Bubbling With Excitement

I am so honored to announce that I was selected to be on The Stamping Boutique's Design Team, alongside some other incredibly talented paper crafters. I love coloring Tracey Malnofski's images as they are so whimsical and fun. This should be a fun ride during the next six months, so visit me often for updates and new projects.

My official start day for The Stamping Boutique is February 1, but I couldn't wait to get started, so I decided to jump in a day early and participate in the current Critter Sketch Challenge, which happens to be a challenge that The Stamping Boutique is sponsoring. Hope you have a chance to play along too. I just love getting a sketch and having it work so well with an image. That's what happened with this card...

For this challenge, I selected TSB image "Dawn" and printed it onto X-Press It cardstock. I colored it with Copic markers. For a little sparkle, I highlighted some of the fins with Stickles. I then cut around the circle, and for the other two circles of the sketch, I simply used a circle Nestabilities die to cut two pieces of white cardstock. I colored them with Copics also, hoping to add to the underwater feel I trying to achieve. Patterned paper from Bo Bunny makes the large panel of the card, and the side ric rac is actually cut from a piece of Lasting Impressions patterned paper. Small crystal beads and a sheer ribbon help put the finishing touches on this card.

Thanks for visiting my blog today and allowing me to share my happy news with you.

We Went Postal

This was my first Sassy Cheryl image. I bought it about this time last year from Squigglefly. In my mind, this was a must have image, because days before I purchased it, my then fiance and I had decided on the location of our wedding...an old post office. I would have absolutely loved to have had this precious image incorporated into our invitations, programs, thank you notes, etc. But, reality hit...there was no way I could do the image justice, times 100 guests, with all of the other things that needed done in the upcoming six months. So, on my hard drive it sat. Not forgotten though.

It seems only right, that it in the very least, the image should act as a Valentine or Anniversary card. And that is what the current challenge on Sassy Cheryl's has inspired me to do. The challenge is called "What's Love Got to Do with It?", using the theme of love.

I printed this Sassy Cheryl image called "Delivery with a Kiss" onto X-Press It cardstock. I colored the image with Copic markers. From there, I added panels of Making Memories and Hot Off the Press patterned paper to create the layout for this card. The hearts are cut from patterned paper using a Nestabilities heart die. I then paper pieced around the image panel and one of the larger panels of patterned paper. As a finishing touch, I added our postmark, a rubberstamp I had custom made on Etsy, which has our names, date and location of our wedding. (And, yes...I was able to at least use this at our wedding, on our programs).

So, I'm guessing I'll give this card to my husband, Chris. I will.

Desert Warmth

Imagine my surprise when I opened up a package from Cat's Cupboard and found two Terry Medaris images tucked into my order. THANK YOU, Cat! Brings back lots of fond memories of traveling to San Diego to take two of Terry's classes at Cat's store during the spring of 2009. I met so many wonderful, talented people that weekend.

So, when I saw this particular image, I knew I had to incorporate it into my self-proclaimed BCS card series. Sorry, I'm just a couple weeks late on this. Just wasn't too excited about that Auburn vs. Oregon National Championship game. The game didn't turn out how I wanted it to, but I'm thinking I like how this card turned out.

The cactus image is a Terry Medaris image. I stamped it with Stazon Jet Black ink onto Strathmore Bristol smooth paper. I colored the image with Prismacolor and Caran d'Ache pencils. This was a challenge for me, because I didn't have an example of this colored by Terry (or Annette, for that matter) so I was totally on my own for color choice. I usually just copy examples when it comes to Terry's images, because I have surrendered long ago I can't compete with Terry's color choices.

I cut around the image and put it on scraps of kraft, and patterned paper from Lasting Impressions and Bo Bunny. I initially paper pierced around these panels, and I just couldn't get away with it any longer...stitching was needed to go with this card. I don't stitch!!! I don't sew!!! I don't know how...but, somehow I crudely did, and I'm pleased to share the results. Three gold brads put the finishing touches on this card.

I am going to enter this card into the current Stampin' For the Weekend Challenge, as the theme is "Getting Warmed Up". Where better to warm up than a desert? As I look at the snow outside my window, I'd certainly like a desert trip.

And who better to learn about Prismacolor pencils than from Terry Medaris? And who could be nicer than Cat? THANKS to you both!

Hogs and Kisses

Aren't these two pigs just an adorable couple? They are from Starving Artistamps. I stamped them onto Georgia Pacific cardstock and colored them with Copic markers. I cut them out...and they sat on my workspace for about four weeks. I didn't really know what to do with them.

And then I was inspired by the current Mojo Monday sketch challenge #174. I tweaked the sketch just a bit, by making it a square card, and then everything fell into place. Patterned paper from Bo Bunny, Lasting Impressions and Making Memories create the panels for this card. Nestabilites dies cut two of the panels and the larger hearts. Some light sponging with Distress Ink Spun Sugar was done on one of the panels. A white gel pen dotted around one of the panels.

The sentiment is computer-generated. Small hearts were cut with a punch, and adorned with little pink rhinestones. Sheer white ribbon completes the card.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I hope you had a great weekend. Sigh...as I look ahead at a five day work week with no snow in the forecast. ;-(

Here's the Scoop...

I had the day off yesterday. Gotta love snow days. So, what did I do with this unexpected time off? Well, I made some cards, of course.

This scoop of hearts image was a digital freebie from The Stamping Boutique. I printed it onto X-Press It cardstock and colored it with Copic markers. I cut around the image, and then drew my own hearts (the ones on the bottom of the card) with a Memento black marker, and also colored these with Copic markers, and cut them out with my Cutter-bee scissors.

Patterned paper from Bo Bunny, Lasting Impressions and Making Memories create the layout for this card, along with white cardstock. The circle panels were cut from Nestabilities circle dies. A little paper piercing was done along the top and the bottom of the card. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things, and was stamped with Versafine Onyx black.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today. I was snowed in all day long...so, I have a couple more cards to share with you. Check back soon, and enjoy the weekend.

Love Silhouette

I was intrigued by a recent Try a New Technique challenge on Splitcoast, TLC308,which was the many different ways to use silhouette stamps. One of the suggestions was to stamp a silhouette image onto patterned paper. It had never ever dawned on me to do this before, so I had to give it a try.

The silhouette used is a new stamp given to me by my new mother-in-law at Christmas. It is from Inkadinkado. I stamped the image with Versafine Onxy black ink onto the "I Love You" patterned paper from DCWV. I cut the panel and framed it with black cardstock. Light beige cardstock and more black cardstock form the layout for this card, which was inspired by the current Clean and Simple (CAS) sketch challenge, CAS102, on Splitcoast.

Black sheer ribbon and a small red cardstock heart cut with a Nestabilities die add the finishing touches to this card.

No coloring!!!??? Really???!!! LOL!

UPPERCASE

I have never owned a camera that can adequately take a picture of a purple card, so I'm not going to allow myself to stress over this one either. Just imagine this card a bit more purple.

The image and sentiment are both from Eat Cake Graphics. They absolutely crack me up. A little later into the year, when my Kindergarten students understand the conventions of lowercase letters when writing, I'm going to say this sentiment to them, just to keep myself entertained. I stamped the sentiment and image with Marvy black dye ink onto X-Press It cardstock. The image is colored with Copic markers.

The layout is from this month's Sketch For You To Try Challenge. Panels of patterned paper from Lasting Impressions and DCWV framed with black cardstock were arranged accordingly. A white gel pen was used to "stitch" around some of the panels, and a corner punch was used to round two of the corners on one panel. A ribbon completes this card. The Eat Cake Graphics sentiment was stamped onto a circle panel that was cut with a Nestabilities die. A Nestabilities die also cut the black inverted scallop around the sentiment.

So glad you stopped by today. I sure do appreciate it.

HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING YOUR WEEKEND! ~Intentional caps there~ ;-)