Sledding into the New Year!

Happy New Year Once again! I love having time off from work to goof off in the studio. I am positive that I wouldn't be able to stand being away from work after a while...like 6 months or so. LOL! Seriously, I am blessed with a wonderful career that is stimulating and challenging (in a positive way) that allows me to live a charmed life.

Today I chose to participate in the SCS Ways to Use it challenge which was to incorporate time in your card theme. I also wanted to play the CPS sketch challenge. I love sketch challenges so CPS is one of my favorite blog challenges. There is a little prize & the due date for posting is 1/2, so there is plenty of time to play along.

Not too much exciting about this card, but it is nice to be back creating!

HAPPY NEW YEAR~!

Recipe:
Image: Vintage New Year Greeting Card
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, DP-Prestwick (retired SU!)
Accessories: Scor-Pal; Snowflakes: red (SU! felt flurries), blue (3D felt stickers-JoAnne's)

Happy New Year!

Hello! I am happily celebrating the new year now. I am off work until Monday 1/4 and plan on stamping my heart out! I love the holidays and I had such an enjoyable time with family and friends. My husband and I saw the Broadway musical 'White Christmas' when it was it here in St. Louis. He surprised me with 6th row tickets...what a treat. The entire musical was great but I was so impressed with the tap dancing~ it was the best I have ever seen!

Another holiday highlight was when a small group of girlfriends went to the symphony to hear the Holiday Concert featuring vocalist, Lisa Vroman (best know as Christine in Phantom of the Opera) and the St. Louis Children's Choir. One of my friend's daughter sings in the Children's choir so that made it extra special. Our symphony hall, Powell Hall, in St. Louis is just beautiful- gilded gold, white marble, and red accents. Plus it was decorated for the holidays too. Below is a picture of the lobby area so you can appreciate the beautiful day we had.

I am not a dancer, musician, or singer. These talents are amazing to me thus I am grateful when I can enjoy through others' sharing their special gifts.

My card today was made using a vintage greeting card image. I purchased a CD filled with hundreds of holiday and winter images that I am really thrilled about. I used the sketch challenge from SCS today (SC261). I am not totally thrilled with the card, but it will probably take me a few days and cards before I get in back into the swing.

Happy New Year!

Recipe:
Image: Vintage Greeting card
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Craft (SU!), DP- Indian Summer (DCWV)
Ink: Riding Hood Red (SU!), Vintage Photo (Tim Holtz-Ranger)
Accessories: Button, RHR ribbon (SU!), Stampers Floss (TAC)

Holiday Gifts

Here are some of the gifts I made this holiday season. The first picture is a holiday snowflake pail filled with goodies- gloves, lip protection, hand lotion, notepad, tea, chocolate, photo/note holder or a 'purse' magnet. I gave these to the twelve people that work in my group except my assistant and my managers who received a store bought gift.

I made similiar ones for Brian's and my siblings except the contents and pail were different. The adult nieces and nephews recieved goodies in a small gift bag. We have twenty nieces and nephews so we just filled the bags with little things like packs of gum, chapstick, deck of cards and chocolates. We don't usually give to siblings and the nieces and nephews but I wanted to do something a little special and started hunting for stocking stuffer type items as early as August. All in all, I made nearly over forty holiday pails and gift bags. It was a lot of work but fun and definitely worth it to give an unexpected treat.
Below is a picture of how I decorated the banana walnut bread that I baked for my colleagues on the leadership team for our group. I loved the way these bread bands and tags turned out. I baked eleven loaves...and didn't even save one for us. What was I thinking?!?
This last picture is the gift I made for my best crafty girlfriends. The glass jars started in life as a Starbuck's Frappuccino bottles. I got the idea of using SB glass bottles from SCS except they were filled with M&Ms. As you can see, I filled my jars with buttons (not m&ms), and I also gave each friend a SU! keychain that was tied to a red ribbon bow. I had purchased the key chains over the summer when I was a demonstrator. The jar lids were decorated with a stamped circle image and ribbon was wrapped around the lid edge. I stamped each friend's initial in red, outlined with a green glitter pen and then punched and layered on top of a double band of designer paper.

I didn't realize until I took the picture that my friend's first name initials (Monica, Linda and Jody) are the same as my full name initials- MLJ.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Happy new year!!

Merry Christmas!

Hello friends and Merry Christmas!

This past month has been a whirlwind with children returning home from college (yipee!), business travel and end of the year reports, holiday shopping, attending and hosting holiday parties and gathering with friends & family, and daily visits with my mother. I have created a few new things but I haven't had the time to post. Later this week you will see a small collection of those holiday cards and crafts. In the meantime, have a wonderful Christmas!

FS147 Flaky Friends

Today has been a busy day of making holiday cards, but I took a break to play the SCS Featured Stamper's challenge. CarrollAnn (aka MrsBoz) was the featured stamper. She has a wonderful gallery and I chose to case this card entitled 'Love with hugs and kisses'. As with all the FS challenges, you are to change some things and keep others. I kept: the design, the ribbon, two dsp. I changed: the colors, the stamp, and the corner scallop circle was exchanged for snowflakes. I added a sentiment in place of the corner flourish.

I really love this stamp set from SU!. I think all the lineups are funny. The image of the elves looks like they have already been to the holiday party (IYKWIM-if you know what I mean). I am using quite a bit of my retired Stampin' Up supplies as you can see. I will be 'mass producing' this card or at least making as many as I can with the remaining cardstock and DSP.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Stamps: Holiday Lineup, Lots of Thoughts
Paper: Baja Breeze, WW, DP- Ski Slope
Ink: Black, Baja Breeze, Real Red, Old Olive, Going Gray, Only Orange
Accessories: Felt Furries, Baja Breeze ribbon, oval punch
All supplies- Stampin' Up

Fun Day of Challenges

My cards today incorporate several challenges. First, the SCS LSC248 was to make more than one card using the same image and color but a different layout. SSnotime115 challenge was to make a mass production card. And the C4C12 sketch was used for the card on the right; and the SC255 sketch from a few weeks ago was used on the card on the left. Below are the cards individually.
I chose Wild Wasabi, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand and Whisper White for my color scheme. I really love the color Wild Wasabi especially for Christmas cards and also St. Patty's cards. Before it was retired, I bought an extra pack & some textured paper too. Sadly, I will probably be out soon.

The image is from Inkadinado's Holiday Silhouette acrylic set. Look close and you can see images of a dove, snowman, Santa, a reindeer and a cardinal in the tree. Pretty cool!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Stamps: Holiday Silhouettes (Inkadinkado), Riveting, A Cardinal Christmas (SU!)
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Sahara Sand, Night of Navy, DP- Paper Pack (all SU!)
Ink: Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Rhinestones (studio g), modern label, 1" circle, 1/2" circle, oval punches (SU!)

Happy Birthday!

A very happy birthday to my sister, Mary and a best girlfriend, Denise who celebrated their birthdays this week!

I took a break from making holiday cards and enjoyed making this quick birthday card for the SCS Inspirational challenge (IC207) where I chose this fabric covered button from the Etsy store 'aimoobaroo' for my inspiration. I also used the sketch from the Card Positioning System challenge (CSP142).

I used an retired SU! scrappin' kit called "Just Delightful". I love the colors in this kit and still have some of the DSP and stickers. The images are acrylics from the $1 bins. I liked the cupcake image but it doesn't stamp very crisp so I added glitter, which I think looks fun for a b-day card. I'll be back late tonight to check out blogs. I'm off to run errands, shop with one of my daughters who is home from college and go to the local craft fair. Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend!!

Image: cupcake (inkadinkado $1), birthday (studio g $1)
Paper: So Saffron, WW, Just Delightful-scrapping kit (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Certainly Celery (SU!), versamark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: 1" circle punch (SU!), button from stash, Scrappers floss (TAC-Karen Foster), crystal glitter (GaryM. Burlin)

The Holy Family

A quick post...this is a card I made on Sunday for the SCS Featured Stampers challenge. I love how this turned out, but I need to create a more postal friendly card with this fabulous stamp set. The ribbon and the brad make mailing a bit challenging. Come back later this week or weekend to see my new design with this stamp set. Seems like many are using the topnote with this stamp so I may try something new...

I cased this card: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...p;ppuser=93708 from Dawn's gallery. Click for more info on the FS challenge. Have a great Wednesday!

All Supplies from SU!:
Stamps: Holy Family
Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, retired DP- Ski Slope {I love this paper & will run out this season :( }
Ink: Basic Brown, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Jumbo white grommets, retired satin choc. chop 15/16 ribbon, top note

Golden Thanksgiving

Here is my take on the SCS Inspirational Challenge (IC206). I chose Lorelie Kay's Be Thankful Thanks Giving Cornucopia Holiday Necklace . I used my new Martha Stewart 3 dot scallop 'stamping around the page' punches. They are really slick... I think I'd like another set & no use wasting that 40% off coupon to Michael's, right? For the corner ribbon holder, I used the large oval punch by SU! & punched a 1/4 circle hole & threaded through the wide gold ribbon.

Have a great Saturday, friends!

Stamps: Cornucopia (Inkadinkado)
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede, Crushed Curry, DP- Autumn Traditions (SU!)
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Gold Glory Stampin' Emboss powder (SU!), Large Oval and 1/4 circle punches (SU!), 3dot scallop punch around the page punches (Martha Stewart), gold ribbon (unknown)

Holiday Ornaments

I took a day off work for a 'me' day. It's nice when there is no schedule, no 'gotta' do's and I can enjoy doing what I love- stamping!! I am preparing for my monthly get together with my 'crafty girlfriends'. Today, I am making several different 'template' cards, and then cutting all the components so that tomorrow I can stamp and put the cards together at our gathering. I am much more productive and I've found that I can be a better listener and conversationalist if I don't have to create from scratch. I am excited about seeing my friends as it has been several months since I have been able to attend.

I am happy that I purchased the SU! ornament punch and matching set as it is so versatile. I knew I like it but never thought I'd love it the way I do. Once again, I am wanting postal friendly cards. There are numerous great cards in the SCS gallery using the Decorative Decorations set which is especially good for me because I lost my mojo. I cased this card from the gallery. I've learned that when I lose my mojo, I just need to start case'ing cards...pretty soon I'm back in the swing of things.

I am also thrilled about my new watermark from Karen Giron. Karen is a SCS "dirty Dozen" alumni who is a fabulous artist. I love everything she creates! Anyway...about the watermark- she prepares personalized watermarks and sells them at a very resonable price. You can get yours from her blog.

Have a great day!

Recipe:
Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)
Paper: Old Olive, WW, Real Red (SU!), DP- Christmas Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red (SU!)
Accessories: Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (CB-Provocraft); Red satin ribbon (Michaels), Silver cord (SU!); Ornament and Modern Label punches (SU!), Red rhinestone brad (Studio 18)

More Holiday Cards

I just love making holiday cards. Well, plain and simple, I just love the holiday season...shopping, baking, making special little gifts for the wonderful people in my life.
This first card is a total case from Ilina Crouse. You can see the original by Ilina here.



My second card was made for the SCS Sketch Challenge (SC254). I wish you could see the little twinkle on the image and the background paper. {My nighttime picture taking doesn't quite capture the pretty sparkle}. The papers are so pretty so I kept the central image fairly simple.

Have a wonderful day!!

Recipe Card #1:
Stamps: Holiday Silhouette (Inkadinkado), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)
Paper: Real Red, WW, DSP- Christmas Cocoa (SU!)
Ink: Real red (SU), Metalic Silver (Encore)
Accessories: Red satin ribbon (Michaels), Modern Label Punch

Recipe Card#2:
Stamps: Holiday Silhouette (Inkadinkado)
Paper: Riding Hood Red, ALways Artichoke, DSP- Wassail (Basic Grey)
Ink: Riding Hood Red, ALways artichoke (distressing)
Accessories: Red brads (Karen Foster), Red Stickles (Ranger), Crystal Glitter (Gary M. Burlin)

What's up Doc? card

I am a little behind in my blogging so I wanted to share with you the card I made a little while ago for my boss. He's a physician thus the use of the 'whatsupdocafella' stamp. On the inside, there were two gift card slots made with my word window punch. I organized with my coworker friend the bosses' day celebration- with everyone's input we had two gift cards to his favorite places. I like how masculine this card turned out plus he really liked it.

Stamps: Whatsupdocafella (Stamping Bella)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Momento); Markers: Sahara Sand, Not quite navy (SU!); Pencils: white (SU!)
Paper: Craft, Not quite Navy,WW, DSP- Pattern pack (not quite navy, craft) (SU!)
Accessories: brads (stash)

Autumn Thanks

Happy 'fall back' day to those of you who live in the central time zone. Not only is tonight Halloween night but we turn out clocks back one hour. I made this card for two SCS challenges; the first was Friday's Limited Supply Challenge where we made a card to exemplify our weather. It has been dreary and rainy until yesterday afternoon when the sun finally showed up. Our trees here are just vibrant~ full of color and also beginning to fall; so I chose these DPs from SU! plus when viewing the IC challenge website last evening, I saw this 'Golden Leaf and Acorn" tray. I knew exactly what to do. I just love when things come together like that!

One of the tricks I learned a bit ago was how to quickly use two or more colors on a stamp like my sentiment without having to use markers for every area. Ink up your stamp with the predominant color (or in some cases it is best to ink up with the lightest color); then take a blender pen and 'erase' the ink where you want to add another color. Then use your markers and re-color the erased area. On my card here, I inked my 'Give Thanks' stamp using my close to cocoa stamp pad, erased the cocoa on the leaf area using my blender pen, then recolored the leaves with my Ruby Red marker. Huff, puff & stamp~ Viola! I have dedicated an older blender pen for this use. It is really fast!

Happy Halloween!

Recipe: Everything is SU! except the leaf brads.
Stamp: Holiday Best
Paper: Ruby Red, Elegant Eggplant, Soft Suede, More Mustard, DSP- Autumn Traditions (SU!)
Ink: Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Leaf Brads (Target) & Scor-Pal

Blue B-day

Here's the result of a little break from making Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas cards. It was fun to use the colors from the Basic Grey color challenge and the Paper Craft Planet sketch challenge. Additionally, by choosing a birthday theme, it qualitifes for the PCP birthday challenge in honor of Susanna Boyd. {There are prizes for the PCP b-day challenge so be sure to check it out before Sunday at midnight}.

Have a great Sunday!

Recipe:
Stamps: Birthday Whimsy (SU!)
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, WW (SU!); DP- Cool from the Euphoria collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Modern Label punch (SU!), Scallop Rectangular Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Button brads (Eyelet Outlet); White embroidery thread.

Happy Saturday! I am happy to be home. I had a quick business trip this week~ a 24 hour trip from here in St. Lou to New Jersey & back. My team got some great info, so it was worth it. But I have missed my stamping!

Today I combined the sketch challenge from Wednesday with today's Inspirational Challenge.
I chose this Bustling Avenue dress from Anthropologie for my inspiration.

This card might be considered retro ('out of style' is a bit negative, don't you think?). I used a very old stamp from a SU! set called Tricky Treats. It was a 2001 set that I purchased inexpensively from the bay about three years ago when I had a very small stamp collection. That said, I still love it. I send Halloween cards to family and friends who aren't aware of stamping trends, old paper colors or last year's design paper. They usually love my cards and are very happy to receive them. Good thing they are not stamping enlightened because I also used last year's in color Tangerine Tango and last Christmas' DP from SU! called Frosty Days. And then, eyelets to boot.

Despite all the old products, I like how the card turned out. I especially liked this sketch from Roxie; but then I always like her choice in sketches. I like the little bats brads too, but my frugal nature is really showing through as these were part of a kit with the black eyelets that I purchased from an discount store that carries discontinued items.

Here in St. Louis, the trees are at their peak fall colors; they are just gorgeous. I hope to get out for a ride & see the natural splendor. I hope you enjoy your weekend.

Recipe:
Stamps: Tricky Treats (SU!); Happy Halloween (Studio G)
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Black, White, DSP-Frosty Days (SU!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun (SU!)
Accessories: Bat brads & Black Eyelets (source unknown); Orange Embroidery thread (stash)

Best Witches

A double SCS challenge card for me today. FS141 and IC202.

The Featured Stamper on SCS this week is Dancer Riley. Her blog is awesome; if you haven't already checked it out, you'd better hop over there. I chose this card to case: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...;ppuser=113092.

I kept the same design, the four brads, and a similar fall color scheme. I changed the specific colors, modified the sketch a bit by switching the wave layer with a smaller scallop strip, and I changed the image.

The second challenge was yesterday's Inspiration Challenge.
I chose the stringbeads tiles http://www.xeniataler.com/index.php?...amp;cPath=1_14.
I was inspired to use the background DP and colors based upon the Xenia Taler tiles.

Nothing special about the techniques here; just plain old stamping. It was nice to have some time in the studio today. Have a good week!

Recipe:
Stamps: Best Witches (Hampton Arts for Studio G)
Paper: Wild Wasabi cs and textured cs, Really Rust,Very Vanilla (SU!); DP- Indian Summer (DCWV)
Ink: Basic Brown, Wild Wasabi, Really Rust, Summer Sun, Almost Amethyst (SU!)
Accessories: Blender Pen, Scallop punch, Mat Pack (SU!); Paper Pick (Tim Holtz); Green Brads (Karen Foster)

CC240, IC201 Thanksgiving

This card is for the SCS color challenge to use Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip and Apricot Appeal and for Inspirational Challenge. The IC201 challenge was to use TzaddiShop site as an inspiration. I chose this http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php...ng_id=28427709.

The colors from the TzaddiShop's necklace & the color challenge reminded me of the new SU! DSP called Autumn Leaves (from the new Holiday mini catty). For the cutout leaves, I used my Bermuda Bay marker (I don't have the ink pad, but you could use that if you wish) and covered the entire stamp with Bermuda Bay marker. Next I took my Chocolate Chip marker and covered the edges and then thumped the center. It is a combination of thumping and rock 'n roll technique with markers. Here's a close up of the leaves.

Have a great evening!

Fall Leaves

Happy Sunday! I haven't had much time to stamp lately, so last night and today I took the opportunity to combine several challenges from the past week that interested me. When I don't create regularly, I get in a bit of a slump and have trouble with my creative juices and also cards take me a while to complete. So I humbly share this one with you.

It combines several challenges; first, the SCS LSC241 to not use embellishements and to make your stamped image the central theme. This was pretty challenging for me but when I added the scoring the card didn't seem too plain, but it is rather simple. The second challenge was the SC248 from last week, and last challenge was the IC200 challenge. I used the Chocolate Twist bag from Kir DeVires as my inspiration. The print on the bag reminded me of the DSP Autumn Leaves from SU.

One of things I did accomplish instead of stamping was to clean my studio. I had a very hectic summer and I quit putting away my supplies and papers after creating a card. Things just piled up; it was hard to find things and even harder for me to be creative in a messy area. In addition to needing to put things away, I had outgrown my organization and need to re-do my storage. A few weeks ago, my DH and I mounted rods for my punches and on Friday, I added corner shelves. I really love my studio, especially when it is clean and organized! This is my little haven away from stress and worry. I hope you have a special spot for just you!

Recipe:
Stamp: Tags & More
Paper: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Always Artichoke, DSP- Autumn Leaves (SU!)
Ink: CHocolate Chip craft
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Scor-Pal

Holiday Card

This weekend we visited my youngest daughter who goes to college at Drake University in Des Moines. Our older daughter joined us, so we had a nice family weekend. My husband and I arrived home this afternoon and the first thing I wanted to do was make cards and play the Featured Stamper Challenge on Splitcoaststampers. It was really hard to act responsible but I did... and I unloaded, unpacked, and got ready for the week before starting cards. I finally got to play around 8:30p.m. Better late than never.

I made this card for the FS139 which honored Lois AKA "clownmom" on Splitcoast. Nothing tricky here; I think the DP makes a nice background for the ornaments. And knowing I had similar paper, I decided to case her "Joyful Ornaments" card.

Have a great week, friends!

Recipe:
Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Teeny Tiny Sentiment
Paper: Handsome Hunter, Soft Suede, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, DP- Christmas Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Handsome Hunter, Rose Red
Accessories: Gold Brads (SU!), Modern Label punch, Ornament punch (SU!), Gold ribbon (Offray)

Sunday's Featured Stamper Challenge

Yipee~ I was able to play the SCS Featured Stamper challenge today. Seems like the weekends rush past; probably because we are so busy. It was a very productive weekend. I worked in the yard cutting back the ivy, did laundry, and made it to Micheal's and found some corner shelves on sale (I've been waiting for these to be discounted). DH hung a mirror in my studio today and yesterday we mounted rods on the wall for my punches. Wow! I am tired just reading the list and that's just a few of the things we accomplished. I bet your weekends are just as busy. I recall when the kids were younger, many fall weekends were filled with soccer games and birthday parties. So I guess it doesn't really matter where one is in life, weekends are usually busy!

Have a great week!

Recipe:
Stamps: Cheep Talk, Petal Pizzaz, Teeny Tiny Sentiments (SU!)
Paper: Pacific Point, Lavender Lace, WW (SU!)
Ink: Pacific Point, Lavender Lace, Almost Amethyst, Versa Mark (SU!)
Accessories: Top Note (SU!), ribbon- sheer lavender (MSI), blue (Offray), buttons (stash)

It's already Thursday?!

I can't believe that another Thursday has rolled around. We were gone this past weekend visiting my daughter for her college's family weekend. It was so much fun seeing her plus our other daughter joined us for a day. A double shot for this Mom!

Today we are doing a sketch for the Thursday's Digi Shack challenge. I hope you like my take (below) and I hope you can play along too. Check out the sketch here.

Recipe:
Image: Christmas Bells (The Digi Shack)
Paper: Mellow Moss, Riding Hood Red, Always Artichoke, WW (SU!); DP- Wassil (Basic Grey)
Ink: Mellow Moss, Riding Hood Red, Always Artichoke (SU!); gold spika pen (Too Marker)
Accessories: Blender pen, Riding Hood Red striped ribbon, gold brad, Boho Blossoms punch (SU!); Colluzzle ovals (ProvoCraft), frond punch (Martha Stewart)

TDS Challenge Card

Another Digi Shack Thursday challenge, and once again, I am preparing for the upcoming holidays. Today the challenge is "Fall in Love" challenge where you use only fall colors. I chose to add to my Thanksgiving cards and I picked this adorable little squirrel with a pumpkin from The Digi Shack (another $1 image).

I am not much of a CAS girl (clean and simple), but I am trying to adapt from my usual many layers and DSP and sometimes complicated sketches to a CAS style...at least every now and then. The stretching outside my comfort zone really helps my creativity and well...challenges me. However, my CAS cards always look "naked" to me so probably I add more than a purest would. But hey, you can only change a little at a time. Anyway, I am not sure if I pulled the CAS technique off, but this is definitely simpler than my usual card. But I like it mainly because of this adorable squirrel image. Hop on over and play.

Recipe:
Image: Squirrel with Pumpkin (The Digi Shack), Sentiment- Occasions Collection (retired hostess- Stampin' Up)
Paper: Craft, Whisper White, Dusty Durango (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Markers- Creamy Caramel, Dusty Durange, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Ribbon- Jersey (retired Stampin' Up), Bow-Easy

Suede Snowflakes

A nice weather day here is St. Louis. I had some errands to run & driving around with the convertible top down always makes it so much more enjoyable.

Today I participated in the Featured Stamper challenge over at Splitcoaststampers. I just love all their challenges...oh yea, I blabbered about that on an earlier post. Today the FS was Shannon. She is a fantastic stamper and so nice too. I chose to case her Rustic Merry Christmas. I kept the design and the holiday theme with the ornament. I changed the colors, used different papers, added the 3/4" circle, eliminated the hardware & used my new Stamper's floss from The Angel Company.

I'm pretty happy with this card & may make several duplicates since it isn't too heavy for mailing. What do you think? Are the colors "Christmassy" enough?

Have a great week, friends!

Recipe:
Stamps: Delightful Decorations (SU!)
Paper: WW, Night of Navy, Soft Suede (SU!); DSP: Christmas Cocoa Speciality (SU!); the red panel- Sunny Side (We R Memory Keepers)
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy
Accessories: Scrappers Floss (TAC), 3/4 circle punch, ornament punch (SU!), distressing tool (SU!)

TDS Challenge Card

Here we are with another Thursday challenge from The Digi Shack. I just love these challenges because it is never the same...sometimes its a recipe challenge, sometimes a color challenge and today it is a sketch challenge. You just never know, but one thing you can count on is that it will be FUN! Yesterday the TDS hosted the sketch challenge over at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.
And that is the challenge for The Digi Shack today...two in one!

Here is a picture of the sketch, but you will want to check out the Sweet Sketch Wednesday and The Digi Shack blog for all the deets.

Below is my take on the challenge. I used TDS's Santa Baby image (which is now only $1 as are all TDS images except Lani and the packs). I did some serious distressing and added some gold pearl-ex. See my previous post on how I make a pearl-ex spray.

Recipe:
Image: Santa Baby (The Digi Shack), Sentiment-Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up)
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White (SU!), DP- Christmas Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red; Markers: Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, Brillant Blue, Basic Black; Watercolor Pencils-White (all Stampin' Up)
Accessories: Circle and Scallop circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), Modern Label Punch (SU!), Pearl-ex (Jacquard products for SU! {retired}), Cutter Kit (Stampin' Up), Sponges (stash)

Pearl-Ex Glimmer Spray

Pearl-Ex Spray (aka Glimmer Spray)

I like to add glimmer to cards occasionally but especially to Christmas cards. I make a little glimmer spray from pearl-ex. One of my stamping friends shared this technique with me several years ago although I don't remember who & I'd like to share it with you. It is easy and inexpensive. It does evaporate because the base is alcohol so I only make it in small quantities. Also, I apply it at my bathroom sink with the fan running.

Supplies: Empty spray bottle (mine is an empty perfume sprintz bottle), Rubbing alcohol (I use 91% but 70% will work too), craft stick, and pearl-ex (I used "Interference Gold" but you can use any color depending upon what you want your glimmer color to be).

My next step is to open my spray bottle, and get a small amount of Pearl-ex on my craft stick. I add the pearl-ex to my bottle.

Next, add a small amount of rubbing alcohol to your bottle (approximately 2-3 Tablespoons or 30 ml.). The concentration (or amount of alcohol compared to glitter) will be up to you and you may want to vary according to your project. Need I say, the lesser amount of alcohol will give you a more concentrated glimmer spray, more alcohol will give you a less glimmer in the spray.
That's it! You have a glimmer spray. Two other tips. First, (& again)- the spray will evaporate over time, days to weeks. If this happens try adding a little alcohol to the bottle. Often the pearl-ex has dried along the sides and the bottom of the bottle and you need only reconstitute with more alcohol. And because it evaporates, I only make a small amount at a time.

Second, when you spray the concentration of your mixed glimmer and the distance you hold your bottle from your project will vary the concentration of the glimmer on your project or card. You may want to experiment on a scrap piece of paper before applying to your project. It will look different on light paper versus dark paper.



I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have fun making your holiday cards glimmer. Please let me know how you like this tutorial and please share your tips.

Digi Shack Thursday Challenge Card

Happy Thursday! I can hardly believe that another week has flown by. I chose this pretty cherry blossom image for the challenge over at the Digi Shack because I just returned from Washington, D.C. Monday evening. Even though the cherry blossoms aren't blooming this time of year, it reminds me of the trip this past spring where I did get to see the trees in full bloom. Gorgeous! I am fortunate to participate in a volunteer professional organization and they are headquartered in D.C. and had the opportunity to do some work at headquarters.

The challenge was to use two DP, 3 brads and one ribbon. I chose the pretty DSP from SU! called Razzleberry Lemonade which coordinates with the new in-color Melon Mambo as well as the Crushed Curry and Rich Razzleberry products.

Check out the fun challenge here. Hope you have a great day!

Recipe:
Image: Cherry Blossom (The Digi Shack)
Paper: Melon Mambo, Black, White, DSP- Razzleberry Lemonade (all SU!)
Ink: SU! markers
Accessories: Rose Red ribbon (SU!), jewel brads (stash)

TDSC20

Update: 8:45pm Thursday- Things have settled down a bit so I wanted to let you know just a few things about this card that may not be obvious. First the layer under the teal with white dot layer started as Bella Rose DSP (retired SU!). Because the challenge required copper, I covered the DSP with copper glitter glue. This took a while to dry but I like the effects of a glittered layer just peeking out of the teal. The other not so obvious thing is the corner embellishment. This is a paper epoxy button like accent from Colorbok's Friendly Forest line. I punched a 3/4 circle from Taken with Teal and layered it on top of the button and threaded the ribbon through both. The rest is pretty much self explanatory.

It is a crazy hectic week so I won't be able to post the details of my card until late this week or early next but I would be remiss if I did not remind you of the fun challenge over at The Digi Shack. This week's challenge is a color challenge- chocolate, caramel. teal, and copper. You can see the challenge and the other DT members creations here.

Recipe:
Image: Apples (The Digi Shack)
Paper: Chocolate, Close to Cocoa, Taken with Teal, WW, DSP- Bella Rose (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Green Galore, Taken with Teal, Close to Cocoa. Bashful Blue, Summer Sun, Garden Green, Certainly Celery (Stampin' Up)
Accessories: White gel pen (Uniball-Signo); Mat pack, 3/4 circle punch, Scallop punch (Stampin' Up), Epoxy accent (Friendly Forest-Colorbok), Ribbon (offray), copper glitter glue (Hampton Arts)

Marvelous Manic Monday

Update: Thursday 8:45 pm. as noted in the above post, things have settled down a bit so I can give you the deets on this card. Pretty obvious that I used the SU! top note layered. The flowers are a mixture. The large ones I have especially enjoyed as these are white textured paper flowers that are easily colored with chalks, markers, watercolors, ink. I wish I could recall the maker, but I purchased them in 2007 { and they lost their packaging :( } I colored the large flowers with Rich Razzleberry and Dusty Durango. Each flower has a button and either ribbon or embroidery thread. The sentiment was the free image from Manic Monday. I distressed it with Really Rust ink (right now I just have the Dusty Durango marker {no ink}), layered it on Rich razzleberry designer label tag. The brads are layered with a 1/4" circle. I like that this is only flowers, paper, and sentiment (no image) . It makes a really special girlfriend card.

Manic Monday at the Digi Shack. Be sure to check it out today for your free digi image. Today, the image is the sentiment "wonderful friend". Perfect for cards or scrapbook pages. I'll be back later tonight to tell you about this fun flower creation, but I didn't want you to miss the freebie.
Have a great day!

Recipe:
Image: Wonderful Friend sentiment (The Digi Shack)
Paper: Dusty Durango, Rich Razzleberry, Sweet & Sassy Bold Stripe (The Paper Studio)
Accessories: Flowers from stash, Small pink flowers (Itty Bitty Blossoms-piglet- Imaginisce), small paper flowers were from my SCS secret elf in 2007 {I still never figured out the name of that generous person}; Buttons: Earth Elements & Earth Elements and Neutrals (retired SU!); embroidery thread; Ribbon: (American Crafts); 1/4" inch circle, Designer label punch, Top Note Die (SU!); brads (Creative Impressions).

Miss you Fish

What a great Saturday! Lots of things went together just right today! I love when that happens. I have had two of these fish images from The Digi Shack on my desk for several days awaiting coloring and I finally got to them.

My husband and I took the whole week off work to help my daughters get settled at college. They go to different colleges- one 5 1/2 hours away and the other is 3 1/2 hours away from home. This is the first year of having an empty nest; it is really quiet!

The reason I was anxious to get these fish images colored was so I could send cards to each of the girls. When they were little and unhappy, the pout-y face would appear. As they got older we made a joke of it. So I think they will get a little chuckle from this card. {the second is a duplicate}.

As it turns out, I was able to incorporate several challenges. First the SCS Featured Stamper this week is ' jojot', aka Joanne. I love everything she makes and when I saw her fish card that she made earlier this week, I knew I could get to work coloring my fish images. Joanne is a wonderfully supportive Splitcoaststamper. She leaves the nicest comments for so many. I can recall when I first started stamping, she was one of the few that would leave notes to my cards.

My card also qualifies for Mothermark's Tuesday's teapot challenge #60. SInce I cased Joanne's card for the Teapot Challenge, I think it qualifies for the Teapot too. See what I mean about things coming together nicely. I have been wanting to play for quite some time as Cindy is a wonderful stamping friend, but as you can image, things were a little hetic around the house this summer with getting two college kids ready to go. It seemed like I was shopping three times a week for stuff for the apartment or dorm. Anyway...you read more about the teapot challenge on Cindy's blog here.

Last I incorporated the SCS Inspirational challenge. We were to use a cool, funky e-store called Pylones as an inspiration. I chose this flask as my inspiration. Actually, the store makes quite a few things with this pattern. The colors of this pattern reminded me of the colors in Euphoria paper from Basic Grey.

Whew! I don't usually combine this many challenges but it all flowed together. Have a great Sunday, friends.

Recipe:
Image: Huffy-fish (The Digi Shack), sentiment- All year cheer II (Stampin' Up)
Paper: Pixie Pink, Gable Green (Stampin' Up); DP- Euphoria (Basic Grey)
Ink and Markers: Pixie Pink, Gable Green, Green Galore, Bashful Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Brads (Basic Grey), Glitter glue from stash
Techniques: Sponging, Masking

Masculine Games

This card was made for two Splitcoaststampers (SCS) challenges; the Sketch challenge from Wednesday and the Limited Supply Challenge from today. The LSC was posted by a fellow Shabby Chick, Judy. And what a challenge it was...make a masculine card~ no ribbon, no bling, no flowers. Guy cards are always tough for me. I have to concentrate while girly cards just seem to flow.

I really like this Game Night stamp set and the matching Designer Series Paper (DSP) from Stampin' up! I have gotten the impression it hasn't been super popular & so I was super happy when both the set and the dsp made it to the new catalog. The reason I like it so much is because it is bright and cheery. So many masculine cards are earthy or rustic and although I like that, the red and yellow are a nice change.

This card was super easy; and I kept it Stampin' Up Only & did not add a single embellishment. Very unusual for me! Have a great evening.

TDS Challenge Card

Time for the challenge over at The Digi Shack. This week's challenge is an inspirational challenge; use one of the handbags from the Toni, the Digi Shack's owner, Etsy store. I chose this Gabby bag with Amy Butler fabric.

Be sure to stop by The Digi Shack. There is some awesome Shack Candy...I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I can tell you that you definitely don't want to miss this!

I love Tempting Turquoise and this new color, Bermunda Bay from SU! together. It might be a little hard to see but the left Tempting Turquoise panel was embossed with the small dots texturz background plate from SU!. I used last week's sketch challenge from SCS as the design (SC241), but I took the liberty of adding the sentiment panel. The image is the birthday balloon by artist Tracey Malnofski for TDS. I love having a balloon image and especially love that it is for birthdays; and since it is an open stamp that is colored, I will be able to pair it up with any color combo and DSP.

Have a great Thursday!

Recipe:
Image: Birthday Balloon (The Digi Shack), All holidays (SU!)
Papers: Bermuda Bay, Tempting Turquoise, BB, WW (SU!); DSP- Indian Summer Fall Matstack (DCWV)
Ink: SU markers
Accessories: Prisma pencils, Gamsol, belnding stumps, Small dots texturz plate (SU!), photo anchors (Creative Impressions), Brads (Queen &Co.)

Blog Hop with The Digi Shack Mauiwowies

Happy Saturday! Today the Digi Shack's design team, the Mauiwowies, are having a blog hop just in time for the Holiday image release later in the afternoon. To join the hop, start at the home base...The Digi Shack. We are celebrating the holidays. {There I go again on my holiday card making kick ;)}

My first card is this gorgeous shoe image. The inside reads, "Hey, Girlfriend, Happy Thanksgiving!" Paper piecing is so easy with digital images, just load your printer with your DSP. I kept the design very simple in order to keep the focus on the Houndstooth shoe. The DSP is from the new SU! holiday mini catalog {sales start 9/1; see my SU! sidebar}; it is called Autumn Meadows.

My second card for our Mauiwowie blog hop is the Christmas Chandelier. Even though, I chose to use it for a Christmas card but it would be great for Halloween or New Years'. It might be a little hard to see but after I printed my image, I colored over the chandelier chains or links with a silver sparkle jelly roll pen. The DSP is actually from the DCVW 'Safari Kids' matstack. I like the glittery dots and thought the colors worked well for a holiday card.

Have a great weekend! Time to hop over to see the Jazzy Tenia.

Recipe for Shoe Card:
Image: Shoe 7 (The Digi Shack)
Paper: Chocolate Chip textured, WW, Autumn Meadows DSP (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel (SU! Markers)
Accessories: Chocolate Chip 15/16' satin ribbon (SU!), Bow-Easy

Recipe for Chandelier Card:
Image: Chandelier (The Digi Shack), Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)
Paper: Real Red textured, Tempting Turquoise, WW (SU!), DSP-Safari Kids Mat Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Silver Glitter Jelly Roll pen (Sakura), Crushed Curry (SU! marker), Real Red (SU!)
Accessories: Top Note Die (SU!), Modern Label punch (SU!) red gemstones (the Paper Studio)

DRS- Featured Friday Designer

Here are the cards I made for DRS Designs as this week's Featured Friday Designer. {pinch me!! because even though it has been several weeks since Cathy contacted me, I still can't believe it}.
I chose to focus my Friday around the upcoming holidays. I jibber-jabbered on an earlier post how much fun I am having creating cards for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And preparing for the DRS Friday was no exception. But really...who wouldn't have fun with these fantastic rubber stamps?!

The Halloween card is 6X6 Brazzil textured black card stock as a base. The purple panels are both 4X4, and the upper square panel is covered with DSP. I love these brads, but I have lost the manufacture information, but I doubt that they are available anymore as they were on closeout when I picked them up a few years ago. The thing I like most about this card is the sentiment from DRS Designs. I plan to make these for my team at work...they know I love chocolate and sometimes...well...the other part of the sentiment fits too.

The Thanksgiving card is a gate fold. I really enjoyed coloring this beautiful Autumn bouquet. I am going to love having this stamp in my collection. I've already thought about some different color variations for the bouquet. I used the Scor-Pal for scoring the card stock which made it super easy. On the grid across the top, there are two dots- one at 2 1/8 and one at 6 3/8; these are the scoring lines for a gate card using 8 1/2 paper. Scor-Pal has lots of tutorials including the gate fold card; you can find it here: Scor-Pal boxes and cards

And the last and final card that I made for the DRS Designs Featured Friday Stamper was the Christmas card using the Dryer Sheet technique. You can find a photo tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. You will need a Zyron machine or a spray adhesive but it is not difficult at all. Basically you stamp your image (let dry), run it through the Zyron so the sticky side is on the image, place a used dryer sheet on top (trim sheet to cardstock size) and then add glitter. The glitter sticks to the sticky image and dryer sheet. It gives a soft, glittery focus. I really love the look of the Dryer Sheet technique for holiday cards or snow card & love it because the glitter really stays put.

All the recipes are below. Have a great Friday and weekend!

Recipe for Priceless Halloween:

Images: Witch Accessories-K154, Priceless Halloween-G433 (DRS Designs)
Cardstock: Blackbird (Brazzill), Lavender Lace, Basic Black, Green Galore, Whisper White (SU!), DSP-Trick or Treat Polka Dots (the Paper Studio)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); SU markers: Lavender Lace, Basic Gray, Green Galore, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Crushed Curry
Accessories, Brads- cats and bats (unknown source); ribbon (the Paper Studio)

Recipe for Autumn Beauty:
Images: Pumpkin Bouquet M684, Beauty of Autumn D704 (DRS Designs)
Paper: Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, DSP- Razzleberry Lemonade (SU!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Pumpkin Pie, Only Orange, Yoyo Yellow, Crushed Curry, More Mustard, Really Rust, Dusty Durango, Ruby Red, Rose Red, Mellow Moss, Creamy Caramel, Soft Suede
Accessories: Bender Pen, Hodgepodge Hardware (SU!) Brads (Angelica by Marcella) Ribbon-Striped (Michaels), Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Technique: Gate Fold

Recipe for the Christmas Night card:
Stamps: Traveling Afar L673 (DRS Designs)
Paper: Night of Navy, Bravo Burgandy, WW
Ink: Night of Navy'
Accessories: Texturz Plate 1, Large silver Grommet, 5/8' Bravo Burgandy Grosgrain Ribbon, 1/2' Night of Navy Grossgrain ribbon (SU!); silver brads (Making memories), oval scallop nestabilities (Spellbinders), Zyron

Digi Diva Challenge

Happy Thursday! I love Thursdays. Why you may ask? One reason is that there is only one more day of the work week to have to wake up & start the sprint to get ready. {A slower wake up, sipping coffee is more my style, which is what the weekends allow most often}. The other reason I love Thursday's is the Digi Shack's weekly challenge. I love seeing what everyone creates & the variety of cards that are made while adhering to specific criteria.

{I think I already blabbed on an earlier post how much I like challenges}.

This week Joni challenged us to make a card using handbags or shoes to salute the new images at The Digi Shack. I started with a 6X6 square of Brocade Blue and used my Scor-Pal to create the scores across the top. Next, using my sewing machine, I stitched the DSP together to create the lower layer. My shoe images were colored or paper pierced. The bow was created using the bow easy.

Have a great day!

Images: Shoes (The Digi Shack), Sentiment-First in Fashion (retired Stampin Up!)
Paper: Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Garden Green, WW (SU!), DSP- Prestwick (retired SU!)
Ink: Garden Green, Night of Navy, Brocade Blue
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Brocade Blue 5/8" grossgrain ribbon, Bow Easy, ScorPal