Banana Split Sunday!

It's great to be back after a week in California! CHA was amazing, and I arrived home exhilarated and exhausted all at the same time! I don't think I have ever been so tired!

New paper crafting and stamping products should be hitting the stores any minute and I can hardly wait to create with them, but as much as new *toys* might be *all that* they are not what made CHA the best week ever! The special thing about CHA is meeting friends and enjoying spending time with people who share your passion. I met so many of my long-time idols and beloved online friends...what a great week! I've never seen so much creativity and talent under one roof! If you're on Facebook you've probably been seeing lots of pictures...cameras were everywhere! I'm grateful for that, because I get so caught up in the moment I forget to grab mine!

Being so exhausted is a no go for the Mojo, but I still wanted to play this week's Banana Split Sunday challenge, which is to include hearts somewhere in the design. I had several scraps of Sugar Rush on my table (along with a huge heap of other stuff that I left in a CHA hurry), so I started there...the set I used for last week's challenge (Gunther's Greetings) includes a little heart, so I stamped several and cut them out to make a bouquet to add to the design of the printed paper. I added a few little dots with a white gel pen just for fun. The sentiment, perfect with these elements, is from the 2RB set, Quotes. For a romantic finish I added a big red bow embellished with buttons, including another heart.

Be sure to check out the Banana Blog for more inspiration! I hope to see you again soon!

What a Friend!

I love it when things just *come together* (are you singin' Beatles/John Lennon right now? LOL)! That is what happened while I was making this card!

I love music, so anytime I see music paper that I like, I buy it and stash it for future use. When Korin invited me to design using Melody of Love from Sweet 'n Sassy's January release, I knew there were plenty of designer paper choices already available to go with it. When I got ready to stamp, I just went to the file and pulled the one that best matched the other designer print I wanted to use. Love these vintage, golden colors!

As I was poised to cut, I looked down at the papers and stamps in my hand...a beautiful bird on the vintage print, the notes to What a Friend We Have in Jesus, and the sentiment, "Sing unto the Lord, all the earth!" I couldn't have chosen it better if I had done it deliberately and with much forethought. It was as if God had placed these particular design elements lovingly into my hands. I love those little "God Things" when they happen, and if you watch for them, you'll notice that they actually happen quite frequently! I do believe that God must smile down on us as we are happily creative, in His image.

Hope you're having a blessed day! My friend Latisha and I are enjoying our last day in California before making our way back home tomorrow, exhausted and happy after a week at CHA! Can't wait to share all the excitement with you, so I hope you'll come back soon!

Another birthday cupcake!

Here's another very quick, easy and eye-catching hybrid card using digital brushes from the {stamps} of Life. This one was fun! Well, they all are, but some are more fun than others! ;)

I *stamped* the brushes for each word on an individual layer in Photoshop Elements, which allows you to slide and flip things around until you find a look you like. For the cupcake, I used selections to add the different colors to each part of the image, using a gradient fill for the cupcake liner.

I love the boldness of the red and chocolate together. This gorgeous gingham ribbon adds flair to the simple design. I hope you like it!

Banana Split Sunday!

This week's Banana Split Sunday challenge is *Behind the Scenes* (a stamped background)! I must confess that I was stamping this card the day before leaving for CHA, so I stamped the foreground and used a piece of left-over designer paper *sky* for the rest, just to save time. There were a-million-and-one things to do that day, so I had to stream-line!

Love this cute furry friend and all the coordinating sentiments in Jami's set, Gunther's Greetings. I colored him with Copics, paper-pieced his scarf using a bit of Basic Grey Boxer designer paper, and placed him in a very simple scene with a paw-print stamped background and a nesties circle sun-shaped sentiment. The edges of the paper were given a quick sponging with Tim Holtz distress ink just to add a bit of dimension.

Hopefully this quick creation will bring a ray of sunshine to a friend when they're having a blue day.

Sunday blessings!

Make a Wish!

I thankfully have a little stash of cards that I made for the {stamps} of Life that I have not yet shared on my blog, so I will be sharing them with you throughout the week. I made them for the release at the beginning of the month (which means I'll have to scramble for the next release upon our return from CHA!).

How about a cupcake? When I first saw this Nook and Pantry paper I thought of sprinkles, so I just had to use it for the icing on this clear stamp from HappyBday2You, our featured January set. I used a Copic marker to shade a few pleats onto the cupcake liner, and to add a bit of variation in color to the candle flame. The rest is all traditional stamping and paper piecing. The little candle pick (you know those little things you stick in the icing to hold a candle...what are they called?!) is a flower from a new special release, Hello2You.

{mwah}

I'm back today with a finish for this week's OCL Spotlight Set of the Week, Hearts & Hugs. Today's card features CutCardStock burgundy card stock and Basic Grey Bittersweet designer paper in a graphic layout using several sizes of circle nestabilities. I kept trying to add embellishments but finally decided to keep it ultra simple and use only a few strategically placed pink pearls.

If you'd like to see more of the designs featured this week using Hearts & Hugs, visit the OCL blog!

We're on our way!

Today is Thursday, which means that Latisha and I are California bound, on our way to CHA! GIRL-TIME! This is gonna be such a fun trip! I thought that it would be appropriate to post something feminine, frilly, and flirty in honor of the occasion, especially since it goes along with this month's Dirty Dozen gallery theme!

This card is a very simple hybrid design. The sentiment was printed on white card stock using digital brushes from the {stamps} of Life. A strip of stitched Sugar Rush designer paper, a layered flower, some beautiful ribbon, and a lacy edge punch dress it up in classic fashion.

I have a few posts scheduled between now and Wednesday when we return. I am going to try to figure out how to blog from my Black Jack so that we can hopefully share some pictures while we're there. I am looking forward to meeting so many of you who are my online friends, and to sharing with all of you some of the paper-crafting goodness that will be coming our way in the next few months!

Luv U!

Here's another Hearts & Hugs Valentine that--with a change of designer papers and colors--could very well be an everyday greeting. Luv U is something you can never sincerely say too often!

Sassafras Lass' Lots of Luck patterned paper has an interesting zig-zag border along one edge, so I cut it off and used it as an intersecting design element. The silk flower ties the colors of the hearts and the border together and echoes the zig-zag edges...the stamped and Copic-colored line art reflects the shapes of the design within the patterned paper. I used the brown striped side of a second Sassafras print, Girl's Best Friend, as a mat for the busier pattern. The folds of white satin ribbon appear to thread through the flower to the sentiment, but the Luv U is actually stamped on white card stock.

Hope you're having a great Wednesday! One more sleep (if I can actually manage to tonight! I might be too excited!) and we'll be off to CHA!

You Old Dinosaur!

The {stamps} of Life design team was issued a challenge to *Mix it Up!* In other words, we were to use both digital and traditional stamping in our designs. What a really FUN challenge this was!

I used digital brushes to print a sentiment on the center of a rectangle of white card stock, then framed it with a row of traditionally stamped candles, strips of Basic Grey designer paper and a medallion, the center of which is simply a circle of matching designer print cut out and embossed with nesties. Altogether it makes a funny pun of a greeting!

I remember being 5 years old and thinking my mom was so old she was close to death...and she was only 35! LOL! My, how perspectives do change!

I don't suppose I would be brave enough to give this card to anyone *really* old! It will make a fun masculine birthday tease for just the right person! I do have one old dinosaur in mind! ;)

Here are the links to the designers sharing projects with you today (a few may have later posts)!

• Jeanne
• Jennifer
• Joana
• Vicki
• Stephanie

eta: Here's a link to a previous TSOL challenge card that fits today's challenge also!

ihp DT Challenge!

It's the first i {heart} papers design team challenge of the year, and we thought it would be fun to see what we each would do with a 4 x 6 CD case.

Have y'all been watching the weather?! I know that it's been really cold in lots of places, but there has been a spree of much colder than usual temperatures for Florida. It was in the low 20's each morning for the better part of a week, and the chill provided the inspiration for my calendar for the month of January. I chose a soft blue designer print from Colorful Christmas as a background of snowy winter sky for an icy bird bath. This sentiment seemed exceptionally appropriate! Torn paper edges build a fluffy snowbank at the bottom, and the candy cane grosgrain just makes it fun! These colors have been one of my favorite combos this winter.

Here's the February page with some of my new favorite paper, Basic Grey Sugar Rush! I adore this paper! I stamped a fun Valentine image from Our Craft Lounge's Wanted set and colored it with Copics. The wee heart reminder on the 14th is from Sweet on You (does your beloved need reminding? LOL!). The sentiment is stamped on a Fancy Tag and sponged lightly to emphasize the details of the pressure embossing. I finished with a teeny tiny bow.

On the back of each calendar page, there is a space for each date to write birthdays, anniversaries, or other occasions that are important to remember.

I'm trying to keep these relatively flat, so the layouts are fairly clean and simple. I did bling 'em up with a bit of atyou Spica sparkle, but that is practically impossible to catch on camera.

I will be adding pages to my calendar as the year progresses...I love the idea of doing it a little at a time as the months fly by! It will be cool to see the trends of the papercraft industry for 2010!

Here are the links for our ihp designers! Enjoy your visit to their blogs!

• Carolyn
• Cathleen
• Gretchen
• Kate
• Kendra
• Lori
• Lynn
• Megan
• Merry
• Tracy