Happy Birthday, Shelbie!

Today is my daughter's birthday! She is away at college in Vermont. Will post the card I sent to her later today. : )

My Niece's Birthday...

...was yesterday, and this is the card I made for her. At first I thought it was kind of busy, but I've made friends with it. :) She lives with us while going to college, but was working yesterday so I haven't seen her yet. Hope she likes it. From bottom up, used SU! CS for the base card. All of the DP is Basic Gray Eva. Misted the Spellbinders In Spades pendant with Glimmer Mist in two different colors, though that doesn't show in the pic. The sentiment is from JustRite Just A Note set, with one of the 2" borders around it. Cut out with circle Nestabilities, with a scalloped base. That was attached with dimensionals to the pendant, then added some Basic Gray pearls I got from Flourishes.

Stamps: JustRite Just A Note, and 2" Borders.
Paper: SU cardstock. Basic Gray Eva.
Ink: Colorbox Queues, Marvy Marker.
Accessories: BG pearls, Spellbinders, Glimmer Mist, Cuttlebug.

I covered these little tins with some DP from My Minds Eye. I used the little cutouts from the In Spades pendant, again misted with Glimmer Mist, and attached those to the tops, with a rhinestone in the center. Printed the contents on my computer, then cut those out with a Spellbinders label, inked while still in the die, then attached to the tin and added two little pink rhinestones. Attached ribbon around the lid. My niece and daughter love the teas from Teavana, and we have a store here, so I got some of their favorite for each of them, and that is what is in one of the tins. The other has German rock sugar to sweeten the tea. Also got her a tea maker to go with it.

Stamps: None.
Paper: My Mind's Eye.
Ink: Computer, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Spellbinders circles and label, rhinestones, Cuttlebug, tea tins, ribbon.

Feeling Froggy

Maybe the title should say "foggy", because that's how my brain felt at first when a friend asked me to make a set of note cards for her adult step-daughter, who loves frogs. The specs were that she wanted "a frog theme; her favorite colors are black, green and turquoise...have fun!". Ooookay.

I don't collect frog stamps, having only one little bitty one that would not have worked. So I went here and found these digital images. Yes, I cheated. But it felt so right. lol. These are the cards I came up with, along with the box. This is a set of eight cards and envelopes. My camera and I obviously weren't on friendly terms for the card pix. Have no idea why, because the picture of the box looks great and everything was set up the same for the cards. Oh well, I think you'll get the idea. Here we go:

The box for the cards is the pizza box style, sized for A2 cards. Used black for the box. Embossed the turquoise panels with a Cuttlebug strip. Stamped her name with JustRite font and cut it out with Spellbinders Label, attached to panel. I printed the image as-is from pccrafter already colored, got it to the size I wanted, cut it out with Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles, as well as a black base. The only thing I added was some Twinkling H2O's to her swimsuit, though it's hard to see in the picture. Added a CB embossed strip to the front edge of the box, and decorated the corners with BG Euphoria paper cut with a corner adorner.


Now for the cards. Sorry they're blurry. They are each a little different, with 2 of each design in the set.
















I attached the BG Euphoria strip to the turquoise base, then embossed with various CB folders. Cut out the images with different Spellbinders dies, sponged the edges with green then black on the very edge. Used two different JustRite fonts for her initial, cut those out with Spellbinders and gave them a base as well. I added Twinkling H2O's to the swimsuits in two images. Put lavender Stickles on the sunglasses (top one) - think that's my favorite, and also Waterfall Stickles on the water of third one. These ended up being a lot of fun to make after I got over the mojo hurdle. My friend really liked them and said her step-daughter would love them. Yay! :)

Stamps: JustRite Monogram stamps.
Paper: Basic Grey Euphoria, The Paper Studio CS.
Ink: Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Spellbinders dies, Stickles, Cuttlebug folders, Twinkling H2O's, rhinestones.

A Little Catch Up

Well, I have been MIA again since August. Thanks to those of you who checked in on me during that time. Nothing serious, just super busy with massage therapy school and work. Graduated from MT school last Tuesday (YAY!). I am scheduled to take my State Board exam this Wednesday. Then just have to wait for the state to send me my license and I'll be open for business. Massage anyone? :)

Even though I have been absent from blogland, I have been making things. However, I forgot to take pictures, or couldn't find my camera, so obviously those things won't get posted. But here are two note card sets and a gift tag I made this past week, and my annual Halloween card I sent to my girlfriends (I know, very late posting this one).

I saw this Impression Obsession stamp and loved it! Stamped with Stazon and colored with Prismacolor pencils. Ribbon on the broom painted with Twinkling H2Os. Liquid Pearls on the bubbles. Image cut out with Spellbinders Labels Eight, added the tiny moon brad, and attached to grey CS base over narrow ribbon from Target $1 bin, and the cobweb MS border punch. I used black embossing powder on the Inkadinkado cat. Regular stamping of the sentiment from My Favorite Things in the upper corner.

Stamps: Spa Day from Impression Obsession, Inkadinkado Scary Cat, Out on a Limb from My Favorite Things.
Paper: The Paper Studio CS.
Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues, Prismacolor pencils.
Accessories: Spellbinders Labels Eight, brad, ribbon, embossing powder, Liquid Pearls, Twinkling H2Os.

This first set is a set of 8 cards, made with a Kraft CS base from SU! Background DP is by Olf Fashion Flowers by Fiskars. The bands are the reverse of that DP, and I embossed four of them with the textile CB folder. Monogram with JustRite stamp cut out with round Nestie and mounted on two layers of Spellbinders Labels Nine. Easy peasy, but so pretty.


Stamps: JustRite Monogram stamp.
Paper: Kraft CS from SU!, Fiskars DP, Pearl stationary paper from Office Depot.
Ink: Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Spellbinders labels and nestabilities, Cuttlebug, embossing folder.

This is the gift tag I made to put on a bottle of wine I gave my frient Tommie for her birthday. I had printed out the sentiment "It's your party...wine if you want to", cut and embossed with Spellbinders Labels Five and inked all around it. Tied it to the wine bottle I had wrapped in purple and black tissue paper. Boring! Then I happened upon this post by Donna and just had to make those grapes! Not sure how I didn't notice that one embossed grape got into the bunch, but that's okay. It looked really great, and Tommie loved it! I used three leaves from a Cuttlebug die, and one Spellbinders leaf. The grapes are just layered oval Nesties. I attached the grapes to the tag and tied it to the bottle with some raffia.

Stamps: None.
Paper: CS from Hobby Lobby.
Ink: Computer.
Accessories: CB leaf die, Spellbinders leaf, Labels Five, and oval Nestabilities, foam tape, raffia, eyelet.

Last but not least is this set I made for Tommie's daughter, who turned 21. Their birthdays are one day apart, and a bunch of us got together for a fun birthday surprise for these two. I used two different colors of CS from SU! for the base of these cards, embossed with CB Victoria folder. I don't know the name of the orange/cream CS, it's scraps in my stash I've had for a while. Those are the bands and the background on the box. Again, Spellbinders Labels Five layered under JustRite monogram cut out with circile Nestabilities.

Stamps: JustRite Monogram.
Paper: SU! cardstock, The Paper Studio CS, ??DP from my stash, Pearl stationary paper from Office Depot.
Ink: Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Spellbinders Labels Five and circle Nestabilities, CB Victoria Folder.

Birthday Card for Tyler

Yay! Finally I managed to sit down and make a card! This one is for my son's 16th birthday, which was a couple days ago. Happy birthday Tyler!!! I saw this tri-shutter card several weeks back when I was blurfing (that word makes me giggle, sounds like a physical reaction to bad food ~grin~) before I went to sleep. Had to give it a whirl. My son loves deer and being outdoors, so this is what I came up with.

I stamped the SU! Nature Silhouette stamps with Versamark and then embossed with black EP. The background is sponged with several different shades of Colorbox Queues, then the image was cut with square Nestabilities. The DP is from my stash, some I got at Hobby Lobby a good while back. The sentiment was printed on my computer, cut and embossed with Deckled Rectangles Nesties, then sponged. The "believe" is from Making Memories. It is aluminum mounted on foam. I colored it gold with my gold leaf pen before attaching it. In trying not to add too much bling since this is a masculine card, I controlled myself and only added the one antique bronze corner brad to the image, and a few tiny flat back gold beads to some of the corners. Tyler really liked it. : )

Again, I would like to say thank you to those of you who have checked in on me via e-mail over the past months of my absence from blogville. I went from job hunting and getting doors slammed in my face, to going back to school for massage therapy and then started a job middle of June. Love the job, love doing massage therapy! I will graduate from the school in November. I am working for a chiropractor, then when I get my licence I will be doing massage therapy for her, so will be a seamless transition. I am hoping to get more regular again with making and posting cards, though will not be attempting to do as many challenges as I was before. I sure have missed playing with paper!

I have enjoyed my kiddos this summer. My daughter will be leaving this coming Monday to head back to Vermont for her second year of college. My son has been busy with the summer ROTC training program at his high school, and will be starting his junior year in a couple of weeks.

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Nature Silhouette.
Paper: Paper Studio CS, and DP from Hobby Lobby.
Ink: Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Corner brad, Nestabilities, flat back beads, Making Memories Words.

Thanks For Checking In

Never thought I would be missed here in blogville, but I have received quite a few e-mails over the past couple of weeks asking if I am okay. I have to say, I am very touched and the e-mails are appreciated. I am okay, just still missing my mojo. Actually just flat out no desire to create anything, which is a very strange place for me. Even my sis-in-law and Chuck have been teasing me about my lack of card making. :) Overall I think it is simply stress. Not that stress is simple; it stinks. lol. Losing my job and being the sole income producer kind of escalates stress. Very difficult to find a job in this icky economic climate, but I'm out there hunting.

As a bit of a tension reliever, my friend Deborah (also jobless) and I went to Enchanted Rock last Wednesday to "climb the rock". It is one of my favorite places to go, just to get away for a little bit, find some peace. It is remote, very quiet, beautiful out there. We took bottles of water and a picnic lunch. We laughed and goofed around as we were going up, took some really silly pictures, and at the top we sat down and ate our lunch. Then we laid back on the rock to relax, talked and watched the clouds go by...you know doing that hallucinating thing where you think you see a shape in the clouds. Couple of times we actually saw the same thing. heehee! We eventually climbed around on a couple outcroppings of rocks, then went back down. By that time we were hungry again, so on the way back through Fredricksburg, we stopped and had lunch at a German restaurant. We decided that day was the perfect "prescription" for stress relief...climbing Enchanted Rock with someone who makes you laugh. :)

Another bright note - I have some travels coming up in the next two weeks. I leave tomorrow to go to Vermont to see my daughter and participate in the Relay For Life that is being hosted at the university she is attending. I am SO looking forward to seeing my sweet Shelbie! I have missed her like crazy. I will return Monday from Vermont, then turn around and head to Daytona Beach Friday for the JROTC National Competition. My son, Tyler, is on the varsity male JROTC drill team and Color Guard, and this will be his second year to compete over there. I am so proud of how well he has done. After the competition we have a "free day" at the beach, and all the kids get to run around down on the boardwalk and play on the beach. This will be my fifth trip over there for this competition (my daughter was in JROTC as well and competed at Nationals, and last year both my kids were competing there).

Hopefully these trips will kick start my mojo. Thanks again to those of you who checked in on me, and I hope to be back to papering my blog soon. :)

Just For Fun

I had posted a while back that I was starting an exercise program. I have been going to the gym each morning with my son, Tyler. We play a couple games of racquetball, and we have a lot of fun, then workout with the weights. While he showers and gets ready for school, I hop on a treadmill (I shower when I get back home). Well, I had a bit of a learning curve on one of the treadmills and had no idea I was being watched, much less videotaped. Here's that video clip. Boy is this embarrassing!

Haha. Okay, so this was all in fun. The arm didn't actually break off. hee hee! I get the giggles every time I watch this. Hope you enjoyed it. : )

I have no idea why, but I have had no desire to even go near my crafting table since my last post. I have checked out the challenges I usually do, but nothing. I even got some happy mail which included some new Whiff of Joy and Sarah Kay stamps. Hope this doesn't last long.

Whiff of Joy #23

I really love these spring Whiff of Joy images! This week's Whiff of Joy Challenge is a sketch by the wonderfully talented Donalda. I used the Willow Sitting image, and decided to put her on her armchair. The images were colored with Prismacolor pencils and baby oil. I stamped tiny flowers a bit darker than the yellow on the chair to give it an upholstered look. Chalked around the image with Pebbles chalks. The basket was colored and cut out, attached on foam tape. It actually has eggs in it, but I put Flower Soft on it to make it a basket of flowers. All the DP is from Basic Grey Two Scoops pack. Sentiment is from Inkadinkado Southern Belle, attached on foam tape.

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Willow Sitting with Flower Wreath, Willow's Armchair, Basket; Inkadinkado Southern Belle.
Paper: Basic Grey Two Scoops, The Paper Studio CS.
Ink: Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Flower Soft, corner rounder, foam tape, Pebbles Chalks.

Timeless Tuesday #8

Ms. Betty Wright is hosting the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday this week and wants us to emboss it. Whatever type of embossing, it's up to you. I chose this image from the new Sweet Pea set, embossed it with gold EP and colored it with Prismas and baby oil. Decided to use the sketch from Taylored Expressions I cut out the image with oval Nestabilities, chalked around the image with Pebbles chalks. The solid colored papers are from HOTP. Used a piece from DCWV Luxury Stack to frame the image; cut out the oval, scalloped the border, and attached this piece up on foam tape so that image is set back. Added the flat back pearls. Not sure how I came up with this color combo. It looked good at midnight-ish last night. hee hee! ;)

Stamps: Flourishes Sweet Pea.
Paper: Hot Off The Press, The Paper Studio CS, DCWV Luxury Stack.
Ink: Versamark.
Accessories: Gold EP, Fiskars border punch, flat back pearls, foam tape.

House Mouse #30 - Shaped Card

I bounced around for a while with different ideas and this is what I finally settled on for this week's House Mouse Challenge. The DT decided on a shaped card for this challenge. My first idea started out looking great yesterday sketched out on paper. Fast forward to the cardstock cut into the shape and stamped with a critter, though still not finished. I put it down for a bit and then when I got back to it, all I could think was that it looked like a deformed elephant sitting on its rump with it's front legs and trunk up, and with a mouse bouncing around in its head. Not a good look, obviously. So it was filed in the recycling bin and left this morning with the truck. It was actually supposed to be a bunch of bubbles, with the mousie bouncing around inside one of them. Still looks good in the sketch, but I couldn't make it work in reality. :) SOOOOOO...This morning I drew this cup, handle and foot on the back of the DP, cut it out and attached it to the card base, then cut out the card base around it. The sentiment is actually the name of the stamp, and it was printed from my computer, cut out with Spellbinders Tag, attached on foam tape. The image was colored with Prismas, cut out and attached up on foam tape as well. Twinkling H2O's were added to the handle and part of the foot, and Stickles decorated the foot as well. I moved this card all over trying to get a better picture, but the lighting here is not good so will have to deal with a pale picture.

Stamps: House Mouse We're "Mint Tea" Be Together.

Paper: Hot Off The Press Handmade Flowers DP, The Paper Studio CS.

Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.

Accessories: Twinkling H2O's, Stickles, Spellbinders Tag, foam tape.

A Beauty From Barb!

Several weeks ago there were some blogs posting winnings where if you were one of the first five to comment you would win an original item made by the blog owner. I was one the first five on Barb's wonderful blog Made for Keeps. She sent out a teaser a couple days ago letting us know she had sent our goodies. Oh my, my did I get a beauty!!! Barb knows I love these Rubbernecker ladies, and here is the card she made for me using one of them. What a treasure! Barb also gave me two awards, which I will get posted soon. Thank you so much Barb!
Ahem, I need to finish my five items and get them sent. :)

Rubbernecker Wacky Wednesday With a Tab

Here is my last card for catch-up this past week. This was is for Rubbernecker's Wacky Wednesday challenge. The design team members are taking turns with the challenge, and this week we were given a sketch. The image was stamped with Stazon, colored with Prismas blended with baby oil. Painted the moon with Twinkling H2O's, and added Tiara Stickles to the stars. Sentiment from Verve. Also added Stickles to some of the white dots on the DP. As a perk, Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge was to use up those little bits of ribbon by adding ribbon tabs. I had this MS ribbon left over from a previous post so it became a tab on this card. :)

Back to more job hunting this week. Me as the only bread winner and deadbeat dad not paying child support, I am close to panic mode. Wish me luck!

Stamps: Rubbernecker (Stamp Oasis) Moon Child, Verve Fairy Tales.
Paper: Basic Grey Lilikate, Hot Off the Press, SU! CS.
Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Stickles, Twinkling H2O's, Dew Drops, Ribbon.

Timeless Tuesday #7

I am finally getting around to the last two cards I have been working on this week. This one is for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge, where hostess Cindy Haffner challenged us to use ribbon. *Sigh*...I love ribbon, have lots of it, but I am so ribbon challenged I rarely use it other than sticking it straight across a card. I really struggle with tying bows, other than on my shoes, and most of the time end up needing both hands and feet for a card bow. hee hee! Think I did okay on this one though. Yay! I had this image from Flourishes Coffee With Friends already embossed with copper EP and it was just the size for the Mojo Monday 78 sketch. Pic looks washed out, can't seem to get good lighting, but these colors look so good IRL. The bottom DP is a pale golden yellow, and the top one a bit paler, though they look blah in the pic. Wrestled with the ribbon and successfully got it tied how I like it without having to call my son in here to add a finger. : ) Stamped the sentiment directly onto the card, added the Dew Drops. Will get the other card posted shortly.

Stamps: Flourishes Coffee With Friends.
Paper: My Mind's Eye, Hot Off The Press Flowered Handmade pack.
Ink: Versamark, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Copper EP, ribbon, Dew Drops, corner rounder.

Crafty Secrets #60 on SCS

One more post for today; keep scrolling down for the other two. The Crafty Secrets Challenge on SCS is to make a monochromatic card. I wanted to use this image and sentiment, so searched around until I found this sketch (SFYTT) on Jen Del Muro's blog. I chalked around the image, cut it out with oval Nestabilities. Used Deco corner punch on the mat. Also stamped and cut out the sentiment. Used the DCWV DP because it was a perfect match for the chalking. The lower piece was plain, so I stamped a couple of the Crafty Secrets Flourishes, then attached the sentiment on foam tape. Added some Martha Stewart ribbon. There was a snag on the ribbon that I didn't notice until after I had it attached, so I made the vellum flower to cover it. :)

Stamps: Crafty Secrets For the Girls, and Flourishes.
Paper: The Paper Studio, DCWV Luxury mat pack.
Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Ribbon, Nestabilities, Pebbles chalks, foam tape, flower punches, Stickles, Deco corner punch.

Whiff of Joy #22

Second post today; scroll down for my House Mouse card. This week's Whiff of Joy Challenge has gone green! We're supposed to use lots of green for our cards this week. I followed the sketch for the
Weekend Sketch Challenge on Jenn Balcer's blog, obviously not for the challenge itself but just for the layout. Thought it was perfect for a WOJ card. Willow is colored as usual with Prismacolors blended with baby oil. Added some Stickles to her bracelet and jeans, Flower Soft in her basket, then chalked around the image with Pebbles chalks. The DP's are from Hot Off The Press, DCWV, and The Paper Loft. Butterflies are vellum, punched with MS punch. Flowers punched from scraps, curled, inked and stacked, with rhinestones in the centers and some little tendrils.

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Willow With Flower Basket.
Paper: Hot Off The Press, DCWV, The Paper Loft.
Ink: Stazon.
Accessories: Rhinestones, Stickles, Flower Soft, MS butterfly punch, flower punches.

House Mouse #29

I didn't get around to finishing this post yesterday evening, so here it is now. The House Mouse Challenge this week gave us a sketch to use. Mojo is still only sporadically materializing these days. I feel kind of all over the place with this card, but I really like the sketch. The image was colored with Prismacolors blended with baby oil. The flowers themselves were painted with two different colors of Twinkling H2O's, though that gorgeous shimmer does not show in the pic. I can't seem to get good lighting so all my cards look really dull and pale, but IRL this card is much brighter. Chalked around it with yellow Pebbles chalks with orange in two corners. The DP's are from The Paper Loft, Basic Grey, My Mind's Eye and I have no idea who makes the gold embossed DP. The flourish in the corner is Tim Holtz Grungeboard. Colored it with gold Deco pen, then inked edges with Stucco Colorbox Queues.

Stamp: House Mouse Take Time to Smell the Flowers.

Paper: The Paper Loft Front Room/Parlour, Basic Grey Urban Couture, My Mind's Eye, Unknokwn gold embossed paper.

Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.

Accessories: Twinkling H2O's, Cuttlebug, Grungeboard, Deco pen.

SSNOTIME - White Mat

I have been spending the last few days job hunting, both out stopping in different businesses and papering the internet with my resume. Haven't had much paper play time so I played catch up with some of this week's challenges. Most are still in the finishing stages, but will probably get at least one more posted this evening and the rest tomorrow. Wanted to get in Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge to use a white mat rather than our usual dark ones, before her next challenge comes out tomorrow. I love this stamp but couldn't seem to come up with a layout I liked to make it really stand out. Then I bumbled onto the 2 Red Bananas blog, scrolled down and thought THIS is it. It was from a sketch challenge they did a couple weeks ago, simple and clean, but I think it's perfect for this image. She is called Large Cameo, from Creative Images. I stamped her with Colorbox Queues, faintly colored in the flowers on her dress, then cut out the oval. The white mat I drew freehand and cut out with deckle edge scissors. The smaller pieces of cardstock in the corners are from DCWV Luxury Stack and Basic Grey Porcelain. The flowers I made. Stickled in the center with Tiara, and attached to the card. Little scrolls in the corners are from Crafty Secrets Flourishes set stamped with Versamark.

Stamps: Large Cameo by Creative Images, Crafty Secrets Flourishes.
Paper: Stampin Up! CS, DCWV Luxury Stack, Basic Grey Porcelain. The Paper Studio white CS.
Ink: Colorbox Queues, Versamark.
Accessories: Deckle edge scissors, flower punches, Stickles.

Think I Lost it Again

Here are a couple of cards for some challenges I finished several days ago, but I'm not very happy with how they turned out so hadn't posted them yet. I decided to go ahead and post them because I haven't been able to come up with anything else, so guess the ol' mojo has taken a walk - again. Hope it comes back soon, and hangs around longer this time. :)

First up is the card I did for the Whiff of Joy Challenge. This week was a sketch by Heather for us to follow. I colored the Willow With Flowers image with Prismacolors blended with baby oil, chalked around her and added Flower Soft. I think all the layers were my downfall with this one, I don't know. At any rate, all DP is by Hot Off The Press, including the shimmery BG. Made the flowers from scraps of the DP.

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Willow With Flowers, Verve Artful Elegance.

Paper: Hot Off The Press DP, The Paper Studio CS.

Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues on the flowers.

Accessories: Flower and leaf punches, Flower Soft, rhinestone, Stickles, Pebbles Chalks.

This card is for the Crafty Secrets challenge on SCS. This one had a recipe to follow, to use ribbon or lace, brads or buttons, and paper piercing. Thought I would use the Mojo Monday sketch to finish up. Should have been pretty simple with all that, but after coloring the image from the Garden Girls set I couldn't seem to make it come together like I wanted. Bottom DP is from My Mind's Eye. Had a piece of wide lace that I attached to blue CS, and then the matted image over that. Did the paper piercing in the scallops around the image. The flowers were from a MS hydranga punch, attached with brads, then added Stickles to the brads. Corners seemed bare, so I added some swirlies in a couple different shades of blue.

Stamps: Crafty Secrets Garden Girls, Verve filigree Fantasy.

Paper: The Paper Studio, My Mind's Eye.

Ink: Stazon.

Accessories: Lace, brads, Stickles, Martha Stewart Hydranga punch, Pebbles chalks, Nestabilities.

Masculine Mouse

That title sounds like the name of a cartoon super hero. :) This week's House Mouse Challenge is...men. Oh, so many possible funny comments, so little time. haw haw! Just kidding. This one was a challenge, just to make the mice not so cute so they could fit a masculine theme. Guess that's why it's called a challenge, right? A friend of mine has been job hunting for a while - as are many of us now - and just found a job that is totally different from his degree field. I decided to make this card using this challenge and followed this week's Splitcoast Sketch for the layout. At first glance it seems a bit twisted (as is my sense of humor sometimes), but please look again. :) All DP is from My Mind's Eye, and words are printed from my computer. Coloring was done with Prismacolor pencils blended with baby oil. Main image is attached on foam tape.

Here's a look inside the peep show...some little fuzzy chicks chatting it up in the grass. :) They are from Flourishes Signs of Spring set, the grass from Rubbernecker, and their peeps made with the JustRite tiny letters. Added some butterfly outline stickers. So, see...it's all in good fun, and I know I'll get a playful smack on the back of the head from my friend.

Stamps: House Mouse Say Cheese, Flourishes Signs of Spring, Justrite Tiny Letters.
Paper: My Mind's Eye, The Paper Studio.
Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Outline stickers, photo tab, brad, foam tape.

Timeless Tuesday #6

This week's Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge is hosted by Kimberly Crawford, and she gave us a sketch to follow. I used this image from the Signs of Spring set, colored with Prismacolors blended with baby oil. Cut the image out with oval Nestabilities, chalked up with shimmery Pebbles chalks while still in the die. Inked edges of both ovals. All DP is from My Mind's Eye. The butterfly was cut from gold vellum and inked up a bit, and drew drops added around the ovals.

Stamps: Flourishes Signs of Spring.
Paper: My Mind's Eye, The Paper Studio.
Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Butterfly punch and Lace Doily border punch, Pebbles Chalks, Dew Drops, corner rounder punch.

Rubbernecker Wacky Wednesday #1

I was on the Rubbernecker blog and decided to play in their Wacky Wednesday Challenge. Each week one of the design team members will come up with a different challenge, and Sherry Cheever kicked it off with making an ATC. I used the sweet little Angel Cat from Stamp Oasis, colored with Prismacolors and blended with baby oil. Added Patina Stickles to the wings, and bent them up while still wet for dimension. Attached to this tissue paper with fibers running through it. Was in my stash, I think from some packaging I scavanged. Anyhoo, put the little kitty amongst a flower patch, and added the blue Stickled swirl above.

Here is the card I made with the ATC. Gold embossed the Stamp Oasis sentiment, then added another swirl and extended the flower bed.

Stamps: Stamp Oasis Angel Cat and Maker of Dreams.

Paper: The Paper Studio, tissue paper, scraps.

Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.

Accessories: Flower punches, Stickles, rhinestones, Cuttlebug, Sizzlit.

Three's a Charm...

....Challenges, that is. :) I started this card for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge, where Becca Feeken is hosting this week and wants us to use Spellbinders. Wheee! So I decided to use the Poinsettia and Boxwood set and also make this my Christmas COTW #10 for my own personal challenge. I had all the pieces embossed, painted and cut out when I saw Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge to heat things up with embossing, and well...this just fell right into that one. :) The picture is a bit washed out; I couldn't seem to get a better one. Looks much better IRL. I stamped and embossed the poinsettia twice and a bunch of leaves with silver EP, then colored with Twinkling H2O's and Stickles added in the center. Cut out a layer for the poinsettia and mounted on foam tape, then attached onto Nestabilities Labels Two, the largest which was also edged with Twinkling H2O's. Embossed Peace with silver EP, stamped some flourishes in the corners and added tiny pearls at the top.

Stamps: Flourishes Poinsettia and Boxwood, Verve Fairy Tales, Inkadinka Peace.
Paper: The Paper Studio, My Mind's Eye.
Ink: Versamark, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Nestabilities, embosisng powder, foam tape, Twinkling H2O's, pearls, Stickles.

Whiff of Joy #20

Wow, two posts in one day. :)

Oooh...The theme for this week's Whiff of Joy Challenge is Lavender & Lace. I love them both. This is another double challenge card, using the SCS Sketch 218 Still have several of the new Spring WOJ girls to use, and this one is called Kneeling Willow, colored with Prismas and blended with baby oil. Cut her out with Nestabilities Labels and chalked around her with Pebbles shimmery chalks in a pale yellow that just vanished for this photo. :) Both DP's are from Anna Griffin, rest of CS is plain ivory, all edged with ink. Ran the lace through my Xyron then patted lavender, velvet and dune Colorbox Queues over it to "age" it and make it match. Made the flowers and the urge to use Stickles overcame me and I dotted a bit in the center of the flowers.

Stamps: Whiff of Joy Kneeling Willow.
Paper: Anna Griffin DP, The Paper Studio CS.
Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Nestabilities, lace, foam tape, flower and leaf punches, Stickles.

Chippy House Mouse

Still feel like my mojo is MIA, but the House Mouse challenge was a fun way to try to tweak it. The DT team wanted us to use chipboard on our design. I don't have any, but I found a coaster in my stash that I used as the base for my image, which was colored with Prismacolors blended with baby oil. I followed the Mojo Monday #76 sketch. Main card was run through Cuttlebug embossing folder. Cut the coaster down some, distressed and inked the edges. The pale green panel is actually a paint chip (going to be the color of my kid's bathroom - grin). I stamped the scroll from Verve Artful Elegance with Versamark, but it's hard to see on here. Rather than a sentiment like the sketch showed, I put the flower there, and a row of beads going across the bottom.

Stamps: HM Throwing Daisy Petals, Verve Artful Elegance.

Paper: SU! CS, paint chip, The Paper Studio, My Mind's Eye.

Ink: Colorbox Queues, Stazon, Versamark.

Accessories: Corner punch, flower and leaf punches, beads, ribbon, coaster, Cuttlebug Floral Fantasy embosisng folder.

Some Late Postings, and Where is My Mojo?

Hola! Had a total brain meltdown, or something. I finished my Christmas COTW #9 and the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday card last Thursday but somehow forgot about them. Did the Stamp Simply Challenge Friday and then remembered them Friday night. Thought I would get to them Saturday, but that didn't happen either, then I forgot again. Saturday our JROTC Booster Club was responsible for lunches for 448 JROTC kids from all over central and south Texas at the orienteering meet at Camp Bullis. Essentially the kids are sent out armed with only maps and a compass to run around in the woods on the Army Post and find different markers within a specific time frame. I think only two got really lost this time. : ) We got there at 7:30 in the morning. There were 12 of us parents out there spending most of the day battling that 35-40 MPH wind and cold blast that came through while doing hot dog lunches for the kids. One dad grilled up 1000 hot dogs, and six of us then did an assembly line of bunning and wrapping the dogs. Went smoothly, just very windy. At some point the dust got to me and the sneezing started, so I spent the rest of the day at home being lazy with Chuck and sneezing my head off. I think my mojo blew away with the wind. I haven't even sat down at my craft table, so until I find my mojo again, here's these two cards to check out.

This is the card I did for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday, to use vellum on the card. I followed the Mojo Monday #75 sketch for this. The Flourishes butterly was stamped on beige vellum then cut out. Base DP from DCWV. Pink and yellow DP were plain colors from My Mind's Eye. On the pink I stamped a flourish all over, and the yellow I embossed then inked the raised portions. Layered all pieces, attached the butterfly by its body and gently bent up the wings. Flower made with various size punches, Stickled in the center, then added a clear Dew Drop. Colored Dew Drops added beside the butterfly.

Stamps: Flourishes Butterfly Moments; Crafty Secrets Flourishes set.
Paper: DCWV Once Upon a Time, The Paper Studio CS and vellum, My Mind's Eye DP.
Ink: Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: MS cornice edge punch, CarlaCraft flower punches, EK Success leaf punch, Dew Drops, Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder.

Here's my Christmas card of the week #9 for last week too. Base DP is a piece of wrapping paper. Ran Versamark pad along edge of base card then embossed with gold EP; Inkadinkado Peace Wreath also embossed with gold EP. Cut that out with circle Nestabilities, cut out center and added vellum to backside to soften the center. Had added a felt poinsettia and leaves to the center, and...ick, so pulled those off and with that pulled off part of the background. So I filled in those spots with a gold Deco pen, and then covered that "window" with vellum to further camouflage that. Hopefully some of this week's challenges and sketches will help bring back my mojo. By the way...the boy's orienteering team took 2nd place, the girls team took 1st place. Woohoo!

Stamps: Inkadinkado Peace Wreath.
Paper: The Paper Studio, wrapping paper, vellum.
Ink: Versamark.
Accessories: Gold EP, Nestabilities.

Couple of Challenges

While we're dealing with reaching a record high today of 91, but back down to freezing by Sunday morning (talk about crazy weather!), Sharon is having cabin fever way up there where she lives. So for her Stamp Simply challenge this week, she wants us to create something to show signs of spring. This is also for the Crafty Secrets challenge on SCS, which is to create a single layer card. The stamp is from Crafty Secrets Glamour Girls, stamped with Colorbox ink and embossed with clear EP, then colored with Prismacolors. Background stamped with SU! crackle stamp with lady masked off. The Crafty secrets flourish was stamped off once before stamping it on the CS. Glued Flower Soft where the lady was holding flowers. The ribbon is threaded through a sticker from Crafty Secrets Greetings & Sentiments sheet, then added pink rhinestones to the stickers. Sponged around edges.

Stamps: Crafty Secrets Glamour Girls and Flourishes, SU! Crackle background.
Paper: The Paper Studio.
Ink: Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Flower Soft, ribbon, Crafty Secrets stickers, rhinestones.

Whiff of Joy Guest Designer Call

I love the new Spring Stamp Kit from Whiff of Joy; the images are gorgeous!! The current Whiff of Joy challenge is actually a guest designer call. While I don't stand a snowball's chance in south Texas of being chosen (it was 89 degrees here today - this is February, right?!?), what an honor and treat it would be if I were selected! At any rate, Katarina posted a gorgeous sketch for us to follow and post for a shot at the guest spot, and I'll use any excuse to ink up these WOJ beauties! :) I stamped Willow With Sunhat using Stazon, colored with Prismacolor pencils. Chalked around the image with Pebbles chalks. All DP is new Basic Grey Porcelain - gorgeous papers! Used MS doily punch on a couple of the layers, as well as for the sentiment mat. Left that mat intentionally lopsided, just thought it looked cute. Added Flower Soft to the flowers in Willow's hand and on her hat. Dew Drops in the corner, and a couple of flowers on the opposite side.


Stamps: Whiff of Joy Willow With Sunhat, Verve Artful Elegance sentiment
Paper: Basic Grey Procelain DP, The Paper Studio CS.
Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Dew Drops, Flower Soft, foam tape, MS border punch, corner punch, daisy punches, rhinestones, ribbon.

House Mouse #26, Something for Mom

This week's House Mouse Challenge is to make something for a mother. It doesn't have to be for our own mom, it can be for a friend, aunt, daughter, neighbour, anyone who's a mom. I went straight to this stamp, because it reminded me of our little family when I was growing up. Before my mom married my step-dad (whom I called Daddy), there was some major penny pinching, and she came up with some pretty, uh...unusual meals. :) I've even done that a few times since we've been on our own in the last six years. Got a respectful request from my kids to "Please don't make that again". hee hee! This image is called "I Don't Do Bugs". Stamped with Stazon and colored with Prismas. Layered with different DP from My Mind's Eye. Sponged around the circle and added Stickles to the centers. Flowers in lower corner are made with MS hydrangea punch, sponged, curled and Stickled in the middle. Mom is from Kitchen Sink set. Lower sentiment I did as a rub-on from my computer. Oh, I thought the scrapping sketch on Papercraft Planet was cute, so followed that and made a card.

Stamps: House Mouse I Don't Do Bugs, Kitchensink Stamps.
Paper: My Minds Eye DP, The Paper Studio CS.
Ink: Stazon.
Accessories: Computer, MS hydrangea punch, Stickles, outline sticker.

Black Ink Only, And A Couple of Tags

Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge turned into a bit of a mind boggle for me because I couldn't decide what to use. Her challenge is to use black ink only, "no markers, no pencils, no chalks, no inks - just black ink only". Gulp. Okayyyyy, here's what I came up with. I used the Flourishes Thank You set for the focal image, and managed not to color in the tulip. :) From here decided to use the layout in the Clean and Simple (CAS)challenge on Splitcoast. I layered stamped image on a brown mat and then attached it to the background DP from The Paper Studio. Added the flowers from Michael's bridal section. Quick and easy...after I finally settled on the stamp set. :)

Stamps: Flourishes Thank You.
Paper: The Paper Studio CS and DP.
Ink: Colorbox.
Accessories: Die cut flowers from Michael's.

I had a couple of tags from some wonderful crafters:

Blog buddy Karen from 6 Wacky Women tagged me with this cool award, saying that I measure up. : ) Thank you, Karen for thinking of me. I stalk Karen's blog daily to check out her awesome Penny Black creations, as well as her other beauties! As there were no rules with this tag, I'll pass it on to some other wonderful crafters!

Karen W.
Jan
Lauri
Carolyn


Next, here's a fun way to kind of get to know a bit about our friends here in blogland. Juls hit me with this purse-of-the-day tag. Pay her blog a visit and check out her beautiful and unique creations!

The Rules:

1. Post a picture of whatever bag you are using today - not last weekend when you and your hubby went out to that fabulous restaurant. No cheating!!!
2. Tell us how much it cost. This is a no-judgment zone -- there will be no ridiculing or eye rolling here. And, if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I'd love to hear it.
3. Then, I pick 5 people to post on their blog!

My usual MO when it comes to everyday purses is find one that will last an entire season - for here that would be hot and not as hot (AKA winter/fall). I do have a great collection of gorgeous little evening bags, mostly beaded, but haven't used one since December, so... Okay, here's the leather bag I happen to be alternating with my regular blah purse (was too lazy to look for another one when the like wore off of my regular one), and thankfully was "caught" with this one today. This bag was actually a freebie with any purchase over $50 at Coldwater Creek. I ended up with two - this one and a brown one (after all, didn't need two black ones). Though I still have a job, the work load is dwindling down to very little on a day-to-day basis thanks to technology and voice recognition, so I have been out pounding the pavement and filling out applications and leaving a resume everywhere I go. All the paperwork fits perfectly in this bag without folding.

So now to tag five bag buddies!

Barb
Karen
Nina
Vicki
Darlene

Oh, It's a SKETCH. Oops.

I was bouncing around on Splitcoast and landed on this week's sketch challenge SC216. When I looked at the sketch my brain registered gatefold card and that's what I made, rather than just doing what I was supposed to do and follow the sketch. Duh. Guess we all have our dense moments and I was just in overdrive. hee hee! Oh well, it's done. Guess I could stick it closed and call it a sketch. Nah. Just need to put brain in gear before fingers go in motion next time. : ) The pale green CS is from SU!; sorry don't know the color. The DP is Anna Griffin. Frame and rose are cut with Spellbinders dies, My Mind's Eye DP for the frame. Popped the rose oval up on foam tape, and added Liquid Pearls all around it on the frame. Cut some tiny flowers with an MS punch and added those to the side after putting Stickles on a couple and in the centers. Attached matching CS to inside where sentiment is to be written. Stamped the flourish in the center, after stamping off once to make it lighter.

Stamps: Crafty Secrets Flourishes.

Paper: SU! CS, Anna Griffin and My Mind's Eye DP.

Ink: Colorbox Queues.

Accessories: Spellbinders, Liquid Pearls, Stickles, MS Hydrangea punch.

Christmas COTW #8

I almost forgot to do my Christmas card this week for my personal challenge. I love the angel in this SU! set, she's so pretty. I used scraps from my Cosmo Cricket Wonderland pad. Embossed the angel and sentiment with gold EP, then cut out the angel with rectangle Nestabilities. A couple branches done with MS branch punch. Can you guess what that embellishment is? Hint...it's been sitting on my desk since I stepped on it and said un-nice things at Christmas. It's the top to a glass ormanent. I tried to straighten it out but then just flattened it and thought it would be a cool embellishment to stick on something. Added the big pearl brad from Michael's bridal dept.

Stamps: SU! On Angel Wings.

Paper: Cosmo Cricket Wonderland, SU! base CS.

Ink: Versamark.

Accessories: Gold EP, Martha Stewart branch punch, pearl brad, Ornament cap I found with my foot.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday

I actually had time this week to join in the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge. I also have lots of their sets and need to use them more. The colors I used for the card are muted, but this picture is a little pale due to bad lighting. I stamped the magnolia images from the Lilacs set with Colorbox Queues, then I watercolored the blossoms (*gasp* no Prismacolors! hehe). First public viewing of my watercoloring, still lots of improvement needed here. I cut out an oval with Nestabilities from center of the green paper, then ran it through CB folder twice (paper too wide for one pass). I attached the paper with the image to the back of the embossed paper, then that stack to the base CS. I then stamped and watercolored two more of big blossoms and popped those up on foam tape to come outside the frame. Sentiment from another Flourishes set, cut out and embossed with small oval Nesties. I then used Pebbles chalks because they haved such a pretty shimmer and chalked around the sentiment and top of the blossoms with peach, and around the blossoms with pale pink. Pale pink Kaiser pearls in the corner.

Stamps: Flourishes Lilacs and Many Sentiments sets.
Paper: SU! CS, My Mind's Eye DP, The Paper Studio CS.
Ink: Colorbox Queues.
Accessories: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Kaiser pearls, foam tape.

Crafty Secrets Challenge on PCP

I have quite a few Crafty Secrets sets and have been wanting to play in some of their challenges, so trying the one Darlene Pavlick is hosting in the Crafty Secrets Group on Papercraft Planet. The theme is springtime and I thought I would use my new Fairyland set. The base card is 6.75 x 3.25. I got a bunch of these with envelopes in some blog candy from Chris Mott; think they may be SU! Anyway, stamped this cute little image with Stazon, colored with (what else?) Prismacolor pencils blended with baby oil. Cut it out and embossed with a long rectangle Nestie. The little notes were from a differen tCS set. Chalked all around it, then added Stickles to the flowers by the fairy and on her dress and wings, and also a "fairy trail" behind her wings. Went all around the base CS with Fiskars lace borders punch, the cut DP from My Mind's Eye to go over it. Sentiment cut out with smallest scalloped rectangle Nestie, embossed, chalked and popped up on foam tape.

Stamps: Crafty Secrets Fairyland and Bird Notes.

Paper: The Paper Studio CS, My Mind's Eye DP.

Ink: Stazon, Colorbox Queues.

Accessories: Nestabilities, Stickles, Fiskars border punch, foam tape, Pebbles chalks.