Monday, August 31, 2009

New DT - Doodle Palace

Please scroll down for Paper Maniac blog hop post!

Morning!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We went to NY to visit family. Other than the long drive, we had a great time! Glad to be home now and catching up on all that I missed!

I have a little news to share today, I was asked to join the Doodle Palace Design Team. I of course said yes! I love doing design work and sharing my creativity with you all! The Doodle Palace is a digital image company with many many many different digis to choose from! And right now, until tomorrow, they are having a grand opening sale and you can save 60% on everything in the store!

I have this card to share today that I made using a pumpkin image from the Thanksgiving Set. It's perfect for Halloween or Thanksgiving or even just Fall themed cards.

The image was colored with Copics and highlighted with a Spica glitter pen. I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday and paired that with SU! cardstock in Black, Pumpkin, and Eggplant. The papers are K and Company. This card also follows the recipe challenge at Cupcake Crafts, which is 3 buttons, 2 papers, and 1 ribbon. I technically used 3 pieces of ribbon but it is only one ribbon! Hope that works!

Thanks for coming on by today! I'll be back tomorrow with a couple cards to share. It's going to be a busy day! Happy stamping! :)

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Paper Maniac Blog Hop

Happy Sunday!

Today is a fun day over at Paper Maniac! We are having our very first blog hop! The design team has created some fabulous eye candy for you and we of course have a great blog candy prize to be won! So get those hopping fingers ready and start clinking your way from blog to blog! Be sure to leave comments on all the blog hop posts for your chance to win this blog candy prize!

The blog candy prize includes: Unity Kit 100% Happy, 6x6 pack of Nikki Sivils paper, Victoria's Street clear stamp set, pack of brads, bottle of tear drops, American Crafts thickers rainboots, pack of flair, and a pack of glittered chipboard.

Paper Maniac will officially open for business Tuesday, September 1st! There will be a great opportunity to save 15% from opening until September 6th, use the code GRAND15 to get your savings!

Not only will you find great stamping supplies and products from major manufacturers, but at Paper Maniac you can also find some great "Take N' Make" card kits which include papers, embellishments, and envelopes ready for you to use with your own stamps and ink. And Paper Maniac is also a Unity retailer! If you're a fan of Unity stamps, Paper Maniac will be carrying exclusive Unity kits and you can sign up for their auto ship program!

Now on to the hop! If you are just finding out about this blog hop, you need to go back to the start HERE and then continue to hop. If you have been hopping along and joining in our fun, you should be coming to my blog from DANA'S BLOG. Remember to leave comments on all the blog hop posts for your chance at the blog hop candy!

This is the card I created using both a Unity stamp set, Feel the Joy and a Unity sentiment from their kit, 100% Happy! You can find both of these products at the Paper Maniac online store on Tuesday!

I used some SU! cardstock in Black, Vanilla, and Saffron. I stamped a script background on the vanilla and then stamped some of the flower images from the Feel the Joy set in saffron around the edges. The main image is from Feel the Joy and has been framed using a cool transparency sheet that I received from my friend Vicki. I embellished this card with gingham ribbon, Prima flowers, BasicGrey buttons and hemp twine, some lace ribbon and black brads.

Now you need to head on over to EMILY'S BLOG to continue on this fun Paper Maniac Blog Hop! You can have fun hopping from now until September 6th and on September 7th the blog hop candy winner will be announced on the Paper Maniac blog!

And if you want a chance at some other prizes, hop back over to my blog on Tuesday, September 1st for details and Paper Maniac Grand Opening info!

Thanks for stopping by today! Have fun hopping! :)

Friday, August 28, 2009

Animals and Ribbons and Bows

Happy Friday!

Hope you've had a great week. Things were super busy here all week. It was our last full week of summer vacation before the kids go back to school and so we tried to sneak in every bit of fun we could! Now we are heading to NY to visit family and looking forward to a fun weekend. Hope you have some great things planned too!

Just Magnolia

Today I have both my DT cards for Stamp Something and Just Magnolia to share with you. First, is my Just Magnolia card with this week's challenge of ribbons and bows. We want to see you use both ribbons and bows on your creations and of course a Magnolia image.

I went for a vintage feel with this card. I love this sweet image, perfect for a lazy summer day. She's been colored with Copics and highlighted with both a gel pen and a Spica glitter pen. I found the sketch for this one at Sketch Saturday and paired it with some SU! cardstock in mellow moss and always artichoke along with some K&Company papers. This card has distressed edges, lace border punched edges, and has been embellished with gingham ribbon and bows, lace ribbon and brads, and some Prima flowers and roses.

Stamp Something

Next I have my card for the challenge at Stamp Something, which this week is Animal Somethings. Share a creation using your favorite animal image or images and you just might be chosen as a Stamp Something Top 5 or win our blog candy prize! Head on over to SS and check out the candy and all the design team creations using some cute Digital Delights images!

The design team was lucky enough to receive some images to use for our cards this week. I chose this sweet little lamb and colored her with Copics and then gave her a woolly coat with some liquid applique! What fun stuff!

The sketch is from this week's Lili of the Valley challenge, but I did change up the circle area on the sketch to a rectangle to fit my image. I used SU! white, baja breeze, and kiwi kiss cardstock with BasicGrey Urban Prairie papers. The embellishments are some felt flowers and pearls, buttons, and a piece of wide grosgrain ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a great day! I'll be back on Sunday with a card for the first Paper Maniac blog hop! Hope you'll join me! Happy stamping! :)

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

A Whiff of Summer

Hi All!

Hope you are having a great day! It's been busy here again. I think once school starts, things will start to go back to normal. Just so much to do before school begins!

I have a card that I wanted to share which was created using a few challenges from this week. It's been tough to combine challenges this week as there are so many sketches, but I was able to find a couple!

I used the sketch Everybody Art Challenge and the papers are SU! cardstock in Pink Pirouette, Purely Pomegranate, and Old Olive and the designer paper is BasicGrey Lemonade. I chose a Whiff of Joy image and added some bling to fit this week's WOJ Challenge. And last, I created some paper flowers with my circle punches to fit the C is for Circle at ABC Challenge.

Thanks for coming on by today. I'm going to get off the computer now though as it looks like a storm is coming! Hope you have a great evening. Happy Stamping!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Baby Joy

Happy Tuesday All!

This is going to be a very quick post as I'm in the middle of making dinner and we all know what happens when we aren't watching the dinner cook! LOL!

I whipped up this card this afternoon for the Paper Take Weekly sketch challenge. It's a fun sketch that will work well with many images and can easily be flipped and rotated. I know I'll be using it again too.

This image is another of Mo's from Mo's Digital Pencil. I think he's such a sweet little baby. He's been colored with Copics and highlighted with a gel pen and I also added some glittery touches to the water ripples. For anyone who's been having trouble with smearing ink and digi images, try running a versamark pen over the ink lines and then heat set. I had no trouble this time! Success!

I kept this card fairly simple with just a little ribbon, some brads and picture tabs, and a metal sentiment. Thanks for popping on by today. Hope to have more time for blogging and crafting tomorrow. Happy stamping! :)

Monday, August 24, 2009

Whimsy Sparkle

Hi All!

Wow, what a busy day I've had, hope you're day was nice. I got the chance to do some shopping with a friend, without the kids! And because I was out having fun, I'm late with my posting and everything else if I'm being honest. LOL!

My card today is for this week's Whimsy Challenge, which is a touch of sparkle. We want to see you glitz and glam up your creations this week with some bling!

I used my cute Whimsy Turtle for this card and some new K & Company papers that I got while shopping today. I need more paper like I need a hole in the head, but I just couldn't resist! The sketch if from this week's challenge at The Pink Elephant and the colors are for the challenge at Cute Daisy May.

I embellished with some micro beads and stickles for the sparkle. Then added some ribbon and buttons and some fish pins. The final accent is a sparkly flower charm tied on with more ribbon.

Thanks for dropping on over today. I hope to have some time tomorrow to do my visiting, see you soon. Happy stamping! :)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Pile It On with the Doodle Palace

Happy Sunday All!

Hope you are having a great weekend. This is just a quick post to share my Pile It On DT card for the challenge this week. This week along with piling on the challenges we want to see you use 3 of something. The theme is "Good Things Come in Threes" so get those thinking caps on and be creative with your threes!

I went with a masculine theme and used this super cute dragon from the Doodle Palace. Doodle Palace is the sponsor for the PIO challenge this week. They have some super cute digital images! I colored this one with Copics and highlighted with a white gel pen and gold Spica glitter pen. I have a couple areas where the ink smudged. I'm still struggling with heat setting the ink on my digis! I don't know what it is with my ink, but it just won't dry completely or something! URG!

For my good things in 3's, I did three layers on this card using the sketch from Fresh Batch. Each layer has 3 layers of paper and have been popped up with foam tape. I also used three buttons which fits the B is for Button challenge at ABC Challenge. The sentiment is also 3 layers of paper. The sentiment itself is a sneak peek at a new Whimsy Sentiment Set to be release next month! It's a birthday sentiment to fit the Stamp Something challenge of birthday somethings. And lastly, this is a pretty cute dragon eating a pretty sweet cake so this image fits Cupcake Craft's challenge of sweet things.

Thanks for stopping by today, be sure to head over to Pile It On and join in our with our good things in threes fun! Happy stamping! :)

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Layers of Color Saturday - Under the Sea

Hello All and happy Saturday!

Hope everyone is enjoying another weekend. We are in the midst of another super humid day here and I'm sure we'll be getting more thunderstorms later. We had some bad ones last night. We are hoping to get in some fun outside with the kids before the storms though. Hope you have fun things planned too!

I want to share two cards today from my Layers of Color gallery. Both of these card use the stamp set Under the Sea which can be purchased from the Layer of Color online shop. This is a versatile set to use for focal images or to create backgrounds. I used it for the focal images on both cards.

This first card uses a coral image which I stamped in black ink and embellished with sticky pearls. It's been framed with scalloped rectangle nesties. The white cardstock layer has been dry embossed with the CB and a script embossing folder. The final touch was to add some pretty satin ribbon and a charm with hemp twine.


The second card is also black and white but with a little punch of color. I found a piece of retired SU! Cool Caribbean cardstock and thought it was perfect with a sea shell image. The white cardstock layer on this card was dry embossed with the CB and Swiss dots folder. The final touches are a simple piece of black ribbon and a black brad.

Thanks for stopping over today. I'll be back tomorrow with a DT card for this week's Pile It On challenge. Have a super Saturday! Happy stamping! :)

Friday, August 21, 2009

A Bithday Something and A Sketch

Happy Friday Everyone!

Hope your day is off to a great start! I'm happy that another weekend is upon us and I'm looking forward to some family time. Today is a big day at our house, my little man turned 6! We'll be having a little family party later today, but before that, I have cleaning to do!

Today I have two DT cards to share with you. First is my card for this week's Stamp Something Challenge. This week, in honor of my son, we are having a "Birthday Somethings" challenge! Anything birthday related will work for this challenge. We have a new sponsor this week too and a special chance for you all to enter your creations for a chance at publication! Head on over to Stamp Something and check out all the details!

Stamp Something

My card uses a couple other challenges along with our birthday somethings challenge at Stamp Something. I started with the sketch from Sketch Saturday and paired that with some SU! Crushed Curry and Taken with Teal cardstock and some BasicGrey Lemonade papers. I don't know what I'm going to do when these papers are gone. I just love them!

The image on my card is one I got the other day from Mo's Digital Pencil. I just love the sweetness of this little girl's face and all the summery flowers. The image has been colored with Copics and framed with my circle nesties. This image fits the challenges at Cute Card Thursday and The Pink Elephant which were to do with summer.

I embellished this card with some Prima flowers and brads, grosgrain ribbon, and then a sentiment stamped on a tag created with my nesties. The ribbon fits this week's Whimsy Challenges to use ribbons.

Just Magnolia

This is my card for the Just Magnolia challenge. I'm joining the DT for a bit while Kim takes a break. I've been having a great time with these ladies and with these challenges! This week we have a sketch for you which the super talented Rach has created!

I've used more BasicGrey Lemonade papers and SU! cardstock in Razzleberry Red and Melon Mambo. I made this card a while ago and forget that it uses some of the same papers as in my SS card this week. So they match a bit! This little Tilda was stamped for me by my friend Vicki. She's been colored with Copics and highlighted with a gel pen and Spica gold glitter pen. I also added some flower soft to her little flower basket to create some texture.

The sentiment is a SU! one, although at the moment I can't remember which set it's from. I paper pierced the edges and dry embossed the circle piece with my CB. I also added a large Prima flower with a button center and some ribbon and a brad to finish this card off.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great weekend and if you're up for some challenges, be sure to check out both Stamp Something and Just Magnolia this week! Happy Stamping! :)

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Sweet Butterfly

Hi All!

Hope you are having a great Thursday! We've been playing outside and the kids were swimming earlier, such a nice summer day here. Hope it's nice where ever you are too.

I created a card this afternoon for a few challenges. I started out with a different image, but was having some technical difficulties! If anyone has tips on digital images and how to color without smudging the ink, please share!

I used the sketch from Delightful Sketches and some SU cardstock in Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, and Purely Pomegranate. The papers are BasicGrey Lemonade, what else! LOL! I used this sweet Tilda as a butterfly image and colored her with Copics and highlighted with a white gel pen and a gold Spica glitter pen. The edges on this card have been distressed with scissors. I really like the distressed look, plain edges look too...well plain!

The colors on this card fit this week's Charisma Cardz challenge of lemon, green, and pink. I embellished with some Prima flowers, various ribbons, and some buttons. Tilda wings have been glittered up with Dazzling Diamond Dust and crystal effects. I think this sweet image is perfect for the challenge at Cupcake Craft which is sweet somethings. They are celebrating a birthday and doing it big over there, check it out!

Thanks for coming by today. I'm off now to work on my card for tomorrow's Stamp Something challenge. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! Happy stamping! :)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

For My Friend

Happy Wednesday All!

Another week of our summer almost over! Hope you are having a good week. I know I'm already looking forward to the weekend. It's been super hot here and hopefully it will cool down a bit by the end of the week.

I created a card for fun and challenges today. I've been busy lately with DT work and other stuff, so I just wanted to make a card for the fun of it. Sometimes you just need to stamp but for no other reason than to stamp! I'm not sure what I'll do with this one, but it works for a friend card.

I used the sketch challenge over at Whiff of Joy challenges to do the layout for this card. I went with a purple and green color combo, which is one of my favorites. This week PaperTake Weekly is celebrating it's 100th challenge and you can choose your favorite challenge to submit for this week. I don't remember the number of the challenge, but a few weeks ago the challenge was to use your favorite colors. I used Eggplant and Amethyst cardstock with Wisteria BasicGrey papers.

The image is one I received from a friend and it's been colored with Copics and highlighted with a white gel pen and a Spica glitter pen. I chose this image to fit with The Pink Elephant's Summer themed challenge.

I embellished with some Prima flowers, buttons to fit the ABC Challenge B is for Button challenge and then grosgrain ribbon and gingham ribbon with a charm. The sentiment is from Whimsy's Simply Said sentiment set.

Thanks for stopping by today. I'm off now to have some lunch and relax a bit with the kids. Have a great afternoon. Happy stamping! :)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Paper Maniac DT Card and News

Hi all!

Hope you are having a great Tuesday! It's been another scorcher here today and we are hiding out in the A/C. The kids played in their pool earlier, but it's just too hot out now. I used my indoor time to create! I'm hoping to do a little more too.

Today, I have a card to share that I made for some Paper Maniac DT work. I used a fun stamp and sentiment from the cute August Unity Stamp Kit, only available through Unity retailers. Paper Maniac carries these fun kits and you can order them now! For details about these versatile kits, click HERE.

I was in the mood for pinks and browns so I went with some old Stampin' Up! papers and then added a simple strip of ribbon and my image. I framed the image with Nesties and the added the sentiment above the image.

If you enjoy Unity stamps, you should check out Paper Maniac's auto ship option. If you sign up for this program, each month you will receive your kit automatically and you will save 20% off the price of the kit! Pretty cool huh!

The Paper Maniac online shop will celebrate it's grand opening on September 1st! Stay tuned for more details!

Happy Stamping! :)

Monday, August 17, 2009

Whimsy Ribbons and More

Hi All!

I am super late today getting this post up. It's been crazy hot here in NH and so we spent the day at the beach and of course had a great time, but that has set me back! I've been late with everything else today.

I want to share a card I created for the new Whimsy Challenge of Ribbons, Ribbons. We just want to see you use ribbons on your project. You can use a Whimsy image or not, but we'd love you to play either way!

These are the Whimsy Love You Mice. I think they are just super cute, plus I haven't used them in a bit. I colored them with Copics. Speaking of Copics, anyone buy the refills? Are the easy to use or is it better to just order another marker? I have a couple that are running out and I'm not sure of the best way to go about refilling them? Any help would be awesome!

The papers are SU! Night of Navy and Pink Pirouette with BasicGrey Two Scoops. This layout is from the sketch challenge at Stamp with Fun. The papers have been distressed with a pair of scissors. I added some grosgrain ribbon and eyelets for embellishments. Cute Daisy May's challenge is "The Word" which was to focus on a sentiment in your card. I think these little mice sure know how to say LOVE U!

Thanks for popping on by tonight. Have a great evening and a good start to your Tuesday tomorrow! Hope you get a chance to join in at Whimsy Challenges! Happy stamping! :)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Piled on Magnolia

Hi All,

Hope you are having a great Sunday! I didn't think I would be posting a card today, but I was able to squeeze in some stamping time last night and wanted to share. I made a card for a couple challenges and some DT work.

First, this card fits the Just Magnolia Monthly Challenge which is to use the 3D tutorial to create to 3 dimensional image with your Magnolia stamps. Since I'm going to be on the Just Magnolia Design Team for a couple months, I wanted to join in with this fun monthly challenge too. There is a great prize from Simon Says Stamp on offer for a random participant. Head on over and check out the beautiful DT samples and the tutorial!

This card is also for the Pile It On! challenge which this week is to create a boy themed card and of course to also pile on the challenges. Please remember when piling on challenges to use current challenges to be eligible to win.

I used the sketch from Friday Sketchers for the layout of my card. The papers are SU! Bashful Blue and Pumpkin Pie along with BasicGrey Off Beat designer paper. I embellished with some grosgrain ribbons and some BasicGrey buttons. I added a couple silver brads, a metal clip and a bee charm with hemp twine. The charm fits the "So Charming" challenge over at Lili of the Valley.

Thanks for dropping on by today. I hope you have a great afternoon. We are having a party at our house to celebrate our big boy turning 6!

Happy stamping! :)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Whimsy and Scrap and Stamp

Happy Saturday!

Hope you're all enjoying another weekend! We are having a heat wave here so I'm off to play in the pool with the kids. Before I head outside though, I wanted to share a scrap book page. I know, Denise made a scrap book page.!LOL

This week Whimsy Stamps is sponsoring the challenge at Scrap and Stamp Saturday and the gals have asked me to guest design. I was happy to be asked and said yes, but then I had to make a page. Yikes! I'm a card maker, not a scrapper so this was hard for me.

The challenge this week is "whimsical" pages. You can do anything you want that involves some stamping and scrapping and that says whimsical to you.

I decided to use some photos from a recent blueberry picking trip with my good friend Erin and her girls. The kids had a great time and were super at picking too! I paired the photos with some fun papers in blues and purples and then embellished with a flower and some buttons and rhinestone brads. I stamped the title with an alpha set from Stampin' Up! and the little ant parade are ants from Whimsy Animals Accessories Set 2.

If you're looking for a fun challenge, head on over to Scrap and Stamp and join in this week's challenge. You might be a lucky winner and snag yourself some Whimsy Stamps! Have a great weekend. See you on Monday with a new Whimsy Challenge! Happy stamping! :)

Friday, August 14, 2009

Stamp Something and Just Magnolia

Happy Friday All!

Hope your day is going well. I'm excited for another weekend! We are celebrating my son's 6th birthday this weekend and having family over. I can't believe he's 6 already, time sure goes by quickly and they grow up fast! I'm also looking forward to some relaxing too, it's been another busy week.

Stamp Something

So today, I have two cards to share. First, is the card I made for the new Stamp Something challenge. This week we are thinking "Summer Vacation Somethings" and since summer is fast approaching an end, we thought this was a fitting challenge. You can create anything that makes you think of summer or reminds you of something you did on your summer vacation.

For my card I went with some fun summer colors and patterned paper with fruit on it, which both remind of of lazy summer days playing with the kids outside and going to the local farm to pick fresh fruit.

I used this cute Gretel Pixie from CC Designs and colored her with Copics to match my papers. I added some glitter to her hair with a Spica pen and highlighted her with a white gel pen. I added some brads and hardware in red on the image layer. I embellished with some grosgrain ribbons and some flowers with button centers. I also added a strawberry charm for a finishing touch. That charm fits the Lili of the Valley challenge of so charming!

We have a fun prize of 3 clear stamp sets that Erin found in the Stamp Something prize vault. We've been doing a little cleaning around SS and wanted to share with you! One lucky winner will receive all 3 sets! Head on over to Stamp Something and check out all the summery design team samples and the blog candy we have for you this week.

Just Magnolia

Next, I have my card for the new Just Magnolia challenge. I'm a GDT for the month of August, but Bev has asked me to stay on for a couple months to fill in while DT member Kim takes a little break. I'm thrilled to be able to stay for a while. I not only love my cute Magnolia's but these gals are super nice and so talented, it's been an honor to work with them!

The challenge this week is Friendship. Create a project with a friendship theme and a Magnolia image and you are good to go! I've created a card for a very close friend who just celebrated her birthday.

I used some fun and cheerful colors in SU! Crushed Curry, Razzleberry Red, and Taken with Teal. I never use Teal, but I LOVE this color combo. I paired the cardstock with BasicGrey Lemonade papers.

The image is Tilda with Hearts that my friend Vicki stamped for me. And I loved her so much that I actually bought my own stamp this week. Just waiting for her to arrive with a couple of her friends! :) She has been colored with Copics of course and also highlighted with a gel pen and glitter pen. I added some paper piercing to the edge of the image piece.

I finished off this card with polka dot ribbon in Razzleberry and some colorful Prima flowers with button centers. The sentiment is from Whimsy Stamps and the inside has the special birthday message.

Well, that was a long post. Thanks for visiting today. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! Happy stamping! :)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

A New Stamp and Challenges

Hi There!

Hope you are having a great Thursday! I have some house cleaning to do and errands to run, but it's a gray day out there so a good day for chores. I hope to get some stamping in later too!

I have a card to share today that I created for a couple challenges and I also used some new rubber! I decided to buy myself one of the new Elisabeth Bell stamps available at SCACD. Her name is Susan and she's very sweet and fun to color! And SCACD has wonderful service and they're fast too!

This image has been colored with Copics, which I'm sure I don't need to tell you. I always color with Copics. LOL! I also highlighted with a white gel pen. The papers are SU! cardstock in Crushed Curry and Razzleberry Red with a some Regal Rose and Taken with Teal. The printed paper is BasicGrey Lemonade, which I love! That paper pack is my favorite! I found the sketch at A Spoon Full of Sugar. The colors are similar to the Copic Colour Challenge color combo and this also fits the A is for Anything Goes challenge at ABC Challenge.

Thanks for popping by today. I'm off to do my chores now, hope you have a more exciting day planned! Happy stamping! :)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Whiff of Joy and a Couple More

Hi All, happy Wednesday!

Hope you're having a great day. This week is flying right on by again! It's been super humid here in NH and we've been stuck in the house dodging monsoon rain and thunderstorms. We're hoping for a break soon. Today is also the birthday of one of my friends and I just wanted to take a second to wish her a wonderful day! Happy Birthday Janna!

I have a card to share today for a few challenges. To start, I used the color combo challenge and image to fit the Whiff of Joy challenge. This week they wanted you to use Pink and Brown. I haven't made a card with this combo in a while so this was a great challenge. I dug out some old BasicGrey Bittersweet papers and SU! cardstock in Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, and Pink Pirouette.

I received this sweet image from a swap I did with some friends. She's been colored with Copics and highlighted with a white gel pen. I also added some glitter to her hair with a Spica pen. This sketch is from Truly Scrumptious with the added challenge to add bling. I got these cute little pink dangling gems from EllenHutson.com and thought it worked perfectly as bling. I've also added a couple rhinestone brads for a bit more bling. This card also fits the challenge at ABC challenge which was A is for Anything Goes. I finished this card off with some felt and paper flowers and grosgrain ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a great afternoon. Happy stamping! :)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Monday Challenges

Morning All,

We just had a some thunderstorms here with very heavy rain. I'm really not a fan of storms, in fact I hate them! I hope it is drier and quieter where you are!

Now that it's finally quiet here I was able to get to the computer to share the card I made yesterday using some of the Monday challenges and a weekend one too.

I found this sketch along with the color combo over at Cupcake Craft. The Pink Elephant was also a color challenge, which just happened to be very similar to Cupcake's. I used the Parisian Breeze papers from SU! with some Kraft, Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze cardstock. All of the edges have been distressed. I'm really liking distressed edges lately!

The image is a Tilda colored with Copics and highlighted with a gel pen. I cut her out and sat her in the oval frame and stamped a "wish" sentiment about her to fit the challenge of "birthday" at Stamp with Fun. I embellished this card with Prima flowers and a paper rose to fit the challenges at Cute Daisy May and One Stop Craft. I finished this card with some taffeta ribbon, brads, and buttons.

Thanks for dropping by today. Hope you have a great day! Time for me to run some errands now that I can see out the window! Happy stamping! :)

Monday, August 10, 2009

Animal Magic

Hi All!

Happy Monday morning! Hope everyone had a great weekend with lots of relaxing time with family and friends. We had a busy weekend, but got to squeeze in a night out with friends!

Today we have a new challenge posted over on Whimsy Challenges! This week we want to see some animal magic. Create a project using animal images. Super easy right! And you don't have to use a Whimsy image to play along, any animal will do!

This is my sweet Whimsy Pig. She's been colored with Copics, popped up on foam tape in spots, and placed in a bed of flower soft to give her even more of a girly touch. This sketch is from Friday Sketchers and the papers are SU! Old Olive and Pink Pirouette with BasicGrey Lemonade.

I embellished this card with Prima flowers and paper roses to fit the challenge at One Stop Craft of Roses and both challenges at A Spoon Full of Sugar and Cute Daisy May which are floral fantasy. Between the embellished flowers, the flower soft, and the floral pattern on the paper, I think I've got the flowers covered! LOL! I added some grosgrain ribbon and a button to fit the challenge at Simon Says Stamp. And lastly, I added a charm in the shape of a bumble bee to fit the Cute as a Bug theme at Secret Crafter Saturday.

Well, I think that covers everything, have a great day! Happy stamping! :)

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Pile It On - No Patterned Paper

Happy Sunday!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. It's been sunny here so we can't complain!

Today is a new challenge over on Pile It On! Challenges! And this week we want to see you create a project without using any patterned paper, that's right NO patterned paper. This was very hard, or should I say challenging for me! I didn't even use the Cuttlebug! I didn't even want to create my own patterned paper with dry embossing. I really wanted to challenge myself to make a card without ANY kind of patterned paper.

This week PIO is being sponsored by Digi Stamp Characters so the design team has incorporated these cute images into their samples this week.

This is my card using a cute little mouse with flowers image. I colored her with Copics and highlighted with white gel pen and a Spica glitter pen. I left my card very simple since I couldn't use patterned paper. I framed the image with rectangle Nesties and added some aqua/teal ribbon and a butterfly charm tied with black and white gingham ribbon. And there you have it, a black and white card with a little splash of color and no designer paper! LOL!

This card aslo meets the challenges for:
Cute Card Thursday: Tealy Good, use teal and red
Everybody Art Challenge: butterflies
Stamp Something: Charmed Somethings
Kaboodle Doodles: use a digital image

I hope you'll be up for a challenge and join in this week's Pile It On! challenge. Remember at Pile It On, you must use the current PIO challenge along with at least one other current challenge.

Have a great Sunday everyone! See you back here tomorrow with an all new Whimsy Challenge. Happy stamping! :)

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Layers of Color Saturdays

Happy Saturday!

I don't typically post on Saturdays, but I'm going to start sharing Layers of Color creations every Saturday. I design with these stamps and mail my projects to Layers of Color and then sometimes forget to actually share what I've made. I'm hoping a weekly post we keep me on my toes and help me to remember to share!

These two cards I have today both have dry embossed layers that were created using my Cuttlebug and embossing folders. This first one uses the Swirls folder and the color combo of black, white, and purple. I embellished with this fun music note ribbon to match the music notes in the sentiment.

This second card uses the embossing folder Paisley and the colors of Groovy Guava and Regal Rose. Both of these cards use the same stamp set, Birdday Party available at the Layers of Colors online boutique. I embellished this card with a pretty striped ribbon, eyelets, dew drops, and glitter glue.

Thanks for stopping by today, enjoy the rest of your day. I'll be back tomorrow with a new Pile It On! challenge card. Happy stamping! :)

Friday, August 7, 2009

Stamp Something and Just Magnolia

Hi All!

Happy Friday! Hope everyone had a great week and is looking forward to the upcoming weekend. I know I'm excited for some family time and relaxing!

Today, I have 2 cards to share with you. The first one is for Just Magnolia. I was asked to be a guest designer for the month of August and of course I said YES! I love these sweet little images and the DT is so super talented, I'm just honored to be working with them!

This week the challenge is a sketch by the lovely Martine. This was a great sketch to work with, it's different and fun and I know I'll use it again sometime.

My card uses this sweet Tilda sitting and I've colored her with Copics in various shades of purple to match my papers. The papers are SU! cardstock in Almost Amethyst and Elegant Eggplant and the designer papers are BasicGrey Wisteria. I distressed all the edges with my scissors. The embellishments here are buttons and gems, a metal wire heart, and Prima flowers with more gems.

This is photo is to show you the complete tag with the whole image. This card also fits the challenges at Daring Cardmakers, which was bejeweled blitz, but I think I might be too late with my entry. I certainly have a bit of bling on this card!

My next card is for this week's Stamp Something challenge. This week we want to see your Charmed Somethings! Make a creation using a charm of some sort on your project. If you don't have a charm, be creative and make your own. One lucky winner will receive a gift certificate from Quixotic Paperie, this week's sponsor! Head over there now and check out all the details and the fabulous DT samples!

This is my charmed something using this cute Mermaid Emma image from Fred She Said. I've colored her with Copics and added some glitter accents with my Spica glitter pens in gold and clear. I cut the image out and popped her up on foam tape. The papers are some freebies I got from Shabby Princess. I've never downloaded paper before, what fun! I accented this card with a Prima flower and gem flower, some sea shells, little sea themed pins, and ribbon with my charm tied on with hemp twine.

This card fits the challenges at:
Cupcake Craft: Beachy
Creative Card Crew: Under the Sea
Fresh Batch: sketch
Daring Cardmakers: Bejeweled Blitz
Digital Tuesday: Bling

Thanks for stopping by today, have a great weekend! I'll see you back here on Sunday with a new challenge from Pile It On! Happy stamping! :)

Thursday, August 6, 2009

A Sugar Sketch

Morning All!

I actually have a card ready to post in the morning for a change! LOL! Hope you are having a great day so far. I have some errands to run and the kids want to play outside, but before we head out, I wanted to share a card I made today using the Sugar Bowl sketch challenge.

I received this sweet Sugar Nellie image from Erin the other day and wanted to get her colored right away. I just love this image! Thanks Erin!

She's been colored with Copic markers and highlighted with a white gel pen. I framed her using my circle Nesties. The papers are all SU!. The cardstock is Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, and the DSP is Razzleberry Lemonade. I added some white gel pen dots to fit the optional addition to the challenge of doodling.

I embellished with some organdy ribbon and a charm I got at Michael's the other day. I just happened to be standing in line next to a rack of 99 cent charms! It must have been fate! LOL! I also added some vintage brads to the bottom corner. I didn't put a sentiment on this one, I didn't feel I had enough room and then I wasn't sure what I want to use this card for yet. So when in doubt, leave it blank.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great afternoon! Happy stamping! :)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Thanks....for dinner!

Hi All and happy Wednesday!

This week is just flying on by, I can't believe we are already half done another week. Too bad Summer always goes so quickly, but Winter seems to last forever. Before we know it, it's going to be Fall!

And speaking of Fall, Whimsy Stamps is sponsoring the challenge over at Color Throwdown and the colors remind me of Fall season. The challenge this week is to use the colors, or something similar, of Tangerine Tango, Basic Gray, Blush Blossom, and Really Rust.

I created this thank you card with my Whimsy Duck and Animals Accessories Sets. The cardstock colors are Basic Gray, Really Rust, and Pumpkin Pie. I didn't have the Tangerine or Blush papers. I also used a piece of Fancy Pants DSP that had some of the same colors for this color combo challenge. These colors also work with this week's Papertake Weekly challenge of choosing colors to fit the seasons, in this case Fall/Autumn.

I used the sketch from Stamp with Fun to create this card and added some neglected pewter hardware from my stash to fit the challenge at My Time to Craft. I also embellished with grosgrain ribbon, pewter brads, and Prima flowers. I added one button in a blush tone to fit the Color Throwdown challenge.

Thanks for visiting today. Hope you have a fabulous Wednesday! And if you're up for a challenge, head on over to Color Throwdown and enter for your chance to win some Whimsy Stamps! Happy stamping! :)

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Little Swiss Pixie

Morning All,

This is going to be another quick post today. I'm getting ready to head out with the kids and friends to go blueberry picking. YUM! Before we leave, I did want to share I card that I made using some of the new challenges for the week.

This is my new Swiss Pixie Heidi stamp, she's just so cute! I couldn't resist inking her up right away and putting a card together last night. Plus after the "burn the dinner" fiasco, I needed some stamping relaxation! LOL! I still have a pan to clean and fingers crossed I won't need tp throw it out!

The image has been colored with Copics, highlighted with a gel pen and glitter pen, and then framed with my Circle Nesties. This layout is from the sketch challenge at Secret Crafter. I did alter it a bit as they had an oval for the image shape. The papers are SU! cardstock in Old Olive and Razzleberry along with Lemonade papers from BasicGrey.

I added some paper piercing and faux stitching with my gel pen and then placed on some brads and flowers to fit the recipe challenge at The Pink Elephant which was 3 brads, 1 flower, and designer paper. This card also fits the Floral Fantasy challenge at A Spoon Full of Sugar.

Thanks for popping over today! Hope you have a great Tuesday! Happy stamping! :)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Friendship

Hi All!

Well, another Monday almost over. I can't believe how late I am with this post. It's been a crazy day too. Oh and I have a little tip to share....NEVER cook and stamp! Well, that is unless you like burnt on food on your cookware! Not a good thing!

I'm going to make this quick as I have dishes to clean up, more than usual unfortunately and my hubby needs the computer. I just wanted to be able to share my card for this week's Whimsy Challenge which is friendship! A perfect challenge I think considering all the new friends we are making at Whimsy this week with our new Design Team members.

I used my Whimsy Monkey and colored him with Copics and highlighted with some glitter gel pens. The sketch is from Friday Sketchers and the colors are from this week's SPCC color challenge which Whimsy happens to be sponsoring! I hope you'll head over there and play along, you just might win a new Whimsy Alligator stamp!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to have some time for visiting you all tomorrow! Have a great night and happy stamping! :)

Oh and what do you think of my new watermark? The fabulously talented and super nice Ann of Raindrop Echo Designs was kind enough to create it for me. I LOVE it Ann, thank you! :)

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Whimsy Stamps Design Team


Happy Sunday!

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend and finding some time to relax. We've been busy rearranging my craft room and office, what a mess! Still not finished, but needed a break. I don't have a card to share today, but I do have some Whimsy Stamps Design Team news!

As many of you know, Whimsy was in search of a new design team member and we had an open call with ended on Friday. We were overwhelmed by the amount of applications and by the fabulous talent of the applicants. We spent many hours going through blogs and artwork, reading about applicants and their crafting and deliberating and deciding who should be our new member.

After long hours of thought and going back and forth and not being able to pick just one person, we have decided to increase our current team of 10 members to 12 members and that allowed us to choose 3 new people!

Our new Whimsy Designers, who will begin designing this month are:

Stacey Brady
Lisa Cook
Ann Vento

We are thrilled to have these ladies on board and can not wait to start working with them. We know they will do Whimsy proud with their design work and we are excited to see their creations!

We also have a current member leaving at the end of August and have decided to ask one of this calls applicants to take her spot beginning in September. So our 4th new member, who will begin designing next month is:

Alysabeth Johnston

Again, it's a pleasure to introduce Alysabeth and we can't wait to see what she will bring to the Whimsy team!

And lastly, we have decided to bring on a holiday guest designer who will be with us for a 3 month term beginning in October. This talented designer will work with soon to be released holiday themed stamps and create some fun eye candy to celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and anything in between! Let us welcome:

Sharon Traynor

A big huge thank you and welcome to these talented women for joining our team and being so enthusiastic about the future! We are excited and lucky to have all of you and will look forward to getting to know you all and working with each of you!

I hope you will all pop over to their blog and see what great talent each has as a designer! I was blown away by the diversity and creativity!

We would like to thank everyone who applied for the Whimsy Stamps DT. Thank you for sending in wonderful applications and letting us into your world of crafting by sharing about yourself and your art! We appreciate each of you! If you did not make the Whimsy team this time around, we encourage you to try out again in the future. Each of us has our own special talents to offer and we should continue to pursue our design team goals.

Thank you again and welcome to the team ladies! Have a great Sunday everyone, hope to see you back here tomorrow with a card! Happy stamping! :)