My CPS113 Potted Bunny

I took out my Penny Black stamp because I wanted to play with some purple hues and it was perfect with the pansies. I love doing card sketches when time permits (lately, time hasn't been permitting...LOL!) and guess what? I'll have another sketch card tomorrow that you all can play along for some WONDERFUL ODBD PRIZES!


In the meantime, here's what the CPS113 sketch looks like:

And here's my take on it: I sooooooooo love my Copic markers!! I'm still trying to get the feel of it so keep that in mind and be gentle with your comments - LOL! After coloring with them I quickly realized I needed to add more to my collection for a smoother color transition between light and dark tones.

Card Recipe:

Stamp: Penny Black

Ink: Versafine Onyx

Paper: DCWV Latte Stack, SU Basic Brown cs

Supplies: Hero Arts Pearls, Ornare piercing template, Spellbinders Labels Four die, Fiskars border punch, lavender organza ribbon

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Come back here to find out all the details about the ODBD sketch challenge and how you can win one of THREE prizes!

Short but sweet post :)

Since Valentine's Day is fast approaching I decided to make some looooooove cards! As you can tell, I'm totally addicted to flatback pearls, baubles and Dew Drops!!

I've submitted this card for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge Week 30 - Embossing:
I just love my watermark!!! If you'd like to add a beautiful watermark to your photos get them from the fabulous Jami Bova right HERE!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas...

I love the Penny Black mice and when I found this set I knew I had to have it! The stamp is from a clear set called Holly Day Critters. For the last week I've been fighting off a cold and these last couple of days I felt like my creative juices weren't flowing. What's a stamper to do?? I head on over to SCS where ideas and inspiration are everywhere. I looked to their weekly challenges and sure enough I found something! I did the Breezy Vanilla Kisses (although I had to substitute with similar colors) and SC196 which is based on this card sketch: Here's what I came up with:

Card Recipe:

Stamp: Penny Black Holly Day Critters

Ink: Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress Distress Antique Linen

Paper: SU Blue Bayou and Sage Shadow, cream cardstock, SU scrapbook paper (retired), watercolor paper

Supplies: Black EP, watercolor markers, SU Crystal Effects, white gel pen, Stickles, foam adhesive, light teal satin ribbon, pastel yellow sheer ribbon, Nestabilities Classic Scallop Rectangle and Classic Small Square, sewing machine, cream frosted button

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It's 1:30am and I am actually going to go to bed EARLY! Just one more week before I turn the big 3-5! Man, am I really getting that old??? Those who haven't yet entered my blog candy, you have until Oct. 10 before I randomly select a winner. Click on the label "blog candy" on the left side to find out more. I'll enter the card recipe and links later today...I'm beat!

Stitch Witchery Blog Candy Winner!

The winner, and the ONLY one who submitted a card using the technique is.... Christi! Congratulations and your card was amazingly BEAUTIFUL!! Your Tim Holtz Distress crackled paints and stamp will be mailed out tomorrow :).

On another note, I just got my stamps in for my Guest Designer stint at Clear Dollar Stamps and have been loving them!! You guys will have to wait until October when these super adorable sets are released, but go check out the new September releases HERE.

I've had a hard time sleeping lately and so what do I do??? I make cards! So these are just a few that I finished.

I made this "Apple Harvest" card with my new water-based markers on 140 lb. watercolor paper and love how the colors are so vibrant! I don't know why I waited so long to use markers!
This "Spooky Greetings" is a pop-up freestanding card. This took me FOREVER, but I'm so glad I did it!
This is what it looks like when flat.
It's been a while since I made a "Hedgie" card so here he is!
Make sure to check back here sometime this week for a "velvety" NEW TUTORIAL and blog candy!!

Happy Stamping!

This "card" KICKED MY BUTT TODAY!!

First off, I'm happy how this card turned out, but SHEESH!! It totally kicked my crafting butt today! I have the BIG Fiskar paper cutter so making the cuts in the middle of the card was not going to happen. I just marked "points" on the cardstock and used my exacto knife to CAREFULLY cut STRAIGHT LINES. I will go out and buy a smaller paper cutter with all the measurements marked on it to make my life a little bit easier. I made this 8x8 scrapbook page for my mother-in-law's birthday and put it in a scrapbook frame. We're giving it to her this weekend so I hope she'll like it!
These are just two cards I finished last night...it was just too HOT to sleep!

Ok...so I failed!! PLUS I'm adding to the blog candy!

So much for doing equal amounts of card and layouts! I succeeded...for only a day! Maybe I was biting off more than I could chew, so I'm thinking at least one layout a week (going to shoot for two!). Sounds a little more realistic for me at the moment. I was able to crank out several cards and TWO layouts. I rely heavily on TallyScrapper challenges to kick my butt into gear!

This was a special order from an Etsy customer. She asked for LOTS of LAVENDER and that's what she's getting! I was playing with different shapes, rather than using straight lines all the time.
This is a GINORMOUS Penny Black Stamp!
I love this stamp from the new Angel Company catalog!
Holiday cards...don't you just love making them?!?!
There's a challenge over at TallyScrapper created by Top Tally herself, Christine! This was my take on it. We had to use purple and green, stitching, a tree and black and white photos. I freehand cut the tree and the leaves are cut up Prima flowers. And YES, I made my sons' costumes! I'm making costumes for them again this year! I can't tell you what or who they're going to be just yet...I'll save that for a future layout :).
The challenge also required us to use our left over scraps to make a card.
This layout took on a life of its own. I couldn't stop adding to it. Everytime I looked at it I thought it needed more "lines" and so there they are...LOTS OF LINES!

How's everyone coming along with the stitch witchery (also known as fusible webbing)? Hopefully you can find them at your local fabric store. So far there has been only one entry! Looks like I'm going to have to up the ante...I'm adding a BIG wood mounted stamp to go along with the crackle paints!! The stamp image goes perfectly with the paints - very vintage. So get cracking! No pun intended...hahahaha!

Liquid Applique

I haven't used my tube of liquid applique in a long while. I was going through my stamps and found my sheep by Penny Black and thought it was perfect to use the liquid applique for the wool! I created the scene by freehand cutting green and gray cardstocks for the pathway and rocks and dry embossing them with my Cuttlebug.

Sharing a few cards I made over the weekend

I usually make the standard A2 size cards, but I have several large stamps and needed a bigger "canvas" to work with so I started making A7 cards and 5 1/2 squares. Here's what I wound up making. I hope you like them!

This is a 6 1/2" x 5 " card (A7):

Another A7 size card:

A 5 1/2" square card:

A Diorama and a Card

It was Open House at my sons' school on Tuesday and they were so excited to show us around their classrooms. My youngest had a class project two weeks ago to be displayed during Open House- he had to create a habitat diorama. He chose the ocean and had a blast making it (especially painting - which got on the table, the kitchen tiles, the counter). We added the "ocean floor" at the last minute because my son said it looked wrong without it and he was right. So Daddy went to the backyard and scooped up some sand. We told him to make sure it was CLEAN SAND (because we have 3 dogs)....I don't think it was THAT clean! A little Fabreze did the trick though. I told my son the ocean stinks sometimes :).



This is my first 6 1/2" x 5" card. I usually make 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" cards, but a lot of Penny Black stamps are huge, which I like because it makes cutting out all the details that much easier (it also saves me from hand cramps!). I've been practicing with my watercolor pencils and I think I've improved. I thought I needed to buy Copic markers, but I'm starting to think I don't need them. Isn't it funny how we always "need" more craft supplies rather than "want" them?! LOL!

Making time for EVERYTHING

I had a blog when I was on a scrapbooking design team, but then I left that because I wanted to go back to my cardmaking roots. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE TO SCRAPBOOK, but it gets expensive. So I delved into selling my One-Of-A-Kind cards to help support both passions.

To update everyone on what's been happening so far, here's what's been going on on my end:

A friend of mine, Celia, called me last month to tell me about a scrapbooking contest HSN was hosting and told me I had to enter it...so I did. It was exciting to get an e-mail stating I was one of ten finalists, out of over 1700 entries! In the end, I didn't win (was told I got 2nd place), but who cares?!?!? My name was on TV!! Here's a link to the winner and the runners-up (I'm entrant #385 entitled "Bros"):

http://www.hsn.com/scrapbooking-contest-winners_at-1291_xa.aspx?cm_re=billboard*Scrapbooking_Contest_Winner*winner&ccm=ct

The prize I received was The Enveloper by Crafters Companion, which is great for my 3-dimensional cards! I totally love it!

I've delved back into the world of handmade cards and I don't know why I left it in the first place! I've had to reorganzie my craft room to focus on cardmaking rather than scrapbooking right now (although I will still be doing that, not just with the same fervor). I won't give up my scrapping because I think it is so important for my children to have something to look back on when they're grown. To see their history, our history, put together by me - a first hand account of us. I'll post some of my favorite scrapbook pages soon.

To end this post, here's a card I completed last night. Happy crafting everyone!