CSS Alumni January 2011 Sketch Challenge

This time we have a sketch provided by one of the CSS Alumni, Melissa Cash. You just came from her blog. If you did not arrive from her blog, I highly recommend starting from the beginning of this hop over at StampTV, so you can be inspired by all of the CSS Alumni Participants.

The sketch:

My Elegant Coffee Card:

I pulled out Mugs and Kisses for this one. I found some gorgeous K&Company paper the other weekend and had to use it on this card. I stamped the mug and saucer on the chocolate flourish paper and cut it out. I also cut out the beverage part of the mug and put some Tan Leather card stock underneath to simulate a nice cup of coffee with a little sugar and cream mixed in. Yum!

Next hop is to see what Miesje Flach has to inspire you.

And make sure you are leaving comments for all of the hop participants because one lucky person will be chosen at random to win a free Gina K Designs set. Woohoo, FREE stamps!  Tuesday morning (February 1st), we will randomly choose one of the comments from all the blogs who will get a stamp set of their choice valued up to $24.95!

Inkin' for the Weekend

Seems like the only time I can stamp is the weekend. And since it was cold here and I had no where I had to be, that is just what I did. I had a chance to do a couple challenges and here are the results.

First up, the Mojo Monday Challenge (my first)

I used a brand new digi image that I purchased from Paper Makeup Stamps called Moody for Reading. I love the Moody line of images from that company. This image is just my style. I love the big scarf, the cute casual bag and her adorable hat. I printed her out with a laser printer and colored her in with Copic markers. The sentiment is from the Life is Good set. The sketch is from the Mojo Monday challenge.

Next up is a combination of two challenges: JUGS 66 and StampTV Release Challenge #3



 The JUGS challenge was to make a card and matching envelope with a liner. Above is the card with matching envelope and below is the envelope with the embossed liner to match.  I used my favorite Mugs and Kisses set to make the fun embossed turquoise mug. The sentiment is from Grand Damask. The StampTV challenge was to use something new. I used the cute little flower charm that I purchased recently in a set with some other cute little charms.

My next card is for the Unscripted Sketch Challenge 88 and the StampTV Release Challenge #1

The StampTV challenge was to use the color combination of Turquoise, Chocolate and Kraft. I stamped the main panel with Vivid Aqua on Kraft using the large stamp from Wild at Heart. I did some stitching on this one too. I love sewing on cards and don't do it nearly enough. I sponged the embossed panels to bring out the design and make a bit more aged looking. There is also a lot of pearly bling on this one. A strip of white on the ribbon, a strip of brown on the sentiment panel and lots of small white and brown pearls in the center of the flowers.

My final card to share in this post is for the Card Patterns sketch 97

Again, I used my favorite set Mugs and Kisses. I added some clear glaze over the coffee to make it a bit more realistic. I was inspired by some of the images over on the Moxie Fab blog with gray and decided to play around with some old Going Gray from my stash (I wish Stampin' Up had not discontinued that color). It's mixed with Turquoise and Green Apple.

Well, that's it for tonight. I may stamp a bit more before heading to bed. I found out earlier today our apartment building does not have hot water and they have to wait until tomorrow morning to fix it. So I am hoping I can get a shower before going to work tomorrow.

Challenging Weekend

I finally had a day to myself to stamp. So after eating a delicious brunch, I spent the rest of my Sunday watching Cheers on my computer and stamping. I made a few cards for some challenges out in the blogosphere. And here they are:

I made this card for the video challenge over at StampTV. Gina asked us to make a project using an embosses glittered panel. I embossed a sheet of pattern paper from the Basic Grey Marjolaine pad. I am in love with the paper in this stack. I love greens and blues together. So refreshing and calming. After embossing the paper I used a Sakura glitter pen to add glitter to the raised flower petals. I also used the glitter pen on some of the lines in the plaid mug. It is much more sparkly in real life. The mug stamp I used for my super fabulous plaid mug is from Melanie's set, Mugs and Kisses. And the Faith sentiment is from Faithful Florals. The card base is Pure Luxury Soft Sand {Gina K} and I used Border Blue {Stampin Up} to mat the green glittery embossed layer.

My second card is my submission for the Card Patterns #96 sketch. My favorite challenges are sketch challenges. And Card Patterns always has a great sketch every week. I chose to use a rectangle instead of a circle for the main panel on my card. The stamp is from Great Impressions. I picked it up at Stampede, the local stamp store in York, PA. I used more paper from Basic Grey's Marjolaine pad. The card base is Pure Luxury Soft Sand {Gina K}. I used some cute bakers twine I found on Etsy a while ago, thanks to a tip from Patter over at Triple the Scraps blog.



My final card is for the Unscripted Sketch #87 challenge. Another awesome sketch challenge. Some more Basic Grey Marjolaine paper and one simple sentiment from Tami Mayberry's set Faithful Florals. The card base is Pure Luxury Soft Sand {Gina K} and the I used Bordering Blue {Stampin Up} to mat the layers. The blue ink is Tim Holtz Distressed Faded Jeans.

I will have some more time tomorrow night to stamp. I can't wait. And I am planning to ring in the new year with some stamping. What better way to celebrate. :o)

CPS198 Covered In Chocolate

Everything is better covered in chocolate, right? LOL!

I made this fun card using Melanie Muenchinger's new set, Mugs and Kisses. The main theme of the set is based upon two fun mug images that you can decorate any way you wish. I chose however to use the cute little chocolate truffles for this card. It would be a perfect Valentine's Day card in non traditional colors. The inside of the card reads; "are covered in chocolate". The layout is from CPS Card Sketch #198.

Stamps: Mugs and Kisses & The Best Things in Life (GinaK)
Paper: Pure Luxury Sweet Mango (GinaK), Purely Pomegranate & Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up), Green At Heart (Basic Grey)
Other: Blossom and Circle Spellbinder's dies, silver cording, striped ribbon, Copic Markers

I pray you had a Very Blessed Merry Christmas!

Christmas Mugs and Kisses

Melanie is a genius when it comes to designing fun sets with tons of co-ordinating accessories and words. I fell in love with her stamps when she released Little Tees. I was the first one in line to purchase it after the release party. Of course she released several co-ordinating Tee sets after that, and they are fabulous. She even asked me to be a guest designer for one of those sets, School, Sports Spirit. And when I thought she couldn't top that she came out with Tech Talk. Hello! I am a total tech geek, working in IT. And I was asked by Gina to be a part of the CSS Design Team that month and that was the set I was to feature. Fate of course. :o) Then their is Mugs and Kisses. This set just made me faint. :O) I am a Starbucks' mug collecting freak. Mostly because I love all the cool designs. So this set allows me to make many cool mugs with all the wonderful pattern papers that I own. It is absolutely perfect for paper piecing.

She is featuring some of my cards on her blog today. And I will be sharing a few cards here.

I made this first card for the current Card Patterns sketch #95. And I used some Basic Grey paper I picked up at AC Moore the other day. I was also inspired by this photo of a real Starbucks mug I found online here.

I pulled out another set by Melanie called Have a Cookie to make the little Gingerbread Man to put in the top of the mug. I made whipped cream with some white liquid pearls.

I used some fun Basic Grey Snowman paper to make this mug. I would love to have a real mug like this one. The panels with the coffee beans I made by stamping the beans and the word coffee all over some white card stock and then sponging with some Tim Holtz ink. The sketch is from StampTV, featured on December 13th.

Make sure you stop by Melanie's blog to see my other cards and you can see all of Melanie's stamp sets for sale at Gina K's store here.

Make it an awesome day!