Merry & Bright Ways to Use It Challenge

Can things get anymore hectic? Well, we all know the answer to that but it truly exceeds my imagination at this point! Still working frantically on Christmas projects- sure that not all of them will be completed and trying to prioritize! Do I have time to make a card today? No! Could I resist the Ways to Use It Challenge over on SCS? No, again! When I bought this Collage Merry & Bright stamp by Hero Arts, I had a monochromatic card in mind. Mind you, I had never made a monochromatic card but I so admire them when others post them on their blogs or SCS galleries. So when I saw today's challenge to make one, I had to play. The makin's of this card are pretty straight forward. It's difficult to see but there are tiny pink rhinestones among the swirls on the main image and a larger pink rhinestone in the center of the snowflake brad. The Cuttlebug Swirls have been "sparkled up" with a paint brush and some Stickles. Well, oldest DD is painting a Nativity Scene and seems to need some help so off I go. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!


Recipe for Monochromatic Card:

Stamps: Print Pattern, Hero Arts Collage Merry & Bright

Paper: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate

Ink: Purely Pomegranate

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Swirl Embossing Folder, Stickles, snowflake brad (Hobby Lobby), Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon, Heidi Swapp rhinestone, A Muse rhinestones

Sweet Miss Daisy meets Jacksonbelle

Whew! The holidays are leaving no time for stamping for fun which was something I desperately needed today. It just so happens that 2 ladies I greatly admire in the stamping world offered up some awesome challenges this week so I took a much needed minute to PLAY. With time being so very precious, I decided to combine the 2 challenges on to 1 card. This sketch is from Anna Wight aka Sweet Miss Daisy. Kind of went "outside the box" with this one and used an oval for the main image instead of the sketched rectangle. Next, I used Daisy D's PP from Lindsey Botkin's (aka Jacksonbelle) Product Spotlight from her Member Company Forum. The stamp is one I purchased the other day at a lss, The Rubber Stamp Lady, by Eat Cake Graphics. So often the little girl images by this company have the frizzy, fly away (no pun intended) hair that matches my DD, Rachel! Of course, I have a soft spot for those! I covered the snowflake with Baby Blue Stickles and added some silver Zig Painty doodling, some silver Encore distressing and some retired SU Silver cording to give this card the Christmas sparkle I love! Unfortunately, the photo does not do the shimmer justice! Well, off to work on Christmas projects I hope to share with you soon! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Recipe for Snowflake Girl card:

Stamps: Eat Cake Graphics, sentiment PTI Holiday Treats

Paper: Real Red, Garden Green, PTI white CS, PP- Daisy D's

Ink: Palette Noir, Encore Silver

Accessories: Zig Painty Pen, Baby Blue Stickles, Coluzzle, oval punches, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, silver cord, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Birthday, Rachel!!!!

This weekend was so busy with my youngest DD turning 4 on Sunday and her Backyardigans birthday party with 6 of her little friends on Saturday. The December meeting of our SU technique club was Sunday afternoon and we had a yummy cookie swap as part of the festivities. To top it all off, my DMIL & DFIL were in for the birthday and we traditionally have the girls' pictures made with Santa while their grandparents visit so that made a trip to the mall and dinner out on Sunday. It was a marvelous weekend, but boy did I ever crash on Sunday night. Last night older DD spent the night with a friend that, also, homeschools (we will have to play catch up tomorrow with lessons) and younger DD went to pre-school. That meant I had to entire morning to myself. Wasn't sure exactly how to act- turned, and out of habit, looked for the kids a couple of times. I actually got some last minute Christmas shopping done AND got to go to a lss a browse at my leisure!! I guess I should have been home making some Christmas gifts that I have plans for BUT I can do those while the girls sleep! So instead, I thought I'd share a card I made a little while back using Flourishes stamps and Cosmo Cricket Wonderland 8 x 8 paper. This card is pretty straight forward. One interesting detail is the photo corners. Do they look familiar. They are actually the tops of the Christmas tree from this Flourish Christmas set embossed in gold. Not the best picture in the world. I have requested one of the fold-up photo cubes for Christmas. A new camera would be nice but I'm currently using the "big" Christmas gift to make this post- lol! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Stamps: Flourished Christmas Paper: Cosmo Cricket- Wonderland, Gold embossed paper (unk), Vellum, Brushed Gold CS Ink: Versamark, Close to Cocoa Craft ink, Chocolate Chip Accessories: Gold EP, Clear EP, sponge, May Arts ribbon, Circle punches, Stampin' Dimensionals, Creative Imagination velvet brads

And the winner is ...

Meg!!!! Who said: "Congrats on your 5000th post! I Love to browse through the blogs for all the awesome ideas. There are some very creative people out there and boy, do they give me inspiration. You are so very creative and I love your ideas...I am so glad you are back online! Chat with you soon! Meg" Thanks for the sweet comment, Meg! I'll get your blog candy out to you early next week! Thanks to all who left a comment. Comments were a bit slow on this one but I'm crediting to the fact that I've been out of touch so much due to my computer and the fact that everyone is so very busy.Today I am going to leave you with a quick post before taking my DD to preschool. This is a simple card using my beloved Hero Arts Christmas Doves. All PP is Chatterbox which I love to use with paper piecing. The wings on the birds are stamped and pieced, as well as, the little ornaments which have a layer of CE on them to give them texture and shine. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!



Recipe for HA Doves card:

Stamps: Hero Arts Christmas Doves, PTI Believe sentiment

Paper: Old Olive, PTI white CS, PP Chatterbox

Ink: Old Olive, Palette Moulon Rouge, Ruby Red and Old Olive Stampin' Write markers

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Embossing Folder, ribbon from stash, Copic Spica gold pen, CE

Techniques: Paper Piecing

Celebrate with Elzybell

Sorry, I'm so late with this post! It's been an ultra busy day. The first time that I saw Elzybell, I feel in love with her right away! Not only is she so... cute but having 2 DDs, I have a tendency to be partial to girl images- teeheehee! Here I decided to combine 2 Elzybell stamps to make a little tree trimming scene (this idea was completely inspired by this card on the Elzybell blog) and pair them up with Basic Gray PP. The ornaments were cut from the PP then used the Cracked Glass technique to give them the look of the glass antique ornaments that I love so much.

Well, now to help me celebrate my return to blogging (yea! new computer) and my over 5000 hits, I would like to offer up some yummy goodies! I didn't have time to take a pic of the stash but I will do that tomorrow. It does include such things as Sweet Chips Chipboard Little Folding House by Crafty Secrets (this is too cute), May Arts ribbon, Heidi Swapp distressing tool, a journal to alter and some really cool epoxy stickers to name a few things. How do you win these goodies! The winner will be randomly selected from all that leave a comment on this post between now and Thursday evening around 10pm EST (ie after Beth's kids are in bed.) If you would like, please share with me why you blog or like to check out the blogs. I guess my favorite things about blogs would have to include the friendships I have made and all the awesome inspiration (both creative and emotional) that is out there in Blog World. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time. Take care!

Elzies Trim the Tree recipe:

Stamps: Elzybells Deck the Halls, Snowflake Seranade-PTI, A-Muse sentiment

Paper: Orchid Opulence, Shimmer White, PP- Basic Gray Dasher

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Palette Noir, Versamark, Old Olivec

Accessories: sponge, UTEP clear, silver cord, Stampin' Dimensionals, Copic markers, Copic Spica glitter pen, Word Window punch, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, self-adhesive pearl,retired SU corner punch

Here's a Pinch...

...to grow an inch- an "inchie" that is! When I saw Judith Mara's article "Invasion of the Inchies" in this winter's edition of Paper Creations," last month I had to give them a try! I felt that PTI images would be just the thing for these little creations. So I made 3 of them combining Text Box with Basic Gray Stella Ruby and was instantly thrilled with how quick they came together. My mother's birthday was last month so I decided to use them on her card. I have been so busy with other projects (no time for "me" stamping) that was the last opportunity that I had to play with them. Well, imagine how excited I was when I saw some really talented paper crafters were recognized on Ellen Hutson's blog (Debbie Olsen, Cindy Lyles , Sharon Harnist , Michelle Wooderson, Trudee Sauer ) featuring "inchies" and their wonderful ideas to use them. Who knows, you may see some of these little 1" x 1" squares inching their way on to my Christmas cards-lol. I had this card completed when my almost 4-year-old DD decided to add her own touch to the bottom right hand corner with my Signo Gel pen. My first thought was to tear the panel with the "inchies" off and redo the card base (Sage Shadow tone on tone using Linen BG stamp.) Instead, I felt that the mark actually looked a bit like a stitch so I took a leaf pattern from my Bassill stitch templates and used my Bassill paper piercer (I'm liking this new paper piercer better than my old MM ones- it has a fat, wooden handle that is easy to grip and comes with reusable carrying case) to create the faux stitched leaves. Wasn't sure what I thought of it at first but it is starting to grow on me. Well, I'm going to go grab a nap before I have to go to work this evening. Remember to stop by tomorrow for the announcement of some treats. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Recipe for PTI Inchie:

Stamps: PTI- Text Box, Paper Trey, Linen BG

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter, PTI white CS, PP- Basic Gray Stella Ruby

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Regal Rose

Accessories: adhesive pearls, Copic Markers, rose ribbon, Bassill stitching template, paper piercer, Signo white gel pen

Techniques: paper piercing

Back in Bloggin' Business!!!!

Yes, it's ME!! Contrary to popular belief I didn't fall of the face of the earth nor have I become a groupie stalking the homes of some of my favorite stampers. I have, in fact, been waiting patiently for DH to finish building our new computer and here it is... It works wonderfully and is oh, so FAST. I noticed while I was gone, so many folks continued to stop by and check on my blog that I have moved past 5000 visits. I want to wish everyone a great big thanks for stopping by! To show my appreciation and to celebrate my own little milestones, I will be offering some most yummie blog goodies this coming Monday so be sure to stop by. While I've been away I have been quite busy and have so much to share with y'all! I decided as my first post back I would have to show you the name frame that I made as a gift for my Great-Niece's baptism (yes, I know you are thinking-"She's much too young to be a GREAT aunt.") Anyway, this is a little name frame that I put together for her. This is one of my favorite personalized altered gifts to make. They are truly personalized yet not too difficult or time consuming (and time gets more precious each day) to make. Just a few details about this. First, the stamp set featured is SU Garden Whimsy. I'm so glad this set didn't retire! I have found so many versatile uses for it from cards to scrapbook pages to home decor items such as this. The butterflies on the top of the paper were first stamped with classic ink pads, then I stamped then again with Versamark on vellum and heat embossed with clear EP. I then cut the embossed images out and adhered them with a tiny amount of Sakura Quikie glue pen applied only to there bodies. It's hard to see in the photo but if gives the wing a 3-D look. Do you see the tiny little ladybug charm hanging from the "K." I made that myself by stamping the ladybug from the stamp set in black Stazon on shrink plastic, punched it out with the Scalloped Circle punch, then punched a hole in the top with a standard hole punch. Finally, I stuck that baby in the oven for a couple of minutes, let it cool, added a silver ring and Voila! a coordinating charm! Has SU ever carried shrink plastic? I think it is too neat! Well, that's all I have for this post but please remember to stop by Monday (I have to work Sunday at the ER) to see how we are going to Celebrate! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Recipe for Name Frame:

Stamps: Garden Whimsy, Big Deal Alphabet

Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, PP Cutie Pie, Vellum

Ink: So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, black Stazon, Stampin' Write markers Rose Red, Certainly Celery

Accessories: Chipboard "K"- unk, Magic Maters, Blue Gingham ribbon, Fairy Tale Ribbon Originals, shrink plastic, Scallop Circle punch, standard office punch, silver brads, Circle Rhinestones in Ice, spiral clip- unk., Clear EP, Stampin' Dimensionals

Techniques: Heat Embossing