Introducing the Retro Set!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Don't you just love Sunday's?? Most Sundays are relaxing and lazy for our family, but today we've got a few things planned. I'm doing laundry in the morning, then we're headed out to an IMAX theatre to watch the new movie UP in 3D! And then it's an early dinner with the whole family for my birthday. :) Sounds good doesn't it!? I can't wait!

Ok, enough rambling from me. Here's the retro set from Hanna Stamps that I'm showcasing today...

Introducing Route 66!

#Getcha motor running....heading out on the highway!# hehe I kept singing this the whole time I was making this card! Don't you love this set?! How many stamp sets have you seen with a girl on a motorbike?! Like zero! Nada.

There is a total of 14 images in this set and I managed to use 7 of them on this first card. Some are obvious. Some not so much. I wish I could say that I cam up with this layout and idea all by myself, but I ain't that good! LOL No, this idea stemmed from a fabulous card created by one of my stamping idols, Leigh O'Brien and this awesome card of hers. Isn't is great? I used the background stamps from the Route 66 set to recreate my version of her card.

The panels are watercolored and so is Hell's Angel Hanna. The paper I used for both cards is from Basic Grey's Archaic collection.

Now, you know I HAD to do a funny card right?! I try to do at least one tongue in cheek card per new release and this one cracks me up! Totally an all-man humor right?! This is my husband's potty humor for sure. :) I used this week's Our Creative Corner sketch challenge for the layout and watercolored the image with SU inks and a waterbrush.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you tomorrow. :) Happy stamping!

Supplies
Card 1
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Route 66', custom sentiment from Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Buckaroo Blue, Morning Marigold, Cool Caribbean, Old Olive, Close To Cocoa, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Archaic Collection - Primal and Ancient'
Access: Twine, Circle Punches, Dimensionals

Card 2
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Route 66', custom sentiment from Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Sahara Sand, Distress Inks 'Black Soot & Vintage Photo'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Archaic Collection - Primal and Ancient'
Access: Button, Twine, Dimensionals

Sneak Peeks: 5 Little Dresses!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

You've heard of the LBD right? That Little Black Dress that's a must have in your wardrobe? I have two; a dressy one and a casual one. Well Hanna Stamps has not one, not two, but 5 little dresses in this new set and the best part - they can be any color you want!! Wooohooo!

Introducing 5 Little Dresses!

Aren't they cute?! They're like mini Hanna's! I can't decide which dress I love more! hahaha I know I love the Mod Girl's boots, but I love the off the shoulder ruffles dress. So sexy!

The layout for this Mod Girl card came from this week's Weekend Sketch Challenge WSC83, hosted this week by Lori Craig. I pulled this busy mod patterned paper from my KI Memories paper pack, aptly named 'Pop Culture', and figured it was best to keep the rest of the card simple - very mod!

For my second card I grouped two of the high fashioned girls together to give you an idea on how small they are. This is a standard sized 4.25" x 5.5" card. I don't think the photo shows it too well, but I added some Stickles to their dresses and a Tiny Twinkle to the center of the 'Anything Goes' dress. This week's Cute Card Thursday challenge is to put a 'bit o bling' on your cards!

Do you have favorite dress in your closet? I need to be more of a dress girl...maybe this summer I'll buy a few more. :) Thanks so much for stopping by today! Tomorrow I have a retro set to show you.

Supplies
Card 1
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! '5 Little Dresses'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Cool Caribbean, Ballet Blue, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - KI Memories 'Pop Culture'
Access: May Arts Ribbon, Adhesive Rhinestones, Decorative Scissors, Micron Pen

Card 2

Stamps: Hanna Stamps! '5 Little Dresses'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Sugared Collection'
Access: Ribbon, Prima Flower, Making Memories Bling Brad, Tiny Twinkles, Stickles, Sewing, Dimensionals

Sneak Peek: New Rileys!

Friday, May 29, 2009

It's Hanna Stamps Sneak Peek time again!! I tell ya - I have no idea where the time goes!

This month the lovely Mrs Kristi is releasing two new sets, one retro set (previously released and being showcased this month) and two new Rileys! So, without further ado....

Introducing Soccor and Mason Riley!!

This Riley is just the cutest little guy! For all the pee-wee soccor mums and dads, this Riley is going to be perfect for awards, certificates, way to go cards. The possibilities are endless! I used this week's Mojo Sketch Challenge MOJO88 for this card.

I had to have this Riley! In Australia, mason's are called bricklayers, or brickies for short, so that's where my sentiment comes from. And since most houses in Australia are made of bricks and mortar, there are a lot of brickies there that need to be shown a little love! LOL Now, just so you know, that white singlet or 'wife beater' as it's called in the US, was drawn on my me. It's not actually part of the stamp. I just used a Micron pen to add a few extra lines on Riley's naked body to create it. The sketch for this card comes from this week's 2sketches4you. I tried to make this card as masculine as possible. I don't do masculine very well! LOL

Also, please welcome our guest designer for the month - the super talented Jodi Lee!! Do yourself a favor and go check out her inspiring blog! Welcome Jodi! We're so excited to have you join us!

I hope you love these new Rileys as much as I do! I'll have sneak peeks for you all weekend long, so stop by tomorrow for another one! Thanks for hanging out with me today. :)

Supplies

Card One

Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Soccor Riley', sentiment by Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Copic Markers for Rileys, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Vintage Photo'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Very Vanilla, Bazzil Basics, PP - Dream Street Inc 'Jack Collection - Blue Sky & Howdy Partner'
Access: Ribbon, Adhesive Rhinestones, Decorative Scissors, Circle Nestibilities, Circle Punch, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals

Card Two

Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Mason Riley', sentiment by Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Black Soot, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Motifica Collection - Jade & Clay', Cosmo Cricket 'Wanted Collection - Slim Jim'
Access: Circle Nestibilities, Sponges, Brads, Button, Twine, Dimensionals

We Have A Winner!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Thank you soooo much to everyone who entered this blog candy! I've been blown away by all the entries and by those who decided to follow my little blog. From the bottom of my heart - THANK YOU!

I counted all the entries (yep, I sure did!), removed duplicates and spam, and then used Random.org to pick a number between 1 and 389. Ok, ok! I won't keep you in suspense any longer.... :)

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

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And the winner is:

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88. Christine!

Christine said...
Fab candy!!! My favorite tool is my MM magnetic cutting mat and ruler. Blessings,Christine
May 24, 2009 5:18 PM

Congratulations Christine!! Send me an email with your mailing address and I'll get the goodies out to you ASAP! (If I don't hear from her by Monday June 1st, I will redraw.)

Thank you again to everyone who entered! I hope to have some more candy to give away around the time of my blog's first anniversary (October).

Have a fabulous day!

Happy Birthday to me!

I woke up this morning to a little girl beaming a huge smile about one inch from my face. :) "Happy Birthday Mama" she said. *sigh* Love that kind of wake up call.

We're going out to dinner tonight so Syd and Hubby are saving their other gifts until then. Although, hubby did let me buy a couple of my very own NESTIES to go with my cuttlebug that my girlfriends bought me! After reading all the comments left on my blog candy about how much you all love yours, sooo excited to finally have some! But now my wish list just got even longer! hahaha

Sorry to keep you all in suspense on the blog candy winner, but bare with me. I have one card to show you today and in a little while, I'll have the winner posted in a separate post to follow. Promise!

The sketch came from this week's Card Positioning System's CPS117 challenge. I used a Stamping Bella image for this birthday card because it looks a lot like someone I know ;) I colored her with my SU reinkers and added some Stickles to the giant cupcake and a Tiny Twinkle to her bow. The CPS sketch showed another circle layer around the sentiment. I substituted it for this Heidi Swap flower. My new favorite paper has made another appearance on this card. :) I think I'm going to have to buy another one because I'm using it up fast!

As I get older, I think I lose brain cells because I completely forgot that the Hanna Stamps June release party in this coming Monday!! Which means that tomorrow marks the start of the sneak peeks!! Ack!! So check back tomorrow for the card(s) I'll be burning the midnight oil on tonight! LOL I'll also give you all the details about the party then too.

Thanks for stopping by today! I really appreciate it!

Supplies
Stamps: Stamping Bella 'Cakeabella'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Passion Pink, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean, Pretty In Pink
Papers: Whisper White, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse Papers'
Access: Ribbon, Heidi Swapp Flowers, Circle Punches, Corner Punch, Stickles, Tiny Twinkles, Dimensionals

Hip Hip Hurray!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

A 'hoppy' Wednesday to you all!

Only one more sleep until my birthday! And I'll be a sophisticated 34 year old! haha This also means my blog candy ends tonight at 12am EST, so get your name into the draw by leaving a comment on THIS post. I'm just gob-smacked at how many people have entered! You guys rock!

Since it's my birthday this week, I thought I'd make a few birthday cards for my stash. Actually, I don't have a 'stash' on hand for birthday cards, but I really wish I did! Maybe if I made birthday cards for a week straight I could. :)

I loosely based this card on the Weekend Sketch Challenge WSC82 hosted by Mary Jo Albright. The location of the sentiment in the sketch would have covered up the candles, so I moved it to surround the Happy Hopper image which my good friend Carolyn Bounds gave me a while ago now. These House Mouse/Happy Hoppers are so cute!

The image is stamped on Whisper White cardstock which is a little hard to watercolor on, so I softly applied the colors so it wouldn't show the bleed lines (although the detail on these Happy Hopper stamps covers those bleed lines well). I added some Stickles to the cake (my kind of 'frosting') and to the topper on his party hat. It was still looking a bit plain, so I paper pierced around the edge of the main image, using a ruler to poke the holes in a straight line. Did a little bit of stitching around the base layer (since I still had my sewing machine out) and added the ribbon detail.

Good luck everyone on the blog candy! I'll be posting a card tomorrow morning, then the winner of the candy in a separate post shortly after that. :) Have fun stamping!

Supplies

Stamps: Happy Hoppers 'It's My Party', sentiment from Studio G Mini Alphabet set

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Sahara Sand, Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Pretty In Pink, Morning Marigold, Cool Caribbean, Regal Rose

Papers: Whisper White, Bazzil Basics, PP - My Mind's Eye 'Tres Jolie Collection - Mon Cheri'

Access: Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Stickles, Clear Embossing Powder, Sewing, Sponges, Dimensionals

A Spoon Full of Gorjuss Girl!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Good Morning Everyone!

This is my second post today. My Twinkling Tuesday card is below, so don't forget to scroll down and check out that card!

I' so excited to say that I'm this week's guest designer for A Spoonful Of Sugar challenge blog!! Woohooo! I was so excited when Nikki Fairbairn (AKA Bunny Zoe) asked me and then I quickly looked through my stash of stamps looking for a really, really cute stamp! While I do have some fun stamps, my good friend Mary recently sent me some images from the Gorjuss Girl line that I've just fallen in love with! Are they not the cutest things you've ever seen?! So wish I owned them! :(

The girls at ASFOS are challenging everyone to use lace on their card this week. This was a first for me so I needed some inspiration. I decided to channel some of Camilla's gorgeous work. If you haven't checked out her blog and cards yet, do yourself a favor and pop over there - I promise you, you will drool!

I found some eyelet lace at my local Joanne's, and pulled out those vintage flowers from Michael's. Then I paired them with my favorite dp in the whole world - K&Company! Yum! I distressed the whole card with my Tim Holtz edge distresser and Distress Inks. Broke out the sewing machine again and sewed around each panel. Don't think the photo shows it well, but I used my new cuttlebug and the swiss dots embossing plate on the base of this card. It really does add so much texture to the card! Loooove it!

The image was colored with Distress Inks and the area around it was sponged to give it a worn look. Then I stamped this $1 stamp I found at Michael's in the corners and some adhesive rhinestones for some pop. The birdhouse charm is from Hanna Stamps (which, by the way, is having a May sale on them and a bunch more other stuff).

Thank you for stopping by today! Thank you to Nikki and the girls at ASFOS for this awesome opportunity!

Supplies
Stamps: Gorjuss girls 'A Little Birdie Told Me', Studio G $1 stamp (baroque motif)
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Sahara Sand, Distress Inks 'Weathered Wood, Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain'
Papers: Whisper White, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Ancestry Collection'
Accessories: Ribbone, Eyelet Lace, Prima Marketing Inc 'Nursery Tales Collection' Vintage Style Flowers and Fancystix Flowers, Prima Flowers, Kaiser Adhesive Pearls, Adhesive Rhinestones, Birdhouse Charm, Making Memories Tiny Alphas, Twine, Tim Holtz Edge Distresser, Decorative Scissors, Sponges, Dimensionals, Sewing Machine

Just Keep Swimming

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

I wanna be like....

Monday, May 25, 2009

Good Morning! And a happy Memorial Day to you all.

Club Anya recently had a contest/challenge and I HAD to play along! Their 'I Wanna Be Like...' challenge is where Club Anya's VP, Jess Diedrich, chooses a card created by a CA member to CASE. This week's card to case was created by my dear, dear friend OhioMary!!

This card was especially fun to CASE because it is in my possession. Yep, Mary made it especially for my birthday! :) And let me just tell you that it's even better IRL!

Ok, so I had planned on making my CASE really bright and cheerful, but then I spotted this old book text style paper in my collection and had to use it! I paired it with some paper from Anna Griffin and distressed them with my Tim Holtz Edge Distresser and sponged on Distress Inks. I pulled out the sewing machine and stitched around the panels. This Miss Anya is watercolored with Distress Inks, cut out and popped on dimensionals. I replaced the circle panel with this flower detail and I tucked the sentiment under the top panel.

I also used this week's CCEE Stampers challenge which is to use two sheets of designer paper and a brad on your card. (My brad is that rhinestone detail in the flower). Easy peesy!

Do you have anything planned for today? A bbq with family? We're staying close to home today. Yesterday we ended up taking a trip out to a little town in MA called Shelburn Falls. It's one of our favorite places to go in the summer because of the glacier boulders that are great to lounge around on. The other draw card is their 'Bridge of Flowers'. It's an old trolley bridge that's now been converted into a flower garden. It's just a gorgeous walk and I couldn't resist sharing some photos I took of some of the flowers that were in bloom.

Gorgeous right?! Tomorrow I have two posts for you. Both are going to be posted early so keep a look out for them. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

EDIT: I just found out that my card won the CASing contest over at Club Anya!! I screamed out loud when I saw my card staring back at me! LOL :) Thank you Mary!! *mwah*

Supplies

Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Miss Anyas' and 'Light Up'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Regal Rose, Distress Inks 'Creamy Caramel, Sahara Sand, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain and Tattered Rose'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Kraft, Bazzil cs, PP - Anna Griffin (unknown collection), Flair Paper Inc. 'The Christmas Story'

Access: Ribbon, Adhesive Rhinestones, Prima Marketing Inc 'Nursery Tales Collection' Vintage Style Flowers and Fancystix Flowers, Rhinestone Brad, Dimensionals

Just Hangin'

Friday, May 22, 2009

Sooooo glad it's Friday!

Any plans for the weekend?? The Man has the weekend off from work (he works retail), so we're going to be outside a lot since it's supposed to be nice this weekend.

It's challenge time over at the Hanna Stamps forum today! This week's host is the very busy and super talented Amanda Sewell and her challenge this week is a color combo of Really Rust, Groovy Guava and a nuetral.

Yea, I know. I missed the mark completely! LOL But I really wanted to show you this Pool Party set again and for the life of me, I could not make it work with those colors. :( I did use the colors in the coloring of my image though. :) You can gong me Amanda. Sorry girl. This is where my 'green-ness' comes into play; I'm not seasoned enough to make anything work. If you'd like to play this challenge, head on over to the Weekly Challenge thread in the Hanna Stamps forum on Splitcoaststampers. Everyone who plays these weekly challenges gets their name into a drawing to win a free Hanna Stamps set at the following release party. Worth playing right?!

I think I should start naming my Friday posts 'Clean and Simple Fridays' because lately, it seems that I start off the week with a bang and then fizzle out by Friday! Hahaha Actually, scratch that. I meant to make this a clean and simple card. ;)

The sketch for this card came from the Weekend Sketch Challenge WSC81 hosted this week by Charmaine of Oodabug Alley. The paper is from an old Scenic Route line and I thought it had a lgreat, beach towel look to it. The twine had to make an appearance again. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by this week. Have a fantastic weekend and I'll see you on Monday with a CASE of this card. Happy stamping!




Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Pool Party'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Taken With Teal, Old Olive
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Pumpkin Pie, Bazzil Basics, PP - Scenic Route 'Grafton Collection - Tyson Street'
Access: Twine, Scenic Route Button, Dimensionals, Sponges

Bubble Pop Fizz

Thursday, May 21, 2009

I can't believe it's Thursday already! Where did this week go?!

This week's challenge on CCEE Stampers is to use that specialty paper you've been hoarding for that 'special project'. What special paper?! I'm not hoarding special paper.....oh, alright; I am hoarding some. ;) I like glitter paper. It's prrrretty. I buy it. I pet it. But I've never actually used it on a card! LOL

That's not the only challenge I managed to include in this card! (Love it when it all comes together like that!) Lately, while I've been blog hopping, I see a lot of cards being made for the A Spoon Full Of Sugar blog challenge. So I popped over there this past Tuesday to check out their challenge and it happens to be their one year anniversary this week. Their challenge is to create some kind of celebratory card. Easy peesy lemon squeezy. The sketch is from this week's Card Positioning Systems sketch CPS116. I was struggling with it until I remembered about the adhesive borders that matched my new favorite paper from K&Co. Perfect!

The stamp is one of Leanne Ellis's beautiful creations from Funky Kits. It's so sad that I don't own this stamp because she was fabulous to color in!! A dear friend of mine gave me some of these images a while back and I couldn't remember where I put them until last night. It's not like I live in a big apartment either - it's teeny! But I have all my crafting stuff jam packed under my table and the envelope they were in got a bit lost. I'm soooo glad I found them though because I think I have a new favorite! ;)

I added some stickles to the frills on the bottom of her dress, the bubbles coming out of the bottle and at the ends of her hair decoration. I also added a black Tiny Twinkle to the center of the flower in her hair. I really love how she turned out. So cute!

Remember when I said I had made some amazing friends on Splitcoaststampers?? Well, the same amazing friends got together and did something crazy!! Because of them, I am the proud owner of my very own CUTTLEBUG...and an OhioMary original! :)

I'm so looking forward to getting to know my new toy... and convincing The Man that I need some Nesties to go along with it! hahaha

Happy stamping everyone and I'll see you tomorrow!

Supplies
Stamps: Leanne Ellis Designs 'Fizz', My Favorite Things 'Everyday Sentiments'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink', Regal Rose, Pink Passion, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Taken With Teal, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Carolyn Gavin - Greenhouse Papers', Making Memories 'GP 12x12 Glitter Solid Aqua'
Access: K&Company Carolyn Gavin Adhesive Borders, Stickles, Tiny Twinkles, Dimensionals

A Pink Whale Swimmin' By

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A happy Wednesday to you!

I can't believe how many people have signed up for my blog candy!? I honestly did not expect this! It's fantastic! And thank you all for the birthday wishes too. I'll be another year older in a little over a week. *sigh*

I've got another Whipper Snapper card to show you today. :) Ever seen a pink whale before?! Well now you have! hahaha I needed a pink one to match this really fun Sassafras Lass paper (which happens to be called 'Whale of a Tale'!) and well, everyone needs a bit of pink in their lives; even whales! LOL

The sketch for this card came from Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try Challenge. I like to pop over to her blog and check out her sketches every Saturday morning. Kind of a ritual now. :)

Mr Whale is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with reinkers and a water brush. Then I added some Stickles to the waves and water spout and used a white gel pen to add highlights to his body. The sentiment is part of the Swimmin' By cling set and is actually one long sentence. I masked off the first half then the second half to make it fit the space. I had trouble deciding what to do for the strip across the bottom, but eventually went with a thin piece of ribbon because I didn't want to cover up that yummy paper! :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs 'Swimmin' By'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Regal Rose, Ruby Red, Cool Caribbean, Buckaroo Blue, Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo'

Papers: Bazzil Basics, Canson Watercolor, PP - Sassafras Lass 'Whale of a Tale'

Access: Ribbon, Circle Punches, EK Success Circle Cutter, Stickles, Signo White Gel Pen, 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

Whipper Snapper Featured Designer!!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Can you believe it?!!! Me?? A Whipper Snapper Featured Designer?!! Wow!

As you can imagine, I have been grinning like a cheshire cat ever since Anna asked me to be one of her May/June featured designers for her cling sets. I've kept this secret for the past couple of months but today, I can finally shout it from the roof tops! Wahoooooo!! Honestly, this is more than a dream come true for me and I'm so excited to show you my card today. :)

This month, Anna and Whipper Snapper are releasing two cling sets with a really fun beach/aquatic theme. There are fish, sea horses, sand castles and yes, there's even a chicken in these sets! I really wanted to show you the super cute submarine from the 'Swimmin' By set for my first card.

#"We all live in a yellow submarine,...yellow submarine...yellow submarine"#

I'll tell ya; I was going to paint this submarine yellow, but luckily I pulled this patterned paper from my K&Company stash and it convinced me to go with a red and white combo. So glad I listened to myself ;) The sub and school of fish were watercolored with SU reinkers and an aquapainter on watercolor paper and the background was sponged with Cool Caribean and Buckaroo Blue. I then watercolored a second submarine image, cut it out and popped it on dimensionals. To give the edges a crisp, black edge, I carefully run a black marker around the edges to clean them up. For some extra pop, I added some Stickles to the fish and some clear embossing powder to the portholes.

The layout came from this week's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge TECC68.

Want to see more of these stamps?! Check out the girls that will be stamping along with me over the next couple of months.

The Featured Designers for May and June are:

Shellie Daniel {SCS Gallery}

Julie Campbell {SCS Gallery} {Blog}
Tab Robinson {PCP Gallery} {Blog}
Joanne Basile {SCS Gallery} {Blog}
Sandra MacLean {SCS Gallery} {Blog}

Miss Sweet Miss Daisy herself {SCS Gallery} {Blog}

I'm so honored to be designing along side these super talented ladies. Hope you have a fabulous Monday and thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs 'Swimmin' By'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Versamark, Sahara Sand, Real Red, Ruby Red, Cool Caribbean, Buckaroo Blue, So Saffron, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Distress Inks 'Weathered Wood & Vintage Photo'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Bling, PP - K&Company 'Day Dreams' stack
Access: Twine, Heart Button, Clear Embossing Powder, Decorative Scissors, Precision Scissors, Stickles, Dimensionals

Birthday Blog Candy!!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Waaahoooooo!!

Ever since I caught the stamping bug in March of last year, I feel like my card making skills have grown leaps and bounds, and I've had the most amazing opportunities come my way because of this hobby I've grown to love. I've also made the most loyal and amazing friends on SCS that you could ever imagine. And today, I continue to have fun card making because of their support and friendship (oh, and my husband's support too!). So to show my appreciation, and because its my birthday later this month, I want to give away my 10 most favorite card making products and tools as some blog candy!! Yep, I'm finally giving away some candy! Wooohoo! Besides my cutting board and tape runner, my 10 most favorite go-to tools/products are...

(Note: I substituted the Hanna Stamps, Riley and Stickles with ones I own as a place holder until the ones I ordered arrive.)

1. Precision Scissors
{I couldn't stamp without these!}

2. Aquapainter
{I couldn't color without this!}

3. Distress Inks and Sponges
{Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain}

4. Quickie Glue Pen
{Great for applying rhinestones}

5. Stickles
{Crystal and Black Diamond}

6. K&Company and Watercolor paper
{Wild Raspberry and Canson 90lb Watercolor paper}

7. Hanna Stamps!
{Sweet Celebrations and BBQ Riley}

8. Doggone Stamps
{Fisher Man, Boy With Flowers, Pitcher, Elephant With Balloons, Nikko}

Generously donated by Nancy @ Doggone Stamps

9. The Greeting Farm
{Wild Sprout - Annika}

10. Ribbon
{Lots and lots of yards of ribbon}

11. Studio G $1 stamps

{Where a lot of my sentiments come from}

Did I say 10?!? Oh well. ;) And just for good measure, I'll include some of my favorite cards too.

This blog candy is open to anyone, anywhere in the world. All I ask you to do is leave a comment to this post telling me your favorite card making tool or product. That's it! Easy right? If you want to let others know about the candy, feel free, but I'm not going to make it a requirement. I have no idea how many people visit my blog or how regularly, so it'll be interesting to see who stops by. :)

You have until midnight Wednesday May 27th, 2009 to enter. I will draw and announce the winner on the 28th - my birthday. :)

Good Luck!!

Graduation Hanna and Riley

It's Friday again! Wahhooo!

And that means another Hanna Stamps Friday Challenge! This week our hostess with the mostess is the uber talented Candice Lightly. That girl has more creativity in her pinky finger than I have in my whole body! Her challenge HSC69 for us this week is to create a *gasp* one layer card!! She's a cruel, cruel lady sometimes. ;)

I held my breath and created this very simple one layer graduation card using the brand spankin' new Grad Hanna stamp set. Kristi is being sneaky again by releasing a set between releases. I ain't complaining though! I stamped blue stars all over the card, so it isn't THAT plain! LOL The Caribbean Blue edge you see is infact a sponged edge to create the illusion of a second layer. I was being sneaky. :) My cutting board was not happy with me or this card. I think we both were experiencing withdrawl symptoms from the lack of layers because I turned around and immediately created this Riley grad card just so I could breathe again! haha

Even Army cadets need a graduation right? I used up some left over Army patterned paper and this week's SCS sketch challenge, SC228. You can check out the Hanna Stamps Design Team gallery on SCS for more sneak peeks of this set and grad Riley.

Be on the look out for some blog candy from me later this morning! I'm really, really excited for you all! Oh, and on Monday, you might want to stop by here....I have some REALLY EXCITING news for you!!

Supplies

Card 1

Stamps: Hanna Stamps 'Grad Hanna', stars from Studio G $1 stamps

Inks: StazOn, Creamy Caramel, Buckaroo Blue, Cool Caribbean, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Close To Cocoa, Real Red, Sahara Sand

Papers: Georgia Pacific

Access: Ribbon, Sponges

Card 2

Stamps: Hanna Stamps 'Grad Riley', sentiment from Studio G

Inks: StazOn, Creamy Caramel, Real Red, Sahara Sand, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'

Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - 'Creative Imaginations 'Army Emblem' and Reminisce 'Go Army'

Access: Ribbon, Eyelets, Dimensionals

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

Mojo Sketch and New Paper!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Good Morning!

Ok, I know I said I was going to be a conservative stamper for a while, but I have a confession to make: I can not walk past a great paper stack and not have it come home with me. It's just not possible. So now I have some new K&Company paper to play with. And it's gorgeous!! Don't worry; I used a Michael's coupon on it :)

I couldn't wait and used some of it to create this card with this week's Mojo Sketch Challenge MOJO86. I loved this sketch! It was perfect for these Studio G $1 stamps. Yes, one dollar stamps! And the sentiment is from PaperTrey Ink's Board and Beams set. I thought they worked together so well!

I stamped the images onto Very Vanilla with Timber Brown StazOn and colored them with SU inks and an aquapainter. I added some of Taylor's Tiny Twinkles to the center of the flowers for some sparkle. Then I lightly sponged the edges with Antique Linen and matted them with the chocolate Bazzil paper. The horizontal panel was matted with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and it's edges were scalloped with decorative scissors. Then it was matted onto some Bazzil paper and the bottom edge was cut with some larger scalloped decorative scissors. I added a small piece of ribbon to the top of the panel just to balance out the panel. And that was it. I really liked how this one turned out.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope your Wednesday is a great one!


Supplies
Stamps: Studio G $1 stamps, sentiment from PaperTrey Ink 'Boards and Beams'
Inks: StazOn 'Timber Brown', Cool Caribbean, Certain Celery, Old Olive, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Morning Marigold, Distress Inks 'Black Soot and Antique Linen'
Papers: Very Vanilla, Kraft, Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse 8.5 x 8.5 stack'
Access: Ribbon (you have to look closely, but I snuck it in there!), Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, Decorative Scissors, Sponges, Dimensionals

Laughter is Magic

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A happy Twinkling Tuesday to you all!

We have a Temporary Twinkie hosting this week's Twinkling Tuesday Challenge - welcome Nicky! He is Kimmie Doktor's boy and his challenge for us this week is a doozer! He'd love to see cards or projects with the color combo Blue, Orange and Purple. Told ya it was a doozer!

I'll be honest with you, these colors rolled around in my head for days before I attempted a card. I wasn't sure which color to play up more and which patterned paper in my stash was even going to fit this color scheme! But then I pulled the ultra bright 'Que Sera Sera' stack from K&Company out and it all became clear! :)

I chose to play up the orange and blue hues, since they play well together, and add the purple as an accent. The white cardstock for the base and the matting helped tie the three colors together.

I used The Greeting Farm's 'Hope and Grace' stamp set which has just the cutest little girls in it! I love how, just like the Wild Sprouts, they have a different look to them than the Anyas.

Hope's hair is colored with Morning Marigold and Creamy Caramel. I applied the MM first as an overall wash, then when that layer was dry, I went back over it with the MM again but this time I followed some of the strands of her hair to define them more. Then when that layer was dry, I applied Creamy Caramel to the darker areas of her locks (upper scalp).

The layout is from this week's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge, TECC67.

This week's featured Twinky is none other than Darla Wilson, the woman who got Madelynn's mum, Jess Diedrich, stamping in the first place! :) You can check her card out on her blog or Madelynn's Twinkling blog. If you'd like to play along this week, just upload your card on your blog or SCS, use this week's keyword MTTSC22, and leave a link to it on this post.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I really appreciate it. :)

Supplies

Stamps: The Greeting Farm's 'Hope and Grace'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Morning Marigold, Buckaroo Blue, Really Rust, Lavender Lace, Cool Caribbean, Sahara Sand, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - K&Company 'Que Sera Sera' paper stack

Access: Ribbon, Circle Punches, EK Success Corner Punch, Dimensionals

Special Delivery

Monday, May 11, 2009

Good Morning!

Whether you were being celebrated or celebrating a mother in your life yesterday, I hope you had a fabulous day. I was woken by my daughter standing within an inch of my face whispering that she had a present for me! hehehe It was so cute I couldn't kill her fun and sleep in anymore (although I really wanted to!). She gave me a very blinged out keyring with my initial on it that was especially picked out by her - who's styling now? :) Her daddy was very naughty and bought me some serious bling - diamond stud earrings! They're not huge which means I'm going to be very nervous wearing them because I inevitably lose one earring when they're that small. I've got to be extra careful with these babies!

So, I've been trying to use my old stamp sets that haven't seen ink in a while. Having my hours cut back at work has reduced my play money down considerably, so old stamps are seeing fresh ink again. As much as I'd love to play with new rubber, it feels good to give more attention to old rubber again. The stamp set I used on this card is by Will 'n Way. I found this and one other stamp set at my LSS and after doing a search online, they seem to be a UK company that is relatively unknown here in the US. I did find them online at FunkyKits, who also sell those adorable Sugar Nellie stamps, just in case you want to know where to get them! ;) They are great to stamp with, but I will say that they are thin clear acrylic stamps and mine have yellowed just a bit, but, stamp just as well as the day I bought them.

The card layout came from this week's Weekend Sketch Challenge WSC80, hosted this week by Cambria Turnbow, who used to be a Hanna Girl and now owns her own stamp company; you may have heard of it, Our Craft Lounge. I think that's just so cool!

When I saw the flower elements in the sketch, I wanted to create these vintage, hand cut flowers I've been seeing all over SCS. This is my first attempt at them, so they're a little rough around the edges - pun intended. ;) hehe So because I had these flowers in mind, I tried to give the whole card a vintage feel. The flower was created by cutting circles of various sizes from Bazzil cardstock. I then cut V's into them at five points around the circumference to create the 'petals'. They were then sponged with Antique Linen and Tea Dye and distressed by crumbling them up in my hand and flattening them out again. The rest of the card is pretty straight forward, so I won't bore you to tears.

I also finished off the inside of the card since I wanted to use more of the stamps from the Will 'n Way set.

You know, it's about time I gave some candy away isn't it?! Stop by Friday - you won't be disappointed! Have a great Monday!

Supplies
Stamps: Will 'n Way 'Baby set'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Blush Blossom, Creamy Caramel, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Very Vanilla, Bazzil cs, PP - Making Memories 'AnimalCrackers Collection - Jack-Varnished Dot'
Access: Ribbon, Adhesive Rhinestones, EK Success Circle Cutter and Corner Punch, Tim Holtz Edge Distresser, Dimensionals

No Peeking!

Friday, May 8, 2009

G'day everyone!! It's Friday and the weekend is one sleep away. Loving that!

Friday also means a new Hanna Stamps challenge! This week's host is the super talented and creative Hanna Girl Joycelyn Turner, aka Stamps'nCoffee on SCS. Her challenge for us this week is to use sand, sandpaper, etc on our cards. You can check out the details on this SCS thread ---> HSC68.

Hmmmm. Last time I checked, there were no real beaches in southwest New Hampshire and therefore no sand. Couldn't find any sandpaper last night, so that option was a no-go. What I did find was some 'sand paper' of the patterned paper variety in my stash! Who knew I had sand patterned paper?! If you squint, you can see the sand on the panel that Hanna is applied to. See it?? To quote my 3.5 year old "Told ya". :)

The layout is from Wednesday's SCS sketch challenge SC227 and yesterday's Ways To Use It challenge WT217 was to use kraft cardstock on a project so I rolled with that and used it as my base and matting cardstock. I used white Georgia Pacific cardstock to add a layer of pop and help pull the Scenic Route patterned paper off the kraft cardstock. To give the card a worn look, I distressed the edges with my Tim Holtz edge distresser. The wavy edge to the horizontal panel was created with some decorative scissors and adding the twine helped create the beach theme.

I stamped Hanna and the surfboard from the newly released 'To The Beach' sets on GP and colored them with SI inks and an aquapainter. I love the smooth look to watercoloring on this paper, but I don't suggest it for the beginner because it absorbs ink super fast and if you're not used to the medium, it won't make watercoloring fun for you.

Some of you have asked me to do a tutorial on coloring and shading. I would if I thought I could watercolor and talk at the same time! I'm not sure that's even possible! And then I'd probably need subtitles along the bottom because my accent would just confuse you all! hahaha I'd gladly give anyone a private lesson if you happened to visit NH in the coming months, but video's and me don't mix well! Maybe one day...

Have a fabulous weekend!! *mwah*

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps 'To The Beach', sentiment by Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, Pumpkin Pie, Buckaroo Blue
Papers: Georgia Pacific cs, Kraft cs, PP - Scenic Route Paper Co. 'Beach House', K&Company 'Antiquity Tan Parchment Flat Paper'
Access: Twine, circle punches, Tim Holtz Egde Distresser, Decorative Scissors, Paper Piercer