Hanna Stamps New Release Challenge and Info

Monday, August 31, 2009

Good Morning everyone! Hope your weekend was a good one! We had A LOT of wet weather here in New Hampshire, but it definitely gave me time to color and do some indoor activities for a change. Never did get around to cleaning my car. LOL Oh well.

First off; if you haven't already put your name down for my itty bitty blog candy, you have about 1 hour to get your name into the draw! Check out this post for all the details. Good luck!

Hanna Stamps Release Party Info: Please read!

Ok, grab a cuppa and settle in 'cause I've got a lot of info to dish out today. Lots of really good changes happening for the upcoming Hanna Stamps September release, so I'm going to try explain it to you in a nutshell: The DT girls will start showing you sneak peeks of the September sets this Friday and over the weekend. (Trust me; you won't want to miss them!) On Sunday (Sept. 6th) we'll be having a blog hop to help kick off the new releases (more details on that later). Woohooo! Can't wait for that one! Then, typically, we'll have the release party on the Monday following the blog hop - except this month! Because of the whole Labor Day long weekend thing in the US, the release party will be held on Tuesday Sept 8th.

Clear as mud?! :) Don't worry I'll remind you as the week progresses. One last thing, which leads me into today's card; Instead of posting a couple of challenges during the release party like we have been doing, we're going to have one challenge which will typically be posted the Monday before the release party. You'll then have one week to make your card and the winner will be announced at the shindig. The best part is that there's a serious prize for the winner! How does a $20 gift certificate AND a single unmounted stamp of your choice sound?!? Pretty sweet if you ask me!

Onto the challenge: The release party challenge for September is being hosted by Jeanne Streiff and she is challenging us to create a card with sewing on it. You can fake it with a paper piercer and pen or sew for real.

I used this week's Friday Sketchers #67 sketch to showcase this BRAND SPANKING NEW mini set of Elf Hanna!! Yes, she's a new mini set that Hanna Stamps will be releasing shortly. I don't think she's part of the September release, so if you beg and grovel at Kristi's feet, she may release it early for you! ;)

I first stamped out Elf Hanna and the Christmas tree, then quickly masked off the left side of her and the right hand side of the tree so I could stamp the chimney inbetween them. Those floorboards were created with the floorboards background stamp and I again masked off the bottom of Hanna and the tree so I could stamp the floorboards over the top of them. Any missing lines were drawn back in with a Micron pen, which is waterproof. The panels were all sponged and machine stitched. The ribbon was a Michael's store find. Yummy isn't it?

Thanks for stopping by today. Tomorrow I'll have a winner of the blog candy and a sweet Magnolia card for you. :)

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps 'Elf Hanna Mini Set' & 'Floorboard Background'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Cranberry Crisp, Close To Cocoa, Soft Sky, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Wassail Collection - Cranberry Sauce and Laurel Leaves'
Access: Ribbon, Button, EK Success Edge Punch, Decorative Scissors, Dimensionals, Machine Stitching, Sponging

Bellarific Friday and Some Candy!!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Hello again!. :)

Blog Candy is now closed! Thank you! :)

I am starting to really love Bellarific Friday's! I chickened out on last week's sketch, but this week's one was much more forgiving! haha I recently ordered a bunch of Bella's (thanks to these few week's of full time work) and even though I haven't inked them up yet, I think I need to order some more! LOL (Truth be told; I have the order ready to go in my shopping cart as we speak!)

Pregabella was an image I was given by a sweet SCS friend and I had colored her up while waiting for my own Bella's to arrive. Lord knows how I wish I looked like Bella when I was pregnant. Unfortunately, I looked more like Heffalump! LOL

I used dovetailed ribbon ends for the three horizontal panels in the sketch. Against the fun Cosmo Cricket paper, they really pop! Only needed to show a little bit of that ribbon since it's so bold. I didn't want it over powering the image. This card is going to a friend of mine who is expecting her third child. I am getting cluckier by the day! I think I need that new baby smell in this house again. :)

And now for the blog candy I promised you! I hit 50,000 visits last week sometime and I want to say thanks you to you all for taking the time to visit my blog and for all the sweet comments you leave! It's nothing much; just a couple of stamp sets and singles, and I may throw in a few more goodies before I send it to the lucky winner. ;) Just leave me a comment letting me know what stamps/cards you'd like to see more of. That's it! I'll keep the candy open until, ooo, lets say next Monday morning, August 31st at 9am. I'll draw a winner and post it on Tuesday. It's open to anyone, anywhere in the world too!

Have a fabulous weekend whatever it is you're doing!

Supplies

Stamps: Stamping Bella 'Pregabella', My Favorite Things 'Essential Sentiments'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean, Buckaroo Blue
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - Cosmo Cricket 'Girl Friday Collection - Saturday'
Access: Ribbon, Marvy Scalloped Square Punch, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals

You Color My World

Good Morning!! :)

Since I'll be showing you sneak peeks to the Hanna Stamps September sets next week, I had to show you one last card using this month's set 'Painter Hanna'. Today's Hanna Stamps challenge (HSC83) is being hosted by the amazing talented Jeanne Streiff. She's challenging us to create a birthday card since it's her mum's birthday today. Happy Birthday Mama!

This birthday card is a little out of the ordinary, but sometimes that's a good thing. My mum still colors my world even from tens of thousands of miles away! I used 4 out of the 8 stamps from this set for this card. Can you spot them? There are a couple of different images you can stamp inside the canvas which makes this set pretty versatile. I used this week's Unscripted Sketches layout for the basis of this card. Love their sketches!

I watercolored this scene on some Strathmore Bristol Vellum paper and I loooove how well it takes the ink! The word 'vellum' only describes the slight texture to the paper. It's not that semi transparent type of vellum paper. It's a 100lb weight cardstock so it's nice and thick. It's also pretty smooth and must have some sizing in it because it doesn't pill or absorb ink as fast as Georgia Pacific cardstock or Whisper White does. You can find it at Michaels in the drawing pads and canvas aisle.

Be on the lookout for another post from me this morning and I have some candy up for grabs!! :D


Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Painter Hanna', Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Close To Cocoa, Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, More Mustard, Old Olive, Regal Rose, Ruby Red, Perfect Plum, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Tea Dye & Vintage Photo'
Papers: Strathmore 'Bristol Vellum', Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Marrakech Collection - Cardamon'
Access: Ribbon, Circle Punches, Paper Piercer, Sponges, Dimensionals

Sweetie Pie

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Good Morning!

I have been flat out like a lizard drinking at work this week. We've been working on recreating a computer model of a building built in 1858 here in town and every time I think I have enough measurements to make the model work, something else doesn't add up! I feel like a dog chasing his tail! It's really starting to drive me crazy.

A few weeks back I was kindly sent some Whiff Of Joy images from my friend Jenn. I've seen these stamps all over blogland and SCS, but I've never colored one in before...until now. And wholey cow - have I been missing out! This little girl, Willow, was so much fun to color! I think I used every Distress Ink pad I own to color her. Totally worth it though.

The sketch came from this week's Friday Sketchers challenge. I used what Prima flowers I had, but I wish I had the pretty, colorful ones that I see so often. Got to use up what I own first. That might take a while. ;)

Good any plans for the weekend? Other than cleaning my car, I don't think we have anything going on, for a change. Sometimes that's a nice thing. See you tomorrow!

Supplies
Stamps: Whiff Of Joy 'Willow With Flower Basket'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Soft Sky, Sahara Sand, Pretty In Pink, Distress Inks 'Peeled Paint, Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Firebrick Red

Papers: PTI White, Bazzil Basics, Bazzil Bling, PP - K&Company 'Classic K Charlotte'
Access: Ribbon, Foof-Fa-La Buttons 'Savannah', PTI Rustic Button Twine, Prima Flowers, Kaiser Adhesive Pearls, Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestibilities, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Queen of Procrastination

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Good morning!

Are you a procrastinator? Without a doubt, I am the queen of procrastination! I put things off until I can no longer do so. I avoid things that are a chore to do until it's absolutely necessary to do them. I'd rather do something I want to do than something I have to do. I don't like this trait, but I live with it. *grin*

Today's card is a tribute to me and all the procrastinators out there!

This is Melville. It isn't a very feminine name for a queen, but hey; who am I to judge?! Melville is from my favorite set from Starving Artistamps/Doodle Factory, Creatures. I really wish they would come out with a Creatures II and more sentiments to match because I just love how silly and kooky they are!

DoodleFactory and Sassafras Lass paper are a match made in heaven. Both are really bold and graphic. I used my SU reinkers and aquapainter brush to color in Melville (and Distress Inks for the background) and added some Star Dust Stickles to her crown for some sparkle. I find that the red reinkers tend to take the longest to dry, so I usually color the background first before applying the reds. This is so it (the red ink) doesn't bleed into the other areas while I'm coloring them. The matching sentiment is quite cumbersome, so I cut the sentiment in two and stamped the punch line on the inside. Love those quirky sentiments!

Speaking of procrastinating; I have been avoiding cleaning the inside of my car all summer and this weekend I have to clean it. Bleh. Have a good one!

Supplies
Stamps: Starving Artistamps/Doodle Factory 'Creatures' and 'Quirky Sentiments'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Regal Rose, Ruby Red, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Tea Dye and Vintage Photo'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Sassafras Lass 'Whale Of A Tale'
Access: Ribbon, Button, PTI's Rustic Button Twine, Label One Nestibilities, Sponges, Dimensionals

Happy Birthday There She Goes!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Good Morning Everyone!

As I was blog surfing yesterday, I saw that There She Goes clear stamps are having a birthday bash all week long to celebrate their first anniversary. My first reaction was 'They're only a year old?!' It seems like they've been around for much longer. They're celebrating this milestone with a big birthday bash full of challenges, games and give aways. Everyone loves give aways; including me! The first challenge, TSG17 Jessica posted is to create a birthday card. Easy peesy!

I pulled out one of the sets I got to play with during my guest trendsetter position a couple of months ago. It's called Bloom and it's still my favorite floral set ever!

I used this week's Weekend Sketch Challenge WSC94 for the layout and the sentiment came from an Inkadinkado set called Nostalgia, which I found at Michaels. The patterned paper is from K&Company and I practically got it for free! I was checking out at Michaels a few weeks back and the cashier noticed (my fetish) the K&Company purchase and turned around to dig something out of a cart she had behind her. She pulled out this Lemon Drop stack and said it was being discounted to $3. Shut up!!? Seriously? Hand it over lady! Actually, I was much more polite than that, but I was definitely thinking it! LOL

Anyway, I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to Jessica and to her company, There She Goes. I wish you many, many more anniversaries to come!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Bloom', Inkadinkado 'Nostalgia'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Regal Rose, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Buckaroo Blue, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Lemon Drop'
Access: Ribbon, Oval Nestibilities, Machine Stitching, Tim Holtz Edge Distresser, Dimensional

Who Had The Big Idea?!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Good Morning!

I'm sure that around this time of the year, Turkey's all over the United States start to wonder who they have to thank (or not) for the honor of being the main dish every Thanksgiving! I can't help feel a little sorry for them. I mean, if they weren't such fugly birds, I'm positive they wouldn't have been the main course that first Thanksgiving! Think about it; peacocks are beautiful and we don't eat them! Poor guys. Why do they have to taste so finger-licking good?! :)

In honor of this very delicious holiday, I created my first Thanksgiving card of the season!

I know what you're saying; It's too early to be thinking about Thanksgiving! Yes it is, but this little guy was just pining for me to color him up and well, how could I resist that face?! :) His name is Tucker and he's one of the new stamps recently released from Whipper Snapper Designs. Such a cutie! Again, he's colored up with reinkers and an aquapainter brush on some watercolor paper. I found this old sheet of Scenic Route paper in my stash and I'm so glad it worked so well with this image. It always feels good to use up paper that I've had in my stash for a while. I can't bring myself to get rid of them because eventually, they will be used!

Did you guys have a good weekend?! The Man certainly did. He went and bought himself a humongous plasma TV for our anniversary! I would have been mega-peeved had it not been for the fact that the day before he came home with this beauty and some of these for my craft desk. I married a smart man. ;)

Toodles!

Supplies
Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs 'Tucker the Turkey' and 'Happy Thanksgiving'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Sahara Sand, So Saffron, Morning Marigold, Going Gray, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Scenic Route 'Harvest Multi Dots'
Access: Ribbon, Robins Nest Dew Drops, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals

School Girl Sophie

Friday, August 21, 2009

It's Friday! Woohoo! It's Friday! *doing the happy dance*

I have been looking forward to the weekend since Tuesday! It was a tough and challenging week at work and now I need to rest my brain, enjoy a glass of wine or two and indulge in some color therapy! Ahhh...yes please. :)

Since it's Friday, you all know what that means - I have another Hanna Stamps Challenge for you! This week our lovely hostess with the mostest is the very talented Silke Kittmann! Her challenge for us is to use dew drops! Easy peesy lemon squeezy right? Absolutely! I was very eager to color up Miss School Girl Sophie again so I used her together with some of my favorite K&Company paper and this week's Sketch For You To Try. (Mojo felt good tonight - must have been because I was using all my favorite things!)

She just doesn't get any cuter than this! I {heart} those bows in her hair...I mean fur! Or is that antlers?? :) She is colored up with reinkers and the aquapainter brush again. This time on some smooth Georgia Pacific cardstock. Have to work quickly and deliberately when using this stuff. It has almost no sizing in it so it absorbs the ink and water much quicker than watercolor paper. Sometimes I just like a smooth look to an image. Loving that butterfly paper aren't you? So fun and colorful!

If you wanna play along this week, head on over to the Hanna Stamps SCS forum and check out the challenge thread....HSC83. Hope you can play along!

Have a fantastic weekend! See you Monday!

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'School Girl Sophie'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Going Gray, Chocolate Chip, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Buckaroo Blue, Cool Caribbean, Sahara Sand
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse
Access: Ribbon, Large Circle Nestibilities, Robin's Nest Dew Drops

My Scottish Lad

Thursday, August 20, 2009

A happy Thursday to you all!

Thank you so much to everyone for your sweet comments and suggestions on how to fix my rut. It sounds like everyone tends to take a bit of a break when they hit their wall. I would have liked to have done that last night, but I was running out of time to finish today's card! I think I need to stop trying to work on cards the night before I post them - it's obviously cramping my mojo! I usually work two or three days ahead but lately, with work and summer occupying my time, I haven't had as much down time as I'd like. Time to prioritize I think!

Tomorrow is me and The Man's almost 9th wedding anniversary. It's 'almost' because we officially got married January 6th, 2001, which means it isn't our anniversary until January, but tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of our wedding ceremony which we had in 2004. Confused yet? In 2001, we had the quick civil ceremony because I had moved to the US on a fiance visa and according to the rules, we had to marry within three months of my arrival. The Man and I figured we would have a real wedding a year later. Instead, it ended up being 3 years later! So we celebrate on the unofficial wedding date but go by the number of years we've officially been married. Clear as mud?! Yeah. I feel sorry for the poor family member who tries to do an ancestry tree years from now! LOL

So to celebrate our sort of anniversary I made this card for The Man. Being that our last name is MacLean, Ian Laddie was an obvious choice for him and we actually had a Scottish themed wedding complete with kilts and a bagpiper! It was grand! :) If I can find a pic, I'll post one for you.

The MacLean tartan is mostly red with a bit of blue and yellow in it, so I colored Ian Laddie's tartan the same and then I tried finding some patterned paper to match these colors. A big thumbs down! The only paper I had that was even remotely close were these patterns from Basic Grey's Boxer Collection. Oh my gosh, were these were really tough colors to work with! That center panel is actually the Skinny Jeans patterned paper. It's not nearly as blue in person!

Because of the dark colors in Ian's outfit, I had to create a buffer between him and the blue panel, so I made an oval from the cream base cardstock to sit behind him. Each panel was sponged with either Frayed Burlap or Black Soot Distress Inks and machine stitched just to give it a more finished look.

The inside of the card is simple but I think The Man will appreciate that. ;) We have plans for Saturday night to eat at a hibachi restaurant and to see 'The Time Traveler's Wife' at the movies. Got to remember to stuff tissues in my bag for that one! :)

Sorry for the long post today, but thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Ian Laddie', There She Goes 'Bloom'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy, Morning Marigold, Sahara Sand, Distress Inks 'Black Soot and Frayed Burlap'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Boxer Collection - Skinny Jeans and Wide Tie and Oxford'
Access: Ribbon, Dimensionals, Sponges, Machine Stitching, Oval Nestibilities

Just Moved

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Good Morning!

I really feel like I've been stuck in a creative rut lately! I have all this paper and product and nothing seems to come together without hours of indecision and doubt. It's driving me crazy! I can color anything without a problem. It's when I have to decide on a layout and paper choices that I just can't seem to make up my mind on! Do you ever feel this way? Do you just work through it or do you step away and take a break. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Today's card is a bit of old mixed with a lot of new (to me) stuff.

I bought PaperTrey's Boards and Beams set about a year ago now and I've only used it a handful of times since. I used to have a problem inking it up, but then I quickly figured out it was the ink pad and lack of ink rather than the stamp set itself. *insert rolling of eyes here*

The image was mainly colored up with inks from the Ranger Distress Inks line and the front door, steps and reflection in the windows were done in SU reinkers. I sponged Antique Linen around the edges, matted it on some more Canson watercolor paper then machine stitched the two layers together. I typically don't sew more than two layers together so I then adhered those two layers to some Bitter Chocolate Bazzil Basics cardstock (which is my all time favorite color!). I just bought a 6x6 pad of this Marrakech paper from Basic Grey the other day and this pattern reminded me of a big quilt. Doesn't it look like a quilt? Something very homey and comforting about it. Then I added the ribbon, button, twine and tag and I was all done....three hours later!! *shaking head* Sometimes I wonder about myself!

Have a good one!

Supplies
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink 'Boards and Beams'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Sahara Sand, Going Gray, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Black Soot'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Marrakech Collection - Dragonwell and Madagascar Mint'
Access: Ribbon, PTI Vintage Button - White and Cream Mix, PTI Rustic Cream Button Twine, Machine Stitching, Spellbinders 'Tags Trio' Shapeabilities, Sponges, Dimensionals

Absolutely Fabulous!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Good Morning All!

As soon as I saw this little sassy girl from The Greeting Farm, she instantly reminded me of my little Sassy McSasspants, AKA Sydney, Miss B, Bee, Boo and any other nickname we come up with on the fly! Hahaha I am hoping that one day my little girl will be stamping and coloring away with me in a craft room one day soon, and when we do, these Anyas will be hers to use. If she ever slows down enough! LOL


I made this card for this week's Farm Fresh Friday challenge given out by the super sweet and talented Elena Joldersma from TGF's DT. She challenged us to sew, sew sew! Not really a hard challenge for me considering I sew on almost every card, but I did try to change things up a bit and use the zigzag stitch on one of the panels. Can you believe I almost forgot I owned some of this Sunny Glen paper from The Greeting Farm?! Ya think I might have too much patterned paper?! LOL NEVER! hahaha I used this week's Friday Sketchers sketch for this layout since it fit the rectangular image nicely. No need to make things any more difficult then they need to be, right? :)

Each panel was sponged a little with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and machine stitched. When I sew I keep bobbins with my 4 favorite colors on them; white, cream, brown and black. These four colors will usually work on any color patterned paper or cardstock. That way I don't need to keep changing out the thread on my bobbin every time I change my thread color and I don't need to buy a zillion different colors to match every cardstock color on the planet!

Have a good one!

Supplies

Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Wild Sprout - Megan', PaperTrey Ink 'Mixed Messages'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Regal Rose, So Saffron, More Mustard, Really Rust, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - The Greeting Farm 'Sunny Glen'

Access: Ribbon, Buttons, Decorative Scissors, Machine Stitching, Sponging, Dimensionals

Live Your Bliss

Monday, August 17, 2009

Clearly this weekend was not nearly long enough for me. I barely got anything done because of all the gorgeous weather we had and just had to spend most of it outside! I wish I had an extra day to get the things I didn't get around to doing done. But alas, it's Monday morning again and I will have to run my errands and do those chores after work today. Urgh!

However, I did get one thing done; today's card. :)

This is a favorite layout of mine because it's so symmetrical. Being in the architectural industry, I gravitate to all things symmetrical and like to have everything in proportion. The same applies to my cards. Meet Porridge. He's a big hunk-o-burnin' love isn't he?! And he is definitely living his bliss here! I was given some images of him recently and when my Mixed Messages sentiments set arrived from PaperTrey Ink arrived in the mail on Friday, I had to color him up and pair him together with this sentiment! It's perfect isn't it?

Porridge was colored up with reinkers and an aquapainter. I had a hard time getting a darker shade of the Blush Blossom in the shadows and creases of him, so I added some Sahara Sand and Going Gray on those areas instead. Didn't quiet get it to work though. That bold graphic patterned paper is from Crate Paper, one of my favorite paper companies! I love how striking it is, but I made sure I only showed a little bit of it so it didn't overpower the image. However, I did use a little more of it on the inside of the card. :)

Did you have a good weekend? Hope this week is a quiet one for you. I'm working full time again this week, so mine will probably be a busy one. Can't complain; it means I can buy myself some new craft toys. :) Have a good one!

Supplies
Stamps: Sugar Nellie 'Porridge', PaperTrey Ink 'Mixed Messages'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Blush Blossom, Sahara Sand, Going Gray, Old Olive, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, More Mustard, Soft Sky
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - Crate Paper 'Prudence Collection - Fortitude'
Access: Ribbon, Shapeabilities 'Tags Trio', Jump Rings, Machine Stitching, Sponging, Dimensionals

Rugged Riley

Friday, August 14, 2009

Happy Friday Everyone!

I'm pretty tired from working all week and staying up wayyy past midnight every night this week, so please excuse this short post.

It's Hanna Stamps Friday challenge again and this week's host is the talented Nikki Fairbairn of Bunny Zoe fame. Her challenge to the DT and anyone who wishes to play along this week is to use the distressing technique on a card. Distress is anyhow, anyway! You can check out all the details....HERE.

I used the recently released Safari Riley for my card and those sunflowers are from the I Love My Garden set released last year. I paired them with some paper from Basic Grey's Archaic Collection and this week's Card Postitioning System's sketch 128. I used twine and some eyelets to create the three horizontal stripes on the sketch. Adds a lot to the distressed look, don't you think?

By the way, I've restocked my card shop with a bunch of cards from the past two weeks including the Rockstar Anya one from TGF blog hop and my Flutter By card from the other day. Hoping they find good homes soon. :) (If you see one you like, but it's not in my shop, just drop me a line and I can probably be convinced to part with it!)

Ok, I'm pooped! Seven more hours and I'm done. Weekend, here I come! :) Enjoy yours!

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps 'Safari Riley' and 'Love My Garden', Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Old Olive, So Saffron, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, True Thyme, Going Gray, Distress Ink 'Walnut Stain'
Papers: Canson Watcolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Archaic Collection - Passe'
Access: Twine, Tim Holtz Edge Distresser, Eyelets, Machine Stitching, Dimensionals, Sponges

Bella Bookworm

Thursday, August 13, 2009

A happy Thursday to you all!

Hope you're week has been painless and carefree. I've been working all week, which I don't mind, but after a few months of only working three days a week, I'm not going to lie to you - it's a little hard to be happy about it! Even though it wasn't by choice, I was thoroughly enjoying my half work weeks. :) Don't tell The Man, but a teeny part of me is thankful this full time work is only temporary! LOL

Today I have Bellarific card to show you and she's much more diligent about reading than I am. I am not one to sit still for very long (unless my hands are busy stamping or typing!), so books and I don't see eye to eye all that often (the exception being the Twilight books which have been the first books in probably over 10 years that I've been glued to). Bookwormabella however, doesn't have a problem reading multiple books at a time! I wonder what type of books she'd read? Self help books, Mills and Boon novels, autobiographies? My guess is all of the above!

I used this week's Bellarific sketch for this layout. My oval nesties arrived with yesterday's mail, so I was able to play this week. Even though I've only owned them for less than 24 hours, I luuuurve my oval nesties! They make me happy. *grin*

Miss Bookwormabella was colored up with reinkers and an aquapainter. For the two rectangle panels, I used the same patterned paper so they wouldn't detract from the image. I pretty much followed the sketch to the T. I follow instructions well. :) LOL

Thanks for stopping by today. Take care.


Supplies
Stamps: Stamping Bella 'Bookwormabella'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Buckaroo Blue, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Sahara Sand, Really Rust, More Mustard, So Saffron
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus Collection 'Sweet Little One'
Access: Ribbon, Large Oval Nestibilities, Large Scalloped Oval Nestibilities, Adhesive Rhinestones, Machine Stitching

A Flutter By Card

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Good Morning!

I looooove finding emails in my inbox asking me to be a guest designer (lets face it; who doesn't?!). I get all giddy and wear this silly grin on my face for at least a few hours! So you can imagine my reaction when my friend Danni, of Danni's Dreams, asked me a few weeks back to be her guest designer for her Flutter By Wednesdays challenge! I was just stupid giddy! :)

I really wanted to do something pretty and vintage looking, with a bit of bling thrown in, so I used some K&Company paper and this super glittery sticker frame from Making Memories (which I found at Michaels). Every panel was sponged with Distress Inks and machine stitched. I impressed even myself with that zigzag stitch around the circle panel! I think the bigger the circle, the easier it is.

The center panel was done by inking up the butterfly image with Versamark ink then with Walnut Stain Distress Inks, then stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock. Then I clear embossed it and sponged Vintage Photo Distress Ink over the image starting at the outer rim and working my way in. The sketch is from this week's Friday Sketchers #64.

Is it a 'gaggle' of butterflies or a 'flock' of butterflies? Hmmm...anyone know? Well, whatever it is, I couldn't resist adding a few more butterflies to the card, so I stamped out the tiny butterfly from The Greeting Farm's 'Hope and Grace' set up the side of the card. I really do need to visit the Magic Wings Butterfly House they have in MA. Maybe when it gets a little less humid outside...it's awful at the moment! Although, it'll give me a good excuse to visit Yankee Candle! My favorite place for buying candles!

Thank you Danni for this fabulous honor! And thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a good one!

Supplies

Stamps: Inkadinkado 'Nostalgia', The Greeting Farm 'Hope and Grace'

Inks: Distress Inks 'Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain', Versamark

Papers: Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Classic K 'Charlotte'

Access: Ribbon, Foof-A-La 'Savannha' Button, Twine, Making Memories Glitter Gem Frame, Decorative Scissors, Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

I {heart} Edward

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Ok, I'll admit it: I have a thing for Edward Cullen. And frankly, I don't care that he's is a 90+ yr old fictional vampire. There. I said it. It's out there now. ;)

This week's Farm Fresh Friday sketch was created by my SCS sistah and TGF's Summer Design Team member, Mary Giles, so of course I just HAD to create something with it!

I thought I'd use my favorite vamp, since he's been sitting in my stamp collection UNINKED for about two weeks now! (Shame on me.) And I couldn't think of any paper collection more perfect for broody/edgy Edward than Basic Grey, so I pulled some sheets of the old Skate Shoppe and Motifica collection. Out came the Distress Inks again for some sponging around the edges of the panels. The sentiment is from the Wonderland set and it reminded me of one of my favorite parts in the Twilight book; when Edward introduces himself to Bella and he has that little smirk on his face. *swoon* I gave this Edward a hint of red to his eyes. :)

Thanks Mary for a great sketch! I loved it!

Supplies

Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Edward' and 'Wonderland'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Skate Shoppe - Alias' and 'Motifica -Clay'

Access: Ribbon, Eyelets, Sponges, Micron Pen, Dimensionals

Just Because

Monday, August 10, 2009

How is it that it's Monday morning already?!

The weekend flew by far too quickly for me. One minute I was enjoying a nice dinner with the Man on Friday night and next thing I know I'm typing up this post on Sunday night! Sheesh! I feel like time is just getting away from me lately. It's already August and yesterday morning was the first chilly morning we've had since summer began, which reminded me that fall is around the corner. I hope that wasn't the beginning of the end of summer. :(

Ok, onto today's card: I managed to incorporate three challenges into one! Woohoo! I need to start keeping a record of how often that happens, because I think it's only happened a handful of times, if that! The layout is base on the Weekend Sketch Challenge #92 and the colors I chose were inspired by the OCC's inspiration challenge this week. And last but not least, I used this week's Use It Challenge #22 to complete the card. Their challenge was to use a 'new to you' technique, a virgin stamp and new paper.

My technique was to use my new Cuttlebug embossing folders. I received about 6 or 7 of them for my birthday but I haven't used them. I forget I can use them because I've never had them available to me up until now. The Inky Antics stamp was one of the products I won from the 2 Sketches4You Ultimate Card Showdown challenge. I think he's pretty cute all colored up like this, don't you? Speaking of 2Sketches4You, my Flourish card made it to their Fab 5 this week. :) That was a nice surprise!

Thank you for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps: Inky Antics 'Birthday Owl', Technique Tuesday 'Small Talk'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', More Mustard, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Cranberry Crisp, Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Cool Caribbean, Soft Sky
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Sassafras Lass 'Life is Beautiful My Dearest Collection - Piccadilly'
Access: Ribbon, Labels One Nestibilities, CuttleBug 'Swiss Dots' and 'Swirls' Embossing Folders, Sponges, Machine Stitching

Birthday Stud!

Friday, August 7, 2009

All I can say is: Thank God It's Friday! I've been back at work full time this week and I forgot how exhausting it can be!

Yesterday we had to take measurements of the local courthouse here in town and while we were in the area that houses the inmates until their arraignment, the Warden walked in with an inmate and I just about jumped out of my skin!! I don't think I've moved quite so fast in my life! hahahha

Anyway, because it's Friday, that means that Hanna Stamps has another Friday Challenge for you all. This week's hostess is the vivacious Vicki, our fearless DT coordinator and her challenge is to make a birthday card for a teenage boy. Why? Because her baby boy is officially a teen today! Happy Birthday Jon!! This one's for you!

Look at that six pack! Hubba hubba! Not too shabby on the eyes there Jon! hehehe

Mr. Muscles is from the 'To The Beach' set and he was colored up with reinkers and an aquapainter. His body was primarily done with Creamy Caramel, and his little speedo was colored with Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust for the shadows. Then I cut him out, popped him on dimensionals and adhered him to the panels on the card, which were machine stitched for some added uumph! :)

You can check out all the info on this challenge here .... HSC81.

Check out what my little bug was up to this morning while I was trying to get a photo of my card! So camera shy! LOL

Before I go, I just want to give a BIG shout out to an company with fabulous customer service! I ordered some ATG refill tape on Tuesday afternoon from FindTape.com and it arrived on my doorstep yesterday!! That's 2 days from when I ordered it to when it arrived! Granted, they're on the east coast too, but my tape shipped the same day I ordered it! Loooove them and will be buying my refills from them in the future! :)

Have a fabulous weekend, whatever you're doing!

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'To The Beach', Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Distress Inks 'Tea Dye and Vintage Photo'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, PP - Crate Paper 'Static Collection - Reaction and Gravity'
Access: Sponges, Machine Stitching, Dimensionals

Halloween at Peachy Keen!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Happy Thursday everyone!

Is this week flying by or what? I can't believe it's Thursday already. Well, at least the weekend is almost here again! hehe

I loooove Halloween and when I saw that my dear and uber talented sistah Lorie made a card for the Peachy Keen Challenge #7 with this theme, well, I couldn't refuse playing along!

The challenge was to use a pumpkin, the color purple and zigzags anyhow, anywhere on your card. Since I don't own any cute Peachy Keen stamps at the moment (but Lorie said we don't have to own any to play along), I immediately thought of my collection of Halloween stamps from the Doodle Factory/Starving Artistamps for the pumpkins (probably says a lot about me, but lets not go there). Then I pulled some recently bought Halloween paper from my stash (which I store in vertical cropper hoppers) because loved it's monochromatic coloring. I thought that the brightly colored pumpkins would pop off the card a lot more if the background was neutral.

Originally, I was going to do a zigzag stitch on my card somewhere, but I when I chose this layout, I decided to use my zigzag decorative scissors instead. I tried for a long time to include some purple cardstock, but it just wasn't working with this card, so I decided to add just a splash of it in the button embellishment. Phew! This layout is from this week's Unscripted Sketches #17. (Edit: It wasn't until after I posted my card that I realized that one of the PK challenge rules is to not combine their challenge with another one - sorry ladies! I didn't realize until it was too late.)

I keep chuckling to myself everytime I say "Peachy Keen" because I live in a town called Keene, and we have a small, local brewery that makes a beer called 'Peachy Keene'. Mmmmm, it's peachy! LOL If you'd like to play along with this easy challenge, you have until midnight this Sunday to get your entry in. There's a fabulous prize being given away, so get your freak on and stamp something Halloween! :P

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: Starving Artistamps/Doodle Factory 'Witches Brew', Whipper Snapper 'Happy Halloween' sentiment
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Old Olive, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Distress Inks 'Black Soot and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Core-dinations Color, PP - Creative Imaginations 'Art Warehouse, Harvest Moon Collection - Haunted'
Access: Ribbon, Foof-a-La Bag-O-Buttons 'Savannah Collection', Sponges, Dimensionals

Dreams Come True

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Good Morning!

Hope you're having a great week so far! Those new (new to me) Nestibilities I ordered arrived yesterday and I got to play around with them last night. They're my new favorite now. :) How soon is 'too soon' to use them again?! Is tomorrow too soon?? LOL

I broke out my Maisy Ketto stamp and made this card for this week's Bellarific sketch challenge. And I actually cut up some of my favorite Scenic Route paper! *shock* I loooove how graphic it is! I bought it for no other reason than to admire it daily. LOL! It wouldn't normally be my first choice for a card, but for some reason I was feeling very adventurous last night and stepped outside my comfort zone. Sometimes it's just good to do that.

I moved the placement of the sentiment because it would have been too crowded in the upper left hand corner. Maisy Ketto was colored with reinkers and an aquapainter on Very Vanilla and the background sponged a little with Antique Linen from Distress Inks. I added Stickles to her wings and crown and used the Labels One nestie to cut her out. Then I layered that panel on some black cardstock and used my precision scissors to cut a 1/16" border for it. Not sure how everyone else gets around that, but that's what was easiest (or should I say obvious) for me.

Special award time! My sweet sistah gave me this very special inspiring blog award last night. It's special because she made it! Yep, my sistah Mary is one talented chick! I'm so very grateful for her and my other sistahs and they inspire me on a daily basis. I'm giving my Anya Blog Award to Tori, Jacquie, Kristine, Janna and Joni!

Love the work you do ladies! :)

Have a fabulous day and thamks so much for stopping by for a moment!

Supplies
Stamps: Stamping Bella 'Maisy Ketto', MFT 'Essential Sentiments'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, Regal Rose, Real Red, Ruby Red, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Black Soot'
Papers: Very Vanilla, Bazzil Bling, Bazzil Basics, PP - Scenic Route 'Scrap Strip 3 - Laurel'
Access: Ribbon, Stickles, Labels One Nestibilities, Sponges, Dimensional

Flourish

Monday, August 3, 2009

Good Morning everyone!

With all the very late nights I've been having lately and the Hanna Stamps release party last night, I needed a bit of a night off (even though I still ended up in bed after midnight!) from coloring, so I played around with some paper and just one stamp. And here's what I came up with:

A pretty card with a huge bow on it! :) Actually, the bow was added on purpose. I {heart} papers is having a wide ribbon challenge that I only just found out about yesterday evening. It actually worked out perfect because the sketch I wanted to play with last night was this week's 2 Sketches 4 You layout and it 'tied' in beautifully! (Pun intended!) hehehe

I pulled out some MME paper and matching Bazzil cardstock, then sponged the orange pieces with Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. Then I machine stitched around each panel and layered them with dimensionals. The sentiment is from the There She Goes 'Bloom' set and I found that delicious ribbon a while back in the clearance bin at Michaels. :) Wide ribbon always makes any card that much more elegant, don't you think?

I should have some new Nestibilities in my mailbox tonight! Hoping to play with them when I get home from work. :) Hope you get some stamping in tonight too!

Toodles!


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Bloom'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Distress Inks 'Tea Dye & Vintage Photo'
Papers: Bazzil Basics, PP - My Mind's Eye 'Bloom & Grow Collection - Grow'
Access: Ribbon, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Sending You Love

Hello again!

A few months ago a couple of my SCS sistah's and I decided we would send each other the same card kit to see what kind of card we'd make using the same stuff. This month we played with Kadie's kit and I am in loooooove with these little pixies and that Cosmo Cricket paper!!

Her name is Heidi and she's just a doll!! I had loads of fun coloring in her hair. I used So Saffron (SU reinker) as a base and Distress Inks (Tea Dye and Vintage Photo) for lowlights. She turned out really cute don't you think?

I used my decorative scissors to cut a scalloped edge around the base layer, then machine stitched them for some added detail. Since I don't own the scalloped nesties, I used my Marvy square scalloped punch to create the frame around the image by cutting the punched out shapes down to size. Added some Stickles to her wings and ribbon for I used this week's CPS #127 sketch for this layout.

Now go check out what Kadie and Mary have done with their card kits! You won't be disappointed! I have to work hard to keep up with these girls! :)

Have a great day!

Supplies

Stamps: All That Scraps 'Swiss Pixies - Heidi', Studio G $1 Stamps

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, So Saffron, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Distress Inks 'Tea Dye and Vintage Photo'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Cosmo Cricket 'Early Bird Collection - Sunrise' and 'Girl Friday Collection - Sunday'

Access: Ribbon, Decorative Scissors, Marvy Scalloped Punch, Machine Stitching, Stickles, Dimensionals, Jump Ring, Spellbinders Tag Trio

Wild Thing!!

A happy Monday morning to you all!

Another late night last night, so please excuse this short post - I needed my beauty sleep! *grin* Let me show you what I was working on last night...

Introducing Safari Riley!!

He's so brave and handsome in his safari suit! LOL I couldn't resist using the Wild Thing sentiment on this card. Did you ever read the book 'Where The Wild Things Are' as a kid? It's still one of my all time FAVORITE books and can you believe I still have a copy of it!? I fell in love with the pictures. :) Anyway, getting back to the topic! LOL I used some Basic Grey and Creative Imaginations paper to turn Safari Riley into a bit of a wild thing and the layout is an old favorite of mine. :)

Don't forget: The Hanna Stamps release party is tonight, starting at 9pm EST, in the SCS forum....HERE! Kristi is releasing all the sets I've shown you over the weekend as well as the two background stamps (brick and floorboard) AND the new line of Hanna rubber singles!! How's that for a PARTY?! Hope to see you all there!

Be on the look out for another card kit challenge later on this morning! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Safari Riley', Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Going Gray, Sahara Sand, So Saffron, Really Rust, Close To Cocoa
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Archaic Collection - Prehistoric', Creative Imaginations
Access: Ribbon, Sponges, Dimensionals, Circle Punches

Sneak Peek: Small Dogs - Retro Set

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Hello on this quiet Sunday evening!

We went to the local fair last night and didn't get home till late. Couple that with the fact that I stayed up trying to finish my Greeting Farm blog hop card until 4am that morning; I was wiped out! I think I'm finally caught up on my sleep and spent today doing the laundry. I also made a couple of cards using the set being 're released' and showcased this month. So without further ado, introducing...

Small Dog Breeds!

I love how this card turned out! It's simple, but I didn't want to cover up that awesome paper from We R Memory Keepers! The layout came from Jen Del Muro's (I Heart 2 Stamp) Sketch For You To Try. You might recognise that rocking chair the little chihuahua is sitting on. It's from one of my favorite Hanna Stamps sets, Granny Hanny! I stamped the little chihuahua out first, then masked him off with a post it note, then stamped the rocking chair over the top of it. The sentiment is from a Studio G $1 stamp I've had for a while.

My second card showcases the pug from the Small Breeds set and the brand new floorboards background rubber stamp also being released tomorrow night after the release party (which starts at 9pm EST in the Hanna Stamps SCS forum. It's sooooo nice to be able to just stamp out the floorboards instead of drawing them by hand! I know you are going to love them too! I used this week's Mojo Sketch #97 for this layout.

Thanks for stopping by tonight. Tomorrow I hope to have another peek at a new Riley being released as well. Enjoy your evening!

Supplies

Card 1

Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Small Breeds Dog' and 'Granny Hanny', Studio G $1 Stamps

Inks: Creamy Caramel, Distress Inks 'Tea Dye and Vintage Photo'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - We R Memory Keepers 'Grandma's Collection'

Access: Circle Punches, Circle Nestibilities, Dimensionals

Card 2

Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Small Breeds Dog' and 'Floor Boards Background', Karen Foster Snap Stamps

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Soft Sky, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Black Soot'

Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Basics, PP - The Paper Loft 'Spring Fling Collection - Flower Pot'

Access: Ribbon, Bone Charm, Jump Ring, Robins Nest Dew Drops 'Dark Vanilla', EK Success Corner Punch, Dimensionals, Sponges