The Last of the Blues

Ok, I'm putting away the blues and orange and the Jersey Shore dp. Just indulge me one more day . . . The candles are from a Stampendous clear set and were so much fun to color with my Prismacolor pencils. The cupcake on the second card is a Michael's $1 stamp and I colored it with Spicas.
Thank you for stopping by.

Hugs,

Still in my Orange and Blue Period

Another blue and orange card. . . it's what's on my desk. Happy Birthday stamp by Penny Black, cupcake was a Michael's $1 find, polka dot background from Cornish Heritage Farms and Cuttlebug paisley embossing folder. The card stock is SU Brilliant Blue and Pumpkin Pie, ditto the inks, punches and ribbon. The cupcake was colored with Spica pens and the petite scallop circle is from Spellbinders.
I appreciate the visit today.
Hugs,

If You Were a Cow

I bought this stamp and sentiment with my brother-in-law in mind, and his birthday is in a few weeks. (Debbie, this is our secret, huh? = )) I couldn't send this card to just anyone, but I know he'll love it. (I'm older than he is anyway.) The stamps are unmounted and I do not remember where I bought them, sorry. If anyone knows, please let me know. Card stock (Wild Wasabi), designer paper (Jersey Shore) and striped ribbon is from Stampin' UP!, and I colored the image with Spica pens. The teeny tiny sentiment stamp is so small I can barely make out (with a magnifying glass) Viva Las Vegas(?) as the manufacturer. I had a blast making this card. Even my husband laughed out loud when he read it.
Thank you for stopping by today.
Hugs,

Children's Birthday Cards

I was inspired by Dawn's cards here and the colors in SU!'s Jersey Shore for some children's birthday cards I need. Card stock colors are brilliant blue, pumpkin pie, wild wasabi and bashful blue. I used an old Hero Arts stamp from a box of dots (guessing at the name) to create my own polka dot paper. It's funny how differently I "see" a card in the photo vs irl. The Happy 1st Birthday card now looks busy to me . . . what do you think . . . too much going on? And on the other card, the SU punched star looked too small, but now the Spellbinders star may be too large . . . it looks top heavy. hmmmmm
Anyway, thanks for stopping by, and I'd appreciate your input on these cards if you have time.
Hugs,

Easter Blessings to You ALL!

Just quickly posting the Easter cards I made. The plan was to make several, but these were the only survivors and not ones I like much. Oh well . . .
A happy, blessed Easter to everyone.
Hugs,

Sketch Challenge SFYTT

I love when I have time to participate in sketch challenges. Here is a card using the sketch provided by Jen Del Muro at i{heart}2stamp.com. I've been meaning to join the inchie craze, and this clear mini stamp set from Technique Tuesday has been staring at me since I got home from Phoenix a couple of weeks ago begging to be used =D

Going for a masculine (and beachy) look, I used card stock and inks from SU in Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Very Vanilla, Blue Bayou, and Soft Sky and ink pads only in Going Gray and Close to Cocoa. The circular stamp is from SU's "It's All Good" set and the inchies are layered on squares I bought from Ellen Hutson's store. The linen thread is also SU. I punched holes and tied little square knots . . . more in keeping with the seashore theme than brads, I thought. I did some touch up coloring with my Prismacolor pencils to mimic the card layout in my inchie art, embellished it with a little clear Spica pen for sparkle, added some pop dots to my sentiment ("happy" because I love the beach), and layered the card front on a base of Papertrey Ink white card stock. Inside I used a stamp from American Art Stamp that says "happy, happy, happy, happy birthday".
Thank you for stopping by today. I have a couple of Easter cards to share tomorrow . . . see you then.
Hugs,

Beate Masterpiece

I received this card from Beate for my SU sales last month . . . . talk about incentive! This is even more fabulous irl.
Thanks for stopping by today.
Hugs,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEBBIE!!!!

I made this card for my sister's birthday. It has a clear acetate base, so I placed a piece of black card stock behind it in the second photo so you can see the detail easier. I used Papertrey Ink's Women of Life stamp set and Stazon cotton white, SU rose red, old olive and black inks.
Have a great day, Deb!
Hugs,

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I received this gawgus St. Patrick's Day card and had to share it with you. Carol, you will have to tell us how you made the shamrocks . . . is that a punch or 3-D sticker . . . or? I was probably with you when you bought these and didn't think I needed them, right? Arghhhhh!!! Well, I love it! Thank you so much, Carol!
And my thanks to everyone for stopping by. Wear green today or get pinched!
Hugs,

Lockhart Sunflowers

The image and sentiment are from Lockhart stamps; designer paper from Rusty Pickle, kraft and more mustard card stock and chocolate chip ink and grosgrain ribbon from Stampin' UP! Prismacolor pencils were used to color the image.
Thank you for stopping by today.
Hugs,

My Best Kristina Werner Imitation

Like many of you, I love Kristina Werner's style and stalk her blog for new posts. Today's card was inspired by Kristina's cupcake card here, and went to my wonderful son-in-law for his birthday. The designer paper is from the "Such a Boy" line by SEI, the candle is from Stampin' UP! and the sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly. That scrumptious ribbon is Basic Basic from Michael's and is a double faced satin ribbon that is to die for!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Thanks, Thanks and more Thanks

When I find a color scheme and format that works for me, I tend to make several cards each evolving a little as I "improve" on the previous one. I won't show you the ones on Stampin' UP! Close to Cocoa card stock . . . first plain, then with a paisley background. They were ok, but the Stampin' UP! Basic Gray is absolutely the better card stock choice for the base with the other colors. And so the process begins (clockwise from the far left in the group photo) . . . first the plain background (partially hidden on the left), then the paisley background . . . now change the sentiment . . . . nope, I think I prefer the other one . . . let's turn it sideways this time and tie the ribbon around the first layer . . . now I'm going to need a birthday card . . . and while I have all this paper out, I'll probably make another birthday card and dress it up a little more, maybe add some paper piercing.
Now for the details . . . My inspiration for the colors came from the roll of American Crafts ribbon that I used on every card. The Paisley Background is from SU and the sentiments are SU, Verve (the second one) and Hero Arts for the "Fabulous" birthday. The Card stock is SU Basic Gray, Cameo Coral, Old Olive and WorldWin Colormates Medium Autumn Red. The flower is from Spellbinders, the ribbon slide from SU. The sentiments are stamped on SU Whisper White.
Thank you so much for finding your way to my little corner of the blogiverse today.
Hugs,

SU! Catalog CASE

I'm a card making machine . . . I've made several just today, so lots to share in the next few days.

This card is a case from the Stampin' UP! catalog - page 192. I used kraft card stock for my base and, since I needed thank you cards, changed the sentiment.

Thank you for taking time to stop by my blog today.

Another Thanks

This card started with Cornish Heritage Farm's Polka Dots Backgrounder in SU Craft Whisper White ink on Groovy Guava; the flower stamp and sentiment stamps are from Papertrey Ink.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Spring Has Sprung!

At least in my cards . . . I cased the idea for this card from stampin' gal val here. With a foot of snow on the ground outside, the only signs of spring are in my stamp room. This has been a cold, dreary winter, and I'm ready for sunshine and flowers.
The first card uses Cornish Heritage Farm's Polka Dot Background inked with SU's Whisper White craft ink, Papertrey Ink's leaf from Beautiful Blooms, the square "stitched" frame from Borders and Corners Squares and a felt flower also from PTI. The brad is from Lasting Impressions. I cut and embossed both images with my Spellbinders Nestabilities square and matted them on black. The 5/8ths inch gingham ribbon is from May Arts. The sentiment on both cards is from SU!.
For the second card, I used SU Rose Red dp for my background and a Cuttlebug flower in Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red card stock. I need to get the Fusion Flowers from SU! with my next order so I'll have the pink and orange flowers next time. I'm loving the texture and dimension of the felt on my cards.
Thank you for stopping by today. Have a great Sunday!



Edited to add: Having a problem with Blogger today. The "first" card I refer to is actually second today courtesy of Blogger . . .

Bloom' Beautiful Thanks

As promised, here is a card I made using G-Rated Stamps's new "bar". I have no vested interest in promoting G-Rated's products, just thought you might like seeing a new tool. Do you see the background of the card? That is where I used the bar. I was able to line up my stamp to create rows of the blossom definition on a diagonal. Cool, huh? Well, I thought so. G-Rated also carries a lot of word blocks that can be stacked or used many ways. Check out their gallery here. The card base is PTI's Spring Moss and the mats are Spring Moss and SU!'s Cameo Coral. The flower is colored with SU! markers and a water pen and inks. The ribbon is the new poly-twill ribbon from the new "Occasions" mini.

Thanks for stopping by today!

The "Bar" from G-Rated Stamps

I planned on showing you this new tool with a card I made using it, but the card will have to wait until tomorrow. We are under a winter storm warning tonight through Saturday morning, and there were some things I had to get done today. Hopefully, you will understand the concept and can tune in tomorrow for the example or check out the G-Rated Stamps website gallery. The "Bar" must be new, because I don't see it on their website. This is a 12" clear bar that is 1/2" wide and 5/8" thick and clearly marked every half inch and quarter inch. It's claim to fame is that by being so thick, the wood (or acrylic) block mount portion of your stamp can be nestled against the bar allowing perfect placement for creating neat rows or stacks of images with the purple lines aiding in the spacing. I found that a little removable adhesive to hold the bar in place on the paper is a good idea until I gain more experience using it. It helped that I was able to see it demo'd at the convention =D

Sympathy Card

I've had this SU "Sanded" background stamp for awhile and cannot remember why I haven't used it. I {heart} this stamp and love the way it looks on this card! There is (at least) one mistake I seem to make regularly when creating a card . . . . I color the image and then try to match it to patterned paper instead of the other way around. In this case, I was forced to create my own background paper and couldn't be more pleased with the result. I started with SU! Groovy Guava and stamped the background with the same. Then I wadded up a plastic bag and textured some chocolate chip (SU!) and green tea (versacolor) inks around and on the card stock for more interest. What do you think?

Now, can you guess how I colored the flower image? . . . . Chalks! Yup, I had to knock the dust off these babies, but last weekend at the convention in Mesa, Yvonne Albritton was demonstrating a new product and I had to try it. She used a Chalk Blender that she developed (not like Dove Blender because her formula has very little alcohol.) and applicators that are so smooth and nice to use that I've already ordered more. These are NOT your everyday makeup applicators. (BTW, no affiliation whatsoever with this company, just sharing my discovery.) The chalk blender really makes the color pop and I'm not sure if it's the blending solution or the applicators, but it goes on incredibly smooth. So, once again, I'm loving my chalks!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow. I have a new "got-to-have-it tool" that I think you'll like.

Thank you for taking time to stop by my blog today.

Hugs.

Nothin' Like New Rubber

There's just nothing like new rubber and tools to get the ol' mojo back in gear. A friend and I went to Phoenix last week to attend the Mesa Stamp Convention and boost the local economy =D So-o-o much fun. I made a couple of new cards and will get them on my blog tomorrow. The weather has been so dark and dreary the past two days, I haven't been able to get a decent picture of anything. But the sun is suppose to peek through tomorrow, so I'll have my camera ready. . . Stay tuned!