Sunday, August 30, 2009

Square peg, ROUND hole!


Sometimes, I wonder WHY I'm wired this way...? I know, NOT, how to back down from these {mental} challenges, so here's what I did:



I started with these DARLING stamps from good old Cosmo Cricket! Never mind the color and sketch challenges I was attempting to work with: I've had this set on my mind since I went to the mountains with some of the most darling friends in the universe, just a few short weeks ago... THESE GUYS!


Look at THAT wild bunch! Hee Hee Three families! Lot's of kids {and by that, I'm mostly referring to the husbands!}, lots of food, forest and FUN! Yes, friends, Ms. Blondie is none other than DANA from Paper Daydream fame, her brood, and the LOVELY and talented, Mrs. Eustace and clan: great friends, who's dear friendship is forged from a foundation of none other than PAPERCRAFTING! {You can't hear me, but I'm bellowing "wooooooooooooooooooooo!"}

Anywhoo, since that fun-filled weekend up in the Shasta area, Mc Cloud, California, I've been planning to do this whole "Mr. Campy" thing to celebrate the event and great pictures of our little ones cavorting in the Mc Cloud river, etc., but I just haven't "arrived" there creatively....



Perhaps I should get the actual photos developed and then, I dunno: SCRAP SOMETHING! Phew! But for now, I'm just having warm and fuzzy happiness of having spent a fun mini vacation with such darling folks... BUT, NOW, back to my post {Hello, rambing WOman!}

THIS CARD:


Is for THIS CHALLENGE:



And THIS one, too!

WAHOOO! Not exactly camping colors, not exactly earthy and gritty... That's where my square peg, ROUND hole conundrum comes up... Because, sometimes FORCING something can produce a happy ending: I like my card! And what I REALLY like is that it went from being a celebration of a vacation adventure to an ENCOURAGEMENT kind of card, and I would have NEVER thought of that! I just had to make it, and then see the spiritual value of the sentiment! Now I can send this to just about ANYONE who's going through a hard time, and know it will bring a smile and some nice food for thought! The sentiment changed from whining kids {in my head!} to more of a heavenly question... Are we done with this difficult time? And yet the color and image is so sweet and hopeful, it seems to ask the question and comfort all at the same time: WHO thinks of something like that? Not me...! I'd enjoy a card like this and marvel at how it told the story, but I wouldn't have arrived at the message, unless I took the journey.

Wow! Talk about spiritual. Guess it's not always a bad thing to "force a square peg into a round hole" every once in a while! Neato!

Thanks for reading my crafty ramblings! Have a wonderful rest of your evening!


Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Cosmo Cricket (car & camper/ sentiment); Hero Arts (clouds); inkadinkado (woodgrain); Impression Obsession (polka dots)
Ink - Stampin' Up!; Staz On
Ribbon - MM
Corner and Scallop Punch - Stampin' Up!
Thread - Gutermann

Saturday, August 29, 2009

It's Not Easy Being Pink...

...or at least, that's what SOME monsters might say... But not this little gal! For this week's Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo, I'm bringing you "Pinky" the monster {that was my little gal's name for her!}!!! I've been complaining about making boy cards so much, but as I scroll back through recent posts, ahem... We'll there's quite a bit for that side of the population... So, this lil' monster's for all-o-YOU girly types!



She's a BRIGHT one, all right! Monster image brought to you by MyCuteStamps and MY new stamps {a little shopping therapy, since I didn't get the nod for their design team... *sob!* I have three new stamps by Holly, to show that I'm a proud loser! Lol!} THAT'S ALL GOOD, though! Some of my craftiest and wonderful blog friends made the cut, so check out Holly Brooke Jones' blog, Creating Cupcakes to learn more about her new team, products and fun! {Make special note of, DANA! She's my LOCAL hero and BFF, gone fabulous blogstar!} But I [WAY] digress, I wanted to share how much I'm loving monsters AND robots right now! This set, "Eek, a monster!" from MCS is such fun! It's versatile and adorable, although, I will admit that this was another example of a darling stamp-ortunity to combine a sentiment stamp from long ago, with a brand new image! "Oops a daisy" is by Simply Stamped, but it was great inspiration for me to combine the eyeball daisy + monster and create a fun belated birthday or apology card! ( As much fun as I have making cards, you'd think I'd be great at sending them... cough*cough {not so much!} I should make 100 of these! hee hee)

THEN there's these fab colors, compliments of Samantha, who put the SCRAPMASTER in SPCC! She's offering up some DELICIOUS blog candy right now, so drive or "blurf" {blog-surf: compliments of the lovely, Karen!} on over there as soon as you can! I love her color choices and the fact that she's a STAMPIN' UP sista, in her "free" time! {CHECK OUT HER BIO! She's AMAZING!}


Anyway, cute friends of blog land. As you can see, water coloring with my Stampin' Up! inks is still my fave technique of the moment! I ADORE the end result and "printed" quality of the coloring, so until I win those awesome COPIC markers... somewhere {Samantha!}... that's how I'll be rolling! Here's a close up so you can see HOW well you can blend with a little extra ink and a water color pen!


There you have it, folks! Just knowing you've been by to share the fun-o-the craft with me makes my day! AND it contributes to WORLD PEACE.... seriously! THANK YOU, so much, for your kind comments, humor and PATIENCE! I adore you!

Run along, now. Go MAKE something!

You still here?

Go, get inky!

I love ya! Be good!


Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - My Cute Stamps (monster and flower); Simply Stamped (Sentiment); S/U! (flourish)
Ink - Stampin' Up, Staz On
Punches - All Night Media (flower); Sizzix and CM (circles); Stampin' Up! (corner rounder)
Ribbon - Stampin' Up!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Hello, lovely and WONDERFUL friend{s}...


Happy Wednesday, to you sweet friends! I am coming to you live from Rancho Durenberger , in Northern California and I need to share something with y'all... and it goes like this, here: Yee Haw! I finished my card for Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #15! I just can't explain how good it feels to "put this one to bed!" She's been settin' on my desk top, in pieces, for too many days now. Finally, she's been gussied up and photographed and I'm sending her out to you! Not only that, but note those scallops on the bottom portion of the panel, well: THOSE were inspired by the "Finally Friday Challenge" from SPCC and their guest designer, challenge host, Mara, who is a card making, scrappy Rock Star in her own right! I know it's not Friday anymore {or YET!!!} but that's what's nice about WEDNESDAY, the middle of the week... So this is a two-fer: I sure hope you enjoy!


Out for Publication!



Dawn and her pinky palette have done it again! It took me a while to harvest the colors from my Stampin' Up! "garden-o-color" but I'm thinking we're matched up p r e t t y well! {Sometimes the fun is in the "hunting and gathering," if ya know what I mean!}


Out for publication!



Let me just share with you, a tiny tale about this here sweet lil' butterfly! One of the very first Sizzix "Bigs" dies I HAD to have from Stampin' Up! was this sweet thang RIGHT here! Those butterfly shapes are heavenly and sooooooo full o possibility! So full, indeed... that this is her maiden race from my Sizzix machine! I have a habit of letting the BEST supplies "ferment" for a while, and that's just how I roll.... for whatEVER reason. Regardless, I'm ALWAYS delighted to have the right tool for the right job: KWIM!?!?!


Out for Publication!


So, it wasn't just enough for me that I could place a folded piece of Regal Rose C/S AND a piece of C/S vellum through my machine (AT THE SAME TIME!) and get my ingredients to make this lovely butterfly... But then I had to whip out the ol' x-acto knife {now THAT'S a knife!}, and make a window in the top layer of my card stock, butterfly sandwich! I love the light and shadow effects created by this step, of course, then the butterfly body had to go up a notch to match... So that's when I decided to wrap two Making Memories "Love Notes" shaped pins with a good old fashioned pipe cleaner! Leaving the sharp ends of the pins EXPOSED made me nervous, so I glued and pierced some itty, bitty (please don't ask me the brand! Doh!) pom-poms to the end of my now FLUFFY butterfly and let it fly!



Out for Publication!



I used more of my fun discovery {if you want to learn more, see directions in this post} with water coloring on Very Vanilla card stock and then stamping in the same color onto of the dried paper to create the scallop border... I liked that I was keeping in the colors of the challenge but giving me design versatility that I craved to make this card work. The butterfly "trail" was created with self adhesive half pearls from Kaisercraft... WHAT FUN!

So, my WONDERFUL friends, thanks for fluttering by! Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

Supplies:

Card Stock - Stampin' Up!
Scallop, Oval and Scallop Oval Punches - Stampin' Up!
Die Cut Butterfly - Sizzix/Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Stampin' Up!
Ink- Stampin' Up!
Dimensional Dots - Stampin' Up!
Pipe Cleaner and Pom Poms - My stash!
Half Pearls - Kaiser Craft
Shaped Pins - Making Memories

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Boy Card ~ MAKEOVER!

I am an extremely blessed mother of two lovely children: one boy and one girl... I've had the boy longer, so you'd think I'd be used to his "kind".... BUT, not really. I am, after all, a girl, myself. Therefore, I have to confess that I have a hard time making "boy" cards. Masculine isn't that easy, either... but "boy" is REALLY tough. Here's a card I made about three or so years ago, when Stampin' Up! first introduced the In Color concept:

BEFORE


It's okay. Nothing super dynamic, but the sad thing is that I was TRYING to be masculine/boy in my "happy birthday" message. Now THAT's really sad. When I first made the card, I didn't have the flower image at all: vroom, I thought I was all manish in my efforts {not} ! But I added the flower because the composition was wonky and I couldn't stand that Marigold color, all lonely and uncomplimented... So, the flower went down and then I made about TWENTY of these! (Ugh!) I am confessing, that only recently, due to this blog, I always made cards in batches of 10 or 20! As a S/U! demo, I loved to have extras on hand to give to customers and just advertise the craft, but these days, most of my craftiest crafty friends read my blog anywhooo, so I'm not working on multiples nearly as much... ANYWAY, I still have a bunch of these and I HATE looking at them! I feel like this card is "confused!" So today, when "the boy" needed a card for another 11yr. boy child: I decided to give this a MAKEOVER!

AFTER




WAHOOOOOOOO! I've got a few of these left from the "pre-makeover" stage, but they will definitely get an overhaul, too! (Thank goodness for tape that isn't TOOOO permanent!)

ALL SUPPLIES : Stampin' Up! (except for "EXTREME BOY" stamp, by Studio G)

Thanks for visiting today!

Saddle Up! THROW DOWN!

I can barely recall life before bloggy paper challenges... These days, I am consumed by color swatches and decisions like "which STAMP SET might best provide a fabulous way to show off these gorgeous colors!?!" It might start with a few sheets of card stock, but by the time I'm done digging through "happy town," my work space is littered with ribbon, bling, scraps of designer paper, re-inkers, watercolor crayons... basically, it's a FESTIVAL of color!

Last week.... {*sob} I missed two great color challenges... Including The Color Throwdown! GASP! Yep! It's true! I got such a kick out of playing "color" with those dynamite ladies a few weeks back, but in order to get my "home-body" butt out the door for a little family vacay, I HAD TO WALK AWAY FROM SOME CHALLENGES! {Hold me!}

NOT THIS WEEK, though, babies. No way. So what if I've been going like a crazy loon with the beginning of school, no sleep and too much leftover laundry from the family road trip... {OMG, I'm totally whining! Sorry! My blog is my HAPPY place!} Speaking of happy, I'm so happy to present you with this:


Oooooowwwwww and YEE HAW! I made some Western Happiness! My fave! I was thrilled to play with these color choices, three of the new IN COLORS from Stampin' Up! Here's the teaser:

Don't you LOVE this!?! "Can you handle THIS?" Are you CRAFTER enough to handle the truth? {Do you hear Jack Nicholson, suddenly?} Do you KNOW who I am? Do you know who WE are? WE, we... are sisters (and a few brothers... It's all gooood!) of the paper craft! OF course we can handle THIS! I got so excited to share the fun-o-this, I sent a goody packet to my darling and sooooooo dear bloggy friend, Rosemary, so she could play, too! {She lives FAR away from me, so I'm praying she gets the loot in time to make it sing...} Anywhooo, THAT'S how WE can handle THIS, your color throwdown, you sassy and amazing designy ladies of Color Throwdown Challenge Headquarters! Ohhhhh, yeah. We can HANDLE the truth of these gorgeous colors. *phew!*

Anywhoo, where was I...? OH, and I am combining with ANOTHER challenge! A really, brand spanking new sketch challenge called "Get Sketchy!" I learned about this dynamic new place for sketch challenge from yet another DEAR friend-o-blog-o-sphere, Ann from Creative Antics... SHE is on the DT for this great site, so check it out, if you have the means!


Fun! Eh? Me likey. Me likey, a LOT!

So I got busy in the exploration of color and composition. If you can stand to bare with me, if you're interested... I'm going to share some of my discovery. I'll try to make it quick:

First of all, classic cowgirl beauty, brought to you by Dawn Houser and Inkadinkado! Ain't she the vintage Queen-o-the old rodeo!?! I had to make her lips a little more luscious, so I re-stamped her in Dusty Durango and cut her lips out and paper pieced... And NOW she looks a little like Andy Warhol got a hold of her... BUT SHE'S STILL GREAT! Don't you think? Anwhoo, I had to share this close up so you could peek at the magic of the old fashioned "mask" technique. I stamped the lasso and THEN cowgirl cutie, masked her off with a post-it and then stamped the word circle right over her: BIG AS YOU PLEASE! I just love that look and it's way "old school!"

The blank sheet of Very Vanilla is WAITING for some love from some of these great ink pads. I haven't had the opportunity to really indulge in too much of S/U's new products, ie. designer paper in the new in colors, so I set about to make my own. I felt strongly that this card needed to look a little weathered and less CARD STOCK strong...

For quick and easy water color looks, I love to give a closed ink pad a good squeeze and then grab the color from the lid with my large watercolor brush...


For this card, however, I wanted to create layers of color, so I brushed the entire panel with a well loaded (water only) aqua brush very quickly, then dipped the same brush directly into that little puddle of ink, and then back across the wet panel. Speed is your friend here: don't overwork the card stock or it will tear or look muddy!

Here's the finished look of the watercolor work! It's AUTHENTIC watercolor work, me thinks...

LET THE WHOLE PANEL DRY! Seriously, this is critical... and difficult! But patience is a crafty gal's BEST friend, eh!?! The paper will curl, a lot. Don't fear. When it's dry, flatten it with your hands. Bend, gently, in opposing directions and it will calm down considerably! THEN, stamp with full strength! I used MORE Dusty Durango ON the Dusty Durango wash! In this case, where I was using a big ol' background stamp (Bella Toile from S/U!) I inked the stamp, placed it on my work top and placed my watercolored paper on top! To avoid smearing, lightly bend the panel into a "U" shape and set the middle of the "U" down in the middle of the stamp and work from the middle out from the back side, rubbing as you go. Brayers work well for this job, as well. {A little practice, if this sounds frighting, is NEVER a bad thing!} But don't it look purdy!?! Here's my practice piece... I decided that I'd been too shy with the watercolor phase, but it's still okay for ANOTHER project sometime!




So, Saddle Up, lovely blog friends! I hope you have a chance to catch some of these terrific challenges yourself! Giddy Up!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Carolee's Creations, Inkadinkado, Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!, Staz On
Scallop Border Punch - Stampin' Up!
Circle Die - Sizzix
Thread - Gutermann

Friday, August 21, 2009

Happy Thoughts GREETINGS!

Lovely friends of Blogland: WHAT HAPPENED TO SUMMER!?! Holy Mole', Oley! That season just blew by! Last thing I remember, I was ACTUALLY participating in a "family & friends" good old fashioned vacation... And suddenly I'm running back and fourth between school, errands, Target and the grocery store, kid haircuts and shoeing: WHA' HAPPENED!?! I now, officially have a middle schooler {the boy started 6th grade on Wednesday!} and late next week, I'll have a "for real" and official 3rd grader! *Phew!*

Here he is, the boy, in all of his "11 year old, hormones ready to kick into high-gear splendor!"


(Heavy Sigh.) NOW, maybe y'all will forgive me for not tending to my blog baby all week!!!! THIS look, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, took a lot to pull off... Just sayin'! All of my hard work was the inspiration for the following card: It is a tribute to the now, long-ago day, when a quality robot toy and a little dose of E.T. was all that was needed to create magic and stimulate the imagination of my smallish boy... {*Sniffle~sniff!*} I also created this to share with the lovely folks at Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo AND Card Patterns! The "happy thoughts greetings" is a sentiment I'm sending out to all-o-you, right now! Especially those of you who are doing the "back to school squirrel dance!" Ack!


Take a gander at these fun colors from Samantha, amazing blogstress and creator of SPCC!

Then there's the fun sketch of the mighty designers at Card Patterns! (They've updated their banner - again! Hmmmmm.... Might have to do some exploration in that department, myself!)




Here's my card in it's robotic finery! I'm really having a lot of love {and nostalgia!} over these Stampin' Up! robots, Lots of Bots! Quite fun! I was intrigued by the stamp with the bolts, nuts and washer... and since "Scrapland" is located next to husband's workshop, I considered adding some REAL nuts and bolts, but then this washer thingy happened! (I purchased a huge bag of these when I first embraced the metal letter stamps by Lee Valley Tools, in like 2002! I was going to custom make sentiment WASHERS, before they were manufactured by Making Memories and the like... Until I found that to pound those babies with a hammer could cause brain injury~ the bounce back or "kick" from the hammer could be deadly: these aren't meant to be metal stamped! But guess what: they take kindly to STAZ ON! Yipee!) The Think Happy Thoughts set from Stampin' Up! works PERFECTLY for this task! Plus, I shadowed with white Staz On and then Timber Brown and I was fairly pleased with the results!

So, I'mmmmm Baaaaaaaccccccckkkkkk, folks! One more kid to start school next week and then ROUTINE is restored to Rancho Durenberger... Wahooo! I've missed the adrenaline and fun of the challenge world and talking with you all! Can't wait to catch up some more!

Have a great day!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up! & Staz On
Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Aqua Painter - Stampin' Up!
Ribbon - Stampin' Up!
Mini Star Punch - Marvy
Corner Punch - Stampin' Up!
Scallop Circle - Sizzix & Stampin' Up!
Swiss Dots Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug
Dimensional Dots - Stampin' Up!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

A, wilderness, coffee break!

Just a little hey there, hi there, C'WOFFEE moment from the wilds of NORTHERN, Northern California! I'm here with MY family and several other families: a combination of some of my favorite scrappy-sistas and their kin folk! I wish all-o-you darling blog friends could join us... sigh... But it's good to get away from the daily grind of the high tech, low tech and TO-DO list that beckons each day! I'm sippin' some mountain coffee with good friends and family and thinking of y'all! Here's a little love, via a fun stamped tribute to continued "good coffee " moments:



Have a perfectly brewed and caffeinated day! I'll be back in real time, soon!

All Supplies - STAMPIN' UP!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Oh Happy Day!


It's a happy day and we're off to the WILDERNESS for a few days: the WHOLE family! With five horses, four dogs, two cats and ONE {cranky} great grandmother, it's no small feat to get out of DODGE! But we're gonna give it a try! For your enjoyment, I prepared some refreshing images that will hopefully give you a good chill and a happy day!



I have been enjoying the options of lots of cool Sizzix and Cuttlebug embossing plates, like crazy! A by-product of ooowing and awwwing at the magic of embossing work forced me to really examine my VAST collection of the "old fashioned" brass embossing plates and THIS snowman called to me! HE is soooooooo much cuter embossed, than sitting in my drawer, in his little brass prison! So, I embossed, glittered and had a BALL! THEN, I did it again!

And then I sanded, sewed, colored, glittered some more... altered some letters from a GREAT Cosmo Cricket collection and BOOM! Goes the dynamite! Card making HAPPINESS! Lots and lots of it! I sure hope YOU enjoy these icy little images and that your day is a bit craftier!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - Cosmo Cricket
Stamps - Stampin' Up!; Tim Holtz; Hero Arts
Ink - Stampin' Up!; Versa Mark
Heat and Stick Powder - Stampin' Up!
Embossing plates and machine - Sizzix
Brass Embossing plate - American Traditional Crafts
Dazzling Diamonds - S/U!
Ribbon- Stampin' Up!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Lovely, lovely....

LOVELY colors... can create magic. Magic, like the way you might be drawn to a beautiful flower, a distinctive painting, a fabulous outfit or just the right pair of shoes.. Color is MAGIC! It is yet ANOTHER form of magic power we wield as paper artists... That why I LOVE color challenges! Last week when I played with the swatch from Scrapmaster's Paradise, I just let the colors do the talking. I entered at the last minute, it was my FIRST time playing in their "paradise," and the last thing I expected, was to MAKE IT INTO THEIR TOP 5! Holy CRACKERS! I got the nod! Thank you so much to Samantha, the Scrapmaster, herself, and her amazing designers! I'm humbled and "aw shucks" and SOOOO appreciative! I finally got a moment to play with their new swatch, so here's my share for the "Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo #10!"




How would you describe these delicious polka dots of fun? HAPPY! Harvesty? Autumnal? DELIGHTFUL!!! Maybe all of the above. They make me think of our local Harvest Fair on a perfect Fall day, sunny and sparkly and crystal clear... Ummmmm. Now I can SMELL fall. Ahhh! {See...., MAGIC!}

Speaking of MAGIC... do you like my stamps? Ohhhhhh, Stampin' Up! They keep me hungry for MORE, year after year! Aren't these little bee's... {uh, oh: here she goes!} THE BEE'S KNEES! {Slap your knee RIGHT NOW! You have to! Humor THAT good!?!.... kidding...!} "Just Buzzin' By" SO adorable! Those were my stamps of choice to answer the color portion of this challenge, but here's the fabulous sketch from Card Positioning Systems #128 that inspired me a few steps further!




I couldn't get over my good fortune when I realized that a darling friend of mine had recently shared a wondeful 6x6 paper pad from WeRMemoryKeepers, Madame Royale, that had many of these gorgeous colors: WHO KNEW!?! Once again, I love the JOURNEY! Thanks for visiting my happy little blogging place today! Have a GREAT day, won't you!?!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - WeRMemoryKeepers
Stamps - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Tiny Corner Rounder - EK
"Hi" letters - Street Signs by Cricut
Flowers - Sizzix
Scallop Border Punch - Stampin' Up!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

It's a sticky situation...

...AND a sticky Sunday here in Northern California! We tried to keep cool and mercifully, "Scrapland" is the coolest place here at Rancho Durenberger, so we CRAFTED! Me and my mini-crafter, my sweet lil' girl child, STAMPED the day away! { It's fun to have a mini crafter around when you need one! } Anywhoo, this afternoon it just got plain sticky, so there were popsicles and bike riding and a few other interruptions... ha ha! But I finally have something to offer for the day's work! As I type this, I don't even know if it's too late for the first challenge I had on my mind, Scrapmaster's Paradise, Color Combo Challenge, ANOTHER new to me challenge and I have to share with you that the colors and the graphic are what suckered me in! Each time I saw this cute little color swatch, my toes curled with joy! It sounds like it ends, today, SUNDAY, but it didn't give a time and since it's STILL Sunday, I'm going to see if they'll still have me. Here's my color "work" combined with the composition from this week's Card Pattern's Sketch #27..



Ohhh, goodness, aren't those colors fetching! Makes me want to scrap my girl baby all over again! But for now, just a little friendship card!

Another great sketch to combine with fun colors... so why not!?! Hee HEEEEEE! Weeeee!


Gratuitous close up of the darling "Wings of Friendship" bird by Stampin' Up! He's in the new hostess sets, level 2: DAR-LING! I gave him EYES! {I always have to give eyes when the stamp just has emptiness... it's just a thing... an issue.. a bug-a-boo, if you will: my creatures must have eyes!}









Also included in this card was a lot of stamping on Very Vanilla and then paper piecing images for visual interst.... can't help myself! Anyway, friends, I'd best run off and link-up! Giddy up and link up, before I miss my window! Here's hoping your Sunday wasn't as sticky, but maybe as CRAFTY!

Oh, and let's not forget the wee-daughter's lovely work! She was REALLY enjoying this handsome collection from My Cute Stamps... so I SHARED! {Am I a nice mommy or WHAT!?!}




Bye-bye for now!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Ribbon - Stampin' Up!
Punches - Stampin' Up!
Stickles - Tim Holtz & Ranger
Glitter Paint - Shimmers (Bubble Gum Pink)
Thread - Gutermann

Saturday, August 8, 2009

What if we pretend there's a chill....

Okay, just a few days ago THERE WAS A CHILL in the air, but that's all changing here in my cozy little Northern California corner of the world: IT'S HOT! {Wah!} But I'm just chillin' here this afternoon: I made a little winter scene to help my chill factor! Yet ANOTHER challenge inspired me: CAARDVARKS! I think I've only hit them one other time... Oh, if there WAS all the time in the world... you know what I mean! Anywhoo, I'm in for this round, baby! See what you think:



Yep! I'm having a "thing" with My Cute Stamps! Arent's those seals sweet! ?! I gave them a little place of their own... With their own little house and world and WARM wishes! I "Cricuted" the letters for the word "warm" and then had myself a little glitter-fest! Yipee! Sparkly letters are gooooood! Good for the soul! The word "wishes" was made with a Quick Kuts Shortcut die run through my Big Shot! As much as I love my Cricut options, the Sizzix really satisfies! Love how the letters POP out: such fun!



Sparkle, sparkle, SPARKLE! Like I said, sparkle really makes a girl feel good! Ummmm!

Look at "Sally" the seal! I named her that because we can SEE the crush she's having on... Is it "Linus?" Woops, I should have given him a little blue blankie... Oh well. When I inked "Sally", I placed a tiny piece of post-it with the sticky side towards the rubber and covered her eye... That way, I could go back in with a black pen and make her eye OPEN, just so she could look just a little different from her beau! I also cut off her tail! Yikes! Just so she didn't feel like a twin: I think it works for this composition.. I'm sure she's okay! I like stamps that you can "customize" a little for the purpose of telling a STORY! The sweet artwork and sturdy lines in these stamps make that
E - A - S - Y! It's like getting TWO images for the price of ONE! Yipee!



SO, wow! That about does it for today {and I was WORRIED I wouldn't get any craft time.. I just made the dogs wait a little longer for their food... Yelp!} Now it's off to Costco!

Have a great rest of your Saturday!


Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - My Cute Stamps (Seals)/ Stampin' Up! (Snowflakes)
Igloo - ME! (hand drawn)
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Pens - Stampin' Up!
"Warm" lettering - Cricut
Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts
"Wishes" - Quick Kutz
Heart Punch - Martha Stewart Crafts
Scallop Edge Punch - Stampin' Up!


Friday, August 7, 2009

Monkey see... Monkey do ANOTHER challenge!

Yipee! It's Friday, babies! Are you ready to ENJOY your weekend!?! I sure hope so... I'm sliding across the plate with a close-to-the-wire offering for this week's Card Patterns Challenge AND playing some more with My Cute Stamps - CIRCUS {because they are soooo cute!} ANIMALS!



Ohhhh, the cuteness of this little monkey! I just turned this card into a celebration-o-the-monkey! AND some of his fun accessories! AND... {alert the media} I parted with some COSMO CRICKET paper! {I know... will you HOLD me? It's hard to .. let go..*sniffle} But doesn't monkey and some strips of "Mr. Campy" play nice together!?!

Here's the ultra-enjoyable sketch design from the fine folks at Card Patterns! A personal "side" challenge for me was to NOT do something western with this design! {I have a little addiction to all things western, ESPECIALLY when I sees me some stars!} Sometimes it's about GROWTH, and getting out of our {Western FESTOONED} box!.... Look Mom, I'm growing up.. and playing with... uh, ur..
M O N K E Y S!



So, adorable friends-o-blogland! I'm going to attempt to NOT be too wordy and let you go! It is with such gratitude that I acknowledge HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE you stopping by my happy little blogging place! Have a fabulous, lovely and ENJOYABLE weekend, and by all means: do some monkeying around in your spare time! You deserve it!

Bye now!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - Cosmo Cricket
Stamps - My Cute Stamps
Ink - Stampin Up!
Postage Stamp Edge Scissors - Fiskars
Star Punches - McGill & Family Treasures