That's why they call them "Challenges"...

Today's challenge over at SCS was to make a card inspired by a bookcover at this site. My card is based on this bookcover (small photo). . This is quite outside my box, but hey, doing this sort of thing makes us grow, right? :) I used my new Papertrey Ink set called Bird Watching Additions (my first order), which I used for the colored bird images. The black and white birds are from Crafty Secrets and my daughter's Disney Hannah Montana set, of all things LOL!!. The blue cardstock is SU's Blue Bayou, and the rest of the paper, ribbon, and bling are from my stash (companies long forgotten, so sorry!) I computer-generated the sentiment.

So let me tell you, I had a very nice experience with Papertrey Ink. I put in my first-ever order, which included two stamp sets, white cardstock, vellum cardstock, leaf ribbon, and buttons. Everything was FABULOUS - the quality is excellent. BUT.... the buttons fell well short of the advertised quantity of 100 to 275 buttons per bag. So I sent an email to customer service, and you know what? I got an email back from Nichole Heady herself (she's the founder/owner) apologizing, saying she would send me an ADDITIONAL set of buttons free of charge, and saying that they will change their website to better reflect the actual quantity of buttons now in the packets (apparently they were doing it by weight, but as the buttons got larger, the quantity got smaller). I was blown away by the quick, personal, and wonderful response. I will definitely order from them again! It's so nice when people do the right thing - made my weekend :) Have a wonderful weekend yourself!

Buttons and Lace ATCs

An ATC that I made for our local swap tonight in Apex, NC.
I just love this Botticelli clipart image (I've used her before) and this Cornish Heritage Farms stamp set (Ornamental Beauty) designed by Julia Stainton. Our theme was to use buttons and lace, so I raided my mom's stash of vintage mother-of-pearl buttons and old lace - what fun! I had the cards done yesterday, then noticed that today's Ways to Use It challenge over at SCS is buttons. Now that's a great piece of luck LOL! If you'd like, check out the rest of the gallery here. Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

A Few Patriotic Creations

EDITED TO ADD: I used rubber that already had cling mount attached, so the shape is stuck to the acrylic mount permanently.

A few little thingies I created after gazing at patriotic blogs over the weekend. I made the ATC as part of a set that I am going to incorporate into Birthday calendars for my family for Christmas. The tag is for today's Theme Thursday challenge, which was to make, well, a tag! (Or incorporate one into your artwork :)

I am always looking for ways to use the rubber I have left over from rubber stamp sheets and sets. I decided to try a few rustic stars (I say "rustic" because these things I make myself are NEVER perfect. So they're "shabby chic" LOL!) I just used an ancient template I had, traced out a medium and large star, and adhered on either side of a 50-cent acrylic block.


I stamped the stars in blue and red inks on the base of a tag, and embellished from there.


The "real" stamps are from Prairie Rubber Stamps, Stampabilities, Hero Arts, and JustRite.
Have a great day!

Let's Go Canes!!!

Taking a break to go to Game 3 of the Carolina Hurricanes vs. Pittsburgh Penquins Eastern Conference Finals playoff game. I guess you can tell who I'm rooting for :) Have a great Saturday.

Anniversary Numbers

I needed to make an anniversary card for my husband, but couldn't come up with an idea that wasn't too feminine and gushy. Luckily, along came the Theme Thursday challenge, which was numbers. Now that's something a guy can understand :). This card has numbers on it that are significant - some just to us, and others that anyone can relate to. For instance did you know that 143 means "I love you"? Each number stands for the number of letters in the three words. And 831 - that means "8 letters, 3 words, 1 meaning." A little love number trivia for ya. The music is vintage (we were both musicians a long time ago - we met at college in a dorm called "Arts House" that housed arts-loving students). The token says "happiness" (don't know if you can see it). And he'll just have to put up with a little girly touch - a red rose for love LOL! Have a great evening.

Gardensong ATC

My ATC for the CreatedbyHand challenge for this week, which was to use pink and green. What a lovely idea for a spring challenge :). I got this musical little lady from Karen's Garden Fairy blog (see link in my sidebar), and colored her with, of course, pink and green in Paint Shop. Stamps used were Stampendous (music) and Judith (leaves). Her bling is from Hero Arts. The flower is from a big box floral that I disassembled (and added a little bling to), and the ribbons and lace are vintage. TFL! Have a wonderful spring day!

Lavendar and Cream

This card was made using this week's Sketch Challenge over on SCS.

I thought I'd try something a little more involved, with chipboard, paint, glitter, lots of embellies.... all my fav's on one card LOL! I just love these vintage-looking papers from My Mind's Eye - I'm really into the purple-cream-brown color scheme right now. The tag was made by first stamping the music background from Anna Griffin for All Night Media. I then adhered some patterned paper to the chipboard medallion (from Maya Road), sanded, distressed, and added a rub-on from My Mind's Eye. I stamped the butterfly stamp from Martha Stewart, then ran it through my Xyron stamped side down, and added some glassy glitter. I then tied it with some Martha Stewart ribbon, a button and flower from my stash, and some waxy twine. The chipboard corners are from 7 Gypsies, and the "thank you" sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Elegant notes. Thanks for your visit and have a great day!

My Entry Into The Big May Copic Giveaway

Yep, you've got it.... a Copic GIVEAWAY! But there's not much time left. You can read all about it HERE from the Pen Addict (http://www.penaddict.com/). Now, I am VERY new to Copics - just got my first set in February, and the only techniques I know so far are those that I've learned on kind people's blogs. But I DO know that I LOVE 'EM, and would love to win! They are the BEST for coloring line images, such as this one from Stampin' Up's Blooming with Love. Here's a shot of the Copics I used (the one that's hiding is "Soft Violet").

Other stamps used include Oxford Impressions (the seed title) and more Stampin Up (the "original" UPC code). The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye, the ribbon is from Martha Stewart, and the flower is from Prima. It was originally pink, but I colored it with Copics, and used the colorless blender to soften the color. Cool, heh? If you'd like to enter the contest, do so by tonight, and good luck!

Mojo Monday Week #87

For this card, I used the Mojo Monday sketch for this week.
This was way more difficult than it should have been, probably because I thought I'd use a few elements that I previously stamped and put in my "something to use later" pile. It's supposed to make card-making quick and easy, but sometimes has the reverse effect LOL!! Anyway, I once again used SU!'s Sense of Time set, along with a tulip stamp from Anna Griffin. The stripe on the bottom is actually Jenni Bowlin ribbon. I also used the Stampington scroll with Versamark on the green background, and a Fiskars border punch. The patterned paper is from my hoarded stash.... I won't say how long I've been hoarding it, because it's too embarrassing. BUT, if the letters "PSX" don't mean anything to you, then I've probably got paper older than you are! Don't laugh! It's a disease! I'm in a program! (First step, recognize the problem...) LOL! Have a great day!

An unhurried sense of time.....

....is in itself a form of wealth. I love this sentiment from Stampin' Up's Sense of Time set. I created this card for this week's Saturday Surprise challenge. What a fun theme! I just had to do a project with this sentiment where I removed the hands from all the clocks.... don't you wish you could really stop time that way? LOL :) Thanks for looking and have a great Sunday!

Ornamental Beauty and Some ATCs

Hello! This card was made using the SCS sketch challenge for this week. What a fun and challenging sketch this was! I've been dying to use my new Ornamental Beauty stamp set from Cornish Heritage Farms. This is just one of those sets that spoke to me when I saw it... I love Julia's style (see a link to her blog, Belle Papier, on the right). I know I will use every single image at some point.... for backgrounds, ATCs, collages, cards, you name it. Anyway, all of the stamped images on this card are from that set. I colored the main image with Copics. The flower is from Prima, and the patterned papers are from Autumn Leaves (dark pink) and Anna Griffin (lighter pink). Thanks, Roxie, for a wonderful sketch.

I thought I'd also post some pics of a series of ATCs I did using some of my photos of my blue hydrangeas, along with an Inkadinkado hydrangea stamp.



There are twelve altogether, plus I posted them again in sets of four below.
I think my favorite new technique that I learned by trial and error was stamping on mulberry paper, then adhering it to a photo background... the photo subtly shows through the paper (maybe not so easy to see here). It's the bottom left ATC in the middle photo.





Thanks so much for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Mojo Monday Week 85 - Shabby Chic Baby

Here's a Shabby Chic style baby card that I made using the Mojo Monday Week 85 challenge sketch. I LOVE the sketch this week - although it took me a couple of tries to put it together correctly LOL!! I also used kraft cardstock to fit in with the Ways to Use It challenge over at SCS. The little feet image is from All Night Media, and the sentiment is from savvystamps. I used an Inkadinkado paisley stamp and Riding Hood Red ink (Stampin' Up) on kraft for the background panel behind the feet. I also used some of my stash of My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus paper that I've been seriously hoarding! The strip of kraft scallops was made with Fiskars threading water punch. I distressed the panel edges with a variety of inks... white pigment, red, Antique Linen (Ranger), and Colorbox smoke blue. Thanks for looking and have a wonderful weekend!

Teacher Appreciation Week Gift Set

I made four sets of cards like this one for my kids' teachers. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week for us, and on Thursday we were to send in a "little gift." Is that a throw-down challenge for us papercrafters, or what? LOL! Anyway, these cards all use Stampin' Up's Parisian Breeze Specialty Paper, along with Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, and white cardstock and matching ink (with a few exceptions if you're reading on.....).

This first card uses the tree swallow Stamp of the Month (April) from Cornish Heritage Farms - Oh, how I LOVE their stamps!! I stamped the swallows in taupe ink from Anita's, then overstamped the script from Inkadinkado in Baja Breeze. The distressing is done with Ranger's Vintage Photo (same for all the cards here). I also added a cute little corduroy brad from SU... they're so soft and cuddly, it's hard to part with them! The border punch is from Fiskars.

This card was lots of fun to make. I debated using my Copics to color the image, but instead used a blender pen with Baja Breeze and Ranger Antique Linen inks (and a tiny bit of Pink Pirouette on the shell). SU's white cardstock is THE BEST for this sort of thing, because it has such a smooth surface. The image is from Inkadinkado. The starfish in the background are from Stampington (Christine Adolf's collection - LOVE IT!!). I used some regular old twine (glued down) and some Making Memories brads (to make it look tacked down :))

Nothing too complicated here... another of my fav stamps from Inkadinkado. The background Baja is embossed with Cuttlebug dots. Added another fuzzy corduroy button (sniff sniff, it's okay, I know they're going to good homes LOL!)

Okay, for all you Stampin' Uppers.... First of all, a big THANKS to "eured99" on Splitcoast Stampers, whose card I CASEd from HERE. The stamps are from Sense of Time. I ran the Baja CS through the Cuttlebug textile embosser. This was the only time I snuck in a non-SU paper (the bottom pinstripe is from the Bohemia line). I figured I needed to keep at least one card semi-masculine :)

Another SU card, and another SHOUT OUT to "bigsky", the lady whose card I cased HERE. Hers is MUCH more beautiful, but at 3:00 in the morning, I was desperate! So I simplified. The image is from SU's Bloomin' Beautiful. I again used the same inks (plus Always Artichoke) with a blender pen. I used a Fiskar's border punch, and some velvet ribbon I got at Michael's... this stuff is VERY close to Baja Breeze and it's on sale this week (from Dashes, Dots, and Checks).

Wow, that was long-winded. Hope you found something you liked. Thanks for looking and have a great day!