Going, Going, Gone...

I'm going to visit my dad for a couple days, but I'll be back Saturday the 31st. Check back late Saturday or Sunday for the announcement of my next blog candy!

Raspberry Chocolate Love

Mmmm, chocolate, raspberries and love....what more could a girl ask for? ;-)

This card went together fairly quickly today using some of the new yummy patterned paper my BFF Barb sent to me. See picture at right.

Holy smokes, there's some really neat paper in there! She got it at the Costco in Twin Falls, Idaho. My Costco didn't have it (or maybe it was sold out before I got there), so she bought it and sent it to me! Anyhoooo, I'm loving it, thanks, Barb! :-D

The heart stamp is from the Verve Stamps set called "Wild Thing", stamped in SU Chocolate Chip Craft ink on Close To My Heart cardstock - sorry, don't know the name of the color! The ribbon is SU Chocolate Chip ¼" grosgrain, and the pearls are from Sally, who has very reasonable prices and shipping! Nice lady!

The sentiment is from CTMH's "Heartfelt" set, stamped in VersaMagic Perfect Plumeria chalk ink. It was popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

Blasted Unreliable Counters!

Grrrrrr! I've had a hundred two hit counters fail on me, and I'm getting frustrated! I know the last count (that I noticed) was about 2,060, which was on Friday. I think it will hit 2,500, probably next week, at which time I want to offer more blog candy. So, how the heck am I supposed to know? I'm not telepathic, for cryin' out loud!

So, I've added yet another counter, and will take a guess that there is probably about 2,150 hits now. I'll just start adding the new counter's total to that.

I guess the old adage that you get what you pay for is true, LOL. Maybe I need to upgrade to a paid counter......nahhhh. (Not yet, anyway!)

Bella Rose, SCS IC164 Challenge

I think I'm gonna give this card to DH for Valentine's day, since it turned out so purty, LOL! This was the Saturday inspiration challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. We were to use any of the Lang calendars as inspiration for our card. I chose a page from the Cottage Garden calendar. If you click on "More Images" on that page, it's the third row, second column. So, do you think the card looks similar? ;-)

I had just bought that rose stamp on sale at Michael's last week, and it turned out to be perfect for this challenge. The Paper Tole method seemd to be the right thing for this card, so I stamped it three times, colored it with Copic markers and then cut it out. The first cut was the entire rose, with rosebud and leaves. The second cut was the rose sans outer petals, the outer petal of the rosebud, and the bottom leaves (separate). The third cut was the center of the rose, and the rosebud with stem, which I used to add another bud above the rose (along with the extra leaves). I cupped the layered petals a bit to add dimension, but didn't do it nearly as much as shown in the tutorial linked above.

The background to the rose is a scrap of Anna Griffin DP I had, which was run through the Cuttlebug with the Argyle embossing folder. The green DP is also Anna Griffin, but I stamped the Bella Toile background from Stampin' Up! on it with Old Olive Classic ink.

Copic colors used in photo to right:


Cardstock: SU Very Vanilla, Bazzill
DP: Anna Griffin
Stamps: Rose- Inkadinkado Fine Line Classics #90575X, Background- Stampin' Up! Bella Toile, Sentiment- H&M Stamps "Our Love" set
Ink: Brilliance Graphite, Stampin' Up! Old Olive Classic
Embellishments: Stampin' Up! Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Textured Trios ribbon and Recollections pearl brads, both from Michael's

WoJ Challenge #15 and SCS Challenge WT202

Yippeee! I was able to kill two birds (thanks, Shannon) accomplish two challenges in one shot! This card is for both the Splitcoast Stampers Challenge WT202 (Pattern Pizzaz), and the Whiff of Joy Challenge #15, Katharina's sketch (love that sketch, Katharina!).

The SCS Pattern Pizzazz challenge was to take a pattern paper and dress it up with glitter, flocking, heat embossing or whatever, and make it special. Starting with some cardstock from the Die Cuts With a View Luxury Stack that was already pretty special with its pearlized finish, I added some heat embossed cupcakes (SU Chocolate Chip Craft ink) and colored in the cherries on each one.

The adorable little mouse image, called Henry Celebrating Mouse, is new from the Whiff of Joy Stamps Party Animal collection. He was so much fun to color!

He was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black and heat embossed with JudiKins Detail Clear EP, then colored with Copics. I added some Diamond Glaze on the chocolate sprinkles on the cupcake to highlight them a bit.

Copic colors used shown in photo to right:

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, Whisper White
DP: DCWV The Luxury Stack
Stamps: Mouse image- WoJ "Henry Celebrating Mouse", Small cupcakes- Sweet n' Sassy Stamps "Chocoholic", Sentiment- Hero Arts "Cupcakes"
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU Chocolate Chip & Ruby Red
Embellishments: CTMH brads, SU Chocolate Chip ¼" grosgrain ribbon, Martha Stewart Camelia Pink craft seam binding, Nestabilities dies

SCS Challenge SC212

First, let me apologize for the lousy photo. I just can't get the setting right on my camera to make the colors turn out correctly. =( I take about a dozen pictures, using different settings, hoping one will turn out. Thank goodness for digital cameras! Can you imagine the cost if we still used film cameras?!

I thought I'd participate in a Splitcoast Stampers challenge, for a change. I still have to get about three more birthday cards finished, so I'm using the challenges as inspiration. This is the SC212 sketch challenge for this week. I almost turned this sketch on its side, but I think it looks better this way.

The cupcake is from the Hero Arts Clear Design set called (what else?) "Cupcakes". I stamped it on white cardstock using VersaMark Dazzle Frost, because I wanted just the barest outline to follow with the Liquid Applique pen. After letting it dry overnight, I used the heat gun to puff it up, and then cut out just the 'frosting'. Using the same ink, I stamped it again on the darker turquoise cardstock, cut out the bottom part of the cupcake and ran it through the Fiskars paper crimper to make it look like a cupcake paper. After gluing it to the textured background, the frosting was adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals for added depth. The sprinkles (from JoAnn) were adhered with JudiKins Diamond Glaze.

Cardstock: Paper Company orchid, DCWV Robin #2 and Mediterranean
DP: glitter background DCWV Sweet Stack, floral background Provo Craft Bitty Scrap Pads
Stamps: Image- Hero Arts "Cupcakes", Sentiment- H & M Stamps "All-About Birthdays"
Ink: Stampin' Up Tempting Turquoise, VersaMark Dazzle Frost
Embellishments: Liquid Applique, sugared brads, sprinkles from JoAnn, ribbon from my sewing stash

Taylor's Card and PTW Challenge

This is my entry for this week's Papertake Weekly challenge, called "Shape Up!". I made it for my sweet granddaughter, Taylor. The image (Whiff of Joy's "Teenage Lizzie With Box of Chocolates") reminds me very much of Taylor, so I just had to use it! And since blue is her favorite color...

The challenge was to use three different shapes, and the card base could count as one (thank goodness!), so I have a square, rectangle and oval on the card.

The image was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black ink and heat embossed with Judikins Detail Clear embossing powder. Lizzie was colored with Copic Sketch markers, cut out/embossed with a Nestabilities oval die, and backed with a Nesties scalloped oval.

The white card base looked kind of plain, so I stamped swirls on it before adhering the designer paper and image. The flowers are Prima Hydrangea blossoms, with an adhesive rhinestone in each one. It still needed something, so I just kept adding ribbon until it looked right.

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Paper Company Mediterranean
DP: Die Cuts With a View "Sweet Stack" glitter DP
Stamps: Image- Whiff of Joy "Teenage Lizzie With Box of Chocolates", Autumn Leaves "Swirls V:1", Sentiment- H & M Stamps "A Time of Caring"
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, Close to My Heart Heavenly Blue
Embellishments: Prima flowers, adhesive rhinestones, ribbon from Michael's

Card for Trent

I made this card today for my grandson, Trent. His favorite colors are red and black (in that order), can you tell? He is absolutely the sweetest little boy, very loving, and suffers from "bull in the china shop" clumsiness. I guess that goes along with being seven years old, LOL.

Anyway, I tried to make a card that wasn't too girly. I did put some ribbon on it, but it was ribbon he mentioned that he liked when he was here at Christmas making Thank-you cards, so I think it will be okay. :-D

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Stamps: Images- Stampin' Up! "Bugs and Slugs" (mostly), Sentiment- High Hopes
Ink: Stampin' Up! Real Red, Basic Black
Embellishments: Stardust Clear Gelly Roll glitter pen, brads & ribbon from Michael's

OCC Technique Challenge

This is a first for me! Our Creative Corner's challenge this week was a technique challenge - to use Embossing Resist. I hadn't actually used the technique in a card, so it was really fun for me to come up with something. I even threw in a little masking. ;-) My family has a whole slew of birthdays coming up in the next month, so a birthday card was definitely in order!

Did y'all notice there is no ribbon (gasp!) or Primas? LMBO!!! I was trying to do a masculine card. What do you think....did I succeed?

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla and Basic Black, DCWV textured brown
DP: Anna Griffin
Stamps: Image- Stampin' Up! "Upsy Daisy", Sentiment- SeeD's "Phrases Collection"
Ink: VersaMagic Aegean Blue, VersaFine Onyx Black, Close to My Heart Sunflower and Sunkiss Yellow
Embellishments: CTMH brads, EK Success photo corner punch

Whiff of Joy Challenge #14

Here is my entry for this week's Whiff of Joy challenge. We had to use a WoJ stamp (of course!), and the colors GREEN and PURPLE! (Ya know, that's what I love about doing challenges....they're so.....challenging, LOL!) Definitely not colors I would have thought of.

Since I was stretching beyond my comfort range, so to speak, I decided to let the Copics stay in their resting place, and pulled out the Derwent Watercolor pencil set instead. Kinda made sense, since the card was going to be rain/water themed. ;-) The polka dots on the umbrella were done with purple Pearlescent Watercolors.

After stamping "Willow With Umbrella" on watercolor paper, painting it and mounting it on cardstock, I pulled out my new Martha Stewart heart border punch and edged some dotted vellum with those adorable little scallops and tiny hearts.

Somehow, in all the stamps I own, I don't have a raindrop stamp, so I made one from leftover red rubbah from a new Sampin' Up! set. I used it with Versamark Dazzle Frost ink to stamp raindrops all over the background, and drew in some "falling rain" lines with a Stardust Clear Gelly Roll glitter pen. Judikins Diamond Glaze highlights the rain drops in the stamped inage.

Cardstock: Close To My Heart, the Paper Company
Stamp: Image- Whiff of Joy "Willow With Umbrella", Sentiment- Hero Arts "Anytime Messages"
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark Dazzle Frost, Stampin' Up! Eggplant Envy
Embellishments: Sugar Brads, Diamond Glaze, Dew Drops, Prima flowers, ribbon

AND THE WINNER IS......

First, I want to thank all of you for participating and for the really great ideas for improving my blog! As you may have noticed, I've already implemented a couple of them, and I'll be doing more in the near future. And now, for the winner (drum roll, please!)....

InkHearts said...

Wow, love your blog! Am linking you on my page and will follow you as well! Thanks for the chance to win the candy!
Blessings,
Shannon

January 14, 2009 10:15 AM

Congratulations, Shannon! Please email your snail mail address to me, and I'll send the candy to you immediately.

And we are already well on the way to the next blog candy milestone which will be 2,500 hits! So keep checking back and, especially, please leave comments! I really do appreciate the feedback, and have enjoyed exploring your blogs!

{{{Hugs}}} ~Cindy

On Track for Next Christmas, LOL!

This year I am determined to make at least four Christmas cards per month, between now and November. So far, so good! I made six of these and they went together pretty quickly, even the coloring. I love this image from Stampendous, called "Merry ChrisMoose". After stamping it and coloring it with Copics, I used the Nestabilities Labels Two die to cut and emboss the image, and the next larger die to cut the background mat. The paper with the silver sparkles was from a pack of hand made papers I bought at Costco a while back. I finally got to use it!

The snowflake eyelet on the red ribbon is from Eyelet Outlet. I used JudiKins
Diamond Glaze on the ornaments hanging from the moose's antlers and a Stardust Gelly Roll glitter pen at the top of the ornaments.

Cardstock: SU Whisper White, Die Cuts With A View textured "Robin #2"
Stamp: Stampendous V163 "Merry ChrisMoose"
Ink: SU Basic Black Classic
Embellishments:JudiKins Diamond Glaze, Stardust Gelly Roll glitter pen, Martha Stewart ribbon, Sugar Coating Lily White glitter, snowflake eyelet

Stampers Dream January Challenge

I was really feeling under the weather this past weekend, so I fell behind on my card making. It's been nearly a week since I started this card! This is my submission for the Stampers Dream January Challenge. We were to follow the sketch shown on the right, and I only deviated a tiny bit, LOL.

I ran some Stampin' Up! Riding Hood Red cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the Nestabilities Labels One die, then pierced around the edge using the next smaller die as a template. The pierced hearts were done free hand. The Kiwi Kiss pattern paper (from the Bella Rose designer series pack) and white ovals were also cut with Nestabilities dies and "popped" off the red cardstock with Stampin' Dimensionals.

The stamped image is Melinda Hugging Heart from Whiff of Joy Stamps, and was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black and heat embossed with JudiKins Detail Clear embossing powder. She was colored with Copic Sketch markers, and her wings were colored with a Sakura Stardust Clear Gelly Roll glitter pen, though it doesn't show up very well in the picture. She was cut out and "popped" from the oval background.

The flowers, button brads and heart key were from Michael's, but I don't remember the manufacturers. The ribbon is Stampin' Up! Old Olive ¼" Grosgrain.

Here It Is!

Entry deadline has now passed!

As promised, here is the blog candy I will be giving away next Friday, January 16th! Katharina Frei, owner of Whiff of Joy Stamps, generously included the "Willow With Hot Chocolate" stamp with my last order, and since I already have that stamp, I just had to include it in the candy. :-D

So, this is what is in the package:

• Whiff of Joy "Willow With Hot Chocolate" new, unmounted stamp
• Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One set
• Spellbinders Nestabilities Curved Rectangles set
• Pearlescent Watercolors 16 color set
• Prima Hydrangea Blossoms, large tin (shades of pink/magenta)
• 4 spools of ribbon
• Tombow Mono permanent adhesive refill for runner
• Mini Heart Punch (just in time for Valentine's Day!)
• Flower Soft, Ivory (great for adding texture to your creations)
• Mini fine mist sprayer

There are two ways you can win. The first is to mention my blog candy (with a link to it) on your blog and leave a comment here with the link to your blog.

Don't have a blog? No problem! Just leave a comment here with a suggestion about how I can improve my blog, like things you'd like to see or learn (maybe tutorials, more close-up photos, different layout/background/text colors, etc.). If my blog is already perfect *snicker*, you can say that, too. (LMBO!)

That's all you have to do! Just be sure to enter before midnight Pacific Time (GMT -8) Thursday, January 15th. I will use Random.org to determine the winner the following morning and announce it here.

PLEASE, ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON! Edited to add: Please make sure you leave your name in the post - otherwise, how will I know who to contact? ;-) There are already 3 "Anonymous", only 2 with names!

Good luck, and THANK YOU ALL so much for visiting my humble blog! (And especially to those of you who take the time to leave comments.)

Whiff of Joy Challenge #13

Here's my card for this week's Whiff of Joy Challenge. I loved the sketch - I came up with so many ideas for using it that I had a hard time deciding what to do! Ultimately I decided to keep to the sketch exactly.

It is so much fun coloring the Whiff of Joy images. They ink and stamp beautifully. I used VersaFine Onyx Black ink and embossed with Judi Kins Clear Detail embossing powder. After coloring the image with Copics, I inked the edges and matted it on 2 layers of cardstock. Lizzie's ear muffs and the puffs on her boots were puffed up with a puffy marker (heated).

The scalloped border was made with a Fiskars Threading Water punch, with pearls placed over each hole (made it easy-peasy to space them evenly, LOL!).

The corner embellishments are Stampin' Up! Filigree Brads, but instead of using the brads through the holes in the center, I glued the filigrees to the corners of the card and placed a pearl in each.

Cardstock: DCWV textured, SU Naight of Navy, Papertrey Stamper's Select white
Stamps: Image- Whiff of Joy "Lizzie With Muff", Sentiment- SeeD's Phrases Collection
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU Night of Navy
Embellishments: SU Filigree Brads, Martha Stewart Pearls, ribbon from my stash, Marvy Uchida Puffy Velvet marker, Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust Clear glitter pen and Gelly Roll white pen.

OCC Sketch Challenge - Jan. 3

Good morning, everyone! Well, at least it's still morning here for another hour. :-D

For today's card, I used Our Creative Corner's sketch challenge for this week. I wanted to do a kind of masculine Valentine's card, which is a stretch for me since I'm so much into pink, frilly, shiny, girly things, LOL. I still couldn't avoid some glittery brads and ribbon, but at least I didn't put a bow on it!

The cardstock and pattern paper is from Stampin' Up!, as is the ink. The heart image and sentiment is from Verve Visual.

Cardstock: SU Very Vanilla and Night of Navy
Pattern Paper: SU Azure Designer Prints
Stamps: Image and sentiment- Verve Visual "Wild Thing" set
Ink: SU Night of Navy
Ribbon: Martha Stewart

PTW Challenge, Seeing Spots!

I'm on a roll this week! Three days of cards in a row, woohoo! Today's card is my entry for the Paper Take Weekly challenge called "Seeing Spots!". With Valentine's Day and a whole slew of birthdays coming up, I've had sweets on my mind, and this just happened to be the result. ;-)

The yummy paper (pun intended!) is from the Die Cuts With a View "Sweet Stack" that is currently available. Lots of neat patterns in there, with lots of glitz and glitter!

The image is from that stack, as is the pink scalloped background. The darker pink is also DCWV.

The ovals were cut with good ol' Nestabilities dies (Petite Oval) and the embossed background was the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.

!I stamped the sentiment in SU "Pink Passion" Craft ink then accented the first 2 letters with a Sakura Jelly Roll Clear Star glitter pen. Sugared brads and some pink polka dot ribbon complete the card.

My apologies for the poor quality of the photo. I am really trying to improve my photography skills. I've ordered a photo box that comes with lights. Hopefully that will help. If not, I'll try a different camera.

Cardstock: DCWV Sweet Stack, DCWV textured, SU Whisper White, The Paper Co. pink
Sentiment: Inkadinkado "Chelsea Sentiments"
Ink: SU Pink Passion Craft

Thank You in Blue

This is a simple, and (I think) elegant thank you card I came up with while waiting for my grandkids to come make their thank-you cards. I wanted to use some colors I haven't used before, and since blue is my favorite color, that's what I grabbed.

I started with a Brocade Blue card base, and used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder to emboss some white cardstock as an overlay. The sentiment was stamped with Brocade Blue Classic ink on white cardstock, trimmed and the corners punched with SU's Ticket Corner punch. Some more Brocade Blue was used to mat the sentiment, and tiny adhesive pearls were added to the corners. I liked the way the pearls kind of echoed the dots on the background.

The blue organdy ribbon was wrapped around the embossed background before it was affixed to the base, and then the matted sentiment was "popped" on the background with Stampin' Dimensionals. Quick and classy!

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Brocade Blue, Whisper White

Sentiment: Inkadinkado "Garden Flower" clear stamp set

Ink: Stampin' Up! Brocade Blue Classic

Embellishments: Pearls and ribbon from Michael's

Happy New Year!

Adios 2008, and hellooooo 2009! I think this is going to be an exciting year of card making adventures. My resolutions are to try to make several cards per week and post them here, improve my photography skills and (I hope, I hope!) be on a design team and/or get published. Not too ambitious, am I? Tee hee!

To start, I want to share the card I made for my stamp club's swap. I so much enjoy being a part of the swap, because I get inspiration from other people's works of art, and I learn about new tricks or must-have tools. (Pam, I found the tiny scallop scissors, woohoo!)

This month's theme (thanks, Linda!) was flowers, flowers, flowers, with a rhinestone or brad embellishment. I started with Stampin' Up!'s Artfully Asian set, stamped in Old Olive on Very Vanilla cardstock. The rectangle was cut/embossed with my Nesties long rectangle set, and backed by Kiwi Kiss. I colored the leaves with an AquaPainter and Old Olive ink, and the berries with a Copic Sketch marker. The Prima flowers were glued on, with a dot of Ranger Gold Pearl in the center of each, except the one with the clear rhinestone.

The lovely green pattern paper is from a 6x6 stack by Black Market Paper Society, called "Letters From Paradise". It matched the Kiwi Kiss perfectly, and added more flowers to the card. The edges were inked in Old Olive, as were the edges of the lighter green textured background cardstock from DCWV.

The yummy red pattern paper is from Stampin' Up!, called Bella Rose, and the ribbon is from Stampin' Up!, as well. It's the Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla 3/8" satin ribbon.