Sparkly Doodles

This is my take on a no layer card. It really helps when you've got a great stamp set and a wonderful base. I used the Fabriano Medioevalis card that I got from Starlitstudio's Ebay Store. This is very luscious paper and I didn't want to mess it up--I had to scrap my first attempt at using it and almost cried!

Anyway, this card is pretty simple and self explanatory. I stamped the images from Doodle This with Versafine Onyx Black and then watercolored with my aquapainter and Watercolor Wonder Crayons. I then traced over the doodles with my GellyRoll Stardust Clear pen and highlighted the orange areas with Stickles. Can I just say that I love, love, love these two items? I love sparkley things but dh hates it when I use glitter since everything is glittery. He doesn't like going to see clients with glitter on his face. Gee, I don't see why that would be a problem!

This card is really sparkly and I hope that it's not too simple. I sent it out as a blogger RAK :-)

I won't be posting over the weekend since dh and I are getting away for the weekend. His birthday is Monday and he starts travelling again next week so this will be some much needed couple time! My oldest is with his dad and will get to see his granny and the little ones are with my parents. Have a great weekend and thanks for coming by.

Wedding Card

Dh and I went to a wedding yesterday and this is the card that I made for the bride and groom. I really like how it turned out and it seriously took me longer to get everything that I needed together then it did to make the card. I *heart* my Cuttlebug! It really makes card making simple and effortless with a lot of wow factor involved.

The base of the card is Almost Amethyst which is a color that I rarely use. I ran Vellum cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the Textile Embossing folder and then attached this over the card base. The focal image is stamped with the Happy Harmony set which I think is gonna be a keeper because it's so perfect for so many things. I colored the flowers with Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lilac, and Certainly Celery markers and stamped it onto Shimmery White cardstock. I used my Ticket Corner punch on the corners and then matted this on Almost Amethyst and Basic Black. Black brads are in the corners and it's up on dimensionals. I tied Organdy ribbon around the front and I don't know for sure what color it is but it matches the Almost Amethyst cardstock. I also stamped the flowers on the Vellum envelope as well. My orignal plan was not to use vellum but to use the Shimmery White cardstock but I realized that I ran out of Shimmery White envelopes and decided to go with the vellum instead. I'm glad that I did because it turned out so soft and pretty with the vellum and it's a perfect wedding card imnsho :-)

Thanks for visiting!

We have a winner!

Mason picked #30 so Pat aka Foodpartyfun, you WON!!!!! Email me your snail mail address and I'll get the dies out to you.

Thanks to everyone for participating and visiting my blog. I loved reading all your comments, especially since we're enjoying gorgeous spring weather up here. Spring and Fall are my favorite times of the year up here in the Bay Area. The weather is great and the scenery is simply gorgeous.

Boy are my legs sore!

Dh and I did the Emerald 12K Across the Bay on Sunday. It's a pretty nice run/walk that starts in Sausalito, goes across the Golden Gate Bridge, and then ends in Aquatic park in San Francisco. The weather was great and we saw some great scenery. He had to leave me behind because I run so slow that it's embarrassing :-) I'm rather proud of myself since I haven't been running very much since I completed the Nike Marathon and I actually ran much more of this course than I thought I would be able to. For those of you who are interested, a 12K is about 7 1/2 miles. I did this for "fun" :-) Anyway, here are some pics that I took with my phone Sunday. The quality isn't the best but when you see what I got to experience, maybe you can get a tiny idea of why I'd run this far for no particular reason--and I'm so NOT a runner! The first one is while I was on the Golden Gate Bridge. The second one is after I'd gotten off the bridge at a loop on the course. The third pic is of San Francisco and the final pic is of Alcatraz. I looooooooove living up here since San Francisco is one fo the most beautiful cities that I've ever seen.

I'll be back later with Tuesday eye candy ;-)

Polka Dots & Paisley & Blog Candy :-)

I got a little stamping in today while the kids were napping and I was watching basketball. Even though there are some good games on, I can just kinda focus on the game while I stamp. I'm putting my stuff away before the UCLA game since we'll all be glued to the TV watching our alma mater make a run at the championship.

Both cards use the Polka Dots and Paisley stamp set. I love this set since it's such a happy set and I think I love it even more because I got it for free :-) The card bases are Taken with Teal. The patterned paper is the Polka Dots & Paisley Designer Double Sided Paper. I also used Old Olive and Whisper White. Ink used was So Saffron, Taken with Teal, Old Olive and White Craft. Accessories include White Grosgrain, Olive Organdy, Gold Cord, Olive eyelets, and Gold Stickles from Cindy's Stickles Share--check it out since she's doing it again.

I'm thinking the focal image on the first card is a little off and I'll probably redo it but I was running out of time before the game starts and probably won't get online much. Dh and I are doing the Emerald 12K which goes across the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm pretty excited since the weather is supposed to be beautiful!

The scalloped squares on the second card are done with my Cuttlebug and the scalloped squares die which brings me to my blog candy--I accidently purchased 2 of the scalloped squares dies so my oopsie is going to be your good fortune. Leave me a comment about one thing that you like about Spring and you'll be entered to win. I'll ask one of the kids to give me a number to pick the winner on Wednesday 3/21 at 8:00 pm PST.

Thanks for visiting!

Masculine Summer by the Sea

Here's the other Summer by the Sea card. Since this is for a male, I went with more masculine colors. The card base is Sage Shadow. The bottom half is Brocade Blue and the sentiment is stamped with Vanilla Craft (I know it's a little hard to see at this angle). The focal image is stamped with Stazon Black on Watercolor paper and colored in with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an Aquapainter. I matted it on Close to Cocoa and added the Sage Shadow eyelets in the corners. The ribbon is Taupe Grosgrain.

Another quick, easy, and simple card that got lots of wows from the recipient! It just goes to show me that my justification for stamping is true--it's much more time effective and cost effective to stamp a card rather than buy one :-)

Thanks for visiting!

Summer by the Sea

I got this set when it was 50% off awhile back and this is the 2nd time that I've used it. I had to make a birthday card for my boss and was in a watercoloring mood. I stamped the girl with Black Stazon on Watercolor paper and colored her in with my Watercolor Wonder crayons and an aquapainter. I tore the edges and then mounted this on a piece of Perfect Plum and then I tore those edges as well. The card base is Pale Plum and the sentiment is stamped with Perfect Plum Classic ink. I wrapped organdy ribbon around the card (don't know for sure what color it is but it's pale--I got it in a ribbon swap awhile back and never organized the colors) and then tied a small piece of gold cord in the ribbon. I mounted the focal piece over this and decided it still needed a little something so I accented the flowers and butterflies with Stickles. This didn't take a ton of time and I actually got 2 cards done last night but you'll have to wait till tomorrow for the other one :-)

This card got a lot of oooohhhhhs and aaaahhhhs today when I gave it to my boss. No one in my office could believe that I actually made it and really didn't believe me when I told them how simple it was. Needless to say, I felt rather proud of myself.

Thanks for visiting and don't be afraid to leave a comment.

Belated Birthday

Don't you hate when you forget someone's birthday? I realized that my secret sis recently had a birthday and feel like a heel for forgetting so I made her this card last night. I'm rather pleased with it--I like when the idea I have in my head actually looks the same in real life. The card base is Pretty in Pink. I then stamped the Dotted Background stamp with Pretty in Pink Craft ink on Kraft cardstock. I stamped the sentiment and flowers from Doodle That with Chocolate Chip Classic ink on Confetti White. I colored in the flowers with Pretty in Pink, Sage Shadow, and Perfect Plum markers and then cut them out. I made the tab on the tag with the Keytag Punch and attached with a Pretty in Pink eyelet. I attached the tag with Light Pink Grosgrain. Everything is up on dimensionals. I must say, that I'm really happy I got all the doodle sets from the Spring Mini catalog! I'm not a perfect colorer and it's super easy to color the doodles in.

I've got a couple more birthday cards to make tonight so hopefully I can get them done and take pics for your viewing pleasure :-)

Ack!!!!

Darnit, Typepad is blocked from my computer at work so I can't sneak a peek at blogs when I'm eating lunch! I guess I really can't bug IT about it and ask them to unblock it, can I? Oh well.

Check back later since I got a little time to stamp last night. I'll upload this evening and hopefully get some more stamping done.

Lunch Tins

We've got 2 birthday parties to go to tomorrow and they overlap a little so we're splitting up. Dh is taking our 4 year old to his classmates party which starts at 1 and I'm taking my oldest and our youngest to the party around the corner that starts at 2. Dh and Miles will meet us at the neighborhood party. Thank goodness it's only 2 parties to worry about and not 3 :-)

So, I decorated a tin for each girl and the plan was to put the presents in the tin. Ummmmmmm, in order to do that, I'd have to take the toys out of the packaging--doh! I have a hard time visualizing things and really thought they'd fit. So, they're getting tins as gifts in addition to the presents we got them :-) My friend says that when she's done tins for gifts for her dd's friends, the've been a huge hit.

I used the Petals and Paisley Double Sided paper for each of the tins. Each girl's name was stamped with the Doodle Alphabet on Whisper White and colored in with markers. The colors used were Old Olive, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Taken with Teal, and Tempting Turquoise. I matted the name on Regal Rose, So Saffron, and Tempting Turquoise. The ribbon is Rose grosgrain. I painted the tops of the tins with white acrylic paint that I'd mixed with my Regal Rose reinker. I've got a few primas on top with brads and Stickles and there ya have it!

I looooooove these colors together and am finding it hard to use my paper since I don't want to use it all up and not have any left. Good think it's going to be around till the end of June so I can order more if I need to, huh?

Thanks for coming!

Birthday Beauty and a Thank you card

Lilian sent me this super cute Tickled Pink card as a thanks for the blog candy. I love it and think it's so cute! I really like the Very Punny set and love this layout. I'm gonna CASE it and make up some cards so that I have a bunch on hand to send out or give out when I need them. It never fails that dh will ask me as we're walking out to something "hey, do you have a card?" and I have to scramble to make one :-)

The second card is one that I made because we've got 2 birthday parties to attend this weekend. My 4 year old was invited to one of his classmate's parties and our neighbor's daughter is also having a party. I've loved Birthday Beauty since it appeared in the catalog and got this set as a gift from my DDSS :-) This is my first time using it and while I like this card, I don't love it. I was not happy after I finished but looking at it in the morning makes me realize that it's actually ok. I used Marigold Morning as the base and stamped roses in Marigold Morning for the background. The Birthday Beauty is stamped on Whisper White with Basic Black. I colored her in with my blender pens and Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Marigold Morning, Cool Caribbean, and Regal Rose. She's matted on Cool Caribbean and Regal Rose. The saying is on a Cuttlebug die cut slider and the edges were rubbed against the Regal Rose inkpad. I attached it with Rose Grograin. The girl has Stickles on her crown, sash, and bottom edge of her dress. Since we're a multicultural family and many of our friends are also multicultural/racial--I use the Creamy Caramel a lot for coloring in people :-)

I'm going to attempt to get more stamping done tonight. I may redo the birthday card but I definitely want to decorate some lunch tins to put the presents in. Now, the key word is attempt. Dh and I barely made it up past the kids last night. I got all three of them in bed and came back downstairs and he was asleep on the couch. I did the dishes and woke him up and we decided we were too sleepy to try to stay up for the news so we went to bed. We're pathetic!

Thanks for visiting!