Happy Fall

Hey bloggers! I'm back again today with another post. That's because I couldn't wait to show you this FUN and EASY technique I spotted over on the Spectrum Noir Blog - Stenciling with Spectrum Noir.

I followed the instructions to do the technique. I used a metal stencil with the following Spectrum Noir Markers:

• Red Leaf - CR6, CR8
• Yellow Leaf - GB3, OR1
• Tan Leaf - GB1, GB8
• Green Leaf - DG2, DG4

I added a couple little extra touches to the leaves :)  I ran the  piece with the stencil through my die cutting machine. Then, leaving the die in place, I added clear embossing ink to the raised leaf images. Next I removed the stencil, covered the leaves with clear embossing powder and heat embossed.

Sooo CAS cool! I think I wanna play with this technique all day long! I certainly have enough stencils to keep me busy for months ;)

I hope you give this technique a try. This is just 1 of many great ideas to check out on the Spectrum Noir Blog.

 

Products:
Spectrum Noir Markers: CR6, CR8, DG2, DG4, GB1, GB3, GB8, OR1 (Blender if needed)
Stencil: Close to My Heart
Cardstock: Crafter's Companion Kraft, A Muse Studio Squash and Fern, Bazzill
Ink: Memento Luxe Morocco
Misc: Clear Embossing Powder, Stampendous! Clear Embossing Ink Boss Gloss, Ribbon, Double Sided Foam Adhesive, Heat Embossing Gun, Die-cutting or Embossing Machine

April Rain Showers

Time for some House-Mouse fun!

House-Mouse Monday Challenge #143 - It's All About the Weather!
This week we have a great challenge for you.  Anything related to the weather.  ANY kind of weather that you like.  Just make sure your project includes at least 1 House-Mouse or HM Friends image.  Get all the details about the challenge, prizes up for grabs, AND see amazing design team samples on the blog HERE.

I decided to use a HUGE House-Mouse stamp called Special Delivery.  It's a stamp I borrowed from my moms collection.  Yes...my mom loves House-Mouse too! :)

     This pic looks a little blurry...but if you click on it and zoom in...it looks better.

I stamped the image on a Sky Blue cardstock base (from A Muse Studio) and colored a few of the flowers and leaves.  Then I stamped it again on white cardstock.  Most of the image is colored and cut from the white stamped piece.  All the coloring is done with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol.

      Click on the pics for a bigger picture to see more details.

I added White Pigment Gel Pen to the raindrops and then covered with clear glaze. While it was still wet I lightly dusted with Rock Candy loose glitter.  Then I added touches of the same glitter to the flowers.  Ahhhhh...I looooove my glitters! I even made cookies today...and sprinkled them with glitter!
  Nooo...NOT craft glitter...the kind you can eat

The sentiment is white embossed and comes from a set called April Word Puzzle from Close to my Heart.

Well...that's it for today.  Hope you have time to stamp this week.  I have a few more blog posts coming this week...so stay tuned!

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge

May Flowers

Good morning all you House Mouse Lovers :) Are ya ready for another fun challenge? Of COURSE you are! hee hee hee. This weeks challenge was provided by Judy Rozema.

House Mouse & Friends Challenge #38 - a Sketch

For the sketch - you can flip it, shrink it, rotate it etc. Just make sure to have at least 1 HM image on your creations. For all the challenge details & to see the great creations by the Design Team - click HERE.

The first thing that came to me when I saw this sketch was a big flower for the circle layer. Then I decided Take Time To Smell The Flowers with Muzzy was the perfect stamp to go with. Funny thing... I used this same stamp for another sketch challenge. (See it here).

I think this might be one of the biggest cards I've ever created -- 5 1/2" x 7" Heck...I think I might frame it & hang it up on my wall! The coloring was done with Prismacolor Pencils & Gamsol. All that beautiful paper and matching ribbon is from a Close to My Heart Project Pack that I have been hoarding. Yes...I hoard just like the rest of you :) Don't wanna use the good stuff for just anything....right?! Gotta save it for something "special" ha ha ha ha

Click the pic to see Fuzzy Muzzy up close :)

I hope you have time this week to create something fun using this sketch & your HM stamps.
Recipe:
Stamps - House-Mouse Designs Take Time To Smell The Flowers; Close to My Heart May Word Puzzle
Paper - Close to My Heart Promise of Spring Heart of Winter Prjoect Pack, Papertrey Ink White Cardstock
Ink - A Muse ArtStamps Black Dye; SU Perfect Plum Classic
Misc. - Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol OMS; Close to My Heart Button, SU 1/4" Circle Punch; EK Success 1 1/2" Circle Punch; Marvy Uchida Scalloped Circle and 6 Petal Flower Punches; Edge Distressor; Paper Piercing tools; Sanding Block; Dimensionals

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge Blog HERE

House-Mouse Designs Official Website HERE.

Tips on how you can easily color the House-Mouse Stamp Images HERE

House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge

I'm SEW happy it's Monday!

Your Monday Morning Kick Start this week with HM & Friends is gonna be great. Why? Because it's my idea! LOL. I know....I know....that's sew funny.....I have you in stitches don't I! ha! Yep....I'm a cheese ball! ha ha ha. Sew are you ready to play?! Have you figured out what the theme is yet?

House Mouse & Friends Challenge #6 - Stitching
We would like to see stitching of any kind on you work. Real stitching, faux stitching, stamped on stitching, a stamp that features stitching or even reference to stitching in the sentiment. It's entirely your choice what you make - card, lay out, atc, etc anything goes as long as it features at least one House Mouse or Friends image and follows this weeks theme. All the details for this weeks challenge and samples from the Design Team can be found HERE.

For my card I used a stamp that features sewing. I also stamped stitching around the edges. The sentiment is sew perfect! LOL I love how the colors work together. I think that patterned paper couldn't have been any more perfect!



This House Mouse stamp is called Perfect Fit and features Amanda & Maxwell. Amanda has been on a couple of my other cards (here & here) but this is the first time for Maxwell. Maxwell is reddish-brown and has a perpetually curled tail. He's a little prankster.

I stamped the image again, colored, cut out the sewing machine and popped it up on dimensionals. Looks sew cool! (OK....I'll stop with the "sew" humor)



These stamps are so much fun to color. Don't forget that you can click on the pics to zoom in and really check it out :) Hey....if you have a Hobby Lobby in your area....they have House Mouse & Friends stamps...AND...this week they are on sale for 50% OFF. Yep! That's right!!! Sept 22 - 27th. I'm SEW going there TODAY! (sorry...I had to do it!)

Recipe:
Stamps - House-Mouse Designs Perfect Fit (Amanda & Maxwell), Close To My Heart Simple Stitches
Paper - Papertrey Ink White cardstock, Bazzill cardstock, Creative Imaginations Sonnets Patterned Paper Terra Cotta Paisley
Ink - Tsukineko Versafine Black
Misc. - Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol OMS, Making Memories Button Brads, EK Success Jolee's Boutique Pin Cushion, SU Dimensionals; Red Sticky Strip, Misc Ribbon

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge Blog HERE.
House-Mouse Designs Official Website HERE.
Tips on how you can easily color the House-Mouse Stamp Images HERE.

2-Sketch Challenge!

A-Muse-A-Palooza Challenge #4

This A-Muse-A-Palooza challenge is by Tish. She gave us 2 Sketches for this Challenge. I love doing challenges because they give you a starting point for making a card. Usually when I see a sketch I'll immediately think of a stamp that I want to use. The part that takes me the longest is picking out paper and colors!!

Sketch 1 Card

The black and white strip is a piece of ribbon. I don't know if you can see it...but I put clouds in the sky with a new cloud stencil set I got from Great Impressions. (click the pic to zoom in) I used SU Bashful Blue ink to sponge for the clouds. The stencils work really good! Main image is popped up on dimensionals. Head light and Tail light is colored in with Red Copic Spica Glitter Pen. This card is 5 x 5.

Sketch 2 Card

Since it's almost 4th of July...I used Red, White and Blue for my colors. I love how bright & fresh these colors look! The main image is up on dimensionals. This card is 3 1/2 x 5. Isn't this one SO CUTE!!

You can see all the details for this challenge and links to all the cards HERE.

Recipe Card 1
Stamps -A Muse Simple Wishes, A Muse Baby Wishes; CTMH Happy Birthday
Paper - SU Black Textured CS; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Ink - Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black; SU Bashful Blue Classic
Misc - Misc Ribbon; Prismacolor Markers; Copic Red Spica Glitter Pen; Great Impressions Stamping in the Clouds Stencil Set; Dimensionals; Marvy Uchida Circle Punches
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Recipe Card 2
Stamps - A Muse Simple Wishes; A Muse Animal Wishes
Paper - GP White CS; SU Brilliant Blue DP; SU Real Red CS
Ink -Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc - Copic and Prismacolor Markers; Marvy Uchida Punches; Small Corner Rounder; SU Word Window Punch; Dimensionals

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.

Easter Blessings

Holly Berry House Stamps

You ever heard of Holly Berry House stamps? I never did till I went to my favorite stamp store the other day - Stamp Works. That's where I saw this awesome stamp. This is a very large stamp, but it was super easy to ink up and stamp with. Wonderful quality!



The last thing I had on my wish list that day was an Easter stamp....but there was NO WAY I could resist this one! And she only had 1 of these left....so FOR SURE I had to get it before someone else did! ha ha. AND it was the 20th so I got 20% off!



Naturally I had to pick out a couple pieces of paper to go with it. When I found some patterned paper from Bella Press I knew this was going to be an awesome card. I couldn't wait to get home and create!



Recipe:
The card is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. Cardbase is Bazzill Textured cardstock. Image stamped with Black Stazon on Stampin'UP! Very Vanilla. Colored in with 3 colors of Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol - Henna PC1031 (matches SU Cranberry Crisp) Sandbar Brown PC 1094 (matches the patterned paper) and Cream PC 914 (matches SU Very Vanilla). I did use my Clear Spica Glitter Pen on the bunnies for just a little shimmer. Cut out egg and layered on SU Cranberry Crisp cardstock. I used my Layer Ease to trace around the egg. Stampin'UP! had them in the catalog a few years back. Some stores carry them still....they are called Magic Matters. The little round stickers on the egg are from Stampendous and are called Dot Sparkles. They didn't stick at all...I'm thinking because the colored pencils are like waxy...so I just dabbed a tiny bit of Crystal Effects on them to attach. THAT was really time comsuming, but worth the work! The Flower in the middle of the egg is made up of 2 paper flowers from CTMH and a punched flower from Cranberry Crisp CS. French Vanilla Brad in the middle from Bazzill. Patterned paper is from Bella Press - Chandler Collection. Used my SU Ticket Corner punch on the corners and then layered it on Cranberry Crisp cardstock. Little Black Brads in the corners and attached it to the base. Attached the Egg Layer to base with Dimensionals. Stamped Easter Blessings from SU Fancy Flexible Phrases set in Black on bottom corner. Grossgrain ribbon from SU - True Thyme and Cranberry Crisp. Attached ribbon with glue dots.

Birthday Butterfly

Happy Birthday Sis!

Here's a card I just sent off to my new Sister-In-Law. I hope she likes it! On the inside I stamped the word Sister!

Recipe:
Stamps - Butterfly from Stampendous; Saying from Close To My Heart; Stampin'UP! Petite Patterns stamped on cardbase.
Paper - Pretty In Pink, Lavender Lace and Whisper White cardstock from Stampin'UP! Patterned Paper DCWV Poises Glitter Print Violet Squiggle Poises.
Ink - Versamark and I can't remember what color I used to stamp Happy Birthday...sorry! I used 3 colors on the butterfly....can't remember what colors I used there...I'm bad! I also used a couple different colors of ink and inked up the purple layer under the butterfly. I wanted it to blend in more with he patterned paper and give it a softer look.
Misc - After stamping cardbase background stamp in Versamark, I smeared White Shimmer Chalk all over and got a really cool shimmer effect. I used a glue pen to trace on the butterfly and sprinkle with glitter. Pink Swarovski flat back crystals were attached with Crystal Effects. Those crystals really add a nice bling! Butterfly layer is attached with dimensionals. The rest is pretty self explanatory :)

Happy Valentine's Day

LOVE

1 Cor 13:13 says, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

What does it mean to LOVE? "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails,” Cor. 13:4-8.

Here are some pics of our fun Valentine's Day. Can you feel the love? :)

This next picture is of Michaela playing Valentine Bingo at school. She was so happy when she got to call out that she had BINGO! Look at the picture and see how she used the same color of M&M's in each separate row. I thought that was interesting...and I didn't notice any other child that did that.

Another bit of exciting news that happened on this Valentine's Day is my brother got married!! Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend. This is the card I sent to him and my new sister-in-law. I can't wait to see pictures of their big day!

Recipe: Stamps from CTMH . Silver Bazzill Cardstock for the Base and the black layer is Bazzill Bling in Black. It's really cool looking. I used my Scor-it board to emboss around the edges. Real Red Cardstock from Stampin' UP! Swarovski Crystals added some awesome sparkle. Clear Embossing Powder on the flower and stem, Silver Embossing Powder on the word.

For My Honey

Guess who this card is for....

My wonderful hubby :) He doesn't get it till tomorrow.....so SHHHHHH....don't tell him I posted it here!

I'm not gonna give all the details for making this one. I used so many shades of colored pencils, markers, inks etc that I don't think I could remember it all. Yep...one of those experiments! Everytime I put a color down on this image...it was not what I wanted so I just kept adding on more! You ever have that happen? I usually start with white cardstock to stamp an image on...but this time I didn't.....so I'm thinking that the colored CS is what threw me. And when I put the Crystal Effects on to create the Honey effect....some of the ink colors under it got a lot brighter. The good news is I really like how it turned out. :)

Most of the images are Close to My Heart stamps.

My first Criss Cross Card

60 is better than 1!

One of the many things I've been doing this past week is making baby shower invitations. I got the idea for this card from Amanda. Check out Amanda's card HERE -- it's awesome! Click HERE for a wonderful Criss Cross Card Tutorial by Beate Johns on SCS. These are super easy to make and are tooooo cute!

My first Criss Cross Card isn't just 1 card.....it's 60 of them! :) Fun Fun Fun!!



I noticed after taking the pic above that the insert for the card wasn't in perfectly straight for the Kodak Moment! Oops! The pic below is the insert pulled out slightly so you can see it a little better.



The envelopes I ran through the printer for the return address. I set the text RGB color for the invitations and envelopes to match StampinUP Chocolate Chip Ink. Check out Marni's Blog StampMonkeys for all the codes to match SU Colors. Can you see the prego mom I stamped? Click on the pic to see it bigger and closer. Totally cute!! It's a stamp from MissyB Designs. I stamped it with Tsukineko VersaMagic Pixie Dust. "You're invited" and "Welcome Little One" are stamped using SU Chocolate Chip Classic.



Here's the rest of my "secrets" for the card :)

Paper: American Crafts -Baby Gretel (Dots) and Little Lamb (Stripes); White, Brown and Pink Cardstock from Bazzill

Ribbon: American Crafts - Baby; Unknown for the Pink stuff

Stamps: StampinUP! - Riveting (Welcome Little One); CTMH - Simple Invites (You're invited)

Punches: StampinUP! - Scalloped Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle

Inks: StampinUP! - Classic Chocolate Chip; Tsukineko VersaMagic - Pixi Dust

I used Dimensionals to pop-up the brown circle from the scalloped circle and again for the Welcome Little One circle up off the brown circle. I didn't wrap the brown and white bands all the way round. They are 5 1/2" strips - brown is 1" and white is 3/4".

I had to hold myself back from using brads & other girlie sparkly stuff cause these are being mailed. Who knows what that would have done for the postage!

My New Purse

Check these out!

The Pretty Purse and Matching Wallet


I could hardly wait to make these items when I received my Pretty Purse Template in the mail. Now that I've finished one.....I can't wait to start on another! I love making stuff like this!

The Pretty Purse Template is from Snooks and Boo. She also had a couple more templates that are way cool too. I love how these templates fit perfect on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper or cardstock.

The wallet fits perfectly into the purse. I used double-sided designer paper from Stampin' UP! TOTALLY CUTE!

And when you open the wallet and look inside -- TADA -- a perfect place for that gift card or even cash. Yep...real monies! LOL Who wouldn't want some of that :) The wallet pattern is posted on the Snooks and Boo website.

Of course you don't have to put a wallet in the purse. I'm sure all you crafters out there will come up with tons of ideas for using these adorable purses and wallets! The wallet has plenty of space to add a few more inserts and would make a cute mini photo album!

Here's some of the details from my project:
Double-sided cardstock works great. Stampin' UP! has great designer paper that works perfect. The gift card holder is a Horizontal Badge Holder. I found them in the office supply section at Walmart. Mine were a little big for the wallet measurement on the website. I added 1/4" and it worked perfect. To hold the flaps closed I cut little square pieces of Velcro and used the Red Tacky Tape to stick them to the paper. That stuff is great! The brown strips were dry embossed to get the bumps. The flowers are from Close to My Heart. The rhinestones are glued down with Zip Dry. I also used the red tacky tape to stick the flowers down as well. You really need to use a good glue or tape to hold the purse together. I use double sided sticky tape from 3M in an ATG 714 tape dispenser gun. You can sometimes find them at a local scrapbook store or on-line. Snail Adhesive isn't gonna work for this!

That's pretty much it for the Pretty Purse. If you get this template I would love to see pics of your finished purse. So what are you waiting for....order your template and get started!
Thanks for stopping in and looking :)

OUCH!

Get Well Card for Michaela

A couple days ago, Michaela tripped and tumbled down on the floor and hit her head. As I was comforting her I said "How about I make you a Get Well card?" Of course she said yes! :)

As the day went on I got reminded SEVERAL times with the question "When you gonna make me a Get Well card?" I waited until she was sleeping and then put it on her nightstand. It was the first thing she noticed when she woke up the next morning! She came right into my room and said Thank You!! It was SO CUTE! And she also said "that was a lot of hard work wasn't it." Well, after her careful inspection of my craft work...she pointed out the boo-boos that I made! LOL Can you find them?

Supplies used for this 5" x 5" card: Stamps are from Inky Antics, Savvystamps, Close to My Heart and Stampin' UP! Inks used were Stampin' UP! Craft & VersaMark. Stampin' Write Marker from Stampin' UP!

I embossed the image on the front and colored it with Prismacolor Colored Pencils. Blended them with Gamsol Magic and blending stumps. I used Crystal Effects on the nose of both the dog and cat. The dots background was stamped with VersaMark and embossed. All the letters stamped and the bandaid were stamped with Craft Ink and then embossed. The shading done under the dogs feet was done with Sahara Sand Marker from Stampin' UP!

Break Out Those Hinges!

Ok....I promise these are the last pics of the "DAD" items. But I wanted to share how awesome they look connecting them with hinges instead of ribbon!! These 2 were made with 3 x 3 chipboard alphabets.

I would have posted them sooner....but I didn't want the "boys" to see them before they got them :)