Van Gogh Tree

The Sweet Shop - SSS36
Splitcoast Technique Challenge - TLC253

It's time for some Christmas thank you cards! I started with this week's sketch from The Sweet Shop. I chose to use Sweet 'n Sassy's charity set Trees of the Field. You can click on the link to read about how it supports Sarah Anderson's family after the tragic loss of her 3yo son Henry a couple months ago.

I covered the tree with dots, Van Gogh style, for Splitcoast's technique challenge. The saying is from Sweet 'n Sassy's Heartfelt Sentiments set. The green ruche paper in the background is from Paper Temptress and it has a delightful texture to it.

I hope all of you enjoyed a Christmas Day full of joy and laughter. For my family, it was a time to reflect on the greatest gift ever given ~ Luke 2:10-11 NASB

And the angel said to them,"Do not be afraid;
for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall
be for all the people; for today in the city of David
there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: Trees of the Field, Heartfelt Sentiments
Paper: (SU) Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze (Paper Temptress) Neenah Solar White, Green Ruche
Ink: Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Soft Sky, Sage Shadow
Accessories: Markers, Buttons, Brad, Circle Nesties

.

Pink & Red Snowman

Paper Makeup Stamps: makeup4theweekend06

I love this card by Tangii Crain and it inspired me to make a snowman card using pink and red rather than the blues I always reach for. I used oval nesties to cut out a window in the front of my card. The saying is stamped on a clear acetate sheet and taped to the inside flap to appear over the inside snowflake panel. The designer paper is a sheet I picked up from Hobby Lobby by The Paper Studio. Tangii's buttons are fabulous and I don't have anything similar to use on my card {sob}. I had to settle for some button brads that I had instead. This cute snowman is popped up on dimensionals and I like how his little stick arms stand out on his sides.

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps - Snow Happy
Paper: Ruby Red, Whisper White, Paper Studio DP
Ink: Stazon Jet Black
Accessories: Markers, Brads, Ribbon, Nesties, Acetate Sheet, Dimensionals

Friendly Flower Circles

Paper Makeup Stamps: makeup4theweekend05
Splitcoast Limited Supply Challenge: Small Tall Card

This Friday Paper Makeup Stamps is hosting a color challenge of Olive, Navy and Mustard. Sometimes when I'm not sure how to combine colors, I find it best to keep them separate and distinct on my card. I stamped a flower from the Friendly Flowers set once in each color. After punching them out, I ran them through my little xyron to coat them with adhesive and dazzling diamonds glitter. I just love how they sparkle! {cheesy grin}

The ribbon was an extra piece found in my stash. I wish I had more of it wherever it came from b/c it matches the mustard color so perfectly. It's kind of hard to tell in the photo, but saying is stamped in navy ink and the green pearls match the olive flower. That way each color is touched twice on this card and balanced. Is that too OCD on my part? {chuckle}

The card is a small tall card measuring 3-1/2" x 6" (6x7 piece of paper folded in half). I did my snowman card in the previous post this size with a portrait direction and decided to try the same size here, but with a landscape direction instead. It's fun to change up card sizes now and then.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day! :)

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps: Friendly Flowers
Paper: Confetti White, Old Olive, NIght of Navy, More Mustard
Ink: Old Olive, NIght of Navy, More Mustard
Accessories: Ribbon, Pearl Stickers, 1-1/4 and 1-1/2 Circle Punches, xyron, dazzling diamond glitter

PMS Fan Blog Hop!

Welcome to my contribution to the PMS Fan Blog Hop! If you found your way here separately, you are not going to want to miss all the eye candy available for your eyes to feast on today! Paper Makeup Stamps Blog is the place to start. {wink}

This time of year, I always find myself in need of some quick and easy cards. I like to put together little gift sets or have cards readily available for a quick note to a teacher or a friend or a family member. You get the idea. {smile}

Nothing is easier to color than the snowmen in Paper Makeup's Snow Happy set. I used a blender pen to help shade the scarf and hat a little bit. And I ever so lightly outlined this snowman with pale plum ink, just to set him off from the shimmery white background of the cardstock he's stamped on.

The turquoise panel has been punched with Martha Stewart's combination of snowflake border and corner punches. It was so easy to do and makes a really great frame for the snowman. I found these punches combined in a set at Michael's for less than you can get them separately AND I was able to use my 40% coupon on them too - suh-weet! {grin}

A couple quick accents with the ribbon and extra snowflakes and I've got a card that's ready to go and can be easily mass-produced if I want more. Gotta love that! The finished card size is 3-1/2" x 6" and fits inside a standard small business envelope.

Before you go, don't forget that today is the last day to use the coupon code SETS35 at Paper Makeup Stamps for 35% off all stamp sets. Then tomorrow will start a new sale in their Countdown to Christmas.

Now hop on over to the lovely and talented Dawn Wheeler's blog to see what delicious creation she has for you next! Thanks for stopping by! {friendly wave}

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps: Snow Happy
Paper: Shimmery White, Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Tempting Turquoise, Riding Hood Red, Pale Plum, Only Orange
Accessories: Martha Stewart snowflake corner and border punches, corner punch, blender pen, rinding hood red taffeta ribbon

Warm Memories

Just Us Girls Charity Challenge
Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo #24
Splitcoast Sketch Challenge #255

Featured here is a very special charity stamp in memory of Henry Anderson. Paper Makeup Stamps offers it as both a digi image and a rubber stamp with the proceeds going to Henry's family. JUGs is hosting a charity challenge to make a card using the Henry Snow Angel image.

I used today's sketch from Splitcoast and the color combo of Bashful Blue, Real Red and Certainly Celery from Scrapmaster's Paradise. I printed the Henry digi image and colored him in with a blender pen and inks. I added my favorite dazzling diamonds glitter to the snow. Henry is cut out and popped up over the blue panel with dimensional tape.

For the green background, I took the three snowflakes from Snow Happy and arranged them all on the same acrylic block. That made stamping my background a breeze! I am so enjoying unmounted stamps! :) The sentiment is one by Great Impressions that I picked up from a local craft store and it is stamped on shimmery white paper for some extra snow sparkle.

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps: Henry Snow Angel, Snow Happy - saying by Great Impressions
Paper: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Shimmery White, Whisper White
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Printer, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Blush Blossom
Accessories: Grosgrain Ribbon, Gem Stickers, Dimensional Tape, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

Nuts About You

Paper Makeup Stamps - makeup4theweekend04

Here's my card for this week's Paper Makeup Challenge. I just love how cute this squirrel is from their Nuts About You set. If you haven't heard, all sets at Paper Makeup Stamps are 35% off this week through Friday ~ and their prices are great to begin with! Just enter the code SETS35 in your cart before checkout. I grabbed some extras for gifts - I love to get Christmas shopping done!

Anyhow, back to the card. I used copic markers to color the squirrel and acorns. I've got to practice and get some more experience using those - but you've gotta start somewhere, right? I tried adding some highlights in the shading with the colorless marker and I outlined the entire squirrel with a light gray.

The DP is SU's retired Parisian Breeze. I love the texture to it. Then for the saying - I did something that I've never done before! It comes with the three words stacked on top of one another, but I wanted them stretched out from left to right. Rather than marker each word individually and try to line them up, I carefully cut apart the three words on the stamp. Then I was easily able to line them in a row on my acrylic block and see where to stamp my words. And I can just as easily stack them up again to be used as the stamp was originally designed. :) I am loving the versatility of unmounted stamps!

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day! :)

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps: Nuts About You
Ink: Stazon Timber Brown
Paper: Confetti White, Chocolate Chip, Parisian Breeze DP, Baja Breeze
Copics: C3, E33, E35, E47, E53, 0
Accessories: Small Labels & Rectangle Nesties, button brads, dimensionals

Friendly Flowers

Paper Makeup Recipe Challenge: PMSRP18

foundation: use textured cardstock (prism, bazzill, or embossed);
blush: use the color pink;
eyes: use the color black (like mascara);
lips: use something shimmery/shiney (like lip gloss).

Paper Makeup Stamps had their November Release Party last Saturday, November 7th and this card is for their recipe challenge from that night. If you haven't gone through their blog hop yet, start here and get the 15% off coupon code good for everything in the store! Hurry, because it's only good for one more day! Saturday will bring a new sale for their Countdown to Christmas.

I used a piece of pink Core Color cardstock and embossed the flowers with my cuttlebug. I then sanded them to reveal the white core of the paper underneath. I love the gems I got from Paper Makeup's embellie sale. They're so perfect for the flower centers on this card. :)

I stamped one of the sayings from Paper Makeup's Friendly Flowers set. I used Labels 4 Nesties to cut out and emboss the sentiment. My silver Sakura glitter pen quickly decorated the edge of it. I love the sparkle it has and how it picks up the color of the gems too. Lastly I used a sponge dauber to change my black and white gingham ribbon to black and pink. :)

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day! :)

Moody for Snow

Paper Makeup Stamps - Case of PMS PMSRP19

Paper Makeup Stamps just had their November Release Party on November 7th. This card is for one of their release challenges to case any Paper Makeup card from the Splitcoast Gallery. I chose a card by Alex Lundgren called Fairy Brandt.

I used the same layout, but moved my scalloped saying to the upper corner. The base is textured cardstock for the background b/c I liked that on Alex's card. I used green and blue like she did, but added red also. I did one ribbon instead of two and added some bling from the embellie sale along the left side. Moody for Snow is stamped on shimmery white cardstock and colored in with blender pen and ink. The designer paper is from SU! last year called Ski Slope. I used a PMS saying from the Snow Happy set.

Check the PMS Blog to see how you can get 15% off your entire order at their store this week!

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day! :)

Gingerbread Hugs

CardPatterns - Sketch 39

I used Sherrod Studio's Fresh Baked set for this card. The clear stamps make it easy to line up the outline around the gingerbread man, as well as the heart buttons, mouth and eyes. The hat was stamped on red cardstock, cut out and white gel pen used for the trim. I cut out the circles, scallops and extra hearts with my Cuttlebug and Nesties. The Ski Slope DP and grosgrain ribbons are from Stampin' Up.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day! :)

What to Wear

Mojo Monday - Sketch 111

This is Cora from the Doodlefactory Prehistoric set at Starving Artistamps. To me she just looks like a chick that you don't want to mess with. I mean look at what she's wearing - that's giraffe skin! You've gotta be tough to take down a giraffe, haha. Okay, perhaps I shouldn't post cards after midnight b/c I'm being too silly. {wink}

I would have gone with leopard skin, but I didn't find any DP like that in my stash. That's how we ended up with the giraffe print, haha. I paper pieced her boots and cave-dress. The rest of her is watercolored with the wonder crayons. I layered the circles and star from punches, then coated them with versamark and glassy glaze EP for a nice shiny accent. :) Add some gems and a fabulous coordinating saying from Starving Artistamps and that's it.

Thanks for looking! :)

Ghiradelli Treat Box

Paper Makeup Stamps: makeup4theweekend03 (treat box)
Splitcoaststampers: Ghiradelli Box

I love making these Ghiradelli treat boxes from the above tutorial on Splitcoast. Maybe because it's one of my FAVORITE kind of chocolates. Especially the caramel ones - yum! I used DP from My Mind's Eye that goes so perfectly with Bermuda Bay and Dusty Durango. The sweet saying is from Paper Makeup Stamps. The circle and scallop were cut out with nesties. And of course I had to outline the circle with one of my sakura glitter pens. :)

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day! :)

Making Smiles

I received this sweet blog award from Vicki at Bountiful Blessings this week. I'm so honored! I love seeing what Vicki creates and reading about the process she took. And she's so encouraging and talented. Thanks Vicki! :)

Now here's the hard part. I'm supposed to tell five things about myself, and I've been at a loss what to share. Let's see.

1. I love having my boys home during the summer and hate to see school start each September. It seems most of my friends are the opposite and they can't wait to send their kids out the door.
2. I spent a semester in Costa Rica as an exchange student my junior year of college.
3. I turned the big 4-oh this year and had a very quiet birthday. That was perfect as I'm really not into a lot of fanfare and fuss. For some reason though, I catch myself thinking I'm 41 now and have to review the year to remind myself that I'm not! haha. Getting ahead of myself....
4. I do a lot of counting. At church each week I count the offering donations and do all the data entry for tracking financial statements. At school each month I review the lunch menu orders to check everyone's math and payments and follow up with credit and debit slips, etc. It's a lot of volunteer time, but it's so nice to "use my brain" and have the satisfaction of a job completed and done well.
5. I grew up as a PK (preacher's kid) in a little country church.

Okay, now it's my turn to share this award with five people.

Dawn Mercedes - I met her through Divine Secret Sisters and I love her style!
Terry - a sweet friend I know in real life!
Vickie Y. - the fairy godmother of Big Sisters in DSS. :)
Kim - who has kindly helped technically challenged me with digi stamps!
Danni - who leaves so many encouraging words to so many bloggers.

Red Christmas Trees

Sherrod Studio Tuesday Throwdown: sstt03 Creamy Caramel, Real Red, Barely Banana
Card Patterns: Sketch 38
Creative Belli Blog: #77 Raffia or Twine

I used Sherrod Studio's Christmas Greetings set for this card. You can emboss with any dye ink pad if you have a versamark pad and clear embossing powder. I first inked the center tree with versamark, and then inked it again with real red dye ink before stamping it onto my banana cardstock. I quickly covered it with clear EP and heated it up with my embossing gun. Voila! A shiny embossed tree. :) I did the same method for the other trees, trunks, stars and sentiment. Just remember to clean your stamp in between each inking so you don't get color ink on your versamark pad.

AND I absolutely LOVE how easy it was to line up the three trees and their trunks with the clear stamps! I don't think I have ever stamped three of anything in such an straight line before and I managed it on the first attempt {cheer}.

I think I'm also addicted to my sakura glitter pens. I started by outlining the tree mat, then the saying, then the card base and then all the bumpy parts on the cuttlebug red layer. It's such an easy way to add sparkle and it's just fun! {wink}

I found this satin ribbon that matched the caramel paper, but it looked plain so I added some red twine and I like it better. Then I was digging through my bin of random buttons and found the yellow one first. I thought how perfect it would be if I could find a red one to fit in the center and was thrilled to find exactly what I needed after more sifting. Again, twine came to my rescue in tying the two buttons together. {grin}

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Kirsten's Dreams

Paper Makeup Stamps makeup4theweekend02
Splitcoast Sketch Challenge 252
Danni's Dreams Flutter By Wednesday

Here's another one of my favorite Paper Makeup fairies. Kirsten has such a dreamy look on her face and I've made many wishes as I blew dandelion seeds off into the breeze. I used an aquapainter with my watercolor wonder crayons to color her a couple days ago. Then I was stuck on a layout until today's sketch challenge at Splitcoast. Gotta love sketches! :) It's subtle, but I traced around her picture with a glitter pen. The saying is also from Paper Makeup.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Digi ATC

I made another ATC card for Paper Makeup Stamps first Makeup for the Weekend Challenge from last Friday. Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow's challenge holds. :) I was inspired by Kim Stewart's quilt card and cut tiny half inch squares for my background. I used a white gel pen for all the "stitching". It's so funny that today's Ways to Use It Challenge on Splitcoast is to use patches because it fit right into my plan for this card. The saying is from this week's Word Art Wednesday freebie digi stamp. Kim came to my rescue and helped me figure out how to print it in color - thanks Kim! :) I used nesties to cut it out and frame it. I colored the edge with my white gel pen to give it the look of an extra layer.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Emboss Resist

Here's my card for today's color combination challenge on Splitcoast. It's also for Sherrod Studio's Tuesday Throwdown to use the emboss resist technique. I used the Christmas tree outline stamp (from Sherrod Studio's Christmas Greetings set) to randomly create a background with versamark. I then embossed it with vanilla EP. I punched out 1-inch squares and sponged them with artichoke, coral and burgundy. I matted them with the same colors and chose one of the sayings from the same stamp set for the center.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day! :)

Fresh Baked Gingerbread Man

I made this card for a new challenge at Sherrod Studio called the Tuesday Throwdown. This week's challenge was to use their sketch. I used a pre-printed notecard for my background (Limited Supply Challenge on Splitcoast). On my card it's very subtle, but there are two triangle vellum pieces over the background. I used the gingerbread man outline from Fresh Baked on Kraft cardstock. I love how easy it is to position the vest, face and stripes with the clear stamps. I filled in all the white areas with a gel pen. Another thing that I like about clear stamps is how you can gently curve them on the acrylic block and make a straight saying wavy. I thought it went well with the wavy frosting on his arms and the border punch. I chose grosgrain ribbon because of the striped texture it has.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day! :)

ATC Card Challenge

I have seen these little cards called Artist Trading Cards (ATC) in galleries for years and I have never made one. I don't know why because they are sooooooo cute. It's just been something on my "I'll do it someday" list. :) Well today's the day! Paper Makeup Stamps has changed their weekly challenge day to Friday and for this week it is to make ATC's.

I embossed and paper pieced the butterfly from the PMS Buggy Sayings set. I paired it with another one of my favorite word art sayings "When the World" (also from PMS). All designer paper is from My Mind's Eye that I matched up with Rich Razzleberry cardstock. I may have gone a little overboard with the bling, but I love how it sparkles. :) And it fits in with this week's Stamp Something Bling It challenge.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

PMS Release Party Challenges

You know those months when everyone in the house is taking turns being sick with fevers and the coughing just lingers on and on? That's what it's been like here and finally today everyone is back at work and back at school. I wouldn't say we're feeling 100% yet, but we're getting there.

Anyhow,Paper Makeup Stamps had a great release party a week ago. My name was drawn to win the ENTIRE October release - how sweet is that!? I've got my fingers crossed that those delightful stamps will arrive in my mailbox today. :)

They also gave us two release party challenges and here are my cards for those. :)


The first challenge was "I've got a CASE of PMS" to case a card from their newest design team member Randee. I enjoyed looking through her gallery and chose this card. I love how she stamped on the designer paper and how simple and elegant it is. Then I changed it to something fun and whimsical!

I was in the mood to make a card with Trick or Treat Ted. I used designer paper for the two background layers like Randee did. I have this great DCWV All About Boys stack of DP that has these alien patterns in it. I colored Ted with my new copic markers. I tried following Katie's Color With Me directions from her posted video and I think he came out okay. Fun to try something new. :)

I left off the brads and ribbon from Randee's card and chose to pop up the saying. I used a marker to omit the words "Witching you a" and get the "Happy Halloween" sentiment that I wanted. I also traced around Ted's white circle with a silver glitter pen. I like how it compliments the other shades of gray.

The second challenge was a Paper Makeup Recipe to make a card with the following "paper makeup" on it.

foundation: Quote, large sentiment, or word art (as your focal point);
powder: Fall colors-themed (paper, ink, embellishments, etc.);
eyes: distressed look (paper, ink or tools as needed);
blush: use at least 3 layers;
lips: brads or eyelets (or something similar).

I love this saying and have it as a stamp, but I also have the digi version for when I want to make the word art larger and really stand out on my card. I sized it in Word and printed it out on Very Vanilla cardstock. I used a Paper Shaper border punch on the sides of the saying and sponged around it with brown ink. I thought this DP from Basic Grey's Archaic collection already looked distressed and I loved the fall color tones in it. Those brads are copper and give off a beautiful combined brown and rust color that I just couldn't capture with my camera. I think it also has enough brown to fit in nicely with this week's Stamp Something challenge.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Another Melody Card

Paper Makeup Stamps: World Card Making Day to make a new card with PMS stamps.
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: Make a card with a pull-out feature.
Splitcoast Featured Stamper Case a card by Clownmom

Here's another Melody card. You can scroll down and check out her story in my previous post if you haven't read that yet. :) For the first time I did not glitter a fairy's wings! (gasp) I wanted the stickles to stand out on her belt and the white part of her dress. I wish you could see the sparkle better in the photos above. I used a blender pen and ink to color her in and tried to make the little bird she's singing to resemble a robin this time. Putting the saying on a pull-out tag was the perfect way to use a larger sentiment without making a bigger card or covering up part of Melody. And I loved Clownmom's card (linked above), so that gave me a great starting point. I switched out the black for brown, only added scallops on the bottom of the image mat, and made my sentiment tag a pull-out one instead of dangling. I still liked the ribbon going across the upper corner though, so I kept that on my card too.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day! :)

Introducing Melody

In August Paper Makeup Stamps had a Custom Fairy contest and I was delightfully surprised to win. I had allowed myself to think about what kind of fairy would I want made if I got to choose, and I'm so glad I did! When Katie announced my name (after the shock and shrieking wore off and I could type again) I knew exactly what kind of fairy I wanted custom designed. Her name would be Melody and she would be singing to a bird. She would have ringlets and be wearing a simple dress and tiny shoes (always colored to match, haha!) I've just always loved to sing along with the radio or my CD's. It's my favorite part of any church service or program at school. And I've always loved being outside and watching little creatures go about their daily lives. This is the perfect idea of a Beautiful Day Fairy stamp for me.

I just love how Melody is drawn - she's exactly as I imagined her. Kudos to the illustrator Diem Pascarella! You can look at the PMS Blog for other sneak peek cards and she'll be released for sale on Wednesday night, October 7th during their release party. While you're checking Melody out, don't forget to leave comments there and have a chance to win the ENTIRE October release of stamps - now that's a lot of rubber happiness! AND as if that's not enough, Paper Makeup Stamps is having a 12 Week's Countdown to Christmas Sale every Saturday starting today for the next 12 weeks! Lots of exciting things going on over there. :)

And now for a couple cards! Melody is so much fun to color! I used a blender pen and ink and was thinking of Giselle from the movie "Enchanted", so this Melody has strawberry blond hair. :) I went with a pastel scheme of Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Apricot Appeal. Of course, I had to add dazzling diamonds glitter to her fairy wings. The saying is from PMS set Nature's Song. I like how the scalloped oval mimics the scallops on her dress and the cuttlebug music embossing folder gave me a great accent for the apricot panel. :)


In addition to mounted or unmounted rubber, Paper Makeup Stamps offers their Beautiful Day Fairies in digi form for the first month after they're released. So, for my second card I shrunk Melody down before I printed her. I wanted her to be the correct size to go with the cottage and willow tree (also from PMS!) After I colored her, again with blender pen and ink, I held my breath and oh so carefully cut her out. I sponged the grass and sky to add some texture and ripped a brown strip of paper to be a path leading from the cottage. The cottage was much easier to cut out after it was colored in and I added clear glaze pen to all the windows. I used markers to color in and "huff" the willow tree stamp and cut that out for the front yard. Then the clouds I just cut free-hand. As for the saying, well, there's this song that I grew up singing in our little country church and I just had it going through my mind and was humming/singing it while making this card. :) So, I decided why not print off the title from my computer. I used a small label nestie to cut and stencil the saying.



Here's a close-up view of Melody. Isn't she darling!? :) I used a glitter pen on her wings.


Thanks for looking and have a blessed day! :)

Sweet Shoppe Gingerbread House

I made today's card using a Starving Artistamps Doodlefactory set called Santa's Sweet Shoppe. The saying is from the matching sentiment set called Holiday Sweet Shoppe Sentiments. I just love how the Doodlefactory sets have clever, punny sayings to go with them. I used this great sketch from Rubber Stamp Chat September Sketch Challenge. The card is 5-1/2 inches square. The snowflake panel is on shimmery white cardstock embossed with a cuttlebug folder. It's hard to see in the photo, but all the peppermint candies are covered with versamarker and clear embossing powder. The frosting and gumdrops are covered with glitter pens, making for a festive, sparkly card in real life. :) The border punch on the green panel is by EK Success. The red designer paper is from an old SU! pack and I found the perfect plaid ribbon in my stash. :)

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

PMS Color Challenge

This week Paper Makeup Stamps is hosting a color challenge using olive, ruby and chocolate. And the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is to include a tag anywhere on your project. I decided to use The Heart Fairy that was designed as a charitable fairy for the American Heart Association. I used a versamarker and glassy glaze embossing powder to add a nice shine to her ruby heart. I did the same thing with the heart in the saying from the Dream Big set on the tag. Isn't this a perfect saying for this fairy? Of course her wings have to shimmer with my favorite dazzling diamonds glitter. :) For the background, I inked up a cuttlebug folder before embossing my cardstock. That put ruby red ink in all the grooves of my design making the raised part stand out a little bit more. The oval picture is popped up on dimensionals over the ribbon and scalloped mat. With the textured background and tag, this fairy needed an extra lift too. :) Then the heart brad was the perfect ending for attaching the tag to the ribbon and finishing off another card.

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

More Punching and Free Word Art

Every Friday Paper Makeup Stamps has a Friday Freebie Digi Word Art on their blog. I just love this week's quote and immediately pictured Ed jumping into a pile of leaves instead of his usual swimming pool. :) Of course, the perfect way to make a pile of leaves is to use my paper punches, so this is also another card for the PMS Monday Challege Getting Punchy. I used pastel chalks to color Ed and highlight the saying. I used a q-tip to dab clouds with white craft ink. I tore some paper for the ground and taped a bunch of punched out leaves on top of each other to make an attractive pile for our favorite elephant Ed. He's also popped up on dimensionals to give him a better sense of being air-born, haha. :)


Next I wanted to make a card with the Friday Freebie word art printed larger. One of the nice things about digis is you can print the quote out any size you want! I used Lime Rickey DP from Basic Grey and a cuttlebug embossing folder for the edge of the yellow cardstock. I just got my first copic markers and used them to highlight the word art to match my papers. Add a black mat and a ribbon tab and I have another cheerful fall card to send to one of my friends. :)

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Pretty Woman

Here's a card that I made for Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge. This week's movie is Pretty Woman and the card was to be paper-pieced. Paper-piecing is not something that I've done. I've actually avoided it because of all the cutting out. So, I decided to combine this with today's Ways to Use It Challenge on Splitcoast - Step Out of Your Box. Look at the close-up picture below - I cut out all those tiny flowers, the leg and the tub and pieced them on the pink circle. Is that crazy or what?! But it looks great, doesn't it? haha Then I decided to trace everything with my glitter pen to make the card dazzle even more, just as Julia Roberts dazzled everyone in the movie Pretty Woman. :) The stamps are from SU!'s retired sets called La-dee-da and Floral.



Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Getting Punchy

Today's PMS Monday Challenge is to use die cuts and punches, excluding Nesties. I started with a butterfly die cut from SU! and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the swirl embossing folder. Next I punched out tiny hearts from some iridescent paper to line the edge of the butterfly wings. The outside of the wings are also propped up with dimensionals to tilt them out from the center of the butterfly's body.

Then today's Technique Challenge on Splitcoast is to use punches to make layer buttons. How perfect! I used this circle ribbon slot punch to punch out 5 cardstock circles and 1 designer paper circle. I stacked them up and taped them together. Then I covered it with Frost Versamark and glossy glaze EP a couple times to give it the hard shiny look like a button. How fun!

The saying from Paper Makeup Stamps is also embossed and punched out with SU!'s Key Tag punch. I used a border punch from Michael's for the bottom of the white layer. It's hard to see but the white layer also has all these ridges running through it from a texture plate. Add some sponging, gems and ribbon and that's the completed card! :)

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!

Cherish Flowers

Here's a card I made for Sherrod Studio's DT Sketch Challenge. I used the flowers from the Gracie stamp set with one of my favorite color combinations for this week's Stamp Something Challenge. I just love reds and blues! :)

The white mat is a piece of extra glossy photo paper I had lying around. Makes for a smooth, shiny border. :) I'm always stamping on white or vanilla cardstock, so I determined with this card to stamp on colored cardstock instead. I really like how the red and navy still stand out on the light blue background. The clear stamps made it a snap to line up the flowers when stamping the background and front panel. Flower centers were colored with a white gel pen and the saying stamped with white craft ink.

Have a blessed day!

Spooooky Willow Tree

Haha, okay so the willow tree isn't really spooky looking, but the Limited Supply Challenge on Splitcoast was to use spooky Halloween colors on your card. I've seen lots of purple and green combos for Halloween lately, so that's what I went with.

It's also a Flap Card for this week's PMS Monday challenge. I just love their stamps (thanks dawnmercedes for introducing me to them!) and this willow tree is no exception. I have fond memories of hanging on willow tree vines and swinging on them as a girl. :) Another wonderful thing is the word art you can find at Paper Makeup Stamps. There's a saying for anything in all kinds of fabulous fonts!

To get even coverage on the purple frame for the glitter, I covered the entire circle with adhesive in my xyron first. Then I centered the willow tree and stuck the two circles together. That left the outside of the purple circle ready to be covered with glitter for a sparkly frame. :) Then I found these little buttons in my stash and thought they looked just like arrows pointing in different directions like the saying says.

Truly Scrumptious

Here's a picture of our standard poodle when she turned a year old in April. When we decided to get a puppy last year, I wanted a girl. I live with my husband and two sons and I just wanted some female companionship, KWIM? She is truly a sweetheart. So well-behaved and fun-loving. We go for walks every day and her favorite game is to fetch a tennis ball over and over again. It's great watching her leap and twist in the air to catch one too.

A New Adventure

Here I am, stepping out and trying something new. :) I never thought I would start a blog. I've been inspired by so many other blogs out there though, it's piqued my curiosity. And if nothing else, it'll be my own little record of things that I enjoy and that I can look back on.