Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Les On The Ball - Happy Retirement

Hi Everyone,
  This is a quick card I put together for a person that is retiring from the research department where I work.  He has been working there for many years and is a wonderful person.  I will truly miss his silly antics and he always is armed with a joke.  So I wanted to make him something personal since our lab is throwing him a going away party.  This stamp is from Pollycraft - and the real name of the stamp is Maurice on the Ball - he was a freebie a while back and he holds a banner that says - Football.  I decided to sumbitt him to the Pollycraft Challenge this week which was to add a bit of nature - which is the blue hemp twine. 

However, I cut that out and colored and wrote in Les on the ball.  I also found a clipart beach ball and put him on top.  Once I had colored Les with my Copics I decided to paper piece his shoes so he really looked like he was standing on the ball.  I used my blue Bazzil paper for a base and then layered my DCWV school stack polka-dot.  I added a bit of hemp twine and twisted them around two brads adding a charm that says "rule yourself" - which I think retirement is a time when your time is your own - LOL.  So it seemed fitting.  The sentiment made itself - once I saw the name of the stamp I decided that Les on the Ball was perfect! 

Lastly, I added some glossy accents to the ball and glasses.
Enjoy!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Back to School My Sweet

Hi Everyone,
  Tiddly Inks has a great back to school challenge this week with some new images!  I of course had to join in on the fun.  My daughter goes back the day after Labor Day and I'm excited she'll be in second grade - such a big girl.  So, I made her a fun side-step card.  She loves these and I couldn't get around making one since she likes them so much.  This little avenger looks just like her too!  I colored her in my Copics and cut them out with my Cuttlebug using the nestables from Spellbinders that my sweet sweet hubby bought for me!

  I did the side-step card in a school paper from the DCWV stack all about school.  I followed the directions found here.  Next I cut out a school bus from my Stretch Your Imagination cartridge on my cricut expressions.  Also, I trimmed out images from the same paper I made the side-step in and adhered them around the card. 

Finally, I took a cute chalkboard paper that Christy over at Tiddly Inks made and used a little Photoshop to add: Good Luck Anna so that it actually looks like it's written in the paper.  I added a little paper clip and some stickles to the bus.  I can't wait to give it to her!
Enjoy!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

B&W Happy Birthday

Hey Everyone,
  The challenge at Meljen's this week is simple - a birthday card!  I love this little Firefly Fairy from Meljen's and I really wanted to do her in color.  However, I had some inspiration from a paper I just got from Best Creation Inc. called Mr. & Mrs.  I didn't actually use the specific paper I got the inspiration from but used some counterparts of the same set.  This was a simple card - the coloring was the roughest part for me as I'm still learning my Copics and I've never done a black and white before.  I only used three Copics (C1, C3, C5) for the whole black and white scheme of the fairy and her clothes.  I did add some yellow (Y000, Y15, Y19) for the lightening bug and the balloons.  I also used a few other gray tones for the balloons (N0,N3,W1,W3,W5). 

I used my Bazzill yellow for the trim here and then added a black shear ribbon and bow.  I also grabbed my daughters jewelry beads (shh don't tell) and made a little beaded charm.  Thanks for looking!  Don't forget about my blog candy - just click the picture in the upper right hand corner of my blog - you have until Friday!
Enjoy!
I should also mention that a wonderful lady - Sheila from She's a Sassy Lady to be exact - presented my blog with this wonderful little award!

Thanks you Sheila - I'm so honored that you thought of me.  Now, I have to say three things I love about myself.

1. I love my family - which is truly a part of me
2. I love my intuition
3. I love my ability to gab with just about anyone!
  I have so many pictures I love - my favorite is probably the one of my two girls over on the sidebar - but this one is of my little baby girl who loves my craft area that's filled with chokey stuff and sharp stuff - so I have to keep her out, but one day she crawled by and I looked at her and here she was with this googly eye stuck to her face - we laughed and laughed and luckily caught her with stinker face in this picture! LOL

I also need to tag five peopel for this award: so here it goes
1) Donna - She just started her blog CardDreams by NanaDonna - OH MY GOSH - she's amazing check her out
2) Stephanie - She is just starting up a challenge blog - join the fun
3) The Cricut Couple - there is stuff is just fabulous
4) Jen - a really good friend of mine that's also just starting up her blog
5)Amy at Papertrails by a Paper Lover - her cards are amazing

So the rules: thank the person that gave it to you, post it on your blog, name three things you love about yourself, share a picture you love, and pick five other wonderful bloggers for the award! 
Enjoy!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Wedding Card - Art Deco Style


Hey Everyone,
  I was recently asked to make a wedding card for a good friend - his nephew is getting married and he asked for a card that is different - Art Deco!  I thought oh boy, this might be tough for me since mainly I use stamps and the cricut...but I was game as I love a good challenge.  I found this awesome paper at our local craft store - the paper is Best Creation Inc.  It had this amazing image of a couple getting married that I knew I had to use. 

Art Deco typically features bright reds and yellows - so my color scheme was easy once I had the couple. I chose this red paper from Karen Foster Design and used it as my main background. I found this clip art of a building on google images and printed it on the red paper . I fussy cut the couple out of the paper and added this to the red.  I used my cricut paper from Animal Kingdom - the gray and yellow/orange patterns.  I inked all the edges in black.  This gave each shape a great transition while keeping with the Art Deco theme.  I bought some rub-ons for the words and added those at the end.  On the inside I layered more of my paper and used stamps for the sentiment. 

This card in general was pretty simple - the hardest part was the initial idea - but once I had it figured out it went pretty fast.  I hope my friend likes and I also hope his nephew and new bride will feel special receiving a card made in an Art Deco Style!
 Don't forget about my blog candy too!  Just click here
Enjoy!

Friday, August 27, 2010

A Celebration and a little blog candy!

Hi Everyone!!
  Well today is a special day for me!  I reached 50 followers here on my blog!!!  YAY!  I'm really excited about this.  Another thing to share - I made the Paper Cutz Challenge design team and couldn't be happier.  Most of you know that I also am on the Crafty Creations Design Team and am just loving it!  I also won some great blog candy from the Cricut Couple recently and from Krista at BellaandAideesmom!  So, because I believe in paying it forward and because I so appreciate everyone who comes to my little piece of the Internet I'm going to give away some candy too!!!
YOU HAVE TO:  1) follow my blog
                             2) Tell me your favorite Tiddly Inks Digi
                             3) Favorite Stampin' Up product
                             4) Leave a comment under this post!
 Now, are you ready for it - want to know what it is?????  Here's part of it:
Yup, some cute little ribbon!!  Want to know what else???
Every project needs a little bling - this kind is a sticker too - so you can cut shapes with it!!!  Ok, is that all you might be asking yourself - nope there's more:

Yup YUMMY paper from Stampin' UP - I got this great paper from an awesome rep for Stampin' UP - Stephanie - make sure you check out her blog and shop for some great product!  Also, she's just started a challenge blog you'll want to check out - and if you want someone that answers your questions quickly and is excited about the Stampin' Up line make sure you contact her.  Now, is that it??? NOPE

YUP - some Copics!!!  Now, I'm having a bit of a hard time parting with this - but I'm going to do it for my awesome followers!!!  Now, it's not a lot  - but if you have never used them it's a start and you can do some experimenting.  Now, for those that already have Copics you can add to your collection!  Now so far we have, paper, ribbon, bling, and markers - something seems to be missing...
So last - but certainly not LEAST - I'm going to give out a gift certificate to one of my favorite stamp artists shops!!! Christy Croll - know her?  If not, you should defiantly check out Tiddly Inks!   Although, here's a warning and disclaimer:  You WILL become addicted to her stamps and I CANNOT and will not be held responsible :) 
They are by far the cutest little digi's around.  Christy is great at customer service and is just a really nice person.  Make sure to check out her challenge blog and her store!!!
Now, this isn't a challenge - but for fun and because I truly do believe in the two people I've mentioned that have amazing products - all you have to do to be qualified to win this blog candy is:
1) become a follower of my blog if you aren't already!
2) Check out Tiddly Inks and tell me your favorite digital stamp!
3) Mention your favorite product from Stephanie's Shop!
4) place your favorites in a comment under this post...
That's not too hard - and let's be honest, as crafters we all love to browse the goods!!!!  I will randomly pick a winner who's done all the things mentioned above a week from today!!! TGIF
Enjoy!


Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Sugar and Spice - Crafty Creations Challenge #82

Hey Everyone,
  This week at Crafty Creations Challenge blog we had did a 3-2-1.  I love this challenge so be sure to participate if you can - just click here.  Here are the simple rules:  Use 3 different papers, two different ribbons and add one charm!  The rest is up to you!  Our sponsor this week is Mo's Digital Pencil!  I don't know about you, but I just love her stamps!!  I used one of my favorites called Patience.  She also has one called Tolerance and it's a little boy!  I love this stamp because it so reminds me of both my daughters - they love kitties and our poor kitty, Mercury, takes her fair share of pick me ups - however, she is less then patient!  LOL! 
I colored this image with my Copics (a great site for tutorials is Color Me Copic).  Usually, I color and then pick out my papers so once I colored her, I set her aside and picked out these cute papers from my Cricut stack, Doodlecharms.  Remember, we had to use three papers - so I picked a great purple that matched the little girls shirt, a flowered patterned that matched the one charm I wanted to use, and some stripes that matched everything! 

I layered the papers together on my card.  Next, I added a bit of white ribbon down the were two of my papers came together.  My second ribbon, I added to the charm for a collar around the kitty's neck.  Finally, I adhered the image onto my card. and added a few nail heads and a sticker sentiment to finish up my 3,2,1 card!  Don't forget to stop by Crafty Creations and join in on the fun - you could win a gift certificate to Mo's Digital Pencil!!
Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Fairy Bookmark

Hey everyone!
  I'm back with more Tiddly Inks - I think I might need an intervention!  I will enter this into this week's Stamptacular Sunday Challenge as well - you have to use two stamped images.
I'm sure you are tired of hearing me say this but I LOVE reading and so many of the times I give books as presents.  Well, my daughter had a birthday to go to and the little girl she is best friends with reads all the time!  I just love this - so we got her a book and a gift card to a book store.  Now, we had to make her a bookmark to go with it - and she just finished a series with fairy's.  So, what better to use the new Tiddly Ink fairies for a bookmark.  I colored the fairies with Copics and then just fussy cut (I just learned that this type of cutting had a name - thanks to Donna over at Popsicle Toes!)  them out. 

Next, I got out the Gypsy - which never has any time to collect dust - and cut out a bookmark from an old cereal box.  I collect all my cereal boxes as we go through a lot.  Our go to snack is usually cereal - so I have a lot of boxes - LOL!  Anyhow, I used Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and chose the shadow of a rounded bookmark for this one.  I used the multi cut 3 times - I don't have a deep cut blade and housing but three times worked like a charm.  I then cut out two more shadow cuts in a simple navy color and a normal cut from a stars and moons paper I got awhile ago.  I also cut out three shadow stars from George and two shadow swirls from Cindy Loo in navy.  Lastly, I cut out the top layers to the stars and swirls in a basic yellow.  Before layering any of the paper on the cardboard cereal box, I inked the edges in Nearly Navy from Stampin' Up - I didn't want the cardboard to show on the sides and this worked beautifully.  I then put down my navy paper on both sides and layered the star and moon paper on one side.  I added the swirls and layered the fairies over the top.  Lastly, I added the stars.  I punched a whole in the top and put a sheer yellow, blue and white ribbon through.  I loved the look but felt like something was missing.  STICKLES!!!  My go to bling for a bookmark - it typically won't rub off, it's not too bumpy for a bookmark but you still get that sparkle.

 I added it to all the yellow paper showing - stars and swirls.  Lastly, I added some to the fairies.  In the end, I love this book mark and will probably have to make one for my daughter too - and who am I kidding - I want one for myself!!! 
Enjoy!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Hello Donkey

Hi Everyone,
  Just a quick post to show you this card I made for Meljen's this week.  The challenge: teal, orange and brown.  Yikes!!!  I have a really hard time with orange - unless it's Halloween themed.  However, I do like how this turned out!  Colored the little donkey with my Copics and cut him out.  Then added ribbon and paper!  I cuddlebugged the circle with my nestables and stamped a little hello!  Easy!  I wanted more - more bling, more sparkle - but this thing with orange - I always seem to over do when I use orange, so I decided that would be enough -

"That'll do donkey, that'll do."
Enjoy!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

A little pick UP - Tiddly Inks Movie Challenge

Hi Everyone,
  Today is Sunday the day of rest, right?  Not in my world - we have an extremely busy busy day - cook out and birthday party in the span of a few hours.  Did I mention I'm supposed to make a salad for the cook out - and well, I still need to go to the grocery store!!!  I still have one little item to make for the little girl's birthday we are headed to as well!!! YIKES - I should get off my computer and go - but alas I do have a little card I wanted to share!
  At Tiddly Inks this week the challenge is to make a card from your favorite summer movie.  I chose the Disney/Pixar movie UP. Do remember the part of the movie when the balloons bust out and his house starts to go UP!!!??  I remember being in awe - and thinking to myself oh my, this is every kids dream - enough balloons to pick you and your house up!!!  Very cool - so I decided to make a card using this movie.  Christy at Tiddly Inks has this cute little house image that I colored to match the house in the movie.  I cut out oh about 72 balloons on the cricut from George and Basic Shapes.  Attached black string to them and them piled them up.  A few I popped up from the background using my 3D pop dots.  Next, I took all the strings and knotted them up, pulled them straight down where I wanted to put the house and stuck them down with a 3D pop dot and then placed the house on top also placing pop dots on the house.  Once everything was in place I put a little white highlight on the balloons.  Then I realized - OH CRUD!!! I stuck everything down and didn't leave room for my sentiment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Well, I just put it inside. 

This is from Just Because Cards and is perfect for this card!  I did computer generate the UP to look like UP from the movie!  Once I had all this done, I realized the front looked a little plain - so I stamped some birds from a $1 set of stamps from Studio G and then added Glossy Accents to the popped balloons, the birds and the windows! 

I hope this card gives you a little pick UP!!!
Enjoy!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Thanks for Sharing - Jitterbuggin' Sketch 14

Hey Everyone!
  I have so many thank you notes to make so I decided that the Jitterbuggin' Challenge was a perfect opportunity to make a cute one using a sketch from Sheri.  This card happens to be going to the Cricut Couple for their gorgeous bag that I won! 

It holds my Gypsy - isn't it cute!!!  They have an amazing blog, with some seriously gorgeous cards - here's the one they sent me

Please check them out when you get a chance!  Thanks Bobby and Jill for a cute bag and beautiful card!! 
Now, on to the challenge.  I used Cindy Loo for the little squirrels and acorns.  The rest is just pieced together following Sheri's cute sketch.  I also doodled a few hearts that match the middle ribbon and added some dots to the red paper. 

I first piled the acorns then layered the little squirrels on top.  I computer generated the sentiment!  Thanks for looking and I hope The Cricut Couple like their card!!!
Enjoy!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Hugs - Buttons and Bows

Hi Everyone,
  I wanted to join the fun at Stamptacular Sunday this week and the theme is buttons and bows.  You must always use a stamp - and I chose this cute digi stamp from Tiddly Inks called HedgieHugs.  First I colored her with Copics and decided to paper piece her dress.  However, over at a great site that Christy from Tiddly Inks led me to called Color Me Copics they showcased a great tutorial on how to color grass.  I will enter my card there as well since I used that technique.

 I then stickled the hearts on her dress with lime green.  While that was drying I picked out some Stampin' Up paper that I truly love and used this as a background paper.  I grabbed some cute pink buttons that matched the hearts I colored with my Copic R20 and added a piece of elastic band to the centers.  I just got some ribbon at Joanne's for 50 cents and they happened to match perfectly and I used this for my bow.  I doodle stitched around the edges of the brown card stock from Core'dinations.  I decided to go ahead and use my corner rounder to edge every piece.  I needed to make a few thank you notes so in the end I added the tag insert with the Thanks so Much stamp and used my olive green from Stampin' Up.  I continued with that in the inside of the card around the white card stock I applied to the green paper.

Finally, I doodled HUGS at the top of the card!  Thanks for looking and please leave comments I just love them!! 
Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Just Be You - Meljens Design Challenge

Hey everyone,
  I made this card for the Meljens Design Challenge - seeing double!  You had to use two of the same image. I also missed out but remembered just in time to submit this card. I decided to put this little cutie in overalls in the mirror! 

Colored her with Copics and did a quick 5x7 card with a little bling and a flower I cut on my Gypsy!  I also added a brad to the flower and some skeleton leaves. 
Enjoy!

Butterfly - Crafty Creations #81


Hey everyone!

This week at Crafty Creations we are challenging everyone to use a butterfly on their card, scrapbook page or project.  Our sponsor this week is Simon Says Stamp Store.  While on vacation I decided to make a bookmark and card set. The blues and soft sand colors inspired this set. I also stopped by the local Jo-Anne's while on vacation and picked up K & Company paper. It matched my linen paper from DCWV so well that I had to use the two to create something right away. The beachy inspiration led to me picking up my Gypsy and welding two butterflies from the Hannah Montana cart together. I also took the word Hope from Give a Hoot and welded that to the bottom of the butterfly. I had a hard time coming up with the sentiment - I thought fly or soar, but none really made sense. Finally, I settled on Hope since a butterfly seems to struggle so much when it flutters around!! It's almost as if it's flying around thinking - "I HOPE I make it to that flower" LOL.



Anyhow, I used the shadow images to weld all pieces on my card in a light cream and tan patterned paper from my DCWV stack. Next, I cut out a blacked out image of the butterfly in a flowery tan from the K&Co paper. Finally, I cut out a top lacy sort of layer for the butterfly from another piece of K&Co paper in a turquoise blue color that had a bit of foil. I cut the word Hope out in a DCWV paper that matched all papers tying in the colors.
For the bookmark, I cut out elongated tags from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More in the foil paper I mentioned before and the same cream and tan I used as a base for the butterfly card. Next, on my Gypsy I welded shadow letters from Nursery Rhymes and formed a little line of letters with the butterflies from Hannah Montana attached to those letters. I used the same paper I cut Hope out of to place on top of the shadow letters. The butterfly layers were done in a similar fashion to my card. Finally, I added a bit of ribbon for the top in a number of varieties. I liked the bookmark but felt it needed a little something extra so I added some pearls as well.

I hope you like and don't forget to play along this week at Crafty Creations!!!

Enjoy!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

A Window to Other Worlds - Tiddly Inks Challenge - Window

Hey everyone,
  Ahhh, internet - what  a joy!  I had a wonderful time on my vacation with my family.  The girls loved the beach and my husband and I got some nice and much needed relaxation.  But the lack of internet just drove me crazy.  When we had down time - kids in bed and my hubby doing his thing - I wanted to scope out all the blogs that I oh so love.  But couldn't...so I did have some time to make a few cards instead.  Here's my Tiddly Inks Challenge card for this week! 

We were to use a window - and reading and a window go hand in hand - don't you think?  When I open a book I feel like I'm entering another world - one where vampires come to life and crimes are always solved!!  I so love Tiddly Ink stamps too and this little Versa Bug is one of my favorites.  This is in honor of back to school - which my big girl will be doing very soon!  I designed the card on my Gypsy using George and StoryBook.  I had to make the stack of books on the inside using shapes from George.  I used the Once Upon A Time and the scrolling from StoryBook.  I also added a Tim Holtz heart charm with a bit of brown ribbon to the front.

I really wanted to use paper that was print and found the perfect match in my Tim Holtz Ideology stack - I love this stack.  Once I had that paper, the rest sort of fell into place.  I colored little Versa with my Copics and matched the lettering, scrolling and books to her. 

Thanks for looking!
Enjoy!

Snips, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails - Stamptacular Sunday Challenge


Hey everyone,
  Just getting back from vacation and can finally post some things - whew I never knew how much I LOVED my internet until I didn't have it!!!  Anyhow, I made this card for the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge which is anything boy related!!!  So I decided to make this card with a free digi from Sliekje.  This little boy praying is just too cute and knowing boys - I thought a little computer generated paper saying "please don't let mom find out" was the perfect touch!  I have two nephews and from the sounds of it they often don't want mom to find out things! LOL  I used my alpha beads again with an elastic band that I could wrap around the card.  I popped the image of the boy colored with Copics using my 3D pop dots, I also cut two of the trains out of the Nanna's Stack from DCWV to pop. 

Finally, I used my cricut to cut out the word bubble from Indie Art - hiding the trouble - and placing in my generated paper. 
Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Winged Thing - Crafty Creations Challenge Blog

Hey everyone,
  This is my DT card for Crafty Creations Challenge.  I colored this wonderful image with my Copics.  After coloring and choosing my papers I cut her out very carefully!  Next, I cut the birdhouse out using my Expressions and Stretch Your Imagination.  The sentiment is also cut on my Expressions, but for the life of me I can't remember what cart -maybe Sentimentals.  After I pieced the card together I felt it needed that little extra - luckily I brought my little butterflies that matched the paper perfectly.

I inked the edges of my card using my Stampin' Up Close to Cocoa.  Please make sure you check out Crafty Creations Challenge blog and play along.  The prize this week is from our wonderful sponsor Robyn's Fetish digital stamps.
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Enjoy!