Thank You Veterans!

Thank you to all the veterans and active duty military (and families!) protecting freedom and democracy for the rest of us! Happy Veteran's Day! (And thanks to my awesome friend -and Air Force wife! - Jen for loaning me this great set!)



Supplies: Stamps - Greeting Farm Hero Ian, Papertrey Ink Let Freedom Ring
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Versamark Dazzle Diamond
Paper - Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White
Other - Copics (It's been a while so I'm not sure which ones, sorry!), pop dots

Fall Y'all

There's not much fall weather in Southeast Texas. We're running the heater today, but all this week we've had the air conditioner on. But we've been doing fall crafts and activities and it's been tons o' fun!

Here's a wreath I made. It's an 18 inch grapevine wreath, wide ribbon from my stash (bought last year 80% off), and felt roses and leaves. Finding the felt was the hard part. Everything else was easy. If you want make one, you cut circles out of the felt, then cut a spiral shape, and roll it up. (Betz White has a fantastic tutorial on a project using these roses so head to her site to see pictures. And, obviously, hers are far more fabulous than mine!) The leaves are just hand cut. The orange, yellow, and darker green felt are from Weir Crafts, btw. I really love how this wreath turned out!

Here's another project. I saw this tutorial from Sparkle Studio on One Pretty Thing. I loved it! I even found some of the canvases in my craft room so that sealed the deal. I'm not 100% crazy about how it turned out. (And my picture is awful, sorry about that.) Next time, I will use a glue with a precision tip for the edges and that should help a lot! It was really fun so there will be a next time. :) I think once the kids are old enough to be trusted with glitter they would have lots of fun with this!

These pumpkin cream cheese muffins are so yummy! They'd make a great Thanksgiving morning breakfast!

Pumpkin pie playdough was a big hit here. One whole hour of quiet after I made it. Unheard of! The neighbor kids all liked it, too. (I bet peppermint playdough would be fun for winter! Or gingerbread. Mmm.)

I hope you're having a fun fall!

Chirp, Chirp, Tweet, Tweet

If you recognize that then you spend way too much watching Nick Jr. just like me. ;) Today, I have a triple challenge card! I picked this sweet Crafty Secrets bird image (thanks Jaala!) for the SCS Hope You Can Cling To Cancer is for the Birds challenge. I've loved this set for a while so I'm excited to finally be playing with it! The sketch is from CPS. It's super cute! I was also inspired by this week's Tuesday Trigger, Sweater Weather.


I was inspired by the colors, the texture, and the overall cozy feeling.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - Crafty Secrets Bird Notes

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Ink Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo

Paper - Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart, kraft, Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla

Other -Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, yellow rhinestones, American Elements ribbon, sponge, Copics (Y00, Y11, Y15, YG93, YG95, B000), pop dots

Card Patterns Sketch 87

Woo hoo! I was very excited to find out this morning that my butterfly card was picked as one of the Moxie Fab Trigger Targets! So awesome!!! And, what made it even better, was my friend Tessa (Kraf*T*y Mama) was a Trigger Target, too! Yay!

Today's card uses Card Patterns Sketch 87. This is such a pretty sketch! I had a few ideas pop in my head for it, none of which are on this card. ;) It just sort of happened. I like how it turned out and it came together pretty quickly. Love when that happens! The sentiment is from an older Unity Kit of the Month. This was the only circle I had that would fit it so I inked the edges to give it some definition. The colors are Stampin' Up! Old Olive and retired In Color Soft Sky. I wish they'd bring Soft Sky back! The felt flower qualifies this for the Splitcoast Hope You Can Cling To Flower Power challenge. Off to MD Anderson at the end of the month. :) I tied the bow, but decided it was a little plain. Slipped the seam binding off and stamped the background with PTI Text Style in Antique Linen Distress Ink and that did the trick.

There's plenty of time for you to make a card with this week's sketch! Check it out at Card Patterns! Thanks for visiting!

Supplies: Stamps - Unity November 2008 Kit of the Month, Papertrey Ink Text Style

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Ink Walnut Stain and Antique Linen

Paper - Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Soft Stone

Other - Martha Stewart seam binding, Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream felt, Beautiful Blooms 2 Dies #1, Sweet Blush button, Marvy Giga circle punch

PTI October Blog Hop Challenge

It's Papertrey Blog Hop time again! This month's theme is right up my alley! The challenge is that since Christmas gets so much crafting attention to make a card for any winter holiday except Christmas. Hanukkah cards here I come! I made three cards for today's hop. They didn't all turn out exactly like I thought, but I figured I'd show them all anyway. ;)

The first card uses the Sunshine Impression plate which I absolutely love on Hanukkah cards and I'm not even sure why. Maybe the circles remind me of the glow from the candles? I dunno, but I like it! I think this one would be good for a guy. It's clean and kind of graphic. You could mass produce this card pretty easily. The dreidels don't take long to color and, if I cleaned the adhesive gunk off my scissors, would be easy to cut out.

The window idea I've had in my head for a while. It's a little more rustically (is that a word? and if it is, is that how you spell it?) imperfect than I had intended, but still cute. The wood frame and shutters are kraft cardstock run through the woodgrain impression plate and sponged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Then I handcut the shapes and added some outlines with a Copic multiliner. The menorah is outlined with a Sakura Stardust pen, but I'm not sure if clear or silver. I wish those things were labeled. The window itself is a square of office transparency. All held together by scor-tape then popped up.

I wanted to make a card with an untraditional color scheme, but I didn't really have any ideas and it was getting late so I ended up casing my own card layout from Holiday Cards and More. Kind of embarrassing, but I think the colors make it different enough from the original that I don't feel too bad. I also wanted a more light-hearted greeting to go with the offbeat colors and in the end this is what I came up with. I want some really cute and fun sentiments for Hanukkah, anyone with me? (And, out of curiousity, am I the only person to have lost several of my Simple Alphabet letters? I'm going to need a new set before long to spell anything!) The candles are a cuttlebug embossing folder that is supposed to be for birthdays but has so far only been used for Hanukkah. I blinged them up with some Shimmerz paint.

Thanks so much for looking and I can't wait to see what everyone else came up with! Check out all the creations from Nichole's blog.

Supplies:

Dreidel card

Stamps - Papertrey Mazel Tov

Ink - Memento Danube Blue, Tuxedo Black

Paper - Papertrey white, Stampin' Up! Brilliant Blue, GinaK Pure Luxury Good as Gold

Other - Copics (B21, B23, B24, B000, 0), Bic Mark It Midnight Navy, Sakura Stardust pen gold, Papertrey Sunshine Impression plate, Long Rectangle Nestabilities dies, pop dots

Window card

Stamps - Papertrey Mazel Tov

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Vintage Photo

Paper - Papertrey kraft, white, Enchanted Evening

Other - Copics (Y15, YR16, B23), Papertrey Woodgrain Impression plate, office transparency, Sakura Stardust pen, Copic multiliner, 1/8" scor-tape, pop dots

Delightful card

Stamps - Papertrey Mazel Tov, Simple Alphabet

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Vivid Raspberry

Paper - Papertrey Ripe Avocado, Aqua Mist, Raspberry Fizz, white

Other - Copics (Y17, Yg93, YG95), Birthday Wishes Cuttlebug embossing folder, Pixie Dust Shimmerz Blingz paint, pop dots

Tuesday Trigger

I got to play this week's Tuesday Trigger challenge! Isn't this a great inspiration piece! I love the vignetting in the photograph and the monochromatic feel.

I don't have any spooky stamps, but I think it works on a birthday card. Yeah, I guess I do have a slightly dark sense of humor to make a birthday card inspired by a graveyard. :)

The vines were made with a Tim Holtz mask that I bought (under $3) after seeing a card Melanie Muenchinger made with it on her blog. That was over 6 months ago and this is my first time to use it. (Yes, I'm lame like that.) Love the effect! You just stick it down and sponge over it. (I use an art sponge cut in quarters on things like this and save the sponge daubers for cards that need smoother results.) The butterfly from GinaK Hope Is Faith is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics then sprayed with Vanilla Smooch Spray for a subtle shimmer.

Supplies - Stamps: GinaK Hope Is Faith, Sew Pretty (sentiment)

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink Soot Black

Paper - Papertrey Ink Soft Stone, True Black, Georgia-Pacific White (for coloring)

Other - Copics (B000, C0, C1, C3, N5, C7), Cutterbee scissors, Vanilla Smooch Spritz, Tim Holtz mask, sponge

Double Challenge Cards

So I'm back on a spending freeze. I have a couple of planned purchases, but, otherwise, back on the wagon. Jaala (The Witch Crafts) started one and I decided to jump back in with her. No craft shopping until we make 50 projects. She came up with the added rule that if it isn't blogged, sent, or given away it doesn't count. Oh my! That definitely complicates things! You may be seeing lots more of me in the near future. I really like to shop. :) On that note, I got to make a couple of double challenge cards! Always fun to kill two birds with one stone. Well, metaphorically anyway.

The first card uses the StampTV color challenge: red, chartreuse, and black. It's very striking. Remember me posting that Melanie Muenchinger was giving one of her new stamp sets away on her blog a few weeks ago? I won! I've been itching to use it and have other things I had to finish up. Splitcoast has a Hope You Can Cling To challenge to use something old and something new. Obviously, the stamps are new and I'm pretty sure everything else is at least a year old. Now, I will admit, I'm not that awesome at 2 step stamping. I need to just play with this set to really get a good feel for it. I love it, though, and I can't wait to try another card with it. I did stamp the flowers on a cardstock scrap so I could get the placement right this time. And so I didn't have to be super careful coloring. ;) On the jar, I outlined the glass with B000 and then tried to color in some water with C0. I'm not sure about the water. It seems like it should be there, but doesn't look right. Thoughts?

The second card is for the StampTV sketch challenge and the Hope You Can Cling To challenge to make a vintage card. I love this stamp set. Love. It. I had fun coloring her dress. I don't own a lot of pink Copics so I don't do a lot of pink coloring, but I tried R00, R20, and R22 and it worked pretty well! Isn't this a cute sketch? I might try it again sometime!

Floral Jar Card: Stamps - GinaK Buds and Vases

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - Stampin' Up! Real Red, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black, Georgia-Pacific White

Other - Copics (R22, R24, R29, YG03, YG06, YG09, YG95, B000, C0, Y15), Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, pop dots

Sew Vintage card: Stamps - GinaK Sew Pretty

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Palette Charcoal, Distress Ink Tattered Rose

Paper - Georgia-Pacific white, Papertrey Ink Sweet Blush, Soft Stone, Stampin' Up! Basic Gray, Basic Grey Bittersweet

Other - Papertrey Ink Sweet Blush button, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Nestabilities Ovals and Scalloped Ovals dies, sponge

Unity Tuesday Trigger

A super quick post for the Tuesday Trigger. I loved this week's trigger picture! It's so happy and peaceful and fun. (And inexplicably at the bottom of this post instead of the top.)It reminded me of the super cute bird and tree fabric I bought recently so I decided to use it. I really need to bust out my sewing machine for cards more often. My sewing on cards skills need improvement! The sentiment is Unity and also qualifies this for the Unity WCMD stitching challenge. TFL!

Supplies: Stamps - Unity (It came in a grab bag I won from them)

Ink - Palette Burnt Umber

Paper - Stampin' Up! Peach Parfait, Melon Mambo, Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate

Other - JoAnn's fabric, sewing machine, Nestabilities Ribbon Slider die, brown ribbon

Moxie Holiday

I am loving the fall weather we're having now! I want to eat pumpkin bread and sip caramel apple cider 24/7. Therefore, I feel a little funny showing Hanukkah cards, but hey, it's not that far away and there's a Moxie Fab challenge!

The first card has a traditional color scheme of white, silver, and navy. The navy is actually the backside of a Christmas card someone sent us last year. It's really nice cardstock, I couldn't just let it go to waste! The cool background is the PTI Sunshine impression plate. I love that thing! I stamped the menorah from PTI's Mazel Tov in black and outlined it with a clear spica pen. The candles and flames are colored with copics. The silver cardstock is from GinaK and it is fabulous! It's nice and thick and embosses really well in the Nestabilities dies. The blue rhinestones were clear and I colored them with a navy bic marker. My heat gun and I haven't been getting along lately, but we called a truce long enough for me to emboss this sentiment without the whole page getting warped. I finished it off with this pretty white ribbon from Stampin' Up!. (Yeah, that does look weird with the exclamation mark and period. Remind me to always use Stampin' Up! in the middle of a sentence and not the end. Thanks.) The card base is 6x 4.5 inches.

My second card has most of the same elements - menorah stamp, sunshine plate, bling, nestabilities - but in a non-traditional color scheme. :) This is a dual challenge card as it's also for the Hope You Can Cling to card drive over at Splitcoast to send cards to MD Anderson Cancer Center. Lydia issued the challenge to make a pink holiday card so I made this one. This one uses Nestabilities Labels 4 and even more rhinestones.

TFL!

Blue Hanukkah Supplies:

Stamps - Papertrey Ink Mazel Tov

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Encore Silver

Paper - navy scrap, Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, GinaK Pure Luxury Silver Lining

Other - rhinestones, navy Bic Mark It, Copics (C1, Y15), clear Spica pen, Papertrey Ink Sunshine impression plate, Stampin' Up! white satin ribbon, Stampin' Up! silver embossing powder, heat gun, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One dies

Pink Hanukkah Supplies:

Stamps - Papertrey Ink Mazel Tov

Ink - Vivid Raspberry

Paper - Stampin' Up! Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White

Other - Stampin' Up! Pretty in Pink marker, Yellow Stickles, rhinestones, Papertrey Ink Sunshine impression plate, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4 dies

Scalloped Mermaid

I hope everyone had a fabulous World Card Making Day weekend! I got 7 cards made! Hooray! One of those cards was for the Moxie Fab World Offest Scallop Gallop challenge that ends, of course, today. One day, I will not be a last minute crafter. Maybe. ;)

As soon as I saw this challenge I knew I wanted to pair the scallops with The Greeting Farm's Mermaid Anya. She's the cutest mermaid around! I love how this turned out. Once again with the red hair, purple shells, and green fin. What can I say, The Little Mermaid left an indelible mark on me! And I just love red hair. One day I'll have it again! I used a ton of Copics in her hair. I wanted it to have some texture. I need more practice, but it's a decent start. :) Since mermaid Anya doesn't have scales on her fin I made dots with the colorless blender and then drew in scallops with the clear spica pen, again, just for some texture. Her hair baubles have stickles on them.

The scallop scales are rows of SU Old Olive cut with the PTI large scallop border die, sprayed with vanilla Smooch Spritz, and adhered to each other with 1/8" scor-tape. I flicked them up with my fingernail a little bit, too. The purple ribbon was a gift so I don't know who makes it. It's a beautiful shade! I wish I had cardstock to match! The sentiment is from a longer Hero Arts sentiment but I just inked the 'hello'.

Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - The Greeting Farm Mermaid Anya, Hero Arts A Warm Hello

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - Papertrey Ink Stampers Select White, Stampin' Up! kraft, Old Olive

Other - Copics (E00, E30, YR02, YR04, YR07, YR14,YR18, E09, YG03, YG06, YG09, YG11, YG93, V12, V15, V17, 0), clear Spica pen, Papertrey Ink Large Scallop Border Die, 1/8" Scor-tape, Vanilla Smooch Spritz, Stardust Stickles, purple double-stitched ribbon

Heart to heart Card Drive and Happy October!

Happy October everyone! It's my birthday today! Lunch with all my guys, free mocha toffee frap, and lots of birthday messages and calls makes for a very nice day. I'm hoping to get a little crafting in tonight, too! We'll see, though. I kind of miss sleep. ;)

Speaking of crafting, you need to make a card for Carolyn King's Heart to Heart card drive. Carolyn lost her grandmother to Alzheimer's a few years ago and has a card drive to honor Alzheimer's caregivers. They need appreciation and recognition! It is exhausting caring for someone with Alzheimer's. There is a huge prize as well.

My grandmother passed away from Alzheimer's this year. Her care progressed from her just needing to be driven places, to having my brother live with her to be sure she took her medicine and didn't fall, to full time supervision. It took a lot of energy from a lot of people to take care of her. I miss her. A lot. Her birthday is coming up and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than by thanking the people who are helping patients and family members walk this road. I've made three cards so far and I'm hoping to make several more. I'll take them to the nursing home where Grandmommy was living, but Carolyn provides an address and even a sample note if you don't know where to send a card or what to say.

My card details are very simple. The first card uses the Clean and Simple challenge sketch from Splitcoaststampers this week. The fabulous pumpkin is from a set that Carolyn designed in honor of her grandmother and she donates her proceeds to the Alzheimer's Association. (She rocks. And she's super fun, too. I know, I got to meet her once.)
The second card I made from old mail. The flower is torn from the base of a card my kids destroyed and the the leaf is torn from the cover of a jewelry catalog. I inked the edges, glued the layers together, and added some stickles and dew drops. Dawn McVey has an awesome tutorial on making flowers like this (much better than this).

Go make a card for Carolyn's card drive and head to her blog. You might win an amazingly huge prize and you will definitely make someone happy. Complete win.

Pumpkin Card Supplies:
Stamps - GinaK Designs Whimsical Autumn, Thanks a Million
Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa, Tuxedo Black
Paper - Papertrey Ink kraft, Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Georgia-Pacific white
Other - Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, Orange Zest button, twine, Nestabilities Scalloped Rectangle, Copics

Flower Card Supplies:
Stamps - GinaK Designs Inside and Out
Ink - Palette Burnt Umber, Stampin' Up! Tangerine Tango, Old Olive
Paper - Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue, Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, orange and green scraps
Other - Dew drops, Stickles, Papertrey Ink Large Scallop Border, green grosgrain

Leaf Sympathy

I have a hard time making sympathy cards. I think most people do. How much is too much and how plain is too plain? What's a good color scheme? If the card is for a man, that just makes it even harder. Some really good friends had a death in their family and it was on the husband's side. I'm sure he wouldn't have minded if I sent him a card with flowers or butterflies on it, but he would definitely have known I didn't make it for him. Leaves seemed like the perfect choice. Still natural, but not as girly. A Year of Leaves has some gorgeous ones.

The Clean and Simple challenge on Splitcoaststampers was to use red, brown, kraft, and ivory, with optional orange. The Create blog challenge was to make a card with leaves. I wanted to go clean and simple anyway, so this was a perfect choice. The card is A2 size with a kraft base, dark chocolate mat, and a vanilla woodgrain panel. The woodgrain impression plate is so useful. I'm not really sure how I ever made cards without it. I stamped over the impression in Memento Rich Cocoa ink. There were a few blank spots and I was able to fill those in with a Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip marker. So happy about that! The leaves are colored with Copics and trimmed out. I purposely did not glue the tips down so it looks like the leaves are just resting on the card. I think I will make up a few of these to have on hand for the future.

Supplies: Stamps - Stampin' Up! Sincere Salutations, GinaK Designs A Year of Leaves

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa

Paper - Papertrey Ink kraft, Dark Chocolate, GinaK Designs Pure Luxury Ivory, Georgia Pacific White (for leaves)

Other - Copics (E33, E35, E37, YR62, YR65, YR68, R22, R24, R29), Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip marker

Win Melanie's New Set!

Yay! Look what I found on
Melanie Muenchinger's blog!

"Melanie Muenchinger is releasing a companion to her "A Year of Flowers" called "Buds and Vases", a die cut stamp set filled with brand new flowers and containers, this Thursday night, September 30 at 10 PM CST from Gina K Designs! Be sure to check out her sneak preview of the set on her blog and enter for a chance to win the set!"

She has some GORGEOUS samples of this new set! You can comment for a chance to enter and blog about the giveaway for a second chance to win! How cool is that?! And look at all the cute stuff that fits in the jar from other sets? (That's Melanie's picture, btw, - used with permission of course - I never even thought about coloring strawberries that pretty!) Can't wait for this! So, quick! Go enter!!!

Papertrey September Blog Hop Challenge

It's Papertrey Blog Hop time again! And in true fashion, I'm squeaking in at the last second! Good times! The challenge this time is to use a tip or technique we've learned from another stamper. Wow. There are so many amazing artists who have taught me so much! Someday I would love to do cards for all of them. This particular card uses a couple of things I've gleaned from Nichole Heady herself combined with all the fabulous colorists out there who have taught me so much about Copics: Debbie Olson, Theresa Momber, Sharon Harnist, and, of course, Colleen Schaan to name a few. Nichole rocks the white on white so much and I never would have thought to use the square punch to make the notch on the sentiment if she hadn't shown it on her blog. Now, I can't stop doing it! I really cannot say enough about the tips and tutorials and inspiration I have gotten from these crafters, but did I mention it's the last second?

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Ink In Bloom, Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Palette Noir
Paper - Papertrey Stamper's Select White, Lemon Tart
Other - Copics (Y00, Y11, Y15, Y17, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG03), Basic Grey half pearls, square punch, Papertrey Woodgrain Impression Plate, lots of foam tape!, Cutterbee scissors

Candy Winner!

The winner of my blog candy, as chosen by random.toddler, is Denise! Yay Denise! I'll get in touch with you on your gift certificate asap! Thanks eveyone for the sweet comments. Happy last day of summer!!

The Unpublishable!

It's coming right for you! Run, run for your lives! It's...the Unpublishable! Cue B horror movie music. Yes, I do amuse myself. Thanks for noticing. ;) I just had a card published and it was super exciting! And it was on my first try even! Since then, however, I've been submitting and not having any success. But that's ok! I love the cards I've been making (well, mostly) and I learn something everytime I go through the submission process. And I'm really excited to share these rejected cards because I think they're pretty cute. And I bet you've made some pretty cute cards that haven't turned out to be contest winners, or published in magazines, or maybe haven't even gotten many comments. So let's all stop being mean to ourselves and saying things like "Oh, I'm not very good."It's just not true.

This sweet little reject was made for the Cards: All Occasions call. I was trying to come up with an unusual color combo. I like these colors together. SU's Basic Gray and Old Olive, PTI Hawaiian Shores, and some incredibly heavy base weight GinaK Ivory. The butterfly was stamped on PTI white and colored with Copics then trimmed out. I ran a black marker around the edges at the suggestion of a friend, but I don't think I will do it often. I totally get why you should do it, but I don't have a very steady hand for that kind of thing and it just seems fraught with peril. The grey (or gray, I guess, since that's how they spell it) is scored with a Scor-Pal. I love doing this! GinaK has a great tutorial on StampTV. Basically, you place the cardstock on your scoreboard with two corner points on the same line and score at 1/2 inch intervals across the cardstock. Flip it so the opposite two corner points are on the same line and score again creating the diamonds. I matted the gray with the Hawaiian Shores. The olive border is the SU open scallop border punch. I stamped 'thank you' on a strip of olive and cut out the notch with a square punch. I only adhered the straight side so it looks a little bit more like a flag banner. I thought about sewing it but was too lazy/nervous. I've had great success sewing on paper and horrible failures and since I was stamping this the night of the deadline I didn't want to risk it. The butterfly is popped up on pop dots. I'm almost out of those things. Must get more.

Anyway, there you have it! Look for more rejected cards coming soon! :)

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Designs Hope is Faith, Inside and Out
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - GinaK Pure Luxury base weight Ivory, Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Basic Gray, Papertrey Ink Stampers Select White (for coloring)
Other - Copics (BG10, BG45, BG48), Stampin' Up! Border Punch, Scor-Pal, Square Punch, pop dots

Clean and Simple Coffee

Say what? Two posts from me in one day? The insanity! ;) But I really wanted to make another card for the design team challenge at GinaK this time. And I know it's simple, but I love this card.

So the challenge is a favorite fall memory. This one is from October 2005, post-Hurricane Rita. We lived in Beaumont at the time and were very blessed. We evacuated with family, had places to stay, and, while we suffered some damage, our house was pretty much intact. Two houses down the whole place was crushed. Our yard and patio were wrecked, but that was just fine considering! Jeff did get to leave with us, but had to come back to the tv station the day after the storm hit. It was two weeks before I made it home and that's still the longest we've been apart. (A big thank you to all the military families and other families that deal with long absences for their jobs. I know two weeks is nothing to some of you and I hate that.) It was a very hot October and of course no one had power but I was so ready to be back! A cold front came through that night and we sat on the porch the next morning eating chocolate croissants and some self-heating mochas I had brought back with me so thankful to see each other, have a home, and feel an autumn breeze. Who cares if there are so many tree branches in your driveway you can't see the car parked there when you're eating pastries with the love of your life. ;) Guess who's getting this card? :)

There's not much 'splaining to do for this. I stamped the mug from Warm Winter Wishes, die cut it, left it in the die and sponged it with the blue. Then I stamped the mug again on a cardstock scrap, colored it with copics, cut it out, and glued it on. I am obsessed with cutting out the white in the handle for some reason so I just make a quick x-acto cut on the straight side and then use fine tip scissors to finish it. I grabbed a large green scrap and impressed it with my PTI woodgrain impression plate. I stamped the sentiment after impressing it and glued it all down.

Please look at all the wonderful entries on Gina's blog! Thanks for looking! (Oh, and you can still comment on my blog candy through Tuesday!)

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Designs Warm Winter Wishes, Thanks a Million

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Tempting Turquoise

Paper - Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Stampin' Up! Kiwi Kiss, Georgia-Pacific White (die cut and mug)

Other - Nestabilities Labels One, Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, Copics (YR02, YR04, YR07, R22, R24, R29, E35)

Pumpkins, Apples, and Cheese

Do you ever have a crazy idea that no matter all the better ideas you come up with you absolutely must choose the crazy one? It's Design Team challenge time at GinaK and this month's challenge is to make a card of a favorite fall memory. I LOVE fall! I love sweaters, I love cider, I love back to school (which comes in summer now, but still feels like fall). My birthday is in fall, Renaissance Festival is in fall, Thanksgiving, the High Holy Days, all in fall! I've been to Israel twice in the fall and Disneyworld twice. Then there's the kids. My son just turned 1. He's technically a very end of summer baby. But much like back to school, it feels like a fall event. And the feeling is what's important with memory anyway, right? Choosing the birth of my second child as my favorite fall memory is not crazy. Using my handwriting and a cheesetastic pun is. :)

I love a good pun. I really do. And I think it's genetic because my mother does, too. I'm not at all sure this qualifies as a good pun, but I could not shake it! And when inspiration strikes after midnight I try not to argue too much. ;) The sweet onesie is, of course, from Wee Tees. I cannot tell you how much I love that set. I'm ready for a companion set, Melanie. Just when you have time. :) I colored it with green and red Copics. The apple is from Whimsical Autumn. Thank you, Cammie for making a single apple! I colored the apple on scratch paper and cut it out. That way I don't have to be careful when coloring the onesie. It's the lazy way. I'm all about that, hehe. The pumpkins are from the Signs of Autumn set. Love them. They made me buy this set. Everything else is in it is fabulous too, but the pumpkins sang the siren song. The handwriting is, sigh, mine. I bought a craft book once called Love Your Handwriting, but it apparently only works if you practice, which if I'm going to keep doing I need more than one decent pen. But I do love my goofy, cheesy little card. Not nearly as much as my little fall fellow, though. ;)

Do yourself a favor and check out all the entries in this challenge. There is some gorgeous stuff! You can see everything on Gina's blog. I might even have a chance to make a card for one of those other memories. :) Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Whimsical Autumn, Signs of Autumn, Wee Tees

Paper - Papertrey Ink Kraft, Stampin' Up! Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Georgia-Pacific White (for coloring)

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Pumpkin Pie

Other - Copics (YG03, YG06, YG09, R22, R24, R29), Copic Multiliner 0.5 mm

Happy with Candy

Oh my! I am so happy, excited, and grateful right now. First off, Holiday Cards and More Vol 5 from Paper Crafts officially goes on sale today and I have my first (and so far only) published card inside! Page 77 if you happen to have one! ;) I have yet to see it in an actual store. That is going to be really cool. :) I hope to show you my card soon, I just need to double check the rules and see if that's ok.

Second, and far more important, those sweet little feet in my profile picture are going to be 1 year old tomorrow! I can hardly believe it! He is a crazy little monkey, too! He sings and dances and screams like a happy little nazgul. ;) It seems like just yesterday we brought him home but I can hardly remember what life was like before him. Memory is so weird.

It's kind of full-circle that Holiday Cards and More goes on sale today. I took Vol 4 with me to the hospital to pass the time before my C-section. It still has the hospital tag on it so it could find its way back to my room. (Did you know they don't let you bring stuff into surgery?) So when everyone but me was sleeping I was flipping through the magazine instead of focusing on why the hospital would not bring me real food. (Next time I'm bringing my own cooler. For real.)

There are a million other things I'm grateful for and happy about ranging from the other two fabulous men in my life to scor-tape to all my online friends to Glee to toffee mocha lattes at Starbucks to a LOT of other things large and small. So to celebrate all this happiness, I'd like to have a little blog candy. :) I will give away a copy of Holiday Cards and More Vol 5 plus a $10 gift certificate to the winner's choice of Papertrey or GinaK. (Btw, this is not in anyway affiliated with any of the giveaways on Paper Craft Connections or Moxie Fab World, although you should totally check them out. I'll be going to Hobby Lobby or Barnes and Noble and buying a copy. The one in the pictures is mine and already much loved. Yours will be new and unfondled.) ;) To enter, just leave me a comment telling me something you're happy about! That's it! This will stay open until the 21st and I'll randomly pick a winner on the 22nd! Be sure to leave me a way to get in touch with you - email, scs or stamptv user name - or remember to check back.

Thanks so much!

Huzzah!

I won GinaK again! Yay! There's something about finding out you won free stamps that just brightens your day. :) Last week there was a challenge on StampTV to make a winter - Christmas - Holiday card using just your scraps. Perfect. I'm trying to use up the huge vortex of scraps that I have anyway. (I just told my neighbor if she ever needs ribbon to come to my house before she goes to Hobby Lobby.) Anyway, this is the card I made and it was randomly chosen to win! Happy day!

Love this lady. She reminds me of my grandmother when I was little for some reason. Spunky. With a funny apron. I have no idea what possessed me to color her hair auburn when my card is red or what possessed me to color her sweater red. Red is only behind black in the hardest for me to color race. But oh well. I used Copics, of course.

The leaves were already on my table from a project I did a month or so ago. Yeah, I clean my table on a bi-monthly schedule or when everything starts jumping off. I think pompoms are grandma fabulous. So are pipe cleaners. They needed some stickles. My stickles have been getting a lot more love since I started my stamp spending freeze. (I'm on 25/50 cards plus 3 altered items! yay!) The felt leaves are held in place with scor-tape. LOVE scor-tape. I'm buying 2 or 3 rolls of it next time! Pompoms are on a glue dot. I colored the rhinestones olive green with copics. Very clean and simple, totally from scraps, making it got me a new stamp set. SCORE.

Supplies - Stamps: GinaK Sew Pretty, Warm Winter Wishes

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Old Olive

Paper: Stampin' Up! Riding Hood Red, kraft (now Crumb Cake), Georgia Pacific White Cardstock

Accessories: Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, Stampin' Up! Modern Label Punch, rhinestones, Copics (I don't remember which ones, sorry!), hand cut felt leaves, red pompoms, Stardust Stickles, Scor-tape, Glue Dots, Pop dots

Papertrey August Blog Hop Challenge

Fun stuff! This is my first time to participate in the PTI Blog Hops and I am so excited! (Thanks for the nudge, Alyssa!) The challenge is to alter a paper lunch sack to something wonderful and crafty. I happen to have a bunch of lunch sacks and my kids happened to be napping at the same time. Serendipity.

Knowing that this mystical sleeping simultaneously thing could not last long, I opted for a card. (Got an idea for a planner, but that will have to wait for another day.) My lunch bags are kinda tall so I trimmed the open edge with the small rickrack die. I have a cuttlebug so I had to fold the end I didn't want to cut over the top of the B plate. (Sandwich: A plate, C plate, die, lunch sack side I want to cut, B plate, folded side of lunch sack.) Folding it left a large crease that I could not iron out so I covered it with ribbon and it helped me choose layout. :) I love PTI ribbon. Love it. This Lemon Tart satin ribbon is one of the prettiest things I have in my craft room and there's a lot of stuff in there! The Mat Stack 3 die and All Booked up stamp provides a nice focal point and I got to use the anniversary set Round and Round for the circle! I love that All Booked Up and Round and Round coordinate so well together, the sentiments even fit! It's hard to tell in this picture but the rhinestones on the flowers are colored yellow with a Bic Mark It to match the ribbon. I added regular rhinestones along the rickrack edge and finished up just as the baby woke up! Talk about perfect timing! I think I will save this for when I want to give someone a little thank you gift card and slip it in the bag opening.

You can see all the entries on Nichole's blog. I doubt I will ever look at lunch sacks the same again!

Supplies - Stamps: Papertrey Ink All Booked Up, Round and Round

Ink: Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Palette Burnt Umber

Paper: Papertrey Ink Rustic White

Accessories: Papertrey Ink Rick Rack die, Mat Stack 3 die, Lemon Tart satin ribbon, rhinestones, Bic Mark It (yellow), pop dots, lunch sack

Summer Sunshine

We are having a great time here. We went on a little vacation with the kids last week. (Although, I so owe my parents a big thank you. I had NO idea how much work it was to take children on a trip and have more than meltdowns to remember. Mission accomplished, but wow.) And my sweet husband took off this week so we've just been kicking back with occasional small bursts of productivity. :)

I'm still on my stamping spending freeze. I didn't even look at the Hobby Lobby ad this week! But I'm still finding ways to spend money. I bought some fabric on our trip. Someone recommended The Stitch Lab in Austin to me and I'm so glad I went! They had fabulous cotton prints and a great selection of felt! I also picked up some pillowcases at the Crate and Barrell outlet for the fabric. I cut out a tank top already so maybe I'll make something before the Mayan Doomsday. (No, I do not believe the world is going to end Dec 21, 2012, but I love specifics, so a scheduled apocalypse cracks me up.)

Here's a simple card I've been wanting to make. It didn't come out exactly like I thought, but what does? The sun was made by cutting small strips of Summer Sunrise ribbon and notching the ends and then sewing an Orange Zest button over the the middle. Thanks for the idea, Alyssa! I love this Papertrey impression plate. So many fun possibilities. The sparkles are stickles. I have soooo many bottles of stickles and they've just been sitting there so I'm having fun using them again. This card is 15/50 on my freeze. :)

In other news, the baby just popped his 3rd tooth and he has two more on the way. He hasn't taken any steps yet, but he's climbing into the bathtub, into chairs, and onto book displays at Barnes and Noble so it's only a matter of time. He also figured out how to use a straw so, if you visit, hang onto your drink!

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Ink Scattered Showers
Ink - Memento Canteloupe
Paper - GinaK Pure Luxury White, Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue
Accessories - Papertrey Ink Summer Sunrise stitched ribbon, Stardust Stickles, Papertrey Ink Orange Zest button, Papertrey Ink Cloud Dies, Papertrey Ink Sunshine Impression Plate

Holy Awesome Blog Candy!

Wow! Amy at A Thousands Sheets of Paper is having FABULOUS blog candy! She's been tracking how long it would take her to cut into a thousand sheets of paper and she just did! I think I have a thousand bits of paper on my craft room floor, but that seems somehow less spectacular. To celebrate her milestone she is giving 200 sheets of 6x6 paper to 5 happy bloggers who spread the word about her candy plus she has some super awesome stamps to go with it. She even has some single stamps you can win even if you don't have a blog!

You should definitely check out Amy's art! She is an amazing colorist! (Colorer?) She has great tutorials as well. So, quick, get thee to A Thousand Sheets of Paper and enjoy!

It's Been a While

So, um, if anyone reads this, sorry for dropping off the face of the earth. We had family in, we got sick, the little guy's getting teeth, etc. I have been crafting, cooking, sewing, and plotting (there's always lots of plotting) just no blogging. We've also done lots of lego-building, running around the couch, reading, and sweating outside. :)

A few tidbits. Homemade graham crackers are fabulous! I just made them on a whim, but wow. So good. A batch only lasts about a day here. The recipe I used was from MarthaStewart.com. Go. Make them now. We've been thinking of all the great things you can do with them, but they are wonderful all by themselves!

I have lots of cards to show, if, you know, I ever get around to it. ;) This one is for a challenge some friends are doing on Splitcoast. We post a challenge based on our hometown. This is for Jean's challenge. Her town is home to the Weeki Wachee Mermaid Show. Mermaid Anya is the cutest mermaid stamp around. I wanted to color her some fantastical color, but I just couldn't. I was absolutely compelled to color her like Ariel. I used a sketch from Paper Crafts Go-To Sketches. The paper was all in my scrap file. The purple is from the Basic Grey Lily Kate line. The orange and the blue are from a big My Minds Eye stack. The green someone sent me so I have no idea. Oh, the pink at the top is from Basic Grey Perhaps. Why did I add pink at the top. I think because Ariel wears a pink dress in the Little Mermaid. Makes no sense whatsoever, but I really think that's why I did it. Anywho. The cute sentiment is from Papertrey's Pond Life accessories. It's one of those sets that I love but almost never use. I have a lot of those.

That brings me to my spending freeze! :) My online friend Ashley started a spending freeze. She won't buy any craft stuff until she makes 200 cards! Ever since she started I've been thinking I should do something like that. Well, someone cute and 2 was looking at the Toys R Us ad on Sunday and telling me how we should buy pretty much everything in it. I told him he didn't need new toys, he had lots of toys already, more than he played with even. Then I heard what I said! (I would be the awesomest person ever if I did everything I tell my kids to do.) So I decided right then that I would go on a freeze. Now, Ashley is a way, way more productive stamper than I am. I want to be able to shop again before the Mayan doomsday so my freeze will be for 2 months or until I make 50 cards, whichever is longer. I'm at 9/50 right now. It would be wonderful to make more than 50 cards in two months! I do have a couple of exceptions. I can buy storage and organization stuff, adhesive, and - if I run out - neutral cardstock. Also, several friends are being published and I can buy their magazines if I find them. Everything else has to wait. GinaK is trying to test my resolve with an awesome coupon code, but there will be another sale. (If you aren't on a spending freeze, it's a really good deal. You should check it out.)

Supplies: Stamps - The Greeting Farm Mermaid Anya, Papertrey Ink Pond Life Accessories
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, My Mind's Eye Everyday Bohemian dsp, Basic Grey Lily Kate and Perhaps dsp, unknown green dsp
Accessories - Copics (YR04, YR14, YR16, YR18, E09, E51, E53, V12, V15, YG03, YG06, YG09, YG11), rhinestones, Nestabilities Labels 4, Stampin' Up! Scallop Border

Stripey Sunshine

You know how sometimes you have plenty of time to stamp, but no ideas and other times you have lots of ideas and no time to stamp? Yeah. I started sketching out ideas and stuff as soon as the Paper Crafts submission call went out two weeks ago. I got several cards started during naptime, but, in the end, only had time to submit two. How could this happen? Well, short naps, late nights, broken air conditioner, sister's recital, Dad got robbed, Jeff working weekends do not a lot of stamping time make. Add to that that I am a sllloooowww crafter and there ya go.

So here's a card that didn't get submitted. ;) I saw a super cute children's dress online with yellow, white, and navy diagonal stripes that inspired this design. I've had the navy and yellow plaid fabric for, um, ever. At least 10 years! There are fabric flowers and rosettes showing up everywhere lately and I really wanted to try it. I just cut a ragged strip of fabric and rolled it loosely in my hand, pinching the bottom a little. When it looked something like a flower, I stitched it in place with a few quick stitches. I thought it needed something in the center for contrast so I added a PTI lemon tart button. Same thing for the little buds, just smaller strips of fabric and no buttons. My technique definitely needs some honing, but I was pleased at how easy it was for decent results. Now, I want to try making a headband or embellishing a top or something!


Supplies: Stamps - Scattered Showers and Distressed Stripes, Papertrey Ink
Paper - Lemon Tart and Stamper's Select White by Papertrey Ink, Night of Navy by Stampin' Up!
Ink - Dandelion by Memento, Night of Navy by Stampin' Up!
Accents - navy and yellow plaid fabric, Lemon Tart button by Papertrey Ink, square punch, needle and thread

Summer Memories with GinaK

It's time for another GinaK design team challenge! This month's challenge is to use any GinaK stamp set and make a card inspired by a favorite summer memory. Wow, so many memories jumped into my head! So hard to focus, so hard to choose! The summer Jeff proposed? The night on the Sea of Galilee when they turned the lights off on the boat and it was just the sound of the water and the light of the stars and you could completely believe it was two thousand years ago? My sister's first steps? Taking our kids to the pool for the first time? Brain overload!!!

As I stared at my stamp table, hovering over my supplies not knowing what to grab, I started thinking about summers at my grandparents' house at the lake. We swam, made ice cream, got to eat in front of the tv, play in the dirt, and my grandmother had a prize box under her bed! It was heaven. My grandmother was an excellent baker. Not the fancy Martha Stewart kind of baker, but the old-fashioned, church cookbook kind of baker. Toll house cookies, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, and more! Yummy. She always let me help. When you are 4 that is a very big deal. It's the simple things, right? And thus, this simple card.

The stamps are Melanie's Have a Cookie set. I inked them in Memento ink and colored with copics. I used a glue pen on the hearts and a quick sprinkle of Martha Stewart pink glitter. My grandparents had wood panelling in their house so I used the PTI woodgrain impression plate with kraft cardstock and rubbed it with Tim Holtz distress ink for the background. Finish it off with punches and some piercing on the scallops and it's a clean and simple card.

There are some awesome entries in this DT challenge hop. Best wishes to everyone, you all inspire me! Thank you, Gina, for issuing the challenge (and for letting us use any stamps this time, you are always awesome!) I enjoyed this trip down memory lane. I miss my grandparents a lot. Granddaddy passed away when I was 8 (on Father's Day) and Grandmommy finally went to meet him this year. She had Alzheimers and a couple of strokes so it was a long time coming. It's good to think about the sweet and simple things. :)

Supplies - Stamps: GinaK Have a Cookie
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo
Paper: Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Dark Chocolate, Georgia-Pacific White, Stampin' Up! Kraft
Accessories: Copic markers (E30, C0, C1, C3), Papertrey Ink Woodgrain Impression Plate, sponge, Marvy Mega Circle Punch, Marvy Giga Scallop Circle Punch, Paper Piercer, Pop Dots, Quickie Glue Pen, Martha Stewart Kunzite Pink Glitter

Card Patterns and Glitter

This past weekend was a new Ginak release which means lots of challenges. Challenges with prizes. I'm highly motivated to stamp when there are free stamps on the line. ;) I didn't win, but I still had fun and got some cards made. So it's kind of like I won. :)

My awesome friend Lee (no, really, she's been to my house!) issued the challenge to completely cover your main image with something - microbeads, glitter, diamond glaze, whatever. Lee loves glitter so I had to go with that. I could have made it uber-Lee, and gone with pink glitter, but that would have been weird.


The sketch is from Card Patterns. Isn't it pretty? This is my first time to do one of their sketches, but it definitely won't be the last! The design team has gorgeous samples! You should check it out.

The yummy paper is from Basic Grey's Origins 6x6. I love it! I hope they come out with fabric from this line. It would make all kinds of awesome tote bags, aprons, pillows, etc. Ooh, and Origins skirt. Love it! The pretty ribbon is some that I scavenged from a wedding (thanks Andrea!). The butterfly is colored with Copics and glittered all up with Martha Stewart glitter. My mom got me the sampler pack a couple of years ago, glitter city! Tons of colors! This is good old clear, but not because I didn't have the choice. I stamped a few leaves on vanilla cardstock, die cut it with a blossom nestability, and sponged it with yellow ink. The sentiment is stamped on vanilla cardstock and sponged with SU Old Olive ink. The notch is cut with a square punch. Got that tip from Nichole Heady's blog. Oh, the pearl is a white pearl colored with Copics. Cool, huh? I think Tina Gilliland posted that tip on StampTV. Never have the wrong color pearls again. :)

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Designs Take Flight, Masculine Messages, A Year of Flowers
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa, Stampin' Up! Old Olive, Barely Banana
Paper - Papertrey Ink kraft, Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla, Georgia-Pacific White, Basic Grey Origins
Accessories - Copics, sponge daubers, Kaisercraft pearl, sheer ribbon, Blossom Nestabilities, cuttlebug, square punch, pop dots, Martha Stewart crystal glitter, Martha Stewart glittering glue

Tuesday Trigger and a GinaK Release Challenge

I *finally* got to do the Tuesday Trigger challenge on Moxie Fab World! Yay! I've only been trying to play along for months. I loved Jessica Witty's trigger card. It's so soft and pretty. My take was bright and boyish. :) This also qualifies for the GinaK release color challenge on StampTV to use yellow, blue, and red. The adorable toys are from the GinaK Wee Tees set and the sentiment is from the GinaK Oh Boy! set. LOVE these! Of course, I have two little boys so there ya go. :) The toys are all colored with Copic markers, cut out and popped up.


Supplies - Stamps: GinaK Designs Wee Tees, Oh Boy!
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Real Red
Paper - Stampin' Up! Pacific Point, Summer Sun, Georgia-Pacific White cardstock
Accessories - Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy buttons, Stampin' Up Linen Thread, Copic markers, pop dots, Marvy yellow square punch

Casing Melanie

Melanie Muenchinger has a challenge on her blog to case one of her cards. I love Melanie's GinaK Designs stamps so I had to play along! I chose her Love Bird card. Isn't it cute? Love it! Here's my take on it.

First, it is important to note, I cannot draw hearts to save my life. I had a cut out from another project that I had to try and alter to fit this card. I traced it out and cut it with an exacto knife. I cut the heart last night and my finger is still sore! I adhered the Basic Grey Lime Rickey paper to the cardstock so I'd only have to cut once. There are some imperfections. My exacto skills are not that impressive. I think it turned out okay. Imperfections are what make it one of a kind, right? The paper was a little roughed up so I ran a dark blue marker around the cut edge and then sponged over it with white ink.

The super cute onesie is from Wee Tees. I stamped it onto the dark blue solid in the Lime Rickey collection. I love these papers. The print reminds me of waves so I had to use it here. I stamped a starfish from Gifts of the Sea onto scratch paper, colored it with Copics and glued it on. The little coat hanger is made out of jewelry wire. I used the one in Little Tees as a guideline. I stamped a second onesie on the backside of the paper, cut it out, and sandwiched the coat hanger in the middle with some scor-tape. I stamped and cut out a second starfish so it looks cute in the back too. ;) I used a paper piercer to make the hole in the top and added the jump ring. All that was left is to stamp that fabulous quote in white pigment ink. To make it stand out more you could emboss it, but my embossing gun and I aren't getting along right now. This is so not my usual card, but I love it! Thanks for the great challenge, Mel!

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Designs Wee Tees, Gifts of the Sea

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow

Paper - Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Basic Grey Lime Rickey

Accessories - Copics (B26, Y21, Y26, Y28), 24 gauge jewelry wire, round nose pliers, jump ring, exacto knife, sponge

Movie Inspired GinaK challenge

GinaK's CenterStage Spotlight Design Team challenge this month is to make a card using one of the new April release stamp sets inspired by your favorite movie. (The CenterStage person gets ALL of the May releases and gets to post with the regular design team that month. How cool is that?!) You can check out all the awesomeness here on Gina's blog. So I am KICKING myself for not getting Quite a Catch because the very first thing that popped into my head was a Sebastian the Crab Kiss the Girl card from one of my all-time faves, The Little Mermaid. But, I digress. I made myself a list of my top 15 or so favorite movies to see what else I could come up with. It's an eclectic list, lemme tell ya! Maybe one day I'll make a card for all of them. :)

I chose Roman Holiday. One of the best movies ever, in my humble opinion. Everytime I start it I think it won't be as good as I remember it and it always is. And really, what's not to love? Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Billy Wilder directing in glorious black and white, shot on location in Italy. It's pretty fabulous.

My card uses this vintage beauty from Asela Hopkin's Sew Pretty set. I love her! Her hairdo reminds me a little bit of the cut Audrey gets in the movie. Her outfit is even similar. (I see looking at the poster that her skirt is red, but I always watch it in B&W and I always think of it as khaki.) The Labels 4 Nestabilities look kind of cinematic to me. The lady is colored softly with Copics. I used R00 to barely shade her white top. I quickly colored a background for her with BG10 with the image still in the die. I usually sponge for something like that, but I liked this better since I didn't have to make a mask for the girl. :) A little distress ink gave the die cut some definition without me having to add another layer.

The herringbone is from Nina Brackett's awesome Vintage Backgrounds set. This set is so versatile, but it really pairs well with Sew Pretty. I love this stamp. It reminds me of tire tracks. Audrey and Gregory ride around on a cute little scooter in the movie so it seemed to fit. The sentiment is also perfect since Audrey gets this fabulous hair cut in the beginning (that always makes me want to cut mine off even though I would look ridiculous). The ribbon is from a past StampTV kit and I love it. So there ya go. A clean, simple, and, I hope, elegant but fun card. Just like the movie.

Supplies: Stamps - GinaK Designs Sew Pretty, Vintage Backgrounds

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Ink Walnut Stain

Cardstock - Papertrey Ink Soft Stone, Georia-Pacific white

Accessories - Copic markers, Nestabilities Labels 4, pop dots, sponge, cuttlebug, brown ribbon, glue dot, Scor-pal

Whoo hoo!

I won a free GinaK stamp set today! Hooray!!! How you ask? I made this card for one of the April Release Party challenges on StampTV and this morning I found out I won! Awe. Some. While I am pleased with how this card turned out, I must confess it was a random drawing. ;) Love GinaK stamps. Love free stamps. Love, love, love free GinaK stamps!

This cute little pumpkin is from Carolyn King's set, Whimsical Autumn. The layout is a sketch by Theresa Momber that was the basis of the challenge. I colored with Copics. This is my favorite pumpkin color combo so far. I like pumpkin stamps so I keep trying them out. Nestabilities, a PTI button, OLD patterned paper, and some distress ink and it's a card! :)

Completely changing the topic now, but Target has some cute purses clearanced at really great prices. I got 3 yesterday for $11. Yeah, $11. You might want to check it out.

Supplies - Stamps: GinaK Whimsical Autumn

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo

Paper: Papertrey Ink kraft and Dark Chocolate, Georgia-Pacific White, Stampin' Up! Pumpkin Pie, DCWV patterned paper from at least 5 years ago

Accessories: Pure Poppy Papertrey Ink button, Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities, Stampin' Up! Linen Thread, Copics (YR14, YR16, YR18, YG93, YG95, E11, E13, E15), sponge, Scor-tape

Well, It Was a Little Chilly Today...

So, yes, this is a snowman card, in April. Maybe I want to be early for once. Maybe I was stamping for magazine publication calls. Maybe he's just darn cute! ;)

This is a triple challenge card. His glittery heart, snowy landscape, and stickly thoughts qualify him for the StampTV challenge (last week) to add glitter and the Paper Crafts Connection Shimmer and Shine challenge and this card also is for the Moxie Fab World Get Sketchy challenge which used this awesome sketch from Paper Crafts Go-To Sketches special issue. So worth the money! Everytime I see it on the stands I want to buy it even though I already have it. :)

Carolyn King illustrated this for GinaK designs and she donates her proceeds to the Alzheimer's Association in memory of her grandmother. My grandmother recently passed away from Alzheimer's and I bought and use this set in memory of her. It makes me smile.

Supplies -

Stamps: GinaK Warm Winter Wishes

Paper: PTI Hawaiian Shores, Stampers Select White, Stampin' Up! Real Red

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Real Red

Accessories: Copic markers, Nestabilities Label On, Snowflake embossing folder, Cuttlebug, pop dots, Martha Stewart Garnet glitter, Snow glitter, Frosted Lace Stickles, Mono Multi glue, Scor-Tape

Been Awhile

Hey there! Long time no see. We've been busy. Lots of coming and going and trips to the park and not sleeping at night and planting flowers and learning to crawl busy! :) I'm going to work on updating more often!

Here's a card I made for the inspiration challenge this week on StampTV. (If you haven't joined, do it now! It's free!) This card uses the super cute Tech Talk set by Melanie Muenchinger that I got from my super awesome mom who gives me GinaK stamps at the holidays! Thanks Mom! Add in some lemon tart cardstock, probably one of my favorite colors ever, from Papertrey, cardstock rickrack, and some My Minds Eye paper I've had forever and it's a card!

I hear someone fussing so I should go. I'll try not to be a stranger. :)

Supplies -
Stamps: GinaK Tech Talk
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Papertrey Lemon Tart, Stampin' Up! Riding Hood Red, Georgia-Pacific White, My Minds Eye paper Wild Asparagus stack
Accessories: Papertrey rickrack die, copics, pop dots

Stamping Olympics #4

Ok, I lied. I have 4 cards for the Moxie Fab World Olympics of Stamping. This is the last one, I promise. ;)

There was a cool tutorial on StampTV a while back about adding sparkle to an embossed background. So cute and easy! Very hard to photograph, however. I think you can see a little of the sparkliness in this picture.

Supplies: Stamps - Stampin' Up! Sincere Salutations
Ink - Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue
Paper - Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Dark Chocolate, Stampin' Up! Bashful Blue
Accessories - Sakura Stardust pen, Spellbinders Long Rectangle and Scalloped long Rectangle Nestabilities, Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate Satin Ribbon, Cuttlebug and Snowflake embossing folder