons. Ordinarily, the combo is 43.50 but from now until August 1st you get 15 % off (you do the math, but it's somewhere between 36- 37.00.) Of course, I was "saving" money when I bought the special- teeheehee! As for Customer Service, well when I placed my order during the wee hours of the 27th I goofed, but once Nancy received my e-mail, she answered me promptly and took care of MY mistake right away. That looks pretty darn positive to me. DH and Dad have headed over to what is probably going to be the first of many trips to Lowe's for our remodeling project. They took older DD with them and are going to purchase her a new bike on the way. Youngest DD is taking a nap to I think I'll sneak one in, also. Take care!

A Sweet RAK and Breaking Ground

Well NO time to make a card or even ink a stamp today. I've been busy, busy, busy getting ready for my Dad's visit and the transformation of the dining room to craft studio/classroom! All of the furniture has been removed along with all my breakable shotzkies (not sure how to spell that but it's a word for nick knacks that my dear friend Belinda uses and I think is it hilarious) and relocated throughout the house (a few items are still in the garage looking for homes.) Our buffet looks great in the entrance foyer (we have an unusually large entrance foyer for a 2300 square foot house- a waste of space if you ask me.) Off the subject, but sometimes I wonder who makes decisions about what to build in to the average suburban family home. Our huge entrance foyer is one. Another is our Jacuzzi tub. Now most homes that are similar to ours are family dwellings, meaning a parent or 2 and a few offspring. You ladies with small kids- when is the last time you got to lounge in a tub? Heck, there are days that I feel I have accomplished something by squeezing in a quick shower. Occasionally, my daughters like to get in the tub and splash around but that always seems to leave a big mess not to mention a dangerously slippery ceramic tile floor! Most of the time it just sits there- I actually have to dust the tub when I clean the bathroom. I look at that space and think- Would that not have made a glorious closet!!! Because what we always do seem to need it STORAGE SPACE!!! Anyway, I'm getting off track. Once all the furniture was removed, we pulled up the old carpet (dalmation carpet, I call it, due to all the spots) and DH hauled it off. I hope to have pics of the process of our remodeling but we'll see. It depends on how many dirty looks DH gives me for snapping photos of him on his hands and knees with his hiney hoo up in the air while laying the floor. So on to this most sweet card that my up-line, Yazmin, made for me. Yazmin is truly one of those people that is beautiful on the inside AND outside. She is an extremely talented artist and the one that gave me my foundation in our craft. I am quite upset that my photo does not do this wonderful card justice. Once again, Photoshop was working earlier in the day but will not allow me to crop and bring this picture in for a closer look. I'll do my best to describe some of the details with which this card is overflowing. She made the lady bug using the Pick A Petal stamp set (how clever is that) and paper punches and boy, does this lady have dimension! Her wings are cut out (my love for cutting out images must be rubbing off on you, Yazmin) and adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals and her head is punched out and dimensioned onto the wings. Her trail starts out in black dots on the white CS but then turns to white dots on the black card stock- awesome! My most favorite part is her little antennae. Once stamped they had Crystal Effects applied to them to make them pop off the page. What with ribbon and the hand punched scallops- I love it! Thanks so much, Yazmin. Until tomorrow (probably late) a great weekend to all! Take care!

Flocked with Cattitude

In between cleaning house and tending to my girls, I am having THE MOST FUN over at SCS with the Dare To Get Dirty challenges. I was able to complete 2 out of 4 yesterday but I want to go back and give yesterday's sketch a try later on (that's the nice thing is there is no time limit set for uploading your projects.) Today the very talented Lauren Meader aka mytime on SCS challenged us to using Fun Flock on a card. I own several colors of Fun Flock having purchased some from my lss and some from Ellen Hutson's webstore. I have played with it a couple of times and I have to admit that I am not very good with it. The key, I feel, is to have the right bold solid image to stamp in either a glue pad or use Heat & Stick powder. When I saw this challenge tho my Sprinkle kitty relaxing in the inner tube from The Cat's Pajama's was the first image that popped into my mind. After stamping the image, I colored in with Stampin' Write markers, colored over the float with a Sakura Clear Glaze pen and added sparkle with the Clear Stardust pen. Once that was dry I took a Sakura Quickie Glue pen and added adhesive just to the area that I wished to Flock. After adding the flock I pressed own on the image then went around it with my tweezers to kind of pack it in within the lines of the image. Finally, I added some bling to her collar in the way of A Muse micro twinkle dots and there she is- a fuzzy Miss Sprinkle. Well, I'd better get a move on and finish this house. Hopefully, I'll have time to stamp later! Take care!

Flocked Cattitude card recipe:
Stamps: Relax, What part of Meow...- The Cat's Pajama's
Paper: Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa, Temping Turquoise, Whisper White, PP- Heidi Grace by Fiscars
Ink: Noir Black- Palette, Stampin' Write markers in Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Scallop punches, Circle punches, Sakura clear Glaze pen & clear Stardust pen, Zig felt tip pen, Sakura Quickie Glue pen, black Fun Flock, A Muse micro twinkle stickers, Stickles, Stampin' Dimensionals, paper piercing tool, ribbon (orange SU, turquiose unk.)

3's Pushing It!!!

Okay, I'm browsing my fav blogs right before bedtime and I realize I forgot to make a card for Julee Tilman's challenge that ends at midnight MT (It's 11:15 MT when I figure this out.) So this is probably the ugliest card ever but it does fit the sketch. Please do not look to closely to the workmanship- oh my! Anyway, image is Hero Arts, CS is SU, PP & ribbon is SEI, sentiment is MFT. No more to say gotta go over to Poetic Artistry and leave a comment. Take care!

So Happy to Say, 2 Cards in 1 Day

What I'm not so happy about is the fact that my Photoshop is acting up again. We are in need of a computer update desperately but DH is trying to keep ours going for as long as possible to avoid spending that chunk of change. For what DH is wanting, that purchase will definitely put a crimp in my stamp spending so for now I'm trying not to complain. This is the 2nd card I made today for the Dare To Be Dirty celebration over at SCS (please, see previous post for that link.) This challenge for unique use of brads is hosted by texasjodylynn from Confessions of a Ribbon Addict (sister, I share your affliction)! Anyway, I started this card by stamping BG Canvas stamp with Certainly Celery ink onto Certainly Celery CS. I added a panel of So Saffron DSP Prints and added my favorite May Arts ribbon at the seam and placed it all on a 4 1/4 x 51/2 card made with Naturals White CS. Next I stamped the petals from TT's Loves Me, Loves Me not onto WW CS using Versamark then heat embossed detailed black EP. I, then, colored the petals with Stampin' Write markers and cut them out so I could arrange them on the previously made card. I embellished it with More Mustard brads for the flower center, then Old Olive Brads for the flower stem. Finally, I stamped a sentiment from PTI's Greenthumb and punched it out with the large oval punch to make a "leaf." Different in style than my norm but the creative process was lots of fun. I've got a big day ahead of me tomorrow. I have to start getting the house clean and decide where I am going to move various pieces of furniture from the dining room (ie. my buffet is going into the entrance way, etc.) My Dad should be here on Saturday to help DH start pulling up the carpet and laying the laminent for my new homeschool room/craft studio! I can't wait. What will I do with all the new space! Fill it UP!!!!! Take care!

Recipe for Petal card
Stamps: Canvas, TT- Loves Me, Loves Me Not small, PTI-Greenthumb
Paper: Naturals White, Cetainly Celery, Whisper White, DSP Prints in So Saffron
Ink: Certainly Celery. Basic Black, Versamark, Stampin' Write Markers in Cameo Coral, Summer Sun, Ruby Red, More Mustard, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Earth Element brads, Black EP, heat tool, Lg oval punch, circle punch, May Arts ribbon

Dare To Get Dirty

When I opened my last order from Eclectic Paperie, I received stamped images from the Penny Black Hedgehogs that they have just started carrying. Of course, since it is a whimsical animal image and we actually had a hedgehog as a pet, I was thrilled. I was even more thrilled when I found out that Sweet Miss Daisy aka Anna Wight had a pet card challenge for the Dare To Get Dirty celebration over at SCS. Today begins a week long celebration for the 3 year anniversary of Fan Club! 3 years- WOW- think of all that talent over that time span! I colored this little guy with Stampin' Write markers, added some doodling and made him the focal point of one of my favorite card layouts. This card is pretty straight forward. All paper is from SU, sentiment is PTI's Faux Ribbons and the ribbon is my very most favorite one from May Arts (at least, I seem to be using a lot of it lately.)

Now on to more importance news! Have you heard the latest? The awesome Julee Tilman has become an entrepreneur. Yes, her latest baby is a company called Verve Visual. Official Grand Open date is August 1st but you can hop on over to the site and sign up for the newsletter AND get a sneak peak at a yummy sentiment set that she had designed. Wow! It's early yet, I might even get 2 cards in today! Take care!

Hedgie in Wellie card recipe:

Stamps: Hedgehog- Penny Black, PTI Faux Ribbon sentiment
Paper: Old Olive, Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral, Whisper White, Prints DSP So Saffron
Ink: Basic Black, Stampin'Write Markers in Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, More Mustard, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, Old Olive
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Quickutz, Black Millennium pen, May Arts ribbon

Today's Color Challenge & a Sweet Thank-you

After getting off work in the wee hours of the morning, I was so excited to see that today's Color Challenge over at SCS was already posted and what yummy colors - Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose and Old Olive! I had not participated in a color challenge for awhile (since time is limited and I have to pick and choose, I will usually prefer the sketch challenges) but since I was still pretty keyed up after my shift AND the colors were so wonderful, I decided to give it a go! For me, challenges are a wonderful way to get my creative juices flowing and I find it a great way to pick myself up form a creative slump- find my mojo, so to speak. My image, from my most fav new SU set, Garden Whimsy, was initially stamped in craft Regal Rose on vellum CS than heat embossed with clear EP. After cutting along the bold lines of the image, I adhered it to a second stamped image so that the fine details would still be visible AND the image would have dimension. I love this technique! When I remembered that the challenges colors could be found in the DSP, Petals & Paisleys, I was excited because I had not used that cute paper in a while. I took the 2 PP pieces, glued them together, then ran it all through the 'bug. I punched a large oval out of the PP panel then stamped my sentiment on the CS base

(tip: after I punch the shape, I lay it on the piece of CS that I will be stamping the sentiment on and draw its outline with a pencil. Then I stamp the sentiment within the pencil lines and erase the pencil when I am done. This way the sentiment show up in the correct spot.)

The embossed panel was layered on the PIP CS base and there you have it.
It's a very simple card but the color combination will definitely go down as one of my favs!


A few weeks ago, I received a REALLY terrific surprise in the mail. This beautiful thank-you card from none other than the most wonderful Julee Tilman of Poetic Artistry. I was so thrilled to be the recipient of this beautiful card from such a talented gal, I almost sent her a thank-you card for the thank-you card! It made me think of an episode from Ruby & Max (2 little bunnies on Nick Jr. for those of you without small kids) where Ruby was making a thank-you card and was just sure her Aunt would love it so much that she would send her a thank-you and this would continue until Ruby ran out of sparkles (of course, I would never run out of sparkles.) Thanks, Julee- you made my day. Until I return, Take care!

Pink & Olive Garden Whimsy card recipe:
Stamps: Garden Whimsey
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Shimmery White, Vellum CS, Petals & Paisleys DSP
Ink: Regal Rose craft & classic, Regal Rose Stampin' Write marker
Accessories: Scalloped punch, corner rounder punch, Large Oval punch, Mat pack, white gel pen, clear EP, heat tool, rose ribbon

Beate's Weekend Challenge & a Daring Owl

This is my contribution, if you will, for the weekend sketch challenge over at Fresh & Fun. Once again, the amazing Beate Johns has provided us with a rockin' sketch to play with this weekend. My card was made with my friend Meg in mind. Meg is a super creative and neat gal, not to mention a loyal reader of my blog (you gotta love a friend like that)! Anyway, Meg's work week ended on a sour note on Friday. I hope she will agree that the Dare to be Fabulous sentiment goes so very well with what she was faced with that afternoon. If that doesn't start her week off with a chuckle, then surely this cute little owl will. I've mentioned before that I love quirky, whimsical little animals and woodland creatures rate at the top of my list. So when I found this cute little guy on the Paper Source website, he had to come to my house! I partnered this image with Infuse by BG, some May Arts ribbon, some A Muse bling and my favorite paper piecing technique and Voila! What I feel is a fun, fun card! Well, oldest DD is having a friend sleep over this evening and I continue to hear giggles so I'd better go be a "mom." Take care!

Fabulous Owl card recipe:
Stamps: Fabulous Flowers, owl- Paper Source, Simple Stitches- CTMH
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, PP- BG Infuse
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Palette Noir Black, Stampin' Write markers in Chocolate Chip, Close To Cocoa
Accessories: Scallop Oval Punch, Magic Matters, blender pen, yellow Sakura Glaze pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, A Muse creative candy twinkle stickers micro dots, May Arts ribbon, Square Fire rhinestone brad, round tab punch

Memory Box Summer Penguin Card Contest

Anna Wight from Sassy & Sweet Crafts is hosting a card contest using Memory Box's Summer Penguins. For some reason, I love cute penguin images! Maybe it is because I had a favorite story about a penguin as a child or maybe it reminds me of cooler climates in this Alabama heat but whatever the reason, I'm a sucker for the little guys. Needless to say when I saw the contest on her blog, my brain started working. I didn't have any of the Memory Box penguins so I had to go shoppin' (I know, I know such a hard thing for me to do.) As soon as I saw this little guy in the Hula skirt and the Aloha sentiment, I knew right away that I wanted to CASE a card that I did earlier for the Technique Club. The technique used is Joseph's Coat which is a fun technique that involves the use of both heat embossing and Spectrum pads. I did add a bit of twill tape doodled with an Only Orange Stampin' Write marker to this re-make. I felt it added some balance with the "heavy" Bodacious Bouquet flowers and still kept in line with casual Hawaiian theme. I colored the image using a blender pen and Stampin' Up classic ink pads in Old Olive, Only Orange, More Mustard, and Ruby Red. I added some "sand" at his feet using a black pen and More Mustard ink. This grounding technique came from a tip from Michelle Wooderson from her blog Mish Mash a few posts ago. If you get a chance, hop on over and visit this very talented ladies blog! It's WELL worth your time! Well, my girls are wanting to play in the wading pool for a bit so I'd better go. Mary Elizabeth has obviously outgrown the pool but it thrills Rachel to no end to have "Sissy" play with her. Mary Elizabeth is truly a good sport. Until later, Take care!

Aloha Penguin card recipe:
Stamps: Bodacious Bouquet, Memory Box- Hula Penguin, Aloha, PTI- GreenThumb
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Only Orange, Whisper White, Glossy White
Ink: Pumpkin Patch Spectrum pad, Basic Black, Ruby Red, More Mustard, Old Olive
Accessories: Circle punch, scalloped circle punch, oval punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, sponge, twill tape, Only Orange Stampin' Write marker, brayer, clear EP, heat tool, Embossing Buddy

Technique Club Magic

We had the July meeting of our Technique Club this past Thursday, so now I can show you the project that I shared with the group. Our topic was Making the Ordinary the Extraordinary. My partner in crime and amazing up line Yazmin shared a bleaching with stamps technique with the group and I hope to get to make her beautiful 12 x 12 scrapbook page in the near future to share with you. My project introduced the group to Gamsol Magic technique. It is such an awesome coloring technique but I am essentially the first one in our group to give it a try. It truly is a technique that does take a bit of practice but it is certainly worth it when you see the results. I slipped in a couple of other techniques with this card (a little bonus for my friends), as well. The layout for this card is the Joy Fold card that the most awesome Beate John's used as her weekend sketch challenge the weekend before last. The other technique comes from the oh-so-talented, Julee Tilman at Poetic Artistry for homemade Stickles that you see on the wings of the little firefly (I refer to him as "Evanrude-not sure how spell it but like the boat motors which the little firefly from Disney's The Rescuers was named after.) All the techniques seemed to be a big hit. I have had several e-mail wanting the info. of where to get the supplies and I have referred all to Inky Antics for the Gamsol. I could not find Gamsol or any brand of orderless mineral spirits in our local area. Hobby Lobby has the blending stubs from Taiwan (yes, these actually do work better than the ones from China on SU Whisper White CS.) Okay, okay, DH is coming in to fuss at me about going to bed. I have to make a trip to Birmingham (about 1 1/2 hours from home) to pick up oldest DD from a visit with her Aunt and Uncle. My friend Dianne is going with me and we are going to make a stop at 2 different paper craft stores so tomorrow hopefully, I'll have some new goodies to share! Take care!

Gamsol Unfrogettable card recipe:

Stamps: Unfrogettable

Paper: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst

Ink: Staz On black, Apricot Appeal, Stampin' Write marker Almost Amethyst

Supplies: Gamzol, Prismacolor pencils, blending stubs, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal effects, circle punches, ribbon, stapler, Stampin' Dimensionals

I'm still here......

Sorry, it's been a little bit since my last post. I worked all weekend and had an epidural for my back today so I'm a bit sore and drowsy. I'm hopping DH will let me stamp a bit tonight and not insist on me going to bed and rest. If not, I'll be back tomorrow!!!!

Yeehaw!

My computer is really acting up this evening. Things are moving way too slow AND worse than that, I cannot get Photoshop to work at all. This is the reason for the non-cropped picture of today's SCS Sketch Challenge card. I made this card with my friends Chris and her mom, Belinda in mind. They have both moved to Texas this past year and I miss them both terribly. Big Howdy to both of you ladies! I had a lot of fun with this little Calamity Jane (my 2nd A Muse image) and I have so.... loved the Cowgirl Collection from Crate Paper. I may have to get another pack to use with the new SU stamps I have on the way. Speaking of which, I am counting the hours until 2:00pm on Friday when my dear UPS man will leave the first order from the new catty at my door. So what did I order from the new catty, you ask? As I have checked on blogs with similar lists, I have found that my choices are pretty much like others . What makes this so great is the diversity of the creations that will come from these same sets! So, my order looks like this:

Stamp sets:

Garden Whimsy

Fabulous Flowers

Priceless (it's been my fav. since my 1st time thru the catty)

In the Spotlight hostess set

Tools:

1" Circle Punch

Scallop Circle Punch

Tabletop Paper Cutter (after all the rave reviews on the Tonic cutter, I had to have one)

Priceless Classy Brass Template

Designer Series Paper

Cutie Pie

Ribbon:

Bashful Blue Taffeta

Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain

Certainly Celery 5/8" grosgrain

Fairy Tale Ribbon Originals

There is still quite a bit more on my wish list such as the rest of the In Colors (I pre-ordered Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate), Big Bold Birthday, Refuge and Strength, Sweet Thing, Perfectly Pretty, Wanted, Doodle, Whimsy, All Holidays, It's All Good, and Define Your Life (of course, papers and accessories too numerous to mention)! I love many of the fall and holiday sets but I'm trying to hold off purchasing until the Mini catalog is released. This "lull" in SU new rubba has encouraged me to branch out into some other stamp brands and what a fun journey that has been! Thanks for visiting and as always Take care!

Yeehaw card recipe:

Stamps: Calamity Jane, Yeehaw (A Muse), Stitched Circles (Hero Arts)
Paper: Soft Sky, Really Rust, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Naturals White, PP- Cowgirl Collection by Crate Paper
Ink: Chocolate Chip,Whisper White craft, Burnt Umber (Palette), Stampin' Write markers in Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Really Rust, So Saffron
Accessories: Circle punch, Scalloped Circle punch (Marvy Uchida), Coluzzle cirlce template, paper piercer, paper piercing template (Lasting Impressions), Natural Hemp, Quickutz, sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals, Double Circle punch,

A Muse Under the Weather

Okay, don't sit there with your mouth a gape, but this is my first ever A Muse card. As you sit there shaking your head, wondering "where's this girl been?" let me give you a little history. In November of 2005, I attended my first SU workshop. While I had been scrapbooking for about 6 months, I had never picked up a stamp other than to look at one in the store in wonderment. Yazmin, my very, very soon to be up line, held such a great workshop, I decided that I loved to stamp AND I wanted to do what she did! To this day, I remain a faithful SU demonstrator. They are, without saying (and maybe I do need to say this more) my most favorite stamps on the market! I mean, beautiful sets of images that coordinate with other beautiful sets made out of top-of-the-line materials at what I consider fair prices (just think if you bought each stamp from the set separately,) well to me it just doesn't get any better. I've not even mentioned the color families of inks, papers and embellishments that coordinate so there is NO guess work in getting supplies for your creative projects. That being said, until I started checking out the blogs back in May of this year (oh, you great big bunch of enablers, you,) I had never purchased a non-Stampin'Up! stamp. I always had the attitude that if I couldn't show it, then I really couldn't justify buying. Boy, am I singing a different song now. My up line jokes with me saying I'm using "contraband" when she sees one of my non-SU creations. Granted, I still solely use SU products for workshops, stamp camps etc. It is so... true that " you sell what you show" but now I can thank my demonstratorship for affording me the opportunity to let my stamping creativity grow and grow. Now do you see why, with ALL the yummy stamp companies out there, that I am just now getting around to this cute little A Muse gal. I didn't have much time this evening, so I really kept this one simple. The images are all A Muse (Seattle Girl and Under the Weather?) I stamped them in Palette Noir Black then colored this cute little girl in with Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, and Sage Shadow Stampin' Write markers. I highlighted her umbrella and boots with my Sakura Clear Stardust Pen (love that pen) to give the impression of water. She is stamped on Naturals White and matted with Bashful Blue. The PP, ribbons and buttons are all from SEI Paisley & Petals. I adhered both the polka dot and the orange PP to a white piece of CS and ran it through the Cuttlebug and finally, attached the whole kit and caboodle to a Bashful Blue card. Again, very simple but I'm ready for when I need a "pick me up" card for a friend. Tomorrow, I will be sharing with you some new additions to our family but until then.... Take care!

Plum Garden

Yippee! My Garden Silhouettes arrived today! I was a little late ordering mine, right at the deadline, actually, because I just couldn't make up my mind. This was my favorite of all the level 2 & 3 sets but did I want to spend the money for it or save my $$$ for more in the new catty? Well, I caved and I am so happy that I did. This delicate little cherry blossom limb was so fun to play with! I colored the image in Stampin' Write markers then I stamped a second image just paying attention to the flowers which were cut out, sponged with Van Dyke Brown, enhanced with my Sakura Clear Stardust pen and adhered over the flat flowers with Pop Up Glue Dots. The Perfect Plum panel was stamped with Fine Lace BG using Perfect Plum classic ink. It is difficult to see in the picture but the end of this panel has been pierced using an Onare template. The Pale Plum panel was wheeled with Rough Texture in Pale Plum then the corners were cut with the Ticket Corner punch. I placed a piece of shimmery olive ribbon around the edge of the Perfect Plum panel then tied both plum panels together with a brown & white striped ribbon (I thought that particular style of ribbon added nice contrast to the very soft look of this card.) Well, I should be in bed. Long day ahead. Take care!

Plum Garden card recipe:
Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Warm Words, Fine Lace, Rough Texture wheel
Paper: Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Old Olive
Ink: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Chocolate Chip, Van Dyke Brown, Stampin' Write markers in Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Sponge, Sakura Clear Stardust Pen, Pop Up Glue Dots, paper piercer, Onare template, Mat pack, Ticket corner punch, ribbons by May Art

I've Been Tagged Twice

Okay, Dockie! I've never been tagged before and this week I get tagged twice. Once by my wonderful up-line Beckie, at Lady Stamper and then by the creative Cheryl, at Engineered Expressions. You'll find stamping and scrapbooking treats galore if you check out either of these great ladies blogs! Anyway, Beckie tagged me first so I'll begin with hers. I am supposed to list 7 things about myself:
1. I am a Tennessean displaced in Alabama (although I'm loving life down here except for maybe the heat.)
2. I am married to a rocket scientist. My hubby has a PhD. in engineering and he works for NASA.
3. Although I haven't had the opportunity lately, I love to scuba dive.
4. While I like chocolate, lemony desserts are my favorite.
5. I am an Emergency Room nurse and have been since 1991 (other than the 3 years when I didn't work at all.)
6. I am a Girl Scout leader.
7. I have a bit of a fear of heights, especially if my children are concerned- my mouth went dry and I almost threw up when my oldest DD was tall enough and rode the swing ride at Dollywood for the first time!

Now for these questions- I tag the following 7 folks:
Kim at Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner
Cheryl at Engineered Expressions
Jill at InkGenious
Julee at Poetic Artistry
Heather at {witty title hear}
Angel at Angelosity
Amy at Heartfeltgreetings


Now for Cheryl's tag I believe I'm suppose to "toot my own horn." Again, 7 facts and tag 7 folks:
1. I have naturally curly hair.
2. I am a good listener.
3. I have a pretty smile.
4. I like to help others.
5. I am compassionate.
6. I am very forgiving.
7. I am creative.

Okay- that was a hard one for me. Had to call for outside re-enforcements- teeheehee!

I tag:
Dianne at Art by Hart
Chris at For love of paper
Beckie at Ladystamper
Rose Ann at Paper Delightz
Pam at Stamping with {Serendipity}
Nancy at Nancy's Creative Mess
Marie at Stamp Lounge

Thanks to all for playing!

Here is my answer to the Ways to Use It challenge on SCS Thursday. Julia chose Ribbon Revisited as the theme for this weeks challenge. Now I am a ribbon fanatic. Love it, love it, love it. So I had to play. I wanted to do something a little different and I remembered the little ribbon flowers that I had made and used earlier on my blog. My Bee trio had been sitting idle for a while so I wanted to use it. I keep thinking about bees and flowers and then I thought that the ribbon flowers were so light and airy which somehow turned into bees in tutus. I need a card for a little girl's birthday so this worked perfect for me. The bees are stamped with Palette's Black Noir then colored in with Stampin' Write markers. The wings are outlined with a Sakura clear Stardust pen and the whole image is punched out with my oval scalloped punch. The PP (DCWV's Pocket Full of Posies- thanks, Dianne) was attached to the Almost Amethyst panel and both were run through my Cuttlebug. Afterwards, I painted the swirls on the AA side with Frosted Lace stickles- the PP side comes with sparkle already on the page. For the tutus I simply sewed the top portion of the ribbon right below the selvage (is that the right word) then drew the string to bunch of the ribbon. This card is truly much cuter in person. Between my below par camera and my not so sharp camera skills, I couldn't do these little gals justice. Wishing everyone a happy, safe weekend. Take care!

TuTu Cute card recipe:
Stamps: Bee Trio- Stampendous, TT- Girls We Love
Paper: Soft Sky, Almost Amethyst, Whisper White, Regal Rose, PP- Pocket Full of Posies by DCWV
Ink: Noir Black- Palette, Stampin' Write Markers in Regal Rose, Almost Amethyst, Barely Banana
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Stickles, tag punch, 3/4 in circle punch, oval scalloped punch, ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Quickutz

Sweet Peas

Last month Karen Lockhart had a contest to make a recipe card using Lockhart Stamps. I made this little card for a recipe using baby peas and incorporated the Lockhart stamp's Sweet Pea and Itty Bitty Peas. After looking at some other blogs with entries posted, I chickened out about sending mine in. It just seemed too plain. I used Wild Wasabi, Blush Blossom and Whisper White CS and Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery and Basic Black Classic ink. The little scallop across the bottom was cut freehand after I stamped the Itty Bitty Peas across the bottom. Sweet Pea was stamped on Whisper White then colored in using ink pads and blender pen. Next, Sweet Pea was stamped onto a piece of Blush Blossom then cut out with my scalloped rectangle punch.

Finally, I glued the cut-out pea pod over the outline pea pod on the blush blossom. That way I still got the tiny details of the vine without having to try and cut them out. The ribbon is May Arts purchased from Jacksonbelle Embellishments (super, super customer service.) Hope everyone has a great weekend. Ours is quite busy but I hope to grab a little time to work on some paper projects. Take care!

Hope you had a Happy 4th

I guess I can't wish everyone a Happy 4th because it is technically now the 5th. I worked this evening so this is the first opportunity I've had to sit down and blog. Unfortunately, the 4th was not very happy for many people and thus, we were very busy in the ER this evening. I am not able to settle down and go to bed yet so I think I'll try a little something creative to help me calm down (maybe the Wednesday sketch challenge from SCS.) Anyway, before I begin I thought I would share a birthday card I made for one of my best bud's daughter's 8th birthday. I wanted to use the rest of the Simply Scrappin' Kit, Friends & Flowers. It was such a fun kit to use. I made a scrapbook page, initially, with the kit and had plenty left over to make a few cards. I brought out Little Lady once again because one, I just love her and two, this family has a dog named "Little Lady." How's that for inspiration. Little Lady's (the ladybug, not the dog- teeheehee) wings are stamped with Cool Caribbean (already missing that color) then I over stamped the body, dots and head with Palette Noir. I stuck the flower sticker on a spare piece of chipboard and trimmed around it (fresh out of On Board flowers) then inked it with Rose Red. The center of the flower is a sticker cut with the 1 3/8" circle punch then placed on chipboard cut with that same punch. The very center was treated the same way then touched up with some Fruit Punch Stickles. Photo corners are Junkitz chipboard covered in So Saffron, then distressed and dressed-up with Heidi Swapp brads. I had lots of fun with this card! Well, I'm itchin' to go make something. Take care.

Recipe for Friends & Family card:

Stamps: Pocket Fun (sentiment), PTI- Little Lady
Paper: Rose Red, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, PP- Friends & Flowers Simply Scrappin' kit, chipboard
Ink: Rose Red, Cool Caribbean, Palette- Noir
Accessories: Circle punches, Fruit Punch Stickles, Junkitz photo corner chipboard, brads- Heidi Swapp, Celery ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Replaced Make & Take

I haven't had much time for card making. Saturday, I got my supplies for the Once Upon a Scrapbook (lss) design team and I have been working on a double page layout for that. I was given Elsie Flanigan's "Love Elsie- Roxie" papers and rub-ons. I have loved this papers, from afar. I was a bit intimidated by the whimsical, funky style which is very different from my usual style (not that I am positive what my "style" is, maybe I need to get the Find Your Groove book by Kitty Foster & Wendy McKeehan. I almost purchased it today at The Rubber Stamp Lady (lss) but I figured it implied that you had to HAVE a groove in the first place.) Anyway, Elsie's papers have a lot of quirky doodling style images which is something that is out of my comfort zone- doodling. Sure they say practice makes perfect, but I am a doodler, been doing it all my life- talking on the phone, keeping awake during school lectures etc. What is amazing it how so very bad my doodling looks! I am working on what I refer to as "designer doodling," but you can tell by this little card and a couple of others here on my blog that I have a ways to go. This is the original card I made for the Open House make & take. I rejected it due to the amount of time it would take to complete it. It was the first card I made with Zoofari and the first tent topper card I ever made, as well. I originally had no doodling on this card but I felt since the monkey was anchored by his tail to the ribbon that the other animals needed to be anchored to something as well (not too many floating snake or zebras other there)! This is a very straight forward card. Pretty much cut, paste, stamp & color. The scalloped circle for the topper was made by cutting a doughnut using slots 3 from the inside and 5 from the inside of a circle Coluzzle template. Then placing the slit punch in the center and punch the outside of the circle with the slits. Pretty easy, really. I am so loving scallops of any kind! Hope to finish this layout soon. Take care!

Zoofari card recipe:

Stamps: Zoofari, Wild About You, Typeset Alphabet Lower
Paper: Whisper White, So Saffron, Taken with Teal, PP- Petals & Paisleys
Ink: Basic Black, Stampin' Write markers- Regal Rose, Old Olive, Taken with Teal, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Light pink ribbon, slit punch, Coluzzle

New Catty Bliss

Kicked off the SU Fall-Winter Collection 2007 with an Openhouse on Sunday at our local library. We had make & takes, LOTS of doorprizes, retired stamps for sale, yummy food and, of course, the honoree of the afternoon our NEW cattie! A special preview party for this past year's hostesses took place about an hour and half prior to the openhouse with an additional make & take and a hostess appreciation gift for each one (a SU Stampin' Store container with a healthy sprinklin' of a the new Rhinestone Brads in both colors and styles- it pays to be a hostess in more than 1 way- teeheehee.) My upline, Yazmin, was in charge of the make & take for the hostesses. It was the cutest card card using Pick a Petal as a lady bug! We've promised each other that we will get together and to make each others projects since we didn't have time to plan this event together. Hopefully, I'll have my own copy of this great card to share with you soon! As for the make & take for the Openhouse, that was my job. I originally planned to use a card that I made with Zoofari. I was pleased at the results of this card BUT I soon realized that it involved way too much coloring and that always tends to slow down a large group. We needed something clean and simple. When I checked out Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #8 on Friday prior to going to work, I was totally inspired (as always when I check out any of her art work.) I decide that to CASE her card with a bit of my own twist would be just the project we needed. Awhile back SCS, had a Try Something New challenge that suggested making little 3 x 3 warm up cards and which would be perfect for our time frame. I love making these little cards because they are quick, they get my creativity flowing and you have a nice stockpile of gift cards when you need one. So here is my end results. Participants really loved it and were able to complete the card pretty quickly, giving everyone more time for eating, socializing and the all important shopping for stamps! I had the worst time trying to photograph this card. I couldn't get the lighting right and then I couldn't hold my arms steady. Not sure what THAT is about but I would suspect it has something with not enough rest! I'll share my Zoofari card in the near future. Take care!

Recipe for Kind Brocade card:

Stamps: Baroque Motifs

Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sky, River Rock

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Supplies: Magic Matter, circle punches, Soft Subtles brads