Buggin 2 Stamp

PMS Digi Challenge #21

2012-01-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it is the end of January and Valentine's Day is right around the corner. So with the anticipation of the holiday for lovers our challenge is

I used the cute Color Kid with Valentine from the January Release to make my Valentine Card. I used lots of frilly ribbon and a doily to make this fun card.

Please grab your Valentine digi stamps and play along with the challenge this week. You can get the details of the challenge here.

PMS Digi Challenge # 20

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week we are creating with...

I pulled out some fun My Mind's Eye blue pattern papers and used some Word Art from Paper Makeup Stamps' set, Raindrops and Rainbows, to make my card.

I tried to keep it mostly shades of blue with one neutral (white). Now it is your turn to play along. Grab some digital stamps and some blue paper, ink and embellishments to join us. You can read about the challenge details here.

Digi Makeover Challenge 19

2012-01-16T22:19:00.002-05:00

Sorry this post is a little late. This week we are using a fairy on our card.

The Melissa Fairy is the first rubber stamp I purchased from PMS. I was just so excited to find a stamp with my name. So I just had to use the Melissa Fairy Digi Stamp for this challenge. I don't do a lot of reading, but I do wear glasses. So she is sort of like me. LOL! Here is my card for the challenge.

I used some of my favorite colors for the challenge. I love blue greens and oranges and chocolate brown.

Now it is your turn to join the challenge. Use a Fairy Digital Stamp to make a card or other handmade project this week. You get all the challenge details over on the PMS Blog.

Digi Makeover Challenge #18

2012-01-09T09:07:00.002-05:00

This week we are making Get Well cards or gifts.

This seems very appropriate, since I've been battling a cold for the past week and a half. And I know others that have been sick too. This crazy weather won't stay cold enough to kill all the germs. But I will get off my sickness soap box. Here is my Feel Better Soon card.

I used the new Fairy Jane image from the release. And I used word art, Feel Better Soon, to make the text frame. Paper is from a My Minds Eye 6x6 pad (not sure which one).

So grab your favorite digi stamps and make a get well card or gift for someone you may know that is under the weather. You could win some free digi stamps. Get the details here.

PMS Digi Makeover Challenge 17

2012-01-02T10:27:00.000-05:00

This week we have a sketch challenge for you.

This was a nice sketch to create a fairly simple card.

I again used Moody for Coffee. I used some paper from My Minds Eye and used the colors from that paper to color the image. I thought it would be fun to giver her blue hair.

Now grab your favorite digi stamps and play along with our sketch challenge with a chance to win some free digi images. All the details can be found here.

Digi Makeover Challenge #16

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week we have a color challenge.

The colors are definitely Christmas colors, but I chose to not make a Christmas card for this challenge.

I used my second favorite image from PMS, Moody for Coffee. I used mostly the two shades of green. Then added in some red and a touch of silver with a gel pen and some silver adhesive pearls.

I hope you will have some time in between all of your Christmas celebrations to play along with our challenge. The only requirements are that you use a Digital Stamp and the colors shown above. You can get all of the challenge details here. Also, don't forget about the closeout sale of rubber stamps over at Paper Makeup Stamps. Word is that Katie is marking everything down to 60% off.

PMS Digi Makeover Challenge #15

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today we are doing my favorite technique...

I have had some challenges in the past with this technique using Digital Images. But I found a new way to do Paper Piecing with Digital Images, using Digital Paper. I used Serif's FREE Page Plus program to layer the Small Snowman from the Snow Happy Digital set over some Merry & Bright Digital Pattern Paper I bought from Jessica Sprague's website. When I open the paper I shrink it down to just fit under the areas I want the pattern to cover. I layer the snowman on top so when it prints, it looks like I stamped it. Pretty neat! I used pink patterns for the hat and scarf and I used a pale blue pattern for the snowman's body. I love the patterned body. I also printed a bunch more in different patterns to play around with in the next few days. I then printed the snowman in the same size on white card stock to layer everything onto so I can die cut it and put it on my card. Then I printed the same pattern I used for the hat and scarf in a slightly bigger size to use as a layer on my card. It all co-ordinates nicely and I can adjust the pattern size to fit my project.

Now pull out your favorite digital stamps and if you have some digital paper you can pull that out too. Make a project using a digital stamp and do some paper piecing. You can get the challenge details here.

PMS Digi Makeover Challenge 14

2011-12-05T09:07:00.001-05:00

This week our challenge is to cut out our digital stamps to use on our projects.

I made a little package to hold a small gift or gift card. I used a Starbucks Via instant coffee package as my template.

The digital stamp is Pete the Penguin. He is just cute! I colored him and his mug and scarf to match my paper from My Minds Eye. I added some glitter to his belly.

Now print out some digis of our own and get cutting to join us for the challenge this week. You can get all the challenge details over at the Paper Makeup Digi Makeover Challenge Blog.

Digi Makeover Challenge #13

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week for the Paper Makeup Stamps Digi Makeover Challenge we have a sketch for you to use with your digital stamps.

This is a fun sketch and I found it easy to pull together this wintry card.

I used the NEW Hayden Fairy Digital Stamp. So beautiful and elegant with her whisper of fun snowflakes. The sentiment is also included with this Digital Stamp.

Now grab your favorite Digital Stamps and play along for a chance to win some FREE Digital Stamps. Get all the details of the challenge here.

Also check out the closeout sale of rubber stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps. Details are on the main page of the store site.

Sweet N Sassy Stamps VSN

2011-11-26T10:25:00.001-05:00

Are you stuffed with turkey and all shopped out? I don't eat turkey, but enjoyed all the yummy sides we had with our Thanksgiving dinner. Then my mom and I shopped till we dropped yesterday. I found some great crafty deals, and bought some presents for Christmas.

Now it is time to work on my Christmas cards and packaging. I bet you need to get some cards made too. So here is your chance to get some more cards made, or get started. Sweet N Sassy Stamps is having a Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) over at the SNSS Connection. There are so many fun challenges, and some prizes up for grabs. The fun started last night and continues today. You have a week to complete and upload your submissions. I am hosting a fun challenge to make a gift card holder. We usually need a few of these to give at Christmas.

I made this festive holder using stamps from Snowflake Silhouettes and Holly Jolly Christmas. And here is the inside of the card with a special insert to hold a gift card.

I also used digital paper from Echo Park Everybody Loves Christmas pack found at Jessica Sprague's website. I love having these in digital format, so I can print as many as I want and at whatever size I want.

Please take some time to stop by Sweet N Sassy's Connection today and play along with some of the challenges. We would love to have you visit.

Wrapped in Red, Green and White

2011-11-22T18:39:00.001-05:00

I made thee card I am sharing today for a couple of challenges.
I used the colors Red, Green, and White for JUGS Color Challenge.
I included a sentiment and followed the Gift Wrapped theme for the Outlawz Greeting Challenge.

I love the Color Kids images from Paper Makeup Stamps. They are just so cute. Isn't this little girl wrapping presents so adorable. The name of the stamp is Gift Wrapped. I used the digital version, but you can also purchase her as a rubber stamp. It is hard to tell in the photo, but I used a Sakura glitter pen on the barrettes, shoes and tie on her shirt and the heart in the sentiment.

Digi Makeover Challenge #12

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

This week we have a color challenge for the Paper Makeup Stamps Digi Makeover Challenge. The color combination is not one I would have come up with on my own, but I do like how my card turned out. They were fun soft colors to play with.

I used the NEW Color Kids Digital Stamp, Gift Wrapped, that is part of a Christmas release. I used the colors to make this a birthday card for a young girl. I used Card Patterns Sketch #142 from this week. It was perfect for the colors and image I chose to use. :-)

Now go grab a digital stamp of your choice and use the colors you have in your stash that match the sample above and get creating. One lucky person can win some FREE Digi Images. You can read all of the details about the challenge over at the PMS Digi Makeover Challenge Blog.
Stamps: Color Kids Gift Wrapped
Paper: Barely Banana, Cameo Coral, Almost Amethyst, and Pale Plum card stock
Ink: laser printer, Copic markers
Other: Birthday embossing folder, purple ribbon, baker's twine and buttons

CSS Inspiration Hop

2011-11-18T22:02:00.001-05:00

Welcome to another CSS Alumni Blog Hop. This time we are using an inspiration piece.

What a festive advent calender. You should have come from Melissa's blog. If not, you will want to start at the beginning of the hop over at StampTV.com.

I made two cards for the hop. I was inspired by the colors and to make Christmas cards.

Now head over to Miesje's blog to see how she was inspired by the advent calender photo.

Make sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (November 22), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs who will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

I used paper from the DCWV The Christmas Mat Stack. Aren't they festive and fun?
All stamps are from the following Gina K Designs stamps:
Mugs & Kisses
Fanciful Tags

Digi Makeover Challenge #11

2011-11-14T08:59:00.001-05:00

Today, for the PMS Digi Makeover Challenge, we are showing you another fun way to use those digital images.

You can design your own background paper to coordinate with your main image. Isn't that cool?

I used the snowflake from the NEW Color It Winter Tags set. I made all different sized snowflakes and put them all over a letter size sheet of paper using Serifs Publisher program (you can get their basic version for free). I also changed the color of the snowflakes to chocolate brown and printed them on pink card stock. Then I cut the printed sheet into 4 pieces. I took on of the pieces and ran it through my plaid embossing folder to give it some texture. Then for the main image I used the absolutely adorable NEW Pete the Penguin. I cut him out with a square Spellbinder's die. Then I printed another image after first cropping his body. I wanted to get the scarf so I could paper piece it to him. I love how the scarf hangs outside the square. After looking at this card, I guess I turned Pete into Petunia. LOL! Since he is wearing pink.

Now go boot up your computer and use some of your favorite digital images to create some fun background paper. I can't wait to see what you come up with. You can all the details of this challenge over at the PMS Digi Makover Blog.

Release Day and Digi Makeover Challenge #10

2011-11-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today is Release Day for Paper Makeup Stamps. Katie has some wonderful new Rubber Stamps which are also available as Digital Stamps to release tonight. And they are perfect to use for all of your Christmas and Winter gifts. Since it is Monday, we are combining the Release Hop with the weekly Digi Makeover Challenge. The challenge for this week is "Don't Be A Square". I made a round card using some fun new paper I found by My Mind's Eye and isn't that new Fairy image just the cutest? And the fun thing about Digital Images is that you can make them any size you want. I made the fairy bigger to fit this 6 inch circle card. You will want to play along with our challenge this week. One lucky participant will win the entire release in digital format. You can read about all the details at the PMS blog.

I hope you enjoyed the project I shared with you today. Please take some time to check out all of the other release day projects. You won't be disappointed. If you are following the hop in order you can now click on over to Velta's blog.

1. Paper Makeup Stamps Company Blog
2. Lisa Kind
3. Ginger Schwerin
4. Randee Elsing
5. Jenn Cochran
6. Tangii Crain
7. Michelle Van Patten
8. Andrea Vernagus
9. Lisa McKinney
10. Janette Garcia
11. Kristie Wilson
12. Katie Cotton
13. Anita Hovey
14. Tina Hale
15. Jackie Rakoski
16. Dawn Mercedes
17. Jami Bova
18. Anne Temple
19. Britt Bass
20. Danni Bindel
21. Ivette Aviles
22. Jenn Schull
23. Melissa Shultz <--you are here
24. Velta Wesson

PMS Digi Makeover Challenge #9

2011-10-31T09:08:00.001-04:00

This week we have a fun sketch for you to try with your favorite Digi Image. Please join us by creating something with this sketch and adding a link over at the PMS Digi Makeover Challenge blog post for this week. You could win some FREE digi images from PMS.

Here is the card I made with the sketch.

I used the Moody for Fall image. I also pulled out some new K&Co. DP I bought recently from Michael's. I love the little matte stacks. perfect for creating cards.

CSS Alumni Sketch Challenge

2011-10-28T21:59:00.000-04:00

We have a fun sketch to share with you for this StampTV CSS Blog Hop. You can make some fun simple cards with this one. You should have come from Miesje's blog. Wasn't that a fabulous card? If you did not find your way here from her blog, then you will want to start at the beginning over at StampTV. And make sure you leave comments on all the blog posts for a chance to win some FREE stamps.

I made two Christmas cards using some older sets. Here is the sketch.

And here are the cards I made with the sketch.

Now head over to Melissa's blog to see what she did with the sketch she designed for us to use.

Make sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (November 1), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs who will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

Stamps: Very Merry Christmas & Versatile Verses

PMS Digi Makeover Challenge #7

2011-10-17T08:49:00.000-04:00

For the challenge this week, we are using the Spotlight Technique. Stamp or in this case print your image in one color and then print a portion of that same image again and add color.

For my card I used the cute Aurora Fairy with the doll and added the spotlight around her doll.

My card is a split panel card. I scored it so each side folds into meet each other. I love this card fold and don't do it enough.

No go print your favorite digi image and try out this fun technique. Make sure to share it over at the PMS Digi Makeover Blog for your chance to win some FREE Digital Images.

CSS Card Drive For Kids

2011-10-14T23:00:00.000-04:00

For this CSS Blog Hop we are sending cards to some amazing children and have a chance to win some stamp goodies. So you will want to pull out your supplies and play along.

We are sending uplifting cards to one or more of the following children:

Madison - Age 2
Logan - Age 2 (turning 3 on October 17th)
Tanner - Age 2 (turning 3 on December 25th)
Rebekah - Age 9

To get you inspired, some of the CSS Alumni are sharing the cards they have made to send to the children. Here is the card I made for Rebekah.

You should have come from Melissa's blog. If not, please make sure you start from the beginning to the entire blog hop.

If you would like to play along and send cards to one or more of these children, please do the following:

Create age specific uplifting cards (NO Get Well or Sorry cards).
Write a message to the child and/or family and sign the card, including where you are from.
On the envelope write the name of the child and don't seal the envelope since the parents may want to read the cards first.
Mail the cards by October 31st to
Giovana Smith
Card Drive for Kids
181 Perry Way
Yakima, WA 98901
Include with the cards a piece of paper with your name, address, email address and blog (if you have one).

Here is a picture of the prize package

Including goodies from the following companies

Heartfelt Creations: 8 stamping sets + 1 Coordinated Die Set. Value: $150.00!
Gina K. Designs: 2 StampTV Kits: Value: $70.00 (Gina will send the prize direct to the winner!)
Unity Stamps: 10 Itty Bitty Stamps. Value: $70.00
SP & Company: 3 Stamp Set. Value: $40.00
Lawn Fawn Stamps: 2 Stamp Set: Value: $30.00
Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: 1 Stamp Set. Value: $11.00
Spellbinders: 2 die sets!! (Not included in the picture)
Tombow: 6 packs of markers and several packs of adhesives (Not included in the picture)

Now head over to Miesje's blog to see what she has to share. And then start stamping some fun cards to send to these amazing children and make their day brighter.

Digi Makeover Challenge #6 - ABC

2011-10-10T09:59:00.002-04:00

This week our Digi Makeover Challenge for Paper Makeup Stamps is to make Anything But a Card.

I pulled out an old template to make this cute little box.

I used the leaf stamp from the new Color It Autumn Digi Set and the Sentiment is from the new Thankful Essentials Digital Set. I made the leaf much bigger than the original size and added the sentiment. I colored the leaf with some orange, red and brown Copic markers and then cut it out with a square Spellbinders die. I used a stipple brush with some Distress Inks to grunge the edges a bit. I used some Kraft card stock from Michael's for the box base. The striped pattern paper is from a mat pad made by K&Co. I found all the fun ribbons I used at Hobby Lobby. The button and twill were in my stash and I thought they finished it off nicely.

Now grab your favorite digital image and play along. If you need to find a template to use for some fun packaging, you can visit the Mirkwood Designs site for a large library of free templates.

Autumn Thank You

2011-10-09T21:39:00.001-04:00

I made this card for The Outlawz Greeting Challenge and for Deconstructing Sketch #22 for this week.

Stamps: Thankful Essentials, Color it Autumn Digital Stamps {Paper Makeup Stamps}
Ink: Laser Printer, Copic markers, Distress Inks
Paper: Pumpkin and Autumn Words paper from Hobby Lobby, Tangerine Tango, Close to Cocoa {Stampin Up}, X-Press It White Card Stock
Other: Pumpkin Ribbon, Loopy trim, embossing folders, brown half pearls, Spellbinders dies

Unscripted Sketch #126

2011-10-06T17:40:00.001-04:00

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I adore snow. I pulled out a cute image I printed a while back with a cute Pure Innocence girl with a snowman. I used the Unscripted Sketch for this week.

I used the Rock and Roll Technique on the letters to get a darker edge. You ink up your sold image stamp with a lighter shade and then roll the edges of the same stamp in a darker shade of the same color. It looks very cool.

Stamps: Pure Innocence Digi Image {purchased from the artist's site}, Retro Alpha Lower {Stampin' Up, Retired}
Paper: Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi and Soft Sky {Stampin Up}, Snowflake DP {Unknown}
Ink: Laser Printer, Copic markers, Memento Pear Tart and Bamboo Leaves
Other: Pink Lace {Hobby Lobby}, Baker's Twine, Snowflakes Embossing Folder {Sizzix}, Grand Circle Die {Spellbinders}

PMS Digi Makeover Challenge #5

2011-10-03T08:44:00.000-04:00

This week we have a color challenge for you. This one was tough for me. That made it a great challenge.

I used the Digital Image, Moody for Reading. For the colors I used Elegant Eggplant, Soft Sky and some Kraft card stock. You can use whatever colors you have that match the closest to the image above.

Now pull out your favorite Digital Image and play along with us this week. You could win some FREE Digital Images from Paper Makeup Stamps. Check out the details here.

Stamps: Moody for Reading Digi Image {PMS}
Ink: Laser Printer, Copic Markers, Distress Inks
Paper: Soft Sky & Elegant Eggplant {Stampin Up}, Kraft {Gina K}, White {X-Press It}
Other: Striped Ribbon, Edge Punch from

Feelin' Groovy

2011-10-02T20:11:00.000-04:00

I found another company with adorable digital images. The Paper Shelter has the cutest images. I added a few to my shopping cart yesterday. I made this groovy card using sketch #4 from Freshly Made Sketches. I hope it is "clean" enough for the challenge.

Stamps: Hippie Girl Digital Image {The Paper Shelter}, sentiment from Groovy Girl {MFT}
Paper: Always Artichoke & Sahara Sand {Stampin Up}, Life of the Party 6x6 pad {Basic Grey}
Ink: Vivid Chocolate, Copic Markers, Laser Printer
Other: ribbon & lace, peace sign charm

World Card Making Day - TGF Challenge

2011-10-01T20:44:00.002-04:00

Do you ever sit down to stamp and end up spending more time organizing your area than you do stamping? I had that kind of day today. Nonetheless, I was able to get a few cards done. Here is a card I made for The Greeting Farm's World Card Making Day Challenge. The challenge is to CASE one of the Design Team's cards. I decided to CASE the card made by Lisa found in this blog post.

I CASED the layout.

Stamps: Rain Snow Shine {TGF}, Christmas Tags {Sweet & Sassy Stamps}
Paper: white card stock base, X-Press It White for stamped Anya, pattern paper {K&Co}
Ink: Distress Inks, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, black glaze pen
Other: paper doily, ribbon, buttons, baker's twine, mini brads, snowflakes embossing folder

PMS Freebie Friday - Dessert

2011-09-30T12:18:00.001-04:00

Did you know that every Friday Paper Makeup Stamps gives a FREE Digi Word Art image to anyone who visits the blog? Who doesn't like FREE? :o) I finally had a chance to get a card done ahead of time for the Freebie Friday post and what a fun quote we have this week.

I used the FREE quote plus the taller pumpkin from the new Color it Autumn Digi set. I opened the word art in my publisher program and sized it to what I needed for my card. Then I inserted white box with no outline to cover the 'u' in the word 'but'. Then I opened the pumpkin image in the same document and resized it to fit over the 'u'. I printed it on some pattern paper I had in my stash and colored it with some orange Copic markers.

I used some fun Thanksgiving word paper I picked up at Hobby Lobby. And I love the pumpkin ribbon, also found at Hobby Lobby.

Now go grab your FREE digi word art and show me what you create with it.

Ready for Coffee and Winter...

2011-09-27T19:42:00.000-04:00

I am always ready for coffee and after the hot muggy weather we've been having, I am soooo ready for winter. So here are a couple of cards with my favorite things.

I just adore Rhubarb with her little cup of java goodness. I used some colors I don't normally use for this one. I like the teal and bright golden yellow together on her mug. I colored her with W1, W3 & W5.
Supplies: Rhubarb's Coffee digi stamp {Sweet N Sassy}, Hello Friend from Summer Harvest {Gina K}, Cosmo Cricket paper, red & yellow card stock, & baker's twine

My favorite thing about winter...Sweaters! I love wear soft cozy sweaters. I actually was making this for one of the Gina K release challenges the other week and then realized after it was done that I did not follow the instructions correctly. You were only supposed to use one stamp set and I used two. Oh well, I still love how it turned out.
Supplies: Holiday Greetings & Warm and Wonderful {Gina K}, K&Company paper, chocolate card stock, snowflake charm, cotton twine, ribbon

If you haven't already, make sure you check out the PMS Digi Makeover Challenge for this week. If you participate you could win some free digital images from Paper Makeup Stamps.

PMS Dig Makeover Challenge #4

2011-09-26T08:51:00.000-04:00

This week our challenge for the Paper Makeup Digital Makeover is to resize your digital image. I would have to say this is the top reason I love digital images. Being able to resize them, makes them so flexible. I made two similar cards to show you some of the cool things you can do with resizing. The cards are simple so you can see the technique better.

For my first card I resized the cute little high five girl from the Color Kids collection to make her bigger. Then I took the word art "way 2 go" and shrunk it down to fit in the painting with her hand prints. I rotated it to make it face her.

For my second card I made the cute high five girl from the Color Kids collection the same size as above. Then I took the fairy silhouette, Sprout, and shrunk it down to fit on her shirt.

Now it is your turn to try this fun challenge. Go find one or more of your favorite digital images and play along with us. You have a chance to win some FREE digital images. Get all the details here.

Card size for both cards is 5" x 6 1/4".

Moody Rock Star

2011-09-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

My favorite images from Paper Makeup Stamps are the Moody images. So many fun themes and a joy to color. I had this fun Moody for Rock image already printed and sitting on my counter ready to be colored. I am entering this card in two challenges. The sketch is from Jen's Deconstructing Sketch blog. Love the sketch and can see me using it often. I am also submitting this for the iCopic challenge this week. I've used several colors to color Moody that I don't usually use. The bright yellow-orange and dark olive green are colors I tend to avoid, unless it is for a small accent. I also don't think I ever did this color combo. But I sure do like it.

I pulled out some old supplies for this card. Wide twill ribbon from SU, metallic floss from DMC, and Paisley Spellbinder die. The pattern paper is Cosmo Cricket Digital paper. Love that! I actually framed the pattern paper inside the open olive square. and then layered it onto some bright yellow card stock. Even dusted off my sewing machine to add some fun stitching. It is hard to tell in the picture, but I used a Sakura Stardust pen on the turquoise areas of the Moody image.

Stamps: Moody for Rock Digital {PMS}, Rock Star sentiment {GinaK}
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Summer Sun & Tangerine Tango {SU}, Digital Pattern Paper {Cosmo Cricket}
Ink: laser printer, Copic markers, Distress ink for sponging, & Vivid Olive green ink pad
Other: sewing machine and thread, metallic floss {DMC}, wide twill ribbon {SU}, peace sign button, paisley Spellbinders die, & Sakura stardust pen

Digi Makeover Challenge #3

2011-09-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday! Welcome to another Paper Makeup Stamps Digi Makeover Challenge. Here is the challenge if you choose to accept it.

Pull out some fabric, any old piece of fabric or fabric embellishment and join us. You have a chance of winning some free digi images from Paper Makeup Stamps if you do. You can read about it and submit your entry here.

I decided to make a flower out of fabric to put on my fun Coloring Book.
Here is a closeup of the flower

And here is the coloring book front.

I took all of the digital PMS Fairies I have so far and made a coloring book. The size of the book is 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". That is half the size of a regular sheet of card stock. I used the free program I mentioned last week called Page Plus Starter Edition. I resized each fairy to fit on each side of a letter size sheet of landscape paper and printed them out onto some good white card stock. I used my Bind-It-All to make the book. This would make a perfect present for a young girl.

Here are some photos of the pages I created.

You could use any digi images you have and Paper Makeup Stamps has a lot of them. I can't wait until more Color Kids are released. They would make a perfect "coloring" book. Don't you think? :o) Also the monster images would be fun to make a coloring book as well.

Digi Stamps: Lots of Fairies all found here
Paper: black card stock and some older Basic Grey pattern paper
Ink: laser printer & Copic markers
Other: ribbon, lace, fabric to make the flower, big bling center for the flower {Recollections}, Bind-It-All {Zutter}

PMS Digi Makeover Challenge #2

2011-09-12T05:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another Paper Makeup Stamps Digi Makeover Challenge. This week we are working with a sketch.

I decided to use some fun digi papers from Cosmo Cricket and the new Color Kid Star Student Digi Image from PMS.

My card size is 5 1/4" x 6 1/2". I love that you can resize the digi images and I made bigger to fill this larger size card.

Make sure you visit all of the blogs for the design team to see what fabulous Digi Creation they have to share with you this week. The links to their blogs are located on the right hand side of my blog. Then grab your supplies and a digi image to play along. You can link up your submission over at the PMS blog for a chance to win some FREE digi images.

Stamps: Color Kids Star Student (girl & Sentiment)
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday Digital Papers, Old Olive, Soft Sky & Taken with Teal Card Stock (SU)
Ink: Laser Printer, Copic Markers
Other: Jumbo Blue Ric Rac (Hobby Lobby), Daisy Trim (unknown), Yellow Lace (Recollections), Pink Felt Star (unknown), Half Pearls (Recollections)

Hello Honey

2011-09-11T10:08:00.000-04:00

I made this card a while ago (while camping I think) and thought I would share it today. I adore the Honey images from All That Scraps. This little girl with her cute long scarf wrapped neatly around her head is so much fun to color. I used some fun paper from on of my many Basic Grey 6x6 pads. Trying to use them up. And I went with some sponging which I think turned out pretty nice.

Stamps: Digi Scarf Honey
Paper: Basic Grey Kioshi 6x6 pad

CSS September Inspiration Blog Hop

2011-09-09T22:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the CSS Inspiration Blog Hop. Carolina gave us this photo of a very inviting room from Ikea as our inspiration.

I love the texture on the headboard and bedspread. So that was my inspiration for my card. Sorry for the dark photo. We have not seen sun for days here in SE Pennsylvania.

I created the backdrop for the furniture with my Martha Stewart Score Board. I ran the chair through my Big Kick with a diamond embossing folder.

If you've been following the hop from the beginning, you should have come from Lori's blog. If not, you will want to start over at StampTV and follow the entire hop to be inspired. Then we invite you to play along and post your inspired creation over at StampTV.

Now head over to Peggy's blog next for more inspiration.

Supplies
Stamps: Fine Furnishings & Fine Furnishings Additions
Paper: Olive, Khaki, Chocolate, Vanilla & Cosmo Cricket Social Club - Martini Digital Paper
Ink: Brown Vivid Ink
Other: Chocolate & Vanilla Lace, Twine, Small Half Pearls

Growing Older

2011-09-08T18:31:00.001-04:00

Have you seen the new line of absolutely adorable Color Kids from Paper Makeup Stamps. Did I say they are adorable? They are available in both rubber and digital stamps. Since they were just released last night, anyone ordering the rubber will have to wait for them to arrive in the mail. That is where digital images are a fabulous option. You can purchase the digital versions and have them right away. Just download and play. Now if you rush over to PMS to purchase this cutie you will notice he is facing the left instead of the right. Another cool thing about digital images. You can flip them. Which is what I did so I could add the Growing Old word art with the arrow pointing toward the little guy. I've had that tape measure ribbon for a while and finally had a chance to use it. Perfect with this image and the fun pencil paper. Oh, and speaking of digital stuff, that paper is digital too. Did you know you can buy all of Cosmo Cricket's papers in digital format. I love Cosmo Cricket and the Boyfriend collection is one of my favorites. You can find them here.

In case anyone is wondering, I found free publisher software that made it easy for me to print out the boy and the word art. It is called Page Plus Starter Edition and can be found here. It is a large download, but if you have broadband I recommend trying it out.
Supplies
Stamps: Beyond Measure & Growing Old Digi Stamps {PMS}
Paper: Black and Yellow Card Stock, Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend Digi Pattern Paper
Ink: Printer & Copic markers
Other: Tape Measure Twill Ribbon, Black Button & Stone Twine

PMS Digi Makeover Color Challenge

2011-09-05T02:01:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to the FIRST Digi Makeover Challenge. I am so honored to be included among a talented group of artists chosen to share a project each week made with Digital Stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps. If you've never tried using Digital Images, I hope you will find inspiration from our challenges and play along.

Our first challenge is a color challenge; using the official PMS colors, Pink, Black, Gray and White.

The floral silhouette is from Dandy Wishes and the sentiment is Psalm 27:1. I combined both in Photoshop to print them with my Laser Printer. You could also add them both to Microsoft Word or any other Word Processer that allows you to enter photo files. I resized the image to about 3 1/2 inches.

Digi Stamps: Dandy Wishes & Psalm 27:1
Paper: Basic Gray, Pink Pirouette, White
Ink: Pink Pirouette to sponge embossed dots, Black Toner (laser printer) for Digi Stamps
Other: Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Diamond Embossing Folder, White and Pink pearls, Lace, Ruffled Ribbon, Black & White Twine, & Pink Button.

Paper Makeup Digi DT Call

2011-08-27T22:50:00.000-04:00

Paper Makeup Stamps has announced a Design Call using their Digi Images. Ever since my sweet boyfriend bought me a laser printer, I've purchased so many Digital Stamps to use on my cards. I love coloring with Copic markers and the laser printer is the only thing I found that works best for printing the Digital Stamps to color with the Copic markers. There are a lot of great companies out there that sell fabulous Digital Stamps. Paper Makeup Stamps has some awesome images. My favorite are the Moody images. So fun to color!

The challenge for a chance to be on the Design Team was to use the two Digital Stamps found in this blog post.

I made a card with each. And here they are:

This is the first time I used any of the monster images from Paper Makeup Stamps. They are so much fund to color. I decided to make my monster a girl. I used a few different fun lacy trims I found at a surplus store along with some buttons and some twine. I also was able to break out the sewing machine since my sweet boyfriend fixed it for me. He is too good to me some times. :0)

For my fairy card, I kept is fairly simple. I used the sketch from Card Positioning Systems, sketch #232. I used some Stickles glitter glue on the heart to make it shine.

I hope everyone on the East Coast is staying dry. It is rainy and windy right now here in South East PA.

Rhubarb Bear - Chillin' Out and Celebrating

2011-07-26T22:14:00.000-04:00

Have you seen the new absolutely adorable Rhubarb Bear from Sweet and Sassy Stamps. Oh my goodness, she is adorable! I purchased most of the digi images so far. I managed to put together two cards with some of the bears I colored. I pulled out some older Basic Grey Papers and some fun ribbon and here is the result.

First a little Birthday Celebration with this adorable image of her with some balloons and a card. I saw the email from SSNS with some weekly tips. One of them is to use black for contrast. You can read about it here. I love the look of the bold black against the fun bright colors on this birthday card. It doesn't look too elegant or depressing in my opinion. I think it makes the other layers pop.

And here she is chillin' out on her inter tube enjoying a cool lemonade. She really knows how to get through this heat wave. :o) I made this card using the Sweet Stop Sketch #118 for this week. I tried to stay as close to the sketch as possible.

Coffee and Mice

2011-07-24T09:36:00.000-04:00

I had very mixed feelings about the image I used on my card I am sharing today. I am terrified of mice. Always have been. When we saw the movie Ratatouille, I had to close my eyes for part of the movie because it kind of scared me. LOL! And it is only a child's cartoon movie. Well as frightened as I am with mice, I fell in love with this adorable image from Sweet and Sassy Stamps. So as long as Cocoa keeps a safe distance from my coffee, we will be okay. If you adore this image as much as I do, you can find it here. It is called Cocoa's Latte.

Sweet and Sassy Stamps is a company I just recently came across. There are so many fabulous images for different tastes available. And a very nice selection of digi images. Now that I have a laser printer I've been searching for companies with a nice selection of professional looking digi images and Sweet and Sassy Stamps fits that need very nicely. My latest love is Rhubarb Bear. I've bought almost all of the Rhubarb Bear images released and have been coloring up a storm with my Copic markers. I want to try to get some cards made soon so I can share.

I decided to go with a frilly feminine look for the card. I used some paper from the Basic Grey Olivia 6x6 pad to paper piece the mug. I also used the same pad for all the other papers on the card. I love the look of doilies and found some at Michael's in the cake decorating aisle. you get a lot for a few bucks. The beautiful lace and flower trim I found at a General Store in East Earl, PA near Shady Maple. I cannot wait to go back in September so I can buy a ton more. They had such a great selection and very reasonably priced. I even did some sewing on this card. I love that look, especially when using lace on a card.

I hope you are staying cool where ever you are. It is in the 90's once again here in South East PA. I am sooooo ready for Winter and SNOW! :o)

Paper Piecing with the CSS Alumni

2011-07-15T21:57:00.001-04:00

Welcome to another CSS Alumni Blog Hop. This time we are having fun with one of my favorite techniques, paper piecing. If you are following along from the beginning, you just came from Karen's blog and I know she wowed your socks off. If not, then you really need to start from the beginning at StampTV.com.

So on with my project. I paper pieced the oval label from Versatile Verses. Fun huh?

All pattern papers are from Basic Grey's Green at Heart collection. I used some Kraft and White card stock and some fun home made flowers. I made the green flower from felt using a tutorial I found in a magazine. If you would like me to show you how, let me know in the comments and I will post something in the next few days. My mom crocheted the beautiful pink flower for me. Topped it off with a button and added some ribbon to the card. And there it is.

Now hop on over to Miesje's blog to see what she has to share. And feel free to play along and post your creation over at StampTV. We love to see what you paper piece.

Wild Marshmallow Mugs

2011-07-07T17:41:00.000-04:00

I decided to make a card for the new Challenges by AR. The challenge is to make something with animal prints. I had this fun zebra print paper that I used to paper piece some mugs. I added some marshmallows to go with the sentiment "Mallow Out". LOL! Not sure who I send this one to.

I'll be back later with some more cards I've been creating while camping. Very inspirational!

CSS Inspiration Hop

2011-06-10T22:05:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe it is the middle of the year and summer is almost upon us. I think someone pushed the fast forward button. :o) Well with summer comes picnics, flowers, and lots of other inspirational elements that surround us. For this CSS Blog Hop we were given an image made up of several photos.

I took my inspiration from the big flowers on the bottom right hand corner.

I also used the sketch from CPS this week and for the Moxie Fab challenge to incorporate sewing images. The latest rage in paper crafting seems to be doilies and lace. Gina shared a project using doilies a few weeks ago and she sells them in her online store. I found some fun lace trim at a local craft store and had to incorporate that into my card as well.

If you've not come from Lori's blog, you will want to start at the beginning over at StampTV and make sure you take time to see what everyone on the team has to share with us.

Next on the hop is Miesje. I know she will have something awesome to share.

Here are the deets about how I constructed this:
I first cut a circle using a Spellbinders die from white card stock.
I stamped the circle frame with Vivid Chocolate Ink.
After allowing the chocolate ink to dry, I stamped the lace doily from Nana's Needlework with VersaMark ink. And then embossed it with clear embossing powder.
I sponged orange onto the outer part. I sponged read along the edge. And I sponged brown in the center.
I colored the lace trim with a red Copic marker and adhered it around the perimeter of the circle.
I sprayed the paper doily with some green glitter mist.
After everything was dry, I layered them together using foam tape to give it dimension.
I added some pearls and a button.
I stamped the sentiment from Nana's Needlework Sentiments onto some white and sponged with the same orange and red. I layered it onto a tag die and added a few brown peals.

Stamping While Camping

2011-06-08T18:31:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite things to do while camping is also one of my favorite things to do at home. Stamping! When we go camping for at least 4 days, I take some of my stuff along and stamp in the woods. It can be very inspirational to me. Here are a few things I stamped last month while camping.

I made the cover for a journal using several sets illustrated by Theresa Momber for Gina K Designs. I was actually very impressed with myself when this was completed because I sometimes struggle with this type of stamping and coloring. I found some really cool looking wood paper which I used for the cover and to paper piece the sign and the logs in the fire. I colored the scene with Copic markers.You can click the photo to get a closer look.

This fabulous little shopping diva image is from Mo Mannig's Dani and Friends digital set. I love all three of the images in this set. The paper is some old Stampin' Up from my stash. The pennants are paper pieced using a stamp I found in the dollar bin at Michael's. Love that!

Lots of dimension and texture on this one. The basket image is an older stamp I found in my huge stash. I am challenging myself to use my old stuff. A lot of stamps that I own, I've only used once or twice and some not at all. So I really need to challenge myself to use them. I think the paper is from Basic Grey and the Enjoy sentiment is from a Unity kit (more stamps that have never touched ink). LOL!

Well, it's super hot and humid here. So tryin' to stay cool! I pray you are staying comfy where ever you are in the world. I am hoping to stamp a bit tonight and may have something to share tomorrow night. If not, I will definitely share something Friday for the CSS Blog Hop for StampTV.com. So please stop by any time after 10 pm EST on Friday to see what the CSS Team has to share this time around. You won't be disappointed. :o)

MFT Personal Challenge - Coffee!

2011-06-06T21:42:00.000-04:00

My Favorite images from MFT Stamp Company are the adorable a la Modes. And my PERSONAL favorite is of course the lady holding the big honkin' to go cups of java goodness. Yummo! So I started with that stamp as the base for my personal card. I also used some of my favorite colors; green, guava and blue. I also used my PERSONAL favorite shape the circle for the main image, offsetting layers and the fun buttons on the flowers. I colored them with Copic markers to match. Fun!

Enjoy a cuppa joe (or whatever drink you prefer) and have a super day!

Sunday Stampin' Fun

2011-06-05T18:31:00.000-04:00

I had the whole weekend to stamp. Yeah! I mostly caught up with blogs and surfed the web for inspiration Saturday. But after a few hours last night and this afternoon, I have a few cards to show for it.

First up I made a card for both the CPS Sketch Challenge and the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge. I used the sketch from CPS and for my new item for the Stampin' Sisters In Christ challenge I purchased this fabulous digi paper from Amber Ink yesterday. I love the bright colors and the fun circles. The best part about this paper is that I can print as many sheets as I want. So I have no paper hoarding issues. LOL! Here is my card:

I even cut out some of the circles and popped them up on foam tape to add dimension to the flower centers. That fun flower stamp is also fairly new. I bought it a few weeks ago and finally had an opportunity to use it. It is from Hampton Art and is called Fab Flowers. Love that name :o) The sentiment is a dollar stamp from G Studios. I think I found it at Michael's a few months ago. I colored the different letters with different colors to match the colors in the paper. The flowers are paper pieced. I stamped them on a piece of the digi paper and cut the whole thing out as one piece. I thought is added a fun effect. It may be hard to see in the photo, but I added a ton of small white pearls in the centers of the larger circles. Love the bling. :o)

In an effort to be a more active blogger, I will be scheduling the rest of the cards I made so I can share a different one each day. I hope you will stop by a visit again. And I always love to hear what you think. So feel free to leave a comment. I don't use any type of word verification and I allow anonymous commenters, so feel free to tell me what you think.

Have a super fabulous week.

Sweet Mojo Weekend

2011-05-31T19:57:00.002-04:00

Despite the unbearable 90+ temps and humidity we were experiencing here in South Eastern PA, I was able to muster up some time and mojo to stamp a few cards. I had a lot of fun with both the Mojo Monday Sketch and the Sweet Stop Sketch.

First up my card for the Sweet Stop Sketch. I didn't have any Sweet and Sassy stamps so I popped over to their online store and bought a few digital images. I used this cute little worm on a mushroom for my sketch card

I also like to add a personal touch on the inside of my cards. Here is the inside with a digital sentiment from digital set containing birds on a branch. I love this sentiment and will be using it again for sure.

I used some old stamps on these as well. The blue plaid is an old Stampin' Up background stamp called Stipple Plaid. I'm trying to use old stuff. Like the card stock. Cranberry Crisp, Summer Sun and Soft Sky all from Stampin' Up. The flower inside is a white daisy from a garland I bought years ago at Walmart. I colored it with a Copic marker to match the Cranberry Crisp card stock. Fun!

For the Mojo Monday Sketch I made a square card with a fun stamp from Paper Makeup Stamps. Love this techno Moody girl. :o)

I used More Mustard, Always Artichoke and Taken with Teal all from Stampin' Up. Again trying to use my old stuff. I added some mini pearls to the her necklace. and some fun lace, ribbon and flowers. I love this sketch and am hoping to have time to try it as the round card in the next few days.

Melissa Shultz
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

CSS Sketch Blog Hop

2011-05-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another Center Stage Spotlight Blog Hop. This time we are inspired by a sketch provided by Melissa Cash. If you just came from Miesje's blog you are on the right track. I know she had something amazing to share. If you were not following along, you can start at the beggining over at StampTV.com

Here is the sketch

I made two cards with this sketch. Here is my first card

Isn't that yellow rose trim gorgeous? I found it at a general goods store in Lancaster, PA. They had a wonderful selection of different laces and trims.
I stamped the sentiment and flowers on the tag using the set, Faithful Flowers.

And here is my next card

I used my Cricut to cut out the fun scalloped circles for the base. The stamped flowers are from Faithful Florals and the sentiment is from Fanciful Tags.

Now head over to Melissa's blog to see what she did with her sketch.

Melissa Shultz
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

CSS Sketch Challenge Hop

2011-03-25T22:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome to another CSS Alumni Blog Hop. This time our challenge was to use a sketch provided by Melissa Cash. Although she is not participating with a project in the hop tonight, we still have her presence with the great sketch she has provided for us. If you started from StampTV and have been hopping along, you were just wowed by Lori's blog post. If not, please start at the beginning so you don't miss all of the inspiration. There is also a chance for you to win some free rubber. You can get more details about that here.

Okay, so here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

I rotated the sketch 90 degrees clock-wise to make my card. I used some DCWV paper from a mat stack I purchased recently. I love the fun blues, greens and tans in the stack. That was my starting point for the card. I pulled out an older StampTV Kit, called Spring Mix, to stamp the flower, butterfly and sentiment. The lace is from my stash and the beautiful ribbon is from Tera, my secret sister from last winter. It goes perfectly with the papers from this stack. I added a few adhesive backed pearls and stitched around the main panel to add some texture and dimension. And it only took me an hour to make this card from design to finish. I don't think I have ever made a card that fast before. :o)

Well now it is time for you to stop my Miesje's blog to see what she has to inspire you today. And make sure you leave a comment for every blog post along the hop. If you do you will have a chance to win a free stamp set valued up to $24.95.

Melissa Shultz
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

CSS Color Challenge

2011-03-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to another CSS blog hop. This time we were challenged to create a project with the color challenge going on right now over at StampTV. So you can play along and have a chance to win a free stamp set. You can find all the details right here.

If you started from the beginning of this hop you just came from Lori's blog. If not you will want to make sure you hop through every blog by starting at StampTV. You will be completely inspired to get out your stamps and get creative.

Initially when I looked at this color combo I thought it would be great for a masculine card. But when I went into my studio to create, I decided to use one of the stamp sets that were already laying on my desk. Nana's Needlework and Nana's Needlework Sentiments won out. I kept it simple with no coloring. I hardly ever do that.

Now it is time to head over to see what Miesje has to share with you.

And you won't want to miss all the fun stuff going on at StampTV. Gina her team are celebrating two years with StampTV. She has been sharing peeks. Oh boy, I am loving the peeks of the two sets that will be free with purchases during the next release. You better make sure you check it out.

Finally, don't forget to turn your clocks up an hour. That means spring is on the way.

Melissa Shultz
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

CSS Animal Treasure Chest

2011-02-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our Treasure Chest Challenge. The CSS group was asked to use a stamp set with animals. I have plenty of those. :0) If you are following along the hop like a diligent little bunny in a garden of inspiration, you should have just come from Melissa Cash's blog. If not, you will want to start over at the beginning at StampTV so you don't miss any of the team's posts. You will also want to make sure you visit every blog and leave a comment. There is a chance to win some free rubber.

Here is my project for the hop. I pulled out one of my favorites called Dream Birds.

I also pulled out this fun label and sentiment set called Versatile Verses. It's a fun one to paper piece. I use some Kioshi paper from Basic Grey. I don' often use purple. So this was a fun new color combo for me.

Now head over to Miesje Flach's blog to enjoy some more animal fun.

And make sure you leave a comment on each blog. Some lucky person will be chosen from all the commenters to win a free stamp set. FREE rubber is always fun!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Testing My New Toy

2011-02-24T19:31:00.001-05:00

I decided to finally purchase an iPad. One task I wanted to be able to do is post to my blog more regularly and was hoping this would help. Well I had a hard time finding an app to update my blog. I decided to try blogpress despite the mixed reviews. so this is my test. I didn't have a real photo to test, so I'm using this clipart from Microsoft's download area.

Kind of funky cool, huh? Well I like it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

CSS Alumni Inspiration Challenge Hop

2011-02-11T23:00:00.013-05:00

Welcome to the February StampTV CSS Alumni Inspiration Hop. We were given a photo to get inspired and create something to share with you. If you are following the hop from the beginning you should have just come from the blog of Melissa Cash. If you have not started from the beginning, I highly recommend starting at StampTV and hopping the whole way through. You will become completely inspired and ready to create something.

Here is the inspiration photo we were given

Here is the card I made

I cut the red layer into three panels and sponged the edges with red and then navy ink. I layered them side by side on the navy card stock to mimic the dresser drawers and added large brads as the handles. I stamped the swirls from Grand Damask and the Thank You sentiment from Block Greetings with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with copper embossing powder. I stamped the dotted heart from Happy Hearts with Versamark and heat embossed that as well with copper onto a piece of pattern paper. I cut the heart out and layered it on a punched scallop heart. I added a few more layers of pattern paper and some ribbon and a bow to finish it off.

Next you can stop by the blog of Miesje Flach and find out what she has to inspire you.

Have an awesome weekend. I am looking forward to 4 days away from work. Making dinner for my sweetie for Valentine's Day. And hopefully lots of stamp time in the next few days. :o)

Sketch4You January 2010

2011-01-31T20:49:00.000-05:00

My goal was to work on this sketch over the weekend, but then I was very sick this weekend. Not sure what I have but my head is still so congested. It is NOT fun! So I mustered up enough strength tonight to get this sketch done and hopefully made the deadline in time. I pulled out a few older Stampin' Up stamps for this one. I have so many old stamps that I plan to use this year. They haven't seen ink in years. So this is the year. :o) I used some NEW paper from K&Company. I love the vintage patterns. The card stock is all Pure Luxury from Gina K Designs.

Hoping I feel better soon so I can get back to my stamp room and get creative. :o) Have a great week everyone!

CSS Alumni January 2011 Sketch Challenge

2011-01-28T23:00:00.002-05:00

This time we have a sketch provided by one of the CSS Alumni, Melissa Cash. You just came from her blog. If you did not arrive from her blog, I highly recommend starting from the beginning of this hop over at StampTV, so you can be inspired by all of the CSS Alumni Participants.

The sketch:

My Elegant Coffee Card:

I pulled out Mugs and Kisses for this one. I found some gorgeous K&Company paper the other weekend and had to use it on this card. I stamped the mug and saucer on the chocolate flourish paper and cut it out. I also cut out the beverage part of the mug and put some Tan Leather card stock underneath to simulate a nice cup of coffee with a little sugar and cream mixed in. Yum!

Next hop is to see what Miesje Flach has to inspire you.

And make sure you are leaving comments for all of the hop participants because one lucky person will be chosen at random to win a free Gina K Designs set. Woohoo, FREE stamps! Tuesday morning (February 1st), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs who will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

Peace Out!

2011-01-18T22:19:00.000-05:00

Have you seen the adorably cute A La Mode images from My Favorite Things. I fell in love with the girl holding the big honkin' coffee cups and the cutie patootie with the big peace sign. I made some fun cards last week with some really old Stampin Up pattern paper and the Groovy Girl a la mode set.

By the way, I was so delighted to see I am up to 41 followers. I want to thank everyone that takes the time to stop in to read my posts. I appreciate the comments as well, but understand that not everyone has time to leave comments on all the blogs they follow. I just hope I am not talking to myself when I post. LOL! Have a great week!

CSS Alumni Color Challenge Hop

2011-01-14T23:10:00.001-05:00

Welcome to another CSS Alumni Color Challenge Hop. This time we are using the current Spotlight Color Challenge over at StampTV. Since Gina kind of made a little oops and used the wrong color combo in her video, the card I am sharing contains the other color combo option.

If you are hopping along by starting at StampTV then you should have just been inspired by Melissa Cash. If not, then you will want to start at StampTV and hop through the entire group's blog posts to be completely inspired for a weekend of stamping.

Here are the colors for the color challenge card I made

and here is my card

I've been in the Valentine's Day/Love mood lately. So I pulled two older fun sets, Heartily Yours and Heartily Yours Additions to make this card.

Next on the hopping list is Miesje Flach. I know you will be completely inspired at your next stop. After you finish the hop please make sure to create something for the color challenge and upload it to StampTV. A FREE stamp set is given away to a random participant for each challenge over at StampTV.

Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee

2011-01-13T18:54:00.000-05:00

I have few coffee themed cards to share with you today. Anyone who really knows me, knows I LOVE coffee. And in particular, I LOVE Starbucks coffee. My love of all things coffee has spilled over into my paper crafting hobby and I have a small collection of coffee themed stamps and paper. Now I need to find someone to send these coffee creations to. :o) So without further ado, here are a few cards with a coffee theme.

A few notes: I stamped the coffee and bean image on the twill ribbon with Dark Brown Chalk Ink and then sponged the ribbon with Wild Honey Distress ink. I also used the Distressing Inks to sponge around the stamped image after coloring it in. I put the circle die over the image before sponging to leave the white border that gives the illusion of an extra layer without the bulk.

Stamps: Table and Chairs (Unknown), Coffee and Bean on ribbon from Sparkle Clear Coffee (Hero Arts)

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko), Copic markers, Tim Holtz Distressed Tea Dye, Frayed Burlap and Wild Honey, Dark Brown Chalk Ink (Colorbox)

Paper: Blue Bayou and So Saffron (Stampin Up), Pure Luxury Ivory and Grass Green (Gina K Designs)

Other: Diamonds and Snowcap embossing folders (Sizzix), adhesive backed silver brads & small white paper (Recollections), twill ribbon (unknown), Circle and Labels Three dies (Spellbinders)

A few notes: I rubbed the Aspen Mist ink over the embossed snowflake layer to define the embossing better. I used the same sponging technique as above on the main image here using the Barely Banana ink.

Stamps: Cosette Digi Stamp (Paper Makeup Stamps)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and VersaMagic Aspen Mist (Tsukineko), Copic markers, Barely Banana and Vintage Violet (Stampin Up)

Paper: Perfect Plum and Kiwi Kiss (Stampin Up), Pure Luxury White (Gina K Designs)

Other: Snowflake #6 embossing folder (Sizzix), Swiss Dot embossing folder (Provocraft/Cuttlebug), white satin ribbon (unknown), Oval, Circle, Labels Three dies (Spellbinders)

Moxie Fab Bright & Bold Colors

2011-01-12T22:55:00.000-05:00

I typically prefer sketch over color challenges, but whenever I look at the posts over at the Moxie Fab blog I am always so inspired by the colors in the photos that Cath shares. They are just so, well... Moxie Fab! ;o)

So this week the a different color combo from the latest special issue, Color Inspiration, is being featured. We asked to play along and create a card with the four colors in each group. The card I am sharing tonight is for the Bright and Bold Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week in the Moxie Fab World. I have always adored pink and orange together. Such a fun cheerful color combination. And mixing in the two neutrals of white and black only make them better.

Here is an image of the colors:

And here is my card using those colors

I am tickled "pink" with how it turned out. If you would like to play along check out the post here. You have until January 31st to submit.

Stamps: Heartily Yours and Heartily Yours Additions (Gina K Designs)
Paper: Pure Luxury White, Bubblegum Pink and Sweet Mango (Gina K Designs); Basic Grey Sugar Rush
Ink: Pretty In Pink (Stampin' Up), Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Other: Black stitched ribbon, small white safety pin, silver flower charm and jump ring, Snow Flowers & Scallops embossing folders (Sizzix)

Inkin' for the Weekend

2011-01-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

Seems like the only time I can stamp is the weekend. And since it was cold here and I had no where I had to be, that is just what I did. I had a chance to do a couple challenges and here are the results.

First up, the Mojo Monday Challenge (my first)

I used a brand new digi image that I purchased from Paper Makeup Stamps called Moody for Reading. I love the Moody line of images from that company. This image is just my style. I love the big scarf, the cute casual bag and her adorable hat. I printed her out with a laser printer and colored her in with Copic markers. The sentiment is from the Life is Good set. The sketch is from the Mojo Monday challenge.

Next up is a combination of two challenges: JUGS 66 and StampTV Release Challenge #3

The JUGS challenge was to make a card and matching envelope with a liner. Above is the card with matching envelope and below is the envelope with the embossed liner to match. I used my favorite Mugs and Kisses set to make the fun embossed turquoise mug. The sentiment is from Grand Damask. The StampTV challenge was to use something new. I used the cute little flower charm that I purchased recently in a set with some other cute little charms.

My next card is for the Unscripted Sketch Challenge 88 and the StampTV Release Challenge #1

The StampTV challenge was to use the color combination of Turquoise, Chocolate and Kraft. I stamped the main panel with Vivid Aqua on Kraft using the large stamp from Wild at Heart. I did some stitching on this one too. I love sewing on cards and don't do it nearly enough. I sponged the embossed panels to bring out the design and make a bit more aged looking. There is also a lot of pearly bling on this one. A strip of white on the ribbon, a strip of brown on the sentiment panel and lots of small white and brown pearls in the center of the flowers.

My final card to share in this post is for the Card Patterns sketch 97

Again, I used my favorite set Mugs and Kisses. I added some clear glaze over the coffee to make it a bit more realistic. I was inspired by some of the images over on the Moxie Fab blog with gray and decided to play around with some old Going Gray from my stash (I wish Stampin' Up had not discontinued that color). It's mixed with Turquoise and Green Apple.

Well, that's it for tonight. I may stamp a bit more before heading to bed. I found out earlier today our apartment building does not have hot water and they have to wait until tomorrow morning to fix it. So I am hoping I can get a shower before going to work tomorrow.

Challenging Weekend

2010-12-27T21:57:00.001-05:00

I finally had a day to myself to stamp. So after eating a delicious brunch, I spent the rest of my Sunday watching Cheers on my computer and stamping. I made a few cards for some challenges out in the blogosphere. And here they are:

I made this card for the video challenge over at StampTV. Gina asked us to make a project using an embosses glittered panel. I embossed a sheet of pattern paper from the Basic Grey Marjolaine pad. I am in love with the paper in this stack. I love greens and blues together. So refreshing and calming. After embossing the paper I used a Sakura glitter pen to add glitter to the raised flower petals. I also used the glitter pen on some of the lines in the plaid mug. It is much more sparkly in real life. The mug stamp I used for my super fabulous plaid mug is from Melanie's set, Mugs and Kisses. And the Faith sentiment is from Faithful Florals. The card base is Pure Luxury Soft Sand {Gina K} and I used Border Blue {Stampin Up} to mat the green glittery embossed layer.

My second card is my submission for the Card Patterns #96 sketch. My favorite challenges are sketch challenges. And Card Patterns always has a great sketch every week. I chose to use a rectangle instead of a circle for the main panel on my card. The stamp is from Great Impressions. I picked it up at Stampede, the local stamp store in York, PA. I used more paper from Basic Grey's Marjolaine pad. The card base is Pure Luxury Soft Sand {Gina K}. I used some cute bakers twine I found on Etsy a while ago, thanks to a tip from Patter over at Triple the Scraps blog.

My final card is for the Unscripted Sketch #87 challenge. Another awesome sketch challenge. Some more Basic Grey Marjolaine paper and one simple sentiment from Tami Mayberry's set Faithful Florals. The card base is Pure Luxury Soft Sand {Gina K} and the I used Bordering Blue {Stampin Up} to mat the layers. The blue ink is Tim Holtz Distressed Faded Jeans.

I will have some more time tomorrow night to stamp. I can't wait. And I am planning to ring in the new year with some stamping. What better way to celebrate. :o)

CPS198 Covered In Chocolate

2010-12-25T20:21:00.000-05:00

Everything is better covered in chocolate, right? LOL!

I made this fun card using Melanie Muenchinger's new set, Mugs and Kisses. The main theme of the set is based upon two fun mug images that you can decorate any way you wish. I chose however to use the cute little chocolate truffles for this card. It would be a perfect Valentine's Day card in non traditional colors. The inside of the card reads; "are covered in chocolate". The layout is from CPS Card Sketch #198.

Stamps: Mugs and Kisses & The Best Things in Life (GinaK)
Paper: Pure Luxury Sweet Mango (GinaK), Purely Pomegranate & Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up), Green At Heart (Basic Grey)
Other: Blossom and Circle Spellbinder's dies, silver cording, striped ribbon, Copic Markers

I pray you had a Very Blessed Merry Christmas!

Christmas Mugs and Kisses

2010-12-21T08:00:00.017-05:00

Melanie is a genius when it comes to designing fun sets with tons of co-ordinating accessories and words. I fell in love with her stamps when she released Little Tees. I was the first one in line to purchase it after the release party. Of course she released several co-ordinating Tee sets after that, and they are fabulous. She even asked me to be a guest designer for one of those sets, School, Sports Spirit. And when I thought she couldn't top that she came out with Tech Talk. Hello! I am a total tech geek, working in IT. And I was asked by Gina to be a part of the CSS Design Team that month and that was the set I was to feature. Fate of course. :o) Then their is Mugs and Kisses. This set just made me faint. :O) I am a Starbucks' mug collecting freak. Mostly because I love all the cool designs. So this set allows me to make many cool mugs with all the wonderful pattern papers that I own. It is absolutely perfect for paper piecing.

She is featuring some of my cards on her blog today. And I will be sharing a few cards here.

I made this first card for the current Card Patterns sketch #95. And I used some Basic Grey paper I picked up at AC Moore the other day. I was also inspired by this photo of a real Starbucks mug I found online here.

I pulled out another set by Melanie called Have a Cookie to make the little Gingerbread Man to put in the top of the mug. I made whipped cream with some white liquid pearls.

I used some fun Basic Grey Snowman paper to make this mug. I would love to have a real mug like this one. The panels with the coffee beans I made by stamping the beans and the word coffee all over some white card stock and then sponging with some Tim Holtz ink. The sketch is from StampTV, featured on December 13th.

Make sure you stop by Melanie's blog to see my other cards and you can see all of Melanie's stamp sets for sale at Gina K's store here.

Make it an awesome day!

Christmas Cards Courtesy of my SS

2010-12-12T21:12:00.001-05:00

My CSS Alumni Secret Sister sent me some very cool stamps in the packages I received from her. One of the sets is a gorgeous Christmas set from Flourishes called A Gift For You. She used the stamp set to make up the tag kit she included in the last package I received.

I wanted to use the set to make some cards as well. Here are two cards I put together using the same focal image, but with slightly different layouts and bling.

I used White, Soft Sand, Fresh Asparagus and Cranberry Tart Pure Luxury Card stock. I love how both cards turned out and I really like the color combination. I will definitely use it again.

Thank you Secret Sister for the wonderful goodies you've sent me to play with!

To everyone out there getting a lot of snow, stay safe and send some my way.

CSS Alumni Blog Hop - December 2010 Sketch

2010-12-10T23:00:00.004-05:00

Welcome to another Center Stage Alumni Blog Hop. I want to say how honored I feel to be a part of this group. This will be our last hop for 2010, and I hope we can share many more hops in the next year. If you are coming from Melissa's blog, then you are right on track. If not, then you can go to the StampTV forum to start from the beginning. You will not want to miss all of the fabulous projects that the group has to share.

For this hop we were given a sketch, created by our very own Melissa Cash, to use for our project. I made two snow related cards for this hop. I am quite envious of those in other areas of the country that are snowed in. I love snow!

Here is the sketch:

And here is my first card made with the Color Challenge colors from last week. I love Pink, Chocolate and Ivory together. I used one of my favorite winter sets, Winter Friends to make this one. And added lots of texture with embossing folders.

For my second card I used Melanie's new set Mugs and Kisses.

This is most fabulous set ever sold in Gina's store. Seriously, you need to get this set! :p)

I am a coffee fanatic. Not just drinking it, but also collecting things related to coffee. I have so many Starbucks mugs. I just love collecting them. So many cool designs. And now, I can create any kind of mug I want to. Oh yeah!!!! Very cool!!! I decided to add a lot of blink to this one as well. I love the faux adhesive back brads and there are so many colors available now. I couldn't resist adding a ton of mini brads to the snowflakes. So fun! You can click on the image to get a closer view.

Now head on over to
Miesje's blog
to see what amazing project she has to share with you. And remember to make it a great weekend!

CSS Alumni Inspiration Blog Hop

2010-11-26T23:00:00.024-05:00

Welcome to another Center Stage Alumni Blog Hop. If you have arrived from Melissa Cash's blog you are right on track. If not, you can start at the beginning of the hop over at StampTV.com.

Carolina provided us with a Christmas type photo for inspiration.

Here is the inspiration photo:

What a fun photo with some yummy treats. I normally take the route of using colors from an inspiration photo, but this time I just went with the first set that popped in my head. I was actually inspired to make something more wintry than Christmas. I also wanted to make a card I could use as a RAK to someone who belongs to the RAK group over at StampTV.com. When I looked at the inspiration photo the stamp set that instantly came to my mind was Warm and Wonderful, Illustrated by Rupa Shevde. I also used the sketch from Gina's latest sketch challenge over at StampTV.com.

Here is my card:

Now head on over to Miesje Flach's blog for some more inspiration.

StampTV CSS Alumni Blog Hop | CAS

2010-10-22T23:00:00.015-04:00

Welcome to another Center Stage Spotlight Alumni Challenge Blog Hop. You should be coming from Melissa Cash's blog. If not, you can start at the beginning of the blog hop over at StampTV by clicking this link.

This time we were challenged to create a CAS (Clean And Simple) card with the following criteria:

One Image

One Sentiment

One Layer + Card Base

Embellishments All the Same Color

This was the hardest challenge for me yet. I am so CAS challenged. LOL! I want to add layers and use pattern paper on everything. So I decided to make my card base look like pattern paper by stamping some fall images from Autumn Beauty .with Tuxedo Black (Memento) ink and coloring with Copic markers. I stamped the crackle background from Bold Flowers using Tea Dye Distress Ink (Tim Holtz). I also stippled some of the Tea Dye ink over the stamped and colored card base to age it a bit. Then I stamped the flower image from Signs of Autumn and the sentiment from Autumn Beauty onto PL White card stock. I colored the flowers with Copic markers and stippled around the flowers with Tea Dye ink. I cut the image out with the Deckled Rectangle Spellbinders die. I used a green Copic marker to color around the edge, giving it a layered look. I finished it off with some green and white striped ribbon and a green button with green embroidery floss. The flower panel is popped up using Scotch foam tape.

Now hop on over to

Miesje Flach's blog

to see what beautiful card she created for the blog hop. After you have finished viewing all of the blogger's posts feel free to create a card for the challenge and share it in the forum. We would love to see CAS cards created by StampTV fans.

CSS Alumni Blog Hop 7 - A Sketch Challenge

2010-10-08T23:00:00.009-04:00

It's time for another CSS Alumni Blog Hop. You should have come from the Melissa's beaituful blog. If not, you can start the hop over by going to this link at StampTV. Otherwise please read on and feel free to leave a comment to let me know what you think.

This time we were given a sketch to use for our projects.

I made two cards using the sketch. My first card is a Christmas card using an image from a set illustrated by Nina Brackett called Lord of The Season. I paper pieced the tree with scraps from Basic Grey Nook and Pantry.

For my second card I used another set illustrated by Nina Brackett called Grand Damask. I also used one of my favorite color combinations. I love red and aqua together.

Now head over to Miesje's blog for some more eye candy. Word has it that she made something with some new rubber.

StampTV Color Challenge | Black, Yellow and One Cool Color

2010-09-27T22:02:00.000-04:00

I made this Christmas card using the colors from Janice's color challenge over at StampTV.com. They are not traditional Christmas colors, but I like how they go together. I would have never thought to put Black, Yellow and Blue together without her color challenge.

Stamps: Holiday Cheer & Grand Damask & Fanciful Tags

Paper: PL Black Onyx, Lemon Drop, & White + KandCompany Que Sera Sera

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Dandelion, Pear Tart

Other: CB Swiss Dots and Sizzix Diamond embossing folders + Labels Trio Spellbinders Die, buttons, Dandelion grosgrain ribbon and white DMC embroidery floss

CSS Alumni Blog Hop 6

2010-09-24T23:00:00.051-04:00

It's time for another StampTV CSS Alumni Blog Hop. You should be coming from Melissa's blog if have been following the hop in order. If not you can Start Here to see all of the cupcake inspired projects made by the CSS Alumni Team. This time we were given a photo to use as inspiration. Here is the photo Carolina provided for us to be inspired:

These cupcakes look to good to eat. Don't they?

I made three cards for this hop. For my first card I used a template from StampTV's Freebie page and made a cupcake shaped card.

I cut the base from PL Chocolate Brown card stock. The liner, icing and sentiment label are pattern paper from a new K and Company pad I bought last weekend called Que Sera Sera. I embossed the liner with a Sizzix embossing folder, Tropical Paisley. Then I gently sponged it with Memento Rich Cocoa ink to bring out the embossing. I also used Rich Cocoa ink to sponge the edges of the icing pieces. I used some baker's twine to tie the label and button to the liner. And I added some fun rhinestone bling to the label.

My next two cards were inspired by the colors in the photo and I used Vicki's Sketch Challenge for both. I kind of did a hybrid CAS and Advanced card for her sketch. I left out the oval piece because I didn't know what to put there. Plus these will be fairly easy to pop in the mail. And I already know the two people I am sending them to. :o)

This one is inspired by the bottom cupcake in pinks, chocolate brown and white. I used Wild at Heart and You Are Not Alone stamp sets for both this card and the next card. The base is embossed and then I sponged some Tattered Rose Distress ink onto it to enhance the embossing.

My last card was inspired by the top cupcake with the green, yellow and chocolate. I used Peeled Paint Distress Ink to sponge the embossed card base to enhance the embossing. I also used the Peeled Paint ink to dye the ribbon strip. It was white. It worked very well and matches the PL Grass Green card stock.

Now head on over to Miesje's blog to see her fabulous cupcake inspired project.

Cupcake Card Supplies

Stamps: Wild at Heart

Paper: PL Chocolate Brown, K and Company Que Sera Sera

Other: red button, bakers twine, green rhinestones, Sizzix Tropical Paisley embossing folder, Cupcake Card Template from StampTV

Pink & Chocolate Card Supplies

Stamps: Wild at Heart & You Are Not Alone

Paper: PL White, Chocolate Brown, & Innocent Pink

Ink: Colorbox Dark Brown Chalk Ink, Tim Holtz Tattered Rose Distress Ink

Other: lace, chocolate stitched ribbon, mini rhinestones, Sizzix embossing folder

Green, Yellow and Chocolate Card Supplies

Stamps: Wild at Heart & You Are Not Alone

Paper: PL Grass Green, Sweet Corn, White, & Chocolate Brown

Ink: Colorbox Dark Brown Chalk Ink, Tim Holtz Peeled Paint Distress Ink

Other: mini rhinestones, Sizzix embossing folder, white ribbon dyed green

Fall Memories StampTV Challenge

2010-09-20T20:00:00.000-04:00

Gina's challenge this month is to make a project inspired from a fall memory. I have many fall memories and traditions. Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. Some of my favorite memories and traditions are:

My niece being born on September 30th 13 years ago.

My boyfriend's birthday is a few days before fall begins on the 10 of each September.

I love wearing corduroy pants and long sleeve t-shirts during the fabulous fall temperatures.

But the fall tradition I was inspired to use on my project involves my favorite fall drinks. Starbucks always has an awesome fall lineup of drinks each year. Yummo! And Brown's Farm Market always has the best Apple Cider. It's not pasteurized and made with local apples. My favorite way to drink it is hot with some caramel syrup from Starbucks. So the mug on my card either contains some yummy Toffee Mocha or hot Caramel Apple Cider. Double Yummo!

I bought a new toy this weekend. A Cricut. I've been having fun cutting things with it. The mug and the green layer are both cut with the Cricut. I stamped the mug with the background stamp from Melanie's set, Wild At Heart. Then I stamped the word "Friend", also from the same set using Dark Brown chalk ink. I added some rhinestones to the center of the main flower. This mug reminds me of the beautiful mugs you can purchase at Starbucks.

Stamps: Wild at Heart

Paper: Pure Luxury Ivory, Green Apple, Chocolate Brown, & Turquoise Sea

Ink: Vivid Aqua, Tea Dye & Peeled Paint Distress Ink {Tim Holtz}, Colorbox Dark Chocolate Brown Chalk

Other: Swiss Dot and Birds & Swirls embossing folders, taffeta chocolate ribbon, linen thread & button, mini rhinestones, Cricut with Sure Cuts A Lot

Faith CPS Sketch #184

2010-09-14T22:30:00.008-04:00

I am trying to venture out and do more challenges. I have way too many stamps and need to use them more. :o) I made this card using the Sketch Challenge from Card Positioning Systems. It is sketch #184. This was a very tough sketch for me. I ended up adding the lace ribbon, although it really is not part of the sketch. It was the only way I could get it to work for me. I guess that is why these are called challenges. This one was definitely a challenge.

Stamps: Lean On Me, Faithful Florals and You Are Not Alone {all from Gina K Designs}

Paper: Pure Luxury Kraft & Ivory {Gina K Designs} and Buckaroo Blue {SU}

Ink: Faded Jeans & Tea Dye {Tim Holtz Distress Inks}, Olive {Vivid}

Other: Lace Ribbon & Small Rhinestones {not sure}, Circle dies {Spellbinders}

All That Scraps Corner Bookmark Challenge

2010-09-13T22:27:00.000-04:00

All That Scraps has a corner bookmark challenge going on. I love making these fun bookmarks. Now I just need to start reading. LOL! Actually, I read digital books on my phone. But I can still find a use for this cute little bookmark. You can find directions to make these bookmarks here at SCS.

Stamps: Cocoa Emma Digi Stamp {CC Designs}, Swirls from Grand Damask {Gina K Designs}, Sentiment from Cafe {Art Impressions}

Paper: Pure Luxury Fresh Asparagus and White {Gina K Designs}, Soft Sky {SU}

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Vivid Olive, Copic markers

Other: River Rock stitched ribbon {SU}, Circles, Big Scallop Circles, Ovals and Scallop Paisley dies {Spellbinders}, small rhinestones, Mosaic embossing folder {Cuttlebug, ProvoCraft}

StampTV Lean On Me Card Kit Blog Hop

2010-09-12T23:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another StampTV Card Kit Blog Hop. The stamp set for the card kit this month is Lean on Me. Such a fabulous stamp set, with beautiful flowers and some great sentiments to use for a card you want to send to someone that may need a pick me up. My favorite sentiment in the set is "Praying for You". I know I will be using it a lot to make cards to send out. A little reminder that I care and will say a prayer on their behalf.

I made two cards for the hop. This first card was a wow card to me when I was finished. Every once in a while I create something that surprises me. When I was done with this one I squealed with delight because it turned out the way I wanted it to and it did not take hours to make. LOL! I made the card using the Inspiration Challenge over at SplitCoastStampers. What a cool, inspirational site Stephanie had for the challenge this week. Here is a link to the tapestry that caught my eye and inspired me to make this card.

Stamps: Lean on Me

Paper: Pure Luxury Rocket Red, Kraft, Chocolate Brown and White

Ink: Dark Brown Chalk Ink & Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink and Fired Brick Distress Ink

Other: Spellbinders Fancy Tags and Labels Trio, red gingham ribbon, small red button, bakers twine

For my second card I used the sketch from Mercy Karin's blog. I used some brighter colors and some embossing on this one. I like the small sprig silhouette that comes from the set. It looks great all on its own stamped in a bunch. Here is a link to the sketch.

Stamps: Lean on Me

Paper: Pure Luxury Rocket Red, Sweet Mango, Turquoise Sea and White

Ink: Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and Fired Brick Distress Ink, Memento Dandelion, Vivid Aqua

Other: Spellbinders Circles, Fancy Tags and Labels Trio, small adhesive pearls, Swiss Dot & Stylized Flowers Embossing Folders

For even more inspiration with the Lean on Me stamp set, please visit these links below:

Jessica Fick

Colleen Schaan

Suzanne Dean

Lee Murphy

Donna Baker

Miesje Flach

Sharri Seffens

Melissa Shultz

Melissa Cash

Karen Knegten

CSS Alumni Blog Hop #5

2010-09-10T23:00:00.003-04:00

Welcome to another Stamp TV CSS Alumni Blog Hop. This time we are doing a Color Challenge. Fall colors! Red, Orange, Brown and White or Ivory.

I pulled out the new set illustrated by Melanie called Wild at Heart. I stamped it on Pure Luxury White with Tim Holtz Fired Red Distress Ink. I sponged the flowers with Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade Distressed Ink. I matted it onto Pure Luxury Sweet Mango. The card base is Pure Luxury Kraft. I love Pure Luxury Kraft.

If you are following the hop in order you should have come from Melissa's blog.

Now move onto Miesje Flach's blog to see what she has created for the hop. She is the CSS Guest Designer this month. She is very awesome!

Have a great weekend.

2010-09-05T16:10:00.000-04:00

I am so happy about the wonderful cool temperatures we are having. I could not have asked for better weather on my 3 day holiday weekend. :o) I am so ready for fall weather. And speaking of fall; the colors for the Color Challenge over at StampTV remind me of a transition from summer to fall. The colors are Yellow, Dark Brown and Ivory. The soft yellow representing the warm sunshine and also the beautiful shade the leaves take on when they are beginning to change colors. Here is a card I made using the colors this week.

I stamped the Ivory layer with floral images from the new Gina K set Lean on Me. The sentiment is from another new set called Faithful Florals. the layout is similar to the layout I used for my last CSS blog hop card. What do you think of that flower with the ribbon? I went to Stamp-ede Rubber Stamps, the local stamp store in York, PA and found these really cool dies. The die cuts the flower piece with the slits so you can string ribbon through them and then through the center hole. The manufacturer is Marianne Designs. She has a website, but it is not in English. But you can see some beautiful cards created with the companies stamps and dies. The website is http://www.mariannedesign.nl/.

Stamps: Lean on Me & Faithful Florals

Paper: Pure Luxury Chocolate Brown, Sweet Corn & Ivory

Other: CB Embossing Folder, chocolate stitched ribbon & ivory ribbon, flower die (marianne designs), chocolate brad

CSS Alumni Challenge Blog Hop 4

2010-08-27T23:00:00.011-04:00

Welcome to another CSS Alumni Blog Hop Challenge. This time we were limited on the supplies we could use. Which for me was appropriate since I made my card while camping last weekend. I was very limited with supplies. Here is the list of limitations that Carolina gave us for the challenge:

Neutral Card Base (White, Ivory, Black, Brown, or Kraft)
Two Different Colors of Card Stock
One Pattern Paper
Three Buttons
One Color of Ribbon
As Many Images as We Like

Here is my card using the limited list:

My card base is Kraft.

I used Pure Luxury Fresh Asparagus and Turquoise Sea for the two colors of card stock.

My piece of pattern paper is from the Basic Grey Kioshi pad.

I had some green flower shaped buttons that matched the Fresh Asparagus card stock perfectly.

I added a strip of Fresh Asparagus Ribbon.

And my images and sentiment are from the Spring Mix stamp set.

If you are following the hop from the beginning you should have come here from Melissa's blog. Your next stop is to see what beautiful creation Sharri has to share with us. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the blog hop. You can stop by StampTV.com for more inspiration and to purchase the stamps, paper, and ribbon used in my project.

StampTV Sketch Challenge #13

2010-08-24T09:55:00.000-04:00

Today is my last day camping at Gifford Pinchot Park. I had some time to do some stamping while camping this weekend. One of the cards I made was this card for the sketch challenge I am hosting over at StampTV this week.

I used the PussyWillow image from Whimsical Autumn from Gina K Designs. The flower pattern paper is from the Basic Grey Kioshi pad. The Fresh Asparagus and Soft Sand card stock is from the Pure Luxury line, Gina K Designs.

I hope you all have a great week. It's back to work for me tomorrow. Glad it is only a three day work week. :o)

StampTV Sketch Challenge #12

2010-08-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

Everyone over at StampTV.com did an absolutely fabulous job on the round cards last week. I had fun viewing every single one of them.

This week we are leaving the round images behind and going for right angles again. I pulled out an old favorite stamp set, My Cuppa' Joe and some new Basic Grey Olivia paper to make my card this week. And I used one of my favorite techniques, Paper Piecing. It is so much fun to use beautiful papers to fill in the stamped images. And the "to go" cups from this set are so easy to cut out.

Here is the card I made for the sketch challenge:

Stamps: My Cuppa Joe
Paper: Pure Luxury Innocent Pink, Slate Gray & White + Basic Grey Olivia

Other: Spellbinders Labels 8 Die, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, White Organza Ribbon and Pink Gingham Ribbon, Green Buttons

You can see all of the details about the sketch challenge and the other challenges for this week and find out how you can be entered for a chance to win free stamps over at StampTV.com.

Come join the fun and get stampin'!

StampTV CSS Alumni Challenge Blog Hop

2010-08-13T23:00:00.006-04:00

It's time for another StampTV CSS Alumni Challenge. This time we were given a sketch to follow. You know I love sketches. :o)
This is the sketch :

And here is what I made using the sketch.

This was such a fun sketch to play with. I like the cutout half circle. For my card I used an oval instead. The very first stamp set I ever bought from Gina K Designs was this one. It is called "you know your old when". I love the funny sentiments in the set. But what really sold me was the image of the old lady hanging her head out of the Beetle car. That's me in about 40 years. :o) For this card I used the cute little old bald guy. This is my boyfriend in about 40 years. Isn't he cute? :o) He is already pretty close in the hair department. But I still love him, hair or not. The sentiment inside the card says, "everything hurts-and what doesn't hurt doesn't work. Happy Birthday!"

If you are following along the blog trail you just came from Melissa's blog and you can now make a stop at Sharri's blog.

Stamps: You Know Your Old When
Paper: Pure Luxury Grass Green, Lipstick Red, & White + Basic Grey Olivia
Other: Classic Oval Spellbinder's Dies

I also want to invite you to join the NEW RAK Group over at StampTV. RAK is an acronym for Random Acts of Kindness. We share our addresses with other group members and send and receive cards. It is a great way to find some special people to send your handmade cards to.

Here is the link to join.

StampTV Sketch Challenge #11

2010-08-10T22:27:00.000-04:00

It is the 11th week for me hosting the StampTV Sketch Challenge. This week the sketch is from a card I shared a few weeks ago. Since my grandmother passed away last week, I have not had time to do a lot of stamping. I actually spent the day sewing on Sunday. She loved to sew and it was a way to remember her.

Here is the card for the sketch challenge this week:

You can view all of the sketch details and join the fun here.

I also started a RAK group over at StampTV.com. RAK is an acronym for Random Acts of Kindness. So far we have 10 members and would like to have many more join us so we can start sending out happy mail. Please come on over and join our group. You will need to be a member of StampTV (which is free) and then you need to request access to the group. This is so we can moderate who has access to our addresses. We don't want spammers getting the list. They don't send happy mail.

Here is a link to the group.

StampTV Sketch Challenge #10

2010-08-03T14:21:00.003-04:00

I am sharing the card I made for the sketch challenge I am hosting over at stamptv.com.
I decided to use Carla's color challenge colors and stamps illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. Bright colors always go so well with Melanie's sets.

I pulled out an older set called The Best Things in Life to make my sentiment. This set is so versatile because you can mix and match words. The sentiment on my card is my favorite that can be made with this set. I also like using the set to make the sentiment "Waiting for God". Such great words to send to someone who might need a little extra reminder that God is always there. :o) I used some CB embossing folders to add texture and I pulled out a newer set illustrated by Melanie called Fun Year Round. I punched out a larger red flower and a smaller yellow flower with Marvy punches. Then I used some of the circle stamps to add a cool design to the flowers. I tied off a small transparent orange button and put it all together. For a little added bling I put a small rhinestone heart in place of the o in God. He is love after all and how appropriate to add a shiny heart. :o)

Stamps: Fun Year Round & The Best Things in Life

Paper: Pure Luxury Lipstick Red, Sweet Mango, Wild Dandelion & White

Other: CB Embossing folders Birds and Swirls & Moroccan Screen, pumpkin mango striped ribbon, flower punches, orange button

Please stop by the challenge forum and join the fun. A free stamp set is given away to a random participant for each challenge.

Stamp TV Blog Hop - Featuring Melanie Muenchinger

2010-08-01T23:00:00.007-04:00

StampTV.com is having a week long blog hop; featuring different illustrators. Tonight the fabulous Melanie Muenchinger is being featured and she asked some of her past guest designers to share projects made with stamp sets she illustrated. I originally was going to use Tee Talk or Tech Talk, but decided to go in a different direction and pulled out one of her newer sets from this summer called Gifts from the Sea. I also chose to keep my card simple. Since the stamp set is about the ocean, I chose to use Soft Sand and Turquoise Sea for the colors and white as my neutral. I've had the little shell accents in my stash forever and knew it would be perfect to use one with this set.

Stamps: Gifts from the Sea

Paper: Pure Luxury Soft Sand, Turquoise Sea, White

Other: Ribbon

Tonight Melanie Muenchinger has several designing friends sharing samples they created using some of their favorite sets from Melanie, take a look!

Brenda Turner
Carla Suto
Carolina Buchting
Geri Utterback
Karen Knegten
Libby Hickson
Linda Payne
Melissa Shultz
Selma Stevenson
Sharri Seffens
Sue Van DeVusse
Tina Gilliland

Young Love

2010-07-31T14:26:00.002-04:00

When I saw this image illustrated by Maurie from Mo's Digital Pencil, I knew I had to have it. I love everything about this scene. I found the perfect sentiment from Have a Cookie {Gina K Designs}. This is a fun image to color with Copic markers. I experimented with the tip to tip techniqe after watching Asela's video on her blog.
Stop back tomorrow night, I'll be sharing a project made with stamps illustrated by one of my all time favorite artists. :0)

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StampTV Sketch Challenge #8

2010-07-19T23:00:00.003-04:00

Do you want a chance to win some FREE stamps?

You can enter to win FREE Gina K Designs stamps by participating in the weekly challenges. I am currently hosting the weekly sketch challenge. A new sketch will start on Tuesday.

You can join in on the fun here!

Here is the card I made for this weeks sketch.

Stamps: Friends are Forever

Paper: Pure Luxury Lipstick Red & Sweet Mango, Basic Grey Sugar Rush

(All of these supplies can be found at Gina K Designs)

Seeds of Kindness Blog Hop

2010-07-18T23:00:00.009-04:00

Thank you for stopping by my blog to view the project I made for the Seeds of Kindness blog hop for Gina K Designs. When I was ready to make my project for this hop I had a bunch pattern papers sitting on my desk from doing the latest color challenge over at StampTV.com. So this card contains a lot of yellow and green. I was originally planning to use the chocolate piece as a die cut border along one of the edges, but after running it through my Big Kick with the Tim Holtz die I didn't want to cut it. So I cut a piece of paper to slide through the cut area. I love how it looks. I pulled out my sewing machine and added some stitches. Then I colored the hanging plant from Seeds of Kindness to match and cut it out to hang it. I think it sort of looks like it is hanging in a fancy draped window. I had to add some rhinestone bling and a little ribbon accent on the tag. I like the sentiment I chose from the set to use on this card. This set is so much fun to play with and easy to color.

Stamps: Seeds of Kindness

Paper: Pure Luxury Grass Green, Chocolate Brown, & White and Basic Grey Origins

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Other: small adhesive rhinestones and chocolate ribbon

For more details on the card kit that is included with the purchase of the Seeds of Kindness stamp set, please click here. Then, to see even more samples with this versatile stamp set, visit these designer's blog links who are participating in the hop tonight:

Then, for even more inspiration be sure to check out the Idea Center for all the samples that everyone has shared in the StampTV gallery.

StampTV Sketch Challenge #7

2010-07-12T23:55:00.000-04:00

I forgot to post the sketch challenge last week. This summer heat has totally zapped my energy and mojo! I am so ready for winter and snow. I know most people are telling me to bite my tongue, but I can't help it. The only thing good about summer is the beautiful flowers and tasty fresh produce. :o)

This is my 7th week hosting the Sketch Challenge over at StampTV.com. It is so much fun to see how everyone uses the sketches each week. This week I have another fairly simple sketch. You can see the actual sketch image in the forum under this link.

I stamped one of the images from Seeds of Kindness and cut them out using a small nestabilities circle die. I colored them with Copic markers and sponged with Tea Dye distress ink. The DP is from Cosmo Material Girl pad and the card stock is Pure Luxury Green Apple and Ivory. It is hard to see in the photo but the I rippled the ribbon to add dimension. And I had to add some blingy pearls to the flowers. :o)

Please stop by the StampTV challenge forum and join in on the fun. A stamp set is given away with every weekly challenge to a random participant. Everyone needs more stamps.

CSS Alumni Blog Hop

2010-07-09T22:00:00.002-04:00

Welcome to the first Center Stage Alumni Blog Hop. Some of the Center Stage Alumni Stampers are joining together to share projects made with products from Gina K Designs and using the colors Kraft/Tan Leather, Green (any shade) and White. I chose to use Pure Luxury Tan Leather and Green Apple with White. I stamped the chair from Fine Furnishings onto a piece of Green Apple card stock. I cut it out and then ran it through my Big Kick with the Textile embossing folder. I like the texture the embossing adds to the cute little chair. I kept the layers fairly simple and added lots of texture with the Argyle and Paisley embossing folders. To go with the Fine Furnished chair I added some lace and pearls.

If you came from Lori's blog then you are right on track and can continue to Shannon's blog for another fun project using Gina K Designs products. If not you will want to start at the beginning over at StampTV.com to see the entire collection of beautiful projects being shared by some of the CSS Alumni group. I hope you have a fabulous weekend and that you are inspired to get some stamping done.

StampTV Sketch Challenge #5

2010-06-28T23:00:00.004-04:00

Time for another sketch challenge over at StampTV.com. The sketch for this week came from an interesting place. About a year ago I was intrigued by the design on a dress that one of the women was wearing in church. It had all of these groupings of geometric shapes. And what came to my mind. Wow, they would make some great sketches for stamping cards. LOL! So I pulled out my little notepad from my purse and drew some rough sketches. They sat untouched in my purse for a long time. I pulled them out the other day and decided to use one for my next sketch challenge. The original design from the dress consists of the 3 smaller squares and the three groups of buttons. The rest I added to make it a card design.

I made this card for my mom's birthday. She turned 57 on Saturday. Of course she doesn't look a day over 27. :o)

The fake stitching around the blocks and the tape measure layer is from the new set, Stitches, illustrated by Tami Mayberry and sold by Gina K Designs. It will be available Thursday night after the Release Party. You won't want to miss the fun. Thursday night at 7 pm to 10 pm CST. That's 8 - 11 EST, my time. The design team shares lots of great inspirational samples and Gina reveals the full stamp sets throughout the party. There is also stamping challenges and other fun ways for chances to win FREE stamps. Then at 10pm CST the new stuff is available for purchase in the store. I am one of the repeat offenders that shows up every Gina throws a party. Hope to see you there.

Supplies used for card:

Stamps: Nana's Needlework & Stitches (available Thursday night)

Paper: Pure Luxury Chocolate and White, Cosmo Cricket Material Girl

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Other: Koh-I-Noor & Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Baby Oil, Blending Stumps, buttons, ribbon, DMC white floss and mini brads

StampTV's Retired Challenge Hostess Thank You Hop

2010-06-21T23:00:00.007-04:00

Tonight we are having a special blog hop to thank our recently retired StampTV Challenge Hostess Team members:
Tina Gilliland: Color
Karen Knegten: Anything but a Card
Vicki Dutcher: Sketch
Sharri Seffens: Blast from the Past

These 4 designers have provided StampTV with a challenge each week during the months of March, April, and May, which totals up to 13 challenges! To view each of their challenges in one area, click on their names and it will direct you to their Idea Center Inspiration Page.

Even better, we have a special StampTV Challenge Magazine Volume 2* located on the Freebie Tab, where all 52 of their challenges are shared in a download PDF that you can save to your computer and print out at your leisure! *We will be doing a similar magazine for our first Challenge Hostess team as well in the near future, so watch for that soon.

To honor the team a bit more, several GinaK Designers are joining together in a special thank you blog hop and would like to invite you to join us!

Here are the cards I made using a favorite challenge hosted by each of these fabulous ladies.

First is a card using Tina's Color Challenge to use Red, Kraft and Ivory. I pulled out an older Gina K set called Summer Harvest. I stamped the cherries on the textured burlap card paper and colored with Copic markers.

Next is a card using Karen's challenge to make a tag. I made a tag that I then added to a card to send to her. I used Fine Furnishings for the chair and pillow and Thanks a Million for the Sentiment.

The next card is for Vicki's Sketch from 4/1. I used the set Stars for this one. Vicki was such a Rock Star with all the awesome sketches she provided and so I knew I had to use that sentiment for her card. :o)

My next card is for Sharri's Blast From the Past challenge to use paper piecing. One of my favorite techniques! I used the yummy strawberries image from the latest StampTV Kit and paper pieced them with papers from Basic Grey Nook and Pantry.

I also made a card for Gina because she did a rock star job giving us inspiring photos each week to help get our stamping mojo going. I was inspired by INSPIRE 19 - Send a Smile. So I made this groovy card with a smiley t-shirt for her. It is also the card for my sketch challenge this week.

After visiting the links below, please check out this discussion on StampTV and share a favorite card you've made in the past or a new one you're inspired to make using one of the challenges from any four of the challenge hostesses.

Jessica Fick
Theresa Momber
Jennie Harper
Lee Murphy
Donna Baker
Melanie Muenchinger
Carla Suto
Brenda Turner
Linda Payne
Melissa Shultz
Giovana Smith

StampTV Sketch Challenge #3

2010-06-16T23:13:00.000-04:00

I am adding a quick post for the sketch challenge this week at StampTV.com. I decided to get away from a blocked sketch and try some layered ovals.

Here is my card for the sketch...

You can see all the details about the challenge, including how to be entered to win free stamps.

StampTV Sketch Challenge #2

2010-06-08T18:20:00.000-04:00

It's my second week hosting the Sketch Challenge over at StampTV.com. You can check out the challenge details and find out how you could be entered to win FREE stamps here. That's right, Gina K Designs hosts five different weekly challenges and there is a chance to win FREE stamps with every challenge. In this economy that's the perfect price. :o)

For my card I decided to use some yummy digital papers designed by the talented Nina Brackett for Gina K Designs. I love bright colors and these papers are bright and beautiful. I stamped the butterfly using the Rock and Roll technique. I first inked the stamp with Memento Tangelo and then rolled the stamp edges in SU's Elegant Eggplant. Then I stamped it on Pure Luxury Wild Dandelion, leaving a small border. I colored parts of the butterfly with the Stardust Glitter pen to add some glitz. I also dusted off the sewing machine for this one. And added a fun strip of pearls on the dark purple ribbon strip.

Stamps: Enjoy the Sunshine

Paper: Pure Luxury White & Wild Dandelion, Bright Botanicals Digital Paper

Ink: Memento Tangelo

Other: adhesive backed pearls

Paper Makeup Stamps Sketch Challenge

2010-06-05T17:00:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a chance to use my stamps from Paper Makeup Stamps in a while and decided to get them out today to make a card for the June Release Sketch Challenge. The fairy images are so cute. I decided to use this adorable girl holding the singing bird.

I used Memento Tuxedo Black to stamp her on Pure Luxury White card stock. I colored her with Copic Markers {R0000, R00, RV29, B00, B04, YR21}.

Stamps: Melody Fairy

Paper: Pure Luxury White, Lipstick Red, Innocent Pink & Digital Paper from uknown source

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Other: rhinestone brads, adhesive rhinestone, lace and ricrac, tissue paper flower and pearl brad, swiss dots cb folder

StampTV Sketch Challenge #1

2010-06-01T20:18:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to be the new sketch challenge hostess over at StampTV.com. When I received the invitation from Jessica I about fell off my chair. I was so jumping up and down and squealing with delight. Yeah, I get a little crazy some times.

So here it is, June 1st, and it is the first day for me to host the challenge. I tried to keep the layers to a minimum for this sketch. You can really make it a Clean and Simple project or you could go crazy with accessories and extra dimension. I went a little crazy with the rhinestones. LOL!

Here is the sketch...

And here is the colorful blinged out card I made using the sketch...

Stamps: Stars

Paper: Pure Luxury Sweet Mango & Smoky Slate, Basic Grey Sugar Rush

Ink: Memento Black

Other: Lots of rhinestones and a strip of green ribbon

Please stop by the challenge thread and join in. With every challenge there is a random drawing to win a free stamp set from Gina K Designs. You can read about it here.

2010-05-22T21:47:00.000-04:00

I made this red, white and blue coffee card for Tina's color challenge over at StampTV.com. I used Rocket Red, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze and White. The images are from Heartily Yours and sentiment from Heartily Yours Additions both by Gina K Designs. Card size is 4" x 8".

I will be back tomorrow to share some more projects. Have a fabulous Sunday!

Repurposed Napkin Holder

2010-05-17T19:09:00.000-04:00

Over at StampTV.com Karen's latest Anything But a Card challenge is earth friendly. She challenged us to re-purpose a napkin holder. I didn't have one already, so I stopped by the Dollar Store on Sunday after church to pick one up. Then I proceeded to make it over with some cool new paper I found. It is from Cosmo Cricket's The Boyfriend collection. I love the hanging clothing and the Game Over with the old school Atari joystick. I used images from the Tech Talk stamp set by Gina K Designs. Being a techno geek, I love that set. :o) I think I'll take this to work to hold some items on my desk; like my notepad and such.

Stamps: Tech Talk
Paper: Pure Luxury Green Apple (laptop and wrap for napkin holder sides), Sweet Corn (envelope) and Ivory (computer screen) AND Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Inspired by Spongebob's BFF Patrick

2010-05-11T23:01:00.000-04:00

Yes, my title says it all. LOL!

So, Gina's challenge this month is to be inspired by your favorite movie. Most of my favorite movies are science fiction and mainly those that take place in space. You know, Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, etc. Maybe I am really an alien?!

Anyway, one of my favorite non-sci-fi movies is Spongebob Squarepants The Movie. Spongebob and Patrick crack me up. Makes me feel like a Goofy Goober! :o) So I chose to use that movie as my inspiration.

The set I chose to use is Quite a Catch. How perfect that there is a starfish image that reminds me of Spongebob's BFF, Patrick. If I slapped a pair of tighty whiteys on him who would know the difference, right? LOL!

Of course I had to make him a pink/coral color like he is in "real life". So I stamped him onto Pure Luxury (PL) Innocent Pink card stock and colored his eyes with a white gel pen to give him some life. I had to mix in some yellow for good ol' Spongebob, so I cut an oval from PL Lemon Drop as his backdrop. I stamped "Don't Worry Be Happy" from the set because Spongebob and Patrick seem to live this motto. I embossed with the Swiss Dots folder to make it look like bubbles surrounding him. The green layer is actually paper with fish swimming. I embossed it with the Mosaic folder. I layered that on some more PL Innocent Pink. The card base is PL 120 lb. White. Love that stuff for card bases!! I used Vicki's sketch for this week as my layout. When I look at the starfish on this card it definitely makes me want to smile. :o)

And here is the movie cover image that gave me my inspiration.

If you haven't seen this movie and have a goofy sense of humor, you've got to check it out. I need to borrow it from niece and watch it again.

CASEing Melanie

2010-05-09T21:01:00.000-04:00

Melanie posted a challenge on her blog to go ahead and CASE her. I decided to CASE the fold she used in a card she posted a while ago using a Kindred Spirits stamp from Gina K Designs. Here is a link to the post with the card she made. I used stamps from two of Melanie's sets. Her newest set, Gifts from the Sea and an older, and my favorite set, Little Tees. I stamped the seagulls and the word relax on a t-shirt as the focal point. I used pattern paper from Basic Grey Ambrosia as the base for the colors. I love this type of fold for cards.

Here is the card closed to show you what the front looks like:

And here it is open:

There is a white panel to the left of the inside that a small message can be written to the recipient. I have a friend that I used to work with that loves the beach. She spends several months in Key West each winter. And her favorite color is orange. So I think I will send this to her as a "Thinking of You" card.

Stamps: Little Tees & Gifts from the Sea {Gina K Designs}

Paper: Lipstick Red, Smoky Slate, White {Pure Luxury GKD}, Tangerine Tango {SU}, Ambrosia {BG}

Accessories: orange gingham ribbon, small white pearls, Textile CB embossing folder, Nestabilities Circle and Labels 3 Dies

Gone Fishing with a Basket

2010-05-07T23:04:00.001-04:00

The basket Gina has featured in the videos this week over at StampTV.com is so easy and fun to make. I decided to make a masculine basket using the new stamp set Gone Fishing.

I've had the basket weave pattern paper for forever. When I first saw the set I thought about this paper and how it looks like a fishing basket weave. So I made one of Gina's baskets with Pure Luxury Chocolate card stock and used the basket paper to cover it. The metal piece under the fishing rod reads "Wisdom". I had a hard time picking it up with the camera. This would perfect to add a gift card to a sporting goods store and a little gift to give to a special man in your life.

Gina K Designs - Quite A Catch Blog Hop

2010-05-06T23:00:00.006-04:00

The CSS Alumni were asked to join the Quite A Catch Blog Hop. What an adorable set! I incorporated two different challenges in the creation of my card tonight. I used the latest sketch challenge from Card Positioning Systems, #165 and I used this week's Copic marker colors from Copic Colour Challenge, #63.

You can see the sketch here.

And the Copic marker colors for this week are

I did not have BG11 so I used BG10 instead. R20 is a perfect match for Pure Luxury (PL) Innocent Pink and the NEW Turquoise Sea goes really well the the Blue Green colors.

This card has a lot of layers and dimension. I was going for a porthole or fishing tank look. I started by stamping the circle frame image from the Spring Mix StampTV Kit on PL Innocent Pink. I used Nestabilities to cut out a circle slightly smaller than the inside of the frame. I used a circle one size smaller to cut out the window from the turquoise card stock.

I stamped the sentiment with Vivid Aqua and rounded the corners with a punch. I adhered a piece of transparency to the back of the Innocent pink layer. Then I applied foam tape on the transparency and layered the turquoise under that. Then I applied another layer of foam tape on the back of the turquoise layer.

I stamped the fish image and colored her with the Copic marker colors from the challenge. I masked her and sponged around her with Soft Sky which is a perfect match for Copic BG10. I adhered that to the back of the turquoise layer.

Finally I trimmed some papers from Basic Grey Urban Prairie and put it together using the sketch from CPS. I added lots of pearls because they are from the water and oh so girly.

Visit these designer's blogs tonight for even more samples with the Quite a Catch stamp set

To see the adorable samples in the StampTV gallery, check out this link: quiteacatch

Spring Flower Basket - Inspire 22

2010-05-06T00:20:00.000-04:00

Over at StampTV.com Gina has a video this week that shows you how to make these adorable baskets. She is so amazing with the awesome videos she shares each week. The weekly Inspire Challenge is to use flowers. I decided to make this one as I watched her explain it. I cannot believe I created this in less than an hour. It usually takes me hours to make something, but I guess Mr. Mojo was paying me a visit tonight. :o) And it felt good to create something after the stressful evening I had.

I used Turquoise Sea to make the basket and Lipstick Red for the accent color. The pattern paper is from my Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 pad. Stamps are from the latest Spring StampTV Kit. This is the first time I inked up the pretty daisy stamp. It's my favorite flower. I will need to get some goodies to put inside and find someone to give a fun little gift to.

I only have one more day of work. Yeah! Stop by tomorrow night after 10 pm CST for the Gina K Designs, Quite A Catch blog hop. You will surely be inspired after seeing what the design team and CSS alumni from StampTV have to share. Have a super Thursday!

Dad's Day Water Colored Trees Card

2010-05-04T22:28:00.000-04:00

I used the sketch #37 from Jen del Muro's blog i {heart}2stamp. I turned it on it's side to make this card.

I used stamps from Gina K Designs NEW set Gone Fishing, illustrated by Theresa Momber. I experimented with the trees by first applying ink with markers using the thumping technique and then filled in some of the trees with Mellow Moss. I used a watercolor brush to soften it all up and kind of made a water colored picture out of it. I like how it turned out. I sponged the sky with Memento Sky Blue and the grass with Memento Pear Tart and Bamboo Leaves. The paper is from one of the Gina K Designs kits I bought in the past. It was lying on my desk and it looked like a perfect match for the tree scene. So I went with it. I tried to keep in masculine (no ribbon and minimal bling with the brads).

Feel free to leave a comment to tell me what you think. Have a super week!