Nutmeg Stamping

Butterfly Bella

2009-12-07T07:00:00.001-05:00

I recently participated in an anything goes swap with the SSUS stampers. I wanted to use this butterfly bella, but for some reason, I couldn't keep the brown markers from bleeding out of the lines of her pants. So instead of scrapping the whole thing, I decided to crop them out!

My color inspiration came from this funky patterned paper I picked up a while ago. I think it's from American Crafts.

I added stickles to some of the brown circles in the background to spice it up.

Stamps: butterfly bella and butterfly wishes sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Choolate Chip, patterned paper from the American Crafts
Accessories: Dimensionals, Button Latte from Stampin' Up!, Ribbon from my stash
Tools: Copics, Labels 2 nestabilities from Spellbinders

Babies!

2009-12-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

It seems like everyone I know is having a baby. That means I've been doing lots of knitting and a little bit of stamping. Last month I needed a card for my cousin's newest son and a card for a friend's baby shower who is expecting a little girl. My mojo is still on hiatus, so I really made the same card in two different color schemes. The layout is from FTL #65.

I got the idea to add packing material to the box from Erica Payne's card on the pink cat website.

I had the idea to make my own patterned paper with the "baby boy" and "baby girl" sentiments and some circle stamps. It came out just as I envisioned it. Love it when that happens.

Stamps: Dress up Sweet Pea and Sweet Pea Plate 2 from Pink Cat Studio, expecting joy sentiment from A Muse, Congrats sentiment from the Baby Love stamp set by Cornish Heritage Farms.
Ink: Memento Black
Paper: PTI White and Lemon Tart, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Dimensionals
Tools: Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, Long Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities, Copic Markers

Smiley Wedding

2009-10-14T11:18:00.004-04:00

We went to my brother-in-law's wedding this weekend. He's always been big on the iconic yellow smiley face, so I decided to make a smiley face wedding card. I didn't actually use any stamps on this one, but I used a ton of Stampin' Up! punches and accessories. It was fun!

I was a little nervous that he wasn't as into the smileys anymore, but when I saw the groom's cake, I knew I was spot on!

Final Challenge

2009-08-02T22:37:00.005-04:00

The final challenge at CHF was to create a project with a one sheet wonder. I don't think I've ever done one before, so this was a challenge. Collage is not really my style, so I decided to use square cuts instead of getting tricky with cutting up the sheet. What I ended up with was 12 cards, 4 each of 3 different designs.

To create my sheet, I took an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of white cardstock and stamped the little robot from Little Guy repeatedly in Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi, Brilliant Blue and Only Orange. I then cut out the 4 big panels and cut the remaining strips into 2 x 2 squares to center on 3 x 3 cards.

Stamps: Little Guy, Mocha Chica and Tag You're It!, from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Wild Wasabi, Only Orange
Card stock: Whisper White, Only Orange, Wild Wasabi, Brilliant Blue and retired patterned paper from Stampin' Up! Accessories: Bold Brights & Soft Subtles buttons, Dimensionals
Tools: Paper Snips

Ocean scene

2009-07-26T19:43:00.006-04:00

This week's CHF challenge was to create a scene. I decided to try a technique I learned at Stamping Around Connecticut from Donna-Marie Cecere's layered card class. (You can see the card we made in her class at the bottom of this post.)

So, I started by placing all of my stamps on one big acrylic block. Then I stamped the whole scene on a piece of white cardstock and then stamped it again on a piece of acetate. I used the Clear Card Sheets from CHF.

I colored the seaweed, bubbles and shells on the back of the acetate with my copics and then put it aside to dry.

The background on the white cardstock was created by swiping it with a baby wipe that I dotted with Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Cool Carribean reinkers. Once it dried, I colored the seaweed, bubbles and shell in with a white gel pen. This way the coloring from the acetate would show up. Here's an angled shot to show you what I mean.

Lastly, I stamped all the little sea creatures on PTI white cardstock and colored in with my copics.

Then the layering began. I cut out all the creatures and glued them directly to the colored background. I also cut the waves at the top out and adhered the whole background to another white sheet of cardstock. Then I put 2 layers of foam mounting tape all along the outside of the scene. This is what I adhered the clear sheet of acetate to. It is really important that the images line up exactly or else you get a weird 3-d movie effect.

Finally, I glued the black frame on top to hide the mounting tape. The last step was to adhere the dolphin on top with dimensionals. I decided to cover him in crystal effects so he would look wet. I also put some stickles on the waves to give a foamy look.

I was super happy with the way this came out. I am also using this as my challenge card for the Anything Goes card challenge in the SSUS group. I hope my partner likes it too. :)

Stamps: Ocean Friends , from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Cool Carribean reinkers
Card stock: Whisper White, Cool Carribean, Basic Black, PTI White, CHF Clear Card Sheets
Accessories: Tan Flock, Foam Mounting Tape, Icicle Stickles, Crystal Effects
Tools: Paper Snips, Exacto Knife

Christmas in July

2009-07-19T21:10:00.001-04:00

Okay, week 3's challenge at CHF was to use the resist technique. I haven't done this in years, so it was fun to pull out some sponges & embossing powder and give it a try.

I stamped the modern star with VersaMark on glossy card stock. Then I embossed it with clear embossing powder. After letting it dry for a little while, I sponged More Mustard ink at the center of the star and then sponged So Saffron ink around the outside. I was able to do some blending of the two colors since the ink doesn't dry right away on the glossy card stock. I really love the way it came out.

I also used the Weave backgrounder on the brocade blue panel before embossing my sentiment (which is from a retired Stampin' Up! set).

Clean & simple. I like it!

Stamps: Modern Star & Weave Backgrounder, from Cornish Heritage Farms and Star Studded Season from Stampin' Up!
Ink: VersaMark, Brocade Blue, More Mustard, So Saffron
Card stock: Whisper White, Glossy White, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories: White detail embossing powder, Dimensionals
Tools: Long Oval and Long Scalloped Oval Nestabilities from Spellbinders, Sponges

That's better!

2009-07-12T20:18:00.002-04:00

This week's CHF challenge was to create our design by paper piecing. I don't do this technique very often, so it was very fun to give it a try. I really didn't like the way the last card came out, so I decided to have a do-over. I swapped out the little squirrel for a bird, but otherwise, the layout is the same. I really am much happier with this card. It was fun to pull together.

Stamps: Spring Trees, Mocha Chica & Take Time to Enjoy Your Day, from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir Black Ink
Card stock: Papertrey Ink White, Basic Black, Various Patterned Papers

Coloring, coloring

2009-07-05T21:45:00.002-04:00

I really waited for the last minute on this one. This is my first entry into the Summer Stamp Star Design Challenge Contest at Cornish Heritage Farms. This week's challenge was called Color It! We were to use our favorite coloring medium to color a card with CHF stamps. In case you haven't noticed, my stamping muse has taken a vacation. I really tried, but this was the best I could do today. Next week's card will be better, I promise!

Anyway, most of the images for this set are from Spring Trees, but the cupcake and sentiment are from Tag You're It. I think this squirrel looks really cute holding that cupcake. I colored everything with my copic markers. The cupcake is iced with Star Dust stickles and the butterfly has a little crystal effects on the wings.

That's pretty much it!

Stamps: Spring Trees, Tag You're It! & Weave Backgrounder, from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Lavendar Lace
Card stock: Papertrey Ink White, Basic Black
Accessories: Crystal Effects, Start Dust Stickles
Tools: Copic Markers

Bellariffic Friday

2009-06-26T08:00:00.002-04:00

If you're looking for the blog hop post, it's right here.

This week for Bellariffic Friday, we have a sketch from Nicky! I skipped the oval part because my sentiment wouldn't fit in one, but otherwise I was pretty faithful.

After the Ketto blog hop a couple weeks ago, I ordered missmatch Ketto and just couldn't wait to ink her up. I colored her in with copics and added crystal effects and star dust stickles to spice her up.

The paper is once again from the October Afternoon Detour collection. I thought the pinks and aquas were perfect for this little princess. When I stamped the sentiment on the patterned paper, I accidentally caught ink on the corner of the stamp. So I added the little flower button to cover that up. It kind of works. ;)

Stamps: missmatch ketto and daretobedifferent sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, patterned paper from the October Afternoon Detour Collection
Accessories: Dimensionals, Button Latte from Stampin' Up!, Crystal Effects, Star Dust Stickles
Tools: Copics, Classic rectangle nestabilities from Spellbinders

Birthday Blog Hop

2009-06-25T09:00:00.007-04:00

Welcome to the Birthday Blog Skip, Hop & Dance sponsored by Stamping Bella! If you've just happened upon my blog, you can CLICK HERE to start from the beginning at Bloggabella. If you're following the hop, you should have come from Mandi's blog. I am super excited to participate this time!

Today is Emily's birthday (Mrs. Stamping Bella herself), so Shannon organized a blog hop on the SCS forum. The theme is Birthday and I decided to fall back to an actual Bella stamp since I haven't used those in a while. ;)

I used colored cakeabella with copic markers and add a little crystal effects & glitter to liven her up. I drew the colors from this old Simple Scrappin' Kit from Stampin' Up! I think it was a level 1 hostess set or a sell-a-bration kit or something. Anyway, the Cool Caribbean paper is from the set and the daisy chain and polka dot strip are adhesive die cuts from the kit as well. I really liked the look of the daisy chain above the Fiskars threading water punch.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to Gabriela Duclos. Have a great day!

How about a prize? In addition to the fabulous eye candy, we have decided to hide a prize somewhere along the hop! One pre-selected blogger will draw a random winner from the comments on her post, and the winner will receive a $40 Gift Voucher to Stamping Bella!!! 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!! We will announce the winner on Monday in the Splitcoast forum.

That's pretty much it. Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: cakeabella and happy birthday mixed sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Gina K black Pure Luxury cardstock, Simply Scrappin kit from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Dimensionals, Star Dust Stickles, Crystal Effects
Tools: Copics, Long oval and Long Scalloped Oval nestabilities from Spellbinders, Threading Water punch from Fiskars

Weiman Wranglers

2009-06-24T23:00:00.004-04:00

I'm sure by now you've already heard about it, but just in case you haven't - check out the new Weiman Wranglers digital stamps being offered by Pink Cat Studios. All proceeds for these stamps are being donated to the Make a Wish foundation in memory of little 4 year-old Ethan Weiman. When I posted, they had already raised over $1200!

For this card, I used an old Mojo sketch (#67) and some retired patterned paper from Stampin' Up! This was the first time I've colored a digital stamp with my copic markers and I was a little scared. But, I printed it out last night on PTI white card stock and by tonight the ink was totally set. There were no bleeding or smearing problems. It was actually pretty cool! Also, I shrunk the image down to 3.5" tall before printing so it would fit on my card better. That is a pretty cool option with digital stamps.

If you need more incentive to purchase these awesome stamps, Lauren Meader, Heather Hutchinson and Vicki Garret are all offering a chance to win a PCS gift certificate just for posting about and using these great images.

Stamps: Weiman Wranglers and sentiment from Billy Plate 1 from Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie & retired patterned paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon, Dimensionals, Crystal Effects
Tools: Copics, Small Label nestabilities, 1 1/4" circle punch

Stamp New England

2009-06-24T22:00:00.003-04:00

I can't believe that I never followed up and told you how much fun I had at Stamp New England in New Hampshire back in March! I got to meet Lauren Meader in person which was pretty awesome. We made so many cool projects and got so much free product! I won some stamps from Odd Bird Planet that I still need to use...

Anyway, I am really excited about doing it all again in July when Stamp New England comes to Connecticut. I just found out that they don't have quite enough registrations though, so if we don't get some more in the next couple of days, it is going to be canceled. Please consider coming. It will be so much fun!! (If you do register, mention my name in the comments section.)

Here's some more pictures of Lauren and the project that she designed for us all to make. We actually each got this stamp set from Papertrey Ink for free! (And it was brand new and sold out at the time!)

Bella Sketch Challenge

2009-06-23T20:00:00.000-04:00

This week's challenge on the Stamping Bella forums was a sketch from Jamie. BSC78 to be exact.

I really wanted to use the LoveBeetle Huggabugg, so even though it made my panel a little shorter than the sketch, I went with it. I pulled my colors from this awesome paper from October Afternoon Detours collection. You'll be seeing some of this paper again this week for Bellariffic Friday. ;)

The sentiment came with Lovey Huggabug, but I thought it was too perfect for this little "bug" car.

I used copics to color in the image. Then I applied crystal effects to the hubcap using these awesome applicators that I bought from Gina K! Let me tell you I have used crystal effects more since I got these applicators a couple weeks ago than I have since I bought the cyrstal effects 3 or 4 years ago! They are awesome. I then added some star dust stickles to add a little whimsy.

Love it!

Stamps: LoveBeetle Huggabug and Lovey Huggabug from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Chocolate Chip, patterned paper form the October Afternoon Detour collection
Accessories: Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Star Dust Stickles
Tools: Copics, Classic Rectangle & Class Circle nestabilities from Spellbinders

October Stamps Question

2009-06-23T12:30:00.001-04:00

Laura M asked if there was a way to purchase Nina Åslund's cute stamps I've used here and here in the US. Currently, I don't think anyone can order from October Stamps. I don't speak Swedish, but Google's translator makes it sound like they are going out of business. You can purchase some of Nina's older animals & monkeys from EZ Mount Stamps here in the US. They don't seem to have the people stamps or the elves though. I haven't ordered from them yet. When I ordered, I got them direct from Sweden.

Hope that helps! I'll be back with a Stamping Bella card later tonight.

Father's Day Part 2

2009-06-21T20:00:00.005-04:00

This was the Father's Day card from my son. I think this little boy stamp from October Stamps (designed by Nina Åslund) looks just like him with big bright eyes and a huge smile. I also colored his hat to match my son's Syracuse University baseball hat. hi dada was stamped with Karen Foster Snap stamps. It's a phrase that my little guy says often.

On the inside, I used the new Super Parents stamps from Starving Artistamps. The two stamp lines go together pretty well. If you can't tell, my little guy colored the inside with regular old Crayola crayons.

Stamps: little boy from October Stamps, sentiment made with Karen Foster snap stamps, Super Parents and Sentiments Baby! from Starving Artistamps
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Dimensionals, Crystal Effects
Tools: Copics,Classic Circle and Pinked Circle nestabilites from Spellbinders, Traffic Jam Cuttlebug embossing folder

Father's Day Part 1

2009-06-20T08:00:00.001-04:00

For father's day this year, I wanted to give my husband a card from me and another card from my son. This is the card from me. ;)

In our family we pride ourselves on being a little silly, so when I was looking for a father & son image, I thought the two sizes of Yapples would be perfect.

I colored my images in with copic markers and then went back and added the dots for the Van Gogh technique. I absolutely love some of the design team samples, but I don't think this technique is going to come easily to me. It was fun to try it out though.

I colored the baubles with the darkest matching copic marker in that color family and it came out much lighter than I expected. I still like them though!

The layout is from an old Verve release sketch.

The front of the card is pretty wacky, but on this inside I wrote all kinds of mushy stuff. I think he'll like it just fine.

Stamps: Creatures and Together Sentiments from Starving Artistamps
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White & Aqua Mist card stock, Basic Black from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: diamond ice baubles from Stamping Bella, Dimensionals
Tools: Copics, Labels Two nestabilities from Spellbinders, Spots & Dots Cuttlebug Embossing folder

Bellariffic Friday

2009-06-19T07:00:00.005-04:00

This week's Bellariffic Friday challenge was a great sketch from Paula. The four squares gave me a little pause, but I thought it would be cute to have the turtle peaking through each one. I think I made them a little too big though and didn't really pull it off. Oh well... It's still kind of cute.

Stamps: turtle tots - picking posies stamp with sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Chocolate Chip & Pixie Pink from Stampin' Up!, Lemon Tart from Papertrey Ink
Accessories: Dimensionals, Wasabi Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Copics, Classic Square nestabilities from Spellbinders

Anniversary

2009-06-18T19:00:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was my ninth anniversary. I can't believe that!

Around Christmas time I had ordered some stamps from October Stamps in Sweden that were designed by Nina Åslund. I just loved this smooching couple. The look on the guy's face was priceless. It looks like the company might have gone out of business which is a shame because I love Nina's stamps! You can find some of her animal and monkey stamps in the US here.

I colored the couple in with my copics. I sure am loving them! Then I decided to pair it with this cute retired Valentine's day paper from Stampin' Up! Since I had the clear buttons out, I decided to make my own little embellishment by punching out the xo circle and gluing it to the back of the button.

Stamps: puss from October Stamps, sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, retired designer paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Dimensionals, Clear buttons
Tools: Copics, Label Two Small nestabilites from Spellbinders, Smallest circle scalloped punch from Marvy

Bella's Favorite Stamper

2009-06-17T19:00:00.002-04:00

I'm finding all kinds of fun things to do in the Stamping Bella forum these days. Evidently there is a featured stamper challenge every month. This month, Angie Williams was the featured stamper. We were to CASE a bella card from her gallery and change at least 2 things.

I chose this card because I loved the button balloons. So what did I change? Here's my list:

I changed the color scheme to be a little brighter.
I didn't clip the outer layer's corners with a ticket corner punch.
I used clear buttons and colored them with a copic marker to match my monsters.
Instead of putting my sentiment in a circle, I used a little flag at the bottom because it fit my sentiment better.
I used embroidery floss for the balloon's strings instead of drawing them on.
I used a different embossing folder.
I also added crystal effects to the orange balloon that the green monster is holding.

Wow, I changed more than I thought. But, I think you can definitely still see the resemblance from the original card.

This was a great challenge. Thanks Angie for the inspiration!

Stamps: monster bash stamp and happy birthday ms from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White & Pure Poppy card stock, Tempting Turquoise from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Clear buttons, Black Embroidery floss, Green Apple Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Copics, Classic Rectangle and Labels Small nestabilities from Spellbinders, Bloom Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

Red, White & Blue Bella

2009-06-16T22:06:00.003-04:00

This week's challenge on the bella forum was a Red, White & Blue sketch challenge.

I found this old Chatterbox paper in my stash and thought it was perfect. I thought this little Appley bowl huggabugg would be too cute.

I colored her in with my copics and then added some crystal effects to the apples. I also used Frosted Lace stickles to her wings and the polka dots on her dress. She is just too cute & sparkly in person.

Stamps: Appley Bowl Huggabugg and sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, patterned paper from Chatterbox
Accessories: Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Frosted Lace Stickles
Tools: Copics, Classic and Rectangle nestabilities from Spellbinders

Bellariffic Friday

2009-06-12T07:00:00.003-04:00

It's Friday and that means it's time for another Bellariffic Challenge! This week's sketch is from Jen Del Muro and it was just perfect for these little owlies!

I found this paper in my stash the other night and thought it would be perfect for these owls. It's really old SEI paper from the Seasoned line. This sketch also gave me a chance to use the felt ribbon from Stampin' Up!'s holiday mini catalog last year.

I think that's about it. It's been a month now and I am still loving these challenges. :)

Stamps: branching out owlies and dare to be different sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Chocolate Chip from Stampin' Up!, patterned paper from SEI
Accessories: felt ribbon from Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals,
Tools: Copics, Classic and Scalloped Oval nestabilities from Spellbinders

This time, it's a girl!

2009-06-10T19:00:00.003-04:00

I just found out on Sunday night that a former co-worker of mine and his wife just had a baby girl. They have a 3 year-old little boy too, hence my post's title.

I had colored a bunch of these little babies for the last baby card, so I decided to make a quick & cute card for this new little girl. I turned to the clean & simple blog for a fun layout and chose FTL43. I remembered having some really old patterned paper from Stampin' Up in pinks & yellows so I dug that out. I forgot how flimsy their patterned paper used to be. The newer stuff is so much nicer! To liven it up a little, I highlighted some of the designs in stickles. Cute & simple. I love it!

Stamps: Oh Baby from Starving Artistamps
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White & Lemon Tart card stock, Candy retired patterned paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Star dust Stickles, Dimensionals
Tools: Copics, Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle nestabilities from Spellbinders

Oh Baby!

2009-06-09T19:00:00.001-04:00

And now for something different... I have been on a Stamping Bella kick lately, but the need for a baby card reminded me that I have uninked Doodle Factory stamps sitting around. So, I had to switch gears and show them some lovin' too.

Friends of ours had a little boy last month and it's totally brought back memories of my little guy's first few weeks. They have decided to cloth diaper as well, so I wanted to give this little baby some cute printed cloth diapers. I love this truck paper from piggy tales. It has big cars on one side and smaller cars on the other. When I was looking for a contrasting piece for the strip behind the baby, I turned right back to this fun polka dot paper from Pebbles Inc.

As a finishing touch, I applied a little crystal effects to the baby's tears to make them look a little wetter.

For the layout, I used Lauren Meader's mytimess15 sketch.

Stamps: Oh Baby and Sentiments Baby! from Starving Artistamps
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Wild Wassabi from Stampin' Up!, Tortoise & Hare collection patterned paper from piggy tales, Summer Days Stripe and Summer Days Polka Dot patterned paper from Pebbles Inc
Accessories: Wasabi striped Grsograin ribbon from Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals, crystal effects
Tools: Copics, Silver Zig Painty, Classic Circle and Pinked Circle nestabilities from Spellbinders, Treading Water punch from Fiskars

Bella's Show & Tell

2009-06-08T12:30:00.001-04:00

The Stamping Bella forums on SCS have gotten a make-over and now have brand new challenges every week. Each week of the month will be a different type of challenge. You can read more about it here.

The first challenge is a show & tell. We were to make a card showing who you are as a woman, a wife, a daughter, a mother, a sister, a friend, a dreamer, a career woman, etc.-anything that defines you. Then we have to explain our interpretation of the theme.

So, I chose ipodabella because at my day job I write software that runs on smartphone devices like the iPhone, Google's Android operating system and Blackberry. I also own an iPhone which I love to pieces.

For this challenge, I used Lauren's Saturday sketch mytimess33 and I actually used it the same weekend it was posted! I think that is a first for me. ;) Of course, I did it from memory so I got a few things wrong. But, I still like my finished version.

I did a lot of stamping last night, so check back tomorrow for something a little different.

Stamps: ipodabella from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Marvelous Magenta, Ballet Blue from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: diamond ice baubles from Stamping Bella, Dimensionals, White Fun Flock, Black Polka Dot Organdy ribbon from May Arts
Tools: Copics, Cuttlebug Paisley embossing folder

Turtle Cutie

2009-06-05T21:56:00.006-04:00

Wow! I am so late on this one. I didn't actually make the deadline to make it on Emily's blog, but I still wanted to post on Bellariffic Friday.

This week's challenge was a sketch from Karen Motz. The wavy flag was a fun element that I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

I still had this patterned paper out from last week, so I figured I'd give it another whirl. My card was feeling a little flat though, so I added some icicle stickles to all of the dark orange dots & stripes on the paper in addition to the cake trim, candle flames and party hat. I think it added just enough sparkle to make this card shine.

Stamps: Turtle tots - birthday wishes from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White card stock, Pumpkin Pie, Green Galore from Stampin' Up!, Party Time Boy Stripe, Summer Days Stripe and Summer Days Polka Dot patterned paper from Pebbles Inc
Accessories: string of pearls baubles from Stamping Bella, Dimensionals, Icicle Stickles, Mini Glue Dots, Prima Flowers
Tools: Copics, Class Square and Label One nestabilities from Spellbinders

Happy Birthday Robot

2009-05-29T07:30:00.001-04:00

It's another Bellariffic Friday! I'm really digging these challenges and loving the fact that it is getting me stamping. :)

This week we had another sketch from Nicky. I don't usually make square cards, so this was definitely a challenge! I really wanted to use my new cakey watt stamp. Isn't he the cutest little robot? I was going to color him in shades of gray, but I couldn't resist making him match this fun paper from Pebbles inc.

I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but I covered Mr. Watt with crystal effects. I just got these new applicators from Gina K and they make it so much easier to control! I will definitely be using more crystal effects from now on. This was also my first time using the Build-a-brads from Stampin' Up! It was a fun way to pull in another piece of patterned paper and count as the larger circle embellishment from the sketch.

Stamps: cakey watt and happy birthday ms from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: White base weight Pure Luxury from Gina K, Regal Rose, Green Galore from Stampin' Up!, Party Time Boy Stripe, Summer Days Stripe and Summer Days Polka Dot patterned paper from Pebbles Inc
Accessories: diamond ice baubles from Stamping Bella, Build a brad from Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals, Icicle Stickles, Mini Glue Dots, Crystal Effects
Tools: Copics, Classic Rectangle and Small Labels nestabilities from Spellbinders

Bellariffic Friday

2009-05-21T19:00:00.001-04:00

These Bellariffic Friday challenges are so fun! I have so many bella stamps and they are motivating me to pull them out and get stamping! I was so excited to win last week, so there will be more coming into my stamp room! Yay!

This week, the challenge was a sketch and it was a great one! I really wanted to use Altee 'tude and I thought this super cute cloud paper would look great with her. The only problem was the I didn't want it all to be covered up by the many layers of the sketch. So my solution was to make the wide horizontal band layer out of vellum. It looks pretty cool in real life, but it's hard to see in the picture.

I colored this girly in with my copic markers. I had trouble with the memento ink bleeding on the PTI Stamper's Select white cardstock if I didn't wait a while for it to dry, so I switched to Gina K's pure luxury layering weight. This was actually worse. Not only would the black ink bleed, but the copic ink spread outside the lines and the pink wouldn't push back in with the blender. I ended up having to cut the little girl out and pop her up on the cloud because I couldn't stop the bleeding. It ended up being a happy mistake, but I'm still frustrated with the paper. Maybe the thicker weight will be better? Anyone have any suggestions on this?

Stamps: Altee 'tude from Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: White layering weight and black base weight Pure Luxury from Gina K, Regal Rose, Cool Carribean, Vellum Cardstock from Stampin' Up!, Howdy from American Crafts
Accessories: string of pearls baubles from Stamping Bella, Dimensionals, Frosted Lace Stickles, Mini Glue Dots
Tools: Copics, Square & Circle nestabilities from Spellbinders

Wedding Time Again

2009-05-14T12:30:00.000-04:00

As we enter May, wedding season begins again! Our first wedding this year is for my step-sister's cousin this coming weekend, so I needed to whip up a card. I don't think I'm capable of using any other stamp these days for a wedding card. I just love this bella & fella so much!

Emily's challenge this week was to use gold & bling, so I figured it was the perfect challenge for a wedding card. My favorite color combo with gold is vanilla & white. It's so soft & classy looking to me.

I stamped the happy couple on PTI white cardstock with Memento ink and colored with my new copics. The tuxedo is shades of neutral gray, although on my computer screen is just looks black. I also highlighted his lapel, pocket and shoes with black stickles. Then for bella, I only colored in her sash with red for a little pop. Her veil & shoes are covered in icicle stickles and I highlighted all the roses with a clear gelly roll pen from Sakura to make them shine a little. The A Muse twinkle stickers were the perfect finishing touch to her dress.

Stamps: "hitchedabellafella" from Stamping Bella, sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White, Brushed Gold, Neenah Cream
Accessories: Kraft taffeta ribbon, Latte Buttons, A Muse micro dot twinkle stickers, Dimensionals
Tools: Rectangle Nestabilities, Threading Water punch from Fiskars, Copic Markers, Icicle Stickles, Black Stickles, Sakura clear gelly roll pen

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T18:34:00.008-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! My hubby had to work today, so the little guy & I met up with my parents & my sister in Mystic, Connecticut. For Mother's Day I got my first Copic markers.

They came on Thursday and I used them on this card for my step-mom. It's from the little guy and I literally threw it together in 20 minutes this morning. I colored the front & he colored the inside with regular crayola crayons. I stamped his name with snap stamps on the inside, but since we're not posting his name on the Internet, I blurred it out.

When you ask him what an owl says, he says "Hoo" so I thought it was especially cute to use these owl images from Stamping Bella.

My step-mom loved the card and we had a great time in Mystic. Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day too!

Stamps: "lady owly on her sign" & "cuddly owlies" from Stamping Bella, Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI Stamper's Select White, Confetti Tan, Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Dimensionals
Tools: Largest Rectangle & Oval scalloped punches from Marvy, Copic Markers, Crayola Crayons

Thank You Part 2

2009-04-21T20:00:00.004-04:00

So, I also needed a card to express my thanks to our Lactation Consultant. I figured I'd go for the gusto and also submit for Lauren's design team call. I love Lauren's sketches. They are so fresh and fun and are the perfect start for me to get creative! For this card, I used the older sketch mytimess10 from the call.

Anyway, I chose to use Billy since he kind of looks like my little guy (hence the blond hair). I colored him in with Koh-i-noor pencils, so the yellow is a little on the bright side.

Not much else to say, this one was quick & easy!

Stamps: Dress up Billy from Pink Cat Studio, Faux Ribbon from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Retired patterned paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Bold Brights Buttons, white embroidery floss, Dimensionals
Tools: Circle Nestabilities, Koh-i-noor pencils & baby oil

Babyhood's end

2009-04-20T22:35:00.000-04:00

Last month (at 14 months old), my son decided to stop nursing. I wasn't quite prepared for that, but I am glad it was his decision to stop. We wouldn't have even gotten started if the wonderful Lactation consultant at the hospital hadn't worked with us so much. She has helped us through the rocky start, my return to work, and some other bumps along the way. Every third Tuesday of the month, she hosts a Nursing Moms group to lend support and let us ask questions. Tomorrow will be my last visit (at least until the next kid) and I wanted to give her something to show my appreciation.

That's where Lauren's My Timeless Template-For keep{sake} came in! I loved her idea to make it a tea dispenser. When she issued her First template challenge, it all fell into place! I used the Strawberry Lemonade bath wash as my inspiration. It's hard to see, but I stamped tea cups on the yellow oval.

Lily dressed up like a nurse (lactation consultant) perfectly and I thought this baby & "got milk" stamp fit my theme perfectly.

Stamps: Dress up Lily from Pink Cat Studio, Baby Love & Little Gal from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir, Lemon Tart, Berry Sorbet
Paper: Papertrey White, Lemon Tart, Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush
Accessories: American Crafts Ribbon, My Timeless Template For {keep}sake, Dimensionals
Tools: Cuttlebug, Square Scalloped Nestabilities, Oval Nestabilities, Long Rectangle Nestabilities, 1" circle punch, Paper Snips

Easter bunny

2009-03-30T20:00:00.002-04:00

So last week, I challenged the SSUS girls to pull out their contraband stamp sets (non-Stampin' Up!). Most of the girls are Stampin' Up! demonstrators so they don't have as many occasions to use their non-Stampin' Up! sets. I figured we'd get a pretty good turn-out and we totally did.

The challenge was to use your most recently purchased (non-Stampin' Up!) stamp set to make a card for your partner. I had just received an order from Cornish Heritage Farms for Kim Hughes' super cute new Easter set, so that was my choice.

The layout of my card is from this month's Verve Release Sketch. I love all of Julee's sketches.

The eggs were glittered which seems to be all the rage this Easter. Pottery Barn is selling sugared eggs and I think I saw them at Joanns as well. For the bunny, I added some gray highlights with my Koh-i-noor pencils and then flocked him with white flock. In real life, he's super fuzzy. His tail is from a piece of pom-pom ribbon I picked up last weekend at Ryco on the way home from Stamp New England when I was visiting my parents.

Stamps: Sweet Spring from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir, Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart
Paper: Whisper White, PaperTrey White, Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart, Patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket
Accessories: Green striped ribbon from May Arts, White pom-pom ribbon, White Flock, Icicle Stickles, Dimensionals
Tools: 1" square punch, Fiskars Threading Water punch

Trendy Trees

2009-03-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

This week's challenge on SSUS was to use mytime's Saturday Sketch #19. I also needed to make 2 masculine birthday cards last weekend. So, I decided to save time and use the same design.

The birthday card I made is on the left. I just love this cute Trendy Trees stamp set. I love this version. The colors are funky and the design is clean and crisp.

In order to fit the SSUS challenge, I had to make a couple of tweaks. First, all supplies needed to be current and from Stampin' Up! So, I used one of the sentiments from the stamp set and changed the ribbon color since this green is retired. The other change is that the SSUS group requires all cards to have two full layers. So, I put the chocolate card front on a green galore card. This is maybe a bit too bright, but whisper white is too flimsy and I couldn't figure out a better option. Finally, I added a button from the Latte buttons in the new catalog. I just can't get enough of them!

So, which version do you like better?

Stamps: Trendy Trees from Stampin' Up!, birthday sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Green Galore, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Green Galore, Brocade Blue
Accessories: Dimensionals, Apple green grosgrain ribbon, Pumpkin grosgrain ribbon, Latte Buttons, Linen Thread
Tools: 1 3/8" circle punch

Gotta collect them all...

2009-03-19T22:17:00.004-04:00

So today I became a Copic certified designer. Before the class, I had never touched a Copic marker and now? Now, I want the all! This is a problem, but I'm sure with enough time I can collect enough for my needs.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Stamp New England and I'm super excited about that! We were challenged to make a name tag for ourselves that matched our stamping style. I took the opportunity to use this little Kim Hughes bird that I colored today at the marker certification. Love it! I also threaded some taffeta ribbon through the cute flower button from the new Latte buttons from Stampin' Up!

See you on the other side!

Stamps: Mocha Chica from Cornish Heritage Farms, Small Polka Dot alphabet from A Muse Art stamps
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, Chocolate Chip, Memento Black, Copic markers
Paper: PTI White, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Retired Stampin' Up! designer paper
Accessories: Dimensionals, Pink taffeta ribbon, Latte Buttons, Retired velvet ribbon from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Paper Snips, Threading Water Fiskars punch

Baptism card

2009-03-17T19:00:00.000-04:00

Eric's baby cousin was baptized on Sunday and I needed to make a quick card. When I was searching on splitcoast, I saw a bunch of christening dress cards based on Lauren Meader's onesie tutorial. Perfect!

I started with a linen textured white cardstock and used my threading waters Fiskars punch to make the eyelet edging. Then I just tied some white taffeta ribbon through this cute flower button from Stampin' Up!

Easy peasy! Thanks for the inspiration everyone!

Paper: Linen White
Accessories: white taffeta ribbon, Button Latte from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Threading water punch from Fiskars, Stampin' Up! 1 3/8" circle punch & scallop circle punch

Etsy challenge

2009-03-16T19:00:00.003-04:00

I love etsy, don't you. Sometimes I just browse through the stores looking for inspiration. One of my favorite stores to ogle is joom. Since I volunteered to lead the weekly challenges this week on the SSUS group, I figured a joom inspiration challenge was just right!

I asked my partner ahead of time if she wouldn't mind if I used a non-Stampin' Up! set. Luckily for me, Kim is awesome and agreed. I've wanted to use these PTI sets forever, and they are just perfect for joom's look.

As you can tell, I used the pillow on the right as my inspiration. The sentiment is embossed, but the bird and branch aren't because my brown embossing powder has gone bad.

I think I will be making more joom look-a-likes in the future.

The layout is from the clean & simple blog's Fall To Layout #31.

Stamps: Birds of a feather and Out on a limb from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, Versamark
Paper: PTI Aqua Mist, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Dimensionals, chocolate taffeta ribbon, detail white embossing powder
Tools: Paper Snips, Swiss Dots embossing folder

Mystery Image Swap

2009-03-15T19:29:00.005-04:00

It was time for another mystery image swap about a month ago. I am a little late in mailing and even later in posting my version.

This month's hostess was Ms. Technique Junkie herself, Pat Huntoon, and she sure picked a doozie for us. I bet there are tons of cool stamping techniques that you could do with this giraffe, but I came up blank and just colored him yellow. I did find this cool giraffe print paper in the All Boy DCWV stack which was on sale at Joanns. I thought the giraffe looked like he was laughing, so this sentiment from A Muse worked perfectly.

The layout is from Mojo Monday sketch #63.

Stamps: Mystery Giraffe, sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Palette Burn Umber, So Saffron, More Mustard, Really Rust
Paper: PTI White, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, All Boy by DCWV
Accessories: Dimensionals, chocolate felt ribbon from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Paper Snips, Threading water punch from Fiskars, Stampin' Up! punches

Friends 'til the end

2009-02-09T21:51:00.009-05:00

I couldn't resist participating in Nichole's challenge today, Friends 'til the end. She asked us to make a card for our best friend. Easy, peasy! My BF loves to garden, so I went with flowers.

I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone by also using this weeks Card Positioning Systems sketch (CPS102) which is being sponsored by PTI! I just love the Gerber daisy from this new set and figured I'd double my chances to win it. :)

Stamps: Green Thumb & Garden of Life from Papertrey Ink, Mixed Bouquet from Stampin' Up!
Ink: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Aqua Mist, Ocean Tide, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise perfect match Palette Hybrid Inks, Certainly Celery, Garden Green
Paper: Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist, White
Accessories: Dimensionals
Tools: Paper Snips

PTI In the Bag challenge

2009-02-05T23:31:00.012-05:00

Have you been following PTI's second anniversary countdown? I'm getting pretty excited to see what they are coming out with! Today Nichole posted a challenge called It's in the Bag. We were to make or alter a bag with stamps and then post a link to the bag on her blog.

I decided to tackle a project I've been meaning to do for a while. Can you tell what it is? How about now? That's right, they are reusable produce bags. We stopped using plastic grocery bags about six months ago in favor of the reusable cloth ones that the store sells, but we would still get stuck with the plastic produce bags. Not anymore!

I cut 1 yard of organza into fat quarters, stamped with perfect match ink and then made little drawstring pouches out of each piece. Here's the tutorial that I followed. If you have a sewing machine, you can totally make these. It's just a few straight lines and they are super cute! Now I can't wait to go grocery shopping. :)

Stamps: Green Thumb from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado and Pure Poppy perfect match Palette Hybrid Inks
Fabric: 1 yard of organza
Accessories: Twine
Tools: Sewing machine

Mystery Image Swap

2009-01-21T21:00:00.001-05:00

This month's mystery image swap was a doozy! Not only did Sue send us this cute little Boxer Penguin from memory box, but she also sent us a piece of patterned paper. We had to use a piece of this paper on our card as an extra challenge. I was a little nervous at this prospect until my envelope came in the mail. When I saw the red lined paper though, I knew I had gotten off easy!

I decided t make a Valentine's Day card since the penguin's boxers have little hearts on them So I pulled out Hugs & Kisses from the Kim Hughes collection at Cornish Heritage Farms. I embossed the Xs and hearts with clear embossing powder onto the red panel. For more shine, I used a Sakura clear gelly pen on each of the hearts on his boxers and I filled in the i love you heart with crystal effects.

The layout is from Lauren Meader's Saturday sketch #19. I just love Lauren's sketches!

I hope my partner likes it! I was pretty pleased at the end.

Stamps: Boxer penguin from Memory Box, Hugs & Kisses from Cornish Heritage farms
Ink: VersaMark, Palette Noir; Going Gray, Real Red and Basic Gray markers
Paper: Basic gray, Basic Black, Real Red, Mystery white and Mystery patterned paper
Accessories: Crystal effects, clear embossing powder, Sakura clear gelly pen, Dimensionals
Tools: Hearts cuttlebug folder, Circle nestabilities

Hey thanks

2009-01-20T23:40:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am a child of the 80s, why do you ask? Seriously though, this is a challenge card for the SSUS group. We were to make a thank you card using current Stampin' Up! stamps. Sounds easy enough, but most of my sets are retired at this point. I figured I could spell out thanks using the Jumbo Outline alphabet and was inspired to do it in rainbow colors by the name frame I made before Christmas.

Once I made that decision, I rifled through the new catalog to see what else I had and when I saw that Seeing Spots was still current, I figured I had found the perfect match! I inked up each ring of dots with my marker to mirror the rainbow colors in the thanks sentiment. The whole card has a Punky Brewster vibe to me. Totally out of my comfort zone with the bright primary colors, but I was really digging it. I hope my challenge partner likes it too!

The layout was adapted from a Verve sketch, VSHR2 that I found on splitcoast stampers. The thanks panel came out so large that I had to drop the ribbon, but I think it works.

Stamps: Jumbo Outline Alphabet and Seeing Spots from Stampin' Up!
Ink: Real Red, Only Orange, Yo yo Yellow, Green Galore, Brilliant Blue, Lovely Lilac, Palette Noir
Paper: Shimmery White, Real Red, Green Galore
Accessories: Bold Brights Brads, Dimensionals

Fairy Lily Revisited

2009-01-13T21:01:00.007-05:00

I decided to make a second Lily the fairy card. She is just to fun to play with. This time I had her sprinkling pixie dust on a field of flowers. If you look closely you can see that the flowers on the left are sparkly, but the one of the right that she hasn't gotten to yet is not. Too fun! I thought this sentiment from Verve stamps was just too perfect!

The flowers on the bottom of the card are from the Dress up Lily stamp set. All of the images were colored with watercolor crayons and an aquapainter. To make it look like Lily had been flying, I created a fairy dust path behind her by dry embossing the flourish from the Priceless classy brass template by Stampin' Up! I then wiped the embossed part with a white ink pad and highlighted it with icicle stickles. I love this brass stencil because it also had holes to paper pierce.

In the end this card was just what I pictured in my head. I love it when that works out!

Stamps: Dress Up Lily from Pink Cat Studios, Starlight Starbright from Verve Stamps
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: Whisper White, Regal Rose, Vellum Cardstock from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Taffeta Ribbon from Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Icicle Stickles, Dazzling Diamonds
Tools: Two-way glue pen, Wavy Cutter from Creative Memories

Pink Cat Challenge

2009-01-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about the upcoming Lily & Billy Sweethearts set from Pink Cat Studio. To celebrate, Melissa had a contest. She gave us this sweet little Lily fairy as a pdf file so we could print it out and make a card.

For my card, I wanted to have Lily the fairy grant the frog his wish of becoming a prince. I just love the way the frog is holding his scepter. To attach the crown to the metal frame, I used some Tombow Metal glue. It worked perfectly!

This Howdy paper from American Crafts was the perfect match for my little fairy tale setting.

To make Lily, I printed the Lily image out twice, once on Whisper White cardstock and once on Vellum cardstock. While the ink was still wet on the Vellum cardstock, I sprinkled it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder and embossed it. Then I cut the wing section out of the vellum to give them a more delicate look. As a finishing touch, I blinged it up with some stickles icicles.

Don't forget to check back on the Pink Cat Studio blog for the official release on January 15!

Stamps: Dress Up Billy & Billy Plate 1 from Pink Cat Studios, Fairytale sentiments from Starvingartistamps
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Vellum Cardstock from Stampin' Up!, Howdy from American Crafts
Accessories: Ribbon from May Arts, Pewter Hodge Podge Hardware, Dimensionals, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Icicle Stickles
Tools: Koh-i-noor pencils, Gamsol

1st Birthday

2009-01-08T23:30:00.007-05:00

Can you believe my little guy is a year old already? In some ways it feels like just yesterday that we brought him home, but at the same time I can hardly remember what life was like without him. His first birthday is coming up, so I need to send out some invites for his party.

I found this cute paper from piggy tales at a local scrapbook store over the summer and was so excited that the dump truck from the Dress Up Billy set was a perfect match! I had trouble deciding on a color scheme for the rest of the card though. In the end, we went with the orange card because it pops a little more.

Does the sentiment's font look familiar? I really loved the open numbers from the new Number Fun set from the Kim Hughes Collection at Cornish Heritage Farms, but I am on a voluntary post-Christmas spending moratorium. So I opted to buy a couple of Kim Hughes' CK fonts for less than half the price of the stamp set. The number one is from CK Ed and the rest of the lettering is from CK Brandy B. I love Kim's handwriting and am tickled that I have a couple of her fonts now to really customize my cards. The inside of the invitation is also in the CK Brandy B font so it matches perfectly!

The sketch was posted by Lauren Meader a while back for a Pink Cat Studios challenge. I guess it is fitting that I used a Pink Cat Studio stamp on my card. ;)

Stamps: Dress Up Billy from Pink Cat Studios
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi from Stampin' Up!, Tortoise & Hare collection from piggy tales
Accessories: Striped Wasabi Grosgrain Ribbon from Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals
Tools: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Koh-i-noor pencils, Gamsol

Twiddle Bug Mystery Image

2009-01-07T19:30:00.002-05:00

I am a terrible Mystery Swapper! This card was supposed to be in the mail before Thanksgiving and instead I just mailed it out this past weekend. I'm so sorry Sue! I hope it was worth the wait...

When I first looked at the Balla Weensie images that Kim sent from Stampotique, I immediately thought of the Twiddle Bugs from Sesame Street. So cute!

Anyway, I thought the thin doodled lines from this patterned paper from Pebbles Inc. would go perfectly with the balla weensie. I colored her in with Koh-i-noor pencils first and then covered her green body with Fun Flock and her tutu with blue glitter from Stampin' Up!

The layout is from a Verve Stamps Sketch (VSHR3).

Stamps: Balla Weensie from Stampotique, sentiment by Stamping Bella
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, Chocolate Chip from Stampin' Up!, blue glitter cardstock from DCWV, Theodore Paisley and Stripe patterned paper from Pebbles Inc
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Tafetta ribbon from Stampin' Up, Blue glitter from Stampin' Up!, green Fun Flock from Stampendous, Dimensionals
Tools: Threading Water punch from Fiskars, Koh-i-noor pencils, Gamsol

Christmas Thank Yous

2009-01-06T19:30:00.002-05:00

For my little guy's Christmas thank you notes, I knew I wanted to include a picture of him playing with the toys that he was given. He's obviously too young to write his own thank you notes and since most of the gift givers weren't here to see him open the gifts, I thought it would be nice if they could see him enjoying them.

Anyway, when I saw Jennifer's son's thank you note on the Hero Arts blog I knew it was the perfect layout!

I did change a few things. First, I didn't have the Hero Arts sets that Jennifer used. But I do have this cool He Said She Said punch from Fiskars. So I paired it with the Thank You stamp from Family Phrases from Stampin' Up! Also instead of stamping the background, I used the Cuttlebug Snowflake folder and then wiped the card with Brilliance white ink. These cards were so fast to make! I made 18 of them in an hour and a half from start to finish.

Stamps: Family Phrases from Stampin' Up!
Ink: Palette Noir and Brilliance Moonlight White
Paper: Confetti Tan, Real Red, Whisper White from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Dimensionals
Tools: He said She said Squeeze Punch by Fiskars

Recipes

2009-01-05T19:30:00.001-05:00

As part of his Christmas gift this year, I made my husband a recipe box. I had intended to copy all of our favorite recipes down as well, but I ran out of time. I know you are probably scratching your head right now trying to understand how this could be a gift for my husband. Well, he works from home and makes dinner every night so I don't have to start cooking when I get home from work. He's been complaining that our favorite recipes are scattered through several cookbooks and printouts from the internet and that it would be much easier to have them all in one place. So, the recipe box was born!

I was so excited when Papertrey Ink came out with the Recipe Box stamp set and recipe cards. I love their long skinny dimensions and the fact that they fit perfectly in the egg box.

When it came time to decorate my box, I pulled out some patterned paper from Scenic Route that looks like college ruled paper and stamped images from the retired Mix & Mingle set from Stampin' Up! and the Little Gal, Baked with Love and Hugs and Kisses sets from the Kim Hughes collection at Cornish Heritage Farms in the perfect match ink colors from Papertrey Ink. I wanted the box to have a doodled look to it so I didn't color in the images.

On the inside, I lined the box with patterned paper from October Afternoon and used the Recipe Box stamp set to make dividers for each section. I also used the Polka Dots backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms on the dividers.

To make Recipes plural on the lid, I used the s from the Quirky Alphabet set.

Now, I just have the long task of copying over all of our recipes!

Stamps: Recipe Box from Papertrey Ink; Baked with Love, Hugs and Kisses, Little Gal and Quirky Alphabet from Cornish Heritage Farms; Mix & Mingle from Stampin' Up!
Ink: Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Plum Pudding & Spring Moss from Papertrey Ink, Palette Noir, Palette Burnt Umber and Palette Charcoal
Paper: Scenic Route and October Afternoon
Accessories: Matte finish Modge Podge
Tools: Foam brushes to apply the modge podge

Emily frame

2009-01-04T19:30:00.000-05:00

I love making name frames for new babies. I think it makes such a fun and special gift. For this frame I used VersaMagic chalk ink in rainbow colors and the monogram stamps from A Muse. The frame was $3 at WalMart. The clear stamps and clean design made this a much faster project than some of the other frames I've done.

More baby shoes

2009-01-03T19:18:00.006-05:00

For some Christmas gifts and my church's holiday craft fair, I made some more baby shoes. For these two pairs, I used metallic and pearl fabric paint from Tulip so they were sparkly and festive. The ornament is from the Heart warmers set by
Kim Hughes at Cornish Heritage Farms.

I absolutely loved this rainbow pair too. Aren't they fun and girly without having to be pink? he rainbow is from the Little Gal set by
Kim Hughes at Cornish Heritage Farms.

The last two pairs weren't stamped at all. I just loved the print on this corduroy from Joann's, so I just had to use it.

That's all I had time to finish before Christmas. I did cut out, stamp and paint several more pairs, so you haven't seen the last of these yet.

For details on how I made these, see my previous post on the subject.

Happy New Year & New Doodlefactory!

2009-01-01T21:08:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year to all of you! I know I've been silent on the blogging front lately, but I have lots to share with you (more baby shoes, Christmas presents and thank you cards!)

In the meantime, I wanted to let you know about the awesome new Valentine's Stamps from Doodle Factory. Check them out here!

They are so cute! I especially love the little monkeys!

Anyway, enjoy your holiday! I'll be back later this weekend to share some stamping goodness.

Photo Shoot

2008-11-24T08:56:00.009-05:00

So this weekend, I decided to try and take some pictures of the kid in his new shoes. This proved to be more difficult than I expected. Now that he's "crawling" (more like army crawling), he hardly ever sits still.

The last picture is my favorite! I was kneeling on the floor to take his picture and he decided to crawl up my lap to see what I was doing. I just love him to pieces!

Baby Shoes!

2008-11-20T22:06:00.003-05:00

Okay, I am really excited about this project! Soft-soled shoes are all the rage for babies these days. There's lots of brands on the market and they range from $20-$30 each. This pair cost me about $4. I used an old pair of jeans that no longer fit, a fat quarter of flannel for the lining and some Toughtek® for the soles. The pattern is free on Tacky Living.

The fun part about making your own baby shoes (besides the cost savings) is that you can decorate them however you chose! I just love this little snowman from Kim Hughes' Heartwarmers set on Cornish Heritage Farms. Before assembling the shoes, I stamped the snowman on the denim vamps in Palette Noir ink. Once it dried, I painted it in with Tulip soft fabric paints. It took two coats of paint for the white to be opaque. Then once it was dry, I backstitched the outline of the snowman with some embroidery floss.

I absolutely love these and can't wait to try them on my little guy on the morning! Now I can't wait to make another pair.

Fall Wedding

2008-11-18T20:00:00.002-05:00

The last wedding we went to was the last weekend of September up in the Catskill mountains in New York. We were expecting a beautiful fall weekend with the foliage nearing its peak, but instead we got tons of rain! Luckily it did stop for the wedding itself, but there was lots of mud to clean up when we got home.

Given the destination of the wedding, I wanted my card to have a woodsy / fall feel.

So, I chose Always Artichoke, Copper, Vanilla and Chocolate Chip as my color scheme. I first stamped the leaves with VersaMark ink on glossy cardstock and let them dry. Then I brayered the artichoke ink over top. I love the results of this technique. It looks so slick. Finally, I stamped the leaves' outlines with VersaMark and embossed them with copper embossing powder. I also had to sand the hodge podge hardware to reveal the true copper color instead of the brownish patina that it had out of the box.

The layout is from the Fall to Layout #11 from the Clean & Simple blog. I really love these layouts. They are so easy to adapt.

I love how this card turned out as well. So what do you think? All three cards look completely different, but I think they matched the various couples well.

Now that I'm all caught up, I can tell you about my sewing/stamping project that I've been working on for the past week. Stay tuned for more!

Stamps: Lovely Leaves from Stampin' Up! (retired), sentiment by A Muse
Ink: VersaMark, Always Artichoke
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Copper, Very Vanilla, Glossy White all from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: May Arts ribbon, Copper Hodge Podge Hardware, Dimensionals
Tools: Plain circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, Brayer

Wedding Two!

2008-11-17T19:00:00.001-05:00

The second wedding on Labor Day weekend was for a college friend. The happy couple has already been to Disney World once and that was also where they were going for their honeymoon, so it only seemed right to use the Fairytale set from Doodle Factory at Starving Artistamps.

I stamped all the images on a square Fabriano Medioevalis folded card in Palette Noir ink and then watercolored them with my Watercolor Wonder crayons and an Aquapainter. I also used quite a bit of clear stickles on the roof of the castle and the horse's bridle. The horse is popped up on dimensionals as well to make the castle look farther away. I was going to color in the ground and sky, but I didn't want it to look overdone or childish and I didn't trust myself to know when to stop. ;)

For the inside of the card, I stamped the happy couple and popped up a heart from a Kim Hughes set between them. I used more stickles on the princess and I used Crystal Effects on the knight to make his armour really shine. ;)

I love how cute this card came out and I think it was perfect for this couple.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the conclusion of the wedding card trifecta!

Stamps: Doodle Factory Fairytale and Fairytale Sentiments set from Starving Artistamps, heart from Baked with Love by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: Fabriano Medioevalis square folded card
Accessories: Crystal effects from Stampin' Up!, Icicle Stickles, Dimensionals
Tools: Paper snips, Watercolor Wonder Crayons from Stampin' Up!, Aquapainter

So far behind...

2008-11-16T19:00:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. One reason is that I haven't been stamping much. Sewing my little guy's Halloween costume got me on a bit of a sewing kick, so stamping has taken a back burner. I'm hoping to marry the two with my next project so I'll be sure to share that with you soon.

In the meantime, I have some catching up to do. We went to 3 weddings in September (two on Labor Day weekend) and I haven't posted any of the cards yet. I'll start with the first and most simple one.

Our first wedding was for a couple of board gaming friends here in Connecticut. Their wedding invitation was a simple, yet elegant white card with scrolly lavender accents. So, I modeled my card to complement the invitation.

This card was so simple, there's not much to say about it. Come back tomorrow for the second wedding of Labor Day weekend. It has a completely different feel to it.

Stamps: Reversed scallop circle image by Impress, sentiment by A Muse
Ink: Palette Noir, Almost Amethyst
Paper: Shimmery White, Almost Amethyst
Accessories: Retired wide organdy and sweet shop ribbon from Stampin' Up!, Dimensionals
Tools: Scalloped circle and plain circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders

Trifold Challenge Card

2008-11-02T19:00:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I signed up for another challenge on the SSUS group. We were supposed to make a card with the layout from the trifold card on page 16 of the Holiday Mini catalog.

This was a fun fold! I decided to pull out my Crab & Company set from Stampin' Up! and make a Christmas card out of it. The front of the card was inspired by one of Lauren Meader's old Saturday Sketches, #35.

The card itself was made out of a piece of kraft cardstock that measured 11 x 5.5. Then I folded it into thirds. My Score-It made this task nice and easy! I colored everything in with an aquapainter and watercolor crayons.

Stamps: Crab & Company and All Holidays from Stampin' Up!
Ink: Palette Noir, Real Red, Basic Gray
Paper: Watercolor Paper, Basic Black, Kraft, Basic Gray, Real Red
Accessories: Kraft tafeta ribbon, Dimensionals
Tools: Watercolor Crayons, Aquapainter, Score-It

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T12:00:00.001-04:00

I made my little guy a pigeon costume this year for Halloween! He is the pigeon from Don't let the pigeon drive the bus! It was my first sewing project and I am thrilled with the outcome. :)

Halloween

2008-10-20T07:00:00.001-04:00

I signed up for the Halloween card challenge on the SSUS group only to realize that all of my Stampin' Up! Halloween sets are retired. Luckily for me, my partner was okay with my using contraband. So, that gave me the perfect opportunity to pull out my new Doodle Factory Halloween II stamps! I just love this line of stamps and really need to use them more.

I used a sketch from Lauren Meader this time. It's My Time's Saturday Sketch #06. I moved the scalloped edge to the right side so it could be the edge of my card, but that was the only change that I made. The card is 4.5" square.

I started by brayering a piece of glossy cardstock with the retired Pumpkin Patch spectrum pad and when that was dry, I stamped the haunted house on the background with Palette Noir ink. This gave me the railings for the house since they were too fiddly to cut out.

Then I embossed the haunted house on glossy cardstock twice and colored it in with my Stampin' Up! markers (Perfect Plum, Going Gray, Always Artichoke, So Saffron and Basic Black.) I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but I cut the house and moon out and popped them up with dimensionals. Then from the second image, I cut out the bushes and popped them up again. This gave it a pretty cool 3-d look. The ghost was also cut out, but I glued him flat on the background.

Since this is supposed to be a Wow! card, I decided it wasn't sparkly enough. So, the black layer is completely covered in Martha Stewart black glitter. It is really stunning in person. The spider web is flocked with Panda Black flock as well.

I really loved this card when it was all done. I hope my partner likes it too!

Stamps: Doodle Factory Graveyard Shift and Witch's Brew sets from Starving Artistamps
Ink: Palette Noir, VersaMark
Paper: PaperTrey white cardstock, Basic Black, Perfect Plum, Glossy White
Accessories: Black Panda Flock from Stampendous, Black glitter from Martha Stewart, Black embossing powder and Heat & Stick Powder from Stampin' Up, Dimensionals
Tools: Brayer, Heat Tool, Paper Snips, Retired large corner rounder from Stampin' Up!

Mystery Image Swap

2008-10-06T22:11:00.004-04:00

I guess it's been more than a week, but I finally sat down to make my mystery image card. I absolutely love the Charlie and Charlotte stamps from Whiff of Joy and they just had a new release!

Anyway, I picked up this fun & festive paper a couple weeks ago at the Scrapbook Clubhouse after hitting the outlets for some warmer clothes for the baby. They are from American Crafts and were just too cool to pass up. I added a little glitz with some stickles to kick them up a notch.

Charlotte was colored with Koh-i-noor pencils and gamsol. I then added red glitter and liquid applique to her hat.

For the layout, I thought it would be fitting to use one of Katharina's sketches since Whiff of Joy is her company. I started with Sketch #28, but obviously I deviated a little. That's what happens when you try to go from memory.

I hope my partner likes it! It's been super fun to see everyone's cards. Thanks for playing along!

Stamps: Singing Charlotte from Whiff of Joy, Season of Joy from Stampin' Up!, Clear Ovals from A Muse
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: PaperTrey white cardstock, Real Red, American Crafts patterned paper
Accessories: ribbon from American Crafts, Red glitter, Ice stickles and black stickles, liquid applique
Tools: Dimensionals

My Turn!

2008-09-12T20:00:00.000-04:00

It was my turn to host the Mystery Image Swap this month. It was much harder than I thought it would be to chose just one image from all of my fun new stamps. I finally decided to choose a Whiff of Joy stamp since I figured the other swappers might not own these yet.

To thank everyone for participating, I made these cute little 3x3 note cards with the puppy from the Charlie with Dog stamp. He's just so cute! (This is not the swap image by the way. Come back later this week for the big reveal with my sample.)

I also pulled out my new October Afternoon papers for these cards. It is just so pretty and dainty. I thought it was a nice contrast to the happy dog.

These were quick & came out really cute if I do say so myself...

Stamps: Charlie with dog from Whiff of Joy
Ink: Palette Noir
Paper: PaperTrey white cardstock, Pretty in Pink, October Afternoon patterned paper
Accessories: Pink taffeta ribbon from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Dimensionals, paper snips

Mystery Image Swap

2008-08-26T19:48:00.000-04:00

It was time for another mystery image swap. This time, we got this cute little Changito monkey from Stampendous. He is so cute and summery that I just had to pull out the DCWV summer mat pack paper that I picked u at Joann's for half off. The colors are so bright and fun that they went perfectly with this little monkey.

I colored Changito with Koh-i-noor pencils and gamsol and then highlighted the circles on his water tube with stickles. I also put a little Crystal Effects on his sunglasses to make them shine.
I don't remember where I got the flip flop ribbon from, but t was just too fun to not use.

The layout is from one of Laren Meader's Saturday sketches during July.

I love these mystery image swaps. It's so much fun to see what everyone else does.

Stamps: Changito from Stampendous, Sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Neenah White cardstock, Basic Black, Summer Sunrise from PaperTrey Ink, DCWV Summer Glitter Stack
Accessories: Flip flop ribbon from ?, Crystal Effects, Ice Stickles
Tools: Koh-i-noor Pencils, Gamsol, Classic Rectangle Nestabilites from Spellbinders

First Doodle Factory Card

2008-08-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

I got my blog candy from Tracy at Starving Artistamps this week and finally got everything mounted. Of course, when I sat down to make a thank you card with it, I drew a blank. So, I used a different Doodle Factory set. I'll just have to work my way up to the Great Outdoors.

I was inspired by this card from Natasha Trupp's blog. I just loved the way the cow's head peaks over the fence. Too cute! I love the polka dots too, but I didn't want to do a complete CASE. So instead, I applied a Taylored Expressions sketch instead -- sketch #24 to be exact.

That was fun and I can't wait to pull out some more Doodle Factory sets this week.

Stamps: Doodle Factory Country, Country Sentiments from Starving Artistamps
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink, Stampin' Up markers in Green Galore, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black
Paper: Papertrey Ink white cardstock for card base, Whisper White Cardstock, Basic Black, sweet Patterned paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Black organdy polka dot ribbon from May Arts
Tools: Aquapainter, Stampin' Dimensionals, Classic & Scallop Rectangle and Classic & Scallop Oval Nestabilities from Spellbinders

Indulge me a little longer...

2008-08-17T15:05:00.007-04:00

We also decided to commemorate the 6 month milestone (one month late) by getting some professional pictures taken. At 3 months, we went to Sears and I wasn't happy with the experience or the pictures. So this time, we went to Kiddie Kandids. I love the pictures that we got, the sales pitch at the end was very casual and low pressure and it was even cheaper than Sears. They gave me some referral coupons, so if you have one in your area and would like to try them out, let me know and I'll mail you a coupon.

Seven Months!

2008-08-17T14:58:00.005-04:00

I can't believe another month has passed. My little guy turned 7 months old last Friday, so it was time to pull out another onesie and get some pictures. What a difference a month makes! Last month, he was barely able to sit up and needed one of us to help him stabilize. Not anymore!

If you'd like more information on how I made this onesie, see the six month post here.

I'm planning to stamp tonight, so check back tomorrow for some cards. :)

Greetings from Maine

2008-08-07T20:57:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone! Our vacation in Maine is coming to an end. Unfortunately we had pretty gray and cold weather all week, but we still made it out to Acadia National Park at Schoodic Point in Maine.

It's mid-August and we've only had one day this week over 70 degrees! We actually had to go to the thrift store to get our little guy some long sleeved shirts, long pants and a jacket because we did not come prepared.

Did you see that I actually won the Great Outdoors blog candy from Starving Artistamps? I am so incredibly excited about that! All I can say is that I love Tracey's husband. ;)

It's been fun though. I leave you with a shot of our little guy in Grandpa's backyard looking out at the Atlantic Ocean.

My advice

2008-08-02T19:00:00.005-04:00

I went to a bridal shower today where we were supposed to bring marital advice for the bride. I never know what to say with these types of things. So, my "advice" was to make this pie often. It's my favorite. ;)

I typed the recipe and printed it out on Papertrey ink white cardstock. Then I stamped this cute pie from the Baked with Love stamp set. I love the Kim Hughes Collection at Cornish Heritage Farms. I colored the peanut butter top with Koh-i-noor pencils and the silver pie plate with a Zig Painty. The chocolate chip on top was stamped in VersaMark and embossed with Chocolate scented embossing powder from Gel-a-tins.

The recipe is from my favorite cookbook, Wanda's Pie in the Sky. Unfortunately, it is out of print. If you'd like to make this heavenly chocolate peanut butter pie, I've posted the recipe below.

Stamps: Baked with Love from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir Black
Card stock: Papertrey Ink White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Zig Painty, Chocolate Scented embossing Powder
Tools: Heat Tool, Koh-i-noor pencils, gamsol

Choclate Peanut Butter Cream Pie
from Wanda's Pie in the Sky cookbook

For the crust:
1/4 cup sugar
2 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup roasted peanuts
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

For the filling:
10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups smooth peanut butter
3 Tbsp butter, softened
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

For the topping:
2/3 cup whipping cream
6 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 Tbsp corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For the crust: combine sugar, chocolate and peanuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Thoroughly combine the graham cracker crumbs, and sugar mixture, and butter in a bowl. Press onto bottom and sides of a 10” pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes until golden and firm. Cool.

For the filling: in a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, and butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combined. Whip the cream and vanilla in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold the cream into the peanut butter mixture. Spread into the cooled crust. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

For the topping: Bright cream to a slow boil over low heat. Remove from heat, add the chocolate and stir until smooth. Mix in the syrup. Allow to cool until it is beginning to thicken slightly but is still smooth. Pour over the pie. Chill until serving time. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Great Outdoors Blog Candy

2008-07-30T22:52:00.003-04:00

No, not here... Did you see the new Doodlefactory Great Outdoors set from Starving Artistamps? It is so cute. I love the little pine trees and the camper. Anyway, you can throw your hat in to win the Great Outdoors sheet and all four sentiment sets to go with it! Check it out here.

Whiff of Joy

2008-07-30T08:44:00.008-04:00

I came across a new stamp company called Whiff of Joy. They have some really cute winter kid images coming out soon. When I found out that Katharina, the owner, was having a sketch challenge contest to find a guest designer, I just had to whip up a card!

The challenge was to make a card using this sketch. Since the new Whiff of Joy stamps are all winter related, I pulled out the Lily and snowman stamp from Pink Cat Studios.

I must be on a paper piecing kick or something because I paper pieced Lily's coat, mittens and boots and Tweet's hat from the flowered background paper and Frosty's scarf and hat band from the striped paper. Then I added Indigo flocking to Lily's fringe and ear muffs. I love how this looks in real life. Frosty is covered in ice stickles and his hat, eyes and buttons were colored in with a Black Sakura jelly roll pen. Since it was already so late, I didn't give the pen time to dry before adding the stickles and it bled a little. That was a bit of a bummer, but I don't think it is too noticeable.

Stamps: Lily and Tweet from Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink
Paper: Night of Navy from Stampin' Up!, Natural White from Classic Crest, White Papertrey Ink, Snowflake Park Small Snowflakes and striped paper by Heidi Grace
Accessories: Indigo Flocking from Stampendous, Black Jelly Roll pen from Sakura, Ice Stickles, Navy craft seam binding from Martha Stewart
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Dimensionals, Cuttlebug tag die

Another Bridal Shower

2008-07-27T21:14:00.006-04:00

Now that the anniversaries have past, it's time to think about the 3 weddings we have from August 30-September 30. Another bridal shower equals another card!

For this one, I thought I would incorporate a few of the Dirty Dare challenges going on at Splitcoast Stampers this week. This card fulfills four of them! Definitely fills Lauren's challenge, Sharon's challenge and Laurie's challenge. Kind of a stretch for Christine's challenge, but I'm going with it anyway.

The layout is Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday sketch #45.

I paper pieced the bella's dress to match the background paper. I didn't have any card stock that coordinated, so I made the mat by smearing the Oasis Green ink pad on a piece of white card stock. Perfection and if I hadn't told you, you wouldn't know the difference! The vellum layer is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals. I hid them behind the ribbon.

I think that's about it. I'm hoping to at least sneak in one more Dirty Dare card before the week is up.

Stamps: blingabella from Stamping Bella, sentiment and clear ovals from A Muse
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink, Oasis Green VersaMagic
Paper: Papertrey Ink White card stock, vellum card stock, Manhattan Cocktail Dress Patterned paper from Luxe
Accessories: Ice Stickles, White Tafetta ribbon from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Watercolor wonder crayons, Aquapainter, Paper Snips, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

Tiny Miracle

2008-07-23T19:00:00.003-04:00

Eric's newborn cousin had surgery earlier this week to fix a violent vomiting issue. She is okay now, but her parents have been through a horrible week of uncertainty and then surgery. I can't even imagine!

I wanted to send a note to Eric's aunt to let her know that we were thinking of them. I am not great at making Thinking of You type cards and feel like I never have the right thing to say. It's even harder with a baby involved.

I decided simple is best so I chose Natasha's Fall to Layout #6. I chose a few different patterns from the Almost Amethyst prints patterned paper from Stampin' Up and added a little ice stickles to some of the blocks to keep it from being too drab. I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I added some very thin black ribbon to the bottom that I've had forever.

I'm pleased with the card. It was quick and hopefully sends the right message.

Stamps: Baby Love from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir Black
Card stock: Papertrey Ink White, Almost Amethyst Prints Patterned Paper
Accessories: Ice Stickles
Tools: 1 1/4" Square punch

Anniversaries

2008-07-22T19:00:00.002-04:00

July is a big wedding month which means lots of anniversary cards! This week is both my parent's anniversary and Eric's parents. Since my stamping time is a little limited these days, they are both getting the same card.

When Emily had a free shipping offer at Stamping Bella a few weeks ago, I just had to place an order. These cute tiddly Inks kids were at the top of my wishlist. I used the gamsol magic technique again to color it in. I'm getting better at shading to add dimension instead of just blending all the color until it is totally flat!

The layout is from Taylored Expressions's Cupcake Challenge #25. I had to flip the layout since my main image was too tall and I forgot that it was supposed to be off-center. I'll have to try this sketch again since I think it would be cuter with more of the circles showing.

Stamps: kissieface and sentiment from Stamping Bella
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink
Paper: Papertrey Ink White card stock, Regal Rose, retired Loves Me patterned paper from Stampin' Up!
Tools: Koh-i-noor pencils, Gamsol, 1 1/4", 1" 1/4" circle punches

Announcing my not-so-newborn

2008-07-21T19:00:00.005-04:00

I finally finished the baby's announcements. He's 6 months old, so I'm only 4 months or so late... At least they beat his first birthday invitations out the door!

Before I even got pregnant, I knew I wanted to make one of Cami's trifold cards. When I found out that I was having a boy, I picked the rocket theme and color scheme and ordered all the supplies. The plan was to have all the stamping and folding done before the baby was born so I could just slap on the picture & birth stats and be done. Funny how things don't go according to plan...

This picture was taken at 6 weeks. It's my favorite. I ordered wallet prints from Photo Express because they were the only site I could find that would cut out the prints. Since I was ordering 98 pictures, I didn't want to have to cut them all myself. I can't recommend these guys enough! They were awesome and the pictures are great quality on Kodak paper.

Okay, so on to the stamping. I stamped the rocket from A Muse on watercolor paper, colored it in with my watercolor crayons and an aquapainter and then cut it out. It is popped up with a Stampin' Dimensional. I used my plain and scalloped oval nestabilities to make the frame and punch the hole in the front of the card.

The birth stats were cut out and embossed with a rectangle nestability. I blurred out his name in the picture because we have decided not to post his name to the internet.

Just for reference, at his 6 month check-up on Friday he weighed 20 lbs 6 ounces and was 28.5 inches long! I can't believe he was ever that small.

Last weekend at the Rubber Stamp Expo, I found this cute set from Inkadinkado with the perfect stamp for the left side of the card. It was really lucky because I had no idea what I was going to put there. I think the Hi! I'm New Here. sentiment was just too perfect!

Here's a shot of the announcement fully opened. I love the way these came out, but I definitely underestimated the amount of work they would be. In the end, I made 91 announcements. If you look at how many stars are on these invitations, I hope I am forgiven for procrastinating so much! I totally should have ordered a stars wheel instead. ;)

Stamps: Starstruck from Stampin' Up!, Rocket from A Muse, Little Tyke from Inkadinkado
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink, Soft Sky
Paper: Whisper white card stock, watercolor paper, Soft Sky, Taken with Teal
Accessories: Lavendar grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Plain and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, Rectangle Nestabilities, watercolor crayons, Aquapainter, paper snips, Scor-It, Basic Gray Notch Tool

Six months

2008-07-20T14:25:00.001-04:00

Last week, I mentioned that I made a gift for my husband's new cousin. I also made these for my little guy.

About a month ago, I stumbled upon this etsy shop and fell in love with their grow baby grow onesies. The idea is to take the baby's picture every month on their birthday and then after a year, you can see how much they have grown and changed. Brilliant! The only problem I had with this product is that they use Gerber onesies and chose the size for each month based on the manufacturer's sizing guidelines. Gerber onesies run small to begin with and my guy just switched into size 12 month clothes from Carter's (even though he is only 6 months old)! Gerber onesies also stretch out of shape pretty easily. They are made out of an underwear-type material.

So, I decided to make my own using Carter's onesies and Avery ink jet iron-ons. They are my favorite brand. :) I just got Photoshop Elements for my computer and thought this would be the perfect project to get started with. Plus, this way I could control the sizing of the onesies. I made 1-6 month onesies for the new baby and a 6 month onesie for my little guy. I'm planning to make the rest of his as he grows and I'll make the 7-12 month size for my husband's cousin when we see how big she is at 6 months.

By the way, this is a blatant CASE of the etsy onesies. When I stumbled upon the free Fortuna Dot font, I decided to just copy the design exactly. Once I get more comfortable with Photoshop, I'll try designing my own graphics.

Billy's Room

2008-07-17T22:00:00.004-04:00

Melissa over at Pink Cat Studios ran a contest to be a guest designer for a new accessories set for Dress Up Billy & Dress Up Lily. I absolutely love these stamps and knew I had to at least try. ;)

The challenge was to create Billy or Lily's room. I had planned to do both, but time escaped me so I only have Billy's room to show you. I had so much fun making this though that I might still do Lily's room when I get a chance.

To me, Billy is all boy. After just getting home from a baseball game, he tossed his gear on the floor and is ready to start playing with something else. ;)

When I decided to take on the challenge, I figure it would be a great opportunity to try out a room card. Melissa Baldwin has a great tutorial here. I used some really old chatterbox paper as wall paper and cut the rug out of coordinating paper with a petite scalloped circle Nestabilities from Spellbinders. The molding on the wall is just a strip of Suede Brown Dark Prism card stock that I scored to give it a little shape.

For Billy's bed, I wanted to give him a cute dinosaur sheet ensemble. I used a corner rounder on one end to make it look less boxy and the key tag punch from Stampin' Up! to make his pillow. I just punched it twice to make it a little bit shorter. To hide all of the toys that Billy shoves under his bed, I added a bed skirt. To do this, I put down some Sticky Strip (red lined tape) on the back of the mattress piece. Then I applied some wide grosgrain -- making sure to ruffle it as I went along. I love how it came out.

Please excuse my horrible handwriting on Billy's toy box & name frame. I didn't have any PCS alphabet stamps, so I had to make due. ;)

The toy box was based on a technique that Mary O'Neill did on the Carol Duvall show several years ago. It took a little digging on the HGTV website to find the exact episode, but I did it! I love how the toys are layered to add a little dimension there as well.

I colored in the crown with my Krylon pen from Stampin' Up! to add some bling. I forgot how much I hate the smell of that!

Anyway, I had so much fun making Billy's room. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Stamps: Dress Up Billy, Dress Up Lily, Billy Plate 1 from Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink, Old Olive
Paper: Papertrey white card stock, Dark Suede Brown Prism card stock, Creamy Caramel from Stampin' Up!, patterned paper from Chatterbox, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Wide grosgrain ribbon from some packaging
Tools: Petite Circle Nestabilities, Koh-i-noor pencils, Gamsol, Krylon pen, paper snips, Scor-It, Key Tag punch

Rubber Stamp Expo

2008-07-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Tracy at Staving Artistamps, I found out that the Rubber Stamp & Scrapbook Expo was coming to Hartford last weekend! After checking with my local stamping friends, I found out that my friend Pat was demonstrating on Sunday, so that was the day that the baby and I headed up.

Being the geek that I am, I decided to stamp a onesie for the baby so he would look even cuter than normal. I chose Drake the dragon from the Doodle Factory Fairytale set because I think he is just too cute! I colored him in with metallic soft paints from Tulip. Isn't the sparkle awesome?
The convention itself was a lot of fun. In addition to seeing Pat, Ms. Technique Junkie, I ran into Barb & another Pat who were both in my sideline when I was a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. That was a nice surprise because I haven't seen them since I was pregnant.

I did pretty well spending-wise. I had to pick up the two Tropics sentiment sets from starving artiststamps and I also got a cute clear baby set from Inkadinkado. Hopefully I'll have a finished project to show you with those early next week.

My little guy was a real trooper throughout the show considering he missed his morning nap. By the time we left, he was ready to fall fast asleep.

Stamps: Fairytale Doodle Factory from Starving Artistamps
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Tulip soft fabric paints

Mystery Image Swap

2008-07-14T22:49:00.008-04:00

I had so much fun with the last Mystery Image swap that I had to join the next one on Stamp Girls Gone Wild. This time my dear friend Rose was the hostess and she chose these cute Elzybells girls as our image!

I wanted to play more with the Gamsol magic technique and I pulled the colors out of this fun paper from My Mind's Eye that I picked up on Cape Cod in April.

It looked a little flat to me though, so I used a Quickie Glue pen to adhere some glitter bling to the paper. This is a quick & easy way to add a little something to your project.

The layout is from Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #7. I love Taylor's sketches!

I think I'm getting better at this colored pencil blending thing. Here's a close-up of my girls. I added a little glitter to them too. I just can't help myself. These girls are just too fun to color! I'm definitely going to have to order some myself!

Stamps: All images by Elzybells NA
Ink: Palette Noir black ink
Paper: Papertrey White, patterned paper from My Mind's Eye
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
Tools: Square Nestabilities, Koh-i-noor pencils, Gamsol

Big Sister

2008-07-12T15:32:00.009-04:00

As I mentioned earlier this week, my husband has a new little cousin. And that new cousin has a four and a half year-old big sister. When we went to visit the baby, we just had to bring a gift for her big sister too. :)

So I decided to make her a shirt with Dress-up Lilly from Pink Cat Studios. Back in high school, I used to paint shirts for my little cousins all the time. I would trace their favorite cartoon character out of a coloring book onto tracing paper with an iron-on pencil and then iron the image onto a shirt. Then I would use Tulip soft paints to color it in. During my last trip to Michaels, I was surprised to see that Tulip still sells these paints. So, I purchased a few colors and took a trip down my crafting memory lane.

The first step to stamping on fabric is to pre-wash the shirt without any fabric softener. Also, don't use a dryer sheet or else the ink and paint won't set fully. Then make sure to stick a piece of cardboard inside the shirt so your paint/ink doesn't bleed through to the back.

After the prep work was done, I stamped Lily using Palette Noir black ink directly onto the shirt. The "big sister" was stamped with VersaMagic craft ink. On an old t-shirt I tried using the Tulip paint directly on the acrylic stamps, but it did not coat very well and ended up stamping poorly.

After letting the ink dry for an hour, I colored Lily in using the Tulip Soft paint. I ended up mixing white with the peach color to lighten it for her skin. Then to add some sparkle, I colored her dress in with the Amethyst pearl paint. It has a lot of sparkle in person, although it is hard to see in the pictures. You can see all the colors of fabric paint on Tulip's website.

When that was dry, I went over Lily's outline with a black fabric marker to give her some more definition.

This was a fun project and I definitely see some more painted T-shirts in my future!

Stamps: Dress Up Lily from Pink Cat Studios, Large & Small polka dot alphabet from A Muse
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Tulip soft fabric paints

Baby Girl

2008-07-08T01:00:00.009-04:00

My husband has a brand new cousin! She was born last week and we visited her over the weekend. I'll share more about the gift I made next week, but today I wanted to share the card.

I bought the Baby Love stamp set from the Kim Hughes Collection at Cornish Heritage Farms the day it was released. I've been admiring all of Kim's stamp sets for months now, but this one pushed me over the edge. I just had to place an order. :)

I couldn't decide which images to use, so I decided to make my own patterned paper and use as many as possible. I wanted a really bright and fun card, so I decided to use colored pencils.

This was my first attempt at the Gamsol Magic technique even though I've owned the Prismacolor pencils since Viking.com had that really great sale 4+ years ago (I think I got all 120 pencils for < $40). I know, it's shameful that they have sat unsharpened in their beautiful tin all these years. What's worse is that I didn't even use those pencils on this card. I used my new Koh-i-noor pencils that I got from Gina K. I saw these at Michaels this weekend too - a great choice for those 40% off coupons.

Anyway, I love the pencils and the gamsol technique. I will definitely be sharpening my Prismacolor pencils and playing around with this some more very soon!

The layout is an oldie but goodie -- Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday Sketch #32.

Stamps: Baby Love from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Palette Noir Black
Card stock: Papertrey Ink White, Regal Rose, Basic Black, Barely Banana, Lavender Lace
Accessories: Pink brads from Queen & Co, White brad from Doodle Bug
Tools: Square Nestabilities, Wizard Flower Creation dies, Koh-i-noor pencils, Gamsol

Bridal Shower

2008-07-01T07:00:00.013-04:00

I went to a bridal shower on Saturday for one of our close friends. Her family owns a cottage in the Catskills where they spend a lot of time in the summer, so I wanted to make an earthy but still elegant card.

When I placed my last Stampin' Up! order as a demonstrator, I ordered the Wonderful You stamp set with its matching wheel because it was on sale and because I've loved the images since the catalog came out in January. I figured it would be perfect for this card!

For simple elegance, I turned to Natasha Trupp's new blog, clean & simple stamping and used the Fall to Layout #4. Natasha has been posting great tips on making simple but still wow cards.

I've used several of her tips here -- starting with texture. The card base is a textured white card stock that I purchased many years ago at a scrapbook store. Then I rolled the Stems & Silhouettes wheel with white ink on a piece of river rock cardstock. On top of that is a piece of Suede Brown Dark Prism card stock that I stamped the open leaves from Wonderful You in VersaMark ink. The Prism paper has a wonderful leather texture to it. I got the suede brown pack from Cornish Heritage farms to try it out and I'm in love! Finally I stamped the flowers on whisper white cardstock and watercolored them with river rock ink. I tried leaving some white space in the petals when I watercolored and I really love the look. Then I cut them out and rolled the petals around a pencil to give them shape.

I am tickled with how this card came out.

Stamps: Wonderful You, Stems & Silhouettes Jumbo Wheel, Sentiment from A Muse
Ink: River Rock, Brilliance Moonlight White, Burnt Umber Palette Hybrid Ink, Versamark
Card stock: Textured White, River Rock, Suede Brown Dark Prism Cardstock, Whisper White
Accessories: Antique Brass Hodge Podge Hardware, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Paper Piercer, Pencil

Mmmm Cookies!

2008-06-19T22:22:00.006-04:00

I love cookies, so when this cookie bouquet was the inspiration challenge in the SSUS group, I had to sign up!

When I looked at these cookies, I was inspired by:

The Star Shapes
The Colors &
The affirming statements on each cookie.

This was a Stampin' Up! challenge, so I pulled out Starstruck for the stars since those are my only star images. The colors were also an easy match with Yo yo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise, Lovely Lilac and Certainly Celery. I thought the "Wonderful" from Wonderful Favorites matched the cookies perfectly. When you put it all together, this is what I came up with!

To kick it up a notch, I used Shimmery White card stock instead of Whisper White and I embossed a few stars with Iridescent Ice embossing powder as well. You can't see it in the picture, but the tempting turquoise layer and the Wonderful friend layer are popped up.

This was a fun challenge with bright colors that I wouldn't normally pair together. I hope my partner likes it!

Stamps: Wonderful Favorites, Starstruck, Dotted
Ink: Certainly Celery, Yo yo Yellow, Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise, Versamark
Card stock: Shimmery White, Certainly Celery, Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder
Tools: Stamping Dimensionals, Heat Tool

Mystery Image Swap

2008-06-09T12:48:00.009-04:00

I joined my first mystery image swap on Stamp Girls Gone Wild. It's an anything goes off-shoot from the Sensational Stampin' Up! Swappers group that I'm in. Anyway, Kristen mailed us all 4 copies of a stamped image and challenged us to make a card with it. Let me tell you, this was definitely a challenge! Now I don't ordinarily need to re-stamp an image 4 times to make one card, but I think the pressure of not being able to make more if I made a mistake really got to me!

Anyway, I had so much fun with my last Mojo Monday card, that I dug into the archives and chose Mojo Sketch #38. I also decided to use the same Scenic Route patterned paper since it is so bright & festive.

The only thing that I don't like about this paper is that the teal color is more green than Taken with Teal. This severely limits my coloring choices since most of my supplies are Stampin' Up! I tried mixing some Taken with Teal & Glorious Green reinker to make a closer match. I picked up the ink with an aquapainter filled with rubbing alcohol instead of water hoping that it would keep the colors more vibrant. It looked like a better match before it dried. Next time I'll have to add more green.

Since this was an anything goes swap, I pulled out the stickles that I bought several years ago and only used once. I think the chunky glitter looks cute as sprinkles on a cupcake. (In person, the glitter is clear, not blue like it came out in the picture.)

Stamps: All images by Just Johanna
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal, Glorious Green, Mystery black ink
Paper: Papertrey White, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Patterned Paper from Scenic Route
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, May Arts Polka Dot Black Organdy ribbon, Stickles
Tools: Paper Snips, Aquapainter

Birthday Mojo

2008-06-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

The baby has been going through a cranky fit at night lately, so I have had no time to myself, let alone stamping time. I did sign up for the Birthday Card Challenge on the SSUS group though, so I was thrilled tonight when he went to sleep at 8pm!

I figured I would do two challenges at once since stamping time is at a premium, so this also fits into Mojo Monday Sketch #40. This is my first Mojo Monday sketch even though I've been collecting them from the beginning. I love Julee's style and hope I did the sketch justice.

Since this was a card for the SSUS I was supposed to use all Stampin' Up! products, but my partner gave me the thumbs up to do whatever I wanted. Thanks Rose! The patterned paper is from Scenic Route. It is double sided which is perfect for this sketch. I actually picked up this paper on the SSUS Cape Cod retreat in March. I've had this stamp set from the Madras Collection at Papertrey for just as long. To add a little sparkle, I embossed the images with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I hope you like it Rose!

Stamps: It's a Celebration from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Taken with Teal, Palette Noir Black, VersaMark
Paper: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Taken with Teal, Patterned Paper from Scenic Route
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Teal Velvet Ribbon (retired from Stampin' Up!), Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder
Tools: Circle Nestabilities dies from Spellbinders, Heat Tool

Thanks for the memories...

2008-05-16T07:45:00.001-04:00

It's official -- I am no longer a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I had decided to retire from official duties once the baby came since I had to go back to work full-time. As it is now, I only see him for 3 hours a day (1 before work and 2 after work) before he goes to bed and I couldn't imagine missing 2 of those 3 hours on a regular basis to do workshops. I did think that I would hang on as a hobby demonstrator for a while, but that made less and less sense as time passed as well. So, I will go back to being a happy customer and now I feel my stamping options are a little more open as well. No more guilt for buying other stamps & supplies.

Aside from the discount, which was nice, the thing I will really miss is hanging out with all of my demonstrator friends at convention, local training meetings and online swap groups. I was lucky enough to be in Christina Crawford's 5th level. Over the past few years, I've gotten to meet Christina and I am happy to call her my friend. She sent the cutest little summer outfits for the baby last week, so I need to whip up a thank you card.

Okay, on to the card. At this point, I am sick of baby themed cards and I wanted to use all Stampin' Up supplies. So, I pulled out my new Prehistoric Pals set and grabbed the thank you from Family Phrases. I used Amy's Friday sketch #17 for this card, but I had to drop a layer since my card is only 3.5x5" and my focal image was a little large. The colors were inspired by one of the baby's new summer outfits. I like the contrast of the night of navy & green galore.

Stamps: Prehistoric Pals, Family Phrases
Ink: Night of Navy, Green Galore, Creamy Caramel, Palette Noir Black
Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Green Galore, Creamy Caramel, Bordering Blue
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Coluzzle Circle Cutter

Baptism Thanks

2008-05-13T07:30:00.001-04:00

The baby's baptism was 3 weeks ago now, so I needed to get my act together and make some more thank you notes. For mother's day weekend I asked for some stamping time and I was actually able to make 25 thank you cards in one sitting! It really felt good to start and finish a project on the same day.

I loved Beate's Weekend Sketch #47 this week. It was simple but eye-catching and just perfect for mass producing 25 thank you cards. I did tweak the oval position a little bit because my oval ended up being too small. It looked out of balance on my card, so I moved it over a little. I want to try the sketch again with the proper oval placement though. I can see myself coming back to this one over and over!

When I make thank you notes, they are almost always 3.5 x 5" instead of the standard 4.25 x 5.5". I always feel like I need to fill the inside with my thank you note, so smaller is better. ;) I try to keep a package of small note cards with envelopes around just for this purpose. It really does speed up the process.

The patterned paper I used is long retired from Stampin' Up! which is a shame because I am loving the colors in it. The little feet are from a Studio G dollar stamp set that I picked up a while back at Michaels. Gotta love that price!

These are definitely my favorite of all the baby thank yous I've made this year. I hope you like them too.

Stamps: Baby set from Studio G, sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Palette Noir black ink, Bashful Blue
Paper: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, retired designer paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon
Tools: Extra Jumbo Scallop oval punch from Marvy Uchida

Pottery Barn inspiration

2008-05-09T06:00:00.006-04:00

I decided to sign up for this week's challenge on the Sensational Stampin' Up! Swappers group. We were to use this rug from Pottery Barn Kids as our inspiration. I love the Pottery Barn look, so I had to jump in on this challenge.

Then I realized that I don't have very many current Stampin' Up! sets -- let alone floral sets. From my collection, my choices were to use Bud Basics or Doodle This. I decided that Bud Basics would work perfectly since it has two sizes of flowers & leaves.

When I first looked at the rug at Pottery Barn, I thought it was one rug - a chocolate rug with an ivory border. So, I was going to try to emulate that myself. I decided to use the chalkboard technique to get the flowers to show up on the chocolate cardstock. To match the softness, I planned to use poppin' pastels for the flowers on the white cardstock.

Unfortunately, when I put my two panels together it looked way too busy. So, I decided to just go with the larger white piece. To salvage the chocolate panel, I made a little 3x3 card. I hope Kristin likes at least one of them!

Stamps: Bud Basics, All Holidays
Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill Ribbon
Tools: Sponge Dauber, Stampin' Pastels

Stamps: Bud Basics
Ink: White Craft Ink
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Celery Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Sponge Dauber, Stampin' Pastels, Signo White Gel Pen

Thank You Alli!

2008-05-05T06:00:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win Alli Miles blog candy -- her new set Garden of Life! I couldn't believe my good luck! I was going to order this set from the minute I saw it so I was so excited to win it.

Well, the set just arrived in the mail on Friday so I had to make time this weekend to make a thank you card.

I've long admired Alli's style in designing cards. When I think of Alli's cards, I think of bright & rich colors. So I chose to use red, yellow & black. The layout is Lauren Meader's Saturday Sketch #24.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but I embossed the outline of the daisy on the black panel. The red daisy also has an embossed outline and was cut out and popped up off the summer sun panel (which is also popped up off the card). In real life, it really pops!

Thanks again Alli! I know that I will turn to this set a lot and I'm looking forward to seeing your next set for Papertrey Ink!

Stamps: Garden of Life from Papertrey Ink
Ink: VersaMark, Real Red, Summer Sun, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Whisper White, Summer Sun, Basic Black, Real Red
Accessories: Vintage Brads
Tools: Black Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals

Yo ho, yo ho...

2008-04-10T07:00:00.005-04:00

... a pirate's life for me! This is the last Billy image in the set from Pink Cat Studio and I think he's too cute with his peg leg dog as a sidekick.

The layout is from yesterday's sketch challenge on splitcoast (SC171). I thought Lisa's off-kilter oval was pretty cool looking and perfect for this image since Billy is so much taller than the dog.

I stamped Billy on Papertrey Ink's white cardstock and colored him in with my watercolor wonder crayons and an aquapainter. Then I decided to flock his little dog to make him fuzzy. I couldn't stop there though, so I flocked Billy's hat, boots and belt as well.

I know that real pirates don't have fuzzy hats, but I figured that Billy's dress up clothes probably would be made of felt and could definitely be fuzzy. It adds a little bit of fun to the card!

After the dog was all fuzzified, I had to make his nose shiny too with a little crystal effects. I used crystal effects on Billy's sword as well to give it a little shine.

Then it was time to add a sentiment. Taking a cue from Lauren's post the other day on what makes a card a wow, I decided to pop-up every layer as well as the skull and cross bones in the sentiment.

Stamps: Billy Plate 1 from Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink, Black Marker
Paper: Papertrey white cardstock, Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst
Accessories: Crystal Effects, Brown & Black Flocking from Stampendous
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Dimensionals, Coluzzle, 1 3/8" & 1 1/4" circle punches, corner rounder punch

Cowboy Kid

2008-04-09T07:00:00.002-04:00

Can you get enough of Billy from Pink Cat Studio? I certainly can not!

For this card, I wanted to try Toy's sketch #7. I just found Holly McMillen's (aka Toy) blog recently after stalking her splitcoast gallery for years. So I just had to try one of her sketches! This card is 5.5" square.

The burgundy layer was embossed with the new paisley Cuttlebug folder and then swiped with Brilliance white moonlight ink. The patterned paper is from Chatterbox (really old). Billy was colored with watercolor crayons and an aquapainter and cut out with the coluzzle.

Stamps: Billy Plate 1 from Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink
Paper: Papertrey white cardstock, Ballet Blue, Bravo Burgundy, River Rock, designer paper by Chatterbox
Accessories: Twill Tape
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Dimensionals, Coluzzle, Designer Tag punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, ticket corner punch

Super Kid

2008-04-08T07:00:00.005-04:00

When I made the happy forest card yesterday, I pulled out another sheet of sweet designer paper, but couldn't make it work on that card. So I decided to use it as my basis for a Super Billy card.

I also wanted to use the black Martha Stewart glitter that I bought around Halloween time and hadn't opened. Billy's costume and boots are sparkling black and his lightning bolt and eye mask gained their shine from Dazzling Diamonds. On a side note, if anyone has a tip on how to open the lid on the Martha Stewart glitter without breaking it, please let me know. The inner and outer lid system was too much for me to handle today.

To make it pop, I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark and applied heat & stick powder to adhere the black Martha Stewart glitter. In real life, this card is all sparkle!

The layout is from Lauren Meader's Saturday Sketch #32.

Stamps: Billy Plate 1 from Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink, VersaMark
Paper: Papertrey Ink white cardstock, Basic Grey, Basic Black, Green Galore, sweet Patterned paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, Martha Stewart black glitter, black grosgrain ribbon
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Dimensionals, two-way glue pen, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Classic Rectangle Nestabilities from Spellbinders

Happy Nap!

2008-04-06T23:00:00.005-04:00

Nap time is great! Now that the kid is taking longer naps during the day, I have a little more free time. And since this is my last week of maternity leave, I'm really going to try to make the most of it!

I fell in love with this whimsical scene from Stamping Bella a few months ago and had to add it to my next order. Everything about this scene, from the cute little birds to the lollipop trees, makes me happy!

I stamped the image on Papertrey Ink's white card stock with Palette Noir ink and then colored it in with my watercolor wonder crayons and an aquapainter. I pulled the color scheme (orchid opulence, yo yo yellow, green galore and tempting turquoise) from the retired sweet designer paper from Stampin' Up! I originally planned to use several different patterns from the pack, but in the end it looked too busy to me. Bold Brights are not my go to color family, so I decided that less was more for this card.

Stamps: happy forest from Stamping Bella, sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink
Paper: Papertrey Ink White card stock, Orchid Opulence, sweet Patterned paper from Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Yo yo yellow grosgrain ribbon
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Classic & Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities from Spellbinders

Blogger's Challenge #41 - Layout Challenge

2008-04-05T11:44:00.006-04:00

Finally some stamping time just for fun! I fell in love with the Billy & Lilly stamps from Pink Cat Studio after seeing them on Lauren's blog. My Billy stamps just came yesterday and I couldn't wait to ink them up!

The blogger's challenge this week was to use the long note layout on page 65 of the Stampin' Up Spring/Summer Collection. I didn't have any long notes, so I made my own out of a 12x12 sheet of Tempting Turquoise. All of the paper and stickers I used came from the retired Party Pieces Simply Scrappin' Kit, except for Billy himself. I stamped Billy on watercolor paper and then cut him out and popped him up with dimensionals.

I hope you enjoyed my entry this week. Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Billy Plate 1 from Pink Cat Studio
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink
Paper: Watercolor Paper, Party Pieces Simply Scrappin' Kit
Accessories: Bold Brights Brads
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Dimensionals

Thanks again

2008-04-02T22:36:00.005-04:00

I fell in love with this clothesline stamp from Karen Lockhart after seeing what Debbie Olson had done with it. So when I realized that I ran out of thank you notes again, I ordered this stamp and made some more. :)

Once again, I went the easy route. No layers, no embellishments. Just a beautiful Arturo note card and a little watercoloring.

I made six of these and it only took me 15 minutes. Perfect nap-time stamping.

Stamps: Clothesline stamp from Karen Lockhart, Sentiment from A Muse
Ink: Palette Noir Hybrid Ink
Paper: Arturo Buttercup Note cards
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T19:04:00.008-04:00

My little boy is two months old now! He had his first round of shots on St. Patrick's Day. This picture says it all! I don't know who it was more traumatic for, him or me. He did calm down pretty quickly though. Of course, since he's at least 1/4 Irish from my side of the family, he had to be dressed in green. Thanks Rose for this little outfit! If you can believe it, he's almost outgrown it already. The good news from the doctor's visit was that he now weighs 14 pounds 7 ounces and is 24 inches long! He went from being in the 25th percentile at 3 weeks to the 95th percentile at 2 months. Our feeding issues have obviously been resolved. :)

Luckily, Easter was a happier day for the little guy. It was fitting that this was the first Sunday we were allowed to take him to church. Unfortunately, the sound system in the nursery was on the fritz so I didn't get to hear the service. It was still nice to get out and see everyone though. Hopefully we'll actually make it into the sanctuary next week.

Six weeks

2008-02-29T14:11:00.006-05:00

My baby boy is six weeks old!

Here's his birth stats for those who asked:

Date: January 15, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Weight: 8 lbs 3 oz
Height: 20.5 inches

He had blond hair & blue eyes at birth, but now his hair is more of a light brown / dirty blond color.

Blogger's Challenge #36

2008-02-29T10:10:00.005-05:00

This week's blogger's challenge was to use the layout on page 44 of the Spring Summer Catalog - "with deepest sympathy".

The baby's baptism is scheduled for April 20, so I've started thinking about making invitations. Mind you, his baby announcements are not done yet, but why should that stop me? Perhaps because he has some sort of sensor that wakes him up from his nap the instant I walk into my stamp room?

At any rate, I thought this layout was simple enough that I should be able to whip up 20 invites in the next week or so. If I get the cutting and stamping done, I can assemble them anywhere.

For this card, I wanted to use the christening dress from the retired stamp set Buggies & Booties. In fact, I bought this stamp set when it was retiring so that I could make my future children's baptism invites. ;)

I was inspired by Heather Nichols to stamp on kraft cardstock instead of white. It's a very different look and I think it makes the card look a little more vintagey.

I tried just stamping the dress and sentiment with white ink, but it didn't show up enough so I had to emboss it. (For the record, I tried Stampin' Up Craft white, Brilliance White and Palette Noir new canvas and none of them were bright enough.)

I did sponge some Brilliance white ink onto the embossed panel to make it pop a little more.

That's pretty much it. I'm hoping to become a regular blogger's challenge member again, but to be honest it might take me a couple more weeks to get up to snuff. I literally threw this card together in 20 minutes before my little guy noticed I was gone.

Stamps: Buggies & Booties, Hugs & Wishes
Ink: VersaMark, Brilliance white ink
Paper: Confetti Tan, Blue Bayou, Bravo Burgundy
Accessories: Mellow Moss Taffeta ribbon, Brass Hodge Podge Hardware, white detail embossing powder
Tools: Cuttlebug, Textile Texture embossing folder, sponge

4 weeks and 1 day

2008-02-13T18:36:00.005-05:00

That's how old my little boy is!

He went from this:

To this in just 4 short weeks!

I can't believe how much he's grown and changed. First of all, he eats now! When he was first born, the last thing he wanted to do was nurse. It was so bad that I had to pump and feed him with an eye dropper. (The lactation consultant didn't want us to use a bottle so he wouldn't get confused.) That went on for 8 days! Every 2 hours, we would wake him up, try to nurse for 30 minutes, finger feed him with the eye dropper (which took about 15 minutes) and then pump for 20 minutes. On the ninth day, we gave up and started using a bottle instead of the eye dropper. Luckily he started to nurse for real a day or two later. By the third week we were good to go and I was able to put the pump away.

If you would have asked me which I was more nervous about while I was still pregnant: cloth diapering or breastfeeding, I would definitely have said cloth diapering. That has really been easy though. The laundry is not that big of a deal. I throw it in at night and move it along in the process when he wakes up to eat. It practically does itself.

Anyway, I'm sorry that I have been MIA for over a month. I haven't had much time to stamp at all. Now that he is actually nursing, I feel like we're doing it non-stop. ;)

He does take a good 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon though so I have started to work on his announcements. I'll be sure to post pictures of that when I get a little farther along.

Anyway, check out more pictures of my little guy here.

Baby Roundup

2008-01-10T22:39:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, I hit the 38 week mark in this pregnancy. I'm so close to done that it's scary. Today the baby measured 8 and a half pounds on the ultrasound. I'm expecting my OB to schedule an induction tomorrow. I have been feeling some contractions though so maybe I can get there on my own. Tonight we went out for dinner and I had Eggplant Rollatini and Eggplant Parmesan. I think it might be working...

Anyway, this was from the second batch of thank yous that I made. The jammies stamp is from A Muse. I think I got it on sale this summer because it was being retired. They do have a similar stamp in the current line though.

The baby bottle stamp is from Rubber Stampede. I bought it many years ago at Michaels when I first started stamping.

The blue Arturo note cards are from Ellen's store. All images were stamped with Palette Noir black ink and then watercolored with an aquapainter and my watercolor wonder crayons. Then I added a little bling with a clear copic spica glitter pen.

I might not be posting again for a few days. Hopefully the next post will have baby pictures!

Stamps: Sentiment and Jammies image from A Muse, Bottle image from Rubber Stampede
Ink: Palette Noir Black
Paper: Pale Blue Arturo note card & envelope
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, clear Copic Spica Glitter Pen

Christmas Wrap-up

2008-01-09T13:13:00.001-05:00

This was not a very creative Christmas at the Summerer house. To be honest, we've been a little preoccupied with baby preparations, so Christmas was almost something we just had to get through. As a result, we did give away a fair number of gift cards. To make that a little more appealing, I ordered these cute gift card tins from Gina K Designs and decorated them with retired Christmas paper from Stampin' Up! I wrapped some taffeta ribbon around the tin's lid just like Gina so they could be reused. The tags are tied on with silver cord. I inked each tag up with my markers so I could color coordinate it with the tin. Pretty simple stuff. This tag was from the level one hostess set Party Punch that retired in the 2006-2007 catalog.

For the neighbors, I made my own hot cocoa mix and gave it out in the tea tins that Gina carries. This idea originally came from Nichole Heady. I used the same recipe as Nichole, except I added a little bit of cinnamon (maybe 1 teaspoon). I find that where you buy your spices can make or break a recipe like this. My dutch processed cocoa and cinnamon (Extra Fancy Vietnamese) comes from Penzey's Spices. They have the best stuff! It's pricey, but I especially love their vanilla extract.

Anyway, to decorate the tin, I used the retired Like it a Latte set from Stampin' Up! and Holiday Treats from PaperTrey Inc.

One last hot cocoa tip! Every night I have a cup of diabetic hot cocoa. I tried the sugar free stuff from the grocery store, but it was flat and not very chocolatey. So, I came up with this instead: 1 cup of milk, 2 packets of splenda and 2 tablespoons of dutch processed cocoa. Yummy and only 15g of carbs. The perfect chocolately snack for a gestational diabetic! Plus the calcium is good for the baby. ;)

Blogger's Challenge #27 - Inspiration Challenge

2007-12-29T13:49:00.001-05:00

Long time no see, right? It's been a while since I've participated in a blogger's challenge, but I was really excited about this one.

It's inspiration week on the blogger's challenge group! This week I wanted to make a name frame for my baby's nursery. I was inspired by the stars on the Pottery Barn Kids curtains that we hung in his room. If you click the link above, you'll see that the stars on the sheers are in gingham prints in certainly celery, so saffron and ballet blue.

So, for the baby's name frame I wanted to recreate these applique stars. I started by cutting out various sized stars with the cuttlebug 2x2 stars dies from white chipboard coasters. Then I smooshed each star on my whisper white craft ink pad to make them even whiter. After they were dry, I inked up the gingham print from the retired Stampin' Up! set Wonderful Weaves with craft ink and pressed each star onto the stamp. I made a bunch in all three colors so that I could pick and choose which sizes and colors to use when I was ready to make the frame.

For the frame itself, I stamped the baby's name in ballet blue craft ink onto whisper white card stock using the large monogram alphabet from A Muse. Then I simply glued some of the stars down around his name using mini glue dots. This is probably the most simple name frame I've made, but it is exactly what I wanted for his room. (Here's a link to all the other frames I've made over the years.)

Sorry I didn't post a picture of the whole thing. We've decided not to post the baby's name on the internet so you'll have to be satisfied with just the first letter. ;)

I hope you enjoyed my entry this week. Don't forget to check out the other Blogger's challenge entries! You can find links to all of their sites in my sidebar.

Stamps: Wonderful Weaves, monogram alphabet by A Muse
Ink: Ballet Blue craft ink, Certainly Celery craft ink, So Saffron craft ink, Whisper White craft ink
Paper: Whisper White
Accessories: white chipboard coasters, Mini glue dots
Tools: Cuttlebug, Stars 2x2 dies

Quiet Snowy Neighborhood

2007-12-21T09:31:00.000-05:00

First off, I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post. This third trimester has really been kicking my butt. I am just as tired as I was in the first trimester, but I'm not able to sleep as much due to Christmas prep, baby prep and general discomfort. Needless to say, I haven't spent much time in the stamping room.

Anyway, last night I did stamp! I signed up for one last weekly challenge on the SSUS group. We were to use Debbie Olson's sketch from this blog post. I read Debbie's blog everyday so when this came up as the challenge I had to sign up! I also decided to use color challenge 127 since I was going for a quiet snowy night look.

So here's the details. Let me start by saying that this was not a quick card to make. I would never consider making more than one of these. It seriously took me 3 hours last night.

I started by wheeling the Neighborhood wheel over watercolor paper. I inked the wheel up with Palette Noir black ink first so that it would be waterproof. Then I cut along the house line because I didn't want the clouds or birds in the picture. I watercolored the houses using a combination of watercolor crayons and ink pads (soft sky and blue bayou). I then set this aside to dry.

In the meantime, I took a piece of glossy white card stock and stamped the dots from Itty Bitty Backgrounds with VersaMark ink all over it. I gave this a few seconds to dry before brayering it with Blue Bayou ink. This gave me my snowy skyline, pretty cool no?

I then took some whisper white scraps and freehand cut wavy snow drifts through it using the rotary blade on the cutter kit and cutting mat. Then I used the 2-way glue pen to trace the waves and sprinkled dazzling diamonds glitter on top. Once the watercoloring was dry, I also applied glue to the roofs of the houses and sprinkled dazzling diamonds glitter on those as well.

Then I cut up the "snow drifts" into smaller pieces to cover the bushes and grass in between the houses. I wanted it to look like everyone had shoveled their walkways, so I couldn't just glue the drifts right across the piece.

I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but if you look closely at the edge of the roof, you can see the icicles I made out of crystal effects and dazzling diamonds glitter. Lisa Somerville has a great tutorial on this technique on her blog.

Finally, I was ready to adhere my houses to the sky. I used a ton of stampin' dimensionals to give a more 3-d look.

At this point, I just had to put the card together. The base is made of PaperTrey Ink's Stamper's Select white card stock. Then I stamped the Canvas background stamp on blue bayou card stock with blue bayou ink and tied Kraft Taffeta Ribbon around it before adhering it to the base of the card. I then punched a half circle out of the chocolate chip card stock layer with the 1 1/4" circle punch. Now it was finally time to cut my beautiful street up into thirds. This was, after all, a sketch challenge.

After checking my math several times, I used the Tabletop Paper Cutter to slice the street up. It was a little difficult cutting through all those layers (and dimensionals), but it gave me extremely clean cuts. I then glued each panel onto the chocolate chip piece, flipped it over and cut the half circle out of the top layers by hand. (It wouldn't fit in the punch due to the dimensionals.) I glued that layer to the top of the card and I was done!

I really hope that my challenge partner likes it!

Needless to say, I won't be participating in this week's bloggers challenge. However, several people are making cards that move, so check out what they've done by clicking on the links in my side bar.

Stamps: Neighborhood jumbo wheel, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Canvas Background stamp
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky
Paper: Watercolor Paper, Glossy White Cardstock, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, PaperTrey Ink's Stampers Select white cardstock
Accessories: Kraft taffeta ribbon, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Stamping Dimensionals
Tools: 1 1/4" circle punch, Tabletop Paper Cutter, Cutter Kit, 2-way glue pen, Aquapainter, Watercolor Crayons