Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Who, me?



Wow!! What a surprise to come home and find that I was picked as the Featured Stamper today on the Color Throwdown blog!! Thanks so much, CTD girls!!

You're Beary Special



Hi everyone! Here's a card I made with Fall-to Layout 49. The stamps, DP, Prism paper, ribbon and candy dots are all from Taylored Expressions.

The belly and feet pads were paper pieced with the DP. A second image was stamped, colored, and popped up on foam tape. The Papaya mat behind the bear is also on foam tape. The Candy Dot was colored with a R22 Copic.



Here's the inside. The heart is also from the Beary Special set, stamped on the same DP and popped up on foam tape.



SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: TE Beary Special
Paper: PTI Select White, Papaya Prism Paper and DP from Taylored Expressions June Key Ingredients Kit
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Copics: E42, E43, R22
Accessories: Taylored Expressions Pink Twill Ribbon, Candy Dot, Foam Tape, Rectangle Nestabilities
Card Size: 4.25" Square

So guess what I'm doing today?.....I'm starting a 12-week training program at my gym and this a.m. at 9:00 I have my initial fitness evaluation followed by my first work-out session with a personal trainer! I've never worked with a personal trainer before, and I'm totally excited! I'm good about going to the gym a few times a week (I take the Les Mills BodyStep classes)....I'm BAD about eating right to back up my workouts, which totally defeats the purpose of going to the gym, right? With this program, I'll not only have a customized workout with both cardio AND strength training, but I'll have someone keeping after me and reviewing what I'm eating, weighing me, measuring me....hawking my progress...something I TOTALLY need. I'm hoping I can whip this 40-year-old bod into some serious shape. Wish me luck!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Aussie Birthday



Hey all! This month I'm guest designing for Angels Landing (Yay!) and here's my first card that I made using their digital images. The koala bear (and birds on the inside of the card) are from the super adorable Aussie Animals set.

I printed two koala images on PTI white CS and colored them with Copic markers, no heat setting or anything. The first one is on the white oval, the second one was cut out and popped up on foam tape. I did the same thing with the balloon he's holding, and the green scalloped oval is also up on foam tape. I traced over the balloon string with a black spica glitter pen. Here's a close-up:



The DP, Prism paper, ribbon, flowers, and candy dots are from my TE June Key Ingredients Subscription Kit. The bow was tied with my Bow Easy. Today's CAS Challenge on SCS is to make a card with a birthday theme...I just got lucky on that one and already had this card made {giggle}.

I printed, colored, and cut out two of the birds from the Aussie Animals set and added them to the inside of the card with a thin strip of the DP:



SUPPLY LIST
~
Digital Images: Angel's Landing Aussie Animals
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Branching Out (sentiment)
Paper: PTI Select White, MME Feeling Groovy DP, Prism Twilight Light, Prism Papaya Puree Medium, Prism Frosted Kiwi
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black (sentiment)
Copics for Koala: W1, W3, W5, E93, 0
Copics for Birds: B21, B24, E93, W1, W3, 0
Accessories: Flowers, Candy Dots, Foam Tape, Ribbon, Oval and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Paper Piercing Tool & Mat Pack, Black Spica Glitter Pen


Have a great day!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Dreamy Willow



Hi everyone, and thanks SO MUCH for all the wonderful birthday wishes yesterday! I just got this Dreamy Willow stamp from Stamper's Dream and inked her right up along with the new General Sayings set. Have you seen this set of sentiments? They cover so many card themes, and they're pretty fonts to boot!

The blue mat behind Willow and the sentiment tag are up on foam tape. Willow was stamped in black craft ink and heat embossed with clear EP. The bows were tied with my Bow Easy. Here's the inside:



Hope you're having an AWESOME holiday weekend!





SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps:
Whiff of Joy Dreamy Willow, Whiff of Joy General Sayings
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday DP, Frosted Pink Prism Paper, SU Blue Bayou, Watercolor Paper
Ink:
Black Craft, Blush Blossom, Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi, Creamy Caramel
Accessories:
Curved Mega Rectangle Nestabilities, Spellbinders Tags Trio, Foam Tape, Corner Rounder Punch, Blue Brads, SU Pretty in Pink Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder
Technique: Watercoloring with Reinkers and a damp paint brush

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th of July!

Hi everyone and Happy 4th of July!!



Here's a 4th of July card for Sharon's Stars and Stripes Challenge and Charmaine's Weekend Sketch. I colored up the hats from OCL's Let Freedom Ring set, cut them out and popped them up on foam tape. The red circles and the large white panel with the ribbon are also up on foam tape. The sentiment was sponged with Ballet Blue ink. The red column paper is from Paper Temptress.

SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: Let Freedom Ring (Our Craft Lounge)
Paper: PTI Select White, SU Textured Brilliant Blue, Red Pepper Column
Ink: Ballet Blue, Black
Copics: 0, R37, R59, B45
Accessories: 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" Circle Punches, Silver Glitter and Glitter Glue, SU Striped Red Ribbon, Spellbinders Tag Trio, Foam Tape, Corner Rounder Punch

So...do you all have lots of fun things planned for this holiday weekend? We went out to Texas Roadhouse last night for some ribs. We're hoping to catch some fireworks at some point, spend time at the pool with my aunt and uncle, and of course there's the race in Daytona to watch!....oh, and there WILL be cake, LOL! Guess who turns 40 today?? Yep, me!! Oh my!...40! I was going to make a nail appointment (thought it'd be fun to have my nails done because I haven't done that in years)....my husband said I should get painted letters on each nail: "O-L-D" on one hand and "F-A-R-T" on the other.....he's really SWEET, isn't he??

{{shhhh, don't tell him, but I did think it was funny!}}

Whatever your plans are, have a very safe and fun holiday!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

More Life's a Beach



Hi all, I'm back with a 10-minute, one-layer card I made yesterday using more stamps from the OCL Life's a Beach set. I added a little bit of Platinum Stickles to the coconuts and to the centers of the flowers.

I stamped more of the same flowers (LOVE these flowers btw!) on the inside along the bottom edge and added Stickles here as well:



Enjoy your Thursday!





SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: OCL Life's a Beach
Paper: SU Very Vanilla
Ink: Memento Cocoa, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Ribbon from Taylored Expressions, Basic Grey Porcelain Button, Bow Easy, Platinum Stickles

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Aloha!



Yay, I had time to play in today's SC235 Sketch challenge ON the actual challenge morning...whoo-hoo! I thought the small images from my Life's a Beach set would work well with the circle elements in the sketch. The colors are from today's Color Throwdown challenge.

The tag and the large Guava square panel are up on foam tape. Clear Tiny Twinkles were added to the centers of all the flowers, the ones on the inside of the card too. Sponging was done with Soft Sky ink.

A close-up:


The inside:


That's it for today, short and sweet! Have a GREAT day!




SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: OCL Life's a Beach
Paper: SU Chocolate Chip, SU Groovy Guava, SU Afternoon Tea DP
Ink: Memento Cocoa, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky
Accessories: Spellbinders Tags Trio, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, Diamond Glaze, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" Circle Punches, PTI Melon Button, Hemp Twine, Foam Tape
Card Size: 5" Square

Angels Landing



Hi everyone! I'm excited to share that I'll be guest designing with Angels Landing for the month of July! If you've never seen their digital images, be sure to stop by the store and check them out...really cute stuff!!

Thank you, Judi, for having me join your incredibly talented team! I'm excited to get started!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

2RB Baby Boy



So today is the last day of June, which means it's me and my partner-in-crime's (a.k.a. Silke) last day as guest designers for 2 Red Bananas. We thought it'd be fun to do a little "just for fun challenge" using Jami's Precious Bundles baby set.

Jeanette, thanks SO MUCH for having us as guests for the past two months!!

What's our challenge to each other?....make a baby card with lots of white space, some sparkle, add something on foam tape, and decorate the inside....yeah, I know, those are all sort of things that Silke and I already do. Hey, I didn't say we were making it HARD on ourselves, LOL! Oh, and we decided that Silke would make a baby girl card and I'd make a baby boy card. Be sure to stop by Silke's blog today to see what girly goodness she made.



The layout is Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch (only I made the main panel a square to go with the square card). The main image and the blue mat behind it are both up on foam tape. I added Taylor's Tiny Twinkles for the sparkle. The bow was tied with....yep, the Bow Easy.

Here's the inside of the card where I used the small star from Jami's Precious Bundles set:



Have an awesome day!




SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: 2RB Precious Bundles
Paper: PTI Select White, Textured and Plain Bashful Blue, Textured Barely Banana
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Bashful Blue
Copics: W3, W5, W7, 0, B000
Accessories: Square and Scallop Square Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Dots Folder, Victorian Pierceabilities, Bashful Blue Ribbon, Bashful Blue Brad, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles, Foam Tape, Pewter Safety Pin Charm

Monday, June 29, 2009

Copic Storage



Hi gang! I don't have any cards to show you today, but I wanted to show you my new "Copic Cups" that I got at IKEA. I used to store my copics in two plastic containers, with rubber bands grouping the different color families. Well, I got tired of pulling them out of the cabinet when I needed them and putting them away, and wanted something so they'd be right in front of me. I totally got this idea from Julie's IKEA post here...thanks Julie!

*ETA*
A couple of you asked about my ink pad organizer. I got it at
Organize More and HERE'S the link to the actual organizer.

Oh, and my buddy Dawn told me about Sandra Bullock's new movie...The Proposal...so my oldest daughter and I went to see it yesterday. AWESOME movie!! Oh my gosh, I laughed so hard I cried! If you get a chance to see it, go! You'll love it!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Sending Hugs



Hey all and happy Sunday! After making Michelle's birthday card, I wanted to play some more with another Penny Black stamp...because they're just so darn cute!! This one is called Lovin' & Huggin' Ducks and you can get it at Stamper's Dream along with the Prism Intense Orange CS, the JustRite Tiny Words sentiment, and 1-3/16" Wooden JustRite Stamper.

I tied the bow with my Bow Easy. Check out Jerri's video tutorial if you haven't seen it yet.

Here's a close-up so you can see what's up on foam tape.



SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: Penny Black Lovin' & Huggin' Ducks, JustRite Tiny Words
Paper: PTI Select White, Prism Intense Orange, MME Bloom & Grow "Grow" DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Copics: W1, W3, YR21, YR04, Y38
Accessories: PTI Summer Sunrise Satin Ribbon, Circle Nestabilities, Labels One Nestabilities, Foam Tape, 1-3/16" JustRite Wooden Stamper
Card Size: 5" Square


Michelle just listed a bunch of SALES in her store too, so be sure to check it out. Our Craft Lounge stamps are now 40% off! All Spellbinders Impressabilities , Labels Four , and Dahlia Nestabilities are on sale for 20% off! A number of items are on sale in the JustRite Stampers category including the newly released Tiny Words & Centers (used on my card today). Other categories have sale items as well, but you can find them ALL if you click on SALES AND SPECIALS .

See ya!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Arranged with Lustre



Oh my, talk about a match made in heaven.....Melanie's Arranged with Flowers set and Silver Lustre CS from Paper Temptress. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the look of the stripes in the paper with the flowers!!

When I opened up my envelope of papers from Paper Temptress, Patricia included a note and said that I HAD to try coloring on the Silver Lustre paper, and that it was amazing. Boy was she right! Not only do the stripes show through the coloring with a really pretty shimmer, but it's like.....watercolor paper for Copics!....the ink moves SOO WELL on it. So, if you get this stuff, I'm passing on the message...try coloring on it! It's FANTASTIC! Can you hear my excitement? I'm seriously excited!

Here's a close-up so you can see how the stripes show through the coloring. Two extra roses (the ones above and below the sentiment) and the sentiment were stamped, cut out, and popped up on foam tape.



Here's the inside where I added some more of the Silver Lustre paper and an extra rose that's also on foam tape:



...and one more bit of exciting news that Patricia said I can share with you....during the entire month of July, the entire Lustre Line will be on sale for 25% off!!! Whoo-hoooo!!!

SUPPLY LIST
~
Stamps: Gina K Designs Arranged with Love (stamps by Melanie Muenchinger)
Paper: PTI Select White, PTI Black, Laser Silver Lustre from Paper Temptress
Ink: Black Craft
Copics: G24, G28, R11, R22, YR21, YR04, BV000, BV02, BV04
Accessories: PTI Summer Sunrise Satin Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder, Foam Tape


Have a GREAT day!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Happy Birthday, Michelle!



Guess what? Today is Michelle Rodgers' birthday!!!

Whoooo-hoooooo, Michelle! Happy Birthday, gf! I hope your day is AWESOME! ....you're not working today, are you?? Good Lord, I hope not!...if you are though, I hope they at least go easy on you!

Michelle loves Penny Black stamps so I pulled out my Critter Party clear set and made this card for her. The main image is three layers deep with foam tape. It's stamped once on the circle, a second full image is up on foam tape, and then the hands/gift and the two feet are up on a third layer of foam tape. The layout is Jen del Muro's SFYTT from last Saturday.

Here's a close-up:


I stamped more images from the Penny Black set on the inside:


SUPPLY LIST
~
Stamps: Penny Black Critter Party Clear Set
Paper: SU Kraft, PTI Lemon Tart, PTI White, Basic Grey Porcelain DP
Ink: Timber Brown Stazon, Memento Cocoa, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Yellow Adhesive Gems, Circle Nestabilities, Labels One Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Doily Border Punch, PTI Lemon Tart Twill, Bow Easy, Foam Tape, Prisma Pencils, Gamsol
Technique: Gamsol Magic

Card Size: 5" Square

...stop by Michelle's blog today and leave her some big ole' happy birthday love!!

We love ya, Michelle!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Gina K Release



I'm back with one more card using Melanie's new Arranged with Love set. I'm tellin' ya, this set is awesome! There's so much you can do with it! This post is going live at 10 p.m. CST, so you know what that means...you can now purchase the set at Gina K Designs!

The sketch is today's Stamp TV Sketch from Cathy. The large floral background on the front of the card was stamped in black craft and heat embossed with clear EP, and I added some Candlelight Shimmerz to the flowers. The sentiment was heat embossed as well. I colored the pearls with a R59 Copic, and the May Arts Ribbon was tied with my Bow Easy. The black labels one nestie and the one with the sentiment are each up on foam tape.

On the inside of the card I added a Very Vanilla panel, then stamped another floral background, cut out around the flowers in the lower right-hand corner like I saw on Theresa's awesome sneak peek yesterday, and popped it up on foam tape. I painted some Shimmerz on these flowers too.



Here's a close-up of the shimmer:



SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: GKD Arranged with Love (Stamps by Melanie Muenchinger)
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla, Basic Black
Ink: Black Craft, Versafine Onyx Black, R59 Copic
Accessories: May Arts Ribbon, Bow Easy, Labels One Nestabilities, Foam Tape, Clear Embossing Powder, Candlelight Shimmerz Paint, Kaiser Craft Pearls

Have a great night!