Friday, June 29, 2007

SC 130 and MORE -- MIA again . . .

I am so sorry! I have been a terrible blogger this month! And right on the cusp of 100K visits *sigh* I did manage to get some time in for stamping Wednesday. I made three cards and I thought I would share them with you -- I should have been cleaning, but we will call it a break. I promise to be better next month -- seriously, I blinked and this month just flew on by. I have been cleaning up a storm the past week in an effort to get out house listed. I only have my office/stamp room (*dreading that*) and our master bedroom/bathroom -- so not so bad. Everything else is fairly clean. I wanted to be done by today, but such is life. Painters are coming on Monday to finish painting the house and do some touch ups. Scrapbook night for my church is tonight and at my house, so I need to make sure I have stuff ready for that, like goodies and such, so some things are just going to have to wait. Thanks for listening to my stress vent *smiles* I just feel so overwhelmed and I want to hide out in my stamp room and play.

The first two cards here are for SC130. This card was inspired by a layout by Julie Ebersole. Thank you Julie! I loved the little stamped sentiment on the paper that looks like ribbon and just had to duplicate that. Her layout was a square, but I stretched it into a rectangle so that it would work with this new image that I got from Eat Cake Graphics. The image is watercolored in using watercolor pencils and a aquapainter. I added stickles on the ballerina's tutu and crystal effects on the black coat.

I absolutely love Halloween and since my local Hobby Lobby is already setting up Christmas stuff, I decided to make some Halloween cards!

This second card uses another image I got from Eat Cake Graphics. I just fell in love with this adorable little ghost. He just looks so bashful and sweet. I coated all the ghosts with crystal effects so that they look glassy in real life. I think it made a neat effect. Also, it is hard to see but I added some color using ink pads and my aquapainter, to the ghosts cheeks and some shading in gray. Main image is scalloped punched and then raised on pop dots to add dimension to the card. Sentiment "boo" was created using my Karen Foster Snap Stamps (in Tiny Casual) -- I just love them! Such a good purchase!!! I tried the blanket stitch on the edge of the scallop for the first time on this card and I think it mostly works! Oh and what card would be complete without some polka dot ribbon . . . I love the stuff.

This card was totally inspired by Julie HRR. I had the image of the strawberries (by Lockhart Stamp Co.) colored and on my desktop for a week and then I went browsing in Julie's gallery and found a layout that I thought would work to showcase this fun little image. The black polka dotted bottom was stamped using a dot from SU retired set "Shapes and Shadows" which I still have not been able to part with. I really like it. I added some crystal effects on the strawberries to make them look glossy and delicious and the photo does not show it well at all, it just made them look all blurred, but it looks really good in real life. I am totally satisfied with this card. I was going for simple on it and it is simple compared to usual -- not quite as clean looking as Julie's card, but simple in my own way.

Okay, well, that is all the time I have to spare right now. I need to go feed some kids, change some diapers and get stuff done for tonight . . . hopefully I will make it back here sometime this weekend. SMILE!!!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Did you miss me???

I took a much needed BREAK yesterday and did nothing but tidy up my office. It is the room in my house that everything gets dropped into, but because it was so untidy, everything was getting dropped wherever in my house -- making it all messy. That will be a project for later today, but my drop room is clean now. I woke up at 4 am -- my baby boy was coughing and sounded bad, so I medicated him and cuddled him and let him sleep. Then, since I was already awake and could not go back to sleep, I decided to stamp. I made my own color challenge, as I was using some scrap designer paper that I want to get used up:

Ballet Blue, Green Galore, and Pale Plum

This first card was working with some images that I already had on hand. I have been trying to use up all the pre-stamped images I have lying around so that I am all ready for the new catalog -- which I might add is only DAYS away. The layout for this card came from blog surfing -- Jovi had this great snoopy card and I thought it might work -- I loved these tabs with the ribbon and wanted to put them on a card. I have seen them in a few places lately. Mice are watercolored using my watercolor wonder crayons, and aquapainter. Main image is popped up using dimensional dots. Scallop across the bottom is by Doodlebug Designs - Paper Frills. Designer paper is by Die Cuts With A View. Ice cube has crystal effects on it. Not sure you can see that. I also used liquid applique on the cottom puff. The bottom panel is textured using my Fiskars texture templates. Finally, I added eyelets in the corner to balance the sentiment that I made using my Karen Foster Design Snap Stamps - Mini Casual Alpha.

SC129 -- This next card I did for the sketch challenge on Splitcoast, even though I am a couple days late. I loved it when I saw it and had no time to work on it. I have also wanted to play with my mulberry paper ever since I saw a tutorial on mulberry batik.

The main image is by Oogaloo designed for Studio G (purchased at Michaels about a year ago and never used until now). I watercolored it in using my watercolor wonder crayons. I also colored the mulberry paper using my watercolor wonder crayons. I wet the paper down and then added color slowly and then dried the paper using my heat tool. The deep plum ribbon actually matches so much better in real life -- my camera just did not quite capture the color right this morning. I traced around various circular items to create the faux stitched circles in the background. Then I pierced the stitching holes. I added the eyelets at the last second cause I thought it would add something and I think it works. The sentiment is stamped using my Karen Foster Snap Stamps - Mini Casual. It fit perfectly in the layered ovals.

I have been watching my little counter at the bottom and we are slowly creeping up to 100K visits. This post officially marks post 300 for me. I am hoping we can make it to 100K in the next week or so, so we can celebrate and give some fun stuff away!!! Thanks for visiting and commenting and making me feel like it is worth it to share my love of stamping! I appreciate each and every one of you!!!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Hello - BUSY BUSY BUSY

Just wanted to check in. I actually have not stamped at all this week. I have been busy working on centerpieces and table decor for a dinner at my church. Tonight is the big event, so I will set up, take some pictures and then post them for you to see tonight and tomorrow I plan to relax, do laundry (because everyday is laundry day at my house) and then stamp! See you tomorrow.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Manda's Mailbox Monday - I ACTUALLY DID IT!

I finally got published! I am so excited. You will find a card that I made published in July/August - The Rubber Stamper - it is the light blue alcohol ink one with butterflies. I am so excited to see my name in print. I am also excited because there are so many other awesome SCS girls in that magazine -- YAY! That was the most exciting thing my mailbox could have possibly held today! No new RAK's this week -- but I did send out about a dozen or so RAK's -- so check your mailbox, one could be coming to you!!!

I have accomplished one of my major goals for this year. I intend to keep submitting and see if I can get another piece published, but I am super content that I DID IT!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

FS19 -- Happy Fathers Day/ Baked Oatmeal Recipe

ALL YEAR CHEER -- I still cannot believe they are retiring the all year cheer sets. A week ago for the technique lovers challenge on SCS, I learned how to make an origami shirt . . . so I decided to use that for my Father's Day card. I used some SU designer paper. The colors are Brocade blue, Barely banana, and chocolate chip. I was going to use close to cocoa, but I found that the SU paper was not quite the right color to match perfectly, so I went with the darker brown that the dots in the argyle matched too. I stamped the background panel with SU Print Pattern background stamp (using chocolate chip ink). Sentiment is from All Year Cheer. Brads were added to jazz it up a little bit. The tie matches really well in real life and it is just a pop dot underneath the top part of the ribbon wrapped around. It was super simple to make and I think it looks good. I am pleased with my first origami shirt card. M really liked it too! I let the kids draw pictures inside of it for him and they both wrote their names. E even wrote DAD on the envelope all by herself. I was so very proud of her! The layout for this card came from another blog "Captain Crafter." He was this weeks featured stamper on Splitcoast. The layout was his "challenge card 15" but since I did not follow rule 4 and I adjusted the shapes slightly, I kind of failed the challenge, but the card is still happy and his original layout inspired me.

For M for breakfast I made baked oatmeal. It tastes like a warm oatmeal cookie with fruit. J woke up early, so he helped me mix it up . . . E stayed sleeping. The recipe came from Taste of Home Magazine Holiday Recipes - from last year:

Amish Baked Oatmeal

3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract

OPTIONAL: Warm milk, fresh fruit

DIRECTIONS: Combine the first 8 ingredients. Mix well. Spread evenly in a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Immediately spoon into bowls; add milk, top with fruit or brown sugar as desired.

Friday, June 15, 2007

A Thank You and Congratulations in One!

My friend found out that she is pregnant (a few months along now) and last weekend she babysat my children so that we could go sign the contract for our new house. It was super awesome of her to do that and she will never know how much we appreciate it. We figure if we had to pay a teen it would have cost us at least $30. Gift card ($30) is from motherhood maternity and a belly bar (think nutrition bar with stuff for preggo people). I made this card to go along with it. I hope she likes it!
Paper is by Sandylion Sticker Designs. Ribbons are SU, retired, rose grosgrain. Image was purchased at Michaels for $1 and sentiment is from SU "Swell News." Layout is by Cambria - her tri-fold card and you can find the full directions here.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

WT 117 - FLOURISHES

I decided to revisit the color challenge in my creating of this card. I really struggled and was not pleased with my previous results, but am pleased with this card! Anyway, background is stamped with French script. Sentiment is by Stampabilities. Flourishes are rub ons by American Crafts (and they match perfectly in real life). White strip is by Doodlebug Designs -- they are called "Paper Frills" and I found them at my local scrap store last time I was in there and thought they looked like something cool I could use. Stitching was done on a whim at the end and I think it adds something cool to the card. What do you think? Better than my other color challenge card for sure!!!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

My Andie McDowell Lipstick

I left J downstairs out cold on the couch. He was really tired when we got home today and I have been working, but listening for him -- well apparently he is very quiet because he came upstairs and had a surprise for me. He drew a picture and put on some of my lipstick! I just laughed and ran for the camera! I am sad that he chose that lipstick to do it with . . . but I think it is just too cute and funny and I am so glad I got some pictures!!!


Sometimes You've Got it . . .

and sometimes, you've lost it. Clearly, I am speaking of mojo here and clearly mine is LOST! I am not sure why, but these cards belong in card misfit land . . . they just did not turn out how I wanted them to at all . . . not bin worthy (aka, not complete trash) but also not my favorite (with the exception of the tile one, it is okay).

AUTUMN LEAF PRINTS -- This card was made for TLC120 -- which was making tiles. There were a few ways to do this. Here are my tiles. I did them on a diagonal using my scoring blade on my paper trimmer. I added white gel pen along them (grouting if you will) to make them pop because they got dark in color when I put the alcohol inks over the top. Simple layout, but I think it turned out rich looking. It is also cool because I used cranberry crisp paper, so not only did I use a retiring set, but retiring paper too! The only thing I would have liked to do differently is add crystal effects of something to make the tiles more glossy -- the glossy paper works, but it is not as realistic tile looking as some other techniques for making faux tile.

CHEESECLOTH -- This card was part of WT116 -- which was using chipboard. I realized that Jody sent me these awesome chipboard coaster circles and I had not yet used them. I have some cool ideas in mind -- but I thought I would try to use one on a card. I covered it with paper (which I have tragically not been able to find a scrap of to figure out who made it - I apologize). The certainly celery background was stamped in close to cocoa using the cheesecloth background. Both the sentiment and the flower are by Amuse Artstamps. I watercolored the flower in and then used stickles on top. Eyelets and brads were added, as well as the three different ribbons. I think it is a cool card -- kind of bulky though. Not sure.

TAG TIME -- This final card is like "what the heck was she thinking" and to be honest, I despise these colors together. I had such a difficult time trying to make them work. In reality, I think the layout is cool and the images work well with it -- but it totally needs to be other colors. I looked through the gallery for the color challenge and other people managed to make them look decent together -- but apparently, I am incapable of that because I think this card is YUCKO! Still, I thought I would post it for you all -- maybe someone out there will like the color combo? Who knows???

For the record - it photographed dark and the colors are cameo coral, tempting turquoise (optional), certainly celery, and chocolate chip -- NOT BLACK!

What's For Dinner Wednesday - Grilled Chicken and Ambrosia Salad

My OH MY! It's a hot one today. We have been busy busy too! I took the kids to story time at the library and then we went to the splash park again. They love it there and who am I to deprive them since it is free. We only stayed for about half an hour before the heat was too intense. Then we returned some jeans for my DH from Old Navy and headed home. J fell asleep in the car and is still crashed out on my couch. E is watching her princess movie from the library, so that gave me a couple seconds to check in.

With the heat so intense, I often find it so hard to feel like cooking/eating/moving at all -- so the recipe today is for a salad I made earlier this week, that we found on allrecipes.com, that the kids just love and it is perfect for hot sunny, I don't want to cook kind of days! Get your DH to grill up some chicken to go with it and it's a perfect little summer meal.

Ambrosia Salad

INGREDIENTS:
2 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
1 1/4 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cool whip

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, combine the oranges, pineapple, marshmallows and coconut. Add sour cream and cool whip and toss to mix. Cover and refrigerate for several hours.

NOTES & DISCLAIMERS: We added some extra fruit because we love fruit. If you are only so-so on fruit -- try one can of oranges, and a smaller size pineapple. Also, we used pineapple tidbits rather than chunks cause they are smaller and yummier *I swear that its true*

Monday, June 11, 2007

FS 18 - Sarah V (seewah on SCS)

REASON TO SMILE -- WOW! There are so many fabulous cards in Sarah's gallery -- but this one, which was square rather than the standard shape I outputted, was so simple and darling. As you know, I have been using my Penny Black stamps all the time lately, and with the catalog retiring so soon, I have decided to use only my retiring stamps for a bit -- one last *hurrah*, if you will. This set was a hostess set for SU! It was a level one and I have barely used it at all since owning it. I found this great paper I had from Hobby Lobby - by My Mind's Eye. It was so summery and vibrant. I carefully matched some SU papers (Taken With Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Green Galore) to the colors in it and then got to work stamping. THe butterfly is cut out and then popped up using pop dots. Also, some of the larger flowers on it are stickled. The buttons just seemed to work as the body. I paper pierced around the edge just to add something.

Must go now, laundry is calling my name (ugh, I need a weekend because this one went by WAY too fast *sigh*) Have a happy (or at least not painful) Monday! Oh and for some reason I woke up at 6 am -- darn that bright sunlight first thing in the morning -- it is CRAZY!!! Have you noticed it where you are?

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Little Kid Soccer - E's First Game



Little kid soccer was totally fun to watch. Seriously, it was a miracle if all the kids stayed on the field and even followed the ball at all . . . E made a new friend on her team and they spent a lot of time holding hands and giggling. They even had to be in goal together. It was hilarious! I think our team lost their first game, but I have no idea really because it was just too funny and I laughed most of the time. It was super early in the morning to be up and at the park -- since the game was at 8 am -- M is the coach, we had to be there for 7:45 -- which meant leaving home at 7:20 am on a Saturday *cries* It was worth it though to watch this action! E is in the pink shorts and I even managed to catch one picture where she was actually trying to kick the ball. *giggles*

Friday, June 08, 2007

Thank Goodness It's Friday!!!

I TOTALLY need a weekend. *Sigh* But alas, this weekend will be filled with stressful stuff like signing a contract to buy a new house and doing laundry and cleaning up a bit because we are having some guests over, and preparing a yummy dessert for said guests.

So last night we had bunches of fun! We went to a parents meeting for E's soccer league (our first time playing ever) and they were asking for a parent to volunteer as coach or else they would just have to refund our money -- well, M volunteered so that E could play, so he is now a coach of 3,4, and 5 year old boys and girls soccer. LOL! It is too funny to watch them. They all lack skills so much and are so emotional and such. Should be a fun six weeks. I promise to post some action shots at a later date.

I meant to stamp last night but after soccer and dinner out, I fell right asleep. So I got up early and stamped a bit. Here are the results from yesterday afternoon and early this morning:

FS16 -- This layout was inkspired by a card done by Kristin D (KED on SCS). She is also a blogger (Confessions of a Naptime Stamper). I just absolutely loved her layout so I copied some elements of it.

E picked out this house mouse stamp last time we were at Hobby Lobby. It is super cute. The background paper was just light and happy so I decided to use it and match the cupcake to it. The Happy Birthday sentiment is by Hero Arts and was small. Yep, that is totally the reason I bought it.

FS 17 -- This next card is one that someone so kindly stamped some images for me and I had them sitting around. Well with so many SU sets retiring, I decided to go through my unused images and start using them all up. I thought this paper worked perfectly with the DCWV textured white core card stock, and this layout was inkspired by Tosha (stamps4funinCA on SCS), who was mostly recently the featured stamper. I fell in love with her layout and encompassed some of my favorite elements in this card. I don't know how well you can see it, but I was excited to use my liquid applique on this chicken to make him all fluffy. The rest of him is watercolored using ink pads and an aquapainter. Oh, and I did DTP on the red card stock in timber brown -- usually don't do that technique, but I think it works here just fine!!!

Okay, so this one I kind of failed on. I made this for the limited supplies challenge (LSC 119) and while I did not use a large SU background stamp, I did *accidentally* and because it really needed it -- use itty bitty backgrounds. So, I failed on the challenge, but the card turned out pretty so I thought I would post it anyway, and I will try again later on. Sentiment is by Penny Black. Roses are from Watercolor Minis (SU) and the idea for this layout came from a little cardmaking club thing magazine that I got in the mail. It, of course, had used patterned paper, but I thought that the stamping worked just as well. I am actually pretty sad that Watercolor Minis is retiring. I actually really like it. I love how it looks cut out, and love all the sponging on this card. Not sure why, but it all just works.

Okay, off to be a mom and get some stuff done. I will probably post one more later, because I am determined to get that challenge right. Hope you are having a good Friday so far!!!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

SC127 - Get Well Soon Bella

Ahhh Grumpabella! Apparently she is under the weather so her grumpiness is acceptable . . . this time *grin* -- I loved this sketch, but I was having trouble with it the other direction, so I decided to turn it on its side and I am so glad I did. Paper (DCWV - as seen before on a cow card a few posts back) - was purchased at JoAnns. In fact, I was there today and considered getting some more of it because I really love how well it matches with the SU! colors. Get Well Soon sentiment was created using my Karen Foster Snap Stamps - (Small Casual) -- and I think I might just have to go get the size smaller of the snap stamps because I just love them!!! Background is stamped tone on tone with ballet blue (using the SU! Crosshatch background which is retiring). Primas were sponged with a bit of ballet blue ink to make them match more perfectly. Bella was watercolored using ink pads and my aquapainter.

What's For Dinner Wednesday - Rosemary Ranch Kabobs & Summer Corn Salad

Summer is here in full swing. We have been grilling a lot lately because the weather is gorgeous in the evening (nevermind the 101 degrees during the day) . . . so I decided to browse for some fun grilling recipes and test them out. Here are two that we have had recently and I plan to remake tonight:

Rosemary Ranch Kabobs

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

Summer Corn Salad

INGREDIENTS:
6 ears corn, husked and cleaned (I used 3 cans of corn here)
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, diced (I used 1/2 an onion -- I hate onion though - blech!)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook corn in boiling water for 7 to 10 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Drain, cool, and cut kernels off the cob with a sharp knife.
2. In a large bowl, toss together the corn, tomatoes, onion, basil, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Chill until serving.

What's For Dinner Wednesday - Rosemary Ranch Kabobs & Summer Corn Salad

Summer is here in full swing. We have been grilling a lot lately because the weather is gorgeous in the evening (nevermind the 101 degrees during the day) . . . so I decided to browse for some fun grilling recipes and test them out. Here are two that we have had recently and I plan to remake tonight:

Rosemary Ranch Kabobs

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

Summer Corn Salad

INGREDIENTS:
6 ears corn, husked and cleaned (I used 3 cans of corn here)
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, diced (I used 1/2 an onion -- I hate onion though - blech!)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook corn in boiling water for 7 to 10 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Drain, cool, and cut kernels off the cob with a sharp knife.
2. In a large bowl, toss together the corn, tomatoes, onion, basil, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Chill until serving.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Cosmo Cricket Play - Lena & Hans

I have had a long day! I started it off running errands and picking up drain cleaner, shower cleaner, and some other stuff we needed. My intention was to clean the bathrooms -- but I started to do a load of laundry and realized how much of a back log of clean laundry there was that was not getting put away that I went to the source, my closet, and realized it was not getting put away because the closet was a mess. SO, flash forward a few hours -- I gutted my closet onto the bed and I am slowly hanging things up and reorganizing and making it all nice and pretty -- but there is still a ton of crap on my bed. M will freak when he sees how messy it is -- but I decided there was no chance of getting it all finished before he gets home, so I took a break and stamped a card instead. *evil grin*

I stamped and colored some chickens and a cow (Penny Black) on a sample rectangle I had left of my Prism Papers sample that I got months ago. I was trying to find some paper that matched it and I came across some Cosmo Cricket samples that my old room-mate, Carrie, had sent out. The paper in the Dutch Girl pack matched perfectly (this one is called Lena & Hans and secretly that is what I am naming my chickens on this card) -- partnered with my real red card stock and sage shadow card stock -- the card was "mostly" complete. I played with some black with white polka dot sheer ribbon and found a pleasing way to layout the card. A final touch was to add the liquid applique on the chickens to make them "fluffy." The sentiment is one that I picked up at Michaels -- by jg demi for Studio G. It was just perfect for this card. The sentiment is popped up on pop dots! So, are you sick of the cows yet? I am just having so much fun with them, I don't know that I can stop -- maybe this week I will do a cow image giveaway so some of you can have fun too!

Okay, back to the closet cleaning for me *grumble grumble* Happy STAMPING!

Manda's Mailbox Monday - Pencil Over?

I got the most gorgeous card in my mailbox today! I was so excited. It has some pretty flowers and the background paper is to die for. I seriously love it. It looks like someone did the pencil over technique on it. Very cool! I need to know who this paper is from!!! Ooooh, and I have a major *love* for the white ribbon with white dots -- it gives me shivers it is just so beautiful!! This pretty little card is from Jennifer L in Townsend, MA (doodlepie-99 on SCS). She sent me a cute little note sending "inky hugs" and she is a blogger too. I had never been over to her blog before, but it is great! You can check it out as soon as you are done reading this post -- Doodleblog. I have another card that I need to post -- but alas, I put it on my desk so I could upload it today and naturally, it has disappeared -- so I guess that one will have to wait till next week. *sigh* The life of a messy crafter!

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Playing . . .

I had some more fun playing with my Penny Black stamps that I got. I absolutely adored this little cow with balloons and I thought it just had so many uses (birthday, thank you, congratulations, get well soon) that I just had to have her.

This image was so easy to color. I just added a little pink to her nose, ears and udder, and then colored the balloons using my ink pad and an aquapainter until I got the color I wanted for them. I tried to match the paper as well as I could. I just loved this background paper!

I tried a bunch of different ribbons to work on this card. I wanted some black gingham, but AMAZINGLY, I was out of it, so I was going to go with black rick rack until I came across this ribbon that I got from Jody and thought it would be perfect. Thanks Jody! I used my scallop edged scissors on the edge of the green to make it look all pretty and then I was trying to decide where to put the sentiment. I tried a little tag on the side, but it hung all wonky doodles because of the ribbon and looked weird. So, I decided to just go for it and stamp directly on the patterned paper. It was risky because I could have so easily messed it up (and I kind of did since it is not perfectly straight -- but it'll do). I am so in love with these cows . . . almost as much as I love the Bellas!!!

The second card I made was a quickie. I had these awesome Penny Black (are you surprised?) sentiments that I wanted to try with a floral background, so I stamped some florals from SU "Mixed Bouquet" in some old color challenge colors (see, it pays to be a slacker cause then you always have options), and then just adhered the sentiment to matching card stock and put it all together. I added the strip of black with white polka dot ribbon on just cause I am addicted to it and I thought it worked and added something to the card.

Oh and guess what else we did yesterday . . . M and I went to look at the house we are interested in buying and we set up an appointment to sign a contract next Saturday and we picked out our exterior color scheme. I am so EXCITED! We figured out that our back yard from the edge of the pre-poured patio to the back wall is about 60 feet and our lot side to side is about 60 ft, so my backyard will be 60x60. AWESOME! We currently have a small landing strip backyard (super tiny and not very useful) so I am so excited to have space to plant a garden, put a big playground hut in, and have grill space and socializing space. YAY! Here is a link to our floor plan for those of you who are interested in it: MANDA'S HOUSE. Oh and the other thing is we will be moving out of the "city" and more into a small town -- I am excited about this as we will still be close enough to the city to get everything we need (READ: the latest and most exciting stamping stuff) -- but at the same time, far enough out that we avoid city life and attitudes. They said 5-6 months from when we sign our contract, so M and I are furiously working on getting the current house prepared to sell, which is a lot of work since we have two little ones under foot. I just wanted to let you all know so that if you notice I am MIA, then you can guess that is where I am.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Penny Black Addiction!

I don't normally post on Saturday -- but I had to show you some of the work I made yesterday. I worked on two cards and they turned out fun!

WATERCOLOR MINIS/ AUTUMN LEAF PRINTS: This puppy card is my entry into CC116 on Splitcoast. I got this adorable Penny Black puppy in the mail today (and 6 other stamps -- shhhh- don't tell). I did some retail therapy the other day and it arrived! WOOHOO! I stamped the background with SU "Watercolor Minis" (retiring) using timber brown staz on ink on the chocolate chip card stock. I like the timber brown as it is just a touch darker than the chocolate chip. It is hard to see in this picture because I took this shot at night -- I will probably re-upload in the morning when I have better light. Everything else on the card is pretty self explanatory. The tab I punched and stamped with "hello" from Autumn Leaf Prints (*is sad that it is retiring*) Buttons are adhered using craft glue (fast drying super hold kind).

This second card is another image from Penny Black. I am seriously in love, *heart muchly* the whole Penny Black collection. This time I paired this adorable cow image with some paper by Die Cuts With A View. I love the colors on this paper. The colors used on the card are green galore, bashful blue, rose red, orchid opulence, pale plum. It is hard to see (I took the picture late at night) -- They are gorgeous. I watercolored in the flowers in the cows hooves to match the paper. The layout was totally "inkspired" by WAXYO -- Meg has this most wonderful gallery and this layout was no exception. I found this ribbon and thought it matched perfectly. I used my oval punch to create the tag that says SMILE! Oh and SMILE is stamped using my Karen Foster Snap Stamps Small Casual set. I added stickles to the flowers to make them sparkle (well, that and I am addicted to playing with stickles). All in all -- a simple, cute card!!! Tell me what you think?

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Friday, June 01, 2007

Fabulous Floral Friday - Something a little different

So last night I was stamping, with the intentions of doing some cards for today (Fabulous Floral Fridays), and then I wasn't really stamping at all -- I found myself sorting through all my SU sets and putting the retired ones into a pile to be ebayed or saved on a shelf because I just can't quite let them go yet. Well, after I got them all sorted, I decided that it would be fun to stamp with the retired ones (or rather, soon to be) since there were so many that I just know I am going to miss so much. All I can say is SU better have one freaking AMAZING catalog to replace this one . . . so anyway, I started to stamp and just let it flow, no restrictions and I came up with four cards, which all surprisingly involve flowers in some way, so I thought I would use them all in today's post as a farewell to some pretty awesome sets. No challenge today. I hope you enjoy them!

BLOOMING WITH HAPPINESS -- This set is just too pretty! I am sad to see it going. I started off this card by looking for some paper that would work with the flowers in the stamp (aka, looked similar). I found this Rob & Bob paper that I have had hanging around with me since El Paso (I think I may have been secretly hoarding it) -- I watercolored the flowers in the image after stamping it in staz on timber brown. The ribbon (pink) is from Hobby Lobby and I thought it added just a little touch of sparkle that made it pretty. I also used stickles on the flowers, as well as my trusty glaze pen by Sakura to make the flowers look "cool." The layout is my version of SC 126 and this card can also be filed under WT 115 because it is using the soon to be retired stamps. Stitching on the side and bottom were done with my white gelly roll pen. The ribbon behind the sentiment (brown) was already stitched ribbon. I used lots of sponging on this card which is not super typical of me, but I like how it works.

BECAUSE OF YOU/TINY TALK -- This next card was inkspired by a layout done by reneejul1 on splitcoaststampers. She was the featured stamper a week or two ago, and I have had this layout she did on my desktop since then. My panel on the front is a little bigger than hers was, but all in all, a similar layout. The patterned paper is by Bo Bunny and is called Harvest Blooms and is part of the Shabby Princess collection. I thought the flowers on the paper matched well with the flowers from SU "Because of You" so I colored them to match. The background is sponged lightly with timber brown staz on ink. The sentiment comes from another soon to be retired set SU "Tiny Talk." I went over the flowers with my glaze pen so they almost look embossed was well as watercolored. The ribbon is burgundy polka dot ribbon and matched just too perfectly not to use! I think this is my favorite card that I stamped last night.

BURST INTO BLOOM/TINY TALK -- This Bella image has literally been sitting on my desk, colored, all week long. I was waiting to feel inkspired to put her on something, and nothing was making me feel that way. Finally, last night I just decided to go for it, inkspired or not. I decided to try the technique lovers challenge "Wet Watercolor" -- I had never done this before, so I did not know exactly what to expect. I found my paper to be very absorbent and I had to "mist" it multiple times. The stamps I used are from a soon to be retired SU set called "Burst Into Bloom." I followed Beate's tutorial on SCS, but my results were not quite as pretty as hers. Maybe next time? Anyway, after the back panel was done, dried, smoothed out, I added a sheet of acetate over it to make it look more professional looking and then added black diamond stickles on the centers of the flowers just for fun. The sentiment here is from SU "Tiny Talk." The corners were faux stitched. On the ends of the sentiment oval, I used brads to adhere it to the card. It is kind of busy looking, but I like the brightness and I think it still works in spite. It was fun to play with this technique and I look forward to trying it another time. Hopefully the results will be more perfect -- not that I am a perfectionist!!! *innocent smile*

CUTE AS A BUG -- This was my final card of the evening which I completed at about 2 am. I was so tired. I decided to do simple crayon resist, but then the only white crayon I could find was this fat (think little little kids crayons) and broken piece of one. So I used that, but the results of the resist are not as awesome as I would have liked them to be. I resisted on the bees faces and wings. Then I sponged yo yo yellow over the whole piece. The bee on the scallop, I redid like 4 times -- I kept smudging it, or stamping it weird, or it just was not good enough. Anyway, this one turned out okay. He was stamped in black staz on and watercolored in using the ink pad and my aquapainter. Thankzzz was stamped in the corner, and the ribbons and primas were added and that was about it on this one. I was tired and it looked decent so I just stopped. The primas are secured with black brads in the center of each. The bees all have frosted lace stickles on them to add some glitter. I made faux mini eyelets using my paper piercing tool and by going around the holes, but I did not think about how it doesn't really work when you mount it on black. LOL! Oops. What can I say, I was tired. I think this card turned out cute though!