Self Expressions

PTI 5th Anniversary Sketch Challenge #5

2012-02-10T22:38:00.001-05:00

It's me again, this is the second post for today so to see the first one please scroll down. I wanted to show the second card I made for Papertrey's 5th Anniversary Sketch Challenge.

Here's the sketch ...

and here's what I came up with ...

Supplies: PTI card stock, fancy flourishes dies, fancy flourishes stamp set, buttons, think big favorites #3, ink. SU! card stock.

This is the second of the two sketches that I participated in and I must say that I much perfer this card over the first!

Well thanks for stopping by and until next time,

PTI 5th Anniversary Sketch Challenge #1

2012-02-10T22:28:00.001-05:00

Hi there ... just a quick post to show what I made for Papertrey's 5th Anniversary Sketches challenge. Here's the first sketch ...

and here's what I came up with ...

Supplies: PTI card stock, patterned paper, butterfly dies, special edition "a big thank you" stamp, polka dot basics stamp set. SPELLBINDER scallop oval. SU! craft white. pearls, white emboss powder. CUTTLEBUG spots & dots emboss folder.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time,

Once again ...

2012-02-08T22:15:00.000-05:00

I've revamped the look of my blog. Just a quick little note to let you know that I've decided to make a big change as to the look of my blog. I've come to realize that for me, less is better ... in that I mean, simple but sleek! For quite some time now I have been questioning a few things about my creativity and one of the more important things I started to think about is ... what kind of style do I like, what kind of style do I have, what colours do I like, which are my favourites? I still don't have a clear vision of what my most favourite likes and dislikes are but I have committed myself to finding out! Giving my blog a more simplified look is the beginning and I know there will be more to come.

Happy in Me

2011-11-16T07:21:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday everyone. I have a card I'd like to share with you today that incorporates two challenges. The first one being the CR84FN colour challenge and the other being the CPS sketch challenge. I've been wanting to use the colours from CR84FN#42 for over a week now and finally found a sketch that I thought would work perfectly with it. As far as the sketch goes I wanted to use my new MFT stamps and the mini rose die that I received a week or so ago and also thought this CPS#244 sketch would work well. Here are the colours followed by sketch ...

Here is what I came up with ...

I really love the way this turned out. Just a little splash of black make this card pop for sure. I used Pink Pirouette card stock as my base, layered with a panel of white card stock that i embossed with Birds & Swirls EF (cuttlebug). I lightly sponged Pink Pirouette over the white embossed layer. I then cut two smaller panels of Pink Pirouette designer paper and mounted them on the white embossed layer. Next I die cut a Labels Eighteen (Spellbinder) and sponged it as well but keeping the die in place while sponging. I then took the same die and traced around the outer edge on black card stock and cut it out and layered it under the white label and stamped the sentiment from All Smiles stamp set (MFT). For the rose ... I used my new Mini Rolled Rose die (MFT) with some not so good felt. I really need to get some good quality wool felt. The polyester just doesn't cut well at all. I placed a small sticker pearl in the center and then mounted it on the bow I made. Adhered it to the label and voila! Here's a close up ...

Well that's about it for today folks ... hope you enjoyed what I had to share and thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

Make a Wish

2011-11-11T21:41:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday evening everyone! I finally received my goodies from My Favorite Things that I ordered a couple of weeks ago. I was very excited to ink up one of my fave a la mode stamps called Birthday Girl which was of course in my order. Since I wanted to partake in the Wednesday Stamp Club, Get Sketchy I thought it fitting to use my Birthday Girl. Here's the sketch from MFT ...

And here's what I came up with ...

It's a little more colourful than I'm used to or that I like but I still like the way it turned out! I coloured my birthday girl with copics of course, followed the sketch and voila! Here's a close up to see all the sparkle I added to her cupcake ...

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed what I had to share with you today.

Until next time,

Merry & Bright

2011-11-09T11:40:00.000-05:00

Good Morning! I'm back to share a card that I made the other day incorporating the following challenges. I used CPS Sketch#243 and Sweet'nSassy Digi #27, the theme is Holiday/Christmas and because it's a digi challenge, you need to use a digi image of course! As always here is the sketch for Card Positioning System ...

Here is what I came up with ...

I'm super happy with the way this turned out! This adorable little mouse digi is called Ornament Cocoa and available at Sweet'nSassy Stamps. Alrighty ... I started off by choosing my image and printed this image out twice then pulled paper from my Stampin'Up! pile (retired Christmas paper) and chose some Copic colours that matched the paper. On the second image I printed I coloured the Cocoa's head and the bow and cut them out to pop up with foam tape on main image. I used Spellbinder's Labels 1, Labels 8 and Lacey Circles for layering and put all panels in place, added some red baker's twine, mounted main image and to finish off I added glitter! Oh lastly I should mention that the sentiment is computer font. Here's a close up ...

I love the ornament. It's so sparkly and festive. I hope you enjoyed what I had to share today and thank you for stopping by.

Until next time,

whatcha' doing?

2011-11-07T09:59:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone, hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Today I'm sharing a card made with another Tiddly Inks digi image called "whatcha' doing?" You'll see in a just a bit how I also paired it with another image I used the other day called "Happy Birthday Girl". I also drew inspiration from the following challenges. CAS-ual Fridays, create a clean and simple card with a design or panal that goes over the edge of the card front. Sounds fun doesn't it! Next is Lily Pad Cards, Clear Dollar Stamps Presents Kathy’s Lily Pad Palette Challenge using turquoise, mustard and red (well that's my interpretation). The last challenge is from Raise the Bar, no embellishments - now that's a challenge!

Here is what I came up with ...

I coloured my little "whatcha' doing?" gril with copics. I printed her out twice, coloured both images and then cut and popped up her bangs and hands. Now ... something is a little unusual about her, can you guess? If you guessed that those legs are not hers, you guessed right! I used Happy Birthday Girl's legs!!! I wanted to give the illusion that she is actually holding up a banner. I have to admit though, that I'm not completely thrilled with the way the card turned out. The challenges that I chose to combine made it very much a "challenge" for me! The "w" and "d" were cut with Hippie Chick alphabet dies from Provo Craft. Here's a little close up for ya ...

Well that's pretty much it for now. I hope you enjoyed what I had to share today and hope to see you again soon!

Until next time,

Thinking of You

2011-11-04T22:44:00.002-04:00

Hi folks, I'm back again with another challenge card to share with you all! Today's card is inspired by Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger - Beads and Baubles. Here's the inspiration photo ...

Isn't this photo just gorgeous! All those bright vribrant colours are sure to inspire anyone. Here is what I came up with ...

I'm not sure what's up with my camera but my photo's are coming out a bit grainy. I'm sure it's my camera and NOT me! Then again is it?

I was really wanting to get a little creative and make my own flower. Hah ... don't think I'll do that again, at least not the way I did it. So I took white tissue paper and stamped it with Background Basics: Text Style (PTI) in light pink and dark pink ink. Now this is the ridiculous part, I used hand punches and 4 different sizes!!! The tissue paper kept getting stuck in the punches and when I tried to take them out they riped! Thank goodness I planned on scrunching them all up after! I should have used nestabilities or other flower DIES that I have I think, no ... I KNOW it would have been a lot easier and less time consuming. Oh well, in the end I liked the result and I guess that's what counts. Trust me though ... do NOT use punches with tissue paper! LOL.

I sewed a pink button to the centre of the tissue flower and then added some stickles and lastly a little pearl in the centre of that. I put the flower aside and then stamped a leaf silhouette from one of Kim Hughes collections from Cornish Heritage Farms. Hey, speaking of Cornish Heritage Farms ... did you know that the website is having a Re-Grand Opening on November 19th? If you remember or even if you don't remember the old store and you're interested in seeing what's coming up click here. Right, so as I was saying ... I stamped the leaves direct to the card front and then used a white pen to add some little specks on the leaves. I made the frame that the sentiment from CDS - Words of Sympathy is in using a combination of nestabilities, Labels Eighteen and Classic Ovals. Lastly I used the white pen again and traced around the border of the frame.

Here's a close up of the flower ...

Well that's it for today ... actually that's enough, I think I talked your ear off. More than I usually do! I hope you enjoyed what I had to share with you today and thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

Happy Birthday Gril

2011-11-03T15:52:00.003-04:00

edited to add - so it's been brought to my attention that apparently I cannot spell ... my title is supposed to read Happy Birthday GIRL not GRIL! oops :)

Hi everyone! First off I need to say "thank you" to all of you who have left me wonderful thoughtful comments about my return to the stamping/crafting world! It really means a lot to me and gives me that much more inthusiasm to forge forward. So again, thank you!

Now I would like to share what I created with inspiration from the following challenges. I once again used a Tiddly Inks digi image, this one is called Happy Birthday Girl. Included with this digi download is a cute little polaroid frame, which you can see I incorporated into my card. Tiddly Inks challenge this month is "Anything Goes" so go and check it out, you still have LOTS of time to join in! Next challenge is Nina B Presents a Sketch over at Lily Pad Cards and for some colour inspiration I used CR84RN's Colour Challenge ... love that colour combo. Here's the sketch and the colours ...

And here is what I came up with ...

Isn't that Happy Birthday Girl just adorable, and I love that polaroid frame ... too cute! I coloured her with Copics of course. They've always been my favourite medium to use. And also because I LOVE glitter, I HAD to add some to that awesome cake. Looks good enough to eat! hehehe. My little sister's birthday is coming up at the end of this month and I had her in mind when I made this card. Not sure if I ever mentioned this but she is 22 years younger than me. Pretty cool eh? Well I think she'll really like the card.

At the top of the card I added some lace trim and white polka dot ribbon. Then I decided to add a little grey taffeta ribbon and a little yellow rose. I had to make the little yellow paper rose because I searched and searched in my stash and believe it or not could not find anything, imagine that! LOL. Here's a close up of the flower and the glitter on the cake ...

Here are all the copics that I used ... if you can't make all the colours out just click on the image!

Well I think that about covers it for today ... so glad you stopped by!

Until next time,

Christmas Wishes

2011-11-01T20:48:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! Good news ... I managed to get another Christmas card done today and mainly thanks to Tiddly Inks Challenge #71 - Anything goes, and Digi Makeover Challenge #9 - A Sketch, and also My Partner in Crafting Crime Challenge #34 - Colour. I used a Tiddly Inks digi image called Christmas Wishes (which is absolutely adorable) and the following sketch and colour combo ...

The sketch was so fun to work with and the colour combo was awesome because I think they actually make great Christmas colours. So now let's get to the good stuff. Here is what I came up with for all three challenges ...

Isn't this just adorable! Obviously you can see how I interpreted the sketch .. pretty much smack on. I chose the patterned paper that I wanted to use first making sure it stuck with the colour challenge colours. The paper I chose to use is older and to be honest it worked out well because it has all the colours from the colour challenge, don't ya think? Next I pulled the colour from the paper to choose my copics. Here's the copics I used ... oh and sorry for the poor quality, it might be a little hard to read the last two on the bottom row - R83, R85 and the Ciao's are C5, YG67 and 0.

After I finished colouring this cute Tiddly Inks Christmas Wishes digi, I added glitter to the ornaments around the tree and also used a Glaze pen on the lights. Here's a close up ...

I don't think you can make out the Glaze on the lights but it is there trust me! hehehe. The nestabilities that I used are the Classic Circles and Floral Doily Motifs. And lastly the ribbon I used is from Stampin'Up!

Well I hope you enjoyed what I had to share today and please come visit again!

Until next time,

Merry Christmas

2011-10-31T21:30:00.008-04:00

Happy hello to everyone .. oh and a Happy Halloween! Today I'm sharing a card that is no Halloween related, it's a Christmas card. One of many, many more that need to get done. I don't know about the rest of you but I always seem to leave my Chirstmas cards to the very last moment. I have good intentions to get them finished early but that day has yet to come. At least I can say that I started in October ... LOL!

Okay so for today's Christmas card I incorporated a few challenges. The first one being Simon Says ... "Anything Goes", the second is the Just Us Girls ... "Wild Card" challenge and lastly the Southern Girls ... "Stripes & Polka Dots" challenge. For details on these challenges visit their blogs and have some fun!

Here is what I came up with ...

I used C.C. Designs Swiss Pixies Nora DIGI for my image. Isn't she so cute. The patterned paper I used is older and I think they're from Kaisercraft and Making Memories. Love those polka dots. I also used Nestabilities Label 18 and Classic Ovals Small. The sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts, ribbon from Stampin'Up! and I have no idea where I got those little plastic snowflakes from ... sorry! I can tell you though that I coloured the tops of them with my copic markers and then added some glitter to the centres. Here's a little close up ...

Copic markers were used to colour the image and here are the colours ...

I think that pretty much covers it, but if there is something you would like to know that I didn't mention, feel free to email me. Thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

Paper Smooches Sparks

2011-10-27T11:04:00.000-04:00

Hi there, so glad you stopped by! I know that I've been off the radar for quite some time (again) but I'm back and wanting to share something fun with you.

Okay so first let me explain one of the reasons I stopped blogging. It's certainly not the only reason but it surely didn't help. My laptop (at the time) gave out on me. All my USB drives stopped working. So you're probably thinking ... what does that have to do with anything ... well ALL of my stamping files (including all digital images), pictures and watermarks etc. were on an external portable drive and NOT on my laptop hard drive. I really felt lost not having access to anything. All in all I started loosing interest in stamping and in turn lost my mojo. In the end I couldn't take it any longer so I bought a new laptop. This laptop is SO much better that I can keep everything in one place and only use a small fraction of space!

So why did I tell you all this you ask? As I was going through all my old files and such trying to clean things up before transfering, I came across an online stamping store that I had saved to my favourites a while back. It's called Paper Smooches and is owned by the "oh so talented" Kim Hughes. Remember she used to illustrate for Cornish Heritage Farms before they closed their doors? Anyhoo, I just LOVE her fun, cute and punny stamps. So ... while visiting her store I noticed that she also has a new and very fun challenge blog called Paper Smooches SPARKS. I was so excited to have found it and quite honestly, I felt inspired right off the bat and got started immediately! Now, for all the details, you're best to head over there and have a good look for yourself, you'll love it trust me! Oh ya ... she also has the best prizes ... FREE Paper Smooches stamps, how does it get any better, really?

Now for the challenge. This is the photo to use as inspiration ...

Here is what I came up with ...

This owl is actually from a stamp set that was sold through Cornish Heritage Farms. It's a fabulous fun set that I hope she brings into her store.

I used kraft card stock as my base and also for the embossed panel over it. For the image, I stamped the owl once on pattern paper, the eye lids and claws on yellow card stock and the eyes on white. I cut each out and layered (paper pieced) them mounting the eyes with foam tape to give more dimension. The tree branch is also included in the same stamp set which I stamped onto kraft card stock, cut out and adhered. The sentiment "you are a hoot" is also in the same stamp set.

Here's a little close up ...

Well I have to say that this was fun and hope that you have a chance to join in on the fun by visiting the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge!

Until next time,

Cheers to You

2011-08-29T09:28:00.000-04:00

I'm back! Well not that you missed me or anything, but wait, let's just say that you did ... that would make me feel SO good! hehehe

Okay so the reason I'm back is because I wanted to share with you what I came up with for two challenges that I participated in. The first one being from Simon Says ... the challenge is to create a card with Dawny's Sketch. Here it is ...

The second challenge is from All That Scraps. This challenge is simply to use earth tones on your creation, brown, blue and moss green.
Here is what I came up with ...

Some of the supplies I used are as follows: sugarplum balloon emma digi from C.C.Designs as my image, the sentiment is from SU!'s lots of thoughts which is an older set that's not available now. Card stock is from Bazzill and patterned paper is from Chatterbox. Ink for sentiment is Palette burnt umber. I also used a punch called doily lace trim from Martha Stewart, some Nestabilites, ribbon, and brads.

Here's a couple close up's so you can see how I mounted emma's legs and balloon ...

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed what I had to share and thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

Noon Time Challenge

2011-07-14T21:38:00.000-04:00

Hi there ... glad you could stop by. Once again I'm late posting as my week has been hectic and I haven't had that much time to stamp. I did manage though to squeeze in a bit of time this evening and come up with this card! Okay so I was over at Flourishes blog and noticed they are having a new release and giving away the entire new release for July. Sounds like a great deal to me! An even better deal is, if you use a Flourishes stamp you get 2 entries instead of one. Okay so now let me get to showing you the sketch ...

For this sketch I decided to use the newest Friday's FREE digi over at Designed2Delight called Strawberries. Here it is ...

Doesn't it look delicious? I love strawberries and eat them almost every day!!! If you're interested in finding out how to get a free digi head on over to Designed2Delight to find out all the details!

Finally, here is what I came up with ...

First you'll notice that I flipped the sketch to accommodate my strawberry digi image. Alrighty then, I coloured my delicious strawberries with Copics and then cut it out with my oval nestabilities. I mounted that over the red embossed panel with foam tape, but first I added the strip of ribbon. I coloured the 3 glitter dots with my darkest red Copic to match. Not much to it right! Here's a bit of a close up ...

Well, I always enjoy colouring and when I match it up with a great sketch, it's even better.

Thanks for stopping by
Until next time,
Happy Stamping ... Monique

Childhood Memories

2011-07-11T11:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday morning to everyone! Today I'm going to share a card I made for my niece as she's getting her tonsils out today ... poor thing. So I remember when I had my tonsils taken out and I also remember how painful it was. The one good thing I remember about it was all the Popsicles I was allowed to have! That brings me to the challenge I participated in for this card. I kind of killed two birds with one stone. Southern Girls Challenge this time around is make something that reflects a childhood memory, and that's what I did! hehehe. Here is what I came up with ...

I used an older set that I have from designer Kim Hughes called Comforting Hugs. I thought it was a perfect image to use. I coloured the Popsicles/ice cream with copics and then covered them with 3D Crystal Lacquer to give them a glossy shiny look. Once dried, I cut them out and placed them on a white panel made from Small Labels from Spellbinders. The background paper is from Stella Rose -Gertie. I placed some dew drops from the Robin's Nest in each of the corners. I think that's about it ... a pretty simple layout, but I think my almost 7yr. old niece will love it! Here's a close up as usual but I don't think you can tell that I added lacquer to the Popsicles/ice cream except for some really, really small bubbles.

Well that's it for today ... I hope you enjoyed your little visit and thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

Flip Flops

2011-07-07T22:16:00.000-04:00

Well I managed to do it again ... wait until the very last minute to get one of my favourite challenges complete. I still have plenty of time for the other two of my favourite challenges, so no worries there. Okay so the one I'm just on the wire with is the Stamp of the Month Friday Challenge from Designed2Delight where if you participate using the digi shown for the week of the challenge you can earn a free digi the following Friday. I don't always explains things properly so better take a visit over there to get all the details, click on Stamp of the Month above to bring you there! Here is the image "Flip Flops" ...

The second challenge that I participated in is the Play Date Cafe colour challenge. Here are the colours ...

And the last challenge is Mojo Monday and here is the sketch ...

Here is what I came up with ...

I loved the colour choices from the Play Date Cafe challenge, they are perfect for beach colours and worked so nicely with the image. I printed the image twice onto x-press it paper and coloured with Copics. I coloured the other starfish also and then cut it out and mounted with foam tape. I added a little bit of sparkle with Stickles to the starfish also and you can see in the next photo here ...

Is it hard to see the sparkle? It didn't show up that well in the photo but it's there. Now, the butterfly has a flatback from Stamping Bella's and I coloured the surface of it with a copic to match and it turned out perfectly. Here's another close up ...

The sentiment on the card "hi there" is from Verve Stamp set Happy Hello. The patterned paper is from Papertrey, Pretty Pastels and Bitty Star Basics. I used Labels Three from Spellbinders to cut out the image and the butterfly is from Papertrey. Kraft card stock from Papertrey and also the ribbon, Fine Linen. What else? I think that's it!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed what I shared!

Until next time,

Cupcake Kiki La Rue

2011-07-04T15:08:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday and 4th of July to all my American friends! Today I'm sharing with you what I created using two challenges. The first one being the sketch challenge from Sweet Sunday Sketch and the second being a colour challenge from CR84FN. Here is the sketch I followed ...

And here are the colours that I incorporated ...

And here is what I came up with ...

I really have to start off by saying how much I LOVE X-Press it card blending paper from Copic. I placed a small order of 10 sheets just to try it out and now I refuse to use anything else. The blending capabilities are phenomenal, layer after layer of colours ... it's awesome! So obviously now you know that I used x-press it paper to colour my cute little Cupcake Kiki La Rue (from All That Scraps) with my Copic markers. Like I said ... I love it! I am by far a great Copic marker colour er, however using the x-press it paper makes a difference in my opinion.

I used Echo Park paper along with some from Bella Blvd. and Little Yellow Bicycle which I thought went together nicely. I made the little flower using a lg., med., and sm. flower punch from EK Success. For the centre of the flower I used a glitter dot from Stamping Bella and coloured the top of it with a matching colour Copic. To finish everything off I added some Stickles to Kiki's cupcake and also to the centre of the flower in her hair. Here are a couple of close ups of the punched flower dot and the sparkle to her cupcake ...

Well have to run now but I hope you enjoyed what I had to share today. Thanks for stopping by as always!

Until next time,

ATS Punches or Dies

2011-07-02T21:07:00.000-04:00

Hi there ... I'm posting a bit late in the day so I'll wish you a happy Sunday now, I hope everyone has a great day! I was doing my usual surfing ... looking for a challenge or two to participate in and decided that I wanted to do the All That Scraps Wednesday challenge because the challenge is to use Punches or Dies or both! Plus I was in the mood for colouring and some of my favourite images to colour are from All That Scraps. I've had a few images printed out for some time now and Sugar Plum Spring Emma was the one I decided to use. I also got the chance, finally, to use some of the new stuff I bought recently, like patterned paper and new Nestabilities. So here is what I came up with for the challenge. I coloured the digi image Sugar Plum Spring Emma with Copics E000, E00, E02, E11, E13, E15, E19, E74, R20, BG11, BG13, R83, R89.

In the new patterned paper I bought, I noticed how perfect it matched with my little Emma and her t-shirt. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye - Happy Go Lucky. I had also bought a new set of Nestabilities, well there at least new to me .. hehehe, called Floral Doily Motifs ... I love them! So I cut the largest doily in Hawaiian Shores card stock from Papertrey Ink. I then die cut a circle nestability to sit inside the doily. For some reason I decided to sponge Hibiscus Burst ink from PTI around the white circle and now wish that I hadn't. I just think it would have looked nicer if it were plain old white. Lesson learned I guess. I used my Curly Label punch from SU! and stamped it with versa mark chalk ink. It's the only ink that I have that matches perfectly with Hawaiian Shores. I also used some Prima flowers and baker's twine. I added one little pearl to the centre of the flower on Emma's t-shirt and then around the doily and that's pretty much it! Here is a close up ...

I didn't realize how much you can tell that I've gone outside the lines until I took a close up photo .. lol. Nothing drastic, just around her hair line a bit.

Well that's it for now and thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

CP Sketch 121

2011-06-27T11:48:00.000-04:00

It's a beautiful day in my neighbourhood! The sun is shinning and the birds are chirping, a great way to start the week, don't ya think!

Today I made a card for Card Patterns Sketch 121. Their sponsor for this week is Whimsie Doodles and I really like their images and I just happened to have Party Fish from their collection shell-a-bration digital set. Here's the sketch ...

And here is what I came up with ...

I was looking through my stash of paper because I thought I had some water themed paper and came across this so cool cartoony sea creatures paper. I mean I've had this paper for oh ... about 6 or 7 years and just used it now! Isn't it just perfect for this card? I started the card with a base of PTI Blue Shimmer card stock and then added the sea creatures paper. I coloured the fish with copics and as you can see I also added some googly eyes, how cute! For the white border I used a corner punch from EK success. To finish off I added a some ribbon and a little bow. Super easy peasy! Here's a little close up for ya ...

Hope you enjoyed and thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time,

D2D Tropical Summer

2011-06-26T14:53:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday to everyone! I received my free digi from Designed2Delight on Friday and have been dying to use it. If you don't already know about how to get a free digi each week check out Friday Free Stamp of the Month Challenge Image to see how you can earn your free digi!

Here is the image for this week's challenge. It's called Tropical Summer.

Here is what I came up with ...

I made two copies of the image and printed them out on Neenah card stock for colouring. The hibiscus and the rest of the image is coloured with Copic markers; Y000, Y06, Y08, YR00, YR12, YR16, YR18 YG21, YG25. I used Labels Eight nestabilities to cut out the image and mounted it to the card with foam tape. After colouring the little flowers twice I cut out the second set and mounted them on the image, then added a dot of yellow Stickles to each centre. The paper I chose is Walk in the Park from Echo Park ... love this paper! I stamped the sentiment using PTI stamp sets; beyond basic borders and around & about sentiments. Finished the card of with some pretty white stretchy sheer ribbon and a scalloped bottom.

Here's another close up of the smaller flowers ...

Well that's it for today, hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

PTI June Blog Hop

2011-06-26T14:24:00.000-04:00

Hi there fellow stampers, hope everyone is enjoying their day! Today I decided to give Papertrey's June Blog Hop a try. For inspiration Nichole has provided a wonderfully photo with a rainbow of colour. Here's the photo ...

Here is what I came up with ...

When I saw the inspiration photo I knew right away how I wanted to create my rainbow of colour. I thought it would look cool to air brush each layer with Copic markers and I think it came out beautifully.

For this card I used PTI stamp sets; big & bold wishes, background basics:gingham, PTI card stock; white and sweet blush. PTI patterned paper; 2008 bitty box basics, linen vellum. PTI dies; doily details collection, butterfly, signature series butterfly. Copic markers; YG17-YG23-R02-R21-R32-RV91-RV34. In the centre of the butterfly I punched out the heart shape with a hand held heart punch.

Until next time,

2nd Card in 2 Months!

2011-06-21T21:14:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that it's already close to the end of June! I moved back in May and it ended up being somewhat of a stressful move. My mother had lung cancer surgery at the end of May, afterwards I went to take care of her for a couple of weeks and at the same time had kitchen renovations going on! It will be nice to get back to some normalcy. It's been a very hectic 2 months but i can assure you that I am so looking forward to getting my feet wet again. And to start this off I chose 3 challenges to participate in. The first one being CR84FN32 using colours aqua, green and yellow. The second challenge is the clean & simple sketch challenge #145 and lastly I used a digital image from Designed2Delight called Fresh Cut. If you're interested in finding out how to get a digital image from D2D go to Delightful Inspirations. Here are the colours from CR84FN ...

Here's the sketch from clean&simple ...

Here is what I came up with ...

Had fun using my Copics again but noticed I need to practice more, it's been a while! Here is a very short list of the products I used. Card stock: PTI, Ink: Palette black, Dies: Spellbinders, Digital Image: Delighted2Design, Copic markers.

Thanks for stopping by

Until next time,

Taking a little more time ...

2011-06-10T22:50:00.000-04:00

First off I would like to thank Cath from Moxie Fab World for featuring my post just below called New Craft Room & A BD Card on her blog. I am truly honoured.

Secondly, just a little news ... I am not one to post personal issues but my mother had lung surgery on May 31st (which just happened to be my son's birthday). She was in surgery for 4 hours and we learned that the growth she had was cancerous. Now, the doctor says that he feels confident that he got everything. However, he has sent it to pathology for further testing and we won't know until the end of June if he removed all of the cancer.

We are quite confident that all will be well. She is a strong woman and recovering very, very well ... with my help of course. I've been by her side since the day of her surgery and will be here until this coming Wednesday and then it's back home.

I'm looking forward to get started again, but also afraid that it will take me some time to get back in the swing of things. I really have not had that much time since we've moved for the first of May.

Looking forward to coming back soon

Until next time,

New Craft Room & A BD Card

2011-05-28T13:10:00.000-04:00

It certainly is nice to be back! Today I'm going to share with you the birthday card I made for my husband and a few photos of my new craft room. Here's the card ...

As you can see by the theme of the card, my hubby just loves stars. I generally try to make each year's card incorporating stars. The large star that is popped up is a die cut using Sizzix Stars #2. I embossed the sentiment It's Your Day from PTI's stamp set Star Prints with silver EP. The background behind the white nestability Label Four die cut is patterned paper I had purchased many moons ago. It really was the perfect choice for this card. The sentiment Celebrate With Style is also from a PTI stamp set called Big & Bold Wishes. Now, here's a close up to show the depth of layers ...

The white layer of card stock made as a frame using Labels Four nestabilities is mounted with thin foam tape and the star is mounted with two layers of foam tape to give more depth. Oh yes, the little star stamps in each of the three corners is again a PTI stamp from the Borders & Corners {Circle} set. It was a perfect finishing touch. Card stock is from PTI and SU!

I had a request from a reader asking asking if I would be posting photos of my new craft room. Honestly I never considered it until someone actually asked. So here goes ... the order of the photos are from the left side of the room working around to the right side next to my door.

One of the most favourite things about this room is the amount of natural light I get each and every day, no matter rain or shine. It's absolutely fantastic.

This last photo shows a white dresser. This was my son's old, old brown wood dresser that I sanded and painted white. The old hardware that was on this dresser was hideous so I filled the old holes with wood putty, sanded and then drilled "one" new hole for my the updated pewter hardware that I had from a previous reno. I love how this turned out and it's unbelievable the amount of "stuff" it houses for me! A perfect storage solution at a minimal expense. I have another corner in the room that is devoted to "uncatagorized" stuff so I did not include that area, it's too messy! lol

Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed.

Until next time,

I'm Back!

2011-05-25T18:17:00.002-04:00

Well it's been a challenging move and I'm so very happy for it to all be over with. I'm pretty much settled in now except for my kitchen. Long story short is that I'm getting new cupboards ... Yahhh! Anyhoo, my craft room is all set up and ready to get used and abused ... hehehe.

I have to be honest and confess that my craft room has been "ready to go" for about a week or two! I've kind of run into a wall ... mental block ... no mojo. I'm sure you understand. When you're away from it for an extended period of time it's sometimes a little difficult to get back in the swing of things! Especially when your work space is set up completely different. I've felt a little out of place. So today I really had no choice but to make "something" so since it's my husbands birthday tomorrow I decided to start with that. I made him a perfect card that I know he will love. However, I am not able to post a photo of it until after tomorrow because he frequents my blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise should he decide to stop by!

I'm so looking forward to getting back in the blogging scene and share the one thing that I love ... card making.

Until next time,

Out of Commission ... for a bit!

2011-04-30T11:19:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that it has already been over a week since my last post. Well truth is I'm in the process of getting ready to move and all my craft room is now packed up! I don't actually do the big move until this coming Thursday the 5th of May!!! Yikkees ... I can already feel the effects of my withdrawal ... lethargic, sweaty, heart palpitations, hopefully I'll make it through and see you guys when I'm settled in ... if I make til then! LOL

Until next time,

Love Birds

2011-04-20T15:05:00.000-04:00

I've wanted the 2 step Bird punch from Stampin'Up! for a while now and finally purchased it about a week or so ago ... and it came yesterday in the mail! I wanted so much to start punching away so when I saw CPS Sketch for this week, I knew instantly what I wanted to do! I think I went outside of the box thinking with this one. Here is the sketch from CPS Sketch 214 and following is the Color Cue {14} Challenge ...

And here is what I came up with ...

I just love, love these little birdies LOL! I can see myself using them time and time again, a well worth it investment I think. This sketch could have been any better ... now how cute is that! I used a bunch of different products in this card, such as SU! & PTI card stock, SU! dp, PTI Love Birds & Background Basics: Gingham stamp sets, the bird punch of course, the cloud die is from My Favorite Things, lace from Michael's and other ribbon from PTI. Now, here's a little close up ...

I love it when you stop by, and I hope during your visit you enjoyed viewing my card for today!

Until next time,

Happy Easter

2011-04-18T17:22:00.001-04:00

I'm doing a double post today! So to see the first one you need to scroll down just a bit! As usual I was checking out my favourite blogs and challenges and decided on participating with Mojo Monday 187 , CR84FN 24 colour challenge and the Doodle Pantry Image challenge. I had pre-coloured some images from the Doodle Pantry and noticed that one in particular would go nicely with the colour challenge I chose for today! First let me show you the sketch and the colours used ...

And here is what I came up with ...

I think for the most part I pulled both challenges off pretty well, except for maybe a couple minor differences. The beautiful Daisy Hat is from the Doodle Pantry created by Laurie Wilson. Just love her stuff. So that means that this image is a digital image and coloured with Copics using a copic color chart that Nichole Heady has created as a guide for matching copics with Papertrey Ink's colors. A pretty simple and straight forward card that I had a great time creating! Here's a little close up before I say bye, bye ...

I am happy to report that this post was a breeze to post. I wonder if Blogger was just having issues of their own and now they're fixed! Anyhoo, just glad that I was able to get this post up. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Until next time,

A Friendly Note

2011-04-18T14:40:00.000-04:00

Boy has the weekend just flown by ... I can't believe that it's Sunday already! But the good thing about Sunday is that one of my fave sketch challenges gets posted. Sweet Sunday Sketch 113 from Karen Giron over at the sweetest thing blog. I also participated in the FREE Stamp of the Month Challenge -Ladybug Balancing Act over at Delightful Inspiration. I love this challenge and I'll tell you why ... as long as you play along with their challenge each week and use one of Designed2Delight's digi images, they automatically send you the next weeks digi image to your inbox for FREE! First here is the sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch ...

And here is the digi image from Designed2Delight that was sent to me ...

And finally here is what I came up with for both challenges ...

Well here you have it ... my creation. I had a great time making this card, first because the image was so fun to colour with my Copics, and second I love the mix of colours I chose. For the centre of the flower, I added some liquid pearls and inside of the liquid pearls I added some stickles. I also used some Crystal Lacquer on the ladybugs with a paint brush, it's hard to notice. Here's a close up ...

That's it for today unless I can get Blogger to cooperate with me today. I have been having major issues uploading photos. Has anyone else been experiencing this? I get so frustrated that I'm thinking of changing to Typepad. Well, just want to day thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

Viva la Verve Sketch, Week 2

2011-04-15T05:00:00.008-04:00

Two posts today so that I can show both of the Verve Sketches from the last two Fridays. Today is Viva la Verve Sketch week 2 and here is the sketch ...

I actually made two cards for this particular sketch using the same dp from jillibean soup. Love, love jillibean's paper! Okay so here are the two cards I made ...

The first one was done with another Designed2Delight digi image simply called Daffodils. I coloured with copics and die cut with nestablilities, mounted with foam squares. The one behind is just uses a sentiment from PTI set called Mega Mixed Messages. I embossed the background with Textiles cuttlebug folder and lightly sponged the surface with white craft ink. For the center of this one I used PTI's Limitless Layers 1 3/4" collection. Here are the cards shot separately ...

Here's the close up ...

Next is the second version ...

On this card I used a stamp from Damask Designs and incorporated a second generation stamping technique to create the light background. So basically that's inking up your stamp, stamping it once on a scrap piece of paper then stamp image directly to your project ... this gives the nice light colour. This method is also great for creating shadows! Here's a close up ...

Well I hope you enjoyed what I had to share today. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Until next time,
Happy Stamping Monique

Viva la Verve Sketch, Week 1

2011-04-15T05:00:00.005-04:00

I am a little behind with the Viva la Verve Sketch challenges, but just managed to get week one and week two finished before the next one this friday! Along with the sketch challenge I incorporated Color Throwdown 137 color challenge. Here is the sketch and the colour combo ...

And here is what I came up with ...

Nothing really fancy about this card other than it has a lot of layers. Something I've been trying to avoid lately, trying to keep things clean and simple. However as I'm looking at this card ... even though it has lots of layers it still looks clean! I used some older Cosmo Cricket paper because it matched perfectly with the colour requirements for Color Throwdown.

Well that's it for me today, sorry it's a short post but I'm having a lot of problems with blogger lately and beginning to get very frustrated. Does anyone else have trouble uploading their photos? Every single day I get error messages ... argh!

Until next time,

Happy Birthday

2011-04-14T05:00:00.000-04:00

Today I'm sharing what I made for CardPatterns: Sketch 110. I had pre-coloured this cute little bear from Designed2Delight digi called Bearing Gifts and thought it would go nicely with this sketch ...

And here is what I came up with ...

I just love the new jillibean soup paper and for this card I used Dutch Mustard Soup. Gotta get me hands on some more like Blossom Soup for one! Love, love this paper. Here is a close up ...

Not sure if you noticed but the first photo is missing something that this second one has ... any ideas? Well, if you guessed the glitter on the presents you're right! At the very last minute as I was photographing my card I decided it needed a little something extra and that extra was some glitter! :)

I hope you enjoyed today's card and as always thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

Stop and Smell the Flowers

2011-04-13T05:00:00.001-04:00

Today's card also incorporates two separate challenges. The first one being the Make it Monday challenge from Papertrey Ink. This week it's Masking with Dies. The second challenge is a colour challenge from Color Throwdown, and here are the colours to work with ...

Now here's what I came up with combining both challenges ...

I used a doily die from the Doily Details Collection for my mask. Used it as a background for the flower centre. I also used Beautiful Blooms II dies and for the blue one I stamped it with Background Basics: Gingham and to finish off, added a button. Kraft cardstock is from PTI, the orange is Pumpkin Pie from SU! and Soft Sky also from SU! The sentiment is from Vintage Picnic Sentiments ... PTI. Now here's a little close up for ya ...

So that's it for today ... back tomorrow or the next day with something new! Thanks for stopping by!!

Until next time,

Mother

2011-04-12T10:35:00.001-04:00

Hi there, hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Today I'm sharing with you two challenges that I participated in. The first one is Get Your Diva On ... April Recipe Challenge ... HELLO my first name starts with ... M. This is the first time that I've done a "recipe" challenge and thought that it was great! Here are the recipes ...

The second challenge that I've incorporated is Mojo Monday 186 and here is the sketch ...

And here is what I came up with for both challenges ...

I just love my recipe for the letter "M" ... these colours are some of my fave colours. I couldn't seem to find any turquoise buttons in my stash so I took a clear button from Hero Arts and coloured it with Copic BG05, which is a match for SU! turquoise. It turned out great! I also made the big pink button simply by covering a piece of chipboard coaster with dp, then ran it through my Cuttlebug with a circle nestability. I used my little mini hand drill with the largest bit and drilled the holes and then used a small round file to smooth out the holes. I had tried making another button using a hand punch for the holes and I couldn't get the holes to line up evenly. A little bit more fuss the second way, but worth it because the holes are crisp and lined up perfectly! Here's a little close up ...

Well hope you enjoyed today's card and as always, thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

Make a Wish ...

2011-04-10T18:49:00.001-04:00

The following card was created for two challenges. The first one being the Free Stamp of the Month Challenge over at Delightful Inspiration. I love that if you play along with the challenge you automatically receive a free digital stamp in your mailbox. How much better does it get than that! Also, just a little tidbit ... my card from the Dotty Spotty challenge was chosen as one of the Design Team favorites featured on Delightful Inspiration. I was and still am ... thrilled, thank you!

Okay then, here is the second challenge, another of my faves, it's The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge. When I saw this weeks sketch I knew I had to play along.

So here is the digital stamp that is, I guess you could say, featured for the Free Stamp of the Month Challenge. If you played along last week with this challenge you would have received this one for Free, but I didn't play, so I just went over to the Designed2Delight store, purchased Garden Party and received it instantly! The benefits of buying digital stamps. Okay so here is the stamps and also the sketch from The Sweet Stop ...

And here is what I came up with ...

As you can probably notice right off the bat, I rotated the sketch so that my image would work with the sketch. I chose my paper first (a walk in the Park - Echo Park) and then picked out the colours to work with. Of course I used my copics, and glad at that ... it's nice to get back into colouring! The centre of the flowers all have stickles in them, either yellow or orange. The top of the cupcake has Liquid Pearls to give it the look of icing. Here's a close up ...

Don't click on the image for my sake!!! When I looked at the photo really close up ... I could not believe my eyes on how much I had gone outside the lines, it's almost embarrassing, LOL! Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed my project today and as always thank you for stopping by.

Until next time,

A New Sketch Challenge and a New Digital Challenge!

2011-04-08T20:26:00.000-04:00

I don't know how I came across these two blog but so glad I did! The sketch blog is called Sketches by Carla and the little darling that created this challenge is 12 years old ... pretty cool eh! So listen, if you have a chance please stop by and support her newest challenge, sketch #27 Here is the sketch to follow ...

And the digital challenge is called Spotty Dotty Saturday Challenge and it's put on by Card Ideas from Designed2Delight. Unfortunately I just found this so that means I'm late getting it done and posting. A new one is coming tomorrow so make sure to stop by then, you'll have more time to complete it! So here is what I came up with for both challenges ...

I got to download this image from the Bloom, Grow, Dream set for free! You really need to stop by Delightful Inspirations to read all the details of how this challenge works. It's really cool, cuz if you use an image of theirs in a particular challenge they send you a free digi automatically to your email!!! So check it out, it really sounds worth the challenge!! Here's a close up ...

I had fun colouring this image because I got to use my copics again ... it seems that it's been a long time since I've used them on a regular basis, so it feel good to colour again! As you can see, I followed the awesome sketch by Carla and at the same time created a Spotty Dotty card for the challenge! What a happy day. One more close up ...

Love the colours even if the card look fallish. lol I made for a friend that I haven't seen in while but for good excuses ... she recently had a beautiful baby boy at the beginning of the year! So just a simple hello card to let her know I'm thinking of her.

Okay well, it's time for dinner and a movie now ...

Until next time,

Crazy 4 Cocoa Challenge ...

2011-04-06T18:47:00.000-04:00

Hi there folks ... yesterday was Sweet N Sassy stamps owner Korin Sutherland's birthday! Because I love Crazy 4 Cocoa challenges, I decided to make a card in her honor! Of course with this challenge you are required to use a Cocoa image, only makes sense ... it is all about Cocoa right! hehehe. For my card I used a digi image from Sweet N Sassy stamps called Party Hat Cocoa, since it was a party! Here's what I made ...

Oh goodness almost forgot ... I also went on over to The Sweet Stop Sketch challenge blog and used this sketch for inspiration ...

Base of card is Rose Red from SU!, patterned paper is from Euphoria (basicgrey). Image was coloured with Copics: C1-C3-C7-YG01-YG03-Y000-BG000-BG01-BG02-RV00-RV10-RV11-RV17-RV19. Here's a close up ...

Well I have to run now. I hope you enjoyed your time here ... looking forward to hearing from you!

Until next time,

go with all your heart

2011-04-03T22:36:00.000-04:00

Well the weekend has come to an end and fast at that. Saturday was a very fast paced day because Jeff and I spent the whole day looking for a new place to call home. Since he got a new job late last year out of our area the travelling to and from work is having it's toll on him. Also with the price of gas at an astronomical amount of $1.30 per litre, travelling long distances is not really an option for us at the moment. But, luckily I think all of our hard work payed off and we might have found a place ... yippee!!! I can't wait till all this is over and done with, I mean finding a place, packing, moving, unpacking ... I just want to get back to spending more time in my craft room. Because today was a day for some much needed R&R and what better way to unwind ... yup that's it ... being creative so that leads me to share with you what I created today!

I decided to play along with CR84FN 22 because these are colours that I absolutely love. Kraft, green and brown, a super combo in my opinion so if you're like me and these colours call out to you give this a try!

and here is what I came up with ...

I got some more goodies from Papertrey on Friday and really wanted to put them to use. I got the butterfly die and the new Background Basics: Gingham stamp that you can see in my project today. I have always really liked the way the butterfly in Love Lives Here Die Collection looks with the heart in the centre so I wanted to replicate it and I believe I did!! I simply die cut the butterfly and used my hand held heart punch to punch the heart through the butterfly and lookie, lookie! I added chocolate glitter on the strip of Ripe Avocado with scor-tape to jazz it up a bit.

Products that I used are as follows: heart prints sentiments and background basics: gingham stamps from PTI; dark choc., ripe avocado card stock & pacific vineyard pp from PTI; vintage cream ink from PTI; burnt umber from superior; butterfly & signature butterfly dies from PTI; heart punch, Fiskars; birds & swirls emboss folder, provo craft; rustic jute twine, PTI; fine choc. glitter, SU!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you come back soon,

Until next time,

Viva la Verve Week #5

2011-04-01T12:45:00.000-04:00

I finally managed to get this last card in before the deadline yesterday. I'm just posting now as time is precious for me these days as I'm looking after our move for next month. So much to do and such little time to do it! LOL

Okay so obviously this challenge is finished for the month of March but, I would still like to share with you the card I made. Here is the sketch you had to follow ...

And here is what I came up with ...

I really had a great time making this card because I tried my hand at a twisted ribbon flower. I've seen them done on other projects and decided I wanted to try and make one myself. Without watching any tutorials I came up with it on my own and then I decided to see if I could find something on youtube. I found a video by Erin Bassett which was perfectly executed. I realized that my method was very similar to hers. So instead of me going through the whole process, you can check out Erin's video here!

Here are a few close up's ...

and another ...

I stamped the butterflies using the stamp set Petals & Stems from Verve Stamps, and stamped them on SU! patterned paper, cut them out and then coloured with copic BG72 to match the rest of the colour scheme. The sentiment is also from a set of Verve Stamps called Happy Hello.

Sorry for having to make this short but I have to get back to hunting for a new home! Thank you for stopping by.

Until next time,

Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S Giveaway!

2011-03-26T21:39:00.000-04:00

Glad you stopped by ... my new friend Ebru from My Scrapbooking and Craft Journal is giving away the most awesome little camera. It's called the Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S and it produces the cutest little Polaroid like photos. This little compact camera allows you to shoot a picture and make a beautiful color print on the spot. For all the details on how to enter for this awesome giveaway just click here. Now, check these photos out ...

Tell me this isn't the cutest camera you've ever seen ... So the photos come right out through the top of the camera!

And look at these cutesy, cutesy Polaroid like photos ...

So what are you waiting for ... head on over to the Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S Giveaway now!!! Giveaway ends April 15, 2011.

Until next time,

Viva la Verve March Wk#4

2011-03-25T16:23:00.000-04:00

Second post for the day ... scroll down to see the first one!

This card I'm about to show you was created for Viva la Verve March sketch challenge week#4. Here is the sketch ...

Here is what I came up with ...

For the main image I used Because of You stamp set from Verve. I coloured the rubber with markers from SU!, huffed on it and then stamped it on Soft Stone cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I like how it turned out because it really fits well with the paper I chose. I made two vases and mounted with foam tape for dimension. The sentiments are from the same stamp set and stamped in silver pigment ink. Here's a little close up ...

And one more ...

Another pretty easy card and a great sketch! Thanks for stopping by ...

Until next time,

Viva la Verve March - Wk#3

2011-03-25T16:06:00.002-04:00

I'm behind in my blogging and I think in the next little while my blogging is going to be somewhat unpredictable because we are in the process of getting ready to move, and as many of you may know, it's a long stressful event. So with that being said ... I have managed to get two cards done over the last little while and would like to share them with you.

The first card was created for Viva la Verve March sketch challenges, week#3 and here is the sketch ...

And here is my version of this sketch ...

Here's a close up of the cupcake ...

The cupcake is from the stamp set Cupcake Affair from Verve Stamps. I stamped the image on white cardstock twice with Lavender Moon from Papertrey Ink and then coloured over it with VersaMarker, added some clear EP and heat set. After I set it with heat I took my ink block and randomly stamped over the embossed area, reheat set it and it left the effect you see ... kind of like sprinkles. I also stamped the top flower twice, coloured with Copics, cut out and mounted with foam tape. Pretty easy card to make.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

The Sweet Stop Sketch

2011-03-10T19:01:00.000-05:00

**second post for the day ... scroll down to see first one**

Today I'm sharing what I created for The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge. This is the sketch that was given to follow ...

I actually struggled a bit with this card. I think I had picked different paper around three times. I was ready to give up when I came up with this and decided that is was a good end result given the challenges I was having, so here it is ...

I started with a square base of Kraft cs from Papertrey Ink. I then used some older Stampin'Up! paper I had laying around which is the blue and pink. I had a piece of embossed cardstock with birds & swirls so I cut it up and put it to use. I coloured the image from Sweet & Sassy Stamps called Birdie Blessings from their digital section, with Copics. I mounted it to the card with foam tape, added some blue rhinestone gems, punched some cosmos flowers from Martha Stewart, and finished off with some pink satin ribbon. The sentiment is from Clear Dollar Stamps, but it was a special edition set that was/is not for sale in their store,however they have some awesome clear stamps worth checking out. I punched that out using the sm. oval punch from SU! And done! Here's a little bit of a close up to see some of the details ...

I'm glad that I decided to see this card to the end. I turned out nicely, other than the colours I chose cuz they are not my usual ones! Anyhoo, thanks so much for stopping by and you know I ALWAYS appreciate it!

Until next time,

Just us Girls

2011-03-10T18:40:00.001-05:00

Hi there, glad you stopped by. Today I'm sharing what I created for Just us Girls Sketch challenge and here's the sketch ...

Here is what I came up with ...

For this card I started with a base of Ocean Tides from Papertrey Ink cardstock. I then created the top panel with some patterned paper from PTI and some Aqua Mist cardstock. I made the next layer with some more ocean tides cs and topped that with some white cs also from PTI. I die-cut those flowers from Beautiful Blooms II die set with ocean tides cs, aqua mist cs and some more of Pretty Pastels dp from PTI. I made one of the buttons from the die set called Buttoned Up 2 collection with chipboard coasters, then stamped some versa mark ink and heat embossed with some white ep. I added a little piece of hemp twine and mounted to the center of the flower with a foam dot. To finish off I added some ribbon and stamped the sentiment on the white portion of the top layer with ocean tides ink. Another super easy card, here's another shot ...

Well that's it for now. Thank you so much for stopping by. I love to hear from you!

Until next time,

Viva la Verve - March

2011-03-09T09:53:00.000-05:00

**second post for the day ... scroll down to see first one**

Hi everyone, hope all my fellow stampers are feeling great today! It's still gloomy outside today and I'm still waiting patiently for spring to arrive. Yes I'm impatient ... I thrive with the sun, which makes me wonder, maybe I have SAD, cuz this kind of weather does make me kinda sad!!! Okay enough of me complaining ... today I'm sharing what I made for Viva la Verve Sketch challenge for March. It's week 2 and here's the sketch ...

and here is what I created ...

This time around I tried to stay true to the actual sketch. No omissions, no flipping, no mirroring, just the sketch! hehehe. I started with a base of white cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I cut a piece of spring rain cardstock, also from PTI, cut a strip of patterned paper from basicgrey and adhered that to my white base. I then adhered a paper doily and trimmed off access. I then added some white ribbon with some bashful blue taffeta from SU! on top and tied a bow. I then stamped a sentiment from the set Always on my Mind made by Verve stamps onto white cs. I layered that with spring rain cs and mounted with foam squares. To finish off I added a couple of buttons from PTI, and finis! This was a super easy card to make. Here's another shot, a close up ...

Well as you probably guessed, that's it for today and as always, I'm so grateful for you stopping by!

Until next time,

Make it Monday 5

2011-03-09T08:22:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! So am I the only one, or are we all patiently waiting for spring. Guess what? Today's forecast calls for a double whammy ... get this, overcast snow for the main course, snow for the second and for desert we have a little bit of rain! LOL I'm having a hard time dealing with all this gloom, dark days with no sunlight just kill me. I'm going to stay in my craft room all day!!!

Today I'm going to show you what I made for the Make it Monday 5 - Distressing Edges challenge over at Capture the Moment from PTI. It's distressing this time around. Here is what I came up with ...

Week #5 - Distressing Edges

This card was super easy to make and fun. I started with a Hawaiian shores base of cardstock from Papertrey Ink and stamped a strip along the front using Delightful Doilies stamp set also from PTI with fresh snow pigment ink. I then die-cut a doily from PTI's die collection called Doily details with white cs and a butterfly form the Signature series butterfly with Hawaiian shores cs. I distressed the edges of the butterfly with my x-acto knife added a little butterfly from Marvy Uchida and finished the butterfly with a few silver gems. I stamped the sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages with black ink then mounted the die-cut doily with foam squares and finished the whole card off by adding the butterfly on top of the doily. Again, a super easy card! Here's a close up of the butterfly so you can see the distressing a little better ...

Well that's it for now ... thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time,

Sweet Sunday Sketch

2011-03-08T16:54:00.000-05:00

**second post for the day ... scroll down to see first one**

Since I didn't get a chance to play along last week, I wanted to make sure I did this week. I love the Sweet Sunday Sketches from Karen Giron. She really has such a Clean and Simples style with her sketches and more so with her own creations. So here is the sketch SSSC107 ...

Here is what I came up with using my very new, just arrived, PTI stamps and paper ...

I just love February's patterned paper from Papertrey called Pacific Vineyard which I just happened to use here. I also added a stamp from PTI from the set Delightful Doilies, and a sentiment from Big & Bold Wishes stamp set. I started with a base of ripe avocado and layered that with a piece of white but gave it a nice border using Martha Stewart's doily lace edger. I followed the sketch but noticed a slight little problem ... one of my squares is off a bit. Oh well maybe it's not that noticeable if I don't mention anything ... hehehe! I stamped a doily in fresh snow ink and heat embossed it with white ep on fine linen cardstock. I also stamped and embossed the sentiment Hey There in white and mounted it with foam tape. And that's that! hehehe Here's one more shot ...

Thank you so much for stopping by, I really do appreciate reading any comment at all!!!

Until next time,

Mojo Monday and CR84FN

2011-03-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

Hi there my fellow stampers! I managed to get two cards finished today one combines two challenges which are Mojo181 and CR84FN18. Here is the sketch for Mojo Monday and the colours for CR84FN ...

Brighter colours like yellow and orange are not my forte, so it was nice to challenge myself with these colours. I have to admit that I loved the way this card turned out, it looks very vibrant. Here's my version of these challenges using the stamped set, Because of You from Verve Stamps ...

I decided out the two main colours, yellow and orange, that I wanted to focus on orange and I achieved this with those gorgeous flowers. They really pop with the black outline. I started with a base of kraft cardstock from Papertrey Ink and layered it as per the sketch with patterned paper from basicgrey, my mind's eye and three bugs in a rug. If you haven't already noticed I mirrored the sketch! Pretty cool I think. So next I die-cut labels three with white cardstock. I left the die in place and began sponging all round the outer edges with pumpkin pie ink and some summer sun ink from StampinUp!. after that I stamped the beautiful flower image and overlapped die just a little. I had also stamped three of the bigger flowers and two smaller flowers on a separate piece of cs and coloured them in with Copics; YR07, YR16 and YR18. I cut them out and used foam dots for the bigger flowers and liquid glue for the smaller ones. I mounted this to the card and finished off by adding some punched out wave flourishes. Oh I also added some yellow rhinestones to the centers of the flowers. Here's another view ...

Well that's it for this post ... off to do another for my second card for the day. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed looking at my creation today.

Until next time,

Moxie Fab Glimmer Mist

2011-03-07T13:57:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone .. happy Monday! It's especially a happy Monday for me because it's my birthday today :) My wonderful husband surprised me and took the day of work to be with me! How freaking thoughtful is that! I just love this man more and more each day :) So we are just about to have brunch ... he made me a breakfast menu and left it by my bed side to fill in before I went to sleep. So now he's preparing it! I'm so blessed to have a man like this in my life!

Okay so on to the Moxie Fab World challenge from Stamp It! Techniques Week: Shimmer Sprays challenge. You'll never guess what, but I do not own one bottle of shimmer spray! Of course I wanted to play along so I had to come up with a solution to my problem, and I did. I made my own shimmer mist by mixing reinker ink with water and perfect pearls in a mini mister bottle. I'll explain in case you would like to try this yourself. I like mixing my own because it allows me to match cardstock with ink. Here this is what you will need ...

Supplies you will need

Add reinker ink

Add water

Add perfect pearls

Simple as that! Make sure to shake well and then spray your heart out. Now on to the card I made with my own shimmer spray ...

You can't really see the shimmer on this shot but I have another close up where it shows better. I started with a base of Dark Chocolate from Papertrey Ink. I used a piece of white cs from PTI and a stencil that I have. I stenciled the design with my newly made shimmer mist in Baja Breeze from SU!. Next I stamped the clock from Recollections stamp set in dark chocolate ink, and added a few green rhinestones. I then added some ribbon from SU! and made the label for sentiment using labels four from Spellbinders. I mounted the label sentiment with foam squares and voila done! Super simple I'd say. Here's another close up ...

In this shot you can see the shimmer better. It's quite lovely in real person :). Well that's it for now and if you have any questions regarding today's project just send me an email! Thanks for stopping by ...

Until next time,

The Play Date Cafe - Color Splash

2011-03-06T19:06:00.000-05:00

Hi there ... second post for the day so if you would like to see the first one, please scroll down!

I'm so excited to have found all these amazing new challenges. The Play Date Cafe is new to me and I know I will love it because they have a different challenge every week .. yippee for me! Okay so here is what's so cool about this week. The challenge is "Color Splash" so basically have a little of ONE color and the rest should be black & white. That's my take on it anyhow, but check out their site for more details. So here it is ...

Man, I just love that butterfly all coloured up like that with the rest of the photo black and white. I absolutely love stuff like this. So here is what I came up with ...

As you can see, my card literally had a splash of colour! I wanted there to be as little colour as possible to stay true to the challenge. I accomplished this by only adding pink to the three flowers. I also cut them out and mounted them on the image with foam dots for just a teeny weeny bit more of attention. I love how your eyes are drawn straight to the flowers.

This card was super easy to make and this is how ... I started with a base of white cardstock from SU! followed by another piece of dry embossed white cardstock. On another piece of white cardstock I stamped the main image twice. I coloured one set of flowers (the ones i cut) with Copics, cut them and mounted to image with foam dots. I also added some rhinestones and finished off with some white ribbon and the stamped sentiment BIRTHDAY-celebrations-. Oh yes, I also rounded two of the corners. It's that simple!!!

Here's a close up ...

Well thank you for stopping by, and as always I appreciate each and everyone of you that take the time to stop by and comment!

Until next time,

Color Trends with Music

2011-03-06T18:31:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone, hope your weekend was relaxing but fun! You've probably already noticed but I changed a few things here on my blog, and may just decide to change it one more time. Not sure yet but there is certainly a chance. So just know that you probably are at the right blog!

I don't know how I came across this challenge, but I did and glad for it. I like challenges that change from week to week ... makes it more interesting and intriguing. This is what's going on over at Color Trends Challenge with Music, this week, here check it out ...

Don't those colors look yummy ... Here have a lookie at what I came up with ...

Edited to add: I only realized after I made my card that the green I used was actually supposed to be beige!!! My printer says otherwise LOL.

I tried to keep it as crisp as possible with all the white and made my focus on the bird. I started with a base of white cardstock from SU! Stamped another white piece of cardstock with music notes from the set Music Sheet by Clear Dollar Stamps, wrapped some pink ribbon around, added a button with some white hemp twine. I die-cut the green scallop circle layered that with pretty in pink cs and on top of that a white circle. I stamped the bird from the set Always from SU! in perfect plum cs and cut out by hand. Stamped the sentiment "just a note" from Stampendous and a music note from the same set and cut it out. Assembled all and adhered to card. Oh yes, almost forgot I added a little green rhinestone. Here's a close up ...

These colors have always been a little bit of a least favourite combo for me, but because it's a challenge ... I challenged myself! :) Well that's it for this post because I have one more for today so have a great day and thanks for stopping by, I always love to read comments!

Until next time,

Moxie Fab Paper Piecing

2011-03-04T18:27:00.000-05:00

Can you tell that I have a bit of time on my hands! Again two posts in one day ... I couldn't resist though because I love paper piecing and over at Moxie Fab World, Cath is having a Stamp It! Techniques challenge utilizing paper piecing. My day couldn't be any better!!!

Okay so I'll get right to the project at hand, here it is ...

For this challenge I used Papertrey Ink's On the Couch stamp set, it's one of my faves! Plus it's so easy and fun to paper piece the chair and couch. Okay, I started with a base of Kraft from PTI measured at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". Next I cut a piece of Ocean Tides cardstock also from PTI and adhered it to front of card. Next I cut a piece of white to fit within the Ocean Tides piece and adhered that as well. I already had a vision in mind, so next I stamped the couch image twice on Polka Dot Basics patterned paper and cut them out. The first cut out was of the chair itself and the second was of the chair cushion and chair arms. I mounted this with mini foam dots. Next, I stamped a pink pillow for the couch and adhered it to the chair. I put that aside and then worked on the bottom portion of the card. First I stamped polka dots under the image using Polka Dot Basics stamp set from PTI in white pigment ink. Then I added a strip of saddle stitch ribbon from PTI and just under that a thin strip of Dark Chocolate cardstock also from PIT. To finish the bottom portion off, I stamped the sentiment from On the Couch Additions in Dark Chocolate ink. Next, I stamped the rug also from On the Couch Additions on the white cardstock in Dark Chocolate ink. I stamped the table from On the Couch stamp set in black and on top of the table I stamped the mug from On the Couch and the books from On the Couch Additions. To finish I coloured the mug and books with Copics; BG72, BG75, BG78, E55, E57, E59.

Here are a few more shots close up ...

Well that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed what I had to share and once again thanks for stopping by!

Until next time,

Moxie Fab Trigger Tuesday ...

2011-03-04T06:32:00.001-05:00

This week the Trigger Tuesday photo in Moxie Fab World is a yellow door in what looks like a porch or a mud room and I knew instantly that I wanted do this challenge. I'm not a real yellow lover, but something about the serenity and calmness of this photo really inspired me. Here have a look for yourself ...

Isn't this a beautiful shot! So here is what I came up ...

And a close up of the flower ...

I love the softness of the yellow I chose and the light grey with white really give a warm feeling. At least for me! So I started with a white base measuring 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". Next I layered the base white with another panel of white on top of it, but punched an edge at the bottom using Martha Stewart's Arch Lattice. I then took a piece of Lemon Tart from Papertrey Ink and punched a daisy in the center. I then cut a piece of left over white embossed cardstock I had laying around and mounted it behind the yellow piece with foam dots. Next, I layered that with a piece of Soft Stone cardstock from PTI. I then punched a 1/2" circle in Soft Stone placed another punched daisy on top and added a silver gem to finish the flower off. I stamped the sentiment in a grey ink, added some twill ribbon from PTI and finally adhered the flower piece to the front of the card, and it's done. Hey did you by chance notice no stamped image, no nestabilities, no copics ... just punches pretty much. A super fast and easy card to make for any occasion!

I hope you enjoyed what I had to share today, and thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

Viva la Verve sketch ...

2011-03-03T11:53:00.000-05:00

I have two posts for today so please make sure to scroll down to see the first one!

I just had a chance to finish the sketch challenge for the month of March week 1 over at Viva la Verve! I really like this weeks sketch, here it is ...

And here is my version or take on the sketch ..

Lately I've been trying to find/discover what "my style" is. I feel that I'm more of a CAS kind of card maker, but I can also be very detailed and fussy with my cards ... lots of layers, embellishes, and copic colouring. This is what I'm trying to get away from for the most part. Don't get me wrong, I think I actually have many "styles", but I'm just trying to focus on "one". Anywho ... here is a close up ...

I started with a white base 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I cut a piece of polka dot paper from Making Memories and adhered it to the center of the card. I then cut a piece of Aqua Mist cardstock from PTI and adhered it horizontally and lastly I added a third strip/piece of paper from Chatterbox. I made the flower using Marvy Uchida's flower punches. I crumpled them up added brads in the smaller ones and then adhered them all together and then adhered it to the card. I then die-cut a circle using Classic Circle dies from Spellbinders, leaving the die in place I sponged some Aqua Mist ink around the outer edge, then stamped it with Missing You sentiment from Always on my Mind by Verve Stamps and adhered it to card with foam tape. Lastly I added some pearl baubles from Stamping Bella. And that's it!

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time,

Moxie Fab Stamping with Markers

2011-03-03T11:23:00.000-05:00

When I first heard that Papercrafts was coming out with a special Stamp It! Techniques magazine, I ran out a grabbed me a copy as soon as it hit the stores! I remember back in the day when I was just getting into stamping and card making, I loved, loved trying any and every technique out there. Now I have all of these techniques that I loved and still do, in one place. It's so nice to just flip through and get immediate ideas and inspiration.

I was over at Moxie Fab World the other day just surfing and noticed the Stamp It! Techniques Week: The Stamping with Markers Challenge, and thought hmmm, it's been a long time since I've stamped with markers so why not revisit this technique. I remember back in the day when I used markers and coloured directly on the rubber stamp. I was so impressed with the result. Now that I have Copics, it's even more fun! So I decided to stamp on cardstock vellum and colour with Copics ... much more difficult than I thought, by the way! Anywho here is what I came up with ...

I just love the way this turned out. At first I wasn't too sure because like I said, colouring with Copics on vellum is not an easy task. Here's a close up ...

I started with a base of Wild Wasabi from SU! 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I went through my stash of paper and got inspired by some Marrakech paper by Basicgrey. I cut a strip for the bottom portion of the card and adhered. I then stamped some flourishes from Fancy Flourishes by PTI in Wild Wasabi on the card front. Next I die-cut a blossom from Spellbinders, put foam tape on the back and adhered it to card. I then stamped this gorgeous butterfly from Beautiful Butterflies by Clear Dollar Stamps with Versa Mark on a piece of cardstock vellum and then heat embossed with SFD black EP. Then I coloured with Copics and cut out. I adhered it to the blossom with foam squares. I stamped the sentiment in black hybrid ink, added some taffeta ribbon from SU! and to finish off I added a few ICONS from Me & My Big Ideas.

Hope you enjoyed today's challenge card and thank you for taking the time to stop by!

Until next time,

Scor-Tool ... how to make it last

2011-03-02T12:26:00.000-05:00

Hello my fellow stampers and crafters, today I have something really helpful to share with you!

All of us that have the very useful Scor-Pal know that over time the Scor-Tool that comes with it will dull over time. It basically looses its peak or pointed tip. So ... I was experimenting one day because mine was so thick at the point it actually had lost the nicely shaped tip. I started by using an exacto knife and was trying to carve the tip and was unsatisfied with the jagged edge I was creating. I then layed eyes on my sanding pad that I use with my colouring stubs, and thought ... hmmmm, I wonder if I standed the top I would be able to re-shape it, and guess what? It worked!!!!! I was able to slowly re-shape the tip to its original form. I'm so sorry that I did not take a photo of what my scor-tool looked like before sanding. You would have been able to clearly see the difference. So anyhow, go ahead and try it you'll see how easy it is to do and how much longer your tool with last! Oh one last thing ... don't only sand the sides, also sand the flat surface lightly in order to make the tip a little thinner again!

Now that I've sanded it and have re-shaped it, it now fits nicely again within the grooves on my Scor-Pal. I hope you find this little tip useful, and please go ahead and share this with everyone!

**sorry if there are any spelling mistakes, the spell checher is not working**

Until next time,

Sweet Sunday Sketch 106 & Color Cue 12

2011-03-01T01:49:00.000-05:00

Okay I decided to take a trip over to the sweetest thing blog and try my hand at the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #106. I have always enjoyed Karen's sketches so it's always nice to get the chance to jump into her weekly sketches. So I have a sketch, now what do I do about colours? Well I also took a trip over to WPLUS9's design blog and gave their Color Cue Challenge 12 a try. Now, these are not colours I'm comfortable with but I have to admit that I'm quite impressed with the way my card turned out! I may have to be daring a little more often. So here is the sketch and the colours I used ...

Oh ya I also used fun foam again as this is Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenge! So it was fun and a little challenging to combine all three challenges, but I persevered! Here is my take on the challenges ...

First things first ... as you can probably see, I don't follow sketches to a tee at times, but it's no biggy right? I figure as long as you can recognize the similarities then it's okay to omit a little thing here or there right? LOL Enough of that ... here are my instructions: I started with a kraft base of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I cut two panels one in confetti white (SU!) and one a little smaller in tempting turquoise (SU!) and I adhered them to card front. I then die-cut some lilac fun foam using blossom nestabilities and then re-cut with a classic circle to take the center of the blossom out. I then cut a circle to fit inside the blossom frame and stamped it with borders & corners {circle} from Papertrey Ink. I also stamped the sentiment thinking of you and punched it out with a circle punch and layered it with a confetti white. I then punched out a flower to place the sentiment on. Next I die-cut the butterfly and added 3 little baubles. Here's a close up ...

Well that's it for now. Thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

Make it Monday 4 & CR84FN 17

2011-02-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

You know it's funny but I was thinking about making a card using fun foam yesterday ... I'm serious, so I was very excited to get started with this challenge. This is Make it Monday #4 - Creating with Fun Foam.

#4 Creating with Fun Foam

I also stopped by CR84FN's blog and was delighted with the colours they are using for this weeks challenge so I decided to join in. The awesome choice of colours are ...

so here is what I came up with ...

You know I've been having a difficult time getting good results when taking photographs of my cards, and to my surprise, this was discussed on Friday over at Papertrey Radio episode 2! So I listened and tried the suggestion of using as much natural light as possible and that's exactly what I did. I took this photo on my dining room table and was very pleased with the result. I actually have a light box that came with lamps that use bright daylight bulbs but find it too constricting ... hard to get good shots at good angles so now I much prefer using my dining room table with natural light! Try it guaranteed you will notice a huge difference.

Here's a close up of my card ...

Love, love the natural light ... I didn't even have to use Photoshop to adjust the exposure, which I had to do most of the time!

Now on to the instructions ... I started with a base of Soft Stone cardstock from Papertrey Ink measuring 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". Next I cut a piece of Hibiscus Burst cardstock and layered that with another piece of Soft Stone, but before adhering it I embossed it with Textile emboss folder from Provo Craft. I mounted this panel with foam tape to card. I had an old piece of fun foam just laying around and it was the perfect size to make a label with. I die-cut with labels four and then die-cut inside of the label with an oval. I die-cut another oval in white cs and stamped it with Heartfelt Basics from PTI using black and hibiscus ink. I punched the rose leaves from Martha Stewart's punch, Rose Leaf (how appropriate! hehehe). I adhered the leaves and rose (made earlier) to the fun foam frame to finish off.

Alrighty then, it's time to go but I thank you for stopping by and again I hope that you enjoyed what I had to share today.

Until next time,

Make it Monday 3 ...

2011-02-26T14:58:00.000-05:00

Adding glitter with score tape, that's what we need to do this week! I'm going to get right to it so here is what I came up with ...

#3: Adding Glitter with Score Tape

I started with a base of Tempting Turquoise from SU!, then I cut a white panel and punched it with Eyelet edger from SU! and adhered it to base. I then cut a piece of Real Red from SU! and added that on top of the white panel. Next, I cut 3 circles and stamped an image from Giga Guide Lines (PTI) on them. I punched out two sizes of circle from sticky tape. Next I added the larger of the two circles to the centers of the image. I then pealed the top of the sticky tape and placed the smaller sticky tape circle on top of the larger, but leaving the protective top on the smaller circle. Next I sprinkled aqua glitter over the circles, then removed the protective top of the smaller one and sprinkled red glitter over. Next I cut one of the white circles in half so I could place them on each end of the card. Next I added a 1/8" strip of sticky tape just over the red panel and then sprinkled glamour dust over it. Next I stamped celebrate from Mega Mixed Messages in red on the bottom white card stock, then stamped "happy birthday to you" from Around & About Sentiments in line with celebrate. Lastly I adhered the white circles across the real red panel with foam squares. Here's a closer view ...

Well that's it for today, I hope you enjoyed my little challenge card for Make it Monday 3! Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,

Just Because

2011-02-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday everyone .. the week is half over! I'm sharing with you today a card that I made using the Try a New Technique from Splitcoaststampers. In this challenge we had to incorporate a Bargello design into our cards/projects. If you're interested instructions can be found here. Here's my version of this challenge ...

I started with a white base (PTI cs) of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I cut a panel out of Rose Red (SU!) and placed it aside. I worked on the design using DP from Basicgrey, Euphoria. I followed the instructions given and this is what my pattern looks like. I adhered it to the rose red panel and mounted on base with foam tape. To finish I stamped Just Because from Giga Guide Lines (PTI) with Rose Red ink (SU!) and voila finis! Here's another view ...

I really enjoyed making this card simply because I haven't done this design in like forever and it was nice to revisit it. I hope you enjoyed!

Until next time,

Hang in There ...

2011-02-20T09:09:00.000-05:00

Today's forecast: bright, cheery, funny, happy but warning - extremely cold out! Advisory: Stay home and stamp your little hearts out ... that's what I'm doing!

I had joined in the fun 3 weeks ago over at Viva la Verve sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers. This is week four of the challenge and here's the sketch that you have to follow ...

I really love this sketch, it's simple, has style and has so many possibilities ... the kind of sketch that I love! Here is what I came up with ...

I just wanted to point out a little something before I begin ... did you notice that I did not use white for the background when shooting the card? I decided to try similar colours to the actual card. I really like the idea, but not completely convinced that this really helps the card stand out. Anyhow, if you like I wouldn't mind some criticism. Sometimes it's just nice to get someone else's perspective!

Okay so for the base of the card I used a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of white card stock. I layered that with DP from Making Memories (it just screams spring to me), taped the back and placed aside. I actually looked for ribbon next and once I found the one I wanted measured a piece for the card and placed aside. I cut a panel out of Pumpkin Pie from SU! and added a piece of dry embossed white card stock on top, I adhered them together and placed aside. I used a stamp from the set Always on my Mind (Verve stamps) and stamped that onto white card stock and ran it through the cuttlebug using nestabilities. I followed that with a scalloped oval from nestabilities and I cut that out with Summer Sun card stock. I stamped the sentiment the hanging flower on the white oval piece. Next, I lightly sponged some Summer Sun ink around the outer edges of the white oval piece, leaving the nestability in place. I then used Copics to colour over the stem of the hanging flower. I had originally coloured the hanging flower, but I fudged up on the copics so just decided to mask my little boo-boo with a couple of Prima flowers. I then assembled ass the pieces together (following the sketch of course) and adhered to the card base.

This is definitely a sketch that I can see myself use again and again. Once you have paper and an image in mind .. the rest is a piece of cake! Here's a little close up for ya ...

Before I actually added the Prima flowers, I added a little glitter brad in green. I like the way it makes the flower pop. Oh shoot, I wanted to mention the embossed white back piece. If you look closely you should see cute little flowers embossed on it. This is actually a Fiskars yellow plastic emboss plate that I found in my stash (never used! until today) and tried it. Okay the funny part was trying to figure out a proper stack of plates and/or card stock ... in trying this I broke the Fiskars plate 3 times! It's such a sweet pattern too ... thank goodness I still have about 3/4's of the plate left!!! I added a sticky note to the Fiskars plates on how to stack using these emboss plates and my cuttlebug so I don't end up with nothing to emboss! lol

Just wanted to thank you for stopping by .. it really does feel good when someone takes the time to come for a visit and actually leave some sweet comments!! I love to hear what you have to say ... good or bad!

Until next time,

Best Wishes ...

2011-02-19T12:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Saturday to everyone! Here in Toronto it's snowing again and the temperature has dropped I think close to 14 degrees! Yesterday it was +11 and now it's below freezing ... I'm so sick of winter!! So in light of this I want to share a little funny with you, this is a Blue Jay ...

BLUE BIRD OF HAPPINESS, MY ASS!

It's Friggin' Freezing. There's snow up my ass, all the food's covered with

3 feet of this white shit and you want ME to sing?

Like maybe Anne Murray's "Snowbird"? Piss Off!!

Next year, I'm going to fly to Jamaica and smoke dope!!

I hope no one took offense to some of the language in this piece ... I apologize if you did!

Okay enough of complaining on to something more fun and cheerful! I managed to complete two challenges in one card today. The first one being Get Your Diva On over at Splitcoaststampers. All the details are over there for this new monthly challenge. The second challenge is from Forgotten Stamp Friday which I came across a few weeks ago and thought ... what a great challenge, an opportunity to ink up all those stamps that have been neglected. All the details are over at Can you say, Addicted!!!!! TO STAMPS!!!!! . Basically you are to use a stamp set that has not been used for at least 6 months or longer ... super easy and super fun! Here is the inspiration picture for Get Your Diva On ...

Isn't this just so elegant and romantic and yummy! So the challenge is to create something using this picture as your inspiration. Here is what I came up with ...

So remember I decided to incorporate two challenges, the second being ... use a stamp that hasn't been inked in a while. When I studied the GYDO photo, the first thing that came to mind was Gentler Times! Not sure exactly why ... made because of the detailed floral work on the stamp??? Anywho this card reflects both challenges. Oh I should also mention that I used old, I mean really old card stock from Stampin'Up! ... I mean way back! I still have card stock, ink pad, reinker, marker and chalk for Rose Romance & Positively Pink ... do you remember these SU! colours? I was going through some old stuff that I have in boxes stored away and let me tell you it was like finding a little treasure. Even though these are old retired colours, I can still put them to very good use! I thought I could go one step further with FSF and use my old unused card stock!

Okay enough talking ... on to how I made this card. I used a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" base in Rose Romance layered that with a white panel and then another panel on top with Positively Pink and on this piece I punched the corner with an old shell punch from Marvy Uchida. Next, I cut a white piece of card stock with Labels 8 nestabilities, and then placed half a paper doily over it. For the hearts I stamped, cut out and adhered them over the doily. I added some white organza ribbon and finished it off with a label for the sentiment using a stamp from Oval All by SU! I also added a few pink ICON stickers! I like the way it turned out especially because this is not a typical card I would make. Here's a close up ...

Well Ladies (and can't forget gentleman) it's time to go and run some errands. I hope you enjoyed what I had to share today.

Until next time,

So Glad we're friends ...

2011-02-18T11:28:00.000-05:00

Well I finally managed to get my butt over to Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge. As usual she came up with yet another fabulous sketch and here it is ... Oh and I also played along with Colour Q challenge ... colours: Tangerine Tango, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy and Cherry Cobbler.

Here's what I came up with ...

I started with a base of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" in Not Quite Navy, and added a panel at the bottom with Tangerine Tango. As I looking through my scrap pieces of Baja Breeze card stock I noticed this frame that I have made from using nestabilities ... thought this might work, and it did. I then cut a white piece of pre-embossed card stock that I had from another project and adhered it to center of frame. I then added a piece of white lace ribbon and the pre-made ribbon embellishment. I stamped the sentiment form SU!'s set Best Yet, which I believe is retired, on to white c.s. and cut with deckled rectangle nestabilities, put foam tape on the back and adhered to white panel. I then added some red icon stickers in the top left corner. Super easy! Here's one close up ...

Hope you enjoyed and thank you for stopping by!

Until next time,

Making it Monday with Mojo ...

2011-02-16T10:31:00.000-05:00

Good morning my fellow stampers! Yesterday I worked on two challenges, the first being Mojo Monday sketch 178 and the second being Making it Monday #2: Vellum Sentiment Strip. It took me a little longer than usual to do the sketch challenge. I found myself constantly changing the paper, the layers for my circle etc.. but I finally nailed it! Here's the sketch ...

Here is what I came up with incorporating the two challenges ...

I used Dark Chocolate as my base - 4 1/4"x5 1/2". I cut a panel to go on top the base in Spring Moss, sponged the edges with Spring Moss ink, distressed and placed aside. Next I used my circle nestabilities and cut two circles(I used one small and one large) one in select white card stock and the other in dark chocolate. With the white piece of card stock I stamped Background Basics: Petal flower on it and lightly sponged the edges with dark chocolate ink and added three brads. I then distressed the edges of the stamped circle and adhered it to the dark choc. circle. Next I worked on the rectangle piece for the sentiment. I cut two panels one in dark choc. and the other in Spring Moss (it is also distressed) and adhered them together. After that I began to work on the vellum sentiment. I cut a piece of card stock vellum (it's a heavier weight) to fit over the rectangle panel. So for the vellum strip I stamped Thank You from Giga Guide Lines with palette umber ink and immediately put some UF Clear EP and heat set. I prefer to do this with all stamped vellum only because you can work with the vellum right away and don't have to wait for it to dry ... it takes forever for me and I'm to impatient LOL! Okay so once the sentiment is stamped onto the vellum I then scored above and below the sentiment. After that, I placed the vellum strip on the rectangle panel and realized it looked too blended so I cut a small strip of select white, lightly sponged the edges with Spring Moss and adhered (centered between the scored lines) it to the rectangle panel with dimensionals. Lastly comes the ribbon ... I do not have dark chocolate satin ribbon but I did have some from Michael's that i used. place ribbon around Spring Moss panel and adhere. To finish, place all the layers in their proper place as per the sketch and voila finis! Here's a close up ...

Oh I should probably mention that I adhered the vellum to card stock with Vellum Adhesive Runner: Therm O Web. It works perfectly .. you really can not see anything! I think this next shot is a little better if you look closely, you can't see the tape ...

Well I hope you enjoyed looking at my project for today. Have a great day!

Until next time,

The Day After ...

2011-02-15T17:46:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day and PTI release ... I hope everyone had an enjoyable Valentine's Day! I must say I did get a little distracted last night from my hubby's and mine Valentine evening. Why you ask? It's simple ... PTI had their release party last night and I needed to be there ... lol. Thank goodness my hubby is forgiving and understanding! We did manage to get some quality time together, and it was wonderful.

It began early in the morning when I was awoken with breakfast in bed, a hot cup of java and a single beautiful red rose. Then off to work he was. I ended up spending the whole day working on his Valentine's gift which I will share with you today ... he was so happy I thought he was going to cry. awe ... how sweet! Here is a photo of what I did for him ...

Here's a close up view ...

His grandfather played for the Montreal Canadians as a defense man and won 2 Stanley Cups. He was also on two All Star Teams ... and Jeff just loves his grandfather. Since his passing in 2007, Jeff has become very sentimental about anything to do with his grandfather so I thought what a better way for me to show him how much I love him! Oh and here is the wrapping I made all by my self ... I was very proud that I presented him a gift that was completely handmade ... well except the frame! lol. I used PTI stamps from Heart Prints and Love Notes.

And then when Jeff came home from work he presented with a dozen sweetheart roses in red, pink and white ... a very lovely combination. He knows that I LOVE fresh flowers. See the red front rose ... that one was from the morning so I put them all in the vase together. Here they are ...

For the finale of his sweetness he had made a trail of my favourite chocolates (Lyndor) from the hall leading into our bedroom ... he is the sweetest man ever!

So there you have it ... my Valentine's Day in a nutshell. I enjoyed every single moment and hope you did with yours!

Until next time,

You're too Kind ...

2011-02-14T18:11:00.001-05:00

Hello my fellow stampers. I hope everyone is having and will have a wonderful VALENTINE'S DAY! May your betterhalfs delight you and spoil you with love!

Today I challenged myself with CR84FN15 color combo and clean&simples FTL127 sketch. Here they are ...

Now for my versions of this duo ...

First off sorry for the horrible exposure ... too much white light on the top of the card! So I started with a base of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" in Taken with Teal card stock and placed aside. I then cut a strip of Wild Wasabi and ran it through my cuttlebug using Frills emboss folder and attached it to base. Next I ran a piece of So Saffron card stock through my cuttlebug using Blossom Nestabilities, then cut out two circles using nestabilities again and mounted the Taken with Teal circle to the center of the blossom with dimensionals. For the white circle I also cut that out with nestabilities but left the actual die in place and sponged So Saffron just around the edges. I then stamped the you're too kind sentiment you're too kind from PTI with black ink onto the circle and a second stamp using Taken with Teal just ever so slightly over the black stamp. The flower was made using Prima flowers, a button, some DCM thread and a little piece of ribbon. For the last touch I added some little glitter dots from Stamping Bella. I hope this all makes sense! And here is a close up ...

And this is my take/version of the color and sketch challenges for CR84FN & clean&simple! Hope you enjoyed ... now I'm off to go for a romantic Valentine dinner with my husband. I wish everyone the happiest Valentine's!

Until next time,

Viva la Verve Baby!

2011-02-14T09:57:00.000-05:00

Week #3 of the February challenges for Viva La Verve sketch on SCS was posted on Friday and I recently had the chance to get it done! Here's the sketch ...

Here's my version ...

I started my card with a Sahara Sand base of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" and then cut an Always Artichoke panel 4" x 5 1/4", I placed this panel aside. For the hello/flower embellishment I started by punching out the mega flower from Marvy Uchida then punched 1/4" circles into each of the scallops which gives it a unique look! Working our way from the bottom layer to the top ... next I punched a scallop in Sky Blue (retired SU!) and mounted it on the white flower. Next I stamped the sentiment hello from Verve stamps with Always Artichoke ink and punched it out with a 1 3/8" circle punch, and adhered that on the blue scallop. I put that aside. Next I embossed and die cut a Labels Four nestability leaving the die still embedded in the card stock I stamped Background Basics: Text Tile (PTI) with Always Artichoke. Next I adhered this piece onto the Always Artichoke panel that we put aside earlier. I made the little envelope in the top right corner by using an old SU! template I have and altered the size to make it a little smaller. I then stamped a note for you onto Soft Sky with Always Artichoke ink, punched the corners to round them and lightly inked the edges. I placed little the little note into envelope and adhered to panel. Lastly, I wrapped Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon around panel and once that was done I mounted the flower with dimensionals and adhered to card. Voila, finis! Here are a couple of close ups ...

Just a little side note ... I am going to be giving step by step instructions on how I made my cards. I thought this would be a better approach since there are many times when I create embellishments from odds and ends around my craft room. Most of the time I try to make something that would replicate something that's new on the marked and quite frankly can't afford to buy everything my little heart desires ... life isn't fair! LOL. So I hope this way I can spread/share my ideas with you and maybe you will even give them a try!!

Well Until next time,

PTI Color Challenge 2

2011-02-09T18:05:00.000-05:00

What a day ... 3 challenge cards in one day (so make sure to scroll down). I made this card for the PTI Color Challenge over at Papertrey Ink, actually Nichole's blog in celebration of their 4th anniversary. You might want to stop by and check out the festivities as the Make it Monday Challenge will be up until the 14th of February ... the day before their big release!

For this card I used Lisa Johnson's fave color combo which is Pure Poppy, Spring Rain, Kraft and Vintage Cream. Believe it or not this was a challenge for me. I do much better with monochromatic colors ... hehehe. Here's my version using those colors ...

The flower was made using a heart stamp from Heart Prints stamp set. I stamped the heart in red 6 times onto Vintage Cream card stock and punched them out with a heart punch (which matches perfectly by the way) and then arranged them the way I wanted and glued together. I added a punched circle in the center along with a flower punch and finished it off with a pearl brad. Here's a close up ...

It's easier to see how the heart flower came to be! For the sentiment I stamped it with Vintage Cream pigment ink and embossed it with vanilla ep and heat set. Pretty simple, especially for me ... hehehe

Final view of my finished card ... this challenge is only up until tomorrow Feb. 10th at 7 AM (EST) so get going ... Check out Nichole's blog for a download of the design team's favorite color combos. Once you have this, pick out your fave combo from the list and get stamping!

Alrighty then ... I'm getting pooped now from all that stamping today so need to go have a rest. Thanking you always for stopping by.

Until next time,

PTI Color Challenge 1

2011-02-09T16:14:00.001-05:00

second post of the day, please scroll down to see the first one!

My goodness I'm on a roll today ... I've been trying real hard to enter as many of Papertrey Ink's contests as possible because they are first of all, FUN and secondly, there are PRIZES ... yup chances to win PTI product, how much better does it get. Check out the festivities for their 4th anniversary on Nichole's Blog!

Today I'm sharing with you my card from PTI's Color Challenge. For my card I chose to use Erin Lincoln's fave color combo Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides, Ripe Avocado, Vintage Cream. Here's my version ...

I used Round and Round (ltd edition) and Beautiful blooms stamp sets. First I stamped the leaves from Beautiful Blooms in Ripe Avocado onto Vintage Creams card stop. Then I played around with the panels to see what colors out of the combo would look best together. I decided to cut and punch a piece of Oceans Tides, then cut a piece of Green Tea Leaves ppaper and adhered. I then added some Swiss dot Dark Chocolate ribbon tied a button onto it and adhered to card. I stamped the bird image from Round & Round in dark choc. palette ink and adhered that to a cut circle of dark choc. card stock, then adhered that to card using foam dots. To finish off I punched out a dove in Ocean Tides cs and adhered that over the original stamped bird from the image. That's about it, easy peasy! Here are a couple of other shots ...

In the photo above you can see the dove that I punched out a bit better.

That's it for this post, so thanks for stopping by

Until next time,

Introducing ... Make it Monday!

2011-02-09T13:16:00.000-05:00

Gosh it's cold outside ... this is one of many reasons on my list that it's okay to stay inside in my craft room ... hehehe! What kind of excuses do have? lol

I've been following all the festivities over at Papertrey Ink because the month of February is their annual anniversary. This year Papertrey Ink is celebrating it's 4th birthday! I cannot believe how much time really does fly ... I remember like yesterday the year they launched this amazing online store and for this reason it's hard to believe 4 years have passed. They so many new and exciting changes it's worth taking a spin over there and checking it all out. Just my little two cents! lol

PTI has introduced a new feature/challenge for all of us to try and it's called Make it Monday which involves watching a technique video created and produced by one of the PTI team members. This challenge will run every Monday and when you play along there is a chance for you to win a stamp set of your choice ... I think this is so cool! I've provided links in this post so if you are not familiar with PTI I suggest you pop by especially so that you can read all the details yourself!

Here is what I came up with for this challenge ... Make it Monday #1 - Go-To Sentiment Card

I love the way this card turned out ... probably more for the reason that I chose my fave PTI color combo. This is my personal fave. It was a little tricky to find and place all the birthday sentiments that I wanted to use. What I ended up doing was stamp the sentiments onto a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of printer paper or you can use scrap paper. Once I got the look I wanted, I copied what I did to an actual piece of awesome select white card stock from PTI. The rest is pretty easy ... using nestabilities, a butterfly punch, a cuttlebug EF, and some pearls. Go watch the video and then give it a try yourself!

I hope you enjoyed your time visiting my blog and thanks for stopping by.

stamps: round & round (ltd edition), borders & corners (retangle), damask designs, paper tray, star prints, everyday classics (ltd edition), mod squad, vintage picnic, giga guide lines
card stock: dark chocolate, aqua mist, select white
ppaper: 2008 bitty dot basics
ink: palette dark chocolate
accessories: swiss dots cuttlebug ef, scallop circle, classic circle and blossom nestabilities, marvy butterfly punch, kaiser pearls and foam tape

Until next time,

Mojo Monday on Hump Day ...

2011-02-08T21:26:00.002-05:00

Hi there stamping friends ... I finally had a chance to get my Mojo sketch done today and wanted to share it with you. It's Mojo177 over at Mojo Monday's Blog. Hey ... if you are not aware, Mojo Monday has a contest every frist Monday of the month in which you have the chance to vin a stamp set of your choice! Pretty awesome!! So go check it out. I also used CR84FN 14 color challenge, they had some of my fave colors this week so I had to play along.

This sketch was a little challenging for me, what a minute ... isn't that what these challenges are supposed to do? ... challenge us! LOL. Okay so here is the sketch ...

And here is my version ...

I used Verve stamps and all the rest is Papertrey Ink's supplies. I finally received my goodies from Verve yesterday and could not wait to ink them up. I used Always on My Mind from Verve, dark chocolate, select white & hibiscus burst card stock from PTI. The DP is also from Papertrey - pretty pastels and 2008 bitty star basics. I attached a piece of dark chocolate twill ribbon with staples and punched all the stars with ek success punches.

Short and sweet again today as I'm swamped these days ... you know the kind of days that you wish had more than 24 hours in them! hehehe. Well go to go so thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,

PTI 4th Anniversary Tags

2011-02-08T12:26:00.000-05:00

I'm late posting the cards I created for Papertrey's 4th Anniversary festivities and contests. The cards that I created include a free download offered on Nichole's blog in honor of their 4 years of being in business.

So the free download is a full 8/12" by 11" printable sheet of 9 circle tags designed by some of the design team members, and the challenge was to create your own card incorporating a tag from the collection. I made a couple of cards and seven though this contest had ended I still wanted to share what I created with you! Oh also if you're interested in the free download just to have on hand check out Nichole's blog ... 2011 Papertrey Stamp Designers & a free download!

Alrighty then, here is what I created using one of the circle tags designed by Ali Miles ...

I hymned and hawed about coloring the flower because it had a very crisp clean look to it when it was white. After much deliberation I decided to go ahead and color it with copics using the color suggestions to match Spring Moss card stock. I like it this way too but I'm veering towards the uncolored version and I should have taken a photo to share so you could decide which way looks better! lol. I also went ahead and added some platinum liquid pearls to the center of the flower ... not sure about that either. hehehe. Oh well, maybe next time. Here's a close up ...

For the next card I used the cute little happy birthday circle tag Nichole designed.

First off let me apologize for such a poor quality photo. Both of my bulbs for my photo lamps burnt out and because it's hard to find "daylight" bulbs I'm just using my craft desk and not my light/photo box. Anywho, here's what I made and I'm very please with the finished product. Just to let you know, the last layer from the flower is a large flower punch from Marvy Uchida that I punched out of white card stock. I then took a 1/2" circle punch and punch round the petals .. make sense? Sometimes it's just easier to show instead of explain ... especially for me! hehehe. Here's a close up ...

It was the first time that I have attempted to do pleating with ribbon! I just love how it adds so much character to the card. So I first placed a layer of very sticky tape, began to just play around with the plead trying not to make them uniform, and then I used the sewing machine to finish off. I really like the way this turned out.

I hope you enjoyed and thank you for stopping by!
Until next time,

VLVFEB2011 Week #2

2011-02-05T17:34:00.000-05:00

I'm back just to show you my card for Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge. In my last post (just after this one) I listed the details for you .. go ahead check them out or go here, VLVFEB2011 Wk2. Okay so now here's the sketch ...

What an awesome sketch by Amy ... I really enjoyed playing around with this one! Here's my version ...

The flower may look familiar as it's on my card for the week 1 sketch the Beautiful You set by Verve! I had made extras for my other card because I thought I was going to use more than one. As it turns out I didn't so I decided instead of being wasteful I would incorporate it into another card ... this one! hehehe. I'm glad I did because this card turned out quite nice. Here are a couple more shots up close ...

I'm not sure if you can actually make it out but I used a paper doily as a mask for this card. I sponged some Palette seascape on the edges of the doily to get soft effect.

stamps: Beautiful You (Verve), Great Friend (SU!), Background Basics: Retro (PTI)
card stock: Whisper white, tempting turquoise, vellum (SU!)
ppaper: vita Bella (Little Yellow Bicycle), Classic Botanical (Martha Stewart)
ink: Palette black & seascape, craft white (SU!)
accessories: versa mark, ultra fine white ep, spiral punch (SU!), doily lace trim punch (Martha Stewart), fiskars punch, spring of pearls baubles (Stamping Bella), paper doily, pearl accent

Sorry but I have to run again, but this time for real! hehehe ... So glad you stopped by!

Until next time,

Viva la Verve February wk1

2011-02-05T16:13:00.000-05:00

Happy Saturday everyone! It could be a little happier for me if my laptop was working better. I've been trying all day to get this post up until now ... and I was up at 5:30 a.m. this morning working on it! Anywho, I'm back with a sketch challenge from the Viva la Verve Divas. In case you are not aware of the details and how this challenge works, here's the info. you need to know. "Every Friday, a Diva will post a sketch for your enjoyment Your cards, using the sketches, must be uploaded by the last Thursday of the month. The winner will be announced on the next day and will win the ENTIRE next month's stamp release! How awesome is that?!"

For February, they have FOUR sketches! All cards must be uploaded to VLVFeb2011 (the Splitcoaststampers gallery) by midnight, CST on February 24th! Winner will be announced on February 25th!

Keywords for the entire month will be VLVFeb2011 if NOT using Verve stamps, and if using Verve stamps you will indicate by using this keyword, VLVFeb2011 Verve.

Here is the sketch for Week #! ...

And, here is my card ...

To help me get my creative juices flowing I went to Spark Your Creative Spirit CR84FN Color Challenge., the colors I used are Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip from Stampin'Up!.

I used Verves Beautiful You set. For the flower I stamped the image onto card stock vellum with versa mark, embossed with white EP and then cut it out. I added a cute little punched flower for the center and added a little pearl accent. I also added a little turquoise gem to center of the flower on the sentiment.

Here's another view ...

Well short and sweet today ... hope you can join in on the fun though! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

stamps: Beautiful You - (Verve Stamps)
card stock: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and Vellum (SU!)
ppaper: Classic Botanical (Martha Stewart)
ink: Craft White (SU!)
accessories: Versa Mark, glitter (SU!), glue pad, white EP, pearl accent, fiskars flower punch

Until next time,

Little Swiss Pixie Nora ...

2011-01-30T14:40:00.000-05:00

What a day! It's Sunday and I just finished my 6th challenge card for the Color Inspirations for Card Makers Week Challenges by Moxie Fab World. *sigh* ... never thought I would get them all done, so happy that I did!

Okay so on to today's card. For the very first time ever, I absolutely, 100%, un-equivocally managed to get a combination of 6 challenges in ONE card! I see that other's are doing it so I thought, why can't I. I can honestly say ... I challenged myself beyond my belief ... hehehe! Here is where it started ... the sketch from The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge ...

Here is my card followed by all the challenges I incorporated ...

I completed the following challenges for this card:

The Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge - SSS93
7 Kids College Fund - Challenge Yourself - #13
All That Scraps - Let it Snow
Crazy 4 Challenges - Vintage/Shabby Chic
Paper Play Challenge - Layer it Up - 11Week4
Color Throwdown - CTD126

I'm so proud of myself ... I love the way my card turned out! Here's a couple close up photos ...

To make it a little more like winter, as per ATS "Let it Snow" challenge, I added some Liquid Applique.

And in this close up ... can you see the glitter on her little wings? I also paper pieced and layered as per another challenge. But listen, I'm not good at Vintage/Shabby Chic so what do you think ... does this qualify for either? I hope so LOL.

Alrighty then ... I definitely have to go and get some chores done! Can you tell that I'm a procrastinator? LOL. Have yourselves a terrific Sunday afternoon.

Until next time,

Color Inspirations for Card Makers Week: Metallics Challenge

2011-01-30T14:05:00.000-05:00

Welcome to day 6 for me of the Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week challenges at Moxie Fab World. It's Metallics today. I finally finished my 6th card ... yippee! So now just a recap for these challenges, there are six challenges in total, one from each color section in the newly published magazine "Color Inspiration for Card Makers" (which I just got my hands on yesterday!- LOVE IT) from Paper Crafts. Cath of Moxie Fab World personally chose her faves from the issue so head over and check them out. Like I said, I finally finished the last card I needed to complete the 6 challenges before the deadline as of midnight MDT on Monday, January 31. I'm thrilled I saw it to the end!!!

Here are the colors for the Metallics Tones combo challenge ...

Below is the card for the Metallics Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week in the Moxie Fab World...

I had to go to Michael's yesterday to pick up some shimmer gold card stock and at the same time I saw this punch by Martha Stewart called Doily Lace Trim and thought it would be perfect for this card! I was right ... I love the elegance it adds. Here's another close up ...

It's gorgeous isn't it? Yes I mean the punch!!! hehehe. However, I have to say that I just love this card and already know who this will be going to!

Well, now it's just a matter of waiting to see how I made out with the challenges ... I'm super stoked because not only will Cath from Moxie Fab World be selecting a total of twelve winners for these challenges, but the editors at Paper Crafts magazine will be choosing an overall favorite of their own. The overall winner will receive, A Cricut, a Gyspy, and 7 cartridges. The winning card will also be published in the July/August 2011 issue of Paper Crafts magazine. Wowzer ...super cool stuff, something to definitely get stoked about, right?

So with that said ... I'm off to get some chores done since I made a conscious decision to avoid them to get all the challenges done and out of the way LOL!!! You know I'd rather be stamping ... what's a little extra dust going to do anyways right? hehehe

stamps: Damask Designs (PTI)
card stock: Shimmer Pink (PTI), shimmer white & shimmer gold (Michael's)
ink: Brilliance Galaxy Gold
accessories: Textile emboss folder (Provo Crafts), Doily Lace Trim punch (Martha Stewart), gold & pink sheer ribbon, gold EP, foam tape

So glad you stopped by!
Until next time,

Color Inspirations for Card Makers Week: Neutrals Challenge

2011-01-29T07:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to day 5 for me of the Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week challenges at Moxie Fab World. It's Neutrals today. A recap, there are six challenges in total, one from each color section in the newly published magazine "Color Inspiration for Card Makers" from Paper Crafts. Cath of Moxie Fab World personally chose her faves from the issue so head over and check them out. I'm still at it, working diligently to get the last challenge completed by the deadline of midnight MDT on Monday, January 31.

Here are the colors for the Neutral Tones combo challenge ...

Love this combo ... one of my faves from the six color challenges! I created this project for the Neutrals Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week in the Moxie Fab World...

I know the holidays are over ... I just had to make a wintery card with these colors! I embossed the snowflakes on vanilla card stock then lightly sponged Spring Rain ink over it and to finish off, I took my glue pad and lightly patted it on the embossed snowflakes and added some Martha Stewart crystal coarse glitter! Here's a close up ...

I think you can see the effect a little here but it looks just lovely in person ... hehehe Okay, one last card to make and that's for the Metallics combo. See you later crafters!

stamps: Stocking Prints (PTI) - sentiment
card stock: Soft Stone, Vintage Cream, Spring Rain (PTI)
ink: Palette Noir Black, Spring Rain (PTI)
accessories: Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon (SU!), snowflakes emboss folder (Provo Craft), snowflake edge punch (EK Success), crystal coarse glitter (Martha Stewart), essential glue pad, dimensionals

Thank you for stopping by!
Until next time,

Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week: Monochromatics Challenge

2011-01-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

This is day 4 for me of the Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week challenges at Moxie Fab World. It's Monochromatics today. I've been doing all the challenges in order until today ... I skipped Metallics only because I don't have any metallic gold card stock! Heading out to Michael's later today hoping to find something close enough. Okay so just another recap, there are six challenges in total, one from each color section in the newly published magazine "Color Inspiration for Card Makers" from Paper Crafts. Cath of Moxie Fab World personally chose her faves from the issue so head over and check them out. I'm still going at if very hard to get the other three challenges completed by the deadline of midnight MDT on Monday, January 31. If you're quick at making cards and not creatively challenged like I am, you should still have time ... so hurry get going now ... hehehe

Here are the colors for the Monochromatics combo challenge ...

Before I show you my card let me tell you that I so prefer to use monochromatic combos, as I'm sure most of us do! You'll see what I mean, here''s what I created for Monochromatics Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week in the Moxie Fab World...

I really like the way it turned out ... did I mention that pink is my fave color ... so I especially enjoyed this challenge! Here's a close up ...

I used my Blossom nestabilities for the first time, can you believe that? They have been sitting collecting dust so I was glad to wipe them off and try them out.

stamps: You Take the Cake (MFT) - sentiment
card stock: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink (SU!), Stampers Select white, Habiscus Burst (PTI)
ink: Palette Noir Black
ppaper: DSP (SU!)
accessories: Blossom nestabilities, doily lace edge punch (Martha Stewart), Pink Pirouette ribbon (SU!), Sweet Blush button (PTI), Swiss Dots emboss folder (Provo Craft)

The adventure continues ... I'm off again ... talk to you tomorrow and thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Until next time,

Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week: Jewel Tones Challenge

2011-01-27T12:20:00.001-05:00

Welcome to day 3 for me of the Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week challenges at Moxie Fab World. It's Jewel Tones today. Just a recap, there are six challenges in total, one from each color section in the newly published magazine "Color Inspiration for Card Makers" from Paper Crafts. Cath of Moxie Fab World personally chose her faves from the issue so head over and check them out. I'm still working very hard to get the other four challenges completed by the deadline of midnight MDT on Monday, January 31. You still have time ... so hurry get going now ... hehehe

Here are the colors for the Jewel Tones combo challenge ...

Here I go again ... four colors to work with, what a challenge for sure, for me anyways! Alrighty then, here is the card I created ...

Here you have it voila! I managed to arrange the colors to my liking and I am happy with the result because I rarely (really never) use these many colors at once, let alone this combo. I really do like these kind of challenges where I have to create outside of my comfort zone! Here's a close up ...

I used my scallop nestabilities to "make like" a sun and added rain drops in the same color as card stock around the edges.

Well I have to go again ... need to make three more!

stamps: Scattered Showers (PTI)
card stock: Sahara Sand, Pacific Point, Elegant Eggplant (SU!), Summer Sunrise (PTI)
ink: Summer Sunrise (PTI), Elegant Eggplant (SU!)
accessories: circle & scallop circle nestabilities, corner punch (EK Success), dimensionals (SU!)

Thank you for stopping by!
Until next time,

Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week: Pretty Pastels Challenge

2011-01-26T19:56:00.000-05:00

Welcome to day 2 for me of the Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week challenges at Moxie Fab World. It's pretty pastels today. Just a recap from yesterday's post, there are six challenges in total, one from each color section in the newly published magazine "Color Inspiration for Card Makers" from Paper Crafts. Cath of Moxie Fab World personally chose her faves from the issue so head over and check them out. I'm still in a crunch to get the other five challenges completed by the deadline of midnight MDT on Monday, January 31. Like me, you still have time ... so get going now ... hurry no time to waste! hehehe

Sorry no time for small chit-chat today ... I'm really pressed for time ... have to get them all done ... o.m.gosh, that's more than one a day ... YIKES!

Okay here is the color combo ...

Okie dokie here is my card ...

I think I finally figured something out about me and color combos ... I'm thinking it's not the actual colors (like orange or purple) that I have the most trouble with, it's working with some many different colors on the same card ... hehehe. I got it now, the difficult part for me is organizing the colors so the finished product is eye catching and good to look at! LOL Here's a close up ...

stamps: Around & About Sentiments (PTI)
cards stock: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red (SU!), So Mod (core'dinations), Stampers Select white (PTI)
ppaper: Pretty Pastels (PTI)
ink: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red (SU!)
accessories: Fancy Corners emboss folder (Provo Craft), scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, small flower punch (SU!), sequin flower, pearl accent

I have to get going and start on the next color combo challenge if I want to meet the deadline! Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,