Love is All You Need

That's what the Beatles told us.  I'd like a few more things.  I do so love my creature comforts, without my crafts supplies I am not a happy camper.  So I may be able to get along without all that stuff, but not too many people would want to be around me if all I had were love. 


don't forget the inside

Here's the deets:

stamps - My Favorite Things "Clearly Sentimental About Love"; "Textile Rectangles"
ink - Stampin' Up "Soft Suede for the sentiment; Versa Magic "Pink Petunia" for the check; Ranger "Antique Linen" for distressing (which doesn't show up too well in the photo)

paper - My Favorite Things "Perfect Panel" for stamp, "Sweet Tooth" cs for base, "Pink Lemonade" cs for embossed heart; K & Co "Life's Journey" dp; Stampin' Up "Soft Suede" cs for heart mat

miscellaneous - Stampin' Up corner punch;  Jenni Bowlin Vintage Style Sew On buttons; White Blossom jewel stickers (bling heart); Cuttlebug heart embossing folder; nesties heart and scalloped heart; Martha Stewart "Lace Hearts" border punch; MFT ribbon; linen twine; heart charm

Here's the challenges:
My Favorite Things MFTGUESTDT0211 - recipe Valentine's theme, 1 designer paper, 2 card stock colors, 3 embellishments
Crazy for Challenges C4C72 - Vintage or Shabby Chic
Corrosive Challenge #101 - Button It UP
Stamptacular Sunday  #96- Whateva!
Paper Sundaes #54 - Valentines
Sugar Creek Hollow - Sweet Vintage Valentine
Charisma Cardz #4 - Valentines/Love
Tuesday Throwdown #33 - Distressing
My Time to Craft #125 - Emboss, Emboss, Emboss
Stampin' B - Use a song as inspiration (the Beatles "Love Is All You Need")

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

It's Ambers Birthday!



click the photo to enlarge to see more details

 Today is  Amber's of Amber's Antics's birthday.   Happy Birthday Amber!!!  I hope it's a good one. 

The design team at Paper Pretties is celebrating Amber's special day by having a blog hop in her honor.  So grab your beverage and settle down to see all the yummy eye candy we've made in her honor.  The hop starts on the Paper Pretties challenge blog.  If you got here from Cindy Haffner's Corner you're following right along and in the right space.  When you're finished here you're going to go to hop over to Domique's Mephisto's Blog.  If you get lost along the way, just go back to the Paper Pretties blog where you'll find a list of all the participating blogs.

don't forget the inside

For my card I choose to use the "Make a Wish" Sophia set. I just love her party dress, can you see the stickles on the edges of the flouncy layers? And that cake!!! OMG, I just want to dig in and have a slice with a flower on it.

Here's the deets:
stamp - Paper Pretties "Make a Wish" Sophia
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
paper - Georgia Pacific white cs for image; Recollections white cs for borders and sentiment; Stampin' Up cs for base; My MInd's Eye "Day Dream Pretty Petals", "Be Merry Sweet Sprinkles" and dots from "Wonderful Winter" pad; MFT Bubblegum cs
miscellaneous - Recollections pink pearls; Queen and Co. white pearls; cake charm from acharmingplace.com; button brads; stickles; sheer ribbon; Stampin' Up oval and scalloped oval punches; Martha Stewart border punches; My Favorite Things Layered Labels die-namics

Here's the challenges:
Friday Sketchers #139 - Sketch
2 Sisters #24 - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Polka Doodles week 4 - Party Time
Paper Play week 4 - Layer It Up

Thanks for visiting, I'll hope you'll visit me often.  The next stop on the blog hop is Dominque.  Happy Birthday Amber!

A Day of Flower Images

the charm is so tiny you can't see it, but it's there

One of the places we go kicking around is the Ringling Museum.  There's lots of fun stuff to see there.  The house is amazing, it sits on the bay with a view to die for.  You can sit out there and stare across the bay to Longboat Key and dream of what it must have been like to live there when it was new.  The Ringlings collected tons of Renaissance Art, you can spend a day viewing that (not my favorite period but I'll look), there's a miniature circus exhibit (now I do love miniatures and will go there at the drop of a hat) that knocks my socks off (OK, I don't wear socks, it's warm here, but if I did, it would).  But I digress...

Today was the viewing day for members to see the new exhibit of botanical prints.  It was FABULOUS.  I may have to go back.  If you're in the area, and you like botanical prints you have to visit.  You will not be disappointed.


here's the tiny butterfly charm


With botanicals in mind It just figures that I have my little flower card to show you.  OK, I should be ashamed of myself for comparing but at my age it's difficult to feel shame for much of anything anymore.

I made it for the MFT Wednesday Stamp club. 

I'm not doing as well as I'd like to be doing with getting this stamp and die to work together but after many attempts I got relatively close and felt it looked decent enough to use but I'm going to keep trying to do it better.

Here's the deets:


don't forget the inside



stamp - My Favorite Things "Flower Silhouette"

ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

paper - K & Co. "Life's Journey" pad dp; MFT white perfect panel for flower stamp, beige perfect panel for sentiments (inside and front)

miscellaneous - ZVA crystals; charm; DMC floss;MFT  doily die-namics and layered labels die-namics; lace; MFT ribbon; K & Co decorative pins (look in the bow on the front)

Here's the challenges:

My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club MFTWSC4 - sketch

Paper Play week 4 - Layer It Up

L'il Red Wagon #65 - Lace

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you'll come back again.  Please click the pink ribbon on the sidebar to help fund mammograms.



There's Nothing Worse

how cute is this purse charm?

There's nothing worse than the feeling of helplessness you get when your child is ill.  Imagine how much worse it is when it's not a cold or tummy ache but it's a condition you can't cure.  Juvenile Diabetes is one of those things. 

Today starts the 2011 Hop for a Cure.  If you'd like to hop along, find out more about it, play in a challenge, make a donation, win a prize, any of the those things you can start by going to the Crop Out Diabetes blog.  Or you can stop over at the Paper Pretties challenge blog to read more about it.  Heather has a challenge going with the very cool "Imagine" dragon stamp set as a prize.  Even more cool she's having a sale in the shop, you can get a whopping 20% off your order by using the discount code "CROPOUT", that's good till February 5.  Now would be the perfect time to stock up on some stamps, paper and ribbon.  You can find this fun and adorable "You're Maaaaaaarvelous" Sophia stamp there! Did you just imagine Billy Crystal?  But I digress....



don't forget the inside






Here's the deets:
stamp - Paper Pretties "You're Maaaaarvelous" Sophia
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
paper - DCWV "Garden Party" stack dp; Georgia Pacific white cs for stamp
miscellaneous - Queen and Co pearls; Stampin' Up border punch; nestibilities; stickles; ribbon, twine, charm; flowers; copics

Here's the challenges:
Crafty Catz #67 - flowers
Creative Belli blog - the letter "P" (she's pretty in pink, isn't she?)

Thanks for stopping by.  Do what you can to support this cause.  We're all in this together.

Stitch It Up



click to enlarge

 
 This week Paper Pretties challenge PWC138 is "Sew - real or faux".   My card has machine stitching but I like faux stitching too.  It's one of those things that will dress your card up a little more.  So if you don't have a machine or are too scared to use one, just draw some lines on your card.  Now which is more intimidating to you drawing or sewing? From what I've read on other blogs and forums I think that one is pretty well divided.  Here's my philosophy, just give it a try.  What have you got to lose, a little bit of paper?  Try it on a scrap, then you don't have to worry at all.  I'm sure you'll do better than you thought.                                      
This week I'm using "Brew Your Coffee".  I can smell the coffee now.  I love the smell of coffee.  I'd rather drink tea but for the aroma, you can't beat coffee.  And of course you have to drink your morning coffee in your favorite mug, I bet you have a favorite.  It's just right size and weight and you love how it feels when you hold it.  If you don't have a favorite you're missing a crucial part of the morning ritual.  You need to find a mug that you can tell your kids to put down whenever they touch it, and of course that will make them want to use it more. 


don't foeget the inside



While you're drinking your morning coffee you're probably checking out your favorite blogs (I hope you've put this one on your list!) to see what's new.  Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's creations.  After you've done all that (how many cups of coffee did you go through?) it's time to get cranking on your card.  Link it up on the Paper Pretties blog, you could win something just for playing.

Here's the deets:

stamp - Paper Pretties - "Brew Your Coffee"

ink - Memento Tuxedo Black on front; Memento London Fog on inside

paper - SU cs and "Razzleberry Lemondade" dp

miscellaneous - copics; buttons; charm; SU border punch, corner punch and ribbon; TCP twine; stickles

Here's the challenges:

Paper Pretties PWC138 - Sew real or faux

Polka Doodles week 3 - There's No Place Like Home (the cups are houses - works for a new house card)

City Crafter week 41 - Sew Fun

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll join us in the Paper Pretties challenge to Sew and that you'll come back to visit me again.

Congratulations Edan and Crystal!!!!!



click the photo to enlarge and see the cutsie feet charm

I got the most exciting news from my dear friend Edna (aka Edan) about her adorable daughter (our girl) Crystal.  Crystal is going to be a mommy.  I am so excited I could spit.  Crystal is just the sweetest kid, she's smart,a funny, pretty and already has had lots of experience with children through girl scouting, nephews and step children.  She is going to be a great mother and Edan is going to be the best grandmother in the world.  I bet she's already making up a room for the baby so it'll be able to stay at nana's. 
So isn't this the perfect stamp for this occasion?  How did Kimmy know I was going to need it?  Would you believe this stamp brought tears to my eyes?  Check out my profile...but I digress...

click to enlarge and read the sentiment on the inside of the card



Here's the deets:
stamp - My Favorite Things ""My How You've Grown"
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Ranger Bundled Sage for distressing
paper - Urban Oasis cs pad for pink and green mats; SCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Girl pad; MFT blending cs;
miscellaneous - MFT doily and lacey edge die-namics;  MFT ribbon, TCP divine twine; baby feet charm; MFT hot fix crystals

Here's the challenges:
Sweet Stop SSS92 - sketch (I subbed a charm for the sentiment and stamped the sentiment on the inside)
Tuesday Throwdown #33 - distressing
Really Reasonable Ribbon #16 - Heart theme
Paper Sundaes #53 - distressing
Kaboodle Doodle #51 - Bling It Up
Pile It On #4 - Love Is In the Air
Splitcoast Stampers January Fan Club Central Theme CT0111 - Love Is In The Air

A Quick Kitty

So NOT!  I wanted to do the SCS Fan club sketch challenge.  I saw a red, white and black color challenge and then today's Cat's Pajamas challenge is to use a stamp set with the word "love" or "heart" in the set.  So that meant I could use my brand new kitty set and my Valentine's Bo Bunny paper.  Since there isn't much coloring on the stamp it seemed to me that I should have been able to whip this off in a half hour or less.  HA!  A couple hours later I was winding down on this one. 

First I had a different size card base started but didn't like the way the pieces were going to fit on it so I switched to a square base with a piece of red card stock.  Well I had a different piece going across, probably the back of one of these and it was red with little hearts on it and it clashed with the red card stock so I went looking for a different red and spent way too much time doing that before I decided to switch to a black card stock base.  Then I didn't like the print with the red background.  I put the ribbon down flat and was ready to let it go that way but then I thought it would be more fun to fold/pleat the ribbon across so that took a little more time, I'm not very nimble or fast with that technique but it looks really good to me so I took the time for that.   Lots of glitches taking lots of unanticipated time not that I had any pressing appointments...

don't forget the inside


So here's the deets:
stamp - The Cat's Pajamas "It Had To Be Mew"
ink - Brilliance "Graphite Black" for the image and Memento "Tuxedo Black" for the sentiment
paper - unknown red and black card stock; white Recollections cs for scalloped border and inside heart; My Favorite Things white "Perfect Panel" cs for stamp; Bo Bunny "Crush Sugar", "Crush Darling"; "Crush Flirt"
miscellaneous - the Cat's Pajamas "Heart Trio" cut ups; Nestibilities heart and scalloped heart, oval and big scalloped oval; My Favorite Things "scallop" die-namics; key charm; TCP red and white divine twine; TCP red glitzy glitter; Queen and Co. pearls; Stampin' Up corner punch

Here's the challenges:
The Cat's Pajamas TCPTUES143 - use a TCP set with the work "love" or "heart(s)" in it
Splitcoast Stampers January - Love Is In the Air - Sketch DDSKETCH0111
Going Grey - red, white and black
Really Reasonable Ribbons #16 - Heart theme
Pile It On #4 - Love Is In the Air
Paper Play Week 3 Back to Black
Sugar Creek Hollow - Splash of color (Black and White and a splash of another color)
Cupcake Inspirations #95 - cupcake with white icing with little hearts

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

To Wash or To Stamp?

Laundry or stamping?  I'd choose stamping every time but that won't get my clothes clean and I really hate hearing anyone tell me they don't have any clean underwear.  UGH!  So when I have to wash clothes I stamp while it's running through its cycle.  The best of all worlds.  Well, at least the best till someone adopts me and does the cooking and cleaning for me, or I win the lottery and get a housekeeper, cook and chauffeur, maybe a cabana boy too.  Someone's gotta put the lotion on my back.

It's been a long time since I played in a There She Goes challenge and this week it's a great sketch so when I got home from feeding the flamingos I still had some time to play so I pulled out some stamps and paper and put this together. 


there's panties stamped in pink on the inside

 Don't you love how neat this wash pile is?  I'm not sure mine even looks this neat after it's been washed!

Here's the deets:
stamp - There She Goes "Loads of Fun"
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black for the front; SU "Pretty in Pink" for the inside
paper - October Afternoon "Ducks In A Row" pad dp; Recollections beige cs for base and mats; MFT blending cs paper for image; MFT "Pink Lemonade" cs for mats
miscellaneous - ZVA Crystals; Webster's Pages Sparklers; SU corner punch; Creative Memories corner punch; Nesties "Peony"; My Favorite Things die-namics Lacey border

Here's the challenges:
There She Goes TSG91 - sketch
Kaboodle Doodle #51 - Bling It Up
Stampin' B #94 - Use a Banner (the sentiment)
Cute Card Thursday #148 - Recipe 1, 2, 3 you chose (1 buttoney thingey on top of the banner; 2 stamps, and 3 patterned papers)
Crafty Catz #66 - a forgotten stamp (this one had an inch of dust on top of it - poor sad thing)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back again.  It'd be great if you click on the pink ribbon on my sidebar then go have some fun and stamp something.

A Guy Thing

I've been thinking that I really need to make some menfolk type cards.  I never have one when I need one.  Then as I was going through the challenges I spotted the Sweet Stampin' challenge for "Clear as Mud" which is brown plus one other color and the Stamp with Fun Challenge for  "blue/brown" and the Allsort's challenge for a "male/boy" card.  I think I got the push I needed to make a he-man card and with it being Monday I looked up the Mojo challenge to get a sketch and then I was ready to go.  It didn't take long to pull the supplies and since there's not coloring, just a stamp and die cut, well it was done in no time.  I had plenty of time left to go feel the flamingos at Sarasota Jungle.
Here's the deets:
Stamp - My Favorite Things "Textile Rectangles" a very cool set of stamps with a matching die, makes things very easy peasy
ink - Stampin' Up "Soft Suede"
Paper - Stampin' Up "Soft Suede" cs; SU "Patterns Pack II" dp


don't forget the inside

 Miscellaneous - SU "Soft Suede" ribbon; SU twine; SU corner punch; charm; buttons; My Favorite Things rick rack die-namics

Here's the challenges:
Mojo Monday #175 - sketch
Crazy Challenge CCH#51 - dots and stripes
Stamp With Fun #95 - Blue and Brown
Sweet Stampin' - Clear as Mud (brown plus one color)
Allsorts week 87 - male/boy

Thanks for visiting, I hope you'll come back again and if you could spare a few seconds, please click on the pink ribbon in the sidebar to help fund mammograms.  Thanks again, have a good day - go stamp something.

Happy Birthday Jessica!

Happy Birthday Jessica!

Today we're celebrating our Paper Pretties DT sister Jessica's birthday with a blog hop.  So get yourself a nice beverage and a comfy chair and come hop along with us.  There will be lots of eye candy and well wishes along the way.  You're sure to have a good time.
For this occasion I inked up the charming little mermaid "Under the Sea" stamp.  Isn't she just one of the cutest things? Well, I think so, I love mermaids so I had to have this one and Jessica's birthday was the perfect excuse to make a card with it. 
I found some paper with seashells and sea stars on it for a background, die cut and embossed the other elements.  To fancy it up a little I added some stickles to her fishy parts.  There's also some liquid pearls on the pearls in her hair but it's very difficult to see in the photo, it's not so easy to see in person either but when there's pearls I just have to try to make them look more like pearls, know what I mean?


don't forget the inside

  For the inside, just a repeat of the paper and couple die cuts for the sentiment area.  It's not much but it is dressier, isn't it?

Well, it's a blog hop so when you leave here the next stop is the terrifically talented Cindy Haffner.  I'm always inspired by what I see on Cindy's blog, you will be too so hop along.  If you get lost or need to take a break you can pop back to the beginning at the Paper Pretties blog and check out the list of participating blogs. 

Happy Birthday Jessica, have a great day, eat cake and have fun.

Here's the deets:
stamp - Paper Pretties "Under the Sea Sophia"
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
paper - Creative Imaginations dp; Best Occasions and DCWV cs
miscellaneous - charm; copics, stickles; Liquid Pearls; MFT cork; TCP "Wave" cut ups; Nesties "Blossom"; Cuttlebug folder; SU button; ribbon

Here's the challenges:
Sweet Sunday - sketch (last week's)

Thanks for visiting, I hope you'll come back again.  Enjoy the rest of the hop!

Just for Me



can you see the sun charm?

 That's right - just for me.  I made this card just for me.  This week's Daring Cardmakers challenge is to make a card for yourself. 
Just last week I was joking with my blog buddy Jane (anything but...Plain Jane - you must go visit her blog, you'll love it) about the woman in the Sunday Parade who visualized winning the lottery and won.  Well, I joke but I actually do believe in Creative Visualization, I just don't sit and visualize winning the lottery.  I do however sit and think about the things I want to happen and mentally work at making it happen.  So what's that got to do with this card?  Well, I'll try to explain without betting totally boring.  I am trying to buy a house with a pool.  The owners have accepted our offer but it's a short sale so we have to wait for their lenders to approve.  I have been told that short sales can take upwards of six months to happen so I am visualizing this happening much faster.  I've got my sights on getting an answer by Valentine's Day.  Hence the pool party card.  Yeah, I'm out there but hopefully I'll be out there with a pool in a short time

don't forget the inside



Here's the deets"

stamp -  My Favorite Things "Fred Bear Hits the Beach"
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black for front; Memento New Sprout for inside
paper - DCWV cs and Pet Stacks dp
miscellaneous - Nestibilities Curved Rectangles; TCP Divine Twine; charm; Stampin' Up punch; mini brads, gelly roll; copics

Here's the challenges:
My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club MFTWSC3 - sketch
Daring Cardmakers - It's All About Me
Wee Memories #39- Anything Goes
Paper Cutz #75 - It's Your Choice
Allsorts week 87 - male/boy (I made this for me, but I think it could be sent to a boy)

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

If Dante Only Knew



can you see the lace under the ribbon?

 If Dante had ever used these Martha Stewart micro beads he would have invented a whole 'nother circle in hell. 
I defy you to use these suckers and not feel the same way.  They make glitter look like a neat freak's dream tool.  You think I'm exaggerating.  No, not at all.  I put this piece inside a box before pouring on the beads and after cleaning up hours ago I'm still finding these suckers.  THEY BOUNCE!  And why don't I just throw them away, after all I have plenty of other toys.  Well I blame the nuns, that's right the nuns.  My first grade teacher told us we would burn in purgatory until we used up all the paper we wasted.  Yes, she really said that.  I assume she would tell me I'd burn if I didn't use up the beads too.  So if you're ever looking at my work desk and wondering why the heck I have saved all those little scraps of paper, well there's your answer.  I'm trying to toss the scraps but I'm going to need a whole lot more therapy to get rid of this stuff.  AND I have three bottles of it! 


a close-up of the blasted beads

 Now onto the card.  This card is pretty dang cute in person but it just doesn't photograph well.  I tried several angles and it didn't matter, none of them show off the card well.  So how about a close-up of the beads to give you a better idea of what the card looks like.  Also the image panel is popped up on triple dimensionals and you just can't see that in the photographs.
I made this card for the Paper Sundaes challenge from last week to pick your favorite challenge from the past.  They decided to let it run a couple extra days so I decided to stop being lazy and go look for my favorite challenge, that's when it hit me, I won their first challenge (picked by random org.) so I decided to use the first challenge from January 17, 2010, which was a sketch. This is my new card and here's a link to the old one.  It's a good sketch.

don't forget the inside

Here's the deets:

stamp - My Favorite Things, Pure Innocence

 "Love You with All My Heart"

ink - Memento Tuxedo Black for the image; Memento Ladybug for sentiment

paper - Bo Bunny "Crush Flirt" and "a Gift of Love"; white and black unknown cs

miscellaneous - Martha Stewarts hellacious garnet micro beads; Nestibilities heart and scalloped heart dies; Stampin' Up corner, oval and scalloped oval punches; Sparkle Gems rhinestone hearts; ZVA pink bling; MFT gathered red gingham ribbon; lace; MFT rick rack die-mensional; TCP Divine Twine; heart charm; copics, gelly roll pen (on shoes)

Here's the challenges:

Paper Sundaes Birthday  Celebration - Pick Your Favorite Challenge and sketch from 1st challenge

Cute Card Thrusday #148 - Recipe 1, 2, 3 (1 image, 2 dps, 2 blingey hearts)

Freshly Brewed #31 - Love themed or Valentine

Really Reasonable Ribbon #16  - a Heart theme

Stamp Something - Cute Somethings

Thanks for visiting, I hope you'll come back again.  Please click on the pink ribbon on the sidebar before you go, it'll help fund mammograms. 

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.

Which Came First?

Which came first doesn't really matter to me, I hardly even give it a moment's thought.  But I have been wondering is this a chickie or a duckie?  I thought I might get a clue from the name but nope this is Paper Pretties' "One of Those Days".   Chickie or duckie, I like it.  There's lots of reasons to like this stamp.  It's cute, it's a good choice for paper piecing or for coloring, it's small enough to repeat on a card but it's large enough to stand alone.  It can be used on an Easter card or for a plain note card.  So what are you waiting for, you gotta add this to your stash.


I didn't forget the inside

 If you haven't guessed this week Paper Pretties' challenge is to paper piece.  Yippee, one of my favorite techniques so I used the image three times.  That was fun and quick.  I think it took longest to decide which papers I wanted to use. 
Need more inspiration, well go check out what the rest of the talented design team made and then get inky and play along with us.  Don't forget to link your creation up here.

Here's the deets:
stamp - Paper Pretties "One of Those Days"
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Ranger "Tattered Rose"
paper - Cosmo Cricket "DeLovely" dp; yellow card stock for card base and mats;
miscellaneous - American Crafts ribbon (thanks Heather!); SU corner punch; copics, Easter Egg charm; SU twine

Here's the challenges:
Paper Pretties - Paper piecing
Stamp Something - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting, I hope you'll come back again.  Please take the time to click on the pink ribbon on the sidebar before you leave, it funds mammograms, and that's a good thing.

Yummy!

This has got to be the yummiest thing I've seen all day.  This little cutie is from Meljen's.  Meljen's is sponsoring this week's Cooking It Up With Katie challenge #45.  The recipe is "Cute, Green and Brads".  Choosing was difficult only because Meljen's has so many cute images (wait till you see the little lamb).  Then I found some green card stock and some green brads and whipped up this card.
Check out what the rest of the design team has made then pull out your favorite supplies and have some fun.  don't forget to link up your creation for a chance to win.  You can do all that by clicking here to get to the Cooking It Up With Katie blog.

Here's the deets:
stamp - Meljen's digital Birthday Cupcake
ink - HP printer
paper - American Crafts "a la Carte" and "the Goods" dp; Bazzill "African Daisy and Spring Green" card stock; Georgia Pacific white cs for image
miscellaneous - dew drops; copics, stickles; nestibilities; Queen and Co. pearl and brads; EK success "dotted wave" border punch; SU corner punch; MFT mini roses die-namics

Here's the challenges:
Cooking It Up with Katie #45 - Cute, Green and Brads
Crafty Ho - Sketch
My Time to Craft  #124 - Spots and Dots
City Crafter week 40 - Flower Show at Jersey City (which is really close to my old neck of the woods)
Creative Card Crew - Let's See Some Fancy Folds

Thanks for stopping by, if you have a moment click on the pink ribbon in the sidebar, it funds mammograms.  Come back again.

It's Sketch Time

"Let's Get Physical" is the latest WTG (Who's That Girl?) stamp set from My Favorite Things.  Ever since I started working on this card I haven't been able to shake Olivia Newton-John.  Thank goodness I like that song. 
It's time for the Wednesday Stamp Club sketch challenge.  On the thread we've been talking about sewing.  My machine was out from the last card so I decided to stitch a little on this one.  Well, I don't know what I did, I wasn't paying attention, I got the bottom layer done just fine, then I decided to zig zag around the veggie paper and something snagged and the stitches got wonky.  I actually like the way it looks so I didn't try to fix it and I stitched on the green semi-circle.  Now I don't recommend that you try to mess up your stitches but if it happens and you like it well, what the heck.  Even thought I wasn't paying attention I do know that my tension is off and that I have to re-thread the machine and make sure that the bobbin is sitting correctly.  Then it will be back to normal. 

I didn't use a charm, I didn't bling it up, there are no stickles, and no dimensionals on this card.  It just seemed right pared down. 

Here's the deets:
stamp - My Favorite Things "Let's Get Physical" WTG
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
paper - Cosmo Cricket "Garden Variety" dp pack; the cs is old and I don't know what it is; MFT Perfect Panel cs for image
miscellaneous - SU corner punch, copics; MFT ribbon; MFT die-namics Layered labels; Creative Memories cutting system for semi-circle

Here's the challenges:
My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club - MFTWSC2 - sketch
Creative Inspirations #50 - Something New (new stamp set)

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A Card for Katie

While I was going through the challenges for today I read about Katie on the Color Throwdown.  I like the Color Throwdown for lots of reasons, including that they have a fantastic design team so that every week there's lots of eye candy to see.  But today I like them even more because they're doing something extra which is really sweet.  They've asked us to make our cards for Katie.  Katie's a fellow stamper on Splitcoast and she's ailing.  You can read about the challenge and Katie here.
My card colors deviate a little from the challenge colors, usually some deviation is accepted so I'm hoping they won't mind my changes.  Instead of the Early Espresso and Melon Mambo , I'm substituting Kraft and some pink for the Melon. 

The layout if from this week's Mojo Madness. I flipped it around a little to to acommodate the stamp.

This heart charm is so sweet but it's tiny so I'm giving you a close up view.

Over on the MFTWSC thread on SCS we've been talking about sewing so I decided I would get my machine out.  Some people have trouble with sewing circles.  My advice is to use a zig zag stitch because it allows you more room for fudging.  Take your time, it's not a race.  AND if you're getting frustrated, STOP.  If you're not having fun, you're doing something wrong.

And let's not forget the inside.  Because it's so pretty, I repeated using the Martha Stewart Hydrangea border punch. 

Here's the deets:
stamp - My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Fairy
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Ranger Pumice Stone
paper - SU Kraft cs for base and mats; SU Soft Sky and Kiwi Kiss dp
miscellaneous - heart charm; Divine Twine; SU Crochet Trim; bling; Hero Arts Sparkle Gems Hearts and Flowers; Martha Stewart Hudrangea border punch; Cotton Candy Pink Sparkly fluff (on the heart on the dress); Polar White flower soft (on wings); round corner punch; white opaque pen (on ribbon on dress); Spellbinder's Label Eight; Sulky variegated green thread in sewing machine

Here's the challenges:
Mojo Monday #173 - sketch
The Color Throwdown #124 - Melon Mambo, Early Espresso and Soft Sky, with a twist, make a card for Katie
Pile It On #2 - It's All About the Cute Children
Bah, Humbug! #1 - Holly and Fairies

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Wade E Bug

I'm pretty lazy and would crank out square and rectangular card after card if I weren't challenged to do otherwise. So thanks to this week's Paper Pretties Challenge PWC136 to use a unique or non-traditional fold I've stepped outside my comfort zone to make an easel card. Looks snappy, huh? Well, easel cards are really easy to make. Mine is a 12" x 4" piece of card stock, folded in half at the 6" mark and then at 2" away from that fold, scored to fold in the other direction. That may not make sense to you, so here's a link to a Splitcoast Stampers tutorial. After you go through the tutorial my very simplistic directions will become clear as mud. Ah, ha, ha, I do entertain myself.

This card features Wade E Bug (you can buy him here). He's adorable and is the perfect size for this card. Of course he would look good on any card. Don't you love that sentiment "Show Off". It's a great choice for a congratulatory card. The layering of the zig zag strip, the rick rack ribbon and the sentiment make the little platform that stops the top when you want to stand it up. You could use buttons or flowers to do this too. It just needs to be a like a miniature doorstop.

The challenge isn't limited to easel cards, you can make any fancy or different fold you'd like. At Paper Pretties we just want you to join us. So come out and play with us, make a card and link it up on the Paper Pretties challenge blog, you could be a winner. You don't even have to use Paper Pretty products but if you have them why not use them.

Need more inspiration? Check out what the rest of the design team has made. I can't wait to see all the cards, I'll be looking there first thing cause I want the inspiration to push myself a little more this year.

Here's the deets:
stamp - Paper Pretties "Wade E Bug"
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Ranger "Worn Lipstick"

paper - Cosmo Cricket "Gal Friday" dp; Best Occasions yellow and white cs; Georgia Pacific white cs for stamp

miscellaneous - copics; mini brads; SU slot and corner punch; Creative Memories cutting system; stickles; rick rack, charm; pin

Here's the challenges:

Paper Pretties PWC136 - use a unique or non traditional fold

One Stop Craft Week #113 - A card for a child (I think a kiddle would love this little bug)

Allsorts week 85 - Fancy Fold

Sweet Stampin' - Try something different

Paper Sundaes #51 - Circles

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What Do You Do?

What do you do when you have your idea for your card ready in your head, you've stamped and colored your image and realize that this image would look really cute paper pieced?  I don't know what you do but I decided to make two cards. 

Here's the first one that was colored with copics.  At some point after I finished coloring him in I realized I could have a really cute bunny in a patterned dp.  Since I'd already colored him I figured I might as well use him any way  and make another paper pieced one .  AND with that sentiment I figure I can torment all my NJ buddies who are getting tons of snow while I've been hanging around in shorts and putting down the roof of my car.   Life is Good. 





 
When you use a black base you need to finish the inside at least with a square of white, unless you like writing in white pen which is not high on my list of things I like to do.

One of the things I've seen on the inside of a lot of cards that I've liked is the stamping of a part of the image in a light ink. It reminds me of a shadow. I've been copying this idea. For this card I used SU Barely Banana for the inside

This is how totally adorable the image looks paper pieced.

When I paper piece I like to use a dp that is being used in the background pieces.  This bunny is so nicely sized that it would look good in just about any patterned dp you have on hand.

Here's a little info that will give you an idea how out of it I can be.  When I colored in the bunny I couldn't figure out why the scarf had three ends.  Luckily for me when I figured it out I was able to cover the third turquoise scarf piece with the purple and if I hadn't told you this you wouldn't be the wiser.  It made me chuckle when I "saw" it. 

Again the card base is black so the inside is finished.











Here's the deets:
stamp - the Cat's Pajamas - "Skating Bunny"
ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up "Barely Banana"
Paper - Best Occasions cs; blue dotted dp Lasting Impressions "Smooth Sailing"' ; yellow gingham dp the Paper Studio; green with white dots unknown; green design Martha Stewart "Playful Pink" paper pad
miscellaneous - Ice white pearl pen; Divine Twine; charm; SU corner, circle, and scalloped circle punches; Baby pink Candy Dots

Here's the challenges:
The Cat's Pajamas  TCP140 - inspiration photo of a black hat with pastel stripes
Creative Inspirations #50 - Use Something New (I just got this stamp)
The Crazy Challenge CCH#49 - Animals
Cupcake Craft #124 - Something New (new stamp)
the Stampin' B #92 - use an old fav (the little notches corner punch) and something brand new (the stamp)
A Sketch for You to Try sfytt2011- sketch and Cat's Pajamas stamps

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