It's A Faux Party!

I made this for TLC262. The challenge was to make a shaped mat without using Nesties! Yikes! It has been AGES since I completed an SCS challenge, and posted something new to my gallery.

The image panel and mats are made with the Fiskars Upper Crest Border punch. I started with a 3.5" Kraft square, then a 3" green square, then a 2.5" white square. The cupcake is stamped with Soft Suede and Aquamarine (Cat's Eye). The sentiment is punched with the Word Window Punch, then mounted on a Modern Label punch, then mounted on a strip that was edged with the Fiskars punch again. I added Stickles to the cupcake top and candle flames. The Heidi Grace dp was on the top of my scrap pile from last week, so I grabbed that. It is from 2007 and probably not available any more, but is so pretty! I will get every last bit out of that one sheet - I have enough for one or two small cards left. Gift tags, maybe?

Have a good rest of the week! Thanks for looking!

Mixing It Up

Today's Try a New Technique challenge at Splitcoast was to choose one each of the first ten color challenges, sketch challenges, and technique challenges and create something new. I chose Color Combination 02, which was Ruby Red, Barely Banana, and Not Quite Navy. The technique I chose was TLC01, Kissing; and the Sketch was #10. Since my hair dresser is having a baby soon, I thought I would make a card for her. Toy Box was a natural pick, as she is having a boy and already hoping he is sports-minded. The background paper was done with Linen BG and kissed with the star from Toy Box. The sentiment is from So Many Sayings and punched with the Word Window Punch. The stars on the bottom are popped up. I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. Back to the grind for us tomorrow, but we did have an awesome weekend filled with a 7.5 mile training walk for me, outdoor play, and a trip to the craft store. Thanks for looking!

I Am Smitten...

...With the new Verve Visual stamp sets! I splurged on Friday and bought the entire May Flowers package. It arrived today - how fast is that? Utah to New Jersey over the weekend!! Julee Rocks!

They are gorgeous, and stamp an image so smoothly, I am so happy with that splurge purchase. I used them immediately to tackle the Try a New Technique Challenge at Splitcoast, which was to make a double pocket bag. I will definitely be making more of these, and also making some little notecards to tuck inside this one. That will have to wait till tomorrow night, though.

For today's bag, I used some CTMH paper that was in my stash. The stamps are from the Floral Whimsy set from Verve. I used my glaze pen over the word "beauty" in the sentiment, and my Spica glitter pen over the flowers. I stamped the vase twice, once on the paper and once to cut and mount over the ribbon. Ink colors are Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron and Cameo Coral. Ribbon is grosgrain from Ribbons and Bows, Oh My. Below are close ups of the sentiment and the flowers.

Have a good night, and thanks for looking!

TLC164 - Accomplished!

Don't you love when you can complete an SCS challenge on the day it is posted? Well, here's TLC164, 2 hours before the day is over. A quick post here and I'm heading to bed. Yes, I turn into a pumpkin very early (but I do read in bed for about an hour first)...

The technique challenge was to create a double pocket card. I have seen these, and they are always so beautiful, but remained a mystery to me. However, with the tutorial posted on the SCS forum, it was VERY easy to do! The longest part of the process was deciding how to decorate the tags.

I used Heidi Grace Designs double sided cardstock. The pattern is Wild Daisy Rd/Mix Floral and has wonderful colors in it. I like that they are subdued greens and yellows. On the front, I added some Dew Drops to the flowers to make them pop out a bit. The ribbon is from Target, layered on brown grosgrain from my stash. The tags are made from yellow cs, layered with green and again with a piece of vanilla. The top vanilla layer is stamped with a flourish from Rhonna Farrer and a sentiment from the Michael's dollar bin. Ink is So Saffron and Old Olive. I added the Primas with pewter brads and gave the tags an eyelet to hold the raffia ribbon.

I hope you all got to complete a project today! Thanks for looking!

My First Flap Card!

Today's Try a New Technique at SCS is to make a flap fold card. I have never tried this before, and I will be making more of these! How cute are they? Have you looked in the gallery? Go here to check them all out!

Here's mine, which I am also entering into Denise's weeklong Blog Candy fesitival at All Things Stamped. Day One's challenge is to make a card with a bird, at least one layer and including some ribbon. You have to complete all challenges between Monday and Friday and post a link to her comments by midnight of the day the challenge is issued. I'll be hard pressed to complete a card each night this week, especially as we prepare for vacation next week. But I'm determined!

The main image and sentiment are from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. I love this folksy bird. I colored it with Prismacolor pencils, blended, then added some Spica glitter pen to the swirls on the wings and it's heart tattoo. The sentiment is stamped on white twill using Color Box Chalk ink in Tangerine. The button brad is Making Memories, and the purple ribbon is a piece of scrap I had in my pile. The scalloped circles are made with Nestabilities. The smooth cirlce was made with my Curvy Cutter. Inside, I stamped the flourishes from Rhonna Farrer and a sentiment from SU! All Year Cheer, using Elegant Eggplant ink. The card base is SU! EE cardstock, and the DP is from Miss Elizabeth's, found at the Dollar Store!

Ok, off to bed now. Traveling for Easter wore us all out and we have to get ready to travel again next week. It's going to be our first trip without DS, and I know I'll freak out more as the week progresses. He'll be in Phoenix, we'll be in Vegas. He'll probably be fine, and I'll be the worry wart.

Have a good night and thanks for looking!

Techno Stamper Sketch/Technique Challenge Combo

If you haven't tried Mary Jo's (Techno Stamper) Monday Lunchtime Sketch yet, you are missing some great layouts! This week's sketch, #9, is HERE. This was a different card size for me - I made a gate fold last week of the same dimensions, but it was all pre-cut for me! This one involved a few measurements, but I like how it turned out overall. Except of course the upper right triangle on which the edge is not embossed perfectly!This card also uses the Splitcoast Stampers Technique Lover's Challenge, #160. It's called the Negative Effect and uses ink in the Cuttlebug embossing folder to give the paper extra dimension. I used Colorbox Frost White Pigment ink on black paper, in the Textile CB folder. This is such a cool effect, I can see trying it with a metallic ink next! The images and sentiment are from Baroque Motifs and are stamped in Baroque Burgundy. I find this to be a bit lighter than Bravo Burgundy, which I think is more brownish than red. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I added a rhinestone to the center of the main image just to give it a little more focus. I didn't want to add ribbons, though, because I like the clean design of the layout.

Well, I am off work tomorrow and we are taking off for the weekend, so I'll try to post what I get made tomorrow, and then won't be posting until Monday. Have a good night everyone! Thanks for looking!

TLC48 and Tagged!

Well, the week is not yet over, and I finally got to Monday's Technique Lover's Challenge last night. I subscribe to a ton of magazines, and found Metropolitan Home and Home magazines to have great pages for this technique!I used Delight in Life, which is still one of my favorite SU! sets. The paper is called French Poetry, but I don't know who made it. The red is from my scrap stash. Ink is Ruby Red. I used Versamark and gold EP with my heat gun for the embossing. This is my first time trying this technique and it will definitely be used again! Here's a close-up of one of the small flowers:

Also, Anna from Home Made Greetings tagged me. These are the rules:

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here goes:

1. I cannot fall asleep if I have not read for at least 10 minutes in bed.

2. I HATE to dust - find it a completely thankless task that has to be done as soon as you are finished.

3. I grew up in NH and have NEVER skiied. Hate the cold and snow!
4. Even though I don't like football, nor understand it, I met my hubby at a Superbowl party (1997, Packers and Patriots).

5. I can't eat fruit when it's cold. Seriously, I take the fruit I plan to eat each day out of the fridge in the morning so it's room temp when I'm ready.

6. I'm too chicken to submit any cards for publication.

7. I can't leave my Google Reader if there are still unread posts. For this reason, I end up staying up too late and spending time at my job trying to get to 0 new posts!

Phew! That's it. Not too exciting, is it? I will leave it up to you if you want to consider yourself tagged. I don't know 7 blogger well enough to go and tag them, and I think lots have already been tagged with this game!

Have a Happy Friday, everyone! Thanks for looking!