Rain or Shine

Good morning friends! Today starts a new challenge over at House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge Blog...and I'm the hostess.

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #213 - Rain or Shine
I can't wait to see what YOU come up with for my theme. Get creative as you want with your House-Mouse & Friends images. Click HERE for challenge details, rules and prize info.

I had the perfect stamp for this challenge theme.

This stamp pretty much takes up the entire front of an A2 card. To get it layered, I did trim it down just a tad. You all know how much I love glitter and bling, so I added glossy accents to the raindrops and sprinkled crystal glitter on top. It's soooo sparkly!

The sentiment is from Great Impressions. It worked out perfectly with this stamp for the challenge. I colored everything (even the little wooden hearts) with my Spectrum Noir Blendable Pencils.

Spectrum Noir Blendable Colored Pencils:

• Flowers, Leaves, Stems - 014, 056, 058, 023, 026, 118
• Mailbox Wood Post - 094, 108
• Mailbox - 112, 114, 118, 120
• Skin - 005, 009, 008
• Fur - 087, 088, 094, 103, 108, 110
• Sky - 074
• Wood Hearts - 023, 026

Hop on over the the House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge Blog to see all the other design team projects. They are amazing...and I'm sure you will be inspired!

Our generous sponsor for this challenge is STAMPENDOUS!

Winner will receive a Fabulous $20 Value Reward Card

Need help coloring the House-Mouse mice? Check out the tutorial I did a while back over on the Spectrum Noir Blog.

I can't wait to see what YOU come up with for my challenge theme!

Supplies:
House-Mouse Designs - Special Delivery Stamp
Stickable Stamps by Great Impressions - #D504S Sentiment Stamp
Spectrum Noir Blendable Colored Pencils
Spectrum Noir Blending Solution
Spectrum Noir Blending Stumps
Spectrum Noir Paper Stumps File
Spectrum Noir Pencil Sharpener
Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock
Stitched Die
Freckled Fawn Wood Embellishments
Ranger Multi-Matte Medium
A Muse Studio Grass Cardstock
Bazzill Grey Cardstock
Memento Tuxedo Black Dye Ink
Versafine Onyx Black Ink
Glossy Accents
Crystal Glitter
Dimensional Foam Adhesive
Die-cutting/Embossing Machine

The sky's the limit

Happy Friday! Are you ready for the weekend? I sure am!

I made this card the other day just for fun. YAY ME! Clean and simple just the way I like it. The image is from Great Impressions and the sentiment is from A Muse. I hand cut a mask and sponged blue chalk ink for the clouds. Coloring done with Copic markers. So cute!

In other news...I've been busy getting my daughter ready for a figure skating competition. Extra practice, costume details, etc. Always so much to prepare for...but sooo worth it. And...2 of my granddaughters are also competing in the event. I can't wait to see them skate. LOVE IT!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Father's Day

One of my favorite "gotta have" stamp sets from A Muse Studio is Essential Sentiments. I'm tellin' ya what...if you need a classic sentiment stamp...this set probably has it! Check it out....it has just about EVERYTHING you can think of...even Happy Father's Day. Imagine that!



I love not having to search through a mountain of stamps (yes...I have mountains of them!) to find a sentiment when I'm in a hurry.



Clean & Simple design. Easy to make. Tie image stamped on blue cardstock, shaded with markers, trimmed and popped up on 3D Foam Tape.
Not a lot of fuss.

FYI - If you sign up to be an A Muse Studio Creative Consultant and purchase the Deluxe Starter Kit...this set comes in it! Click HERE to see what that's all about :)

Recipe:
Stamps - A Muse Studio Essential Sentiments Set; Great Impressions Ties
Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black (available from A Muse Studio)
Paper - A Muse Studio Sugar & Blueberry; SU Kraft; Bazzill Black
Misc. - Copic Markers (for shading ties - available from A Muse Studio); 3D foam Tape

Jasmin

Sometimes you just need to Stop, Drop and Stamp!

I took time out last night to play with a few of my new stamps. Yes...I have a *cough* few *cough* new stamps that needed some love.

This turned out beautiful! Jasmin is one of my favorite images from Stampotique by the amazing artist Jo Capper-Sandon.



Jo is actually the artist for all the images on my card - except for the sentiment which is by Great Impressions.



I colored with Copic markers. Black Dye Ink from A Muse Artstamps is my black ink of choice when coloring with Copic. Touches of Warm Highlights glitter on the grass and flowers really adds the Dazzle :)

Recipe:
Stamps - Stampotique Jasmin; Grass; Daisy, Daisy; Splatter Long; sentiment by Great Impressions
Paper - A Muse Artstamps White, Chiffon Yellow, Slate
Ink - A Muse Artstamps Black Dye; Memento Desert Sand and Angel Pink
Misc. - Copic Markers E000, E01, E11, E53, E25, E59, Y32, Y35, Y38, W0, W2, W3, W5, W7, W8, 0; Glitter Ritz Warm Highlights; Quickie Glue Pen

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

Bridal Shower Invites

Quick & Easy

Don't you just love those 2 words - Quick & Easy. Sometimes card making for me isn't quick or easy -- but it was for this project. My daughter called me up and said she needed bridal shower invitations for her sister-in-law ASAP. Right away I thought of my dress stamp from Great Impressions. Since my mind was in "Think simple. Think A Muse", mode I was able to have a sample card made up, picture taken and emailed her a sample in less than 30 minutes!




I stamped the dress with Versamark and heat embossed with Bridal embossing glitter. Cut out and attached to pink and brown layer with dimensionals. I found this really cool cardstock the other day from Doodlebug. It's called Crushed Velvet. This stuff is awesome. It punches out perfect with hand punches! I got it at a LSS and it was $1.99 for 1 piece of 12x12. You know how many flowers I can punch out of that sheet!! I punched holes in the center of the flower. Tied a piece of ribbon in a knot and threaded both ends of the ribbon through the hole to the back. I like how the knot on top of the flower turned out that way. Attached to dress with red sticky strip. Makes it "mail friendly" :)

Recipe:
Stamps - Great Impressions Silhouette Dress; Stampin'UP! Sincere Salutations
Paper - Bazzill Brown CS; Misc Pink CS; GP Image PlusWhite CS; Doodlebug Crushed Velvet Paper
Inks - Versamark; SU Classic Brown
Misc. - Bridal Embossing Glitter; Marvy Uchida Small Flower Punnch; Small Corner Rounder punch; Misc Ribbon; Dimensionals; small circle punch.

Now that there's easy...I don't care who ya are! :) LOL

Stampin Good Time!

Challenge Crazy

Sunday was FUUUN. I got to craft for several hours. :) I was looking at some of the challenges on Splitcoaststampers and found one that got my creativity flowing. It was a Limited Supplies Challenge - LSC162. The challenge was to use only white and one other color that is NOT a neutral. See details here . Be sure to click on my pictures if you want to see them in larger detail.

I LOVE this bunny stamp from Whipper Snapper.

Recipe: Base is a 4 x 4 Gate Fold. Stamps used are Stampin'UP! Linen Background Stamp, Anna's Potted Bunny from Whipper Snapper, Some Bunny Loves You! from Great Impressions. SU Whisper White and Blue Bayou Cardstock. Blue Bayou Classic Ink to stamp background, sentiment and bunny and sponge edges. Aqua Painter and Blue Bayou ink to color image. Clear Copic Spica Glitter Pen on the bunny and the flower centers for some sparkle. SU Corner Rounder Punch, Paper piercing and faux stitching. Flowers punched with Boho Blossoms Punch. White Centers punched with Crop-a-dile and glued on. BTW...I think something is wrong with my Boho Blossoms punch....it is WAY hard to punch out cardstock and looks like it actually like rips on some of the edges. Anyone else have this problem? I'm thinking I might have to call DS and get this one replaced.

This next card I used a stamp set that I bought from my up-line. She had a garage sale to get rid of old retired SU items. Unlike me...she only keeps current products. Works for me cause I got some good deals. The set is called Garden Collage.

Recipe: 4 x 4 Gate Fold Card - My VERY first using my Scor-Pal :) VERY COOL tool!!! Main image stamped with StampinUP Blue Bayou. Sponged the edge with Blue Bayou. The 2 torn layers are attached with Dimensionals. Cardbase is stamped with SU Linen Background Stamp. White brads and spiral clip from CTMH.

For the next card I used the 2 other stamps in the Garden Collage set.

Recipe: Images stamped on Glossy White Cardstock with Classic Apricot Appeal Ink. Distressed the edged and Layered on Dimensionals. I used my Scor-Pal to score all the vertical lines on the card base. Apricot Appeal Cardstock for flowers and then hand doodled lines on them with Apricot Appeal Marker. Punches used on card are SU Ticket Corner, SU Spiral Punch and EK Success Flower Punch.

This last card was not for any challenge. I just made it for fun.
Recipe: 4x4 Card Base. I cut the cardbase about 1/2" longer and then scored and folded over the edge. Used SU Corner Rounder Punch to scallop edge. Sponged Brown on edges and on top of scalloped strip. The main image is from the Garden Collage set stamped on Glossy White CS with Basic Brown Classic Ink. Background stamp is from Inkadinkado stamped with Basic Brown. I used Cinnamon Stickles all over the background image and on the little flower. It really sparkles. SU River Rock Designer Series Paper and Brown Bazzill Textured Cardstock for layers. Marvy Uchida Scalloped Square and SU Ticket Corner punches. Wonderful Friend stamp is out of the SU set Boho Backgrounds. I used SU Chocolate Chip Marker direct on stamp to ink up just those words and a Stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up - another one of those "gotta have" tools! Flower stamped on River Rock Cardstock from SU Set One of a Kind with Basic Brown ink and punched out with Boho Blossoms Punch. Aged Copper Eyelets and Brad.

Some Fun in the Kitchen
For breakfast Michaela found this "recipe" in a Children Highlights Magazine. We didn't have bacon or banana...but we still got it done :) Michaela ate it all up!

That's it for now. Hope I didn't bore you all to death!

Fun Flock Fun

Christmas Pilgrims?
Yep...that's what the stamp is called. I haven't quite figured that out?? Anyhow...this Penny Black stamp is SO CUTE!! My mom gave it to me for Christmas last year. Time to have fun!

I made this card for Thursday's SplitcoastStampers DTGD Challenge. The challenge was to use Fun Flock. This stuff is SO COOL! I think I have every color (I have 12!)

Recipe:
The dog stamp is from Penny Black. Snowflake Stamp is from Rubber Stampede, Snow Drifts stamp is from Inky Antics and the saying stamp is from Great Impressions. Dogs and Snow Drift stamped using Black Stazon ink. I put Fun Flock on the hats using a glue pen. I did the red first and then the white. Stamped the snowflakes on blue paper with White Craft ink and then used heat & stick powder to apply white flock. Snow Glitter from Stampendous all over. The saying is stamped in Black Craft and embossed with Clear. I stamped the snowflakes all over the card base in Real Red Classic. Doggies are colored with blue & red markers and shading done with a Cool Grey Prisma pencil & Gamsol. Doggies and sayings are popped up with SU Stampin' Dimensionals. At the last minute, I added a Black spiral clip with some ribbons knotted on it -- just seemed to add that little extra touch.

All inks used on this card are available through Stampin' UP! If you live in the Phoenix area, you can buy all the colors of Stampendous Fun Flock at Stamp Works in Chandler.

My daughter Alisha made this cute Worm Wishes card. She used the Bugs & Kisses stamp set from Stampin' Up! She Fun Flocked the worms & embossed the words and lady bug. Paper and Ink are from Stampin' Up!

A New Dress for my New Purse!

Girlie Stuff & Sparkles

I actually started making these cards before I made the Pretty Purse & Wallet. But....after finishing the purse I remembered that I had started making cards with the dress stamp. Well, I HAD to finish the dress...after all...a girl has to have a purse AND a dress! :)

Accessorizing this dress was really fun - like playing dress-up!! Colors, glitters, flowers, ribbons, buttons, bows, satin, velvet......what choices! I think I will make one of everything! LOL :) Just like shopping...if you can't decide...get them all.



Of course we had to have some yummy cake with all the trimmings.

Recipe:
Silhouette Dress, Cake, Flower Background stamps from Great Impressions; Saw It, Loved It, Bought It stamp from Bella; Happiness stamp and Paper from Stampin' UP!; Craft and Classic Inks and Markers from Stampin' UP!; Flower from Prima; Stickles Glitter Glue.

The solid brown dress was stamped using pigment ink and embossed with clear - then cut out. The flower dress was stamped and cut out. Then I used an embossing pen to line the top edge and embossed with clear. The bottom of the dress velum stamped and embossed with clear - then cut out. Markers were used on the back to color flowers. I cut out white paper and put under the velum. Markers were also used to color the cake.

Happy Summer Days

July SOTM - Great Impressions

I have to admit - each month I can hardly wait to see the new Stamp of the Month that comes out from Great Impressions. The deal at my favorite local stamp store is purchase 2 stamps for the month and get the SOTM 1/2 price. I headed over to Stamp Works and picked out Splashing Penguin & Summer Days to go along with the Circle Background. Check out the Artboard Samples on-line....they are awesome! You can also look at previous months and drool :)

My first card I followed the instructions on the project sheet from Great Impressions for the layout. The second card I made up my own. They turned out really cute!!

The patterned papers are new from Flair Designs Hit the Beach Collection. I used Making Waves and One Fish, Two Fish. WAY CUTE PAPER!! The textured cardstock is from Brazzill. Inks are from Stampin'UP! I used Prismacolor & Stampin'UP! markers to color images. And of course -- Sickles Glitter Glue here and there.

Have fun Stamping and Crafting everyone!

Happy Anniversary Nic!

WHAT SALE?

Every Saturday one of my favorite stores - Stamp Works has a $1 Make-n-Take. My 6 year old daughter Michaela and I like to go and then shop around the store for those "gotta have" goodies. So....when we headed over there this morning we had NO idea there was a big 1 Year Anniversary celebration going on! You know what that means....more goodies get to come home with us!

Oh yes...you know it....I got ALL EXCITED! 20% off everything in the store! FREE Make-n-Takes, Door Prize Drawings and Refreshments! Somebody hold me back!! Now this is the way to start off your day! To start off I grabbed the Silhouette Dress stamp I have been looking at everytime I go there.

A Dot Background stamp jumped off the shelf right into my basket. Then I spotted the "what's brewing?" saying that I had to have because it's PERFECT for the Like it a Latte stamp set from Stampin' UP! Then a fun Postage Stamp Frame stamp was looking for a new home -- so yah -- it found ME.

What about Bellas? Haven't you got a Bella yet? Well...OK...I guess I need one of those too! How could I resist the Stacyfisabella since I have been making fish stuff for Father's Day! LOL. So that was easy to pick and the 2 sayings to go with it - "Wish Big" and "Worm Wishes."

Hummm....what's this?......Glow in the Dark Embossing Powder? Way cool! Pewter Mini Spiral Clips? What the heck. Finally, to top it all off with some Sparkle -- Aqua Stickles. Yep - that should do it!

***Today's Make-n-Take Card***

Thanks Nic for a year of great customer service! You are so darn cute & always have a smile on your face! And Michaela LOVED her special treat. An adorable box filled with American Crafts goodies!