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