A Busy Evening

Well I have been really busy this evening.  I have made my November ATC for my swap and designed my cards for my workshop next week.  It was a productive afternoon but I still have a lot more to do. 

I have been wanting to design my ATC and had actually planned it out in my head while I was walking.  Once I began to put it together I did not like how it was turning out so I went in an entirely different direction.  I still have another ATC to do for another swap I joined.  I have it planned out also unless my original plan doesn't work out and I have to go off on another tangent.  So here is my ATC.

Stamps: Merry and Brights Paper: Handsome Hunter, white Ink: Encore Silver, Handsome Hunter Accessories: Basic Black marker, Handsome Hunter brad, snowflake punch, white with silver trip ribbon (Michael's - just got this at 50% off), organdy ribbon (JoAnn's - just got this also), Spica glitter pen, aqua painter, sticky tape, crystal effects, dimensionals

This is a cute little ATC.  I think the ladies who get this will like it.  Well it is time for me to get to bed (I am actually scheduling this to be posted later this morning - it is actually 1:30 am).  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Falling Leaves

Have you noticed the colors on the trees lately.  Here in Hollywood, Maryland the trees in the back of my house are a gorgeous red and yellow and with the wind we have had the last few days the leaves have been blowing all around.  That is what inspired me with this card.

I used a new patterend paper from my stash and really like how it looks like a fence on the card.  This whole card just kinda fell together but looks so good finished.  I began with Amy's sketch for the layout.  I then chose the patterned paper.  In looking at the sketch it had a strip going across the top and bottom piece.  I had some ribbon with pumpkins on it and decided to use it.  To match the ribbon I used the Fall Whimsy (retired) to go with the ribbon.  I needed another strip right above the patterned paper and found a scrap of gold organdy on my desk.  Liked how it looked but wanted to camouflage the edge of the patterned paper.  That's when I spied my chocolate chip organdy.  Decided to use both ribbons but over lap them so you could see both ribbons.  I love how it turned out.

I stamped my pumpkin and leaves but felt it needed more color so I pulled out my aqua painter and began watercoloring.  This is a great way to add color and still be able to see the details of the stamps.  After all my stamped images were watercolored I then cut them out.  Now it was just a matter of  layering all the pieces on the card.  Here is the sketch and my gorgeous card!

Stamps: Fall Whimsy, Small Script (both retired) Paper: Very Vanilla, DCWV paper stack Ink: Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Garden Green, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red Accessories: Spica glitter pen, pumpkin ribbon (JoAnn's at end of season last year), chocolate chip and gold organdy (cc - online store don't remember which one, gold - free bee from Ellen Hutson when I ordered from her), sticky tape, dimensionals

You probably can't tell from the photo but the pumpkin and leaves are all glittery.  Today I will be working on some other fall cards so you will have wonderful creations (LOL) to look at.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

I found some blog candy

Hey Ladies I found some great blog candy tonight. Michelle at Twisted Chick Creations has some great blog candy she is giving away. She also has fantastic sale in her store if you are interested. Check her out!

Mojo Monday strikes again

Well I have switched gears. I am now making some fall cards so that I can have some to mail out to my friends. In about 2 weeks I will switch to some Thanksgiving cards so I have those ready to go. I do need to get a turkey stamps (can you believe I do not have a turkey stamp in all my stash) though. Does anyone know of a cute one I can get? I also got a new toy to play with. If you have followed my blog I mentioned I wanted an alphabet set that you could snap the letters together to make your own sayings. Well the Just Right Stampers have what I was looking for. I ordered the wooden circle and the small font set and used it to make the saying on today's card. The font is really tiny so I am going to have to get another font set in a little larger size. I had fun playing!

I went through all my paper this morning and pulled out all the ones that could be used for fall cards. I have so much paper and I can't wait to use some of it. I decided to use one that I have used a few other cards. I also saw some awesome things being done with the Cuttlebug and embossing folders. You have to go to Jay's blog to check out what she has done (she even has tutorials for you to learn how to do all the amazing things she does). She definitely inspired me to try some new things so be looking for them.

Julee has given us another great sketch. I decided to do some embossing on the background of this one and then used my gold pad to gently swipe over the embossed swirls. Love how it turned out. On a few of the other blogs I read I saw where they were using the punches in the same size and staggering them. I did the same on this card using the small oval punch. Like how it turned out. I know you are just dying to see my card so here is the sketch and the card.

Stamps: Fall Foliage (retired), Just Right Small Font Set Paper: Brushed Gold, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Very Vanilla, DCWV paper stack for PP Ink: Creamy Caramel, Encore Gold, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust Accessories: small oval punch, Cuttlebug swirls embossing folder, ribbon (JoAnn's last year at end of season sale), sticky tape, dimensionals

You have got to check in tomorrow. I made the cutest card that I will be posting! Thanks for looking and have a great afternoon!

A quick card

Well this is the last week for Halloween cards. As I was addressing my final mailing this morning I realized I was short 6 cards. I thought, what am I going to do on short notice? I then remembered I had some preprinted cards I could use. I pulled out my stash and found these black striped ones. Great! Now all I needed to do was stamp an image, mount it add some ribbon and I was done. I had my 6 cards finished in 30 minutes other than letting my crystal effects on the ribbon drying.

So I addressed my envelopes while I was waiting for my crystal effects. Put all the cards in the envelopes, sealed them, and put the stamps on. Then it hit me. I hadn't taken pictures to post. So, needless to say I very carefully opened 2 envelopes back up so I could take pictures. I'm sure the recipients won't mind when they realize their card is posted on the blog for the world to see. These cards saved my day! Here are the two cards I made.

Stamps: Spooky Swirls (TAC) Paper: preprinted cards (bought them on clearance from LSS), green galore, white Ink: Basic Black Accessories: ribbon (bought on clearance last year from JoAnn's), dimensionals

As you can see these cards were super simple and quick. One of my friends Sandy (Hi Sandy!) doesn't think you can make a card in 30 minutes. Here is proof for you Sandy that it can be done. Hope you give a fast and simple card a try. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

2 Challenges - 2 Challenges - 2 Challenges in One

Okay, I'm showing my age now.  When I typed the title all I could think of was the old commercial about the breath mints that went "2 Mints - 2 Mints - 2 Mints in one!".  Now I can hear the slogan being said but can't think of the mints it was for.  Anyone know the brand of mints (it will drive me crazy until I figure it out, lol)?

As I was blurffing the other day I saw 2 blogs with challenges.  The Mothers and Daughters blog has a "Puttin on the glitz" challenge.  You were to create a fall card and incorporate a glittered element.  Natasha's blog Clean and Simple has a sketch challenge.  I decided to create the fall glittery card using the sketch.

I used my Versamark and Stick it powder to make my glittered leaves.  I also used 3 different organdy ribbons as 1 did not show up well on the card.  The sentiment was stamped using a Kaleidacolor pad.  I'm not sure you can tell from the picture, but the card is really glittery.  It was a simple layout and since I hadn't used my glitter in a while it was fun.  Here is the sketch and the card.

Stamps: Fall Whimsy (retired), Curvy Verses Paper: Very Vanilla Ink: Autumn Leaves Kaleidacolor, Versamark Accessories: Stick It embossing powder (Stamp It), Copper Canyon - Hot Lava - Persimmon - Pumpkin Art Institute Glitter (Jody's online share), organdy ribbon (thank you's from online orders at Ellen Hutson)

So what do you have planned for today?  I hope you get some time to create something.  I am hoping to spend some time in my stamp room today also.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Bump in the Night

Well I am still making some Halloween cards (I did sneak in a fall card that you can see tomorrow). The Penny Black blog has a challenge and call for new design team members. I have always loved her stamps (especially the hedgies and the cats). They are so much fun to work with. This week you had to make a spooky card or creation. It is hard to make a spooky card with her images. This cat in the pumpkin was just too cute not to use. I also used my plaid set to create the background. I also did some color blending to add some depth. I think the ribbon adds just the right punch to the overall effect. Since I did not have a boo stamp that was small enough I used my alphabet set to stamp it. I also used some more of the glitter dots (I love these and will definitely have to get some more. Well enough with the chit chat, here is my card (I think it is just too cute, but may be just a little prejudiced).

Stamps: Beware of Cat (Penny Black), Perfect Plaids and Classic Alphabet (both retired) Paper: Basic Black, Gable Green, Only Orange, white Ink: Basic Black, Blush Blossom, Creamy Caramel, Garden Green, Green Galore, Only Orange, Pretty in Pink Accessories: Summer Sun marker, ribbon (Michael's), glitter dots (Gina K Designs), aqua painter, sticky tape, dimensionals

Isn't this just the cutest card. Hmmmm, I wonder who will get it in the mail? Thanks for looking and have a great evening!

Guess what I've been doing?

You will never believe what I have been doing today. I was checking out my blogs to day and 2 of them posted a challenge today. A recent blog I discovered is Cuttlebug Challenge where they post weekly challenges to create cards or projects using your cuttlebug. On Friday the post was to make Thanksgiving Basket and they provided you with some awesome directions. I decided to give this a try so I began by making a sample with white cardstock. Since I wanted to create easy directions (just in case anyone wants them I can create a tutorial) I had to modify their directions.

I wanted to use a yellow for the basket and saw my Marigold Morning paper and decided to use that. I was looking through my Cuttlebug embossing folders and saw my Distressed Stripes and thought they would look cool on the side and look a little like tree trunks. I cut my paper and embossed it and brayered Creamy Caramel on it to highlight the stripes. Now the fun begins with the decorating. While looking at my embossing folders I ran across my Leaves dies and decided to use them. I cut them out but wanted to give them some character so I smashed the leaf in my Versamark pad then using a paintbrush I brushed on some Pearl Ex in random spots. I then used my heat gun to dry and set the Pearl Ex. I realized the leaves had some dots of Versamark ink from the smashing that dried darker when I use the heat tool This gave the leaves some depth and was a surprising result. I'm not sure you can see the leaves to see the sparkle and depth but they are really cool in real life.

The original basket had a handle but I was not sold on adding one. I decided to see what it would look like if I used some ribbon to decorate the sides. I again went searching in my ribbon stash and found this copper ribbon that was wide and had wired on the edges. I started twisting and playing with the ribbon on the box and like the look so decided to go with it. I will say adding the ribbon took some time as I had to use my Crystal Effect to attach the ribbon to the box so I would be sure it would stick. That meant gluing the ribbon on one side and placing something heavy (in my case I used my stapler) on the ribbon to make sure the ribbon was against the side of the box as it dried. Once the ribbon had been applied to all the sides I was ready to decorate with my leaves.

Since I had my pattern done and put together I decided to go ahead and decorate it also. I used the Holiday Traditions paper to decorate this one with a tag. I added a Snowflake garland as a handle on this one for some variety. I am thinking these would be great to put a votive candle in, some travel size hand lotion, or any other small gift you need to give to someone. The bus driver or mail lady came to mind as these would be nice for them. Since I also read the Our Creative Corner blog when I checked out their challenge for the upcoming week they had a Handmade for the Holidays challenge. This challenge was basically open ended so these 2 projects can be used for both challenges. I love when that happens. So, are you ready to see the boxes? Here they are and I know you are going to think I am so creative but it really wasn't hard. Give it a try and see what you can make.


















Stamps: Happy Winter (retired) Paper: Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel, Marigold Morning (retired), Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, white, Holiday Traditions DSP Ink: Creamy Carmel, Old Olive, Versamark Accessories: Cuttlebug Distress Stripes embossing folder, Cuttlebug dies - Leaves, small and large tag punch, scallop edge punch, Pearl Ex, copper ribbon (Offray outlet a few years ago), brayer, white brad, Snowflake garland (Merry Minis - Michael's last year at end of season) crochet thread, paintbrush, sponge dauber, crystal effects, Zots, sticky tape, dimensionals

Which one is your favorite? I'm off to check out a few more gift ideas I ran across. I saw a really cute tag project that I am going to try. Thanks for looking and I hope you have a great evening!

I need you opinion

I have participated in Amy's sketch challenges a couple of times.  She is looking for new members of her design team if you are interested.  The details are here.  Here current design team has a color challenge challenge going on right now.   When I saw the colors I thought of the wedding card I made a few weeks ago.  I had entered a blog give away on  Stacey King's blog and won.  She sent me some cute gift tags that had this flower on it.  I thought it would make a cute flower for this card.

Once I decided to use the flower, the rest of the card just came together fairly easy.  Once I got the flowers put together and laid out on the card the card just seemed to say Christmas.  I then went with the Christmas theme for the embellishments on the card.

Now I need your help (Sandy, I'm talking to you as you always tell me your opinion) :).  I had the card all made and the ribbon in the top corner (yes, I am still on my angle theme) seemed to need something.  I tried tying a bow but didn't like the look of it.  I then put a folded ribbon together and laid it on the card.  Not sure if I like it.  What do you think?  Which card to you like, the first one with no ribbon or the second one with the folded ribbon?

Stamps: Cute Converse (retired) Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, white, vellum Ink: Bravo Burgundy Accessories: Bravo Burgundy - Old Olive - Sahara Sand markers, ribbon (Pink Hedgehog), tag punch (Sizlets), gold braid, Bravo Burgundy & Marigold Morning brads, 5 petal flower punch, stylus, sponge, sticky tape, dimensionals

I really like this card and I may make some more for my Christmas cards this year.  Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

A helpful lady

I have been looking at the Just Right stamps for some time. If you remember I mentioned in a previous post that I would love to have a set of letters that lock together to make my own saying. I read Taylor's blog and she also has an online store. I e-mailed her and she was so helpful in explaining exactly what I wanted. She has helped me several times in the past also. . She is an awesome lady to work with and she has a beautiful set of Christmas papers that she has in a kit. She does a weekly sketch challenge and has some great cards on her blog. Check her out!

The Mummy Made Me Do It

Sorry about the title but I just couldn't resist, it just popped into my head.  I have another cool Hallweeen card for you.  I know you are wondering when you will see some fall cards, but don't fret they will be coming soon.

I am sad to say there is very little of this black and white paper left.  I have other black and white and I have really liked including that paper in my cards.  I think I will be adding it to my cards quite a bit from now on.  What do you think, should I keep adding it?

Let's look at today's card.  I have very little of this violet patterned paper left from Halloween Nights.  It is one paper that coordinates with Vintage Violet (yes I still have some of the 2006 paper left). When I looked at my Hallween stamps I realized that I had hardly ever used the mummy and thought it would be a great image to go with this paper.  I thought he really needed to have wiggly eyes so I added them also.  Naturally it needed some bling so I used the Stardust gel pen to dot the outside circles as well as the black ones on the Halloween Nights DSP (the angle of this shot lets you see some of them).

I used Jen's sketch for this card.  It was a fun sketch.  I also have tons of eyelets and hardly ever use them.  I thought this card would be a good one for some of those.  I even have eyelets and brads in the In Colors so I need to use them on my cards before my paper is all gone.  I liked the way Jen's card used 2 papers and had them catty cornered.  I had a fun time getting the sizes for the layout.  I was lucky in that I had cut my paper larger than needed each time so I was able to cut it down without wasting the paper.  Here is the sketch and my card.

                                           

Stamps: Booglie Eyes, Halloween Backgrounds Paper: Basic Black, Vintage Violet (retired), white, Halloween Nights DSP, black and white (not sure where I got it) Ink: Palette Noir Black Accessories: black and vintage violet eyelets, wiggly eyes, Sakura Stardust gel pen, dimensionals

Well I still need a few more Halloween cards so you will get to see my gorgeous creations a few more times.  I have a few more challenges I want to do so don't be surprised if I post again later today.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Vintage Verve Violet

There was a midweek challenge on Our Creative Corner this week.  You had to create a card using the vintage values technique.  This is a really cool technique and was a bit easier than I thought.  The entire technique reminds me of cards that Michelle creates.  While Michelle uses the brayer to create her effects, this technique uses a sponge.  I did have to modify my technique as when I sponged toward the center I wasn't getting any color, so I started at the center and worked my way towards the outside.  I'm wondering if I used the Ink Blending Tool by Ranger if it would have worked better.  After doing this I will definitely be using this to create some backgrounds for other cards.

When I first thought about doing this challenge I was thinking of doing another Halloween card.  Thinking I was going to do a Halloween card, I chose purple as the color to go with.  I used Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lilac, and Elegant Eggplant.  I started in the center with the Almost Amethyst and dragged the sponge toward the outside edges.  After doing this all the way around the card, I repeated the same procedure with Lovely Lilac but this time I started closer to the outer edge.  When that color was applied, I then repeated using Elegant Eggplant and started really close to the outer edge of the cardstock.  This technique gives you a gradient of color from light to dark. 

Once that was done, I was ready for my main image.  I sat staring at the cardstock and realized my original idea of a Halloween theme was not going to work.  So I went to my bookshelf of stamps thinking I would use my pansy set.  While looking for the stamp set I ran across the Sketch It set and thought I could use the flower from the set instead.  I stamped the flower with Almost Amethyst and then thought hmmmm can I stamp this several times to look like a chrysanthemum?  So I rotated the card 90 degrees and stamped the flower again.  I did this so that I ended up stamping the image a total of 4 times (360 degrees total).  I liked the look of this so then I decided to use the thin squiggly line and stamped it with Elegant Eggplant around the flower.  I finished up by repeatedly stamping the center dots with Lovely Lilac.  I wanted to add some leaves so I cut a mask and used Old Olive and stamped the leaves. 

When I went to cut this out I wanted to do the flower in a box with the leaves breaking the plane of the box.  I carefully cut the box around the flower and cut around the leaves.  I really did not like this look so I then cut out around the entire flower which I liked.  After I decided that I would pop the flower image, I wanted to add some embellishments to highlight the card.  I started with the skinny purple ribbon but it was lost on the card.  I went to my huge ribbon stash and grabbed this polka dot organdy that I had gotten from and online share from Jody.  Once I put it on (I have been on an angled theme lately with my ribbon) it still lacked something so I tied a bow with the skinny purple and layed it on top.  I liked the look so I attached it.  I was happy and ready to take my picture.

I set up my camera and the other cards I had made to take my pictures.  When I came to this one it still said I need more!  I pulled out my dew drops and had chosen a pearl colored one to use but then remembered I had gotten some half pearls from Micheal's.  I quickly pulled them out and attached them instead of the dew drops.  Now I knew the card was finished.

Do you see a recurring theme with this card?  I started with one idea and it continued to evolve.  I have to admit the finished card is nothing like I started out to do.  To me this card is very elegant.  While typing this up I was thinking that this would be so cute done up in yellows to be a sunflower.  I think I will have to do one of those for a fall card.  I will be sure and post it so you can see how cute it will be.

I bet you are wondering what the card looks like.  Well here it is!

Stamps: Sketch It (retired) Paper: Old Olive, white Ink: Almost Amethyst, Elegant Eggplant, Lovely Lilac, Old Olive Accessories: ribbon (polka dot - Jody's online share, skinny -won from ATC swap), half pearls (Micheal's), sponge, sticky tape, dimensionals

Thanks for hanging in with me through all my ramblings about this card.  Have a great day!

Our Creative Corner sketch challenge

The ladies at Our Creative Corner have some interesting challenges.  This week they had a sketch challenge.  I have been on a misson to use up some of my designer series paper and this sketch was perfect for it.  The Simply Spooky Designer Paper from The Angel Company has some really wild paper in it.  I have been challenged to use it and combine it with others as it is not necessarily my style.  I choose this really wild paper and combined it with some simple black and white paper to tone it down a little.  I think the circle go really well with the stamped image.  It carries the theme through on all the paper as a matter of fact since all the papers have circles or dots on them.  I think I need to add a Zot to my ribbon as it keeps twisting on me, but other than that I like the card.  So here is the sketch and my card.  Sorry about the wonky set up but no matter how many times I tried I couldn't get the pictures side by side.

Stamps: Spooktacular (TAC) Paper: Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss, white, Simply Spooky (TAC), black and white (not sure where I got it as I have had it for a while) Ink: Pallette Noir Black Accessories: Basic Gray - Glorious Green - Green Galore - Lovely Lilac - Only Orange markers, ribbon (freeby from online order, not sure which store), Sakura Stardust gel pen, dimensionals

Make sure you check back later today for another awesome card.  Thanks for looking and have a great morning!

Penny Black ATC Challenge

I have been doing the Penny Black challenges for a few weeks and this week the challenge was to make an ATC. This is right up my alley as I have participated in a monthly ATC swap for over a year. I thought it would be fun to have the little hedgehog running in the leaves. Well when I looked at my sister's stamps, she did not have one with leaves. She did however have this one.

Since he was running I decided to use this stamp. Now since this was a fall card I wanted to use leaves and not the hearts, so I took my Basic Black marker and inked up only the hedgie and the grass. It worked perfectly except now I couldn't use watercoloring to add some color as the marker would bleed. So I pulled out my Prismacolor pencils and colored him in with those. I did not use the gamsol to blend as I was afraid the ink would bleed.

After all that I used my bath poof background technique to add some texture to the cardstock and punch out a bunch of leaves. Then it was just a matter of layering everything to get what I wanted. I had some patterned paper that looked kind of fallish (is that a word?) that I used as the background. So here is what I came up with. Do you think it looks like he is running through the leaves?

Stamps: Hearts Away (Penny Black) Paper: Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Summer Sun, Very Vanilla, DCWV patterned paper pack Ink: Chocolate Chip (for adding texture to leaves) Accessories: Basic Black marker, Prismacolor pencils, leaf punches (Creative Memories and Paper Shapers), bath poof, dimensionals

Well I am headed to the kitchen to make some stuffed peppers and chili, two of my favorite winter foods. I hope everyone has a relaxing evening. Thanks for looking!

Robbie

Wait until you see this ribbon!

I was in Michael's and they had their Halloween ribbon on sale.  I picked up a bunch as I am always looking for ribbon at a good price, besides I always buy my ribbon on sale during the holidays so I have some to put away and use the next year.  I find I like that ribbon better than the first release of ribbon for the holiday.  I found this ribbon (it is really called riband) and immediately picked up several spools of it.  I just love it.  They also had some pumpkins that I picked up at the same time and plan on using at Thanksgiving. 

I have a lot of patterned paper for Halloween that I am using as it just seems like I don't use it as much during this holiday.  Amy had a great sketch that really lent itself to using patterned paper.  Since the paper was so busy (I bet you are surprised with 3 patterns that are pretty busy being used on the same card) I decided to go with a simple stamp.  I required only minimal coloring.  I think the riband is the best part of the card.  Those bats add just the right touch to the card.  When I had the card finished and put together, it needed some pizazz so added Stardust gel pen on the lines and green circles of the patterned paper though you can't tell from my picture.  Here is Amy's sketch and my card.

Stamps: Witch (Sweet Arts) Paper: Basic Black, Lovely Lilac, white, Simply Spooky DSP (TAC) Ink: Palette Noir Black Accessories: Green Galore & Lovely Lilac markers, bat riband (Michael's), Zots, dimensionals

So what do you think?  I think the card is really cute even if I made my strips all the same size.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Another card box for you

While looking yesterday for directions/patterns for card boxes and cards I ran across this cute box that fits 3 x 3 cards.  It was really easy to make and I was able to put 4 cards and envelopes inside.  It has been a lot of fun creating yesterday's box and today's.  I was able to use up some of my scraps of paper.  I love it when I can do that as I have so much!!!!!!

Here is the 3 x 3 box and cards.  What do you think of these?  What do you think they would sell for?

Stamps: Cold Play, Cute Converse, Festive Favorites, Snow Flurries Paper: Sage Shadow, white, retired designer series from Stampin" Up Ink: Sage Shadow Accessories: Snowflake punch (Stampin' Up), gold and silver ribbon (Pink Hedgehog), plain organdy ribbon (JoAnn's), small and large oval punch, Zig Zag border punch (Martha Stewart), bath poof, snowflake garland (Michaels), Sakura Stardust gel pen, border piercing template (Ornare), snowflake confetti, Zots, sticky tape, and dimensionals

These cards are so cute in person.  They are not your traditional colors associated with snow but I like the change of pace.  Check back later today for a card sketch.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

A Busy Afternoon

I am sorry this post is so late. I have had some fun this afternoon with several sketch challenges and my Halloween stamps . I have made quite a few cards that I will share with you over the next few days.

The first card I made was for Taylor's sketch challenge. I loved the layout and while I don't have cupcakes I knew I needed some more Halloween cards to send out so I decided to use those. I love this Halloween paper from the Holiday mini 2 years ago. I am down to the last of it though. Do you see those glittery dots under the spider web. Those are Glitter Dots and I got them from Gina K. Designs in several colors. I really like the look of them on the card. They add just the right "bling". To add a little bit more sparkle I used the Stardust gel pen to highlight the spider web and the strings the spiders are hanging from. How about that ribbon! It is really yarn that comes that way. It is perfect for your spooky Halloween cards.

Stamps: Spooky Swirls (TAC), Fall Sampler (TAC), Spooktacular (TAC), Just Flying By (retired) Paper: So Saffron, Vintage Violet (retired), white, Halloween Nights DSP (retired) Ink: Palette Noir Black Accessories: Basic Gray marker, glitter dots (Gina K. Designs), yarn (Michael's), Sakura Stardust gel pen, crystal effects (to glue yarn down), dimensionals

So, what do you think? Isn't this just the cutest card? I have several others I will be posting tomorrow and the day after. Thanks for looking and have a great evening!

A Busy Day

Sorry I did not post yesterday but I was so busy.  I have contemplated making some cards in a box to sell at the base craft show.  I also needed some of these for Christmas gifts for a few people. 

I spent the morning looking for  dimensions/patterns for the boxes and found a couple 3 x 3 boxes.  I never did find one for the invitation size cards so I ended up making my own.  This took quite a bit of time as I had to create by trial and error.  I finally got the box and top all figured out.  I made the box with no trouble.  The top however took 3 tries before I got it right.  I now have the pattern so I can use it again to make some more.  Thought you might like to see the box and cards.  This is the invitation size and the box has 4 cards and envelopes inside.

Stamps: Embrace Life, Delight in Life Paper: Groovy Guave, green, white, Groovy Guave DSP Ink: Groovy Guava Accessories: 5 petal flower punch, Martha Stewart branch punch, white eyelet and brad, Mellow Moss & Garden Green markers, ribbon (Michaels), Crop-a-dile, sticky tape, and dimensionals

So, what do you think of this one.  If I do the craft fair, how much do you think I should charge?  I welcome all your ideas and suggestions.  Check back later as I am working on a card sketch to share with you. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Long time since I dry embossed

I was reading on  Charmaine's blog that there was an embossing challenge on the Verve blog.  I went over to check it out and decided I needed to use my Fall embossing templates since it had been a while since I had done any dry embossing.  After I had it embossed I decided I wanted to color it so I placed the template on top of the embossed image and used my sponge daubers and ink pads to color the image.  When I was embossing the image I decided to go around the outside of the template to emboss a border. 

I also had on my table a crooked lines template which when I looked at it reminded me of corn stalks.  So I embossed the lines and colored them.  The only thing left was to do a border around the card as it just needed something.  I read Michelle's blog as I just love her brayering techniques (sure wish she would come our way to do a workshop)!  In one of her posts she made an beautiful wolf card where she had used the leaf stem from Best Blossoms.  I really liked the look and decided to use the same stem for my card. 

Do you see the word fall in the upper left corner?  I do not have a stamp set that I can do this quickly and easily so I used the sentiment from a set that had the word "full" and used my marker to make the "u" an "a".  I was so tickled with myself that it looked like I had the stamp for the word fall.  After I stamped it I punched it out with the word window punch and then took the punched piece and reinserted it into the punch with the word in the center and adjusted the piece of cardstock so the word was on a smaller piece.  I love the look of this card and hope you do to.  Here is my card.

Stamps: Basket Full of Fun, Best Blossoms (both retired) Paper: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, white Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Metallic Silver, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, So Saffron Accessories: wagon embossing template (Lasting Impressions), crooked lines embossing template (Lasting Impressions), Basic Black marker, word window punch, stylus, light box, sponge daubers, dimensionals

Isn't this the cutest fall card.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Penny Black Thanks a Bunch

I love Penny Black stamps!  She has such cute designs.  I love her hedgehogs and her silhouette stamps.  I check the Penny Black Blog each week and try to play along.  This week the challenge had a theme of "Thanks a Bunch".  The first stamp that came to mind was the hedgehog carrying a huge bunch of flowers.  I love the stamp and thought it would make a cute card playing up on the "bunch".  The card came together quickly since I used the colors from the flowers on the card. 

In creating the sentiment, I ended up combining 2 stamp sets.  I would love to get my hands on a Karen Foster snap stamps set.  They were discontinued and it would be so nice to have letters to create your own saying that snap together rther than trying to line them up straight on an acryllic block.  Any one now of another set?  I did get it lined up pretty even but each time I use this set I sigh and wish I had some interlocking stamp letters for my sentiments.  Oh well, maybe one day.  Here is my card.  Let me know what you think.

Stamps: Hedgehog Bouquet (Penny Black), Thanks Galore (Hero Arts), Acryllic Alphabet Set (Close to My Heart) Paper: Green Galore, Pretty in Pink, white Ink: Basic Black, Blush Blossom, Gable Green, Going Gray, Green Galore, Pretty in Pink Accessories: Creamy Caramel & Going Gray markers, ribbon (Jody's online share last year), dew drops (Jody's online share last year), aqua painter, sticky tape, crystal effects, dimensionals

I am headed out of town for the weekend.  I hope everyone gets a chance to "play" this weekend.  Thanks for looking, have a great day, and I'll be back on Monday with the Verve embossing challenge.

OCC Anything But Square

One of the blogs I read is a group of talented ladies who present weekly challenges. Our Creative Corner had the challenge this week to create a card that was anything but a square. I did a lot of thinking about what I wanted to do while I was walking this week. It finally hit me to do a butterfly. I pulled out a set that I bought and hadn't used (I saw lots of cards using the set but have not had a chance to make any of them, sad since it has been retired for several years). It had a beautiful butterfly what would be perfect for a 3 x 3 card. The key was to stamp the butterfly so part of the wings overlapped the fold. This is easier said than done. It took me a couple of tries but I finally got it right.

While I was walking this morning, I thought about how I was going to color it. My original thought was to make it a monarch using yellow and orange. But then it hit me to use blues. I love the colors but have to work on using the sponge daubers. I had wanted the blues to fade in toward the center with the lightest one going almost all the way there and the darker blue on the edges. When I put the dauber on the outside of the butterfly and swiped it toward the center the black embossing powder smeared. I had to revise my method and it turned out okay but would still like to figure out how to do my original idea. I will keep working on it until I get it.

I added some sparkles using my stardust gel pen as it needed more bling even though the embossing powder had lot so sparkle. I don't think you can see it in the picture but it is really sparkly. Here is the card.

Now I bet you are thinking that the card is so small you can't put a sentiment inside. Wrong! Here is what the inside looks like.

Stamps: Bold Butterfly, Cute Converse (both retired) Paper: white Ink: Basic Black Craft, Ballet Blue, Brocade Blue Accessories: Black Diamond embossing powder (Judi-Kins), black brads, Sakura Stardust gel pen

So, what do you think? It makes a really cute 3 x 3. Thanks for looking and have a great evening!

Another fun layout

There have been some fun sketches on the blogs this week.  I usually try to do Julee's Poetic Artistry / Mojo Monday sketch.  She presented a challenge for us this week with a large circle on the card.  I wanted to use some more of my patterned paper and thought this paper fit the cauldron on the stamp.  Once I got the panels made and attached to the base it was missing something.  That's when I pulled out my Martha Stewart bat punch.  That seemed to ground the main images but then it needed something else.  That's when I turned to my square brads.  I think the added embellishments made the card.

If you have noticed there is no ribbon on this card.  The sketch did not have ribbon and I think it helps put the focus on the 2 main panels.  Hope you like it.  Here is the sketch and my card.

Stamps: Spooky Swirls (TAC) Paper: Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, white, Simply Spooky PP (TAC) Ink: Basic Black  Accessories: circle cutter (Creative Memories), Gable Green - Going Gray - Lovely Lilac markers, Martha Stewart bat punch, Midnight glitter (Art Glitter), Xyron, black square brads, Sakura Stardust gelly roll pen, dimensionals

Isn't this paper wild?  I wasn't sure how I would ever use it but it goes in this card pretty good.  I think our warm days are coming to an end.  Get outside and enjoy it.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

A Quick Card

My friend Sandy (Hi Sandy!) is skeptical that anyone can create a card in short amount of time.  Today's card took me all of 30 minutes.  It was a quick card to make and the layout is a great one from Natasha.  Her site is a good one for quick simple cards.  I like the simplicity of this card.  So what do you think, do you like this simple card?  Here is the sketch and my card.

                                                 

Stamps: Fall Sampler (TAC), Halloween set (Hero Arts) Paper: Basic Black, Green Galore, white Ink: Basic Black Accessories: ribbon (Michael's), Craft Card Embellishments (JoAnn's), Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pen, sticky tape, dimensionals

Now is a  great time to pick up Halloween ribbon at Michael's.  They currently have it on sale.  I try and pick up ribbon at Michael's when it is on sale and then save it for next year.  It is a great way to save on this embellishment.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Mixing my papers!

There was a fun sketch challenge on Amy's Blog/ last Friday.  I decided to play along with this one.  I still need a few Halloween cards so I decided to use an Angel Company stamp from a set I really like.  I stamped the image first and then used markers to color it in.  I had picked up 2 papers that I thought would go together.  I went about putting this card together a little bit differently than I normally do.  I wasn't sure which color card to use for the base, so I put all my layers together and then decided what base to use.  The ribbon is the last piece of this one that I have.  I added the dots around the edge as Faith creates some beautiful cards and she always has dots around her pieces.  Here is the sketch and my card.

                                             

                                                      

Stamps: Spooktacular (TAC) Paper: Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss, Lovely Lilac, So Saffron, white, Simply Spooky PP (TAC), black & white (not sure where I got it) Ink: Basic Black, More Mustard Accessories: Basic Black - Chocolate Chip - Close to Cocoa - Creamy Caramel - Going Gray - Lovely Lilac - Mellow Moss - More Mustard - So Saffron markers, ribbon (Michael's), Halloween Card Embellishments (JoAnn's), Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pen, sticky tape, dimensionals

I hope you get some time to get outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather we are having.  It won't be long before it will cold and the days will be short.  Thanks for looking and have a great day! 

The Wedding Card That Took Forever!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  We are having some great weather for this time of year.  I hope it continues for quite a while. 

My best friend's son got married yesterday and I needed a card.  I decided to CASE my self with this card.  I changed the colors (the colors of the wedding were burgundy, champagne, and ivory) and the image.  I thought this would be a quick beautiful card to make.  Little did I know the issues I would have.  I had the image embossed on the vellum and ready to cut out.  I went over to my Cuttlebug set it up and ran it through.  UGH, the image shifted not to mention the vellum wrinkled.  So I went back to drawing board and embossed and colored another one.  This time I taped the vellum to the cutting template and used a piece of cardstock to help with the cutting.  When I took it out it had some pieces of cardstock on it.  I tried to remove it but it didn't work.  Okay, so now I have to create another image.  After doing that I cut it out and colored it in.  I decided it needed a little more color so I tried coloring the cake stands.  Well I didn't like that so I thought maybe I could use a Q-tip to remove the color since I was using Stampin' Up's markers and they are water based.  Well that didn't work and it ruined the image so now I had to create another one.  This time it turned out great.  I attached it to the white oval and saw I had some color from my fingers on the tape.  I tried to remove it but it didn't work, so I am back to making another one.  This one turned out good so I attached it to my card.  It looked  a little different for some reason and couldn't figure out why then it finally hit me.  I had attached the image backwards.  I tried to remove it and flip it over but the vellum tape eould not come off.  So now I am creating another image (you need to see visualize me putting my Cuttlebug and dies away each time as I just knew I was all set with the image and couldn't possibly make another mistake).  This one finally worked and I was able to attach it to my card correctly.  So now my quick card turned into a 2 hour card but it was finally finished.  Would you like to see it?  Well here it is!

Stamps: Fun & Fast notes, Priceless Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Sahara Sand, vellum, white Ink: Whisper White Craft Accessories: white detail embossing powder, Bravo Burgundy & Garden Green markers, Cuttlegbug, Nestabilities, Martha Stewart floral lace edge punch, ribbon, vellum tape, dimensionals

So what do you think?  Do you think it was worth 2 hours (wouldn't have been that long if I hadn't kept making stupid mistakes)?  Thanks for looking and hope you have a great Sunday!

OCC Chalenge and Monthly ATC all in one!

I have been running all day! I had so much to do and not enough time. I know you all have had days like this so you can feel for me.

I have wanted to do the Our Creative Corner Challenge all week. It is right up my ally with "bling" being the criteria. I love glitter and had in mind what I wanted to do for my monthly ATC swap. I decided to combine the 2 so I could do the OCC challenge.

I had to use a new set set so I chose Pocket Silhouettes. I stamped the leaf stamp in Old Olive that had been off stamped. Then I stamped the Queen Anne's Lace with Certainly Celery. Then began the glitter work. Using a glue pen I dotted the tops of a few of the stems and sprinkled on my red glitter. After letting it dry, I did the same for my purple glitter and then repeated with the yellow glitter when it had dried. Then I used the glue pen to trace the stems and sprinkled with green glitter. Then I had to wait for everything to dry. While I was waiting for it to dry I used my "bath poof background" technique to make the background for the ATC. Once the glue was dry I had to add the ribbon. This posed a challenge as I wanted each color on the ribbon to be on the ATC. I ended up cutting each piece individually so it would work out right (I'm not obsessive am I). After that it was just a matter of layering the pieces. So what do you think, will the girls in my swap like it? Here it is for your opinion.

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes Paper: Old Olive, Summer Sun, white Ink: Certainly Celery, Lavender Lace, Old Olive, Rose Red Accessories: Dubonnet - Grape - Sea - Yellow glitter (Art Glitter, Summer Sun brads, ribbon (had for several years but I got it at Michaels), glue pen, sticky tape, dimensionals

So ladies, how about that - 2 posts in one day. I have to tell you I was really hoping to get this one done in time. Thanks for looking and have a great evening!

You are going to love this card!

I am so excited about today's card.  At my workshop last night I was talking to a few of my ladies and told them I was thinking of using this Halloween wheel and Pearl Ex to create a card.  I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted so it was just a matter to putting it together.  I had wanted to have green on the ground, some orange for the pumpkins, and then slowly fade up to a night sky.  Well when I pulled out my Pearl Ex I didn't have all the colors I needed (note to self, buy more colors) so I just started playing and I must say I love my finished card. 

I began by Versamarking the wheel at the bottom of my card.  I then used my green Pearl Ex to do the grass and the orange to do the pumpkins.  Next I needed to do the trees but I had a slight problem, no brown! :(  So I looked at the colors I did have and ended up using Sunset Gold as it kinda looks like brown.  Then I again wanted to have a fading sunset but when I checked my dark purples they were a liquid rather than a powder so it wouldn't work. I ended up using the Interference Gold for the sky.

Now you know me I can't leave well enough alone and decided to add a moon (what is Halloween without a full spooky moon?) using my cardstock template. This time I used Micro Pearl in the center and did the edges with Interference Gold. I felt it needed an outline so I used the Night of Navy marker and the cardstock template to do the circle outline. I really like how it looks!

It was almost complete but decided to add the gold ribbon on the upper corner. Then I had another brainstorm and decided to add the oval punches with the word Spooky written on it. I had some gold scraps left so I used them. All in all I think the card turned out really cute. I think I will be make some more of these to send out. How about you? Would you like one? Leave me a comment by Tuesday morning 9:00 a.m. EST and I'll have random.org choose a number and I'll mail one to the lucky winner.

Okay, now for the card.

Paper: Night of Navy, Gold Ink: Versamark Accessories: Spooky Skyline jumbo wheel, wheel holder, Interference Gold - Sparkle Gold - Spring Green - Super Copper - Sunset Gold Pearl Ex powders, ribbon (Pink Hedgehog), paint brush, crystal effect (to hold the ribbon down), sticky tape, dimensionals

Don't forget, you have until Tuesday 9:00 am to leave me a comment to be entered to receive this card.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

It's Missing Something

Sorry I haven't posted lately. Candice and I have been busy trying to finalize our Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. We have almost everything planned except for the location. We are still working on that. Look for our flyer early next week. Also keep in mind that we will be placing orders for envelopes and brads. If you are interested, contact Candice or myself and let us know what you would like.

I want to send a special thanks {{me waving}} to Valda. She left me the sweetest comment on my post about the bath poof sponge background. Valda if you are reading this, contact me. I'd love to check out your blog if you have one!

So on with the card for today. I am still in a Halloween mode and had this idea while driving to the dump today (I know strange place to get inspired but somethings those things happen). I have some Halloween/Fall embossing templates that I had pulled out to use. I thought it would be neat to do a picket fence with a pumpkin sitting next to it. So that is where I began. I also wanted a night time card, so I chose a dark color cardstock (Not Quite Navy). After I embossed and inked my picket fence, I stamped and cut out my pumpkin (I traced the edges with my marker and then used my aquapainter to blend the lines. See the moon, it was created by punching a circle in the middle of the cardstock and then using the punched hole as a template. I sponged some chalk ink on it. I love the way it turned out as it looks like there are wispy clouds in front of it. I posted a card on October 4th that had a stamped moon with some flourishes included. I wanted to create some clouds in a similar fashion so I went looking at my flourishes. I found one that I liked and stamped it on the card over top of the moon. I then sat back and looked at the card as it still was missing something. That's when it hit me to add some bats, so I pulled out my Martha Stewart punch and made 3. As I was punching I felt I needed a way to add some bling and decided to run the bats through my Xyron and using the stick side dumped on some glitter. They are really sparkly but you can't tell from the picture. Now my card is almost done. After looking at it for a few minutes I still feel it needs something - ribbon, brads, ? - but I'm not sure what. What are your thoughts? What do you think I need to add? Okay so enough with the jibber jabbber, here is my card and the details.

Stamps: Thoroughly Thankful, Curls & Swirls (TAC) Paper: Basic Black, Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie Ink: Whisper White Kraft, Night Sky - Thatched Straw (Versa Magic chalk ink), Not Quite Navy Accessories: Picket fence embossing template (Lasting Impressions), Martha Stewart bat punch, black glitter, sponge, dimensionals

Make sure you check back tomorrow as I have a really cute card I am posting. Let me know what I need to add to improve this card so I can repost the card. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Booglie-Eyed Witch

So, how many Halloween cards have you made?  Well if you haven't started I have another cute card for you to oogle and case if you want.

I saw this really great sketch on Amy's blog.   This sketch was so easy and also allowed me to use some more of my Halloween patterned paper.  I love Stampin' Up's retired set Booglie Eyes.  The images are so much fun and adding wiggly eyes gives you an added dimension.  I love the 3 different patterned papers together.  And guess what, I used my bath poof background again.  It gives the plain paper a look of textured paper.  Here is the sketch and my card.

Stamps: Booglie Eyes (retired) Paper: Basic Black, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Vintage Violet (retired), white, Halloween Night PP (retired) Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Gable Green, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Vintage Violet Accessories: Certainly Celery - Close to Cocoa - Creamy Caramel - Pumpkin Pie - So Saffron markers, ribbon (Pink Hedgehog), Vintage Violet brads (Pink Hedgehog), bath poof, wiggly eyes, small and large oval punch, crystal effects, aquapainter, dimensionals

So are you ready to pull out your patterned paper and make lots of cards?  You know you are, so go find your paper and stamps and get busy.  I can't wait to see what you come up with.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Get your Sunglasses!

Wow I have a hard time making Halloween cards before Ocotober gets here, but once it does I just love it. I have pulled out all my Halloween ribbon, paper, embellishments, and stamps.  My room is a disaster and I have a workshop next week.  I guess I will spend Monday cleaning up! :(

I was checking out my blogs and saw Taylor's cupcake challenge.  I liked the layout since it was a way to use wide ribbon so even though I didn't have cupcakes I decided to play along.  Speaking of ribbon, do you see the orange ribbon on the card?  You will never guess where I got it.  A friend of mine gave it to me as it was found in with some other things and they knew they would never use it.  It still had the price tag on it.  The price tag was for clearance and the price was only $.10.  Tells you how long ago that could have been.

See the background on the stamp (the black).  I did it with the bath poof.  I am really loving that effect (although I don't think the black is as nice as the card from yesterday).  Well enough blabbing.  Here is the sketch and the card.

Stamps: TAC - sorry I don't know the name Paper: Kiwi Kiss, white, Simply Spooky PP (TAC) Ink: Palette Noir Back, Old Olive, More Mustard, So Saffron Accessories: Fiskars Paper Edgers - Colonial, circle cutter, orange ribbon (friend), black polka dot ribbon (Michael's), Basic Black -Close to Cocoa - Pumpkin Pie - Summer Sun markers, circular weaving form, dimensionals

I am really enjoying these cards.  My friends who get them will like them also.  I hope you enjoyed the 2 posts today.  If you did let me know.  Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

A Spooky Halloween

Today is World Card Making Day.  Take some time and make a card today to celebrate this holiday!

Boy I was really long winded yesterday.  I guess I was just so excited about my bath poof discovery.  I hope you all give it a try as it really is a lot of fun and creates a great background.  I think I like it better than sponging.  Too bad I did that card after I had created this one.

I pulled out all my Halloweeen/Fall stamp sets so I would have lots to choose from. I had these TAC stamps that I hadn't used and decided to put them to use. I combined 2 of the stamps to create the scene and did a lot of sponging to make it a night scene. In looking at the finished scene I think I should have made the outer edges darker rather than darker around the moon. Oh well, that is how you learn by making mistakes.

I can't believe we are talking about Halloween already. Before you know it we will be thinking about the "S" word. Well I hope you have a great Sunday tomorrow and if you get a chance do a little stamping!

Stamps: Scenery Set (retired) Paper: Ballet Blue, Basic Black, Green Galore, Pumpkin Pie, white Ink: Always Artichoke, Basic Black, Green Galore, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Summer Sun Accessories: black brads, Basic Black - Green Galore - Pumpkin Pie markers, Martha Stewart bat punch, aqua painter, sponge, dimensionals
So, isn't this just the cutest card? I love how it turned out. Check back later as I have another card that will come up when I am done.  Thanks for looking and have a great day!