Cure for the Monday Blues #2

Hi everyone!  I was home yesterday because of a snow day.  I'm hoping I'm not home today (I wrote this yesterday).  We don't need anymore snow days, even though I love snow days, because they are starting to take them away from our vacations!

 

Anyway, I came across this new challenge called Cure for the Monday Blues and thought I'd give it a go.  This is their inspiration photo.  See the wall hanging beside the bed with the deer and sun rays?  That was my inspiration.

 

Since I took the Stenciled class from Online Card Classes, I pulled out my stencil and embossing paste.  In the class, they demonstrate coloring the embossing paste, so that's what I did here.  I used one small drop of Groovy Guava reinker to the paste and mixed it in.  It was the exact color I was looking for to match the inspiration photo.  The butterflies were cut from a die and decorative paper.  The cute deer is a rubber stamp from Paper Makeup Stamps called Felicity the Fawn which is only available in digital form now.  It had a flower in its mouth, but I cut it off and added a small butterfly on its nose.  I stamped it on some gray decorative paper from a SU pad and fussy cut it out.  I took a Signo white gel pen and colored in the spots and flowers on its back, the dot on its cheek, and its eyes.  Wink of Stella shimmer brush was used on the butterflies for some shine.  I had enough of this colored embossing paste to make another background so you'll be seeing it used sometime soon here on the blog!

 

 If you haven't taken any of these classes, I would highly recommend them.  The tutorials are wonderful and you have access to them for life.  I refer to them often.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Felicity the Fawn (PMS)

Paper:  Neenah white, blush blossom, Porcelain dp (BG)

Ink:  Versafine onyx black, groovy guava reinker

Accessories:  Shine stencil (Memory Box), Butterfly Delights die (Memory Box), signo white gel pen, Wink of Stella shimmer brush, embossing paste

Sweet Sunday Sketch and CAS(E) This Sketch Challenges

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

Hello again!  I've got two Valentine cards to share with you today.  Yesterday I was working with Basic Grey's Kissing Booth paper pack and made a couple of cards with it.  I posted one yesterday, which you can see here. 

 

On this one, I cut the floral pattern using a Spellbinder's die.   The vertical pink piece and the banner were cut with a paper trimmer.  I stamped the heart border on the banner with Rose Bud Memento Luxe ink.  The larger hearts are from a Martha Stewart punch.  I added some shimmer with a Wink of Stella brush and then covered them with Glossy Accents for some shine.  Each of the hearts in the border were also covered with the Wink of Stella brush.  The cream background was run through a script embossing folder.

 

I used this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch for my layout.  Glad that Karen is doing them weekly again!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Hearts on Fire (Verve)

Paper:  Vintage cream, melon mambo, Kissing Booth (Basic Grey)

Ink:  Rose Bud (Memento Luxe), Versafine onyx black

Accessories:  Spellbinder's circle die, Martha Stewart heart border punch, Wink of Stella shimmer brush, Glossy Accents, script embossing folder



 

CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge

 

I used the same papers once again, however I stamped an image to color this time.  This image is an old one from Paper Makeup Stamps.  It's called Dandy Wishes.  I was on their team from pretty much the beginning to about the time Katie decided to go all digital.  I'm not a fan of digital images.  I much prefer to stamp.  But, PMS had some great images!  This is one that never saw ink!  What a shame because it is such a fun image!  I stamped it in Archival Jet Black onto watercolor paper and watercolored it with SU reinkers in Melon Mambo and Certainly Celery.  I also covered each of the hearts with the Wink of Stella shimmer brush, and added Glossy Accents to the large one.  The sentiment and stitching were stamped in Rose Bud Memento Luxe ink.  Both of those stamps are from PTI.

 

I followed this week's CAS(E) this Sketch.  The flower in their sketch gave me the idea to use the Dandy Wishes image.

 

Thanks for stopping by to see my cards!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Dandy Wishes (Paper Makeup Stamps), Mixed Messages and Sew Simple Borders (PTI)

Paper:  Vintage cream, melon mambo, watercolor paper, Kissing Booth (Basic Grey)

Ink:  Archival jet black, Rose bud (Memento Luxe); melon mambo and certainly celery reinkers

Accessories:  Wink of Stella shimmer brush, Glossy Accents

Just Us Girls #158 - Technique Challenge

Happy Saturday everyone!  Are you ready for a technique challenge from Just Us Girls?  Vicki chose the old but ever so popular Emboss Resist technique.  You can find directions for it on SCS here if you've never tried this technique.

I thought I'd make a Halloween card today.  My inspiration was this paper tape from Martha Stewart.  The dp is from Authentique called Glowing.  The pumpkin is from Spooky Solids stamp set by Paper Makeup Stamps, and I embossed it with black embossing powder.  Then I used Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade distress inks over it.  That spider is actually a button.  I laid it onto an orange flower and added the bling for the eyes.  The sentiment is from A Spooky Surprise set by My Time Made Easy.

The sketch is from this week's Mojo Monday.  Love all those banners!

Check out the design team's cards using this technique.

 

JUGs blog

Andrea Matthews

Elise Durenberger

Lynn Mangan

Maria Levine

Marisa Ritzen

Vicki Dutcher

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Spooky Solids (PMS), Spooky Surprise (MTME)

Paper:  Neenah white, black, pumpkin pie, Glowing (Authentique)

Ink:  Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black, wild honey and spiced marmalade distress inks

Accessories:  Nesties, flag die (WPlus9 designs), prima flower, spider button, Martha Stewart paper tape, bling, dimensionals



CAS-ual Fridays - Let's Strip!

Hi there!  I was blog surfing early this morning and saw the title of this week's Cas-ual Fridays challenge "Let's Strip" and chuckled!  It seemed like a fairly easy challenge to complete.  I did this in the morning which if you know me is really unusual!  I am not a morning person and like to craft in the evenings.  But I kind of like this stamping in the morning!

The challenge is to use strips of color or pattern on your CAS card.  I've been wanting to use chevrons, so today seemed like a good fit for this challenge.  I used a border from the Silhouette America store in Real Red, Only Orange, Daffodil Delight, Green Galore, and Bermuda Bay cardstock colors.  (I had to look up the colors of the rainbow because I didn't know all of them or the order they went in!  I left off the purple...no room!)  I laid them out, glued them down, and trimmed them up.  Then I inked up this sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps.  I colored the word "color" in corresponding colors.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Just Us Girls #132 - Technique Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm this week's hostess over at Just Us Girls, and it's technique week.  I chose a great, easy technique from Gina K's Stamp TV called Sponging a Layer.  You can find it here.

I followed the tutorial and made my card very similarly to the card Gina K made in the video, however I used two sets from Paper Makeup Stamps.  I started by tearing a piece of paper and taping it down so I could sponge my layer.  I sponged three distress inks:  Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, and Tea Dye.  Then I stamped the flowers and leaves from Color It:  Summer stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  I colored them in with copic markers.  The sentiment is from the Faith Hope Love stamp set.  I added the ribbon which is from SU and the glittered flowers.  I also added some Star Dust Stickles to the stamped flowers.  The base of the card is More Mustard.

You can check out more beautiful cards made with this technique at these fabby blogs.

JUGs blog

Andrea Matthews

Dana Gustafson

Elise Durenberger

Lynn Mangan

Maria Levine

Pam Imholz

Vicki Dutcher

Thanks for stopping by! 

Paper Makeup Stamps December Blog Hop

Hi everyone!  Today is our monthly Paper Makeup Stamps blog hop.  We have a wintery theme going on here on the hop. You should have arrived from Janette's blog.  If not, go to the PMS blog! 

Before I continue, I wanted to let you know that PMS is discontinuing its rubber line of stamps and is going totally digital!  So there is a huge rubber sale going on at a discounted price.  You can read more about it in this post on the PMS blog. 

Back to the card.  I chose to use this Oo La La for Santa set (which has never seen ink!).  It's colored with copics, I added sparkle with silver and gold Spica pens, and liquid applique for the fur.  There are also some Kaiser pearls added on the side to balance it out.  The sentiment is part of the set and was punched out with an oval punch.  It's attached to the kraft taffeta ribbon with some baker's twine. 

 I used this sketch from this week's Card Patterns sketch.  I changed out the oval for a circle.

Your next stop is Dawn's blog.  I have the list of participants listed below in case you get lost on the hop.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop!

Paper Makeup Stamps - November Review

Happy 11/11/11!!!  I hope this is good luck!  What do you think?  Also Happy Veteran's Day!  I am so appreciative of all veterans and active duty soldiers protecting us!  Thank you and enjoy your special day!

I'm back today with the last day of reviews for the Paper Makeup Stamps November release.  This is a new image from the Color Kids line called Color Kids Gift Wrapper.  She is just too cute, and I wanted to do something a little different.  I just got this paper pack from Basic Grey called Little Black Dress and I'm in love with each and every pattern in there.  And I love paper piecing, so I ran with it.

I used the newest sketch from Pretty Patterns.  I don't usually like circles, but there was something about this sketch that I really liked and I love the way the circles look in this fabby paper!  There is a sentiment that comes with the image that says "Wrapped with Love"  (it's actually a heart, not the word love), but I chose not to use it because this is going to be my niece's birthday card.

I hope you stop by the PMS blog to see the rest of the creations from the PMS design team.  They have some great stuff to share!  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!

Paper Makeup Stamps - November Review

Hello friends!  Today the Paper Makeup Stamps design team is reviewing the new release for November.  If you haven't seen the release, you can see it in the PMS store here. 

I'm using a new winter fairy called Hayden.  She is so pretty!

The paper I used is Jovial from Basic Grey, and I took the colors from it to color the image. The image was cut out and placed on a small tag that was altered with some distress inks.  The sentiment, which comes with the stamp, was stamped with Memento Tuxedo ink.  The sketch is from My Favorite Things.

Stop by the PMS blog to see more of the new release by the PMS design team.  Thanks for stopping in today!

Paper Makeup Stamps Release Party Challenge

Last night at the Paper Makeup Stamps Release Party, Dawn's challenge was to make a thank you card.  Here's what I did very quickly last night.  I tried to upload it to the PMS forum, but could not figure out how to do that!  Bummer!  But you should see it and the other girls' cards on the PMS blog.

I used this fabulous Color It Autumn set that Katie designed last release.  Just love this set!  And the fall colors are so pretty, don't you think?  I used a CAS sketch because I had to create something quickly without much fussing.  Love these sketches too! 

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you stop by the PMS blog to see the other Thank You cards!  See you soon!

Paper Makeup Stamps Release Day Blog Hop

Hi everyone!  Are you ready to begin hopping with Paper Makeup Stamps?  We have a great release this month (you can see the sneak posts on the PMS blog).  We have the whole PMS design team as well as the Digi Makeover design team hopping today.  I'm first on the hop and you can see the hopping lineup at the bottom of my post in case you get lost.

I'm using two new images from this month's release on my card today....the sentiment from the Handmade set and the Color Kids:  Snowflake image.  I just thought this sentiment went perfectly with this image.  I always have my students make these snowflakes during the holidays.  We put silver glitter on them and hang them from the ceiling in my classroom.  This sentiment reminded me of my students making them!

I colored the Snowflake girl with copics and cut it out.  Since she is cutting out a snowflake, I wanted to mount her on one.  I googled snowflake cut files and found this one for free.  I downloaded it and cut it out with my Cricut.  Then I put a thin layer of Monoadhesive glue over it and glittered it up.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but it's glittery!  I also glittered the girl's snowflake.  I glued the snowflake to the base (the paper is The Merry Days of Christmas from My Mind's Eye) and put the girl on top with dimensionals.  I had this banner cut out and sitting on my table, so I stamped the sentiment from the new Handmade set onto it.  I added the ribbon and bow last.

Don't forget about our Release Party tonight.  It starts at 9:00 pm EST in the PMS forum.  We'll have fun, challenges, and prizes!  We'd love for you to join us...tell a friend or two!

Your next stop on the hop is Ginger.  You can see the rest of the hoppers in the list below.  Thanks for stopping by!

1. Paper Makeup Stamps Company Blog 2. Lisa Kind 3. Ginger Schwerin 4. Randee Elsing 5. Jenn Cochran 6. Tangii Crain 7. Michelle Van Patten 8. Andrea Vernagus

9. Lisa McKinney 10. Janette Garcia 11. Kristie Wilson 12. Katie Cotton 13. Anita Hovey 14. Tina Hale 15. Jackie Rakoski 16. Dawn Mercedes

17. Jami Bova 18. Anne Temple 19. Britt Bass 20. Danni Bindel 21. Ivette Aviles 22. Jenn Scull 23. Melissa Shultz 24. Velta Wesson

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

PMS Sneak Peeks - Color It Winter Tag Set

We are sneaking a new release from Paper Makeup Stamps for the next few days.  The sneaks actually started yesterday.  You can see the sneaks on the PMS blog. 

Today we are showing you a set which is a continuation of  seasonal stamp sets that Katie has been designing.  We currently have a Color It Summer and Color it Autumn set, and this one is called Color It Winter Tag set. 

The set, of course, has a cool tag that in digital form you can resize to any shape you desire.  There are several different images to put on the tag...this snowman, a cardinal, a stocking, holly, a mitten, a snowflake, and this sentiment and a to/from sentiment.  I love snowmen, so I had to use this little guy.  I printed the tag and sentiment onto this red paper from Nordic Holiday from Basic Grey.  Then I paper pieced the snowman onto the tag.  He's colored up a little with copic markers.  I added some ribbons and pearl flourish from Want to Scrap and was done.  The sketch is October's Sketch for You to Try.

Stop by the PMS blog for some more fabulous sneaks!  Our release day is Monday, November 7th.  We'll have our blog hop all day and Release Party at 9:00 pm EST in the PMS forum.  Lots of prizes and fun to be had!  We hope to see you there!  Have a great weekend!

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Seeing Spots

I have to interrupt this blogpost to ask you if you saw my cousin Caitlin Koch's performance last night on the X-Factor?  She performed at Simon Cowell's home in FRANCE!!  She was AMAZING and I'm hoping she makes it to the next round.  We'll find out on Sunday night!  I hope you are watching too!

Happy Friday everyone!  This week at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long we are being sponsored by one of my favorite stamp companies...Paper Makeup Stamps!  I might be a little biased because I'm on their design team, but I've been on it almost since the beginning, and I've seen them grow into a wonderful company with many versatile stamps!  And they are offering a $15 shopping spree to their store for our winner this week at CSAYL!

Our challenge this week is called Seeing Spots....you must use polka dots on your holiday creation.  Here is my card for this challenge.

I love this Snow Happy set from PMS!  It's been used quite a bit by myself the PMS design team!  It's got a homespun feel to it, so I went that route with my card.  I started with this great sketch from Card Patterns.  It gave me the opportunity to use four different patterns (two of them polka dots).  I stamped the snowman in Memento Tuxedo black, colored it with copics, and cut it out.  It's mounted on a base made from Vintage Cream cardstock and Bravo Burgundy cardstock, which was run through the Swiss dots folder.  I added some vintage seam binding (from Debbie Marcinkiewicz's Etsy store) and a tag made using the Little Moments PMS stamp set.  The wooden heart button is from Prima and the other from PTI. 

Are you ready to see more inspiration from the CSAYL team?  Stop by the CSAYL blog and enter your creation there too.  Thanks for stopping by today!

A Paper Makeup Stamps Monster of a Hop!

***I have another post today, so please scroll down!***

Welcome to our monthly Paper Makeup Stamps hop!  This month we are having a Monster of a Hop...everyone is using one of the many PMS monsters!

We have several guests joining us on this hop.  You can find the linky list at the end of my post.  You can hop along with us!

The monster I chose to use today is Spike.  I've used him several times before and just love him.  I made this a Halloween card, using the colors of the holiday.

The dp is from a Halloween K&Company paper pack.  I paired it with this retired green from SU.  I love this sketch from this month's Sketch for You to Try.  This is the second time using it today!  The sentiment is from the Witch fairy set.  I added a spider button in the upper corner (I got a whole bag of different size spider and bat buttons for $2.50 at JoAnn's!) and put crystals in place of the button holes.

We have a great deal for you for this week only!  All the PMS monsters are 15% off!  Just use the code MONSTERHOP at checkout for you discount.  So if you see one on the hop that you like, now is the time to get it!

Below are the hoppers....stop by to see what they've created!   Thanks for stopping by!

Just Us Girls - Our 2nd Anniversary!!

Happy fall y'all!  It's October 1st...lots of fun stuff going on at Just Us Girls!  It's our 2nd anniversary!  What a momentous day!  This team is such a great team to be on because of these wonderful crafters I'm so proud to call my friends!  We have so much fun behind the scenes, let me tell you!  So happy anniversary to my fellow "Jugheads" (as Elise would say!)!

This week is a sketch...and it was created by our new Guest Designer for October Maureen Plut.

What a lovely sketch it is!  I just wish I could sew on my cards, but I'm always getting the bobbin messed up!  So I skipped that part of the sketch.  Here's what I did with it. 

I love fall, so I wanted to do a fall-themed card.  I was dying to use this new set from Paper Makeup Stamps called Color It Autumn.  I pulled out this dp from K&Company that I purchased last year and chose three different patterns.  The large leaf was stamped right on the dp so I didn't have to do any coloring.  The little leaves and acorn are the negatives from a Martha Stewart border punch.  The rest is pretty self-explanatory.

You can see more inspiration on the JUGs blog.  Please stop by the girls' blog and wish them a happy anniversary, too!  

Andrea Matthews

Dana Gustafson

Elise Durenberger

Kathryn Berthiaume

Maria Levine

Pam Imholz

Maureen Plut, Guest Designer

I have another post for the My Time Made Easy October release that you can see here.  I'd love for you to take a peek at that one too!  Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your weekend!