New Digs!

I am loving all the new OCL sets that came out during CHA! I wanted 'em all 'cause they're all so cute!  Here's a card made with New Digs. I just can't tell ya how much fun this was to color!  I used my Copic markers, a nesties tag, and some luscious faux suede ribbon.  These were odd colors to pair together, but I think it came out cute!  I hope you like it too!

Very Challenging!

Over at SCS, the Friday Limited Supply Challenge is being replaced by a brand new challenge called Friday Free 4 All.  It is going to be so fun, because it will be a surprise, a sort of "grab bag" of challenges that will vary from week to week...whatever strikes the host's fancy!  Like Forrest's mama says, "You never know what you're gonna get!"  My friend Wendy is hosting the first one today and I made a sample for her...she has asked participants to use colors that they don't frequently use, lots of texture, and for a bonus, patterned paper.

I found myself WAY out of my comfort zone as I made this card and I still can't decide whether to love or hate it!  When I began, I had my young friend Keri in mind (it's her birthday), who is a huge fan of purple, grunge, and ruching.  I went through my stash to find some purple patterned paper and came across this piece (from an old DCWV Old World pack) which has subtle accents of Apricot Appeal...now THERE'S a color I don't use often!  The paper looks like printed wallpaper with a bit of linen texture, which seemed perfect for Wendy's challenge.

I stamped the flower (from Lizzie Anne Designs March monthly mix, Lucky You) in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored it with Copic markers, then stamped over it with a stamped off (Close to Cocoa) linen textured background stamp.  I cut and embossed it with a petite oval nestability, then sponged the edges with both Apricot Appeal and Close to Cocoa.  Keeping with the *things I don't use often* theme, I added a clear apricot Making Memories flower brad just a tiny bit off-center.

I used the same method to stamp the linen background on each of the layers (SU's Lovely Lilac, Apricot Appeal and GinaK's Vibrant Violet), including the card base, the lace-punched mat and each of the layers with the exception of the patterned paper.  I lightly sponged the edges with Close to Cocoa ink to tone down the brightness of the card stock. The shiny satin ribbon was ruched Heather Pulvirenti-style...then I threaded some velvet through a hole punched in that layer to bring in still another texture.  Finally, I stamped the sentiment (from LAD February monthly mix, Singing in the Rain) in black ink on the card base.

While I am still undecided about my own opinion regarding this card, I think Keri will love it!  It is PURPLE and just quirky enough to be out of the ordinary (yes, even a bit strange and off-beat), and that, for her, is just perfect!  She likes to march to the beat of her own drum!  So happy birthday, my young friend!  Love ya!

Happy Cupcake Day 2 U!

Yay! I played another SCS challenge today! I started this card during my morning coffee, although between women's Bible study, and my afternoon Mom-chauffeur duties, I didn't finish it until it was dark already, which happened extra early today (about 4:15) because it's getting cloudy and going to rain again.  We have certainly enjoyed the last several days of cool temperatures and crisp sunshine.

This scrumptious stack of cupcakes is from Our Craft Lounge's set, Big Birthday Wishes, and it is a perfect partner for Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry paper.  I stamped my sentiment and image with Memento Rich Cocoa ink, colored them with Copic markers, then popped them up on dimensionals and gave the cherries a slick of Ranger Glossy Accents.  I added some Thicker letters, and a pretty chocolate satin bow.

This card makes me hungry just lookin' at it!  What a fun sketch!

Olympic Color Challenge

Most of my stamping lately is for design team work, and while it is ALL fun, today's card is purely for fun for today's SCS color challenge, the OLYMPIC Color Challenge EVENT!  I chose event 5, to use all five colors of the Vancouver Olympics logo plus neutrals, although the hues I used are loose interpretations!  I also included the dessert option of gold brads and some gold Stickles.  The cute images are from Asela's set, Dream Birds.  The sentiment is just perfect for this theme!

LAD Sketch

Mondays are sketch challenge days at Lizzie Anne Designs, and today's sketch is for a round card.  I love making round cards, and when this darling bee tree from the upcoming March monthly mix, Lucky You, arrived, I knew exactly what I wanted to do!  It's kinda nice that my card also qualifies for this week's Cupcake Craft Challenge, Friends!

I used a couple of sheets of Basic Grey designer paper to make the background for my little scene, stamping the leaves on a scrap of green to paper piece them.  The buzzing bees were colored with Copics and Spicas.  The tree trunk was stamped on white card stock with Memento ink, then colored with Copic markers, cut out, and adhered with dimensionals.  I used my nesties in combination with the coluzzle to make the layers for the base of the card.  Love the bright sunshiny feeling it brings!  Can't wait for spring!

DD/DDA and OCL

I have been AWOL from my blog for a few days, celebrating my son's 16th birthday and finishing my Spellbinders' submission.  Each of the 24 finalists were sent two dies and asked to make a 12 x 12 layout.  Mine included pictures of my SCS "family."  With the sale of SCS from NameMedia to Internet Brands and the news of the departure of both Daven and Jenn, finishing this project was a comfort and solace to me not only for the distraction of the activity itself, but because of the content.  (When the contest is over, I'll share my page with you).  I know in my head that SCS will still be home, but for my heart, without  Daven and Jenn (lovingly aka the Dirty Dozen's Fairy Card Mother), it will never be the same. 

This card is for today's Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni challenge, "Funny thing is."  We were to make a card that would make someone grin.  The required element was a sense of humor, and restricted element was rhinestones and similar blingy things.  For my stamp set, I chose OCL's Golfing Gramps.  I have always loved Granny, so it makes sense that I'd also adore her husband.  ;)

It is a BIG THRILL for me to announce that i {heart} papers is now selling Copic markers AND refills! I fell in love with Copics about a year ago, and have been slowly and steadily collecting ever since! I used G02, G05, G07 for Grandpa's pants and vest, C0, C1, C3 and C5 for his golf clubs, E33, E35, and E37 for his shoes and hair.  I am still collecting markers for skin tones, and am not very pleased with the options I currently have.  I tried to give him a bit of a sunburn on his cute little bald head!

My card also follows Our Craft Lounge's first Friday Sketch!  I thought it was kinda fun to use the numbers and houndstooth embossing folders with this image for the background elements of this sketch. You can find more inspiration on the OCL blog and then add your link to play along.

Lizzie Anne DT Sketch Challenge

The Lizzie Anne Design Team is hosting a sketch challenge this week...it's a fun peek-a-boo window card!  I decided to make mine the opposite of most cards, stamping the birthday sentiment (from Card Quotations) on the outside, with a cake cut from SEI designer paper for the window's focal image.  I cut a few stars from the paper for embellishing, and added a small medallion from a stamp in this month's mix, Singing in the Rain.  It's a simple card but I think it came out really cute!  It's nice that this design would work for a guy or a girl, too!

There's still plenty of time for you to play along with our challenge!  For inspiration, scroll down (about halfway) to the list of Lizzie Anne Design Team members in the sidebar.  Details of the challenge itself are in this post on the Lizzie Anne Blog.

Hop(e) for Haiti

 

I'm so excited and honored to be part of today's Skipping Stones Design’s Hop(e) for Haiti! If you just happened upon my blog, you’ll want to go back to the beginning at Skipping Stones Design. You should have come from Chel’s blog.

Here's what our hosts had to say about this event:

As a company, we wanted to do something to give back to the people who have been so devastated by the Haitian Earthquake. So we thought what better way than to invite some of our favorite stampers to join us in this cause. Each card you see on the blog hop today will be auctioned on E-bay with all proceeds going to the Red Cross in support of the Haitian Relief Effort (please check the Skipping Stones Design Website for the link to the auction). 100% of the proceeds of the Ebay auction and $2.00 from every stamp set purchased from February 16 - 22 will be donated to the Red Cross. We know that we can make a difference.

How about a prize? In addition to the fabulous eye candy, we have decided to hide a prize somewhere along the hop! There will be a few pre-release sets up for grabs hidden along the blog hop. The fun part is...we're not telling you who it is! So as you hop, make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!!

My card is made with the yummy special donuts stamp set and some new SEI Happy Day patterned paper...to me, any day with donuts is a happy day!  (Today just happens to be Mardi Gras, so it's your last chance for donuts if you're giving up sweets for Lent!)

Your next stop will be Jenny's.  If you get lost along the way, go to Skipping Stones Design or to Sparkle and Bling to find the master list!  Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you'll visit again soon!

TSOL DT Challenge

 

The design team for the {stamps} of Life was given a challenge by dt member Laura to make a card that could mail for 44 cents flat!  Of course, if you're into card-making, you recognize that that is a sort of pun, because to mail for only 44 cents, the card must pass through a slot that limits its thickness, so indeed it must be FLAT to pass the test!

Oh my!  What a challenge this was for me!  What!?  No buttons, bows or knots, bling, layers, or similar fun stuff that I normally like to use on my cards?  UGH!  ;)

How about some texture then, along with a cute Easter image, some really cute designer paper from the LSS and some zig zagging?  I stamped my image with Memento ink, colored it with Copic markers, cut it out and popped it up just a WEE bit (so as not to flunk the flat test).  Couldn't resist giving her a little bow-tied feathery hair-do (a stray white feather from one of our pillows that I tinted with my Copic marker.)  A scalloped rectangle for the sentiment, printed with TSOL digital brushes, gives just a bit more interest and contrast,  and the teeny tiny jute *ribbon/bow* should barely be noticeable as this card winds its way through the postal machine.

I showed this to my husband, and he wanted to know why did I color the chick pink.  "Don't you remember those little dyed chicks that you used to get for Easter?"  "OH!"  ;)  I haven't seen those in forever, but they sure do bring back some fond memories!  Guess I'm dating myself here!

Check out what Jeanne and Vicki have done for this challenge! Then feel free to play along with us!  Upload to the gallery on the {stamps} of Life website with the keyword TSOLD04. You really should play along because we look through The {Stamps} of Life gallery regularly for new guest designers. No tSoL stamps?  There are a couple of freebie digital images HERE!  I would love if you'd link here too, so I can peek at your design!

ihp Design Team Challenge

It's time for our i {heart} papers monthly design team challenge. This month we were sent some glittery Green Day Stripes designer paper, some green and white glimmer ribbon and a bit of green satin-edged organza.

I chose to make a St. Patrick's Day pocket card using Our Craft Lounge's set, Shamrock Blessings.  You can see the scalloped edges of the green card stock base barely peeking out from under the stamped border which defines the top of the pocket.  The glittered stripes of the patterned paper were the perfect width to mat and frame the border image, and having the stripes of the pocket going in opposite directions above and below the pocket draws attention to the unique fold.

For the insert, I used the flip side of the same paper topped with a rectangle of white card stock.  I used markers directly to the stamp to ink the sentiment for the top right corner, then stamped off a four leaf clover and added a single tiny GREEN (why does it look red?!) rhinestone to its center.  The tab pull on the opposite corner is both functional and decorative.


It is so fun to see what the rest of the team has created using the same materials!  Here are their links.

Carolyn
Cathleen
Gretchen
Kate
Kendra
Lori
Lynn
Megan
Tracy

St. Patrick's Day is a month away, just enough time to make and receive your order, finish your cards and get them on their way!

More Lizzie Anne!

I'm still having a blast stamping with this month's Lizzie Anne Designs' Monthly Mix, Singing in the Rain, but today I'm excited to give you a peek at the cover sheet of the March Mix, Lucky You! Unfortunately there was a quality assurance issue with its manufacturing and so the plate was sent back to be revised, but as soon as the stamps are available our design team will be happily, busily stamping some samples! Don't all these images look so fun and cute!? Can't WAIT!

Today's card (using an image from the February Mix) was stamped with Memento, colored with Copics, and placed on a simple layout using a scrap of old DCWV sparkle DP. The ribbon is yummy silk from i {heart} papers, which is currently on sale 50% off!

Hope you have a great President's Day holiday! I'm looking forward to going to pick up our boy from his NC ski trip. I'm sure he'll be wiped out and hyped all at the same time...can't wait to hear about his adventure!

eta: Just checked today's CAS challenge on SCS, and I'm so happy to say that I think this card qualifies, although the layers may make it a teeny bit of a stretch! I am *so* looking forward to Spring! ;)

Remembering...

So many wonderful memories of Valentine's Day! It has been a day of romantic celebration, whether or not my Love and I are together. As the wife of a Navy man, I have spent many Valentine's Days alone counting the days until we would be reunited! This year we are very happy to be together, and alone at that! (Our son is on a ski trip with the church youth group, returning tomorrow evening).

On this day in 1994 I was pregnant, and Valentine's Day was my due date...Matthew was born four days later, and I remember spending those first few weeks cradling him in my arms for long hours as I sat and watched the Winter Olympics between naps and feedings. Seems so long ago, but Valentine's Day and the Olympics still bring back such sweet thoughts! Today Patrick and I are watching the Winter Olympics together, hoping that Matthew is having a great time on the ski slopes of North Carolina!

This simple Valentine card was inspired by today's SCS featured stamper, Laurie, aka HamiltonGal. I loved the clean lines of her 15 minute card, and made it my own by replacing the scoring with layers, changing the colors and the images. The stamps I used are from Lizzie Anne Designs' January Monthly Mix, From the Heart...paired with yummy pomegranate retired ribbon, ink and paper from Stampin' UP!

I hope you're having a wonderful day! Take some time to give a little love! What goes around comes around! {{hugs}}

Eggstra Special

Yeah! I finally got to play a challenge! My friend Wendy is hosting today's Limited Supply Challenge over at SCS...and her challenge is to be inspired by the presidents since this weekend we're celebrating President's Day.

My card is in honor of President Rutherford B. Hayes, who brought the tradition of egg rolling to The White House! Back when Matthew was three or four years old, our play group participated in our own version of the event! It was SO FUN! I will have to see if I can find a picture to share! The kids were so adorable!

I am really enjoying coloring the fun images in OCL's Hippity Hoppity! I used my Copics to color, then cut and embossed the image with smooth and scalloped oval nesties...the tag sentiment is laid over some beautiful green satin ribbon and has a little snail from the same set to add just a bit more interest. A simple, bright card for Easter. LOVE this season, can't WAIT for some warm spring sunshine!

Warmest Wishes

Since Valentine's Day is near and Spring is coming, I decided to make a wedding card...I usually try to keep an assortment of cards of varying themes on hand "just in case," and had nothing at all for this particular occasion.

LOVE this beautiful cake from Our Craft Lounge's set, Bird and Groom, available at i {heart} papers. This set is cool because you can dress it up or down, elegant or cutesie, as the name of the set suggests. I colored my images with Copic markers, then cut and embossed it with rectangular nestabilities. I trimmed the edges unevenly, folding the card in landscape orientation and giving the opening edge a scalloped border. Love that big white bow that peeks from the bottom of the inside! (Those of you who know me know that I'm into all that symbolism!). I love the formality that the contrasting gray brings to the bright pink, along with that pretty bauble.

I'm working on more cards with Our Craft Lounge's CHA release, so I hope you'll come back soon!

Old Friends

I absolutely love the vintage, sorta shabby-chic look, and these Lizzie Anne Designs images are just perfect for it! They are both from February's monthly mix, Singing in the Rain. I used several coordinating prints from TCP Studios Ancestral Pocket Watch line, along with a lot of Tim Holtz distress ink, even on the American Crafts grosgrain ribbon.

Take a look at Lizzie Anne's Sketchbook for lots of ideas on how to use the stamps in this mix, or any other of LAD's images. It's a great resource!

Hoppy Easter!

This cute Hippity Hoppity froggy with his bunny ears costume just makes me giggle he's so CUTE! I paired him with some bright papers (Abbey Road Whirlybird Sunshine Girl, Stomp Rock On Tadpole, hehehe how appropriate! and Ooh La La), some trim that just looks like Easter eggs to me for some reason (although you can barely see it here!) and then added some amphibious texture to the background just for fun! It may be a little strange but I think it came out kinda cute!

I colored him with my Copic markers, then went over the egg with a clear Spica pen (I *need* all those Spica colors!)...wish I could catch that sparkle, but I just couldn't get the right angle! I used square nesties to cut, emboss, and mat the image, ovals for the egg, and a tag for the sentiment.

I think this little fella is gonna be one of my favorite Easter images. We used him for the Our Craft Lounge make-n-take in the booth during the CHA Tradeshow. So adorable! He's really cute if you sparkly-fluff his bunny ears!

Wooohoooo! Geaux Saints!

Sorry! Couldn't resist! The Cajun in me just jumped right out! :)

Banana Split Sunday!

Valentine's Day is just a week away, so it is nice that today's Banana Split Challenge, Be Mine, offers you another opportunity to make a last-minute Valentine! While you might have that one special someone that you design an intricate, more time-consuming gift for, Valentine's Day is one of those holidays when you might need multiples, so something fast and easy is a good thing! Besides, it is kinda fun to make something fancy and romantic for your love, and then something cute and fun for your little loveys. ;)

Today's card features Fancy Pants coordinating two-sided designer prints: Dancing Girl (dots/roses), Hip Hop (stripes) and Ballet (hearts). I grabbed these fun Valentine papers and a sketch from September 2009 Card Maps to construct a card that took about 15 minutes to make. A few stitched edges, a bejeweled nestabilities fancy labels sentiment, a little sponging, a pretty bow, and it was a done deal. I think this will be the perfect Valentine for sweet Ashley, the darling girl I'm mentoring for confirmation this year.

Visit the 2RedBananas Store, then come to the Banana Blog to play along with our challenge each Sunday. The design team girls in the Banana Bunch always post inspiring cards to get you motivated to create. ;)

Happy Chickadee

I am lovin' this cute little chick from the {stamps} of Life! Stephanie's sets are so fun to use because they are all interchangeable, and this card is a great illustration of how that works! The outline for this chick's body is part of this month's release (Eggs4Easter)...you can color him in with Copics (as I did in another card, here) or you can two-step stamp it using the large balloon from HappyBday2You upside down for the solid color of his body. How cool is that?!

The sentiment is a combination of words from Eggs4Easter, HappyBday2You, and images from QuickHi. I love that some pretty patterned paper, a little bit of bling, and a strip of ribbon combine to make a quick, cute card.

Today the {stamps} of Life is sponsoring Crazy4Challenges! With Valentine's Day just around the corner, this week's theme is Be My Valentine. Be sure to play along, because one randomly chosen winner will receive either 2 clear sets OR 5 digital sets from the {stamps} of Life! Visit their blog to see a few Valentines made by our design team...and then get busy!

Sweet!

It's February (I can hardly believe how fast the year is flying by!) so it is time to make sure you're all set for Valentine's Day! Here's a remake of a store-bought box of chocolates, using Lizzie Anne Designs' Simply Singles image of the same name.

This month's Lizzie Anne newsletter includes a tutorial for making this sweet little gift. If you have not yet signed up for it, you can do so here!

Hope you're having a sweet Tuesday!

ETA: Lizzie Anne's Valentine's Day and Love-themed stamps are on sale 30% off through MONDAY, February 8th, only!

Wishing for Spring!

How about a cute new set from The {stamps} of Life?! Introducing Eggs4Easter! I stamped these cute little chicks with Memento ink and colored them with Copics. The sky was sponged with a scalloped circle punch as a mask. I added a big frou frou bow with a scrap of orange silk, a button and cording. Fast and fun!