Halloween in the forest...

Lol, what a scene this is!! For the limited supplies challenge we had 3 challenges and we could combine them all into one card if we wanted to. That is what I did.

For the first challenge we had to make a Halloween or autumn harvest scene using 3 or more stamps.

For the second challenge we had to make a Halloween or autumn harvest card using an animal stamp not meant to be used for this theme.

For the third challenge we had to make a Halloween or autumn harvest Tent Topper Card. In addition to this we had to control our own limitations, for example I cut down on layers, and I didn't use any ribbon.

I do believe I have all 3 of those challenges covered. I must admit, this really was a challenge for me, but in the end I am quite happy with the end result. I used emboss resist for the trees and sky and sponged always artichoke ink for the grass. The squirrel is supposed to be dressed up as a princess (I added 3 Heidi Swapp jewels to her crown, and stickle on her dress), her little sister is supposed to be a black cat (I added whiskers and ears) and of course the beaver is dressed as a ghost.

Stamps: Lovely as a tree, hip hip hooray, unfrogettable (crown) and best fiends (bat). INKS: basic black, versamark, night of navy, always artichoke, markers: pretty in pink, perfect plum, barely banana, mellow moss and apricot appeal. CS: basic black, old olive, pumkin pie, glossy white, whisper white, night of navy and vellum. Access: cuttlebug, emboss folder, mega circle punch, circle punch, prismacolour pencils, gamsol, stump, stickles, jewels (Heidi Swapp), black emboss powder, brayer and sponge.

Thanks for stopping in, Have a great weekend!!

Frightening Frankie...

Todays ways to use it challenge was to use pencil crayons for your colour medium. If you would like to take part in the challenge, check it out here. I used my prismacolour pencils, gamsol and a stump. I love the blended look of these pencil crayons! I pulled out my "best Fiends" set (I so wish this set had made it into the new catty!) and old Halloween designer paper. I also added some crystal effects to the spider.

Stamps: Best fiends, cheesecloth bg. Inks: basic black. CS: more mustard, old olive, basic black, vintage violet, and whisper white. Access: scallop punch, prismacolour pencil crayons, gamsol, stump, vintage violet and true thyme stitched ribbon, thread, crystal effects.

Hope everyone is getting ready for a long weekend and have lots of fun stuff planned!

Pick of the patch...

Roxie posted the sketch challenge on Splitcoast early last night so, I got a jump start on the sketch, finished up and posted to Splitcoast last night. I figured I would upload it here this morning as well. If you would like to take part in the sketch challenge, check it out here. My good friend got me this stamp for my Birthday, It's from Amuse and is sooooo cute. I stamped it in basic black onto very vanilla cs, and then stamped it again onto old olive. I cut out the awning and the "pumpkins" sign and paper pieced it all onto the original image. I coloured the pumpkins with prismacolour pencils, gamsol and a stump. I made a little pumkin out of the 1/2" circle punch (got the idea from Julia s's blog). The sentiment I did on the computer.

Stamps: pumkin tent-Amuse, canvas background. INKS: basic black, old olive. CS: old olive, really rust, pumpkin pie, more mustard, very vanilla, patterned papers by Karen Foster. Access: true thyme stitched grosgrain, giga scallop circle punch, mega circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, paper piercer, white gel pen, prismacolour pencils, gamsol, stump, dimesionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pomegranate Hello...

For colour challenge 29...use Purely pomegranate, pretty in pink and old olive. As soon as I saw these colours I thought "summer by the sea" and broke out my watercolour paper and jumped right into the challenge. If you would like to hear about the challenge visit Splitcoaststampers and check out this thread here. Have you ever used Stampin ups watercolour paper before?? It is simply divine, it is so thick and I love the way the images looked stamped onto it. The only advice I have is to make sure you stamp your main image using Staz on. I find the Stampin up basic black bleeds (and it is not supposed to but, it does!). For the card base, I stamped cheesecloth in white craft ink (I love that bg, wish they hadn't retired it...). I also distressed the old olive panel using a paper distresser.

Stamps: summer by the sea, vases in vogue, cheesecloth, and canvas bg. Inks: basic black, pretty in pink, purely pomegranate, old olive and a wee little bit or barely banana that I applied with my paintbrush around the little girl. CS: purely pomegranate, pretty in pink, old olive and watercolour paper. Access: hodgepodge hardware, rose grosgrain ribbon, paper distresser.

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Hawaiian ghosting...

For this weeks "try a new technique" on Splitcoast, we were to emboss resist and ghost. If you would like to see more about this challenge...look here. Using glossy cardstock, you stamp with your versamark pad, emboss with white emboss powder and then, stamp your second images in just versamark. Using your brayer, lay on the ink, wipe off the excess ink with a papertowel and voila you are done. This was my first time using these techs together and I must say, I like it!

Stamps: Do the hula, it's your Birthday. Inks: versamark, tempting turquoise and basic black. CS: glossy cs, tempting turquoise, old olive and pumpkin pie. Access: white emboss powder, heat gun, cuttlebug and small mosaic emboss folder, hemp twine.

Summer Brides...

Okay...Have I mentioned how much I love Rubber Romance stamps?? Their images are waaay too sweet. If you have never checked out their stuff, look here. This stamp is simply called "bride" but she is so elegant and so much fun to play with.

For this first card, I used my brand new cuttlebug (check your local Wal Mart...that's where I bought mine and cheaper than using a half price coupon from M's!!! super great deal). I used the swirl emboss folder and used "sweetheart" colours (red, white and black). I reverse masked her dress, applied versamark and sparkly emboss powder to make her dress ultra sparkly.

Stamps: bride-Rubber Romance, happily ever after. INKS: basic black, real red and versamark. CS: whisper white, real red, and basic black. Access: sparkly emboss powder, black brads, blender pens, polka dot ribbon (M's), cuttle bug, swirly emboss folder, horizontal slot punch.

For the second card, I paper pieced her dress after I embossed it with the cuttlebug. I added some prima blossoms for her bouquet and her hair. I did lots of sewing on this one to add an elegent look.

Stamps: Bride- Rubber Romance, French script bg, linen bg and baroque motifs. INKS: basic black, buckaroo blue, close to cocoa and blush blossom marker. CS: ivory, river rock, soft sky, close to cocoa and vellum. Access: cuttlebug, primas, stickles, computer (for sentiment), sewing machine.

Thanks for checking out my latest creations.

Celebration tree

My apologies for the very poor quality of this photo of the card. I snapped a few picks and then sealed it up and much to my disappointment, the pics were terrible. I needed a masculine birthday card quick, so threw this one together. The tree image is watercoloured and really looks nice with the colours all blended. I added canvas to the brown panel and punched a hole using my square punch so the tree is sort of framed. I then added some snaps in the corners for some added interest. The ribbon is the stitched true thyme ribbon from last year.

Stamps: Lovely as a tree, canvas, weathered bg and wonderful words. Inks: choc chip, always artichoke, close to cocoa, old olive, more mustard and ruby red. CS: old olive, close to cocoa and watercolour paper. Access: stitched ribbon, snaps, square punch and paper distresser.

I received my new Rubber romance stamps in the mail a few days ago, hopefully I will have a "feel good" day and be able to do some stamping with the new rubber sometime soon.

take care!

Summer's party frogs...

Phew! It's been a long time since, I uploaded anything and I apologize. With my injuries, stamping is super difficult and painful for me so, I am unfortunately not creating much. I did manage to put these 2 birthday cards together for my girlfriends daughter for her 3 rd birthday. I then let my daughter choose which one she wanted to give to her and she chose the one on the left.

Stamps: unfrogettable, hip hip hooray, Karen Foster snap stamps. CS: groovy guava, certainly celery, pretty in pink, barely banana, whisper white and chatterbox patterned paper. Inks: Basic black and markers: pretty in pink, blush blossom, certainly celery, barely banana, creamy caramel, pale plum, bashful blue. Access: white gel pen, stickles, apricot and bashful blue grosgrain ribbon, brads, dimensionals.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the outcome of these two cards. The card on the right is a double slider card and I added googly eyes on the frog popping out. I did come to discover that I do need to add some girly stamps to my collection as I don't have anything "princess" like.

Thanks for checking out my latest creations!

7 years

I wanted to post a picture from our wedding day....

Anniversary bubble bath...

Sorry, it's been awhile since my last post. My back and neck have been really sore and I just haven't felt like being at the computer that much or able to sit and work on cards for long periods.

I made this for my sweet hubby, we celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary tomorrow. I used "Babs" from Rubber romance. (I just love their stamps!), and this gorgeous patterned paper from Chatterbox. Note the succulent bashful blue grosgrain ribbon...(isn't it simply divine?). I used crystal effects on the tub to make it shiny and smooth and dazzling diamonds for the bubbles...very sparkly irl.

Stamps: Babs-Rubber romance, quick thinking (stampin up). Inks: Basic black, blush blossom, barely banana markers. CS: bashful blue, barely banana, chatterbox pp. Access: crystal effects, glue pen, grosgrain ribbon, circle punches, word window.

The inside of the card reads: "take me out for dinner and a drink and find out just how much I like you". Cute I thought. I hope he likes it.

Goodnight!

Genuine Cowboy

Isn't "Bronc buster" one of the best new sets?? I just love it's rustic feel. I pulled the colours for this card straight from the designer paper (drool, drool).

Stamps: Bronc buster, paisley bg, everyday flexible phrases. Ink: Choc chip, really rust. CS: choc chip, really rust, sage shadow, very vanilla and designer series paper. Access: hemp twine, tiny tags, brads.

You ever have one of those creations that just come together on it's own and so easily?! This was one of them for me. Sometimes the creative process can take a while with me but, this card came together so quickly and easily. I just love it when that happens. lol.

Wild Birthday wishes...

My Nephew's 4th Birthday is coming up this month and I wanted to make him a fun card. I used Julia's sketch from the dare to get dirty challenge and also Jen Balcer's colourful challenge. There are stickles sparodically added on the base layer of the card, and I punched the dots out on the giraffe and layered a taken with teal panel behind so his dot's show up teal. I added a googly eye to the elephant for fun and popped his ear up on dimensionals. couple of party hats and we are in party mode...lol.

Stamps: Wild about you, hip hip hooray. Inks: old olive, pumpkin pie, taken with teal, so saffron and basic black. CS: pumpkin pie, old olive, taken with teal, so saffron, whisper white and basic black. Access: stickles, googly eye, dimensional, clear button, hemp twine and stamp a ma jig.

I don't use lots of bright colours so it is always a challenge for me. Kids Birthday cards should be bright and cheerful I think! This one has a little bling too!

Thanks so much for checking out my creations.

Vintage gals...

I'm still plugging away at the dare to get dirty challenges. Waxyo's challenge was to make a vintage card. This was my interpretation. I knew right away I wanted to use this fun stamp from Inkadinkado. I stamped it onto glossy cs and it gives it a "photo" look. I also combined this challenge with texasjodylynn's brad challenge (to use a lot of brads on your card). I would say this qualifies...I used 17 brads on this card!

Stamps: Inkadinkado, print pattern and baroque motifs. Inks: choc chip, versamark. CS: close to cocoa, cranberry crisp, choc chip, glossy cs, Basic Grey (blush line) . Access: clear emboss powder, gingham ribbon, brads, paper distresser, distress ink (Tim Holtz-walnut stain), dimensionals.

I hope everyone has a great BC day long weekend. My plans are completely shot since the car accident. No camping or any fun for me. . Have a blast everyone!!

Cheers!

Sweet sketch...

Another creation for the dare to get dirty challenges. This one is based on a sketch by Beate. I picked up this adorable stamp last time I was in Vancouver, and I just love it. I coloured it using my prisma pencils, gamsol and a stump. I also distressed the edges of the main image with distress ink and splattered it with the colour spritzer tool.

Stamps: Sweet delights (Stampendous), Karen foster snap stamps 1/8", print pattern. Inks: Basic black, choc chip. CS: Choc chip, barely banana, very vanilla, Chatterbox patterned paper. Access: Prisma penciles, gamsol, stump, colour spritzer tool, choc chip marker, distress ink (Tim Holtz-walnut stain), circle punch, grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals.

Here are a few more cards I made using the same stamp sets and colours. For this one I used a cuttlebug embossing folder for the main background and paired it up with a black base. I love how decadent and rich these colours are together. I used the horizontal slot punch to add some designer ribbon I had laying around and moved the sentiment to the right hand upper corner. The sentiment is also from Stampendous and is part of the "grateful wood set".

For the third card, I again used an embossing folder, but I used close to cocoa and black together. I used the ticket corner punch to jazz up the corners and again used the horizontal slot punch to tie in the ribbon. For the sentiment I popped it up onto dimensionals and stuck it onto the corner of the main image mirroring the sketch challenge.

For the last card I was inspired by the cinched ribbon corners that I happened to see on another person's creations but for the life of me cannot remember who or where I saw it. Very cool I thought. The sentiment with the scalloped edge I picked up from texasjodylynn! Her work is so amazing and I find so inspiring. If you haven't checked out her blog before....check it out here. So for this card I used the ribbon corners, horizontal slot punch, a sentiment circle with scalloped edge (to do this you simply attach punched circles so only part of them is showing), I also added a matt of barely banana to sort of brighten the card a little. The sentiment is from the retired "like it a latte" set! I hope you enjoyed my "sweets" cards and they weren't too much the same for ya'all. Have a happy, stamp filled day! Ciao!!

Stepping out...

Oh how I love Rubber romance stamps...lol. I can't wait until my new order is delivered. The divas are just so girly and fun! If you would like to check out these little chickies, look here. This particular stamp is Retro Robin. I took part in one of the dirty dare challenges, to include paper piecing. Her capris are paper pieced.

Stamps: Rubber romance (retro robin), French script bg. Inks: Basic black and choc chip. CS: barely banana, choc chip, very vanilla and (card #1 chatterbox pp), (card #2 Basic Grey pp). Access: brads, ribbon grosgrain.

Thanks so much for stopping in...I am off to another physio appt.

Cheers!