Sneak Peek: Sophie Goes To School!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Happy Friday to you all!

It's day one of the Hanna Stamps sneak peeks and so, without further ado....

Introducing School Sophie!

Finally Riley has a classmate to hang out with! :) Yay! Don't ya love her plaid skirt and those bows in her ha....antlers?! LOL I can see many uses for School Sophie and School Riley for that matter. How about tags for school bags or book bags? Or bookmarks? I just wish my Sydney was starting kindergarten this year, because it would have been fun to make some school things for her. That'll be next year. :)

Some deets on the card: I'm a little late, but I used the Weekend Sketch Challenge 90 hosted by the awesome Laurie Schmidlin for this layout. The scalloped circle was done with a corner punch with the guard removed.

My second card showcases the retro Riley being showcased this month - School Riley! He's so cute with his red frame glasses and little blue shorts! Don't you LOVE that patterned paper?? It's from Junkitz and I just about squealed when I saw it! I used this week's Unscripted Sketches #16 for this card. I have really loved the sketches they've been coming up with!

That's it from me today. If you wanna see more sneak peeks of the sets being released, check out what the other Hanna girls have been playing with! You can find links to their blogs listed in the column on the left. Tomorrow I'll be showing you another sneak peek, so pop back then ok?

Have a wonderful weekend! We're off to the local fair tonight! :)

Supplies

Card 1

Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'School Sophie', Studio G $1 Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Going Gray, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Certain Celery, Close To Cocoa, Sahara Sand

Papers: Prisma Smooth, Bazzil Basics, Bazzil Bling, PP - American Crafts 'Everyday Collection - Long Time No See'

Access: Ribbon, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, Corner Punch, Circle Nestibilities

Card 2

Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'School Riley', Karen Foster Snap Stamps

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Going Gray, Buckaroo Blue, Real Red, So Saffron, Sahara Sand, Certain Celery

Papers: Prisma Smooth, Bazzil Basics, We R Memory Keepers 'Grandma's Kitchen - Pen Pals' and Junkitz 'School Days Paperz - Doodles'

Access: Corner Punch, Star Punch, Button, Brads

Everyday Heros and a Sneak Peek!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Good Morning All! I am so excited so show you some new stamps from Hanna Stamps!

Meet Fireman Riley!

Isn't he a sweetie?! He's everyone's hero. And he's just drawn to perfection don't you think? He is being released by Hanna Stamps as soon as Mrs Kristi gets back from CHA. Now, can you spot the other stamp Mrs Kristi has been keeping under wraps until now?!

Yep! It's the brick background!! And guess what? It's not the only background stamp being released. Nope, there's one other background that up until now, we've all been creating by hand. Can you guess what it is? I've give you a hint: You'll be floored when you see it. YES! It's a floorboards background!!! And the best part? They both come in RED RUBBAH! :D

I've been dying to tell you guys for ages now and last Friday they finally arrived on my doorstep. These background stamps measure a little bit shy of 3" x 4". Not sure what they will be priced at yet, but Mrs Kristi has promised that they'll be in the store once she gets back into town. :) How excited are you all now?! hehe

Ok, some deets for you all: Fireman Riley and the brick background was colored with reinkers and an aquapainter on Georgia Pacific cardstock. The sketch is from this week's Sketch For You To Try by Jen Del Muro of I {Heart} To Stamp fame. I sponged the edges of the Basic Grey patterned paper to bring out the rich and hot colors of it. The sentiment was created with a Studio G Mini Alphabet set I picked up earlier in the year.

Since my DT stamps did arrive this month, I will have sneak peeks of the August release sets to show you starting tomorrow and running over the weekend! So stop back here tomorrow if you want to see what Rileys will be released! :)

Ciao Bella's!

Supplies

Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Fireman Riley' and 'Brick Background'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Morning Marigold, Going Gray, Real Rust, Cranberry Crisp, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Black Soot, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain'

Papers: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Motifica Collection - Clay' and 'Ambrosia Collection - Fresh-Squeezed'

Access: Buttons, Circle Punches, Dimensionals, Sponges, Micron Pen

Such A Wino!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Woohooo! It's hump day already! Yeah!

I have been wanting to play along with a Bellarific Sketch for like forevvvvvvvvvvvvvver!! And finally I got a chance to play this week. Yay! :)

This week's Bellarific sketch is perfect for any Bella - if you rotate the sketch. Which is what I ended up doing. *sneaky sneaky*

I used Winobella for this card. Awesome name don't ya think?? I'm sure my hubby would make some wise crack comment about how I'm not far off being called a lush, but I would hardly call a glass every other day a wino! I'd call that living! haha

Ok, here are some deets: Miss Wino is colored with reinkers and an aquapainter on Whisper White cardstock. Then I added some Stickles to her dress and jewels. I broke up the vertical panel up with some coordinating patterned paper and edged the panel with a small scalloped edge created with decorative scissors. I wasn't going to sew on my base panel but then I changed my mind because it just seemed too bare without it! I may have a bit of a sewing addiction! LOL

I don't own anything to make an oval shape for the sentiment, so I created a segmented sentiment (try saying that 3 times!) with a stamp from my Small Talk set from Technique Tuesday. My lack of sentiment tag shapes is about to change because I splurged a bit the other night and and bought myself the Spellbinders Labels One set and the Tags Trio set. I currently only own one circle and rectangle set and that's it! So I can't wait till they get here and I have a new shape to play with! Hurry up UPS man!!

Thank you sooo much for stopping by. :)


Supplies
Stamps: Stamping Bella 'Winobella', Technique Tuesday 'Small Talk'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pink Passion, Morning Marigold, Certain Celery, Cool Caribbean, Taken With Teal, Sahara Sand
Papers: Whisper White, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Carolyn Gavin's Greenhouse'
Access: Ribbon, Decorative Scissors, Machine Stitching, Stickles

Greetings Cutie

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Good Morning!

I hope you're all having a great week so far. It's been very humid and sticky here in the North East these last couple of days and we're expecting more of the same today. Thank the Lord for air conditioning and fruit smoothies to keep me hydrated! :)

I didn't quite get my vintage fix yesterday, so I created another card to curb my hunger. :)

I had colored this sweet Blossom image from Sugar Nellie two weeks ago and she just sat on my table waiting for some inspiration to come my way. She didn't have to wait long; the Sugar Nellie Sugar Bowl Sketch Challenge 15 was posted the very next day! But since I was about to go on vacation, Blossom had to sit some more until I returened and was able to make something this past weekend.

Isn't that frame striking?! I just loooove how it turned out! It's a faux wood frame technique recently posted on SCS by one of my idols, Kim Teasdale. Thank you Kim! I wanted to create more of a white washed look so I used white paper as the base and the Tea Dye/Vintage Photo ink combination to create my frame. It's definitely a technique I am going to use again soon!

I popped Miss Blossom and the two flowers around her up on dimensionals to give the card more presence. She's colored with SU reinkers and an aquapainter and the background was sponged with the Cool Caribbean and Certain Celery ink pads. The flowers all have a black Tiny Twinkle in the centers and the frills on Blossom's dress have some Diamond Stickles added to them. The other panels were sponged with Vintage Photo and then machine stitched.

One of my other idols, Paula Williamson, recently shared one of her tips/tricks she likes to use when adding grass to her colored images. She colors with pencils and gamsol, so I adapted her technique to suit my watercoloring. Not bad for a first try, but I will be practicing this technique again until I'm 100% happy with it.

After I finished off the inside of this card and decided that I would put it up for sale in my card shop too. It's not as hard as it used to be to part with my cards and the hubby is especially pleased that I'm not hoarding them too! LOL

I hope I'm not making anyone dizzy with all the different styles I've been playing with lately. I really like to try new things with this hobby and explore different techniques, so you just never know what you might see when you stop by my blog. ;) Happy creating!

Supplies
Stamps: Sugar Nellie 'Blossom', The Greeting Farm 'Panda Friends'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Cool Caribbean, Taken With Teal, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Certain Celery, Distress Inks 'Black Soot, Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Ancestry.com'
Access: Ribbon, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, Stickles, Button, Twine, Martha Stewart Tag Punch, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Farm Fresh Friday Challenge

Monday, July 27, 2009

Hello! I hope you all had a great weekend.

The weather held off long enough for us to go berry picking on Saturday. Yay! The picking was easy and we managed to collect about 9 pints of blueberries and 6 pints of raspberries. Yuuuum! I made a pie with half the raspberries and we're having lots of fun trying out different berry smoothy recipes! :)

A couple of week's ago my Pigs Can Fly card won (yay!) the The Greeting Farm's Farm Fresh Friday supply challenge, and I have been all fired up since then about playing in another round. This week's FFF Challenge is to use a combination of flowers and butterflies in on a card or other project.


I have been itching to make a vintage/distressed card ever since I got back from vacation and I decided to do one for this challenge using Reeta from the Wild Sprouts collection. I think she's the most demure of the three, so I paired her with my new favorite vintage K&Company paper collection, Classic K 'Charlotte'.


That flower embellie is a handcut flower sponged with Distress Inks and stacked with a button in the center. Not that you can see it in the photo, but I couldn't resist spraying it with some glimmer mist. It adds such sparkle to the card! I used the small butterfly stamp from the Hope & Grace set on the horizontal panel and the 3D butterflies were punched out, sponged, sprayed with glimmer mist and popped on dimensionals to balance out the card.

I used this week's sketch from Friday Sketchers because it worked well with the vintage paper and the floral theme I needed to create. Miss Reeta was again colored with SU reinkers and an aquapainter, this time on some Prisma Smooth cardstock. It's a very bright white and I hear it's awesome for copics. It also worked well with reinkers. (It's a bit better to paint on than SU's Whisper White). I used Really Rust and a wee bit of Cranberry Crisp for Reeta's hair, but let me tell you - it took a long, long time to color! I didn't want to overdo it so I had to wait for her hair to dry before applying more color. Love the look though! I'm probably going to add Miss Reeta and the Pigs Can Fly card to my card shop later on this morning, so if you love it, keep an eye out for it!

Don't forget: This Saturday marks The Greeting Farm's first anniversary and there will be a blog hop this Saturday starting at 9am CST. There's still time to sign up, so if this sounds like something you'd like to participate in, head on over to this Club Anya post and join in!

Man did I talk your ear off today or what?! Sorry about that! :) Before you go, I wanted to quickly share with you a funny photo of my little girl at the beach last week. She insisted on being covered with 'mud cream' and the bucket on her head was her idea too. Such a goofball!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm Wild Sprouts 'Reeta', sentiment from 'Panda Friends'
Inks: Staz On 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Cranberry Crisp, Certain Celery, Taken With Teal, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Sahara Sand, Going Gray
Papers: Prisma Smooth White, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company Classic K 'Charlotte'
Access: Ribbon, Button, Scrapworks Dental Floss, Martha Stewart Tag and Edge Punch, Circle Punches, EK Success Small Butterfly Punch, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist 'Pearl', Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Wanna win some Doodle Factory blog candy?!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

If you love funny stamps/cards like I do, you HAVE to check out the new Doodle Factory stamps being released this week from Starving Artistamps!! They totally cracked me up when I saw them!

Me likey! :) And I'm not ashamed to say that I'd LOOOOOOOOOOVE to win them! hahaha Tracey and the Starving Artistamps are giving away all 4 sets as blog candy and you have today and tomorrow only to spread the word and have the chance to win them! You can check out the info....HERE.

Have a great night!

It's A Chicken Thing!

Friday, July 24, 2009

I'm soooo glad it's Friday!

I've been so busy since I got back from our little vacation (laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning, etc) that I just can't wait to kick back this weekend and do some fun things like stamp and color and maybe even some blueberry picking. Yeah! Sounds perfect doesn't it? What are your plans for the weekend?

Mr Chicken is planning a quiet weekend doing what he does best - fish! :)

Chickens really do fish. I swear it! Or at very least, Anna's chickens do! LOL Mr. Chicken is from last month's release 'Hooked On Fishing' from Anna Wight and Whipper Snapper. This is the first time I've used the zig zag stitch on a card and I love how it turned out!

I colored Mr Chicken with reinkers and my trusty aquapainter. Then sponged around the edges with Antique Linen from Distress Ink's. The patterned paper is from The Green Stack by DCWV. Looooove this paper stack! I paired it with some bitter chocolate Bazzil cardstock, some cream buttons and a little bit of plaid ribbon. Love a good clean and crisp card! :)

Thanks so much for putting up with my intermittent blog posts this week. Things should be back to normal next week. I may even have some cute pics of my little Syd at the beach. :) Have a great weekend!

Supplies

Stamps: Whipper Snapper/Anna Wight 'Hooked On Fishing'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', So Saffron, More Mustard, Really Rust, Certain Celery, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Soft Sky, Ruby Red, Buckaroo Blue, Creamy Caramel

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - DCWV 'Green Stack Collection'

Access: Buttons, Ribbon, Machine Stitching, Dimensionals

Kindness

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Hope you're all having a great week so far!

I wanted to create a card with the Bloom set from There She Goes with a different feel than the other cards I've created with the set. I jazzed it up a bit and made it more upbeat and funky with some of that yummy Stella Rose paper from Basic Grey and some matching Bazzil cardstock. I also added some ric rac ribbon and adhesive rhinestones to add some sparkle to the card. What you don't see in this image is the glimmer mist I sprayed onto the petals of the flower. :( It's super pretty but my camera isn't powerful enough to pick up the twinkles. Wish you could see it IRL. I knew I'd love this stuff! :)

The flower is colored with SU inkpads, then cut out. Then I added a second layer to the petals and poppeed that on dimensionals to add more height to the card. I really loved to paper tole as a kid, and I think stamping really lends itself to this craft really well.

Happy stamping!

Supplies

Stamps: There She Goes 'Bloom'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Certain Celery, Old Olive, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Cranberry Crisp

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Stella Ruby Collection - ??'
Access: Ric Rac Ribbon, Adhesive Rhinestones, Glimmer Mist 'Pearl', Paper Piercer, Decorative Scissors, EK Success Corner Punch, Dimensionals

Up, up and Away!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Helloooo!

I'm somewhere in Maine at the moment, hopefully relaxing by the water somewhere. :D I am coming home tomorrow and I better have a tan! LOL

I am so sorry it took me this long to show you this card! I feel bad that I teased you all with a sneak peek of it a couple of weeks ago now and never got a chance to show you the whole card until now!

Isn't he just the beary sweetest?! He's one of the new releases from the Fall/Winter 2009 collection from Whipper Snapper. Love, love, love him! But my, is he a big stamp! LOL This is a standard 4.25" x 5.5" card and as you can see, he takes up most of it! I might have to cut him out next time I use him and mat him onto a different sized panel. Now, if I had oval nesties to mount him on, that would make for a great card! (Mental note to self: move oval nesties to the top of my wish list!)

He's again colored with reinkers and an aquapainter and that awesome cloud paper is from Reminisce. The sentiment was computer generated.

I have a funny story to tell you about a particular balloon.

Last Monday, while I was home from work, I was busy cleaning and stuff in our tiny, single floor apartment. The way it's set up, the two bedrooms (ours and Syd's) are connected by a bathroom. As I was tidying her room, the almost deflated foil balloon that daddy bought her kept getting in my way. It floated about 3 feet off the ground at the moment, that's how deflated it was.! I had moved onto our room and I was making our bed and this balloon somehow traveled from Syd's room and was now hovering over our bed! So like a kid who had escaped from time out, I grabbed it and moved it back to Syd's room again. A half hour later I'm at my craft desk in the living room and I can see into my room from there. I look up and what has made it's way back into our room again?! That limp looking balloon! This went on all day too! I eventually popped it because it was starting to creep me out a little. :D

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps: Whipper Snapper 'Beary Special Birthday', sentiment computer generated.
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Certain Celery

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Reminisce 'Cloud Puff'
Access: Ribbon, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Domestic Goddess

Friday, July 17, 2009

Happy Friday to you all!
(I'd love to say y'all in a southern accent, but coming from a New Zealand born, Australian raised girl....it sounds ridiculous! LOL)

Today's card uses my very first stamp set I bought from Hanna Stamps and she is still one of my favorites. :) This is one of my first cards using this set that got me noticed by Kristi and eventually led to me being on the Hanna team. :D Come a long way baby! LOL

Loving the bright, summery colors on this card. I used papers from K&Company's Raspberry Fizz collection and paired it with some textured Bazzil Basics cardstock. I used this week's Unscripted Sketches #14 for the layout. Looking at this now, I wish I had colored Hanna's apron in more of a contrasting color...c'est la vie, I guess.

The Hanna Stamps challenge HSC78 this week is being hosted by the super sweet Adela Rossol and her challenge is to create a 3D project. I couldn't come up with anything quick enough, but I will put my thinking cap on this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend; the babe and I are off to Maine for a mini getaway with her grandparents and my inlaws. Hubby has to work since he just started his new job. We're staying in a cabin on some campgrounds somewhere near a huge lake (I wasn't quite paying attention to all the details back when we were talking about going). Hoping to relax a little and maybe get my mojo juices flowing. :) I've scheduled a few projects to show you while I'm away so you don't miss me too much! hehe (A girl can daydream!)

Take care and stay safe!

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps 'Domestic Goddess'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Going Gray, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Raspberry Fizz'
Access: Ribbon, Marvy Scalloped Punch, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals, Stickles

Pssst! There's She Sales!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Because Jessica sold out of her new releases this month, There She Goes is having a sale!!

From today, July 16th through July 25th you can receive 15% off of your entire purchase at the There She Goes website by entering the coupon code july09 in your shopping cart prior to check out.

Jess has also discounted the price of the TSG Double Stamp Scrubber! I absolutely love my scrubber and use it every single time I stamp and now you can get one of your own for only $7.00! These prices are only good while supplies last :)

Would You Picnic With This Bear?

# If you go out in the woods today, you're sure for a big surprise... #

Can you believe I found this song on You Tube the other day?! I couldn't help but sing this song while I was coloring this little picnic scene in. Doesn't he look just dapper in his cargo shorts? Still wouldn't picnic with him though...you never know what might tick him off! LOL

I built up this image with stamps from Anna Wight's cling set 'Beware Of Bears'. I stamped the picnic basket out first, then masked off a little bit of it so that Mr Bear could be stamped next and look like he was standing behind it. Then I masked off Mr Bear's face and stamped the forest's edge in the background. This week's CPS124 sketch was perfect for this little scene. I've been playing with my new edge punch from Martha Stewart! Love this punch! Then I used some chocolate raffia I found at Michaels. The sentiment is computer generated.

So let this be a warning to you all: Don't eat in the woods...you never know who might be looking on. ;)

Supplies

Stamps: Anna Wight/Whipper Snapper 'Beware of Bears'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Chocolate Chip, Buckaroo Blue, Creamy Caramel, Certain Celery, Old Olive, More Mustard, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Soft Sky, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - BoBunny 'U Bug Me! Outdoors'

Access: Raffia, Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Circle Punches, Dimensionals

Pigs Can Fly!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Good Morning Everyone!

I think I'm still nursing a hangover from last night's crazy VSN party for the Club Anya/The Greeting Farm new releases. Talk about fast paced and crazy! All good fun though. I had to snag the new Scottish Ian stamp because he looked so much like my husband on our wedding day. We had a Scottish themed wedding with the men wearing kilts of the MacLean tartan. We even had a bagpiper play as my dad walked me down the aisle! :D So now you understand why I just had to have this particular stamp! LOL

I might have managed to score a hat trick with today's card. *grin* (Love it when that happens!) The sketch is from this week's Sketch For You To Try by Jen Del Muro. Then I worked in this week's Use It Challenge 18 which was to add some texture (I used textured bazzil cardstock), use at least two punches (I used that pretty edge punch and a corner punch for the scallops on the circle panel), use patterned paper from my favorite manufacturer (easy peesy - K&Company!). The bonus supply was to add pearls. I substituted it for some rhinestones instead because this tied in with last challenge this card was for. The Greeting Farm's Farm Fresh Friday challenge also happened to be a supply challenge this week and we were to use at least two GF stamp sets (I used Fly Away and Hope & Grace), at least one punch (MS Edge Punch) and bling it up a bit (adhesive rhinestones).

Little pig was lots of fun to color in! I used Blush Blossom on him and a teeny weeny bit of Vintage Photo (Distress Ink) for the shadows. I kept the balloons muted like the rest of the hues on the card. That Martha Stewart edge punch is quickly becoming my new favorite item. Although, while shopping for my Secret Sister yesterday, I picked up something I have yet to use, but I have a sneaky suspicion it will be my all time favorite item - I found Glimmer Mist at my LSS!! *big cheesy grin*

My Secret Sister also got a whole bunch of new and yummy things too! Me and the group of girls I was telling you about a few weeks back are in a secret sister summer swap where we are given one sister to pamper and indulge upon. Packages must arrive by August 1st, and then we pick a date to open our packages at the same time! I can't wait until my SS opens hers! And it looks like I might be able to wing meeting my favorite Sisters next summer! *insert another cheesy grin* It'll be like a camp out but with stamping and no bugs! LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you squeeze some stamping in tonight. Remember that sneak peek I showed you last Friday? Come back tomorrow and I'll show you the whole card. :D


Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Fly Away' & 'Hope and Grace'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Blush Blossom, Certain Celery, Pretty In Pink, Soft Sky, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'DayDream Collection'
Access: Martha Stewart Edge Punch, EK Success Corner Punch, Precision Scissors, Circle Nestibilities, Best Occasions (Walmart) Adhesive Rhinestone Accents, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

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

Tough Guy

Monday, July 13, 2009

Good Morning!

I hope you had a good weekend. We ended up going to a reception/bbq for one of hubby's cousin's. Luckily, it stayed dry until around 8pm when it absolutely bucketed down, but we were in the car and on our way home by that time. Phew!

A nice bit of news that came out of the weekend was that my husband was offered more stable job at his new place of work after only working there 3 weeks! He was on the sales floor working odd hours and Saturdays, now he's a service writer and works 'normal' hours so he'll be home for dinner for a change AND he has weekends off! This opportunity was a huge deal for us because he's never worked regular hours for as long as we've been married and it'll be soooo nice to expect him home for dinner! LOL And we can actually plan things to do on our weekends now! Wow. :)

So I attempted a redo on that masculine card I tried to make last Friday. It definitely turned out a whole lot better than the first card I created! (That one had a grey and dark blue color scheme and just never worked from the get-go.)

I used last Friday's Hanna Stamps Challenge HSC77 hosted by the lovely Nikki Fairbairn. It's really a perfect sketch for a Riley or Sohie. I used Mason Riley with some old My Mind's Eye paper. The plaid was about as manly as I can go on a card! LOL

I worked on a few cards this weekend and none of them went together easy for me. They all feel like I tried too hard on them. It might be because of the challenging layouts and odd image sizes, but they've really put a kabosh on my mojo lately. I'm hoping it flows a little better today - I put those cards aside and just colored - for therapy. :) Hopefully I can transfer them to a decent card and have something to show you this week! It's a good thing I'm on vacation next week - I think my mojo needs it! LOL

Have a good one!

Supplies

Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Mason Riley', sentiment from Studio G
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Sahara Sand, Really Rust, Close To Cocoa, Buckaroo Blue, Cool Caribbean

Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - My Mind's Eye 29th Street Collection - Spirit "Sisters"

Access: Ribbon, Making Memories Square Copper Brads, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Just a teaser...

Friday, July 10, 2009

Wooohooo!! It's finally Friday!

It's supposed to be gorgeous too today....and I have to work :( Bugger.

I was going to show you a card I made for the Hanna Stamps challenge today, but it turned out less than stellar and I wasn't comfortable showing you an awful card. It's probably because I was trying to make it manly, and well....I can't do manly cards all that well. Had it not been so late last night, I probably would have attempted another one, but I was knackered and needed some sleep! Hanna Girl Nikki Fairbairn is hosting today's Hanna challenge, and I really wanted to play, so I'll get my mojo flowing over the weekend and show you a redux card on Monday. Sound good?

Since I feel bad not showing you anything today, here's a sneak peek at an image I colored up yesterday....


It's from the Whipper Snapper new releases and he's "beary" cute!! Sorry for the tease, but he hasn't made it to a complete card yet, so I'll finish putting him on a card and you can see him next week!

Have a fabulous weekend, whatever it is that you're doing! And I hope you get to stamp a little. :D

Tiki Time!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

It's Thursday already! I'm so thankful for that!

Hopefully, if the weather holds up, I think we're going to have a lazy weekend and spend it by the lake shore or the community pool. We do have a wedding reception to go to, but that will be so laid back, it's not going to interfere with our weekend plans. :) What plans do you all have this weekend?

Today's card is all about those lazy days by the pool! Now this is living! :D

I used this week's bonus sketch from 2sketches4you. It was exactly what the doctor ordered to showcase this stamp from this month's 'Life's A Beach' stamp release from There She Goes! (I noticed that it's already out of stock :( but I'm sure Jessica will have it restocked very soon!)

See that faux wood paper? It's double sided paper that I found at Michael's recently and I really just stumbled onto it! The other side, which has cruise ships and a 50's travel theme on it was the side that was facing up and I didn't know it had this awesome wood grain on the back until I flipped it over just to check! Love it when good things happen like that! :) I paired it with some very old Basic Grey island looking paper I've had for eons now. This was the only sheet I bought of it and I have made the most out of every square inch of that sheet! :D I have just enough left to make one more card from it and then it's gone forever :( *sniff*

The Tiki hut was colored with SU reinkers and my aquapainter again. This time on Georgia Pacific cardstock, which isn't' very forgiving, but I like the smooth look. I added some Stickles to the cocktail glasses just to glam up the card a bit. That inverted scalloped circle was created with my decorative scissors, but I think you can buy Nesties that do the same job too. This card took no time at all to pull together. That almost never happens for me! LOL

See you tomorrow! :D

Supplies

Stamps: There She Goes 'Life's A Beach'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Close To Cocoa, Old Olive, Morning Marigold, Regal Rose, Coll Caribbean, Sahara Sand

Papers: Core Dinations Color Core, Georgia Pacific, PP - Basic Grey (old stuff!) and Creative Imaginations 'Signature Collection'

Access: Decorative Scissors, Dimensionals, Stickles

The Sky's the Limit!

A happy Wednesday to you all!

Yesterday's shopping trip was quite successful. My cousin-in-law snapped up a great stroller and play pen and a few other little goodies too. They're due in January, so I have a few months yet to make a baby card for them. :D Gotta put my thinking cap on now!

Today's card was inspired by a few different influences. I am still intrigued by the style of cards showcased often on the 2sketches for you blog. I just love the bright, bold colors they use and the pairing of unique embellishments. To me, it's very creative. So, while blog surfing the other week, I stumbled onto a somewhat new challenge blog that caught my interest. Every Saturday over at the Use It Challenge Blog, they post a group of products or things that need to be used on a card or project. It's kind of like the Ways To Use It challenge on SCS, but with multiple things.

This week's Use It Challenge #17 was to use your newest papers, your sewing machine, add at least one button and add a name to the card. I had just bought this small matt pad from K&Company the other day and this was the perfect challenge to break it in! The sketch is from a new blog sketch challenge I found the other day too. The blog is called Unscripted Sketches and I used this week's Unscripted Sketches #13.

I just got this 'Fly Away' set from The Greeting Farm on Monday and I thought it would make a really great inspiration card for someone. And since the Use It challenge required a name on the card, I thought I'd make one for my daughter, Sydney. I used the Zoe mini alphabet set for the letters and a corner punch for the scallops on the main panel. The balloon (isn't it awesome?!) was colored on watercolor paper with reinkers and an aquapainter as usual. I kept the look pretty watercolory (that should be a word too) and whimsical.

I really like how this turned out. It's definitely different, but I like to experiment so this was fun to try. I will have to remember to revisit these two challenge blogs this week again. :)

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you're having a great week so far!

Supplies

Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Fly Away'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Tea Dye'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company Cut 'n' Paste Mat Pad

Access: Buttons, Machine Stitching, EK Success Corner Punch, Quickutz Zoe Mini Alphabet, 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

If Wishes Were Fishes

Monday, July 6, 2009

Hello! Me again!

A few weeks ago, I had a three way PM going with a couple of my SCS sisters and we decided impromptu, that we would take turns at playing with a card kit we would send each other just to see how different, or the same, our cards would turn out using the same supplies.

Mary was first up and she sent Kadie and I a fishing themed kit with lots of great paper and little embellishment goodies in it. And the image she sent was Mr Fishing Chicken! :) I was a little bit more than happy since I had Anna's 'Hooked On Fishing' cling set with all it's fun fishing sentiments sitting front and center on my craft desk! :)

And this is what I came up with! I used this week's Sketch For You To Try for the layout and used the brads, paper and twine that Mary sent. Mr Chicken was colored up with SU reinkers and an aquapainter. The tags were made with MS tag punch that I picked up at Michaels.

Love Mr Chicken don't you?? Thanks for the challenge Mary - I hope I did you proud! Kadie has her card up and Mary's is posting hers later today. Can't wait to see it! I have got to start thinking about the kit I'll be sending them. Hmmmm....might need to lie by the pool today and think about it some more. ;)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: Whipper Snapper 'Fishing Chicken' and 'Hooked On Fishing'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', So Saffron, More Mustard, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Old Olive, True Thyme. Going Gray, Sahara Sand

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Ask Mary!

Access: Prima Flowers, SU Brads, Twine, Martha Steward Tag Punch

Hooked On Fishing

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Good Morning!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! We had no less than three BBQ's all weekend and as you can imagine; we're knackered! :) It's also why this post is a little late today. Sorry about that. It was a great weekend though.

So, yesterday morning while I was on the phone with my husband giving him a list of things to get at the grocery store, I get an email from a friend on SCS telling my that I was the featured stamper on SCS. Hold the press: What did you say?!? I immediately told hubby, I had to get off the phone because something major was going down! LOL Turns out, it was true! Me?! The SCS featured stamper this week?! I kept shaking my head in disbelief. I thought only big names got to be featured stampers...not newbies like me. What a huge honor though. I can't stop grinning! :D

Ok, getting back to why you stop by my blog - I have another card to show you today!


I really wanted to play the Weekend Sketch Challenge WSC87 this week because I haven't had the opportunity these last few weeks. And thankfully, the sketch was exactly what I needed to show off the 'Hooked On Fishing' set from Whipper Snapper and Anna Wight. If you've never played with Anna's cling sets before and you love to color, you really need to try them out. They are awesome to color up and I really love that you get a ton of sentiments with them because that's probably what I lack most in my collection.

SweetMissDaisy herself, Anna Wight, and Whipper Snapper will have (at very least!) two more sets to release this month, so be on the look out for them. And you don't want to miss who will be her new featured designers for the next two months! I've just had the BEST TIME designing for Anna and I know these new gals will too. Thank you Anna!! Don't worry though, this is not the last time you've seen me play with stamps from Whipper Snapper. I have a huge order arriving on Wednesday - most of them are from their Fall/Winter 2009 new releases! My hands are itching to color them up!!

Be on the look out for another card from me today too. I was too exhausted last night to finish it, so I'm doing that this morning. :) I've got some girls waiting on me to get this done!

__________________________________________

Just a reminder: Hanna Stamps is having their July release party tonight, starting at 9PM EST in the Hanna Stamps member forum on SCS. I'll be there, so pop in and say hi, ok? :)


Supplies
Stamps: Whipper Snapper/Anna Wight 'Hooked On Fishing'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', So Saffron, More Mustard, Really Rust, Cool Caribbean, Ruby Red, Going Gray, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen and Vintage Photo'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Actopus to Zelephant'
Access: Ribbon, Circle Punches, Sponges, Dimensionals

Have you seen my DT stamps?!

Friday, July 3, 2009

TGIF! Woohoo!

The Man, myself and Syd are all home today and if it doesn't rain all day, we might be doing some fun outdoor things. We're expecting thunderstorms all weekend, so our July 4th celebrations might also involve dodging lightening! LOL

It's the Friday before the first Monday of the new month right? And you're probably wondering where my July Hanna Stamps sneak peeks are, right? Well, me too! I'm so sorry, but I think my mail man took a liking to that particular piece of happy mail and kept it for himself! *sob* So I have no sneak peeks to show you this weekend. *sob* Never fear; help is here! I do know a few gals that got their stamps...the rest of the Hanna Girls! Their blogs are listed on the left. You can also see their sneak peeks in this thread on SCS. Please join me in welcoming this month's guest designers - the talented Laurie Clout and Keri Brown! Welcome girls! Can't wait to see what you have created!

Ok, so since I'm lacking the aforementioned stamps *sob*, I created a July 4th themed card for tomorrow's celebrations with last month's cute set '5 Little Dresses'. I used this week's Mojo Sketch Challenge MOJO93 for this layout. I'm really loving these papers from Creative Imaginations - so vibrant and lively!

After your long weekend, don't forget that Monday night is the Hanna Stamps July release party and I'm hosting one of the challenges that night, so stop by and check it out! I'll post a link to it on my Monday post when it's available.

Thank you so much for stopping by this week. I really do appreciate it.

Happy July 4th to all my American friends!

Enjoy, eat well and don't forget to take a nap....I plan on it! :D

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! '5 Little Dresses'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Real Red, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - Creative Imaginations Helen Dardik Collection - 'Patriotic'
Access: Ribbon, Heart Brads, Circle Punch, Scalloped Square Punch, Dimensionals

Blooming Cocktails!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

A happy Thursday to you all!

I have not one, but two quick cards for you today! Both are using the brand new stamps from There She Goes.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I just have to gush again about how nice the line work in this Bloom set is. I literally sigh out loud every time I stamp out one of the images! I don't know if it's the varying line weights or the image themselves, but this set just makes me happy all over! *grin*

As soon as I got this set, I knew I wanted to color this magnolia blossom (or is it a Dogwood?) in white with a pink center. It just seemed like the most obvious choice. The stems were colored with Almost Amethyst. Then the Cool Caribbean background set the whole branch off just nicely.

I created this next card last week (before I made Sydney's birthday card with the same paper) because I immediately saw this layout with all the cocktails from the 'Life's A Beach' set. I wanna be where ever it is that those drinks are being served! Don't you? Yes please! LOL

Both cards were colored with SU reinkers and an aquapainter. I added some Stickles to the drinks for some added sparkle. I think I need some of that glimmer mist for my cards. Can anyone suggest a place to buy it?

Thanks for stopping by today. Tomorrow I have a July 4th card for you. See you then!

Supplies

Card 1
Stamps: There She Goes 'Bloom'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Certain Celery, Old Olive, Almost Amethyst, Cool Caribbean

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics Inspirations, PP - Basic Grey 'Sugared Collection - Attractive'

Access: Ribbon, Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals

Card 2

Stamps: There She Goes 'Life's A Beach'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Certain Celery, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Cool Caribbean, Sahara Sand
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Citronella'
Access: Raffia, Circle Punches, Stickles, Dimensionals

Need An Escape?

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Hello!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes for Syd. She scored in the presents department! She now has a scooter, a soccor ball and a bean bag to add to her collection of 'stuff'. The cupcakes we mad for her daycare class went over well and we ended the day with cheesecake! Yum!

Here's another card I created with the recently released "Beware of Bears" cling set from Anna Wight and Whipper Snapper.

This scene just looks so peaceful and serene, doesn't it? I love the stamp in this set! I used the 'Green Stack' paper from DCWV. It's perfect for this set because it has some woodgrain paper and back to nature paper in in it. I snagged my stack from my local Joann's, which I usually never go to, so I scored on that trip! I'll have a few more cards to show you from this Anna Wight collection early next week, so be on the look out for them. (I was so swamped with work last week, I'm playing catch up this week!)

In case you're not on the Whipper Snapper mailing list, they just released their Fall/Winter 2009 stamps for the season. Talk about super cute stamps! I got my order in and there were still a few more stamps on my wishlist! LOL

See you tomorrow with another blooming card! ;)

Supplies

Stamps: Whipper Snapper/Anna Wight 'Beware Of Bears'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Close To Cocoa, Certain Celery, Old Olive, True Thyme, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - DCWV 'The Green Stack' collection
Access: Ribbon, Twill, Machine Stitching, Dimensionals, Sponges