A doozer of a sketch!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

It's Twinkling Tuesday again and I have to say, this week's sketch almost had me running the other direction! Talk about a doodle that got carried away with itself! LOL

You know how sometimes you doodle while you talk on the phone? I think that's what Miss Madelynn was doing when she created this sketch. :) It might explain all the detail on this one! hehe

I had no idea what stamp to use or where I was going to start with this sketch, but then I started looking at There She Goes 'Bloom' set and thought I could double up one of the flower stems and the idea just grew from there.

Like to see more cards with this sketch, check out the blogs of the talented Twinkies (their blogs are listed on left). If you'd like to play along this week (don't be too scared off by the sketch), use the keyword MTTSC31 when uploading to SCS or PCP.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: There She Goes 'Bloom'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Certain Celery, Old Olive, Morning Marigold, Regal Rose, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Bling, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Wisteria Collection - Finch'
Access: Ribbon, Talyor's Tiny Twinkies, Sponges, Dimensionals

Birthday Splash

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Good Morning!

I'm off to shop for baby supplies today.....for my husband's cousin that is! She's visiting from Toronto for a couple of days and only found out a few weeks ago that she and her new husband are expecting their first child in 8 or so months. This trip will probably make me a little clucky (an Australian term I think). I so want another baby too! One day soon I hope.

Today I have another Twinkling sketch for you! This week we have a temporary Twinkie in our midst. Madelynn's younger brother, Jack, has a great sketch lined up for us. You can check it out on the Twinkling Tuesday blog.

I am falling in love with these Sugarplum images from All That Scraps! So is my 4 year old. I had this card sitting on my desk and Syd stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted it! Looks like I may have to make a purchase in the near future. I was given this image by a great friend.

I rotated the sketch 90 degrees. for my card. I used ribbons for the vertical elements in the sketch and the scalloped edge for the stars down the side. The fun paper and scalloped border are from a stack of Sassafras Lass paper I bought at Michael's a while back. Miss Emma is colored up with SU reinkers and an aquapainter.

For a little bit of sparkle, I added an adhesive rhinestone to the center of the flower on her cap.

There have been a few changes to the Twinkling Design Team of late. We're saying goodbye to Kimmie Doktor and welcome back to Taylor Usry! Kimmie, I'll miss your creative talent! Also, Heather Lee Reppen is taking a wee break, so we'll add her name back to the blog list when she's back from her hiatus. This week's featured Twinkie is the super sweet Kim Ross! You can also check out what the other Twinkette's did with the sketch by checking out their blogs listed on the left. If you'd like to play along, just create your card and post a link back to it on today's post. If you upload to SCS, don't forget to use the keyword MTTSC30.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: All That Scraps 'Sugarplums Surfer Emma', Whipper Snapper Designs 'Swimming By'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Morning Marigold, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Whisper White, Bazzil Basics, Bazzil Bling, PP - Sassafras Lass 'Whale Of A Tale'
Access: Ribbon, Buttons, Adhesive Bling, Dimensionals

The Citrus Birthday Fairy!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Yes, today is my little baby's 4th birthday. I can't really call her a baby any more. At three, you can still get away with it, but now that she's 4, she's a big kid now. That's what she tells me anyway. :) She keeps measuring herself to show me how much she's grown because..."I can play soccer with the big girls Mama." *tearing up* My little girl is growing up!

So in honor of my 'little one', here is the birthday card I created especially for her.

It has all the things she loves on it; Tinkerbell, fruit and lots of sparkles! Her card just so happens to tie in with this week's Twinkling Tuesday challenge. It's an inspiration one: Citrus! My little girl is nuts about her fruit! Whether it be berries, lemons, oranges or grapes. Whatever the fruit, she'll eat it till the cows come home!

So I immediately pulled this small matt pad from K&Company aptly named 'Citronella' and one of her favorite stamps in my collection - Fairy Tink from The Greeting Farm and went to work. I have been so inspired lately by the work of the Top 5 girls in the 2sketches4you Ultimate Card Showdown challenge that I channeled some of their creativity to create this starburst look behind Tink. The card also happens to use the Weekend Sketch Challenge WSC86.

If you'd like to play along with Madelynn's Twinkling Challenge this week, just create your card, upload it somewhere, and leave a comment on this week's Twinkling Tuesday blog post. If you upload it to SCS or PCP, just use the keyword MTTSC29. This week, our hostess with the mostest is the super talented Janna Hull!

Last but not least, I did promise you a picture of my little 'big' girl. :) She is our Tinkerbelle in every way, shape and form.

Happy Birthday Sydney!!

Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Fairy Tink', PaperTrey Ink 'Paper Tray'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Morning Marigold, Certain Celery, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, Core' dinations ColorCore Cardstock, PP - K&Company 'Citronella' and 'Que Sera Sera'
Access: Ribbon, Circle Nestibilities, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals, Stickles

The Sisterhood

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I envy those who have a sister. I grew up watching my best friend and her older sister interact and I just loved the closeness they had. I wished it for myself many times.

When I started participating in the amazing community of SCS a little over a year ago and really got serious about stamping, I met an amazing group of women who make me feel like I have the sisters I always wanted. These girls support and encourage one another as well as bring the tissues when they're needed and baseball bats if they're needed too! I love their friendship and I couldn't imagine continuing to stamp and create without their support and encouragement. So girls, you know who you are, this card is for you! *mwah*

This week's Twinkling Tuesday challenge is a Use It one. Can you guess what it is? Yep, bling!! Lots of it! So I pulled all my adhesive rhinestones and rhinestone brads to create this card.

Can you believe that there is not a lick of stamping on this card at all! Nothing! That image is a cotton scraps piece from Crafty Secrets (found at Hanna Stamps). It's actually printed on cotton fabric! It's a really neat idea, but I'm afraid I didn't do it quite justice with this card. I should have pinky sheared the edges for more of a quilted look.

Check out how the other Twinkling girls have 'bling-o-fied' their cards today by stopping by their blogs. You can find links to them in the blog list on the left. Today's featured Twinky is none other than the uber talented and mama of Madelynn with the mostest - Jessica Diedrich! If you'd like to play along and bling-o-phy a card, upload it to SCS or PCP and use the keyword MTTSC28 so the Twinkettes can leave you some love!

Thanks for stopping by today! Tomorrow I want to show you the card I made for my husband for Father's Day. :) See you then.

Supplies

Stamps: None!

Inks: Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo'

Papers: Bazzil Basics, Bazzil Bling, PP - K&Company 'Ancestry'

Access: Ribbon, Prima Flowers, Making Memories Rhinestone Brads, Adhesive Rhinestones, Crafty Secrets 'Cotton Scraps - Family', Dimensionals

Howdy Partner!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Howdy y'all!

Thank you everyone who left the sweetest comments yesterday about my Top 20 achievements! It's a huge honor for me to even have made it this far and to be amongst some crazy good talented women. I hope the idea starting to form in my head for the next card really wows the judges! (It's not wowing me yet! LOL)

Anywho...today is Tuesday and that means 9 year old Madelynn has another sketch for us to play with! And this week, well, it's a bit of a doozer! (I'm beginning to feel like I say that every week! hahaha) Well, it kind of is with all those horizontal and vertical panels, but I found a way around them - stitching! Brilliant!

I feel like a big smarty pants for figuring this out! LOL I always think of ribbon or strips of paper so this was a huge lightbulb moment for me! :D

I'm playing with another underwater sea creature from Anna Wight's/Whipper Snapper's cling set, Swimming By' released last month. (Be on the look out for a sneaky peek at June's sets in the near future!) I've named him Mr. Octavius - Cowboy Extraordinairre. :) He's colored up with SU reinkers and the background was watercolored and sponged with Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Inks.

See that yummy paper; I bought it about two years ago and have never touched it until the other day! I had to have it of course! Can you imagine a real octipus trying to ride a horse?!? I don't know who'd be more frightened! LOL


I created a little lasso with some twine for an embellie and a cowboy card wouldn't be complete without some eyelets now would it? ;) I think this might be my favorite card yet! :)

If you'd like to play along this week, head over to Madelynn's blog to check out the sketch. Create your card and if you upload it to SCS or PCP, use the keyword MTTSC27 so the Twinkettes can leave you some love! I do try to check out the gallery over the weekend to see the cards, so don't think we don't look. This week's fabulous featured Twinkette is Jacquie Peiffer! Definitely check out Jacquie's blog - it's FULL of great projects!

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Supplies
Stamps: Whipper Snapper 'Swimming By', Karen Foster Snap Stamps (discontinued)
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Taken With Teal, Really Rust, So Saffron, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Cosmo Cricket - Wanted Collection 'Buffalo Bill'
Access: Twine, Eyelets, Machine Stitching, Tim Holtz Edge Distresser, Sponges, Dimensionals

Here's The Scoop!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

I have another Twinkling Tuesday sketch challenge for you all!

Every week 9 yr old Madelynn (or a temporary Twinky) creates a sketch for everyone to play with and you're welcome to play along. Just head over to her blog, Twinkling Tuesday, to check out this week's sketch and get all the details. You'll also find this week's featured designer, the most creative and talented, brown-loathing girl I know - Heather Schlatter!

In honor of Heather, I made a 99.9% brown free card! Heather, if you squint, you can't see the brown in her shoes. ;) I am so loving the big hair on this little chica! How she keeps it so beautiful and tangle-free I will never know! LOL She's one of the new chics on the block at Stamping Bella.

I colored her with reinkers and some chalk inks on her dress. I added some Stickles to her double scoop ice cream and headband. The rhinestones on the card replicate the dots on the sketch. I snagged the sentiment a from My Favorite Things ice cream themed set I have.

If you'd like to play along this week, just create a card and upload it to your blog and leave a link to it on this week's post on Madelynn blog so we can leave some love. If you upload it to SCS or PCP, please use the keyword MTTSC26 so we can find it. :) This week we're saying goodbye to two Twinkles - Jenn and Bonnie. I'm so sad to see them go because they have been such an inspiration to me, but I plan on stalking them for years to come, so this isn't really a goodbye!

Bhahahahhaaaaa!!


Supplies
Stamps: Stamping Bella 'AMPLEE 'tude', My Favorite Things 'Here's The Scoop'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Morning Marigold, Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo', Chalk Inks
Papers: Whisper White, Bazzil Basics, PP - Dream Street Papers 'Gracie - Bubble Gum'
Access: Ribbon, Adhesive Rhinestones, EK Success Edge Punch, Stickles, Dimensionals

I Still Believe

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Good Morning!!

Today's Twinkling Tuesday is brought to us by a Temporary Twinky - 8 yr old Jameson Ednie! His challenge for us this week is an inspiration one. He picked the book 'Suki's Kimono' to inspire us. You can see pages from the book and a write up about it on Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday blog as well as this week's featured Twinkly - Rebecca Ednie, Jameson's mum!

The illustrations from the book were so inspiring!! I love watercoloring and the images in this book made me think of all things whimsy. So when this Ketto stamp peered out from under a pile of paper on my desk, I knew I had to use her for this challenge! I also borrowed the blue and orange color scheme from the book and paired these elements together with this week's Mojo Sketch Challenge MOJO89 for my layout.

I kept it simple so the image could shine. Lucky Ketto is colored up with SU reinkers and Distress Inks for the background. I added some Stickles to her wings just to make them sparkle.

Need more inspiration or an idea to get you started? Check out what the other Twinkies have created for this challenge. Their blogs are listed on the left. If this challenge looks tempting and you'd like to play along, just create a card and link your blog post to Madelyn's blog post today, or if you don't have a blog, use the keyword MTTSC25 when uploading to SCS or PCP.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Happy stamping!!

Supplies

Stamps: Stamping Bella 'Lucky Ketto', The Greeting Farm 'Never Ever'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pumpkin Pie, Not Quite Navy, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'

Papers: Whisper White, Bazzil Basicss, PP - K&Company 'Que Sera Sera'

Access: Ribbon, Nestibilities, Prima Flowers, Making Memories Vintage Brad, Stickles

Just Keep Swimming

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

G'day everyone!

Nine year old Madelynn has another sketch for us to play today! The sketch is below, but you can find all the details on her blog, Twinkling Tuesday. (Well, maybe not right this second since it's 3am EST when I posted this, but it'll be up a little later!)

I used another cutie sea creature from Anna Wight's 'Swimmin By' set from Whipper Snapper. I love playing with these little guys!! This sea horse was perfect for the center panel because it's small in size. I stamped it out twice and colored one completely, cut it out, ran the black marker around the edges then popped it on the other image with dimensionals. The background was quickly painted with Cool Caribbean on watercolor paper.

The four squares were sponged along their edges with Vintage Photo Distress Inks and matted on Bazzil paper. Do you see the sea horses on the patterned paper?? How cool is that?! It's from the same 'DayDreams' paper stack from K&Company as that submarine paper I used last week. Who knew that paper stack would come in handy for so many cards?!

This week's featured Design Team girl is the super talented Heather Lee-Reppen! Head over to her blog then check out the rest of Madelynn's Twinkling girls blogs to see what they did with this sketch! If you think you'd like to play along, upload your card to SCS or PCP and use the keyword MTTSC24 so we can find your card and leave you some love! :)

Be on the look out for another post this morning! I have a secret project I can't wait to show you!

Supplies

Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs 'Swimming By'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Always Apricot, Regal Rose, Really Rust, Morning Marigold, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo'

Paper: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'DayDreams'

Access: Robins Nest Dew Drops, Scalloped Square Punch, Sponges, Dimensionals

Twinkling Tuesday

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Good Morning!

I'm still grinning from yesterday's announcement. :) Thank you so much to everyone who left me a comment/congratulations - I really was so touched by it. I also want to say a quick hello to the influx of new friends/followers to my blog. Helloooooo! Pull up a chair, grab a cup of tea or coffee or something a bit stronger ;) and stay a while. :)

Today is Tuesday which means another Twinkling Tuesday sketch challenge from 9 yr old Madelynn. Only today, we have a temporary twinkie - Madelynn's younger brother Jack. You can find the sketch and this week's featured Twinkie, Debbie Lee, on Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday blog.

Thankfully Jack went easy on us this week and I definitely took advantage of that! LOL I colored up one of the super cute little girl's from The Greeting Farm's Wild Sprout collection. I just LOVE these little girls!
I stamped out Dahlia on a Very Vanilla circle and again on watercolor paper. I then colored up the latter one with reinkers and a water brush. I roughly sponged in a circular motion with Antique Linen and Tea Dye around the Very Vanilla image. Popped the colored image on dimensionals and created the center panel with an EK Success circle cutter and decorative scissors because I don't own a cuttlebug. (Although, after reading about all your favorite tools, I'm finding it harder and harder to resist that purchase!)

The individual squares were sponged with Antique Linen and then matted with Georgia Pacific cardstock (plain white cardstock). I haven't wanted to use my sewing machine much lately because I wasn't happy with the quality of stitching it was producing. It was messy and uneven no matter what the upper thread tension was set at. But that all changed the other day when I found the problem - bobbin tension! My mum is a seamstress, so sewing is in my blood, but I had no idea there was such a thing as bobbin tension! I found this you tube video and did the test on my bobbin cradle and sure as shootin', mine was loose. So I followed these instructions and tighted the screw a 1/4 turn to the right and voila - I have neat stitching again! (Note: I also switched my needles from a 90/14 size to a thinner 65/9 so I wouldn't have giant needle holes. That's helped a lot too.) Then I just added some adhesive pearls to the corners and some ribbon and I was done.

The paper I used is from that new Greenhouse stack by Carolyn Gavin I bought last week. Soooo yummy!! I chose this particular sheet because it matched this week's Our Creative Corner color challenge (of Regal Rose, Certain Celery, Bashful Blue and a nuetral color).

If you think you'd like to play with Jack's sketch, just create your card, upload it to your blog, SCS or PCP, use the keyword MTTSC23 and post a comment on Madelynn's blog and leave a link to your card. Wanna see more cards created with this sketch?? Head on over to the rest of the Design Team's blogs (list is on the left) and check out their creations!


Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Wild Sprouts - Dahlia' and 'Wonderland'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Bashful Blue, Certain Celery, Old Olive, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen & Tea Dye'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, Georgia Pacific, PP - K&Company 'Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse Paper'
Access: Ribbon, Adhesive Rhinestones, Kaiser Adhesive Pearls, Circle Punch, Decorative Scissors, Sponges, Dimensionals

Ahh Nuts!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Good Morning!

Madelynn is back with another Twinkling sketch for us all! With all the temporary twinkies we've had, it feels like she's been gone for a while. We missed you Maddie! :D

When I saw the sketch for this week I literally squealed out loud. I have had this super cute image from Whipper Snapper colored up and sitting on my desk for months! It's a pretty wide image and for the longest time, I didn't know what to do with it. (Had to have it of course!) Then when Madelynn's sketch graced my inbox, I had a lightbulb moment. So thank you Maddie for helping me get this guy onto a card!

I tweaked the sketch just a little and made my card symmetrical. The vertical panel just screamed at me to create a dove tail end to it. Since the sentiment was already on my image, I left it there. I probably would have put it in the bottom corner of the card had I not already had this image colored up and ready to go. I searched through my stash all morning looking for the perfect paper and I probably would not have thought to have used this Basic Grey paper if it wasn't for the fact that it fell out of the 6x6 pad when I was moving it! Dumb luck I tell ya!

If you'd like to play along, whip up a card, upload it to PCP or SCS and use the keyword MTTSC21 so the DT can find your card and leave you some love. I'm off to check out what the other girls have put together for this sketch - you should do the same! :D

Have a fantastic day!


Supplies
Stamps: Whipper Snapper 'Ahh Nuts!'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Versamark, Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, So Saffron, Cool Caribbean, Sahara Sand
Papers: Canson Watercolor paper, Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil Basics cs, Bazzil Bling cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Off Beat Collection - Informal & Nonchalant'
Access: Dimensionals, Clear Embossing Powder

Twinkling Turtles

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Helloooo!

Today is Tuesday and that means another Twinkling Tuesday challenge! Although, this week, Madelyn is taking a break and her little brother (and Jack's twin), Nicky, is our temporary twinkie. He just loves frogs! Anything to do with frogs. Hmmmm, then why do I have a turtle on my card you ask?! I have it on good authority that he loves turtles just as much! ;) (Thanks Mama Diedrich!)

I pulled this little guy out from a stash of images I acquired way back when I was doing some image swaps on SCS. I have no idea which company he's from either! I looked high and low on SCS and couldn't find any info on it. If anyone knows who makes him, definitely let me know, ok?

So to showcase this cute old man turtle, I used this week's Card Positioning System's sketch challenge, CPS113. I had so much fun using last week's sketch, I had to come back for another round. *grin* Old man turtle was colored up with SU inks and an aquapainter and then for a little bit extra, I added clear embossing powder to his shell and glasses. You can sort of see it in the detail photo below. Then I layered the image on some Georgia Pacific cs, then two layers of Bazzil cs. I was going to add the sentiment on a separate piece of cardstock with a button holding it down, but I decided not to because it would have detracted from the image. I pulled out some new paper from Crate Paper for the base and added the ribbon and that's it. Nothing too hard here. I just thought that old man turtle was too cute not focus on him!

The talented Cassie Larson is this week's featured Twinkie, so head on over to her blog and check out her great work! And if that's not enough, check out what the rest of the Twinkette have created for you this week!

Thank you for stopping by and have a great day!

Supplies
Stamps: Unknown, sentiment by Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Versamark, Certain Celery, Creamy Caramel, True Thyme, Old Olive, Cool Caribbean, Sahara Sand
Papers: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - Crate Paper 'Prudence Collection - Discretion'
Access: Ribbon, Clear EP, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals

A Sketch from Jack

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Happy Tuesday to you all!

It's Twinkling time again and this week's sketch is brought to us by Jack, Madelynn's little brother! Good on ya Jack! His sketch is a very forgiving one and I whipped this baby up in no time flat (2 hours for me is no time flat).

I love this Granny Hanny set from Hanna Stamps! It's right up my alley for making humorous cards. To me, the walker would make a great 'support' card, so I rolled with it and created this custom saying from my Karen Foster Snap Stamps. Jack's sketch (below) shows some detail along the sides of the layout, so I used some eyelets (4 down, only 10,896 to go)
and some ribbon.

If you haven't read Kristi's blog in the last couple of days, you definitely need to read her latest blog post! She's up to something big. Something really BIG! And the DT girls don't even know about it!! Told you it was big! LOL And now even I am stalking her blog to find out what it is exactly!

On another note, sorry for the brown this week Heather! LOL Poor Heather has an allergy to the color brown. ;)

If you think this sketch is something you'd like to play with, then whip up a card, upload it to SCS or PCP with the keyword MTTSC19 and leave a link to it on Madelynn's blog post! And definitely do yourself a favor and visit the other DT girls....you might even stumble across a dirty girl! Seriously!

I'm flying home from Minnesota tonight. Plane lands at 11pm and then I have a 1.5hr drive home. Yuck. Then I have to be at work in the morning! Hopefully I have the energy to create a card tomorrow night! As always, thanks for stopping by.

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Granny Hanny', sentiment by Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Going Gray, Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain and Black Soot'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil cs, PP - We R Memory Keepers 'Grandma's Kitchen Collection - Flower Frenzy'
Access: Ribbon, eyelets dimensionals, sponges

Hit The Road Jack

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

It's Twinkling Tuesday time again and this week we have our sweet Madelynn back with a sketch challenge for us.

For those of you who don't know the story behind Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday sketch challenge, here's a recap: Madelynn is Jessica Diedrich's (AKA Club Anya VP and The Whimsical Butterfly) 8 year old daughter who started skething layouts because she would see her mum working with them all the time. Madelynn has her own design team and blog and every week creates a new sketch for anyone to play along with.

When I saw this week's sketch I will admit that I freaked out just a little! I started racking my brain for stamps in my stash that were individual yet still tie together well. Then I pulled the Inkadinkado Road Trip set out and thought the caravan's would work really well!

I adore the old silver airbuses and mini campervan's like these! I love how their bodyshapes are rounded and very little straight edges to them. Which is why I like VW beetles - all curves! :)

Nothing much to this card but I think that's why it works. I stamped the caravans on Georgia Pacific cardstock and colored them in with Going Gray and Cool Caribbean. Instead of using some ribbon, I drew the horizontal lines behind the images with a Signo pen. I think anything wider would have detracted from the images. Then I just added a couple of brads and stamped the sentiment for the 'third' image in the layout. I popped the patterned paper layer as well as the caravans onto dimensionals for some added depth.

If you think you'd like to play this week's sketch challenge, just upload your card to PCP or SCS using the keyword MTTSC18 and leave a link to it on Madelynn's Twinkling blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great Tuesday!

Supplies

Stamps: Inkadinkado 'Road Trip'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Going Gray, Cool Caribbean

Papers: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - Junkitz 'Destinations Paperz "0359-Mini Icons"

Access: Brads, Signa White Gel pen, dimensionals

Forget me not!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

This week's Twinkling Tuesday challenge is a great one and one that everyone can play because we ALL have stamps that we 'had to have' but they've never seen a drop of ink since they day they joined your collection! Am I right??

Well, I went through my SU sets and I've actually inked all of them up! Granted, I only own about 30 sets, but they've all been shown some love and that's all that counts! So then I looked through my clear sets and one set in particular jumped out and dared me to ink it up...Here's The Scoop!

My sweet friend Kelly gave it to me as part of a Secret Sister Swap we did before Christmas and I haven't inked it up because...well, I was scared to! I own a couple of MFT's sets and the first card I made was a success (even though I found it hard), but then the second one I tried bombed completely (and I never finished it) so I've been scared to use them again! I think it's because I'm not sure how much to paper piece on them and/or how little to color in.

Anyway, so I thought that it was high time I tried making a card from this set (since it was a gift - thank you Kelly!) and I should overcome my fear of these stamps. It is a challenge after all! I decided to just paper piece the chair and color up everything else. The paper is a bit busy, but those polka dots reminded me of M&M's and while I was coloring up the image, I was listening to Iron Chef America on the food channel and the key ingredient was chocolate!! So of course I subliminally chose some chocolate looking paper. (I swear every word is true Heather!) The layout is a CASE of a beautiful card by the amazingly talented Lauri Schmidlin.

If you think you'd like to show some uninked rubber some love this week, make a card or project with it, upload it to SCS or PCP with the keyword MTTSC17 and leave a link to it on the Twinkling blog. Check out what rubber the other Twinkling girls have neglected but loved this week by visiting their blogs (list is on the left).

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: MFT 'Here's The Scoop'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Certain Celery, Morning Marigold, Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel

Papers: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - American Crafts 'Everyday Collection - Gidday'

Access: Ribbon, dimensionals

A Mouse and a girl

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

It's Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday challenge again and this week we have another temporary twinky. Eight year old Jameson Ednie is this week's featured Twinkie, Rebecca Ednie's little man and he has issued an amazing inspiration challenge!

Yep! Mickey and Minnie were his inspiration! But he did not stop there! There is a sweet story that goes with it:

Mickey is a Park Ranger working in the national forest. One day on his patrols, he hears a cry for help. He sees a beautiful girl mouse with tears on her face because she has fallen while hiking and broken her leg. The gallant Mickey comes to the rescue of the lovely Minnie, administers first aid, drives her to the hospital, waits for her to be treated and drives her home. They fall in love and the rest is history. However, a few months later, when Mickey goes to pick up his tuxedo on the morning of their wedding day, they have accidentally rented out all of the mouse-sized tuxes! So Mickey shows up anyway in his Ranger uniform. Minnie starts up the aisle and is surprised to see Mickey wearing his uniform but she doesn’t care because that is how he looked when she fell in love with him!

How stinking cute is this?! I will admit that I was a little freaked out at the challenge because Disney colors on a card are soooo not me, but then I thought about the Disney trip our family took last year and how I've only completed four pages of that scrapbook album. So I created a scrapbook page instead!


I have sorely neglected my scrapbooking since I discovered the fun of coloring stamped images, so this challenge has helped me see the fun in it again. Usually the kind of pages I did took me hours but this one took no time at all! And I really, really like it! I think it shows off the photo really well and the added embellishments don't detract from the image at all.

This photo was taken by me and is probably one of my favorite photos from the trip. My little girl was sooooo giddy at meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Mickey had insisted Syd kiss him on the nose and it started a tradition that lasted the whole week we were there. Syd kissed EVERY character on the nose! Her reactions totally paid for the trip. :D

Ok, so if you think you'd like to play along with our Twinkling challenge this week, all you have to do is upload your card or creation to SCS or PCP and use the keyword MTTSC16. Then leave a comment on this Twinkling blog post linking back to your creation. I'm excited to see what the other Twinkies have created for this challenge and if you want to check them out too, links to their blogs are in the left hand column.

Thanks for stopping by today; it's ALWAYS appreciated!

Supplies
Paper: Basic Black, Real Red, Kraft, Georgia Pacific cs, Pinecone Press Papers 'Dotty'
Products: Marcella K 'Fresh Paint' glitter stickers, K&Company 'Wild Saffron' adhesive chipboard, Creative Imaginations 'Signature Collection' stickers, corner punch, decorative scissors

Happy Twinkling Birthday

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A happy Tuesday to you all!

And that means it's Twinkling Challenge day! This week we have a Temporary Twinkie. Cathy Cunningham's 9 year old daughter, Brittany has created a fabulous sketch for everyone and one that I couldn't wait to tackle. You can see the sketch over at Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday blog and this week's featured stamper happens to be me! :D

As soon as I saw Brittany's sketch I immediately thought of my decorative scalloped edge scissors. I swear those things have paid for themselves 1o times over! I pulled out my neglected Dress Up Lily stamp set for this card because I needed to make a birthday card this week for a very colorful friend. I stamped Lily out on some watercolor paper, cut her out and layered her on some patterned paper and cardstock for the center piece. I added the bottom scalloped edge to lighten up the hard lines of the square card. I had played with some different ideas for the two horizontal stripes but I thought this sheer ribbon worked best because it didn't detract from the main image.

Please check out the cards the other Twinkies have created with Brittany's sketch - GORGEOUS!! The DT list is, as always, in the bar on the left hand side. Tomorrow I have an easter card for you all. Thank you very much for stopping by today. :D

Supplies
Stamps: Pink Cat Studio 'Dress Up Lily', PaperTrey Ink 'Paper Tray'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Morning Marigold, Pink Passion
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - Sandylion 'Candy Stripe', Scenic Route 'Loveland - Ruby Ave.'
Access: Ribbon, Fiskars circle cutter, decorative scissors, corner punch, circle punches, stickles, dimensionals

Twinkling Color Challenge

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of this very green day, the Twinkling Team have a special challenge for you this week.

Yep, it's another Twinkling Tuesday Challenge and this week our Temporary Guest Twinklette is Taylor's daughter, Ava. She has given us a color challenge this week! The colors are Garden Green, Whisper White and Close to Cocoa.


The colors are SU colors, but since I don't own any SU paper (well, whatever's left isn't much to speak of) I matched some patterned paper I had to the Garden Green. The layout I used is this week's CCEE Sketch challenge. Perfect for this image from Digital Stamp Oasis! Isn't she just the sweetest little thing?

Little Susie was colored up with SU reinkers on Georgia Pacific cardstock. Watercoloring on this paper is not for someone learning to watcolor. I suggest you stick with watercolor paper until you're comfortable with the technique. I left the image neat and clean because it was a nice contrast to the rest of the card.

The worn look was created by sponging and distressing the edges of the patterned paper, then sewing a straight stitch around the rim. The band across the middle is a piece of River Rock cardstock that I used Martha Stewart's edge punch on and then sponged with Vintage Photo distress ink. Isn't that ribbon delicious?! Love pretty ribbon.

Please check out what the other Twinkies have created this week. Links to their blogs are in the team list on the left. If you think this color challenge is something you'd like to try, just upload your card to SCS or PCP and use the keyword MTTSC14.

Have a good one whatever you're up to today!


Supplies
Stamps: Digital Stamp Oasis 'Susie Squirrel in the Rain', PaperTrey Ink 'Paper Tray'
Inks: Going Grey, Cool Caribbean, Morning Marigold, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel, Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Georgia Pacific cs, River Rock, PP - K & Company 'Classic K Margo'
Access: Ribbon, sponges, sewing, Tim Holtz edge distresser, Martha Stewart edge punch, circle punches, dimensionals

A Hoppy Easter

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

It's another Twinkling Tuesday and this week we have a guest Twinkler!!

It's none other than Jack Diedrich, Madelynn's younger brother! From what his mum says, he's ALL BOY and loves it when she gets out her paper piercer to make cards. Sharp object and stabbing paper - definitely a boy thing!! hahaha You can see the sketch on the Twinkling Tuesday blog.

This stamp is from a new exclusively digital stamp company I stumbled across. They're called 'Digital Stamp Oasis' and it can be found on Etsy.com, an online place to buy and sell all things handmade. Ellie, the owner, has some really, really sweet images available at the moment. I LOVED this Rebecca Rabbit image - perfect for Easter!

Since it's a digital image and I typically watercolor, I had to print mine using a laser printer. This has always worked for me. I have been told that you can watercolor on an image printed with an inkjet printer and heat set, but I tried that with my inkjet at home and it didn't work. It must be an ink thing that varies from printer to printer. If you use Copics however, you should have no problems at all.

If you'd like to play along in this sketch challenge, please use the keyword MTTSC13 when uploading to SCS or PCP and don't forget to leave a comment on today's Twinkling blog post so the Twinkling Team can see your creations. Don't forget to check out what the other Twinkettes have created this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I have a fun knight and princess card to show you all tomorrow. :D

Supplies
Stamps: Digital Oasis 'Rebecca Rabbit with Easter Cart', sentiment from computer
Inks: Creamy Caramel, Certain Celery, Old Olive, True Thyme, Close To Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Ballet Blue, Barely Banana, Pale Plum, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - My Mind's Eye 'Tres Jolie Collection - Mon Cheri'
Access: Ribbon, paper piercer, dimensionals

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

Born To Shop

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

It's Twinkling Tuesday again and Madelynn has surprised all of us with not a sketch, but an inspiration challenge today!

I will admit that I was a little bit freaked out at this challenge. I understand sketch challenges, and color combo challenges, but inspiration challenges are so scary to me. I mean, do I take the inspiration literally (that's more my style) or do I go off on a tangent with one aspect of the inspiration?? So many options; so loosey goosey! Help!! I'm a girl who likes a bit of structure in her life! LOL

That being said though, I will not shy away from a challenge! Madelynn's inspiration this week is her mum's mug that she's been eyeing for her own use! LOL I don't blame you Madelynn - it's a beauty!!

Before I tell you how WAY off tangent I got with this card, can I just say that I had the most fun coloring this Miss Anya in??! I LOVE her plaid knee-high socks and those curls....well, I just wish my curls were that well behaved!! I colored up all three Anyas, but I'll save the other two for another day. ;) Got your Anyas yet?!

Ok, so the inspiration was a peppermint stick mug of hot chocolate and I got a little fixated on the chocolate part of that whole thing! The patterned paper was even called 'Chocolate Tapestry' for pete's sake!? It's double sided so I was able to use both sides for this layout. I was planning a collage type of layout but then the paper cutter and I got a little out of control and we added some structure to this challenge!! LMAO!

I love this layout so much that I think I may have to recreate it with the other two Miss Anyas and make a nice little set! Stay tuned next week for the other two. :D

This week's featuered Twinkie is the uber talented Jennifer Greco! You can see what she created on Madelynn's blog and also Jenn's own fabulous blog. If you'd like to play along in this weeks challenge, just upload your card on SCS or PCP using this week's keyword MTTSC11, and leave a comment on Madelynn's blog post so that the team can find your card and leave some love. :D

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Tomorrow I have a Whipper Snapper stamp to show you!


Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm's 'Miss Anyas', sentiment by Karen Foster's snap stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Pink Passion, Cool Caribbean, Close To Cocoa, Sahara Sand
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil cs, PP - Chatterbox 'Decorative Cardstock - Chocolate Tapestry'
Access: Ribbon, Heidi Swapp 'Small Flower Bling', bling from Michaels, dimensionals