Happy Birthday Bird

Happy Tuesday everyone! Greetings from Florida! Yesterday the kids and I flew down to visit my mom & dad, we'll be here until early next week. I still plan to be stamping and blogging, and checking e-mail, so I am here, just dividing my free time between relaxing at the beach, the pool, or at my mom's crafting area while the kids get spoiled. Seriously, I've been looking forward to this for months.

Anyway, ONWARD to the card! Today's project uses some of my newer Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. I love this bird!! He's sooo pretty and his swirls and flowers coordinate with other stamps on the sheet and in the store.

After I stamped the bird in Night of Navy I colored in the designs with colored pencils. The colors are Kiwi Kiss, Bashful Blue and Night of Navy.

Wicked Bats - MTVD12, SC195, VVPP06

Lots going on with this card today!! I have had these Wicked Bats from Jessica Lynn Original for about 6 months and haven't had a chance to get them inky. That's a CRIME! They are so cool, I love how she drew them - they are just fabulous.

As soon as I saw this week's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast (SC195) I knew these bats would be perfect. Since I'm on a Kraft kick from the Verve Project Parade and still had some out on my table, I reached for that (of course!!). I paired it with Pale Plum and Perfect Plum for the Meet the Verve Divas Challenge this week from Jen - just use purple.

Once those decisions were made this came together pretty quickly. The bats and the "Happy Halloween" sentiment are from Jessica Lynn, the "I'm bats about you" is from a clear set I got at the Archiver's Hot Spot. I sponged the edges of the Kraft with Palette New Canvas before I assembled the card. After I stamped the main bat in Palette Noir, I painted over him with Coal Shimmerz. I am addicted to Shimmerz!!

Supplies, etc.: Stamps - JessicaLynnOriginal.com. Paper - Pale Plum, Kraft, Perfect Plum, GP 110# white. Ink - Palette Noir, Palette New Canvas, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum. Other - dimensionals, Copic marker, scissors, Coal Shimmerz, black satin ribbon, sponge, paint brush, craft knife, circle punches.

The Ten-Minute Pirate Ship

Here's a super fast and easy card - it actually took 10 minutes to make!! Of course, that's because (notice the similarities to the post below) I had colored and matted this ship for the previous card, only to find it was WAY too big to look good on that card. SO, I continued with that one but saved this image to make another card. Ha! So the 10 minutes doesn't include the main image (which is, of course, the only way I got it done in 10 minutes!).

The colors are the same as the previous card too. Kraft cardstock for the Verve September Project Parade - Natural Fiber Challenge. Still loving getting reacquainted with Kraft! Also this week's Color Throwdown using Olive, Kraft and Red (CTD12). The card is 4-1/4" square.

Supplies, etc.: Stamps - Pirate Ship and Adventure Words from JessicaLynnOriginal.com, plus an A*Muse oval. Paper - Red, Kraft, Olive, GP 110# white. Ink - Palette Noir. Other - Copics, dimensionals, black and olive grosgrain ribbon from SU, Cuttlebug and ribbon tag nestabilities.

Aaarrhhh! A Shimmerzy Pirate Cupcake!

Ahoy Matey!! Here's a fun Friday card featuring my adorable new pirate images from Jessica Lynn Original. I really like these because they LOOK piratey - not all cutesey'd up like some I've seen lately, YKWIM? Anyway, they were perfect for several challenges when I sat down to stamp today ~ love it when a plan comes together!! But what the heck am I talking about cupcakes for?? I used Taylor's Cupcake Challenge for the sketch (TECC35) even though I am aware that pirate ships are not cupcakes, heehee.

I wanted to use Kraft today for the Verve September Project Parade - Natural Fiber Challenge. I was thrilled to see this one because I LOVE Kraft! I haven't used it in awhile though, now that I think about it, so this was a fabulous push in the right direction. Since I wanted Kraft in there anyway, I went with the colors from this week's Color Throwdown of Olive, Kraft and Red (CTD12). Nice! They were probably thinking Christmas but hey, pirates work too!

This is a pretty straightforward card. I cut all the cardstock to size, then ran the red layer through my Cuttlebug with the Skull Scroll folder. Then I covered the whole thing with Angel Dust Shimmerz to give it some more depth. After I stamped the skull images I painted over them with Coal Shimmerz. Go Shimmerz! I colored the ship with Copics and layered it on. Lots of dimensionals here as usual, I need a place to buy those babies in BULK. May Arts ribbon finishes it off, and the sentiment is from another Jessica Lynn Original set (Adventure), punched out with the Word Window punch.

Supplies, etc.: Stamps - JessicaLynnOriginal.com. Paper - Red, Kraft, Olive, GP 110# white. Ink - Palette Noir. Other - Cuttlebug and Skull Swirl folder, dimensionals, Copic markers, scissors, red glaze pen, Angel Wings and Coal Shimmerz, Word Window punch, 1/16" circle punch, May Arts ribbon, paint brush, craft knife.

Bask in Sunsets OSW Card

After having some fun playing around with the Verve September OSW template using the fall theme, I decided I had to make some more. I know they're a bit mixed up now, but this is the third {I think?} sketch from the OSW template, found HERE. I posted the first card using this second set of papers a few days ago.

This sentiment stamp is from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. They have some really wonderful sentiments that I think I have been under-using lately, so I made the focus of this card words. My favorite part about this one is that it can be used for just about anything - birthday, thinking of you, miss you, just because, etc. It's a *really* versatile stamp, and a GREAT size. You know how I hate those giganormous sentiments - I never know what I'm supposed to do with them!!

You can't see it in the photo, but I took a bottle of Diamond Stickles and put a drop on every single one of those Swiss Dots to give it a little something extra. Did the clouds with my home-made cloud template.

Supplies, etc.: Stamps - Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Paper - Bordering Blue, Kiwi Kiss, GP 110# white, unknown patterned paper. Ink - Old Olive, Bordering Blue. Other - MS Butterfly punch, mini glue dots, dimensionals, Diamond Stickles, tiny pearls, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots folder, cloud template, sponge.

Metal Tag Pumpkin - CBC35

Wednesday again! Sorry I'm late, we had a hectic morning. Time for the Belli Challenge. If you're not familiar with the challenge, belli is short for embellishment - each week our challenge founder, Chris, chooses an embellishment for us to showcase. This week it is Metal Edge Tags. Feel free to play along, and remember, if you upload to SCS, use the keyword "CBC35".

This card uses another of my NEW fall stamps from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Nicole is AMAZING - I love this pumpkin! Here is the full sheet if you're interested in checking it out - Fall & Winter 2008 Half Sheet.

{ETA - I reshot the picture, it is *much* better!!} The colors are Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie and black Sugar-Coated cardstock from Doodlebug. I stamped the image on the paper with Palette Noir, then onto the brass metal edge tag with black StazOn. I colored in the pumpkin with Koh-i-nor pencils and gamsol, and cut it out, then put it back over the StazOn layer. Lots of dimensionals here! I cut out and popped up the pumkin, then the tag, then the whole layer. I love dimensionals ~ can you tell? I added some green accents to the tag with a Copic marker. White satin and A*Muse organdy ribbon layered together to finish it off!

Check out the blogs of the other Belli Challenge Girls this week for more great metal tag ideas! Rochelle, Holly, Shelly, Chris, Christi, and Ceal!

What's New, Pussycat?

Have you seen what's new from Lilac City Designs?! It's these adorable new Cat (there's Dog too) Applique stamps! Aren't they fun?

This card uses sketch challenge SC99 from Splitcoast. I think it worked well with the size of the main image. I laid out the base with some of my precious Wild Wasabi cardstock and some unknown patterned paper scraps. Then stamped the cat in Palette Noir on GP 110# white cardstock, masked it off, and added the oval underneath. I colored him with Copic markers and added Shimmerz paints to the spots and the oval. {um, do you all LOVE love Shimmerz as much as I do?! Wow. It is tied for first place {with glitter} for my favorite papercrafting embellishment!}

Then I cut him out, mounted on dimensionals and added him to the center panel, which is a piece of white vellum that I ran through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder (mounted on a Celery base to lighten it up).

Fall Sale @ Lilac City Designs!!

Check out the great sale Kelli is having to kick off fall!! Very cheap shipping too - woo hoo!! Click the photo for details or visit the Store!

R U Ready?

In honor of my 2-0 Green Bay Packers, I thought I would share this card today. The Pack will be battling Dallas tonight - big game!

This card uses the Football Fan stamp set from Firecracker Designs by Pamela and Taylor's Cupcake Challenge sketch (TECC29), which was GREAT for this set! The colors are of course Green & Gold (that's Garden Green and Summer Sun). Happy Sunday! Oh and here's the sketch for those who are interested:

Jessica has a DEAL for you!

Make your own sale at Jessica Lynn Original.com! Save 20% on all stamps in the store. What an amazing deal! The coupon code is TrickorTreat and is valid from 09/20/2008 and 09/28/2009 (at midnight).

Feel The Ocean Breeze

Ok, don't laugh now! This is my very first attempt at a "scene" card. I used the pelican and crab images from my Save the Ocean set from Jessica Lynn Original. I have been wanting to try doing this for awhile; I see such beautiful scenes in my daily blurfing just begging me to try to make one even half as good!

I guess for my first try this one is ok. It's not great by any means, but I think that the sand and most of the water turned out pretty well. I colored the crab and the pelican with Copics and the pelican is actually on dimensionals - it looked too "flat" without that. I made the clouds with a cloud template and sponge and I hand drew the waves and the flying birds. I guess I give it about a "C+" - but since it was my first effort I thought I'd still share it. We're all here to share and learn, right? :-) I will definitely be trying the scene "thing" again though, so we can compare my next try to this one and see if I should give it up or not! hehe.

Don't forget, there is still time to play in the JLO Games for a chance to win gift certificates to the online store and other great prizes. Check it out!

Supplies, etc. Stamps - Save the Ocean from Jessica Lynn Original. Paper - Tempting Turquoise, GP 110# white. Ink - Palette Noir and New Canvas, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Soft Sky, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip. Other - Copic markers, dimensionals, sticky notes to mask, fine tip black marker, sponges, cloud template, white gel pen.

Penguin Cutie from JLO

Sketch challenges are among my favorite stamping challenges to participate in. I think because I have a lot of stamping "stuff", plus so many ideas, it's hard to make decisions, and especially hard to get started. At least for me. Some days I go down to create and get so overwhelmed I just end up doing something else instead. The horror!!

Anyway, after having some fun playing around with the Verve September OSW template with a fall theme, I decided I had to make some more. This little penguin is from the new "Save the Ocean" set by Jessica Lynn Original. What a fun set - lots of ADORABLE animals just begging to be colored!

I know that penguins and flowers don't usually go together, but I loved the colors of this paper and they work well for the image itself, so c'est la vie! At the zoo here in town, the penguin exhibit has flowering bushes around it, so...

TIP: It's EASY make custom-colored Dew Drops to fit your project! Simply punch a 1/4" circle of your desired cardstock and put it on top of a mini glue dot right on the roll. Then, take the whole roll of paper, lift it up and "smoosh" it back on top of the paper so that your little 1/4" circle is sandwiched between two mini glue dots and is still on the wax paper roll. Then add your Dew Drop (um, cheap Michael's thingies from the floral section, in my case) to the top glue dot. The paper shows right through and makes the whole Dew Drop look like it's that color. I explained it this way because I found with the little circle dots it's easier to add the Dew Drop to the paper than add the paper to the Dew Drop.

Supplies, etc. Stamps - Save the Ocean from Jessica Lynn Original, A*Muse Oval. Paper - Bordering Blue, Kiwi Kiss, GP 110# white and gray, unknown patterned paper. Ink - Palette Noir, Bordering Blue. Other - 1/4" circle punch, mini glue dots, dimensionals, silver organdy, French Blue grosgrain, slot punch, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Quickie Glue Pen, black Glaze pen, orange Glaze pen.

Tutorial Thursday - 09/18/08

Create your own glitter embellishments from Maggie Lamarre. What a GREAT idea!! I can't wait to try this. We all know how much I love glitter!

Leaves in the Fall....A Dual Challenge Card

I think color blocking is a great way to provide depth and dimension on a project without too much effort. This sketch layout is no exception! I needed to make a card utilizing these glittery leaf buttons, so I zipped over to Splitcoast yesterday to check out the new sketch challenge - bingo! SC194 - this is one I'll definitely be using again!

Now, why did I need to make a card with these leaf buttons, you ask? Well, because today it's my turn to host the weekly challenge on Stamping Links to Love! I love playing in challenges, but coming up with a theme had me stumped for awhile. But since it's now mid-September, and fall is my favorite time of year, I decided to go with an appropriate seasonal theme -- LEAVES. The challenge is to make a project with at least FIVE visible leaves. Leaves can be anything - from embellishments to stamped images! Visit the SLTL blog to see how to get your shot at fame and ....well, you'll have to be happy with fame! If you upload a creation to SCS, use the keyword "SCTL7".

Supplies, etc. Stamps - Firecracker Designs by Pamela. Paper - Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip from SU, Saffron-ish color from Archiver's, GP 110# white. Ink - More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie. Other - Computer generated quote, glittery leaf buttons (with the button part cut off) from Dress It Up, glue dots, dimensionals, 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain.

Blog Candy Alert!!

Chris Dickinson, the fabulous Belli Challenge creator and newest stamp designer for Sweet n' Sassy stamps has some great blog candy for her 40,000 hit milestone. Go check it out!

Hip to be Square - CBC34

Should I say it again today? "Wednesday already?!" LOL. Time for the Belli Challenge - this week, it's all about SQUARES. If you're not familiar with the challenge, belli is short for embellishment - each week our challenge founder, Chris, chooses an embellishment for us to showcase. Feel free to play along, and remember, if you upload to SCS, use the keyword "CBC34".

Check out the blogs of the other Belli Challenge Girls for more great thoughts on how to go square! Holly, Rochelle, Chris, Christi, Ceal, Danita, Debby, Lorie, and Shelly.

The Cutest Lil' Dracula Evah!

Don't you think? Oh he's so much fun - another new fall stamp from Jessica Lynn Original. This is the layout for Card #2 from the Verve OSW challenge.

I know this card looks kind of plain; you can't see it in the photo but I went over all the raised parts of the Cuttlebug'd web with my clear Spica Glitter pen, so it has a lot of sparkle IRL. I colored the little vamp with markers, masked him off and stamped the A*Muse Oval underneath him. The pumpkin charm is from a Halloween Dress It Up package of buttons, I cut the button part off with my craft knife and attached it with a glue dot.

Supplies, etc.: Stamps - Jessica Lynn Original plus an A*Muse oval. Paper - Ruby Red and Chocolate Chip c/s from SU, GP 110# white, patterned paper - unknown. Ink - Palette Burnt Umber. Other - White gel pen, Cuttlebug and Web folder, Dress It Up pumpkin button, glue dots, craft knife, Clear Spica Glitter pen, chocolate chip marker, Copic and SU markers, dimensionals.

Michael's & Archiver's Coupons

I don't know why these M's e-mails are coming through so late all of a sudden, but here's a Michael's coupon for 50% off one regular price item, good through 09/20/08. Remember you can still get 20% off your entire regular priced purchase with this one and it's good through September.

Also, one for Archiver's, $3 off $15 - good through the end of the month.

Candy Corn from Jessica Lynn

Here's another card from the first set of cards I made with the Verve Stamps OSW template. Normally I'm not a OSW kind of girl, but I had a lot of new stamps to play with so I thought I'd try it out. This uses the pieces for Card 1.

The stamps are from Jessica Lynn Original, this is a new release set for September - very cute! It's called "Trio of Halloween Goodies". Also, don't forget about the JLO Games, you could win one of three gift certificates to the online shop by signing up and playing!

Supplies, etc.: Stamps - Jessica Lynn Original. Paper - Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip c/s from SU, GP 110# white, patterned paper - unknown. Ink - Palette Burnt Umber. Other - White gel pen, piercing tool, template, copics, prismacolor pencils and gamsol, dimensionals.

Somewhere On A Desert Highway...

...she rides a Harley Davidson; her long blonde hair flyin' in the wind...

Do you LOVE this image? What a sweet ride, as my DH would say. Both stamps from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. The colors are Black and Only Orange {I know, I used a Bold Bright, those must be pigs flying by the window then huh?} and I colored the bike with colored pencils and gamsol. That great map-looking paper is from an old US Road Atlas that DH was going to throw away during the big move. Throw away printed PAPER?!? What?!? Suffice to say I rescued it and expect to get much use out of it before its life is truly over. I *believe* we are looking at Kansas there in the background.

Screw brads are from the LSS, can't remember the brand but lots of companies make them now. Half-inch black cirlces underneath them for contrast.

Happy weekend to everyone! No Friday Favorites this week - I haven't had any time to blurf at all - too busy stamping myself! :-) Plus, Heather and I are off to Scrap Mania tomorrow night for some much needed girl time and stamping so I've been trying to get some projects lined up to work on. Yay - I can't WAIT!

BOO! My CBC33 Project

Wednesday again! Time for the Belli Challenge. I can't believe we're on Week 33 already! If you're not familiar with the challenge, belli is short for embellishment - each week our challenge founder, Chris, chooses an embellishment for us to showcase. This week it is FIBERS. Feel free to play along, and remember, if you upload to SCS, use the keyword "CBC33".

This card uses NEW fall stamps from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Nicole keeps outdoing herself with amazing images each new release and these fun Halloween stamps are no exception! The little pumpkin man is so fun and if you look closely you can see the spider web inside the second "O" in BOO - COOL! The layout I used is from the September Verve OSW Challenge. See the sketch details here.

Check out the blogs of the other Belli Challenge Girls for more great fiber ideas! Lorie, Shelly, Chris, Christi, Ceal, Courtney, and guest designer for the week - Karen!

Supplies, etc.: Stamps - Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps. Paper - Pumpkin Pie, Apricot Appeal and Chocolate Chip c/s from SU, GP 110# white, patterned paper - unknown. Ink - Palette Burnt Umber. Other - White gel pen, Cuttlebug and Skull Scroll folder, Ridinghood Red taffeta, May Arts brown ribbon, chocolate chip marker, green copic marker, sponges, dimensionals.

New From Jessica Lynn Original & SCTL5

What is it about BEARS? I swear I don't know, but I just *love* 'em! This image is no exception, isn't he CUTE cute? He's from the new "Save the Ocean" set by Jessica Lynn Original. What a fun set - I was looking at the online shop during her Labor Day sale and wanted this one...then it came in the mail as one of my DT sets - woo hoo!! I had to play with it right away.

This card features the current challenge from the Stamping Links to Love blog - this week it is a ROCKIN' sketch from Allison. There are still a couple of days to play along so get stamping! If you upload to SCS, include the keyword "SCTL5" so we can see all the entries. If your project is a winner, you'll be featured on the Stamping Links to Love blog with your project and a link back to your blog - instant fame! Here's the sketch if you're interested in seeing how close I stuck to it (I did good this time!).

Supplies, etc.: Stamps - Save the Ocean from Jessica Lynn Original and Make a Wish from Stamping Bella. Paper - Baja Breeze, Soft Sky and Brushed Silver cardstock from SU, GP 110# smooth white c/s, flocked shimmery patterned paper. Ink - Palette Noir. Other - Ribbon from Xyron (matched a scrapbook kit I bought awhile back), ribbon slides from the silver hodgepodge kit, dimensionals, Cuttlebug and Snow Dots folder, Word Window, Designer Label, 1-1/8" and 1" circle punches, light blue Prismacolor pencil, Gamsol, blending stumps.

Super Saturday!

AAhhhh...the weekend. We had a busy week (busier next week with preschool starting up!) so it feels good to have a lazy morning. I thought this card would be appropriate for today because we are having our annual BBQ this afternoon - and we invited a bunch of the new neighbors too. Fun! We're excited to meet them finally and it's an absolutely beautiful day here.

So...CHEERS! Here's another margarita card I made using DRS Designs stamps. This was a SCS sketch challenge layout, SC175. What a fun one! I wasn't sure about those half circles at first but they really grow on you. The colors are River Rock, Black, Cameo Coral and White. Patterned paper is Basic Grey. I sponged some Soft Sky for the sky and the glass is nestled down in the sandy beach of the Gulf of Mexico. Chunky "salt" glitter on the rim, and I went over the drink with a Stardust glitter pen after after I colored it with Copic markers. You can see that detail in the second picture - had to turn on the scary flast to get the shine to really show up, LOL.

A Heavy Metal Challenge Card

Do you know what I love? RED! Without the foiled paper layer, this card is just plain boring. I cut the panel to size then ran it through my Cuttlebug with the swirly vine patterned folder (from the new release, can't remember the name of it).

The images are from Prickley Pear - I've been eyeing this particular butterfly for awhile and finally got it inky! I colored the image with Copic markers and added some Clear Spica glitter pen and red glitter *strategically* over the top of some parts for sparkle, which you can't see in the photo unless you click on it for the Giganormous version. Drawback to shiny red paper....hard to photograph, even with no flash, infinity board and bright-yet-indirect lighting. Sheesh!

This is my entry for the Y.ou K.now Y.ou R.ock challenge this month - Heavy Metal. Foil paper is metal too, I say!

It's a (Blog Birthday) Party

Not mine! Even better - it's Allison's!! She is offering fabulous candy for her 2-year milestone in the blog-o-verse. Go see.