I'm still here....

We've had a MAJOR stomach bug visit our house! I'm in desperate need for a stamping fix. Hope to have some time this weekend!!!!!! Take care!

Collage-style Card for Mom

When I saw this fairy included in the Naturals pad by Crafty Secrets, it reminded me of the beautiful collages my mother used to make. I am not saying what I created is even remotely comparable to my mother's artwork. As I have mentioned before, Mom has a degree in Fine Arts and does some of the most amazing creations in textiles and fibers. Her collages are in the forms of wallhangings, "quilts," and weavings, to name a few. While her eclectic, almost risque style might not have been liked the average viewer, she was well-respected in the small art community where I grew-up. I don't mean to make this sound like an eulogy. Mom is alive and well (at least, physically- teeheehee) but her creativity is limited to using her eclectic style to decorate her home (we always say that if she does die an untimely death (Mom is only 60) , it will be due to electrocution while rigging some of her contraptions at home)! I'm not sure why she "quit" her art. She never had quite the confidence in her own work that she should have and while was approached by a couple of galleries, she never felt comfortable with presenting her works publically. She does have a couple of her more conservative pieces in waiting rooms and has decorated a a few homes. Reflecting back, it really is a shame. I do attribute my acute since of viewing colors to this amazing artist. Anyway, I certainly didn't intend to go "there" it just started flowing and I just couldn't stop it. I started my collage card with at 7 x 7 piece of Whisper White card stock (the large size was necessary to allow for the fairy image.) I punch a mask with a Giga Scallop Oval punch, then with a Jumbo Dauber inked with Cool Carribean ink (so miss that color) I repeatedly daubed the ink over the mask to a cloud-like effect. Next, I cut out the fairy and added Dazzling Diamonds accents with a SakuraQuickie Glue pen (please feel free to click on the photo- this card has tons of sparkle.) The "flower" in her hair is a brad by Creative Imaginations. "Dream" is a K & Co. adhesive rub-on sprinkled with pink glitter. In the upper right had corner, the butterfly has been accented with DD then the body was creased inward and the wings curled outward using a pencil. Stampin' Dimensionals adhere it to the card. Finally, the bottom right hand corner is a 7 Gypsies Photo corner cover in Prima Paper. Tucked inside is a "label" cut from Prima PP then altered using the "Cracked Glass" method. The little cherub is a stamp from Crafty Secrets, colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. The wings are covered with Stardust Stickles then she is added with Stampin' Dimensionals. Ribbon is form my stash. When Mary Elizabeth saw this with NO prompting she said that looks like a Nana card! Speaking of ME, I have to share a picture of my beautiful girl with you. Here she is as a Junior Bridesmaid at her cousins wedding. I cannot wait to scrapbook these beautiful photos!


It's ALWAYS A Scrapin' Good Time! Take care!

Simple Card

I couldn't stamp anything new this evening. Hubby is helping me make some storage improvements in the Craft/Homeschool room and we couldn't quite get finished today. Needless to say, things are a bit of a mess. I hope to share some pics of some new shelving and a couple of other storage solutions soon! Anyway, this simple card came about the other day as I was practicing with my Copic markers. I consider myself still in the "getting to know you" phase with this awesome line of markers but I'm slowly improving. I, also, added some stitching to this card, something else that I'm just beginning to learn! My mother is an excellent seamstress (not to mention a wonderfully creative gal) but patience is not her strong suit. I remember her giving me 1 sewing lesson as a teen to make a very simple pair of elastic waisted shorts. I did make it through that one pair but next thing I new I had 3 more pair from that same pattern that Mom made herself and sewing lessons were not discussed again! My favorite thing about this card is the use of the CHF backgrounder stamps! I love these stamps! Initially, I would use an acrylic block to mount them but Debbie Olson shared with me that she left the EZ Mount repositional side covered and used without a block. These stamps are so well cushioned and have such a wonderful deeply cut image that this works GREAT! Leave to Debbie to have such a super idea- this lady is AWESOME!!!! The image is Karen Lockhart and it is die cut and mounted using Nestabilities. The sentiment is PTI and the 3 little embellis are from a bottle of Dew Drops from Jacksonbelle Embellishments (who by the way is having a sale on 98 % of all the goodies in her wonderful e-store)! Since I cannot stamp, I might as well sleep (novel idea)! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

"Love You, Cupcake!"

This weekend has been awesome! Not only does hubby have an extra day off BUT we had nothing extra planned! We've worked around the house, got some much needed rest, and I've got to enjoy some of the fun stamping challenges on a couple of blogs. This evening I'm going to try to convince hubby to hang some shelves in my craft room- total bliss! Well, on to the card...
I made this 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 card for Taylor Vanbruggen's Cupcake Challenge. Apparently, Taylor is a BIG fan of cupcakes (and who could blame her- they are so cute) which happens to be a pretty hot item right now. While at Target last weekend I came across the Valentine's line from Marcella by K & Co. and instantly fell in love with the cute little cupcakes that was the theme of this set. I purchased the paper pack and the cute little felt embellis and couldn't wait to use them! As if by fate, Taylor's challenge was just my piece of cake (pun intended- teeheehee)! Anyway, other than stamping the CHF Polka Dotted backgrounder in Real Red on the Real Red CS base, this card has NO stamping. I cut the sentiment out of the paper itself them framed it in a metal edged circle tag frame using my MM Tag Maker. Next, I used my circle Nestabilities to cut a scalloped frame from the sprinkle paper and an identical chipboard one to add depth and stability to the element. I used stitching to anchor the lined PP and add some interest. Still practicing with my Janone Sew Mini so the stitches are not as even or straight as I would like but "practice makes perfect" so maybe someday.... The scalloped Pretty in Pink CS and the scallops of the sprinkle circle are edged and swirled with white Liquid Applique then heated to give the appearance of fluffy white icing. I tied some SU 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain to the pink/stripped panel then added the adorable felt cupcake to the knot. Finally, I attached some of the retired 1/4" Chocolate Chip grosgrain (boy, I miss that stuff) with a brown velvet brad to add interest to the corner and there you have it- an easy peasy card with hardly any stamping! Now off to tally up my DDs Girl Scout cookie order so that we can turn it in the evening. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Felt Cupcake Card recipe:
Stamps: Polka Dot backgrounder from CHF
Paper: Real Red, Pretty in Pink, PP Valentine's Paper Pack from Target
Ink: Real Red
Supplies: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Corner Rounder, SU grosgrain ribbon, Cupcake Felt Stickers from Target, velvet brad- Creative Imaginations, metal tag supplies-MM, white Liquid Applique

WARNING: Sunglasses Advised!!!!!

I know, I know this is one LOUD card! Certainly colors and brightness out of MY comfort zone. This weekend Nancy Grant at Inkcicles was hostess to the Queen Kat Designs' Blog Party Challenge. This included 3 days of fun activities to enter in a drawing for a prize! Day 2 included a color challenge using the 3 colors in the Queen Kat Designs logo- pink, black, and white. Well, this is what I came up with. Truthfully, I really do not like this card. The layout is okay, the image looks good but I just can't get over that vibrant Pixie Pink! My 10-year-old DD on the other hand, was captivated by these colors and had to make an entry for herself, as seen here.Instead of going in to great detail about the makings of my card, I rather just share the recipe and tell you how wonderful it was to spend the afternoon stamping with my daughter! This is the second card she has made with me this week and is enjoying using Gamsol and my Prismacolor pencils. One thing I wanted to point out about her card is the background paper started out as a black & white print from Doodlebug and she colored in ALL the white parts with a Pixie Pink Stampin' Write marker. I had seen similar things done, but she had not and I thought she was so... clever to come up with this- of course, I'm not biased!

One final note about my card is the image is from Pink Cat Studio. If you are a fan of this awesome company, like I am, they have a new Release coming up tomorrow with a new plate of their cute cats, called Crafty Kitty and introducing a new little BIRD plate (hold still my beating heart) named Tweet. I cannot wait! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Recipe QKD Bloggers' Challenge card:
Stamp: Pink Cat Studio- Dog Plate, Lizzie Anne Designs- Ooh La La!
Paper: Pixie Pink, Whisper White, PP- Crafty Secret
Ink: Brillance Graphite Black
Supplies: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Stickles, A Muse rhinestones, Gamsol, Prismacolor pencils, Doodlebug flower, ribbon from stash

SNOW

It's SNOWING in Madison, AL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think the ground is cold enough for it to lay (current temp is 32 F) but it is pretty to watch it fall! I know many of you are already sick to death of the white, wet stuff but for us down South this is a novelty!

Two "Birds" with One Stamp

This weekend was beyond crazy busy! Work, SU Open house, cheerleading (dd, not me,) moving furniture to prepare for flooring put in today (yea!) and then work again. During all this in the back of my mind was the blog sketch challenge hosted by Kim Reid at Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner. The prize- a Magnolia Tilda stamp! I (heart) the images of this little gal. There are some with curly pigtails that so... remind me so much of my little Rachel (proud owner of new flooring in her bedroom, once again- yea!) Anyway, I needed a birthday card for a stampin' friend so I thought I'd take care of both at once. Unfortunately, my card did not win but I still have the birthday card that I needed so I see it as a winning situation! A couple of items of interest for this card- the main image is from the Inkadinkado set Birds Galore (thank-you, very much Amy Westerman for enabling me on that one)! I was unable to find this set locally OR on-line. Amy shared that she had purchased hers from Archiver's but alas, we are Archiverless (nearest one is in Atlanta 4 hours away- did someone say "road trip?") Anyway, I have 2 dear friends, a mother/daughter team who are incredibly talented scrapbookers and stampers that happen to live in Austin, TX. The mother, Belinda, was so... very sweet to get this and mail it to me- I love you, Belinda. On a side note, you should really visit her daughter Chris' blog "For Love of Paper" to see what this incredible gal has going on! Anyway, so now I have my treasured birds! I wanted to add some color to the focal image so I added Ruby Red Liquid Pearls to the berries on the image. The layout really felt naked without ribbon and I felt that it needed photo corners in keeping with Kim's sketch. So I highlighted my corners with ribbon. By adding Dew Drops to Karen Foster Loop brads and tying some sparkly ribbon through them, I got just the look I wanted. Although, it didn't win the challenge, it was a lot of fun to make and I really like to ribbon corner accents if I do say so myself. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Birds Galore card recipe:

Stamps: Baroque Motif, Inkadinkado- Birds Galore, Sentiment- PTI Faux Ribbon

Paper: Rose Red, Old Olive, Memory Box PP Enlighten

Ink: Old Olive, Ranger Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap Distressing Ink

Accessories: Prima flower, American Craft ribbon, Karen Foster brads, Ruby Red Stickles, Paper Piercer, Scor-Pal, Dew Drops

Will You Be My Tweetheart?

Anyone that has visited my blog, knows that I am a totally sucker for sweet little birds- just silly for them, actually. That is why when I saw these cute little ones from the new release of C.C. Designs, Love Ya Much, I knew they had to be mine! I was short on time for stamping tonight so I wanted a simple card. The main image was so cute, I didn't want a bunch of elements distracting from it either. That brings me to an astounding announcement- I used NO patterned paper on this card- a rarity for me. The card base is Pretty in Pink. I stamped Pretty Patterns Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms in Regal Rose. Let me take a minute to tell you about a new found favorite of mine- Backgrounders from CHF. They are absolutely awesome. Like SU, they can nicely cover a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card, and there are so... many to choose from AND if you purchase them with EZ mount they are less than $10.00. CHF, also, gives FREE shipping for orders over 35.00! Gotta love that! Now back to the card, the main image is stamped in Adirondack Pitch Black ink on Whisper White CS, then colored with Copic markers via a blender pen for a soft look to these little "love birds." I punched the image with an oval punch then matted it on a vellum scalloped oval. The edges of the scallops were outlined with a Sakura Quickie Glue pen then dusted with Dazzling Diamonds for some sparkle. The little dots are Glitter Dots by Jessie James. That's pretty much it. A simple card to start my Valentine's Day card stash. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Recipe for Tweetheart card:

Stamps: Love Ya Much (C.C.Designs), Pretty Pattern BG (Cornish Heritage Farms)

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Vellum

Ink: Regal Rose, Adirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: Paper Trimming Buddy,Oval punch, Scalloped Oval Punch- Marvy Uchida, Dazzling Diamonds, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Copic markers, Copic blender pen, Regal Rose ribbon, Glitter Dots- Jessie James

Where Does the Time Go?

I worked this evening from 7pm- 1am but actually didn't clock out until around 1:30. Here it is 2:45am (CT) and I have to be up by 5:30am to take my youngest DD to the hospital for a second set of tubes in her ears and I cannot get to sleep! Hopefully, her nap time will come early so that I can take a little cat nap myself. I noticed my last post was on the 2nd! I have made a couple of cards to share but have been a BAD blogger! So here is a card I made this past week using my Pink Cat Studio stamps for the first time. I have had these for a while but Halloween, Fall, and Christmas kept me too busy to ink them up. I originally bought this "plate" of stamps because it includes a cat dressed up as a flapper. My older DD went as a flapper on Halloween of '06 and I can't wait to make a cute scrapbook layout with it. Anyway, this little Asian cat was so much fun to color with Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils. She definitely needed some sparkle so I added some shiny highlights with a clear Copic Spica pen. The photo quality is not the best and the sparkle and vivid colors do not show to their advantage. Wouldn't you know, the batteries on my camera died in the middle of all this. Of course, my household is running low on battery supply due to all the wonderful Christmas gifts the girls received! Note to self- by more batteries! I will try to get a better photo soon and change it out! The chartreuse paper is MM and has a sparkly embossed flower pattern on it. I punched out some of the MM chartreuse paper and some Orchid Opulence CS circles to add a fun look to the right hand side of the card. The silver cord was my answer to ribbon for this sort of "mod" card. I think that I am starting to ramble and make grammatical errors, so maybe it's a sign to try to get a little shut eye! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time (even at 3am)! Take care!

Asian Kitty card recipe:
Stamps: Pink Cat Designs
Paper: Basic Black, Opal Opulence, PTI Stampers Select, PP- Making Memories
Ink: Palette Black Noir
Supplies: Circle punches, slit punch, Doodlebug rhinestone, Prima flower, silver cord, Gamsol, Prismacolor pencils, Spica clear gel pen, Stampin'Dimensionals

A Fabulous (Flowers) Birthday

I told DH that I had to stamp something for FUN today. My sanity depended on it. Okay, I'm only kidding myself, my sanity is far too gone to be saved but it's always a good bargaining chip to have in your bucket. I was fortunate to get a few precious afternoon minutes to make this bright, sparkling card for my hubby's grandmother's birthday! It has been very dreary here today. The temperature has dropped and clouds cover the sky. Drab, drab, drab. So when I sat down in my craft room, I decided that I (along with the recipient) needed something that said warmer, sunnier days! The flowers are all from Fabulous Flowers and the leaves are from Wild Rose. There was quite a bit of cutting involved, you folks know that I'm just silly about paper piecing so this was just up my alley! The centers of the Sky Blue flowers are MM Pearls that I colored with a Copic Marker so that they would coordinate with the rest of the colors.

So here we are in 2008! It is so hard to believe. I remember ringing in the new millennium, it seems like only yesterday, yet here I am with a new husband, new family, new home, renewed Faith- so much in such a short time! While I don't usually make specific "New Years Resolutions," I have realized over the last couple of months that my life has become so busy that I am unable to cherish the truly important parts of my life. There will definitely be some changes made this year. I hope some of you will stand by to share the trials and tribulations as I simplify, reorganize, re prioritize, delegate and just plain learn how to say NO assertively. A Blessed 2008 to all. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Fabulous Flowers card recipe:

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers, Wild Rose, PTI- Faux Ribbon sentiment

Paper: Lavender Lace, Whisper White

Ink: Groovy Gauva, Soft Sky, Lavender Lace, Old Olive, Night of Navy

Accessories: Groovy Gauva Stitched ribbon, Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, MM pearls, Copic marker, Stampin' Dimensionals, Scalloped edge scissors

2008!!!!!

Wishing a Happy and Blessed 2008 to all that drop by!