Eastern Riot

Ahhh...simple and clean! Like a breath of fresh air!! This is about as clean and simple as I can get. I have a hard time really liking my "clean" card attempts. I always feel lik they're missing something (i.e. ribbon, bling, etc.). I really like this one though. It uses the Wednesday sketch challenge over on SCS (SC161).

I stamped my Riot of Petals background stamp (SU) with Versamark on a scrap of Shimmery White paper. I then embossed the image with detail gold ep. The image was colored with a mixture of Groovy Guava and Pumpkin Pie reinkers (Certainly Celery reinkers for the leaf image) and then cut out with my paper snips. The rest of the card is pretty straight forward (all card details are below).

On another note, my ankles and toes were harmed in the making of this card. You see, when I stamp at night I typically will have a "visitor" come to my stamp room. This "visitor" is 14 pounds of pure cat (all claws and sharp teeth)! This "visitor" who hails by the name of Rocky, is always at his most affectionate when the entire household is asleep (which is when I can typically stamp guilt free). Rocky's displays of affection are often quite painful and typically reserved for me. He likes to give me love bites and great big hugs with his front paws (claws extended to he can REALLY hug me) while purring the entire time.



Card details:
Stamps: Riot of Petals
Cardstock: Papertrey White, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Bali Breeze dp
Ink: Groovy Guava, Pumpkin Pie, Versamark
Other: Detail Gold ep, paper snips, Eastern Elegance rub-ons, dimensionals

Robot Mojo (or Karrie, you know I love ya!)

I was completing a job application last night on-line and received an e-mail from Karrie asking me if I was stamping. If I was stamping, Karrie wanted to know what stamps I was using and what layout. I told her that sadly I was doing boring stuff, but I had the cutest idea in my head for The Cats Pajamas "Love Robot" and this weeks Mojo Monday sketch over on Julee's blog. Karrie decided right then and there that she would just"whip something up"with Love Robot and Julee's sketch.

Now if you are a super talent like Karrie, you can "whip something up" that will be really stinking cute (as evidenced on her blog this morning by this cute card). Stamp artists like myself can take days to conceptualize something in their heads before putting it to paper. Sadly, most times what is on paper isn't nearly as cute as what was in the old noggin...you KWIM?

Luckily I had a rockin sketch. When you mix that with super cute images, you can't go wrong. Wanna see what I came up with?

X

X

X

X

Now mind you, this took DAYS to conceptualize.....

X

X

X

X

Wait for it....wait for it....

Card details:

Stamps: Love Robot and I'm Just Your Love Machine (TCP)

Cardstock: Basic Grey, Going Grey, Pixie Pink, Shimmery White

Ink: Staz-On Black

Other: Acetate, Bling (K&Co Smitten line), Copic Spica Glitter pens, WWC, Rectangle Nesties, dimensionals, glue dots.

Karrie made my day!

A HUGE thanks to Karrie for thinking of me! Karrie always brings a smile to my face when I visit her blog.

Award rules: Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on.

So here are the people that I am nominating (in no particular order).
Trudee
Lindsey
Beate
Leslie
Anna
Debbie
JanTink
Frances
Sharon
Lauren

Thank you ladies for always inspiring me with your beautiful work!

Linda

Polar Bear Birthday (or I suck at coming up with titles)

I finally finished putting this card together yesterday. I made this for this months Dirty Dozen sketch challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.

I used my new Memory Box Cupcake Bear and You Take the Cake sentiment that I purchased from Anna Wights store Sassy & Sweet Crafts. I sense a new addiction coming on with these Memory Box stamps! LOL! Also, in case you need enabling, have you seen Anna's new Posies for You set? I only hope that I ordered in time to get a signed copy! The link above takes you to her blog where she has some beautimous samples!

Card details:

Stamps: Cupcake Bear & You Take the Cake (Memory Box), Polka Dots (SU background)

Cardstock: Cool Caribbean, Regal Rose, Shimmery White

Ink: Staz-On Black, Cool Caribbean, Regal Rose marker

Other: Black organdy and Rose Grosgrain ribbon, Dew Drops, Diamond Stickles, Petite Scalloped Nestabilities

Pretty Amazing

Here is the other card that I made for my swap. This was uses the Eastern Eclectic color scheme in the SU catalog.

I stamped the flower twice (once in Rose Red and the other in stamped off Groovy Guava). I cut out the flowers using my paper snips and then layered one on top of the other. I then added one of the flowers from the Felt Fusion set and attached everything together with a Fire Circle brad. I am so happy that the Faux Silk panel actually shows off all the sparkle from the Dazzling Diamonds (for once). I used an Old Olive and Cameo Coral marker to ink up the branch stamp. I then stamped this on tissue paper and then crumpled it up into a little ball. I then smoothed out the tissue paper and attached it to a Very Vanilla piece with modge podge and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds all over while the glue was still wet. Messy...but so worth it! The hummingbird was stamped on watercolor paper using Staz-On Black ink. I then watercolored with my crayons. I used some of the new Cosmo glitter to add a little bling to the hummingbird.

Here is a close up picture of the Faux Silk piece and hummingbird.

Stamps: Pretty Amazing, Pretty Petals, Sanded
CS: Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Rose Red, Whisper White, Watercolor
Ink: Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Rose Red, Groovy Guava, Basic Black, Staz-On Black
Other: Dazzling Diamonds and Fine Cosmo glitter, Ticket Corner Punch, Fire and Vintage Brads, Flower Fusion, Dimensionals

My son will hate me someday for this.....

My son comes inside my stamp room asking me if he put his underwear on correctly? Umm...that would be a definite "NO"!

And for you dog lovers (I know of at least one who reads my blog...LOL!)....look at how big Shadow has gotten.

Secret Embrace

I've been very very busy! I'm being a bad girl in posting this now, as I'm not supposed to upload any pictures of what I made for my swaps until after a certain date. However as I haven't uploaded anything pretty to my blog for a little while (and I've been working very very hard on these swaps), I figured as long as I don't upload to Splitcoast, the secret will be relatively safe. LOL!

This is one of my swaps. For this particular card, I was supposed to use the Embrace Life set and use the color palette from Boho West. I made 8 full size cards that look like this one. It was a little labor intensive, but definitely worth it! I wish you could see the sparkle of the dazzling diamonds on the Faux Silk layers (heck...you should see the sparkle on me as well as in my stamp area)! I'll upload my other swap card using the Pretty Amazing set tomorrow (it was even more labor intensive than this one).

Thanks for looking...and remember it's a secret!

Card details:

Stamps: Embrace Life
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Purely Pomegranate, Shimmery White
Ink: Staz-On Timber Brown, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, white tissue paper, mod podge, piercer and mat pack, corner rounder and word window punch, dimensionals

Penguin of Love!

When Karrie posted the link to the new Spring images being released from Memory Box, I instantly fell in love with this little guy (Boxer Penguin). I've been stalking Anna Wights e-bay store religiously, and finally just broke down and e-mailed her. Anna was super sweet and took care of me! I now am the proud owner of Boxer Penguin, Ballet Penguin, and Cupcake Bear (I'm just going to have to take baby steps for all the other ones that I want). Luckily I have some stamped images that should tide me over for a while that Karrie was nice enough to send me.

This card literally took me about 5 minutes to make (as I already have the base card set aside from something that I had started eons ago). I stamped the penguin and sentiment on Shimmery White paper. I watercolored him with my watercolor crayons and an aquapainter. I went over the hearts with my Pink Spica glitter pen. I cut the image out using my Square Nestabilities. I then matted the image with a Pretty in Pink layer using my Scalloped Square Nestabilities. The designer paper is some that I purchased last year from Cloud 9 (Hearts Aflutter). It is super pretty and already glittered in places. I added a red epoxy heart in the penguins hand (by Cloud 9 from this year). Card measures 4 1/4" square.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Details:

Stamps: Boxer Penguin (Memory Box), Happy Valentines Day (The Cats Pajamas)

Ink: Staz-On Black

Cardstock: Shimmery White, Pretty in Pink, Cloud 9

Other: Nestabilities, Epoxy Sticker, Copic Spica glitter pen

Shaker Frogs

I had wheeled one extra Lily Pad image the other day when I made my shadowbox card. I thought I would try to make a shaker card (which is something I haven't done in a long while) rather than let the image go to waste. I used my Heart Scalloped Nestabilities to cut out all my shaker parts (including the acetate panel). I used some Hydrangea Dew Drops all around the top of the heart for a little interest. The little tag is the Tiny Tags die set from Cuttlebug. I stamped the XOXO from the SU By Definition set on the tag and then added a clear epoxy heart over (Cloud 9). The Lily Pad wheel and Frogs were stamped on Shimmery White paper and watercolored. I then went over with Diamond Stickles and Copic Spica glitter pen for added sparkle and interest.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Details:

Stamps: Frog Prince, Frog Princess (both from The Cats Pajamas), Lily Pad wheel and By Definition (SU)

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Shimmery White, Hearts Aflutter (Cloud 9)

Ink: Staz-On Black, Rose Red (XOXO)

Other: Pink Taffeta, Silver Cord, Dew Drops, glue dots, Clear Heart Epoxy sticker, Stickles, pink microbeads, Tiny Tags (cuttlebug), Scalloped Heart Nestabilities, acetate

Faux Embrace

I made this for the Wednesday sketch challenge over on Splitcoaststampers. Layout always seems to be a challenge for me, so when I see a good sketch I'm all over it!

The focal panel uses the Faux Silk technique from last weeks technique tutorial from Splitcoaststampers. It has Dazzling Diamonds glitter all over it (I wish you could see the sparkle in person). The big flower is watercolored on Shimmery white paper with my watercolor crayons and aquapainter. I then used a black glaze pen on the flower stamen. Before attaching the flower to the card with a dimensional, I shaped it to add more textural interest to the card.

Thanks for looking!

Card details:

Stamps: Embrace Life

Cardstock: Shimmery White, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Brushed Gold

Ink: Staz-On Black

Other: Watercolor crayons, Stylized Flowers embossing folder, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, tissue paper, gold cord, dimensionals, black glaze pen,

Calendar continued (or the post that never ends)

Stamps sets used: Little Sprinkle and Lil Party Hat (September for Karrie's birthday month), Mummy Poochie (Oct), Kitty Turkey (Nov) and Pooch on Roof (Dec).

TCP Calendar (continued)

OK, here is April through August. Here are the details if you would like them: Stamps: Little Sprinkle and Happy Crown (April), Guitar Cat (May), Chef Sprinkle (June), Patriotic Sprinkle (July), and Sprinkle Annette (Aug).

edited to add the month of May! Thanks Sharon!

Calendar for Karrie

Sometime around 12/30/07, I decided that I wanted to make a special little project for one of my favorite bloggers. If you have never checked out Karrie's blog, you are missing out on something special. Karrie's humor is infectious and her talent...well let's just say that the girl has stamping skills. Not only that, but I have found her to be just an overall good, genuine person (and I have never met her in real life). I'm not going to upload the whole calendar tonight (frankly...I've never tried uploading more than one photo at a time so I'm hoping that this will work). I will have everything uploaded for you to see throughout this week.

It's funny...once I started making this I realized that I needed a few more stamps to round out the months of the year (Sprinkle that is Bar-B-Queing, Turkey Sprinkle, Mummy Poochie, etc.). Like any good stamper on a mission, I immediately ordered my stamps. LOL! The calendar template is one that I downloaded from the A Muse blog. The full $3.00 cost for the pdf file goes towards Scleroderma Research.

All stamp images from The Cats Pajamas.

Edited to add stamp details for Cover through March:

Big Sprinkle & Lil Party Hat (Cover), Skating Kitty (January), Love Puppy (February), Bunny Kitty (March)

The calendar itself was printed on Shimmery White. I then used various SU cardstock to mat each calendar image. The calendar was then attached to SU Naturals White cardstock. I used my Bind-it-All to put the little calendar all together. The cover uses my Petite Circle Nestabilities, SU Jumbo Eyelets and Groovy Guava ribbon to tie it closed.

Valentine Frogs

I love making Shadowbox cards (here is a link to the tutorial over on Splitcoast for making these fun cards)! While I was dozing off to sleep last night, this idea kind of popped in my head (it must have been because I used my Heart Nestabilities on the prior card). I have to warn you though...the frogs WERE harmed in the making of this card (but not too terribly bad)! I popped the frogs up in the scene with dimensionals. Because I popped them up, it required that I cut them out of cardstock. Those little froggy feet were just to delicate to attempt so I lopped them right off. The reason you see the feet in the scene is that I stamped them and colored them in.

I rolled my SU Lily Pad wheel on Shimmery White cardstock to make a cute scene for TCP Frog Prince and Frog Princess. I watercolored all elements using both watercolor crayons and reinkers. Everything then got a coat of glitz in some form (either Stickles or Copic Spica glitter pens (frogs)). I used a homemade template to sponge some clouds in my scene. The front piece has a heart cut out using my Nestabilities plain hearts. I then embossed the Divine Swirls background using my Cuttlebug. Some Making Memories heart shaped brads in the corners attach the two pieces together. The embossed swirls then got a little Diamond Stickles added. I coated a Making Memories chipboard piece (from the $1.99 spot at Archivers) with sticky strip and then added some pink Microbeads.

I might wind up re-making this one. I'm not happy with the heart shape being somewhat cut off due to the smaller size of the shadowbox. I'd also like to have some more embellishments on the front piece. Karrie, if you're reading this can you ask Alma if she could make some cute stamps to go with the Frog Prince and Princess (i.e. Toadstools, dragonflies, Lily Pads, cat tails, etc.)? Anything to make a cute scene would be great!

Thanks for looking!

Card details:
Stamps: Frog Prince, Frog Princess, Love Speak (The Cats Pajamas) Lily Pad wheel (SU)
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Shimmery White
Ink: Staz-On Black, various for watercoloring
Accessories: Divine Swirls embossing folder, chipboard heart, pink microbeads, sticky strip, Heart brads (MM), Stickles (Waterfall, Fruit Punch, Diamond), Copic Spica glitter pens, plain heart Nestabilities

Love Robot

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting super excited for the upcoming The Cats Pajamas release. I think I first discovered The Cats Pajamas around this time last year when I spotted some cards that Julee made in the gallery over on Splitcoast. I do not have an addictive type personality usually, but I was hooked! I especially flipped over all the Valentine images! I then discovered Karrie's blog and have been having a little love affair with my Cats Pajamas stamps ever since. I'm curious to see what is being released in clear acrylic from the Valentine's line (as I have quite a few in UM rubber). Can't wait to see the new line with the Cowboys and Indians!

This card was super quick and easy (it had to be, we just rejoined YMCA yesterday and the kiddos are wanting to go to the swimming pool BIG time)! I stamped Love Robot and the Love Machine sentiment on Shimmery White cardstock (if you haven't figured this out, it is my cardstock of choice). I watercolored Love Robot using my watercolor crayons, and then went over him with my Copic Spica Glitter pens (in clear and silver). I then accented the word love with my Pretty in Pink SU marker.

I used my Nestabilities Scalloped and Plain hearts to make my first ever heart shaped card. Behind the Rose Red scalloped layer is a plain white heart shape that is the actual card. I just cut a square shaped 4x4 white card and used my plain Heart Nestabilities and my Wizard die cut machine to cut the card. I then hid the "imperfect" heart with the pretty Rose Red Scalloped heart and built the card from there!

Thanks for looking!

Card details:

Stamps: Love Robot, Love Machine (The Cat's Pajamas)

Cardstock: Shimmery White, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red

Ink: Staz-On Black, Pretty in Pink (marker)

Accessories: K&Co Bling, Watercolor crayons, Copic Spica Glitter pens, Plain and Scalloped Heart Nestabilities

Peonies make me happy!

I was lucky enough to have about an hour to play in my stamp room today. I knew that I wanted to stamp with my new Pretty Peony set from the SU Spring/Summer catalog. About 15 minutes of that time was devoted to looking for the darned set (my stamp area is what you would call a little disorganized at the moment). I prevailed however, and found the set! I have a special fondness for Peonies. They are such a beautiful, showy flower. I am lucky enough to have a beautiful Peony in my garden (by the name of Sorbet). I tried to mimic the colors of this Peony (which is a soft soft pink with hints of white/vanilla throughout).

Since my time was now somewhat limited (i.e. 45 minutes), I decided to go with a layout that I had already made before (i.e. I cased myself which was originally a case of Jenn Balcer). Please see this card for the original layout.

I stamped the first layer of the Peony in Blush Blossom on Shimmery White paper. The second stamp was inked up in Pretty in Pink (I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement). The two-step leaf was inked up in River Rock (stamped off once), with the second stamp inked up in Mellow Moss (also stamped off once). The images were cut out and set aside. The Tres Chic background was inked in Pretty in Pink and stamped on Shimmery White. I then sponged some Pretty in Pink around all edges. The background piece was matted with Pretty in Pink and then pierced for a little extra detail. The card base is Blush Blossom that was stamped with the Flourish from Baroque Motifs (ink used was Blush Blossom). A pretty accent was made with my Pretties kit and some Pink taffeta ribbon. A little Diamond Stickles added the perfect final touch.

Card details:

Stamps: Pretty Peony, Tres Chic, Baroque Motifs, Itty Bitty Backgrounds

Cardstock: Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Shimmery White

Ink: Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, River Rock, Mellow Moss

Accessories: Pretties Kit, Pink Taffeta ribbon, Diamond Stickles

Asian Embrace

I made this for Julee's Mojo Monday sketch challenge over on her blog. OMG is this ever an awesome sketch! The first thing that hit me when I saw this sketch is that it would be perfect for an Asian style card. Unfortunately, I do not have much in the way of Asian inspired stamps and accessories. I then saw this weeks tutorial for Faux Silk over on Splitcoaststampers, and knew in my head what I wanted to do.

The main image panel is Faux Silk. I stamped the floral branch from my SU Embrace Life set in black Staz-On on white tissue paper and then I very carefully watercolored using a Real Red reinker and my aquapainter. I then crumpled the tissue paper into a little ball and then smoothed it out as the technique calls for. The tissue paper was then adhered to a scrap piece of white cardstock with Mono Multi glue. While the glue was still wet, I sprinkled some Dazzling Diamonds glitter all over the image for a little added sparkle. I then cut away the excess tissue paper and then mounted the panel on some Basic Black cardstock, followed by a layer of SU Brushed Gold cardstock (I used my perfect layers tool to get the 1/16th in border just right). I then wrapped some gold cord around the panel and set it aside.

The Real Red layer was embossed with my Stylized Flowers cuttlebug embossing folder. This layer was also matted in Black and Gold. I then used two different sized square punches for the side accent (using black and gold cardstock). The background cardstock layer is the new Basic Grey color. This was embossed with Detail Black embossing powder (the image is also from the set Embrace Life). The final touch was stamping the large bloom from the Embrace Life set on Shimmery White cardstock. The image was colored with Real Red reinkers and some Twinkling H2O's for extra shimmer. The stamen of the flower was accented with my Black Copic Spica glitter pen. I wish the picture above would capture the sparkle and shimmer a little better, but these wintry Colorado days don't provide the best photography conditions.

I absolutely enjoyed making this card due to the awesome sketch. Thanks Julee!

Card Details:

Technique: Faux Silk

Stamps: Embrace Life (SU)

Cardstock: Basic Black, Shimmery White, Brushed Gold, Real Red

Ink: Real Red, Staz-On Black

Accessories: Gold Cord, Dimensionals, Stylized Flowers embossing folder, Dazzling Diamonds, Twinkling H2Os, Copic Spica Glitter pen

Tagged by Karrie

It seems that I've been tagged by Karrie (one of my favorite bloggers)

1. Name your two favorite scrapbooking topics? Family/Pets and Vacations
2. What are the two best places you've been to? Germany and New Mexico
3. Name two things you do every day? Tell my children that I love them and check my e-mail (you could also add reprimand my children for some reason or another to this list).
4. Tell us two things that everyone pretty much knows about you? That I like to stamp and that I have an excellent memory for detail.
5. Two places you wish to visit? Italy and Greece
6. Two things you may not know about me are: I have a Blue belt in Tai Kung Fu and I love to listen to good old 80's New Wave tunes when I stamp (via my IPOD so I don't rock out the kiddos)!
7. Two nicknames you've had at some time in your life: Parnelli (my husbands nickname for me when I'm driving fast) and Pumpkin
8. Name two of your favorite drinks: Cherry Coke and Water
9. What are two interesting (in a good or bad way) jobs you've had in your life? AT&T operator (back in the day when you actually received a real person when you dialed "O") and temporary Legal Secretary for the real gal that was going on vacation (when I was 16...what an eye opener)!
10. What are two things you would like to learn? I would love to learn to speak Italian (see #5 above) and really learn how to use a digital SLR camera.
11. What two things would make your scrapping/stamping work space work even better for you? Like Karrie, I would love to have more space. I would also love better lighting!
12. And the question I am adding is.....What are two of your best organizational tips for stampers that do not have a lot of space?

Hmmm...now who to tag? I'm supposed to tag two people to answer the above questions and then to also add a question of their own. The only requirement is that the question must be in twos. I would love to see what Leslie and Julee have to say.

Anna's "Flowered with Love"

I made this for Beate's weekend sketch challenge that she posts on her blog (WSC29). If you have never made it to Beate's blog, you don't know what you're missing!

Let me start off by saying that this card is so much prettier in real life (I always seem to be saying that). We have snow today in CO and I'm having a real hard time finding good light to photograph with. Just imagine all the shimmer and sparkle for me OK?

The focal point is a Whipper Snapper stamp that was designed by Anna Wight (aka Sweet Miss Daisy). This stamp is actually signed by Anna as I won it on her blog last year. I stamped the focal image in black Staz-On on Shimmery White and then colored in with my Copic Spica glitter pens. I outlined with a very light grey Copic marker to give the image a little depth and then added a few Diamond Stickles details. The piece was cut out and embossed with my rectangle Nestabilities and then mounted on a Shimmery Ruby piece of cardstock (that was also cut out with Nestabilities).

The card base is 5 1/4 " square. I stamped the retired SU Soft Swirls background in Craft Black on a Shimmery White square. I then embossed this with Iridescent Ice ep and then colored in the hearts with my Red Spica pen. I then adhered a black strip that was embossed with my Divine Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder. Some Primas and a crystal brad finish off the card.

Card details:

Stamp sets: Flowered w/Love (Whipper Snapper), Soft Swirls (retired SU)

Cardstock: Basic Black, Shimmery White, Shimmer Ruby

Ink: Staz On Black, Craft Black

Accessories: Iridescent Ice ep, Copic Spica glitter pens, Diamond Stickles, Divine Swirls embossing folder, Nestabilities, Primas, Crystal Brad

My frogs have mojo....

I made this for Julee's Mojo Monday sketch challenge over on her blog. Julee always has some rockin sketches (and by the look of things, she has some awesome new stamp sets coming our way soon too)! If you've never visited her blog, I highly encourage you to do so. You won't be disappointed!

For the central image, I used one of my Penny Black images (My Flower) stamped on Shimmery White with Black Staz-On. I watercolored the image using my watercolor crayons. I used the SU corner rounder on the Shimmery White piece and then mounted this on a Pixie Pink panel that was die cut from two square Nestabilities that are attached together with glue dots. I first reached for my rectangle Nestabilities, but couldn't find one long and skinny enough...square Nestabilities to the rescue! The base card is Bashful Blue which has a Gable Green layer on top that has been embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder (I believe it is called Bubbles). I then took some Bashful Blue ink dtp to tone down the green a little bit. I used my Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon on the side and then attached some of my new Dew Drops (Water assortment) to the ribbon with glue dots. The sentiment is some of the new SU rub ons (Eastern Eclectic). Added some Diamond stickles to the image (thanks Karrie!) and called her done.


I'm working on a cute project that I will hopefully be able to post tomorrow (at least some of it)! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!