Happy Bird Day!

Friday, November 18, 2011

And a happy Friday to everyone too!

I've been busy taking training classes in some new software for work all week, and my poor brain is fried! Today's the last day of the training, and it's actually a lot of fun (I love being exposed to new things!) but I desperately needed a creative outlet! So I whipped up another card using the Birdie Wishes set from There She Goes again!

One of my favorite things about the There She Goes sets is that there are always a bunch of sentiments that you can choose from. The sets are so versatile and this one is no different! It has sentiments and images for Christmas cards (like I showed you on Tuesday) and for birthdays. It just so happens that I needed to make a birthday card for my sweet friend Mary, so I paired the Birdie Wishes set with some paper (that Mary gifted me!) from Crate Paper to create this simple card for her. Hopefully I can get out of classes early today to make it to the Post Office in time!

There are three older sets that are being showcased this week over at the TSG blog. Those sets are Penguin Love, Stick Together and....yep! You guessed it - Birdie Wishes! Today, the senior Trendies from the design team have created a whole bunch new cards using these sets for you to drool over, so I suggesting booking over to the TSG blog for a gander as soon as you can! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by this week! I hope you all have a lovely weekend - I plan on resting, and stamping!


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Birdie Wishes'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Distress Inks 'Frayed Burlap'
Papers: PTI Kraft Cardstock, Bazzil Basics - Bitter Chocolate', PP - Crate Paper
Access: PTI Beautiful Blooms II Die, Spellbinders Labels Six Nesties, Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Paper Piercer, Basic Grey Brads-Jovial, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, PTI Rustic Button Twine, Cream Button, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Wishing Every Birdie...

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Good Morning!

Now that it has stopped snowing and raining around the New England area, we can get back to doing our Fall chores! We have a few 100 year old maple trees on our property, so you can imagine the amount of leaves they shed every year. It's a lot! This past weekend was all about raking them up, cutting back the wildflowers, mowing the lawn one last time and generally cleaning up before Winter hits. Every muscle in my body aches right now! Too much work in a short space of time. But it had to be done because who knows if we'll get a chance to tackle it again - this crazy New England weather has a mind of it's own these days!

One thing I did do over the weekend that was fun was make a card for this week's There She Goes Challenge #130. It's a recipe challenge this week and one that I think you'll like! Jessica is challenging you to create a card using a bird, a snowflake (it must have both images) and at least one kind of ribbon or button.

Not a hard recipe right? It's really easy if you have two sets particular sets from There She Goes! I used the cute little bird from Birdie Wishes and those almost transparent snowflakes were from the Stick Together mini set. I borrowed the layout from this month's Sketch For You To Try and the paper is from Memory Box.

I created the irridescent snowflakes using some Versamark Ink and some Crystal Snow Embossing Powder from Stampendous. Then I added some Crystal Twinkles to the center of the snowflakes to make them stand out a little.

To be eligible for the giveaway, you are to create a card using the recipe, and then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of the challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (November 21st). 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 :)

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 TSG130 so we can check out your beautiful work!

Thank you so very much for stopping in today! Check back in on Friday - I feel a redo coming on! ;)

Supplies

Stamps: There She Goes 'Birdie Wishes' and 'Stick Together'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', SU's Cool Caribbean and Real Red, Versamark

Papers: PTI Kraft Cardstock, Bazzil Basics - Bitter Chocolate, PP - Memory Box

Access: PTI Rustic Button Twine, PTI Button-Brown, Stampendous Kaliedescope Embossing Powder, Crystal Twinkles, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Sponges, Machine Stitching, Dimensionals

Warming The Heart

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Good Morning!

I hope you all had a great weekend. I really didn't do much, but that was OK with me. Especially after last weekend's efforts! :) I have a hard time getting myself off the couch lately. I think it's a combination of our deep, comfy couch and the wood stove! But even though I'm 'vegging' out, I still manage to stay somewhat productive. I've been working on another cross stitch, which keeps my hands busy when I'm watching TV. I never just sit still. Just can't do it!

So I didn't get much done over the weekend, but I did work on a card last night. This week, There She Goes is sponsoring the Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge, and I love a good sketch!

Since it's getting colder around these parts, I pulled out the Wonderful Winter Wishes set, some fun patterned paper and whipped up this cozy little card! These colors aren't your typical winter colors, but I thought the season needed a little warming up! Actually, I was inspired by a card I did a long, long, long time ago! Have you ever gone back to look at the cards you did when you first started stamping? I almost shudder at those now, but I love to see how my style has evolved!

I created the base using some paper from Crate Paper's Snow Day Collection. I used the largest Labels 8 Nestie to create the cut out down the right hand side. Then I matted the left hand piece of patterned paper with some white cardstock and used my decorative scissors to create the border. Next I matted the two pieces to some Bitter Chocolate cardstock and machine stitched them together. The horizontal strip was done with a Labels 4 Nestie and the same decorative scissors. The cute little kids from the Wonderful Winter Wishes set were colored with my reinkers and aquapainter brush, then I sponged the edges of the panel with some Antique Linen Distress Ink. Lastly, I added the ribbon and some tiny crystal twinkles to finish it off.

If you'd like to play along with this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge, then head over to their blog for all the details and give it a go!

Thanks so much for stopping in today!


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Wonderful Winter Wishes'
Inks: Staz On 'Jet Black', Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, PTI Kraft Cardstock, Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics - Bitter Chocolate, PP - Crate Paper "Snow Day Collection"
Access: Spellbinders Labels Four Nestie, Spellbinder Labels Eight Nestie, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Crystal Twinkles , Ribbon, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Hi Friend!

Friday, November 4, 2011

Happy Friday Everyone!

I came down with a cold last weekend, which I tried to ignore because I had a bunch of things on my to-do list that needed to get done. I spent most of Sunday doing a grocery run, laundry, hemming pants and baked about 100 cookies! The Man wanted to take some of my Snickerdoodle cookies to work since he'd raved about them, and the Little Ray of Sunshine had a Halloween party on Monday, so I had to make some ghost-shaped sugar cookies for the treat bags. I also ended up making some Mummie Dogs for the party. All of which pretty much wiped me out! So the last thing I felt like doing was staying up late in my craft room sneezing all over my paper! Ewww!

But I did feel a little better yesterday so I made this card for you!


One of my favorite sets from the recent There She Goes release is the cute, little FriendBot set! I have a bit of a thing for robot images and Torico really knows how to play up their cute factor!

I started this card by cutting a piece of PTI kraft cardstock to a standard 4.25"x5.5" size. Then I cut a piece of Sassafras Lass 'Apple Jack' patterned paper for the base and matted it with some black cardstock. Next, I cut a smaller strip of another piece of coordinating paper and also matted it with black cardstock, but this time I used my small scalloped decorative scissors and trimmed the edge. The bingo piece was cut using a Labels 4 nestie and lightly sponged with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I punched the lined red paper with a corner punch and also matted it for more presence. Then I punched out a piece of graph paper from the same Sassafras Lass collection with my PTI eyelet lace border die and adhered it to the horizontal strip. Then I added the New Leaf Bakers Twine from PTI and tied it up with a button and a simple bow. Last, but not least, I colored up the two Bots with my SU reinkers, cut them out and popped them on the card with dimensionals.

If the layout looks familiar, you're absolutely right! It's this week's layout from Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge #141. Love her layouts! :)

Thank you so much for stopping in today! Ooo! By the way, if you love TSG stamps, I will have a scrapbook page to share with you tomorrow on the TSG blog!

Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'FriendBots'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', SU's Going Gray, More Marigold, Really Rust, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Regal Rose
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PTI Kraft cardstock, PP - Sassafras Lass 'Apple Jack' Wee Bundle
Access: PTI Bakers Twine - New Leaf, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Spellbinders Labels 4 Nestibilities, PTI Button - Black, PTI Eyelet Lace Border Die, Dimensionals