My Baby Turns Five Today!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Five years ago today a little ray of sunshine entered our world... and changed us forever.

And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Birthday Sydney!

Mummy and Daddy love you very much!

Syd got a big kid's bike for her birthday, a pillow pet and as a bonus, a sleep over at her Narnie's place tonight. Why? Because bad mama forgot her baby's birthday when she bought tickets online for Eclipse last month! What a baaaad mama!

(PS. I'll show you the card I made for her on Friday!)

I Miss You

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Howdy peeps!

Everyone has their one little vice right? Alright, a few vices then! lol If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll let you in on one of mine. Promise? Ok, it's watching QVC while I stamp. :) Remember, you promised not to tell! hahaha So anyway, since getting our HD tv, I've been turned off watching it because nothing looks good on an HDTV if it's not an HD channel. Well, last night I found it - QVC in HD!!! Woohoooo! :D The funny thing is that I've never bought a thing from QVC! I just like to window shop and listen to the chatter while I stamp! :) So now you know my little secret.

This week's There She Goes Challenge (TSG61) is all about going green....literally! Trendsetter Danielle Lounds wants us to create a card or project using the color green and some type of plant (flowers, trees, etc) on it. No sweat right?

I picked this daisy from one of my favorite sets, Bloom, some of that gorgeous Origins paper from Basic Grey, this week's Sketch For You To Try and created this sweet card.

The trick to making the petals on the daisies white is to play up the color around them. I sponged SU's Cool Caribbean (my color of choice for most of my backgrounds) around the petals and added just a touch of Going Gray to the shadows for some depth. The decorative scalloped edges (done with some decorative scissors) keep the card on the feminine side even with all the earthy colors.

Now it's your turn! Create a card that uses GREEN and a PLANT, then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the Mr. Linky that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (July 5th). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

Have a great Tuesday!

Supplies

Stamps: There She Goes 'Bloom'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Old Olive, Going Gray, Morning Marigold, Cool Caribbean

Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Origins'

Access: Ribbon, PTI Buttons - Black, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Spellbinders Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestibilities, Sponges, Dimensionals

Lets Get Inky with....TGF!

Monday, June 28, 2010

A happy Monday to you all!

Did you have a great weekend? We had a birthday party for our little ray of sunshine on Saturday and she had a blast! A handful of her friends from daycare came and she got a few more Barbie dolls to add to her small collection. It was funny trying to explain to her that her actual birthday isn't until Wednesday - she kept asking if she was getting another cake! lol

Today's a special day at The Greeting Farm because there are a WHOLE BUNCH of sneak peeks for you to drool over! You can see them all over at TGF blog, but before you fly over there, here's a close up of my sneak peek for you!

It's a BRAND NEW digi stamp of lovable Toby Painter from artist Marina Neira! Toby might just be my favorite critter from the Critter line of stamps at TGF. I mean, look at that face; how can you NOT love that face?! :) He reminds me of my little girl when she paints, so I decided that the fun Apple Jack Collection paper from Sassafras Lass went with this Toby image perfectly! The layout is from this week's Crazy 4 Challenges sketch and as always, I colored up Toby with my reinkers and aquapainter brush. I did add some Rangers Glossy Accents to his eyes just to liven him up a little.

Wanna see more sneak peeks?? Then check out the Farmer's blogs and the blogs of my Critter Crew gals!

Jessica Diedrich

Cindy Haffner

Kadie Ensley

Kim Nath

Mary Giles

Melissa Connolly

Mercy Kerin

Randi Wall

and the fabulous Critter Crew...

Amber Hight

Heather Schlatter

Jen Shults

Shaela Odd

Sparkle Smith

Be on the look out for some more sneak peeks later on in the week. Thanks so much for stopping by today!


Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Toby Painter digital stamp', There She Goes 'Craftier Taglines'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Buckaroo Blue, Old Olive, Regal Rose, Sahara Sand, Going Gray, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - Sassafrass Lass 'Apple Jack Collection'
Access: Ribbon, Rangers Glossy Accents, Sponges, Dimensionals

FFF: Cindy's Sketch

Friday, June 25, 2010

Good Morning a VERY happy Friday to you!

I feel like a broken record but seriously - what a week it's been! I had two more trips down to Connecticut this week for work and stamped my heart out until after midnight every night getting cards made for all the blog hops this week - I'm absolutely exhausted! But it doesn't stop there because tomorrow is my little ray of sunshine's birthday party! She turns 5 next week! (I have 1000's of photos to prove it but I still don't know where the time went?!) I've got favors to prepare and salads to make, a castle cake and balloons to pick up! It's a good thing I have vacation coming up or else I would be in some serious trouble!

This week's Farm Fresh Friday challenge from The Greeting Farm is a great sketch brought to us by Farmer Cindy Haffner!

It's great isn't it?? Perfect for any of The Greeting Farm characters and Marina Neira images.

Forgive me, but I didn't experiement too much with this sketch this week. With my demanding work schedule, I was a little fried when I made my card for this challenge. Next week I promise to push myself a little more. ;)

I decided to use the Candy Cane Snack digital stamp and make an early Christmas card. I probably should start winding up and make a few more now that we're almost into the second half of the year! I just love these two! Especially on a Christmas card! Sometimes a non traditional Christmas card is so refreshing, don't you think?? (Expecially when we're still in the middle of summer here!)

As usual, I colored up this digital stamp with reinkers and an aquapainter on Georgia Pacific cardstock and used some of those colorful Christmas papers from Cosmo Cricket's Jolly By Golly Collection. I kept the papers pretty monochromatic since the main image had so many colors in it. I have a very bad habit of leaving the addition of a sentiment on my cards until the last moment and, in this case, leaving no room for it! Doh! So I'll probably just put one on the inside instead. :)

If you need some more creative inspiration (which, you probably will after my sad attempt!), please check out what the Farmer's and Critter Crew created for today's challenge:

Jessica Diedrich
Cindy Haffner
Kadie Ensley
Kim Nath
Mary Giles
Melissa Connolly
Mercy Kerin
Randi Wall

and the fabulous Critter Crew...

Amber Hight
Heather Schlatter
Jen Shults
Shaela Odd
Sparkle Smith

I wish you all a fabulous weekend and some stamping time!

Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Candy Cane Snack digi'
Inks: Going Gray, Pretty In Pink, Old Olive, Cool Cariibean, Soft Suede, Buckaroo Blue, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose, Distress Inks 'Frayed Burlap'
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - Cosmo Cricket Jolly By Golly Collection'
Access: Ribbon, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Rangers Glossy Accents, Sponges, Machine Stitching, Dimensionals

TSG Polka Dot Pals Blog Hop!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Welcome to the third and final blog hop for the July There She Goes releases!

Today we're showcasing the completely adorable Polka Dot Pals set! If you've hopped here from Pam's awesome blog, then you're on the right track, but if you haven't and would like to play along with us, just hop on back to the TSG blog and start your ride there. Remember, you could win this beautiful set just by hopping with us today!

Our newest TSG Illustrator Torico, is making her debut with this adorable animal stamp set! The images are so cute and easy to create with that you are going find yourself reaching for it regularly!! It's a 4x6 set that includes 17 bold images that will be selling for $15.



Aren't these characters adorable?!! I love their clean lines and polka dot body parts! And if you don't like polka dots, don't fret; Torico and Jess included a checkered pattern in the set too! They thought of everything! :) I colored in the little animals with my reinkers and aquapainter brush, then stamped their polka-dotted body parts in the same color. Then I cut them out (with precision scissors) and popped them on the card with dimensionals. The patterned paper is from Girls Paperie and the pompom trim was something I found locally.

Your next stop along this hop is the very talented Torico! Don't forget to leave your name in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the TSG post so you can be in the random drawing to win your very own Polka Dot Pals set!

Thanks so much for hanging out with all of us Trendsetters this week! Remember, the release party is this Saturday night, starting at 9pm EST in the TSG forum! You could win all three sets being released this month just by turning up and chatting with Jess and the trendsetters!


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Polka Dot Pals'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Morning Marigold, Pretty In Pink, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - Girls Paperie
Access: Twill Ribbon, Pom Pom Trim, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Spellbinders Label Four Nestibilities, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

TSG Art is the Window Blog Hop!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Welcome to the second blog hop for the July There She Goes releases!

Today the Jessica and us Trendsetters are showcasing the beautiful Art is the Window set! If you've hopped here from Pam's wonderful blog, then you're on the right track, but if you haven't and would like to play along with us, just hop on back to the TSG blog and start your ride there. Remember, you could win this beautiful set just by hopping with us today!

Art is the Window is another wonderful set designed by Chris Dark! I have adored her floral sets and this one is no different! It has a total of 21 images and 1/3 of those are sentiments. It's a 4x6 set that will be sold for $18.


Instead of picking the main image for my card, I decided to use one of the other images. It's a larger image of the flower box in front of the window and it's stands up on it's own. As with all of the There She Goes stamp sets, this one is versatile for any occasion! From friendship cards to inspirational ones, this set has it all covered. I used this week's Mojo Sketch #144 for my layout and some of that fabulous paper from October Afternoon. I stamped the flower box on a scrap piece of paper and colored it up. Then I cut it out and popped it on dimensionals on the sponged background panel. Simple but still elegant. :)

I know you're loving all the sneak peeks, right? It's amazing how much talent there is on this team, but unfortunately this is the end of the hop. :( Please head back to the TSG blog and leave your name in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the post so you can be in the random drawing to win your very own Art is the Window set!

Thanks so much for hanging out with me today!! and I hope to see you all hopping along with us tomorrow for our final sneak peek! :)


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Art is the Window'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Regal Rose, Ruby Red, Cool Caribbean, Old Olive, More Mustard, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - October Afternoon 'Thrift Shop'
Access: Ribbon, Crystal Twinkles, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

TSG A Drink A Day Blog Hop!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Welcome to the first blog hop for the July There She Goes releases!

Today the Trendsetters are showcasing intoxicating A Drink A Day set! If you've hopped here from Pam's gorgeous blog, then you're on the right track, but if you haven't and would like to play along with us, just hop on back to the TSG blog and start your ride there. Remember, you could win this fabulous set just by hopping with us today!

Last month, one of the Mother Of All Blog Hop winners just so happened to be Trendsetter alumni, Mrs Wendy Bond. As a winner, she got to work together with Jess on this fun drink themed set that you are going to love!! With fun image combinations and sassy sentiments, you are going to have so much fun mixing drinks while you stamp ;)

A Drink A Day is a 4x8 stamp set that includes a total of 37 stamps and will sell for $18.

I just had to have a little bit of fun with this set! :) I enjoy a glass of wine every now and then and I've been known to enjoy a Carona or two in the summer time, so my husband likes to tease me that he drove me to drink! lol So I lovingly thought of him while making this card! :)

I borrowed this week's Sketch For You To Try, and used some yummy paper from MME's Little Boy Blue Collection. The beer image was colored with reinkers (Morning Marigold) and a teeny, tiny bit of Going Gray for the glass. To ground it, I sponged Anitque Linen Distress Inks around the edges of the circle panel. Every other panel was sponged lightly around the edges and machine stitched. As far as man-cards go, I think this one scrubbed up nicely! ;)

Did you enjoy all the sneak peeks?? So much eye candy from all these fabulous designers right?! Sadly, this is the end of the end of the hop. :( Please head back to the TSG blog and leave your name in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of the post so you can be in the random drawing to win your very own A Drink a Day set! The winners will be announced at the release party.

Thanks so much for playing along today!! and I hope to see you all hopping along with us tomorrow for our second sneak peek! :)


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'A Drink A Day'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Morning Marigold, Going Gray, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - MME - 'Quite Contrary Little Boy Blue Collection'
Access: Spellbinders Labels Two Nestibilities, Prima Flowers, Pebbles Candy Dots - Brown, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Changing of the Seasons Summer Sale!

Monday, June 21, 2010

It’s time for another fabulous Changing Of The Seasons sale at There She Goes!

If you haven't heard of this sale before, it's a sale Jess likes to have every season to 'clean house' so to speak. And the best part is that you reap the rewards! Jess is marking the following five stamp sets down 15%, so feel free to shop ‘til you drop!

Tea For Two $20.40 (reg. $24)
TFT Special Blend $12.75 (reg. $15)
Butterfly Happiness $20.40 (reg. $24)
Hunny Bunnies $12.75 (reg. $15)
Spring Fever $20.40 (reg. $24)

Here's a quick card I made using the Hunny Bunnies set. Might as well get a head start on some Easter cards right?! Hehehe

Happy shopping! =)

FFF: Buttons!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Good Morning Sweet Peeps!

Thank goodness it's Friday! What a week this has been! I had to travel to Connecticut twice this week and Little Miss Sunshine had a dentist appointment that resulted in a huge cavity being filled. I was a little nervous for her but she was a trooper! Oh, and I can't say enough about her dentist - she really knows how to keep the little ones distracted!

Anywho, it is Friday and you know that means I have another Farm Fresh Friday challenge to share with you! It's all about my favorite embellishment (besides ribbon)...BUTTONS! Farmer Kim Nath is challenging us all to create a card or project that uses at least three buttons on it! :)

My brain was pretty fried by the time I made my card so I'm afraid I didn't stretch my creative juices much at all this week. :( I used exactly three buttons and I didn't even use them creatively! Tsk! Tsk!

For this week's card I decided to use Maggie Cleaning digital stamp from The Greeting Farm's Critter Collection. As per usual, I colored up the image with my SU reinkers and aquapainter brush on Strathmore Bristol Vellum. Miss Maggie was colored predominately with SU's Creamy Caramel with just a little bit of Really Rust in the shadows. Her dress was colored in Old Olive and her apron with Antique Linen Distress Ink. As I do with all my Critter images, I added some Glossy Accents to Maggie's eyes (as well as the water in the bucket) to make them shine. The layout is from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge #73.

If you need some more creative inspiration, please check out what the Farmer's and Critter Crew created for today's challenge:

Jessica Diedrich
Cindy Haffner
Kadie Ensley
Kim Nath
Mary Giles
Melissa Connolly
Mercy Kerin
Randi Wall

and the fabulous Critter Crew...

Amber Hight
Heather Schlatter
Jen Shults
Shaela Odd
Sparkle Smith

Thank you so much for visiting and have a FABULOUS weekend everyone!


Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Maggie Cleaning' & There She Goes 'What's Up Buttercup?'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - K&Company 'Greenhouse Collection'
Access: Buttons, Ribbon, Machine Stitching, Rangers Glossy Accents, Dimensionals

Enjoy The Ride!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Good Morning!

Today I thought I'd show you a card I made for Doggone Stamps recent new release. I had only shown you all a little sneak peek of it a couple of weeks ago, and since the giveaway is over, I figured it'd be ok to show you the whole card now. :)

How funny is this image?? I can think of a few guys I'd give this card to, for sure! I colored Smooth Skateboarder with my reinkers and aquapainter brush and gave him silvery hair, but you could give him blonde hair and he'd look 10 years younger!

The sentiment is also from Doggone Stamps, but don't expect to find a vertical one. It's actually a curved sentiment but because the rubber is so flexible, I managed to straighten it out while it was stuck to my acrylic block and stamped it out that way.

There were a bunch of new stamps released a couple of weeks ago, so if you love dogs or funny images, you need to check out their webstore!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
　

Supplies
Stamps: Doggone Stamps 'Smooth Skateboarder' and 'Enjoy The Ride!'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Buckaroo Blue, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Going Gray, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - Crate Paper
Access: Ribbon, Button, Adhesive Pearls, Spellbinders Label One Nestibilities, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Distressing Technique

Hi Everyone!

I created a little photo tutorial on how I made Monday's card, so if you're interested in checking out how to distress a card, then head over to the There She Goes blog and check it out! :)

Toodles!

TSG59: Rip It, Tear It, Ink It - Distress it!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Good Morning!

Hope your weekend was a fabulous one! Saturday, for us, was spent at home since it drizzled all day, but Sunday we ended up at a Rock 'n' Ribs festival that was loads of fun! We sampled all sorts of BBQ food! Everything from a Tennessee taco to wet and dry ribs and finished up with some heavenly apply crisp - a la mode! :) Delicious!

Anywho! This week's There She Goes challenge is brought to you by me and I'm getting you all to DI-STRESS! Ink it up, tear it up, rip it up - do whatever you have to - just distress your card or project!

Initially, I was going to make a Fathers Day card with a worn look, but after browsing through all the sketch challenges for this week, I decided that Jen's Sketch For You To Try and this huge poppy from the Poppies set worked so well together, so I went with that combo instead!

I LOVE distressing cards! If you've never tried it, you really need to give it a go. It can make a card that much more rich and vibrant. For my card I used my distress inks and my Tim Holtz edge distresser with some already distressed-looking paper from My Minds Eye.

I sponged each panel with a combination of Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain and then ran my edge distresser around each panel to scuff them up. Then I matted them all with some Bitter Chocolate Bazzil paper and machine stitched them together. For the main image, I stamped the poppy, and because I was going to use a lot of red ink on it, I sponged the panel first, so the red ink doesn't bleed all over the panel while I'm sponging. Then I colored the poppy with a combination of SU's Regal Rose, Ruby Red and then Cranberry Crisp for the shadows. I stamped the sentiment last, just to keep the intense black color from getting washed out by the sponged ink.

To be eligible for the giveaway, you are to create a card using the provided sketch, then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the Mr. Linky that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (June 21th). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

I hope you all have a chance to play along this week!


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Poppies' and 'Garden of Friends'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Regal Rose, Ruby Red, Cranberry Crisp, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage photo and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - My Minds Eye 'Bloom and Grow Collection'
Access: Ribbon, Buttons, DMC Thread, Spellbinders Labels Eight Nestibilities, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Tim Holtz Edge Distresser, Dimensionals

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Surprise!! It's Taylor Van Bruggen's birthday today and some of her friends thought we would throw together a virtual birthday party in honor of her special day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!
I wish you a VERY happy day and lots of laughs, love and great memories!

Nothing is better then a great big ole' hug from a cuddly bear on your birthday, so I created this sweet card using the TE Beary Special set for Taylor. It also has LOTS of fun stuff on it from her store!

First, I colored the sweet bear with my reinkers and aquapainter brush. Then I sponged around him with Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Inks. Then the piece was matted with some Georgia Pacific white and Bitter Chocolate Bazzil cardstock and paper pierced around its edges. The patterned paper is from a 6x6 sample pack of Crate Paper's Blue Hill Collection and after sponging the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, I stitched it to another piece of Bitter Chocolate. I added some cream ruffle trim under the horizontal panel and some Crystal Twinkles to the scallops that were created with my corner punch (with the guard removed). Lastly, I added some glitter to the star wand with my Quickie Glue Pen and popped the sentiment (also from the Beary Special set) off the main panel with some dimensionals. Does the sketch look familiar?? It should! It's this week's TESC117 challenge!

Here's a list of all the girls helping celebrate Taylor's birthday with me!

Alex Maldonado
Alice Wertz
Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Jenn Balcer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Lisa Hjulberg
Lori Craig
Melissa Sauls
Monika Davis
Nancy McKinney
Rachel Sztonyk
Sandra MacLean - that's me!
Sankari Wegman
Sharon Harnist
Sherrie Siemens

Taylor, enjoy your day and your card is on it's way to you!

Thanks so much for popping in today!


Supplies
Stamps: Taylored Expressions 'Beary Special'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Morning Marigold, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - Crate Paper 'Blue Hill Collection'
Access: Ruffled Trim - Cream, TE Crystal Twinkles, Stampendous Snow Crystal Glitter, Quickie Glue Pen, EK Success Corner Punch, Sponges, Machine Stitching, Dimensionals

Etsy Friday Finds

Friday, June 11, 2010

Hi again!

Last Friday was a little crazy with releases and scheduled posts, so I skipped my Etsy Finds post. But this week I couldn't - I've been looking for some neat Father's Day gifts and Etsy is FULL of them this week!

Rock River Tees
This movie is one that makes my husband roll with laughter so I know he'd LOVE this shirt!





Howling Wolf Sauces
He's also a bbq lover and grill master, so trying out different ribs and sauses would be right up his alley.








GT Carvings

The Man doesn't golf, but this was just SO COOL, I had to share it!








My Personalized TShirt
Nope. We're not expecting. This just cracked me up!

Hope you enjoyed these little treasures!

FFF: Mercy's Sketch

Hi everyone! TGIF!

I've gone to bed after midnight every night this week. Between working on cards, watching my favorite shows on Netflix and the NBA Final playoffs...I'm pooped! And I can't really sleep in tomorrow morning with The Man working his hell shift. I have to be up and somewhat coherent for the Little Ray of Sunshine. Maybe Sunday I can catch some zzzz's. :)

Ok, so you know what Friday means by now...yep, another Farm Fresh Friday challenge!

Our talented, and newest Farmer, Mercy Kerin, has created a sketch for everyone and I think it's one you're going to L.O.V.E!

Pretty cool isn't it? I have to admit that for a person like me who loves her layers, this sketch scared me, just a tad! Haha Give me layers and I'm right at home....no layers and I'm like a fish out of water!

But I persevered and created this card using Maggie from the Sweet Messages set by designer Marina Neira. As usual, she was colored up with reinkers and aquapainter brush and I used the large oval nestie to cut her out. Then I matted her on a scalloped oval nestie. I created the card with some patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely Collection and a big Prima flower with a button in the center. See that piece of ric rak ribbon?! It's not actually ribbon! I used my cheap decorative scissors (from Michaels) to make it! Where there's a will, there's a way! :)

I know you'll want to see what the Farmers and Critter Crew have created with this sketch, so here's a list of the blogs:

Jessica Diedrich

Cindy Haffner

Kadie Ensley

Kim Nath

Mary Giles

Melissa Connolly

Mercy Kerin

Randi Wall

and the fabulous Critter Crew...

Amber Hight

Heather Schlatter

Jen Shults

Shaela Odd

Sparkle Smith

Ok, that's it from me today. Thanks so much for stopping by this week and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I have a surprise post tomorrow, so be on the look out for it! :)

Supplies

Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Sweet Messages', There She Goes 'Birdie Wishes'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Bermuda Blue, Raspberry Razz, Old Olive, Curry Crush, More Mustard, Cool Caribbean, Soft Suede, Ballet Blue

Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - Cosmo Cricket 'De Lovely Collection'

Access: Prima Flower, Adhesive Rhinestones, Spellbinders Large Oval and Oval Scalloped Nestibilities, Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Card Kit Time!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Good Morning!

It's Thursday and the work week is almost done! Woohooo! Don't really have any plans for the weekend but I'm sure we'll find something to do; we usually do. Hopefully it doesn't rain as much as it did last weekend and we can actually play outside instead of inside. Some sun would be nice: is that so much to ask?

Lately I've haven't had too much time to play with any stamps outside of my DT duties, but when sweet Miss Kadie sent Mary and I our June card kits, I was so happy! Finally a card I can create with no (self-applied) pressure involved! :)

Everything in this kit SCREAMED summer! From the paper, to the embellishments to the sweet image itself - now if only the sun would give in to the peer pressure! ;)

I think I've only colored up one other gorjuss girl and I don't own any in my collection either. What's up with that?! I think this needs to be rectified soon! They're SO sweet and I've seen some amazing cards made with them out there in blogland!

For my card kit, I decided the best way to get the most out of all the papers Kadie sent us, was to heap on the layers! So I went straight to my favorite challenge site that I knew had a sketch with LOTS of layers and this week they didn't fail me! I used the Friday Sketchers #105 sketch and distressed all the layers to play up the 'beachy' look. Miss Little Ducky was colored up, as usual, with my reinkers and aquapainter brush. I added just a touch of Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist over the main panel and machine stitched it to a layer of white glitter paper for a bit more sparkle - just like the way the sun makes the water sparkle! The sentiment is from the recently released By The Sea set from There She Goes.

So that's what I did with the set. I'm off to check out what Kadie and Mary did with the kits now - you might want to do the same! :) Thanks so much for stopping by today - it's always appreciated!

Supplies
Stamps: Sugar Nellie 'Gorjuss Girl - Little Ducky', There She Goes 'By The Sea'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Taken With Teal, Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Bazzil Basics, PP - Unknown
Access: Ribbon, Flowers - unknown, Spellbinders Labels Eight Nestibilities, Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer Mist, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Sweet Summer Afternoon

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Good Morning Lovelies!

I was planning on posting this card yesterday, but I was so exhausted from spending all day Monday outside measuring pot holes (Yes, pot holes. Ahhh, such is my glamorous life!), I couldn't muster the energy to write up a post that night. Why is it that plenty of fresh air tires us?! It's almost an oxymoron isn't it?

When I saw Taylor's TESC116 sketch for this week, I immediately thought of the other floral silhouette from the TE Summer Afternoon set that was released last week. It looks like it was made for this sketch doesn't it?

It's a pity the rest of the card didn't come together as easily. Anything that could go wrong, SO did! The first edge I machine stitched produced awful stitching where the bottom thread was pulling up through the holes. So I then removed the thread to start again and stitched part of the edge again only to find that I ran out of thread on the bobbin! Ahh! So I unpicked the stitching once again and added thread to the bobbin, but before I could resew that edge again I realized that I had emptied the spool of all it's thread! Doh! So then I changed over to my white thread and proceeded to brake a needle while stitching! *sob sob* But wait: there's more! Even though I clear embossed the red flowers, the red ink started to smudge as I sponged around it with my Distress Inks! And I had to redo my sentiment banner because I the red ink that was on my fingers left fingerprints all over the first one! Oi vey! Talk about a very frustrating evening of stamping! Mental note to self: BE CAREFUL WHEN USING RED INK!

Regardless of the trouble I had making this card, I'm still happy with how it turned out. As I mentioned before, I clear embossed the image and sponged around it with a combination of Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Inks. I stitched around the main panel and added some of Taylor's Multi Twinkles (love these things!) to the sentiment banner. I also used a scalloped border punch to add some interest to the vertical panel. I was SO in love with the ribbon and button detail that Alice Wertz did on her card, I had to CASE them! Thank you Alice for a great embellishment!

I should probably finish up this post before Blogger decides it should give me grief too! lol Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: Taylored Expressions 'Summer Afternoon' and 'Garden Party Blooms'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Real Red, Distress Inks - Antique Linen and Tea Dye
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - October Afternoon 'Thrift Shop'
Access: Buttons, Ribbon, DMC Thread, EK Success Open Scallop Edge Punch, Multi Twinkles, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

TSG58: Sketch This!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Good morning friends!

I hope you all had a great weekend. We had some bizarre weather here in New Hampshire. Saturday we had a tornado watch in effect, which is pretty much unheard of for this area, and then yesterday we had a sudden downpour that blew over huge trees in a nearby town. It was crazy! Today is supposed to be somewhat sunny, and just in time for the beginning of another work week - just our luck, right?! :)

Today's card is for this week's There She Goes Challenge (TSG58) and it's my favorite kind of challenge - it's a sketch!


This week’s challenge is brought to us by our Trendsetter of the Week, Jodi! She has supplied us with a beautiful sketch, and we can’t wait to see your interpretation of it!

I decided a quick and easy card was the way to go with this sketch, so I didn't stray too far. Hey! Why change a good thing, right? ;) The bench is from the Spring Fever set and I clear embossed and heat set it to create a strong image on the panel. I cut it out with my large Spellbinder Circle Nestibilities and sponged around the image with Antique Linen Distress Ink. Then I used some yummy paper from Crate Paper's Brook Collection.

To be eligible for the giveaway, you are to create a card using the provided sketch, then go to the TSG blog to add your name and a link to your project in the Mr. Linky that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (June 14th). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the look out to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :) Remember, you do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your card to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSG58 so we can check out your beautiful work!


Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'll be back tomorrow with a card using Taylor's Sketch Challenge.




Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Spring Fever'
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Versamark, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Frayed Burlap'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Kraft, Bazzil Basics, PP - Crate Paper 'Brook Collection'
Access: Cuttlebug 'Weathered Wood Embossing Folder, Spellbinders Large Circle Nestibilities, Sponges, Clear Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Taylored Expressions Release!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Happy release day to you all!

It's finally here; release day for all six of the Taylored Expressions sets being released this month! Woohoooo!

All week, Taylor and the Baker's Dozen have been showing you all sneak peeks from the release, and today I'm sooo excited to be showing you all a couple of cards I made using two of those sets.

This first card uses the set called Pet's Place and it's perfect for all us animal lovers! The set contains 21 images and sentiments and on this card I used 7 of them. Can you find them all??

Taylored Expressions supports various charities through the TE Giving Tree Program. There is a new stamp set introduced every 3 months to support a new charity. This quarter they're introducing Pet's Place, the newest set in the Apple Doodle Ink line, to support The Humane Society of the United States.

The Humane Society is the nation's largest and most effective animal protection organization. The HSUS seeks a humane and sustainable world for all animals—a world that will also benefit people. They are America's mainstream force against cruelty, exploitation and neglect, as well as the most trusted voice extolling the human-animal bond. HSUS is also the lead disaster relief agency for animals, and they provide direct care for thousands of animals at sanctuaries and rescue facilities, wildlife rehabilitation centers, and mobile veterinary clinics. Read more about HSUS....HERE.

Pet's Place is now available in the TE Store and $7 from the sale of each set will be donated to HSUS. Please remember that sets in the Giving Tree Program are the same high quality deeply etched pink rubber on EZ Mount as all other TE stamp sets, however unlike TE's other sets, you will need to trim these images yourself. This allows TE to cut production costs and donate more to the charities.

I stamped out the images individually and colored each of them with my trusty reinkers and aquapainter brush. Then I cut them out and mounted them on a panel cut with a Big Scalloped Circle nestie die (which was sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink). The paper I used is from Basic Grey and Taylored Expressions has put together a fantastic Project Pantry Kit that's full of cardstock, ribbon and embellishments that coordinate with Basic Grey's Max & Whiskers collection! All the other panels were sponged with DI's Vintage Photo ink and machine stitched to brown cardstock. I used this week's Sketch For You To Try for my layout.

For my second project, I used the beauuuuuuutiful Summer Afternoon set!

As soon as I saw this set, I knew I had to play with it! I love silhouettes stamps as much as I love line art stamps, mainly because I love getting inky and breaking out my sponges! :)

To create this card I first stamped the gorgeous vine medalion on some of Basic Grey's (appropriately named) Indian Summer paper with Versamark ink then SU's Chocolate Chip. Then I sprinkled some clear embossing powder over it and heat set the whole thing. Then I cut the image out using the Labels One nestie. The edges of the panel were then sponged lightly with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I then matted it with some of my favorite specialty paper - black glitter cardstock! Love this stuff! (I think I got it at Michaels last October.)

I then stamped and heat embossed the beautiful sentiment, also from the set, onto a circle panel and sponged around that with a combination of Distress Inks. The base panel was also sponged, distressed and machine stitched to a piece of Creamy Caramel cardstock. Then I adhered all the panels together with dimensionals. I got a little carried away with the inks and even sponged the Prima flowers! :) I tell ya; can't help myself once I start! As a finishing touch, I added some Diamond Stickles to the tips of the flowers and sprayed the whole card with some Pearl Glimmer Mist. Oh, you should see the sparkle IRL! :)

Want to see more of the Pet's Place, Summer Afternoon sets as well as the other sets, Hanging Out At The Beach, Udderly Sweet and Care & Comfort? Then check out what the Baker's Dozen have been cooking up!

Alex Maldonado
Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro

Jami Sibley
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls

Nancy McKinney
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous weekend and get to ink some stamps up too! :)

Supplies
"Sorry I'm Late..."
Stamps: Taylored Expressions 'Pet's Place'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, More Mustard, Really Rust, Cool Caribbean, Pumpkin Pie, Going Gray, Not Quite Navy, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Vintage Photo'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Georgia Pacific, Kraft, Bazzil Basics, PP - TE Project Pantry 'Pet's Place' Kit
Access: Spellbinders Large Scalloped Circle Nestibilities, EK Success Edge Punch, Sponges, Dimensionals

"Summer Afternoon"
Stamps: Taylored Expressions 'Summer Afternoon'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Versamark Ink, Chocolate Chip, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Georgia Pacific, Black Glitter Specialty Cardstock, PP - Basic Grey's 'Indian Summer Collection'
Access: Prima Flowers, Button, DMC Thread - Ecru and Black, Spellbinders Labels One and Small Circle Nestibilities, Machine Stitching, Rangers Stickles - Diamond, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Pearl, Sponges, Dimensionals

FFF: My Favorite Piece of...

Hello Sweet Peeps!

How's your week been? Busy? Relaxing? I've had my head glued to a computer all week and man, my shoulders and neck hurt like heck! I'm thinking maybe I need to snag The Man's gift certificate I got him for his birthday and use it myself! Nah! I couldn't do that to him....but I am thinking it might be fun to have a couples massage and invite myself along when he goes. Ahhhh, doesn't that sound blissful? :)

It's Friday and that means I have another Farm Fresh Friday challenge to share with you! You gals are going to have a lot of fun with this one! It's another inspiration challenge, BUT this time - you provide the inspiration!! There's only one, ok, there's just two rules: the inspiration has to be a piece of jewelry AND you have to sneak some BLING onto your card somewhere! Awesome right?! Told ya, you'd love it! :)

My pretty piece of inspiration jewelry was a piece I found while window shopping on Etsy.com a while back. Isn't it beeeeautiful?! So green and fresh! So for my card today I borrowed the colors from this piece and used sweet Miss Laurie to make this thank you card.

As usual, I colored up the image with my SU reinkers and aquapainter brush. I used Black Soot from Distress Inks to color in Laurie's body and a teeny tiny bit of SU's Going Gray on her white stripe. The rest of the image was colored with a whole stash of SU colors. As I do with all my Critter images, I added some Glossy Accents to Laurie's eyes to make them shine. The layout is from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge and I added just a smidgen of bling to the card for some sparkle.

There's probably more amethyst in my card than in the jewelry, but that's ok - it's supposed to INSPIRE, right?? Hehehe!

(When I get home from work today) I'm off to check out what the Farmer's and Critter Crew created for today's challenge:

Jessica Diedrich
Cindy Haffner
Kadie Ensley
Kim Nath
Mary Giles
Melissa Connolly
Mercy Kerin
Randi Wall

and the fabulous Critter Crew...

Amber Hight
Heather Schlatter
Jami Bova
Jen Shults
Sandra MacLean (that's me!)
Shaela Odd
Sparkle Smith

Thank you so much for visiting! I have a TE post later on this morning, so be on the look out for that one!

Have a FABULOUS weekend everyone!


Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Lauri Daydreaming digi stamp' & PTI 'Mixed Messages'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Going Gray, Almost Amethyst, Old Olive, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen & Black Soot'
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Grey 'Koshi Collection'
Access: Spellbinders Large Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestibilities, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Ribbon, Adhesive Rhinestones, Rangers Glossy Accents, Dimensionals

Enjoy

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Good Morning!

Remember how I mentioned that I was building 3D site computer drawings at work? Well, from those models I've been creating some fly around videos of the site. They take between 3-5 hours to create and they tie up my computer for that long. So for the past week I've basically been sitting at my desk babysitting my computer! Arghhh! Talk about mind numbing stuff! Wish I could bring my stamps and ink to work - now that would be time well spent! :)

With all the design team work I've been doing, I've severly neglected my Stamping Bella stamps! I've missed coloring them up, so last night I had some free time and (instead of getting an early night) I colored up Missmatch Ketto. Isn't she pretty?? :)

Of course, I colored her up with my reinkers and aquapainter brush on Strathmore Bristol Vellum. I sponged the edges of the big scalloped die cut with Antique Linen Distress Ink. The designer paper is from The Girls Paperie and I snagged it in a 6x6 sample pack at Die Cuts R Us.

Tomorrow is the official release of the June sets for Taylored Expressions, starting at 8am PST! I have a card or two to help celebrate it, so stop by tomorrow if you can. :)

(Sorry for the short post today! I wrote this at 12am last night and I'm pooped! Forgive me?)

Supplies

Stamps: Stamping Bella 'Missmatch Ketto', PTI 'Mixed Messages'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Morning Marigold, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain'

Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - The Girls Paperie

Access: Ribbon, Button, DMC Thread, Spellbinders Big Scalloped Circle Nesties, Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Machine Stitching, Sponges

Sending You Sunshine

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Good Morning!

Long weekends and short work weeks are fabulous aren't they? *sigh* Wish every week was like this. I'd be a more relaxed person if it were! Just saying.... ;)

Going on right now are sneak peeks of the June releases for Taylored Expressions, and before I help the Taylor and the Bakers Dozen lasses launch the huge release on Friday morning, I wanted to show you one more card using the Garden Party Blooms set.

I couldn't resist purchasing May's Project Pantry Garden Party Kit since the colors were so vibrant and fun and go together with this set like bugs on a plant! hehehe Having never bought one of these kits before, I was amazed at how much was actually in these kits! There's enough stuff crammed in that set to make anywhere between 8-12 cards (depending on how much you like your layers - hehe)! That's less than $2 a card at that price! :)

I chose to stamp the tulip this time with my Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Warm Red, then the stem with Moss Green. Being a novice stamper, I don't always get a clean and crisp stamped image, so I will often go back and color over my stamped image with my ink and aquapainter. It covers those small areas with ink and leaves my image looking much more solid. Then I added just a wee bit of Diamond Stickles to the flower for just a touch of sparkle. Gotta have some sparkle right?

If you haven't guessed by now, I borrowed Taylor's TESC115 sketch for my layout and used some black adhesive pearls for the details at the top and bottom of the card. It worked out perfectly for this stamp set!

Ok, so as I said, sneak peeks of the June releases are flying all over TE-land, so if you want to see what's being released, then I highly suggest you get your skates on and roll on over to the blogs of the Baker's Dozen to see what they've cooked up!

Alex Maldonado
Carolina Buchting
Charmaine Ikach
Donna Baker
Jackie Pedro
Jeanie Witmer
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Karen Motz
Melissa Sauls
Sankari Wegman
Taylor VanBruggen

I'll be joining the girls on Friday, the official day of the release. I can't WAIT to show you girls what I've created!! :D

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: Taylored Expressions 'Garden Party Blooms'
Inks: Colorbox Chalk Inks - Moss Green, Warm Red, Tangerine, Distress Inks - Antique Linen
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Georgia Pacific, PP - Taylored Expressions Pantry Kit
Access: Kaisercraft Adhesive Pearls, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, EK Success Circle Punches, Sponges, Dimensionals