Another Angelosity Challenge - Have You Played Yet?

Today was a short day for me at work, since I usually pick up DS on Halloween to go Trick or Treating. DH is picking him up today - somehow this is the first year that he is in town for Halloween and he really wants to participate. I decided to take the afternoon off anyway and get some crafting in.This card is for Angel's 18 Rainbow Days of Angelosity, which run until her birthday on November 7. It's not too late to join in the fun! This card is for Day 9, on which she posted a sketch challenge. I used Blue Bayou and Purely Pomegranate CS. The snowflake cuttlebug layer was a RAK to me last year, and is on pretty pearly paper. The ribbon is from Michael's. The vellum snowflake was another RAK (I'm determined to use all my stuff so I can shop after the new year!). The jewel brad is from my stash.

The stamp is Michael's dollar bin, and the sentiment is Verve. I like the layout and the non-traditional Christmas colors. I hope you like it! Thanks for looking :)

Blog Candy Alert!

Head on over to California Stamper to visit Alexandra and enter for a chance at some great blog candy! She is giving a pile of goodies - including Gina K stamps!

Go go go!

Happy Birthday to Danielle!

My friend's daughter is turning 5 on Sunday, but there is a birthday party for her Saturday. So this weekend promises to be sugar and fun filled, between the Halloween parties tomorrow and birthday Saturday. Hopefully Sunday we will be able to decompress! Until the next birthday party next Saturday...To make this card for Danielle, I used this cute elephant image that was part of an image swap a while back. I colored it with Bic Mark It! markers, and added some Stardust Gellyroll accents and some glaze pen accents. The corners of the image and the scallops are embellished with Liquid Pearls. The ribbon is from Heather, part of blog candy. Background dp is DCWV Spring Stack and the pink layer is Bazzill cut with Cloud Scissors. The sketch is from Angelosity, Day 7.

It is seriously time for me to go to bed now or I'll be hating it in the morning when DS is begging for breakfast at 6:30. To listen to him, you would think that we starve him. He eats constantly, yet doesn't put on much weight. I guess that's good, but once in a while I'd like a day when he doesn't need 6 meals and snacks!

Happy Halloween to you all. Don't eat too many treats! Thanks for looking!

Wallet Inspired

Each week, Allison posts a fun challenge, and this week was no exception. Her challenge is to choose an Espe wallet and CASE it. I couldn't resist adding a sentiment on mine, since the blank area of the card seemed to expansive. I love the colors! Go check out the other entrants - they're fantastic.

Here's the wallet I chose:

Here's my card:

The sentiment (Inkadinkadoo) is stamped with Versamark so it doesn't overtake the images. The cherries (See D's) are white embossed, and colored with the black magic technique. The red cherries are covered with Stickles.

Thanks for looking!

Another Project That's Not a Card!

How about that? I'm trying to make more 3-d projects, and not just cards all the time. It's fun to try new tutorials, and this one just needs some mini-notes to go inside! I used the pizza box tutorial from Splitcoaststampers. The color combination came from Angel's Day 10 - dark red, moss green, dark brown and Kraft. The flowers are Primas with jeweled flowers for the centers, and the very center is a tiny seed bead on floss. The stems are faux stitched with a green marker, and the flowerpot is a strip of red, cut with Cloud scissors and trimmed at an angle on each end. I used the French Script backgrounder with Versamark for the background of the main panel.Well, time for me to go to bed. Have to go read. Otherwise, I'm going to stay up and eat all the Halloween candy. I skipped dinner and now I'm getting hungry! Have a good night and thanks for looking!

I Know, I Know...

...I should be embarrassed that I'm a librarian and have never made a bookmark! I just always use the little receipts from the library that tell the due date as a bookmark. Then they end up all over my bookstand as I finish the books. In the end, this project was SUPER easy and I think I'll be making a bunch for gifts (we are into birthday party season with all the kids in DS's Kindergarten class. YIKES!)
The prod to get me to make a bookmark was Angel's Day 8 challenge. I had the scrap cardstock, and the papers from We R Memory Keepers White Out collection in my pile from the last few weeks, which only means they were not neatly filed away yet. Since I'm not one to let a scrap go to waste, I used it for the bookmark. I also put a pattern on the reverse side of the bookmark. A neat feature for the reverse might be to add a "Recently Read" list. Or a "To Read" list? Maybe I'll try that next time.

Either way, here it is. Thanks for looking!

TechnoStamper #41

Each week, I look forward to the Monday Lunchtime Sketch on the TechnoStamper blog. Mary Jo always does a fabulous job with the sketches. Last week, I didn't get to it in time, but it's in my sketch book for future reference. This week, I made it a priority to get a card done. It was an easy one and came together quite nicely. Don't you love when that happens?I got this Magnolia image from my SBS12 Sister Rachel. So sweet! I had this Hugs and Kisses paper in my stash from a blog candy win last year, and the flowers were also in my basket. I have jars and bowls and baskets full of flowers at this point. I think this might be the first time I have used an actual button on a project! The image is watercolored and her wings have a bit of glitter pen on them. The base card is Purely Pomegranate.

Hopefully I can get another card done before tv time tonight. So many sketches and challenges, so little time! Thanks for looking!

Scrappy Suckers!

Here are some Halloween lollipops that I'm sending to school with DS on Friday. The tutorial is here, on Red-Eye Stamper. I hope they like them - inside are Yummy Earth organic lollipops. They are free of the top 8 allergens, and are made from organic fruit purees and extracts. Quite delicious!

If you can believe it (you would if you saw my scrap box!), they are made almost entirely of scraps! I did have to cut into a new green sheet and a new purple sheet for the covers, but all the other pieces are from the scrap box. I even threw the remaining bits away (usually I horde the tiniest scraps in case I have to punch a small shape)! Using scraps was Angel's Day 6 challenge. So, another day of Angelosity completed!

The spider is a foam stamp that was RAK'd to me, and the Trick or Treat bag is from Lizzie Anne Designs. Circles and Scalloped circles were made with Nestabilities in the Cuttlebug. Ribbon is from the clearance section of the craft store. I scored a bunch of deals at A.C. Moore last week, shopping their clearance section and using my 25% off total purchase coupons!! Yesterday when I was there, the Martha Stewart Halloween stuff was all 50% off already!

Well, time to go finish laundry and start dinner. I can't believe another weekend is almost over. I hope you've had a good one. Thanks for looking!

Mama Said...

...there'll be days like this. Don't you love Grumpabella? She just joined my collection this week, and I couldn't wait to ink her up! The sketch is for Angelosity Day 5 which she posted yesterday. I am determined to catch up with all her challenges this weekend!

Daisy paper is from DCWV Spring Stack, and the saffron is from Marcella K. The ribbon is from my stash, baubles from Michael's, and the sentiment is Verve.

Hope you're having a good weekend! Thanks for looking :)

My First Christmas Tag!

While blurfing, I always love the tags that stampers put so much work into. But when it comes to making them, I'm reluctant to put so much into something headed to the trash! This year, though, as belts are tightened all around, the packaging is going to mean so much more on each gift. So here you go, my first official Tag creation. Thanks, Angel, for posting the Christmas challenge!
The dp is Making Memories from Target (a travel themed pad), and the ribbons are from my stash, but could be SU! The trees are stamped in Always Artichoke using Kitchen Sink Stamps Peaceful Christmas, and are embossed with silver. Everything is distressed - edges of paper are sanded, roughed up with the edge distressor and inked with silver ink. I even took sanding paper to the embossing to make it look a little less perfect.

Be sure to visit Angel's blog to join in the fun of the 18 Rainbow Days of Angelosity! Thanks for looking!

Angelosity - Day 3 (I'm Already Behind!)

Angel posted a sketch yesterday for Day 3 of 18 Rainbow Days of Angelosity. You can see it here. I chose to use Daisy Jar by CHF for my card, because it's so fun to watercolor. I am quite pleased with how it came out, and I hope you like it, too. The papers are Marcella K, pearls from Target and base cs is Bazzill. I am already behind one day, and hope to catch up this weekend. DH will be home by then, so after I take DS to a birthday party, I will have some time in my stamp room! With him gone this week, I had to tackle all the household stuff, child care and my to-do list on my own. So I'm going to retire early again tonight to make it through tomorrow!

Have a good night and thanks for looking!

A Great Blog Candy Link

Jennifer at Cuppy Cake is giving away some great fun candy on her blog. Go HERE to check it out and enter to win a gift certificate to All That Scraps!

I'll be back later with some cards - last night got away from me and I had to conquer some items on my To-Do list. But tonight is for stamping :)

Have a good afternoon!

I'm On A Roll...

Here's my card for 18 Rainbow Days of Angelosity, Day 2! Her color combination challenge today, Olive, Red, Baby Blue, Baby Pink, inspired me to create another card for my Christmas card stash. I have to admit, I have a bunch of these images colored already, and the color combination was perfect for this paper that I am determined to use up this year! Angel has some great prizes in the basket already. If you haven't gone over to see what the excitement is all about, go now! I'm off to watch some tv and build an SU! order (Cindy is a new demo and is offering 25% off through the end of the month!)

Thanks for looking!

18 Days of Angelosity - Day One

Angel is celebrating the weeks leading to her birthday again with a great series of events! You can be entered each day to win her rainbow basket of goodies! How fabulous is that set of prizes already?? Go check it out: Day One's challenge!

Here's my card to go with the sketch. I have had this little set from Inkadinkadoo for a while, and haven't had the opportunity to use it. Last night, I inked it up and had lots of fun. I love the hands on hips attitude of the girl. And it was fun to color her treats :) I used my Bic Mark-It markers and some dp from Marcella K, mounted on Groovy Guava cardstock. The layers are Certainly Celery. The sentiment says "Why are the best things in life either bad for you or fattening?"

Well, time to scoot off to work. Have a good day and Thanks for looking!

Happy Bird-Day!!

Allison's Suggestive Sunday challenge this week is to make a flap card. I love these little cards! It so happens that we have another birthday party to attend Saturday, and this is perfect to tuck a gift card inside.

I used SU! Pun Fun and We R Memory Keepers White-Out dp. The sentiment is from CHF. I am going to need birthday cards and presents for each of the next 4 weekends! Then it's time to plan DS's birthday party. This is the first year we are throwing a party for him (since his birthday is Christmas day and who's usually around?), and the trend is to invite all kids in the Kindergarten class. That's about 20 kids! But he is excited to have his turn, so here we begin...

I hope everyone's week is off to a good start! I am going to retire now and finish my book. Take care and thanks for looking!

Baby, Baby!

Friends of ours, who already had 3 kids, decided to have another. They ended up with twin boys, so now are the proud parents of 5! Yikes! I don't know how they do it...

The boys were born in May, and I am sad to say that I am just now getting around to sending them a gift. At least it won't be lost in the shuffle of new baby gifts, right? There has to be a bright side to such procrastination!

These papers were out on my desk from the birthday card I made the other night, so that's what I used. I had this Bella image that was RAKed to me a while ago, and decided it was perfect. Though if you look that fabulous with twins and 3 other kids, I want to know the secret!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Thanks for looking!

Hey There, Cupcake

I'm on a roll - three cards in three days! Lately, it's been hard for me to find the time to even do one challenge each week. This is my effort for the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #38. She always says you don't HAVE to use cupcake stamps, but if you have them, why not? So I dug out my last image of Cuppacakeabella and went to work. Now, I might just have to buy the stamp for myself!I used more Chatterbox paper that has been in my collection forever. These are Ribbon Stripe and Rosey Nook Plaid. The ribbon is from Target and says "celebrate." I used my heart punch to punch the hearts from the pink and green layers, then used them for the thought bubbles. The sentiment is on a set of Nestabilities ovals. The cupcake frosting and the sentiment are traced with the Sakura Stardust pen, and I added a bit of bling to the cupcake and the tale of the sentiment.

I do have to say that I wish I had colored the cupcake paper differently. But overall, I like the way this card came out. I was struggling because of unpleasantness at work today that I just can't shake. If I had my newly ordered Grumpabella, I would have used her instead, since she was more fitting to my mood. Ah, but the weekend is here and I have been promised some quiet time in my craft room (before DH leaves on another business trip!).

Thanks for looking!

Hoppy Birthday, Mason!

I actually produced two cards in a row! Does that mean I'm on a stamping streak? Let's hope it continues through the weekend...

Sunday is my best friend's son's birthday. He is turning 5, and I'm sad that this card probably won't arrive in his mailbox until Monday. I used the sketch from TechnoStamper and the SCS Ways to Use It challenge for today, which was to use plaid.

I mounted the panels on True Thyme cs, and the plaid is old Chatterbox Olive Den Plaid. The blue is Bazzill, I'm pretty sure, but who knows what the color name is! Stamps are the Billy set from Pink Cat Studio. I paper pieced the shirt and colored the rest with Prismacolor pencils. His skin is colored with a Copic, but I haven't found the perfect flesh tone coloring medium yet. Circles are cut using Nestabilities and the twill tape and twine are from my stash, as is the eyelet.

I hope he likes it! Thanks for looking!

First Pokes, Now Punches!

It sounds as if I'm taking my frustrations out physically! Here is my entry for Allison's Getting Punchy Challenge. I used my rectangle Nesties to make the tree, my star punch for the star (duh), my convex square for the presents, and my small flower for the bows. The balls on the tree are from the small circle punch I have. This was a fun card to make, and the best part is that the image was made from scraps!! Now I feel justified in keeping all those tiny pieces :)

Here are close-ups of the star and a present.

Go and check out the fun things people are doing with punches. Who knew they could be so versatile! Thanks for looking!

Poke...Poke...Poke...

I've been a paper piercing maniac today, trying to get these Thank You cards completed. I'm almost there. I am making close to 40 of these for all those generous souls who donated to my Avon Walk for Breast Cancer efforts.

I used my new Oval Nesties (my fave purchase to date - ovals were my nemesis before they arrived). I wanted to keep these cards simple, and decided to add piercing for detail. The sentiment is from Little Paper Shop.

Last weekend was the actual event, and I rose at 3:50 am Saturday to be in NYC by 5:30. DH was kind enough to drive me in. The walk began at 7 and we walked 26.2 miles on Saturday. What a fantastic walking tour of the city! We walked up along the Hudson, through Spanish Harlem, down to SOHO, over the Brooklyn Bridge, back over the Manhattan Bridge, over Chinatown, and up 2nd Avenue past the United Nations, to end at Randall's Island. There, we camped out in 2-person tents, showered in shower trucks, ate a huge pasta dinner, and enjoyed the evening entertainment (including a marriage proposal!). Sunday morning, we woke to rain and had a hot breakfast and hit the road again. Another 13.1 miles, through the center of Manhattan, down through the Village and ending back at Pier 84. It was a fabulous heartwarming and heartbreaking weekend, and I signed up to walk again next year. This year I far surpassed the minimum fundraising goal and hope to do even better in 2009.

It honestly took me all this week to fully recover, physically and emotionally. I went back to work Wednesday, DH left for a business trip that night and I finally feel rested after a great family weekend. Tomorrow, DS and I have the day off, so we are going to head down to the beach. It is supposed to top 79 degrees tomorrow, so we're going to enjoy the sunshine!

I hope this finds everyone well. Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends! Thanks for looking!