February Calendar

Wow!  February 1st!  This month came awfully quick!  But that means it's time for another  calendar challenge with some of my friends.  I have been using Taylored Expressions calendars and I found that TE is sponsoring a calendar challenge over on SCS.  So I decided to use some TE stamps with my calendar as well.  I found a card in the TE gallery by Taylor using this set called Love Everywhere and I just fell in love with it.  So I sort of cased her card.  I love the dog in this set...reminds me of my Lizzie when she's playing.  Some of the hearts and the bench are up on dimensionals.  I also used some Star Dust Stickles to add some sparkle.  The sentiment and heart stamp around the "14" are from Verve.  The sets are Hundred Hearts and Sweet Valentine.  I love the red and chocolate.  Makes me think of red roses and delicious chocolates!

Here are the links to my friends who are also posting calendars this month.  Please stop by and leave them some love.

Christine

Julie

Tangii

Danni

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Color Throwdown and Sweet Sunday Challenges

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! We here in the states are celebrating this national holiday for a great man! This day is supposed to be a day on not a day off, so I hope you are "on" today and doing something worthwhile! I'm hoping to be feeling better today! We'll see how the day goes!

Last night I had some energy to make some cards, and I chose to use the colors from the fabulous challenge blog Color Throwdown. They also have a request to send your card to a young woman in our stamping community named Katie who is going through a rough time right now. You can find the link on the CTD post. I'm sending my card to her to hopefully brighten her day. Here are the colors the CTD challenged us to use this week.
I also chose to play in the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. I love Karen's sketches and use them regularly. This is the 100th sketch, so it's extra special! This card came together so easily, I couldn't believe it! I had all the cardstock, dp, and a great stamp set right at hand! This is what I came up with. This is the first time using the Early Espresso. I had to open the new package (actually I didn't even realize I had this cardstock). The dp is Soft Sky designer prints and Razzleberry Lemonade from SU. The ribbon is Melon Mambo grosgrain. The sentiment and flourish are from Verve's Blue Skies which is stamped in Soft Sky and Memento Rich Cocoa. I thought the sentiment was perfect for what I needed. I added the brown pearls and then thought it was still missing something. I went through my punches and found this butterfly punch from SU (another tool I didn't realize I had!). It coordinates with their set Flight of the Butterfly. I stamped it in the Soft Sky and Rich Cocoa also and added star dust stickles for some sparkle.

All in all I'm pleased with this card. Now I just have to finish off the inside and send it off to Katie. I hope you can do the same.

Thanks for stopping in today! Love to hear your comments!

Recipe
Stamps: Blue Skies (Verve), Flight of the Butterfly (SU)
Paper: Neenah white, early espresso, soft sky, melon mambo, Soft Sky designer prints and Razzleberry Lemonade (SU)
Ink: Soft sky, Memento rich cocoa
Accessories: Nesties, grosgrain ribbon, pearls, butterfly punch, star dust stickles, scalloped border punch, corner rounder, dimensionals

Just Us Girls Color Challenge #67

Happy long weekend everyone! I just love them! Today the Just Us Girls team has a fab color challenge for you. We did something different this week and had our Guest Designer, Carla Suto, choose the colors! And I love the colors she picked! She based her colors on the Graphic 45 collection Once Upon a Springtime. I love Graphic 45 papers and while I didn't have this collection, I did have the Le Romantique collection (which I received in a gift exchange from Bonnie Sharp) that had the same colors. So here's what I did.

I chose a sketch from My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club and a stamp set I've had for a while and haven't used from Verve called Blue Skies. I distressed the piece of Aqua Mist with tea dye distress ink to tone it down a bit. The beautiful butterfly is a Spellbinder die that I cut with Vintage Cream cardstock, then sponged with Cameo Coral and Cool Caribbean inks. Then I distressed it a bit more with the tea dye ink and added star dust stickles for that sparkle I love! The half circle was cut with a Coluzzle. Remember that thing? My nesties were too small so I had to pull that out. Fun little tool!

Stop by the JUGs blog to see the beautiful creations form the team and our Guest Designer, Carla Suto! Make sure to leave them some love!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great long weekend too! :-)

Recipe

Stamps: Blue Skies (Verve)

Paper: Vintage cream and aqua mist (PTI), Le Romantique (Graphic 45)

Ink: Chocolate chip, cameo coral, cool caribbean, tea dye distress ink

Accessories: Nesties, butterfly die, coluzzle, star dust stickles, pearls, dimensionals

Just Us Girls - Color Challenge

Happy Saturday! Just Us Girls has issued a fab color challenge which Kathryn put together. Red, green, black, and a neutral color.
When I saw these colors, I thought I would create a Christmas card, but then I remembered that today is my in-laws 56th wedding anniversary. My next thought was to use some Graphic 45 paper I knew I had in my stash. So this is what I came up with.
The Graphic 45 papers I used are from the Botanicabella and Fashionista collections, and the sentiment is from Verve's Wishing You sentiment set. I swirled some distress inks around the sentiment while it was still in the die and then added some green pearls. I used one of the new dies for the circle (can't remember the name of it!) and SU's scallop border punch on the black dp. The ribbon was part of a gift I received from my PMS fellow design team member, Bonnie Sharp. It's from Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, and it's so lucious! It hurt to cut into it cause I just want to hoard it! But it was the perfect color for my card. I used a Bow Easy to make my double bow.

I used Mercy Kerin's Tuesday Sketch from this week. It was perfect for my card.

Now you have to stop by the JUGs blog and see the girls' cards using these colors. They are amazing once again! We also have Lynn Mangan as our Guest Designer this month, and she has been creating some beautiful cards for you to see!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend!

Recipe
Stamps: Wishing You (Verve)
Paper: PTI vintage cream, black, Graphic 45 dp
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, distress inks
Accessories: Nesties, pearls, beautiful ribbon, Bow Easy, scallop border punch, dimensionals

My Time Template Challenge

This is the first My Time Template Challenge in Lauren's new lineup of challenges. She challenged us to use one of her templates, make it a birthday gift, and include the color purple and a butterfly. Well, I think I managed to get all of these requirements into my project today! Here's what I came up with using the My Time Purse-onality Clutch template.

I know I've said this before, but when Papertrey Ink and Lauren first launched these templates, I thought I'd never find a use for them! Well, I'm eating my words, because these are so FUN to make! I'm enjoying one better than the other each time I use them! Here's another look at it.
I think what I like about them is how cute and compact they are! I started by finding this dp in my stash. I found it in a stack pack of papers from Scrapbook Wizard. I must have picked it up on sale at AC Moore a while ago, because I don't even remember this stack! It matched beautifully with SU's Lavender Lace. I decided to stamp this little butterfly (from Verve Visual called Petals and Stems) repeatedly around the base of the purse in Versamark, then embossed it with clear ep. I then used a larger version of the same stamp (also by Verve Visual called Fluttering By) for the closure. I stamped it in Lavender Lace, carefully cut it out, and added purple rhinestones to the body and smaller ones to the antennae. I then attached a Basic Grey magnet (boy those things sure are strong and stick to EVERYTHING!) behind the butterfly and one on the purse so it would stay closed. For the handle, I used another piece of Lavender Lace and I added a piece of PTI's Plum Pudding stitched ribbon. I attached the handle to the top of the purse with silver brads. So simple, but so cute!

Now for the birthday part of the challenge. I was shopping at Coldwater Creek the other day, and saw these key chains in all different shapes...sunglasses, a drink glass, a shoe. I kept digging because I thought there had to be a butterfly in there, and there was! Perfect gift for my niece. This butterfly can also hang from a backpack, which the kids all love! So here's the full gift.I just added some purple shredded filler to the inside and I was done! What a cute way to present a gift! If you feel like trying one of these out, why don't you join our challenge? Just link your project to Mr. Linky on Lauren's blog and use the code MTTC02 if you post to SCS or another forum. We'd love to see what you can do with these templates! You may want to check out what the other girls on the My Time Design Team have done for some inspiration, too! Here is a collage peek of what they've done! Thanks for stopping by!
Alicia
Dana
Dawn
Jennifer
Kendra
Kristin
MacKenzie
Maria
Odette
Pam

Tamara
Tracey
and
Lauren

Recipe
Stamps: Petals and Stems and Fluttering By (Verve Visual)
Paper: Neenah white, lavender lace, Scrapbook Wizard dp
Ink: Lavender lace, Versamark
Accessories: Clear dp, PTI plum pudding stitched ribbon, red-line tape, crysals, brads, Basic Grey magnet

Color Throwdown Challenge

I finally completed a Color Throwdown Challenge! I think I did one when they first started the challenges, and I tried to do one two weeks ago, but I just couldn't get the colors to work for me. But this one was easier: basic black, brocade blue, and real red.

I also used this sketch by Ana Wohlfahrt for Taylored Expressions. I started with this adorable image from High Hopes. I received it from Dawn (aka flowergal36 on SCS). She sent me a few images a while back and I'm slowly getting around to coloring them. When I saw this image, I thought the jeans could be brocade blue and her shirt red, so I was all set. I used copic markers to color the image and put glitter on the wings. When the card was sitting on my counter, they just sparkled so incredibly I took a close-up picture of it. The picture is a bit blurry, but the sparkle can be seen.

The little hearts on the teapot were created using the tip of my copic marker. I just saw Marianne Walker, the copic guru, do a tutorial on making them on her blog, I Like Markers. I was just there, and the link to the video wasn't working, but that's where I saw it either yesterday or today. The hearts were punched using a Creative Memories punch, and the sentiment on the white heart was created using PTI's Beautiful Blooms and Mixed Messages. The Happy Valentine's Day sentiment and the hearts and sentiment on the inside are from Verve's new sets, Hearts on Fire and Hundred Hearts.

I'm on the mend from being sick with bronchitis. I didn't go to work for two days and still don't have my voice back. I'm going in tomorrow, but don't have to teach because we are correcting the English Language Arts (ELA) tests the kiddos took a couple of weeks ago. My poor students have had their routine interrupted for three days! I'll have to do something nice for them next week because I've heard they've been very good for the substitute! Well, off to bed so I can get a good night's rest! Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps: High Hopes, Hearts on Fire and Hundred Hearts (Verve), Beautiful Blossoms and Mixed Messages (PTI)

Paper: PTI white, black, real red, brocade blue

Ink: Real red

Accessories: Creative Memories heart punch, heart cuttlebug folder, glitter, SU ribbon, glitter dots, dimensionals

Dare to Get Dirty?

Yes, you can Dare to Get Dirty if you are an SCS Fan Club Member. There is a whole other part of SCS for Fan Club Members that is fabulous! Just another perk for being an SCS member. All this week, the "Dirty Girls" are putting out challenges. Holly, aka Toy (who happens to live about 3 miles from me), put out this sketch challenge. If you are a Fan Club member, you can find it here. I loved this sketch and started this card at 1:00 AM! I was busy all day, and finally got a chance to look at the challenge! Crazy, I know, but when I get my second wind, I could stay up all night (night owl, I guess!).

Back to the card. I had to find an image small enough to fit this oval. I was bummed because I thought I had oval Nestabilities, but realized I didn't. Luckily I had the Marvy ovals that worked fine. In the end, I chose this Karen Lockhart stamp (it's called Tomato with Greens). I colored it with copic markers. I used a white gel pen to highlight the tomato. I also used Spica glitter pens in silver for the hanger and clear to add some shimmer to the greens. It doesn't show up in the picture, but when the light hits it, it's quite shimmery. I used the white gel pen again to draw some dots in the scallops of the mat for the main image. I used the largest scalloped Nestability I had to cut the white piece and then ran it through the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder. I needed some sort of embellishment, and went for the new SU buttons. This one is Riding Hood Red. I put a piece of celery grosgrain ribbon I found in my ribbon jar behind the button. I thought the sentiment from Rosie's Roadshow fit with this unusual stamp and put two dew drops on either end. (I thought it was appropriate to use this stamp as I won it at the WNY SCS gathering I went to in April that was co-hosted by Holly! Thanks, Holly!) I finished it off with a dew drop on the button. I'm really pleased with how this turned out (for 1:00 in the morning!). In hindsight, I wish I had added some Crystal Effects to the tomato to give it some shine and dimension. I have two more cards to share, so keep on reading after the recipe.

Recipe

Stamps: Tomato with Greens (Karen Lockhart), Rosie's Roadshow (sentiment)

Paper: Certainly celery, real red, white, Summer Picnic and Certainly Celery dp

Ink: Adirondack pitch black, copic markers

Accessories: Marvy punches, Nestiabilities, cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, SU button, ribbon, dew drops, white gel pen, dimensionals, Spica glitter pens

With Sympathy

I have a friend who recenty lost her father. A few days before she had to put down her precious dog, Maggie. So I have two more sympathy cards to share. This one was inspired by Julee Tilman's card. I fell in love with it, so much so that I had to purchase these butterflies, called Fluttering By by Verve Visual, Julee's company. I started by pulling out this new dp from SU called Bella Rose and then paired it with Chocolate Chip and the new In Color Riding Hood Red. The butterfly was stamped on the white piece in Chocolate chip, again on a scrap piece of white, then again on the dp. I paper pieced the butterfly, cut it out and mounted it on top of the one stamped on the white piece (I did this because I did not want to cut out the antennae). The sentiment, from PTI's Mailbox Greetings, was also stamped in Chocolate Chip. When I mounted it on the white card, it looked a little bare, so I ran it throught the Textile cb folder, scalloped the bottom with SU's new scallop border punch, and added a strip of chocolate chip and the dp on the bottom. Dew Drops were added to the butterfly's body and anntenae and on the scallops on the bottom. (I've recently found these dew drops and have been using them quite frequently, as you can see). The inside looks like this. I love this sentiment by River City Rubber Works that I got at my LSS many years ago. The little butterfly is from Verve's Petals and Stems. I have another after this recipe so scroll down.

Recipe

Stamps: Fluttering By, Petals and Stems (Verve Visual), River City Rubber Works

Paper: Chocolate chip, riding hood red, PTI white, Bella Rose dp

Ink: Adirondack espresso

Accessories: Cuttlebug Textile folder, dew drops, SU scallop border punch, dimensionals

Goodbye Four-Legged Friend

This last one is a sympathy card for my friend who recently lost her Dalmatian, hence the black and white. I didn't have a Dalmatian stamp, so I used this one from Whipper Snapper, Sweet Sniffs of Spring, and made him look like a Dalmatian (well, sort of...use your imagination!). The image was colored with Prismacolor pencils. I think I added Crystal Effects to his nose (I don't remember because I sent it out a while ago as soon as I made it). I wanted to make this a black and white card, so I chose this patterned paper from DCWV called All Dressed Up (it's a great pack!). The ribbon (yes, that's ribbon running vertically) is something I picked up in a sale bin at Walmart. I chose to add the red to coordinate with the flower. It needed something else, so I added the paw print.

The thing I like best about this card is the sentiment on the inside. I found it used on a card on SCS a while ago and they mention it was from DRS Designs, so I went right on over and got it. I says "Four legged friends are a very special part of any family. Special thoughts are with you now that you've had to say goodbye." Since I'm a dog-lover, as are many of my friends, I had to have it for special cards like this one. Thanks so much for sticking with me on this long post and please stop by again!

Recipe

Stamps: Sweet Sniffs of Spring (Whipper Snapper), DRS Designs, Stampendous (pawprint)

Paper: Black, real red, white, DCWV All Dressed Up dp

Ink: Adirondack black

Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, ribbon, dimensionals, circle punches, Crystal Effects