Midnight Madness and Michelle's Masculine Challenge!

Posting this for the Midnight Madness Sketch over at "Pricillastyles" blog. I am so impressed by the awesome design team they have over there, Wow!! Check out the DT's cards for this sketch. Amazing work! I also followed Michelle's (aka Stop and Stamp the Roses) Dare to Get Dirty challenge over on SCS. I didn't get to participate in this years' DGD challenges at all but I did want to pay homage to one of my all time fav Dirty Girls so I made sure to follow her challenge as well: 1. ONE piece of pattern paper 2. TWO stamps 3. THREE colors I layered with one piece of patterned paper (unknown), the two stamps I used are the Pheasants image from Northwood Rubber Stamps and Itty Bitty Backgrounds from SU. The 3 colors are Brown, Kraft, and Green. I tried using some Gold Glimmer Shimmerz paint on the Pheasants that I got at a recent Rubberstamp show, but it didn't show up very well here. The feathers came in a little package I picked up eons ago because I "might" need them for a card some day...but I don't remember where I got them, they are from "Touch of Nature." I added some jumbo eyelettes from Eyelet Outlet and "hung" the image with some hemp fiber. I have to send this card off ASAP to my brother in-law, his BD is Wednesday and like a good stamper, I am late sending out my own cards!! Aghhh!! I need to get better organized!! TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!

Little Pink Elephant

Supplies used: SU Berry Bliss DP, Pink Pirouette CS, White. SU "Year After Year" stamp set. MS border punch, Nestibilities, markers.

I am totally impressed with this week's Featured Stamper, Lori (aka Versamom), who also has a wonderful blog "Stamp Scents" . I could have almost closed my eyes and picked a card, any card, to case, every one was so pretty and creative. I finally had to choose one, and I liked the ruffle on this one "Little Yellow Giraffe" so thought I'd give it a try.

Here's the ruffle:

Here's the final product: TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!

Belli Tag Card

Hi Everyone, Wednesday is here and today the Belli Challenge is to use a metal tag on your card! I used 120# watercolor paper and my SU markers to color in this Sugar Nellie "Talking to the Birds" image. I left the spiral punched edge of the paper in tact after I tore it out of the notebook just because I could... :) I used an old fashioned office supply key tag, but I removed the white paper inside the rim of the tag to allow the little birdcage image to show through. I added three silver eyelets to carry through the "metal" theme. I then tied a teeny bit 'o ribbon to the metal tag rim (complete opposite of the ribbon on my card from this past weekend!!). Head over to the Creative Belli Blog to see more samples of ways to use metal tags! Hopefully you'll be inspired to try the challenge and link YOUR card that you made with a metal tag!! If you upload your card to SCS or to PCP, please use keyword CBC70. TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!

Gorgeous Award

Charlene (aka Where M&Ms Gather) is a sweetheart and passed on this GORGEOUS award to several others (see this post) and me! Prolly one of the most beautiful badges I've seen! I'm flattered and honored Charlene, you are too kind, and too talented yourself young lady (you make us all look bad LOL!!) Thanks so much my friend!! And as awards go... I am happy to get to pay it forward to some of my talented blogger friends: Julie of Julie's Stamping Station Joan of Stamping with a Passion Holly of Glitter, Stamps, and Ink (oh my!) Joanne of Sleepy in Seattle Julia of Create with Me TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!

Birdcage Card

Supplies Used -- Stamps: SU Simple Solitue, Thoughts and Prayers and Oval All. Hero Arts Bird in a Cage. Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip ink and markers. Cardstock: White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive. Large Oval and Scalloped Oval punches.

Congratulations to Diane (aka Minnidr) who's been selected as the Featured Stamper this week!! Woo hoo! I love to browse new galleries! I found a card I wanted to case right away and just when I was about to get started, I peaked further into her gallery and found this card with the bird cage hanging from a branch. I've had my Bird in a Cage stamp from Hero Arts forever and never could think of a clever way to use it! Anyhow, I quickly changed gears and went with her bird cage card! I used Old Olive and Chocolate Chip markers on the branch from SU's Spring Solitude set. Stamped it a few times onto white CS to create a long enough branch to hang my birdcage. Then I used Chocolate Chip on the Hero Arts Bird in a Cage stamp and stamped it so it was hanging from the tree banch I just made. I trimmed it out-of-the-box style to look like Diane's, then layered it onto Choc. Chip CS. Next I used the same markers on the Just for You oval stamp from SU's Oval All set. I punched it out with the coordinating SU punches and popped it up on dimensional tape. Finally I stamped the tree from SU's Thoughts and Prayers set in Old Olive as a background onto the Old Olive layer -- again to mimic Diane's card. Thanks for checking in!!

Lucia's BD Card

Supplies used: SU Medalion BG stamp, Ranger Faded Photo ink. Very Vanilla and Soft Suede CS. Bow Easy and quilling tool

I really like to make special cards for my family. It's always something I focus on when I sit down to make a card. This card is for my sister, Lucia's, BD. She is an incredibly talented singer and teacher, has the most intelligent son and gifted daughter, that I always stress about making a special card for her. I LOVE this new medallion stamp from SU!. It makes card-making so easy, it's bold and elegant all at once. All I did was stamp the Medallion with Faded Photo Distress Ink by Ranger, added a center piece (the quilled flower that I had already made) and a satin bow (used the Bow Easy), and I knew Lucia's card was done!! Hope you like it!!

Rubiks Cube?

Supplies: SU Asian Artistry, sentiment SU Kind and Caring Thoughts. Ink: Old Olive, Basic Brown. Supplies: SU 3/4" punch and Sizzix Movers & Shapers Horizontal A2 & Four Window Panes (Kit #1). CS: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede.

I just LOVE today's CAS Challenge on SCS! We are directed to the website Art.com for inspiraton, one of my favs, I visit there often, both for work and myself!! (When I have to purchase wall art for the office, that's where I shop!). I figured on sitting down tonight and surfing all through the site which I totally enjoy doing, but I spotted this one picture on the main page and my search ended! I totally love this painting: Mediterranean Gold And so it is my inspiration piece! I loved the colors so I decided to go with the geometric look and colors. I ran a Very Vanilla panel through my Big Shot using the 4Window Panes die, then punched coordinating colors with my 3/4" punch that fit perfectly inside the windows with a slight "frame" around them. The Very Vanilla panel and the 4 colors are all popped up on dimensionals. The image and sentiment are from SU's new Hostess sets Asian Artistry and Kind and Caring thoughts. CAS, easy peasy!! In the end, I know...it looks like a rubiks cube!! LOL I hope you like it anyways!! Thanks for checking in!!

Case of a Case

Supplies: Penny Black "Whispers", SU "Think Happy thoughts". Momento Black Tuxedo and SU Pretty in Pink ink. SU round punches, scallop border punch, copics and SU pink organza ribbon.

This week's Featured Stamper over on SCS is Kelly (aka Schmircat) who has a really fun gallery! Her sense of humor comes through on so many of her cards, it made me smile to go through it. She also has lots to love in the way of art... I ended up Favoring several of her cards to try later, and decided on this one for now. I kept the basic layout and color scheme. The only thing I deviated away from was the sentiment. She stamped hers directly onto the DP, but my paper was too dark so I had to make a label for it. That resulted in me moving the ribbon down to go through the label. But it all still kept the same flavor, dontcha think?? Thanks for checking in!!

Latice Die Card

Tools Used: SU Exclusive Lattice Bigz Die, Little Leaves Sizzlet die. Sizzix Daisy Flower #2 die, Houndstooth Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, SU Word Window punch, SU Corner Rounder punch, SU 1/16th hole punch. Stampset: SU Wellness Wishes. Brads by Basic Grey, bauble by K&Company. Ahh...new stuff... what better way to spend the weekend!! Couldn't wait to get the new SU Lattice die. Had no idea what I would do with it but I just loved it. So I checked out some challenges on other blogs this Saturday and liked this sketch on the Saturday Sketch blog. Just a teeny bit of stamping on this -- the sentiment is from the new SU "Wellness Wishes" set (love the little puppy in the set!! I'll be working on something with him next!). The rest of the design is punched, die cut, cuttlebugged and layered. The flower center is a Carolyn Gavin Baubles from K&Company. Love those gawdy things!! Thanks for looking!!

Tooth Fairy Box

I started this box last night for the Inspiration Challenge. The Chasing Fireflies website is full of whimsical and fun items to draw inspiration from! I liked these tooth fairy boxes, they looked like something I could make, and as I thought about them, I realized they would be super simple because I had the perfect Sizzix Bigz Die for it! I cut out two of them with my Big Shot, then repeated a cut of the center section only of the die onto some white SEI Velvet paper so I could have a perfect fitting liner for the inside of the container. I decorated them with some fairy images by Studio G, and proceeded to attach them together. All was good, just about done in under an hour! But then, I was stuck. I couldn't figure out how to get it to close and stay flush! Velcro or magnet strip would not work -- too bulky. Actual hardware would not hold up well to opening and closing this thing over and over because of the weight. I finally went to bed after nearly falling asleep at my table, without finishing it. I woke up this morning and showed it to DH and he said, just cut the flap down and make a tab and a slit for it. Duh. Took me 10 minutes to fashion the flap and it was the perfect solution! Brother, I should have woken him up last night while I was sitting here racking my tired brain!! Any how, hope the pictures make it easier to see the ins and out of this box. Hope you like it. Thanks for checking in!!

So This is Crushed Curry

Paper: SU Textured Going Grey, Basic Grey, Crushed Curry; SU Urban Garden DP. Cuttlebug Embossing folder, SU Scallop Punch, EK Success Border Punch, faux jewel from HL. Sentiment by Stampendous.

Our Doubledog Dare hostess with the mostess a few weeks back (I told you I was behind I'm my challenges!), the amazing Ms. Joan Ervin of Stamping with a Passion fame, whilest in the middle of her vacation exploring the wilds of Alaska, challenged us to create a card with our favorite color combo! This may seem easy peasy to most, but I have to tell you, I thought for days and couldn't decide on what my favorite color combo was/is... Then I came across the new SU! In Color Combos chart and fell in love with the combo of Crushed Curry, Basic Grey and Going Grey. It looked so classy, I loved it! So I've decided for now (and at least for this challenge LOL!), my favorite color combo is those three colors together!! I searched for a sketch to use this fab color combo with and found today's Stamps and Smiles Sketch over on the Fresh Batch blog to combine with the DDC one. I was finally ready ... !!! The flowers were made with a cuttlebug 2x2 folder then punched with SU Scallop Punch. The centers are SU Urban Garden DP, and the matching dotted Crushed Curry ribbon is from SU. The lacy border is an EK Success border punch and the sentiment is by Stampendous, stamped in StazOn Black with a little gold jewel from Hobby Lobby at the end. As always ladies, the DDC gals would love to have you join us in our challenges!! Check them out here on SCS and post your card to the SCS gallery using DDC as your keyword. If you post to your blog, leave me a comment so we can come look see!! TFL! Have a great day!!

It's All About Texture!

Here's my card for the Creative Belli Challenge today!! Stop by the Chrissy's Creative Belli Blog to see all the deets and the fab examples by the DT! I chose this image by Northwoods Rubber Stamps, colored it in with markers and aqua pen, and then added Flower Soft to the small flowers in the background. I mounted it onto this netted paper sheet thing...not sure what category it falls into, it's not DP! Anyhow, this card has major texture!! Give it try!! Create your card with texture then link using the Mr. Linky widget on the Creative Belli Blog to share with the rest of the DT!! Have a great day!!