Happy Canada Day!

For those who don't know, my husband is/was/partially Canadian. His mother was from Nova Scotia so we get to celebrate Canadian holidays and US holidays. Woo! Twice the holiday fun! :D

And Allison over at Stampin' When I Can, issued a challenge to "see what comes to mind when you think Canada." Well, lots of things...mosquitoes...French Canadians in short shorts (MY EYES! ACK!)....lots of things. But mostly I think of hockey (even though their hockey teams pale in comparison to say...the San Jose Sharks. LOL!)

Here is my card!

I used one of the Gruffie's hockey images that I got on Wish-RAK on SCS. They are ADOREABLE!

Thanks for dropping by today and don't forget to enter my blog candy for a set of Koh-i-noor pencils and blending stumps!

Oh and also, here is a picture of my little princess. Her name is Dixie and she is a 1 year old West Highland White terrier. She gives me this look all the time of "I do NOT approve" whenever I'm doing something dumb. hehe

I love the smell of new unmounted rubber in the morning...

I woke up this morning and rather than showering and getting dressed first, I sat down at my craft table. Y'all should SEE my hair! LOL Anyway, it is only 9am so I'm not that far behind on showering and dressing for the day. :D

I just had to finish some cards that I started last night. Sometimes I finish one card before I start another and other times I am just all over the place with two or three things going at once. Last night was a FOUR things going at once kinda night!

I have two of them that I can share with you now. Both of the stamps are from C.C. Designs at All That Scraps. For the little handyman (Jack), I used Basic Grey's Archaic papers. I love their paper and I wish I had ALL the papers. :D They're so yummy! I also used some Grungeboard for the little joojes (that is a technical term..heee!)
For my cleaning girl (Queenie) I used K&Co paper and used some of the paper to paper piece her. I love doing that! Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to enter my blog candy on THIS POST.


Supplies used--Jack: River rock and chocolate chip cardstock, Basic Grey Archaic papers, Adirondack Pitch Black ink, Copic markers, Koh-i-noor pencils & OMS, Ranger Distress Inks, Tim Holtz grungeboard, Martha Stewart edge punch, silver gel pen (for the hammer head.

Supplies use--Queenie: Rust (maybe I can't remember) cardstock, barely banana cardstock, chocolate chip cardstock, K&Co. pattern paper, Cuttlebug and Nestabilities, Memento Tuxedo black ink and Copic markers. Also piece of ugly ribbon that I hate on there so I'm ignoring it. :D

My 50th card...and Blog Candy!

So, as I said, I'm fairly new at this whole card-making and rubber stamping stuff. And I realized the other day that I was coming up on my 50th card. Fifty! Who would have ever thought I'd make fifty cards? I know that to most that sounds like a drop in the sea (forget the bucket!) but I thought it was a good milestone. So cheers to fifty more! :D

I had a lot of fun making this card!

I tried to use the swoosh from the stamp to make the pattern paper shaped like it. It is kinda wonky but still, fun. And then I got the hare-brained idea that I wanted some scallops on my wide border part so I pulled out my corner rounder punch and made the swoosh scalloped. Oh, this was most tedious. Not terrible though but I cut, checked to see if it was close to even and then shave off a bit more with the corner rounder punch 'til it was straight enough.

Anyway...thanks for...OH WAIT! I said something about a little blog candy! Yes, yes. To celebrate my fiftieth card that I've made, I am giving away a set of Koh-I-Noor pencils and a pack of blending stumps...as well as some (not pictured) K&Co. Amy Butler, Brenda Walton and some of this cute paper that I used on this card.

So, how do you win this fabulous blog candy? Just leave a comment on this post and on next Friday I will pick a winner via random.com!

Happy Weekend everyone! :)

Three challenges from SCS!

Whew! I've been having all sorts of fun with papers! :)

I'm running late to work so I am just gonna throw these up here. If you'd like to know what I used, etc. you can look here at my SCS gallery.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Friday!!!

Glitter....EVerywhere.

Hehe! Well, I'm sure y'all can tell that I'm a big, big fan of the C.C. Designs stamps over at All That Scraps. I just love that they have SO much stuff to sell as well as some faboo stamps! In fact, I just placed another order today for the JustRite stampers. OMG They're going to cut me off from ordering so often! LOL!

Anyway, since I'm a big fan of theirs, I also subscribe to their blog and each week their talented design team puts together some great cards for inspiration and issues a challenge. I try to play every week that I'm able! This week they issued a challenge to use glitter. I mean, c'mon! They are practically BEGGING me to play with glitter so I HAD to rise to the challenge and use some glitter. hehe!

Here is my card for their challenge.

Glittery isn't it? I added loads of Stardust stickles allllll over the place as well as rhinestones wherever I could think to put them. hehe!

What I used: Shari from C. C. Designs; Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic markers; Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi card stocks; Cutie Pie DP from SU; Hero Art and American Crafts flowers; 200 million bottles of Stardust stickles; Ticket corner punch; SU basic black ribbon; Stick-on rhinestones.

Thanks for hopping by my blog. Hope you have a great weekend! :)

In the next few days, I'll be celebrating as I'll have made my 50th card! Fifty! Woo! hehe! I'll have a little something special to celebrate. ;)

Dutch Dare - Challenge Three!

Today is Thursday and that means it is Dutch Dare challenge day. Yay! We've been busy as bees making up some pretty samples for everyone. Go check out their beautiful work!
Our challenge #3 was to use 3 buttons and 3 ribbons on your card. You can either use the same ribbon but 3 different cuts, or 3 different colors/type. The prize is 50 various stamped images and Basic Grey designer paper! So go on over and post your card to the challenge blog. :)

Here is my card for today, I changed it a bit after I took the photo..I added more of the little white ribbons onto the pink stitched ribbon. But...my camera battery is dead so I'm not taking retaking a photo.

I used another Lily and Milo RAK'd image that Mary Dawn sent to me. They are so fun to color! I cuttlebugged the pink card stock with my Swiss Dots folder. The patterned paper is from K&Co. I colored the image with Koh-i-noor pencils and Prisma pencils. The heart buttons I have had for no lie, like 400 years. (Okay, maybe I exaggerated a LITTLE. hehe!)

Anyway, thanks for stopping by today!

Waiting for my new Rileys...

so I pulled out some of my Hanna Stamps to use. :) I have had this stamp set since it was released and haven't ever used it. Why? I don't know because it is SO CUTE!

I used Hanna Stamps, Saassafrass Lass pattern paper, Pink SU cardstock, stick on pearls, copic markers, Brilliance ink, random company's flower...I think Hero Arts, Prima and well, I dunno who made the other...and I put a lot of stickles on. I mean, who wouldn't want a glittery vacuum cleaner!?!

Riley Moose, Flying Ace.

hee! I love making Riley cards! He's so fun and easy to work with. I mean, EVERYTHING goes with moose, right?

This was for one of the challenges on the Hanna Stamps forums. Hope you're having a great weekend!

What I used: Riley from Hanna Stamps and the fancy swirlies with stars from Tis The Season from hanna Stamps, Bazzil Textured CS, SU! Shimmery white paper, black cs, DCWV star paper, Adirondack ink, Copic markers, Koh-i-noor pencils for Riley and OMS, teeny flower stickers (meant to represent stars,) Glossy Accents from Ranger, stardust pen, ribbon. I wrote the You're a Star!! with a gel pen.

Using what I have...

Okay, so I've been on a bit of a "spending spree" lately. LOL I have *cough* several (10 Rileys, 4 Rachelle Anne Miller, 4 Sarah Kay, 2 C.C. designs, 1 Pink Cat studio plus I just got a bunch that my friend sent me and a SU! order with 2 sets in it LOL!)*cough* stamps coming my way so I'm still using the same ones I'm always using because I don't have that many stamps...yet. LOL!

Anyway, here is my card for today. I'm sleepy as I've worked long hours today and the heat! Oh the heat here today in the San Francisco bay area is/was brutal! Thanks for stopping by today!

What I used: Gina K stamps, perfect layers, SU! black GG ribbon, DCWV pattern paper, Georgia Pacific white CS, SU! shimmery white CS, SU! olive CS, Paper piercer and SU mat pack, Copic markers, Adirondack pitch black ink, stick on pearls, Distress ink and distress ink applicator.

RAK!

My favoritest (and dare I say oldest...LOL!) friend Mary Dawn from MyPinkMexico sent me a whole box of goodies today...including some stamped images of Lily from Rachelle Anne Miller! I'm so excited to be able to play with her because they are such cute stamps. :) She also sent me that cool ribbon...WHICH is not really that color in person. I swear to you. It is bright...and it is pink...but hooboy does my camera hate it!

Anyway...OH! I should mention that the paper that I used? I bought several sheets for her at Michael's because it is her most favorite pattern ever and oops, I used a piece. LOL!

And can we pretend that I didn't accidentally over-crop the photo at the top? That'd be great. hehe!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Anna Griffin patterned paper, Stampin' Up yellow CS, Georgia Pacific Cardstock, Staz-On ink, Koh-I-Noor and Prisma pencils and OMS, vintage ribbon, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Hero Arts flowers, Stickles, Heidi Swapp pink brad, Making Memories Rhinestone brad, SU! punch and probably other things that I have forgotten were all used in the making of this card. :D

Dutch Dare Card Challenge #2

Today on Dutch Dare Card Challenge blog, we were presented with using any image, any design, anything goes!

Here is my card! Isn't she cute?

I used one of my Glam Girls from All That Scraps. I just love these. So much fun to color and decorate!

I used DCWV patterned paper, Bazzil textured red cardstock, and SU! shimmery white cardstock.

I stamped her with Adirondak pitch black and colored her in with Copic markers then added some gel pen dots to her jeans. Then I used a bit of my clear glitter pen to color in the cuff of her jeans as well as her belt/sash. I used my Nestabilities and Cuttlebug to mat the image and to cut a rectangle for my sentiment which I stamped with Not Quite Navy ink. I colored a pink Prima flower with a Copic marker and added some stickles then stuck on one of my beloved stick-on pearls. The ribbon is from Michael's. I ticket corner punched the edges of the patterned paper and put in some silvery brads. Then I doodled in red ink around the white cardstock and white gel pen around the scalloped red cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to go over to the Dutch Dare Card Challenge blog to get in on the blog candy!

This job stuff?

Is for the birds. Or if not the birds, then someone entirely different from me. Ugh. Hopefully soon they'll figure out their schedule so I can fix mine.

Anyway, I made this card to celebrate some beautiful roses that my garden is producing! Here, in California my roses bloom all year, but there are some really stunning ones right now.

I used my Scor-Pal to make a tone on tone "plaid" for the bottom.

Here are a few pictures of my roses. Click them to see larger photos. Thanks for stopping by!

Dutch Dare - Card Challenges!

Every Thursday we will have a challenge…sometimes a sketch, sometimes a technique, sometimes a color combination. There are prizes every week and this week, our sponsor is Scrap Goodies! So go on over HERE and check out this week's challenge for your chance to win. :)

I'm pleased to be a part of this great group of gals from all over the world! Our first challenge was to use a lot of pink. I love pink so Yay!

Here is the card that I created with tons and loads of pink. I used one of my new C.C. Designs stamps from All That Scraps. Don't you love her? She was colored with Copics, added some rhinestone bling to her jeans and lightly edged it with pink ink. I also used my Cornish Heritage Farms backgrounder and my Verve Visual stamps to make a pattern on my pink papers.

Thanks for stopping by and have fun with the challenges!

Also, I was tagged by Donna at Serenity in Stamping. So here you are! I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you want to do it, please feel free and let me know!

10 years ago I was: Living in Omaha where it is cold and I was not liking the cold so much.

5 things on my to-do-list today: read some blogs, clean the house, make some cards, watch a movie and stalk the UPS man because I am supposed to be getting my SU! order today. hee!

Snacks I love: wasabi peas, dark chocolate, Vitamin waters (though is this really a snack?), cheeeeeeeeeese, edamame.

Things I will do when I am a millionaire: well, technically we ARE (on paper...with the house included...LOL) so I guess I'd just keep on doing what I'm doing!

Places I have lived: Kentucky; Omaha, NE; Phoenix, AZ; Benicia, CA.

Gate Fold?

My order from All That Scraps came this week! I am super-excited, too because in addition to the new Glam Girls (which I LOVE!) I also ordered a Pink Cat Studio plate of stamps! Of course, I had to immediately ink them (okay, after a day of work) and start playing around. hee!

The ATS blog challenge this week was to make a gate fold card. I groaned. I admit. In the past, my gate fold cards have been EPIC FAILS. But with my Scor-Pal, it was so easy that even I was amazed that I actually got it folded right. LOL

This little birdy image is from the Tweet plate and it was so cute and I've been meaning to sew on my cards for some time but...well...I was a bit lazy about digging it out of the closet. So I did tonight and I practiced on some scrap cardstock and it was lovely and perfect and then when I went to sew my card, the thread slipped and I didn't realize until I'd sewn down one whole side. D'oh! Sooooo...I went ahead and just paper pierced it with the sewing needle and drew in the faux stitching lines. hee!

The gingham paper is from a 9,000 year old paper pack that I've had since the beginning of time, all CS is from SU and I used the shimmery white for the image. I colored it with Copic markers and used my white gel pen to doodle around the scallop. The little sparkley flowers on her glasses are from Hero Arts.

Thanks for stopping by today and stay tuned for something fun and exciting. *wink*

Funky colors? hehe

Okay, okay...so I admit. I made a card that photographed DAY-GLO. Ha! I dunno how but it does not look this bright in person. LOL!

Anyway, this is for two challenges in ONE! The first is for Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #19. What a cute sketch it is! I had tons of fun with this sketch. Firstly, because it is a tall card..or rather a long card. It fits in a standard business sized envelope. Now, y'all...that would be a lot of pattern to look at if I made this card from patterned paper. In fact, I'd venture to say that it would be a hot mess if I did. hehe So I tried to keep it simple but fun by using no patterned paper but fun (and apparently extra-super-bright papers.) hehe!

The second challenge for this card was on the Hanna Stamps Friday challenge which was to use circles! Ooh! I do love me some circles, y'all! I think I pretty well covered my bases with the circles, don't you? I cuttlebugged with the Swiss Dots, then Riley was cut out using my nestabilities circles and matted with a scalloped circle. Then I used my corner rounder punch to make a scalloped mat for the cuttlebugged piece and punched with my Crop-a-dile the little circles and then doodled some circles around that. The sentiment is from a dollar stamp and was cut out with my nestabilities and stuck onto the ribbon with a black (circular) brad. LOL!

Some people see stars? I'm seein' circles!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

What a fun stamp night!

So tonight was Stamp Night with Gina Taylor, my Stampin' Up! demo. What a great time! It was nice to see the ladies again and I can't wait to get to go again. I love playing with paper! :D

Here is a quick peek at what we made tonight!

The first is the card that we made using the Fresh Cuts stamp set and the Fresh Cut notes. I love the card! Not sure I love what *I* did with it but the coolness of the cutout is wicked awesome.


The second thing we made was a strawberry party favor. Ooh, how cute is this? I could die with the cuteness of it. And the strawberry stamp that we used pushed me over the edge of buying the Tart and Tangy stamp set. LOL I love strawberries! :D And she gave us her template for it. I am soo making one of these using my Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder. hee!

The last thing that we made is this SUPER CUTE AND FABULOUS All About Me journal/album. She showed us the Bind It All and OH MAN, I am sooooo getting this. I absolutely love notebooks and journals and albums. This is one awesome tool! Even my husband thought this project was cool! He usually just rolls his eyes and tries to tot up how much money I've spent on something. LOL!

Then we munched on some fabulous chocolate fondue with marshmallows and strawberries. YUM. And the most yummiest ever cheese fondue with french bread and crackers. I could have eaten that with a spoon! LOL! She served up some delicious Cosmos, too. hee! I may have placed a larger than intended order but I got pretty much all the things that I have on my wish list (well except for a few stamp sets but I'm not dying for those....YET.)

And finally, I have a card that I made here at home. Sure, it pales in comparison to all the other fun projects that I got to make today, but I had fun! I bought this stamp today at Big Lots...LOL I loved the little stick figures and it reminded me of my friend and me...so I had to have it. :D I used SU! cardstock, DCWV paper, a flower punch that I doodled on and stuck a rhinestone in the middle. And I cut out my girlies with my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities and matted it on a scalloped Nesties circle and doodled around both of those. What can I say? I was in a doodling mood. Heh! The leaves for the flower are one of those Michael's Brides flowers that I colored with a copic marker and cut apart and stuck on the back of the punched flower. :) It was colored with my Copic markers. I wrote on the Friends 4-ever part because I didn't have an appropriate stamp and I was feeling lazy and didn't want to search and search for one that would fit right on it.

Whew. Sorry for the long post. Thanks for stopping by today! Hopefully I'll have some stamp time this weekend to play with my new stuff that I bought at the stamping store today. :D

Altered by Copic...

I love challenges. As a new stamper, I always look to others for ideas on things that will...well....be challenging so that I can become better and so my stuff doesn't look...well...dumb. LOL!

Anyway, All That Scraps blog has a color challenge this week! This is my first attempt at a color challenge. I looked through my stuff to see what I had in the colors but I found I was lacking in a few things..heh. So, I scoured around for things that I could alter the color with so that I could closely fit the challenge.

So what is altered on this card? The ribbon was white, but I colored it with a Copic marker that matched the Summer Sun SU CS. Then I colored the little rhinestones at the bottom in the same color. Finally, I just could NOT find any patterned paper that would match the paper and since I LOVE to paper piece these Glam Girls, I found a piece of DCWV scrap that I had and I got it all cut out then colored the light part of the paper in the same Copic marker to more closely match. :D

I realized after I photographed this that I didn't at all stamp on the sentiment. LOL What a dork! Just pretend you see it there, mkay? hehe

Oh, I also used my Versamark ink with my Cornish Heritage Farms paisley bg stamp...again...to make it more closely match the challenge colors.

Thanks for popping by my little blog today! Hope you're having a fantastic week.

Continuing with the flower obsession.

hee!

So a little bit ago, I won a blog candy at Allison's blog of some new stamps from the Little Paper Shop! Well, I got them the other day and one of the shapes looked sort of like a flower (maybe it is?) anyway, I decided that it would be a flower and so I thought a while on how to do it. I stamped it in some spring-y colors but it really wasn't thrilling me so I picked up my Earth elements stamp pads and went through to find some that I thought would layer well. I picked Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust. I also decided that I needed a dark color and while the Chocolate Chip was too dark, my Close to Cocoa was juuuust right. The only thing was, I couldn't decide what to do to get a stem. I cut out some ribbon and that didn't work for me. So I just drew in a stem with a prisma pencil. :D The colors of the flower went well with some Basic Grey archaic papers but the extreme whiteness of the image area just wasn't making me happy with the brightness so I sponged over it with some Distress Ink from Ranger.

While it took me a while to figure out everything that was going wrong with my plan, I'm fairly pleased with the outcome.

Thanks for stopping by here today!