Busy Busy

No Eye Candy today. I'm busy and at a training for the next few days that includes homework so I'm not getting much online time right now. I probably won't do much blogging this week but I'll be back next week (or sooner if I find some time)

More Dirty Challenges

Here are a couple more cards for the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges. I'm so far behind but hope to get some more stamping done today and tomorrow to catch up.

The first card is a combo of Jenn and Sharon's challenges. I love this card! It does look much better in real life than the picture shows. The card base is Green Galore and I added a piece of Basic Black that I ran through my Cuttlebug with the Floral Fantasy Folder to it on top of dimensionals. I went over the CB'ed piece with Brilliance Moonlight White to highlight the flowers and embossing. I stamped the words from Wonderful Favorites on a piece of Whisper White with Memento Tuxedo Black and Green Galore and then punched the corners with a ticket corner punch and layered it on Gable Green. I added some Ice Circle brads to the corners and then mounted this piece on dimensionals on top of Green Galore. This is also on top of dimensionals on the card. I thought about using some ribbon but decided it didn't need any more embellishing. I love it when it turns out better than what I had in my head!


The second card is also another combined challenge. I used Lauren and Holly's Challenges for this one. I started out by looking through my BasicGrey 6X6 packs to find a piece of dp to use and settled on this piece from the Sugared Collection. I rounded 2 corners and sponged the edges with Creamy Caramel and added it to a Pink Pirouette cardbase that is also sponged with Creamy Caramel. The flowers from PTI's Floral Frenzy are stamped in Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, and Creamy Caramel on Curious Iridescent Cryogen White and then cut and embossed with a Petite Oval Nestie. I sponged around the edge with a little more Pink Pirouette and put it on a Regal Rose cut and embossed scalloped oval which is sponged with Creamy Caramel. I placed this on top of the dp and then stamped the hello circle on a Cryogen White scrap with Versamagic Gingerbread--I couldn't get the Creamy Caramel to stamp without being blotchy but since the stamps are brand new and I had to ink them up without doing the eraser treatment to them, I'm not complaining. I cut this out with a circle Nestie and then put it on top of another Regal Rose circle and Creamy Caramel scalloped circle and added it to the card with dimensionals. I finished it off with 3 pale pink dew drops and voila--all done!

Thanks for visiting and I'm off to try to get some more challenges done!

DTGD Challenges

So, I got the challenges from Monday and Tuesday done.  I still need to do yesterday and today's and then get up to do tomorrow's. . .I think I'm going to have to combine more challenges but I really want to get them all done!

This first card was for Jody's Challenge.  Can you believe I did a completely Stampin Up card?  and there's no coloring involved on this one!  This one was fun to do and brought me back to my original falling in love with stamping days.  I combined some of the new In Colors with retiring River Rock.  The card base is Kiwi Kiss and I also used Baja Breeze as well as the River Rock and Very Vanilla.  I used inks in the same colors as well as  Riding Hood Red (which I want to call Red Riding Hood Red).  The stamps used are from Enjoy Every Moment as well as the coordinating Daisy Dash Jumbo wheel.  Everything is up on dimensionals and the rest if pretty self explanatory.  I do like these colors together and love how the red really makes it pop!

Card #2 is a combined challenge card and really was a challenge for me.  This one combines JulieHRR and Michelle's challenges.  One layer and masculine cards are difficult for me.  I used Verve Stamps Seeing Stars for this card.  The card and envelope are PTI's Stampers Select White.  Inks used are Memento Tangelo, Danube Blue, and Bahama Blue (for lightly sponging the rectangle) as well as Versafine Onyx Black.  I drew the square around the sentiment after stamping everything with the help of my Tim Holtz Design Ruler and then drew the little dots and dashes inside with the ruler as well--I'm not even really going to try my hand at doodling since I'm not artistic!  I shaded around the left side and bottom of the square with a Cool Grey Copic marker and then lightly sponged the Bahama Blue ink around the square as well.  I was trying to give it a little dimension since it was kind of flat.  I had a really hard time not sponging and inking this up some more.  So, I like it but don't *love* it since it's so different for me.

Card #3 was also a challenge for me and was Christine's challenge.  I have not watercolored in forever!!!!!!  I think that since I've discovered Copics, I don't look at any other coloring medium.  I'm definitely out of practice with my watercoloring and actually tossed the first one I did.  The card base is Baja Breeze which is the one In Color I didn't think I was going to be thrilled with but absolutely love!  The patterned paper is from an SEI pack that I got that I can't remember the name of right now.  I stamped Bettina Buttercream from Stampin Bella on watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx Black and colored her in with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and Pearlescent Watercolors.  I also added a little more shimmer with some Copic Spica Glitter pens and went over the little cherries with Ranger's Glossy Accents.  This is cut and embossed with Rectangle Nesties and mounted on a Chocolate Chip scrap that was also cut and embossed with Nesties.  This piece is is mounted with dimensionals on top of the dp which has a scalloped piece of Barely Banana under it.  The ribbon is from SU's retired Flirty Ribbon Originals.  The sentiment is from SU's So Many Sayings and is stamped in Versamark and embossed with Detail White EP.  I finished it off with dew drops in the top right and bottom left and tah-dah!  All done.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon.

DTGD08Laurie-Got Vellum?

I had a chance to get one of the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges at SCS done earlier today and hope to get the other one done this evening.

This was Laurie's challenge to use vellum on your card. I don't use vellum very often but love the effect of it when I do use it. I used Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart for the cardbase and layered on some Summer Sunrise. The sunflowers are from SU's Serene Sunflowers which is retiring--I absolutely love sunflowers and had to get this set but I'm not great at some of these 2-step stamping sets so I haven't used it very much. I stamped the sunflowers, centers, and leaves with the following Memento inks: Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Potter's Clay, and New Sprout on Whisper White. I used my ticket corner punch on this layer and the Summer Sunrise layer and then attached SU's Vellum Cardstock over it with black Vintage Brads. I stamped the sentiment from SU's Heard from the Heart (available August 11th) with Brilliance Starlight Black on the vellum and tah-dah! All done! I like having the vellum over the sunflower layer to soften it up. This is a fairly simple card but it was hard for me because of the 2 step stamping. It seriously gives me a hard time. I remember following all the thread at SCS about how you couldn't mess up Terrific Tulips and Roses in Winter and just laugh because I can't make nice things with them. This is also one of the first cards I've made in awhile that hasn't used my Copics! Gasp! It is possible, huh?

Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

Late CC175-Almost Wild Saffron

I started this card last Tuesday and didn't get to sit down and make it in one sitting, start to finish. In some ways, that really bothers me because I love to get in a groove and create but in some ways, it's not so bad because it gives me time to step back and think about what I'm doing.

I started this card for last Tuesday's Color Challenge at SCS--Almost Amethyst, Wild Wasabi, and So Saffron. Now, other than the Wasabi, these are not colors I'd pick to use on a card but I decided that they didn't call it a challenge for no reason.

My card base is Wild Wasabi Textured Cardstock. I added a piece of Almost Amethyst that I scalloped with the new SU Scallop Border punch and some BasicGrey Euphoria paper to this. I tied a piece of Double Stitched Wasabi ribbon to the front and applied the sentiment from the SAB rubon set to the card. I stamped Fifi from Stampin Bella on Neenah Solar White with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored it in with Copics. This is cut out with rectangle Nestabilities and matted on Almost Amethyst and So Saffron which are also cut out with Nestabilities.

I love this card and love this image!!!!! This is one of my first Bella purchases and it's soooooooooooo cute!!! My dd also loves this card and is claiming it for herself :-)

Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

TECC25 with new In Colors

I've been playing to take part in one of Taylor's Cupcake Challenges for awhile and finally did one this weekend.  My blogging buddy, Donna, is this week's Featured Cupcake Sampler so I knew I just had to give it a try!  Plus, this is a super cute sketch!

I finally broke into some of the new In Colors for this card.  I used SU Pink Pirouette, Red Riding Hood Red, and Neenah Solar White for this card.  The red panel is run through my Cuttlebug with the Spots and Dots Embossing folder and then I rounded the corners with the SU Small Corner Rounder.  I attached this to the pink cardbase.  For the central circlee strip, I used a couple of Heidi Swap Ghost flowers and several punched circles of Pink Pirouette and Red Riding Hood Red. The larger circles are up on dimensionals. I outlined the ghost flowers and some of the circles with Fruit Punch and Crystal Stickles as well as went and highlighted some of the embossed circles with Fruit Punch Stickles.

 I stamped the cupcakes from Hero Arts Clear Design Cupcakes on Neenah Solar White with Memento London Fog and colored them in with Copics.  I cut them out and highlighted them with Fruit Punch, Cinnamon,  and Crystal Stickles as well as Ranger's Glossy Accents.  The sentiment is stamped with Red Riding Hood Red on Neenah Solar White and then attached to the card front with dimensionals.  The cupcakes were also attached with dimensionals.  It seemed to be missing a little something so I added 3 dew drops to the top left of the focal piece and that definitely helped.

Fun, fun challenge and I probably have not glittered up one of my cards this much in some time!

Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

Check this Blog Candy Out!

You gotta go check this out. Marie at From Combat Boots to Rubber Stamps is giving away a Lavender Vanilaa Scrapbook Kit from Go.Be Creative and I want to win it. All I had to do was post THIS link to Go. Be Creative here and I'm in the drawing for the kit. Check out GBC if you have a minute :-)

and make sure you browse all of Marie's wonderful creations. Her stuff rocks!

Thanks for visiting!

Pink Paislee Rocket

So, yesterday's card was too girly and this is the one that met with ds's approval and was boyish enough for his friend.

The card base is textured Wild Wasabi and the patterned paper is from the Hostess Prints Pack.  I'm going to miss the In Colors from this past year but have a feeling that it will only be fleeting because the new In Colors ROCK!!!!  Other colors used are Blue Bayou and Neenah Solar White.

I stamped the rocket from Pink Paislee's Vintage Pop on Neenah Solar White with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored it in with the following Copics:  BG000, BG10, BG72, BG75, YG11, YG17, and G21.  I went over the eyes and smile with a Black Copic Spica Glitter pen for a hint of sparkle--boys like things that sparkle, too, right?  The rocket is cut out with an oval nestie and mounted on a Blue Bayou piece that is also cut out with an oval nestie.  I placed this piece on dimensionals and mounted it a little askew so it looked like it was blasting off.  The sentiment is from PTI's Pond Life Sentiments and is stamped with Blue Bayou on Neenah Solar White.  I used my small corner rounder to round one side and a small square punch to clip out the other end.  I got this idea from Natasha's blog.  This is also mounted on dimensionals.  Finally, I cut a little slit in the fold of the card and tied some Striped Wasabi Grosgrain through it.  This was a fun card to make and I really, really love my Pink Paislee Vintage Pop set.  I can't believe I've made 4 different cards with this set.  I'm infamous for getting a set, using it once, and then moving on.  My goal is to try to use everything I have for more than one card from now on.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

Too Girly?

So, as I've mentioned, we have quite a few birthday parties to go to this summer.  I made this card for a friend of my 6yo.  He took one look at it and just said "nope, that's a card for Maya!"  Ok, so maybe it's a little too girly for a boy who's turning 7 but I still think it's cute!

The card base is So Saffron and I've also used Neenah Solar White and Soft Sky.  The patterned paper is Sassafras Lass Sunshine Lollipop.  I stamped the bird from Pun Fun with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Neenah Solar White and colored it in with Copics--I can't remember all the markers used since I put them away before I took this pic.  I've decided that even though I have 8 different yellows, I need a few more in the yellow family since I don't have any Saffron or Mustard yellows :-)  There's a tiny bit of sparkle on the beak and the band of the hat that were added with Copic Spica Glitter pens.  The focal image is matted on Soft Sky and then attached to the card base with has the patterned paper attached to it.  I added a row of piercing above and below the patterned paper block on the right and finished it with 3 dewdrops in the bottom right corner.

So, maybe it is a little girly but I still like it and I've got a card ready for one of the kids' female friends :-)

Thanks for visitng and come back soon!

FS75

I got the chance to play around and do the Featured Stamper Challenge at SCS yesterday and this is what I came up with.  I CASED this card of Stephanie's which I think is adorable and swapped out the Changito image for a different one, used different colors and patterned paper, and changed up the sentiment but pretty much followed the layout.

My card base is Blush Blossom and I also used Neenah Solar White, Close to Cocoa, and Certainly Celery. The patterned paper is retired SU-I think it was in last year's Summer Mini but I can't remember the name of it.

Changito is stamped on Neenah Solar White with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored in with the following Copics:  E27, E29, E33,  E35, & RV34 for the body; R30, R32, B12, B14, & B16 for the flowers; G21 &b G94 for the leaves; and finally outlined lightly with W0.  The flowers all have a dab of Crystal Stickles in the middle.  Changito is matted on Close to Cocoa and popped up on dimensionals.  The sentiment is from PTI's Mixed Messages and is stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa on Neenah Solar White.  I overstamped a couple hearts from A to Z Accents in Blush Blossom over it.  This is punched out and matted on a Certainly Celery circle and then a Scalloped Close to Cocoa circle.  The dots were drawn with my Ranger Inkssentials White pen--the verdict is still out on whether I like this or the SU Signo White pen better.  I also popped this up on dimensionals.  When I started the card, I thought I had wide Celery Grosgrain ribbon but I don't.  Fortunately, I had some PTI Spring Moss and it coordinates well with the other colors :-)

Voila, all done!  I think it's rather cute if I say so myself.

Thanks for visiting!

Simple Grungy Card

The kids have a birthday party to attend every weekend so far and this is the card that I made for ds to give to his friend. I was inspired by a card that I'd seen in Cards Magazine but it went in a little bit of a different direction. There's very little stamping on this one but it did take a little bit of time.

The card base is Pumpkin Pie and the patterned paper is from BasicGrey's Archaic Collection. The focal image is sprayed with Crem de Chocolat Glimmer Mist and then dried with my heat tool since I'm impatient. I stamped the sentiment from SU's They Say it's Your Birthday which is soon to be retired with Ranger Black Soot Distress Ink. The brackets are grungeboard and are painted with a Terra Cota acrylic paint dabber and then lightly sponged with Black Soot Distress ink. All edges of the card and each piece of paper is also sponged with Black Soot Distress ink. There's a row of piercing below the sentiment but you can't see it in this picture. Voila--done! This card is really different from most cards I make but I really love this paper and just wanted to let it take center stage.

Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

I really haven't dropped off the face of the earth :-)

Ok, if I had myself in my Google Reader, I'd be about ready to unsubscribe since I really haven't posted much lately. Today is July 8th and I've officially been off work for almost a week and a half now and all I can say is I don't know how you SAHMs do it!!!!!

Last week, I had my oldest with me, kept the middle child home from camp, and only sent the little one to preschool for half the week. . .it was a very busy, fun, and hectic week but I can honestly say, I'm not cut out to stay home with my kids. I get really irritated when they start to get on each other's nerves--I know it's normal and I try to stay out of it but I dislike when my normally well-behaved kids deserve to be sold to the lowest bidder.

That said, we had a ton of fun. I took the boys to the zoo on Monday and the only downer is we missed the alligator feeding. . .tuesday I went in for an interview and dh took the boys to the dentist. . .wednesday we attempted to buy a new washer since ours died and with 3 kids, I gotta do laundry regularly. . .thursday we went to a waterpark with my brother, sil, and nephew. . .friday was the 4th, nuff said. . . saturday dh and I went to see Stevie Wonder in concert---omg, totally amazing show!!!!!. . .sunday we all went to a wedding in St Helena--Napa, Ca seriously one of the most beautiful places in the country!!!! . . .monday I had my 2nd interview. . .and today I planned to stamp but dropped everyone off, went in to work, got the official announcement that I have a NEW JOB, bought a washer, and did the dishes and stuff. . .

I did manage to make a couple cards--one is photographed but is one the camera with the other hundreds of pics from last week--and the other is not set up to be photographed yet. . .

No eye candy this week. . .I have many thoughts in my head but feel free to email me with your suggestions.

I do want to share some incredible blog candy with you. Artfully Ila is offering up some great High Hopes blog candy for you. High Hopes stamps are super cute and you've got to check out her amazing coloring!

Thanks for visiting!