Just Us Girls - Sketch Challenge

Hi everyone! I'm going to make this short and sweet. I'm typing this at 11:30 pm Friday, and tomorrow (Saturday) is the Western NY SCS Stamping Event and I have to get my stuff packed and ready to go! It's going to be a long day and I need my rest!

Here is the sketch for today's JUGS challenge that our very talented Maria came up with. I LOVE it!

This was such an easy sketch to work with...not fussy at all and yet there's a lot you can do with it! Here's my take on it.I had this Inkadinkadoo $1 stamp on my table and decided to work with it. I stamped it in Baja Breeze. The dp is Parisian Breeze from SU (retired) and I paired it with Kraft paper. I stamped this woodgrain image (from Cornish Heritage Farms) on it in Sahara Sand. I'm seeing a lot of this image lately! I thought to use it because there is woodgrain in the birdhouse. The sentiment is from PTI's Bird Watching and is stamped in Chocolate Chip on Kraft.

Did you know that JUGs is looking for a new designer? You can read all about it here. We are looking for one more person to join our team. It could be you!

That's all I have time for today. Stop by the JUGs blog to see what's cooking over there! We have Teresa Kline as our special guest designer for May and LeAnne Pugliese as our May Featured Designer. Lovely ladies and so talented, too!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Just Us Girls Sketch Challenge

I LOVE sketch challenges! They are so helpful to me because I need something to get me on the right track. I just have such a hard time sitting down and deciding how to layout my card. Just having something in front of me, even though I may change it up a bit, is such a weight off my shoulders! Then my creative process begins! So here is the great sketch Pam came up with for our challenge this week.Isn't it great? All day, I was trying to figure out what to do with those circles, but it all came together. I decided to make another Christmas card to add to my stash of cards I need to send out (soon!).I'm really very happy with this card. This stamp is from an Inkadinkadoo clear stamp set called Ornate Christmas. I used this last year in black and thought it would look just as good in red. Pam's sketch was perfect for it. I ran the Riding Hood Red pieces through the textile folder. It sort of mimics the design in the stamp. The ribbon is also Riding Hood Red, and I finished it off with some prima poinsettia flowers, gold glitter dots, and the MS ferns. I just purchased a bunch of dies not to long ago, and this one was just the right one.

The Just Us Girls team has more delightful cards for you using this sketch (and I think we all did holiday cards!), so you really need to stop by the Just Us Girls blog to see them! And please stop by their personal blogs to leave some love!

If you decide to play, link your direct post to Mr. Linky on the JUGS blog. We'd love to see what you do with this sketch!

I have another post after this one...a sneak peek of a new fairy from Paper Makeup Stamps. Please take a look because it's a really cute one! Have a great weekend!
Recipe
Stamps: Ornate Christmas (Inkadinkadoo)
Paper: PTI vintage cream, riding hood red
Ink: Riding hood red
Accessories: Nesties, riding hood red satin ribbon, prima flowers, glitter dots, textile folder, dimensionals

Just Us Girls Challenge - JUGS1

I'm participating in a new challenge that some of the My Time to Create girls cooked up. We didn't have a challenge from Lauren Meader today, so Kristin and Pam came up with a challenge called Just Us Girls, JUGS as the acronym! We all thought it was hysterical and appropriate at the same time. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and tomorrow is the annual Breast Cancer Walk across the US, so JUGS became our challenge. Kristin came up with a great sketch (thanks Kristin...I love them!) for us to use.So in keeping with the girls theme, I created this card.Isn't this image a hoot? It's from Inkadinkadoo, and I bought it ages ago to make cards for my best girlfriends that I go to spas with every year. I thought it would be fun for this group, because I really think they are a great bunch of girls! I hope we continue with the challenges, because I would hate to lose touch with them.

OK, enough with the mushy stuff...on with the card! I used SU's Cottage Wall...love that dp! The image is colored with copics and I just had to add star dust stickles to their towels and robes. I also added crystal effects to the cucumbers on their eyes. I don't know if the dew drops are overkill, but I felt it needed something. Now you have to check out what the other girls who are playing in this challenge have done.

Kristin
Pam
Dana
Maria
Odette

So if you want to play you can link your direct post to Mr. Linky on Kristin's blog. If you post to an online gallery, please use the code JUGS1 (no giggles!) so we can find your creations! Thanks for stopping by and I have another post below from today that you should check out!
Recipe
Stamps: Girlfriends (Inkadinkadoo)
Paper: PTI white, old olive, rich razzleberry, Cottage Wall dp (SU)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, old olive
Copic Markers: E00, 02, 15, 29, 39; RV91, 93, 95; Y15, 18, 38; G24, 40; R43; W-3
Accessories: MS punch, nesties, oval and scalloped oval punches, dew drops, star dust stickles, crystal effects, old olive taffeta ribbon, dimensionals

Copics Colour Challenge #3

Hi everyone! Well, the day is finally here...my first day on the job as a member of the Copics Colour Challenge Design Team! (Can you tell I'm excited?)I think I'm going to have fun on this team! Most of the girls (with the exception of myself and Chris Dickenson) are from the UK! They are a very nice group of girls that I hope to "meet in person" someday! (You can stop by their blogs...I have them listed on my sidebar.)

Anyway, on with the challenge! It's a sketch challenge this week! It's one that had me stumped at first, but I think I managed to pull it off! Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:I had to pull out my drawer of unused stamps for this one! This is an oldie but a goodie from Great Impressions that I got eons ago! I don't think I ever used it because I never knew how to color it! Well, let me tell you how much fun I had coloring it now! I actually colored it twice...the first time on white paper for a "practice" run and then on cream for the "real" one. And guess what? I liked the "practice" one better! But, it was on white and it didn't look good with the dp choice! So, look for it another time as I will be recycling it! I used various copic markers (see the list in the Recipe below) to color the image. Since I LOVE sparkle and shine, I added some using a Sakura gelly roll pen in Clear Star. I shines so nicely when the light hits it. Here's a close-up of the image. The dp is a fabulous design from Graphic 45 called Botanicabella. These colors are so me and "spoke" to me when I saw them in my LSS, Buffalo Stamps & Stuff! They are so rich and beautiful! The ladybugs are also stamped on some paper from the same line. The ladybugs are from the Inkadinkadoo clear set called Patterened Bugs. I chose them because there's a little ladybug on one of the pots in the image. The paper and grosgrain ribbon (from SU's Sale-a-bration catalog...I HAVE to get more because it's so gorgeous!) are So Saffron. I also sponged around the image with So Saffron and Creamy Caramel inks.

Well, that's all folks! Thanks for letting me gush! I do appreciate it! Don't forget to hop over to the Copics Colour Challenge and see what the other girls have come up with...some pretty cool cards! I hope to see your creations over there too! You have all week to upload you card to Mr. Linky and you could win a prize, too! Anyone can play (even if you don't use/own copic markers), but you can only win a prize if you use copic markers. Hope to see you there and thanks for stopping by today!
Recipe
Stamps: Great Impressions (sunflower), Patterned Bugs (Inkadinkadoo), Hero Arts (inside sentiment)
Paper: So saffron (SU), vintage cream (Papertrey Ink), Graphic 45-Botanicabella Collection
Ink: Adirondack black, ruby red and chocolate chip markers (SU), so saffron, creamy caramel
Copic Markers: Y15, 17; Yr23; E22,27,71,77; G21, 28; YR23; R46; W-1
Accessories: SU so saffron grosgrain ribbon, Sakura gelly roll pen (clear star), white gel pen, sponge, dimensionals

Sweet Blue Bird

Hi everyone! This card was made for the SCS Inspiration Challenge (one of my favs next to the sketch challenges!). The website chosen as the inspiration is called Flutter and I chose this Sweet Blue Bird pillow as my inspiration.

It's a pretty literal translation, isn't it?

I started by stamping the damask from Inkadinkadoo's Bold Damask in So Saffron on Very Vanilla. I then overstamped it with the Canvas bg stamp in Creamy Caramel to get some texture like the pillow. Now the bird gave me trouble! It's also from a set by Inkadinkadoo called Winter Birds. I stamped it in Pacific Point, but since this stamp has so much surface area and is an acrylic stamp, it stamped very "splotchy". Does anyone know how to prevent this from happening? I stamped it about six times with the same results. Ugghh! After I stamped it, I colored in the flowers and stems with So Saffron and Really Rust markers. The bird in the inspiration had some of these colors in him as well. I tried to do something to mimic the sort of rope border around the pillow, but was hurrying, so I used SU's Sale-a-bration ribbon and made a formal bow. The sentiment is from PTI's Out on a Limb stamped in Pacific Point and punched with the large and small ovals. Done! I forgot to put some stickles on the bird. I wanted to do that to give him some pizazz, but forgot. He'll get them later! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Bold Damask, Winter Birds (Inkadinkadoo); Out on a Limb (PTI); Canvas (SU)

Paper: Very vanilla, so saffron

Ink: So saffron, creamy caramel, pacific point, so saffron and really rust markers

Accessories: So saffron grosgrain ribbon, large and small oval punches, dimensionals

Hunky Dory Bird

Happy Saturday, everyone! It's pretty warm here today in Buffalo...finally! But it's very gray and wet, which I don't like! But, I'm off today, did some errands, saw my SIL's new cockapoo puppy, Holly, (soooo cute), and I stamped! A good day so far, and after I post this, I'm off to play with my little nephews, Ethan and Kristoff! An even better day!

This is for today's Inspiration Challenge on SCS. Stephanie chose this pretty funky website for home furnishings called Hunky Dory Home. I chose this blue and brown canvas print for my inspiration. I'm so drawn to blues and browns, and I thought it would be a very simple card to do (which it was), however it took longer than I anticipated...don't they always? {Sigh} I didn't get very good coverage on the Inkadinkadoo bird, which I stamped in Tempting Turquoise, so I had to start over. That's what I don't like about doing a card with no layers. Anyway, I started by scoring 1/4" lines around the perimeter of this 4 1/4" square card. Then I stamped the bird, marked off the bottom and sides and, using a stamp-a-ma-jig, stamped this branch from Embrace Life in Chocolate Chip. Very easy! Then I think I went through every stamp I own to find "just the right one" for the sentiment and came up with this. I was going to use one that said "Happy Birthday You Old Bird", but I didn't think it went with the card! Funny saying, but for another card, not this one! I highlighted the flourishes on the bird and the leaves with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen in a clear color just for some shine (I love shine!). That's it! I didn't have time to decorate the inside...that will be another project! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Recipe

Stamps: Birds Galore (Inkadinkadoo), Embrace Life (SU), Impression Obsession (sentiment)

Paper: PTI White

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Scor-pal, Sakura Gelly Roll pen

Ok, I'm back from visiting my nephews and they had a surprise...Uncle Kevin came later to visit and play! Here are some pictures of the rough housing that went on! I think the boys (including Uncle Kevin) will sleep well tonight!

Aren't they cute? Ethan is the older one and Kristoff is the little one. He is the one who had bowel surgery in July just one week after his first birthday. He is such a little bruiser! He can bring down his big brother in no time! They sure had fun and I had fun watching them. My mother was nervous that they'd hurt each other! She hasn't been around little boys for a long time! Thanks for letting me brag about my nephews!

Inspiration x 4

ETA: I just noticed my first anniversary of blogging is in two days! I thought it was more toward the middle of February! I'll have to pull some blog candy together! Stay tuned!

Ok are you ready for this long post? I don't know what happened to me today, but I was so inspired by the inspiration challenge today over at SCS. The inspiration was a website called Elum Designs and I must say WOW! I made four cards and each one really didn't take long to make at all! I also had a lot of time on my hands today...my DH is off skiing with Brad (his "little brother") and the boy scouts this weekend at Gore Mountain, which is in the eastern part of NY somewhere. So I have been enjoying my Saturday! Well, here we go!

Thanks

This was the first card I did. When I saw the inspiration piece, I immediately thought of this cuttlebug embossing folder with the vines and birds. I took my tangerine tango ink pad and applied the ink directly to the flat side of the folder. I sort of swirled the ink onto the folder instead of tapping it on so I wouldn't get any lines from the edge of the pad. I placed the piece of PTI white paper in the folder and embossed. I love the look, especially the white and tangerine...so fresh looking. I used a rectangular nestie to cut and emboss this piece. I then took a larger nestie and embossed the frame right on the base of the card, placed the tangerine piece inside of it, and stamped the sentiment. I received this stamp with my Verve order. This is what I did on the inside. You'll have to click on the picture for a better view, but I stamped my sentiment on the embossed frame (embellished with a flourish from PTI's Boxes, Bags, and Tags set) and left the other side blank (except for the bird, from a new Inkadinkadoo set) so I could write a message. Really easy card! On to the next card!




From Me to You
I actually used these two pieces as my inspiration for this card. I used the same technique as above for the center image. I used chocolate chip ink and the textile folder with soft sky cardstock. The rectangular nesties were also used again. Once I cleaned off the folder, I embossed a piece of soft sky cardstock for the large panel. The curly label punch was used for the sentiment. I sponged chocolate chip around the edges for more definition. This was the first time I ever made this bow. It's super easy and so pretty, I think! I used SU's chocolate chip grosgrain. I cut a piece long enough to go around the card to the back. Then I cut another piece and made a loop and fastened it with a large glue dot. I cut another smaller piece to wrap around the loop and fastened it with a glue dot as well. The bow was finally fastened to the strip of ribbon with another glue dot. I then added the dew drops. For the inside piece, I embossed just a portion of the left side and then, using the Scor-pal, I scored two lines. I left off a sentiment, as I don't know what this is going to be used for. I love the blue and brown together, don't you?














Butterflies Galore

This is one of my favorites of the bunch. I fell in love with this gift bag when I saw it. I went looking for my butterfly stamps and came across this one from Inkadinkadoo. It's called Patterened Bugs and the stamp is actually one long trail of different butterflies. I stamped it three times in pigment white ink and embossed it with white ep on PTI's aqua mist cardstock. I added the aqua mist swiss dot satin ribbon. Notice the bow? I told you I love that bow! I stamped these butterflies on the inside too in the aqua mist ink. I left off a sentiment on this one as well to use as a general note card. Love these fresh, springy colors! And now to the last one...phew!




Warmest Holiday Wishes
When I started making this card, I didn't think I was going to like it too much. I stamped the Wood Grain backgrounder stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms in chocolate chip on PTI white. Then I originally stamped the sentiment (from SU's retired Holiday Wishes) right over it (like in the inspiration piece) in red pigment ink and embossed it in red ep. It looked blah. So I stamped the sentiment in real red on a piece of white scrap, mounted it with real red, placed the brads in the corners and placed it over the top of the original sentiment with dimensionals. It looked to me like it had been nailed on a tree! I wanted to add something else, so I punched these ferns in garden green with a Martha Stewart punch. I'm lovin' this card. I think I may may more for my Christmas card challenge!

Well, I'm finally done! My fingers are sore from all the typing! Thank goodness I'm fast typer! Thanks for staying with me on this one, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Angelic Silhouette

Every year I make a special card for my mom and my in-laws. It's always a bigger size (5.25 square) and sometimes it's difficult to fill up that space. But with this stamp (from Inkadinkadoo called Christmas Silhouettes), it wasn't difficult at all because it's so big! I bought this clear set with my MIL in mind because she loves angels. I started by stamping it in Versamark on PTI's vintage cream (the paper looks white in the picture, but it's a very creamy color) and embossing it with gold ep. I backed it with a layer of SU's brushed gold. I needed something on the left side of the card, so I used the cuttlebug swiss dots folder (this is the little narrow folder that comes with other folders in a pack). I also used my Scor-Pal to emboss a couple of lines between the image and the Swiss Dots. I first punched the snowflakes out of brushed gold, but they weren't as shiny as the image. So I took my Versamark and applied it to a piece of cream paper, then poured the gold ep over it and embossed it. Then I punched the snowflakes out of that with a Martha Stewart punch. Now they match the image and shine nicely! I also placed some yellow bling in the center of the snowflakes. For the tag, I used a cuttlebug die, stamped and embossed the sentiment and the edge of the tag with th e gold ep. I backed it with a piece of brushed gold punched with the wide oval punch. The ribbon is an RAK from Cheryl Rowley. I should mention that I went to Joan Fricker's blog, Joan's Gardens, for my inspiration for this card. She has a wonderful blog and sells some great products. In fact, I have to go there to purchase some things today! I hope you like this card...it's so much prettier in person than in this picture. I have another post after this, so please scroll down! Happy Holidays!

Recipe

Stamps: Christmas Silhouettes (Inkadinkadoo), Holiday Wishes (PTI)

Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, SU Brushed Gold

Ink: Versamark

Accessories: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and tag die, corner rounder, wide oval punch, ribbon, gold ep, bling, MS snowflake punch, dimensionals

Season's Greetings in Black & White

I saw this card on Sharon Johnson's blog, No Time to Stamp. She did hers as a simpler version...no dp or embellishments and I thought it was lovely. I just had to glam mine up a bit though! I used this dp I've had for a while in my stash. I got it at my LSS, Buffalo Stamps & Stuff. I was supposed to use it on a card I saw there, but never did, so I'm using it on this one. The stamp set is clear one from Inkadinkadoo called Ornate Christmas. Their stamps are so pretty...I have several of these sets and they do not disappoint! I used Versafine black ink and it left such a nice, crisp image. This is pretty simple. The base is PTI white, and I used SU's black. In the corner are 3 black glitter dots that are adhered with glue dots. I think I got these from Gina K. Designs. The sentiment on the inside is from PTI's Holiday Wishes. I think this is such a classy card and I bet it would look good in other colors as well, especially red or SU's Pacific Point blue! Hmmm, I may have to try it! Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps: Ornate Christmas (Inkadinkadoo), Holiday Wishes (PTI)

Paper: PTI white, black, dp unknown

Ink: Versafine black

Accessories: Black glitter dots, dimensionals

Spooky Greetings!

Here's a "quick" card that took a couple of hours to accomplish! I wanted to do today's Sketch Challenge because I really liked this sketch. I had some time to start the card before I went to a class taught by none other than Karen Lockhart! (I'll post about that tomorrow cause it's late and I'm tired!) I had the image stamped and embossed and the papers chosen and partly cut. When I came back from my class, I started pulling it all together, and that's when it took more time. It's always the accessorizing that bogs me down. The sentiment is from MFT's Monster Squad. I placed two glitter dots on either side of the sentiment and added the prima flowers and another glitter dot in the center. The dp is SU's retired Creey Crawly. I have lots of it cause I really liked it back then and still do! I'll have to use it up this year. I decorated the inside as well with Clear Art Stamps Halloween Fun (which also takes time, but is so helpful when you want to send a card out quickly...it's all ready to go). I hope you like it. I wish I would have colored the moon in an orangey-yellow...hindsight is 20/20! Thanks for stopping by and I'll try to have a post tomorrow about the Karen Lockhart class!

Recipe

Stamps: Halloween Trails (Inkadinkadoo), Monster Squad (MFT), Halloween Fun (Clear Art Stamps)

Paper: Pumpkin pie, black, whisper white, Creepy Crawly (SU retired)

Ink: Versamark, Versafine onyx black

Accessories: Primas, glitter dots, black ep, dimensionals

Dirty Cupcakes

Well, that doesn't sound very appetizing, does it? But the challenge is! It's Taylor's Dare to Get Dirty Challenge for today and we had to use....cupcakes in our card (of course because Taylor is all about cupcakes)! I pulled out all the cupcake stuff I had (which was surprisingly a lot). I ended up with this design because of the ribbon. That was my inspiration today. I matched up this patterned paper from Basic Grey's Cupcake and the pink pirouette and riding hood red from SU. The big cupcake, from Inkadinkadoo, was colored with copic markers. The pink frosting was stamped on scrap, colored and cut out. I didn't put it on dimensionals, but paper pieced it because it gave it more dimension. The jimmies were colored with copics, then I went over them with Spica glitter pens. The "Enjoy Your Day" image from Riveting was altered in the middle with the cupcake from Short and Sweet. I just stamped it on scrap, punched it with the 3/4" punch, and put it up on a dimensional. I added dew drops (again!) to that image and in each corner of the card (love them!). I used Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday #46 sketch (I thought it was this week's sketch, but it was from a couple of weeks ago!). I think this is a cute "girlie" birthday card. I only wish the cucakes on the ribbon were going in the other direction! Oh well, thanks for lookin'!

Recipe

Stamps: Inkadinkadoo Birthday Cupcake, SU Riveting and Short and Sweet

Paper: Pink pirouette, riding hood red, white, Basic Grey Cupcake

Ink: Adirondack black, copic markers

Accessories: Michael's ribbon, Nestabilities, dew drops, dimensionals, circle punches, ticket corner punch