3CT36 - A Sketch and A Heartfelt Prayer

Today is Three Clover Thursday and this week our challenge was a "sketch" challenge. These are always fun because they give you a great starting point. This weeks card is one that no one wants to have to make but is also a part of life. I have a dear friend, Sue that I've known since 1980 when we became pen-pals through the mail. In early September her husband of 24 years was diagnosed with the advanced stages of liver disease and sadly he passed away this past Saturday (Oct.17th). When I talked with my friend she told me how she was able to be with him at the end to tell him how much she loved him and would miss him. She said his passing was peaceful and that she knew he was no longer in pain but that she had lost her best friend, her buddy and that it hurt so much. I want so much to be there for her but due to the fact she lives in Florida and we cannot afford an Airline Ticket I can only send her my sincere and heartfelt prayers that God will be with her through this difficult time and as she adjusts to life without her mate.

I'm not going into great detail about this card today as I want to get it off to her in the mail as soon as possible. If you have questions feel free to email me.

Be sure to stop by the other DT members blogs and check out their take on this wonderful sketch and then give it a try yourself.

Jasmine's Cupcake

Hello and Happy Monday (yes you can be happy on a Monday even though it's the start of a new work week for most) - Today I'm showing you a card I made using my new Annabelle Stamp set, Jasmine's Cupcake
I absolutely love how pretty this stamp is. If you know me you also know how much I love strawberries and can hardly wait each summer for the local berries to ripen. We eat tons of them during the summer. I'm not so thrilled with the store bought variety as they just don't seem to have the same fresh flavor as the local berries do. It seems "odd" to be creating a card now with Strawberries on it since we are heading into Fall but over in Australia they are heading into spring and probably planting their strawberry plants in anticipation of summer harvest.

For this card I colored my focal image with.......Stampin'Pastels! (are you shocked) My normal preference are my Prisma's but I also love using chalks so I thought I'd do something different for a change of pace. I goofed a little when I colored the package as I had pencils laying out on my desk and forgot that I'd colored the main image with the chalks so you get a little of both mediums on this card.
I paper pieced Jasmine's dress using some gorgeous red/white polka dot paper (Bo Bunny) and then I colored only the bows on another image and cut them out and popped them up with foam tape as I did the package. I added ribbon from American Crafts, Jewels from Me and My Big Idea, a punched lace border (SU punch)and some clear glitter (Art Institute).

Don't forget that you can buy this gorgeous stamp set by visiting the link above.

CIC29 Too Cute To Spook

Hi! I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend so far. It's been a pretty nice one here. Mostly sunny during the day with temps in the upper 60's and then rainy in the evening. Pretty typical Fall weather for our area.

Now for today's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge get a look at those adorable cupcakes. Aren't they just the cutest! I was trying to figure out what image I would use for this challenge and then I read about a FREE digital image here: and once I saw it I just knew that I had to use it for this weeks challenge. Isn't she not adorable too!

I colored the image with Prisma Color Pencils and blended with Gamsol except for the Silver Hair because the metallic pencils don't blend well with the Gamsol. I highlight the star with a Gold Spica Glitter Pen and the Buckle on her hat with a Silver Spica Glitter Pen. The star was popped up on dimensional tape.

The Inspiration Cupcakes reminded me of things like Mocha, Caramel, Pumpkin Spices and so I tried to match my card to how I envision those items.
The papers I used are part SU-Autumn Vine and My Mind's Eye Pmpkin Patch. I paper pieced her dress and then used a piece of the same Polka Dot paper under the focal image.I finally used my MS Drippy Goo punch on the reverse pattern of the ME dp.
I did some distressing with my More Mustard ink pad and also my Cutter Tool Kit, added some silver brads to mimic the silver beads on the cupcakes and a silver filgree brad with and Fire Brad center. The sentiment I computer generated. I'm not sure where I got the piece of black/white polka dot ribbon but it went well with the paper so I went with it.

Don't forget to stop by Hope's Blog and check out all the great inspiration from the "Sweeties" as well. Have a wonderful week and why not give the challenge a try and post using the Mr. Linky feature so we can be inspired by your creations as well.

BC121 - What's a girl to do?

HAPPY FRIDAY! - Okay by now everyone who knows me or visits my blog very often knows that I am so NOT into "altering" things and wouldn't you know it our BC Challenge this week was altering something. I will confess I truly had not planned to participate for that very reason and also for the fact that I need to give my hands a rest as I am starting to have some problems with my left hand now and seriously don't want to have to have another Carpal Tunnel surgery as I just had one in April on my right hand. But here I am and here's the reason why:

Earlier I was looking at my emails and saw that Kim (Basement Stamper)had posted that her link would go live at 12:00 and that she couldn't wait to see every one's projects. She admitted that she wasn't much of an (alterer) either. Well I saw that and I thought, "What's a Girl to Do?" after reading that. Seriously I just had to come up with something because if Kim gave it a try and I chickened out that wouldn't be right.

I had this Wylers Fruit Punch container that I threw in my stamp room (just in case) and quickly got it out and started altering it. I took off the wrapper and then pun on a new wrapper using SU Cast-a-Spell DP. Then I colored the lid with a Black Sharpie marker and cut out a piece of the DP for the top of the lid. Next up I used Crystal Effects to glue on my orange ric rac (JoAnn's Craft Essentials).
Then I stamped the Skeleton (Scary Skeleton-SU) on Black cs and Embossed with white EP, cut it out and mounted it on the can with foam tape. I stamped the sentiment in Perfect Plum ink and the cat in Palette Noir Black ink, mounted it on a piece of Perfect Plum cs and there you have it. Now it's not the worlds most exciting "altered" art piece but hey for me it's a start! Thanks Kim for getting me off my butt and at least giving the challenge a try.

Please stop by the other BC members blogs to see their altered projects for further inspiration. You can do so by clicking on the BC icon on my side bar. Then give this a try yourself and remember if I can do it so can you!

3CT35 - Back to Nature

Hello! - I hope everyone has been having a wonderful week. - It's been "rainy" here most of the week but at least the sun was out a little yesterday and I enjoyed a short walk with Coleen.
This week the challenge over on Three Clover Designs was: Nature Themed. I knew right away which stamp set I wanted to use but that was about it. I tried a couple of different things (none of which worked) and then finally got this idea in mind and before I knew it my card was coming together.
The stamps set is called: The Great Outdoors by Inkadinkado. I stamped the image in Versamark on Glossy cs and embossed it with Clear EP. Then I brayered ink from the Pumpkin Patch Kaleidacolor ink pad over it. Next up I stamped the Woodgrain BG stamp with Chocolate Chip ink over the top of my image and after the ink dried I wiped off the excess ink from the image. I stamped the leaf with More Mustard ink dotted with some Really Rust ink on glossy cs and cut it out. My DP is from the Autumn Vine series from SU. I used some ribbon from KI Memories and some sprinkles from Annabelle stamps to complete my card.
Head on over to Kerry's blog to check out the other DT members cards and then "Get Back to Nature" yourself and show us what you can create with this theme.

CIC28 Jasmine's Garden

Welcome! - I hope everyone has been having a wonderful weekend so far. It's time for Hope Cupcake Inspiration Challenge and just get a good look at that YUMMY cupcake today. Isn't that just gorgeous! - I'm excited to play again today. I was sort of stumped at first when I saw this cupcake because I thought, What on earth am I going to use for inspiration. Then it hit me I had the perfect stamp from Annabelle Stamps called, My Garden It's one of the new (Singles) in the Annabelle line. I think Jasmine is just beautiful. She reminds me of a princess spending time in her royal flower garden dreaming of a handsome prince. I colored my image with (yes you guessed it, Prisma Color Pencils) and masked her then stenciled on the clouds and sponged in the grass. I also popped up a few of the flowers with foam tape and added some shimmer to the centers of all the flowers with various Spica Glitter Pens (to bad it's hard to see in a scan because it's really pretty in real life).

The paper I used is from Basic Grey's Lemonade line. I think it's really cheery and a pretty good match to the colors of the inspiration cupcake. I added some of those divine "Sprinkles" above my punched border. Then I tied on some Cream Grosgrain ribbon. The sentiment is part of another Annabelle set, (Swirl Tree) and the wonderful thing about clear stamps is that you can maneuver them like I did and position the words any way you want as this stamp is actually in a straight line but I masked it off and stamped the (of you) part underneath.

Be sure to stop by all the Sweetie's Blogs for further inspiration and give this challenge a try yourself. Post your entry using the Mr. Linky features. It's really a lot of fun and challenges you as a stamper to see things in new and different ways so why not give it a try and see how you are inspired.

Card Stock: Rich Razzleberry, Apricot Appeal, Regal Rose, Whisper White

Nevermore, Nevermore

Yes I realize this is my 2nd post of the day but I need to get this posted so I can enter the Mojo Monday contest.
Yep another Halloween card! - This year I decided I wanted to send out some Halloween cards to some of my friends so that's why you've been seeing so many of them. I really need to start on Christmas cards soon though.
I picked the current MojoMonday107 sketch for this card. The stamp I used is one of my personal favorites that I've had for years. It's from PSX(Personal Stamp Exchange) which sadly is no longer in business. They had some truly wonderful stamps. I colored the Crow with Prisma Colored Pencils and matted it on Circle Nesties. I also used some really fun designer papers from Basic Grey 6x6 Eerie Pad that I purchased from Hope Stamps Eternal store here: I also used my MS (Martha Stewart) Loopy punch although after I finished I realized I could have used my new Drippy Goo punch (ah gives me an excuse for another Halloween card!). The background panels are done on Only Orange cs and I used my Spots and Dots CB Embossing Folder. The sentiment is from a Studio G $1 stamp set that I bought at JoAnn's and the brads are Grape brads from American Crafts.

BC120 - You Drive Me Batty

Wow it's FINALLY FRIDAY! - It's been a LONG week here so I'm ready for the weekend.
For our Blogger Challenge this week Lisa (list mom) had this wonderful sketch for us to try. I've been in a Halloween mood (as if you couldn't tell) so once again I have another fun Halloween card to share with you.

I started off of all things doing the ribbon treatment and basing all my colors off of that. I used a piece of Orange/Yellow Stitched Ribbon (May Arts) and pulled the thread to bunch it up then carefully glued it down on a circle of white card stock.
Next I added the circle of Summer Sun and my fun little bat (Carson-Dellosa Publ.)colored with Prisma Colored pencils. I stamped another bat and used Orange stickles on the tie then raised it up on the original bat with foam mounting tape. I added an Orange Felt Flower (Maya Road) with a black brad. My DP are from DCWV-Indian Summer line. I also used a piece of Black Grosgrain ribbon, Spiderweb Punch(MS), Orange Brads and the sentiment is from (Basic Grey)

So now it's your turn to check out the other BC members blogs and see what they did with this fun sketch. Don't forget the (Comment Lovin!). Have a wonderful weekend.

3CT34 - A Ghostly Treat For You

Welcome to this weeks 3CT Challenge (Treat Holders) for Fall or Halloween. Now I'm a HUGE fan of Halloween so of course I had to do something Halloween related. I'm not such a big fan of creating non-card type items. (Just not my thing) but I decided to give it a go anyway. So I did some searching and found this fun little Rice Krispie Treat Holder here and decided to try it out.
I printed the template out on Basic Gray cs and cut it out. The great thing is the template prints 2 treat holders per sheet of paper. Next I measured and cut out pieces of the Cast-a-Spell DP to cover the box. Then I colored this adorable Girl Ghost and Pumpkin from Our Craft Lounge Ghostly Greeting Stamp set. Images colored with Prisma Colored Pencils. I highlighted the ghost with Frosted Lace Stickles. I've included a couple of views of the treat holder so you can get an idea of what it looks like put together. The hard part was finding those little Rice Krispies Treats and then not eating them!

Be sure to stop over on Kerry's Blog and the other DT members to see what fun "Treats" they have in store for you and then give it a try yourself.

Someone's Having a Birthday

Today is a special day because it's Anna's Birthday. If you've never visited her blog you need to hop on over there right now and check it out because this gal is amazing. For those of you who know what I'm talking about head on over and leave her some Birthday lovin!

This little card is on it's way and hopefully she gets it today. I know how much she loves the farm chickens so I couldn't resist using the one from TGF McSplendid Farm set. The "chicks" were watercolored (not my best work) in Bermuda Bay, Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery overlayed with Gable Green and mounted on Creamy Caramel cs.
I highlighted the beaks and comb with a yellow spica glitter pen.

I used some fun paper by DCWV-Indian Summer and my Herringbone CB Embossing Folder.
If you need further info let me know.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA!

A Sweet Halloween Treat

Here's a card that I recently did for a 1 on 1 swap for another group I belong to. The challenge was to use a Cupcake Image on your card. I chose the cupcakes from SU's Hostess Set, (The More the Merrier). I masked off some of the cupcakes and just stamped 3 of them individually and then colored and cut them out. I used SU ink pads and an Aqua Painter to color them. I added Crystal Effects to the first and third cupcakes and then popped up the flower on the middle cupcake.

I decided to make this into a Halloween Card that is different from all the spooky stuff you usually see so it's a "Sweet" Halloween card. The papers are from the SU Cast-a-Spell Designer Series paper. I added Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon, dyed some flowers from the (Pretties Kit) and also did some machine stitching on the card.

I'm in a bit of a hurry now as I'm heading off for Bowling League so if you need any further info on the card just email me and I'd be happy to let you know.

CIC27 - A Ghostly Boo

Welcome to Hope's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge 27 - I am so excited to announce that I was asked to be the October "Guest Sweetie" This challenge has been one of my all time favorite's since I first discovered it and I've tried to play every week since. I was thrilled beyond belief when I got the e-mail asking if I'd like to be the Guest Sweetie for October. I mean who wouldn't want too!

Check out these "Spookylicious" cupcakes. Aren't they fun! - I just love Halloween and we always carve Jack-o-lantern's at our house every Halloween so this was the perfect Inspiration photo. I went with the Pumpkins and the Colors and also the Stars for my Inspiration. I used some really FUN paper (graciously sent by Hope) which is from Imaginisce-Spooky Town which you can find here at Hope's Store
I love stripes so I chose the stripped pattern and then the reverse pattern of solid orange and used the Sanded Background (SU) with Basic Gray ink.
For my focal image I chose to use some stamps from Our Craft Lounge (Ghostly Greetings) set. These ghosts are just so cute (they remind me of Casper the Friendly Ghost). I coled the image with Prisma Color Pencils blended with Gamsol. Then I highlighted parts of the ghost with Frosted Lace Stickles and cut the image out. It was layered to Lovely Lilac and Basic Black card stock and I added some cute little jewels that Hope sent which can also be found in her store (Zva Creative Crystal Wheel). The ribbon is from May Arts. The sentiment was embossed with Detail Black EP. I punched a border using the Scallop Punch (SU) and small Folk Heart Star (source unknown)in Basic Black and added a layer of Tangerine Tango cs behind the punched stars.

I had so much fun with this challenge (except for the two tries of sewing which I finally gave up on because my machine was being a _itch (rhymes with witch).

Now it's your turn to be inspired. Create your own fun card and post it using the Mr. Linky feature on Hope's Blog - Don't forget to visit the other "Sweeties" blogs to see how the were Inspired by these wonderful spooky cupcakes.

BC119 - Love Gone Bad

Happy Friday! - How many of you are familiar with the show, What Not To Wear? You know the one where they pick someone who dresses horrible and then teach them how to shop for clothes that look better on them then what they were wearing before. Well I think I've just come up with an idea for a new show...WHAT NOT TO STAMP!

Seriously this card is so not what I had hoped to create for today's Blogger Challenge but as they say, "It is what it is!" so please be gentle. The theme for today was a great one (Love) and should have been a no-brainer but I think my brain decided to take a hike with this card.

I started with a wonderful stamp from a set by Hero Arts called, Together. I wanted something that was simple, yet elegant so I stamped the image on Shimmery White card stock with Melon Mambo ink. Then I had this fun paper (DCWV) that had all these wavy lines in various colors and I thought let's go a bit "funky" instead and from there everything sort of went downhill. I couldn't find a layout that I liked so I created my own (and it shows). Anyway I tried and that's what counts and I'm not afraid to admit that sometimes I "bomb" when I create a card so as the sentiment says, this one is from the heart.

Have a wonderful weekend. - Don't forget to check out the other BC members blogs to be inspired by their creativity and don't forget the comment lovin!

Card Stock: Melon Mambo, Apricot Appeal,Pixie Pink, Mint Melody (retired SU), Shimmery White
Ink: Melon Mambo
Other: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Heart Trio Punch, Ribbon from Papertrey Ink.

3CT33 - Diva in Pink

Good Morning! - Can you believe it's October already? This year is zipping by quickly and I'm so not ready for the holiday rush but ready or not it will be here before we know it.
In the mean time October is (Breast Cancer Awareness) month so for this weeks challenge Kerry asked us to, "Think Pink!" - I don't really own any of the great sets out there that help promote BC Awareness but I believe in the cause and this month I'm eating lots of Yoplait Yogurt so I can send in the lids to help fight this terrible disease.
My card for this week is on a more "cheery" note though as I chose to use a Birthday theme for my card. The image is from the (Diva stamp set by Annabelle Stamps) found here: Isn't she "spunky" and "cute"! I colored her with Prisma Color pencils and added some ground using an oval mask and Certainly Celery ink. I also added the wand that comes in the set and used Glitter on her top and the wand. The sketch was a Timeless Tuesday sketch which can be found here:
Other card details:
Card Stock: Pixie Pink, Whisper White, Shimmery White, Basic Black, DP-Basic Grey
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Prisma Color Pencils
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Make A Wish Sentiment - Computer Generated
Sprinkles (Blossom) from Annabelle Stamps
Ribbon: May Arts

CIC26 "But she got Cat!"

Hello! - I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. The weather here was beautiful and Saturday night my hubby and I attend a wonderful BBQ at his bosses house. It was our very first time being invited there for a "social" function. Their place is absolutely gorgeous and the landscaping was amazing. Wish I would have taken our camera but I thought that might have been a bit (odd) IYKWIM.
To start this week off how about another Delectable looking Cupcake for Hope's Cupcake Inspiration Challenge. Aren't those Chrysanthemums just gorgeous! They almost look real. I struggled at first with what I was going to do for this challenge and my original idea wasn't working out because I couldn't find the tutorial that I wanted (I need to bookmark those things)so I kept searching through my stamps and happened upon this sweet image of a cat sitting among some Chrysanthemums and I knew it would work perfectly for the challenge. Next I picked out a sketch and decided on Taylor's Inspiration Sketch for this week.
Stamps: Garden Cat and Take Good Care Greetings - (Hero Arts)
Details: Card Stock: Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Blush Blossom, Tangerine Tango, Designer Paper (source unknown - because I had this forever).
Inks: Palette Noir Black, Prisma Color Pencils
Accessories: Circle Nestabilitie Dies, Scallop Oval, Lg. Oval punches, Brads (Queen and Co.), Sewing Machine.

If you're still reading and wondered about my Page Title it actually came from a commercial (I'm not sure what was being advertised) but there were little kids in school having a spelling bee and some football player. The little girl is asked to spell cat and the football player thinks he's going to "ace" the spelling bee until the teacher says, "Spell Chrysanthemum." To which he replies, "That's not fair, she got Cat!" It made me chuckle every time I saw the commercial and I thought it was fitting for the image I chose to use.

Now it's your turn to be inspired by these yummy cupcakes. Don't forget to leave a link to your card on Hope's blog using the Mr. Linky feature.

Annabelle Stamps - A Cup of Friendship

Today I'm showcasing another stamp set from the new Australian stamp company, Annabelle Stamps called, Swirl Tree I chose to use one image from the set and a sentiment. There is a wonderful swirl tree in the set but I went with something entirely different as you can see for this card. I chose to use the Cup image for my card.

I paired it with some really pretty and fun designer paper (DCWV - Indian Summer)and used that as the basis for my color scheme. I started by stamping one of the cups with Palette Noir black ink and created a mask then stamped 3 more cups on top masking each as I went along. I colored these with various colors using Prisma Color Pencils and then cut them out. Next I stamped a row of the cups using the following colors (Melon Mambo, Kiwi Kiss, Tempting Turquoise, Only Orange).

The sentiment was stamped with Palette Noir Black ink as was the coffee steam which I also high lighted with a Silver Spica Glitter Pen.

Card Base: Melon Mambo - Kiwi Kiss and Naturals Ivory cs

I added the DP along with a loopy punched border of Rich Razzleberry and some orange ribbon. Then I added 3 Blossom Sprinkles to complete my card.
Speaking of those gorgeous sprinkles Andrea has a little Freebie Friday giveaway going on so be sure to check it out here:

BC118 - All The Leaves Are Brown

California Dreamin by the Mamas and the Papas

Ahh...Friday has arrived! - I am so ready for the weekend. This week the Blogger Challenge is, "Product Focus - Designer Paper"
For my card I chose SU's Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper. This is lovely paper and all the leaves are most certainly (not) brown.
I wanted to use several of the patterns and got the inspiration for my card from this card by Kelly Lunceford.
I pretty much stayed with her sketch but didn't add the longer panel opting instead to use a circle. I also added an extra panel for my sentiment (which actually came about because of a "boo boo" stamping on patterned paper and I needed to cover it up) but hey, I like how it turned out so maybe it was meant to be.
I got the CRAZY idea to sew on this card...Let's just say that sewing is so not me. I like how it looks but I have such a hard time with it. In fact I went through 3 tries of the long panel before getting one right. My darn machine keeps pulling the thread out of the needle half way through sewing. I was going around shouting, "I HATE THIS MACHINE" by the time I was finished. However I am bound and determined to master that thing if it's the last thing I do!
The leaf (Autumn Leaf Prints - retired SU) was first stamped in More Mustard ink and then I highlighted various parts of the leaf with Ruby Red and Always Artichoke markers. I misted the stamp and the Watercolor paper before stamping. Then I cut the leaf out layered it onto Soft Suede cs and cut it out again. I mounted this with foam tape onto my circles. The sentiment is by Serendipity Stamps and was stamped on Natural Ivory cs with Soft Suede ink. I added 3 Always Artichoke brads as well.
Now it's time for you to head off to the other BC Members blogs (Click on the icon on my sidebar) leave a little, "Comment Lovin" and then give the challenge a try yourself.
Have a great weekend...I'll be back on Saturday with another card from Annabelle Stamps so be sure to drop by again.

3CT32 - Count Down

This is Ground Control to Major Tom - David Bowie (Space Oddity)

Don't ask me why but for some reason that song popped into my head when I started to post my card so for those of you interested I've included a link to the YouTube video of this song.

Welcome to 3CT Challenge #32 - Arithmetic (Use Numbers on your card). Now I must tell you that Math was NOT my best subject in school and I still struggle with it from time to time (thank goodness for Calculators).

For this weeks card I chose to base my card around a piece of DP by Reminisce (3-2-1 Blast Off) from the Boys Gone Wild series. I love the bright colors (you almost need sunglasses for this one). I paired it up with the rocket image from SU's Pun Fun. The image was colored with Prisma color pencils and raised with foam dimensional tape. I added some sparkle to the rocket and outer space with Spica Glitter pens. For some added fun I used my Star embossing folder, (Cuttlebug) Large Star Punch which I printed out the 3-2-1 numbers on the computer before punching. Some fun Twill Ribbon, Ric Rack and Brads as embellishments.

Hope you've enjoyed this little bit of Space Travel and now head off to Kerry's blog and check out the other DT members cards as well. Then get to counting and use your mathematical skills to create your own numerical masterpiece.

For Anna's Dad

Today I am sharing a card created for Anna's dad, see this post:

I just knew right away that I wanted to send a card. First because I've always been so inspired by Anna and her amazing talent and also have read many wonderful and fun comments her dad has left on her blog and how could I not want to help cheer him up after his surgery. Having gone through the recovery period when my mom had her knee replacement surgery a year ago in April I know first hand how hard it can be.

I chose to use a retired SU set (On The Fly) for my card because I know Anna's dad loves to fly fish. There is a wonderful picture of him doing just that on her blog so be sure to check it out. My own dad loved fishing of all kinds but was very fond of fly fishing. He tried his best to teach me but alas it was not to be one of my skills. After many failed attempts at learning and getting the hook either caught it a tree branch (or my hair) or the line tangled in a huge mess he finally decided that perhaps teaching me to fly fish wasn't going to work. He's been gone almost 12 years now but whenever I see pictures of men fly-fishing it brings back many fond memories of seeing my dad fishing the lakes and streams around Walla Walla (and there are plenty).

Some where yesterday I saw a challenge (but didn't write it down) where you were asked to use "Chalks" in some manner. I chose to just color my image with my Stampin'Pastel's as that has always been my favorite way to use them and I haven't done it in a long time. After coloring the image I sealed it and then used my Labels 2 Nestabilitie Die to cut it out. I then mounted it onto some Really Rust cs and cut around it and then distressed it. Next up I used my Herringbone CB Embossing Folder on some Naturals Ivory cs. I added a strip of DP (DCWV - Indian Summer) layered to Really Rust and a card base of Handsome Hunter cs. I stamped and colored the fish image in the same manner and layered it with foam dimensional tape.
The sentiment is from (Hero Arts) and was stamped on the NI CS and then I added a button and some faux thread (actually thin strips of HH cs) and distressed the edges with Really Rust ink. I love how "masculine" this card turned out.

The picture of the mountains on this post is a picture of our "Blue Mountains" here and is the view that my oldest brother, (Russell) will see from the deck of the new cabin he and his wife are building. They've been working on it all summer long and it's coming along nicely. I'll share a few photo's of the cabin later when it's completed.

CIC25 A Touch of Autumn and a Sketch Challenge

The nights are getting cooler and there's a bit of a "bite" in the air and just a few of the trees are showing signs of Autumn but it's just around the corner. Autumn is my favorite season so when I saw this weeks Cupcake Inspiration Challenge photo I just knew what my inspiration for my card was going to be.
I combined it with a sketch Challenge over on 2Sketches4You - I'm probably too late to be in the running for the Prize from Flourishes but I liked the sketch so I'm going to post it anyway.

The inspiration cupcakes have such beautiful colors and of course leaves and acorns. I wanted my card to reflect the beauty of these wonderful colors. I started with one of my favorite retired SU sets, (Country Pleasures) and embossed the image with Black Detail EP and then watercolored it using Ink Pads and an Aqua Painter. I layered that to a distressed piece of More Mustard cs. My papers are from KI Memories (Tree pattern) and DCWV (Indian Summer collection).
The sentiment is from (Creative Cousins). The ribbon is KI Memories and I also used 3 Sprinkles from (AnnaBelle Stamps).

If you have any questions how this card was made feel free to email me.

Mojo Monday meets Annabelle

ARE YOU READY FOR A PARTY!!! - Introducing, Helen's Party from a brand new stamp company, AnnaBelle Stamps

Isn't she adorable! - I was so thrilled and excited when Andrea sent the email saying that I had been picked as one of her new Design Team members. I couldn't wait to get my stamps and get started creating with them. (Patience)has never been one of my virtues. The package arrived on Thursday and I worked really hard yesterday creating this fun card.

Andrea had sent us some papers (as a added bonus) and while we aren't required to use them on our projects I fell in love with one of the patterns and decided to use it for my first card. The paper is, Sugar Petals from Scrabble paper and while it's not available right now you can find the pattern here:
I like to work with sketches a lot (it lessens the time of trying to figure out a layout) so I chose this weeks MoJo Monday sketch found here

You can see that I altered the sketch slighty by reversing the position of the smaller circle. Otherwise I could not have added my balloon nor sentiment but it' still pretty much the same.

I colored my image with Prismacolor Pencils blended with Gamsol and then paper pieced her outfit with the reverse side of the pattern DP. The colors of the paper really matched well with some of the new "in-colors" and a few retired in-colors as well. See list below.
I added a nice shiny balloon by using Crystal Effects and popped up the bow on the package. You'll also notice those wonderful little gems on the right side that resemble Dew Drops except that these are called Sprinkles and they have a foil backing which makes them really sparkle/shine in real life. I LOVE THEM! Best of all Andrea sells these at AnnaBelle stamps and they come in, 24 Colors! I can't wait to get more of these babies as they are so pretty. They come in little cases that are stackable as well so you can save storage space if needed. Be sure to check them out.

So here is a list of the products used for this card:
Stamps: Helen's Party (AnnaBelle Stamps)
Ink: Palette Noir Black (PaperTrey Ink)
Prisma Colored Pencils, Gamsol
Card Stock: Always Artichoke, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo and Whisper White.
Other: Crystal Effects, Kiwi Kiss Twill ribbon (retired SU), Olive Sprinkles (AnnaBelle Stamps), Linen Thread, Nestablitie Circle Dies and foam mounting tape.

I'll be back again next week with another fun card using one of the other new sets from AnnaBelle stamps. All her products are now available at her store so head on over and do some shopping!

BC117 - Life is....

Good Morning! - Is anyone else glad today is Friday!!! - I know I'm ready for the weekend. - Still recovering from the cold/sinus infection I had last week but starting to feel human again. - So are you ready for a "Color Challenge" this week from the Blogger Challenge group. - This week Lisa "our list mom" gave us a doozie in my opinion. The colors are: Chocolate, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry and Neutrals as needed. - Okay I like these colors but just not together. I searched and searched my paper stash for some DP that had these colors but alas none was to be found. I switched gears for awhile and found a card layout that I really liked in the CTMH (Close To My Heart) catalog and even had a similiar stamp set to the one that was used so I decided to go with that. The problem was that darn, Crushed Curry color as it just didn't seem to go with the other colors but I used it anyway and this card is the result of my efforts. At this point I'm thinking that maybe I should have made my card base Chocolate but I didn't have a full piece to use so I went with the Crushed (almost said, cursed) piece instead.
My stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Life set by Lisa Johnson) I stamped the images with Chocolate Chip ink on the Melon Mambo CS. Then I added a Crushed Curry piece ran through the Cuttlebug using the Textile Embossing folder and dusted it with Gold PearlX powder. The sentiment was stamped on Very Vanilla cs with Melon Mambo and Chocolate Chip inks. I stamped the leaf branch on VV with Crushed Curry ink and distressed the edges with Chocolate Chip ink. I added a piece of Chocolate Chip cs that I pierced and photo corners of Chocolate Chip to complete the card.

So now that you've seen my card (Did you check out the close-up)...I used some homemade shimmer spray (basically hairspray with the gold pearlx powder) to add some shimmer to the card. Now it's your turn to play with the challenge. If you don't have the exact colors why not try similar colors. - Also don't forget to check out the other BC members blogs to see what they did with the challenge.

Have a great weekend!

3CT31 - Do You Doodle?

Welcome to 3 Clover Thursday Challenge #31 - Today it's all about "Doodling"
I think my Mojo took a bit of a "hike" today as it took me forever to come up with an idea for a card and I'm still not totally thrilled with it but...It is was it is!

Truth be told I am not a, "doodler" at least not on my cards. I like to doodle on paper when I'm on hold or when I'm bored but trying to get something to look good on a card just wasn't happening. Since I'm trying to get some Halloween cards made this year I decided to go with that for my theme. I had already embossed and cut out the skeleton from, (SU - Scary Skeleton) stamp set so I thought why not use that image. My sentiment is from (SU - Grateful Greetings) stamp set which I earned for FREE! I stamped the sentiment with VersaMark and embossed it with Bold Black EP, cut it out with Nestabilitie Dies and did my "doodling" around the circle with a Basic Black marker. If you look closely you'll notice I got a little close together with some of the doodles and didn't follow my 2 stitch, 3 stitch pattern all the way around. I thought they mimicked the stitches on the skeleton. Oh I embossed that with White EP.

Other Details:
Card Stock: Basic Black, Old Olive, SEI Eerie Alley DP
Ink: Versamark, Basic Black Marker
Embossing Powders: White and Bold Black
Accessories: Orange Grosgrain Ribbon, Spiderweb Punch by MS, 3 White Brads
Nestabilitie Dies.

While browsing the NET for some Doodling ideas I came upon this blog Check it out as this gal really takes "Doodling" to a whole new level in my book!

Now head off to the other DT members blogs, leave some comment lovin and then give this doodling challenge a try yourself.

CIC24 - Beware of Pirates

Ahoy Mateys it's time for another fun Cupcake Inspiration Challenge and just check out these fun cupcakes that Hope has for us this week.
"Shiver me timbers" aren't they great! Yeah, I'm not all that good with the "Pirate" lingo but I tried and hey, I think my card carries out the theme just fine.
This is really an unusual card for me in several ways:
1. I used some Clip art and Word art images on this card that I found after Googling pirate clip art.
2. I rarely do cards with a really distressed look but I just had to "rough" up my treasure map and it worked! - The map is a Clip art and I printed it out on Kraft cs then wrinkled it up over and over and carefully peeled the layers apart then tore some of the edges before adhering it to my card stock. The Tempting Turquoise panel was embossed with the Spots and Dots embossing folder and distressed with TT ink.
3. I actually layered my focal image crooked - another rarity for me. I like how it looks though with the image off kilter from the red layer.
The stamp is Ollie's Pirates by Stampendous and I colored the image with Prismacolor Pencils blended with Gamsol.
The sentiment is a Word art that I found and printed out on the computer.
Other items used: Oval and Scallop Oval punches (SU) Ribbon (American Crafts) Brad (Queen and Co.) and Anchor Charm (source unknown)

Now it's your turn to be inspired by these fun cupcakes. Create a card/project using them as your inspiration and then link us to it on Hope's blog with the Mr. Linky feature.

BC116 - Thinking of You - Times 2 and a bit of Blog Candy (not mine)

Hello and Happy Friday! - It's time for the Bloggers Challenge and this weeks theme is: Thinking of You. I've actually done 2 cards for today's challenge - Amazing huh!

First up is an ALL SU ONLY - Yes you read that right, card. It's so rare anymore for me to just use strictly Stampin'Up! products that I wasn't even sure I could pull it off. I found a layout in the SU catalog on Page 22 that I really liked so I decided to create a card using that layout. I also wanted to use up some of the "In-Colors" so I based my color scheme around them. I colored the bird image using Ink Pads and the Aqua Painter. Which I'll admit I'm really not that good at as I just can't seem to control the amount of water that comes out of those darn things.
The Card Base is: Soft Suede and I used Dusty Durango, Old Olive (textured), Crushed Curry and a tiny strip of Rich Razzleberry along with Shimmery White CS.
The Stamp Sets I used were: Friends 24-7, Sincere Salutations and Woodgrain BG. I wanted to keep everything "current" on the card as well.
Inks: Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Basic Brown (I stamped the bird in that), Dusty Durango, Old Olive, and a tiny bit of Bermuda Bay on the birds Eye.
Other: Filgree Brad, Fire Brad, More Mustard Brads.

Now card number two is a bit of a "take-off" obviously on the Thinking of You theme but the idea popped into my head and I just had to get it out!
I started with my little Witch image - Another of my Studio G $1 finds from JoAnn's
The image actually has a sentiment (see part of the inside of my card) Best Witches but I masked that off and just stamped the Witch and colored it with Prisma Color Pencils.
Other Stamp sets used: Hero Arts (Thinking of You) which I covered with the (BOO) from Papertrey Ink's-Spooky Sweets stamp set. Also on the inside I used the (Happy Halloween) from Spooky Sweets and hand wrote the "for a" part of the sentiment.
Card Stock: Basic Black, Only Orange, Green Galore and Whisper White.
Designer Paper: SEI Eerie Alley Line (Black Wavy pattern) and the reverse side I cut out 3 of the Black Embossed Bats to use on my card as well.
The (Green Circular Pattern) is from My Mind's Eye-Feeling Groovy "Pure Jo" Happy Stripe pattern.
Other: Orange Ric Rac (JoAnn Craft Essentials), Orange Brads (Queen and Co.) and Glitter (Lemonade-Art Institute)
Inks used: Basic Black, Palette Noir Black, Only Orange

Hope you have enjoyed these cards as much as I did creating them. Please drop by the other BC Member's Blog (Click on the Icon on my sidebar) and leave a little, Comment Lovin. Then I hope you'll do a Thinking of You (or Boo) card and send it to someone to let them know you care.

ONE LAST THING before you go: I just found out about this Blog Candy over at: A Walk on the Mild Side which looks like a lot of fun so be sure to check it out.