Happy Mother's Day 2009

This is the card I made for my mom this year. I was going to wax rhapsodic about what a wonderful mother she is, but I'm getting a lump in my throat and can't see through the tears, so I won't. I miss her so much! She lives about a 10 hour drive away, so we don't get to spend as much time together as we would like. She has to take care of her husband, who has many mental health problems. *sigh*

Anywho, I used Whiff of Joy's Confirmand Melinda for the image, because I wanted to link it to the sentiment inside. I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on SU Very Vanilla cardstock. She was colored with Copic markers, her wings painted with Shimmerz Blingz Pixie Dust, then cut with the Nestabilities Petite Oval die. The mat behind her is SU Baja Breeze (I'm lovin' that color lately!), cut with the Nesties Scalloped Petite Oval, and run through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder.

I think the textured ivory background paper (Paper Company Ivory Weave) matched the Very Vanilla really well, and the ecru lace was a nice contrast. The ribbon is SU Very Vanilla Taffeta.

I didn't have any gemstone brads that matched the colors, so I took some clear ones and colored them with a Copic Sketch BG72 Ice Ocean marker. The same marker was used to line the inside of the SU Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware and color the brads over the sentiment.

The Prima Flowers matched everything perfectly, but I needed some smaller ones for filler, so I grabbed my little flower punches (EK Success) and made my own. Some of them got colored with the Copics, too. ;-) And Sally's Pearls added just the right touch to them all.

The cover and inside sentiments were printed on my printer. The Little hearts adorning the inside were Nesties Classic Hearts and Classic Scalloped Hearts run through the Cuttlebug.

Copic Colors used>>>>>



Cardstock: SU Very Vanilla and Baja Breeze, Paper Co, Ivory Weave
Stamp: WoJ Confirmand Melinda
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Whiff of Joy Blog Candy!!!

Katharina is giving away, not one, but TWO sets of the as-yet-unreleased WoJ Summer Stamp Kits! What an amazing, generous chance she is giving us. The stamp sets include six brand new character stamps and five accessory stamps, designed by Elisabeth Bell, as well as four text stamps designed by Katharina herself.

Be sure to click the picture above and pop over to Katharina's blog to follow the instructions for a chance to win.

I hope, I hope, I hope I win! Well, I hope you win, too. ;-)

Whiff of Joy Guest Designer Call!

OMG, I am so excited! Whiff of Joy Stamps has put out a call for a guest designer, and it just so happens that my pre-ordered Spring Stamp Kit from WoJ arrived this very day (well, technically yesterday), so I had new images to play with! It was almost like fate!

This is the first card I made for entry in the guest designer challenge, using Katharina's sketch. It's open until March 5th, and I didn't see where it said I couldn't enter more than one card, so I just may make more! ;-) One of my goals for this year was either to get published, or be a guest designer or on a design team. I would sooooo love that challenge!

I don't know the name of this stamp, yet. As soon as I do, I'll edit this post to let you all know. Edited to add: It's called Willow with Sunhat. Every image in the new set is awesome!

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, so I'm going to try to get a better photo. I'm still not happy with how the colors aren't right.

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Rose Red, Die Cuts With a View textured
DP: Me & My Big Ideas
Stamps: Image- Whiff of Joy Spring Stamp Kit, Sentiment- Whiff of Joy General Sayings
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black (I should have let it dry overnight)

Daughter's Birthday

Wow, I can not believe my youngest child, my one and only baby girl is 28 years old today. Well, technically, she won't be until 9:32 tonight, but still....where did the time go?!?! Hmmm, twenty-eight years ago at this time I was in the throes of transition labor, in my home with a midwife and family in attendance. Memories!

Here is the card I made to celebrate the occasion. Her fave colors are yellow and green and orange; easy to work with! She also loves mice and cupcakes, so when Whiff of Joy released this stamp, I was so happy! I knew right away it was perfect for her. Sorry the colors are all wonky. I really need to take a photography class.

My darling baby daughter is now a high school English teacher, a newlywed, and in the final months of getting her Master's Degree in education. I am so proud of her!

Copic colors used>>>>>>>>>

Cardstock: SU Old Olive, Neenah Solar White, DCWV Glitter Stack
DP: Daisy Bucket Wrapped Wishes
Stamps: WoJ Henry Celebrating Mouse, H & M Stamps All-About-Birthdays
Ink: VersaFine (allowed to dry overnight), Old Olive
Embellies: Dew Drops (Hardy Ivy), JudiKins Diamond Glaze, Prima flowers, Sugared brads

CCT Challenge # 46 - Metallica

This is the first time I've participated in a Cute Card Thursday challenge, but I think it won't be the last! This week's challenge is Metallica - we're supposed to use something metal on the card.... charms, wire, eyelets, whatever! I've combined a heart charm and heart brads for the metallic look.

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Real Red, Bazzill Huckleberry Pie
Pattern Paper: Making Memories Blue Gingham
Stamps: Image- Whiff of Joy "Melinda Blowing Kisses" , Sentiment- Close to My Heart "All My Love"
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black with JudiKins Detail Clear EP

Copic colors used>>>>>>>>>>>


And now, because today is my birthday and we're getting close to 2,500 hits, I'm going to post the blog candy. :-D See post above. ^

It's Your Day! Birthday Card

I finally inked up the new Whiff of Joy stamp called "Mouse Under Party Hat". Isn't it just too stinkin' cute? I love how quickly it can be colored and used on a card!

Did you notice there is NO ribbon, NO Prima flowers and NO rhinestones or glitter (well, except for what was on the DP already)?! I tried to do it a bit differently. I didn't even use my Copic markers . :-D

This card relies mostly on the image and the (many) papers and punches used. The mouse was stamped and then colored with Prismacolor pencils, using the Magic Colored Pencil technique (view YouTube tutorial here). Easy peasy! The image was matted twice (edges distressed), and then popped off the two designer papers under it. The sentiment and little flower to the left was also popped.

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Pacific Point, Bazzill Banana Bliss, Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart
Designer Paper: Debbie Mumm Baby Girl stack, ProvoCraft Illuminations
Stamps: Image- Whiff of Joy "Mouse Under Party Hat", Sentiment- H&M Stamps "All-About-Birthdays"
Ink: SU Basic Black Classic & Brilliant Blue Craft
Punches, scissors: SU Scallop Edge punch & Ticket Corner punch, Marvy Uchida flower punch, ProvoCraft tiny scalloped scissors

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

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

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

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.

More Christmas...

I really love the way this card turned out! I used the DT Monday Challenge *6* from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog. The challenge was to do distressing/vintage on the card. It didn't have to be a holiday card, but since I'm so far behind, I made six of them to send out. :-D

This beautiful image, called "Lizzie with Muff", is from Whiff of Joy Stamps.

She was stamped with Brilliance Graphite Black ink on SU Very Vanilla CS and colored with Copic markers. Stickles was used to accent her headband and the designs on her dress, as well as the ribbons hanging from the puffs on her boots. Her earmuffs, muff and the puffs on the boots were "puffed up" with Marvy Liquid Applique. That stuff is so cool! It's like magic when you hit it with the heat gun (after letting it dry thoroughly, of course). Instant dimension!!!

Anyhoo, Lizzie was cut out and embossed with a Nestabilities Long Rectangle die, and mounted on SU Riding Hood Red CS cut/embossed with the Nesties Long Scalloped Rectangle. The patterned paper is from Anna Griffin, edged with SU Close to Cocoa ink and mounted on more Riding Hood Red CS.

The sentiment (from Inkadinkado's "Warm Holiday Wishes" set) was inked with SU Ruby Red Craft ink on Very Vanilla CS and cut with, you guessed it...a Nesties Scalloped Oval die, then edged with more of the same color.

The pointsettia was a gift from my BFF Barb and the gold fern leaves were cut from a large pick from City Lights, a delightful store dedicated to all things Christmas. I saw it and knew I could use it in card-making!!!

I added a little gold organdy ribbon, courtesy of Michael's, and the card was complete.

Where did the time go?!

Wow, I can't believe it's been over two weeks since I last made a card! I think I was suffering from withdrawals!!! Anyway, life does sometimes get in the way of things we'd rather be doing, doesn't it? After finishing the costumes, and sending them FedEx overnight (way too much $$$), my husband and I drove to visit my father for a long weekend. Dad has been battling Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for a number of years, so I take every opportunity that I can to spend time with him. On to brighter things...

This card was made for my BFF Barb's birthday this week. She's the culprit responsible for my card-making addiction. :-D LOL!!! I wanted to do something kind of elegant, so I went with gold heat embossing and gold braid/ribbon combo.

The lovely "Willow with Hot Chocolate" (Whiff of Joy) image was colored with Copic markers and cut out. I stamped SU's Bella Toile background stamp in VersaMark on Bordering Blue cardstock, then heat embossed with gold EP. After cutting it out with my new Mega Nestabilities Curved Rectangle die (great prices at Paper Dreams!), I inked the edges for more definition and adhered the image using pop dots.

Cardstock- Stampin' Up! Bordering Blue
Pattern Paper- Debbie Mumm "Noah's Ark" stack
Stamps- Image: WoJ "Willow with Hot Chocolate", Background: SU "Bella Toile", Sentiment: Penny Black "Bubbly"
Ink- VersaMark, SU Not Quite Navy
Embellies- Gold EP, gold organdy ribbon, gold metallic braid all from Jo-Ann, Dew Drops by Robin's Nest

WoJ Challenge

May I just say again how much I love the images from Whiff of Joy? I have so much fun coloring them! This week's challenge is Autumn Colours.

This time I stamped the "Willow with Hot Chocolate" image on watercolor paper and colored it with Derwent watercolors. The image (and bronze background oval) was cut and embossed with Nestabilities oval dies. I dipped the edge of the watercolor paper in VersaMark and then in gold EP and heat embossed it. The image and background are fastened to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

The pattern paper was edged with a Fiskar's border punch and laid over brown leather-look paper. The paper leaves were colored a bit with my Copic markers to make them "pop" a bit more.

This may be the last card I am able to do this week. I have to make my grandkids' Halloween costumes, so I'll be busy! But check back anyway - I might need to take a break from sewing, and what better way to relax than card-making? :-)

Have a great week, y'all!

Cardstock: The Paper Co. Paprika Texture and Buckskin Brown, Stardream Metallics Bronze
Pattern Paper: Debbie Mumm "Harvest & Holiday"
Stamps: Image- Whiff of Joy "Willow with Hot Chocolate", Sentiment- CTMH "Friendship Blessings"
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, SU Chocolate Chip Craft, VersaMark
Large flower brads: JoAnn
Leaves and small brads: CTMH
Ribbon: Michael's

One for Three!

This card was made to participate in THREE challenges! The first is the Whiff of Joy Challenge which is the sketch I used for the card layout.

The second is the SCS color combo challenge CC187, which are the colors I used. The colors were Stampin' Up!'s Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss (or Old Olive - I used both).

And the third challenge is from OCC's Bling on the BLING! challenge, which explains the rhinestones, gold EP and beads, LOL!

This card was a lot of fun to do, combining all the elements. The image (Whiff of Joy's "Willow With Hot Chocolate") was stamped in black pigment ink and heat embossed with clear EP, then colored with Copic markers. I added some Diamond Glaze over the mug to make it shiny, but I don't think it shows in the photo very well. I carefully cut out the image and fastened it to the Kiwi Kiss background with pop dots. Old Olive was used as a border, the edges inked with SU Pumpkin Pie Classic ink.

I used VersaMark ink to stamp the swirls on the three background panels, and heat embossed them with gold EP. The pattern paper is from SU's "Haiku" pack. Lots of yummy patterns/colors in that pack!!!

After fastening the three swirled panels to the pattern paper, I added the ribbon and threaded the beads on the gold chain which, very conveniently, fit on one prong of each of the brads. Ta-DA!!!

The sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on Tangerine Tango CS, the edges inked in Pumpkin Pie ink. I dipped the edges of the Chocolate Chip background in VersaMark and heat embossed in gold EP.

After it was all assembled, I decided it needed a little more "bling", so I added the rhinestone flowers. And there you have it! So, what do you think? Please leave a comment!

Cardstock: SU Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive. Glitter cardstock from DCWV
Pattern paper: SU "Haiku"
Stamps: Image- Whiff of Joy "Willow With Hot Chocolate", Sentiment- Penny Black "Salutations", Swirls- Stampabilities "Swirls & Curls"
Ink: VersaMark, SU Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
EP: JoAnn Gold Detail, Clear
Ribbon: SU Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon
Rhinestone Flowers: Hero Arts Small Blossoms

On a Roll!

I've been so busy in the craft room lately, I can hardly believe how much I have gotten done! Here's another card for your consideration. I absolutely love this image, "Melinda Hugging Heart" from Whiff of Joy Stamps.

The image was stamped in pigment ink and heat embossed with clear EP. She was colored with Copic markers, and Stickles Star Dust was used on her wings.

Cardstock: SU Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Curious Iridescent Cryogen White
Pattern Paper: DCWV, Papertrey
Stamps: Image- Whiff of Joy "Melinda Hugging Heart", Sentiment- Hero Arts "Anytime Messages"
Ink: SU Basic Black Craft and Ruby Rd Craft
Embellishments: Cuttlebug embossing folder "Just My Type", Nestabilities Long Rectangles dies, Fiskars border punch, Making Memories heart brads, SU Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon