Friday, April 29, 2011

{Home Sweet Home}

Up close view
I am totally head over heals for this stamp set Houses4us from The {Stamps} of Life! I have been playing with them all month & sketching out ideas while I am at work (hee hee, you never know when inspiration will hit ya know!) for ways to play with them when I get home.  And this is my first attempt at paper piecing with my stamps & I really like how it turned out!
house dp is heidi grace, heart & dotted dp is from my stash pile. Ink is Cotton Candy& Archival Black, CTMH; pearls are Recollections from Michaels. I used my Cricut for the circle dies & doodled a border w/ my Bic markers. The frame around the sentiment is from a set called monogram2build by The {Stamps} of Life
The challenge this week at Cute Card Thursday is to use any sketch you want, so I used one from a while back at The Sweet Stop, SSS#97
I am also entering on Do You Stack Up? make it pop/or 3D, Colour Create, pink, blue & brown & Paper Cutz, Anything Goes

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Pretty in Purple

I had so much fun making this card! Have I mentioned that I LOVE Bugaboo images?!! This one is called Flower Girl Daisy & she was so fun to color! Of course purple is my all time absolutely FAVE color on the planet. I colored her in w/ my Bic Markers & colored pencils, added a few blingies to her flowers & on her boots, chalked in a little color around her & then doodled a border around the edges. The flower is from CTMH & I used my markers to color it to match. The main card is a set called flower2doodle from none other than the FABULOUS Stephanie Bernard at The {Stamps} of Life & stamped w/ CTMH ink in GYPSy. DP is: flowered, DCWV from the Glitter Stack & swirls,Hot off the Press
I am entering on the following challenges:
The Sweet Stop, sketch 
Creative Cowgirls, Easter, Spring, Mother's Day
Card Makin Mamas, Spring colors (I also am throwing my hat in for a guest DT spot)
Simon Says Stamp, Anything goes**If you are in the mood for a HOP, head over on over! It is their 2nd Blogversary & they are celebrating with a blog hop!
Catch the Bug, Singing in the rain..I have sang LOUD in the rain (& snow) for the past month & am ready for a few flowers :) LOL!!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Hello Sunshine!

A very good friend of mine at work is lucky enough to be going to Hawaii the first part of May & I wanted to put together a little "I'm happy you get to go play" card (actually, my thoughts were "lucky dog! Wish I could fit in your carry-on! lol!) And since the weather has been sooo icky here lately, Hello Sunshine seemed to be the perfect sentiment! (she keeps me filled in almost daily how nice it is in Hawaii right now!)
The sweet image is Beach Time Patsy from Stamp Fairy- isn't she so cute! I colored her in w/ my Bic markers & also w/ colored pencils then added a little glossy accent to her tube to give it some shine. All the DP is DCWV & the sentiment is from 2 different sets by The {Stamps} of Life. I used CTMH ink in Creme Brulee on yellow cardstock for a tone on tone sunny look. I am entering this on Stamp Fairy Challenge "For the Girls w/ a sentiment"; CPS #214 sketch, My Grafico "Anything Goes"

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Heyya Chickadee!

How fun is this?! I have to say that as soon as I saw the Sweet Stop  sketch w/ a spin this week, I had a good idea of what I wanted to do. Then when I sat down & grabbed my lil envelope filled w/ scraps it all came together. The DP is Making Memories (word paper), Imaginesce (flowers) & DCWV (glittered stripes); flowers are K & Co; super duper cute image is from Bugaboo colored w/ my new Bic markers (it's an Easter image, but I am thinking I can use this for 'any day" card!) & the sentiment is made up if 2 different sets from The {Stamps} of Life: one is basic4alphabet (spelled out "chick")& the other is flower2doodle ("hi") I LOVE all the sets I have from Stephanie- they are super versatile, very fun, & great quality!

I am also entering this on the following challenges:
The Crafy Ho's: Use digi & regular stamps
Bee Crafty: Easter
and of course the inspiration behind this one The Sweet Stop

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Thank goodness for long weekends!

Wow how fast time flies by. I was off work early on Thursday & had Friday off, but boy did Monday roll around quickly! It was still so very nice to have a little time off to go play with the family. It's been CRAZY at work for a few months now & I didn't realize just how much I needed to "reset" my attitude. So after I got most of the debris pile (AKA laundry pile!) cleaned up last night I was able to squeeze in a little time at the craft desk, felt really good to exert a little creative energy before bedtime. Here is what I came up with:
A very quick CAS card. I colored the image in w/ some new Bic markers I picked up..I watched a few tutorials on You Tube to get me going in the right direction. Not too bad for a first timer hu?! Little different from the colored pencils I usually use, but I like it.
The image was a freebie a while back at Bugaboo & I LOVE it! SOOOO cute & fun. Of course now that I have found digi-stamping, Bugaboo is one of my favorite sights to stalk. The stamps are a set from The {Stamps} of Life, also one of my fave's!
I am entering on the following challenges:
The Crafty Ho's: use a Digi & regular stamps, plus optional sketch (I did it all!)
Sentimental Sunday: Easter or Spring
Totally Stampalicious: CAS
Going Grey with Scrap Creations: use a digi stamp
Catch the Bug: Easter

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Woo HOO! Its my Friday!!

Boy does it feeel good to be getting a little much needed time off! Yippee! Just a few more minutes & I am outta here! But first things first! Here is a lil fun somethin somthin I put together last night.
I used some colors I don't usually reach for & am pretty happy with how it turned out. With the way time is flying by, It will be Mother's Day before I know it! The image is from Bugaboo, I've said it a million times, I love her stuff! I colored in w/ my pencils & then used a blender pen w/ CTMH ink in Sky to shade around, added glossy accent to the butterflies & lady bugs. The flowers are Prima, brown pearls are Recollections from Michael's, not sure about the DP (I've been trying to use up scraps- makes it easier to buy new if the scrap pile is empty!) The sentiment tag/ticket is one I found while hopping around on Free Digital Stamps & I am sorry, I can't remember where it came from (when I first started the digi stamps, I didn't have a very good method of tracking things..much better about it now!)
I am entering on the following challenges:
Catch the Bug, 4 or more layers
Meljen's, 3 colors, 2 dp's, 1 bow
Pixie Cottage, sketch & for mother ( I did both)

And now I am off! I might be back later today.. I am going to play w/ my stamps at home this afternoon!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

My Favorite Colors

the card base is a pastel pink, does not show up very well in the photo. Think it was called "tutu pink"
Right now it seems like if I am going to be drawn to a certain color combo, it is this one! I just LOVE pink & lime green together! However after uploading my photos of this card, I am really thinking I need to figure out a better way capture the "real" look of my cards... Would an Ott light help? Let me know! (of course it would probably help if I were taking photos at a better time than midnight)
So anyhooo the I got this cute image from Whimsy Stamps, it is a Meljen's design. I have had an idea in my mind of what colors I wanted to dress it up in first & lucky me, those were the exact colors over at The Crafty Ho's this week: pink & spring green. So I used the Sweet Stop sketch #103 as my main "recipe" & started throwing thing together. I laced ribbon thru eyelettes to accent a couple of the layers & added a row of selfsticky bling to the punched out scalloped circle. I used pencils to color in the cake & then added some white soufle pen to the candles to add a little dimension & glossy accent on parts of the cake to make it look like real fondant accents popping out. The stamps are a set called happy2bcircles from The {Stamps} of Life, I used CTMH ink in Pear
I am also entering to the following challenges:
Catch the Bug, use 4 or more layers
Fab-n-Funky Spotty & Dotty (the dots on the cake plus there is pink polka dot & green polka dot dp)

Friday, April 8, 2011

Happy Bird Day!

This chick is such a fun one to color! I do so love all the stuff at Bugaboo! You should go over & check out all the fun digi's Jodie has to offer, there is something for ANY occasion!
 I have not been able to play along with The Crafty Ho's for a while now & I really wanted to this week. So I took the challenge "Scrappy Birthday" to heart. I only allowed myself to use scraps, & only the little ones I have been stashing away in an envelope. And to challenge myself even more, I decided not to use a sketch..to just attach wings & fly by the seat of my pants lol! The DP is mostly Imanginsce from a pack called "All Kinds of Happy" & I am not sure where the self sticky button came from.
I am also going to play along over at Totally Stampalocious where the theme is "Birthday" and at Catch the Bug

So happy Friday everyone! Woo Hoo! One step closer to the weekend

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Got Cake?!

I have a whole bunch o birthdays coming up so I am gearing up by getting to my card makin early.
I created the back ground by sponging on chalk in a dark purple, deep blue & medium pink & swirling & blending all together. The DP & "Got Cake" sticker is from an Imaninesce pack "All Kinds of Happy". The flowers are from Close to My Heart- they were white & I colored them by sponging on ink: Gypsy, CTMH & Almost Amethyst, SU. Sparkly flowers are ?- they were in my hoarders supply drawer & the pearls are Recollections from Michaels. The sweet lil gal is Gabrielle from Kraftin Kimmies Stamps. I used a few different medium for coloring her in... I used a blender pen w/ chalks for her dress & tea cup/saucer, an old zig pen meant for shading black & white photos (I found when I was cleaning out some of my stuff) to color her skin, a blender pen dipped in Ranger ind distressing ink for her hair (Vintage Photo & Fired Brick) & a pencil to give a little pink to her cheeks.
You will see this fun card posted at:
The Sweet Stop SSS102 Sketch
Papertake Weekly anything goes + something new (the flowers were new+new technique used to color them)
Bunny Zoe's Birthday +pearls (My first time playing along here)
By The Cute & Girly Something cute & girly
Card Makin' Mamas Embellish it -they are also looking for Guest Design Team members, think I will through my hat in for that too! :)

Woo hoo! So one down & about 5 more to go! I will have to burn the midnight oil & try to bust out a few "springy" cards I have ideas for floating around in my head to go along w/ the b-day cards.....(HA! Any one who knows my craftin & sleep habits knows I am usually always up till midnight or later every night who needs sleep?!)

Monday, April 4, 2011

A very simple Easter card

These great stamps are from a set from The {Stamps} of Life. I have had these in my handy, organized binder for quite sometime. (I know, I know SURPRISE!something on my craft desk is ACTUALLY organized!)  This was a very simple, fast card to make & I am not so sure why it has taken me so long to play with these, but I am glad I have! I think I will have to pull out a few more ribbon colors & make a big batch of these & send some love in the mail to all my family & friends..so many are far away & even tho I think of them often, life & schedules don't always cooperate with my intentions to keep in touch more often than at Christmas.
All of the ink I used is CTMH in Gypsy, Pear, Lagoon, Cotton Candy & Creme Brulee. I shaded in the text w/ a blender pen & the Cotton Candy ink & then matted it w/ a scrap of pink paper. Then I just added pink & green ribbon. Easy Peasy!
I am entering this to the following challenges:
The Pink Elephant Easter
Stamps R Us, Easter
Let's Ink It Up, Easter (no digi's)
Creative Cowgirls, Easter