SFTW Photo Inspiration

It's the weekend so it's time for a new challenge to keep you busy.  At Stampin' for the Weekend we've got a beautiful photo collage to inspire you. Between the six photos and the color choices you're bound to find something to get your blood pulsing and you running off to your stamps.  So get busy and play along for a chance at the prize donated by the online store Sweet Stamps.  

I love this color combo, lavender is a favorite for me so every one of these photos tugs at me.  Yummy cookies, beautiful countryside, fashion forward model, hip graphics and then there's the lemons.  Oooh, I love those lemons with the baker's twine, that's the one that stopped me cold.  I knew if I went digging in my stash I had a fun lemonade stamp.  So that's what I did, I found that, and pulled some other elements from the collage and I had a card in no time. 

The rest of the design team have amazing cards, if you haven't been to the Stampin' for the Weekend blog yet get over there and see what they've done.  They are quite talented and I am always impressed with their work.  Today is no exception.

Here's the deets:
stamps - Impression Obsession "Sweet Lemonade"; My Favorite Things "Sheet Music Back Ground" and "DC Washi Patterns"
ink - My Favorite Things - "Black Licorice" and "Steel Blue"; Memento "Dandelion"
Paper - Stampin' Up "Pale Plum" card stock; My Favorite Things "Steel Blue" and "Smooth White" card stock; K and Co "Susan Winget Botanical" dsp pad
miscellaneous - copics; stickles; Clear Star Gelly Roll marker; Spare Part Vintage Brads; Hero Arts Sparkle Gems; SU bling; Baker's twine; sun charm

Here's the challenges:
Stampin' for the Weekend - Photo Inspiration
Crafty Ribbons - Sweet Treats
Sister Act #56 - Anything Goes


Thanks for stopping by, come back again.

CIC192 - 7 Kids College Fund

That cupcake sure looks like a New Year's Eve party to me.  Just in case this Cupcake Inspirations Challenge photo doesn't inspire you  we've added a color palette that you can use for your card.  This week's sponsor is 7 Kids College Fund.  They've got everything you need for paper crafting so get your supplies out cause you can definitely use that prize.

I was inspired by the cupcake because I just happen to have an Obsession Impression stamp that looks an awful lot like the cupcake pictured here.  There's red glitter on the ribbon and gold glitter on the circles and some gold and red bling. 


Here's the deets:
stamp - image Impression Obsession; sentiment My Favorite Things "A La Mode  Martinis on Me"
ink - image Memento "Tuxedo Black" and sentiment Brilliance "Galaxy Gold"
paper - Stampin' Up "Cherry Cobbler" card stock; My Favorite Things "Hot Fudge" card stock; My Mind's Eye "Lost and Found Christmas"
miscellaneous - copics; Spellbinder's "Oval" dies; bling; Stampin' Up "Modern Label" punch; hemp twine; mini brads; Viva Glitter pen "Ruby" and "Gold"

Here's the challenges:
Cupcake Inspirations CIC192 - photo
Paper Pretties PWC239 - Bling
L'il Red Wagon  #166 - New Year
Tuesday Throwdown #128 - Bright and Happy New Year
Partytime Tuesday #PTT101 - Celebrate 
2 Sisters #125 - Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts #148 - Something New

Thanks for stopping by, come back again.

Shining Hope

 

I was out running errands with the hubby the other day when I ran across this stamp.  I couldn't resist it.  I love Leigh Hannan images and the tropical scene is perfect for Florida.  Then the Hope You Can Cling To challenge 1215B - Shine It Out was posted.  Bev, the hostess, included this quote in her post "Stars can't shine without darkness" and all of a sudden the bells went off in my head.  I remembered there were stars in the bottle and the rest just followed. 
The challenge is to use lots of sparkle.  Well, is you were to amble thru my blog or gallery you'd see that I don't use a lot of glitter.  I have this ridiculous aversion to the stuff because I think I'm going to get it in my eyes.  That's why I prefer to use stickles when I want some shine but for this card I went all out and used some glitter on the flower's center.  I also used  glaze pens which isn't showing so well and the blingy stars. 

Here's the deets:
stamp - Impression Obsession, Leigh Hannon "Beach Bottle"
ink - Memento "Tuxedo Black"; Ranger "Faded Denim"
paper - Recollections "Pearlized Gold" card base; Bazzill "Glow", "Admiral"; "Blossom" and "Parakeet" card stock; P. etc. "Water Word Fun" and the Paper Studio " Sketchy Beach Icons"
miscellaneous - copics; My Favorite Things "Hibiscus" die-namic; Creative Memories cutting system; Gold Gliztsy Glimmer; Bling stars; pink cord; bathing suit charm; stickles

Here's the challenges:
Splitcoast Stampers HYCCT1215B - Shine It On
One Stitch at a Time #135 - music or a song (Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle")
2 Sisters #113 - Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts #138 - Make Your Own Flowers


Thanks for stopping by, come back soon.





Got Candy

I'm really happy that I got a chance to make a card for this week's Mojo Monday challenge, but I'm really ticked off that I can't find my Halloween charms.  I mean really, isn't this card screaming out for a candy corn charm to hang off the baker's twine.  If anybody knows where those stinking little charms have gotten off to please let me know.  I can always add it on later.


Here's the deets:
stamp - Impression Obsession "Candy Apples" and A Muse "Got Candy"
ink - Memento "Tuxedo Black" and Stampin' Up "Really Rust"
paper - Stampin' Up "Peach Parfait" cs and "Haiku" dsp
miscellaneous - copics, baker's twine; Stampin' Up Oval and Corner punches; Spellbinder's Labels Eighteen die; Fiskar's Sunburst border punch; candy dots

Here's the challenges:
Mojo Monday #244 - sketch
Allsorts week 158 - Ice Cream Colors
Crafting for All Seasons #28 - Many, Many Layers

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again. 

What Are You Doing this Weekend?

If your answer is "Stamping" then you're in the right place.  I'm stamping for the weekend, and that makes me very happy and now I'm on the design team for Stampin for the Weekend so I'm asking you to join us and play in this week's challenge "Getting Warmed Up".  You can interpret that any way you want.  I chose to use an Impression Obsession stamp with some yummy looking drinks but I'm dying to see what you come up with, so make a card or project and link it up, so I can see it.

Need some more inspiration, visit the Stampin' for the Weekend blog and see what the rest of the DT made.  Then get inky and play with us.   

And don't forget the inside!  It's a nice touch and will help you use up all that stash you've been accumulating, I think I could cover Rhode Island if I had the opportunity so it's time to start using it.

Here's the deets:
stamp -  Impression Obsession (don't know the name)
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Peeled Paint
paper - Bo Bunny Winter Joy "Brrrr" & "Bundled" dp; Warsau card stock
miscellaneous - copics; MFT ribbon; felt; MFT die-namics; Spellbinder's Label 9; Divine Twine; stickles; charm; Pearl Pen Lilac

Here's the challenges:
Stampin' for the Weekend #2 - Getting Warmed Up
Creative Belli #109 - the letter P (paper, that card stock is OLD, like dirt)
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - Winter Blast

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have time for Stampin' for the Weekend.

Halloween Motherlode

If you're going to make a Halloween card for a challenge this is the week to do it.  I'll bet if you go over to the Pile It On site you can find another dozen to enter.

 

This was just for fun, I wanted to use this stamp for a long time and decided this was going to be the day.  I was happily amused all day between finding the stamp and picking the colors and papers and then going through the challenges, well I just couldn't have a better day. 

Here's the deets:
Stamp - Impression Obsession (it's an unmounted stamp and I didn't write the name anywhere)

Ink - image stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black, edges sponged with Ranger Spiced Marmalade, Shabby Shutters, Weathered Wood and Stampin' Up Barely Banana (I almost didn't stop, that sponging can get under your skin)

Paper - image stamped on Georgia Pacific cs; Warsaw green cs; K & Co. Halloween Specialty pad dp

Miscellaneous - stickles; grave charm from acharmingplace.com; ribbon; button; copics; Taylor's tiny twinkles; Martha Stewart ghost border and corner punch

Here's the challenges:
Creative Cottage - Halloween
Crazy Challenge CCH37 - Halloween
Cupcake Inspirations #81 - photo inspiration yummy looking Halloweenie cupcakes
The Pink Elephant TPE86 - Brown & Orange - well I started that way but the purple and green just crept in
Stamp with Fun #81 - Halloween
Tuesday Throwdown - Anything Goes
Paper Playtime #21 - Pumpkins or Spiders (I got both)
Creative Inspirations #45 - Halloween
Stamp Something - Halloween Somethings
Stampin' for the Weekend #49 - Halloween/Fall
OCC - Embellishments, the more the merrier (ribbon, charm, twine, tiny twinkles and if stickles is an embellishment, them too)
Sweet Stampin' #48 - Ribbon (I've been waiting since Spring to use this ribbon)
Crazy 4 Challenges C4C59 - Fall/Autumn
One Stop Craft Challenge #102 - Halloween
2 Sisters challenge 9 - Halloween
Paper Cutz #63 - Anything goes

If the Shoe Fits FF#51 - A Holiday for the Holidays

Pile It On #41 - Kid themed Halloween (aren't we all big kids on Halloween and what kid wouldn't love to bite into one of these cupcakes)

Stampin' Royalty #41 - Spooky, Kooky AKA Halloween

L'il Red Wagon #50 - Something Old/Something New, the stamp is finally getting inked up and it's at least a year old, the punch was just purchase this week

Fussy and Fancy #21 - Halloween Projects

Let's Ink It Up #4 - Use Halloween Colors

Well I hope you enjoyed visiting my blog and that you'll come back again.  Don't forget to click the pink ribbon before you go.

Howling Hearts and Flowers

I've finally gotten around to howling with the Midnight Madness Challenge MMSC36. Those pesky holidays can get in the way of playtime. It's a shame you can't make cards and celebrate with your family and friends at the same time. Since you can't you gotta sit and be sociable cause if you don't spend any time with them you probably won't have much need for cards.
Okay, it's late and I'm not coming up with anything funny to say so I'm going straight for the info.
I combined the Midnight Madness challenge with a couple others, the Simon Says Challenge - Shabby Chic and the Crafty Creations Challenge #50 - Textures and the Copic Colour challenge #46 (which I just realized is last week's challenge but that's where I got the colors so it gets listed.)
Here's the deets: the dp is K & Co "Life's Journey". The cs is DCWV, it's punched with the Martha Stewart Lace Hearts border punch. The stamp is "My Funky Valentine" from Impression Obsession. It's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with copics then Ranger Distress Tea Dye was sponged onto it. It was cut out with a Spellbinder's heart shaped nestibility and the cs was cut with a scalloped hearts nestie. The edges of the dp were also sponged with the Tea Dye ink. Some of the lines and dots in the image were highlighted with a gelly roll pen. The flower is from Prima.

Thanks for visiting.

Cheers!

This week there's a couple challenges for New Year's cards and for glitter. I love glitter and happen to have this great stamp from Impression Obsession that hasn't been inked up yet so VOILA! I inked it up with Memento Tuxedo Black, and colored it in with copics then got out the stickles and a sparkly gelly roll pen and glitzed it up. I couldn't figure out what paper to use. I wanted something festive. I had to search for awhile till I found this. It's a package of Graduation themed paper from Creative Memories that have been sitting around for a long time. I used a Martha Stewart "Cheers" border punch on the gold paper. That yummy gold ribbon is from MFT, don't know why but a buttony bow didn't appeal to me for this card. I also got out my little sewing machine and sewed the gold paper onto black card stock and I popped that layer up on dimensionals but the black cs just doesn't show up well in the photo. I adamantly protested sewing on my paper craft projects but now that I've started I'm enjoying it and thinking that I wasted an awful lot of time resisting it. So I figure at about 9:05 on Monday morning my buddy Eileen will be looking at this saying to herself "I told you so". Well Ei, you were right! I wonder how long it'll be before I have to dig out the Bernina, it does have some really cool stitches programmed on it and they would look great on paper...
So here's the challenges:
1.) Pile It On #31 Welcome 2010 (and the theme of PIO is to combine it with at least one other challenge)
2,) ABC Challenge- L is for layering
3.) Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #55
4.) Cute Card Thursday Challenge #94 - All new, feature something new
5.) Creative Belli Blog #82 - use glitter or rhinestones
Thanks for visiting, come back again and click on that pink ribbon, it's a good thing.

Let It Snow

Let It Snow, anywhere but here. Yeah, it's pretty and delicate but it's also cold, wet and nuisance for driving and parking around here.

Enough of my complaining how about the I switch to the card, that's really why you keep coming back.

This stamp is from Impression Obsession. When I buy them from the website I get them unmounted so it doesn't have a name on it and at the moment I'm drawing a blank, but I think it's a Leigh Hannan.

This card is for a few challenges. One of my favorite challenges is Crazy 4 Challenges. This week it's a sketch. So I had my stamp and my layout next I needed a color scheme so I went to the Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo Challenge #24. This week the colors are Bashful Blue, Real Red and Certainly Celery. Luckily for me I recently picked up a sheet of Imaginisce "Polar Expressions" double sided paper which as that color scheme. (Unluckily for me, when I went to post this I discovered it was last week's challenge ). I used both sides for this card. The Bizzy Becs Creatalicious Challenge #4 is to make something for Christmas and to include snowflakes and lots of glitter. Lastly, the Allsort's Week 28 Challenge is to take your inspirations from a Christmas Carol or a Song Title. The sentiment on this card is "Let It Snow" which is a Christmas Carol, which sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it. Kind of like the snow makes me shiver, ok, I said I wasn't gonna complain anymore so I'll just give you the rest of the deets.
The snowflake and the stamp mats were made with Spellbinders nestibilities and die cuts. The chunky glitter is from The Cat's Pajama. The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on Georgia Pacific cs and colored with copics, with stickles for highlights. The light blue pearls in the corners are Crystal Stickers. The paper edges were brushed with Ranger's Distressed Straw. The tag is a Martha Stewart punch. The blue cs is DCWV and the green (certainly celery) cs is from SU.
Thanks for visiting, I hope you come back. I don't know if I'll be posting again before Thanksgiving so I'm wishing you all a great Turkey day. Enjoy your friends and families.
Please click on the pink ribbon before you leave.

Deck the Howls

I haven't howled in a couple weeks so it's about time I participated in a Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge. I've been checking in to see the sketches and what the design team is up to, there is always something to make the visit worth while. Between blog candy give aways, blog hops and technique tips there's they keep me entertained, but as you may know I am easily amused.

This week Priscilla asked for Christmas cards, so I used one of my new stamps from Impression Obsession. I think it's called Holiday Topiary. It was so much fun to color it with copics and then ice it up with stickles.

Since I was making a Christmas card I used the Tuesday Taggers Colour (oh so British, can't you hear that great accent - hey I'm from Joisey, any accent sounds better than us) Challenge to use red, gold and green. They said they are going easy on us and I have to agree, and participate.

The last challenge I'm doing is the Crafty Creations Challenge to use metal or metallic finishes. One of the design elements in the sketch was a star hanging off a flower embellishment in the lower left. I happen to have a package of stars that I've been wanting to use so here it is. You want to click on the photo to enlarge it so that you can see the star. It's hanging of the brad that's attached to the red gingham bow.

Here's the rest of the deets: The paper is Basic Grey Figgy Pudding, the cs is DCWV neutrals, the gingham ribbon is My Favorite Things, the star is Blue Moon Beads, the brad is Making Memories Jumbo Pebble Brads, the edges are sponged with Ranger "Worn Lipstick". Lots of stickles on the image.

Thanks for visiting. come back again and don't forget to click on the Pink Ribbon. And if I may be so bold as to say it, don't listen to idiots who say 40 is too young for a mammogram. Follow your head and heart, talk to your doctor, your friends, your mother - but do not listen to statisticians, your breast health is not a numbers game.

Going Batty

This is a quick post so I can run out on some errands. I almost forgot I had this birdcage stamp from Impression Obsession. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I would use for the Macabre Monday challenge #9 - use an item from this list in your project: skull, owl, birdcage, bones, barbed wire and raven. You'd think I have all of these stamps but amazingly I don't. For this card I thought it was necessary to grunge up the pretty birdcages a little so I hung spiders from them and put bats inside, distressed the paper by shredding it and brushing Ranger Shabby Shutters and Tea Dye on it. The bats, spiders and web are from the Crafty Secrets "Halloween Fun" set. The clip with the ribbon is from CTMH and the white fiber is from SU.

The card is also good for the Pile It On challenge #19 - Ready for Halloween and the ABC challenge "F is for Flying". It may not be exactly what they have in mind but the bats are flying in the cages...

I hope you're getting into the spirit of Halloween, I have a lot of fun with this silly stuff.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll leave a comment and come back again. I'm sure to have at least one more Halloween post before the month is through.

Hey, don't forget to click on the pink ribbon.
This week the Pile It On Challenge #19 is "Ready for Halloween", hey, I was born ready for Halloween. As always the deal at Pile It On is to combine their challenge with at least one other challenge.

Sweet Lemonade

I got this stamp several months ago and today is my first chance to get it inky. It's from Impression Obsession and they have some of my favorite stamps. Sometimes I think it would be quicker to list the stamps I don't like than the ones I do. Those of you obsessed with stamping know what I'm talking about.

The Color Throwdown Challenge # 60 is to use Bermuda Bay, Green Galore and Barely Banana. Those colors make me think of summer so I wanted to use something that would remind me of summer and as soon as I saw this stamp I knew it was perfect. I could make the lemonade yellow and the little umbrella blue and green. I stamped the Sweet Lemonade on white card stock and colored it in copics. I used stickles on the leaves, umbrella and lemon pits and used Heidi Swap bling for the berries and in the bottom corner of the cs.

I also wanted to use the Crazy 4 Challenges sketch challenge C4C3. I chose papers from the Me and My Big Ideas, Ellen - Starfish paper package and cut the paper for the layout. The card stock mat down the center panel is DCWV and I punched it with Fiskar's Effervescence border punch which makes it usable for the Pile It On Challenge #16 Crazed and Punches. The card base is SU Green galore cs.

I love how cheery it is, I'm going to put it on my bulletin board so I can dream about summer as the weather gets cold, ugh.

Please stop and click the pink ribbon before you leave.
Thanks for stopping by.

Howl in One

If it's Tuesday I must be howling. When I get wrapped up in my card making so that I don't care about the time, or anything else well that's howling for me. Tonight was a screaming good howler cause I got completely absorbed in this card and sponging the edges with a variety of colors. I could sit and do that kind of stuff for hours on end, remember, I'm easily amused.

Each week I eagerly await the Midnight Madness sketch challenge this week is MMSC15. If I get lucky I can usually combine it with another challenge. This week I got lucky, I found several challenges I could use for the card as I formed it in my mind. The Delicious Divas have Divalicous Color Challenge #1 this week. The colors they chose were Barely Banana, Cameo Coral, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie. So for my papers I picked the Stampin' Up DSP Haiku which has all of those colors, I went to town distressing them with Ranger inks so the colors are not as evident as they could be. The Createalicious Challenge #1 is to make something for Dad, include brown and some metal. For the metal, I jumped at the chance to use some of the bazillion eyelets Miss Eileen gave me last year. There just happened to be some martini eyelets in the bunch which I placed in the corners and threaded the ribbon through. I needed a card stock mat color and brown worked perfectly with these papers. Another Tuesday challenge I look forward to is the Pile It On challenge, which this week is to make something masculine and to combine it with at least one other challenge. So I think I got that covered. The stamp is from Impression Obsession and it's called "Fore Retirement" I colored it in with copics.. The tag is from a Stampin' Up Scrap kit called Just Delightful.
At the crop last weekend I made a set of four cards using this stamp and am just getting around to posting the picture. This set is for my sister-in-law Takako. She is from Japan and her culture has a great appreciation for paper crafts. Over the years she has gifted me with several gorgeous paper items which I love and hold onto. She is always surprised with what I come up with. The "t" is a rub on from EK Success Loopy Alphabet , another present from Eileen. I didn't bring any alphabet stamps with me to the crop so her present came to the rescue. The paper is Stampin' Up Muirfield. and the card stock is Best Occasion.
So there are two completely different looks you can make with one stamp.

A Birdie Told Me...

I heard it's your birthday, Happy Birthday to you! 100, jeez, you look good for your age!!!! No Time to Stamp is celebrating it's 100th birthday, well it's 100th challenge and so they have issued a very simple challenge to make a birthday card. Recently I purchased this Birthday Martini stamp, it's by Leigh Hannon from Impression Obsession. I was anxious to get it inky and this challenge provided the perfect opportunity. It's stamped in Memento Black on a white card stock oval. Then stamped again on white card stock, colored with copics, cut out and mounted on dimensionals on top of the oval's stamped image, that technique is called paper tole. I put stickles on the candle's flame, the cupcake's papers, cherries and sprinkles.

I was in the mood to distress. So I sponged the edges of the white card stock with Stampin' Up Cameo Coral and I scraped the edges of the other papers with my handy dandy distressing tool, then I started picking at the edges with my fingernail. It's loads of fun (did you read the name of my blog, it don't take much to make me happy). So inquiring minds want to know "How can you tell if the edge of your distressing tool has gotten dull? Does it start making clean edges?"

The papers are from the Basic Gray Pheobe collection, they are Golden Gate Bridge Park, Pacific Heights (there was a very creepy movie with that name a few years back) and Haight Street. The little birds on it inspired the sentiment which I wrote with a silver gelly roll around the edges of the oval and on the tag which was punched with Stampin' Up tag punches and hung off the ribbon with SU linen thread. I have no idea where that ribbon came from but it is yummy. It's silky and tied like a dream. On the bottom of the card the turquoise bling is Metal Stickers nail heads.

I'm away at a scrapping weekend with my lunatic friends (I hope they don't read this) and we're having 3 days of fun and music (oops, that's Woodstock, happy 40th birthday to you), I mean we're having 3 days of fun and scrapping. We've been laughing so hard our stomachs hurt and that was just on the ride here.

This is coming to you from the scrap at the Ace Convention Center. No they are not selling rakes and brooms here. We are scrap booking, or card making. Since I don't have any photographs with me, long story, we won't go there, I'm making cards. Maddy, aka Ron is looking over my shoulder, really, and she says she doesn't like martinis or green olives. But this martini has cupcakes in it (put your glasses on babe) and I know she likes cupcakes. She's chuckling, I've never done this with an audience before. Someday, when Ron isn't looking I'll tell you how she got her name. I might tell you how we all got our names. I'm Mo, Ron's better half, maybe you can figure that one out. Edan's supposed to be sitting across from me but she's out exercising her lungs. She got her name because Maddy can't type to save her soul. She say, "What'd'ya mean I can't type?" OK she can type, she just can't find the right keys. So Edan is Edna. We also have Baby Girl with us. That's Edan's daughter Crystal. If she knew half of what we do and say when she's not around she wouldn't allow Edan to hang with us. Eileen, aka Hazel, she's somewhat of a compulsive type but she won't clean my house, she's allergic to Shamus, at least that's her excuse and she's sticking to it. We're all hanging out together acting like morons (hint, hint). We're dressed like quintuplets from hunger so if we get separated the grown-ups can help us find each other. We're having a blast and getting things done. I have a few more cards to post if Maddy lets me.

Howl You Take That?

Shaken or Stirred?

I've got a thing for martinis. Martini stamps that is. I've got a couple more that need inking up, so stop back if you've got a thing for martinis. If you're a follower of this blog you know that I also have a thing for Halloween, it's my favorite holiday. I've also got a thing for challenges. One of my favorites is the Midnight Madness Challenge. I think the name says it all. Everybody needs a place to let their rabid side shine, so if you're a little mad pay a visit to Priscilla and the crew over there, they have challenges and blog candy and eye candy galore. Every Tuesday they post a new sketch challenge and the design team make fabulous samples to give you inspiration, make you a little jealous of their skills too.


This card is for Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge MMSC14. The image is Hallotini from Impression Obsession. It's stamped in Memento Black on white card stock and colored with copics. The bat's eyes are xmas red Stickles (you can click on the picture to enlarge it and actually see the reds of their eyes) and the white part of the candy corn is stickles. The card stock is from Stampin' Up's in colors from last year. The spider brad is from Oriental Trading. The "boo's" were made with an EK Success border punch. The crystals are from MFT and last but not least the ghost ribbon is from Eileen. Eileen has an impressive stash of ribbon and she can't stand to see me drooling over it so she gave me a bunch of the ghosties, but she made sure she had more than me (LOL) and that hers is prettier. Yeah, yeah, we know it's the same ribbon. Eileen is one of the fun gals I'm going scrapping with this weekend. I'm sure I'll be drooling in her direction a few times, it's cheaper than shopping!

Next up for tonight is this card for Mojo Monday's sketch challenge MOJO99, the Tuesday Tagger's theme challenge "the birds and the bees' and the Friday Stamp Something Charmed Something Challenge to put a charm on your project. It's kind of funny that last week the CCEE stampers challenged us to make a card with a bird and a bee on it, that card is on my August 7th post if you'd like to see it. But you gotta make a new card for new challenges so I spent another night thinking about the birds and bees. Hmmmm.... This time I looked for some paper with birds on it for the background. I knew I had a bee charm and I wanted to use it on a tag and this layout had a little envelope on it so I figured I'd make a tag to go in the envelope. The Basic Gray Pheobe has birds. I used Japanese Tea Garden, Sunset District and Golden Gate Bridge Park but I don't remember which one is which. I stamped the bee from the Stampin' Up Bloomin' Beautiful set which I got from good buddy Maddy, aka Ron. I think I drooled a little in front of her when I saw this stamp set. Maddy's gonna be my roomie at the crop this weekend. We usually sit next to each other and just use each other's stuff. I'll save the drool for Eileen. But I digress so back to the card. I stamped the bee a few times in Memento Rich Cocoa on the green paper and then on the beige card stock with versa mark and embossed that one with gold powder. I have a template from Stampin' Up to make that vellum envelope. I think that mini envelope is just the cutest little thing. I like that I can put the tag in it and then the person who gets this card can use the tag as a bookmark. The charm is from Plaid's Petals and Plenty Charms.
That's all for now folks. I hope you'll come back again, maybe I'll have some more martini cards for you.

Distressed Birdcage

The Pile It On Challenge #9 is to use three flowers and to use at least one other challenge. The 2 Red Bananas challenge is to use a quote as your focus and the Simon Says Challenge is to Distress. Three fun challenges.
The first booth I visited at CKC was selling Basic Grey products. I picked up a few things there including this paper with the birdcages on it because I knew it would go so well with this stamp. It's from the Porcelain line which I've had my eye on in the past but I've only had this stamp a short time so now was the time to get it. There were a variety of challenges going thru my head and distressing is just so much fun so it was my first choice to combine with the stamp and the paper. The line "I know why the caged bird sings" kept coming to mind but the birds are all out of the cages so I had to find a different sentiment. This quote "A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song" appeals to me so I wrote it up on a piece of card stock so that I could tear that up too. Putting the flowers on was just a little icing on the cake. They look a little dark in the photo, not so much in real life. I like the way this one came out, I hope you do too.

It's Time to Howl

It's Tuesday, so there's another sketch challenge up on the Midnight Madness site. Ah, I love that name and the site is pretty wild and wonderful too. I'm blown away by the artwork you find there. If you'd like to participate in the challenge or just view some truly amazing cards you can visit the site by clicking on the Midnight Madness badge in the left sidebar. You can't miss it, it's the one with the howling wolf or you can just click here to get there.

I made this card for sketch challenge MMSC10. I used Leigh Hannan's Birdcages by Impression Obsession. It's stamped in versa mark with black embossing powder. The birds were colored with an Stampin' Up marker and I sponged Stampin' Up Barely Banana on all the white surfaces. I was pretty liberal with the sponging and in real life it looks subtle but visible. I took several pictures of the card, in different locations and from a variety of angles and no matter where I took it the yellow just doesn't show but it is around the cages and the edges of the papers. The paper is from the Making Memories Black and White pack. The border punch is by Fiskars. The buttons and ribbons I've had forever and probably got them at the craft store. I made two more cards and on one I put flowers under the buttons on the top left side. The flower look okay but I like this one better.

Midnight Madness

I used to take quilting classes called Midnight Madness and they were nuts (in a good way). They were always on Friday nights, about once a month and they always had a surprise fabric swap involved. The swap pushed me to use fabrics I would never have picked out and to see things I would not have seen on my own. It was an interesting way to grow in that craft.
When I saw this card challenge, called Midnight Madness I couldn't resist looking into it. The current challenge is a sketch challenge. I wanted to use Leigh Hannon's candy apple stamp by Impression Obsession again. I made this card using that image. The apples were colored in copics. Then they got dressed up. On the apple on the left I used stickles for the pink jimmies on its top. The drizzle of pink chocolate on it is covered in glossy accents as are the candy corns. Also the candy corns were stamped a second time, cut out and popped up on dimensionals. On the layer under the corns Taylor's Tiny Twinkles in pink were used. On the top apple the decorations were also covered with glossy accents, as well as the orange chocolate ribbon. The paper is DCWV Glitter stack pack, the card stock is also DCWV. The ribbon is MFT spring ribbon collection and they are held on with orange mini brads.
When I was putting it all together I thought the papers were really busy and at one point during its construction I didn't like it and almost bagged it but I pushed myself to finish it and in the end I like it. I hope you do too.
If you'd like to take a chance at winning a Big Shot die cut machine and a bag to carry it in you should take a look at the Midnight Madness site. I'll you have to do is leave a comment to be entered. You can get to Midnight Madness by clicking "here" or by clicking on the challenge button on the side of the page.

Got Candy?

Yesterday I took off from work and took a ride with Pam to a not so Local Scrapbooking Store. I found a stamp with an image of candy apples that I wanted to ink up right away. Don't they look like Mrs. Prindible apples. Thank goodness I don't like sweets (can you hear me cackling).
I found a website called Inspirational Card Sketches. I used the sketch challenge ICSketches#23 for this card. The stamps are Candy Apples by Impression Obsession, the candy corn if from the Winter Holiday set by Autumn Leaves and the sentiment is from A Muse. The apples and corn are stamped in Memento black and the sentiment is stamped in SU Close to Cocoa. I used Stickles for all the decorations on the apples and candy corn as well as Taylor's Tiny Twinkles on the apple with the candy corn.
The white dots were made with a SU white gel pen and the orange dots were made with a Souffle marker.
The sentiment is popped up on dimensionals, it was punched out with an SU oval punch and the cs was punched out with the SU scalloped oval punch. The candy corn on the lower right were also popped up with dimensionals. The background paper is Anchor's Away by Sassafras.
Some of the details on the card are hard to see, like the Tiny Twinkles on the apple with the corn but if you click on the picture you will enlarge it.