Mojo Monday 84

Okay, so I'm a little happier with this picture after messing around with my camera settings a bit on the auto setting. Here is my take on the Mojo Monday sketch. I used a flourish instead of a ribbon on the bottom because it's for a nephew and I thought the flourish worked better.

My Stampabilities image was colored with prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol. I stamped the image twice and cut out the one I colored and popped it with dimensionals. Both DPs are shiny; the argyle is by Reminisce and the star pattern is by Creative Imaginations. I also used some shiny silver, cream and white paper from my stash. The black linen is from Archivers. I used my argyle CB folder to emboss the black strip across the middle. I cut the flourish from a Sizzix die, and the sentiment circles from a CB alphabet die set. The sentiment and stamped stars are from Studio G. I used some Diamond Glaze on the stars to make them shiny. Finally, I added some Petite Pearls brads by Bazzill.

I think I like this sketch and will have another go at it in the future. Thanks to the Mojo team for the sketch and the inspiration!

My Little Max

Just had to share this picture with all of you. My grandson, Max, who I am taking care of for two weeks while his parents are in Russia, found grandma's glasses tonight and I just had to snap this picture of him checking out how stylin' he was in a mirror. Isn't he sweet???!!! I just love him to pieces! We are having a ball together and grandma is getting a real workout everyday.
Hope you get a smile out of this post:))

Sweet Sunday 15

Here is my take on Karen's great sketch this week. Sorry again for the poor quality of the picture (I used the scanner again). I will try to update the photo when I get back home later this week. I tried to take a photo and transfer it to the computer, but couldn't figure out how to convert it from raw to a jpg with the program my daughter has on her computer. Arghhhh!

I'll add the details when I have time later. I'm just lucky I found a few moments to throw this together:))

Birthday Card for Max

Here is the other card I was able to get done this week with the couple of hours here and there that I got breaks. This is for my grandson, Max, who loves all things Seasame Street.

I got this image from a fellow blogger, Ida Melby, when I saw a card done with it on her blog(http://ipb.blogspot.com/2009/03/monster-card.html). She directed me to a site that had pictures to print and color and this was one of the images. I used my prismacolor pencils and gamsol to color in the image and had a few problems with the printer ink bleeding but I solved that by first putting down a light layer and then a darker layer. The darker layer hid the bleeding when I blended it over the first one. I cut out the image and popped it on dimensionals and then stamped and colored another arm and the cookies so I could cut them and pop them over the originals to give even more depth to the card. I also added a party hat to Cookie Monster and the number 4 on the bottom, both from clear stamp sets I have. I used the number CB folder on my yellow background. I know he's going to love it.

I apologize for the scanned picture, but what's a gal to do when she's out of her element?

Mojo 83

Okay, I found a little time to create this card for my great niece, Kenady, while my grandson was having therapy sessions. I wanted to get it posted before the week ran out so I did a quick scan. Sorry for the quality of the picture. I didn't have time to try to figure out a new photo shop program.


Anyway, I'll update this with some details when I get the chance. Man, it's tough chasing a 3yr old around all day:))

A Terrific Award to Pay Forward

I am so excited to recieve this award from one of my favorite bloggers, Debbie Pamment (http://debbiepsplace.blogspot.com/). She's such a sweetheart for thinking of me to pass this on to. I will wear it on my blog with pride for the spirit of it is what I would hope everyone who visits will go away with, A Great Big Smile:)))

So now it is my honor and pleasure to pass this along to 5 other fantastic bloggers whose blogs definitely make me smile everytime I visit. I am choosing 5 deserving people who I feel best emulate the spirit of this special award and here they are in no particular order:

Kyla Scoggins http://paperkrazy.blogspot.com/

Jenn Sannes http://www.simpleandsincere.com/

Ruby http://ruby2shoesdesign.blogspot.com/

Pam Varnell http://stampingpam.blogspot.com/

Shannon Erskine http://hoppycreations.blogspot.com/

Please check out their blogs, they are all fabulous!

Chicks with Inkpads 4 and Mojo 82

Here is a pretty simple card for the Chicks with Inkpads Inspiration Challenge #4. I used the Mojo Monday 82 layout for this card. The DP is from DCWV Pocket full of Posies Matstack. The other papers are SU pumpkin pie and blue. The tan piece is from my stash. I embossed the tan behind my image with my Cuttlebug mesh folder and the blue background was embossed with the swirls folder. I added the orange ribbon from my stash and a velvet star brad from Making Memories. The edge punch is the SU scallop punch. I double stamped the surf board using another DP scrap, embossed it twice, then cut it out and pieced it over the original. I also double stamped the swimsuit and the hat on solid papers and cut and pieced them on the original image too. I colored in the flesh parts of the image with my prismacolor pencils and a little gamsol to blend. I also sponged around the edges of the image and on the front and sides with blue SU ink. The stamp image is Inkadinkadoo and includes the "Happy Birthday" and the verse I used on the inside which says "You're only a kid once, but you can be young for a lifetime." Of course, I did pop the image with dimensionals to give the card some depth.

There's a whole lot you can do with this layout and if I have some time this week, I may try doing another card using it. It's been fun seeing what other people have come up with on the Mojo blog.

I have a bunch of birthday cards to finish up this week because I will be out of town babysitting my grandson for 2 weeks starting next week and all the birthdays will happen just after I get back. Hopefully, I will have some down time during my babysitting time so I can at least go out and see what everyone else is up to even if I don't have time to craft some cards. Don't forget about me while I'm gone:)))

Sweet Sunday 13

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. I consider it great because we had to travel and we didn't have snow!! Not even one drop of percipitation the whole weekend. Dare I hope to say that Spring has finally arrived in Wisconsin? I'm crossing my fingers:)))

Here is my take on the Sweet Sunday 13 sketch challenge for this week. I really do like this sketch and knew right away which DP I wanted to pull out for my card. I had everything figured out pretty quick except what my stamped image would be. I pretty much decided that I wanted to showcase the sentiment, but exactly how was a bit of a struggle. I am happy with how it turned out though.

Here are the details...the polka dot DP is from "The Paper Patch", the floral DP is "Creative Imaginations (Grandma Rocks), the brown is Bazzill and the red is SU rose red. I embossed the red bottom piece with my Cuttlebug stylized flowers embossing folder. All the stamps are from Inkadinkadoo clear acrylic sets. For the polka dot flowers, I stamped a flower image on my polka dot DP, embossed it twice using versa mark and clear embossing powder, cut them out then added brown brads and popped them with dimensionals. I added the brown dotted ribbon from my stash, a corner punched from the polka dot DP and the SU filigree brad that I just got in my last SU order. The ink is SU basic brown.

Not bad, it's barely Monday and I'm done with my Sunday card:)) Thanks Karen for a great sketch to start off the week!

Mojo 81

I've been planning this card since Monday so guess it's time to get it done and posted.

This sketch was a bit out of the box for me too, but once I decided what stamps I wanted to use and what size card I needed to make to have them work in the sketch, it all fell together.

Here are the details:

The DP is Basic Grey (Euphoria) blue is American Crafts, pink is Bazzill and green is SU Certainly Celery. The blue paper was embossed with my Cuttlebug Happy Birthday embossing folder. The stamp image is from Mouse House stamps, the birthday stamp from SU Party Hearty and I created the Eat Your Cake sentiment on my computer and then cut it out with a Nestabilities label die. The mouse image was colored with prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol with the exception of the hat which I colored with SU certainly celery and baja blue using an aqua pen. I added some crystal effects to the cake and the little candles. I cut out and popped the bunny with dimensionals on a white background that I embossed with my Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder. The green scallop frame was cut with a Nestabilities and popped with dimensionals. The "B is for birthday" was stamped in SU Purely Pomegranate, cut by hand and then sponged on the edges with pomegranate ink. I added punched circles in white, pink and blue to the center of the "b", punched a daisy with my Fiskar's punch and added a bunny brad to the center of the flower and popped it with a large dimensional. I punched 3 more daisies for the embellishments on the bottom of the card and added some tiny pink buttons to them for centers. The double ribbon came from my stash. Before assembling, I used a corner punch on all 4 corners and added some red brads to my white base.

Thanks again Mojo gals for the inspiration and another challenging sketch! I couldn't think these things up on my own!:))

Chicks With Inkpads #3 and Basic Grey Challenge 29

Here is the card I created for the latest challenge at http://chickswithinkpads.blogspot.com/search/label/Chicks%20Inspiration%20Challenge and for the Basic Grey Spring/ Easter challenge at http://basicgreychallenges.blogspot.com/ . I hope my card will qualify for the Spring part of the challenge as Mother's Day is in the spring:)

The two chicks will pick their top 5 cards each week and ask the creators of those cards to be guest designers for the next challenge. How great is that? Of course, if you're shy, you can always decline:)

Now for the card details: The DP is from Basic Grey (Euphoria). I don't think I've met a Basic Grey paper that I haven't liked, but I'm really lovin' this stuff. They have several different patterns in this color and I bought them all. The pink paper is Bazzill and the blue is from American Crafts.

I cut the white circle and the scallop with my Nestabilities. I embossed the white piece using my Cuttlebug Stylized Flowers embossing folder. If you click on the picture you can probably make out some of the detail of the embossing. Now for those flowers; I stamped 3 different flowers from an Inkadinkadoo (Garden Words) stamp set, embossed them and cut them out. For the last small flower, I used an embossed reject image as my paper and punched out 3 flowers with my new Fiskars daisy punch. I joined all the flowers together with a glittered brad from my stash, added pieces of ribbon that came from Michael's and then popped the flowers with dimensionals. I added the pearls around the scallop and punched the branches around the flowers with my MS branch punch. The sentiment is Studio G, that I stamped and sponged with SU Purley Pomegranate.

I was really pleased how this card turned out so it definitely will be going to my Mom.

Sweet Sunday 12

Okay, so this Sweet Sunday sketch was very basic, but I think I might have gone a bit overboard with it. I just don't do well with wide open spaces:) Something makes me want to fill them in.

I knew the instant I saw the sketch what paper I wanted to use and I figured out pretty quickly how I wanted to layer it. But then came all the embellishments. I nearly stopped before adding the blue branches and the butterfly but something just urged me on.

That gorgeous DP is from My Mind's Eye. I just love all their paper! The solid blue is the backside of the polka dot DP, so the inside of my card has that great polka dot pattern...a bonus, I think. The sentiment is SU and the flourishes are from a clear acrylic set by Impression Obsession. The butterfly is from an acrylic set by Inkadinkado. The inks were Velvet and Rustic Red from TAC and SU Baja Breeze. I added some crystal gemstones from Hero Arts to the flourishes for accent, a WeR glitter brad for the center of the flower and the blue branches punched with MS branch punch. The flowers were from my stash.

Thanks again Karen for the great challenge! I probably made this one much harder than it should have been:)

One challenge down...onward to Mojo Monday!

Mojo Monday #80

Ever get a new stamp set that you are itching to use so bad you make it fit into your next sketch challenge? That's how I felt about my new Flopsey set from MFT. I was determined to make it work with this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge.

I love all the MFT stamps, but Flopsey is my favorite by far. I'm sure that I will own all the Flopsey sets they produce. Did you know about their bargin bin every Monday? That's how I'm expanding my collection of MFT stamp sets. Every Monday they have a number of sets for reduced prices. They have a great shipping rate of $2.50 which makes their stamps even more affordable and they always ship super fast.

Okay, back to my card:) I rarely do a card without a second background layer and even more rarely do I use white as my layer to mount on unless I've embossed it. I almost changed the background color to pink, but then decided to do a paper piercing along the top and sides and that seemed to work for me.

The DP is Pebbles Inc. the solid pieces are Bazzill. I paper pieced the bunny's hat and coveralls and the carrots in the wheel barrow. I do believe my Flopsey is a she and that is why her coveralls are so stylin' and her hat is pink:) I decided to substitue the sketch's bow for the MS fence border. The bunny was double stamped and then popped on dimensionals. I used the Cuttlebug dots folder to emboss the white background that Flopsey is on which was cut out with a Nestibabilities die. The circle and scallop were also cut out of Nestabilities. The little stick on icons are Heidi Grace. I also stamped, colored, cut out and popped those adorable little veggie stakes which are also in this MFT set. So there you have it...I used every stamp in the set to make this card including the cute sentiment. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks to the great ladies at the Mojo blog for another terrific sketch! I enjoy participating every week, even if I don't get my card done until Saturday night:)

Chicks With Inkpads Inspiration Challenge #2

Okay, so I don't need another Mother's Day card right now, but this one will go in my stash for next year.

This is for the second Chicks With Inkpads Inspiration Challenge that you can find here
http://chickswithinkpads.blogspot.com/search/label/Chicks%20Inspiration%20Challenge. I went with pink and white with just a splash of green. I used my Cuttlebug dots embossing folder to back the borders flowers on the right side of the card and then used the stylized flowers embossing folder to create the flower on the left. I colored in the flowers on the right with my Pebbles, Inc. pearlescent pink and green chalk. The scallop border is SU and the sentiment is from a little set of clear stamps I picked up at a local craft store. The pink stripe DP backing the flowers is from Pebbles Inc (My Baby Girl Stripe) and the floral DP is from Little Yellow Bicycle (Baby Safari). The dark rose paper is Bazzill and the ribbon is some I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics. I added those cute little buttons, a pink crystal by Mark Richards and those little pearls to accent the DP flowers. I popped the framed flowers with dimensionals as well as the sentiment after I inked the edges.

I wasn't intending on making it a Mother's Day card, but it just looked like one when I got done. Hope you like it.

Card for Friends

Here is a quick post with a card I made for some friends who have fallen on hard times right now. They have a terrific dog who is a big part of their family and who doesn't know that in hard times, your pets are so important to your mental health. Anyway, I bought this stamp a while ago because I have a number of friends and family with pets and knew I would get use out of it.

I decided to make the card a shaker card as I have a cute little dog bone punch, one I picked up for a bargin bin at Michael's a while back, and I thought it would work perfect for confetti for my card. The sentiment stamp is from American Art Stamp and the Charlie Brown stamp is Stampabilities. The DP is from my scrap and wasn't labeled. Both the plain papers are Bazzill. The light tan frame was cut from a Nestabilities die and then stamped with a bone stamp from Stamps by Judith. I think the ribbon came from JoAnn Fabrics or Michael's on one of those tiny spools. The dog paw brads are Spare Parts brads.

My friends loved it.

Sweet Sunday 11

This is a cute little sketch for the Sweet Sunday challenge this week. Only my second time ever for a butterfly card. I could really get into them, I think. I wanted to go big with my butterfly and when I spotted this DP I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I have a gorgeous butterfly stamp that I've had for a long time. I don't know who made it because it was unmounted when I got it. Anyway, I stamped the butterfly right onto my DP and then I embossed it, using the new Dazzling Versa Mark that I just bought online. The DP was already glittery, but wow, did the embossing ever pop out the color. I don't think you can get the full effect from my photo, but trust me, this is one beautiful butterfly! I cut out the butterfly and amazingly I didn't cut off an antenna. I think the embossing helped stabilize the paper so it was easier to cut the detail. I mounted the butterfly with some sticky zip strips and pulled up the wings for dimension.

I used my nestabilities for the background butterfly frames, added some white flowers from my stash with glittered brads (Spare Parts) for the centers, added pearls to accent the scallop border (Stampin' Up) and added some pearls to the body of the butterfly. The DP is DCWV and the pink papers are both My Mind's Eye. The blue cardstock is a textured piece from my stash. The butterfly tail is from a Hero Arts acrylic stamp set and the sentiment is from a Cloud9 Design acrylic stamp set. The ribbon is The Paper Studio's orange polka dot.

I never made a card with these dimensions before. Now I have to find an envelope to fit it.

Thank you Karen for challenging me to create another first! It was fun.