Sunday, August 31, 2008

Fall for it Challenge - Gina K

This week in the Gina K designs forum on SCS Joanne has tossed out an awesome challenge to make an Autumn inspired card. I pulled out the Stamps for a Cause set called "Flowers for Daisy". The sentiment is from the set "Summer Harvest".

I colored in the flowers using Autumn colors and added some stickles for sparkle. I used SU vanilla, chocolate chip, really rust. My background pattern paper is from my paper stash and it's source is unknown (sorry). I added some DCWV glitter paper to the bottom and the ribbon I picked up at Joanne's.

Have you heard about Gina's new "In the Spotlight" Design team call. It's sort of a guest design call and it's a cool way to do a call. Basically you have to post your Gina K cards to your blog, and the team searches out for the ones they like. Pretty simple.

That's it for now!

Till later....

Friday, August 29, 2008

Ready for Fall?


Can you believe it's Labor Day weekend and the summer is "unofficially" over? I can't. It's amazing how time flies. This weekend we are going out for your 8 year anniversary even though it's Sept 9. And of course we will have a BBQ on Monday with some friends. So are you ready for fall?

When I saw Lauren's sketch for this week I thought of these butterflies instantly! I got the Cuttlebug step step butterfly set. I forget what it is called exactly and I think its fairly new. It comes with a die to cut the butterfly shape and 4 embossing folders so that you can can emboss the butterfly using 4 different patterns. I picked this up in July at a stamp convention and now I'm finally using it. But I love how it worked out. The large butterfly in the middle is the Cuttlebugged one and the two smaller ones were created using a Martha Stewart punch. I just got all punchy this week! LOLOL!! NO STAMPS!!! I know it's crazy! I started with Vanilla (SU) as my base. The cool background paper I found in my stash of stuff and I'm not sure who it is by. The brown is Choclate Chip (SU) and green is Mellow Moss (SU). I punched the butterfly from a glitter paper pack by DCWV. And the cool little embellishments are "The Robin's Eggs" "crystals".

Here is yet another fall card for you. Every Thursday is HIP HOP Thursday at Unity in the SCS forums. It's super rockin, if you haven't checked it out it's a must! This past Thursday the girls had a challenge for fun to make a card with buttons! Are you button challenged? I used to love using buttons but haven't as much lately. Here is my button card using the Unity Kit Giggle Groove. If you love challenges and love Unity Stamps then also be sure to check out the SCS forum each Wednesday for a new fun challenge. This week's challenge was to case one of the DT members, here was my card.

Well that's if for today. Off I go to look at twin beds for my babies!! OH MY! I can't believe they are 2 1/2.

Till later.....

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Mothers & Daughters Thursday Challenge


I can't believe it's the end of August already and the summer is over! What are your plans for labor day weekend? Not much here. My anniversary is Sept 9 so DH and I are going to go out this Saturday to celebrate since we can't next weekend. Then on Monday we will have some friends over to BBQ. I can't say that I am sad to see summer end as I don't like the hot weather. I love fall though....

This is the last week for my challenge selections with the MDC team and this week I picked to use an "odd ball" shaped card. Funny thing is I couldn't decide for some reason. So I went into powerpoint and messed around with shapes and came up with this funky little shape to use. I turned it into a little birthday card. The image is by Imagainsce and I colored it with copics and added stickles. I used my scalloped nesties to cut it and create the mat. The striped paper underneath is also by Imagainsce. I used some pink scalloped paper from a DCWV pack and added some of my flowers from the Michael's bridal section.

I thought this came out somewhat simple but cute. Be sure to stop by the other members of the team to check out their amazing creations: Cindy, Jennifer, Linda, Lynda and Tamara.

That's it for now.


Till Later....

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Unity Challenge Day!



WOO HOO, here it is the start of Unity Challenge Day! I love love Unity Stamps. I thought it would be fun for a bunch of the fans of Unity to have a weekly challenge. So starting today in the SCS Forum there will be a weekly challenge posted. Come along and play have some fun with us. Each week a different person will pick the challenge and this week Tiffany picked our challenge which is to Case a DT member. Awesome challenge as Unity has a super cool DT! What lucky ladies they are to be a part of that. So I decided to Case Amber with this creation of hers.

I used the same images and kept to the layout very similar. I actually meant to add the little boxes she had on the right and forgot but then thought it was ok the way it was. I hope I didn't "misobey" any casing rules :-)

Be sure to check it out I know many of the girlies will be playing along. This week there will be a random drawing of those who participate to receive a Unity Set! I started a little blog roll on my sidebar of some who I know will be playing. If you playing and I didn't add you let me know I'd love to add you there. If you haven't checked them out yet come on by and say hi, you will love it!

Thanks for stopping by and get ready to HIP HOP tomorrow in the Unity Forum it is sure to be a blast!

Till Later....

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Unity Scrapbook Fun

Here is this week's Unity scrapbook sketch by Christi. Here is what I came up with using some photos from our vacation to the beach this summer...
I used SU River Rock, Baroque Burgundy, Close to Cocoa. Pattern paper is by Kaiser Craft. The chicks and sentiment are from the Unity kit called Hey Chick. I stamped and then colored the birds with Prismacolor markers and added stickles.

That's it for now. Off I go to work on some other challenges. This Thursday is a big day. There will is the Mothers & Daughters Creations challenge which is always so much fun. And it's also Hip Hop Thursday at Unity in their SCS forum, which is a day long party! Gotta love that. This week will be the start of the Unity Junkies Blog Challenges.
Thanks for stopping by!

Till Later.....

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Saturday Sketch Time

It's Saturday and you know what that means? Sketch time with Lauren! Lauren always has super awesome sketches.

I decided to ink up some un-inked Unity Stamps this week. I just got the So & So Loves single and the August Kit of the Month Kit. I stamped So & So Loves on a piece of patterned paper that i had in my stash. (sorry don't know who makes it) but it looked like wood grain to me so I thought it was perfect. I colored parts using copics and added Stickles. I used SU Close to Cocoa and Wild Wasabi for my backgrounds. I embossed the base with a Cuttlebug folder. I stamped and colored the camper, cut it out and used pop dots to adhere it.

Do you want to play along? Be sure to let us know so we can check out your wonderful creations. If you post to SCS pls use mytimess2. You can check out the wonderful sketch HERE.

As always this was a fun sketch and worked perfectly with my Unity Stamps. Have you heard that Unity has an awesome event EVERY Thursday called Hip Hop Thursday? Lots of chatting, prizes and fun! The DT members participate in a blog hop which is always fun! This coming week a group of Unity nutty (opps I mean loyal) customers (myself included) will have a Customer Blog Hop, be sure to check it out!

Don't forget to stop by the blogs of the other girls participating in Lauren's Weekly Sketch Challenge:

Lauren Meader's Sketch Challenge Team:

Alicia Weimen
Dawn Easton
Kim Gasper
Kirsten Dubosque
Kristy Vernon
MacKenzie Bruckler
Maria Levine
Tamara


That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Till Later.......


Thursday, August 21, 2008

Unity's Hip Hop Thursday


Have you checked it out yet? It's a huge party all day every Thursday at Unity in the SCS forum. Lots of chatting and giveaways, it's awesome! Last week it went for 12 hours!!! Now that is a party!!!


I made this card using this week's SCS sketch and the August Unity Kit of the Month. I took this cool flower and used a Carmel color embossing powder to heat emboss it on Vanilla Cardstock by SU. I colored with Prismacolor markers and added Diamond Stickles. I cut all the circles using my nesties. The great shimmery paper is by SEI.

Be sure to swing by Hip Hop Thursday to check out the fun. YOu can also do an awesome blog hop of the Design Team. Go to Angela's blog to get started. Stay tuned for next week's hip hop Thursday because a few of us will start a Customer Blog Hop for fun.

That's it for now.

Thanks for stopping by.

MDC Thursday Smack Down...


LOLOL!! Yes I mean challenge, I just thought that title was amusing. So it's Thursday again! I can't believe it's already August 21!! Where on earth does time go? I can't take it! This morning it was 53 degrees outside, oh fall is in the air I love it!
This really cool image is by Serendipity Stamps. I colored this sundial with Copics and added Stickles to the flowers and sundial. My background patterned papers are by Kaiser Craft. The pink and brown are by SU, Regal Rose and Chocolate Chip. Check out that cool flower! That is a piece of chipboard by Scenic Route. I embossed it with a brown embossing powder I had and added a dot of the Kaiser Craft paper in the middle.
At first I was not sure if I can make the image work. I don't know why, it's pretty cool isn't it? In the end I think it worked out pretty well.

Be sure to stop by the MDC Challenge Blog as well as the personal blogs of the other DT members.
Thanks for stopping by!

Till Later....

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Sweet Treats



This is I made for the SCS Technique Monday. Since it was making a "treat" box I had to use the Unity Kit "Bitty Christmas Tags" I colored this awesome little gingerbread house with copics/prismacolor markers and added stickles. Punched it out added the SU scalloped punch in the back. The ribbon is from Michaels and the glitter dots are from Gina K. Inside I put little starlight mints, sorry the way I took the picture they don't show. But how awesome is this little box for any type of yummy treat or gift.

That's it for now.

Till Later...

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Hey Chick and Blog-Aversary Winner!


Check out this chick! I did this for the SCS fan club monthly theme and for August it is All That Glitters. How can I not play? I use glitter on everything! LOLOL!
I stamped this Unity Chick from the "Hey Chick" kit on a piece of acetate. I pulled out my Art Glitter Glue to cover her in and then added pink glitter and a touch of green. My base if Regal Rose by SU and the back is Certainly Celery by SU. I used my nesties to cut and emboss the center. For the wonderful border I used the "border" stamp in the Unity Kit "Floral Fantastical". I colored the flowers in using my Koo-I-Noor pencils. Then of course I pulled out a few bottles of Stickles to add the glitter. Under the bird on the inside I added a piece of patterned paper by Imagainsce which I though looked rather cool behind the acetate window.

Now it's time to announce the winner of my Blog-aversary giveaway.....
Drumrull please......
Cindy C you are the winner.

Cindy posted:

#11 Just found your blog.....love your creations!!! Thanks for the chance!

Thanks so much Cindy for stopping by. Please email me your address so I can get your goodies out to you.

Well that's it for now!

Till Later...


Saturday, August 16, 2008

Sketch Time Saturday

It's Saturday and that means sketch time with Lauren! Check it out here is today's sketch. If you decide to play and post to SCS you can use keyword mytimess1 so everyone can find all the awesome creations.


I really didn't know which direction to go with this one so I decided on a Halloween card. Here it is:
I struggled with this one a little bit. In the end not too bad I thought . I did incorporate the components of the sketch but then felt like I HAD to add something to the bottom hopefully that is ok!

This flying witch is Riley by Hanna Stamps! The Sophie and Rileys are super awesome! I colored this guy in with copics and added some stickles, then cut him out. I used my circle scalloped nesties for my layers. The patterned papers are from a glitter stack pack by Debbie Mumm. The images in my squares are by Studio G.


What I did realize though is that I am lacking on holiday papers so I really need to find some. What brands do you like for holiday papers? This Debbie Mumm pack I picked up the other day is a "fall" pack with a few sheets of Christmas.


Lauren Meader's Sketch Challenge Team:
Tamara Harder


Well that's it for now. Don't forget there is still some time to enter for my Blog-aversary giveaway which ends on Sunday.




That's it for now!


Thanks for stopping by!


Till Later....



Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Mothers & Daughters Challenge



It's Thursday and you know what that means? Challenge time at MDC. I'm psyched for the month of August I get to pick the challenges each week. This week is a stamp company spotlight and it's Outlines. Have you seen their stamps, very intricate and cool. They enable you to color, glitter, embellish and layer!

For this challenge I picked this awesome butterfly. I used two stamped images for this. I colored both using Copics but the one on top I colored the background pink, the bottom one I left the background white. I also added stickles to some of the flowers and leaves just for some sparkle. My background colors are Rose Red and Regal Rose. And the cute green patterned paper is by Daisy Bucket. I pulled the sheer ribbon from my stash to add a delicate touch to the bottom.

I love the size of this butterfly and how cool it looks "layered".


Don't forget to swing on by the MDC Challenge blog as well as the blog of the DT members: Cindy, Jennifer, Linda, Lynda and Tamara. Do you love Basic Grey? If so you will love saying 20% check it out at the MDC Store.
Thanks for stopping by.


Till Later...

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....


Here is my Winter Wonderland scene made with Unity's Bitty Christmas Tags. It's close enough to the holidays right??? LOLOL!!! OMG, all the stores have all the fall/halloween stuff out and I'm sure within a couple of weeks the Christmas trees will be out! C'mon now. I LOVE christmas, my favorite holiday but it does keep getting earlier and earlier. That's ok it's still fun so why not start making cards now! This set has a bunch of stamps that are perfect for cardmaking, tagmaking, gift making etc etc etc.....

I used the sketch challenge on SCS from last week to do this but I flipped the sketch to create my scene. I added lots of sparkle with Stickles and used white flock for the snow mound and red for the earmuffs on the snowman! My patterned papers are by Basic Grey and American Crafts and of course pulled out a snowflake (from last year) embossing folder for the background.

Don't forget there is still time to enter to win some blog-aversary candy HERE. And if you want to win some Stickles go HERE. WOO HOO!!!! Lots of fun going on!

That's it for now. Be sure to swing by tomorrow for the weekly Mothers & Daughters Creations challenge it should be a good one!!

Till later.....




Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Glittered Window

Isn't this chick sweet? I was psyched when Tamara of Mothers & Daughters Creations asked me to work on a "technique" project. Of course what else would I really want to use other than Stickles! Am I'm over doing it? NAH! They are awesome! If you haven't tried them yet you have to! You can view all of the wonderful colors here. I think I have all of them. Now the only thing I need is some good advice for storage. I keep them in a drawer which is fine but they fall like dominoes ALL the time and it drives me batty! Any ideas???


I decided to give the glitter on acetate/transparencies a try. You have seen this before I'm sure, it's been on SCS and blogs. Many people have used the clear drying glue with fine glitter and that works fine as well. But with Stickles it's one step and the dry time. So here is my little version of this fun technique.....


I stamped the chick with Stazon on a transparency sheet (is that the correct word or is it acetate same thing right?). Let the ink dry and then apply in little squirts the stickles. For this I used yellow on the body, Orange Peel on the beak/wing and Pink for the flower with a dab of Cotton Candy in the middle of the flower. Now set this aside and let it dry. It does take some time I will admit. I usually stamp at night so I plan accordingly and let it dry over night, or if I stamp while the kids nap it dries by the time they go to bed at night so I can continue. I am not one with such patience for things like that because I usually want to get things done, but I love the glitter so much it's worth the wait. Here is a close up of the chick all glittered up:


Doesn't that look cool?? It's like crystals in a window.


While the chick was drying I worked on getting the rest of the card ready. I decided to make a small "box" that would sit on a card and pop out.


I pulled out my square scalloped nesties and used the the square that best fit around the image. I used it to cut out a square on a piece of SU Regal Rose paper. (honestly I didn't measure this piece but as long as you have an inch all around the cut our image you should be fine)


Then score on all four sides 1/2 inch out and another 1/2 inch out. You should then be able to fold the sides under forming a little box with no bottom. Take your "crystal" image and adhere it underneath this cool little window. You can use adhesive or even tape because you won't see it underneath. I used a square piece of cool Daisy Bucket paper to adhere underneath this for the base and it shows through in the window.


Here is the "box" all finished:













The final thing you want to do is adhere this cute box to your card. My card uses SU Regal Rose and Daisy Bucket paper. The flowers on the frame in the finished product is from the Michael's Bridal section. The cute sentiment "Scatter Joy" is by by Daisy Bucket as well.

Please let me know if you would like further clarification on any of this. I just realized this is my first tutorial on my blog! Let me know what you think.

Now hop on over to MDC and pick up all the Stickles you can carry!!! And don't forget to check out all the fun at the MDC Challenge Blog with a Stickle giveaway!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Till Later...


Monday, August 11, 2008

Big Shiny Flower


I created this using Unity's Big Shiny Flowers and the Hey Chick Kit. When I first received the Big Shiny Flowers Kit they were screaming emboss me. These awesome flowers are huge and bold perfect for some neat heat embossing. I picked on to emboss and used a black glitter embossing powder which I believe I picked up at Sparkle n Sprinkle while attending a stamp show. I colored it in using copic markers. I stamped the chickie and colored her in with copics and added stickles for the glam.

I thought this would work best on a square card so I cut the black cardstock to the 5x5 square size and mounted it on Regal Rose by SU. The glitter paper under the flower is by DCWV. Of course I had to emboss the background so I pulled out one of my new CB embossing folders to do so.

Well that's it for now. Don't forget about my blog-aversary blog candy here.

As always thanks for stopping by!

Till Later....


Blog-aversary Blog Candy!


Yes it's already been a year! I can't believe time flies sooo fast. I remember starting this blog so unsure how long it would last and what I would do. My goals at the time: to blog everyday and make a design team. CHECK CHECK! WOO HOO! (ok fine maybe I miss a day here and there but for the most part I try and get a post in everyday!).

I love love this obession, sorry hobby! :-) I feel that in the past year I've gone alot as a stamper with the advice of many great stampers out there and inspiration from all the great blogs and galleries. Thanks to everyone who stops by to take a peek.

Here is some blog candy to celebrate. Please leave a numbered comment by Sunday August 17 and I will randomly pick a winner.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Till Later....


Saturday, August 9, 2008

Lauren's Weekly Sketch Challenge


Here we are with the 2nd week of Lauren's Sketch Challenge with a team! I have to say I'm still pretty psyched that I get to be part of this team. Thanks Lauren!

Here is the wonderful sketch. And here is my interpretion once again using a stamp from the Unity Stamp Co. I colored this tree using Copics and Prismacolor markers. I added Lime Green Stickles to some of the leaves. The cool ribbon I found at a local discount store and by Memory Keepers. I used a small punch to punch out 5 circles for the side in colors that would coordinate with the ribbon and addes some cool pearl gems. (which I'll admit was a dollar bin find:-) ) My base is SU Certaintly Celeary embossed with one of the new CB folders Forest Branches. The image was cut using the rectangle nesties and mounted on Close to Cocoa.

Well I think that covers it. Feel free to let me know if I missed anything. It has been quite a week here with my two little kiddoddles getting sick, sigh.... Hopefully things are passing though.

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Hey did I mention that I am celebrating my one year of blogging? OH YEAH and there WILL be blog candy coming!

Don't forget to swing by all the girls on Lauren's sketch team:

Tamara Harder

Dawn Easton

Kirsten Dubosque

Kristy Vernon

Kim Gasper

MacKenzie Bruckler

Alicia Weiman

Thanks for stopping by!

Till Later...


Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Mother & Daughters Creations - Thursday Challenge



Did you guys get that SU special a while back where the company had left over Wild Wasabi paper already scored and folded? Well, I placed an order and my demo told me about it so I of course got a pack of it. I remember thinking when I received it what shall I do with it, oh well I guess it's just some extra scrap that is textured no biggie. Then I realized that I can use those scores and folds to make a little "tent" type card or "gift" holder.

Well it's a new month of challenges with the girls from MDC! This month it's my turn to host and for the first week I picked STICKLES! OH YEAH! LOLOL!! This week's Mothers & Daughters challenge is to Glitter Up using Stickles. You know how much I LOVE stickles! I think I use them on every card and if I don't I'm probably not feeling well that day! LOLOL!!


I took this great image by Serendipity and colored with Copics and added loads of stickles. I didn't cover every flower and leaf but probably should have. That might have sent it over the top though. The patterned paper that I used is by Daisy Bucket as is the sentiment stamp. I added a couple of holes up top to run a ribbon through to make a little handle for this cute gift.

So what would you put inside this little tent gift holder? Do you know what my answer is? C'mon you know! STICKLES of course......

I used some more of that great Daisy Bucket paper to add a little topper and this can be tucked or taped inside. I usually use a little adhesive on the back of the topper so it will stick to the inside.


Here is a close up of the glittery flowers. I hope that you can see it as my pictures weren't coming out super clear.




What I also did with this was create a pocket so that you can tuck away a little note to the recipient. The base of the Regal Rose is not fully glued down. I only used adhesive to the sides to leave the top and middle open. Just to show you here is a quick picture with a tag in the "pocket" (for demo purposes only):

Don't forget to stop by the blogs of the other design team members as well. Cindy, Jennifer, Linda, Lynda and Tamara. And the MDC Challenge Blog where you may just find some awesome blog candy!!!


Well that is it for now.





Thanks for stopping by.





Till Later.....



Unity Scrapbook Challenge

Here is my page for this week's Unity Scrapbook Challenge. It was a "step it up" week which means you can only use 2 colors (aside from neutrals). I picked the pick and green from my sweetie's shirt. I used Certainly Celery and Regal Rose.

I of course used all Unity Stamps for this project from various different kits. Of course there are lots of stickle action going on as well in the giraffe and the cool little arrows and in the middle of the flowers.

The cool thing this month with the scrapbook page challenges is that there will be a prize for one lucky person who completes all the challenges this month. Now that is some great motivation to scrapbook.

Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned tomorrow for the weekly Mothers & Daughters Creations challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Till Later...


Monday, August 4, 2008

My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge



This week I decided to participate in Cindy's sketch challenge for My Favorite Things. Did I tell you how excited I was when I walked in my LSS last week to find they had some MFT sets? I picked up a set and a couple of the floral singles as well.

Here is the Sketch:

Here is my take on the sketch:



I used SU Groovy Guava and glitter paper from a DCWV stack pack. This is the Annie LaPoint - Chamomile image by MFT. I colored with copics and added some stickles to the flowers. I used my scallop circle nesties to cut out the image and the bottom circle.

That's it for now.

Till later....


Unity Stamp Co Tuesday Inspiration!

  I'm up on the UNITY BLOG today sharing some cards I made using 2 stamp sets! I used the February background of the month called   as...