Banana Split Sunday!

Today's 2RedBananas Banana Split Sunday Challenge is to use glitter...any kind of glitter...on your card! Isn't it appropriate, since I've just gotten back from Louisiana, to ink up Cajun Chicken in all his Mardi Gras finery and really glitz him up?! As much as I loved being there, I'm glad to be home. I took a few days off to rest and relax after the trip (and the bumpiest flight I've ever experienced), but I'm now working on getting back into the groove! Hopefully I haven't lost my Mojo!

I started out stamping Cajun Chicken with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored him with prismas and gamsol, then went over the top with a two-way glue pen and some loose glitter. I popped his nose and mask up, then the mask again over the top of that, covering everything with glitter and edging the mask with stickles. I gave his beads a coat of stickles too, in traditional Mardi Gras colors (purple for royalty, green for faith...I didn't give him gold beads because they would not show up well against his sparkly gold feathers, but gold is for wealth/power). I used some Studio G numbers stamps to stamp the clock face around him using Elegant Eggplant ink (The clock is not my original idea...Jami, I'm pretty sure you stamped one this way but I couldn't find it to link to it!).

I kept the sparkle going with the card stock too! This pearly green, gold vellum and dark purple were left over from some Epiphany cards I made a long time ago. I dragged out an old fleur de lis corner punch along with a Spellbinders' die to bring in more symbols of my Louisiana heritage.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! I hope you get to spend it with people you love doing things you enjoy! Maybe that would include a trip over to the Banana Blog to check out the team's cards and enter one of your own! One lucky winner will get her choice of one container of glitter, so get busy! I know you would love to win a little sparkle!

Heading Home!

We have had a wonderful stay in Louisiana...I'm so glad that we were able to be here during the time immediately after Dad's hospital stay. I know it was helpful for him to have his own live-in physical therapist/personal trainer during these early days after total knee surgery, and I hope that he will be able to continue his exercises and build on the progress he's made so far! He will have to be diligent and stay motivated because this kind of rehab is a long-term thing.

We're on our way to Lafayette to catch our flight to Jacksonville through Atlanta...so we're praying for traveling mercies as we go! Please say a prayer for my parents too! I'm worried about Mom being here by herself to take care of everything!

Next post will be from Florida! Blessings!

Sweet 'n Sassy CPS Sketch

I love a great sketch to jump-start a card because I am admittedly sketch challenged! Today's sketch at Card Positioning Systems, sponsored by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, was a fun one! I love circles, and this layout worked perfectly to feature a cozy teapot and a row of teabags in colors coordinating with Basic Grey's beautiful Rosenthal and Chantilly designer papers from the Porcelain collection. I have been hoarding these lovelies for a while and finally got brave enough to cut into them!

The images, from Sweet 'n Sassy's set Warm Up, were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and colored with prismas and gamsol. The steam was colored with a Copic marker. All of the edges were inked with Tim Holtz Distress Ink. If I could have, I would have given the teapot a little scalloped nestabilities border, but we're still away from home without a Cuttlebug, so that wasn't an option. Since the pattern is busy, I kept embellishments clean and simple with only a strip of stitched ribbon and a bow.

Color Dare 15!

I had the best time stamping Color Dare 15! This week's colors are Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, and Summer Sun! I just had to stamp Hawaiian Chicken enjoying the waves and a beautiful aloha sunset!

This was one of those cards that really came together fast! A rare occasion for me! The idea was immediately, clearly in my head and the execution of it was a little time consuming but quite easy.

First I colored sunset shades onto a piece of white cardstock, and blended with gamsol. I stamped and colored the surfer chicken the same way. For his surf board I colored in some stripes, then added a little definition with a white gelpen. I cut strips of Pacific Point with my mom's scallop edged scissors, and tipped them with some sea foam using white tube acrylic paint. This was only because I didn't bring my white craft ink with me, but I really like the texture of the paint...it is sheer in some spots and opaque and shiny in others and really did give the illusion of whitecaps spilling over.

I hope you like my card! Visit the Color Dare blog to see our DT's designs and then be sure to link yours there so we can see it! Riley is looking for additions to our design team...it might be you!

We Have a Winner!

Betty aka ZacksNana said...
Your card is wonderful! Love that kissing Sun in the Shades!!!!
May 2, 2009 12:00 AM

Warm congratulations, Betty!

Another DRS Cutie Pie!

I told you several posts ago that this sweet DRS Cutie Pie Kid instantly became my favorite, so you may be seeing alot of her! ;)

For this card, I stamped my Cutie Pie twice using Palette Noir ink, then colored her with bold colored prismas and gamsol. This has become my favorite technique as of late simply out of practicality. For a while I was busy with chaffeuring Matthew to and from play practice and then to and from his music lessons and testing. When that was over we flew over to Louisiana to help take care of my dad after his total knee replacement (we're loving Louisiana but kinda missing Florida too!). Prismas are a lot simpler to travel with than a whole bunch of ink colors! I brought along my prismas and SU markers, my *In* color ink pads and some Copics, thinking that would give me the broadest range of inks in the smallest amount of luggage space! So far it is working out great!

I would like to share another of my favorite techniques...adding dimension by popping up portions of the design (aka paper tole). It really adds alot of depth and makes a card look extra special! After coloring my two images, I cut out her skirt and balloon and adhered them with dimensionals on one edge only. For her skirt, the dimensionals are along the bottom, and the top edge is adhered with mono multi so that it looks flared the way an A-line skirt would be IRL. The balloon is the opposite, adhered with mono multi at the bottom and with dimensionals at the top.

The card was constructed using Paper Company Studio Celebration Dotted Stripe and Bright Stripe to bring out the colors of the image. I sponged the cut edges of the paper with white craft ink so that they matched the corners which appeared inked already. The mat was cut and embossed using scalloped rectangle nestabilities. (I actually made this card before leaving home, and I'll tell you now, it is my Cuttlebug and nestabilities that I miss the most!)

I really LOVE this paper and liked the way this combination came together. My birthday is just a few days before July 4th, and those of you with birthdays near any holiday know how the birthday festivities are sometimes swallowed up by all of the holiday celebrating. This card has just enough of a patriotic feel but not so much that it is overwhelming. Hehehe...I may just have to send one to myself! It's that big red dotted swiss bow that I really love!

Banana Split Sunday!

It's Banana Split Sunday at 2RedBananas, and today's challenge is *Pick a Color, Any Color*, which is to make a mono-chromatic card. I am glad that I brought a few scraps of this For Peep's Sake designer paper with me to Louisiana so that I could diaper this little cutie in a little gold plaid and color him up for a sweet baby card that would work for either a boy or a girl...what do you think?!

Between the lighting for the photo and the software used to edit it, the colors here (and the perspective!) are slightly off. The card base is actually SU's Barely Banana (perfect for our challenge, wouldn't you say?!) along with More Mustard and Summer Sun. I used some prismas and gamsol to color the wee chick, to shade the edges of the designer paper and his diaper. I shaded around him with a cool gray Copic marker and blender pen.

The white scalloped accent at the bottom of the card really helped to balance the white of the focal image, and that gingham ribbon was a perfect match. The prima also had the exact same colors...I added a smaller gold flower to the center, using a jewel-topped brad to fasten them together. A little mono adhesive around the edges of the brad helped the smaller flower's petals stay tight around the center.

Be sure to visit the Banana Blog for more inspiration! We would love if you would play along with us and upload your link to the Banana Blog's Mr. Linky!

More OCL

Several weeks ago I won a sketch challenge at Our Craft Lounge, and Granny's Support Team is the set I received as a prize...I love Granny and can't wait to try some of the new Granny sets that are soon to be released! If you haven't seen 'em, you have GOT to scroll down and make the rounds on the OCL blog hop that started yesterday! They are fabulous! Before you leave, be sure to enter the OCL blog candy drawing for the set I previewed, Sunkissed, that will remain open until Monday morning!

I actually started today's card as a combo card for the WT and LSC challenges, but didn't get to finish it until today. I love black, hot pink, and green together. In my opinion, black just makes everything look better! This set just makes me smile!

This is a very straight-forward card...the image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, colored with markers, pierced, and trimmed with a black punched edge, some BoBunny buttons/bling and a big black bow.

Glad you stopped by! Hope you're having a great weekend!

SNS Blog Hop!

OCL Blog Hoppers....go here...or simply scroll down!

I know you've had a great time the last few days during Sweet 'n Sassy's blog hop! If this is your first stop, then you need to check the sidebar at the right to start at the beginning! There are lots of wonderful creations and you don't want to miss a thing!

Red, black and white is a favorite color combo of mine, and my husband's heritage is Italian so it just seemed appropriate that I should make a picnic card for today! I love to picnic! I have a great crab salad recipe, and it is fun to pack up the basket with crackers, champagne, and strawberries for an elegant lunch.

I used The Paper Studio's picnic plaid, stamping the sentiment (Summer Sentiments) and a trail of ants (Summer Fun) directly onto the designer paper with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I added several layers of matting, some of it punched with my newest favorite punch from Martha Stewart. I tied on a sparkly black bow, then topped that with a small focal image of picnic flatware. The image was stamped in black, then colored over with a black Spica glitter pen to make it look shiny and glitzy like fancy glitter-flecked plastic partyware. It fits perfectly inside the small oval punch, and a scalloped oval and black mat give it a simple yet more finished appearance.

The inside of the card has a layer of white cardstock topped with a plaid accent. I'll have to take a picture to add in the morning since I forgot to do that earlier!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed your stay! From here, head on over to Tami's! Have a great time!

OCL Blog Hop

If you've been to my blog much at all, you know how much I love the stamp sets by Our Craft Lounge! As an i {heart} papers DT member, I've really loved showing off their fun sets! I was floored when OCL's very own Cambria Turnbow asked if I would be interested in participating in today's OCL blog hop! Are you kidding?! What a delight and honor! I'm so thrilled to be part of this!

Don't you just love this new set Sun-Kissed?! So many fun summer images that work perfectly for making cards, invitations, and scrapbook pages. I had a blast playing with 'em. I think we're all ready for the warm, relaxed days of summer! How about a chance to win this set?

I colored this flirty sun using prisma color pencils in hot shades of pink, red, orange, and yellow, blending the colors with a stump and some gamsol. I used some olive green on the grill (we had an old green one when we were first married!), adding a bit of orange and yellow heat-wave underneath and also under the handle of the lid. I carefully trimmed around each piece and popped 'em up on dimensionals.

I shaded around the sentiment with oranges and yellows, bordering it with hot pink and old olive mats in graduated sizes, off-setting the center and accenting the edges and the center of the -o- with hot pink kaiser rhinestones.

I would tell you the name of this pretty designer paper if I knew it myself! How embarrassing! I have searched high and low in my traveling stash for information about it...usually I keep the strip identifying the manufacturer, but I have found nothing in all of my scraps so if you know, will you please tell me!? I am at my parents trying to help take care of my dad since his total knee replacement, so things are a bit topsy-turvy here! I'm sure once I'm back home I can just walk right into the LSS and find it!

OK...for a chance at this great stamp set you must leave a comment here...and then you can visit all these fabulous stampers' blogs to see the sets they are previewing! You have until Monday at noon when the winner will be chosen, so make sure your comment includes a way for me to reach you if you're the lucky one!

Granny's Secrets - Diana Gibbs
Beauty and the Beach- Jeanne Streiff
Summer Sweets - Heather McNally
Bubbles - Nancy Morgan
Oceans of Fun -Valerie Stangle
Sandy Sunsets- Vicki Garrett
Coastal Wishes- Denise Marzec
Garden Thoughts - Lila Holgate
Mice Friends- Holly McMillen
The Tribe - Pam Hooten
Flyin' Birthday - Jacqui Lines
Let Freedom Ring- Marianne Walker
Bees Knees- Carol Halvorson
Nailed It -Debbie Corbari
Sunkissed - Deb Felts
Life's a Beach - Joy Kennedy
Bring on the BBQ- Cindy Lawrence
School's Out- Sherry Cheever
Bookworm - Kendra Wietstock
Swingin' By - Bethie Silaika
All About the USA - Roseanne Knowles
Dino-mite - Kisa Peters
Game On- Cambria Turnbow
Back 2 School- Amber Hillman

ETA: Comments are now closed and a winner has been chosen!