Friday, January 29, 2010

Altered Candy Jar


This week the MFT Wednesday Stamp Club Challenge is to create a piece of altered art/home decor using your MFT stamps. Rather than take a trek to the store to find something to alter I looked around the house for something I didn't like and would want to change. I was certain there would be something, actually I'm pretty certain there are lots of things but the refrigerator is a little too big to tackle and my family will object if they can't use it. Plus I like the idea of not spending my money on something when I know that there's soon to be an MFT release and let's face it, I am an MFT junkie. It was love at first sight for me. I saw that headless women in several different scenes and knew these stamps were for me. Eventually I became acquainted with the rest of the line and came to love Flopsey, my rabbit friend here, and all things MFT, the yummy ribbons, the gorgeous bling, the papers, you name it I probably love it and have it or have it on my shopping list.
What I found was a jar that one of the kids had filled with candy and gave me for Christmas, last year, or maybe even the year before that. It was a nice and thoughtful gift but it was ready for a face lift.

To cover the jar I took a sheet of dp that has "I love you" written in script in a variety of colors on it. I zig-zag stitched it onto a piece of white cs. Sorry, there's no company information on the paper. The diameter of the jar is about 13 inches so the strip doesn't go all the way around. I could have tried to piece something together to fit, but I wanted to make a focal point piece and just made it a little larger so that it would cover the space inconspicuously. I used Spellbinder Nestibilities to punch out a scalloped rectangle from MFT pink cs, and a heart and a blossom from white cs. I stamped the white cs heart and blossom with the Hero Arts "Manuscript Background" in SU Real Red and edged the shapes with the real red too. I stamped Flopsey onto Georgia Pacific white cs and colored him with copics then cut him out. For a card I would have mounted him and the heart on a dimensional but I wasn't sure how that would work out with the curve of the jar so both the heart and Flopsey were just adhered to the rectangle. It looked like it would be too plain that way so I dug around to see what else to use on it. I came up with the scrummy MFT red gingham ribbon, some Jolee stickers (aren't those ones on the pink rectangle totally adorable) and MFT bling. The letters on the lid were stamped with MFT bling bet in SU real red, cut out and mounted onto SU Apricot Appeal and cut out again. Then I used my heat tool to affix the crystals onto the rectangle and the letters.
The only thing left to do was to fill it up. I let Liddy pick out the candy. She knew I was going to take a picture of it and she told me I should scatter some of the candy hearts around the jar for the photo. Watch out my fellow junkies, I think she's studying what we do.
Thanks for visiting, why don't you bookmark me and come back regularly, after all you're the reason I do this. Oh, and don't forget to click on the pink ribbon before you go.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The Present

"Each new day is a gift - that's why it's called it the present" That's the sentiment stamped on the bottom right of this journal. And this is a present. I made a journal for a friend for Christmas. Her mother saw it and loved it. To make a long story short my friend wanted to know if I would make one for her mother for her birthday. So here's the birthday present I made for her.
I asked what her hobbies and interests were. The answer was "angels". No to gardening, no to music, no to travelling, no to movies, no to theatre, no to reading, no to shopping, no to cooking, nothing other than angels. I only have two angel stamps, one is a bunny angel and this is the other one. Fortunately for me she liked this one from the SU set Heavenly Days.
My friend's job was to supply the journal and I would supply the rest, I think I could cover a book a day for the rest of my life and still have some paper to leave to my heirs. She found a journal with quotes in it and it has dark blue covers. I'm sorry I forgot to take a "before" photo. This week's Color Dare challenge is "Not Quite Certainly Blue Suede". That translates into Not Quite Navy, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Bordering Blue and Soft Suede which are colors I like together and I needed to cover the book with a dark blue cardstock so this is a perfect challenge for this project. The dp is all from a pack called "Baby Boy Soft" from Creative Memories. I chose this for two reasons, the first is I wanted something with stars on it, because the angel is flying. I was searching through my stash looking for a dark blue paper with white stars but when I got to this package I saw the light paper with the stars and the second reason is that the other papers had all the colors except the soft suede that the I needed for the Color Dare challenge.
I really liked the layout Mojo 123 for the Mojo Monday Sketch Blog this week. OH! OH! OH! I have to mention that the card (Snuggle Up) I posted, on Monday for that challenge won the MFT Wednesday Stamp Club challenge for last week. Okay, enough boasting, now back to this card. As I was saying I really liked that layout so I used it again for this journal.
Here's the rest of the deets: it's stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on white Georgia Pacific cs and colored with copics, a gellyroll glitter pen was used to highlight the curls and for outlining. the edges of the paper and the edges of all the papers are sponged with Ranger Distress Ink "Weathered Wood". The image is matted on SU Bordering Blue cs. The ribbon in the layout is SU Soft Suede. The present is popped up on dimensionals.
Thanks for visiting. I hope to see you again.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

This Kitty's Got Heart


How cute is this cool kitty? I just love this kitty. She reminds me of my first kitty, Samantha. Sammy was a very sweet cat, she made friends with my father when he was repairing a porch on his house. Odd because my father didn't like cats. He was a dog person but Sammy just sat down on the job and hung out with him all day. I went over to visit my mom and saw this cat just sitting there watching him like she belonged there. I went out to see what was shaking and she let me pet her and pick her up and I decided to adopt her. She came along with me as if we'd been born together. One of the neatest things about her was that even though I didn't have her declawed she didn't destroy my furniture, or my apartment. . She was very affectionate, a perfect pet. The cat in the stamp is Sprinkles (I think that's her name). I love her too and there are so many cute images with her in them that I can make cards for just about any occasion with her in them. She's from the Cat's Pajamas January releases. This set is called "Loving Mew". Today is TCP Tuesday and this week the hostess with the mostess is Leigh O'Brien. She gave us a sketch challenge TCPTUES94 which I used for this and four other cards for my co-workers.
I stamped the image with Memento "Tuxedo Black" on white cs that was edged with "Antique Linen" Ranger Distress Ink as were all the edges of all the papers. The cat's mat is Pink Lemonade cs from MFT and that cs was also used for the border that was punched with the Marta Stewart "Lace Hearts" punch. The rose paper (it's hard to tell that the dp is a photo of gorgeous pink roses) is "Rose Bouquet" from Paper Adventures. I don't know what the other papers are but I wish I had more of the one used for the crossbar cause that is a really cute pattern. The heart shaped button is from The Cat's Pajama and there's a little hot fix crystal on top. The circle under the image was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The image and the mat were die cut with Spellbinder's Nestibilities Label 8. I think that's all the deets.
There are a couple other challenges I had in mind when I made this. Some of them may have closed already but they are on my list so here they are:
Cooking It Up With Kate -here's the recipe challenge 1.) Use a "non human" image (Sprinkles); 2.) Add some texture (the embossed circle); and 3.) Use a product you've never used before (this could include using a new stamp/image) (the kitty stamp).
Crazy 4 Challenges C4C21 - Pretty in Pink
Allsort's Challenge Week 36 - Hearts and Flowers
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back soon. Don't forget to click on the pink ribbon before you go.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Snuggle Up


Even though it's late I wanted to get this card posted so I'm going to try to be quick. It's for three challenges. The Wednesday Stamp Club on the MFT forum at Splitcoast. Kim's challenge was to do one or all three of the following things: 1) Add texture to your cards; 2) Use either In the Background or Snuggle Bunnies; and 3) Follow the layout of the card I created. I choose to to use the stamp and to add texture to the cardstock I used for the moon by running it thru my Sizzex in a Cuttlebug folder.

The Color Throwdown Challenge #76 is to use
So Saffron, Old Olive and Melon Mambo. The card's base is SU So Saffron, and the cs mat around the image is SU Old Olive. The stamped image is colored with copics, I brought in some pink there and also with the button, that's about as close I'm gonna get to the Melon Mambo.

I used the layout from the Mojo Monday Sketch Blog Challenge MOJO123. The dp is from DCWV Nana's Nursery stack. I substituted three yellow hot fix crystals from MFT for the buttons.
The inside was finished off with the DCWV paper.
Here's the rest of the deets: the image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on Georgia Pacific cs, the edges were sponged with Ranger distress Scattered Straw and the star is covered with Glitzy Glitter.
Thanks for stopping by, please click on the pink ribbon before you leave.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Indulge Yourself


How do you indulge yourself? The Shirley's 2 Girls Challenge #40 is to Share Your Indulgence. I'm only relatively self-indulgent. I don't do a lot of indulgent stuff because I'm just not all that girlie-girlie all the time. I like the way manicures and pedicures look. But I don't care enough about them do have my nails done regularly. I like a bath in the spa tub with the jets going, but usually I'd rather spend the time watching TV. But I do love to have a piece of cake, no ifs, ands or buts. So I knew when I saw this challenge that there's be a card with cake in my future and here is is.
I usually like the sketches I find on the Sweetest Thing blog and today was no exception so I used the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #53 for my layout. When I had the pieces assembled I thought it needed something more but the embellishments I tried, like flowers, were too much or like bling, were too little. I finally decided to add some glitter, so I drew scrolley lines with an ink pen and added The Cat's Pajamas Pink Giltzy Glitter. I think it's just the right touch.
When I finished the card I went through my challenge list and found that it would be good for a few more, here's the list:
The Paper Sundaes - recipe challenge - use brown (the card stock), pink (the dp and coloring), lace and flowers (the dp base is flowery, but the glitter may make it hard to see)
Allsorts Week 36 - Hearts and Flowers
Crazy for Challenges C4C21- Pretty in Pink
Crafty Creation Challenge #52 - Valentines or Love
Simon Says - Punch It (the heart die cut)
The Cat's Pajamas - Make a Valentine
Creative Belli Blog Challenge 83 - Hearts
Wow, that's a lot of challenges.
Here's the deets:
Paper - DCWV Garden Party Stack and Card stock
Ink - image stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black, sponging with Ranger Tattered Rose, Frayed Burlap and Antique Linen
Stamp - Shirley's 2 Girls "Cake Baker" (funny note, when I stamped it I masked the sentiment for another challenge but I ended up cutting it out so you can't tell, otherwise the challenge list would have been even longer)
other stuff: scalloped heart Nestibilities, TCP glitzy glitter, lace, copics, Stickles, sewing
Well, that's today's card. For some reason I feel like my mojo is gone. I hate this feeling. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Thanks for visiting, come back again. Before you leave please click the pink ribbon.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Howl About a Dance

What does a woman want? That question was posed on the Splitcoast Fan Club as a challenge. I recently saw a movie or TV show where a woman answered that we don't know what we want. She may be right. I can name a lot of things I want but overall I don't know what I want and world peace seems awfully trite.

At Splitcoast you can pay a small fee and become a Fan Club Member. On Sunday you can't upload your work unless your a Fan Club member. Sadly, the Sunday upload was the main reason I joined but lately I've been thinking I should pay more attention to the gallery because that's where you find the best of the best stampers' work. If you are a frequent visitor at Splitcoast you've probably noticed the "Dirty Dozen" or "Dirty Dozen Alumni" designation on the avie's of your favorite stampers. If you haven't noticed it at all start looking.

Do you buy stamps even if you don't have a use in mind? Or do you just buy "special" stamps and use them over and over. I buy stamps that call to me. I may not know what I'm going to do with them or when I'm going to use them but I figure if it calls to me eventually I'll use it. That's the case with this stamp. I'd seen it on many cards and I always liked it. I don't remember when I purchased the Inkadinkado "Friendship" set but I've had it a long time. I've also been a Fan Club member for awhile and haven't payed much attention to the galleries or challenges. This weekend I decided to see what was going on in the latest Fan Club gallery and was pleasantly surprised by the Floral, Feminine and Flirty theme. I decided to play along with the Central Theme Challenge - What Does a Woman Want. I know I want a pretty party dress and the good times to celebrate that go along with the dress. The color challenge that went along with this is blue and white based on a Tiffany gift box. I had that in mind but I haven't received too many Tiffany boxes so I may be off on the shade of blue but I kept picturing getting a string of pearls to go along with the dress and those pearls are in a Tiffany box.

The layout is from the Midnight Madness Sketch challenge MMSC37.
If you haven't played along with them you should. They'll make you feel right at home. I tweaked it a little but that's okay. On the top crossbar I stamped the Hero Arts "Manuscript Background" in Color Box "Silver". I wanted to emboss it but I couldn't find my Versamark stamp pad so I went with the silver ink. It doesn't show up very well in the photo, it may be easier to see if you click on the photo and enlarge it but I'm not even sure that will work cause you can barely see it on the actual card but even those subtle touches make a difference in the finished piece.

What do you think about that button? Isn't it the perfect match for this paper? You wouldn't believe some of the crafting stuff I have hanging around. That button has got to be twenty-five years old if it's a day, cause it's from when I sewed clothes and I haven't done that in well, twenty-five years. LOL at myself. I've got one more and I'm hoarding it for now. The button is holding a tag made with a Martha Stewart punch. I just wrote the sentiment on it.

This dsp is from My Mind's Eye. There are two different papers. I used the two solid sides and just one of the prints, that one's called "Fresh Beauty Summer Dress" - ain't that a funny coincidence. The dress was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Georgia Pacific cs, it's colored with copics and the edges are sponged with SU Soft Sky. The pearls are Joy Crafts and the ribbon is from My Favorite Things, I think it's from the summer collection.

I think I covered all the details except to thank you for visiting. I hope to see you here again.

Oh, and here's something we all want, an end to Breast Cancer so with that in mind, go click on the pink ribbon, it isn't much but it's the ripple effect.

Monday, January 18, 2010

No Calorie Cupcakes


Stamping cupcakes is one way to make them without absorbing any calories, but eating them is more fun. If I had my way I'd eat them at every meal. Why is it that the really yummy foods are just not good for you?
This fun stamp, Cupcake Divs, is from Stamping Bella. It's stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on white Georgia Pacific cs and colored with copics. The earrings are MFT pearls. The cherries are coated with SU Crystal Effects and there's a touch of stickles on the icing of each cupcake. The image and it's mat were cut with Creative Memories tools. The edges of both are sponged with Ranger Distress Worn Lipstick.
Here's the challenges:
1.) Pile It On #2 - Tie It Around It - use at least three ribbons (and use at least one more challenge)
2.) The Pink Elephant #50 - sketch
3.) All Sorts Week #35 - Color combination Pink and Brown
Here's the rest of the deets: The dp is SU Berry Bliss (sorry it's retired). The pink cs is from MFT, the brown cs is Bazzill. The punch if SU Scalloped Eyelet.
I really enjoyed making this card and am very pleased with the way it turned out. I need to pull out this stamp more often. It always makes me happy. Thanks for visiting, please come back soon and I hope you'll leave a comment.
Don't forget to click the pink ribbon.

Let's Go to the Beach


Aaaah, the beach, I'm so happy to get back to a summer image. It is kind of funny that yesterday I did a challenge called "winter fun" and said that my idea of winter fun is sipping drinks by the pool and today I'm doing the Paper Cutz challenge #24 to make something with a Summer/Beach theme. Now that's what I'm talking about. It's bad enough I have to live with the cold weather but at least I can imagine the warm weather while I'm playing with my craft materials. And no one needs to remind me that it was cold in Florida last week, cause I know it was, but there's still palm trees and flamingos and it's already warming up there.

When you think of beach houses does a color scheme come to mind. I always think of blue and white and a nautical theme. So for a beach card the Stamp Something color challenge - blue and white is just right. The only other thing I needed was my layout. I found one at the CCEE Stampers challenge. I thought that blog was discontinued when I couldn't find it for a couple weeks, but I saw it listed on someone's blog. When I have some time to putter around I'll put the badge back up on my sidebar. I have quite a few challenges that I need to list there. It makes finding the sites so much easier when they are right there waiting for me to click on them. There are some really fine minds out there figuring out all this Internet stuff. To me it's magic. Same as turning on the radio and the TV to me is magic.
Now for the rest of the deets: The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on Georgia Pacific cs, colored with copics and then the edges were sponged with Ranger Distress Faded Jeans. The blue cs is SU and the yellow cs is DCWV. The border was punched with the EK Success Dotted Wave punch.
Because the card base is so dark the inside is finished with the scraps of the dp and the punch was used to edge the white card stock. It's a nice touch to finish off the inside, makes the card really special. It's also good to stamp something or use a little of the dp on the envelope too. I need to remember to do that more often.
As always, I am so thrilled that you come to visit my blog and am especially happy when you leave comments. So thanks for visiting, I hope you come back often.
Please click the pink button, by the way, once you get to the Breast Cancer Awareness site you can always snag a badge and have people click on it when they visit your site. Maybe you'll save a life and it's good karma. And, yes I do believe in karma.

Winter Fun


Have you visited here before? Do you know anything about me? In particular do you know how I feel about winter, cold weather, and snow? This week the Stampin' B's challenge #41 is to make a fun winter card. To me having fun in the winter is sipping a Malibu Rum and Pineapple juice by the pool in Honolulu. Too bad I don't have a stamp with that image yet. I figure the design team at Stampin' B has a more traditional winter fun in mind, so I came up with this card instead but I bet there's a lot of you out there who have the same idea about winter fun as I do. At least making this card was fun and it is winter.
There are three other challenges for this card: the OCC color challenge to use blue and green; the Charisma Cardz Challenge #2 - Anything New (the stamp is brand new) and the new Paper Sundaes first challenge which is a sketch.
Here's the deets: the image is "Tweeny Teen Frosty Friends" one of the new PI's from the MFT January release. It's stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Georgia Pacific cs and colored with copics. There's Glitzy Glitter on the snowman and Stickles on the pompoms and the girl's scarf. The dp is from My Mind's Eye "Wonderful Winter" pad. The green cs is KI Memories and the blue cs is Nicole. The bling is from MFT. The edges of the papers are sponged with Ranger Distress "Vintage Photo" . The sentiment's tag was made with a Martha Stewart punch. The thread I used to stitch on this card is a Sulky variegated metallic green.
Thanks for visiting, I'd love it if you left a comment and before you go, please click on the pink ribbon.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Pure Innocence Adoration


As soon as I received my order from the MFT January release which included this little cutie, one of the PI's (that's Pure Innocence for any of you non MFT junkies reading this). I am smitten with these images and so are most of the other MFT junkies. I just had to get them inky. So I looked through the challenges I like to participate in and came up with the sketch challenge from Crazy 4 Challenges C4C20. There's a lot of my MFT friends over at that challenge, so I'm always in good company there. This week's challenge is a sketch, sort of simple and I love it because you can really showcase you're stamped image and dp's when you have a simple layout. And when you want to get crazy with punches and embellishments you can add them on. Usually I can find a color challenge or a theme to go along with the sketch but with all the challenges I check out regularly (and there are a lot of them) I didn't have another one to play.



After I checked out the day's challenges I visited some of my favorites blogs and first up was Joann B's "Just a Little Something..." and low and behold Joanne is issuing a challenge to her followers. Even if you're not interested in a challenge you should go check out her blog. There's always something great to see and sometimes there's a tutorial, like her recent tutorial on water coloring. Which leads to her challenge to use one or more of any of the following: water coloring (did that using SU watercolors), MFT's Pure Innocence (got that with "My Umbrella"), MFT's Bling Bet (not this time), Beloved Paper from MME (don't have that paper but I did use My Mind's Eye "Dreamy 2") Pearls (couldn't picture them with this card), Machine Sewing (yep, I'm loving using my new little machine).
Here's the rest of the deets on this card: it's stamped in Stazon black on a MFT White Perfect Panel, the paper outside the image is sponged with Ranger Distress Weathered Wood"; the red cs is from DCWV, the yellow cs is Best Occasions; the hardware is SU Hodgepodge. The inside is finished off with more of the dp and the cs is punched with Fiskar's "Sunburst" border punch.


I had some more time on my hands so I decided to make one more PI card and this time I decided I would play along with the Color Throwdown challenge #75 to use Rich Razzleberry (oooooooh, I love that color), Garden Green and Mellow Moss. An excellent choice of colors, and ones that I like together. Don't they make a great combination for an Easter Card? So for this card I switched to copics for coloring the image. When using copics I stamp with Memento inks, this one is Tuxedo Black and is stamped on an MFT white Perfect Panel. The edges are sponged with Ranger's Distress Shabby Shutters. The dress is paper pieced with dp from SU's "Cottage Walls" and the rest of the dp is from that collection. The cs is from SU in the challenge colors. The bling which looks so much better in real life if MFT hot fix crystals and that green flower hanging off the ribbon is a ka'jinker. There's some stickles on the eggs in the basket and the border punch is Martha Stewart's "Floral Lace". The sketch is from the first 100 MFT sketches created by Frances Bryne and Cindy Haffner. If you ever need a layout you're sure to find one there. If you follow my blog you know I'm on a quest to finish the first 100 sketches and this is MFTSC60. Another one down. I also stitched on this card. You may or may not be able to tell that this is a variegated thread with a nice shine to it. If you're a thread junkie too then you should know it's from Sulky. I haven't been mentioning the thread I use and most of you probably don't care or think, thread is thread but anyone who is an avid sewer knows that there are all kinds of threads out there and some are fun and pretty and then there's practical mercerized white. You will probably need to go to a good fabric store or a quilting store to find the really fun threads. Bring your will power with you.

I will rest easy tonight knowing that I have just enabled someone else to go out and buy some expensive thread to use on a card. Hey, you only live once and if you into sewing but have only been on the fringes well you should know there's a world of threads waiting for you to try.

I always sleep better knowing that you all are clicking on the pink ribbon. So don't forget about that and come on back soon. Thanks for visiting.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Howling Hearts and Flowers


I've finally gotten around to howling with the Midnight Madness Challenge MMSC36. Those pesky holidays can get in the way of playtime. It's a shame you can't make cards and celebrate with your family and friends at the same time. Since you can't you gotta sit and be sociable cause if you don't spend any time with them you probably won't have much need for cards.
Okay, it's late and I'm not coming up with anything funny to say so I'm going straight for the info.
I combined the Midnight Madness challenge with a couple others, the Simon Says Challenge - Shabby Chic and the Crafty Creations Challenge #50 - Textures and the Copic Colour challenge #46 (which I just realized is last week's challenge but that's where I got the colors so it gets listed.)
Here's the deets: the dp is K & Co "Life's Journey". The cs is DCWV, it's punched with the Martha Stewart Lace Hearts border punch. The stamp is "My Funky Valentine" from Impression Obsession. It's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with copics then Ranger Distress Tea Dye was sponged onto it. It was cut out with a Spellbinder's heart shaped nestibility and the cs was cut with a scalloped hearts nestie. The edges of the dp were also sponged with the Tea Dye ink. Some of the lines and dots in the image were highlighted with a gelly roll pen. The flower is from Prima.
Thanks for visiting.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Kowabunga! Baby Brother


Kowabunga! Isn't this a cute card for a little boy? How about a not so little boy? My "baby" brother's birthday is Friday so I made this card for his big day. I may have gone a bit over the line when I added the "You're How Old?" to the Kowabunga sentiment. You know what they say about pay back, I may live to regret this. It's never a safe bet to torment someone younger than you are about their age.
Because my brother lives in sunny (but currently not so warm) Florida I picked this little surfer dude. He's from the The Cat's Pajamas. This week the hostess with the mostess for the Cat's Pajamas challenge TCPTUES92 is Joanne Basile from Just a Little Something blog (go visit, you'll like it) and she's got a color challenge to use Chocolate Chip, Baby Blue and Kraft, a very fun color combo with works well with the surfing theme. There's also a blog hop to welcome Jen Del Muro's brand spanking new baby boy, the hop starts at Joanne's blog.
Since I've been playing with my sewing machine I was happy to find the Just Us Girls #15 challenge to "Add Stitching". The Crazy 4 Challenges C4C19 challenge is to create a card with a birthday theme and the challenge TPE#49 at the Pink Elephant is also Birthdays.
So here's the rest of the deets: the swirly dp is "Ellen-Starfish" from Me and My Big Idea; the cs is kraft from SU and SnoCone from MFT; Memento Rich Cocoa ink; MFT ribbon; starfish charm from K & Co; Dotted Wave border punch from EK Success.
Thanks for visiting, come back again, before you go click on the pink ribbon.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Puppy Love



I haven't done a Shirley's 2 Girls challenge in awhile so tonight was the night to work on this week's sketch challenge S2GSC38. Shirley's girls add a twist to the sketch, this week the twist is to "Use Hearts". Okay, that says "Valentine" to me so I went through my S2G stamps to find something appropriate and there it was "Puppy Love", a totally cute stamp that just happens to have hearts on it. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black on Georgia Pacific cs and colored it with copics.

Originally I was leaning towards some flowery romantic paper but once I picked this stamp I had to change that game plan. I went with the Pet Stack from DCWV and the cs is from DCWV too. Funny thing, in 2008 I got a pad of that paper from my Annie, our oldest daughter. This year I got the same paper from our daughter-in-law. Fortunately I really like that paper and of course I love cats and dogs, so I guess the kids have me figured out. I got out the little sewing machine and stitched the dp to the cs. I'm enjoying playing with my new toy. I tied a piece of MFT ribbon on the side strip, that ribbon is yummy and it ties up beautifully. I like the way buttony bows look but I have these little hearts by Jolee, like the candy we all loved as kids and decided to put one of them on the bow's center instead of the button. I used dimensionals between the layers and finished off the inside. I punched the border of the cs with the Martha Stewart "Lacy Hearts" punch.
Since babies and puppies are both new this card is also good for Cute Card Thursday's Challenge #94. And it's layered so it's going in the ABC Challenge - L is for Layers. I've posted several cards on that challenge, well, I layer most of my cards. By the end of the week those guys are gonna be sick of me.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again. Don't forget to click on the pink ribbon.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Cheers!

This week there's a couple challenges for New Year's cards and for glitter. I love glitter and happen to have this great stamp from Impression Obsession that hasn't been inked up yet so VOILA! I inked it up with Memento Tuxedo Black, and colored it in with copics then got out the stickles and a sparkly gelly roll pen and glitzed it up. I couldn't figure out what paper to use. I wanted something festive. I had to search for awhile till I found this. It's a package of Graduation themed paper from Creative Memories that have been sitting around for a long time. I used a Martha Stewart "Cheers" border punch on the gold paper. That yummy gold ribbon is from MFT, don't know why but a buttony bow didn't appeal to me for this card. I also got out my little sewing machine and sewed the gold paper onto black card stock and I popped that layer up on dimensionals but the black cs just doesn't show up well in the photo. I adamantly protested sewing on my paper craft projects but now that I've started I'm enjoying it and thinking that I wasted an awful lot of time resisting it. So I figure at about 9:05 on Monday morning my buddy Eileen will be looking at this saying to herself "I told you so". Well Ei, you were right! I wonder how long it'll be before I have to dig out the Bernina, it does have some really cool stitches programmed on it and they would look great on paper...
So here's the challenges:
1.) Pile It On #31 Welcome 2010 (and the theme of PIO is to combine it with at least one other challenge)
2,) ABC Challenge- L is for layering
3.) Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #55
4.) Cute Card Thursday Challenge #94 - All new, feature something new
5.) Creative Belli Blog #82 - use glitter or rhinestones
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Happy New Year Penguins


Love! Love! Love the penguins! It's no wonder they look happy, they're toasting in the New Year (The Pile It On challenge #31 is to welcome 2010 and the Cute Thursday Challenge #94 is to feature something new) with a Cosmo in a sugar coated glass. The sugar coating is Glitzy Glitter and it looks so yummy on cards. It's for the Cat's Pajama's challenge to use glitter. Coincidentally the Creative Belli Bling Challenge #82 is also to use glitter or rhinestones. I'm not a big fan of the Cosmo but I am a big fan of pink. The drink is a Cosmo because the Crafty Creations challenge is to use black and white with a splash of color and I love the way pink looks with black and white. This is one of my favorite go to layouts and it's also the layout for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #5190oooo-9o. It's simple, can be done quickly, looks great and you can spice it up with some simple embellishments like the tag (made with a Martha Stewart punch) and the Taylor's Tiny Twinkle stuck on the center of the bow made from floss. You will probably have to click on the picture to enlarge it in order to see it. The black MFT ribbon is gorgeous in person but it doesn't photograph well.
Here's the rest of the deets: the dp is DCWV Glitter Stack and the edge of the white cs is sponged with Ranger Distress Ink Tattered Rose.
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Three's the Charm


This is the third birthday card I made Saturday and I still need two more that I can think of, geez, if I dare to look in my calendar I'll probably see that I need even more. Luckily, I like to make cards.

If you're a regular reader of this blog or and MFT junkie just happening by you know that I have been on a mission to finish the first 100 sketches. I have about 40 left to do and this card brings me one sketch closer. This is MFTSC78, one of Cindy Haffner's and Frances Byrne's creations. If you ever need a starting point you're sure to find one in their sketches.

So as I said earlier I'm making birthday cards and luckily for me there's a birthday card challenge C4C19 over on Crazy 4 Challenges. Isn't it a funny coincidence that Cindy and Frances are both part of that team?

This stamp is from the MFT "Wrapped In Love" set. You gotta love those headless WTG (Who's That Girl?). It's stamped on an MFT cream Perfect Panel in Memento Tuxedo black and colored with copics. The edge of the panel is pounced with Ranger Distress "Scattered Straw". This time she's lugging a gigantic present that must be filled with something outrageous. I know I'd love to open that box. I pieced it with metallic red paper. It's nice and shiny. I pieced her dress with Reminisce "Set the Table" paper and it goes great with the MFT red checked ribbon which is tied into a buttony bow. The other dp is October Afternoon "Cherry Hill: Tea Towel".

This card is for a very special friend who loves red so I was very happy to find the Color Dare Challenge 50 combination of Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel and Bermuda Bay. Between the inside and the outside there's Stampin' Up card stock in all the Dare colors. The layering makes it work for the ABC Challenge, L is for Layering.
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Happy Birthday Alison


There's my girls, Alison and Liddy. Of course Liddy has to make a goofy face if she knows she's being photographed; at least Al smiled nicely. Alison's birthday is coming up so it'll be party time soon. We're planning the menu. Al wants Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic and Cheesecake. She doesn't care if we have anything else. I love that chicken dish and so has everyone I've made it for. I make it with the Barefoot Contessa's recipe and it is yummy, it's heavy because it's made with cream but it's perfect for a special occasion like a birthday. I guess we'd all be content with just the two items but I think we need to add a few more items for a more balanced meal. Liddy says she wants to make something from Julia Child. We saw "Julie and Julia" over the holidays, it must have made an impression. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'll get back to you later on how the party goes and if Liddy was one of the cooks and if she was one of the cooks what she made and how badly she destroyed the kitchen.
Even though Alison isn't a little girl anymore I wanted to use one of the MFT Pure Innocence stamps for her card and isn't "My Balloon" a perfect choice for a birthday card? This summer I picked up a package of Close To My Heart "Daydream" paper. I've been waiting for a reason to use it and it is perfect for the sweet little girl image. The image was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with copics. Her dress was pieced with paper from the "Daydream" pack. The edge of the circle was pounced with Ranger Distress Ink "Worn Lipstick". Her barrette and the balloon were covered with stickles.

Here's the challenges:
The Crazy 4 Challenges C4C19 Birthday Theme; the Allsort's Challenge week 34 a sketchy challenge with anything you'd like to add; the ABC challenge L is for Layering and Fashionista Friday #17 Use Chipboard.
I hope Alison likes her card as much as I do, and I hope you all like it too, leave a comment and let me know what you think about it. Thanks for visiting, please come back again.

Getting Out My Mojo


I don't know about your calendar but my January is full of birthdays so I got busy making cards and playing challenges in the process. This card is for the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #120; the Color Throwdown #74 challenge to use Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip and Dusty Durago; the Crazy 4 Challenges C4C19 Theme Challenge - Birthday and the ABC Challenge - "L" is for Layering.

The card stocks on this card are all from Stampin' Up in the colors of the throwdown. I have a couple papers that also have the throwdown colors so I picked the Imaginisce papers because they have a little mushroom that is range with white polka dots on it and one of my favorite stamps, MFT's Pure Innocence Fairy Girl has a polka dotted mushroom on it. Funny thing, the bottom paper is the one with the mushroom on it but all the other layers on top of it cover the mushrooms up. The image is stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on an MFT white Perfect Panel and punched out with a nestibilities as is the scalloped oval. The edge of the inner oval was pounced with Ranger Distress Ink "Tattered Rose". The image was colored with copics, the dress was pieced with one of the Imaginisce papers. The shoes' pompoms, her barrette and the mushroom's dots were covered with stickles. The fairy wings are covered with Glitzy Glitter. The pearls are Hero Arts, the bling in the wand is a ZVA self-adhesive crystal. The chocolate chip cs was punched with Fiskar's Sunburst border punch.
The inside of the card was finished off with the same papers and a sentiment from the MFT "Wrapped In Love" set was stamped on it.
Thanks for visiting, I hope you'll come back soon. Don't forget to click on the pink ribbon before you leave.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Bling Box


WOW! Look at me, I'm blogging again. That may sound silly to you but you have no idea how computer UNsavvy I really am and with "MY" laptop on the fritz I am lost. I knew how to do what I needed to do on that sucker and don't know how to get much done on most other computers. So I finally got a loaner, and then I had to find the software from my camera so I could get the pics on here by myself, and then I needed more lessons on using this computer. I still can't do much editing of the pics but at least I now feel confident enough to be able to get something done and eventually I might get to the point that I really understand what the heck I'm doing. Enough of me going on about this.

Woohoo, I'm back just in time for the new MFT sketch challenge. My favorite team of Cindy Haffner and Frances Bryne (AKA Stamp Owl) are back at it. They are both on the MFT Design Team and boy can they cook up some great sketches as well as make some outrageous cards. If you're not familiar with their work go visit their blogs by clicking on their names. If you like a sketch challenge and who doesn't like a sketch challenge go check it out. You could win a prize and you can chat with the "junkies". That's all us whacky stampers who can't get enough of MFT.
For Christmas I gifted myself with a Janome Mini. I don't have room for my Bernina in my craft room and I don't want to be going down to the basement SO I got the little machine that is easy to move off and on my desk. I took it out for its first run on this project. I really enjoyed doing it and I can hear my buddy Eileen now, she knew I was going to start sewing on them eventually and kept telling me so. I kept saying I wasn't going to do it. The fact is that I started sewing before I could write, I guess it was inevitable that I would sew on my papercrafts. I need a little more practice on this machine, the Bernina is so much easier to use.
So what we have here is a Burberry box that my boss gave me. Her mother thinks it's funny that she does her "recycling" with me. She can keep the stuff coming, she has some of the best garbage around, and it's not like I'm ever gonna buy anything Burberry that comes in a neat box like this. First of all I love the color and it's a great size and check out how it opens with that flap coming down. I gotta remember to ask her what the heck came in the box. Now as you can see in the pic it's the perfect size to house my MFT bling. Looks like I can get four more sets in there.
So here's the rest of the deets: the dp is from the Cosmo Cricket "Earth Love" Mini Deck. The cs is SU Soft Suede and the yellow cs is DCWV. The stamps are MFT "Bling Bet" and the letters are stamped with SU Soft Suede, the girl is MFT Pure Innocence "Apple for You" stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on an MFT white Perfect Panel and colored with copic markers and her dress is paper pieced. Her barrette, shoes and apple are coated with SU Crystal Effects. And the bling is MFT hot fix crystals.
I really love the new Pure Innocence line of stamps, I love how this box came out and I just love MFT, can you tell?
Thanks for visiting, I hope you'll leave a comment and expect that you'll click on the pink ribbon before you leave.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

It's a Girl Thing


In case you don't know, my laptop is out of commission and I'm begging 'puter time to get this posted. Also I don't have any idea how to edit this pic. My hubbie loaded this straight from the memory card onto the desktop and I don't have any photo software to play with here. I'm praying for a speedy recovery but it isn't looking good right now.

This card was made with the new stamp set "Chick Flick" which is being released tonight by MFT. I made it for the color challenge a couple weeks ago but then the computer went and the card sat till now.


How can you not LOVE this stamp. It is so every "chick" I know. I love to watch movies with my daughter and we always share a big bowl of very buttery popcorn. The only thing is we are not really into typical "chick" flicks. We do like the romantic comedies but not so much plain old romances, but it's about sitting down together and sharing an experience.


About the card, I distressed the edges and made faux stitches on the dp's and did lots of paper piecing. Because the card base is a very deep shade of red I decided to do something on the inside too. I even used some of the little baby brads that my MFT Junkie buddies like to hoard.


Here's the rest of the deets. The paper for the couch is Grandma's Kitchen "Simple Stripes", the reverse side was used for the solid PJ bottoms. The red polka dot and red swirly paper is Me and My Big Ideas "Color Basic REd". The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo black and what wasn't paper pieced was colored with Prismacolor pencils.


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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Hang in there

I'm still without MY computer so no cards to post. Hoping to be back soon. In the meantime if you're looking for a place to visit, go see what's going on at Kim's blog on MFT. She's posting the sites where the previews for the January release can be seen.
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