Paper Therapy

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #37–Laura’s Sketch!

2012-01-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, wow, wow!! That’s all I can say about both the incredible number of entries from last week’s challenge, as well as the amazing projects that you all submitted. Oh my goodness!! I had such a hard time narrowing down my votes. I so hope that this week’s challenge inspires you as much as last week’s challenge did. It’s one of my faves – a sketch!! I love a good card sketch because it takes so much of the guessing out of my designing. And it’s a great jumping off point for “interpretation,” if you know what I mean. *wink* *wink* Hehehe

Our fabulous sponsor this week is Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps, the purveyor of both clear and digital stamps. They’ve got some pretty cute stuff, so you really should check out their store! Sweet n’ Sassy Stamps has provided this week’s TGIF Club Winner with a wonderful prize, but you’ll have to hop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to see what it is. Oh come on, you didn’t think I was actually going to tell you, did you?! LOL Thank you Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps!!

I pretty much stuck to the sketch this time (shocker! LOL). The focal image is from one of my favorite stamp companies – W Plus 9 Design. I was inspired to use The Birds & The Bees stamp set because of a set of cards that I saw on Val Stangle’s blog the other day. I’ve had this stamp set for ages and had never inked it up before this challenge. It’s a crime, right?! Please forgive the dark photo – I am really STRUGGLING with my lighting and new light tent. The card base is actually Smokey Shadow, which is a dark gray – but it looks black. Ugh! If any of you have a fool proof solution to dark photos (I use Adobe Photoshop 7.0 to edit my photos), I’d love any and all advice you might have to offer.

STAMPS: The Birds & The Bees (W Plus 9 Design), Polka Dot Basics II and Label Basics (PTI)
INK: Fresh Snow (PTI), Slate & Fuchsia (Fresh Ink)
PAPER: Smokey Shadow (PTI), Smokey (Bazzill Paper Basics), White (Neenah)
ACCESSORIES: Angled Label Die (PTI), Rainbows & Clouds (Lil Inker Designs), Gray Satin Ribbon (Midori), Hibiscus Burst Button (PTI)

I so hope you’ll play along with us again this week. As you read this, I’m packing my suitcase for an adventure that I still can’t believe I’ll be participating in. I’ll be joining my sweet friend, Kim Hughes (the brilliant mind behind Paper Smooches Stamps), at the CHA in Anaheim, CA on Saturday morning. I’ll be working in the Paper Smooches booth, and I can’t even tell you how thrilled and excited I am to do this. Attending this conference has been a dream of mine ever since I started stamping, and this weekend, my dream will come true, thanks to Kim. If you’re going to be there, please stop by the Paper Smooches booth (#2609 in the New Exhibitors Section) and say hello! I’d love to meet you!! In the meantime, I’ll be returning home on Wednesday, so things will be pretty quiet around my little blog until then . . . but know that when I get back, I’ll definitely be sharing my pics with you!!

Moxie Fab Challenge–The Map to Your Heart!

2012-01-22T01:28:00.001-07:00

Hey!

Popping in really quick with a card that I made for the Moxie Fab World - Map to Your Heart challenge! We were to use maps in our design. I had this idea in my head, and thought that I could execute it using an old Road Atlas that I was just sure we had in our car. Yeah . . . apparently it went to the car dealership when we traded that car in for our new car. Bummer!! So, off to Barnes & Noble I went, straight to the travel section. Oh, they have some delicious maps there, but all of them really looked the same. Kinda boring, really. That is, until I came across a map of the Caribbean. Oh my goodness – the colors were vibrant and fun, and just exactly what I had in mind for my project.

I used the Swallow Dies from A Muse Studio to die cut several birds, all in different colors. I used a new Life Style Crafts embossing folder for a little bit of a whimsical sky, and the sentiment is from the Up, Up & Away set from Papertrey Ink.

STAMPS: Up, Up & Away (PTI)
INK: Onyx Black VersaFine (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Spring Rain CS (PTI)
ACCESSORIES: Swallows Dies (A Muse Studio), Dainty Embossing Folder (Life Style Crafts)

Thanks, Cath, for another super fun challenge!! There’s still a bit of time to play along if you’ve got some spare time on your hands – the deadline is Monday at midnight (EDT). That’s it for me today. I’ve got a huge pile of TO DO’S on my plate today. I hope I can cross a number of them off by the end of the day. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #36–Penguin Suit!!

2012-01-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Sweet Stamping Friends!!

It’s Friday – YAY!! That means it’s time for another CAS-ual Fridays Challenge! Can I get a WOOT! WOOT!! This week’s challenge is another goody – create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE project using ONLY black and white!! No other color – nada, zilch, nuttin’ honey!! LOL

We have another wonderful sponsor this week – Cindy Coutts, who is a Stampin’ Up! consultant, as well as an amazing stamper and designer. Cindy has very generously offered up a yummy prize for this week’s TGIF Club winner, but you’ll have to hop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is (and I assure you, you’re going to want it!! Just sayin’ . . . .)

I had a BLAST with this challenge, mostly because I love color, but it’s so nice when the color decisions are made for me. LOL I actually used one of my most fave-a-lave A Muse Studio stamp sets called Let’s Chat. I stamped the “blah blah blah” stamp in VersaMark and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I die cut the frame using two different die cuts. That adorable telephone was stamped again in VersaMark and heat embossed with black embossing powder (I think I got a little embossing happy for this project . . . hehehe). The rest is pretty self-explanatory, right?!

STAMPS: Let’s Chat (A Muse Studio)
INK: Onyx Black VersaFine and VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Raven CS (Bazzill Paper Basics), Ultra Smooth Solar White CS (Neenah)
ACCESSORIES: White and Black Embossing Powder (ZING/American Crafts), Baker’s Twine (The Twinery), Self-Adhesive Rhinestones and Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!), Mat Stack 4 and Rectangle Label Dies (PTI)

I can’t wait to see what you all come up with for this week’s challenge!! Reviewing your submissions is my most favorite part of my job as a Girl Friday – seriously, you all blow me away with your creativity!! So, what are you waiting for – get busy!! LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I have a very busy and full weekend planned. There are some stamps in my craft room that are calling my name, some challenge samples to make, as well as some submissions for the current Paper Crafts publication call that are due soon. How about you – any fun plans for the weekend? Whatever they are, I hope you have a great one!

Friends . . . and a Very Late Thank You!

2012-01-18T00:34:00.001-07:00

Hola Sweet Bloggin’ Peeps!!

This is somewhat a non-crafty post, so if you’re not interested in non-crafty stuff, I will totally understand if you click over to the next blog in your reader. Otherwise, grab a cuppa and sit a spell.

Actually this won’t be super deep. I’ve just been sitting her in my sweet little crafting space (that is slowly but surely coming together as my most favorite place in the whole wide world – I’ll share pics when it’s totally done!) thinking about my life and how blessed I am to have an awesome family and incredible friends. Most days I know that I don’t deserve such blessings, but I want the people in my life to know how very much I adore each and every one of them. Yeah, I suck at articulating my feelings – I wish I could think of something profound to write here . . . maybe draw a tear or two. Yep, can’t do it. Bottom line is – I love and adore my family and friends and know that I don’t deserve them. Thank you all for tolerating me and my lameness.

So, I also have a very late thank you (Emily Post would roll over in her grave at how late this thank you is) to share with one of my sweet blogging friends who sent me THE most beautiful Christmas card, along with some delicious ribbon and embellishments. Isn’t that card just gorgeous?! This is from my friend Piali – a woman who has been so kind and generous with her comments and messages to me. She is always saying the sweetest things about my projects. And what’s so amazing is that I know she’s just as generous with her kind comments to just about everyone she knows. I don’t know how she does it – she’s a busy mom, wife, and also does double time taking care of her sick mom. Oh, and did I mention that she lives in INDIA?!! Yeah, she sent me this beautiful card and wonderful embellishments from INDIA!!! Uh huh . . . I’m such a blessed girl to have such amazing friends, right?! One more thing – she has a wonderful blog where she shares all of her cards, so you really need to pop in and say hello. Piali, please know that I will never forget your kindness this past holiday season, and your friendship means the world to me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for the beautiful card and delicious crafty goodies. I’m so thankful to know you and to have you as a friend!!

Well, that’s it for me today, folks. I have some challenge projects that I hope to get done in the next couple of days, so I’ll be back to share those, as well as a new CAS-ual Fridays Challenge project to share on Friday (Thursday, for you west coast peeps!!) If you’re still here, thanks for indulging me and my blah, blah, blah. I so appreciate you all!

Homework–Clean & Simple Card Making!!

2012-01-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday Friends!

Popping in quickly to share a card that I made for the first lesson of the Clean & Simple Card Making Class. Yes, I am behind in my assignments . . . I was always one of THOSE students. Some things never change – LOL!! This first lesson provided three simple sketches. They also provided some great tips! I think this is going to be a fun little class . . . as long as I can make time to actually do the lessons.

STAMPS: Giddy Bugs (Paper Smooches)
INK: Onyx Black VersaFine (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Cherry Cheesecake, Raven and Lily White CS (Bazzill)
ACCESSORIES: Bugabee Bugs Dies (Taylored Expressions), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!)

Hope you had a wonderful weekend – I know I did! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

CFC35–Highs & Lows!!

2012-01-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Peeps!!

It’s time for another fabulous CAS-ual Fridays Challenge – this week challenge is to create a CLEAN & SIMPLE project and include SCALLOPS in your design! Loves me some scallops, don’t you?!!

Our phenomenal sponsor this week is Annabelle Stamps, an Australian online stamp store. And boy do they have some deliciousness in their store – I noticed some twine that MUST belong to me, and some stamps that are A-MAZING!! Annabelle Stamps has also provided a prize to this week’s TGIF Winner, but you’ll have to hop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is . . . a girl’s gotta have some secrets, right?! *wink* Thanks, Annabelle Stamps, for being our sponsor this week!!

This was such a fun challenge for me . . . I love scallops!! But I decided to create scallops in an unconventional way. I recently became the proud new owner of a delicious new heart border die from Memory Box. Oh my goodness – it’s a die cut and embosser all rolled into one, and it cuts like BUTTAH!! So I got a little die cut happy . . . LOL. I die cut out several heart strips out of different cardstocks and designer papers and adhered them to a card base. Then I die cut a scalloped label and stamped the sentiment right smack dab in the middle of the label (heat embossed it with some EP from Michael’s.) I tied my fave-a-lave baker’s twine around the scalloped hearts for interest and voila!!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Love You More (W Plus 9 Designs)
INK: Versamark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Razzleberry and Black Licorice CS (French Poptone), Lily White Criss Cross (Bazzill Basics Paper), Happy Days and Dots & Stripes – Candy Shoppe Collection (Echo Park Paper Co.)
ACCESSORIES: Pink Sorbet Baker’s Twine (The Twinery), Scalloped Frame Die (PTI), Heart Chain Border Die (Memory Box), Fuchsia Embossing Powder (Recollections – Michael’s), Black Embossing Powder (ZING/American Crafts)

Well, that’s it for me today kids. I hope you’ll play along with our fun little challenge this week. I’ve got a fun day of lunch and shopping with my friend planned for today, and movies with my mother-in-law on Sunday. I also hope to slide a bit of stamping into the mix of my weekend. How about you – any special plans for your weekend? I’d love to hear all about them!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Clear & Simple Stamps iPhone App Sneak Peek!!

2012-01-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Peeps!

Just had to share that a project I recently submitted to Clear & Simple Stamps is being featured via their iPhone App (which can be purchased HERE.) I got an iPhone after Christmas and have been having a blast with it. And how exciting that I can now view some bonus projects from Clear & Simple Stamps on my phone – so cool, right?!

Here’s my sneak peek project:

Thanks for stopping by!!

CFC34–Chip Off the Ol’ Block–Guest Designer Contest!!

2012-01-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

Well hello, people!!

Did you think I fell off the face of the earth?!! I’ve so enjoyed the creative break from stamping and the CAS-ual Fridays challenges. I missed my teammates, and all of you, but it was kind of nice to have that little break. We had the most wonderful time in Seattle visiting our family for the holidays – our time there was much too short! I so hope that you, too, enjoyed the holiday season!

So are you as ready to get back into the swing of CAS-ual Fridays as I am?! Oh My Gosh – this week’s challenge is not only going to be a fun one, it also provides the possibility of one of you being chosen as next month’s CAS-ual Fridays Guest Designer – how fun is that?! THE CHALLENGE: Create a CLEAN & SIMPLE card design and include CHIPBOARD in your design.

Our amazing sponsor this week is SimonSaysStamp.com, the purveyor of one of the largest stash of stamps and stamping supplies known to man! SimonSaysStamp.com has provided a wonderful prize for this week’s TGIF Winner, but you’ll have to hop over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is. BONUS ALERT: This week’s TGIF Winner will also become the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Guest Designer for a week in the month of February. So exciting, right?!! Thank you, SimonSaysStamp.com for being our sponsor this week!!

I’ll be honest – I am NOT a fan of chipboard. Ironically, I have an enormous stash of it, but just can’t bring myself to use it in my designing. But I have to tell you that I appreciated this challenge because it FORCED me to get that stuff out and use it. And I have to say I’m pretty stinkin’ happy with what I created. I adhered some designer paper to the flowers and sanded the edges to give it a clean finish. The vines were created using a PTI die. I so love white one white . . . it makes me happy!

There ya have it!! Hop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to see what the other brilliant Girl Fridays have cooked up for your inspiration. That’s it for me today. I’m headed to the west valley to pick up a crafty friend for a two-day crafting binge – BE STILL MY HEART!! How about you? Any fun crafty plans this weekend?!! Have a great weekend – thanks so much for stopping by today!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #33 –Two Week Challenge!!

2011-12-22T22:01:00.001-07:00

Happy Happy, crafty friends!!

Only a few more days until Christmas – YAY!! This year at our house will be special as it’s the first year that our grandson will truly be aware of gifts, and Santa, and all the fun that goes along with the holidays. Can’t wait to see his big eyes when he gets up Christmas morning . . . .

Enough babbling – let’s get down to business, shall we?! This week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge is a doozy!! We’re playing with Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String – create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE project using kraft and twine. Perfect for the holidays, right?! AND this week’s challenge is a TWO WEEK challenge, so you’ll have plenty of time to play along with us!!

This week’s fantabulous sponsor is Market Street Stamps, who very GENEROUSLY provided us Girl Fridays with some of the newest stamp releases – how lucky are we?! Market Street Stamps has some amazing stamp designs that I know you’re going to love, and I believe that the prize package this week will be a goody, too!! Hop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge blog to see what it is. Thank you, Market Street Stamps!! While you’re there, be sure and peruse the delicious inspiration that the other Girl Fridays have prepared for your perusal.

Here’s my answer to the challenge. I got to work with the brand spankin’ new Faith In You. Gorgeous images and sentiments!! I simply stamped the flower bouquet image with pigment ink, masked it, and then stamped the vase. Added a bit of bling, and then popped up the window die cut – fresh flowers through the window . . . who’s ready for spring?! LOL The sentiment (which I wish I had centered instead of placing it to the right of the card – it looks funky there! Ugh!) is from another Market Street Stamps set called Slow Movin’.

STAMPS: Faith In You and Slow Movin’ (Market Street Stamps)
INK: Sage (A Muse Studio), Onyx Black VersaFine Ink (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Kraft CS (PTI), Snow CS (Bazzill Basics Paper)
ACCESSORIES: Honeydew Twine (The Twinery), Small Window Die (Memory Box), Self-Adhesive Rhinestones (Doodlebug)

Before I sign off for the week, I’d like to thank you all for being such amazing visitors to my blog – I adore you all and so appreciate the time you take each day to stop by and leave me some love. You’re one of the reasons I love what I do so very much. Wishing you all the happiest of holiday seasons.

Another Moxie Fab Get Inspired Potpourri Challenge Card!!

2011-12-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Again!

Can you believe it – posting two days in a row?!! In my heart and mind, I’d post something every single day. But somehow my life gets in the way of my intentions. Anyway, I have another card that I created for the Moxie Fab Get Inspired Potpourri Challenge. But before I do that, I wanted to mention that if you haven’t picked this issue up at your local craft or bookstore (or HERE), then you MUST!! The projects in this magazine are AH-MAZING!!

I really love the inspiration photo. The clean classic lines, the cool old-world monogram on the mug, and the dainty contrast of the elegant silver chairs and the doily. Every bit is delicious to me, don’t you think? I stamped the J and the Y in black ink using a fun Theresa Collins alphabet set. Then I punched that dainty snowflake ornament out of some textured silver cardstock (American Crafts), layering it with a black circle behind it so that the silver doesn’t get lost in that Razzleberry card base. The holly is a PTI die – had to add the fuschia bling for the holly berries – just couldn’t help myself. The “white space” of the card represents the white space of the monogrammed mug. Thanks, Cath, for keeping my creative juices flowing with your inspirational challenges!!

I know this is a busy time of year for everyone, but you really should stop by the Moxie Fab World Blog and check out all the challenges that Cath has going on – they can be found on the right side bar of her blog.

When you read this, I’ll be snuggling with my little Brecken bug and enjoying the holidays with my kids. I’ll be back on Friday with the next CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, so I hope you’ll stop by again soon!

Moxie Fab Get Inspired By Fashion Challenge!!

2011-12-17T07:24:00.001-07:00

Hello Crafty Chicas!!

Wow – I can’t believe Christmas is only 8 days away!! Eeekk!! I’m pretty well ready, although I have a few smaller gifts to buy, and of course the stocking stuffers – gotta have stocking stuffers, right?! The person who invented online buying and free shipping is a hero in my eyes – no doubt it was a woman! LOL

I wanted to pop in really quick to share a card that I created for the Moxie Fab Get Inspired By Fashion Challenge. Houndstooth – it’s EVERYWHERE!! When I was in San Francisco in November, it was on all the window mannequins, and I’ve noticed it in all the stores while doing my Christmas shopping. Houndstooth literally rocks my world these days. *sigh* It just makes me happy. So I was thrilled to little bits when Cath posed this fashion challenge. How freakin’ cute is that little jacket? I was inspired by the pattern, the texture of the jacket, the clean classic lines, as well as the color palette.

I used a new LifeStyle Crafts Houndstooth Border die to create the houndstooth pattern at the bottom. I love the texture and dimension that it added when I popped it off the cardbase. The Pear Pizzazz and Vintage Cream color combo is so soft and feminine, and the satin lining inspired the Vintage Cream satin bow on the card. The little scalloped tag was inspired by the rounded collar on the jacket. See what I mean? Every aspect of that jacket just oozes inspiration for me!! Thanks, Cath, for another fabulous challenge!!

I have another card for the Moxie Fab Get Inspired Potpourri Challenge that I’ll share with you tomorrow. I’m actually in the midst of packing my suitcase for a quick trip to Seattle for the holidays. Can’t wait to love on my kids and my grandson – deLISH!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you’ll come by tomorrow, too. Until then, have a great day!!

CAS-ual Fridays #32–Signed, Sealed & Delivered!!

2011-12-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Peeps!

Can you believe it’s time for another CAS-ual Fridays Challenge again/!! Sheesh!! I swear the days just seem to be one big blur lately – I’ve been busier than a one-armed paper hanger, and my list just keeps growing and growing!! LOL But I ALWAYS have time for CAS-ual Fridays Challenges – I heart them! This week’s challenge is no exception – create a CLEAN & SIMPLE card design and include a coordinating envelope. Super fun, right?!

Our fantabulous sponsor AND super talented Guest Designer this week is Sherri Thompson, who is a Unity Stamp Ippity Chick!! Thanks so much for sponsoring and playing along with us, Sherri!! I believe that Sherri has very kindly provided a fabulous prize for this week’s TGIF Club Winner – check it out on the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog. Oh and while you’re there, be sure and check out the deliciousness that Sherri and the other Girl Fridays have provided for your inspiration!

I had a blast with this challenge! I’m still trying to fill my stash of Christmas cards, so I saw this as the perfect opportunity. I die cut the word “holiday” and stamped the remainder of the sentiment. In place of the “o”, I punched a jingle bell out of some yummy silver American Crafts cardstock and tied it with some delish baker’s twine. Perfect, right?!

To make the coordinating envelope (in the lower left corner of the above photo), I stamped the jingle bell from Calendar Fun (A Muse Studio) and the sentiment is from another PTI set, listed below.

STAMPS: Wonderful Words (PTI), Calendar Fun (A Muse Studio), Holiday Lights (PTI)
INK: VersaMark (Tsukineko), Fuschia (Fresh Ink), Onyx Black VersaFine (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Razzleberry and Black Licorice CS (French Poptone), Snow CS (Bazzill Basics Paper), Silver CS (American Crafts)
ACCESSORIES: Jingle Bell Punch (Martha Stewart), Fuschia Baker’s Twine (The Twinery), Black Self-Adhesive Rhinestone (KaiserCraft), Black Embossing Powder (Zing/American Crafts), word die (PTI)

I’m off to enjoy a fun holiday ornament exchange party with some girlies, and the next day will be a SCRUMPTIOUS holiday lunch with one of my BFF’s!! Hoping you have some fun holiday plans coming up to make your holidays merry! Thanks so much for stopping by today. I’ll be back tomorrow with some challenge cards that I’ve been meaning to share with you. Hope you’ll pop in again real soon!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #31–In the Mist!

2011-12-08T22:01:00.001-07:00

Hello Friends!!

It’s time for a brand spankin’ new CAS-ual Fridays Challenge!! This week’s challenge is to create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE card design and include some kind of spray mist on your project.

This week’s fabulous sponsor is the Sweet Stamp Shop, an online stamp company that has some pretty cute stuff! Nicole Rixon (the owner) was kind enough to provide each of the Girl Fridays with some stamps to play with, and play with them we did. I got to work with the set called Hello Beautiful. Sweet Stamp Shop has also offered up a fabulous prize for this week’s TGIF Club Winner, but you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is!!

Yeah, I straight up struggled with this one because my linear and symmetrical brain tells me that mists are “messy” . . . it was PAINFUL to spray that mist on my project!! LOL But I did it, and I have to say, I was pretty darned happy with the end result. It’s probably not something I’ll do too often, but I love to try anything at least once!! Be sure and pop over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge blog to see what the other Girl Fridays have cooked up for your inspiration.

STAMPS: Hello Beautiful (Sweet Stamp Shop)
INK: Onyx Black VersaFine (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Snow CS (Bazzill), Blu Raspberry CS (French Poptone), Polka Dots (PTI)
ACCESSORIES: Yellow Rhinestones (Doodlebug), Ranger Spray Mist (can’t remember the color – I borrowed it from a friend), Stardream Pen (Sakura)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! We’ve got a busy social weekend planned, so that’ll be fun! Hope you have a fun weekend, too!

Moxie Fab Get Inspired Potpourri Challenge!!

2011-12-06T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hey!

I’m back today with another card in answer to one of the MANY Moxie Fab World Challenges going on right now – the Card Creations Get Inspired Potpourri Challenge. Oh, how I love the Moxie Fab World Challenges . . . they get my creative juices a flowin’ like CRAZY!! And this one was no exception. I was inspired by several things in this photo – the yummy old world monogram lettering, the doily under those amazing pewter chairs, as well as the classic black and white color scheme. I adore that monogram, and originally thought I’d do something with letterpress -I may still try that. For now, I created the above card, translating the old world monogram into the sentiment of the card. Of course, the black and white color scheme as well as the doily are also represented. What do you think? If this photo inspires YOU, you really should play along with this and/or the other Moxie Fab Challenges that are going on – you can find them all on the right side bar HERE. Thanks, Cath, for another Moxie Fabulous Challenge!!

I had an amazing day with one of my most adorable crafty friends yesterday. We laughed and stamped, and talked shoes, and laughed some more. Ahhhhh . . . I love days like that, don’t you? Anyway, I hope you have a great day, too. Thanks so much for stopping by – I’ve got a few more challenge cards up my sleeve, so I’ll be back soon!!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #30–Tic Tac Toe!!

2011-12-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Again!!

Did you all have an amazing Thanksgiving?! Ours was really quiet, but kind of nice, too. Just the two of us . . . no mess! LOL Anyway, I’m back today to share the latest CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, which is to create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE design and choose the elements of your card from the above Tic Tac Toe grid. I just LOVE these Tic Tac Toe challenges because there are so many fun combos and possibilities.

Our fabulous sponsor this week is The Paper Temptress. They provided the Girl Fridays with some awesome cardstock to try out, as well as an amazing prize for this week’s TGIF Club Winner. But, I’m sure you know you’ll have to drop in at the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog in order to find out what it is. Thanks, Paper Temptress!!

I chose the line for Scallops, Green and Stripes, but really had a hard time choosing which direction to go – they’re all super fun, right?!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Winter Wishes (A Muse Studio), Holiday Greetings (Flourishes), Background Basics: Retro (PTI)
INK: VersaMark and VersaFine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Simply Chartreuse (PTI), White (Neenah), Black Licorice (French Poptone)
ACCESSORIES: White Embossing Powder (Zing/American Crafts), Honey Dew Baker’s Twine (The Twinery), Embossed Scallop Border Punch (EK Success), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

That’s it for me today, kids. I’m so happy that you dropped by today, and I hope that you’ll play along with us this week. This girl will be getting inky all weekend long – how about you? Any fun plans for the weekend? Either way, have a great one!

The Championing Award Medallion Challenge!!

2011-12-01T10:00:00.002-07:00

Hi Peeps!

I’m going to make this a quick visit today, as I’m on my way out to my mother in law’s to clean her house before she arrives on Saturday. Her winter home has been closed up since last spring, and I’m sure it could use a good cleaning before she comes back for the winter. Enough blah, blah, blah from me . . . I’ll come back later to fill in the product details.

I had a BLAST participating in one of the latest Moxie Fab World Challenges – the Championing Award Medallion Challenge. I’ve worked with these medallions before, but kind of struggle with how to utilize them in unique ways. It occurred to me that it would make a super cute snowman face. Cute, right?! I cut the eyes, hat, nose and hat band with my Silhouette.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Polka Dot Basics (PTI), Winter Wonderland (Taylored Expressions)
INK: Fresh Snow (PTI), Onyx Black VersaFine (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Sno Cone CS (French Poptone), Linen Vellum (PTI), Black, Orange and Turquoise CS (Bazzill Basics)
ACCESSORIES: Green Felt (Impress Rubber Stamps), Glittery Dots (Doodlebug), Buttons (PTI), Charcoal Baker's Twine (The Twinery), Blooming Rosette Die (Memory Box), Hot Glue Gun, Silhoutte Electronic Die Cut Machine, Snowman Treat Bag (Silhouette Studio)

I'd like to add a few tips as to how to create these fun little medallions. My experience has been that when you fold them and adhere the ends together, it's difficult to get the adhesive to actually stick because of the tension of the accordion fold. I stapled mine together. I also adhered the medallion to a circle backer with a hot glue gun, because I just couldn't get it to stick and stay otherwise.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great day!

You Had Me At Merlot . . . Random Fun Challenge!

2011-11-23T15:49:00.001-07:00

Hey!

In early November, I spent an amazing long weekend in San Francisco and Napa with my Women Who Wine (that’s “wine,” not “whine”! LOL) group. Oh my goodness, we had such a great time!! One of the women is a travel agent and is so incredibly organized and generous with her expertise. She planned the entire trip for us, and let’s just say she knows her stuff. So I wanted to thank her for all her efforts in putting together a weekend that I will not soon forget.

Enter the Moxie Fab World: 365 Cards Week: Random Fun Challenge!! The challenge is to create a project featuring mustaches, buttons or an alcoholic beverage – fun, right?!! First of all, let me just tell you that the special issue 365 Cards is AH-MAZING!! There are so many awesome projects that are seriously so clever and unique. So, when you get a chance, you so need to add it to your collection. It’s really one of the best issues I’ve seen so far. And, Cath at the Moxie Fab World Blog has several super fun challenges that were inspired by that special issue. And I’ll be darned if I’m not gonna play along, because we all know how much I love Cath’s challenges!!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Drinks In A Row (Savvy Stamps), Fine Wine (A Muse Studio)
INK: Blackberry (A Muse Studio); VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Rich Razzleberry (Stampin’ Up!), Snow (Bazzill Basics)
ACCESSORIES: Rich Razzleberry Satin Ribbon (Stampin’ Up!), Frame Die (PTI), Buttons (PTI), Self-Adhesive Gems (Kaiser Craft), Canvas Impression Plate (PTI)

I love it when a challenge actually coincides with an occasion that I need to create a card – don’t you?! The sweet lady that planned our trip loved the card, so that made me happy. Thanks for another fun challenge, Cath!! And thank YOU for stopping by today.

Before I go, I just thought I’d remind you that the current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge is a TWO week challenge, so you have until next Wednesday to play along with us. Nice, right?!! You can find all the details of the current challenge HERE. I also want to wish each and every one of you a very blessed Thanksgiving holiday. I am so very thankful for all of you.

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #29–Sketch!

2011-11-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends!!

I’m back today to once again share this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #29, which is a fabulous sketch created by Karen Baker! I adore sketches because they typically spark my waning creativity.

This week’s sponsor is Trade Fish Designs, and they not only provided a super prize for this week’s TGIF Club Winner (hop over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is!), but they also shared some of their fabulous stamps with the Girl Fridays. Fun stuff, I tell ya!! Be sure and check out all the incredible inspiration that the other Girl Fridays have in store for you over at the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog.

Seriously, when you have a sketch and the product in hand, the cards practically make themselves!! I got to work with the Holiday Mix clear stamp set, one of their brand spankin’ new releases. I chose the hanging ornaments, and stamped them in black ink and heat embossed them with black embossing powder. I love the effect of black and white with the other bright colors, don’t you? I also heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Holiday Mix (Trade Fish Designs)
INK: VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Snow CS (Bazzill), Simply Chartreuse and Berry Sorbet CS (PTI)
ACCESSORIES: Self-Adhesive Rhinestones (Stampin’ Up!), Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Black and White Embossing Powder (Zing/American Crafts), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!)

So, I can’t wait to see what you all come up with for this week’s challenge! Your projects always inspire me. Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a great weekend!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #28–Tag You’re It!

2011-11-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Craft Friends!!

Wow, wow, wow!! Last week’s entries were amazing – I STRUGGLED with choosing my faves because they were all so fantastic!! I have a feeling that this week will be the same. We have another super fun CAS-ual Fridays Challenge for you. This week’s challenge is to create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE card and include a tag in your design. Easy, sleezy, right?!

This week’s amazing sponsor is Purple Onion Designs – an online stamp store that carries some of the most interesting and fun images (unmounted rubber) ever!! You really need to check their stamps out – they are so cool!! Purple Onion Designs very generously provided the Girl Fridays with some rubber to play with, and boy was it fun!! POD is also providing a super duper prize for this week’s TGIF Club Winner – but you’ll have to stop by the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is (while you’re there, be sure and check out the other Girl Fridays’ designs – you’ll love them!). Thank you, Purple Onion Designs!!

I seriously had a blast with the images that I got to play with, and with this challenge. Tags are so fun for CAS designs because you create your focal image on the tag, and you’re done! I worked with the Coffee & Tea Set, which has some super cute coffee and tea images, as well as some really fun and clever sentiments. I can’t wait to see what you all come up with for this week’s challenge!!

That’s it for me today, kids! Thanks so much for stopping by. It always makes my day!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #27–Over the Edge!

2011-11-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!!

First, let me just say – you ALL rocked last week’s challenge!! I had such a hard time narrowing down my faves because they were all just so amazing!! I’m back today to share this week’s new CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, which is to create a CLEAN & SIMPLE card design and include an element that hangs off the edge of the card in some way. Come on now, all you linear types like myself, it’ll be painful, but you CAN do it!! LOL

This week’s sponsor is Lil’ Inker Designs, a super fun online company that makes some of the ca-YUTEST images and coordinating dies. You seriously need to check them out – you’re going to love them as much as I do! Lil’ Inker Designs has provided an amazing prize for this week’s TGIF, but you’ll need to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is. Oh, and while you’re there – check out the other delicious goodies that the other Girl Fridays have created for your viewing pleasure and inspiration.

As I’m sure you can guess, I STRUGGLED with this challenge, simply because it goes against my OCD linear mind. But, I followed the rules like a good girl, and am pretty stinkin’ happy with the end result, although looking at it again I wish I had moved the bottom panel up a bit more . . . I feel like it’s a bit unbalanced, like it has a big forehead. LOL What do you think? I seriously can’t wait to see what you all come up with for this challenge – I know you’re going to come up with some amazing stuff!!

That’s it for me today, kids! I’ve been enjoying a fun visit with my oldest daughter, son-in-law, and adorable grandson for the last few days, and today I’m off to spend the weekend with 20 super fun women in San Francisco and Napa!! What fun plans to you have the weekend? Thanks so much for stopping by . . . your sweet comments and kind words mean the world to me!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #26–Sketch Challenge!

2011-10-27T21:01:00.001-07:00

Hola Peeps!

I’m back today with this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge and I KNOW you’re going to love it as much as I did. This week’s challenge is to create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE design using Laura Davis's brilliant sketch in the above graphic. I am a sketch challenge FANATIC – somehow my mojo just flows when I have a sketch to work from, so I hope you have as much fun with Laura's sketch as I did.

This week’s fabulous sponsor is Lawn Fawn Stamps, and Kelly Marie (the owner) has very generously provided the Girl Fridays with some yummo images for us to work with! AND she has also offered up an outstanding prize for this week’s TGIF Club Winner – I so hope it’s you, because I know you’re going to love it! But you have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is. And while you’re there, be sure and check out the eye candy that the other Girl Fridays have cooked up for you all! Thank you, Lawn Fawn!!

Did you know that Halloween is next Monday?!! Oh my goodness!! I can’t believe that it’s already the end of October!! My kids will be visiting us for a few days and arrive on Halloween, so I thought I’d whip up a little cutie patootie Halloween card for my grandson. I chose to work with Heebie Jeebies. I don’t know what it is about that adorable little spider, but I just fell in love with him. Cute, right?!!

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: Heebie Jeebies (Lawn Fawn Stamps), Background Basics: Retro (PTI)
INK: VersaMark (Tsukineko), Blackberry (A Muse Studio)
PAPER: Snow and Raven CS (Bazzill), Green Polka Dots (Memory Box)
ACCESSORIES: Self-adhesive Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Charcoal Baker’s Twine (The Twinery), White and Black EP (Zing/American Crafts), Classic Circle and Pinked Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

Okay, friends, that’s all I’ve got for you today. Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend!!

Dressed or Undressed?!

2011-10-23T18:58:00.001-07:00

Hahahaha!

I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Okay, what the heck is she talking about now?!” LOL I’m just wondering your position on “dressed” or “undressed” buttons! I have such a hard time adhering buttons without something “dressing” the holes of the buttons. How about you?! Do you think they should be dressed or undressed?!

So I wanted to really quickly share a card that I made this afternoon for this week’s Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger. Cath always has the most interesting inspiration pieces for her Tuesday Trigger challenges and this one is no exception. I was inspired by so many aspects of this photo. Of course the gray and turquoise color combo goes without saying – SWOON! But I also loved the eyelet lace, as well as the empire waist – to me that set the layout. Oh, and don’t forget that amazing damask flourish on the front of the dress – DELISH!! Please notice that my button is NOT nekkid! LOL

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Flourishes (Stampabilities), Undeniably You (Unity Stamp Company), Signature Series: Dress Form (PTI)
INK: Provincial Gray (Fresh Ink), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Tempting Turquoise and Basic Gray CS (Stampin’ Up!)
ACCESSORIES: Tempting Turquoise Embossing Powder (Stampin’ Up!), Satin Ribbon (Midori), Edgers #2 Collection Die (PTI), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!), Button (PTI), Silver Cord (A Muse Studio)

I hope to do LOTS of stamping this week, friends, so I’ll be back very soon to share more schtuff with you! In the meantime, have a great week!

Autumn Blessings . . .

2011-10-22T08:34:00.002-07:00

Good Morning, Stamping Friends!

Popping in really quick to share a card that I created for two different challenges: The CARDS Gallery Challenge (fall cards), and the A Muse Studio Challenge (buttons). I received some new A Muse Studio stamps yesterday, and just had to immediately get them inky.

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: Autumn Beauty (A Muse Studio), Dash Pattern (Hero Arts), Fillable Frames (PTI)
INK: Chocolate, Nutmeg and Mango (Fresh Ink), Pumpkin (A Muse Studio), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Kraft and Vintage Cream CS (PTI), Pinecone CS (Bazzill)
ACCESSORIES: Acorn Die (Lifestyle Crafts), Thanksgiving Baker’s Twine (Trendy Twine), Button (stash), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!), Canvas Impression Plate (PTI)

That’s it for me today, kids. I’m off to run some errands and then back for more stamping! Have a great day!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #25–Just Add Color!

2011-10-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

Howdy friends!!

I’m back today with this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, but before I do, can I just tell you how much I enjoyed all of the wonderful NO ORANGE Halloween submissions from last week? You all outdid yourselves with some super creative and adorable Halloween projects!! This week’s challenge is equally fun and entertaining, and no doubt will inspire some amazing creativity.

YOUR CHALLENGE: Create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE project that incorporates some kind of coloring medium – Copics, colored pencils, Bic Markers, watercolors, etc. You get the idea, right?!

This week’s sponsor is Clear & Simple Stamps, who very generously shared with the Girl Fridays one of THE most fun clear stamp sets that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Thank you so much, Clear & Simple Stamps!! They’ve also provided a wonderful prize for this week’s TGIF Club Winner – but you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is. Trust me when I tell you you’re going to want to play along this week. It’s a goodie! While you’re there – be sure and check out the fabulous inspiration that the other Girl Fridays have created for you!

Each of us was given the stamp set called Craft Room – it’s this month’s Stamp of the Month. It has a wonderful coordinating sentiment set called Crafty Sentiments. Both of these sets are JAM-PACKED full of crafty images and sentiments that are perfect for creating projects for your crafting “sisters”. Most of the images in the set are super conducive to working on those color skills. I had a blast with the spools of ribbon image, but there were so many fun images to choose from, I hard a hard time deciding! Sadly, I hardly ever use my Copics anymore, so I was thrilled to bits to practice my techniques again on those spools of ribbon. The sentiment was created using two different sentiments – lots of fun combinations, I tell ya!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Craft Room (Clear & Simple Stamps); Frame (PTI)
INK: Fuschia (Fresh Ink); French Roast (A Muse Studio)
PAPER: Razzleberry and Orange Fizz CS (French Poptone); Solar White CS (Neenah Classic Crest Ultra Smooth); Dark Chocolate (PTI)
ACCESSORIES: Copic Markers; Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!); Frame Die, Ribbon and Impression Plate (PTI)

Well, that’s it for me today, kids. I’m off to spend some time with my mom and stepfather, who are here visiting for a couple of days. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by – your kind words mean the world to me!

A Super Fun Opportunity to Win!

2011-10-18T10:44:00.001-07:00

Hola Peeps!

I WILL have something creative to share with you some time today, but right now I wanted to share a really fun promotion with you from Clear & Simple Stamps. See that cute blinkie on my right hand sidebar? Well, Clear & Simple Stamps is having a contest, and if you play along, you have the chance to win a Limited Edition Crafty Bonus Stamp Set! How sweet is that?! All you have to do is use the HTML code below to add the CSS blinkie to YOUR side bar, and leave Clear & Simple Stamps a message with a link to your blog, and they'll randomly select (3) blogs featuring the CSS blinkie to win the Limited Edition Crafty Bonus Stamp Set. This contest closes on Thursday, 10/27/11 at midnight (EST).

BLINKIE HTML:

Easy and fun, right?! I'll be back later - just had to share that fun little tidbit with y'all!

Have a great day!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #24–Orange You Ready to Trick or Treat?!

2011-10-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hola!

Isn’t that title just the most fun, ever?!! I had an absolute blast with this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, and I just know that you’re going to love it, too! The title gives you a bit of a hint, but just to be sure here’s this week’s challenge: Create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE Halloween project, but you CAN’T USE ANY ORANGE – not one little bit!!! Super fun, right?!

This week’s very generous sponsor is Clear Dollar Stamps – an online stamp store that carries some of the CUTEST stamps ever!! No seriously, you so need to check them out! I believe that they’ve provided a wonderful prize for this week’s winning TGIF Club project. But you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge blog to find out what it is.

When I saw this challenge, I knew exactly which stamp set I was going to use – my new A Pocketful and A Pocketful: Halloween sets from WPlus9 Designs. How freakin’ cute is that pocket image and I even love those spiders!! LOL There’s also a coordinating die that makes creating that adorable pocket a breeze!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: A Pocketful and A Pocketful: Halloween (WPlus9 Designs)
INK: Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink and VersaMark(Tsukineko), Blackberry and Grass Pigment Ink (A Muse Studio)
PAPER: White Textured CS (Bazzill), Black Mini Gingham CS (A Muse Studio)
ACCESSORIES: Honeydew Baker’s Twine (The Twinery), Blackberry Button (A Muse Studio), A Pocketful Die (W Plus 9 Designs), Clear Embossing Powder (ZING/American Crafts), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!)

That’s it for me today – thanks so much for stopping by! I can’t wait to see what you all come up with for this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge. Have a great day!

Tap, Tap, Tap . . . Is This Thing On?!! LOL

2011-10-12T10:56:00.001-07:00

Hello My Sweet and Patient Crafty Friends!

I suppose you’ve gone away and found other crafty peeps to visit, since it seems like I fell off the face of the earth. Dang, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I posted here on my blog. Pleeeaaassseee forgive me!! My life got a bit frantic following my father-in-law’s funeral. The day after we returned home from that, we packed our belongings and drove to AZ for the winter. We arrived in AZ last Thursday, and I promptly came down with some kind of flu bug that kept me away from my creative schtuff until yesterday. I did spend all day yesterday creating, but can’t really share any of what I made with you . . . just yet.

I do, however, have a card that I would love to share with you, especially in light of the fact that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Cancer sucks, no doubt about it – and sadly it has touched us all in one way or another. I’ve witnessed the courage and perseverance of two dear friends as they suffered with this horrible disease – and conquered it!! My father-in-law died from Mesothelioma – a form of lung cancer that very often is caused by exposure to asbestos. My stepmother is also in the midst of battling breast cancer, and we pray every day that she, too, has kicked cancer’s hiney!! In fact, she recently completed chemotherapy and radiation. My dad really wanted to have a party to celebrate the fact that she had completed treatment and has gotten great reports from her doctor. He asked me to design an invitation for this soiree that he wanted to throw, and this is what I came up with.

I knew I wanted to use the negative of a ribbon die cut (created using my Silhouette and an imported ribbon clipart design) – I just love that look,don’t you?! With my computer and printer, I created a block of several words that describe those that so bravely persevere through this disease – I singled out one word and made it a brighter pink. I then placed a panel of those words behind the die cut negative, putting dimensional tape between the two panels for added texture. I chose the word “Celebrate” as the focal sentiment because it was to be a celebration of my stepmother, and the fact that she had completed treatment and was hopeful of a successful result. Think positive, right?!!

The party didn’t happen because she decided that having a party would be just a bit “too much” to handle in the midst of still really recovering from a pretty big year of treatment. But I thought that this design might inspire someone else to “celebrate” someone they know and love who is fighting this horrific disease.

I WILL be back on Friday (really Thursday, for my west coast peeps) with the latest CAS-ual Fridays Challenge. Man, am I glad to be back!! Thanks again for your patience with me. Hopefully you’ll come back again real soon to visit!

World Card Making Day–Happy Holidays!

2011-10-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hurray! Hurray! It’s World Card Making Day!

I’m thrilled to bits to be a part of the Paper Crafts Magazine World Card Making Day Blog Tour. I wish that I was home creating cards all day long today as I had originally planned, but I’m out of town for a family funeral. But I so wanted to be a part of today’s events, even if it’s in this small way. So, I decided to use today’s blog tour to get an early start on my holiday card making.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Birch Trees (Impress Rubber Stamps), Polka Dot Basics (PTI), Merriest Wishes – sentiment (Hero Arts)
INK: Provincial Gray (Fresh Ink), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Ultra Smooth Solar White CS (Neenah Classic Crest), Enchanted Evening CS (PTI), Wild Cherry CS (French Poptone)
ACCESSORIES: Silver Satin Ribbon (Midori), Birds & Branch Die (Taylored Expressions), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!), Silver Embossing Powder (Zing/American Crafts)

How will you be celebrating World Card Making Day? Do you have fun plans with your crafty friends to crop all day?! If so, I’d love to hear all about them!

I can’t wait to visit the rest of the World Card Making Day bloggers on today’s Blog Tour – I hope you enjoy them, too! Thanks so much for stamping by today! Have a great day!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #22–Feeling Loopy!

2011-09-29T21:01:00.001-07:00

Hola Kids!

So sorry that I haven’t been posting too much since last week. We’ve been babysitting our grandson, who is a very busy toddler. Creative time is at a minimum as it’s all I can do to keep up with him all day!! As much as I adore him, there’s a reason why 52 year old women were not meant to have babies. Oh my goodness, am I tired! LOL

I am popping in today to share this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #22, which is called Feeling Loopy. The challenge for you is to create a clean and simple design that includes a ribbon loop or tab.

Our wonderful sponsor this week is the Ribbon Carousel, who very generously provided each of the Girl Fridays with some DEE-LISH Halloween themed ribbons. Oh my, are they yummy!! I believe that Ribbon Carousel has provided a wonderful prize to this week’s TGIF winner, so please be sure and pop over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to see what it is – and check out the awesomeness that the other Girl Fridays created for your viewing pleasure! Thank you, Ribbon Carousel!!

I tend to take a very literal approach to challenges, and this one is no exception. LOL As soon as I saw the title of the challenge, this fun little cocktail stamp popped into my head – perfect, right?! I, myself, am a lightweight when it comes to alcoholic beverages, so it doesn’t take much to get me “loopy”. And the yummo-licious purple satin ribbon went perfectly with my fun cocktails, don’t you think?

That’s it for me today, friends. Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me here. Hope you have a fantastic weekend!!

P.S. You DO know that tomorrow is World Card Making Day, right?! I have a fun little project that I'll be posting tomorrow to celebrate the day and will be participating in the Paper Crafts Magazine WCMD Blog Hop. How about you? Do you have any fun plans for WCMD?

CAS-ual Fridays #21–Mostly Monochromatic!

2011-09-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hello My Paper Crafting Peeps!

I’m back again today to share the next CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, and boy, oh boy is it a goodie!! This week you are challenged to create a clean and simple design using at least three monochromatic shades of the color of your choice PLUS chocolate brown.

This week’s amazing sponsor is Stampotique Originals – and by original I mean FREAKIN’ INCREDIBLE! - and they very generously shared images with each of the Girl Fridays to create projects to inspire all of you. How nice was that?!! Thank you Stampotique Originals – your images were amazing to work with! Stampotique Originals has also provided a wonderful prize package for this week’s TGIF winner, but you’ll have to head over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog in order to find out what it is.

This is what I came up with for the challenge, and I have to say I am super happy with the end result. I got to work with a gorgeous wood-mounted rubber stamp that stamped like buttah! The image I used was called Branch (#2008). I stamped it three times in VersaMark onto three different shades of green textured cardstock, and heat embossed each image using Chocolate ZING Embossing Powder. I placed each image behind the negative squares that were created using a die from PTI. The sentiment was also stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed with the same embossing powder. I love how earthy this turned out – a look that I’m not usually drawn to. Love those yummy greens against that chocolate brown card base, don’t you?

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Branch (Stampotique Originals), sentiment (PTI)
INK: VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Hillary, Parakeet, Limeade and Pinecone textured CS (Bazzill Basics Paper)
ACCESSORIES: Chocolate Embossing Powder (ZING/American Crafts), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!), ribbon and die (PTI)

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a great weekend!

Winners, Winners, Chicken Dinners!

2011-09-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

Hi Friends!

Please forgive me for posting this late. I’ve just spent the last few days with my father-in-law, who passed away in his sleep early this morning. He was an amazing man, who treated me as if I was his own, and we will miss him desperately. But we’re so happy that he’s no longer suffering.

Here are the two winners of the Paper Smooches stamp sets:

Congratulations, Lori and Hope!! I’ll email you to let you know you’ve won, and arrange for the mailing of your Paper Smooches stamp sets!

Thank you all for the wonderful and amazing comments that you left. You have no idea how much your kind words and encouragement have meant to me, especially in the last few days. I appreciate you all more than you know.

Hugs!

Thrilled and Humbled!

2011-09-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hola Peeps!!
*PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM – THERE’S BLOG CANDY TO BE WON!!
Oh my goodness!! This has been such an amazing year for me in terms of my creative life. I had my first card picked up for Paper Crafts Magazine, I made my first magazine cover (Card Ideas for Paper Crafters), and I was one of the 15 Stamping Royalty winners – all of these things were mind blowing experiences, and events that I’ll never, ever forget.

If you’re a regular visitor here, you also know that I am a GINORMOUS fan of the Moxie Fab World blog and play along with Cath’s challenges on a regular basis. I also follow the blog every single day because Cath has her finger on the pulse of all things trendy . . . when Cath speaks trends, paper crafters listen!! Right?! Needless to say, I was absolutely floored when I received an email from Cath Edvalson several weeks ago, asking if she could feature me as the Moxie Fabber of the Week. And, of course, my answer was, “Ummmmm . . . DUH!!” Well, I don’t think those were the exact words that I used, but something to that effect – you get the picture, right?! Cath picks someone every Monday to feature, and so far each and every person that she’s chosen has been an absolute gem. I feel honored and humbled to be included among them, and am so flattered that Cath thinks I am moxie fab enough to name me the Moxie Fabber of the Week this week. Are you kidding me?!!

So, if you’re here because of the Moxie Fab World blog – welcome!! If you’re a regular visitor – are you not shocked right along with me?! I mean, come on!! I’m just a little ole’ card maker who loves to stamp. Thank you, Cath, from the bottom of my heart. I know I’ve told you this before, but you’ve been instrumental in influencing the stamper/card maker that I’ve become. I adore your challenges, I so admire your writing skills, and I am in awe of your ability to educate us on the trends and minute by minute goings on in the paper crafting world. You’ve inspired me to think outside my proverbial box and gave me the courage to step out there and try new things. I cannot thank you enough, and am absolutely thrilled to bits that you’ve chosen me this week.

For those that came for some card inspiration, I have two Paper Smooches samples that I haven’t shared with you yet. The first one features the new September release called Perpetual Bliss. I combined stamps from Perpetual Bliss and Alphadots to create the sentiment. Love that about Paper Smooches, don’t you?!

The second sample features images from Sunny Side Up. Dee-LISH, right?!
****************************************************************
BLOG CANDY: So, when Kim Hughes (the genius behind Paper Smooches and my sweet, sweet friend) was here visiting me a couple of weeks ago, she left behind two “extra” stamp sets and told me that I could give them away to two of my readers. How sweet is that?!! So I will choose two winners from the comments left here on today’s post. (I’ll announce the two winners on Wednesday, September 21st here on my blog). You can get extra chances to win if:

You pop on over to the Moxie Fab World blog and leave some love for Cath. After all, the love should be a two way street, right?!
You drop by the Paper Smooches blog and/or Facebook page and leave some love for my Kim. She really is a doll, and I know you’ll love her and Paper Smooches as much as I do.

You don’t have to do all those things to win – the last two are totally optional. But I know both Cath and Kim will appreciate it if you do. Just sayin’ . . .

If you’ve made it to the end, you’re a saint!! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and for sharing this wonderful experience with me. I hope your day is as Moxie Fab as mine has been!!

Let’s Hang Out!

2011-09-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Wow!

Three posts in 24 hours – that HAS to be some kind of a record for me! LOL

I’m popping in really quick to share my last Paper Smooches sample that I made for my oh so amazingly fun time as Heather’s “fill in” for the month. Thank you, Heather, for letting me steal your seat for a few weeks, and a huge thank you to Kim, who took an enormous risk by letting me try to fill Heather’s super talented shoes for a bit. I’ve had a blast and am ever so grateful for the opportunity to play with you fun ladies!!

This sample features images from both Halloweenies (isn’t that such an hysterical name?!) and Sunny Side Up (the cloud). The sentiment is from Hang Ups. Once again, images from multiple sets build on each other to make a cohesive story. That’s BRILLIANT, don’t you think?!! I think if you pop on over to the Paper Smooches blog, Kim has a delicious sample from Laurie that I’m sure will knock your socks off!

BLOG CANDY ALERT: So just in case you missed it, I’m still giving away two Paper Smooches stamp sets to two lucky commenters on my Moxie Fabber of the Week post, that you can find HERE. I’ll choose a winner on Wednesday and post it on Thursday.

Okay, friends, thanks again for stopping by today. I’ll be back on Thursday with the Paper Smooches winner!

Moxie Fab Shaped Card Sketch Challenge!

2011-09-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

Hello Sweet Friends!

First, thank you all so much for your amazingly kind comments yesterday for my Moxie Fabber of the Week feature. I am ever so grateful for the time you took to read it and to stop by and leave me some love. Your words touched me to the core. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I’m popping in really quick tonight because I have had the Moxie Fab Sketch Challenges on my “to do” list for what seems like weeks now. Since I got kicked out of my craft room (my grandson is sleeping in there now until their new house is built) a couple of weeks ago, it’s been so hard to create. But I really wanted to play along with several of them, and only had time to create for one of them. I chose the shaped card sketch. Here’s what I came up with.

I looked at the sketch and saw a spider web . . . is that weird?! LOL That’s one of the things that I truly love about a sketch challenge. I love to look at a sketch and see what else I see besides the obvious applications. I got out my trusty Silhouette and sized the spider web cut file, and then created a card template by duplicating and welding the image. The size of the card is 4.25” x 4.25”. If you want more information about the details of the card, please feel free to email me.

In the meantime, I’m out for the night. My daughter and I are headed out of town for a couple of days to spend some time with my father-in-law, who is very ill right now. If you’re the praying type, we can use all the prayer warriors that are available and willing. Thanks in advance! Thanks also for popping in again today.

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #22–Mini Cards!

2011-09-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Peeps!

Welp, you’ve done it again, people – you all blew us away with your beautiful fall paper piecing projects. Oh my!! It’s so much fun to see how you all interpret these challenges – so much amazing innovation and thinking outside the box!

This week’s CAS-ual Fridays challenge will no doubt bring out some delicious designs, as well. To play with us this week, you’ll need to create a clean and simple mini card (or cards) design that’s 4” x 4” or smaller. Fun, right?!!

This week’s sponsor is AnnabelleStamps.com, a super fun online Australian stamp company. I believe that AnnabelleStamps.com has provided a yummo-licious prize package for this week’s TGIF winner, but you’ll have to pop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge blog to find out what it is. While you’re there, be sure and check out all the other fantasmic inspiration from the other Girl Fridays.

This challenge was so much fun for me! I had recently purchased the most delicious Mehndi-type stamps from Impress Rubber Stamps. Then I came across this photo on Pinterest (click on the photo to be taken to the original post). My mind exploded!! Amazing, right?! So I chose some of my fave colored cardstock and coordinated some bright colored embossing powder and away I went! The sentiments are from a couple of the Mat Stack sets. This card set was super easy, and came together instantly – it’s so nice to have card sets like this around for those times when you just want to send a cute little note along with a gift.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Doodle Ornate (Impress Rubber Stamps), Mat Stack 1, Mat Stack 3 and Mat Stack 4 (PTI)
INK: VersaMark and Onyx Black VersaFine (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Blue Raspberry, Sour Apple, Razzleberry and Orange Fizz CS (French Poptone)
ACCESSORIES: Apricot, Cricket and Aqua Embossing Powder (Zing/American Crafts), Black self-adhesive rhinestones (Kaiser Craft)

I so hope that you’ll play along with us this week! I can’t wait to see what you all come up with! Thanks so much for stopping by today – your sweet words mean the world to me!

You Make My Life Brighter!

2011-09-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends!!

I had a super fun but busy weekend! How about you?!! We had another amazing sunny weekend, but those warm Indian Summer days are going to become fewer and farther between now . . . fall is definitely in the air here in Seattle. Must be almost time to head back down to the desert! LOL

I wanted share another of the samples that I made for this month’s Paper Smooches September releases. Today’s sample features the light bulb image from Perpetual Bliss. When I saw it, I thought it would be fun to use a lamp as a background. So I got out my handy dandy Silhouette to die cut the lamp out of some Echo Park stripes and polka dots. I then stamped the light bulb image and heat embossed it with some yummo-licious Zing Embossing Powder. The sentiment is from Giddy Bugs and was stamped and heat embossed with some black EP. Fun, right?!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Perpetual Bliss and Giddy Bugs (Paper Smooches)
INK: VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Ultra Smooth Solar White CS (Neenah Classic), Metropolitan Stripes and Dots (Echo Park), Vellum (PTI)
ACCESSORIES: Rouge and Black Embossing Powder (Zing/American Crafts), Red Grosgrain Ribbon (Stampin’ Up!), Lamp die cut (Silhouette Studio), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!), Text Impression Plate (PTI)

That’s it for me today, sweet friends. When Kim was here visiting a couple of weeks ago, she was kind enough to leave two extra sets of her delicious stamps that she said I could share with you all. How nice is that?!! I’m hatching a plan to give them away, and will have the details of that giveaway in the next few days. I hope you’ll stop by again soon.

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #19–Falling to Pieces

2011-09-08T21:01:00.002-07:00

Hi Friends!!

Holy schnikeys!! You all knocked our socks off with your designs for last week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge!! Wowzers!! We’ve got another great challenge for you, and it’s a really timely one, so I hope you enjoy it!
This week’s challenge is to create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE DESIGN, using a fall theme and including paper piecing! Fun, right?!

This week’s sponsor is Scraperfect, and I believe that they have offered up a wonderful prize for this week’s TGIF Winner. Thank you, Scraperfect!! While you’re there, you should totally check out the deliciousness that the other Girl Fridays have created to inspire you. Oh, and please leave some love for this week’s guest designer – Stacy Rodriguez – she’s created a super yummy project for you! Welcome, Stacy!!

Fall always reminds me of back to school. My kids are long grown up and past that back to school age, but it’s still something that I can remember like it was yesterday . . . both for me and my kids. I remember those brand new boxes of crayons, peechees, newly sharpened pencils, and the books. Oh my, the books!! I also remember riding the bus to school, and seeing the school buses in the neighborhood this time of year makes all those old memories come flooding back. Ohhh to be young again. Just kidding! LOL

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: Brilliant! Clear Stamps and Notebook Paper Cling - Oxford (Hero Arts/Basic Grey), Halloweenies (Paper Smooches)
INK: VersaMark and Onyx Black VersaFine (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Wild Cherry CS (FRENCH POPTONE), Ultra Smooth Solar White CS (Neenah Classic Crest), Yellow Polka Dot DP (Memory Box)
ACCESSORIES: ABC Impression Plate and Notebook Die (PTI), Royal Satin Ribbon (Midori), White Embossing Powder (Zing/American Crafts), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! You have no idea how much your sweet comments mean to me. Have a great weekend!

Welcome Baby!

2011-09-06T00:00:00.001-07:00

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

Phew! What a wacky busy weekend, we had!! Our oldest daughter and her family are moving in with us for the next five and half months on Wednesday, so we’ve been making some preparations for that to happen. We are so excited to have them here, but especially thrilled to have our little bug here 24/7 – I’m a happy gramma!!

I also wanted to share another one of the samples that I made for the September Paper Smooches release. This one features the umbrella from the Sunny Side Up set. The sentiment is from A Little Lovin’. Cute, right?!

I’m having so much fun with this month’s Paper Smooches releases . . . seriously, you MUST include them in your collection – and then you can have as much fun as I am! LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I’ll be back just as soon as I get my family settled - I promise!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #18–What’s Black, White and Read All Over?

2011-09-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hola Crafty Peeps!

It’s time once again for another CAS-ual Fridays Challenge! Did you know that September 8th is International Literacy Day? Well, in honor of that day, this week’s challenge is to create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE design based on a book, and use the colors Black, White and Red ONLY! How fun is that?!! You can use a children’s book, fiction, non-fiction, the phone book (good one, right?!) – whatever your little heart desires!!

This week’s sponsor is Paper and Such, and they’ve provided an amazing prize for this week’s TGIF Club Winner, but you know the drill – you’ll have to stop on over at the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog! Oh, and while you’re there, please be sure and check out the amazing eye candy that the other Girl Fridays have for you there!!

I love to read. I especially love to read biographies. And I always have a stack of books on my night stand that I intend to read . . . some day. LOL But I have such a hard time sitting down and reading an entire book from beginning to end. One of the books on my nightstand that I haven’t even opened up yet is “The Help.” I’ve seen the movie previews, want to see the movie desperately, and really want to read the book before I see the movie. Somehow, I highly doubt that that’s going to happen! LOL But that doesn’t mean that I can’t be inspired by the cover, right?! When I saw this cover, my heart skipped a beat . . . I had recently purchased a download from the Silhouette Studio for the cutest park bench. Perfect!!

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: PTI
INK: TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black VersaFine and VersaMark)
PAPER: NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS), FRENCH POPTONE (Wild Cherry and Black Licorice CS)
ACCESSORIES: THE TWINERY (Charcoal Baker’s Twine), TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS (Birds & Branch Die), PTI (Woodgrain Impression Plate), ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (Rouge Embossing Powder), STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals), SILHOUETTE STUDIO (Heart Park Bench SVG file)

ETA: I'll also be submitting this for this week's CARDS Magazine Gallery Challenge - Wood Grain.

That’s it for me today, folks. As always, I so appreciate the time you take to stop by each day, and really appreciate your kind words and comments. Have a great day!

Hey Punkin!

2011-08-30T12:17:00.001-07:00

Hi Peeps!

Oh my goodness, I had the most delicious weekend ever!! Lots of stamping with great friends, laughing with new friends, eating, stamping and laughing some more. Heaven, I tell ya!! I so hope that your weekend was just as fabulous as mine was.

I thought I’d pop in to share another of the samples that I made for the Paper Smooches September 1st release (remember, I’m filling in for Heather Pulvrenti this month?) Kim is featuring this over at the Paper Smooches blog today, along with an amazing beauty from Laurie Schmidlin. Oh my goo’ness!!! (said in my best Shirley Temple impersonation – yes, I’m multi-talented. LOL) The pumpkin image is from the new Halloweenies set, and I created the sentiment using Boob Tubes and Alphadots.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Halloweenies, Boob Tubes and Alphadots (Paper Smooches)
INK: Onyx Black VersaFine and VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Polka Dots and Gingham (Memory Box), Kraft CS (PTI)
ACCESSORIES: Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Ribbon (PTI), Broken Fence Punch (Martha Stewart), Black Zing Embossing Powder, Double Bubble Border Punch (Fiskars), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!)

Halloweenies and two other fabulous new Paper Smooches stamp sets will be available for sale on September 1st!! I know you’ll enjoy them as much as I do!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I have lots of goodies to share with you all since I spent the entire weekend stamping. Hope you’ll stop by again real soon!

Paper Smooches Winner Announced!!

2011-08-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

How fun was that August Paper Smooches blog hop?!! I know I enjoyed it, and I hope that you all did, too!! Remember that the new sets are available for sale on September 1st.

I’m popping in really quick to announce who the winner is of the Perpetual Bliss set is. And the winner is #96:

luvhymns has left a new comment on your post "August Paper Smooches Pep Rally Hop!!":
Love the LONGGGGGGG cord on the phone. I remember when! I posted Paper smooches on my FB. I get so much laughter from Kim's take on every day items. So much fun packed into all of her stamps! Great job on the card!

Congratulations luvhymns!! Please email me (garkarlon@comcast.net) with your mailing information so we can get your stamps right out to you!

Thanks so much to everyone who hopped, Facebooked, tweeted or blogged. We hope to see you next month!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #17–Stuck on You!

2011-08-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Peeps!

Happy Friday to you – I hope this finds you all enjoying some beautiful weather! I know here in Seattle, we’ve finally gotten our summer. Let’s hope that it sticks around for a while, shall we?! LOL

I’m back today to share the latest CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, which is to create a clean and simple card and use stickers in your design.

This week’s sponsor is, of course, the premier sticker maker in the crafting world – SRM Stickers. They VERY generously provided each of the Girl Fridays with an incredible selection of stickers to work with, and boy did I have fun with them!! They’ve also offered up an extremely generous prize to this week’s TGIF winner, but you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is. Thank you SRM Stickers!!

As I said above, I really had fun with these stickers, although I really need to work on my placement technique. It stresses me out to no end that the HO HO HO isn’t centered. Guess I’d better double up on my meds today. LOL I played with a sheet of Christmas stickers that had so many fun sentiments and images to choose from, many in two or three different colors! Whoa! I love to have options, don’t you?! I used the HO HO HO and the Santa Clause Is Coming to Town stickers form the sheet. Fun, right?!

That’s it for me today folks. I have some super sweet friends in town visiting me this weekend, and boy do we have some amazing crafty plans ahead of us. I hope to get lots and lots of stamping done while they’re here. Woohoo!! I hope your weekend is filled with crafty goodness, too!!

August Paper Smooches Pep Rally Hop!!

2011-08-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

It's Pep Rally week and I am here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches September stamp release with you! The rhree NEW clear stamp sets will be available to purchase on September 1st. You will find them HERE. Follow the Paper Smooches blog for more sneak peeks.
To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! Just leave a comment on any of the five design team blogs listed below for your chance to win one of the three new September stamp sets! (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify) You have until midnight MT on Friday, August 26th to leave a comment. Please check all five blogs on Saturday, August 27th to see if you are one of the five lucky winners.
Kim was kind enough to ask me to fill in for Heather this month while she spends time getting her daughter ready to start school. Heather will be back for the next Paper Smooches blog hop on Sept. 22.

To increase your chances of winning:
1. leave a comment on this blog post
2. tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop
3. tell us that you Tweeted about our blog hop
4. tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop
(which means that you have up to four chances to win on each blog)

I used Perpetual Bliss for my project. How freakin’ cute is that vintage telephone image? Be still my heart!! I stamped the image with Versamark and heat embossed it with black EP. I cut the telephone cord with my Silhouette and I printed the vintage phone book (found the image on Google images) onto vellum – how weird is it that I don’t have a telephone book at my house?! LOL

I’ll be back on Saturday with the name of the winner! Good luck hoppers!!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #16–Embossing!

2011-08-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Peeps!

Did you miss me?! LOL I bombarded you with projects last week, and then kinda disappeared for a few days. Sorry about that. I’ve been super busy getting daughter #2 off on her way to a one year internship, babysitting my sweet little bug as often as daughter #1 will let me, and preparing for a visit with a couple of my stamping buds next week. I hope to get caught up on more challenge cards in the next few days, and will share with you just as soon as I do!

In the meantime, I’m back to share this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, in the hopes that you’ll join us! This week’s challenge is to create a CLEAN AND SIMPLE project and include embossing – wet or dry – in your design. Fun, right?!

This week’s sponsor is one of my absolute faves – The Stamps of Life. I adore these stamps and have quite a few sets in my collection, but was thrilled to pieces when Stephanie Barnard, the brilliant mind behind The Stamps of Life, provided a stamp set for each of the Girl Fridays to use for this week’s challenge. She has also offered up a very generous prize for this week’s TGIF winner, but you’ll have to pop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is – be sure and check out the eye candy provided by the other Girl Fridays while you’re there. Thank you Stamps of Life!!

Oh my gosh, these stamps are so much fun to work with. I was lucky enough to get the Friends4Ever stamp set. The images stamped like a dream and sparked boatloads of mojo as soon as I opened up the package. As for the challenge, I dry embossed the card base with a PTI Impression plate, after I stamped the large vines. I then heat embossed the smaller vine images with white EP.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: Friends4Ever (The Stamps of Life)
INK: Lichen Pigment Ink (A Muse Studio), VersaMark and Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink (Tsukineko)
PAPER: Solar White Ultra Smooth CS (Neenah Classic Crest), Orange Zest and Spring Moss CS (Papertrey Ink), Sno Cone CS (French Poptone)
ACCESSORIES: Canvas Impression Plate, Buttons, and White Satin Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Stampin’ Dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!), White Embossing Powder (Zing/American Crafts), White Embroidery Floss

I so hope you’ll join in on all the fun this week – we’d love to have you!! Thanks so much for stopping by today. I am so appreciative of your kind words and visits. Have a great weekend!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #15 – Sketch

2011-08-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Peeps!

I’m back today to share the latest CAS-ual Fridays Challenge with you! Hopefully you’re having as much fun with these challenges as I am! This week we have a super fun sketch to inspire your creative juices.

Our sponsor this week is Clear Dollar Stamps and they’ve provided a wonderful prize for the TGIF Winner, but you’ll have to hop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what that prize is! Thank you Clear Dollar Stamps!

I had a blast with this sketch (remember THIS card?), and plan to keep it in my arsenal of go-to sketches whenever I get into a creative funk. Sketches are usually my first source of inspiration when I’m stuck, and the Clean & Simple Stamping Blog is a wonderful site for clean and simple sketch designs. This is sort of a re-do of THIS card – I was determined to make it work in a way that I was happy with, and this project, when finished, made me pretty happy. I used the bajeebers out of my A Muse Stamp Positioning tool (sadly, it’s no longer available) for this one, as I had to stamp the main image four different times – once on the card base, and then again on the other three CS panels, so that the card base image would line up with the color blocking image.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: IMPRESS RUBBER STAMPS (Doodle Ornate), A MUSE ART STAMPS (Many Thanks)
INK: PAPERTREY INK (Fresh Snow Pigment Ink), A MUSE STUDIO (Fern Pigment Ink)
PAPER: NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Solar White Ultra Smooth CS), PAPERTREY INK (Raspberry Fizz, Simply Chartreuse, and Hibiscus Burst CS), FRENCH POPTONE (Pink Bubblegum CS)
ACCESSORIES: SCOR-TAPE (ScorPal), STAMPIN’ UP! (Dazzling Diamonds Glitter and Stampin’ Dimensionals), ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (Clear Embossing Powder)

That’s all for me today, kids! Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you’ll join us in this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge! Have a great day!

CARDS Gallery Challenge–Happy Birthday!

2011-08-10T00:22:00.001-07:00

Hi Kids!

Can you believe I’ve posted so many days in a row?!! This is kinda fun . . . I gotta remember to do this more often. LOL So, today I wanted to share with you the card that I made for the current CARDS Gallery Challenge, which is to create a birthday card. Easy, right?!

I’ve actually had this idea in my head ever since some new PTI stuff arrived at my doorstep a few weeks ago. I love their dies – so fun and super versatile. So many of them mix and match together to create some really great embellishments. I used the Take Three die to create the openings on the card base for the gifts. Then I embossed the woodgrain onto the card base using an impression plate. Then I used the ribbon/bow from the Make A Wish Collection dies. Assembling it all was super easy! I just created a panel for the inside of the card, and adhered three strips of polka dot paper so that each color peeked through each opening – I adhered the polka dot panel to the inside of the card using pop dots to give the gifts some dimension. The ribbons/bows are attached to the card front with a glue pen. The sentiment was stamped with VersaMark and then heat embossed with navy embossing powder. Easy peasy!!

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: PAPERTREY INK (Make A Wish)
INK: TSUKINEKO (VersaMark)
PAPER: NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Solar White Ultra Smooth CS), PAPERTREY INK (Simply Chartreuse, Enchanted Evening and Hawaiian Shores CS), ECHO PARK (Dots & Stripes Metropolitan Collection)
ACCESSORIES: PAPERTREY INK (Take Three Die, Make A Wish Collection Die, and Woodgrain Impression Plate), SAKURA (Quickie Glue Pen), ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (Denim Embossing Powder), STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

Okay, that’s it for today! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Pucker Up! – PDCC93

2011-08-08T21:55:00.002-07:00

Hola Gal Pals!

I’m back with another challenge card – I told you I had a goooood crafting weekend, right?! And I’ve seriously been having a blast! Today, I’m sharing a project that I made for the current Play Date Café Color Challenge. This is only the second time that I’ve played with this challenge . . . it’s a fun one, for sure! Check out those yummy colors – delicious, right?! In addition to the colors, I was inspired by the citrus picture in the collage. My final inspiration came from the sketch challenge over at Denami Designs, even though my card doesn’t qualify (I didn’t use any Denami Design images because I don’t own any – gotta do something about that!)

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: IMPRESS RUBBER STAMPS (Lemon Slice), PAPER SMOOCHES (Fruitastic), PAPERTREY INK (Polka Dot Basics)
INK: TSUKINEKO (VersaMark)
PAPER: STAMPIN’ UP! (Regal Rose CS), FRENCH POPTONE (Wild Cherry CS), NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Solar White Ultra Smooth CS)
ACCESSORIES: WE R MEMORY KEEPERS (Corner Chomper), ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (Rouge and Cricket Embossing Powder), DIVINE TWINE (Green Apple Baker’s Twine), PAPERTREY INK (Hibiscus Burst Button and Linen Impression Plate), STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals), GLUE DOTS (Craft Glue Dots)

That’s it for me today, friends! Believe it or not, I have another challenge card to share with you tomorrow, so stay tuned! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Wish Big Tuesday Trigger

2011-08-07T22:42:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday, Chicas!

I told you I got quite a few challenge cards done this weekend, so I’m back again to share another one. This is for the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger. I haven’t played that challenge in a long time, but have been wanting to. So when I saw Cath’s trigger for this week, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. The pattern of the quilt reminded me of the quatrefoil pattern that I am obsessed with lately!! In fact, when we get back to AZ, I plan to stencil that pattern on one of my walls in what will become my new craft room (former guest bedroom). I can’t wait! When I pulled colors from the afghan, the teal, lavender and gray spoke to me. I never would have paired those colors together, but my daughter was in a wedding on Saturday, and that’s what the bride’s colors were. I really, really like it!!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: PAPERTREY INK (Big & Bold Wishes)
INK: FRESH INK (Slate Pigment Ink)
PAPER: PAPERTREY INK (Hawaiian Shores CS), NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Solar White Ultra Smooth CS)
ACCESSORIES: LIFESTYLE CRAFTS (Trellis Cutting Die), PAPERTREY INK (Plum Pudding Satin Ribbon), SAKURA (Quickie Glue Pen), ME & MY BIG IDEAS (Self-Adhesive Rhinestones)

I have a couple more challenge cards that I created last weekend, and am actually on a creating roll so I may just keep on going! LOL So I’ll definitely be back with more to share very soon! Thanks for stopping by!

Moxie Fab Fanatical About Botanical!

2011-08-07T17:38:00.001-07:00

Happy Sunday, Chickies!!

How has your weekend been going? I’ve had a really nice weekend so far, and got caught up on several challenges that I’ve been meaning to play with for a while now.

So today’s project was inspired by the current Moxie Fab World Fanatical for Botanical Challenge. Now, I should start by saying that botanical, as described by Cath in the challenge, is not my typical style. The botanical samples that I’ve seen out there in blog land, though beautiful, are loaded with images and layers, lace and butterflies, just to name a few. I feel like my style has evolved into a very clean and simple look – it’s what makes me happy. So, I did me – in a graphic yet botanical way.

I rooted through all of my stamps and felt like the skies opened up and the angels started singing when I came across one of the sets that I won for Stamping Royalty – Botanicals from Gina K. Stamps. Perfect!! I stamped the image multiple times in PTI Fresh Snow and Fresh Ink Provincial Gray – both pigment inks to get better coverage. The sentiment is from PTI’s Year of Flowers: Sweet Peas, and is stamped in Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink. The gray satin ribbon is from my stash. Clean, simple, and graphic. I’m extremely happy with how this turned out. I love the contrast of the white and light gray on that delicious chartreuse panel, and how it all pops off the black card base. I hope it’s botanical enough for Cath’s liking.

That’s it for me today, kids. Thanks so much for stopping by! I’ll be back soon with more challenge cards!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #14–Glitzy Glue Dots!

2011-08-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Peeps!

First, thank you all for your very kind words and comments on my last post. I am over the moon thrilled to pieces, but am also so very thankful that you all have shared that experience with me. Your words meant the world to me – thank you ever so much!

I’m here today to share this week’s CAS-ual Fridays challenge with you all!! And boy, are you gonna love it!! The challenge this week is to create a clean and simple project and use glue dots and glitter as your focus of the design. So fun, right?!

Naturally, this week’s sponsor is Glue Dots, and they not only shared some of their amazing products with the Girl Fridays to use, but they’re also providing an incredibly generous prize to the T.G.I.F. winner of this challenge. Check out the prize, as well as some additional inspiration from the other Girl Fridays by hopping over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog. Thank you, Glue Dots!

Here is what I came up with for the challenge. I stamped the Too Many Martini’s background using VersaMark onto some aqua cardstock, tilting the background at an angle so as to give the look of driving rain (something I see a lot of here in Seattle ). I adhered some Mini Glue Dots to each of the “raindrops” and then sprinkled each with some Dazzling Diamonds glitter. SOOPER EASY!!

You can’t see them, but I used the Pop Up Glue Dots to adhere the umbrella to the card base, and a Craft Glue Dot to adhere the button to the twine. Glue Dots are my fave go-to adhesive when it comes to adhering embellishments and such to my projects. They’re super easy to use, and you get a ton of product in every package!!

I wanted to show you a close up of a fun new impression plate that I just picked up from Taylored Expressions. Oh my, right?! Check out those yummy embossed clouds – LOVE!! You’ll be seeing more of that baby in the very near future, for sure!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: MARKET STREET STAMPS (Too Many Martinis Background), PAPERTREY INK (Scattered Showers)
INK: FRESH INK (Pool and Mango Pigment Ink), TSUKINEKO (VersaMark)
PAPER: FRENCH POPTONE (Sno Cone and Lemon Drop CS), NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Solar White Ultra Smooth CS)
ACCESSORIES: GLUE DOTS (Mini, Craft and Pop Up Glue Dots), THE TWINERY (Caribbean and Lemondrop Baker’s Twine), PAPERTREY INK (Scattered Showers Die and Hawaiian Shores Button), FISKARS (Apron Lace Border Punch), STAMPIN’ UP! (Dazzling Diamonds Glitter), TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS (Clouds Impression Plate)

That’s it for me, kids. Thanks so much for stopping by today – you all make my heart smile with your sweet comments. I hope to be back some time this weekend to share a project for a challenge or two that I’ve been working on! Have a great weekend!

I’M A COVER GIRL!!

2011-08-03T15:06:00.001-07:00

Hello Chickies!!

I’ve been keeping a secret for quite a while now, and I can finally share it with you all! I was lucky enough to have two cards picked up for publication in what used to be called “Go To Sketches for Card Makers Two” and is now called “Card Ideas for Paper Crafters.” And as if that wasn’t thrilling enough (especially since it was my first time being published by Paper Crafts Magazine), I got a follow up email from Susan Opel, Creative Editor of Paper Crafts Magazine, indicating that one of the two cards they chose would be on the cover of the magazine. Are you kidding me?!! My card is the one on the bottom – yep, a cityscape! LOL You all know I loves me some cityscapes!! I don’t yet have a copy of that baby in my hot little hands, but I’m hoping it arrives any day now. Until then, I’ll be stalking my mail lady . . . she’d better watch out! LOL I believe that Card Ideas for Paper Crafters goes on sale in stores August 9th (in case you want to get a copy for yourself ) – woohoo!!

I also had a couple of cards published in July’s issue of CARDS Magazine as well as the CREATE: Stamping issue. The first two pics above were in CARDS, and the second two were in CREATE: Stamping. There’s nothing like seeing your work in print . . . takes my breath away every single time.

Thank you for letting me brag on myself a little bit. I hope the rest of this week continues to be great for y’all! I think summer has finally arrived here in Seattle, so that makes me happy. It’s Seafair Weekend – big tradition in Seattle! We’ll be celebrating at a friend’s lake house on Saturday, watching the rooster tails of the hydroplanes and oohing and ahhhing over the Blue Angels’ stunts. There’s nothing like Seafair in Seattle, especially when it’s sunny!! Thanks so much for stopping by today!!

Let Your Dreams Set Sail!

2011-08-02T01:00:00.001-07:00

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

I’m popping in really quick, taking a break from crafting and commenting. I wanted to share a card that I created last week. I can’t decide if I’m happy with it or not. Those waves look funny to me . . . don’t you think? It’s a bit busier than I like these days, too, but it is what it is. In the interest of being real here, I need to show the good with the bad, right?! LOL

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: UNITY STAMP COMPANY (boat - Life Is A Beautiful Ride), PAPERTREY INK (sentiment - Out to Sea)
INK: TSUKINKEO (VersaMark and Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink)
PAPER: FRENCH POPTONE (Sno Cone CS), NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Solar White Ultra Smooth CS), BAZZILL (random blues from my scrap stash), PAPERTREY INK (Bitty Dots DP)
ACCESSORIES: PAPERTREY INK (Enchanted Evening Button and Pure Poppy Grosgrain Ribbon), ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (White Embossing Powder), TAYLORED EXPRESSIONS (Clouds Impression Plate), White Embroidery Floss, STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals), LYRA (Colored Pencils), GAMSOL, QUICKUTZ (Wave Dies), THE CATS PAJAMAS (Wave Die)

I’d better get back to my crafting and commenting. I hope you have a great day, and will pop in again real soon!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge–Long & Short of It!

2011-07-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

You all did another bang up job on last week’s challenge – amazing work!! Congrats to all the VIP’s and the TGIF Club winner! This week’s CAS-ual Fridays challenge is to create a clean and simple project that measures 4” x 9”. Resist the temptation to fill it and embrace the “white space.”

Our sponsor this week is Lawn Fawn Stamps, and they very kindly provided a stamp set to each of the Girl Fridays to inspire you all – thank you, Lawn Fawn Stamps!!

Not gonna lie – I STRUGGLED with this one! I’m an A2 girl, through and through. It KILLS me to make anything that’s larger than that, especially when it comes to clean and simple designs. Don’t get me wrong – I love “white space.” But oh my gosh there’s a LOT of white space on a 4” x 9” card. But I persevered and actually am EXTREMELY happy with the end result. I worked with the On the Mend set – super cute stuff!! The jar was created using a Spellbinders die set called “Assorted Fresh Fruit.” I die cut the jar three times – once out of acrylic CS, once from black CS and once from white CS. I stamped the sweet little bug on the white panel and colored him with my Lyra colored pencils and Gamsol. I added a few rhinestones to the bug’s bag (to add to the cute factor), and then assembled the jar. It was super easy to create and I had a lot of fun doing it.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: LAWN FAWN (On the Mend), PAPERTREY INK (Tiny Tags)
INK: TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink), A MUSE STUDIO (Cherry Pigment Ink)
PAPER: FRENCH POPTONE (Black Licorice CS), A MUSE STUDIO (Red Mini Gingham CS), NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Solar White Ultra Smooth CS), PAPERTREY INK (Acrylic CS)
ACCESSORIES: SPELLBINDERS (Assorted Fresh Fruit Shapeabilities Dies), PAPERTREY INK (Linen Impression Plate, True Black Polka Dot Satin Ribbon, Tiny Tags Die, Edgers No. 2 Collection Die and Pure Poppy Button), GLUE DOTS (Craft Glue Dots), White Embroidery Floss, STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals), LYRA (Colored Pencils), Gamsol.

We’d love for you to play along with us again this week! If I can do it, you can, too!! LOL You can get all of the details of the challenge, as well as some additional inspiration from the other fun Girl Fridays, HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Best Wishes!

2011-07-26T00:35:00.001-07:00

Hello Crafty Friends!

I’m popping in today to share a project that I created with the intention of submitting it for the Moxie Fab World Stamp It Challenge . . . needless to say, I forgot about it and missed the deadline. Oops! LOL

I was actually in the process of reworking it, when I got distracted by a cute little boy . . . my grandson. I was having way more fun playing with him and completely forgot that I needed to finish reworking this project before the deadline! LOL It’s a little off-center, and looks a little wonky at the bottom. But I really like the theory behind my original idea. I may still try and redesign this . . . maybe today! We’ll see what the day brings. The mehndi image is from Impress Rubber Stamps and can be found HERE. Delicious, right?!

That’s it for me today, friends! I plan to stamp my little fingers to the bone today – Mr. Brown is expected at my door any minute now and will be bringing me some brand new, delicious Papertrey goodies!! Ooohhhh how I love Mr. Brown – don’t tell my hubby, though, okay?!! Thanks so much for stopping by today – hope you have a great day!!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #12–Here’s the Rub!

2011-07-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Kids!

We had another super duper crop of project submissions last week – you all are so clever and creative!! Thank you for sharing your amazing “eye candy” with us – delicious, I tell ya!!

This week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge is one that I typically struggle with and am so glad I tried it – I had a blast!! This week’s challenge - create a clean and simple project using stickers or rub ons.

Our very generous sponsor this week is EAD Designs, the manufacturer of some of the cutest stickers and rubons, as well as custom decorative vinyl cut outs, in the the crafty world – seriously, they have some super cute stuff!! EAD Designs was kind enough to share some of their stickers and rubons with the Girl Fridays to inspire you to play along with us this week. EAD is also offering up a fantastic prize to this week’s TGIF Winner – but you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is. Go ahead . . . I’ll wait!

Good, right?!! So, as I said, I typically struggle with stickers and rubons. I’m a stamper, through and through. But I chose some of the cutest Caged Vinyl Rubons that I’ve ever seen and they adhere like a dream!! What’s even more amazing is that they come in like a million different colors!! Well, maybe not a million . . . but close!! I was a lame-o and chose black. I wanted to give the birdcage some dimension, so I actually adhered the bird cage rubon to some acrylic cardstock that I had and then cut around the outside lines. Since I’m a stamper, I couldn’t help myself – I had to stamp that cute little red bird inside the cage. And then had to add those cute clouds and fun sentiment. I’m so happy with how this turned out and will definitely be playing with rubons again!!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: MY CUTE STAMPS (Ashley’s Blossoms), LIL INKER DESIGNS (Rainbows & Clouds Stamp Set)
INK: TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black (VersaFine Dye Ink and VersaMark)
PAPER: FRENCH POPTONE (Sno Cone CS), PAPERTREY INK (Pure Poppy CS), NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS), Acrylic CS
ACCESSORIES: EAD DESIGNS (Caged Vinyl Rubons), ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (Rouge Embossing Powder), STAMPIN’ UP (Stampin’ Dimensionals and Real Red Satin Ribbon), LIL INKER DESIGNS (Clouds Dies)

We’d love to have you play along with us this week. You can link up your sticker and/or rubon project HERE and you have until next Wednesday at 11:59 PM EST. I can’t wait to see hat you come up with!! Remember, if you don’t have any stickers or rubons, you really should check out the products that EAD carries – their customer service is outstanding!!

That’s it for me today, friends. Thanks so much for stopping by today – you all make me smile with every sweet comment and kind word. I appreciate you all so very much!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #11–Sweets & Treats!!

2011-07-14T21:22:00.002-07:00

Hi Chickies!

Did you know that National Ice Cream Day is on July 16th and Lollipop Day is July 20th?!! Well, you do now!! In honor of those two yummy holidays, CAS-ual Fridays is celebrating this week by challenging you to create a clean and simple project that incorporates sweets and treats such as ice cream, candy, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and any other delicious goodies that you can think of. How fun is that?!!

This week’s sponsor is PSA Essentials, a super fun company that has some of the cutest stamps with switchable centers that you’ve ever seen! They’ve got some other cutie patootie stuff, too, so you really need to check them out HERE. PSA Essentials is offering up an amazingly generous prize, one of our biggest prize packages to date, to this week’s TGIF Winner, so head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to see what it is, and to peruse the amazing eye candy that the other Girl Fridays have for you!

I had a blast with this challenge, mostly because it gave me a chance to play with some delicious new W Plus 9 stamps and dies that just happened to show up in my mail box a few weeks ago. How convenient, right?!! I’ve listed the products I used to create this week’s project below.

STAMPS: W PLUS 9 (Pile It On)
INK: A MUSE STUDIO (Toffee Pigment Ink), FRESH INK (Mango, Fuschia, Pink Lemonade and Chocolate Pigment Ink)
PAPER: PAPERTREY INK (Raspberry Fizz CS), NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES: W PLUS 9 (Pile It On Designer Dies), PAPERTREY INK (Sunshine Impression Plate and Summer Sunrise Polka Dot Satin Ribbon), SAKURA (Quickie Glue Pen), STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals and Dazzling Diamonds), SPELLBINDERS (Classic and Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities)

That’s it for me today, kids! I cannot wait to see what you all come up with for this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge – I hope you have as much fun with it as I did!! Thanks so much for stopping by – your kind words and comments keep a perma-smile on my face! Have a great day!!

Celebrate Today–Moxie Fab World Beautiful Borders Challenge!

2011-07-10T19:40:00.003-07:00

Hola Chicas!

I’m finally over my rejection of not having my projects picked up for publication last week – of course, eating those three cookies helped A LOT!! LOL

I’ve been meaning to sit down and create for the current Moxie Fab World challenges. The one I decided to tackle today is the Beautiful Borders Challenge. You all know how much I love cityscapes. There’s something about them that just makes me happy. I combined my love of gradient with my love of cityscapes for this challenge. I was inspired by THIS card that I created for another Moxie Fab Challenge – I’m telling you that EVERY craft room should not be without the EK Success Plaid Border Punch!! Using three different shades of grey cardstock, I punched the edges of each color with the plaid border punch, and trimmed the strips to create city buildings. I then adhered each layer, one color in front of the other, using dimensional tape. The clouds were created using a brand spankin’ new Clouds Border Die that I just picked up from Taylored Expressions and some linen vellum. Isn’t it dreamy?!! The graphic sentiment is from Think Big Favorites #4 by Papertrey Ink.

I’m super happy with how this turned out – if you’re inspired by this challenge, I believe there’s still a little bit of time left for you to play along, too! You will find all the details of the challenge HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I’ll be back again tomorrow to share another reject with you – I’ve got a few left! LOL Have a great day!

Rejection BLOWS! But Cookies Cure All!!

2011-07-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hola Friends!

How’s your weekend going? Mine’s been pretty good so far – we attended a beautiful wedding for the daughter of one of my high school girlfriends last night, and today my daughter and grandson and I wandered around a French Flea Market in downtown Kirkland – it’s sunny and gorgeous out!!

I’m back today to share a couple of things. First, I spent the better part of last week creating for a couple of publication calls, and found out on Friday that not a one of my projects was picked up! Wahhhhhh! LOL The one positive thing that came out of it though is that I have several projects to share with you here.

This project was created for the January/February 2012 Paper Crafts Magazine call – to create an interactive Valentine’s Day card. I immediately thought of this fun A Muse Studio set called Love Conquers All. The road was created using another set called Mad for Plaid. I created a spinner card – that cute red car is attached to two pennies with a dimensional square sandwiched in between them, and then slid into the slot/road.

Here’s what it looks like when you tilt the card sideways. That funny little car twirls around from end to end as you tilt it. Cute, right?!!

Products Used:
STAMPS: A MUSE STUDIO (Love Conquers All, Mad for Plaids), MY STAMP BOX (Neighborhoods)
PAPER: A MUSE STUDIO (Sky and Grass Gingham CS), NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
INK: TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink and VersaMark Water Mark Ink)
ACCESSORIES: ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (Rouge Embossing Powder), STAMPIN' UP! (Word Window Punch and Stampin' Dimensionals), LIL INKER DESIGNS (Clouds Die), PROVO CRAFT (Cuttlebug Die Cut and Embossing Machine and Swiss Dots Embossing Folder), Pennies

I have to admit, I was really bummed when I didn’t get that coveted email telling me that my project had been picked up. I walked around the house all day Friday like a pouty baby, throwing myself a little pity party.

That is UNTIL my mailman rang my doorbell and there he stood with a cute little box in his hands. When he handed it to me, I immediately ran inside my house and opened that baby up. Much to my surprise and elation, my sweet, sweet friend, Terri had sent me some of her amazing sugar cookies – and look at how freaking CUTE they are!! Are you KIDDING ME?!! Starbucks coffee cups?!!! OH EM GEE!! Terri knows how much I love me some Starbucks coffee (Vente Raspberry Mocha, please! LOL) How sweet is she?!! Seriously, she made my day with her thoughtful gift – and it made all the difference in soothing my wounded pride. Cookies take all the pain away! LOL And see that cute coffee cup? That was another gift from Terri – on HER birthday! LOL How lucky am I to have such a thoughtful friend?! You’re the BEST, dude!!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!

Now, if you think these cookies are amazing, you SO need to head on over to Terri’s blog – she’s giving away another set of her world famous sugar cookies (and I can tell you first hand that they are THE most delicious cookies you’ll EVER eat – no joke!). You don’t have to do much to enter to win – she’s nice like that. But it’s well worth the trip over there. So stop what you’re doing right now and get over there – and tell her I sent you, okay?!!

Okay, peeps, that’s it for me today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I’ll be back on Monday with another rejected project – I have six total! LOL Thanks so much for stopping by today. Your sweet comments make my day!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #10–Shaped Cards!

2011-07-07T21:01:00.001-07:00

Hola!

I’m back today to share the newest CAS-ual Fridays Challenge – which is to create a clean and simple design using a template for a shaped card! What a blast I had with this one, and I know you will, too!!

This week’s very generous (and a sweet friend of mine whom I miss desperately) sponsor is Paper Smooches – the brilliant brain child of Kim Hughes!! Not only does Ms. Kim design some of the cutest stamps on the face of the earth, but she’s also one of the most talented card designers that I know. She’s well known for her fun and cute shaped cards, and she was generous enough to share her Paper Smooches card templates with the Girl Fridays for this week’s challenge – thanks, Kim!! If you want to play along, and you need a fun shape, you really need to check out the options at Paper Smooches. You can find them all HERE. So fun! Paper Smooches is also offering up a prize for the newest T.G.I.F. winner – you’ll have to pop into the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is, but it’s a goodie, for sure!

I chose to work with the Flower Pot card template, but I “reworked” it a bit. I love to look at a shape and ask myself “what else could this be?” I turned it and tilted it, and decided it could totally work as a bird house! Right?!

I traced the template onto some kraft cardstock (although I’ve cut some of the other templates out with my Silhouette and they work like a dream!), trimmed off the top “rim”, turned it upside down, and made the fold of the card at the top instead of on the side. I then used the separate flower pot rim as the roof of the bird house – I scalloped one edge just for fun. I embossed the card base with a woodgrain impression plate, and punched a hole for the birdhouse with a circle punch, adding a scalloped circle around the birdhouse entrance.

Can’t have a birdhouse without a bird, right?! So I got out my fave-a-lave Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies and paper pieced the bird from the set. How stinkin’ cute is he?! The sentiment is also from the Birthday Buddies set.

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: PAPER SMOOCHES (Birthday Buddies)
INK: A MUSE STUDIO (French Roast Pigment Ink)
PAPER: PAPERTREY INK (Kraft, Hawaiian Shores and Orange Zest CS)
ACCESSORIES: PAPER SMOOCHES (Flower Pot Card Template), SPELLBINDERS (Scalloped Circle Nestabilities), EK SUCCESS (Circle and Embossed Scallop Punches), PAPERTREY INK (Distressed Polka Dots DP, Hawaiian Shores Twill and Wood Grain Impression Plate), MICHAEL’S (Pom Pom and Googlie Eyes), STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

I so hope you’ll play along with us this week – we’d love to see what you come up with!! We also have a Girl Friday Temp here this week to give you some additional inspiration – Leigh Ann Baird is super sweet and uber talented, so please be sure and check out her project, as well as the projects of the other Girl Fridays, at the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog.

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow with some “rejected” crafty goodness to share with you, so I hope you’ll pop in and share my rejection with me! LOL Thanks for stopping by!

CARDS Gallery Challenge–Accordian Flowers!

2011-07-06T21:37:00.002-07:00

Happy Thursday, Friends!!

We’ve had some amazing weather the last couple of days, so I’ve had a hard time focusing on things in my craft room – especially after spending the bulk of the weekend creating for a few pub calls. But I did get a chance to create a little sumpin’ sumpin’ for this week’s CARDS Magazine Gallery Challenge – which is to create a project using accordion flowers. I’ve actually been really fascinated by these babies of late, and was happy for the chance to try one out. I wasn’t brave enough to figure out how to make one on my own – thankfully, Memory Box has made it easy for scaredy cats like myself. They’ve come out with an uber cool die that creates a really nice scalloped edge, and it scores it for you so that all you have to do is fold it accordion style and adhere the two ends together – it’s called the Blooming Rosette and Center. Super easy! Now that I’ve created one with the die, I really think I could do the same thing on my own with my border punches and my Martha Stewart Score Board. Right?! My mind is swimming with ideas, now!

STAMPS: PAPERETREY INK (Think Big Favorites #4)
INK: FRESH INK (Slate Pigment Ink)
PAPER: A MUSE STUDIO (Buttercup Polka Dot CS), STAMPIN’ UP! (Basic Grey CS), NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES: MEMORY BOX (Blooming Rosette and Center Die), WE R MEMORY KEEPERS (Corner Chomper), PAPERTREY INK (Lemon Tart Button, Turning a New Leaf Die, and Wood Grain Impression Plate), DIVINE TWINE (Dove Grey Baker’s Twine), PROVO CRAFT (Cuttlebug), EK SUCCESS (1" Circle Punch)

That’s it for me today, chickies! I’ll be back tomorrow with my sample for the next CAS-ual Fridays Challenge – it’s another really fun one, so I hope you’ll come by again to check it out! Until then, please know how much I appreciate you!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

2011-07-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hi Peeps!

First of all, thank you all for your sweet, sweet comments last week – you all are so very kind and generous! Second, I wanted to pop in really quick to announce the winner of the free issue of Stamp It! Cards Volume 8 from last week’s Stamp It! Cards Meets Stamping Royalty Blog Hop!

64.

Amanda said...

love the little flowers! thanx! prhmangel@gmail.com

July 1, 2011 11:20 AM

Congrats, Amanda!! I’m so happy for you! I’ll be contacting you by email to gather your mailing information and will get your free issue out to you ASAP! You’re going to love it – seriously this is the BEST issue ever!!

If you’re reading this and you weren’t the winner today, Stamp It! Cards Volume 8 is available HERE or at a bookstore near you (I found mine at Barnes & Noble, but I’ve seen them at JoAnn’s, too).

I have nothing crafty to share with you all today, but I hope to have something for you tomorrow. Thanks so much for stopping by – see you soon!!

Stamp It! Cards Meets Stamping Royalty Blog Hop!!

2011-07-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

THIS IS MY SECOND POST FOR TODAY – PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE NEXT POST FOR MY CAS-UAL FRIDAYS CHALLENGE SAMPLE!!

Hola Peeps!

If you’ve landed here for the first time from Paper Crafts Connection – Welcome!! If you’re one of my regular blog readers, I’m so glad you stopped by today!! You’re going to want to read all the way through to the end of my post for some amazing prize opportunities!!

Are you as excited about the newly released Stamp It! Cards Vol. 8 issue as I am?!! I mean seriously, people – this baby is jam packed from cover to cover with some of the most beautifully stamped cards I’ve ever seen!

To wrap up this week’s launch of Stamp It! Cards Volume 8, the Online Editor of Paper Crafts Magazine, P. Kelly Smith, has organized a super fun blog hop with the winners of the 2011 Stamping Royalty contest – and I just happen to be one of those 15 lucky winners!! Fun, right?!!

The Stamping Royalty “Queens” were asked to create an all occasion card based on the current needs of Operation Write Home, a wonderful organization that provides hand made greeting cards to our troops overseas to send to their family while they’re deployed. We all agreed that since the 4th of July is coming up soon, we’d use a patriotic color scheme for our cards. We each chose one of the stamp sets that were included in our amazingly generous prize package for winning the Stamping Royalty contest, and away we went!

I chose to work with the uber fun Cake Shoppe and Cake Shoppe Too! from Mint Motif. Oh my goodness, these stamp sets were a blast to play with – the mojo was oozing as soon as I placed these clear photopolymer beauties on my acrylic block. I will definitely be inking these sets up again!!

Stamping is an important part of my life, and more specifically stamping to create cards is my passion. I was beyond thrilled and honored to be one of the 15 winners chosen for this year’s Stamping Royalty . . . in fact, it was truly a dream come true. I am blessed beyond belief in my life, and so many of those blessings are due to the freedoms we enjoy because the men and women in our military risk their lives every day to protect us. I can only imagine how difficult it is to be thousands of miles away from your loved ones for months and sometimes years at a time. How can I NOT thank them in a way that makes a difference in their lives? So to be able to provide our troops with cards that they can send home to their loved ones was an opportunity that I felt compelled to act upon. When P. Kelly suggested that we tie this blog hop to Operation Write Home, I felt as though the planets were aligned – it was meant to be.

You’re definitely going to want to hop over to the remaining Stamping Royalty blogs to enjoy some additional stamping inspiration – these ladies will blow you away:

Wanna win some prizes?! Well, of course you do!! You have TWO chances to win.

First, head on back to the Paper Crafts Connection blog and leave a comment to win one of two amazing prize packages as pictured above!
Second, leave a comment here on my blog for a chance to win a free copy of the Stamp It! Cards Volume 8 issue!!
All comments must be posted by midnight (MDT) on Sunday, July 3rd to be eligible to win!

Lastly, we’d love for you to get involved and donate some of your handmade cards to Operation Write Home. There’s a Mr. Linky set up on the Paper Crafts Connection blog if you’d like to post your cards for the campaign!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I so appreciate it!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #9–Krafts-Men!

2011-06-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

Hello, Friends!

Well, you all have once again knocked our socks off with your amazing projects from last week’s Getting Edgy Challenge – OH EM GEE!! I think you’re really going to love this week’s challenge, too.

This week’s challenge is to create a MASCULINE clean and simple card, and use Kraft cardstock in your design. Easy enough, right?!

Our sponsor is the uber cool and extremely generous Kraft Outlet! They’ve not only provided an amazing prize to this week’s T.G.I.F Club Winner (you’ll have to drop by the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to find out what it is), but they’ve also offered you, our fabulous challenge players, 15% off any purchase if you use the discount code CASUAL (discount good until 7/6/11 at 11:59 PM EST). How nice is that?! Thank you, Kraft Outlet!!

I loves me some Kraft cardstock – there’s something about it’s versatility that makes creating so easy! Hubby had asked me to create some cards for his teammates in a recent golf tournament, so I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to ink up A Muse Studio’s Swingin’ Day. Check out that ginormous golf ball!! If only the balls were really that big, I might be able to actually hit one every now and then! LOL

One of hubby’s teammates was a lady. I couldn’t leave her out, right?! So I used the exact same layout and created a lady golfer card. I think I like the girl one the best, but I’m pretty happy with how they both came out.

PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: A MUSE STUDIO (Swingin’ Day); PAPERTREY INK (A Little Argyle)
INK: FRESH INK (Pool and Tuscan Olive Pigment Ink); PAPERTREY INK (Fresh Snow Pigment Ink); TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink)
PAPER: PAPERTREY INK (Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse, and Kraft CS); NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES: WE R MEMORY KEEPERS (Corner Chomper); THE TWINERY (Caribbean and Honeydew Baker’s Twine); PROVO CRAFT (Swiss Dots Embossing Folder); EK SUCCESS (3/4” Circle Punch); STAMPIN’ UP (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

I can hardly wait to see what you all come up with for this week’s challenge. I actually have another post that will go live in a few hours – so I hope you’ll come on back to see what it’s all about. It’ll be worth it – I promise!! In the meantime, thanks so much for your sweet comments. They always make my day a “swingin’” one!

A Couple of Challenge Cards!

2011-06-29T00:01:00.001-07:00

Hi Kids!

Wow! Posting two days in a row – pretty good, huh?! LOL I’ve been really trying to play along with some of my favorite challenges that I’ve been missing lately, so I’ve got two cards to share with you today.

The first one is the for CARDS/CREATE Gallery Challenge, which is to create a card using lots of JEWELS. Well, if that isn’t right up my alley, then I don’t know what is! I recently picked up a super sweet sentiment set and coordinating rainbow and cloud die from Lil Inker Designs – are those clouds not the cutest?! I blinged out the rainbow and stamped the sentiment on the clouds. Easy peasy!

The second card I wanted to share with you today is another card for the Clean and Simple Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers – CAS125 – Red, White and Black color challenge. Maya Road makes some of the most fun stamps and images, and this one is no exception, IMHO. I stamped the typewriter image onto white CS and fussy cut it out. I then cut out the piece of typewriter paper, and stamped the X and the O – the alphabet comes with the typewriter image. Fun, right?! The stamped text background is from the Papertrey Ink Background Basics: Text Style II set.

Before I head out today, I want to remind you about this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #8, which is to create a clean and simple card and use your border punches, rip some cardstock, whatever your pleasure to add a fun edge. There are some amazing entries so far, but I didn’t want you to miss out in case you were planning on playing along with us. You have until 11:59 PM (EDT) TONIGHT – do it!!

I plan to create a few more goodies to share with you this week, so I hope you’ll drop in again real soon! Thanks so much for your sweet, sweet comments . . . they make me smile.

P.S. I Love You!

2011-06-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

I had a chance to get some crafting done last night, and I wanted to share with you one of the projects that I created. I love the Splitcoast Stampers Clean and Simple Challenge – it’s one of my faves, so I was glad to have some time to actually play along this week. This week’s challenge is a color challenge – Black, White and Red.

I adore my Silhouette – I think I’ve mentioned it a time or two . . . haven’t really played with her since we arrived here in WA. I recently purchased some really fun designs from the Silhouette Studio, and one of them was just begging to be used on today’s card. I love the clean and graphic feel of the end result of this. And it was super easy to make!

So, before I go, did you notice that I made some changes around here? Yep, I got myself a brand spankin’ new blog header, sidebar buttons, siggie and watermarks!! All thanks to the uber talented Karen Baker of The Bald Dragonfly. I adore the clean and graphic lines and the striking color palette, don’t’ you?! Karen was an absolute dream to work with, so if you’re in the market for a new blog design, I can recommend her without hesitation!! Thank you, Karen, for making this my happy place!! LOL

That’s it for me today, kids! Thanks so much for stopping by – your sweet comments melt up my heart! I’ll be back soon!!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #8–Getting Edgy!

2011-06-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Chicas!!

Holy Guacamole! You all blew my socks off with your out of this world amazing entries for last week’s Color Blocking Challenge. Seriously, choosing my faves was super difficult!! I love that you all are really digging these CAS challenges - this week’s challenge is another fun one!

This week’s challenge is to create a clean and simple project and include either a torn edge or use an edge punch or die. Easy peasy, right?!! Of course, there’s a fabulous prize at stake for the winning entry. But you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog to see what it is. You’ll also find some amazing inspiration provided by the other Girl Fridays.

This week’s very generous sponsor is Market Street Stamps! Market Street Stamps was kind enough to provide each of the Girl Fridays with some amazing stamps to get inky for this week’s challenge. Oh my goodness – there were so many wonderful stamps to choose from that I had a really hard time deciding. And are they delicious to work with – really great quality and super versatile!! I’ll definitely be adding more of these lovelies to my collection. Thank you, Market Street Stamps, for sponsoring our challenge and for providing us with your wonderful products – we so appreciate you!!

I chose one of Market Street Stamps’ backgrounds called Too Many Martinis. So fun to work with!! I had so much fun, in fact, that I created two samples for this week’s challenge! For my first sample, I stamped the Too Many Martinis background using three different colors of ink and added coordinating self-adhesive rhinestones to really make those bubbles pop. I couldn’t resist pairing this amazing background with some new A Muse Studio stamps that I had – can’t have a bubbly background without a fun cocktail, right?!! I used a Fiskars edge punch for the upper edge of the background strip to fulfill the challenge requirement.

My second sample was created by masking the lower half of the card base and stamping Too Many Martinis with white pigment ink. It’s more subtle, but still gives a great effect to tie in with the fun cocktail, don’t you think? Did you notice the sugared rims on both of the cocktails? Soooo fun, right?!! And I used a scalloped border die to fulfill my edge requirement. If you need information about any of the products that I’ve used in today’s samples, please feel free to drop me an email.

That’s it for me today, kids. Sadly, I’m headed to a memorial service for our college friend today. I’m so grateful for the many wonderful memories that I have of our friend and look forward to celebrating his life and the influence that he had on each of us. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and want you to know how much I appreciate your sweet, sweet comments each week. You all sure know how to make a girl feel good.

Father’s Day . . . and some crappy pictures! LOL

2011-06-22T01:00:00.001-07:00

Happy Wednesday!

I thought I’d pop in really quick and share the card that I made for my dad for Father’s Day. Unfortunately, I got a really crappy picture of it before I sealed it up in the envelope . . . this is what pictures look like at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday night. LOL I don’t know why I’m such a night owl when hubby is out of town – somehow my mojo starts flowing about 10:00 p.m., and off I go! Anyways, back to the card . . . I used a set that I bought from Geny Cassidy when she was clearing out some of her older PTI stuff. It’s called “Out to Sea.” My dad is a boater like no other. I think he’d live on his boat if my stepmom would let him. I stamp kissed the oars on my Hero Arts Woodgrain background – love how that turned out. I’m sorry that the colors are off in the photo. I used PTI Navy, Red, Kraft and White, but it sure doesn’t look like that in the photo! Ugh!!

I had a really nice breakfast with my dad and my two sisters. Since we’re hardly ever all together at once, I brought my camera, and we asked some rando smoker guy outside the restaurant to take our photo. He kinda laughed . . . that should have been a hint that he wasn’t really excited about doing it. Yeah, that photo pretty much sucks, too. LOL Sadly, it’ll probably be a while before we can get a better one. Hopefully my dad had a good day regardless of my crappy photos.

And I hope that you all had a great Father’s Day, too! I also hope that you’ve made some time in your schedule to play along with us at CAS-ual Fridays! Seriously, the entries so far are ah-mazing, and I’m having so much fun checking them out!! If you haven’t played yet, you really should – you can get the deets HERE and you have until 11:59 p.m. EST TONIGHT to enter. DO IT!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Your kind and sweet words are what keep a smile on my face. Don’t know what I’d do without you all. Have a great day!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #7–Color Blocking!

2011-06-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Kids!

Wow! We had another week of incredibly clever and delicious answers to last week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge – you all just continue to knock our socks off!!

This week’s challenge is something that is uber trendy these days – Color Blocking!! You see it everywhere in fashion, advertisements, home décor – really when you look around you’ll see it in every aspect of design.

This week’s challenge sponsor is Crop Stop, a company that carries a plethora of die cutting folders, machines, and embossing products, among other things. If you’re in the market for the latest die cut machines and related products, Crop Stop is the place for you. I know there’s an amazing prize in store for this week’s T.G.I.F. winning entry, so you need to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to see what the prize is! Thanks for sponsoring, Crop Stop!

You can imagine that I had a freakin’ hay day with this challenge! I loves me some clean and simple, but throw in some graphic and I’m a very happy girl!! I was inspired by this photo that I saw on Pinterest. I loved the graphic feel of this photo and took the colors and shapes from the photo and translated them to my card. You, too, can be inspired by what you see around you!! Do it!!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: PRACTICING CREATIVITY (Look Up Additions)
INK: TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink)
PAPER: FRENCH POPTONE (Blu Raspberry and Black Licorice CS); NEENAH CLASSIC (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS); PAPERTREY INK (Orange Zest CS)
ACCESSORIES: WE R MEMORY KEEPERS (Corner Chomper); STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

I so hope you’ll give this week’s challenge a try – it really is a gas and has so many possibilities!! Looking for more inspiration? Head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog and get a load of the eye candy that the other Girl Fridays have provided for your creative pleasure!

That’s it for me today, chickies! Hubby is basking in the sunshine in AZ for a week, watching some baseball (Go, Sox!) and drying out from the cold and rain here in “sunny” Washington! LOL So I hope to have lots of dedicated stamping time while he’s gone. Thanks so much for stopping by today – your kind comments are the highlight of my day!

Wishing You Comfort . . . .

2011-06-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I certainly did – we had some beautiful sunshine in Eastern Washington, a great visit with family, and enjoyed the wedding that we went there to attend. The bride was gorgeous!

I thought I’d pop in and share a sympathy card that I created for a friend who recently lost her husband. We’ve all been friends since college . . . he was an amazing friend, and we will miss him desperately. Sadly I’ve needed several sympathy cards recently, so this design has been duplicated multiple times in the last few weeks – now I just need to get them in the mail. I was inspired by a card that I saw on Lime Doodle’s blog HERE. I changed up the color palette a bit, as well as a few other details, but the bulk of the design is Debby’s. Why mess with perfection, right?!

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: HERO ARTS (Wood Grain Background); PAPERTREY INK (Turning a New Leaf and Wishing You)
INK: TSUKINEKO (VersaMark); FRESH INK (Tuscan Olive and Dark Chocolate)
PAPER: PAPERTREY INK (Kraft and Simply Chartreuse CS; Linen Vellum CS); FRENCH POPTONE (Hot Fudge CS); NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES: STAMPIN’ UP! (Early Espresso Satin Ribbon and Stampin’ Dimensionals); PAPERTREY INK (Mat Stack 1 and Mat Stack 5); SPELLBINDERS (Classic Circle Nestabilities); A MUSE STUDIO (Butterfly Die); KAISER CRAFT (Self-Adhesive Pearls); GLUE DOTS (Glue Dots); ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (White Embossing Powder)

I also wanted to remind you to be sure and play along with this week’s CAS-ual Fridays Challenge. Seriously, ladies, this week’s challenge is the most fun I’ve had in a long, long time! Check it and get busy! You have until Wednesday at 11:59 PM EDT.

That’s it for me today, peeps. I thank you for stopping by and leaving the sweet comments that you all share with me – your words just make me smile. Have a great day!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #6–Tic Tac Toe!

2011-06-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Peeps!

You all have truly outdone yourselves once again – last week’s entries were out of this world creative and amazing! It was so hard for me to narrow down my faves, and I assume that the rest of the Girl Fridays had a hard time, too. Keep those beautiful entries coming, friends – we so enjoy seeing your work and are thrilled to pieces that you’re playing along and having fun!!

I’m back today with the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #6 – Tic Tac Toe! You get to choose three items to use in your clean and simple design, but you must choose them either horizontally, diagonally or vertically from the above graphic. Fun, right?! There are so many options and possibilities with this challenge that I think you’re really going to like it!

This week’s challenge is being sponsored by the uber talented and incredibly generous Tami Mayberry, who is the genius behind the Card Positioning Systems Challenge blog, as well as a brilliant designer in her own right. Tami is also our very first Girl Friday Temp! She has offered up a wonderful prize (it may have been designed by her – just sayin’!), but you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge blog to find out what it is!! Thanks, Tami!

Here’s my answer to this week’s challenge. I chose Buttons, Dies or Punch, and Emboss (the diagonal from bottom left to upper right). I’ve listed the products used below, but I thought I’d point out a few details – the flower and leaf branch, as well as that beautiful sentiment, are from an A Muse Studio set called Wild Rose. The polka dots are from the PTI Polka Dot Basics II set, and they were stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed with clear ZING embossing powder. The label die is Papertrey Ink.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: A MUSE STUDIO (Wild Rose); PAPERTREY INK (Polka Dot Basics II)
INK: TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black VersaFine Dye Ink and VersaMark); FRESH INK (Pink Lemonade and Tuscan Olive Pigment Ink)
PAPER: PAPERTREY INK (Raspberry Fizz CS); NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES: ZING/AMERICAN CRAFTS (Clear Embossing Powder); PAPERTREY INK (Mat Stack #4 Die and Lemon Tart Button); KAREN FOSTER (White Scrapper’s Floss); GLUE DOTS (Craft Glue Dots); STAMPIN’ UP! (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

I so hope you’ll play along with us this week – I really think you’ll have a blast combining your favorite elements to create a Clean and Simple Design that will delight us all!

That’s it for me today – we’re headed to Eastern Washington for a family wedding. It’ll be nice to get out of rainy Western Washington and enjoy a bit of sunshine. Thanks so much for stopping by – I am so grateful for your time and sweet comments. You have no idea how much they mean to me. Have a great weekend!!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #5–Sketch Challenge!

2011-06-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hola Peeps!

Oh My Gravy!! The submissions for last week’s CAS-ual Fridays Graduation challenge were utterly amazing, and I, for one, am so amazed at the creativity that we’re seeing week after week. Keep it coming, friends – we love to see what you got!!

This week’s CAS-ual Fridays challenge is a super fun and clever sketch challenge, designed by our brilliant sketch guru – Laura Davis. (Of course, you all remember that she was one of the genius halves of the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge, right?!)

The Craft’s Meow has very generously agreed to sponsor this week’s challenge, which means that you all have the possibility of winning another fabulous prize – no doubt it’s a goodie! But you’ll have to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to see what it is.

Here’s my answer to the sketch challenge. Fun, right?! I’ll list the products I used below, but I wanted to showcase just a few little things. First, that amazing sunburst is an image from a new A Muse Studio set that I hadn’t had a chance to ink up called Grunged Sunrays. And those clouds? They’re made from vellum and were created using my Silhouette – oh how I love my Silhouette!! I inked up the edges for some dimension.

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS: A MUSE STUDIO (Grunged Sunrays); PAPERTREY INK (Simple Sentiments)
INK: TSUKINEKO (Onyx Black Dye Ink); FRESH INK (Mango and Bermuda Pigment Ink)
PAPER: FRENCH POPTONE (Sno Cone CS); PAPERTREY INK (Raspberry Fizz and Harvest Gold CS); NEENAH CLASSIC CREST (Ultra Smooth Solar White CS)
ACCESSORIES: SILHOUETTE AMERICA (Silhouette Electronic Die Cut Machine and Cloud Border); STAMPIN’ UP (Stampin’ Dimensionals)

That’s it for me today kids! Be sure and run right over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to see the other beautiful samples that the Girl Fridays made to inspire you to join our fun challenge! Thanks so much for stopping by today. Your sweet comments and the time you take to visit means more to me than you’ll ever know!!