What Stinks??

Friday, January 30, 2009

When I worked in Vermont, I used to drive past a dairy farm everyday and certain days were more hazardous to your olfactory senses than others. Warm days mostly. *shudder* So glad I don't have that drive anymore!

So that's what inspired today's card! Some days just REALLY stink don't they?! Hubby suggested I put a big pile of dung at the cow's feet, but I told him I was taking the subtle approach instead. I don't think I could bring myself to send a card that had a steaming pile of poop on it to anyone I know!

When I bought this paper (yep, at that New Years Day sale) I had no idea what I was going to use it for because it's not paper that I typically buy. But doesn't it look like rolling hills on a farm?! Another one of those flukie purchases! Love that! Not much watercoloring on this card at all. I created some shadows on Miss Daisy and colored the bodies of the flies (they might bees but they're flies today!), and the rest of the card was sponged.

This card is today's Hanna Stamps Friday Challenge (HSC54) over at the SCS forum. Ilina Crouse is our hostess with the mostess this week and she has given us a sketch challenge to play with!I flipped the sketch on it's side for my card. It worked better with the cow. It'd would also allow you to use a Hanna for this sketch too. If you want to participate in this challenge, just upload your card to SCS, use the keyword HSC54, and leave a link in the thread so we can find your card and leave some love!

The following is some news. Proudly brought to you by moi! ;D

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HANNA STAMPS RELEASE WEEK

Yep, it's that time of the month again! And boy do we have some FABULOUS stamps this month!!! Barbie has nothing on our Hanna with her various looks and occupations! So starting Monday the design team will be previewing their sneak peeks on their blogs as well as SCS and PCP. Clear your social calendars this Thursday Feb 5th starting at 9pm EST because you're going to be busy ooohing and aaahing and typing in a mad frenzy to win some new stamps!! (I'll post the link to the forum for the release party when it's up and running).

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CLUB ANYA

Just reiterating what I mentioned earlier in the week with a bit more detail, Club Anya (a place for all things Anya and Ian related) is offically opening this Sunday February 1st.

To kick off the launch Jess, Club Anya's Vice President, has some really fun things planned for you! It all starts at NOON CST on the Club Anya blog with a special "Guess that Anya" blog hop (which I'm participating in!) that will ultimately end with the new release of Rock the Farm and an ALL NEW MYSTERY ANYA!!!! Ahhhhhhh! I'm hyperventilating just thinking about it!

Prizes?? Did someone say prizes? You got it!! Jess and Marie will be giving away some ADORABLE Anya Pocket Mirrors to the first 20 people who complete ALL the "Guess that Anyas" on the Blog Hop correctly, as well as completing an Anya "Scavenger Hunt". In addition, we will be giving away a few of the BRAND NEW ANYAs as well! How cool is that?

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See you all on Monday or on the blog hop!! Have a fabulous (snow free) weekend!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Hay Hanna' and 'Backyard Dwellers', sentiment by Studio G Mini Alphabet set
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Black Soot & Peeled Paint'
Paper: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP -
Access: Ribbon, decorative scissors, circle punch, circle cutter

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

Monster Hugs

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Hugs are great aren't they?? And hugs from your favorite toy or imaginary monster (I think I shall name mine Edward) are the best kind!!

I wasn't sure if I liked this card, then my three year old spotted it sitting on my desk and says "Oooo! Mama I lub that card!" I wouldn't dare go against the opinion of a three year old with a simple list of likes and dislikes (ie. Likes.....Mama, Dislikes.....Medicine)! hahaha

The stamp is from a really, really talented artist, Victoria, who designs all her own stamps as well as artwork in her Etsy shop. I can't remember now how exactly I stumbled onto her but I blog hop ALOT so it was probably during one of those gauntlet runs through blog land.

I tried to create a collage/scrapbook type of card that is popular now. And I had to test out my January 1st big bargain too - my new pink Quickutz tool! :D (That's how I did the letters.) Now that I am looking at it again after a couple of days, I think I'd probably add a couple of circles in a different patterned paper and tuck them underneath the image to soften the edges a little. Amazing what a couple of days and some sleep will do for your brain! LOL

Thanks for all your very kind comments yesterday on my purple card. I've decided that you all really meant what you said or you're all good fakers! hahahhaa I've also decided that my camera doesn't like the color purple because that purple cardstock seemed to change color depending on what part of the card you were looking at! Might mean the beginning of the end for my camera I suspect.

Today is going to be a long day for me....it'll at least be midnight before I'm in bed. Hug your monsters for me. :D

Supplies:
Stamps: Victoria Case Stamps 'Monster Hugs'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Certain Celery, Cool Caribbean, Morning Marigold, Creamy Caramel, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Paper: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil cs, PP - 'Fancy Pants Crush Collection - Head Over Heels'
Access: Ribbon, K & Company 'Brenda Walton's Bitter Sweet Acetate Die-cuts, Quickutz 'Zoe' alphabet, dimensionals

A Twinkling Day!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

How's everyone doing this Tuesday?

I'm just going to cut right to the good stuff today and show you my card for Madelynn's Twinkling Sketch Challenge.
Today's sketch (MTTSC7) is one that I've never done before and it definitely challenged me this week! My cards usually have a colored image on them which takes center stage but with this sketch, that wasn't really possible. I had to use a stamped image on it's own....ekk!!

You'd think I would have used a safer, more familiar color combo to offset the challenging sketch, but noooo! I went out even further on that limb and used purple hues! If you gathered up all the cards I've done in the past year, there would maybe be one other card that used purple on it (and I think it was a Halloween card too!) So why did I choose purple? Because it seemed like a good idea at the time?! Because my stamping mojo was shot from all those hours working?! I had a momentary lapse in my color theory training?! Feel free to pick any or all of the above; because I have NO idea! Haha


I stamp I used is from the Light Up set from The Greeting Farm. I stamped out the bottom layer of the flower using SU's Vintage Violet onto Georgia Pacific cardstock then inked up the flower again using Colorbox's Fluid Chalk Ink in Wisteria. Then I cut out the two images and layered them with dimensionals. The pearl accent on top is from Kaiser Scrapbooks.

If you like this sketch and woud love to see more cards made with it (you know you do!) head on over to the other Twinkies blogs to see some much more fabulous creations! The links to their blogs are in the bar on the left.

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Attention Greeting Farm Anya Lovers!!

Speaking of The Greeting Farm, this Sunday is the grand opening of the much awaited and talked about Club Anya! Starting at 12pm CST there will be a blog hop that starts at Club Anya's Vice President's blog (AKA Jessica Diedrich's The Whimsical Butterfly) and every half hour there will be a new blog to visit until you hop back to Jess's blog where she will unlock the gate to Club Anya for everyone! With this blog hop is also a game with prizes!!

It's called 'Guess That Anya". All the girls participating in the blog hop (including me!) will be showing you little itty bitty peeks at their Anya cards. You have to guess which Anya they're teasing you with. Jess will be showing you a sneak peek of a BRAND NEW Anya and the first 5 people to guess right will win her! Then, as you blog hop, make note of who is showing you which Anya and by the time you get back to Jess's blog (around 4.30pm CST), Jess will reveal the new Anya. Jess also has prizes for those who play the guessing game and join Club Anya!

Sounds like LOADS of fun doesn't it?? I can't wait to see the new Anya! So remember to be at Jess's blog at 12pm CST this Sunday February 1st!!

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Ok, that's it from me today. I have a MONSTER hug for you all tomorrow, so come back now ya hear?! He's not scary, I promise you!

Supplies:

Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Light Up'

Inks: Vintage Violet, Color Box Chalk Inks 'Wisteria'

Paper: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Eva Collection - Noble'

Access: Ribbon, dimensionals, sponges

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

Time for a Twinkie!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Good Morning Everyone!

(Warning: The following is a small rant at my bosses!)

Yesterday I got the head's up from my bosses that we're all required to work overtime this week for our project deadline next week. They gave me the heads up yesterday....not last week! I think they forget I have a little girl that needs to be picked up from daycare, to be fed and bathed and I have a husband that doesn't finish work at 5pm who can just take over that role when I'm not available!? I require ample notification to coordinate someone to look after her until hubby gets out of work and not inconvenience them in the process. *insert rolling of the eyes here* Luckily for them between hubby and his mum, we have it worked out. (The fact is that I can't refuse paid overtime!)

So with that said, I will most likely be absent from my blog later this week since I won't have any free time to write any blog posts. That royaly blows too because I have four images (including a fabulous toad and huggable monster) that I colored up over the weekend that need to be made into cards and I now have no time to create them! Bah humbug! Hopefully they don't expect me to work over the weekend because I need my family (sanity and Edward) time!!

Rant over: Thanks for listening!

Ok, onto much more fun things, like the fact that it's Twinkling Tuesday today! Madelynn gave us another forgiving sketch to play with today! Phew! I think she might be taking pity on us for that second sketch she gave us a month ago! hahaha But seriously, it's been a month already since Jess asked me to be on Madelynn's DT?! Where on earth did that time go?

I pulled out my one and only Sarah Kay stamp for this challenge. I just adore this stamp! I like how it shows just the back of her head because now she resembles anyone's little girl.

I colored her with my SU inks and aquapainter again popped the matted layer of patterned paper on dimensionals for some depth. I had better find an online source for those Kaiser pearls because I'm running out...FAST! LOL

The rest of the Twinkies have made some beautiful cards today, so head over to their blogs to check them out! The list is on the left as usual. If you would like to play along, please upload your card to SCS or PCP using the keyword MTTSC6 so we can find it easily! :D

If you've like me and ever wondered how to do something with your blog, I found this helpful blog a few months ago that has helped me no-end! It's Blogs By Heather and there are tons of amazing hints and how-to's on it!

Ok, that's it from me for this week....I'm sooo sorry about that too. Think of me when you're home on your couches or at your stamping tables while I slave away here at work... :(


Supplies:
Stamps: Stampavi/Sarah Kay 'Roses Garden'
Inks: Staz On 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Soft Sky, Certain Celery, True Thyme, Pumpkin Pie, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Paper: Bazzil cs, Canson Watercolor, PP - K & Company 'Classic K Margo Collection'
Access: Ribbon, KaiserScrapbook Pearls, dimensionals

Twice the fun!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Good Morning!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. Hubby had the weekend off so we headed for the mall after DD's gymnastics class on Saturday. Since the closest mall to us is 1.5hrs away, I never like to take that drive by myself, so we only go when hubby has a day off on the weekend. Anyway, so it was a rather successful weekend for me and my wardrobe. I bought two tops to go under a suit, a woollen top, a long cardigan jacket, a pair of dress pants, a dress suit, two skirts and three pairs of earrings for $130. Not bad considering I actually saved $300!! I kid you not! Most of what I bought was on sale at 70% off then a woman in front of me gave me a spare coupon she had that gave me $50 off a purchase of $120 or more! I was one happy shopper! So for at least this year I won't be wearing clothes three times as old as my daughter! LOL

Ok, onto today's card. I managed to make a card that fits two challenges this week! The first one is the Featured Stamper Challenge on SCS (FS102). This week's featured stamper was Lori Craig, better known as Stamp_momma. I loved looking through her gallery and finally settled on this card called Basic Pears.

I loved the layout of Lori's card and that little bit of ribbon was a great touch. The rules behind the FS challenge is to CASE the card but change at least two things from the original to make it your own. I changed out the patterned paper and the stamp set used.

There She Goes is a relatively new clear stamp company started by another SCS member, Jessica Knutsen, AKA Knutsen24. I bought this mini set before Christmas for myself and a few of my good friends. The stamps are clear and stamp so smoothly. I was very impressed with their quality. I used these stamps to create the embossed resist technique again because it was Our Creative Corner's challenge for this week!

I stamped the images onto some Very Vanilla cs with versamark ink, then added clear embossing powder and heat set it. Then I pulled out my Distress Inks and layered the colors (1. Antique Linen, 2. Tea Dye, 3. Vintage Photo, 4. Walnut Stain) onto the piece of cardstock until I was happy with the look. Then it was just a matter of matting it with the Bazzil cs and popping it up with some dimensionals and adding just a touch of sparkle with the pearls. I told you I was crazy about them right?!

So, there you go - two challenges in one card. I'm pretty proud of myself because that very rarely happens! Also, I just want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment on last Friday's post. I was totally blown away by all your super sweet comments!! It totally made my weekend! :D A happy Monday to you all!


Supplies:
Stamps: There She Goes 'Thinking of You #08-0020'
Inks: Versamark Ink, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Paper and Walnut Stain'
Paper: Very Vanilla, Bazzil cs, Basic Grey 'Sugared Collection - 'Tender'
Access: Ribbon, KaiserScrapbook Pearls 'Blush', clear ep, dimensionals