Tracy's Christmas Card Challenge 2010

I feel so far ahead of the game today, since I completed the first month of Tracy's Christmas Card Challenge and added 5 cards to the stash! I also used up some of my materials, which makes me even happier. The quicker I use it, the quicker I can replenish :) This month's challenge was to make easel cards and a 3-d project.

I chose to use these cute little elf images that I received as a RAK (sorry I don't remember when or from whom they came). They are colored with Bic Mark-It markers and the snowballs are puffed up with puffy paint. The papers are Chatterbox Holiday Sprinkles and the card stock colors are Real Red, Certainly Celery and Basic Black. I need to install the Photoshop Elements that I got for Christmas so I can edit the photos more effectively!

My 3-d project is this simple little hexagonal box which is decorated with the same papers. The ribbon is from my stash and on the box it acts like a little hanger for the box if you wanted to hang it on the tree filled with treats. Can I mention how hard it is to cut hexagons, though? Yikes! That's why there are only two layers on top...

I'm off to finish some other things before going out tonight. Adult conversation! Food I don't have to share! Ordering only for myself!! Imagine...

Thanks for looking!

A Day Late and a Challenge Short

I have been thinking about the new challenge, hosted by the Allison and pals, all week. The challenge is called Everything Old is New Again and you are to use an old stamp set that has been collecting dust for a new card. Well, I have plenty of those stamp sets on my shelf and it was fun to revisit them!



Here are the cards I made, even though I missed the deadline. Justin has been invited to two birthday parties over the next two weekends, and they are both for 2 boys each. So I am in need of 4 birthday cards for boys ranging from 6-8 years old. I used Nice & Easy Notes, and some old dp that's been hanging around in my collection. I also bought these alpha brads ages ago and decided to use some of them up. I did discover in this process that I don't have many sets for this age group. Lots of my sets are very girly. So much for my resolution to not purchase anything new this year!!

On another note, I went to a Stella and Dot jewelry trunk show the other night. Have you seen this jewelry? It's so pretty!! I usually only wear my wedding rings, another ring from DH and my Tiffany diamond pendant, but I got myself some new stuff. Couldn't resist. It has already shipped and I should be getting it next week! Yippee for spending money on me :)

I hope you are all getting ready for a good weekend. DH is on another trip and will be home tomorrow. He was home this week on Thursday. That's it. It doesn't get any better till March! Thanks for looking!

Double Duty Project

Well, I finally had some time to spend in my stamp room while DH was home yesterday and this morning. I've had Valentine ideas floating through my head for weeks now, and I'm happy to be creating again! This set uses the Monday Lunchtime Sketch from Mary Jo at Techno Stamper, along with the Beloved Challenge from Joanne at Just a Little Something... Joanne's challenge was to use any of hte following: Pearls, Bling Bet by MFT, Pure Innocence Stamps by MFT, Machine Sewing or watercoloring. I recently bought Bling Bet and this was the perfect way to break it in. It is such a fun alpha set, with limitless things you can use to fill in the dots on the letters! I used Liquid Pearls to fill mine on both the card and the photo clip. The dp is from MFT, too. The sentiment on the Valentine card bottom is from Studio G and the tiny tag sentiment is an A Muse Sparkle Stamps set. For the letters on the photo clip, I clear embossed them on brown Bazzill stock to make them stand out a little more. It also gave them more structure and they stuck really well to the clip with some Tombo Mono Multi glue. Ribbons are from my stash.
I'm off to steal more time before DH leaves on another business trip. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and thanks for looking!

With a Cherry on Top

Today's Clean and Simple Challenge is based on a great sketch. This is a 4.25 inch square card, made primarily with scraps. The base is Basic Black, the red is scrap, the white is scrap and so is the ribbon. I stamped the images (Inque Boutique) with Versamark and then colored them with Prismacolor pencils and blended them. I stamped with Versamark because I wanted each part to have it's own color without a contrasting outline.

So many things can be done with this sketch, I have a lot of ideas floating around my head. I may go back to create more later. For now, I have to get cracking on those Father's Day cards!! Hopefully I will be back later with more posts.

I hope you all had a good weekend. We were busy with DS's last soccer session, and setting up the swimming pool we bought. It's very small, but will be perfect for DS for a few years. And since I'm due with baby in September, it's going to feel great for me in this long hot summer!

This week will be filled with preparations for going away again this weekend. Graduation party, Father's Day and travel. Have a good week everyone!

Who Doesn't Love Snowmen??

When I saw that Allison's Suggestive Sunday theme was to use snowmen this week, I was very excited. I picked up Flaky Friends earlier this summer (finally!) and have a bunch of these images colored and ready to be transformed into Christmas cards. I just love them so much, I don't care that they are retired.



I used dp from the Christmas Stack (also from last year - thanks again, Cindy!) There are so many great papers in this stack, I love that they incorporate blue and not just red and green. I cut two patterns on the diagonal to make the background, then mounted the image on red and blue I had lying around. The red might be Bazzill, but I'm not sure about the blue... The hearts of the snowmen are layered with Ruby Red Liquid Pearls and I used puffy paint for the snow and earmuff and hat details on the snowmen. The vellum snowflake is attached with a crystal brad and the sentiment is a 3-d sticker, also from Cindy!

I hope you enjoy this card as much as I do. It makes me smile to look at those 5 snowmen, even if I despise winter!

Have a good night and thanks for looking!

Happy Fall!

Since my blog counter is on it's way to recording the SLOWEST blog traffic since I started this blog, I thought it was time to tackle some challenges. This month has gotten away from me and I have not been crafting as much as I would like to. Thanks to those who keep coming back! Send some friends! Or if there's something missing here, let me know in comments :)

Thursday's challenge at Stamping Links to Love was from Jennifer, and was to make a card that had 5 leaves showing on it. Here's my Fall card to fit the requirements:

The leaves are Cuttlebug Dies, and I went over them with prismacolor pencils for veins and inked the edges with some chalk inks. The sentiment is Greetings 4 U stamped in Really Rust. I paper pierced and sponged the sentiment panel and added some Dew Drops to the brown twill. DP is Frances Meyer East India, which is my favorite fall paper. The colors are gorgeous and I love the pattern. I used it a ton last fall, and found another sheet in my stash! The card is big - 9x4 which is a size I hardly ever make, but I needed the size for the leaves.

Happy Fall (only a day late)! Thanks for looking!

Today's Limited Supply Challenge

Since DH brought DS to daycare this morning, I had time to check out the Limited Supply Challenge and get a jump on it. The challenge is to use orange and coffee. Of course, I should be packing for vacation, but wanted to finish this card first. The dp is all from the White Out collection by We R Memory Keepers. Love these colorful patterns! The stamps are all MFT, Hot Stuff. I paper pieced her shirt and mug, then stamped the three hanging mugs on patterned paper and cut them out. In the upper left hand corner is a photo corner stamped with the coffee bean stamp from this set. I also separated the sentiment, adding extra ellipses with my small embossing stylus dipped in the Chocolate Chip ink. The steam from the cup is drawn over with my Sakura glaze pen. Ribbon is from my stash, brads are Making Memories.

Ok, off to create a few more posts so that I'm not totally MIA while away next week. Oh, and by the way, we are headed right up the coast to Cape Cod with Hanna tomorrow! Should be a fun drive, huh?

I wish you all good weather wherever you happen to be. Enjoy the weekend! Thanks for looking!

Love Always

For CPS #79, I thought and thought all week. Tonight I had the time to sit down and create something. This was a very fun card to make, although I had a heck of a time trying to line up the flower and outline stamps. Even with the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I'm still challenged with those 2-step stamps! Oh, well, it's done and I am quite pleased with it.The paper is from Target, the yellow card base is from my stash. The card is a 4.25" square. The ribbon is from Ribbons and Bows, Oh My! Stamps are from SU! - Small Script and Love Without End. I used a combination of Colorbox chalk ink and Whispers pads. The centers of two flowers are also traced over with my Spica Stardust glitter pen. Flowers are popped up on dimensional squares.

As it's been another doozy of a week, I'm heading to bed early to curl up with a book. I am also walking a long walk tomorrow, probably 12-16 miles, so want to get some sleep for that. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend!! I'll be back with more posts tomorrow and the next few days. Meanwhile, thanks for looking!

CPS #78

Finally, I got to stamp tonight. I raced home during my lunch hour to clean the bathrooms so that when I got home from work for the day, I could just relax and play in my craft room! I spent some time cleaning it up, thinking about what I wanted to create, and then got to work. I chose CPS Sketch #78.

The paper is from Perhaps, by Basic Grey. The stamps are Delight in Life (SU!) with a sentiment from Fluttering By (Verve). Lace is from my stash of trimmings. I watercolored the images and the sentiment panel, then cut out the flower for the sentiment. Then I popped it up on dimensionals to make it stand out.

Well, not too much to say here tonight. I am heading to bed soon, after I gather my things for tomorrow. I have to be out of the house by 5:30am to make it into the city for an 8am walk time. Yikes! That's super-early for me, since DS and I usually don't start moving until 6:40 or so...

I see that my counter is slowly nearing 10K hits, so that will mean more candy! Have a good weekend, and hopefully I'll be back with more to share tomorrow. I at least have some RAKs to share. Thanks for looking!

Because Even Superheroes Need A Little Bling...

The Stampin Gals challenge this week is to use bling on your card. I chose to use this cute Billy stamp by Pink Cat Studio as my main image. He is just too cute as a superhero, a pirate, a cowboy and a boy with a frog on his head. He will be making many appearances over the next few months as we enter the Fall Birthday Season. Seriously, there is at least one birthday for DS's friends during each of the next 5 months.For bling, I added a rhinestone to his belt and also heat embossed the chipboard rick rack with Holographic EP. He is colored with Bic Mark-It markers and the circles for the sentiment are cut with Cuttlebug dies. I hope the lightning bolts around him show up in the photo.

It's been another doozy of a week, and I'm glad tomorrow is Friday!! I got the sweetest mail today - an envelope of Prima flowers from none other than Kim Hughes! What a great surprise :) She has new papers coming out tomorrow from CHF and I can't wait to see them.

This weekend, I will be going on a 13 mile "Route Preview" walk in preparation for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in NYC. Hopefully I won't be too tired afterward to spend some quality time in my craft room. It's been way too long since I had time to just play!

Have a good Friday. Thanks for looking!

Finally, A Card!

For those who are wondering, I am still around! I have been dealing with utter ridiculousness at work, and have been to frustrated to do anything in the evening. My neighbor needs 40 invitations to his wife's surprise birthday party, and he asked me to make them. I have begun, but he told me today he needs more... I'll post those when I'm done.

Today, after losing 2 1/2 years of computer files (thanks to my new "IT" associate - don't even ask!), I felt that I had to feel the ink on rubber pressing onto a page. I wish I could say that it soothed my frazzled nerves, but it hasn't really. I feel too edgy to sleep, but know I have to go to bed after this post because I have to get up in the morning. Is it Friday yet?????

Here's what I came up with tonight - using Allison's challenge to use an abstract art piece as inspiration. I trolled through the online selection at Target and came up with this as inspiration. The green is calming to me and of course I love foliage and flowers!

This is my interpretation of it: The sentiment says "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. - Shakespeare." It's from Clear Art Stamps and the image is from SU! Best Blossoms. The image is stamped with Colorbox Lime Chalk Ink, then colored over with my Prismacolor pencil and blended. The mat is Certainly Celery and the base is a random cream card. Brads are Making Memories.

Please let tomorrow be a better day, and tell me there is a way of retrieving all my files!! Meanwhile, thanks for looking!

Back To Challenges This Week...

I love Mary Jo Price-Williams' sketches on Mondays, and I always copy them with the intention of completing them. Then Sunday night comes and it's too late. BUT, this week I made it a priority to finish a card for her Monday Lunchtime Sketch #28, and here it is:Stamps are Verve, Asian Flair and Floral Whimsy. This sentiment is the reason I bought the whole Asian Flair set. And the components of Floral Whimsy are just too fun not to play with. Who doesn't love flowers and vases that can be mixed and matched?? The dp is Provo Craft, Baby Green Swirlies on Pink. Inks are Whispers Whisper Pink and Versamark. I used the poppin' pastels technique which I have not done before. It's great how the color jumps out on the Versamark! The ribbon is from my stash, but I do believe it is SU! The scalloped circle is made with Nesties and the Cuttlebug, and I also used the glaze pen and Stardust Gelly Roll to add a little pizazz to the flowers and the scallops.

I hope you like it, and I hope you check out the Monday Lunchtime Sketches. There are always great players! Thanks for looking!

Another Challenge Card...

The one thing I got done creatively today was this card. It uses some of the leftover materials sent to me by Sue at Stampndaly.com. This card also fits the Ways To Use It challenge from this week - Negative Thoughts.I used the chipboard circle that the star was in, and embossed it with detail white ep. The sentiment on the botton red tag is also white embossed, but I always forget to use my embossing buddy before sprinkling the powder, and there are stray bits. The side sentiment is from Hambo. I added some green brads to the orange strip along the side and punched more stars from the dotted dp. I also added a corner punch from the dotted dp to the lower right edge of the tag. From my stash are the orange rhinestones at the points of the star. It really looked too plain without them. This is all mounted on the red striped dp and then the orange, and added to a white card base.

This card was another real challenge for me, but I feel good about stretching my creativity. My stamp room is all clean and ready for more cards later tonight. I've got my eye on a bookcase from another part of the house, I just have to figure out what to do with the things on it right now before I can swipe it. My poor dh hasn't discovered that I rearranged our guest room again yet, either! Let's see how long it takes him to notice...

Thanks for looking!

A Challenging Gift Card Holder

Early in June, Susan Daly from Stampindaly.com issued a challenge on her blog. She would send out a little packet of materials and the recipients had to create something with those materials. Of course, I forgot to take a "before" picture, but she sent me some orange, yellow and red cardstock, some double-sided dp (red on red stars/polka dots), some striped dp, a chipboard star, an image, a few tags in red and white and some black grosgrain ribbon.

Here is the card she sent with the goodies. Isn't it cute that she created a ladybug from punched shapes? And I always love flowers on flourishes! These materials have been in my head since I got them, and I wanted to do something special. Since the colors are really outside my comfort zone, I waited and waited until the idea came to me. Then I had to wait some more until I had time to execute the idea! Well, today was the day and I made time tonight to complete it. I still have pieces of materials left, and will make another card tomorrow after a good night's sleep.

I chose to make a flap card gift card holder. To begin, I covered the star in the dotted paper. In the center of the star is a small punched star and a rhinestone. The star hides the magnet closure for the card. The outside is layered with the red, then the striped dp. I even took the time to match up the pattern of the pieces so it looks more polished!!

Inside, I colored the hippo with Prismacolor pencils and blended with OMS. I dragged the gray around the image to create a shadow. The main image is mounted on red, then the dotted dp and adhered to the center part of the card. The bottom, as you can see, has a strip of the black ribbon across it that holds the gift card in place. One problem - the gift card slid out the bottom of the card when opened all the way. As a remedy, I added a tag that has a sentiment from my own collection and some punched stars from the dotted dp. This is attached to the ribbon with a red brad (also from my stash) and the lower right corner is adhered with a glue dot, which holds the gift card in place. Clever, no? I'm sure I'm not the first to use this trick!

This is the first time I have used the BG magnet snaps. I LOVE THEM!!!

I hope Susan likes what I have produced. I'm hoping to get more stamping time this weekend. My desk is relatively cleaned off, so I won't have to waste time doing that before getting started. The only chores for the morning are a run to the farmer's market to supplement our tomatoes and zucchini, and a trip to get a haircut for DS. Then the boys will take a ride in the new car and the day is mine (insert evil laugh here)!

Hope you all have a good weekend. Thanks for looking :)

Techno Stamper Lunchtime Challenge #22

Number 22, yikes! I have not participated in all 22, but I have printed them all off, or copied them into my sketch notebook for future reference. Mary Jo always has great sketches, and I love that they push me to create something I might not have otherwise created. Here's mine for this week, using Cakeabella. Her apron and the cake are paper pieced, the rest of her is colored with Prismacolors and oms. Hardware is from We R Memory Keepers and the ribbon is from my stash. Somehow, I think I missed a layer, but I still like this end result. Once again I pulled from the Making Memories pad of paper and used my color inspiration from that. The corners of the image panel are paper pierced, then outlined with my Gelly Roll Stardust pen.

Thanks for looking!

My Scrapbook Table Sketch Challenge

Sarah posted this challenge for blog candy on her blog, My Scrapbook Table. To enter, you must use this sketch as an inspiration, sign her guestbook and send her some inspiring ideas for those days her mojo is missing.

Here's my take on the sketch, using Verve Visual's Petals & Stems and Fluttering By. They are stamped on paper from the Making Memories Funky Vintage- Ruby Collection 6x6 paper pack. I found them at Target earlier this year and love the rich colors! The base card is SU! Purely Pomegranate. The rick rack used in the stems and under the sentiment panel is also from the dollar section of Target. The butterflies are embossed with holographic EP and folded so they look like they are in flight. Each layer of the flowers are popped up with foam adhesive.

In an effort to save paper and printer ink, I have started a notebook of sketches. Not surprisingly, I have discovered I can't even draw a straight line when copying a sketch! But at least I know they are squares or rectangles. With them listed in a notebook, I can jot down the date that I completed each one. If I'm organized enough, I'll also list the number of the photo in my computer file.

Since I took a sick day today, I plan on catching up on more sketches. I have had a bad sore throat for the past few days and also have been exhausted - fell dead asleep by 9:30 last night, and could use another nap now. I'm going to search for caffeine instead. Have a good day and thanks for looking!

Birthday Shake-Up

Rachel, one of my SBS sisters, posted a challenge to make a birthday card with "not your typical" birthday colors. I chose this palette of brown, blue and orange. I originally was thinking of sending this to a girlfriend of mine, but what GUY wouldn't like a hot blonde Bella delivering a birthday present?? So consider it a masculine birthday card, too!Bella is colored with Prismacolor pencils, and I added stripes to her party hat. I also added dots to the package. The sentiments are stamped with ColorBox Chalk ink in Tangerine. The ribbon is Ribbons and Bows Oh My! The 'Happy Birthday' is stamped on tiny tags from the Cuttlebug dies, attached with brads from Making Memories. The dotted DP is Die Cuts With a View. I recycled the acetate from a stamp set's packaging to make the window.

The whole card was actually inspired by this tube of beads I have from Queen & Co. They have been stashed away in my drawer and I have wanted to use them. But how? AHA, shaker card! It's my first Shaker, and I do like it. I hope you do too.

Thanks for looking!

Scallopped Monogram Challenge

Sadly, today is the last day of Denise's Spring Fever Challenge. It has been a great mojo-motivator for me. I have actually stamped and completed at least one card every day this week! What a sense of accomplishment, since I also got a lot done at work, and got DS packed up and off on his adventure with DH.

Today's challenge had to incorporate scallops, our favorite color, a monogram, and ribbon. Here's my cute little monogram card, cut out with my Nestabilities Scallop Circle die. The dp is Miss Elizabeth's (from the dollar store!) and the monogram is a rub-on from Marcella K at Target. Flowers are Primas and small holographic flowers I got in a RAK, along with the chipboard sticker that the monogram is on.

Well, since I've been up since 4:30, I'm HUNGRY! Time to go start getting ready for work. I might even have time to run to Starbuck's before I have to be there! Woohoo! But don't be fooled - getting up at 4:30 am will NEVER become a regular habit for me, no matter how much I accomplish.

Have a happy Friday, everyone! Thanks for looking!

Spring Fever Continues!

This card layout began as Jen's Sketch For You To Try, but I changed it up a tiny bit. I lowered the circle tag so that the small images wouldn't be covered up. I used only 2 brads on the lower left corner. But it is a great sketch and you should go check it out. She posts a new one each Saturday.Denise's Spring Fever Challenge also continues at All Things Stamped. This is my entry for Day 4. Today we had to have a tag, some bling and the color red in our cards. My tag is the scalloped circle with the sentiment, which is from Studio G. The circle frame and the images are Lizzie Anne Designs, Celebration Frames and Celebrations. The paper is from my stash and was given to me, so I don't know the name. It might be CTMH. The base card is SU! Certainly Celery. My bling is the Stickles on the package ribbons and the pom pom of the hat, as well as the shiny red brads in the lower left corner. Originally, I had grand plans to make a pocket card with a beautiful tag inside, but I am so tired I couldn't execute it tonight. I still like this one, though, and think it would make a good masculine birthday card.

Can you believe that tomorrow is Friday already? Yikes! I have to get up super early to bring DH and DS to the airport. But that means I'll have time to play before going into work in the morning. How happy does that make me??????

Thanks for looking!

Spring Fever Challenge - Day 3!

Yeah! I made it to Day 3 of Denise's Spring Fever Challenge, and have completed each one so far! Granted, tonight I neglected to cook dinner for DS, but DH was able to prepare something quick for him. I've had this card brewing in my mind all day, and I just had to come home from work and tackle it. Today we had to use a funky fold, polka dots, and decorate the inside of the card. We also had to spell out something with alpha stamps, or stickers. Here it is:

It is a triangle tri-fold, which is a little tricky for me to make. I always feel like my score lines are going in the wrong direction. The DP is Hot Off the Press, Winter Dots on a Vintage Violet base. The image panel is mounted on lilac scrap, and Soft Sky. The stamps for the front image are Stampendous Hey Cupcake from Eclectic Paperie. I just love that phrase, so made a frame with it. All parts of the cupcake are cut out and attached for dimension. Candle is colored with gel pens.

Inside, I used some Prima-like flowers (I think they were from Target), and SU! Brush Stroke Alphabet for the sentiment. Ink is Vintage Violet. Brads are Pewter from Making Memories. The ribbon is from Ribbons and Bows Oh My.

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with Day 4. If you haven't already, go check out Denise's blog, All Things Stamped for some great inspiration. Have a good night, and thanks for looking!