The other two sets....

Here are the other two sets that I finished yesterday! The top one is purple for the hostess w/ the mostess, and the bottom one is choc. chip, kraft and baja breeze! Interesting combo! I found some cute samples in the current SU! catalog.

Happy Stamping!!!

Create!!!

Hello! These blocks were made for my friend's Anything But A Card swap. I have 2 left to finish, and then this swap will be done!

I used different SU! designer paper that I have been hoarding for a rainy day, and some alphabets that I normally don't use.

I decided to make the word Create because whoever receives these, can put them in their craft room, and perhaps it will give them inspiration to create something beautiful! The blocks are unused SU! blocks. Since I'm a rebel and put my stamps on transparency sheets, I have a whole basket full of blocks! What else can I do with them, but decorate them!

Create something beautiful today!

Have a wonderful day!

Happy Stamping!!!

The Witches Lair

Welcome to the Witches Lair! Come in, if you dare! We are two groovy witches who have a bubbling cauldron, a full moon, bats flying here and there, our pet spider, and our black cat to complete the family! We are brewing a special pot tonight! Frog a la mode with eyeballs as a side dish! Would you care to join us for this most delicious meal?!

Witchy Ingredients:

Stamps: All MFT: Totally Witchin', Punny Farm (cat), Build A Bouquet (moon), & Cuddle Up Carter (frog)

Paper: Frightful 8x8 pack by Little Yellow Bicycle, black, Fall Stack by DCWV, & white

Embellishments and Accessories: rhinestone spider brad, bat punch (martha stewart), green stickles, liquid applique and Wild Wasabi reinker for the "bubbling" cauldron; fishing line so the bats can fly around inside; Versamark, Heat & Stick powder and silver glitter (SU!) for the spiderweb; Versamark and Glossy Glaze for the cauldron; Maya Road tin

Ink: Summer Sun, More Mustard, and Pumpkin Pie; copics; white craft ink

Have a "frightful" day! Hahahahahaha!

Happy Stamping!!!

Twisted Thursday challenge!

Hello there! Today is another Twisted Thursday challenge on Karolyn's blog Paper Therapy! I decided to get this one out of the way so that I can focus on my swaps this weekend. As well as this week's MFT Judge's challenge! We have to frame something!!! Eeeekkk!!!! What in the world will I come up with???!!!! I'm definitely going to have to sleep on this one!

Anyway, back to Twisted Thursday!

I was going through my Stampin' Up! designer paper earlier today for the card I made below, and I came across the Bella Blue designer paper. I don't remember buying this!!!! But, somehow it made its way to my collection! I decided to make use of some of it and make a card!

The colors in this paper are Kraft, Very Vanilla and Not Quite Navy. I really like Not Quite Navy! I think it's a really cool color! So, I was even more excited to work with this!

For the last MFT challenge, we had to make 1 layer cards. So, I was definitely putting on the layers on this baby! Another "twist" to this challenge was that we had to use ribbon. So, I decided to use lace, thread, and Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon. I hand stitched the designer paper w/ beige thread. And then I used the Pretties Kit for the hat pin and jewels and pearls. For the sentiment panel, the words are from Kitchen Sink Stamps Other Imnportant People. I stamped the words in Not Quite Navy. Then, I took one of the stamps from Garden Silhouettes, and stamped it in Sahara Sand, and then highlighted the tips of the flowers w/ my white gel pen.

And that's it!

Happy Stamping!!!

Blog Inspiration!

Hello!!! I would like to draw attention to Cindy Lawrence's blog: The Creative Closet By Cindy Lawrence. I am a subscriber to her blog, and she is such an elegant stamper, I love to see what she comes up with next! The card above is a direct casing of one of her latest cards featuring Gina K. Stamps. Here's the link to the card I am talking about: Thanks Mom. I did change the paper, as I don't have that awesome paper that she used! And my rose is from Kitchen Sink Stamps, not Gina K. And my sentiment is also from Kitchen Sink Stamps. The paper that I used is SU!'s Raspberry Tart. I bought it a while ago, and thought it looked so cool when other people used it on their cards, and also in the catalog. But, when I opened the package, I wasn't so sure about it. It worked out here though! I used my new labels one nesties, my current favorite! Can you tell? And that's about it!

So, thank you Cindy for your continued inspiration!!!! Stop by and visit her blog to see what other lovely cards she's made!

Happy Stamping!!!

Mail's Here!

Hello! Today I decorated a mailbox, because I wanted to try something different. I originally wanted to decorate a candle, but my 2 year old daughter "misplaced" them! So, I looked through my stash and found this undecorated mailbox that I think I got at Target in the dollar bin. I decorated the other one last year for Valentine's Day. This one has been waiting to be decorated for SO LONG! The side w/ the cupid mailboy is actually from the sketch challenge on Card Patterns this week!

I chose to use the stamp set French Mail by Crafty Secrets. They have awesome vintage type stamps in their fabulous collection! French Mail is the only one that I have, hopefully at some point I can purchase some more sets! They are SO cool!!!!

I used Windsor Knot paper (retired) from Stampin' Up!. And brown 5/8" grosgrain ribbon. I stitched lace together to make a flower blossom, and added buttons for detail. The little cupid mailboy was cut out and adhered to Baja Breeze paper, and then adhered to Choc. Chip paper both cut w/ my Labels Nesties. I added white fun flock to the mailboy's wing to make him more believable as cupid! Or a little angel!!!

Have a great day!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

Pet Shop!

Who wouldn't want a cute bunny or sweet little chicks? As I was making this card, I couldn't help but think of that song, "How Much Is That Doggy In the Window?"!!!

This card was made for Celebrate MFT Day yesterday, always celebrated on the 20th of each month! I wanted to participate, but I kept getting interrupted, and then I had to take a nap! So, that certainly didn't help me timewise! Oh well! I still got it done!

I used 5 different sets to make this card. I used Window Shopping for the girl looking in; the awning is from Meet Me At the Cafe; the little chicks are from Hangin' With My Peeps; the girl's legs are from the girl in Going Places. I turned them around and made them look like the backs of her legs. And the bunny is from the new adorable Flopsey Flowers set! The challenge for this month's Celebration was to use any Flopsey that you owned. I currently have 2, and this was the newest one, so I thought I would just use that! Flopsey originally comes w/ flowers in his hands, but I didn't ink that part, and just stamped little chicks in there instead!

I colored everything except the girl w/ my Prismacolor Pencils and then used the Gamsol spirits to blend. Even the stone wall was colored w/ Prismacolor Pencils. I wanted a different building facade, so I decided to use stone, since I hadn't used it yet! I thought it turned out rather nicely!

Have a wonderful day!!!!
Happy Stamping!!!

Anyone need their flowers watered?

This watering can can surely do the job! This can was made for the 222 World Wide Challenge hosted by Shirley's 2 Girls. You can find the information on Karolyn Loncon's blog Paper Therapy.

The challenge lasts until April 21st at 2pm. The challenge is that you can create whatever you want, but you have to use the following colors: Lavender, Lime, Orange, White, and Black. And for a jumping off point: "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row."

When I first saw this challenge, I instantly thought of MFT's 'Can Ya Dig It?' set. And I found some pretty flowers by Inkadinkadoo in my collection that I thought would look nice. To make it really crazy and out of the box, I decided to make a watering can! I used acetate, and I ran Crystal Effects lines down the acetate and poured microbeads over the lines to create the water coming out.

So, what do you think? Does it look like a watering can to you?

Have a great day!

Happy Stamping!!!

Another Twisted Thursday sketch!

Hello all! I got a Twisted Thursday sketch done under the wire! You can find the weekly sketches on Karolyn Loncon's blog Paper Therapy! I didn't get to do last week's sketch, so I definitely wanted to get one in this week! Good thing she's on the other side of the country! I would have been too late!!!

Anyway, I just recently purchased Hey Chick! from Kitchen Sink Stamps, and I wanted to create something w/ this new set. I thought this was the perfect sketch to try it out! I just used Barely Banana for each layer on the chicks, and it turned out good! I'm not good at mixing colors to really get that definitive look. Plus, all I really have are SU! colors, so it's hard for me to mix colors like the Kitchen Sink girls! But, I think the Barely Banana captured the fur on these chicks pretty nicely! The papers are just what I've had hoarded away. I used buttons from who knows where! And white taffeta ribbon underneath the buttons. Oh, and I added pearls to soften the look and add some detail to the other parts of the card.

Enjoy!

Have a great day!

Happy Stamping!!!

Prince Charming!

Hi! This week's MFT challenge for the Idol contest is to make a one layer card! Kind of difficult, if you're not used to making one layer cards! I like to usually add at least one more layer!

The picture above w/ the girl cleaning was the first card I made. I wanted to use this set, as it doesn't belong to me, and wanted to take advantage of it!!! Thanks Kelli! :D When I stamped it, I wanted to just highlight the girl, so that's why I didn't color the tv, or anything elses. The girl and tv are from MFT's Maid For You. The sentiment is from MFT's Window Shopping.

The card above that was my second take on the challenge. I was perusing through last year's PaperCrafts magazine, and I came across a card that Annabelle O'Malley made, and it looked like I could make it into a one layer card. So, that's where I got the inspiration. Apparently, on her card, it was designer paper, but I used MFT's Build A Bouquet flower stamps for the side. I stamped in Close to Cocoa and stamped off, and Soft Sky.

The first card, Mr. Prince Charming, was the one I finally went with. I was kicking the idea around for the past two days, and just this afternoon actually was able to get it on paper! Literally! After creating this, I thought, Jeez, I must be watching too much Sleeping Beauty w/ my daughter!!! The knight, dragon, flames and the "Prince Charming" words are from MFT's Good Night. The other words are from MFT's Twisted Two. It really says, "This is not a costume, I AM a witch!" So, I just changed it up a bit to suit my card, and wha la! I cut the dragon out w/ my exacto knife, and then ran him through my cuttlebug in my new Tiny Mosaic Textures embossing folder so he was scaly. I then painted Key Lime Shimmerz over him. I versamarked his spikes and then sprinkled Glossy Glaze over them to make them look like they were hard. I cut out and made the wing 3-D since he really is flying over Prince Charming!

I sponged a cloudy sky w/ QuickSilver pigment ink around a cloud that I drew. Kind of masking. I drew the edge of the cliff that Prince Charming is kneeling on. I tried to make it look realistic, but it looks more like a whale fin than a cliff! Oh well! I colored Prince Charming and the cliff w/ my gray Copic, then the darker gray is SU!'s Going Gray for highlights and shadows. I colored a cross on his shield and his chest w/ my gold metallic pen, and his sword w/ my silver metallic pen. The flames are stamped in Pumpkin Pie, and then I put yellow and red stickles to make them more like fire balls!

Have a great day!

Happy Stamping!!!

Easter 2009 Family Picture

I am posting this picture for some of my friends who I was having a discussion with about short hair! I have my hair back in a headband, but it's pretty short!

And of course, you can see my big belly! And how can I not mention my adorable children?!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!!!

We have a winner!!!!

Come on down Christyne aka Apple Blossom!!!!

Random.Olivia (my daughter) picked your name out of a hat!

You left this message:
Christyne (aka Apple Blossom) said...
HOLY GEEZ!!! This is beyond brilliant! TFS.

Congratulations!!! You win a free stamp set from the latest MFT Release!!!!


Thank you all for leaving comments!!!! For those directed towards my creation, thank you, from the bottom of my heart! Your comments mean the world to me!!!!
I, for one, am so glad that you all enjoyed the Blog Hop!!! I enjoyed being a part of it!!!!
Thank you Kim and Jody for giving me the opportunity!!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

MFT Blog Hop!!!!!

Let's go window shopping!!! Welcome to my blog everyone!!!! This is the last stop on the My Favorite Things Blog Hop! I hope that you have seen some AMAZING things done with "Text Ya Later" and "What a Girl Wants"! If you haven't been following the blog hop and come from the amazingly talented Ana, you should start at Kim's, and then come back to me!

For my sample, I really wanted to go all out for the blog hop, and I spied this frame in my chipboard pile, and inspiration struck!!! I stamped the purses w/ ends facing each other and then folded in the middle to make them 3-D. I added some sparkly bling to make them stand out, or ran them through the cuttlebug for a cool design! I put acetate over the "windows" so it looks like glass between the girl and those fabulous purses she wants!

Recipe:

picture frame, ruler, brown Creative Memories writing marker, "What a Girl Wants" by MFT Presents Amanda Baird (new illustrator!!!), cardstock: Night of Navy, Old Olive, Bravo Burgundy, Ruby Red, Almost Amethyst, Sahara Sand, and Choc. Chip; ink: Barely Banana, So Saffron, silver gel pen, Black Copic 100, skin color Copic E00; crystal stickers, metallic silver and gold ball stickers, Kaiser pearls, glue dots, white craft ink, clear e.p., Wild Wasabi ink, "It's a Jungle Out There" for the plant, and "Totally Witchin" for the planter.

I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed the blog hop and that you enjoyed MY sample!!! Please leave a comment here on my blog, and this evening at 9pm EST, I will pull a name, and post it in the MFT thread on Splitcoast, as well as on here, who the winner of some blog candy will be!!!! I hope it's you!!!!

Have a wonderful day! And if you would like to go shopping, let me help you out here, and send you directly to My Favorite Things!

Happy Stamping!!!

MFT Sneak Peek # 2!!!

Hello!!! Here's the second sneak peek of "Text Ya Later" by BC Dzyns, part of My Favorite Things. I changed the girl up a little bit. I used paper for her coat, and left her shirt white, & I cut her hair to give her a different look. The paper is MFT designer paper, as well as Sahara Sand and Whisper White. I used white taffeta ribbon, and Kaiser pearls. I also used my word window punch for the sentiment. This page was very easy to do, and probably only took me half an hour, once I decided what I was going to do.

Have a great day! Come back tomorrow for the Blog Hop!

Happy Stamping!!!

MFT Sneak Peek #1!!!

Hello!!! This week my blog is dedicated to My Favorite Things! I have been chosen to be the "Hot to Trot" Designer for the mid-month release for MFT! How exciting is that!!!

Here is the first sneak peek for one of the new sets being released Wednesday night at midnight! It's called "Text Ya Later" by BC Dzyns. I'm loving this set, and can't wait to use it again! Very versatile, and I can already see numerous cards in my head....!

I thought I would start out traditional and just do a simple card.

Recipe:
MFT background paper
Pixie Pink, Very Vanilla c/s
fabric for her clothes
copics for skin and hair
metal and crystal stickers
silver metallic gel pen
oval and scallop oval nesties
Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for another sneak peek!
Have a fabulous day!!!!

Gift Cards

Hello!!! Today I worked on a set of cards to give to my cousin who hosts an annual Easter Eggstravaganza! I always like to make her something because she so appreciates my work, and she (and her husband) work SO hard at getting everything ready and being so organized! So, I like to reward her with something special!

I have a little pot that I picked up in the Target Dollar Bins, so now I can decorate that! Can't wait to see how it turns out!!!

I used Garden Silhouette stamp set, and Night of Navy, Old Olive, and Very Vanilla cardstock. I used Night of Navy and Old Olive markers to color the stamp for the cards and envelopes. And Night of Navy ribbon as well as the Swiss Dots embossing folder to complete the card!

Happy Stamping!!!

Happy Birthday, Thera!

Hello! This card was made for Card Patterns Sketch No. 9, as well as a card for my sister for her birthday! Her name is pronounced like Tara, just a different spelling. She lives near DC, so I had to mail the card, thus had to make it early enough to get it in the mail! I even beat my mom at mailing a card, which NEVER happens!
As for the sketch, I kind of cheated, because the bottom of the sketch says that I need to have 2 strips of paper, but I chose to do 3 lines of text instead. This is my new set from Kitchen Sink Stamps that just came in this week! Whole Family (new) and Hearts and Roses (old). I put all the words on my block and stamped it. The flowers on the top are actually remainders from my card below for the MFT Judges submission for Build A Bouquet. I had these flowers and I didn't want to throw them away! The background paper is Pink Pirouette Designer Paper.

Happy Birthday, Thera! We love you!!!!
Happy Stamping, everyone!

Life In Full Bloom!

Hello! Today's card was made for the 4th week in the MFT Idol Contest. This is for the judges category. Since I was chosen as a finalist, I received Build A Bouquet for free! The challenge this week was to use Build A Bouquet or flowery stamps.

I wasn't sure what to do with this set, so I looked on Splitcoast and found this card by Pam Bassett: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1302405?cat=500&ppuser=149786. Very nice! I took her card and ran with it!

My card is like walking in a garden, over a bridge (handdrawn) with a gurgling brook surrounded by beautiful flowers and sea glass taken directly from the Pacific Ocean! I found a whole ziplock bag of sea glass on our honeymoon, and have saved it and used it for various things.
I stamped the sentiment, which is from Can Ya Dig It?, with pink stazOn on a clear piece of sea glass.

Enjoy walking through my garden!
Have a wondeful day!
Happy Stamping!!!

Shirley's 2 Girls second sketch!

Outside

Inside

Hello all! This card was made for Shirley's 2 Girls second sketch challenge being held at Karolyn's Paper Therapy blog. It's called Twisted Thursday sketches. She posts the new sketch each Thursday and you have until Sunday night to upload! If you are randomly chosen, you can win a free stamp from Shirley's 2 Girls store!

I just enjoy doing sketch challenges, and Karolyn is a really great friend of mine. So, I want to patronize her blog! And share it with all of you!

I used paper from Me and My Big Ideas Black and White Specialty Cardstock. I have no idea when I bought this. It's in a 12x12 stack. I also used Basic Black and Whisper White. I used a black flower from Sabrina by Making Memories. The basket and the flower inside are from Memory Of the Heart (retired) from Stampin' Up! and colored in Pretty in Pink. The flower on the inside is also from Sabrina.

I made this card for my great aunt who is celebrating her 85th birthday next week! Her daughter sent out an email to all of our family in hopes that my great aunt could receive 85 birthday cards! Isn't that so sweet?!

Have a wonderful day!

Happy Stamping!!!

Window Flower Box Card

Hello! I have had this idea in my head for a few days and wanted to try it out! I wanted to make a cool thank you card for the owner of Kitchen Sink Stamps because she sent me the one little layer leaf that I had lost. I just thought that was really great customer service! She didn't get mad or anything! And speedy, too! I got it within a week of emailing her!

Anyway, this card is rather complicated, and there are no measurements. I just kind of made it to fit my card. One of the hardest things to put together was the window casing! Getting those mitered edges to fit perfectly was a little difficult! I got it, though! For the most part, anyway! I put acetate on the underside of the window casing to make it look more realistic. And the lace curtains are really just lace "ribbon". I wanted to do vellum, but paper doesn't bend!!!!! The lace softens it up, so it works! The roses and leaves are from Kitchen Sink Stamps 3 Step Hearts and Roses. The heart on the flower box is from that set too. The flourish on either side of the heart is from Pretty Tera Drops. The butterflies are from the 3 Step Hydrangea set. The Many Thanks is from 3 Step School Days. I used white taffeta ribbon, and an oval nestibility. The colors I used are Almost Amethyst, Pretty In Pink, Sage Shadow, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, and Certainly Celery. I used LOTS of sticky strip and tape! I used the same method for the roses that I used below for my MFT Cafe, with the paper clips. The "dirt" is actually hiding the paperclip levers. I had already closed the window box, and then thought about how I was going to attach my roses. Which is often how I think of things! DUH! So, I cut a strip of Close to Cocoa paper and sponged the edges and tried to make it look like dirt, and then punched little holes so the paperclip pieces could come through easily. I taped the levers underneath and then sticky stripped it to the window box so they aren't going ANYWHERE! LOL!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Happy Stamping!!!