INKclinations

Cloud 9

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

It's Twisted Thursday time on the Outlawz Challenge Group and this week our team is creating an Anything Goes project with a twist to use red.

My card uses stamps from the Our Craft Lounge Crafty Clear Love in the Air set.

We would love to have you play along, you can check out the details HERE.

Miss Big Bear

2012-01-24T08:16:00.001-08:00

Good Morning! I have a quick post for you today. It is a busy week as I prepare for CHA. I am looking forward to meeting some of my online friends while in Anaheim. I will have my camera ready and hope to share some pictures while I am there.

I created this card using Big Bear from The Cat's Pajama's. She was paper pieced with some fun spring print cardstock and a little pink for her nose and ears. The card was finished off with a pretty little field of flowers. I used the January Sketch for You to Try. There is still time to play along, you can find all of the details here.

Have a great day!

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-01-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there! This week on the Our Craft Lounge blog challenge #101 is to create a card/project using the oh so popular chevrons (aka: zig zags)

I was inspired by the little card in the middle left of the graphic below. I started with a pretty carnation pink base card that measures 4 1/4" square. Next I cut some charcoal gray, red and white panels. I stamped the chevron pattern from the OCL Every Heartbeat set in pink ink repeatedly across the white cardstock to create a fun background print. It is difficult to see in the pic, but I lined each side of the wide stripes with a Stardust pen to give the stripes a little pop and then I rounded a couple of the corners to match the base card. Next, I wrapped some gray/white striped twine around the card and panels. I stamped the heart in red ink, cut it out and attached it to charcoal and red scallop circles.

There is still time to play along with this challenge, head on over the the Our Craft Lounge blog and play along. You could win a prize and some awesome bragging rights!

My Heart is Yours

2012-01-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hello! This week on the Tombow blog we are continuing our journey through some of the past Pantone colors. Today I am sharing the 2010 color which was Turquoise. Tombow's Dual Brush Pen #373 (Sea Blue) was a great match so I decided to use it along with some of the Irojiten Colored Pencils for today's card.

I stamped this adorable Benton Heart Bear from Inky Antics and then colored the heart with Dual Brush Pen #373. I then added some Tombow Glue pen and sprinkled glitter over it to make the heart really pop.

I colored Benton with Irojiten Chestnut Brown and Autumn Leaf colored pencils and blended them out with some odorless mineral spirits. I used Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots to adhere all of the layers together. The buttons were attached with the the small Tombow Foam Tabs.

Happy Birthday

2012-01-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there, today I have joined up with the rest of the Outlawz Twisted Thursday team to bring you birthday themed cards.

When I sat down to create this card, I had lots of scraps left over from this card on my desk so I decided to use them up. The base card is Bubblegum Pink from American Crafts. To create the main panel I stamped the Big Fabric Background from Hero Arts onto some Neenah Classic Crest Solar White cardstock with Orchid Brilliance ink and then trimmed it down to the size I wanted. The image panel was layered onto GKD PL Chocolate cardstock. The sentiment (from GKD) was stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and cut out with Spellbinders Fancy Tags die and layered to a Spellbinders Petite Oval Scallop die cut piece.

For the finish I tied some chocolate/cream striped grosgrain ribbon (May Arts) into a ginormous bow.

This card came together very quickly and was easy peasy!

Be sure to pop over to the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge and check out what the rest of the team has created. We would love to have you play along as well. You could win some nice prizes too!

Pretty Little Ella

2012-01-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

Good Morning! I have created a card using the BLD Challenge #22.

Isn't this image the sweetest? Her name is Ella, and I think she is adorable. Some friends of ours have a sweet daughter named Ella and I think about her every time I see this image.

The colors for the challenge are pink, orange and lime green. I chose to use papers from the Basic Grey Green at Heart collection as it has all of these pretty colors together in one nice package. Ella was colored with Prismacolor pencils and a tiny bit of odorless mineral spirits. I added some Spica Glitter pens to her hair and the dots on the dress. If you click on the small pic, you can see how pretty the shimmer is.

I know LORi would love it if you would play along, you have until 10 pm EST tonight to play along.

February Calendar

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hello and happy Monday Y'all! Did you know that Our Craft Lounge announced it's 100th challenge last Friday? The theme for this challenge was to use numbers. I have to admit, I was stumped at first and didn't know what I was going to do. I e-mailed my OCL partner in crime, Debbie Fisher, and she came up with a boatload of suggestions for me. All of a sudden, the light came on and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I decided to make a 5 x 7 calendar page for February. Yeah, I am ahead of the game! I printed the calendar and then cut it down to the size I wanted. I stamped the adorable hot air balloon from the OCL Spilling Over Cling Set onto some white cardstock with black ink and then stamped it again onto this adorable light blue paper from Pebbles. There are the cutest itsy bitzy white stars all over the light blue background. LOVE! I paper pieced the balloon, basket and the little heart. I used a piece of Cranberry Distress Dots cardstock from Memory Box for the little hearts. The hearts that are spilling out of the basket are pink and sparkly! I attached the calendar panel to a red layer that was diecut with a Spellbinders die. The calendar panel is attached to the base with foam tape to give just enough lift to allow the ribbon to slide underneath.

There is still time to play along with this challenge, head on over the the Our Craft Lounge blog and play along. You could win a prize and some awesome bragging rights!

CSS Sketch Challenge

2012-01-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Tonight I am joining in with some of the gals from the Gina K. Designs Center Stage Team to bring you our first challenge for 2012. Tonight we are using a sketch that I created as our inspiration.

You should have arrived at my blog from Linda Payne's amazing blog, if not you can go back to StampTV and start from the beginning.

Being a California girl I knew I wanted to use the GKD Stately Flowers 1 set that was illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. Can I tell you how much I LOVE this California Poppy image? I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto GKD PL White cardstock and colored it with Prismacolor Pencils. I added a wee bit of Diamond Stickles to the flowers to give them that sunkissed look. The image panel was layered to GKD PL Black and GKD PL Apple Green panels and added to the card base with Tombow Foam Tabs. "California Poppy" was stamped in Memento Black ink as well and popped up with a foam tab onto a GKD PL Black Scalloped circle. The card base is GKD PL Green Apple cardstock with a layer of GKD PL Black and an orange print (from my stash). I finished the card with some ribbon, a bow and rhinestones.

Now here is the good part. Be sure to leave a comment on each of the blogs along the hop for a chance to win a HUGE grab bag of GKD stamps. The winner will be chosen on Tuesday morning (January 17).

I have kept you long enough, so I am going to send you on your way to Sharri Seffens awesome blog.

Inky Butterfly

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

Good Morning, whew I have made it to the end of the work week and look forward to a little time with my family this weekend.

This month the Tombow team has been sharing projects created using colors that coordinate with the Pantone "in" colors for the last few years. Today I am sharing a card that I created using the 2011 color, Honeysuckle.

Tombow's Dual Brush Pen #743 (Hot Pink) is great match. I used the marker to color in this beautiful butterfly image from the Inky Antics Brush Calligraphy #3 set and stamped it onto some white cardstock which I then cut out using some cirlcle nesties. I wanted the wings of the butterfly to have some subtle color so I used the Tombow Dual Brush Blender Pen to pull some of the ink from the stamped image. I really like how soft the wings look. I added a touch of glitter to the butterfly for a little sparkle. I used Tombow Permanent Stamp Runner to adhere all of the layers together and some of the Tombow Foam Tabs to pop up the sentiment panel.

Hello Friend

2012-01-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

Helloooo my dear friends! Today on the Outlawz challenge group the Twisted Thursday challenge is to create a card/project with "Friendship" as the theme.

I love the look of layered backgrounds so I pulled out a couple of my favorite Hero Arts background stamps and went to work. First I inked up the Large Fabric Design with Orchid Brilliance ink and stamped into on some ivory cardstock and then I inked up the Friend Definition stamp with Rich Cocoa Memento ink and over stamped it. I trimmed the panel down to the size I wanted and then layered it onto some GKD PL Chocolate cardstock. I die cut another piece of Chocolate cardstock with the Cat's PJ's Pinking Cut Up die and added it to the print piece. Next, I added some crochet ribbon from May Arts and created a rolled flower with some May Arts Striped Grosgrain ribbon. For the flower, I folded a strip of ribbon in half and then cut it about 3/4 of the way down every 1/4" or so. I then rolled it up and secured the bottom with a Tombow Power Tab. I fluffed the flower a bit to give it a shabby look and then plopped a big pink brad from American Crafts right down in the middle and layered it onto a American Crafts Bubblegum pink cardstock. To finish off the card, I added a few Kaisercraft pearls and some leaves from the Poppystamps Meadowleaf die.

Why don't you head on over to the Outlawz challenge group and play along with the challenge this week. You could have a chance to win some fabby prizes.

Check this out!

2012-01-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

My super, duper, uber talented friend Melanie has done it again! Not only does she create amazing stamp sets, she also shares awesome ideas. Check out her blog: Hands, Head & Heart to check out her latest tutorial.

OCL/Lily Pad Challenge

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Happy, happy Friday! So we are nearing the end of the first week of 2012. I hope 2012 brings many fun, happy and exciting things to your life.

This week Our Craft Lounge and Lily Pad Cards

The colors we chose for this weeks challenge are:

Navy, Light Blue and Silver

I chose to work with the Our Craft Lounge's new Every Heartbeat set to create this masculine thank you card. I inked up the large chevron with Versamark ink and embossed it with silver powder. For the triple chevron image, I inked the inner zig zag with Cyan Versacolor ink and the outer zig zags with Royal Blue Versacolor ink. The sentiment was stamped onto a scrap of white cardstock with Royal Blue Versacolor ink and then I colored in the words with Copic B23 marker.

Be sure to play along on both OCL's and Lily Pad's blogs as there is a chance you could win $20.00 for OCL from both places. Now, whats not to love about that?

Dogwood Thinking of You

2012-01-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo, it's Outlawz Twisted Thursday time again. This week the challenge is to use dies/punches. Oh how I likey my dies and punches. You can find all of the details here.

For my card this week I am using the beautiful Dogwood image from the Gina K. Designs, Dogwood and Butterfly set illustrated by the very talented Theresa Momber. I used the Classic Oval and Classic Scallop Ovals from Spellbinders, Medium Scallop Edge Die-namics die from My Favorite Things and my MS Butterfly punch. The embossed background is a Sizzix Embossing Folder. The print paper is from Authentique and the ribbon is from Gina K. Designs. The flowers were colored with Copics and Prismacolor Pencils.

We would love it if you would play along with us in the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge.

Vintage Beauty

2012-01-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Hi there, I hope 2012 is getting off to a good start for you. I am diving into 2012 head first and look forward to each and every day.

This week the Tombow Design Team has been creating projects that use the Pantone 2012 "in" color. This year the color is Tangerine Tango. Tombow's Dual Brush Pen #855 is a perfect match.

I inked up the Every Season Plain Jane from Verve with the Tombow marker and stamped it onto cream cardstock. I created the flower using 3 sizes of Nestabilities Classic Scallop Circle Dies. Each of the circles was spritzed with pearl shimmer spray and scrunched into little balls and set aside to dry. Once they were dry, I stacked them an added a cute little dotted brad in the middle. The pearls were a light peach color and I wanted them a tad darker so I gave them a little extra color with the Dual Brush pen.

Gotta run, see you soon!

Frosty Butterfly

2012-01-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

Oh happy day, oh happy day! Hi there everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful day. Today I am thrilled to announce that I have been asked to join the Our Craft Lounge Design Team. I am so excited to be joining the amazingly talented girls on the OCL Team.

Each week on the OCL blog there is a new challenge and this week is a photo inspiration week. Be sure to check out the beautiful photo below. Now it's your turn to play along. Add your link to the OCL Blog post today for a chance to win a gift certificate from Our Craft Lounge.

As you can see, the photo is of a beautiful, frosty snowflake. I was inspired by the colors and the shimmer of the snowflake. I started with a base layer of dark blue cardstock and then embossed a piece of white with a Sizzix snowflake EF and gave it a spritz or two (or three) of pearl shimmer spray. I stamped image from the Our Craft Lounge Crafty Clear, Butterfly Kisses set with a variety of blue pigment inks and then embossed it with crystal EP. It is so pretty and sparkly in person. I finished off the card with ribbon, pearl cording and a button. Click here to play along.

Five Years Old

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it, today my blog turns 5 years old. When I sat down on New Year's Day 2007 I never would have dreamed that I would still be here and posting more than ever. I am so thankful to each and everyone of you who come by for a visit or leave a comment. Most of the time I share my love for stamping/cardmaking/papercrafting with you, but every now and then I throw in a little something about my wonderful family, the beautiful area where I live or the wild critters that roam through the property from time to time. I hope you will stick with me for many years to come. Here is hoping that all of your dreams and wishes will come true. I know mine are :)

Be sure to come back tomorrow, I some exciting news to share.

Hugs,

Challenge Calendar

2011-12-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there! The hustle and bustle of Christmas may be over, but things sure aren't slowing down much around here. Last Wednesday was the first time I enjoyed a day of working in my studio. I am busy, busy preparing projects for January.

To help me keep on track, I decided to decorate a calendar that I had picked up in the office supplies department at Wallyworld.

I started by covering the spine of the calendar with some distressed dot print paper from Memory Box. I used Tombow's Permanent Stamp Runner to attach all of the cardstocks to the cover of the calendar. The main background print is from October Afternoon (I think). The chipboard letters for the word "calendar" were just plain white and I used a Tombow Dual Brush pen in Orange to color the letters to match perfectly. Love that! Did you know that you can use the Dual Brush pens to color match many items to coordinate with whatever project you are working on? Too cool!

I didn't do too much to the inside of the calendar as I need lots of space to keep track of my projects and upcoming classes, but I did add some of the Tombow Permanent Stamp Runner to the back of some rick rack trim and used it to cover the space where the two prints matched on the inside cover.

I used two coordinating Dual Brush Pens to add the month name and some doodles to the bottom of the page. Don't mind the teeth marks on the lid of the orange pen, a few years ago my dog thought it might be a fun chew toy.

Twisted Thursday-Anything Goes

2011-12-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

Whew, what a week! I have been crazy busy working on tons of stuff for January 2012. Can you believe it is almost 2012? I can't, this year really did fly by.

This week the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge is an Anything Goes with a twist. The twist is to use stripes.

Since I have been so busy, I decided to share one of my favorite cards from January 2011.

I had created this card for week 1 of the Jan 2011 Viva la Verve challenge. You can check out all of the details here. Something about this little boat just makes me happy. Thanks for letting me re-cap today. I will be back next Thursday for a brand new Outlawz Twisted Thursday project, I hope you will come back and check it out.

teaming up with elizabeth craft designs

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there! This week the Tombow gals and I are using fabulous peel-off stickers from Elizabeth Craft Designs. Els sent us several sheets to play with and here are two of my favorites.

Watercolor Technique

I love whimsy and decided to take these elegant gold ornaments and give them a touch of whimsy. I started by placing the ornament stickers on some 140# cold press watercolor paper and then I colored them with my Dual Brush Pens. I colored the different areas of the ornament with the following Dual Brush Pens colors: 093, 133 and 847 and then blended the color with a waterbrush. I used Mono Adhesive Dots to attach the layers together and a couple of Foam Tabs to pop up the ornament that is in the front. To finish off this card I added a wee bit of Mono Glue Pen to a few areas and sprinkled them with Elizabeth Craft Designs Warm Highlights glitter.

Stained Sticker Technique

For my next card, I used one of the beautiful floral stickers that Els sent. I had never seen the Dual Brush Pens used to color the solid portions of the sticker, but I wanted to give it a try. I am happy to say that I really like the way this turned out. Because the stickers have a slick, shiny surface I knew that the markers were going to resist the ink so as soon as I colored in the flower, I wiped off the ink with a dry cloth and created a stained effect on the gold portions of the stickers. I had to use darker markers for this technique and apply a few layers of each color. For the interior of the flower I used #847 and for the leaves I used #249. I used more of the Mono Adhesive Dots to hold all of the layers together and a few Foam Tabs behind the image panel to pop it up and add some dimension. I finished off the center of the flower with some Mono Aqua Adhesive and ECD Warm Highlights glitter.

Twisted Thursday Snowman

2011-12-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

It's Twisted Thursday time on the Outlawz Challenge Group and this week the DT was given the challenge to make a card/project with a snowman and the twist is to add glitter. The challenge was an easy one for me as I love both snowmen and glitter.

I stamped the snowman from the Our Craft Lounge Tweet Winter Wishes set in black ink onto some white cardstock and colored it with a combination of Tombow Dual Brush pens and Prismacolor pencils. I added some Stardust Stickles to the ground for that pretty snowy glisten. On the gloves, hat, scarves and ear muffs I also added some OCL Breezy Blue Sparkly Fluff. If you could see this in person you would see that the sparkly fluff looks like a pretty yarn with metallic threads running through it. I would love to have a hat and scarf like that :)

Well, I am off to finish my wrapping and do a little baking. Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season.

simple snowflake ornaments

2011-12-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hello! Well as we come down to the wire on getting all of our Christmas shopping and prep done be sure to take a moment for yourself and enjoy in the wonder of the season.

Today I am sharing some very quick and easy snowflake ornaments that I made one afternoon while I was hanging out in the studio.

These started out with some plain wooden snowflake ornaments that I picked up awhile back. I wish I had taken a picture of the naked ornaments, but I didn't. Bummeroli!

For the silver ornament I just applied a layer of Tombow Mono Aqua Adhesive and then sprinkled with some White Gala Glitz. I set it aside to dry and then repeated the same process on the reverse side. For the turquoise snowflake I simply colored the wooden ornament with a Turquoise Tombow Dual Brush Pen and then added the Mono Aqua Adhesive and some Silver Gala Glitz. If you are unfamiliar with Gala Glitz it is a beautiful mix of vintage glass glitter shards with teeny silver, pearl and clear balls. Need some? You can get it here. These ornaments are so sparkly and pretty in person, I can't wait to add them to my tree!

Vintage Gift Card Holder

2011-12-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

This week on the Tombow blog we were giving the task of creating something with the theme of "Gifts that keep on Giving" It took me a bit to think about what I wanted to create, but then it hit me. I give gift cards to several people in my family and those are definitely gifts that keep on giving so I decided to create a little gift card holder with a vintage feel to it.

I used papers from the Melissa Frances Deck the Halls 6 x 6 paper pad and some ivory cardstock to create this quick and easy gift card holder. I started with a 4" x 6 1/2" piece of ivory cardstock. With the long side at the top score at 2 3/4" and 5" Fold on score lines. Add Tombow MonoAdhesive Dots to the left and right sides on the 1 1/2" flap and fold up to create the pocket for your gift card. I used more MonoAdhesive Dots to attach the print papers to the outside/inside flaps of the holder. I stamped the sentiment from Northwoods onto a small oval with Cranberry Adirondack ink and then punched out some branches from a MS punch and the leaves from the Spellbinders Foliage die set. I used a Tombow Foam Tab on the back of the oval to hold the branches in place and to create height for my sentiment.

This would be a quick and easy project that could be decorated for any holiday or celebration. The possibilities are endless!

OCL Sneak Peek - Boo Boo

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Today I am sharing with you a sneak peek of one of the new stamp sets being released from Our Craft Lounge. This set is called Boo Boo and will be perfect for making a quick card for someone with an injury. So without further ado, I introduce you to the Boo Boo's. Aren't they the cutest couple?

How would you like to win some new stamps? Stop by each of the blogs today and tomorrow and leave some love, you never know you might be one of four lucky winners to get your hands on some of these awesome stamps. Don't forget to stop by the OCL Facebook page and comment there as well.

The blog candy will end on Friday, December 16th at MIDNIGHT Pacific time/3am Eastern.

Winners will be announced on Sunday or Monday on the OCL Blog and the OCL FB page.

Gotta have 'em right now, click HERE to start shopping!

Here is a list of all of the AWESOME blogs that you check out!

Melissa Cash {you are here]

Latrice Murphy

Deb Felts

Twisted Thursday Holiday Gatefold

2011-12-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

Good Morning!

I am back today to share my card for the Twisted Thursday challenge on the Outlawz Challenge Group. This week we are creating Gate Fold cards using holiday colors.

I was thrilled with this challenge because I hadn't made a gate fold card in quite awhile so I had to put my thinking cap on. I am really happy with how this card turned out. Closed, this card is 5 1/2" square so I had quite a bit of room to work with. I started with this amazing Pinecone Globe image from Memory Box and layered it to a red embossed square, some Jillibean Soup Christmas Eve Soup paper and then to a pretty Wild Asparagus Fleur de lis square die cut. I added a wee bit of coloring to the image with some Copic markers and then topped everything off with some glitter.

The sentiment is from Hero Arts and is actually one long clear stamp that I cut apart so that it would fit into the circle.

We would love to have you join us this week, you can check out the challenge here.

OCL Sneak Peek - Every Heart Beat

2011-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there! Today I am sharing with you a sneak peek of one of the new stamp sets being released from Our Craft Lounge. This set is called Every Heart Beat and you won't believe how many ways you will be able to use it to make cards for all of the guys and gals on your list.

The blog candy will end on Friday, December 16th at MIDNIGHT Pacific time/3am Eastern.

Winners will be announced on Sunday or Monday on the OCL Blog and the OCL FB page.

Gotta have 'em right now, click HERE to start shopping!

Here is a list of all of the AWESOME blogs that you check out!

Melissa Cash {you are here}

Latrice Murphy

Deb Felts

CSS Blog Hop

2011-12-09T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there, I am so happy that you have decided to join me and some of my pals from the Gina K. Designs CSS Alumni Design Team as we take you on a journey through our Treasure Chest.

Tonight we have dug into the treasure chest looking for lots of wonderful Holiday Treat Holders using either a Christmas or New Year's theme. We hope you will find some great ideas for creating sweet little gifts for the special people in your life.

You should have arrived at my blog from Tera's blog, but if you didn't you can go back to StampTV and start from the beginning.

My little treat holders are fast and easy to make. I started with a 6" x 8" piece of print cardstock and folded it in half to create a 3" x 4" pouch. Add strong adhesive (I used Scor-tape) to the bottom (3") and the side (4"). You should have a pouch with a 3" opening at the top. I used stamps from the GKD Winter Mittens set to create the decorative piece on the front of each pouch. Embellish with your favorite ribbons and trims.
See, I told you they were fast and easy! =)

Make sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (December 13), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs and that person will receive a huge grab bag of fabulous Gina K. Designs Stamps!
Free stamps = Christmas Happiness!

While I am thrilled that you stopped by for a visit, I am going to send you on your way to Lori's blog so that you can check out her amazing creation.

Granola Gift

2011-12-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

This week the DT Coordinator at Tombow gave us the challenge to create "recipe cards as gifts".

I decided to get some of my Christmas Granola made and ready to go. I created the recipe card in Word and then printed it and stamped it with the Spring Branch stamp from Memory Box. I used Tombow's Permanent Stamp Runner to adhere the recipe card to several layers of cardstock creating a card that can be used over and over. The recipe is listed below.

I use a ton of candles in my house and this jar is a recycled candle jar. Don't worry, it has been washed many times and the smell is completely gone. :)

I stamped the sentiment and frame for the sentiment from the Winter Mittens set from Gina K. Designs and cut it out with a Spellbinders Fancy Tags die. I used more of the Tombow Permanent Stamp Runner to attach the trim to the red cardstock wrap and then I used Tombow's Power Tabs to attach the tag to the front of the jar and to hold the twine in place.

Here is the granola recipe, it is fast and easy and can be adapted to add whatever goodies you like.

Granola

4 C old fashioned oats
11/2 C sliced almonds
½ C packed light brown sugar
½ t salt
½ t cinnamon
¼ C vegetable oil
¼ C honey
1 t vanilla
11/2 C raisins or dried cranberries
optional: 1 C chocolate chips-add after granola has completely cooled

Preheat oven to 300. In a bowl mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a saucepan warm the oil and honey. Stir in vanilla. Pour liquid over oat mixture and stir gently with a wooden spoon.

Spread granola in a baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes , stirring carefully every 10 minutes. Cool completely. Seal in airtight container or zip lock bag. Store at room temperature for 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Makes 6 cups.

Twisted Thursday Ornament

2011-12-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there and happy Thursday to you all!

This week on the Outlawz Challenge group the Twisted Thursday Challenge is to create an ornament or a card/project with an ornament on it.

It had been quite awhile since I had made one of these glass ornaments so I pulled out the supplies and got to work. I filled the ornament with a thin clear drying adhesive and then added some Polished Pigments (remember those?) and glitter. While the ornament was drying I stamped/embossed the Poinsettia Topper from Outlines in gold ink/ep onto some red cardstock and then did the same for the leaves onto some green cardstock and then cut them out. Before adding the poinsettia topper, I attached little pieces of green ribbon that had been adorned with a red rhinestone to the top of the ornament with glue dots. Add the topper and a ribbon and you are done. These are fun to make in all colors. Great for gift giving too!

We would love to have you join us this week over at the Outlawz Challenge group. Did you know you could have a chance to win a fabulous prize just for playing along?

Golden Happiness

2011-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday! Well, I may not have my Christmas tree up yet, but I do have a couple of pretty golden ornaments to share with you.

This week the Outlawz Paper a la Mode challenge is to create a Christmas ornament or a card/project with an ornament on it.

I had these pretty ornament stamps from Hero Arts Decorate Your Holidays set that I wanted to use. I decided to create a simple,but elegant card by going with a base of white with just a touch of texture. I stamped/embossed the sentiment with Versamark ink and gold powder and then created a border above and below with my Scor-It. In the space above and below the sentiment I embossed with the Textile Texture CB folder. The ornament were stamped/embossed in the same manner and attached to the card with some Tombow Foam Tabs and then I added a little big of gold cording and some bows. To finish off the card, I added some hot pink rhinestones. Ya gotta love the bling!

Gotta run, have a lot on my plate this week. Hopefully, I will even get that tree up!

Recipe:

Stamps: Decorate Your Holidays-Hero Arts

Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Ink: Versamark

Extras: Pink Rhinestones, Gold EP, Gold cording, Textile Texture CB EF

Gotta Kiss?

2011-12-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday!

As we near Christmas I will share with you some little gifties that you can make to give to those who you want to know that you are thinking of them during the holidays. Perhaps it is a coworker, or maybe your favorite UPS/Mailperson.

Today I am sharing one of the ever popular decorated test tubes and holder with you. I found the instructions here.

I used pretty papers from SEI to decorate some American Crafts cardstock. The sentiment is from Inky Antics. I used dies and punches to create the snowflakes. I used my Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots to attach the print cardstock to the solid and on the glue tabs to hold the bottom of the holder closed. I used Tombow Foam Tabs to add dimension between the layers of the snowflakes and to attach the snowflake to the front of the holder and the top of the tube.

I wish you all a happy weekend!

All Wrapped Up

2011-12-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Ha! I bet you thought you were going to see a bunch of gifts all wrapped up nice and pretty...nope!

Today the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge is called "All Wrapped Up". We were to design a card or project using the following items:

Bright colored Christmas papers, a tag and a ribbon or bow.

This is what I came up with:

Isn't he cute?

I embossed this little cutie with black detail embossing powder onto 140# cold press watercolor paper (I use Canson) and then water colored the image with Tombow Dual Brush Markers and a Niji waterbrush. If you have never used a waterbrush, they are a wonderful little tool. I get mine here. My layout inspiration was from this weeks Sweet Sunday Sketch #145 challenge.

We would love it if you would play along with us this week. You can find all of the details here.

Recipe:

Stamps: Snowman-Printworks, Merry Christmas-SU

Paper: Prints-MME Be Merry 6 x 6, Pink-GKD, Seaglass Notecard-Memory Box, White-Neenah, Watercolor Paper-Canson

Ink: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black

Extras: Black EP, Glossy Accents (on carrot and hearts), ribbon

Tools: Tombow Markers (371, 451, 491, 761,847, 933), Nesties Fleur De Lis Squares dies, Cuttlebug, 1" square punch (to create tail on tag)

Cut it Out!

2011-11-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

Cat's Free for All Friday challenge at StampTV is to:

Cut it Out!

The challenge is to have at least one image on it that has been cut out by HAND! You can use dies on your card, but you MUST have a hand cut element on it also!

I decided I wanted to frame the sweet Mr. Snowman from the GKD Celebrate the Season set, illustrated by Theresa Momber. I layered up the print papers like I wanted I cut a nesties oval through all of the layers. The piece that I cut out, I added to the inside (see below) for Mr. Snowman to sit on.

After I had the front just so, I started in on the inside. I cut out Mr. Snowman and layered him onto the oval and then added some glitter down his right side and on his little stick arms. I hadn't fussy cut in awhile and I almost lopped off one of Mr. Snowman's little stick arms. OH NO!

(inside)

Sending you wishes for a wonderful week.

Recipe:

Stamps: Celebrate the Season-GKD

Paper: Lipstick Red, White-GKD, Print- MME

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Rhubarb Stalk

Extras: Floss, Glitter, Button

Tools: Spellbinders Petite Classic/Scallop Ovals and, Parisian Accents dies, MS Snowflake punches

Tombow/Walnut Hollow Blog Hop

2011-11-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

This week Tombow is teaming up with the fine folks at Walnut Hollow to share some incredible altered projects. In case you have missed any of them you can find them here: Debbie, Sarah, and Jennie. Aren't those girls talented?

I was thrilled to receive this Tissue Box to work with. I knew I wanted to create a tissue box that would be used for the holidays so I took my inspiration from my Christmas decorations. My tree is decorated in aqua, teal, white, silver and a touch of lime green. I replaced the lime green with some pretty purples for this project.

I started by giving the naked box a coat of gesso to prime it and then set it aside to dry. Once the gesso was good and dry I added a coat of Martha Stewart glitter paint in Aqua. Guess what? The paint was transparent and although the glitter was pretty and shimmery, you could barely see the color over the gesso.

Hmmm, this got me thinking so I pulled out some of my Tombow Dual Brush markers and scribbled randomly onto the sides of the box with a few colors and then spritzed with a fine mist of water. I moved the box from side to side allowing the inks to run and blend together.

After it dried, it still needed something so I wadded up some white tissue paper, tore it and set about covering each side of the box by laying down a layer of Tombow Mono Aqua Adhesive first and then the torn pieces of the tissue. The adhesive dries clear and leaves a nice finish to the box. Once this was completely dry I started building my poinsettia floral spray.I used Tombow Power Tabs to attach the floral spray pieces andTombow Foam Tabs for stacking and attaching the flower to the box. I stamped several images from the Printworks poinsettia stamp onto 140# cold press watercolor paper and embossed with silver powder. I water colored the flowers with Tombow Dual Brush markers. The top of the box was finished off with some dew drops.

Anything Goes

2011-11-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

First, let me say Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Today our family will be celebrating at hubby's parents house and tomorrow I will head to town and celebrate again with my Mom and my sister and her family. Two days of yummy goodness!

Yesterday, I got an e-mail asking me if I would like to join the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge group design team and it took me about 2 seconds to reply with a heck ya! I am so excited to get started! The DT has created some fabulous projects to give you some inspiration. You can check them out here.

Today's card is for the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge group. The challenge for this week was an Anything Goes challenge. I had just finished this card so I was ready to go. We would love for you to come and visit the Twisted Thursday Challenge and would be thrilled if you played along.

I rarely make sympathy cards, but I had just received the new Nature's Greetings stamp set from Gina K. Designs and I really liked this leafy image and knew I wanted to use it right away and the I thought the With Sympathy sentiment from the same set would be perfect with it.

My inspiration for this card is from the amazing gallery of GKD DT member, Emily Giovanni. Last week's Free for All Friday challenge over at StampTV was to case a card from Emily's gallery. You needed to change at least two things. I chose this card. I can't believe I stitched on my card. I have had the Janome Sew Mini for over 2 years and this is the first time I have sewn on a card. Guess what? I liked it and I am sure you will see more sewing soon. I used my Tombow Dual Brush Markers to color directly onto the stamp. I first colored the image with the lightest turquoise color and then used the thumping technique to add the rest of the colors. After the image was stamped, I added some Stardust Stickles to finish off the card.

Recipe:

Stamps: Nature's Greetings-GKD

Paper: White, Ocean Mist-GKD, Print-Prima

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Tools: Tombow Dual Brush Markers, Spellbinders Oval/Scallop Oval dies, Cuttlebug, Janome Sew Mini

Extras: Ribbon, Twine, Button, Glitter Glue

Crystal Snowflake Gift Card Holder

2011-11-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

Good Morning! I hope your weekend was a good one. It was pretty chilly here all weekend and we thought we might have a snow flurry or two but we got lucky....this time!

While hubby was busy outside burning brush and tinkering in his shop, I was busy in my studio trying to get caught up on some class and DT projects that I am working on. This is a prototype of a gift card holder that we will be making in class next month. I was inspired by the challenge on the Just Us Girls blog this week. I just found the I {heart} ribbon challenge and was happy that today's card would work. The challenge is to use dotted ribbon. Yeah! Over on the Buttons Galore and More blog, they are having a Christmas card/tag linky party so I throwing this one in for that too! Check it out!

This card is 3 1/2" x 5" (4Bar) with a top fold. I cut a snowflake from the Spellbinders Create a Flake Three set and then covered it with Tombow's Mono Aqua Adhesive and then covered it with some chunky glitter. A small MS snowflake punch and button were added. A bit of ribbon and a pocket for the inside were added as a finishing touch.

See you soon,

Let it Snow

2011-11-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, today I am sharing a card I created for this weeks StampTV Mix It Up Monday challenge. Suzanne was the challenge hostess and she asked us to "Let it Snow". There was an optional sketch to use, I already had this card in the works, so I went with it.

I am squeaking in just under the wire with this challenge entry, but I had a bit of time to play yesterday and wanted to play along.

Instead of making my card all blue, white and snowy I went with some traditional Christmas colors. All of the papers used are more of the scraps I had from a previous class that I taught. Lucky for me (and you) I am down to small pieces of these prints left. :)

I stamped Mr. Snowman from the GKD Celebrate the Season set in Rich Cocoa Memento ink and then added a bit of color to his hat and scarf with Copic markers. I sponged a bit of Summer Sky Memento around Mr. Snowman and then added some glitter for a bit of sparkle.

Recipe:

Stamps: Celebrate the Season-GKD

Paper: Fresh Asparagus, Lipstick Red-GKD, Prints-American Crafts

Ink: Rich Cocoa, Summer Sky Memento

Extras: Button, Spellbinders Snowflake Die, Twine, Glitter, Spellbinders Circles/Scallop Circles Dies, Tombow Mono Aqua Adhesive, Foam Dots and Permanent Dots Tape Runner

CSS DT Inspiration Blog Hop

2011-11-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, tonight my pals and I from the Gina K.Designs CSS Alumni DT are getting together to share creations that we made based on this photo of an advent calendar that Carolina found for us to use.

You should have arrived at my blog from Lori McAree's blog, if not you can go back to StampTV and start at the beginning.

I was inspired by the reds/greens in the photo and came up with a couple of cards to share. I knew I wanted to use up some scraps of Authentique Wonder paper that were left over from the class I taught. I put it together with some PL Ivory, Red Hot and Fresh Asparagus cardstocks to create my cards.

I used the same layout for each of the cards, just turned the second one for a little different look. The sentiment for the top card is from the GKD Blessed is the Season set and the sentiment for the second card is from the GKD Winter Wonderland StampTV kit. Did you notice? I used fffffelt snowflakes on the second card. With my long time aversion to felt, I can hardly believe it myself. :)

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

I am going to send you over to Melissa Shultz's blog for some more eye candy.
Enjoy the hop!

Pretty Pumpkin

2011-11-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

This week my fellow Tombow DT members and I are sharing Thanksgiving table decorations.

I bought a plain pumpkin decoration from the craft store and set about blinging it up. Lately I have been telling you how much I have come to love the Tombow Power Tabs and this decorated pumpkin is just a little more proof at how awesome this adhesive is.

I started by adding the rhinestone flourishes and then I started adding all of the flowers and greenery using Tombow's Power Tabs.

Here is another shot looking down at the top of the pumpkin.

Thanks for stopping by today. If you create something beautiful for your table, leave me a comment and let me know, I would love to check it out!

Vervey SFYTT

2011-11-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday morning! Boy the time change sure has kicked my booty this week. Along with darker days comes cold and cloudy weather...YUK! I want my sunshine back!

Today I am sharing a card I made using the November SFYTT. Since I have about 30 million (okay, I might be exaggerating just a bit) 6 x 6 paper pads, I have decided that I need to used them up and not hoard them so I am using some more of the My Mind's Eye Paris and Co papers. I really like the beautiful, soft colors in this collection. I used stamps from Verve's Beautiful You and Sunny Day's sets and dies from their A Cut Above Leafy Sprigs and Floral Circles die sets.

Recipe:

Stamps: Beautiful You, Sunny Days-Verve

Paper: PL Chocolate-GKD, Prints from Paris & Co-MME

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Tools: Leafy Sprigs, Floral Circles dies-Verve, Corner Rounder

Extras: Copics, Twine, Ribbon, Button, Pearl

OWH Thank You Hop

2011-11-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

Good Morning! Today on the Tombow blog we are sharing thank you cards we have created for Operation Write Home. If you are not familiar with OWH, you can read all about them here. Their motto is "Helping heroes keep in touch with home".

I kept my card pretty clean and simple and pretty flat to ease with mailing. I stamped the Memory Box Scalloped Thank You sentiment in Dandelion Memento ink onto some white cardstock and then cut it out with a Classic Circle Nestabilities die and layered it to some GKD In the Navy Pure Luxury cardstock using my Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots Roller. To finish off the sentiment panel with a sweet little heart die from the Verve A Cut Above From the Heart Die Set and a little blue button and a sweet twine bow. It is hard to see, but the yellow strip toward the bottom of the card is embossed with the Swiss Dots CB EF and layered to some In the Navy cardstock. The pretty red print is from American Crafts. Head over to the Tombow blog and check out all of the hop details.

Wishing You Peace

2011-11-10T09:29:00.001-08:00

As we gear up for the holidays one of the things that fast becomes at the top of my "to do" list is making Christmas cards. This card is one that can be created in a flash with just a few supplies. My inspiration for this card is from three challenges. 1) FTL165 sketch 2)Outlawz CAS challenge with a twist of adding one form of embossing and 3) TCPTUES183 for my color inspiration using red, marigold and chocolate. The deer and snowflakes and sentiment are from The Cat's Pajama's Elegant Christmas set and were stamped in brown pigment ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. The red print paper is Delight from the Pebbles Happy Go Lucky line.

Weight Loss Update -.8 for a total of -6.2 pounds since October 6, 2011

Fall Sweets

2011-11-04T04:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!

Today I am sharing a fun little jar full of yummy M & M's that I made a little belly band and fun topper for.

I started by layering two different ribbons together using Tombow's Mono Adhesive Dots Roller and then I added more adhesive to the back of the larger piece of ribbon and wrapped this around the jar. The sentiment panel was stamped from the Gina K. Designs Thanks a Million set in brown ink and then cut out with Petite Oval Nestabilities and layered with Petite Oval Scallop Nestabilities using Mono Adhesive Dot Roller for the top two layers and Tombow Foam Tabs between the scalloped panels.

I used Tombow's Power Tabs to hold all of the embellishments to the top of the jar. I really like the tackiness of the Power Tabs, they hold so well. :)

For the leafy belly band on the jar, I stamped the fall border from the A Year of Borders set from Gina K. Designs and colored them in with Tombow Dual Brush Markers and then attached them to the ribbon with Tombow Foam Tabs.

Here is a view of the right side of the jar. I hope you will try a project like this for your fall tablescape. The kids will love sneaking into the candy while your busy cooking your turkey dinner. :)

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

2011-11-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Good Morning.....Can you believe it's the first of November already? Christmas will be here and gone before we know it.

Today I am sharing a card I made with one of the MFT Pure Innocence sets called Emma Celebrates the Season. This little gal appears to love the cold weather, although I do not. The weatherman is saying that we could have snow this weekend. Come on now Mother Nature, what is up with that? I am not ready to wear socks yet!

This card is a blinged up version of one of my class cards from last week. Everyone really enjoyed coloring her and thought she was adorable, and she is. I used print cardstock from the Authentique Wonder 6 x 6 Bundle and paired it up with some textured red cardstock from American Crafts. The base card and image panel is Neenah Classic Crest Natural cardstock. Emma was stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and colored in with Copics. I added the MFT Simply Scallops Die-namics die to the edge of the holly panel for a little extra kick. I love dies and lately think I have gone die crazy....that's a good kind of crazy if you ask me. Emma's hat, muff and cuffs on her boots are covered in microfine glitter and they are so pretty and sparkly.

Well, I gotta run. It's time to get ready for work. I hope you have an AWESOME day!

A boy and his dog

2011-10-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I am back with a cute little fella and his dog. Looks like they are ready for a day of fun in the snow. Not me, the snow can stay away forever!

Over in the CMC Copic Challenge Group challenge #30 is celebrating all things BOY! Being the Mom of two wonderful sons, I knew I wanted to join in on the fun. I used this cute Snow Adorable Pure Innocence set from My Favorite Things to create this card. I really had fun coloring this little guy and even used a little cross hatching technique with the colorless blender on his pants to create the look of worn denim. These little guys are standing in a bed of snow crystals with lots of little snowflakes falling down around them. Perhaps they have wandered out onto a frozen pond to see what kind of mischief they could get into. :) Na, not this sweet duo!

Recipe:

Stamps: Snow Adorable-My Favorite Things

Paper: Green, Brown-American Crafts, Prints from Pebbles Cats & Dogs and New Arrival collections

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Extras: Glue pen, Crystal glitter, Copics (C3, B45, B26, R14, R29, R37, E000, E00, R20, E31, E33, YG61, YG63, YG67 and Colorless Blender)

CSS Alumni Sketch Challenge

2011-10-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight me and some of my besties from the Gina K. Designs Center Stage Alumni team are getting together to share cards that were inspired by the sketch shown below.

You should have arrived at my blog from Melissa Shultz's blog, if not you can go back to StampTV and start from the beginning.

Please leave a comment on each of the blogs as you are hopping along as we will be picking one lucky person to win a free Gina K. Designs set of their choice valued at $24.95 or less. The winner will be picked November 1.

I have created two cards using Theresa Momber's Celebrate the Season set. I love how versatile this set is as there are so many creative opportunities with it. I truly believe this is an all season set. Tonight I am going to share cards that are good for fall and winter.

Since Halloween is just around the corner, I decided to use the bare branch and small bat from the set to create my fall card. I stamped the bats in Grape Memento ink and then filled them in with Glossy Accents and sprinkled lavender micro fine glitter on them. The branch was stamped in Memento Black ink and then I went over it with a Black Spica pen to give it a shimmery, glittery look. For the moon, I punched a hole in a piece of masking paper and then sponged in some Memento Dandelion and Cantaloupe inks.

Oh how I love snowmen and this one is adorable! For my winter card, I stamped the little guy in Rich Cocoa Memento ink and then colored his nose, arms, buttons and hat with Copic markers. Some Glossy Accents was added to the bottom and then sprinkled with some chunky glitter to give the effect of snow on the ground.

(Complete details for both cards are listed below)

I am going to send you on your way to Lori McAree's blog where I am sure she has something fabulous to share with you.

Recipes:

Bat card:

Stamps: Celebrate the Season-Gina K. Designs

Paper: PL Black, White and Vibrant Violet-GKD, Spooky Print-Fancy Pants Oct 31 collection

Inks: Memento Grape, Tuxedo Black, Dandelion and Canteloupe

Extras: Buttons-GKD, Ribbon, Glossy Accents, Glitter, Nesties Petite Ovals Small

Snowman card:

Stamps: Celebrate the Season-Gina K. Designs

Paper: Light Blue-American Crafts, PL Kraft, White-GKD, Prints-My Minds Eye

Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa

Extras: Chunky Glitter, Copics, Nesties Classic Cirlcles and Ironwork Motifs, Pearls

See you soon,

Tombow/Fancy Pants Blog Hop

2011-10-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Today is my turn on the Tombow blog to hop along with the gang at Fancy Pants. Fancy Pants sponsored us by sending each of the Tombow DT tons of goodies from the Oct 31 line to play with. I was thrilled when I received my goodies as I hadn't started my Halloween cards yet and this gave me the perfect opportunity to get started.

For my first card I used the adorable Frankie digi image from By Lori Designs. Isn't he cute? I colored him in using Irojiten Colored Pencils and Gamsol. These pencils really blend so easily with this technique.

In addition to the polka dot print from the Oct 31 line, the word "spooky" is from the Oct 31 Chipboard Elements pack. I used Tombow Foam Tabs to attach the image panel and spooky chipboard to the card. All other layers were affixed with Tombow Mono Permanent Stamp Runner.

For this card I started with a base of Gina K. Designs Sweet Mango cardstock. It is perfect with the Oct 31 line. I created the flower using some of the circles from the Filter Embellishments pack and the flourish from the Chipboard Elements pack to represent the leaves. I stamped Happy Halloween from Inkadinkado in black ink and colored in with a Tombow Dual Brush Marker. The sentiment and flourish were given a bit of sticky with the Tombow Glue Pen and then sprinkled with lime green glitter.

For my final card, in addition to the cool Oct 31 papers, I used Buttons and Glitter Cuts. I attached the striped panel and the Tricks or Treats glitter cut with with Tombow Foam Tabs, the buttons with Tombow Power Tabs. The buttons were tied with a wee bit of black/white twine.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit with me today. I would love to hear which card was your favorite and why.

Thought for the Day

2011-10-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

This week the Team at Tombow is sharing a Thought for the Day with you. I found this wonderful quote about gratitude and knew it was perfect for today's post.

“There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind
than gratitude.
It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction
that the duty is sufficiently rewarded
by the performance.”~ Joseph Addison

I am sharing a thank you card that I created for my pal Theresa Momber.

You see, a couple of weeks ago, Theresa sent me this beautiful pink paradise card and her latest stamp set called Celebrate the Season that she illustrated for Gina K. Designs. The branch used above is from that set and the bird and word Thanks are from two of Theresa's other sets. I started with a Kraft card base and then added some Memory Box print paper using Tombow Stamp Runner Permanent Adhesive and then added a frame that was popped up with Tombow Foam Tabs and the button and sentiment flag were attached with Tombow Power Tabs. I really like these as they are thinner than the Foam Tabs, but still give you strong hold and a little bit of lift. Give them a try, you will love them!

Isn't this card beautiful! It reminds me of my recent trip to Hawaii where my hubby and I celebrated 25 years of wedded bliss. Thank you so much Theresa! I look forward to "playing" with this set.

Snow Princess

2011-10-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday! Today is going to be a beautiful day in the Central Valley with temps in the low 80's. I have a fun day planned as I am going to be taking a class this afternoon from the oh so talented Linda Duke. Linda will be at The Cat's Meow teaching us to make her beautiful vintage style Christmas tags that she is so famous for. I am taking her afternoon class, so that will give me time to meet some of my stamping pals for lunch before we head to class. I can't wait!

The card I am sharing with you today is a sweet little Pure Innocence girl from the My Favorite Things Flurry of Love set. I have wanted some of these PI stamps for a long time and finally scored a few. Hooray! When I saw that the Outlawz Friday Copic/Promarker challenge was to use pink, I new she would be perfect. I colored her with a variety of Copic markers. I cut the image panel and pink panel with the new Nesties Labels 23. I really love the edge on this set. The base card is white with a layer of aqua and kiwi double dot cardstocks. The pretty stripe is a varnished paper from the Pebbles Happy Go Lucky line. The snowflake is a combo of the new Nesties Create a Flake Three and a MS snowflake punch. The snowflake is topped off with a giant gem from Hero Arts. I have added Diamond glitter glue to the snowflakes that are falling around the little pink Snow Princess.

This will be one of three cards that we will be creating in my Winter Kids class on Oct 29. If you are in the Yosemite area and want to take a class e-mail us at: catsmeow (at) sti (dot) net

See you soon,

Card Drive for Kids

2011-10-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday night! Tonight I am sharing four cards that I created for some very special children.

Did you know that October is Spina Bifida month? Tonight we are honoring 4 very special children. Rebekah, Madison, Logan and Tanner.

You should have arrived at my blog from my awesome pal Kay Simmon's beautiful blog. If not, please head back to StampTV and start from the beginning as you don't want to miss the beautiful cards my fellow Center Stage Designers have to share with you.

for Rebekah

for Madison

for Logan

for Tanner

I created each of my cards using the amazing Stars set illustrated by Tami Mayberry for Gina K. Designs. I love how this set can be used for so many different things. It's limits are endless!

Here is what you can do:

Create a fun, uplifting card or cards for one or all the kids listed below (you can click on their names to read more about each of them). The card can be anything cheery, encouraging, supportive, etc. Please DO NOT send sorry, get well or anything like that. Remember, we want to cheer them up. The kids:
- Madison: 2 years old
- Logan: 2 years old. (turning 3 on October 17th!!)
- Tanner: 2 years old (turning 3 on December 25)
- Rebekah: 9 years old
All cards need to have a message in it for the child/family. Please also sign your name and where you are from. On the card envelope, write the name of the child. Please, don't seal the envelope, as the parents might want to read the cards before the kids see them.
Cards must be received by October 31st to be eligible for the drawing.
Mail your card(s) to Giovana along with a piece of paper with your name, address, e-mail address and blog (if you have one). This will help a lot to contact the winner a lot faster!:

Giovana Smith
Card Drive for Kids
181 Perry Way
Yakima, WA 98901

Everyone who mails in a card for each of the children will be entered into the drawing.

Awesome companies have donated amazing prizes for you! More than $500.00 in prizes!!

Heartfelt Creations: 8 stamping sets + 1 Coordinated Die Set. Value: $150.00!
Gina K. Designs: 2 StampTV Kits: Value: $70.00 (Gina will send the prize direct to the winner!)
Unity Stamps: 10 Itty Bitty Stamps. Value: $70.00
SP & Company: 3 Stamp Set. Value: $40.00
Lawn Fawn Stamps: 2 Stamp Set: Value: $30.00
Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: 1 Stamp Set. Value: $11.00
Spellbinders: 4 die sets!!
Tombow: 6 packs of markers and several packs of adhesives (this prize will be divided up between two lucky winners)

Now, I am going to send you on your way to Melissa Shultz's awesome blog.

Let's Party!

2011-10-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Whew wee it's been party time on the Tombow blog this week. Today is my turn to share in the party fun! So let's get started!

I have created this little party ensemble of a card, gift box and of course a little sweet treat as a thank you for coming to my party :)

For each of the projects I used stamps from Printworks. I created the card starting with a Seaglass notecard from Memory Box and layering with a scrap of glittery striped paper from my stash using Tombow Permanent Stamp Runner. The balloons were colored with Tombow Dual Brush Markers and then added a layer of Tombow Mono Aqua to each of the balloon tops and sprinkled them with glitter. I dabbed the gifts with the Mono Glue Pen and used a scrap of My Mind's Eye paper to paper piece the gifts. A few rhinestones and a little ribbon and our card is done and we are ready to party!

For the gift, I used another Seaglass notecard to create this little slider gift box. I used the same method as above to adhere all of the layers, create the balloons and paper piece the gift. The image panel was added to the box using Tombow Foam Tabs.

Here is the box opened just a bit........hmm I wonder what kind of beautiful bauble is hidden inside?

So now our party is coming to an end and why not send our guests home with something sweet. I wrapped two candies with a bit of the striped glitter paper and then cut a piece of Seaglass notecard big enough to wrap around them and come together at the top. A little ribbon holds this sweet treat closed.

Hoping your next party is as fun as this one was!

InLinkz.com

CAS Let it Snow

2011-10-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

Good morning! I hope this finds you off to a good start for the week. The season may be fall, but we have had some unusually cold weather last week with snow at the 8000 ft level. Lucky for me I am only at 3200 ft elevation and we only had the cold and not the snow. I am so not ready for the white stuff. I do like stamping snowflakes though and have tons of them in my stash.

I am working on my CAS skills. I actually completed this card in less than 30 minutes.....a new CAS record for me. :) I started with some Gina K. Designs kraft cardstock (this is the best kraft cs on the market IMHO) and embossed it with the Snowflakes CB EF at the top and very bottom of the card, leaving a little ditch for my sentiment. The sentiment is from Verve's Holiday Phrases set and the snowflake is from Penny Black. The date on the side of the snowflake is 2001 and I bet that I have had it since then.....it has been well loved! The stamping and distressing were done with the new seasonal Gathered Twigs Distress ink. The red print is from the Memory Box Distressed Dot collection. We all love our bling so I finished my card off with a few red gems. Who doesn't love a little sparkle?

Todays card is for two challenges: The Outlawz Sunday CAS1009 challenge which was to use your favorite stamp(s) and the CR84FN40 challenge which is to use: red, brown and kraft. Isn't their graphic beautiful?

InLinkz.com

Free Broom Rides

2011-10-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there and happy Friday! I am so excited as this is my first official post as a Tombow Design Team member. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to be chosen for this team. I can't wait to jump in and get my feet wet.

This week we are getting ready for Halloween. I thought I would share a card I made with the adorable Witchy Prue digi image from By Lori Designs. I used cardstock from the Fancy Pants Oct 31 collection.

First, you will want to gather your image, cardstock, and adhesives. I colored little Prue with Tombow Irojiten colored pencils and then cut her out with my oval nesties dies.

I affixed all of the layers to the base card with Tombow Permanent Stamp Runner and then used Tombow Foam Tabs for the image and words.

Here she is all put together and ready to start her Halloween festivities. Isn't she adorable?

See you soon,

Melissa

InLinkz.com

Watercolor Butterflies

2011-10-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday! Today I have a quick post to share a card that I created for a class that I taught a few weeks ago.

My card was inspired by the card to the left. I don't know who made it, but I knew I liked it and saved it in my inspiration file when I saw it. If you know who might have made it, please let me know so that I can give proper credit. This is another great reason to watermark your photos, ya never know when someone wants to give you a little shout out. :)

For my card, I used the Hero Arts Friend definition stamp for the background, it was embossed in white and then the panel was edged with Tea Dye ink. The butterfly is Memory Box's Cocoa Bean butterfly. I colored my butterflies with three different colors of Lyra Watercolor Crayons and then spritzed the stamp with some pearl shimmer spray and stamped onto 140# cold press watercolor paper. This stamp has a matching die, so I then cut them out and edged them with Tea Dye Distress ink. Don'tcha love it when you don't have to spend extra time fussy cutting your images? Well, I gotta run. See you soon.

Pretty in Pink

2011-10-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, October is here already! So with October comes the Fall, Halloween and of course Breast Cancer Awareness, which means I have a reason to show my pink power this month. Please be sure to check those Ta Tas girls!

Most of you know that I work at my local stamp store a couple of days a week and YES, I do know how lucky I am. :) A few weeks ago our wonderful (hi Darcy) rep from American Crafts was by for a visit and she always leaves a sample or two when she leaves. Darcy always takes notes when she is there also. Why did I tell you that you may ask? I had mentioned to Darcy that I was sure I could color the white glitter Thickers with my Copics to color match them with my projects. She looked at me like I was nuts and would ruin the nibs on my markers for sure. In her notes, she must have written that I wanted to try it, because last week came a package with some white glittery Jewelry Box Thickers. See the word "hi" down there, I colored it with a pink Copic marker and it didn't even mess up the nib of the marker at all. I suppose if you were to color the whole package with the same marker it might be a different story. Good thing the nibs are replaceable just in case that should happen. Darcy also left a sheet of paper and coordinating layered embellishments for me to make samples with.

The paper is Little Miracle from the Pebbles New Addition line and the embellies are from the New Arrival line. Both of these lines have a "pink" collection and a "blue" collection and have sweet babies in mind. With that being said, I think both color collections will work for lots and lots of projects not related to babies. On the card above I used a small strip of the striped side and a wider piece of the brown side. This paper is embossed so the brown side has a look of corduroy to me. I likey! A few of you know that I have an aversion to felt but I think these flowers are ADORABLE! There are four in the pack and each one is just a wee bit different.

On my second card I used a larger piece of the stripe paper and used a little strip of the brown side for the scalloped edging. See that sweet little polka dot print? It is the backside of the 1/2" info strip on the 12 x 12 paper. So smart! The only stamp used (egads) was the "It's a girl!" sentiment from Memory Box. I stamped it in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and it matches perfectly to the brown in the paper.

Recipe:

Paper: Little Miracle-Pebbles/American Crafts, White-Neenah Solar White

Stamps: It's a girl!-Memory Box

Ink: Rich Cocoa-Memento

Extras: Felt Flowers-Pebbles/American Crafts, Thickers Glitter Chipboard, EK Scalloped Scallop punch

It's your birthday...

2011-09-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Just a quick little post as I am playing catch up this week. My laptop is about 6-7 years old and is starting to have quite the mind of it's own lately. I am hoping it will limp along for a little longer, maybe Santa will put a new one under the tree, that would be mighty nice if I do say so myself :)

The card I am sharing with you today is for this weeks Viva la Verve Week 4 sketch challenge. This sketch was created by Laurie Schmidlin and I have to say I wasn't sure how I was going to handle the diagonal stripes. All in all, I really like how this one turned out. I used stamps from Verve's Tag Time and Big Wish sets and the Verve A Cut Above Leafy Sprig die set and

Because of these pretty prints from My Mind's Eye's A Happy Heart 6 x 6 pad I was forced to use colors that I wouldn't normally put together. I did a little faux stitching around the edge of the pink print and the cream/gold stripes. The pretty little flower is from Prima's sugar blooms collection.

Have a great day!

InLinkz.com

Thank You

2011-09-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Good Monday morning!

Today, I am sharing a card that I created for the Viva la Verve Sept Week 3 sketch challenge. The sketch was created by my pal Tosha Leyendekker and I think it is just fab!

I had recently picked up several of the new My Mind's Eye's 6 x 6 pads from my favorite store, The Cat's Meow. After looking at them all over and over, I finally just closed my eyes and picked one. All of the print papers used were from the Paris & Co. pad. I really like how soft and pretty the colors are. The decorative element and sentiment were from the Verve Thankful Accents set. The adorable butterfly is Verve's Flutterby die.

Well, it's off to work for me. See you soon!

Flutterby	Thankful Accents	MME-Paris & Co.	Standard Circles Small	Classic Scalloped Circles Small	Classic Petal Edgeabilities
Ironwork Motifs Die Templates	Kaisercraft Pearls-Pearl	Tombow Foam Tabs	Stamp Runner Permanent	Mono Multi Liquid Glue

InLinkz.com

Every Season

2011-09-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I hope you are having a relaxing weekend. I sure am. Earlier today, I met up with my friend Holly and her sweeeeet daughter Rachel and we went to the thrift stores in town. I didn't find any treasures. Maybe next time. :)

I'm sharing a card with you that I created for the Verve Get Your Diva On contest for September. You can real all about it here.

The challenge is to create a monochromatic card. Just my kind of challenge! The color inspiration for my card came from the print paper. It was a scrap that I had laying on my desk from a previous project. I think it is from Graphic 45 if I remember right. I started going through my stash and pulling things together that I thought would work. The flower was created by punching scalloped circles from a scrap of American Crafts Peachy Keen collection. To get the perfect color of ink, I first inked up the image with Adirondack Salmon ink and then added some Adirondack Mountain Rose ink before I stamped the image onto the paper. The Salmon was too light and the Mountain Rose was too bright, but the two of them together were perfect! Give it a try! Just remember to ink up with your lightest color first, so that you don't taint your inkpad with dark ink. Oh, that would be bad! I finished off my card with some light yellow pearls that were on my desk from a previous project. I just went over them with a Copic marker that was just the right color. Love that!

I've got another Verve card in the works using my pal Tosh's awesome sketch for the Viva la Verve week 3 challenge.

See you soon,

Every Season

American Crafts Peachy Keen

Stamp Runner Permanent

Tombow Foam Tabs

Mono Multi Liquid Glue

InLinkz.com

Gratitude

2011-09-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hello and happy Wednesday!

Today I am sharing a card I created for the Viva la Verve Week 2 sketch that was created by Amy Sheffer.

I really had alot of fun with this sketch as it allowed me tons of opportunity for layering. I love, love cards with lots of layers. I started with a white card base and then added several prints from the Cosmo Cricket Odds & Ends 6 x 6 pad. I used stamps from Verve's Tag Time and Beautiful You stamp sets. See that pretty eyelet border, it is from the Spellbinders Classic Petal Edgeabilities set. Can't live without it? You can get it and any of the other new Spellbinders die templates at The Cat's Meow. Run, don't walk, they are selling like hotcakes!

Well, I am off to spruce up my house a bit and get caught up on laundry. I swear, I don't know how 3 people can dirty so many towels in one week. Sheesh!

Autumn Splendor

2011-09-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

Good Monday Morning!

I think fall is finally on it's way. While it was still warm, we had all the elements of fall with a little rain, thunder and lightning this weekend.

I wanted to share a card I made for the September Viva la Verve Week 1 sketch challenge. We were to use this awesome sketch created by Amber Hight. The size of this card is 3 1/2" x 6". Since the weather was a little stormy here this weekend, I decided to go with an Autumn theme. I used stamps from Verve's Autumn Splendor set and paired it with yummy fall colored cardstocks. I finished the card off with a little twine and bling.

Recipe:

Stamps: Autumn Splendor-Verve

Paper: Fresh Asparagus-GKD, Prints-Jillibean Soup Dutch Mustard collection, White

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Extras: Twine, Rhinestones, Nesties, Glossy Accents, Glitter, EF , Tombow Stamp Runner, Tombow Power Tabs

Let It Snow

2011-09-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

I must be dreaming of a little cooler weather, although we have had pretty decent weather here in my part of California. I just want to give a little shout out to those who have not been so blessed by old Mother Nature. I hope things will get better soon. If only we could tip the US just a bit and allow the flooding to run toward Texas some and give them a little relief from the horribly hot and now firey summer.

I don't think I have ever played along with the Sketch For You ToTry (SFYTT) sketch challenge (although, I check it out every month). I decided it was about high time I gave Jen's awesome sketches a try so I jumped in with both feet and combined it with the yummy colors from the CR84FN37 challenge.

As you can see, I took some creative liberties with the sketch. The truth be told, I will usually print the sketch or take Mr. Lappy into the studio with me, but not this time. I was sure my oh so photograpic memory (not) would get me by. Hmmm, maybe I should re-think that approach. :)

Not alot of uber cool techniques going on with this card, however I did use the beautiful Memory Box Bianca snowflake die to create a ghost effect on the kraft background by laying the die randomly on the card and tapping it here and there with Tea Dye distress ink. I wasn't looking forward to adding bits and pieces of foam tape to the back of thes snowflake so I just sandwiched it between two turquoise buttons. The smaller is the one you can see and underneath is one a bit bigger. I did pull the twine between both of the buttons hoping this will hold the snowflake in place. So far, so good. The sentiment is from the Verve Holiday Phrases set. Love the simple font Julee used in this little set.

One last note, I added a "For Sale" page to my blog. You can find it at the top left of my blog and I would love for you to check out my list. I will be adding things often as I wade through my studio.

See you soon,

Mojo Monday 206 Canvas

2011-09-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's Friday! I hope this finds you getting ready to rest and relax for the three day weekend. We don't have any big plans. We will just hang out around the house. That means stamping time for me! Yippee!

(Click for a bigger picture)

I have been on a canvas creating kick lately and when I saw Monday's Mojo Monday 206 round or square sketch challenge, I knew I would be using it for another canvas. I have a stamping pal who is going through a tough time and I am going to send this to her. I hope it will give her some comfort during this difficult time.

I chose to go with the square layout, although I changed it up just a little bit. Shhhh, don't tell. :)

I started with a plain 6 x 6 stretched canvas that I had previously coated with a layer of gesso. I then slathered up the outer edges and a little bit of the front edge with Picket Fence Distress Crackle paint. I let it dry for a few minutes and then hit it with the ol' heat gun to finish it off. Can you say impatient? I then rubbed the sides and edges down real good with some Tea Dye Distress ink. Love, love that stuff! I pulled papers from the Vanity Fair My Mind's Eye 6x 6 pads. Have you seen these yet? MME came out with 12 different 6 x 6 pads that are not the same prints as any of their collections. They are double sided too! Sweeeet!!!! You can see them here. You can get them here. I then pulled out my Verve Sunny Days and Where Flowers Bloom stamps and the Leafy Sprigs die and went to work. The hearts are from Sizzix. I love the way this turned out, I think I will have to make another. :)

Recipe:
Stamps: Sunny Days, Where Flowers Bloom-Verve
Paper: MME Vanity Fair 6 x 6 pad
Inks: Tea Dye Distress, Raisin Adirondack
Extras: Kaisercraft pearls, Picket Fence Distress Crackle paint, misc ribbon and trim, Sizzix Primitive Heart die, MS Butterfly punch

Scraptastic Butterfly

2011-08-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday!

Whew, it is finally heating up here in Central CA! We will be in the low 100's all week. We have been pretty lucky so far this year as we usually reach the higher temps much earlier in the summer season. Lucky for me, I have lots of fans in my house because when I got in from work last night, the air had been running all day............but the house was hotter than heck. Yep, the central air seems to be on the fritz and I am waiting for the repairman to show up at anytime. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is just the thermostat and it will be an easy fix. In the meantime, I decided to do a little stamping.

I love the CR84FN color challenges and especially like that they are running two weeks long right now. I would love it if they stayed that way, as it gives me a bit more time to get the challenge done before the next one comes along. The current challenge (CR84FN36) is to use the following colors:

At first, I thought these colors were going to be a bit tricky for me to work with as I don't use alot of yellow (especially as a main focus) as a general rule. I really like this weeks Sweet Sunday Sketch 131 so I decided to pair the two up and this is what I came up with. This card measures 4 3/4" square. I inked up the adorable Cocoa Bean Butterfly from Memory Box in Scattered Straw Distress ink and stamped it onto a piece of cream cardstock several times and then again onto a scrap which I cut out and layered up with some foam tape. The Penny Black sentiment (one of my favs) is inked up in Memento Rich Cocoa and stamped over the butterflies. The kraft base card was embossed with a leafy embossing folder and then edged with a bit of Tea Dye Distress ink. All of the cardstock used was from my scrap pile. :)

stamping hugs,

Scraptastic Winterberry Wreath

2011-08-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

Hi! I made a little time for stamping on Sunday afternoon and this is one of the cards that I ended up creating. I took my inspiration from two of the Outlawz challenges from last week. Tuesday's color challenge was to use: coco or sand, white clouds and aqua. You were also supposed to use shells or gems so I decided to go with the gems. I love me some bling! I actually used a dark teal instead of aqua, but I was completely inspired by the colors and so glad that this challenged help me find the ol' mojo. I also used the Outlawz Wednesday sketch challenge.

I stamped the Winterberry Wreath from Memory Box onto white cardstock with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and then adorned it with lotsa pretty little gems in the prettiest teal color. All of the cardstock used on this card was from my ever growing pile of scraps that have been left over from other projects. I'll be back in a couple of days with another card that was inspired by challenges from the web.

CSS Sketch Blog Hop

2011-08-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Whoo hooo! Tonight I have joined forces with some of my besties from the GKD Center Stage Design Team to share with you some amazing creations using the sketch you see below. You should have arrived at my blog from Lori's awesome blog. If not, you will want to go back to StampTV and start from the beginning.

I used the beautiful Whimsical Wishes set that I was lucky enough to win from Theresa Momber. Just in case you didn't know it, Theresa is the one who illustrated this beautiful set. That girl has some mad talent!!! I started with a base card of Fresh Asparagus and then added this beautiful print from Little Yellow Bicycle. I have had the print paper for quite some time and don't know what collection it is from. Next, I stamped the sentiment and dragonfly image and then finished off the card with the trio of botanicals that I cut out using my circle nesties. I am going to send you on your way to Miesje's awesome blog so that you can check out the beauty that she has created.

Make sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (August 16th), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs who will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

Something old, something new

2011-08-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

Hello, remember me? I know it has been forever since my last blog post. Although I have been busy, I really haven't had any Mojo for quite some time. I have several half finished cards and projects on my desk, but just can't seem to bring any one of them to completion. I created this card a couple a while back. I think it may have been for a Mojo Monday challenge, but I can't really remember. What I do know is that everything except for the crepe paper rose was created from scraps that were on my desk. I created the rose by rolling and twisting some white crepe paper. The sentiment I used is from Verve.

I will be back Friday as I will be hopping with some of my pals from the GKD CSS Design Team. I will see you then.

Monday Morning Ranunculus

2011-07-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hi there, just a quick post today to let you all know that I am still alive! I seem to be in a bit of a stamping funk! I tried to stamp Friday afternoon.....nothing. Saturday.......nothing and then again yesterday.......still nothing. I hope today Mr. Mo and Jo show back up because I have some projects that are on a deadline and must get done. Eeek!

What I am sharing with you today is a little notebook that we made in one of my recent classes. The Stampendous Ranunculus stamp was embossed in white ep and then colored in with light and medium toned Copics. I found the little notepads at my local Rite-Aide in the dollar bin. Love that! The overall design was really pretty fast and easy. I love that too! Well, I am off to get ready for work, I hope you all have a happy Monday!

Sweet Threads Flip Book

2011-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello and happy Friday. Today I am guest designer over at Tombow again and I am sharing this little Flip book that I made. The construction of the book was quick and easy following the instructions from Lisa Sommerville's awesome tutorial that I found here.

I used paper from the Basic Grey Sweet Threads line for the covers and pages of the book. I used the Daisy Patch die from Heartfelt Creations to create the flower for the cover. The leaf flourishes are from a Sizzix die. I ran the leaves through the Cuttlebug with my favorite Textile Texture embossing folder. If I was stranded on an island (hopefully a tropical one) and could only take one embossing folder, this is the one I would take. I center of the flower is adorned with a button and rhinestone and a few more rhinestones were scattered around the cover for a little added bling.

I am giving this little book to my friends10 year old daughter, Rachel. Rachel told her mom that she wants to come and live with me. I think she just wants to live in my studio. Her eyes get big and wide when she goes in there. I can't wait to see what she puts inside the book.

I was going to share a few photos of the creative process but blogger is being a bugger today. You can hop over to Tombow though and check them out. While you are there I would love it if you would leave a comment letting me/and them know what you think. I would love to become a permanent part of their team. What a dream that would be!

See you soon,

It's a California Poppy kinda day!

2011-06-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

Good morning! Today I am sharing a card I created for a class I taught a few weeks ago. Being a California girl, I loves me some poppies! I started by stamping this beautiful poppy image from the Stampendous Poppy Bottles set in Memento Black ink on white cardstock and then stamped it again a second time, colored it with Copic markers and a bit of Prismacolor pencil. I popped the colored image up onto the uncolored image with some Tombow Foam Tabs to give it some dimension. That gorgeous print paper is from Creative Imaginations, I really like how bright and cheery it is.

Well, I better get busy as I have a boatload of stuff going on this week.

See you soon,

YOU make a difference

2011-06-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

(original sketch below)

Hello! I hope this finds you having a wonderful weekend. We are having beautiful weather here in the mountains, high 80's with a breeze. It doesn't get much better than that. Remember back in the winter when I was whining about the snow? No more whining!

Today I am sharing my card for Mojo Monday 196. Nothing like sliding in at the last minute to get a challenge done before the next one is announced. I used one of the sentiments and some of the leaves from the Verve Bloom and Grow set along with the coordinating Elegant Leaves die to create the focal point for my card. I embossed the leaves two times with clear powder onto some print paper from the Prima Madeline collection. I will be so sad when I use up this paper and don't have it anymore. I know, I should buy another 6 x 6 pad and hoard it. :) The sentiment was stamped onto a Nesties labels 4 panel in Memento Rich Cocoa ink and then layered to a white shimmer labels 4 panel. The die cut leaves were layered with one under the labels 4 panels and one above. I was trying to capture the look of the leaves in the print paper. To finish everything off I added some Prima flowers, twine and rhinestones.

After I had completed this card, I noticed that the last card I made for a Mojo Monday was in similar colors. Oops!

I promise, I will brighten it up a bit with my next project!

CSS Treasure Box Blog Hop

2011-06-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hello! Today I am teaming up with my friends from the Gina K. Designs Center Stage Alumni as we open up our Treasure Box with you all. We have decided to pull out our GKD sets and use the sentiments and quotes as the focal image for our projects.

You should have arrived here from Miesje Flach's awesome blog, if not you can go back to StampTV and start from the beginning.

I chose to use a quote from the Hang in There set that was illustrated by Theresa Momber. In addition to this quote, there are several adorable wildlife creatures that are sure to put a smile on your face. I started with a Green Apple card base and then ran in through the Cuttlebug with a Sizzix embossing folder. I layered a piece of print paper from October Afternoon to a piece of Sweet Corn cardstock. The quote is stamped in Tuxedo Black ink onto a cream panel and edged with some Antique Linen distress ink. The card was finished off with some ribbon and Prima flowers.

Make sure to leave a comment as you hop along because on Tuesday morning (June 28th), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs who will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

Play along with us.....create a card or project using this inspiration image and then post it to the StampTV Forum on the blog hop thread - we'd love to see what you create!!!

Now I am going to send you on to Lori McAree's blog so you can check out her amazing creation.

I am also entering this card in the CR84FN32 challenge which was to use the colors yellow, aqua and green
See you soon,

Butterfly Notes

2011-06-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I am so thrilled to have been asked to Guest Design for Tombow today. The project I am sharing with you is a set of simple, easy to mail notecards that I have made for my Mom. Mom loves butterflies, so I picked several butterfly images from my stamp stash to work with.

Each of the cards started with a standard A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") white card and stamped the top half with the butterfly images. For the purple "thinking of you" and the Aqua "happy birthday" cards I colored the Penny Black butterfly stamp directly with my Tombow Dual Brush markers and then spritzed the stamp with water before stamping the image. I love the soft watercolor effect this creates. I added a 3" x 4 1/4" piece of print cardstock and a piece of ribbon to each one using Tombow Mono Tape Runner. To finish off each card, I added a piece of knotted ribbon that I attached with Mono Aqua Adhesive.

I can't thank Sharron and the Crew at Tombow enough for inviting me to share my love of stamping (and Tombow) with you. Keep your fingers crossed that they will let me do it again! :)

see you soon,

Oldies But Goodies Blog Hop

2011-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Whew, has it really been a whole month since my last blog post? Sometimes, you just need a little time away to rejuvinate your creativity. DH and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a little trip to beautiful Big Island Hawaii. Of course, I had to catch some kind of flu (crud) on the last day of our trip. I spent the following week on the couch and in my jammies. Next time I fly, I must double up on the Airborne!

Today, I have teamed up with several of the gals from the Design Divas Facebook group to bring you our monthly OBG (oldies, but goodies) blog hop. For this hop, you need to use stamps and/or supplies that are at least 6 months old. Yep, I got a lotta that "old" stuff that needs to be used up. You should have arrived at my blog from Mary Griffith's awesome blog, if not be sure to go back there so that you don't miss a thing.

I used the adorable cake image from the Verve Big Wish set that came out last year (yep, it saw ink for the first time yesterday) and paired it with this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. If you could see my Verve stash, you might think I was a hoarder. Verve has to have some of the prettiest packaging and I just hate to open the stamps and get them inky! Oh Lord, I need help!

I am going to send you on your way to Maria Matters' amazing blog. I know she has something special for you to see.

I'll be back soon,

CSS Sketch Blog Hop

2011-05-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there! Wow, it has been awhile since I really sat down and stamped. Well, as you can see my card for tonights hop is pretty simple. My desk is still a disaster and Mr. Mojo was nowhere to be found. I chose this adorable little jellyfish from the Gina K. Designs Make a Splash set because in two days I will be getting on a plane and heading for the land of sunny beaches.....Kona, Hawaii. Hubby and I are going to be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and I can't wait to get on that plane and go. It is supposed to rain here at home Saturday and Sunday (possibly even some snow) Egads! Isn't this May?

Tonight I am hopping with some of my amazing friends from the StampTV Center Stage Design Team. Our inspiration for tonights hop was this sketch that I created:

You should have arrived at my blog from Melissa's amazing blog, if you didn't you can go back to StampTV and start from the beginning. Guess what? Gina has offered up a free set for one lucky commenter. Please be sure to stop by each one of the awesome blogs along the way and leave a comment. Tuesday morning, Gina will pick one lucky commenter to win a free set valued at $24.95 or less. Isn't that AWESOME?

Well, I am not going to keep you any longer. Please hop on over to my pal Linda's rockin' blog to see what she has come up with.

Thanks

2011-05-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed Mother's Day as much as I did. I had a nice visit with my Mom and my sister. My sister made a yummy lemon blueberry cake. It was sooooo good!

The card I am sharing is one I made a couple of weeks ago and never managed to get it posted. The colors were inspired from the CR84FN24 challenge which were to use: Light Blue, Aqua and Cream. The layout was taken from Clean and Simple FTL137.

Well, I will leave you now as I haven't stamped much in the last couple of weeks and I need to head to the studio and get creating. Thank you to all of you who visit and help to cheer me on with this amazing craft, hobby, obsession of mine. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Celebrate in Style

2011-04-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello! Whew, what a busy week this is going to be. Coming up this weekend is the 10th Annual Great Yosemite Stamp Escape and we have been busy as hornets ordering, unpacking, pricing and repacking product and prizes for the weekend. Whew, it is gonna be fun, fun, fun! The teachers this year are amazing and the projects are fabulous! There are still a few spots left, come and join us!

For my card today, I am sharing this adorable image from the Gina K. Designs Celebrate in Style set. The colors used were from last Friday's StampTV Color Spotlight challenge.

The layout was inspired from the Card Patterns Sketch 112 for this week. I have never played along with them and when I saw this sketch, I knew I wanted to use it with the dressform image. I used my new Spellbinders Parisian Accents die set for the fleur border and the scroll accent above the image panel. Finished off with a few rhinestones and it is ready to go!

Recipe:

Stamps: Celebrate in Style-Gina K. Designs

Paper: PL White, PL Bubblegum-GKD, Buttercup Distressed Dots-Memory Box

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Extras: Rhinestones, Ribbon, Copics, Nesties Dies, Corner Rounder, Sakura Stardust pen

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Hope your having a great one! Today I am sharing the last of the cards from my Spring has Sprung class. My inspiration for this card was this beautiful card created by Joan Ervin. The adorable bunny stamp is another from Printworks. I sure wish they had a DT and if they did I wish I was on it cuz I love, love Printworks stamps. They are always so fun and whimsical. The beautiful print paper that I used for this card is from the recently release Couture collection from SEI. One of the most beautiful collections I have seen in a long time.

Wanna make this card? Here is the PDF.