3 in a ROW?????

3 challenges in a row? That's a record for me - well, in the recent months at least.

Today's challenge was sketch challenge - a very pretty split background with a main image overlaying the background.

My base is PTI Plum Pudding. I took Lavender Moon cardstock and cut it to be 1/8" smaller than the base. I then cut it apart into sections and inked the edges with Lavender Moon Palette ink. The images in the background are stamped in Lavender Moon stamped off once so they're soft and imitate the main image.

My main image is the fluffy dandelion stamp from Gina K's Make a Wish set. It's stamped in PTI Plum Pudding. I adore this set - it's extremely versatile and I need to put it somewhere easily accessible so I use it more often. The sentiment comes from the same set and is also stamped in Plum Pudding.

I wanted to make the edges of my main image stand out more so I pulled out my Quick Stitch sewing machine (the little handheld one.) I need to work on my sewing.

The prima and rhinestone center were a last minute addition - the card was looking unbalanced and I needed something near the top to equalize the sentiment and the main image. Prima needs to get together with Stampin' Up and Papertrey to get some paper flowers made up in their colors. It would certainly make my life easier.

Stamps: Gina K - Make a Wish. Paper: PTI Select White, Plum Pudding, Lavender Moon. Ink: Plum Pudding, Lavender Moon. Accessories: prima, rhinestone, glue, dimensionals, sewing machine.

Wishing for the weekend to start now,

Again?

I did it again: another challenge card made, photographed and uploaded on the same day.

I'm proud of myself. I think I've figured out how to fit stamping into my schedule again.

Today's color challenge was Riding Hood Red (I used Real Red), Always Artichoke, and Basic Gray. I made one of my favorite "not what the stamps are really meant for" images. The stamps are Papertrey's Sweet Love - the solid and outline hearts. I love turning them into flowers - by putting the points of the hearts together. I created some leaves by putting the tops of the hearts together. I cut them out and folded them slightly to create some dimension. The background it's on is sponged with Basic Gray ink.

Stamps: Papertrey - Sweet Love. Paper: Real Red, Always Artichoke, Basic Gray, Select White. Ink: Basic Gray, Always Artichoke, Real Red. Accessories: bone folder, dimensionals, ticket corner punch, brads, ribbon, clip, cuttlebug, Spots n Dots embossing folder.


OH, I needed to decompress after work today. I don't need more excitement for the week. Really. I'll probably explode - or go crazy. We had a kindergartner break her arm after school (it was obvious it was broken) and since I was the lead teacher there at the time, I got to be in the middle of the action. It wasn't as dramatic as I'm probably making it sound like, but I had a lot going through my head this afternoon.

Is it the weekend yet?

Christmas Cards #... Darn, I Lost Count

I've been playing around with Christmas card designs for the last week and I've officially lost count.

Here are the 2 cards that I didn't take pictures of yesterday because of the dark. It's still raining, but there was enough light to take pictures - and for the pictures to turn out pretty well.

I wanted a card that leaned toward the masculine end of stamping. Something that was simple and not too fussy to make in bulk. Since I'm working a lot more than I was last year, I need something that can be cut and assembled relatively quickly. The tree is stamped in Burnt Umber Palette Ink and then watercolored with Old Olive ink - which warped the paper slightly. I think I'm going to make a change over to chalk pastels which should color nicely and not warp the paper.

Stamps: SU - Lovely as a Tree, PTI - Take a Bough. Paper: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Olive Press dp. Ink: Old Olive, Burnt Umber Palette. Accessories: brad, aquapainter, dimensionals.

I was trying to think of other stamps that would make Christmas cards - when I remembered Baby It's Cold Outside by MFT stamps. I'm also in a very monochromatic mood, so the entire card is Rose Red. The image was stamped in Palette Noir ink and colored in with Prismacolor pencils and blended with baby oil. The snow, skirt, scarf and snowman are all shimmery with Oyster Twinkling H2Os - now that I figured out how use them successfully, I'm in love. The ribbon is woven through holes punched with a Martha Stewart ribbon punch.

Stamps: MFT - Baby It's Cold Outside. Paper: Select White, Rose Red cs and dp. Ink: Palette Noir, Rose Red. Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil, Twinkling H2Os, ribbon punch, organdy ribbon, tacky tape.

I've also been playing around with my Christmatini card - and trying to figure out how to stop the marker from smearing when I put the Twinkling H2Os on. After deciding that I needed to use a non-waterbased marker, and questioning if I wanted to buy a red Copic marker JUST for this, I remembered that Sharpie markers are alcohol based. The red Sharpie works fabulously and after I changed the color of the Twinkling H2Os, I'm getting the look I wanted.

Hoping the rain ends soon,

2 Christmas cards

Or prototypes more specifically. I'm trying to be a good stamper and get my ideas solidified before it's too late and I have to *gasp* BUY cards.

I was talking with my best friend about unusual color combos for Christmas cards and yellow and green came up as a possibility. I pulled out the one image I'm positive I want to use - the Christmatini stamp that I bought from Stamping Bella. I made the card, thought about it for a moment and decided against it. It just didn't look right.

Stamps: Stamping Bella - Christmatini, PTI - Snowflake Serenade. Paper: So Saffron, Spring Moss, Select White. Ink: Palette Noir, Spring Moss, So Saffron. Accessories: Argyle Cuttlebug folder, Twinkling H2Os, dimensionals, aquapainter.

After thinking about the first card, I realized that it needs a stronger color than just pale yellow and green. Red works. I switched around the layout and made the CB'd background only about half the card. It's still not quite where I want it to be, but it's definitely closer.


Stamps: Stamping Bella - Christmatini, PTI - Snowflake Serenade. Paper: Real Red, Select White. Ink: Palette Noir, Real Red. Accessories: Argyle Cuttlebug folder, Twinking H2Os, Aquapainter, Corner rounder punch, dimensionals, Burgundy and Crystal Stickles.

That's as far as I've gotten with my Christmas card creation ideas.

Wishing everyone stamping success,

The Search Begins...

I have a card to share - it's one I made right after VSN but never got around to taking a picture or uploading.

I've really enjoyed the look of sewing on cards, but I didn't like the price of sewing machines. The cheapest I could find for a regular machine was around $100 and let's face it, if you've seen any pictures of my table in the Dungeon, I don't have room for a full size sewing machine. I found a Singer Sew Quick (a hand-held sewing machine) for $15 in a store and figured I'd give it a go.

It's easy to use and only does a straight stitch. The downsides that I can see are:
1) if you're left handed, you might have trouble because it's designed to be held in your right hand with your left hand holding and guiding the material and
2) the way the presser foot is designed - it holds down the material really well and I've had the problem of trying to get paper out, I inadvertently push the needle back into the paper.

Stamps: Out on a Limb, Out on a Limb Additions, Out on a Limb Sentiments. Paper: Tangerine Tango, Only Orange, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla. Ink: Creamy Caramel, Only Orange. Accessories: dimensionals, Sew Quick.

Now, onto my search. I need to find my Christmas card designs - I'm so behind where I was last year. I want one of my cards to be just red and white, another to be yellow and green (I'm different), and I have an idea for another card's image. I made a card last night in yellow and green, but I'm thinking that it would work better as my red and white card.

Wishing everyone a great week,

It's time to show some cards

I need to get myself back in the mindset of make a card, take a picture and upload it all in the same day. I need to do a KETCHUP post.

Not long after I did my last post, I was printing someting out and the paper jammed. Not a problem, except I'm working in tight quarters and all the cards I make wind up sitting in a pretty Ikea planter/tin on top of my printer (and more recently, take over my desk in general.) Everything had to be moved.


As you can see from the picture, I had a lot of cards. All the cards that are in the white box weren't in the tin, they were piled precariously on my desk - the threat of avalanche was constant. I'm slowly RAKing the cards - I sent out 11 cards this morning.

Something I wanted to try last week when it was a TLC challenge was making a suspension card. They're super easy and lots of fun.


Stamps: Papertrey - It's a Celebration. Paper: Aqua Mist, Purely Pomegranate, Select White, My Mind's Eye dp. Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Aqua Mist. Accessories: thread, cuttlebug, classic oval Nestabilities, dimensionals, adhesive pearls.

Carole's color challenge last Tuesday was really pretty: Groovy Guava, Barely Banana and Chocolate Chip. I'm not sure I really like how my card turned out, but it's a great color combo.


Stamps: MFT - Boho Blossoms. Paper: Groovy Guava, Barely Banana, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White. Ink: Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Barely Banana. Accessories: dimensionals, ribbon, halfback pearls.

I haven't done a Saturday Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoast in forever - almost a year. (I did the math.) The challenge was to be inspired by some wedding cakes - and there was a beautiful aqua cake with branches wrapped around it. The branches reminded me of SU's Embrace Life, so I went from there.


Stamps: SU - Embrace Life, Papertrey - Piece of Cake. Paper: Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Select White. Ink: Burnt Umber Palette, Aqua Mist, Spring Moss. Accessories: ribbon, slit punch, dimensionals, Sakura pen, aquapainter.

And this brings us to today's TLC challenge - grids. Since I don't have a Scor-Pal, I had to use my scoring blade on my trimmer to make my lines - and they're not fancy and on an angle or anything. After scoring my background piece, I stamped it with Flourishes' Damask background stamp and then sponged the edges. The main image is from Time for the Bubbly by My Favorite Things. It's stamped in Palette Noir and colored in with Prismacolor pencils and baby oil.


Stamps: Flourishes - Damask, MFT - Time for the Bubbly. Paper: Plum Pudding, Lavender Moon, Select White. Ink: Palette Noir, Plum Pudding, Lavender Moon. Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, baby oil, blending stumps, sponge, ribbon, staple, dimensionals, word window punch, brad.

I hope everyone has a great week!

I'm around, I'm around

I've actually been stamping. :)

I'm really liking the polka dot satin ribbon from Papertrey that I ordered in ALL the colors. As noted by the fact that all 3 cards that are going to be in this post have some on them.

Since my birthday was last Tuesday, I needed to make some thank you cards. I also had all this new Papertrey stuff. Hmm...

I made 2 at the same time, using the same colors, main stamp set, and dp. I also bought myself a Cropadile Big Bite at Michael's last week with a 50% off coupon, so I had to try it on snaps in the middle of the card. For those who are curious: PTI - Papertrey Ink; SU - Stampin' Up!
Stamps: PTI - Spiral Bouquet. Paper: Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Select White, Everyday Blessings dp. Ink: Aqua Mist, Spring Moss. Accessories: Big Bite, snaps, dimensionals, word window punch, PTI ribbon.

Stamps: PTI - Spiral Bouquet, SU - Much Appreciated. Paper: Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Select White, Everyday Blessings dp. Ink: Aqua Mist, Spring Moss. Accessories: PTI ribbon, dimensionals, word window punch, snaps, Cropadile.

The last card I made was also using Papertrey papers, but since I have these gorgeous Verve Visual sets sitting out, I decided to use one of the flowers. I wanted to keep it super simple, but absolutely gorgeous. I stamped the flower twice - once in Lavender Moon and once in Plum Pudding. I cut the extra leaves away from the Plum Pudding flower and layered it onto the other flower and connected them with a pearl brad.
Stamps: Verve Visual - Thankful Blossoms. Paper: Plum Pudding, Lavender Moon, Very Vanilla, Guide Lines dp. Ink: Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding. Accessories: corner rounder punch (to make scallops), paper piercer, dimensionals, PTI ribbon, pearl brad, Frosted Lace Stickles.

I'm waiting for Papertrey to send me the right stamp set. When I was unpacking my box, I had Boards and Beams instead of Out on a Limb Sentiments. So I sent them the set back and I got an email on Monday saying that the correct set is on its way.

I'm getting a little antsy about my Nestabilities that I ordered over a month ago from Cut @ Home. I ordered from them over a month ago - and while I do know that Nesties are REALLY in demand, it's kinda hard to be patient. I guess I got spoiled last order when I got them within 2 weeks.

Life's just crazy right now.

Wishing everyone a little less craziness than I currently think I have,

Thursday - An excuse to use...

My ruffled ribbon that I picked up at my LSS last week - or the week before. Or it might have been last month... I can't remember anymore. All I know is I got it at my LSS and it was in one of my ribbon jars.

The Ways to Use it Challenge is all about Ruffles - pleated paper, crimped paper, ruffled ribbon, etc. Since I don't have a sewing machine I can use for sewing on paper and I seem to regularly forget that I own a crimper, I went with the pretty yellow ruffled ribbon.

And because I bought the blue ribbon at the same time because I thought they looked fabulous together, they're together now. The colors for the card came from the ribbons - which are really close to Papertrey's Lemon Tart and SU's Brocade Blue.

I decided to use one of my new MFT stamp sets. I haven't gotten around to using Boho Blossoms yet, so I inked up the solid flower with Lemon Tart ink and stamped it on Whisper White. Since I'm pretty bad about lining outline images up within the solid images, I stamped the lines on vellum cardstock in Brocade Blue. I trimmed the flower out and attached it to the rest of the image with a brad.

The large layer of Lemon Tart cardstock is also stamped with the solid flower image. The large layer and the image layer are both up on dimensionals.
Stamps: MFT - Boho Blossoms. Paper: Lemon Tart, Brocade Blue, Whisper White, vellum. Ink: Brocade Blue, Lemon Tart. Accessories: ribbons, dimensionals, brad, ticket corner punch.

A cute story to share. The director of my daycare brings her 4 year-old daughter to work with her every day. K (the daughter) spends the mornings with kindergartners who go to school in the afternoon and takes a nap in the afternoons. On Tuesday she was back for her nap while I was planning summer stuff and she was fidgeting for a half hour or so. Fed up, I told her to roll over so I could rub her back. 30 seconds into rubbing her back, she's out cold. Her mom was amazed.

Hope everyone has a good Friday and weekend!

Technically it's Thursday...

but I haven't gone to bed yet. So it's still Wednesday in my head. And Wednesday's at Splitcoast mean Sketch Challenges. My schedule has been crazy and I just haven't had the time to do any of the sketch challenges until tonight.

Generally sketch challenges are given in terms of A2 cards: 4.25"x5.5" Today's card was to be long - mine is 4"x9.5" And I just grabbed a business size envelope... it's too long. By about a 1/4" but it's still too long.

I can't seem to keep my hands off my new Papertrey stuff - ink, paper and stamps. My card is made with Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, and the pink pattern collection (I can't remember the name.)

We had to fold back part of the front of the card. I added scallops to the edge of mine with the corner rounder (removing the guard) and sponged on Berry Sorbet to accentuate it. I cut 3 strips of Berry Sorbet - 1/2", 3/4" and 1/8" - to attach to the front of my card. I stamped one of the flowers randomly and then adhered the strips on top. I paper pierced the top and bottom of each strip.

The oval was a necessity on the card - the rules of the challenge said keep the oval. I used my Coluzzle to cut my ovals - I ordered Nesties on Monday, but they haven't shipped yet. The image panel is stamped in Sweet Blush and sponged lightly with Berry Sorbet. A rhinestone brad is the center of my flower.
Stamps: Papertrey - Garden of Life. Paper: Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush, white, pink pattern by Papertrey. Ink: Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush. Accessories: mat pack, corner rounder, Coluzzle, brad, tacky tape, sponge.

Hope your Thursday is great!

Tuesday's color challenge

*gasp* I'm stamping in the middle of the week!

It might actually happen often this week - and earlier in the day too. I go in later than normal for the rest of the week - which gives me a bit more stamping time in the mornings.

Anyway, back to the card. The colors for today are Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky and Basic Black. A very pretty combo and it works perfectly into my need for a sympathy card - one of my SCS friends had her grandfather pass away over the weekend.

All stamps on the card come from Papertrey's Garden of Life set. I stamped the solid flower in Soft Sky and layered the outline on top in Purely Pomegranate. The image panel is edged in Palette Noir (I dragged the ink pad down the edge) and the Soft Sky layer below is edged in Purely Pomegranate. The centers of the flowers have Cloud 9 Rain Drops as their centers.

The sentiment strip is 1/2" of leftover Purely Pomegranate cardstock with black velvet ribbon layered over top and the sentiment punched out with the word window punch.
Stamps: Papertrey - Garden of Life. Paper: Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky (cs and dp), white. Ink: Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, Palette Noir. Accessories: word window punch, dimensionals, rain drops, velvet ribbon.

It's cold here again. If anyone who has warm weather could send a bit my way, I'd appreciate it.

Papertrey Blog Hop

Okay, it's my first blog hop. Please be patient. I'm not one of the 25 people chosen, I just decided I wanted to do the challenge. :)

The challenge was to use the Father Knows Best dp and little pieces of it. Since I didn't buy any when I ordered the last time *slaps hand* I used the print-off version that Nichole was kind enough to give us as a PDF.

SO... Here's my card. I edged one of the patterns with Lemon Tart ink. The card's hopefully going to be read as Happy Cupcake Day. I've been in the mood for cupcakes for 3 weeks now.

Stamps: Papertrey - It's a Celebration. Paper: Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Papertrey Lemon Tart, Father Knows Best dp. Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, Papertrey Lemon Tart, Close to Cocoa Marker. Accessories: 1 1/4" square punch, dimensionals, Crystal Stickles.

I had a lot of fun making this card today.

I'm glad it's the weekend - and I don't have to go to work tomorrow.

Wishing everyone beautiful weather!

**I've edited in a better picture of the card - I was in a hurry this morning when I took the original picture**

Tuesday Catch-up

I actually had the card for yesterday's challenge done yesterday morning before work. I just didn't have time to take a picture or upload it.

Here it is. :) The technique for yesterday was to create a double pocket card. The tutorial is on my friend Judy's blog: http://jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/ It's really easy to do. I taped the card together then added a snap to make sure everything stayed where it needed to be.
Stamps: Papertrey - Simple Little Things. Paper: Bali Breeze dp, Old Olive, Rose Red, white. Ink: Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie. Accessories: ribbon, jumbo eyelets, snap, corner rounder.


I had time today to do my color challenge card and upload it. Today's colors are: Basic Gray, Groovy Guava, Blush Blossom. I love Groovy Guava and Blush Blossom together - they're monochromatic and look fabulous. I love Stampin' Kub's tutorial for Dyeing Pearls because I think the little touch of shimmery pearl that matches pops.

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers. Paper: Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava (cs and dp), Basic Gray. Ink: Basic Gray (edging a layer), Groovy Guava. Accessories: brads, ticket corner punch, slit punch, ribbon, pearl corsage pin, Diamond Glaze, Groovy Guava reinker, pearl bead, dimensionals.

Last night was the Papertrey release. Since I haven't bought anything since January, I went a little crazy there this morning.


A little tidbit: check out Kim V's blog (she's the MFT Lady and in my blog roll) for a special that she's running through Friday. **I'm not affiliated with MFT stamps at all, I thought Kim's doing something great and that I wanted to pass the news on**

It's supposed to be in the 60s today. *happy dance* Hope it's sunny and warm where you are!

A color challenge to be leery about

In the past 11 months I have been playing on Splitcoast, there have been color challenges that cause me to go "umm...." Most of the time I'm pleasantly surprised even when they use colors that I don't normally use.

Not today. Today's colors are: Real Red, Glorious Green, and Night of Navy. Glorious Green is a very yucky color in my opinion. It's a very Kelly green that I can never seem to look good. I wanted to minimize it on my card.

The background paper is stamped with the Papertrey Anniversary Set. I love the dp I made with it using Night of Navy. I then sponged Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink over the edges to antique it.

I stamped the medallion in Real Red on white, punched it out with a 1 1/4" circle punch. It's layered on a 1 3/8" circle punch in Night of Navy and a SU scallop circle punch in Real Red. The edges of the scallops are sponged with Distress Ink. A brad and Stickles finish it off.

The sentiment was stamped in Glorious Green on white. The paper was sponged with Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.

This card is going the mom of a friend of mine. She was taken to the hospital on Sunday night for what is has turned out to be an intestinal blockage. I really hope she does feel better soon.

Stamps: Papertrey - Simple Little Things (anniversary set). Paper: Real Red, Glorious Green, Night of Navy, white. Ink: Glorious Green, Real Red, Night of Navy, Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Vintage Photo and Tea Dye. Accessories: ribbon, brad, paper piercer, stickles, dimensionals, sponge, corner rounder punch, 1 1/4" 1 3/8" and SU scallop circle punches.

I hope that tomorrow's a sunny warm day for everyone!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

*running in with my Papertrey Anniversary set that arrived in the mail today*

IT'S MINE! ALL MINE!

Can't wait to get all inky and play!

The joy of new stamps!

I had to get someone else to open the box because I wasn't sure what it was and I was worried that I might spoil my Spring Fling gift.

But it's free PAPERTREY!!!!!

*running out again*

I'm BAAAA-CK

With projects done and ready to be posted.

It's Thursday, Ways to Use it Challenge day. Today's challenge is Patterned Paper galore. In the words of the guest hostess today, everything but the base. I think I accomplished the goal.

I was blog hopping and found a gorgeous card by Shelly (her blog's over in my list) where she cut the background up and I thought it looked great. I inked the edges with Palette Burnt Umber ink so that the cuts would stand out. I also wanted to try an experiment with this week's Technique challenge - Faux Cloisonne. If you can do it with magazine pages, why can't you use patterned cardstock? So I stamped the flowers from SU Natural Beauty (retired) onto some Basic Grey Romani paper and embossed it in gold. I cut it out and glued it onto the papers, then added some Diamond Glaze so that it would shine.

Stamps: SU - Natural Beauty. Paper: Georgia-Pacific White, Basic Grey Romani. Ink: Versamark, Palette Burnt Umber. Accessories: gold embossing powder, brads, dimensionals diamond glaze.

The other thing I have to post is a card and Frappuccino bottle. I've been slowly working my way through a 4 pack of Frappuccinos (I'm not really a coffee person) and I finally have something to show you with one of them.

The dp is Sweetwater - Fresh collection - and it's wrapped around the bottle and also on the card. The other colors are pulled from the dp. The top of the bottle (which can't be seen) is painted with white acrylic paint with some Certainly Celery reinker in it to turn it the right color of green.

Stamps: Papertrey - Out on a Limb. Paper: Soft Sky, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, white, Sweetwater dp. Ink: Soft Sky, Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Creamy Caramel. Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" square punches, marvy mega scallop square punch, coluzzle, chipboard, tacky tape, ribbon, baubles, dimensionals.

View of the Dungeon

Every time I take pictures of my workspace - commonly called "the Dungeon" because it's down in the basement - I swear that it's not normally that messy. Then I surpass the last picture in messiness.

So... here are the most recent pictures of my area: The first one is standing from the end of the table looking down towards my inkpad holder and the other is from right behind my work chair.

The main problem is that I was in a hurry after I did the WT challenge this day and didn't clean up.

I also have my card for the STCC done and ready to be uploaded. I needed help figuring out the colors, so I used the SU color combos website at www.scraptitude.com/colorcombo Colors for today are: Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, River Rock, and Close to Cocoa.

Stamps: Papertrey - Out on a Limb. Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, River Rock, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa dp. Ink: Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Versamark. Accessories: Ultra Thick Embossing Powder, heat tool, sponge, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, ticket corner punch, brads, ribbon, dimensionals.

Faith's TLC

Today's Technique Lover's Challenge on Splitcoast was hosted by one of my good friends, Faith - markie's mom over on Splitcoast.

Faith LOVES a technique she calls Ink, Spray and Smash. You take a piece of glossy cardstock, spritz it with a water bottle, dribble reinkers onto the paper, spritz another sheet of paper with water and smash the 2 sheets of paper together. You can do it multiple times before you run out of ink on the bottom sheet.

Kinda messy and lots of fun. I only just tried it today - I've been too scared to in the past.

I'm still in my "it's freezing, give me warm colors" phase.

The Ink, Spray and Smash paper was made with Pumpkin Pie and Pink Passion reinkers. The background is the second sheet pressed and the flower is made with either the bottom sheet or the first sheet - I can't remember.

I made this flower on another card earlier this year and really liked how it turned out - the petals of the flower are made from the outline heart from the Papertrey set Sweet Love. One layer is stamped in a circle, cut around the outside, the top petals are all individual, taped on separately and folded to give dimension.

Stamps: Papertrey - Sweet Love. Paper: Glossy white, Pink Passion, River Rock. Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Pink Passion. Accessories: ribbon, mat pack, charm, rhinestone brads.

My friend and coworker asked me a while ago if I could alter a composition book to give to her boyfriend for Valentine's Day. He's a musician, writes lyrics and she wanted to give him a gift that would mean a lot to him. I hope I didn't make it too feminine.

Stamps: Papertrey - Out on a Limb. Paper: Music and alphabet paper I had laying around the house, Basic Black. Ink: Brilliance Moonlight White. Accessories: mod podge, super jumbo scalloped oval punch, brads, ribbon, spiral clip, composition book.

Doesn't this ALWAYS happen? Lent, Day 1

So today officially starts my buying moratorium on all things stamping - except One of a Kind (I mentioned this earlier.) I realize - as I'm cutting the pieces of my card for today - that the blade on my paper trimmer is getting dull. I don't have replacement blades.

*palmtohead and headtodesk*

I can't believe I didn't think of it. I have plenty of adhesive, I just started a new roll of Tacky Tape, I have an extra pack of dimensionals. I have more brads, ribbon and primas than I know what to do with, I just ordered a bunch of cardstock before I decided to give stamping stuff up.

I have a 25 - 6x6 recipe card swap due in the middle of Lent as well as my regular cardmaking.

I'm wondering how I can get around this problem.

On a better note, I made a card today. It was for the Sketch Challenge on SCS. It's also a sample bridal shower card for my future SIL. The wedding's not until next year, but since I'm designing and probably making most of the paper stuff (invitations, bridal shower invites, thanks you cards, etc), I want to get a head start.

Stamps: Stamping Bella - Bridalpartybellas; Papertrey - Piece of Cake. Paper: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla. Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, SU Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow. Accessories: Prismacolor pencil - jade green, Sakura Quickie glue pen, Martha Stewart glitter, May Arts brown satin ribbon, brads, paper piercer.

While I was waiting for the card to load, I went to the Post Office website to look at where some of my packages are - I'm a BIG fan of delivery confirmation since one of my swaps went missing for 3 weeks. Something confused me and honestly, it doesn't take much today. WHY, if all my packages are heading west from here, are 2 of them (specifically the ones heading to Utah) in BALTIMORE?

Tuesday

It's Tuesday. I didn't do the Technique Lover's Challenge at SCS because I really don't need to make a centerpiece out of an upside down cootie catcher - though it was cute.

I DID do the STCC and posted it on SCS just after I announced my blog candy winner, but I didn't want to bury the winner announcement post with that card. I'll add it here later today.

So... last night I was working on a project down in the dungeon that I think turned out really cool. It was dark when I emerged, so I didn't get to photograph it until now.

What do you think? The inspiration came from Cammie's blog (she's in my blog roll) and her Frappuccino bottle full of m&ms. Next time I do this, I'm using individual bags for each color - sorting Jelly Bellys is a pain. I went into the store looking for Bright Pink ones - to match some yummy satin ribbon, but they didn't have that color. But they had Bubblegum, Lemon-Lime, Lemon and Juicy Orange and I had ribbon to match!

The medallions are a SU scallop circle punch, Marvy Extra Jumbo scallop circle punch, 1" chipboard circle, 1" circle punch. The word LOVE comes from Papertrey's Mixed Messages set.

My card for today is for the CC152: Apricot Appeal, Real Red, Ballet Blue. I really like this combination and it made for a great card. My mom has bronchitis, so it's going to her.

Stamps: Gina K/Melanie Muenchinger - Just so Hippy. Paper: Real Red, Ballet Blue, Apricot Appeal, GP white. Ink: Versafine black, Apricot Appeal, Real Red, Ballet Blue. Accessories: prismacolor pencils, baby oil, brads, chipboard, dimensionals, tacky tape, cropadile, ribbon

The buying moratorium officially begins tomorrow, though I've started already.

It's Sunday

And Sundays mean Featured Stamper cards. Though Sunday nights in February will also mean Stalker's Thread Color Challenge cards too.

Yep, I'm hostess for the STCC challenge in February.

But it's not February yet, so back to the Featured Stamper. Today it was stampingpam. She has a great gallery, but one card really caught my interest: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/644707

On Featured Stamper cards, you're supposed to change at least 2 things. That never seems to be the problem - I always seem to change EVERYTHING.

Stamps: Gina K/Melanie Muenchinger - Just so Hippy, Papertrey - Mixed Messages and Text Boxed. Paper: More Mustard, Bashful Blue, Basic Gray, River Rock, Very Vanilla, Le Jardin dp. Ink: Bashful Blue, River Rock, More Mustard. Accessories: Sakura white gel pen, mat pack, paper piercer, brads, dimensionals, corner rounder punch, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Bashful Blue round tab punchout, stapler.