Another Year Older

Birthday Fun

Michaela "made" me stay in my craft room (ya...right) so she and daddy could set up a surprise birthday party for me. It was hard...but I managed! LOL Anywho....here are some pics from yesterday's event.


Gotta have those Birthday Hugs!


The Sweet Stuff is a MUST! Yummy Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Yes...I sampled each different kind!


This charm bracelet was sent to me from my dad and step-mom. It was my grandma's. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to receive this! You can see the charm that has my name and birthday engraved on it. I blurred out the year....you'll never know! LOL I remember my grandma wearing this when I was a kid. It was always fun to look at all the charms.


This card came from my dad and step-mom. It's beautiful!
Don't forget you can click all the pics and see them bigger.

This next group of cards came from my A Muse Addicts friends. I joined a BRAK group on amuseaddicts.com (Birthday Random Act of Kindness) just this month and these ladies didn't miss sending a card to me! I waited till my birthday to open all of them up. Thanks ladies! I'm listing the stampers name under each card and a link to their blog or gallery if they have one.


Kim - Fresh Air Crafting


Dawn - earlymorning


Donna


Pamela - A Place for Attempted Creativity


Connie


Jo Ann - Jo Ann F.

Thank you everyone for making my birthday extra special!

Birthday Boys

Best Fishes

I made this card for my grandson using a layout from the Gina K Release Party. To see the party details and challenge information click here.



Cardbase is 5 x 5. I stamped the fish with Brilliance Pigment Ink and embossed with SU Iridescent Ice EP. The sparkle cardstock is from Doodlebug. Waves paper is from Flair Designs - Making Waves from the Hit the Beach Collection. I attached the Dew Drops and the little googly with Crystal Effects. Hand doodling with black micron pen around borders and on fish. The main square and fish are popped up on Dimensionals. I love how this card sparlkes!



Recipe
Stamps - Gina K Designs Tag, You're It!; CTMH Funky Fish.
Paper - SU Green Galore, Whisper White; Flair Designs Hit the Beach Collection, Doodlebug Glitter Cardstock.
Inks - Tsukineko Versafine Black; Tsukineko Brilliance Peacock
Misc. - SU Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder; Black Micron Pen; Robins Nest Dew Drops - Water collection; SU Dimensionals; SU Crystal Effects; Dimensionals; SU Glue Dots, 1/2 in and 5/8 in circle punches in circle punches

Birthday Camping

This card was for my son-in-law (dad to my grandson who got the card above). They are going camping this weekend so I though this would be appropriate :)



Cardbase is 5 x 5. Everything is stamped on SU Naturals Ivory CS except for the tent which is stamped on SU Basic Gray. Trees and grass stamped with ColorBox Olive Pastel Chalk Ink. I stamped the tent with Versamark and embossed with Clear Deep Impression powder from Stampendous to give it a rustic bumpy look. I also used a gray marker that was a little darker to shadow the inside opening of the tent (hard to see in pic). Log stamped with SU Basic Brown Classic ink and colored in a little with Prismacolor Marker Cinnamon toast. Paper piecing on the top log and popped up on Dimensionals. Sleeping Bag is also up on Dimensional and stamped with Versamark then embossed with Brown EP. Details colored in with green marker. I colored direct on to the Flame Stamp with SU Red, Yellow and Orange Markers. Went over some of the flame with Spica Clear Glitter Pen and then softened it up a bit with Cream Prismacolor Pencil. Look how cool the Marshmallows are puffed with Liquid Applique :)



Recipe:
Stamps - SU Roughing It, Pines, Gina K Tag, You're It; SU Definitely Decorative Pine.
Paper - Bazzill Brown card stock; SU Naturals Ivory CS; SU Basic Gray CS.
Inks - Versamark; SU Basic Brown Classic; Prismacolor Marker Cinnamon toast; Gray Marker; SU Red, Yellow and Orange Markers; Clearsnap ColorBox Olive Pastel Chalk Ink.
Misc. - Stampendous Clear Deep Impression Embossing Powder; Stampendous Brown Embossing Powder; Copic Spica Glitter Pen Clear; Prismacolor Pencil Cream; Liquid Applique; Eyelets; Ribbon, Edge Distresseer; Hold Puncher; Eyelet Setter.

Margarita Chill

Summer Scents

This week has really heated up here in the Phoenix area. Today it may reach 110!! I decided it was time to burn one of my favorite summer candles - Margarita Chill. Yep...that's right...I said Margarita :) In this heat I will do ANYTHING to cool off!! LOL I burn candles all year round....and with Gold Canyon having seasonal candle selections it's easy to pick something. Margarita Chill is a Summer Season candle -- and it's refreshingly tart PERFECT!

This scent is a combination of fresh lime, lemon and hints of tequila. Bottom notes of Tahitian vanilla give summer's most popular cocktail a unique, fragrant spin.

Warning - This candle will not leave you with a hang-over! ha ha! I couldn't resist :)

They also have 2 new Outdoor Citronella candles that smell awesome!! These candles contain citronella to help repel insects.

Papaya Passion - A zesty tropical fruit concoction filled with papaya, passion fruit and sun-warmed citron with citronella petals, hibiscus, vanilla and precious woods.

Jasmine Lime - A unique combination of sweet floral and tangy citrus. Burn this one throughout the evening to add extra pizzazz to your outdoor party!

For more info on Gold Canyon candles and products visit my website http://www.mygc.com/sugarcookiecandle

Did you see these from last year?

Fathers Day Gift Idea

I posted a couple Fathers Day projects last year and thought I would link to them in case someone is looking for ideas. These Dad Chipboard Photo Frames turned out really cute and can be made for all sorts of occassions!

Click on the link below - or you can click on the Fathers Day link under the "Labels" section down the left side of the blog page.

Fathers Day Gifts

My world beyond stamping

Is there life outside the craft room?

Of course! Here's a video I put together to share some pics from my backyard paradise and pics from Mother's Day. The video is about 4 minutes long. The quality is not so good loading a video on blogger. Don't know why other than it reduces it to a small video player mode or something. On my computer in normal mode it's awesome. Oh well....hope you enjoy it anyhow.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Staceyfishabella is Dropping You A Line.

I made this for Bella Sketch Challenge 28 on Splitcoaststampers.

I love how this card just "feels" cool and fresh with Bella in these colors. Stampin'UP River Rock Double-Sided Designer Paper is awesome! I wish I had all the colors of that stuff. Oh what I could do with all those colors! ha ha ha. OK....I can dream right?!



For the ground and water I just picked up ink color from the ink pad lids with my Blender Pen and colored with it. All layers of main image attached with dimensional. Flowers punched from Blue Bayou and Dew Drop attached to middle with Crystal Effects.



Recipe: Stamps: Stamping Bella Staceyfishabella and Sentiment.
Paper: GP White Cardstock; SU River Rock Double-Sided Designer Paper; SU River Rock and Blue Bayou Cardstock.
Ink: Ranger Adirondack - Pitch Black; Prismacolor Markers PM-196 Wheat, PM-48 Light Cerulean Blue, PM-132 Jasmine (hair), PM-199 Mocha Light (worm), PM-102 Warm Grey 40% (fishing pole), PM-114 Cool Grey 70% (sole of boots), Copic Marker E00 Skin White (Bella's skin; Sentiment is stamped in Black Versafine.
Misc: Stickles - Platinum (on ground)and Waterfall (on water and blue parts on Bella); Robins Nest Dew Drops; Paper Piercing tool and template.

More cards done for this challenge HERE.

Altered Pail

Paper Flowers for Mom

I found rectangular pail tins in the Dollar Zone at Target. I also found a few other goodies too! If you ever see cool stuff there you better get it when you see it...cause if you go back it will be GONE! Target has really fun stuff in the dollar zone - but it changes all the time. I decorated this one up for my mom for Mother's Day. I really like how it turned out.

Don't forget you can click on the pics to zoom in and see the details :)

The back of the tin I used stickers to spell mom and attached rhinestones.

The "mom" marker I made from another Dollar Zone item. It was a pack of 5 Plant Markers. The paper can be easily removed and used on a scrapbook page or other fun crafting project. Then the Plant Marker can be used again as well.



On both sides I attached Photo Hangers and tied on pieces of ribbon. I made this Metal Rimmed Tag and tied it on the side. This too can be easily removed and used on another project.

I altered one of those huge paper clips by attaching ribbons and metal rim tags. Again, the metal rim tags can be removed and used on another project.

This is the reverse side of the Chipboard Flower. It's hanging on wire that I twisted up by hand. Chipboard Flower can be used as a key chain, hung in a window or maybe on the side of a scrapbook tote bag. The wire can also be re-used.



A little "so us!" sign tucked in the grass is ready to be used on another paper crafting project along with all the other goodies tucked in the pail.



I hope my mom enjoys crafting with all her new little goodies.

My First Tear Bear

Flat and Fuzzy

Have you ever seen Tear Bears? You make them out of Mulberry paper. I saw them posted on SCS by khara. She has a galley on SCS - Tear Bears by Tender Spirit Greetings. Adorable!! I didn't think they were all that easy...but it's probably one of those things that the more you make the easier they get.

Here's my first bear which I used on the card.



I like scruffy looking bears...so I didn't trim off all those little paper hairs :) After I took the pics I added a little white spot on their nose. You can see it in the card. Before I attached the bear to the card...I glued it to a piece of Ivory cardstock that I cut out to match its shape. I didn't want the patterned paper to show through.



Well...what ya think? I think they are adorable!

Recipe:
Card base is 5" x 5". The Mom's Best image is cut out of a piece of patterned paper from the What's Cooking Collection by Fair Designs. It's called Farmer's Market. The dotted paper is called Prairie Dot and is from the the Horsin' Around Collection by Fair Designs as well. I stamped the cardbase with SU Linen Background stamp and also the layer piece that has the little clip on it. Check out that tiny clip! Remember those from SU? Cute!

Recipe:
Stamps - SU Linen Background; SU Treat Yourself.
Paper - SU Very Vanilla Cardstock; SU So Saffron CS; Bazzill brown textured Cardstock; Fair Designs Patterned Paper What's Cooking Collection, Horsin' Around Collection.
Ink - Clearsnap Colorbox Chalk Ink.
Misc - SU Ribbon; SU Tiny Clip; Making Memories Brads; Edge Distressor; SU Paper Piercing tool and guide; Dimensionals.
Tear Bear - Mulberry Paper; Brown Chalk; EK Success Paw Print Paper Shapers punch for the eyes and nose; White Gel Pen; Micron Marker for details.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Watercolor Crayons & Stickles

Another Beautiful Flower Stamp.

This Hibiscus stamp is new from Penny Black. Since I totally love hibiscus flowers I had to have this stamp. I can totally give a reason for EVERY stamp I have purchased or still want to purchase! Can you relate? LOL There's ALWAYS something that makes that stamp or stamp set a "gotta have it" item. Don't ya love it!! hee hee hee I made this card is for my MIL.




I stamped the card base with StampinUP's Sanded Background stamp using Versamark. The sentiment is stamped using SU Going Gray Classic and I went over the swirls with a Clear Spica Glitter Pen. For the Hibiscus I colored directly on the stamp with SU Watercolor Crayons. Then I spritzed the stamp with a fine mist of water before stamping on SU Naturals White Cardstock. After it was all dry I put Stickles Glitter Glue all over the flower - Star Dust on the yellow, Eucalyptus on the green and Fruit Punch on the rest. How nice to have so many colors of Stickles to choose from...right here in my craftroom! Yep...HAD to have all those different colors of Stickles! LOL

Recipe:
Stamps - Penny Black Hibiscus; SU All Holidays; SU Sanded Background Stamp
Paper - SU Naturals White, Pretty In Pink, Mint Melody, Going Gray Cardstock
Ink - SU Going Gray Classic; Versamark
Misc - SU Watercolor Crayons; Ranger Stickles Stardust, Eucalyptus, Fruit Punch; Copic Spica Clear Glitter Pen; Edge Distresser; Dimensionals; misc ribbon.

If you want to see real Hibiscus Flowers from my yard click here.

Dry Embossing

Where is your light box?

Does anyone ever do dry embossing with brass stencils and a light box anymore? Well I got mine out the other day and made this. I have one of those Merry Glo Round's and really like it.

OK...I admit it...I don't have any embossing folders with a dots background that I could just quickly run through my die-cut machine. I've been seeing lots of cute stuff made with the Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing plate. Since I don't have it, I made due with this. It's still fun to play with the brass templates...but they are time consuming.

Recipe:

Stamps - Penny Black Zoophabet; (eeek! I can't remember where the friends one came from)

Paper - SU Bliss Blue, Very Vanilla and Close To Cocoa CS; Image Stamped on SU Whisper White.

Ink - Ranger Adirondack Pitch Black; Prismacolor markers.

Misc. - Marvy Uchida Punchs; Lasting Impressions Brass Stencil L9351; Copic Spica Glitter Pen (on butterfly); Inkssentials White Opaque Pen (for dots on scallop oval); SU Grossgrain Ribbon; Dimensionals.

Techniques - Hand dry embossing for dots and hand doodling for grass

How much are your cards worth?

Priceless

I'm not gonna tell who this card is for -- cause she might look here and it will spoil the surprise! Isn't this stamp too fun! You could have all kinds of sayings with it. It's from Penny Black and is called "chic chick." The sentiment stamp is from Stamping Bella.



I put Crystal Effects on the nose.....er...umm...beak! LOL It looks cool. Notice I didn't put ANY sparkle or glitter on this one. Do you think it needs some? hummm....not really sure. I also used more of that paper from my HUGE supply that I got at Costco. I think it's like the My Minds Eye series or something?? I wish it was the thicker double-sided stuff. Oh well.



I got the idea for this card from jojot on SCS last year. Finally got around to ordering the Penny Black stamp not too long ago. Now...let me see...if I add up all the supplies needed for this card it would cost....hummm....OH I'm SURE I'm saving money!

Recipe:
Stamps - Penny Black chic chick; Stamping Bella sentiment.
Paper - SU Marigold Morning and Naturals White CS; Bazzill Textured CS; misc patterned paper.
Inks - Ranger Adirondack Pitch Black; SU Marigold Morning Classic; Prismacolor markers; (I forget what brown ink I used.)
Mics. - Bazzill Flower; SU Photo Corners Punch; SU Spiral Punch; Edge Distressing tool; Misc. Rhinestone Brad; Dimensionals.

Kitty Has Candy

Go check out Kittys Krafty Blog! She has some good stash to give away...and there is a Bella stamp in there! Hurry up...she is gonna draw a winner Wed May 7th!!

Michaela's First Color Challenge

Our Saturday Evening Stamping Party

The last time I did a card challenge, Michaela (my 7 year old baby) said she would like to give it a try. Well naturally I'm excited to have her join the fun! So I set her and I up to do a Color Challenge from the Bella Forum on Splitcoaststampers. The colors to use were any shades of Yellow, Orange and a Neutral. I let Michaela read the post in the forum so she knew what the rules were. I showed her pics that were already posted in the gallery so she could see samples. She even left a comment on one :) Let the Party Begin!!

Michaela went for the bright colors.



She decided to use Watercolor Pencils. That was good...until she said she wanted to stamp Bella on this cheap yellow cardstock. This is where I had to let it go (breath in through the nose..and out through the mouth) and let her experiment. I knew what would happen with a 7 year old using a BLENDER PEN on cheap cardstock! HELLO! When Michaela started blending Bellas hair, she learned pretty fast that you can't blend much at all on this cheap stuff. Bella looked like she had a really bad hair day! The moisture chews up the paper...leaving a nice fuzzy mess. She stamped the Bellas again (yes...on the SAME yellow cs) and gave it another try. She wasn't able to blend the color as much as she would have liked, but she accomplished her goal of having these Bellas on this yellow paper. She also used a Basic Black marker and Copic Spica Glitter Pens all over for that girly sparkle that we all know is necessary :) She was really happy with her card and totally excited to get it POSTED! ha!

Am I boring you yet? LOL

Now for my card. Step aside and let a pro show you how it's done. Yeah....RIGHT!! Read on...



I started out doing the same image as Michaela (on good white cs). I had it stamped and all colored in. But all I could think about was Halloween! My Bellas looked like 3 freaks dressed up as candy corns!! It was BAD! This is where "I" had to let it go (again - breath in through the nose..and out through the mouth) and toss my....ummm...masterpiece aside. Second try - I picked HuggyBellas and went with softer shades. Of course Michaela was now DONE with her card...now watching me attempt to figure out what I was gonna do. Go figure! HA! I ended up putting Michaela down for the night and coming back later to finish up my card - like a true pro! LOL

The most important part of our little stamp party was being together. Michaela got to learn a few new things from mom (the pro)...hummm...and I got to enjoy watching my baby use her creativity. Now I look at my card and see it was meant to be....Huggybellas. Michaela LOVES to hug. Michaela is my Huggybella. We are Huggybellas. It's perfect :)



Recipe:
Stamps: Stamping Bella - Huggybellas, not so bored, need a hug?
Paper: SU Apricot Appeal, Barely Banana and Whisper White CS; Bazzill Textured CS- Brown.
Ink: SU Classic Ink - Basic Brown , SU Markers - Apricot Appeal and Barely Banana; Versamark Marker; Copic Marker - Skin White.
Misc: Copic Spica Glitter Pen - Clear; SU Crystal Effects; Robins Nest Dew Drops; SU Oval Punches; SU Dimensionals.
Techniques: Paper Piecing done on the dress and shirt.

Bella Color Challenge #26 info click here.
Click here to see all the cards posted on SCS Gallery for this challenge.

My Lucky Day

Presents for ME?! :)

How A Musing
Last Saturday I participated in the A Muse VMAA Party. Anyone who participated and posted their cards had a chance to win prizes. Of course I checked several times to see who won. But I guess I didn't look close enough...cause I MISSED MY OWN NAME! Imagine how surprised I was when I received a package of A Muse goodies in the mail today!!

I received 2 sets of clear stamp - Circle Frames and Cowboy Frames, a 10 pack of Notecards and Envelopes as well as some matching ribbon. WAY CUTE!!

BUT WAIT... Yet more surprises today!
Michaela made a cute Dragonfly pin and gifted it to me :) How sweet it that! Stamps and jewelry on the same day!

Michaela made this out of a clear plastic cutout. She used Crystal Effects and attached googly eyes, microbeads and glitters. When it was dry she attached a pin on the back. She did all this on her own. Then she walked over to me and pinned it on my shirt and gave me a HUGE hug & kiss and said I Love You Momma..this is for you! MELT MY HEART!!

So you see...it truly was my lucky day :)

My First Shadow Box Card

Now THIS is a card I really like.

I've been wanting to make one of these Shadow Box cards for quite some time. Then I ran across a tutorial on Cami's Blog. She has step by step instructions with pictures. Making this card was so much fun! Of course the card Cami made is adorable!

I created this card for the Thursday Weekly Challenge on SCS called Ways to Use It. This time it was to make a card with some pleats or ruffles. I used my crimper and made a little fence. I sponged StampinUP Going Gray classic ink on it to gives it sort of a steel look. Turned out really cool - especially with those screw brads.

If you click on the closeup below you can see the gray on the fence better. I also stamped and colored some grass across the bottom of the inside.

This next pic I took looking down from the outside. You can see the litte grass down there on the bottom. Kind of how grass would grow up next to a fence.

The main image is from Penny Black stamped on SU Naturals White and colored in with SU Watercolor Pencils & Dove Blender Pen. Edges on both scallops are sponged with Charcoal Chalk Ink.

From this next view you can see the chicken wire background on the inside. How CUTE is that!! I stamped the Chicken Wire in SU Going Gray Classic ink. Using my Stamp-a-ma-jig made it easy to lined up.

Card front is SU Naturals White. I stamped chicken wire on the sides and stamped flowers from main image on sides too. The patterned paper on front and inside layer is from one of those huge packs from Costco. Scalloped circle frame on the front is hand cut (poor me - I don't have nestabilities!). Doodling with black Micron and sponged edges. I also sanded the top of the little pewter flower brad for a different look.

Recipe:
Stamps: Penny Black Suprise; Inky Antics Chicken Wire; Hero Arts Hello There; Rubber Stampede Grass
Paper: SU Naturals White, Wild Wasabi; misc patterned paper
Ink: Ranger Adirondack Pitch Black; SU Going Gray; Clearsnap Colorbox Chalk Charcoal & Olive Pastel; SU Watercolor Pencils; Dove Blender Pen; Micron Pen
Misc: SU Word Window Punch; Marvy Uchida Scallop Punchs; Fiskars Circle Cutter; Scalloped Paper Scissors; Stamp-a-ma-jig; Fiskars Crimper; misc brads.

More WT164 -Ways to Use It Challenge cards here.

The Return of Arte Y Pico
The other day I was checking out blog links from a forum on SCS when I landed at Stephanie's Stampin' Spot. (OK that totally sounded like I'm on a space ship or something! ha!) Stephanie's blog header pic is so darn cute! It makes me smile from ear to ear! Stephanie has really cute stuff! :) Not only does she shares her crafts, she shares in a personal way...like she is standing there talking to you.

Stephanie was so sweet to name me on her blog for the Arte Y Pico Award. It always feels good to know others enjoy our creations and appreciate the time we put into sharing through our blog. I'm going to be a little bit of a cheater again. Since I just recently got this award (here) I ask that you visit Stephanie's blog and leave some nice coments. Sound fair enough? Enjoy Stephanie's Stampin' Spot.