Enjoy The Ride!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Good Morning!

Today I thought I'd show you a card I made for Doggone Stamps recent new release. I had only shown you all a little sneak peek of it a couple of weeks ago, and since the giveaway is over, I figured it'd be ok to show you the whole card now. :)

How funny is this image?? I can think of a few guys I'd give this card to, for sure! I colored Smooth Skateboarder with my reinkers and aquapainter brush and gave him silvery hair, but you could give him blonde hair and he'd look 10 years younger!

The sentiment is also from Doggone Stamps, but don't expect to find a vertical one. It's actually a curved sentiment but because the rubber is so flexible, I managed to straighten it out while it was stuck to my acrylic block and stamped it out that way.

There were a bunch of new stamps released a couple of weeks ago, so if you love dogs or funny images, you need to check out their webstore!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
　

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Smooth Skateboarder' and 'Enjoy The Ride!'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Buckaroo Blue, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Going Gray, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - Crate Paper
Access: Ribbon, Button, Adhesive Pearls, Spellbinders Label One Nestibilities, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Doggone Stamps Giveaway!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Good Morning again!

Doggone Stamps has been celebrating the release of their new stamps this past week and they're having another giveaway! All you have to do is leave a comment on their blog post! That's it! Easy right?

Doggone Stamps is a mother and son owned and operated stamp company and they make a great team. Brian is the talent behind the funny images and his mum, Nancy, makes and distributes them! Oh, if you poke around their store, you may just find a stamp or two designed by their late mother/grandmother! (That's one talented family right there!)

There brand new release is all about enjoying the ride and the card I created with one of these fun images definitely screams this. But if you want to see the whole card, you're going to have to go check it out on the DGS blog! I promise you, you'll WANT to see this card! :D

Toodles!

Doggone Stamps Release and Giveaway!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Sometime last year, I spied a hilarious crown-wearing toad stamp on my friend's blog and decided I just HAD TO HAVE it! So I went looking for it and stumbled upon a rubber stamp company called Doggone Stamps that was producing a whole bunch of images that tickled my funny bone! A month or so later I was asked to be on their very first design team, and since then, they've had a few design teams and have added a lot more awesome stamps to their line up!!

Doggone Stamps is a mother and son owned and operated stamp company and they make a great team. Brian is the talent behind the funny images and his mum, Nancy, makes and distributes them! Oh, if you poke around their store, you may just find a stamp or two designed by their late mother/grandmother! (That's one talented family right there!)




Today, I have the great honor of helping them launch their BRAND NEW RELEASE! The theme of this release is all about kicking back and relaxing. I made a card especially for this kick off event, but to see it the whole card you'll have to head over to the DGS blog to see it in it's entirety! Hehehe Cruel aren't I?! Mwhahahahaa!


And to celebrate this HUGE event, Doggone Stamps is having a PRIZE GIVEAWAY each week to one lucky commenter! All you have to do is leave a comment on their blog post and you automatically are in with a chance to win some DGS goodies!! This giveaway is open until next Tuesday (when we'll showcase another round of cards), but hurry over to their blog and leave a comment now, so you don't miss out this week! :)

He Who Laughs Last...

Monday, June 29, 2009

Good Morning Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Syd and I took her Narnie strawberry picking again this weekend. The picking is so easy at the moment, it's hard to pick anything less than a tray full of them! At least we got to split it this time with Narnie. :)

I'm a little sad to show you this card today. You see, it's my last week designing for Doggone Stamps. I have been part of this wonderful family business for the past 6 months and I've met some wonderful stampers because of this company. I have had such a great time playing with these stamps! The images have inspired much chatter and laughter between me and my girlfriends over what sentiments would make for funny cards. I want to wish Nancy, Brian and the new DT much success in the future.


When I finished this card, my husband asked if I was feeling ok because it appeared a little darker than my usual cute cards. All I could say was "The paper made me do it." I've had it sitting in my stash for at least three years but could never find the right card or project to use it on. It's (appropriately) called 'Clown' and for some reason, I think this court jester and the paper are a match made in heaven!

Laughs best? Laughs loudest? Laughs longest? He's definitely laughing at something! Maybe at me for making this card? LOL I don't mind these moody colors, but I know they're not every one's cup of tea. Mr Jester was colored up with reinkers and an aquapainter on watercolor paper. Then cut out and popped on dimensionals onto the circle panel. That inverted scalloped circle was created with decorative scissors. I wanted to use ribbon on the card, but not in the usual way just because I didn't want to make this a 'typical' card. A tied ribbon would have been too cutsie for shady Mr. Jester. I loosely machine stitched around the edge of the base panel to create more of a whimsical feel.

Thanks for stopping by today. Tomorrow my daughter is turning 4, so I'll have a birthday card to show you and maybe even a picture of the birthday girl herself! :) (Where does the time go?!)

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Jester', sentiment by Karen Foster Snap Stamps (discontinued)
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Morning Marigold, Close To Cocoa, Ruby Red, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme, So Saffron, Going Gray, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Very Vanilla, True Thyme, Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - We R Memory Keepers Comstock Collection 'Clown' and Sassafras Lass Life is Beautiful Collection 'Woodland Whimsy - Say Timber'
Access: Ribbon, Nestibilities, Decorative Scissors, Sponges, Machine Stitching, Dimensionals

A Real Wedgie!

Monday, June 15, 2009

A happy Monday to you all!

I hope you had a great weekend and found some time to create something. Syd and I bought some supplies to make her daddy a present for Father's Day. We're going to paint and embellish a picture frame with 'Love Daddy' on it. :) I hope he likes glitter and sparkle on it! ;) hehehe

Last Friday the girls at Stamp Something challenged everyone to a sketch which is being sponsored this week by Doggone Stamps. The winner gets 8 - count 'em - 8 stamps of their choice! That's fabulous enough to make a card for!

I chose to use this witch stamp from Doggone Stamps and rotated the sketch to a portrait position. She was a hoot to color up! Black is a hard color to show the gradations of tone, so I used SU's Going Gray for her outfit and added Distress Ink's 'Black Soot' for the deep shadows. The hilarious sentiment is from Starving Artistamps.

On my trip to my local scrapbook store last week I had to check out their Halloween section because it's one of my favorite holidays. Probably because it wasn't a celebrated holiday in New Zealand or Australia and I was so drawn to all the festivities I'd always seen on American TV shows. Anyway, I spied these two luscious pieces of patterned paper there and they followed me home. :)

The layers are sponged with Walnut Stain from Distress Inks and the inverted scalloped border was created by flipping my decorative scalloped scissors. A cool look, don't you think?

I have to tell you a funny little thing that happened over the weekend that goes along with this card. Sydney was in the middle of her gymnastics class and I see her walking towards me from the floor area. She says "I need to go potty, Mama." Now I know for a fact she doesn't need to because I make sure she goes before class, so this kind of interuption doesn't happen. So I say "No you don't. You went before class." To which Syd quickly replied "But Mama! I got a wedgie!" Can't argue with a wedgie! LOL

Besides sponsoring the challenge this week, Doggone Stamps is also having a sale! If you like dogs, you have to check out their dog stamp section!

Thanks for stopping by today! See you all tomorrow with a Twinkling Tuesday sketch.

Supplies

Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Witch Riding Broom', Starving Artistamps 'Witch Trio sentiment'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Almost Amethyst, Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Distress Inks 'Black Soot, Walnut Stain and Peeled Paint'

Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - My Mind's Eye - Night Light Collection 'Candy Time and Halloween Wishes'

Access: Ribbon, Button, Twine, Brads, Sponges, Dimensionals, Precision Scissors

Doggone Stamps and a Sketch Challenge!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Hi Everyone!

Doggone Stamps is sponsoring this week's challenge over at Stamp Something!! Their challenge this week is a sketch and you're not going to believe what the winner will receive?! Not two, not four but eight, yes, 8 stamps of your choice from Doggone Stamps! Wooohooo!!! How's that for a fabulous prize!!?

Just create a card using the sketch above, and post a link to it using Mr Linky on the Stamp Something post I linked to in the paragraph above by 7pm EST Thursday June 18th, 2009.

Need some inspiration to get you going?? Check out what the Stamp Something DT girls have done with their Doggone Stamps! And I'm sure the Doggone Stamps DT girls will be playing with this sketch too, so stop by their blogs (list is on the left) over the coming week. I'm playing and I'll have my card to show you on Monday! :)

Have a fabulous and crafty weekend!

Pssst! I heard...

Thursday, May 14, 2009

A happy Thursday morning to you all!

Do you have plans for this weekend? Sydney has a couple of birthday's to attend/celebrate, so I think we're going to be busy most of the weekend. One is at a farm with pony rides and lunch. It's for her best friend at preschool, so I'm sure it'll be filled with giggles and lots of running around. The other is for her only cousin and I've heard we might be heading to the Boston Aquarium, which I LOVE!

You all know I love funny cards, so it should be no surprise that I had soooo much fun creating today's card!

I have wayyyy too much fun creating custom sentiments for my cards using Doggone Stamps! The expressions are priceless. I was able to use two challenges posted this week for this card. The layout comes from Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try and the dog theme came from the CCEE Stampers challenge. One of the challenges they like to play is the Catchy Name Featured Stamper. They pick the user name of an SCS member and create cards around it. Great idea isn't it?! This week's honorary member is IMAMUTTNUT, AKA Lauri Zoellmer. Congratulations Lauri! I've seen her around SCS and always chuckle to myself when I read her username. :)

Without hesitation, I immediately went to the binder that holds my Doggone Stamps rubber and pulled this little pup out. He's called Suspicious Pup.....no idea why. ;)

I colored up Sus Pup with SU inks and an aquapainter and then went through my Basic Grey paper looking for a contrasting color, but ended up going with this orange and brown combo instead. I think the Sahara Sand background to Sus Pup really creates a mysterious and devious look to the card, don't you think??

I am still waiting on some of the blog candy I ordered to arrive, so even though I may not post a picture of the candy tomorrow, I'll still have it up and running and hopefully the final pieces arrive over the weekend and I'll have a pic for you on Monday!

See you all tomorrow! :) Have a great day!

Supplies

Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Suspicious Pup', sentiment by Karen Foster Snap Stamps

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Mellow Collection - Juicy and Taper'

Access: Ribbon, Sponges, Circle Punches, Dimensionals

The Name's Duck, James Duck

Thursday, May 7, 2009

A happy Thursday to you all!

Until today, I haven't had a chance to use Jen Del Muro's Saturday Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT) from I{heart}2stamp fame. I've been keeping tabs on her sketches for a while now, but this week's sketch was too hard to pass up.

Meet Duck, James Duck.

Isn't he awesome?! When Nancy and Brian (owner and designer of Doggone Stamps) introduced him to the DT girls about a month ago, we all freaked out over him! If you know anything about me, you know I love funny images and sentiments, so James Duck immediately went to the top of my list! There is a matching sentiment that goes with James and I'm kicking myself that I didn't get it. I realize that he might not be for everyone, but you have to admit, he's original.

James Duck is colored up with SU inks and my aquapainter. I added the Really Rust background color to him to match the patterned paper and make him pop off the card a bit. I chose the old Basic Grey paper because it added to the mystery that is James Duck. :) Now here's where my mojo ended. I can't explain why I chose to add a scalloped edge to the horizontal strips. I think it makes the card a little 'girly', which is why I tried covering it up with the buttons! LOL Sometimes my mojo is a little hit and miss! hahaha

If you don't want to be enabled, look away now.....Doggone Stamps has a sale going on right now and they have a lot of their stamps at 20% off! Their shipping is crazy fast too (I'm in NH and they're in UT and I usually get my stamps in three days!). Ok, it's safe to look now. :)

I hope this card entertained you and I thank you for stopping by my blog today. I really enjoy reading your comments. :D


Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'James Duck'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Sahara Sand, Morning Marigold, Going Gray, Really Rust, Distress Inks 'Black Soot & Walnut Stain'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Aged and Confused Sublime Collection - Confused', Scenic Route 'Savannah Collection - Marina Drive'
Access: Buttons, DMC Thread, Decorative Scissor

Doggone Stamps Blog Hop

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Helloooooo hoppers!!

Welcome to my blog. If you've come from Jeanette Water's blog, then you're golden, but if you haven't, you might want to start back at the beginning, which is at Lauri Ingram's blog.

Ok, onto the good stuff! I'm using the hilarious stamp 'Chihuahua' on my card today. It's not hard to imagine any dog that has ever gotten into something forbidden (trash, pantry, etc) has looked this pleased with himself! Am I right?! hehehe

For this layout I used this week's CCEE Stampers sketch challenge. Now the sketch shows an oval nestie and I'd LOVE to be able to use an oval nestie, I really would - if I had any! No Cuttlebug, no Nestis. So I used my Fiskars circle cutter and decorative scissors instead to create the look of a scalloped nesties die cut. Naughty chihuahua was colored with SU inks on Canson Watercolor paper then cut out and popped on dimensionals. Lots of fiddly cutting, but well worth the result and I don't mind this intricate work. Then I sponged the circle with Cool Caribbean and layered it onto another circle and then a larger circle of Bazzil cardstock. I then ran the decorative scissors around the edge of the cardstock. I then pieced all the layers together and added the finishing touches, like Stickles on the frosting, rhinestones and a last but not least, a funny sentiment.

Your next stop along this hop is to the very talented Lorie Souther. Oh, and if you haven't stopped by Doggone Stamps lately or ever *gasp*, they're having a bit of a sale on their sports, Halloween, Spring, Summer and Winter stamps, so check them out!

Enjoy the rest of your hopping and have a great weekend!

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Chihuahua'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky, Cool Caribbean, Real Red
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - American Crafts 'Everyday Collection - Gidday'
Access: Ribbon, Taylor's Tiny Twinkies, Stickles, dimensionals, precision scissors, decorative scissors, circle punches

Wanna Play?

Monday, April 20, 2009

A happy Monday morning to you all!

I wanted to just take a moment to say thank you to everyone who stopped by and left a sweet comment about me Featured Cupcake Sampler day last Friday. It truly meant a lot to me and I feel so blessed. Thank you. :D

So as you may or may not know, I'm currently in Minnesota (Warroad- near the Canadian border) at the moment looking very interested in the making of windows.....*clears throat*! But we did go to a glass factory where they make sheet glass which was really interesting! I'm such a geek sometimes! hahaha

Anyway, I made this card Friday night and photographed it Saturday morning before I drove to the airport - I'm a crazy woman! Every Friday Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge is released and her DT take turns hosting the challenge. This week's gracious host and (who's blog I love to stalk!) is Lori Craig.

I used this stamp from Doggone Stamps because it leant itself perfectly to this sketch, WSC77. The part that took the longest was watercoloring the Lab. I found it hard to create a lot of depth with the brown inks. I had to apply the Close to Cocoa in layers and wait until they were completely dry before adding the Chocolate Chip as my darkest layer of color. I added some black for his nose and called it quits.

Blog Hop Alert!!

If you haven't seen my little golden retriever button in the left hand column, Doggone Stamps is having a blog stroll this Saturday, April 25th. If you have stamps from DGS and would like to play along, head over to this thread on our PCP site and sign yourself up! (Mary, I know you have some! LOL) We will start the blog over at the talented Lauri Ingram's blog, so head there on Saturday morning at 10am EST.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope Monday isn't too horrible for you!

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Black Lab', sentiment by Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Certain Celery, Old Olive, Sahara Sand
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Kraft cs, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Archaic Collection - Bygone Plaid'
Access: Ribbon, buttons, dimensionals

Window Flowers

Monday, March 30, 2009

Monday already?! Where did that weekend go?!

Saturday's weather was sooo nice! DD and I went out and kicked the ball around a bit. Sunday was a reminder that it's Spring and not Summer because it just rained all day. Boooo! Much of this week is supposed to be the same so I'm glad we managed to get some fresh air when we did.

Ok, so today's card shows one of the things I really like about the spring weather...flowers! This image is from Doggone Stamps. It's such a different image from the standard, run of the mill flower images out there, I had to get it. I love how it looks all prettied up and on a card!

I really wanted to create a really watercolored look to this image so I played up the brushstrokes a bit. I used Sahara Sand to create the stucco finish behind the image. The flower box had to be 3D, so I stamped a separate image of it, colored it then cut it out and popped it on dimensionals.

If you haven't checked out Doggone Stamps lately, definitely stop by because they have released some new images this past week. There are some new floral and coral stamps, some more comical characters, more dogs and some more spring/whimsical images. James Duck totally cracks me up and I may have to get him!

Hope your Monday is relatively pain free. Toodles!


Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Window with Flower Box', The Greeting Farm 'For Someone'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black & Timber Brown', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Certain Celery, Barely Banana, Pumpkin Pie, Almost Amethyst, Pink Passion, Sahara Sand, Distress Inks 'Tea Dye & Vintage Photo'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - K & Company
Access: Ribbon, circle punches, EK Success edge punch, decorative scissors, Zig pen, dimensionals

Harder than it looks

Monday, March 16, 2009

Good Morning!

I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. The weather here in New Hampshire was just beautiful! We actually got to open the windows for a bit.....ahhh! Love fresh air!

~Blog Hop Info~

Before I get into today's post, I just want to mention that the Hanna Stamps Blog Hop is still open until 12pm today EST, so if you haven't had a chance to do it, better get cracking! The winners will be announced on a thread in the Hanna Stamps SCS forum later this afternoon/evening. Thank you to those who have already participated thus far; I've really, REALLY enjoyed reading all your 'rockin moments'! And yes, having children is a rockin moment! hehe

Ok, back to our regular programming.

Doggone Stamps is a relatively new company in the stamping world, but they stock stamps in themes that you don't typically find like sports stamps, dog stamps and funny characters like this Zen Frog.

I had no idea what kind of card I could make with him, but he was one of those stamps 'I had to have'! You all know what I'm talking about right? We've all done it; bought a stamp because it was a MUST HAVE but we had no idea what we were going to use it for or what sentiment to put with it. Well, Zen Frog was that stamp for me.

I colored him up over the weekend and pieced this card together and then he just sat there because I couldn't think up a witty sentiment to pair with him. That was until my MIL reminded me of something that my 3 yr old daughter had said last weekend. We were out for lunch and DD was trying to do a magic trick by covering her cup of milk and 'magically' turning it until orange juice. Well, when she said the magic words and tasted her drink, she mumbled "Oh man, that was harder than I thought". Isn't that just the cutest thing you've ever heard?! My heart just melted at that moment. She is just the spunkiest kid! So, long story short; that's where the sentiment came from for this card.

As (almost) always, Mr. Frog was stamped with StazOn in 'Jet Black' and colored with reinkers and an aquapainter on Canson 90lb 140gsm Watercolor paper.

Thanks for stopping by today. :)

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Zen Frog', sentiment by Karen Foster's Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Old Olive. More Mustard, Really Rust, Ruby, Red, Cool Caribbean, Sahara Sand, Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo & Walnut Stain'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Ambrosia Collection - Citrus & Quince'
Access: Dimensionals, sponges, circle punches

Lets have some Craic

Thursday, March 12, 2009

And you all thought I was a nice girl! ;) LOL Don't worry; Craic isn't what you think it is!

Craic is a Gaelic term that loosely describes having fun. And if you're Irish (or an Irish-lover) usually music and beer are involved! Don't believe me.....looky here!

I have always loved St. Patty's day. Maybe it's because of my Irish heritage or it could be because it's just a great excuse to have a pint or two! When I worked in Australia, we always had lunch at one of the Irish pubs and have a pint to celebrate the day. Although, any more than 1 pint and I'd be as useless as a inkless inkpad!

So in honor of this craic day I made this card using the Bag Piper stamp from Doggone Stamps. This pudgy guy looks like he's ready for a good time doesn't he?!

The layout is this week's sketch challenge created by Jana Mays, my fellow Doggone Stamps design team member. I love doing sketch challenges because all that's left to do is to pick the paper and the stamp! Easy peesy right?! Yeah.....I hummed and ahhhed which paper to pick and ended up using this Basic Grey piece. Since the Bag Piper looked like he was going to play a little diddy after his beer, the 'Little Love Note' sentiment seemed to be the perfect fit! If you haven't spotted it already, that beer is looking a bit on the cold side...and any Irishman will tell ya that beer is not meant to be drunk cold! LOL

Blog Candy Alert: Wanna win some Doggone Stamps?! Head over to Jana May's blog for all the details!

Keep a look out for another quick post from me later today. I have a special announcement from Hanna Stamps!

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Bag Piper', MFT 'Everyday Sentiments'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, More Mustard, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, Sahara Sand, Morning Marigold
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Old Olive, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Boxer Collection - Cargo'
Access: Dimensionals, Fiskars circle cutter, circle punches, Stickles

You Can Do It!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

It's Tuesday already and you know what that means - another sketch challenge from the very talented Madelynn. I sometimes have to remind myself that she's 8 years old!

This week's sketch is another great one...except for one thing: it uses oval nesties! It's a conspiracy I tell you! LOL There's a plot to make me give in and buy some! hahaha Not really. The sketch is meant to be a guide, so I just substituted the ovals for rectangles instead. :)

This week I used this pitcher image from Doggone Stamps. I have like zero (ok, maybe one) boy images so I had to snag this one! He's called Pitcher for obvious reasons! I love his expression and the way his hair pops out the sides of his cap. I showed DH the card and all he could see was that there wasn't a B on the cap for his beloved Boston Redsox! Poor guy. :)

For those of you who love their dogs and would love some dog stamps, Doggone Stamps has added some really, really fun images that you need to check out. My friend Lorie created a card recently using the Nikko stamp which is just too doggone cute for words! Love it Lorie!!

Getting back to my card, it's a really simple card, but great for a guy don't you think? And would you look at that - I can use the color blue on a card! LOL This one's for you Heather! hehe I was telling Heather last week about how I have an aversion to the color blue on cards. Truth be told, I had my eyes closed the whole time I made this card.... ;)

Want to see more cards using Madelynn's sketch?? Check out Madelynn's blog for this week's featured designer who happens to be the very fabulous Heather Schlatter I was just talking about! The rest of the Twinkling team have some spectacular cards this week too! If you'd like to play along, please upload your card using the keyword MTTSC12 and post a comment on Madelynn's blog post linking back to your creation!

I wanted to mention that I have been given some blog awards over the past week or so which I'm very, very thankful for, but I unfortunately don't have enough hours in the day to comment or participate in all of them. I hope those who have nominated my blog understand this dilemma and know that I do sincerely appreciate the sweet gestures ((hugs)). Thank you to all of you.

Tomorrow I have a really FUN Whipper Snapper card to show you!

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Pitcher', sentiment by MFT
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Not Quite Navy, Cool Caribbean, Really Rust, Old Olive, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Canson watercolor, Bazzil cs, PP - K & Company 'Day Dreams Collection'
Access: Ribbon, dimensionals

Got What?!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

There are many stark differences between Perth, Australia and Keene, New Hamphire. The most obvious difference; Perth is a sprawling city of a little over 2 million people and Keene is a quaint New England town of almost 23,000. You can imagine my surprise the first time I saw tractors driving downtown or when I found out that my neighbor's favorite pasttime was playing with his chainsaw! No Sandra, you're not in Kansas anymore! LOL

After a few years these differences dulled a little and I wouldn't react quite so shocked when neighbors would talk about their hunting trips. That said though, I was downright quesy when I first saw the 'Gut Fish?' or 'Gut Deer?' bumper stickers!! Blah!! Which explains the sentiment on my card today...

A very manly card don't you think? Not for my Man though....he doesn't fish or hunt. So why did I get this stamp?? Because I knew he'd be great to color! LOL And I loved his face. I watercolored him in Old Olive, True Thyme and Black Soot and added some shading to the area behind him in Sahara Sand (my new favorite color!). Then because of all the greens, I picked this great burnished red patterned paper by Basic Grey to make him pop. Can you guess the name of that paper?? Long Underwear! Perfect for our early morning fisherman. :D

The layout was a challenge put out by Jana Mays from the design team on the Doggone Stamps Paper Craft Planet forum. You can find all the details HERE. I followed everything except the flowers in the corner because, well....there are no flowers in fishing! *grin*

Wanna win some blog candy including stamps from Doggone Stamps?? You know you do! Well, I have not one, not two but FIVE places you can find some! Head over to the fun blogs of design team members' Dana, Lauri, Mitzi, Jean and Cathy for some CANDY, CANDY, CANDY!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Fisher Man', sentiment by Karen Foster snap stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Old Olive, True Thyme, Creamy Caramel, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Kraft cs, Canson Watercolor, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Boxer Collection - Long Underwear'
Access: Circle punches, dimensionals

Giraffe Boghart?!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

I told you I had a smoldering giraffe didn't I?!? Does he not have that 'come hither' look on his face?! I REALLY enjoyed coloring this guy in! The details on him are amazing!

He's from Doggone Stamps and you may have already seen some cards on SCS made with him from the other design team members, like this one by Mitzi or this one by Nancy, AKA Pound Master! LOL

I didn't have to do a lot of coloring to Mr Boghart to bring him to life. I used Morning Marigold first then Creamy Caramel on any shadow areas. Cool Caribbean is in the background to ground him.

Got my sewing machine out yet again! I'm trying to find a happy setting on my machine to prevent the corners from pulling towards the center. I think it's a tension thing. If anyone has any suggestions - I'm all ears! :D

It's Friday tomorrow and it's also my day off work!! Waahoooo! I soooo need the break!

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Giraffe', sentiment by Studio G mini alphabet sets
Inks: StazOn 'Timber Brown', Morning Marigold, Creamy Caramel, Real Red, Certain Celery, True Thyme, Cool Caribbean
Paper: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Aged and Confused Sublime Collection - Vintage Floral'
Access: Ribbon, sewing machine, dimensionals

Bear Hugs!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Good Morning! I hope you all had a great weekend. I puttered around the house for most of it. It was nice to just be home and not have any out of town obligations.

Last Friday The Man came home with something I haven't had in the house in over two years - TIM TAMS!! Tim Tams are an Australian chocolate cookie/sandwich that I have not found easily in the US. The last time I had them was Christmas 2006 when The Man bought me a whole supply of Australian food from an importer here in the US. He found these at a somewhat local (1hr away) unique gift shop in Vermont. I was so excited to have a little taste of home this weekend that I got a little carried away and.....well, lets just say that no one else in the house got a taste! LOL

From all the blog surfing I've been doing, I know I'm WAYYY behind in showing you some Valentines Day cards, but then again, I don't want to get all 'department storie' on you and show you things three months ahead of schedule! All week I have some fun and sweet cards to show you that celebrate this heart warming holiday.

Today's card uses a stamp from Doggone Stamps, called 'Bear With Pillow'. He's a cute little thing and looks a little sad hugging his pillow. If he's anything like my little girl, he's getting some comfort from hugging it. The layout is a sketch challenge that Jana Mays put to the rest of the Doggone Stamps design team and is open to anyone who wants to play along with us. I didn't tweak it much at all since the layout is right up my alley.

If you pop over to the thread on PCP that the girls started for this sketch challenge, you can find some other fabulous cards, like Lauri Ingram's!

Tomorrow I have another Twinkling sketch challenge for you all tomorrow (it's a doozer!). Thanks for stopping by today!


Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Bear with pillow', sentiment by Studio G
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Pretty In Pink, Real Red, Vintage Violet
Paper: Georgia Pacific cs, Cranberry Crisp, Bazzil cs, PP - K & Company 'Sweet Talk Die Cut Mat'
Access: Ribbon, K&Company 'Sweet Talk Acetate Die Cuts', heart button, dimensionals

Doggone Stamps has new stamps!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Since I posted my usual Friday post late last night, I just wanted to make a quick post and announcement today.

Doggone Stamps has posted some new stamps in their shop and you need to go and check them out! They have a bunch of dog stamps available and I think I may have to order a couple for myself! I love the look of THIS one and THIS one!

I'll have some new cards for you next week using some of their images. I can't wait for you to see them!

See you next week! Toodles!

Love You Tons

Thursday, January 29, 2009

It's Thursday...finally!! I'll be at work for the morning, then I'm going home to take a well deserved nap! Have to take advantage of that since my daugther will be at daycare, hubby will still be at work and I don't want to spend the rest of the weekend recuperating!

I have another Doggone Stamps card to show you all today. And it's my first (well, second if you count yesterday's monster card) Valentines Day card of the year! I colored this guy up two weeks ago now and because of work, I've only just now had the time to make him into a card (I actually created this two nights ago after I got home from work at 11pm - can you say crazy?!)

Don't you just LOVE this little guy's cheeks and his little belly?? I was going for more of a masculine card or rather a card a man wouldn't mind giving, but then I remembered the comedy sketch by the HILARIOUS Kevin James about how men don't like buying cards for women.

Speaking of Kevin James, I have a story to share with you: When we were at the mall weekend before last, hubby and I were in the elevator with another couple and a security guard and all of a sudden the other couple started giggling. I look over and the woman was obviously laughing at the poor security guard and says 'Mall Cop". I wanted to bust out laughing, but then I refrained because the poor guy looked like he'd been called that 1000 times already!

Back to the card: as usual I colored this image using my SU inks and aquapainter. You may have noticed that my shadow isn't black. I tend to use Vintage Violet for my shadows on the ground. It makes for a more softer looking shadow than if I had used black ink. I sponged the patterned paper with my Distress Ink 'Walnut Stain', added a decorative edge with some scissors and popped on the sentiment (look Ma, a real sentiment!) which I found at Joannes, and a heart button from Michaels. Voila - a card that the hubby can give me! LOL

By the way, you might have noticed that my blog list for the Doggone Stamps design team got a little longer. Take a peek at their blogs to see some more very cool cards and projects.

Hope you're all having a great week. I have a funny Hanna Stamps card for you tomorrow, so come back, ok?? :D


Supplies:
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Boy With Flowers', sentiment by Studio G
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Cool Caribbean, Buckaroo Blue, Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Distress Inks 'Walnut Stain'
Paper: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil cs, PP - PP - EK Success 'Overton House Designs - Mint Expresso'
Access: Ribbon, dimensionals, heart button, decorative scissors

Toadilly Delicious!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Good morning friends!! And Happy Australia Day to you all!

Anyone want to take a guess at how many hours I worked last week?? 50hrs? 60hrs? How about 75hrs? Yep, 75 hours! Three of those hours were completed yesterday, but the other 72, they were all from the Monday to Friday work week. This week is much of the same except we HAVE to be done by Thursday morning which means 15 hour days until then. Ugh. My bank account will look fat and plump but I'm going to be too exhausted to spend it! (Did I really just say that?)

Onto more fun things like playing with new stamps and some Happy News! A few weeks back I was reading my good friend Lauri's blog and how she had just become a member of a design team for the first time. I was so happy for her because she's such a creative person and has such a fun personality and I knew it was only a matter of time before she would be snapped up by a company. That night I followed the link she gave us to this stamp company that had just gotten off the ground a few months back. I loved what I saw and made a purchase that night because I couldn't resist one particular stamp.

Isn't he spectacular?! Toad King is his name and I knew I HAD TO HAVE HIM the moment I laid eyes on him! The next day I left Lauri a message thanking her for the enabling and confessed my purchase to my other SCS friends who I knew would get a kick out of him. And they did. We came up with all sorts of potential sentiments for him that afternoon; everything from "You CROAK me up!" to "I frogot your birthday" and someone even suggested they woke up next to this face that morning! Haha

So, do ya wanna guess my happy news? I will be joining Lauri on the Doggone Stamps design team for the next six months! I'm totally thrilled to be a part of a up and coming rubber stamp company! Doggone Stamps is run by Nancy and her son Brian, who's the creative talent behind all the images. I love the fact that Nancy gets to work with her son on a venture together! There are some great characters in the shop and their expressions are PRICELESS! Please go check them out; I guarantee you'll get a laugh out of them too! Nancy has a design team call posted on SCS and it's open until the end of this week, so if you're interested, shoot her an email quick!

Sorry I didn't go into a lot of detail on this card today - I had too much to tell you! The size is 5.5" x 5.5", which is typically what all of my square cards are. Toad is colored up with my SU inks and aquapainter again but instead of applying washes of color, I applied the color using the stippling technique (AKA appling color in a dabbing motion). His body is a mixture of four SU colors - Certain Celery, Morning Marigold, True Thyme and Vintage Violet.

I hope you all have a great Monday and I'll see you back here tomorrow with another Twinkling sketch!


Supplies:
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Toad King', Karen Foster's mini alphabet snap stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Certain Celery, Morning Marigold, True Thyme, Vintage Violet, Creamy Caramel, Cool Caribbean, Real Red
Paper: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Mellow Collection - Birch'
Access: Ribbon, dimensionals, circle punches, sponges